During a faculty meeting, the teachers, staff, and administrators at LCHS were informed that the school had won the Governor's Cup for Region 7-A. Pictured with a cake served in recognition of the achievement are Dr. Becky Barden, LCHS principal, and Henry Madden, assistant principal. The faculty, staff, and administrators at LCHS celebrated Thursday, October 16, when Governor Sonny Perdue and State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox announced that the school won the Governor's Cup for Region 7-A.

Dr. Becky Barden, school principal, and Brian Campbell, assistant superintendent for instruction, informed the teachers of the honor during a faculty meeting. Cake was served following the announcement.

The Governor's Cup Challenge is based on high school athletic regions and classifications previously assigned by the Georgia High School Association (GHSA).

The winning school for Class A was Towns County High School. The winners in the other classifications were as follows: Model High School in Floyd County, Class AA; Crisp County High School, Class AAA; Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School in Catoosa County, Class AAAA; and the Savannah Arts Academy in Chatham County, Class AAAAA.

Each of the five schools was awarded a Governor's Cup trophy and a $2,000 grant to be used to purchase SAT preparation resources. Moreover, juniors and seniors at the winning schools received T-shirts.

The state and region winners were selected on the basis of three-year average gains from their most recent SAT average, based on scores from participating seniors in critical reading, math, and writing.

LCHS produced a combined average SAT score of 1309 in 2006, 1359 in 2007, and 1387 in 2007, which reflected a 39-percent average gain.

Other region winners included Burke County High School, Callaway High School, Clinch County High School, Colquitt County High School, Forsyth Central High School, Gordon Lee High School, Lakeside High School, Madison County High School, Mary Persons High School, Newnan High School, Oconee County High School, Parkview High School, Sequoyah High School, Treutlen Middle/High School, Upson- Lee High School, and Vidalia Comprehensive High School.

Each of the 32 schools received a regional championship trophy and a $1,000 grant.

Dr. Barden said she is very proud of her students and teachers. "We've been down since we didn't make AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress). However, this average increase in our SAT scores over the past three years substantiates that we're headed in the right direction."

She went on to say that SAT prep classes were conducted somewhat differently last year. "We had two expert teachers, who gave up their planning period for half of a semester, alternating instruction in English and math, so our students received in-depth preparation for the SAT. In the past, students did most of their SAT prep online.

"I believe the classroom instruction made the difference," the principal stated.

In his comments, Governor Perdue said, "In any competition - - athletic or academic - - how you prepare is how you'll play. Georgia's students are striving harder than ever to perform well on the SAT. I know that dedicated teachers, involved parents, and conscientious students all worked together to raise SAT scores. I'm pleased to recognize their collective success."

The governor initiated the statewide competition in 2003 as part of an overall effort to raise Georgia's SAT scores. The Governor's Cup Challenge continues as one means by which to impel schools to implement strategies that will improve reading comprehension, writing ability, and mathematical problem-solving, thereby helping students perform better on the SAT.

For more information about the Governor's Cup, visit www.satrocks.com.

Along with the Governor's Cup Challenge, Governor Perdue has like- wise launched gacollege411.org, an online resource that provides postsecondary education planning materials to students statewide.

He and Superintendent Cox have also made free online SAT prep classes available to all high school students. In 2006-2007, nearly 40 percent of Georgia's high school students from private, public, and home school programs utilized the SAT prep initiative.

For the past four years, the Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS) has sponsored the Governor's Cup competition. TBS has funded awards for both the region and class winners and most recently, for the top scorers within each GHSA class.

The 2008 top scorers - - those schools posting the highest SAT scores in their GHSA classification over a three-year period - - were: Trion City High School in Chattooga County, Class A; Decatur High School in DeKalb County, Class AA; Davidson Magnet School in Richmond County, Class AAA; McIntosh High School in Fayette County, Class AAAA; and Walton High School in Cobb County.