Tag: Albemarle High School

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News

Bridging the gaps: New Burley principal has big plans

As a Black woman, Kasaundra Blount feels honored to be the new principal at Burley Middle School, a former all-Black high school. PC: John Robinson

Kasaundra Blount felt stagnant. She had worked at Armstrong High School in her hometown of Richmond—first as a social studies teacher, then an assistant principal—for several years, and was ready for a new challenge.

So she accepted an assistant principal position at Albemarle High School. “There was a lot of conversation going on around makerspaces and project-based learning, and that really piqued my interest,” she says, as well as “up-and-coming work in cultural responsiveness.” Soon she became the school’s equity and diversity administrator. And now, five years later, she’s landed her biggest gig yet: Burley Middle School’s principal.

Despite the uncertainty of the upcoming school year, Blount has big aspirations for Burley, with a strong focus on culturally responsive teaching, which puts students’ cultural backgrounds and experiences at the center of every aspect of learning. Burley, with around 50 percent non-white students, is among the most diverse schools in the county.

“I want to make sure we are keeping our data in front of us at all times,” says Blount, who is a member of the division’s anti-racism steering committee. “We can easily get assessment data from students based on [their] performance, but there’s so many other data points that I want us to begin collecting and using, in order to inform where our gaps are in achievement and relationships—that’s going to provide that level of connectivity to allow cultural responsiveness to bridge those gaps.”

Blount also wants to give students more opportunities to delve into their interests and passions by creating after-school (or Saturday) exploratory academies in partnership with community organizations.

“I want [the academies] set up by interest, so students can jump in and start exploring what’s down the road,” she says. “While some of them may already know that they want to be pediatricians or teachers, they may not know that their love for social studies could lead them to archaeology. …By the time they get to high school, they’ll already have a path that they’re interested in.”

Blount, a graduate of Hampton University, entered the education field 21 years ago and has worked as a teacher and administrator in multiple schools around Virginia and North Carolina.

“All three schools where I served as an assistant principal were very different,” says Blount, who also holds a master’s degree in teaching secondary education from Hampton, a certification in administration and supervision from Virginia Commonwealth University, and is currently pursuing a doctorate in educational management at Hampton. “That in itself really, really [helped] cultivate my leadership [skills], and prepare me for this position now.”

As a Black woman, Blount says she feels honored to be principal at Burley, which was an all-Black high school for city and county students from 1951 to 1967.

“The legacy and the history behind Burley Middle School has enthralled me for so long,” she says. “Because of the efforts of those students who attended Burley High School, and other schools that were set up like that similarly throughout the South… I have [the opportunity] to be able to sit at the helm of Burley right now. That is tremendously humbling.”

“It’s such a revered legacy that I want to make sure it continues to be deeply cemented throughout this community,” she says, pointing to Burley varsity club and alumni as important community networks. “I am supportive of everything they want to do to ensure that the legacy of Burley is one that will live on—way beyond my years.”

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Coronavirus News

High school seniors modify end-of-year traditions

With schools closed since March due to the ongoing pandemic, Charlottesville-area teens have had to finish their high school careers with makeshift versions of the events they had looked forward to for years. PC: Eze Amos

By Claudia Gohn

Senior year traditions—from proms and sports banquets to senior nights and graduation ceremonies—have long been a way to commemorate the end of high school, giving students the chance to celebrate and say goodbye to one chapter of life before beginning a new one. But with schools closed since March and social-distancing regulations still in place, Charlottesville-area teens have had to finish their high school careers with makeshift versions of the events they had looked forward to for years.

Although many seniors are disappointed, some have found these celebratory moments special. Covenant School senior Madi Alley remembers when she was in ninth grade, watching the seniors in a capella perform their traditional spring concert. Now she’s a member of the a capella group herself, but this year’s concert looked much different. It took place at a family friend’s barn, with only four people in the audience, and the singers stood six feet apart, wearing masks. Still, Alley is grateful to her teacher for organizing a concert at all. “It felt like we were being seen and still cared for,” she says.

At Saint Anne’s-Belfield, it’s a tradition for seniors to break the dress code one day in the spring and paint their school uniform skirts with the logos of the colleges they will attend in the fall. Senior Miguel Rivera Young, who’s going to Brown University, says he and some friends found a modified way to take part in the tradition (which isn’t limited to girls): They spread tarps across a street, and painted the skirts while physically distancing from each other. Then they took photos, standing six feet apart.

But there was no substitute for some once-in-a-lifetime events, like prom. For Monticello High senior Catherine Taylor, prom was one of the main things she was looking forward to, and she had begun making plans for the night. “We all already had our dresses because it was so close.”

