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Wednesday, November 14, 2007 The Braselton News Page 7B REED WINS FIRST Lisa Reed, a sixth grade student at Osborne Middle School won first place in photography and will advance to the state finals. Her winning entry was titled: “I can make a difference by keeping our water clean.” Lisa was also a county finalist in the video production and visual arts categories. MCHS dance presents ‘The Magic Toy Shop’ BY KRISTI REED The Mill Creek High School dance department will perform “The Magic Toy Shop” on Saturday, November 17, at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. and on Sunday, November 18, at 4 p.m. in the school’s theatre. “The Magic Toy Shop” is based on the ballet “La Boutique Fantastique.” In the story, toys come to life after closing hours in an effort to save two of their bal lerina friends. Suzanne Kross, director of dance at Mill Creek, said this is the dance department’s third annual perfor mance of the show. Kross said preparations for the performance have been underway for months. “It takes 10-12 weeks of prepa ration just for the choreography,” Kross said. “That does not include the time involved for props and costumes.” Seniors Gina Privett and Baxter Smith play the toy keepers in the show. Baxter Smith, place kicker on Mill Creek’s football team and this year’s homecoming king, said he has enjoyed participating in the dance program. “I was a little skeptical at first,” Smith said. “It felt like [the girls] had so much more experience.” Being the only male in a class with 99 girls does have its advan tages though, he said. He said his friends are envious and he gets plenty of attention and help from his female classmates. “I like it a lot,” he said. Smith said dancing has also helped his kicking performance. “I’ve gotten a lot more flexible. We do a lot of stretches.” Gina Privett has been dancing since she was 5-years-old. Privett transferred to Mill Creek so that she could participate in the school’s dance program. Privett said she has enjoyed working on “The Magic Toy Shop.” “It’s very fun,” Privett said. “It tells a story and it has several dif ferent genres of music.” Over 100 dancers will take part in this weekend’s perfor mance. Dancers include students in the beginner, intermediate and advanced dance classes at Mill Creek. Dance is a fine arts elective at Mill Creek. Students learn ballet, jazz and modem dance, as well as dance history. The intermediate and advanced classes are audition- based. The advanced class is comprised of students who would like to pur sue a career in dance, according to Kross. Most of the advanced dancers also take classes at night to further their training, she said. Kross said approximately 20 of the dancers in Saturday’s perfor mance are in the advanced class. Tickets for the performance are $5 at the door and may be purchased in advance by calling 678-376-8658. Proceeds from this weekend’s performance go to sup port future dance department pro ductions. Mill Creek students advance to state art competition ATTAWAY IS A FINALIST Tori Attaway, a third grade student at Duncan Creek, was a county finalist with her entry titled, “Here’s what I can do!” BY KRISTI REED Gwinnett County winners of the 2007-2008 Reflections Contest were announced Saturday at the Hudgens Center for the Arts in Duluth. A total of 15 students from Duncan Creek Elementary, Osborne Middle School and Mill Creek High School won at the county level and will advance to the state competition. “Reflections” is an art recogni tion program sponsored by the National PTA. Each year, children are given a theme to interpret artistically. This year’s theme was “I can make a difference by...” Entries are judged in six catego ries: literature, visual arts, photog raphy, musical composition, dance choreography and video produc tion. Judges in each category are selected for their expertise in the subject matter. Entries are evalu ated based on originality, creativ ity, artistic merit and interpretation of the theme. Each school selects winners for each category at each grade level. The winners advance to the county competition. This year, 903 school-level winners competed in the Gwinnett County Council of PTAs competition as county final ists. Of these, 138 county winners will advance to the state level competition. State winners will be announced in early 2008. Lisa Fanczi, Reflections chair for Osborne Middle School, said the competition is important to students. “I think it is important because it gives the students a special way to get recognized,” Fanczi said. “It gives them a chance to show off their talent.” Seven students from Duncan Creek Elementary advanced to the state finals. Adreanne Nelson (2nd grade), Hayden Schneeloch (3rd grade), and Hannah Morris (4th grade) won in the literature category. In the musical composition cate gory, Justin Thongsouk (4th grade) and Paul Molinari (5th grade) advanced to the state competition. Caroline Whitehurst (5th grade) placed first in dance choreography