Grady Brag Sheet 2012-2013
Grady Academics and Scholarships
Grady High School was named one of the Top 20 High Schools in the State of Georgia by US News and World Report. The ranking was based on schools' student to teacher ratio, rate of college readiness and students' proficiency in math and English. According to a recent U.S. News report, Grady High School is among America’s best high schools, ranking 19th in the state of Georgia and No. 1,204 in the nation (out of 4877 schools). The ranking earned Grady a silver medal. The report judged each school on its teacher to student ratio, students’ rate of college readiness, and students’ average proficiency in math and English. It calculated values based on student performance on state exit exams and internationally available exams on college-level coursework.
Grady High School was named an AP STEM School and an AP STEM Achievement School by State School Superintendent Dr. John Barge. AP STEM schools are those with students testing in at least two AP math courses and two AP science courses (AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, AP Physics B, AP Physics C, AP Computer Science). AP STEM Achievement Schools are those with students testing in at least two AP math courses and two AP science courses and at least 40% of the exam scores on AP math and AP science exams earning scores of three or higher.
AP Scholars
77 students at Grady High School have earned AP Scholar Awards in recognition of their exceptional achievement on AP Exams. About 20 percent of the 2.1 million students worldwide who took AP Exams performed at a sufficiently high level to also earn an AP Scholar Award.
5 students qualified for the National AP Scholar Award by earning an average score of 4 or higher on a five-point scale on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 4 or higher on eight or more of these exams. These students are
· Campbell Taylor, Ethan J.,
· Choi, Holden R.,
· Cleveland, Eloisa O.,
· Dean, Benjamin D.,
· Rapoport, Julia B.
28 students qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction Award by earning an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams. These students are
· Adams, Mona V.
· Baggerman, Daniel F.
· Campbell Taylor, Ethan J.
· Choi, Holden R.
· Citrin, Rachel A.
· Cleveland, Eloisa O.
· Dean, Benjamin D.
· Douglas, John R.
· Holder, Samuel J.
· Kleber, Shaun H.
· Kleber, Troy J.
· Leonard, Lucy C.
· Mcglamry, Elizabeth R.
· Miller, Audrey E.
· Moody, Jennifer
· Munger, Alexander J.
· Rapoport, Julia B.
· Realff, Alexander
· Shah, Cheyn A.
· Siegel, Gabrielle N.
· Silvers, Jeshua P.
· Suitts, Phillip T.
· Taft, Isabelle K.
· Terry, Steve W.
· Turpeau, Micah C.
· Williams, Justin K.
· Wise, Patrick H.
· Youngblood, Alix E.
19 students qualified for the AP Scholar with Honor Award by earning an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams. These students are:
· Bradley, Lucy B.
· Carlock, David K.
· Collier, Larson B.
· Cox, Jeffrey
· Dargie, Mezmure X.
· Degive, Ana K.
· Feria, Vivien
· Hamilton, Zoe C.
· Hasson, Claire M.
· Lavine, Joseph R.
· Mcdonald-Smith, Margaret E.
· Mclane, Simon L.
· Moy, James T.
· Nguyen, Hai P.
· Olson, Lukas A.
· Peteet, Henry V.
· Power, Grace
· Scollard, Patrick E.
· Taylor, Zoe
29 students qualified for the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP Exams with scores of 3 or higher. The AP Scholars are:
· Alexander, Jessica
· Allen, Taylor E.
· Baumeister, Maya R.
· Burch, Daniel A.
· Carson, Christopher G.
· Chaudhry, Noor-ul-ain
· Dean, Samantha G.
· Girardot, Madeleine E.
· Girvan, Maragh S.
· Harper, Lauren M.
· Harris, Camille
· Hazell, Alexandra L.
· James, Nathan P.
· Jones, Ryan
· Kleinman, Olivia L.
· Kocsisszucs, Max A.
· Lansing, Madeline M.
· Leshley, Ciena E.
· Mansbach, Elias N.
· Moore, Samuel
· Ogg, Lauren T.
· Oglesby Evans, Christopher S.
