BOE hosts Pickens schools and sports teams recognitions

Board of Education, Dragon's Corner
Pickens principals receive recognitions

PICKENS, Ga. — The Pickens County Board of Education recognized several of Pickens County’s schools and sports teams during their latest meeting. The recognitions included GAC accreditations, and Mountain League Region Champion titles.

School Recognitions:  

Destiny Shope, Director of Public Involvement and Community Involvement, began by recognizing the Pickens County School District as a whole, “All schools in Pickens County were accredited with quality, and that means the district is also accredited with quality.” The accreditation comes from the Georgia Accrediting Commission. “The accrediting process prompts local schools and school districts to provide better and safer physical facilities and to improve the qualifications of staff members, teaching conditions, and curriculum,” Shope explained.

Mrs. Marla Callahan, Principal of Harmony Elementary; Mrs. Jennifer Halko, Principal of Hill City Elementary; Mrs. Stephanie Hall, Principal of Tate Elementary; Mr. Corey Thompson, Principal of Jasper Middle; Dr. Chad Flatt, Principal of Pickens Junior High; and Mr. Tony Young, Superintendent of the Pickens County School District each received their school’s certificate of accreditation at the meeting. Pickens High Principal Chris Wallace was unable to attend.

Janet Goodman, Director of Federal Programs, then recognized Hill City Elementary for their Title I designation, “Their school continues to get statewide and national recognition for the good work they’re doing.” That work, Goodman says, includes supplemental literacy support programs like iRead, Star Reading, and Leveled Readers to “make sure that every child is ready to move on to the next grade level with their reading ability.” Goodman then mentioned that Prinicipal Halko has also “been asked to present in a Teams meeting … where she is going to present to the state and talk about all the innovations at Hill City and to tell them why she believes that what they’re doing is the best work that they can do.” Hill City was further recognized for their 2021 National ESEA designation. Only two schools in the state of Georgia were chosen to receive this award, Goodman says.

Sports Recognitions: 

Pickens Junior High:

Athletic Director Kanyon Petti spoke briefly before the recognitions of the PHJS softball team and 8th grade football team: “I walked into the best group of coaches and kids that I could ever have imagined. These teams are truly doing phenomenal things, and I really feel like I don’t have to do a lot, because the coaches and the kids are doing such a great job.”

“What I’m here to recognize is the accomplishments of two of our fall sports teams … tonight we’re here to recognize the Mountain League Region Champion softball team, and then our eighth grade … Mountain League Super Bowl Champion football team,” she continued, “I think it’s important to really say that neither team has a Cinderella story, because both of them have dominated for years … but it doesn’t really take away the countless hours that they put in to get to this point.”

Pickens High:

Coach Williams spoke for Principal Wallace at the meeting to recognize Pickens High School Volleyball and Cross Country teams, “First we have our volleyball team, and we’re very proud of their accomplishments this year … It’s been 17 years since we have had any major success … in our volleyball program.” The PHS Volleyball team placed fourth in the region, and then went on to play in the Elite 8. Williams continued, “These ladies played their hearts out. They represented Pickens High School and Pickens County school system very well.”

Williams then recognized the PHS Girl’s Cross Country team saying, “These young ladies, again, worked very hard and were … still fairly young and looking forward to great things coming in the future, but again placed fourth in the region … and then was able to go to the state tournament in Carrollton … and end up placing ninth in the state.”

He followed with the PHS Boy’s Cross Country team, “They won their fourth straight region championship and seventh region championship in the last nine years … all these students that we brought before you tonight are some of the best that Pickens High School has to offer … and I’m very thankful to be associated with them as their athletic director and work with these coaches.”

 

After recognitions, the board addressed several other action items, including approval to name a PHS court after Coach Cowart.

 

 

 

 

UPDATE: Pickens Schools closed beginning Monday

Community, News
school

Pickens County Schools announced they will close all schools starting Monday, Oct. 26 through Nov. 6. Traditional students will transition to distance learning on Monday.

The decision comes after the district had 27 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 584 students, teachers, and staff in quarantined.

