News from the Homefront:
Governor's School:
.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:
WAHS Library Speaker Series!
Join us in the library! Sign up in Adaptive Scheduler
Governor's School:
.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:
- Visual and Performing Arts:
- Adjudication films/video/portfolio due: 10 November (NB. Come see me to find out what is needed for local adjudication)
- Application due: 9 January (for those who go through the county's adjudication)
- Academic Governor's School School Level Application (should be available on 10 October)
- Application due: 5 December
- World Languages Academy:
WAHS Library Speaker Series!
Join us in the library! Sign up in Adaptive Scheduler
Senior Privilege: Lunch Off Campus!
Here are the details you need to know about this senior privilege. Please note that if these rules are not followed, this privilege may be revoked.
Here are the details you need to know about this senior privilege. Please note that if these rules are not followed, this privilege may be revoked.
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
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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
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
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Submit Your Work to the Myriad!
Tomorrow is a(n) A day
Upcoming Events:
Upcoming Events:
- 13-16 November – The Outsiders
- 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
- 17 February – Professional Development, No School for Students
- 13 March – End of 3rd Quarter
- 13 March – Better Together!
- 19 March – Professional Development, No School for Students
- 20 March – Teacher Work Day, No School for Students
- 27 March – Arts Fest in the West
- 6-10 April – Spring Break
- 23-25 April – High School Musical
- 12 May – Last Day of Classes for Seniors
- 22 May – Graduation
- 25 May – Memorial Day
- 29 May – Last Day of School (1/2 Day)
Use Your Brain for Fun (&$)!
Photo by Joe Ciciarelli on Unsplash
Humanities & Social SciencesSubmit your work to the Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize at the Kenyon Review. Sophomores and Juniors are eligible. Submit by 30 November
Literacy in Place Rural Teen Writing Contest invites you to submit work on their theme of Rural (Re)Imagined: Connecting Past, Present, and Future. Submit by 1 December. Kemper Human Rights Education Foundation invites you to submit an essay. The deadline is 10 December. One Teen Story publishes three stories from teens aged 13-19. Submit your selection by 1 December Scholastic Arts and Letters awards open today. The competition is open to students in grades 7-12. This is a very prestigious competition. |
Photo by ThisisEngineering on Unsplash
STEMSTEAM in AI invites you to apply to be part of their program. Applicants work with mentors on research. Apply by 20 November.
Join the Presidential AI Challenge! Do you have a plan for how AI could solve a community issue? Then you have a project! Dream with Us is an engineering challenge for students in grades 6-12. Get a team together and register for it by 21 November. 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! |
Visual and Performing ArtsThe Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Awards is open for submission. This is a prestigious award. Submit your work by 1 December.
Scholastic Arts and Letters awards open today. The competition is open to students in grades 7-12. This is a very prestigious competition. 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 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. 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 |
Scholarships for Seniors
The Virginia Junior Chamber International Senate (VA JCI Senate), an affiliate organization of the Virginia Jaycees, is proud to continue to offer the future leaders of America an opportunity to earn scholarship money for the pursuit of higher education. The application, requirements, and student checklist may be found on our web site at this link:
https://www.vajcisenate.org/scholarship or here: https://usjcisenate.org/index.php/scholarship-program
Please note that in addition to scholarship funds for four-year colleges/universities, a scholarship offering for students planning to attend trade, vocational, or technical schools is also available. Last year, there was only one applicant for this program from within Virginia and was an automatic winner. We strongly encourage these students to apply. Applicants should select “Vocational Application” at the link provided above.
Application Instructions
Download and complete the application from the link provided above.
Students should assemble their application into a single PDF file ensuring that ALL attachments are included. The pdf document should be no larger than 25 MB. There are two methods of submitting the applications to me. Students may email the completed application in pdf format to this email address by the deadline. The second option is the send the hardcopy application via USPS or other delivery service such at FedEx. In order to send hardcopy, applicants or their parents MUST email me at [email protected] for specific mailing instructions for hardcopy applications. Please see additional instructions at the Virginia JCI Senate website. Emailed applications are not required but are appreciated.
Applications must be postmarked no later than January 12, 2026.
The completed application in PDF format should be emailed [email protected] by midnight January 12, 2026.
Two scholarships for college/university and one vocational scholarship will be awarded by the Virginia JCI Senate. Winners are eligible to compete for additional scholarships from the US JCI Senate and will be notified with instructions for forwarding the completed hard copy application with original signature to Cindy Kinney, Virginia JCI Senate Scholarship chair.
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
https://www.vajcisenate.org/scholarship or here: https://usjcisenate.org/index.php/scholarship-program
Please note that in addition to scholarship funds for four-year colleges/universities, a scholarship offering for students planning to attend trade, vocational, or technical schools is also available. Last year, there was only one applicant for this program from within Virginia and was an automatic winner. We strongly encourage these students to apply. Applicants should select “Vocational Application” at the link provided above.
