Zoe Rafford, a sixth-grader at Jefferson Middle School, was the overall winner named out of a dozen students statewide to win the Georgia Municipal Association’s annual essay contest, "If I Were Mayor, I Would ..." Radford wrote that she would increase efforts to bring tourists to Jefferson, build a nature center and teach people to be more environmentally friendly if she were mayor.
Her essay was one of 6,470 received, the largest number received in the contest’s 10-year history. As the overall winner, Zoe wins a $500 savings bond.
Zoe’s teacher is Sherri Butler of Jefferson Middle School, and this marks the fifth consecutive year that Butler has taught the winner from District 5.
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Heather Denny and Jessica Denny, both of Gainesville, have been named to the academic achievement list for the spring 2010 semester at Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus. To be eligible for this honor, students must earn a 3.5 GPA or higher while taking three to 14 hours of courses.
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Roger D. Patterson, a graduate of Gainesville High School and Gainesville Junior College, has been named the vice president for business and finance at Washington State University in Pullman, Wash.
Patterson currently serves as the associate vice chancellor for finance at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; he plans to take his new post by Sept. 1.
Prior to joining UNC, Patterson held positions as an auditor, as a partner at two accounting firms and as vice presidnet for financial planning and management at Clemson University. He graduated from the University of Georgia in 1976 and is a certified public accountant and certified internal auditor.
Patterson and his wife, Faith, have two daughters and one grandchild. He is the son of Rhuel and Dorothy Patterson of Gainesville.
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Georgia Southern University in Statesboro recently named the following local students to its dean’s list. To be eligible for this honor, students must have at least a 3.5 GPA with a minimum of 12 credit hours.
Alto: Collingwood Hinson
Buford: Amy Ruiz, Dustin Carter, Jeffrey Farver, Kim Nguyen, Latoia Samson, Laura Smith, Michelle Gram, Sandy Morris, Sidney Copeland
Braselton: Alexandria Warner, Caitlin Kramer, Christopher Winterrowd
Commerce: Caleb Swain, Kristina McFadden
Cumming: Andrew Green, Bradley Reid, Brittany Odum, Christopher Maier, Leah Seifert, Leslie Edwards, Mary Hathaway, Melissa Royer, Sarah Sullivan, Stephanie Freimuth, Vincent Dattilo
Dahlonega: Danielle Doering, Lauren Hulme
Dawsonville: Amy Byers, Samuel Holley
Flowery Branch: Theresa Meloni, Travis Coxworth
Gainesville: Cody Miller, Israel Mata Jr., John Garlinghouse, Jonathan Rudolph, Patrick Shuler, Patti Brown, Zachary Hoffman
Hoschton: Justin Marsh, Rebecca Maier
Jefferson: Breezy Bray, Elizabeth Simonton
Oakwood: Brandon Canup
The following students were named to the president’s list at Georgia Southern. To be eligible for this honor, students must have at least a 4.0 GPA with a minimum of 12 credit hours.
Braselton: Emily Poe
Buford: Elizabeth Agee, Jordan Vaughan, Nycholas Maldonado-Taylor
Cumming: Amelia Haynes, Bridget Hanney, Danielle Bramson, Gabriella Adler, Lindsey Oliver
Dawsonville: Chelsea Lee
Flowery Branch: Corey O’Quinn, Maylen Martin
Gainesville: Emily Pope
Lula: Jessica Brownlee
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The following students earned the faculty honors distinction for the spring semester at the Georgia Institute of Technolgy in Atlanta:
Scott Cummins of Sautee Nacoochee; Bradley Dolphyn of Buford; Taylor Hope, Kimberly Johnson, Hao Nguyen and Bradley Keller of Gainesville; Jessica Hunt of Cleveland; Juan Llanes and Riley Winton of Flowery Branch; Katayoun Kishi of Cumming and Daniel Simmons of Dawsonville.