Best in Class

Two students from Duluth's SKA Academy of Art and Design won awards in the 2013 Space Foundation International Student Art Contest. The winners are: Vincent Zheng, grand prize Space Foundation achievement award in the 3rd-5th grade category and Jessica Deng, third place in the pre-kindergarten-2nd grade drawing category. More than 4,700 entries were submitted. The foundation invited students from around the world in prek through 12th grade to submit original artwork depicting the theme, "If I Were Going…", which challenged them to imagine how they would experience space travel, exploration or settlement and interpret their idea into an original work of visual art.

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Peter Lemonds has been named the 2013 Educator of the Year by the American String Teachers Association of Georgia. Lemonds has been a teacher at Duluth High School since 2000 and is co-director of orchestras. He is also the lead teacher for orchestras across the Gwinnett school district. Under his direction, the Duluth High orchestras have been selected for a number of performances including the Georgia Music Educators Convention in Savannah and the National Orchestra Festival. Lemonds is a cellist and conductor who has performed in numerous concerts as a soloist and chamber musician in the United States, England, France, Italy, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Mexico and Korea.