Taylor Utz, a BRVGS 9th grader from Madison, just returned from a two-week African mission trip. She is pictured here with Joy, a young girl Taylor sponsors at an orphanage in Uganda. Reflecting on her experience, she said, “I had such a great time...The trip has given me a whole new mindset.” For more about Taylor’s trip, see the article below titled, Student Begins 2013 with Service in Africa.
Engineering Students Solve Real-World Problems in UVA Class
If buildings in Louisa County were designed by BRVGS students, damage from earthquakes could be minimized. Alleviating earthquake damage was just one of several projects tackled in an engineering design-and-build challenge requiring students to solve real-world problems.
Other projects included water-filtration solutions, light-
sensitive blinds, ergonomic student desks, and aerodynamically-improved buses. Fourteen students from Goochland, Orange, Louisa, and William Monroe high schools participated in the challenge through their fall-semester University of Virginia online engineering class. Students presented their project results on January 10, then toured the 3-D printer lab and the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
For more photos, click here.
Literary Magazine Publishes Madison Student's Poetry
Poetry by BRVGS student Summer Davis is featured this month in Zenith: An Online Literary Magazine. Three poems were contributed by the Madison County High School 10th grader, and were accepted for publication in the online magazine’s January 2013 issue. To read Summer’s poems titled, “Mistletoe,” “Simon,” and “The Parlor Piano,” go to http://zenithlitmag.weebly.com/january-issue.html Congratulations, Summer!
Zenith was created and is now run by two students attending the Appomattox Regional Governor's School for the Arts and Technology. Their mission is to provide opportunities for 9th-12th graders to publish their original work in the literary field.
Other students interested in submitting work can check out Zenith’s submission page at http://zenithlitmag.weebly.com/submissions.html
Student Begins 2013 with Service in Africa
While many students are just returning from much-needed winter breaks, Taylor Utz is completing volunteer work in Africa. The Madison County High School ninth grader and BRVGS student is spending the first two weeks of 2013 in Kampala, Uganda. She went with other members of The Summit Church in Madison, who partner with a Ugandan church, and also support an orphanage and widows’ center there.
Before she left on her trip, Taylor said, “I sponsor a student named Joy [at the orphanage]...I receive regular pictures of Joy, and we have written to each other a little...so I can’t wait to actually hug her in person.”
Part of Taylor’s time in Uganda is devoted to helping with eyeglass clinics, training and equipping teachers, conducting church visitations, and teaching life skills. She is also getting a first-hand look at the role of women in that culture. Taylor’s mother, Debbie, is the administrative liaison for this ministry. It is her initial meeting with the African partners, and it is Taylor’s first trip out of the United States.
New Year Brings New Activities for BRVGS Students and Staff
With the turn of the New Year, BRVGS stdents and staff are in the process of getting ready for a host of new activities for Spring 2013. World History students will feature their 1st sesmeter project websites in a "Website Contest" later this week, and will embark on visits to UVa and Washington DC in Winter and Spring of 2013. BRVGS AP Biology students will continue their preparation for the Spring AP Bio exam, and will participate in a "Bioethics" project, as well as canoe trips with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation later this spring. Juniors in most schools will problem-solve creative programming solutions as part of BRVGS Computer Science, and BRVGS Seniors will present the results of their "Internship, Research and Community Service" Projects over the spring. Parents and students can check project websites and student work by going to the drop-down menu on the "Academics" tab of the BRVGS Home Page. Stay tuned for updates on these and other activities as Spring progresses!