Fairfax County Crime Solvers are seeking the public’s help in identifying the suspects who recently vandalized football fields at Herndon High School and South Lakes High School.
The first incident occurred at Herndon High School between early on June 1. The second incident, at SLHS occurred 11 p.m. on Saturday, June 6, and 1:50 p.m. on Sunday, June 7, police said.
The suspects spray-painted derogatory, racist language and profane images on the football fields of both schools, causing more than $6,000 in damage to both turf fields.
Hunter Mill and Dranesville Supervisors and School Board members called the graffiti “intolerable.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Solvers by phone at 1-866-411-TIPS(8477), e-mail at www.fairfaxcrimesolvers.org or text “TIP187” plus your message to CRIMES(274637)**.
A $100 to $1,000 cash reward will be paid for information that leads to an arrest. As always, callers never have to give their names or appear in court.
Photo: Graffiti on Herndon High’s football field
South Lakes High School’s girls 4×400 relay team finished fourth in the Virginia High School League 6A Track and Field Championship and has qualified for a spot at the national high school meet in Greensboro, N.C., next weekend.
Seniors Jordan Lozama, Claire Nieusma, junior Golden Kumi-Darfour and sophomore Devyn Jones finished fourth with a time of 3:56.64 last weekend at the Virginia meet in Newport News.
Kumi-Dafour also received an individual All-State honor by finishing eighth in the 800 meters (2:16.88). Juniors Eric Kirlew and Skander Ballard earned All-State honors with Kirlew’s sixth-place finish in the triple jump (45–07.00) and Ballard’s eighth in the 400 meters (49.83). Ballard teamed with fellow juniors Nikolai Waithe, Anas Fain and senior Sam Arpee for fourth in the boys 4×400 meter relay (3:22.41).
Other SLHS performances at the state championship:
- Girls 4×800 meter relay (freshmen Olivia Beckner, Emily McGrath, junior Monica Lannen, Kumi-Darfour), 12th, 9:40.82
- Boys 4×800 meter relay (seniors Andrew McCool, Collin Weirick, Sean Miller, junior John LeBerre), 17th, 8:19.82
- Girls 4×100 meter relay (seniors Comfort Reed, Ozioma Chinaka, Samantha Webb, sophomore Nikayla Hoyte), 10th, 49.42
- Boys 4×100 meter relay (senior Timothy Logan, Waithe, Kirlew, sophomore Timiebi Ogobri), 12th, 44.06
- Senior Nathan Stone, 110 meter hurdles, 9th, 15.05
- Ogobri, 100 meters, 18th, 11.25 (personal best)
- Nieusma, 400 meters, 14th, 59.14
Photo: SLHS girls 4×400 relay team/Credit: SLHS track
Fairfax County supervisors and school board members are speaking up in response to racist, profane and anti-semitic graffiti at Herndon High School last week.
There has since been similar incident at South Lakes High School, but a joint statement by Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins and school board rep Pat Hynes and Dranesville Supervisor John Foust and school board member Jane Strauss was issued prior to Sunday’s SLHS vandalism.
No suspects have been charged.
The representatives say the behavior is “intolerable in our community.”
“It does not represent the inclusive community that we strive to make possible in Fairfax County,” the reps said.
Here’s the statement:
Last weekend, vile hate speech and derogatory symbols were found defacing property at Herndon High School. We stand together, all saying that this behavior is intolerable in our community. This action represents some of the worst intolerance that we have seen, and does not represent the inclusive community that we strive to make possible in Fairfax County.
This action is intended to demean and diminish members of our community. The symbols depicted at Herndon High School represent hate and inhumanity. We will not stand for this behavior in our school system, or in the greater Fairfax County community.
We will not allow our schools to become a platform for hatred and intolerance of any group or individual. Moreover, we must use this occasion in a positive way, to teach respect and tolerance and to demonstrate how the diversity of our county enriches all our lives.
This is a horrific example, but we must take it as an opportunity to further build an inclusive community for all.
Photo: Graffiti at Herndon High School
The Fairfax County School Board has filed a Planned Residential Community application for a building addition and other improvements for Reston’s South Lakes High School.
