Springfield Going to Missconnection.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/news/documents/... · 2014. 12....

Springfield Connection ❖ December 25-31, 2014 ❖ 1www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

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Franconia ❖ KingstowneNewington

SpringfieldSpringfield

Franconia ❖ KingstowneNewington

Santa is NotGoing to MissThese Houses

News, Page 12

Expert Predicts‘A SlightlyBetter 2015’News, Page 3

Garza’sVision for

CountySchoolsNews, Page 8

Holly’s Tacky Christmas Lightswebsite lists houses in NorthernVirginia that have spectacular

Christmas decor. This house on8700 Nanlee Drive, Springfield, isa favorite for Kathy Sherman and

Isabella, 6, of Springfield.

2 ❖ Springfield Connection ❖ December 25-31, 2014 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com


NewsSpringfield Connection Editor Kemal Kurspahic

703-778-9414 or [email protected]

By Andrea Worker

The Connection

Most keynote speakers areused to a bit of fidgetingfrom the audience about 20minutes into their spiel.

Just goes to show the level of interest boththe topic and the speaker generated whenafter almost two hours, the hosts of theNorthern Virginian Association of Realtors(NVAR) Year-End Economic Review with Dr.Stephen Fuller basically called the session“a wrap” to convince the attendees that theincluded lunch awaited them.

Fuller brings an impressive collection ofcredentials to the role; Ph.D., DwightSchar faculty chair and university profes-sor and director, Center for RegionalAnalysis, School of Public Policy at GeorgeMason University, not to mention chiefeconomist for Cardinal Bank. Adding anarsenal of graphs and other analyticaldata to his expertise and experience,Fuller provided insights about the clos-ing year, a preview of what to expect in2015, and some long-term economic ex-pectations for Northern Virginia, the Dis-trict and Maryland.

“2014 was actually softer in all catego-ries than expected, given the strength of theeconomic recovery exhibited in 2013,” saidFuller, “particularly in relationship to thehousing market. Fuller credited a numberof factors for the reason that things sloweddown in 2014. Lower wage jobs, slowerimmigration and reduced internationaltransfers, lower marriage rates, limited ac-cess to credit, degraded mobility (when thejobs being created aren’t worth moving for),

student loan burdens andeven changing generationalvalues and preferences werethe reasons he cited.

“Perhaps most surprising isthat for the first time in thememory of many, our localeconomy is underperformingcompared to the rest of thecountry.” Based heavily ondirect and ancillary federalgovernment employment, thearea has previously been lessnegatively impacted by therecession than other areas ofthe country. “This is new ter-ritory for us,” Fuller said.“Even more surprising, itdidn’t really make the head-lines that our economy shrankmore in the last year than itdid during the recession.” Helikened the situation to aluxury liner with a small leak.“It may be hardly noticeablenow, but someone had betterstart baling and repairingsoon.”

ACCORDING TO FULLER and many ofthe sources he consulted, the “Fiscal cliff”and the introduction of sequestration in2013 are just beginning to make an impacton the local way of life – and not in a posi-tive way. All of the reports on the creationand status of jobs show that most growth,particularly in this area, is taking place inindustries that on average pay less and thatmany of those who lost their positions ingovernment or government contracting,have yet to be “redeployed” in similar situ-ations. “Health and education and localgovernment were the key growth industriesin the this area, and we can’t sustain oureconomy on only these two sectors. We defi-nitely need wage growth, something wehaven’t had in this recovery so far,” added

Fuller. “During the recession, employerslearned the lessons of productivity.” Withhigher unemployment and older workersopting out of the workforce, employerscould more easily pick and choose and keeppay rates lower. The unemployment num-bers are dropping, but according to Fuller,we still haven’t reached the stage whereemployers must offer more to secure thebest. And there is something else missingfrom the equation in Fuller’s educated opin-ion. “Where is inflation? There isn’t any. Andyou need it to give merchants the opportu-nity to provide wage growth.”

Despite a number of troubling indicatorsthat he believes require immediate and sig-nificant attention, Fuller does predict aslightly better 2015. “We are still feeling that

pent up demand that willpush things a bit higher.”Fuller does not see a repeatof the flurry of increasinghouse prices that many sell-ers enjoyed not long ago. In-stead, he believes that manyluxury homes will come downin price and average timefrom list-to-sale may increasesomewhat.

WHEN ASKED during theQ&A session to comment spe-cifically on Fairfax County,Fuller cautioned that withoutcreation of higher-wage jobs,the county would face a “realsqueeze to services – fire, po-licing, education.” Local gov-ernment needs tax money todo its job. Lower income andproperty taxes coupled withan increasingly aging popula-tion could mean even morechallenging times ahead. “Butinteresting ones,” he declared.“Downsizing or rightsizing ac-cording to your view, things

change.”This NVAR event was sponsored by RGS

Title Company and hosted by the NVARSmall Broker and Real Estate Finance andSettlement Forums. NVAR has several eco-nomic outlook programs in store for thecoming year. Visit their website atwww.nvar.com to keep up to date on NVARhappenings.

Fuller will speak at the 23rd Annual Car-dinal Bank and George Mason UniversityEconomic Conference on Jan. 15, 2015. Pre-registration for the conference is availableat www.cardinalbank.com. More on Fuller’supdate, review and the analytical data hepresented are available on the George Ma-son University Center for Regional Analy-sis website at cra.gmu.edu.

Realtors associationhosts year-endeconomic update.

Expert Predicts ‘A Slightly Better 2015’

Stephen Fuller from George Mason University held thestage for almost two hours at the Northern VirginiaAssociation of Realtors (NVAR) Year-End Economic Re-view. Fuller spoke to the issues that shaped 2014, as wellas predictions for the coming year, and beyond.

The news could be better – according to Fuller and many of the chartsand graphs he referred to during his presentation, the WashingtonMetro area, including Northern Virginia, is lagging well behind in manykey recovery factors. Fuller discussed several reasons for the situation,not the least of which being the aftermath of 2013’s “fiscal cliff” and thecontinuing impact of sequestration.

Photos by Andrea Worker/The Connection

Stephen Fuller went out into the crowd of attendees during his NVAR-hosted presentation on the past year’s economy and the economicoutlook ahead.


By Abigail Constantino

The Connection

After the hustle and bustle of theholidays, taxpayers beginscrambling to get that end-of-the

year charitable donation so they claim iton their tax returns. For people who wantto benefit while helping people, twoOakton based organizations, NorthernVirginia Family Service and The Commu-nity Foundation for Northern Virginia of-fer two ways to give.

The Northern Virginia Family Service’s,NVFS, Gifting for Families program may beover but financial contributions to its otherprograms and services are always welcome,said Tonya McCreary, director of agencycommunications at NVFS. This year’s toycloset saw an increase of 350 children from

last year, giving a total of 2,100 children in1,000 families.

It is especially during the holidays, inun-dated by commercialism and consumerism,that low-income families may feel the pinchof poverty even more. But it is also duringthis time that generosity and communitygiving can restore hope.

NVFS’s Family Reunification Program,which serves recent immigrants with spe-cial needs or traumatic histories, helpedRuth (name changed for confidentiality)and her children have the chance to expe-rience what others take for granted, buy-ing something they want.

BUYING SOMETHING that is desired butnot needed is a “luxury...rarely experienced”by families served by NVFS, said McCreary.Ruth sought asylum in 2012, after surviv-

ing torture in the Democratic Republic ofthe Congo. Her six children, ages 10-18-years old, joined her and they struggle withbills and basic necessities, as Ruth has notbeen able to find full-time employment. Atlast year’s Gifting for Families, Ruth and herfamily all got something they wanted, notjust something they needed. Her childrengot toys, cosmetics, crafts and gift cards, sothey can buy something they wanted froma store. Ruth was brought to tears by thegenerosity of the people in the community,reported McCreary.

At the Community Foundation for North-ern Virginia, a public charity focused ongrant giving, donors can have more say inhow their contributions are distributed. Theorganization serves Fairfax, Loudoun, Ar-lington and Prince William counties and thecities of Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax,Manassas and Manassas Park.

For people who do not have a specificcharity in mind, the Community Founda-

tion for Northern Virginia can help with theresearch. “If you’re interested in somethingin particular but not a specific organization”Community Foundation for Northern Vir-ginia can help direct contributions to thatcause, said Lesley MacDonald, director ofcommunity investment.

DONORS have three ways to donate: es-tablish a donor advised fund—a kind ofcharitable savings account—donate to anexisting donor advised fund, or donate toCommunity Foundation, which also runsseveral funds. It also keeps a list of re-searched and scrutinized organizations sodonors know about the organization receiv-ing their money.

