2023-2024

Head Coach: Casey Heckathorn
Assistant Coach: Daniel Jordan 
Team members: Anna Wicklum, *Manuela Pacheco Gonzalez, *Zion Young, *Madilyn “Madi” Link, *Kristin McNeal, Reagan Henderson, *Avery Simpson, Adyson Lukich, *Benton Vineyard

After winning the GHSA 5A Area 1 Championship by a whopping 53 strokes, the Lady Pack faced a much stiffer field at the GHSA 5A State Championship at Fields Ferry in Calhoun, Georgia.

Greenbrier held a narrow one-shot lead over Northview High School after 18 holes. On day two, after falling behind by 9 strokes on the front nine, the Greenbrier girls rallied to not just erase the 9-stroke deficit, but pull ahead and win by 10 strokes for the Greenbrier Girls first-ever State Championship in girls golf.

Greenbrier also had two individuals earn GHSGCA All-State Honors: Freshman, Adyson Lukich, and Sophomore, Reagan Henderson.

Congratulations, Girls Golf Team players and coaches! 

(Due to the recognition scheduled during the summer months when school is not in session, some team members were unable to attend.)

Thanks to members of the Greenbrier High NJROTC for leading the Pledge

Former head coach Brad Powers
Coach Justin Crawford

Lakeside High School senior Barrett Loftis helped lead the school's boys golf team to remarkable success this season. His exceptional talent and competitiveness were instrumental in securing tournament championships at both the Blue Devil Shootout and the Taylor Made Adidas tournament.

In addition, Barrett played a pivotal role in leading the team to a 6A Area championship. This remarkable accomplishment demonstrates his ability to perform under pressure and contribute to the collective success of his team.

Barrett was also awarded the prestigious honor of individual runner-up.

Congratulations, Barrett! 

Thanks to members of the Greenbrier High NJROTC for leading the Pledge

Jack is a junior at Harlem High School. He traveled with Columbia County 4-H to the State Congress in Atlanta this past July 2023, competing in the Dairy Foods project and Leadership in Action. He was one of the two-state winners of Leadership in Action and received a $500 grant to continue his work creating cake kits for local food banks. After having served as Vice-President on both the Junior and Senior Board of Directors Jack was also elected to the 4-H State Board of Directors as the Northeast District Representative for 2023-2024, and was installed for his term during State Congress. Jack has also earned a trip to the National 4-H Conference held in Washington, DC, on April 19-24, 2024.

Congratulations, Jack, for this accomplishment!

Georgia Department of Education Literacy Leaders Award

North Columbia, North Harlem, River Ridge and Stevens Creek Elementary Schools were a few of only 155 from across the state to earn the title of Georgia Department of Education Georgia Literacy Leader. The award aims to recognize outstanding achievement and growth in student proficiency in literacy on the Georgia Milestones Assessments. Qualifications were determined using the Georgia Milestones Reading Status indicator, which is based on the Lexile score associated with students' performance on a subset of questions on the ELA assessment.

Georgia High School Association Student-Athlete Advisory Council Member for 2023-2024

Rikki Carver - Lakeside High

The GHSA Student Advisory Council is made up of 20 Georgia student-athletes. Rikki was nominated by athletic director Derrick Myers because of her intelligence and work ethic. Her application was submitted last spring and scored by a panel based on answers to five questions. Rikki was selected as the representative for Georgia 6A. The council’s focus this year is to improve sportsmanship in schools and acknowledge good acts from student-athletes and coaches. Congratulations, Rikki! 

 

 

National Beta Club National Convention Winners

The National Beta Club National Convention is the nation’s largest independent, non-profit, educational youth organization in America with over 445,000 active members and more than 9,600 clubs both nationally and internationally. Students from the Lakeside Middle Beta Club recently participated and placed among the top 10 in the nation. 

