The Cobb Chamber recently celebrated the 33rd year of Give Our Schools a Hand (GOSH). A salute to education in Cobb County, GOSH events bring educators, students, parents, businesses, and community leaders together to honor education through three distinctive events: the Handprint Unveiling Ceremony (Oct. 6), and the Teacher of the Year Breakfast and Pep Rally (Oct. 25).
The two honored teachers this year — Marietta City Schools (MCS) Teacher of the Year, Joshua Dempsey, and Cobb County School District Teacher of the Year, Jenifer Mitacek from Argyle Elementary School (AES), left their handprint legacies on the Teacher Walk of Honor, located on the Marietta Square.
Dempsey has served as the Audio-Video Technology and Film teacher at Marietta High School (MHS) for the past four years. In his Broadcast News class, students create and run a news broadcast called the “Blue Devil News” that is edited and produced every day and played for the entire school. Dempsey is a strong advocate for his students and works with community partners to help his students gain real-world experience. Some of these projects included live-streaming MCS Board Meetings during the COVID-19 shutdown for families, producing live-streams and videos for community events like Veterans Day and MHS graduation, and creating and producing multiple promotional videos for Marietta organizations and schools.
Mitacek is a second-grade teacher at AES. Mitacek has been an elementary educator for nine years with experience in teaching first, second, and third grade. During her time at AES, she has been the site liaison and coach for the Argyle Girls on the Run team, started the after-school enrichment STEM club, and organized a schoolwide effort to send letters to military members during the holiday season. Mitacek also has been involved in several district-level committees for the Cobb County School District such as the priority standards committee, mathematics standards revision committee, and is a graduate of the Cobb Teacher Leader Academy.
Through the years, the Give Our Schools a Hand (GOSH) program has motivated the community to take an active role in Cobb’s public school systems and has attracted attention to the quality of education in Cobb County. Dating back to 1988, GOSH has become one of the largest events honoring local educators, celebrating more than 130 teachers here in Cobb County.
The Presenting Sponsor for GOSH is Voyles Automotive Group. Doctorate Level sponsors for this event are Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Kennesaw State University, Lockheed Martin, Atlanta Braves Foundation, and The Lumistella Company.
