Students Put Energy Into Conservation Plan

Georgia Power has turned the spotlight on Whitewater High, selecting the school as a top winner of its Campus Energy Challenge.

Five teams of students from Krystin Glover’s marketing classes developed a marketing plan to successfully get the student body to conserve energy. Some specific tasks included getting students to fan the Campus Energy by Georgia Power Facebook Page, the program’s primary marketing platform, view the YouTube “Mascots for Campus Energy” video, and implement energy conservation methods at school and at home.

Teams were judged on creativity, strategic approach and measurable results aimed at reaching the stated goals. Students who worked on the challenge are (Team 1) Lena Alston, Erin Mahlbacher, and Kayla Maxwell; (Team 2) Andrew Avrit, Helen Menchinger, and Tanner Sweatman; (Team 3) Mikayla Stewart and RoShonda Welch; (Team 4) Case Jackson, Lauren Morrison, and Katherine Spits; (Team 5) Jordan Garrett, Ryan Gray, and Tori McCrite.

The school will be recognized on the Campus Energy Facebook Page and through other promotional efforts organized by the Georgia Power’s Corporate Communications team. Whitewater High has also been given the Spotlight School Award in recognition of outstanding participation in the program.

-----

Community News You Can Use
Click to read MORE news:
www.GeorgiaFrontPage.com
Twitter: @gafrontpage & @TheGATable @HookedonHistory
www.ArtsAcrossGeorgia.com
Twitter: @artsacrossga, @softnblue, @RimbomboAAG @FayetteFP

Fayette Chamber Announces Winner of $10,000

Congratulations to Jaye McMillan of Delta Community Credit Union for winning the Chamber’s Annual $10,000 Drawing. The drawing was held at the Business on the Green Golf & Tennis Tournament played at Braelinn Golf Club in Peachtree City.

Pictured from left to right: Virginia Gibbs, Chamber President & CEO; Jae McMillan, VP Branch Operations, Delta Community Credit Union; Melanie Myer, Delta Community Credit Union and Chamber Board Chair.

-----
Community News You Can Use
Click to read MORE news:
www.GeorgiaFrontPage.com
Twitter: @gafrontpage & @TheGATable @HookedonHistory
www.ArtsAcrossGeorgia.com
Twitter: @artsacrossga, @softnblue, @RimbomboAAG @FayetteFP

McIntosh's Natarajan Is a Regional STAR

McIntosh High School senior Brahma Natarajan is shinning brightly these days, she has been named the 2011 STAR winner for Region 3B.

The Student Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) program honors Georgia's outstanding high school seniors and the teachers who have been most instrumental in their academic development. During the past 53 years, the STAR Program has honored more than 22,000 high school seniors.

The Professional Association of Georgia Educators (PAGE) Foundation, Inc. was selected in 1994 by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce to coordinate the state STAR program in association with the Chamber and the Georgia Department of Education.

The State STAR student and teacher will be announced at the PAGE STAR Banquet on April 18 in Atlanta.

This latest recognition is in addition to Natarajan being selected as a U.S. Presidential Scholars Candidate. April will be a significant month for her, that’s when semifinalists for the program will be announced.

-----
Community News You Can Use
Click to read MORE news:
www.GeorgiaFrontPage.com
Twitter: @gafrontpage & @TheGATable @HookedonHistory
www.ArtsAcrossGeorgia.com
Twitter: @artsacrossga, @softnblue, @RimbomboAAG @FayetteFP

Students Draw Posters Promoting After School Program

Laura Davis and Anna Dingler accept their $25 Walmart gift certificates from (L) Julia Simpson, after school program director, and Sue Cleek, principal of Brooks Elementary.

Posters created by elementary-age after school students of the Fayette County Public School System helped promote the annual “Lights on After School” day on October 21.

Students created the posters during their After School Program (ASP) classes as part of a countywide poster contest. The contest was one of many activities that were held in support of the national event that calls attention to the importance of afterschool programs and the resources required to keep them operating.

Laura Davis and Anna Dinger of Brooks Elementary collaboratively created this year’s winning poster. Each received a $25 gift card from the Walmart in Peachtree City.

Photo Source:  Fayette County Board of Education

-----
Community News You Can Use
Click to read MORE news:
www.GeorgiaFrontPage.com
Twitter: @gafrontpage & @TheGATable @HookedonHistory
www.ArtsAcrossGeorgia.com
Twitter: @artsacrossga, @softnblue, @RimbomboAAG
www.FayetteFrontPage.com
Twitter: @FayetteFP

Sandy Creek SkillsUSA Members Win Awards at National Fair

Members of the SkillsUSA Georgia chapter at Sandy Creek High proved that they are champions during the annual Champions Rally at the Georgia National Fair in Perry October 8.

