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Melissa St. Clair, along with classmates, shows off her painting in the 2009 Georgia Safety Belt Calendar
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Art student wins place in calendar
Monroe Academy student
Melissa St. Clair has quite a rep
utation as an artist!
Melissa's art entry from the
University of Georgia Traffic
Injury Prevention Institute
Safety Belt Contest won third
place in the state last year out of
30,000 entries. To even get recog
nition out of this many entries is
an amazing honor because of the
overwhelming number of entries
that judges view and assess! She
was presented an award at last
year's Honor's Day program. Her
artwork has just been formally
published in the 2009 Georgia
Safety Belt Calendar by a collab
orative effort of Governor's Office
of Highway Safety and the
University of Georgia
Cooperative Extension. The title
of her piece is called "Life is
Meowvelous-So be on the Safe
Side!" and features a cat and dog
driving a car. Melissa's awesome
slogan and drawing are featured
along with high school, middle
school, and elementary top win
ners from all over the state.
In the past, Melissa has won
many art contests for Monroe
Academy including other state
level competitions. Her efforts in
the Junior Duck Stamp contest
have been outstanding. Last year
she placed second in state in this
worthy conservation project. She
had previously placed third in
this event. Melissa has also won
awards in the Cherry Blossom
Student Art
Contest. Melissa
has won the Top
Artist Award for
her grade so many
times her art
teacher, Monta
Rae Purser (long
time art teacher at
Monroe Academy),
is not quite sure
how many times it
has been. "Melissa
deserves to receive
accolades! She has
the unusual dis
tinction of being so creative and
original. Her work efforts are
very precise and diligent. She
also has raw talent and enthusi
asm to consistently produce qual
ity drawings. Perhaps her best
attribute is her cooperation in
learning so that instruction real
ly becomes beneficial. She is a
terrific student with a pleasant
disposition, good listening skills
and a passion for art. I consider
it a blessing to have had the
opportunity to instruct her for
the past seven years at Monroe
Academy, and eagerly look for
ward to our future art endeavors
in the years to come!"
Melissa is currently a sixth
grader and has been a student at
Monroe Academy since 5K
(kindergarten). When inter
viewed, Melissa exclaimed, "Even
though we are a small school, we
have many wonderful artists!
Our small classes help each stu
dent to receive special attention.
Mrs. Purser makes it enjoyable
and fun to learn about art! I am
so excited to be published for the
first time! I couldn't wait to tell
my parents because I knew that
they would be proud of me!
Winning such a big award and
having it put in print inspires me
to believe that I can really suc
ceed in art!"
For more information about
Monroe Academy's Art
Department, please feel free to
contact Monta Rae Purser at
478-994-5986 or contact her by
email at purser@monroeacade-
my.com. Also, feel free to drop in
at Monroe Academy to see our
facilities or schedule an opportu
nity to have your student shadow
for a day.
W-I-N-N-E-R-S
Monroe Academy Spelling
Bee- It's the buzz around
Monroe Academy that the
Spelling Bee was a resound
ing success! Fifteen students
were selected to participate in
the academic event that was
held Jan. 26 in the Mustang
cafeteria. The competition
included fourth through
eighth graders with three stu
dents from each grade select
ed by testing. Particapants
competing were: Fourth
Grade; Luke Barlow, Dalton
Buice, and Megan Dahlin
Fifth Grade; Calvin Brindley,
Peyton Harvil, and Rebecca
Hopper Sixth Grade; Lily
Barlow, Meredyth Brown, and
Austin Howell Seventh Grade;
Alex James, Beth Anne
Mahaffey, and Mary Beth
Patten Eighth Grade;
Brittany Carter, Mackenzie
Epperson, and David Purser.
The battle was pretty tough
and included such words as
tungsten, regime, prowess,
irate, and paradigm...words
some adults may not even
know! The winner of the con
test was 8th grader, David
Purser, who successfully
speled "mortgage". He was
thrilled to win the $50 prize
and glad he had played the
game Monopoly to have the
winning answer. Eighth grad
er, Brittany Carter placed
second and was awarded $25.
David and Brittant will com
pete at Tattnall for the region
bee.
Monroe welcomes new
students, teachers
A visit from Aunt JUlie’
Army Specialiast Julie
Samples, a native of
Monroe County, was
warmly greeted by the
Monroe Academy 3K
(Pre-school) class.
Specialist Samples
enjoyed a 2 week visit
to her hometown of
Forsyth before return
ing to her tour of duty
in Bagdad, Iraq. Known
for her "firecracker"
personality, Ms.
Samples, age 20, proud
ly serves her country
and loves her job
because "every day is
different!" She was
recently promoted from
gunner to radio control
dispatch. Monroe
Academy makes great
effort to honor our serv
ice men and women by
maintaining a bulletin
board of those who are
serving or have served.
Monroe Academy also
recites the pledge of
alliegience to the flag
and has prayer within
the classroom, ball-
games and assemblies.
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" Aunt Julie" was welcomed by her nephew, Sonny Sherman (center right)and his pre-school
peers. Sonny attends Monroe Academy with his brother, Hunter Sherman (5K-Kindergarten).
This year, M.A. observed
Veteran's Day with a
wonderful program pre
sented by the American
Legion Post. Students
were impressed and
awed by the branches of
service repesented and
the opportunity to see
war relics on display.
Many students took
extra time to interact
with the veterans after
the nice program.On
Friday, April 3, the ele
mentary students will
honor their grandpar
ents, parents and
extended family with a
musical and patriotic
program in the Mustang
gymnasium. Family and
friends are invited to
attend.
Monroe Academy gladly welcomed sev
eral new studnets recently. Above: Cole
Gaylord, grade six; Logan Sneed, grade
10; Taylor Hamlin, grade 12; Peyton
McPherson, grade 2 and (right) Abbi
Doughtery, Pre-K. Abbi is the daughter
of Jennifer Doughtery (below), one of
two new teachers at Monroe. Doughtery
joins the faculty as an 8th, 9th and 10th
grade English teacher along with her
husband John who has taught the Bible
Elective and Georgia History all year.
Their three children Emily(3rd Grade),
Anna (1st Grade) and Abby(Pre-Kinder-
garten) attend Monroe Academy as well.
Marsha Williams
(right) has resurfaced
from retirement and
teaches 12th grade
literature. She for
merly taught at Mon
roe Academy for
many years and is
greeted with great
enthusiasm and re
spect. Alumni reflect
on their past learning
experiences with
Marsha Williams and
claim that she pro
foundly influenced
their level of ability
and confidence in
college courses. One
alum claims that he
still hears her voice
inside his head every
time he attempts to
write a document!