Georgia Has Talent is Around the Corner Mark your calendar for March 3, and plan to come out to this exciting community event! Each year, the Cherokee High School Beat Out Cancer Club organizes and sponsors this event, which showcases some of the best talent from around Georgia. This years show will feature singers, dancers, bands, martial artists, percussionists, and a beat boxer. Prior to and during the show, there will be an expansive silent auction with baskets full of items from local and national retailers. All proceeds from the show will benefit the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Last year, the program raised almost $10,000 for cancer research.Tickets are $7 for general admission and $15 for reserved VIP (limited availability). See GeorgiaHasTalent.com to purchase your tickets today! If you cant make it to the show, please consider making a donation anyway.If you are a local retailer that is interested in some great publicity for your business, check out GeorgiaHasTalent.com, and click on Donate. The silent auction begins at 5:00pm. The show begins at 6:00pm. Come out, and help Beat Out Cancer through Georgia Has Talent!
Cherokee County Educational Foundation Raises Significant Funds for CCSD Schools At a recent meeting, the Cherokee County Educational Foundation Board (CCEF) presented the Cherokee County School District with a check for $45,0018 for special grants and to help the county target areas of need that align with the Foundations strategic plan: Graduation coaching assistance for the special needs high school seniors throughout the District, and targeted course credit recovery for high school seniors. CCEF President Billy Hayes is pictured with Superintendent Brian Hightower, School Board Chair Kyla Cromer, and other Foundation Board members. The Foundation raises money through their annual Gala as well as a golf tournament, a 5k road race, and annual t-shirt sales.
Cherokee Chamber of Commerce Leadership and Teen Leadership Cherokee Class of 2018 Named This 30th Anniversary Class was chosen following participation in a nomination, application, and interview process. Over the next nine months, the Leadership Cherokee Class will participate in a range of sessions that will focus on a variety of topics such as economic development, infrastructure, government, justice, education, recreation, tourism, public safety, healthcare, and social/human services. These classes will prepare members to take a more active role in the community.The mission of Teen Leadership Cherokee is to develop the knowledge and leadership skills of young people in Cherokee County, so they may confidently become the leaders of tomorrow.
Etowah HS Drama Students Win Region and State Honors Seniors Jenna Klein and Adam Parbhoo were named Best Actress and Best Actor at the Regional 7AAAAAAA One Act Play event, and went on to be named to the states All-Star Cast.Senior Brandon Huynh was named to the regions All-Star Cast, and the school also won Best Tech and Best Ensemble honors at Regionals for its performance of Radium Girls.
CCSD Teacher Named Georgia Conservation Teacher of the Year Clark Creek Elementary School teacher Karen Garland has won a state title and a $1,000 grant from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. The award is given annually to one 3rd-5th grade public or private school teacher in Georgia who demonstrates exceptional energy and innovation in teaching life sciences.Ms. Garland will use the grant to begin a Campaigning for Pollinators project, which was inspired by her students idea to convert a monoculture of grass outside their school into a healthy habitat for pollinators like butterflies, bees and hummingbirds. Clark Creek Elementary is dedicated to fostering all students innate curiosity by empowering them to be independent problem-solvers through a variety of opportunities, Ms. Garland said. Through this approach, students see how classroom subjects relate to the real world.
Five CCSD High School Seniors Named National Merit Scholarship Semi-Finalists Five Cherokee County School District high school seniors were recently named 2018 National Merit Scholarship semi-finalists: Etowah HSs Joseph Young, River Ridge HSs Simon Yang and twin sisters Claire and Irene Chen, and Woodstock HSs Preston Alsup.Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian V. Hightower exclaimed, Congratulations to these extraordinary students, their families and their teachers! We are proud of your continued academic achievement on the path to college and career success. Our Merit Scholar semi-finalists are known for their accomplishments in the classroom and through extra-curricular and community activities, and we look forward to seeing them progress through this process and, we hope, to earning scholarships!The National Merit Scholarship Corporation, which oversees the prestigious competition, has named 16,000 semi-finalists, who were selected from a pool of 1.6 million students, based on outstanding 2016 PSAT scores. Less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors are named semi-finalists. To be considered as a finalist, the students will now have to submit a detailed application, noting their academic achievements, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors; an endorsement and recommendation from a high school official; and an essay. Students also must earn SAT scores that confirm their PSAT performance. The anticipated 15,000 finalists will compete for 7,500 scholarships worth about $32 million, which will be awarded in the spring.
