Girl Scout Goes for the Gold

by Karthik Ilakkuvan, Jabberwock Staff Reporter

Did you see 30 kids last week playing tennis on Maggie Walker’s tennis courts, and think to yourself … these kids don’t go to our school?

Well, you’d be right.

From September 22 – 27 from 4:00 – 5:45, Kameron Adams (’09) hosted a tennis camp for neighborhood kids and Carver Elementary students.

“Well, I gave a flier out to the PE teacher at Carver, and the kids who came to play were from the after school program, there,” Adams said.

Running the camp in order to get her Gold Award for Girl Scouts, Adams has been working on this project since June 30, which is when she got it approved by Girl Scouts.

“It’s actually not too hard to get a project approved,” Adams said. “You go to this interview, tell [the Girl Scouts committee] about the project, and they give you suggestions. Then, they okay it that day.”

So, the wheels were in motion. A short, three months later, after going to places, getting donations, getting volunteers together, finding the materials and resources, and meeting with Coach Kelly, project advisor and the MLWGS Boys’ tennis coach, about how to run the camp, Adams was ready to start camp.

Her many volunteers came from the MLWGS Boys’ and Girls’ tennis teams.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the tennis team, my mom, Kroger, or Dick’s Sporting Goods,” Adams said.

“Kroger donated all the snacks I had for the kids, and Dick’s donated all the prizes.”

The prizes were given out on the last day of camp, with certificates and all. Livestrong bands, books, and water bottles were among those given out.

“I was so impressed on Saturday,” Adams said. “Some of the kids who couldn’t hit the ball at all, at the end, they had to play a mini-point, and the improvement was just incredible. They had to hold the racket with two hands, but they could still hit the ball.”

During the clinic, Adams, Coach Kelly, and the numerous volunteers taught kids, ranging from four to 16 years old, the basic strokes – the forehand and the backhand. They also introduced the volley, along with explaining what the lines on the court meant and how to score points.

“Well, most of the kids had never picked up a tennis racket before, and this gave parents a way to send kids to learn the sport without charge,” Adams said. “And since I know tennis, I could pass my skills off. I’m really proud of them, especially the kids who had never picked up a racket before and now are making contact with the ball. Now, they’re not just sitting on the couch.”

Adams turned in her final report to Girl Scouts on Monday, so she should know whether she achieved her Gold Award in about four weeks.

“If I could do it again and I would have the time, I’d definitely make it longer,” Adams said. “So many kids were asking me, ‘Are we going to do this again next week?’”

One young participant of the tennis clinic tries her hand with a racquet. Photo courtesy of Kameron Adams.

MLWGS Senior Kameron Adams organized a tennis clinic for Richmond students from Carver Elementary School. Photo courtesy of Kameron Adams.

Fall Festival Favorites

Aya Kellam ('11): "I like being able to see the whole school come out and have fun."

Rachel Dobbs ('10): "I like the dunking bootha lot; but it would've been better if Senor Jenkins did it."

Hillary Hurd ('09): “I like being able to hang with people from other grades; it’s the only time I’m at school and not stressed.”

Ms. Sherri Arnold: “The food; anybody who knows me knows I am going to talk about food, everything else is enhanced by the food.”

Fall Festival 2008 - Today

More MLWGS club are participating in today’s Fall Festival than ever before.

From 3:30 until 8 pm , more than 50 student-run organizations will set up booths on the front lawn in hopes of successful fundraising.

This year’s festival may also draw a larger crowd than previous years, since the MLWGS field hockey team will play a home game at 4:30.

"I think the one problem with Fall Festival is I wish I could freeze it... there is so much going on," said Joan Yates, this year's festival coordinator.

ASL Club performs at Fall Festival 2007. Jabberwock File Photo.

Busy Board Meeting

by Charles Condro, Jabberwock Staff Reporter

Although the meeting lasted only 80 minutes, the matters discussed at the September 18 Regional Board meeting, ranged from individual recognitions to discussion of policy changes.

Before the official meeting began, a resolution in honor of Mrs. Charity was presented to her son Jamie Charity and her daughter Kristi Charity Harris. An additional copy of the resolution was framed and hung in the Regional Board room.

