The artwork of 12 Cobb and Paulding County middle school students will be on display in the 2013 waterSmart calendar, a project of the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority’s third annual visual arts contest. The competition, which drew nearly 100 entries, gives students a platform to share their water conservation ideas. Winning students are: Chardѐ Ferguson, Connor McGarr, Erin Kenney, Gabrielle Driese, Justin Boodlal, Kayla Hydrick and Mason Nolan of Dobbins Middle School; Keely White of Hightower Trail Middle School and Mandy McMasters, Seth Rhodes, Tyra Mundin and Emma Zgonc of Lovinggood Middle School.

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Briana Head, a senior at DeKalb County’s Arabia Mountain High School in Lithonia, has been awarded a scholarship from the National Foundation of Women Legislators (NFWL). Briana’s essay, “The Constitution and States Rights: How Federalism Impacts Women and Historically Underrepresented Populations,” focused on nutrition and wellness and the Affordable Care Act. The scholarship is expected to be presented at the organization’s conference this week in Atlanta.

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Three students from Fulton County’s Conley Hills Elementary in East Point took home the top three spots in the art category of the 2012 Ready Georgia Art, Essay and Video Contest. Ready Georgia – the emergency preparedness campaign from the Georgia Emergency Management Agency/Homeland Security, asked students from across the state to combine creativity with their knowledge of emergency preparedness by participating in the annual contest. About 200 students in grades 3-5 took part in the contest. Entries included personal and fiction stories, collages, figurative art and videos produced by Georgia classrooms. Metro Atlanta winners in the art contest are: Phylisse Toliver, first place; Christopher Zepeda, second place; Sarai Gonzalez, third place. In the essay category, Edith Kan of Allgood Elementary in Stone Mountain came in second place.