Education Briefs

from Atlanta Intown - March 2015

by Rough Draft Atlanta: Atlanta Intown, Reporter Newspapers

Parting Shots

Intown and All Around Town

Atlanta Public Schools Athletics Director Jasper Jewell has been selected by the Georgia Athletic Directors Association as Class AAA state Athletic Director of the Year. Jewell was previously selected by his peers as Region Georgia 4-AAA Athletic Director of the Year. Jewell will receive both awards at the GADA state conference in Savannah this month. “I am really proud of the accomplishments that our dynamic studentathletes have made, and I am honored to be a part of a sta that has helped to double athletic participation in four years,” said Jewell. “Our athletic teams have consistently gotten better, and we are able to compete frequently in the state. is drives my passion for this work. It’s the students that make this the best job ever.” e Atlanta City Council is exploring the option of using old Atlanta Public Schools property for new greenspace in the city. Councilman Michael Julian Bond introduced the legislation last month to use APS property owned by the city for new parks.

Clipper Petroleum Foundation and Exxon Mobil Educational Alliance have awarded Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic School grants to purchase SmartMicroScopes. Designed to interact with the whiteboard technology already in place at the school, these microscopes will expand and enhance the methods and materials used in teaching science curriculum in the third, fourth and h grades. “I can’t wait to get it into the hands of our students to help them explore the world around them,” said IHM hgrade teacher Cindy Taube. “ e SmartMicroScope will enhance scienti c observation and investigation while bridging the gap between scienti c theory and reality.” irty-nine Atlanta Public Schools scholar athletes announced which college or university they will lend their academic and athletic talents to this fall during the district’s National Signing Day ceremony at Maynard Holbrook Jackson High School held last month. is is the rst year APS has had four National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I football early enrollees in the history of the APS athletics program. Early enrollees include three from Benjamin E. Mays High School Raiders, who played in the GHSA Class AAAAA state championship: Natrez Patrick, who signed with the University of Georgia; Dallas Warmack, University of Alabama; Khalil Brooks, Middle Tennessee State University; and Aaron Williams from the New Schools at Carver, who signed with the University of Nebraska. e GLOBE Academy is the rst public charter school in Atlanta to o er full Mandarin immersion to Kindergarten and 1st grade students. Upper grade students that are not in the immersion track also learn Mandarin each week during a special class. For more information, visit theglobeacademy.org.

Lovett School junior Catt McCreary was recently named a 2015 National YoungArts Foundation Merit winner in the voice/popular voice category. She is one of 700 winners from across the nation chosen from 11,000 applications. Catt will be able to use her designation in her college applications, on-line pro le, resume, and during interviews.

Springdale Park Elementary School will hold its 6th annual Spark A er Dark fundraiser on March 21 at 7 p.m. at Le Fais do-do, 1611 Ellsworth Industrial Boulevard NW. e adults-only gala and silent auction will also featured a catered meal and cash bar. For information and tickets, visit atlanta.k12.ga.us/Domain/4257.

If you’re 50 or older or have a family history of colon cancer, a preventive screening is just what the doctor ordered. In fact, when detected in its early stages, colon cancer is one of the most highly treatable and preventable cancers. Drinking the colon prep isn’t as bad as you’ve heard, and the procedure itself can take less than 30 minutes.