Thursday Round Up for 13 February
Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash
News from the Homefront:
Just Mercy Field Trip
Come join us for a trip to the Violet Crown Theater on 20 February to see the movie Just Mercy, a bio-pic about Bryan Stevenson. Get a permission slip from Ms. Miracle, Ms. McLaughlin, or me and return it with $5 by 17 February to reserve your ticket. Tickets are on a first come, first serve basis. Bryan Stevenson is a human rights lawyer who has spent his career working to exonerate innocent people on death row and who are sentenced to life terms. He is the founder of The Equal Justice Initiative and of the National Memorial for Peace and Justice.
Are you interested in hosting a student ambassador?
From March 19-30 the UVA Center for Politics’ Global Perspectives on Democracy program will host the U.S. Department of State’s Youth Ambassadors Program for Argentina and Chile. This program includes 13 high school students and 2 adult mentors from across these countries. We are now in search of hosts who are willing to welcome these students and educators into their homes. All of the students speak English and were selected from thousands of applicants. The program is anchored in enhancing their leadership and civic engagement skills and focuses on the themes of multiculturalism and activism.
Hosts are expected to:
School Job Fair!
We will have a school job fair today at lunch! Find that summer job you want and make some $$$ this summer!
Tomorrow is a B Day
Upcoming Events:
Just Mercy Field Trip
Come join us for a trip to the Violet Crown Theater on 20 February to see the movie Just Mercy, a bio-pic about Bryan Stevenson. Get a permission slip from Ms. Miracle, Ms. McLaughlin, or me and return it with $5 by 17 February to reserve your ticket. Tickets are on a first come, first serve basis. Bryan Stevenson is a human rights lawyer who has spent his career working to exonerate innocent people on death row and who are sentenced to life terms. He is the founder of The Equal Justice Initiative and of the National Memorial for Peace and Justice.
Are you interested in hosting a student ambassador?
From March 19-30 the UVA Center for Politics’ Global Perspectives on Democracy program will host the U.S. Department of State’s Youth Ambassadors Program for Argentina and Chile. This program includes 13 high school students and 2 adult mentors from across these countries. We are now in search of hosts who are willing to welcome these students and educators into their homes. All of the students speak English and were selected from thousands of applicants. The program is anchored in enhancing their leadership and civic engagement skills and focuses on the themes of multiculturalism and activism.
Hosts are expected to:
- Provide a room with a bed (a room may be shared with a host sibling of the same gender and approximate age);
- Get to know their student;
- Share their culture with the student;
- Include the student in family activities and events;
- Provide most breakfasts and dinners on weekdays and all meals on weekends;
- Provide transportation at the beginning and end of each weekday (typically to and from UVA Central Grounds with a drop-off window between 7:45-8:20am and pick-up between 5:30-6:00pm); and
- Join in some planned evening activities.
School Job Fair!
We will have a school job fair today at lunch! Find that summer job you want and make some $$$ this summer!
Tomorrow is a B Day
Upcoming Events:
- 20 February – Just Mercy Field Trip
- 21 February – Drama Cabaret
- 2 March – Professional Development Day
- 3 March – Teacher Work Day
- 6 March – Orchestra Spring Trip
- 9 March – Writing SOL for juniors
- 12 March – Spring Musical – The Adams Family
- 17 March – Model Congress
- 25 March – Band Trip
- 2 April – Drama trip
- 3 April – End of the 3rd 9 Weeks
- 3 April – 1/2 Day for Students
- 6- 12 April – Spring Break
Library Corner
Book Review
BIG NEWS!!
We are celebrating Erin Phillips, WAHS Library assistant, who just signed with literary agent Kate Testerman, of KTLiterary. This is huge! Her forthcoming YA novel is a fantasy, with a diverse cast of characters and elements of Celtic and Norse mythology. She made an image board for the story and it is adorable. Ms. Phillips doesn’t know yet who her editor will be or which publishing house or what the cover will look like. Knowing how productive and talented she is, we’re guessing it won’t take long! We can’t WAIT to read it! Spread the word, come say congratulations, and support Ms. Phillips. |
Resources
Time is short to check out historical newspapers from around the world! Take advantage of this trial access by going to Newspapers.com free trial. This is a very expensive subscription, so we won’t be able to keep it, but until 2/21, we have access to an amazing assortment of historical newspapers. This is a rare opportunity, so jump on this, NHD students and Model Congress participants. For the rest of us, it can be fascinating to see an article where your great-grandmother is mentioned for winning a spelling bee!
