More than 300 Keheley Elementary School students and their family members attended the school’s first ever International Night on Thursday, Feb. 27. Students wore traditional clothing representative of their respective cultural backgrounds and ‘traveled’ to nearly 30 different booths representing nations across the globe. Each booth featured artifacts, food samples, literature, clothing and games unique to each family’s heritage. Two dance troupes – a clogging group and a Bollywood outfit - also performed for the families in attendance.

Submitted by Nesverie Gondek, ESOL teacher at Keheley Elementary

Cobb County students and families can learn how to earn college credit while enrolled in Cobb high schools at the College Credit Now Summit March 4 at Campbell High School. Representatives from Chattahoochee Technical College, Georgia Highlands College, Kennesaw State University, Southern Polytechnic State University and the Georgia Department of Education will be on hand to provide information and answer questions in a small group setting.

College Credit Now Summit

Tuesday, March 4, 2014, 6:30—8:30 p.m.

Location:
Campbell High School (opening session meets in theater)
5265 Ward Street Smyrna, GA 30080

• Meet College Representatives
• Learn about college credit options available while in high school
• Ask questions in small groups
• Hear about Move on When Ready, Accel, Joint & Dual Enrollment
• Learn about 100% Paid Tuition Options
• Discuss Georgia Student Finance Commission information

Download and print an event flyer with a map of the CTC campus. For more information, contact Angela Kovachi with the CCSD Transitional Career Partnership Program at 770-426-3559.

Students from 53 Cobb schools competed to be recognized as the best readers and fastest buzzers at the eighth annual Cobb County Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl Jan. 18 at Awtrey Middle School. Shallowford Falls is the first place winner for the elementary level, with Still and Birney taking the runner-up positions. At the middle school level, the International Academy of Smyrna earned first place honors, Cooper Middle captured second and Pine Mountain third. Walton High School won its second consecutive first place spot for the high school category, followed by teams from Kennesaw Mountain and Campbell. The top two teams for each academic level advance to the West Regional competition Saturday, Feb. 1 at the University of West Georgia.

Cobb County schools have been very successful in the advanced stages of previous HRRB competitions. In 2013, Birney Elementary won the state title and Campbell Middle captured its second consecutive state HRRB title. In previous years, Lovinggood Middle and McEachern High Schools have won the state competition.

The Bowl was started by Helen Ruffin, a now retired DeKalb County media specialist. In an effort to motivate the students at her school to read more, she decided to capitalize on their competitive natures. Thus, the idea for an academic competition was formed. High school students read the nominated books for the Georgia Teen Peach Book Award. Middle and elementary students read the nominated books for the Georgia Book Awards. In six rounds of competition teams compete against each other. Factual questions about the books are asked. To respond to a question, competitors use a game show style buzzer system. The first student to buzz, responds. If he/she answers the question correctly their team earns 10 points. Thus, speed and accuracy is the name of the game! Winning teams are those that earn the most cumulative points. Due to the round robin nature of the competition, it is impossible to know who will win until the closing ceremony. The Cobb County Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl is organized by a volunteer committee of Cobb County Media Specialists.

Submitted by Barbara Powell-Schager, Library Media Specialist, Big Shanty Elementary

Teams of students from 53 Cobb County schools will face off in a challenge of reading prowess during the seventh annual Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl next Saturday, Jan. 18 at Awtrey Middle School in Kennesaw. The Reading Bowl is an academic competition in which students from all three academic levels test their knowledge of books from the Georgia Book/Peach Teen lists.

The Cobb County bowl will begin with a parade of schools, followed by six rounds of competition. During each round, two teams compete in a fast-paced, 10 question match, using a quiz show-style system to ‘buzz in’ with the correct answers. Winning teams advance to the regional bowl Feb. 1, heading towards the ultimate challenge of the state final in March at the University of Georgia.

The Reading Bowl was initiated by its namesake Helen Ruffin, a now-retired DeKalb County media specialist, who was looking for a way to motivate the students at her school to read more. When she noticed that the students at her school were extremely enthusiastic about competitive events she decided to capitalize on this energy. Thus the idea for an academic competition was formed.

Cobb schools with teams participating in the 2014 Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl include:

For more information about the Cobb County Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl, contact Barbara Powell-Schager at (678) 516-6756.

Barber Middle School held its 2nd annual health and wellness fair October 26th, featuring more than 35 exhibitors. Families and community members joined together to celebrate and discover about healthy decisions. There were giveaways and entertainment for all ages. The entire event was free to the public.