Advisor: Emily Gainey
 
6th place in Engineering
Om Doshi, Averie Lutz, Tyler Malloy, and Erich Anne Sadang

5th place in Quilling Art
Om Doshi

The National Beta Club National Convention is one of the highest honors a member of Beta Club can participate in. These students successfully designed and built a working freestanding model of an elevator and elevator shaft out of a prescribed list of materials and fitting in a small container. With only 45 minutes to complete the task, and with no part of the project being preassembled, this was no small task. Each member of the team then co-presented their project to the judges.  At the National Convention, the Lakeside Middle team competed against 54 middle school teams from across the United States and placed 6th. Students spent countless hours from October to June, even during the summer months, developing their skills in design, testing, redesigning, practicing, and competing. 

Team member Om Doshi also created an art piece using the technique of paper quilling. He used the Beta Club Convention theme “The Power of Beta” to influence his artwork by creating a picture of both a dragon and a dog out of curled paper which represented how everything has the power of something bigger inside them. Om qualified to compete at the National Convention by placing in the top 5 at the National Beta Club Georgia State Convention. At the National Convention, Om competed against 32 other paper-quilling art pieces from middle schools across the United States and placed 5th.

Congratulations, students and Ms. Gainey! 

 

Evans High School Class of 1983 Alumni Donation 

 

The Evans High School Class of 1983 held their 40th class reunion in August, 2023. The Class of 1983 planning committee collected donations from members to host the event. Remaining funds after the reunion were donated by the class to the Columbia County School District Foundation. Members of the class' planning committee presented the donation to the Board of Education.

 Members include: Tammy Shepherd, Doug Hemingway, Jan Wiggins, Jeff Dowdle, Alice Padgett, Phil Lee, Judy McLure, and Millie Kolinski (not pictured)

Thank you, alumni! 

 

North Columbia Elementary 4-H Presidents

Thanks to these student leaders for leading the pledge.

 

This year’s finalists are as follows:

• Brook Andrews – Stallings Island Middle School
• Allison Dixon – Greenbrier Elementary School
• Crystal McDowell – Greenbrier High School
• Cassandra Rodriguez – Evans High School
• Jennifer Roper – River Ridge Elementary School

The 2023-2024 Teachers of the Year are selected in the spring of the previous school year by peers from their respective schools. The method for selecting the Teachers of the Year is comprised of a rigorous process that includes internal and external judges. The finalists will undergo additional evaluations culminating in the selection of the Columbia County School District Teacher of the Year.

The finalists will be recognized by the Columbia County Board of Education on September 12, 2023.  The Columbia County School District Teacher of the Year will be announced at the annual Teacher of the Year Banquet. The winner selected as the Columbia County School District Teacher of the Year will go on to represent the district at the state level.  

For bios of the top five finalists and all school-level Teachers of the Year, click here.  

Cedar Ridge Elementary - 4-H Presidents 

Columbia County School District Foundation
Board of Trustees

The Columbia County School District Foundation was formed last spring to support the district’s vision and mission.  Six initial Foundation Trustees have been recruited and have volunteered to dedicate their time and expertise to govern the organization and to help with fundraising and programming efforts.

These six individuals represent a variety of backgrounds and work across many business sectors. All either have graduated from the Columbia County School District and/or have children who have graduated from the district. This is a group of people with many years of combined experience serving in similar capacities for other local organizations and nonprofits.

Trustees include the following:

• Foundation Chairman - Adam Williams, Partner with The Cleveland Group.
• Foundation Vice-Chairman Stan Shepherd, Regional Director with AT&T
• Foundation Secretary - Megan Moye, Chief Marketing Officer with Meybohm
• Jonathan Samuel, President of GIW Industries
• Steve Baxter, Vice President of Pollock Company
• Wendy Perry, Principal with Katalis

 
Additionally, several non-voting Trustees will help advise the Foundation regarding how to best support the district. 

• Lee Ann Meyer, Columbia County School District Board of Education representative  
• Dr. Steve Flynt, Columbia County School District Superintendent
• Ashley Rice, Columbia County School District Foundation Coordinator, will serve as Executive Director for the Foundation
• Alex Casado, Chief Financial Officer for the Columbia County School District, will serve as the Treasurer for the Foundation.