Eight CCSD Schools Named National Beta Schools of Merit Cherokee, Creekview and Sequoyah High Schools and Creekland, Dean Rusk, E.T. Booth, Freedom and Mill Creek Middle Schools earned recognition for supporting the youth service organization on their campuses. National Beta Club, which is the largest nonprofit educational youth organization in the nation, includes senior clubs for students in grades 9-12 and junior clubs for students in grades 4-8. Its mission is to promote the ideals of academic achievement, character, service and leadership among elementary and secondary school students.The Schools of Merit honor recognizes schools dedication to academic excellence, leadership development and commitment to celebrating students achievements, according to Bob Bright, chief executive officer of the National Beta Club.The schools were recently recognized at the 2017 National Beta Convention in Orlando, Fla.
CCSD School Wins Prestigious Georgia School Bell Award! The Georgia Association of Elementary School Principals presents the distinguished award to ten schools in Georgia each year in recognition of outstanding curriculum and organizational leadership initiatives. This is the seventh consecutive year that at least one CCSD school has been honored.Oak Grove ES Fine Arts Academy, led by Principal Penny Valle, earned the award for her program, Anchor Standards. The selection committee selects exemplary initiatives that result in positive change and demonstrate strong involvement of staff, students, parents and community. Anchor Standards is a school-wide initiative through which teachers identified specific learning goals for each grade level, subject and grading period to be prepared for, tracked and updated through collaboration within Professional Learning Communities teacher groups. Administrators, community partners, volunteers and parents all play a role in the programs success, and a data room provides a place to review results and talk strategy.
Etowah HS Class of 2017 Graduate Named Gatorade Georgia Baseball Player of the Year and is Drafted by the Atlanta Braves The Gatorade Company recently announced Drew Waters of the Class AAAAAAA State Champion Etowah High School Eagles as its 2016-17 Gatorade Georgia Baseball Player of the Year! Drew, the first Gatorade Georgia Baseball Player of the Year to be chosen from Etowah HS in the awards 32 years, now is a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year!The award, which in the past has been won at the state level by players including Derek Jeter, Jon Lester, David Price and Clayton Kershaw, recognizes outstanding athletic excellence, high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character on and off the field. As Georgias Gatorade Player of the Year, Drew will be able to select a national or local youth sports organization to receive a $1,000 grant as part of the Gatorade Play It Forward program. An outfielder, Drew led the Eagles to a 26-16 record and a State Championship, batting .494 with thirteen home runs, 35 RBIs and 43 runs scored through 42 games, with a 1.126 slugging percentage. Drew, who earned a 92.1 grade point average in the classroom, volunteered for Goshen Valley Boys Ranch and Never Alone Food & Clothing Outreach Center and helped raise more than $12,000 for a family whose son was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Drew signed a National Letter of Intent to play baseball on scholarship at the University of Georgia this fall, but he was picked up by the Atlanta Braves in Junes Major League Baseball draft. He was ranked as the nations No. 11 recruit in the Class of 2017 by Perfect Game and No. 33 by Baseball America.
River Ridge HS Student Wins First Place in State Art Contest Tulani Reeves-Miller placed first in the statewide 2017 TOME Fan Art competition for her work based on the book 5 TO 1 by Holly Bodger.TOME is a national student literary society dedicated to promoting multiple literacies among fourth- through 12th-grade students through service, collaboration and competition-based club activities.