Students learned about environmental science through small, classroom-based experiments.

Bullard Elementary School held its annual Science Day Nov. 12, providing students a variety of hands-on science experiments to be involved with! Students in each grade level had a unique set of experiments for their respective grade levels, aligned with the Georgia Performance Standards. From learning about electricity from Cobb EMC to seeing a simulation of water pollution to observing the physics of a falling egg, Bullard’s Science Day immersed students in practical, hands-on learning. More than 100 parent volunteers were on hand to guide the experiments and reinforce the science lessons.

Rapper Ludacris helped Clarkdale students find the right size for their coats.

Clarkdale Elementary students were paid a surprise visit from hip-hop superstar and actor Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges on Nov. 5 ! Through his own Ludacris Foundation, the rapper donated coats for Clarkdale students impacted by the September floods and wanted to personally stop by to meet the students.

Ludacris spent time greeting Clarkdale students at Austell Intermediate and  Compton Elementary schools and spoke about the importance of giving back to the community.

Sheri Brante and Dana Dawes of the Cobb Schools Foundation presented Ludacris with a plaque in thanks for the coat donations. The Cobb Schools Foundation coordinated all of the school flood relief efforts, including the donations from The Ludacris Foundation.

Floyd Middle School’s students, staff, and community celebrated two years of academic success with a pep rally Oct. 16! Board of Education member Holli Cash and Area Assistant Superintendent Ed Thayer praised students for their past success and encouraged their continued effort. South Cobb High School Principal Ashley Hosey and the SCHS senior class and student council presidents spoke to the Floyd student body about continuing what they’ve started as they move closer to high school. The Osborne Cardinal drumline, directed by Michael Reid, gave an outstanding performance that brought students to their feet!

After the pep rally, students were provided with treats, courtesy of the PTSA and Publix. Floyd has good reason to celebrate the success and continued growth at the school, a result of the hard work and dedication of the entire community.

Hundreds of children, parents, and other members of the community turned out on Saturday, Oct. 2, to enjoy a fun-filled day at the 2009 Green Acres Fall Festival.  The Green Acres PTA organized several food and game booths for the students and their families to enjoy. Some of the booths included “Crazy Hair”, bowling, Rock Band, and Wii Sports games.  The most exciting and popular activities with students were the face painting booth and the large bounce house.  Parent volunteers cooked tons of tamales, tacos, nachos and other foods for attendees to enjoy.

The following narrative of this week’s events was delivered by Superintendent Fred Sanderson during the Sept. 24 meeting of the Board of Education. It was accompanied by a photo collage, which is now available here on CobbCast.

This has been an extraordinary and trying week for our school district – one like we have never seen before. But I am extremely pleased to report that as a result of all the adversity we have faced, many positive rays of sunshine have managed to shine through. At this time, I would like to give a short synopsis of what our district experienced this week.

Monday, September 21st began like the six days that preceded it – very rainy. But roads were open and business went on as usual throughout our county. By late morning, heavy, steady rains had saturated Cobb County, swelling local creeks and lakes.  School District Transportation officials had been monitoring the weather and an increasing number of road closures due to rapidly rising water, especially in the Austell and Mableton areas.

Clarkdale Elementary School principal Marjorie Bickerstaff was already concerned for the safety of her 442 students when water from nearby Sweetwater Creek began to spill into the school’s parking lot. She quickly decided to take action and began the process of relocating her students to safety.

Area transportation supervisor Eraina Drain saw the water flowing over the bus port when she arrived on the Clarkdale campus. She immediately called the District’s transportation office and arranged for eight buses from nearby Garrett Middle School to come to Clarkdale.

Mrs. Bickerstaff, along with her teachers and administrators, helped the entire student body evacuate the building in a matter of just a few minutes. Students stepped through ankle-deep water onto the buses, which departed safely back to Garrett.

As weather conditions continued to worsen, the District shut down all middle schools just after 1 p.m., allowing for safe bus transport for Cobb students at all levels. Buses arrived at Garrett to pick up and transport Clarkdale’s students home before another weather system arrived in early evening.

Less than four hours later, an empty Clarkdale Elementary School was submerged under brown water.

On Tuesday, District maintenance staff hitched a ride on a local johnboat in order to get their first look at the damage to Clarkdale. With water remaining higher than ceiling level, the building was inaccessible.

Meanwhile, administrators were hard at work devising a contingency plan for the Clarkdale students, with nearly every division collaborating to find solutions. Immediate concerns included finding nearby classroom space that would keep students as close together as possible, rerouting transportation, and ensuring proper technology support. In just over 24 hours, we had a solid plan in place.

Several generous offers for building space came in from the community, but our first priority was to keep the students in Cobb County schools. With a little creativity, we managed to create space at two nearby schools: Austell Intermediate is hosting 225 third- through fifth-grade students, and Compton Elementary is hosting 217 kindergarten- through second-grade students.

Mrs. Bickerstaff immediately notified her parents to let them know a community meeting would take place that night to lay out the plan and hear input. More than 500 parents showed up.

Maintenance staff worked all day Wednesday and into the evening, installing furniture and materials from our warehouse into space at the two schools. Faculty and staff from all three schools went above and beyond to help prepare classrooms and bring in what instructional materials they could. Our technology department delivered and installed necessary equipment. Many staff worked late into the night to prepare for the reopening of schools this morning.

