Fayette’s leader tops in Ga.

The Georgia School Superintendents Association has named Fayette County Public Schools’ Dr. Joseph Barrow the 2017 Georgia Superintendent of the Year. Barrow joined the school system in 2013. Before coming to Fayette, he was superintendent of Ware County Schools, and is also the former president of the GSSA. This is the second consecutive year Barrow has been a finalist for the state’s highest honor to a superintendent. He was named a finalist earlier this year along with Dr. Jason Branch of Oconee County Schools; Dr. Allen McCannon of Madison County Schools; and Dr. Gordon Pritz of Douglas County Schools. Barrow will represent the state in the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) National School Superintendent of the Year competition.

Fulton schools’ can creativity helps needy

For a fifth consecutive year, schools across Fulton County came together for “Can Do Good,” a competition where students collected canned goods, then built creative structures using them. The structures were put on display for the public to vote for their favorite. In the North Fulton competition, the top prize went to a private school, and second- and third-place trophies were awarded to Johns Creek and Alpharetta high schools, respectively. In South Fulton, first place went to Banneker High School, with second place going to Langston Hughes High School and third place to Tri-Cities High School. The competition was sponsored by the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce, the South Fulton Chamber of Commerce and the architectural engineering firm of Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood.

Brookwood teacher to use grant for giving

Carrie Settles Livers, a teacher at Brookwood High School, has been awarded a $35,000 grant from the 3M Corporation through its 3Mgives program to fund her project that encourages environmental stewardship, connects STEM education and nature with outdoor learning opportunities and engages students and young people with an emphasis on underserved communities. Livers will use the grant money to build an aquaponics lab to help educate students on sustainable agriculture while providing them an opportunity for community outreach by distributing the food grown to the local food co-ops. “I am probably most excited about the humanitarian component to this adventure,” said Livers. “I think one of the best ways to ‘trick’ students into learning is to help them find something to be passionate about. Helping to design this lab, trouble-shooting in the lab and designing extensions of this lab ... is a great way to flex those critical thinking muscles.”