Principal`s Letter President`s Letter

Transcription

TECHCETERA
MARCH 2016
Principal’s Letter
President’s Letter
Dear parents/guardians, teachers, and students,
The year seems to be going by so quickly! Soon the
Freshman, Sophomore & Junior Students will be
finalizing their class selections for next year. We hope
that you have had the chance to attend or view the
Webinars that TJ’s teachers have provided on the
core curriculum areas of Science & Technology, Math
& Computer Science, and Humanities, World
Language, Fine Arts, Art, PE, Health & Driver’s
Education. If you have not been able to view this
information, you can access the video of the
presentation, which has been saved online, by
clicking the topic above. We would like to thank
Mark Hannum, Marianne Razzino, Denise Castaldo,
Tinell Priddy, Pam Gravitte, Peggy Gendive, and
Shawn Frank for all their work on the presentations,
and especially Miruna Tecuci for her technical
support.
I think the snow is finally behind us! I’m glad to see
five-day school weeks return so we can maximize
learning opportunities for our students. I know our
teachers’ work has been disrupted considerably
during February, and I wish to thank them for
reorganizing lessons and assignments in their efforts
to keep students on track. Thanks also goes out to
our students for putting in the necessary work to
study, help each other through peer tutoring, and
seek help from your teachers during 8th period.
In February, we began the academic advising process
with students, starting with a “curriculum fair” to
learn about different courses at TJ. Parents had an
opportunity to learn from division managers, our
teacher leaders, through a series of webinars. The
recordings are available through the PTSA website
for reference. At the March 8 PTSA meeting, I will
address remaining questions that could not be
answered during the webinars. Once students
learned about the different course options, they set
continued on page 2
HOT LINKS TO THE
INFORMATION FOR WHICH
Y O U A R E L O O K I N G ….
Noteworthy Dates
Academic News
PTSA Committee Updates
Serving the TJ Community
Campaign for TJ
Class News
TJ Boosters
Useful Links
Marketplace
If you still have questions about a topic after
reviewing the Webinars, or questions that may not fit
in a curriculum category, please feel free to submit
them here. These questions and others will be
addressed by Dr. Glazer at the next PTSA meeting on
Tuesday, March 8, in the TJ Cafeteria, at 7:00pm
(refreshments available at 6:30pm).
The Teacher and Staff Appreciation Lunch on
February 10, which had an international theme, was
well attended and everyone expressed their thanks
for all the support the TJ community provides to
them. Jayashree Vattikonda did an excellent job
organizing the meal, with help from the PTSA
Executive Committee, as well as Jane Hsu and Ann
Carr, who went the extra mile to make the luncheon
a success. We were fortunate to have so many
volunteers helping to serve and provide food for the
event, I cannot list them all here – but please do
know that all your efforts were very much
appreciated! We look forward to seeing everyone
again at the final Teacher & Staff Appreciation Lunch
Click H ere to Return to H ot Links on Page 1
Principal’s Letter continued from page 1
up meetings with their counselors to discuss possible
schedules that would be meaningful and
manageable based on their priorities. Following
spring break, parents will be asked to verify the
schedule requests electronically. Schedule requests
are locked after spring break until we can finalize a
master schedule. TJ has a complex schedule due to
the large number of unique singleton electives and
team teaching arrangements. Once we sort through
conflicts, then students are contacted during the
summer if they are missing some requirements or
need to pick up one more class as a result of two
desired classes being offered at the same time.
This past month has been a great transition for our
renovation. We have opened up a variety of spaces,
including the front dome, main office, art gallery,
library, world language classrooms, health
classrooms, principal’s conference room, the College
and Career Center, Internet cafes, and commons
areas equipped with furniture and technology. The
school is really coming together with much
excitement, and parents can visit these spaces by
RSVPing to the March 10 open house starting at
5:00pm. I would like to thank my colleagues Mr.
Shawn Frank for his efforts working with the
construction team to ensure a smooth transition and
Dr. Tinell Priddy for ensuring the furniture has been
set up for these spaces. Later this spring, we look
forward to the completion of our courtyards and one
more wing in the building for humanities, science,
and technology classrooms, as well as a new lecture
hall. Closed for construction for the remainder of the
school year are the auditorium and music wing
(which is now temporarily housed in the cafeteria,
wrestling room, and blackbox theater).
It’s hard to believe “spring is around the corner.” I
look forward to seeing you at our upcoming events,
and thank you for your continued support. Please
send ideas and feedback to me by email, principal at
tjhsst.edu, or speak with me during many events at
school. Thank you for making TJ a great place for
learning and growing.
Sincerely,
Evan Glazer
Principal, TJHSST
March 2016
President’s Letter continued from page 1
of the year, scheduled for April 27.
There are more PTSA events to come, including the
All Night Graduation Party for the Class of 2016! A
fabulous team has been steadily working on ANGP,
including Marilena Barletta, Jane Hsu, Enit Lulushi,
Karen Hirsch, Laura Noble, Susan Fearnow, Chuck
Gumas, Subhra Roy, Wendy Diao, and Srinivas Vippa,
but this party is a big one – and they could really use
your help, including parents from all grades,
including because of TJ’s fine tradition that other
parents set up the party so that senior parents can
attend graduation. If you haven’t signed up to do
your share today, please contact tj2016angp at
gmail.com to find out how you can help our Seniors
celebrate in a safe and fun way on June 18.
Other events coming up for which the PTSA will
need your support include AP Exam Support (May 26 and May 9-13) and TJStar (June 2). Both of these
events require many volunteers because they
involve so many students and, in the case of TJStar,
many visitors to TJ. If you are available to help on
any of these days, please let us know by sending
your information to rajanikm at hotmail.com.
Finally, it seems no PTSA letter would be complete
this year without a plea for you to get involved in
supporting the FCPS budget. This issue is of extreme
importance to TJ (and all FCPS schools). More
information about the work that the PTSA Legislative
Affairs Committee, particularly Mike Clancy, can be
found on page four. We need your help too! Let the
State, County, and School Board officials know that
supporting strong schools is (and needs to remain) a
continued on page 3
PTSA Meetings
Mark Your Calendar!
(in the cafeteria)
March 8, 6:30 – 8:00pm*
April 8, 9:00 – 11:00am (Principal’s Coffee)
May 10, 7:00 – 8:30pm**
June 14, 7:00 – 8:30pm**
*Refreshments served at 6:30 pm and meeting begins at 7:00 pm
**Refreshments served at 7:00 pm and meeting begins at 7:30 pm
Page 2
President’s Letter continued from page 1
Useful Links
TJHSST Home Page:
http://www.tjhsst.edu
TJ PTSA website:
www.tjhsst.edu/supportingtj/ptsa
TJ Booster Organizations:
Academic Boosters:
http://academics.tjhsst.edu/aboosters/
Athletic Boosters:
www.colonialathletics.org
Band Boosters:
www.tjbands.org
Choral Boosters:
https://www.tjhsst.edu/research-academics/finearts/choir/choir-boosters.html
Crew Boosters:
www.tjcrew.org/
Orchestra Boosters:
http://tjorchestra.org
Theatre Boosters:
https://www.tjhsst.edu/research-academics/finearts/drama/drama-boosters.html
TJ Partnership Fund:
http://www.tjpartnershipfund.org
TJ Alumni Association:
http://www.tjhsstalumni.org
Other:
FCPS Blackboard:
http://fcps.blackboard.com
FCPS Keep in Touch (KIT):
http://www.fcps.edu/kit
FCPS School Board:
www.fcps.edu/schlbd
Fairfax County Supervisors:
www.fairfaxcounty.gov/government/board
March 2016
priority. For contact information to call, tweet, write
your officials, click here. Please also watch This
Week at TJ for information about meetings and
rallies you can attend to show your support for
funding TJ and FCPS.
We hope to see you soon. Don’t forget to sign up
here for the long-awaited tour of the Dome on
March 10. Or perhaps we will see you at a Spring
sporting event? Whether you are a fan of baseball,
crew, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis or track &
field, there will be a game or match at TJ soon.
Come out and cheer our students on.
Meanwhile, if the PTSA can help you with anything,
please contact us here ptsa at tjhsst.edu.
Silvija Strikis
TJ PTSA President 2015-16
$$ TJ Free Money Program $$
Don’t forget to shop at stores that reward TJPTSA
such as Amazon. When you shop at Amazon.com
using this special link TJPTSA earns 4-15% of most
purchases! The more books, songs, magazines,
clothes, electronics, groceries, and more bought in a
month, the higher the percentage TJPTSA earn. To
make this really easy, set up a bookmark so you can
access the link quickly! So don’t miss this opportunity
to show your support for TJ and earn rewards for
TJPTSA.
Other participating stores include Target, Office
Depot, Verizon, Giant, peapod, Harris Teeter,
Safeway. For details, please visit our TJPTSA website
or use this link. Thank you for your support!
Your Free Money coordinator,
Adriane Assang
adriane_assang at yahoo.com
Page 3
TJ GOES TO RICHMOND
STUDENTS MEET WITH STATE LEGISLATORS
On February 8, a dozen students (Wills, Nora, Kaila,
Jason, Neil, Spencer, Giancarlo, Tarun, Ava, Arthur,
Andrew, and Matthew) and Dr. Glazer traveled to
Richmond to meet with state senators and
delegates. Joining them on the trip were Silvija
Strikis, PTSA President, and Jennifer Hatcher and
Mike Clancy, co-chairs of the PTSA Government
Relations Committee.
Students met with Senators Saslaw and Vogel, and
Delegates Garrett, LeMunyon, Greason, Bulova,
Minchew, O’Bannon, Murphy and Farrell, and the
legislative assistants of several other senators and
delegates.
The goal of the trip was to highlight the unique
educational opportunities provided to students
through the Governor’s Schools, and, in particular,
through TJ’s comprehensive, advanced program in
science, math and technology and TJ’s research labs.
The students had the opportunity to talk with these
elected officials and their staffs about their
tremendous experiences at TJ, academic interests,
research projects, and college plans. The students
presented each legislator a copy of the Teknos
magazine and the TJ ornament as a gift.
March 2016
These meetings were also an opportunity to
emphasize the importance of the state funding for
the Governor’s schools and to urge the legislators to
support the increased funding for Governor’s
schools included in the Governor’s proposed
budget; and especially to thank Senators Saslaw and
Vogel and Delegate Greason for their dedicated
support for increasing the state funding for TJ
through their budget amendments to eliminate
and/or raise the cap on the state’s per pupil funding
formula for Governor’s schools. (This cap limits
funding to 1725 students, which means TJ is not
being funded for its total student population.)
Hopefully, this year’s budget will provide increased
funding for Governor’s schools overall and the
elimination of the funding cap that limits the
funding for TJ.
The trip culminated with a visit to the Virginia State
Capitol Building for a photo op with Thomas
Jefferson, “Architect of Liberty,” and to see the
Senate in session in the Senate Chamber, where the
TJ group was introduced and welcomed to the
Senate by Senator Saslaw.
Page 4
Academic News
Library News
Exciting news: the new TJ Library is now open!
We’ve got 15,000 books on the shelves, comfortable
seating areas, a quiet study zone, and a new online
room for students.
