Home Care In Oakton, VA

Oakton, VA (PRWEB) May 21, 2014 -- The combined brainpower of Ursinus College and the innovation of Oakton-based ideaventions are coming together to produce an exceptional BRAiN program that will enrich Northern Virginia and surrounding communities as highly motivated middle school students produce valuable new research.

BRAiN—or Biomedical Research Academy in Neuroscience—is led by resident scientist Catherine Swanwick, Ph.D., in conjunction with the laboratory of Carlita Favero, Ph.D., of Ursinus College. Favero will provide biological tissue and advise curriculum design for the program, which aims to teach rising 6th-8th graders key concepts of cellular and molecular biology while introducing them to laboratory techniques common for biomedical research. The students will investigate the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on brain development using the brains of mice.

“Science should not be presented to students as a set of facts,” said Swanwick. “The fun aspect of science is the unknown. In our BRAiN program at ideaventions, our students will be given the opportunity to make new discoveries using an entirely different set of scientific criteria.”

The students, only eight of whom will be selected from a competitive pool of gifted youngsters, will write an abstract to be considered for the Society for Neuroscience Conference in 2015.

Two phases of the BRAiN program will be offered: a two-week summer course and a 2014-2015 school-year program. The summer course will be held Aug. 4-15 at Sunset Hills Montessori School in Reston, Va. The school-year program will be conducted from mid-October until May at the ideaventions science center in Oakton, Va. For those students interested in the school-year program that were unable to attend the summer course, ideaventions will offer a short six-week BRAiN Blast course in early Fall to cover material taught during the summer session.

Highlights of BRAiN include: ? expert research mentor ? access to modern biomedical research ? application of scientific method ? small class size ? practice with research presentation skills ? visit to the 2014 Society for Neuroscience Conference

Eligible students should apply by May 30 (summer program) or July 15 (school-year program).

For more information, please contact Ryan or Juliana Heitz (Co-Founders, ideaventions, rheitz(at)ideaventions(dot)com, jheitz(at)ideaventions(dot)com, 703-255-7202) or Catherine Swanwick, Ph.D. (Director of Life Sciences Programs, ideaventions, cswanwick(at)ideaventions(dot)com), 703-255-7202.

Ideaventions™ is a science and technology enrichment center geared to children ages 3 to 13. They teach a range of science, technology, engineering and mathematics classes throughout the year at their Science Center located at the Hunter Mill Plaza in Oakton, Virginia. They also run science camps, do after-school programs at local schools, develop new STEM curriculum and lots more. ideaventions is a place where no idea is too crazy and where children, the adults of tomorrow, learn that anything is possible with a little creativity. Their hands-on labs are led by experienced teachers who emphasize divergent thinking and seek to harness a child’s natural curiosity about the world. Programs are designed to share and nurture children’s love for the sciences.

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Sharon Wright, Loudoun Clear Marketing, http://www.loudounclearmarketing.com, +1 5713184146, [email protected]

The Fairfax County residents battling the building project in their quiet Oakton neighborhood freely acknowledge that they have a perception problem. After all, they’re not fighting one of the typical suspects that spark uproars in the Washington region — Wal-Mart, acres of townhouses or a gas station with a sky-high neon sign.

The Girl Scout Council of the Nation's Capital, a nonprofit organization that serves 64,000 girls across the region and in parts of West Virginia, is asking Fairfax officials for special permission to build a storage facility on its 68-acre Camp Crowell in Oakton. The metal warehouse would be near the camp's entrance on Justin Knoll Road, whose residents contend that it would be an eyesore, add traffic and lower their property values.

The 6,000-square-foot warehouse, to be ringed by dozens of new trees and shrubs, would store all sorts of Scout items that troop leaders can borrow: tents, lanterns, frying pans, microscopes, tie-dye kits, memorabilia, hiking rickshaws for handicapped girls, and ice-cream sticks that are used to make photograph frames and earn merit badges.

(Alas, no cookies. They’re made in Louisville.)

Lidia Soto-Harmon , the Girl Scout Council's chief executive, said she's made multiple concessions to alleviate neighbors' concerns, including changing the paint color and taking measures to minimize traffic.

