Mrs. April Addington
About
My name is April Addington. I teach Science and a little bit of Algebra at Twin Springs High School. I am the sponsor for the TSHS Green Team. I am also a prom sponsor for the Junior class. I am a member of the Cove Ridge Education Council. Outside of school, I am a Virginia Master Naturalist with the High Knob Chapter. I am also the Cubmaster for the Cub Scouts Pack 166 in Nickelsville.
The picture in the header for this page was taken by me in the Museum of the Earth Sciences at Radford University.
History
I am a graduate of Twin Springs High School. I graduated in 1999. I was actively involved in the Twin Springs Royal Titan Band all 5 years. I then attended Radford University where I got my B.S. in Geology with the Engineering Geosciences option. I participated and held office in Radford University Geological Society and Sigma Gamma Epsilon (Honor Fraternity for the Earth Sciences). I also participated in the Radford University Concert Band, Wind Ensemble, and Pep Band. I spent 2 summers working at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park, Colorado. (In the picture to the right, I'm looking at Long's Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park.)
Soon after graduating, I got a job as a surveyor at Barge, Waggoner, Sumner, and Cannon, Inc. I worked on a land surveying crew for 3 years before I decided I was born to be a teacher. I then got hired by Scott County Public Schools. My first two years teaching were split between Gate City Middle School and Twin Springs High School. My third year teaching, I was at Twin Springs all year and have been ever since. I really enjoy Twin Springs, and will always be a Mighty Titan.
Courses
Click on the links below to get to each class webpage.
AFDA
Probability/Statistics
Career Investigations
Keyboarding
Life Science
Teacher Cadet (Virginia Teachers For Tomorrow)
Family
Teacher is not my only job title. I am also a very proud wife and mother. My husband, Ricky, was a staff sergeant in the Virginia Army National Guard and is a high school English and Science teacher. I have 2 fun boys, Ollie and Arthur. I enjoy baking and decorating cakes. I have been making cakes since 2004. I also enjoy reading, sewing, crocheting, hiking, backpacking, picking up litter, and going to Disney World. I sing in the Scott County Community Choir. I have been Cubmaster of Boy Scout Pack 166 since 2018, and Assistant Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 166 since 2021. We also spend a lot of our days at Natural Tunnel State Park.
Opportunities
As a teacher, I have had many great opportunities. I have had the joy of being a chaperone on a field trip with the A. Linwood Holton Governor's School Astronomy and Physics classes. They take an annual field trip to the Greenbank Observatory in Greenbank, WV. While there, they operate a 40 foot radio telescope and use that data in a research project.
I have also had the distinct opportunity to attend the Virginia Aerospace Science and Technology Scholars Teacher Institute. We spent a week at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA. There were many great guest speakers employed by NASA. We learned a lot about their current projects and about Mars. We were also taught how to create a podcast.
I have attended the Learning Across Virginia field trip. Several teachers in Southwest Virginia rode a charter bus across Virginia to visit several places such as Virginia Tech's Ware Lab and Goodwin Hall, NASA Langley Research Center, Virginia Living Museum, Jefferson Lab, NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia Air and Space Center, Nauticus (Norfolk and Battleship Wisconsin), and Science Museum of Southwest Viriginia - Roanoke. It was such a great opportunity to visit these places, some of which are not open to the public.
Volunteer Work
I am very honored to be a part of the Cove Ridge Education Council at Natural Tunnel State Park. The council works all year planning workshops for teachers, mainly the C.R.E.A.T.E. Workshop, offered to all educators K-12 every September.
In my free time (HAHA!), I am part of the Virginia Master Naturalist High Knob Chapter. The Virginia Master Naturalist program is a corps of well-informed volunteers who provide education, outreach, and service dedicated to the beneficial management of natural resources and natural areas within their communities for the Commonwealth of Virginia.
The Virginia Master Naturalists High Knob Chapter focuses their attention on Southwest Virginia. The members volunteer their time in the form of outreach, such as educational or interpretive programming, assistance to statewide sponsor or local partner programs and/or research, or simply manual labor that benefits the local natural resources.
If you are interested in joining, just shoot me an email, and I'll tell you how!
Cub Scouts
We started a Cub Scout Pack in Nickelsville. I am the Cubmaster of Pack 166. I really enjoy working with those kids and helping teach them the values of the Scout Law and Scout Oath. I like teaching them how to respect nature on our Cub Scout outings and to abide by the Outdoor Code and Leave No Trace Principle. Plus, we just have a lot of fun!
BSA Troop
In 2021, we started a Troop for our older Scouts. I am the Assistant Scoutmaster of Troop 166. It's such an honor to assist these kids on their journey through Scouting. And we love spending time at Sequoyah Council's Camp Davy Crockett.
Other
I was nominated and chosen to be the 2017 VFW District 12 Teacher of the Year.
I was also nominated and chosen to be the 2017 Red Cross Education Hero for our region.
In 2018, I was presented the educator award by the Upper Tennessee River Roundtable.
