Best in Class

Forsyth County's Pinecrest Academy honored the 51-member Class of 2013 with a baccalaureate Mass and commencement May 24-25. The class received more than $2.3 million in scholarships to 56 colleges and universities. In keeping with the pre-k-to-12 Catholic college-preparatory school's commitment to service, six students postponed college to spend a year in service to the church. Each year, seniors are presented Formation awards – Apostleship, Leadership, Athletic – along with the Integer Award, which recognizes Pinecrest's motto of Semper Altius, meaning "always higher." Integer award winners were Thomas Ross and Olivia Fleck. Also honored were: Apostleship award winners Jinny King and JP Martins; Leadership award winners Paloma Carroll and John Paul Metz; Athletic award winners Cayce Hamilton and Zachary Guard; valedictorians Annie Lagomasino and Austin Ward; salutatorians Erica Papa and Rafael Skokanic; John Tarpley award winner Mason Moreau; AJC Cup winner Erica Papa; Herff Jones award winner Annie Lagomasino; and Mried Perez, winner of a $500 scholarship from The Florence Nightingale Fund.

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Janice Mitchell, a science teacher at Clayton County's Rex Mill Middle School, will go to Washington D.C. in July to learn about critical food safety issues. Mitchell was one of 40 educators selected to participate in the 2013 Food and Drug Administration Professional Development Program in Food Science. It will be held July 14-20. Participants will tour FDA laboratories, meet the scientists, explore food safety on the farm at government research sites and learn about the development and spread of food-borne illnesses. They'll also study the science associated with safe food handling, storage and preparation. Mitchell expects her participation to be of another big benefit: for the new school year, she's responsible for implementing a food science curriculum in the county's middle and high schools.