• The Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District announced the winners of its annual water essay contest during an awards ceremony last month at the state Capitol. The first-place essay was written by Colton Woodring, a seventh-grader from North Gwinnett Middle School, who received a $400 prize. Jolee Northrop, a sixth-grader from Hightower Middle School in Cobb County, was named the district-wide runner-up. This year's contest, the 14th, focused on the question, "Why is stormwater pollution a problem, and what can you do to prevent it?" Nearly 2,000 students across the region submitted essays.
• The academic team from Alpharetta High School has qualified for the 2016 National Academic Quiz Tournaments national high school championship on Memorial Day weekend, May 27-29, at the Hilton Anatole hotel in Dallas, Texas. In five tournaments last year, the team was the champion in three and runner-up in one. Quiz bowl questions range over an entire high school curriculum and include a certain amount of current events, sports, and popular culture.
• Stockbridge High School was one of five schools nationwide awarded $5,000 to obtain tablets and computers, as a recipient of the Lead2Feed Challenge Early Entry Drawing. The Stockbridge team, led by teacher Leigh Jackson, established an in-house food pantry for students, faculty and staff who found themselves in temporary need of food assistance. Overall, the students collected more than 500 items over a three-day donation period by offering incentives like homework passes and cookies. The team also enlisted their local Community Food Bank to partner with them for the pantry. In the Lead2Feed program, students select a hunger or other community-need project, partner with a nonprofit and compete for more than $275,000 in charity grants and $170,000 in technology grants for schools and clubs. Since the program's launch in 2012, student members have volunteered more than 22,000 hours, donated 75,000 pounds of food and served more than one million meals in their communities. Teachers or advisers can register their student teams on www.lead2feed.org.
• White County High School theater students have been invited to perform in Edinburgh, Scotland at the America High School Theater Festival in August. The students, from a community with fewer than 28,000 people, a high poverty rate and very little industry, are also working to raise funds for the trip. The school's troupe was one of 36 chosen in North America this year for the Fringe Festival, as it is called, from 3,000 applications. White County High School is the only school in Georgia and the Southeast accepted to attend. The students will be joined by others from schools around the world and perform on an international stage in front of well-known directors.
• The College Football Hall of Fame and Chick-fil-A Fan Experience has begun a Title I Field Trip Program for metro Atlanta schools. It provides free admission for 10,000 students annually from Title I schools across metro Atlanta. Access to the program will be offered Monday-Thursday during January, February, March, September, October, November and December. Tickets are available to qualifying schools on a first-come, first-served basis and prescheduled dates and times are required. Educators interested in participating in this new program should contact the Hall Group Sales Department at groups@cfbhall.com or 404-880-4841 to schedule their field trip.
