GSSV Gazette

All juniors had the opportunity to explore different scientific fields including chemistry, microbiology, ecology, and anatomy and physiology on their trip to Longwood University in early September. They were able to examine a genuine human brain, view the contrast between a healthy lung and a smoker's lung, and inoculate their own petri dish with bioluminescent bacteria while working side-by-side with some of Longwood's science professors and touring the Chichester Science Center. They even had the opportunity to talk with some of Longwood's current students and visit with former GSSV students while having lunch in D Hall.

All seniors on the Alberta campus spent a day aboard a research vessel in the Chesapeake Bay as an extension of the topics and concepts they have been learning in the classroom. Students learned about the diverse local flora and fauna of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and were able to perform numerous chemical analyses on water samples. Threats such as pollution, invasive species, and algal blooms were explored and discussed. Students performed multiple otter trawls to pull up large nets brimming with squid, crabs, eels, and fish. Each student was able to hoist a crab trap to view the different species as well. It was a great day in the field putting into practice what's being learned in the classroom.

Our students worked hard the first six weeks of the semester planning for our annual Outreach event. For these two days, we invited our feeder schools gifted/advanced elementary school and middle school students to visit GSSV for the morning to participate in hands-on activities.

The Keysville students held their Outreach on September 19 and 20 with The GSSV Library as the theme. Students created booths that dealt with a variety of topics including physics, engineering, chemistry, biology, word parts, and parts of speech that included beloved children's books such as The Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan, Hatchet, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Sherlock Holmes, Goosebumps, and the Harry Potter series. The highlight of the Keysville Outreach was each student left GSSV with two books of their choosing from the over 500 books that our leadership team got donated for this event.

The Alberta students held their Outreach on September 26 and 27 with Disney+ being the theme. Each group of students selected a Disney movie and decorated their booths according to their movie and activity. The GSSV students engaged the visiting students with hands-on activities focused around Newton's Laws of Motion, types of energy, the planets, light spectrum, coding, and waves. Our visiting students were thoroughly engaged in the activities at each booth as they tried to help us remember our Disney+ password, and we loved seeing them interact with our current students.

This summer, Mecklenburg junior Kathryn "Kate" Griffin was busy as she spent time at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility and at a Virginia Summer Residential Governor's School. Read about her experiences below.

NASA Wallops Flight Facility

Kate, along with other top performers in the Virginia Space Coast Scholars program, was invited to spend one week of June at NASA Wallops Flight Facility. The group learned from NASA professionals while experiencing cutting-edge technology and research. The highlight, however, was not the Small Satellite mission she and her group of seven designed; it was the fellowship with future STEM pioneers. While networking with experts was highly valuable, it was a greater inspiration to learn with like-minded individuals who strive to benefit society.

See the flyer below if you are interested in participating in the Virginia Space Grant Consortium.

SRGS

Kate attended the Math, Science, and Technology Summer Residential Governor’s School (SRGS) at the University of Lynchburg. For four weeks of July, she lived with other selected rising juniors and seniors at the university and attended a class of her choice, Neuroscience, six days a week. In addition to serving as President of her Neuroscience class, she enrolled in colloquium classes such as the engineering behind guitars, foreign studies, and tick dragging; she even participated at an archeological excavation site and touched three human brains. The camp imitated life as a college student as students were supervised while given the choice of athletics, classes, meals, outings, etc. From karaoke to church to zumba, the group bonded to share the burdens and joys of such academic stress, rigor, and success. While Kate studied one of her greatest passions, she learned the greater lesson of the impact of friendship and teamwork at SRGS.

The Southside Virginia Community College's Student Experience Team encourages all SVCC students to wear PINK each Tuesday in October to support Breast Cancer Awareness!

Parent Email Listserv

Mrs. Swain is in the process of creating a parent email listserv separated by grade, site, and strand. If you would like to be added to these emails to receive announcements and information not appropriate for social media, please complete this Google Form. If you cannot access this form, please email Mrs. Swain (wesley.swain@southside.edu) with your email address and child's name to be manually added.

Parent Advisory Committee

In an effort to continue the partnership and communication with our parents, we are hoping to grow our Parent Advisory Committee that will meet at least twice a year. We would like at least two parents from each participating high school to be on this committee. These parents will be the liaison between the community and GSSV. Of course, direct communication with Mrs. Swain is still always welcome if there is an immediate or private concern.

These meetings will be a combination of on Zoom and in-person meetings. Our first meeting is scheduled for Monday, November 4, 2024, at 5:30 pm. This meeting will be held via Zoom. If you are interested in serving on this committee, please complete the PAC Google Form.

College Planning Night PowerPoint

If you were unable to attend our College Planning night or need a review the PowerPoint that was shared, the PowerPoint has been posted to our Parent's Corner tab under the Students section on our website.

October 8 - Joint Site in Keysville

October 10 - All Seniors trip to Blackfriars

October 10 - End of First Nine Weeks

October 16 - Joint GSSV Board Meeting

October 22 - All Seniors trip to VMFA

October 30 - All Juniors trip to Edgar Allan Poe Museum

Mrs. Tara Beck -- tara.beck@southside.edu

Mrs. Kristen Beekwilder -- kristen.beekwilder@southside.edu

Mrs. Katherine Clatterbuck -- katherine.clatterbuck@southside.edu

Mrs. Sarah Fenwick -- sarah.fenwick@southside.edu

Mrs. Ann Moore -- ann.moore@southside.edu

Mrs. Lori Moore -- lori.moore@southside.edu

Mrs. Tracey Nash -- tracey.nash@southside.edu

Mrs. Leslie Poling -- leslie.poling@southside.edu

Mrs. Chelsea Thorpe -- chelsea.taylor@southside.edu

Ms. Connie Tucker -- connie.tucker@southside.edu (Administrative Assistant)

Mrs. Wesley Swain -- wesley.swain@southside.edu (Director)