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School News
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On Oct. 22, the West Hall High School Band of Silver competed in the "Peach State Marching Competition" at Shorter College in Rome. The band represented West Hall by earning strait-superior ratings in all categories and capturing fourth place in class double-A. Kelsey Skinner also earned first-place among class double-A majorettes.

The Jefferson High School Air Force Junior ROTC Dragon Group competed with 14 JROTC teams recently at the Southern Invitational Drill Meet at East Paulding High School.

Jefferson took first place in the Unarmed Division and second in the Armed Division.

For the meet, the Dragon commanders took the Outstanding Commander’s Trophy in six of the eight categories held.

In the Unarmed Drill Category, the Juliann Watson-led Dragon Drill Team No. 1 to first and Jordan Bailey led Dragon Drill Team No. 2 to second place. It marked the first time the Dragons had teams finish 1-2 in the same category.

Wesley Butler led the Unarmed Color Guard Team to first in its category, and he took the Outstanding Commander’s Trophy.

Watson took her Unarmed Drill Team to the Inspection Category and captured first place, and she won the Outstanding Commander’s Trophy, her second of the day.

Taylor Bailey led the Unarmed Exhibition Drill Team to first place and she won the Outstanding Commander’s Trophy. That led to the overall first in the Unarmed Division.

In the Armed Division, Christian Edens’ Armed Drill Team finished first and he was awarded the Outstanding Commander’s Trophy. Edens led the team to a fifth-place finish in the Armed Inspection Category.

Evita Flores led her Armed Color Guard Team to a second-place finish, and she was awarded the Outstanding Commander’s Trophy. Watson led her Armed Color Guard Team to third place.

Jordan Bailey led the Armed Exhibition Team to fourth. Those finishes led to the overall second in the Armed Division, where the Dragons were edged by Dutchtown High by 1 point.

Edens and Jordan Bailey took first in the Armed Dual Exhibition Competition.

Next up for the Dragon Group is the Southeastern Regional Drill Meet in Tifton. For more news and photos on the Dragon Group, go to www.jeffersoncityafjrotc.com.

For the third year in a row, hundreds of fifth-grade students across the state showcased their creativity and knowledge of emergency preparedness by submitting entries for Ready Georgia’s art, essay and video contest during September, National Preparedness Month.

This year, Flowery Branch Elementary School’s fifth-grade class, taught by Cherie Hathcock, took first place in the video portion of the contest.

Ready Georgia, the emergency preparedness campaign from the Georgia Emergency Management Agency/Homeland Security, asked students to submit entries that reflected the contest theme "Remember the Past, Get Ready for the Future" in observance of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Students took on the challenge of creatively illustrating or describing how remembering the past can help us prepare for the future.

In addition, they explained the importance of learning about emergency preparedness and provided ways that their peers can help teach others how to get ready at home and school.

Entries included personal and fiction stories, collages, pop-up and figurative art, and videos written and produced by the fifth graders.

All winning entries will be featured on the Ready Georgia website, Flickr, Facebook and YouTube pages.