NEWTON COUNTY — The Newton County Board of Education opened its Jan. 20 regular meeting by recognizing student achievement in both fine arts and STEM, highlighting award-winning performances in theater and a state-leading robotics team.

Board members and district leaders said the recognitions reflected the creativity, discipline and innovation happening across Newton County Schools.

Students from all three district high schools, Alcovy, Eastside and Newton, earned awards at the recent regional One Act Play competition.

Alcovy High School students received individual All-Star Performance honors, while Eastside High School students earned multiple All-Star Cast awards and the region’s Best Actor award. Newton High School’s One Act team placed fourth overall at the competition for its performance of The Double Double by Katherine Funkhouser and also received individual All-Star Cast recognition.

“Participating in the arts helps our students develop a range of essential skills, including creativity, teamwork and discipline,” said Superintendent Dr. Duke Bradley III. “The arts offer a unique opportunity for self-expression that builds confidence.”

The board also recognized a VEX Robotics team from the Newton College and Career Academy that is currently ranked No. 1 in Georgia.

“This is a national team,” Bradley said. 

VEX Robotics is an international competition in which students design, build and program robots to compete in an annual engineering challenge. This year’s game, “Pushback,” requires teams to retrieve and score game pieces while strategically countering opponents.

The team has competed in six local tournaments this season, earning multiple tournament championships, robotics skills awards and several Excellence Awards, the highest honor presented in VEX competition. The team has also competed in several national-level signature events, earning top honors at events in Indianapolis, North Carolina and Auburn.

According to the district, the team is currently ranked first in Georgia, among the top teams in the world in skills rankings, and holds a season record of 95 wins, 10 losses and no ties. The team has received multiple invitations to compete in the VEX World Championship in St. Louis this coming April.

“Problem solving, cooperative learning, engaging with one another, being able to accept failure as a part of the learning process,” Bradley said. “Robotics teaches so much about what students should be doing in their school experiences.”

After recognitions, the board approved the meeting agenda and minutes before moving into its regular business agenda.

Policy JCDAF which limits the use of electronic devices by students during the school day, will remain under review until the board’s Feb. 17 meeting. Several previously discussed items from the Jan. 13 work session were approved as a group.

The board also approved personnel recommendations discussed in executive session and adopted the board meeting calendar for January 2026 through January 2027.