I don’t closely follow school issues because I rely on my school board representative, Lisa Bell, to come out swinging on behalf of the Neabsco District. Bell does do that, but she is only one member of the school board.

There are a couple of other very active advocates in my circle of friends. Our Schools and PWC Education Reform, both of whom follow all sorts of school issues. I am sure there are many other groups, but these women are all friends of mine, whose opinions I trust and use to clarify issues for me.

So, when an email asking me to weigh in on the boundary process came to my attention, I knew I had reason to be concerned and I hope you will be too.

The email is titled “Oppose 12th High School Redistricting Process.”

The text:

Connie,

I invite you to take this opportunity to include your voice, along with so many of our fellow Prince William County members, in requesting a greater opportunity for community involvement in the boundary process for the 12th High School. There is a rising tide of voices speaking out against the boundary process for the 12th High School. Prince William County deserves better!

There is still time to make a difference. Visit – https://www.12thhighschool.org to automatically send emails to Prince William School Board Members opposing this rushed and flawed school boundary process.

Sincerely, Our Schools

12th High School

The link included in that email takes you to a beautifully prepared action page. You read the letter, and if you agree, enter your name, address and email. The letter is then populated with your information and sent to all the school board members.

The simple explanation of a complicated effect of “Feeder Pattern” is part of the boundary definition process. A feeder pattern tracks children starting in the same elementary school and follows where they attend middle and high schools.

Most of us are aware of problems that arise in middle and high schools when youth are trying to fit in and find their niche. As retired military, we were acutely aware of the trauma that faced many military children as they were relocated and had to start another school where they knew no one.

I don’t know if this disruption is occurring in every district, but I know from Lisa Bell’s remarks at the May 7 School Board Meeting we have some definite issues. One instance Bell cited included students from a single elementary school being disbursed to four middle schools. (Bell’s remarks occur at the 82:30 mark on the video archive)

I agree with Bell. “Schools should be looking at feeder patterns from our elementary schools to our middle schools to our high schools. (We should be) keeping our kids in our neighborhoods instead of scattering them all everywhere”.

So, here’s your action plan!

• Watch the School Board Meeting for 3 minutes.
• Have a look at this boundary map
• Take a look at these progression reports.
• Visit this page and submit your letter to the school board.

That’s it! You’ve made a significant contribution to the future of education in Prince William County.

How did climate change became such a divisive issue? How did the warming of the Earth evolve into a line in the sand for politicians? I don’t know those answers.  What I do know is that it is definitely hotter earlier in the season, year after year.

I don’t need scientific data, I can just look in my garden. All plants come up earlier. June bugs arrive in May. Lenten roses are blooming in February.

I am not politically aligned with any Democrats or Republicans or even independents, but I have noticed the majority of my Republican friends seem to believe there is no global warming, there is no climate change and there are no melting ice caps.

I guess, like reading the Bible, you can find evidence to support anything you believe, so if you do believe in climate change, you can find lots of evidence that confirms your personal belief. Likewise, if you don’t believe in global warming, you can find lots of expert reference to support that. If you are a middle of the road sort of person, you can collect reference and back up your arguments on both sides.

I admit I have a jaded way of thinking about global policies and politics. I’m pretty sure everything revolves around money. Whether war or famine, health or religion, climate change, corporate policy, automation, jobs, benefits or any number of big think items, money is at the heart. Someone is getting rich either by spending vast amounts of money or saving vast amounts of money.

Jobs are created or jobs are lost because of profit. Wars are waged to absorb countries and gain their resources. Religions collect untold fortunes to help the poor, but don’t you think for one moment no one is profiting from their bounty.

Regardless what you think about climate change, SOMETHING is happening. What might bring it home for non-believers is the recent lawsuit by Farmers Insurance Company against Chicago, alleging the city is not preparing the infrastructure for increased flooding due to climate change.

So, here’s the deal; it doesn’t matter whether you believe climate change is occurring. There are plenty of people who do believe it. Businesses, concerned about their profits believe in climate change. The United States Government has a Climate Change Adaptation Task Force. There are literally thousands of scholarly articles and volumes of research indicating that climate change is occurring.

