Benjamin Mitchell Chambers, a high school senior, has been named the Miller County High School 2006 PAGE STAR student. The announcement was made today by Teresa Youmans, president of the Ameris Bank in Colquitt, local sponsor of the STAR program. Ben, the son of Chris Chambers and Rob and Jeannie Lee, selected Mrs. Joye Bailey, Calculus teacher at Miller County High School, as his STAR teacher.
The PAGE Student Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) program, in its 48th year, is sponsored by the Professional Association of Georgia Educators (PAGE) Foundation, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, and the Georgia Department of Education. Since its inception, the STAR program has honored more than 20,000 students and the teachers they have selected as having had the most influence on their academic achievement. Students are selected on the basis of their SAT scores and class standing/scholastic averages.
The local STAR sponsor is Ameris Bank. The local sponsor pays expenses for the STAR student and teacher to attend the region recognition luncheon and also awards the STAR student a $250 scholarship.
Ben plans to attend the University of Georgia and major in finance. He is the grandson of Bonnie Chambers and Don and Annie Laura Middleton of Colquitt and John and Faye Lee of Jesup.
"As a teacher, this has to be the highest compliment that any student could give me," said Mrs. Bailey. "It makes me feel that what I'm doing really makes a difference, and to be chosen by a student like Ben makes it even more exciting. He is the ideal student. Too few students want to dig below the surface like Ben does. He is the kind of student that makes teaching fun."
"Ben has distinguished himself as an outstanding student throughout his high school career. He has high expectations for himself and strives to meet the high standards he has set for himself. It has been a pleasure to know Ben and I expect to hear that he continues to excel throughout college and life," said Principal Ginger Webster.

Ralph Wilcox, the Southwest Georgia Film Commission Director, whose office is under the umbrella of the Community Development Corporation of Miller County (CDC), since he has returned to town from NAPTE in Las Vegas, Sundance in Park City, Utah, and numerous trips to Los Angeles, has spent a considerable amount of time back and forth at the Miller County Industrial Park off Phillips Road, which is under the direction and leadership of Howard Small, witnessing his visionary construction of the brand new 22,000 square-foot movie sound stage. If anyone drove by at 3:45 P.M., on Saturday, February 18, they would have found Wilcox kneeling, gratefully praying but also placing his hands in the wet cement foundation as a symbolic gesture of personal, hard-earned accomplishment. Underneath he wrote his name. He then uttered the words, “Upon this rock, I will build and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” Yes, although the Apostle Peter uttered those words in regards to God’s church, Wilcox quickly admits this is not a church in the conventional sense, but it will act as an anchor in the region to inspire, uplift, motivate, empower, strengthen, guide, and lead our diverse humanity in the Southwest Georgia region to greater accomplishments and successes. We will break the stereotypical images of the South in our unity and prosper. Having Remembered and drawn upon his experiences of six and a half years in Africa in the mission fields, producing documentaries on the work of missionaries and living and surviving in all kinds of conditions, Wilcox knows that God’s greatest work is personified and illuminated in the vineyards, rolling up one’s sleeves and not being self serving is the epitome of Jesus’ life and message to all of humanity.
As he said, “I am inspired through the grace of God and all of the visionaries who have come before me that I have been able to remain consistent, persistent, and insistent that we are all tied together in a single garment of destiny. We will work and live together or we will separate and perish. This ministerial vision is a reality.”
This has been an extremely busy week at the Southwest Georgia Film Commission Office. Ms. Linda Morgan, the wife of Julian Morgan author of Roller, A Dirt Road Sport and one of Wilcox’s key Lucky Penny Partners, extended an invitation to Wilcox to speak to the Calhoun County High School student body on Wednesday, February 15. Wilcox accepted the invitation as he went forth to impress upon these young people that this time in their lives is critical. It is a time of preparation, a time to become true leaders as he encouraged them to work extremely hard in preparing for their future. “Dream,” he said, “and then work to make each dream a reality. Things don’t happen because you want them to; things happen because of what you do” The speech was very timely, and the students responded positively as many of them spoke with Wilcox after the assembly program. The students were directed to visit the Southwest Georgia Film Commission Web site at www.swgafilms.com, and they were also invited to enroll in the Henny Penny Training program which includes being trained in the various disciplines of the film and television industry---lights, camera, sound, acting coaching, scriptwriting, hair and make-up, and wardrobe--- and to become part of the Southwest Georgia Family Film/Video Festival September 1-3, 2006. Wilcox is the founder and director of HennyPenny Video/Television Production Company, Inc., a 501 c-3 non-profit organization.
Thursday, February 16 adults and students of all ages, ethnicities, and genders gathered at the Henny Penny Studio at 6:30 P.M., which is also the location of the Southwest Georgia Film Commission Office, to take advantage of the Thursday evening acting classes. One adult who attended the class said, “The class was extremely intense; if you want to see Ralph Wilcox in his finer moments as the instructor, attend the classes.” As he states, yes, there will be other instructors in the on-going training program, but a unique opportunity to work with someone who has lived the length and breath of acting is truly a treat. In his introductory statement to his students, Wilcox always says “If you step into the matrix of my space with a desire to want to grow, I will break your facades, barriers, fears, and prejudices and expose the awesomeness of your personal greatness. You will embrace it, and you will love it, and chances are it can potentially become a great revenue stream for you. It was wonderful to see students in attendance from Calhoun County, Miller County, Dougherty County, Lee County, Terrell County, Decatur County, Thomas County, and Early County. Many people are calling the Henny Penny Studio/Southwest Georgia Film Commission Office inquiring about the training classes and the upcoming feature-film project Kings of the Evening. There is limited space in the acting and production classes. The classes are filling up, and anyone interested should contact the studio now and reserve his or her space at (229) 758-8188 or (229) 758-8833.
Wilcox also addressed the Griffin-Jordan Medical Society of Southwest Georgia at the Hilton Gardens in Albany, Georgia, Saturday, February 18.
Dr. Linda Walden is the CEO of the group and Dr. D. Young is the president, both of whom attended the Henny Penny acting and production class orientation. He informed this group of doctors and other attendees that the film and television industry is just ripe for Southwest Georgia. A trailer of Kings of the Evening was shown, the feature film that is scheduled to shoot here in Southwest Georgia in March. Wilcox spoke about the great Georgia Tax Incentives for investing in movies and also the Federal tax incentives which allows any investor a 100 percent tax write-off if he or she invests in a movie that goes into production the first year. This was a well-spent evening as Wilcox and staff members mingled with those in attendance. He also met with other investors during the week in Tallahassee, Florida, and investors from the West Coast who flew into the Atlanta Airport.
A multi-cultural Casting Call of all ethnicities will be held in Colquitt, at the Southwest Georgia Film Commission Office to cast roles in Kings of the Evening, a period piece which takes place in the 1930s during the Great Depression. The date will be announced in various newspapers, on radio and television as well. Keep reading and listening for additional information. There may be a role for you.
Anyone with period cars, props or properties, or lodging available for celebrity talent needs to contact the office as soon as possible. This is the beginning of an incredible opportunity to become a part of the movie industry. “Whether local investors decide to invest or not is no longer critical to the success of my vision, because the five projects that I want to put into production this year will happen unless I die, and that’s not in the cards. To the opposition, don’t get any big ideas. To date, I say to the doubting Thomases, we have succeeded and exceeded in spite of your lack of support,” said Wilcox.

Week of February 19, 2006