“There’s a piece of me that’s a little sad” at the opposition the project has encountered, Soto-Harmon said. “I didn’t think this was going to be as big of an issue as it turned out to be.”

This being Northern Virginia, Justin Knoll Road residents have lawyered up. They've built a Web site — called "Stop Industrial Oakton" — along with a companion Facebook page. In the past year, they've met at least seven times with Girl Scout officials to argue their case against the warehouse, which will be named after the nonprofit's president, Diane Tipton. Most recently, the neighbors filed an appeal with the county zoning board, months before county supervisors will get a chance at a final say.

But as serious as the Oakton residents are in their opposition — they once refused free Girl Scout cookies at a community meeting with scout leaders — they are also self-conscious about who they’re opposing.

"I love the Girl Scouts. . . . If I was a girl, I'd be a Girl Scout. I want to be very clear on this with you. It has nothing to do with the Girl Scouts," Newt Wood, 68, a semiretired office-furniture salesman who lives on Justin Knoll Road, told about 80 residents at a community meeting last week. "When we all moved here, I don't think any of us envisioned that we'd be standing here tonight talking about a 6,000-square-foot . . . prefab warehouse. It will adversely affect our daily lives and the value of our property."

After Wood gave his speech, he asked listeners to raise a hand if they were opposed to the project, and nearly every hand went up.

Soto-Harmon said the nonprofit wants to save money in the long run with a $600,000 warehouse — built with donations — rather than spend $50,000 a year to rent storage space.

To appease neighbors, the warehouse will no longer have a cheaper cream-colored paint and instead will be coated in a more expensive dark brown so it blends into the woods. Also, troop leaders won’t be able to drive to the warehouse and fetch what they want to borrow. Instead, to keep traffic on Justin Knoll Road at a minimum, the materials will be delivered from the warehouse to other pickup sites.

Soto-Harmon thinks the Girl Scouts deserve the benefit of the doubt from residents. “All these hundreds of kids who come in to the camp,” she said, “that only benefits our society.”

Camp Crowell, whose land was given to the Girl Scouts in 1948 by a board member of a Dow Chemical subsidiary, has long been a popular spot for girls from the Washington. Between June and August, more than 500 children attend one of its week-long sessions at camps with such names as Camp Mariposa and Ashgrove Adventure. The rest of the year, troops come by on weekends to camp out, use the archery and sports fields, and play on the ropes course.

The camp sits at the end of Justin Knoll Road, a no-outlet street that has about 10 homes, each on two-acre lots. Many more residents, who live in adjacent neighborhoods, are also against the warehouse.

The battle between the Girl Scouts and neighbors has been especially awkward because many of those neighbors once sent their daughters to Camp Crowell or served as parent troop leaders.

“This is the Girl Scouts bullying a neighborhood,” said Jack Arturo, 57, a Cisco Systems sales manager and camp neighbor whose wife once volunteered as a troop leader and whose daughter went to Camp Crowell as a Girl Scout a decade ago. “The warehouse opens up a Pandora’s box. Ideally, from the scouts’ perspective, it’d be wonderful to have a conference center there. The new facility is [much bigger] than their existing storage facility. This new warehouse could expand into something more.”

County Supervisor Michael R. Frey (R-Sully), who represents the Oakton neighborhood, said it's been extremely rare in his 22 years in office that he's seen a similar showdown. He cited an acrimonious fight between Centreville neighbors and the Southwestern Youth Association, which won approval in 2000 to build a sports complex of outdoor fields and indoor courts that neighbors said would spoil the rural atmosphere.

“I can understand some of the neighbors’ concerns, but I am looking at this, thinking, ‘This is the Scouts.’ It’s a not-for-profit operation. They’re not using the warehouse for bringing stock in and stock out. It’s going to store their camping equipment,” Frey said. “They’ve been paying $50,000 a year for lease costs. That’s a lot of money that could be put into programming.”

But, as is custom in residential land disputes in high-powered Northern Virginia, arguments are quickly joined by counterarguments.

“I could take that $600,000 they’re using to build the warehouse and stick it in an investment, hold the principal and let it generate an income stream to pay the rent for a storage facility elsewhere,” said Arturo. “But the Girl Scouts don’t want to look at that.”