Believe it or not, spring is right around the corner,
which means SAT & AP testing for our students. A
great resource students should know about is the
Testing & Education Reference Center that can be
found listed in the Gale/Cengage Learning
databases. Go to the database page on the TJ
Library website.
Students will find online books and practice tests for
Advanced Placement exams. Students can also find
resources and online practice tests for the ACT,
PSAT, SAT, and SAT Subject tests. The SAT book,
practice test, and online course reflect the
redesigned SAT. Students interested in taking the
online practice tests will be prompted to set-up a
free account in order to assess their results. Also
under College Prep, students can conduct searches
on over 4,000 accredited colleges and find valuable
scholarship information. There is also a user-friendly
Resume Builder students can use to create their
resume.
Remember that to access these resources from
home, your home computer needs to use the proxy.
Proxy instructions are at the top of the library’s
database page, address noted above. If you have
any questions on using this resource, please email us
at library at tjhsst.edu.
Spanish Honor Society
In March, the Spanish Honor Society will continue its
legacy of service to the community through a charity
drive to Jill’s House. Jill’s House provides a safe
haven for children with disabilities. In other exciting
news, the Spanish Honor Society is welcoming new
members this month during its induction ceremony,
March 2016
held March 16 during 8th period. Parents of
members being inducted were invited to attend. The
Spanish Honor Society congratulates these
successful new members for their dedication in
promoting the Spanish language and culture.
PTSA Committee Updates
Health and Wellness Committee
P ARENT TO P ARENT
Thank you, Snow Days
Snow days could mean different things to different
people: to kids, parents and teachers. But the recent
unexpected week-long snow “day” was a real
benefit to my junior student in a meaningful way.
When I posed a casual question to the kids in my
carpool ride about how their snow day time was
spent, I expected nothing other than “good”, “fun”,
etc. Yet, my daughter said something serious that
changed my perception of such a long snow break.
Before the snow day, she said, she had so much to
do, she felt she was going non-stop and finding it
hard to breathe as she was racing between
homework, sports, and many other things. Because
of the snow day, not only could she catch up what
needed to be done, she also had time to relax a bit
and recuperate. The timing was also a bonus,
because the snowfall happened just before the busy
mid-term testing week, which was really a blessing.
“Wow”, I thought to myself. I would not have known
this had she not told me because she seems to have
her work in control most of the time. I always
welcome short snow days but complain about long
snow breaks, just as many other parents do,
because we don’t like to see kids not doing much
and playing most of the time at home. Unbeknownst
to me, the long snow break could have rescued my
kid, and who knows, maybe many more from too
much stress.
Now I wish for more built-in snow days in our
Page 5
calendar. Let it snow, I say, for the health of our
kids!
- A Junior Parent
C OMMUNITY E VENT
HOW TO RAISE AN ADULT, May 2
Advice from the former Dean of Freshmen at
Stanford University
The Safe Community Coalition of McLean is hosting
a talk by noted author Julie Lythcott-Haims on May
2 from 7:00-9:00pm at McLean High School
Auditorium. Tickets are $20 and will be available in
early March through the SCC website. Her book,
How to Raise an Adult, presents a convincing vision
of overprotected, overparented, overscheduled kids.
She then offers a smart, compassionate alternative
approach for parents who want to foster hearty selfreliance in their children.
Serving the TJ Community
Heartfelt thanks go out to all of the TJ parent
volunteers who donated their time, talents and food
to the teacher luncheon on February 10. It was a
glorious display of delicious Asian cuisine and greatly
appreciated by TJ teachers and staff. We couldn’t
make these lunches possible without your generous
support.
Volunteer Opportunities
or West Springfield? If so, we are looking for a
person/group of parents, who would be willing to
join Usha Gopal, our current Geographic Cluster 6
representative, in organizing a freshman welcome
party. This is not a labor-intensive job, but an
important one in our TJ community. The primary
responsibility for a cluster rep is to host a Welcome
to TJ! Party for incoming freshman families in the
spring, usually an April or May weekend. PTSA funds
the party, we just need some additional help
organizing the logistics for the new families coming
from these high schools. The PTSA also asks that, as
a cluster rep, you would be willing to share your
insights and advice about your TJ experiences with
new families. Please contact ptsa.volunteers at
tjhsst.edu or ushagopal at gmail.com directly, if you
can be of assistance.
It is not too early to be thinking about volunteering
to proctor AP Exams!
Please be on the lookout for sign-up genius forms.
We will need help the first two weeks in May with
proctoring exams, and serving/donating snacks.
TJ Reflections Arts Update
Congratulations to the following TJ students for
receiving the top award, “Outstanding
Interpretation,” at the Northern Virginia District
level of Reflections Arts and advancing to the State
level of judging: Kyle Gatesman (Music
Composition), Siona Prasad (Literature), Katherine
Barbano (Dance Choreography), and Ravi Dudhagra
(Film Production). Reflections Arts is a national PTA
program that recognizes students for their initiative,
creativity, and expression through the arts. The
Northern VA District level included Fairfax and
Arlington counties, Alexandria, and Falls Church City.
These four TJ students’ works will next be judged
alongside other works from across the state of
Virginia. TJ Reflections Arts POC: Magi Kumar,
v.magikumar at gmail.com
Currently seeking a parent to join Usha Gopal as
Cluster 6 TJHSST Geographic Representative
Is your base high school Lake Braddock, Robinson,
March 2016
Page 6
TJ All Night Graduation Party
Dining for Dollars Fundraiser
Every time you eat at any Glory Days Grill location between February 19 and April 15, 2016, Glory Days Grill will
contribute 10% of the total food and beverages purchased to TJ’s 2016 All Night Graduation Party (ANGP)!
That's right! Not just one night at one location, but for 8 golden weeks at any
Glory Days you can find -- and there are a lot of 'em.
Just ask for the itemized copy of your guest check (not the charge card receipt) and drop it off in the collection
box in the main office. Note that the 10% donation will not apply to sales tax or to guest checks that receive any
coupon-specific discount or promotional certificate. Find a convenient location, and get more details on the
Dining for Dollars Rules here.
The ANGP is a HUGE celebration in honor of our TJ graduates. It is designed to provide a safe, fun environment
for the entire class to celebrate their completion of four years of hard work and study. So enjoy some tasty food
with your friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers and help give our grads the party of a lifetime! Questions?
Call Marilena Barletta 703-980-2787.
~ AN INVITATION ~
The TJHSST Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam cordially invites you
and your friends/family members to our Mid-Grant Technical
Review on Wednesday, March 9, from 6:00 to 7:30pm, in the
Da Vinci Commons.
The TJHSST InvenTeam is currently in the process of creating
an automatic, easy-to-use tourniquet for use in emergency
situations for industrial and civilian scenarios. We will be
presenting the progress we have made so far along with our
inventive process. Our project is funded by a $10,000 grant
awarded by the Lemelson-MIT Program.
Refreshments will be provided. Admission is free of charge.
RSVP by Sunday, March 6, with the number of people in your
party by filling out our google form.
Hope to see you there!
The APTourniquet Team
Bijal, Bill, Dhriti, Gabriel, Jonathan, Junyoung, Lavanya
March 2016
Page 7
Parent Information Relating to Special Education
All these opportunities are FREE unless noted.
The FCPS Parent Resource Center (PRC) helps parents of students with disabilities. It sponsors workshops, has a
lending library, and has parent liaisons to help parents solve problems. English: 703-204-3941; Español: 703-2043955.
List of Special Needs Summer Camps 2016
Save the Date! FCPS 11th Annual Special Education Conference, Saturday, April 9, 8:00am-2:30pm, Hayfield
Secondary School, 7630 Telegraph Rd., Alexandria. Attend this conference to learn the latest in special education.
Choose from over 40 workshops and many exhibits. Register now.
iCan Bike After School Program
A week-long program at 10 different FCPS Middle Schools during March, April, May or June.
Ambulatory students with disabilities (ages 8 and older) learn to ride two-wheel bicycles by using adapted
bicycles, a specialized instructional program, and trained staff. Student volunteers help. More information here.
Youth and Young Adults: Stronger Together, alternate Tuesdays until May 2016 (March 1 & 15), 6:30 - 8:00pm in
Fairfax. Sponsored by Formed Families Forward, this peer-to-peer support group for youth ages 14 - 22 meets
twice a month through May. Parents, caregivers and guardians have their own meeting at the same time in the
same building. Light dinner of pizza and salad will be served.
Register here or (703) 539-2904.
Raising Your Kids by Keeping Your Cool! Friday, March 4, 10:00am – noon, Parent Resource Center, 2334 Gallows
Rd., Entrance 1, Dunn Loring. The third in a four-part series, each workshop includes strategies to become the
cool, calm and connected parent your child really needs, and to create a "place" for each of your children.
Registration required.
Planning for Long Term Needs of Persons with Mental Health Needs, Friday, March 4, 10:00am, The Arc of
Northern Virginia, 2755 Hartland Rd., Suite 200, Falls Church. Formed Families Forward will join a panel discussion
on how to access resources and prepare longer range plans for young adults with mental health needs.
Registration required or 703 208-1119 x120.
Autism Research Symposium Sponsored by The Virginia Tech Center for Autism Research, Friday, March 4,
7:30am –1:30pm, Fairview Marriott, 3111 Fairview Park Dr, Falls Church. The symposium will feature recent
research from many fields as well as keynote speakers Dave Hamrick and Lindsey Nebeker who are featured in a
new documentary “Autism in Love.” Event details.
Dyslexia Simulation, Sunday, March 6, 3:00-5:00pm, Commonwealth Academy, 1231 Leslie Avenue, Alexandria.
This Decoding Dyslexia Virginia presentation walks participants through a number of different reading and writing
simulations to help them better understand the effects of dyslexia. Register here.
Coaching Adolescents about the Social Aspects of Sexual Development, Wednesday, March 9, 7:30-8:30pm, The
Auburn School, 3800 Concorde Pkwy., Suite 500, Chantilly. Joshua Metz, LCSW will provide strategies for how to
talk with your pre-teens/teens about the social issues connected to sexual development. Registration required.
Continued on next page.
March 2016
Page 8
I'm Determined Youth Summit, Application Deadline March 15. Selected youth with disabilities (and their
parents) from across Virginia will meet June 15-17 at JMU in Harrisonburg, VA, to network and discuss issues of
self-determination. More information here.
What Works with Teens: Engaging Adolescents with Learning Differences to Achieve Lasting Change,
Wednesday, March 16, 7:30-9:00pm, Lab School, 4759 Reservoir Rd., NW, Washington. Learn how to engage
authentically with teens, create an atmosphere of mutual respect, and use humor to establish a deeper connection
so as to effect positive change.
Register here or 202-965-6600.
Adapted Sports, Recreation and Travel Fair for Individuals with Disabilities, Saturday, March 19, 1:00–4:00pm,
James Lee Community Center, 2855-A Annandale Road, Falls Church. More information here.
Tools for Helping Children with Executive Dysfunction Become More Independent and Effective, Wednesday,
April 6, 7:30-9:00pm, The Lab School, 4759 Reservoir Rd., NW, Washington. This presentation will help you identify
when a child is unable, not just unwilling, to do a task, thus alerting you to provide accommodations, teach new
skills, and use alternative strategies. Register here or 202-965-6600.
