Send announcements to The Loudoun Connection, 7913 Westpark Drive, McLean, VA 22102, e-mail to loudoun@connectionnewspapers.com or fax to 703-917-0991. Deadline is Friday, two weeks before the event. Photos/artwork encouraged. For more information, call Jennifer Lesinski at 703-917-6454.
This free listing is reserved for activities and events that are open to the public at no or minimal cost.
The Potomac Falls High School, 46400 Algonkian Parkway, Sterling, presents "Alice in Wonderland," Oct. 13-15, at 7:30 p.m.; and Oct. 15-16, 2 p.m., at the school. tickets are $5. Call 703-444-7542.
During the two Back-to-School nights at River Bend Middle School in Sterling, eighth-grade students spent time collecting new school supplies for Hurricane Katrina victims from the parents. They then put together more than 80 backpacks. Each one was stuffed with every school supply needed. About 30 were for elementary students and the other 50 were for secondary students. Some received reading books, dictionaries, drawing supplies and small gifts like earrings, hair accessories and candy. All students received notebooks, binders, paper, crayons, markers, pencils, pens, erasers, rulers, book covers, glue and folders.
Along with the collection the students received another $135. Office Depot in Sterling, is shipping all of the supplies free of charge and working in conjunction with the American Red Cross, to get the backpacks to the students that were displaced because of Katrina.
Farmwell Station Middle School's Leo Club will donate $11,622.32 to the Lions Club International Foundation's Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief Fund. The Leo Club is a group of middle-school students that operates as a school-service club under charter from the Lions Club International and sponsored by the Sterling Lions Club.
To spur donations two sixth-grader teachers, along with Leo Club advisors, promised to put on a karaoke "Live 6" concert, if the sixth grade exceeds its goal of collecting $2,000. The concert is slated for Oct. 14, since the sixth grade ended up collecting $11,186.60. The students washed cars, held bake sales and opened lemonade stands. The Lions Club International continues to collect donations, visit www.lions-katrina.org.
Elementary students at The Boyd School, a Montessori ChildrenÕs House Broadlands Campus held a fall ÒCamp InÓ Sept. 30. Students participated in team and relationship building activities including a scavenger hunt, cooperative games, star gazing, singing and indoor camping in the school Great Room. During the week the students planned their meals for dinner and breakfast and had the opportunity to accompany parents and school staff to a local grocer to pick up the needed ingredients. Cooking their own meals in the school kitchen was a big part of the fun. The Boyd School invited Tammy Schwab, a naturalist/historian, otherwise known as ÒThe Bat LadyÓ from Cub Run Recreation Center to speak to them. The students enjoyed a PowerPoint presentation about bats of the rain forest and asked many questions of ÒThe Bat Lady.Ó The night topped off with the movie ÒFern Gully.Ó Students woke to making breakfast of French toast on Saturday and off to home with many adventures had and friendships confirmed.
The Loudoun County Youth After School Program, known as "YAS," sponsored a barbecue-style dinner for participants and parents at the Douglass Community Center picnic pavilion Friday, Sept. 23. Students in grades six through eight turned out by the bus load to enjoy food, games, and dancing courtesy of the Youth Services Division of Loudoun County Parks, Recreation and Community Services, Spin City Productions and staff of the County's Central Kitchen.
Heritage High School, 520 Evergreen Mill Road, S.E., Leesburg, is inviting residents from across Loudoun County to help raise money for hurricane survivors by pledging to walk for part of a day in October.
On Oct. 22, at 11 a.m., The Heritage High School Walkathon will kick off a six-hour journey around the school's stadium track. The cost of registration is $5. T-shirts are $5. Participants are invited to walk for as long as they like. Participants are also being asked to seek prepayed pledges from friends, families, or businesses for each lap they walk. To register, contact Denise Hagood or Felisa Cupps at 703-669-1400.
South Lakes Class of 1985 is looking for class members for a 20-year reunion, Oct. 22, at the Reston Sheraton. Class members are asked to e-mail their names and mailing address to slhs1985@yahoo.com. See the Web site at slhs1985.org. Anyone interested in helping with the planning, indicate interest in the e-mail or contact Melanie Kirsch Colston at 703-476-0579.
Dominion High School news:
* Students will be making a concerted effort to positively impact the world around them during Community Service Week, Oct. 24-28. All clubs, athletic teams and student groups at the high school will participate in events to spruce up the community, raise funds for local charities or aid in humanitarian relief efforts. Some clubs are actually starting their projects earlier in October.
* The 2005 White House Ornament, honoring President James Garfield, is on sale now at the Dominion High School Office, 21326 Augusta Drive, Sterling. Cost is $18 and supports Dominion High School and ATLAS.
* ATLAS (Association of Titan Leaders Assisting Students) is continuing to sell Titan Advantage cards, good for discounts and perks at 19 local merchants. Cost is just $10. To obtain a card or to learn how to become a participating merchant, contact Jim Futrell, futrell9com, or Amy Hart, 703-450-6268.
