After a long review process, the following institutions were awarded grants:

· George Mason University ($145,500)

· James Madison University ($228,000)

· Longwood University ($86,000)

· Virginia State University ($140,000)

Administered by the Office of the Secretary of Education, the planning grants are designed to enhance teacher education and training as part of the Governor’s “Opportunity to Learn” agenda to improve K-12 education and will provide more flexibility, innovation and autonomy outside the traditional public school system. In addition, the grants will serve ultimately to expand educational options for Virginia students.

The Intersections Arts Festival at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, sponsored by the Washington Post, offered many fun artistic events and performances in February and March. This annual event included more than 800 local artists, with a blending of free events and performances.

The Intersections Art Festival was inspired by three themes: “Discover the New America,” which is a deeper look at contemporary culture; “Travel New Artistic Avenues,” which includes performance of artists pushing the limits of what can be possible done on stage; and “Create Cultural Connections,” which calls for cultural expression and art that crosses the cultural boundaries.

There were many different forms of artistic expression, from interpretive dance to poetry and song. There were even some highly traditional cultural works from the artists involved in the festival.

I decided to see what all of the buzz was about with the Intersections Arts Festival, attending an interpretive dance performance titled, “Jane Franklin: Dance Double Take.”

This performance was a culmination of two choreographed dance pieces, choreographed by Jane Franklin, entitled “Cute Animals and Happy Endings” and “Double Take.” Each of the two pieces was a symbiotic blend of audio visual work and artistic dancing, to send a greater message about themes in modern culture like animal euthanasia, the stress and pressures of work, relationships in school and even how Bank of America tried to charge five dollars a month to use debit cards.

The piece was first done on stage before Franklin invited the attendees to view an on-site performance, which brought the dancers, Adam Buss, Amy Scaringe, Katie Tuebner, Emily Crews, Wayle Haynes, Brianne Barrow Little and Andrea Ligon, to each of the locations within the Atlas Performing Arts Center where the dances were choreographed, helping viewers to better understand the context and special confines that were involved in the creation of the dance.

For more information about the Intersection Arts Festival or other performances that will take place at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, visit atlasarts.org.

Governor Bob McDonnell has announced winners of the 2012 Volunteerism and Community Services Awards. These awards recognize individuals and organizations for their extraordinary volunteer efforts, which contribute to the life and welfare of citizens, throughout the Commonwealth.

“This year’s recipients reflect the tremendous difference individuals, families, businesses and non-profits can make in their communities through volunteerism,” said Governor McDonnell. “Each honoree’s contribution began with one word, ‘yes,’ and as we recognize their vision and accomplishments, we encourage all Virginians to follow their examples by engaging in their communities.”

Honorees were recognized on May 3, during an awards ceremony at SunTrust Bank, located downtown Richmond.

“Volunteerism strengthens outcomes for individuals and families throughout the Commonwealth,” said Martin D. Brown, Commissioner, Virginia Department of Social Services. “We’re honored to thank these award recipients for empowering those in need to live safer, more fulfilling lives.”

The award ceremony is sponsored by MeadWestvaco in partnership with VDSS’ Office on Volunteerism and Community Service, and the Governor’s Advisory Board on Volunteerism and National Service.

Winners of the 2012 Volunteerism and Community Services Award are:

· Genworth Financial in Richmond is the recipient of the Outstanding Business Award. Recognized for their creativity and resourcefulness in support of a community need through their donation of 372 rooms of furnishings from a distressed hotel property they acquired to the CARITAS Furniture Bank. This donation will furnish more than 450 at-risk households transitioning out of homelessness and on to the path of restored, stable, and more productive lives.

· The Volunteer Money Management Program at Senior Connections, a Richmond 501(c) 3 organization, is the recipient of the Outstanding Community Organization Award. Genworth Financial’s reputation for helping those where they live and work cannot be any more perfectly represented than by their recent donation to the CARITAS Furniture Bank. Through the focused and visionary efforts of their real estate division, Genworth Financial successfully negotiated acquisition, including the entire contents of a distressed property, which will soon be the Ramada Plaza Hotel on West Broad Street. In 2011, Genworth associates contributed 23,700 volunteer hours helping those in need at more than 190 nonprofit organizations across the globe. The size and scope of this donation has created many opportunities for collaboration and volunteer engagement that goes beyond CARITAS and Genworth.

