Jack Lester, editor of The Collegian, Georgia Perimeter’s student newspaper, worked this past summer as an intern in the design department of Creative Loafing. He was asked to art direct the cover for the publication’s College Guide in which he also appeared with fellow interns.

Tshibambe “Nathan” Tshimbombu, an Honors Program alumnus of Georgia Perimeter College and currently a student at Dartmouth College, has won the Young African Scholar Award from African Youth Excellence. This group is a research and youth advocacy organization committed to encouraging talented youth of African descent. Tshimbombu also has received a travel award to attend the Southeastern Medical Scientist Symposium at Vanderbilt University in September. While at GPC, Tshimbombu was the 2014 recipient of the GPC President’s Award.

Former Georgia Perimeter baseball player Monte Reese has signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves. He has been assigned to the Braves’ Gulf Coast League team in Orlando, Fla. The standout pitcher went 7-0 for the GPC Jaguars during the 2012 season, compiling a 1.98 ERA and striking out 65 of the 198 batters he faced. Reese, a Stone Mountain native, continued his collegiate career at Thomas University in Thomasville, Ga.

Georgia Perimeter College has announced its summer term Dean’s List. At the end of each semester, students who have achieved a grade point average of 3.5 or better while carrying an academic load of nine semester credit hours or more of courses numbered 1000 or higher are named on the Dean’s List. Certificates are not longer issued.

Georgia Perimeter College dual enrollment alumna Sarah Ghalayini headed west this summer for an internship at the University of Texas Medical Branch. This fall, she begins her studies at Georgia Tech, where she’ll attend on a full academic scholarship. “At Tech, I am deciding between Public Policy, International Affairs, and Biomedical Engineering as majors, but have decided on Health, Medicine, and Society; Philosophy; and Biology as minors,” Ghalayini says. “I have almost enough transferred credits to be considered a junior at Tech in either of the majors I am considering.”

Georgia Perimeter College is getting recognition as one of the nation’s best online colleges. 360 Career, an all-inclusive comprehensive resource for students interested in online education, ranked GPC as one of “30 Top Online Community Colleges.” The organization selected Georgia Perimeter for the honor based on the online program’s cost effectiveness and wide range of course offerings.

Newton and Alpharetta Student Government Association members attended the NACA Student Government West Institute July 9-12 in Golden, Colorado. Utilizing various current leadership development theories, the institute curriculum is developed to provide participants with strategies to best represent a diverse group of students and organizations. Institute attendees were welcomed by the Mayor of Golden, Marjorie Sloan, who discussed the importance of building relationships with local governments and student governments. Workshop topics included dealing with organizational conflict, creating an inclusive student government, tuition and fees structures, keeping campuses safe and sexual misconduct prevention. Attendees from Georgia Perimeter included Newton SGA Vice President Alexis Duffey, Newton SGA Senator Emilie Liebert, Newton SGA Senator Daniel Detlefsen, Alpharetta SGA President Adam Smith, and Newton SGA President Sri Rajasekaran.

Georgia Perimeter College dental hygiene students, faculty and alumni joined more than 1,000 volunteers to provide free dental care to 2,000-plus underserved community members in Perry, Ga. The event, June 19-20, was organized through the non-profit Georgia Mission of Mercy, a program that brings large portable dental clinics to underserved areas. “We did fillings, extractions, root canals, cleanings, X-rays, partials and patient education,” Cherie Rainwater, GPC’s dental hygiene program director, says about the overall project. “I know we saw 2,189 patients.” This is the third year GPC’s dental hygiene students participated in the GMOM portable clinic event.  Rainwater is one of the featured speakers in a video about the program.

GPC Newton Student Government Association President Sri Rajasekaran has been appointed to a national task force on college affordability, one of only two Georgia SGA presidents selected from a highly competitive pool of applicants, according to a press release from the National Campus Leadership Council.