Washington-Liberty

Egypt Unrest Results in APS Students Losing Their Teacher

By ARLnow.com

The protests in Egypt are hitting home for a group of Arlington Public School students.

The Egyptian government has cut internet service in response to the unrest.  As a result, Washington-Lee High School has temporarily lost its Arabic teacher, who teaches the class remotely from Egypt.

A “live” teacher has now been brought in to continue teaching the class.

APS sent the following letter home to parents yesterday.

January 31, 2011

Dear Parents,

The recent events in Egypt have caused a disruption in Internet communications and with the Skype sessions that our students have with teachers from the Arab Academy in Cairo.

We would like to inform you that our Arabic students will continue to receive uninterrupted instruction. The online course our students follow is housed in Herndon, VA and therefore students can access the online material at any time. Ms. Wasan and Ms. Mona, APS Arabic teachers will visit each school in person and continue to provide instruction to our students. This plan will be in effect until Skype communication with Cairo is restored.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Regards,

Pat Teske, Supervisor, Office of Instructional and Innovative Technologies Office

Hildi Pardo, Distance Learning Specialist, Office of Instructional and Innovative Technologies

Marleny Perdomo, Supervisor, World Languages Office

Is This the House of a Terrorist?

By ARLnow.com

This is the house on 11th Street South in the Arlington View neighborhood where alleged “wannabe jihadist” Awais Younis lived with family members.

Younis, also known as Sundullah Ghizai and Mohhanme Khan, was arrested by the FBI last week and charged with threatening — via Facebook — to set off pipe bombs in Georgetown and on Metro trains.

Younis, graduated from Arlington’s Washington-Lee High School in 2004. A high school classmate and neighbor said the Afghanistan native was “real quiet.”

“He stayed to himself, kind of like an outsider,” LaRondre Gaskins told WUSA 9. “No friends but certain things that happened he was real weird about, like when 9-11 happened… he clapped about it in class.”

A family member, meanwhile, called the charges “bullsh-t.”

Younis, who is in his mid-20s, will undergo a court-ordered mental health evaluation. A court hearing is scheduled for Dec. 21.

All was quiet at Younis’ house this morning. There was little activity on the street, save an elderly woman taking items out of her SUV.

On the porch in front of the red brick home, Encyclopedia Britannicas were stacked haphazardly in a potato chip box. Down the side of the house, an Afghan rug was folded next to a Dell computer box, apparently waiting to be taken away as trash.

Tomorrow: Teen’s Charity to Collect Bikes for Africa

By ARLnow.com

If you have an old bike that you don’t use any more, there’s a more satisfying way to get rid of it than selling it for $5 at a garage sale.

Wheels to Africa, a group founded by Arlington teen Winston Duncan five years ago, will be collecting bikes Saturday to send to people in need in Africa.

Duncan, now 16, held his first collection drive in 2005 when he was just 11.  It was a success far beyond his expectations, and soon local and national media outlets were profiling him and simple yet powerful idea of improving the mobility of needy Africans by sending them old bikes.

Now in its sixth year, Wheels to Africa will be collecting bikes at nine different drop-off locations in Northern Virginia tomorrow from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. There will be three Arlington locations: Swanson Middle School, Washington-Lee High School and Yorktown High School. See a list of all drop-off locations here.

The group is also seeking a $10 donation with each bike, to cover the cost of shipping.

Screenshot via WUSA9

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Arlington is One of Country’s Richest Counties — Well, here’s one way Arlington is a “green” county — its residents are loaded with cash. So says Newsweek, which ranks Arlington the #5 richest county in the nation. Seven of the top ten richest counties are in the DC area. More from DCist.

Charges Pending Against Driver in Davies Wreck — The young woman who was driving the car that crashed last October on the George Washington Parkway, killing one woman and severely injuring U.S. soccer star Charlie Davies, is expected to be charged with involuntary manslaughter. Investigators believe Maria Espinoza of Clarksville was intoxicated when her SUV careened across a grassy area near Memorial Bridge and struck a guardrail, nearly splitting it in half, according to the Washington Post.

Washington-Lee Bests Yorktown in Football Playoffs — Washington-Lee defeated Yorktown High 28 to 7 on Friday night. With the win, the Generals (6-5) will advance to the next round of the playoffs, facing Hayfield (7-4) on Friday. Washington-Lee played Hayfield in September and won 23-7. More from the Sun Gazette.

Flickr pool photo by Team Rank

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Happy Veteran’s Day — A wreath-laying ceremony will take place at the Tomb of the Unknowns at 11:00 a.m. Most Arlington County government offices are closed today.

W-L High Teacher Heading to South Pole — An 11th-grade physics teacher at Washington-Lee is heading to the South Pole next month. Katey Shirey, 29, was invited to participate in a multi-million dollar Antarctic research project called Ice Cube. She’s only the fifth high school teacher to participate in the project. More from the Washington Post.

Restaurant Permits Up for Renewal — Restaurants in Shirlington and Clarendon will go before the County Board on Saturday. The Shirlington restaurants have their outdoor seating permit up for renewal, while the Clarendon restaurants have their live entertainment permits up for renewal. The requests will likely be granted, but new restrictions may be imposed on the Clarendon restaurants. More from the Sun Gazette.

