HOF Class: 1996 - Dr. Paula Harmon Dr. Paula Harmon graduated from the inaugural IB class of 1996. Dr. Harmon graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Spellman College. Dr. Harmon would graduate with honors from the Morehouse School of Medicine with her Doctor of Medicine degree in 2006.
Dr. Paula Harmon is licensed with the American Board of Otolaryngology and the Georgia Composite State Board of Medicine and specializes in pediatric ENT surgeries and hearing loss. Dr. Harmon currently serves as the Pediatric Otolaryngologist, and Medical Director of Hearing Loss at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. In addition to all of the above, Dr. Harmon currently serves our community by providing free COVID-19 testing to residents in the Middle Georgia area. Dr. Harmon was featured on 13WMAZ. If you are interested, you can get more information about Dr. Harmon's free COVID-19 Testing here: www.freecovidtesting.us Dr. Harmon was twice named a Mom-Approved Doctor by Atlanta Magazine in 2017 and 2021. She has also recently been recognized as one of Atlanta's Top Doctors of 2021! She has published several peer-reviewed publications including the 2014 "Report of Polymer Surgical Clip Migration Into the Trachea of an Infant."
We are truly proud of all Dr. Harmon's accomplishments and are so grateful for how she continues to serve the Middle Georgia community through this pandemic. Thank you Dr. Paula Harmon!
HOF Class: 1998 - Dr. Matthew Shaw Dr. Matthew Shaw graduated from Central's IB Program in 1998. Professor Shaw earned his law degree in Columbia in 2005, after which he served for two years as a clerk for Chief Judge W. Louis Sands of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.
He practiced law in Atlanta at King & Spading and Schulten Ward & Turner before pursuing his Ed.D. at Harvard, where his dissertation, Shaping the DREAM: Law as Policy Defining Undocumented Students’ College Access, addressed several of his research interests, including federal law and education policy and the insularity of minority status. Dr. Shaw currently serves as the Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Education and the Assistant Professor of Law at Vanderbilt University.
HOF Class: 2002 - Dr. Dilani Weerasuriya Dr. Dilani Weerasuriya is a proud graduate of Central High School's International Baccalurate class of 2002. Upon graduating, Ms. Weerasuriya earned her BA from Stanford University and her MD from Emory University's School of Medicine. Dr. Weerasuriya now operates as the Assistant Program Director for Emergency Medicine at Kennestone Hopsital as well as an Assistant Professor at Augusta University. She has published several original peer-reviewed articles, and currently lives in Atlanta, GA.
Dr. Weerasuriya visited Central as an honorary guest speaker for the 2018 IB Pinning Ceremony.
HOF Class: 2007 - Sasha Hutchings Sasha Hutchings graduated from Central's IB Program as the Valedictorian of the Class of 2007. She is a broadway actress, dancer, and singer. Sasha is best known for her role as an ensemble member in the original Broadway cast of Hamilton. Sasha Hutchings has also appeared in the Broadway productions of Oklahoma!, My Fair Lady, Motown: the Musical, Rocky, and Memphis.
In 2016, Hutchings guest-starred as Ariel Rice in one episode of the CBS series Blue Bloods. She also performed in the Off-Broadway revival of Sweet Charity as Rosie and as a member of the ensemble, alongside Sutton Foster. In 2017, she made her film debut as a secretary in The Vanishing of Sidney Hall and made a guest appearance as Amelia in the Netflix comedy series Master of None. Hutchings also performed in the original ensemble cast of the 2018 Broadway revival of My Fair Lady.
On July 3, 2020, the film version of Hamilton was released to Disney+, featuring her performance in the ensemble. Sasha visited Central High School in 2017 and taught IB Dance students the choreography to "My Shot" from the musical, Hamilton. You can read about that visit at the link here.
HOF Class: 2011 - Raymond Partolan Mr. Raymond Partolan is currently the National Field Director at APIA Vote, a national, nonpartisan organization committed to working with partners to increase civic participation among Asian and Pacific Islander Americans across the country. For almost a decade, Raymond has worked as an advocate for immigrant and refugee communities. Prior to his role at APIA Vote, Raymond worked as an Immigration Paralegal at Kuck | Baxter Immigration with a focus on family-based immigration cases.
Raymond Partolan's work with Asian American Advancing Justice was instrumental in helping to triple Asian American voter turnout in Georgia from 2012 to 2016. Raymond's team helped register over 11,000 new voters, engage with thousands of historically underrepresented Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and defeat anti-immigrant legislation at the Georgia State Capitol. Raymond was also named one of the 25 Most Influential Asian Americans in Georgia in 2018 and 2019. An avid musician, he won three Grammy Awards in 2019 for his work on the highly-acclaimed jazz album, American Dreamers: Voices of Hope, Music of Freedom. He credits Central's Fine Arts and IB Programs with helping him hone his musical talent. You can read about that here. Raymond was an honorary guest speaker at the 2019 IB Pinning Ceremony and shared his incredible story with our diploma candidates.
HOF Class: 2017 - Breanna Ivey Breanna Ivey, a former graduate from the IB Diploma Programme Class of 2017 was accepted into Georgia Tech in the Fall of 2017. While a senior at Georgia Tech, Breanna was accepted into NASA as an intern in 2020.
During the NASA internship, Breanna was instrumental in completing the mathematical calculations required for the Mars Rover to safely land on the surface of Mars and complete its mission. She credits her work in the IB Program as foundational to her success at Georgia Tech and NASA.