The school’s chapter brought home four awards, including a first place victory in Chapter T-shirt Design. Each year SkillsUSA Chapters create t-shirts that show off their chapter spirit. The t-shirts were judged on creativity and visual appeal; every member had to wear their chapter t-shirt to the SkillsUSA day at the fair as part of the judging criteria.

As the first place winner, the chapter’s t-shirt will be on display through the duration of the fair, which ends on October 17.

A fourth place award was earned in Chapter Banner Design. Students were charged with designing a banner that promoted chapter pride and unity while focusing on the SkillsUSA vision and mission.
A fifth place award was achieved in Pathway Poster Design. The objective of this competition was to create a poster that accurately represents the career pathways incorporated into SkillsUSA (architecture, construction, communication, transportation, public safety, and cosmetology).

Additionally, the chapter won fifth place for Overall Outstanding Chapter.

Last month chapter members earned Statesman Awards at the 2010 SkillsUSA Georgia Fall Conference. Colin Westover was one of 25 statewide members who made a perfect score on the Statesman Award test, an evaluation of a participant’s knowledge about SkillsUSA facts, history, programs, and ceremonies. Both Bria Carmichael and Jonathan Strickland were among 105 statewide members earning Statesman Awards by passing the test with an 85 percent or higher.

The fall conference allowed members the opportunity to increase their leadership abilities, professionalism, community service, and the skill to be a greater champion in their chosen career pathway. Sandy Creek’s Addie Davis was among the eight-member State Officer Team that organized the conference’s activities.

SkillsUSA is a national nonprofit organization of students, teachers and industry, working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce. SkillsUSA helps high school and college students enrolled in career and technical education programs to excel by teaching employability skills such as communication, problem solving, and leadership in conjunction with their trade, technical and service occupations skills.

-----
Community News You Can Use
Click to read MORE news:
www.GeorgiaFrontPage.com
Twitter: @gafrontpage & @TheGATable @HookedonHistory
www.ArtsAcrossGeorgia.com
Twitter: @artsacrossga, @softnblue, @RimbomboAAG
www.FayetteFrontPage.com
Twitter: @FayetteFP

McIntosh Grad Among Latest Winners of National Merit Scholarships

The names of more than 1,900 additional winners of National Merit Scholarships financed by colleges and universities have been announced with a recent McIntosh High graduate among them.

Matthew J. Winn, who graduated this spring, received a scholarship financed by the University of Georgia. He will attend the university in the fall; he has not decided on a major.

College-sponsored awards provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution financing the scholarship. This final group of winners brings the number of 2010 National Merit Scholars to approximately 8,400.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
Follow us on Twitter:  @GAFrontPage

Bus Driver Takes Top Spot in Local Roade-O

Transportation Director Michael Jennings congratulates first place winner Jimmy Poole.

Imagine steering a school bus in and out of five cones set at a close proximity and then doing it again, backwards, without stopping or bumping the markers. This and other grueling tests is what Jimmy Poole, driver of special needs bus #42, had to successfully complete to take first place in Fayette’s School Bus Roade-O competition last month.

Poole’s first place victory secures him a place in the statewide competition June 8 in Warner Robins. Joining him will be second place winner Kathy Warden and third place winner Sherry Harris.

Poole, who has been a driver for the school system for three years, said he did not expect to take first place. He credits trainers Kathy Warden and Michael Dixon, last year’s local winner and 10th place finisher at the state competition, with his win.

“I practiced the day before with the trainers. The first 5-6 times I went through the course, I knocked down cones and ran over tennis balls. I just listened to the trainers as they guided me on how to use the mirrors, properly apply the breaks and maneuver turns. I couldn’t have done it without them,” he says.

Poole, who is used to driving a smaller bus, had to use a regular size bus for the competition, making the event a bit more challenging for him than for other drivers. He says he is proud to have taken part in the event because it has sharpened his skills. Transportation Director Michael Jennings says skills improvement is exactly what the event is all about.

“This is our most realistic instructional tool available to improve driver skills. Safety competitions have proven to be one of the most effective instructional tools to improve a driver’s skills,” Jennings says.

When Poole is not driving he works in the school system’s bus shop cleaning and fueling buses. He says he could not have won the competition if the bus shop staff had not stepped in to give him the time off to practice.