Flash Forward! Post-Secondary Education & Employment Options, Tuesday, April 12, 7:00-9:00pm, Woodson High
School Cafeteria, 9525 Main Street, Fairfax. Learn about supported employment, competitive employment, and
post-secondary education for students with disabilities. Register here.
Parenting For Independence: Realistic Expectations and Tools for Fostering Age Appropriate Autonomy from
Kindergarten through High School, Wednesday, April 20, 7:30-8:30pm, The Auburn School, 3800 Concorde Pkwy.,
Suite 500, Chantilly. Learn appropriate expectations for autonomy across different ages, and how to help kids with
ASD become independent. Technology tools will be included. Registration required.
CHADD: Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Alexandria Parent Support meets the 4th Monday each month, 6:30-7:30pm, Aldersgate UM Church, 1301
Collingwood Rd., Alexandria. Contact: Jenny adhdparentmountvernon at gmail.com.
West Fairfax CHADD Parent Support Group meets each 2nd & last Thursday at 7:30pm (March 10 & 31), Fairfax
Church of Christ, 3901 Rugby Road, Fairfax. Contact: Sharon clintob at aol.com.
Oakton ADHD Parent Group meets on the 4th Tuesday each month at 7:30 pm, Oakton Library, 10304 Lynnhaven
Place. Contact: Maureen Gill maureen at adhdcoachforparents.com
Support Group for High School Students with ADHD meets the first Sunday of each month 3:30-5:00pm, 4031
University Dr., Fairfax, enter on South St. No parents! Call 703-403-3335 to enter the building. Contact: coach at
BrainRelief.org (703) 641-8940.
NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness builds better lives for those affected by mental illness.
Family Support Groups
OCD Family Support Group, 1st Monday of each month, 7:30pm, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church,
4000 Lorcom, Lane, Arlington. Contact: 202-215-5859 or familygroupocd at verizon.net
March 2016
Page 9
THOMAS JEFFERSON HIGH SCHOOL FOR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
CAMPAIGN FOR TJ // LEADING THE FUTURE
What Does the Partnership Fund Contribute to TJ?
• Equipment for TJ’s Unique Research Labs: No other school has these facilities, and equipping them requires a significant
and continued commitment of funds.
• Technology for the Entire School: TJ’s college-level program’s hardware and software needs go beyond what FCPS
provides.
• New, Improved Athletic Facilities: TJ will be the last County high school to receive turf fields. The TJ community is
required to fund a substantial portion of the cost.
• Humanities Fund, Environmental Initiatives: Campaign goals include funding long-term non-STEM needs and several
“green building” initiatives.
• Annual Programs: Every year, the Partnership Fund makes possible the tjSTAR research symposium, One Question grants,
Teknos research journal, and faculty professional development. This year, the PF launched a new TJ Community Grant
program aimed at supporting clubs and teams (see the forthcoming March TJPF newsletter).
• Corporate Engagement: The PF’s relationships with corporations and foundations expand access to internships and
mentorships; secure sponsorships for tjSTAR; fund scholarships to TJ’s Summer Middle School Tech Institute; and obtain
major cash and in-kind gifts for the School. This year, the PF launched a new event that benefits students and companies
alike: TJ Internship Fair (see March newsletter).
• International Partnerships: The PF coordinates relationships with international partners, including visits overseas and the
hosting of international guests (see March newsletter).
• Alumni Involvement: Since combining with TJ’s Alumni Association two years ago, the PF has helped increase alumni
participation in school events, reunions, and giving.
• Parent Participation: Through hosting special events, and through annual appeals of all kinds, the PF engages parents and
builds community while expanding support for TJ.
The members of the excellent upperclassmen student panel share their experiences and perspectives at the 3rd annual TJ
Lunar New Year Celebration on February 20. The celebration, attended by 250 parents, students, family members, faculty, and
staff, included remarks from Dr. Glazer, an art auction and raffle, and a delicious holiday buffet.
From left to right, Laura Chu, TJ ’17; Andrew Huang, TJ ’16; Will Ryu, TJ ’16; Matthew Sun, TJ ’16; Thuy-Vi Nguyen, TJ ’16; Andrew Howard, TJ ’16.
Please join us as we celebrate an exciting milestone at the TJ Dome Celebration
Thursday, March 10, 5pm-7pm
RSVP TODAY!
– The Partnership Fund, TJ’s non-profit foundation
March 2016
Page 10
2016 All Night Graduation Party (ANGP)
Checklist for TJ Senior Parents and Students
ANGP Home Page
⃝ PURCHASE A TICKET for $125 for your student to go to the ANGP on June 18. This year it
will be at TJ! Both student and parent need to sign the Ticket Order Form. Click “Tickets”
on the ANGP home page menu to download a form or if you’ve forgotten whether you’ve
purchased a ticket.
⃝ VOLUNTEER and RECRUIT VOLUNTEERS (especially lower classmen parents) for the
ANGP. This is a big event, and we still need over 300 volunteers! The earlier you pick your
volunteer slot, the better the choice of times and volunteer duties. Click “Volunteer” on the
ANGP home page menu for more information, or just go straight to the sign-up link on the home
page!
⃝ MAKE A DONATION to the ANGP - all funds raised go back into making the ANGP a great
one. Make checks payable to TJHSST PTSA-ANGP. Click “Donations” on the ANGP home
page menu to give online or download a donation form.
⃝ Have extra GIFT CARDS you might not use? We can use them – they are great prizes.
Donations can be left in the ANGP Mailbox in the Main Office?
⃝ Submit your Senior's TODDLER PHOTOGRAPH (2-4 years old) for the ANGP Photograph
Contest. You can email digital/scanned pictures to tjbabyphotos2016 at gmail.com. Please
include your son or daughter's full name and nickname in your email. PLEASE get your son or
daughter's approval for the picture you send! Prints can be left in the ANGP Mailbox in the Main
Office or mailed to TJHSST ANGP – Baby Pics, 6550 Braddock Rd., Alexandria VA 22312.
Please make a duplicate, as prints cannot be returned.
⃝ PURCHASE A TJ GRADUATION SIGN to place in your front yard for $25. To order on line or
to download an order form, click “Fundraisers” on the ANGP home page.
⃝ SUPPORT ALL THE ANGP FUNDRAISERS!
o I DRIVE SMART RAFFLE NOW THROUGHT THE END OF MAY
o GLORY DAYS GRILL FUNDRAISER FEB 19- APRIL 15
o FIREHOUSE SUBS FUNDRAISER MARCH 3.
March 2016
Page 11
Class News
2017 – Juniors
Happy spring, Juniors and Junior parents!
In case you missed the Junior college kick-off
presentation, here is the Prezi – best viewed full
screen using the bottom right icon.
Students have until Spring Break to make changes
(through their counselor) to next year's course
choices. Students have until the school year ends to
add or update their alternates in the course
selection guide. Remember that students need a
fourth social studies credit along with economics
and personal finance credit to graduate.
Students should be thinking about what they want
to do this summer and they should start applying
for internships now if that is an interest. If they
would like suggestions, they should see Mrs. Kropf
in the career center. She has resources available for
potential internships and jobs in the area. Parents
should be aware that counselors will be sending out
their junior packets soon if they haven't already.
There is a parent portion to everyone's junior
packet for the parents to fill out. This portion is very
helpful for the counselors when they write the
student's recommendation letter for colleges.
Recent anecdotes about your child are very useful!
Parent help needed from 8:00am to 1:30pm
Saturday, March 12, for the sixth annual Pi-Miler
race which the Class of 2017 will be hosting at
Burke Lake Park, 7315 Ox Road, Fairfax Station, VA.
Questions about the Pi Miler can be sent to
tjhsst2017 at gmail.com. If you’d like to volunteer,
please click here. Volunteer duties include helping
out at registration/check-in, distributing food,
helping out at water stations, giving directions, and
more. Student volunteers are also welcome and
they will receive NHS/community service hours. We
will also need donations. Please click here to donate
bottled water, paper cups, water coolers, Gatorade
bottles, bagels, cream cheese, plastic knives,
napkins, bananas, apples, clementines, and other
easy-to-eat fruits. Please bring food to Burke Lake
March 2016
Park at 8:00am on March 12 (preferred) or on
March 11 to either T28 or T29, where a donation
box will be set up.
We are thankful for your support of the class of
2017.
Ann Carr and Lan Fan
2017 Parent Liaisons
mandacarr at msn.com
fanlan at hotmail.com
2018 – Sophomores
Hello Sophomore families!
It’s time for the course selection again. We hope
many of you had joined the webinars and had your
questions addressed. If you could not make it, do
not worry. You can watch the presentation on
science and technology here, the presentation on
math and computer science here, and the
humanities, world language, fine arts, art, PE, health
and driver’s education presentation here. If you
have follow up questions after viewing the
information, please submit them here and we will
come up with a plan to answer them at the next
PTSA meeting on Tuesday, March 8, at 7:00pm in
the TJ Cafeteria (refreshments at 6:30pm). Please
refer to the online course guide for additional
information, including course descriptions and
program of studies documentation for all of TJ's
course offerings.
Thanks to those who joined the 3rd annual TJPF
Lunar New Year Celebration; it was a very successful
event. The student panelists’ experiences and
suggestions could be a very good reference for you
and your student’s course selection. Support TJ and
contribute here. The Dome Celebration & Open
House will be hosted on Thursday, March 10 from
5:00pm to 7:00pm at the DaVinci & Curie Commons.
Please come, take a look at the laboratories and
meet alumni.
Spring Break is coming; it is from March 21 to 28.
We hope you will have a nice break. It is a good time
to plan some college visits. Please check the College
Page 12
and Career Center for more information.
Schools will be closed on Tuesday, March 1, due to
voting in the primary elections.
Friday, March 11: Partners for Safe Teen Driving
Presentation, 6:30-8:00pm, Café
March 12 is the deadline to register for AP exams for
non-enrolled students. For more information, click
here.
Your 2018 Class Liaisons,
Nancy Yang and Clarissa Maribojoc
2018 Parent Liaisons
chaonanyang at gmail.com
mom2patmatt at gmail.com
2019 – Freshmen
It’s hard to believe that we are in the latter half of
freshmen year already. Thanks for your support and
enthusiasm in supporting the Class of 2019.
We hope you have all had a chance to review the
curriculum webinars on courses offered at TJ. If you
missed any of the webinars, click the below links to
watch the videos.
• Science and Technology Webinar
• Math and Computer Science Webinar
The next PTSA meeting will be on Tuesday, March 8,
starting at 7:00pm in the TJ Cafeteria (refreshments
at 6:30pm). At that meeting, the Nominating
Committee for PTSA positions for the 2016-17 school
year will be presented. If you are interested in
helping on the Nominating Committee, please send
an email to PTSA at tjhsst.edu.
2019 Spirit Wear, the Class Council would love to
have your help! Money that is raised through Class
sales, raffles, tournaments, events, and sponsorships
will help the Class of 2019 pay for its graduation,
prom, and other Class-related expenses. If you
would like to make a donation, you can send in a
check payable to the “TJ Class of 2019” with your
student’s name in the memo line and your student
can drop it off with Mr. Carey. Donations are tax
deductible.