Having these memorable events within arm’s reach, only to be snatched away, has devastated many seniors. “At first it was really, really heartbreaking,” says Albemarle High senior Cora Schiavone. “I was just
really upset because there was so much I was looking forward to.”

Swimmers Charlie Cross, a senior at AHS, and Noah Hargrove, from Western, are mourning the cancellation of their summer league, where they would have had senior night and a last chance to swim on the teams they grew up competing with. While Hargrove’s year-round swim team coach put together a virtual form of senior night, “it wasn’t even close” to the real thing, he says.

Like everything this spring, many long-anticipated events weren’t typical of senior year, but they were better than nothing. “I would rather have the big graduation with everybody,” says Ally Schoolcraft, a senior at CHS, which held a “victory lap” and photo op for graduates last week. “But for the time being, I think they did good with the resources that they had.”

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Coronavirus News

Making it work: Distance learning is a big challenge for special-needs students

Since distance learning began in March, Marybeth Clarke has discovered many new things about her 14-year-old daughter, Elle, who is in seventh grade at the Virginia Institute of Autism’s James C. Hormel School. PC: Zack Wajsgras

To the relief of local teachers, parents, and students, this school year is almost at an end. The sudden transition to distance learning back in March posed a challenge to schools across the country, but it’s been especially tricky for special education and English as a Second Language students, along with their teachers and families. These students require individualized, hands-on assistance and care, something that does not lend itself easily to at-home learning.

When schools first shut down, many parents of special ed students did not know the specific strategies and practices that their children’s teachers used in the classroom, says Jessica Doucette, director of education services at Virginia Institute of Autism’s James C. Hormel School. Learning how to work with their student has been even more difficult for parents with full-time jobs, and single-parent households. Distance learning also removed those children from their much-needed classroom routines, which help them to manage behaviors and emotions, says Becca Irvine, a special education teacher at Baker-Butler Elementary.

When ESL students were taken out of the classroom, they lost a crucial learning tool: peer interactions. “English learners, in particular, learn by listening to their peers,” says Albemarle High School ESL teacher Renata Germino. That’s an especially big loss for students whose parents have limited English skills. In Albemarle County alone, there are kids from 96 different countries, speaking more than 80 different languages, according to Germino.

One of the biggest distance-learning challenges for ESL students, teachers say, is one many families have faced: internet access. Schools have provided Wi-Fi hot spots and laptops, among other resources. But some students still do not have adequate internet access. From ACPS’ Check and Connect program, which requires teachers and counselors to contact every student at least once a week, “we know there are 685 students, about 4.7 percent [of the division], who do not have home access to the internet,” says spokesman Phil Giaramita.

To accommodate them, teachers have sent learning materials through the mail, as well as delivered items in person.

And special education and ESL teachers have found a variety of other ways to meet their students’ needs.

Teachers at the James C. Hormel School have provided one-on-one training to parents of students with autism, teaching them how to work on specific skills with their children the same way they would at school, says Doucette.

These trainings and resources have helped Marybeth Clarke learn more about her 14-year-old daughter, Elle, who is in seventh grade at the James C. Hormel School.

“Obviously, I know my daughter inside and out, but I didn’t know her academically. As we approach new subjects and content every week, I have to gauge almost right away [if] there’s a skill missing that she needs in order to understand something else,” says Clarke, who is a stay-at-home mom. “Sometimes I see her do things I had no idea that she could do, and other times…[struggle with] things I had no idea she couldn’t do. It’s definitely a learning curve for me.”

While it was “very rough” for Elle when her school first moved online, she and her mother (with teachers’ support) have been able to establish their own routine at home, which helps Elle complete her work and feel at ease. Every school day, Elle writes in her journal, does online assignments, and receives one-on-one occupational and speech therapy through video chat—all at set times, and with plenty of breaks.

To best help their students, ESL teachers have been translating assignments into the students’ native languages, says Germino. They’ve also provided students with online articles designed for ESL, allowing them to change the reading level and have words read out loud.

But the biggest priority for both special ed and ESL teachers has been maintaining strong relationships and consistent communication with kids and their families, they say.

Like many teachers, Molly Feazel-Orr conducts daily virtual one-on-one meetings with each of her special education students at Burnley-Moran, during which she sets behavioral expectations and gives them a structured schedule for the day.

Teachers have also been videoconferencing regularly with parents, working with them to develop plans for every student that align with their individualized education programs, as required by federal law.

To regularly check in with students and their families, ESL teachers (who don’t already speak their language) use tools like Interpretalk, which puts an interpreter directly on the line, and TalkingPoints, which translates text messages in 100-plus languages. They’ve also used Zoom, Google Meet, and similar platforms to have one-on-one lessons, as well as bring everyone together to practice their English.