You don’t have to believe it. There are enough people who do believe and enough of those big money makers who do believe that new policies are going to be crafted, new ways of responding are going to be developed. It doesn’t matter whether you agree or disagree. So if you’ve been resistant to get on the bandwagon about climate change or you’ve been straddling the fence, you may as well jump in and get wet. It looks like everyone else is!

Social media is a game changer. For those readers not familiar with “viral” in any context but a cold, it works like this: I write an article. You read it. You share it on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, and LinkedIn.

(If there’s a photo, you may share on Pinterest and Instagram!)

Your friends see what you shared. They’re impressed because you are so smart. Your friends share the article. Then friends of your friends share.

Result? I get my message out to a gazillion people and you helped me do so! If I was selling a product, you’d be making me a millionaire!

Unfortunately, I don’t write to make money.I write to help people become informed about our community, raise awareness of issues, praise the good and condemn the not so good. I try to educate without preaching, share the joy without simpering, and inspire action to replace inertia.

More than anything, I want to engage you in the business of living life in Prince William County. I think it is important to get away from the television that is dulling your vibrant thoughts and get out here in your community to interact with your neighbors and find some worthy causes that deserve your attention.

Not everyone wants to go tramping through muddy creeks or walking along busy highways picking up litter. (I know, right? Who wouldn’t want to do THAT?) So maybe volunteering for an environmental group or the VDOT Adopt a Highway program isn’t for you.

Perhaps you have young children and you are volunteering for their soccer games or for the PTO. That’s great news, but I still ask you to step outside your family circle into the community circle. I received an email from a gentleman the other day, concerned for his three girls. Here is part of that email:

“I am looking for some volunteer opportunities for my family that would involve homeless and helping those that are hungry.  We could help at a food bank but I would like my children to experience how it feels to directly help those in need.  I fear that they are becoming too insulated to the challenges that most families deal with on a daily basis”

I am so appreciative of people like the author of that email and I was glad to connect him with some organizations and activities that will help him and his daughters fulfill their mission. More than anything I was thrilled to know somebody out there gets it! Even if I can’t coerce you into participating in an event, joining an organization, volunteering for some group, at the minimum, you can share information.

Everyone can do that. PotomacLocal.com makes the sharing so easy by providing buttons to click at the end of the column. Use them to help spread content and create viral without using a box of tissues!

I recently volunteered with my Lions Club at the winter shelter in Woodbridge. The shelter, located on Potomac Mills Road, is open to homeless men and women for overnight use from November 1 through March 31.

We were at the shelter in May for a Meet and Greet. Our Lions Club brought a Sight and Hearing van and we performed vision and hearing screening for any homeless people who wanted that service.

There was an entire contingent of agencies represented at the meet and greet. Several churches were there to offer their assistance. Prince William County Social Services and many not for profit groups were also in attendance.

I was very interested in one group, Veterans First who offers assistance to end homelessness for veterans who qualify. The most impressive words from that group were, “We are fully funded.” I am familiar with a lot of not for profit groups. You never hear those words!

The criteria to qualify for their Friendship Place program is simple.

1. Have you served in the military?
2. Do you have a discharge that is anything other than “dishonorable”?
3. Are you homeless or at risk of homelessness?

There were people at the meet and greet to assist with job placement, mental health issues, and drug and/or alcohol abuse. Our first client got to the head of the line because he had to get out early to be at his AA meeting. Most of the clients were orderly, polite and grateful for our services.

There were only three that bore watching; two of them were challenging and combative, one was under the influence of alcohol.  I imagine anytime you gather a crowd of twenty people, you’ll find about the same ratio of personality or dependency traits.

One fellow had a clever sense of humor and said, “I don’t think I need glasses, but they might make me look good. More hipster.”

So, with all these groups and agencies, churches and organizations willing to help, why are these people still living in the woods with tarps and tents for shelter? Every city, town, county and community has a homeless population. Why can’t we find solutions? Well, actually we can find solutions, but it takes a big effort by a lot of people for a sustained period of time.

I’ve seen task forces come and go. Local papers do a feature and the citizens are outraged that homeless people live in the woods. Suddenly people want to help and groups like Woodbridge Homeless Outreach  are formed, providing food and other necessities to the encampments.

The most promising, evolving movement I’ve seen is the Tiny Village or Tiny House concept. I have no doubt we could build tiny houses for the approximate 500 homeless in Prince William County. I don’t know where there is land to be donated for such projects. I’m uncertain how to maintain and sustain those homes. I would also want some commitment on the part of the folks we shelter in a Tiny Village.

