Gwinnett Daily Post

WINDER - Several Barrow County students were honored Tuesday for winning national and state awards.

Jena Sims, 2007 Miss Georgia Teen USA, earned the national Prudential Community Service Award for creating the Princess of Hope Beauty Pageants. Its contestants are children and teenagers fighting terminal cancer. Sims, a 2007 graduate of Winder-Barrow High School, was chosen from 7,500 applicants nationwide. The Princess of Hope Beauty Pageants are held in Georgia, California, Michigan, New York and Wisconsin.

Amanda Xiong, a student at Haymon Morris Middle School, won the state championship, sixth- through eighth-grade division, of the Georgia Schools Nutrition Association art contest.

Two teams from Kennedy Elementary School won regional and state titles for their Promote Georgia Web site designs. The third-grade team won the first-place title in both the state and regional competitions for their Web site featuring Georgia's regions and native animals. A fifth-grade team won second place state and first place regional awards for their Web site titled "Solving the Mysteries of Writing." The students Web sites can be seen at www.promotega.org.

In other business

Dr. Russ Claxton, a native of Cobb County, accepted the position as principal at Russell Middle School. He most recently served as principal at West Oak High School in Westminster, S.C.

Claxton summarized his philosophy of teaching as, "All students can learn, but not all in the same way, all on the same day."

School board members voted to:

• Spend $49,500 for one year of copy machine maintenance.

• Spend roughly $12,796 for 400 desks.

• Purchase 17,000 Barrow County School District calendars 2007-08 at a cost of $12,991.