It currently remains unclear when students will return to their classrooms. According to Giaramita, the Virginia Department of Education will release a report this month “on timing and various scenarios for the reopening of schools,” which will have a “highly significant influence” on the decisions each school division makes—whether classes will be face-to-face, online only, or a hybrid of the two.

But for now, “we all need to offer grace to ourselves across the board—families, students, administrators, everybody,” says Germino. “This is all brand new for us, and we’re all working really hard to do the best we can.”

Categories
Coronavirus News

In brief: Happy (socially distanced) graduation, Memorial Day, and more

Joslyn Grimes (center) poses for a picture with her family after graduating at Albemarle High School on Saturday, May 23, 2020. Students filtered into the parking lot in five-minute intervals to experience the modified ceremony due to social distancing guidelines. PC: Zack Wajsgras

Rad grads

Charlottesville’s 2020 high school graduates imagined they’d be walking across a grand stage right about now, with “Pomp and Circumstance” blaring as an auditorium applauded. That’s gone, of course, but the virus hasn’t stopped our schools from showing love for their seniors. Districts around town have held variations on the traditional graduation ceremony, providing graduates with a chance to do more than just fling their caps toward the family’s living room ceiling.

Although school was originally scheduled to run through June 5, county schools decided to end “remote learning” on May 22, and held graduation events this week. At Albemarle High, students could make an appointment to walk across a tented, outdoor stage and receive a diploma while families and photographers looked on.

In the city, where lessons are (at least theoretically) continuing for the next two weeks, Charlottesville High put on a “victory lap” event—students donned their caps and gowns and drove around the school with their families, while teachers and staff stood by the roadside hollering congratulations and holding signs. The lap concluded at the front of the school, where graduates walked across the “stage” and received their diplomas. On the originally scheduled graduation day, the school will stream a congratulatory video, featuring footage from the victory laps.

In the past, most of the area’s public high schools have held their ceremonies at the John Paul Jones Arena. This year’s celebrations are far less grand, but they show the creativity, resilience, and sense of humor required in this moment—and they’re certainly as memorable as a valedictory address.

______________________

Quote of the Week

“I’ll tell you what—I think it’s been a spectacular success.”

—Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer on Memorial Day weekend. According to the city’s police, there were no major social distancing
violations on the area’s jam-packed beaches.

______________________ 

In brief

Pay up

The neo-Nazis who helped organize Unite the Right have, unsurprisingly, behaved poorly throughout the ensuing court case against them. On Monday, three defendants in Sines v. Kessler were ordered to pay $41,300 as a penalty for violating orders to turn over evidence related to the case, reports Integrity First for America, the organization backing the suit. Earlier this year, defendant Elliot Kline was charged with contempt of court and faced jail time as a result. The case is ongoing.

In the hole

After furloughing more than 600 employees with little notice, UVA Health System executives provided staff with more information on the institution’s deficit of $85 million per month. In a virtual meeting between School of Medicine faculty and Executive Vice President for Health Affairs Dr. Craig Kent earlier this month, Kent explained that the health system had a budget margin for this past year “of essentially zero” and had low reserves compared to other institutions, reported The Daily Progress. Naming several other money troubles, Kent admitted the institution hasn’t “run very efficiently over the years,” and promised it would make major financial changes.

Goodbye generals?

Years of debate (and violence) over the city’s infamous Confederate statues could soon come to an end. Four days after Governor Ralph Northam signed bills allowing localities to remove or alter Confederate monuments last month, Charlottesville City Manager Tarron Richardson told City Council via email that he would like to hold 2-2-1 meetings to discuss the removal of the Lee and Jackson statues, reported The Daily Progress. Richardson asked for the meetings, which would not have to be open to the public, to be held after council approves the city’s fiscal 2021 budget, which is expected to happen next month.

Hydroxy hoax

In a Sunday interview with “Full Measure,” President Trump admitted he was no longer taking daily doses of hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug he claimed could prevent or treat coronavirus, despite mounting scientific evidence to the contrary. Just last week, he dismissed the findings of a study funded by the National Institutes of Health and UVA, which concluded that the drug had a higher overall mortality rate for coronavirus patients in Veterans Administration hospitals, calling it “a Trump enemy statement.” Trump has yet to apologize for those remarks, still claiming in the interview that “hydroxy” has had “tremendous, rave reviews.”

Respectful distance

With social-distancing regulations in place, traditional ceremonies were off limits this Memorial Day, but some locals still found ways to commemorate the holiday. An enormous American flag floated over the 250 Bypass, thanks to the fire department, and residents showed up at the Dogwood Vietnam Memorial to pay their respects throughout the day, including a trumpet player who joined in a nationally coordinated playing of “Taps.”

