Read. Think. Act.

Catherine Read

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Class Act Players with Alex Bulova and Alex Poirier

(July 24, 2019) Catherine Read interviews Alex Bulova and Alex Poirier about their local Fairfax based theater company, Class Act Players. In 2015, a group of young artists dreamt of a place where they could come together and hone their artistic skills as all-around theater makers. They joined forces to found Class Act Players, and worked together that summer to produce their first original musical.

The troupe is comprised of university students, who come together over the summer to put on original shows. They have a mission to support and showcase the work of budding playwrights. This summer’s production is called Air Mail Par Avion, and is the 4th original production that they have embarked on making. The very unique thing about this show is that a portion of it is improvisational, so each and every show is slightly different. Improv is not often used in musical productions, so they are excited to bring a new concept to the stage to create a different type of experience for audience members.

Previous productions include the Complete History of Fairfax: The Musical. No other groups have ever offered to produce their shows, but Catherine suggests that perhaps the high school theater programs might be interested in putting this show on as a part of a civics course. There are many possibilities.

Class Act PlayersFor the first time this year, the group is accepting submissions of original scripts. The creative team will come together to decide which show they will select to produce. Both Bulova and Poirier are excited about the prospect collaborating with a local playwright to put together an original production. Their mission is to support and bolster local artists.

The Class Act players are currently operating out of the Lorton Arts Center, and the shows are very affordable to attend. Bulova and Poirer are thankful for their sponsors, both individual and corporate, who help keep them afloat and allow the theater to be accessible to all who want to attend. Having a place for new artists to test their work and try new things is very important. Their shows tend to be an outgrowth of their mission, posing the question of: what is art and who gets to make it? The production team shares a passion for producing quality theater productions, and they hope to continue to do that into the future.

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Kimberly Boateng FCPS Student Representative 2019-2020

(July 17, 2019) Catherine Read interviews Kimberly Boateng, the new student representative to the FCPS School Board for the 2019-2020 school year. Kimberly is an incoming junior at Robert E. Lee High School, and was elected this past spring by the Student Advisory Council (SAC).  She serve a one-year term starting in July, and will participate in School Board meetings as a non-voting member.  Kimberly is the 49th student representative to serve in this capacity.

Over the course of her academic career, Kimberly has attended seven different schools, six of them being within the FCPS system.  Through this unique lens, Kimberly has gained a good snapshot of the county and has a lot of ideas based on her experiences. She understands the diversity, both from a racial and socioeconomic standpoint, and is able to use that understanding to help advance the issues that are most important to her.

Among the pressing issues at hand, Boateng believes that mental health, implicit bias awareness, the dress code, assistance for at-risk students, drug use, and punishment reform are most important.

Some of these issues dovetail with one another. Punishment reform merges in with the issue of implicit bias and at-risk students. She points out that the policy of suspending or expelling students is not working. If the goal is to reform the students and help them, then keeping them in school and making them aware of their mistakes, as well as teaching them how to avoid making the same mistakes in the future is the most important thing.

“The worst thing that a school can do” she says, “is give up on a child”.

Since she has been in so many different schools, Boateng has had the opportunity to see things that have worked well, and things that have not worked out the way that they were intended. She would like to highlight the creative, out of the box ideas that she has seen to be successful.

Boateng takes her role seriously, and hopes that the FCPS student body will reach out to her with their thoughts, ideas and observations. The school system is very large, and she believes the only way to be an effective representative is to be open and responsive to the student body that she represents. Her email is effective on July 1st, and she hopes to start hearing from them with ideas and feedback for the new school year.

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Speak* with Rhonda Eldrige and Erin Villaronga

(July 10, 2019) Catherine Read sits down with Executive Director Rhonda Eldrige and Program Facilitator Erin Villaronga, of the nonprofit Speak*.   Their summertime interdisciplinary arts program for girls aged 12-18 encompasses all aspects of creative performance.  From writing to dance to direction, the girls work together to create a performance that culminates in a show for  the Capital Fringe Festival in Washington, DC.