The plans will add about 40,000 more square feet to the high school, which has exceeded capacity that was added in renovations in 2006-07. The renovations were followed by a redistricting that added more than 700 students to the school, which has capacity for 2,300. FCPS predicts school enrollment will be more than 2,900 by 2017-18.
The SLHS addition, as well as previously announced improvements for Herndon High School, is part of the five-year capital improvement plan, which has $220 million in funding from approved school bonds that were approved in 2013, FCPS says.
The remainder of the funds for the CIP will comes from a school bond referendum in the fall of 2015. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors last week authorized the $310 million schools referendum, which has one more step before being added to the Nov. 3 general election ballot.
South Lakes’ addition should increase space from about 2,300 students to 2,700 students, school officials previously said.
The site plan includes adding 40,000 square feet, bringing the total space in the school building to 373,750 square feet. There are also plans for adding 120 parking spaces, bringing capacity to 750 spaces.
Approximately 74 percent or 35.89 acres of property will remain in open space, school officials said.
The plans are tentatively scheduled to have a Fairfax County Planning Commission public hearing on Oct. 15.
Vandals hit South Lakes High School’s turf athletic field and other outdoor areas with obscene graffiti, principal Kim Retzer said Monday.
The vandalism occurred Sunday night, Retzer said in an email to students’ families.
Herndon High had a similar incident last week. No suspect has been caught, authorities said. South Lakes and Herndon both had similar back-to-back vandalism incidents early in the 2013-14 school year.
Here is what Retzer wrote to the SLHS community:
Dear Seahawk Families,
Sometime last evening, vandals spray painted graffiti with inappropriate language and images on to our main turf field. This incident follows the discovery earlier yesterday of additional graffiti that was found on the senior wall and other stadium structures. A similar vandalism incident occurred at Herndon High School last week.
We have taken steps to begin the expensive process to clean the turf field. The other damaged structures have already been cleaned. As disappointing as it is, these criminal acts will not take away from our celebratory end of year activities. We will be working closely with law enforcement to hold the perpetrator(s) accountable and anyone with information is asked to contact Fairfax County Police at 703-691-2131.
Fairfax County voters will likely be asked to vote on bond referendums this fall that will have a direct impact on Reston facilities, including a fire station and South Lakes High School.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has authorized a $151 million public safety and $310 million schools bond referendum. That means they can petition the Circuit Court to order the referendums for the Nov. 3 general election ballot.
If voters pass the referendum, $51 million will be used to replace Station 25, the Fairfax County Fire-Rescue station at Wiehle Avenue and Sunset Hills Road, as well as renovate or replace Merrifield, Penn Daw, Woodlawn, and Edsall stations.
Station 25 is one of the busiest stations in the county, Fairfax County says. It was built in 1972 and last renovated in 1986.
Fairfax County’s Capital Improvement Plan says $13,000,000 is needed for replacement as the building systems and infrastructure are well beyond the end of their life cycle. The replacement would include an expansion to a four-bay station. The fire station lacks women’s accommodations to include bunk rooms, lockers and bathroom facilities to meet 50 percent of minimum shift staffing. It is also in need of a workout room, an expanded men’s locker room area and laundry facilities.
The school bond referendum will go towards an addition for South Lakes High School, as well as renovating nine elementary schools, two middle schools and two high schools, along with planning for a new Northwest County-area elementary school.
South Lakes underwent a major overhaul in 2006-07, and then was part of a contentious redistricting that quickly turned the school from one of FCPS’ smallest to one that needed more space. Many classes are currently held in portable classrooms.
The school is over its capacity of 2,300 students. With population growing at nearly every FCPS school, the school district puts South Lakes capacity at 140 percent by 2017-18, according to FCPS’ 2013 Capital Improvement Plan. Projected enrollment by 2017 is 2,983, according to FCPS’ analysis.
Part of the SLHS renovations are already financed by the most recent $225 million school bond referendum, which was authorized in 2013.