· The Campus Kitchen at the College of William and Mary is the recipient of the Outstanding Educational Institution Award. The Campus Kitchen at The College of William and Mary, a student run organization, uses existing food resources in the Williamsburg area to address the hunger and nutritional needs of individuals in the community. Over 150 students volunteer each academic year, making Campus Kitchen one of the most popular student volunteer opportunities.

· Richmond Outreach Center, Inc. is the recipient of the Outstanding Faith-Based Volunteer Service Award. When it comes to helping impoverished families in the Central Virginia region, the Richmond Outreach Center (The ROC) is a household name. With a staff of over 150 and a congregation of over 2,000, this non-traditional, boundary-breaking church led and inspired by founder and Pastor Geronimo Aguilar, has mobilized enough volunteers to serve more than 11,000 people a week. These efforts are done through the emergency and human service ministries, dedicated to helping the most at-risk citizens. The ROC’s motto “Changing Lives and Making Life-Changers” is being fulfilled every day. The ROC’s uniquely effective community service model has been replicated by other nonprofits up and down the East Coast, and as far away as Costa Rica.

· Kathleen “Khaki” and Stacey LaRivere of Chesterfield are this year’s recipients of the Outstanding Family Award. These identical twins share an identical goal: to open up leadership training and opportunities to all public high school students in the Commonwealth. Their vision is backed by a deep belief that young people should have fair and equal access to leadership learning and civic engagement regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, skin tone, religious credo, physical ability, academic performance, age, or grade in school. In 2008, at the age of 15, Khaki and Stacey founded L.E.A.D Up! (Leadership, Education, Action and Development Up!), a youth leadership certificate program they developed. Today, six Chesterfield County Public high schools have L.E.A.D. Up! Programs and other schools are organizing chapters.

· Heidi W. Abbott, of Richmond is the recipient of the Outstanding Adult Volunteer Award. Heidi was nominated because of her work with another Governor’s Award winner, Richmond Outreach Center (The ROC), which among other things, aids young people at George Wythe High School and in the Creighton Court public housing community in Richmond. She also serves on the state Board for Juvenile Justice. The horrific murder of a family in her neighborhood several years ago provoked her to assess her role in finding a solution to violence in the Richmond community. While the crime could have led many to work for harsher criminal penalties, Heidi saw it as an opportunity to work for and with young people to help them choose productive paths over destructive ones.

· Dr. Edward “Ted” Ruhnke, Jr. of Petersburg is the recipient of the Outstanding Senior Volunteer Award. In 1991, recognizing the need for safe and decent housing in the Petersburg area, Dr. Ted Ruhnke and a small group of individuals, established a Habitat for Humanity affiliate in South Central Virginia (Tri-Cities Habitat for Humanity). In the early years when volunteers were few and far between, Ted not only worked to create the affiliate within Habitat guidelines, but also met with city and county officials to obtain land and permits, increased community awareness and support, worked with family selection by guiding the first several families throughout the application and compliance process, and ran the actual construction sites. He also coordinated volunteers on-site and arranged for lunches to be provided either by other volunteers or from his own pocket and made as many trips to the building supply stores as he did to the hospital (at that time, he was a full-time OB-GYN physician). At the “Habitation” of the first house, when the keys were given to the new homeowner, Ted said, “The thrill of delivering an affordable home to a deserving family is as gratifying as delivering babies!”