Modeled after a sister program that has been running in Nashville for the past 10 years, Eldrige brought Speak* to Northern Virginia as a way to empower young women. Her arts retreat is an opportunity for these young women to author their own life, as well as write and tell their own story. This program offers a safe space for young women to explore and express their feelings.

Speak* takes place over a two-week period. In the first week the girls focus on process. Each day, they have a writing prompt which helps them to build a collection of stories. During the second week, the participants figure out how all of the pieces can work together. They incorporate music and movement to bring the entire performance to fruition.

Erin Villaronga Speak*In an example of how this program works, a writing prompt asked the participants to write a letter to one of their parents. One of the girls wrote a letter of appreciation to her Dad where she was able to express her gratitude and love for him.  Another participant wrote to her Dad about the pain she felt after he left their family, and how sad she was that he was absent for most of her life.  The juxtaposition of these two pieces highlights how each one of us goes through life by looking at the world through our own lens.

These two young women then presented their pieces side by side for the final performance. There was not a dry eye in the theater. This is just one example of how this program gives the girls an opportunity to explore their feelings, be validated for speaking their truth, and be empowered by their own thoughts and words.

The program culminates in three final performances at St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church in Washington, DC during the Capital Fringe Festival. To learn more about the program, or to purchase tickets, visit their website.

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She Believes in Me with Renee Gorman

(July 3, 2019) Catherine Read sits down with She Believes in Me founder Renee Gorman to talk about her work in supporting young, vulnerable girls in her community. Lori Barnes, a volunteer who has been with the program since inception, also joins the show to talk about the importance of being a mentor, and giving these girls positive experiences and valuable skills.

Gorman is a school counselor in a community with many vulnerable children. Over the years, she became increasingly frustrated because she did not have the bandwidth during school hours to help support the young girls who were coming into her office with profound challenges.  She wanted to do more, but needed to find a different approach to helping them work through their obstacles. She believed in these girls, and wanted to show them that they had a fan rooting for them.

The first step involved planning some positive programming to bring the girls together. Gorman put together a group of volunteers by reaching out to her professional and community connections.  Her goal was show these young girls that there were people in their corner who wanted to help them. These workshops take place at her elementary school on Saturday mornings, and are always framed with a theme so that the girls have a valuable skill to bring home with them.

She Believes in MeA few examples of topics include building self-esteem, developing healthy coping skills, recognizing inner beauty, and the importance of friendships. The workshops are free of charge, and Gorman simply advertises by word of mouth. They have become so popular that they attract approximately 160 girls a month, and are staffed with over 30 volunteers. These girls are looking for positive role models, and are thirsty for programs that speak to them.

Most importantly, the environment is warm and welcoming, and girls are made to feel special and important. Having enough volunteers to staff the program means that the girls who really need help, have an opportunity to share their struggles and reach out for support The girls come from diverse backgrounds and varied socioeconomic environments, and many have experienced trauma. Gorman’s goal is to ensure that they have an outlet to find support when they need it.

The She Believes in Me model has been so successful that Gorman would love to grow the program to additional schools. If you are interested in setting up a similar program in your neighborhood, you can reach out to them to find out about how to get started at [email protected]

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Fairfax Futures with Sallyann Bergh

(June 19, 2019) Catherine Read sits down with Sallyann Bergh, Executive Director of Fairfax Futures. Since 2004, Fairfax Futures has been raising awareness about the critical role that school early childhood education plays in promoting academic and lifelong success.

In partnership with the business community and Fairfax County, Fairfax Futures is uniquely positioned to foster cross-sector collaboration in support of early childhood education and school readiness in the county. Through their annual Business Leaders Reception and Leadership Forums, they aim to raise the awareness in the community about the importance of investing in our youngest citizens. Approximately 85% of brain development occurs by age five. It is increasingly clear that the achievement gap starts early on in life, so quality educational experiences prior to kindergarten can greatly enhance a student’s potential and provide a solid foundation for learning.