Other bond money will go to renovate the Franconia District Police station ($100 million); to build a new, joint animal shelter and police station in the South County area; for construction and renovation for the Police heliport, Operations Support Bureau facilities and Emergency Vehicle Operations and K9 Center.
The proposal is one of the largest school bonds in recent years. Voters approved a $365 million bond in 2007.
The county has received the highest triple A rating from Moody’s Investors, Standard and Poor’s and Fitch Ratings. The county is one of only nine states, 39 counties, and 33 cities to hold a triple-A rating from all three rating agencies, so Fairfax County’s bonds sell at relatively low interest rates compared to other tax-free bonds.
Photo: Portable classroom at South Lakes High School
South Lakes High School’s Class of 2015 will disperse to 96 different college and universities in the fall.
There will be Seahawks in such far-flung places as Stanford University, University of Michigan, Florida State University and the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.
By far, the majority of students will be staying in Virginia. Here are some of the schools that have the most South Lakes students enrolling for 2015-16.
- Christopher Newport University, 16
- College of William and Mary, 8
- George Mason University, 26
- James Madison University, 32
- Northern Virginia Community College, 85
- University of Mary Washington, 10
- Virginia Commonwealth University, 32
- Virginia Tech, 51
- University of Virginia, 35
To see the complete list, check out the document from the South Lakes HS career center attached to this post.
South Lakes High School art students are working on a follow up to last year’s popular public art installation that brought a multicolored pyramid to the Lake Thoreau spillway.
This year, the “STEAM Team,” as South Lakes art teacher Marco Rando calls the SLHS public art club that is combining science, technology, engineering, art and math into the project, is designing an iridescent double-helix sculpture.
“The double-helix is to represent the idea that we are all made from DNA and are from the same components,” the artists say in their mission statement. “In contrast, the iridescence represents the different shades through which people see themselves.”
“As Wislawa Szymborska states in her poem Nothing Twice, ‘although we’re different (we concur)/ just as two drops of water are.’ However, from the distance we are one united shimmering color. The sculpture will act as a prism to illuminate the shades through which we see ourselves.”
The group’s project was approved by the Reston Association Design Review Board last week. Rando said the project should be installed in June.
Members of the STEAM Team include Margaret Lashley, Josh Rodriguez, Kathleen Roherty, Tehmeena Salahin,Lucy Nguyen, Carson Bush, Victoria Slaski, Leah Moyer, Samantha Malzahn, Cale Sherman, Johnathan Doctor, Ryan Monaco and Ben Paul.
In 2014, SLHS students brought the first public art to the spillway. The Pyramid of Light remained Lake Thoreau throughout the summer and received many kudos from the community.
Photos: Top — Model of 2015 double helix project/Courtesy Marco Rando; Bottom — Pyramid of Light 2014/file photo
Take a trip back to 1962 Baltimore beginning Thursday as South Lakes High School’s drama department presents Hairspray.
The show is directed by Maria Harris and stars Mely Megahed as Tracy Turnblad;
Harrison de Wolfe as Link Larkin; Maddie Murphy-Nielson as Penny Pingleton; Nathan Nkomba as Seaweed J. Stubbs; Karin Hoelzl as Amber Von Tussle; Sequoia Carrillo as Velma Von Tussle; Amirah Kirwan as Motormouth Maybelle; Jacob Kemp as Edna Turnblad; Arthur Payne as Wilbur Turnblad; Brentan Walter as Corny Collins; and Sydney Crutcher as Little Inez.
Shows are at 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday April 23-25 and April 30-May 2 in the SLHS Little Theatre.
Tickets are $10 for adults ($12 at the door); $8 for students and seniors ($10 at the door). Visit the SLHS Theatre Arts website to purchase in advance.
Audience members that bring three needed items for the Embry Rucker Community Shelter will receive a free concession stand item.
Photo: Hairspray at SLHS/Credit: Katherine McCool
The South Lakes High School Band Boosters are holding a major fundraiser next weekend. The Band on the Run 5K is a community race and fun run with a little something extra.
The race, which starts and ends at South Lakes High School, will have musical entertainment all along the course.
Here is what else you need to know:
Race begins at 8:30 a.m.
