Have you ever wanted to dive deeper into an academic area, but CHS didn’t offer it? Summer Residential Governor’s Schools allow high school juniors and seniors to have an intensive educational experience in an academic area of interest. For the summer of 2025, the Virginia Department of Education will offer visual and performing art; humanities; medicine and health sciences; mathematics, science, and technology; or mentorships in marine science, or engineering. Students will live on a college campus for up to four weeks while participating in the program. During their time in the 4-week program, students are involved in classroom and lab work, field studies, research, individual or group projects, and so much more. 

Knight Time Review is sharing written statements from Charlottesville High School students who have previously participated in various Summer Residential Governor’s Schools. 

Humanities 

Rorie Adamson

I attended the Virginia Governor’s Spanish Language Academy (La Academia Española del Gobernador de Virginia) held at Washington and Lee University from June 22 to July 13, 2024. This is one of the full-immersion academies (French and German were also hosted at W&L, so we saw them occasionally), which meant we took an oath stating that we would exclusively speak Spanish. I knew people who slipped up and almost got kicked out for speaking a little bit of English. We also couldn’t have any technology in any form, which was a little daunting at first, but everyone adjusted quickly. We wrote letters home and brought cameras! Not having music for three weeks was hard for me. There were 60 students in total. The dorms at W&L were clean and comfortable and there were no issues having shared bathrooms, other than the occasional wait for a shower. Lights out was strictly at 10 PM and we had to be outside by 7:45 each morning. As the website states, we had very little free time. We had a 1-hour “siesta” each day, and had 4 hours on Sunday mornings, which you could spend at church or relaxing in the dorms. You don’t really have time to be bored, but I do recommend bringing friendship bracelet string and card games, since these were, by far, the most popular activities. I only knew one bracelet pattern before the academy and came out knowing ~10.  Unlike some of the other Governor’s Schools, we weren’t allowed to walk around campus freely – we had to go everywhere with a mentor or professor. This wasn’t really an issue because we were almost always in groups doing activities. Something that I wasn’t aware of was that we would be put into three different groups – our academic groups (who we attended classes with), our tertulia groups (who we had daily philosophical discussions with), and our project groups. Our daily schedule was typically as follows: breakfast, class (3 per day, 6 total), cultural activity (crafts, dances, etc.), lunch, TV hour, tertulia (alternated between written and spoken), siesta, project time, dinner, sports, and lights out. Although having classes may sound intimidating, they didn’t have any homework or tests; they were more focused on expanding our cultural knowledge. There were 5 project groups: graphic design (my group – we wrote the blog), dance, radio (they recorded podcasts), music, and theater. We had weekly presentations where we could show off what our group accomplished that week. The theater group always had an entertaining performance! There were many different events and outings during the program, which is something I feel isn’t highlighted enough on the website. We had one field trip each week (farmer’s market, Washington D.C., and Sherando Lake), which were all super fun. We also had many events at W&L, including two karaoke nights (one just for our academy and one with French and German), two dances (one international), and two talent nights (one international). The best event, in my opinion, was the World Cup, where the three academies played each other in a soccer tournament. Spanish won! There’s an actual engraved trophy as well, which has all of the winners listed by year from past summers. One of the most memorable things for me is the incredible food at W&L. Dining hall food often gets a bad rap, but it was always delicious. They had a ton of options and you could take whatever you wanted. Also, the website overstates the importance of the dress code. You should avoid crop tops, but the short-length rule was never enforced. It got REALLY hot some days, and hydration was extremely important. Governor’s School was easily one of the best experiences I’ve had in high school – if you’re on the fence about applying, I highly recommend that you do. I still keep in touch with most of the people I met there. It was interesting meeting people from all across the state; each region is represented, so you’ll get to know people with all types of backgrounds. 

Nulia Obiorah

During my time at the Governor’s School Japanese Language Academy, my experience was far beyond language learning, as the program fully immersed us in Japanese culture. Alongside our class lectures, we engaged in activities like cooking traditional dishes—sushi, dango, and dorayaki—and attended guest lectures on topics, such as Japanese history, diplomacy, mathematics, religion, and the arts. Our evenings were filled with cultural movies, memorable karaoke nights, and other engaging activities. Additionally, the absence of phones drew us closer to the experience, making the simple act of writing and receiving letters from home especially enjoyable. Though I may not remember all the Japanese I learned, the richness of this immersive experience and its cultural depth will stay with me forever.

