Fayette County News
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FAYETTE COUNTY SCHOOL NEWS PROUDLY SPONSORED BY OUR FRIENDS AT
FAYETTEVILLE, GA
June 21,2023
Page B2
Courtesy of Fayette County Schools
Booth Middle School Chorus
Performs Anthem at Braves Game
luneteenth Youth
Poetry Contest
Winners Announced
Three McIntosh High
School students were an
nounced as the winners of
the Juneteenth Youth Po
etry Contest, sponsored by
Fayette County Historical
Society and the Juneteenth
Youth Poetry Committee.
The theme for the
contest was “Hope for a
Brighter Tomorrow” and it
was open to all high school
students grades 9-12 in Fay
ette County.
Tenth-grade student
Emily Chen won first place;
senior Luke Soule won sec
ond place, and ninth-grade
student Mia Negrete won
third place.
Fayette County High’s
Evan Veasey received hon
orable mention for his
poem, The Crafter and His
Star.
See full-length winning
poems at www.fayette-
news.net
The J.C. Booth Middle
chorus singing the National
Anthem for the Atlanta
Braves is a winning combi
nation.
On June 8, the Warriors
warmed up the crowd as the
Braves faced the Mets with a
stirring rendition of “The
Star-Spangled Banner” be
fore the home team rallied to
a thrilling victory.
More than 250 people
from the community came to
the game to support the
Warriors, along with the
more than 39,000 fans in
the stands. The performance
also wowed the team. After
they finished, the young
singers were greeted by
Braves stars Ronald Acuna,
Jr., and Ozzie Albies.
The anthem is one of the
first songs the chorus learns
and rehearses when the
school year starts because
they sing it at many events
and games. The combination
group performing at the
game started meeting as
soon as school was out, with
four practices plus a dress
rehearsal on the McIntosh
High baseball diamond.
Participating chorus
members were Liza Ander
son, Grant Bard, Bridget
Burnett, Annie Campbell,
Noah Cannon, Zach Chris
tensen, Will Cook, Elise
Cooper, Parker Demmel,
Gabby Drummond, Daniel
Gaddis, Anderson Hay,
Charli Hoffman, Aniston
Jones, Sarah Loridas, Daniel
McBee, Graison McKelvey,
Madison Meeks, Hadley
Mustain, Addisyn Perry, Ava
Phillips, Madi Piotrowski,
Ari Reese, Lillian Reiss, Mar-
lee Richardson, Eva Salazar,
Kallie Sutherland, and Dan
ielle Weber.
The chorus is under the
direction of Kara Post.
“Some choirs sing it in
unison, which is always
pretty, but we sing it in parts
to give it more texture and
accommodate different voice
ranges. It’s not an easy song
to sing, especially with the
diction of the words and the
few opportunities to
breathe,” said Post. “I’m very
proud of my young singers
for their poise and artistry!”
Courtesy of Fayette County Schools
Administrative Institute
Gathers County Leaders
The summer is a great time to add
to your toolkit, which was proven as
the annual administrative institute
brought school administrators and
county office leaders together at
Whitewater High for two days of
learning and growth.
Day one featured an in-depth dis
cussion on the importance of a bal
anced assessment system led by the
curriculum and instruction depart
ment. Breakout sessions followed
with a focus on school-level applica
tion. The afternoon brought talks
with Chris Clark, president and CEO
of the Georgia Chamber of Com
merce, and Michelle Shaw, 2023 Fay
ette County Teacher of the Year.
Day two saw everyone back to
gether for more breakout learning
and inspiration. Session offerings in
cluded the science of reading and lan
guage, math standards and textbooks,
supporting teacher leadership, and
learning to prioritize “You Time,” ac
cording to school system officials.
Inspirational talks were offered by
community advocate Dawn Oparah
and Whitewater High student Kellan
Frenelle.
One of the highlights of day two
was the Kipper Challenge, where ad
ministrators were pitted against each
other in a friendly competition for
prizes.
Kipper, Inc. is a non-profit created
by retired teacher and school coun
selor Kelly Green to honor those who
educate and those who want to pur
sue education through fun giveaways
and scholarships. To find out how to
get involved, go to
www.kipperinc.org.
