By Jessica Sconyers 

April 2022

Stephen and Marilyn Martin followed the breadcrumbs to what is now Farmhouse Coffee.

“People come in and not just to get coffee but they feel like they’ve made a connection that day with somebody,” said Stephen and Marilyn Martin. “The idea was to create a place with great coffee, and where we can create community.” 

Living in Cleveland for eight years, both Stephen and Marilyn had the idea for a really good coffee shop in Cleveland because there wasn’t one. Prior to this small establishment, the location housed a barber shop, sub station, and a catering and houseware store. Since March 2021, it has been Farmhouse Coffee.

“So we get our coffee regionally from Dawsonville. A guy named Doug, roasts our coffee specifically to our taste. But we do have possible plans in the future to do our own roasting,” said Stephen and Marilyn Martin. “We are planning on doing a curbside pickup as well, since we don’t have a drive thru.”

Along with these fantastic plans, Stephen and Marilyn Martin have already put into place “Farmhouse Commons,” a place where students, businesses and groups can meet together or study. With Farmhouse Coffee being such a small establishment, there is minimal seating offered. With the Commons being put into place the Farmhouse family will grow even larger. 

“I think our most popular drink is the Michael Jackson, that is white chocolate and mocha,” said Stephen Martin. “I would argue and say that the Milkyway is there neck and neck, milkyway is white chocolate and caramel,” said Marilyn Martin.

Junior, Mass communication major, Caden Nelms lives in Cleveland and has been going to Farmhouse for a little over a year. “I think Farmhouse differs from other coffee shops because Stephen and Marilyn built a relationship with the community so quickly,” said Nelms. “It’s hard to choose just one order from there, but I love their Lavanilla coffee with coconut milk.” 

First timer Freshman, Athletic Training major, Ashley Jeffery describes Farmhouse as welcoming. “The workers greeted you with a smile as soon as you came in,” said Jeffery. “The coffee was really good, there were plenty of options as well as good size choices.”

Farmhouse Coffee is loved by many communities such as University of North Georgia, Truett McConnell, Piedmont University as well as Cleveland. Students can show their ID at the register for a discount of 10% off.

“We would always say that the breadcrumbs led us where we needed to go,” said Stephen and Marilyn Martin. “What has made us successful is that we have the best coffee around and it is how we treat people. Our mission is that people are seen, heard and valued.”

By Jessica Sconyers

April, 2022

COVID forced a move towards a more technology-based curriculum, here’s how Tyler Hill’s research can help us adapt.

“I know growing up it was hard for me to learn how to study, and college is a lot different,” said Hill. “My plan is to become an elementary educator, and I look forward to using some of those tools that I talked about today in my presentation.”

Hill is in his senior year and is doing an internship on the Demorest campus of Piedmont University. Presenting at the 2022 Piedmont Symposium, he mentioned many great tech picks for teachers. He chose this topic because COVID forced a move towards a more technology-based curriculum. COVID shut down everything so quickly that it was very hard for teachers to find different ways to teach their students.

“I feel like the audience was very appreciative of all the hard work that these seniors did to prepare,” said Winstead. “All the presenters I think just did an amazing job.”

Hill discussed the many tools teachers could use in the evolving technology world. These tools included powerpoint, quizlet, google classroom, kahoot and some others the audience hadn’t heard of. 

“I would probably have to pick Quizlet as my favorite. “Quizlet is a very unique way for students to create study tools,” said Hill. Another popular tool that Hill promoted was kahoot. “Teachers can access all the students with a competition format and a lot of students get more motivated when there’s competition involved.”

Audacity is another fantastic tool that Hill researched. “Recording directions for assignments, read alouds for students as well as the students being able to use it too.” 

Education Professor Dr. Susan Winstead, Hill’s advisor for his internship, was very happy with Hill’s work. “You could tell from Tyler’s wonderful presentation and his enthusiasm about his topic that he really is an expert in that field,” said Windstead, adding praise for all Symposium presenters 

Susan Winstead, Advisor

swinstead@piedmont.edu

Tyler Hill, Student, internship 1

thill0817@lions.piedmont.edu 

By Jessica Sconyers 

February 2022

Ineke Dyer is making her mark at Piedmont with the current SAIL program for incoming freshman students.  

