River Ridge Student Heads to Girls Nation

A River Ridge High School students will attend Girls Nation in Washington, D.C. in July.

Rachel Peterson, a student at Cherokee County's newest traditional high school, was selected to represent Georgia at the annual Girls State program at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro.

Girls Nation will be held July 20-27. 

Peterson, along with seven other students from Cherokee County — Ashley Anthony from Etowah High School; Morgan Hendrix from King’s Academy; Madison Puhy from River Ridge High School; and Bridgette Hudak, Annie Jiang, Madison Tank, and Rani Tilva from Woodstock High School — who attended Girls State in June.

They represented the county and the American Legion Auxiliary Unit 316 at the Girls State Legislative Training program. The students were nominated by the faculty and administration based on academic achievement, outstanding character and student involvement.  

The selection process continued with interviews with members of the auxiliary unit, who eventually selected the final candidates. 

A program of the American Legion Auxiliary, Girls State is a national program that teaches rising high school seniors the principles and operations of city, county and state government in the United States. Students also participate in mock government proceedings by running for office, sponsoring legislation and talk about citizen responsibilities.