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.

UPDATE #2 (4.26.13): The Challenge Index has been recalculated again, including changes to individual schools’ index scores. Pebblebrook High School was added to the list during this update, ranked at 1,935. The list below has been changed to reflect the national rankings.

UPDATE: Pope High School successfully petitioned to be included among the ranked schools in the Challenge Index. The national and state rankings were recalculated by The Washington Post’s database to reflect this and other additions.

The Washington Post included 12 Cobb County high schools in its list of America’s Most Challenging High Schools, a ranking system based on participation rates for college-level exams. The Challenge Index calculates the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Advanced International Certificate of Education tests given at a school each year, divided by the number of seniors who graduated that year. A ratio of 1.000 means the school had as many tests as graduates.

The Challenge Index database includes scores for more than 1,900 high schools across the country, sortable by region and state. Cobb’s listed schools and their respective index scores (which determine rank) are below, in the order of national rank:

Walton (167 – 4.484)
Lassiter (372 – 3.309)
Harrison (587 – 2.660)
Campbell (845 – 2.241)
Pope (884 – 2.181)
Wheeler (958 – 2.070)
Sprayberry (1135 – 1.867)
Kennesaw Mountain (1149 – 1.849)
Kell (1299- 1.705)
North Cobb (1326 – 1.675)
Hillgrove (1780 – 1.223)
Pebblebrook (1935 – 1.065)

More information about the Challenge Index, including the selection criteria and FAQs, is available from The Washington Post.

Six outstanding members of Cobb’s class of 2013 were named winners of National Achievement Scholarships by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Approximately 800 students were selected for the Achievement Scholarship awards from more than 1,600 semifinalists who applied for the program, designed to recognize academically promising Black students throughout the United States. The six Cobb recipients of 2013 National Achievement Scholarships are:

Adia DeCarla Coley, Lassiter High School – Probable career field: Politics
- National Achievement $2,500 Scholarship

Kristen P. Green, Walton High School – Probable career field: International relations
- National Achievement $2,500 Scholarship

Stephen P. Green, Walton High School – Probable career field: Neuroscience
- National Achievement $2,500 Scholarship

Haley M. Booker-Lauridson, Wheeler High School – Probable career field: Computer science
- National Achievement $2,500 Scholarship

Mina Ezikpe, Wheeler High School – Probable career field: Public Health
- National Achievement $2,500 Scholarship

Nicholas Ngare, Wheeler High School – Probable career field: Chemical engineering
- National Achievement $2,500 Scholarship

More than 160,000 high school juniors from all parts of the United States requested consideration in the 2013 National Achievement Scholarship Program when they took the 2011 PSAT/NMSQT test. Semifinalists are designated within geographic regions and are the highest-scoring program entrants in the states that make up each region. All students who advanced to the Finalist level in the 2013 competition were considered for the $2,500 National Achievement scholarships, which were awarded on a regional representation basis in proportion to the population of Black Americans in each geographic region.

For additional information, visit www.nationalmerit.org.

The Financial Services division of the Cobb County School District has continued its tradition of transparent and accurate management of the public’s tax dollars, winning a significant honor from the Association of School Business Officials (ASBO)! The District received the Meritorious Budget Award for the 2012-2013 annual budget; the award recognizes satisfaction of specific guidelines for effective budget presentation. The award is only conferred to school systems that have met or exceeded the criteria.

ASBO is a nonprofit professional organization serving more than 6,000 business officials.

Congratulations to Chief Financial Officer Brad Johnson, Budget Director Mandy Wissing and the CCSD Financial Services staff for their efforts to exceed the standards for budget presentation.

Eighty-six (86) Cobb County eleventh and twelfth graders have been selected as finalists for the 2013 Georgia Governor’s Honors Program. This year’s GHP residential will take place at Valdosta State University, marking the 50th anniversary of the summer program for talented high school students.

Cobb’s selections are among the 690 finalists selected for the program from nearly 3,000 applicants. Since the program is fully funded by the Georgia General Assembly, there is no charge for students to attend.

Students will arrive on the campus of VSU on Sunday, June 23. For four weeks, students will spend the morning in their major area of nomination, exploring topics not usually found in the regular high school classroom. During the afternoons, students choose one of the other areas in which to study. The curriculum in all the areas is challenging and engaging. Evenings are filled with seminars, activities, concerts, and performances.

