Geoff writes in…

Decatur boys lacrosse team ranked #1 in Georgia.  See link and attached pic.
http://www.laxpower.com/update12/binboy/rating18.php

The Decatur boys lacrosse team won the ITP lacrosse tournament with a 12-5 win over Riverwood on Saturday afternoon at DHS.  This followed a 9-2 win over Baylor (TN) on Friday evening in the semifinals.  The team is coached by Don Rigger and Wes Hatfield.

DHS Fine Arts Chair Jon Reese writes in…

Decatur High School’s fine arts department will present its third annual stART Celebrating Creativity showcase on Thursday, March 1 at 7:00 p.m. in the school’s performing arts center.

The event will include musical performances by band ensembles and student bands, vocal performances by chorus students, literary readings from creative writing students, a preview scene from the upcoming play “Robin Hood,” poetry recitations from ninth grade Poetry Out Loud participants, visual art displays from high school, middle school and system elementary schools’ art students, and dance performances by Decatur City Dance.

The school’s new career academy will showcase its culinary arts students, who will offer a menu of gourmet samples during the event’s intermission.

“We’ve had tremendous response to this event. The students really enjoy showing off their creativity and sharing the stage with such diverse talent. It’s exciting to welcome the larger community into our arts space so they can see what amazing things are happening in the arts at Decatur,” said Jon Reese, fine arts chair.

Doors to the visual arts display will open at 6 p.m., and the theater’s doors will open at 6:40 p.m.

DHS teacher Chris Billingsley sent in this picture taken early Thursday morning…

I noticed the lights to the DHS stadium were on [Thursday] morning when I arrived at work. The girls’ soccer team, coached by Stephen Gathany, were on the field getting ready for the upcoming season. 6:00 A.M. practices, even when it’s dark and cold, is what it takes to win a region championship.

Decatur High School teacher Jennifer Gonzalez writes in…

Last week we celebrated Revolutionary PIES day. Here’s what that entailed

Students created projects in World History (aka 10th grade social studies)- Based on our studies, we know that revolutions follow a pattern and that in order for a revolution to occur as opposed to an election or minor shift, countries require a Political, Intellectual, Economic and Social struggle. And that my friends spells PIES. Essentially, we are applying these revolutionary PIES to Mexico, England, Latin America, United States and Haiti. We will see if Egypt fits the profile. This was a challenging unit with a BIG project component.

On PIES Day, teachers arranged for parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles as well as administrators, faculty and staff surprised the students on the day of their presentation. They came to the school baring pies, the delicious kind. And if they didn’t like pies, we “let them eat cake.” The parents and guardians then participated in the lesson and also enjoyed a delicious time with our students. A special guest, Bill Funk, former principal at DHS surprised his grandaughter and joined us as well. It was a really sweet time.

Decatur High School Principal Lauri McKain writes in to let us know that DHS’ Senior Class has officially asked Mr. Chris Billingsley to be their graduation speaker this year.  His response?  “Alrighty!”, according to Principal McKain.

After 36 years of teaching at DHS, Mr. B will retire at the end of this year.

Above is a pic of Student Government President Ashleigh Rasheed presenting him with a letter that the senior class had signed requesting that he do this.

Congrats Chris!  Thank you for your many years of service to our schools and the many great DHS (and non-DHS) stories you’ve provided to this website over the past few years.

DHS teacher Chris Billingsley writes in…

The students enjoyed meeting all the elected officials, especially Ms. Elizabeth Wilson, former mayor of Decatur. They were also interested in Senator Jason Carter’s proposal to put an income cap on eligibility for the Hope Scholarship. I was especially interested in the discussion about new municipalities in the Atlanta area and a proposed constitutional amendment concerning state sponsored, but locally paid for, charter schools.

DHS teacher Chris Billingsley writes in…

We have 26 students signed up (22 at meeting). [for the April D.C. trip]  The students came up with some fundraising ideas. To help raise money for their trip, Close Up students would like to walk dogs in the afternoon and on the weekend. They also proposed a big “Spring Clean Up” (kind of like Rake&Run) for early March. Please contact Mr. Chris Billingsley (cbillingsley@csdecatur.net) for more information.

Patch reports that a fight on the DHS football field Friday night, which halted the game with 9 minutes left in the 4th quarter, resulted in the suspesion of four players, one from Decatur and three from Twiggs County High School.  Additionally, one unidentified adult who ran onto the field during the altercation was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, according to the news site.

DHS football head coach Price Jones told Patch he was “disgusted” by the events of the evening.  The fight marred a blow out victory by Decatur, 48-0.

If you’re wondering where the heck Twiggs County is located, the handy map to your right should help.

Don Rigger sends in this article from the October issue of Lacrosse Magazine, adding “Thanks everyone that played a role in getting the program off the ground.  Look at the impact the program has made on the community.”

Click the image above to read the full article in PDF format!

Connor points out that the victim in this WSB/AJC report of a shooting on Glenwood Avenue, DuJon Parker, was a 2010 Decatur High School graduate, who played on the school’s basketball team.

Our thoughts go out to his friends and family.