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Four Peachtree Corners Students Among those Receiving AP Scholar Recognition at GAC

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AP Program Greater Atlanta Christian

Greater Atlanta Christian’s Academic Program Reaps High Rewards for AP Scholars

Wednesday was College Signing Day and everyone was excited for what the future holds for these students. But are they ready? That is the big question and the motivation behind why Greater Atlanta Christian School invests considerable resources into developing the best AP Program in Atlanta. The Norcross-based school is tied for the top Atlanta private school to have the highest AP pass rate at 84% in 26 AP courses. In the last year, two additional courses have been added bringing the total to 28, the most of any Atlanta private school. That means more opportunity for GAC students to better prepare for the academic challenges that await them.

During this week’s Academic Awards Night, GAC awarded high school students who have performed at the highest level in the AP Program. Over 30 AP Scholars with differing distinctions were recognized. Their performance indicates strong college preparedness, something students are able to achieve before they even begin which gives them a “leg up” on their peers. Scores on the AP exams are used by colleges to determine if they will grant course credit for what the student has already learned.

Says High School Principal Shane Woodward: “These accomplishments are not only indicative of the caliber of students we have but of the quality of our faculty as well. Our teachers’ ability to engage and challenge our students, while equipping them with knowledge of standards that are essential in the Advanced Placement curriculum, is phenomenal. These accomplishments do not just happen. They require careful planning and quality assessment, over time, to understand exactly what students need. Our teachers put a lot of effort into making these scores a possibility for our students and I couldn’t be more grateful for their efforts.”

Among those 33 awarded are:

AP Scholar

Granted to students who receive scores of 3 or higher on three or more AP Exams.
Mary Grace Manton (Peachtree Corners)
Navya Sarikonda (Peachtree Corners)
Kaitlyn Williams (Peachtree Corners)
Christopher Barbieri (Lawrenceville)
Ethan George (Lawrenceville)
Catherine Wanning Cheng (Suwanee)
Lillian Clark (Duluth)
Evana Darby (Duluth)
Caroline Lowenstein (Duluth)
Savannah Hill (Braselton)
Summar Hill (Braselton)
Ethan McDonnell (Tucker)
Sofia Nadal  (Monroe)
Julia Nguyen (Doraville)
Spencer Yates (Berkeley Lake)  

AP Scholar with Honor

Granted to students who receive an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams.
Sam Collins (Peachtree Corners)
Roy Dixon (Lawrenceville)
Celeste Hosfeld (Suwanee)
Sarah Kester (Duluth)
Christopher Johnson (Berkeley Lake)  

AP Scholar with Distinction

Granted to students who receive an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams.
Elise Karinshak (Lawrenceville)
Christine Melley (Lawrenceville)
Pranathi Singareddy (Lawrenceville)
Harry Zhang (Lawrenceville)
Matthew Marino (Suwanee)
Alex Wright (Suwanee)
Eunice Park (Duluth)
Adrian Tomasevic (Duluth)
Nataly Beacham (Winder)
Calvin Dong (Johns Creek)
Hunter McIntosh (Snellville)
Grant Mimms (Alpharetta)  

National AP Scholar

Granted to students in the US who receive an average score of at least 4 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 4 or higher on eight or more of these exams.
Victoria Huynh (Lilburn). To note, Victoria also earned a perfect score on her AP Government exam, a rare achievement by only 113 of the over 300,000 students who took the exam globally last May.

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Education

Japanese Traditions Celebrated at ICAGeorgia

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Young student pounding sticky rice with a large wooden mallet at an outdoor Japanese new year event

Since the opening of the International Charter Academy of Georgia (ICAGeorgia) in 2018, their students have been immersed in Japanese language and culture, including starting each new year (osho-gatsu) — Japan’s most important holiday — with two traditional rituals: Kakizome (New Year Japanese calligraphy) and Mochitsuki (New Year rice pounding).

This year, the students at the K-6 dual-language school in Peachtree Corners, gathered in the gym to practice and demonstrate their growing calligraphy skills and again outdoors a couple of weeks later for the physical fun of mochitsuki.

Kakizome

Literally translated as “first writing,” kakizome is a form of artistic calligraphy of the Japanese language that’s done at the start of each year to express hopes and positive wishes for the year ahead. Using traditional calligraphy brushes and ink, and often expressed through poetry, New Year’s resolutions or an auspicious word, kakizome is a special time to clear your mind and focus on the brush strokes.

According to a press release from the school, for ICAGeorgia’s kakizome event, each student, including the youngest kindergartners, used a traditional brush (ふで) and ink (すみ) to write a Japanese word of their choice — for example, “新年 (new year)” “元日 (New Years Day)” or “もち (mochi).”And, because 2025 is the Year of the Snake in the lunar calendar, 巳 (snake) was included in the word selection.

Mochitsuki

“In Japan, people make ‘mochi’ or pounded rice to celebrate the New Year,” shared Junko Jones, CFO of ICAGeorgia. “Mochi is sticky, so people eat it to help them ‘stick’ with their goals for the year — and they do it with family, friends and people in the community who they would like to ‘stick’ together [with]. Mochi can also be used as a decoration for New Year’s celebrations.”

Pounding the sticky rice into mochi with a wooden mallet is hard work, but the celebration is also one of Japan’s most fun (and popular) traditions.

