While it seems like the beginning of the year was so long ago, it is amazing to think Graduation is around the corner.  We had a wonderful Senior Picnic for the students in April.  Many prizes, gifts and smiles later, I would say it was a successful event! 

I would like to thank our PTSA for hosting a wonderful Teacher Appreciation Week.  The treats, notes and gifts were truly appreciated by the entire staff.  Much fun was had as the faculty enjoyed a night in Paris!  

I want to thank everyone that contributed to the Commit to the “W” campaign.  Based on the estimated total at this time, we will hire one full-time Foundation teacher to help with class size reduction in English.  I am hopeful we will have a strong finish and will be able to hire a half-time business teacher for all the students that have registered for that class. 

Spring sports are still going strong as they advance in the state playoffs. On Friday, May 5th, both our boys and girls soccer teams played for the state championship.  Both had heartbreaking losses in penalty kicks after overtime, but what a great season.  On Saturday, May 13th, girls tennis will be competing for another state championship as well. 

If I do not see you before the end of the month, I hope all our families have a wonderful and restful summer! 

All the best,

Richard Tischler, Principal 

Congratulations to our newly elected PTSA officers:

    Co-Presidents: Caroline Whaley and Vicky Rice

    VPs:  Marlene Cohn, Mary-Kate Blalock and Laura Pettus

    Secretary:  Paige Peck

    Treasurer:  Mary Katherine Holloway

Thank you to these officers for being willing to serve!  Are YOU looking to get more involved?  Please reach out to Caroline or Vicky (waltonpresident@gmail.com).  They would love to help you find your perfect fit!

Terri Ellsworth and Payal Patel coordinated Teacher Appreciation Week again this year, and it was an amazing event honoring our teachers and staff!  The Paris theme was so much fun, and the teachers certainly appreciated everything!  Thank you to Publix at Woodlawn for their generous donations of treats.  Many of YOU provided treats, cookies, supplies, and time.  Thank you all!

Thank you to Sandy Sweeney for putting on a wonderful and memorable event for our seniors.  Thank you Mark Aston for making sure there was plenty of popcorn for everyone.  The games and prizes were terrific.  The Class of 2023 and the PTSA appreciate you!  Also, big thanks to Heena Patel and Sign Gypsies for the wonderful 2023 graduation signage.

As our semester winds down, we wish you luck on exams, and we look forward to partnering with you next year.  Thank you for your support of Walton High School’s PTSA.

All the Best,

Caroline Whaley and Melanie May, PTSA Co-Presidents 2022-2023

Juniors Aditi Sagi and Anshu Rao represented the Walton DECA club at the International Career Development Conference in Orlando, Florida.  They competed amongst 22,000 high school students from around the world.  Aditi and Anshu were in the Top 9 in Georgia for the Business Law & Ethics Team Decision Making event.  It was a great experience for the students and the future is bright for Walton DECA.

DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe.  For more information, please visit deca.org.

Walton Latin Students Win Prestigious Harvard Tournament

During Spring Break Walton’s Intermediate and Advanced Certamen teams participated in the 13^th Annual Harvard Certamen tournament, where over 75 teams from around the country competed in Latin academic bowl questions on mythology, grammar, vocabulary, mottos, Roman history, Latin literature, geography, culture and more!  

The intermediate team, consisting of Ross Noland, Aditya Manabala, Jeremiah Raj and Jerry Xu made it all the way to semifinals.  The advanced team, consisting of Jennifer He, Zhikai Huang, Ribhu Sonthi and William Zhao advanced to the finals by beating the reigning national champion team. 

In the finals they played against the Roxbury Latin School (founded in 1645, the oldest school in continuous existence in the U.S.) and the Boston Latin School (the first public school in British America (founded in 1635) and the magnet school for the city of Boston, boasting alumni such as Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams and John Hancock).  Walton defeated both of these teams in the finals to win the tournament!  

