Allison's CAS Blog

  In the middle of August, I applied to be a member of state superintendent Richard Woods' Student Advisory Council! Each year, there is a new student council that helps the superintendent create decisions for the betterment of the Georgia Department of Education. The application consisted of questions that asked us about what we would contribute as a member and what problems we see within the educational system. I decided to talk about the lack of diversity within higher-level classes such as AP and IB and the recent obsession with STEM programs instead of English and History subjects and how it affects a student's ability to communicate with others. At the end of September, I was notified that I was 1 out of 69 students who were chosen for the council!  Nearly two Thursdays ago, I had to travel to Atlanta to the Georgia Department of Education building that held the meeting we were all supposed to be in attendance for. The first thing on the agenda was to get breakfast which...

  This past Saturday, I chose to spend my day volunteering with the Serteen Club at Carrollton High School at the Miss Sparkle Pageant: a pageant that contains the special needs community throughout Carrollton. There are Little Miss, Junior Miss, Teen Miss, and Miss categories which separate the girls into four groups. Within their group, they are judged by about ten judges and are each crowned and given a flower at the end of the ceremony. However, there will be one winner throughout each category. Sometime during the pageant, each girl is escorted by a male member and given a description of who they are and their interests. This whole day was a huge learning experience on my part, but it is one experience I will never get tired of sharing.  At 12:00 p.m. all of the volunteers arrived to help welcome the girls, sign them in, and hang up their dresses so they could attend the pageant rehearsal. While they rehearsed, volunteers continued their role of welcoming contenders. Afte...