The Charlottesville High School Parent-Teacher Organization (CHS PTO) is a parent-led organization that helps the school in various ways throughout the year. The CHS PTO aims to “aid every student by providing support for faculty and staff and by promoting and facilitating communication among administrators, teachers, and parents”, according to their latest report. One of the PTO’s goals is to involve all aspects of Charlottesville High School’s community, involving teachers, students, staff, and parents. One of the most significant projects the PTO hosts is grant funding for projects and incentives within the school. This year they raised $3,000 to support these “high-priority projects that benefit the school and its students”. Some of the projects approved from their annual grant round were:

• Launching a Women’s Health Group to provide health education for 11th and 12th-grade female ESL students

• Supporting CHS’s biannual international student exchange trip to CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) with our sister city, Besaçon
• Purchasing equipment to teach students how to become professional DJs through the CHS DJ Collective
• Purchasing supplies to print “Things We Believe” posters (and eventually, tee shirts) with positive messages, personal quotes, and unique insights gathered from CHS students and staff that will be posted around the school and potentially in other schools in our division
• Printing new photo portraits to be displayed in the CHS atrium that reflect what it means to be a Black Knight
• Supporting the CHS Scholastic Bowl Team’s trip to New Orleans to participate in the National Academic Championship

However, as students, we want to know why these projects matter, and how they might even involve all of us. A Q and A was done with some of the teachers who were the supervisors of these initiatives.

Ms.Wilson:

What’s your proposal called?  

“CHS: I love it!  I love it!  I love it! Portrait Project”

What’s it about? What does it entail? Who does it regard? 

“This project is intended to celebrate all things positive about Charlottesville High School.  A nomination form was available for 2 weeks so students and staff could self-nominate or nominate someone else who has Black Knight Pride. The photography and video project is happening Tuesday, February 7th.  Some of the portraits will then be printed as posters and hung up in the atrium to replace the current ones.”

How will it provide more opportunities here at CHS for all? 

“These posters are a solid focal point for our school when people arrive at the atrium.  They set the tone for who we are as CHS in a beautifully visual way that allows you (the viewer) to connect with the faces in the photographs.  This new project will celebrate CHS even more deliberately with participants wearing Black Knight gear and visually representing who they are as Black Knights…like wearing their sports jersey, holding their instrument, etc.”

Mr.Helmstetter,

What’s your proposal called? 

BACON Travel Equity Initiative.

What’s it about? What does it entail? Who does it regard? 

“Most realize BACON has three main pillars: competing in the best competitions nationwide, producing unique products, and traveling to some really interesting places. We have been to Wallops Island to see rockets lifting off with our payloads on them, as well as MIT where our robots competed at the International Space Station. One of the most long-standing trips is to the European Council for Nuclear Research, and one of the first students to come on the CERN trip with us now is the Director of US Communications. However, until now, we have been able to accommodate people such that everybody can go regardless of their family’s financial needs. We made a pledge to our student body, and since then, we have been walking around with our hands out to fundraise. 

How will it provide more opportunities here at CHS for all? 

“The trip allows all juniors and seniors to come in BACON, Physics, and Engineering. We do the trip biannually, so since both juniors and seniors can go, that means that everyone will have an opportunity to go. One spends all this time in school trying to figure out how to be an adult, go to college, and acquire the knowledge and skills to do all this stuff. I would actually say that nobody knows what a scientist actually does. The exposure to this, sitting down with the best scientists in the world while they work in their fields. And to have lunch with them has the opportunity to shape kids’ paths in life. This trip won’t get anyone into MIT, but this trip might have somebody choose to go to a different school or pick a different major.”

Mr.Henderson,

What’s your proposal called? 

The DJ Collective Club 

What’s it about? What does it entail? Who does it regard? 

“They granted me seven-hundred and fifty dollars to buy a DJ controller and some USBs. My plan is as soon as we get that ordered and brought in, we will probably start the club off kind of small. Maybe five to ten kids. And I have a DJ controller myself that I’ll bring in if we need two running. I’ve been DJ-ing for about eleven years now, and I know there is a lot of interest in that in the school so I thought it would be really fun to teach students how to DJ. So we will be learning different genres, how to mix them together, and just a bunch of tips like that. It’s an enjoyable hobby, and it pays really good money. It’s a really useful skill to have and I love doing it. So I just wanted to share that with everybody.

How will it provide more opportunities here at CHS for all? 

“There are things like homecoming and prom. I think it would be really fun if I can get some kids to feel comfortable enough to go out and perform. So that way, we wouldn’t have to pay to bring an outside DJ in. So it would be saving us a lot of money. Football games, basketball games, I think it would be really fun to have them (students) play music at halftime or really any kind of event. There are a few students I have that I know are going to be a part of it. But I’m going to make an announcement in the next week, so the first people to come to me will be on the list.

Ms.Pagni,

What’s your proposal called? 

“Things We Believe” Posters

What’s it about? What does it entail? Who does it regard? 

An aphorism is a short and clever statement of truth or opinion that’s often wise but also contains a funny or special message. We want to fill posters with these positive messages, personal quotes, and unique insights gathered from all CHS students and staff that will be posted around the school and potentially in other schools in our division.

How will it provide more opportunities here at CHS for all?

“The main thing I am going to need help with is gathering the quotes” How can we gather these thoughts from students? We need people to share their (appropriate) wisdom!