Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District, a water planning agency for the 15 county metro area focused on water supply and conservation, wastewater and septic management, and watershed protection/stormwater pollution prevention, is holding an essay contest for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students. This year’s topic is to explain why water quantity and water quality are equally important. Students should write a 300-500 word essay. Essays are due October 20, 2017. The prize is $100 for each county winner, and a winner from the City of Atlanta. A grand prize with an additional $400 will be awarded at the winners’ reception held on December 13th at the state capitol. 

​The annual Middle School Science Olympiad training workshop is on Saturday October 28th at Dodgen Middle School in East Cobb County.   This middle school workshop is helpful for new schools as well as experienced schools.  This provides a great way to jump start your team for the year. 
 
Each school that registers may bring 1 teacher/coach and 2 students for each event class that is taught (as space available).  
 
This year’s classes include: 
 
•         Road Scholar – Paul Jacobson, Dodgen
•         Experimental Design – Twila McMullan, North Cobb Christian
•         Wright Stuff – Dave & Eileen Zeigler – Freedom Flight Models
•         Roller Coaster – Dodgen / Lockheed Martin
•         Towers - Jennifer Joiner, Dekalb County School System
•         Event TBD – Sumi Jayaraman
•         Engineering Careers (Taught by young Lockheed Martin engineers)
•         New coach class  (0-3 years experience) Debbie Amodeo, Dodgen
•         Coach Roundtable (new & experienced lead coaches)
 
We are also teaching a “new coach” class which is geared towards coaches with 0-3 years’ experience with Science Olympiad. 
 
Registration Form Link:        https://goo.gl/forms/92qnCzsxaX9alisC2
 
Seating is limited so we will handle registration on a first come first served basis and will try to accommodate as many schools as possible.

Since 2005, the Cobb Schools Foundation (CSF) has awarded more than $200,000 in IMPACT grants to teachers in the Cobb County School District.  These grants are made possible by business partnerships, such as  the Atlanta Braves Foundation, and through fundraising efforts, including events like the Annual Gimme 5 for Education campaign and the Cobb Homecoming Classic Golf Tournament.
 
This year, the Cobb Schools Foundation has a new partnership with the Atlanta Braves Foundation. The new partnership will allow CSF to increase the number of grants awarded to support innovative and creative ideas in teaching and learning.  Last year, CSF awarded 19 IMPACT Grants totaling over $32,000 to Cobb school district educators.
 
The grants help provide start-up funds, help enable collaboration, recognize creativity and give teachers the chance to offer real-life learning experiences. Those eligible for the financial awards include individual teachers, teacher teams, specialists or schools who can use the money to implement educational programs and initiatives that would otherwise go unfunded.
 
The 2017 Teacher IMPACT Grants application deadline is October 6, 2017 and must be submitted online by 11:59 p.m. on that date. Winners will be notified by December 1, 2017.
  
For more information about the Cobb Schools Foundation and to apply for an IMPACT Grant, please visit www.cobbschoolsfoundation.org.

The recorded version of the SEP Webinar on Developing and Using Models is available here: bit.ly/ModelingWebinar

Our next Science and Engineering Practices Webinar will be on October 11th from 4:30-5:00 pm. You can join by clicking this link: www.tinyurl.com/InvestigationsWebinar