Registration for students is $20 online through race day; $35 day of race. Adults, $35 online; $40 on race day.
There is a 1K Fun Run for Kids. Each participant, 12 and younger receives a medal. Registration is $15.
Proceeds go to the band boosters, which helps buy new uniforms and instruments for the marching band.
South Lakes High School’s Lina Wu was among 23 Fairfax County students honored with a Student Peace Award in a ceremony on Sunday.
For the last 10 years, Fairfax County has recognized juniors or seniors who devote time, energy and creativity to being peacemakers in local, national or international service.
Wu was honored for her concern about human rights violations and how to address them.
She is president of South Lakes’ Girls Learn International (GLI) chapter. GLI is a division of the Feminist Majority Foundation that educates and energizes U.S. students in the global movement for girls’ access to education.
She has briefed GLI members about events and actions that undermine equality and how they can be addressed. She led a panel discussion on sex trafficking and its impact on the world. She also organized several fundraisers for their partner school in Wai, India.
As vice president of the D.C. Student Advisory Board of GLI Chapters, Wu works with chapters in area schools to educate their students about current events and to teach them to create solutions to inequality both in their partner schools abroad and in their own schools and communities. Wu started an internship in February with the Feminist Majority Foundation, where she will work to expand GLI.
A poem that Wu wrote, A Real Girl, was chosen to be presented at the Girls Speak Out Summit at the United Nations in October. Her poem discusses rape and how it is often viewed by society.
Photo: Lina Wu/Credit: Ken Fredgren
Langston Hughes Middle and South Lakes High schools were swarming with families on Sunday as the second annual NoVa Mini Maker Faire returned to Reston.
Part of the popular Maker Faire nationwide network of events, the NoVa Mini Maker Faire is geared toward school-age kids, celebrating innovation, imagination and the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math) and showing kids that science can be fun.
More than 100 booths featuring interactive activities and demonstrations were spread out across the campuses of the two Reston schools. Popular attractions included the chance to fly drones and pilot robots to perform small tasks, watching a 3-D printer churn out objects like a chess set and other figurines, making art out of yarn and recycled materials, building Lego towers and duct-tape forts, and much more.
There was even a blacksmithing demonstration by high school students, where the crowd got to watch them pound fire-hot iron into objects like coat hooks and swords.
The calendar’s proximity to summer made booths like Activity Rocket quite popular as well, as many parents welcomed the opportunity to read up on science and art camps for their kids taking place this year.
“I really think my son would love one of these camps, like the Lego camp or the computer programming camp, so I was very excited to see them handing out information at the Faire today,” said Candy Schmidt of Reston, the mom of a 8-year-old.
One prominent theme of this year’s faire was to encourage more girls to get excited about entering the STEM fields, as organizers said the fields still tend to be very male-heavy at many schools and companies across the country. One such booth was the GEMS organization, or Girls Excited About Math and Science, which offered fun, quick projects with electronics.
Photo gallery by Jennifer van der Kleut
Young artists, inventors and other innovators will show what they can do at this weekend’s NoVa Mini Maker Faire.
More than 100 presenters will be at the event, organized by Reston’s Nova Labs, Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at South Lakes High School and Langston Hughes Middle School.
Here is what you need to know:
Makers will share their knowledge through hands-on projects for adults and kids on topics from blacksmithing and primitive skills to 3D printing, drones and robots to building customized equipment for special needs children to creative art-making.
Makers will be grouped in neighborhoods by their topic. Neighborhoods include: Young Makers, Creativity Lane, Drone Zone, Robotics, 3D Printing Village, Science Lab, Flight Path, Sustainability Village, and more.
A complete list of makers can be found on the event’s website.
There will also be five hands-on activities: Nerdy Derby; Catapults and Ballistas; KEVA Planks; GEMS Take Apart Zone; and Demo-Vation with UpCycle Creative Reuse Center.
Nerdy Derby is a no-rules miniature car building and racing competition. In the Catapults and Ballistas, you can explore trajectory, torsion, torque, force, and materials using safe tools. KEVA Planks are small building blocks to use to build and explore; In the GEMS Take Apart Zone, you can disassemble machines to explore how things work. Demo-Vation with UpCycle Creative Reuse Center you can create something new out of discarded elements.
