Near West End

A friend and Sabot parent recently told me about Schoodio, a kids art studio in the Near West End.
What a great idea! A place where kids can create, and be kids. Parents on the other hand can have a break — go shopping and come back a few hours later to see the artistic masterpieces. Schoodio is run by a mom-daughter team of professional artists in the Sabot School Style. I even noticed the kids seats are the same as at Sabot School — practical but useful tall foot stools. Easy to clean, and just the right height.
The, Times Dispatch wrote about Schoodio earlier this fall quoting the owner:

“They get structure in schools,” said Rebecca, who worked in New York as a photographer for 12 years. “This is a place to run wild. They can even color the floors and walls.”

Hmmm, maybe we could all use a visit to the Schoodio to release our inner wild.

Here’s the latest University of Richmond Spiders Sports update from Bob Black:

Gonzalvez Shoots Spiders Past Tribe
On the strength of a career-high seven three-pointers, sophomore David Gonzalvez poured in 21 points to lead Richmond’s 58-55 comeback win over William & Mary Wednesday night at the Robins Center. The Spiders posted their first home win, have won two of their last three and are back to .500 on the season.

Spider Football: Playoff Game, Ticket & TV Information
Tickets for Saturday’s football playoff game at Wofford (7 p.m. ET) are $20 for adults, $10 for youths (12 and under) and $10 for University of Richmond students with valid I.D. Tickets can be purchased at the Robins Center Ticket Office or by calling 1-877-SPIDER-1. Orders must be placed by Thursday at 5 p.m. ET. Tickets may also be purchased through the Wofford ticket office as available until game time. No online orders will be accepted. The telecast will be available in the Richmond area on WUPV-TV Channel 65 (Channel 13 on Comcast Cable). It is available for out-of-marketing viewing as part of the pay-per-view subscription ESPN Gameplan package. FOOTBALL TICKETS | ESPN GAMEPLAN INFO

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The Republican members of the state Senate today shoved aside Walter A. Stosch of Henrico County as their head, naming him leader emeritus, while elevating Thomas K. Norment Jr. of James City County from floor leader to leader

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My daughter came home from school last week with a paper that sounded like Richmond Public Schools was going to try something new — plan its curriculum around its students and balance the SOL (Standards of Learning) testing with a other needs of the students. It sounded remarkably fresh. And surprisingly, it sounded like it might actually happen.

The letter wasn’t signed, which seemed sort of strange to me. And actually, the timing seemed sort of strange too. I was sort of waiting to see if Mayor Doug Wilder was going to come and veto it and say to the superintendent and the school board, “You can’t do that!” But so far, it seems no one is really talking much about The New Direction letter.

“Developing the whole person” or student sounds good to me. I’ve hated the SOL tests for a long time because they take so much freedom away from teachers and actually can suck the life out of good ones. Now that I’ve seen them work their magic (like at G.W. Carver, where my husband teaches) I’m not totally opposed to them, but certainly feel like there needs to be more balance. We don’t want all the kids walking around like zombies spouting information but not truly grasping it. We want well rounded kids who also just happen to love learning. And, I’m hoping that is what the New Direction can bring.

I’m sure like any program, there will be drawbacks, but it seems like RPS genuinely wants what is best for the kids. And, amazingly enough it looks like the school system is agile enough to change the way they’ve done things if it will make the schools better and help the kids. Currently, they are looking for input from parents.

The last public forum, looking for input from parents is this Thursday night, Nov. 28th at George Wythe High School from 6 to 8 p.m.

RPS is showing that it has moved into the 21st century. Folks who can’t attend the meeting, can do a Survey Monkey survey online at their convenience.

It looks like they are going in the right direction, emphasizing community partnerships and technology, but still, I worry that this will add yet more work on the teachers and that they won’t properly support and fund the program so the teachers and the students can be successful. Having an individualized education program for EACH student will be alot of work. I hope that they are planning on hiring lots of folks to help or make class sizes smaller so that they don’t just expect all of the already taxed teachers to do more.

University of Richmond is hosting an info sesson on joining the Peace Corps tonight. Here’s the info:

Peace Corps Info Session at the University of Richmond!
This is your chance to learn about how you can put your academic knowledge into practical use after you graduate. Peace Corps is looking for qualified volunteers who have leadership experience, are motivated and persistent, who like to be challenged and are open-minded to work in a new environment. Learn how you can bring and augment these and many other skills with your 27 months of service.

Please apply online now to be considered for an on-campus interview for overseas positions leaving next summer and fall.

General Information Session
Tyler Haynes Commons 331
Monday, November 26
6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

The YourPick section of the Washington Post features Richmond this week, the Near West End in particular. Former U of R student, Stephanie Spear, talks up Palani Drive, Carytown and the Jefferson Hotel.