· Kathleen “Katie” R. Goodman of Ashland is the recipient of the Outstanding Youth Volunteer Award. For a 12-year-old, Katie Goodman has been described as a “little dynamo.” Despite the fact that she was only 10 years old when she started her mission, she is doing more to feed the hungry than many adults. After seeing television commercials about hunger and its consequences, Katie was inspired to take action as part of her requirements for a public speaking contest for her 4-H club. Her research led her to local service organizations and a connection with the Central Virginia Food Bank; she set a goal to feed 1,100 hungry people. When the Ashland Farmer’s Market began its 2011 season, she asked producers to drop off their surplus at the Ashland Feed and Seed store so that she could deliver it to the Central Virginia Food Bank. She met her goal of feeding 1,100 people in just six months and then surpassed her new goal of serving “2011 people in 2011” just two months later. Despite her young age, Katie is motivated to serve and make a difference for others.

The Governor’s Volunteerism and Community Service Awards are presented by the Governor’s Advisory Board on Volunteerism and National Service and VDSS’ Office on Volunteerism and Community Service on behalf of the Office of the Governor. These awards have recognized exceptional volunteer service in Virginia for close to 20 years. Additional information about the program and this year’s recipients can be found online at http://www.vaservice.org/go/volunteer/gov_award.

NOVA's Sam Stack ends up at the bottom of the stack in a scramble for the ball in the fourth quarter of the April 11 lacrosse game against Howard Community College. Photo by: Arch Scurlock

By Arch Scurlock
Sports Columnist

The men’s lacrosse team is having a tough season so far under first year coach Anthony LePore, winning only one of eight contests.

In their latest game, the Northern Virginia Community College lacrosse team traveled to Columbia, Md., to play the Howard County Community College Dragons on April 11 in a match that looked like NOVA could have a chance of winning.

The afternoon was alternately sunny, windy, cold, rainy and even had a few minutes of sleet. And NOVA, after falling behind early in the first period 2-0, stormed back with goals by Miles Herbst, Garrett Nealon and Ricky Sinclair to lead at the end of the first quarter, 3-2, despite being outshot 11-6.

The second period saw Howard dominate as they limited NOVA to just a few shots while making four goals themselves to lead 6-3 at halftime.

NOVA's Garrett Nealon holds the ball away from the Howard Community College defender in the first quarter of the April 11 lacrosse game. Photo by Arch Scurlock

In the third period, NOVA kept up with Howard as each team scored three, though NOVA was again outshot.

Aaron Paul, David Rosenberger and Ryan Ningard scored for NOVA. Trailing 9-6 entering the final period, NOVA was plagued by fouling, and Howard took advantage by scoring six unanswered points, many when a player up, turning the match into a rout and winning 15-6.

With the loss, NOVA dropped to 1-7 for the year while Howard improved to 3-5.

In NOVA’s first game of the year, they traveled to Essex, Md., to play the nationally ranked Community College of Baltimore County-Essex on Feb. 25. NOVA lost 19-4. Two weeks later on March 10, NOVA went to Bel Air, Md., and lost to the ASA College (N.Y.) Avengers 15-9.

The next day NOVA went to Dover, Del., and lost a close match 11-9 to the Delaware Tech & Community College Hawks.
NOVA finally played its first home match on March 15 at George Mason University and came away with its first win of the year, beating the winless County College of Morris (N.J.) Titans 10-6.

NOVA's Ryan Ningard fires a shot at the goal in the fourth quarter of the April lacrosse game with Howard Community College. Photo by Arch Scurlock

Next on the schedule was a trip to Catonsville, Md., to play the Community College of Baltimore County-Catonsville Cardinals. NOVA went away with a 17-6 loss.

NOVA’s second home match was on March 31, again at GMU against Harford (Md.) Community College. Both teams got lots of extra practice as no referees showed up for the match. Finally, after about an hour, some referees were cajoled into arriving to judge a 10-5 loss by NOVA.

For its next match, NOVA traveled to Owings Mill, Md., on April 6 and perhaps wished that the referees had not shown up to that one since the team got pummeled 17-1 by the unbeaten Stevenson (Md.) University JV, dropping its record to 1-6.

NOVA plays its final three games in April, two of which will be on home fields at West Potomac High School and then Westfield High School. It appears that NOVA will have a decent chance for victories in at least two of the matches.

The Washington Monument is framed by this year's Cherry Blossoms. Photo by Arch Scurlock

Last year, NOVA Fortnightly, the newspaper of Northern Virginia Community College, became the first publication of the college to ever win a Virginia Press Association award.

