SUMMER REGISTRATION: If you have summer registration needs, please note the new hours below!
SOARING...AS ONLY THESE EAGLES CAN DO: Oh, just a day in the life of Emerson Elementary School students! From regions to chickens, these students are finishing up their essential standards and having fun!
GREEN THUMBS: The Taylorsville Garden Club, also known as the Sprouts, know the old adage "you reap what you sow." They planted an assortment of salad greens from seed in February and were able to harvest them twice! Their first harvest consisted of a salad party during Garden Club, and the second harvest was this week! The Sprouts gave the greens to TES Cafe Manager Cassandra Simmons, and she prepared them to serve schoolwide! We loved hearing kids come through the lunch line, saying, "I made that!"
TES Sprouts consists of students in kindergarten through fifth grade. It runs year-round and is led by Georgia Holt, with help from multiple members of the TES community (Desiree Molinaro, Kim Kuykendall, Jessica Gardner, and Diane Myers)!
CONNECTION CHANGES EVERYTHING: These Adairsville Middle School students, along with other Bartow County School System middle and high school students, participate in a powerful culture-shifting movement called Whisper. Students wanting to be a part of the solution to end social isolation and loneliness, lead through simple conversations.
For more information, read the summer press release posted below.
Amazing work, BCSS middle and high schools! Way to be difference makers in your school community!
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If you listen closely, you can hear a whisper in Adairsville Middle School. It is not a murmur, mutter, or mumble, though, it is a movement that is raising student leaders, fighting back against loneliness and isolation, and changing the lives of students one conversation at a time.
“The community needs to understand that we are living in an epidemic of loneliness,” said Whisper Founder Bryan Davidson. “Seventy-three percent of Generation Z say they feel alone, and students are showing more signs of anxiety and depression than before COVID-19.”
In an effort to reverse nationwide trends, Whisper, a local, nonprofit organization, landed at AMS during the 2021-2022 academic year.
Whisper is a grassroots movement that empowers students to change the culture of their school through the power of simple conversations.
“We are all created as relational beings,” added Davidson. “We’re made for each other. But when we’re alone, isolated, and lonely, we fail to thrive. We become islands. Conversation is a bridge that brings us together.”
Every Whisper movement begins with fire starters – the few who take ownership of the movement and spread it to others.
Meet David Coon, a recent eighth-grade graduate and fire starter.
“Whisper helps kids break out of what I call a ‘shell’ that they lock themselves into,” said Coon. "They won't talk to anyone or tell anyone what is going on, but Whisper has stopped that.”
Whisper identifies and equips leaders like David with the tools needed to facilitate meaningful interactions with friends and peers and host weekly gatherings.
Whisper worked. From a handful of AMS students to more than 300; they came together to teach and experience relational needs, such as respect, encouragement, support, compassion, and appreciation.
“It really helped so many kids and made the school a better place,” said Coon. "We made it to where almost none of those kids were locked in a ‘shell.’ Kids that didn’t talk to anyone would stop in the hallways to talk. That was the goal and the impact of Whisper.”
“Whisper is one of, if not the most, empowering student movements I've ever seen,” added AMS Principal Tony Stanfill. “The student leaders did an amazing job of first learning how to effectively communicate, then lead their peers in conversation, confidence, self-worth/awareness, and kindness towards their follow classmates. The culture changed. Students would say hello and ask, ‘How is your day going, Mr. Stanfill?’ They really wanted to know how others were doing.”
Whisper, founded in 2018, had only been in high schools until now. Since its recent success at AMS, you can anticipate this culture shift in additional schools come fall.
Whisper is the name of the movement, but the results are shout worthy.
NOW'S THE TIME, NURSES: Join our award-winning System!
*Must hold minimum of LPN licensure* Additional details below!
GRAB THOSE TISSUES: Kymoni's story is one we can ALL learn from.
https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/adairsville-high-school-senior-thrives-despite-losing-parents
THE ROAD TO GRADUATION AND BEYOND: KYMONI'S STORY
When FOX5 learned about Adairsville High School Senior Kymoni Pullum's story, they just had to meet him! So, today, they traveled from downtown Atlanta to small town Adairsville to share his amazing story of perseverance. After losing both parents, Kymoni made the decision to overcome all obstacles and achieve the unimaginable. We are so proud of him. Watch FOX5 at 4, 5, and 6 tonight for the full story.
FULL BCSS ARTICLE: https://www.bartow.k12.ga.us/article/1084951
BARTOW VIRTUAL ACADEMY: The application window for the Bartow Virtual Academy will be open May 1, 2023, through May 31, 2023, for the 2023-2024 school year.
The BVA is open to all 6th – 12th grade students who meet the criteria.
The online application link and criteria information can be found on the BVA website at the link below.
https://www.bartow.k12.ga.us/page/bartow-virtual-academy
CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS REPORT: Setting precast panels this week at your new Mission Road Elementary School! How exciting! MRES students are loving each phase of the project.
LOOK WHAT'S COMING: Another new pathway at the Bartow County College and Career Academy!
Early Childhood Care and Education (Dual Enrollment through Chattahoochee Tech)
A new pre-K class will be housed at the BCCCA next academic year, which will provide wonderful opportunities for our students studying Early Childhood Care and Education!