· Paine, Lora
· Prendergast, Megan I.
· Shadwell, Carson L.
· Stearns-Bernhar, Alex P.
· Tran, Ngoc T.
· Webster, Luke M.
National Merit Corporation Finalists
The 2013 National Merit Corporation finalists include
· Troy Kleber
· Olivia Kleinman
· Jennifer Moody
· Isabelle Taft
· Patrick Wise
The 2013 National Achievement Corporation finalist is:
· Deborah Harris
Grady is proud to announce our 2013 Valedictorian, Isabelle Taft, and our 2013 Salutatorian, Troy Kleber. Our STAR student this year is also Isabelle Taft.
This year we have three Posse Scholars who will each receive a full, four-year, full-tuition scholarship Autumn Rivers (Bard College), Diana Powers (The College of Wooster), Bilal Vaughn (Syracuse University).
Please congratulate the following students for their hard work at the Grady academic fair. The social studies winners were Will Taft, first place, Chloe Prendergast, second place, and Nicholas Fritzinger Pittman, third place.
Charisse Hughes, Talia Lockridge, Sequoyah Murray, Omar Skandar, and Phillip Stead participated in the APS Academic Decathlon on Friday, Jan. 11th and as district champions will represent APS at the state Academic Decathlon competition on Feb 22-23.
Grady High School seniors Trey Evans and Marius Jackson have been announced as 2 of 16 recipients of the first Colored Rocks Prize. Both Evans and Jackson were recognized for their high school achievements and their commitment to helping develop other male students from diverse ethnic heritages.
Grady Fine Arts
Henry W. Grady High School is one of ten schools that has been awarded a $2,000 Vans Custom Culture Grant sponsored by Vans and Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education. Chosen from a nationwide pool, Grady High School will use the funds to purchase supplies, tools, and professional consultation to create a new large format street art inspired mural for the school’s campus.
Grady Music Programs
Congratulations to Javier Carbajal, Uzuki Kikanuma, and Kate Marani for passing the rigorous All-State Music Festival first round auditions.
Congratulations to senior Jeffrey Cox and freshman Nicholas Hamilton for making the All State Jazz Ensemble featuring Wycliffe Gordon. Cox and Hamilton will be performing with the other top musicians in the state in Savannah Jan. 24-26.
The Grady Orchestra program performed with the Atlanta Community Symphony Orchestra Side-By-Side Concert December 4th. Maestro Rodriguez was guest conductor.
Alice Antia (cello) and Javier Carbajal (bass) performed with the Spivey Honors Orchestra November 16th.
The Grady High School Chorus was selected as a featured choir by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra to perform in their Holiday Pops Concert Series as special guests. This will be at least a two-year commitment.
Nicholas Hamilton was selected for the All-State Concert Band on trumpet.
Uzuki Kakinuma was selected to perform with the GMEA Honors Orchestra.
Congratulations to Javier Carbajal Ferro – 2013 All State Orchestra - 4th chair – GMEA All State Orchestra. He is an international student on the CIEE exchange program from Galicia Spain, where he played in his home country with the Galician Youth Symphony Orchestra. He also plays with the Grady Knights String Quintet. He successfully auditioned for the Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Metropolitan Youth Symphony Orchestra, and he performs regularly for both. Since arriving at Grady, Javier was also selected to attend a two-day orchestral workshop at Spivey Hall and he attended a three-day bass symposium master class at the University of Georgia.
The Grady High School Philharmonic Chamber Players won superior ratings at the GMEA Music Festival on March 14, 2013, with outstanding performance in all areas. At the highest level, Grady shone among the best high school orchestras in Georgia.
Publications/Broadcast Programs
Grady journalists garnered many awards at the National Scholastic Press Association Fall Conference in San Antonio, TX, November 15-18, 2012:
The Southerner received a National Pacemaker Award. This is the Southerner’s eighth Pacemaker Award, widely considered the Pulitzer Prize of high school journalism.
Additionally, The Southerner was the only publication inducted into the National Scholastic Press Association Hall of Fame this year. The Hall of Fame recognizes publications that received All-American ratings for ten of the past eleven years.
