The ARGS
November 2015
Dragon’s Lair Proudly keeping the ARGS community in touch with the fantastic achievements of our students and staff. -Dr. James M. Victory
Photo by Ms. Patricia Lyons.
F u ll ride In This Issue:
By Natalie Solaja (Chesterfield)
Full Ride
Aja Boyd is hard to miss. Her six-foot-one frame rises above nearly everyone else’s, and her smile is second to none. She’s a friend, a sister, a student, an artist, a poet, and seemingly most of all, she’s an athlete.
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Our Dragons
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Reaching Out
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Welcome To The Family
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Keeping It Lit
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Our Forte
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Taking The Stage
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Still Taking The Stage
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Dragon Eggs
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Opinions
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Appoma ◊ tto y g o
Along with the ARGS team, Aja says Eric Brower, coach of the Lady Dragons basketball team, has a great influence on her career. “The game didn’t Now a senior, Aja has played on the ARGS Lady come naturally to me,” Aja says. “I had to work hard at it in order to get my skill level up… I Dragons Basketball team every year of her high school experience. Her name has been read on the wasn’t good at basketball. So when I came here, Coach Brower just believed in me, and so it just announcements after games for making the best helped a lot.” plays and from getting the most points. She’s a significant reason why ARGS girls’ basketball has its amazing reputation. Because of her outstand- She continued, “But I came from Petersburg, and the girls there are really good. I wouldn’t know ing athletic ability, Aja has earned herself a full if I would have played basketball, it made me four-year basketball scholarship to Long Island nervous, but I felt comfortable here, so I just tried University. out for the team.” Long Island is four hundred and eighteen miles We couldn’t love Aja more here at ARGS. She’s away from Petersburg, her hometown and the a wonderful person to have in a class, to smile at location of her high school. Traveling that far from home to go to school is a feat all of its own. walking down the hallway, or be beaten by in a basketball game. We wish her all the luck in the Adding basketball responsibilities on top of that world, and hope that Long Island treats her as well is truly something to be proud of. But, LIU is a as she deserves. Division 1 school, perhaps being in one of the
chool fo r t he ’s S or
al Gove gion rn e R x
best basketball programs in the country might cure some potential homesickness.
nd Tec h n ts a ol Ar
Photo by TaRaessha Henderson (Dinwiddie)
Appomattox Regional Governor’s School 512 W. Washington St. Petersburg, VA 23803 Office Hours: 8:00 am to 4:00 pm Mon.-Fri. Phone: 804-722-0200
O u r dr a g o n s ARGS Golf Team By John Eliades (Hopewell) Two years ago, Coach Barefoot met with Dr. Victory and discussed creating more sports teams. The two decided on starting a golf and cross country team. Coach Barefoot said, “Dr. Victory was very supportive of the teams and wants more students to become involved in the school’s athletics.” The golf team is off to a slow start this year. They are a young team with not many players. The team consists of three players: Jonathan Morrison (Chesterfield), Xavier Barret (Richmond) and Homer Eliades (Hopewell). To play on the golf team, the golfer has to have a slight understanding of the game and has to learn how to count their own score. ARGS is in Conference 41 and they play teams such as Southampton, Parkview, and Greensville county, just to name a few. Coach Barefoot transports his players to and from the games and brings them back to the school where their guardian picks them up. Games are played on Mondays and Wednesdays and they play 9 holes each match. Matches and practices are at the Dogwood Trace golf course in Petersburg. Coach Barefoot is very thankful Dogwood Trace allows the golf team to use their course. When asking coach if he feels as if the golf team is in jeopardy because of lack of interest, he stated, “No, there is always someone that wants to compete.” Last year, ARGS finished 2nd in the conference tournament, and Mr. Barefoot’s goals are to “get better and make it to region again.” They have already had four matches, and they recently participated in a tournament at Dogwood Trace. Senator Rosalyn Dance (Petersburg) was so nice to pay the five hundred dollar entry fee. The team has 3 more matches left in the season and then the tournament at Dogwood Trace. Coach Barefoot also has a message for the student body: “If you are interested in joining, please come and see me.”
ARGS Golf team with Senator Roslyn Dance. Photo courtesy of Ms. Veronica Kouassi
Appomattox
Regional
Governor’s
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School
Administration Dr. James M. Victory Executive Director Mr. Larry Joyner Assistant Director Mrs. Veronica Kouassi Assistant Director
The Dragon’s Lair Editorial Staff Sahara Sidi (Colonial Heights) Head Editor Zoe Pierson (Chesterfield) Assitant Editor Rae Henderson (Dinwiddie) Layout Editor Fahima Downey (Petersburg) Asst. Layout Editor CJ Lockhart (Dinwiddie) Photography Editor Mr. Jason Taylor Original Design
ARGS Squad Goals By Branden Berkey (Petersburg) Cheerleading, normally, is the performance of athletic abilities, jumps, dances and/or chanting to gain a response from the crowd to ultimately encourage their teams to victory. But at ARGS, it is much more than that whether that is referring to their skills, or their overall attitude. Zaiera Cutler (Petersburg), a base for our squad, says, “Cheerleading is about inspiring others, and pepping others up,” and there is nothing she likes more than to make someone else spirited and happy. With coach Jordyn Bradford, a former ARGS graduate and cheerleader for VCU, leading the team, members from multiple counties come together to create the diverse population that makes up ARGS’s cheerleading squad. Zaiera believes “the team this year is really close, allowing us to work well together, and laugh at our mistakes.” She also believes that due to both the closeness of the team and diversity encouraged in the group, this year’s team will become more precise, allowing more fun and richening the experience as a whole, which is always nice to have when working together for the majority of the week. Zaiera continued saying, “You don’t have to be a body type... you don’t have to be whatever you expect cheerleaders to be. You don’t have to look a certain way nor do you have to be experienced to join. All you need is to want to do it, and grow along with the team.” She states that it is a way to make friends, and something new to try.
