Kilmer Kids SWEEP Solo Band Competition

On Saturday, May 16 the Fairfax County Band Directors Association held their annual Solo Competition. In the middle school division, Kilmer had 8 students performing against 29 competitors from 11 different schools. Kilmer swept the podium:

• Cherri Chen (marimba) - 1st place
• Forrest Johnston (trumpet) - 2nd place
• Diego Stine (tuba) - 3rd place

Congratulations!

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Kilmer Student is the Oratorical Contest State-wide Champion

Congratulations to Yash Shekar for winning first place and a scholarship in the Boys' state-wide contest in the annual International Optimist Club Oratorical Contest in Richmond on Saturday.  Yash competed against 7 other finalists, most of whom were high school students from other parts of Virginia.

We couldn't be prouder of you, Yash!

Kudos go out to Kilmer's Oratorical Contest sponsors, Ms. Barbara Appling and Ms. Ellie O'Connor, for supporting all of Kilmer's speakers from the beginning.

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National Virtual Bridge Design Contest

Congrats to Matthew Fitzgerald and Kevin Funkhouser who have beaten out over 5000 other teams to make the qualifying round in the National Virtual Bridge Design Contest.  They will compete on Friday, May 15 on-line in the tech lab against the other top 25 qualifiers from around the nation.  Winners will receive a laptop computer and a $5,000 dollar Scholarship.

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Kilmer Music Programs Have a Great Day at Busch Gardens!

Thanks to all involved with our trip this past Friday!

The students had a great time and the trip ran very smoothly – this could not have happened without the support of our chaperones, Kilmer admin and teachers, parents preparing their students for the day, and the students taking responsibility for being prepared and on time throughout the day.

There were 12 performing groups in competition at our site and Kilmer had 5 of the 6 highest scores for the day among them, translating into the following awards based upon performance category:

Percussion Ensemble Category

Kilmer Percussion Ensemble – 1^st Place

Concert Band II Category (intermediate level bands from schools)

Kilmer Concert Band – 1^st Place

Kilmer Cadet Band – 2^nd Place

Concert Band I Category (upper level bands from schools)

Kilmer Symphonic Band – 1^st Place and Overall Grand Champion of competition

Kilmer Wind Ensemble – 3^rd Place

Thanks again to all who contributed to a fun and successful day for the students!

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Kilmer Students are Tysons Regional Chamber Stars!

Each year, the Tyson Regional Chamber partners with area schools to celebrate and honor selected students who deserve recognition for positive potential or significant improvements. The Chamber Stars event celebrates the accomplishment of students. 

Two 8th grade students were nominated to represent Kilmer. They met Dr. Garza and had lunch with other nominees

Technology Student Association State Conference

Every spring, the Virginia Association of the Technology Student Association hosts its annual leadership conference, Technosphere. The Technosphere Conference is the highlight of the Virginia TSA year and provides an incredible opportunity for members to compete, lead, and learn through competitive events for middle and high school students, leadership workshops and officer campaigning, and other special events.

Kilmer Middle School came in 8^th overall across the state in middle school excellence (awards won) at 2015 Technosphere -- AMAZING JOB!

• Mithra Dhinakaran - 1^st place for Prepared Speech
• Aaraj Vij, Mithra Dhinakaran, and Stuthi Iyer - 2^nd place in Inventions & Innovations
• Nate Manfra, and Sasha Barles -  2^nd place for Video Game Design
• Laura Gersony, and Shruthi Bhimaraju - 3^rd in STEM Animation
• Mithra Dhinakaran, Shreya Raychadhuri, and Elizabeth Louie - 3^rd place in Go Green Manufacturing
• Aaraj Vij - 3^rd place in Promotional Design.

This is an outstanding achievement for a first year chapter! Congratulations go out to the Kilmer team as well as Kent Schweitzer and Joesph Sizemore for their hard work with our students.

Our students were mentioned in an article in InsideNOVA!

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VMEA Blue Ribbon School Award

A huge congratulations to Brett Dodson, Band Director, Marci Swift, Orchestra Director, and Kevin Sapp, Choir Director, for receiving the 2014-2015 Blue Ribbon School Award from the Virginia Music Educators Association.

The award recognizes schools throughout the Commonwealth who have superior performing ensembles. Superior performance is evidenced by the District Performance Assessment rating from each of the top performing groups of each ensemble course (band, orchestra, and chorus).

Please join us in congratulating our Music Dept. on a job well done!

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