35th Reunion

June 2026 - 35th Reunion

Friday Night Dinner on the Lawn

 

 

Saturday A-School Luncheon - Dean's Address

 Saturday A-School Luncheon - Class of 1991 Picture

 Pavilion IX

The Rotunda

Sunday Morning Farewell Breakfast at the Guesthouse - Light Sculpture

Class of 1991 Gathering at Furthermore Farm

 

 

 

244/365 Picture Today Post

244/365 | Monday, September 1, 2025 | #365PictureToday

Plan | Picture Me

I didn't plan on going up to the school on this Labor Day holiday, but there was a report from neighbors that a septic alarm might be sounding in the area. Thankfully it was just a quick trip, and it didn't appear that it was the school's alarm.

 

 

29/365 Picture Today Post

29/365 | Wednesday, January 29, 2025 | #365PictureToday

Finish

I finished the day with a meeting at school.  I remembered to take a quick picture before the meeting.

 

12/365 Picture Today

12/365 | Sunday, January 12, 2025 | #365PictureToday

White

David and I went over to school to finish shoveling out some of the walkways.  There's still quite a bit of white stuff on the ground.

5/365 Picture Today Post

5/365 | Sunday, January 5, 2025 | #365PictureToday

Off Prompt

Today at church I presented a blanket to a member of our school board who is retiring after serving on the board continuously for 14 years.  This is a picture of the blanket which has a picture of the school's administrative building called simply The Stone House that I took a couple of months ago.

366/366 Picture Today Post

366/366 | Tuesday, December 31, 2024 | #365PictureToday

Where I Stand

I'm ending the year spending some time working at the school where I have been spending a lot of time since April.

331/366 Picture Today Post

331/366 | Tuesday, November 26, 2024 | #365PictureToday

Pause

I took advantage of the sunshine (and lack of rain) to pause and take a picture of the school for a special project.

278/366 Picture Today Post

278/366 | Friday, October 4, 2024 | #365PictureToday

Droplets

The only droplets that I found were spewing out of the septic system unit at the school.

63/366 Picture Today Post

63/366 | Sunday, March 3. 2024 | #365PictureToday

An Item of Clothing

Feeling a bit nostalgic today.  In high school I couldn't wait to get my letter jacket.  I wore it all the time.  I was in marching band and received a letter for that as well as an academic letter. 

35/365 Picture Today Post

35/365 | Saturday, February 4, 2023 | #365PictureToday

Unique

Picture Life | Life-long Learning

Well, my name is one unique thing about me, but that's not the focus of this picture.  And while I received my degree in architecture, this diploma doesn't mean that my learning on that subject has stopped.  But that also isn't the focus of this picture.  After I graduated, I worked for a time in a picture framing store, and I learned all of the aspects of picture framing.  One of the perks of the job was that we could buy discounted supplies and come in early or on our days off and frame our personal projects.  After I had worked there for a bit, I framed my own diploma.  I already had a frame the right size so this is how I chose to frame it.  Shortly after this, my then boyfriend also graduated, so naturally I framed his diploma also.  I still occasionally make use of this skill when I am able.

 

 

 

2022 365 Picture Today Post

317/365 | Monday, November 14, 2022 | #365PictureToday

Off Prompt

CavMan is heartbroken by the news of the shooting at his beloved University.  He is pondering the beauty of the Lawn as solace.  RIP Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr., and D'Sean Perry.  1*15*41

“The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.” ~1 Corinthians 15:41

 

2022 365 Picture Today Post

204/365 | Saturday, July 23, 2022 | #365PictureToday

Spirit

Picture You | What I do | Scavenger Hunt 

I really dread the scavenger hunt prompts.  Taking one picture a day is sometimes a challenge for me, let alone nine.  Then there's the whole ordeal of making the collage with nine photos.  I think I need to remember to take them all in landscape format since the vertical ones don't format right in a grid.  Part of the way through taking pictures I tried going with a theme of using UVA gear, which worked well, because of the school spirit involved.  I didn't feel like going back and trying to find UVA themed objects for the other three pictures.

 

Round: UVA basketball

Colorful: Fresh veggies from the garden; they feed the spirit

Soft: Our cat Ripley, who is very spirited

Small: Earrings

With polka dots: A heart-shaped dish

Vintage: CavMan; the Cavalier has been UVA's mascot since 1925

Delicious: A UVA cookie jar and a cookie from Crumbl

Sparkly: My sparkliest UVA shirt

With words: A t-shirt showing the whole NCAA bracket to celebrate UVA's championship in 2019 

 

2022 365 Picture Today Post

60/365 | Tuesday, March 1, 2022 | #365PictureToday

 E F

Picture You | Makes Me Happy | Picture the Alphabet 

Today's letter challenge includes an E from the outside of my gym because I was there today and an F from my high school jacket.  Both of these make me happy.  Exercising makes me happy, and the memories I have from high school marching band are some of the best.

