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School Notes

To have an item listed, mail to the Gazette, 1604 King St., Alexandria, VA 22314; fax to 703-917-0991 or e-mail to gazette@connectionnewspapers.com. Deadline is Friday at noon for the following week’s paper. Photos and artwork encouraged. If you have any questions, call Marguerite Rogers at 703-917-6407.

<lst>Shanna Battaglia of Alexandria was named to the dean's list for the 2004 fall semester at Messiah College, located in Grantham, Pa. Battaglia is a sophomore majoring in computer science. To be listed, students must achieve a 3.6 grade point average or higher.

<lst>Jon Bannick, the son of Rick and Connie Bannick of Alexandria, has been inducted into the National German Honor Society (NGHS) at Randolph-Macon Academy in Front Royal. To be selected, a student must have earned at least a grade point average of 3.5 or better in German, and a grade point average of 3.0 overall. Bannick was honored in a recent ceremony during Family Weekend at the school. He was sworn into the NGHS by Steve Latham, German instructor and Foreign Languages Department Chairperson. Bannick has been named to the dean's list and the President’s List for his high grade point averages. He earned a platinum standard on the National German Exam in the 2003-04 school year.

Brian Charles Rabbitt, son of Dr. and Mrs. Edward C. Rabbitt of Alexandria, has been named to the dean's list for the fall 2004 semester for the School of Arts and Science of the Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. To be named to the list, students must receive grades equivalent to a 3.5 on a 4.0 scale.

The following students from Alexandria have been named to the dean's list at the College of William and Mary: Jessica Ball, Keith Bechtol, Roman-Wark Belachew, Christopher Brown, Lauren Bryant, Alexander Chapman, Katherine Cleverly, Daniel Cooper, Marshall Crook, Amanda Desper, Douglas Dunbar, Rebecca Fox, Carl Giller, Juliana Glassco, Chase Johnson, Alyson Kepple, Matthew Klein, Anthony Kupersmith, Elizabeth Magill, Jacob Metelits, Andrew Miller, Allison Moller, Virginia Pasley, Matthew Phelps, Austin Pryor, Thomas Richey, Hadyn Rickett, Rebecca Ruel, Alejandro Salinas, Laura Sauls, Meghan Shapiro, Melinda Snow, Christina Tkacik and Lindsay Young. To achieve dean's list status, a full-time degree seeking undergraduate student in the School of Arts and Science must take at least 12 credit hours and earn 3.6 Quality Point Average during the semester.

The College of William and Mary is the second oldest institution of higher education in the United States.

Matthew Sirignano and Jeannie Biniek, both high school graduates of Alexandria and students at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), has participated in the UCLA Dance Marathon, a 26-hour event to raise funds and awereness for pediatric AIDS. This is a campus tradition with over 3,000 students, faculty members, community members, AIDS patients and celebrities. The goal of the event is to raise $150,000 for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. The participants commit to raise at least $200 and to stay on their feet for the entire 26 hours. For more information, visit www.dancemarathon.ucla.edu and www.pedaids.org.

David Hobbs of Alexandria is one of 11 students from the Bluefield College in Bluefield that is currently participating in the school’s student-teaching curriculum. Each fall and spring, the college places seniors in local secondary schools for on-the-job training, to give students more work experience before they graduate.

Hobbs is the son of Linda J. Hobbs and graduate of Engelside Christian School. At Bluefield College, he is a member of Pi Gamma Mu, Pi Lambda Theta and Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities. He is student-teaching at Bluefield Intermediate School and Memorial Elementary School, both in West Virginia.

Kaitlin Kelly from Alexandria of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Suracuse University, will participate in the SU Drama Department production of “A... My Name is... Still... And Will Always Be Alice.” This is an adaptation of the “A... My Name is Alice” trilogy, that was written in 1984 and was awarded “Best Musical” by the Outer Critics’ Circle. It was a long-running off-Broadway success. The show runs Feb. 25-March 6.

Kelly is a sophomore majoring in musical theater.

Alexia Rostow of Alexandria has been named to the dean's list of Emory College, the undergraduate, liberal arts college of Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. for the fall 2004 semester. Rostow is daughter of Victor A. D. Rostow and Gail A. Vance. To be named to the dean's list, students must be in the top 20 percent of Emory College or have approximately a 3.815 grade point average or higher.

Angela Reichert of Lorton has been named to the dean's list of Luther College in Decorah, northeast Iowa, for the 2004-2005 academic year. Reichert is the daughter of Jack and Sandra Reichert of Lorton. She is majoring in history and is a 2001 graduate of Filer High School. To be named to the dean's list, students must earn a semester grade point average of 3.5 or better and must complete at least 12 credit hours with 10 hours of conventional grades. Students must also have no more than one credit hour of “incomplete” and may not have a grade of “F” or “no credit.” The list included 675 students.

Jessica Morales of Alexandria has been named to the dean's list of Providence College for the fall 2004 semester. Providence College is the only college is the United States administrated by the Dominican Friars. The catholic, liberal arts college has an undergraduate enrollment of approximately 3,700 students and offers degrees in 50 academic majors. For the last nine years, Providence College has been ranked as one of the top two universities in the North in U.S. News’ America’s Best Colleges.

