In Focus @ GWA

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

• Summer Camp Registration: Open NOW (see below)
• Yearbook Deadline: TOMORROW (see below)
• Winter Break: Feb. 16 - 19
• 7th Grade Parent Wash. D.C. Trip Meeting: Feb. 22 @ 6:30 p.m.
• K3 - K5 Musical Performance: Fri., Feb. 23 @ 9 a.m.
  
• LS Read Across America Week: Feb. 26 (Click HERE for dress up day themes)
• College Tour Interest Meeting: Wed., Feb. 28 (see below)

On Tuesday, I attended the annual STAR Student & Teacher (www.pageinc.org/star/about-page-star) district banquet in Monroe. Nominees are seniors, and each STAR student chooses his or her favorite teacher. Selection criteria for this prestigious award is objective: solely SAT scores and grades.

At the banquet, GWA Star Student Riley Edwards and his STAR Teacher, Mrs. Kellie Watts, each delivered speeches about their relationship and touched on the importance of hard work and perseverance to academic success. The dinner featured wonderful remarks from the STAR students and teachers from seven area high schools, both public and private. It was an inspirational evening!

These students and teachers remind me why I have dedicated my career to education and continue to be energized working with young people. As extraordinarily bright as these senior superstars are, their speeches conveyed a genuine appreciation that there is always more to learn (humility), gratefulness that no one can succeed without a broad network of support (gratitude), and a humility that they have been blessed with unique God-given gifts (grace).

At GWA, we embrace the triad of gratitude, humility, and grace as the foundation of a happy, well-adjusted, and emotionally mature individual. These values lie at the heart of what we seek to instill in each student. We seek these qualities in everyone we hire as teachers and coaches. We talk about them at faculty meetings, student assemblies, Pup Rallies, and of course in Bible class. We adults seek to live them out in our daily walk with your children.

Finally, I am thrilled to share that Riley was selected as STAR Student for Walton County. He and Mrs. Watts now advance to region competition. Please join me in congratulating Riley, a grateful, humble, and grace-filled young person, not to mention just brilliant, though you would not know it from hearing him talk about himself.

I am so very proud to have Riley representing George Walton Academy.

John D. Marshall

Head of School

During our morning announcements, GWA students will continue sharing daily spotlights in celebration of Black History Month throughout February. The spotlights feature “African Americans and the Arts,” spanning the many impacts Black Americans have had on visual arts, music, cultural movements, and more. So far, we have shared bios on poet, activist and playwright Langston Hughes, poet, writer and activist Amanda Gorman, actor Chadwick Boseman, ballet dancer Misty Copeland and artist Faith Ringgold. Special thanks to our student participants!

The United States is not the only country to celebrate Black History Month. Hispanic countries celebrate Afro-Latino and Afro-Latinidad heritage on special days throughout the year. Today our Spanish 2 students along with our third-grade friends learned about these celebrations. They took a closer look at an icon close to home, Celia Cruz, an American Afro Latina who is being featured on a new U.S. quarter in 2024. She is known as the queen of salsa music, she has won numerous Latin awards and American Grammy Awards and was also presented with the National Medal of Arts by President Bill Clinton in 1994. This is the highest honor that can be bestowed to an artist.

Mrs. White's eighth-grade science students are investigating electrostatic and current electricity with hands-on activities involving everyday items like balloons, aluminum cans, wool, fur, glass, and plastics. The addition of plasma balls and energy sticks extends learning by visually demonstrating concepts such as ionization, electric fields, and conductivity. Observing the movement of plasma filaments in response to physically touching the ball or proximity of fluorescent and energy tubes helps illustrate electrical conductivity and behavior of charged particles. Students are also engaged by building real circuits containing lights, speakers, motors, and switches. It’s no shock that science is fun in eighth grade!

2024 Lucky Dawg Gala & Benefit Auction individual & table tickets have officially gone on sale. There are a limited number of tickets available, and they have sold out quickly each year — so go ahead and secure yours while you can. We are excited for an evening of celebration in support of our amazing students, school & community! CLICK HERE for tickets and more.

The George Walton Academy Lucky Dawg Gala & Benefit Auction this year will take place on:

Saturday, March 9, 2024

Beginning at 6 p.m.

at the Factory at Walton Mill

Monroe, GA

Each year at our Gala, we randomly select a lucky winner who receives their choice of any of our four amazing trip packages offered as part of this year's raffle. Each raffle entry is $100 and no more than 200 tickets will be sold.

You can learn more about each trip- please click below:

-Mediterranean Cruise
-Jackson Hole, Wyoming
-British Columbia, Canada
-St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands

Click HERE to purchase your entries!

Registration for our GWA Summer Camps is officially OPEN! We offer something for all ages and interests. CLICK HERE to check out our camp offerings and to register now. Happy camping!

The GWA College Counseling Office invites you to attend the Admissions College Panel Event on Wednesday, April 10, at 6:30 p.m. in the Nicholson Center. ALL grades are invited to attend! The College Panel Event is required for all sophomores and juniors.

Between six and eight college and university admission representatives from large, small, private, public, in-state & out-of-state schools will be participating. We will send out that list a week ahead of time as we are finalizing the details.

George Walton Academy students and families will not only learn about these respected institutions but also about the college admissions process in general. There will be time for Q & A as well. Please email lnabors@gwa.com or jterrell@gwa.com with any questions.

Hope to see you there!

- The College Counseling Office

GWA junior Ashley Hill received a commemorative basketball from Head Coach Lori Hines before last Thursday's home game in recognition of hitting 1,000 career points. Congratulations to Ashley for this outstanding achievement!

GWA is excited to welcome French exchange students Axel, Honoré, Lina, Caroline, Louise, and Victoire from Saint-Denis International School in Loches, France. They will be on campus as students for the next several weeks and have the opportunity to experience daily American life and adventures with their host families while in the U.S.

Congratulations to our talented 13 upper school students who auditioned and made the cut for this year’s District Honor Band. Our kids auditioned with over 950 students from more than 30 high schools. There were just over 200 students divided into three bands that made up the honor bands.

They rehearsed with these outstanding guest conductors:

• Dr. Laura Moates Stanley from Brookwood HS
• Associate Director of Bands, Jacksonville University in Florida, Mr. Chris Cresswell
• Commander of the Air National Guard Band of the Midwest, LT. Col. Brian Miller

After three days of practice with their new conductors and new band friends, they performed in front of a packed house in the 1000 seat auditorium at Jackson County High School. What an amazing event and great opportunity for our young musicians!

We’re super proud of them and their hard work this year and for their fantastic performance they had at Jackson County HS! Awesome job representing GWA and your band program! Congrats to the following students:

Nicole Volk

Michael Mealor

Blakeney Sewell

Jackson Wimberly

Matthew Shackelford

Hayden Buyers

Cale Fuller

Maddie Garrett

Kade Franklin

Wendy Menard

Isaac Osei

Alex Garren

Jon Terpstra

Time is running out to reserve your yearbook. Click HERE to buy one online today! If you aren't sure if you've purchased a yearbook, be sure to check this list. Contact Liz Jones at ljones@gwa.com if you think you purchased a book, but aren't on the list!

Today's In Focus is proudly sponsored by Murrell's Waterproofing Services, Inc. (www.murrellswaterproofing.com).