The metro Atlanta community continues to show its generosity to Cobb County schools affected by the late September flooding. Ed Cahill, Director for Economic Development for GreyStone Power Corporation, dropped by the office of Superintendent Fred Sanderson Oct. 29 to personally deliver a $25,000 donation to the District’s flood relief efforts! In addition, GreyStone Power also gave $5,000 specifically to Clarkdale Elementary School, whose facility was ruined by the floods. The District would like to thank GreyStone Power and all of the individuals and organizations who have contributed to the flood relief efforts.

The Lassiter High School DECA club held a three-week Breast Cancer Awareness fund-raising campaign during the month of October, capturing the attention and generosity of the whole school. The campaign raised more than $2,000 for breast cancer research!

The campaign began with with St. Joseph’s Hospital’s Mammogram bus offering mammograms for teachers. From Oct. 11-17, students passed out pink ribbon-themed treats to Lassiter staff members to raise awareness and show appreciation. DECA sold custom pink t-shirts, included facts about cancer during the morning announcements and offered discounted pink spiritwear in the school store. The campaign concluded with a “Pink Out” at the home football game against Milton on Oct. 16, where everyone from the band to the cheerleaders to the football team got into the spirit of support.

The Lassiter DECA sponsors are teachers Kari Palmer and Wanda Wexler.

Roswell Street Baptist Church was packed with cheering students, family members, school district representatives and community supporters.

The Cobb community united at Roswell Street Baptist Church Oct. 27 for the grand finale of the ‘Give Our Schools A Hand’ month, the Teacher of the Year pep rally! The day began with a special breakfast for the teachers provided by the Cobb Chamber of Commerce. Soon after, Teachers of the Year from every school in Cobb marched into the church to the sounds of the McEachern High marching band, cheered on by hundreds of students, staff, and community supporters.

Each teacher was individually honored and awarded a special plaque by Superintendent Fred Sanderson. Partners in Education from the Chamber provided a variety of giveaways for the teachers and the Ed Voyles Automotive Group awarded a one-year lease on a new car to each of the District-level winners, Linda Bonstein, Kelly Bramblett and Dr. Michaele D’Aquanni-Swift!

Thanks to the community sponsors who help make ‘Give Our Schools A Hand’ successful! All of these festivities were made possible by the Cobb Chamber of Commerce, who continues to fervently support public education in Cobb County.

Tony Browning, Latin and French language teacher at North Cobb High School, was recently named one of two 2009 Volunteers of the Year by the Cherokee County YMCA.

“I get a satisfaction contributing to the community wellness mission,” Browning said. “Supporting the staff in meeting their goals and the YMCA mission is a challenge under today’s economic conditions. The YMCA is a part of my family, and everyone enjoys the physical aspect of it. My daughter is a swim instructor and lifeguard, and my wife works in the membership department. It is an important part of our social life.”

Mr. Browning will be honored at the Metro Atlanta YMCA annual volunteer recognition dinner Nov. 5 at the Georgia World Congress Center.

The Wheeler “Wildcat Pride” Marching Band applied for and was issued an invitation to perform at the 2010 Cherry Blossom Festival Parade in Washington, D.C. on April 10th. It is a very prestigious honor, with usually only one group being chosen to represent its home state. This is also a precursor toward applying for an invite to the either the Macy’s Day Parade or The Rose Bowl Parade in 2011.

Project 2400, a strategic partnership between the Cobb Chamber of Commerce and the Cobb County and Marietta City school districts, continues to help Cobb students improve their SAT test performance! Project 2400 was created in 2006 by the Cobb Chamber of Commerce, providing an intensive SAT preparation course for students during their junior year of high school.

In 2009, 751 Cobb students participated in Project 2400 at no cost to them or their families. Of the students who took both the initial diagnostic test and the SAT, 90 percent scored higher by 10-750 points. The average score increase from the first diagnostic test to the SAT was 166 points, with an average score for all participants of 1517.

The Board of Education and Cobb Schools Foundation welcomed and recognized some of the program’s most improved students during the Oct. 22 Board meeting, including:

Rebecca Sellmann, Allatoona
Susan Lee, Campbell
Casey Hofmann, Campbell
Caitlin Dunnington, Harrison
Bradley Clements, Harrison
Lauren Bovard, Hillgrove
Ian Ritter, Kell
Jhanna Garcia, Kell
Dianna Nord, Kennesaw Mountain
Rachelle Eljazzar, Lassiter
Alex Kinnebrew, McEachern
Sarahi Zaldumbide, North Cobb
Johanna Blakeslee, North cobb
Cory Spears, Osborne
Ashlee Allen, Osborne
Gloria Oduyoye, Pebblebrook
Kori Burrell, Pebblebrook
Jonathan Klein, Pope
Natalie Bronner, Pope
Chelseay Parks, South Cobb
Rebecca Orfe, Sprayberry
Jinsol Hwang, Sprayberry
Lawton Willingham, Walton
Jonathan Gopel, Wheeler
Nowa Ajayi,Wheeler

Allatoona High teacher Natasha Lewis received a $1,000 grant from David Connell of Southern Company.

