This is the building where Valley Vo Tech students and Governor School students go.

By Seth Jones, Reporter

“It’s a great opportunity and it’s a great chance to prepare for college,” said junior Dylan Fersner.

Fersner attends the Shenandoah Valley Governor’s School (SVGS) every morning Monday through Friday. He explained the Governor’s School is quite different from the high school.

The classes are more independent work and less group work. The teachers also have the tendency to lecture more than any other style of teaching.

The Governor’s School is very difficult to get into. Only about 200 students total get accepted. Only the kids with the best grades get in.

Students come from Staunton, Waynesboro, and Augusta County to attend Governor’s School. Because of this many of the students don’t know each other when they start.

SVGS students can either be STEM students (science, technology, engineering, and math) or they can be AH students (art and humanities). Only juniors and seniors can attend Governor’s School.

The classes at SVGS are very different from those at the high school. Some of the classes are just for work while other classes are just for listening to a lecture and taking notes. STEM classes focuses mainly on sciences and math opposed to other areas such as literature and history.

“A lot of our work is done on the computer opposed to on paper,” said junior Nathaniel Lahn.

Classes at the Governor’s School are challenging and more work than the high school. It is a difficult transition to make.

“It’s a lot more work, intensive, more productive,” said Fersner. “It’s a different experience. You get to meet people from other schools.”

“It allows me to have more learning opportunities than the high school,” said Lahn.

Governor’s School may be challenging, but it is also rewarding. Students enrolled in the school are gifted with weighted grades for their GPA.

“Unique classes are offered at the Governor’s School that aren’t offered at WHS, such as engineering,” said Lahn.

The Governor’s School is different from the high school in the area of doing assignments.

A person who has experienced Governor’s School would agree that the high school and the Governor’s school are two totally different experiences.

The classrooms are also very different. The classrooms at SVGS are specifically designed for the particular class. For example the physics platform has all of the scientific equipment needed along with proper places for all of it.

All students at SVGS must have a free period so there are many places in the school with computers and work equipment that are student resources only and not used for classes. The school has enough space to allow the juniors and the seniors each their own lounge.

Based on the reactions from the SVGS students one could infer it is definitely a worthwhile experience.