PTA Weekly Newsletter
April 18, 2008

YHS School Calendar
04/18 7pm Spring Show, aud
04/19 2pm Spring Show Matinee, aud
04/19 7pm Spring Show, aud
04/21 7pm Mongolian Parents mtg, Faculty lounge
04/21 7pm Hispanic Parents mtg, cafe
04/21 PTA Meeting, Room 116
04/21 Report Cards mailed home
04/22 SGA Elections

YHS Athletic Calendar
04/18 6pm JV Baseball (A) Falls Church
04/18 6pm JV Softball (A) Falls Church
04/18 6pm V Baseball (H) Falls Church
04/18 6pm V Softball (H) Falls Church
04/18 5:30/7pm B Soccer (A) Stuart
04/18 5:30/7pm G Soccer (H) Stuart
04/19 10am Crew Regatta at Occoquan
04/19 1pm Baseball (H) Loudoun Valley
04/21 4pm B Tennis (A) W-L
04/21 4pm G Tennis (H) W-L
04/21 5:30pm V Softball (H) Paul VI
04/21 6:00 pm G.LAX (A) Fairfax, JV only
04/22 6:00 pm JV Baseball (A) Stuart
04/22 6:00 pm V Baseball (H) STUART
04/22 6pm B LAX (A) Potomac School, JV only

04/22 5:30/7pm B Soccer (H) Lake Braddock
04/22 5:30/7pm G Soccer (A) Lake Braddock
04/22 6/7:15pm G LAX (A) Centreville
04/23 4pm B Tennis (A) Edison
04/23 4pm G Tennis (H) Edison
04/23 5pm V Softball (A) Stuart
04/23 5:30pm JV Softball (H) Stuart
04/23 6pm JV Baseball (H) Stuart
04/23 7pm V Baseball (A) Stuart
04/23 Track (A) Mt Vernon w/ ED, WK
04/24 6:00 pm V Softball (A) W-L
04/24 6pm B LAX (A) South Lakes, JV only
04/24 5:30/7 B Soccer (H) W-L
04/24 5:30/7 G Soccer (A) W-L

Yorktown PTA Election of Officers April 21st
At the PTA meeting on Monday April 21st the new 2008-2009 officers will be elected. Below is the approved slate and a brief bio of some of the candidates. Please come to the meeting on April 21st to vote and meet the candidates.

President: Carolyn Marsh (2008), Pam Gavin (2009)
VP Internal: John Duran
VP External: Martha Herrmann
Treasurer: Debby Fairweather
Secretary: Helena Hutton

Carolyn Marsh
has a rising senior at Yorktown, Emily Marsh. Emily is active in YHS Theatre, Madrigals, Orchestra and Debate and as a result so is her mom. Her son Graham is a rising Freshman coming from Swanson and is a dedicated skateboarder and violinist. Carolyn is the current YHS PTA president and the Class of 2009 email coordinator. She was very involved in the PTAs at McKinley and Swanson. In her day job Carolyn is an Account Manager for IBM selling to the Federal Government She and her husband John, Westover Civic Association President, have lived in Westover for 22 years. Carolyn went to Virginia Tech and has a degree in Industrial Engineering.

Pam Gavin
is the mom of Curt Gavin, who will be a rising senior. She has been a parent in ACPS for 11 years, 7 of which she has served as an officer in 3 different school PTAs. In her day job, Pam is the Superintendent of the Senate Office of Public Records under the Secretary of the Senate (22 years), responsible for co-administration of the federal lobbying law, and the public availability of Senate campaign finance filings, the Senate Ethics in Government filers, and for the Senate Code of Conduct filings. She has been a member of the multinational Council on Governmental Ethics laws, and served on its board from 2001 to 2003. Pam has a B.A. from Kalamazoo College, and a M.A. from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

