April 2016

“Striving for
Excellence.”
APPOMATTOX
COUNTY HIGH
SCHOOL
198 EVERGREEN
AVE.
APPOMATTOX
VIRGINIA
24522
434-352-7146
Newsletter
designed by:
Hilary
Hollandsworth
Raider Digest
D R .
P O L D I
Q U A R T E R L Y
M O R E N O ,
P R I N C I P A L
N E W S L E T T E R
M A R C H
2 0 1 6
Spring Forward
Happy March Madness! As we Spring forward this month towards the final grading period, and as the students are
getting excited about the warm weather, spring break, the Prom, and graduation, it is important to remind students
to keep focusing on their academic goals for their high and post high school future.
We are excited for our seniors who are finalizing their plans for college and careers. Our underclassmen are finalizing grades, projects, and their studies as some prepare for the spring SOL tests. Staff are wrapping up their
goals for this year and already making plans for next year.
The weather is starting to warm up and it appears that spring is here to stay. Spring sports are now in full swing,
and I invite you to come and support our Raiders as they participate in softball, baseball, track, tennis, and soccer.
I hope you all enjoy your spring break, and I look forward to seeing you at one of our many ACHS events.
Educationally yours,
Poldi Moreno, Ed.D.
INSIDE
LOOK
Club News
2
Classroom
Successes
3
Technology in 4
Action
Raiders singing their way to Success!
Seven Chorus members were selected to the Longwood University Honors Choir and spent a weekend participating in the event. Laura Boyett, Cirenna Koester, Haley Miller, Calysta Tichenor, Makayla Trent, Kierra Turner, and
Kiera Walker were selected to represent Appomattox County High School in this cooperative choir consisting of
additional members from Central High School, Fuqua School, Prince Edward High School, Amelia High School,
Buckingham High School and Longwood University’s Camerata Singers, Chamber Singers, and Men & Women’s
Vocal Ensembles. Sophomore Haley Miller said her favorite part of the weekend was putting the sightsinging skills
she has learned in class to the ultimate test by learning an
entire song using only solfege syllables (a systematic approach to vocal music literacy). Sophomore Cirenna Koester
cited the opportunity to make new friends from other high
schools while meeting and working with college music majors
from Longwood University who helped them through the rehearsal process. The remaining students agreed that their
favorite aspect of the weekend was singing in the large group
of talented vocalists. ACHS Chorus teacher Brenda Jarrett
cites her favorite aspect of the weekend was seeing her students’ excitement and hearing their fantastic performances
for this event at her own Alma Mater.
Chorus students from both the high school and middle school
traveled to Lord Botetourt High School to audition for All-District Chorus in November. Sophomore Cirenna
Koester returned with a healthy score from the judges garnering her a selection to the All-District Chorus as an
Alto I. She represented Appomattox County High School at the All-District Chorus event on Feb. 12th and 13th.
The concert was impressive, and we are proud of how well Cirenna represented ACHS in rehearsals and performance.
Junior Chorus member Sean Murray continues to strive for excellence in his own community. He has made it his
mission to raise funds to restore the Pamplin playground. His fundraising goal was $4,000, and as of February 7th,
he was only $85 away from meeting the goal! We are proud of Sean’s initiative and persistence to see this project
through.
-Brenda Jarrett
Club News
FFA
Part of the FFA mission
is to develop each student’s potential for career success. Andrew
Sams and Frankie Hoffman recently excelled in the HUB Federation Tractor Troubleshooting Career
Development Event. They placed first
and will advance to area competition in
May. Junior, Jimmy Brightwell, placed
2nd in the HUB Federation Small Engines Troubleshooting event. Jordan
Moore participated in the HUB Federation Extemporaneous and Prepared
Public Speaking events. She placed 2nd
for her speech on tobacco production in
America. She earned the top spot in
Extemporanous speaking and will represent ACHS at the area contest. Lastly, Danielle Alexander, Estella Mason,
Andrea Hodges, and Frankie Hoffman
placed 4th in Dairy Judging.
National FFA Week was recently celebrated at ACHS. FFA chapters across
the country use this week to teach others about the FFA, and the Appomattox
Senior FFA Chapter was no exception.
