Newspaper Page Text
Page 2A - Pike County Journal Reporter - Wednesday, November 10, 2021
Pike County has Purple Heart
School System designation
The Pike County
school system was
recently proclaimed a
Purple Heart School Sys
tem and will “encourage
the students and employ
ees of the school system
to show their apprecia
tion for the sacrifices the
Purple Heart recipients
have made in defending
our freedoms, to acknowl
edge their courage and
to show them the honor
and support they have
earned,” according to
the proclamation which
was approved by the Pike
board of commissioners.
According to PCMS
teacher Todd Child, in
order to be designated
as a Purple Heart School
system, evidence of its
commitment to veterans,
active military and Purple
Heart recipients had to
be submitted. At the Oct.
5 board of education
meeting, Georgia Military
Order of the Purple Heart
Jr. Vice Commander Lou
Zayas presented the
signed proclamation and
gave each board member,
the superintendent and
each school representa
tive a framed certificate
for earning the distinction
of a Purple Heart school.
“Having this distinc
tion helps to shine a
public light on what
Pike County schools do
for our military,” said
Child. “The honor will be
promoted throughout the
state by the Georgia Mili
tary Order of the Purple
Heart. “The honor is
bestowed upon any city,
county, school or group
that can demonstrate its
dedication to honoring
veterans, active military
and especially Purple
Heart recipients.”
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Georgia Military Order of the Purple Heart Jr. Vice Commander Lou Zayas (right) presented a
signed proclamation to the board of education recently as well as certificates for each board of
education member, school representatives and the superintendent.
Track teams in
top 10 in the state
After dominating
region races this season
- with the boys finishing
first and the girls second
- the Pike County High
School track teams both
placed in the top 10 in
the state over the week
end. The boys finished
eighth in the state and
the girls finished ninth in
the state.
Senior Aiden Potter
had a strong perfor
mance at the state meet,
finishing tenth in the
state. Senior William
Gray was 37th with a
solid race, along with
junior Luke Woerner who
was behind William in
45th place. The rest of
the Pirates were bunched
up with John Barber fin
ishing 4th on the team in
85th place with Andrew
Edwards 86th to finish
out the scoring. Xander
Potter and freshman Jack
Bell were not far be
hind. The Pirates finished
at or above where they
were supposed to finish
with several members
having a personal best
on the state course in
Carrollton.
The girls finished
ninth in the state compe
tition. Lauren Smith was
46th with a time of 23:36.
Cathryn Stuart was next
at 50th, Madison Wilson
was 65th, Bailey Morris
was 85th, Katie Ballard
was 94th, Morgan Wilson
was 109th and Addison
Stuart was 140th.
The boys dominated
the region this year with
runners placing second,
third, fourth, fifth, sixth,
seventh and tenth.
“In cross country, that
is pretty dominate. They
work really hard from
summer to now and most
also run track so they
really never take a huge
break,” said Clay Wo
erner. “On an easy day,
they may go jog seven
or eight miles. On hard
days they put together a
speed work out that adds
up to five or six miles. We
are talking 40 to 80 miles
a week. The team is led
by seniors Aiden Potter
and William Gray who
help create a comarade-
rie. They meet up and
run on breaks, they meet
up and run on weekends,
they meet up and eat
out together, pretty cool
stuff.”
Starting the region run
for the boys were Aiden
Potter, William Gray,
Luke Woerner, Andrew
Edwards, Xander Potter,
John Barber and Jack
Bell. Also running on the
competitive team are
Cooper Hanson, Garrett
Childs, Ethan Dumas,
Braden Keiser, Ben Rich
ardson, Turner Whee-
lan and Noah Strader.
The girls qualified for
the state meet by placing
second in the region to a
really good Mary Persons
team which was ranked
fourth in the state. The
team was led by junior
Cathryn Stuart and se
nior Lauren Smith. Also
rounding out the varsity
in order were Madison
Wilson, Katie Ballard,
Morgan Wilson, Addison
Stuart and Bailey Morris.
