Albemarle High School Newsletter

April 2016

Principal’s Message

Table of Contents

Principal’s Message 1

Contact Information 2

Important Dates 2

Student and Staff Kudos 2 – 5

Niche Ranks AHS Top 5% 6

Guidance and Year End News 7

Student Tellers at AHS Branch 8

Dear Parents and Guardians,

What an exciting year this has been! With each passing year, I remain amazed at the collective talent and abilities of our student body and staff. With their youthful eagerness and determination, our wonderfully creative and dynamic students reinvigorate this school’s commitment to invest ourselves in them every day. No less amazing is the broad support of parents and guardians like you. Your input and help is invaluable to the collective success of Albemarle High School.

AHS is the largest high school in the area. Its sheer numbers equates to a diversity of talents, abilities, ethnicity, religions, cultures and experiences that make this an exciting school beyond academics. This diversity cultivates the tolerance of differences, of new ideas; ultimately, it begets a more tolerant world of people. It also reflects the changes not only within our state, but also within our country and the world. We are a great school on many levels. Our programs are diverse and offer a challenging variety of opportunities on a multitude of levels for our student body. Recently, AHS was one of the high schools ranked by Niche in the top five percent of the nation’s “Smartest Public High Schools.” This title is earned from hard work and a continuous commitment to see that all students leave AHS better prepared to meet the challenges of their changing world ahead. I could not be prouder of our students and our staff for being the primary reason we are such a great school.

Inside this newsletter you will find important information about the upcoming senior graduation as well as other end of school activities and dates. Much of this information is also available on our website and through the Guidance Department. Please be sure to check out the articles on group and individual student awards and honors this last quarter as well. It’s just one of the many qualities reflective of our students and staff that helps to make our school great. Jay Thomas, Principal

Congratulations to the AHS Rowing Team champions at the VA State Rowing Championship: Women's LWT 2x, Men's 2x, men's LWT 2x, Men's 4x! Women's 4x was second and Women’s LWT 2x move on to the Nationals!

AHS Crew Team Wins Nine Races at Williams Warf Men's Lightweight Double – Hugh Rickard and Jake Pierce Men's LWT Single – Hugh Rickard Men's Heavyweight Single - David Braatz Men's Quad - Graham Haynie, Clark Benham, John Wray, Will Banner Women's Single - Sara Cliborne Women's Double - Lydia Eisenberg, Sara Cliborne Women's LWT Double- Rachel Lloyd, Erin O'Hara Women's A Quad - Emmy Wuensch, Kat Seitz, Eliza MacKnight, Lydia Eisenberg Women's B Quad - Rachel Lloyd, Sara Cliborne, Ellie Forney, Erin O'hara

AHS Indoor Track Wins Conference 16 Championship Congratulations to Coach Nagel, the AHS Indoor Track coaches, and our athletes. The girls indoor track team won the Conference 16 Championship this year! Coach Nagel stated as long as he has been part of the program for the past 11 years this is the first time the girls have won a conference (formerly district) championship. We are proud to congratulate the boys AHS Indoor Track team who finished a respectable second place! GO Patriots, you rock!

AHS Creative Writing Students Recognized Congratulations to Charlotte Wood and our Creative Writing students who received recognition in Writer’s Eye 2015 literary competition. Among the 1,821 entries three students and one staff member from AHS were recognized:

Sabryn Dotson – First Place, Poetry Baylina Pu – Honorable Mention, Prose Kayleigh McCoy – First Place, Prose Charlotte Wood – Honorable Mention, Adult Prose

Albemarle High School Page 2 ~ April 2016

Contact Information

Main  Office   975-­‐9300  

Main  Fax   974-­‐4335  

Athletics   974-­‐4308  

Attendance   974-­‐4310  

Community  Ed   975-­‐9450  

Guidance   974-­‐4321  

Important Dates

AP  Exams                                                      5/2-­‐13  

SOLS                                                                      5/4-­‐20  

STAMP  Testing                                    5/5-­‐  6  

Senior  Exams                                    5/18-­‐20    

Senior  Movie/Picnic                        5/23  

SOL  Makeups                              5/18-­‐  6/7  

School  Closed  –Holiday             5/30  

Graduation    JPJ    at  7  p.m.           5/31  

Last  Day  of  School                                              6/7  

Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards Charlotte Wood and the following Region-At-Large AHS Creative Writing students were honored at the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.

