Powder Springs area High Schools, Middle Schools and Elementary School News and Events in Powder Springs and Cobb County, GA 30127
To submit information and photos about your school you can email The Powder Springs Messenger newspaper at: psmessenger@bellsouth.net
McEachern Junior ROTC Give Gifts to Disabled Veterans 
Pictured above Powder Springs, GA, left to right) Back Row: Sabrina Reed, Darryl Carter, Brad Perry, Abigail Shiflett, Charles-Reginald Smith, Bobby LoFranco, and Richard Chewning. Middle Row: Sherry Davis (Nam Knights), Karen Hill (CPO), Brandon Hill, John Gamez, and Sergeant Major Suggs (NSI). Front Row: Hank Jones (CPO), Chris Jones, and Erin Smith. McEachern High School NJROTC cadets spent the evening November 20th filling shoe boxes with items for the disabled veterans at the Mil-ledgeville Veteran’s Hospital and wrapping them for Christmas. The presents were given to the Blue Ridge Chapter of the Nam Knights organization which is a group of Vietnam Veterans that does projects for Veterans as well as Police officers and their fami-lies. Nam Knights will be providing veterans from any war and any branch of service with Christmas cookies, deserts and punch as well as these Christmas presents. Nam Knights recently reached out to community organizations such as the McEachern HS NJROTC program to fill 175 shoe boxes with items for the Veterans like Kleenex, little shampoos, lotions, soaps, toothbrushes, crackers, can-dies, cookies, socks, note pads, pens, pencils and most importantly anything patriotic. The McEachern cadets and their support ele-ment, the Cadet-Parent Organization (CPO), have spent the past month collecting items which culminated in the final wrapping of the presents on Thursday evening. The McEachern HS NJROTC program stays involved in a number of Community Service activities through the leadership of their Senior Naval Science Instructor, Commander Eugene Sudol and Naval Science Instructor, Sergeant Major Earl Suggs.
National Junior Honor Society at Tapp Collect Can Goods for Service Project
Pictured above Powder Springs, GA - The National Junior Honor Society at Tapp Middle School had a service project during the dates of November 3 - 17th. They collected can goods and other non-perishable food items in conjunction with Trinity Chapel to give to families in the area that are in need over the upcoming holidays. The students collected over 1,300 items to help others in need.
Varner Elementary Annual Authors' Tea
Above Powder Springs, GA - The Varner Authors' Tea was held on November 6th in the Varner Media Center. Teachers selected one student author to attend - See students names below. Each student enjoyed cookies and 'tea' while they shared samples of their writing. Varner's Principal, Ana Crommett; and Assistant Principal, Monica Howard, are proud of Varners' Authors and their teachers: Kindergarden: (Chloe Katon, Ms. Majors), (Christopher Walker, Mrs. Valeri), (Michal Thompson, Mrs. Glaspie). First Grade: (Hannah Bamfield, Mrs. Coats), (Jack Saylors, Mrs. Alred), (Emma Bookout, Mrs. Fisher), (Carsen Smith, Mrs. Plotts), (Amber Gulbin, Mrs. Hedrick and Mrs. Meriwether). Second Grade: (Lucas Whittenburg, Ms. Hahn), (Wade Richardson, Mrs. Wingo). Third Grade: (Taylan Cheeks, Mrs. Ribeiro), (Paul Philot, Mrs. Mendenhall), (Madison Ticker, Mrs. Brown), (Benjamin Uranga, Mrs. Scott). Fourth Grade: (Shanna Murphy, Mrs. Jones), (Autumn Edmonson, Mrs. Gilbert), (Larry Meisner, Mrs. Biddy). Fifth Grade: (Hayley Kalen, Mr. Stone), (Seth Bond, Mrs. Bryant and Mrs. Collins), (Jazzlyn Thomas, Mrs. Ricketts), (Victor Ayeni, Ms. Brazell), (Abigail Rowland, Mrs. Arthur and Mrs. Mercer), (not pictured) Samatha Molin, Mrs. Medford and Mrs. Vesper.
