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Author Archives: Julia Cain

Around Town: July 13-17

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Have a great weekend, friends! And consider visiting a local nonprofit, such as …

Dance Place (3500 12th Street NE)

A 12-week public art celebration offering free cultural events and promoting creative expression, Artland Temporium events include exhibits, dance, concerts, poetry readings, and games and free to the public. Check out the full schedule for this weekend right here.

District of Columbia Arts Center (2438 18th Street NW)

Super busy this weekend: The Extermination Machine at 7:30 PM today through Sunday, Nightmerica (presented by Theatre du Jour) on Friday at 10:00 PM and Saturday & Sunday at 5:00 PM, and a Loose Ends Artist Talk on Sunday afternoon. The full schedule is right on the website.

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In The News …

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Do Schools Challenge Our Students: What Student Surveys Tell Us About the State of Education in the United States (Center for American Progress): “Consider, for instance, that 37 percent of fourth-graders say that their math work is too easy. More than a third of high-school seniors report that they hardly ever write about what they read in class [… and] 72 percent of eighth-grade science students say they aren’t being taught engineering and technology.” Moreover, “students from disadvantaged background are less likely to have access to more rigorous learning opportunities.” Read the full report right here and check out this interactive state-by-state map of student engagement.

Fairfax considers first charter school (Washington Post: Virginia Schools Insider): “More than 100 parents, teachers and activists turned out Tuesday night for an informational meeting about the Fairfax Leadership Academy, which would be the first charter school in Northern Virginia if it?s approved by the county school board in October […] Proponents of the Fairfax Leadership Academy say that the charter school model, which allows for more flexibility and experimentation than a traditional public school, will give the county a new way to attack that stubborn gap.” We talked about the approval of the first Montgomery County charter school last July; what do you think about a new charter in Fairfax?

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Single Ray

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A single ray of light from a distant star falling upon the eye of a tyrant in bygone times may have altered the course of his life, may have changed the destiny of nations, may have transformed the surface of the globe, so intricate, so inconceivably complex are the processes in Nature. (February 1983)

The scientific man does not aim at an immediate result. He does not expect that his advanced ideas will be readily taken up. His work is like that of the planter — for the future. His duty is to lay the foundation for those who are to come, and point the way. He lives and labors and hopes. (July 1934)

— Serbian-American physicist Nikola Tesla, born today in 1856

Lessons Learned

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From last week’s “Leading women offer lessons for work in philanthropy” in The Atlantic:

Katie Couric, special correspondent for ABC News and cancer advocate: “To really pour yourself into something, you have to be moved by it.”

Laurie Tisch, president of the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund: “The lesson I learned is about patience and about agreed upon measures of success … You’ve got to be flexible with grantees. They also have to be honest with you.”

Ann Friedman, board chair of the SEED Foundation: “I would make a plea, if you are on a board and you have a passion and you want to fund something … please also give unrestricted donations to that non-profit. It’s how they turn the lightbulbs on.”

What do you have to add, both for nonprofits and for those that support them?

Around Town: July 7-12

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Check out the range of events coming up this weekend (and week) at …

Dance Place (3500 12th Street NE)

A 12-week public art celebration offering free cultural events and promoting creative expression, Artland Temporium events include exhibits, dance, concerts, poetry readings, and games and free to the public. Check out the full schedule for this weekend right here.

Anacostia Watershed Society (Northeast Branch Riverdale Road, Riverdale, MD)

At 10:00 this Saturday, water, weed, and mulch brand new trees that soon will grow to do great things for the River! RSVP info and directions right this way.

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Agent Of Progress

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WILDE: “… But the artist is the secret criminal in our midst. He is the agent of progress against authority […]

I made art a philosophy that can look the twentieth century in the eye. I had genius, brilliancy, daring, I took charge of my own myth. I dipped my staff into the comb of wild honey. I tasted forbidden sweetness and drank the stolen waters. I lived at the turning point of the world where everything was waking up new.”

— The Invention of Love (1997) by British dramatist Tom Stoppard,
born today in 1937.

Around Town: June 29-July 1

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Have a happy almost-fourth of July weekend, friends!

Smith Center for Healing and the Arts (1628 U St NW)

Pop-Up Boutique opens for a 2-day encore event and flash sale on Friday and Saturday: vintage, new, one-of-a-kind, and designer women’s clothing and accessories and 100% of sales will benefit Smith Farm’s programming.

Dance Place (3500 12th Street NE)

A 12-week public art celebration offering free cultural events and promoting creative expression, Artland Temporium events include exhibits, dance, concerts, poetry readings, and games and free to the public. Check out the full schedule for this weekend right here.

District of Columbia Arts Center (2438 18th Street NW)

Two in a row this Saturday night! The Head Doctor: Boy Meets Girl at 7:30 PM and The Head Doctor: Girls Know What Girls Like (an all-woman production for women who love women) at 10:00 PM.

Potomac Conservancy (River Center at Lock 8, 7906 Riverside Drive, Cabin John, MD)

Meet at 10:00 AM this Sunday to clean up the lockhouse area and the nearby towpath, then take a medicinal plant walk at noon or and experience Voices of the River: Stories of the Potomac right afterwards. More info this way!

17,000 Names

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As we tweeted yesterday, Washington Examiner has reported that there are “More than 17,000 names on charter school waiting lists:”

Waiting lists for the city’s public charter schools are running a total 17,396 names deep, according to the DC Public Charter School Board.

That’s 51 percent of the total number of students successfully enrolling in the city’s public charter schools in the fall, or 33,699 children. This year, 31,562 students attended charter schools, while 45,630 attended DC Public Schools.

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In The News …

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What’s Driving College Costs Higher? (WAMU): Just days before student loan rates are set to double for millions of Americans, President Obama and congressional leaders haven’t reached an agreement on legislation to keep those rates at 3.4 percent. The debate reflects the growing concern over the debt burden many take on to get a college education. About two-thirds of bachelor’s degree recipients borrow money to attend college, and collectively, student debt has topped $1 trillion […] The average college senior in the U.S. now carries $25,000 in student loan debt at graduation. Those figures rise when graduate degrees are figured into the equation.” We’ve written about the briefing at the White House on College Affordability before and highlighted some of our nonprofits that are dedicated to college affordability. What needs to improve besides interest rates?

County officials, nonprofits fear domestic violence funding cut due to Congressional gridlock (Gazette): “Prince George’s County officials and advocates for domestic violence victims said they are worried that gridlock in Congress could jeopardize essential services to victims and their families […] nonprofit and government organizations in Prince George’s County received $4 million in VAWA funding last year, through a total of 91 federal grants.” County State’s Attorney Angela Alsobrooks says that “the largest impact will be to the outreach and support efforts for victims, particularly in the Latino community.” You can learn about, and support, nonprofits in Prince George’s right here.

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