The Cobb County School District honors its dedicated school health professionals on May 7 as part of School Nurse Appreciation Week. A special reception for Cobb’s 120 school nurses was held, with special awards given for nurses with more than five years of service to the District.

Nursing supervisor Anne Coyle presented veteran nurses with a special lapel pin in honor of their work.

The School Health Services department supports education by meeting students’ healthcare needs within the academic environment. School nurses provide first aid and administration of medication for students, as well as management of suspected communicable diseases in schools. Cobb’s school nurses served students in more than 500,000 office visits during the 2006-07 school year. In more than 85 percent of those cases, the student was able to return to class to continue his/her educational activities.

School Health Services also work with parents/guardians, teachers, administrators and other healthcare professionals to raise awareness of health issues in the schools and throughout the county. Throughout the year, the department held training sessions for Cobb’s school nurses that included coverage of DFCS protocol, diabetes education, CPR and proper use of the Automated External Defibrillator (AED) in place at every District facility.

In 1928, Mountain View Elementary was a small schoolhouse in the middle of farm country near Sandy Plains and Shallowford roads. Today, the school houses more than 800 students and 100 staff with the proud distinction of being named a Georgia School of Excellence. Mountain View celebrated its 80th anniversary on May 5 with a community assembly.

The festivities included the burial of a time capsule containing items donated by students, which will be opened on the school’s 100th anniversary in 2028.

Mountain View students performed the debut of the new school song during the assembly.

Fifth grader Lindsey Pattinson won a school-wide contest to design a new flag for Mountain View. She introduced the new flag to the student body during the celebration.

Board member Johnny Johnson, Cobb Commission chair Sam Olens, and Superintendent Fred Sanderson were among the guests in attendance. They assisted principal Angela Huff in burying the Mountain View time capsule.

On April 30, the Sprayberry High School Media Center celebrated poetry month by hosting the spring Poetry Lounge on the front lawn. More than 100 students participated in the day by listening or reading poetry. Some students read poems by their favorite poet, while others read their own original works.

All four sessions took place during lunch, which allowed all students the opportunity to participate.
With the upbeat music, beautiful weather, and a perfect audience, the Poetry Lounge was a wonderful experience for all involved.

Dr. Frances Moon, one of the District’s school psychologists, was recently recognized for her practice in the field of school psychology. Dr. Moon received the Innovative Practices Award by the Georgia Association of School Psychologists.

Dr. Moon currently serves North Cobb High School and McCall Primary and provides neuropsychological consultations for the county on students with brain tumors, traumatic brain injury and other acquired brain injuries. She participates on the Brain and Spinal Injury Trust Fund Commission and serves as a liaison between hospitals, day rehabilitation and the school system.

She has developed a recommended protocol for following students who are returning to schools post traumatic brain injury, including attending the initial re-entry meeting, providing services to teachers and helping to develop appropriate goals and objectives and resources.

Dr. Moon has participated in the development of the Child and Youth Resource Guide and the Five Year State Plan for TBI children. Dr. Moon has developed and implemented a study of recovery of function for these students in Cobb County Schools including graduation rate for this population.

Durham Middle School dedicated its new Durham Family Heritage Mural during a special ceremony at the school May 4.

This inspiring work of art was made possible by a Georgia Council of the Arts grant that allowed artist-in-residence Pam Beagle-Daresta to work with Durham Art teacher, Mrs. Helen Colvin, and students enrolled in art classes for the third quarter of the year. The journey began with the compilation of an oral history of the Durham Family property generously supplied by Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Durham,

Mr. and Mrs. Ed Durham and Mrs. Mary Durham Davis. Students also did research on the settlement of the Durham property as well as Acworth and the surrounding area. Additionally, local historians as well as Dr. Thomas Scott of Kennesaw State University helped provide background information which the students used to develop the concept of the mural.

While helping develop the concept, students learned the fundamentals of drawing and painting techniques. Each student then had the opportunity to submit sketches to be incorporated into the overall mural design. Once the design was finalized, students were then shown how to transfer the drawing to the four mural panels, using a proportional gridded master. Under the guidance and direction of Mrs. Beagle-Daresta and Mrs. Colvin, students then began the layering process of painting the actual mural.

