River Trail Geography Bee River Trail Middle School hosted its school-wide Geography Bee in January. Prior to the event, each RTMS student participated in a classroom bee. The school winner is Alejandro Lim, and 2nd place went to Sheri Zhang. Alejandro will take the National Geography Bee test which will determine if he will represent RTMS at the State Geography Bee.
Creek View Spelling Bee Creek View fourth and fifth grade classes participated in a class spelling bee and the winners from each class participated in Creek Views School Spelling Bee. The winner was fifth grader Alina Lee from Mrs. Alison Snows class and the runner-up was Andres Santambrogio from Ms. Margaux Lysetts fourth grade. Alina moved on to participate in the Fulton County Spelling Bee held in February.
River Trail Reading Bowl Tied for 5th Place The River Trail Middle Schools Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl team competed in the Fulton County competition. The team tied for 5th place. Team members read books on the 2014-2015 Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers list and answer questions about the various books. The top two placed teams move forward to compete in the regional competition. River Trails team members are Meghana Vadranam, Olivia Kapwadi, Gabriella Bartlett, Sriya Karra, Brian Amaro, Rahul Sreedharan and Arya Vajpayee.
North Fulton/Forsyth Touchdown Club Honors Winners The North Fulton Forsyth Touchdown Club recently honored the top eight 2014 year-end award winners at a banquet held at the Lanier Tech Forsyth Conference Center. Award winning broadcaster, Sam Crenshaw, was the emcee for the evenings festivities and James West, former Oakland Raiders and Calgary Stampeders player, was the special guest speaker. Included in the winners was Alpharettas Senior Special Teams player Ryan Kopec, Alpharetta High School who was awarded Special Teams Player of the Year. Alpharetta Head Coach, Jacob Nichols, says, Ryan does a little bit of everything for our team. His work-ethic and motivation are unmatched by any player I have ever coached. Receiving the Head Coach of the Year award was Alpharetta High School Head Coach Jacob Nichols. In his first year as head coach, Nichols was undefeated in region play. Roswell High School sophomore running back Sheldon Evans was awarded the Offensive Player of the Year. He was also named 1st All-Region for 5AAAAAA. Roswell Head Coach, John Ford, says he is a, Very hard working young man who has a very bright future if he keeps grinding. Blessed Trinity High School senior linebacker and tight end Patrick Jasinski received the Defensive Player of the Year award. Hes a 2 time first team All-Region player, All-State honorable mention his junior year and was voted by the 4-AAA Region Coaches as 1st Team All-Region this year as a LB and TE. He was also selected by the region coaches as the 2014 Region 4-AAA Defensive Player of the Year. Senior Linebacker Quarte Sapp for Milton High School was awarded Player of the Year. He was named 1st Team All-State as a Junior and 1st Team All-Region as a Junior and Senior. As a senior he was the Region 5-6A Defensive Player of the Year. Milton head coach, Howie DeCristofaro, says about this player, He has represented our program with character and hard work in the classroom, on the playing field, and in the community. He will be sorely missed by his football Family.
River Trail Chamber Orchestra Perform The River Trail Middle School Chamber Orchestra performed at the Governors Mansion in December.
Deadline is February 17 for Hardship Transfers Applications are available for parents who wish to apply for a 2015-16 hardship transfer or to renew a current hardship to another Fulton elementary, middle or high school. Parents can use an online form, available through the Parents section of school systems web site, to enter their information and then print it to obtain signatures and/or supporting documentation. The deadline for submitting a transfer application is Feb. 17, 2014, by 4:30 p.m., with no exceptions or extensions granted. All requests must be received or postmarked by this date and time. Applications can be sent by mail, fax or hand-delivered to: Fulton County Schools Student Assignment Office, c/o Meadows Operations Center, 5270 Northfield Blvd., College Park, GA 30349 or fax 404-763-5547. The February 17 deadline applies to students and parents seeking a hardship transfer for medical reasons, curriculum differences, and child care situations or for employees children. Parents with questions or who need more information about hardship transfers can contact the Fulton County Schools Student Assignment Office at 404-763-5550 or visit www.fultonschools.org/studentassignment.
Fulton Schools Awarded SADD Grants Fulton County Schools Office of Student Discipline recently announced it has received a $45,000 Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) grant from the Georgia Office of Highway Safety (GHOS). SADD chapters are designed to address drinking and driving among teens in Fulton County high schools during the 2014-2015 school year and implement the following activities: Establish or maintain a SADD chapter; complete a minimum of two safety belt checks; host Ghost-Out, Crash Car Event, or Safe Prom and Graduation activities; provide leadership training to SADD chapter members; and support drug prevention activities. This grant will enhance SADD chapters in Fulton County Schools with the idea that student input into the solution will help alleviate the problem of teen driver fatalities in Georgia. Schools receiving the $2,000 SADD grant include Alpharetta High School, Centennial High School, Chattahoochee High School, Creekside High School, Independence High School, and Roswell High School.
Roswell Teacher Attends NASA Orion Spacecraft Launch Mountain Park ES teacher Kati Searcy was selected to attend the December 5 launch of the Orion spacecraft at Kennedy Space Center. Searcy was one of 150 @NASA Twitter followers who live-tweeted the event as a member of the NASA Social Media Team, a program that provides opportunities to learn and share information about NASA's missions, people and programs. Orion is NASA's new spacecraft built to carry humans, designed to allow journeys to destinations never before visited by humans, including an asteroid and Mars. On this inaugural, unmanned Exploration Flight Test-1, Orion tested systems critical to crew safety as it traveled farther into space than any spacecraft built for humans has traveled in more than 40 years. To be chosen, Searcy had to meet specific social media engagement criteria. "Being selected was an honor. This means so much to me and the students at Mountain Park Elementary School," she said. Searcy, a teacher of Talented and Gifted students who has taught at Mountain Park Elementary for 24 years, worked for NASA for a three-year period as a facilitator for NASA Explorer Schools programs at Kennedy Space Center. As a NASA Tweetup attendee, Searcy and the other 149 Twitter users had the same credentials and access to the event as news media, allowing them to view the launch of Orion, participate in media briefings, tours and other NASA events throughout the two-day event. They also interacted with engineers and scientists from Orion and other upcoming NASA missions, and toured the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Searcy also met Patrick Simpkins, the space center's director of engineering, with whom her fourth and fifth grade students Skyped live last year. Students submitted questions for her to ask him. Searcy's tweets can be followed on Twitter (Twitter.com/SearcyTag) and at her blog (SearcyTag.Weebly.com/Orion-Launch-Coverage). She also created videos throughout the experience that are posted on YouTube.
Creekview ES Students Celebrate Colonial Day Fourth grade students at Creekview ES celebrated the culmination of their social studies unit by participating in Colonial Day. Students dressed in clothes from the time period and participated in a number of activities, including listening to stories, turning cream into butter, hammering tin to make ornaments, learning about the art of calligraphy, and making their own candles. Students were able to bring their learning to life and experience firsthand what it may have been like in Colonial times.
Elkins Pointe MS Roboteks Club Wins Award Congratulations to the Elkins Pointe MS Roboteks Club! The club recently won the 2014-2015 L.E.D Winning Alliance Captain award. Elkins Pointe MS was one of only two middle schools in the competition, which included 21 high school teams. Elkins Pointe MS Roboteks Club now advances to the state competition.