RAIDER REVIEW

IN THIS EDITION

Principal's Letter | Co-Presidents' Letter | Science News

Art News | Band News | Walton Chorus | Teacher Grants

January 20, 2023

MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Walton Families,

I hope the break has been restful and your families have been healthy.â€¯ It is hard to believe we are a few weeks into spring semester.

Take the Georgia Parent Survey!â€¯

As part of the CCRPI Rating and our school Charter (our state’s “Report Card” for schools), each year parents are asked to give your feedback through the Georgia Parent Survey. The Georgia Parent Survey was developed to measure parent perceptions of the school climate at our school. â€¯Your opinion is very important to us. Your survey responses are confidential and will be combined with the survey responses of other parents at our school to identify areas in need of improvement. It should only take ten or fifteen minutes to complete the survey. Thank you for your time and participation. Take the survey at this link:

https://gshs.gadoe.org/Pages/Parent.aspx

If you have driven by the construction site across the street from the school lately, you have probably noticed the considerable progress that has been made in the last few weeks. The new tennis courts are nearly complete and will be ready for our tennis teams to welcome opponents back to campus for their spring season. In addition, the parking lot and landscaping on that section of the property will be completed by then.

Meanwhile, the baseball field is also beginning to take shape. We should see buildings coming out of the ground by mid-winter, grass planted by early spring, and the complex completed by July of next year. That will complete the major construction projects on our campus that started eight long years ago and bring all of the activities that are normally located on campus back home again.

The Walton Chamber Orchestra performed at the international Midwest Clinic in December 2022. The Walton Wind Symphony was one of four bands from the state who performed at the University of Georgia's JanFest in January 2023. Congratulations to art student, Gracie Xu, for being accepted into the 2023 All State Art Symposium. All of the Walton music programs are preparing diligently for their Large Group Performance Evaluations. I hope you will attend these performances as it is the pinnacle concert of the year.

Walton is still in the middle of our winter sports, and we wish them luck as they close out their seasons. Also, spring sports have held tryouts and we are ready for an exciting season for all our athletes.

Richard Tischler

Principal, Walton High School

MESSAGE FROM THE CO-PRESIDENTS

Hi, Walton Community,

The spring semester is already so exciting as we plan most of our traditional school and PTSA programs. Thank you to everyone who attended our General PTSA Membership Meeting via Zoom. We were able to elect our Nominating Committee, and they are already hard at work recruiting officers for the 2023-2024 school year. If anyone is interested in being nominated for an executive PTSA Board position, please let us know. Special thanks to Mr. Tischler, Natalie Collins, Mary Katherine Holloway, Jennifer Hickey, Paige Peck, and Stephanie Patel for your commitment on the nominating committee! We look forward to an incredible slate of PTSA officers!

We are happy to announce that last semester over 25 teachers received over $9,000 in grants for educational tools to help in our classrooms. Thank you to all that were involved in making this happen.

The Career Fair is being planned for March 15th by LaRuth Bell and Angela Patterson. If you are interested in being a Career Fair coach, please look for more information in our Sunday evening e-blasts. We know that all of our students will benefit from this exciting program!

We extend a huge thank you to our Committee Chairs who coordinate the volunteers who assist each day on campus. You provide much-appreciated support to Walton’s staff! In addition, we look forward to all of the staff appreciation events and senior activities in the works. If anyone would like to volunteer to help with any spring activities, please email us anytime.

We wish our teachers, staff, students, and parents a wonderful spring semester. Stay safe and healthy!

Fondly,

Melanie May and Caroline Whaley

PTSA co-Presidents

waltonpresident@gmail.com

SCIENCE WINNER

The Society for Science is proud to announce that Catherine Jiao has been named a top 300 Scholar in the 82nd Regeneration Science Talent Search - the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science and mathematics competition for high school seniors.

Regeneron STS recognizes and empowers the most promising young scientists in the U.S. who are creating the ideas and solutions that solve our most urgent challenges. A total of 1,949 students around the country entered the competition this year. This is an extraordinary accomplishment deserving of much celebration.

Each scholar will receive $2,000, and their schools will also receive $2,000 to use toward STEM-related activities. They could also be named as one of 40 Finalists, who each receive $25,000 and participate in the final competition in March. The top prize for the most promising emerging STEM leader in the United States is $250,000.

