Events This Week: April 15-19, 2013

 Today, BRVGS World History students from Fluvanna, Goochland, Louisa, and Nelson counties embark on a field trip to Washington, D.C. They will visit sites such as the war memorials on the National Mall and the US Holocaust Museum, and will also lunch at the Pentagon City Mall. Students from Nelson, Greene, and Madison take their D.C. trip on Wednesday, April 17th.

 Bioethics Presentations will be given by AP Biology students from Fluvanna, Goochland, Louisa, and Nelson on Tuesday, April 16th at Fluvanna County High School. This will be held in the auditorium, beginning at 9:20 a.m.

On Thursday, April 18th, Madison County High School AP Biology students go to the Rivanna Reservoir for a field trip led by an environmental educator from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. The group will conduct water/organism tests, and learn about human impacts on the Bay.

Louisa County High School seniors give their Senior Presentations this Friday, April 19th in the LCHS Library, beginning at 8:30 a.m. Students will show media presentations and discuss project research, internships, and community service.

Last week’s scheduled Chesapeake Bay Foundation trip for Goochland High School students was cancelled due to inclement weather. This field trip has been rescheduled for Thursday, May 30th.

BRVGS Juniors Selected for Summer Programs

Lauren Birkett, a BRVGS student and junior at Madison County HighSchool, was selected for Leadership on the Lawn, a week-long summer program at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville for high school student leaders. Participants will engage in self-discovery, team building, and community service. They will also examine ethics, decision making, and diversity, learn skills relevant to communication and goal planning, and enhance their leadership capabilities. The program runs from July 7-12, 2013.

MCHS junior Courtney Pooton and Lauren Birkett were chosen to attend Virginia Girls State. The purpose of Girls State is to provide citizenship training for young women who are rising high school seniors. It is being held June 16-22 at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia. This camp gives students an opportunity to live together as self-governing citizens and to inform them about the duties, privileges, rights, and responsibilities of American citizenship. Participants at Girls State are made aware of the civic responsibilities they must assume when they become adults, and is a week long study of Virginia Government. There are special activities and classes, such as women in government, judiciary, public speaking, public service, newspaper publishing, parliamentary procedure, activism in art, chorus, band, and athletics.

Courtney is the daughter of Susan and William Pooton, and Lauren is the daughter of Deborah and Mike Birkett. Congratulations to Lauren and Courtney on being selected to participate in these outstanding summer programs!

Events This Week at BRVGS: April 8-12

Spring Break 2013 is over, and the BRVGS schedule blossoms with events! This week, April 8-12, will include AP Biology Presentations for Orange, Greene, and Madison counties to be held Tuesday, 8:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m., at the Taylor Education Administration Center in Orange.

Madison Senior Presentations will be held Thursday in the WMHS Library, from 12:30 to 3:00 PM. Talks will include information and visuals on their Senior project topics, research, internships, and community service.

On Friday, Goochland AP Biology students will venture out on the water for a field trip led by an environmental educator from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. The group will conduct water/organism tests, and learn about human impacts on the Bay.

Check our website weekly for upcoming happenings in “Events This Week at BRVGS.” More photos will be posted as activities occur throughout the next few months. The BRVGS Calendar on the right side of the website also provides a handy reference to scheduled events.

BRVGS in the News!

A local newspaper has featured several Blue Ridge Virtual Governor’s School students recently for a variety of activities and accomplishments. New stories about five BRVGS students at Madison County High School have appeared in The Eagle, which serves the Madison area.

Katy Sorrell, Drew Kelliher, and Sam Young were highlighted in a Lifestyles section article about their senior internships. View the entire story at MCHS Trio Excels.

Junior Chelsea Colvin was crowned the winner of the 2013 Miss Madison Scholarship Pageant. Read the details at 2013 Miss Madison.

Courtney Pooton received a lifetime 4-H All-Star award, the organization’s highest honor, in a ceremony at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. See the complete article at 4-H All-Star.

Congratulations to all of our BRVGS students in the news!

(Photo by COURTNEY GRIFFIN / Madison Eagle)

Regional Science Fair Selects Winners

BRVGS students were the recipients of numerous awards at the 32nd Annual Virginia Piedmont Regional Science Fair held March 13 at UVA’s John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville.

David Woods took the First Place honor in Physics and Astronomy for his project titled The Piezoelectric Effect. He received the Physical Sciences Award from the United States Army, and the Naval Science Award, as well. The Biophysical Society Award, which includes a monetary gift of $100, was also given to the Orange County High School junior. David lives in Somerset, and is the son of Evelyn and Kent Woods. His sponsoring teacher at OCHS is Nick Budziszewski.

William Monroe High School sophomore Joey Rodriguez was awarded Second Place in the Plant Sciences category for his project, Arabidopsis Thaliana in Response to Potassium Nitrate and the Modification of the AADL Gene. Joey lives in Barboursville and is the son of Heather Arquitt and Frank Flaschenriem.

About 300 students from Piedmont Virginia representing more than thirty different schools from over a dozen school divisions participate in the regional fair. Senior Division entries are judged in each of 17 science and engineering categories. Schools within Albemarle, Culpeper, Fluvanna, Greene, King George, Louisa, Madison, Nelson, Orange, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, and Stafford counties comprise the Science Fair region.

These are outstanding science achievements, and BRVGS is proud to recognize our students’ efforts and performance!