Campbell High School freshmen basketball coaches James Gwyn and Josh Kimball took their ninth grade team to the “Inside the NBA” studio at TNT in Atlanta on April 25. Players met studio host Ernie Johnson and analysts Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal.

Pictured above4, from left to right are Coach James Gwyn, Kiyah Collins, D. J. Wilkins, Jaylin Evans, Johnny Reed, Kelly Robinson, Julian Wright, D’ Marcus Andrews, Calvin Triplett, and Coach Josh Kimball.

McCleskey Middle School will become the first Cobb County middle school to receive the Recognized ASCA Model Program (RAMP) designation during a special ceremony June 25 at the American School Counselor Association’s annual conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota. McCleskey school counselors Helen Nguyen and Dawn Densmore will represent the school’s outstanding program.

The RAMP designation, awarded to schools whose counseling programs align with the criteria set in the ASCA National Model, recognizes schools that are committed to delivering a comprehensive, data-driven school counseling program and creating an exemplary educational environment. More than 400 schools have received the RAMP designation since the program’s inception.

Alan Burkard, ASCA’s 2011-12 president, said this year’s recipients are to be commended for their dedication to serving all students and demonstrating how effective school counseling programs can make a difference in students’ lives. “This year’s RAMP honorees have shown their commitment to students and the school counseling profession,” said Burkard. “This designation distinguishes these schools and encourages school counselors nationwide to continue to strive for success.”

RAMP applications are reviewed once a year by a panel of school counseling professionals. For more information on the program, visit www.ascanationalmodel.org/ramp.

The American School Counselor Association (www.schoolcounselor.org) is a nonprofit organization based in Alexandria, Va. Founded in 1952, ASCA supports school counselors’ efforts to help students focus on academic, personal/social and career development so they not only achieve success in school but are prepared to lead fulfilling lives as responsible members of society. The association provides professional development, publications and other resources, research and advocacy to over 30,000 professional school counselors around the globe.

McCleskey’s school counseling program joins the school teams from Lassiter and Walton High Schools as 2012 RAMP award recipients.

Dodgen Middle School seventh grader Sahr Singh won the National Geographic state geography bee March 30th in Milledgeville, Ga. She competed with 100 other fourth through eighth grade students from throughout Georgia. The National Geographic society is providing an all-expenses-paid trip for Sahr to Washington, D.C. to participate in the national championship rounds May 22-24! The first-place national winner will receive a $25,000 college scholarship, a lifetime membership in the Society and a trip to the Galapagos Islands, courtesy of Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic. The PlumTree lumber company will be flying Sahr’s parents to Washington to attend the bee.

“Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek will moderate the national finals on May 24th. The finals will be aired on television.

The kickoff for this year’s Bee was the week of November 14, with thousands of schools around the United States and in the five U.S. territories participating. The school winners after answering oral questions on geography, took a written test and up to the top 100 scorers in each state were invited to the state competition.

Baker Elementary School hosted its first “BAB to GAB – Bring A Book To Get A Book” event on Tuesday, April 24! Conceptualized by first grade teacher Sandra Fortune, students brought in books they finished reading in exchange for “BAB to GAB’ tickets. On the evening of April 24, students “spent” their tickets on fresh books to read during the summer break! Watch a slideshow from the book exchange below!

Submitted by Laura Fiedler, Baker Elementary

Walton High School senior Lisa Wang and her AP Biology teacher Dr. Tina Link (pictured third, fourth from left) were chosen as 2012 Georgia STAR Student and Teacher by the Professional Association of Georgia Educators! Miss Wang was one of 21 high-performing students from across the region selected as finalists for the honor. Lisa is among just ten in that group to score a perfect 2400 on the SAT!

Read complete coverage of the STAR Student and Teacher honors at the Marietta Daily Journal.

With the new Mableton Elementary School opening this fall, former students, staff and community members are taking time to celebrate the school’s long history this Saturday, April 28 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Former Georgia governor and Mableton alumnus Roy Barnes will serve as keynote speaker for the event.

Events at the ‘Remember Mableton School’ day include tours of the old building, entertainment from the Mableton chorus, recorder ensemble and cheerleaders; food vendors, a museum of past yearbooks and old photos, and a ‘Meet and Greet’ with architects of the new Mableton Elementary School.

