Citizen of the Week: Todd Ogas is ‘a driving force for recycling’

Published 8:15 am Friday, May 23, 2025

As lead teacher of Whitfield County Schools’ Compass Transition Academy, Todd Ogas regularly helps local young people successfully move into adulthood.

He also makes a big difference in the community, and in young people’s lives, in another way, according to Amy Hartline, recycling and education program coordinator for the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority and executive director of Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful.

Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful is a local nonprofit that, as its website notes, focuses on volunteer “activities that promote litter prevention, beautification, sustainability and water protection.”

Hartline said Ogas “has been a driving force for recycling at two different schools (the Transition Academy and Coahulla Creek High School), leading his students in collecting the recycling throughout the school and understanding why it and they are important.”

“He has even brought them on field trips here to the recycling center to give them a big picture and show them jobs they can have here in the community,” she said.

Under his leadership, his students have won the Target Recycling at School contest multiple times.

“Todd cares deeply about his students, cheering them on, helping them grow, and always believing in what they can achieve,” Hartline said.

For his positive impact on the community and his students, the Dalton Daily Citizen names Todd Ogas Citizen of the Week.