Riverwood Students Make All-State Chorus, Commit To Valdosta State

Editor’s note: the following school news was submitted by Riverwood International Charter School

Student Makes All-State Reading Chorus

Congratulations to Callaway Powlus for making the 2015 Georgia Music Educators (GMEA) All-State Reading Chorus for the second consecutive year. She is the first Riverwood student to ever make the elite choir. The Sight-Reading Chorus is separate from the general GMEA All-State Chorus; Powlus has been a member of the All-State Chorus for the past six years.

The Sight-Reading Chorus is a unique choir of the most outstanding high school choral students in the state. The reading level required is equivalent to a Master’s level music major in college. After rigorous auditions, the selected students gather for a challenging weekend of rehearsals and instruction, culminating in a concert in the intimate and acoustically fine sanctuary of Christ Church, Savannah. The students receive more than 50 pieces of music the first afternoon and spend five hours sight-reading. After spending more than ten hours over two days exploring the array of music, the concert program comes together with selected favorites. Dr. Stanley R. Roberts of Mercer University served as this year’s conductor.

Students Commemorate Chinese New Year

Hosted by the Riverwood International Charter School’s Chinese Club, this year’s Chinese New Year celebration invited students to test their knowledge of Chinese culture, learn more about Chinese traditions and enjoy a buffet of popular Chinese dishes.

Athlete Commits To Valdosta State University

Senior Reginald Prince II has signed a scholarship to play football for Valdosta State University. The future Blazer’s athletic career highlights include: Offensive player of the year, 1st team all-region linebacker, 2nd team all-region linebacker, Linebacker of the year, special team player of the year, 3-year varsity lettered, North Fulton Forsyth Touchdown Club Defensive Player of the Game, North Fulton Forsyth Touchdown Club Defensive Player of the Week, North Fulton Forsyth Touchdown Club All-star game Defensive Player of the Game and Invited and participated in the Georgia vs Florida All-star game

Coach Ben Stready has this to say about Reginald, “Reggie is a hard working young man that is destined for greatness.” Reginald is the son of Reginald & LaQuanda Prince of College Park.

Meet Riverwood’s Teacher of the Year: Brittany McKinnon Wood

Brittany McKinnon Wood has been teaching IB Economics and US History for the past two years at Riverwood International Charter School and describes the favorite part of her job is interacting over time with her students. She adds, watching students learn and grow over the course of the school year is an exciting process. Prior to working at Riverwood, Ms. Wood worked at Whitewater High School in Fayetteville. She received her bachelors and masters degrees from the University of Georgia.

Her teaching philosophy:

Before you can become an effective teacher, I believe you must become an effective learner, especially in learning about your students. While I spend a great deal of time teaching my students about social studies, I also spend a great deal of time learning who my students are in order to understand how I can best serve them as their teacher. Realizing that the teaching profession requires me to be both a teacher and a learner at the same time has perhaps been my greatest discovery over the past few years. There is great truth in the saying that, “Students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

Ms. Wood considers being Riverwood’s Teacher of the Year an honor. She feels privileged to work alongside so many other dedicated professionals who enjoy committing a great deal of time and effort to the school. In addition to her Social Studies classes, Ms. Wood coaches the Girls Golf team.

Meet Riverwood’s Professional of the Year: Melissa Perlmutter

Melissa Perlmutter has been a school counselor at Riverwood for the past three years. She works with students on addressing any academic; social/emotional; and college/career needs and concerns. Through a combination of individual and group counseling; classroom guidance sessions; teacher and family collaboration; and student/parent meetings and workshops, she implements a comprehensive school counseling program. She previously worked at Druid Hills High School in DeKalb County. She received her undergraduate degree from Emory University and her master’s degree in school counseling from Georgia State University.

Ms. Perlmutter enjoys working at Riverwood because of the diverse student body. She loves working directly with students, talking with them to work through issues or concerns - and ultimately, seeing them make thoughtful and positive decisions. She’s proud of the school’s wide variety of programs and opportunities designed to meet the needs of all different types of students.

She considers being selected Professional of the Year as an honor for the entire counseling department, signifying the school community values not only what she does, but what the entire department does to help Riverwood students.

Photo 1: Back row from l to r: Principal Robert Shaw, Coach Ben Stready and athletic director Mike Santoro

Photo 2: Callaway Powlus

Photo 3: from left to right: Carlos Lopez, Yesenia Estrella, Malisa Vega-Avilez, Anna Xayravong, Meiqiao Wang and Le Wang - all winners of the poster contest

Photo 4: Student Carlos Lopez won a prize for demonstrating his knowledge of Chinese culture

Photo 5: Melissa Perlmutter, left, and Brittany McKinnon Wood