The Southerner placed fifth in the Best of Show Competition at the convention.
Grady News Now placed fifth in the Best of Show.
Grady journalists were Write-Off winners at the NSPA convention. The team of Jeffrey Cox and Justin Williams (broadcast package) and a solo Joe Lavine (sports writing) earned excellent ratings. Mary Condolora (editorial writing), Jolie Jones (feature writing), Troy Kleber (news writing) and Sofia Sifnaios (videography) earned honorable mention awards.
The Southerner has earned Quill and Scroll's highest honor, the 2012 George H. Gallup Award for the 2011-2012 publication year.
2012 Columbia Scholastic Press Association GOLD CIRCLE AWARD WINNERS:
Phillip Suitts won a Certificate of Merit in the Sports Commentary category for "Nothing to gain by playing through concussion pain," The Southerner.
The Southerner Staff won a Certificate of Merit in the Headline Writing category for Issue 1, September 23, 2011, The Southerner; Second Place in the Caption Writing category for Issue 4, December 2011, The Southerner; and Certificate of Merit in the Overall Design – Tabloid format category.
Will Staples won a Certificate of Merit in the Editorial Cartoons category for "Atlas (seniors) shrugged," The Southerner.
Lucy Leonard won First Place in the Single Spot News Photograph category for "Moving pains," The Southerner.
James Moy won Second Place in the Photograph Portfolio of Work category, Nexus.
Jakara Griffin, Courtney Marshall and Tamara Mason won First Place in the Typography: The look of one page category for "Becoming visible," Nexus.
The Nexus Staff won Third Place in the Overall design: Newsmagazine format category.
Chris Drayton won First Place in the Page one design: Newsmagazine format category for "The Artlanta Issue," Nexus.
Isabelle Taft won a Certificate of Merit in the News page design: Tabloid format category for "Superintendent Davis reviews academy progress," The Southerner.
Devina Jones-Vargas won Second Place in the News page design: Newsmagazine format category for "Trashy to classy makeup tips," Nexus.
Kate Taber won First Place in the News page design: Portfolio of work category, Nexus.
Lucy Leonard and Gabrielle Siegel won a Certificate of Merit in the Op-Ed or news analysis page design: Tabloid format category for "Was Troy Davis's execution moral?," The Southerner.
Kate Degive and Joseph Lavine won a Certificate of Merit in the Sports page design: Tabloid format category for "The daily grind," The Southerner.
Amelia Christopher and Maragh Girvan won a Certificate of Merit in the Photo layout: Two or more pages category for "The butler didn't do it," Nexus.
Grady students attended the Skills USA Fall Rally in Perry, Georgia, in October. Grady students walked away with two awards: tenth place for Jasmine Foreman in Pathway poster design and seventh place to Grady for our chapter T-shirt. All twenty five people who attended the trip wore the shirt.
Grady Robotics
Congratulations G3 Robotics – Palmetto FIRST Regional Robotics Tournament! The team made it through eight qualifying matches undefeated and finished the qualifying rounds ranked 1st among the 65 teams present from across the country (and one team from Brazil). For the first time in the team’s nine-year history, we entered the elimination rounds in 1st place as the captain of the first place alliance. Our tournament final record was 9 wins, 1 loss and 1 tie, making this the best record that G3 Robotics has ever posted at a regional tournament.
The team won the Imagery Award celebrating attractiveness in engineering and outstanding visual aesthetic integration from the machine to the team appearance. These are the students that attended and their roles on the team:
Patrick Scollard - Drive Team Captain & Chief Technical Officer, David Carlock - Driver & Chief Marketing Officer, Henry Peteet - Operator & Chief Executive Officer, Nathanael Pate - Human Player, Jefferson Martin - Safety Captain & Pit Chief, Owen Kavanagh - Lead Electrical Engineer, Alex Loomis - Lead Scout, Graham Kidd - Lead Scout, Samantha Manders – Scout, Martika Johanson-Murray - Scout & Pit Crew, Casey Manders - Scout & Team Ambassador
Sarah Smith - Scout & Team Ambassador, Talia Lockridge – Scout, Max Hulsman – Scout, Gage Martin - Scout & Pit Crew, Russell Miller - Pit Crew
Grady Thespians
The Grady Drama Club won 2nd Place in the Region 6AAAA One-Act Competition for their performance of the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Grady received scores of 96, 93 and 93 out of a possible 100 from three judges. These are superior scores and a first for Grady.