“I have the utmost confidence in the safety of the buses that we send out. I see on a daily basis how hard these guys work to maintain our fleet. I want to thank them for covering for me so that I could do this,” Poole adds.

Michael Dixon, last year’s winner and owner of Dixon Vending, donated prize money for the top three finishers. Poole received $75, Warden $50 and Harris $25.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
Follow us on Twitter:  @GAFrontPage

High School American History Essay Winners Announced by DAR

Pictured receiving the award are (l-r) Our Lady of Mercy American History Teacher Rhonda Anderson, Nicole Gagnier and Chairman Phyllis King.

Nicole Gagnier, a junior at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic High School, was recently named the winner of the American History Essay Contest by the James Waldrop Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution.

Kaitlyn Chapman, a junior at Whitewater High School in Fayetteville, was recently announced as the First Runner-up.

The essay was on the subject of Christopher Columbus.

The James Waldrop Chapter DAR is chartered in Fayetteville, GA.

Right / Bottom Photo: Kaitlyn Chapman with proud dad

-----
Community News You Can Use
www.GeorgiaFrontPage.com
Twitter: @gafrontpage
www.ReadMyLipstickNetwork.com
Twitter: @readmylipstick
www.ArtsAcrossGeorgia.com
www.Hummingbird-Hollow.com
Twitter: @hhpotterystudio
---

Fayette County Spelling Bee Winners

Savannah Booker shows off her award as principal Len Patton (left) and English teacher Kathy Franks look on.

Top spellers Savannah Booker, a sixth grader at Rising Starr Middle, and Emily Gomes, an eighth grader at Fayette Middle, emerged as finalists in the 2010 Fayette County Public School System Spelling Bee.

Booker and Gomes advanced to the county competition after winning the spelling bee at their respective schools.



-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
Follow us on Twitter: @GAFrontPage

Fayette Middle Academic Team Wins Regional Tourney

The academic team at Fayette Middle School is the co-winner of the region 6 PAGE (Professional Association of Georgia Educators) Academic Bowl for Middle Grades.

Students compete by fielding questions on subjects ranging from Georgia history to mathematics, science, literature and the performing arts. The questions are developed using the Georgia Middle School curriculum. Team members answer toss-up and bonus questions to score points. The program inspires students to excel academically, boosts student self-confidence and self-esteem through high achievement, and stimulates both a team and competitive spirit.

Fayette Middle was among 24 academic bowl teams that emerged as winners from regional competitions. Two winners are selected from each of the 12 state regions represented by PAGE, and are invited to participate in the semi-finals competition.

Lori Tallman, eighth grade language arts, and Carol Saboda, sixth grade language arts, are the team’s coaches.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
Follow us on Twitter: @GAFrontPage

Sharpsburg man wins $12M Mega Millions jackpot

A Sharpsburg man is celebrating a mega win. Wayne Reese, 54, matched all of the winning numbers in Tuesday's Mega Millions drawing and won a $12 million jackpot.

Reese discovered his win Wednesday evening while checking the Georgia Lottery's Web site.

"I said, 'Whew' like Ric Flair," he said with excitement. "I shouted out to my family, 'Y'all won't believe what's right here!' "

Winning numbers for the drawing were: 2-9-28-51-53 and the Mega Ball was 19. Reese stopped at Red & Ed's Convenience Store, located at 874 Corinth Road in Newnan, for a MoonPie and a Coca-Cola Zero when he purchased the lucky Quik Pik ticket.

Reese, who is a contractor and owns a septic tank business, wants to build homes for his two adult children. He and his wife, Linda, also intend to remodel their own home.

The Reese's were already winners of the lottery. His daughter, a school teacher, attended the University of West Georgia as a lottery-funded HOPE Scholarship recipient.

"We're on a new ride now," Reese exclaimed. "It sure feels good."

Any Georgia Lottery retailer who sells a winning Mega Millions jackpot ticket can earn the $25,000 retailer incentive bonus payment. If more than one winning jackpot ticket is sold in Georgia, the retailer selling the winning tickets will share the $25,000 retailer incentive bonus. Red & Ed’s Convenience Store will receive the $25,000 retailer incentive bonus.

As with all other Georgia Lottery games, proceeds from Mega Millions will benefit education in the state of Georgia.

Since its first year, the Georgia Lottery Corporation has returned more than $11 billion to the state of Georgia for education. All Georgia Lottery profits go to pay for specific educational programs including Georgia's HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia's Pre-K Program. More than 1.1 million students have received HOPE, and more than 940,000 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary prekindergarten program.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
Fayetteville, Peachtree City, Tyrone
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page

Fayetteville Intermediate Wins Environmental Competition in Atlanta

The effort of some Fayetteville Intermediate students to get Fayette County citizens to conserve water will continue thanks to a scholarship from Keep Atlanta Beautiful.