John Duran is originally from Pittsburgh, Pa., Graduated from Wabash College in 1965 with a BA in Physics. Graduated from Yale Drama School in 1974, with a Master of Fine Arts in Theater Architecture. Graduated from Marymount University in 1982, with a Master of Business Administration in Finance. Now retired from the Federal government. Last employed as Assistant Regional Director of the National Capital Region of the National Park Service. Prior to that, was General Manager of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. (This was to oversee the facility, and was equivalent to a park superintendent of a national park.) Married to Sally Joyce in 1980. They have 2 daughters, Andrea and Courtney. Andrea Duran attended Taylor Elementary, Williamsburg Middle, and Yorktown High Schools. Graduated from Yorktown in 2003 and from the University of Virginia in 2007, she is currently employed as a contract specialist for the U.S. Navy in D.C. Courtney Duran attended Arlington Science Focus Elementary, Williamsburg Middle, and Yorktown High Schools. She is currently in 10th grade at Yorktown, plays on the varsity girls volleyball team, and is the stage manager for the upcoming theater production of Peter Pan. John Duran was president of the Yorktown PTA when Andrea was a junior during the 2001-2002 school year. He also served on the Building Level Planning Committee (BLPC) for the first phase of the Yorktown renovation.

Helena Hutton
My son Charlie Peterson is a freshman at YHS this year and went to Taylor and Williamsburg. He has taken an enrichment course at the Career Center on Saturdays this school year and I think the Center is a real gem of APS. It's been a great way for him to explore an interest outside the classroom. I have a younger son still at Taylor, and our dog, Frazier, is my third "child." I am Political Affairs Director for Siemens and after taking a breather from volunteer activities for a couple of years am starting to again take on things I would enjoy doing outside work. Frazier has just been certified as a therapy dog so in addition to attending my kids' activities, he and I are visiting nursing home residents once a week.

Debby Fairweather
has two daughters at Yorktown, Julia, a junior, and Diana, a freshman. She has been the Yorktown PTA Treasurer this past year, and for the prior two years,was treasurer of the Williamsburg PTA. Both of her daughters are graduates of Jamestown Elementary School and Williamsburg Middle School. While at Jamestown, Debby was a member of the Building Level Planning Committee and a volunteer for the annual Jamestown Spring Fair. In addition to being PTA Treasurer at Willamsburg, she also ran the annual Williamsburg Election Day Bake Sale for two years. She is an active member of Mount Olivet United Methodist Church, serving on the Christian Growth Committee and the Mount Olivet Foundation Board of Directors. With 27 years of federal government service, Debby's background includes experience in federal budgeting, capital planning, and oversight of information technology investments. She currently works for the Treasury Department's Office of the Chief Information Officer as a capital planning desk officer concentrating on Internal Revenue Service programs.

YHS to Honor
New YHS Graduate Hall of Fame Members on May 23rd!

Celebrate these special newly chosen role models (all YHS graduates) who will continue to be an inspiration to Yorktown students. The Yorktown Hall of Fame and Inspiration Committee invites you to a ceremony and reception to induct new members of the Hall of Fame on Friday, May 23, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. in the Yorktown theater. We invite all current students, faculty, families, YHS alumni, and Arlington residents.  YHS dedicated the first class of Hall of Fame and Inspiration members in 2003. Their plaques and personal stories hang outside the YHS theater. Our new members, as graduates of Yorktown who have made outstanding and honorable accomplishments in their life's work, will join the original group. The new names will be announced in a press release on May 9, 2008.  To see the current Hall of Fame members go to http://yorktownalums.org. The original members include astronaut David Brown (class of 1974, who was among seven astronauts killed on Feb. 1, 2003, when Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated on reentry to Earth’s atmosphere), Katie Couric of CBS News, and Olympic swimmer Tom Dolan.

Outdoor Lab School
Johnny Rockets fundraiser for the Outdoor Lab (April 22) is quickly approaching! Outdoor Lab gets 20% of proceeds.  In Shirlington, 4251 Campbell Avenue (near library and Signature) lots of free evening parking in nearby lots.  Mark your calendar! Open house coming up May 26, 2-6PM. Come see the progress of the new Lab Building!

YHS National Honor Society
The Yorktown National Honor Society is seeking community service opportunities for groups of NHS students. If you know of any such opportunities, please contact Maureen Caughran, PTA Internal Vice President. Maureen will forward the opportunities to the NHS faculty advisors. One example of a group community service opportunity is the current PTA-sponsored landscaping project with work days scheduled for NHS students in the spring and fall.

