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Seven Coweta County students have been
selected as finalists for the 2009 Governor’s Honors program. The seven students – representing all three Coweta county high schools – will attend this year’s prestigious summer study program for Georgia’s gifted high school sophomores and juniors. They were among the 37 Coweta County students nominated for the Governor’s Honors program this year. To be accepted into the program, nominees participated in a highly competitive selection process, including state-level interviews that touched on the academic, artistic or career-based area of study that the student intends to pursue during Governor’s Honors. The seven Coweta finalists and their areas of major studies are: East Coweta High: Rachael Copeland (communicative arts). Newnan High: Erica Boyd (visual arts), Brett Eisenmann (chemistry), Thomas Frost (music/brass-trumpet), Sarah Turner (visual arts) and Jordan White (music/brass-tuba). Northgate High: Abbey Stokely (chemistry) Georgia’s Governor’s Honors Program – held each summer at Valdosta State University – is designed for intellectually gifted and artistically talented high school students. The program provides challenging and enriching educational opportunities not usually available during the regular school year in a university-like setting. Coweta’s seven students were chosen from among 2,700 high school juniors nominated for the six-week program. They will be among 690 students who attend the six-week program. “It is a very competitive selection process” said Dale Lyles, a Coweta County School System teacher who also serves as the Governor’s Honors Program’s Assistant Program Director for Instruction. “To be nominated means that you are part of 1 percent of the (state-wide) student population of sophomores and juniors. To be selected means that you are in the top 1/4 of that 1 percent. It is one of the most selective programs in the country.” The exhaustive selection process begins in September, when students are nominated by teachers to attend in a major area of study. If a student is nominated in more than one area, the student chooses which one to try for. Each major area has its own criteria, which are shared with students so they can prepare for the state-level interviews. Each school system receives a quota of nominations which Coweta County divides among the three high schools and the Central Educational Center. Chosen students then attend state level interviews in January and February, where they face interviews, auditions, or show portfolios of work. Students are expected to pursue work in their major areas, but also sample work in other academic or artistic areas. “GHP is an amazing opportunity for students to begin to see their own potential in an environment that has been carefully designed to support them as lifelong learners,” said Lyles. “I tell the students to believe everything we tell them and to jump into the deep end of what we’re offering them with both feet. Do it all!" This year’s Coweta County Governor’s Honors Program nominees were honored at a January 15 breakfast sponsored by Newnan Utilities, BB&T Bank, NuLink Cable and the Georgia Power Company. The students nominated this year included: From the Central Educational Center: Joseph Bohler (technology), Lindsay Graner (technology), Jeffry Snyder (executive management). From East Coweta High School: Benjamin Bockeneck (social studies), Jasleen Bolina (chemistry), Hannah Clayton (visual arts), Rachael Copeland (communicative arts), Anthony Davila (French), Eric Fleckenstein (mathematics), Olivia Jenkins (dance), Margaret Kazmierczak (social studies), Natalie Markham (theatre), Tiara Mason (visual arts), Whitney Reddish (visual arts), Sophia Santos (music/percussion), Hannah Smith (Theatre). 9 From Newnan High School: Erica Boyd (visual arts), Chandler Brandenburg (chemistry), Ellen Dorrell (theatre), Brett Eisenmann (chemistry), Thomas Frost (music/brass-trumpet), Kate Gallagher (social studies), Alexander Kendrick (mathematics), Katie Turner (visual arts), Jordan White (music/brass-tuba). From Northgate High School: Kelsi Adams (theatre), Sofia Barrera (communicative arts), Bevin Bithell (dance), Brittany Fears (theatre), DeJuana Ford (communicative arts), Jennifer Garritson (dance), Krysten Johnson (music/voice-soprano), Jennie Lambert (music/voice-soprano), Rachel Lowry (visual arts), Micah Prescott (music/percussion), Donophan Price (social studies), Abbey Stokely (chemistry).  38 Coweta County high school juniors were nominated for the 2009 Governor’s Honors Program, from whom seven have been chosen to attend this summer. This years nominees – at the January Governor’s Honors Breakfast at CEC in January - were, left to right, front row, from Newnan High, Brett Wiseman, Jordan White, Kate Gallagher, Katie Turner, Erica Boyd, Chandler Brandenburg, Thomas Frost, Alexander Kendrick, Morgan Stephens, and Ellen Dorrel; from Northgate High, Kelsi Adams, Jennie Lambert, Sofia Barrera, Jennifer Garritson, Brittany Fears, Rachel Lowry, Krysten Johnson, Abby Stokely, DeJuana Ford, Micah Prescott, and Donophan Price (not pictured is Bevin Bithell); back row, from CEC, Lindsay Graner, Jeffrey Snyder, and Joseph Bohler; from East Coweta High, Rachael Copeland, Olivia Jenkins, Eric Fleckenstein, Jasleen Bolina, Anthony Davila, Sophia Santos, Benjamin Bockenek, Tiara Mason, Margaret Kazmierczak, Whitney Reddish, and Hannah Clayton (not pictured are Natalie Markham and Hannah Smith). |