Celebrating Students and Staff at Fauquier County Public Schools
Here’s how a mom describes the learning spaces set up for her first-grader, fourth-grader, and sixth-grader:
“It made all the difference having them in different spaces, quiet, and with everything they need around them! And thank you for the Chromebooks provided to my 2 older ones! That made a huge relief for us since we only had a laptop which would be impossible to share!”
Every day I am amazed when I come home from work and my (Kindergarten) son tells me something new he has learned. Last week he retold the story of “Pete the Cat” while using a puppet he had made during his independent work and this week he ‘taught’ me about what a pattern core is that he learned during his live lesson and made multiple examples to show me using manipulatives his teacher sent home. I could go on and on. Every day he is learning something new and is so proud and excited to tell us about it! Way to go Mrs. Dalton for keeping the kids engaged and learning through this virtual platform!
Watch as Wyatt demonstrates his understanding of pattern core. Way to go, Wyatt!
AP Seminar and Research is a two-year program that teaches students to become critical and independent thinkers, writers, and speakers. It’s about learning transferable skills that inform and enhance their academic lives no matter what subject area they are studying.
Student Perspectives
This course sequence prepares students for academic life after high school, for sure. Those who have older brothers and sisters in college recognize how prepared they will be for what lies ahead. They’ve learned to tackle challenges, to think in ways that will help them achieve success at school, at work, and in life. Once they’ve mastered the rigor of this sequence, they’re confident researchers, thinkers, writers, and speakers.
Cynthia Pryor (FHS) and Sharon Krasny (KRHS) teach the two-year course sequence. When visiting their classes, it is evident that students are being uniquely challenged.
We first spoke to Eireann Maybach and Ashelyn Kyne, two of Cynthia Pryor’s AP Research students at Fauquier High. Watch below as the girls talk about the skills they’ve honed through the courses:
Sharon Krasny’s students would agree with Ashelyn and Eireann. When asked about the ways that they’ve grown through this course, the Kettle Run students cited:
Students often comment that this class is unlike any class they’ve ever taken. It’s true. Public education has become about transmitting content, often at the expense of facilitating skills development. Colleges have grown weary of students who can only repeat what they’ve learned; they want students who can think logically and critically about the subjects they are exploring. That’s what AP Capstone teaches them to do!
View the slideshow below from our visit to Ms. Pryor’s and Ms. Krasny’s classes.
First Year
In the first year, AP Seminar, students learn to study topics through many lenses and from multiple points of view. They learn how to ask essential questions and how to examine topics critically and with a discerning eye. They become adept at building and deconstructing arguments. They learn to work–together and independently–to create a viable and sustained argument that they can communicate and defend. Students hone their ability to gather and evaluate credible data, then analyze and synthesize their findings to share them with others. In essence, they are learning to be scholars in the truest sense of the word.
These aren’t just academic skills; they’re life skills. Students learn to backward plan, to create timelines and deadlines, to discern credible from questionable sources, to communicate effectively with others.
Their success in the first year is measured by three performance tasks: a group research project, an independent research project, and a written exam. At the heart of everything they do is questioning, gathering, evaluating, and synthesizing information. These are high-level thinking skills. Best of all, the course gives students the opportunity to choose the topics they want to study. That latitude is a great incentive for learning!
Second Year
The second year of the program takes these building blocks to the next level. Students self-select a topic that they are passionate about, and they use the research skills they have learned to write and defend a 5000-word paper. The entire year is devoted to the planning, researching, writing, presentation and defense of their findings. It’s inspiring to watch them take an idea and run with it. Their goal in AP Research is to uncover a problem–a gap in their research–they want to test and evaluate. These are incredibly challenging skills!
I call them my Capstone warriors. These are students who CHOOSE rigor. I tell them all the time how much I admire them for taking academic risks . . . for choosing THIS as an elective. It says a great deal about their character. ~ Cynthia Pryor
Warrenton Middle School eighth-grader Hannah Cosby was selected to be a page for the Virginia Senate’s 27th district. She reported to Richmond on January 4, 2020, and will serve there u
ntil early March.
Hannah will be a part of the legislative process by conducting tours, answering phones, and completing other errands for the Virginia Senate. Hannah will have to keep up with her schoolwork while being a part of the page program.
In Ms. Recker’s 7th-grade civics class last year, Hannah became interested in becoming a page after viewing photos from a Richmond field trip and seeing a page in one of the photos. She asked Ms. Recker about the program and researched the opportunity on her own. She learned about the program in December 2018 and had to wait until August of 2019 to apply. Hannah conducted a great deal of research on her own and couldn’t wait to apply.
Senator Jill Vogel and Assistant Principal Karyn Spahr wrote Hannah’s recommendations. Hannah then met with Senator Vogel in the summer to discuss her application and recommendation letter. Initially, Hannah was upset, thinking she wasn’t accepted because the envelope she received in the mail was small, but Hannah quickly realized she was indeed accepted and was thrilled.
Hannah has been a member of SCA for three years. She has served as the president of the NJHS and as a reader at her church. In addition, she is involved in many extra-curricular activities including soccer, volleyball, swimming, cross-fit, and surfing at the beach.