Annandale campus Police Officers Tony Ong and Andrew Jenkins pull over dispatcher Chase Briggs in a reenacted routine traffic stop.

It’s happened to many of us. We’re driving along, maybe late for class and going too fast or looking for a parking space and not paying attention to how we’re driving. Then we see blue lights flashing behind us. No matter who we are, we get nervous. We may wonder what we did wrong, or we may know. But even if we do know what we did, we don’t all know what to do next.

People tend to love police officers when they need their help and curse them when they get a traffic ticket. But the officer walking toward your car has a job to do, and part of that job is to give tickets to anyone violating traffic laws, which still apply on campus.

Remember, the officer may be nervous, too. He or she doesn’t know if you are armed or how you’ll react. And violence can happen anywhere.

According to Officer Tony Ong of the Annandale campus police, the protocol for a traffic stop begins with activating the police vehicle’s emergency lights, followed by calling the stop in, running the license plate to check for warrants and looking for anything out of the ordinary. Then, once up to the stopped vehicle, the officer will scan the driver to see if he or she is hiding something.

If running the tags reveals a warrant, then another NOVA police officer is called to the scene as backup. If no other campus police officer is available, then the officer may request assistance from a local jurisdiction.

So what should drivers do when pulled over?

Ong and Sgt. John Stasiowski, also of the Annandale campus police, offer advice on what to do when the police lights are flashing behind you.

First, find a safe location and pull over, preferably on the right shoulder out of the flow of traffic. Stasiowski said people tend to act in unpredictable ways once they notice the police lights. Some stop immediately in the road, so the police have to be prepared for anything.

After pulling over, keep your hands on the steering wheel. If it’s dark, turn on the exterior light. Lower the window in order to communicate with the officer.

Be prepared to show the officer your driver’s license, vehicle registration and proof of insurance. Stasiowski said that all three of these must be carried by drivers when operating a motor vehicle. So even if you have a valid driver’s license, if you left it at home you could still get a ticket.

So what should drivers NOT do when pulled over?

Stasiowski stressed that, when stopped by the police, you should not get out of your vehicle. The police don’t know what your intentions are, and it’s seen as a threatening move.

“It may be the practice in some other states for the officer… to motion the violator back to their vehicle, but that’s not the way it’s done in Virginia,” stated Stasiowski.

He also advised not to argue with the officer.

Not signing the ticket will result in being arrested and taken before the magistrate, according to Stasiowski. He added that signing a ticket is not an admission of guilt. It’s an acknowledgement that you’ve received the ticket, which is also a summons to court to answer to the charge.

Ever wonder why officers ask drivers if they know why the police pulled them over? Stasiowski said that sometimes the driver will reveal something else. Once, he stopped a woman for making a left turn where that action wasn’t allowed. After asking her if she knew why he pulled her over, she said it was for driving too fast.

Ong said he often hears the excuse: “I didn’t see the sign.”

He’s also heard: “I’ve only been driving for a couple of days,” which he doesn’t find credible.

“They make it seem like it’s something they’re not supposed to know immediately,” said Ong.

Another common excuse is: “I didn’t know.” This excuse doesn’t work because drivers are obligated to know traffic laws before getting a driver’s license.

“This reason why I’m stopping you is not something new,” he added.

Students aren’t the only ones who need to follow traffic laws on campus — the college faculty and staff are issued tickets if they violate the law.

Dave Matthews (shown) performs an acoustic set with Tim Reynolds in support of democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama at the VCU Siegel Center in Richmond, Va., on Sunday, Oct. 26, 2008. The event was called a "Last Chance for Change Concert" but was widely referred to as "Barack the Vote."

Summer can mean so many things to college students. Beach Week. Freedom. Barbeques. Lifeguard jobs at the local pool. And concerts. Oh, yes. Lots of wonderful concerts.

