Student Success Expo Succeeds For Thousands of Families and Students!
Thousands of excited students and families swarmed the Savannah Civic Center for the 17th annual Student Success Expo and STEM Festival. Despite the chilly temperatures, the crowds formed early for the festivities and kept the booths and tables busy throughout the event. The Expo coincides with the opening of the Choice Application window and SCCPSS representatives were on hand to assist families, answering questions about the process. The Choice Application is open through January 31.
Mr. ImPossible, Keith Brown, welcomed the attendees with his typical high energy style and set the stage for the rest of the day. Dance lines included students, board members, and Superintendent Dr. Watts! Performances from bands, dance teams, and singers entertained the audiences when they weren’t perusing the tables from community partners and school representatives. Of course, the highlight of the day was the announcement of the winners of the various competitions. This year, students were able to compete in 5 different STEAM events: Egg Drop Challenge, Mousetrap Car Race, PSA, Recycle Art Challenge, and Straw Tower, as well as Public Speaking, Mock Job Interviews, Membership Recruitment and more.
Egg Drop Challenge
In the Egg Drop challenge, contestants designed and built a container to prevent an uncooked egg from cracking when dropped.
K – 2nd grade
1st Place Elyse Schwedler Henderson Formey
2nd Place Jacob Alba Windsor Forest Elementary
Grades 3 – 5
1st place Patrick Wade and Olivia Anderson Georgetown K8
2nd place Gezer Orrando Garden City Elementary
3rd Place Jenai Grubbs Rice Creek K8
Grades 6 – 8
1st Place Tanner Cagle and Om Patel New Hampstead K8
2nd Place Sutton Perry and Madalyn Reaves Coastal Middle
3rd Place Lucus Willis STEM Academy@Bartlett
Grades 9 – 12
1st Place Kenlasia Martin School of Liberal Studies -Savannah High
Mousetrap Car
In the Mousetrap Car competition, students were tasked with building a mousetrap car that would compete against other mousetrap cars for the greatest performance score.
Grades K – 2
1st Place Ezra Tinnel and Latham St. Jean Windsor Forest Elementary
Grades 3 – 5
1st Place Marissa Irwin, MiVon Smalls, and Jeandeliz Perez
Juliette Low Elementary
2nd Place Harmony Butler Elementary
3rd Place Brooklyn Anderson A.B. Williams
Grade 6 – 8
1st Place Kenneth Delossantos Mercer Middle
2nd Place Erick Composbello and Jose Galvan Mercer Middle
3rd Place Josiah Hinton and Kamel McKenzie DeRenne Middle
Grades 9 – 12
1st Place Jya’Mere Hamilton and Joshua Caldwell Savannah High
Public Service Announcement
The Public Service Announcement Competition focused on the importance of reading. Students created announcements based on the topic: If you want to succeed, Read!
Grades K – 2
1st Place Braylen, Raphael, and Maddison
Henderson E. Formey Early Learning Center
2nd Place Dawson Michuda, Dax Reiley, Mai Tran, Emma Gardner, Kameron Woodridge
Heard Elementary
Grades 3 – 5
1st Place Vincent Campbell, Juan Castro Quintana, Gabrielle Colon, Chloe Gibbons, Omari Thomas
Otis J. Brock Elementary
2nd Place Nyilah Palmer, Cadence Watts, Adeline Corrigan, Mary Brenton
New Hampstead K8
3rd Place Reagan Hunter and Aniyah Harris Hodge Elementary
Grades 6 – 8
1st Place Daisy Server, Tay’wan, Diego Ramirez-Satizabel New Hampstead K8
2nd Place Emauri Edwards, ZyAisha Smart, Jamya Williams, Harmani Jacobs
Hubert Middle School
3rd Place The Team Rice Creek K8
R3 Art Challenge: Recycle, Rebuild and Reuse
The purpose of this challenge is to allow students to create a work of art using recycled material. Students worked in teams to gain awareness about the environmental benefits of recycling while creating a work of art.
Grades K – 2
1st Place Lorer, Jeremiah, and Santana Henderson E. Formey Early Learning Center
2nd Place Paris McLean Rice Creek K8
Grade 3 – 5
1st Place London Mobley, Login Wolters, Jordan Rolston, Sernetry Patilla, Lola Banhart
Brock Elementary
2nd Place Anitah Williams, Nicole Lego, Joel Fields, Kendre Bush, Marleah Grant
Gadsden Elementary
3rd Place Everett Wiegand, Landon Hester, Sean Postrado, Langston Hester, Dion Miller
Heard Elementary
Grades 6 – 8
1st Place Kyshawn Milledge, Travis Tilley, Jamon Cornish, Dallas McCall, Kaisence Hill
The STEM Academy at Bartlett
2nd Place Elizabeth Louis and Stella Liebtag
Tybee Island Maritime Academy
Grades 9-12
1st Place Trinity Norman, Zelazia Boston, Alanya Jones
Sol C. Johnson High School
Straw Tower Building Challenge
In the Straw Tower competition, teams of students were challenged to construct the tallest possible free-standing tower using straws and masking tape.