Frozen out

Laid off workers looking for a new position amidst the ongoing coronavirus pandemic won’t have an easy time of it, as several of the city’s major employers—including the City of Charlottesville, the University of Virginia, and Albemarle County Public Schools— have announced hiring freezes. Among the positions on hold in city government are the heads of the departments of Parks & Recreation and Public Works (both currently being run by interim directors), along with traffic supervisor, centralized safety coordinator, and others.

Categories
Opinion

Mr. T: A son’s tribute to his father, a teacher who struck the right note

Greg Thomas, right, directed Albemarle High's jazz band, as well as every other band at AHS. Gloria Londono

By Price Thomas

Ask around Charlottesville and everyone (I mean it, everyone) knows Greg Thomas some way, somehow. They’ve had him as a teacher, their mom had him as a teacher (he’s been at this a while), or they’ve seen him perform with Big Ray and the Kool Kats and various other groups over the years. He was their YMCA basketball coach, their wedding officiant, or they saw his audition tape for Ghostbusters as a stunt double for Egon in the mid ’80s.

Suffice to say, he’s made an impression.

I’ve heard stories of his early days at Walton Middle School, a young educator passionate about teaching and engaging with students through music, and equally enthusiastic about skipping staff meetings.

I’ve heard about the renaissance of the Albemarle High School band program. Sure, they played harder music and continue to be the gold standard around the state and nationally. But the notes on the page pale in comparison to one of the most remarkable cultural phenomenons to take place at a public school: Band became cool.

Greg Thomas, center top, who retired this year after more than three decades in Albemarle public schools, made band cool for thousands of students. Ash Daniel

Where else do you find a band room full of athletes, “cool kids,” anime enthusiasts, and drama kids? And no, they don’t all share a love for the Dorian mode.

They’re together because Mr. T, as he’s affectionately called, created a place where young people, at arguably the most uncertain and tumultuous time of their lives socially, feel like they belong regardless of race, gender, fashion preferences, or perceived social standing.

He gave them a vocabulary to safely explore what they are yet unable to fully vocalize. He ventured beyond his remit as an educator year after year to meet students where they were, invest in them, and make them feel valued, from the piano prodigy to the kid who just needed an elective.

I sat in Mr. T’s class every day of high school (except for the two I was suspended—shout-out to Mrs. Stokes) as a bassoonist in the wind ensemble. Third row, far right, right next to his successor, Andrew LaPrade.

I watched Mr. T demonstrate articulation techniques by throwing food at a chalkboard (an egg makes one distinct sound upon impact, a ham sandwich makes multiple), and celebrate every student’s birthday with a “gift”—anything from a dented soccer medal to a sausage link to a used oboe reed—from the birthday box.

But I also know him as dad.

And there’s something that his tens of thousands of students can’t attest to. It doesn’t show up in Golden Apple Awards or superior district band ratings.

It’s the relationship between a young man and his father.

I spent the early years of my life wanting to be exactly like my dad. As many of us with great fathers can attest, they’re our models, our mentors, and you want to do everything just like them. I looked up to him, and I still do. Because he’s significantly taller than me.

As you move into those brace-faced, hormonally-unpredictable, rebellious teenage years, you’re supposed to recede, forge your own path, and become, you know, “your own man.”

I was supposed to get tired of being known as “Greg Thomas’ son.”

But I never did. And it’s a mantle that, 31 years and counting, I carry with unbridled pride.

I do so because Greg Thomas is the man who taught me that you don’t fail—you win or you learn. He showed me how to be an exceptional father, husband, and teacher, without sacrificing a shred of happiness. He taught me the power of being humble and the strength of conviction. He taught me that mashed potatoes look suspiciously like vanilla ice cream when put into a waffle cone, and that your socks technically can’t be on the wrong feet.

Now that he’s retired after 34 years of teaching, countless people have thanked me for “sharing my father” with them. Kids who have never so much as picked up an instrument have told me that he’s been a mentor to them and that it must be “so cool” to be his kid.

Spoiler alert. It is.

That’s the legacy of Greg Thomas.

Categories
News

Arrest made in online threat against Charlottesville High School minorities

Charlottesville schools are closed for a second day while police investigate an anonymous online threat made for an ethnic cleansing at Charlottesville High School. Staff photo

By Samantha Baars and Lisa Provence

As thousands are celebrating literature at the Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville, a less-exalted missive from the nether regions of the internet, threatening ethnic cleansing at Charlottesville High, has closed all city schools for a second day Friday.

Around noon Friday, Charlottesville police announced they had arrested and charged a 17-year-old male with a Class 6 felony for threatening to commit serious bodily harm to people on school property, and harassment by computer, a misdemeanor.