Members:
Seniors Bria Wright-Reed (Richmond) Chloe Butler (Chesterfield) Claudia Osei-Asante (Colonial Heights) Emoni Lewis (Richmond) Kiara Juerakhan (Petersburg) Kobi Rener (Petersburg) Makailah Pempleston (Chesterfield) Rachel Cohen (Chesterfield) Juniors Yasmeen Edmonds (Petersburg) Zaiera Cutler (Petersburg) Serenity Pegram (Dinwiddie) Skye Campolongo (Chesterfield) Sasha Uzzle (Chesterfield) Serenity Pegram (Dinwiddie) Jada Hill (Chesterfield) Sophomores I’yana Cary (Petersburg) Jaclyn Carpenter (Dinwiddie) Wayneque Hines-Davis (Petersburg) Freshmen Jasmine Feliciano (Hopewell) Kiah Brown (Hopewell)
ARGS cheerleading tryouts are held both at the beginning of the year and again in the spring. Along with encouraging students to try something new, we would also like to influence you into supporting our school’s squad, whether that be by joining them cheering for our other teams, or even showing compassion towards those who work hard to pep us up. Cheer competition photo courtesy of Jordyn Bradford
O U R D R AG O N S
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ARGS Volleyball
ARGS Debate Team
By Rae Henderson (Dinwiddie)
By Natalie Solaja (Chesterfield)
This year, our ARGS athletic department has changed drastically. On the volleyball team, they had to let go of four of our seniors and welcome in two freshmen. They aren’t the only new members to join the team. They have four new members that have attended the school before. Josie Roebuck (Petersburg) had tried out for the team a second time. She has said, “I tried out my freshman year, made it, and then had to leave because I’m a dance major. I still wanted to play so as a junior, I tried out again and made the team.”
Tryouts for the ARGS 2015-2016 Debate Team were held on Thursday and Friday, the seventeenth and eighteenth of September. Upwards of fifteen hopeful students signed up outside Ms. Padden’s room to take a shot at debating and defending their positions on issues like drug rehabilitation versus drug persecution, “white feminism,” and the qualifications of a certain controversial GOP candidate for the Republican nomination.
The team as a whole has improved much from its first game.The girls won their first game on September 15th, 2015 against Surry High School. It was a tough match between the two teams. and was literally back and forth, yet our Lady Dragons fought hard and pulled out the win.
Strong opinions and strong voices showed at auditions. Sitting at a desk in Ms. Paddens room, each student had two minutes for introduction, two minutes for rebuttal, and a one minute conclusion, alternating sides in between each interval.
On Tuesday, October 20th, our Dragons hosted their annual Dig Pink Game, in which they raise money to fight against breast cancer. The girls also hosted a bake sale during lunch to raise money. Those in attendance had the opportunity to win cool prizes, from pink sungalsses to various gift cards. Congrats, Dragons!
Players:
Captain: Skylar Shannon (Richmond) Captain: TaRaessha Henderson (Dinwiddie) Aaliyah-Janay Williams (Richmond) Grace Peasley (Richmond) Josephine Roebuck (Petersburg) Chloe Gayle (Colonial Heights) Asia Jordan (Chesterfield) Siaani Nero (Petersburg) Anna Homer (Richmond) Clara Lockett (Powhatan) Managers/Coaches Ivana Daniels (Richmond) Jarice Mason (Richmond) Mr. David Speaks (Coach) Ms. Holly Speaks (Coach)
Debate team coach, Ms. Padden, recommended that students bring references to help with their argument, being as though she would be trying to disprove them. She says, “As a coach you don’t really get the opportunity to debate against the students; it’s more about watching the students debate each other. So getting a chance to gather the research for all of the topics, prepare for it, and being able to argue not one side but both sides of the argument: it’s a blast.”
