Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA)

State Leadership Conference Competition

Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) is a national Career and Technical Student Organization for students in Family and Consumer Sciences in education in public and private schools through twelfth grade. FCCLA offers intra-curricular resources and opportunities for students to pursue careers that support families. Through participation in competitive events, FCCLA members gain employable skills and industry insight needed to thrive in the 21st Century. This year, two Greenbrier high school students were FCCLA State Leadership Conference winners. The team will go on to compete at the national level competition in Denver this summer.

Columbia County School District Police Officer of the Year

Officer Dennis Barton - Stevens Creek Elementary

The inaugural Columbia County School District Police Officer of the Year recognition was awarded Monday, April 24, 2023, to School Resource Officer Dennis Barton, from Stevens Creek Elementary.

The award was created to recognize excellence among our dedicated School Resource Officers district-wide for their dedication to keeping students and staff safe.

The award is based upon the recommendation of the school principal and staff. In addition, examples are provided detailing how the officer has enriched school safety and security, enhanced positive relationships with students and staff, and demonstrated a positive image of the district.

Officer Barton was surprised on Monday, April 24, 2023, with the recognition via a student rally in the cafeteria, before being recognized by the Board of Education the following day.

“I just love coming to work and doing my job,” Officer Barton said after receiving the award. “I can’t believe I would be recognized out of 40 officers. I just try to make it fun for the kids.”

Officer Barton began in law enforcement in 1995, and has served Stevens Creek Elementary since his employment with the district began in 2018. 

Stevens Creek Elementary Principal Grace Meyer called Officer Barton a leader and a role model for her school, the district and the community.

“He is kind and thoughtful to everyone in the building.  However, his positivity extends to our community and across the district,” Meyer said in Barton’s nomination. “Other principals have made a point to tell me they appreciate his diligence and the example he sets when he works specials for them for sporting events. Parents come to me with examples of how he has ensured them that their child is safe and protected here at school.”

Georgia Department of Education - Military Flagship School Award

Columbia Middle

Georgia's Military Flagship School Award recognizes schools going above and beyond to provide a supportive environment for military students and families. Military Flagship Schools provide specific outreach to military families and recognize and accommodate their unique needs. Schools are chosen through a yearly application process that is open to every school in the state. Applications are reviewed by members of the Military Interstate Children's Compact Commission.​

This year, State School Superintendent Richard Woods recognized eight schools across the state as Military Flagship schools.  One of the eight schools recognized was Columbia Middle School.  On April 14th, Superintendent Woods visited Columbia Middle School to personally recognize them for the good job they do helping military students.

At Columbia Middle School, wraparound services are available onsite to meet the needs of the whole child, and a Military Family Life Counselor provides support to military students and families. The school honors military parents, along with staff with a military background, each year on Veterans Day. Parents are provided with numerous volunteer opportunities on campus. Finally, students have the opportunity to participate in CyberPatriot, an educational program created by the Air Force Association. The school’s Cyber Patriot Team competes in area competitions and receives military mentoring.

U.S. Department of Energy National Science Bowl State Competition Winners

The Department of Energy (DOE) created the National Science Bowl in 1991 to encourage students to excel in mathematics and science and to pursue careers in these fields. Science Bowl is a buzzer-round competition with questions based on the six categories of mathematics, earth and space, physics, biology, chemistry, and energy. This year, two schools participated and placed in the state competition and earned first-place finishes at the state level.

Stallings Island Middle

First Place

Advisory - Deborah Hundt

Second Place

 Lakeside High

 A-Team - First Place

Jerry Fan
Jerry Lu
Joshua Moxley
Iziq Thomas
George Zhou
Advisors - John Cato and David Arrington

B-Team - Third Place

Henry Riser
Kunsh Sharma
Charles Timmons
David Wang
Gracelynn Xia
Advisors - John Cato and David Arrington

Georgia Association of Educators (GAE) State Spelling Bee Winner

Sai Lakkimsetti - Stallings Island Middle

After over 100 words over 20 rounds, 13-year-old Sai Lakkimsetti from Stallings Island Middle emerged as the winner of the 62nd Annual Georgia Association of Educators (GAE) State Spelling Bee.  He, along with the runner-up, will represent Georgia in the Scripps National Spelling Bee Championships in National Harbor, Maryland, May 28-June 2, 2023. 

In the 20th round the runner-up received the word "palmyra" but unfortunately misspelled it.  Sai then was given the word "spumoni" which he spelled correctly. Under the rules for the final two spellers, Sai then had to spell an additional word correctly.  That word was "nyctalopia.”