At a following press conference, Charlottesville Police Chief RaShall Brackney told reporters and community members that the person they arrested identifies as Portuguese, was in Albemarle County at the time of the arrest, and is not a Charlottesville High School student. She said state laws prohibit police from publicly identifying the minor, unless he were to be tried as an adult.

Local, state, and federal partners located the suspect’s IP address with the help of internet providers, according to Brackney. She did not divulge whether he had any weapons.

Chief Brackney addresses media and community members.

“We want the community and the world to know that hate is not welcome in Charlottesville,” Brackney said at the press conference. “There are not very fine people on both sides of this issue.”

Charlottesville Superintendent Rosa Atkins also spoke, and said she found it “particularly troubling” that the person who made the threat is not enrolled in the city school system. School will resume as normal next week, and counselors will be available as usual.

“We will give [students] a warm welcome Monday morning,” Atkins said.

Mayor Nikuyah Walker said she hopes the way the threat was handled will lessen any fear of future threats, that Charlottesville is “leading the fight for justice globally,” and that “the world is aware that this will not be welcomed [here.]”

Thursday, Albemarle police arrested an Albemarle High teen for posting on social media a threat to shoot up the school. Police say that is unrelated to the Charlottesville High threat to kill black and Hispanic students.

Atkins says the decision to close city schools a second day and keep 4,300 students home is to make sure everyone in the community, including students and staff, feel safe returning to school.

The racial terrorism is a painful reminder to a community already traumatized from the August 2017 invasion of white supremacists.

UVA media studies professor Siva Vaidhyanathan tweeted, “Today, as Charlottesville teachers and students sit home for a second day trying not to let fear overtake them, I’m reminded of those who told me after August 12, 2017, that white supremacists were not a threat to this country. If you think that, be glad you have that luxury.”

Another reaction came from UVA law professor Benjamin Spencer, who tweeted, “America: This is life as a black family in America. My children cannot go to school for a second day in a row because some rando person has threatened to murder all the “n*ggers” and “w*tbacks” at C’ville High School. #Charlottesville #ThisIsAmerica”

City School Board Chair Jennifer McKeever says, “It’s unfortunate and frankly it’s really frustrating that we live in this world where people can make these threats and feel comfortable making these threats.”

CHS senior and activist Zyahna Bryant, president of the Black Student Union, posted a screenshot of the threat from the message board 4chan, and says racism in city schools isn’t new. There will be no reconciliation without structural change and the redistribution of resources for black and brown students, she adds.

“In the past, when students of color have brought forth racial concerns, there has been no real change,” says Bryant. “The is the time to act and show black and brown students that they matter with lasting changes and reform. Now is not the time to pass another empty resolution. It is time to back the words up with action.”

Courtney Maupin’s daughter is a freshman at CHS. “It’s scary to know there are people out there who don’t like you for the color of your skin,” she says. “I had to explain to my two younger children who didn’t understand why they weren’t in school yesterday.”

When she heard Thursday schools would be closed again, “I cried last night because it’s heartbreaking,” says Maupin.

Kristin Clarens, a local anti-racist activist and mom of three, is one of several community members who says she’s working to dismantle white supremacy at a local, national, and international level. In the immediacy of the school closings, they’re making sure food insecure students who rely on school lunch are still getting fed.

Two of her children go to Burnley Moran Elementary, the city’s largest elementary school, where kids from two public housing projects—Westhaven and one near Riverview Park—are bused in everyday. Clarens, who’s watching four extra kids today, says these students can be particularly vulnerable, and their parents can’t always find childcare or transportation when school is cancelled abruptly.

During yesterday’s closing, she and other parents hosted an open invitation lunch at Westhaven, and they’re planning to have another one today from 12-2pm. It will be paid for by the Burnley Moran PTO, which is accepting donations of money and nonperishable food that can be delivered to the Westhaven Recreation Center during the community lunch hours.

Like most parents, Clarens says she’s glad the city made safety a priority.

“I’m grateful for the efforts that people are making to keep our kids safe on every level, but I also think we should be more forceful in calling this act of white supremacy and terrorism out for what it is,” she says. “I’m heartbroken that we live in a climate where this is allowed to get to this level.”

McKeever, too, is heartened by the outpouring of community support in the face of a situation that is “not something you want to have to explain to our children.”

Updated Friday, March 22 at 11:53am with the Charlottesville Police Department announcement that they’d made an arrest.

Updated Friday, March 22 at 1:50pm with information from the press conference.