Representing the JV in
region were Emma Sum
merlin, Mackenzie Mal-
com, Morgan Boynton
and Savannah McBrayer.
“Congratulations to
coach O’Steen and coach
Smith for an awesome
job! Two runners from
last year’s team are cur
rently running in college
on a scholarship. Anna
Chasteen is competing
on the varsity level for
North Georgia College
and killing it. Also, this
program has sent mul
tiple other runners to
college along with others
that have had offers,”
said Woerner. “Great job
coaches!”
SUBMITTED PHOTOS
The Pike County High School boys track team earned the region championship title and finished eighth in the state meet over
the weekend. Pictured are (front row l-r) Andrew Edwards, John Barber, Jack Bell (back row l-r) Ethan Dumas, Cooper Hansen,
William Gray, Brayden Keiser, Turner Whelen, Garret Childs, Aiden Potter, Xander Potter, and Luke Woerner
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The Pike County High School girls track team finished second in the region championship and earned a ninth place finish in
the state meet over the weekend. Pictured are (front row l-r) Savannah McBrayer, Mackenzie Malcom, Lauren Smith (back row
l-r) Kattie Ballard, Cathryn Stuart, Madison Wilson, Bailey Morris, Aidison Stuart, Morgan Wilson, Emma Summerlin and Morgan
Boynton.
Send Letters to Santa by Dec. 3
Santa’s helpers at
the Pike County Journal
Reporter want to make
sure your letters get to
the North Pole before
Christmas.
Letters may be mailed
to P.O. Box 789, Zebu-
Ion 30295, dropped off at
the office on the square
in Zebulon or emailed to
news@pikecounty
georgia.com.
Letters will be pub
lished in the Wednesday,
Dec. 22 edition. The
deadline for letters is 5
p.m., Friday, Dec. 3.
COVID-19: Deaths increase to 50
FROM PAGE ONE
Another death was re
corded due to COVID-19,
moving the total number
of deaths to 50 since the
pandemic began, accord
ing to the Georgia Depart
ment of Public Health on
Nov. 8. There have been
20 probable deaths and
121 hospitalizations and a
total of 1,861 cases since
March 2020.
In the Pike County
school system, there
were five confirmed CO
VID-19 cases as of Nov. 4
with five students and/or
staff under quarantine.
The COVID-19 vac
cine is now available for
children 5 and older and
all others and more than
11.4 million Georgia citi
zens have received the
vaccine with 50% of the
state fully vaccinated.
In Pike County, only
34% of citizens are fully
vaccinated - at 6,257 citi
zens - with 37% of Pike
residents having at least
one dose of the vaccine.
To make an appoint
ment for the vaccine at
the health department, go
to district4health.org or
call 888457-0186 Monday
through Friday from 8
a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday
from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
ARE YOU INTERESTED IN
BECOMING A TEACHER?
On Tuesday, November 30th, at 6:00 p.m. the Griffin Regional
Educational Service Agency will conduct the South Metro Atlanta
GaTAPP (Georgia Teacher Academy for Preparation and Pedagogy)
Information Session hosted by Griffin RESA virtually via Zoom.
The GaTAPP program is designed to attract highly motivated
professionals outside the teaching profession who hold a Bachelors
degree or higher from a regionally accredited college/university
and are interested in pursuing a teaching career. Human Resources
Directors from Butts, Fayette, Henry, Lamar, Newton, Pike,
Griffin-Spalding and Thomaston-Upson School Systems will be in
attendance at this event to virtually provide information on
prospective employment opportunities for the remainder
the 2021-2022 school year and for the 2022-2023 school year.
Space will be limited and only those with reservations
will be admitted.
To reserve your space, please RSVP to TAPP at
TAPP@griffinresa.net.
To register, please send an
email to
TAPP@griffinresa.net