Got photos? We’re always collecting photos of the
class of 2019 — both from the school year and over
the summer. Photos over the next four years will
come in handy when we’re preparing for the All
Night Graduation Party and other senior events.
We’ve created a Shutterfly Share site for the class of
2019 (TJ Class of 2019) where you can post and
share photos on a protected site. You’ll need to
create an account (or use an existing one) in order to
access the site — and then feel free to post photos
in either an existing or new folder. If you have any
problems joining the site, email us at TJHSST2019 at
hotmail.com and we’ll add you as a member.
How can you stay connected with the class of 2019
parents? Join the TJ Class of 2019 Parents Facebook
page to ask questions, find out about upcoming
events, and general information about TJ! You can
also email us at TJHSSST2019 at hotmail.com.
Please contact us with questions or if you’d like to
help volunteer or support class fundraising efforts!
Have a great spring break!
Another important date for your calendar would be
Spring break, which begins March 21 and ends on
March 28.
If your business or a business you know would be
interested in sponsoring an event for the Class of
2019 (or just sponsoring the Class in general), the
Class Council is willing to help promote your business
in exchange! Or, if you own a printing company and
would like to donate (or provide discounted) Class of
March 2016
Page 13
TJ Boosters
ACADEMIC BOOSTERS
Who would have thought that our first snow day in
2016 would turn into a second winter break? Jonas, one
of the biggest snowstorms in history (and the first with
a name, thanks to social media), left behind perennial
glaciers in parking lots. Despite this, February brought
forth some exciting news of the renovations at TJ: the
completion of the dome!
Just as we see the slow transformation of the campus,
the gradual transformation of its students also
continues unabated, steadily and consistently every
day. Academic Boosters (AB) plays a big role in this
process. As in athletics, academic expertise requires
training. And just like sports teams, AB teams provide
students with opportunities to broaden their interests
and test the knowledge and skills they acquire in
competitive settings.
So, if you want to support our teams to fulfill their true
potential, don’t hesitate! Become a member easily
online here! Your contribution may be matched by your
employer as well, which means that your contribution
will be automatically doubled!
BIOLOGY OLYMPIAD
Ninety-two students participated in the US Biology
Olympiad Open Exam on February 12. On March 8, the
semi-finalists will be announced (top 10% of all entries,
or 500 students). We are optimistic that several of our
students will be advancing. Good luck everyone!
CERTAMEN (LATIN)
On Saturday, January 9, TJ Latin participated in Flinthill
Certamen, well known for its difficult questions.
Nonetheless, the TJ teams did quite well, with a team in
each level reaching their respective finals. In Latin I, the
TJ team (Alyssa Nash, Matvey Yutin, Thomas Porter,
and James Kuang) earned 2nd place. The Latin II A team
(Minyoung Hwang, Gwen Jacobson, Alan Zheng, and
John Kim) earned 2nd place, while the B team (Shreya
Vinjamuri, Maddie Old, and Colleen Choi) came in 6th
place.
March 2016
Colleen Choi, Alicia, Shreya Vinjamuri, and Maddie
Old
The Latin III team (Kevin Le, John Erskine, Natalie
Chin, Claire Cofield, and LeeYung Chang) did quite
well, coming in 1st place. Finally, the Upper A team
(Junyoung Hwang, Bill Tang, Ryan Golant, and Kristin
Meyers) came in 2nd, while the Upper B team (Daniel
Chae, Rebecca Mays, Milana Wolff, and Ryan
Haynie) did not place. Overall, it was a very successful
Certamen. We are excited to hold the next one at TJ
on February 27 (see below)!
The Latin Honor Society (LHS) and TJ Certamen will be
hosting its first Certamen in 3 years on February 27.
The last TJ Certamen was held in 2013, but had been
discontinued for the past years due to the
construction work. LHS members have been hard at
work since December to prepare for the upcoming
Certamen. The Chief Liaisons (Principes) who are in
charge of organizing the event and making sure
everything runs smoothly on the Certamen day are:
Andrew Huang, Ally Scholle, Hyung Ju Moon,
Junyoung Hwang, Min Jae Kwon, and Ryan Golant. In
addition, many members of the TJ Certamen chipped
in to help write the questions for the over 100
participating teams. We hope this year's TJ Certamen
will be a great success! More importantly, with the
renovation almost over, we hope to continue our
annual TJ Certamen for years to come.
Page 14
CHEMISTRY OLYMPIAD
Congratulations to Aadith Vittala, Aaditya Singh,
Joyce Tian, Lawrence Wang, Amit Gupta, Eric Deng,
Cece Chu, Fatima Gunter-Rahman, Ethan Lin, Mihir
Patel, Joshua Lee, Adarsh Kulkarni, John Schefer,
Andrew Zhang, Arvind Srinivasan, Katherine Cheng,
Ben Pioso, Millan Welman, Kevin Xu, and Alex
Peng! They will advance to the Local Chemistry
Olympiad Exam to be held in March. The
International Oympiad has changed its Pakistan
location to Georgia. So there will now be boot camp
in June and and the top four national students will
compete internationally this July.
FORENSICS SPEECH
The Forensics Speech Team practices and develops
public speaking skills, competing at a variety of local
and national tournaments with events ranging from
poetry and dramatic performance to
extemporaneous speaking and original oratory.
Congratulations to Washington Arlington Catholic
Forensic League (WACFL) 4 competitors Virginia
Sun, who placed 1st in Original Oratory, Victoria
Bevard, who placed 1st in both Extemporaneous
Speaking and Impromptu, Sai Mada who placed 4th
in Extemporaneous Speaking, and Sachin Jain, who
was an Additional Qualifier. WACFL5 competitors
Siddartha Edara and Vikash Kumar were Metrofinal
Additional Qualifiers in Duo Performance. The team
is now preparing for the Broad Run Invitational
Tournament, our VHSL Conference Tournament,
and WACFL Metrofinals, all to take place in late
February.
LINCOLN-DOUGLAS (LD) DEBATE
WACFL 5 took place on February 6 at Sherondo High
School after WACFL 4 was snowed out. TJ had
several 3-1 debaters and one novice, freshman
Priyanka Mehta, who received 1st place in Novice
and therefore earned a full qualification to the
Junior Varsity (JV) Metrofinals. In JV, Grace Qi and
Uzma Rentia both went 3-1 and received a half
qualification for JV Metrofinals, and Yukta
Chidanandan and Rachel Ma both went 3-1 in
Varsity, each receiving a half qualification for
Varsity. The final Metroqualifiers in Varsity are
seniors Aneesh Reddy and Jay Gupta; juniors
Shivam Kollur and Aakash Shukla; and sophomores
Naman Baraya and Amitesh Kotwal. Freshmen
Yukta Chidanandan, Neil Kothari, Hana Yu, Grace
March 2016
Qi, and Rishabh Krishnan qualified in Junior Varsity.
Metrofinals will take place at Dominion High School
on March 4 and 5.
TJLD had a very successful performance at the
Liberty Bell Classic (LBC) at the University of
Pennsylvania on February 13 and 14. In Varsity,
Kollur and Baraya both went 4-1 and placed as the
6th and 15th seeds, respectively. Baraya was 7th
speaker. Kollur broke to the Octofinals round, and
Baraya to the Quarterfinals. In JV, Krishnan went 4-1
and made it to Octofinals, as did Kothari, who was 32 in the preliminaries. Krishnan and Chidanandan
placed 6th and 8th, respectively, in speaker points.
MATH TEAM
The Varsity Math Team travelled to Boston to
compete in this year’s Harvard-MIT Mathematics
Tournament (HMMT). Founded in 1998, HMMT is
one of the largest and most prestigious high school
competitions in the world. It draws approximately
800 students from around the globe, including top
scorers at national and international olympiads.
The February 20 event consisted of individual rounds
in Algebra, Geometry, and Combinatorics, along with
a proof-based team round, and the pressure-cooker
called “Guts.” The Guts round requires teams to
decide whether to continue working on a set of 4
problems or to cut bait and move on to the next set,
in order to maximize points earned over 9 sets of
Page 15
problems.
This is a spectator sport, with coaches watching realtime results on a huge screen.
Sophomores Franlyn Wang and Akshaj Kadaveru
distinguished themselves in the individual rounds.
Franklyn placed 2nd in Algebra, 9th in Combinatorics,
and 8th individual overall. Akshaj took 6th place in
Combinatorics and 5th individual overall.
Under the leadership of Captain Sam Hsiang, our A
Team placed 4th in the Team Round and tied for 6th in
the Guts Round. The strong performances in every
category lifted TJA to 2nd place in the Sweepstakes,
the overall ranking of the more than 90 teams at the
meet. This was our best performance in recent years.
MODEL UNITED NATIONS
TJHSST Model United Nations
ILMUNC XXXII 2016
Conference Awards List
As always, the TJHSST Model United Nations team
spent the end of January in Philadelphia, participating
at the Ivy League Model United Nations Conference
(ILMUNC) hosted by the International Affairs
Association (IAA) of the University of Pennsylvania.
With six major committee sessions scheduled
between January 28 and 31st, ILMUNC honored a
great number of our student delegates with an award
for their proficient leadership and diplomacy, and the
March 2016
TJHSST Model United Nations delegation was
presented with the Secretary General’s Outstanding
Large Delegation Award. A special thank you to
faculty sponsors Sra. Pou and Mr. Wickliff for
leading parent chaperones and organizing the 101
students that attended the conference.
Disarmament and International Security
Committee
● Honorable: Stuthi Iyer & Yash Shekar (Viet
Nam)
● Verbal: Ishaan Dey & Rounak Das (United
States of America)
Economic and Financial Committee
● Gavel: Ethan Phillips & Pari Parajuli (Nicaragua)
● Outstanding: Sam Libberton & Ian Moritz
(United States of America)
Political Security Committee 1963
● Honorable: Artemis Veizi & Meghana Boojala
(Nicaragua)
● Honorable: Arnav Simha & Sahaj Sharda
Special Political and Decolonization Committee
● Gavel: Mara Casebeer & Rishitha Anumola
● Outstanding: Saagar Sheth & Kiran Ganeshan
(United Republic of Tanzania)
● Verbal: Ramya Susarla & Mehran Sajjad
(Mauritania)
United Nations Environment Programme
● Honorable: Andrew Kim & MiJin Cho (United
States of America)
United Nations Commission on the Status of
Women
● Gavel: Cheryl Mensah & Jake Gonzalez (United
States of America)
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
● Gavel: Atharv Gupta & Otilia Danalache (Malta)
● Outstanding: Fionntan Thinnes & Patrick Ryan
(Slovenia)
United Nations Science and Technology for
Development
● Outstanding: Alex Lewis & Sachin Jain (United
States of America)
● Verbal: Jake Cui & Chris Hoang (Malta)
United Nations Economic and Social Commission
for Asia and the Pacific
● Honorable: Chitra Kokkirala (United States of
America)
Page 16
United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
● Outstanding: Giancarlo Valdetaro (United States of
America)
United Nations Commission on Human Rights
● Outstanding: Abhi Chadha (United States of America)
Non-Governmental Organization Forum
● Honorable: Jeewoo Kim & Shirley Zhan (Human
Rights Watch)
International Monetary Fund
● Gavel: Aidan San (Slovenia)
● Verbal: Bailey Knight (United States of America)
Pontiac Rebellion
● Gavel: Sam Desmarais (Ojibwe (Chippewa))
United Nations Operation and Project Services
Committee
● Outstanding: Will Ryu (United States of America)
JCC: Spanish Civil War, Repúblicanos
● Gavel: Shohini Gupta (Julio Alvarez del Vayo, Minister
of Foreign Affairs)
Syriza - Meeting of the Greek Coalition of the Radical
Left: 2016
● Gavel: Andrew Howard (Nikos Filis, Minister of
Education, Research, and Religious affairs)
Court of Kublai Khan
● Outstanding: Rushi Shah (Liu Bingzhong)
United Nations Security Council
● Outstanding: Spencer Weiss (United States of
America)
Ad-Hoc Committee of the Secretary-General
● Gavel: Will Frank (Position A)
Conclusion
Verbal Commendation: 4
Honorable Mention: 6
Outstanding Delegate: 9
Gavel - Best Delegate: 9
Secretary General’s Outstanding Large Delegation –
TJMUN
NAIMUN LIII 2016
March 2016
The 53rd annual North American Invitational Model
United Nations Conference (NAIMUN) was a new
addition to the annual agenda for the TJHSST Model
United Nations team. Hosted by the Georgetown
University International Relations Association (GIRA)
from February 11 to 14, 2016, NAIMUN honored
several of our delegates with individual awards,
found below.
