NobleTeens are coming to a Virginia Beach High School soon. The Noblemen recently held an assembly @ Tallwood High School to introduce students at the Global Studies and World Language Academy to community service.

Over 15 local non-profits showed up to allow students to explore volunteering with their organizations.

They also had an opportunity to create NobleTeens.

Over 200 students attended and it was truly a stupendous day

January 10, 2008

The Noblemen and future NobleTeens met for a planning session @ Tallwood High School.  What a tremendous opportunity we all have to make a difference in this town.  All of the students I met were energized about the possibilites.  There were great dialogs occuring all through the many commitee meetings. 

The Noblemen look forward to this great adventure with our new partners in being "a part of the solution"

Wrap-up - We had our last meeting of the School year in May.  We all experienced some wonderful philanthropy from Leland's cool Van to Amber's new teeth.  Next year is in the planning so let's all keep in touch over the summer. 

FriendAble Prom May 8, 2009

Arianna Christopher – NobleTeen - summation of The FriendAble Prom – Very Noble Indeed…

For our NobleTeen students at Tallwood High School planning the FriendAble prom was not just a job to be done but a service we were passionate about perusing. The FriendAble prom was put on for mentally disabled people at The Beacon House that may not remember their first prom or may have bad memories associated with it. 

The planning process started in March in our NobleTeen meeting with Al Midgett (founder of Noblemen), Ms. Morris (our main connection to Beacon House), Mrs. Motley (NobleTeens school sponsor), and our fellow NobleTeen members. After the presentation given at the meeting there was an overwhelming response of approval. For the next couple months our prom volunteers stayed after about once a week to plan the prom to be thrown in the commons.

After two months of planning it was finally time to bring our imagination of a Mardi Gras themed prom to life. On May 7th a couple of our volunteers stayed after school to take a look at the decorations and favors that were ordered. When we took a good first look at what we ordered we were astounded by how much we could do with our decorations. In the midst of preparing for prom tomorrow at the end of our pre-prom meeting we had revelations that we shared with each other. We all felt like this was worth all the stress and all the chaos even though we had not seen the full thing yet. It was one of the best moments of the whole prom in my opinion. We started to grow together as friends and not just as fellow volunteers.

On May 8th half of our volunteer staff got early release from class to get a jump start on decorating. The decorating process went quite fast and effectively. All of our volunteers were running around the commons trying to make sure everything looked as perfect as could be. But it came down to the last hour where stress and nerves started to build up in us. We still had to finish last minute decorating, eat dinner, and get properly dressed for the occasion.

We all breezed through these tasks easily and when we came back to the commons we were simply amazed at what we had accomplished. The tables were lit with fishbowls filled with water and marbles, disco lights lit the dance floor, and our brilliant catering service was all set up and ready to go. That moment changed and exceeded our wildest dreams for the prom. Originally we intended to have an ok prom and top it next year. Now we are definitely going to have to work hard to exceed this prom next year.

After the night was over our staff was exhausted but thrilled with the outcome. All of our party favored blinky rings were gone, most of our beads were gone, and many people left with smiles on their faces. Monica V said, “It was amazingly awesome. I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.” Indeed everyone involved with this FriendAble Prom was amazed with what we had done. The prom has certainly changed the way I look at challenges in life and how we can put on a spectacular event. As Chaulong N said, “The prom was so unique.” That was certainly right in our opinion nothing else like this had been done like this at Tallwood before and for that we would like to thank you Mr. Midgett and the Noblemen for your support all year. We will be sure to make you proud in our next NobleTeen year. Hopefully we will see you again under the sea next year.