The mural concept takes the viewer from the early agrarian history of the family property on the far left panel, through the seasons and the growth of Acworth and the surrounding area in the center panels and culminating with a depiction of the actual school itself, along with portraits of Jimmy Durham, Ed Durham and Mary Durham Davis on the far right panel of the mural.

Congratulations to the staff members of The Greyhound Tracks, Pope High School’s student newspaper, who were recently honored by the Georgia Scholastic Press Association (GSPA) during the organization’s annual convention at the university of Georgia.

The Greyhound Tracks was named winner of the 2007-08 Newspaper General Excellence Award for Class AAAAA, the equivalent of a state title for student newspapers. The staff also won the All-Georgia Best Front Page Design Award for its design and layout.

Writers Sarah Klauber and Susan Shoaf received Freedom of the Press achievement awards for excellence in reporting; Shoaf also earned a superior rating for an in-depth news story on last summer’s drought.

Adviser Chris Canter was also named GSPA 2008 Adviser of the Year.

Also of note, Pebblebrook High’s BrookSpeak and Lassiter High’s Laureate newspapers were ranked and recognized in their respective classes.

Muhak Girls’ High School of Seongdong-Gu, City of Seoul, Republic of Korea and Pope High School signed a sister school agreement on April 23, 2008 for the purpose of promoting various practical endeavors as ways to enhance the understanding and friendship between the two schools and to develop closer educational, cultural, and other relations between Korea and the United States.

Pope principal Charlotte Stowers and Superintendent Fred Sanderson joined the Korean school’s principal at a meeting of the Cobb County Commission to sign the agreement.

Walton’s Science A-team won the state Science Bowl championship on March 29, 2008, at Armstrong State University in Savannah. This is the second time that Walton has won the title. In addition, Walton’s Science B-team came in third at the state, having won its division and just missing the championship game by a tiebreaker question after its final four game ended in a tie. This is the first time in its history that one school has had two teams even qualify for the state tournament. The teams had previously finished first and third at the qualifying round at Kennesaw State University on January 26.

As a result of its state victory, Walton will compete in the National Science Bowl tournament in Washington D.C in May. The Science Bowl is an academic tournament sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy to encourage the development of scientists. While in Washington, our students will meet with DOE scientists, tour museums and attend a congressional reception.

The Walton Science Teams is:
A team : Chris Hallacy (captain), Baylan Fitterman, Song Wang, Don Lee, David Lerner.
B team : Susie Lee (captain), Jayne  Harper, Andy Zhang, Henry Mei, Michael Rhodes
Coaches: Rick Blackstone, Joan Dutter

Equally impressive is Walton’s Math Team, also winners of the respective state title. The team, whose members are Scott Brothers, Chris Hallacy, Henry Mei and Claus Zheng, defeated all other schools in all classifications. Henry Mei was the 4th place finisher and Scott Brothers was the 7th place finisher. This is Walton’s 7th state championship. In addition Scott, Henry, Claus, and Allen Park were named to the state of Georgia math team that will compete for the national championship at the end of May.

After an incredible season, the Lassiter High School girls’ swim team, led by Coach Glen Meeden and assistant coach, Shay Kappel, won the AAAAA state championship. In the final meet, Lassiter’s lady Trojans won 279 - 263.5 over Brookwood High school. Samantha Bosma, Shannon McClellan, Lindzi Smith and Kim Carducci collectively won the girls’ 200 Yard Freestyle Relay, while Bosma, Carducci, Ansley Crenshaw, and Courtney Ciesielski captured the girls’ 400 Yard Freestyle Relay.

Several swimmers from Cobb schools won individual honors at the state meet, including:

• Michael Arnold of Kennesaw Mountain High School in the boys’ 50 Yard Freestyle and 100 Yard Butterfly;

• Erin Reisinger of Walton High School in the girls’ 50 Yard Freestyle and 100 Yard Backstroke;

• Lindzi Smith of Lassiter High School in the girls’ 100 Yard Butterfly; and

• Kristine Polley of Sprayberry High School in the girls’ 100 Yard Breaststroke.

Congratulations to the Lady Trojans for their win and to all the individual swimmers who competed at the state level.

Photo courtesy of Photographic Arts, Inc.

The Georgia Department of Education recently recognized a science program at Floyd Middle School in its regular Science newsletter. The school has featured single gender science classes for boys to explore the impact on academic achievement.

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