Sai said he's really excited and grateful for all of his support and to be in this position.

In addition to a first place trophy, and a $1,000 prize from GAE, Sai will also receive an all-expense paid trip to the national championship, an iPad Mini, a Kindle, a one-year subscription to an online dictionary, a $100 U.S. Savings Bond, and a GAE Bee Champion lapel pin.

Georgia Association for Middle-Level Education - Regional Liaison

Allie Beldin - Instructional Specialist

Stallings Island Middle School

Georgia's 12th District Congressional App Challenge Winners

Three students from Lakeside High School were named winners of the annual Congressional App Challenge, for Georgia's 12th District: Joseph Alackara; Aditi Umapathy; and Amber Verma.

The Congressional App Challenge is an official initiative of the U.S. House of Representatives, where Members of Congress host contests in their districts for middle school and high school students, encouraging them to learn to code and inspiring them to pursue careers in computer science. Each participating Member of Congress selects a winning app from their district, and each winning team is invited to showcase their winning app to Congress during the annual #HouseOfCode festival.

The group designed and created an app called Timely, which includes tools like a habit tracker to help those with attention deficit disorders more efficiently get tasks done. 

See a video of how the app works, here: www.ccboe.net/apps/video/watch.jsp?v=351647

2023 Advanced Placement Honor School

All five high schools in the Columbia County School District were recognized as Advanced Placement (AP) Honor Schools for the 2022-2023 school year by the Georgia Department of Education.

The schools were among 273 AP Honor Schools in 97 school districts across the state.

AP exams are administered by the College Board, which also administers the SAT, and are one of several ways Georgia students can access college-level learning at the high school level. Students who receive a score of 3, 4, or 5 on an AP exam may receive college credit. 

The 2023 AP Honor Schools were named in eight categories based on the results of 2022 AP courses and exams. The Columbia County School District was named an honor school in six out of the eight categories.

AP Honor Schools are as follows:

AP Access and Support School - Schools with at least 30% of AP exams taken by students who identified as African American and/or Hispanic and 30% of all AP exams earning scores of 3 or higher: Grovetown High School

AP Humanities School - Schools with a minimum of five students tested in each of the following AP categories: one ELA course, two history/social science courses, one fine arts course, and one world language course. Evans High; Greenbrier High; Grovetown High; and Lakeside High

AP Humanities Achievement Schools - AP Humanities schools with at least 50% of all AP Humanities exams earning scores of 3 or higher. Evans High; Greenbrier High; and Lakeside High.

AP Schools of Distinction - Schools with at least 20% of the total student population taking AP exams and at least 50% of all AP exams earning scores of 3 or higher. Evans High; Greenbrier High; and Lakeside High

AP STEM School - Schools with a minimum of five students testing in at least four AP STEM courses. (AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, AP Physics 1, AP Physics 2, AP Physics C, AP Computer Science A, AP Computer Science Principles) Evans High; Greenbrier High; Grovetown High; Harlem High; and Lakeside High

AP STEM Achievement School - AP STEM schools with at least 50% of all AP STEM exams earning scores of 3 or higher. Greenbrier High; Grovetown High; and Lakeside High 

CyberPatriot National Youth Cyber Defense Competition Winners

Evans, Greenbrier and Lakeside High School students along with students from Stallings Island and Greenbrier Middle schools represented the Columbia County School District at the CyberPatriot National Youth Cyber Defense Competition.

This annual event puts teams of high school and middle school students in the position of newly-hired IT professionals tasked with managing the network of a small company. Through a series of online competition rounds, teams are given a set of operating systems and are charged with finding and fixing cybersecurity vulnerabilities while maintaining critical services all within a six hour time limit. 

Teams form in August and competition rounds are held monthly, beginning in October and ending in January. These students competed against more than 2,800 Open Division teams and more than 860 Middle School Division teams from across the U.S. to earn a top placement in their state, region, and in the nation.

Evans High School

Evans Cyber Knights 1

3rd Place in the State Round - Platinum Tier

Advisor, Steven Hahn

Mentor, Thomas Wilburn

Zander Conner

Hannah Kim

Hunter Rawlins

Ben Smith

Velmuel Smith

Evans Cyber Knights 4

3rd Place in the National Round - Gold-Tier Winners

3rd Place in the State Round - Platinum Tier

Advisor, Steven Hahn

Mentor, Thomas Wilburn

Sam Hobbs

Aysha Hughes

Meredith Phipps

Alexis Bussey

Layaya Jones

Outstanding School Nutrition Program Administrative Review

Congratulations, to the Columbia County School District Nutrition Program, for completing a successful Administrative Review by the Georgia Department of Education!

