• Roswell High School juniors Alice and Anna Romanov were chosen from over 10,000 applicants to perform at the 2015 High School Honors Performance Series Feb. 22 at Carnegie Hall. Alice Romanov has studied music six years, is a member of Roswell High School Chamber Orchestra and recipient of the Georgia Music Teachers Association Award of Excellence, and was named Outstanding Musician by the GMTA in 2011, 2012, and 2013. She participated in the 2014 London Festival of Music as the orchestra's concertmaster. Anna Romanov has studied music seven years, is a member of Roswell High School Chamber Orchestra, an alumnus of Fulton County Honor Orchestra 2013 and 2014, a participant in the 2014 London Festival of Music, and was the winner of the Outstanding Music Student Award at Crabapple Middle School for three consecutive years.
• Woodward Academy junior and violinist Andrew Koonce has been named second place laureate for the Georgia Philharmonic Samuel Fordis Young Artists Concerto Competition. Selected after an audition in the fall and finals competition in early January, Andrew will be featured as a soloist in concert with the orchestra at Cambridge High School in Alpharetta on March 28 at 7 p.m. Andrew's accomplishments as a musician include the Festival Disney Best Concert Artist Award, the title of Concertmaster for the Georgia ASTA Summer Music Camp, and the title of Chief Concertmaster for the Georgia All State 6-8th Grade Orchestra.
• The Georgia Veterans of Foreign Wars has named Holly Trudgeon, a teacher at J.C. Booth Middle School in Peachtree City, the 2015 State Citizenship Education Teacher of the Year for middle school teachers. Trudgeon teaches gifted social studies. She will receive her award Jan. 31 in Macon at the VFW State Convention and is a nominee for the national award to be presented in March at the VFW Legislative Convention in Washington, D.C.
• Henry County Schools has become only the second district in Georgia to have three Innovation in Teaching winners after Unity Grove Elementary's Melanie Hartfield was among the latest honorees announced by Gov. Nathan Deal. Hartfield, a 17-year veteran teacher, teaches fifth-grade special education and is the second teacher from Unity Grove to win the competition. Amanda Cavin, a first-grade teacher from the school, was one of three winners in the inaugural round of competition. The latest round is the program's fifth. Stockbridge High School teacher Dr. Mohan Sadhasivan was part of the fourth round of winners. Hartfield will receive a $2,000 stipend and Unity Grove Elementary will receive a $5,000 grant for implementation of Georgia's instructional standards.
• Alpharetta High School was selected as one of only 12 schools in Georgia to participate in a new program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Angie Yarbrough, cafeteria manager, is given a new recipe each month to test on students. Students fill out a survey and their feedback is sent to the USDA for review to make decisions for use of these recipes in Georgia schools.
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