People from all grade levels tried out for the successful team, which was founded by co-captain Keiara Price (Petersburg) at the end of her sophomore year. Price says, “I [helped to start] debate team in hopes of bringing a new form of expression to ARGS… We never really had a way for people to put their social, economic, political opinions out there without getting into some argument in the middle of their class.” 2014-2015 was the first year of existence for the ARGS debate team. By practicing every Friday, the team made it to the Collegiate Ethics Bowl, coming in second in their first debate competition. This accomplishment was what gave the debate team its strong reputation at ARGS and drew a crowd to audition for this year’s team. Many arguments were made, statistics reported, and ethical beliefs shared, but Ms. Padden and her group of debaters have found their new inductees. Congratulations to the new members of the 20152016 Appomattox Regional Governor’s School debate team: Celeste Chalkley (Richmond), Faheem Farooq (Chesterfield), Desolina Fletcher (Richmond), Darby Lindsay (Surry), Christian Roessler (Chesterfield), and Alex Taranto (Chesterfield). This year, the team has its sights set on fundraising and competing more in the region. And with the group of students the team has acquired over two years, anything is possible. Keiara Price says, “People grew so much from who they were in that first audition, that when we decided to do it a second year. We knew we wanted more people because we wanted to bring about more growth in our school.” The ARGS debate team would like to thank all of those who tried out and made the selection process difficult, and they are encouraged to keep debating in the future. And, as always, we welcome back the returning members of the team as well: Co-Captain Keiara Price (Petersburg), Co-Captain Anne Greenberg (Dinwiddie), Secretary Natalie Solaja (Chesterfield), Historians Zoe Galanopoulos (Colonial Heights) and Max Diamond (Chesterfield), Public Relations Manager Owen Townsend (Sussex), Makailah Pempleston (Chesterfield), and Sarah Dowless (Southampton). Good luck to these students in all of their matches. We can’t wait to see where the ARGS debate team will go this year.
Volleyball practice. Photo by Skye Shannon (Richmond)
Debate Team auditions. Photo by Faheem Farooq (Chesterfield)
Reaching Out
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PETE Terracycling By Rhiannon Edwards (Southampton) PETE, one of the service clubs here at ARGS, is a club helping the environment. Recently, this club of 10 years has taken on a new method of recycling: terracycling. Terracycling operates by specifically recycling food wrappers. The program works with multiple companies, such as chip bag and nature bar companies, which are the system’s sponsors. These companies will sponsor ARGS’s participation in terracycling when PETE sends the wrappers back to them, and for doing that, they’ll pay PETE based on the amount they send to be recycled, which in turn pays for PETE’s own several hundred dollar act of recycling. Chip bags and candy bar wrappers don’t weigh that much-that’s why ARGS needs to pay attention to this program and help out! Terracycling will become a more permanent method if more people become involved. Ms. Sarah Luong, an ARGS veteran of twelve years, an English teacher and PETE’s sponsor, is a firm supporter of this program. She was introduced to it through the mother of Miles Barnett, a former student of ARGS. According to Ms.
Luong, PETE needs about fourteen pounds worth of wrappers to be able to even send it in the the companies. “It’s going to take a long time to get that much,” Ms. Luong admitted. “But if we can do that, then it will be a great thing for PETE. I’m convinced of this program.” Terracycling is a program to which anyone can commit. In our modern world, most households have wrappers fitting the description of what qualifies for terracycling, like candy wrappers, and chip bags. so we have plenty of material to be able to join in. “People can collect from their homes, and then bring it to school.” Ms. Luong said. Even other families not linked to ARGS can do this independently.
the main one being a big, bright yellow box in the cafeteria with a sign explaining its purpose. Others are stationed around the school, mostly near the recycling bins, but also near the printers and the vending machine in the basement. PETE and Ms. Luong encourage everyone to take the time to put their wrappers in the yellow boxes instead of the trash, and to take the time to help the environment!
“It’s beneficial not only to PETE, but to ARGS as well,” said Ms. Luong. “If enough money is made this year to balance out the cost of our recycling, then PETE will share it [the money] with the school.” Most of the terracycling stations are easy to find, Photo by TaRaessha Henderson (Dinwiddie)
The Enlistment for ARGS Dragons Coming Up By Rachel Robinson (Chesterfield) Students need information about our school so they can become the newest ARGS dragons, and we have the perfect person to do so. Mr. Stoneking, a teacher we all know and love, is recruiting students to the ARGS cause, and has been doing this for a little over 10 years, having started in 2004. Mr. Stoneking is working hard to get students from the surrounding counties to come join our outstanding school. When asked if he looked for anything in the students, he responded with a quick “Nothing.” before laughing, saying that wasn't completely true. “I’m not really looking for anything in the students,” he said. “What I am doing is telling the students about the school,” he elaborated, saying that the students he usually speaks to are in the gifted program, but there are exceptions. “So really, what I look for is nothing in particular, because I’m looking to give information to the students.” When questioned what he does to convince the students to come to ARGS, he was quiet for a second before saying, “I am very honest about the school. Except maybe the lunches, I don’t really tell people about the lunches. But I tell them what
a great environment it is, because really, it is, as far as I’m concerned, an accepting environment.” He continued, talking about how at ARGS we don’t have kids being put in trash cans and stuffed in lockers, or not having the same level of bullying that other high schools do. Another topic he brings up are the individual programs, the six focus areas we have. “I tell them about the extracurricular activities that we have, the types of clubs. I go over sports with them; I also talk about the core classes, since I’m one of the educators. I also tell them overall, yeah, it’s a great place. The students want to be here at ARGS, and that’s what makes this school very special.”
although a couple always land during the school day. “It is very busy for me,” he commented. “If I was not such an awesome educator that I am, very organized”. As a final question, Mr. Stoneking was asked if he had anything he wanted to add. He sat there for a bit, thinking, before chuckling and stating, “No, my brain is fried between grading and the recruiting coming up and department stuff.”
