Bartow County School System

NEW: This is "shout it from the rooftop" type news for the Bartow County School System; Woodland High School Teacher and Band Director Michael Kobito is named one of only 10 finalists in the Georgia Teacher of the Year competition! He truly represents the very best of our state's public education system! Congratulations! Additional details to come! "My goal as a teacher has always been to give my kids a chance to learn and be successful, just like my most impactful teachers did to me," said Kobito. "I want my kids to find pride in who they are and who they are becoming while in our school. To be recognized as the Teacher of the Year at my alma mater has been a special experience for me personally because it showed some validation that my goal was coming to fruition. The recognition from the school system was special because I felt like I was representing Woodland well. Now, to be selected as a State Finalist...that's huge! I am so proud to represent our school and county, not only as a graduate of our school system, but as a teacher in it."

CARTERSVILLE DANCES WITH THE STARS: Adairsville Middle School Teacher Lynn Hedden competed in the 10th Annual Cartersville Dances with the Stars event this weekend and raised $16,166 for Backpack Buddies and the Good Neighbor Homeless Shelter! Special thanks to the generous donors below and Woodland High School Teacher Tiffany Tindall for choreographing the dance! Such a special night and tribute to Chuck Nida, a longtime supporter of Bartow County Schools. Bartow County Schools Employees Adairsville Middle School Cass Middle School North Georgia Community Foundation H&R Block AllState Insurance Company Mr. Softee Swim Blessing Raffle El Nopal of Adairsville Spirit Night Knockout Nutrition of Adairsville Image Source II

DISTINGUISHED YOUNG WOMEN: Three Bartow County juniors vied for the top spot this weekend in the prestigious Distinguished Young Woman of Bartow County competition and each walked away with titles! Ava Helton - Talent, Fitness, and Overall Winner, CHS Loren Montoya - Scholastic & Interview Winner, CHS JoBeth O'Kelley - Scholastic Winner, AHS Ava is now the Bartow County Representative for the Class of 2023 and will compete for the state title this summer! Congratulations, ladies! We are so very proud! Our very own WHS Senior Mya Moffitt is currently the Distinguished Young Woman of Georgia! Clearly, the best of the best come from BARTOW COUNTY!

SUMMER OPPORTUNITIES: Calling all high school students & teachers in Bartow County! Check out this summer STEM Academy and Entrepreneurship Academy located in North Carolina! It's free to all accepted applicants!

STEM...IT'S WHO WE ARE: Of course, we're participating in Georgia STEM Day! Check out EHES students working on several STEM projects today!

MODEL SYSTEM: You know BIG things are happening in the Bartow County School System when other district leaders board a plane and fly to your schools to see all the amazing things going on! The Sarasota School System took notice of our collaborative culture and student achievement and visited several schools today, such as Woodland High School, Red Top Middle School, Emerson Elementary School, and Euharlee Elementary School! Sarasota school leaders are interested in the Professional Learning Communities process, so our A-Teams, administrators, and teachers showed them how to achieve success through the PLC process! We are honored that so many districts around the U.S. are calling, visiting, and inquiring about what we're doing here in Bartow County!

OVERWHELMING RESPONSE: Registration for our popular summer STEM Camp is closed! Slots filled up within MINUTES, and now, we have about 115 students on the waitlist! We'll notify you by email in the coming days to let you know if you were accepted or not. Due to current resources, the camp is open to 120 students. That means about seven or eight students at each elementary and middle school are accepted. Thank you for your continued support of this wonderful program!

BAYLEE'S BOOK DRIVE: Baylee Thomas, a fifth-grader at Clear Creek Elementary, is a civic-minded leader with a true heart for helping others. That's why she's taking it upon herself to collect books and stock free Little Libraries around Bartow County. Recently, she donated 98 books to this Little Library near Hamilton Crossing Park! Check out the before and after pictures! Baylee is collecting books until May 1. If you'd like to help her out, you are more than welcome to drop off new or gently used books at CCES!

GREAT SYSTEM HONOR: First, AES receives national recognition this year for becoming a Model PLC School! Now, its gaining District STEM Certification! The level of instruction you receive from pre-K to 12 in the Adairsville community is INCREDIBLE! We are so proud!

GREAT SYSTEM HONOR: What an impressive year for Euharlee Elementary School! Joining the list of accolades - District STEM Certification! They started in 2019 with the formation of a STEM Committee, and after countless grants, community partnerships, STEM Walks, documentation, and official STEM Walks, EHES EARNED the prestigious title!

