Category: Washington Post

Virtual high school

At the beginning of the summer, Christine Ocalan, a senior at Forest Park High School in Woodbridge, needed just two classes to graduate. Not wanting to spend her summer sitting in school, she enrolled in Prince William County schools’ Virtual High School and took her English and government classes online. She graduated last week.

Ocalan was one of a record 955 students who enrolled in Virtual High School this summer. Through the program, students can follow a flexible daily schedule to complete their coursework online.

Washington Post, August 10, 2014

HealthWorks making progress

HealthWorks for Northern Virginia, the financially troubled nonprofit health service provider charged by the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors with improving its productivity before it could receive additional county funding, is making progress toward its goals.

Washington Post, August 11, 2014

Office in a box

Publisher Hulya Aksu says that when she launched her magazine, I Am Modern, in the basement of her Broadlands home eight years ago, it was profitable “from day one,” but she thinks it would have grown faster if she had moved her business out of the basement sooner.

With that experience in mind, Aksu recently opened Posh Seven Studios in Ashburn and is making it available as a shared workspace for female entrepreneurs.

Washington Post, August 6, 2014

“War and Peace” tintype exhibit

The tintype photo shows a young soldier in uniform, his pale eyes barely visible under the brim of his hat. They are eyes that have seen hell on earth. To the right is another tintype, showing a young man with closely cropped hair wearing an unzipped jacket, collar up, over a white crewneck shirt.

The eyes and the steely expression are the same. It is the same man.

The images are part of a collection of tintypes displayed in “War and Peace,” a temporary exhibit at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle.

Washington Post, July 28, 2014

Law camp ends with mock trial

Two juries agreed: Washington Senators starting quarterback Robert Triffy IV was not guilty of malicious wounding and assault and battery. Triffy had been charged with the crimes after his errant pass struck receiver LeSean Trackson in the face as Trackson chatted with a cheerleader on the sideline. Trackson suffered a broken nose and was eventually traded to another team.

The fictitious scenario — inspired by players for another Washington football team — played out simultaneously in four Loudoun County courtrooms June 20. The teams of attorneys on both sides were actually high school students participating in mock trials, the culmination of the 14th annual Thomas D. Horne Leadership in the Law summer camp.

Washington Post, June 29, 2014