December 6, 2011

1) Recently, The Roanoke Times featured an article on yet another CS alumnus. Alex B. (Seminar class of 2007) received attention for his passion for herpetology. Now a senior at Salem High School, he breeds and sells corn snakes and ball pythons and collects data on their natural habitat. Alex surveyed reptiles and amphibians in western Roanoke County’s Fort Louis Mountain and presented his findings in October in Raleigh at the North American Association for Environmental Education conference. He was the youngest presenter there. You can find the article on Alex at http://www.roanoke.com/theedge/stories/wb/301459. While a student at CS, Alex won the grand prize in two national competitions sponsored by The Nature Conservancy and Random House Books and by The National Geographic Society.

2) Houston J. (Seminar class of 1996; CS Extended Studies Program 2000), who completed his Ph.D. in history at the University of Tennessee this past May, is currently teaching at Bridgewater College as a visiting assistant professor of history. His sister, Paige J., (Seminar class of 1999) is currently living in Pasadena, California.  For the past four years she has been the Curatorial Assistant at the Dinosaur Institute of the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History. After being intensely involved with the design, development, and opening (this past July) of the widely renowned new Dinosaur Hall at the museum, Paige decided to move on to new challenges. She has just started a new job in a support role with the JCAP (Joint Centre for Artificial Photosynthesis) program at Cal Tech in Pasadena. Even though she majored in philosophy at Occidental College, Paige credits her lifelong interest in science to her Community School roots.

3) Alex L. (Seminar class of 2001) is currently pursuing a master of arts in classics at Washington University in St. Louis. He was also accepted into the classics program at U.C. Santa Barbara. Alex remains torn between pursuing a Ph.D. in classics or a M.D. He graduated from Carlton College in 2009 with a major in classical languages and a concentration in chemistry.

4) Maggie H. (Seminar class of 2008), a first-year student at Burton Center for Performing Arts, was chosen recently to be the dance captain for their upcoming “Holidazzle” show. She also received first place in the Hidden Valley High School’s Shakespeare Competition sponsored by the English-Speaking Union of the United States. She will go to the district competition at Virginia Western Community College on December 10.  Maggie is a very busy young lady, including among her extracurricular activities: vice president of the HVHS Drama Club, secretary of the HVHS chapter of the International Thespian Society, Flag Corps member, Prevention Council leader, youth leader and organizer of the regional YADAPP (Youth Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Project), director of the HVHS competition play “Cagebirds,” and Professional Actors Studio member of the Kevin Jones Performing Arts Studio. She also dances for Linda Watkins’ School of Dance.

5) Sam S. (Seminar Class of 2011) was recently inducted into the Junior Honor Society at Salem High School where she is in pre-International Baccalaureate classes and is on the A/B Honor Roll. Her mother observed that the high school transition has been painless and that Sam was extremely well prepared academically.