In addition to working with the business community, Fairfax Futures focuses heavily on supporting early childhood educators. They provide both learning opportunities and ongoing resources for educators. Every year they sponsor a School Readiness Symposium, a unique daylong educational forum for early childhood educators across Fairfax County. Topics presented include literacy, science and math, the arts, play and nature. This was the 15th year of sponsoring a program and the 2019 School Readiness Symposium theme was Healthy Children, Healthy Futures. The program is possible thanks to a generous grant from the PNC Foundation.

While Fairfax is regularly recognized as an affluent community, there are pockets of poverty and income inequality. There are 74,000 children under the age of five in Fairfax, and one in five of those children are living in poverty. With the cost of quality early childhood education hitting record high numbers, it makes it very difficult for many of these students to access quality early childhood education.

Fairfax Futures works closely with the county’s Office for Children that helps to identify families who are eligible for subsidies and county run programs.. In 2017, Fairfax County adopted the Equitable School Readiness Strategic Plan.  Fairfax Futures partners with government, the private sector and the nonprofit community to support goals and objectives of this plan. The goal is that all children, regardless of economic, cultural or ethnic background  are prepared for school. Through the Neighborhood School Readiness Project, they forge relationships between local schools, community resources, early childhood educators and families, to ensure that children are well prepared for their transition to kindergarten.

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Rosie Riveters with Brittany Greer

(June 12, 2019)   Catherine Read speaks with Brittany Greer, founder of Rosie Riveters, a STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) education program for girls age 4-14. The no-cost extracurricular program is designed to inspire girls to imagine, create and play while developing their skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Greer’s goal is to equip and empower girls to be strong, confident and competent in the fields of STEM through hands-on projects and mentorship programs. Ultimately, she wants to teach girls to delete the words “I can’t” from their vocabulary, and inspire them to always be confident enough to try. The genesis of the name “Rosie Riveters” stems from the World War II posters that encouraged women to enter into the workforce because the men were off fighting the war.  These women did not have practical job skills, but had a can-do attitude.  Greer found inspiration in this story, and chose to adopt this name for her program.

Greer founded Rosie Riveters in 2015, after working for many years in the energy industry and noticing that the number of women in STEM fields was not growing. She stepped back from her professional duties in order to establish a program that attracts and inspires young girls to learn in a safe space. Too many times, girls are discouraged from pursuing these fields and do not gain the skill sets and confidence that they need to succeed.

Rosie Riveters Brittany GreerHer first challenge was to figure out where she would hold the programs. As libraries are in a stage of trying to reinvent themselves as maker-spaces, Greer forged a partnership with the Arlington County Library and secured space at no cost.  She got the word out to students in Arlington County Public Schools through the backpack flyer system that allows non-profits to advertise services. By February of 2016, their pilot program was up and running. To date, the nonprofit has served 587 girls, with another 287 sitting on waiting lists.

Their goal is to build interest in STEM topics early on in a girl’s life, and to keep that student engaged and coming back year after year. Children develop friends and cohorts, and have an opportunity to interact with other female students who share their interests. The programs operate in three different models, a 12-session program (one per month), an after school program that spans 6-8 weeks, or a community center program that includes a 5 week summer intensive and once a month during the school year.

Greer recognizes that not every community is the same, and it is important to be able to meet students and families where they are in order to attract and retain them.

So what is it that they do and why do students want to keep coming back? The program is predicated on the concept of trying and failing. At first, this can be very difficult for students to understand, but in the end it builds strength and resiliency.

Each class includes a“project build”.  The students first observe a fully operational piece of equipment on a table, along with a pile of materials that would be needed to construct the item. Without any instruction, the students are asked to observe what they see and start working to put pieces together. The teachers act as coaches, giving students ideas and tips about how they can use what they observe to make decisions about how to proceed. This encourages both critical and creative thinking skills, and gives the students space to fail, as everyone is in the same boat together. Afterwards, there would be explanation about what they built and how it works.