Sixteen new faculty members were introduced to the board, followed by the recognition of several students who had achieved various awards in different subject areas.

MLWGS ADMISSIONS PROCESS UNDER REVIEW

At the June board meeting, a group of four professors from U.Va were awarded a $69,456 contract to investigate the admissions process at MLWGS.

The committee will investigate the entire admissions process, from how the school advertises to prospective students, to how points are assigned on the applications.

They will then report their findings back to the regional board with their recommendations.

“Everything is being looked at,” said MLWGS Director Mr. Douglas Hunt.

“They are reviewing the admission process to determine whether it’s a fair process or not. If they see ways that they can improve it, they will make recommendations to the board.”

The group recently began the process of giving out surveys to people associated with the school. This will include students, parents, teachers and personnel from the local school divisions who work with MLWGS.

The names of the consultants are Dr. Carolyn M. Callahan, Dr. Tonya R. Moon, Dr. Catherine M. Brighton and Dr. Holly Hertberg Davis.

NEW DIRECTOR SEARCH

The process of finding a replacement for current MLWGS Director Mr. Hunt was an important topic at the Regional Board meeting.

The committee to find the new director is chaired by Mr. John Axselle of Hanover County. During the meeting, Mr. Axselle updated the school board on the committee’s progress.

Mr. Axselle said that the committee is putting the final touches on a survey that will ask those involved in the school what they are looking for in the next administrator.

The committee will then distribute advertisements in November on a local, national and international scale.

“They will be surveying the stakeholders to find out what characteristics they want in their new director.”

Advertisements will not go out until November because no ads can be released until Mr. Hunt formally retires. He plans on doing this by November.

If the plan goes according to schedule, the committee hopes to begin interviewing potential candidates in January and February.

The decision could be announced at the March Regional Board meeting at the earliest.

Math teacher Ms. Lynn Reed, the faculty representative to the Regional Board, was glad that progress is being made in the director search.

“I’m looking forward to them letting us know how we can have input,” said Ms. Reed.

“I want to make sure that everything is well-communicated to all groups.”

FREE LUNCH AT MLWGS?

Another change to the MLWGS agenda is possibility of providing free lunches to those students who need them.

The issue was brought to attention when Richmond School Board representative Lisa Dawson told the board that at least one student had not applied to MLWGS because there was no free-reduced lunch plan in place.

MLWGS Coordinator of Administration Mr. Phil Tharp will lead the investigation into how the school can obtain lunch funding for needy students.

Mr. Tharp will then report his findings to the school board at the October meeting.

“I will be contacting the major school divisions and talking to their nutritional administrators about how they qualify students for the program,” said Mr. Tharp.

The current plan is to have students apply for free-reduced lunch through their home school systems. Then the school districts would send MLWGS the list of qualifying students.

Mr. Tharp would then take this list and work with the company who provides lunch at MLWGS to secure cash cards for the selected individuals. At the end of each month, Mr. Tharp would send a receipt to the school districts for the amount of cash used.

Each qualified student would receive an allowance of 20 dollars a week on the cash card. This would allow for four dollars a day, which is enough for a hot lunch.

When MLWGS moved into its new building in 2001, Chesterfield County supplied the lunch. This was done by them at a loss of $20,000 a year, so two years later the school was faced with the choice of finding a new way to provide students lunch or to find a way to offset the $20,000-a-year deficit that the Chesterfield County Public School System was accumulating.

The Regional Board decided to use a subcontractor to provide the lunch. MLWGS does not make any profit off of the lunch and provides all of the equipment, but the food service must buy the food, provide the staff and clean the kitchen. This allows for the food service to turn a profit while providing MLWGS students with lunches that are not too expensive.

Staff Writers Danny Yates and Logan Ferrell contributed to this report.

Kristi and Jamie Charity hold copies of a resolution honoring their mother, Ms. Joyce Charity. Photo by Mr. Hal Waller.

Director Dilemma

The front page of the June 6, 2008 Jabberwock mistakenly announced “The Hunt for New Administrators Begins.” Unfortunately, this title was a bit premature.

In fact, the search for a new MLWGS director will not officially begin until early November, when an application for this position will finally become public.

At the September Regional Board meeting, Mr. John Axselle, director’s search committee chairman, provided an update on the status of the director’s search.