NVFS and the Community Foundation forNorthern Virginia offer different ways togive in ways both donors and people in needcan benefit. For more information on howto give, visit http://www.nvfs.org/ andhttp://www.cfnova.org/.

Helping organizations need help year round.

Simple Luxuries Not Everyone Can Afford

News

On Saturday, Dec.13, VirginiaRailway Express (VRE),Virginia’s commuter rail ser-vice, held its 18th annual “Op-

eration Lifesaver Santa Trains.” Santa, Mrs.Claus, and Santa’s helpers rode the rails andwalked through the train to meet, greet andhand out candy canes. Helper elves passedout Operation Lifesaver railroad safety in-formation coloring books and carolers fromRiverbend, Chancellor, West Potomac, Tho-mas Edison, Stonewall Jackson, andOsbourn Park High School choirs made sureeveryone was entertained. VRE operated 13sold-out Santa Trains while entertainingnearly 9,000 attendees from the Manassas,Burke Centre, Fredericksburg and

Woodbridge VRE stations during this annualholiday event.

“You can’t believe how much happinessVRE Santa Trains deliver until you experi-ence it yourself” said Doug Allen, VRE’schief executive officer. “Whether you are astaff member working the trains, a parent,or a caroler, there is no greater satisfactionthan seeing the excitement of children’sfaces when they meet Santa. It’s rare whenwe get the opportunity to educate peopleabout railroad safety while spreading holi-day spirit but that’s what Santa Trains areall about,” said Mr. Allen.

VRE is the tenth largest commuter railservice in the U.S. and is a transportationpartnership of the Northern Virginia and

Potomac & Rappahannock TransportationCommissions. VRE’s mission is to providesafe, cost effective, accessible, reliable, con-venient, and comfortable commuter-ori-

ented rail passenger service. It serves North-ern Virginia and Washington D.C. and itsoffices are based in Alexandria, Va. Visit:www.vre.org for more information.

'Operation Lifesaver SantaTrains' Return to the Area

Photos contributed

On Saturday, Dec.13, Virginia Railway Express (VRE), held its 18th annual“Operation Lifesaver Santa Trains.”

Santa and Mrs. Claus rode the rails and walked through the train tomeet, greet and hand out candy canes to those attending “OperationLifesaver Santa Trains” on Saturday, Dec. 13.


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News

Santa Comes to West Springfield ElementaryFairfax County Police Dept. and the Fairfax County Sheriff Dept. arrived today at WestSpringfield Elementary School (WSES) accompanying Santa, Mrs. Claus, Rudolph, Frostyand the elves by motorcycle. Santa and crew picked up three large boxes filled with newtoys for children at INOVA Fairfax Hospital and the Georgetown Lombardi Cancer Center.The children at WSES were treated to candy canes, sang holiday songs and participatedin physical activity with Rudolph. The event which has become a WSES tradition for anumber of years included members of the community and the entire school.

Photo contributed


483days since a still-unnamed Fairfax Countypolice officer shot unarmed John Geerstanding in the doorway of Geer’s home inSpringfield, then let him bleed to death onAug. 29, 2013. No information has been re-leased about the incident, officers involvednot named, no explanation, no grand jury,no charges. (as of Dec. 10, 2014)

Opinion

Merry Christmas. It’s a magicaltime of year, and perhaps Con-nection Newspapers has overindulged in displaying the

many rituals of Christmas on our pages in thepast few weeks. In events around the area, asense of community has infused holiday pa-rades, Christmas tree lightings, menorahlightings, choral performances, singing of car-ols and other traditional events with warmthand joy.

We have covered performances of“The Nutcracker” and “A ChristmasCarol;” covered acts of compassion andgiving in almost every corner of ourcommunities; photographed Santa in so manyplaces arriving in so many ways — by boat atLake Anne in Reston, by firetruck in Viennaand McLean and other places, by motorcyclearound Fairfax County; religious celebrationsof many kinds; gift indulgences of many kinds.

But Christmas is about the birth of JesusChrist. Whether you believe the Christmas storyliterally or in spirit, you know it is the story ofjoy, hope and love, the promise of redemption.So here, let us share the verse from the Bible,Luke 2: 4-19:

“So Joseph also went up from the town ofNazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem thetown of David, because he belonged to the

house and line of David. He went there to reg-ister with Mary, who was pledged to be mar-ried to him and was expecting a child. Whilethey were there, the time came for the baby tobe born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, ason. She wrapped him in cloths and placed himin a manger, because there was no room forthem in the inn.

“And there were shepherds living out in thefields nearby, keeping watch over their flocksat night. An angel of the Lord appeared to

them, and the glory of the Lord shonearound them, and they were terrified.But the angel said to them, ‘Do not beafraid. I bring you good news of great

joy that will be for all the people. Today in thetown of David a Savior has been born to you;he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign toyou: You will find a baby wrapped in clothsand lying in a manger.’ Suddenly a great com-pany of the heavenly host appeared with theangel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to Godin the highest, and on earth peace to men onwhom his favor rests.’

“When the angels had left them and goneinto heaven, the shepherds said to one another,‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing thathas happened, which the Lord has told usabout.’ So they hurried off and found Mary andJoseph, and the baby, who was lying in the

manger. When they had seen him, they spreadthe word concerning what had been told themabout this child, and all who heard it wereamazed at what the shepherds said to them.But Mary treasured up all these things andpondered them in her heart.”

Happy HanukkahHappy Hanukkah, which lasts for eight days

and this year began Tuesday evening. WhileHanukkah is not one of the most importantJewish religious observances, it is a celebra-tion that gets added attention from timing.Hanukkah celebrates the miracle of a one daysupply of oil for the temple lasting eight days.

Editor’s Note about the Rest of 2014This is our last regular edition of 2014. Next

week, after Christmas, we will publish thechildren’s edition, devoted entirely to the art-work and writing of local students. Our nextregular editions will publish Jan. 7-8, 2015, withdeadline for content and advertising of Jan. 2.In the meantime you can reach the editors [email protected] and sales/marketing at [email protected].

— Mary Kimm

[email protected]

A message ofpeace and joy.Merry Christmas

Editorial

By Jeff Stewart

I would like to begin by saying that I havealways and still do support the police as awhole. I appreciate the job that they do

and the risks they take on a daily basis in aneffort to keep the public safe. The ongoingpolicy in Fairfax County of police self-investi-gation, when officers are involved in possiblecrimes, has to change.

I am willing to bet that all of you have heardof Michael Brown and Ferguson Missouri? Howmany of you have heard of John Geer? Prob-ably not near as many. I would like to share astory about another life taken by police. It hap-pened right here in Fairfax County over 15months ago.

On Aug. 29, 2013 I witnessed the homicideof my best friend of over 25 years by a stillunidentified Fairfax County police officer. Latethat morning John had found out that his part-ner of 24 years and mother of his two childrenwas moving out. John became distraught andbegan to throw some of her property in thefront yard. One of John’s daughters called theirmom and she immediately came home from

work. After a heated discussion the police werecalled. John kissed his daughters and sent themto a neighbor’s house. Nobody was in the homewith John when police arrived. I arrived shortly

after the police to find several of-ficers on the scene. Two officerswere holding John at gunpoint ashe stood in the doorway of his hometalking calmly with his empty handsresting on top of the storm door.John, feeling he had committed nocrime, refused the officers’ ordersto come outside. The police weretold that John owned firearms andreportedly he had expressed a will-ingness to use those firearms if thepolice tried to enter his home with-out a warrant. After around 40 min-utes of what appeared to be calmconversation, John began to lowerhis hands almost deliberately slow,with his clearly empty palmspressed against the screen. Ithought for a second that this con-frontation was ending and Johnwas coming out of the home. WhenJohn’s empty hands were abouteven with his face, he was shot oncein the chest from less than 20 feet.John had made no quick or aggres-sive moves of any kind and ap-peared to be no threat to police, toothers or to himself. John quicklyhunched over, grabbed his woundand retreated into the house. He

Fifteen months, after the shooting of John Geer,no officer has been identified, no chargeshave been filed,no grand jury hasbeen convened.

Do Fairfax County Police Act with Impunity?

See Oversight, Page 7

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Opinion

To the Editor:An article was recently published in your

newspaper discussing the new I-95 expresslanes (95 Express Lanes Open, The Connec-tion, Dec. 18-24, 2014). One statement inthe article read, “Construction manager forthe project John Morse, of VDOT, said thatthe addition of a third lane will solve a num-ber of problems and give people optionsother than waiting in traffic.” Creating theexpress lanes, however, does not resolve aprimary underlying issue. Along vaststretches of heavily congested I-95, includ-ing in Prince William County, there are onlythree lanes for traffic. The express lanes arejust a partial solution. I-95 is the busiesthighway on the East Coast. Tens of thou-

sands of out-of-town travelers use this high-way daily. These travelers likely will notknow to have an EZ-Pass Flex to access theselanes, much less pay a potentially high dol-lar figure to use them. Local travelers alsohave to incur a substantial daily fee unlessthey manage to have three passengers. Plus,the toll lanes end after the I-495 inter-change, leaving those without three passen-gers subject to driving in the main line of I-395. Northern Virginia is continuing togrow. The express lanes did not add anyadditional lanes to I-95, allowing for trafficto continue to jam the highway.

