Words, music, images and more from Jim Barnes
For the next week, the store windows of downtown Leesburg will be filled with ghosts, witches, bats and an assortment of other scary creatures, courtesy of local teens engaged in a friendly competition.
Teams of art students from three Leesburg high schools — Heritage, Loudoun County and Tuscarora — are competing in a Halloween art contest sponsored by the Leesburg Downtown Business Association.
Washington Post, October 25, 2015
A two-year push to prevent concussions and other injuries in Fairfax County high school sports is showing encouraging results, according to data released by the school system.
Statistics collected by Fairfax County public schools indicated that the number of injuries sustained by football players declined by 16 percent over the past year, and the number of concussions by 28 percent. There were similar declines in the incidence of concussions and other injuries among lacrosse players.
Washington Post, October 15, 2015
About 70 Manassas-area children are joining their voices in song as members of a new choral group that began rehearsing last month.
The Greater Manassas Children’s Choir, an offshoot of the Manassas Chorale, is divided by age into two singing groups, each with a director. Becky Verner leads about 50 children in grades 5 through 8, and Susan Dommer is head of a smaller group of children in grades 2 through 4.
Washington Post, October 11, 2015
A group of 11 theater students from Rock Ridge High School in Ashburn took their act to the famed Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland last month.
All the students performed at the festival — including in an original one-act play written by one of the students — and they saw at least 10 other shows, their teacher, Tony Cimino-Johnson, said.
Washington Post, September 13, 2015
Riverside High School in Leesburg will open Aug. 31 as the 15th high school in Loudoun County. The school is in the Lansdowne development, near Belmont Ridge Middle School and the National Conference Center.
Riverside, which has a capacity of 1,600, will open with 820 freshmen, sophomores and juniors.
Doug Anderson, 48, is Riverside’s principal. A graduate of Radford University, Anderson has been an educator for 21 years. Most recently, he was principal of Broad Run High School for four years. He began his career as a social studies teacher in Fairfax County, where he taught for 11 years before coming to Loudoun in 2004 as an assistant principal at Broad Run.
Washington Post, August 23, 2015
When Prince William County schools start the new year Aug. 31, Chris Yung Elementary School in Bristow will open to students for the first time, with an emphasis on STEAM: science, technology, engineering, art and math.
The school is named in honor of Chris Yung, a Marine Corps veteran and Prince William police officer who was killed in a motorcycle accident in Bristow in 2012 while responding to a call.
Washington Post, August 23, 2015
About 50 high school students in Loudoun County’s Camp REAL program for at-risk youths hosted an anti-bullying festival Aug. 6 at Sugarland Elementary School.
The students organized games, music and activities for younger children, including tie-dyeing T-shirts, face painting and supervising as they petted a miniature horse. Many participants, including members of the Camp REAL program for elementary school students, signed a pledge to help stop bullying.
Washington Post, August 16, 2015
Several teachers from Herndon Elementary School are volunteering their time this summer to get kids reading.
Every Wednesday, the group brings a self-styled bookmobile to two apartment complexes in Herndon, where the teachers lay out boxes of donated books on the lawn. Children are encouraged to look through, choose books that appeal to them and take them home to read. Best of all: The books are theirs to keep.
Washington Post, August 5, 2015
Two decades ago, Susan Ungerer was volunteering at a Fairfax County nonprofit group that helps financially strapped families when she noticed a pattern: Parents tended to fall behind with their finances in August and September, just when they had to buy school supplies for their children.
That realization, combined with 23 years of experience as an elementary school teacher, motivated Ungerer to start Kids R First, a nonprofit group that provides basic school supplies to families in need. The organization has been growing ever since. This year, Ungerer anticipates that Kids R First will help 25,000 students in 96 schools across Fairfax and Loudoun counties.
Washington Post, July 29, 2015
The Canadian Brass, widely acclaimed as one of the most popular brass ensembles in the world, visited John Champe High School in Aldie recently to conduct a workshop for Loudoun County band students.
About 700 students from 10 middle and high schools attended the May 29 workshop, where the ensemble demonstrated diverse musical styles, including early Renaissance music and a Peruvian tango.
Washington Post, June 7, 2015