The summer concert season is in full swing with lower ticket prices than previous years to accommodate the state of the economy and the prevailing hesitation many people have about spending money on non-essentials. Several venues in Virginia are only charging $15 to see bands such as Blues Traveler with Carbon Leaf, Travis Tritt and the Motor City Madman himself, Ted Nugent. The June 18 concert of country star Phil Vassar at Celebrate Virginia Live in Fredericksburg costs only $12.50 in advance through TicketsToBuy.com.

The shows with the best prices tend to be the ones at outdoor pavilions that are usually open only during the spring and summer.

Here are some inexpensive but popular concerts coming to the area.

Blues Traveler will play four shows within driving distance this summer:

• June 27 at the Belmont Country Club in Ashburn
• July 27 at Rams Head in Annapolis
• July 28 at Innsbrook Pavilion in Richmond
• July 30 at Celebrate Virginia Live in Fredericksburg

Country star Travis Tritt will perform July 11 at the Belmont Country Club in Ashburn.

A flash from the past, Counting Crows, is set to perform two nearby shows. First, the alternative band that first hit it big in the 1990s will be at Innsbrook Pavilion in the Richmond area July 11. Tickets for that show cost $26.50 in advance, $30 for general admission at the door and $50 for Gold Circle tickets. Don’t be fooled by secondary ticket sellers that are offering tickets to this show for $75 to $248. Order directly from the original ticket seller –in this case TicketsToBuy.com – to avoid inflated prices.

The next night, Counting Crows will rock the Pier Six Pavilion in Baltimore for a pricier show, with tickets costing $35 to $80.

The Dave Matthews Band will perform at Nationals Park in Washington on July 23. Ticket prices start at $49 and go up to $75, but it will cost patrons additional money to park – as much as $40.

Longtime, well-named pop band Barenaked Ladies recently played at Innsbrook and is returning to the region for a July 31 show in Raleigh at the Raleigh Amphitheatre in support of its new release, “All in Good Time.” Ticket prices start at $28.

Montgomery Gentry, an energetic country-rock band, will end the summer with a headlining gig at the WFLS Fest on Aug. 27 at Celebrate Virginia Live in Fredericksburg.

Remember, some shows cost more if you pay at the door instead of in advance. Some will sell out in advance. And ticket outlets usually charge service fees on top of ticket prices.

Update:
Shortly after this story was published NOVA added a copy of the report to their website. It can viewed in two parts here and here.

Last December’s shooting at the Woodbridge campus opened many concerns on safety issues at NOVA. To address those questions and provide ideas for a safer environment for students, faculty and staff, NOVA president Robert Templin created the Presidential Commission on Safety and Security. The commission was charged with creating a report on the state of safety and security.

Despite a special web page detailing the creation of the commission, neither the final report nor a summary of its findings, are publicly available on NOVA’s web site. However, the NOVA Fortnightly was able to obtain the report through a Freedom of Information Act request.

While the report reiterated earlier findings such as untimely alerts immediately after the Woodbridge incident, it also revealed major security issues including comments that alleged weapons are routinely on some campuses and a breakdown in monitoring potentially disturbed students.

New details also emerged as to some of the failings that happened in the Woodbridge incident. Only nine of the 45 cameras at the Woodbridge campus were operational. The report attributed this to a system that regularly crashes and is in need of frequent repair. Police communications were also hindered because their radio system is unable to provide campus-to-campus communication.

But the college is already correcting some issues. For instance new locks are being installed at all campuses that will allow for more secure sheltering-in-place. This project is due to be completed in mid-July. The Facilities Department is also installing a public address alert system at the Manassas campus.

One of the problems raised in earlier reports has been a complicated chain of communications when college officials attempted to disseminate information and coordinate a response. To partially remedy this, the report suggested that a centralized dispatch center be set up.

Such a dispatch center would have several functions and would rectify many issues NOVA has been warned of since at least 2007. For instance, evacuating the Woodbridge campus as emergency responders searched for bombs and active shooters was complicated because keys and floor plans were in the emergency area, rendering them inaccessible. In the future, the dispatch center could serve as a repository for such materials.