Abigail RossWoodbridge

Taking Exception on Express Lanes

pushed the door shut as he retreated andimmediately collapsed on the floor less than5 feet from the door.

This tragedy only gets worse. John lay justinside the door reportedly yelling for help.Despite his pleas for help, the officers onscene stood outside and did nothing whilewaiting for SWAT to arrive. The SWAT teamentered an hour later to find that John hadbled to death. It should be noted that thepatrol officers on the scene had an entryshield and could have entered the house torescue John with minimal risk yet chose todo nothing.

After 15 months, no officer has been iden-tified, no charges have been filed, no grandjury has been convened and no reason hasbeen given to the family or the public. Infact the Fairfax County Police Department,up until a recent legal action filed by theFederal Justice Department, had refused toprovide requested information to anyoneincluding the Virginia State Attorney. Theattorneys for the Geer family have filed 127requests for documents and in response,122 objections have been filed by thecounty. Despite the incredible lack of coop-eration from the Police Department, localcounty officials, the State Attorney Generaland the Governor have remained silent. Ittook over one year for Fairfax County su-pervisors to write a gently worded letterrequesting that the case be resolved.

The case was turned over to federal pros-ecutors last January. The FBI conducted in-terviews in March. Still, no information hasbeen released to the public and no resolu-

From Page 6 tion has been achieved. It has taken recentinvolvement from U.S. Sen. Grassley of theSenate Judicial Committee and legal actionby Federal prosecutors to get the FairfaxCounty Police Department to only recentlyprovide the requested information, infor-mation that should have been made publica year ago. It would appear that this policedepartment does not feel compelled to an-swer to any Virginia or federal official. Thishas to change. The family, friends and thepublic have yet to be told anything aboutJohn’s death.

When possible crimes have been commit-ted by police officers such as policeshootings, nobody investigates the case butthe police. There are no independent over-sight procedures of any kind. Fairfax Countysupervisors endorse this policy and alongwith the Police Department, have rejectedevery attempt to create any kind of inde-pendent oversight procedures. It should benoted that the Fairfax County supervisorshire the police chief. They also control themoney dedicated to the department. Thispolicy of self-investigation, no oversight andthe inevitable obstruction that occurs as aresult will continue until the public de-mands better from its elected officials.

To date, no officer in the 75-year historyof the Fairfax County Police Department hasever been charged in a wrongful shooting.These include the deaths of John Geer andat least two other unarmed citizens since2006, all shot by police under questionablecircumstances.

Jeff Stewart, a Chantilly resident,witnessed the shooting of his friend John

Geer on Aug. 29, 2013.

Independent Oversight Needed

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8 ❖ Springfield Connection ❖ December 25-31, 2014 Springfield Connection ❖ December 25-31, 2014 ❖ 9www.ConnectionNewspapers.com www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

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Sources: Fairfax County Public Schools,Washington Area Boards of Education, Texas Tribune

1 1986-1991: Elementary School Teacher,Yoakum, Texas (1,539 students, 38% white and50% Latino and spends about $8,000 per pupil).

2 July 1991-1994: Education Specialist, RegionIII Education Service Center, Victoria, Texas.Victoria ISD has 13,680 students and spendsabout $7,500 per pupil annually.

3 July 1994-July 1996: Principal, East SideElementary School grades 5-6, PalaciosIndependent School District (ISD), Palacios,Texas (1,508 students, $10,269 per student, 68%economically disadvantaged).

4 July 1996-July 1997: Curriculum SupervisorK-12, El Campo ISD, El Campo, Texas (3,465students, $9,735 per student, 67% economicallydisadvantaged).

5 July 1997-July 1999: Associate ExecutiveDirector for Governmental Relations, TexasAssociation of SchoolAdministrators.

6 July 1999-October 2002:Executive Directorfor Curriculum, StaffDevelopment, andAccountability, Katy ISD,Katy, Texas (58,444students, $7,740 per student,29% disadvantaged).

7 October 2002-August 2004: AssociateExecutive Director for Governmental Relations,Texas Association of School Administrators.

8 August 2004-June 2005: DeputySuperintendent, Corpus Christi ISD, CorpusChristi, Texas (38,041 students, spends $8,240,68% disadvantaged).

9 June 2005-July 2009: Chief AcademicOfficer, Houston ISD, Houston, Texas. (200,944students, $9,231 per student, 80%disadvantaged).

10 July 2009-June 2013: Superintendent ofSchools, Lubbock ISD, Lubbock, Texas (28,476students, $8,163 per student, 62%disadvantaged).

The Road to Fairfax CountyA timeline of Superintendent Karen Garza’s career in education.

11 July 2013-present: FairfaxCounty Public SchoolsSuperintendent. Fairfax CountyPublic Schools (186,785 students,$16,880 per student, 26.4% free/reduced price meal eligible).

View from TexasIn Houston

“When I hired Karen in 2005,” former Superin-tendent of Houston Independent School District(HISD) Dr. Abelardo Saavedra said, “the position ofchief academic officer had been open severalmonths. I went looking for her. I’d never met her butI’d heard about her. There is a big difference be-tween a mid-sized district and a larger one; thedynamics are completely different. I was taking arisk because she came from a mid-sized one of about40,000 in Corpus Christi, and ours was much big-ger. She adjusted very quickly.”

As Chief Academic Officer, Garza was responsiblefor the educational programming and the academicperformance of 200,000 students and the adminis-tration of 300 schools. Saavedra said one of theirmost lasting accomplishments at HISD was the Per-

formance Pay initiative. “I had decided we’d do this,but honestly, I had no idea how to do it. OrdinarilyI’d put it under HR but they weren’t moving fastenough. Karen quickly took ownership. Of course Ididn’t have to ask Karen to take ownership,” he saidlaughing. “This thing wasn’t moving and shestepped up to the plate. It was tied to academics,so she figured she could do it as well as the HR folkscould, and she did. That program continues todayand is why Houston did so well. “

Saavedra was referring to the district’s educa-tional improvement and performance managementmodel, called ASPIRE (Accelerating StudentProgress. Increasing Results and Expectations). TheASPIRE program paid over 18,000 teachers andinstructional staff more than $70 million in perfor-mance bonuses over three years based on theacademic improvement of children.

After Garza’s first year, the average reading scoresof HISD students on the SAT test increased fivepoints while the Texas and national averages fell.

Saavedra noted that one of the most unusualthings about Garza was her relationship with theHouston Chief Financial Officer Melinda Garrett.”Usually in those jobs,” Saavedra said, “there aresilos formed between the financial folks and the aca-demic folks. Not between Garza and Garrett. Theybecame good friends and worked together to makepositive changes happen.”

Garrett confirmed Garza’s achievements: “People inTexas miss her but realize Texas’ loss is Virginia’s gain.They were all happy she got this majorsuperintendent’s job. It is something she really wantedand deserved. She will be great for Fairfax. She is notafraid to make decisions. She always has her hand onthe pulse of the people she is working with.”

Garrett noted that she and Garza shared the samebackground as school teachers; that love of work-ing with children is something they both brought totheir work in funding schools and making sound de-cisions for school districts.

In LubbockAs Lubbock’s Independent School District’s super-

intendent, a job Garza held for four years beforecoming to Fairfax, her accomplishments includeimplementing a standardized curriculum for the29,000-student district, focus on student achievement,and financial stability. She left LISD with the largestfund balance they had ever had and worked throughsome hard times with state funding, getting gains forteachers, students, and taxpayers. Garza helped leadthe effort to win voter approval of a $198 million bondin 2010, the largest bond in the district’s history. As

Lubbock superintendent, Garza narrowed the achieve-ment gap, increased the graduation rate and helpedreduce the number of students who drop out.

Linda DeLeon, a Fairfax County resident who hadserved as a school board member in Lubbock, wasdelighted to see Garza come to Fairfax.

She was asked by someone to attend one ofGarza’s early public hearings in Fairfax. When hername was announced to the group, Garza lifted herhead and gave DeLeon a big smile: “Well, here isLinda, someone I knew from Lubbock.” DeLeon hadbeen a school board member for 18 years in Lub-bock under five different superintendents (but notduring Garza’s tenure) and had kept track of thethings Garza did while there.