World Economic Forum
● Outstanding: MiJin Cho & Naman Rai (Cambodia
- Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, LLP)
International Atomic Energy Agency
● Verbal: Subul Malik & Shruti Anant (Bulgaria)
British House of Commons
● Honorable: Pari Parajuli (David Evennett (C)
Conservative, Bexleyheath and Crayford)
African Union Summit, 2018
● Verbal: Atharv Gupta (H.E. Mrs. Catherine
Samba Panza - Central African Republic)
Berlin Conference, 1884
● Honorable: Roma Chitko (Said Pasha Ambassador to Germany, Ottomans)
Democratic National Committee, 2016
● Gavel: Andrew Howard (Andrew Tobias Treasurer)
Meeting of the Council of the Indies, 1542
● Verbal: Suzie Bae (Bartholome de las Casas)
Coca Cola in Emerging Markets
● Outstanding: Neil Parikh (Howard G. Buffett Board Member)
Felipe Calderon’s Cabinet, 2010
● Honorable: Chitra Kokkirala (Secretary of the
Interior - Francisco Blake Mora)
Józef Pilsudski's War Cabinet, 1919
● Honorable: Sam Desmarais (Antoni Ponikowski)
Erdogan's Cabinet, 2002
● Outstanding: Will Frank (Necdet Özel - Minister
of Defense)
Iranian Oil Consortium, 1954
Page 17
●
Honorable: Spencer Weiss (Mr. Fraser - AngloPersian Oil Co (UK) - Operations Manager)
Department of State
● Outstanding: Shohini Gupta (Assistant
Secretary for Intelligence and Research)
United States Senate
● Gavel: Niharika Vattikonda (Dianne Feinstein Democrat, California)
Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1990s
● Gavel: Rushi Shah (Assistant Director - State
and Local Engagement)
Conclusion
SFSMUNC IX 2016
TJHSST Model United Nations had a great
participation at the 9th annual Sidwell Friends
School Model United Nations Conference, which
was held on February 20, 2016. Although for many
novice members of the club, it was their first or
second-ever Model UN conference, several
student delegates were recognized for their efforts
with awards. TJMUN as a team was presented with
the Secretary General’s Award for Best Large
Delegation.
World Health Organization
● Outstanding: Abhishek Mullapudi & Ishaan
Dey (New Zealand)
● Honorable: Adithi Ramakrishnan & Nikita
March 2016
Sivakumar (Paraguay)
● Verbal: Anvitha Chimata & Mehran Sajjad
(Libya)
● Verbal: Sreya Maram & Pranusha Amancherla
(Yemen)
● Verbal: Rishitha Anumola & Varun
Saraswathula (Norway)
Social, Humanitarian, Cultural Committee
● Gavel: Mara Casebeer & Niharika Vattikonda
(Saudi Arabia)
● Verbal: Ally Nakamura & Debbie Dong (Libya)
● Verbal: Annie Wang & Chrissy Blake (Pakistan)
Legal Committee
● Verbal: Rohan Arora & Anurika Kumar (New
Zealand)
Special Committee: Presidential Race
● Outstanding: Alex Lewis (Bernie Sanders)
● Honorable: Aidan San (Center for American
Progress)
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
● Gavel: Richa Gupta (Poland)
● Outstanding: Divya Shan (Czech Republic)
● Honorable: Kshamata Neupane (Hungary)
● Verbal: Sachin Jain (Estonia)
Community of Latin American and Caribbean
States (CELAC)
● Gavel: Giancarlo Valdetaro (Mexico)
● Outstanding: Bailey Knight (Peru)
Conclusion
Secretary General’s Award for Best Large
Delegation - TJMUN
NEUROSCIENCE SOCIETY
Congratulations go to Shomik Ghose and Akshay
Balaji! Shomik and Akshay took 1st and 2nd place,
respectively, at the 2016 Regional DC Brain Bee. This
competition is sponsored by the Society for
Neuroscience (SfN) and was held at the American
Association for the Advancement of Science on
February 3.
Rumor has it that Shomik and Akshay exhausted the
set of 80 questions that the judges had available on
Page 18
the publication Brain Facts. Shomik correctly
answered all but one of those questions and Akshay
missed just four.
As the winner of the Regional DC Bee, Shomik
advances to compete in the 2016 US Brain Bee, to be
held in Baltimore from March 18 to 20. At this level,
there are several stages of competition involving
both practical and written tests. We wish you great
luck, Shomik!
PUBLIC FORUM (PF) DEBATE
On February 13, PF debate had its last WACFL. TJ
sent eight teams to the local tournament. In the
Novice division, the team of sophomores Adarsh
Mallepally and Pranit Nadipelli went undefeated
and place 3rd in the whole division. In the JV division,
the team of Bindu Srinivasa and Sitara Uppalapati
won three out of their four rounds, which qualified
them for Metrofinals. Furthermore, TJ sent three
teams in the Varsity division, and all came away with
winning records. Altogether, TJPF will be sending six
Varsity teams and five JV teams to the tournament
on March 11 and 12 at Loudoun Valley High School.
TJPF sent four teams to the LBC. The senior teams of
Srikar Kosuri/Pranav Gulati and Srijith
Poduval/Dhruv Gupta went all the way to doubleoctafinals. The senior team of Kiran Girish/Sahana
Ramani went all the way to the octafinals round,
winning seven out of their nine rounds. Not only did
our teams have an excellent showing at this
invitational, but individual speakers were highly
ranked in the tournament. Poduval was the 15th best
speaker, Sahaj Sharda was the 10th best speaker, and
Dhruv Gupta was the 4th best speaker in the entire
tournament of 318 participants.
OCEANBOWL TEAM
After months of preparation, the TJ Ocean Bowl Team
coached by Ms. Lisa Wu, competed in the 19th
Annual Chesapeake Bay Regional Bowl on February 6
at George Mason University, Arlington Campus. As
part of the National Ocean Sciences Bowl organized
by the Consortium for Ocean Leadership to advance
research, education and sound ocean policy, the
Chesapeake Bay Bowl is an academic quiz bowl where
competitors use a buzzer system to answer rapid
multiple choice and short answer questions. After
winning six consecutive games, the team of Jared
Nirenberg, Emily Sun, Virginia Pan, Jennifer Baily,
and Katherine Barbano placed second among other
competitive schools. Congratulations!
In addition, the team would like to thank the Art Club
for their time in designing the fabulous shirts
personalized for each member of the team as well as
for the coach for competition day. They received
many compliments for how creative the shirts were.
Both TJLD and TJPF divisions will be competing in a
national circuit tournament at Broad Run High School
on February 20. Also, on March 15, a select number
of our debaters will be named to the VHSL
Conference team, which will compete in the 5A
North Division. The winners will move on to the
Regionals on March 19, and the States in April if they
qualify.
March 2016
Page 19
STUDENT CONGRESS
The Student Congress Team competes in local and
national tournaments in a public speaking
competition modeled after the U.S. Congress.
Students write legislation and debate the pros and
cons of the legislation with a focus on both speaking
and debate skills. Congratulations to Victoria
Bevard who placed 6th at the Barley Forum
Invitational Tournament, and to Virginia Sun,
placing 2nd at WACFL5. The team is now preparing
for the Broad Run Invitational Tournament and
WACFL Metrofinals. The team practices on Fridays
during 8th period and welcomes new members.
MAKE A DIFFERENCE……VOLUNTEER!
Community Service Trip to the Dominican Republic
after school ends and before summer school
begins. Interest meeting: Thursday, March 3,
6:00pm, Room 71
Want a tremendous opportunity to engage in a
meaningful service-learning activity with a unique
cultural experience? Want to walk down the streets
where Spanish Conquerors walked? Then join Sra.
Pou from June 25 through July 3 on a community
service / history trip to the Dominican Republic.
Every year we conduct a boys and girls sports camp
and perform community service as needed
throughout the area. Come join the hard work and
the fun! For more information contact Sra. Pou at:
alexandra.pou at fcps.edu.
TJ THEATRE BOOSTERS
Thanks to all the staff, students and parents who
came out to support our annual musical production
of, "The Little Mermaid." Our next production is
"Connected," about the trials and tribulations of
student life on-line. It couldn't be more relevant or
timely: April 15/16 and April 22/23 at 7:00pm. We'll
finish out the season with the 30th Annual Knight of
One Axe, on June 10/11. Get your tickets early at
www.TJDrama.com.
ORCHESTRA BOOSTERS
It’s hard to believe it’s March already! Students in
both TJ Orchestras continue to prepare for District
Assessment, scheduled for Thursday, March 17, at
Robinson Secondary School. Philharmonia will
perform at 5:40pm; Symphonic will perform at
7:25pm. As there will not be a pre-Assessment
concert at TJ as in past years, family and friends are
encouraged to attend the Assessment
performances (free of charge).
Looking ahead, the TJ Orchestras’ Spring Concert
will be on Friday, June 3, at 7:00pm in Gym 1. Save
the date and join us for this final concert of the
year!
Orchestra Boosters are the friends and families of
students who are interested in promoting
orchestral music at TJ. Boosters volunteer their time
and energy throughout the year; any monetary
donations go toward the needs of the program.
March 2016
Page 20
Volunteer opportunities range from event specific
activities to school year Booster board positions (we
are currently seeking a Treasurer as well as a Vice
President/Merchandise Chair for the 2016-17
school year). To learn more about the Orchestra
Boosters (including volunteer opportunities), please
visit our website at or contact Lisa Valdetaro,
President, at tjorchboosters at gmail.com. Thank
you for your support!
Color Guard Co-Captains Bernice Wu and Kevin Chaplin.
BAND BOOSTERS
SAX-A-THON extended! February & March Citrus
sales are cancelled due to unfavorable weather
conditions in Florida impacting the quality and
availability of citrus. Please help the Band program
offset this loss in revenue by making a donation
online. Thanks for your support!
