Jana Crawford is a cover girl. Well, sort of.

Her drawing of bucket of suds to wash a bike, made it to the cover of the of the second annual DeKalb County Water and Sewer Art Calender.

Jana, a second-grader at Greenforest-McCalep Christian Academic Center in Decatur, was the grand prize winner of the Art Contest Calendar. The art work of 12 County's public and private schools. is included in the calendar.

The theme of the competition was water conservation and students were challenged to illustrate one of 10 conservation tips dealing with indoor conservation and landscaping.

Greenforest assistant principal Lozie Gude said she is proud of the four Greenforest students who participated in the contest.

"It shows the initiative that they have for excelling," she said.

Greenforest third-grader Hevil Grant Jr., fourth-grader Eboni Goar and fifth-grader Brianna Washington also participated.

Gude said Jana is a very outgoing student with an intrinsic knack for art.

"Her father is an artist, too; therefore she gets a lot of incentive from home," she said.

The students whose works are featured on the calendar were honored during the Jan. 23 DeKalb County Board of Commissioners meeting. They were all presented with certificates and gift cards to the Mall at Stonecrest.

Pep rally held to help students get ready for test

The Georgia High School Graduation Test will be March 19-23 and Cedar Grove's Class of 2008 wants to be ready.

At an early-morning pep rally on Jan. 29, the students got pumped up for the test. The school's band performed and cheerleaders cheered the 11th-graders who are preparing for the test, which all students must pass to get a high school diploma.

The Ellenwood school's gym was decorated with balloons and posters that read "Let's Win," "We Will Pass," "Social Studies 526-Plus," and "Victory for the Saints."

The event also featured speakers who encouraged the students to do well, including senior class president Brittany Jackson and vice-president Marvin Anderson; ML King Principal Sylvester Nelloms Jr.; Southwest DeKalb principal John Prince and assistant principal Samuel Wilder; members of the school's PTSA, representatives from other DeKalb County offices, and the event's organizer, Cedar Grove principal Ronald Davis.

The speakers told the students that the test will be the most important test they will ever take and to show Saints pride by doing well.

Nelloms and Prince even challenged the Cedar Grove students to do better on the GHSGT than their own students, and Davis urged the students to respond to the challenge by doing well.

Hooper student appearing in School House Rocks

MaRah Williams will be hitting the stage in a production of "School House Rocks" at DeKalb School for the Arts at Hooper Alexander Elementary School on Feb. 23.

The 12-year-old seventh-grader's role as "Shulie" in the play is coming only weeks after she finished performing as a part of ensemble cast in Theater of the Stars production of Disney's "High School Musical" at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta from Jan. 12-28.

"High School Musical" is the story of two high school students brought together by their love for music and singing.

MaRah's part in the popular play included singing and dancing as part of the play's children's chorus. Members of the chorus played the roles of the "skater dudes," "brainaics" and "jocks."

In addition to performing in "High School Musical," MaRah was an ensemble cast member in "The Wiz" this past fall, and she has appeared in the productions such as "The Piano Lesson" at Theater in the Square and "The Color Purple" at the Alliance Theater. She has also appeared in "Casper: The Musical" at Theater of the Stars, and "On the Shoulders of Giants" at the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation.

MaRah has also been featured in Black & Decker, Cartoon Network and Rooms to Go Kids television commercials.

Since being discovered at age 6 after participating in a modeling show at the Wal-Mart at Stone Mountain Festival shopping center, MaRah has been acting and singing of member of Pac's Kids Troop, a performing arts program for youth at the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation.

Her mother, Olivia Williams said she recently decided to focus just on theater.

"Theater has worked out a lot because it lets her sing," she said. "She loves to sing."

Black men needed to read to kids

The simple act of reading to children can lead to a lifetime of academic achievement and personal success. With that in mind, African American fathers, brothers, grandfathers and uncles are needed to participate in Toney Elementary's first African American Male Read-In on Feb. 23.

Male readers will share their favorite book written by or about African Americans in an effort to encourage literacy by motivating boys to read.

Interested participants should register immediately by contacting Vivian Conner or Lisa Lewis at Toney Elementary, 678-874-2102.

The three-hour program will open with a guest speaker from the King Center in Atlanta at 8:30 a.m., followed by reading in the classrooms and lunch. Check-in for participants is at 8 a.m. on Feb. 23.

The African American Read-In was conceived in celebration of Black History Month at the school, with the desire to emphasize the importance of literacy.

Toney Elementary is at 2701 Oakland Terrace in Decatur.