She was impressed: “Karen Garza was up to thechallenge. What made her positive was she waswilling to sit with groups of people and have discus-

sions. Decisions were made that were very tough,but she never wavered from being able to sit downwith a group even if they were against the decisionsshe was looking to move forward with.”

DeLeon said Garza made positive changes in Lub-bock. One was to consolidate schools. “Closing theschools was the hardest issue for her. So many par-ents came to these hearings, and complained thatclosing schools was not right, that the school wasthe nucleus of the neighborhood. But Garza workedwith them until you could see a transformation fromthose parents. It’s true that now the kids have to goa little further, but what they did made it possiblefor 2-3 teachers to teach a 3rd grade class. Theycoordinated, they worked together, and they did amuch better job serving the needs of the kids. Youcould also actually see the gap close between mi-nority and ‘anglo’ kids.”

BioKAREN GARZACurrent Position:

Fairfax CountyPublic SchoolsSuperintendent

Salary: $265,000Age: 51Hometown: Canyon,

TexasSpouse: Louis GarzaChildren: Four, grownEducation: Ph.D., University of Texas-Austin, May

2002; M.Ed., University of Houston-Victoria, May1994; B.S., University of Houston-Victoria, 1986.

Facts about FCPS❖ 196 schools❖ Employs 23,447 people❖ Teaches 183, 895 students❖ Receives 52.4% of the county budget ($1,768.5 million)❖ Spends $13,472 dollars per student❖ Educates more students in trailers than total enrollment

of Alexandria City Public Schools

To Learn More❖ www.fccpta.org❖ www.fcps.edu❖ www.fcft.org❖ www.boarddocs.com/vsba/

Fairfax/Board.nsf/Public❖ www.greatschools.org

Superintendent Karen Garza begins and endsher Listening Tour meetings with a plea to thosein the room — parents, teachers, employees,unions — to help her achieve what needs to bedone for their school system.

“I am going to need your help,” she says toaudiences who voice concerns about class size,resources for special education, and teacher sala-ries.

Garza says she hopes to have a lot morepeople engaged during the budget process thisspring. “Come and testify. Talk with your Boardof Supervisors at those meetings. It’s usuallyfilled with folks. But we need a lot more parentsand advocates for our public schools to be in thatroom.”

Garza explains: “We grow by 17-20 studentsevery single day. We have grown by 20,000 stu-dents in six years. This is a huge strain on ourbudget. We spend $25 million a year to supportnew students. We aren’t happy with teacher sala-ries. We need to help people in our areaunderstand our budget. Help us as we enter thisnext budget year.”

“Read our ‘Citizens Guide’,” says Garza.“There’s lots of good information in there to helppeople understand how the system works andhow they can help. This year it includes a sec-tion on why your year-end balance ends up

being what it is. The more we can get people toread that document, the more people will followhow the system works and make solid inputs. “

“We need to get more business and commu-nity leaders to understand: Poverty is growing,our county is definitely changing. We startedsome outreach this year with our superintendentround-tables.”

The president of the Fairfax County Councilof PTAs, Debbie Kilpatrick, underlined the needfor more community involvement: “Karen Garzacannot do this on her own. Parents need to getmore involved so they know what they can doto support Garza and their schools. They shouldlook at the websites, come to PTA meetings,know what the issues are and vote on them. Canshe get smaller classrooms achieved? If she saysit, she will do it. But she will need help.”

Steven Greenburg, president of FairfaxCounty Federation of Teachers, echoed Garza’splea. “Do we know as a group of people, as av-erage citizens living in Fairfax County, how totake action? If this community sees value ineducation then voters have to make their viewsknown. Karen Garza won’t get what she wantswithout more involvement by the community,”Greenburg said. “People will have to reach outto public officials and let them know where thevoters stand.”

Schools Need Community’s Help

Graphics by

Laurence Foong/

The Connection

By Tim Peterson

& Eden Brown

The Connection

Karen Garza is a good listener. Andonce she’s listened, she is, admit-tedly, not very patient.

“If there’s a real issue, I don’tthink it has to be debated for 10 or 15 years,”Garza said in an interview. “Either we’regoing to do something about it or not.”

In May and June 2014, less than 12months after taking the helm as superinten-dent of Fairfax County Public Schools, Garzaand her staff hosted eight community meet-ings on the topic of later start times for highschools. According to FCPS, 1,000 peopleparticipated in person, another 2,000weighed in online.

By October, the School Board voted in fa-vor of changing the start times, somethingit had been considering for years but neverpushed forward. For the 2015-2016 schoolyear, all county high schools will start classesbetween 8 a.m. and 8:10 a.m.

Another entrenched issue: moving fromhalf-day Mondays at elementary schools tofull-days. The half-day weekly teacher workperiod dated back to the 1970s.

“Once we identified we really have an is-sue here, we don’t have enough time builtinto our elementary schedules, I met withthe team and I said, ‘Can we get this done?’”said Garza. “These are the reasons why weneed to change it, our timeline is aggres-sive, but can we get it done? And they said,‘Yes we can.’”

The School Board broke with 40 years ofhalf-day Mondays with a vote in June 2014.The change went into effect at the begin-ning of September.

“She looked at these with a new eye andwas very eager to move on them,” said RyanMcElveen, an at-large School Board mem-ber who was part of the group that hiredGarza, “so we could get on with dealing withother issues.”

McElveen said Garza’s face-time at addi-tional “listening tours,” meetings she’s beenhosting around the county since she cameto Fairfax from Lubbock, Texas in July 2013,have helped re-establish critical communityties.

“Under the previous superintendent,”McElveen said, “there were perceptions theboard and the central office had precipi-

tously been removed from the viewpoint andperspective of the community. That was keyin our hiring of Karen. We were looking forsomeone who could bring the communityback into the fold.”

FORMER FCPS Superintendent DanielDomenech still lives in Fairfax County, andhis perspective differs somewhat fromMcElveen. “It didn’t seem to me there was adistance with [Garza’s predecessor] JackDale,” he said. “I always felt that Fairfax asa school system was very responsive to thecommunity, very much in tune with what’sgoing on.”

The two menagree that com-munity involve-ment is crucial tomoving the schoolsystem forward.In a county of180,000 studentsthat’s growing by17 a day (accord-ing to Garza), that’s a lot of parents with alot of voices to listen to.

Debbie Kilpatrick, vice president of mem-bership with Virginia PTA, is impressed sofar with Garza being “inclusive” and having“contagious high energy.”

“She has a schedule not many peoplecould keep up with and she really doesn’tsay no to anyone who wants her time,” saidKilpatrick. “On the contrary, she says, ‘No, Iwant to listen.’”

Tina Hone, a School Board member from2007 to 2011 and founder of the advocacygroup Coalition of the Silence, disagreedwith Garza over her first budget proposalfor the county.

“We had a little crossing of swords,” saidHone. “What I really respect about Karen: Ipublicly made a statement, then she calledme. I looked at the phone, pulled it awayfrom my head and looked at it again. I wasblown away by that.”

Hone sees Garza in stark contrast to pre-vious FCPS leadership that exhibited “very

much an effort tocontrol ratherthan respond.”She cited the con-troversial closingof Clifton Elemen-tary School inJune 2011, whenshe said the boarddid little to consult

with the public first.“There was this sense there were mem-

bers of the School Board who said they don’twant to meet with people who disagreedwith them,” she said.

“It takes courage to be a problem-solver,”

Karen Garza’s vision: the irresistible force movingthe immovable object of Fairfax County Public Schools?

Profile

How Does She Do It?schools.

“It’s my view that to better align a largesystem, you have to narrow the number ofpeople at the highest levels making the de-cisions,” Garza said. “I can create stronger,better alignment with five people than I canwith eight people.”

One of Garza’s hires was Marty Smith aschief of staff, to whom she delegated the leadrole on full-day Mondays. Smith was previ-ously the superintendent of Cluster 1.

“He understands and knows the system,”said Garza. “He knows the players, the rightpeople to bring to the table to get it done.And he’s a good listener, which I appreci-ate.”

“The biggest thing with Dr Garza is trust,”said Smith. “She places a lot in the individu-als who work for her. While I carried outher vision, she was able to really build con-sensus with the board in terms of an indi-vidual approach. She didmuch of the same with teacherand principal associations.”

Even with a streamlined andrealigned support team, “Ob-viously Dr. Garza is the CEOfor them to execute the vi-sion,” said Moon. To be a pas-sionate captain of the ship,Garza is motivated by her lifelong love ofschools and learning. She started her careeras an elementary school teacher, aspiring tobe like her father, a college English profes-sor.

“I love being in classrooms, and I’mamazed at how gifted our students are,” saidGarza. “I’m very mindful of the fact that wehave such an opportunity for a positive im-pact on students’ lives. I try to never losesight of the fact not only are you setting stu-dents up for success at that next level, butin many cases making a memory. Make it apositive one.”