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Events
The Opposite of Always
By Justin A. Reynolds Jack and his best friends are on a college weekend visit when he meets Kate at a party. They bond over so many things, and as the weeks pass, Jack wants to get closer. Kate keeps the details of her extremely serious medical situation to herself and when she finally reveals the truth, it’s in her hospital room and it’s too late. And then it’s suddenly not too late. Jack goes back in time to the party, but now he is hypervigilant. He already knows he loves her, but now he needs to figure out some tricky moves in the face of the huge truth he isn’t supposed to know. As this happens several times, we see him learn some hard lessons and navigate family and friend issues the best he can. Comparisons with Every Day by David Levithan are inevitable, and the jumping back in time “redo” is similarly mysterious. The Opposite of Always has its own wonderful charm, though, as Jack tries over and over to save the girl who is his world - Ms. Techman |
African American History Month
The Four Hundreds
African American History is American History
George P. Inge's Grocery Store
After Liberation Day on 3 March 1865, African Americans in the Charlottesville Albemarle area began to build lives for themselves. More than half the population of the area was newly free (52% of the population had been enslaved prior to Liberation Day) and it had been against the law for them to read or write, own property, earn their own money, or even to marry legally.
With the end of the Civil War and Reconstruction came the freedom from enslavement, the right to vote, and the right to own their own property, but it did not come with the capital that most people needed in order to be successful. And, moreover it did not come with the freedom to live or build anywhere that Black people wanted to. Remember that the Confederates lost the war and were not celebrating the freedoms gained by people they considered inferior and who had once been their property. They were not going to lend money, aid, or assistance in any way to their newly freed neighbors. It was up to the African American population in Charlottesville and Albemarle to support each other and to make sure that they thrived after the Civil War.
After Liberation Day, African Americans in the area began taught one another to read and write, worked hard to earn money, and began to share what they had with one another. Free Blacks who had lived in Charlottesville before Emancipation, and those who had become free and came to own land and businesses became the Black upper class. Even as soon as 1870, some folks owned their own farms and were buying up land quickly. In fact they were buying it up at the price of $400 a parcel. Based on the price of the parcels they owned, they came to be known as The Four Hundreds and they included the business owners, principals, and educators in the Charlottesville Albemarle area.
People like Charles E. Coles who owned a very successful construction business, George P. Inge who owned a grocery store, or J.F. Bell whose funeral parlor is still in business today had the capital to lend money and to support their neighbors’ business ventures. Benjamin Tonsler was the principal of the Jefferson School for 30 years. He’d been educated with Booker T. Washington at the Hampton Institute and was a close friend of Washington's. Thomas J. Sellers was the publisher of the Black owned newspaper The Reflector and he frequently reported on the work and the activities of The Four Hundreds as well as being a member of the group. Groups like the Piedmont Industrial Land Improvement Company made up of people like J.W. Sellers, Robert Kesler, and Burkley Bullock, sold and rented land to African Americans so they could farm their own property in Albemarle County.
Most of these folks lived in neighborhoods like Starr Hill and Vinegar Hill in Charlottesville. These Black neighborhoods were full of African American owned businesses, places of worship, and education. Like many neighborhoods where African Americans lived during the 1900s-1960s every type of person lived there. Your teacher, your doctor, and your minister lived right there next to you and your cousins, and your best friends. The person who cut your hair lived next to your lawyer who lived across the street from the dentist who was your sister’s brother-in-law. You might have sold the eggs from your chickens to the person who delivered your mail, while you were saying hello to the person from down the street who was the custodian at the school. And you better not act up, because that custodian is your uncle and he will tell your daddy when you get home from school.
