Brandon Chung, a seventh grade cellist from Hopewell Middle School, has made the 2014 GMEA Middle School All-State Orchestra. Final auditions were held on Jan. 11 at the Westminister Schools in Atlanta, where Chung was ranked first chair cello for the entire state. The All-State Orchestra will be held from Feb. 27 - March 1, in Athens, Ga.
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Recognized for her innovation, Mount Vernon's Catherine Flippen has been named the 2014 Teacher of the Year by the Foreign Language Association of Georgia, which awards teachers who effectively strive to use various strategies, techniques and materials to enhance a student's interest in a second language. Flippen, a Google-certified teacher, is an expert in social media, virtual-course delivery and professional learning for teachers, and has taught Spanish for eight years. She will go on to compete among 13 states at the regional level for the Southern Conference on Language Teaching Awards.
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Scotties, a company in the tissue industry, has announced the top 12 finalists in its TREES ROCK! video contest, one of which includes a group of third and fifth graders from Hiram Elementary School. Kids who entered the contest were required to create a three minute video on the importance of trees to themselves, the school and the environment. The grand prize winner will receive $10,000 for their school to use towards a sustainable project and if awarded, the school would like to use the money to beautify the surrounding area to include an outdoor classroom and multiple fitness stations with trees and shrubs.
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Northwood Elementary School in Roswell recently won Fulton County's Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl Competition, marking the second consecutive victory for the school. During the competition, students read from a list of 14 nominated books, studied the books and then discussed them in depth. Eleven of Fulton County's elementary schools competed against each other in a round robin format, and Northwood Elementary secured the top spot by a margin of one correct answer.
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Horizons National, a network of high-quality academic enrichment programs serving students from low-income families, has received a $375,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to expand its unique collaboration in Atlanta. The 18-month grant will help Horizons Atlanta reach its goal of serving as many as 2,000 public school students from low-income families by 2015. Horizons Atlanta currently offers engaging academic summer programs and year-round enrichment for students at five locations, and the grant will allow the program to expand to a total of eight or nine sights, as well as deepen its work with partners throughout metropolitan Atlanta.
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