In Focus @ GWA

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Email: info@gwa.com
Website: www.gwa.com
Phone: (678) 635-3800

• First/Second Grade Musical Performances: Friday, Oct. 27
• Fall Sports Senior Night: Friday, Oct. 27
• Happy Halloween: Oct. 31, LS students may wear costumes
• Admissions Preview Day (The Hill): Thursday, Nov. 2
• Winter Term internship agreements due: Nov. 3 (juniors/seniors)
• First Grade/Senior Breakfast: Nov. 8
• One Act Performances: Nov. 9-11, 6 p.m.
• Veterans Day Program: Friday, Nov. 10

Ms. Benfield's AP Environmental Science class explored nature limit in their recent lab. They experimented with pill bugs (isopods) through an exciting hands-on lab. Students worked in groups and picked four unique habitats; they played with light exposure, salt content in soil, and more. After coming up with a conclusion and tying it back to their hypothesis, they were shocked to see pill bugs' range of tolerance. This project is more than just an experiment; it allows students to get creative and learn interactively by creating habitats and monitoring the bugs. It provides a valuable learning experience for the observation complexity of environments. Special thanks to Mr. Nabors for providing the pill bugs for Ms. Benfield's class.

Dr. Dibble's AP Chemistry students combined solid magnesium metal and concentrated hydrochloric acid to produce hydrogen gas. They measured the gaseous volume by using thin tubes called eudiometers. In order to precisely calculate the number of hydrogen gas particles produced by the reaction, the pressure inside the tube needed to be matched to the atmospheric pressure. In this challenging lab, students combined the ideal gas law and pneumonic troughs to collect invisible hydrogen gas.

In this educational project, fifth-grade Spanish students were assigned a specific Spanish country to research and present. Each student was tasked with creating either a poster or a Google Slide presentation focusing on their chosen Spanish nation. They delved into various aspects of the country, including its culture, geography, history, and traditions. Through these presentations, the students effectively communicated their newfound knowledge about their assigned Spanish country. This project provided the class with the opportunity to learn and share information, promoting a deeper understanding of the diverse Spanish-speaking nations.

Our Lady Dawgs earned third place at State and this year’s Region Championship title! Congrats on an outstanding season and congratulations to Coach Meeks and our All-State and All-Region players.

At the Region 4 3A meet, the GWA girls' cross country team pulled out a well-fought close victory over LCA. After counting the five scoring runners GWA was tied with LCA at 42 points. According to the rule - the tiebreaker is the finish position of each team’s sixth runner. Kierstin Henderson finished ahead of the LCA runner to seal the win and qualify for state meet Oct. 28. Moneli Shekarbakht was region runner-up. Caleb Choe finished in fifth position in boys' race and qualified for state as an individual. Congratulations and good luck at State!

State Meet Details:

• Location - First Presbyterian Day, Macon
• 10:30 a.m. - Girls AAA Championship Race
• 11:15 a.m. - Boys AAA Championship Race
• AAA awards ceremony immediately after conclusion of the AAA boys' race

At this week's Gatewood competition, our middle school cheer team took home first place and the varsity team placed second, both with program best scores! The teams compete at John Milledge this Saturday. Mark your calendar for Nov. 4, 10 a.m. and plan to come out to support our cheerleaders at home.

Youth wrestling registration is now open. Wrestling develops agility, balance, reflexes, strength and drive. All skills that translate to other sports. The GWA youth wrestling program is open to new and experienced wrestlers in grades K5 - fifth grade. The program provides the coaches and tools to teach your child what they need to know!

• Three free practices will be offered for our Bulldogs to give wrestling a try. Those practices will be held on Wednesdays, Nov. 1, Nov. 8, and Nov. 15.
• Regular practices will start after Thanksgiving break. Practices will be on Mondays and Wednesdays, 5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. in the Lower Gym.
• The season will run through the end of February.

If your child is interested in participating in youth wrestling, please fill out the registration form: https://forms.gle/TuJE7XTCc6vi3ggN8

If you have any questions, please reach out to Coach Sperin at jsperin@gwa.com

Students in Mrs. Noll's lower school piano classes explored rhythms inspired by their favorite Halloween candies. Each student chose a candy, divided the candy names into syllables, then created rhythms that best fit the syllables. What a sweet way to reinforce rhythm in music!

You have the power to redirect a portion of your state income taxes towards providing tuition assistance for exceptional students seeking a GWA education. Your participation in the Georgia GOAL program plays a vital role in enabling deserving students to access our outstanding educational offerings. By increasing enrollment, strengthening our financial well-being, and continuously enhancing our programs, your support helps shape the future of George Walton Academy.

The link to the 2024 GOAL Tax Credit application is HERE. It only takes about 20 seconds to complete. You will receive a confirmation email from GOAL upon completion of the application outlining the next steps in the process. Learn more at www.goalscholarship.org. Click here for a step-by-step flyer.

Contact Jenni Cole – jcole@gwa.com or Johnny Green – jgreen@gwa.com with any questions.

Check out the amazing work by our upper school studio art class – this year’s entry for the annual Stripling’s Hay Bale Contest (Bogart)!

• Voting is open now through Oct. 31
• Votes are $1/each and the proceeds benefit ESP
• Cash prizes will be awarded for best bale
• Vote in store or Venmo @striplingsbogart
• Another money jar has been placed in the front office for votes

VOTE for “The Mailman” and help deliver a first place win for GWA! Congrats to Ms. Sims, Mrs. Stumpf, Boston Kuzava, Jackson Rutledge, Adrianna DiCicco, London Fluellen and other student volunteers on an excellent job!

GWA was pleased to welcome special guests this week from CUAM Preparatory School in Mexico. CUAM is one of the few schools outside the United States that is accredited by SAIS (Southern Association of Independent Schools). It has a strong academic reputation across Mexico. We enjoyed discussions on potential collaborative efforts between our schools, we gave our guests a campus tour, shared information about our programs and introduced them to faculty and staff. Making these valuable connections is important to our mission of providing “global perspectives” and we will explore more fully what this can mean in the future as we develop graduates for college and the world.

If you would like to learn more about CUAM, please click on the link below (and select the English translation, if you need to).

www.cuam.edu.mx

Today's In Focus is proudly sponsored by Perimeter Roofing. (perimeterroofing.com).