• Woodward Academy student Andy Sun, class of '17, recently won the 2016 USA Junior Olympic Fencing Championship for cadet saber fencing in the 17-and-under category. Andy successfully defended the championship title he won in 2015, making him the first person to win the Junior Olympic Cadet Saber Championship two years in a row since 2004. Andy will represent the USA in the 2016 Fencing Cadet and Juniors World Championship in Bourges, France, in April, when top fencers from around the world will compete for world titles.
• North Gwinnett Middle School student Colton Woodring won a $400 prize for his 1st place finish in the 14th annual water essay contest sponsored by the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District. This year's contest focused on storm water pollution, asking "Why is storm water pollution a problem, and what can you do to prevent it?" Nearly 2,000 students from across the region submitted essays in response.
• Woodward Academy senior Yari Moseley was recently selected by the National Center for Women and Information Technology as a 2016 Georgia Affiliate runner-up for the NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing. Yari, a member of the Woodward Robotics team, has helped develop advancements in team coding and building skills. Recipients are selected based on their computing-related aspirations, demonstrated outstanding aptitude and interest in information technology or computing, leadership ability, academic history, and plans for a post-secondary education.
• Six students from Alton C. Crews Middle School in Lawrenceville were among the top ten winners in the middle school essay part of the state Atlantic Institute Art and Essay Contest. They were sponsored by their teacher Marcia Littlefield. Matthew Provence earned first place , Payton Gulley third place, Tarel Dennie fourth place, Rhea Husein sixth place, Jay Ho seventh place, and Timothy Mitchell eighth place. They each received a cash prize, certificate and trophy. Matthew, Payton and Littlefield also receive a 10-day trip to Turkey. Each year the themes are of a humanitarian nature. This year the theme of their essays was: Ten Days, Weeks, Months, Years. What Can YOU Accomplish?
• Georgia Southern University's Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program was one of the eight winners of the prestigious MacArthur Award for the 2014-2015 school year. Georgia Southern was selected as the top program from 6th Brigade Army ROTC, which includes 39 programs from six states and Puerto Rico. This marks the Eagle Battalion's third MacArthur Award since 2009. Lt. Col. Erik Kjonnerod, professor of military science, congratulated the corps saying, "Your commitment, dedication and determination is evident on a daily basis."
• School-based enterprises, or SBEs (often referred to as school stores) at nine Gwinnett County high schools were among 316 in the United States awarded gold level certification or recertification in the 2015-2016 school year by DECA. Berkmar, Lanier, Mill Creek, Mountain View, Norcross, North Gwinnett, Parkview, Peachtree Ridge, and South Gwinnett high schools will be recognized at DECA's International Career Development Conference in Nashville. SBEs are managed and operated by students as hands-on learning laboratories that integrate national curriculum standards in marketing, finance, hospitality and management.
About the Author