And maybe it can be advantageous to the Jefferson that she is perpetuating the untrue myth that the Jefferson’s grand staircase inspired the staircase from “Gone With the Wind.”

Speaking of the Jefferson, don’t forget, this Monday from 6-8, is the annual Tree Lighting at The Jefferson Hotel with hot cocoa, cookies and carols. Insiders say arrive early, because it fills and gets quite crowded.

Looks like the Barksdale Theater started their own blog. Here’s to tooting your own horn. At least maybe now we’ll have the inside scoop on Richmond’s theater scene, even if it is biased….

Tonight, they open a new play, Moonlight and Magnolias, at least it stars the very talented Scott Wichmann, so you know it is going to be funny.

Funny how you can spend hours and hours trying to get the city to do something, and never get anywhere. Or, someone somewhere can ask the city to something one time, and have no juristiction it happening and it can just happen, as easy as that. The Times Dispatch reports:

Richmond planted a maple tree in front of Kate Bishop-Pevsner’s home the same week she moved into the house in the city’s Near West End in 1975.

The little tree was spindly, so Bishop-Pevsner and her daughters propped it with broomsticks and nourished it to health. “That is part of the history of my family with that tree,” she said.

So Bishop-Pevsner was devastated when she came home from work in early September to find the tree in pieces in the street, King Crest Parkway. The city had removed the tree at a neighbor’s request, but she and other neighbors weren’t consulted.

The tree was healthy, she said. It wasn’t near a power line.

“We’re supposed to be greening Richmond,” Bishop-Pevsner said, “not taking perfectly healthy trees out.”

The tree has not been replaced.

Our friends over at RVA West have been doing a little snooping, and I’m happy to say they have confirmed what I have long heard as rumor.
Whole Foods Market is coming back to Richmond, to West Broad Village, the new shopping center across from Best Buy, where that beautiful farm used to be. The 60,000 square foot store will certainly be somewhere I frequent. With no Trader Joe’s in sight, and my love hate relationship with Ellwood Thompson’s, I hope they hurry this thing up. An opening date, is still not announced. I hope they are open by late spring or summer, when I least like to cook, so I can stop by their deli and pick up some forbidden rice salad, and baked tofu for diner.

Since I live next to the Reynold’s Crossing development and can see and hear the construction from my front door, we’ve been covering that project here at NWEN pretty intensely.
Finally, 6 weeks later, the Richmond Times-Dispatch decides to cover it!
Did they tell us anything new? Not really. I’m not sure why they waited 6 weeks.

What does it say about me and the state of our country that I was invited to meet President Bush on Monday, and I absolutely decline. And, maybe that is all I should say. A silent protest….to the man himself and all he does.

Bush is going to ….”talk about what we as a nation can be thankful for during Thanksgiving,” the Richmond Times-Dispatch quotes White House Spokesman Blair Jones as saying.

This should be interesting…..

At least, I should mention, that I’m glad Bush got it right. Berkeley Plantation was the site of the first Thanksgiving. Unlike what my daughter’s kindergarten teacher and likely the majority of the kindergarten teachers in America teach these days. …Why is it that the first Thanksgiving was less than 30 miles from here, and our children are still taught that the Pilgrims invented Thanksgiving?

The University of Richmond’s business school is getting a $6 million donation today from two graduates.

The gift comes from Paul and Anne-Marie Queally of New Canaan, Conn.

The Queallys are both 1986 graduates of UR. Paul Queally has a bachelor’s degree in economics and is an investment banker.

The Queallys’ gift will be targeted toward a proposed addition to the Robins School of Business. The gift calls for the addition of some new programming to the curriculum in the finance department.

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What a sad story. This is the second time in less than a year that a pedestrian has been killed while trying to cross Broad Street near the 7900 block.
In last night’s incident, a woman was killed and a man was seriously injured as they left the Outback Steakhouse and tried to cross Broad Street, just after 7 p.m.
Last year, just a few blocks down, there was another fatality, after the man was on his way home from Bailey’s Tavern. Broad Street is dangerous for pedestrians, especially at night.

