Like many of you, our family has been discussing 2023-2024 curriculum options with our Langley student. I appreciated the in-person curriculum night last week and the access to the teacher videos with the updated Student Services webpage.
I want to share some ideas from a prior year's eNews article by former PTSA President Patty Burgess. In this situation, she found inspiration in the LHS Core Values and Beliefs located on the school website.
The first LHS Core Value is to develop Life-Long Learners who can achieve happiness through learning, who work to meet the high expectations the community sets for them, and who value learning for the sake of learning. Outstanding goals for our students!
Second, LHS strives to foster a positive and inclusive culture where mutual respect builds positive relationships. Supporting this goal will model for our children the productive and successful relationships we wish for them!
Balance, the third tenet, can be so difficult to attain even as an adult, much less as a teenager. LHS Core Values state students should have balanced lives that include academic achievement, extracurricular activities, social skills development, and time with family. Academic skills should be balanced with ethical and moral development, and students should not sacrifice current happiness for future happiness. It’s easy to focus so much on the academic piece that we can lose sight of the other aspects of our lives that help us achieve balance. Family ... exercise ... music ... clubs ... part-time jobs ... there are many facets to a happy life.
With these thoughts in mind, encourage your student to consider balance and best fit this January and February as they consider curriculum choices for next year.
~ Jamie H. Loving, PTSA President
|
|
all-district band: Congrats to all students who participated in auditions for All-District Band! Langley had 27 band students and 12 alternates selected this year! Students will participate in rehearsals and concert performances for the All-District Band event Feb 2-4 at Oakton HS.
Symphonic Band: Aya Albolote, Katie Chen, Jianwen Ding, Tyler Engola, Anderson Hoang (first chair), Sheila Keshavarz (first chair), Kevin Lee (first chair), Amelia Lee, Elliot Pomper, Calvin Qi, Anniyah Rizvi, Kelly Shi, Vishwa Surabhi, Kaan Tunasar, Tommy Worden (first chair), Noah Workie, Daniella Wu, Daniel Yo, Lily Zhang.
Wind Ensemble: Catherine Dunn, Jacqui Go (first chair), Ryan Healy, Zelmay Jan (first chair), Collin Le (first chair), Jayden Lee, Henry Lin, Myah Tokajer.
All Wind Ensemble students are eligible this year to audition for All-Virginia Band.
|
|
thespian festival: Saxon Stage had a wonderful and successful weekend at the Virginia Thespian Festival, which took place at Shenandoah University. The students participated in workshops ranging from performance to theatre tech. Students got to work with actor and playwright John Cariani (Almost Maine), we performed our VHSL One-Act, students competed in the Thespy's (performing and theatre tech categories), multiple students auditioned for colleges and received callbacks and scholarship offers and made a lot of thespian friends from across the state.
Below are the Thespy Results. Students are not competing against anyone else, just themselves and the rubric. Students that received a Superior rating will move on to perform at the International Thespian Festival in late June at Indiana University.
|
|
Solo Acting
Tori Ransom - Superior
Abby Joe - Superior
Jacqueline Gauthier - Excellent
Acting Duet
Brady Kastner & Nico Morandi-Zerpa - Superior
Conor Farah & Sarah Hilton - Excellent
Michael Thomas & Eli Roberts - Excellent
Tori Ransom & Scarlett Spano - Excellent
Stage Management
Daniel Qiu - Superior
Izzy Steenburgh - Superior
|
|
Musical Solo
Tess Jannery-Barney - Superior
Ava Carter - Excellent
Scarlett Spano - Excellent
Anna Cox - Excellent
Ashraya Suri - Excellent
Hannah Chuh - Excellent
Duet Musical
Ashraya Suri & Hannah Chuh - Excellent
Sound Design
Jenny Mears - Superior (perfect score)
Andy Powell - Superior
Anna Jordan - Superior
|
|
|
Our One Act Fortress also performed and received the following results:
Saxon Stage - One Act - Fortress - Superior Rating
Merit Award - Most Creative Staging & Best Ensemble
All-Star Cast - Scarlett Spano, Frankie Diorio, Brady Kastner
|
|
Parents, are you prepared to talk with your student about substance abuse? Join Langley’s Substance Abuse Prevention Specialist Kelly Rankin on Mon, Jan 23 from 6–8 pm in the Lecture Hall, when Langley hosts a pyramid-wide student safety and wellness presentation, Preparing Families for Difficult Conversations about Drugs and Alcohol. The event is for adults only. View this flyer for more info.