For the school’s mochitsuki event, each student had an opportunity to pound and taste the mochi rice. All of the ingredients were donated by ICAGeorgia parents, and the mochi rice was cooked by ICAGeorgia parent volunteers on the day of the event — making it true school community celebration.

After pounding the rice, students, staff and volunteers enjoyed delicious rice cakes (omochi) together, welcoming the new year and looking forward to a happy and successful 2025.

About ICAGeorgia

The International Charter Academy of Georgia offers a dual language immersion program in English and Japanese, allowing students to learn both languages through a variety of subjects, including math, science, social studies, art, music and physical education. Japanese instruction is based on the Japanese Ministry of Education curriculum, and teachers collaborate across departments.

The school’s mission is “to broaden the horizons of students in Georgia so that they may become global citizens who promote peace throughout the world.” This is achieved not only through language learning, but also through cultural activities. But the best way to promote peace and understanding is through interactions among the students themselves, who make up an extremely diverse community.

For more information, visit internationalcharteracademy.org.

Photos courtesy of ICAGeorgia.

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Education

McBath Slams Proposed Tax on HOPE Scholarship

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Rep. McBath, of Georgia's 6th District, at a podium speaking to an audience. A man and woman stand behind her, along with an American flag.

Tens of thousands of Georgia families could potentially be impacted by a new national Republican proposal to tax state scholarship program.

Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA) of Georgia’s sixth district, is slamming national Republicans for their proposal to increase taxes on students and families in Georgia.

document circulating from the GOP outlines revenue-generating strategies, among them a new tax on scholarship dollars that would include Georgia’s hallmark HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarship programs.

“National Republicans are attempting to raise taxes on Georgia families,” said McBath. “The HOPE program is a beacon of light for young people who want to go to college and achieve their dreams.

“For decades, students in Georgia have known that if you worked hard in school and got good grades, the state would help you get through college and start a career. This new tax would threaten the financial security of Georgia’s families and undercut the hopes and dreams of thousands of students. I am horrified at this attempt — families in Georgia deserve better.”

About the HOPE Scholarship

During the 2023-2024 academic year, 187,437 students in Georgia received almost a billion dollars in scholarships and grants through the HOPE Program alone.

All of this award money, along with any other scholarships or grants that a student had earned, would now be considered taxable income if this proposal by Republicans were to become law.

The Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally (HOPE) Program launched in 1993 and has since provided more than $15 billion to more than 2.1 million students in financial assistance for educational programs after high school.

For more information, visit mcbath.house.gov.

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Education

ICAGeorgia Adds Cross Country and Track Programs

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A group of young cross country track students in blue shirts standing with their coach in front of a school building.

The 2024-2025 school year has brought exciting extracurricular additions to the International Charter Academy of Georgia (ICAGeorgia), with the launch of new cross country and track programs.

Intended for upper-elementary and middle school students in grades 4-6, the new programs were started by Coach Shawn Nix, who joined the ICAGeorgia staff this fall. She comes to the school with 17 years of teaching experience in the Gwinnett County School System and 13 years of coaching experience. She was named Gwinnett County Coach of the Year twice during her tenure there.

Nix said that her goal in creating the cross country and track programs at ICAGeorgia was to “give students an introduction to cross country, teach them the value of teamwork and cultivate the future generation of runners.”

Young cross country runner in a blue shirt running on a dirt trail in a wooded area.
photo courtesy of ICAGeorgia

“The parents are thrilled about the addition of the cross country program,” she added. “They’ve expressed their excitement to me, and they are at practice and meets supporting the athletes.” 

Cross country

Twenty-three academy students signed up for cross country this year, excited to be part of the inaugural team.

The season began on September 3 with the school’s first meet at Legacy Park in Decatur, where students competed in the one-mile dash against 210 other athletes from Atlanta area-schools.

Three of the school’s young athlete’s placed, with one sixth grader taking third in the girls division; another sixth grade student placing 24th in the boys division and one fourth grader placing 16th in the boys division.

Group of young track cross country students in blue shirts outside at an event.
photo courtesy of ICAGeorgia

They recently wrapped up the season on November 13 with a meet held at Midtown High School.

Though the season was short — most meets had already closed their entries by late August, and one meet was cancelled due to Hurricane Helene — the ICAGeorgia team was able to get in two good competitions and a lot of practice sessions.

Track season

According to Coach Nix, some students that were interested in cross country weren’t able to sign up for the team in time, but they’ve said they will be coming out for track in the spring. She’s expecting at least 20 students to join the team.

Group of young track students in red shirts, indoors in their gym space with their coach.
photo courtesy of ICAGeorgia

Track season begins in February, and the opening meet is scheduled for March 8at Lanier High School in Sugar Hill.

Upcoming track meets will feature the following events: long jump, triple jump, high jump, shot put, disc throw, 3200m, 1600m, 800m, 400m and 4×100, 400 and 800m relays.

Future plans

Following the success of the new cross country and track programs, Coach Nix shared that ICAGeorgia plans to offer more after-school sports in the near future.

Young students in a parking lot practicing for track events and doing PE.
photo courtesy of ICAGeorgia

“The sports we add will be gauged by an interest survey, keeping in mind the facilities we have,” she said. “But we would love to add basketball and soccer.”

For more about ICAGeorgia, visit them at internationalcharteracademy.org.

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