The 10th annual Safe Community Coalition's Middle School Forum is being held at the McLean Baptist Church, 1367 Chain Bridge Road, Thursday, March 16 from 9:45 a.m.-1:10 p.m. The forum brings together over 100 McLean youth ages 12-18 to discuss "hot topics and issues of concern" for teens today. High school students from McLean, Langley and Potomac facilitate discussion and activity groups with middle school teens from Cooper, Longfellow, Potomac and Langley addressing issues facing them today. The forum begins at 9:45 with Jan Auerbach, president of the Safe Community Coalition, and Joan Dubois, Drainsville District supervisor, welcoming the participants.
Summer Art Camp 2006. The Great Falls Art Center is now taking registration for classes which will be held through July and August for ages 6 to teen. Campers attend Monday -Friday from 10-3 p.m. For applications call 703 759-3867 or email greatfallsart@yahoo.com.
Village Green Day School, 790 Walker Road in Great Falls, has openings in their Kinder Club enrichment program. Structured to challenge young minds, this program is for morning kindergarten-age students who are looking to extend their half-day public school experience. The Kinder Club meets from noon- 3 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday with transportation offered from local elementary schools. Subjects include: mathmatics, science, geography, reading, art and Spanish. Call 703-759-4049 or visit www.villagegreendayschool.com.
Starshine Theater of Great Falls is now enrolling students for its Winter/Spring session of performing arts workshops. A variety of programs are offered for ages 1-17, including: "The Odyssey," a full-production musical drama based on Homer's ancient epic and open to ages 7-17, "The Adventures of Chicken Little," a new play open to young actors, ages 4.5- 9 years, Beginning and Intermediate Guitar for ages 9 and up, Voice and Singing Techniques for ages 8- 17, Creative Dance/Pre-Ballet for ages 3-5 years, and "Music 'n Motion for Mommy 'n Me," for ages 1-5 years (siblings welcome). Rehearsals and Classes are held at The School of Theatrical Dance in the Great Falls Village Centre. Contact Patricia Budwig, Creative Director, at 703-790-9050 or StarshineTheater@aol.com.
The Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants (VSCPA) Educational Foundation is now accepting scholarship applications from Virginia college and university students for the 2006-2007 academic year. The application deadline is April 17. The foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting business and accounting education.
VSCPA offers undergraduate, minority undergraduate and graduate scholarships. To qualify for an undergraduate scholarship, recipients must have completed a minimum of three hours of accounting course work, be enrolled in three additional accounting credit hours and have an accounting GPA of 3.0. Graduate scholarship applicants must be currently enrolled or have been accepted in a graduate accounting program at an accredited Virginia college or university. The Foundation also offers the Goodman and Company Annual Scholarship to a junior or senior accounting major enrolled at a Virginia college or university who demonstrates academic excellence and financial need to pursue a career in public accounting.
Other selection criteria for all awards includes overall academic performance, entry essay, faculty recommendation(s), and community and/or extracurricular activities. For more information on these scholarships, including a downloadable application, or to make a tax-deductible contribution to the foundation, visit www.VSCPAFoundation.com, e-mail foundation@vscpa.com or call 800-733-8272.
James Monroe Bank is the title sponsor of the 2006 James Monroe Memorial Foundation Scholarship Award Essay Competition for college-bound high school juniors and seniors. This year's essay topic is "James Monroe: Guardian of a Free Hemisphere." A scholarship information flyer can be downloaded from www.jamesmonroe.org/2006brochure.pdf. The last call for entries is March 12.
Wheat's Lawn & Landscape is offering a $1,000 scholarship to one high school senior that is dedicated to serving the community in the McLean, Great Falls, Vienna, Oakton, North Arlington and Falls Church areas.
Wheat's Lawn & Landscape's 2006 Student Volunteer Scholarship will be granted to a student that has a proven record of volunteer service. The purpose of the scholarship is to reward students for their volunteer service in an effort to promote youth volunteerism. Application forms can be obtained at www.wheats.com or by calling 703-641-4790. The deadline for accepting scholarship nominations is April 1, 2006. Send nominations to: Wheat's Lawn & Landscape's 2006 Student Volunteer Scholarship, Attn: Mike Wheat, PO Box 6152
McLean, VA 22106.
Kathryn Bowman, a student at Marshall High School, and Joanna Berg, a student at McLean High School, were among 28 Fairfax County Public Schools students to be named candidates in the 2006 Presidential Scholars program. The program recognizes some of the country’s most distinguished graduating high school seniors. Students are nominated based on academic achievement or academic and artistic scholarship in the visual arts, the performing arts or creative writing.
Chesterbrook Elementary School is planning its 100th anniversary celebration and is looking for alumni, former faculty and staff members, and community residents who have memories to share about the school or the McLean community.
An open house birthday celebration is planned for June. Alumni, former faculty or staff members, or community members with memories or photos of the school are asked to send their information to Chesterbrook Elementary School, 1753 Kirby Road, McLean, VA 22101, attention: Amy Hill.
The school is using its 100th anniversary to make history come alive for current students, using the event to teach what life was like in the early 20th century. Daily Centennial Moments are included on the school’s morning newscast, featuring fun facts from each of the last 100 years. In March, an assembly will feature staff members in skits depicting previous decades.
Great Falls Elementary School again participated in the National Geography Bee sponsored by the National Geographic Society. During December, students in the fourth through sixth grades competed to see who would represent the school in the national competition. After a preliminary round, two representatives from the three grades participated in the final competition. Alexander Holtberg, one of the sixth-grade representatives, won in a tie-breaking round against Forrest Landy, the fifth-grade representative. Alexander has taken the written examination to qualify for the state round in Richmond in March.
Thirty students from the fourth, fifth and sixth grades at Kent Garden Elementary School spent the morning of Feb. 22 at IMC in Reston to learn about networks and how companies use and apply technology. IMC has created a program to assist students of elementary age to understand and see first-hand how technology is applied. Students learned about Internet traffic and how it flows through a business. They also learned about the Systems Integration Process, including the creation of technologies and their application to a real-world environment.
Starshine Theater Summer Drama Camps will again be offered at The Langley School Summer Studio in McLean this June and July for student actors ages 3-17. For ages 8-17: "The Adventures of Zorro," an original musical drama written and directed by Patricia Budwig, will premier this summer. This full-production play includes a speaking character role for every student, with action/dance roles and singing leads on the professionally produced CD soundtrack for those interested. Rehearsals take place from July 10-22, with gala evening performance on Saturday, July 22. For Ages 5-9 (Starshine Young Actors) and 3-5 (Starshine Little Theater): Starshine camps will be offered in June; each student will have the opportunity to perform as their favorite character in the original play they will create and perform together. Call 703-790-9050 or visit StarshineTheater@aol.com.