Grades K - 2
1st Place Titus Jones, Paul Dunn, Juliet Gerlach, Shawn Roughto Georgetown K8
2nd Place Jayden Tanksley Henderson E. Formey ELC
Grades 3 – 5
1st Place I. Burgess Ashley P. Akilah R. Hodge Elementary
2nd Place T. Carpenter, L. Allen, B. Simmons, B. Hunt
Georgetown K8
3rd Place T. Smalls and J Rolston Brock Elementary
Grades 6 – 8
1st Place Sophie Heister & Yash Mazariegos STEM Academy @ Bartlett
2nd Place Om Patel, Tanner Cagle, and Shyamal Amin New Hampstead K8
3rd Place Aarav Dharmara STEM Academy @ Bartlett
Grades 9 – 12
1st Place Christian Manuel William Scruggs Savannah High
Career Technical Student Organization students were able to compete in 5 different events: Community Service Showcase, Extemporaneous Speech, Membership Recruitment Display, Mock Job Interview, and Public Speaking.
Membership Recruitment Challenge
For the Membership Recruitment Challenge, the CTSO chapter was asked to make a creative display to showcase the CTSO and recruit new members.
Grades 6 – 8
1st Place STEM Academy at Bartlett
2nd Place West Chatham Middle School
3rd Place New Hampstead K8
Grades 9-12
1st Place School of Liberal Studies at Savannah High
2nd Place Savannah Early College
3rd Place Beach High School
Community Service Showcase Display
For the Community Service Showcase, CTSO chapter members worked together to create a display to highlight their community service activities that benefit families, schools, and communities.
Grade 6 – 8
1st Place STEM Academy at Barlett
2nd Place West Chatham Middle School
3rd Place New Hampstead K8
Grades 9 – 12
1st Place Beach High School
2nd Place Johnson High School
3rd Place Savannah Early College
Public Speaking
Middle school participants presented a speech on the topic “Why students should join your Career and Technical Student Organization.
High School participants presented a speech on the topic “How do Career and Technical Student Organizations encourage and promote student leadership?”
Grades 6 – 8
1st Place Terry Miller STEM Academy at Bartlett
2nd Place Amerie Tyler West Chatham Middle School
3rd Place Janani Kumar Godley Station K8
Grades 9 – 12
1st Place Dominique Walker A.E. Beach High School
2ne Place Ghaidaa Lufti Islands High School
3rd Place Keshavi Bathula Woodville-Tompkins High
Extemporaneous Speech
For the Extemporaneous Speech Competition, students were given 15 minutes to select a topic and prepare a 2-minute speech. The speech then had to be presented to the panel of judges.
Grades 6 – 8
1st Place Pratyash Lakhotia STEM Academy at Bartlett
2nd Place Michael Martin STEM Academy at Bartlett
3rd Place Kaysen Bankhead Southwest Middle
Grades 9 – 12
1st Place Shamera Clausell A.E. Beach High
2nd Place Durga Kumas Woodville-Tompkins High
3rd Place Samantha Dong Islands High
Mock Job Interview-Office Manager
During the Mock Job Interview Competition, students participated in a simulation of an actual interview with a panel of judges/interviewers. The panel of judges asked each candidate a variety of questions to determine employability.
Grades 6 – 8
1st Place Sophie Heister STEM Academy at Bartlett
2nd Place Christabel Adjeman Rice Creek K8
3rd Place Madison Ingram STEM Academy at Bartlett
Grades 9 – 12
1st Place Brooklyn Howells Islands High School
2nd Place Nasir Savage A.E. Beach High
3rd Place Jeremiah Murrell Johnson High
In addition, schools competed for the coveted title of Best Booth and the highest number of attendees per school. In the Best School Booth Competition, schools were judged on school spirit, creativity, information presented, and overall appearance.
Elementary School
1st Place Gadsden Elementary
2nd Place Heard Elementary
3rd Place Juliette Low Elementary
K8 Schools
1st Place Georgetown K8
2nd Place Hesse K8
3rd Place Garrison School for the Arts
Middle School
1st Place Mercer
2nd Place Myers
3rd Place DeRenne
High School
1st Place Beach
2nd Place Woodville-Tompkins
3rd Place Jenkins
The schools that won for the most visitors to sign-in are:
1st Place – Beach High School
2nd Place – Savannah High School
3rd Place – Garrison K-8
The following students won an iPad by visiting each booth and turning in their Passport!
Reese Marlatt – Hesse K-8 – 5th Grade
Jordan Rolstan – Otis Brock – 3rd Grade
Ninfa Hilario – Savannah Early College – 12th Grade
Kritya Patel – Garrison K-8 – 7th Grade
Prateush Lakhotia – STEM @BartlettMS – 8th Grade
Janoah Jones – Rice Creek – 2nd Grade
Parth Main – Woodville Tompkins – 9th Grade
Lavanya Main – Garden City – 4th Grade
Henry Hulseberg – Coastal Middle – 7th Grade
Abigail Bogden – Garrison – 7th Grade