Please take a few minutes to read about a Tiny Village. Watch this video and then let me know what you think might work.

What was the most amazing thing you saw or read on the internet this week? I watched this TED talk. If you are not familiar with TED talks, you definitely should investigate. Videos are produced by a non-profit organization, shared globally, and are intended to both educate and inspire us all in 18 minutes or less.

The video I watched explains Biomechatronics. What’s that, you ask? That, my friends, is something many of us loved more than 35 years ago. The catch phrase; “Gentlemen, we can rebuild him.” became part of our vocabulary for many years. The opening of each episode of the Six Million Dollar Man started with our hero, Steve Austin, a man barely alive.

I adored that show and the spinoff, The Bionic Woman, with Lindsay Wagner. I loved the idea that science and technology could repurpose a life, save someone from near complete destruction, and make them “better, faster, stronger” than they were before.

The TED talk features Hugh Herr, who lost both legs in a climbing accident 30 years ago. He is now the head of the MIT Media Lab’s Biomechatronics group. The TED video shows his incredible technology in a talk that’s both technical and deeply personal — with the help of ballroom dancer Adrianne Haslet-Davis, who lost her left leg in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, and performs again for the first time on the TED stage.

Similarly, another 30 year old technology has arrived in the current world with the advent of affordable 3-D printers. People are printing cars you can drive, guns that will shoot, jet parts, football cleats, toys…HOUSES!

Once again, though, the medical field is the notable arena for 3-D printers. We are already manufacturing artificial limbs. We are already printing bones and skin, hearts and lungs. The future is nearly unrecognizable as we develop and perfect organs and tissues that combined with our own stem cells to make replacement parts as needed. Here’s a great interactive video from CNN to help you understand the implications of 3-D printing.

It’s sometimes hard for me to fathom how, in our modern world with so many exciting inventions, children are still starving. Millions of people are still out of work. In many parts of the world death comes from lack of clean drinking water or simple medications.

I ponder the possibilities of life not just improved by technology, but extended. What will that longevity mean to the scarce resources of our world? Will we become so overcrowded by bringing new life into the world without losing old folks, we will be forced to fight for food and water?

More likely, the reality will be much as it is now. Very wealthy people will have access to the 3-D health enhancements to extend their lives, while those without resources will live their “normal” life span.

Those question may seem inconceivable today, but don’t forget 45 years ago, we thought those portable Star Trek communicators were impossible.

I saw a photo of two schools (Two prototype schools. The one on top is Freedom, the one below is Patriot) The Prince William County School Board recently had to select which model the next (13^th) high school should follow.

In my heart, I’m yearning for that big, beautiful, light-filled, elegant structure. I think the Freedom design looks dated, institutional, boxy and unfriendly. In my head I’m thinking the Freedom design is much less expensive. I’m also recalling the exorbitant cost of the 12^th high school with all the bells and whistles, soon-to-be built at the intersection of Hoadly Road and Va. 234.

If Prince William County Public Schools (PWCS) had saved the additional money from the pool and put that toward the 13^th high school design, which is planned to be built in western Prince William County, we’d be close to even, wouldn’t we? Couldn’t we then have had two high schools built with the more modern design?

Now, in part because of the brouhaha over the 12^th high school, the 13^th high school is forced to accept less. But, wait! Is it less? Less than what?

It’s certainly not less than PACE East!  PACE East is on the right side of that photo. What kind of shining example of special education is THAT school? How can we even consider investing nearly $110 million in the 12^th high school or $90 million for a 13^th high school when we have a PACE school that looks like a correctional facility?

Am I the only one who feels ashamed that the beautiful Kelly Leadership Center is within sight of the Pace School? Do you think it is appropriate that special education students have to go out in the rain to get to the bathroom?

I’ve been in some schools that are showing their age. I know in America we treasure the new and shiny while we disregard the old and dowdy. I know the appearance of a building doesn’t reflect the quality of the teachers or the dedication of staff.

Perhaps I am overly sensitive to the appearance of the Pace School? I did have a parent tell me the Pace Students do not have iPads like so many other PWCS students have received. Is that relevant? Is that suspect? Does that confirm my sense that no one really knows or cares about that school at Independent Hill, save the children and parents who go there?