The Harvard Certamen Tournament is generally considered to be the most prestigious of the national tournaments for individual high schools.  Please congratulate these students.  This is a pretty big deal and is the first time Walton has won this tournament.

Attached are pictures of students in Advanced Mathematical Decision Making taking their College Algebra CLEP Exam last month.  Eleven students received College Algebra credit, or about 26% of the students who took the test.  We are very proud of them!  Those students are:

Elizabeth Cheney

Lauren Hames

Pablo Ospina Munevar

Morgan Savula

Anna-Claire Vickers

Zack Betha

Andrew Gay

Devin Russek

Rachel Stern

Ava Surges

Jay’aina Thompson

Congrats to Aara Ahn for winning the Go Fish! Georgia Award for 10-12^th grades!  Aara also won 3rd place for Georgia in the 10^th-12^th grade category!

We are excited to share that the Walton PTSA received several awards at both the 9th District and ECCC PTA awards ceremonies.  We received the following from the 9th District:

• Outstanding Local PTA Award

• Hearst Family-School Partnership, Best Idea

• Model PTA Award

• Platinum Membership, Highest Membership in District 9

ECCC awards include:

• Outstanding Local Unit - 1st Place

• Fabulous Fourteen Award

• Model PTA Award

• Pacesetter’s Membership Award

• Oak Tree Membership Award

Thank you to all of our members and volunteers for making this possible!

Each spring the East Cobb County Council (ECCC) of PTAs awards one $1,000 scholarship to a graduating senior from each of the six ECCC high schools.  The scholarship, known as the ECCC PTA Margie Hatfield Scholarship, honors the dedication and years of service given by Mrs. Hatfield to the youth of our council. In recognition of her volunteer involvement, the ECCC PTA Margie Hatfield Scholarship Fund awards deserving seniors who have made significant contributions to the community. This is NOT a grade-based scholarship but a service-oriented.  Congratulations to Steven Brown for being chosen as Walton’s recipient.

The Raider Pride Award is a high honor for Walton’s students, selected by teachers for consistently exhibiting good character, integrity, and kindness. This year, the PTSA awarded three $1,000 scholarships to seniors through an application process.  Applicants must have received the Raider Pride Award at some point during their four years at Walton.  Applicants complete a short answer questionnaire and submit two letters of recommendation.  Independent judges with no current ties to Walton reviewed the applications based on a rubric with seven distinct categories.  Eleven applications were received, and all were remarkable and inspiring examples of Raider pride.

Our first recipient is Brian Michaels.    Brian is a well-rounded, outgoing student-athlete.  He is a Varsity soccer player and servant leader within the Walton Student Leadership Council.  As Ms. Erica Watford said, “Brian has done a remarkable job of setting himself apart and excelling in all he does. He is humble and respectful. Brian exemplifies student leadership at Walton High School; his desire to discover, learn and achieve makes him an ideal role model for his peers.”  We know Brian will do great things at the University of Georgia, where he plans to major in Accounting.  Congratulations, Brian!

Our second recipient is Ashley Rice.  Ashley is a dynamic and motivated student who has immersed herself in a variety of school and community projects.  Just a glimpse into all that Ashley does, she serves as the President of the Walton Chorus and is on the executive board of the Science National Honor Society at Walton, she also plays the harp for the Atlanta Harp Ensemble and teaches Sunday school to 3rd graders.  As her voice teacher says, Ashley is compassionate, and exhibits an intellectual curiosity and love for learning.  It can be seen how she shares this with others in all that she does.  Ashley plans to attend Emory University and study Bioinformatics with a primary focus to discover the cause of genetic illnesses. 

Our third recipient is Abigail Morgan.  Abigail is described as gentle in spirit, compassionate and driven. Mr. Anthony Foti, Abigail’s Tennis Coach and Walton Social Studies teacher, wrote “Abigail’s intellectual ability is impressive, her work ethic is admirable, and her ability to interact with her peers, teammates and teachers has made her an asset to our school.”  We know this attribute will continue to shine as Abigail continues her journey and attends the Georgia Institute of Technology to study Mathematics.  Congratulations to Abigail!

