Thursday Round Up

16 October

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash
o the progNews from the Homefront: 

Fall Conferences:
Tonight we will have our in person fall conferences. On 22 October will will be having virtual conferences if you cannot make it the 16th. Be on the lookout for the sign up in the Notes for the Week.

School Based SAT:
On 21 October we will be giving the school based PSAT exam for all students in grades 10 and 11. 9th and 12th grades will have alternate activities during this time. Students are automatically signed up for this. There is nothing extra that is needed.

​Red Shoe Crew Says Thanks!
Thank you to everyone who supported the Red Shoe Crew at the tailgate on Friday night. Our 50:50 raffle drawing winner was Mr. Bledsoe. With his generous act of donating his prize winnings back to our cause, we fundraised a total of $71.00 for the Ronald McDonald House.  Thank you students, faculty, and staff! ​

Fall Craft Fair and Vendor Bazaar
*Spirit, spice, and everything nice! WAHS Cheer is hosting its 1st ever Fall Craft Fair & Vendor Bazaar on October 18th from 9 AM to 1 PM in the WAHS Auxiliary Gym. Come shop unique items like permanent jewelry, hair tinsel, wax melts, Mrs. Myra Key’s famous pound cakes, tie-dye shirts, local artwork, and so much more! Plus, our cheerleaders will be offering face painting for any kids tagging along—fun for the whole family!

AP Exams
Initial WAHS AP Exam Registration will be open from October 1, 2025 - October 31, 2025.  Families have to register for their exam no later than October 31 to avoid the late registration fee of $40.00 per exam.  Families who need financial assistance can request that on the registration form. This year, we will be accepting Exam Registration through MySchoolBucks, regardless of the method of payment.  Here is a copy of the AP Exam Schedule.  Please see our school website for all information regarding exams

Governor's School
It's that time of the year! Summer Residential Governor's School offers programming in the area of academics, visual and performing arts, and world languages. Programs are prestigious and highly selective. Albemarle County pays the tuition for the program (there are usually fees for each program which run about $200). Academic and VPA are 3 weeks long. World Language is 3 weeks long. I will be having additional meetings for students interested in applying to Governor's School after Spirit Week. Please  complete this form. Governor's School is only for students in 10th and 11th grades. I will be setting aside 2 warrior periods a week to meet with people who want help with applications. Please look for these sessions in Adaptive Scheduler.
Here are key dates you will need:
Virginia National Bank Opportunity
Virginia National Bank (VNB) is proud to announce that it is currently taking applications for its 2026 Finance Career and Leadership Academy (FCLA, Academy)!
 
The FCLA is an in-depth and challenging educational program that offers students in high school the training and skills necessary to understand and manage one’s personal finances, obtain employment and excel as a professional, AND potentially lay the groundwork for a promising career in the banking and finance industry. The Academy is open to high school juniors and seniors and is free to those that are accepted into the program.
 
The 2026 FCLA in-person, evening classes are scheduled for the weeks of January 19 through May 29, 2026 (first class on Tuesday, January 20th), at Virginia National Bank’s Pantops office. The FCLA application deadline is Friday, November 21, 2025. Up to ten students will be accepted into the program. Upon completion of the Academy, high performing FCLA participants become candidates for VNB’s College Program.
 
We will be holding two free informational presentations for interested parents and students. The location, dates, and times for the presentations are listed below.
 
                Charlottesville           
                November 6th (Th) or 10th (M)
                6:30 – 8:00 PM              
                __________________     
                Virginia National Bank            
                404 People Place, Basement Level
                Charlottesville, VA 22911     
 
Refreshments will be served. Seating is limited; therefore, an RSVP sent to [email protected]  from those interested in attending would be greatly appreciated. 
 
For more information regarding the Academy check out their page: www.vnb.com/fcla 
La Ofrenda de la Biblioteca de WAHS
Trunk or Treat is Coming!
Get your club or friends together and design a trunk for this great community event! Want your club to sponsor a trunk? Fill out the form today! 
​College Visits:
Sign up in Schoolinks!​​​​​​
  • 16 October – Vanderbilt ​​
  • 21 October – CNU
  • 22 October – Hobart William Smith
  • 29 October – Randolph Macon
  • 5 November – Roanoke
​
Tomorrow is a(n) B day 

​Upcoming Events:​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
  • 16 October – Family Conference Night 4:30-7:00 (in person)
  • 18 October – Craft Vendor/WAHS Cheer Fundraiser
  • 21 October – PSAT (10th and 11th)
  • 22 October – Family Conference Night 4:30-7:00 (on Zoom)
  • 25 October – Walk/Run for Breast Cancer
  • 25 October – Trunk or Treat
  • 2-3 November – Teacher Work Day and Professional Development Day (no school for students)
  • 13-16 November – Fall Show
  • 19 November – School Picture Make Up Day
  • 26-28 November – Thanksgiving Break
  • 7 December – Winter Band Concert
  • ​18 December – End of 1st Semester
  • 18 December – Winter Break
  • 5 January – Return from break
  • 19 January – MLK Day, No School for Students
  • 16 February – Teacher Work Day, No School for Students

Use Your Brain for Fun (&$)!