After being asked if he enjoyed being a recruiter, he took a deep breath, then said, “Yes and no. Since I have been doing it for 10 years now, everything is pretty much automatic as far as preparation goes, because I have to coordinate with maybe two dozen people, and setting up a calendar, and getting the time right, also the traveling.” He stated he traveled over a thousand miles during the month of October to visit all of the schools, most of which during the afternoons, Photo by Nick Mason (Petersburg)
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W el c o m e to t h e f a m ily Teacher Introduction: Mr. Deiss
Introducing Mrs.Cochet-Hill
By Lindy Pokorny (Chesterfield)
Introducing: Mr. Deiss! The term “introducing” is being used loosely, since Mr. Deiss has been a part of our ARGS family for over 9 years. Before officially becoming a theater teacher this year, Mr. Deiss was the accompanist for the Musical Theater Applied Voice classes, originally assisting Mr. Becker, and later, Mr. Campbell. Mr. Deiss was born in a town about 20 minutes south of Boston, Massachusetts, and attended James Madison University for—surprise— clarinet. He started getting involved with theater through friends and joined show choir in his senior year. After graduating, he taught a music education class in an elementary school. While he was teaching, he got a job in the ensemble of a show at Swift Creek Mill Theater, which he continues to work with now (he is currently nominated for an RTCC (Richmond Theatre Critics Circle) award for best musical director for their show Two Bits this year), and began to take more acting jobs in Richmond. He began working at ARGS when he and Mr. Becker taught at SPARC (School of the Performing Arts in the Richmond Community) together,
By Fahima Downey (Petersburg) and Mr. Becker encouraged him to apply for the job. Outside of theater, Mr. Deiss enjoys crafts and refinishing furniture- when he can find the time. Mr. Deiss says that his favorite part about working at ARGS is the students. “The students are the best part of ARGS. I mean, talent is one thing, but passion is another thing, and that’s what I like to see. There’s a lot of people with true passion for whatever they’re doing here… and that’s nice.”
Madame Cochet-Hill is the new French teacher here at ARGS. She wanted to work here because she heard that ARGS was a wonderful school. Born in Lisbon, Portugal she decided to move to the United States and settled in Richmond,Virginia with her husband in 1987. She has two sons and one daughter. Madame Cochet-Hill attended college at VCU. While she was there, she studied languages, history, and arts, and a little about the juvenile justice system. In 1997 she graduated college and received her Bachelor and Master’s degrees from a five year program at VCU. Besides French, she speaks Spanish fluently and a little of the Italian language. She quotes Charlemagne, saying, “To have a second language is to possess a second soul.” Her favorite hobbies include reading, swimming, taking a walk in the woods, and spending time with her friends and family when she can. Madame Cochet-Hill looks forward to teaching the French language to her students this year at ARGS, and we can’t wait to see what exciting things she has in store for us this school year.
Mr. Deiss. Photo by Zaria Talley (Petersburg).
ARGS PTSA Corner Dear Students: My name is VaShonda Short, and I will be serving as the ARGS PTSA president for this school year. On behalf of the PTSA, we welcome you to ARGS for the 2015 – 2016 school year. Our PTSA provides many important functions including supporting educational activities, providing resources for students, parents, and guardians, and financially supporting many of our school-wide events. Your support is appreciated in order for all of our events to function smoothly. We invite you to attend our PTSA meetings and to join our list so you can be informed about events in our community. Upcoming events include: PTSA Meeting: The next PTSA Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 17, 2015 at 6:30 p.m. in the ARGS Library Toy-Drive & Dance-A-Thon: Saturday, December 5, 2015 in the ARGS Gym with additional details to be included in the next newsletter. Feel free to visit us on the web at https://www.args.us/ptsa/ to learn more about this year’s plan. We also welcome ideas and opportunities to volunteer via
[email protected]. In closing, we look forward to meeting you and working together to support the ARGS community. Sincerely, VaShonda N. Short 2015-16 ARGS PTSA President
Mrs.Cochet-Hill. Photo by Grace Peasley (Richmond).
Do You Have Any ARGS News? Email Ms. Giewont at ggiewont@args. us!
