• The 13th Annual U. S. Air Force Academy Candidate Orientation Program, presented by the U. S. Air Force Academy Georgia Parents Club and U. S. Air Force Academy Admissions Liaison Officers (ALOs), will take place on Saturday, Dec. 17^th, at American Legion Post 160, 160 Legion Drive SE, Smyrna, GA, 30080. This event is for all interested high school students AND their parents to meet one-on-one with current Air Force Academy cadets, their parents, and Academy Liaison Officers.  Find out what Academy life is really like.  Ask your questions about academic majors, military training, clubs, and sports.  This event is FREE to attend.  If interested, please e-mail your name, high school name and your contact e-mail address to Sarah Pinson at [email protected] to help us plan for the event.

• University of North Georgia Blue Ridge campus is offering the Institutional SAT and Institutional ACT on the following dates: ISAT:  Saturday February 11, 2017; IACT:  Friday March 17, 2017.  The exams begin at 9 am.

• UNG Blue Ridge also offers ACCUPLACER testing (replaced COMPASS) each month. For more information, go to http://ung.edu/testing/ or call 706-946-5460.

• Dalton State College is offering the institutional SAT on Friday, December 9, 2016. The exam begins at 9:00 am and the cost is $65.00.  Students must have an application on file in order to take the exam.

• Attention Juniors! Amicalola EMC announces the 2017 Washington Youth Tour Scholarship. The Washington Youth Tour is the oldest and largest youth leadership program in Georgia. Delegates from all over Georgia travel together on an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, DC. Amicalola EMC delegates also receive a college scholarship.  Who can enter? Applicant must be a high school junior between 16 and 18 years of age at the time of the tour (June 8-15, 2017.) Applicant must reside in an Amicalola EMC household.  Applications are available on the GHS scholarship page.

• Attention Seniors! Amicalola EMC announces the 2017 Amicalola EMC Scholarship.  Who can enter? Applicants must be a high school senior and scholarships are awarded based primarily upon grade point average, SAT/ACT scores and financial need. All winners must reside in a household whose power is supplied by Amicalola EMC. Applications are available on the GHS scholarship page.  The application deadline for these scholarships is January 31, 2017.  Details are at this link:  https://sites.google.com/a/gilmerschools.com/ghs-scholarship-page/home

This Weeks’ Feature: Checking Your Child’s Grades

Regardless of your child’s age, it is important to keep a regular check on grades.  In fact, the older your child gets, some would argue the more important this becomes.  With the transitions to middle and high school, students can sometimes flounder in their academic performance, and they may not want to share this with their parents.  Since classes at the high school level last only a semester and students must pass certain classes in order to graduate high school, checking grades along the way becomes even more critical.  We are nearing the end of the first semester at GHS, so now is the time to look at grades.

Meanwhile, the transition to Infinite Campus for record keeping has been ongoing since summer.  Some capabilities have yet to be activated.  However, if you want to check your child’s grades, you can log in to the Infinite Campus student portal to do so.  Following are instructions.  Please note also that you will need your student’s 5-digit student number in order to log in.  If you do not have this number, you can get it by having a copy of your child’s schedule sent home or by stopping by the school to get the number.

• Go to the Gilmer Schools website @ gilmerschools.com
• Click on the Student Link
• Click on the Infinite Campus Link
• User name = 5-digit student number
• Password = <first name initial>< last name initial> <DOB MMDDYY>
• Example: John Smith, 56789, 10/28/1999 (Username = 56789, Password = js102899)