Valdosta board commends students

Published 12:00 pm Thursday, December 14, 2017

VALDOSTA — Several students were recognized Tuesday during the Valdosta Board of Education meeting. 

The Valdosta High Math Cats team recently won at the 16th Annual Valdosta State University High School Math Competition. 

The Math Cats team, which consisted of captain Christopher Vietas, Darryl Bailey, Albert Kang and Chunjin Park, took first place at the competition. For individual awards, Kang won first place and Park took third. 

Kang and Park were also awarded $1,000 scholarships to VSU for their winning individual scores. 

The Valdosta City Schools Christmas card artwork winners were also recognized during the meeting. There were four winners, one from elementary school, one from middle school, one from high school and one from Valdosta Early College Academy. 

The winning artists are Ian Martin, a fourth grader from Sallas Mahone Elementary School; Alix Vialdores from Valdosta Middle School; Joslyn Hall, a ninth grader at Valdosta High School; and Zacchaeus Kier, an 11th grader, at VECA. 

VHS graduates who received the Georgia Seal of Bi-Literacy were recognized. The recipients were Matthew Gerber, Darcy Farwell, Nicole Morel, Alan Nelson, Cali Kent and Ashli Alston. The seals will be added to the students’ high school diplomas. 

The bi-literacy seal is awarded to students for the completion of all English language arts requirements with a 3.0 or above grade point average and for proficiency in one or more languages, other than English, by passing a foreign language advanced placement test with a score of four or higher or by passing an international baccalaureate test with a score of five or higher, according to the Georgia Department of Education, which awards the seals. 

The Seal of Bi-Literacy was first made available to qualifying graduating high school students in 2016-17, according to the Georgia DOE website. 

Kimberly Cannon is a Reporter with The Valdosta Daily Times. Her extension is 1376.