There will be eight speakers including: Dr. Lance Bush, CEO of The Challenger Center for Space Science Education; Jennifer Gluck who creates DIY adaptive equipment for special needs children; Vicky Somma, winner 2014 White House 3D Printed Design Challenge; and Chris Vo, Chief Scientist at Sentien Robotics and President of DC Area Drone User Group.
The Faire has a mobile website with a map, schedule, listing of makers, speaker schedule and other information.
Food will be available for sale on site by area food trucks. Among them: Doug the Food Dude, Fava Pot, Hardy BBQ, Mama’s Donut Bites and Tasty Kabob.
Advance tickets are available online. Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for children through March 14, 2015. Tickets at the door are $20 for adults and $8 for children.
Photo of 2014 Mini Maker Faire/Credit: Frank Sogandares
Support the South Lakes High School Athletic Boosters at group’s the second annual Casino Night this Friday.
There will be casino games, a silent auction, food, a cash bar, a 50/50 raffle and more. Proceeds benefit all South Lakes sports.
The fun is from 7:00 to 11:00 p.m. at Reston Community Center Hunters Woods, 2310 Colts Neck Rd.
There are two admission prices: $50 per person (with $250 in “gaming money” and two drink tickets) or admission only for $25. Additional fun bucks can be purchased at the event.
Visit the SLHS Boosters website to purchase tickets online.
SLHS indoor track/file photo
Victories in the boys 55 meter hurdles, triple jump and girls 4×400 meter relay highlighted South Lakes High School’s indoor track team’s performance at the 6A North Region Championship Thursday at the Prince George’s Sportsplex. Twenty-one SLHS athletes qualified for the 6A State Indoor Championships Feb. 27-28 in Hampton, Va.
Both teams finished fourth in their divisions in the 26-team field. The top six finishers in each event earned a spot in next weekend’s state meet.
The SLHS boys team was led by juniors Anas Fain and Eric Kirlew, who took top honors in individual events with Fain capturing the 55 meter hurdles in 7.72 and Kirlew winning the triple jump in 45-01.50. Kirlew also teamed with sophomore Timiebi Ogobri and juniors Skander Ballard and Alex Rudison for fourth in the 4×200 relay (1:34.21). Ballard finished sixth in the triple jump (43-02.00). Senior Nathan Stone was sixth in the 55 hurdles (8.01).
Junior Golden Kumi-Darfour placed the girls team as the anchor on the winning 4×400 team that included senior Claire Nieusma and sophomores Nikayla Hoyte and Jessica Lister and ran a 4:03.42. Kumi-Darfour also finished second in the 500 meters (1:18.07) as did sophomore Devyn Jones in the 55 meter hurdles (8.58).
Senior Comfort Reed finished third in the long jump (16-05.25) and fifth in the triple jump (35-05.00). Senior Jordan Lozama finished fourth in the 55 meters (7.45). Lozama, Hoyte and seniors Samantha Webb and Delaney Wickman finished third in the 4×200 meter relay (1:47.09).
Senior Ozioma Chinaka set a school record with a clearance of 8-09.00 to finish 10th.
The 4×800 meter team of senior Andrew McCool, juniors Connor Smith, John LeBerre and sophomore John Swecker ran a 8:15.73 for third.
Swim and Dive
Freshman Emma Bulger finished second in the VHSL State Diving meet on Thursday.
Sixteen SLHS swimmers qualified for the state meet. All six relays qualified for Saturday’s finals. Individual swimmers in the finals included Sabrina Groves, Natalie Obando, Emily Landeryou, Megan Carney, Mac Sogandares and Tyler Ellis. Overall, South Lakes placed 14th out of 39 teams.
Basketball
Both SLHS teams advanced in the Liberty Conference basketball tournament. The boys beat Langley 53-38. The girls beat Hayfield 71-52. Weekend semifinal games were postponed. The girls are now scheduled to host Langley Monday at 7:30 p.m. The boys will travel to at Fairfax at 7:30 pm.