Categories
Arts

Area musicians get jazzed for Albemarle High School benefit

Accomplished jazz vocalist and Albemarle High School alum Veronica Swift takes the Jefferson stage on Sunday to help send the AHS Jazz Ensemble to the “Super Bowl” of student jazz competitions in Savannah. Photo: Martin Phillips

Vocalist Veronica Swift has performed at Jazz at Lincoln Center several times. She’s got a regular gig at New York’s legendary Birdland, and she tours with trumpeter Chris Botti. She’s also shared the stage with Michael Feinstein, Esperanza Spalding and Paquito D’Rivera. But the 23-year-old Albemarle County native says the place she’s most happy is the band room at Albemarle High School, working with her former director, Greg Thomas, and mentoring members of the school’s jazz ensemble.

So it’s no surprise that Swift, the daughter of local musicians Stephanie Nakasian and the late Hod O’Brien, didn’t hesitate when she was asked to sing at Swing Into Spring, a March 11 concert to raise money for the AHS jazz band’s trip to Swing Central Jazz, a three-day high school competition and workshop that’s part of the Savannah Music Festival.

Swing Into Spring
The Jefferson Theater
March 11

“When I look back, a lot of what I have—and some of the best times of my life—is because of high school band,” says Swift, who lives in New York when she’s not on tour. “And what Mr. Thomas does for music education, well, it doesn’t feel like education because of all the great stuff he does and the way he thinks outside the box. I want to help that in any way I can; I want to be there for the band in the same way that Mr. Thomas was there for me when I was in high school.”

In addition to Swift, the Jefferson Theater show’s lineup includes John D’earth, Robert Jospé, Jamal Millner, Devon Sproule, Charles Owens, Terri Allard, Madeline Holly-Sales, Berto Sales, John Kelly, Stephanie Nakasian, Michael Coleman, Chance Dickerson and Dan Barrale. Erin Lunsford will also lend her voice to the event, which will feature the AHS Jazz Ensemble backing up the musicians, who will perform jazz standards and pop and R&B hits.

“Adults let me sit in with them when I was a kid, and it revolutionized my music,” Lunsford says. “I still try to play with people who are better than me—not that I’m better than these kids; some of them are really amazing—but playing with people who are more experienced than I am is how I grow even now, and I’m happy to give the opportunity to these kids that I had growing up.”

Liam O’Hanlon, a saxophone player in the AHS band [of which this writer’s daughter is also a member], is grateful for the opportunity. “It’s a privilege to have the support of so many of the area’s best musicians,” he says. “It makes me appreciate how fortunate we are to have such a passionate and supportive music community.”

O’Hanlon and his fellow student musicians will use money raised from the show to help pay their way to what’s been called the “Super Bowl” of high school jazz competitions, where, as one of 12 bands selected from nationwide auditions, they will compete against groups such as the Jazz at Lincoln Center Youth Big Band and the San Francisco Jazz All-Stars for the Faircloth Award. They’ll also participate in sessions with jazz masters, including Jason Marsalis and Marcus Roberts, and perform at Savannah’s Jazz on the River.

“Every time I hear the AHS jazz band, I shake my head in wonder at the sound they are creating,” says Terri Allard, the benefit concert’s co-organizer. “Seriously, the band is that good. And add to that 15 professional guest musicians, and you have one incredible evening of music and camaraderie.”

To help fund the AHS Jazz Ensemble’s trip to the Savannah Music Festival, go to gofundme.com/SendAHSJazzToSavannah.

Categories
Living

What’s in my backpack

Like most of his classmates, Jack Keaveny carries his neon green and black UnderArmor backpack around all day—nobody really uses the few lockers left at Charlottesville High School. Staff photo

Take a look inside a backpack and you’ll get a glimpse inside its owner’s life: perhaps notebooks and pens show evidence of his favorite color, or what he likes to do in his free time. There are folders full of assignments that indicate her potential career path, a book she reads for fun and keys that show the car she drives. It’s a peek into that person’s world and what absorbs her at the moment.

We asked two local high schoolers to give us a look at the things they carry, and we talked to a local chiropractor about that age-old parental concern: My kid’s backpack is way too heavy.

Jack Keaveny

Jack Keaveny

Charlottesville High School freshman

Jack Keaveny gets to CHS by 8am every day; his mom (C-VILLE Arts editor Tami Keaveny) drives him to school. This semester, he’s taking Spanish, English, engineering, history of sports, geometry, biology and, his favorite, world history, where he’s enjoyed learning about ancient Rome. Like most of his classmates, Keaveny carries his neon green-and-black Under Armour backpack around all day—nobody really uses the few lockers left at CHS. And, he carries his phone in his pocket—they’re not allowed at school, he says, but everyone uses them anyway. When school ends at 3:50pm, Keaveny does some combination of homework, hanging out with friends or working out at the Y. His evenings usually include music, which is really important to him: He plays guitar and makes beats.

