14 Cherokee County Students Selected for Georgia Governor's Honors Program

Students from all six CCSD high schools will spend four weeks this summer in college-level study at Georgia Southern University

Fourteen Cherokee County School District students have earned spots in the Georgia Governor's Honors Program, placing them among the state's most accomplished high school scholars and setting them up for four weeks of college-level study this summer at Georgia Southern University.

The students represent all six CCSD high schools — Cherokee, Creekview, Etowah, River Ridge, Sequoyah and Woodstock — and were selected across a striking range of disciplines, from classical bassoon and Latin to mechanical engineering and computer science.

The Governor's Honors Program is one of Georgia's oldest and most selective academic honors, a residential summer experience reserved for rising high school juniors and seniors who demonstrate exceptional talent in a specific discipline. Selection is competitive statewide and weighs academic achievement, extracurricular involvement, leadership and demonstrated mastery in a chosen field. For many students, an invitation represents the single most prestigious academic recognition of their high school career.

The 14 CCSD honorees and their disciplines are: Isabella D'Agostino, Grade 10, Creekview High School, Music: Voice – Soprano; Max Grogan, Grade 11, Sequoyah High School, Computer Science; Stephen Kim, Grade 10, Etowah High School, Agricultural Research – Biotechnology and Science; James Markham, Grade 11, Sequoyah High School, Music: Voice – Bass; Emanuel Marktanner, Grade 10, Etowah High School, World Languages: German; Mical Mershon, Grade 10, Cherokee High School, Music: Voice – Bass; Amanda Michno, Grade 11, Cherokee High School, Science: Chemistry; Carter Nickles, Grade 10, Creekview High School, Social Studies; Levi Norris, Grade 11, Creekview High School, Music: Woodwind – Bassoon; Grace Ocana, Grade 10, River Ridge High School, Science: Chemistry; Isla Price, Grade 11, Woodstock High School, World Languages: Latin; Juliette Salling, Grade 11, Sequoyah High School, World Languages: Spanish; Lila Sewell, Grade 11, Etowah High School, Engineering: Mechanical and Aerospace; and Samuel Volz, Grade 10, Cherokee High School, Theatre.

What stands out beyond the sheer number of honorees is the breadth. A student studying Latin sits alongside one pursuing mechanical and aerospace engineering. A bassoonist shares the cohort with a computer scientist. That range is not accidental — it reflects the depth of advanced academic and arts programming CCSD has built across its high schools, where students can pursue serious coursework in disciplines that many districts simply don't offer at the secondary level.

Also worth noting: seven of the 14 honorees are current 10th graders, meaning they are rising juniors who remain eligible to apply again next year. Cherokee County's pipeline of high-achieving students doesn't thin out after one strong class.

Superintendent of Schools Mary Elizabeth Davis and the Cherokee County School Board will formally recognize the 14 students at an upcoming board meeting. The district has consistently ranked among Georgia's top-performing school systems, and achievements like this one help explain why families across Cherokee County continue to invest in its schools — and why those schools keep producing students who compete and win on a statewide stage.