The top 40 Finalists will be announced on Tuesday, January 24^th.

Congratulations, Catherine and Good Luck!!

NEWS FROM THE ART DEPARTMENT

Congratulations to Gracie Xu, whose work was accepted into the 2023 All State Art Symposium (ASAS) and Art Throwdown! This is a high honor since there were over 2000 entries this year from 104 schools and only 50 works were accepted. #cobbartrocks #artsedga #waltonart #WaltonRaiders #GoRaiders

Congratulations to Shivum Patel whose work was one of five selected for the 2023 Youth Art Month (YAM) flag for Georgia. The judges chose five artworks that best represented the theme of "Your Art, Your Voice." The flag will be printed and flown at the National convention in San Antonio Texas in April.

COUNTY LEVEL WINNERS

Congratulations to the following Walton students who were winners at the East Cobb County Council of PTAs for the Reflections program:

DANCE

Audrey Lie, Senior

LITERATURE

Jocelyn Doan, Sophomore

Aara Ahn, Junior

MUSIC

Eric Mo, Sophomore

PHOTOGRAPHY

Avery Esser, Freshman

Shailen Valvani, Sophomore

Jasper Martin-Hoster, Junior

Bailey Birdsong, Senior

Hannah Petty, Senior

VISUAL ARTS

Chloe Labarthe, Freshman

Nathan Christie, Junior

Caitlin Stanton, Senior

SPECIAL ARTIST WINNERS

In the category of Visual Arts, please congratulate the following student winners:

Lauren Gerard

Manu Pahari

Laysen Wiles

Albert Wu

Amy Zhou

NEWS FROM THE BAND DEPARTMENT

Congratulations to the following students for being placed into one of the Georgia All-State Bands!

Chloe Park - Flute (9-10 Orchestra)

Max Calamia - Principal Clarinet (9-10 Orchestra)

Daniel Huang - Clarinet (Turner Band)

Nathan Hsu - Clarinet (Land Band)

Jake Lee - Clarinet (Bushman Band)

Andrew Sim - Clarinet (Bushman Band)

Karthik Rajkumar Jayapriya - Alto Sax (Bushman Band)

Anthony Hoots - Principal Tenor Sax (Land Band)

Everest Li - Tenor Sax (Land Band)

Josh Stauffacher - French Horn (11-12 Orchestra)

William Brown - Trombone (11-12 Orchestra)

Zoë Herring - Tuba (Land Band)

Additionally, congratulations to Anthony Hoots for also earning a spot in the Georgia All-State Jazz Band. He was one of twenty students selected! WAY TO GO!

WIND SYMPHONY NEWS

On Friday, January 20, our Wind Symphony (Walton's top auditioned band ensemble) will be one of four bands in the entire state performing at the University of Georgia January High School Music Festival as a featured ensemble. Congratulations to our Wind Symphony students!

The Holiday Gala and the Holiday Concert photos, video, and program are now available for viewing. The Fall Concert photos, video and program are also available. The live streamed videos will remain on the YouTube channel and are a great way to share talent with family and friends.https://waltonchorus.com/gallery/2022-23-chorus/

WALTON CROSS COUNTRY

Congrats to Joseph Minecci, Kenyele Brown and Daniela Delgado, who were named to the 2022 All-Cobb County XC team with Ella Bailey, Emma Jow and Mallory Old named Honorable Mention.

TEACHER GRANTS

Thanks to your generosity, your PTSA was able to provide $9,080.40 in teacher grants to Walton teachers. These funds cover classroom materials and supplies not covered by the county budget. Here is what your donations provided:

Tara Cohen - EdPuzzle storage plan for "flipped classroom content

Esther Smith - Comfort grip scissors for Art Department

Leah Mahadeo - "Everyday Speech" curriculum for special education

Sara Grimes - 2 sets of 8" and 16" Stage Tek legs for risers

Lynette Ebbert - Science Department microscope slides

Linda Vu - AP Computer Science flashcards and practice tests

Kara Staruch - Superfight board game

Nailah Rivera - Spanish readers and Quizlet subscription

Rachel Cook - Chinese readers

Tobie Hendricks - 3D skeletal models

Kathleen Petka - Student art and poetry books

Patricia Cowles - Embroidery machine