Granby High School junior Yekaterina Lifshits won the Virginia Rated Girls’ title at the Virginia Queens’ State Championship on Saturday, March 3 at Norfolk State University. Yekaterina won a $1,000 scholarship provided by The Virginian-Pilot. The championship was hosted by N.I.C.E. (Norfolk Initiative for Chess Excellence) Chess and NSU, and sponsored by Pilot Media Companies, Carnegie Science Center, Wells Fargo and Navy Chess. Chess Grandmaster Susan Polgar, whose foundation is dedicated to promoting chess for young people - particularly girls - due to the game's educational and social benefits. Polgar traveled at her own expense to promote the event, including a group exhibition match at the Chrysler Museum of Art on Friday, March 2. A number of Norfolk Public Schools students participated on Friday and Saturday.

 

Want to get involved in the chess "revolution" overtaking Norfolk? N.I.C.E. hosts chess instruction and matches very Wednesday from 4-6 p.m. at the Lamberts Point Community Center, 1251 W. 42nd Street, Norfolk. Benefits for students include critical thinking skills, which can be applied to higher-level thinking for math and science. Participation is free for adults and children. Call (757) 423-1088 for more information.

Jake Fultz will perform at the famous Carnegie Hall and Le Poisson Rouge in New York on March 30-31 for the Spring Instrumental Festival. Jake, a Norview High junior, will represent NPS as he travels with students in the Governor's School for the Arts program for this performance.

Norview High School's NJROTC recently won the Area 5 playoff ranking first in the competition out of the top 10 schools from Maryland and Virgina.  The school was already ranked number 1 out of 70 schools when they entered the competition that consisted of Drill, Academics and Athletics. Now, they will compete at the Navy Nationals in Pensacola, Florida during spring break.

Over the last seven years, Norview's NJROTC has grown from barely 100 students to over 350 students yearly. It is now considered to be  the largest NJROTC program on the east coast.

Thomas Paul, Granby High School Alumnus and U.S. Naval Academy Midshipman 1st Class, has been selected as a 2012 Gates Cambridge Scholar. Paul is one of 40 students in the United States to be awarded the prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship. The scholarship will allow him to study at the University of Cambridge in Great Britain. Paul is a mathematics honors major and Chinese minor at the Naval Academy.