Tag: st. anne’s-belfield

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News

In brief: No pipeline, name game, and more

Activists in Buckingham have been fighting the pipeline since 2014. On Sunday, they won. PC: Friends of Buckingham

Pipeline defeated

The Atlantic Coast Pipeline is history. In a surprise announcement on Sunday afternoon, Dominion Power called off the 600-mile natural gas pipeline that would have run from West Virginia to North Carolina. “VICTORY!” declared the website of the Southern Environmental Law Center.

The news is a major win for a wide variety of environmental advocacy groups and grassroots activists, who have been fighting the pipeline on all fronts since the project was started in 2014. The pipeline would have required a 50-yard-wide clear-cut path through protected Appalachian forest, and also disrupted a historically black community in rural Buckingham County.

Dominion won a Supreme Court case earlier this month, but that wasn’t enough to outweigh the “increasing legal uncertainty that overhangs large-scale energy and industrial infrastructure development in the United States,” says the energy giant’s press release.

Litigation from the Southern Environmental Law Center dragged the pipeline’s construction to a halt. Gas was supposed to be flowing by 2019, but less than 6 percent of the pipe ever made it in the ground.

The ACP had the backing of the Trump administration, and U.S. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette blamed the “obstructionist environmental lobby” for the pipeline’s demise.

“I felt like it was the best day of my life,” says Ella Rose, a Friends of Buckingham member, in a celebratory email. “I feel that all the hard work that all of us have done was finally for good. I feel like I have my life back. I can now sleep better without the worries that threatened my life for so long.”

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Quote of the week

“It is past time. As the capital city of Virginia, we have needed to turn this page for decades. And today, we will.”

—Richmond mayor Levar Stoney on the city’s removal of its Stonewall Jackson and Matthew Fontaine Maury statues

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In brief

Loan-ly at the top

On Monday, the government released a list of companies that accepted loans through the federal Paycheck Protection Program, designed to keep workers employed during COVID’s economic slowdown. A variety of Charlottesville businesses accepted loans of $2-5 million, including Red Light Management, St. Anne’s-Belfield, and Tiger Fuel.

Renaming re-do

An advisory committee recommended last week that recently merged Murray High and Community Charter schools be renamed Rose Hill Community School, but this suggestion immediately raised eyebrows: Rose Hill was the name of a plantation that later became a neighborhood. The committee will reconvene to discuss options for a new moniker.     

City hangs back

Charlottesville is one of a handful of localities that have pushed back against Governor Ralph Northam’s order to move to Phase 3 of reopening. While some of the state has moved forward,  City Manager Tarron Richardson has decided to keep the city government’s facilities operating in accordance with Phase 2 requirements and restrictions. As stated on its website, this decision was made in order to “ensure the health and safety of staff and the public.”

Soldier shut in

Since at least the beginning of July, the gates of UVA’s Confederate cemetery, where a statue of a Confederate soldier stands, have been barricaded, reports the Cavalier Daily. A university spokesman says the school locked the cemetery because protesters elsewhere in the state have been injured by falling statues. Or maybe, as UVA professor Jalane Schmidt suggested on Twitter, “they’re tryna keep the dead from escaping.” 

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News

In brief: Black at STAB, a win for Webb, and more

Black alumni and students at the St. Anne's-Belfield School have anonymously shared their experiences online, including microaggressions from teachers and uses of racial slurs by other students. PC: Skyclad Aerial

Private protests

For decades, students in collared shirts and plaid skirts have strolled across St. Anne’s-Belfield’s well-manicured lawns. But even this historic bastion of prep has felt the effects of our transformative moment, at least in a small way.

After the murder of George Floyd, a group of STAB alumni, led by Sophia Hunt, created a petition with a list of demands for the administration, including publicly condemning racial violence, acknowledging the presence of racism in the community, hiring a full-time global diversity and inclusion officer, and diversifying the faculty, board of trustees, and student body.

Meanwhile, students have begun calling for change on the Instagram page @blackatstab. On the account, Black alumni and students have anonymously shared their experiences, including microaggressions from teachers and uses of racial slurs by other students.

When asked for a statement, STAB did not address the Instagram page, instead directing C-VILLE to an email in which the school says it’s “launching a series of dialogues within our entire community.”

STAB declined to release a detailed breakdown of its student body’s demographics, only sharing the statistic from its website that 32 percent of students are “of traditionally under-represented groups.” Elsewhere in town, The Covenant School’s student body is 87 percent white, and Tandem Friends School is 78 percent white. The city public school district is 42 percent white.

