With so many outstanding accomplishments in metro Atlanta, it hasn’t been easy to get them all into print. So the Community News team decided to dedicate an entire page this holiday season to bragging a little. Enjoy!
John Abdinoor, Nick Garcia, Aiden McChesney, Canon Sousa and Andrew White of the Creekview High School Aeronautics Team earned fourth-place overall at the UAS4STEM Search and Rescue Nationals.
Kristin Abernathy, Sarah Brummett, Michael Chapin, Justin Hall, Akash Patel, Abbi Patterson, Grace Whitmire and Harper Wolf of Woodward Academy were selected to represent their school in the Youth Photography Exhibition as part of the Slow Exposures Photography Festival.
Jim Berry, Bobby Blount, Susan Dreschel, Lee Patti and Freda Williams of the Cherokee County School District, Jennifer Lewis of Indian Knoll Elementary School, Cindy Crews of Sixes Elementary School and Caitlin Crews of Woodstock Elementary School were named Microsoft Innovative Educator Experts for their use of technology to transform education.
Emma Jones of Woodward Academy participated in the Swim Across America Open Water 5K at Lake Lanier.
Caroline Berkey, Sam Bonder, Sam Brummett, Julia Dickson-Lah, Sanaa Malik, Will McEntee, Sophia Morettini, Kendal Newton, Akash Patel, Naina Reddy, Anna Rein, Jack Rivers, Andrew Smith, Arya Vishwanath, Shelby Wright and Kylie Ye of Woodward Academy were selected to represent their school in the Middle School category of the My Atlanta Exhibition as part of the annual Atlanta Celebrates Photography festival.
Emily Hewitt of Woodward Academy represented Region 3 in Junior Dressage at the 2016 North American Junior and Young Rider Championship held in Colorado where her team won gold.
Chloe Williams of Woodward Academy competed in the Peoria Fencing Academy Regional Youth Circuit and earned a gold and bronze medal.
Kayla and Alyssa Stadeker of Woodward Academy were selected to participate in Georgia's Olympic Development Program for soccer.
Kristen Brooks of Woodstock Elementary School and Carol Dickerson of Cherokee County School District were named Apple Teachers by Apple, Inc. for their understanding of how to use Apple Products for teaching and learning.
Tate Poole of Riverwood International Charter School was selected for the Georgia Youth Symphony Orchestra.
Elise Flanagan of Riverwood International Charter School was selected for the Metropolitan Atlanta Youth Wind Ensemble.
Coleman Alvarez, Robert Breeser, Simon Coffsky, Lilya Cooper, Drew Kaplan, Arthur Miltner, Jayden Richardson and Ryan Stoddard of Riverwood International Charter School were selected for the Rialto Youth Jazz Orchestra.
Leslie Tornez-Cruz and Janelle Tenorio of Riverwood International Charter School were named REACH Scholars for their strong grades, good behavior and good attendance.
Zain Bashey, Clarisa Colton, Anna Crumpler, Daniel East, Elizabeth Epperson, Sean Hackett, Zach Henry, Cameron Jackson, Ryan Nelli, Avery Pingpank, Logan Schick, Ryan Sherk and Annabel Ward of Holy Innocents' Episcopal School were named Commended students in the National Merit Scholarship Program.
Teasley Middle School Principal Susan Zinkil was officially honored Monday as Georgia's Middle School Principal of the Year by the Georgia Association of Secondary School Principals.
Brian Carnes of Sequoyah High School was named Cherokee County School District's 2017 Teacher of the Year.
Sasha Popham of Woodward North won first place in the United States Eventing Association Pre-Amoeba Combined test held at South Willow Riding School in Johns Creek.
Owen Powell of Dallas has been accepted to Tennessee Wesleyan University.
Samantha Seidel of Woodward Academy had a poem printed in the November 2016 edition of Albricias magazine.
Alexa Flesch of Woodward Academy won first place in the Special Group category at the Second Jiang Su Cup Chinese Speech Contest for High School Students held at the Confucius Institute at Emory University.
Olivia Silva of Woodward Academy performed in Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's Talent Development Program in their annual Musicale and Aspire Awards at Symphony Hall.
Nitish Sood of Alpharetta was awarded the Teen Volunteer of the Year award by the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
Nia Sorhaindo of Chamblee Charter High School represented Varsity Spirit in the 2016 Thanksgiving Tour at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.
James Pavur of Atlanta won a Rhodes scholarship for graduate study at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.
The Mortar Board National Honor Society presented Sarah L. Larson of Dunwoody with the Alumni Achievement award at its annual conference in Indianapolis.
Dezmone Valentine of the University of North Georgia has been awarded a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship for study abroad.
The National Christian College Athletic Association recognized Lauren Foushee of Roswell as an NCCAA Scholar Athlete.
Corey Turner of Alpharetta and Wesley Pherson of Kennesaw were named to the 2017 Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges.
Women in Technology and Scintel Technologies selected Brittany Clarke of Starr's Mill High as this year's recipient of the WIT Girl of the Year award.
Scott Harriman of Atlanta, Shaun Yandle of Cumming, Calvin Tiggle of Ellenwood and Angelo Kalevela of Lawrenceville graduated from Kent State University.
Emily Blom of Marietta was a member of Wheaton College's 2016 women's cross country team.
Ryan Lewand of Kennesaw was named to Kent State University's dean's list.
State Superintendent Richard Woods recognized Free Home Elementary School Principal Karen Carl as the 2016 Georgia Distinguished Principal and Woodstock Elementary School Assistant Principal Rachel Wasserman as the Georgia 2016 National Distinguished Assistant Principal.
Alex Newcomer of Milton is a member of Ashland University's women's swim team.
Siblings Hal and Jill Olson of Riverwood International Charter School both won 2nd place in their categories at the 2016 Jiangsu Cup Chinese Speech Contest for High School Students in the Southern States.
Melanie Rookwood and Daniel Snyder of Atlanta, Emmanuel Paul of Douglasville, Nana Yaa Addo of Ellenwood, Whitney Von Voigt of Kennesaw, Tiffany Polk of Marietta and Bernard Ogoo of Stockbridge graduated from Davenport University.
Woodward Academy student Aaron Brown's Tiny Toy Arcade company was featured in The Wall Street Journal's Holiday Gift Guide: 50 Nostalgic Finds.
Ahmad Perryman of Roswell has been accepted to Tennessee Wesleyan University.
Ashley Endicott of Atlanta, Jason Rhoden of Snellville and Archemae Murphy of Stone Mountain graduated from Concordia University.
Estera Maxim of Norcross received a distinction of honor for presentation of her research at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students in Florida.
Ira Colendrino of Starr's Mill High placed first in the 2016 Chuck Baird Memorial Art Competition sponsored by the American Sign Language Honor Society.
Mary Fortson-Harwell of Kennesaw was awarded a Love of Learning award worth $500 from The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.
Amanda Fielder of Atlanta graduated from Ashland University.
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