Alexandria resident Rebecca Siegal, 18, won the 2008 Sea Scout of the Year award and the Catherine A. Mullikin Sea Scout Volunteer of the Year Award. The latter is named for a Sea Scout who was killed by a drunk driver in 1998. Siegal has also been accepted for the Sea Scout Advanced Leadership (SEAL) Training in June. Siegal, a homeschooled high school senior, is also taking courses at Northern Virginia Community College. She plans to complete her associate's degree in 2010, then transfer as a junior to a university. Her goals include working in a field using her passion for geology, anthropology, archaeology and forensic science to help people understand the past better.
Rebecca Whitworth, an International Baccalaureate Middle Years program (IBMYP) certificate recipient and student at Mount Vernon High, wrote a novella for her IBMYP personal project, a requirement for students pursuing the certificate. Whitworth’s project was chosen to be included on a CD published by the International Baccalaureate titled "50 Excellent Personal Projects," which includes projects from students around the world.