Education notebook: Former state teacher of the year from Warner Robins' Miller Elementary wins national award

Miller Elementary School teacher Amanda Miliner is one of 42 educators to win the California Casualty Award for Teaching Excellence. This award is one of the nation's most prestigious honors for public educators. Miliner teaches fourth grade at Miller. She is also the 2015 Georgia Teacher of the Year and the 2013-14 Houston County Teacher of the Year.

The Georgia Association of Educators nominated Miliner for this award. She will be presented a $650 cash award in the name of her school.

CGTC TO RECEIVE GRANT FROM NAVICENT

On Tuesday, Navicent Health Foundation will present a $50,000 award to the CGTC Foundation for the purpose of purchasing equipment for health sciences programs and supporting student scholarships at the college. Ivan H. Allen, president of Central Georgia Technical College, and Tonya McClure, assistant vice president of Advancement for CGTC, will accept the gift from Navicent Health Foundation.

PERRY HIGH WINS REGION ONE-ACT TITLE

Perry High School won the 2015 2-AAAA region one-act play championship on Tuesday with its production of "Spooks is Real, Bobby T." The Perry High cast also won Best Set, Best Ensemble and Best Costumes. Carter Whiddon, Cole Brown and Ansley Berry were named to the All-Star Cast, and Tanner Jones was named Best Supporting Actor for his role as "Otis Butters."

Written by Perry High drama Director Joe Sendek, the tale is described as a "Southern-fried comedy of terrors."

PERRY BAND CLEANS UP CONTEST AWARDS

Perry High School won 15 awards, including Grand Champion Band, at the 20th Annual Golden River Marching Competition in Tallapoosa on Oct. 17. A total of 18 bands competed. The band is directed by Andy Hursey.

The drum majors, color guard, percussion and overall band all picked up awards at the competition.

VETERANS HIGH STUDENTS HONORED FOR ACADEMICS

Four Veterans High School seniors have been named Commended Students in the 2016 National Merit Scholarship Program. A letter of commendation from the school and National Merit Scholarship Corp., which conducts the program, were presented by their principal. The honorees from the Houston County school are Daliya Francis, Robin Glefke Anna Nicholson and Tyler Frye.

OPEN HOUSE FOR SAINT JOSEPH'S CATHOLIC SCHOOL

Saint Joseph's Catholic School will host its annual open houses on Nov. 8 and Jan. 31.

Prospective families may drop in from 12-2:30 p.m. to gain a comprehensive view of the school.

Student ambassadors will be present to share their experiences and answer questions.

Guests will also have the opportunity to meet with Saint Joseph's talented faculty, tour the campus and learn more about the school's outstanding programs.

Prospective parents are also invited to come and observe teaching on Thursdays from 9-10:30 a.m., now through May.

Guided tours are given by the director of admissions and parent ambassadors.

RUTLAND HIGH SCHOOL TO DEDICATE JROTC WING

Rutland High School in Bibb County will dedicate its junior ROTC hall as the Frank Johnson and Thomas Mosely Leadership Education Department.

Both from Middle Georgia, Mosely and Thompson were Montford Point Marines who were presented with Congressional Gold Medals for their service.

The dedication of the JROTC hall at Rutland will be held Nov. 10 when the Rutland High JROTC Marines celebrate the U.S. Marine Corps' birthday.

SOUTHWEST HIGH SCHOOL BAND RECEIVES AWARD

Dominique Lane, band director at Southwest High School in Macon, received the GRAMMY Foundation and Hot Topic I Community Award of $2,000 to benefit the Southwest music program.

The donation was made possible through a partnership with the Hot Topic Foundation and the GRAMMY Foundation in an effort to draw public attention to the importance of maintaining music education as a core element of school curricula.

Telegraph writers David Schick and Jeremy Timmerman contributed to this report.

This story was originally published November 1, 2015 at 10:43 PM with the headline "Education notebook: Former state teacher of the year from Warner Robins' Miller Elementary wins national award ."