Many neighbors lament that the fight has become so tense. Over the years, neighbors have called the camp to alert the managers when teenagers have sneaked onto the property late at night. Other times, the camp has plowed snow off Justin Knoll Road, free of charge.

“I still have my original Girl Scout sash from the 1960s, and I have my leader pins I got as an adult,” said Karen Wood, Newt Wood’s wife, who was talking with fellow Justin Knoll Road residents one day.

“We’re not against the Girl Scouts,” said Kathy Whitcraft.

“I love having the Girl Scouts in my back yard and love listening to them laugh. But this is a land-use issue. Now we’re going to hear trucks backing up,” Wood said. “And the warehouse is metal. God help us if it hails. It’ll sound like a machine gun going off.”

Fourth of July will be here before you know it. Here's your full guide to fireworks and other fun happening around Oakton.

Patch Staff

|Updated Tue, Jul 3, 2018 at 3:40 pm ET

OAKTON, VA—The Fourth of July is quickly approaching, which means your family can enjoy fireworks and other fun holiday events.

We gathered up all the firework shows and festivals happening near Oakton so you can start planning how you'll celebrate our country's 242nd birthday. Patch will update this guide up to July 4 with additional events and information.

Subscribe to Oakton Patch for more local news.

Vienna Fireworks: July 4, 7:15 p.m.

Yeonas Park, 1319 Ross Drive SW

Find out what's happening in Oaktonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Enjoy Vienna's annual fireworks show starting at 9:30 p.m. Beforehand, Mars Rodeo will provide musical entertainment, and the Vienna Little League concession stand will sell food and drinks. Attendees should bring their own chairs and blankets for the shows.

Fairfax's 52nd Annual Independent Day Celebration: July 4, 10 a.m.

4100 Chain Bridge Road, Fairfax

A parade will loop around downtown Fairfax in the afternoon. As the sun sets, head over to Fairfax High School at 3501 Rebel Run, where there will be music and dancing as well as children's activities. On-stage entertainment begins at 6 p.m., and the fireworks show will begin after dark, which is around 9:15-9:30 p.m.

Herndon 4th of July: July 4, 6:30 p.m.

Bready Park, 814 Ferndale Ave., Herndon

The Town of Herndon will host a "family-fun event" on Wednesday, July 4 that will feature games, patriots arts and crafts activities, live music, family games, food, balloon artists, and a fireworks show.

A "fabulous fireworks show" choreographed to music begins at around 9:30 p.m., according to the town's website.

Lake Fairfax Park's 4th of July Celebration: June 30

1400 Lake Fairfax Drive, Reston (near Water Mine Family Swimmin' Hole)

If you want to get a jump-start on the festivities, Lake Fairfax Park will be hosting a "4th of July Celebration" on the 30th of June.

"The Park is home to a popular annual fireworks display," according to DullesMoms.com "However, until the skies dim, there is plenty to do. Enjoy a family puppet show, live music, boat rentals (fee-based), and don't forget the Water Mine Family Swimmin' Hole (fee-based)! Plus, Lake Fairfax Park also boasts campgrounds, a skatepark, and pump track, too."

The fireworks start at around 9:15 p.m. Be sure to bring blankets and chairs.

There will be a $10 parking fee.

Falls Church Fireworks: July 4, 6 p.m.

George Mason High School, 7124 Leesburg Pike

Watch Falls Church's fireworks show from George Mason High School. Doors will open at 6 p.m. with seating available at Jack Gambill Athletic Fields or the Northern Virginia Graduate Center Parking Lot. Visitors can enjoy food trucks such as Margaret's Soul Food, Los Wingeez, and other food trucks selling ice cream, cotton candy and shaved ice. Turtle Recall will perform at 7 p.m.

The event is free to the public. Blankets and flat-based chairs are allowed for seating on the field. Food and drinks will be sold on site, but alcohol, smoking, glass containers, fireworks, and pets are not permitted.

Parking at the high school will only be available to event personnel and visitors with a handicap placard. Visitors can park for free nearby at the West Falls Church Metro Station Parking Garage.

McLean Independence Day Celebration: July 4, 6:30 p.m.