Hone said the teacher in Garza is appar-ent and one key to her current success. “Ev-erything she does, it’s how a teacher ap-proaches things,” Hone said. “It’s clear, ex-plained, pulling people in instead of tellingthem what to do. That dictatorship thingdoesn’t work. There’s always someone run-

Hone continued, “to try to turn the shipagainst the tide, with courage and grace toget this stuff done.”

That courage, grace and increased inputfrom the community are helping Garza gettraction on the issues she prioritizes with theSchool Board, still in its honeymoon phasewith Garza.

“We are all happy with her, the boardmembers,” said at-large member IlryongMoon. “I can say that with confidence. Wemade a right decision bringing her to Fairfax.She’s been helping the members to look atissues in a certain perspective that we oth-erwise wouldn’t have an opportunity to takeadvantage of.”

BUT GARZA is not a one-woman show, andshe attributes her accomplishments in partto the cabinet and administrative structureshe realigned within her first year. Unlikemost new superintendents, Garza broughtzero staff with her from the Lone Star State.Instead, she spent her first fall and winterassessing the team she inherited, before re-organizing in the spring.

Garza nixed the old eight-cluster admin-istration group in favor of five regions andsplit the department of Professional Learn-ing and Accountability roles among otherdepartments. This eliminated five staff po-sitions and saved $637,000, according toJohn Torre, public information officer for the

ning a rebellion.”Garza will be tested when she and the

board tackle the $63.9 million deficit sheprojected for FY2016 — and it gets worsein FY2017.

“She is such a good diplomat and every-one likes her,” said Fairfax County Federa-

tion of Teachers PresidentSteven Greenburg. “But thereis an expectation on the partof some stakeholders that shewill generate revenue andhold county or state officialsaccountable for the decisionsthey take. The only thing thatwould limit what she wants to

accomplish is lack of funds.”If she can manage the funds, Garza has a

Texas-sized list of goals for the county.

New Fairfax County Public SchoolsSuperintendent Karen Garza speaksto parents and teachers at SunriseValley Elementary School Monday,Oct. 28, 2013.

Dr. Karen Garza, incoming FCPSSuperintendent and Dr. DanielDomenech, former FCPS Superin-tendent, both in robes at BryantAlternative School graduation, June13, 2013, where Domenech was thegraduation speaker.

Senior Robyn Smith explains Active Minds while Lindsay Laiks, RachelChalkley, Karen Garza and Kim Dockery listen at a March 2014 assemblyat Woodson High School. More than 1,100 people gathered for comfortand advice in the aftermath of two student deaths.

Superintendent KarenGarza shares a momentwith Debbie Kilpatrick,president of FairfaxCounty Council of PTAsat the Listening Tour onDec. 6.

Photo by

Eden Brown/

The Connection

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Among them are making the compensationfor teachers more competitive with nearbyjurisdictions, developing a strategic plan forredesigning the curriculum to be moreproject- and problem solving-based, reduc-ing class size, bringing technology to morestudents and doubling the availability of Pre-Kindergarten to qualifying students.

To address the funding, another priorityis mobilizing support from businesses in theschool system’s communities. Garza said theFCPS Foundation, under a new yet-to-be-named executive director, will drive supportfrom that relatively untapped resource.

“I’m hoping we’re able to garner a lotmore support from our business commu-nity,” she said, “at least in those areas thatcan help us be more innovative with tech-nology education.”


Holiday Home

By John Byrd

The most dynamic possibilities foran interior design solution mayonly be revealed in unexpectedways and over time. Denise

Kidd, for instance, who has occupied a 30-year-old center hall colonial in Fairfax Sta-tion with husband Scott for more than 20years, was certain the couple had “made thehouse their own” when they remodeled thekitchen 14 years ago.

The makeover had everything Denisewanted: a u-shaped counter with easy ac-cess to stove, refrigerator and clean-up;pleasant maple cabinets; and a pantry inan adjacent family room.

Moreover, the plan discretely partitionedthe kitchen from the family room; the cook’swork space from the breakfast nook.

The cook’s work triangle — according tothe accepted space-planning wisdom of theday — needed to be protected. Yes, someparts of the floor plan were a bit boxy —but isn’t setting perimeters what good de-sign is supposed to do?

Flash forward a few years, and what adifference a stunning realization can make.

Now empty-nesters, the Kidds had beengradually looking at ways to deepen theirsatisfaction with their home — which is situ-ated in a lovely leafy setting, and frequentlythe site of extended family entertaining.

The large screen porch off the familyroom, for instance, was designed to segueinto well-landscaped acreage complete withdecking, hot tub and sports court. The win-dow wall in the breakfast room, likewise,exists principally to emphasize natural sur-roundings.

All these matters considered: why then

shouldn’t Denise’s kitchen also be an “open”affair, a place where the cook can interactwith guests while still enjoying a beautifulday?

Yet, interestingly, the revolution in Kidd’sthinking about her kitchen has humble ori-gins, beginning when she decided that shesimply wanted a wider, deeper refrigerator.

Seeing plainly that a larger model wouldnot fit the tall, narrow cavity holding thecurrent unit, she contacted a remodelingfirm they had previously hired to upgradetheir bathrooms in search of advice.

In short order, designer Liz Lee of SunDesign Remodeling proffered a plan thatwould accommodate a deeper refrigerator,yet also pointed to larger horizons thatmight feasibly be pursued.

“Liz pointed out that we could increasethe height to several rooms in the back ofthe house a full 12 inches by eliminatingthe dropped ceiling,” Kidd said.

“I was intrigued at once, and when sheworked up perspective drawings, I realized

that the plan would open up sight lines anddramatically alter the dynamics of the en-tire space. It seemed right for Scott and I inthis new phase of our life.”

Lee said, “Raising a ceiling usually makesa space seem much larger. Especially whenyou have the kind of indoor/outdoor con-nectivity this house was designed to pro-file.”

WORK WITH ROOMS that suddenlyseemed expansive, even generous, Lee’splan reconfigured the 90-square-foot gal-ley kitchen to better flow with the break-fast nook and family room.

To gain floor space for new appliances,the designer relocated the doorway be-tween the kitchen and dining room to themiddle of the wall, installing a pair offrosted glass pocket doors for both privacyand added natural light.

Deleting the cumbersome pantry that hadserved as a space divider between thekitchen and the family room, Lee next

Reconfiguration Makes for Holiday Family FunTransitional-styleinterior solutionimproves 30-year-oldfloor plan.

DetailsSun Design Remodeling frequently sponsors

tours of recently remodeled homes as well as work-shops on home remodeling topics. Headquarteredin Burke, the firm recently opened a second officein McLean. Call 703-425-5588 or visitwww.SunDesignInc.com.

Scott and Denise Kidd of Fairfax Station are starting off the New Yearwith a kitchen-centric entertainment suite.

opened up the space by wrapping an inte-rior wall with custom-designed floor-to-ceil-ing cabinetry.

Situated between a of pair of archwayslinking the house from front to back, thepiece features two glass-faced, back-lit cabi-nets. As the new home for Denise Kidd’sstemware and fine china, the built-in dis-places a bulky, space-consuming hutch inthe breakfast nook. Better yet, its 8-foot-by2-foot’ bianco romano granite surface morethan triples the kitchen’s horizontal serv-ing capacity.

“It’s a great serving station for the entirefirst floor including the screened porch,”Kidd said. “It’s created logical, unclutteredcirculation patterns we simply didn’t havebefore.”

Meanwhile, a substantially larger refrig-erator, wine cooler and microwave nowoccupy formerly restricted kitchen floorspace which opens invitingly into the fam-ily room.

Roughly paralleling the new cabinet con-sole, a multi-level surface that curves intothe breakfast nook replaces the existing L-shaped counter. Equipped with a pair ofstainless steel clean-up sinks and a diningcounter with two stools, the new designfunctions as a casual mid-room gatheringspot — steps from the breakfast table, aneasy stride from the mudroom, new pantryand laundry room.

“People were always gathering at thecounter anyway,” Kidd said. “Liz’s plan sim-ply makes it a lot easier for friends to dropin for a chat while I keep an eye on themeal.”

Better yet, the new interior allows Deniseto take in the backyard views while stand-ing at the sink.

Balancing the panoramic sight lines, Lee’sthoughtful finishwork gives the space itspanache and brighter, lighter ambiance. Astone and glass tile backsplash unifieskitchen walls with the elegant new chinacabinet. Crown molding and other detail-ing marry the bold new built-in to thehome’s fundamentally formal interior de-sign elements.

“The execution is pretty consistent withwhat has come to be known as transitionaldesign style,” Lee said. “Formal elementscarefully integrated into an open plan al-low for easier interaction within a cohesiveaesthetic presentation.”