The dispatch center would also be responsible for more routine duties such as monitoring video systems.

The commission also collected feedback via an online survey. Both students and faculty raised concerns on a number of safety issues.

At least four comments alleged that there are deadly weapons routinely on the Alexandria campus. Others felt threatened in some of the smaller buildings at that campus including the Engineering and Tyler buildings. Other comments suggested officers should be stationed at those buildings – especially at times when they are near empty. And yet others felt the large, rowdy crowds that gather outside the cafeteria pose a safety risk.

At the Annandale campus, faculty felt that floor wardens lacked proper training in such areas as CPR, defibrillator use and emergency coordination. They also noted an issue of poor communication during a fire drill when the “all clear” signal was sent to phones inside the buildings.

At Manassas, floor wardens need a budget to purchase hand held radios. The report also noted a pressing need for a working emergency alert system on campus.

Improvement could be used for dealing with student behavior issues, according to the report. One of the public replies to a question asking what the most important safety issue was said, “Feeling safe about giving students the grade they earn.”

One comment felt the dean of students at the Annandale campus does not “really care about what you have to say when you’ve been harassed.” Another comment urged NOVA to “hire a dean of students who is qualified to advise faculty what to do about troubled students.”

The Annandale Campus Council – a group of faculty and instructors – further reported they had a “great concern for the lack of consequences for students who misbehave.”

However the criticisms of student behavior monitoring were not just through public feedback. The report noted complications in the relationship between the CARE team, which is responsible for students with “concerning behaviors,” and the dean of students, who also deals with student behavior issues.

The report urged that the roles for those dealing with “concerning behavior” be clearly defined. It also noted the need for case management when dealing with reports of troubled students.

The report included feedback from a variety of sources including online polls, which solicited feedback from the NOVA community. Students were also represented on the commission by Arthur Tamayo, the president of the Woodbridge student government association. Other members of the commission included Michael Turner, the Woodbridge campus dean of students, and Sam Hill, the provost of the Woodbridge campus.

Dr. Terry Alford speaks about his upcoming biography of John Wilkes Booth: "Fortune's Fools."

Dr. Terry Alford’s upcoming biography, Fortune’s Fools is about the life of John Wilkes Booth, the famous actor and infamous assassin of the 16th president of the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln.

The Lincoln scholar has already written two books published by Oxford Press, made numerous television appearances, worked as a consultant for the 2007 film hit National Treasure 2, and helped found the NOVA Honors Program. He was recently awarded the 2010 Outstanding Faculty Award by the Commonwealth of Virginia. He is the only community college professor to ever receive the accolade.

Booth was apparently the Brad Pitt of his day and earned $20,000 income for acting alone in 1864. Only six months before he would take Lincoln’s life, he performed to a crowd of 2,000 for New York’s elite in Julius Caesar at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York City. Still, Booth could not escape the feelings of self reproach that increased as the Civil War deteriorated.

Booth lived in a rural community outside of Baltimore, Md. A Confederate sympathizer, Booth became unhinged at the capture of Richmond, Va., on March 25, 1865. Alford’s biography traces the tragedy of Lincoln’s murder through the lens of Booth’s experience, so the reader knows the events chronologically as Booth would. The novel also lacks a Lincoln deathbed scene, which — in the words of Alford — “has been done 500 times before.”

What makes Fortune’s Fools different from other books on the same topic is the humanity and color in each individual character. For specific details, Alford researches in a variety of places contain only parts of the story of Lincoln’s assassination.

Alford fits those pieces together to create a full picture, and much of what is in the book comes from firsthand eyewitness testimonies of people who witnessed the murder of Lincoln.

“That’s what takes so long, is finding all these facts and determining what’s credible,” Alford told the NOVA audience of 23 students and faculty. “Newspaper articles are good sources. However, people lie today like they did back then.”