Thank you to our Trustees for the time and energy you have already spent and will spend, helping to support and grow the Foundation! For more information about the Foundation, or to make a tax-deductible donation, click here.

4-H Presidents lead the Pledge of Allegiance 

Beta Club is an academic service club that emphasizes academic leadership and community service. To be considered for membership, students must be working at or above grade level, demonstrate excellent academic success, and have a good moral character. Traditionally, students are awarded membership based on their grades (GPA), or test scores and character traits. These students participated in the state competitions in Savannah on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, 2023.

Blue Ridge Elementary
2nd Place
Campaign Skit event

Advisors: Mendy Grant and Laura Walker
Team members include:

• • • • • • • • • • • Anika Batra
                    • Patrick Kenny
                    • Deeba Latifi
                    • Harper Lovett
                    • McKenzie Manning
                    • Emma Palmer
                    • Reign Townsend

Stevens Creek Elementary
2nd Place for Living Literature 
3rd Place for Creative Writing
Advisor: Patricia Dekle

• • • • • • • • • • • Barrett Pankow

 

Lakeside Middle
3rd Place - Robotics
3rd Place - Engineering
Advisor: Emily Gainey

Robotics team members include:

• • • • • • • • • • • Valynsia Calhoun
                    • Emma Cox
                    • Arya Doshi
                    • Peter Kenny
                    • Zavi Voigt
                    • Vash Whaley

Engineering team members include:

• • • • • • • • • • • Adain Cox
                    • Logan Cox
                    • Arya Doshi 
                    • Isabelle Pendley
                    • Zavi Voigt

In individual events:

• • • • • • • • • • • Grace Williams - 2nd place - Recyclable Art
                    • Emery Smitherman - 3rd place - On-site Drawing
                    • Madeline Smith - was selected for the National Jr. Beta Performance Dance Team 

 

GHSA Girls Flag Football State Champions
Greenbrier High

 

The Greenbrier High Girls Flag Football Division II Team defeated Lithia Springs High School to earn the GHSA State Championship in mid-December at the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

The team started the season with a loss against Southeast Bulloch, who is the top-ranked team in the country. They went on to win the next 18 games in a row. They had to play tough teams from Evans, Lakeside, and Grovetown multiple times, as well as many difficult non-region opponents. The offense was dominant throughout the season, scoring 469 points, led by Quarterback Kenzie Horton (Area Player of the Year), Aaliyah Silver (All Area, Atlanta Falcons Player of the Week), Presley McDermott (All Area), and Maggie Pangle (All Area). However, in the playoffs it was their defense that helped seal the deal, never allowing more than one point in any game. The pack's defense was led by Linebacker Sophie Campanaro (All Area) and rushers Alisha Mikell (State All Star) and Ari Boone. Ari was also a dominant force as a punter, averaging 40 yards per punt.  In the state championship game, Maggie Pangle gave a heroic performance, coming back from injury to make the game-winning touchdown catch. The season ended with the team not only winning a State Championship in the largest Division of 91 teams but also being nationally ranked No. 2 by Max Preps. 

Congratulations, Greenbrier High Girls Flag Football Team for your Division II State Championship!

Greenbrier High Girls Flag Football Team members:

• • • • • • • • • • Ana Laura Altamirano-Boone
                  • Arianna Altamirano-Boone
                  • Darcy Bridwell
                  • Sophie Campanaro
                  • Bailey Chauvin 
                  • Maziah Driskell
                  • Kenzie Horton
                  • Finley Jones
                  • Abby Lester
                  • Greer Massey
                  • Presley McDermott
                  • Carrington Meyers
                  • Alisha Mikell
                  • Sarah Newland
                  • Maggie Pangle
                  • Mamie Cate Pangle
                  • Jai Sheffield
                  • Aaliyah Silver
                  • Avery Simpson
                  • Hailey Valentino.

Coaches:

• • • • • • • • • • Daniel Jordan
                  • Wes Marshall
                  • Jamie Smith
                  • Ali Collins

 

 

 

2023-2024 Superintendent’s Parent Advisory Council Member
Julie Savina

CCSD parent Mrs. Julie Savina is one of 31 parents from across the state selected to serve as a member of the Georgia Department of Education Superintendent’s Parent Advisory Council.