Kamryn Crossman, Honorable Mention, Portfolio Rosemarie Fabrizio, Honorable Mention, Portfolio Luke Henter, Honorable Mention, Portfolio, Silver Key, Flash Fiction, "Among the Trees" Silver Key, Poetry, "You Could Never Stay Silent for Long" Gold Key, Poetry, "How Masks Were Invented" Becky Lake, Honorable Mention, Essay, "Forgotten Piece of Me" Katie Martin, Honorable Mention, Portfolio Marie Ungar, Honorable Mention, Poetry, "Our Fading Wonderings" Silver Key, Flash Fiction, "Count the Raindrops" Silver Key, Flash Fiction, "When the Wind Blows" Silver Key, Short Story, "Just Pretend" Silver Key, Poetry, "Primitive" Gold Key, Flash Fiction, "Four Thousand Minutes" Gold Key, Short Story, "Out of the Cracks" Gold Key, Poetry, "Eidetic and Blind"

Job Opportunity for Students

The UVA Community Credit Union is eager to hire a new trio of Albemarle High School students to staff our Patriot Pride branch! The application deadline is May 20, 2016; and interviews will be held between May 26th and May 27th. See the back page of this newsletter for detailed information on applying.

Albemarle High School Page 3 ~ April 2016

Staff and Student Accomplishments

Zainab “Ayoade” Balogun Awarded Virginia / D.C. NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing

The award, sponsored by the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) and the VA/DC Affiliate, recognizes young high school women for their computing-related achievements and interests as part of an effort to encourage more young women to choose careers in technology.

A total of 25 award-winners were selected from high schools across the Virginia and Washington D.C. area for their outstanding aptitude and interest in information technology and computing, solid leadership ability, good academic history, and plans for post-secondary education.

Each award-winner will receive: » an invitation to an awards luncheon

for the winner, her family, and her endorsing teacher; two engraved awards, one for the student and one for her school’s trophy case; company giveaways provided on behalf of NCWIT, VA/DC supporters, and member schools.

"Encouraging young women’s interest in technology careers is critical: our workforce needs their creativity and their innovation,” said Lucy Sanders, CEO and Co-founder of NCWIT.

“Albemarle High School is proud that one of its own students received this prestigious award, and would also like to congratulate Hojung “Rachel” Park, 2016 VA and DC Affiliate Competition Runner Up,

and Cherry Wang, 2016 National Award Competition Runner-Up,” said Buffie Holley, AP Computer Science Teacher at AHS. “During her junior year, I was able to know Ayoade better. I was quickly struck by how well rounded she is and she is such a wonderful young lady. She has received a lot of accolades and recognitions this year; this is just the beginning of a wonderful future she will have. She is one of those students that I know will forge a path to help many others and we will hear a lot more about her throughout the course of her career.”

“Simply put she is one of the finest students I have ever had the privilege to know,” said Jay Thomas, Principal at AHS. “Albemarle High School continues to offer computing as part of its curriculum, recognizing its value to students’ future success.”

“This is the fourth year in a row that AHS has had a State or National NCWIT winner, and I am excited for the future as our AP Computer Science program continues to pick up STEAM,” said Buffie Holley.

Albemarle High School is a learning community that inspires all students to pursue their dreams, becoming lifelong learners and responsible citizens in a global society.

The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) works to correct the imbalance of gender diversity in technology and computing because gender diversity positively correlates with a larger workforce, better innovation, and increased business performance. Increasing the number of women in

technology and computing also has the potential to improve the design of products and services to better serve a more diverse population, and increase economic and social well-being by providing more women with stable and lucrative careers. Find out more at https://www.ncwit.org/

AHS Students First High School Students to Have i.Lab Venture Accepted

Seniors Rheisen Dennis and Tyler Cosgrove have been participants in Alexis Mason's annual AHS Entrepreneur Workshop. They have just been selected to participate in the W. L. Lyons Brown III Innovation Lab’s Summer 2016 Class at the i.Lab at UVA Batten School of Business. They are the first high school students to ever have a venture accepted since the i.Lab has been in operation. They competed against more than 50 other ventures that were pitched and nearly 100 applicants to the program.

Junior Hayden Davis Wins Shakespeare Competition

Hayden won first place in the English Speaking Union's Shakespeare Competition. The event was held at the Black Friars Shakespeare Center in Staunton. Hayden went on to compete at the Lincoln Center in New York City on May 1-3. He also will receive a $500 scholarship to attend the Summer Shakespeare Institute in Staunton this upcoming summer.

Albemarle High School Page 4 ~ April 2016

Staff and Student Accomplishments

AHS Swim Team Wins Conference and Second Place in States competition Congratulations to swim coaches JJ Bean, Abby Kirkham and to our AHS swimmers. Early this year our boys team won first in Conference and the

girls’ team won second. At Regions, both the girls and boys placed second with 17 swimmers advanced to the State competition.

