Thomas County Middle School student Za'Miriya Sneed is headed to the Georgia Association of Educators (GAE) spelling bee in Atlanta, Georgia on Friday, March 17.  Sneed, an eighth grade student in the TCMS MERIT program,  earned her spot in the state competition after finishing as the runner-up in the District 9 Spelling Bee on Saturday, February 25. The district bee was composed of candidates from 21 counties throughout Southwest Georgia.  Previously, Sneed won both the 8th grade spelling bee at TCMS and the Thomas County School System spelling bee.The GAE spelling bee is a qualifying event for the Scripps National Spelling Bee.  

Overall NHD Winner - Laura Hiers

All NHD Winners (not pictured: Caroline Daughtry)

On Friday, February 24, Thomas County Middle School hosted the regional competition for National History Day.  Twenty-seven students from TCMS qualified for the state competition based on the results of the regional competition.

The state competition will take place at Mercer University in April.  This is the fifth year Thomas County Middle School has participated in National History Day, and students have accomplished a variety of achievements.  Students from Thomas County Schools have placed each year at the state competition and have gone on to the national competition at the University of Maryland.  While at nationals, Thomas County students have had a group website place ninth overall and an exhibit displayed at The National Museum of American History.  Students have also been recognized by the Georgia Archives for an award for excellence in student research using historical records.  

National History Day incorporates research skills, historical analysis, and literacy standards into one project.  Students are given a variety options on the final project including project type and topic choice.  Each year, the projects must center on a given theme.  This year’s theme is “Taking a Stand in History”.  Not only do students learn how to write an annotated bibliography, they are also able to demonstrate the significance of their topic in history and draw conclusions.  Mrs. Mandy West, National History Day coordinator for TCMS says, “National History Day allows students to make personalized choices while enriching their historical knowledge and ability to interpret a variety of sources.“

This  year, the Thomasville Historical Society sponsored an award for the overall first place winners in the regional competition.  

Thomas County Middle School Winners include the following students:

Overall Winner sponsored by Thomasville Historical Society  

 Laura Hiers

Individual Documentary 

Winner - Molly Grace White

2nd - Ben Castillo

Historical Papers 

Winner - Danielle Sauls

2nd - Carson Landing

Honorable Mention - Jack Cantrell

Group Performance 

Winner -  Lilly King & Caroline Daughtry

2nd - Everett Sanzo & Jaden Sanzo

Individual Performance 

Winner - Laura Hiers

Group Exhibit 

Winner - Luke Pierce & Trace Morales

Individual Exhibit 

Winner - Bishop Jackson

2nd - Emily Hobbs

3rd - Loren Shepard

Honorable Mention - Anna James

Individual Websites 

Winner - Georgia Rose Patton

2nd - Karsyn Bush

3rd - Bradley Dechman

Honorable Mention - Sydney Smith

Group Websites 

Winner - Morgan Ward, Jenaya Tyler

2nd - Abby Allensworth, Tristin Lawler & Megan Stewart

3rd - Brock Conley and Jayleen Williams

Seventh grader Nathaniel Barber won 2^nd place at the Southwest Georgia Bridge Building Contest held at Chehaw Park. Nathaniel’s bridge had a mass of 26.7g and held a mass of 7376.7g for a structural efficiency of 276.28. The contest, held each year as a culminating activity to National Engineer’s Week, is designed to promote student interest in engineering.

The Science Olympiad team recently won second place at the regional competition.  They will compete in the state competition on March 18.   The team is coached by Mrs. Tammy Sharpe.