Application Instructions
Download and complete the application from the link provided above.
Students should assemble their application into a single PDF file ensuring that ALL attachments are included. The pdf document should be no larger than 25 MB. There are two methods of submitting the applications to me. Students may email the completed application in pdf format to this email address by the deadline. The second option is the send the hardcopy application via USPS or other delivery service such at FedEx. In order to send hardcopy, applicants or their parents MUST email me at [email protected] for specific mailing instructions for hardcopy applications. Please see additional instructions at the Virginia JCI Senate website. Emailed applications are not required but are appreciated.
Applications must be postmarked no later than January 12, 2026.
The completed application in PDF format should be emailed [email protected] by midnight January 12, 2026.
Two scholarships for college/university and one vocational scholarship will be awarded by the Virginia JCI Senate. Winners are eligible to compete for additional scholarships from the US JCI Senate and will be notified with instructions for forwarding the completed hard copy application with original signature to Cindy Kinney, Virginia JCI Senate Scholarship chair.
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
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Self Care:
Do Good Things for PeopleSupport the Fralin Museums with their Living Art: Fralin's 90th Anniversary Soiree
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Scholarships
Do you need money to make post high a reality? Start with these two databases!
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. 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
Please Talk to Your Kids about Money
There are many different family philosophies when it comes to talking about money. In some families it’s very taboo. In others, it’s a topic examined frequently and often. Whatever your family’s choice is, I urge you to talk about money when it comes to paying for college. The number one reason students do not graduate from college in six years or fewer is because of issues having to do with money.
College costs significantly more today than it did when we went to college in the 80s and 90s. My husband graduated from UVA in 1989 and he paid under $10,000 for his entire college education. I graduated from the University of Chicago in 1993 and I paid less than $100,000 for all four of my years there. Today, students pay up to $44,000 a year for instate schools and up to $98,000 a year for private institutions. This is an enormous amount of money. It’s a house (a nice one) by the time you graduate. And students can be left with piles of debt that will weigh them down for years to come if families are not forthcoming about what they can and cannot pay for college.
A lot of factors go into paying for college. And many families who send their children to college in our area are in an unenviable position of not qualifying for financial aid, qualifying for only loans, or qualifying for insufficient financial aid. The FAFSA does not take into account many factors that make up our financial lives. They do not take note of younger (or other) children for whom we have to pay tuition. They do not take into account medical expenses, other healthcare, or support of other family members. They do not know you need a new roof. They do not know your child needs a car because we don’t have consistent transportation. It is common to find that schools expect you can pay significantly more than you think you can pay.
There is a lot of pressure these days for students to apply to schools Early Decision (which is binding). Kids are often told “well if you get into X, we’ll find a way to pay for it.” I am here to tell you that it is entirely possible that you will not find a way to pay for it. And yes, if you really can’t afford a school you might be willing to pull out of the ED commitment, but I have seen students do this and it’s very very messy. Recently, Tulane penalized an entire high school because one student backed out of his ED commitment. Most people cannot magic up the price of a Porsche Boxster each year in cash and then continue to support other children, maintain the house, pay for the dental work, support older parents, and eventually retire.
If you have the income to pay for Yale ($95,000 this year) that is fantastic. If you can do it multiple more times for other children, that’s impressive. But it’s also completely ok to say to your child the following things:
“You have younger siblings.”
“We can afford in state tuition”
“If you choose this school you might end up graduating with debt.”
“You will want to go to graduate school. Let’s keep college affordable.”
When you talk about what you can and cannot afford in your home, you are teaching financial literacy skills. In college, students will not generally have unlimited financial resources and this is how kids end up running up credit card debt. Modeling the ways in which you do or do not make financial decisions can set kids up to be successful in their futures as well as in college. Learning that we have to make choices with our resources early can set kids up for a lifetime of wise financial decisions.
Moreover, you can cushion a blow when you are honest about what you can and cannot pay for when it comes to college tuition. My daughter very much wanted to go to an elite private college in New England. But she knew from the outset that our price point was William & Mary. So she could go to W&M, or she could go to a school that cost what W&M cost. So when she got into that wonderful elite college and she saw what they offered her for merit aid ($1,500), she was not surprised when we told her we were incredibly proud of her and then in the next breath that she could not go there. And that school, by the way, expected that we would be able to pay a little more than my entire take home salary/year to send her there.
Today, my daughter credits her frugality and ability to budget to the fact that we were completely honest about what we could and could not afford during her childhood, but especially when it came to college. And now that she is in law school, she is exceptionally happy she graduated college without debt. Law school without financial aid will run between $75,000 and $100,000 a year. Graduating without a mountain of debt means that instead of adding to the Mt. Everest, she’s just starting it. Although in point of fact, she is doing the same thing she did for college: attending a school that gave her a scholarship of 2/3 the cost of tuition.
