Local Proms and Graduations
* Wakefield High. Army-Navy Country Club, from 9 p.m.-1 a.m. on Friday, May 31. No after-prom party. Graduation: Monday, June 17, 8 p.m. at the school.
* Yorktown High. "Beyond the Stars" at the Sheraton National, from 9 p.m.-1 a.m. on Friday, June 7. No after-prom party. Graduation: Wednesday, June 19, 2 p.m., DAR Constitution Hall.
* Washington-Lee High. Crystal City Hilton, from 8 p.m.-1 a.m. on Saturday, June 8. Graduation: Monday, June 17, 8 p.m., at the school.
Arlington County has purchased eight new portable radar display signs as part of the Safe Routes to School Program. The signs will provide drivers an easy reading of their speeds as they pass through school zones, allowing them to keep an eye on how fast they are traveling and watch out for students. A Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles Highway safety Project grant totaling $23,500 funded the machines. The signs, designed for easy deployment where temporary speed reminders are needed, will be distributed to each of the county's police districts for rotation among elementary and middle schools. The will be used in conjunction with school crossing guards. When not in use at the schools, the signs will be stationed in neighborhoods where speeding is a concern.
To aid the relief programs supported by America's Fund
for Afghan Children, the American Red Cross is putting out a call for the donation of 2,000 School Chests by May 31 to help children in Afghanistan. Many Afghan children have had limited access to education, and the country has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world. The American Red Cross hopes to provide basic school supplies to approximately 120,000 Afghan children by June 2002, the start of the next school term.
The Arlington County Chapter hopes to attain at least 20 School Chests or school supplies for 800 students. The Chapter is calling on community groups and schools in the county to participate in their School Chest Program. Each School Chest should contain enough supplies to accommodate 40 students.
The necessary items can be purchased and brought in by individuals, or a fund-raising event can be organized to raise money to purchase the supplies.
For more information about supplies needed, visit www.kidsfund.redcross.org.
Donations will be accepted from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays, through May 20, at the Arlington County Chapter, 4333 Arlington Blvd., or if necessary, pickup can be arranged. Call 703-527-3010.
The Better Sports Club/Arlington Sports Hall of Fame's 46th Annual Awards Banquet will be held on Wednesday, May 29, at 7 p.m., at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 5115 Little Falls Road. At the banquet, 28 awards will be presented to Arlington's youth athletes, graduating senior-high-school student-athletes and coaches.
WUSA TV-9 sportscaster Ken Mease will be the master of ceremonies, and George Mason University men's basketball head coach Jim Larranaga will be the featured speaker.
Tickets are available at $25. Call Don Balderson at 703-538-4958.
World Heritage is seeking families, couples or single parents to host a high-school student from another country. Students will spend a semester or year in the United States to learn the culture and develop their use of the English language. Call Wyndy Fredrick at 703-435-7831.
Jennifer Durham of Learning Disabilities, Write-to-Read Private Tutoring; Claudia R. Seay, a physical education teacher at Patrick Henry Elementary; and Sandra S. Phaup, a writing teacher for grades one to five at Barcroft Elementary, will be awarded certificates of study from The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts at ceremonies on Saturday, May 18. The certificates are awarded for every 30 hours of study in the Kennedy Center's Professional Development for Opportunities for Teachers Program.
Stana Peete, majoring in the administration of justice with a 4.0 grade point average, was selected by Phi Theta Kappa as being among the top 10 students from two-year colleges in Virginia. The Arlington resident attends Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale and plans to transfer to American University.
Keith Dowling, a graduate of Yorktown High School and son of William Jay and Catherine Dowling of Arlington, has received the Outstanding Witness award at the American Intercollegiate Mock Trial Tournament held April 12-14 at Stetson Law School in St. Petersburg, Fla. Dowling, a freshman at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., was one of two students from the eight-person Dickinson team who earned individual recognition. The team placed 11th out of 34.
Evan M. Rogers, a student majoring in music, has been named to the dean's list at Northeastern University in Boston, Mass. Students must carry a full program and have a grade point average of 3.25 or greater to qualify.
Teams of students from Key Elementary and Thomas Jefferson High School will be traveling to the University of Colorado in Boulder for the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals competition, May 22-25. Teams of students will meet to exhibit and compare their solutions to problems that range from the technological to the classical.
Jessica T. Iturriaga and Jessica C. Lawrence have been named to the dean's list at Boston University for the fall semester.
Matthew Fontaine has been a Torch staff writer during the 2001-02 academic year at Valparaiso University in Indiana. The weekly student newspaper is the primary source of university events and activities. Fontaine is a junior majoring in political science. He is the son of Roger and Judy Fontaine and a graduate of Washington-Lee High School.
The following residents have graduated from Virginia Tech for the fall semester 2001: James Creel, Megan Coleman, Adane Zemen, Alexa Stanto, Kristin Millenbach, Jung Ji, Michelle Vargas, James Harpold, Caroline Creedon, Yaroslav Mayewsky, Sita Kapur and Daniel Tillman.
Adam Farouki, age 9, who came to the U.S. from Lebanon, and Margot MacDonald, age 10, who came from France, have returned from Las Vegas, Nevada where they performed with the World Children's Choir. They opened and closed a show which featured Lionel Richie, Cher, Josh Groban and Nita Whittaker.
Francesca Catherine Capellini has been selected by Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Va., for Honors Admission for the fall of 2002. Capellini is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Aristide Capellini and currently a senior at Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School. The college chooses students for Honors Admission who apply early and have and outstanding high school record and SAT scores.