The update was disappointing.

Last year’s suggested plan to hire a new director who could “shadow” Mr. Hunt for the last portion of the current school year is now entirely infeasible. It is now known that committee will not begin interviewing job candidates until February at the earliest, and selection of the new director will “hopefully” be reached by May.

This news comes as a shock to those who were under the impression that a new director would be selected by mid-year in order to allow for “on the job training.”

Another disconcerting aspect of the proposed director’s search was revealed with the committee’s make-up. The committee will consist solely of seven Regional Board members.

The lack of faculty, student, and parent involvement on this crucially important search committee is utterly disheartening.

Some in the MLWGS community have hinted at the possibility that a new director may have already been quietly selected and that the “search” will merely serve as a formality. At the very least, the search committee should include several non-voting parent, student, and faculty members to allay any such unfounded concerns.

In the midst of all this, however, it is reassuring to hear Mr. Axselle’s reminder that the committee will search not only locally, but nationally, and possibly even internationally to find the next Mr. Hunt. While a specific plan for how the search will be conducted is still a bit blurry, one thing is clear:

MLWGS cannot simply wait until crunch time to find a new director. Although this worked once, with the last-minute, “temporary” hiring of Mr. Hunt, we just can’t count on being so lucky for the second go-round.

Diversity Debate

$70,000 is a heck of a lot of money. $70,000 could go a long way. $70,000 could hire another teacher and reduce class sizes. $70,000 could cover the costs of building a MLWGS field house and bathroom/concession stand complex. $70,000 could buy another green school bus or equip a lab with new computers.

Unfortunately, this year, $70,000 is the amount of money that will be spent to conduct a highly controversial “diversity assessment” for MLWGS. For the next several months, four U.Va researchers will examine the fairness of MLWGS’ “recruitment, admissions, and retention process.”

A common sentiment among teachers, students, and parents is that that the best way to increase our school’s diversity is through recruiting efforts and gifted programs aimed at elementary and middle school students. No simple affirmative action solution could every fully succeed.

Another aspect of the study deals with the level of diversity among MLWGS faculty. Some in Richmond, such as mayoral candidate Lawrence Williams, believe that teacher diversity should be proportional to the community’s demographics and “reflect all complexions.” Mr. Williams’ opinion is both confining and self-limiting.

A more balanced viewpoint and applicable stance for MLWGS was voiced by Regional Board member Lisa Dawson, who offered her perspective on educational diversity in a recent Richmond Times Dispatch article.

“I don’t think the color of the teachers has one thing to do with it,” said Ms. Dawson.

So, if you happen to see one of the U.Va researchers in the next few weeks, be sure to say hello and share your voice. Spread the word that diversity at MLWGS cannot be achieved through rash decisions.

A Personal Freedom

by Logan Ferrell (’ 11)

As the school moves away from yet another Constitution Day commemoration, complete with lessons and discussions, we are faced with an issue that continually reemerges with new vigor and riled emotions.

It is certainly an issue that touches on some of the most sensitive of beliefs, and opens the door for many more inflammatory arguments. However, it appears to me, that the American tradition of secular government can be preserved without intruding on the religious beliefs of any one group.

Any school, but even more so our own, should be a place of openness, an environment in which knowledge and curiosity may be pursued (naturally to an extent) without hindrance. Therefore, I see the institution of school sponsored prayer (banned by the Supreme Court in Engel v. Vitale) and the ban of any religious expression as equally destructive.

How can one determine the lesser of the two evils, when neither option seems to encroach less on the liberty of the student body than the other?

Instead, I believe religion should remain exactly as it was enumerated in the nation’s founding document, a freedom. Students should always be free to pray (of their own accord), expand their knowledge through religious debate, or even engage in consensual theological group discussion.

The power of faith over individuals and even societies has been shown consistently throughout history; and if a person has powerful feelings of faith they simply do not require a determined time or area. No matter the deity, if one believes strongly enough, faith may be shown anywhere and does not need specific regulation.

The degree of religious freedom allowed in this nation is comparable to few others, and must be remembered as such. To squabble over the preservation or banning of religion in schools, is to blatantly ignore what religion in this country means, freedom and a personal choice.