 

 

 

Homeschool Sports Access in Virginia

 

Once again a bill is making its way through the General Assembly in Richmond (HB 511) to permit homeschool sports access.  These bills are commonly referred to as Tebow bills after Tim Tebow, who famously was permitted to play high school sports in Florida as a homeschooler.  Often this bill will make it through the General Assembly and on to the governor, but the last couple of Democratic governors have vetoed them without even researching the issue as a nod to the VEA, who remains steadfastly opposed to it.  During the last session of the General Assembly, I'm not even sure the bill was introduced, and if it had been, the Democrats wouldn't even have let it get out of the education committee.  This year is different though, and it has a chance to get signed into law.  Read on for why this particular bill is necessary and worthy of passage.

According to a VCU Commonwealth Education poll more than two-thirds of Virginians (67%) favor allowing homeschooled students to participate on public school teams. In fact, when my son was playing baseball and was looking for a more competitive environment in which to play, his friends from church and Scouts couldn't understand why he was not even allowed to try out for the team at the local high school.

Some additional facts to consider: School-based sports teams are often the only opportunities available at the high school level in rural areas of the state, and they allow uncommonly talented athletes the chance to be considered for college scholarships. School boards should have a choice about whether or not to allow homeschoolers to try out. These bills would allow local school boards to set the policy that is right for their communities and does not place a mandate on public schools. Homeschool sports access is working smoothly in 29 states. No state that has enacted homeschool sports access has repealed it. In fact, some states have increased the scope of that access over time. HB 511 would only allow bona-fide homeschooled students to try out at the public school in their attendance zone, and the bill allows public schools to charge reasonable fees. The impact on public schools and public school students would be small. There are fewer than 6,000 homeschooled high school students in Virginia. This averages to about 19 homeschoolers in the attendance zone of each of VHSL’s 311 member schools. Most would not even try out for public school programs; those who do would be trying out for a variety of different programs. Many who try out would not have the skills to make the team.

Homeschooled students in Virginia need legislative support in order to be allowed to try out for their local high school interscholastic programs. Despite significant effort by homeschooling organizations since 1997 to work with members of VHSL to develop fair, reasonable and practical eligibility guidelines for homeschooled students, VHSL has refused to consider any change. Virginia’s homeschooled students are depending on the General Assembly for a chance to try out. Homeschooled students are already involved members of their local communities, playing recreational league sports at younger ages, participating in local Scouting organizations, and maybe even rooting on their local high schools at football and basketball games.

We homeschooled our children for 18 years.  My older son graduated in 2014 and attended college at VCU, studying mechanical engineering. My younger son graduated in 2019 and is taking classes at Northern Virginia Community College and working. Even though we no longer homeschool, I still support this bill and will continue to lobby for it until it becomes law in Virginia.

365 Picture Today Post

 67/365 | Monday, March 8, 2021 | #365PictureToday

Signal

Picture Style | Street Photography | Macro Monday 

I had to be at church for a meeting this evening, and I chose to photograph this sign.  Our church started a school in 1986.  At one time it went from preschool through 8th grade, but a recession decimated the numbers, and now it is trying to grow from preschool through 3rd grade by adding a grade each year.  Many years ago I served on the board of that school with a gentleman whose granddaughter went to school there from preschool all the way through 8th grade.  He loved his Lord; he loved his granddaughter; and he loved our little school.  He was so concerned about the children that he petitioned the state department of transportation to put a full-fledged school zone signal with the flashing lights and everything in front of the church and school building.  To their credit, the department of transportation considered it but said that the number of students and the amount of traffic on our road didn't justify one of the big signals.  Instead they installed this sign.  That gentleman passed away last March.  That sign will forever be a signal to me of the care that that gentleman had for our school.  RIP William A. Long Jr.  We're working hard to carry on your legacy.

 

"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." ~Proverbs 22:6

 

365 Picture Today Post

43/365 | Friday, February 12, 2021 | #365PictureToday

Chilly

Picture Style | Landscape

It has been chilly enough for snow here in Virginia.  In fact, we have had several inches fall on two successive Sundays (January 31 and February 7).  Then it snowed again on Wednesday and then again last night.  I had to run to Fredericksburg today, and I thought that the Rappahannock River looked particularly pretty.

 

A Day At Our House

We are a homeschooling from Fauquier County, Virginia, a rural exurb of Washington, D. C. Mom, Kanoa, has a degree in architecture but decided to stay home to raise her children after the birth of her oldest son. In addition to homeschooling, she also is busy volunteering in the community with multiple roles at our church and with Cub Scouts and networking with other homeschoolers. Dad, David, has a degree in civil engineering but works in the systems engineering field at a large defense contractor located in one of the closer in suburbs. Our children are Preston, 13, and Ian, 9. We have been homeschooling since 2001.

Although each day at our house is different, I will do my best to give you a glimpse of what our family's homeschool is like.

4:45 In order to have more time with the family and to avoid the notoriously bad D. C. rush hour, David gets up well before the rest of the family.

