Cherokee Charter Academy Beta Club Students Shine at National Conference Cherokee Charter Academy (CCA) Middle School Beta Club students Ashelyn Carden and Alaina Howard recently attended the National Beta Club Conference in Orlando, Florida to compete in the Service Snapshot competition. This competition requires students to create and implement a service project that benefits their community. CCA Beta students created Easter baskets for Never Alone Ministries to share with children the week before Easter. In all, fifty baskets were created and donated. CCA Beta students first presented their project at Beta Leadership Summit in Jekyll Island in March, which qualified them to present at the National Conference along with 25 other elementary, middle and high schools from across the country. Judging criteria focused on students collaboration, communication of ideas and presentation skills.
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 Wins Three National Awards for Communications The Cherokee County School District has earned its first-ever National recognition for communications by bringing home three awards from the National School Public Relations Association.Each year, the Association, consisting of school communications and public relation leaders and experts from across the nation, honors outstanding publications and electronic media produced by school districts as part of their communications efforts. The School District won a Merit Award for its video, School Closure Decision Process, animated by Etowah High School teacher Brandon Grummer, which was based on a script by Carrie McGowan, the Office of Communications supervisor of strategic planning, community relations and publications. Teasley Middle School Assistant Principal John Carter provided the video voiceover.Two CCSD publications won Honorable Mention awards: the 2016 Annual Report of District Progress, which compiles important achievements and data from divisions and schools; and the 2016 First Day Facts, which provides a snapshot of whats new for the coming school year. It is very rewarding to see the School District, specifically its Office of Communications, receive these honors for our intentional efforts to provide timely, relevant and professional communications with our community, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian Hightower said. For us, these awards represent further validation of our philosophy of transparency and quality in the area of communications and public relations!They will be recognized by the Superintendent of Schools and School Board at the August 17 meeting.
Sequoyah Junior Chiefs Cheerleaders Give Back to the Community The Sequoyah Jr. Chiefs Cheerleaders recently spent the day making sandwiches and packing over 1000 sack lunches for the MUST Ministries Summer Lunch Program. During the summer months, children who receive a free or reduced lunch during the school year are also given the opportunity to have a free lunch delivered to them in the summer. The lunches are delivered by MUST Ministry volunteers Monday through Friday. Each child receives a sack lunch that contains (at least) a sandwich, a salty snack, a sweet snack and a juice box. A special thanks to all the Jr. Chiefs Cheer parents who donated items and to Hickory Flat Fellowship Church for opening up their facilities to assemble the lunches. The Jr. Chiefs Cheer Program teaches girls to not only be leaders on the field but also in the community. The program enforces the importance of taking an active role in making a real difference.
Cherokee HS Student Wins Georgias Most Positive Male Athlete Award Jacob Klebar, a member of the schools football team who recently graduated and is headed to Reinhardt University on an academic scholarship, will be honored this month at the 2016-17 Georgia Positive Athlete Awards at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.The award is presented by Positive Athlete Georgia, a subsidiary of Celebrate Positive, LLC, which promotes the benefits of positivity to young athletes around the world. Hines Ward, a former Forest Park High School, University of Georgia and Pittsburgh Steelers football star, formed Positive Athlete with local businessman Scott Pederson.More than 3,400 students are nominated annually by coaches, principals, athletic directors, teachers and parents. Awards are presented for specific sports and regions, with the top award Positive Athlete of the Year -- presented to one male and one female student for the entire state. In addition to excellence on the field, Positive Athletes must show characteristics such as an optimistic attitude, teammate encouragement, servant leadership, heart for others, ability to admit imperfections, giving 100 percent all the time, and realizing the team as more important than the individual.
Sequoyah HS Class of 2017 Graduate Wins National Merit Scholarship Katie Bates has won a National Merit University of Georgia Scholarship! She plans to study biochemistry at UGA in the fall. Less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors are named finalists by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, and only about half win scholarships. Selection of finalists is based on outstanding SAT scores and academic achievements, participation in school and community activities and demonstrated leadership abilities, employment and honors. Scholarships awarded include National Merit $2500 Scholarships, corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards, college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards and Special Scholarships.
Cherokee HS Riflery Team Finish Impressive Season of Championships The Cherokee High School Riflery Warriors completed an extremely successful Georgia High School Association and JROTC Riflery 2017 season. The Riflery Warriors are the 2017 Air Force JROTC National Riflery Champions! For GHSA, the team is the Area 10 Champion and finished fifth in the GHSA State Riflery Championship at Ft. Benning in April; there, the team earned an Area 10 record high score of 1,142. Team members are senior Cody Stroup; juniors Chaolin Hancock, Brody Miller, Noah Foster and Dylan Rodrigue, and freshman Connor Walsh. The Riflery team is coached by Lt. Col. (Ret.) Eddy Stanfill.
Sequoyah HSs Callie Cox Wins Regional Emmy Award for Senior Project For her required senior project, Callie Cox filmed/edited/created a documentary, A Different Documentary: Ethans Story, which is about her special-needs friend. The AV teacher at Sequoyah HS saw it and submitted it to the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (the EmmysTM) for the southeast region, and it won the EmmyTM for the Southeast Student Long Form (Non-fiction) category. The documentary will now compete at the national level, and Callie will accept her EmmyTM this summer at a red-carpet event and awards ceremony. Callie also won a Jimmy Rane Foundation scholarship for exhibiting academic excellence, leadership skills and community involvement as well as activities, awards and honors and demonstrating a desire and ability to overcome barriers and achieve her goals. She will attend the University of Alabama in Birmingham (UAB) in the fall as part of their honors college in their healthcare program, focusing on occupational therapy.
Creekland MS Academic Bowl Team Heads to Nationals Undefeated The Creekland Middle School Academic Team completed its 2016-17 local tournament season with a record of 9-0.The team scored an average of 620 points per round in the competition held at Chattahoochee High School, while holding its opponents to an average of 220 points per round. Jordan Moyal was named the most valuable player of the tournament.Team members are: Justin Bolsen, Erel Moyal, Jordan Moyal, Cal Pace, Joseph Satterfield and Sean Yates; they are coached by teachers Dr. Mark Nazemzadeh and Eli Rollman.
Isabelle Riddle Named U.S. Presidential Scholar Isabelle Riddle of Sequoyah High School is one of only 160 students nationwide to receive this distinct honor. These students are considered among the most distinguished high school seniors of the nearly 3.5 million students in the nationwide graduating class of 2017. Honorees are selected based on academic achievement including exceptional performance on the ACT or SAT, personal character, leadership and service activities; application is by invitation only. Finalists are invited to a White House ceremony. The achievements of these outstanding students deserve acknowledgement, said Marina C. McCarthy, chair of the Commission on Presidential Scholars. The most precious resource of the United States is its talented young people.In addition, Isabelle was named a 2016-17 Coca-Cola Scholar one of only 150 students nationwide selected for the $20,000 scholarship. She also was named the STAR Student for Cherokee County based on her exemplary academic performance, and is her schools student delegate to the Cherokee County School Board. An AP Scholar with distinction, Isabelle has won the PSAT Academic Achievement Award and an Academic Letter. She has served as National Honor Society President and Student Government Treasurer and volunteers for HFDA Gives Back (a service club she founded) and MUST Ministries as a summer lunch coordinator. Isabelle has also won awards for her dancing talent from the Georgia State PTA Reflections Contest and One National Dance Competition.