Way back in 1998, I was walking down the street in Carytown, and one of my friends, Marlene Paul, approached me with the most glowing and excited look. She was giddy with excitement as she introduced me to her friend, Kathleen Lane, and told me all about a new non-profit venture they planned — ART 180.
For Marlene, It was huge. She had been working in various industries, trying to find her meaningful role in this world. And you could just tell — after many years of searching, she had found it. Her idea: go into the most impoverished, violent, and poor parts of Richmond. Find kids who desperately wanted to find hope, and give it to them — through art. Let them express themselves in a way that maybe they never had. Let them see that there work and ideas were important….that they were important and that even one person can make a difference.
Fast forward, almost 10 years….and ART 180 is a thriving non-profit. Probably one of Richmond’s most popular and successful for being around for such a short period of time.
After volunteering at several Art 180 events, I had my own children and drifted away a bit from Marlene. But ART 180 just kept getting stronger and stronger. Reaching more kids, and endlessly thinking of new ways to reach them and new projects for the kids to conquer. Recently, ART 180 was awarded a HUGE (for them anyway) $200,000 grant from Bank of America. They just published a great cookbook with great but simple recipes from Richmond’s art and culinary community with classy and absurd recipes .
And, the piece de resistance is coming up on November 29th — Art Karma, a silent auction, party, and celebration of all ART 180 has achieved. For $5 you get entrance to one great little party with some of the most creative people in Richmond. While you are add it, sample food from the cookbook, buy beautiful art, including offerings from artists Cindy Newschwander, my husband, John M. Holland, and Fiona Ross and 7 quilts by the talented Heilbron Rushing-Cooper.
As for Marlene, she is glowing once again, this time, due to motherhood…..she’s due a week after Art Karma with her own little bundle of joy. And life in Richmond, has again come full circle.

While Henrico County water restrictions are still in affect, they’ve been modified to allow residents to irrigate trees, landscaping and athletic fields up to 3 times a week.
The complete details are posted here.

Congratulations to Richmond Teacher of the Year, Michaé N. Jamison, from Thomas Jefferson High School. Michae’ is a classmate of of my husbands in the Phd. program in educational leadership at VCU. She is young, bright has a great sense of humor and is exactly what our children need. She received $1,000 and will now compete for the state title.
Also, notable is that another great teacher (and friend of mine) Annie Campbell, from Fox, was the 1st runner up and received $750. (A position my husband was in last year). Annie is an amazing teacher and an even more amazing person. She is so positive and has found ways to make teaching the SOL content, which can sometimes be drudgery, to the kids so they actually enjoy it. She knows how to help the kids LOVE learning.
Richmond City Schools have tons of teachers like these. Amazing, passionate and inspiring people. Now all we have to do is let the word out.

O.K. This is from the North Richmond News, but it’s worth repeating.
Free. Flu. Shots. This Saturday. What else is there to say? Go get one!

The city will hold a free drive-through flu shot clinic at the Arthur Ashe Center (3017 N. Boulevard) from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturday, November 17. Passenger vehicles only. Adults 18 and older. Requires pre-registration. Call 646-3137

I’ve been trying to encourage my friends with kids to sign up for Ruby’s Run, in memory of Ruby Harvey. Ruby’s Run is a celebration or Ruby’s life, and a way to raise money for a scholarship in her name at her old preschool.

I didn’t know Ruby, but I did know her mom and dad, Kathryn and Bryan Harvey. They made a huge impression on me. They were the among the first people I knew who were parents and still managed to be “cool”. It sounds silly to say it now, but I was pretty young when I met them, and I had just married and It made a huge impression on me that they were able to be parents and still maintain their pre-kid lifestyle of having lots of friends and being really involved in the things that they were interested in. They showed me you could be a dedicated parent and that it didn’t have to interfere your own sense of self.

Like many Richmonders, I have been devastated by the Harvey family’s death. The best way to honor them, I think, is to remember all the good things about them. Remember the happier times and to celebrate their lives as best we can.

My kids will be running on Sunday, in memory of Ruby, and if you’d like to make a pledge for the Ruby Harvey Memorial Fund or if you’d like your children to participate here’s the info:

Sunday, November 18th
packet pick up is at 1 p.m.
the race starts at 2 p.m.
It is for ages 4-14 (ages 15 and up can volunteer)
the race distance varies from 100 meters to 2 miles, depending on age.

Pledges can be made online.

The computer and electronics event at U of R was so successful that that Virginia Waste Management Association is having another collection of old electronics on Nov. 17th at the Diamond.
It is open to anyone. The time is noon- 4 p.m. Small fees will be charged for T.V.s and monitors due to the handling of the leaded glass and mercury contained within them.

We received the following press release from Carla Harris at the Virginia Department of Social Services and wanted to pass it along:

Richmond, Va. - The deadline for low-income Virginians to apply for Fuel Assistance is this Friday, Nov. 9. Those who think they may qualify, especially the elderly and disabled, are encouraged to apply at their local department of social services by close of business on Friday. All households that meet the eligibility requirements and apply by the deadline will receive a heating assistance benefit.

Each year, the Virginia Department of Social Services’ Energy Assistance Program helps approximately 100,000 Virginia households stay warm. The Fuel Assistance Program was created in 1979 and is funded by the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) block grant. For more information on the Energy Assistance Program, visit VDSS’ website at: www.dss.virginia.gov and select “Financial Assistance” or contact your local department of social services.

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