Manisa Pipattanasomporn, of Alexandria, a post-doctoral fellow at Virginia Tech’s Alexandria Research Institute (ARI), has been awarded the 2005 Doctoral First Prize from the District of Columbia Council of Engineering and Architectural Societies (DCCEAS). She was recognized for "Model for the Least-Cost Telecommunication Infrastructure in a Remote Area," a paper related to her Ph.D. dissertation she wrote at ARI. She will receive a certificate and an $800 prize during an awards banquet later this month. Pippattanasomporn completed her Ph.D. from the Department of Electrical Engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech in December 2004. Her fields of interest are renewable energy systems, critical infrastructure and distributed generation.

Todd Cameron Knisley of Alexandria has received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Scholarship at West Virginia University. To qualify for the honor, students must achieve a perfect 4.0 grade point average for the Fall Term of 2004.

Janetta Saul, Jonathan Tadross and Lauren Hanchin, all of Hayfield Secondary School, won a “Silver Key Scholastic Art Award” from the Fairfax County Fine Arts office. Two hundred fifty thousands students nationally participated in the program and 50,000 earned regional awards. The student work was shown at the Northern Virginia Community College’s Ernst Cultural Community Center.

Several Hayfield Secondary School students were chosen to the All-State Chorus; they are Nick Peterson, Daniel Paris, Latham Gunn and Catherine Arthur. Kristine Garaffo and Michael Hollister were selected as alternates.

Debbie Gordon, Family & Consumer Sciences Teacher and Coordinator of Peer Mediation, Peer Helping, and the Teacher Cadet programs at Hayfield Secondary School, was recently selected for inclusion in the 9th edition of Who's Who Among America's Teachers 2004-2005. Gordon was nominated by a former student as an influential educator who makes a difference in the lives of children. She has been recognized and honored in several previous editions of this publication.

<lst>Mary Fawcett, an English teacher at St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes, received a 2005 Excellence in Teaching Award from The College of Wooster on Feb. 25. She was one of nine secondary school teachers honored by the college.

The winners were nominated by former students who are now members of the first-year class at Wooster. Students were asked to recommend a teacher who had made a significant contribution to their education and had challenged them to do their best work. A panel of Wooster faculty reviewed the nominations and made the selections. Fawcett was nominated by Christina Shiroma, a 2004 graduate of St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes.

Daniel Dickert, a graduate of West Potomac High School, and Christina Shiroma, a graduate of St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School, have been named to the dean's list for the fall semester at the College of Wooster in Ohio. Students must achieve a grade point average at least 3.5 to be named to the dean's list.

The following students from Episcopal High School were named to the high list for the fall 2004: Bennett Williams Brasfield, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Hunt Brasfield, Frances Grace Chesson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Harrell Chesson, Zachary James Kline Chesson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Harrell Chesson, Scout Elizabeth Douglas, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David A. Douglas, Robert Whittle Larkin, son of Mr. and Mrs. Paul James Larkin, Jr., Edmund Stephen Petrilli III, son of Dr. Edmund Stephen Petrilli and Ms. Betty Elmore Petrilli, and Stephen Robert Westerfield, son of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Westerfield. The Episcopal High School enrolls 410 students from 32 states, the District of Colombia and 12 international locations. To receive this honor, the students must receive an average of 90 or above in five or more academic courses for the term.

Four students from Woodley Hills Math and Science Focus School have received awards at the Cluster IV Reflections competition. Zipporah Norton earned an Award of Excellence for her musical abilities. Shannon Carlton earned an Award of Excellence for Visual Arts. Rashidat Omotosho and Faye Javaudin both earned Awards of Merit for Visual Arts.

Stephanie Restifo was an Elementary School Finalist in the North American Science Fiction Convention Science Fiction/Fantasy Story Contest. Restifo entered the contest last spring and competed with nearly 650 other students from the whole country. She is a student at Woodley Hills Math and Science Focus School.

Gail C. Taylor from Alexandria has been named to the Summer 2004 President’s List at the Bluefield College in Bluefield. Her major is Organizational Management and Development.

<lst>Jeremiah Feather, an 8th grade Civics teacher from Carl Sandburg Middle School, was selected to participate in the second annual Teachers Job Shadow Program, sponsored by Del. Kris Amundson. The goals of the program are to help teachers have a better understanding of how the legislative process works, to better understand the role of a member of the Virginia General Assembly, and to use that information to enrich their work with students.

<lst>Brandon Cate, a senior at West Potomac High School won the logo design competition for the All-Night Graduation Celebration also known as the WPHS Senior Cruise, an alcohol-and drug-free event for graduating seniors. Ben Premeaux, the WPHS Fine Arts Department Chair, supervised the effort. Students were asked to design a logo that would represent the theme - "Keepin' the Good Times Alive in 2005." Students Wook Jang, Nida Khan, Chris Dell and Daniel Hernandez also participated in the design competition. Cate's logo will be used to publicize the Senior Cruise and will appear on T-Shirts that all seniors will receive. The event will be held at Dave & Buster's in White Flint Mall on June 23 following graduation. For information, go to www.fcps.edu/WestPotomacHS and click on "Senior Cruise Information" on the scroll bar at the top of the page.

Laura Spurlock, Rachel Hass, Courtney Roberson, and Kimberly Healy, Hayfield Secondary School students, were selected as “Outstanding Interpretation” winners by the Fairfax County Parent Teacher Association’s “Reflections” program. The program offers students the opportunity to create works of art for fun and provides recognition in four areas: literature, musical composition, photography and the visual arts.

Jennifer Kaufman, a student at Lynchburg College, recieved two second place ribbons in an IHSA (International Horseshow Association) competition against University of Virginia and James Madison University.