Humanities & Social Sciences

Scholastic Arts and Letters awards open today. The competition is open to students in grades 7-12. This is a very prestigious competition.

Bennington Young Writers is open for submissions. This writing contest is for students in grades 9-12. Submit by 1 November

Black and Latino Men Read has an essay contest that is open to male identifying people who also identify as Black or Latino. Submit your essay by 31 October.

Omega Psi Phi has an International Essay Competition that is worth up to $5,000. Submit your entry by 31 October.

Hey policy folks! Check out the International Public Policy Forum's current contest. Get a team together and submit your essay and qualify for the competition. 

The Writer's Eye is happening even as we speak! Head to the Fralin to check out the artworks and get writing!

The International Writing Contest invites authors in grades 9-12 to submit their writing. Submit by 25 October.

STEM

Hispanic seniors planning to study green technology, computer science, or are active in community service can apply to the Hispanic Youth Heritage Awards. Due 2 November

Are you a woman identifying person who is interested and engaged in the computing world? NCWIT wants to give you a scholarship. Open to 9-12. Submit by 28 October.

Get in on the NASA TechRise Challenge! This is a team competition to place an experiment on a suborbital mission. Submit by 3 November

Join the Presidential AI Challenge! Do you have a plan for how AI could solve a community issue? Then you have a project! 

NASA invites you to their Student Launch Challenge. This is a 9 month challenge for those interested in aerospace engineering!

Programmers, get your plans in place for the Congressional App Challenge. WAHS has had a winner in the past so we can definitely do it again! Check the contest out!
Picture
Photo by Ari He on Unsplash

Visual and Performing Arts

Jack Kent Cook Young Artist Scholarship is open to students ages 8-18. It's worth $10,000 and open until 15 November.

Scholastic Arts and Letters awards open today. The competition is open to students in grades 7-12. This is a very prestigious competition.

Frame Your Future is taking submissions beginning today. Create a piece that envisions your future and submit it for a chance at a $2,000 scholarship

The Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award is given to students ages 8-18 for music. It's worth up to $10,000. Apply by 15 November

Save the Frogs is an art contest for students of all ages. Submit your artwork to them by 1 November

Debbie's Dream Foundation has an art contest for students in grades K-12. If you have been affected by cancer, submit your work by 30 October.

The Concerto Competition is open to students in 9-12 grades. Sponsored by the US Marine Band, it's worth $5,000 and due by 15 November.

Scholarships for Seniors

The NC State University Park Scholarship application is now available.  This is a full tuition/room and board scholarship to NC State University.  If you believe you’re qualified for the Park Scholarships based on our selection criteria of scholarship, leadership, service and character, we welcome you to apply. The application processes for Park Scholarships and NC State undergraduate admissions are separate, so be sure to follow the instructions below. The application for 2025-2026 is now open! 
​Eligibility Requirements: To be eligible for the Park Scholarships program, candidates must:
  • Have a minimum unweighted GPA of 3.8.
  • Be a United States citizen, permanent resident of the U.S., or graduating from a high school located in the U.S. (regardless of citizenship status).
  • Apply for fall, first-year admission into a baccalaureate program at NC State.
By 11:59 pm ET, November 1: The Park Scholarships application requires:
  • Two recommendations
  • Information about advanced coursework completed
  • Two essays
If you have any trouble accessing the application after following these instructions, please email park [email protected] and request that we have Admissions add an application to your wolfPAW portal.   https://park.ncsu.edu/apply/

The Elks Most Valuable Student Scholarship:
Eligibility: US Citizen
Judging Criteria: Academics, Leadership, Service, Financial Need.
Applications can be found here
Awards between $4,000-$30,000
Deadline: Nov. 12th.

The Flusche & Fitzgerald Undergrad Scholarship Contest Award: $500 scholarship
Deadline:  November 30, 2025
Where to Apply: The Flusche & Fitzgerald Undergrad Scholarship Contest
Self Care:

Do Good Things for People

Martha's Market is open this weekend. Support Martha Jefferson breast cancer prevention

Support Sin Barreras and Bowls and Buñuelos on Saturday

Support PVCC's Pottery Program on Saturday with a silent auction of professional pottery.
​Scholarships
Do you need money to make post high a reality? Start with these two databases!
The Coolidge Scholarship is a full ride (tuition, room & board, and fees, etc.). This scholarship is open to high school juniors. Applications are due 16 December.

