October 31st is a scary day for many, but it is a sad day for BRVGS - it will be Mr. Jerry Reynolds' last day as the BRVGS Online Learning Coordinator. He is retiring after a long and successful career in public education, and he will be greatly missed by students and staff thoughout BRVGS. BRVGS is looking forward to the addition of Ms. Liz Goodwin as the new Online Learning Coordinator, beginning Nov. 1st - more on Ms. Goodwin in an upcoming article.
Since his start with as a part-time online Computer Science instructor for BRVGS in the 2002-2003 school year, Mr. Reynolds has worked with just about every student in Blue Ridge. For many years, he taught what was then called "BRVGS Computer Math," all while teaching mathematics to students at Louisa County High School during the school day. Known also for his... "interesting?"..."quirky?"...perhaps, "corny?"...sense of humor, he has collected and shared thousands of jokes in his online courses, and more recently, in his weekly BRVGS emails.
In the bigger picture, Mr. Reynolds has been an important member of the BRVGS team throughout his time with the program, helping to establish a welcoming and supportive environment across Blue Ridge (and particularly in our online courses), and working with BRVGS staff and teachers to help design and implement a variety of learning experiences for our students. He has also been a big part of the BRVGS culture, bringing humor and a strong philosophy of support for students to everything he has done with the program - one example of that is his emergence as "Pizza Jerry" for his constant chant of "2 pieces, 1 chip, 2 cookies, 1 drink!" chant at BRVGS pizza lunches (click here to see an animated version of "Pizza Jerry").
Many students expressed their feeling about Mr. Reynolds in a recent "Farewell to Mr. Reynolds" doc that was shared throughout Blue Ridge. Messages included many notes like this, "Thanks for everything Mr. Reynolds! You never fail to make me laugh! We’ll miss you lots!", as well as appreciations for his support such as this one, "In my entire three years of the blue ridge experience, you are one of the brightest characters and personable that I know, From the emails you send out every week, down to your lunch time jingle, you are an amazing person and have made my entire BRVGS class worth it I'm gonna miss you, have a happy retirement!"
Mr. Reynolds and his wife plan to relocate to Florida, where they will be close to family AND to Disney (and, to be honest, Mr. Reynolds really considers Disney to be "part of the family"). We in BRVGS will say "au revoir," rather than "goodbye" to Mr. Reynolds, because while we know that Florida is a long way away, we hope that Mr. Reynolds will find time to continue to be part of the online instructional program at BRVGS. No matter what, though, he will always be part of the BRVGS family. Au Revoir and Bon Voyage, Mr. Reynolds!