2016 State Championships Results:

AHS Boys: 3rd place Team (201 points) AHS Girls: 3rd place, Team (195 points) Girls 200 medley relay: 4th place- A. Huang, M. Jones, B. Coffindaffer, R. Wang Boys 200 free: 3rd place- Caleb Smith Boys 200 IM: 3rd place- Hogan Harper Girls 50 free: 2nd place- Maggie Woods Boys 100 fly: 2nd place- Nick Pease

AHS Team 19: Rapid Innovation in Public School

Inspired by the documentary Most Likely to Succeed, leaders at Albemarle High School have rapidly adopted progressive approaches to education through integrated learning and real world application with impressive results. The link to this brief documentary below explores the wonderful work that our students and staff are producing in TEAM 19. This is a major game changer for many of our students. In fact, One Potato Production was here for three weeks filming the work of the students and staff for a longer documentary. Please follow the link below to check out this exciting innovative program at AHS: https://vimeo.com/152765275

AHS State Track Champions Congratulations to our State Champion 4x800 State track team.

Haley Dillenbeck, Ryann Helmers, Kathryn Mayo, & Lauren Hughlett finished in a school record time of 9:34.33. Way to go Patriots! Later, Kathryn Mayo became the State Champion in the 1000m!

AHS Wins State Sportsmanship Award The AHS boys basketball team, who finished with their highest rank in history this year, and the AHS cheering section were recognized with the state sportsmanship award. What an awesome recognition for our amazing young men and women at AHS!

Boys 100 free: 3rd place- Hogan Harper Boys 200 free relay

3rd place- H. Harper, C. Smith, J. Robbins, N. Pease

Girls 200 free relay: 4th place- G. Farmar, A. Huang, M. Jones, M. Woods

Boys 100 back: 2nd place- Nick Pease Boys 400 free relay:

1st place- Jack Robbins, Caleb Smith, Nick Pease, Hogan Harper

2015-16 USA SWIMMING SCHOLASTIC ALL AMERICANS:

Hogan Harper Jack Robbins Maggie Woods

Congratulations to AHS Student Janaya Mott She became one of five 2016 Minor Preston Scholars Program Award Recipients. Janaya and the other recipients will be recognized by the Board of Directors of the Minor Preston Fund on Friday, May 20th at the Jefferson School City Center.

Above: an AHS Team 19 member immersed in innovative learning through this pilot program. To hear Principal Jay Thomas’ live interview with WINA radio. Click here.

Albemarle High School Page 5 ~ April 2016

Staff and Student Accomplishments

AHS Orchestra Awarded First Place on Cruise Congratulations to Carrie Finnegan and the AHS Orchestra who ended their Music Festivals Cruise with the First Place trophy and a superior rating.

The first violin and bass sections won awards for outstanding sections. Additionally, Stephen Tan and Alyssa Jordan were recognized individually as outstanding musicians.

Katie Martin Wins Journalism Education Honor Katie Martin, Co-Editor-in-Chief of the AHS Lantern Literary/Art Magazine, had two magazine spread designs published in the Summer 2016 edition of the Journalism Education Association's national publication, Communication: Journalism Education Today.

AHS Library Celebrates VA Festival of the Book The AHS Library hosted six authors this year. Over the course of three days, students shared the opportunity to meet and hear these authors: Annabelle Jay, Emilie Raymond, Winifred Conkling, Laurie Cannady, Adam Cohen and Granville Sawyer. The authors focused on a

variety of topics including science, eugenics, civil rights, college readiness, creative writing, and the writing and publishing process.

2016 Residential Governor’s School Programs Invitees Congratulations to the following students who have been invited to attend the 2016 Summer Residential Governor’s School programs. These students competed at the school, division, and state levels against more than 1000 students across the Commonwealth of Virginia for academic and mentorship programs and 700 nominees for foreign language programs.

NASA – Mentorship Ayoade Balogun

Theater – Visual and Performing Arts Elizabeth Catchings Cameron Edson

Agriculture – Academic Emily Lin Max Sun

Instrumental – Visual and Performing Arts

Olivia Hadley (Trombone) Sean Cha (Classical Guitar)

Humanities – Academic Allison Humphrey

Foreign Language Academies German – Natalie Carlson Latin – David Gazewood French – Erin O’Hara Spanish – Hayden Davis (Alt)

Winners of the Tom Tom Youth Summit Congratulations to winners of the Tom Tom Youth Summit Business Pitch and Social Innovation Challenge competitions.

Winner - Social Innovation Challenge Will Knospe & Hannah Lewis: CAV 619 Robotics-providing K-8 students with free opportunities to learn robotics. Their group, CAV619, was among the 10 finalists who received awards for their social entrepreneur-ship ideas.

