Canton’s City Engineer Named to Top 100 in Engineering Industry City of Canton City Engineer Bethany Watson was recently named as part of the Top 100 Most Influential Women in Engineering in Georgia by Engineering in Georgia Magazine. She also recently celebrated a decade with Team Canton.Watson oversees capital improvement projects, water/sewer infrastructure, transportation, and land development. With more than 15 years of municipal engineering experience, she excels in securing grant funding, winning over $10 million in the last five years for diverse projects including transportation and park infrastructure. She spearheaded Canton’s inaugural sustainability initiative, the downtown parking deck, which features EV charging stations and a solar canopy to offset City Hall’s electricity costs.
Georgia Impact 2024 Season Kicks Off This Month Georgia Impact is a semi-professional women's soccer league team, sponsored by the City of Canton and Canton Tourism. The home field is at Cherokee HS, with the season running from June 1 through June 30. Cheer on these talented athletes at their four home games this season! Visit GaImpactWPSL.com for tickets.
Reinhardt University Women’s Lacrosse National Championship Victory The RU Eagles captured their first 2024 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Women’s Lacrosse National Championship title in Savannah, Georgia. With a final score of 18-10, they beat defending champions, Lawrence Tech. Head Coach Roy Reynolds received the NAIA Coach of the Year Award, and the NAIA named Shelby O’Neil (RU 2024) the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. O’Neil made the all-tournament team along with Jillian Mello (RU 2023 & 24), Anna Marie Gazzo (RU 2024), and Angela Sciacchitano (RU 2024).
Cherokee County School District Announcements 06-24 2024 Yes I Can Award Winners AnnouncedThe Yes I Can Awards celebrate the achievements of children and youth with exceptionalities. The awards encourage students to seek their highest potential and increase public awareness of the abilities, aspirations, and personal qualities of those with disabilities. Each CCSD elementary school is invited to select one student to receive the Yes I Can Award, based on achievement during the year in one or more of the following categories: academics, the arts, school and community, self-advocacy, and technology. This Year’s HonoreesAcademicsArnold Mill ES, Everett Hogan; Ball Ground ES STEM Academy, Merry Marbourg; Clark Creek ES STEM Academy, Faizaan Syed; Clayton ES, Paisly Williams; Free Home ES, Banks Alexander; Hasty ES Fine Arts Academy, Darwin Ambrocio Mendez; Indian Knoll ES, Jordan Lewis; Knox ES STEM Academy, JJ Reece; Little River ES, Ryan Nguyen; Macedonia ES, Adrian Shirling; Mountain Road ES, Mary Grace Richert; R.M. Moore ES STEM Academy, Cecilia Pineda-Jimenez; and Sixes ES, Caleb Ragan.ArtsAvery ES, Cara France.School and CommunityHickory Flat ES, Caroline Connor and Liberty ES, Ansley Winfield.Self-AdvocacyBascomb ES, Lilly Holsinger; Boston ES, William "Liam" Thompson; Carmel ES, Isaiah Law; Holly Springs ES STEM Academy, Olivia Croft; Johnston ES, Madison Byrd; Oak Grove ES STEAM Academy, Christopher Molino; and Woodstock ES, Avery Becker.Woodstock HS Students Place in International Engineering CompetitionFor the Real World Design Challenge (RWDC), Woodstock HS seniors Carson Bove, Camden Browning, and Mary Hogrefe designed an award-winning unmanned aircraft system to help mitigate wildfires. They are fourth-year students in the Career Pathway: Engineering and Technology program, led by teacher Melanie Salas.The competition follows the engineering design cycle, with teams required to design and plan using a real-world approach, including analyzing costs and efficiency. The team won the statewide competition in January and then advanced to the international competition to make their virtual presentation to a judging panel.Their winning entry created CRISPI: the Compact Robotic Imagery System for Preventing Infernos, a backpack-sized drone that acts as a fire lookout, environmental scientist, and wildfire specialist. Their 50-page entry demonstrated their design would be more than six times less costly than current systems in use as well as far more portable and efficient. The students all plan to pursue careers in engineering. Bove will study biomedical engineering at the University of Alabama at Birmingham; Browning will major in mechanical engineering with a specialty in robotics at the University of Florida; and Hogrefe will attend Kennesaw State University to study biochemistry.Mountain Road ES Students Win Top Prize at State Social Studies Fair The Georgia Council for the Social Studies organization presents the annual competition that offers participating students in grades 5-12 the opportunity to research and complete a project, individually or as part of a team. Project categories are anthropology, economics, geography, history, political science, and sociology/psychology. Mountain Road fifth-graders Rachael Crachi and Aubrey Quinn earned the top prize of Best of Discipline honors in the history category for their “Apollo 13” project. Their teacher advisor for the competition was Anna Jurnack.Their entry was among CCSD’s top-scoring projects that advanced to regionals for the opportunity to move on to the state competition. CCSD students earned half the Northwest Georgia Region’s spots to advance to the state competition.Etowah HS Students Place in Statewide Architecture CompetitionTwo Etowah sophomores in the Career Pathway for Architectural Drafting and Design, Hannah Oduselu and Isaac Wood, won honors in the 2024 Atlanta American Institute of Architects High School Design Competition. The annual contest is considered the most