Education notebook: Cox’s winnings still tied up in legal fight
State school Superintendent Kathy Cox’s $1 million game show winnings from “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” have been released from the Fox Television Network game show, her spokesman Matt Cardoza said Friday.
The winnings have yet to go to the three state schools for the blind and deaf, however.
One of the schools, The Academy for the Blind, is in Macon.
Cardoza said the winnings are in holding. Cox and her husband, a homebuilder hit by the recession, filed for bankruptcy shortly after she won on the game show in September 2008.
Creditors have since argued they should get those assets.
The state Attorney General’s Office is representing Cox to get the winnings for the schools, however, because they argue she was on the show representing the state’s behalf, not as an individual, Cardoza said.
A settlement, he said, could be reached in the coming months.
Hutchings charter school conversations ongoing
Acting Bibb County school Superintendent Sylvia McGee said there is “buzz” about turning Hutchings Career Center into a charter school in light of the school getting up to $6 million in federal funding.
The school, which caters to career and technology students, was targeted this year as among the lowest-performing schools in the state. School officials are now working through a School Improvement Grant to reform the school through technology, longer school days or hours and holding teachers accountable for their performance.
Charter status allows the community, parents and teachers to have a say in the school’s curriculum focus and operation.
“The whole model would lend itself to a charter,” she said. “There’s buzz about it.”
FPD earns awards for school newspaper
First Presbyterian Day School’s student newspaper, “The Saga,” received a superior rating at the Georgia Scholastic Press Association awards ceremony held Thursday in Athens.
It is the third straight year the private school’s newspaper has received a top rating.
Also, senior co-editor Jenni Seale placed second in the Georgia Champion Journalist competition, the award given to the most outstanding scholastic journalist in the state, according to an FPD news release.
Seale also received an All-Georgia (first place) distinction in the Feature Story category for a profile on an FPD mother who was battling cancer.
Senior Christine Boddy received a rating of superior in the feature profile category as well as a superior rating in the literary magazine competition in the poem category.
More than 1,300 entries were entered in the GSPA contest.
Staff members are seniors Boddy and Seale, David Darnell, Mackenzie Kross and co-editor Rebekah Rabun; juniors Adriana Figueroa, Zach Shealy, Victoria Vanhuss and Colby Watson; and sophomores Evan Bates and Molly McCoy.
“I’m so proud of the entire staff,” said Cal Powell, Saga faculty adviser. “It takes a lot of dedication to put out a good newspaper, and these students routinely sacrificed time on the weekends and before and after school to make sure our deadlines were met. They’ve taken our journalism program to new heights and deserve any recognition they receive for their efforts.”
Northeast technology students rack up awards
Northeast High School had six students place in three categories at Georgia Tech in the Alice Programming Competition this year.
The students received a certificate and electronic devices such as iPods, digital cameras, gaming chairs and gaming controllers.
The Northeast winners were:
Best Educational Movie: Jazmyne Davis, Charmiska Jones, Jalecia Woodford; Best Adventure Game: Christopher Collins; Best Use of Sound: Phillip Lockwood and Quintara Roberts.
Some Northeast students were also selected for a computer visioning session at Macon State College. They include Lockwood, Charmiska Jones and Jessica Finney.
Lockwood was also given the Best of School award at Mercer University’s Alice Programming contest.
Jacqueline Bowman is the school’s computer technology teacher.
Houston summer school registration starts in June
Summer school registration for Houston County middle and high schools will begin in June.
Warner Robins Middle School will host the middle school summer school June 10-July 8.
Registration will be 8:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. and 1-3:30 p.m. June 4-7 at the school. The cost is $200 per class for Houston students and $400 per class for out-of-county students. There is a two-class maximum.
Students must have a completed registration form signed by their parent or guardian, a current report card and full payment in cash or money order to register.
Warner Robins Middle is located at 425 Mary Lane in Warner Robins. For more information, call the school at 929-7832.
Northside High School will host the high school summer school June 7-July 9. End-of-course tests will be given July 7 and 8. The Georgia High School Graduation Test will be administered July 12-16, and graduation will be July 22.
Registration will be June 1 in the school cafeteria. Seniors should register at 8:30 a.m., juniors should register at 9:30 a.m., sophomores should register at 1 p.m. and freshmen should register at 2:30 p.m. Students must have a copy of their transcript, a spring semester 2010 report card, their home school counselor’s course recommendation form and payment in cash or money order.
The cost is $200, with a three-class maximum. High school summer school is for Houston students only.
Northside is located at 926 Green St. in Warner Robins. For more information, call the school at 929-7858.
Statewide recognition for Huntington Middle principal
Huntington Middle School principal Gwendolyn Taylor has been recognized as Georgia’s 2011 Middle School Principal of the Year, according to a news release.
Taylor has a 25-year career in Houston County schools, working as a science teacher and principal at Rumble Junior High and an assistant principal at Tabor Middle School.
In the past, she has been recognized as the Georgia Middle School Association’s Team of the Year in 1993-1994 and won the Georgia Music Educators Association Administrative Leadership Award in 2006.
She holds a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Georgia and an education specialist degree in administration from Georgia Southwestern College. Taylor is also certified for middle grades education, with concentrations in science and math.
“I am so fortunate to work with the great team at Huntington Middle School,” Taylor said in a news release. “Our faculty and staff members take pride in their work and truly believe in teamwork.”
Warner Robins Middle School principal Donald Warren nominated Taylor for the award given by the Georgia Association of Secondary School Principals, which recognizes principals for their leadership, problem-solving skills and service to others.
Taylor will go on to represent Georgia in the competition for National Principal of the Year.
FVSU president appointed to humanities council
Fort Valley State University President Larry E. Rivers was appointed to the Georgia Humanities Council board of directors in April by Gov. Sonny Perdue.
As one of five people recently appointed to the council, Rivers will help review and approve grant proposals from universities, government agencies, nonprofit organizations and other groups, as well as oversee school outreach programs and resources for local groups.
Rivers has written four books, including “Slavery in Florida,” and co-edited the anthology “The Varieties of Women’s Experiences: Portraits of Southern Women in the Post-Civil War Century,” according to a school news release.
Founded in 1971, the Georgia Humanities Council sponsors programs such as National History Day in Georgia for middle and high school students, as well as the online New Georgia Encyclopedia.
Houston board member elected to GSBA post
A member of the Houston County Board of Education has recently been elected to be a regional representative for the Georgia School Boards Association beginning in July.
Skip Dawkins will be the District 12 director for a three-year term, representing Baldwin, Bibb, Butts, Crawford, Houston, Jasper, Jones, Lamar, Monroe, Peach, Putnam, Twiggs and Wilkinson counties.
Dawkins, who has been part of the Houston County school board since 1996, has been actively involved with GSBA in the past, previously serving as vice president, president elect, president and past president.
He is also part of the planning committee for “Vision for Public Education in Georgia,” a joint effort by GSBA and the Georgia School Superintendents Association.
Compiled by Telegraph staff writers Andrea Castillo, Julie Hubbard and Jennifer Burk.
This story was originally published May 3, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Education notebook: Cox’s winnings still tied up in legal fight."