CCSD Students Place In Statewide Architecture Competition

Press release from CCSD:

April 28, 2023

Cherokee County School District students placed in a prestigious statewide architecture career skills competition!

Two Etowah High School students and four Sequoyah High School students in the Career Pathway for Architectural Drafting and Design won honors in the 2023 Atlanta American Institute of Architects High School Design Competition, which is considered the top competition in the state for high school architecture students.

Through the annual competition, students are tasked with creating a solution to specific problems using their creativity and architectural knowledge. The competition features two levels to accommodate students with different experience levels. All contest entries, which top 200 a year, are evaluated by professional architects and engineers.

Sequoyah HS sophomore Olivia Power earned first place in the state for the competition’s food kiosk design challenge introductory contest, with sophomore Wyatt Rock placing second, junior Rylee Trusner placing third and sophomore David Paliotta earning honorable mention – a sweep of the contest and a new school and district record for the awards. For the contest, students were tasked with designing a piece of architecture themed for a fictitious world fair convention. The judges praised the students’ abilities to think critically and creatively, as well as their technical expertise. The Career Pathways program at Sequoyah HS for architecture and engineering is led by teacher Brandon Grummer.

Etowah HS juniors Megan Reed and Mikayla Parks placed second in the state in the advanced level contest to design a pavilion that represented Georgia or the City of Atlanta for the fictitious world fair convention. Megan and Mikayla's design represented Georgia's past, present and future and earned the judges’ praise for their concept and use of materials. The Career Pathways program at Etowah HS for architecture and engineering is led by teacher Lindsay Dean.

“Congratulations to these students and their teachers on achieving statewide recognition,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian V. Hightower said. “We’re so proud of how well they represented their school and community. They demonstrated excellence through both their outstanding architectural technique and exceptional critical thinking and problem solving abilities and creativity -- skills that will serve them well in their future endeavors.”

This press release was produced by CCSD. The views expressed here are the author's own.