|
|
PTSA members, do you still need to pick up your student directory? The next scheduled directory distribution date is Mon, Jan 23 at the Langley Pyramid Student Safety and Wellness presentation at 6 pm in the Lecture Hall. Can't make it? Email ptsalangley@gmail.com for pick-up option.
|
|
If you were not able to attend the virtual PTSA meeting on Jan 11, check out the recording on the PTSA website. You can catch-up on the many activities that the PTSA is undertaking as well as see the presentation on curriculum by School Counselors Alex Mantel and Natalie Malone.
|
|
The LHS PTSA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee is excited to announce the second annual DIVERSEartLANGLEY art exhibition! The exhibition is Mon, Feb 27 from 6-7 pm in Langley Hall followed by a discussion in the Auditorium from 7-8 pm. Prizes will be awarded to the top three submissions.
Langley students are welcome to submit any original work of art in these formats: photography, painting/drawing, sculpture, literature (short stories/poetry) music, dance, theater/cinema or architecture.
Submissions should answer the following driving question: American Voices Telling American Stories: What is Your American story?
Submission hours are Mon, Feb 20 and Tues, Feb 21 between 7:45–8:10 am in Langley Hall. Be sure to record any audio or visual submissions (music, dance, theatre, film) on a flash drive. Duplicate submissions to Scholastic or Langley Pyramid Art shows are welcome. View the flyer here for more info.
Students, you can receive one hour community service if you attend the exhibition and present your art to attendees.
|
|
one-act competition: One night only! Saxon Stage is proud to present its VHSL One-Act competition play Fortress written by Michael Scanlan. Billy is nine when he finds out, accidentally, that he's adopted. Feeling betrayed, he retreats into a world of his own, cuts his mother and father off completely, and builds up his own Fortress of Solitude, modeling his life after that of the most famous orphan ever, Superman. The 35-minute performance will be tomorrow Fri, Jan 20 at 6:30pm in the Auditorium. Tickets are $5 at the door and cash or credit card payment is accepted.
|
|
spring musical auditions: Saxon Stage is excited for its spring production of Urinetown the Musical! This is a fun show that will guarantee you laugh out loud! Auditions will be held the week of Jan 30 to Feb 3. The auditions will include dancing, singing and acting.
The musical takes place In a Gotham-like city, where a terrible water shortage caused by a 20-year drought has led to a government-enforced ban on private toilets. The citizens must use public amenities, regulated by a single malevolent company that profits by charging admission for one of humanity's most basic needs. Amid the people, a hero decides that he's had enough and plans a revolution to lead them all to freedom! This show has a lot of puns on other classic musical theatre pieces that many will be reminded of.
|
|
|
|
To sign up for an audition time, use this link or scan the QR code. (Students must be signed in with their school Google accounts to access the link and QR code.)
Add the Schoology Group Langley Thespian Society with the code 7NM4-54Q9-7SDCS. All info for the show will be posted in this group, including what to prepare for the auditions.
|
|
|
|
mock sat/act: Attention Langley students! Would you like to practice for upcoming standardized tests? Princeton Review is hosting a virtual SAT or ACT mock test on Sat, Feb 4. The mock test is $25 and will serve as a fundraiser for Langley HS PTSA. Click here to register by Wed, Feb 1.