The highlight of the day included the Georgia CHIP Program which provided free child i.d. kits that included fingerprints, pictures, DNA samples and voice samples. Activities were available for all ages from the Alzheimer’s Association and Dogwood Forest a senior retirement facility to the YMCA and the Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta. The crowds were entertained by Barber’s 8th grade dance team and a martial arts demonstration from Atlanta Budokan. Participants were also able to get their flu shots, have their blood pressure checked, vision checked receive pedestrian Halloween tips from Safe Kids Cobb!

Additional exhibitors included the Acworth Police, Cobb County Police, Cobb County Library System, Cobb County Alcohol Task Force, Rite Aide, Walgreens, Depew Orthodontists, Foot Solutions, Comforting Arms, Georgia Department of Human Resources Right From the Start Outreach Program, Acworth Family Eye Care, Play it Again Sports, Atlanta Allergy and Asthma and much more.

Submitted by Lara Salzman, Barber Middle School

South Cobb High School students were invited to attend the 2013 LSAMP STEM conference by Kennesaw State University on Friday, October 11 at the Hilton Head Marietta Hotel & Conference Center. Students were able to listen to keynote speaker Dr. Jimmy Davis, Jr., who spoke about the importance of science, technology, engineering and mathematics in our everyday lives. His speech further delved into the importance of highlighting STEM education in order fill gaps in our new, developing industries.

Breakout sessions followed the keynote speech and SCHS students participated in the high school workshop, focused on engineering of underwater robots. This provided an environment for students to use problem-based learning in order solve a real-world problem. Students identified a problem, took inventory of actual equipment and supplies, and designed a prototype using equipment provided. This was a great opportunity for students to work together in collaborative groups while applying previous and new knowledge to real-world scenarios. Each individual person had to design their own robot and then present it to the rest of his or her group. Once all students presented, the group voted for the best most practical design to share with the entire workshop.

The conference fieldtrip concluded with a luncheon at which Dr. Cheryl Davenport Dozier, president of Savannah State University, spoke about the importance of STEM as it relates to our economy. Our students heard her speak about marketability in all areas and the importance of acquiring and practicing proper oral and writing skills in addition to STEM fields in order to be successful in any career. Dr. Dozier also spoke on the importance of being able to be critical thinkers and problem solvers rather than simply having “book knowledge.”

The Peach State LSAMP is a collaborative effort to significantly increase the number of underrepresented minority students statewide who complete undergraduate degrees in the STEM fields.

Student Reflections:

“I felt empowered to by the words of those who spoke. They pushed the message of innovation, self – expression, and the ideology that the true rock stars are not those in the entertainment industry but those who become doctors, scientists and engineers.” - Daniella Krakue, 12th Grade

“This conference reinforced and encouraged students like myself to continue studies in the STEM field because we are the future and the future is now.” - Omar Benjamin, 11th Grade

“We had the chance to design our own underwater robot called Sea Perch, which gave us the chance to be creative and let our imaginations run wild. We were also presented the opportunity to ask college representatives about any questions we might have had about their college. Overall, the fieldtrip was a great experience and I gained a lot of motivation and information from it.” - Jazmin Lucio, 10th Grade

submitted by Juan Mora, science teacher, South Cobb High School

Graduation ceremonies for fourteen Cobb County high schools will be streamed live this week from www.cobbk12.org. The District has released a complete schedule of commencement events for May 23-25, including links for the live webcasts and ways to purchase commemorative DVDs for each school. Ceremonies for Lassiter, Pebblebrook, Osborne and Hillgrove high schools will be broadcast Thursday, May 23; Walton, Sprayberry, North Cobb, Pope, Campbell, Kell and South Cobb on Friday, May 24 and Harrison, Wheeler and Kennesaw Mountain high schools on Saturday, May 25.

Allatoona and McEachern high schools will conduct graduation ceremonies at their respective stadiums; these ceremonies will not be streamed online due to technical limitations of the outdoor venues.

Spring has sprung and so have the beautiful red tulips planted by Bullard Elementary School in for the national PTA’s Red Ribbon Week. In October 2012, Bullard students, teachers and administrators planted 1,000 red tulips on the school grounds, symbolizing their commitment to “Say No to Drugs.” Each student had an opportunity to dig a hole in the prepared soil and plant their bulb as they reflected on their pledge. Months went by and the long anticipated spring has brought new life to the campus.

“My students pass the tulips every day,” said Kindergarten teacher Bonnie Adams. “They have been so excited to see their flowers bloom and are so proud.”

Bullard Elementary, located on Old Stilesboro Rd., marks its 10th year anniversary this year.

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.

Check out videos from the Timber Ridge Elementary READioactive challenge, a month-long program encouraging students to read for fun! Timber Ridge students spent almost 4,000 hours reading during the month of March, in advance of the school book fair.

The Marietta Daily Journal also covered the READioactive event [subscription required].