CCSD Staff News & Notes

This edition of the CCSD Staff News & Notes includes a variety of student achievements at the state and national levels, staff promotions, a parent shout-out for a school bus driver, many other staff accolades, and volunteer information for Arts at the Plaza.

Click here and find February 12, 2025, to read more about the competition and see a list of winners and their prizes!

Greenbrier High Girl's Wrestling won the GHSA Girls Dual State Championships. Congratulations, to this dedicated team of student athletes and coaches!

All three students who represented the Columbia County School District at the Region Spelling Bee will go on to represent Region 7 at the state competition next month. This is the first time in Region 7 history that all three student winners came from the same school district.

• 1st Place - Anvi Reddi from Stevens Creek Elementary School
• 2nd Place - Sarah Doud from Greenbrier Middle School
• 3rd Place - Rhagav Thumsi from Blue Ridge Elementary School

Jerry Fan has been named the STAR Student for Columbia County and Region 7. His STAR Teacher is Dr. John Cato, who has been selected by students as a STAR Teacher 12 times. Congratulations, Jerry, and thank you, Dr. Cato, for all you do to engage, enrich, and inspire! To read more about Jerry and all of our outstanding STAR Students Click Here!

2025 STAR Students and Teachers in the Columbia County School District

Evans High School

STAR Student Weston Evans and STAR Teacher Steven Hahn

Greenbrier HIgh School

STAR Student Nolan Parker and STAR Teacher Ariel Taylor

STAR Student Ellen Hahn and STAR Teacher Holly Townsend

Grovetown High School

STAR Student Carrie Lim and STAR Teacher Jennifer Fox Norton

Harlem High School

STAR Student Zyia Jean and STAR Teacher Tiffany Weser (CVA)

Congratulations, to all of our outstanding student-athletes who competed at this year's Special Olympics Games State Bowling Competition. Lakeside High School student-athlete Kaleb Steele was also named the Special Olympics of Georgia Athlete of the Month for March. See photos of all of our winners, HERE! Great job, students!

Evans High School Resource Officer Sgt. Chris Burnett was named the 2025 SRO of the Year. The award recognizes excellence among the dedicated SRO's of the Columbia County School District. Read more about Sgt. Burnett here: https://www.ccboe.net/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=4355670&type=d&pREC_ID=2594477

Congratulations, to the Lakeside High Science Bowl teams, for their second consecutive win! After sweeping the regional competition, this group will now move on to showcase their knowledge in Washington D.C. in April at the national competition. Great job, students and teachers!

CyberPatriot teams from four schools in the Columbia County School District swept the middle school state competition, and placed in the top three at the high school level.

• Greenbrier Middle School earned first and second place under the direction of Ms. Loradonna Schultz. This is the seventh year the school has placed first in the competition.
• Stallings Island Middle School placed third under the direction of Mr. David Oexmann.
• Evans High School earned second place in the highest tier, platinum, under the direction of Mr. Steven Hahn.
• Greenbrier HIgh School earned third place in the silver tier, under the direction of Mr. Tyrone Abero.

Students from Lakeside Middle School and Stallings Island Middle School recently competed at the annual Georgia Junior Beta Club State Convention and earned top three awards in a variety of categories. Click here to read more from the January 28, 2025, special recognition board meeting .

Check out all of the grade-level winners chosen to represent the Columbia County School District in the Young Georgia Authors Writing Competition. To read the winning works, Click Here.

The Columbia County School District Pre-K Learning Resource Review Committee has selected Frog Street as the new Pre-K learning resource. The public is invited to ​view sample resources and provide feedback now through March 7, 2025. Click here for more information.

Staff are welcome to sign up for a time to volunteer during the second annual Arts at the Plaza. To sign up, Click Here. As a volunteer, you will receive free entry and the ability to come and go from the day-long event, as well as an event T-shirt. Tickets are on sale now - to purchase, click here. Proceeds go to fund Fine Arts education efforts in the Columbia County School District, in partnership with the Columbia County School District Foundation.

Ms. Hemerka formerly served as a first grade teacher at River Ridge Elementary School.

Dr. Martin formerly served as the Instructional Specialist at Riverside Middle School. Prior to that, Dr. Martin also taught at Lakeside High School.

Coach Jimmie Lewis of Harlem High School was recognized for his 900th career game win on February 14, 2025. Coach Lewis is the third person in state history to achieve this milestone. Great job, coach!

School bus driver Ms. Terri Mims, was praised by a parent with the following message:

"Miss Mims always has a smile, a friendly word, and even more importantly displays the highest standards of concern for the children under her care. Miss Mims...is an asset to the Columbia County Board of Education..."

Coach Hibbitts has led academic support initiatives, community outreach, and leadership development programs for the Panthers. Because of these, and many more accomplishments, Coach Hibbitts received the Georgia High School Association’s 5A Football Coach of the Year.

Ms. Emily Gainey, 7th grade science teacher at Lakeside Middle School was named the 2023-2024 Educator of Excellence at the Georgia Junior Beta Club State Convention, for her work as a National Beta Sponsor. It is the highest honor offered to National Beta sponsors. Ms. Gainey's students earned top three awards in a variety of categories at the state competition, and are headed to the national competition for the third year!

Ms. Shakeirra Kirkland – Seventh grade teacher at Grovetown Middle School, recently earned an Educational Leadership Tier 1 Certificate from the University of West Georgia.

Ms. Adrienne Harless -- kindergarten teacher at River Ridge Elementary School, recently earned a Specialist in Education with a Major in Advanced Educational Studies from Augusta University.

Dr. Amy Mulvihill -- Behavior specialist at Westmont Elementary School, recently earned a Doctor of Education in Curriculum Studies from Georgia Southern University.

Have you completed an advanced degree or professional milestone? We want to hear about it! Click the icon and fill out the form to tell us more about your accomplishment. All submissions will be considered for recognition in future editions of Staff News & Notes.

The Columbia County School District Foundation is pleased to support four student scholarships to Work-Based Learning students at the annual Columbia County CTAE Workforce Showcase. The students participated in a panel-interview competition. Thanks to all of our outstanding Partners in Education for helping us provide scholarships for three additional students this year!

Share your school or department success story to possibly be added in the CCSD Staff News & Notes.

Is your school doing something we should all know about? Do you want to recognize a teacher, student, or staff member for an engaging, enriching or inspiring experience? Tell us about it! Send your good news to news@ccboe.net.