The United States Department of Agriculture regulations require that the Georgia Department of Education School Nutrition Program conducts an Administrative Review of the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs in participating districts every five years.

The Columbia County School District School Nutrition Program was selected for an Administrative Review this school year, which includes an in-depth assessment of the School Nutrition Program operations at the district level and at the school level. A few program areas included in the review were: the accuracy of Free and Reduced meal eligibility certification, the accuracy of meal counting and claiming for federal reimbursement, compliance with the meal pattern and nutritional quality requirements, financial management, professional standards and training, food safety, and much more. These are just some of the aspects of the program the nutrition program's staff are responsible for overseeing every day at a District level.

Four schools were selected for on-site visits by the Georgia Department of Education. Selected schools include the following:

While onsite at each school, the reviewers observed breakfast and lunch service, as well as afterschool snack service for compliance with program requirements.

Thank you to everyone who works in the kitchens and cafeterias every day across this great school district, for your outstanding work and dedication to feeding the students of this county and for making the District’s school nutrition program a success.

 Deputy J.D. Paugh Memorial Foundation Donation

The members of the Deputy J.D. Paugh Memorial Foundation donated $7,800 to Columbia County School District Police to purchase of custom-fitted armored vests for  School Resource Officers.

Georgia 4-H Outstanding Lifetime Volunteer Award Winner
Billy Wilkes

Mr. Billy Wilkes is a school bus driver for the Columbia County School District. He began volunteering with 4-H student programs 22 years ago. At the Georgia 4-H Fall Forum in December, Mr. Wilkes was named the Georgia 4-H Outstanding Lifetime Volunteer, the highest volunteer award offered from Georgia 4-H. 

The Outstanding Lifetime Volunteer Award is given to an individual who has served 10 or more years as a 4-H volunteer.  Applications include a nomination letter and personal statements from people the nominee has impacted. Mr. Wilkes is one of two nominated to advance to the National 4-H Salute to Excellence competition which will take place later this year.

Mr. Wilkes has had an impact on many students from Columbia County and around the state. Some students have gone on to become 4-H camp counselors, environmental educators, state staff, and even 4-H agents.

International Thespian Honor Society, Georgia Chapter, State Officer
Brandon Worth - Evans High

 

Brandon Worth of Evans High was selected to be the 2023-2024 State Thespian Officer for the Georgia Chapter of the International Thespian Honor Society (ITS). 

The ITS is the only theatre honor society for middle and high school students in the United States. Affiliation brings credibility and distinction to students, theatre programs, and schools. Each student is honored on a national level, gains access to opportunities and resources beyond those of their school. 

 All schools recommend many candidates for this top honor. LeadCon 1 and LeadCon 2 conferences were held in Warner Robins, GA at Houston County High School.  The first selection at the Leadcon conference was narrowed down to 50 students in September 2022. Another LeadCon conference was held in January 2023 and narrowed down to nine students. 

This past weekend, Brandon participated in the 2023 Georgia Thespian Conference where he worked as a Junior Thespian Officer to prepare for the Georgia Thespian Conference, which is a three-day conference located in Columbus, GA, in which thousands of GA thespians - students and teachers - may attend a wide variety of workshops taught by theatre professionals from around the country. The conference also gives participants the chance to view other schools' performances selected from the GHSA One-Act Competition. Currently, Brandon is featured in leading and supporting roles in Choral and Theatrical activities at Evans High as well as an Officer for the Choral and Theatrical program. 

Macy's Great American Marching Band
Nathan Vasquez - Grovetown High

The Macy’s Great American Marching Band is a select group comprised of some of the finest high school marching band students from across the United States. Each year students interested in participating in this band submit to an arduous application process. Submissions are reviewed by a panel of prestigious high school and college band directors from across the nation and students are selected based on their individual performance abilities. Nathan is an outstanding musician that has dedicated himself to higher levels of achievement and this is one of several musical honors that he has achieved. 

Nathan was one of three students representing the state of Georgia, and the only student from the Columbia County School District and the region selected to march in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. 

Nathan is very thankful for his band director Mr. Whitaker.  He credits him for saving his passion for music and discovering the meaning of never giving up and improving in the face of adversity.

Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA) - Music Technology Student Showcase Winners
Will Powell Jr. - Grovetown High
Michael McCombs - Grovetown High
Johnathan Stonehocker - Greenbrier High

Three students were recently recognized as state-level winners for the GMEA Student showcase.