Throughout the conference were
performances by students, including
the choruses from Whitewater High,
Sara Harp Minter Elementary, and
Flat Rock Middle.
Erica Bourque and Driola Hoti Lara Otico Courtesy of Fayette County Schools
Booth, McIntosh Students Compete
at National Invention Convention
The was a bit of Peachtree City flair
as local students competed at the U.S.
Nationals 2023 Invention Convention
at the Henry Ford Museum in Michi
gan.
J.C. Booth Middle’s Lara Otico
took second place in her grade level, as
well as first place overall for in-person
presentation for her project, The
Plapper. The Plapper is a technique
that uses kudzu and other invasive
plants to make paper.
Erica Bourque and Driola Hoti of
McIntosh High placed third in their
grade level for their project, Plant
Dock. Plant Dock is a buoyant con
tainer that protects crops from flood
damage.
Raytheon Technologies Invention
Convention U.S. Nationals is hosted
annually at the Henry Ford Museum
and showcases student inventors from
among thousands who compete at
state and local invention competitions.
Starr’s Mill’s
Dahn Awarded
Merit Scholarship
Starr’s Mill High student
Nathanael M. Dahn has
been awarded a college-
sponsored Merit Scholar
ship.
Dahn was awarded a Na
tional Merit University of
Tulsa Scholarship. His
probable career field is fi
nance.
The college-sponsored
awards provide between
$500 and $2,000 annually
for up to four years of un
dergraduate study at the in
stitution financing the
scholarship.
By the conclusion of this
year’s competition, more
Nathanael Dahn
than 7,000 high school sen
iors will have won National
Merit Scholarships worth
nearly $28 million.
Farmer, Jackson Earn
EdTech Leadership
Two key players of Fay
ette County Public Schools’
technology services depart
ment earned the TrustEd
Apps Certified Leader
(TACL) certification.
Jim Farmer, chief tech
nology officer, and Matt
Jackson, coordinator of dig
ital and media services,
joined the first cohort of
lEdTech’s TrustEd Apps
Certified Leaders at the or
ganization’s learning impact
conference. Farmer and
Jackson are among 27
leaders across the country
in the first cohort to earn
the TACL designation.
To earn the honor, each
completed five learning
modules focused on data
privacy and accessibility;
curriculum innovation and
strategies; designing the
digital learning ecosystem;
data insights for learner
success; and learner
achievement opportunities.
Through the rigorous
modules, certified leaders
were able to develop a com
prehensive strategy to im
plement a trusted, open,
and innovative, best-in-
class edtech ecosystem at
their institutions.
“As certified TACL
leaders, these educators
worked with lEdTech and
each other to gain a high-
level understanding of how
open standards can be lev
eraged to impact instruc
tion,” said Dr. Tim Clark,
lEdTech vice president of
K-12 programs. “They are
now more equipped to ad
vocate for transformative
digital learning experiences,
develop digital ecosystems
in their districts, and inno
vate new technologies to im
prove teaching and
learning.”
lEdTech is a world-lead
ing non-profit and edtech
collaborative working to
ward an open, trusted, and
innovative edtech ecosys
tem that powers learner po
tential. Through
collaborations and stan
dards that work for all
stakeholders, it creates solu
tions that enable transfor
mative digital learning
experiences, personalized
learner journeys, boost
achievement opportunities,
and improve learner suc
cess, according to Fayette
County Schools officials.
FES Penny Wars
Helps Foster Families
Fayetteville Elementary
went to “war” for a good
cause. With Penny Wars,
the Tiger Cubs donated
$2,000 to Bloom Our
Youth.
Collection was organized
by grade level, and all stu
dents, teachers, and staff
participated. Points were
earned by donating pennies
and dollar bills, and grades
could subtract points from
their competition by putting
silver coins in their jugs.
The fourth grade won
the war and earned a “big
goody bag” for their hard
work.
The school picked
Bloom, a local non-profit
that supports foster families
around the state, as the ben
eficiary.
“Our goal was for our
students to focus on the im
portance of giving,” said
school technology specialist
Regina Yeargin. “As a
‘Leader in Me School’, we
want to promote compas
sion, sharing, and generos
ity while participating in a
little friendly competition.”