There was a little-known connection between Booth and Lincoln. The medium Nettie Colburn Maynard who conducted the White House séances was also a friend of Booth. When her friend said that Lincoln should be shot, Maynard warned Lincoln that he should beware of crazy people who might want to do him harm in the capital. Later, a senator gave Lincoln a similar warning, and Lincoln replied, “That’s what I have been hearing.”

The biography is scheduled to be released by Oxford Press in 2011. Alford teaches history at the Annandale campus.

An example of a panel created for Hands on Alexandria.

Trust is a very difficult thing to get, especially when talking about sharing personal information.

The Census is a prime example. Thanks to the data collected through the 2010 Census, communities receive more than $400 billion in federal funds each year. This money helps job training centers, hospitals, senior centers, schools and other educational institutions including NOVA.

Most know that some information must be given to the government every decade. Everybody is informed that personal data provided is protected under federal law, and yet many people are reluctant to cooperate.

In the last U.S. Census 3,300 Alexandria residents were not counted and the city lost an estimated $33 million over 10 years because of the previous undercount.

To break the ice, Census 2010 Alexandria representatives and NOVA decided to look for a new approach to the community.

It all started last fall when Lisa Hill, assistant dean with the Communication Design Department, came to Dr. Jim R. McClellan, dean of the Liberal Arts Division, to propose an idea that the Communication Design Department could start a community public service project.

For several months, students and teachers were working on a new appealing design for the Alexandria Census 2010 campaign.

Census 2010 Alexandria provided logos, text and the budget, but the designs were created by NOVA students and teachers.

When everything was ready, the ideas were presented to the Census 2010 committee. As a result, all Alexandria Census 2010 posters, brochures, and gift bags are designed by NOVA students and faculty.

A good design was not the only element of the campaign. Children were also brought in. Census 2010 representatives, along with Lisa Hill, Rebecca Kamen, a professor of art and Angela Terry, a communication design professor, addressed 13 elementary schools asking the kids of Alexandria to give their hands to the Census 2010. Art teachers in the schools were provided with the budget, tissue and paint, and the Hands on Alexandria art project was launched. The students of second, third and fourth grades traced their hands on colored tissue paper and then the cut-out paper hands were delivered to NOVA.

On March 19 at 9:30am, Hill, Terry, Kamen and 12 students came to the college to complete the mural project. The cut-out hands were attached to more than 45 transparent panels. On Tuesday March 23, all the panels will be suspended at the Alexandria City Hall.

Korean Students Association member Jungho Moon explaining the basics of Korean pronunciation.

At the Annandale campus, the Korean Student Association is currently providing tutoring sessions for students taking a Korean course or those with an interest in learning the language.

On Mondays and Tuesdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in CF 230, officers of the association and some fluent speakers are teaching a few students ways to speak and write in Korean. The majority of the participants have been non-Korean but they said that they welcome those who were born in America and have Korean roots within their families. This gives them the opportunity to learn their own language.

Young Jun Ji, Academics Manager of the KSA, is in charge of the two-day a week sessions and seemed very eager to teach Annandale students.
“When I first came here, I didn’t have many friends,” he said. He interacts with everyone in the sessions, getting a sense of comfort that Americans and people from other cultures want to take time after class to learn something they could get both outside and inside a classroom.

Teaching the native language is a way of sharing or showing Korean culture and the different meanings of expression and perception versus the American way. “We teach students to read and write,” Jun Ji said. “They learn the language fast without the pressure.”

For those who are non-Korean born but have family roots, he wanted to let them in to “help uncover [their] identity crisis.” In a way of speaking, Jun Ji gives them opportunities to learn their language which helps them decide whether they wish to further their advances in the culture.
“I was interested in learning Korean because I had a friend who is from Korea,” said Alie Yatco, an Annandale student who has been attending the sessions since the beginning of the semester. She’s not Korean born but a student who likes to learn about different cultures.

