Students at Fair Street International Baccalaureate World School recently held a bake sale to benefit Heifer Project International, an organization that provides animals to communities in third-world countries to help the people there become self-sustaining. The students raised more than $300, which will be used to help purchase a sheep and some rams to help families in Romania use livestock to earn income. The families can also pass on the gift of the animals' offspring to other families in need.
Melissa Renee Elliott of Alto and Laura Lee Arrowood of Cleveland have graduated from Excelsior College in Albany, N.Y.
Hall County students Rayessa Bell and Corey O'Quinn of Flowery Branch High School and Kelcie Evenson of North Hall High School recently participated in CNN's Leadership Unplugged, a weeklong program teaching leadership and media skills. The students took part in panels focusing on ethics, diversity and "the art of the pitch." The week ended with students developing story ideas and pitching them to network executives.
Joel Aquino and 16 students from West Hall High School recently participated in the Gainesville/Hall County annual Adopt-a-Stream cleanup. The students who participated were Josel Leija, Michael DeMatto, Emmanuel de la Cruz, Alfredo Flores, Irving Castillo, Ana Manrique, Marie Vazquez, Jenny de la Cruz, Jose Ibarra, Tikurete Gebremarian, Shane Caudill, Eduardo Velasquez, Adriana Flores, Anna Flores, Nathan Morris and Kevin de la Cruz. The group met at the Flat Creek Water Reclamation Facility in Oakwood and spent the morning cleaning up Flat Creek.
Johnson High School students Naara Martinez, Elizabeth Rodriguez and Danira Lara won the Battle of the Chapters and $200 for the school's Georgia Career Student Association. The competition took place Oct. 17 and 18 at the Atlanta Airport Marriott and involved answering questions about the Georgia Career Student Association and current events. Also, Francisco Morfin won first place in the T-shirt design competition. The shirt will be distributed to all attendees of the Georgia Career Student Association State Conference in April at Jekyll Island.