Compton Honors Veterans Create Hero Wall of Fame
(Pictured above left to right Powder Springs, GA): Aliyah Keel and Veteran Alex Keel, L.C. Bennett and Veteran Larry Bennett, and Kenedi Rogers and Veteran Bill Rogers helped to celebrate Veteran Day at Compton Elementary School’s Honor Wall. Veterans were honored at Compton Elementary School on Tuesday, November 11, 2008. Students, parents, and our school staff were proud to honor their veterans. They teamed up together to create a Hero Wall of Fame for Those Who Serve in the front lobby of their school. The schools desire was to honor the men and women of our community for their service in the United States military. They also sent home special invitations inviting all veterans who could to join us for lunch on Veteran’s Day. Many community members responded with pictures and quotes as to why this veteran was a hero. Parents and family members were pleased to honor their loved ones past and present by placing their pictures and or names on the Hero Wall of Fame. There were a number of quotes that honored humble loved ones who diligently served this great country so that we may remain free. It is truly inspiring to see and know so many precious people love our country, even to the giving of their lives.
Cooper Middle School Honors Military
On Tuesday, November 11th, Cooper Middle School in Powder Springs, GA honored the military members and veterans of the community with a breakfast. In addition to faculty members who are former members of the military, also present were wives and husbands of military personnel cur-rently serving, and parents of our students who are veterans or on active duty. The breakfast was sponsored by the Cooper staff and PTA. Members of our band serenaded the attendees while they enjoyed quiche, casseroles and other delectables. Attendees included: Master Sgt. Darren Brown, a veteran of Korea and Iraq, Sgt Donald Law, who was stationed at Ft. Bragg, David Nixon, whose wife, Sgt. Monica Nixon, is currently in Bamberg, Germany; Sgt. Theodore Hayes, Jr., who was stationed at Ft. Hood; SPC. Roger Faggen, who has returned from Fallujah; and, Second Lt. Tahera Harris, who has returned from Iraq.
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Powder Springs, GA - Pictured above) Kemp held a Mock Election on Monday November 3rd for the presidential candidates. Thank you to Mr. Hill and his third grade class for organizing the Mock Election. It was awesome! Thank you also to Mrs. LaRocque for her help.
(Pictured Powder Springs, GA) Kemp Elementary School student Gabbi Graham sold over $900.00 of Sally Foster Products! She was the school's top seller in their recent fundraiser. Way to go Gabbi!
(Pictured above Powder Springs, GA) Adam Hill, 3rd Grade Teacher at Kemp Elementary - Mr. Hill, is making good on his promise to eat dog food as Kemp reached their goal of selling over $25,000 worth of Sally Foster Products!
Pictured above Powder Springs, GA: Trinity Chapel Academy Girls High School Volleyball Team competed in the end of season tournament at King’s Ridge Christian Academy. They won their 1st match but lost to come in 4th place. This was the 1st year for their high school team. Dawn Blount is the coach. Members of the team are Elizabeth Blount, Ashley Lee, Crystal Lee, Lindsey Montgomery, Lauren Montgomery, Taylor Nix, Kari Huffman, and Hannah Gilliland.
Above Powder Springs, GA - The Trinity Chapel Academy Middle School Volleyball Team came in 2nd place in the West Georgia Christian Middle School Volleyball Conference. After posting a 15 – 7 season record the team felt confident that they would do well in the tournament. Members of the team are: Scarlett Fernandez, Makayla Ivey, Jordyn Hester, Hailey Hepler, Nikki Williams, Crystal Lee, Nikki Glasgow, Lindsey Bergen, Nala Anderson, Hailey Parker and Brooke Everett. They are coached by Steve Kay.
Trinity Chapel Basketball Boys and Girls Teams Beat Youth Christian Academy Trinity Chapel Academy in Powder Springs had its 1st high school basketball game on Thursday, Nov. 6th. Both the boys and girls took on the visiting Youth Christian Academy Swords. The TCA Lady Lions won by a score of 41 – 12. Hannah Gilliland was the high scorer with 14 points. She was 1 of 5 Lady Lions who scored. Coach Brian Jones was pleased with the overall decision making on the floor. The girls made the extra pass and took good shots. He said that even though they aggres-sively attacked the basket, that they needed to improve on their 26% shooting average for the game.
The boys won by a score of 52 – 23. They were led by Austin Perry who had 21 points, Logan Hice with 13 points, and Jeffrey Tillerson with 11 points. Logan Hice led all rebounders with 18 as well as dishing out 6 assists. Coach Sean Rainey was very excited about the play of his team, all players had a good game on both ends of the court.
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Compton Elementary's WaterSmart Garden (below)
Powder Springs Compton Students
Powder Springs Compton Students
Powder Springs, GA Compton Elementary School students, Cobb County Water and volunteers from Lowe’s spent the morning planting flowers, earning about water conservation, and Georgia’s Watershed plant and animal life during the water festival.
