Fourteen students are moving on in the selection process for this year’s Governor’s Honors program. The selected high school sophomores and juniors are advancing from local interviews to the state-level interviews in the selection process for the 2014 program. Governor’s Honors is a four-week summer instructional program designed to provide intellectually gifted and artistically talented high school students with challenging and enriching educational opportunities not usually available during the regular school year. Advancing students and their area of study by school: Armuchee High School Abby Blackmon, 10th grade – Dance Rachel Garland, 11th grade – Communicative Arts Josh Hines, 11th grade – Communicative Arts Clay Reid, 11th grade – Social Studies Claire Tibbetts, 11th grade – Social Studies Coosa High School Alex Mitchell, 11th grade – Math Model High School Braden Gilleland,11th grade – Math Mikayla Keasler,10th grade – Visual Arts Katy Parsons, 11th grade – Communicative Arts Jacob Stewart, 11th grade – Engineering & Technology Kelley Wheeler, 10th grade – Music/Clarinet Pepperell High School Ashleigh Bradford, 11th grade – Visual Arts Olivia Escutia, 11th grade – Visual Arts Daniel Lovell, 10th grade – Engineering & Technology Two students were selected as alternates: Rachel McFry, an 11th grade student from Model High School in the area of social studies and Wes Walker, a 10th grade student at Model High School in the area of science/biology
The fourteen high school students selected will join approximately 3000 students from across the state for interviews and auditions over a three weekend period in January and February in the state selection process. From those nominees, finalists are chosen to participate in the summer program. The program is fully funded by the Georgia General Assembly, so there is no charge for students to attend.
Governor’s Honors is a function of the Georgia Department of Education and is hosted on the campus of Valdosta State University. This will be the program's 51st summer, making it the longest continually running program of its kind in the nation. Rising juniors and seniors in Georgia public and private high schools are eligible to be nominated by their teachers to participate in the program. The program is fully funded by the Georgia General Assembly, so there is no charge for students to attend. For four weeks, students will spend the morning in their major area of nomination, exploring topics not usually found in the regular high school classroom. During the afternoons, students choose one additional area in which to study. The curriculum in all the areas is challenging and engaging. Evenings are filled with seminars, activities, concerts, and performances.
The program's activities are designed to provide each participant with opportunities to acquire the skills, knowledge and attitudes to become independent, life-long learners. Major instructional areas included in the program are: communicative arts (English), foreign languages, mathematics, science, social studies, visual art, theatre, music, dance, design, technology, and executive management. Instruction is also provided in four support areas -- computers, counseling, library/media, and physical fitness.