For Kidd, that also means it’s easier totend to the kitchen while alsoentertaining...and the timing couldn’t bebetter.

“We’re having 15 for Christmas, and I’mready,” Denise said. “It’s a good feeling.”

John Byrd ([email protected]) has beenwriting about home improvement topics for 30 years.

The two stainless sinks have easedclean-up, owner Denise Kidd says.She also now has an unobstructedview of the backyard.

An L-shaped kitchen counter has been replaced with a multi-level sur-face that curves into the more open family living area.

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Sports

See Parent Coaches, Page 15

By Jon Roetman

The Connection

Keith A. Kaufman, Ph.D., a sportpsychologist with offices inWashington, D.C. and Old TownAlexandria, said two potential

issues stand out for a young athlete coachedby a parent.

“I think two issues that jump out to meare the athlete feels like they can never es-cape talking about the sport,” Kaufman saidin a phone interview, “or they feel too muchscrutiny or not enough; like they feel likethey’re treated differently [than other mem-bers of the team].”

Kaufman said “it’s absolutely essentialthere are boundaries,” when a parent iscoaching his or her child, and it’s impor-tant the child is treated in the same man-ner as his or her teammates. While each caseis different, he said the relationship can bebeneficial.

“I would say most coaches are harder ontheir own kids than they are on the regularkids,” Madison assistant volleyball coachChristine Zanellato said. “We tend to pointout when they mess up more than youwould with another kid.”

Zanellato and head coach Carrie Hall eachhave a daughter on the Madison volleyballteam, which was one point away from cap-turing the VHSL 6A state championship inthe fall. Zanellato coached her daughter,Natale, when she was young, but stoppedwhen Natale was in middle school.

Their relationship had some rough spots.“When I was in [sixth] grade, I hated it,”

Natale said. “I would cry most nights. Iwould cry on the way home [from volley-ball]. I was very sensitive. I would get a littleupset when she would tell me to suck it upor do this and that. I wasn’t as good withher criticism.”

After a few years playing for othercoaches, Natale started to appreciate hermom’s volleyball knowledge. Zanellatoplayed collegiately at LSU and coached theFairfax High varsity from 2007-2011. Whenit came time for high school, Natale, whoattended Lake Braddock as a freshman,wanted her mom as a coach. Zanellatojoined the Bruins’ staff as an assistant in2012.

“I think what has worked out well for usis that we have a really solid relationshipand she trusts that when I am working toimprove her skills, I’m looking at her as anathlete,” Zanellato said. “My criticism is allbased on what she needs to do on the court.It’s not about her personally. I think that’sthe hardest thing [about being a parent/coach] is kids sometimes personalize thecomments.”

Natale would later transfer to Madison.

After not playing high school volleyball hersophomore year, Natale joined the Warhawkvarsity as a junior and was a key contribu-tor at outside hitter for the 2014 state run-ners-up.

“I love working with my mom,” Natalesaid. “I respect her. I know that she playedgreat. She’s a great coach. When I wasyounger, it was a little rougher. I was justlike, ‘I don’t want to listen to you,’ that kindof stuff. I respect her judgment and I re-spect what she’s saying. I really respect heropinion. I love having her on the coachingstaff.”

Hall said she treats her daughter, Kendal,a standout junior setter for the Warhawks,no differently than any other member of theteam.

“It’s not hard to me at all,” Hall said. “I’vebeen here 14 years and to me it’s about theprogram. … It’s the program first, then mydaughter.”

Hall said the two talk about volleyball athome, but don’t discuss strategy.

“We talk about if we think we had a goodgame or not that night, but nothing tooelaborate,” Hall said. “… That way she’s partof the team, I’m part of the coaching staff.She doesn’t need to know anything that’sgoing on.”

Kendal said she’s appreciative of hermom’s volleyball knowledge.

“It’s definitely nice,” Kendal said, “com-ing home and having someone to talk towho definitely knows what they’re doing.”

Langley football coach John Howerton

started his sons on a path toward gridironsuccess at a young age. Jack, now a sopho-more at Stetson University in DeLand, Fla.,and Tyler, now a sophomore at Langley,started strength and skill training before theage of 10. However, they did not play orga-nized football until high school.

Howerton, who was inducted into theShepherd University athletic Hall of Fameafter garnering All-American status as anoffensive tackle, taught his sons the basicfundamentals of offensive line play, such asgetting in a proper stance. He also showedthem the basics of strength training, includ-ing 15-minute workouts with a lightweightaluminum pipe.

Coaching one’s ownchild can be stressful,rewarding.

Parent Coaches Searching for Balance

Photo by Craig Sterbutzel/The Connection

Natale Zanellato, left, helped the Madison volleyballteam finish state runner-up in the fall. Her mother,Christine Zanellato, is an assistant coach for theWarhawks.

Photo by Craig Sterbutzel/The Connection

Madison head volleyball coach Carrie Hall’s daughter,Kendal Hall, is a setter for the Warhawks.

Photo contributed

Langley offensive lineman Tyler Howerton, left, isseen as a freshman in 2013. His father, JohnHowerton, right, is the Langley head football coachand is a member of the Shepherd University athleticHall of Fame. Tyler’s grandfather, Cig Howerton, is amember of the Randolph-Macon Hall of Fame.

Photo contributed

Hayfield’s Molly Overstreet, middle, is a two-timeVHSL state champion gymnast. Her mother, KristinOverstreet, right, is an assistant coach with theHawks. Also pictured is Hayfield head coach MichellePennow.


By Abigail Constantino

The Connection

Being listed in Holly’s TackyChristmas Lights website is nodubious honor. For somehouses, it is an actual honor

to be included in the list Holly Zell haskept up since 2001. “They are tacky notin the sense of that word. To me they arebeautiful,” said Zell, of Fairfax. Tacky isthe name she started the site with andthe name has stuck. Her love of Christ-mas lights started when she was a child.Gazing at Christmas lights was some-thing she and her mother did.

The site lists houses in Virginia andnow Maryland, where Zell lives part-time. But there are many houses listed,complete with detailed descriptions ofthe light decorations, in Fairfax, Spring-field, Annandale and Alexandria.

Zell knows some of the owners, espe-cially those who have decorated grandlyover the years. Owners even submit theirhouses for inclusion, said Zell. KarenSherman, of Springfield, has been com-ing to see the lights at 8700 Nanlee Drivein Springfield for about five years. Thehouse’s lights are her daughter Isabella’s,6, favorite this year.

Cyndi York, of Springfield, broughtalong William, 10, and Benjamin, 8, tolook at the top voted favorite at 5406

Fremont Street in Springfield. They haveseen three so far in one night, thanks to thelist from Zell’s website.

The website also tells gawkers to respectthe homeowner’s privacy with warnings tomaintain their distance and not trespass inthe display. In turn, owners whose displayshave musical accompaniments instructpeople to tune in to a particular radio sta-tion to watch the lights dance to the music.

There is only one category to be includedin the list, which is Zell’s way of sharingthe joy of Christmas, “They have to knockmy socks off,” she said. “When I turn aroundthe corner and see the lights, I have to be

grinning from ear to ear.”To take a tour, visit http://

www.fairfaxchristmaslights.com/. A mapis available on the website.

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centerin Greenbelt, where Zell works, recentlylooked at data from the Suomi NPP sat-ellite and found that patterns in light in-tensity change during major holidays sea-sons. Zell’s images were used in some ofthe illustrations.

For more information on the NASAfinding, visit http://www.nasa.gov/con-tent/goddard/satellite-sees-holiday-lights-brighten-cities/#.VJEKSWTF_nU.

Santa is NotGoing to MissThese HousesFairfax, Springfield housesbrighten the holiday.

5421 Inverchapel Road, Springfield includes inflat-able cartoon characters.

A nativity scene is part of lawn display at 8700Nanlee Drive, Springfield.

The dancinglights at5406 Fre-mont Street,Springfield isthe top ratedfavorite onHolly’s TackyChristmasLights.

Photos by Abigail Constantino/The Connection

Holiday

See Calendar, Page 13

Calendar

Send notes to the Connection [email protected] or call 703-778-9416. The deadline is the Friday prior to the nextpaper’s publication. Dated announcements should besubmitted at least two weeks prior to the event.

THROUGH SUNDAY/JAN. 4Meadowlark’s Winter Walk of Lights. 5:30

p.m. Meadowlark Botanical Garden, 9750Meadowlark Gardens Court, Vienna. A winterwonderland, including a flowing stream of softlyglowing lights, a two story animated fountainand a Gingerbread Village. Admission: $13adults, $8 children ages 3-12; children under 3are free.