(The phenomenon isn’t unique to Charlottesville: Nationally, 69 percent of private school students are white, though just 51 percent of the country’s school-aged population is white, according to research from the University of California Los Angeles.)

Piper Holden, one of the STAB alums who started the petition, says she felt like the message was received. “But obviously this isn’t over,” she says. “I’m really hoping to see those changes. But we’re going to have to wait and see.” — Claudia Gohn

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Quote of the week

“November Cook Political rating: Lean R. But if
you’re looking for an upset, this is one to watch.”

—Election forecaster Dave Wasserman, on the race for Virginia’s 5th Congressional District

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In brief

Fireworks frenzy

People have been launching fireworks around town for weeks—and it’s not just happening in Charlottesville. In New York City, the fireworks have been so prevalent that conspiracy theories have started circulating about their origins. If you haven’t had your fill of fireworks, the city’s annual Fourth of July show hasn’t been canceled. But instead of gathering in McIntire Park, you’re advised to stay socially distant and look toward Carter Mountain, where the show will go on, beginning at 9:15pm on Saturday.

Dr. Cameron Webb PC: Supplied photo

Webb wins big

In case you haven’t heard, UVA doctor B. Cameron Webb picked up a landslide victory in last Tuesday’s primary for the Democratic nomination to represent the 5th District in the House of Representatives. If Webb beats Bob Good in November, he’ll be the first Black physician to serve in Congress. 

Absentee action

With the pandemic keeping people away from the polls, 49 percent of primary voters in Charlottesville cast absentee ballots last week. (In the March presidential primary, just 7 percent of local votes were absentee.) This election could be a valuable test run for a November contest that might see large numbers of absentee votes—in this election cycle, Virginians requested 118,174 absentee ballots and submitted 87,052 a return rated of 74 percent.

Johnny Reb on the run

Legislation allowing localities to remove or recontextualize Confederate monuments goes into effect today, July 1, and Albemarle County is wasting no time—the Board of Supervisors will discuss the removal of the Johnny Reb statue outside the county courthouse at its meeting this evening. The statue could legally come down as early as September. More hurdles still remain before Charlottesville can begin the same process.

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News

Vape escape: Raising the vaping age hasn’t deterred teens

One Charlottesville High School senior estimates about 25 percent of his classmates vape. Photo: Myles Clark

Bathrooms. Locker rooms. Cars. Check any of these places on a typical school day, and you’re likely to find students taking part in the latest teen trend: vaping.

“It’s pretty common around my crowd,” says one Charlottesville High School senior, who estimates about 25 percent of his classmates vape. “Kids will duck out of class every once in a while [to go vape.]”

Teen vaping, declared an “epidemic” by the U.S. surgeon general last December, has been a growing source of concern for parents and public health officials for a couple years, leading Virginia to join several other states and more than 400 municipalities in raising the age to buy tobacco and vape products to 21. A mysterious new vaping-related illness has only increased the alarm. But has the new law had any effect?

At St. Anne’s-Belfield, the law has made it “a little more difficult” for students to vape, says one senior. “But it’s not like students are going to stop or have stopped because of that.”

“Everyone knows who the people are that you get all the vaping supplies from, who’s going to buy [them],” he says. “It’s just generally kind of accepted.”

Since the law went into effect in July, students have used fake IDs and their “connections with retail locations” to purchase vaping products, says the CHS senior.

According to a 2018 Monitoring the Future survey, more than 37 percent of high school seniors, 33 percent of sophomores, and 18 percent of eighth graders reported vaping within the past year—a dramatic increase from 2017. Experts say many teens vape because they’re not aware of its dangers.

Sally Goodquist, Virginia Department of Health’s Tobacco Control Coordinator for the Northwest Region, finds that many teens believe e-cigarettes just contain water vapor.

“Young people are only educated on cigarettes,” says Goodquist. “They see vaping … as a safe alternative to smoking.”

Even after learning about the dangers of nicotine, some St. Anne’s students simply switched over to using vapes containing THC, a chemical commonly found in marijuana, believing that it was healthier than nicotine, says the St. Anne’s senior.

And at CHS, says the senior at the school, most students think there is little chance vaping will harm them.

Virginia’s new law “typically carries a punishment by a civil penalty or fine,” for those who are caught vaping under age, according to a statement from the Charlottesville Police Department. But it hasn’t led to more teen vapers being charged.

