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At the start of his freshman year at Bishop Ireton High School inAlexandria, Christopher Critter Johnson was a little apprehensive aboutgetting involved. But his hesitancy to jump into all different kinds ofextracurriculars didnt last long. When I got to (Ireton), I didnt wantpeople to see me go into Coding Club, he said. Over the course of four years,I went from being too nervous to have people see me walk into the computerscience room to saying on the loudspeaker, Come to (the annual hackathon) HackBI, said Johnson, who goes by his childhood nickname of Critter.

Johnsons love of tinkering with technology led him to the manycomputer science activities at Ireton, not to mention working part time for anearby software company. Hes taken computer science classes, including twoindependent studies where he learned the programming languages Java and C++.Through Coding Club, he helped plan Hack BI, a daylong hackathon competitionfor high and middle schoolers held virtually this year.

As president of the Robotics Club, hes enjoyed using the schoolsnew robotics lab. Its awesome. Theres a workshop and if the teachers withyou, you can saw metal, which is just a fun thing to do in school take abandsaw and cut a piece of metal in half, he said.

When he wasnt behind a computer screen, Johnson ran track andfield and cross-country. With the National Honor Society, this year he helpedput on a livestreamed coffeehouse where he played the guitar. Last year, hewent on the student-led Kairos retreat and this year hes helping to plan it.The retreats and proximity to the school chaplain have propelled his faith lifeforward. Our campus ministry office is right there when you walk in, soanytime I have anything on my mind at all, Im going to walk past Father Noah(Morey) so I might as well pop in his office and say hi and ask him aquestion, said Johnson, who attends the Basilica of St. Mary in Alexandria.Its made my faith really personal.

As the senior class president, Johnson enjoyed the challenges ofplanning school events during the pandemic. For me, its been really fun. Instudent council, a lot of things you quote-unquote plan youre justemailing the same deejay you emailed last year, he said. But this year werecompletely rethinking everything. It allows us to be really creative withschool events. Would I have still preferred a regular senior homecoming? Maybe.But Ive really enjoyed it for what it is.

In the fall, Johnson is planning to be part of the U.S. Navy ROTCat the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, unless he gets off thewaitlist at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. Either way, hes excitedto serve in the Navy. I really want to contribute to something greater thanmyself, he said.

It's something hes been able to accomplish through hisleadership and volunteering at Ireton. I love being involved, he said. (Thecommunity is) small enough that I feel like I have a really good opportunity tobe involved and feel like I matter there, he said. He encouraged others toattend school activities, too. Or at least one of them. Go to Hack BI, hesaid.

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Cracking the high school code - Arlington Catholic Herald