In addition, Carter Guensler received the award for Best Actor in the region and Preston Choi was selected as a member of the all-region cast.
Grady freshman James Winer was cast in the Opening Number at the Georgia Thespian Conference. It is highly unusual for a freshman to have earned enough points to try out. 140 students from all over the state auditioned, and they cast about 50. Grady has not had a student cast in many years, and has never had a freshman cast.
Grady Speech and Debate
The Grady Jesters Debate Team competed in the Cairo High School "Syrup Makers Classic" Speech and Debate Tournament in Cairo, Ga.
Dramatic Interpretation: Decker D'Alesio, 3rd Place; Deya Bowers, 5th Place
Duo Interpretation: Carter Guensler and Robert Brown, Champions
Impromptu Speaking: Carter Guensler, 3rd Place; Riley Erickson, 5th Place
Extemporaneous Speaking: Ike Hammond, 3rd Place; Riley Erickson, 6th Place
Lincoln-Douglas Debate: Meredith Fossitt, Champion; Alex Cameli, 2nd Place; Miles Barreto, 3rd Place; Caroline Morris, 4th Place; Conor Downey, 5th Place
Public Forum Debate: Adam Schatz and Richard Lou, Champions; Chloe Prendergast and Harrison Wilco, Finalists; Kathy Zakharova and Noah Li, Semi-Finalists; Grady Jones and Todd Pengelly, Quarter-Finalists; Brandon Kleber, 10th Speaker; Richard Lou, 9th Speaker; Kathy Zakharova, 7th Speaker; Grady Jones, 6th Speaker; Adam Schatz, 3rd Speaker.
On September 22nd, the Jesters traveled to Lincoln County for the “Autumn by the Lake” tournament.
Public Forum- Varsity: 3rd Place: Grace Power and Sammi Dean; 4th Place: Salome Kakalashvili and Kathy Zakharova; 1st Place Speaker: Grace Power; 3rd Place Speaker: Sammi Dean.
Public Forum - Novice: 2nd Place: Noah Li and Sam Wilson; 4th Place: Grady Jones and Todd Pengelly.
Lincoln-Douglas Debate: 1st Place: Zoe Schneider; 2nd Place: Jamie Reid; 3rd Place: Cate Mathews.
Extemporaneous Speaking: 1st Place: Ben Simonds-Malamud; 2nd Place: Isabelle Taft; 4th Place: Isabel Olson.
Impromptu: 2nd Place: Isabelle Taft; 4th Place: Ben Simonds- Malamud.
And overall First Place Debate Sweepstakes Finish.
On September 29th, the Jesters competed in the North Hall High School Speech and Debate Tournament. Overall Tournament Champions: Grady HS
Open Public Forum Debate: 1st Place: Salome Kakalashvili** and Katherine Zakharova**; 2nd Place: Olivia Veira and Samantha Dean**; 4th Place: Jennifer Moody and Carson Shadwell; 1st Place Speaker: Samantha Dean; 2nd Place Speaker: Katherine Zakharova; 3rd Place Speaker: Salome Kakalashvili; 4th Place Speaker: Jennifer Moody
Open Lincoln-Douglas Debate: 1st Place: Zoe Schneider**; 2nd Place: Rachel Citrin; 3rd Place: Logan Mann**; 5th Place: Gilbert Young; PLEASE NOTE ALL OF THESE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATERS WERE UNDEFEATED AT THE TOURNAMENT! 1st Place Speaker: Jamie Reid**; 2nd Place Speaker: Will Taft; 3rd Place Speaker: Zoe Schneider; 4th Place Speaker: Rachel Citrin
Dramatic Interpretation: 3rd Place: Rex Petersen
Impromptu Speaking: 6th Place: Rex Petersen
Extemporaneous Speaking: 3rd Place: Isabel Olson**; 5th Place: Max Rabb**
Another special note, all the winners with ** beside their names have earned full qualification for the GFCA Varsity State Championships in March.