The TJ Drumline and Winter Guard have launched
into a great season!
The drum line had a successful first performance of
their show, "The Spirit of India" at Mount Vernon,
placing second behind Chantilly HS. Their next
show is this weekend at John Champe HS. They will
be performing in Richmond, VA on March 12at the
Virginia Winterguard International (WGI) Regional
competition, the TJ Winter Showcase at South
County HS on March 19, at Robinson Secondary
School for the Atlantic Indoor Assoc. championships
on April 2, and finally at Wright State Univ. and
Univ. of Dayton in Dayton, OH from April 14 through
15 for the WGI World Championships.
Color Guard Co-Captains Kevin Chaplin and Bernice
Wu are leading a great Color Guard Season thus
far. Performing their show, "Magnolia," the group
placed second at their first competition at Mount
Vernon High School on February 13. In addition to
local Northern Virginia shows, the group will be
competing in Norfolk, VA, and Dayton, OH, for the
World Guard International (WGI) through the end of
the season on April 9. Be sure to come see the Color
Guard at the TJ-hosted Winter Showcase on March
19 at South Country High School and be on the lookout for the special Color Guard performance at this
year's I-Nite
Performing their show, "Magnolia," the Color Guard
placed second at their first competition at Mount Vernon
High School.
Showcase, Band Booster’s biggest fundraiser of the
year, will be on March 19! Please come out and
support this band program. This fundraiser is vital
for this band program. Showcase is the indoor
March 2016
Page 21
drumline and winter guard competition TJ holds at
South County High School. Come out and see the
different Winter Guards and Drumlines.
Both the Symphonic Band and the Symphonic
Wind Ensemble have their Assessments on March
12. Both bands will go to a pre-concert clinic at Falls
Church on March 2.
Thanks to all the families that donated to the Saxa-thon!
THANK YOU!
Jun Wu & Lan Fan
Andy & Barbara Rudin
Yujin Cummings
Junghyo & Oksana Yoon
The Naide Family
The Capozzi Family
The Etemad Family
The Pasquerella Family
Maria Proestou & Savana Hadjipanteli
The Richardson Family
Hao Traiger
Curtis Young
The Burns Family
The Maskeri Family
The Marcantonio Family
The Diaz Family
The Woglom Family
The Browne Family
The Wu Family
The Cox Family
The Gersony Family
Johanna & Steve Mace
The Zhou Family
The Everhart Family
March 2016
SPORTS PHYSICALS
Get out your planners and Save The Date for
Wednesday June 1 to get your student’s annual
sports physical at TJ. Medical professionals will
perform the comprehensive physicals. The
screening will check height, weight, vision, posture,
vital signs, upper and lower body assessments and
your student will see the medical professional for
clearance.
Every athlete needs a new athletic physical EVERY
SCHOOL YEAR so, save a trip to the doctor’s office
and come out and support TJ Athletics. This is a
great way to ensure that your physical is
completed before summer out-of-season practices
start. EVERYONE will need a new physical in order
to participate after July 1. Got questions? Email
heather.murphy at fcps.edu
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
FOR PHYSICALS!
We need medical and non-medical parents to help
make the sports physicals a successful event! If
you are a physician (MD or DO), physician assistant
(PA), physical therapist (PT) or nurse practitioner
(NP), please consider helping out with physicals on
June 1. We also need non-medical parents who
want to help with working a station or the checkin/out desk. Your expertise and a few hours of
your time will greatly benefit our TJ athletes! Free
advertising for medical professionals that help!
Email heather.murphy at fcps.edu if you can help.
Page 22
COLONIAL ATHLETIC
BOOSTERS (CAB)
SWIM & DIVE
The TJ Swim and Dive (TJSD) team opened their
post-season strong. The boys were crowned Capitol
Conference 13 Champions for the third year in a
row, and girls were crowned runner-ups. Continuing
their success, the boys also won the Region 5A
North Championship. TJSD ended their post-season
with both boys and girls placing top 10 at 5A States,
boys placing 4th and girls placing 8th.
TJSD Boys - 2016 Capitol Conference 13 Swim/Dive
Champions
Event champions at the Capitol Conference 13 meet
included Sydney Harrington (200 Free), Fiona
Carcani (100 Fly) and Matt Szilagyi (100 Free, 100
Breast), the boys 200 Medley Relay (Emilio Sison,
Matt Szilagyi, Jared Nirenberg, Jonathan Pollock),
200 Free Relay (Jonathan Pollock, Edward Shen, Tai
Kao-Sowa, Emilio Sison), 400 Free Relay (Edward
Shen, Jared Nirenberg, Emilio Sison, Jonathan
Pollock), and the girls 400 Free Relay (Charlie
Lertlumprasert, Fiona Carcani, Militsa Sotirova,
Sydney Harrington). The dive team also contributed
significantly to point totals. Notable performances
included CJ Wilson (6th), Blake Daniels (12th),
Valentina Lohr (1st), and Gloria Chen (2nd).
First place finishers from Regions included Jonathan
Pollock (50 Free, 100 Free), Matt Szilagyi (100
Breast), and the boys 400 Free Relay (Jonathan
Pollock, Nithin Bagal, Matt Szilagyi, Emilio Sison).
Dive team winners included CJ Wilson (4th) and
Gloria Chen (1st).
March 2016
Boys 200 Free Relay Capitol Conference Champions Jonathan Pollock, Emilio Sison, Edward Shen, Tai KaoSowa
State Champions from 5A states included Gloria
Chen in the 1 meter diving and Jonathan Pollock in
the 200 Free.
TJSD Senior Night will be held on Thursday, March
3, at school before the Winter Sports Banquet.
Senior Night will start at 4:30, so come join us as we
celebrate and wish our seniors goodbye after an
amazing four years on TJSD!
BOYS BASKETBALL
Varsity Basketball
The Jefferson boys Varsity wrapped up an exciting
season on the hardwood with a couple of hard
fought contests. Over the last eight weeks of the
season, the boys put forth tremendous effort and
notched some memorable wins. The Colonials
played a very impressive late-season game on the
road, where they defeated conference foe, the Lee
Lancers by the score of 44-42. The victory felt extra
sweet as TJ avenged an earlier season 3-point loss.
The team demonstrated a lot of character down the
stretch as Lee was applying pressure and cut the
lead to a single basket. However, TJ dug in and eked
Page 23
out the narrow win. It was truly a team effort with
five players scoring 7 or more points.
newly refurbished gymnasium.
TJ is well-positioned next year to succeed with a
core of returning players including Amit Gupta,
Matt Jennings, Chappy Asel, Chase Brown, Nakul
Dar, Jayant Subramanian, Matt Maribojoc, and
Noah Barnes. The team is grateful for all the
support of the family and friends this season, and
looks forward to their continued backing, in
addition to the ever-loyal Monticello Maniacs.
Coach Mark Gray Mendes shares some strategy during a
time out.
In perhaps the highlight of the year, TJ imposed its
will over Falls Church with a 20-point 55-35 victory.
It was their third win of the year over the feisty
Jaguars. Even more impressive was the group effort,
in which all 13 players who dressed-out were able
to see playing time. Noah Barnes lead the way with
13 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Also, in his best
effort of the year, crowd-favorite Chappy Asel
nearly garnered a “double-double” with 11
rebounds and 7 points. Chase Brown was also
feeling it from outside with 4 made 3-pointers and
12 points. Matt Jennings was also instrumental with
his steady, all around play.
Junior Varsity
Snow impacted everything for the JV basketball
team in February. Nearly all of the February games
were either re-scheduled or cancelled. During the
last week of the season, Coach Mark Travis finally
got his full contingent back.
Unfortunately, the squad experienced some late
season bad luck with injuries. Starting point guard
Matt Maribojoc, big-man, Rahul Sundararaman,
and defensive stopper Amit Gupta were forced to
miss multiple games as the result of head injuries.
The boys faced some difficult games against
Marshall and Wakefield, but they nearly won games
against Lee and Falls Church. They closed the
season with a strong win against Edison. The
Osbourn Park and Stuart games were cancelled.
Coach Mark Grey Mendes was especially grateful
for the leadership and efforts of the graduating
Seniors this year including Anant Tewari, D.J.
Jayachandran, Amir McGettrick, Alex Cintron,
Calvin Chen, Douglas Andre, and Rahul
Sundararaman. In a fitting tribute, the Colonial
faithful celebrated the accomplishments of the
exemplary student-athletes during a Senior Day
celebration. It was an appropriate ending of a year
in which all were excited to brake in the beautiful,
Coach Travis established a rotation of 8 players by
the middle of the season. But, he was able to shake
up the rotation in the last week and play everyone
for significant minutes.
March 2016
The 2015-2016 Varsity Colonials celebrate after Senior
night.
Playing more competitively and getting some more
wins, the JV team took great strides over last year’s
Freshman team. With the season end, the players
hold evaluation session with the coaches before the
Winter Sports banquet. For those continuing on to
Page 24
play next season, there will be offseason workouts,
green days, summer camp, summer league, and fall
league to keep them in shape.
After spending six days a week together for the past
three months, the players have gotten very close.
Eight of the players have been together since the
Freshman team. The players will enjoy catching up
on sleep and other activities, but they will miss
Coach Travis and the team.
Freshmen
The Freshman Boys started off February with a
tough 23-57 loss to Marshall High School. The next
night the team redeemed themselves with tough
play against Lee High School. Aaron Wadhwa came
out strong and was an offensive and defensive
force. Sebastian VanderPloeg Fallon was strong on
offensive with both scoring and rebounds. Ray
Wang and Daniel Shen both had pressure steals,
rebounds, and fast break layups. Ishaan Dwivedi,
Max Graves, Phineas Ulmishek-Anderson, and
Adityu Konera all played well and contributed
rebounds, blocks, and baskets which resulted in a
convincing 54-16 victory.
On February 6 the team took the court at Falls
Church. Due to the snow delay the visitors were
actually the home team on the scoreboard. The
boys defense kept them in the game while they
struggled offensively, as the score was 9-10 in favor
of Falls Church at the break. Todd Hartman sparked
the Colonials in the second half with defensive
intensity and some much needed drives to the
basket. Todd netted 7 points and snatched 4
rebounds. Maxwell Lee contributed 8 points, 10
rebounds, and 6 steals. Floor leader Maxwell Jones
pitched in 8 points and 7 steals. Will Pemble and
Aaron Wadhwa each tossed in 5 points while Cal
Hartzell contributed 5 rebounds, 3 blocked shots,
and 2 steals. Clearly Coach Boltersdorf’s halftime
speech turned the team around and the boys left
Falls Church victorious for the second time in a
single season. The final score was 38-27.
After a tough home loss at home to Wakefield in
January, the Freshmen were excited to have a
second shot at them. The boys came out hot and
took it to Wakefield from the opening whistle. The
March 2016
game was close and hard fought from beginning to
end. Aaron Wadhwa had an amazing night. He was
3-5 from the 3-point line and netted 17 points. Cal
Hartzell tossed in 11 points, 8 rebounds, and 4
steals. Will Pemble contributed 9 points, 5
rebounds, and 4 assists. At the end our boys missed
some easy shots and Wakefield drew within 1 point
with some clutch 3-points. With 1.7 seconds left on
the clock Wakefield drew a foul call. They stepped
up and 2 free throws to squeak out the win. The
Colonials competed hard but in the end some
missed shots and clock management cost them a
close one. The final tally was Colonials 51Wakefield 52.
