Shout out: Springdale Elementary takes home national award
Springdale Elementary School won a Keep America Beautiful award for its Eagle Recyclers Club at the organization’s National Awards Luncheon on Feb. 7, according to a news release.
“We were very honored. (We) definitely did not think that out of 50 states and a numerous amount of schools that participate in the recycle bowl that we would be selected, so it was certainly an honor that little Macon, Georgia, could do something so big,” said Holley Stejskal, a third-grade teacher at Springdale who started the club.
The school won a Youth & Education Award, which is given to schools that work with people in the community to improve the environment.
Stejskal said she worked with Solid Waste Director Kevin Barkley to get recycling bins to start the club. She said the 35 third- through fifth-grade students in the club meet each week to collect the recycling from the bins around the school, and they keep track of how much recycling items they receive.
“It is important for our youth to take action every day to improve and beautify their community environment,” said Principal Cami Hamlin in the release. “Our students want to end littering and improve recycling so their future will be clean and green. Students lead and share in the responsibility of contributing to the vision of sustainability.”
Stejskal said Stratford Academy and Tattnall Square Academy have started their own recycling programs modeled after Springdale’s club.
“We’re continuing,” she said. “Our goal is to, you know, make our school a better, cleaner and, you know, a more easier place to live.”
Youth of the Year
The Boys & Girls Club of Central Georgia held its 2019 Youth of the Year and Hall of Fame ceremony and announced Cameron Gooden as the Youth of the Year for the second year in a row, according to a press release.
Gooden, a senior at Central High School, served on the Georgia Student Advisory Council after being recognized for his after-school programming work, according to the release.
Gooden will represent the Boys & Girls Club of Central Georgia at the statewide competition for Youth of the Year, according to the release.
Georgia Military College Prep School basketball head coach
Georgia Military College Prep School basketball head coach James Lunsford reached 800 wins after his team beat Stratford Academy on Feb. 6, according to a press release.
“It feels awesome to hit this 800 win mark,” Lunsford said in the release. “It takes a desire to work with student-athletes in order to be successful on and off the basketball court. This dream has become a reality through hard work, desire, effort, long hours of preparation and a supportive staff and administration.”
GMC Prep School Athletic Director Steven Simpson said Lunsford has done a great job building the basketball program at GMC Prep School, according to the release.
“Coach Lunsford has contributed so much to this community in his 40 plus years of coaching in and around Baldwin County,” Simpson said. “I’m just glad that GMC Prep School could play a small part in his journey to this milestone.”