School News & Notes: March 11 – 17, 2010

FCHS Hosts Parent/Teen Seminar

Falls Church High School (FCHS) has selected 14 students to take part in an uncensored panel discussion to take place Wednesday, March 17 at 7 p.m., in which parents will be able to asks questions about topics that affect high school students.

The George Mason High School robotics team finish with a silver metal in the first regional robots competition on Saturday, March 6 in Washington, D.C. The Mustangs also won Gracious Professionalism trophy, which recognizes the team’s efforts to help other teams complete their programming during the competition. (Photo: Courtesy Karen Acar)

FCHS Hosts Parent/Teen Seminar

Falls Church High School (FCHS) has selected 14 students to take part in an uncensored panel discussion to take place Wednesday, March 17 at 7 p.m., in which parents will be able to asks questions about topics that affect high school students.

The Parent Resource Center has put together this seminar, “Up Close and Personal,” in which students will take parent questions on academic pressure, cyberbulling, texting, alcohol, drugs, dating, sex, extracurricular activities and transitioning from middle school to high school.

The event will take place in the Falls Church High School Little Theater (7521 Jaguar Trail, Falls Church) and light refreshments will be served. For more information, call 703-207-4000.

Stuart H.S. Holds Fiesta & Raffle

J.E.B. Stuart High School (3301 Peace Valley Lane, Falls Church) will be holding a Spring Fiesta and Raffle Sunday, March 14 from 5 – 7 p.m. in the cafeteria, to raise money for the school. Food will be provided by Moe’s, Chipotle, Qdoba and Baja Fresh.  Food tickets are $5 per person. Raffle, drink and desserts are $1 each. Tickets will be on sale at Curriculum Night on Wednesday outside the auditorium. For more information, call 703-824-3900.

THE CHILDREN OF F.B. MEEKINS Preschool in Vienna collected $182.67 for the Save the Children’s relief efforts in Haiti last week. The children took a trip to the TD Waterhouse Bank in Vienna to use the bank’s penny arcade to count the coins. The bank offered an additional $100 to boost the children’s efforts, raising the total to $282.67. (Photo: Jen Allmon)

St. James Grads Receive National Commendation

Four St. James Catholic School graduates, now attending Bishop O’Connell High School, have been named National Merit Commended Students. Meghan Aubry,  Michael Conrad, Ashley Fidler and Rachel Frison of Falls Church were all honored with the National Merit distinction.

More than two-thirds or about 34,000 of the approximately 50,000 high scorers on the PSAT/NMSQT receive Letters of Commendation in recognition of their outstanding academic promise.

Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) at the specified time in the high school program, usually as juniors. Each year’s PSAT/NMSQT is the qualifying test designated for entry to a particular year’s competitions.

Commended Students are named on the basis of a nationally applied Selection Index score that may vary from year to year. For more information, visit www.nationalmerit.org.

F.C. Student Wins Essay Competition

Eighth grade student at The Congressional Schools of Virginia (3229 Sleepy Hollow Rd, Falls Church) and Falls Church resident Jane L. Werntz has won both the local and state Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) history essay competition. Her essay was on the Transcontinental Railroad and was written from the point of view of a young Sioux warrior whose way of life was affected by the railroad.

Essay entries are judged on historical accuracy, organization of material, adherence to topic, interest, originality, spelling, grammar, punctuation and neatness. Werntz’s will so be competing in the regional level of the competition. For more information about the DAR essay contest, visit www.dar.org.

Zero the Hero, played by Title I math resource teacher Donald Reinecker, visited the students of Beech Tree Elementary School in Falls Church on Tuesday, March 2 and distributed 100 Day pencils to each student. The children also did math activities which demonstrated the importance of zero in their number system. (Photo: Courtesy Donald Reinecker)

Mason H.S. Bands Excel in Music Festival

The George Mason High School Concert and Symphonic Bands competed and received top honors on Friday, March 5 at the District X music festival at South County Secondary School (8501 Silverbrook Rd., Lorton). The Symphonic Band earned a “Superior” rating – the highest distinction possible – for performing musical pieces of the hardest grade, Grade VI. Both bands performed three musical pieces and an imprompu sightreading of music.

Youth Art Show Debuts in McLean

The McLean Project for the Arts (MPA) and Fairfax County Public Schools present the art of students in kindergarten through 12th grade through Sunday, April 4 at the Mclean Community Center’s (1234 Ingleside Ave., McLean) 29th annual Youth Art Show.

The reception for elementary school artists is Sunday, March 1 from 3 – 5 p.m. The reception for middle and high school artists is Thursday, March 25 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. For more information, visit mpaart.org.

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