Extracurricular

Today I had a chance to sit down with Nicholas, an 8th-grade student here at GOC. We start our chat discussing the 2026 NBA Playoffs and specifically the Round 1 matchup between our Atlanta Hawks and the New York Knicks. Nicholas is an NBA expert and shares his views on the Hawks, the Knicks, the NBA draft, questionable referees, and his past and upcoming trip to Las Vegas to check out the NBA Sum...

Today, I had a chance to sit back down with GOC 9th-grader Mia. This is the second time Mia has been on the podcast. She was on just a few episodes back with Langdon where they did a deep dive discussing GOC's spring musical, Freaky Friday. Make sure to check out that episode if you haven't listened yet. In this episode thought, it's just me and Mia and she shares some of her favorite hobbies and...

Today, I had a chance to sit back down with GOC senior and one of my current 12th Lit students, Langdon, who you may have heard just a few weeks ago on the podcast. He and Mia joined me to discuss their roles in GOC's Freaky Friday. Today, I got to continue that conversation one-on-one with Langdon. We chatted about Langdon's favorite movies, video games, music, live music, theatre, Greek mytholog...

Today I had a chance to sit down with Karl and Monica from - I mean Langdon and Mia from Gwinnett Online Campus. Karl and Monica are the characters in GOC’s production of Freaky Friday that Langdon and Mia play. And they were phenomenal. I hope you all had a chance to see the musical - everyone was great. Langdon and Mia are no exception. We talked for over an hour about everything related to thei...

Today I had a chance to sit down and chat with Nicole, a podcast guest way back in 2022 and new ITS Board President - we chat about that leadership role here. But we start by diving right into her role as Savannah in GOC’s recent production of Freaky Friday . Nicole shares what it’s like to play the villain and her approach to playing a new role. We talk about what can only be described as a hilar...

Welcome to our very first bonus episode of the podcast. If you haven't listened to Episode 93 with Nicole, make sure to listen to that episode. We have a chance to talk about recent events. This “lost episode” is actually one we recorded back in November of 2025 where I had a chance to sit down and catch up with Nicole, a 10th-grade student at GOC and previous guest of the podcast way back on epis...

Today, I had a chance to sit down and chat with two guests - GOC 11th-grader Alex and 10th-grader Aiden. I had the amazing opportunity to work with Alex and Aiden as co-counsel for their prosecution of Poseidon on behalf of Odysseus in a mock trial rich-experience GOC had at the Gwinnett Justice & Administration Center. I was blown away by their efforts, and I loved having the chance to talk to bo...

Today, I had a chance to sit down with GOC all-time greats, 12th-grader Tori and 11th-grader Gracie. If you have been to any of the GOC Talent Shows, Fall Plays, or Spring Musicals in the past 5 years, you have seen Tori and Gracie perform. They just finished their performances in GOC’s Spring Musical, Freaky Friday. Gracie played teen Ellie Blake and Tori played mom Katherine Blake and then well,...

Today, I had a chance to sit down and chat with GOC’s new principal Mr. Bo Ford. We talked about his career in education, his focus on spending time with his family when not at school. We talk about traveling and vacations, Kiawah Island and his favorite beach games, mountain biking, hiking, coaching - and how it influences his work in education. Mr. Ford shares what it was like growing up in Tenn...

At the end of last semester, I had a chance to sit down with Nicolas, a 12th-grade student here at GOC. We talked about football, basketball, baseball, and coaching. Then we dove deep into music - especially metal and specifically Metallica. We talked about live music and playing guitar - Nicolas is a talented and GOC-talent-show-winning guitarist. We also discussed jewelry, movies, video games, a...

Today, I had a chance to sit down with three GOC students - 10th-graders Kendall and Ajjia and 12th-grader Anna. We talked about dance, music, concerts, travel, reading, sports, peer leaders, and the very exciting possibility of a new podcast hosted by Kendall and Ajjia. Yes - GOC may have a new and better podcast! I’m so excited, and can’t wait to see this podcast get started. Let’s jump right in...

Earlier this year, I had a chance to sit down and chat with Ansley. Ansley is a 12th-grade student here at GOC. We had an awesome conversation and chatted about interior design and architecture, internships and college, judicial building design - yes sounds weird - not at all - totally fascinating. We talked about GSLT, Student Council, Ansley’s service group that she started, singing - opera spec...

