Good for the Heart

By GINA CACECI
Falls Church Times Staff

January 31, 2010

Aerobic exercise is good for the heart. Every day of the week, you can have fun exercising your heart at Falls Church Jazzercise. This Friday, without breaking a sweat or even putting on sneakers, you can do something good for your heart – and even do something good for your sweetheart — at Falls Church Jazzercise.

Falls Church Jazzercise (513 West Broad Street at The Byron) is sponsoring a Design and Dine Celebration benefit from 5:30-8:00 p.m. on FIRSTfriday, February 5.  The event will raise money for HEARt of the Village, an organization founded by a local audiologist, Dr. Tomi Thibodeaux Browne that provides ear and hearing care to HIV-positive children in Kenya.

The FIRSTfriday event will begin with African dancing, led by master instructor Nadine Alameh, followed by exhibits, crafts, and jewelry for purchase.  A special feature of the evening will be the opportunity to actually make jewelry from the handmade and painted beads that Dr. Browne has brought back from Kenya.  Light refreshments will be served, and a video of the work being done by HEARt of the Village will be played on continuous loop throughout the evening.  Everyone is invited to enjoy the beauty of Kenya while contributing to a worthy cause.

There will be no charge for admission to the Design and Dine Celebration, but a $15 minimum donation is requested.

HEARt of the Village is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Three times a year, Dr. Browne travels to Kenya with volunteers and student audiologists to provide direct care to orphaned children and children living in slum communities. HEARt has provided life-changing services including cochlear implants.  Dr. Browne and her colleagues diagnose and treat the children, beginning with routine ear examinations that often lead to amplification, but sometimes reveal far more serious health issues requiring immediate attention.

Retired banker and Falls Church City resident, Anthony D’Ermes traveled to Kenya last October with Dr. Browne and worked alongside her and the other volunteers at the clinics outside Nairobi. He said that “because of my gray hair, people thought I was a big shot.”  D’Ermes went on to say that “Dr. Browne works really hard and is 100% dedicated.  It’s not the kind of volunteering for the faint of heart.”

Dr. Browne stated that “all of the HIV-positive children we work with are provided with antiretroviral medications which give them the opportunity to live long healthy lives.  Introducing basic ear and hearing care improves their health, enhances their quality of life and boosts their academic performance.”

See www.heartofthevillage.org for details about this organization and the work it is doing.  For more information about Falls Church Jazzercise, see www.igetfitnow.  To find out about FIRSTfriday and the other events being held around town on February 5, check out www.FIRSTfridayoffFallsChurch.com

Happy (Tet) New Year at Winter Hill Apartments

The Decision: Mason Educates Parents on the IB Education

By SCOTT TAYLOR
Falls Church Times Staff

January 31, 2010

The sixty or so parents who had assembled in the Mustang Café at George Mason High School were in full agreement with Asheesh Misra, the International Baccalaureate Program Coordinator, and he had only spoken five words:  “Your time is quite precious.”

Beyond the fact that it was 7:00 p.m. on a work and school night, the bottom line for those attending the annual parents’ IB information night was time.  Is the IB program worth the time required of students and their families?  Does participating in IB leave time for extra curricular activities?  If a student chooses to pursue an IB diploma, what time will they get to sleep?  How does time spent in IB translate into college credit?

This was Misra’s second IB information night at Mason – he was hired as the IB program coordinator in 2008 – and his approach to the evening paralleled his approach to overall program management: thorough preparation, a focused, inclusive message, and enthusiasm for the IB mission and learner’s profile.  In Misra’s professional opinion, “IB is not just for the most successful students but for all students who want to dig deeper to reach that which is beyond what is simply offered in the classroom.”

With the assistance of Amy Kurjanowicz, Mason’s Director of Counseling, panelists had been gathered together who could speak to the program from almost any relevant perspective.  Taken as a whole, they could be grouped into three categories.

1.  The Supportive, Insightful Parents

Barry and Catherine Breen may be to IB families in the City of Falls Church what N.C. Wyeth and his wife Carolyn were to families of American artists.  It is entirely possible that by the summer of 2011, the Breen family will have produced five IB diploma recipients: Betsy (2003); Andrew and Peter (2008); and Cathy and Mollie (IB diploma candidates, Class of 2011).

Speaking about his family’s experience, Mr. Breen stated that in his estimation the program taught his children time management skills that enabled their participation in the diploma program while simultaneously opening their schedules to the extracurricular activities of their choosing.  “IB was the right thing for our children, the right thing for our family.  I bet more people can take it on than realize they can take it on,” he said.

2.  The Preternaturally Organized and Composed High School Students

There was the captain of the cross-country team – one of her three varsity sports.  She had also spent five weeks volunteering time to tutor students in Peru.  Her early admission to Duke had recently been announced.

She was joined, after the presentation began, by the accomplished young flutist running late because she works as a volunteer with elementary school students in the District of Columbia.

Then there was the walk-on phenomenon, the young man who hadn’t been singled out as a prospect in middle school but who had grown into an earnest, articulate, and ardent spokesperson for both IB and the lifelong love of learning reflected in the IB mission statement.  His early admission application to William and Mary had been successful.

Courtney Ready, Gemma Seidita, and Micah Jasny, all current IB diploma candidates, were recruited as panelists not because they are exceptional poster children for Mason’s IB program but because they are managing challenges typical for many highly motivated students.  Balancing training and travel for competitive sports with a weekly homework load, resolving scheduling conflicts between band and academic courses, time with friends, time on Facebook, and college admissions goals – each student had anecdotes that communicated what life is like for 15 to 18 year olds participating in the IB program.