KSA President Miriam Hyeon is also a Korean speaker and came to the U.S. in 2006. “I was born in Argentina but my parents taught me how to speak Korean,” she said. Like Jun Ji, she’s happy to teach students Korean and enjoys the interactions with the teachers who are actually NOVA students that tutor students.

Hyeon and a couple of other teachers also explained some of the intricacies of Korean. In any foreign language, direct (command) and indirect (statement) speaking is always taught. In Korean, there is formal and informal speaking. When speaking formally, the direction is towards someone that the person is meeting for the first time. Informally, the direction is towards someone that the person has known for long periods of time, such as relatives or friends. Gradually, the formal speaking can become informal speaking once the person has known a friend, for example, longer than when they first met.

The purpose of teaching students Korean is to have students come together to step outside their comfort zone to learn something different.

“Learning the language contains everything about culture,” Jun Ji said. “It’s also to share how to deal with academics.”

Students who need more than the tutoring center on campus provides can attend a Korean tutoring session until the end of the semester.Students taking a Korean course can partner with KSA officers for added help with their final studies before exam day. The KSA is also holding a KSA Day on April 10 from noon to 3 p.m. in the CF building.

Protesters rally on the National Mall in Washington, DC demanding immigration reform.

The National Mall hosted tens of thousands of protestors determined to push a major overhaul of the immigration system to the top of the nation’s political agenda. On Sunday March 21 protestors rallied to challenge President Barack Obama and Congress to fix laws that separate families and hurt the country’s economic and social stability.

As a candidate in 2008, Obama spoke eloquently about the promise of making immigration reform a priority in his first year of government. This would help the more than 11 million illegal immigrants realize their dream of having the rights of work, study and life that American citizens have.

Protestors gathered for many reasons, including to remind Obama that he received the votes of more than 67% of the over 2 million Latinos that voted in 2008. He couldn’t have carried the election in states like Nevada, Colorado and Florida without the Latino surge.

There are around 4 million American citizens who are the children of undocumented parents. In many cases they have had to deal with the destruction of their homes and the separation of their families because of raids and deportations. Under Obama the number of deportations has increased13% from the time of George W. Bush.

The Latino population remained silent for this entire year, waiting to see if this so wished for reform would become a reality. However, not getting any response the discontent increased and the demands exploded.

Tens of thousands of people from all around the United States representing different countries of the world took place in the march. Hispanic groups and organizations from New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts among others arrived at the National Mall wearing white and carrying different forms of protests in their hands.  The crowd stretched nearly five blocks on the mall.

Bolivian, Colombian, Peruvian and Salvadorian flags among others were being held with pride along with the American flag. There was an incredible diversity of cultures and emotions that united their voices to say “Si se puede” meaning “Yes we can”.

Although the event had a festive feel to it with balloons, drummers, musicians and teenagers dancing, many participants came bottled up with frustration and sorrow. One group carried white crosses etched with names of border crossers who died in the Arizona desert. Entire families held hands and prayed for the cause, while crowds chanted in Spanish, “Obama, listen, remember your promise!”

Barack Obama signs the health care and student loan reforms into law.

By 6:30 a.m., the line to the door of Tyler Building was already past the parking garage and up the hill toward Bisdorf. Although the doors would not open for another three hours and the event would not begin for four-and-a-half, the crowd of people arrived, dressed in their best, and waited patiently for their chance to witness history.

President Barack Obama arrived at Northern Virginia Community College’s Alexandria campus March 30 to sign the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 in front of about 1,000 students, educators and members of congress.

The reconciliation act contains several new provisions from the bill that Obama signed into law earlier in March. One of the changes caps the maximum loan repayment to 10 percent of a person’s annual income. Another is a 10-year deal that allows people to serve the community as a teacher, nurse or in the Armed Services for 10 years and only have to repay their loans for 10 years, instead of the 20 years it usually takes.

Nate Bronstein, a political science major at American University and student body president-elect, said, “For the first time in a while you’ve really some major thought given out directly to the students.”

Bronstein plans to take advantage of the 10-year deal, if he can. “I’m all deep in debt because of student loans.”