Bull Run Festival of Lights & HolidayVillage. 5:30-9:30 p.m. Bull Run RegionalPark, Centreville. The Portal Wreath signifyingthe official start of the beautiful Bull RunFestival of Lights, this display has been part ofthe show since 2006. Each year a new ornamentrepresenting a display in the show will be addedto this collection, and the portal wreath is thefirst in the series. Santa’s Enchanted Lights, withover 40,000 animated lights set to music! Thisgreat feature is merely a fraction of what you’llfind at this season’s Festival of Lights.Admission: $20 per car.

THROUGH TUESDAY/JAN. 6Christmas at Mount Vernon. 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

George Washington’s Mount Vernon, 3200Mount Vernon Memorial Highway, MountVernon. Themed decorations (including 12Christmas trees) and historical chocolate-makingdemonstrations will be offered. Tour the rarely-open third floor of the Mansion and learn howthe Washingtons celebrated Christmas. In 1787,George Washington paid 18 shillings to bring acamel to Mount Vernon for the enjoyment of hisguests. During Christmas at Mount Vernon,visitors can meet a camel on the grounds.

THROUGH SATURDAY/JAN. 31Exhibit of Colorful Nutcrackers. 11 a.m. - 4

p.m. Closed on Tuesdays. Sully Historic Site,3650 Historic Sully Way, Chantilly. See anamazing array of nutcrackers, both old and new,in a colorful case exhibit. Did you ever wonderwhere the craze for collecting nutcracker dollscame from? Nutcrackers have a fascinatinghistory. The first nutcrackers were produced tocrack nuts more effectively and the oldestknown metal example, on exhibit in Tarent,Italy, is from the third or fourth century B.C.The Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum inLeavenworth, Washington, shows a bronzeRoman nutcracker dated between 200 B.C and200 A.D. German nutcrackers, made asdecorative pieces, were developed around 1500.Early nutcrackers were in the shapes of animals,birds and people. Later, they were made in thelikeness of kings, soldiers, church leaders andruling class figures. Fine wood carvednutcrackers were created across Europe,especially in France and England by the 15thand 16th centuries. Admission: $7/adult, $6/student, $5/senior or child.

THROUGH SUNDAY/FEB. 8Dressing for the Occasion: An Exhibition of

Costumes and Textiles RepresentingFairfax Personalities and Events.Exhibition. Fairfax Museum & Visitor Center,10209 Main Street, Fairfax. Open daily 9 a.m.-5p.m. 703-385-8414.

MONDAY/DEC. 22Holiday Happenings. 10:30 a.m. Burke Centre

Library, 5935 Freds Oak Road, Burke. Comecelebrate the holidays and join us for stories,songs, activities, and crafts. Ages 3-5 with adult.703-249-1520.

Pohick Prose Society For Teens. 7 p.m. PohickLibrary, 6450 Sydenstricker Road, Burke. Age13-18 will discuss their favorite books.

THURSDAY/DEC. 25Third Annual Christmas Day of “Giving

Back.” 1-5 p.m. Kilroys, Ravensworth ShoppingCenter 5236 Port Royal Road, Springfield. Theevent this year has expanded to include packingCare Packages for our deployed ServiceMembers, accepting Thank You Letters and


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Americas Adopt A Soldier will hold their ThirdAnnual Christmas Day of “Giving Back”, Thurs-day Dec. 25 1-5 p.m.at Kilroys, located in theRavensworth Shopping Center 5236 Port RoyalRoad, Springfield, according to Mary Keeser,Founder.

We had received several request to hold theevent again this this year. In the past DonMcIlvaine, owner of Ravensworth Properties, gaveback by allowing us to host these annual CarePackings in one of his unoccupied RavensworthShopping Center spaces. As the Shopping Centeris going under renovation, this option was notavailable to us this year. We turned to the ownerof Kilroys, Phillip (Pip) Thomas, a veteran andconsummate supporter of our military family, whowithout hesitation asked, “when do you want thedoors unlocked? Quickly followed by, I’ll make thecoffee for everyone.” Keeser expressed her thanks

and explained to Pip, in years past we didn’t evenhave heat at the events, our volunteers dressedwarm and were always upbeat.

Pip has opened the doors to Kilroys early onSaturday mornings for years to enable volunteersto marshal up to registration and get a hot cup ofcoffee before beginning to load up the trucks andmove a needy service member or previously home-less veteran into their household.

All of the Kilroy staff has volunteered to workon Dec. 25. The event this year has expanded toinclude packing Care Packages for deployed ser-vice members, accepting thank you letters andcards for veterans in veterans homes and hospi-tals and accepting, clean gently used or new win-ter coats for local homeless veterans. We wouldlike to invite the public by to join us in saying,“Thank You” to our Veterans and Deployed Ser-vice Members for their Service and Sacrifices.

Saying Thank-you to Service Members, VeteransWeek in Springfield

Calendar

From

Cards for our Veterans in Veterans Homes andHospitals and accepting, clean gently used ornew Winter Coatsfor our local HomelessVeterans. http://www.americasadoptasoldier.org/

“The Frisco Kid.” 3 p.m. Jewish CommunityCenter of Northern Virginia, 8900 Little RiverTurnpike, Fairfax. The day includesentertainment, food and fun for all ages.Magician Jay Mattioli performs (he was a finaliston TV’s America’s Got Talent), arts and crafts,games and activities, face painting, moonbounce, and a community service project.Kosher food available for purchase. At 3 p.m.,the JCCNV will screen “The Frisco Kid”— ahilarious 1979 comedy/western starring GeneWilder and Harrison Ford. J Fest fee per family(up to 6 people): $20/ $15 JCCNV member.Film only: free. Call 703-323-0880 for detailsand to register, or visit www.jccnv.org.

FRIDAY-SATURDAY/DEC. 26-27Workhouse Music Hall Series: A Boxing Day

Special Edition. 8 p.m. Workhouse ArtsCenter, 9601 Ox Road, Lorton. This weekend,the Workhouse performers will whisk back intime, to a good old-fashioned rowdy Music Hall!Laughter and songs (both vintage and modernsongs that evoke the mood) will fill the air in anhomage to the famously unique brand ofentertainment known as the Music Hall. Tickets:$18-$24. workhouse.org.

SATURDAY/DEC. 27“A Christmas Carol.” 1 p.m. Workhouse Arts

Center, 9601 Ox Road, Lorton. LIVE onstage!When Scrooge, the owner of a hotel, decidesthat his employees can’t have the day off toenjoy Christmas with their families, Santa (in

disguise), decides it is time for a change. Santasends The Spirit of Christmas to visit Scroogeand show him his past, present and future. WillScrooge’s heart change? You will have to comeand enjoy this wonderful original adaptation bythe well-known Producer/Director/Playwright,Vianlix Mestey, to discover the answer. Let’smake this Christmas one that Scrooge will neverforget! Running time 75 minutes with oneintermission, appropriate for all ages. Tickets:$9-$13. workhouse.org.

MONDAY/DEC. 29Petr McCory’s One-Man Band. 2:30 p.m.

Richard Byrd Library, 7250 Commerce Street,Springfield. Enjoy songs from around the worldwith Peter McCory and his one-man band. Allages. Please sign up each child and adultseparately.

WEDNESDAY/DEC. 31Cool Cow Presents: Jeff Maurer NYE Special

Engagement. 7 & 9 p.m. Workhouse ArtsCenter, 9601 Ox Road, Lorton. Cool CowComedy’s headliners and featured performerstake the stage in the W-3 Theatre onceagain!.Host and Comedian Rahmein Mostafavi

(who has performed stand-upas such venues as DC Improv,Richmond Funny Bone andCaroline’s on Broadway)

leads regular sold out shows, making Cool Cowa staple of the entertainment options in Lorton!This month, headliner Jeff Maurer appears onthe Workhouse stage. Your ticket will includeperformance, light snack fare andcomplimentary admission to the New Year’s EveConcert and Dance in the McGuireWoodsGallery featuring The 6th Generation. A la cartebeer, wine, soft drinks are sold beforeperformance. Due to ABC regulations, guests arenot permitted to bring outside alcoholicbeverages to performances. Due to maturesubject matter, patrons under the age of 18 mustbe accompanied by parent or legal guardian.Tickets: $35-$40. http://www.workhousearts.org/

New Year’s Eve Masquerade Ball. 8 p.m.Empire, 6355 Rolling Road, Springfield. Liveperformances by Ego Likeness and Bella Morte.Doors at 8 p.m. 18+. http://www.empire-nova.com/event/728885-new-years-eve-masquerade-springfield/

Fairfax Four Miler. 6 p.m. Pacers Fairfax, 10427North St., Fairfax. A four-mile road race in OldTown Fairfax followed by food andentertainment. Proceeds support the FairfaxPolice Youth Club. 703-537-0630.www.runpacers.com. $40.

