Editorial: Value-added Evaluation?
TJ admissions illustrate growing gap between “haves” and “have-nots.”
More than 181,000 students attend Fairfax County Public Schools. So why do the 480 students who were accepted for next year’s freshman class at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology seem so important? Fairfax County Public Schools have a single elite magnet school, Thomas Jefferson, and TJ is frequently referred to as the top high school in the country. Dramatic disparity in the makeup of admissions at TJ is an indicator of disparity in early identification of students as gifted and talented, of access to advanced classes and enrichment, and in the basic education that the Fairfax County Public school system offers to all of its students.
Robinson Students Make the Cut for Caring
26 Acts of Kindness campaign continues.
April 1st marked the beginning of Robinson Secondary School’s “26 Acts of Kindness”—a tribute to the 26 children and adults who were killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting last December in Newtown, Conn. The Student Government Association (SGA) pulled out all the stops to make this “pay it forward” campaign a success, even providing t-shirts with space on the back for supporters to fill in each act of kindness performed, producing a promotional video that was uploaded to YouTube, and even establishing a Twitter site where do-gooders could post what good deeds they had done.
Robinson Coach Rike Reaches 500 Wins
60-year-old has coached Rams girls’ soccer for 32 years.
Rike coached the Falls Church boys' soccer team for five years before taking over the Robinson girls' program.
Column: A False Sense of Security
Not that there’s anything wrong with that; in fact, as a four-year, stage IV, non-small-cell lung cancer survivor, it’s amazing to have any security, false or otherwise, whatsoever.
‘We Have Not Forgotten’
Residents rally in Vienna to support stricter gun control measures.
Less than six miles from the National Rifle Association (NRA) headquarters in Fairfax, more than 100 people gathered on the Vienna Town Green Saturday, April 13, to urge Congress to support stricter gun control measures.
West Springfield Woman at Boston Marathon Carried to Safety by NFL Champ Joe Andruzzi
Friends and family pray for the Wittich family.
The Wittich family of West Springfield was excited about attending the Boston Marathon, one of the historic city’s prominent annual civic pride events. On Saturday, April 13, Christine Wittich, a West Springfield High School student, posted several tweets about the upcoming trip. “Wittich invasion has commenced. Is Boston ready?” and “Yay for being that matching family,” with a photo of mom Julie and sisters in matching blue t-shirts. But after Monday’s bomb blasts transformed the Boston Marathon into a scene of chaos and terror, leaving three dead and more than 100 injured, Wittich’s tweets became more muted.
Editorial: Voting Again
Every year is election year in Virginia, and it’s a bit much.
The most hotly contested race for statewide office in Virginia, the Republican contest for lieutenant governor, will be decided at a statewide convention on May 18. That’s about a month from now.
April 17 Well-being Festival Prevents Extinction of a People
GMU professor brings health to Maijuna indigenous people, whose population has dwindled to 400.
The Mason Center for Social Entrepreneurship and the Center for Consciousness and Transformation have partnered with Mason ethnobiologist Dr. Mike Gilmore and Mason students to bring clean drinking water as well as proper sanitation and hygiene to the Maijuna communities, an indigenous people in the Peruvian Amazon whose population has been reduced to the low number of 400 individuals. The Maijuna are dying due to dysentery and waterborne diseases contracted from contaminated drinking water.
Roundups
Body Found in Fair Oaks
Fairfax County firefighters responded to an outside fire, Sunday, April 7, around 12:05 p.m., at Route 50 and the Fairfax County Parkway in Fair Oaks. While battling the blaze, they discovered the body of an unidentified adult male.
Classified Advertising April 10, 2013
Read the lastest ads here!
Week in Fairfax
Body Found in Fair Oaks and Apple, Vantria Federal Credit Unions Announce Merger
City Votes 6-0 to Get Out of Water Business
Cost of owning water system outweighs civic pride.
After a half century of controlling its own water system, the City of Fairfax voted unanimously Tuesday, April 9, to get out of the increasingly costly water business.
Jewish Film Festival Opens on April 18
Festival opens with “Hava Nagila: The Movie” at Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia in Fairfax.
The Northern Virginia Jewish Film Festival (NVJFF) will celebrate its 13th year of Culture, Community and Chutzpah as it screens 13 films from April 18-28. Presented by the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia and Angelika Film Center & Café at Mosaic, the festival committee previewed more than 70 Jewish-themed or Israeli-made films to comprise this year’s selections.
Enjoying Frozen Treats to Help Fairfax Girl
Rita’s Italian Ice raises money for Tara Sankner.
Standing on a crate behind the counter of Rita’s Italian Ice, 8-year-old Tara Sankner of Fairfax scooped the cool, frosty treat into cups for customers. Some came there Monday evening because the weather was warm and they enjoy Rita’s offerings. Many others came because the Fairfax location was holding a fundraiser for Tara, who was recently diagnosed with brain cancer.
County to Complete Road Projects
Projects that came in under-budget free up $11.2 million.
Motorists, pedestrians and cyclists received a bonus Tuesday, April 9, when the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors reallocated $11.2 million in existing funds to complete more than 12 planned pedestrian and road improvement projects.
Animal Control Officer Nabs Elusive Shih Tzu
Officer’s dogged pursuit saves sly pup from life on the streets.
Just 13 pounds of matted fur and fluff, “Biscuit,” a sly shih tzu, evaded capture in the Franconia area for nearly two years, porch-surfing and stealing cats’ food to survive.
Police Receive Alarming Number of Tax Fraud Reports
As annual tax returns are being calculated and submitted in a last-minute furor across the country, Fairfax County Police have received an alarming report of 75 to 100 cases of tax identification fraud in recent weeks. Detectives are warning residents of the scam and urge them to take precautions to prevent being victimized.
Robinson Students Commit to 26 Acts of Kindness
The number 26 is in honor of the 20 students and six staffers killed during the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
Even if only 10 percent of Robinson Secondary School’s almost four thousand students accept the Student Government Association (SGA)’s 26 Acts of Kindness Challenge during the month of April, that would still mean 10,400 random acts of kindness and courtesy added to the world. Not a bad achievement.
Column: Asked and Answered
I think about it enough, I don’t want to think about it too much. What’s “it?” Cancer.