Results of the Alpharetta HS Speech and Debate Tournament: 24 awards, 51 students, 12 parent judges, 3 staff members. The Jesters bring home the Raiders Treasure Chest Sweepstakes Award.
Dramatic Interpretation: 1st Place, Rex Petersen*; 2nd Place, Tate Lancaster; 6th Place, Molly Looman*; 7th Place, Decker D'Alesio
Duo Interpretation: 1st Place, Ryan Switzer and Eliza Renner
Extemporaneous Speaking: 1st Place, Ben Simonds-Malamud*; 3rd Place, Molly Gray*; 5th Place, Max Rabb*
Impromptu Speaking: 1st Place, Ben Simonds-Malamud*; 4th Place, Max Rabb*; 7th Place, Molly Gray
Open Public Forum Debate: Co-Champions, Grace Power* and Riley Erickson* & Salome Kakalashvili* and Kathy Zakharova*
Novice Public Forum Debate: Champions, Zach Peter and Vinnie James; 3rd Place, Grady Jones and Todd Pengelly; 4th Place, Chloe Prendergast and Harrison Wilco
Novice Policy Debate: Nick Pittman ninth place
Lincoln-Douglas Debate: Octofinalists, Jamie Reid*, Alex Cameli, Logan Mann*, Mary Claire Morris*, Conor Downey; Co-Champions, Rachel Citrin and Tiger Li
Overall Tournament Champions: Grady HS
On October 6, 2012, the Jesters attended the Warner Robins Tournament.
Varsity Public Forum: 1st Place- Jamie Reid and Riley Erickson, 4th Place- Branden Carter and Damian Weaver, Quarters-finalists- Salome Kakalashvili and Kathy Zakharova, 4th Speaker, Jamie Reid, 6th Speaker, Salome Kakalashvili, 10th Speaker, Damian Weaver
Novice Policy Debate: 4th Speaker- Nick Pittman
Novice Public Forum: 2nd Place, Grady Jones and Sam Wilson, 4th Place, Elijah Sullivan and Chloe Prendergast, 4th Speaker, Chloe Prendergast.
Lincoln-Douglas Debate: 1st Place- Zoe Schneider, 2nd Place- Mary Claire Morris, 3rd Place- Will Taft, 4th Place- Logan Mann, Quarterfinalists, Tiger Li, Gilbert Young, Morgan Choi, 2nd Speaker- Zoe Schneider, 3rd Speaker, Mary Claire Morris, 4th Speaker- Tiger Li, 6th Speaker- Will Taft, 7th Speaker- Conor Downey, 9th Speaker- Gilbert Young, 10th Speaker- Caroline Morris
Prose/Poetry: 1st Place- Qri Montague
Extemporaneous Speaking: 1st Place- Isabelle Taft, 5th Place- Isabel Olson, 6th Place- Max Rabb
Impromptu Speaking: 1st Place- Isabelle Taft, 4th Place- Max Rabb
The Jesters competed at the Johns Creek Tournament Oct. 12-13.
Extemporaneous Speaking: 2nd Place, Ben Simonds-Malamud
Impromptu Speaking: 2nd Place, Rex Petersen; Finalist, Ben Simonds-Malamud
Dramatic Interpretation: 2nd Place, Rex Petersen
Lincoln Douglas Debate: Quarterfinalist, Jamie Reid; Finalist, Tiger Li
Public Forum Debate: Semifinalists, Grace Power and Riley Erickson; Quarterfinalists, Olivia Veira and Rachel Citrin; Octofinalists, Salome Kakalashvili and Kathy Zakharova; 13th Speaker, Rachel Citrin; 9th Speaker, Salome Kakalashvili; 5th Speaker, Riley Erickson.
The Jesters competed at the Bruce Rogers Classic Tournament at Houston County HS on Oct. 20.
