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.

Kurt Klinkmueller, a junior at The Center for Advanced Studies at Wheeler High School, scored a 36 Composite score on the ACT. Among ACT tested U.S. high school graduates in the class of 2012, only 781 out of more than 1.66 million students earned a composite score of 36. The National Average Composite score for 2012 was 21.1 and the Georgia Average Composite score for 2012 was 20.7.

Submitted by Stacy Regitsky, Wheeler High School Center for Advanced Studies in Science, Mathematics, and Technology

South Cobb High Gates Millennium Scholars Halimo Hasaan, Nnennia Magazwu, and Brittany Davis

Five members of Cobb County’s Class of 2013 have been named Gates Millennium Scholars and will receive “good-through-graduation” scholarships for any college or university they choose! South Cobb High School had three young women named Gates Scholars: Halimo Hasaan, Nnennia Magazwu and Brittany Davis. From Campbell High School, senior Queentela Benjamin will receive the Gates scholarship. Jayson Toweh of Kennesaw Mountain High School was also selected as a 2013 Gates Millennium Scholar.

The Gates Millennium Scholars (GMS) program began in 1999, funded by a $1.6 billion grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Administered by the United Negro College Fund, the goal of the program is to provide outstanding, low income African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian Pacific Islander American, and Hispanic American students with an opportunity to complete an undergraduate college education in any discipline they choose.

Both students selected to represent Georgia in the 2013 U.S. Presidential Scholars program are from Walton High School in Cobb County! Congratulations to George Q. Fei and Hali L. Mo, who were among the 141 high school seniors nationwide recognized by the U.S. Department of Education for their success in and outside the classroom. One male scholar and one female scholar were selected from each state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and from U.S. families living overseas. The program also awarded 15 at-large recipients and 20 U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts.

U.S. Presidential Scholars are selected based on their academic success or artistic excellence, as well as essays, transcripts and evidence of leadership and community service. Mr. Fei and Ms. Mo were chosen from more than 3,3o0 applicants for the national honor.

Both Walton students are invited to attend an expenses-paid trip to the national recognition ceremony June 16 in Washington, D.C., where they will be awarded the U.S. Presidential Scholars medallion.

Barber Middle School was recently recognized as the Governor’s Red Ribbon contest winner for middle schools during a special ceremony March 28 at the Woodruff Arts Center in Atlanta. Last October, Barber and other Cobb County schools participated in Georgia Red Ribbon Week, a statewide drug awareness campaign that provides an opportunity to bring parents, schools, businesses, and others together to help create drug-free communities.

Twelve Barber students represented the school at the awards ceremony. Afterwards, the group toured the High Museum of Art, where they explored the Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera exhibit.

Barber was recognized for its efforts to engage the entire Acworth community during Red Ribbon Week. The week started with the Acworth Police Department distributing red ribbons to the students. Each day, students participated in activities and events that promoted awareness including broadcasts over the school news, daily trivia questions, poster contests and daily themes. At the conclusion of the week, Barber held a community Health, Safety and Wellness Fair which included representatives from the Cobb Alcohol Task Force.

The National Red Ribbon Campaign began as an effort to honor federal drug enforcement agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, who was killed in the line of duty. Agent Camarena was kidnapped and killed in 1985 while working undercover investigating drug traffickers. To honor his memory, friends and neighbors began to wear red satin badges. In 1988, the National Family Partnership organized the first Red Ribbon Campaign. Georgia has participated since 1987 and Governor Nathan Deal is the Honorary Chair.

Submitted by Lara Salzman, professional school counselor, Barber Middle School

Students in the North Cobb High School Ninth Grade Academy created four unique video shorts that address ways students can combat bullying behaviors. All four clips are included in the school’s “Freshmen Friday” segment, available to view below:

The Cobb community is invited to attend the ‘Inspired by the heART’ art show May 9-11, featuring the creative work of Cobb County students with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities. The show will be hosted by the Cobb County Central Library at 266 Roswell St. in Marietta.

An opening reception will be held on the first night, May 9 at 6:30 p.m., with complimentary desserts and a student slideshow.

Lassiter High School students went to infinity and beyond Friday, April 26, as the school celebrated “Brandon Carpenter Superhero Day.” Brandon, a sophomore at Lassiter High School with muscular dystrophy, has always been a fan of Marvel Comics and superheroes. To show their support of Brandon, Lassiter students and staff dressed in superhero attire and welcomed him to school on Friday morning with an inspiring round of applause. Students created posters of encouragement and posted cheerful door decorations throughout the hallways of the building. Brandon was treated to a special breakfast where he was celebrated for his “superhero strength!” Some of the guests spotted in the crowd were Brandon’s family, Lassiter cheerleaders, Lassiter String Ensemble, the Chick-fil-A Cow, Principal Dr. Chris Richie, and fellow Lassiter students and staff. A big thank you to Lassiter teacher, Cathy Zingler, for organizing this spectacular day for Brandon Carpenter!

Submitted by Ashlynn Campbell, assistant principal, Lassiter High School

A group of Smitha Middle School students are discovering the joys of “the beautiful game,” with the help from some positive role models and their speech language therapist. The idea was the brain child of Ms. Henley Slepyan, who observed a lack of strong male role models in the lives of the boys she works with on a weekly basis. She asked her students if they would be interested in connecting with mentors and form a Smitha Middle soccer team – they were unanimous in their excitement for the idea. The group returned their signed parent permission forms the next day!

Ms. Slepyan approached the men at her church, recruiting mentors for her Smitha students. She worked with Cobb Mentoring Matters (CMM) to screen the volunteers through the program’s school-based mentorship program. With the blessing of principal Clint Terza, CMM conducted an orientation and training session at Smitha April 3. Within a week, all volunteers were cleared to help kickoff the soccer team and mentor program.

The group met for the first time on Friday, April 19, with students eager to play, learn and have fun. The team plans to stay after school each Friday for the rest of the year to connect with their mentors and build teamwork. The Smitha team hopes to serve as a template for other schools to launch their own mentorship groups around activities students are interested in.

For more information about Cobb Mentoring Matters, visit the program website.

Submitted by Maryellen Gomes, Cobb Mentoring Matters