Federal, municipal and APS officials gathered for a rally Monday at Young Middle School to promote Atlanta’s 2010 Census in Schools program to promote awareness of the once-in-decade survey of the U.S. population. U.S. Census Director Robert Groves joined his regional director, Renee Jefferson-Copeland, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, Atlanta Board of Education Chair LaChandra Butler Burks and APS Deputy Superintendent Kathy Augustine for the rally attended by the school’s sixth- and seventh-graders. (The eighth-graders were undergoing testing at the time of the rally.)
“This is a special day for us, and it’s great to be here at this new school,” said Groves, alluding to the newly renovated Young Middle campus. “Schools like this one connect to the Census. How do you build a school? You build them where the kids are. Census data helps people in Washington (D.C.) make good decisions on where to build where the kids are.”