Alexander Vollmer, senior at the Cobb County Center for Excellence in the Performing Arts at Pebblebrook High School, has been named one of 60 Presidential Scholar in the Arts candidates as part of the 2009 Presidential Scholars Program. The announcement was made following Alexander’s recent week-long Arts Residency in Miami, FL, as a national finalist in the youngARTS competition. The candidates were nominated from over 6,500 participants in the annual youngARTS competition conducted by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts.

Inclusion in the Presidential Scholars Program, now in its 45th year, is one of the highest honors bestowed upon graduating high school seniors. Each year 141 Scholars, including up to 20 Scholars in the Arts, are selected on the basis of superior academic and artistic achievements, leadership qualities, strong character and involvement in community and school activities. This year, over 3,000 students are eligible for the program’s academic component, based on outstanding scores on the SAT or ACT exam. Of these, 121 will be selected as Presidential Scholars.

Vollmer has been active in extracurricular performing arts opportunities, having attended the Georgia Governor’s Honors Program for Vocal Music and selected four times for membership in the Georgia All-State Choruses. In summer of 2008, Alex studied vocal performance at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute in Lenox, Massachusetts. He plans to pursue a degree in vocal performance.

The South Cobb Council of PTAs is holding a Health & Wellness Roundtable forum March 25 at Floyd Middle School from 5:30 p.m. – 8:45 p.m. The forum is focused on helping families throughout south Cobb County to get information about health and wellness!

Attendees can participate in two sessions of your choice:
• How to Talk to Your Child’s Doctor
• Adolescent Health: Talking to Your Child About Puberty/Sex
• Living a Maximized Life
• Practical Nutrition for Busy Families
• What is a Pediatric Dentist?
• Internet Safety
• Raising Socially Responsible Children in a “Me Generation”
• Asthma Triggers and Symptoms
• Childhood Obesity and How Parents Can Help
• Safe Neighborhoods/Safe Homes

Admission is free for attendees and their families when at least one current PTA membership card is presented from any South Cobb Council of PTAs school, or you can join the PTA at the door. Free light meal and child care services provided!

Austell Int. principal Clint Terza read a story to the student body.

Austell Intermediate School was one of many Cobb schools that celebrated ‘Read Across America’ Day Tuesday, Mar. 2! Classes throughout the school prepared for the event by decorating their classroom doors with literature themes, with a winner to be decided by a school-wide vote. On Tuesday, a variety of teachers, administrators and community guests read stories to students and led the ‘Reading Rally,’ charging up students’ excitement for reading! Austell Intermediate principal Clint Terza shared a story with the student body during the rally and announced Mrs. Devane’s class as winners of the door decorating contest.

‘Read Across America’ is an initiative of the National Educational Association that encourages young people to read for pleasure and learning.

Clay Elementary School’s Science Day was featured in the Feb. 25 issue of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The Career-Technical Education (CTAE) program at Osborne High School was awarded a $10,000 grant from State Farm Insurance, which will help convert the school into a “Green School!”  The grant, entitled “Green School Conversion: A Green Collar Experience,” is designed to help expose students and the Osborne community to “green careers” through sustainable projects around the school. Osborne engineering, drawing & design teacher Tarsha Wynn explained, “Some of the projects that will be performed include purchasing new, zero-VOC paint for the Career-Tech building, retrofitting for faucets (aerators), implementing recycling and composting programs, and installing rainwater tanks and a small solar unit to power an outdoor performance area and learning center! These projects are creating energy efficiency awareness and we hope to make this an ongoing process.”

SkillsUSA is a national nonprofit organization of students, teachers and industry, working together to ensure America has a skilled work force. SkillsUSA helps high school and college students enrolled in career and technical education programs to excel by teaching employability skills such as communication, problem solving and leadership in conjunction with their trade, technical and service occupations skills. The association’s annual membership exceeds 305,000 students and instructors in more than 3,700 schools and colleges in every state, three territories and the District of Columbia. For more information, visit www.skillsusa.org.

This month, Dr. Patti Agatston, prevention specialist for the District’s Prevention/Intervention Center, was a featured speaker at two large educational conferences. At the 2010 Florida Adolescent Conference Feb. 21, Dr. Agatston was a featured speaker, presenting The Cobb Model of Suicide Prevention: Ask A Question, Save A Life. Dr. Agatston traveled to Savannah during the weekend of Feb. 28 for the National Youth-At-Risk Conference, where she was a featured speaker on the subject of Cyber Bullying.

Dr. Agatston co-authored Cyber Bullying: Bullying in the Digital Age with two colleagues to help combat the growing problem of bullying via the Internet and mobile phone, issues that most parents never had to deal with growing up.

