Atlanta Public Schools hosts first annual Domecoming Football Classic

Atlanta Public Schools (APS) presents its first-annual Domecoming Football Classic Saturday, Oct. 24, at the Georgia Dome. The first game starts at 11 a.m. with Grady vs. St. Pius, followed by North Atlanta vs. Carver, Washington vs. Riverwood and Mays vs. Villa Rica.

Current APS students and alumni of North Atlanta, Mays and Washington high schools will celebrate homecoming with marching bands and Washington will sponsor a parade to the Dome as part of its homecoming festivities. it’s an excellent opportunity to see some of the best teams, and players, in the state. Mays heads into tonight’s action with a 5-1 record, 2-1 in region play. Grady and St. Pius are two of the best teams in their region.

Advance tickets for the APS Domecoming Classic are $10 at participating schools and through Ticketmaster, and $12 at the gate. For more information, call 404-802-5575 or visit www.georgiadome.com. You can also find information here.

Meet the 2009 APS Elementary School Teacher of the Year: Rachel Willis

We continue our look at the APS Teachers of the Year with a mini-profile of the Elementary School Teacher of the Year, Morningside Elementary‘s Rachel Willis.

Rachel Willis is a product of the Atlanta Public Schools system. After graduating from Grady High School, Willis received a bachelor of arts degree in government from Smith College.

In college, Willis co-founded Students Take Action for New Directions (STAND), a national organization whose mission focused on empowering young women to become politically active and to promote peace, equality, and social change. As an activist, Willis frequently lobbied Congress. During her meetings on Capitol Hill, Willis encouraged lawmakers to make education a priority in the federal budget.

Because of her commitment to education, Willis joined Teach for America and also was hired as a teacher for APS. Although the Teach for America obligation lasted only two years, Willis decided to continue her career as an educator and attend Agnes Scott College to pursue a teaching certification in early childhood education. She graduated in 2006.

Willis has spent her teaching career working in SRT-3. She was a faculty member at Toomer Elementary, Cook Elementary, and Whitefoord Elementary before joining the staff at Morningside. Willis has demonstrated amazing leadership qualities in several ways in her two-year tenure as a member of the Morningside staff. Since 2007, she has served as a grade-level co-chair, design team representative, PTA executive board member, and school curriculum committee member. She was also influential in encouraging the school to purchase Promethean boards for the classroom. Now, all third- through fifth-grade classrooms are outfitted with this cutting-edge technology!

Willis continuously strives to improve her teaching skills, and will earn her master’s in educational leadership from Columbia University next year. Her goal is to continue to impact student achievement within and beyond the walls of her classroom.

Father knows best this morning at Burgess-Peterson Academy

This morning, Burgess-Peterson Academy‘s pre-kindergarten students had a wonderful time engaging in a festive fall activity. About 20 fathers came out to carve and decorate pumpkins with the pre-K classes.  The fathers appeared to thoroughly enjoy the activity and didn’t  even seem to mind the mess. The event was a great success that encouraged the fathers to visit the school and interact with their children.