K ee p i n g I t L it Ms. Giewont Awarded 2nd Place In The James River Writers Competition
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By Avery Welch (Dinwiddie) We all have a novelist in our midst! Last February, Ms. Giewont entered her novel to the James River Writers Best Unpublished Novels Competition. Her novel is currently called Unguided; however, it has had many names up to this point. The novel is a young adult fantasy, and is a huge accomplishment for her as it is the first novel she has ever written. Ms. G started writing at the age of seven and wanted to be a famous novelist. “I wanted to write a novel about unicorns,” she said. She ended up giving up on page one but kept on writing other things. She still has the page she wrote somewhere, and I am dying to see what her seven year old self had to say. Ms. G continued to write throughout her grade school and high school years and now has an MFA (Master of Fine Arts) in poetry. Although she doesn’t really have a favorite genre to write as she writes in all genres, she has written a book of poetry and is currently enjoying revising her book. Ms. G began writing her novel when she moved to Virginia in 2006. When she first started working on it, she found it very difficult and didn’t know if her idea was good enough. She had friends read what she had so far, but as every writer knows, your friends will tell you that your writing is “fantastic”, “amazing”, “the best I’ve ever read”, etc. To get a more critical and anonymous opinion, she submitted the first page of her novel to a conference that James River Writers has. Unfortunately, they didn’t like her piece so she had to continue revising, revising, and revising. For the next few years, she read numerous young adult fiction novels and dystopian novels to help her get a new idea for her book. She nearly gave up on her novel but was inspired by a fantasy trilogy called His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. She was inspired by this series and decided, “What the heck, I’ll finish it,” so she did. She submitted her novel to the competition with the hopes of winning first place and to an get an honest opinion of her book. She submitted to their poetry competition two years ago and won so she said that getting second place was a “bittersweet” win. Although she only achieved second place, she is still very proud of herself for ranking so highly on her first novel. Ms. G’s advice to anyone who maybe thinking about submitting their work to a competition would be to read some of the work that is published. If you are submitting work to a magazine you should read it. “Everyone is looking for something different so it’s good to know who your audience is.”
Ms.Giewont: Photo By Mr. Chuck Lewis
The Publishing of The Year of Needy Girls by Patty Smith By Genny Davis (Chesterfield) Every morning, Ms. Smith sets aside an hour to write in her study. It helps her to have a place that is entirely her own space to write. In her study, one can find her favorite books, a couch, and a beautiful old desk that belonged her grandmother, things that are just hers. “I don’t like to do anything else in that space but write,” she said. Even though an hour seems like a short time, the words will add to a page and then, maybe, a book.
kept her passion by looking at her story from a new perspective. She once gave her draft to her friend, and her friend said she wanted to hear more about “these Needy Girls.” That struck a chord with Ms. Smith, taking on her story with a new chorus of characters in mind. She had so much detail in the teachers, but did not yet develop the characters of the Needy Girls. “Opening up that point of view really helped me,” she said.
The Year of Needy Girls, the novel Ms. Smith is in the process of publishing, takes place in a small New England town. During the disappearance and killing of a young boy, a woman who teaches in an all girls’ school is falsely accused of having a relationship with one of her students. “I think I chose this idea for my book because I just kept coming back to it,” she said. After many years of starting and stopping, she kept continuing her story because in her gut she knew this is the story she wanted to tell. Years ago, when Ms. Smith was teaching in Massachusetts, a young boy got abducted by a pedophile, and all her students knew the young boy. The parents of the boy were adamant in advocating that tragic incident had nothing to do with the gay community, but Ms. Smith wonders what would happen if the parents had not defended the community. Ms. Smith believes that, either consciously or subconsciously, there is a mixture of things that we pull from our own life and put into our writing. “I taught in a private school, so I kind of understand that world, you know?” she said. In terms of character, Ms. Smith says we always kind of put ourselves into them, even if they are really different from us. After cultivating her book for so long, Ms. Smith
Ms. Smith says the only way you will be able to accomplish a long term project like a book is for it to matter to you, because it probably doesn’t matter to anyone else. “It has to matter to you, and it has to matter enough.” Ms. Smith’s book will be out by 2017, published by Kalie Jones Books, an imprint of Akashic Book. We are all waiting on the edge of our seats to read this amazing novel.
Ms. Smith : Photo By TaRaessha Henderson (Dinwiddie)
O u r forte Catalyst Quartet By Rae Henderson (Dinwiddie) On September 10th, 2015 the ARGS students and faculty had the pleasure of viewing and hearing an amazing classical music quartet called the Catalyst Quartet. The members play four different instruments. Melissa White and Karla Donehew play the violin, Karlos Rodriguez plays the viola, and Paul Laraia plays the cello. They perform classical music from Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, and music from other inspiring artists.
Dragon Scales
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By C.J. Lockhart (Dinwiddie) Our school’s a capella group, Dragon Scales, is together again, and they are bringing the fire. Mr.Speaks, the sponsor of the team,“is very excited about the upcoming year. We have a few new members this year. We are also going participate in our usual annual events like glow-in-the-darcapella and the ICHSA (International Championship of High School A Cappella) competition. We are also excited to be doing a Macy’s competition this year where we have a possibility of winning $25,000.” Lindy Pokorny (Chesterfield), one of the members of Dragon Scales, comments, “We’ve got an amazing group this year- the level of talent in the individual members is ridiculous, and when we blend that all together it’s going to be fantastic. I can’t wait.” This year is going to be another busy and amazing year for our Dragon Scale members! After a few very hard decisions, the new team was assembled.
