Linda J. Gammon , the band director at Carson Middle School, displays the Virginia Music Educator of the Year Award she received from the Virginia Music Educators Association. (Photo: Courtesy Linda J. Gammon)

Monroe Scholar Named

James Evans of Falls Church was recently named a James Monroe Scholar at the College of William and Mary. He is among 40 sophomores joining the Monroe Scholars Program, a highly selective program that rewards academic distinction. Students named as Monroe Scholars as sophomores are afforded $3000 in summer funding for a seven week summer research project, the opportunity to tutor at the local Matthew Whaley Elementary School and participation in the Monroe Lunch program, a series of lunch lecture/discussions with faculty and visiting speakers in diverse fields.

Writers Cafes

The first of three Writers’ Cafés at Sunrise Valley Elementary will be held on Thursday, Dec. 13, at 8 a.m. At the Café, fifth and sixth grade students from eight different classrooms will meet to share their creative writings. After enjoying hot chocolate and breakfast, the students will share their writings in small groups and then as a whole, receiving positive, constructive comments from their peers. Assistant principal Melanie Stanley initiated the Writers’ Cafés, which are now run by a team of sixth grade students.

Business Partnership

Centreville High has established a business partnership with the space and geospatial intelligence business unit of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). SAIC plans to provide volunteers for a mentoring-tutoring program and will contribute to the school’s current geosystems curriculum by providing subject matter expertise, guest speakers, and judges for science fairs.

Elementary Educator of the Year

Orange Hunt Elementary art teacher Janet Micari has been named Elementary Art Educator of the Year for the Northern Region of the Virginia Art Education Association. Micari has designed and implemented Family Art Nights in conjunction with Math and/or Language Arts Nights for Orange Hunt students and their families with the goal of promoting literacy and bringing families together to experience, write about and create art. She is a fine arts elementary lead mentor and art teacher mentor and has served as a Great Beginnings Teacher Induction program coach for new FCPS elementary school art teachers. Micari has also served as Cluster VI lead elementary school art teacher and helped revise the Program of Studies for the FCPS fine arts summer curriculum.

Food Drive

Students at Springfield Estates Elementary are holding a schoolwide food drive through Dec. 17. The event is organized by counselor Carolyn Gibson. The Salvation Army and a local food bank will distribute the food to local needy families and individuals.

Fairfax Stories

Deborah Nagy and Mary Ewell of Mountain View Alternative High were recognized by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for their work on Fairfax County Stories 1607-2007. Nagy, who teaches math, and Ewell, who is a custodian at the school, contributed to the book, which chronicles the history of the county.

Community Service Projects

Five FCPS career and technical education student community service projects have received $1,000 awards from the Extra Credit program at Tysons Corner Center for their creativity, relevance and planning. The projects, executed during the current school year, were submitted by student organizations within career and technical education courses. The following five community service programs were selected to receive awards: Centreville High (SkillsUSA) Criminal Justice for "Mom Was Right…Wash Your Hands!" Edison Academy (SkillsUSA) Cosmetology for "The Key to the Center of Your Heart." Edison Academy (SkillsUSA) Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration for "Carbon Monoxide Awareness Project." Robinson Secondary (DECA) Marketing for "Lyme Disease Benefit Dinner." Tysons Corner Classroom-on-the-Mall (DECA) Fashion Marketing for "Helping the Homeless for the Holidays.”

Wolf Trap Scholarship

Jack Elgin, band director at Annandale High and Roy Holder, band director at Lake Braddock Secondary, have been selected to receive the Wolf Trap Foundation’s 2007 Scholarship for Performing Arts Teachers. The scholarships are designed to support artist residencies, commissions, master classes, and technology in the arts which will, in turn, improve student performance skills. Each scholarship is worth $2,500.

Music Educator of the Year

Carson Middle School band director Linda Gammon has received the Virginia Music Educator of the Year award from the Virginia Music Educators Association (VMEA). Gammon, in her second year as band director at Carson, has received recognition over the course of her career, including being named one of the Fifty Directors Who Make a Difference by School Band and Orchestra magazine. She is active in music organizations at the state and local levels and has been a contributing author for books on music curriculum.  Bands under her direction have earned numerous superior ratings at state, regional, and national competitions.

Forty-Nine FCPS Teachers Earn Certification

Forty-nine Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) teachers earned national board certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) in 2007. The FCPS teachers, with their schools in parentheses, are: Janet Johnson, Charlene O’Brien, and Tuyen, Christine Fisher, Susan Allen, Christina Ammirati , Stefanie Raleigh, Sherry Shin, Linda Shannon, Kyung-Joo Kim, Joyce Siddons, Gail Heidt, Chad Pasch and Tara Dutton, Jill Cicero and Kristen Nelms, Michiyo Vangellow, Karen Fusco, Markeen Sutter, Tamara Fagan, Jennifer Buchko and Mary Rakowski, Marietta Smith, Vicky Crocker, Sherri Chema, Stacie Kreitman, Jill Lipski, Dorothy Stephens and Mary Constantino, Rebekah Madrid, Richard Priest, and James Smith, Robert Plunkett, Stacey Franzen, Amy Bedell, Amy Joyner, and Mary Short, Michele Bowman and Sharon Cosby, Mary Fletcher, Heather Dix and Sandra Lamb, Linda Rydholm, Cassandra Strange, Darlene Doley, Martha Beall, Sara Hagen, Linda Trossbach and Elva Card. The teachers from FCPS elementary, middle, high and secondary schools and centers have worked toward certification during a single academic year.