prestigious competition in the state for high school architecture students. Students are tasked with creating a solution to specific problems using their creativity and architectural knowledge. The competition features two levels to accommodate students with different experience levels. All contest entries, which top 200 each year, are evaluated by professional architects and engineers. Wood earned second place and Oduselu earned Honorable Mention in the beginner category of the competition, which was open to ninth- and 10th-grade students. Their challenge was to design a butterfly conservatory for the Blue Heron Nature Preserve in Atlanta. The judges praised Wood’s design for featuring sculptural petals centered around the conservatory, calling it “elegant and captivating.” Oduselu’s entry earned specific praise for her butterfly wing entryway.The Career Pathways program at Etowah HS for Architectural Drafting and Design is led by teacher Lindsay Dean.Three Seniors Earn National Merit ScholarshipsLaura Hand of Creekview HS and Livana and Valor Lekas of Sequoyah HS are among the top 2,500 seniors in the U.S. who were awarded a $2,500 scholarship by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. They and their fellow Merit Scholar designees were selected from more than 15,000 finalists who made it through the initial rigorous selection process for the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program. Merit Scholars are selected based on their accomplishments, skills, and potential for college success. The selection committee is made up of college admissions officers and high school counselors who review records submitted by finalists and their high schools including difficulty of courses and grades earned, college-entrance exam scores, contributions and leadership in school and community activities, an essay written by the finalist, and a recommendation written by a high school official.Cherokee HS Student Earns Georgia Award of ExcellenceSenior Reid Glover earned the award presented by the Georgia Department of Education to recognize graduating students who overcome special needs to achieve academic and/or extracurricular accomplishments.Reid’s teachers praise his dedication to learning, especially his talents for writing and visual art. He has excelled in art classes of increasing challenge, culminating in his participation this year in Advanced Placement (AP) 2D Art. He’s a member of the Ambassador Club, Art Club, and National Art Honor Society.Creekview HS Student Advances to National Business Skills CompetitionSenior Olivia Canada earned first place in the job interview contest at the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) state leadership conference recently held in Atlanta. She now advances to the national FBLA competition in Orlando this summer.This is Canada’s second state championship win in a job interview skills contest. She previously earned first place in the contest at the DECA Student Marketing, Management, and Entrepreneurship Association’s state conference and advanced to international competition. Teacher Chris Jeffreys is the sponsor of the school’s FBLA chapter.
Cherokee County School District Announcements Students Selected for Governor's HonorsThe statewide summer honors program for Georgia’s top rising high school juniors and seniors offers four weeks of college-level instruction at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro. Students are selected based on overall excellence in academics, extracurricular activities, and leadership as well as exceptional skills and talents in a specific area of study. Those tapped for the competitive program receive academic instruction in a specific area of study as well as cultural and social enrichment focused on helping them become the “next generation of global critical thinkers, innovators, and leaders.” Etowah HS- Alexis Cua, Engineering DesignWoodstock HS - Katie Bean, Visual Arts; Caroline Toole, Communicative Arts__________________Five Students Advance to State Writing Competition The annual Young Georgia Authors Writing Competition is open to students in grades kindergarten through 12 and provides an opportunity for schools to encourage writing in a variety of genres. Each CCSD school submits a top entry for each grade level to compete at the district level. District first-place winners then advance to the regional North Georgia Regional Education Service Agency contest for the opportunity to compete statewide.These CCSD students won first place in the regional competition and are advancing to the state competition: Grade 1 - Eve Alsobrook of Clayton ES for “The Lost Dog”Grade 2 - Wren Argo of Boston ES for “My Sport in Time”Grade 5 - Elli White of Clark Creek ES STEM Academy for “Reflection Collection”Grade 8 - Ellie Cosgrove of Woodstock MS for “Excerpt from ‘To the Stars’”Grade 9 - Monica Ramirez of River Ridge HS for “I Admire the Leaves”__________________Whitney Morberg Named 2024 Counselor of the Year An 18-year school counselor and three-time Innovation Zone Counselor of the Year award winner, Morberg has served at Etowah HS for the past decade. She’s known for her expertise in guiding students to college acceptance and scholarship wins, but she’s equally known for her efforts to provide students access to career success (even coordinating students’ transportation to advanced training programs and assisting with applications), and her ability to support students experiencing emotional or mental health crises. She also serves on CCSD’s crisis team made up of the district’s most experienced counselors and uses her extensive training to respond to schoolwide crises, such as the death of a student or teacher, as well as to crises in individual students’ and colleagues’ lives.
