Georgia Southern Awards Eagle Nation in Education Sculpture to William James Middle School

December 18, 2012

Georgia Southern University has named Kelsey Fallin the winner of its inaugural Eagle Nation in Education project.  The seventh grade student from William James Middle School in Statesboro received a standing ovation from her classmates when she received the honor for her design during a celebration Tuesday in the school’s cafeteria.

Over the next few months, Fallin will work with Janet Suarez, an MFA candidate in the Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art, to create her design on the six-foot-tall fiberglass eagle, which will be unveiled at the University’s ArtsFest on April 6. Fallin and Suarez will be given a $100 stipend to purchase art supplies for the project, and the eagle sculpture, valued at $10,000,will be donated to the school.

Seventh graders Harlie Carter and Danielle Arnette, the third and first runners-up in the middle school division, received Eagle Nation in Education award ribbons and framed renderings of their designs.

Bulloch County School Superintendent Charles Wilson heralded the Eagle Nation in Education project as “a shining example” of how the local education system and the University can work together and said he was happy for the opportunity for a partnership that will benefit the community and area students.

“Georgia Southern is so proud to be a part of Bulloch County and could not be more thankful for our partnership with the local schools,” said University President Brooks Keel, Ph.D. “The University couldn’t be here without Bulloch County and couldn’t be successful without this community.”

Eagle Nation in Education is a public service project of Eagle Nation on Parade created to offer K-12 students in Bulloch County an opportunity to express, create and expand their artistic abilities. The University received 464 submissions – more than 300 from area elementary schools, more than 130 from local middle and high schools and one combined entry from the Charter Conservatory School. The submissions were judged by professor emeritus Bruce Little, Ed.D., and Rosalind Ragans, Ed.D., a Georgia Southern associate professor emerita.

Other runners up for the Eagle Nation in Education initiative included, in the elementary division: Chong Lee, first place, Mill Creek Elementary School, Jozie Motes, second place, Portal Elementary School and Chrisraine Gilpin, third place, Julia P. Bryant Elementary School. In addition to Carter and Arnette, Megan Diefenbach, Southeast Bulloch Middle School, was awarded second place in the middle school division. Freya Wang, Bulloch Academy, Brandie Adams, Portal High School and Carly Rogers, Bulloch Academy, took first, second and third places in the high school division.

Georgia Southern University, a Carnegie Doctoral/Research University founded in 1906, offers more than 120 degree programs serving more than 20,500 students. Through eight colleges, the University offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs built on more than a century of academic achievement.  In 2011, the University was named one of the Top 10 most popular universities in the country by U.S. News & World Report and is a top choice of Georgia’s HOPE scholars.  Georgia Southern is recognized for its student-centered approach to education. Visit: www.georgiasouthern.edu.