Baby it is cold outside. Brutally cold. But the show must go on and we are just over a month away from the big dance off. This week we are featuring teams 8 and 9. Team 8 is lead by one of Habersham’s most beloved educators, Octavius Mulligan. Mulligan is now an assistant principal at White County High School after serving in the same role at Habersham Central High School for the past 8 years. Mulligan also served as assistant principal at South Habersham Middle and Cornelia Elementary School.
Mulligan began his career as an elementary teacher at White Sulphur Elementary School in Gainesville, GA where he taught second, third, and fourth grades. During the 2003-2004 school year, he was named “Teacher of the Year”.
After his basketball career at Piedmont College, Octavius served as an assistant basketball coach there for the next ten years. He held that role for three years with the women’s program and seven with the men. Mulligan completed his undergraduate, graduate, and doctorate degrees from Piedmont College. He also holds a leadership certificate from the University of Georgia. Octavius’ career in education spans over 25 years and he is very passionate about the students and the community in which he serves.
Mulligan’s partner is Savannah Hayes. She is a lifelong resident of Habersham County and resides in Cornelia, Georgia. Her dance education started at the age of three at Dance-A-Lott Studio under the direction of Mrs. Donna Trotter. She has been privileged to take dance from Mia Michaels, Tyce Diorio, Wade Robson, Laurieann Gibson, and Brian Friedman from So You Think You Can Dance. Savannah now studies at Premiere Dance and Performing Arts Academy in Cornelia, Ga. where she also is an instructor. She has studied many mediums of dance which include: Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Street and Studio Hip Hop, Lyrical, Contemporary, Modern, Pointe, Liturgical, and Pom. Also, Savannah has been in many productions at Habersham Community Theater, which she loves. She is honored to be part of Dancing with the Stars to raise money and awareness for this wonderful cause.
Team 9 is headed up by Clarkesville attorney, Tricia Hise. She is a Habersham County native and a Habersham Central graduate. Hise obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Georgia and thereafter moved to Los Angeles, California where she obtained her Juris Doctor from Southwestern University School of Law. Hise decided to move back East and moved back to her roots of the Northeast Georgian Mountains to begin her legal career as a judicial law clerk to the judges of the Mountain Judicial Circuit (Habersham, Rabun and Stephens Counties). Thereafter she served the Mountain Judicial Circuit as an Assistant District Attorney before entering private practice in 2007. Hise is the trial attorney and partner of Hotard & Hise, Attorneys at Law in Clarkesville, Georgia where her practice includes divorce, child custody, criminal defense, DUI defense, personal injury, serious car accidents, trucking accidents, real estate transactions and general trial litigation.
In 2008, Hise won the largest jury verdict ever awarded in the Mountain Judicial Circuit, in the case of Melinda McCoy v. Creative Consulting, Inc., et al. with a $35.8 million dollar damages award. The hard work and dedication on behalf of her clients have been rewarded with the accolades from the Fulton Daily Report’s Top Verdict, and most recently, the Top Three Verdicts of the Fulton Daily Report’s Verdict Hall of Fame 2014.
Tricia’s greatest accomplishment, however, is her son Max. In addition, Tricia is married to Nathan J. Dilday. Tricia is active in her community and has served on the Georgia Child Advocacy Advisory Council and has devoted countless hours of pro bono legal work to the Powerhouse for Kids Child Advocacy Center, the Circle of Hope, and F.A.I.T.H. (Fight Abuse in the Home) on behalf of children and adults who are victims of physical, mental, emotional, and sexual abuse. Tricia is a member of the Habersham County Rotary Club and active member of Bethlehem Baptist Church. She also serves as Vice President, Secretary / Treasurer for the Mountain Judicial Bar Association.
Hise’s partner is Trae Knight. He was born in Stephens County, but when he was 13, he and his family relocated to Commerce, Georgia, where he attended East Jackson High School and was involved in basketball and baseball. Knight began dancing nine years ago when his brother Brandon formed a dance group by the name of P.O.P (Pursuit of Praise), dancing out of the Nation of Isaac Ministry, which performs spiritual dances mixed with hip hop and other styles of dance. He was mentored by his brother in various styles of hip-hop dancing.
Don’t let your favorite teams lose. Be sure to keep on voting at https://www.dancingwiththestarsforhope.org/#!teams/cjg9
Be sure to get your tickets now. This is sure to be a sellout!
