CVHS Art Students Win 33 Awards
Centreville High students won a total of 33 awards in the recent Fairfax County Public Schools Regional Scholastic Art competition.
Representing Students on School Board
Harris LaTeef named student representative to Fairfax County School Board.
Harris LaTeef, a junior at Langley High School, has been elected by the countywide Student Advisory Council (SAC) to serve a one-year term as student representative to the Fairfax County School Board, beginning July 1. LaTeef will participate in School Board meetings as a nonvoting member, filling the position currently held by Will Ashe, a senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. LaTeef will be the 44th student representative to the School Board.
Local Man Charged with Setting Fires
Occupants were home asleep at the time.
Culminating months of work, investigators from the Fairfax County Fire Marshal’s Office have charged a local man with two felonies for allegedly setting fires in homes while their occupants were asleep.
County Investigator Speaks About Credit Card, ID Theft Risk
At the Feb. 4 meeting of the McLean Woman’s Club, Officer Tom Polhemus, an investigator with the Financial Crimes Unit of the Fairfax County Police Department, spoke to the group about sophisticated schemes for stealing personal financial data and recommended ways to avoid being targeted. Officer Polhemus is one of 12 investigators in the Financial Crimes Unit, which handles some 4,500 fraud reports per year, he said.
An Inspired Production
‘Souvenir: A Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins’ at 1st Stage.
With a masterful performance by Lee Mikeska Gardner, an eccentric woman is made thoroughly sympathetic, even noble in an exceptional production of "Souvenir: A Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins" at 1st Stage in Tysons.
Family Fitness Night at Lake Anne Elementary
Family Fitness Night at Lake Anne Elementary School (LAES) in Reston on Thursday, Feb. 6, meant lots of family fun, as well as the opportunity for parents to spend a little quality time with their children getting some health and wellness tips, and joining them in completing the more than thirty exercise challenges set up for them in the school’s gym.
Raising Lettuce, Vegetables at Churchill Road
The wintry weather hasn’t interfered with Churchill Road’s four seasons environmental studies program. Taking advantage of a sunny winter day, fifth graders seeded their winter lettuces and vegetables. The seeds will germinate in the greenhouse until the soil temperatures are warm enough to transplant the seedlings to the raised beds. With the help of the school’s environmental studies coordinator Debra Maes, Churchill Road fourth graders began their agrarian business model by seeding colonial herbs in the greenhouse. These herbs will grow during the winter months in the greenhouse. The students will harvest the herbs and create products such as lavender soaps, thyme tinctures and loofah sponges for sale at their annual farmer’s market in June.
‘Our Homes Should Be Our Havens’
Resident beseeches Town Council to revise the noise ordinance.
Imagine living in a place so noisy that children have a hard time sleeping. Melanie Meren doesn’t have to – that’s her reality. She lives in the Town of Vienna, but close to a construction site. And last Monday, Feb. 3, she shared her concerns with the Vienna Town Council. She then asked the Council to re-examine and revise the town’s noise ordinance to decrease the allowable hours of home construction so existing residents can have some peace and quiet. “The noise ordinance doesn’t protect us as residents,” said Meren. “It’s completely biased in the builders’ favor.”
Mental Health and Budget Items in Richmond
You most likely heard that my colleague, Sen. Creigh Deeds (D-Bath County), underwent a horrible ordeal last fall with his son Gus, who was suffering from severe mental illness. The Deeds family had realized that Gus needed urgent help and were doing everything they could to ensure his well-being, but a psychiatric bed could not be found for him when it was desperately needed. In a horrific turn of events, Gus critically stabbed his father and then took his own life.
Southgate Saturday School Begins Sixth Year of Arts, Science Programs
Southgate Community Center partners with Hunters Woods Elementary and the Potomac Academy to bring arts and science education programs to 4-6th graders.
On the morning of Saturday, Feb. 8, about 50 Hunters Woods Elementary School students got out of bed for a surprising destination at Southgate Community Center: Saturday School. Since 2009, Southgate Community Center has collaborated with Hunters Woods Elementary and George Mason University’s Potomac Arts Academy to provide weekly sessions in visual arts, music, theater, and science to 4-6th graders. The program invites between 40-50 students each winter to join.
Week in McLean
Deadfall Days at the Claude Moore Colonial Farm
The Claude Moore Colonial Farm will hold Deadfall Days on Saturdays: Feb. 15 & 22, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 6310 Georgetown Pike, McLean. Help the Farm prepare early for its 2014 season.
Weichert, Realtors’ McLean/Old Dominion Office Recognizes Top Associates
Bruce L. Green, regional vice president of Weichert, Realtors, announced Sales Associate Patricia Derwinski of the McLean/Old Dominion office was individually recognized for her exceptional industry success during the month of December. Top producer, Derwinski led the region, which comprises offices throughout Fairfax, Loudoun, Fauquier and Delaware counties, for resale dollar volume. This top neighborhood specialist can be reached in Weichert’s McLean/Old Dominion office at 6257 Old Dominion Drive or by phone at 703-821-8300.
Saxon Stage Places Third in Regional One-Act Play Festival
Langley High School won its conference Jan. 25 and placed third in its first appearance in VHSL 6A North Region One Act Play Festival.
Langley High School theater students’ months of hard work paid off on Saturday, Feb. 8, when they placed third in the 2014 VHSL 6A North Region One Act Play Festival at Lake Braddock Secondary School. Langley won the Conference 6 championship on Jan. 25, securing the school’s first ever appearance in the regional competition, along with runner-up Washington-Lee High School from Arlington.
Art and Function
New MPA exhibit unlocks hidden beauty in everyday gadgets, contraptions, or refuse.
McLean Project for the Arts hosted a reception on Jan. 16, to celebrate the opening of its latest exhibition, “Contraptions: Reflections on the Almost Functional.” The exhibition also includes solo shows by artists, Melissa Burley, and Eric Celarier. “Contraptions: Reflections on the Almost Functional” exhibition presents a fresh look at some commonplace objects. But their usual functions have been altered or even eliminated, to allow for artistic interest or beauty.
Leave It to the Feds
Despite Virginia’s historic antipathy toward the federal government, the Commonwealth has nonetheless historically ceded decisions to federal authorities on major issues on which the state had been unwilling to move forward. Another issue is about to fall into this category: same-sex marriage.
ArtSpace Hires New Executive Director
Lawrence Verbiest has been named executive director of ArtSpace Herndon. On Jan. 8, the Herndon Foundation for the Cultural Arts’ board of directors voted to offer the position to Verbiest. He accepted the position and began work on Jan. 21.
It Takes a Village
The article in the Great Falls Connection [“Going Dark?” January 22-28, 2014] hit home with me. I remember the 1984 Great Falls Volunteer Fire Department Fourth of July Fireworks on the field behind the Great Falls Post Office -- the last fireworks held in the Great Falls town centre. The neighboring Hickory Vale farm was being developed with new homes, and it was no longer safe to shoot off the fireworks display there. The skies remained dark on the Fourth of July in Great Falls until 1996, when I was a member of the “Save the Farm” organization at the Turner farm.
‘Blast from the Past 25 – Mixtape’ Opens at Churchill
Production marks silver anniversary.
The 1989 show — the first of its kind in the Potomac area — is a tradition that has continued, offering thousands of students the opportunity to showcase their talents.
02/12/14 Roundups
The editor presents roundups from the week of 02/12/14.
Comedy, Drama and a Musical
Westfield High presents Winter One-Act Play Festival
WHS presents One-Act Plays.