Because the area of Charlottesville and Albemarle County as well was so completely segregated when it came to where you lived, African Americans were forced to live together. And because the area was what was called a “Sundown town,” meaning if you were Black you were taking your life in your own hands being out of your neighborhood after dark, African Americans were sure to be home by dark rather than risk the KKK (which held its first meeting in the 1920s in the Albemarle County Courthouse) or the Anglo Saxon Club catching up with them.
Groups like The Four Hundreds and other members of the African American community created Social Aid Societies to make up for any benefits they might have missed out on otherwise. These societies did everything from paying for a funeral to issuing insurance on a house. They helped families whose parents were out of work, got clothes and food to those who did not have it, and provided medical care to those in need. Despite the attempts to cut off access to services and support that segregation meant to impose, African Americans communities like Charlottesville and Albemarle often had rich cultures and traditions that resulted from the ingenuity and creativity African Americans relied on to support one another.
Want to know more?
We were very lucky to have the Preservers of the Daughters of Zion come to speak to us this week. Bernadette Whitsett-Hammond and Edwina St. Rose shared their work with us. If you'd like to know more about many of the Four Hundreds who are buried in the Daughters of Zion Cemetery in Charlottesville, feel free to visit using the izi.Travel Tour they narrate.
With the end of the Civil War and Reconstruction came the freedom from enslavement, the right to vote, and the right to own their own property, but it did not come with the capital that most people needed in order to be successful. And, moreover it did not come with the freedom to live or build anywhere that Black people wanted to. Remember that the Confederates lost the war and were not celebrating the freedoms gained by people they considered inferior and who had once been their property. They were not going to lend money, aid, or assistance in any way to their newly freed neighbors. It was up to the African American population in Charlottesville and Albemarle to support each other and to make sure that they thrived after the Civil War.
After Liberation Day, African Americans in the area began taught one another to read and write, worked hard to earn money, and began to share what they had with one another. Free Blacks who had lived in Charlottesville before Emancipation, and those who had become free and came to own land and businesses became the Black upper class. Even as soon as 1870, some folks owned their own farms and were buying up land quickly. In fact they were buying it up at the price of $400 a parcel. Based on the price of the parcels they owned, they came to be known as The Four Hundreds and they included the business owners, principals, and educators in the Charlottesville Albemarle area.
People like Charles E. Coles who owned a very successful construction business, George P. Inge who owned a grocery store, or J.F. Bell whose funeral parlor is still in business today had the capital to lend money and to support their neighbors’ business ventures. Benjamin Tonsler was the principal of the Jefferson School for 30 years. He’d been educated with Booker T. Washington at the Hampton Institute and was a close friend of Washington's. Thomas J. Sellers was the publisher of the Black owned newspaper The Reflector and he frequently reported on the work and the activities of The Four Hundreds as well as being a member of the group. Groups like the Piedmont Industrial Land Improvement Company made up of people like J.W. Sellers, Robert Kesler, and Burkley Bullock, sold and rented land to African Americans so they could farm their own property in Albemarle County.
Most of these folks lived in neighborhoods like Starr Hill and Vinegar Hill in Charlottesville. These Black neighborhoods were full of African American owned businesses, places of worship, and education. Like many neighborhoods where African Americans lived during the 1900s-1960s every type of person lived there. Your teacher, your doctor, and your minister lived right there next to you and your cousins, and your best friends. The person who cut your hair lived next to your lawyer who lived across the street from the dentist who was your sister’s brother-in-law. You might have sold the eggs from your chickens to the person who delivered your mail, while you were saying hello to the person from down the street who was the custodian at the school. And you better not act up, because that custodian is your uncle and he will tell your daddy when you get home from school.
Because the area of Charlottesville and Albemarle County as well was so completely segregated when it came to where you lived, African Americans were forced to live together. And because the area was what was called a “Sundown town,” meaning if you were Black you were taking your life in your own hands being out of your neighborhood after dark, African Americans were sure to be home by dark rather than risk the KKK (which held its first meeting in the 1920s in the Albemarle County Courthouse) or the Anglo Saxon Club catching up with them.