“As a student and student body president, I have a strong interest in seeing progress for education,” said Andy MacCracken, the current student body president at American University, about why he came to the signing.

“I don’t plan on becoming a corporate lawyer after college. I definitely am looking at the 10-year loan forgiveness,” he added. MacCracken said he believes the reconciliation act will allow poor students to go to college and go down the career path that they want instead of choosing a career path with guaranteed money to pay off loans.

As the audience waited patiently for their chance to witness history, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi arrived. Pelosi received applause as she and more than a dozen special guests walked onto the stage and settled into their chairs by the podium inside the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center.

The five-member Tempered Brass orchestra, which included NOVA music teacher Dr. Wendy Matthews on trumpet, adeptly played both delicate and patriotic classical music for the crowd as it waited for the president to make an appearance. The rest of the ensemble included Jeff Swearingen on horn, Ray Matthews on trumpet, Jeannette Essig on trombone and Bob Pallansch on tuba.

The president, along with Dr. Jill Biden, the vice president’s wife who teaches English at the Alexandria campus of NOVA, arrived together to a standing ovation at 11 a.m.

Biden spoke mostly about being a teacher at a community college and how essential education is to a person’s future.

“I have seen firsthand the power of community colleges to change lives and serve as a gateway to opportunity for students at all stages of their lives and careers.”

The president’s speech was brief, only about 30 minutes long. He gave some bullet points on what the bill will change but also emphasized that it won’t fix all of health care’s woes in one fell swoop.

Both Obama and Biden gave props to community colleges for providing communities with relatively affordable education. Obama also spoke of greatly increasing the number of Pell Grants offered and caps on student loan repayments.

“Last week, our president signed an historic health care bill that will provide quality, affordable medical care for millions of Americans. Today, we are here to celebrate another historic piece of legislation, one that will make college education a reality for millions of middle-class Americans,” said Biden. “Higher education is essential to the success of our children and vital to the economic future of our country. But too many American families, they’ve had to take on crushing debt to pursue a college degree.”

“The reforms in this bill are significant, but they’re just part of a broader effort to strengthen our entire higher education system,” said Obama, who added that, in addition to financial reforms for education, steps have been taken to simplify the federal college assistance form “because it shouldn’t take a Ph.D., to apply for financial aid.”

After giving his speech, Obama strode over to a small, dark-wood table with the presidential seal on it and signed the bill, to thunderous applause.

A full video of Obama’s speech is available at NVCC-TV.

The Jefferson Memorial framed by cherry blossoms.

The city of Washington will celebrate the National Cherry Blossom Festival in its usual fashion, with lots of trees and tourists. The festival is Washington’s signature springtime event and is considered the beginning of tourist season. City officials hope the weather will cooperate. Good weather always brings a sigh of relief to officials, who cross their fingers and hope for pleasant weather and a good turnout each year. With the recession, it’s especially important that tourists spend substantial money, which they’re more likely to do if they’re out and about exploring the city and not inside taking shelter from rain.

The first festival was held in 1935 to commemorate the gift of cherry trees to the United States from Japan. Initially, Tokyo gave Washington 3,000 trees in 1912, according to the festival’s official web site. Former First Lady Lady Bird Johnson accepted 3,800 more trees in 1965.

The Festival begins on Saturday, March 27 with Family Day at the National Building Museum at 401 F Street, NW. The free public event runs from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with numerous activities to partake in, including the construction of koi (goldfish) from paper and fabric that children can take home and suspend from their ceilings. The opening ceremony, which will be held from 4 to 5:30 p.m., will showcase Japanese and Western entertainment.

“The annual National Cherry Blossom Festival Family Day and opening ceremony is a wonderful opportunity for us to welcome visitors from D.C., and around the country,” said president and executive director of the National Building Museum, Chase Rynd, in 2009.

“Family Day captures the spirit of the Festival with free entertainment for kids of all ages and their families,” said Diana Mayhew, president of the National Cherry Blossom Festival.