Churchill Road Elementary School, 7100 Churchill Road

Hosted by the McLean Community Center, the Independence Day Celebration will offer DJ, food trucks and fireworks. Admission is free. Visitors are encouraged to bring chairs and blankets to the celebration. The rain date is June 5. Smoking, alcohol, vaping, glass containers, personal fireworks, weapons and pets are not permitted on school property.

Great Falls Hometown Celebration, Parade and Fireworks: July 4, all day

Great Falls Village Centre, 776 Walker Road and Turner Farm Park, 925 Springvale Road

The Great Falls July 4 celebration lasts all day, kicking off with a 5K at 8 a.m. Other activities include a blood drive, parade at 10 a.m., food and fun following the parade, live music, contests and much more. Turner Farm Park will open at 6 p.m. ahead of the fireworks show with live music, games, contests and food trucks. Fireworks begin just after dusk.

National Independence Day Parade: July 4, 11:45 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Constitution Avenue NW from 7th Street NW to 17th Street NW

Marching bands, fife and drum corps, floats, military units, giant balloons, equestrian, drill teams and more celebrate Independence Day in this patriotic, flag-waving, red, white and blue celebration of America's birthday.

A Capitol Fourth: July 4, 8 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.,

West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol

Co-sponsored by the National Park Service and the National Symphony Orchestra, join Jimmy Buffett and the Broadway cast of Escape to Margaritaville, pop superstars the Temptations and the Beach Boys, country music star Luke Combs, host John Stamos, and many more as they honor our country’s 242nd birthday. Gates will open at 3 p.m.

DC Fireworks Display: 9:09 p.m. - 9:27 p.m.

National Mall

Independence Day culminates with a spectacular fireworks display over the National Mall. The fireworks will be launched from the area of the Reflecting Pool, and will be visible from many locations throughout D.C. and Northern Virginia. The fireworks will be cancelled in case of heavy rain, thunderstorms or high winds.

Image via Town of Vienna

This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Real Estate

Looking for a bigger home? Check out these top Oakton subdivisions with the largest median square footage of living area!

Peggy Yee, NoVa House and Home, Community Contributor

If you are running out of space in your current home, you may be thinking about upgrading to a bigger place. In this post, we calculated the median living area based on public tax records to determine which neighborhoods have the biggest homes. We've also include the median home values for each neighborhood. In some cases, neighborhoods with larger homes actually cost less than others, making some neighborhoods a great bang for your buck!

In the past year, 249 properties have sold in Oakton ranging from a 1-bed, 1-bath condo for $180,000 to a 5-bed, 6.5-bath detached for $2,500,000. The median sold price was $640,000.

Top 2 Oakton Neighborhoods for BIG Detached Homes

In the past 12 months, a total of 125 detached homes sold in Oakton with a average size of 4500 square feet. For the Oakton neighborhoods with at least 6 sales in the past year, these were the top neighborhoods for the largest detached homes.

Top 2 Oakton Neighborhoods for BIG Townhomes

In the past 12 months, a total of 41 townhomes sold in Oakton with a average size of 2100 square feet. For the Oakton neighborhoods with at least 6 sales in the past year, these were the top neighborhoods for the largest townhomes.

Top 5 Oakton Neighborhoods for BIG Condos

In the past 12 months, a total of 81 condos sold in Oakton with a average size of 1100 square feet. For the Oakton neighborhoods with at least 6 sales in the past year, these were the top neighborhoods for the largest condos.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

Peggy Yee is a supervising broker at Frankly Realtors and is one of Northern Virginia Magazine's Top Realtors in 2015-2019. She has been quoted in the Around Reston Magazine, Washington Post, Money Magazine, Consumer Reports, Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com.

Information based on BrightMLS data and deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

A Virginia high school marching band’s recent performance abruptly paused as musicians wearing black uniforms put down their instruments and walked behind a makeshift stage. About 30 seconds later, they emerged on the field through a cloud of smoke donning black, white and gray wigs as they played a rendition of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.”

As part of an inaugural national competition the renowned heavy metal musicians created, Oakton High School’s band re-created a Metallica concert on its field in Vienna, Va. Mainly using traditional marching band instruments, Oakton’s band played five Metallica songs and wore costumes adorned with wigs and chains to appear like Metallica’s guitarists and drummers.