Winner - Business Pitch Competition Kieran Rundle, Emma Umberger, and Kayleigh McCoy: Sincerely Magazine. Only two business pitches won awards, and Sincerely Magazine's founders will use their award to improve the quality of their published magazine and expand their online platform.

All of the student presenters did a fantastic job sharing their passion and expertise in their areas of interest.

Kevin Zong: Aeronautics-Student Showcase Nate Carlson, Aiden Hesselroth, Angela (Cami) Pastore, and Zane Sanders: Reducing CO2 Emissions-Student Showcase Kiernan DiMeglio: Student Showcase Tyler Cosgrove & Rheisen Dennis: SEAM-Business Pitch Competition

Thanks to the AHS students who served on the Tom Tom Student Advisory Council for putting together an engaging and purposeful youth summit: Ayoade Balogun, Rheisen Dennis, Kiernan DiMeglio, and Douglas Kulow.

Albemarle High School Page 6 ~ April 2016

AHS Ranked in Top 5% of Nation’s “Smartest Public High Schools”

Albemarle High School was among the three Albemarle County’s public comprehensive high schools rated in the top five percent of public high schools in the country according to Niche, a national organization that annually analyzes and ranks the top performing schools in the nation.

In its ranking of “America’s Smartest Public High Schools,” Niche used a combination of school climate measures, student test scores and input from parents to determine its rankings. Among the data points the survey incorporated were academic performance, health and safety data, student culture and diversity, sports, fitness and extracurricular programs, resources and facilities and teaching excellence.

Western Albemarle and Monticello each earned five “A’s” among the seven data point categories that were evaluated, while Albemarle earned four “A’s.” Both Western Albemarle and Albemarle received an A+ for academic achievement and an A for teaching. Monticello also had the highest score among the schools for overall high school experience as reported by students and parents.

“These are first-class results and a tribute to teamwork among staff, teachers and parents at all three of

our comprehensive high schools,” said Dr. Matthew Haas, the school division’s deputy superintendent. “They certainly track with our on-time graduation rate of 95 percent, our very low drop-out rate of 2.2 percent and the consistent outperformance of our students against their peers on the SATs both within the state and across the nation,” Dr. Haas said.

The school division strategic goal states, “all students will graduate having actively mastered the lifelong-learning skills they need to succeed as 21st century learners, workers and citizens.” Among the five objectives in achieving this goal are to engage every student, to improve opportunity and achievement, to create and expand partnerships, to optimize resources and to implement balanced assessments of student learning.

“As we work towards this goal for every student, it is helpful to benchmark our methods and progress against other school divisions in Virginia and across the nation,” Dr. Haas pointed out. “That’s the value of analyses such as this one by Niche. Our students are going to be competing for admission to colleges of their choice and to career paths that appeal to them once they graduate from our schools. The Niche survey is useful in that it suggests

how competitive we are as a school division and points to areas where we need to continue to improve,” he added.

Western Albemarle, Albemarle and Monticello high schools all were among the top 1,000 of the nation’s 23,861 public high schools. Among Virginia’s 327 public high schools, Western Albemarle was ranked 22nd; Albemarle was ranked 27th and Monticello was 36th. The complete survey is accessible at http://www.educationdive.com/news/niche-issues-2016-rankings-of-americas-smartest-public-high-schools-1/416600/

Don’t miss Principal Thomas’ interview and commentary live on WRNA.

It’s SPRING! No surer sign than Ms. Webber’s science room where science projects abound.

Albemarle High School Page 7 ~ April 2016

Administrative, Counseling, and Student Services Guidance and Year End Information

Important Information for Seniors and their Families

Since May 17 is the last day of classes for our seniors before they take their exams beginning on May 18, we are closing in on the last couple of weeks of school for seniors. We wanted to take this opportunity to share some important end of year information as it related to graduation, senior night, and other senior information.

Additionally, we need your help in collecting very important information from you about graduation participation, scholarships and awards, senior night RSVP, and final transcript notifications. We require all of this information to help us plan for these end of year events that help us celebrate with you. This informa-tion is due by Wednesday, May 18.

Please click here to access the slideshow that will share all of our information with you as well as collect the required information from you. There are three places in the slideshow that require information from you:

1. Graduation Student RSVP and Expectations

2. Senior Information Sheet – Class of 2016

3. Senior Night RSVP

It is important that you view the slideshow in its entirety so that you not only access all of the information but that you also respond to all of the required information we need from each senior by Wednesday, May 18.

issues [with an intention] to [bring] individuals, organizations, coalitions, states, and communities together through local events to educate the public about the importance of preventing substance abuse and mental disorders before they occur.”