You’ll be emailed a link to the online classroom and other information prior to the exam. Afterwards, you'll receive a comprehensive score report detailing your strengths and weaknesses.
|
|
chick-fil-a fundraiser: Support Langley baseball and get ready for Super Bowl Sunday on Feb 12 with Chick-Fil-A nuggets! One medium tray holds 120 nuggets and feeds about 15 people for $62.50. Pick up your order at Chick-Fil-A Tysons (8461 Leesburg Pike Ste B, Vienna, VA 22182) between 8 am and 6 pm on Feb 11. All these nuggets need is an oven on Game Day and 10-15 minutes.
View the flyer here for ordering details and use this form to order. Questions? Email Coach Sronce at jwsronce@fcps.edu. Thank you for supporting the Langley Baseball program!
|
|
be my valentine: All Night Grad Party (ANGP) is selling Valentine’s Day Candy bags for $5. Click here to view the flyer and here to buy yours now! Treat bags will be distributed on Mon, Feb 13 and Tues, Feb 14 in the Cafeteria during lunch.
Thank you for supporting ANGP. This sale is for all classes!
|
|
It’s never too early to start planning for next year! The Langley PTSA Nominating Committee is already hard at work finding wonderful volunteers to fill openings on the PTSA executive board and various committee chair positions for the 2023-2024 school year. Whether you can share several hours of your time each week or only an hour each month, there is a role that is just right for you. There are even totally virtual opportunities that can be done from the comfort of your home or office. The Nominating Committee would be happy to assist you in finding the spot that best fits your interests and availability. Please contact Membership Chair Melissa Schwartz at mcschwartz@hotmail.com for more info.
|
|
Looking for a fun, flexible and at-home way to be involved with Langley? Consider joining the Langley eNews team.
We are happy editors who enjoy putting together this e-newsletter each week. We have an immediate opening for someone to join us for the rest of this school year, as a team member is stepping back due to changing work commitments.
|
|
On Sat, Feb 4, in partnership with Rise Against Hunger, the Langley pyramid elementary schools are joining Cooper MS and LHS with a goal to prepare 83,000 meal packages for schools and orphanages around the world.
Volunteer: Register to volunteer at this event here. Enter your last name and enter the "quantity" as the number of volunteers attending. If for any reason you need to cancel, please cancel through the Sign-up Genius to make those slots available to other Langley pyramid families.
Donate: Each meal costs only 42 cents to make. For just $15, you can donate over 35 meals; $30 will make over 70 meals and $100 will make nearly 280 meals. You may make your tax-deductible donation today by clicking here.
|
|
Is your child missing a jacket, sweatshirt, lunchbox and/or water bottle?
It may be in Langley’s very large lost and found collection in the Cafeteria. Have them stop by!
|
|
New to the U.S. college system? Not sure how all the pieces of higher education fit together? Join Langley’s College and Career Specialist Karen Burke for a virtual workshop on Feb 2 at 12 pm. This workshop is geared toward families who have joined LHS from outside the U.S. and is meant to provide a basic understanding of how the U.S. college system works.
Click here to register for this Zoom workshop. Submit questions prior to the workshop on Google Forms by using this link.
|
|
test workshop: Student Services is hosting a test anxiety workshop on Wed, Feb 8 during Langley Links in the Auditorium. The session is open to all students by requesting Anna Brown in Student Services during the Langley Links block on this day. More info is in this flyer.
|
|
study skills: Could you use some help with study and organization skills? LHS counselors are hosting drop-ins during Langley Links “A” session. Topics of the Post-Its for your Mind series include test-taking and anxiety management, note-taking and mindfulness.
View the flyer with topics and dates here and use the QR code to register for sessions.
|
|
The Career Connections Committee is gearing up for an awesome Career Fair on Tues, Feb 21, 9:30-11:15 am.
Parent volunteers needed! This is an in-person event held at LHS aimed to help expose students to different careers. Parents are invited to speak about their careers and inspire our future workforce with their expertise and advice! We still seek speakers in the fields of IT, Engineering, Communications (journalism, marketing, advertising, etc.), Arts and the Medical field (e.g. a nurse, family physician, medical researcher).