More than 450 high schools and colleges entered the competition. On Sunday, Metallica announced that Oakton was one of the four high schools to win. The Fairfax County school will receive $15,000 to spend on musical equipment.

Jamie VanValkenburg, Oakton’s band director, told The Washington Post that he thought the competition would be fun, but he didn’t expect to win.

“I’m still kind of processing it,” said VanValkenburg, 48. “It’s like nothing that’s ever happened to our program before.”

In April, VanValkenburg saw an announcement video for Metallica’s competition on social media. VanValkenburg had been a Metallica fan since he was in middle school, when he watched the band’s music video for “One” almost every day on MTV. He later bought almost all of the band’s albums.

But when VanValkenburg told his Gen Z band protégés in June about the competition, many weren’t as familiar with Metallica, which formed in 1981. Chloe French, a senior who plays the trumpet, said she only knew a few of Metallica’s songs — mainly through her father.

After learning about the contest, Oakton’s band members listened to Metallica songs during band class, in their free time and on bus rides. They focused on the five songs they planned to play — “The Unforgiven,” “For Whom The Bell Tolls,” “Turn the Page,” “The Memory Remains” and “Enter Sandman.”

“I was curious of how we would turn that genre of music into a marching band show,” French said.

While Metallica typically performs with a singer, two guitarists, a drummer and a bassist, Oakton’s band needed sheet music for more than a dozen marching band instruments, including trumpets, trombones, saxophones, tubas, flutes, and bass and snare drums. VanValkenburg worked with Kent Baker, a former professional musician who assists Northern Virginia high school bands, to write the notes.

They made some adjustments, such as cutting down the long buildups Metallica started some songs with. One Oakton student owned a guitar, so the band leaned on that instrument and the sousaphones to play the songs’ bass. The band used flutes, clarinets and trumpets to play the songs’ melodies. VanValkenburg, who has directed Oakton’s band since 2012, also put to use a drum set the school owned.

Meanwhile, VanValkenburg said the band members’ parents planned the decorations. They made a small stage the percussionists, guitarist and drummer could play on. The stage’s makeshift black curtain said “PARADE TO BLACK” in silver letters — a pun on Metallica’s song “Fade to Black.”

Oakton’s band began rehearsing in July and practiced three days per week when school started. In August, the band performed for the first time at halftime of the school’s home football game.

The show began with French playing the trumpet to replicatethe power ballad “The Unforgiven.” Some members wore black leather clothes and chains, staples of 80s heavy metal.

VanValkenburg wanted to include a surprising moment near the end. That came when members put on the punk-style wigs and walked onto the field displaying “rock on” hand gestures. French thought the wigs were unusual, but after throwing one on during the first show, she felt an adrenaline rush when the audience cheered.

The band refined its marching and dancing throughout the fall. VanValkenburg wanted to record the nearly nine-minute performance in a quiet setting, so he booked the football field one night in October as parents recorded the show on video cameras.

While reviewing the video, VanValkenburg said he thought for the first time that his band had a chance of winning. Oakton entered the “small high school” category, which encompassed bands with fewer than 75 members (Oakton has about 70 members.)

A panel of six music teachers from across the United States narrowed the applicants to five finalists for each category last month. During band class on the day of the announcement, VanValkenburg listed the finalists on a screen but didn’t tell his students anything. When they eventually looked at the screen, they cheered.

Still, VanValkenburg was eager to see which bands Metallica would select as winners.

On Sunday, VanValkenburg said he was watching football at his Fairfax City home when a friend texted him that Oakton had won. The winners were announced on ESPN.

When he looked online, VanValkenburg confirmed the news and sent an email to the band’s staff, members and boosters. At school last week, band members re-watched their performance and reflected on funny rehearsal memories, such as rushing to put their wigs on and the smoke machine malfunctioning.

VanValkenburg said he plans on using the prize money to buy new percussion instruments. He hopes to make a plaque to commemorate Oakton’s win.

“It’s the kind of thing that’s going to stick with the school for a long time,” VanValkenburg said.