There was a fun activity for students to
participate in each day of the FFA spirit
filled week. Monday was “team day”.
Many FFA members donned their best
raider and college team gear. Although
FFA colors are National Blue and Corn
Gold, 23 FFA members chose to go
“green” and-collected litter on the roadside as part of the FFA Adopt-AHighway program. Tuesday was faculty
and staff appreciation day. FFA members sponsored a breakfast in the conference room. Teachers and staff also
participated in a new campaign called,
“What is ag to you?”. They each posed
for pictures that explained their opinions
about agriculture. On Wednesday, FFA
members all wore their chapter t-shirts.
When the devastating Tornado occurred later that day, the rest of National FFA week was postponed. The trip to
Funquest was rescheduled for March
23. Any members participating need to complete
another permission slip.
The annual sausage fundraiser was delayed. Members opted to donate
$0.25 of the proceeds
from each pack of sausage to tornado relief
efforts. Parents and community members interested in ordering sausage
should contact chapter
advisor, Ed McCann by
phone at 434-352-8396.
-Ed McCann
FFA members should take note of the following dates:
March 25: Greenhand, Chapter, State and American
Degrees and Proficiency Awards due
April 6: Southside Area Rally
April 8: Greenhand and Chapter Degree Initiation Ceremony (Club Day)
April 13: 2016-2017 Officer Applications Due
April 15: Banquet RSVP Due, Officer Interviews, 3:305:00
April 19, 25 – Banquet Practice, 3:30-5:00
April 21 – Little Farmers’ Day
April 26 – FFA Banquet, Cafeteria 6:00
May 6, 7 – Central Virginia Livestock Show
National
Honor
Society
In February The
National Honor
Society made Valentine’s Day Cards
for the residents of the Appomattox Rehab Center. In March the club held a No
Tails Left Behind drive to benefit the Appomattox County
Animal Shelter
and Till The End
of Time No Kill
Shelter this
month. With the
support of students and staff
the club raised
$160 and a truck load of supplies to be
split between the two facilities.
-Mary Ann Bennett
both houses,
then they will
be either signed
or vetoed by
the Youth Governor. Also,
while in attendance, the girls
will get to participate in elections for next
year’s officers and the “Youth Governor’s
Inaugural Ball.” As an added honor, Whitley Drinkard, the only returning MGA
participant, was chosen by the staff of the
YMCA MGA program to be the floor leader in the House. This means that she
gets to determine when debate will be cut
off to go into a vote on bills in the House
of Delegates. This program takes place in
the Capitol in Richmond, VA, and a select
group of students have the opportunity to
be chosen to attend CONA, the national
convention in the summer.
-Stephanie Tyree
Government Club
Whitley Drinkard, Jordan Moore, Sinead
O’Neill, and Shayla Thomas will be attending Model General Assembly in Richmond, VA ,on April 14-16. At this threeday conference, the girls will present two
bills to be debated and voted on by both
the House of Delegates and Senate after
being presented in their various committees. Should the bills make it through
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“They got skills…”
SkillsUSA Region 3 Technical Skills Competition, Monday, March 14 th
Instructor: Diane Tuck
Student: Alex Phelps
Contest: Technical Drafting
Place: 2nd
“The depth
of learning
is in direct
relation to
the
intensity
of the
experience.”
-Robert
Monroe
Instructor: Diane Tuck
Student: Jacob Poore
Contest: Technical Drafting
Place: 3rd
Instructor: Diane Tuck
Student: Kenny Caudill
Contest: Architectural Drawing
Place: 2nd
Instructor: David Cardwell
Student: Blake Page
Contest: Auto Services
Place: 2nd
Instructor: Jason Clark
Student: William Huffman
Qualified for State Competition April 15-16
Contest: Information Technology Services
Place: 1st
pot trees. Many of the students expressed how
they did not realize how many other jobs were
involved in the area of landscaping and that they
would like to explore more in this career field.
