Athens Academy Press Releases

Beloved Middle School teacher Peggy Reigle is retiring this spring after 26 years at Athens Academy. She is excited to travel, garden, volunteer, and spend time with friends and family, including her husband Tom. Peggy came to Athens Academy in 1983, where she started out teaching language arts and math to fifth and sixth grade students. She has focused on teaching math for the past 21 years. Peggy has also been an integral part of Athens Academy’s varsity baseball team since 1993, when she became the team’s statistician and biggest fan. In 2003 she was honored with a sign on the baseball field for a decade of service to the team.

Peggy will be missed by so many, most of all her co-workers in the Middle School. “Peggy is probably the most nurturing, caring, and positive teacher with whom I have ever worked,” says language arts teacher Margaret Wellborn. “It’s difficult for me to put into words all that Peggy has meant to me…I just know that I am a better person for having had the privilege of teaching with her over the past eight years, and I feel blessed that my own children got to experience her love.” Fellow language arts teacher Alice Ann Colley agrees: “Peggy has a gift to make children feel special. She’s able to capture a group’s attention and make them passionate about math yet simultaneously take the time to meet the individual’s unique needs…She is truly one of a kind and probably the most talented teacher I have ever worked with.”

Peggy was honored by alumni, current students, fellow teachers, trustees, family, and friends at a special retirement ceremony on Sunday, May 17. Athens Academy thanks her for her dedication and devotion and wishes her all the best as she begins this exciting new chapter of her life!

Posted by Kelley Cuneo at 11:14 AM | Permalink

Athens Academy faculty member Mary Ann Naclerio was recently awarded a $500 mini-grant from Oconee County Education Foundation for her Young Author’s Club project. Mrs. Naclerio plans to use the grant to develop an after-school enrichment program for students in grades 3-8. The club will meet every other week throughout the 2009-10 school year, and students will explore different writing styles, themes, and illustrations in order to produce their own books. The books will then be entered in Scholastic’s “Kids are Authors” contest and added to the “Young Authors” section of the Athens Academy Lower School Media Center.

The mini-grant program was developed by the Education Foundation of Oconee County to promote creative, innovative, and educational projects in the county’s public and independent schools. In 2008, Athens Academy faculty members Jeri Burnette and Mary Kline won a mini-grant to work with fourth grade students to identify and label trees along a walking trail on campus.

Posted by Kelley Cuneo at 10:56 AM | Permalink

Headmaster Bob Chambers is pleased to congratulate Athens Academy’s valedictorian, Della Cummings, and salutatorian, Everett Young. Della will be attending Middlebury College in Vermont, and Everett has received the Carolina Scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Posted by Kelley Cuneo at 10:52 AM | Permalink

Athens Academy’s fourth graders held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, May 1 to present their class’ tree identification project. The students worked with science teachers Jeri Burnette and Mary Kline to identify the trees along the greenway on the Athens Academy campus. The Upper School environmental club SEEDS and their faculty sponsor Lawrence Stueck then created special posts to mark the trees with the fourth graders’ research. Headmaster Bob Chambers was on hand to help cut the ribbon. The greenway trail is open to everyone in the community and forms a 3-mile loop through the Athens Academy campus. Everyone is invited to come out and enjoy the hard work of the fourth graders, the SEEDS club, and their teachers.

Posted by Kelley Cuneo at 10:47 AM | Permalink

On Saturday, May 9, students from the Athens Academy Habitat for Humanity chapter gathered to build a storage shed for Extra Special People (ESP). The shed was 12’x12’ with a red metal roof and replaces one that collapsed during the March snowstorm. Students John Beach, Ben Glauser, Lillian Jones, Andrew Morris, Jeff Nordgren, Adam Sapp, and Carey Stewart, along with faculty advisers Beth Sensing and Lawrence Stueck and woodworker Fred Morris, donated their time using materials supplied by ESP. ESP is a non-profit group that serves children and young adults by “enhancing the lives of individuals with developmental disabilities and their families.”

Posted by Kelley Cuneo at 10:44 AM | Permalink

Violinist Wrenica Archibald placed second in the 2009 Talent Hunt Competition of the Zeta Beta and Beta Zeta Chapters of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. The audition was held on Sunday, May 3 at the University of Georgia Chapel. Wrenica is a ninth grader at Athens Academy. “Wrenica was one of the youngest high school musicians auditioning at this event,” says Fine Arts Department Chair Debbie Schab. “We’re very proud of her talent and hard work.” Wrenica was accompanied by faculty member Elizabeth Shaw on piano.

The Omega Psi Phi Talent Hunt is one of several national programs designed to identify and support the youth of our nation and the world. The program was conceived in the early 1940’s, and the very first Talent Hunt was held in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1946.

Posted by Kelley Cuneo at 9:44 AM | Permalink

Senior Della Cummings was selected by the Oconee County chapter of the Rotary Club as their Rotary Student of the Semester for Athens Academy. Della selected mathematics teacher Andy Simmonds to share in the honor.

Posted by Kelley Cuneo at 12:55 PM | Permalink

The University of Georgia's student-run television station, Newsource 15, recently produced a segment on Athens Academy senior James Colquitt. James, who will be attending Georgia State University in the fall, is a three-sport athlete (football, baseball, and basketball) and plays the violin in the school orchestra. He's a member of the Habitat for Humanity club, the Media & Technology club, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. In addition to his time on the playing field and on the stage, James is also a mentor to freshmen and a volunteer at several summer basketball camps.
You can watch the UGA segment on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et4LEUyjNLs

Posted by Kelley Cuneo at 9:48 AM | Permalink