TEACHING AND REACHING: Just one more reason it's #betterinbartow! Our Director of Counselors, College Readiness, Wellness, and Fine Arts, Dr. Brent Shropshire, earned the right to be on the Southern Association for College Admission Counseling Executive Board of Directors! This week, he's talking college admissions and the role of the high school counselor at the annual SACAC conference in Florida.
Seeing more and more students on college tours? Wonder how we're bringing in admissions directors from some of the top colleges in the South? Dr. Shropshire is one BIG reason why!
THE BLAZE TAKE ON HOUSTON: Who's more excited? Team Blaze or Superintendent Page and School Board Member Anna Sullivan? Love seeing the support from the top down! Their hearts are "on fire" for our kids! Best school system, hands down!
THE BLAZE TAKE ON HOUSTON: Clear Creek Master Builders Team Blaze held their own on an international platform and came home CHAMPIONS in our book! As you can see, this team of seven had unparalleled learning experiences and the love and support of a newfound family! Awesome job, Team Blaze! You made us all proud!
YOUNG GEORGIA AUTHORS WRITING COMPETITION: Pine Log Elementary School Student Collins Brown WINS Honorable Mention at the state writing competition! Congratulations, Collins!
BACK IN THE SPOTLIGHT: We want to wish the Cass Middle School Honor Band a huge CONGRATULATIONS for winning GRAND CHAMPIONS at the Southern Star music competition in Alanta this weekend! They competed against 15 instrumental groups, including five high school bands. They also took home the Sweepstakes Award for the highest instrumental score of the weekend! What a phenomenal and record-breaking year for the CMS Band!
Every senior has a story. For Adairsville High School Senior Kymoni Pullum, it is one of true perseverance, grit, and determination.
One month until graduation, and for Kymoni, college was never an “if,” it was a “when.” His mother instilled that in him before he could solve two-step math problems. However, a series of heartbreaking events paved a much harder road to college than Kymoni could have ever imagined.
Kymoni was raised in a single parent home. At the age of 11, he met his father for the first time. Within months, his father passed away from health complications.
“After that, my brother moved back into the house, and he helped me with the grief like a counselor would,” said Kymoni.
About five years later, while quarantined at home during a bout with COVID-19, Kymoni found his mother gasping for air and called 911.
“I did not know what to do, watching my mother fighting for her life right in front of me,” said Kymoni.
Less than an hour later, he learned his mother had passed away.
“I had just lost the only person I truly admired and adored with every bone in my body within three hours of just waking up,” said Kymoni. “I did not come out my room to eat or talk for days.”
A junior at Cass High School, Kymoni knew he had to make hard decisions that would greatly impact his future.
“I knew if I wanted to graduate and go to college, I needed to be in a better position in my life,” said Kymoni. “I needed more stability.”
So, he moved to Adairsville to live with his aunt.
“I packed up all my things and moved for the first time in my life,” added Kymoni.
“Kymoni had a choice to make for his life,” said AHS Lead Counselor Kellen Martinak. “He could remain grief-stricken over the loss of both his father and mother, or he could use that pain to push him to be the best version of himself. Kymoni chose to be the best young man, student, and son he could be. Moving to a new school is not easy but Kymoni wanted to make his mother proud. Quitting or giving up was not an option for Kymoni.”
Kymoni joined the AHS football team, made homecoming court his senior year, and is one of the most liked students in the building by his peers, teachers, and coaches. He is also an honor graduate, an Adairsville Lion’s Club Scholarship recipient, and will attend Jacksonville State University in the fall.
“If I did not go to college, I just know my mother would come out the grave because she said since I was a kid that I was going to college no matter what and I stuck to that,” said Kymoni.
While one chapter ends for Kymoni, another will begin about 70 miles from home, making his mother and the Bartow County School System proud.
THE BLAZE TAKE ON HOUSTON: Best superintendent and deputy superintendent around! Dr. Page and Dr. Chiprany are on the ground in Houston, cheering on our Team Blaze as they finish out the World Robotics competition!
THE BLAZE TAKE ON HOUSTON: Here's an inside look at our very own Clear Creek Master Builders Team Blaze at the World Robotics competition in Texas! Doesn't it give you goosebumps to see our children talking and competing with other children in different countries? Czech Republic, Israel, Brazil, and China, just to name a few! What an experience provided through the BCSS! We'll keep you posted on scores as we wrap up competition week!
Also, check out the sponsor banner that made its way from Georgia to Texas! Thank you for your support!
CONGRATULATIONS, BCSS PARENTS: Through an opportunity presented by Bartow County Schools and the OLA Language School, a group of our ESOL parents were able to complete Level 2 and Level 4 English classes!
OLA School Director William Carvajal presented certificates this week as proud teachers, friends, and family members cheered!
Some parents knew very little English and now they said, "we can communicate more confidently with teachers." They juggled work, raising children, and everything else they had going on to attend weekly classes, some for close to two years! Congratulations!
THE BLAZE TAKE ON HOUSTON: Clear Creek's award-winning Robotics Team, Master Builder's Team Blaze, headed into the judges' rounds today at the WORLD competition in Texas! Additional details and pictures coming soon! Hit that "love button!" Let's wish them well as they compete with dozens of other COUNTRIES!