“We have not requested enhanced enforcement, and I’m not aware that we have seen any increase in the number of charges [since July],” says Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Platania.

But the recent outbreak of vaping-related illness—and a ban on flavored e-cigarettes and nicotine pods that’s been proposed in response—could be a bigger deterrent for teens.

Since August 24, 535 cases of vaping-related lung illness have been identified across the country, and seven people have died.

In the Virginia Department of Health’s northwest region, which encompasses Charlottesville, there have been three confirmed cases and one probable case.

Many have blamed “kid-friendly” flavors of nicotine products for the growth of teen vaping, and in response to the latest health scare, the Trump administration announced September 11 that it would ban the sale of most flavored e-cigarettes and nicotine pods, excluding tobacco flavors.

“Nobody wants to use a tobacco Juul. Getting rid of those [flavors] will take away the appeal because now it’s just as gross as smoking a cigarette,” says the senior at St. Anne’s, who stopped vaping after he learned about the vaping-related illness.

It is also possible the ban could backfire.

“People don’t really care what [the vape] tastes like,” says the senior at CHS.

If there is a ban on most flavors, some teens may turn to the online black market, use tobacco-flavored vapes, or even switch to smoking regular cigarettes.

“I know people that have already switched to [cigarettes] because of the stories about vaping,” added the CHS senior.

It’s unclear when—or if—a nationwide ban on flavored e-cigarettes will be enforced. For now, the CDC has advised people to avoid using e-cigarettes and never buy them on the street. It has also warned against modifying e-cigarettes or adding any substances to them that aren’t intended by the manufacturer.

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Living

Teens who do it all share their secrets to success

Evelyn Brown, a senior at Tandem Friends School, juggles schoolwork and AP classes with a ton of extracurriculars including the school’s rock band, varsity cross county (fall), basketball (winter) and soccer (spring) and musical theater. Photos by Eze Amos

In today’s busy world, teenagers are cramming in as much as possible. Meet two teens who are seamlessly navigating packed schedules of school, sports, family, friends and volunteer commitments, and learn why they wouldn’t have it any other way.

Evelyn Brown

Senior at Tandem Friends School

Classes: AP literature, AP government and politics, AP environmental science, discrete mathematics and applications, African-American studies

Senior thesis: Recording her own EP

Extracurriculars: The school’s rock band; varsity cross county (fall), basketball (winter) and soccer (spring); Conservation Lobby Day participant; musical theater (Meg in current production of Little Women)

Dream job: Working for the United Nations’ World Health Organization

Typical daily schedule

7am: Wake up; hit snooze button once

8:30am-3:40pm: Attend morning meeting, classes and community time period

4-5pm: Play rehearsal or basketball
study hall

5:15-6:30pm: Basketball practice

6:45-8pm: Dinner, shower and time
with family

8-10 or 11pm: Finish homework

11:30pm: Go to sleep

Whether she’s doing homework on the bus on the way back from a basketball game or running through her lines before a play rehearsal, Evelyn Brown says the most important part about being involved in so many things is focusing on what she’s passionate about.

“I really appreciate all the extracurriculars that I do because it gives me the opportunity to be on a team or be in a cast and work with different people than I would see every day in my classes,” she says.

And organization is key to making her life easier: She logs into Tandem’s student portal to keep track of all of her homework assignments and due dates, and she is constantly updating her online to-do list app. And just to make sure nothing is missed, she also writes everything down in her planner. Brown estimates how long each task will take to ensure she’s not rushing to get something done and creating more stress.

The hardest part about her hectic schedule is finding time to relax and reboot (she has to miss trips to the mall with friends after school to attend sports or theater practices). But one of her outlets—music—is also a main focus for her this year: She is recording her own EP, Edges, for her senior thesis project. Songwriting is cathartic for Brown, who sings and taught herself to play guitar, and she wrote most of the songs on the seven-track album (there might be one cover, she says). The songs are centered on the theme of Brown’s transition from a high school student who is dependent on her parents to being independent and finding herself.

After participating in Model UN at Johns Hopkins University two years ago, Brown discovered her passion for public health, which she wants to study in college. She’s applied to 10 colleges and is waiting to hear back from six. So far she’s been accepted to VCU, Florida State, Allegheny College and her top pick at the moment: University of Maryland.