Parents and Students: Be part of FTC panel on mobile phone use-
Hello PTA Presidents. We are Stacey Ferguson and Phyllis Marcus, attorneys in the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) Bureau of Consumer Protection. On Tuesday, May 6, the FTC is hosting a town hall meeting on Mobile Commerce, during which we would like to hold a roundtable of teens and their parents on how kids use their mobile phones. Your names were provided by Debbie Kilpatrick, District Director, Northern Virginia District, and we're hoping for your assistance in recruiting a small group of parents and teens who would be interested in participating in our roundtable. The event will be held downtown, in the FTC's conference center at 601 New Jersey Avenue, NW, just around the corner from Union Station and the Red Line. We plan on holding the roundtable in the late afternoon, from 4:30-5:00pm, so that it does not conflict with the school day.

We know that your children are so busy with after-school activities, but this event presents a fun opportunity for children to "speak their minds" about cell phone use, and for parents to learn (perhaps for the first time?) what their children are doing with their mobile handsets.  We are looking for approximately 8 parent-teen pairs to participate. We assume that SSL (or comparable) credit might apply for students' participation in this roundtable.

Please let us know as soon as possible whether you are interested in participating. Thank you so much for your time and attention to this exciting event.

Sincerely, Phyllis Marcus and Stacey Ferguson
Division of Advertising Practices
Federal Trade Commission
pmarcus@ftc.gov; sferguson@ftc.gov


Housing needed

Arlington Sister City Association is seeking a host family for a female exchange student from Reims, France, for the 2008-2009 academic year. This student will study at an Arlington public high school for the year. If you’re interested or if you need more information, please contact Barbara Duckworth at duck72@verizon.net, or 703-522-7155.

Tuckahoe Elementary School’s Home & Garden Tour:
The 8th Annual Tuckahoe Home & Garden Tour will be held on Saturday, April 26, 2008, from 12:00 - 5:00. Come tour 8 gorgeous and innovative renovations that exemplify the North Arlington and Falls Church style! House styles cover colonial, federalist, arts & craft, and contemporary, including one with an amazing renovated artist’s studio. All proceeds from this popular event benefit Tuckahoe’s Elementary School’s PTA and Discovery Schoolyard, a nationally recognized outdoor learning curriculum.

Please go to http://www.apsva.us/tuckahoe to download a ticket order form, and for more information about the tour and Tuckahoe’s award-winning Discovery Schoolyard. Advance tickets are $20.00, purchased by mail or in person at Tuckahoe Elementary School, 6550 North 26th Street, Arlington, VA 22213, during school hours. Tickets on the day of the tour are $25.00 and will be available at Tuckahoe starting at 12 noon sharp.

Free trees!
April 18, 2008 Deadline for the Free Tree Give-away!!! Arlington County Parks and Natural Resources Division is offering 1200 trees to be distributed for Neighborhood Day tree-plantings. Let us know by April 18 how many trees your group can plant! Trees will be delivered by County staff to a single location designated by a group's representative. Delivery runs May 7 to 9. Each organization's representative is responsible for further distribution to individual homeowners, residents or Arlington tree-planting crews. PTAs that are interested in receiving free trees should contact the Parks, Environmental Landscape Manager, Patrick Wegeng, by email (pwegeng@arlingtonva.us) with the total number of trees. Yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), a large canopy tree and Allegheny serviceberry (Amenlanchier laevis), a small flowering tree are this year's two selections. These tree 'whips' will be approximately three to five feet in height and potted in one or two-gallon plastic containers.

Yorktown High School Theatre Arts Department Presents
Peter Pan

Where
: Yorktown High School Auditorium, Yorktown Blvd. Entrance
When
: 7 pm--Thursday, Friday, Saturday--April 24, 25, 26 and 2 pm--Saturday--April 26
Tickets
: $10 Student/Senior (65 or older), $12 Adult,  $8 Groups of 10 or more
To Order Tickets:
Call 703-228-5414 and leave your name, phone number, the performance or performances you wish to attend, the number of tickets for each performance, and whether you are reserving student or adult tickets.   Your tickets will be held at the will call table beginning one hour before the performance in the lobby of the auditorium. Arrive no later than 10 minutes before show time. Tickets will be released for general purchase 10 minutes before show time. You may pay by cash or check only.
To Purchase Tickets:
Tickets may be purchased 11am-1pm, M-F, April 21-25, in the Yorktown Cafeteria or beginning one hour before show time in the auditorium lobby. Cash or check only.