3.  What the Return on Investment Looks Like

Three recent Mason graduates – articulate, confident, and seemingly well adjusted – took turns expressing how much they like being who they are today thanks in part to the IB program.  They were Peter Davis, Class of 2008, and a Harvard sophomore; Amelia Nemitz, Class of 2009, and a UVA freshman; and, Emily Perry, Class of 2008, and an Oberlin sophomore.

Perry, who opted for the IB certificate program instead of a diploma due to scheduling conflicts related to her commitment to symphonic band, expressed her appreciation for the “caring aspects of IB students.”

“If it weren’t for IB, I wouldn’t have done as much community service even though it wasn’t required in the certificate program.  I chose to serve voluntarily as a result of being immersed in the program and being around so many extraordinary people,” she said.

The Creativity, Action and Service Program (CAS) is considered the “heart” of the IB diploma and Perry was referring to the service element which is required of diploma but not certificate candidates.  CAS is designed to move students beyond their academic comfort levels and provide them with real, purposeful, and challenging life lessons.

Nemitz, whose IB exam scores placed here in the top one percent of all students worldwide thus earning her admission to The University of Oxford in Great Britain should she have chosen to attend, emphasized the importance IB plays in creating life long learners.  “Don’t focus on college credit for IB,” she said.  “IB is very individualistic and what each student gets back depends on what they put into it.”

Davis, remembered by many as the ubiquitous master of ceremonies at countless Mason arts events, seconded Nemitz’s opinion regarding college credit.  “Don’t think about IB in terms of how many credits you can earn – that isn’t important.  Think about looking yourself in the mirror and asking yourself, ‘What do I want to do with my life, what steps am I going to take today to realize that dream, and how is this going to help me pull it all together.’”

For the parents in attendance, the panel was in many ways a panoply of all their hopes and fears for the academic future of their children.  Is he going to be mature enough in a year to begin this journey?  She’s as able as any of these students, but can she put the social distractions behind her?  You have to be a superman to even attempt this.  We’ve been preparing for this since eighth grade and I think we’re ready.

A woman seated near the front of the Mustang Café asked one of the questions many were interested in hearing answered: “I know I’m not the only Northern Virginia parent who can say this: I feel my kids are stretched to the absolute limit already.  How much sleep will they get and how much stress is involved?”

Jasny responded first by linking success to time management skills: “it is all about how you organize your time.”  He sits down with his parents and plans for the coming week each Saturday morning and rarely gets to bed after 11:00 p.m.

In the Breen household, each student took a different approach to balancing work and rest.  This included routinely sleeping between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., a few all-nighters, and heading to bed at 9:00 p.m. – waking at 1:00 a.m. to work until 3:00 a.m. – then going back to sleep until 7:00 a.m.

When questioners returned to the subject of college credit, they were generally asking one of two questions.  With credit for IB, can my student finish college earlier or more easily double major?  Or, I’ve heard some colleges and universities don’t honor IB the same way they honor AP.

Misra answered the first question with a “yes”, citing Mason graduates who have received upwards of 36 credits based on their IB participation.  The answer to the second question was provided by simply turning to Nemitz, who is at UVA and Perry, who is at Oberlin.  Both women had very different experiences when their transcripts were reviewed by admissions personnel, UVA being less likely to award college credit.

Misra did briefly touch on a legislative initiative in the Virginia Senate that would address IB, AP parity.  The Falls Church Times reported on this issue on January 24, 2010, and as January 31^st, SB 209 had yet to come up for a vote in committee.

As the Mustang Café emptied and parents made their way to the parking lot, many agreed the evening had been worth their time.  One man remarked to his wife as he pulled on his coat, “Time management kept coming up but I’ve never seen that course offered here at the high school.  I feel better now about being such a pain in the ass when it comes to time management at home.”

Links

The George Mason High School IB Program Website

Information on Virginia Senate Bill 209

WATER WAR: Second Trial Begins Monday Morning

By GEORGE BROMLEY
Falls Church Times Staff

January 31, 2010

Trial begins tomorrow in Fairfax Circuit Court on three additional counts in the Fairfax County Water Authority’s (FCWA) ongoing lawsuit against the City of Falls Church.  Judge R. Terrence Ney, who ruled against the City on a single count on January 6, will again preside.

Fairfax Water contends that Falls Church has a monopoly on water service in the eastern portion of the County and has attempted to exclude FCWA from the market, blocking at least one developer from connecting to its system by refusing permission to relocate existing water lines unless the developer promised to connect only to the City’s system.

The plaintiff also maintains that Falls Church has continued to claim an “exclusive” service area, even after a federal court held otherwise, and that the City has advised developers they will be embroiled in litigation if they connect lines to Fairfax Water.

Both sides have retained the lead counsels who faced off in the September trial.  Stuart Raphael of Hunton and Williams will argue for the plaintiff.  Alexander “Sandy” Thomas of Reed Smith will represent the City.

During the course of a preliminary hearing last Wednesday, Mr. Raphael moved to prevent several Falls Church witnesses from testifying.  He also sought to exclude the introduction of an internal FCWA memo into evidence.  Judge Ney did not immediately rule on either motion, but seemed more inclined to hear both the City’s witnesses and its evidence.

A copy of Fairfax Water’s pre-trial brief, which summarizes the plaintiff’s case, is available here.  A short history of the dispute and a map showing the areas serviced by Falls Church and FCWA is included in this article.

The trial will be held in Court Room 5E of the Fairfax County Court House.  Proceedings are scheduled to begin Monday at 10:00 am and are expected to continue into the following week.