Parents are nominated by their school district at the beginning of each year and are selected for participation on the state Parent Advisory Council based on their capacity to lead, current levels of involvement in their child's school, and responses to application questions.

As a council member, Mrs. Savina will meet several times this year with State School Superintendent Richard Woods to discuss education issues in Georgia, with a primary focus on increasing parent and family engagement to ensure student success, as well as to provide input on new policies, projects, and materials that impact students and their families. Members will then bring back the information learned, serving as advisors and ambassadors in their respective communities.    

Mrs. Savina has four children who attend Grovetown Elementary, Middle, and High. She enjoys volunteering with the schools, helping in the library, and any other behind-the-scenes assistance for teachers as needed. She has a background in teaching so she brings her experience to this state task force.

Congratulations, Mrs. Savina for being selected for the second time as a member of this very important council for a second year. We are grateful for your support of public education in Georgia and Columbia County.

 

Euchee Creek Elementary 4-H President

Thanks to our 4-H Presidents from Euchee Creek Elementary for leading the Pledge of Allegiance at the Board Meeting.

 

The CSRA Environmental Science Education Cooperative is comprised of federal, state, and private governmental agencies, businesses, and non-profits that are committed to environmental education.  These member organizations volunteer their time and resources for outreach programs, teacher education efforts, and on-site education programs to further their mission. 

Each year, they host the Eco-Meet, an environmental science competition for middle school students in the CSRA.  This year’s competition was held at the Ruth Patrick Science Center in Aiken.  Students spent the day meeting, answering questions, and completing tasks as a team in order to earn points. Congratulations, to student teams from both Greenbrier Middle and Stallings Island Middle for placing among the top three in their respective categories.

Greenbrier Middle School
Teacher Advisor: Loradonna Schultz
Team mentors: Hank Dow and Jeffrey Fleming

First Place Team Members:
Brendan Fleming
Tristan Garrison
Jordan Jeter
Nolan Mennis
James Youmans
Advisor: Loradonna

Second Place Team Members:
Jackson Cluney
Kyan Fleming 
Cade Mitchell 
Carter Stone
Cayden Wamsley

This is the sixth year in a row that a team from Greenbrier Middle has placed first in the state competition. Ms. Shultz has been the Greenbrier Middle School CyberPatriot teacher advisor since the club's induction. 

Greenbrier High School
Teacher Advisor: Ty Abero

Gold Tier First Place in State
Michael Agnello
Chloe Bell 
Joshua Marksmeier
Jason Nistler
Peyton Phillips 
Gabriel Sanders-Punke-Bendt

Platinum Tier Second Place in State
Liam Fedak
Leland Green 
Bryant Hodge 
Max Jaremski
Elisa Owens 
Dagen Shehorn

Congratulations, Greenbrier CyberPatriot Teams!

Georgia Forensics Coaches Association Speech and Debate State Champion
Kenzie Houk - Grovetown High School

Kenzie Houk is the new state champion for the 2nd Year Public Forum debate. She is a senior and the Vice President of the Grovetown High Speech and Debate Team. Public Forum debate is a team-based event wherein two students debate against two other students from another school over a resolution that is either supported or denied based on a coin flip during a round. The tournament involves five rounds and students earn “speaker points” on how well they debate in those rounds.Across the state, approximately 30 students from 23 schools competed in this event, and the Grovetown High School Public Forum team collectively researched and crafted the debate cases. A total of seven students represented Grovetown High School, the Columbia County School District, and the CSRA. Their debate coaches are Brett Carter and Mark Epps.Congratulations, Kenzie and the Grovetown High School Debate Team.

Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA)
District Music Educator of the Year
Wendy Baggott - Evans Middle School

Evans Elementary 4-H Presidents

Being named to the GMEA All-State Band is one of the highest honors a band student can receive in middle and high school. To qualify for All-State Band, students must successfully complete two auditions. In the first audition, they must perform a lyrical etude from a required list, play an 8-12 measure excerpt after sight-reading it for only 60 seconds, and perform four or more major scales and a chromatic scale. Those who score high enough in the first audition, go on to the 2nd Round All-State audition where they must perform their lyrical etude and a technical etude. Next, they must perform a sight-reading excerpt that demonstrates both lyrical and technical abilities. Students who score highest in the 2nd Round audition are selected for the GMEA All-State Band. Across the state, only about 400 band members out of approximately 7000 are selected for the All-State Band. The band students audition for the All-State Band, but the students who earn the highest scores in the state are placed into the more selective All-State Orchestra.

Evans Middle School

Sophia Ann Martin 
Band Director - Karena Washington

Stallings Island Middle School

Selina Huang
Band Director: Tayler Norwood

Greenbrier High School

Kevin Berry  
Kenneth Comette
Jordan Evans  
Rigel Kotas 
Eli Ly 
Mason Pounds  
Mason Rubano 
Noah Torabi  - All-State Orchestra 
Band Director: Dr. Brian Toney
Assistant Band Director - Rutledge Boykin

Grovetown High School

Sebastian Blizzard
Matthew McKinney
Band Director: Steve Whitaker

Harlem High School

Palmer Bloodworth 
Band Director: Curtis Carver

Lakeside High School

Luke Baker 
Peyton Geigle
Nathan Oester
Steven Pang 
Dawson Pope  
Rand Sayno
Xinyu Su
Haichen Zhou
Cole Eichenberger - All-State Orchestra
Band Directors: Jared Best and Jonathan Witmer

Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA) All-State Chorus

The GMEA All-State Chorus is one of the highest musical honors a choral student can receive in middle and high school. To qualify, students must successfully complete two auditions. In the first audition, they have to perform a solo from a required list, sight-sing three examples of four measures each, two in a major key and one in a minor key, and sing three different scales. Those chosen from the first audition must learn the music they will perform on the all-state weekend.  At the second audition, they sing 12-16 measures of each selection but do not know which measures they will be tested on until they walk into the audition room. Across the state, approximately 1,200 singers out of 7,000 are selected to sing in three different choirs. 

Columbia Middle School

Abigail Alwine
Addison Colson
Joy Dyer
Amyah George
Sadie Pressley
Stephanie Russell
Myla Searcy
Chorus Director: Kennedy Smith

Greenbrier Middle School

Bella Heritage 
Chorus Director: Jason Bailey

Grovetown Middle School

Braylen Ferguson  
Chorus Director: Victoria Alvarez

Riverside Middle School

Kevin Jiang
Ashley Swiss 
Chorus Director: Erin Dibling

Stallings Island Middle School

Aaron Francis
Paige Geigle
Vivienne Kim
Shayne Lowe
Chorus Director: Rebekkah Crose

Grovetown High School

Deanthony Clarke
Willy Powell Jr 
Chorus Director: Brandon Ball

Lakeside High School

Kashvi Boga
Violet Herrmann  
Sunny  Huo
Benjamin Teboe  
Charles Terry 
Chorus Director: Maggie Christine

Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA) Music Technology Showcase Winner
Shelby Eshman - Columbia Virtual Academy
(Student unable to attend, so her teacher, Ms. Mary Angel Cleary, accepted the recognition on her behalf.)

The Music Technology Showcase selection is the highest state-level award a student of music technology can win. Only 10-12 students from Georgia are chosen to have their music featured at this live GMEA-sponsored showcase. To qualify for selection, a student must average in the top 10% of scores among applicants currently enrolled in music technology. Students create an original or derivative song using music editing software and submit it for adjudication by a diverse panel of college and industry professionals. This year, one of the judges was a Grammy Award Winner. Selectees are honored at a presentation at the GMEA Conference where their music is played for professional producers and a live audience at Tweed Recording Studio. Shelby's song, Neon Serenade, was selected for the 2023 Showcase in the category of derivative work.

Grovetown Elementary School 4-H Presidents