Burn Ban Now In Effect Each summer, an outdoor burn ban takes effect in 54 Georgia counties including Cherokee County. The burn ban is in effect from May 1-September 30, 2024. The ban prohibits citizens and businesses from burning yard- and land-clearing debris during this period. This is in addition to the rule that prohibits the burning of household garbage, which is never allowed in Georgia.More information can be found on the Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services website at CherokeeCountyFire.com.
Marshal's Office Reorganizes With New Chief Marshal and Deputy Chief Marshal After celebrating 30 years with Cherokee County, Chief Marshal Jamie Gianfala has retired, and former Public Services Agency Director Dana Martin has become the new chief marshal, overseeing the Public Services Agency. Former Marshal’s Office Capt. Dwayne Casteel was promoted to deputy chief marshal of the Marshal’s Office.“Having served Cherokee County for 30 years, I have been fortunate to witness its growth and contribute to its success. I am grateful for the opportunities and experiences that have shaped my professional journey,” Gianfala said. Following Chief Gianfala’s retirement, the Marshal’s Office structure has undergone a reorganization to enhance enforcement efforts countywide. The Public Services Agency director position was eliminated with the role and its duties being assumed by the chief marshal, and two new deputy marshal positions were added with no increase to the department’s budget. One deputy marshal will be assigned to the Code Enforcement Unit, and one will be assigned to the Truck Compliance Unit. Truck Compliance is the newest unit, which focuses on truck traffic across the county to ensure loads are covered and trucks stay on marked truck routes. The mission of the unit is to decrease traffic crashes and incidents related to debris coming from trucks not properly covered and to help minimize litter on Cherokee County’s roadways.Chief Marshal Martin will oversee the Marshal’s Office, E 9-1-1, Emergency Management, Animal Shelter, Probation Services, and Radio Technology. Martin has nearly 30 years of experience in law enforcement. Deputy Chief Marshal Casteel will manage the Marshal’s Office's daily operations. Casteel has 23 years of experience working in both the Animal Control and Code Enforcement units.
Over $50,000 Awarded to Local Entrepreneurs The Cherokee Office of Economic Development (COED) awarded more than $50,000 to their first LaunchPad Bootcamp Series graduates, with more opportunities to come.The first LaunchPad Bootcamp Series kicked off in January with 14 participants. The free four-week series comes as a partnership between COED and Kennesaw State University’s HatchBridge Incubator. It is designed to guide emerging Cherokee County entrepreneurs in launching their business ideas or new products to help them grow in Cherokee’s entrepreneurial space.Each participant had the opportunity to earn up to $5,000 to advance their venture. Out of 13 graduates, 11 were eligible to apply for the mini grant. COED awarded $51,935 among those 11 for its inaugural session, funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) distributed by the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners.Each week, participants researched, refined, and prepared their ventures for launch. Participants walked away from the series with an idea deck, business model canvas, and go-to market. To be eligible for funding, applicants had to complete the full four-week series and all assignments, be a resident of or have a business located in Cherokee County, and submit a completed mini-grant application. COED is collaborating with HatchBridge Incubator, a service born from Kennesaw State University that helps grow startups in the Atlanta suburbs. HatchBridge also offers a coworking space to help entrepreneurs kickstart their ventures. Learn more at HatchBridge.com.This program is offered as part of COED’s Fresh Start Cherokee initiative, which aims to create a culture of entrepreneurship in Cherokee County. Visit FreshStartCherokee.com to learn more.
Cherokee E 9-1-1 Named Call Center of the Year During the recent Georgia Emergency Communications Conference, the Cherokee County E 9-1-1 team was bestowed the 2024 Call Center of the Year in Georgia. The conference is a joint effort of the Association of Public Safety Communications Professionals (APCO) and the National Emergency Number Association (NENA). The Call Center of the Year Award recognizes a 9-1-1 Center in Georgia that exhibits professionalism, leadership, innovation, and service to not only the community it serves but also the region and state.
Lt. David Miller Recognized at GEMSA Awards Reception The 2024 Georgia Emergency Medical Services Association (GEMSA) Awards Reception honors the remarkable dedication of EMS professionals committed to serving their communities selflessly. Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services' Lt. David Miller received the esteemed Tim Peebles Champion of Children Excellence & Advocacy Award. This accolade pays tribute to the legacy of Capt. Tim Peebles, a longtime advocate for delivering top-tier prehospital care, particularly focusing on the prevention of injuries and illnesses in children. Peebles dedicated his efforts to safeguarding the future generation of Georgia, exemplifying excellence in training, patient care, public education, and advocacy. This award acknowledges individuals or groups who embody Peebles' commitment through their innovative ideas, actions, and goals to pursue and reinforce the exceptional benchmarks he established.
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