The world is expensive now. Everyone needs to make choices. Take the burden off your child by being firm from the get go.
College costs significantly more today than it did when we went to college in the 80s and 90s. My husband graduated from UVA in 1989 and he paid under $10,000 for his entire college education. I graduated from the University of Chicago in 1993 and I paid less than $100,000 for all four of my years there. Today, students pay up to $44,000 a year for instate schools and up to $98,000 a year for private institutions. This is an enormous amount of money. It’s a house (a nice one) by the time you graduate. And students can be left with piles of debt that will weigh them down for years to come if families are not forthcoming about what they can and cannot pay for college.
A lot of factors go into paying for college. And many families who send their children to college in our area are in an unenviable position of not qualifying for financial aid, qualifying for only loans, or qualifying for insufficient financial aid. The FAFSA does not take into account many factors that make up our financial lives. They do not take note of younger (or other) children for whom we have to pay tuition. They do not take into account medical expenses, other healthcare, or support of other family members. They do not know you need a new roof. They do not know your child needs a car because we don’t have consistent transportation. It is common to find that schools expect you can pay significantly more than you think you can pay.
There is a lot of pressure these days for students to apply to schools Early Decision (which is binding). Kids are often told “well if you get into X, we’ll find a way to pay for it.” I am here to tell you that it is entirely possible that you will not find a way to pay for it. And yes, if you really can’t afford a school you might be willing to pull out of the ED commitment, but I have seen students do this and it’s very very messy. Recently, Tulane penalized an entire high school because one student backed out of his ED commitment. Most people cannot magic up the price of a Porsche Boxster each year in cash and then continue to support other children, maintain the house, pay for the dental work, support older parents, and eventually retire.
If you have the income to pay for Yale ($95,000 this year) that is fantastic. If you can do it multiple more times for other children, that’s impressive. But it’s also completely ok to say to your child the following things:
“You have younger siblings.”
“We can afford in state tuition”
“If you choose this school you might end up graduating with debt.”
“You will want to go to graduate school. Let’s keep college affordable.”
When you talk about what you can and cannot afford in your home, you are teaching financial literacy skills. In college, students will not generally have unlimited financial resources and this is how kids end up running up credit card debt. Modeling the ways in which you do or do not make financial decisions can set kids up to be successful in their futures as well as in college. Learning that we have to make choices with our resources early can set kids up for a lifetime of wise financial decisions.
Moreover, you can cushion a blow when you are honest about what you can and cannot pay for when it comes to college tuition. My daughter very much wanted to go to an elite private college in New England. But she knew from the outset that our price point was William & Mary. So she could go to W&M, or she could go to a school that cost what W&M cost. So when she got into that wonderful elite college and she saw what they offered her for merit aid ($1,500), she was not surprised when we told her we were incredibly proud of her and then in the next breath that she could not go there. And that school, by the way, expected that we would be able to pay a little more than my entire take home salary/year to send her there.
Today, my daughter credits her frugality and ability to budget to the fact that we were completely honest about what we could and could not afford during her childhood, but especially when it came to college. And now that she is in law school, she is exceptionally happy she graduated college without debt. Law school without financial aid will run between $75,000 and $100,000 a year. Graduating without a mountain of debt means that instead of adding to the Mt. Everest, she’s just starting it. Although in point of fact, she is doing the same thing she did for college: attending a school that gave her a scholarship of 2/3 the cost of tuition.
The world is expensive now. Everyone needs to make choices. Take the burden off your child by being firm from the get go.
On the Town
- Continuity continues this week
- Learn to Identify Invasive Species on tonight
- Kathryn Scanlon will be giving a fiction reading this evening
- Van Morrison Hits – Van the Band is tonight
- Tonight is Home Free the Jukebox Tour
- Tomorrow Warren Wolf performs
- Ancestral Clouds, Ancestral Claims is being screened tomorrow
- Friday enjoy a Family Weekend Choral Showcase
- Cville Arts is host to When Pigs Fly Assemblage tomorrow
- Big Blue Door is host to First Fridays
- Don't miss Friday Night Writes
- Bent Theatre performs tomorrow
- Friday Mark Cosgrove & Good Medicine perform
- Take a tour of Artisans' Studios this weekend
- Enjoy Charlottesville Ballet's Salute on Saturday
- Saturday it's La Bohème
- See Cute Kitten Video (Please Watch) on Saturday
- Sunday you can Learn to Compost
- Monday it's When Environmental Challenges and Development Collide
- Tuesday you can get in on Zines Now! Workshop
- Marc Cohn and Shawn Colvin perform Tuesday
- Technosonics is Tuesday
- Wednesday learn about The Shipwreck at Gnalic Gagliana
- Beyond Zero will be screened on Wednesday
