Meet the Atlanta Families’ Awards winners: Claudia Abboud

We continue our series of profiles on the Atlanta Families’ Awards for Excellence in Education with Claudia Abboud, a Spanish teacher at East Lake Elementary. Abboud was born and raised in Mexico, and holds a teaching certificate from Mexico that sheI received from Anglo-Americano de Mexico. She taught core subjects in English for six years at an elementary school.

While working full time as a teacher, Abboud btained a degree in international business administration at Universidad de Guadalajara, Mexico, earning the second-highest grade-point average out of 600 graduates. She moved to Atlanta eight years ago and has been a Spanish teacher ever since. She earned her teaching certificate in 2005 and I earned two additional endorsements in reading and ESOL, and earned a master’s degree in Spanish language and culture from Universidad de Salamanca, Spain.

Perkerson Elementary honors its accelerated readers

Perkerson Elementary School will host an accelerated-reader celebration, “Exciting/Challenging Board Games,” from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Friday at the school’s media center. Accelerated-reader superstars are students passing five or more reading practice quizzes scoring 80 percent or higher in the first semester.

The school’s Accelerated Reader Program provides incentives and rewards as recognition for those students who have achieved above and beyond the minimum AR standards. Perkerson’s students and teachers are able to evaluate their progress by consulting the AR visual display board. AR promotes literacy excellence by developing literacy skills through reading comprehension and vocabulary enrichment. Students are actively engaged in reading that is fun, informative and skill building. Perkerson is proud to applaud and support student achievers who may sometimes give out, but never give up.

APS reading teams have their eyes on the prize Saturday

Congratulations to Morris Brandon, Centennial Place, Garden Hills, Parkside and D.H. Stanton elementary schools for their outstanding  performance in the third annual APS Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl last weekend. As the highest-scoring teams,  D.H. Stanton and Morris Brandon will proceed to the Metropolitan Atlanta Regional Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl on Saturday (Feb. 6). 

The teams from D.H. Stanton and Morris Brandon will be accompanied by a team from Sutton Middle School and a team from The New Schools at Carver. Thanks to all the parents for their hard work and dedication to the students, and best of luck at the Metropolitan Atlanta Regional Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl. For more information on the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl, please visit http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/hrrb/georgia.html

Hill-Hope Elementary flips for Haiti

Hill-Hope Elementary has launched a “Flip-Flops February Hygiene for Haiti Initiative” for the entire month of February. Students, parents, teachers, staff, and community members are encouraged to donate hygiene products including (but not limited to) deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, hair products, baby powder, baby oil, lotion, Vaseline, female products to the school. The supplies will be sent to Haiti on Feb. 26.

On that same date, students and staff members will have an opportunity to show off their favorite flip-flops and have a huge celebration due to their contributions to Haiti. Thanks for your support with this initiative! Hat tip to Principal Cassandra Miller-Ashley for the info.

Carver’s School of Health Sciences & Research kicks off Teen Domestic Violence Prevention and Awareness month

Today Carver’s School of Health Sciences & Research focused on an important but frequently ignored issue: teen domestic violence. The Rock of Escape and The Jane Fonda Center at Emory University shed light on the topic through a forum at the school.

Girls from each grade level attended the discussion, which included information about the warning signs of domestic violence. Many students cited physical abuse as the only form of domestic violence, but the moderators explained other forms of violence such as emotional and mental abuse.

“Many teens are blind to the warning signs of domestic violence,” HSM youth counselor Raccine Young said. “I do think this will help them realize what domestic violence really is.”

HSR will revisit the topic of dating violence throughout Teen Domestic Violence Prevention and Awareness month, including a February 17 event featuring a skit from the Public Service Announcement committee.

APS students excel during One Academic Fair

Math and science truly reign supreme this week as Atlanta Public Schools students compete in the One Academic Fair at North Atlanta High. Each year, students display projects that demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of curriculum-based math, science and social studies concepts before a panel of judges.

It’s yet another example of the district’s emphasis on math and science skills as part of an initiative funded by a $22.5 million grant from the GE Foundation.