To have school notes listed in The Arlington Connection, mail to 7913 Westpark Drive, McLean, VA 22102, e-mail to arlington@connectionnewspapers.com or fax to 703-917-0991. Photos, especially color, are encouraged. This free community listing is reserved to events that are open to the public at no or minimal cost. Deadline is 2 p.m. the Thursday before publication. Call Elizabeth Orr at 703-917-6449 with any questions.
The Wakefield Orchestra will present an evening of dinner and fine music entitled "A Night In Old Italy" on Oct. 27, at 7 p.m., in the school cafeteria. The cost for dinner, which will feature an Italian entrée, is $5 for adults and $3 for children under six-years-old. The concert is free, and will be performed immediately after dinner. For more information contact Gene Pohl, orchestra director at 703-228-6700.
The Yorktown HILT Department has published its first issue of "Bridges: A Reflection of the Yorktown Mosaic." This is a newsletter that seeks to explore and appreciate the diversity Yorktown has to offer. In the first issue students in the HILT Department wrote about its "beginning" in a new country and a new school. HILT teachers Tracy Maguire and Laila Leikvold coordinated the project. Themes for upcoming issues are celebrations, dreams and friendships.
In observance of Historic Arlington Days, Oct. 8-10, 50 Drew fifth graders were honored during a reception on Oct. 10, at the Arlington Historical Museum, for creating a 2005 Historical Buildings calendar with their original artwork. Drew art teacher Constance Usova worked with the students to create the calendar, integrating the study of historic Arlington architecture into the fourth-grade social studies unit on colonial Virginia. Copies of the calendar are available for $12 each at Drew or the Arlington Historical Society. The project was sponsored by The Washington Post Grants in the Arts program.
During Hispanic Heritage Month, Yuyi Morales, award-winning author/illustrator, visited Barrett and Key elementary schools. Students enjoyed "meeting" Señor Calavera, a major character in Yuyi's Pura BelPré story, "Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book." Coordinated by school librarians Margaret Frick and Lois Deringer, Barrett and Key students and staff both enjoyed and were honored to have her wonderful storytelling presented to them. Morales was in Washington to receive the Americás Award at the Library of Congress.
Hoffman-Boston Title I teachers Cindy Chiu and Cameron Burton have launched "Books and Bagels," a new book club for fifth-grade Title I students. At the Monday and Wednesday morning meetings, students are invited to enjoy breakfast while participating in book discussions facilitated by the Title I teachers and ESOL/HILT teacher Elita Jenks. "Books and Bagels" is designed to generate enthusiasm about reading and writing.
Gunston Middle School sixth graders are partnering with Earth Force this school year in an ecology project to learn about local watersheds and, in particular, nearby Four Mile Run. Building on work begun last year, the students will take and analyze water samples, evaluate the health of the watershed and discuss related environmental issues. Their findings will be presented to an assortment of interested parties by the end of the school year. The Earth Force project is helping to launch an after-school environment club. The club will look at a broad range of issues, but especially watershed preservation, and will develop projects to address environmental concerns raised by students.
Carol Cadby, a theatre-arts teacher at Yorktown High School, has been awarded two Presidential Citations for Outstanding Education (2003-2004) by both the Governor's School for Humanities and Visual and Performing Arts and the Governor's School for Mathematics, Science and Technology. Cadby was nominated by two Yorktown students. She has been awarded 13 Presidential Citations in the past seven years.
On behalf of the APS Family and Consumer Sciences and Teenage Parenting Programs, Marilyn Faris Scholl, the program's supervisor, has been awarded two grants totaling $7,500. A $5,000 grant, donated by the Whitehead Endowment, will be used to purchase reading materials for parents and children participating in the Even Start Family Literacy Program. A $2,500 grant, donated by the National Home Library Foundation, will be used to establish a small library for teen moms.
Congratulations to Patrick Henry guidance counselor Laura Milin, for receiving a $3,000 grant from the Washington Forest Foundation. The grant will be used for scholarships for the students and parenting classes for Patrick Henry families.
Three Arlingtonians enrolled in Syracuse University for the 2004-05 academic year. The new students are Alexander Lapiana, Ana Sandoval and Alyson Shontell.
Arlington students have been named 2004-2005 Scholastic Honor Roll Recipients. One hundred eight student athletes from across the nation were nominated by their coaches for excelling in both academics and rowing. The recipients are Washington-Lee senior Luke Beckman, and H-B Woodlawn senior Annelise Dickinson. Wakefield senior Robert Salemme and Washington-Lee senior Neil Stanga received honorable mentions.
The Arlington Learning in Retirement Institute is a nonprofit organization offering daytime, college-level courses and activities for people over 50 years of age. Membership is open to residents in the metropolitan region. All classes are held in Arlington. For more information, call 703-228-2144 or visit http://arlingtonlri.gmu.edu.
The Herb Block Foundation, created in the will of Washington Post editorial cartoonist Herbert Block, is offering its first community college scholarships for the academic year beginning in the fall of 2005. The scholarships will be awarded on the basis of financial need and academic performance. Scholarships will be given to C students who demonstrated academic improvement as well as A and B students. Eligible colleges are Montgomery Community College; Prince George's Community College; Northern Virginia Community College; and two-year programs at the University of the District of Columbia. The deadline for applications is Dec. 1. For more information or an application, call 609-771-7878.
Williamsburg Middle School is recruiting community members to serve on the school’s 50th Anniversary Advisory Committee. The committee will spend the next three months working to organize the school’s 50th Anniversary Celebration which will be held on Sat., Nov. 6, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the school. Staff members are looking for alumni, past faculty and staff, and community members who are interested in serving on the committee. For more information contact Laura Neff-Henderson at 703-228-6004.
Stacy Lewis, an art teacher at Glebe Elementary School, was awarded the Opera Guild of Northern Virginia Mary Shand Rule Art Teacher of the Year Award. Lewis was recognized for her commitment to teaching art to children. Lewis contributed to the largest art project produced in Arlington schools during 2003 to 2004 — a tile mural called "The Big Picture."
Wakefield High School Alumni Night. Pep rally, football game and sock hop; pep rally starts at 6:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 5, in the football stands, with the dance in the small gym following the game against JEB Stuart High School. Cost for the dance $10. Call Janet Coco at 703-644-1715.
On Thursday, Nov. 4, from 3:30-5:30 p.m., the Arlington Career Center's television production students will tape a talk show about the issues that teenagers face growing up in Arlington. The audience will consist of 30 community members, including teenagers, parents and professionals, i.e. educators, counselors, law enforcement. Under the direction of teacher David Welsh, students will both direct and host the talk show, which will air on Arlington Education Television in November.