Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Yes, there really is a head coach who will listen to a kid.
When Bull Run Middle School student Lauren Ainslie wrote to Redskins General Manager Bruce Allen with a problem and solution, she didn’t think she’d get an answer. Much less, one in the form of a personal meeting with Coach Mike Shanahan at Redskins Park. “I didn’t know what to expect because I know a lot of mail goes into the Redskins,” she said. Still, she worked on her letter, which was part of a SIGNET assignment for the then seventh-grader: write to a company that has a problem and propose a solution. “My problem was that the fans feel neglected because the Redskins have done a lot for the community but not for connecting with the fans. And so I proposed a ‘fan-to-coach program,’” she explained. The idea? The Redskins would draw a …
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Violist Leah Frederick is featured as the soloist in NOVA Manassas Orchestra's May 7 Spring Concert at Hylton Performing Arts Center
Pushing the musical envelope has been Leah Frederick’s mode of operation since the age of 6. The training she began at that unusually young age culminates next month when the 17-year–old performs a viola solo with NOVA Manassas Symphony Orchestra at Hylton Performing Arts Center. Leah has belonged to the mostly adult community orchestra since 8th grade, two years before most students are encouraged to audtition. Is Frederick nervous about her featured performance at the orchestra’s May 7 Spring Concert in the world-class concert hall for a potential audience of 800 to 1,000? “I’m more excited than nervous,“ she said. According to her private instructor Natalie Kenworthy Short, Leah will conquer Stamitz’ Viola Concerto No. 1 in the …
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Meet the newest electronic music DJ in town
At an age when many 20-year-olds are looking for their next party, George Mason University junior David Markov has just started a business that lets him broadcast the music for the party...all over the world. From his family’s home in Manassas, Markov uses a computer and software to play electronic music for his new Internet radio station, DJHerz.com. Since January, the station has had 4,000 hits and has attracted listeners from all over the world, including Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Russia. The largest amount of hits, however, is in the U.S. “I’ve always liked technology,” the Forest Park ’08 graduate says. “And I’ve listened to electronic music for a decade. I have a big knowledge of it. I would share music with …
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
This Whiz KId Jumps In With Both Feet.
It all started when Susanna Lacy’s school held “Jump Rope for your Heart,” earning money for the American Heart Association. Though only 6, she wanted to practice. Lacy started jumping rope in her kitchen. A friend told the family about Youth Sports, a Woodbridge-based gymnastics studio, which offered jump rope classes. Lacy caught on within a month and was offered a chance to tryout for their team. She did. Four years later, at 10, she’s setting national records at the Junior Olympics in jump rope competitions. “It’s been fun,” Susanna Lacy, a fourth grader at Pennington, said with a shrug. “It gives me something to do on school nights, since I’m not allowed to do electronics.” Don’t let her modesty fool you. She practices 8 to 10 hours…
Friday, February 25, 2011
Quentin Rice rocks the guitar, bass and violin for a trio of musical groups at Metz Middle School.
“Where is he?” Marya whispered to her husband as the Metz Middle School orchestra concert was about to begin. The 50 orchestra members were seated on the stage, ready to begin, but their 13-year old son was not among them. Just then, Quentin Rice strode alone on stage, violin in hand. He stopped in the center, faced his seventh- grade peers, placed the violin under his chin and played the note of A, initiating the tuning of instruments, and then took his seat as the first-chair violinist. The best violinist in the orchestra performs this pre-concert ritual and is known as the Concertmaster--the student leader of the group. Marya Rice was not only unaware of this custom; she was uninformed her son would be in that role. “I knew she would …
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Manassas resident jigs her way to the World Irish Dance Championships in Dublin.
Emma Davis has come a long way since her first local Irish dance competition at age 8. The Manassas resident was performing in the middle of a feis—an in-school competition—when the heel of her shoe came off. She stopped for a moment—thinking, what was she supposed to do now?—and her teacher came over to help her. Five years of intense practice and over a dozen competitions later, Davis, 13, won’t have the benefit of an onstage rescuing teacher when she competes in the World Championship of Irish Dance, held in Dublin, Ireland, in April. Davis will be representing the Boyle School of Irish Dance in Manassas. The “Worlds,” as they’re known to dance students, are considered the Olympics of Irish dancing. It draws 4,500 qualifying competitors…
Erin Gibson
12:42 pm on Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Me too, Robyn. With all the obstacles, challenges facing young people today it is wonderful to hear that some are able to overcome the negative with good! And Leah proves to all of us it can be done with hard work, dedication! more ›