Groups like The Four Hundreds and other members of the African American community created Social Aid Societies to make up for any benefits they might have missed out on otherwise. These societies did everything from paying for a funeral to issuing insurance on a house. They helped families whose parents were out of work, got clothes and food to those who did not have it, and provided medical care to those in need. Despite the attempts to cut off access to services and support that segregation meant to impose, African Americans communities like Charlottesville and Albemarle often had rich cultures and traditions that resulted from the ingenuity and creativity African Americans relied on to support one another.
Want to know more?
We were very lucky to have the Preservers of the Daughters of Zion come to speak to us this week. Bernadette Whitsett-Hammond and Edwina St. Rose shared their work with us. If you'd like to know more about many of the Four Hundreds who are buried in the Daughters of Zion Cemetery in Charlottesville, feel free to visit using the izi.Travel Tour they narrate.
Have a Brain?
Use it for Fun!
Looking for a way to extend your learning? Look no further!
Humanities
L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future is taking submissions until the end of March. Submit your unpublished writing to them!
Are you inspired by transportation? Can you articulate your plans for improving it? Could be worth $2,500! Have you created opportunity for yourself? Can you write about it? I hope so! $1,500 is up for grabs if you can! Beautiful Minds offers $1,000 scholarships to students who demonstrate they can Find (my) Purpose in their writing! Seniors in journalism! There is a National Press Club scholarship worth up to $5,000! Are you a Scout? Apply for Scout of the Year! Bring in $5,000 for college. Must be 15 or older! Get writing with the Scientist for a Day contest! Choose your topic and keep it to 500 words! |
STEM
Health and Wellness people! There is a scholarship for you! Check it out!
Hey Pony Club folks! There are a number of scholarships out there for you! Check them out! The Mini Maker Faire in Roanoke has put out a call for makers in grades K-12. The fair is 22 February. The MathWorks Modeling Challenge is is looking for teams! You need 3 folks and a teacher mentor to enter. Get going because registration ends in late February! The International Space Station Design Challenge is a CAD challenge on capillary action. Open to grades 8-12. Cubes in Space is a global engineering challenge from NASA Get writing with the Scientist for a Day contest! Choose your topic and keep it to 500 words! |
Art and Design
Sleep is a precious commodity. SleePare wants you to convey why its important in an instructive video. And they will give you $1,000 if yours is the best!
Has the internet changed how people shop? Can you talk about it in a video? Sleepopolis wants to reward your efforts with a scholarship! Project Yellow Light asks you to design a billboard against driving and texting. Want to enter the National Geographic Photography Contest? You need to go on an expedition. The application for scholarships is open. Apply now! The Mini Maker Faire in Roanoke has put out a call for makers in grades K-12. The fair is 22 February. The International Space Station Design Challenge is a CAD challenge on capillary action. Open to grades 8-12. |
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Self Care
Sweet Dreams!
Sleep Hygiene is something we don't pay enough attention to, but it's crucial for helping us to stay healthy and alert as well as functioning at our peak levels, especially at this time of the year. What is Sleep Hygiene? It's the rituals and structures we put in place around our bedtime routines that help us get the best sleep we can. There are a number of things we can do to make sure that we have the best sleep hygiene. Here are some tips:
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Scholarships
Start Here:
Western Albemarle High School’s Scholarship Opportunities or JLV College Counseling Or Scholarship Database The Davis-Putter Scholarship is for students who have engaged in social justice work. It's worth up to $10,00. The Esperanza Scholarship is open to students in Virginia who were born, or whose parents were born in another country. It is worth $20,000. The Microsoft disAbility Scholarship offers $20,000 to a student who has a disAbility but who is accepted into an engineering program after high school The National Italian American Foundation gives up to $12,000 to those whose relatives immigrated from Italy! Hey ESA or others into Geophysics! The Society of Exploration Geophysics is offering up to $10,000 for those of you interested in pursuing it in your future! Are you interested in meteorology? There are a number of scholarships for you from the American Meteorological Society and some are up to 10,000! (ESA) |
Food for Thought
Anxiety, stress, and depression are on the rise in our youth today. But the question is why? A study by Jean Twenge which is now 10 years old (!) tells us it's lack of play and free time, a lack of control over their own lives and goals, and the loss of intrinsic goals (like learning) for extrinsic goals (grades, awards, and accolades). It's not too late to change this.
