Photos: Falls Church High School News, Events

From Falls Church High School:

FCHS Play: SHREK (December 1-3)

Everyone's favorite ogre is back in the hilarious stage spectacle based on the Oscar-winning, smash hit film-Shrek! The Falls Church High School Theatre will be performing their rendition of this incredible film on December 1st and 2nd at 7 p.m. and on December 3rd at both 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

With 35 students in the acting group, another 25 students working behind scenes, this large collaborative effort is gaining community interest. Students have been enjoying the advertising at school (with commercials that can also be seen on Twitter @TheatreFchs).

The storyline begins, "Once upon a time, there was a little ogre named Shrek...." The tale of an unlikely hero who finds himself on a life-changing journey alongside a wisecracking Donkey and a feisty princess who resists her rescue. Throw in a short-tempered bad guy, a cookie with an attitude and over a dozen other fairy tale misfits, and you've got the kind of mess that calls for a real hero. Luckily, there's one on hand... and his name is Shrek, who proves once and for all that beauty is truly in the eye of the ogre.

SHREK The Musical is a Tony Award-winning fairy tale adventure, featuring songs from Jeanine Tesori (Thoroughly Modern Millie; Caroline, or Change) and a sidesplitting book by David Lindsay-Abaire. SHREK brings all the beloved characters you know from the film to life on stage: complete with puppets and tap dancing rats! Falls Church High School Theatre department, with special guest performers from Luther Jackson Middle School will put on a spectacle of music and dance you won't want to miss!

Tickets can be paid and ordered in advance starting October 30th at a special half price rate of $5 per ticket if bought before Nov 29. Tickets will also be sold at the door for $10.

FCHS Students Recognized in Book Your Summer Reading Program

Falls Church High School has one of the most used libraries out of all of our high schools in Fairfax County Public Schools—and the encouragement for reading continued over the summer. Five students were recognized for their participation in the “Book Your Summer” reading program. Karina Miller, junior (and pictured above), won the Falls Church HS laptop giveaway. The other four students that were recognized (one from each grade level) received $50 worth of free books they were able to choose. The winners from each grade level were:

• 9th grade: Mina Berry
• 10th grade: Christopher Albrecht
• 11th grade: Lynda Dang
• 12th grade: Maddie Arman

We are very proud of our active readers and the great support our librarians, Laura Potocki and Carrie Kausch, continue to give our students. Laura Potocki was also recently chosen to be a part of the Library Vanguard team this year. This team is a group of six librarians who work with the library level specialists on a year-long Guided Inquiry Design project, focusing on reflecting through the stages of the GID process. The lessons and reflections will be shared as examples for all librarians in Fairfax County Public Schools. Nothing but the best for our Jaguars—congratulations to the students and Head Librarian Laura Potocki!

FCHS Students Have a Heart

Almost three years ago, the Falls Church High School Academy was recognized as a Governor's Health Sciences program. This prestigious recognition is only held by eight schools in the entire state of Virginia, and Falls Church High School is proud to be one of them. One of the classes in this academy includes Medical Assistant students in Michele Law's class were working on representation of the heart. The work ranged from nonlinguistic representations of the heart (seen in photos below), to stories written ("Benny the Blood Drop"-- an analogy of blood flow through the heart to a "road trip"), and more. The stories were part of this year's focus on literacy and emphasized the need for strong literacy in all professions.

FCHS Students in Teachers for Tomorrow Class Visit Shenandoah University

At Falls Church High School, students can enroll in a class titled “Teachers for Tomorrow”. This class, consisting mostly of seniors, allows students to get practicum experience in schools as they get a glimpse of the education profession. They recently visited Shenandoah University to get an idea of the preparatory experience that they may receive if they major in Education in college.

While at the university they were able to tour the campus, receive presentations on the various programs available, and even sit in on a 400 level Education class. While in the class, students saw presentations on lessons designed for classes by the college students. One FCHS senior, Tyler Reynolds, found the trip better than his other college visits. He said that, “It’s nice to get to see facilities, and that’s what most college visits show you. This visit got us in an actual classroom, and in a classroom of a major I’m interest in. We got to see what it was like as a student there, not just a visitor.”

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock, Falls Church High School