Traci J. Brooks, Joshua Davis and Ling Lee won awards in photography and photo illustration for work published in 2010. They competed against mainstream newspapers.

Well, they’ve done it again.

Brooks and KJ Mushung have won VPA awards for work published in 2011, again competing against mainstream newspapers in the non-daily newspaper division.

Brooks won for the second year in a row, taking second place for photo illustration. And Mushung won first place in Virginia for pictorial photo.

NOVA Fortnightly is led by Mushung, who serves as the Newspaper Training Director. Dr. Jimmie McClellan, Dean for Liberal Arts, serves as Faculty Advisor. Brooks is the newspaper’s Photography Director.

“It’s ambitious for a college newspaper to even be a member of the Virginia Press Association,” said McClellan. “It is an extraordinary achievement for a college newspaper to be recognized.”

The Virginia Press Association holds one of the largest news contests in the nation, annually attracting more than 5,000 entries.

The mission of the VPA is to support its membership through responsive services and resources. The organization represents newspaper interests in the General Assembly through lobbying efforts. It also champions the common interests of Virginia newspapers and the ideals of a free press in a democratic society.

NOVA Fortnightly would like to thank its hard-working staff, Dr. McClellan, College-wide Student Activities Coordinator Brian Anweiler and the Virginia Press Association.

David Moss. Photo by: KJ Mushung

By: KJ Mushung

Dumfries has hired a new town planner and zoning administrator to replace David Moss, who is leaving in three weeks to take a job in New York City.

Moss will be replaced by Morgan Brim, who was the planner for Cottonwood Heights City, Utah, near Salt Lake City.

According to Moss, Brim has a master’s degree in planning. He starts the new job today. Moss will stay on until April 20 to train Brim on the job. Then Moss will start a job for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York.

Moss took the job in July 2011 and had not intended on leaving so soon. However, his wife got a job offer that she just couldn’t turn down in New Jersey, where she’s from, in November that same year. So the town of Dumfries has conducted a nationwide search for a new planner and zoning administrator since that time.

“My wife got a spectacular opportunity to work in Manhattan and so she actually moved up there. She started working there in mid-November. So I’ve been staying here since then to close out what I have to do and to bring on the new person and to train them before I go up there,” said Moss who added that he didn’t want to leave the town without a planner.

Prior to working for Dumfries, Virginia’s oldest, continuously chartered town, Moss worked for Prince William County’s Planning Department where he served as a zoning technician, a Planner I and Planner II and the county’s BRAC coordinator. Prior to working for Prince William County, David was an associate planner for Heyer, Gruel & Associates in New Jersey.

Brim’s responsibilities as the town planner and zoning administrator for Dumfries will include providing guidance in land use and permitting cases, updating town codes, developing short and long-range planning initiatives, reviewing site plans, working with developers and various special projects related to development in the town.

“When we were doing interviews, we were looking both for somebody who had the technical skills to do it who’s been involved in planning and zoning because so many applicants we got had done a lot of planning but didn’t have much zoning. So we wanted a mix of both planning and zoning. But we also wanted somebody who has the technical skills, for instance drawing maps… And [Brim] actually worked as a draftsman. His initial education started in architecture,” said Moss. “He’s got a similar background as me, where I started in architecture and switched to planning in college.”

Dreamstime

By Samieh Shalash of the Daily Press

Christopher Newport University’s president condemned the behavior of staffers who hid stacks of the student newspaper April 4 because of a headline about a campus meth lab.

In an email to students, faculty and staff Tuesday, Paul Trible said CNU employees took their own initiative to pull The Captain’s Log from racks ahead of campus tours for prospective students.

The Daily Press reported the incident Tuesday, including the Student Press Law Center’s comment that Trible should condemn it because it suppressed free speech.

Trible’s email said he “expressly condemns” the behavior of those involved in hauling away the newspaper from stands at popular tour stops on campus.

“This action was taken by young employees who love CNU and were concerned that a newspaper article would create a bad impression for visiting prospective students,” Trible said.

