Parents, students, teachers, and the general public are invited
to the “Excellence in the Arts” awards ceremony on Sunday, Feb. 22 from 2-5 p.m. where winners, eight in each category, will perform and/or show their work. Cash prizes will be awarded for first, second and third place winners. A reception will follow the performance at 4 p.m., Sheila Johnson Performing Arts Center at the Hill School, 130 South Madison Street, Middleburg. The event is free and open to the public. Call the Loudoun Arts Council at 703-777-7838 to make reservations. Press and photographers are welcome and should call to reserve space. 2004 Excellence in the Arts Winners are:
* Piano: First Place – Jasmin Lee, Heritage; Second Place – Jin Kyong Kim, Potomac Falls; Third Place – Joshua Szimonisz, Park View; Honorable Mention – Yesel Jun, Broad Run.
* Instrumental: First Place – Gavin Ruedisueli, Loudoun Valley.
* Vocal: First Place – Adam Rothschild, Loudoun Valley; Second Place (tie) – Christian Amonson, Loudoun Valley; Second Place (tie) – Brad Cypher, Loudoun County.
* Dance: First Place – Alessandra Casuccio, Stone Bridge (Loudoun Ballet); Second Place – Laurel Snyder, Loudoun Valley (Loudoun Ballet); Third Place – Lauren Hafner, Loudoun County; Honorable Mention – Melike Konor, Heritage (Loudoun Ballet).
* Theater: First Place – Jackson Thompson, Loudoun County; Second Place – Morgan El-Shafey, Loudoun Valley; Honorable Mention – John Klenk, Stone Bridge; Honorable Mention – Molly Coyle, Loudoun County.
* Visual: First Place – Heather Cline, Loudoun Valley; Second Place – Krystine Rivera, Stone Bridge; Third Place – Kelly Young, Loudoun County; Honorable Mention – Katie Snider, Home-schooled; Honorable Mention – Whitney Lasik, Park View; Honorable Mention – Riky Saunders, Park View.
* Digital: First Place – Steve Gottschling, Stone Bridge; Second Place – Daniel Flisek, Heritage; Third Place – Christian Amonson, Loudoun Valley.
* Literary: First Place – Annclaire Livoti (for “Icarus”),Loudoun Valley; Second Place – Molly Coyle (for “Bayou Lullaby”),Loudoun County; Third Place – Amanda Davis (for “Script”), Potomac Falls.
The Bluemont Concert Series is helping Loudoun County Public Schools celebrate Black History Month through a series of music and storytelling programs:
* Sparky Rucker presents history through a unique blend of storytelling, guitar playing and blues singing on Wednesday, Feb. 11 at Waterford and Ball's Bluff Elementary Schools.
* Dylan Pritchett will spin stories on Tuesday, Feb. 17 at River Bend Middle School and Heritage High School, on Wednesday, Feb. 18 at Stone Bridge High School, and on Thursday, Feb. 19 at Cedar Lane Elementary.
Julie Gillem, a senior at Broad Run High School, has been named as a finalist in the 2004 Achievement Scholarship competition. This scholarship honors outstanding African-American students that placed in the top five percent of students taking the PSAT. Gillem is a member of the Broad Run Step Team, Spartan Animal Society, Broad Run Minority Achievement Committee, Art Club, DECA and the National Honor Society.
Stone Bridge High School Booster Club will be sponsoring a mulch sale with delivery scheduled for Saturday, April 17. The cost is $3.25 per 3 cu. ft. bag of premium shredded hardwood mulch. Free delivery of 25 or more bags within a five mile radius; smaller orders may be picked up at the high school between 9 a.m. and noon on April 17. Order forms are due no later than Friday, March 19. For more information, contact Tim Buchholz at 703-307-6812 or email timbuch2@aol.com.
Park View High School's graduation has changed from 7:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jun. 17.