At the same time, our Transportation team was hard at work reconfiguring bus routes to avoid numerous road closings that remained from Austell to Kennesaw. Buses began arriving at stops in the Austell area as early as 6:15 a.m. today to pick up students. Our transportation officials even arranged for a bus to pick up students at the Cobb County Civic Center, which is serving as a shelter for families that lost their homes. I think it is important for us to remember that as much attention as Clarkdale has gotten this week, students from several other schools have also been left homeless by the floods.

As trying and exhausting as the week has been, it was heartwarming this morning to see the students back in class. Austell Intermediate and Compton rolled out the red carpet for their friends from Clarkdale, hanging welcome banners and greeting students at the doors.

We’re proud to report a positive first day back for all three schools. Clarkdale Elementary remains its own learning family, evenly split between the two locations.

What’s amazing is how resilient the kids are. We had counselors at each location this morning to help students who were having trouble with the emotional aspect of what they had been through. Surprisingly, only a few students seemed to need assistance. Most seemed overjoyed to be back in a classroom with their own teacher, and one student said his new Compton classroom reminded him of Clarkdale.

Almost all of the Clarkdale students were anxious to hear the fate of their beloved school turtles, and Mrs. Bickerstaff let them know that at least one of the creatures had been located since the water receded and was doing fine. Today, maintenance crews filled three forty-yard dumpsters with debris from the devastated school.

The response to Clarkdale’s loss has been simply overwhelming. Offers of help have come in from as far away as Alaska and from all over our country. The generosity of our community, even in difficult economic times, has been staggering. We have posted information on the district web site that gives guidance to those who want to help.

All in all, it’s been a rewarding conclusion to a difficult week. Again, I want to commend every individual in this District who did their jobs so professionally, and even went above and beyond in this crisis situation. Most importantly, I am glad that all of our children are safe and sound, and back to learning in our classrooms.

Students and staff at Russell Elementary welcomed environmentalist and TV host Phillippe Cousteau, Jr. to the school Sept. 10 for a special presentation about conservation and environmental awareness. Cousteau, grandson of legendary explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau, serves as Chief Environmentalist for Discovery Education and helps produce documentaries viewed worldwide.

A packed gymnasium full of Russell students cheered Cousteau as he entered the room, after which he talked about his experiences and asked students knowledge questions about the oceans and wildlife.  Cousteau showed video clips from two of his productions; one featured he and a colleague diving off the coast of Key West, Florida and comparing footage of coral reefs from two decades ago. The clip illustrated the degradation of the delicate coral reef system. Cousteau also showed a segment featuring himself and the late Steve Irwin tagging and tracking crocodiles in Australia.

The visit was organized by Discovery as a means of helping students become more aware of the environment and to encourage interest in science and ecology.

A pair of Walton High School students performed well at the recent SkillsUSA Championships event at the Georgia International Convention Center. Sophomore Alexander Higgins placed 1st in the Screen Printing Technology event, earning him a trip to Kansas City in June to compete in the national championships. Junior Brooke Weikle place 2nd in the Promotional Powerpoint Championship.

Walton’s SkillsUSA students are advised by Daniel Campagna.

A partnership of students, teachers and industry representatives, SkillsUSA is the largest technology-oriented student organization in the nation. The group works to ensure America has a skilled work force by preparing students for careers in trade, technical and skilled service occupations, including healthcare.

Wheeler High’s Culinary Arts students had the distinctive opportunity of assisting with the Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show April 17-19 at the Galleria Center. Students assisted with prep work for Tyler Florence, Guy Fieri, The Neelys, and Paula Deen. The behind-the-scenes experience immersed the students in the world of television food prep. During the Tyler Florence show, one of the Wheeler students was actually on stage and was chosen for his efforts in prepping for Tyler’s dish. Later that day, Tyler visited the prep area where he signed aprons, posed for pictures, and gave words of wisdom and encouragement to our culinary students.

Wheeler students also assisted in the Children’s area where they taught how to prepare various snacks of animal themes. The little chefs created their own cheesy caterpillars and a chocolate octopus. The cooking show allowed them to teach and relate to young children.

Local chefs Chef Kory Mac and Chef Alex Reetoff helped the group prepare for the event, visiting the class to demonstrate their culinary knowledge. The class is advised by Lyvonda Crumb.

Fourth and fifth graders at Norton Park Elementary were recently paid a visit from Cobb County Chief Superior Court Judge Rusty Carlisle. Judge Carlisle gave a brief history about his career as an attorney and about his daily duties as judge. Students listened intently as he explained the judicial system, the roles of the prosecutor and defense attorney, defendants’ rights and how law is applied to court cases. Judge Carlisle encouraged students to be aware of the law and stressed the importance of doing well in school and to continue learning beyond high school.

The District celebrated its retiring employees on Monday, May 4 at the annual Retirement Luncheon at the Roswell Street Baptist Church meeting center. Cobb will bid farewell to more than 120 employees at the end of the 2008-09 school year, with many leaving after more than three decades of service.

The retirees were joined by their families and building principals and were greeted by members of the Cobb Board of Education and Superintendent Fred Sanderson before being served an Italian lunch. Of the 2009 retirees, McEachern High’s Ken Lipe retires with the most years served at 41.5. Five long-serving principals and administrators are among this year’s retirees; Tony Melton, Asst. Superintendent for Policy and Planning; Erin Barnett of Sprayberry High, Joe Boland of Hillgrove High, Denise Feezor of Milford Elementary, and Jim Snell of Dodgen Middle.

Each retiree received a special plaque for their service. Thanks to all of these dedicated employees for their years of service to Cobb County students!