Each presenter provides a 15-minute presentation about his/her career, followed by a 10-minute Q & A session.
|
|
performing arts scholarship: High school students are invited to showcase their artistic achievements in the 2023 James C. Macdonald Performing Arts Scholarship Competition. The competition is open to 9th-12th-grade students who reside or attend school in Dranesville Small Tax District 1A. The deadline to apply is Fri, Jan 27.
A $1,200 scholarship prize will be given to first-place winners in each of the following categories: Dance, Theater, Vocal Music and Instrumental Music; second-place winners in all four categories will receive $800; third-place winners will each receive $400. There are no restrictions on the use of the award money. Applicants must be present and prepared to perform in the preliminary round of the competition the week of Feb 6, and at the final competition on Wed, Apr 19, to be eligible to receive an award.
Info and applications can be found online. A non-refundable, $20 fee is required for each application form submitted. Questions? Contact Alden Youth Theatre Programs Director Danielle Van Hook at Danielle.Vanhook@fairfaxcounty.gov.
|
|
pave scholarship: Partners for Automated Vehicle Education (PAVE) launched an essay contest and scholarship program that encourages juniors and seniors to contemplate a future with automated vehicles, and write about what this could mean for their communities. View the flyer here and check out the PAVE Essay Contest website to learn more about the contest. Submissions are due Jan 31.
|
|
Having visited Virginia frequently during the summers, science teacher Christina O’Malley is not a newcomer to the state. However, after moving from Ohio to Virginia recently because of her husband’s job, Mrs. O’Malley is in her first year teaching in Langley HS.
Mrs. O’Malley earned her PhD in geology and worked as a lab instructor for Ohio State and Wright State University before teaching high school at Carroll HS for seven years. She has taught a variety of science classes, including AP Biology, Physics, Chemistry, and Freshman Biology. Yet despite her love of all things science, Mrs. O’Malley’s all time favorite topic is geology.
“A lot of folks don’t understand that everything around you that didn’t grow is probably something that came out of the earth and was a resource that a geologist found,” Mrs. O’Malley said. “Geology also impacts us in lots of different ways. Whether [it’s with] natural hazards, [or] where you buy a house. There are a lot of choices that we make in our lives that we could make better choices if we understood geology a little bit better.”
Mrs. O’Malley, a mom of two, spends most of her free time with her family and husband. She also loves to craft.
“I’ve done, you know, the knit and crochet period, I’ve done the make things in resin period, I’ve done the watercolor thing,” Mrs. O’Malley said. “Watercoloring is the most recent one, but I haven’t been doing a lot of it because of the move.”
Mrs. O’Malley enjoys being active and has recently completed a 10K. She also loves hiking and nature.
“I’m kind of a national parks nerd, so I’ve been to 60 different national parks in the area, over time,” O’Malley said.
As a new teacher at Langley, Mrs. O’Malley hasn’t been able to have her own classroom and has been using other teacher’s classrooms to teach. In spite of the challenges of moving classrooms so frequently during the school day, she acknowledges that it has its pros.
“What’s nice about [moving classrooms] is I get to meet different people. I’m in a room in the morning that belongs to someone who works in the math department. I probably wouldn’t spend as much time in the math department otherwise, you know, but over time, we’re kind of becoming more familiar with each other,” Mrs. O’Malley said. “Being new to a school, it’s really important for me, I think, to be able to understand as well as I can, sort of the culture of the school building, and talking to other teachers is the way to do that.”
During her short time at Langley, Mrs. O’Malley has noticed many things about the school and how the students focus on academics. She encourages Langley students to also focus on the future rather than solely on grades.
“Students come through high school [but] when you go out into the world, the goal shouldn’t just be to go to college and get a job, it’s also to be a good citizen and to be a critical thinker,” Mrs. O’Malley said.
The diverse group of clubs at the school has also been a defining part of Langley for Mrs. O’Malley. Had she been a student at Langley, Mrs. O’Malley would favor the sciences and athletics when it comes to clubs.
"I would be in Science Olympiad, I would probably be in a couple of sports, too. When I was in high school, I played softball and basketball. I wonder if now I would be a lacrosse player, but I don’t really like to run,” she said.
