APS School Construction and Renovation Projects

Community partners give Sylvan Hills Middle students a Career Day they can work on

Nearly 50 representatives from a range of professions in the Atlanta area gave Sylvan Hills Middle School students a window into their future for Career Day on Wednesday. Everyone from the Atlanta Braves to Zen Massage to UPS and the Atlanta Police Department spent the day showing students why preparing for high school is just the next logical step on a path that could take them to any number of professional possibilities.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for our students, and we can’t tell you how much we appreciate what you’re doing,” Sylvan Hills Principal Gwen Atkinson told the professionals. She explained that Sylvan Hills is one of the few schools in the district that is separated by gender (as opposed to single-gender schools like B.E.S.T. Academy), and listed some of the school’s supplemental offerings such as Success for All reading program. Two Hands on Atlanta volunteers were available to assist in the day’s activities.

Principal for a Day: Sylvan Hills Middle welcomes Pat Willis and Courtney Gay

Pat Willis visits a sixth-grade English/language arts class.

Pat Willis, executive director, Voices for Georgia’s Children, and Courtney Gay, community affairs manager for the Atlanta Braves, were Principals for a Day at Sylvan Hills Middle School where Gwen Atkinson is the principal.

Their day started with orientation, followed by a tour of the school’s single-gender structure for its 442 students. Atkinson took Willis and Gay to visit Program for Exceptional Children self-contained classrooms and inclusion classrooms, as well as each wing of the school where sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade girls and boys are separated.

Courtney Gay visits a sixth-grade social studies class.

Following classroom visits, the principals had a meeting with Sylvan Hills’ instructional team to explain the various programs offered by the school, including the Success For All (SFA) reading program. Sylvan Hills’ SFA students are divided up by teams and the students name their teams after colleges. After the meeting, Willis and Gay had an opportunity to co-teach with teachers Johanna Melton, Cedric Peeples, Latanya Bailey and LaShawn Thompson.