Do Good Things for People:
WTJU is looking for support during their Folk Marathon this week. Enjoy a free concert with Jim Waive and the Young Divorcees and support the radio station!
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Summer's Coming!
Looking for great summer options? Look no further!
- Hey there environmentalists! Join the Youth Conservation Corps this summer! Live for 3 weeks in a Virginia state park and work in conserving it! This is not a summer camp. It's actual work and you will be paid for your efforts.
- UVA's Cornerstone Summer Institute offers an opportunity for rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors to engage in archaeology, historical inquiry, and community engagement. The program is part of the UVA President's Commission on Slavery and the University. The program involves students investigating UVA's historical and modern legacy of slavery. We have had multiple WAHS students do this program and all of them have reported it being life changing!
- Adelphi University has a bunch of fantastic pre-college programs for students this summer, including some you pretty much can't explore elsewhere. Yes, you can do some of the standard ones like Computer Programing and Virtual Reality, Musical Theater, Business and Entrepreneurship, or Health and Medical Science, but they also have some very cool programs you won't get elsewhere like Human Rights and Social Movements, Intro to Nursing, Psychology and Pop Culture, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and Teaching and Teacher Education. You can get full college credit for some of these.
- Don't miss this amazing summer program at IUP! They have summer programs in sciences, anthropology, psychology, math, business, English, World War II, and political communication. The most amazing part is that it's only $400 for the two week program.
- UVA's Young Writers program is taking applicants. We have students who can attest to this program being absolutely fantastic (they have chosen it over other options because of their deep love for it!
- UVA's ASSIST Program is taking applications for their YS (Young Scholars) Program. Participants will gain experience under the guidance of an established research group by investigating a topic from a broad spectrum of science and engineering disciplines. Students will learn about cutting edge techniques and tools used in nanoscale science and engineering and conduct a research study. The program lasts for 5 weeks, June 29 – July 31, with follow up during the academic year. Students will receive a $1,000 stipend for their work as a YS. Apply by 15 March.
- The James River Leadership Academy is taking applications right now as well. Participants commit to JRLA for one academic year during which they participate in four Leadership Sessions. The activities during these Sessions include discussions, team building exercises, environmental ethics, and outdoor appreciation.
- Robin and Mani's All Buddy Camp is looking for Big Buddies for the summer. This is an opportunity to work one on one with a preschooler with special needs. It is a volunteer position and open for rising 10th-12th grade students. I've had many students do this in the past and absolutely loved it!
On the Town
Photo by Edu Lauton on Unsplash
- Tonight there will be an MFA reading at the New Dominion book store
- It's Open Mic night tonight at PVCC
- There will be a film screening at the Bridge PAI tonight: Avant Docs
- Critton Hollow will be playing at the Prism Coffee House Friday
- Light House Studio will screen In the Mood for Love tomorrow evening
- The ultimate Valentines Day movie Casablanca will be shown tomorrow at the Paramount
- Saturday is Broadway Talks Back: Waitress
- Enjoy Starry Nights under the Rotunda Dome
- It's Presidents Day Weekend at Montpelier this weekend
- Head to PVCC for Evolution of a Black Girl: From the Slave House to the White House
- C'ville Symphony Orchestra, Saturday. Be there! Or Sunday, also.
- The original bad boy archaeologist heads to town on Sunday, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark!
- Beatriz Colomina is speaking on Monday evening for those of you into architecture, art, gender, and more
- Head to the Violet Crown on Tuesday for First Love, part of the VA Film Fest
- Light House Studios is screening Pariah on Wednesday
- And it's dueling movies Wednesday because Violet Crown has Columbus!