Compton Elementary in Powder Springs, GA Opens New Water Smart Garden To Students - Garden grand opening kicks off Compton’s water conservation awareness festival
Ribbon-Cutting and Water Festival – Powder Springs, GA
Compton Elementary School officially opened its new water smart garden during a ribbon-cutting ceremony with students, parents, community members and local volunteers. Constructed entirely by volunteers from 27 local Lowe’s stores, the garden contains drought tolerant plants that can survive without the use of a sprinkler system or watering hose. Funded by $57,000 from the Lowe’s Heroes and Toolbox for Education programs, and in support of WaterSmartSM, a conservation education program provided by the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority and Cobb County Water System, the garden will supplement students’ in-class curriculum with hands-on activities. The ribbon-cutting kicked off a water festival at Compton Elementary, where students explored the new garden for the first time and began planting drought tolerant flowers in their plots. Students, parents and community members also had the opportunity to rotate through stations where they can learn about water conservation from Lowe’s volunteers and other local organizations and nonprofits including Keep Cobb Beautiful, Cobb County Parks Natural Resources Division, Georgia Conservancy, Cobb Watershed Stewardship Program and Cobb Water Efficiency Program.
Lowe’s Heroes is a company-wide volunteer initiative that offers its employees the opportunity to work on a project in their own neighborhood, helping to make their communities better places to live, work and play. For more information, visit www.lowes.com/community. For more information on Toolbox for Education grants, visit www.toolboxforeducation.com.
The WaterSmart program was initiated by the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority (CCMWA) in 2000 to educate their service area residents of all ages about the importance of indoor and outdoor water conservation and to help encourage sustainable, year-round conservation, regardless of climate conditions. The CCMWA is in its eighth year of providing the waterSmart program to the community. For more information on water conservation and waterSmart, visit http://www.watersmart.net
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Cooper Middle School in Powder Springs, GA BETA Club Conducts Clean-Up as Part of "Keep Cobb Beautiful" (Pictured above) As part of the "Keep Cobb Beautiful" campaign, members of the Cooper Middle School Jr. BETA Club conducted a campus clean-up Tuesday afternoon, October 14th. . "Its amazing the kinds of trash you will find", was a comment made by several of the students, after retrieving water soaked test and homework papers. With both 22 students and teachers putting in a hot and hard hour's work, the campus will be ready to receive the county principals who will be meeting at Cooper on Thursday.
Children's Safety and Health - Clean the Air
Diesel exhaust from school buses contains asthma-triggering particulates and 40 microscopic chemicals that the Clean Air Act classifies as haz-ardous air pollutants.
Keeping the air clean is especially important for children--pound for pound, they breathe in more air and more pollutants than adults. You can reduce the problem by lobbying to bring new technologies to your school, like the propane-powered buses developed by Blue Bird Corporation www.blue-bird.com, which eliminate particulates and can halve fuel costs, among other benefits. Diesel buses may also be retrofitted with tech-nologies like diesel particulate filters; for a complete list of verified technologies, see the EPA's website at: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/retrofit/verif-list.htm
If your school district doesn't yet have the resources to make big changes, you can still cut your emissions by reducing idling outside of schools and motivating others to do the same. Turn off the car or put it on standby when waiting to pick up or drop off children, and encourage kids to walk or ride bikes whenever possible (if you're concerned about safety, talk to other parents in the neighborhood about having the kids bike to-gether). You can also work with your school's PTA or PTSA to request a no-idling zone for buses. Airwatch Northwest's Anti-Idling Program http://airwatchnorthwest.org/anti-idling.htm has toolkits to help reduce idling in your school, including letters to parents and faculty members and a "No Idle Zone" sign to display in your parking lot.