The school is one of three grand prize $1,000 winners of the Stepping Lightly in Atlanta competition. The contest was open to students around the metro Atlanta area who are implementing projects in their communities that demonstrate environmental stewardship. Projects were evaluated on their innovation and community involvement.

Third, fourth and fifth grade students in the gifted and talented program at Fayetteville Intermediate were concerned with the on-going drought in Georgia, so in 2007 they invented the Flush Flow Fixer. The device is a full water bottle that is placed in the toilet tank to displace water, thus conserving water with every flush.

The school partnered with the Fayetteville Home Depot, which supplied water bottles and toilets for demonstrations and allowed them to set up on a Saturday and pass out the bottles and valuable information to the community.

Executive Director Peggy Denby of Keep Atlanta Beautiful will present the $1,000 check to the students at the school on May 20. In addition, they will also receive an official City of Atlanta Proclamation for Stewardship.

-----
Community News You Can Use
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
Fayetteville, Peachtree City, Tyrone
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.artsacrossgeorgia.com
Arts Across Georgia

Starr's Mill HS Economics Team Advances to Nationals

From state champions, to regional winners and now on to the national championships, economic students at Starr’s Mill High are on a roll.

The team of students emerged as the winners of the southern regional 2009 Council on Economic Education/Goldman Sachs Foundation National Economics Challenge held at the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta on April 27. The Starr’s Mill team was one of 16 from across the 11-state Southeast region that competed in the tournament.

Team members include Keegan Christensen, Joseph Morrow, Ben Payne and Kendall Reeves. Led by economics teacher Mark DeCourcy, the team will travel, all expenses paid, to the National Economics Challenge Championship Finals in New York City May 16-18. They will join students from other parts of the United States to celebrate their regional winnings as well as compete in the semi-finals with the top two teams facing off at the final competition on May 18 before a live audience at Scholastic Auditorium.

The National Economics Challenge is an academic tournament that tests high school students both individually and as teams on their economic knowledge and problem solving skills. It is a competition demanding both critical thinking and teamwork.

Winners of the national championship and their teachers each receive $3,000 U.S. Savings Bonds with the runner-up teams and their teachers receiving $1,500 U.S. Savings Bonds.

An estimated 4,000 high school students in about 1,000 teams from 38 states around the country competed in the National Economics Challenge Championship Finals last year.

-----
Community News You Can Use
Follow on Twitter @GAFrontPage
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.artsacrossgeorgia.com
Arts Across Georgia

And the $10,000 Winner IS…

(l-r) Winners Lynn Ball, Jim Phillips, and Kathy Sloat with Virginia Gibbs, President, Fayette Chamber of Commerce

The Fayette Chamber recently presented $10,000 to the winning ticket holder selected at a reception following their annual Business on the Green Classic. The drawing is a major fund raiser for the Chamber to help support their mission to provide tools and resources to strengthen Fayette businesses. Chamber members and ticket holders gathered at the reception to congratulate the golfers and join in the fun as the winning ticket was drawn.

This year’s $10,000 winner was ticket number 021, jointly purchased by Jim Phillips, Lynn Ball and Kathy Sloat. The Chamber appreciates the support of all the individuals who purchased a ticket this year, despite the challenging economy!

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
Community News You Can Use
Fayetteville, Peachtree City, Tyrone
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
Follow us on Twitter: @GAFrontPage

Fayetteville Resident Wins $25,000 from Hooters National Promotion

On February 28 at the Hooters of Downtown Atlanta, Michelle Christensen was presented with a $25,000 check from Hooters as a result of being the grand prize winner from Hooters 25th Anniversary Passport Promotion. Christensen lives in Fayetteville and was randomly selected from over 8,000 people across the country that participated in the promotion.

To be entered into the Hooters 25th Anniversary Passport Promotion, customers had to fill a Hooters Passport with 25 stamps representing 25 different Hooters locations in the US. The completed passports were turned in and were entered into the grand prize drawing. Christensen was the lucky winner and was presented with her $25,000 check Saturday night at Hooters of Downtown Atlanta, located at 209 Peachtree Street NE.

"The 25th Anniversary was a milestone for our company and I couldn't be more excited that the grand prize winner is from Atlanta," stated Tod Dundas, Hooters Regional Manager.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
Community News You Can Use
Fayetteville, Peachtree City, Tyrone
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page