2 Cherokee County Schools Win Bell Award The distinguished Georgia School Bell Award is presented to 10 schools in Georgia each year in recognition of outstanding curriculum and organizational leadership initiatives. This year, the Cherokee County School District can claim two of the honors! Holly Springs Elementary School STEM Academy, led by Principal Dr. Dianne Steinbeck, and Woodstock Elementary School, led by Principal Kim Montalbano, both have won the 2015 School Bell Award, presented by the Georgia Association of Elementary School Principals. Holly Springs STEM Academy was selected for this honor based on its outstanding initiative, Microsoft Innovative Educators Certification, and Woodstock ES was honored for its successful Camp Learnalotta program.
4 CCSD Schools Named STEM Education Award Finalists The Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) and the TAG Education Collaborative (TAG-Ed) today announced that Canton Elementary School STEM Academy, Clark Creek Elementary School STEM Academy, Teasley Middle School and Creekview High School have been named as finalists for the 2015 Georgia STEM Education Awards. The Georgia STEM Education Awards recognize schools, programs, and companies for outstanding efforts and achievements in supporting and promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Education in Georgia. The four finalist schools from CCSD all have received recent attention for special STEM-related initiatives and successes including, but not limited to: Canton ES STEM Academy is home to CCSDs first aquaponics lab, an innovative project funded through grants from educational organizations and community partners, including the Rotary Club of Canton. Clark Creek ES STEM Academy is CCSDs first school to undergo the rigorous review to earn the prestigious State STEM Certification, with the official certification visit scheduled for September 16. Teasley Middle School is home to several of CCSDs pilot technology programs including the one-to-one laptop initiative, mediascape centers and the Virtual Vortex 3-D STEM lab.Creekview High School is home to the 2014 Team America Rocketry Challenge National championship-winning and internationally competitive aeronautics program.
New Preschool Center Opens Johnston Elementary School recently celebrated the opening of the Johnston Preschool Center on its campus. The center, one of three CCSD Preschool Centers, was relocated from Little River Elementary School to provide more room on that campus for its growing Grade K-6 population. The Johnston Preschool Center, with 143 students, has seen a 22% increase in enrollment from last years total at the Little River campus.
Ten CCSD Students Receive Cindy Richards Woody Awards Ten Cherokee County School District students have been recognized with Cindy Richards Woody Awards. The annual awards are presented by the Canton Kroger supermarket and the family of the late Ms. Woody, who lived with Cystic Fibrosis until her death at age 24 in 1995, after fulfilling her lifelong dream of becoming a teacher. She was known for her strong will and love of life and graduated sixth in her class at Cherokee HS. She also earned an academic and softball scholarship to college, graduated from Shorter College with top honors and began working as a teacher at Sixes ES in 1993. One student is selected from each participating school to receive the honor, and of all the honorees, one overall winner is selected. Students in Grades 3 to 6 are eligible for the award; nominations are made by teachers. This years overall winner is Greer Unterreiner of Sixes ES. The school winners are: Avery ES: Ella WalkerCanton ES STEM Academy: Madison BonitatibusHasty ES Fine Arts Academy: Riley CrawfordHickory Flat ES: Hannah RiversHolly Springs ES STEM Academy: Katherine VanswordIndian Knoll ES: Megan KirbyKnox ES: Stella BelfieldLiberty ES: Emily BeasleyMacedonia ES: Addison SpellSixes ES: Greer Unterreiner We select students who we feel best fit the life that Cindy portrayed. These nominees are expected to excel in academics, sports, morals and citizenship, said Kathryn Laird of the Canton Kroger. All of the honorees receive an engraved plaque; the county winner also receives a gift basket, and a trophy is displayed at his or her school for a year.
Etowah HS Choir Performs with Rock Legends, Foreigner As part of Foreigners ongoing charity partnership with the Grammy Foundation, they hosted the Etowah High School Chorus, who sang with the band on a performance of their 1984 hit, I Want to Know What Love Is, on July 19th, 2015, at Lakewood Amphitheater. Foreigner has partnered with the Grammy Foundation to support its mission of maintaining and restoring music education in North Americas public schools, and raising awareness about the importance of music as part of each childs complete education. As far as Im concerned, music is not only the most powerful form of communication between the peoples of the world, it provides a gateway that opens up a fantastic new dimension of feeling and creativity. Anything we can do to provide young ones with the tools to express themselves through music is our goal in this partnership, said Foreigner guitarist and founding member, Mick Jones. As part of its charity initiative, Foreigner is donating $500 to the choir to use towards its music program. Foreigner has also been involved with other charities including the Red Cross, the Shriners Childrens Hospitals and the VH-1 Save the Music charity, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for these worthy causes.
Wendy Cope is CCSDs 2015 Media Specialist of the Year Cherokee County School Districts 2015 Media Specialist of the Year has been named the regional winner! Woodstock Middle School Media Specialist, Wendy Cope, in March was surprised with the CCSD award the first time the honor was presented by the District. She was notified this week by the Georgia Library Media Association that she is the regional winner for North Central Georgia and now will be considered for the statewide Georgia Media Specialist of the Year award to be announced in October. Ms. Cope and other regional winners will be recognized at an award luncheon this fall at the Georgia International Convention Center in Atlanta. Ms. Cope earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Master of Education degree, both from the University of Georgia, and a specialist degree in Library Media and Information Technology from University of West Georgia. She previously served as a classroom teacher at Woodstock Middle School and River Ridge High School.
RRHS AFJROTC Scores High! The Air Force Junior ROTC instructors and cadets of River Ridge High School in Woodstock recently earned an overall unit assessment score of Exceeds Standards. This is the highest rating attainable during their rated unit evaluation. Lt Colonel Brian Studley and Chief Master Sergeant Marvin Palmer created a dynamic and supportive learning environment coupled with an excellent community outreach.
Honors Day Award Presentation During Etowahs Honors Day, Towne Lake Optimist Club, President Charlice Byrd presented Kingsley Green, female Athlete of the Year award for cross country and track and Jake Pollack, male Athlete of the Year award for tennis.
Boston ES Chess Club Champ Jeffery Meadows, a third grade student at Boston Elementary, is the schools Chess Club Champion. He won first place in Blindfold, Bughouse, and Classic Play Chess. Jeffery especially enjoyed playing Blindfold chess. Blindfold chess forces players to maintain a mental model of the positions of the pieces, because they do not see the positions of the pieces or touch them. Moves are communicated via a recognized intermediary. For Bughouse Chess, normal chess rules apply, except that captured pieces on one board are passed on to the player of the other board, who then has the option of putting these pieces on his/her board. The game is usually played at a fast pace. This, together with the passing and dropping of pieces, can make the game look chaotic and random to the casual onlooker, hence the name Bughouse.
RRHS Academic Bowl Takes Division 3 State River Ridge High Schools Academic Bowl team finished the season on a high note by winning the Division 3 State Championship and the Cherokee County Academic Tournament. The team traveled to Chicago at the end of May to compete at Nationals. The team would like to give a special thanks to Publix for their financial contribution to make this trip possible.