The Walton Orchestras had successful end-of-year concerts with all six orchestras. Of note, Evan Lohbrunner, who will be attending Kennesaw State University for Music Education, had his conducting debut. Vince Hakim, who won a jazz piano competition and performed in Carnegie Hall, performed The Pink Panther with Dorian Orchestra. The Walton Chamber Orchestra performed with the Dodgen and Dickerson Chamber Orchestras in a combined concert. George Young, who will be attending Indiana University for Music Performance, played the JC Bach Viola Concerto. We are so proud of our Class of 2023 and wish them the best in their future endeavors.

Congratulations to the Walton High School Winter Guard for being named a World Finalist at the Winter Guard International World Championships in Dayton, Ohio on April 13^th & 14^th, 2023.  Walton competed against 144 groups from across the country and were one of twenty groups to make finals for the Scholastic A Class.  They were the only high school from Georgia to make finals in any class at World Championships, and finished in 13^th overall.

In addition, the Walton Winter Guard finished the season undefeated and were also named the Scholastic National A Champions in the SAPA (Southern Association for Performing Arts) competition circuit.  The Walton Winter Guard is led by coach Scott Beck and staff members Jordan Casey, Jenn Cunningham, Stephanie Stewart, Adam Sage, and Michael James.

More information can be found at wgi.org and waltonband.org.

THE 2023-2024 WINTER GUARD ROSTER

Laylah Gaines

Abigail Martin-Hoster

Sarah Musau

Emily Balado

Jordyn Sewell

Hailey Klim

Rowen Black

Victoria Markey

Katherine Parfenov

Olivia Reilly

Quinn Reilly

Madeleine Hodges

Misora Furuya

Olivia Nice

Lejla Hadzic

Three seniors have been awarded collegiate scholarships from the Walton Choral Department: Parker K., Katie S. and Kiana C.

Congratulations to the choral officers for the 2022-2023 school year:

President: Omer I.

VP of TRI-M and Fine Arts Diploma Seal: Caroline K.

VP of Outreach and Recruitment: Melanie T. & Robert G.

Librarians: Eleanor C., Mary Kate G. & Nina I.

Concert Managers: Lauren H., Emma J. & Carter H.

A Cappella President: Makena B.

SWE Presidents: Kate I. & Kaitlyn S.

Varsity Treble Presidents: Ellie B. & Sareena P.

Men’s Ensemble: Shane R.

Bel Canto Presidents: Lauren K. & Layla V.

https://waltonchorus.com

Congratulations to Walton Gymnastics!  The girls stayed undefeated in their regular season meets and finished in the top 8 at State.  Senior Abby Dunham also placed in the top 8 in the individual events.  A great ending to the season!

The Walton Varsity Men's Golf Team congratulates its seniors - Tyler Call, Charlie Hollway and Chase Finch on a great season and career at Walton. We wish them luck in the GHSA State Championship Tournament, held at Kinderlou Forest Golf Club in Valdosta, Ga.

• Tyler Call has been on the team since 9th grade and has been on the state team every year. He's a leader and organizer with his teammates, arranging play and competition among his peers. Tyler the captain of the early release players as they hit the course early after school. Tyler will continue his education at Auburn University and major in business.
• Charlie Holloway has been on the team since 9th grade and has played in every state tournament. In 2022, he was ranked the 7th best golfer in the state for 7A high schools as determined by his play in the state championship. He's looking for a repeat (maybe even better) in this year's state championship. Charlie plans to attend Georgia Tech.
• Chase Finch has been on the team since he was a sophomore. His scores consistently contribute to the team in tournament play and is on the state team this year. Chase will attend a professional golf management program at North Carolina State University next year.

Walton High School 

1590 Bill Murdock Road

Marietta, GA  30062

770-578-3225