Students from John W. Tolbert Elementary, Sterling Middle School and Park View High School were honored at an Artists Recognition Reception on Feb. 4. The honored students participated in the "Discover Loudoun's Young Artists Student Art Show," which is on display until Feb. 25 at the George Washington University Virginia Campus Gallery Lounge. The hours for the exhibit are 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Monday-Thursday. The recognized students included: Taplin Arant, Jane Decker, Sarah Forney, Bobby Gibson, Greg Gibson, Richard Hang, Kathryn Meintel, Dawn Moore, Manny Negron, Linda Nsiah, Valeria Parodi, Brandi Ronci, Kevin Tyler, Jesse Wells and Michael Zalis, Park View High School; Mike Albert, Rykeyn Bailey, Rachel Caudill, Michelle Christian, Holly Dominguez, Amanda Francois, Susan Geiger, Brittany Griffin, Joon Lee Han, Samantha Louk, Chandria Mack, Loan Nguyen, Vu Nguyen, Stephanie Snoich, Diego Valdez and Justine Villanueva, Sterling Middle School; and Habib Antar, Avery Bouffard, Brydon Clark, Erica Corley, Chandler Cunningham, Katie Goodwin, Aidan Gordan, Jordern Gunessever, Alex Hoyle, Dylan Hyde, Hope Medley, Alexandra Purdy, James Sasai, Jake Spradling, Hannah Stickley, Katarina Svinterud, Timothy Swift and Temour Tokhi, John W. Tolbert Jr. Elementary School.
The Growing Stage celebrates its 10th season of summer theatre camps for children and teens by offering a Creative Drama camp for grades K-2, and three performance workshops.All locations will be announced on the Growing Stage website (www.growingstage.org) as soon as they are finalized. Registration information can be found on the website or by calling 540-338-5367.
The following area students enrolled at Virginia Tech were among the academic degree candidates honored at the University's Fall Commencement Ceremony held Dec. 19 in Cassell Coliseum:
Jessica Brouwer and Valerie Wiker, Purcellville; Robina Seng,
Aldie; Michelle Offutt, Waterford; Jessica Demchik, Kathryn Berger, Matthew Reckmeyer, and Matthew Weismann, Leesburg; Christina Bruning, John Cherundolo, Christopher Gist, James Kane, Andrew Koch, Thomas McDermott, Kalinda Santos, Carly Smith, Stephanie Barger, James Farquhar, and John Quinn, Sterling; Dwight Toavs, Potomac Falls; Megan Hereford, Hamilton; James Kushlan, South Riding; David Keitel and Amber Wysocki; Maureen Greeley, Brenda Harrington, Daniel Larimer, Christopher Valentin, Stephen Caimi and Christopher Callaghan, Ashburn; Peter Boyer, Round Hill; and Eileen Oviatt, Catharpin.
Monroe Technology Center's Open House. Wednesday, Feb. 11 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. In conjunction with the open house, the Culinary Arts Department will be serving a Spaghetti Dinner from 5:30-7 p.m. for $5 per person. For more information, contact Monroe Technology Center, 715 Childrens Center Road, SW, Leesburg or visit www.loudoun.k12.va.us/schools/mtc.
Stone Bridge High School's Project Graduation is raffling off a 2004 Nissan Sentra in a Car or Cash sweepstakes. Project Graduation sponsors an alcohol-free, drug-free, tobacco-free, all night party for graduating seniors. All proceeds of the Car or Cash Sweepstakes will go to support this event. Winners of this raffle may choose the car, donated by Brown's Sterling Nissan, or $10,000. Only 600 tickets, costing $30 each, will be sold. The winner will be announced at 10 a.m. on Thursday, April 1 at the high school. The winner does not have to be present to win but is required to be a licensed driver. Entry forms are available in the Stone Bridge High School office, in the school's newsletter and on its web site, www.loudoun.k12.va.us/schools/sbhs/. Checks may be made payable to "SBHS Project Grad" with the note "Sweepstakes." Entry forms may be mailed to: SBHS Project Graduation, 43100 Hay Road, Ashburn, VA 20147. A receipt/ticket will be returned by mail. For more information, call 703-729-2379 or 703-729-5717.