This year’s events will take place during the week of May 16 – May 20. All events are free of charge and open to the public, though several require registration, so reserve your seat early.

http://www.youchoosecville.com

Summer Opportunities

STEM and ART Summer Academies at PVCC-STEM

(Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) and Arts Enrichment Academies are offered at PVCC and at other off-site partner locations (3rd-9th Grade). Click the link below:

PVCC-STEM

Summer Programs at The Naval Academy

Click here for more information

Tech Camp @ STAB

Tech Camp @ STAB has a wide variety of camps this summer for rising 9th through 12th graders, including Computer Graphics, Minecraft Modding, Filmmaking, Programming in C++/Python and a 2-week CS Academy. Scholarships available.

STAB summer-programs link

In addition, this digital slideshow will be available as a link shared in multiple places for you to access: our website, an email notification, counseling and AHS twitter feeds, and our Patriot Progress e-newsletter. If you do not have access to this slideshow or if you have any questions, please contact the school counseling office at 974-4321.

We look forward to celebrating this exciting time with you.

Upward Bound Applications

The University of Virginia’s Upward Bound Program applications are available for interested students. Please see your school counselor if interested.

College Information Session Join Brown, Chicago, Columbia, Cornell and Rice for an information session for prospective students and their families. Sessions include a brief overview of each institution, information on admissions and financial aid, and a chance to speak informally with admissions representatives. You must register to attend Richmond, VA - Wednesday, May 18, 2016 @ 7:00pm. Click here for details. National Preservation Week May 15-21

This is sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which describes this event as “an annual health observance dedicated to increasing public awareness of substance abuse and mental health

The Albemarle High School

newsletter is a publication of Albemarle County Public Schools. It is published quarterly and distributed to all Albemarle High School families.

Albemarle County Public Schools does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, disability, national origin, pregnancy, or marital status. Questions or concerns regarding compliance with the School Division's nondiscrimination policies may be directed to:

Director of Human Resources 401 McIntire Road Charlottesville, VA 22902 Phone: (434)296.5827

Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1691 et seq., prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs or activities receiving federal funds, including discrimination in employment and student admissions. All Albemarle County Public Schools students, applicants, and employees are covered by this law. For questions or concerns regarding Title IX, please contact:

Title IX Coordinator Department of Human Resources 401 McIntire Road Charlottesville, VA 22902 Phone: (434)296.5827

Our Vision:

All learners believe in their power to embrace learning, to excel, and to own their future.

Albemarle High School Page 8 ~ April 2016

Student Tellers – Patriot Pride Student Branch

UVA Community Credit Union, one of the largest financial institutions based in Central Virginia, is proud to continue its partnership with Albemarle High School to offer a student-run branch. This is a great opportunity for outgoing and solutions-oriented Patriot Pride students to help your fellow classmates manage their money, build their credit, and establish good financial habits that last a lifetime.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

In this part-time position, you will provide friendly, professional, and efficient service to members, perform transactions with minimal error, balance and maintain a cash drawer, and follow all established policies and procedures. To be successful, you will develop a working knowledge of the Credit Union’s services and products, answer member questions, identify their needs, offer the appropriate products, make referrals, and support the goals of the Credit Union.

KEY QUALIFICATIONS

To be a strong candidate, you will have the following qualifications and attributes:

• Current Albemarle High School students in good standing with solid academic performance

• Ability to communicate effectively • Prior cash handling experience • Prior customer service and sales experience • Proficient with calculator and computer terminal • Friendly, enthusiastic, solutions-oriented, and productive team player • Professional appearance and attire • Able to work independently, problem solve, and accurately assess members’ financial

needs

KEY AVAILABILITY

• Available to work most or all of the branch hours o Tuesday 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM (subject to change based on school schedule) o Thursday 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM (subject to change based on school schedule)

• Able to represent UVA Community Credit Union in financial education events and student-run promotional activities

• Willing to work additional hours at the Credit Union’s off-campus branches during weekends, summer or holiday breaks as needed

While this at-will, part-time position is available to full-time students; top performers may have an opportunity to enjoy a rewarding full-time career with the Credit Union in one of its many full-service branches after they leave Patriot Pride.

HOW TO APPLY

1. In order to apply for this position, you must first create an online profile in the UVA Community Credit Union Career Center online at www.uvacreditunion.org/content/Careers.

2. You may either upload your resume, two letters of reference, and the completed attached UVA Community Credit Union application to your career center profile, or, you may email these documents to us at mailto:jobs@uvacreditunion.org by May 20, 2016. We look forward to hearing from you!