According to a press release from the system, the buildings will be deep cleaned during the closure as well as all buses.

“We are making this decision with a heavy heart but with the best interest of everyone in mind,” said Destini Shope, Director of Community Engagement and Public Relations.

The decision was based on recommendations from the Department of Public Health.

Staff members are encouraged to avoid entering the buildings unless absolutely necessary and should contact the building administrator.

Tate, Hill City, and PJHS will continue to serve as polling locations on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2020. Those locations will be cleaned before and after Election Day.

Continue to check back for updates.

ALL STAR PANEL EXPOSES JOE BIDEN

Hill City Elementary a habitat for flowers, wildlife and education

Education, Feature News
back to school

Photo by Susan Kirkland. from left are Jennifer Halko, Sonia Chapman, Superintendent Rick Townsend, back row: Donna Enis, Steve Smith, Tucker Greene.

Hill  City Elementary became a habitat for flowers, wildlife, and education, recently being awarded national recognition by the National Wildlife Federation. They created a Schoolyard Habitat through its Garden for Wildlife program becoming one of more than 5,000 schools nationwide to turn their schoolyards into thriving wildlife habitats. It was a labor of love, said Sonia Chapman, who as the agriculture teacher, spearheaded the project.

“I read about this project online at the National Wildlife Federation website back during the winter,” she said. “My plans were to work with the students in the school gardens to qualify it as a national schoolyard.  We also have a pond on school property that was grown up with trees and briars that I wanted to qualify as a National Wildlife habitat.”

So, the seed was planted. Chapman said Hill City was awarded as the pilot program for the National Schoolyard project and they started the National Wildlife Habitat in April, after the schools closed. They started the pilot program in school year 2019-2020.  NWF, America’s largest wildlife conservation and education organization, is pleased to recognize that Hill City Elementary in Jasper, Ga. has successfully created a Certified Schoolyard Habitat through its Garden for Wildlife program.

garden

Sunflowers and a birdhouse provide food and a habitat for local wildlife at Hill City Elementary. The school was recently named a Schoolyard Habitat by the WWF.

The Hill City Elementary habitat is located just off of the playground. Students can visit the gardens during their outside play time or with their classroom teacher. A variety of plants have been planted to encourage wildlife. Hummingbirds, butterflies, bees, brown thrashers, and a variety of other birds have been seen visiting. Feeders, bird houses and water stations are located throughout the garden. An additional location at Hill City Elementary has been certified as a wildlife habitat. This area has a pond with fish and other wildlife living there. Frogs can be heard croaking in the water and squirrels rustling the trees. A flower garden and a sitting area overlooks the pond. Feeders and nesting houses have been added to support the local wildlife.

“We are excited to be able to provide this opportunity for our students here at Hill City Elementary,” said Chapman.

Students help

But Chapman wasn’t the only one getting her hands dirty in the project. Students deadheaded flowers in the school garden, dried the petals and collected the seeds, which they started in the classroom.

“We placed them in containers and saved them to replant in the school garden, ” she said.

Students planted pollinator  flowers, wildflowers, and sunflower seeds. After the unexpected school closure, Chapman transplanted the student flowers into the greenhouse until it was warm enough to plant in the school garden.

garden

The Schoolyard Habitat at Hill City Elementary provides places for birds to nest.

Cost

Chapman said they have been fortunate that to date, the cost has mostly been in labor.  They have repurposed and refurbished a lot of items. Some have been donated and a few have been purchased. Upkeep will be continuous as the gardens will need feed and water, plants will need to be replaced, weeding and reseeding grass will be needed.

Also, there are future goals, such as fruit trees, and more nesting houses around the pond.

“This will be an ongoing project,” she said.

What it means

garden

A pond, with a swing and garden on the bank gives students, and teachers, a place to sit and enjoy the sights and smells of nature.

Certification also makes your Certified Wildlife Habitat part of the Million Pollinator Garden Challenge, a national effort to restore critical habitat for pollinators.

