If you want a small taste of the Britishness in store for the MLWGS students going on Mr. McGuire's AP Comparative Government trip to the UK this winter, we recommend calling UK Parliament for the hold message alone. "Have you thought about taking afternoon tea on the terrace overlooking the River Thames? You are currently #2 in the queue." Mr. McGuire's AP Comparative Government trip to Canada has become something of an institution at MLWGS. This
MLWGS welcomed three great new music teachers in the 2018-19 school year. One of those teachers is Michelle Graham, who is teaching chorus. Michelle requested a Foundation grant to cover the cost of a subscription to SightReadingFactory.com in order to enhance her instruction. "I can generate sight reading exercises at SightReadingFactory.com that are aligned with the VCDA ensemble assessment criteria as well as the Virginia All-State Choir audition!" Michelle says. "Sight Reading Factory took great
Inductions for the Thomas Jefferson History Honor Society took place on the afternoon of Wednesday, October 3rd. Matt McGuire, the society's sponsor, arranged for Dr. Johanna Neuman to address the group in the 3rd floor forum. Dr. Neuman recently published Gilded Suffragists: The New York Socialites Who Fought for Women's Right to Vote and is currently a scholar in residence at American University. Dr. Neuman spoke on the topic of historical social change through the lens of
One of the things that makes MLWGS a unique place to learn is the foreign language class offerings. As technology changes, language instruction changes as well. In 2016-17, the Foundation purchased 32 webcams to facilitate online exchange programs that pair native speakers of various languages with MWLGS students to cultivate conversational skills. This year, Chinese teacher Sharon Meng applied for an enhancement grant to purchase a subscription The Chairman's Bao, an online resource for Chinese language learners.
MLWGS welcomed three great new music teachers in the 2018-19 school year. Nicholas Merillat is teaching Jazz Band, while Michelle Graham takes on Chorus, and Christina Sienkiewicz, Orchestra. The Foundation purchased software requested for shared use to aid in their instruction. PhotoScore & NotateMe covert music handwritten on a surface or laptop into digital scores. It can also read, transpose, and extract parts from handwritten music or PDFs. The Foundation also purchased Sibelius, a software program used to create and edit musical scores. Sibelius
Diverse and unique course offerings are part of what make MLWGS such an exceptional place to learn. One great example of this is the photojournalism senior seminar offered by Georgianne Stinnett. Ms. Stinnett developed this course to instruct students in the technical aspects of capturing photojournalistic images, the history and ethics of the field, and to allow them to interact with contemporary photojournalists. Students both prepare a portfolio and present a topic of research. Past students have
The school year is only just now off to a start, but the MLWGS Foundation has been working all summer on enhancement grants and other funding for the 2018-19 school year. As of this first day of school, we've already spent $42,000 on the enhancement grants that form the bulk of our programming. That includes helping 20 faculty members pay for professional development over the summer, purchasing things like molecular structure models and music software to enrich classroom instruction, and providing
Not every MLWGS student has internet access in their home, which can make completing homework assignments, projects, and research outside of school hours logistically difficult. In recognition of this fact, MLWGS Chief Technology Officer David Bortz worked with the Foundation to purchase ten Kajeet wifi devices and service for them. The small, portable devices act as wireless hotspots and are specifically designed to be used in a K-12 setting. The Foundation is paying for another school year's worth
The Foundation supported many faculty members pursuing professional development opportunities over the summer. One of these was MLWGS librarian Wendy DeGroat, who not only attended but presented at two conferences. At the ODU Library Summer Institute, she gave a talk entitled "Teaching Students to Seek Contrasting Viewpoints." She has published on this subject as well, and you can read her article here. Wendy also spoke at the 15th Annual Longwood University Summer Literacy Institute, where
Dickson Benesh is back from his Taylor Teaching Award-funded trip to the UK! In the picture on the left, he is at Woolsthorpe Manor in Grantham, England, the birthplace and family home of Sir Isaac Newton. He is standing next to the famous apple tree from which Newton observed an apple falling, leading him to ponder the nature of gravity. Dickson's trip allowed him to follow in the footsteps of Sir Issac Newton from childhood through his