Students watch students and faculty perform their own works and the works of other poets at the second annual Rapatry at Loudoun campus. Instead of applauding, students were encouraged to snap to show approval for the performances.
Photos by Traci J. Brooks/NOVA Fortnightly

NOVA Fortnightly, the newspaper of Northern Virginia Community College, became the first publication of the college to ever win a Virginia Press Association award. But staff members didn’t just win one, they won two awards – in a category where the college newspaper competed against mainstream newspapers.

NOVA Fortnightly, the newspaper of Northern Virginia Community College, became the first publication of the college to ever win a Virginia Press Association award. But staff members didn’t just win one, they won two awards – in a category where the college newspaper competed against mainstream newspapers.

On Friday, March 25 at 7 p.m., nine of NOVA’s top singing sensations will battle for the title of this year’s NOVA Idol. The college finalists are Erika Anderson, John Ashburn, Martina Green, Lyndsi Hicks, Kelley Kime, Elaine Lopez, Laura Manzer, Lauren McLeod and Edwin Thorpe. And from various high schools in the region, CJ Marble, Devyn Metz, Padideh Guodarzi Nejad and Joao Versos will be competing for a prize of $1,000.

The iconic play, “A Streetcar Named Desire” comes to life at the Waddell Theater through thefinal weekend of February, presented by Taking Flight Theatre Company. The demanding, emotional play fares well on the stage, breathing an honest, raw air into the gritty play set in the 1940s.

“A Streetcar Named Desire” follows Blanche DuBois, a fading southern beauty, who comes for an extended stay with her sister Stella and Stella’s husband Stanley Kowalski. Blanche works to keep hidden her real reasons for visiting, and her secrecy begins to wreak havoc on Stella and Stanley’s relationship, as Stella often finds herself defending her sister to her husband. As Blanche tries to find her place into the industrial, blue collar New Orleans, her world as she knows it begins to crumble.

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.

NOVA received an A+ in a recent survey of community colleges’ use of technology to enhance the student experience and increase educator effectiveness.

After initial practices, NOVA’s team competed in four scrimmages in late August before officially opening its season at the Howard Community College tournament in Columbia, Md., in which it played four matches in two days.