Among the most notable activities to be held during the two-week event is the annual parade Saturday, April 10 along Constitution Avenue. Parade performers will include American Idol finalist Justin Guarini and Miss America 2010, Virginia’s own Carissa Cameron. Tickets cost $17 and can be purchased through Ticketmaster.

Following the parade, the Japan-America Society will host the 50th annual Sakura Matsuri Japanese Street Festival, featuring a Japanese beer garden, Japanese pop culture, traditional crafts, cuisine, martial arts and more.

A festival favorite, the annual fireworks display, will illuminate the waterfront Saturday, April 3 starting at 8:30 p.m. The ship, Spirit of Washington, will hold a buffet dinner cruise with a unique vantage point of the fireworks for those willing to pay the $90.90 fee, up from last year’s $75 price tag.

The fireworks may be best viewed from the Southwest Waterfront Promenade or East Potomac Park, which are accessible via the Waterfront-SEU metro stop on the Green Line.

Between paddle boats, photo safaris, bicycle tours, cruises and walks, the 1 million visitors expected at the 2010 National Cherry Blossom Festival will have many ways to see the District’s famed flowers.

For more information, visit NationalCherryBlossomFestival.org.

Dozens of students auditioned, performed, and were sent home, until only the finalists remained. At 7 p.m. on March 26 the finals will be held at Schlesinger Hall at the Alexandria campus. Eight students with great talent will compete to hold the title of NOVA Idol, as well as cash prizes for third place, second place and the Idol.

NOVA Idol is an annual competition for area high school and NOVA students.

Below are the interviews of five contestants the Fortnightly was able to catch up with.

Erika Anderson

Erika Anderson has been singing for as long as she can remember. She has always wanted to be a serious musician, and has taken her singing to venues such as the Crystal Cathedral and the D.C. Convention Center. She started her professional career after meeting her manager while working at a deli. She plans on getting her degree in music, with a minor in business, and plans to attend a prestigious school of music, along the lines of Berkeley or the Peabody Institute. Her favorite artists include Billy Holiday and Beyoncè.

Stacy Dumas

Stacy Dumas.

Stacy Dumas was seven years old when she decided she liked to sing. She loved the movie “Annie”, and wanted to be like her favorite star. Dumas landed her first paying venue at the age of 10, when she auditioned for a dinner theatre, and was accepted. As she grew up, she was always in the chorus at her school. She has been on the road with Uplifting People, a not for profit organization, and has performed in countries like Australia and Mexico. Dumas has also published her own album, called Finally I fly. She likes to listen to Amy Grant, a gospel singer. She has been the music director for many high-school theatre departments.

EJ Jung

EJ Jung first started singing in her elementary school choir at the age of 12. She realized she liked singing, and that she had a knack for it. She has performed in several contests hosted locally by Korean record companies. The first time she entered one of these contests, she received second place, while only 14 years old. She hopes to become a producer one day helping indie bands find their way. She enjoys listening to Ella Fitzgerald.

Terri LaGoe

Terri LaGoe has been singing for 30 years. Her first real experience singing was for the NOVA Community Chorus, which she joined more for a social outlet than a creative one. Soon, she was taking  Class Voice, a vocal class at NOVA, and then eventually enrolled in private lessons. LaGoe has been the soprano section leader for the Washington National Opera Chorus, and often sings at her church, Church on the Hill, in Alexandria. She has performed with the Washington Philharmonic Orchestra, and sang Carmina Burana at the opening of the Schlesinger. She wants everyone to know how much she loves NOVA for it’s great opportunities and excellent teachers.

Ashley Williams

Ashley Williams began her musical career at the age of three. She started singing in church, and eventually joined her school’s chamber choir. Her entire family is very musical, and Williams’s favorite singer is her own mother. She recently tried out for the spring musical at her home school of Potomac Falls, where she also plays the clarinet in the band. She is a member of a professional rhythm and blues band.