The group is based in Detroit, Michigan and had performed the previous evening at University of Richmond’s Modlin Center for the Arts. Whenever possible, they enjoy performing in schools as they tour around the country. The Modlin Center contacted Mrs. Storti and offered ARGS a performance before the quartet left for Roanoke.They have participated in many showcases, including but not limited to the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar, Grand Canyon Music Festival, and Great Lakes Chamber Festival. They have also held informational sessions, concerts, and hosted a couple Master’s classes. Their sponsoring organization, Sphinx Preparatory Music Industry, considers them to be teaching artists which was demonstrated very well throughout the school assembly during which they talked about what they do and incorporated multiple students in their showcase. They talked to Dexter Moses (Chesterfield) one on one about jazz and had asked the audience about the instruments they were playing. Many people spoke highly of the performance during the lunch that followed. Lauren Wilson (Sussex) said, “It was a great way to deviate from stress, because some teachers have already given out test and quizzes,” and many other students agreed with her sentiment. Mr. Jay Ruffa (Science Department) had said that he “loved the performance” and “wished we did more of it.” Overall, the concert was a success and many people enjoyed hearing a quartet play. We all thanked them for coming, but we should definitely thank Mrs. Margaret Storti (Choir). If it wasn’t for her, we would not be able to have this experience.
Dragon Scales members include Richie Bishop (Prince George), Jonathan Morrison (Chesterfield), Emma Robinson (Chesterfield), Kali Fillhart (Franklin City), Kaiya Keckler (Colonial Heights), C.J. Lockhart (Dinwiddie), Guru Bhutta (Chesterfield), Will Watkins (Surry), Miles Barrow (Chesterfield), Tyandria Jackson (Chesterfield), Lindy Pokorny (Chesterfield), Garvey Dobbins (Richmond), Luke Hawkins (Richmond), Jessica Beaudet (Prince George), Jeron DuHart (Prince George), Ayana Williams (Chesterfield), Celeste Chalkley (Richmond), Jo Rozycki (Richmond), Lillian Bruce (Chesterfield), Brett Baboorian (Chesterfield). They are coached by Mr. David Speaks. Photo by Rae Henderson (Dinwiddie)
ARGS Non-Discrimination Policy In accordance with federal laws, the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the policies of the Appomattox Regional Governor’s School and its fiscal agent, Chesterfield County Public Schools, the Governor’s School does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, age, religion, disabilities or national origin in all policies and practices in the provision of employment and educational and extracurricular programs for students and staff. TITLE IX The Regional Governing Board has designated Sarah Luong to act as the Appomattox Regional Governor’s School for the Arts and Technology’s compliance officer under the provisions of Title IX. Any student who believes he/she has been the victim of sexual harassment or discrimination on the basis of sex should file a written complaint with the compliance officer. An investigation will ensue.
The Catalyst Quartet. Photo courtesty of Ms. Basile.
Title IX Compliance Officer: Sarah A. Luong (804)722-0200 ext. 305 512 W. Washington St. Petersburg, VA 23803
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Ta ki n g T h e sta g e Pippin Zaria Talley (Petersburg) This year’s fall musical production has been announced as the classic production, Pippin! Mr. Deiss, a theatre teacher here at ARGS, is very excited about the choice. Though the musical premiered on Broadway in 1972, it had a revival in 2013. “It’s come back into the forefront,” Mr. Deiss said, also noting that many students were able to see the revival of Pippin. Its recent popularity and familiarity with students contributed to its selection for the musical this year. Pippin is a play within a play. Mr. Deiss described it as the audience watching actors pretending to be actors putting on a production. The story of the show follows a new member of the acting troupe who is playing the character Pippin, son of King Charlemagne. “We are in the Holy Roman Empire during the Medieval Age when the Crusades are sweeping across the western world,” Mr. Deiss said, setting up the timing of the play within the play. Throughout the production, Pippin goes through episodes with the final one involving the human-sacrificing of the actor playing Pippin. “The actor who is playing Pippin is disposable,” Mr. Deiss explained. A new actor plays the character of Pippin each night the troupe performs the show. “It just so happens that this day [of the play], the actor who plays Pippin [wises] up and changes the ending,” Mr. Deiss said, pausing with a laugh, “and I can’t give [the ending] away.” Mr. Deiss had been thinking about putting on Pippin since the end of last school year. There were many options that the theatre department had but, ultimately, the ample amount of lead roles in Pippin put it at the top. “The theatre department had to choose [...] what would be the best fit for our student body at this time,” Mr. Deiss said. Once the play was chosen, he set his sights on how the magic within the show would be built. “We have two specific illusions that we will be bringing to the stage. How we design the set is determined by what those illusions are because the illusions take space so it has to work [on our stage],” he added. Mr. Deiss also toyed with following in the steps of the 2013 version and having a female lead. Auditions were open for both male and female leads. If the theatre department had chosen to do the play with a female lead, one of the biggest changes would be in the music. “We would’ve been transposing music parts which means the orchestra would be getting new music,” Mr. Deiss explained. Before Pippin premieres here at ARGS, the theatre department will be heading to the VTA,
Virginia Theatre Association, Conference from October 22 to the 25, where the cast of Pippin will put on a thirty minute segment of the show for competition. “We have to have those 30 minutes ready to perform before we actually open our show here,” Mr. Deiss said, laughing. There is no doubt that a lot of talent fills the halls of ARGS, which made casting the play difficult. There are less than thirty characters in the play, eight of which are named. With the seventy-plus students that auditioned for the play, Mr. Deiss said it came to down to the actors being triple threats in the acting, singing, and “moving” fields. He joked that “moving” is what actors call dancing. While many met the requirements, it ultimately came to if the actor fit the character type. “[Many students] may not meet the character type
“We’re an art school and [are] supposed to be educating our students about all types of theatre. If we did all modern shows or only popular shows, I don’t think everybody here would be getting a well-rounded education.” as well as someone else,” Mr. Deiss said, adding that this made casting difficult.