Each year, GMEA sponsors and carries out an annual digital composition competition for the purpose of encouraging students who have an interest in, and an aptitude for, the writing of original digital music. Entries are judged on four criteria: Musical Content, Creativity, Technical Proficiency, and Realization of Process, and awarded Gold, Silver or Bronze certificates in each division and category. Top entries at the State level in each division and category had their works presented during the GMEA Showcase in Athens, GA, on January 27, 2023. Students who are selected for best-in-show, receive a 1-year free professional subscription to Soundtrap.com, an online editing software/platform. 

Willy Powell Jr. and Michael McCombs, of Grovetown High, with advisor Mary Angel Cleary, and Johnathan Stonehocker of Greenbrier High with advisor Stephen Hansen, were recognized for their winning compositions at the GMEA Music Technology Student Showcase. Greenbrier High Principal Chip Fulmer standing in for Stephen Hansen. 

Willy Powell, Jr. is a junior at Grovetown High School, and Michael McCombs is a senior at Grovetown High, under advisor Mary Angel Cleary. Both Willy and Michael had compositions selected for the GMEA Music Educator's Conference, where the winning compositions were played for professional producers and a live audience at Tweed Recording Studio. This is a state-level honor, for which Willy and Michael competed against students across the state of Georgia. Submissions were taken from students enrolled in a music technology class who created an original or derivative song using music editing software. Submissions are reviewed by a diverse panel of college professionals and industry professionals, one of which is a Grammy Award Winning judge. For a song to make the selection panel, it must average in the top ten percent of scores.

Willy Powell - 4PF: To listen, Click Here. 
Willy Powell - Mahusiano: To listen, Click Here.
Michael McCombs - Abstract Nature: To listen, Click Here.

Johnathan Stonehocker is a senior at Greenbrier High School. Johnathan was awarded the top prize in the digital music competition. For winning, Johnathan will receive a three-hour recording session at a recording studio and a $500 piece of music equipment of his choosing. Johnathan has been writing music for over eight years and has been competing in music competitions all around the state. He has released his own self-produced album, "Disarray". Johnathan plans to pursue a career in songwriting and music production at Berklee college of music on a partial scholarship. Johnathan’s teacher is Stephen Hansen.  

Georgia High School Football Daily All-State Football Team

Georgia High School Football Daily is an e-newsletter published weekdays from August through December. Founded in 2009, it has more than 23,000 subscribers. 

The Georgia High School Football Daily All-State Football Team is also The Atlanta Journal-Constitution all-state team. The team is chosen through nominations from coaches statewide.  They also take into consideration all-region teams.

Region 3 - AAA Player of the Year
Matthew Williams - Harlem High
Coach Mark Boiter

Matthew Williams was unanimously voted player of the year in Region 3-AAA by the region’s coaches. That’s a rare honor for a lineman. Player of the Year awards almost always go to quarterbacks, running backs or wide receivers. Matthew allowed zero sacks as an offensive lineman and was described as “a dominant run blocker.” His team averaged 30 points per game and put up more than 2,000 yards rushing and 1,500 passing. On defense, he had six tackles for losses and a sack and blocked two field goal attempts. Matthew has signed to play football for Georgia Southern University.  

AAAAAA First Team Kicker
Will Hattaway - Lakeside High
Coach Mark Boiter

Will Hattaway Made nine of ten field-goal attempts and put 21 of his kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks. Hattaway is ranked the No. 24 place-kicker nationally by Kohl’s Kicking. Will has been named to the AAAAAA GHSF Daily first team as a kicker. Will Hattaway is the only football player in Columbia County to receive this prestigious award. In addition to his First Team All-State recognition, Will was named to the First Team All-Region and First Team All-Area. Will was also named the Georgia varsity top punter for field goal percentage in 6A (6th in the state for all qualifications) by MaxPreps and received a five-star rating from Kohl’s Kicking Academy. He was also a member of Team Georgia for the 2022-2023 Border Bowl.

In addition to being a top athlete, Will has maintained a 4.0 GPA during his high school career and will sign a national letter of intent to play for the back-to-back national champions Georgia Bulldogs in the Fall. 

SRP Federal Credit Union Donation

In 2018, SRP Federal Credit Union launched the Affinity High School Debit Card program with all Columbia County high schools. 

This program was designed to be able to provide an additional funding resource for local high schools. Each high school worked with SRP to develop a co-branded debit card design that is unique to each school and are displayed on the slide before you. Each time a SRP customer makes a transaction with their school-branded debit card, SRP makes a monetary donation to that school.

