February 7, 2005
Lynn Varner, Manager
PAGE Foundation Public Relations- 800-334-6861
Brookstone Middle School, coached by Linda Wallman, captured top honors at the PAGE (Professional Association of Georgia Educators) Academic Bowl for Middle Grades State Finals, held on February 7, 2005, at the 755 Club at Turner Field in Atlanta, Georgia. The team emerged victorious from the final of four-single elimination rounds. Richmond County’s St. Mary on the Hill School, coached by Christine Wetzel, Sylvia Mozgowiec, Barbara Mysona and Beth Rindt, was named First Runner-up; with Cobb County’s Hightower Trail Middle School, coached by Lisa Crockett, as Second Runner-up and Gwinnett County’s Duluth Middle School, coached by Linda Koch and Sylvia Barteaux, as Third Runner-up.
Brookstone Coach Linda Wallman credited their State championship to a phenomenal team, insatiable in their interest in learning. “I believe these boys represent the culmination of what Brookstone Middle School is all about, the culmination of caring and supportive teachers and administration. The entire school will celebrate this,” Wallman said.
The PAGE Academic Bowl for Middle Grades is sponsored by the PAGE and the PAGE Foundation. The Academic Bowl features teams of middle school students fielding questions on subjects ranging from Georgia history to mathematics, science, literature and the performing arts. The questions are developed using the Georgia Middle School Curriculum. Cheered on by coaches, parents and fellow students, team members answer toss-up and bonus questions to score points. The program inspires students to excel academically, boosts student self-confidence and self-esteem through high achievement and stimulates both a team and competitive spirit.
“I am always impressed with the intellectual agility, poise and determination shown by these Academic Bowl participants. Each member of each team and their coaches should be justifiably proud to have competed in the State Championship, and I’m sure that I’m joined by their parents, school administrators and peers in offering congratulations for a job well done,” said Tom Wommack, president of the PAGE Foundation.
Statewide, more than 2,000 students compete at the local, regional and state levels of the PAGE Academic Bowl for Middle Grades. It is one of several programs of academic excellence sponsored by the PAGE Foundation. Other academic competitions include PAGE STAR (Student Teacher Achievement Recognition) and the PAGE Georgia Academic Decathlon (GAD). Through its sponsorship of Future Educators of America in Georgia (FEA in GA), Student Professional Association of Georgia Educators (SPAGE), PAGE Foundation Scholarships and National Board Certification, the PAGE Foundation strives to recruit, develop and retain highly-accomplished teachers for every Georgia student.
Caption: Brookstone Middle School’s Academic Bowl team accepts their award as State Champions following their victory at the PAGE Academic Bowl for Middle Grades State Finals. Pictured are (back row, left to right) Brookstone School Headmaster Scott Wilson, Coach Linda Wallman, Freeman McCluskey, Team Captain Samuel Coffin, Blake Hudson, Praveen Nandamuru, Slayton Gilmore and Brookstone Middle School Principal Bill Arrington, and (front row, left to right) McKay Sheftall, Kevin Jacobson and Sagar Patel.
PAGE, the parent organization of the Foundation, is a nonunion, statewide professional association of more than 60,000 teachers, administrators and support personnel members with the purpose of promoting better education for the children of Georgia.