5:15 David is out the door and headed to his job. He usually arrives at his office between 6:00 and 6:30, depending on how bad traffic already is.

7:30 Kanoa's alarm goes off, and on a good day she will get up immediately. She takes her shower and begins the day's chores which, at a minimum, include making the bed and starting some laundry. It may also include cleaning one of the bathrooms and folding laundry.

8:30 David usually calls home to check what's on the schedule for the day and how things are going. Preston and Ian usually get up. They are responsible for getting dressed and making their beds at this time.

9:00 Time to start breakfast. Ian is supposed to practice piano for 15 minutes during this time. Sometimes while we eat breakfast we will watch or listen to our Spanish lesson for the day. This year we are using La Clase Divertida for Spanish. Both boys are participating, and Kanoa is watching it as review since she has a minor in Spanish.

10:00 The school day officially starts with Bible reading and devotions. We say our pledges, sing a patriotic song, read a devotion, read a chapter from the Bible, sing a hymn, practice a Bible verse, and pray. For devotions we are using Fresh from the Word, and this fall we are focusing on 2 Kings for our Bible readings. After that is done Kanoa gets the computer ready to check e-mail and news during brief breaks while both boys are working.

10:45 Preston gets his assignments for Grammar and Composition II and his reading from Of Places, both are components of A Beka's 8th grade curriculum. Kanoa works with Ian on A Beka's Language 3 curriculum. After finishing the workbook, we read from an A Beka reader or a chapter book. Currently, we are reading All Kinds of Animals.

11:45 We review Preston's assignment to make sure that he understood it. For vocabulary both Preston and Ian are working through English from the Roots Up. Currently we are reviewing the first half of the book to make sure that they have retained the various Latin and Greek roots that have already been introduced.

Noon Ian is given his writing practice sheet to work on while I review spelling words with Preston. Preston is then given written work to practice his spelling words while I review spelling words with Ian. Ian then does a written assignment using his spelling words.

12:30 Preston moves on to his history assignment from A Beka's History of the World. Ian is ready for his math assignment from Singapore's Primary Mathematics 2B.

12:45 Preston is ready for science and health. This year we will be using Chemistry Level II from Real Science 4 Kids and A Beka's Matter & Motion in God's Universe for science. For Health we are using A Beka's A Healthier You.

1:00 On Mondays and Wednesdays we leave for Ian's swimming lessons. He just moved up to Red Cross Level IV at a local indoor pool. Ian eats lunch on the half hour drive to the pool, and Kanoa packs something or stops for fast food to eat during Ian's 40 minute lesson. Preston broke his wrist playing football with some friends in August, and we didn't know whether his arm would be healed enough for him to take lessons this session. If he did, he would be in Level VI which meets at the same time as Level IV. We're blessed that the pool is so committed to offering homeschool swimming lessons and has a couple of different instructors in order to offer multiple levels at the same time. On our drive to and from swimming we usually listen to a book on tape or cd. We recently finished listening to all 13 books in the A Series of Unfortunate Events series. Currently, we are listening to Anne's House of Dreams from the Anne of Green Gables series, which we started as preparation for our recent trip to Canada's Maritime Provinces.

1:00 On Tuesdays, we break for lunch so that we can leave at 1:30 for music lessons. Preston's piano lesson begins at 2:00, and guitar follows at 2:30. Ian's piano lesson follows Preston's at 2:30.

Between 3:00 and 3:30 we return home to finish Ian's work. Typically all he should have left is science. We are using A Beka's Exploring God's World. When we finish that we will begin history with A Beka's Our American Heritage. Preston still has math to do. He just began working from Singapore's New Elementary Mathematics 1.

Every other Tuesday we leave from music and go directly to our church. At 4:00 there is a class for 1st through 3rd graders. They are using a program from PRAY Publishing called God & Me. At the completion of the program, the Cub Scouts will be eligible for an award that can be worn on their uniforms.

4:00 David usually arrives home from work unless there is a late meeting. Preston practices piano and guitar during this time.

5:00 If something hasn't been started in the slow cooker earlier in the day, it is now time to get dinner started because our day is far from over.

5:45 We all sit down in the dining room to eat as a family.

6:15 On Mondays it is time to leave for Preston's Boy Scout meeting. He is a Star Scout and is hoping to have a board of review for the Life rank this fall. He is just finishing up a merit badge or two. He was also elected Assistant Senior Patrol Leader for this year. On the first and third Wednesdays of each month, it is time to leave for Cub Scouts. Ian is a Bear this year, Kanoa is the den leader, and Preston is helping out as the den chief. (On Thursdays we would have been long gone by now because Ian has soccer practice from 6:00 to 7:00. During the winter both boys play basketball, and in the spring Preston plays baseball. During the summer, they both swim on a swim team.)

Boy Scout meetings are from 7:00 to 8:30, and Cub Scout meetings are from 6:30 to 7:30.

9:00 Time to get ready for bed after another busy day.

9:30 Usually we gather in the big bed to read at the end of the day.

10:00 Lights out.