“We are excited to have another school join our growing list of more than 5,000 certified Schoolyard Habitats. Kids can now personally experience nature through hands-on learning in an outdoor environment,” said Liz Soper, Director of K-12 Programs for National Wildlife Federation.

But, aside from the accolades, the project has meaning closer to home.

garden

The green house sits among the flora at Hill City Elementary. The school was awarded a pilot program in agriculture and has recently been named a Schoolyard Habitat.

“This project was a labor of love,” said Chapman.

She said the instability of the quarantine took so much away from so many.

“This project gave me joy and hope for a better tomorrow,” she said. Students couldn’t come and help during the quarantine and although she missed that, she knew that if the circumstances were different, her students would be working along side of her.

“The students were so excited about the prospect of getting to the pond and studying the wildlife, plants and water,” she said. ” I worked for the kids knowing that if they could they would be right there beside me getting this project ready. ”

These two areas, national schoolyard and national wildlife habitat, will allow the students hands-on learning outside of the classroom she said.

NWF’s Garden for Wildlife program encourages responsible gardening that helps pollinators and other wildlife thrive. It encourages planting with native species like milkweed and discouraging chemical pesticide use. Yards, schools, businesses, places of worship, campuses, parks, farms and other community-based landscapes are eligible to become wildlife sanctuaries.

For more Pickens County School news, read here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

BoE Recognizes Student and Faculty Accomplishments During February Meeting

Board of Education, Dragon's Corner

JASPER, Ga. – The Pickens County Board of Education recognized student and faculty accomplishments during their meeting held on Thursday, February 13, 2020.

A video of the ceremony may be viewed at the bottom of this page!

7th Grade Jeremy Westbrook Wins State FFA Contest (Click to Enlarge)

In October, Jeremy Westbrook competed in the Area Future Farmer’s of America (FFA) Quiz event. This event is a fifty question quiz covering all aspects of FFA. Jeremy was in the top 2 of 48, 6th through 9th graders. He then advanced to the state contest which was held at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC). While there, Jeremy competed against eleven more students who qualified out of 243 total students from across the state. Of those eleven, eight were 9th graders and three were 8th graders. At the end of the event, Jeremy was recognized as the state winner. It has also come to our attention that Jeremy, a 7th grader, is the youngest student on record to ever win the contest.

Mykenzie Weaver reaches 2,000 career points in Girls Basketball (Click to Enlarge)

Congratulations to Mykenzie Weaver for recently passing 2,000 career points in Girls Basketball. Mykenzie is only the 3rd person in school history to achieve this feat. She currently sits 2nd in all-time leading scoring in Dragonettes Girls Basketball History!
She was also named the Region 6AAAA Player of the Year.

 
 
 

Dragons Esports Team Wins Second State Championship (Click to Enlarge)

Our Dragons win the Fall GHSA Esports Rocket League state championship!We defeated Forsyth Central 4 games to 1 at Mt Vernon at the GHSA State Esports Championships!

Congratulations to Mason Watkins, Carter Logan, and Tristan Warren and Coach Wil Nix on this accomplishment!

The Dragons Esports Rocket League team also won the Spring GHSA Esports State Championship last May.

PHS and PJHS Band Recognitions (Click to Enlarge)

The PHS and PJHS band would like to recognize our students who were selected for the District 9 Honor Bands, the GMEA All-State Band, and who qualified for the final round audition at the State level.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Hill City Elementary School was named to the 2019-20 list of Distinguished Schools released by the Georgia Department of Education. Title I Distinguished Schools are among the highest-performing 5% of Title I schools in the state. Hill City Elementary was 1 of 87 schools named to this list.

PHS and PJHS Band Recognitions (Click to Enlarge)

In a press release, State School Superintendent Richard Woods shares, “While we are focused on continuous improvement for all schools, it’s also essential that we recognize when schools are doing well, These schools are overcoming barriers, meeting challenges, and producing great gains for their students. I commend the school leaders, teachers, parents and communities in our 2019-20 Distinguished [and Reward] Schools who are opening up opportunities for their students.”

Congratulations, Hill City Elementary!

PHS and PJHS Band Recognitions (Click to Enlarge)

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