Janelle Wilson, a science teacher at Lanier High School in Sugar Hill, will sail aboard NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow beginning Sept. 22 helping scientists on a 12-day survey of groundfish populations off the Northeastern U.S. coast. Wilson is part of NOAA's Teacher at Sea program, which bridges science and education through real-world research experiences. She will pass along what she learns to her students. The Gwinnett County teacher and others will depart from Newport, Rhode Island. They will work daily with scientists conducting a survey of groundfish populations in the Atlantic Ocean. Follow her blog at: teacheratsea.noaa.gov/2014/harrier-wilson.html.
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Comcast recently joined Georgia First Lady Sandra Deal, State Senator Christian Coomer, Bartow school superintendent John Harper and others to celebrate digital literacy at Hamilton Crossing Elementary School in Bartow County. Comcast presented a donation of $2,500 to the school for the purchase of books. The company also awarded a $4,400 Comcast Cares Day grant to aid in supporting literacy in the Bartow County community. TDF Ventures provided 25 students in the 11th Congressional District with a laptop and one year of complimentary Internet Essentials service.
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Over 500 students and staff at Fayette County's J.C. Booth Middle School recently dipped their feet in paint and placed their footprints on muslin to show support and raise awareness about the hunting and poaching of animals in Africa. According to officials at Booth, they are the first American school to host the 1,000,000 Footprints campaign, a worldwide initiative to collect the footprints of youth on lengths of cloth as a symbolic walk in protest of the killing of African wildlife. EcoSense for Living filmed the footprint campaign at Booth earlier this month as part of the program's 10th episode featuring endangered species and the children trying to save them. Episodes can be viewed at ecosenseforliving.com.
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Columbia High School alumni are expected to gather at the DeKalb County school today to discuss the importance of education with current students. The event, organized by alumna Viniece Jennings, '02, is part of an outreach educational effort called Destined to Soar. Jennings, who interned with the White House for the Obama Administration, created the Destined to Soar program to inspire students to reach their full potential and alleviate concerns about college readiness by sharing alumni success stories. A number of panelists will speak to the students including Amir Windom, a record executive who contributed Pharrell Williams' "Happy" song and Dr. Tiencia James, who specializes in emergency medicine in DeKalb County.
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Joe Conway, a film and broadcast journalism teacher at Holy Innocents' Episcopal School, has co-written a film titled "After The Fall" (formerly titled "Things People Do") that recently won the 40th Anniversary Award at the Deauville Film Festival in Normandy, France. This is Conway's third feature film, following "Paradise, Texas," and "Undertow." After its international debut in Berlin last spring, and its U.S. debut at SXSW in Austin, Texas, the film went to the Jerusalem Film Festival in July. The film has a tentative U.S. release date of Dec. 12 and is slated to open in a number of metro markets. Conway has also been asked to participate in an Emory University symposium Oct. 31-Nov. 2 on Nobel Prize-winning playwright and screenwriter Harold Pinter.
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