And one of Brown’s favorite activities this year revolved around another of her passions: the health of the Chesapeake Bay (Brown is an avid sailor). She attended Conservation Lobby Day at the end of January in Richmond, and spoke to Delegate David Toscano and State Senator Creigh Deeds about offshore drilling in the state and preserving the Eastern oyster.

“I didn’t understand I could make any kind of impact on environmental issues, so having this opportunity and learning that I really can just talk to my representatives, that was really transformational for my ideas about how I can make a difference,” Brown says.

Jackie Hartwig

Senior at St. Anne’s-Belfield School

Classes: AP biology, BC calculus, honors Spanish 5, honors English 12, 21st-century citizenship

Senior capstone thesis: Studying refugee education in Charlottesville

Extracurriculars: President of the Honor Council, varsity field hockey captain (fall) and varsity lacrosse captain (spring)

Dream job: Something that helps improve the education system through public policy

Typical daily schedule

6:15am: Wake up; walk Banxi, her bluetick coonhound

7:15am: Arrive at school for Honor Council meeting (one day a week)

8:45am-3:15pm: Attend class

3:45pm-6pm: Attend sports practice/games

6:15pm-11pm: Eat dinner, shower and then start on homework

11:45pm: Go to sleep

Jackie Hartwig embodies the term leading by example. Which is why the career STAB student (she started school there in pre-kindergarten) made sure she chose a topic for her year-long independent study capstone that would require her to get out into the Charlottesville community.

Hartwig completed the majority of her reading and gathering of empirical data for her thesis project over the summer so that during the school year she could focus on conducting interviews (during free periods, no-school days and weekends) with members of Charlottesville’s refugee community (some STAB students and students at other high schools), as well as English as a second language teachers. Hartwig’s focus is on the gap between local policies and classroom curriculum and practices, and how effectively refugee students are supported and empowered. Hart-
wig chose her capstone topic based on her future goal of landing a job that looks at how the education system can be improved through public policy.

Organization is definitely key to Hartwig’s success, and she admits that she’s not a “huge” technology person. Instead, she relies on a written planner, plasters her window in sticky notes and keeps track of everything in color-coded binders.

Hartwig also understands the importance of a support system: She’s known most of her classmates and teammates since preschool, and says her teachers are like “second parents” who enable her to be involved so much. And Hartwig loves being in the leader role as well: Being a team captain means making sure there’s camaraderie both on and off the field, she says. She meets once a week with her lacrosse coach to talk about “behind the scenes stuff,” such as which service projects the team wants to complete.

And her involvement in Honor Council since freshman year has inspired her to be involved in her college’s honor council as well. She’s applied to six schools and is waiting to hear back from four; she has been accepted to Rhodes College and UVA.

The busy Hartwig says “getting to do everything I love is a great blessing,” but her advice to other teens is to not try to do it all.

“I just honed in on what I did feel like was fulfilling in my day-to-day life and I really pursued it,” she says. “You really have to follow through and not give up when you hit roadblocks.”

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UPDATED: STAB students praised for presenting to City Council

The petition already has over 400 signatures and Christopher Woodfolk hopes to reach 500 by the end of the night.

Three St. Anne’s-Belfield seniors hoped to draw attention to the current positioning of a nearly hidden plaque that commemorates the predominantly African-American neighborhood of Vinegar Hill that was razed by urban renewal in the ’60s. The students presented a petition to City Council February 1.

Christopher Woodfolk, 17, says he and his classmates created the petition as part of a final project for their issues of race and gender course. During the course, he learned the history of Vinegar Hill and took a trip downtown to see the neighborhood’s marker.

Describing the plaque as barely visible, low to the ground and hidden behind a trashcan and a planter, he says, “For such a vibrant African-American community, we thought that was a poor way of commemorating it.”

The team, demanding the city to take action in their presentation, wants the trashcan removed, as well as a replacement of the plaque with a bigger, more visual “interpretive sign depicting the history of Vinegar Hill.”

“If young people take anything away, it’s that they can create change,” Woodfolk says. “You’re really never too young.”

With over 400 signatures, Woodfolk said he hoped the petition would garner their goal of 500 by the end of the night. It did.

But that wasn’t the only good news for the students. After they presented and the audience erupted in a round of applause and a standing ovation, City Manager Maurice Jones said the city is already planning to replace the sign, adding that the historic resources committee, in conjunction with the Office of Human Rights, has been working on the project for several months.

“How’s that for action?” Jones said.

Updated February 2 at 10:30am following the City Council meeting.