The Freshmen finished out the season at home
against Thomas Edison on February 11. Aaron
Wadhwa and Will Pemble shared team honors with
20 points each. Maxwell Jones netted 7 points
along with 4 steals. Sebastian VanderPloeg Fallon
contributed 6 points. The Freshmen walked away
with a satisfying 63-46 victory.
The team’s improvement over the season is
indicative of their talent as a group and the great
leadership from Coach Boltersdorf.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Varsity Basketball
The Varsity Girls basketball team had their best
season in over a decade ending the regular season
with an 11-11 record, placing them fourth in the
Capital Conference. A disappointing home court
loss in the first round of Conference playoffs ended
the post season play. With a “young squad”
advantage of no graduating senior players and an
already established off season workout plan in
place, this team is sure to return even stronger and
faster next year.
Post Season Awards:
Congratulations to our Capital Conference
honorees!
Freshman, Savannah Wilson was named All
Conference 2nd Team and All Conference Rookie
Team.
Freshman, Mallory Brodnik named All Conference
Honorable Mention and All Conference Rookie
Page 25
Team.
Junior, Sarah Dickson named All Conference
Honorable Mention and All Conference Rookie
Team.
Junior Dana Scheetz named All Conference
Honorable Mention.
Varsity head coach, Liz Reed voted Capital
Conference Coach of the Year.
The Team would like to thank all those that
supported them both in the stands and beyond the
court throughout the season. We thank Coach
Anderson for the many post- game morale lifting
stories and always keeping an eagle-eye on the ref
staff; Coach Cam for all the energy she brings to the
gym and bench during games and Coach Liz for all
the pre- game scouting and post- game analytics
that keeps us moving forward as individual players
and strengthens us as a team. Thanks to our
wonderful team managers Katie Zechman and
Anoop Kalra for doing all that was asked of them
and more. Thanks to JV Coach B and the JV and
freshman players that helped with filming. We
appreciate all those that ran concessions and
manned the ticket table and special thanks to
Christine Wilson for guiding our strength training in
the weight room, Kelly Scheetz and Patricia
Connally for serving as Parent Liaisons, Tom
Connally for his excellent game announcing, Debbie
Martinka for serving as the unofficial team
photographer, and Christine McKelvey for providing
emergency shelter during the storm.
Junior Varsity
The JV Girls Basketball team finished their season
with a record of 6 wins and 7 losses, the most wins
by a JV team for at least the past 6 seasons. The
March 2016
team was young, with 6 Freshmen and 4
Sophomores, and improved considerably as the
season progressed. All 10 girls worked hard and
gave their best for Coach Chet Bracuto all season
long. Co-Captain/Point Guard Cassidy Trinh was the
team's primary ballhandler and had a terrific season
'quarterbacking' the team. Emmalyn Kim, Grace Lu,
Olivia Lu, and Co-Captain Hannah Wang provided
great hustle and leadership all year. Ramya Susaria,
Grace Stewart, Sophia Trissell, and Varshini Babu
were the team's leading rebounders, often tangling
with taller girls on the opposing teams. Ramya (9.6
points per game), Emmalyn (9 ppg), and Shreya
Wadehra (8.7 ppg) were the leading scorers. Late
season highlights included a win against Stuart by
20 points and a great comeback against Edison in
the final game of the season. After falling behind
Edison by 18 points early in the game, the team
fought back to get within 2 points with 3 minutes
left but fell short at the end. Despite the loss, this
may have been the JV's best game of the season.
Combined with a fine season by the Varsity Girls,
who had no seniors, the future of TJ basketball
looks very bright.
Freshmen
Freshman Girls had a good season of basketball.
The team had a mixture of experienced and not-soexperienced girls. The team built a great rapport
with each other and supported one another in the
games. Their offensive team led by Claire
Heinbaugh and Alyssa Nash honed their skills with
each practice and game and ended the season by
putting up a great offense in all the games. The
defense led by forwards Riya Dabbi and Michelle
Liang supported the offense by keeping at bay the
opposing team. The last few games were nailbitingly exciting with very close finishes.
The girls ended on a high note by winning 38-23
against Edison High School. Kudos to the girls for all
their hard work and team work. Thanks to Coach
Amy Lampazzi for building on the girls’ strengths
and making a team to reckon with. Good luck
Freshman Girls for your next endeavor!
Thank you to Jyotsna Dabbi for assuming the role of
parent liaison for our team and thank you to all the
parents who assisted at the games. A special thanks
Page 26
also goes out to our intrepid bus driver, Chris
Garnett, who transported us to daily practices. It
has been a fun season!
DANCE TEAM
The TJ Varsity Dance Team, Cece Xiao, Vivian Fang,
Sara Warrington, Jennifer Song, Bhavana
Channavajjala, Andrea Tse, Kathryn Wen, Emily
Zou, Selina Cheng, Melody Chiang, Emma Zhang,
Audrey Park, Sahana Aiyer, Katie Zhang, Catlinh
Nguyen, Katherine Barbano, Rae Moar, Olivia Xia,
Sarah Wang, Jennifer Liu, Katherine Hughes, and
Emily Xiong, coached by Stephanie Levin,
completed this season very strong.
The team attended the National Dance Team
Championship Competition in Orlando, Florida from
January 29 - January 31. This was their first year at
Nationals and they received a Superior Award.
Category. On February 6, at the Gar-Field
Sweetheart Invitational Dance Competition, the
following dancers performed extremely well for
their solos: Cece Xiao (placed 1st), Melody Chiang
(placed 7th), Audrey Park (placed 9th) and Vivian
Fang. For the Duo Category, Cece Xiao and Vivian
Fang placed 3rd. For the Officer's Routine, Cece
Xiao, Vivian Fang, Jennifer Song, Emma Zhang, and
Selina Cheng received 2nd place. For the team
routines, TJ received 3rd in the Jazz Category, 2nd in
the Lyrical Category and 2nd in the Kick Category.
Lastly, the girls congratulated the seniors, Sara
Warrington, Jennifer Song, Bhavana Channavajjal,
Vivian Fang, Cece Xiao, Kathryn Wen and Andrea
Tse, on Senior Night after their last basketball game
performance. Good luck to these girls.
INDOOR TRACK
Even though the cold snow storms closed school
and covered the track in layers of fine white
powder, that didn’t stop the TJ track team from
training and preparing for the 2015-2016
Conference 13 Indoor Track Championships. The
meet was held on two separate days; Day 1 was on
February 11, while Day 2 was on February 13.
In addition, on January 30, at the Brooke Point High
School Invitational Dance and Cheer Competition,
Katherine Barbano, placed 2nd in Senior Tap
March 2016
On Day 1, the field competitors, the 4x800 relay and
the short sprinters ran at Episcopal High School,
taking advantage of the well-furnished indoor track.
The meet kicked off with the boys’ long jump. In the
first flight, our athletes Wills Song and Nathan
Stroh leaped 17’7” and 16’6.75”, respectively, to
start things off for the Colonials. At the end of the
Page 27
first flight, they were ranked high, but then the
second flight displaced them. In this seeded second
flight was another Colonial, Charlie Guan, who had
a splendid attempt. After jumping three mediocre
jumps, he jumped an astonishing 21’3” in his fourth
and final jump to take the second place in the
event. This jump also broke the all-time school
record in the long jump. Guan secured his bid for
States at the end of this month, and we’ll see if he
will be able to PR once again.
After the boys’ long jump concluded, it was the
girl’s turn. Our very own Christina Oh and Elizabeth
Hu jumped stellar 14’6” and 14’3” respectively.
They both finished top 6 and move on to Regionals.
On the track, the preliminary race for the hurdles
began as the girls were long jumping. For the girls,
all three Colonial hurdlers – Claire Dong, Ashley Lin,
and again Christina Oh – successfully qualified for
the finals later that evening. Dong also hit an auto
region-qualifying time of 9.40, while Lin and Oh
were right behind her with times of 9.71 and 10.11,
respectively. On the boys’ side, we saw Michael
Rodriguez race in the first heat, PR’ing with a time
of 9.22. Then, in the second heat, Charlie Guan –
who already had a spectacular performance in the
long jump – torch his competitors again in the 55m
hurdles, running a personal best of 7.70. This new
mark, just like the long jump distance, broke the alltime school record. Wills Song, racing alongside
Guan, ran a 8.81. Song and Guan advanced to finals,
while Rodriguez was unfortunately one place away
from making the cut.
Then, in the 55m dash, Dong and Hu attempted to
make it to the finals, but tired from the hurdles and
the long jump, they missed the cut. However, on
the guy’s side, Jacob Adolphe and Roman
Kasparian ran 6.99 and 7.01, respectively, to qualify
for finals. Rodriguez also had a good race with a
time of 7.16, but again fell just short of qualifying
for finals.
Next was the 4x800 relay, the girls’ relay consisted
of Abby Shoemaker, Nikita Sawant, Margaret
Covey, Bayliss Wagner, and alternate Caroline Cox.
Because Wagner’s calf was hurting that day,
Caroline took her place in the relay. They ran a solid
March 2016
time of 10:34.62 and placed third, guaranteeing
their spot at Regionals. The men’s relay consisting
of Alex Hoganson, Saurav Velleleth, Dylan Klapper,
and Nate Foss crushed the other teams, running a
8:19.73 to win the event and qualifying for
Regionals. They were off the auto-state time by
mere 0.17 seconds, but once they have a good
competition, they will be sure to lower the time.
While the relay teams were having a glorious
moment, on the infield the throwers and vaulters
competed well. Ashley Lin and Meredith Lee placed
top 6 in the shot put to qualify for regionals, while
Jordan Ganley missed it by one place. On the guys’
side, Hayden Hollenbeck and Sean Ji threw in
everything they had their bids to advance to
regionals, but they missed it. Then, in the pole
vault, Cece Chu won the event with 7’6”, and boys
Joel Goetz and Ryan Burns secured themselves
spots at regionals with top-6 placings. Later, in the
girls’ triple jump, Elizabeth leaped a distance of
31’8.75” to finish fifth, sending her to regionals.
Day 1 of the meet was winding down and would
culminate in the finals of the 55m hurdles and the
55m dash. The girls 55m hurdle finals was the first
race to go ad TJ’s Claire Dong threw down an
impressive time of 9.47, Ashley Lin blew through
the hurdles in 9.51 and Christina Oh finished it off
in a clean 9.95. Dong, Lin and Oh finished 2nd 3rd
and 4th respectively allowing them all to advance to
regionals. After the monster showing from TJ’s girls
hurdlers the guys were up next. Charlie Guan ran
another great race 7.82 taking first and Wills Song
ran a respectable time of 9.70. Guan and Song will
both advance to regionals after earning first team
all-conference honors. Jacob Adolphe and Roman
Kasparian finished off the day's races with 7.04 and
6.97 respectively. 6.97 was a PR for Kasparian and
allowed him to narrowly edge out Adolphe for 4th
place.