The cast is as follows: Lead roles Pippin - Brett Baboorian (Chesterfield) Leading Player - Garvey Dobbins (Richmond) Charlemagne - Daniel Kunkel (Chesterfield) Catherine - Emma Robinson (Chesterfield) Fastrada - Emma Fralin (Chesterfield) Lewis - William Watkins (Surry) Berthe - Dana Horowitz (Chesterfield) Thea - Tyandria Jackson (Chesterfield) Ensemble #1: featured dancers/singers/players Vocal Captain - Lindy Pokorny (Chesterfield) Dance Captain - Ellie Whelan (Prince George) Morgan Benson (Colonial Heights) AJ Williams (Richmond) Sasha Uzzle (Chesterfield) Jessica Beaudet (Prince George) Ayana Williams (Chesterfield) Mallorie Greene (Richmond) Tegan James (Chesterfield) Jo Rozycki (Richmond) Ellianna Bowman (Chesterfield) Ensemble #2: featured actors/singers players Celeste Chalkley (Richmond) Timothy Glover (Chesterfield) Ally Horowitz (Chesterfield) Shayra Santiago-Borges (Hopewell) Olivia Stokes (Powhatan) Jennifer Price (Dinwiddie) Julianna Jenkins (Chesterfield) Guru Bhutta (Chesterfield)
In the future, Mr. Deiss hopes to do more golden age and modern productions. Though Pippin may seem to be an older play in today’s times, the musical is still modern compared to the golden age. “We’re an art school and [are] supposed to be educating our students about all types of theatre. If we did all modern shows or only the popular shows, I don’t think everybody here would be getting a well-rounded education,” Mr. Deiss elaborated. He also noted that the upperclassmen talents in a school year factors into the plays chosen. The cast for Pippin has since been revealed and we here at ARGS are in for a great show this fall! Congratulations to everyone who made the show and production crew. Pippin opens November 13th, 14th, and 15th, Sunday matinee, and then the following weekend on November 20th, 21st, and 22nd, Sunday matinee.
Pippin Cast. Photo By Ms. Beaudet.
still Ta ki n g t h e sta g e New ARGS sKetch family recruited
Company Chatter By Zoe Pierson (Chesterfield)
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By Kiah Brown (Hopewell) Auditions for ARGS improv group, sKetch, were Wednesday, September 23rd. sKetch, a humourous group that competes, performs and entertains. They make appearances at several coffee houses and their ultimate goal is to make people laugh and have fun. Garvey Dobbins, (Richmond), co-captain of sKetch, believes the group is just for fun but that it makes you think quick. The auditions consisted of many theatrical games and exercises. Exercises including Freeze, a game of dancing and stopping to swiftly think of a scene and perform it, other games may include Bus Stop, and Sit, Stand, Lay. To get into sKetch, you have to be funny and have the ability to easily perform on the spot. Along with coffee house performances and fun and games, sKetch competes in annual competitions. The VTA (Virginia Theatre Association) holds an event each year that ARGS participates in. The improv competition is composed of a series of judged games and tests. Several rules make up the competition and all in all you have to be entertaining, but not rude. Last year, the ARGS sKetch won the title of the 2014 High School State Champions. They wish to return and defend their title this year at the competition. Best of luck to them and congrats to the new members!
In the midst of a new school year, the feeling of new beginnings is in the air. One of these newly turning leaves is the dance department’s new company, Dance Interface. It consists of 20 dance majors, listed below, who have all made a commitment to better themselves and the community through the art of dance. They plan to bring their talent into retirement and nursing homes, small theaters, and possibly even middle schools in the Richmond, Chesterfield, and Petersburg areas. The company is non-profit, but they hope to receive donations for their performances to keep it afloat. With these donations, they hope to have guest choreographers come in to create new works on the dancers. Although the idea of getting a choreographer seems far-fetched for this school year, it is possible once Dance Interface is more stable. Everyone involved in each performance will receive community service hours for their hard work, and each dancer involved must sign a contract upon their entrance into Dance Interface, as Ms. Kim Richardson would like to uphold the values and commitments of a professional dance company. This contract explains the requirements of any dancer involved in a company, such as the requirement to make rehearsals during the week and being committed to being present at performances when they are performing. When asked about ranking the dancers as would be done in most companies, Ms. Richardson was quick to say, “They are one unit; they are one.” Even though at some moments companies come off as “All work and no play,” the company members have a lot of fun activities coming this year. There are four pieces currently in the works not only to be performed in the community, but also to be recorded and sent in as an audition tape for the National High School Dance Festival. If accepted, the piece will have recognition at the festival in Pittsburgh in the spring, and a place in the Virginia Dance Festival as well. There is much excitement throughout the company as the dancers look forward to finishing their pieces and taking them to the stage. Katie Parker (Chesterfield) says, “I feel like this company is very invested in learning the art of dance through passionate work, and study of repertory in order to broaden our perspectives, and we are so excited to bring that knowledge to the community.”
