Whether it be collecting gifts for the homeless, helping out at local food shelters, fundraising for one of their many service partners, assisting in the Special Olympics of Virginia, serving food at senior citizen centers nearby, or participating in the D.C. Stop Modern Slavery Walk, NOVA students from both the Alexandria and the Woodbridge campuses seem eager to follow the motto “Live to serve, love to serve” of their collegiate community service organization Circle K International, also known as CKI.

Gregg Allman recently released his first studio album in 14 years, and it’ll be the last sold at Borders Books and Music in North Stafford.
After the company announced last week it was closing 30 percent of its stores nationwide, the location at Stafford Marketplace has marked down all of its merchandise by up to 40 percent.

A retelling of the classic Shakespearean story of Romeo and Juliet, Gnomeo and Juliet takes the tail of the feuding Capulets and Montagues into the back yard and recasts the principal characters as an assortment of ceramic garden gnomes. Much like Toy Story, the gnomes appear to be simple inanimate objects when viewed by humans, but when the humans are gone, they come to life and attend to their respective gardens.

Olivia Gonzalez and Amanda Brawley are the two Northern Virginia Community College women ice hockey players who make the NOVA team co-ed. One thing to know about these two women is that they love to play hockey.

I spoke with these two women before a recent practice.

This is Gonzalez’s second year playing. She originally wanted to come out as a manager, because she had heard that she’d be able to skate with the team during practices. Coach Barrett Haga had other ideas for her, as he asked her to try out for the team. Gonzalez decided that she wanted to take the opportunity to improve her skills.

Lions, tigers and bears, oh my! Add in a few alligators, giraffes, monkeys and a big pile of fluffy stuffing, and all components of building personalized stuffed animals are present.

Student Activities at Loudoun campus hosted a “Build-A-Bear” day on Feb. 10 in honor of Valentine’s Day. For no charge, students could come and create their own stuffed animal. Dozens of students turned out for the event, a number the organizers hadn’t anticipated in their planning.

Did you know that 38 percent of all CO2 emissions on earth come from inefficient energy use in buildings? That is just one of several statistics that Alliance for Climate Education will introduce to Northern Virginia Community College students on Feb. 22 at 11 a.m., in the Schlesinger Center on Alexandria campus. In hosting ACE, NOVA will aid the organization in their mission to educate, inspire and activate the younger generation around the issue of climate change.

Students enjoy arcade games on their lunch break at Annandale campus’ NOVA Day. Photo by Kama Storie