Photo Gallery: Students Applauded for Achievements

Oconee County students were recognized Monday by the Board of Education for their various achievements.

"I know in the eight years that I've been here, we've never had that many students come up here before us and it's a reflextion of not only the principals that are presenting up here, but all of our prinicpals and all of our administrators at all schools," Chairman David Weeks remarked. "So, thank ya'll very much. It makes us all proud to be board members - to see all those honors going out today."

Here is a list of students that were recognized, according to minutes from the meeting:

GEMA All State Band/Orchestra Competition

OCHS had four students compete at the GEMA All State Band/Orchestra Competition in Savannah. The Board recognized Greg Hamilton (First Chair Clarinet-Orchestra), Sydney Hasler (First Chair Trumpet-Band), Isabella Shoop (Bass Clarinet-Band), and Nick Williams (French Horn-Band) for their achievements. Mark Provost is their band director.

State Literary

Emily Clutter and Samuel Vaughn are the 8-AAA first place winners from OCHS. Emily placed first in Girls Extemporaneous Speaking and Samuel placed first in the same category for boys. In addition, the OCHS Girls Trio, comprised of Bailey Guthrie, Rachel Powell, and Lane Marie Stough placed third (and will be recognized at the May regular session). Stacy Blomquist and Jean Bennett coach the OCHS team.

Governor's Honors

The Board recognized the following OCHS students who will attend the Governor's Honors program this summer:Nicholas Allen (Spanish), Antonio Del Sesto (Music/Brass-Tuba), Sydney Hasler (Music/Brass-Trumpet), and Andrew Pritchell (Mathematics). Competition for this six-week summer program is intense, and it is considered a great honor to be accepted into the program.

Georgia Science and Engineering Fair

The Board recognized Kelly Belanger-Giguere, a seventh grade student at MBMS, who placed first out of 650 students at the Georgia Science and Engineering Fair (GSEF) with her project, "Effect of the Rating of Air Filters on Dust Removal."  Kelly's entry also earned two special awards - the Broadcom Masters Nominee and the Tellus Museum Award. Elizabeth Patrick was Kelly's advisor.

OCMS All-State Band

The Board recognized the following OCMS students for gaining membership in the Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA) All-State Band: Isaac Beacorn (Trumpet), Marie Benoit (Clarinet), Sara Cotton (Trumpet), Savannah Landry (Tuba), Jessica Hasler (Horn), Johanna Hoover (1st Chair Horn), Hannah Peterson (Flute) and Joseph Wallace (Horn). OCMS's eight students represent the second highest number of students from a single school in the state. Jon Cotton is their band director.

CTSO State Winners 

The Board recognized 65 students who won awards at the state level. A list of winners has been attached as a pdf.