Backpack weight: 18 pounds

Backpack contents:

• School-issued Lenovo ThinkPad Chromebook

• Green homework folder

• Unused red spiral-bound notebook

• Unused blue spiral-bound notebook

• Black-and-white composition book for English class

• PSAT practice test

• Green binder for graded assignments

• Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage, current reading for English class

• Lunch box

• Green patterned pencil case

• Colored pencils, black pens, yellow highlighters

• Retainer case

• Axe spray deodorant

• Chromebook charger

• Tissues

• School-issued student ID card

• Green spiral keychain with house key and a pass for Brooks Family YMCA

• No. 2 pencils

• Broken pencils and pieces of a broken ruler

• Peanut butter cup wrapper

• Stack of blank index cards (he’s carried these around for about three years)

Rachel Wang

Rachel Wang

Albemarle High School senior

As Albemarle High School swim team captain, Rachel Wang’s day starts early. She wakes at 4:40am, drives herself to the pool for a 5:30-7:30am practice, then showers at the pool, eats breakfast and gets to school before it begins at 8:55am. After school, she eats dinner, does homework (usually between one and two hours a night, rarely more than three hours) and goes to bed early. She also teaches piano to younger kids three days a week. There are no lockers at AHS, so she carries her black-and-gray Patagonia backpack around all day. Wang, who’s thinking about becoming an engineer, takes a full course load, including government, physics, macroeconomics, literature, issues of the modern world, vector calculus and an engineering class. She’s currently waiting to hear back from colleges, though she’s already been accepted to UVA.

Backpack weight: 12.4 pounds

Backpack contents:

• MacBook Air (a hand-me-down from her mom, Wang says this is why her backpack is lighter than her friends’: It’s a fraction of the weight of the school-issued Lenovo Thinkpad)

• Black physics notebook

• Folders for literature, government and physics classes

• Barack Obama’s Dreams from My Father, which she’s reading for fun

• Gray fabric pencil case

• Pens, pencils, Sharpies, highlighters

• Texas Instruments graphing calculator (math class requirement)

• Car and house keys

• Planner notebook (“I’m a very on-paper person,” she says about her choice to have a planner notebook instead of relying on her phone calendar)

• Glasses

• Headphones

• Tide stick

• Hand sanitizer

• Wallet

• Senior lunch pass, which allows Wang to leave campus for the long lunch period each Wednesday

Pack defense

Though long-term injuries from backpacks do occur, they’re somewhat rare, says Dr. Sam Spillman of Balance Chiropractic. And while backpacks seem
to be getting lighter, due to the fact that more schoolwork is being done using tablets and laptops instead of heavy textbooks, it’s important to keep an eye on what’s being carried, why and how.

Spillman suggests a few rules of thumb to make sure it’s done safely:

• A kid’s backpack shouldn’t weigh more than 10 to 20 percent of his body weight.

• Make sure a backpack is the right size for its carrier: The pack should not be longer than the carrier’s torso.

• Pick a pack with wide straps, a chest strap and a waist belt to better distribute the weight.

• There’s also the rolling backpack…though it’s not the coolest look.

• Kids: Speak up! If your backpack feels too heavy, tell your parents. Parents: When your kids tell you their backpack feels too heavy, listen to them and see if a different backpack is in order.

In fact, safely lugging a little extra weight around isn’t the worst thing a young person can do, says Spillman. Kids and teens today are more sedentary than previous generations, and carrying a backpack from class to class can actually help strengthen their spines and back muscles.

Categories
Living

High school athletes share how they stay at the top of their games

Josie Mallory plays midfield for Monticello High School’s field hockey team, and last year was named to the first team Jefferson District and first team All-Conference 28/29. Photo by Eze Amos

High school student-athletes aren’t just working to be the best at their sports; they’re also juggling classes and college applications at the same time. That takes dedication, talent and lucky pre-game meals. We talked with some of the Charlottesville area’s best and brightest student-athletes to get a glimpse of how they do it all.

Josie Mallory

Junior at Monticello High School

Sports: Field hockey (midfield), basketball (point guard), lacrosse (forward) and track (400)

Josie Mallory manages not only to juggle different sports but also excel at them. Last year, she was named to the first team Jefferson District and first team All-Conference 28/29 during the field hockey season, as well as selected for the second team Jefferson District for lacrosse after hitting the 20-goal mark for the season, when Monticello went to its first state tournament. And she did it all while maintaining a 4.2 GPA. This year, she’s looking at a few big showcase tournaments (one in Orlando, one in Richmond) even as she visits college clinics and tackles the SAT.

