Month: November 2013

The question of the day is “The Difference that Makes a Difference.” The answers are many.

So believe organizers of Charlottesville’s first-ever TEDx event at the Paramount Theater. The event, a local version of the global TED educational conferences, will host 18 speakers from the Charlottesville area who will offer short talks on everything from Shakespearean theater to medical research.

Watch the Charlottesville TEDx talks live here.

“The core concept we all wanted was that the smallest things have the most significant impact,” said Richard Averitt, one of the organizers of the event. “All of these speakers are remarkable individuals, who have done incredible things. The work that they’re doing has a larger, more global compounding effect. More than you might expect.”

His sister Dawn Averitt is one. A local activist for HIV and AIDS research and awareness and survivor of HIV since age 19, she’s also the founder of the Well Project, an organization dedicated to providing accessible information to women living with HIV as well as advocacy for treatment research, Averitt hopes to educate her audience on the next steps in these efforts and how they can help.

“It’s ironic,” she said, “because the U.S. is the global leader in HIV and AIDS treatment, and has an enormous amount to be proud of, but very few people know what’s happening here. There’s an old saying that goes ‘the cobbler’s children have no shoes.’ We can end this epidemic, but we have not done that yet.”

“There is a lot of really good news,” she said. “We know how to prevent it, we know how to treat it, and people living with it are living long healthy lives. We can do better today if people will choose to get off the bleachers and get onto the field, and if we embrace possibility.”

Richard Averitt, Averitt’s brother, and an organizer of the TEDX event, said his sister’s experience and efforts, since her diagnosis have had a worldwide influence.

“Her journey has gone from a place of total fear to now being on Obama’s PACHA (Presidential Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS). The end result is she went on to make a global difference.

“We’ve been going for ten years now,” he said, “We’re helping 30 million people a year. In every single country in the world we’re helping at least one person.”

Hawa Ahmed, a third-year Quest Scholar at the University of Virginia, will speak about the importance of investing in low-income students, an issue that has become particularly relevant with the recent cuts to AccessUVA, the University’s financial aid program.

“I saw that UVa was ranked 30 on the list [of low-income schools],” she said. It’s really alarming that we are at the bottom in terms of socioeconomic diversity. You’d think more prestigious schools would be more welcoming. There’s something about our image that’s not appealing.”

“I didn’t think I was going to go to college,” she explained. “There are a lot of people who work really hard in high school who can’t go to college for purely monetary reasons. My friends go on to be resident advisors and presidents of their organizations, or they write for the school newspaper. We’re just happy to be here.”—Matthew Fay

Our education coverage appears thanks to a partnership with Charlottesville Tomorrow.

As Albemarle County heads into budget season, the Board of Supervisors and school board are trying to figure out which body will lead the conversation about a possible expansion of Bright Stars, the County’s pre-K program for at-risk 4-year-olds.

“The real issue here is a question about whose job it is,” Albemarle School Board Chair Steve Koleszar told the Board of Supervisors at a joint meeting last week. “From my perspective, it’s a county decision about whether you want to go ahead with it or not.”

“If you decide that you want to do it,” Koleszar added, “we’ll make it work.”

But Supervisor Ann Mallek said the body can’t make that decision until the school board provides more information about projected program costs and school capacities.

“I think I need to know how many zeros we’re talking about, and then we might know how much we might be able to accomplish,” she said.

Bright Stars, which served 155 4-year-olds at eight elementary schools last year, provides comprehensive social services for preschoolers and their families until children complete fifth grade.

In addition to the preschool program, Bright Stars provides family coordinators who address a family’s employment and financial issues. They also involve family members in the school community and teach parents how to support child learning.

The prospect of expansion arose from steady increases of waitlisted families, which recently was as high as 86.

Koleszar said that the school board supports Bright Stars, but has yet to take a position on whether or not it wants to spend more from its own budget.

“We, of course, have really embraced having those students there, and so there’s all of these in-kind kinds of things that don’t get counted in the cost of the program,” Koleszar added, citing art and music teachers, transportation, and principals. “But the actual funding for the expansion of adding the classroom teachers…has come from a different stream.”

Currently the Bright Stars program is funded by money from the schools, county government, and the Virginia Preschool Initiative.

Supervisor Dennis S. Rooker expressed concern that the school division wouldn’t have the extra space to house the students, but Koleszar said that while the division has a few capacity-constrained schools, they could handle the additional students.

“If the decision is made that we want to find seats and have classes for those 85 kids, we can work those facilities out,” Koleszar said. “It may mean that we have to put a trailer or two there.”

County executive Tom Foley said that he will meet with school officials to generate a report containing the requested information.

County schools consider $5 million Agnor-Hurt addition

Albemarle County Public Schools has awarded a contract for an addition at Agnor-Hurt Elementary School to Charlottesville-based SHW Architects. On Thursday, SHW representatives will present a design to the Albemarle School Board.

The proposed addition, which covers nearly 12,000 square feet, will add 132 seats to the school in northern Albemarle—an area of the county experiencing significant enrollment increases. Construction is slated to begin in June 2014, and be completed by the start of the 2015-16 school year.

The project also includes the renovation of another 5,000 square feet of existing art and music classrooms, and security enhancements to the school’s entrance that will resemble the entrance to Greer Elementary. As Albemarle looks at capital projects, schools spokesman Phil Giaramita said the division is focusing on both security and enhancing learning spaces.

MEET YOUR EDUCATOR: Jill Dahl, Principal, Charlottesville High School

What has been the most challenging aspect of becoming an administrator? 

Time, by far, is the most challenging aspect. There is always someone who wants to meet and share their ideas or concerns. It is important to hear what people have to say, especially being new to the school. However, it takes a lot of time out of the day to meet with everyone that wants to meet.

In what new ways do you support student learning?

While it is not new, I embrace the idea of technology in the classroom to engage students in learning. While our students “know” technology and it is a part of their everyday life, we need to redirect the purpose of what it can be used for and teach them that there is more than Twitter, Vine, and YouTube.

What are you doing to engage the community at your school?

We are partnering with various community resources like The City of Promise. They will come into the school to talk with teachers and parents to share their goals, and in return we will work with them to reach out to the community to share our goals. This year I want to begin to take the school to the community. I want to host more events at various community centers, such as parent teacher conferences and curriculum fairs.

How will you respect your school’s history and culture while making the decisions necessary to educate young people for their future?

This year it will be about observing and listening. There are many great things going on at CHS and I want to ensure they continue successfully. Decisions made will always be made with what is best for student learning.