So far, Langley has made a good impression on her. She enjoys connecting with students, teachers, and staff.
“I have noticed that Langley is a place where people seem pretty happy most of the time, and it’s a nice thing to see,” Mrs. O’Malley said.
~ Tracy Gong and Cynthia Wu, Saxon Scope Reporters
|
|
Read below for class news. Click the green class buttons to go to each class's webpage.
|
|
We need your help! It may seem like a long way off, but our students’ graduation will come sooner than you can imagine. One of the most memorable moments of Senior Week (the week leading up to graduation) is the class video that is viewed at the Senior Breakfast attended by seniors and their families.
Share photos of your child's happy LHS memories as they happen. Upload them here right from your phone or computer. Include only pictures of the Class of 2026 and only Langley High School events, i.e. sports, concerts, dances, clubs, theater, treat days, Saxon Time, field trips, etc.
|
|
one water art contest: Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) is joining regional water utilities to host its second annual art contest with the theme of protecting our source water. Local student artists in grades 9-12 can submit their art which captures the importance of protecting our local water sources. The submission deadline is Sun, Jan 22. Learn more about the One Water Art Contest for high school students and submit your entry here.
|
|
gap year fair: FCPS School Counseling Services and Go Overseas are co-hosting the annual FCPS Gap Year Fair on Wed, Feb 1 at West Springfield HS from 6:30 to 9 p.m. This event is for high school students and their families who are interested in learning more about the growing array of gap year opportunities. More information can be found here and here.
|
|
girls state: Are you interested in learning firsthand how our state and local governments work? If so, the Girls State Program is an amazing opportunity for you! Girls State was founded by the American Legion Auxiliary in 1937 to teach young women responsible citizenship. Since its inception, nearly one million young women nationwide have had the opportunity to learn firsthand how state and local governments work.
Virginia Girls State is at Longwood University from Jun 18–24. Registration is $500, although the sponsors will give each delegate a $100 stipend toward the registration fee.
The application timeline is the following: end of Jan: application packets are due; mid-Feb: In-person/Zoom interviews are held and delegate selections made; Mar 15: names of selected delegates are submitted. Details and info are on the Girls State website.
|
|
early online college: Early Online College (EOC) allows current high school juniors and seniors the opportunity to take up to two tuition-free college courses at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA). EOC courses for the spring semester begin on Jan 31 and end on Apr 24. Courses are for college credit only. These courses meet the requirements for most of NOVA’s associate degrees and are also courses most likely to transfer and count as general education requirements for most colleges and universities. Learn more here and if interested, discuss this option with your Langley counselor as soon as possible.
|
|
optimist club contest: The Great Falls Optimist Club encourages area high school students to enter its Essay and Oratorical Contests.
This year’s topic for the Essay Contest is Who is an Everyday Hero that Brings Out the Optimist in You? The local club level Essay Contest is Feb 9. The topic for the Oratorical Contest is Discovering the Optimism Within Me, and the club level Oratorical Contest is on May 11.
|
|
Jan 20: VHSL One-Act Performance, 6:30 pm, Auditorium
Jan 23: Langley Pyramid Parent Presentation, 6pm, Lecture Hall
Jan 25: End of 2nd Quarter, 2-hour early release
Jan 26: Student Holiday
Jan 27: Student Holiday
Feb 1: Gap Year Fair, 6:30-9 pmWest Springfield HS
Feb 2: College 101 Workshop (virtual), 12 pm
Feb 4: Girl Up International Day, 3-5:30 pm
|
|
Join the LHS PTSA! Click Here.
|
|
LHS PTSA eNews Editors
Gary Coetzee, Julianne Kass, Niki Mallick, Helen Miller and
Stephanie Maxwell (Technical Advisor)
The Langley eNews is published by PTSA volunteers and includes news that pertains to LHS, PTSA and FCPS.
Any opinions expressed herein are those of the submitter and not necessarily those of LHS, PTSA or FCPS.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