Lincoln Douglas Debate: 4th Place, Morgan Choi; 3rd Place, Will Taft; 2nd Place, Zoe Schneider; 1st Place, Rachel Citrin.
Novice Public Forum Debate: 3rd Place, Lucy Lombardo and Mia Panarites; 2nd Place, Zach Peters and Vincent James.
Varsity Public Forum Debate: Octofinalists, Adam Schatz and Noah Li; Finalists, Ben Simonds-Malamud and Isabelle Taft; Champions, Grace Power and Olivia Veira.
On November 31st and December 1st, the Jesters competed at the George Mason Speech and Debate Tournament in Fairfax, VA. This was a large competition with 1,900 entries from 124 schools from 17 states, the vast majority being private schools.
Public Forum Debate, Octofinalists- Sammi Dean and Olivia Veira
Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Octofinalist- Will Taft; 2nd Place- Tiger Li
Extemporaneous Speaking, Quarterfinalist- Ben Simonds-Malamud; Semifinalist- Isabelle Taft
Impromptu Speaking, 5th Place, Isabelle Taft
On December 7th and 8th, 2012, the Jesters competed in the Cairo High School "Syrup Makers Classic" Speech and Debate Tournament in Cairo, Ga. Overall the team brought home the First Place Sweepstakes Trophy!
Dramatic Interpretation: Decker D'Alesio, 3rd Place; Deya Bowers, 5th Place
Duo Interpretation: Carter Guensler and Robert Brown, Champions
Impromptu Speaking: Carter Guensler, 3rd Place; Riley Erickson, 5th Place
Extemporaneous Speaking: Ike Hammond, 3rd Place; Riley Erickson, 6th Place
Lincoln-Douglas Debate: Meredith Fossitt, Champion; Alex Cameli, 2nd Place; Miles Barreto, 3rd Place; Caroline Morris, 4th Place; Conor Downey, 5th Place.
Public Forum Debate: Adam Schatz and Richard Lou, Champions; Chloe Prendergast and Harrison Wilco, Finalists; Kathy Zakharova and Noah Li, Semi-Finalists; Grady Jones and Todd Pengelly, Quarter-Finalists; Brandon Kleber, 10th Speaker; Richard Lou, 9th Speaker; Kathy Zakharova, 7th Speaker; Grady Jones, 6th Speaker; Adam Schatz, 3rd Speaker.
Congratulations to Salome Kakalashvili, Varsity State Champion In the Senate, Student Congress!
Harvard University Speech and Debate Tournament
RESULTS: A very special congratulation to ISABELLE TAFT for placing second in Extemporaneous Speaking!
Jesters win Varsity State Speech & Debate Championship!
The Jesters won the Varsity State Speech and Debate Championship for the fourth year in a row!
Prose/Poetry: QRI MONTAGUE, CHAMPION
Dramatic Interpretation: Deya Bowers, Semi-finalist; Rex Petersen, Semi-finalist
Duo Interpretation: Carter Guensler and Robert Brown, 6th Place; Ryan Switzer and Eliza Renner, 4th Place
Extemporaneous Speaking: Molly Gray, 5th Place; Keegan Hasson, 4th Place; Ben Simonds-Malamud, 3rd Place; ISABELLE TAFT, CHAMPION
Impromptu Speaking: Keegan Hasson, Semi-finalist; Molly Gray, Semi-finalist; Rex Petersen, 6th Place; Carter Guensler, 4th Place; Ben Simonds-Malamud, 2nd Place; ISABELLE TAFT, CHAMPION
Policy Debate: Sam Heller and Nick Pittman, Octofinalists
Public Forum Debate: Chloe Prendergast and Harrison Wilco, Quarterfinalists; KATHY ZAKHAROVA AND SALOME KAKALASHVILI, CHAMPIONS
Lincoln-Douglas Debate: Conor Downey, Octofinalist; Meredith Fossitt, Octofinalist; Logan Mann, Octofinalist; Rachel Citrin, Quarterfinalist; Jamie Reid, Quarterfinalist; Tiger Li, Quarterfinalist; Gilbert Young, Quarterfinalist
Special note: Isabelle Taft has won more State Championships than any other individual in Georgia in the history of the organization!