Hagan Scholars receive up to $7500 per semester through all of their college time. Other perks include workshops and study abroad. Apply by 1 December

Dell Scholars receive $20,000 for their education in college. Submit your application by 15 December. 

Jack Kent Cook Young Artist Scholarship is open to students ages 8-18. It's worth $10,000 and open until 15 November.

Regeneron Talent Search is looking for your work. You must apply by 6 November. It's worth up to $250,000 for college.

The Elks' Most Valuable Student Scholarship is worth up to $50,000. Apply by 12 November

The National Space Foundation Keynote Scholar application is open for submissions. The winner gets up to $20,000. Apply by 17 November.

The Stamps Scholarship is a full ride (tuition, room and board, and fees) scholarship that partners with various universities in the US. You must go through the partner institutions.

The Jack Kent Cook Scholarship awards artists up to $10,000 for college. It's open to people 8-18 so get your fall app in! It's due by 15 November

"The Best School" and "The Best School for You" should be one and the same. You're not buying a pair of shoes. You're going to school for four years. Just because it's a good brand name, doesn't mean it fits you or that you're comfortable there. 

College Corner

Berry College

Rethinking the Safety School

College admissions is increasingly competitive and it’s easy to overlook the necessity of the safety school in the college list. There’s a right way and a wrong way to choose safety schools, and too often the wrong way results in disappointments come April.

The wrong way is to randomly choose some in-state school that you know you can get into but you hope you’ll never ever go to. What I have seen happen quite often is that the dream schools remain dreams (don’t stop dreaming! Grad school can be a dream come true) and the target schools may be difficult to predict which leaves students with a safety school they are unhappy with but have to attend at the end of it all.

But what if we look at the safety school differently? What if instead of being “well I’m applying to X but I’d never go there…” we rethink what a safety school has that might be most attractive to you?

Here are some benefits to safety schools we often overlook:

Discounted price! 
Many safety schools want to lure you there with scholarships. Love Vandy? Think about Rhodes college. Vanderbilt is hard for anyone to get into. Rhodes has a similar vibe and is more likely to offer you scholarships and tuition discounts. College of Charleston has some full ride scholarships our students have taken advantage of in the past. Fordham has been generous with our students in the past. Dickinson has offered our students up to $30,000 in scholarships (for all 4 years that’s $120,000 off!). We can find you schools that want to attract you with money. It’s great to be wanted!

Special Programming:
Sometimes an honors program makes a school even more attractive. William and Mary might be hard to get into, but CNU with its great honors program is an opportunity to think deeply and engage in authentic research and learning. There you will be given the opportunity to study abroad, to live in honors dorms, take special classes and earn a stipend for summer research. That’s awfully great. VCU also has an outstanding honors program that comes with co-curricular activities, special classes, the chance to take on leadership roles, and more (practice rooms? Study spaces?). Many schools offer an honors program, but some come with perks that allow you to squeeze everything you can get out of a place. In some cases this can even be better than the bigger named school. Penn State Schreyers Honors College, Arizona State’s Barrett, University of South Carolina’s Honors College, not to mention Michigan State, Maryland, Pitt, and Florida, are all amazing opportunities for students.

Big Fish:
Attending a college that is not as selective can mean you get showered with opportunities. Remember that there is little difference between a school with a 30% selectivity and a school who accepts 50% of students. You will get an excellent education at both schools. BUT what you might not get at that more selective college is the attention and opportunities showered on students who are at the top of their class. Last year I had a long conversation (ok, many conversations) with a student who was deciding between their most selective school and their less selective school. Not only would he save money at the less selective school, but as a top student he could expect invitations to research, opportunities to TA classes, the chance to take advanced classes, and other sorts of “favored nation” goodies. At the most selective school he’d be deep in that school of fish, no different from anyone else. Sometimes it’s nice to be special.

When it came time for my daughter to choose the college she wanted to go to, she had a tough decision. She did not want to stay in Virginia (although we had been super clear that VA tuition was our price point). She wanted a small liberal arts college. The most selective one she applied to accepted her. But it would have been $65,000 a year (which was definitely out of our price range no matter what the school thought). Instead she chose a less selective school, one that gave her a scholarship large enough to make it about the same as in-state tuition. Once there, as the “big fish” she got a lot of opportunities handed to her: a job in the library archives, research with a professor her freshman year, special advising which gave her access to the Border Studies Study Away Program she did, the invitation to TA a class with a professor she was close with. In the end, these experiences were richer and more valuable than what she would have gotten for $65k a year. 

There is an art to choosing safety schools. If we do it right, they should be as good a pick as any other school for you.

On the Town

Photo by Jared Sluyter on Unsplash
Events:​​​​