At the June 7 Commission Meeting, Macon-Bibb County named and honored the 2015-2016 recipient of the Bert Bivins, III Student Leadership Award, which is given to a member of Macon-Bibb’s Georgia Civic Awareness Program for Students (GCAPS) cohort.
This year’s recipient is Sharrieff Muhammad, a recent graduate of the Georgia Cyber Academy and the first homeschool student to participate in the program. He had the privilege to represent Macon-Bibb at the 2016 National League of Cities Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Mr. Muhammad enjoys soccer and plans to study broadcast journalism.
To see pictures from the recognition, click here.
“We have observed his work among his peers; we have noticed his creativity we appreciate his participation, his punctuality, and that he is a natural leader,” says Charles Coney, Macon-Bibb’s Assistant County Manager.
The Award is named to honor Mayor Pro Tem Bivins, who helped start the program when he was a Commissioner for the former Bibb County government. The 2014-2015 recipient was Sherrod Hollingshed – now a sophomore at Georgia Southern University – and he was on hand to present Mr. Muhammad with his award.
“Mayor Pro Tem Bivins will do anything to for these young people,” says Assistant County Manager Charles Coney. “I could not name a better ambassador from our government to these young leaders. He makes sure they have direct access to our entire government, from the Commissioners to the Departments to our partners, all and the so they can learn how it operates and how they can be involved.”
About Macon-Bibb GCAPS
For the past three years, Bibb County (and now Macon-Bibb County) has participated in the Association County Commissioners of Georgia’s (ACCG) Georgia Civic Awareness Program for Students (GCAPS). More than 100 students from Bibb County public and private schools applied for this year’s cohort, and more than 30 were selected through a rigorous application and interview process to participate.
Students in the Macon-Bibb GCAPS cohort get to see how government works, what’s changing through consolidation, and how they can be involved with and improve the community now and in the future. Throughout the course of the year, students take part in team-building exercises, attend Commission meetings, tour county facilities, visit the State Capitol, and interact with local and state leaders.
Pictures from their visits can be seen on their Facebook page, and MaconBibbTV produced a feature video on their trip to the Gold Dome and Suwanee.
About ACCG
ACCG is Georgia’s county association and works on behalf of county officials and their communities by providing public policy and legislative advocacy, leadership development, civic and community engagement initiatives, insurance and retirement programs that specialize in local government needs and other cost-saving programs. Formed in 1914 when county officials came together to help fund the state’s first highway department, ACCG today serves as a catalyst for advancing Georgia’s counties. For more information, go to www.accg.org.