Eleven Floyd students selected for Governor's Honors state competition

Media release: Dedicated students competed to go to school during the summer on Thursday, October 25 at the Floyd County Schools central office.  Thirty-six of Floyd County's top students were vying for the opportunity to advance in the Governor's Honors selection process.  Governor's Honors is a four-week summer instructional program designed to provide intellectually gifted and artistically talented high school students with challenging and enriching educational opportunities not usually available during the regular school year.  There were 11 sophomores and juniors selected to represent Floyd County Schools in the Governor's Honors state interviews to be held in January and February.

Governor's Honors is a function of the Georgia Department of Education and takes place on the campus of Valdosta State University.  This will be the 50th summer, making it the longest continually running program of its kind in the nation. Rising juniors and seniors in Georgia public and private high schools are eligible to be nominated by their teachers to participate in the program.  The program is fully funded by the Georgia General Assembly, so there is no charge for students to attend.  For four weeks, students spend the morning in their major area of nomination, exploring topics not usually found in the regular high school classroom.  During the afternoons, students choose one of the other areas in which to study. The curriculum in all the areas is challenging and engaging.  Evenings are filled with seminars, activities, concerts, and performances. 

Each applicant must go through a very extensive selection process to be invited to participate in the program.  Transcripts of grades and records, nomination forms, endorsements and other pertinent information are submitted to substantiate the nominations and the students must interview with a local screening committee. Local nominees are then sent to statewide screening interviews/auditions. The written evidence and data gathered in the student interview/audition are used to rank nominees and select finalists. More than 2900 students from across the state were interviewed last year and auditioned over three weekends in January and February. From those nominees, 690 finalists were chosen to participate in last year's program.

Floyd County students and the area they were selected to advance by the local screening committee were:

Armuchee High
Elizabeth Clonts, junior, science
Kylee Daitz, junior, Spanish
Kyle Green, junior, fine arts/music

Coosa High
Avery Jones, junior, math

Model High
Ciara Coleman, junior, communicative arts
Laura Graben, junior, math

Pepperell High
Ashleigh Bradford, sophomore, visual arts
Caleb Cole, junior, music (French Horn)
Olivia Escuita, sophomore, visual arts
Hayden Owen, junior, social studies
Marlin Wright, junior, biology

Rachel Garland (social studies), a sophomore at Armuchee, and Layton Hayes (social studies), a junior at Coosa, were selected as alternates.

The programs activities are designed to provide each participant with opportunities to acquire the skills, knowledge and attitudes to become independent, life-long learners. Major instructional areas are communicative arts (English), foreign languages, mathematics, science, social studies, visual art, theatre, music, dance, design, technology, and executive management. Instruction is also provided in four support areas -- computers, counseling, library/media, and physical fitness.

Students also select a minor area outside their major area of study. These include all the major instructional areas as well as additional offerings which reflect the interests and abilities of the instructional staff.  All performing groups are open to the entire student body. Orchestra, band, chorus, theatre and theatre productions include representatives from all major areas.