INSIDE:
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Spartans, Falcons take state soccer titles
Students Decry Teacher Layoffs
9
L o udo un Ne ws
Cruiser Crushed
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JUNE 19, 2014
NUMBER 2
Educa t io n
VOLUME 8
‘We Made It’—Loudoun Grads Celebrate Sports
Danielle Nadler
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dnadler@leesburgtoday.com
L if e s t yle s Cla ss if ie d O pinio n
aps were sent flying, speakers offered plenty of advice sprinkled with humor, and valedictorians accepted applause for grade point averages topping more than 4.8 as Loudoun County’s public high schools gave 4,500 graduates their official send off this week. “We made it,” an ecstatic Loudoun County High School graduate yelled to his classmates Tuesday morning. This week’s commencement ceremonies marked a slew of milestones in Loudoun County Public Schools. John Champe High School in Aldie celebrated its first graduating class, and Principal John Gabriel took his first selfie with all 138 of the graduates. Gabriel commended the seniors for their willingness to join and lead a brand-new school. “This has become an impressive school in a short time because of you.” A grinning Andrew Bushrod basked in the moment just before he stepped on stage to accept his diploma, saying, “We’ll always be the first class of John Champe. That’s pretty exciting.” This year’s graduates at Woodgrove and Tuscarora high schools are the first to attend all four years at the schools. With that in mind, Tuscarora Principal Pamela Paul-Jacobs called the school’s class of 2014 “purebred Huskies.” Tuscarora Yearbook Editor Bailey Jenkins reminded
Leesburg Today/Norman K. Styer
John Champe High School Principal John Gabriel snaps a selfie with the school’s first graduating class. Loudoun County’s 13 high schools celebrated more than 4,500 graduates with commencement ceremonies Sunday through Wednesday. View a full slideshow at www.leesburgtoday.com/multimedia.
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Guilty: Williams Faces Life Sentence For 2012 Sterling Murder
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hours. Emotions ran high throughout the trial— culminating in the verdict Monday afternoon. Johnson’s brother shouted out excitedly when the verdict was read and was barred from the courtroom and from testifying. Many witnesses called by the defense were Johnson’s friends, who were clearly unhappy with having to serve as a defense witness and angry with Williams. Continued on Page 47
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jury’s recommended sentence, but not increase it. Virginia is a no-parole state, and inmates must serve 85 percent of their time. There is a provision for geriatric release, based on the age of the inmate and the amount of time served on their sentence. Jovaughn Johnson, 30, was found dead from a gunshot wound in his vehicle parked on the street in the area of Great Trail Terrace and Trail Run Terrace Dec. 27, 2012. He had been shot that afternoon, but his body was not found for several
ECRWSS
ess than an hour after they found him guilty of murder, Loudoun jurors Monday recommended that Ryan Blaine Williams serve the rest of his life in prison for the 2012 shooting death of a Sterling man. Williams, 32, was convicted of first-degree
murder and use of a firearm in commission of a felony following a weeklong trial that started June 8 and included testimony from dozens of witnesses—many of them convicted felons—and an unusual Saturday court session. He will be formally sentenced at 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19. The jury recommended a life sentence for the murder charge and the three-year mandatory sentence for the firearms charge. Under Virginia law, a judge may reduce a
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