Nearly every day of our lives is a battle of some sort. Occasionally I come up against something that is just too big for me to handle. This is one of those things.

I’m sure PWCS will have an explanation for this. The people who do budgets and crunch numbers always have reasonable, logical explanations for my questions. Someone is going to have to explain to me why at the 45-year-old Independent School building, the PACE logo is displayed on the side of a utility shed instead of a monument sign and why those trailers that look like a prison are the solution to special education in wealthy Prince William County.

*This story has been corrected

5^th Annual Occoquan River Clean-up Results

The Prince William Trails and Streams Coalition successfully coordinated and conducted a multi-prong clean-up event from 9 different sites along more than 25 miles of the Occoquan River and 10.5 miles of Cedar Run.

The clean-up ranged from the Fauquier County/Prince William County line to the Izzak Walton area in Brentsville, and from the base of Lake Jackson Dam south to Hooes Run.

Over 55 watercraft (mostly Kayaks, some canoes, motorized Jon Boats, and Pontoon boats) put-in at appropriate sites to collect debris from 9am to 2:00pm.  More than 156 volunteers cleaned up debris on the water, land or assisted in moving the debris on shore to waiting trucks or dumpsters.

This was a collaborative effort that involved members of the Prince William County Parks and Recreation Department, Public Works, Prince William Trails and Streams Coalition (PWTSC), the Prince William Soil and Water Conservation District (PWSWCD),  three Home Owners Associations; rescue boats from Lake Jackson VFD and the Lake Ridge VFD, the Occoquan Watertrail League (OWL) Neabsco Action Alliance (NAA), Keep Prince William Beautiful (KPWB) and several bordering Homeowners Associations.

Other participants included the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, Prince William Izaak Walton League, Bradley Forest Recreation Association, and Lake Jackson Citizens Association.

Coordination was made with the Alice Ferguson Foundation for plastic bags and gloves who sponsored the Chesapeake Water Shed Clean-up effort.

A combined summary of debris removed from a 10.5 mile stretch of Cedar Run from the Fauquier County/Prince William County line to the Izzak Walton area in Brentsville, and a 25 mile stretch of the Occoquan River from below the Lake Jackson Dam passing five (5) put-in/take-out sites, including Riverview Estates HOA, Occoquan Forest HOA, Canon Bluff HOA, Lake Ridge Marina and Hooes Run is reflected below.

Volunteers collected over 7,900 pounds of trash, including 2 overfilled small 15 cubic yard dumpsters, including:

156 non-recyclable bags of trash

4 recyclable bags of material

38 tires

1 old washing machine

1 broken canoe and paddle boat

1 serviceable canoe

1 canoe paddle

1 child riding truck
Misc. large pieces of Styrofoam

1 fire extinguisher

1 large plastic dumpster

1 foam mattress

1 skateboard ramp

1 broken plastic lawn chair

4     – 5 gal plastic buckets

1   large traffic cone

Several large plastic and metal 55 gal barrels

Several pieces of wood, pallets, wire, garden hose, a slide, a container of gasoline, broken trash cans, leaf rake and many balls

Have you ever volunteered to work a cleanup? Have you supported a cleanup in some way? I bet you have, perhaps without even realizing you’ve done so.

Beginning in March and working through April, untold numbers of volunteers work to remove trash, litter and debris from parks, creeks, rivers and roadsides. We work large cleanups like the one at Marumsco Creek. That’s one we do twice yearly and in response to the flooding that occurred in Woodbridge a few years ago. Photos of this Marumsco Cleanup are here . Volunteers removed 2,135 pounds of trash this time. (Don’t forget we did this six months ago.)

My friends and I work small cleanups, too, where we total the bags, not the number of pounds, like the last Dale City Lions Adopt a Highway where we collected a dozen bags, a stream cleanup where we collected 10 bags and a neighborhood cleanup in Kerrydale, where we only collected six bags.

I loved the one in Kerrydale, because this family has an Adopt a Highway as a tribute to their son, Josh, who died in 2009. I actually read an article about this family in Potomac Local almost two years ago.

I was moved to realize everyone holds cleanups for their own reasons.