Arlington/Aachen Student Exchange 2008
Travel to Germany
July 30 – August 21, 2008

Participate in the Arlington Sister City High School Exchange program. The program brings Arlington and Aachen High School students together each year for three-week home stays. Students going to Aachen will visit their host student’s school and tour Charlemagne’s Cathedral, Aachen’s 1200-year old Town Hall, the Reichstag, the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie and other places of interest. They will become acquainted with culture and everyday life in another country through their home-stay experience. A 4-day trip to Berlin is included, as is all transportation.

Knowledge of German is helpful, but not necessary, since English is the prevalent second language in Europe and all the host students speak English. This program should be of great interest to all students, especially those interested in international studies, history, political science and art history.

Chaperones accompany the group. The cost of the trip to Germany will be about $1,750. Financial assistance is available for some students.  Some additional reasons for considering this trip are:

          - College admissions officers find international experience impressive;
          - Group airfares and home stays make this a very low cost opportunity.
Please contact berniechapnick@yahoo.com for more information.  Application and scholarship forms are available at www.arlingtonsistercity.org
 
 

FRESHMAN NEWS LETTER FOR JANUARY 22, 2008

Greetings, all! Last big week before the end of the quarter on Jan. 25. Here are a couple of items of interest to pass, including the fact that the neighborhood’s favorite sushi restaurant supports Yorktown (item 2)!

(1) Course selections
Confused by the books and forms your children brought home in the past 10 days? Wondering how to help your child decide what courses he or she would enjoy and excel at next year? There will be a Crossroads presentation on academic planning at 7 p.m. Feb. 6 – that’s before the course selection sheets are due Feb. 15! There will be a panel to speak on Advanced Placement courses as well as other amazing opportunities at Yorktown next year.

(2) Sushi-Zen Restaurant Fundraiser for Yorktown High School Orchestra:
Eat sushi (or tempura or teriyaki) and support YHS Orchestra!!  On Monday, January 28th, 25 percent of your Sushi-Zen lunch or dinner meal proceeds go to support YHS Orchestra BUT YOU MUST MENTION YHS TO YOUR WAITRESS.  The money raised will help defray the cost of the Orchestra students’ April 2008 trip to participate in the prestigious, invitation-only Heritage Festival of Gold competition in New York City. 
Sushi-Zen is located in the Lee Harrison Shopping Center, near Harris Teeter (2457 N. Harrison Street; 703-534-6000).   There is no school that Monday—ideal for you and your students to have a fun meal and benefit YHS Orchestra.  Questions?  Contact Martha Kopca, 703-534-1204 or kopcakids@verizon.net.

(3) Crossroads: The College Admissions Process
If you’re chomping at the bit to start stressing out about college, consider attending a perennial favorite Crossroads presentation this week. On January 24th at 7:00pm, don't miss the opportunity to hear Andrew Flagel, Director of Admissions at George Mason University, who will speak about college searches, applications and admissions from the perspective of the college admissions office. Andrew is a dynamic speaker and will have lots of helpful information to share.

 (4) Attention all thespians:
What:   Auditions for the Spring Musical, Peter Pan
Who:    Open to all Yorktown High School students
When:  Thursday January 31 & Friday, February 1
Where: In the auditorium.  
How:    On January 23rd an audition sign-up sheet will be posted on the bulletin board in front of room #23.  The audition should take approximately 45 minutes to an hour.
Preparation:
   For the audition students need to prepare a 1-2 minute monologue (memorized & staged), 10 bars of a song (sung acapela or to a piano accompaniment), and learn choreography (this will be taught at the audition).  A monologue from a contemporary play is preferable.  If students can’t find a monologue, a selection of monologues will be available a week before the audition and can be picked up in room #23. The song selection can be from a musical (the musical score should be brought in for the piano accompanist), or any of the following songs: Happy Birthday, White Christmas or America the Beautiful.  
Further Question: See Ms. Cadby in room #23.
BREAK A LEG!