Mallory’s favorite memory playing field hockey was during a shootout at the end of a match. She was up to score when she heard her sister, Lexi, shout from the sidelines: “Do your move!” With that, “I knew that I was going to make it,” says Mallory. “The goalkeeper was reaching to stop it when it slammed and hit the backboard. At that moment I looked at my sister and smiled so big.”

Pre-match meal: Pasta or sushi

Pre-match rituals: “I listen to music and think of my sister. I think about my sister because she calms me down when I am scared and gives me confidence to play for me and not anyone else.”

Piece of sports memorabilia: Field hockey Coach’s Award

Role model: “My older sister, Lexi.”

Favorite subject: Science

Biggest challenge overcome: “Deciding whether or not I should continue to play multiple sports or specialize. It’s so hard because I enjoy them all.”

Madison Warlick

Senior at Albemarle High School; committed to Randolph-Macon College

Sport: Volleyball (outside hitter/defensive specialist)

Madison Warlick was the MVP for her team in 2016, not only serving as the captain but also leading the team in kills (195), digs (274) and aces (53), as well as with a service percentage of 95.5. That led to quite a few conference invitations, the position of captain for 2017 and a verbal commitment to Randolph-Macon College volleyball for 2018.

Pre-match meal: Turkey avocado sandwich 

Pre-match rituals: “Lots of stretching and music to help me get pumped up.”

Piece of sports memorabilia: Shamrock Volleyball Tournament champion T-shirt

Role model: Cassie Strickland (University of Washington): outside hitter and defensive specialist

Favorite subject: Math

Biggest challenge overcome: “I tore my medial meniscus in April 2016 during my volleyball travel season. I had surgery in early May with six weeks on crutches and a projected five-month recovery. Right now I am doing really well in my recovery and the doctor is expected to clear me to play a month early.”

Emmy Wuensch

Senior at Albemarle High

Sport: Rowing

Emmy Wuensch, Albemarle captain, claimed second place in doubles rowing at the Scholastic Rowing Association of America national rowing competition last year. As she and her partner held up their medals for the celebratory pictures, she glanced over and saw her coach, Cathy Coffman. “I don’t think I had seen her so proud in my whole rowing career,” she says. “I thought, ‘This is why I do this sport.’”

In addition to that second place at nationals, Wuensch also took first place at the state-level competition. This year she looks forward to several more high-profile regattas as well as official college visits and, hopefully, a November signing.

Pre-match meal: Pasta and chicken

Pre-match rituals: “Before we race my coach gives us a pep talk. We have to walk the oars down to the dock, and there are always team members or coaches that help us shove off the docks and tell us to have a good race.”

Piece of sports memorabilia: “I wear a necklace with an oar on it that my mom got me for my birthday after I decided that I definitely love rowing too much to not continue with it after high school.”

Role model: “My role model in my sport is Coach Coffman; she inspires me every day to push harder than I thought possible.”

Favorite subject: “Psychology, medical terminology, anatomy, really anything related to health sciences.”

Favorite moment: “Having to yell at another boat when coming around a sharp turn on a 5K course because the other boat was trying to cut us off and take the inside turn, and I was not going to let that happen. So I yelled, ‘Please. Move. Over!’ as loud as I could, and then because we took the inside turn, we passed three boats and took first place in The Chase regatta on the Occoquan.”

Zack Russell

Senior at Charlottesville High School

Sport: Golf

Named the 2015 district player of the year and three-time winner of the Jefferson District championship, Zack Russell is looking forward to this year’s state championship as well as the Virginia State Golf Association and United States Golf Association qualifiers and tournaments next summer.

Pre-match meal: “Because golf tournaments usually start in the morning, I like to have eggs and cereal as a pre-game meal.”

Pre-match rituals: “I clean my clubs and mark all my golf balls with two dots separated by the logo on my ball.”

Piece of sports memorabilia: 2011 U.S. Open flag signed by the winner, Rory McIlroy

Role model: Jordan Spieth

Favorite subject: Math

Biggest challenge overcome: “Growing, and taking a whole year to grow into my swing.”

Categories
Arts

ARTS Pick: Mary Poppins

Albemarle High School Players presents Mary Poppins through April 30. Publicity photo

Take some kite flying, throw in a little bird feeding, add an uber-nanny, a chimney sweep and two precocious kids, and you’ve got the makings for a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious evening when the Albemarle High School Players present Mary Poppins. Based on the popular Disney movie, the musical, directed by Fay E. Cunningham, follows the story of “practically perfect” Mary, who floats in to sort out the complicated relationship between Jane and Michael Banks and their stressed-out parents.

Through April 30. $10-20 (with a $35 dinner theater on Saturday evening), times vary. Albemarle High School auditorium, 2775 Hydraulic Rd. ahsplayers.webs.com