TUESDAY/JAN. 6Stories from Strawberry Park. 10 a.m. Mosaic

District, 2910 Distrcit Avenue, Fairfax. Enjoy alive interactive performance each week taughtby a group of unique storytellers. For ages 10and under. Held outside in Strawberry Park. Ininclement weather story time will be held inAngelika Film Center.

SATURDAY/JAN. 10 QuinTango performs at the Jewish Community

Center of Northern Virginia, 8900 Little RiverTurnpike, Fairfax. 8 p.m. Tickets: $29 non-members JCCNV, $24 JCCNV members andseniors. $19 for those under 30. For ticketsinformation call 703-537-3000 or visit:www.jccnv.org

Photo courtesy of QuinTango

QuinTango, chamber tango quintet, performs at the Jewish CommunityCenter of Northern Virginia in Fairfax Jan. 10.


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Ocean Pines

Dr.Donald Anthony Fleger, age 85, passed into eternal rest at Atlantic General Hospital on Sunday,

December 14, 2014. Born November 21, 1929, in Cleveland, Ohio, he was the son of the late Anthony A. and Mary Nemec Fleger. He is survived by his beloved wife of 59 years Mary

K. Fleger and children, Kathleen Mary Tracy and her husband Patrick of Pittsburgh, PA, Dwayne Edward Fleger

and his wife Marti of Reston, VA and Stephen Anthony Fleger and his wife Melanie of Herndon, VA. There are nine

grandchildren, Patrick Tracy, Christopher Tracy, Timothy Tracy, Cassie Jackson, Kirstie Fleger, Kalla Fleger,

Katherine Fleger, Andrew Fleger, Jordan Fleger, and four great-grandchildren, Madison Fleger, Lilliane Fleger, Andrew

Fleger, Jr., and Evelyn Fleger.

His family moved to Washington, DC in 1940 when his father was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. During that tenure, Don attended Capital Page School where he

served two years as a Page in the US House.. He attended University of VA and was a 1955 graduate of the George-town University School of Dentistry. He then served as a dentist in the US Army for two years as a Captain while

stationed at Fort Meade, MD. Following his discharge, he moved his family to Virginia and opened a dental practice. After 30 years he retired to Ocean Pines in 1988. There he served as an active member of the Environmental Control

Committee for approximately 20 years.

Donald was an affectionate husband and caring father who adored his grandchildren and great grandchildren. In his

spare time he enjoyed boating, wood working, model building and watching the Washington Redskins. Above all, he will be

remembered for his love of family, optimistic outlook and tenacious drive to never give up.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Friday, December 19, 2014 at 11:00 AM at St. John Neumann Catholic Church.

Friends may call on Wednesday, December 17, from 3:00 until 6:00 PM at the Burbage Funeral Home in Berlin. Pray-ers will be said beginning 4:00 PM by Rev. William Porter. A

donation in his memory may be made to: St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital 262 Danny Thomas Place,

Memphis TN, 38105. Letters of condolence may be sent via: www.burbagefuneralhome.com

21 Announcements 21 Announcements

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building and electrical knowledge. Must be at least 21 years of age and have valid

DL and a good driving record, and able to pass a bkground check. Please put your

salary requirement. Send resumes to [email protected] or call Mike Byrne at

301-370-8434.

21 Announcements 21 Announcements

Falls Church AntiqueS

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Unique collection of antiques and collectibles,including furniture, jewelry, glassware, pottery,

sterling silver, paintings, prints and more!Fun home and gift ideas!

26 Antiques 26 Antiques

HDI COMPUTER SOLUTIONSJENNIFER SMITH ❖ Serving the Area Since 1995

➣ Speed up Slow Computers➣ Troubleshooting➣ Virus Removal➣ Computer Setup

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21 Announcements

ABC LICENSEKumkang, Inc trading as Delicioso, 7863 Heritage Drive, Annandale, VA 22003. The above establishment is applying to the VIRGINIA DE-PARTMENT OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL (ABC) FOR A Beer on Premises license to sell or manufacture alcoholic beverages. Sun Hee Lee, President.NOTE: Objections to the issu-ance of this license must be submitted to ABC no later that 30 days from the publishing date of the first of two required newspaper legal notices. objections should be regis-tered at www.abc.virginia.gov or 800-552-3200.

26 Antiques

We pay top $ for STERLING, MEN'S WATCHES,

JEWELRY, COSTUME JEWELRY, FURNITURE,

PAINTINGS AND CLOCKS.Schefer Antiques

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From Page 11

Sports

Jack earned all-state honors during histime at Langley. He could bench press 500pounds and squat 675. He is now an offen-sive lineman at Stetson. Tyler recently com-pleted his sophomore season as a starter onthe Langley varsity. Both played right guardfor the Saxons.

Howerton said hehas tried to treat Jackand Tyler in an equalfashion to other play-ers on the team, butadmits he has higherexpectations for hissons.

“I try to treat themas any kid out there,”Howerton said. “As aparent, you probablyhave more expecta-tions for your ownsons. I try not to yellat them any more orless than anyoneelse. I do expect themto excel as much aspossible becausethey’ve been exposedto me as a coachmore than the other kids have.”

Howerton was coached by his father,Elton “Cig” Howerton, in youth football. CigHowerton was an All-American atRandolph-Macon and was inducted into theuniversity’s athletic Hall of Fame.

Hayfield assistant gymnastics coachKristin Overstreet started coaching herdaughter, Molly, at a young age, as well,but it didn’t take long for Molly to surpassher mother’s teachings.

“I also coached Molly when she was Level3 at Cardinal Gymnastics,” Overstreet said.“She quickly surpassed my coaching abili-ties and moved up through the Level sys-tem in club gymnastics and became a Level9.”

Molly gave up club gymnastics prior toher sophomore year, but still competes atthe high school level for Hayfield. Now ajunior, Molly has already captured a pair ofstate championships, finishing in a three-

way tie for first on vault as a freshman, andsetting a state record on bars as a sopho-more.

At the high school level, Molly rarelyneeds coaching help, allowing Overstreetto focus her attention on the team’s less-experienced gymnasts.

“Molly is so knowledgeable that she cancoach herself,”Overstreet wrote inan email. “She knowsthe corrections sheneeds to make. I justremind her to havefun and do her best.She is also a greatcoach to theyounger/newer girls.She demonstratesskills and gives themcues for making skillseasier for them.

“I love workingwith the Hayfieldgirls. We have ninegirls who have nevercompeted in gymnas-tics before and theyimprove daily. Theyusually need my timeat practice more than

Molly does, but I am always watching herout of the corner of my eye. I rarely have toset limits on her. She knows what is ex-pected and she does it.”

Molly struggles with back pain “fromyears of overuse, training up to 25 hours aweek and the constant pounding and hardlanding,” her mother wrote. The pain is tothe point that Molly might have to walkaway from gymnastics this year, accordingto Overstreet.

Molly said one of the greatest benefits ofhaving her mom as a coach is when it comesto dealing with pain.

“Some benefits for having my mom as acoach are that she knows me the best, sowhen I’m in pain or anything like that, shecan tell,” Molly wrote. “My mom is a veryunderstanding person and her being mymom and coach, it makes it that much easierto communicate with her about what’s go-ing on, or if I don’t want to do something.”

Parent CoachesSearching for Balance

“I think two issues thatjump out to me are: theathlete feels like theycan never escape talkingabout the sport, or theyfeel too much scrutinyor not enough; like theyfeel like they’re treateddifferently [than othermembers of the team].”

— Sport psychologist KeithKaufman, Ph.D.

Bulletin Board

Send notes to the Connection at [email protected] or call 703-778-9416. The deadline forsubmissions is the Friday prior to publication. Dated announcements should be submitted at least twoweeks prior to the event.

MONDAY/DEC. 22English Conversation Group. 7 p.m. Burke Centre Library, 5935 Freds Oak Road, Burke. Practice

English with others and improve your skills. Adults. 703-249-1520.One-on-One English Practice. 7, 8 p.m. Burke Centre Library, 5935 Freds Oak Road, Burke. Practice

speaking, reading and writing English with a volunteer partner. Ages 8 through adult. 703-249-1520.Library Tech Help. 11 a.m. City of Fairfax Regional Library, 10360 North Street, Fairfax. Get your

library-related electronic resources questions answered. Includes help with eBooks and compatibledevices. Bring your library card, eBook reader, and laptop. Adults and teens.

Wag A Tale - Read To A Dog. 10:45 a.m. Kingstowne Library, 6500 Landsdowne Centre, Alexandria.Age 5-12 will love to read to our therapy dog. Sign up for waiting list.


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You Have Saturdays OffThat’s Exactly Why We Don’t!

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