All attendees will be captured in a special panoramic photo session at 11:30 a.m., followed by Mr. Barnes’ speech. Parking will be available at the nearby First Baptist Church of Mableton or the Light House parking lot. Handicapped parking will be available along the cemetery fence.

Fifteen students from Oakwood Digital Academy recently toured the Lockheed-Martin Aeronautics facility in Marietta. Community relations coordinator Hamilton Holmes made a interactive presentation to Oakwood’s students about opportunities within the company, including college internships, co-ops, and other career paths within the Lockheed organization.

Following the presentation, Mr. Holmes guided students on a tour of the assembly plant, where they viewed Lockheed-Martin employees at work putting the cargo planes together. They witnessed the engineering, planning, and testing that goes into the development of new aircraft, from start to finish. Oakwood plans to continue working with Lockheed-Martin for future tours to show students the possibilities for careers in the engineering and manufacturing industries.

Pictured L-R: Tim Stultz, Post 2 School Board Member; Jeffrey Chandler, ESOL teacher; Mariela Romero of Univision; and Campbell Middle principal Gail Johnson.

Jeffrey Chandler, ESOL teacher at Campbell Middle School, got a surprise visit April 23 from a Univision television crew! Mr. Chandler is one of two metro Atlanta educators to be named ‘Maestro Excellente,’ an award for excellent teachers sponsored by Univision and Brandsmart USA.

Nominations for the honor are submitted to the station from parents and community members; Univision Community Affairs Director Mariela Romero said that as soon as she read the letter about Mr. Chandler, she knew he was a winner! He was interviewed for a feature segment to appear on Univision and will be presented with a $1,000 award check! Board of Education Post 2 representative Tim Stultz and Area Assistant Superintendent Dale Gaddis were also on hand to recognize Mr. Chandler.

Andrew Spinks, Supervior of Library & Media Education for the Cobb County School District was recently selected to serve on the National Council on Digital Citizenship (NCDC). Comprised of approximately 50 education thought leaders from across the country, the NCDC is supported by Microsoft in partnership with the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and Topics Education. In its third year, the NCDC is leading the effort to help K-12 school systems successfully address digital citizenship as a vital 21st century skill.

“Today, students consume, create, and share digital content both in and out of the classroom,” said Spinks. “Clearly, at a time when technology use is so pervasive, it is important for educators to help students understand the principles that should govern their behavior as digital citizens. I think the knowledge and skills that come with citizenship are vital.”

With the help and leadership of Mr. Spinks the NCDC will assess attitudes and current practices among their education peers within their district and beyond. Together, the NCDC will continue to encourage and inform conversation on digital citizenship within the education community, notably through webinars, conference presentations, and white papers.

“ISTE is an organization built on collaboration and empowerment within the broad education community and smaller education communities around the world,” stated Don Knezek, ISTE’s CEO. “Our NETS Standards emphasize digital citizenship, so the NCDC is a crucial cog in our effort to help educators put the standards into practice.”

The Bullard Elementary Odyssey of the Mind team is preparing to travel to Ames, Iowa for the competition’s World Finals in late May! Odyssey of the Mind is a creative thinking program that allows youth to compete against others using problem-solving skills. Students are required to develop their own theme, script, characters and props to solve one of six problems in 8 minutes or less. The problem this team chose to base their performance on was called Ooh-Motional Vehicle. This challenge requires teams to design, build, and drive a vehicle that will travel a course where it will encounter three different situations.

The vehicle will display a different human emotion for each encounter and one will cause it to travel in reverse. The team will create a theme for the presentation that incorporates the vehicle and the different emotions. The emphases will be on the technical risk-taking and creativity of the vehicle’s engineering for travel and change of emotional appearance.

Team members include Ashley Jais, Carlie Wilson, Nick Watson, Gerry Parkinson, Hannah Forehand and Reese Shipman. The group is coached by Lyn and Shawn Shipman.

At the Regional Competition held in Flowery Branch, GA on March 3, 2012, the team placed 2nd which sent them to the State Competition. In Columbus, Georgia on April 14th, this team once again was victorious, bringing home the 1st place trophy and qualifying the team for the World Finals.