Students at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic School on Briarcliff Road in Atlanta send care packages to U. S. military personnel several times a year. This year, one of their care packages found its way into the hands of a 2002 graduate of the school, First Lieutenant Nathan Shaffner. In his thank you note to students, Shaffner wrote: "Many of my guys rarely receive packages, and small snacks from home were even rarer for some. I can't describe how much the little things mean to them. Just a bag of candy from home can have a tremendous impact on their morale. Y'all made a huge impact on us and thank you from the bottom of our hearts."
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Five of seven first honor graduates at the University of Georgia's winter commencement ceremonies were from metro Atlanta. These graduates maintained a perfect 4.0 cumulative grade point average during their college careers. They are: Katherine Lynn Farrington of Duluth; Hillary Virginia Keller of Cumming; Travis Michael Miller of Kennesaw; Sara Alexis Patton of Suwanee and Kassie Leigh Smith of Cumming.
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Eight students from Pace Academy's Upper School traveled to Budapest, Hungary recently to take part in Yale Model Government Europe. After four days of meetings and deliberations, the Pace delegation received the outstanding delegation award. The school was one of three delegations recognized for overall excellence. The Pace students were: Jeri Brand, Rebecca Husk, Maryellen Malone, Rachel Much, Harrison Halberg, James O'Brien, Nathan Sokolic and Bobby Stonecipher. Faculty advisors were: Helen Smith and Keith Newman. More than 35 schools and 350 delegates from around the world took part in the model.
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Finance and budgeting employees with Fulton County schools recently received six national recognitions for their work on providing comprehensive and user-friendly financial and budget information to the public. The awards were given by the Government Finance Officers Association, the Association of School Business Officials International and the National Purchasing Institute. Each organization used a panel of reviewers to evaluate the school system's financial documents and rate them for effectiveness as a policy document, financial plan, operations guide and communication tool. Chief financial officer Robert Morales earned the designation of Certified Administrator of School Finance and Operations. Lisa Bracken, the district's director of budgets, received the Bridges to the Future Scholarship, which pays for her to attend attend ASBO's international meeting and expo.
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