and Abigail Adkins (Kindergarten) won in the visual arts category. Osborne Middle School had six students win at the county level. Lisa Reed (6th grade) will advance to state in the photog raphy category. Kaitlyn Schulte (8th grade) placed first in liter ature. Camilia Liao (6th grade) won for her musical composition. Alec Padgette (8th grade) won in the video production category. Caitlyn Markwalter (6th grade) and Kristen Huggins (7th grade) were first place winners for their grade levels in dance choreogra phy. Mill Creek High School pro duced two county winners. Freshman Graham Robson won for his photography entry and senior Steven Melin won first place in musical composition. Six area students received hon orable mention: Diana Kim (1st grade, Duncan Creek), Chesney Jensen (3rd grade, Duncan Creek), Sara Harkness (8th grade, Osborne MS), Matthew Abraham (8th grade Osborne MS), Brian Abbott (9th grade, MCHS) and Lauren Grainger (12th grade, MCHS). Other county finalists from Duncan Creek included: Colin Eblen, Nancy Burkett, Wyatt Peek, Mina Cruise, Tori Attaway, Megan Welch, Emily Harrell, Hallie Hardin, Ashleigh Jordon, Amiya Walton, Lily Gerald, Anna Williams, Will Cain, Sarah Stacks, Anna Gerald and Adam Sanders. Osborne Middle School county finalists were: Amanda Brewer , Adrienne Osorio, James Tweedy, Omama Rahmany and Viktoria Mikita. Mill Creek High School county finalists included: Jason Chang, Jasmine Compton-Smith, Grace Bowers, Jordan Spurtin and Lauren Ashley. Now in its 38th year, the Reflections program is designed to enhance art education pro grams in the classroom. Winners at the state level will advance to a national competition to be held next spring. y • ‘fw .''ll ■ ■, - , T , \ i mt l * O iHa -i |Ti, L — w ■ - -v' P i ■fct' * ' '■f Ir Sr p ■ . >7 V El. ' J ■ 1 h _ ,r.' : tir , j |' j g r k - -■jjHf c _ V f 1" ’’Tj Ip / ^ \ ' m i % _ M WJMS CHORUS PERFORMS Students selected from the West Jackson Middle School chorus recently performed in Athens, at the Classic Center with the District 13 Honors Chorus. Stephen Greene is the chorus director. WJPS BUSINESS PARTNERS West Jackson Primary School business partners include: (front row, L-R) Martha Martin with Phil-Mart Transportation, Hal Taylor with Promise Keepers, Stanley Patrick with Little Hooties Ice Cream Parlor; (back row, L-R) Barbara Rinker WJPS Business Partner’s Committee, Karen Taylor-WJPS Business Partner’s Commitee, Denny Turner-Pricipal WJPS and Wendy Clifton with Heritage Makers. Photo by Cariel Lancaster WJPS hosts breakfast workshop for business partners BY KRISTI REED West Jackson Primary School staff and faculty members host ed a breakfast and workshop on November 8 for the school’s busi ness partners. Representatives from several local businesses were on hand to discuss ways in which they could contribute to the school. Barbara Rinker, chairperson of the Business Partners Committee, said the program is part of West Jackson Primary’s school improve ment plan. “We’re just trying to find ways to help our children,” Rinker said. Rinker said the businesses involved in the program have sev eral options to choose from in deciding how they want to help the school. These options include working directly with students, supporting staff and faculty, par ticipating in community service events or planning school and pro gram activities. “It’s just finding what fits their business,” Rinker said. “They decide how they want to help. We want them to help us and we will help them. There are ways the school will give back to the business.” Thursday’s workshop was the first Business Partners event host ed by the school. Businesses rep resented at the workshop included Phil-Mart Transportation, Promise Keepers, Little Hooties Ice Cream Parlor and Heritage Makers. Rinker said the participants pro vided great feedback. “We want to get the community involved in educating our chil dren,” Rinker explained. “There are lots of things we offered. Hopefully, one of those ways will help them get involved with the school.” Rinker said the Business Partners program is based on the idea that children and adults benefit from role models, support systems and relationships. The program is designed to provide all three while building a strong relationship with the community. “There are so many people that affect a child’s life,” Rinker said. “We want to provide positive role models for our students.” For more information on becom ing a West Jackson Primary School business partner, contact Barbara Rinker at 706-654-2243. ■ : -i ■ 1 — L'.-' ■V L*- L" - |r * |-*I IT* 1 Hurry! Limited Time Offer FREE Mbiwv Tallu Catlutar HIKlkatoHvf Soli ■« Artwn.SJUtoH 704177 Tm mrl on-. «o \x tai Vi J P, d rvwn h mt mom ■rinKBH mut - H IK -Bit pniriVKi la-rir DiHPf lw m a IT 4r*i ■nm.rii.ijn mn mm m fmmr hp. U-| E <m- mpn h * I'M nm ■ ih«in I |i prl imm la hmh r «i W «■. Vn ! ma ■ nM ipln ten I i wp h mw *4* pi kS4 w $4. to I Irk. ■ mm am CMH W 20% Off on featured phone oueuoriei! r mi H, • Ifh ■ jm M *r Please Recycle This Newspaper!