He called the behavior inappropriate, and said those involved will be disciplined – but that CNU will not comment again on the personnel issue.

Trible noted that when a senior employee was told about the incident, he ordered that the newspapers be found and put back on stands immediately.

“The Captain’s Log is free to write anything it pleases and CNU fully respects the freedom of the press,” Trible said in the email.

Emily Cole, editor of The Captain’s Log, said she’s glad that Trible acknowledged what happened but is disappointed that no specific person will admit fault for the incident.

Cole said she was told by a University Fellow last week that he was ordered by “the administration” to hide the newspapers, but not who issued the order. Fellows are recent graduates hired to work at CNU.

The dean of students said Monday that the culprit was a “junior staff member” but shared no other details.

Cole said she doesn’t believe University Fellows would act on their own initiative to remove papers, and would like to know who was in charge.

“I wouldn’t want someone with severely damaged ethical principles working for my university,” she added.

“This incident by ‘young employees’ has done more damage than the meth lab story ever would have in the first place.”

Copyright © 2012, Newport News, Va., Daily Press
Read the story at:

Reprinted with permission from April 10, 2012.

Certified Massage Therapist, Kelly Johnson, brings Spinal Reflex Therapy (SRT) to Ashburn, Virginia, making Modern Concepts Salon the first treatment center in this area.

SRT is a specific protocol developed to turn off the Axial Spinal Reflexes (pain) that develop in the body. It is a neurologically-based treatment of the soft tissues of the body. A person needs to understand that reflexes occur without the brain telling them to do so. A reflex is a cord mediated (your spinal cord) response NOT interpreted by cognitive reason. In short, a reflex is just something our body produces, without thought, in response to unpleasant stimuli. Reflexes are defensive by nature.

Developed by Dr. Frank Jarrel in 1993, SRT identifies specific Axial Spinal Reflexes, or indicator points, that have been turned on, causing painful areas within the body. These reflexes are on 24/7 and the only way to stop the cycle is to turn them off. A person may not feel debilitating pain in the actual indicator points but they can feel unrelenting pain elsewhere. By use of specific tools, a Spinal Reflex Analysis (SRA) is done to determine the course of action for the practitioner.

The SRT session begins in the same manner at every visit, an SRA will be completed to identify which Axial Spinal Reflexes, or indicator points, are turned on. Using this information the practitioner consults a chart of attachment points to determine where the specific muscle fiber/ligament is and where to apply pressure. Once determined, work will begin on those specific fibers that are “stuck” in a positive feedback loop from repeated reflexive contracture. The practitioner holds pressure on a single point, with no movement, anywhere from 30 to 3 minutes, or until a relaxation of the muscle/ligament is experienced.

“Communication throughout the process is extremely important for an effective session. It is thoroughly explained to the client that they will have an initial flash of pain during the times when I begin applying pressure; there must be a ‘pain fade’ within the first 20 seconds or you will know that I am not treating the correct ‘fiber.’ Feedback from my client makes me more accurate. The end result is truly amazing. Most people can’t believe how different they feel. Some patients have described almost euphoric feelings while others want to curl up and sleep,” commented Johnson.

Once the session is complete the patient is asked to move around and assess what they are feeling, their current level of pain (if any) and to ask any questions. It is vital to follow post- treatment instructions. Patients need to realize that once the acute pain is turned off there may be other areas of minor pain that they begin to notice are now surfacing and can be treated in the next session.

SRT is a neurologically-based soft tissue therapy that has achieved profound results.

“As a therapist, my goal has always been to get my clients to a place where they are as pain-free as they want to be. I was fascinated after hearing about this from a former professor and reading about SRT. I knew this was something I needed to get into my tool kit. The Basic and Professional levels of training were intense, but extremely worthwhile. I look forward to offering this treatment to anyone suffering from chronic pain,” stated Johnson.

Johnson further noted that this is not a massage, it is a therapy. A typical session is 30 to 45 minutes, and each person will receive an individual treatment plan based on the evaluation results at each visit. There are only four other certified SRT practitioners in Virginia.

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