Clarke County School District -

Elementary soccer season is underway! Check out a full gallery of photos from last night's matches between Timothy Road and Whitehead Road here, and see the full season schedule in this post.

Congratulations to Macy Cross, first-grade teacher at Fowler Drive Elementary School, for being named CCSD's February Employee of the Month! Ms. Cross is in her fifth year at FDES and was nominated by second-grade teacher (and this year's Fowler Teacher of the Year) Samantha Yvellez for consistently going above and beyond to support her students’ academic and personal growth and demonstrating dedication through thoughtful lesson planning, strong classroom management, and a genuine commitment to meeting the diverse needs of all learners. Ms. Cross was surprised with the award this morning by Interim Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Scott and will be publicly recognized at tomorrow night's Board of Education meeting. Anyone in the community may nominate any full-time CCSD employee with at least one full year of service for this award at bit.ly/CCEmployeeAward.

REMINDER: Share your thoughts by this weekend on the CCSD Superintendent Search! Go to qrco.de/CCSDsearch to complete the survey, available in English and Spanish (select language in top right-hand corner). And stay up to date on the search process at www.clarke.k12.ga.us/superintendent-search.

Congratulations to the CCSD District Spelling Bee CHAMPION, Burney-Harris-Lyons Middle School's Phoebe Geisenhof and RUNNER-UP, Johnnie Lay Burks Elementary School's Nora Varsa! Full photo gallery on the CCSD Facebook page coming Saturday!

Scenes from the Clarke County Mentor Program's Annual Breakfast Celebration this morning, where we were honored to receive the Celebrating Connections Award, along with the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce, marking 35 years of a treasured partnership with the mentor program in making a difference in the lives of countless CCSD students.

The Mentor Program also presented the Community Impact Award in honor of its late former long-time Executive Director, Trudy Bradley, to her children, Tod and Bridget. The award was presented by U.S. District Court Judge, Cedar Shoals High School alum, and Clarke County mentor, Steve Jones.

Remember: The many, many success stories of this incredible program over the years have been made possible by community members just like you! Learn more about becoming a mentor to a CCSD student and start the process today at clarkecountymentorprogram.org.

Check out our full Facebook gallery for scenes from this morning's University of Georgia MLK Freedom Breakfast!

Congratulations to Genoveva Gonzalez, student information support specialist in the District Office, on being named our Employee of the Month for January!

Ms. Gonzalez has worked for CCSD since 2007 and has been with the Office of Information Support Services for 13 years. In her role, she assists families with setting up and making changes to their Parent Portal accounts and also provides training and support to schools to provide the same assistance and maximize the use of our Infinite Campus system so that families and students can get the information they need, when they need it.

Ms. Gonzalez was nominated by one of our building leaders, who praised her for taking on extra responsibilities recently due to current vacancies in her office, but still maintaining the office's standard of excellent customer service. She is one of the many CCSD employees whose tireless, behind-the-scenes work is invaluable and keeps operations flowing smoothly.

Ms. Gonzalez was surprised with the award today by Interim Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Scott and will be publicly recognized at tomorrow night's Board of Education meeting.

Anyone in the community may nominate any full-time CCSD employee with at least one full year of service for this award at bit.ly/CCEmployeeAward.