Earlier this year, I had a chance to sit down and chat with Colleen. Colleen is an 11th grade student here at GOC. Colleen and I had an awesome conversation - we chatted about friendship and how important good friends are in our lives. We talked about the joy of having multiple friend groups - school, youth group, etc., and the challenges of texting and hanging out with different friend groups - i...

Today, I had a chance to sit down and chat with Sean, a 6th-grade student here at GOC. Some of you may know Sean from school, and some of you may know Sean from YouTube or Instagram where he is known as Sean the Science Kid (find and follow him HERE ). Let me tell you - Sean knows his science. We talked about Sean’s interest in science education, his experiments, and his current projects and activ...

Today I had a chance to sit down with Bissette, a 12th-grade student here at GOC. Bissette was one of the very first guests on this Podcast. I sat down with her back in 2019 when she was in 8th grade, and it was so much fun to catch up with Bissette. We talk about school, dual enrollment, her decision to attend UGA, her future interest in Law, Entertainment, and Media studies. We discuss some of h...

Today I had a chance to sit down with Russell, a 12th-grade student here at GOC. We discuss Russell’s awesome 1995 Volvo Green 940 and our dream cars. We talk about our shared musical interests - playing, listening, singing - all of it. We discuss performing and singing and Russell’s interest in voice acting. We discuss video games, design, technology, computers, and web design. We close out our c...

Today I had a chance to sit down with Nicholas, a 6th-grade student here at GOC. We start our chat with the best topic of all - food. We talk Chick-Fil-A, Shake Shack, and The Cheesecake Factory. We discuss Nicholas’s recent trip to New York and his top restaurant recommendations. We dive into the some NBA talk and get into the LeBron vs. Jordan debate. We talk Madden and the NFL and Nicholas’s tr...

Today I had a chance to sit down with Valentina, an 11th-grade student here at GOC. I’ve been able to see Valentina perform at the GOC Talent Show several times - she’s very very talented. We talk about the talent show and dance - she explains what it’s like to be a company and participate in recitals and competitions. Valentina explains her passion for lyrical and contemporary dance and she share...

Today I had a chance to sit down with not one, but two of my favorite students here at GOC - Anyse and Sienna. Anyse and Sienna have each been on the podcast in the past, but today they teamed up for a group conversation about The Nest News, GOC’s student-led news program. You get a behind the scenes listen to what it’s like to be a member of the new crew. We also dive deep into iCarly, we talk ab...

Today I had a chance to sit down with James, a 4th grade student here at GOC. We dive deep into Pokémon. We discuss the origins of Pokémon, games, card collecting, and movies. James shares his Pokémon notebook and we discuss his own drawings and creations. We discuss James' YouTube favorites and ambitions, his favorite movies, his drawing skills and history, Legos, music, his pets, running, video...

Today I had a chance to sit down with Audrey, an 11th-grade student here at GOC. I've known Audrey for a long time, so it was a pleasure to be able to sit and talk with her about her hobbies and interests. We start by talking about running - a favorite hobby of mine and Audrey. She tells me all about the races she likes to run, running with family, shoe choices, medals, trophies, and why her runni...

Today I had a chance to sit down with Cayla, a 10th-grade student here at GOC. Kayla has some very interesting hobbies. She is a gamer - and likes playing and watching walkthroughs of games. Kayla is also a musician. She plays viola and piano. She is a singer - she sings in her church choir, and she’s a music lover and gives me some great holiday music suggestions. If you have a question or want t...

Today I had a chance to sit down with Alex, a 12th-grade student here at GOC. Alex and I had a great discussion that mainly focused on his passion and talent for gaming, but we also talked about paintball, airsoft, and Alex’s automotive classes at Maxwell. Alex is definitely an expert at Call of Duty, and that’s a game I have a tiny bit of knowledge about, so we dive deep into strategy, maps, weap...

Welcome back to a new school year and all new podcasts. Today, I had a chance to sit down with Anyse a 12th-grade student here at GOC. We had a great conversation about some of Anyse’s favorite television shows and films. He has vast knowledge and experience with a ton of film and TV. Anyse shares his ideas on why Parks and Rec is his favorite TV show of all time. We talk about our love for the Mi...

Kourtney and Kaitlyn are 8th-grade students at GOC. They are also twins, and they sit down with Mr. Lollis to discuss travel to places like New Orleans, Kentucky, and Florida. Kourtney and Kaitlyn share why the city of New Orleans is important to them. They also talk about music, singing, drawing, painting, cooking, their dog Mimi, Kourtney’s interest in entomology, and Kaitlyn’s interest in worki...