 (4) Items of note from the PTA Meeting
Homework Club:
Dr. Pasi wants to remind everyone that Homework Club is offered Monday and Wednesday in Room 110 from 3:20 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. It is monitored by Mr. Lomax or Dr. Pasi, and they are willing to send you a note assuring you that your child attended, if you’d like that. Also, teachers can, at your request, give passes to encourage kids to attend.

 Construction: As they tear down the auditorium wing and begin work on the newest section of Yorktown, Dr. Pasi encourages everyone to take a deep breath and embrace the experience! Dr. Pasi says he is committed to ensuring that the construction does not impact the teachers or take away from Yorktown’s mission of academic excellence. The PTA also asks parents to consider talking to their kids about leaving their cars at home and taking alternative modes of transportation to school … (here’s a thought – and my own kids would be REALLY mad if they knew I even said this -- but ‘back in MY DAY,” Seniors were the only ones allowed to drive to school (but there was no street parking…)  Can you imagine having such a rule like that today! Ha! I guess we can’t exactly pass a rule like that, because there is no “senior parking lot,’ but it sounds good!

(5) Spirit Week next week!
Okay, usually the kids vote to dress up like Superheros, or do ‘80s day, or dress Goth or whatever for Spirit Week and NO ONE seems to participate. But next week’s spirit week is easy – kids simply wear the ‘spirit color’ of the day.

Tuesday – Yellow
Wed. – Pink
Thurs. – Green
Friday – Hat Day and Class color (Freshman Class Color is Black)

Other dates of interest:
01/23 3:30pm VHSL One Act Play District Competition (A) Stuart
01/23 Rifle-Air vs. Robinson
01/24 6pm Gymnastics (A) Mt Vernon
01/24 6pm Dive District Meet at Providence Rec Center
01/24 Rifle-Air vs. Washington Lee


TESTIMONIALS FOR NEIL GUTTLER FOR YHS TEACHER OF THE YEAR

I am writing to nominate Neil Guttler for YHS Teacher of the Year.   I don't expect that you will receive many letters for Neil (not that I haven't been campaigning among my colleagues!) in that the population of students he serves is small and tends not to be involved in school affairs.  But if we judge the teacher of the year by the impact he has on young lives there is no better candidate than Neil Guttler.

As
Yorktown's Interlude Teacher Neil works with our most at risk population.  In doing so Neil is responsible for delivering content in all subject areas to a group of children for whom school is less important than getting through the day.  This is a responsibility Neil takes to heart.  He prepares himself for teaching subjects with which he is less familiar by sitting in on classes during his planning periods.  He tirelessly prepares lessons, including laboratory experiments, for each child in his care.  And Neil does this with a remarkable level of patience and compassion.

Michael Zito

______________________________________________________________________________


I would like to Nominate Neil Guttler for
Yorktown High School teacher of the year.
 
Neil is an outstanding teacher and a valuable colleague
 
I am a physics teacher at
Yorktown and have had many opportunities to observe Neil in the classroom.  He teaches a small group of students, so the number of recommendations he could possibly receive from students or parents in any given year is very limited.  One of the subjects he teaches to these students is physics.  Neil is such a dedicated teacher that he has spent a considerable amount of time preparing himself to teach physics (studying, reading, etc...)  Over and Over again I have been impressed not only by his dedication but the extent to which he gets students to commit to learning the physics.
 
He has asked me to come in on occasion to give "expert" information when the students have questions that he is not sure of.  When I go in I am always impressed by the level of question and level of interest that he has inspired in his students. 
 
Neil takes some of the most "at-risk" students at
Yorktown and gives them the opportunity for a real, in-depth, learning experience.  I find Neil to be truly inspiring.  His day to day enthusiasm and kindness are contagious.   For several years I have recognized his real contribution and have decided this year that it is about time he gets the recognition he deserves.
 
Let me know if you would like additional information
 
Thank you and the
Yorktown parent community for this opportunity.
 
Dan Carroll
Physics teacher