TV Shows Archives - Read. Think. Act.

Del. Marcus Simon on Your Need to Know

(July 31, 2019) Catherine Read sits down with Del. Marcus Simon (D-53) to talk about how citizens can get involved in affecting policy change at the state and local level of governments.

Simon was introduced to state politics in his first job out of college, as an aid with his predecessor, Del. Jim Scott. Without much knowledge about the inner workings of state government, he got a quick lesson on both how things work, and how quickly things can move in Richmond. While he embraces the concept of citizen legislators, it also means that there is a very short time frame to get things done during their abbreviated legislative session each winter.

One of the aspects of state government that really appeals to Del. Simon is the fact that legislators are very accessible to their constituents. Representatives are able to hear directly from them about their ideas and concerns. There are not a lot of “layers” in state government, meaning there are very few staff people who serve as buffers. When you want to speak to your representative, it is easy to do so. He has personally enjoyed getting to know his constituents, learning about new issues, and advocating on their behalf.

He encourages everyone to participate in the legislative process. One way people can engage is to step forward and take a leadership role in a professional association. When it comes to professional licensing and regulations, the state plays a big role. This is a great way to get involved if they have suggestions for improving things within their industry.

He also recommends scheduling a time to meet with him here in Falls Church, or coming to his office in Richmond during session. He always has time for constituents, and wants to hear about issues that are important to them. Legislators also often attend community meetings such as civic associations, neighborhood community groups or local advocacy groups. If you are interested in having him, or any of his colleagues, speak at a local meeting, simply contact their office to arrange the details. You can find your local representatives at this website, simply plug in your address.

In addition to stepping forward and getting involved, Simon has some advice for younger constituents who are interested in civics. The Virginia General Assembly has a page program geared towards students age 13-14. Teens can apply starting August 1^st for these coveted spots. The students who are selected will move to Richmond during the legislative session. They work in the House and Senate chambers, while also doing schoolwork under the supervision of tutors.

It is a wonderful hands-on learning experience. Del. Simon is always impressed with the young people who come to Richmond, and very much enjoys having them as part of the legislative session. He is continuously impressed at their mock legislative session that they run at the end of each season. It shows just how much they absorb by being present and working in the chamber every day.

Simon encourages all citizens to take action in our democracy. There are elections this fall for every seat in both the House and the Senate, and a lot of work to be done. As a member of the minority party since his election in 2013, Simon is looking toward a future when the Democrats can take back the majority. He knows that if they are able to accomplish this, then there will be real policy change on big issues like gun violence prevention, protecting Medicaid expansion, and criminal justice reform.

As a citizen, if you have an idea for legislation, he encourages you to reach out to your representatives today. They are working on crafting agendas and bills, and need time to gain an understanding of the issue, as well as come up with the most effective wording for the bill itself. Come fall, they will be filing bills with the legislative services office, and want to ensure that they have plenty of time to ensure that the bill is written with the most effective language.

by Rachel Simon

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 4^th 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.

For 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.

by Rachel Simon

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 49^th 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 1^st, and she hopes to start hearing from them with ideas and feedback for the new school year.

by Rachel Simon

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.

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.

by Rachel Simon

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.

A 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]

by Rachel Simon

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 15^th 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.

by Rachel Simon

Democratic Business Council of Northern Virginia with Laurie MacNamara

(June 17, 2019) Catherine Read speaks with Laurie MacNamara, the first female President of the Democratic Business Council of Northern Virginia. (DemBiz). Their wide-ranging discussion covers everything from the purpose of the council, to the programming and policy components of the organization.

MacNamara is the first female to head the DemBiz Council in its sixteen years of existence. Senator Scott Surovell, Laurie Blackburn and Kevin Cook founded the organization in 2003, when they recognized that the business owners with Democratic values were under-represented. Their goal was to bring together business executives who wanted to advance issues that their workforce cared about, such as education, healthcare and affordable housing.

DemBiz provides opportunities for Democrats, like-minded independents and others to meet and network with other professionals, as well as with local, state and federal elected officials and candidates. Through a wide range of programming, from breakfasts to after work networking events, the Council aims to serve all who are interested in participating.

As MacNamara notes, in a local economy with essentially zero unemployment, it becomes a competitive environment to keep employees happy. Employers are looking to do all they can to retain their staff. By collaborating with organizations like Equality Virginia , they are working to advance policies to make the workplace more inclusive. DemBiz aims to advance policies that workers are yearning for, such as paid family leave and inclusive LGBT workplaces.

