The Atlanta Journal from Atlanta, Georgia • 246

THE ART Shaping beauty from trees shrubs Photos by JOHNNY CRAWORD Staff A little off the top: Nan Hsiung Lee trims bonsai trees at his Sweet Valley Bonsai Nursery in Conley JHHEfiHaKr 1 MHMMHBB? Oi8 Couple pin futures to ancient living craft By Devita Starr STA WRITER Making the most of their green thumbs and artistic tal ents Nan Hsiung Lee and his wife Huiying have devoted many years to the ancient art of shaping bonsai trees The couple will display their unusual trees and shrubs during the 25th annual Powers Cross roads Country air and Art es tival Saturday Monday near Newnan appreciates the said Mr Lee 53 know which one they About eight years ago the Lees gave up their careers and moved from Taiwan so their chil dren Christine and Martin could get a better education The Lees own Sweet Valley Bonsai Nursery and are among about 300 artists from 25 states selected by the festival from hundreds of applicants Mr Lee learned his trade in( Taiwan after graduating from college with a degree in agricul ture He taught at an agricultural vocational school in his home country before earning a mas degree in leadership and development from a Massachu setts college He then taught for 10 years in colleges in Taiwan where he also served as a coordi nating and planning director for the Christian und Taiwan he was a profes sor and now he is a said Christine 23 a smile stretching across her face She is now a pro gram director at the Emory Uni versity School of Nursing The couple work diligently to form their living art by snipping and shaping the potted trees to their satisfaction The work also includes fertil izing and constant watering of the many shrubs and trees Ac cording to Mr Lee the practice of growing bonsai probably orig inated before the 11th century in China The dwarf trees can cost from $15 to $300 and they take from one to three years or more to shape Lee said he will take about 200 trees to the fair Mrs job requires driv ing many places to seek out trees and shrubs that will become bon sais need a good eye to see Please see BONSAI J8 bL I ih Nan Hsiung Lee will display bonsai at this Powers Crossroads Country air and Art estival Thursday Aug 31 1995 J9 INDEX The Atlanta Journal The Atlanta Constitution Word power Chinese kids learning their native tongue EXTRA i Jim Minter Independent lady breaks cycle Calendar J4 Real Estate J9 Southside Voices J6 Sports JI2 A 5 5 SAT scores rise in Clayton but still lag state School officials working to create trend from one time improvement By Michael Weiss STA WRITER Instead of basking in the af terglow of an 11 point jump in Scholastic Assessment Test scores Clayton County school of ficials already are at work trying make the one year upturn a trend Students scored an average of 835 on the SAT an exam most colleges use to evaluate appli cants the first increase in three years but Clayton still trails the state and national av erage glad that said Associate Superintendent Jim McGarity how can you find much to gloat about when Georgia is 49th in the nation and behind Six of seven high schools showed improvement with North Clayton the lone ex ception Its average dropped five points to 700 lowest in the county think all schools feel pres sure to said North Clayton Principal Jo Croom certainly we do since our scores are on the Riverdale High had the larg est increase jumping 34 points to 850 Although scores were among the lowest among metro Atlanta school systems McGarity said the improvement is still a good sign that the admin efforts to boost scores are paying off do seem to have turned the he said may Copies of SATs are available If you are interested in get ting SAT scores from other metro counties copies can be purchased through The Atlanta Journal Constitu NEWSEARCH for $5 Call 222 8899 or send check to PO Box 4689 At lanta Ga 30302 be the beginning of an upward or several years the school system has worked to develop a profile of a successful student one who scores 1000 or better on the SAT The greatest connection found is that students who do well on the test also take advanced courses and make top grades in tough classes McGar ity said While it sounds obvious get ting students to understand that always easy he said Ad ministrators are eliminating many basic courses trying to convince students that taking calculus or advanced placement English and working hard is worth the extra effort Students also can take a free summer SAT prep course at their high school and each school has test prep software on hand Many schools also offer after school SAT tutoring Along with encouraging stu dents to take their test prepara Please see SAT J7 Henry SAT scores drop average still above By Anne Cowles STA WRITER Henry County students scored five points lower on the 1995 Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) than Henry students in 1994 but the 868 composite score they tallied is 14 points above the state average Stockbridge High School graduating seniors showed im provement in both verbal and math skills on the SAT while Ea Landing High School stu dents slipped 16 points below their 1994 composite SAT score Landing seniors scored five points higher than 1994 seniors on the verbal sec tion of the test but scored 21 points lower on the math portion giving Landing seniors a Please see HENRY J2 ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY Tata Ballroom is By Kent Kimes STA WRITER Richard Sowers gazed at the six chandeliers mirror lined walls and plush carpeting that deco rate the recently completed Tara Ballroom hard to believe that something like this ex ists at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton Geor said Sowers the public relations director Tara Ballroom is part of an ambitious AMS ex pansion plan dubbed Project 2000 which includes the 1500 Tara Place condominiums a clubhouse and pool facility track renovations and major grandstand additions was the missing said Sowers The ballroom can accommodate about 350 peo ple for sit down dinners and 600 standing is a nice formal banquet said Sowers According to AMS officials the magnitude of Tara Ballroom is hard to match on the Southside you come on the Southside and get south of the airport there any big meeting or ban quet rooms except at Landing or the Peachtree Executive Conference said AMS general manager Ed Clark think it can compete with any major hotel banquet facility in The 6000 square foot facility is also an exhibi tion hall In addition to hosting wedding receptions and private parties Clark and Sowers said the large conference style chamber will allow AMS to stage ride and drive events taking advantage of the ball proximity to one of the garages Ride and drive events are sponsored by auto mobile manufacturers that invite guests to check out their cars The vehicles can be shuttled right into the Tara Ballroom for display and then later tested on oval track Meanwhile AMS events coordinator Brandon Hutchison said interest in booking the banquet room for Christmas parties is heating up Large parties of 300 or more are only charged for food provided by Best Catering on site service with rental fees waived according to Hutchison Smaller groups pay a rental fee be tween $200 and $400 it depends on what they said Hutchison Clark said racing enthusiasts might enjoy host ing wedding receptions with the possibility of spending a race day honeymoon at the condominiums The ballroom is on the ground floor of the nine story condominium complex will be some race fan who wants to get married said Clark i JOHNNY CRAWORD Staff irst class imjxge? Tara Ballroom with Atlanta facilities says fid Clark WWW t1 I Sr gX S' 4 hl.