Each program lasts two hours, as there needs to be sufficient time for kids to work through their projects. The goal is to encourage girls to explore, experiment and have the confidence to try something new and complex. Everyone affiliated with the program, from teachers to material preparation to mentors, are volunteers. If you have an interest in helping with any aspect of the program, please visit the website to sign up.

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Just Ask Prevention Program – Human Trafficking

(June 5, 2019) Catherine Read sits down with Jay Pinksy, Associate Director of Just Ask, to discuss human trafficking in Northern Virginia, and is later joined by Susan Young, the mother of a local trafficking survivor.

Just Ask was founded in 2013 by Bill Wolf, a retired Fairfax County Police officer who dedicated himself to fighting human trafficking. He became aware of this practice towards the end of his career, and after retirement he started Just Ask to help educate the public on this very threatening issue. He now dedicates his life to fighting this terrible practice.

Human trafficking is any time when a human is being leveraged to make a profit, and it is being done against the person’s will. It is a $150 billion market, second only to the drug trade. Often times we think of trafficking as young vulnerable women being kidnapped and taken away from home, however, many times it is happening right under their families’ noses.

The Just Ask Prevention Program offers youth curriculum, awareness campaigns and professional training to schools, youth groups, hotels, retail, health professionals, faith communities and other front line professionals. The goal is to increase identification, prevention and response to human trafficking and other forms of exploitation. Since 2013, the Just Ask Prevention Project has held over 90 school campaigns, reaching over 90,000 students.

Along with educating about human trafficking, their program teaches warning signs designed to prevent youth from falling into a trafficker’s trap.   In addition, Just Ask Prevention has educated over 800 professionals in community-based organizations, equipping them with the tools and skills that they need to safeguard their communities.

Susan Young had a daughter who fell victim to human traffickers. Her daughter was out one night at the movies, and met a charming young man. They exchanged numbers and began an online relationship. He was an MS-13 gang member whose job it was to manipulate young girls into trusting him. Before she knew it, he had manipulated her and exploited her. He lured her off after school one day, where he and a group of gang members sexually abused her. They videotaped the assault, and then told her that she could never tell anyone what happened, or they would hurt her family if she betrayed them.

Susan Young Just Ask PreventionShe told her parents that she was doing after school clubs, and that was why she was coming home late from school. She was being trafficked, and going home each night and sleeping in her own bed. Young’s daughter wound up going missing twice, and both times the gang threatened to hurt her family if she didn’t comply. Young finally enlisted the help of Bill Wolf and he was able to help them get her daughter back before it was too late. She counts herself as very lucky.

Young is now on a mission to spread the word about the heinous practice of human trafficking, and to help raise awareness that it can happen to anyone. She certainly never expected that it could happen to her family. She encourages all parents and families to be aware of this issue, and ask questions if you sense something might be wrong. That is one place where she felt that she went wrong, she sensed something was awry but did not dig deep enough to understand what was happening.

Founder Bill Woolf and Susan Young were on a panel addressing Human Trafficking at the Rotary International Convention in Hamburg, Germany, in June. The organization was also recognized as Non-Profit of the Year by the Rotary Club of Centreville-Chantilly based in Northern Virginia.

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NV Rides with Jennifer Kanarek

(May 29, 2019) Catherine Read sits down with NV Rides Program Manager Jennifer Kanarek to discuss volunteer driving programs in Northern Virginia that support older adults who are aging in place.

In 2012, Fairfax County ran a large-scale survey of older adults to find out what they were looking for in their community as they age. The county recognized that the aging population was growing faster than any other segment, and that older adults were looking to remain in their homes as they age.  Fairfax sought input on their needs, and the result was the 50+ Community Action Plan that was adopted by the Board of Supervisors in September of 2014. Over 30 initiatives were born out of this wide-ranging survey.