Thank you, SRP Federal Credit Union, for supporting public education in Columbia County. 

 2022 Education Youth Art Month Digital Report Award

This year two Columbia County School District art teachers were selected by The Council for Art Education for this award.

Gail Peake from Lakeside High, and Tiffany Weser from the Columbia Virtual Academy serve as the state coordinators for Youth Art Month (as known as YAM).

Each year, The YAM coordinators from each state compile a digital report of data and images from all the events, programs, shows and other related activities for the year. The information is collected from art teachers from across the state of Georgia and the Georgia Department of Education Art coordinator. The information was gathered for the Georgia digital report presentation and sent to the Council for Arts Education for judging where the state presentation was selected by the council for special recognition.

As the state coordinators for YAM, Ms. Peake and Ms. Weser will represent Georgia at the National Art Educators Convention awards ceremony to be held in San Antonio, Texas in April.  Ms. Peake and Ms. Weser will also be presenting a session at the national conference about their collaboration between the virtual art program at Columbia Virtual Academy and the in-person art program at Lakeside High School.

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Georgia Middle School State Cross Country Champions

Scholastic Art and Writing Award National Gold Medal Winner

Leila Hill - Columbia Virtual Academy

Last March, Leila Hill was recognized for being selected as a gold key winner at the state level for her drawing “The Heart of a Papa.”

On June 9, 2022, the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards Ceremony was held at Carnegie Hall in New York. National Gold Medal winners were invited to the awards ceremony with guest speakers and highlight reels of each winner's artwork and writing samples. During the ceremony, the Art gold medal winners were recognized as a group.

Lelia is such a talented artist who in 2021, won the Congressional Art Award for Senator Rick Allen. Leila’s awarded piece was featured in Congressman Allen’s office in Washington DC for a year. Leila has also submitted a portfolio for the 100th anniversary of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD)/Scholastic Art competition in hopes of winning another gold medal and a scholarship to SCAD.

 

 

Georgia Cheerleading Coaches Association Cheerleader of the Year

Caroline Hilley - Lakeside High

 

Coaches nominate their outstanding senior athletes, who then go through an application process, which is scored on the student’s academic achievements, community service, school activities, and passion for the sport of cheerleading.

 

From the application, the top 30 athletes are selected for their division. Caroline Hilley was one of 30 selected from regions 5A- 7A. She and other selected athletes in each division went on to compete in both an interview and performance competition. The pool was narrowed down to the top 16 athletes in each division, who were named to the GCCA All-State Team and received a scholarship. The overall highest score in each division is named the GCCA Cheerleader of the Year for their respective division.

Caroline was the overall winner for regions 5A-7A.

 

Georgia Department of Education Title I Distinguished School
Martinez Elementary

 Martinez Elementary has been named a 2021-2022 Title I Distinguished School.

This designation recognizes the highest-performing Title I schools in Georgia, and Martinez Elementary is one of only 71 schools to earn the recognition this year.

The Distinguished Schools designation recognizes Title I schools that ranked in the top five percent based on combined English Language Arts (ELA) and Math Achievement Rate scores from FY2021 College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) Content Mastery data. While a full CCRPI report was not available in 2021 due to data limitations resulting from the pandemic and an associated federal waiver, Content Mastery data was available since students took state assessments in 2021.

Schools must be Title I to be eligible for the Distinguished School designation and must not currently be identified for Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) or Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI).

 

 

 

 

Georgia Council Teachers of Mathematics Award Winners

 

Teacher of Excellence in Secondary Mathematics

Stefanie Frey, Greenbrier High

This award is given to a teacher who is a member of GCTM; has taught mathematics at least three years in Georgia; has strong content foundation in mathematics appropriate for their teaching level; shows evidence ­of growth in teaching of mathematics, and shows evidence of professional involvement in Georgia Council Teacher Mathematics and National Counsel Teacher Mathematics, and who has not received the Excellence in Teaching Mathematics award the past five years. Congratulations, Ms. Frey.

 

 

     

 

 

 

Dwight Love Award

Taylor Thompson, Evans High

 

 

 

This award is presented to a teacher in Georgia who models excellence in the profession and in life; gives much to others beyond the classroom as mentor, teacher, and leader; is a member of Georgia Council Teacher of Mathematics; is a master teacher; is professionally active; and promotes GCTM and its mission.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4-H Presidents - Blue Ridge Elementary 

Thanks to our 4-H Presidents from Blue Ridge Elementary for leading the Pledge at the Board of Education meeting. Great job, student leaders!

Crystal McDowell - Greenbrier High