BRVGS Seniors Shine at EXPO!

No one expects a weather delay in May, but heavy rains and flooding nearly swamped the BRVGS 2014 Senior Exposition this past Friday, causing a 2 hour delay for several BRVGS member school districts.  After a great deal of communication via text, email and phone calls, however, students, teachers, and evaluators rallied and started the Expo only 1 hour late.  Despite such an inauspicious start, the Expo went amazingly well, and BRVGS seniors did an excellent job representing BRVGS and their home schools. 

Approximately 90 high school seniors from seven member schools shared information about their impressive internship, research and community service projects at the BRVGS Senior Exposition.  One student, recently moved out of state, even participated in the Expo "virtually" through a Google Hangout, talking with evaluators and fellow classmates via computer throughout the event. 

Students from Fluvanna, Greene, Madison, Nelson, Louisa, Orange, and Goochland counties displayed and presented information on a wide variety of project topics such as criminal justice, music, medicine, ecology, radio astronomy, and student stress, just to name a few.

To see a slideshow of the Expo, click on BRVGS Expo 2014 Slideshow.

Many thanks to Orange County School Board staff for their gracious hosting of the event, and to all of the evaluators who contributed their valuable time and energy to making the BRVGS Senior Expo a success for all participants!  

AFCEA Announces Three BRVGS Senior Scholarship Awards

The Central Virginia Chapter of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA) recently announced three BRVGS Seniors as scholarship recipients, and recognized the corporate sponsors SRC Incorporated (formerly Syracuse Research Corporation) and Battelle. The grant winners are: Ayana Braxton, recipient of the Minority Scholarship sponsored by Battelle; Adriana Sprouse, recipient of the Minority Scholarship sponsored by SRC; and Courtney Sigloh, recipient of the Women’s Scholarship sponsored by Battelle.

The chapter awarded the $1,000 merit-based scholarship grants in April to qualified minority or female students enrolled in four-year accredited science or engineering programs at a Virginia college or university. AFCEA is a member-based non-profit professional association whose mission is to facilitate training and communication among government, industry and academia.

Adriana Sprouse, a senior at Louisa County High School, will attend Christopher Newport University. Ayana Braxton, an Orange County High School senior, will attend Virginia Commonwealth University. Courtney Sigloh attends Greene County High School and will attend the University of Virginia.

The scholarship winners will be recognized at an AFCEA luncheon on May 8th at the Best Western in Ruckersville at 11:30 a.m.  

Becki Broyles to Receive U.S. Congressional Award

Becki Broyles, BRVGS student and a junior at Madison County High School, is a recipient of the Gold Congressional Award, the United States Congress award for young Americans.  Congress established the Congressional Award in 1979 to recognize initiative, achievement, and service in young people. She is one of only about 250 youth from across the country to receive this recognition each year. Becki earned the award for logging hundreds of hours achieving personal goals in the areas of volunteer public service, personal development, physical fitness, and expedition/exploration. She will be honored at a Gold Congressional Award ceremony in Washington, DC this summer. To find out more about this program, go to www.congressionalaward.org. 

In addition to the Congressional Award honor, Becki has also earned the 4-H All Star Award, which is the highest honor a 4-H member can receive, and is based on her 4-H work over the past eight years.  She will receive her All Star Award at a ceremony during the June 4-H Congress in Blacksburg.

Becki is part of a team from the Madison County 4-H Adventure Club that will be representing Virginia at the National Wildlife Habitat Education Program( WHEP) Contest in Missouri in July. Becki's team has been state Junior Champions for several years, and won the Senior title in the fall 2013 to gain entrance to the national contest.

Accolades go to this talented, hard-working BRVGS student for her many achievements!

Rodriguez, Lilly, and Iman Named VCU Engineering School DERI Fellows

BRVGS students Joey Rodriguez, Nathaniel Lilly, and Yesaya Iman were recently notified of their acceptances as School of Engineering Dean’s Early Research Initiative (DERI) Fellows at Virginia Commonwealth University for the 2014-15 school year.

The juniors at William Monroe High School in Greene County will work with a graduate student mentor and a faculty member on a research project for the engineering school. During the summer, Nathaniel, Joey, and Yesaya, will devote 60 hours in August to the project, and work four hours per week throughout the school year when the high school and VCU are both in session. 

When he learned of his acceptance, Joey contacted BRVGS Director Marc Carraway to express his excitement and to say, “Thank you so much for showing me this amazing opportunity.”

To find out their graduate mentors and particular projects, the selected students are invited to attend an Awarding Ceremony at the VCU Engineering School in Richmond on May 23, 2014.

Congratulations to all three students on pursuing this internship, and being selected to the program.

Semifinalists Named in Nationwide Competition

Four BRVGS students at William Monroe High School in Greene County have been named semifinalists in the Young Naturalist Awards, a nationwide contest sponsored by the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.  The Young Naturalist Project, an inquiry-based assignment, for which students pose a question about the natural world around them, design and conduct an experiment, and seek an answer to their question. This year’s recipients and their projects are:  Maria Wright: "The Ground Ate My Homework," Lindsay Knights: "The Grass is Always Greener in Central Virginia: Testing Grass Seed Types in Red Clay Soil," Grace Talley: "Which Grass is Best for My Yard," and Isaac McSherry:  “The Effect of Lights on the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug.” 

“...Out of thousands of applicants, we have semifinalists, which is very impressive from our little county.  This project requires a lot of independent initiative, critical thinking, and a desire to know," said BRVGS AP Biology teacher Kirsten Dexter.  

Museum communications assert that teachers who incorporate the awards program into their science curriculums “provide students with something beyond a science experiment by fostering in them a sense of stewardship for the natural world, and by giving them a taste of what it is like to answer questions using science. This use of science can help support students' interest in a broad array of STEM oriented careers including careers that help kids make the world a better place.”

The competition is sponsored to create a partnership between schools and institutions of science for the purpose of promoting learning and excitement in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Congratulations to Maria, Lindsay, Grace and Isaac on their hard work and recognition!