Civ Fed Rejects Sign Vigilante Proposal — Buckingham resident Bernie Berne, who says he’s fed up with the proliferation of illegal signs in Arlington County, has suffered another setback in his quest to make it legal for citizens to remove unlawful signs from public property. The Arlington County Civic Federation rejected a resolution that would have supported Berne’s brand of sign vigilantism, which is currently frowned upon by local officials. More from TBD.

Flickr pool photo by BrianMKA

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Arlington Woman Hits Lotto — An Arlington woman who won $1 million playing the Mega Millions game is expected to pick up her prize today. So far, the new millionaire’s identity is unknown. More from WTOP.

Arlington Schools to Get iPads — Arlington school officials are using a state grant to buy about 70 iPads. Meant to increase participation in a state “Beyond Textbooks” program, the grant will provide iPads to a fourth-grade social studies class at Drew Elementary and two world history classes at Washington-Lee High School. More from the Washington Examiner.

League of Women Voters to Hold Referendum Discussion — In the wake of this year’s unsuccessful attempt to change Arlington’s form of government by referendum, the League of Women Voters is holding a panel discussion entitled “Citizens Making Change in Arlington: How Does the Referendum Process Work, and Does It Work Well?” The talk is taking place at the Arlington Career Center main hall (816 S. Walter Reed Drive) from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.

Flickr pool photo by BrianMKA

Olympian Carl Lewis Coming to W-L High School Today

By ARLnow.com

Olympic track and field star Carl Lewis will be on hand at Washington-Lee High School this afternoon to help launch the newest chapter of the Best Buddies program.

The nine-time gold medalist will meet W-L students and tell them about the volunteer program, which encourages students to build one-on-one friendships with intellectually and developmentally-disabled individuals.

Lewis’ appearance will take place in W-L’s auxiliary gym at 1:00 p.m.

Best Buddies chapters are already in place at Wakefield and Yorktown high schools, and at the H-B Woodlawn and Stratford secondary programs. In Virginia, Best Buddies International operates 25 chapters which count more than 10,000 participants in total.

The $150,000 Soccer Ball

By ARLnow.com

Q: What’s round, inflated and costing an insurance company $150,000?

A: The soccer ball that hit a sprinkler in a Washington-Lee High School hallway and ruined the brand new gym.

The Washington Examiner has the story of how the insurance company is trying to recover damages from the parents of the kid who kicked the ball.

Planetarium Fundraising Event Planned

By ARLnow.com

The Friends of the David M. Brown Planetarium organization is planning a “Night at the Planetarium” fundraising event with young astronomy buffs in mind.

From 4:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 31, the Friends and the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club will be holding a marathon session of planetarium shows, to be followed by a chance to look at real stars through NOVAC’s telescopes.

The stargazing will take place outside the planetarium (1426 North Quincy Street). The County will shut off the lights at the nearby Washington-Lee High School track so the dark sky will be visible.

In addition to the shows and the stargazing, there will also be outdoor lessons and science activities throughout the event. The event is especially geared toward children, but all community members are welcome, the group says.

The Friends hope to collect donations of $5 from individuals and $10 from families. The money will go to the group’s effort to renovate the planetarium in order to save it from proposed school budget cuts.

So far the Friends have raised a total of $3,350 from 53 donors, well below the more than $400,000 they’ll need for the renovation. By a timetable set by Arlington Public Schools Superintendent Patrick Murphy, the group needs to raise $161,120 by September 31.

Washington-Lee Grad Crowned Miss Virginia 2010

By ARLnow.com

Third time was a charm for 22-year-old Arlington native Caitlin Uze. The Washigton-Lee High School grad and James Madison University senior was crowned Miss Virginia on Saturday, after two prior attempts at the title.

Uze, who was competing as Miss Greater Richmond (local residency is not required to compete in regional pageants), will receive $17,000 in scholarship money and free rent for a year. She will compete for the Miss America crown next year.

Caressa Cameron, the 2009 Miss Arlington winner who went on to win Miss Virginia and then Miss America, was on hand for the pageant, which was held in Roanoke.

Uze is studying social work and family studies at JMU and graduated in the top 20% of her Washington-Lee class, according to a personal website. Her hobbies include Irish dance, photography and reading.

She “showed poise” when asked about the Gulf oil spill during the interview portion of the pageant, according to the Richmond Times Dispatch.

Photo via web.

Washington-Lee High School Closed Due to Threat

By ARLnow.com

Update at 9:30 a.m. — The school and the aquatic center have reopened after getting the “all clear” from police.

An unspecified threat at Washington-Lee High School has prompted officials to cancel all after-school activities at the high school, including adult education classes. The W-L aquatic center has also been closed.

Administrators learned of the threat this afternoon, school officials said in an email. Police investigated and determined that there was no imminent danger to students and staff.

The building was closed at 3:00 p.m., immediately after classes ended. Police are now conducting a more thorough search of the building.

Arlington Public Schools will announce whether there will be any further cancellations early tomorrow morning. The W-L aquatics center will open at 6:30 a.m., at the earliest, the school system said.