In Focus @ GWA
A news bulletin for the families of George Walton Academy
December 8, 2022
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Email: info@gwa.com
Website: www.gwa.com
Phone: (678) 635-3800
Key Deadlines & Dates
- MS/US Christmas Parties: Dec. 9
- Exams (Grades 8-12): Dec. 13 -15
- Early Dismissal (All Grades): Dec. 16
- Christmas Break: Dec. 19 - Jan. 2
- Teacher Workday/No school: Jan. 2
- Upper School Winter Term Begins: Jan. 3
- School Holiday/MLK Jr. Day: Jan. 16
Christmas Cheer
Thanks to all who supported, participated in, and enjoyed the very merry festivities during Sunday’s Gingerbread Christmas event! From photos with Santa, to Christmas crafts, making s'mores and festive music from our band - it was an evening filled with family fun and Christmas cheer!
If you had Santa pictures taken at Gingerbread Christmas, you can find your photos using this link: https://lizjones.smugmug.com/SantaPictures2022/n-z75sp5
Gingerbread Creations
The Gingerbread House Challenge was a HUGE success with nearly a dozen entries! Thank you to all who took the time and effort to make the amazing creations. After careful deliberation, the judges named the following winners:
- First place - Cortney Pickens' Hobbit Hole House,
- Second place - COM200 Class with their Tech House,
- Third place - Christie and Hayden Johnson's Stranger Things creation.
Congratulations to our winners and all participants!
Blessings at Christmastime
We are incredibly grateful for the generous donation from Perimeter Roofing and for the good deeds of the Walton County Empty Stocking Fund. GWA parent and business owner Todd Price presented a check (with help from his daughter Evelyn!) to local Empty Stocking Fund representative Jeff Collins. These funds will go a long way in providing food security for 264 families in Walton County during the Christmas season.
Browse Our Event Galleries
We'd like to share some pictures of the Christmas Tree Presentation with you and some of our other events throughout the year. Click on the following link to browse through some of our photos: https://lizjones.smugmug.com/GWA2023
Exam Week
Please click HERE for details regarding Exam Week. This information has previously been shared via email.
Timothy Pham is STAR Student
Each school year the Professional Association of Georgia Educators (PAGE) honors each high school’s STAR Student. The STAR Student is the senior with the highest SAT score and is in the top 10% of their class. This year’s GWA STAR Student is Timothy Pham. Timothy is allowed to recognize a teacher he believes was instrumental to his academic success. He has chosen Melissa Page as the STAR Teacher. Congratulations to Timothy and Mrs. Page! Both will be honored at a banquet in April hosted by the Walton County Chamber of Commerce.
Smart Cookies
Our K3 students have been learning about all things gingerbread. The class read gingerbread stories including the Gingerbread Man, Gingerbread Friends, and Gingerbread Fairy, comparing the stories to see how they are alike and different. They made gingerbread ornaments for the classroom tree by listening, following directions, and using their fine motor skills. Scents of cinnamon and allspice filled the room as each student had the opportunity to mix, knead and create with gingerbread dough. Using letter cookie cutters, each student picked out the first letter of their name and made a cut out in dough. Our youngest Bulldogs have enjoyed a festive and fun-filled week!
Christmas Classic
By Hannah Marier
After reading, annotating, and analyzing Charles Dickens' masterpiece, A Christmas Carol, for several weeks, seventh graders were excited to finally see it in person at Atlanta's own Shakespeare Tavern. On Tuesday, the entire grade loaded up in buses for the long trek down to Atlanta, where they got to see the stunning live performance from balcony seats. There was beautiful singing, caroling, extravagant puppets, and many opportunities to engage the imagination as the stage was taken back to the Victorian era. Many students drew parallels to their own short plays, which they had adapted themselves from passages of the novella. It was exciting for many to hear their own lines in the mouths of the professional actors. Overall, Christmas cheer was in the air!
The Sounds of the Season
Congratulations to Director of Bands Christian Smith and our GWA bands on outstanding performances during Tuesday night’s Christmas Band Concert. The fifth-grade Bullpup Band, sixth-grade Jr. Bulldog Band, Percussion Theatre, GWA Concert Ensemble and GWA Honors Symphonic Winds performed the sounds of the season before a crowd of family and friends with a special appearance from a bearded guest conductor dressed in red and white!
Christmas in Black and White
Mrs. Stumpf’s Art I class is working on Christmas themed still life drawings. Students use the subtractive method of drawing using charcoal by laying down a base on tinted paper, then subtracting away the main forms and adding in detail and value using both subtractive (erasing) and additive (drawing back in) methods with black charcoal and white charcoal.
Bulldogs Compete at UGA
Our GWA swimmers had a great showing at Saturday’s high school swim meet at the UGA Ramsey Center! Meet highlights include:
•Morgan Davis took 1st place in 50 Freestyle
•Morgan Davis placed 1st and Bella Weimer 2nd in the 500 Freestyle- qualifying both for state competition
•Jake Stout took 1st place in the 100 yd Freestyle and 100 yd Breast
•Caleb King cut major time in his 100 yd Freestyle
•Girls Freestyle Relay took 1st, congratulations to Sarah Digby, Morgan Davis, Bella Weimer and McKenna Rutledge
•Congratulations to our middle school swimmers invited to swim exhibition in this HS meet - Jett Davis, Maddux Lewis, Blake Weimer, Maci Gray and Emily Chmielewski.
Way to go, Swim Dawgs!
Parks Harris Signs With USC Aiken
Parks Harris will continue his studies and his soccer career at the University of South Carolina Aiken. We wish Parks much success on the field and in the classroom!
November Lifters of the Month
Congratulations to Blake Woodring and McKenna Rutledge on being selected by our GWA Athletic Performance instructors as the November Lifters of the Month. They are eligible for the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) All America Award at the end of the school year.
Godly Message
Dawgs 360 and the Bible Bulldogs would like to thank parent volunteer, Melissa King for sharing her inspiring and challenging message about being God's cheerleader. Melissa, wife, and mother of two boys opened her message by sharing about her relationship with God. She brought a great lesson on making choices in your faith journey and asked students to think about "Who am I in Christ?" and about how they are giving back. Melissa left our students with the thought that God can use your true stories to minister to others, as she did today.
Today's In Focus is proudly sponsored by GARS Incorporated (www.gahvacr.net). Interested in advertising through our Corporate Partnership program? Contact Mike Elmankabady melmankabady@gwa.com or call 678-635-3812.