Emily Flora | SWoCo

Titan cheerleaders line a float in the parade.

It wasn't just the students and Hidden Valley community that came out to enjoy the Hidden Valley High School annual Homecoming parade, which was held Friday night, Oct. 2, about 6 p.m. Floats and convertibles carred the freshman, sophomore, junior and senior class and homecoming court. Hidden Valley participants threw out candy to the all the children who were lined along the streets excited about their arrival.

The parade lasted about 15 minutes and began at HVHS and traveled down Brambleton Avenue to Bogle Field Stadium where the Titan Football team took on the Northside Vikings at 7 p.m.

-- Emily Flora

Hidden Valley Spirit Week

Students and faculty at Hidden Valley High School decked out in their Titan colors, got fired up in the gymnasium Friday, Oct. 2, gearing up for their Homecoming game against Northside High School. The gymnasium was filled with cheering Titan fans as the football team was introduced and set on their way to prepare for that night's game at Bogle Field. The Pep Rally was complete with class wars, team spirit, recognition of all fall sports, cheerleading, and even a little fun for the junior and senior boys who dressed as cheerleaders and shared a routine with the crowd.

-- Emily Flora

Back Creek Elementary School hosts Back to School Picnic

Back Creek Elementary School hosted its 2nd annual Back to School Picnic on Sept. 13. The event was kicked off with a special dedication ceremony for the generous donation received by the Jaqueline and Shelborn Spangler Foundation for the BackTrack upgrade.

Cub Scout pack 224 led the "official" inaugural walk around the new track. Karen Mabry, BCES's new principal, took her turn hosing down her students, with help from the Back Creek Fire Department.

Faith Christian grad earns AP award

Joanna Bayliss, one of the five graduating students in the Class of 2009 at Faith Christian School, has earned an AP Scholar Award in recognition of her exceptional achievement on AP Exams.

The College Board's Advanced Placement Program provides motivated and academically prepared students with the opportunity to take rigorous college-level courses while still in high school, and to earn college credit, advanced placement, or both for successful performance on the AP Exams. About 18 percent of the 1.6 million students worldwide who took AP Exams performed at a sufficiently high level to also earn an AP Scholar Award.

The College Board recognizes several levels of achievement based on students' performance on AP Exams. Joanna Bayliss qualified for the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP Exams with grades of 3 or higher.

Cave Spring student wins Burger King scholarship

Paige Baumann, a student at Cave Spring High School, was one of 26 Virginia high school seniors to receive a $1,000 scholarship from The Have It Your Way Foundation.

The Have It Your Way Foundation announced Sept. 10 it has awarded over $1,000,000 in scholarships to 944 students nationwide as part of the ninth annual Burger King Scholars Program.

Among the winners are 27 from Virginia.

"It's especially gratifying that the Burger King Scholars Program can continue to offer financial support in this challenging economic environment and enable high-achieving, dedicated students to continue their education and pursuit of successful careers," said Have It Your Way Foundation's Executive Director Ivette Diaz.

Created in memory of Burger King co-founder, James W. McLamore, the Burger King Scholars Program has awarded 12,720 scholarships representing more than $12.7 million since the program's inception in 2000.

Twenty-six Virginia high school seniors were awarded $1,000 scholarships.

These Burger King Scholars are selected based on their grade point average, work experience, financial need, extracurricular activities and community service.

Additionally, one Virginia Burger King student employee was awarded a $1,000 scholarship.

These recipients are selected based on their academic achievements, financial need and community involvement.

In addition, they must have worked for the company for at least one year.

Scholarship funds come directly from the Have It Your Way Foundation, company-owned and franchise Burger King restaurants throughout the country that host a variety of fundraising activities in order to generate monies for scholarships each year.

For more information on the program including instructions for obtaining scholarship applications for 2010, visit www.haveityourwayfoundation.org.

Hidden Valley student creates English project with chocolatepaper inspiration

Melissa Palmer, with marketing at Chocolatepaper recently sent us this information about Hidden Valley High School student Laura Snyder who completed an English project with items from the store. Read below to find out more:

"For Mrs. Jenkins' AP English 12 summer reading project on the novel 'Robinson Crusoe,' we had to make a creative assignment showing an understanding of the theme and characterization. I did this by creating a scene from the novel and incorporating symbols and motifs to explain what I thought of the story and the theme. I have worked at chocolatepaper for 2 1/2 years. I knew I could make something unique that no other student would make if I used all the chocolate and gift items we have at the store and it worked! I got an awesome looking project and was able to use all the different chocolate items to make an Ace of Cakes type project ROANOKE STYLE!"

List of things used for the cake from chocolatepaper!:

candy cane rimmers for sand-(red in the sand to represent cannibal attacks)

chocolate covered graham cracker for a rafter

blueberry clusters and coconut clusters for the rocks in the ocean

finger puppet Jesus

finger puppet pirates

triple chocolate toffee for rocks on land and some in the sea

blueberry and toasted marshmellow jelly beans for the ocean and the foam of the ocean

chocolate covered raisins for his first food

alcohol filled chocolate bottle to represent his first month getting drunk on the island

chocolate covered eyes to represent the devil

ghirradelli baking chocolate to look like dirt on the cave and on the grass

o and crink for the trees!"

 -- Laura Snyder