Who: Bobby Dunn and Jackie O’Shea  School: Centreville High School  Accomplishment: This season cross country athletes Bobby Dunn and Jackie O’Shea were ranked among the Fastest 50 Freshmen in Virginia by Milestat.com, which publishes high school cross country and track and field stats for runners throughout the state.   Key to Success: Freshmen Bobby Dunn and Jackie O’Shea began their athletic careers at Centreville High School this fall on one of the largest cross country teams the school has seen. At 95 athletes, including 26 freshmen, the team grew nearly 50 percent in size from last …

On Tuesday evening, October 18th, CVHS freshman Paul Baumgartner was honored with the Sully District Champions of Character Male Athlete of the Year award in a ceremony presented by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors at the Fairfax County Government Center. Grace Hinton, also a freshman, was recognized as the Sully District Champions of Character Female Athlete of the Year.  Designed to coincide with National Character Counts Month, and sponsored by the Fairfax County Athletic Council (FCAC), the awards program is dedicated to honoring youth, coaches, and parents who have shown …

Who: Wildcat Marching Band  School: Centreville High School  Accomplishment: On Saturday, Oct. 15, the Centreville High School Wildcat Marching Band won first place in the 3A category at the Oakton Classic Invitational Marching Band Competition. The band also won the same category at the Manassas Park Marching Band Fall Classic on Oct. 8.   Key to Success: This is the second time in four years that the Wildcat Marching Band has competed in the Oakton Classic, a prestigious event held at Oakton High School that attracts exceptionally talented bands from throughout Northern Virginia.   The …

Who: Emily (Emmie) Dohse and Emily McLenigan  School: Centreville High School  Accomplishment: After performing successful auditions at Longwood University (Farmville, Va.) on Oct. 1, CVHS senior choir members Emmie Dohse and Emily McLenigan were selected for the Virginia Honors Choir. They will join 130 other students from throughout the state to sing in the Virginia Music Educators Association (VMEA) concert in November.  Key to Success: Auditions for the Virginia Honors Choir were open to all high school seniors in the state who are currently enrolled in choir programs at their schools. …

Name: Jackie Lin  Age: 16  School: Centreville High School  Extracurricular Activities: American Youth Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) Youth Fellowship Program, CVHS Philharmonic Orchestra, CVHS Symphony Orchestra, and Wildcat Varsity Girls Tennis.  Accomplishment: Last Monday Centreville junior Jackie Lin came in first place out of 159 violinists during auditions for the Senior Regional Orchestra (SRO). Her top score has earned her the role of concertmaster at the SRO concert at South Lakes High School in November.  Key to Success: Jackie Lin comes from a family of musicians—…

Who: Varsity and JV field hockey teams School: Westfield High School  Accomplishment: The entire Westfield High varsity field hockey team and six members of the JV field hockey team volunteered for over 12 hours this past Sunday at the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure walk for breast cancer. Key to Success: The girls demonstrate leadership and teamwork, both on and off the field. They volunteer thoughout the entire season and on Sept. 25, spent the entire day assisting thousands of walkers at the breast cancer walk in Washington, D.C.  This year the girls, along with many of their coaches, …

Name: Abigail (Abby) Benson-McCarthy  Age: 11  School: Virginia Run Elementary School  Extracurricular Activities: Area Honor Band, Virginia Run ES Band and Chorus.  Accomplishment: Despite having just two years of formal fencing training, Abby Benson-McCarthy took home an eighth-place medal in the sabre competition at the 2011 USA Fencing National Championships in Reno, Nevada in July.  Key to Success: Two summers ago Abby Benson-McCarthy, then a rising fourth grader at Virginia Run ES, browsed the Fairfax County Parktakes catalog in search of a fun summer activity she could participate in. …

Name: Sapna Rao  Age: 17  School: Centreville High School  Extracurricular activities: Varsity tennis, Secretary General of the Model United Nations Club, Model Judiciary Team, member of the Math, Science, Spanish, History and National Honor Societies. Accomplishment: Sapna Rao, a Centreville senior with an outstanding record of community service, is currently serving a term as Lieutenant Governor of Division 20B of the Capital District Board of Key Club International.   Key to Success: Rao joined her school’s chapter of Key Club International during her freshman year because she wanted to …

Who: Cassidy (16), Connor (14) and Caitlyn Watkinson (12)  School: Homeschool Accomplishment: This weekend all three Watkinson children, of Little Rocky Run, will perform in the City of Fairfax Theatre Company’s production of The Sound of Music at Lanier Middle School. Cassidy, Connor and Caitlyn will play the roles of Louisa, Friedrich and Brigitta Von Trapp.  Key to Awesomeness: Drama runs in the Watkinson family; Cassidy, Connor and Caitlyn had each had experience performing on stage before auditioning for the City of Fairfax Theatre Company’s summer show. All three Watkinsons had just …

Who: Select local Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Students  Schools: Centre Ridge Elementary School, Clifton Elementary School, Floris Elementary School, Greenbriar West Elementary School, and Liberty Middle School Accomplishment: This spring 16 students were named winners of the 22nd Annual FCPS Student Safety and Wellness Office (SSAW) Bookmark Contest. Nearly half of this year’s winners attend school in the Centreville-Chantilly area.  Key to Awesomeness: Each academic year the Fairfax County Public Schools Student Safety and Wellness Office sponsors a countywide creative competition …