One of the biggest cleanup efforts we do is the Annual Occoquan River Cleanup. Many different groups work together and some, like FOTO (Friends of the Occoquan) has been doing work on the Occoquan for more than twenty years. I am a member of PWTSC, (Prince William Trails and Streams Coalition) a group dedicated to building trails in PWC, but cleanups are a major part of their mission.

PWSWCD (Prince William Soil and Water Conservation District) is dedicated to protecting our soil and water resources, and they administer the Adopt a Stream Program. You can see photos from one of the sites, Lake Ridge Marina, here. PWSWCD helped coordinate the Occoquan cleanup and helps organize the Marumsco cleanup.

There are lots of other groups whose mission includes cleanups, like KPWB or NAA (Neabsco Action Alliance) Upcoming are dozens more cleanups like this one in Woodbridge hosted by Penguin Paddling, but the biggest group of supporters of cleanups is you!

You pay taxes at the federal, state and local levels to support cleanups.

The undisputed champion of cleanups is the PWC Litter Crew, who, since 2009, collected and properly disposed of more than 860 tons of trash and debris collected around our County.

This story, from the Washington Post about trash at the Cherry Blossom Festival just ruined the beauty of the day for me. Someone leaves trash at the park, in the road, on the sidewalk, in the street, at schools, at churches, in creeks and rivers and oceans. Who is it and why won’t they stop? Don’t they know who pays for that?

We all pay for it, whether in labor or taxes or loss of beauty. Thank you for your support, but it would be so much better to just stop littering and use those volunteer hours and tax dollars for good cause.

 

I just got an email from a grade school friend, telling me St.Augustine Church is undergoing some renovations. If you follow that link you’ll see photos of the restoration work. If you click here, you’ll get a virtual tour of one of the most beautiful Catholic Churches I’ve ever seen in the rather unlikely place of Jeffersonville, Ind.

I attended St. Augustine School from 1959-1967. The school was over 100 years old when I went there and closed two years after I graduated, then eventually was demolished in 1975. Our school was a victim of sprawl. For a time, the population steadily grew until we were actually overcrowded. Then, as subdivisions were built, farther away from the town center, new schools were built to accommodate those new houses and new families. St.Augustine, located in an aging neighborhood, saw their children grown, graduated and moved to another location. Enrollment diminished and eventually led to the demise of the school and nearly of the town itself.

Growing up there in the 1950’s and 60’s there were two big employers, Colgate-Palmolive that thrived in the 60’s and survived until 2007, and Jeffboat, which is still operational today. Both companies were union jobs, with benefits that included retirement and insurance. Other than those, your options were pretty limited unless you worked across the river in Louisville, Ky.

I haven’t been back for a while, but I follow the town on Facebook and I’ve become a long distance admirer of the Mayor of Jeffersonville, Mike Moore, who I’ve never met, but seems to be driving the town through a Renaissance as the downtown has become a tourist attraction and the Historic District is being restored.

Jeffersonville is taking advantage of the tourist opportunities offered by the Kentucky Derby Festival. One of the most ambitious projects in revitalization I’ve seen is the restoration of the Big Four Bridge.

The bridge connects Louisville to Jeffersonville, and while no longer operational as a train bridge, it will soon be open as a pedestrian bridge. There have been many delays in the opening, and it’s possible it will not be open in time for the Derby again this year. That will be a terrible disappointment to local business, but this town has learned to survive the tough times and keep moving forward.

Thunder over Louisville has become a national draw for tourism and of course, with any large event, the concern for safety is paramount. The city has produced a video to help citizens understand the dangers and included a checklist of items not allowed. The checklist has a number of citizens irate and upset that their constitutional rights are being violated.

Prohibited items:
• Open Carry of Alcohol
• Weapons of Any Kind (handguns and pocket knives)
• Glass bottles and containers
• Silly String and Noxious Gases 
• Skateboards and bicycles 
• Unauthorized Vehicles (ATV’s and 4-wheelers)
• Laser Pointers
• Pets

I draw a lot of parallel lines between my past, my present and my future. I’m sharing this story with you in the hopes you will see the same things or at least consider the possibilities.

What I see is a revitalization and opportunities taken to capitalize on the best the town has to offer. I also see the foot dragging and obstacles thrown in the way by opponents, naysayers and even citizens who are more concerned for their rights than for the common good.

Not to go all Kumbaya on you but I can definitely relate!.