Laurie Barron, principal of Smokey Road Middle School in Newnan, has been named a finalist in the 2013 MetLife/National Association of Secondary Schools Principals National Principal of the Year Program. Barron was recognized for significant contributions to student achievement. When she became principal of the Coweta County school eight years ago, the school had high absenteeism, discipline problems and low student achievement. Now the school is recognized for its achievements, including making Adequate Yearly Progress under No Child Left Behind for the past six years. The school has also been listed as a Georgia Title I Distinguished School for the past four years. Barron and the other five finalists will each receive a $1,500 grant, and two national award winners (one for middle schools and one for high schools) will receive additional grants of $3,500.

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A Gwinnett County educator is presenting a series of programs about issues related to teenagers in a series that premiers on GCPS TV on Sept. 8. "Parentvision: teen issues for concerned parents" will be hosted by Collins Hill High School counselor and graduation coach Margaret Cheeley. Each episode will help parents understand some of the issues today's teens are dealing with. The first program, about the teenage brain, airs Sept. 8-14 at 7 p.m.

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Michael Bordeaux, a doctoral candidate at the University of Georgia, has received a $63,000 fellowship for his research on the exotic invasive woodwasp Sirex noctilio. The fellowship was awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture. NIFA gives training and development awards to pre- and postdoctoral students planning careers in plant and animal health, food safety, forestry, renewable energy or agricultural systems. Bordeaux is a student in the UGA Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. Sirex noctilio was first detected in the United States in 2004 and identified in 2005. The woodwasp attacks and kills healthy, living pines.