Daniel Kinslow of North Cobb High School will represent Cobb at the National SkillsUSA culinary arts competition next month in Kansas City, Missouri. SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers and industry focused on developing the nation’s workforce though trade, technical and skilled service training. Kinslow earned a spot in the national competition by winning first place for culinary arts at the Georgia SkillsUSA conference in March.

The Kennesaw Business Association reached out to Chef Xan Payton, culinary arts instructor at North Cobb, offering to help support Daniel and the NCHS program on the national stage. Greg Carter of the Kennesaw restaurant California Dreaming and former KBA president Debbie Underkofler presented a check for $2,000 to cover Daniel’s expenses for the trip.

Cobb County Commissioner Lisa Cupid (District 4) inspired students at Floyd Middle School during an All Year Honor Roll Celebration Monday, May 6. Ms. Cupid spoke to 143 students and their parents, encouraging Floyd students to work hard through the challenges while remembering that excellence is still inside them.

Pictured (L-R): Dr. Teresa Hargrett, Principal; Commissioner Lisa Cupid; Julian Robinson, 8th Grade Student.

Cobb County elementary and middle school students will have more ways to explore their summer reading enrichment through a new collaboration with the Cobb County Public Library (CCPL). For the first time, the Cobb County School District and the library system have developed complementary summer reading programs that include shared suggested reading lists, common themes for both academic levels and cross-curricular activities. Both corresponding programs promote the importance of literacy to student achievement and reinforce the value of resources in our public libraries to Cobb County citizens.

Suggested reading lists for 2013 were developed to represent both school and public library collections, including current, popular books and literary classics, with Lexile levels/reading ranges provided for each title. Students still have the option of choosing any age- and level-appropriate book they prefer to read. Students in Kindergarten through fifth grades will “Dig Into Reading” and middle school students will dive “Beneath the Surface,” into books aimed for the pre-teen reader. The primary and intermediate lists for elementary schools and the middle school reading list have corresponding activities for students to choose from, designed to help reinforce study and research skills, critical thinking and application of knowledge.

Students may participate in the summer reading programs for free at any of the 16 branches of the Cobb County Public Library. Library cards are free to all Cobb County residents, property owners and business owners, and to students, with permission from a parent or guardian.

Local schools are also providing fun incentives for students to participate, with specific “reading rewards” criteria for the elementary and middle school programs. Students may also record the titles of all books read on the CCPL Summer Reading Log and return to any branch to be eligible for additional prizes.

Cobb County School District Library Media Education supervisor Janell McClure said, “Research consistently indicates that summer reading programs help boost student achievement and bridge the ‘summer gap’ of retention and learning focus. We’re excited to partner with our local libraries to create a unified reading experience Cobb students can enjoy.”

The Library Media Education department has set up special websites for the elementary and middle school summer reading programs that include promotional videos, suggested reading lists and activity sheets.

Elementary School Summer Reading Site | Middle School Summer Reading Site

Elementary School Summer Reading Video

Middle School Summer Reading Video

The Dowell Elementary Singers chorus were special guests at Turner Field in Atlanta April 17, performing “The Star-Spangled Banner” before the Atlanta Braves vs. Kansas City Royals game. Check out the video below!

For the past several school years, Mt. Bethel Elementary has participated in the Big Thank You letter writing campaign, encouraging students to pen personal letters of support to American servicemen and women. Mt. Bethel kids wrote more than 800 hand-written letters for the campaign, conducted annually by WWWQ radio program The Bert Show. This spring, first grade teacher Heather Mullins received a special email in response to one of her students’ letters. Mrs. Mullins tells the story in her own words:

“I received an email from Senior Airman Matt Houck, who received a letter from one of my first graders last year while he was stationed at Aviano Air Force Base in Italy. He expressed how much this letter meant to him and how he had kept it in a page protector with him for over a year and a half. He was in the process of transferring to another Air Force base in the US and was in town and asked if he could come and thank Jeremy [who wrote him] and the other students. We worked it out and he was able to visit our classroom and meet Jeremy in person! He expressed his gratitude and thanked all of the students for their amazing letters and let them know how much it meant to each of the soldiers overseas. He then stayed and answered all the students’ questions. The kids were so excited to meet a real soldier – they created cards and pictures for SrA Houck during indoor recess that day. At the end of his visit, he got down on the students’ level and individually thanked each of my students by name. This was a very touching and amazing experience for all of the students and teachers. We are so thankful for each of our servicemen and women and feel honored he took time out of his busy schedule to visit and personally thank the students.”

View a gallery of images from SrA Houck’s surprise visit to Mrs. Mullins’ classroom:

The staff and students of Mableton Elementary invites the Cobb County community to attend the building dedication ceremony Sunday, April 21, from 4 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. The new Mableton Elementary building replaced the former school that existed on the same site from 1952 to spring 2012. One of the many capital projects funded by SPLOST III, the new Mableton Elementary is a state-of-the-art, contemporary school facility that nearly doubled the capacity of the previous building.

Still Elementary recently found out how the school’s efforts to help children in Afghanistan paid off. During the 2011-2012 school year, Still students, teachers and staff began a collection drive for clothing, shoes, jackets, toys and books, to be donated to youngsters in Afghanistan. The care packages were delivered to Sgt. Joseph Reinitz and the 257th Transportation Battalion, who distributed the collected items to children and families in the local Egyptian Hospital in Bagnam, Afganistan.

View a gallery of images from the care package delivery below:

Submitted by Jennie Wilson, Fourth Grade Teacher at Still Elementary

The Blackwell Elementary After School Program received a community boost from a new “neighbor.”  Management from the new Walmart Neighborhood Market ( just down Canton Road from the school) awarded a $1,000  grant to Blackwell, which will help provide after school activities and tutoring for students.

Representatives from more than 40 Cobb schools recently took part in bullying prevention training sessions conducted by the District’s Prevention Intervention Center. Prevention specialists shared best practices and research-based strategies with teachers, counselors and support staff, helping them better recognize and address bullying behaviors in schools. The Prevention Intervention Center provided a wealth of support materials for schools and parents to explore, including presentations to share with families and a set of brochures co-written by specialist Jeff Dess, entitled Understanding Playful vs. Hurtful Teasing and Bullying Behavior. Click here to review the brochures online.

Schools are implementing these best practices in ways that best suit their student bodies, including the delivery models for anti-bullying programs and the style of communication. Belmont Hills Elementary is one of several schools to use the Second Step program, which helps develop and reinforce core social-emotional skills in elementary and middle school students.

At Cooper Middle School, students in Amy Zschaber’s art classes created their own digital anti-bullying campaign. Students snapped photos of themselves in various environments and then created their own graphic posters with slogans calling for students to stand up and speak out. A small group of Cooper students also created their own short film, defining the roles kids can play in seeking social justice. A gallery of images created by Cooper students is below.

The P/I Center has also helped administrative teams establish schoolwide reporting mechanisms, so students know whom to report incidents of bullying behavior. Some schools, such as Lost Mountain Middle, have opted to take further steps to implement the intensive Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, a nationally-recognized model for prevention and promotion of understanding amongst young people.

For more information about bullying prevention programs in Cobb schools, visit the Prevention Intervention Center website.