Transportation was identified as a key concern. As older adults stop driving, they face the challenge of how to safely remain in their homes. Several communities throughout the county had already established volunteer driving programs to help support their aging neighbors. These programs, however, were operating independently and in silos.

The idea of NV Rides was to bring these programs together into a centralized network, and provide support and infrastructure so that they could increase capacity. This new concept of a coordinated “hub” would provide a backbone infrastructure, along with a network of professionals to collaborate with.

Member benefits include use of a cloud-based RideScheduler software platform, and background checks to ensure that the drivers pass a minimum safety check. In addition, NV Rides is responsible for helping to get new programs off the ground and provide marketing support.

Fairfax County then went on a search for a community organization willing to take on the management aspect of this program. They found a partner in the Pozez Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia. The “J” already has a wide variety of programming for adults, and found the concept of NV Rides to be mission-consistent with its approach to community engagement. In partnership with the Jewish Council for the Aging out of Montgomery County, MD and the Fairfax County Government, the “J” agreed to move forward.

Today, the NV Rides network consists of 13 member organizations located throughout the region. There are a combination of Shepherd’s Centers, Villages, communities of faith and public-private partnerships in the network. The beauty of this structure is that each community can come together to determine the solution that works best for them.

Each network partner operates independently, and can setup guidelines and procedures that meet their needs. However, all of the organizations do require that their clients be ambulatory, meaning that they have to be able to walk to the car.   Most of the groups also require lead-time of 3-5 days, in order to be able to ensure that they can find a driver.

According to the 2018 annual report, each year about 500 volunteer drivers give approximately 12,000 rides to their neighbors in need here in Northern Virginia. However, the drivers think of themselves as more than just a ride. Isolation one of the top causes of depression in older adults, and the relationships that drivers and passengers build is a wonderful secondary benefit. The biggest challenge that the partner organizations face is recruiting enough volunteer drivers to meet the demand for rides. Currently, there are twice as many rides that are requested, as there are drivers to give them.

As NV Rides rolls into its fifth year of operation, they are operating under a new round of funding from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. Through this grant, NV Rides is looking to expand the number of volunteer driver programs into areas where there is a gap in coverage in Fairfax, as well as neighboring jurisdictions such as Prince William County.

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GMU College of Science with Dean Peggy Agouris

(May 22, 2019) Catherine Read sits down with Peggy Agouris, Dean of the George Mason University College of Science at the time of this interview. [Effective July 1, 2019, Peggy Agouris became Provost of the College of William & Mary.] They discuss the history of the college and how that history has positioned the college to be on the cutting edge of its specialities.

The GMU College of Science was founded in 2006, after breaking off from the College of Arts and Sciences, and merging with the School of Computational Data Science. It now serves as one of the largest research colleges in the state, with approximately 4,000 students with declared majors in the school. The College of Science also serves to support students from other disciplines, as science intersects with many of the majors from the University’s varied offerings.

George Mason University started as a branch campus of the University of Virginia in 1947, and broke off to become its own entity in 1972. Being a brand new state university, the college needed to differentiate itself in order to attract students. Early on, it adopted innovative curriculum based on what companies were looking for. This led the university to be in on the ground floor of the data science industry.

As information technology programs took off across the nation and employers were looking for graduates who were trained in the field, George Mason was well poised to capitalize on this growth. The school formed partnerships with big players in the technology industry, and students were gaining access to hands on experiences in the field.

This hands-on, innovative approach to education led to George Mason offering the very first PhD program in computational sciences. As the industry forged ahead, the school understood the intersection of data science with other related fields, and decided to bring all of the science programs under one roof.

One of the unique features of the College of Sciences is the Data Lab, which is used by industries for research purposes. Students work on projects for local businesses, and also provide outreach to the local K-12 population, to show applications of data science. Giving students access to hands-on learning through real-life examples is an important aspect of the Data Lab. Additionally, Agouris notes that it is important to inspire younger students to understand how data science has an impact on their world.