Natasha Lewis, social studies teacher at Allatoona High School, received a $1,000 New Teacher Assistance Grant from Georgia Power during a luncheon ceremony Oct. 26. Each year since 2004, Georgia Power has awarded $1,000 grants for classroom supplies to some of the state’s best and brightest new teachers. The purpose of the program is to encourage promising new teachers by helping them purchase materials and supplies for use in their classroom beyond those provided by their school. The items purchased with the grant money are the property of the teacher, not of the school system. Ms. Lewis is a graduate of Kennesaw State University.

Nominations are received from the deans of each public college and university in Georgia that has a school of education. Candidates have to be in the top 25 percent of the graduating class academically, have shown high aptitude for teaching, and must have secured employment as a first-year teacher in a public school in Georgia.

Board of Education member Lynnda Crowder-Eagle and Allatoona principal Scott Bursmith were on hand for the grant presentation.

Grants are awarded to two graduates from each college, one female and one male. Each college is allowed to nominate up to ten candidates: five females and five males, but not less than three of each sex. A selection committee composed of statewide educators and Georgia Power staff reviews each candidate, working to ensure diversity among the recipients with respect to grade level and subject matter taught; attempts are also made to ensure each region of the state has grant recipients. Selection Committee members are not told the names of the candidates, helping to ensure impartiality in the process.

Twelve Cobb seniors were named among 1,600 semifinalists in the National Achievement Scholarship Program! The program is designed to recognize academically promising black students throughout the U.S. and to provide approximately 800 scholarships to the most outstanding participants. For additional information, visit www.nationalmerit.org.

Campbell High School
Ademisola M. Ijidakinro
Savanna M. Williams

Harrison High School
Alexander McGill

Hillgrove High School
Kimberly McMillan

Lassiter High School
Gabrielle M. Piper

Walton High School
Cameron B. Green

Wheeler High School
Nowa E. Ajayi
Gabrielle M. Brown
Drew J. Carrington
Uriah Ellis
Brianna N. Jordan
Niya T. McCray

Mary Anne Addison, teacher at Ford Elementary, engaged her students in helping out a fellow teacher (and Ford mom!) from Clarkdale Elementary in Austell. Mrs. Addison taught with Noelle Huff in the 1990’s and has her daughter in class at Ford. The class collected $260.00 in gift cards from The School Box for Mrs. Huff, as well as a box full of educational games and books for the Clarkdale students!

Fifty-nine students from nine Cobb high schools were among the semifinalists for the 2010 National Merit Scholarship Program. The number of semifinalists named in each state is in proportion to its percentage of the national total of high school graduating seniors and is based on performance on the 2008 Preliminary SAT. The number of semifinalists named in each state is in proportion to its percentage of the national total of high school graduating seniors and is based on performance on the 2008 Preliminary SAT. Cobb’s representatives are:

Campbell High School
Nisha R. Bhat
Kirill P. Makarenko
Tanmayi S. Pai
Nuwan D. Perera

Harrison High School
Brian M. Chandler
Caitlin E. Dunnington

Kell High School
Timothy R. Kimbrough
Elena S. Salerno

Kennesaw Mountain High School
Christopher E. Ammerman
David E. Carroll
John B. Clay
Anna E. Willis

Lassiter High School
Kevin D. Ankerholz
Kathryn V. Crane
Emily K. Kehner
Michael C. Wilson

North Cobb High School
Jesse P. Riggs

Pope High School
Ally M. Hangartner
Pierce D. Owen
Andrew S. Payson

Sprayberry High School
Beryl G. Fulmer

Walton High School
Brian T. Blass
Zachary K. Chartash
Catherine H. Cheng
Andrew R. Dalton
Daniel P. Fitzgerald
Jason M. Gerson
Eric A. Graves
Ethan M. Guthman
Jamie Lee
Supum Lee
Dylan S. McClelland
Kayhan A. Nejad
Abhijeeth Ramesh
Courtney B. Sanford
Bailey S. Seitter
Akanksha Sharma
Rebecca L. Siegelman
Taylor L. Sorrel
Andrew S. Taylor
John E. Taylor
Lawton Ross Willingham

Wheeler High School
Brian M. Boda
Holly L. Brackin
Andrew R. Brock
Adam J. Cross
Jennifer Y. Dou
Andrew S. Gaynor
Abigail U. Halim
Aaron J. Kauffman
Christopher M. Leinweber
Noah M. Levine
Mengjie Liu
Jason R. McElrath
Darpan N. Patel
Jeffrey A. Seiden
Faaiqa A. Shaw
Pranay K. Udutha
Maychee M. Zah