WOODSTOCK, GA -- Woodstock's Carmel Elementary School was honored on Oct. 28 at the 17th annual National Forum on Character Education, sponsored by the Character Education Partnership (CEP), in San Francisco.

Carmel received the State School of Character Award for Georgia and the Promising Practices Award for its first grade students creating books for and becoming pen pals with first graders in Egypt.

Carmel also received Promising Practices Awards in 2006, 2007 and 2009 for students' service learning writing projects that honored unsung community heroes, and for writing and distributing over 700 books for residents of nursing homes in Cherokee County.

Dr. Pam Green, assistant principal of Carmel Elementary, was a speaker at the conference. She gave a presentation on the practical implementation of service learning at the elementary school level.

WOODSTOCK, GA -- On Sunday, Dec. 5, Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services responded to a structure fire at 324 Chestatee Court, in the Tomahawk subdivision, off of Arnold Mill Road in Woodstock.

According to early reports, the family was inside the home, preparing to sit down to dinner, when they heard a noise in the attic. A family member went outside, noticed smoke coming from the chimney area of the three-story structure and immediately called Cherokee County 911.

When firefighters arrived on the scene, they noted that approximately 25% of the house was involved in the fire.

Three firefighters who entered the house received second-degree burns and were transported to the burn unit at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. They were identified as Jason Williams, Mark Alexander and Alec Adams.

The burns that the firefighters sustained were reported to be on their wrists and arms; Williams also had severe burns on his fingertips.