Agriculture

Wren Ackerman 

I really enjoyed my time at Agriculture Governor’s School, at Virginia Tech. We were able to pick from one of 5 “majors” (Animal Science, Plant Science, Food Science, Engineering Technology, and Economics) to take classes in along with a few minors. During the weekdays we took classes in all different subjects with professors. We went on lots of field trips to the farms and labs at Virginia Tech and in the afternoons we worked with our global seminar groups (a randomly assigned group of five people, one person from each major, to put together a research project on an assigned topic). After class, we had free time, you could move anywhere on campus as long as you were in a group of 2. Twice a week you could pick a club to go to after class (karaoke, cooking, bracelet making, and volleyball). On weekends, you could choose to go to the farmers market on Saturdays then we had free time, and on Sundays, we did a group trip (swimming at the lake, hiking, rafting) and then had free time. We had lots of fun events like a talent show and movie nights and the food was super good. Tech is rated 2nd in the country for college food and there were a ton of options every night. You also had the option to go out to eat some days. On the last day, your global seminar group presents your final project to a panel of VT faculty, after spending the whole time working towards this. I really recommend Agriculture Governor’s School, especially if you don’t know what you want to study because of how many subjects we cover and how many interesting people you’ll meet. I still talk to the friends I made at Gov School and I’m really glad I did it. 

Medicine

Alex Blank

This past summer, I attended the Virginia Governor’s School for Health and Medical Science through Radford University. Despite being through Radford, we lived in an old hotel called the Patrick Henry that was converted into apartments in Roanoke. We had the luxury of having two bedrooms, a full bathroom, and a kitchen. My program initially comprised 20 kids, 16 girls, and 4 boys. We all lived on one floor with our three resident advisors (RA). Additionally, on our floor, we had a common room that was used for baking, studying, karaoke, movie nights, and more. In the lobby of our building, there was a game room and gym, as well as an ice cream shop. I will say since we were not living on a college campus, the food selection was limited. During the week, we were given a $10 meal voucher to the hospital cafeteria and the chef would cook meals for dinner. However, on the weekends they catered in Torchy’s Tacos, Cracker Barrel, and other similar places. Each night, you could participate in an optional activity ranging from painting to trivia or even shopping. On the weekend, we went on bigger adventures such as hiking McAfee Knob, attending a Salem Red Sox game, watching a concert, going to the arcade, and more. We also weirdly loved the Sunday 8 am Super Walmart runs to stalk up on food and just adventure. Hopefully, this has given you a good understanding of life outside of academics. The academic experience was rigorous and eye-opening as my peers and I got to see a wide variety of medical fields from local universities and colleges. In the final week, I shadowed a neuro ICU nurse and volunteered at Carilion Clinic. Throughout the weeks our academic advisor set up interviews with medical professionals in the specific area of every person’s interest. This allowed us to ask questions we would not normally get answered as well as build a network for the future. Finally, our program concluded with a 10-minute presentation on a subject that was assigned to us prior through a ranking system. I worked with two other people to present on Patient-Centered Care.  As someone who was terrified to leave home for four weeks and almost didn’t go: this was the greatest experience of my life. I met some of my best friends who I still talk to every day, learned valuable life skills, and had amazing opportunities. I am so glad fear didn’t stop me from going. Please reach out to me if you have any additional questions. I will be happy to talk to anyone about my time and I wish you luck as you go through the application process.

Visual + Performing Arts 

Elle Polifka 

This past summer, I attended the Virginia Governor’s School for the Visual and Performing Arts and Humanities at Radford University as a violinist. In addition to the curriculum found on their website, we were given several outside opportunities to further our understanding of our concentration including private music lessons, open mic nights, and masterclasses. Something I really appreciated about this program was that while we spent the majority of our time in our individual disciplines, we had many activities where we could interact with students in other areas of study. Gov. School is a great place for people who are looking to really immerse themselves in the arts/humanities, and I would recommend it,especially for those looking to pursue a career and/or degree in those areas. There is still recreational and social time, but you will be spending 6-8 hours a day in classes, lectures, and rehearsals so be prepared to work hard in the mornings and afternoons. I had a fantastic time at Gov School and really enjoyed being surrounded by people with similar interests and motivations. If you also love the arts(or humanities), I am confident that you will enjoy it too. Best of luck with your applications and auditions, and please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions or if you would like to hear more about this exciting opportunity!

If you would like to learn more information about Gov School, you can visit The Virginia Department of Education’s website for Governor School by following this link. Additionally, if you think one of these programs is the right choice for you, you can reach out to Jeff Smith, the CHS gifted coordinator, by email ([email protected]).