Cobb’s finalists for the 2013 Georgia Governor’s Honors Program are:

Sherry Trimble, teacher at Fair Oaks Elementary School, is the grand prize winner in the Atlanta Falcons Green Team Ambassador competition! Presented by the Falcons and aluminum production company Novelis, the Green Team Recycling Program challenged schools to demonstrate how they implemented a robust recycling and education program between October 2012 and January 2013. More than 50 elementary and middle schools from across Georgia registered for the Green Team program. The organizations selected four Green Team Ambassadors from the school leaders heading up the local recycling programs and of those, a grand prize winner.

Miss Trimble, known at Fair Oaks as “Green Girl,” founded the school’s recycling program, school garden & composting initiative, and leads the student brigade of cape-wearing Green Team students who are responsible for recycling collection each day. As a result of Miss Trimble’s leadership, Fair Oaks will receive a $2,500 grant to improve the school’s current recycling program and enhance environmental education.

As part of the grand prize, Fair Oaks students will receive a visit from Falcons players and cheerleaders, mascot Freddie Falcon, and representatives from Novelis on April 4 during a school wide assembly!

Ford Elementary School in Acworth has been selected to represent the state of Georgia in the U.S. Department of Education National Green Ribbon School program. Representatives from the Georgia Department of Education, the U.S. Green Building Council of Georgia, Georgia Environmental Protection Division, the Clean Air Campaign, and the Turner Foundation selected Ford from a number of schools that applied for the national recognition. The Green Ribbon School program allows schools and districts to compete for cash awards up to $10,000 by demonstrating energy efficiency efforts and ways environmental education is incorporated into school culture.

The Georgia Department of Education lauded Ford for its efforts in the selection announcement:

Sitting amid more than twenty acres, Ford Elementary School utilizes more than 60% of the grounds for environmental education and habitat protection. Within its first year, Ford became a National Wildlife Certified Schoolyard Habitat. And for almost twenty years, Ford has been committed to protecting, restoring and sustaining its native forests and stream beds while developing outdoor learning labs. Ford’s award winning model school for environmental education strives for relevance and resiliency while serving as a mentor to others across the state and nation.

Ford principal Dr. Jami Frost said, “Ford Elementary’s 18-year commitment to provide relevant environmental education has been a journey that involves our staff, faculty and community. Through our commitment to science, health and wellness, and our environment, our students consistently perform above state and national averages, with 98 percent scoring in the meets/exceeds category on the science section of the CRCT. Sustainability in all areas – physically, educationally, and financially – remains our goal as we continue to reach out and engage our students, community and beyond.”

The winners of the National Green Ribbon School and Green Ribbon District honors will be announced by the U.S. Department of Education in June during a special awards ceremony in Washington, DC.

Anirudh Udutha, junior at the Wheeler High School Center for Advanced Studies in Science, Mathematics, and Technology, represented the state of Georgia at the 2013 USA National Brain Bee Championship March 2-4 at the University of Maryland. Anirudh placed 12th among 47 students participating from across the country. The results were very close, with 0.25 points separating each contestant’s placement in the top 15 ranks. Anirudh also had the opportunity to attend the United States & Canadian Academy of Pathology (USCAP) Annual Convention, where he met several world-renowned researchers, post-doctoral fellows, and scientists and learned about their research.

The Brain Bee is a neuroscience competition for high school students. Its purpose is to motivate young students to learn about the brain and inspire them to seek careers in the basic and clinical neurosciences to help treat and cure diseases of the brain and nervous system. Build better brains to fight brain disorders. Winners from regional Brain Bee competitions are coming for the Nationals to test their knowledge of the human brain including such topics as Intelligence, Emotions, Memory, Sleep, Vision, Hearing, Sensations, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Schizophrenia, Addictions and Brain Research. The Nationals competition involves an oral exam, a Neuroanatomy laboratory practical with real human brains, Neurohistology with microscopes, Brain Imaging identification, Patient Diagnosis with nurse actors, and a written exam.

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

The fifth grade team from Birney Elementary are Georgia elementary champions in the statewide Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl! Birney’s team won first place at every level of the 2013 reading event – District, regional, divisional and finally the state championship. The finals were conducted Saturday, March 9 at the University of Georgia conference center in Athens, where Birney students faced off against the team from Lyman Hall Elementary in Hinesville, GA. More than 500 total teams competed in the bowl this school year.

The Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl challenged students read 16 chapter books and use buzzers to compete against other schools in answering detailed questions about events from those books. As you can imagine, the competition is intense due to the speed, accuracy, and composure necessary for such circumstances.

Birney is the first Area 2 school in Cobb to advance to and win at the state level of the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl.

Submitted by Kaylee Custance, Birney Elementary HRRB Team Coach