Who: Select Class of 2011 Graduating Seniors  School: Centreville High School  Accomplishment: Last month, twelve recent graduates from the Class of 2011 were awarded $500 college scholarships from the CVHS Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA).  Key to Awesomeness: Each academic year the Centreville High School PTSA sets aside a scholarship budget of $5,000, to be divided evenly among ten outstanding college-bound seniors. An additional $1,000 donation from the Class of 2010 PTSA All Night Grad Party Committee made it possible for the PTSA to award 12 scholarships this spring.  The …

Name: Kristina (Kristy) McKain  Age: 18  School: Centreville High School Accomplishment: This rising college freshman won a $5,000 scholarship from Flip.com, a former sister site of TeenVogue.com. Flip.com’s Why Do You Play? scholarship competition required applicants to create an interactive flip book depicting their love of a given sport.  Key to Awesomeness: Recent Centreville High School graduate Kristy McKain first became interested in the sport of lacrosse when she was in second grade, sold on the fact that she’d get to wear a skirt while playing.  McKain soon developed a love for …

Name: Stephanie Lockhart  Age: 18  School: Ad Fontes Academy  Accomplishment: This graduating senior has completed five solo trips to Guatemala, where she engaged in a variety of volunteer work with impoverished youth and their families.   Key to Awesomeness: Ad Fontes Academy senior Stephanie Lockhart traveled to Guatemala for the first time when she was just 12 years old. She visited with a family friend, instead of with a volunteer organization, because she didn’t yet meet the age requirement held by such groups.   When she finally became old enough to travel with missionary groups, …

Who: Symphonic Choir  School: Centreville High School  Accomplishment: Twenty-six students in the Centreville High School Symphonic Choir, joined by 11 members of Concert Choir and 10 members of Bella Voce, performed at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall in Washington, DC as part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Human Spaceflight: The Kennedy Legacy program.  Key to Awesomeness: When the Centreville High School Symphonic Choir took the stage at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall on Wednesday, May 25, it wasn’t the first time this group of students had performed at the …

Name: Mariah Rivera  Age: 18  School: Centreville High School  Accomplishment: The Maryland Twisters F5 all-star competitive cheerleading team won first place in the Large Senior All Girl category at The Cheerleading Worlds championship on April 28-May 2 in Orlando, Florida. Mariah Rivera is a second-year member. Key to Awesomeness: Before Centreville High School senior Mariah Rivera became an internationally competitive cheerleader she was a gymnast for nine years. Her freshman and sophomore years she competed on the school’s varsity gymnastics team; she placed at States and was awarded MVP …

Name: Siobhan Beslow  Age: 18  School: Westfield High School  Accomplishment: Following an impressive end to her high school basketball career, this decorated senior athlete has been recruited to play NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball at Philadelphia’s La Salle University beginning this fall.   Key to Awesomeness: Thirteen years ago, while sitting in the audience at a Philadelphia 76ers game, five-year-old Siobhan Beslow saw a basketball player dunk for the first time. “From that point on,” said Siobhan, now a senior at Westfield High School, “I wanted to do that and get involved in the …

Name: Ashley Potts  Age: 16  School: Centreville High School Accomplishment: After winning first place in the microbiology category in both the Centreville High School Science Fair and the Fairfax County Regional Science and Engineering Fair earlier this year, Ashley’s project received an honorable mention at the Virginia State Science and Engineering Fair (VSSEF) in early April.   Key to Awesomeness: Ashley’s current independent research stemmed from her work in two previous projects that centered on beating antimicrobial resistance. This year’s project involved a close study of the …

Who: Mrs. Anderson and Mrs. Chodoronek’s Sixth Grade Classes  School: Virginia Run Elementary School  Accomplishment: A total of 48 students in these two classes are working together to assemble 30 Emergency Food Bags for the Western Fairfax Christian Ministries (WFCM) Centreville food pantry.   Key to Awesomeness: Last year, sixth grade students at Virginia Run Elementary School began the tradition of completing a community service project before their graduation in June. This year’s upperclassmen are following in their footsteps by having each class complete its own project.   Jennie Bush, …

Kelsey Kallapos and Danielle Stoffelen of Centreville High School, took first  and second places at a recent competition for the entire state of Virginia for Veterinary Assisting.   Students from the Chantilly High School Career and Technical Education Academy participated in the Virginia State SkillsUSA Leadership Conference and Competition in Hampton, Virginia on Saturday, April 2.   Of the 177 Fairfax County Public Schools students that competed, Chantilly Academy received 29 top-five finishes and eight first-place finishers, who have qualified to compete at the SkillsUSA National …

Name: Hayley Anderson  Age: 17  School: Centreville High School  Accomplishment: A torn ACL and multiple stress fractures within the last two years haven’t stopped this student athlete from making an impact on her lacrosse team.  Key to Awesomeness: Hayley Anderson’s first encounter with lacrosse as a young girl wasn’t a positive one; it ended with her older brother pegging the ball at her chest and completely knocking the wind out of her. After this startling experience, she swore she’d never play again.   But by the time Hayley reached seventh grade, she couldn’t deny her knack for the …