Sweepstakes- 2nd Place Speech Sweepstakes, 1st Place Debate Sweepstakes, 1st Place Overall Sweepstakes
Congratulations to Atlanta Urban Debate League qualifiers: Sam Heller & Morgan Choi.
Congratulations to the following students for qualifying to the Grand National Speech and Debate Tournament to be held on May 24-27, 2013, in Philadelphia, PA:
Policy Debate - Morgan Choi and Sam Heller
Public Forum Debate - Riley Erickson and Adam Schatz, Kathy Zakharova and Salome Kakalashvili, Noah Li and Max Rafferty
Lincoln-Douglas Debate - Tiger Li, Logan Mann, Will Taft and Jamie Reid
Extemporaneous Speaking - Isabelle Taft, Molly Gray and Ben Simonds-Malamud
Duo Interpretation - Ryan Switzer and Eliza Renner, Robert Brown and Carter Guensler
Dramatic Performance - Tate Lancaster
Oratorical Declamation - Conor Downey
The Jesters brought home the Phillip Wertz Sweepstakes Trophy once again!
Grady Latin Students
On November 17th, three upper-level Latin students competed at the annual Turkey Buzz-Off, a Latin quiz bowl competition. Out of 54 teams in the state, Grady's Latin team placed 7th! Please congratulate Lucy Bradley, Rachel Klika, and Olivia Volkert on a job well done!
Grady Mock Trial
Congratulations to Grady High’s Mock Trial team for their 15th consecutive year as regional champions! On February 12th, the Grady Draggins competed against Atlanta International School at the Fulton County Courthouse. Troy Kleber and Archie Kinnane won best attorney roles for their presentation and Madeline Lansing and Olivia Kleinman won best witness roles for their presentation.
At the state competition, held on March 16 in Lawrenceville, at the Gwinnett Justice Center, Grady’s Mock Trial team made it to the semi-finals. Awards went to Archie Kinnane for best attorney and to Olivia Kleinman and Ciena Leshley for best witness roles. Congratulations!
Grady World Quest
Grady's varsity World Quest team, captained by Sam Heller, finished second in the state (beating out Gwinnett Math and Science Tech who won last year's contest) while the freshman team, captained by Henry Persons, finished ninth. Congrats to both teams.
Grady Model UN Team
In November, the Grady Model UN Team attended Georgia State University's Model UN conference. Grady received honorable mention for excellent overall performance for its representation of Yemen. Molly Gray and Anna Braxton received the Distinguished Position Paper Award. Carter Guensler and Robert Brown received honorable mention as Distinguished Delegates in the General Assembly.
Grady Biomedical Science and Engineering Academy
Six Biomedical Science and Engineering Academy Grady students have been named 2013 Best in State winners of the Verizon Innovative App Challenge. Caleb Crowley, Siddhartha Hughes, Emma Kasper, Simon Puckett, Kalid Ransome, and Tre Williams designed an app entitled Hands On Learning, which placed first in the competition. The students now advance to the national competition where they could win $10,000.
Grady Knights of Sound Pure Essence Dancers
The group won a trophy in the Gold category on Sunday, November 11, 2012 in the Battle of Danceline Competition at the GA World Congress Center. Congratulations to:
Teryn Patrick, Bria Griffin, Kylah Clark, Brianna Tabor, Teryn Shipman, April King, Jamesia Robinson, Jayla Tibbs, Shaquandra Shropshire, and Ebony Smith
Community Awards
Congratulations to Jamesia C. Robinson for being selected to serve on State Superintendent John Barge’s Student Advisory Council!
Grady Sports
The APS Knights Water Polo Team finished 1st in Division II and 9th Overall at their championship meet in Cumming.
Coach Robin Smith was awarded Division II Coach of the Year. Kate DeGive was voted on to the All GHSWPA Girls Team. Luke Paddock and Ryan Switzer were voted on to the GHSWPA Boys Team. Ryan Switzer was also awarded the Offensive Player of the Year.
