Northern Shores third-grader a calendar guy

A number of promising aeronautical artists from Northern Shores Elementary School participated in a calendar contest with NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton. Third-grader Justice Walters took a first-place, warranting him a spot in the calendar and a display of his artwork at the Virginia Air and Space Museum for the year. Other student notables were Asia Johnson, Nicolas Hernandez, Eric Ledesma, Alexis Blackwell, Amanda Davis, Lydia Pearl, Fabio Corbera and Rebecca Lemain. Students, parents, teachers and administrators will all be recognized at a special award ceremony at the museum later this month.

In my experience, most teenagers and early 20-somethings have a penchant and reputation for sleeping long and hard most Saturday mornings. So I was quite taken aback with my youthful encounters of Jan. 7. My first stop, at 9:30 a.m., was at Applebee’s on College Drive. Fifty to sixty wannabee actors were auditioning for roles in “Feelers,” a teen sci-fi drama offering by 2009 Lakeland High School graduate Le’Auntray Burch. Le’Auntray was behind a table with a camera in the bar area. Barry Price, who’ll portray Sheriff Hayes in the show, was keeping order with the patient masses in the foyer. Resumes with full-color head shots were the norm. Each person was allowed about two minutes with the author and his crew before reading a 30-40 second dialogue selection on camera. Candidates came Richmond, Newport News, Chester and Prince George. Seems there are lots of hungry actors willing to be in North Suffolk on a Saturday morning. 

My next stop was at Riverfront Swim Club in Harbour View for the third annual Video Game Marathon benefiting Hosanna Church of Managua, Nicaragua. The DidacticJam duo of Marcus Privitt and J.T. Jones, juniors at Virginia Tech, masterminded this fun fundraiser after their mission trip to Nicaragua three years ago with Aldersgate UMC. Simply by playing Lord of the “Rings,” “Skyrim,” “Half-Life” and other selections for 56 consecutive hours, these engineering students have raised about $2,000 each of the three years. The money has gone to orphanage, food pantry and school supply needs for the Managua community. See didacticjam.weebly.com for more info and to donate. There is an assortment of video highlights from each marathon. Marcus had an armpit waxing (Ouch!) at the $500 milestone last year; this year they were tossing Spam at each other outdoors in the rain for the $1,200 mark. It’s a beneficial holiday break – and it really gives them the giggles.

Ten marketing students from Nansemond River High participated in the District 21 DECA competition at Chesapeake Square mall in early December. Nine local high schools were involved with competitive role-playing events in marketing, finance, hospitality and management. DECA events provide students an opportunity to develop and employ key skills in analysis, application of know-ledge, creative problem-solving and logical presentation. Jaquan Moultrie took high honors and will move on to March’s state competition in Norfolk.

Two of our local public school students rate a special bravissimo. King’s Fork High junior Ryan Cyrus is the only Suffolk Public Schools student selected for the Hampton Roads-wide Bay Youth Orchestra. He will play his violin with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra on Feb. 8 at Chrysler Hall and at the youth orchestra’s season finale May 11 at the Wilder Performing Arts Center at Norfolk State University. Matthew Nelms, a lifelong member of Oakland Christian Church in Chuckatuck, proudly represented Windsor High in the All Virginia Jazz Ensemble organized for the Virginia Music Educators Association Conference in Norfolk in late November. Matthew was the only non-Northern Virginia trumpet player selected.

Do you have a story to share? Please let me know at k.billue@charter.net so I can spread your news to Your Corner.

COMMENTS ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here; comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its websites. Users must follow agreed-upon rules: Be civil, be clean, be on topic; don't attack private individuals, other users or classes of people. Read the full rules here.
- Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the report violation link below it.