Featured Heir-O-Links

Madison Harris daughter of Link Jill Bussey Harris, DMD and Connecting Link, Monroe E. Harris, DMD and also the niece of Link Connie Cosby of the Louisville (KY) Chapter has been nominated to attend the Congress of Future Medical Leaders in Washington, D.C. on November 14-16th.  The Congress is an honors only program for high school students who want to become physicians or go into medical research fields. The purpose of this event is to honor, inspire, motivate, and direct the top students in the country who aspire to be physicians or medical scientists, to stay true to their dreams after the event, to provide a path and resources to help them reach their goal.

Madison was nominated by Dr. Connie Mariano, the Medical Director of the National Academy of Future Physicians and Medical Scientists, to represent Appomattox Regional Governors School based on her academic achievement, leadership potential and determination to serve humanity.

During the three-day Congress, Madison will join students from across the country and hear Nobel Laureates and National Medal of Science Winners talk about leading medical research; be given advice from Ivy League and top medical schools; witness stories told by patients who are living medical miracles; be inspired by fellow teen medical science prodigies; and learn about cutting-edge advances and the future in medicine and medical technology.

View the Official Press Release.

Heir-o-Link, Miles Braxton was recently featured in an article in the Richmond Free Press. Miles, who is the stepson of Link Kelly Harris Braxton, is a four year starter for Thomas Jefferson High School’s Varsity Baseball Team, has an incredible 4.72 GPA and is capable of playing the tuba, clarinet, saxophone and piano in the school orchestra. Miles will attend the University of Virginia on academic scholarship in the Fall. He will also study Mandarin in China this Summer as part of the Youth National Security Language Institute delegation. View the entire article on Miles here.

In March 2014, Morrie Piersol, ARGS Theatre Department will be showing As You Like It by William Shakespeare. The show will open on March 7 at 7 p.m. It will also be showing on March 8, 14, and 15 at 7 p.m. There will be a Sunday Matinee on March 9 and 16 at 2 p.m. The cost for tickets will be five dollars for students and seniors and ten dollars for adults.

This show was chosen by Morrie Piersol, the Theatre Arts Director, because ARGS has only done one Shakespeare play throughout school history. They are trying to mix things up and do different plays, such as comedies. For auditions, the cast started out by reading monologues (male and female) from major roles. There were two sets of callbacks at which the students read again. The cast has been getting Shakespeare training through looking at different websites.

As You Like It is about the Villainous Frederick who usurps his older brother’s Dukedom and banishes him from his lands. To escape death, the banished Duke’s daughter Rosalind, her cousin Celia, and one of Shakespeare’s funniest fools flee into the woods. There, in the bewitching Forest of Arden, they discover shepherds and aristocrats; country folk and lovers; and, ultimately, life, love, joy, and freedom. Shakespeare’s glorious and wise comedy reminds us of everything it is to be alive.

The audience should expect a fun night with an interesting set of stories, and an understandable Shakespeare.

Cast:
Orlando – Eric Pastore (Chesterfield)
Oliver – Daniel Kunkel (Chesterfield)
Rosalind – Grace Mincks (Colonial Heights)
Celia – Madison Harris (Richmond)
Touchstone – Brendon Watts (Chesterfield)
Jacques – Tyler Clarke-Williams (Richmond)
Duke Frederick/Duke Senior – DeMauray McKiever (Chesterfield)
Corin – Jo Rozycki (Richmond)
Silvius – Guru Bhutta (Chesterfield)
Phoebe – Sidney Rogers (Chesterfield)
Audrey – Ellie Whelan (Prince George)
Charles/William – Will Watkins (Surry)
Hymen – Garvey Dobbins (Richmond)
Adam/Mar-text – Jack Foreman (Richmond)
Dennis/Lord – Jordan Sheehan (Chesterfield)
LeBeau/deBois – Ty Boone (Petersburg)
Amiens – Benjamin Wilson (Chesterfield)
Attendants: Madeline May (Richmond), Cheyenne
Nicholas (Chesterfield)

Credits are given to playwright William Shakespeare,
director of play and Theatre Arts Instructor
Morrie Piersol, scenic/set design by Emily Burke
(Richmond), original music written by Denton
Holder (Chesterfield), lighting design by Kelsey
Cappiello (ARGS class of 2010), costume design
by Kym Mincks (mother of Grace Mincks),
and props by Melanie Frederick (mother of Adam,
class of 2013).

Tyler Marie Byrd awarded the Rosemary Medal Award at Collegiate School. Tyler will be attending Georgetown University in the fall of 2013. About the Rosemary Medal: Endowed in 1920 by the Bryan Family, the Rosemary Medal is presented to the senior girl who has best demonstrated the qualities of constructive leadership all areas of school life. Nominations for the award are made by the senior girls and the final selection is made by the faculty. This year’s recipient is a model of a well-rounded academic and she is on the short list of people in the world who, by their mere presence, personality and actions, make others look better. A four year class president and a leader in every avenue of school life, she has the ability to motivate others as a consensus builder and an unyielding enthusiast for their success. Dependable, positive, mature, fun-loving and hard-working, this year’s recipient, while petite, will have no trouble standing out as she moves on in life. Tyler is the overwhelming nominee of the senior girls and the US Faculty.

Tyra Z. H. Beaman selected a Gloucester Institute 2013 Moton Fellow. About the Moton Fellowship. The fellowships are named in honor of Dr. Robert Russa Moton, the Virginia-born author and educator who, among other things, succeeded Booker T. Washington as the head of Tuskegee Institute (now University) and delivered an address at the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. in 1922. Tyra is a rising sophomore at Spelman College in Atlanta, where she majors in political science and minors in Spanish. Tyra is incredibly active in her community both at home and at school. She is an acolyte, lector and youth choir member at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Richmond and served as freshman class president at Spelman. In high school, she participated in many organizations, just a few of which were Model United Nations, Student Congress, National Honor Society, and Future Business Leaders of America. Tyra believes “the Moton Fellowship has presented me unique opportunities to learn and absorb the academics and experienced intelligence of some of the nation’s best leaders, so I can continue their legacy by positively disrupting the status quo in order to improve our society.”

Madison Bussey Harris selected a 2nd Time for the famed Debbie Allen Dance Academy in Los Angeles, California.

Madison auditioned with many from around the country for a relatively few slots in this much sought after summer experience. The Academy is a Four-Week Summer Intensive Program consisting of acting, singing, ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop, flamingo, and African dance. Debbie Allen is Madison’s musical theater instructor for the summer program and this is an honor to have the school’s famous founder work with her in this capacity. (Debbie Allen is a famed actress, dancer, choreographer. Born in Houston, Texas, she is the third child of Pulitzer-winning poet Vivian Ayers, and dentist Arthur Allen.) Madison is a rising junior at the Governor’s School in Petersburg. She has been elected into the National Honor Society and has appeared in numerous musicals and theatre productions in Central Virginia.