<ro>Herndon High School Upcoming Events
<cal1>December
<cal2>3 SAT Testing
5 Mr. Herndon, 7 p.m.
8 Choir Concert, 7:30 p.m.
10 ACT Testing
14 Band Winter Concert, 7:30 p.m.
15 Hispanic Parent meeting, 7 p.m., in the cafeteria
21 Returning Grad Panel, 9:20 a.m. and 10:20 a.m.
21 Orchestra/Choir Concert, 7:30 p.m.
23 Winter Vacation
<lst>Send announcements to the Herndon Connection, 7913 Westpark Drive, McLean, VA 22102, send an e-mail to herndon@connectionnewspapers.com or fax to 703-917-0991. Deadline is Thursday 5 p.m. for the following week's paper. Photos/artwork encouraged. Call Meghan Williams at 703-917-6407 with questions. This free listing is reserved for activities and events that are open to the public at no or minimal cost.
The Herndon DECA chapter is volunteering at the Fair Oaks Mall Holiday Gift Wrap Store. This store is operated by DECA chapters from all over Fairfax County. It provides students with a real-world working environment while also gaining chapters an opportunity to earn extra money for projects, fashion shows, meetings and field trip expenses. The Herndon chapter operates the store on Saturday, Dec. 17 and Thursday, Dec. 22. The store is located on the Lower Level of Fair Oaks Mall, next to Lenscrafters. For more, contact Casey Hepner at Herndon High School.
The Way of Water, a museum of integrated art and science projects, will be at Hunters Woods Elementary School for the Arts and Sciences on Tuesday, Dec. 13, and Thursday, Dec. 15, at 7 p.m. Hands-on centers, including Let’s Go Fishin’, Snow Castles, Dehydrated Food, All About Books and Tidal Pool will be available for interactive demonstrations. Artwork, from Silly Fish to Snow Family Paintings and Waterforms, will be displayed by K-3 grade students. Students in grades 4-6 will exhibit watercolor landscapes, quilled snowflakes and Mars relief topical maps. A strings performance takes place each day at 7:30 p.m., followed by a state of water movement performance on Tuesday evening and a reading integration program on Thursday evening. Contact principal Olivia Toatley at 703-262-7400 or olivia.toatley@fcps.edu or event liaison Cathy Germain at catherine.germain@fcps.edu.
Herndon Elementary School has its Winter Concert on Monday, Dec. 19 at 7 p.m. Playing in the concert will be the Advanced Strings directed by Mellissa Mioni, Advanced Band directed by Theresa Tomko, and the Fifth and Sixth Grade Chorus directed by Cara Chaapel and Becki Jones.
Dr. Becki Jones, a music teacher at Herndon Elementary, is being recognized for her creativity and success in the classroom as a Disney Teacher Award nominee. Jones joins an elite group of teachers from across the country that have been recognized by their communities. As the next step in the awards process, Jones is now submitting an application to be considered for the 2006 Disney Teacher of the Year Award.
The honorees will be announced in late spring and celebrated at a red-carpet Awards Gala in July. During the Gala, four honorees will be selected as Outstanding Teachers and one will be named the 2006 Disney Teacher of the Year. In addition, the honorees each receive $10,000, a $5,000 grant for their schools and a six-day professional development institute with their principals at the Walt Disney World Resort.
During the month of October, the students at Herndon Elementary School sponsored a Hurricane Relief Read-a-thon. The students raised $2,356.43 by either gathering pledges for each minute they read (Grades K–3) or for each page they read (Grades 4–6). They also collected flat donations. All proceeds go to the Red Cross to support Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita relief.