Eleven Newton County School System (NCSS) high school students have been named semi-finalists for the 2023 Governor’s Honors Program (GHP). The Georgia Governor’s Honors Program (GHP) is a residential summer program for gifted and talented high school students who will be rising juniors and seniors during the program. The program offers instruction that is significantly different from the typical high school classroom. It is designed to provide students with academic, cultural, and social enrichment necessary to become the next generation of global critical thinkers, innovators, and leaders.
GHP is held in mid-summer (mid-June to mid-July) as a residential educational experience on a college or university campus. This year’s program will be hosted by Georgia Southern University from June 18 through July 15, 2023. Students will attend classes in the mornings and afternoons in specific areas of study, and then participate in a wide variety of social and instructional opportunities every evening. Meals and rooms are provided by the program.
Students interested in attending must participate in a series of interviews and should be able to speak eloquently and in great detail about the subject they choose. They are students who desire to work with their subject outside of school and go above and beyond. Students may be nominated in Communicative Arts (ELA), all the Foreign Languages, Math, Science, Social Studies, Dance, Music, Theater, Visual Arts, Engineering, and Agriscience.
According to Shundreia Neely, NCSS Director of Secondary Schools, each school has a school level GHP coordinator.
“The coordinator informs teachers about the program and asks teachers to nominate students who are highly talented and qualified to meet the criteria of the program,” Neely explained. “After the teachers provide the coordinators with student names, the coordinator meets with students to provide them with an overview of GHP and how the nomination process works. Additionally, the school-level GHP coordinator checks to ensure students meet the criteria. If the student meets the criteria, the coordinator informs the teacher and has the teacher complete the GHP nomination form. The teacher completes his or her portion as well as assists the student with filling in his/her nomination information (essays).”
She added, “If selected as district winners, the students’ names are submitted to the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement (GOSA). The students are next contacted by GOSA to complete a state application in efforts to be selected for state interviews. If selected, students become semi-finalists and then compete in state interviews. Students selected as finalists from state interviews will have the opportunity to participate in the GHP summer program.”
NCSS students who have successfully passed the school and district-level interviews and had their applications approved by GOSA to be named a semifinalist in the program are as follows:
2023 Governor's Honors Semifinalists
| NAME |
|
SCHOOL |
|
GRADE |
|
SUBJECT AREA |
| Ella Whitehead |
|
Alcovy High & NCAA STEM Institute |
|
11 |
|
Communicative Arts |
| Bailee Ellis |
|
Eastside High |
|
11 |
|
Music-Voice: Soprano |
| Jaynice Yao |
|
Eastside High |
|
10 |
|
Communicative Arts |
| Bobby Stephens |
|
Eastside High & NCCA STEM Institute |
|
11 |
|
Engineering-Programming |
| Darren White |
|
Eastside High & NCCA STEM Institute |
|
10 |
|
Mathematics |
| Tre'von Davis |
|
Newton High & NCCA STEM Institute |
|
11 |
|
Communicative Arts |
| Ngan Nguyen |
|
Newton High |
|
11 |
|
Visual Arts |
| Ariel Kraus-Holloway |
|
Newton High |
|
11 |
|
Social Studies |
| Jimicah Roseberry |
|
Newton High |
|
11 |
|
Music-Brass: Euphonium |
| Judah Cole |
|
Newton High |
|
11 |
|
Music-Jazz: Piano |
| Kason Ewing |
|
Newton High |
|
11 |
|
World Languages: Spanish |
“Congratulations to our students who have been named semi-finalists in the 2023 Governor’s Honors Program,” said Neely. “These students worked tirelessly to complete many rounds of revisions to get their applications and essays prepared for the semi-finalist round. They did not allow anything to stop them from reaching their goals. It is nice to see students so passionate about a subject area, that they wish to participate in a program to learn more in-depth information about the topic. I commend each student and wish each of them well in the next phase of the Governor’s Honors Program.”