The purpose of the District’s Prevention/Intervention Center is to reduce drugs and violence among youth by using research-based programs and best practices. The center also provides crisis response for schools and prevention programs for students and employees. The center has implemented the successful Olweus Bully Prevention Program in 23 Cobb schools, coordinates peer mediation programs, provides Internet safety training for schools and families and provides free mental health and risky behavior interventions/assessments for students and conducts suicide prevention training for teachers and staff. The Prevention/Intervention Center publishes a bi-monthly newsletter to address current youth culture and current trends in alcohol and other drug use, available for download at www.cobbk12.org/~preventionintervention.

Ms. Rhona Hammond, MOID/Special needs teacher and Ms. Virginia Smith, Beta Club Sponsor joined forces to raise money for the purchase of a handicapped van for a family with two wheelchair-bound brothers. What began with an effort by Ms. Hammond’s MOID class ballooned to include the entire school’s staff and students. They raised over $1100 for the effort. The Kennesaw-Acworth Lions Club is working to raise $40,000 to help this family purchase a conversion van. The Lions extend their thanks and gratitude for the hard work and compassion shown by Awtrey Middle School in their efforts to help this family.

The Kell High School Robotics Team was named recipient of the 2010 SeaWorld/Busch Gardens Environmental Excellence Award, which includes a $10,000 prize applicable towards the team’s innovative robotics work and an all-expenses paid trip for the team to Busch Gardens in Tampa, FL! Kell’s program was honored for its application of technology toward an environmentally-beneficial end. As participants in the FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics program, the team designed and built a  trash-collecting robot created to collect garbage from bodies of water such as lakes and rivers. Kell’s group is one of just eight schools nationwide to receive the award.

Representatives from 14 agencies judged this year’s Environmental Excellence Awards. The judging panel included representation from Conservation International, Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute, The Izaak Walton League of America, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, National Geographic Society, National Science Teachers Association, National Wildlife Federation, The Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund.

More information is available on the Sea World Web site.

Grant Wills, junior at Harrison High School, was appointed and sponsored by U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss to serve as a Senate page during the spring semester. Wills will join 29 other young men and women from across the nation that serve as Senate pages during part of their junior year of high school. His responsibilities include delivering correspondence and legislative material between government offices and carrying bills and amendments to the desk.  Wills is an Acworth resident is active in several leadership roles at Harrison, including serving as president of Harrison’s Model United Nations program and being involved with National Honor Society, History Club and Beta Club. Will also founded OneGoal Jerseys, a non-profit organization that collects and distributes soccer equipment to villages in Guatemala.

The City of Acworth reserves time during each meeting of the mayor and city council to honor outstanding students and school programs in the city community. Recent recognitions include:

• Acworth honored the North Cobb High School marching band for being named “Best High School Band” by WSB-TV viewers and Web page visitors! North Cobb High School principal Dr. Philip Page, band director Greg Williams, and assistant band director Scott Pannell and student leaders Anna Shelton and David Estrada were on hand to represent the band. The marching band will perform at Turner Field before an Atlanta Braves baseball game later this spring. The City of Acworth gave certificates of recognition to the representatives in attendance.

• Mayor Tommy Allegood recognized students from North Cobb’s Model United Nations program and adviser Jennifer Biddy. The group was honored for participating in the Georgia State University Model United Nations Conference Nov. 11-12, 2009, where 49 students represented four countries in a simulation of UN proceedings. More than 100 UN countries were represented by 30 to 40 schools from throughout north Georgia. The categories which the North Cobb High School students were recognized included; Outstanding Country – representing the country of Libya: Maria Hawkins, Natalie Castro, Jessica Webster, Alicia Kc, Rugaya Abaza, Alexandra Hughes, Alex Gallo, Michael Wolfe, Sarahi Zaldumbide; Honorable Mention Delegates: Ryan Edge – Security Council for Croatia, Alex Brouillette and Megan Peng – World Health Organization for Croatia, Alexandra Hughes – World Health Organization for Libya; Outstanding Delegates: Rugaya Abaza – Commission for Sustainable Development for Libya, Alex Gallo and Michael Wolfe – International Maritime Organization for Libya, Sarahi Zaldumbide – Security Council for Libya, and Eric Hearn and Allie Boggess – World Health Organization for Spain.

• The Acworth Tree Commission sponsored the Arbor Day Poster Contest at McCall Primary, Acworth Elementary and Frey Elementary. Representatives from the Parks and Recreation Department judged the posters. Approximately 50 posters were entered in the contest. Posters were divided by grades. The Acworth Tree Commission awarded 1st through 3rd place to each grade.

Thanks to the City of Acworth for taking time out of their busy meetings to honor outstanding Cobb students and educators.