Augusta, GA
Richmond County seniors sign to become future educators in Augusta
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – For years, filling teaching positions in the Richmond County School System has been a challenge.
Last spring, we told you they had around 300 teaching vacancies.
This year, they have more than 130 positions open from pre-K to high school.
The school system is putting its efforts into a program that brings kids back home to teach.
More than 20 students signed the dotted line on Tuesday to commit to doing just that.
Deciding what the future holds for the next four years of your life can be hard, but Jordan King says his future is a no-brainer.
“I signed up to be a teacher so I can teach other students they can be self-aware. They don’t have to go with those norms, the societal norms because they’re always changing,” said King.
King and his two best friends all share a common goal — to impact the future.
Kanye Gilmore said: “I want to make a difference because obviously, there’s not a lot of black young men wanting to be a teacher. So kids will see that and they’ll want to grow up and aspire to be a teacher.”
Quintin James said: “My teacher has inspired me, like just learning about what it takes to be a teacher. I kind of put myself in their shoes and said, ‘Hey, I can be a teacher.’”
Nanette Barnes is the director of career, technical and agricultural education. She says the trios drive couldn’t have come at a better time.
“There’s a teacher shortage. So we were trying to encourage our students to increase in those pathways to be pathway completers,” she said.
The trio joined more than 20 other Richmond County seniors committing to return back home after their college graduation.
It’s a commitment Barnes said the school will continue to keep tabs on.
“They’re going to see if they actually enrolled in college. They want to reach out to them at least two or three times during the school year, during their longevity in college, so that they can continue to remind them, that you have a place at home, got a job here, once they complete your college degree, can come back,” said Barnes.
And it’s a commitment Gilmore says he won’t ever give up on.
“I feel like I owe it to the community,” said Gilmore.
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AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Democratic candidate for Georgia governor Olu Brown visited Augusta on Friday evening, stopping near the Sand Hills Community Center as early voting continues.
Brown is one of six candidates in the Democratic primary.
Campaign priorities
Brown said his vision as governor would focus on three main areas.
“One, it’s affordability around health care and making sure we expand Medicaid and expand Peach Care and make sure we continue to make our rural health care systems healthy and vital,” Brown said. “Number two, we’ve got to address education in all of Georgia, making sure every kid in Georgia gets an excellent education, and we’re paying our teachers more. And number 3, we’re protecting the rights of all women. Folks in the Gold Dome shouldn’t be making decisions about their bodies or the choices that they make.”
Brown is running against Amanda Duffy, Derrick Jackson, Geoff Duncan, Jason Esteves, Keisha Lance Bottoms and Mike Thurmond.
Copyright 2026 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – An Augusta Prep student was arrested on a charge of terroristic threats over a picture of a LEGO gun he posted on social media.
It happened Wednesday, according to an incident report from the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.
Eric Hedinger, the principal of Augusta Preparatory Day School, told deputies a student had uploaded a picture to Snapchat of a “pistol” with the caption “shooting up the school so I don`t have to take the stats exam tomorrow. Don`t come yall!”
The principal said he spoke to the student and his father about the photo.
The principal also provided deputies with the student’s address in Grovetown.
A deputy went there and was told by the student that the “pistol” was a LEGO set that he had built.
He also said the comment he made was supposed to be a joke because he was not looking forward to taking his Advanced Placement statistics test this week.
The student showed the deputy the box that the LEGO set came in, and how the set was already disassembled.
The deputy also looked in the boy’s room to make sure he was not in possession of any weapons.
The mother advised that there was one firearm in the residence but it was locked up.
The deputy contacted Judge Leslie Morgan and she issued a warrant for terroristic threats.
The student, age 18, was taken into custody and transported to the Columbia County Detention Center.
News 12 is not reporting his name or publishing his photo since the LEGO gun could not have actually harmed anyone.
Copyright 2026 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
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