The DemBiz Council is best known for its monthly breakfast meetings that are held at the Tower Club in Tysons Corner. Under McNamara’s leadership, however, she has sought to broaden the programming options. She has also encouraged the Council to hold events around the region and during various times of the day – branching out to both Arlington and Loudoun Counties. Notable recent speakers include Michael Bloomberg and Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Additionally, the council has hosted candidate forums in the recent elections. In 2018 they put on a robust candidate forum focused specifically on business issues for the 10^th Congressional Seat (which was eventually won by Rep. Jennifer Wexton). The following year, in 2019, they hosted a forum for all who were running for the Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. The panels were informative, and they plan to continue these events in the future.

Other upcoming events include a discussion about Women in Politics, to be held at 1776 in Crystal City on June 20th. On July 17, Nobel Prize winning economist Dr. Joseph Stiglitz will join the Council for a talk about the impact of economics on elections. In September, former Governor Terry McAuliffe will be the keynote speaker who will discuss his experience of stumping for candidates throughout the state during the summer months.

MacNamara is proud of the work she has done in her two-year tenure to help move the organization forward. As the business community in Washington evolves, she aims to keep up with the trends. Her personal background is in Government Contracting, and while there are still many of these businesses in the area, the region has worked hard to attract new industries.

One of her new programming ideas is to have a DemBiz Annual Awards Banquet. This would give the council an opportunity to recognize employers in the region who are promoting family friendly policies, like paid family leave, early childhood education and inclusive workplaces.

From the Amazon and Nestle headquarters in Arlington, to Hilton putting down roots in Tysons Corner, and Volkswagen landing in Herndon, area officials have worked hard to diversify the business base. Other employers such as INOVA and George Mason University are expanding and hiring more workers. Additionally, players like Virginia Tech, who are setting up their new innovation campus in Alexandria, are helping to fuel the growth of the region. Small businesses are emerging, and many of them are minority, women and veteran-owned enterprises.

All of these businesses have policy objectives that will help attract and retain their employees, and continue to make Northern Virginia thrive. The DemBiz Council has an entire arm of the organization dedicated to advancing policy initiatives on things like education, transportation and healthcare, just to name a few. McNamara encourages all of the members to get involved and add their voice in establishing policy objectives. She welcomes all who are interested to the table. www.DemBiz.org

by Rachel Simon

AARP Driver Safety Class on Your Need to Know

(June 26, 2019) Catherine Read talks to Bervin Elliott and Pamela Houghtaling about the AARP Driver Safety Program. They are both volunteer instructors for the Virginia course, which is an effort to keep seniors safe on the road. Launched as “55 Alive” back in 1979, the AARP Driver Safety Program is celebrating its 40th anniversary.

Elliott and Houghtaling are both seasoned instructors, and Elliott is the volunteer leader for the Commonwealth of Virginia. The 8-hour course is offered both online and in person, but both instructors emphasize that students get the most out of joining an in-person class if possible. They strongly believe that students benefit from the discussions and interactions that they have with one another.

Topics covered in the class are wide and varied. They talk about everything from eyesight change, to the effects of medication on driving, to how weather conditions affect the road, to how reflexes change as people age. The classes allow students to bring up their real-life challenges, and provide a safe place to work through the challenges that they face. The instructors also offer strategies for drivers to help them cope with difficult traffic situations, which come on a daily basis here in Northern Virginia.

In addition, the instructors review changes in driving laws. Every year there are updates and changes to the rules of the road. This class comprehensively covers the existing laws, as well as any new changes or updates in order to ensure compliance and safety. They cover rules about cell phone usage, bike lanes, roundabouts (traffic circles) and how to share the road with other users.

The instructors also discuss transportation options, so seniors are aware of all of the different modes of transportation in their community, in case that they do not feel comfortable driving. AARP also offers a separate course entitled “We Need to Talk” that covers how to talk to an aging parent about when it is appropriate to stop driving.

The “Smart DriverTEK Workshop,” another separate course offering, helps seniors understand and properly utilize the technologies in newer vehicles. The workshop covers things like backup cameras, blind spot monitors, brake assist and lane correction are all newer features and can be overwhelming for seniors to try and understand on their own. This online course breaks down the features, how they work, and why they are useful for drivers.

The AARP Driver Safety course is an 8-hour program. If it is taken in person it can be administered over 1 or 2 days. An online version of the course is also available. If you cannot find a class in your neighborhood, you can contact AARP to set up your own course– groups have held class in community centers, clubhouses and community rooms in apartment buildings.

The cost is very reasonable – – AARP members pay $15 for the in-person class and $19.95 for the online course. Non-members pay $20 for the in-person class and $24.95 for the online version. Once the class is completed, participants can submit the certificate of completion to their insurance company and receive a discount on premiums.

by Rachel Simon

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.

Her 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.

by Rachel Simon

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.

She 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.