• Fairfax County Public Schools students received 10 awards in the National YoungArts Foundation Competition.
The students are part of a group of nearly 700 YoungArts award winners that were selected through a highly competitive application, which is reviewed by panels of esteemed, discipline-specific artists in a rigorous adjudication process.
This year, national honorees were selected from more than 9,000 applications across 10 artistic disciplines – classical music, dance, design, film, jazz, photography, theater, visual arts, voice, and writing.
From the GazetteLeader coverage area, honorees included Audrey Goodner, Langley High School, classical music/violin; Valeria Lai, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology, classical music/violoncello; Chloe Lee, Oakton High School, writing/poetry; Jayden Lee, Langley High School, writing/non-fiction and classical music/flute; and Joshua Thrush, James Madison High School, classical music/contrabass.
2024 YoungArts award winners join a distinguished community of artists who are offered creative and professional development support throughout their careers.
The complete list of national honorees can be found at https://youngarts.org/winners-directory/#/?year=2024.
• A total of 320 students of Latin from 10 Fairfax County public schools recently attended the 71st annual Virginia Junior Classical League state convention, held in Richmond.
In the GazetteLeader coverage area, students from Langley, James Madison and Oakton high schools and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology brought home awards.
In addition, Vivian Xue, a student at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology, was elected state president of the organization.
• The Cooper Middle School Band participated in the Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference in Chicago today Dec. 21-22.
The conference draws an average of 16,000 attendees from all 50 states and 40 foreign countries in the music field. The Cooper Symphonic Band, the only band from Virginia participating in the conference, successfully navigated a rigorous audition process to secure a spot to perform at the prestigious gathering.
During the conference, students had the opportunity to interact with renowned composers, musicians and clinicians through three demonstration sessions tailored specifically for music educators. The sessions aim to enhance their skills and expertise in their craft.