On October 27, 2012, the Grady Boys Cross Country team competed at the Region 6AAAA championship at Marist School. The boys finished 5th in the field to be squeezed out of qualifying for state by a few points. They won the city championship.
The girls cross country team qualified for state with a second place region finish and a sixth place finish at the State Meet in Carrollton. They were 14th in the computer rankings going into the meet, and moved ahead of 8 teams with a very strong race effort. Congratulations to the girls and their coaches, Jeff Cramer and Tamara Aldridge.
Grace Powers (second trip to state), Isabelle Taft (third trip to state), Allison Rapoport (third trip), Lia Pett (second), Iman Madyun (first), Margo Stockdale (first), Meredith Fossit (first), Avery Bufkin (first), Sofia LeBlanc (first), Kate de Give (second or third?), Alexis Davis-Karanga (first)
Reilly Blum (first)
Varsity Football Coach Millen was named Head Coach for the East/West Metro Senior All-Star Bowl in November, 2012.
The boy’s varsity ultimate team won 2nd in state and 3rd in region for 2012. The girl’s team took 3rd in state and won the spirit award at regionals.
Grady Knight Swim Team results:
APS Swim Team Championships:
Girls Division - 2nd Place
Boys Divisions - 2nd Place
Overall - 2nd Place
The Madeleine Jude Brown Invitational (sponsored by Marist)
Attended by 600 swimmers
The Grady Girls finished tied for 12th and finished well ahead of North Atlanta HS, and St. Pius.
Grady JV Boys Basketball - CITY CHAMPIONS!
Congrats to the Grady JV Boys Basketball team on winning the APS City Championship on Saturday February 9th by beating Therrell High School, 60 to 45.
The Grady boys and girls basketball teams both qualified for the GHSA Class AAAA State Basketball Tournament by placing fourth in their respective region tournaments.
Summer Programs
The following Grady students were selected to attend the 21st Century Leaders summer programs:
Leadership Unplugged: A CNN Experience
Rex Petersen, Diane Powers, Montavius Wright, Riley Erickson, Dazja Greer
Leadership Plugged-In: A Turner Technology Experience
Olatunde Richardson, Taylor Thomas, Sydney Bailey, Sais Gilkey
G5 @ Goizueta
Teryn Shipman
EarthCare
Lillian Teffere
Grady Faculty Accolades
Gary Hardy, Grady English teacher, was selected as Kennesaw State University Bagwell College of Education’s outstanding collaborating teacher for the fall semester.
Mr. Andrew Nichols has won a 2013 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Inspirational Teacher Award. Current MIT student and Grady alum Erin Bailie nominated Mr. Nichols for the honor. In her nomination of Mr. Nichols, Bailie wrote, "You have helped me see the beauty in math by explaining information above and beyond the syllabus. ... You are truly a gem, and you have profoundly impacted many lives." Congrats to Mr. Nichols for receiving this outstanding and much-deserved honor.
Grady Alumni
Michael Barlow ('11), Holden Choi ('12), Ben Dean ('12) and John Holland ('10) have made it to the National Debate Tournament. John and Ben are partnered together for Emory (aka Grady Annex) Michael is representing West Point, Holden debates for Georgetown. All of them are Atlanta Urban Debate alums. It is quite unusual to have representation from a single high school and Atlanta Urban Debate be chosen for the National Debate Tournament. The NDT is the sine qua non of college debate- only the elite get to attend, the competition is fierce and it is considered the most prestigious debate tournament in all of debate- high school and college/international.
2012 David S. Barr Award:
The Newspaper Guild has named Shaun Kleber (’12), the national winner of the 2012 David S. Barr Award. The award recognizes a scholastic story for its excellence in promoting social justice. Kleber earned the award for his March 2011 story, “Pencil Me Out,” which chronicled testing irregularities with a diagnostic exam administered to Grady’s junior class in the winter of 2011. As the sole national high school winner, Kleber received $1,000. Kleber is the third Southerner reporter to win the Barr Award in the past six years.