-Ronda Matthews
On March 17th, the ACHS Landscaping class took the opportunity to visit Proctor Harvey Landscape Design in Lynchburg
and RSG Landscaping in Concord to see firsthand the various
jobs in the landscaping spectrum. The students were shown
how to use Auto CAD in designing hardscapes, given real examples of how a design goes from brainstorming to finished
product, were able to walk the river bluff to see finished products, they visited the nurseries at RSG, explored equipment,
learned how to get a job with the company, and they helped to
RAIDER
DIGEST
PAGE
Appomattox to Gettysburg Skype Sessions – Brainstorming
Appomattox to
Gettysburg
Here is the list of ideas that were discussed:
 Battle in Box/ Lee's Retreat
Using Gettysburg’s “Battle in a Box” idea, develop a similar “box” following Lee’s
Retreat from Richmond and Petersburg to Appomattox.
Have boxes or a gridded piece of paper/cardstock to represent Richmond and
Petersburg (and Lynchburg?) and some other small object to represent other key
events/places (Five Forks, Amelia C.H., etc.) and use yarn or some other cord to
shoe the rivers and railroads.
Students could then represent Lee, Grant, other parts of the armies (Corps Commanders, maybe) and perhaps even Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln and
walk the retreat route as it is laid out of the classroom floor to show where everyone was on April 1-9.
A “Battle in a Box” could also be developed for
the Battles of Appomattox Station and/or Battle
of Appomattox
 Living History/Stacking of Arms
Have Park Service interpreters do a
living history interpretation of the
surrender (Confederate or both
Union and Confederate)
Have Appo. Students reenact a mini
stacking of arms (either filmed at
the Park or in the classroom or
both
We probably don’t need to do a Civil
Soldier marching/drill lesson
since the Rangers at Gettysburg
already did that so well.
 Virtual Tour clips/ Q&A
Give the Gettysburg students a “Virtual Tour” of Appomattox C.H. using footage being shot by the “Documentary
Team” and have the Gettysburg students act as a “focus group”: what worked, what questions were answered, what wasn’t answered, what else do they think needs to be added or clarified?
 Letters/documents classroom with Rangers
Ernie Price, Pat Schroeder, Alyssa Holland, and/or Chris Bingham present a classroom lesson about the surrender
Copies of the Lee and Grant’s correspondence and the exchange of the surrender letters could be used in this;
send copies of the letters to Gettysburg and have the Gettysburg students try put them in the correct order
from Grant’s first letter to Lee’s acceptance Letter (or General Order No. 9) and then have the Rangers go over
the proper sequence and explain the process (Again, “stealing” the idea from the when Barbara Sanders had
the Appomattox student put the Gettysburg Address in its proper sequence).
 Footsteps to Freedom/ Civilian Aftermath
A. A program about the surrender from the civilian point of view, perhaps building on the Hannah Reynolds
“Footsteps to Freedom” program
B. A program about the McLean family
C. A program about what happened to Appomattox after the war
 A Parole pass activity
Use copies of the parole passes and develop a program about their background?
-Joe Servis
RAIDER
DIGEST
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Yearbook Information
Parents of Juniors & Seniors
Save money and pre-order your yearbook online
at www.jostensyearbooks.com! Preordered
yearbooks cost $70!
*Payments and partial payments can be made
online.
*If you are interested in being on the
After-Prom Committee, please call
LaToya Graves in the main office
to get on the list!
The deadline to order non-personalized
yearbooks online is April 1, 2016.
SENIORS:
A baby picture and group photos from primary school through high school to use in the
senior video should be submitted to Ms. Tyree.
Fun stories from primary school through high school to be used in the senior history
needs to be submitted to Mrs. Dalton.
Dates to Remember:
Senior Trip: April 7-10
Junior/Senior Prom: April 23
Graduation Practice: May 9th at 11 a.m.
Senior Picnic: May 13
Senior Baccalaureate: May 15
Class Day: May 16
Graduation: May 17, 7pm at the Vines Center at Liberty University
Important Dates to Remember:
March 28 – April 1 – Spring Break
April 23 – Junior/Senior Prom
April 26- FFA Banquet
May 2 – AP testing begins
May 2 – 6 – Teacher Appreciation Week
May 9 – SOL testing starts this week
May 17 – Graduation at Vine Center
May 18 – Class Ring ceremony
May 24 – Spring VHSL Ceremony
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