Cobb Graduations to Be Streamed Live

Walton High School's ceremony at the Kennesaw State University Convocation Center is one of them.

Graduations begin Thursday, and the Cobb County School District wants to make sure that family and friends who can't attend the ceremonies don't miss out. With the exception of McEachern in Powder Springs and Allatoona in Acworth, whose graduations will be held outdoors, most of the ceremonies will be streamed live. Walton High School's ceremony at the Kennesaw State University Convocation Center is one of them. View it here at 10 a.m. Friday. Here's the schedule for the rest of the county.

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2013 East Cobb Graduation Schedule

The big days at Kell, Lassiter, Pope, Sprayberry, Walton and Wheeler high schools start Thursday and end Saturday.

Walton Students Named Presidential Scholars

George Q. Fei and Hali L. Mo will be honored by the U.S. Department of Education in June.

From the Cobb County School District: Both students selected to represent Georgia in the 2013 U.S. Presidential Scholars program are from Walton High School. Congratulations to George Q. Fei and Hali L. Mo, who were among the 141 high school seniors nationwide recognized by the U.S. Department of Education for their success in and outside the classroom. One male scholar and one female scholar were selected from each state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and from U.S. families living overseas. The program also awarded 15 at-large recipients and 20 U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts. U.S. Presidential Scholars are selected based on their academic success or artistic excellence, as well as essays, transcripts and evidence of …

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Ott to Hold Walton Town Hall

Next Wednesday's meeting with constituents begins at 7 p.m.

District 2 Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott will hold his next East Cobb town hall meeting next Wednesday, May 8, at Walton High School. The meeting will take place in the auditorium from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. At his town halls, Ott typically updates constituents on developments in Cobb County government and the community and takes questions from the audience. Walton is located at 1590 Bill Murdock Road.

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East Cobb Football Stars Sign With NFL

Walton's Chase Thomas and three others weren't drafted, but were added as free agents Saturday.

Four former football stars from East Cobb high schools have signed National Football League contracts. None were selected in the seven-round NFL draft that concluded Saturday afternoon, but they quickly latched on with teams as free agents. Former Walton High School star Chase Thomas signed with the New Orleans Saints after being a surprising omission in the draft, then updated his Twitter account: "everything happens for a reason #teamSaints #whoDatNation lets get to work" He later Tweeted: "#whoDatNation isnt ready for the #partyinthebackfield but i am" According to The San Francisco Chronicle, Thomas was "p---ed off" about not getting drafted. Thomas, an outside linebacker, ended his illustrious Stanford career with a Rose Bowl victory …

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Walton, Pope Snubbed by U.S. News

Lassiter, Sprayberry and Wheeler are the only East Cobb high schools to be ranked in Georgia.

Earlier this week Patch told you about the good marks for Walton, Pope, Wheeler, Lassiter and other East Cobb-area high schools as among the "most challenging" in the country. To illustrate how subjective these criteria are, we give you the latest high school rankings from U.S. News. While Lassiter High School fares well again -- it's considered the 7th-best in Georgia and No. 343 in the nation -- other "most challenging" schools in the area didn't make the list at all. Here's the real head-scratcher: Walton and Pope were unranked even in Georgia. Wheeler was ranked No. 17 (and No. 906 nationally) and also was on the "most challenging" list. Only 47 schools in Georgia were ranked by U.S. News. Also unranked was Kell High School in …

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Walton Grad Earns Top College Honor

Kenneth Tracy has received the Steven N. Swanger Leadership Award at the University of South Carolina.

Kenneth Tracy Jr., a Walton High School graduate, has earned the second-highest undergraduate honor at the University of South Carolina. Tracy has been named a recipient of the Steven N. Swanger Leadership Award, which goes to a graduating senior for leadership abilities and demonstrated community service. He has been active in student government since his freshman year, and served as Carolina’s student body president during the 2012-13 school year. He received the Thomas Moore Craig Leadership award from Omicron Delta Kappa honor society and was the recipient of the Student Government President’s Merit Award. During his time at USC he has participated in Dance Marathon, volunteered with Service Saturday and was a University 101 peer …

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East Cobb Schools on 'Most Challenging' List

Lassiter, Pope, Sprayberry, Walton and Wheeler were cited for creating a high-achieving academic environment.

Five East Cobb-area high schools are among 11 Cobb County schools included in The Washington Post's list of America’s Most Challenging High Schools. Walton High School had the highest ranking of the Cobb County schools, coming in at No. 3 on the state list and No. 163 on the national list. Lassiter is listed at No. 20 in Georgia on the list, which surveyed around 1,900 high school nationwide. Coming in at No. 48 in the state is Pope High School, followed by Wheeler High School at No. 56. Sprayberry is listed at No. 65 while Kell is listed at No. 71.  The Post's ranking system calculates the number of advanced placement, international baccalaureate and advanced international certificate of education tests given at a school each year, and …

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SPLOST Complaint Cites East Cobb Schools

The Cobb Taxpayers Association claims the Cobb School District violated state law by using public money to advocate for passage of SPLOST IV.

Contributed by the Cobb Taxpayers Association: The Cobb Taxpayers Association (CTA) president, Lance Lamberton, submitted a complaint on Thursday with the Georgia Department of Law, claiming that the Cobb County School District was in violation of state law by using taxpayer money and taxpayer supported facilities to explicitly advocate for passage of SPLOST IV, which was ratified by voters in a specially held election in Cobb County on March 19, 2013. In the complaint, Lamberton stated: The Cobb County School District explicitly called for passage of SPLOST IV using taxpayer supported and paid for communications, which included a newsletter, The Mt. Bethel Bugle, which urged a “yes” vote (attached). This newsletter was put in folders, …

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Walton Athletes Sign Scholarships

Three seniors made their college choices official this week.

Many thanks go out again to Walton High School athletic secretary Tammy Feilmeier for sending us photos of Wednesday's signing day activities. Three athletes took part in spring signing day, including football star Tyren Jones, who's headed to national champion Alabama with Raiders teammate Parker McLeod. Tennis player Melisssa Mashburn (Minnesota State) and track and field athlete Erin Radcliffe (Georgia Tech) also brought in their families for the special occasion.

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