Annually, high school students at Western attend programs such as CATEC, Ace Academy, and Studios. Students have various reasons for attending, such as preparing for the future or simply trying new things; regardless, all of them all have a goal they hope to achieve through the program.
Ace Academy, formerly known as Center 1, gives students the opportunity to develop professional skills while in high school. Ace Academy principal Jay Thomas explained, “Our kids can get certifications if they start with us as freshmen each year. The county pays for them to get a different certification, and the certifications become more and more important the higher you get up. So, your junior and senior year, those certifications are really important industry certifications.”
Sophomore Jonah Sell goes to Ace Academy for the cybersecurity program. His interest in cybersecurity started the previous year. “I did computer science in freshman [year], and I also did a summer camp over the summer before freshman year. I went to a summer camp at Ace Academy, where they taught [me] about stuff like coding,” Sell said.
The environment of Ace Academy is very connected due to the small class sizes. “I’m with the same nine people all day, and then there’s only 20 sophomores,” he said. Right now, the students at Ace Academy are preparing for an upcoming cybersecurity competition. “I actually have one next month on securing data and logs. At least that’s the part I’m doing. It’s a multiple-part[s],” Sell said.
Sell plans to continue with the program at Ace Academy by taking Cyber Security I, II, and AP. After completing the program, he hopes to begin working. “Hopefully, I can get the certification next year that allows me to immediately go into the workforce after high school, so I will not be required to go to college, ” Sell said.
“Ace Academy does digital media, game design, and cybersecurity. They have a room where you have different instruments, and you’re just creating music all day. It’s really cool. Plus, anybody who just doesn’t really like the way that it’s structured here is way better over there, especially because most of the time you’re just kind of chilling with people and doing your own work,” Johns said.
Other students take different pathways, such as game design at Ace Academy. Kingston Johns is a freshman in his first year of game design. In this program, students learn about professional coding. Johns said, “I’ve learned a lot about the more professional side of coding and game design. A lot of times, the teacher [will] be talking about how you use it in a professional field.”
The classes offered at Ace Academy are similar to the ones offered at WAHS. “A lot of people think that the classes are different, but the classes are pretty much the same except one extracurricular and [one] extra class is [taken] up by game design,” Johns said.
Ace Academy is located in an industrial complex, which makes hosting large functions difficult, but not impossible. “The game nights are really fun,” Johns said. “They’re like fun activities, but kind of like someone’s version of dances at Western. It’s like a get-together where they get pizza and things, and they bring out more arcade machines, and they put up a big screen.”
“I wouldn’t say it’s incredibly challenging. It’s a bit harder not being able to go outside and do stuff like that, and it’s harder getting [into] the clubs at Western because a lot of times you’ll miss activity events,” Johns said.
Freshmen Nate Scialla and Blair Wiegard are two of the students currently enrolled in Terra. Terra, an environmental studio, is one of the many studios offered to students. What makes it unique is the fact that it is located right here at WAHS. Wiegard said, “It’s really fun, and I like the class. There’s a whole bunch of different people. It’s not just majorly taken over by one group of people. It’s really diverse, and it’s a lot of fun. I made friends with people I didn’t think I’d make friends with.” Scialla added, “It’s never bad. I think that Terra is a lot of fun. It’s definitely what you sign up for. There are a lot of plants and trees.”
The main focus of the course is environmental science, so students spend a lot of time outdoors. Wiegard said, “It’s probably my favorite class, because we get to go outside a lot. We are growing our plants, and we get to see the ducks sometimes.”
Through the course of this school year, students in Terra are able to go on various field trips. Scialla noted, “The field trips are fun. We’ve gone on two or three.” So far, the field trips include an overnight trip to an island, a hazelnut chestnut farm, and a wildlife rehabilitation center. At the rehabilitation center, they were able to see animals that were unable to be reintroduced into the wild. “They had injured animals, and they kept them in enclosures and kept them safe. Their main intention is to release them back into the wild. They don’t want to have too much human contact with them, so they don’t become dependent on humans and can go back into the wild and live normally,” Scialla said.
Recently, students in Terra have been learning about non-native plants. Wiegard said, “We learned about non-native plants [in] Virginia and how they came to Virginia. We all made presentations and did a bunch of research on different plants.”
Next year, Scialla does not plan on continuing in the Terra program. “I’m not doing Terra next year, but that’s only because I thought that Terra was going to be good for what I want to do in the future, which is [to be] a veterinarian. Terra is more with plants and trees. It wasn’t what I thought it was at first, but it was still a great experience,” Scialla said. Meanwhile, next year, Wiegard is hoping to continue in Terra. “ If I go here next year, I definitely want to continue it next year,” Wiegard said.
Only a few students from Western attend CATEC. Senior Jo Snably, a student in the cosmetology program, said, “From Western, I would say it’s like 15 [or] 16 people.”
Snably began the cosmetology program at CATEC last year as a junior. Her interest in cosmetology originated when stylists were unable or refused to do hairstyles. “I think getting messed up haircuts and having [the] stylist not do what I wanted to do. I wanted to be able to do my own hair and other people’s hair the way they wanted,” Snably said.
For Snably, the best part of the program is doing haircuts and hanging out with friends.
“I enjoy the haircuts. I think that’s definitely my favorite,” Snably said. “When you are cutting hair, you can talk to your friends, ” Snably added. “I’ve been able to practice on real people in high school, so it’s kind of awesome,” Snably said.
Snably described the environment of CATEC as “a good environment, but very stressful,” she said. “One of [the teachers] is very strict and kind of mean,” Snably said. “It’s more strict than Western in terms of behavior and dress code and everything. It’s not horrible, but it’s more stressful than Western,” Snably said.
Missing just a day of the class entails two hours to make up. “If you miss one day, you have to make up two hours by going into a salon and standing there in silence in a very specific outfit and just kind of watching [stylists],” Snably said,
Given the opportunity to do something different, Snably thinks she still would choose CATEC. “I think I might do CATEC again, but I might have picked a different course, or a kind of different teacher,” Snably said.
CATEC, Ace Academy, and Studios share the common goal of creating new opportunities for students. “My goal as a principal is always, how can I open up multiple doors for children? When a child leaves my school, as a principal, I want them to have multiple options,” Thomas said.