“It all about the people, it’s the students who are willing to step out of their comfort zone to participate, it’s the navigators who want to take on a leadership role and become a mentor,” said Dyer, “If you ask any incoming first year student, finding a peer group is what every incoming student is worried about.”

Although Dyer has only been working at Piedmont University for eight months, she still does a lot. SAIL is a very small part of Dyer’s position; she oversees the student success advisors and the learning center. In the Student Success Center the staff has workshops throughout the semester to help students with study skills, time management and other things of that sort. Freshman through senior year, students can get the help they need in more difficult classes.

Before Piedmont, Dyer was at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California for nearly 15 years. “My inlaws relocated to this area about 10 years ago and when COVID hit my husband, myself and my son were in California” said Dyer “We decided we wanted to be closer to family so we moved to this area in September 2020.” 

Since Dyer has only been here for eight months and she wasn’t too familiar with the program called SAIL that she was about to take on. 

“Last year was the fourth year of the program, and I wanted to go through one cycle to kind of see how it was designed, see how it all went before I made adjustments, and I do think it is a very successful program.” 

Dyer has some ideas to improve the program for next year. “Infusing some more intentional sessions regarding academic preparation, so for instance what students would do at an office hour? How they could talk to faculty? Why they should go to office hours? Maybe some note taking skills, test taking skills, and a little bit about time management.” 

She also wants some additional training for the navigators. “Friends to go to the Commons with, they have a peer mentor….some additional confidence with starting off the semester strong academically.”

Dyer lists off a few things that incoming freshman might take away from being in the SAIL program. “In the past they primarily took away a peer group and kind of a sense of belonging before any other students came on campus. So I think a lot of the students who participate in SAIL start the semester off much more comfortable than other students.”

Like many others, Dyer also thinks any student who comes to Piedmont is fortunate. “I think SAIL makes Piedmont special because of the people involved with it. The captains (faculty and staff mentors) volunteer their time for the program. They’re not required to do that, and I think there’s just as deep desire at Piedmont to really help make sure students transition successfully to college.” “Every college is not going to be the right fit for every student, so I think it’s important that students find a place where they feel at home.”

Ineke Dyer

idyer@piedmont.edu

(706) 778-8500 ext 1503

Daughter.Friend.Sister.Athlete.Videographer.Outdoor Enthusiast

18 years old going into college I was torn on what to major in. Biology to become a vet tech? maybe a firefighter in the future? Or undecided? I’m 19 years old now and I’m a freshman at Piedmont university, double majoring in mass and sports communications. For such a long time I’ve been a very creative person. Since 6th grade I knew that I loved videography but never thought of going into a profession for it. 

Coming to Piedmont I was happy to find the mass communications program. In high school I was involved in many digital video production classes. By my senior year I ended up being the first student in Orange County to reach all 8 levels of digital video.

Playing volleyball was also a huge part of my middle school and high school career, I wanted to further my career by playing for Piedmont University. So far I love my major and the sport I play.

I’m from Orlando, Florida so coming to a different state was a big change and I love it. But I definitely miss some significant things like the beaches. When I was 7 I learned how to surf, and I’ve been doing so ever since. I still love the sport and it’s been a part of me for a while, so leaving for a different state where the beach is 4 hours away was a big change.

When earning my drivers license my parents knew I wanted a Jeep Wrangler and I’ve been saving for one for a while. Getting that Jeep I’d say was the start of my adventurousness, and need to explore. I found out that there were whole communities of people who go over-landing, camping, and trail riding in their Jeep. You could say I liked it, others would say I absolutely fell in love with it. The summer of high school to college is when I realized I could mix my passion with my major.

For my future I plan on traveling the country, living out of my Jeep, and doing freelance videography. I want to see and film every possible place in the U.S. I find so much joy in that and look forward to it everyday.