* Dominion's Breakfast Club, designed to insure that every student gets off to a healthy start, is in need of milk, juice and cream cheese as well as volunteers. Contact Catherine Lyddon, 703-433-1193, Keeplyddon@aol.com or Fay Eifler, 703-421-3124, fjeifler@adelphia.net to volunteer or arrange donations.
* Sponsorship opportunities still exist for the eight-team Titan Tip Off Basketball Tournament, Dec. 1-3. Contact athletic director Joe Fleming, 703-444-8038, for details.
*Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will be the featured speaker at the Titan Forum, part of the Oct. 17 ATLAS meeting at Dominion High School. Hrabowski, a consultant to the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health, is co-author of the books "Overcoming the Odds: Raising Academically Successful African American Women" and "Beating the Odds, Raising Academically Successful African American Males." All are welcome to attend the 7:30 p.m. meeting.
The Stone Bridge High School Project Graduation Committee is sponsoring its Third Annual ÒSBHS Car or Cash Sweepstakes.Ó Tickets are $30, with the winner Ñ selected Dec. 16 Ñ having a choice of winning a 2006 Nissan Sentra from BrownÕs Sterling Nissan or $10,000 cash. Only 600 tickets will be sold. All proceeds go toward the all-night, alcohol-free, drug-free, tobacco-free party for SBHSÕs graduating seniors on graduation night, June 14.
To purchase tickets, call 703-729-5717 or download a form from links on the SBHS Web site at www.loudoun.k12.va.us/schools/sbhs. Tickets will also be sold at home SBHS athletic events and at Ashburn Starbucks.
Freyja Bergthorson, an eighth-grade English teacher at Farmwell Station Middle School, was recently appointed to serve as a judge in the Program to Recognize Excellence in Student Literary Magazines for the National Council of Teachers of English.
The program is an NCTE-sponsored competition designed to honor quality literary magazines from middle schools, junior-high schools and high schools in the United States and Canada and American schools abroad for excellence in writing. Each judge evaluates magazines submitted in their state.
Alice Foltz, the Social Science Department chair at Potomac Falls High School, will travel to Tokyo Nov. 20 as a participant in the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program.
Foltz was selected by a panel of educators from a group of more than 2,500 applicants from across the U.S.
The Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund enables distinguished primary- and secondary-school teachers in the United States to travel to Japan for three weeks in an effort to promote greater intercultural understanding between the two nations.
Foltz will join 200 other American teachers who will visit Japan in November. They will begin their visit in Tokyo with a practical orientation of Japanese life and culture, followed by meetings with Japanese government officials and educators. The group will then travel in groups of 20 to selected host cities outside of Tokyo where they will have direct contact with Japanese teachers and students.
Foltz will be hosted in the city of Okinawa. In Okinawa, Foltz will visit primary and secondary schools as well as a teachersÕ college. The group will visit cultural sites and local industries in addition to a brief stay with a Japanese family.
Upon her return, Foltz, will share the outcome of her Japanese study and experiences with students and the community through a variety of teacher training workshops and outreach projects.
Dates for SAT and ACT testing for 2005-2006 have been established for Loudoun County Public Schools. The tests are administered on nationally standardized dates and require advanced registration.
Students may register online or may obtain paper registration materials from the guidance office of each high school. Registration and study information is available at www.collegeboard.org for the SAT and at www.act.org for the ACT. Students should register at least six weeks in advance of the tests.
Most colleges require SAT or ACT for college admissions. Some colleges also require certain SAT II subject tests for admissions or placement. Students should check with all of the colleges to which they plan to apply to determine which tests are required and preferred.
Students usually register for the SAT or ACT in their junior year and repeat the test in the senior year. Some students elect to take both the SAT and ACT.
The SAT test dates are:
* Nov. 5: SAT and SAT II subject tests, Potomac Falls High School.
* Dec. 3: SAT and SAT II subject tests, Loudoun County High School.
* Jan. 28: SAT and SAT II subject tests, Loudoun Valley High School.
* April 1: SAT only, Loudoun County High School.
* May 6: SAT and SAT II subject tests, Broad Run High School.
* June 3: SAT and SAT II subject tests, Park View High School.
The ACT test date is April 8, Broad Run High School.
Long & Foster Real Estate Inc. announces the Long & Foster $200,000 Scholarship Program for well-rounded graduating high-school seniors entering an accredited four-year college or university. The program will award $1,000 each of 200 worthy recipients for the 2006-2007 academic year.
The deadline for applying is March 1 and the scholarships will be awarded in the beginning of April. The monetary scholarship award will be made payable directly to the college or university in the studentÕs name.
Applications for the program can be obtained from any of Long & Foster residential sales offices, from high-school guidance counselors or via Long & FosterÕs Web site at www.longandfoster.com/scholarship. Also visit the Web site for details on eligibility and application requirements.