Day 2 started at the crack of dawn with the boys
and girls 4x200m relays. TJ’s Girls team was made
up of Sydney Miller, Claire Dong, Alynne Cutler,
and Ashley Lin. Miller and Cutler were able to run
very competitive legs of the relay allowing them to
place 2nd scoring 8 points. The guys team was
made up of Jonah Casebeer, Jesse Cai, Akhil
Page 28
Madhugiri, and Charlie Guan. Casebeer ran the
leadoff leg for TJ placing them in first which was
maintained thanks to strong legs from Cai and
Madhugiri. They advanced to regionals after taking
1st in the conference.
Following the 4x200s were the miles. TJ entered 3
girls; Abigail Shoemaker, Caroline Cox, and Violet
Felt. Shoemaker was narrowly beaten for 6th place
and her team mates had similarly strong
performances. TJ also entered 2 guys; Saurav
Velleleth and Nate Foss. By all reasonable
measures, it appeared to be an easy win for
Velleleth. Unfortunately tragedy struck near the
end of the race. With 100m to go, Velleleth had a
10 meter lead over the lead Marshall runner, Patrick
Lynch, who in turn led Nate Foss. With 50 meters
left, Lynch had a huge kick and Velleleth, believing
he had won the race slowed down. Lynch was able
to beat out Velleleth by one stride. Thus, TJ only
took second and third in the 1600. Fortunately,
both Foss and Velleleth moved on to regionals.
Miller led the girls team in the 500m with a 6th
place finish of 1:29. The guys side was made up of
three underclassmen; Michael Chang, Timothy Han,
and John Kim. They performed very admirably and
we hope to see them return next year.
The penultimate distance event was the 1000m run.
The girls team was led by a blazing race from
Margaret Covey who lit up the track with her
teammate Bayliss Wagner. They placed 3rd and 5th
respectively and moved on to regionals. Wagner
shows much promise as this is her first indoor track
season.
On the boys’ side, Alex Hoganson took it out strong
and led for the first 999.99 meters, barely edged
out by .02 seconds in the final stretch. Despite
having run the 1600 shortly beforehand, Foss
finished just half a second behind them. Close on
Foss' heels, Dylan Klapper, our fastest
underclassman, finished 4th in a very competitive
race. All three advanced to Regionals.
who has been a powerhouse for the girls’ team, ran
a season’s best of 47.36. Charlie Guan was the first
boy on the track for TJ in the 300m. He cruised
through and easily won his heat. Akhil Madhugiri
had much tougher competition and was saving
himself for the 4x400 later in the meet. He hopes to
come back next year and prove himself again. Jesse
Cai was TJ’s best 300m runner, he competed head
to head with Moses Kamara. Moses proved to be a
bit faster, and ultimately Cai took 3rd after running
an amazing 38.9 at TJ rec.
The 3200 was the last distance event. Nora
Thompson, Jennifer Steele, and Caroline Cox were
the girls entered in the race. They ultimately
performed strongly and will have another chance in
the upcoming season. The boys entered, were
Saurav Velelleth, Nathan Riopelle, and William
Baxley. Velelleth, still frustrated about his loss in
the mile was determined to not let that happen
again. After strong runs by all three, Velelleth took
first, Riopelle took second, and Baxley took fourth
allowing all three advanced to regionals.
The last event of the day was the boys and girls
4x400m relays. The girls’ team was made up of
Margaret C., Nikita Sawant, Alynne Cutler, and
Sydney Miller. These ladies were able to show off
some endurance as all of them had already run that
day. Facing teams that had fresh runners they were
able to place an impressive 3rd and moved on to
regionals. The guys’ team was made up of Akhil
Madhugiri, Jesse Cai, Karthik Maiya, and Jonah
Casebeer. Despite still recovering from the 300m
dash, Madhugiri and Cai still ran strong legs putting
the relay third place. Maiya and Casebeer
maintained this placing, allowing the team to
advance to regionals and place 3rd in the
conference.
At Conferences - The Lady Colonials took 3rd and
the Men took 2nd overall. Stay tuned for Regional
and State results in next month’s Techcetera!
Alynne Cutler and Ashley Lin were TJ’s entries in
the girls 300m. Cutler was able to eclipse the
competition and received a 4th place finish. Lin,
March 2016
Page 29
CREW BOOSTERS
The registration for TJ Crew 2016 Spring Season was
a success! We are excited to welcome 112 novice
and returning rowers/coxswains to this year’s team.
A big Thank You to our dedicated coaches and
enthusiastic Booster Board members for putting
together an informative and successful Family Signup Night!
The annual Million Meter Ergathon fundraiser was
held on Thursday, February 11. Our rowers rowed
1,000,008 meters to raise money for the team. It’s
not too late to support your favorite TJ rower or
coxswain. Simply note the student-athlete’s name
on your check and mail it to: TJ Crew Boosters, 2016
Ergathon Chair, c/o David Brower, 7825 Accotink
Place, Alexandra, VA 22308.TJ Crew is not funded by
FCPS, so your tax-deductible donation is greatly
appreciated! We are especially grateful to the
following sponsors: GOLD LEVEL: Reston T-Shirt,
SILVER LEVEL: Oakton Academy, and BRONZE
LEVEL: Concept 2, JL RACING, HS International
Academy, Krekeler Brower Wealth Advisors, the
Law offices of Vivian Chang, and Sunshine
Academy.
TJ Rowers working hard to meet the Million Meter Mark!
Spring rowing season opened late February. Our
athletes are traveling daily after school and on
Saturday mornings to Sandy Run Regional Park to
practice on the Occoquan River. Our first regatta
this season is the Regional Park Regatta at Sandy
Run on April 2. The full regatta schedule and
directions to racing venues are posted on the TJ
Crew website. Parents, don’t forget to volunteer at
least once at an Occoquan regatta. Check the SignUp Genius on the website for details.
Congratulations to our athletes who received an
early acceptance to colleges and have committed to
row/cox for their schools: Joyce Duan has
committed to cox for Yale, and William Randolph
will row for Columbia!
For questions, students should contact the Crew
Captains at TJMensCaptains at gmail.com and
TJWomensCaptains at gmail.com. Questions may
also be emailed to our team’s head coach
KimEhrman at kimehrman at gmail.com, and/or TJ
Crew President Ed McDonald at TJCrewpresident at
gmail.com. Parents are always welcome at the
Crew Booster Board Meetings, which are held at 7
pm at TJ on the second Wednesday of each month.
Ergathon 2016
March 2016
Page 30
Sophomore Wins Dubois Piano
Competition
Sophomore Eric Lin won the David D. Dubois Piano
Competition at Bowling Green State University,
which included a cash award of $3,000.
FREE COMMUNITY-WIDE
th
4 Annual Culinary Challenge
and Wellness EXPO
March 12 | 10AM – 2PM
Robinson Secondary School
Whether you are a student, a parent, a teacher
or just interested in leading a more healthful
lifestyle, this event has something for you!
At the Dubois, Eric performed Beethoven’s Sonata
in C minor, as his required Classical Era sonata, and
Frederic Chopin’s Scherzo No.3 as well as two 20th
century works, a Bela Bartok etude and a
movement from Samuel Barber’s Sonata in E-flat
Major. Eric loves music because it can reach across
borders. He’s devoted to classical music. Though he
may sometimes play a pop tune, he finds that that
type of music “lacks depth.” As a sophomore, he is
uncertain what career he will pursue.
WATCH - The Culinary Challenge: Meet teen
chefs from across the county as they bring
their ideas - and food samples - front and
center. Come see the snacks, breakfast and
lunch ideas they are cooking up.
LEARN - FREE Expert-led Workshops—
• Ideas for Quick Healthy Dinners
•
•
School Lunch innovations with Chef Paul
Washington Post deputy food editor &
photographer
•
Best practices in School Garden
Programs
Sophomore to Compete in the Junior
Olympics
Sophomore Tadek Kosmal has been invited to
compete in the Junior Olympics in the Men’s RifleAir Rifle event. This will be the fourth time Tadek
has competed in the Junior Olympics. Tadek
competes locally with a team for students who do
not have a high school team and he is a member of
the Arlington Optimists Combined Junior Rifle Club.
The Arlington club has produced two athletes who
will likely be on the USA Olympic team this year.
March 2016
•
and more!
WIN - PRIZES: $600 Earl’s Kitchen | $500
Williams-Sonoma | and more! Enter prize
drawing during the Culinary Challenge.
TRY - NEW FCPS Signature Sandwiches
available for purchase ($3) during the event.
REGISTER HERE- for the Culinary Challenge
and up to 2 workshops per person – space is
limited so be sure to register today.
www.RealFoodForKids.org
Page 31
Marketplace
March 2016
Page 32
TJHSST LICENSE PLATE FRAMES
Show your school pride and spirit with attractive, durable license plate frames. Proceeds benefit the
Thomas Jefferson Band Boosters. These are great gifts for any occasion!
1. Selection
Option A:
Our popular TJHSST class year license frame
1) Select graduation year and note quantity:
__________2019
__________2018
__________2017
__________2016
__________2015
_________ write in the year
2) Frame Style: Verify which of these applies to your vehicle:
Standard _______ (holes and renewal stickers on top)
Reversed _______(holes and stickers on bottom)
Option B:
Customized license frame order
Personalized with any school name, graduation year, team, club or slogan!
1) Circle background color/letter color:
Typical: red/white on top with blue/white on bottom
Or: white/red, white/blue, white/black, red/white, black/white, black/gold, black/grey,
gold/black, dark green/white, dark green/gold, blue/white,
blue/gold, yellow/black, burgundy/white, burgundy/gold
2) Insert your message (include spaces):
|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__| top
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 11
12
13 14 15 16
17 18
19
20
|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__| bottom
3) Frame Style: Verify which of these applies to your vehicle:
Standard _______(holes and renewal stickers on top)
Reversed _______(holes and renewal stickers on bottom)
2. Payment:
________ x $20.00 each = ______________
Please make check payable to “TJHSST Band Boosters”.
Thank you!
3.Your Information:
Name: ____________________________ Phone: _________________
Provide e-mail address, and you will receive e-mail when your order is available for pickup at the TJ front office:
E-mail Address:________________________________________________________
Student’s name:________________________________________________________
SEND FORM AND CHECK payable to “TJHSST Band Boosters” to:
Therese Chaplin 6027 Bitternut Drive
Alexandria, VA 22310
Questions? Contact tchaplin at verizon.net
or 703-971-3776 (home)
March 2016
Page 33
Noteworthy Dates
MARCH 2016
1
8
10
12
17
19
21-28
NO SCHOOL
Primary elections
PTSA meeting, cafeteria, 6:30 to 8:00pm
Dome Celebration and Open House, 5:00-7:00pm, RSVP here
6th Annual Pi-Miler, see page 12.
St. Patrick’s Day
Showcase, Band Boosters biggest fundraiser
SPRING BREAK
NO SCHOOL
School Holiday
APRIL 2016
1
8
21
22
27
February 2016
April Fools’ Day
Principal’s Coffee, 9:00-11:00am, cafeteria
End of 3rd Quarter, 2 hour early release, 2:00pm
NO SCHOOL
Teacher Work Day
Teacher & Staff Appreciation Lunch
Page 34

Principal`s Letter President`s Letter

Transcription

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