BARTOW'S BEST: Ethan Rollax advances to the State Spelling Bee and has quite the story to tell! Stop what you're doing and read it below! Eight simple words of wisdom; that is all it took to help 13-year-old Ethan Rollax do what no other Bartow County student has done before – win the Region Spelling Bee! “My mom and my grandma told me this, ‘Forget about the past. Think about the present.’ And that is what I did,” said Ethan. Ethan, an eighth-grade student at Adairsville Middle School, is a two-time District Spelling Bee winner. Last year, he competed in the regional competition, which was held virtually due to COVID-19 concerns. However, the outcome was not the one he was looking for. “When I did the Region Spelling Bee on the digital platform last year, it had automatically submitted without me doing anything, with 15 minutes on the clock,” said Ethan. 2022 proved to be Ethan’s year, though, as he won the right to say he is now one of the top 20 spellers in the state of Georgia! “After I finished, I just sat at my seat,” said Ethan. “I felt relief through my body, and I was hoping that I would win. When the time reached 10:42 a.m., my mom received an email and it said that I would do the State Spelling Bee. I was so happy, I felt like going outside and yelling out that I won!” Success did not come without preparation. Ethan researched Scripps National Spelling Bee winners and the tools they used to prepare for competition. “I use a program called SpellPundit, the official Scripps Spelling Bee app called Word Club, the online Unabridged Merriam-Webster dictionary, the Words of the Champions list, an app called Spelling Notebook, Blooket, and Quizlet,” said Ethan. Ethan is utilizing those same resources to prepare for the State Spelling Bee on March 18, 2022. It will be a virtual event once again. “I feel amazed, but I won't make my amazement stop me,” said Ethan. “I feel like I can surpass the top 20 spellers.” “Ethan is an excellent student who is driven by academics and LOVES the spelling bee,” added AMS Principal Tony Stanfill. “He works very hard in every class, and he strives for straight A's every year. I'll never forget how excited he was when eighth-grade students received their magnet program acceptance letters. He found me at 8:00 in the morning to let me know he had been accepted to all three programs! Obviously, he is a bright student, but really, it's his smile and positive attitude that make him such a great kid! He's so polite and happy every day, and if you've ever seen his smile, I don't have to tell you how contagious it is.” The 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee will take place at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, during the week of Memorial Day 2022.

HISTORY MAKING MOMENT: 13-year-old Ethan Rollax did what no other Bartow County student had done before – he won the Regional Spelling Bee! That makes him one of the TOP 20 SPELLERS IN THE STATE! He will now represent Region One in the State Spelling Bee on March 18, 2022, which will be a virtual event due to COVID-19 concerns. The winner of the Georgia Bee will go on to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee! Ethan is an eighth-grader at Adairsville Middle School, two-time District Spelling Bee winner, maintains wonderful grades in his advanced classes, and is truly unstoppable! We are lucky to have him represent Bartow County! Congratulations, Ethan! We're cheering you on!

PERFECT ATTENDANCE: We couldn't do it without them! Pandemic or not – these bus drivers had perfect attendance this year and many even ran double routes. Two of our drivers, Michael Blalock and Lee Carrol, had perfect attendance for the LAST TEN YEARS! Awe-inspiring dedication to our children! CONGRATULATIONS! FOUR YEARS OF PERFECT ATTENDANCE Ken Moore THREE YEARS OF PERFECT ATTENDANCE Jerry Hoover Dale Rumph Gwen Tanner ONE YEAR OF PERFECT ATTENDANCE Charles Anderson Angela Austin Carrie Bagley Amber Denoux Michelle Dover Bill Dowis Laura Fultz April Hardy Margaret Hobgood Don Longhurst Richard Michienzi Dennis Mietz Wendy Patterson Special thanks to Dan Clark with the Bartow Education Foundation for sponsoring a wonderful breakfast event and providing each driver listed above with a monetary award.

WOW: BIG month for our own Dr. Brent Shropshire, director of counselors, college readiness, wellness and fine arts! *Officially appointed to the Georgia School Counselor Association Executive Board, Northern Director, for a two-year term, beginning July 2022 through June 2024 *Candidate for the Southern Association for College Admission Counseling Board of Directors; vote will take place April 4, 2022 *Re-elected to the College Board Southern Regional Council to provide input on new initiatives and ways the College Board can improve some of its practices How impressive! We absolutely have the best of the best in Bartow County Schools!

THE STEMAZING RACE 2022: Tomorrow is the day! At 6 p.m., registration for our FREE STEM CAMP opens, and you better be quick because space fills up fast! Use the link below tomorrow at 6! https://docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLSdhBnroUzle.../closedform Test your skill with challenges, clues, and detours to race your way around the world in four days tackling STEM challenges with Spheros, RVR, LEGO Spike Prime Robots, Drones, green screens, and more!

SLIME TIME: AES students broke open their piggy banks to see their favorite faces SLIMED! The school's fundraising goal was $2,500 and AES students almost DOUBLED that! The money will go toward Field Day supplies, AES PE program, and Backpack Buddies!

CENTRAL OFFICE CELEBRATIONS: When you work in a school system and community like this, you have a lot to celebrate! And, if you know Superintendent Page, then you know he likes to celebrate the RIGHT WORK. In the Bartow County School System, the right work supports learning, collaboration, and results. That's what we value. Today, we celebrate and honor Dr. David Chiprany, our deputy superintendent! That saying, "He really knows his stuff," proves true for Dr. Chiprany. He is extremely knowledgeable in all areas - especially the creation of high-functioning professional learning communities and raising student achievement. They go hand in hand. We are so lucky to have him (and his humor) in our school system. Congratulations, Dr. Chiprany! You make us all better!

SADDLE UP: Eighth-Grade CMS Student Carlee Wilson is making a name for herself! She competed in Interscholastic Equestrian Association this past weekend in Statesboro. As a result of her first place finish rides, she is now is a 2x qualifier for IEA National Finals in PA!

BARTOW AND BEYOND: It's that time of year where we're getting a special glimpse into our students' postsecondary education options! Meet Shawn Pinnow, a senior at Adairsville High School! His love for aviation runs deep. He's a member of a flight club in Rome and is looking to pursue a college degree that will propel him even further into aviation. Shawn has already been accepted to Austin Peay State University and a few other colleges, but he has his sights on Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, which offers Fixturing, Rotary, and UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems). And guess what, he was ACCEPTED! Congratulations, Shawn! Your future is bright!

REMINDER: Pre-K registration closes today as well! The virtual lottery drawing will be March 18 at 9 a.m. A link will be provided. *Kindergarten registration does not close until March 18.