The Morgan County Board of Education’s Feb. 10 meeting featured several achievements.
First, the BOE recognized seventh grader Emerson Williams as the district spelling bee champion and fifth grader Beckett Cousins as runner-up. Williams will compete in the regional spelling bee on Feb. 22.
Jay Homan, assistant superintendent for administrative and student services, also reported that the school system was recognized as a Vision Award winner by the Georgia Association of Educational Leaders (GAEL) in January. This recognition highlights Morgan’s membership and commitment to professional learning, networking, and advocacy for educational leaders.
Homan said the award reflects the dedication of the school system’s leadership team to supporting GAEL and its affiliates, ensuring continued growth and collaboration across the state.
Homan also reported that the Georgia Women’s Golf Association grant committee recently awarded the Morgan County girls golf program a $500 grant to support the growth of women’s golf in the state.
Susan Tolbert, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, shared achievements for teachers.
She said Miranda Johnson of Morgan County Elementary School, Melissa Brown of Morgan County Middle School, and Steven Bullard of Morgan County High School won first place in the VFW District 4 competition for regularly teaching citizenship education topics and effectively promoting American history and traditions.
Bullard went on to win first place at the state competition and will be recognized at the VFW awards banquet this month.
Several teachers also received grants from Walton EMC’s School EmPOWERment Grant program.
More than $12,000 in grants was awarded this year to Morgan teachers for specific projects, Tolbert said.
Recipients included Janice Moss-Brown from MCES, who received $1,500 for book clubs; Jessica Brown from MCMS, who received $579 for special education; Travis Freeman from MCMS, who received $2,050 for an engineering construction lab; Leslie Welborn from MCMS, who received $2,009 for durable 3D art tools and consumable materials; Brian Johnson from MCHS, who received $5,000 for renewable energy learning; and Karen Mullins from MCHS, who received $800 for “No Fear Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet.”
“We really appreciate the support of Walton EMC. They are very generous to our teachers when they apply for these grants. We historically get several of these each year, but this was a big year for our grants,” shared Tolbert.