Ellie Whelan - Co-Captain (Prince George) Garvey Dobbins - Co-Captain (Richmond) Emma Fralin (Chesterfield) Madison Leon (Richmond) Ally Horowitz (Chesterfield) Dana Horowitz (Chesterfield) Timothy Glover (Chesterfield) Marshall Douglas (Richmond) Dylan Zipperer (Richmond) Ryan Kehoe (Chesterfield) Zoe Galanapoulos (Colonial Heights) Skye Revels (Amelia) Robert Timberline (Richmond) Miles Barrow (Chesterfield)
Dance Interface Company Members: Arianna Moore (Chesterfield), Katie Parker (Chesterfield), D’Ivieyon BraxtonHicks (Amelia), Emma Blair (Powhatan), Danielle Thompson (Richmond), Elizabeth Woodington (Chesterfield), Ajalyn Easterday (Southampton), Erin Perry (Chesterfield), Anna Kerr (Chesterfield), Chante Brown (Petersburg), Katie Costley (Amelia), Angelea Hengle (Chesterfield), Lena Rafey (Hopewell), Kathryn Cox (Chesterfield), Kinsley Stevenson (Chesterfield), Berkley Lipscomb (Dinwiddie), Susanna Redling (Hopewell), Amber Crittenden (Chesterfield), Kristina Tucker (Chesterfield), Kayla Jones (Chesterfield), and Taylor Robbins (Chesterfield). Photo by Lianne Maunes (Petersburg) Members of the sKetch team. Photo by Rae Henderson (Dinwiddie)
Dragon Eggs
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Things are good, great, and so-so! By Anisa Isaac (Prince George) Lots of little dragon eggs are waiting to hatch, but one has already arrived here at ARGS! Mr. Watson, new father and ARGS math teacher, says his life revolves around his daughter, Zoey Marie Watson, who was born on June 26, 2015. Whether it’s waking up at 3 am to put Zoey back to sleep from her late-night fusses or taking her for a walk in her stroller, he’s always there to care for her. His outlook on fatherhood is extremely positive and he describes Zoey as cheerful. “You have someone that makes you happy. I love making her smile and I get to bring life into the world,” he explained. Mr. Watson and his wife have become quite the socialites because everyone wants to see their new addition to the family. All of his relatives came out of the woodwork to see a glimpse of Zoey, and students come after class to see pictures of her. He always slips in a little promo for peer tutoring, which he runs, when his students come to see photos.
Mr. Watson helped quite a lot during his wife’s pregnancy. “I was available whenever she needed me and avoidable when she didn’t want to see me,” he recalled with a smile. He took over most of the chores and decorated Zoey’s room with toys and trinkets. Her room has a playpen, crib, changing table and little cows hanging from the ceiling. He also made a giant snail out of popsicle sticks, glow sticks, and a Japanese lantern with a small snail inside for his wife.
“You have someone that makes you happy. I love making her smile and I get to bring life into the world.”
With the good comes the bad, and most of the downsides to being a father are that he doesn’t have enough time to enjoy his usual activities. Sleeping is a precious gift since his body now has to adapt to a one hour sleep schedule. He doesn’t get any slack when it comes to Zoey’s wrath since she fusses day in and day out. He had to give up some hobbies, like fencing, and he can’t make his infamous snail cartoons as often. Another downfall is that changing Zoey’s diaper is like going into a battlefield. “Sometimes we have to clear off that room for the rest of the day and put a fan in it,” he revealed. Her notorious “atomic poops” The origin of Zoey’s name is from a deal he and his seem like a trying time. wife had. If the baby was a girl, then his wife got to choose out of her array of several names. They would name their baby “Charles Watson IV” if the baby was a boy, following in his family’s tradition. They both came up with the name Zoey from a character from the show Firefly. He liked the characteristics Zoey exemplified and thought she was a great role model. Her character is the captain of the ship in the show. She is strong-willed, independent, and a born leader. His wife also wanted Zoey’s name to have significance; “Zoey” means life in Greek. Mr. Watson and his wife want to have more children in maybe two to three years, but they won’t be using any more names from “Firefly.” Zoey Marie Watson is the Robin to Mr. Watson’s Batman. The bond that he and Zoey have is unbreakable. He spends most of his time talking about many of Zoey’s antics. Stories of experiences with her slip their way into every lesson. He relates everything back to her and being a father. Fatherhood seems like quite a feat to accomplish perfectly, but he’s still learning the ropes and getting better with each day he spends with her. Mrs. Watson with her daughter, Zoey. Photo provided by Mr. Watson
Mr. Watson and his daughter, Zoey. Photo provided by Mr. Watson
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