• 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
• The CAMP Scholarship at Abraham Baldwin Agriculture College (ABAC) assists students who have participated or are currently enrolled in the Migrant Education program at any point during grade school. This scholarship program accepts 32 students every Fall Semester and assists them throughout the student’s first year at ABAC. Applicants must be a U.S. citizen or Permanent Resident (with current Resident Alien Card), be a migrant/seasonal farmworker or immediate family of a migrant/seasonal farmworker or have participated or be currently participating in the Migrant Education Program (MEP), be eligible to receive Federal Financial Aid.

This Weeks’ Feature: GPA: What is it and why is it important?

GPA stands for Grade Point Average.  A basic definition of GPA is an average of a student’s final grade in high school classes he or she has taken.  However, there are different kinds of GPA as listed below:

1. Academic GPA: The average of all English, math, science, social studies, and academic elective courses such as French or Spanish I and II
2. Cumulative GPA: The average of all classes, including electives. Sometimes referred to as “overall” GPA.
3. Weighted GPA: The average of classes with weighting added due to course rigor level. For example, a dual enrollment course might have points added to the final grade for GHS because it is a college level class.
4. Unweighted GPA: The average of classes with no weighting added. Typically, if a student takes no AP or dual enrollment classes, his or her unweighted and weighted GPAs will be the same.
5. HOPE GPA: The average of classes as computed by the Georgia Student Finance Commission for Zell Miller and HOPE eligibility.

It is important to know about these types of GPA, since scholarship applications may ask for a specific type of GPA.  Also, this knowledge helps students and parents keep an eye on the GPA from the beginning of high school, because the GPA is calculated from all of high school, not just the student’s senior year.

Finally, the GPA may be on a 100-point scale or a 4-point scale.  GHS uses a 100-point scale.  It corresponds directly with students’ GPAs.  A rough guideline for converting to the 4-point scale is available at this link:  http://www.thehomescholar.com/pdf/college-board-gpa.pdf

For more information on where the grades come from that go into the GPA, read next week’s feature on transcripts!