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Health & Fitness

Good News from the Cherokee Zone!

Check out the latest good news from schools in the Cherokee Innovation Zone (Cherokee High, Freedom and Teasley Middle and Clayton, Canton STEM, Hasty Fine Arts, Knox, Liberty, Sixes and R.M. Moore Elementary Schools)…

Cherokee High School

Cherokee High School for the second year is a major sponsor of the Holiday Lights of Hope fundraiser for the Anna Crawford Children’s Center.  The school’s welding students create the giant light displays for the community event, which is held every December at Hobgood Park in Towne Lake, and students collect toys for the abused children cared for by the center.  Cherokee High’s Leadership 56 Team also created “Be Thankful” gifts for Goshen Valley Boys Ranch, MUST Ministries and the Red Cross, while video production students are collecting books for schools affecting by tornadoes this summer.

 

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Freedom Middle School

Freedom Middle School this school year launched “It Begins with One,” a new school-wide service-learning program that started with providing holiday gifts for students in need.  “Our students have shopped for and donated both wanted and needed items for families in the community… this gives the students the opportunity to see the impact individual contributions can make when we work together for a common goal,” Principal Sheila Grimes said, adding that more events are planned “to extend the spirit of giving way beyond this one season.”

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Teasley Middle School
Teasley Middle School’s annual Spirit of the Season campaign this year included drives to collect gift cards, toys and canned food to help its less fortunate students and their families.  “Every Raider has the opportunity to give, no gift is too small,” Principal Dr. Sue Zinkil said.  “Winston Churchill said: ‘We make a living by what we get.  We make a life by what we give.’  This is the true ‘Spirit of the Season’ that is felt throughout the Raider Nation!”

 

Four students from Teasley Middle School earned prizes at the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Patriots Pen Contest. Brianna West placed first; Anna Cook placed second; and Gunnar Phillips and Jennifer Martinez placed third and each received a monetary award in the annual nationwide contest sponsored by the VFW.  This year’s theme “What Patriotism Means to Me,” and Teasley MS submitted close to 60 entries.   All four winners are currently enrolled in teacher Brian Puckett’s Language Arts class, and he encouraged participation in the contest.

 

Teasley Middle School recently presented the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation with a donation of $1,777.  The funds were raised through an Activity Day and a "Dunk Diabetes" Dunk Tank, with teachers and administrators in the tank, that was sponsored by Canton Tire & Wheel.  This is the third year the school has raised funds for the Foundation; two Teasley students have Type 1 Diabetes and several faculty and staff also are affected by diabetes.

 

Teasley Middle School recently received a $500 donation from Lake Arrowhead Church to provide shoes, clothing, and other necessities to the school’s students and their families who are in need.  “We were extremely surprised and honored by the generous gift,” Principal Dr. Susan Zinkil said.   “We are so fortunate to have local organizations that care so immensely about the needs of our students and community.”

 

Clayton Elementary School

Clayton Elementary School kindergarten students recently performed “The Gingerbread Man” for their fellow students.

 

Canton Elementary School STEM Academy

Canton Elementary School STEM Academy welcomed Carmen Agra Deedy, one of Georgia’s most notable authors and storytellers, for a special visit this week.  The students and teachers were delighted to hear her tell several of her best stories with great animation and enthusiasm.  She also spoke with students about the importance of developing their skills in reading, writing and speaking.  Ms. Agra Deedy has been writing for children for more than two decades.  Born in Havana, Cuba, she came to the U.S. as a refugee in 1964 and grew up in Decatur, where she lives today.  She has spent the past 20 years writing and telling stories and has published 20 children’s books including “The Library Dragon” and “Agatha’s Feather Bed.”

 

The Soleil Book Club recently presented Canton Elementary School STEM Academy’s Media Center with a donation of $1,241.  The donation from the Canton neighborhood’s club will provide every first-grade student at the school with a new book and allow at-risk students to select books at the school’s spring book fair at no cost.  This is the second year the club has donated to support literacy efforts at the school.

 

Hasty Elementary School Fine Arts Academy

Hasty Elementary School Fine Arts Academy recently held its annual toy drive to support its less fortunate students and provided a Holiday Craft Night program so families could enjoy a free night with Santa, crafts and food.

 

Knox Elementary School

In addition to its annual Joy of Giving program to provide clothing and toys to students in need, Knox Elementary School this year started a We Can Change Club.  This new service club has already collected canned goods for the 31st 11 Alive Annual Holiday Can-A-Thon (one class collected more than 100 cans on its own) and gathered blankets and other donations for the Cherokee County Animal Shelter.

 

Knox Elementary School fifth-grade teacher Sandi Price has won a scholarship sponsored by Kenneth S. Nugent, P.C., law firm and the Atlanta Falcons Radio network.  The $500 scholarship is to be used for classroom supplies, projects, field trips and other related expenses.

 

Liberty Elementary School

Liberty Elementary School recently raised $675 for the Cherokee County Animal Shelter and made holiday cards and ornaments for the shelter and its staff.  The school’s new Homeless Pet Club, led by teachers Julie Robbins and Stacy Yawn, organized the school-wide effort.  The money was raised by selling a club T-shirt designed by fifth-grader Brynn Ross.

 

Seven Liberty Elementary School students earned a limousine ride and lunch out with the principal in December by reading for the Accelerated Reader program.  The group included first-graders Christopher Akers and Chloe Cross; second-grader Taylor King; fourth-graders Naomi Clark and Grace Webb; and fifth-graders Sydney Little and Walker Booth.  The children enjoyed a limousine ride and lunch at Applebee’s before returning to school.

 

Sixes Elementary School

Sixes Elementary School’s service-learning initiatives this holiday season have included collecting coats and canned food for MUST Ministries, filling stockings with gifts for local children in need and raising $1,500 for children served by the county’s Division of Family and Children Services.

 

“The giving spirit is alive and well at Sixes.  The community recognizes their many blessings and is more than willing to share with others less fortunate,” Principal Deborah Kelly said, adding that lessons about the importance of service happen not just at school.  “Parents are truly teaching their children well.”

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