What's Happening in McDonough, GA…

Pupils from Eagle’s Landing Middle School were issued an invitation to meet with the country’s highest ranking physician during his recent trip to Atlanta, as a result of their report on the effects of tobacco use.

The McDonough students, a mixture of 14 sixth, seventh and eighth graders, listened while Surgeon General Vivek Murthy gave a brief presentation. Then given the opportunity to pose questions to Murthy, they jumped right in with questions that included how long Murthy’s term of office was and detailed medical questions.

Introduced to project-based service learning by teacher Yolanda Reid, the group has focused on 21st century skills requiring students to deal with a variety of subjects such as science, medicine, research and healthy living. The students, whose ages ranged from 11 to 14, were praised by Earlene Crump, their principal, for their accomplishments. Likely the school will seize the opportunity to publicize this honor, with the help of a brochure printing service, to promote itself.

As the meet and greet concluded the students presented the surgeon general with a plaque as well as gift basket brimming with Georgia favorites to commemorate Murthy’s trip.

While Murthy was impressed with the students’ project, at least one seventh-grader was impressed with his own experience with project-based service learning, expressing the opinion that it should be used anywhere, anytime.