L.C. Bird High School

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Lloyd C. Bird High School is a public secondary school in Chesterfield, Virginia. It is part of Chesterfield County Public Schools and is located at 10301 Courthouse Road.

Contents 1 Accreditation 2 Athletics 3 L.C. Bird High School Band 4 Pre-Engingeering Program

[edit] Accreditation

L.C. Bird High School has consistently reached AYP according to the standards of No Child Left Behind each year since the inception of the program. L.C Bird High School also is the home of the Pre-Engineering Program unique to Chesterfield County.

[edit] Athletics

The mascot is a skyhawk and the sports teams currently play in the AAA Dominion District and Central Region. The varsity football team is notable and the basketball team contained alumni such as Tyrese Rice (Boston College). The baseball team's varsity coach is Mr. Spencer and JV coach is Mr. Walker. The ultimate frisbee team has also recognized state-wide honors.

[edit] L.C. Bird High School Band

The L.C. Bird High School Band, at almost 200 members, is one of the largest high school bands in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The L.C. Bird Band is well known for is 17 year consecutive streak of obtaining a "superior" rating at the VBODA State Concert Festival. The L.C. Bird Band also holds its spring concert in Richmond's Landmark Theater, the only high school band to ever hold a solo concert there. This concert draws over 2,000 people. The band is also a 11 time Commonwealth of Virginia Honor band, which makes them one of only 25 bands in the state of Virginia to achieve 10 Honor Band Awards. Also part of the L.C. Bird High School Band is the Skyhawk Marching Band. The Skyhawk Marching Band is known as the "The Band With The Sound". They compete in the AAAAAA group at competitions and have achieved 12 "superior" ratings at the VBODA State Marching Festival in 13 years. The Skyhawk Marching Band has traveled to many places including Disney World, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and Ontario, Canada. Earl Shaffer, Jr. was the director that helped create the enormous band, and his legacy of 17 years teaching at the school will never be forgotten.

[edit] Pre-Engingeering Program

L. C. Bird is host of the Pre-Engineering Specialty Center for Chesterfield County, a specific application of the Specialty Center System in Chesterfield County high schools which allows students to attend High Schools outside of their districts to get an education concentrating in an area they are interested in along with earning their High School diploma.

Others include:

• the Humanities center at Monacan High School
• Mass Communications at Manchester High School
• Technology at Matoaca High School
• Visual and Performing Arts at Thomas Dale High School),

The Pre-Engineering Specialty Center at L.C. Bird is currently led by Mrs. Nancy Hoover, recipient of the 2005 Virginia Physics Teacher of the Year Award, and current Physics teacher at L. C. Bird. She is also in the process of attaining her PhD. from Virginia Commonwealth University.

The Pre-Engineering Program is designed to give enrolled students a taste of engineering through Engineering classes throughout a student's four years in high school. These students are also held to a higher academic standard, and risk being placed on academic probation if their grades fall below a certain level. Because of this, and to boost the outward statistical appearance of the school, enrolled students are not ranked with the rest of the student body and cannot become Valedictorian or Salutorian.

The classes these students participate in include Foundations of Engineering (9th grade) taught by Mr. Nick Ligatti, Engineering Design (10th grade) taught by Mr. Ryan Westcott, Junior Seminar (11th grade, extra-curricular after-school class) taught by Mrs. Nancy Hoover, and Senior Seminar (12th grade) taught my Mr. Helmut Thielsch, all of which are honors-level courses.

The classes start out simply by educating students about the various Engineering concentrations, engaging them in the thought process behind design processes, and teaching them to work well and efficiently in a team. As the student is promoted to each consecutive grade-level, the classes begin to concentrate more on the specific ways engineers go about designing and proposing their ideas. Senior Seminar, though, is quite different. Instead of focusing on the design aspect of Engineering, it focuses more on the mathematical side, shocking students who are not aware of how highly math-intensive Engineering is. The class exposes students to circuit theory, statics, and dynamics (among other side-topics), three very elementary courses in most upper-level Engineering curricula in college. Alongside these courses, students are also required to take Engineering-concentrated versions of the mandatory courses required by the high school of each graduate, like Biology or Chemistry. The Engineering English and Technical Writing course was discontinued in 2004 due to poor preparation of the students for 11th and 12th grade English courses.

Mission Statement from the Pre-Engineering website:

The Lloyd C. Bird High School Pre-Engineering Specialty Center is to provide a program of studies that allows the student to explore a wide range of engineering fields while building an understanding of the core skills necessary to further his/her education in engineering. The academic curriculum that a student follows is both rigorous and centered around a lab experience to better prepare the student for a rapidly changing technologically based field.

The goal of the center-based program is to provide an opportunity to take advanced classes in math or science, a constant utilization of integrated computer skills, a basis of practical understanding through an emphasis on design projects, a detailed overview of expectations in a variety of engineering fields, the opportunity for advanced credit for class work, field experience for an understanding of the correlation between class work and the work environment, and information to help the students make a more informed decision on their future educational and career plans.

As a result of the center-based program, our students will graduate with a technologically enriched background, an understanding of the various fields of engineering, an appreciation for the correlation between classroom, lab, and field studies, greatly enhanced written and oral communication skills, a solid basis of problem solving and teamwork skills, and a unique background that enables them to make a more informed choice about their future goals and provides them with an advantage over other students who would be entering the engineering educational track at the college level, and taking engineering courses for the first time.