Vienna-area high school girls in grades 9-12 are invited to join "Girls Group," a place to discuss dating, college, health and beauty. The group meets at the Vienna Community Center, 120 Cherry St., S.E. and sponsors trips and classes. Participation is free of charge. To register, and for more information, call Brandy Mullen at 703-555-5721.
A junior at Madison High School is trying to achieve her Girl Scout Gold Award. Her project, which is called Project D.E.S.K. (Desk Every Student Keeps) involves gathering student desks and school supplies. After the desks are cleaned up and filled with supplies, they are delivered to needy students. A list of items she needs includes student desks, desk calendars, small containers to put supplies in, scissors, rulers, pencils, lined paper, construction paper and any other school supplies. To support her efforts, contact her Girl Scout Leader at 301-380-7205.
Early in February, the Marshall High School Model United Nations Club earned individual and delegation honors at the 41st annual North American Invitational Model UN Conference (NAIMUN) competition in Washington, D.C.
Sponsored by Georgetown University International Relations Association, the four-day MUN conference attracted more than 2,500 delegates from nearly 200 schools throughout North America.
Six students on Marshall's 20-member won awards, including junior Ramy Abdel-Nabi and sophomore Alyssa Katz, who were presented a second place Outstanding Delegation award. Winning third place Honorable Mention honors were junior Melanie Quillen and sophomores Tishan Mahfuz, Bryan Henning and Brent Newman. Abdel-Nabi, Katz, Mahfuz, Henning and Newman were representing the west Asian nation of Kazakhstan in various General Assembly committees. Quillen represented the United States in a UN Security Council Ad Hoc Committee on Terrorism.
In addition, sophomore Sabrina Horvath represented the Austrian Foreign Minister in the Future European Union Cabinet; sophomore Betty Chen represented China's vice premier of science, education and culture Xu Guanhua in the Chinese Cabinet, and junior Jason Heath represented Mexico in the Asia-Pacific Economic Council. Senior Mike Gully represented the Dominican Republic in the Organization of American States and senior Sylvie Reydams represented France in a simulation of the UN Security Council. Also contributing to the team's efforts were seniors Johanna Wheeler and Frank Bellamy, sophomores Ciana Mickolus and Maya Renfro, juniors Santiago Pareja, Howard O and Roma Nandwani, and freshmen Dema Al-Kakhan and Patrick Cieplak.
Over the four-day conference, Marshall's delegation spent a total of 20 hours debating issues related to international law and UN operations. Also, students serving on the special regional committees — Horvath, Chen, Heath, Quillen and Gully — participated in crisis sessions involving additional hours devoted to drafting resolutions and engaging in discussion and debate.
Marshall was one of four Fairfax County Public Schools represented at the NAIMUN conference and the only one to be recognized with multiple awards.
Also in February, the MUN Club sent a 10-member delegation to the MUN Conference at Gar-Field High School in Woodbridge. Juniors Ramy Abdel-Naby and Kira Topik, along with senior Matthew Lonnquest, won an Honorable Mention award for their representation of Germany in 1939, while Alyssa Katz and Sophia Magalona won verbal commendations for their work on a General Assembly committee.
Dr. Edward Mickolus coaches Marshall's MUN teams and history teacher J.T. Brannan serves as faculty sponsor. Upcoming MUN conferences on the schedule include: George Mason University in early March and George Washington University in early April.
The Virginia State Bar and its Litigation Section is sponsoring the 12th annual Law in Society Award Competition for Virginia High School students.
Students are asked to write an essay describing how far a school system should go to limit students' self-expression, in the interest of protecting them from gang violence and hate crimes.
Cash awards will be given to students whose essays show a superior understanding of the value of law in everyday life. The competition is open to all Virginia high school students 19 or younger. Entry forms and essay must be received by the offices of the Virginia State Bar by 4 p.m. on March 3, 2004.
Visit the Web site at www.vsb.org/publications/lawinsociety/index.html, e-mail lawinsociety@vsb.org or call 804-775-0586.
Substance Abuse Education seminars for parents will continue to be held in the new year at three locations, Langley High School, McLean High School and Herndon High School. At Langley High School there sessions are held on March 10 and 31, April 28 and May 19.
At McLean High School the sessions will be Feb. 25, March 17, April 14, May 5 and 26, and June 9.
Long & Foster Real Estate is offering its annual Long & Foster $150,000 Scholarship Program for well-rounded graduating high school-seniors entering an accredited four-year college or university. The Long & Foster Scholarship Program will award $1,000 to each of 150 worthy recipients throughout its seven-state region for the 2004-05 academic year. The monetary scholarship award will be made payable directly to the college or university in the student’s name. The deadline for applying is March 1, 2004, and the scholarships will be awarded beginning May 3, 2004.
Eligible high-school seniors must have at least a 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale, demonstrate financial need, indicate positions of leadership they held while a student and describe in which school groups they have been involved, community organizations in which they have served, and whether they have held a part-time job while in school, to be considered well-rounded applicants. Applicants will be asked to write a short essay on either their most significant high-school experience or their expectations for college.
Applications for the Long & Foster Scholarship Program can be obtained from any of Long & Foster’s residential sales offices, from high-school guidance counselors, or via Long & Foster’s Web site at www.longandfoster.com/scholarship. Check the Long & Foster Web site for a list of service areas where applicants must reside to be eligible for the scholarship program.
A hard copy of the application and the required attachments must be mailed by March 1, 2004, to Long & Foster Corporate Headquarters at the following address: Long & Foster Scholarship Program, c/o Corporate Marketing Department, Long & Foster Real Estate Inc., 11351 Random Hills Road, Fairfax, VA 22030-6082, Attention: Colleen Park.
Lorien Wood is a Christ-centered school with integral curriculum modeled after Rivendell School in Arlington. Lorien Wood features small, mixed-age classes, with emphasis placed on character development, community and parental involvement. Doors open in the greater Vienna area in fall 2004 with grades K-4, expanding through grade eight over the next four years. The next open house is Saturday, March 6, at 9:30 a.m., all at Church of the Good Shepherd, 2351 Hunter Mill Road, Oakton. R.S.V.P. appreciated but not required at info@lorienwood.org or 703-281-1807. For additional information, visit www.lorienwood.org.
All 10th-12th grade high school students in Northern Virginia are eligible for the Civil Liberties Essay Contest, sponsored by the Northern Virginia Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia.
Winning prizes, $300 for first place and $200 for runner-up, will be awarded in June.
Essays should address the student’s opinion or analysis of a current civil liberties issue and will be judged on clarity of thought, cogency of argument and eloquence of expression. Entries must be 700 words maximum. See http://members.aol.com/acluva for excerpts from last year's winning essays.
Essays must be typed and postmarked by March 31, mailed to: Northern Virginia Chapter of the ACLU, P.O. Box 19242, Alexandria, VA 22320-0242. Include a cover sheet with name, address, phone number and the name of the high school attended.
Winners will be notified by May 15.
Call the ACLU message line at 703-360-1096.