Playing It Safe! Back to School
By Staff Reporter
By staff reporter School bells have rung and homework has begun. The new school year has taken off and it’s a great time to remember some safety rules that will allow everyone to have a safer school year. Detective Kelly Gobely with the Powder Springs Police Department explained several ways that parents can help their children have a safe year. From bus safety to stranger awareness there are many items that parents should cover with their children. Perhaps one of the most important items parents should review with their children is that of stranger awareness. “Parents need to educate their kids that if there is a stranger at their bus stop who is consistently hanging around and has no children, the child should get back on the bus and have their driver either take them to another stop or back to the school,” Det. Gobely said. “It is absolutely okay to get back on the bus and let the driver know that the person standing out there is a stranger.” She went on further to explain that while thinking about possible strangers in a neighborhood, parents should really consider whether or not to monogram their child’s backpack and clothes with their name. She stated that many children don’t understand that the stranger is calling them from their name being personalized on an item of clothing. The child just thinks the stranger must know him or her because they know their name. “I am not saying parents should not personalize things but they must think about all possible situations,” she said. Det. Gobely said she could also not stress the importance of teaching children mom and dad’s real name, their street address and their home phone number. “Many times we ask children what is their mom’s name and they say mom,” she said. “It is very important that they know their real name.” Det. Gobely said to also always remember to use the buddy system. This would include waiting for the bus or walking home in the afternoon with either a friend off the bus or a neighbor. She highly recommends that parents even set up a password so that a child knows that a person if safe to go home with. “In our GREAT (Gang Resistance Education And Training) program we tell parents to play a password game with their child,” she said. “The child and the parent should create a password and if someone comes to pick them up from school or the bus stop that person must know the password so that the child knows its okay to leave with that person.” “Upon arriving at their home a child should also know what to do if they get home and it looks like something is wrong with the house,” she said. “Make sure you (the parent) teach the child what neighbors home to go to in case of an emergency.” And while you are at it, Det. Gobely said this is also a great time to review fire safety issues in the home. What should they do in case of a fire and any other safety issues? She stated that a child at home should even know what to do if they accidentally cut themselves with a knife in the kitchen. Remember to take a moment and review these items with their child in hopes that they will have not only a great school year but also a safe one!
Come Join Cobb 4-H Club! Where: Cobb County Cooperative Extension Office, 678 South Cobb Drive, Suite 200, Marietta, GA 30060
5th graders who do not have a 4-H program in their school, and 5th grade students who are home schooled, residing in Cobb County, are welcome to attend. 6th through 12th graders (Public, Private, and Home School), who reside in Cobb County are welcome to participate.
There is no fee to join 4-H. 4-H assists youth and adults in acquiring knowledge, developing life skills, and forming attitudes that will enable them to become self-directing, productive and contributing members of society. We offer Hands-On activities, Leadership, Communication Skills, Healthy Living, Nutrition, Energy, and Citizenship. Come see what Cobb 4-H is all about! 4-H Meeting are usually held on the first Tuesday of the month. For more information, please call Cobb Cooperative Extension at 770-528-4076.
List & Links to Powder Springs, GA Schools
IF YOUR CHILD ATTENDS A SCHOOL NOT LISTED AND THEY ARE A POWDER SPRINGS RESIDENT - EMAIL THE POWDER SPRINGS MESSENGER TO LET US KNOW.
Email us at: psmessenger@bellsouth.net
Links to Powder Springs Area Schools
POWDER SPRINGS, GA HIGH SCHOOLS
Hillgrove High School - http://www.cobbk12.org/schools/hillgrove/index.htm
McEachern High School - http://www.mceachernhigh.org/
POWDER SPRINGS, GA MIDDLE SCHOOLS
Cooper - http://www.cobbk12.org/Cooper/
Garrett - http://www.cobbk12.org/Garrett/
Lovinggood - http://www.cobbk12.org/Lovinggood/
Tapp - http://www.cobbk12.org/Tapp/
POWDER SPRINGS ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
Austell Intermediate - http://www.cobbk12.org/Austell/
Austell Primary - http://www.cobbk12.org/AustellPrimary/
Clarkdale - CLARKDALE ELEMENTART SCHOOL IN POWDER SPRINGS HAS CLOSED DUE TO FLOODING AND WILL NOT REOPEN
Compton - http://comptonblogs.typepad.com/compton/
Kemp - http://www.cobbk12.org/Kemp/
Powder Springs - http://www.cobbk12.org/PowderSprings/
Still Elementary - http://www.cobbk12.org/Still/
Varner Elementary - http://www.cobbk12.org/Varner/
Vaughan - http://www.cobbk12.org/Vaughan/
Attention Parents/Teachers: The Powder Springs Messenger Newspaper covers these area schools: McEachern, Hillgrove, Cooper, Garrett, Lovinggood, Smitha, Tapp, Clarkdale, Compton, Kemp, Still, Varner, Austell Primary and Intermediate, and Vaughhan. If you don't see your school listed and have Powder Springs students attending please let us know. Teachers or parents if you would like to submit a photo and or information about your students, class or school email us at: psmessenger@bellsouth.net or call us at 770-456-2882.