In the second segment of the show, she talks about the importance for students to develop a variety of competencies and skill sets. The applications of data science and technology fields are ever changing, so it is important to cultivate the skills that will take students the furthest they can go. She speaks about how it is important for students to acquire good communication, presentation and writing skills, in addition to the scientific training, as employers want to hire well-rounded individuals.

Agouris is very proud of how well the GMU College of Science is doing in regard to attracting and retaining female students and faculty. Today, females comprise over 60% of the student body, and the faculty rate is even higher. She recognizes that not all programs are this successful in attracting and retaining women, and believes that inspiring girls at a young age to explore the field of science will help to increase the enrollment and retention numbers across the nation.

Finally, Agouris is excited about new and emerging fields that are being born each year. The Urban Science Initiative is a new program of study that has students evaluate the impact of environmental factors and variables on the human population. For example, students would study the affects of having a large business such as Amazon move into a neighborhood to understand the impacts that this change has on residents.  The impacts that are discovered can then be useful in helping to shape policy in order to minimize harmful outcomes.

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Fairfax County Parks through an Equity Lens

(May 15, 2019) Catherine Read sits down with Jennifer Pradas and Chris Ambrose to discuss the fate of two Fairfax County Parks that are in peril of being redeveloped. Pradas and Ambrose are community activists who are working to preserve green space in their neighborhoods. They encourage the Fairfax County Park Authority to look at the protection of these parks through an equity lens. The One Fairfax policy was implemented to ensure that all neighborhoods throughout Fairfax County, no matter the zip code, are treated equally.

Jennifer Pradas is the founder and organizer of Save Blake Lane Park in the Providence District of Fairfax County. As the population in her neighborhood has grown over the years, overcrowding has ensued in the schools.  This has prompted a call for a new elementary school to be built in the area. There is currently a proposal to redevelop Blake Lane Park into a new school, which would take away a community park that serves thousands of people in a high-density area.

With so many residents living in townhouses or condominiums, there would be no open space within walking distance for these residents to frequent.  The redevelopment also includes removing including a dog park and a pollinator garden recently installed by a local girl scout troop. Pradas supports the idea of looking at boundary changes for the current schools in order to shift population in a more equitable manner and preserve the parkland.

Gerry Connolly, former Chair of the Fairfax County Board and current Congressman for the 11th District of Virginia, recently penned a letter in Blue Virginia, encouraging the planning commission to not redevelop Blake Lane Park. During his tenure at Board Chair, he called for setting 10% of County land to be preserved for parkland.  He also asked to have parks within walking distance of all communities.

In Lorton, Chris Ambrose outlines a similar concern about the prospect of developing part of Lorton Park for a community center. In 2016 the Park Authority set a goal of having 5 acres of community parkland for every 1000 residents of the county. Lorton Park currently serves 10,000 residents, far exceeding the proposed ratio. Ambrose notes that further chipping away at this green space does not serve the residents of the Lorton area well.

His suggestions include considering several other parcels of land that are owned by Fairfax County and in close proximity to Lorton Park. One of the properties, across the street from the park, is land that is attached to the pollution control plant and was originally purchased as a buffer zone. There are currently recreational fields on adjacent land to this parcel.  But the county is using the excuse that there are PCB’s on the land that need to be cleaned up, to the tune of $200,000. Ambrose asserts that the PCB’s should be cleaned up regardless of how the land is used, but in the scope of a $20 million project the county should be able to work this into the budget.

Another option for the Lorton Community Center could be a parcel of land nearby that is currently slated for multi-use redevelopment. Again, Ambrose thinks that a community center could enhance a redevelopment project for the area, as the county could sell off the remainder of land that is not used for the community center.

Both the Blake Lane Park and the Lorton Park will be up for discussion at the next Planning Commission meeting, which takes place on May 22nd. Pradas and Ambrose encourage allies to come support their causes. Not every community has the same ability to advocate for itself, that is why the One Fairfax policy is so important. It asks that those who are in a position of power to take into account underserved communities and make equitable decisions about county policies.