Smyrna parent Otha Thornton was selected as president-elect of the National PTA at the organization's annual convention in Orlando earlier this month. Thornton becomes the group's first African-American male president-elect. The retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. and his wife have a daughter attending Spelman College and a son at Morehouse College.

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Inventor Lonnie Johnson stands with his Super Soaker water guns at JTEC Energy on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025, in Atlanta. Johnson, a former NASA engineer, is currently working on a new energy technology through his company’s JTEC device that turns thermal heat into usable energy. (Natrice Miller/AJC)