Joint Base Journal Vol. 4, No. 42
November 1, 2013
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J OINT B ASE A NACOSTIA-B OLLING
www.cnic.navy.mil/jbab
Volunteers ignite life-long passion for reading BY LT. CMDR. JIM REMINGTON JOINT BASE ANACOSTIA-BOLLING PUBLIC AFFAIRS
WASHINGTON – Volunteers from Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling (JBAB) and other area bases joined the civic volunteer group City Year Washington on Oct. 25 to kickoff Madeline Leckie Elementary School’s reading program “What’s On Your Shelf?” Their task was to build 200 individual bookshelves and then help each student customize his or her bookshelf to be taken home at the end of the day with paint, brushes, and stencils. Heavy lifting on the volunteer side was carried out by City Year Washington, D.C. City Year, an AmeriCorps program, is a national service organization which unites young adults, ages 17 to 24, from diverse racial, cultural and socio-economic backgrounds for a demanding year of full-time community service, leadership development, and civic engagement. City Year D.C.
leaders Molly Vetter and Matt Zittle directed their team of sixteen and an equal number of JBAB volunteers who were more than excited to help kids build and paint bookshelves on a cold day in October. “That’s what working City Year is all about,” Vetter said. “For City, you volunteer a year of service to the organization. You can come right out of high school or college and say ‘I want to give a year of service giving back to the community.’ It’s an admirable thing. I’ve been able to watch people give a year and grow and I’ve grown myself.” Before any students emerged from the school to the blacktop area where they would spend part of their morning painting their own bookshelves, Zittle accurately predicted some big smiles and excitement to come. “Today will be a very pleasant surprise for a lot of kids at the school. I think they were under the impression that they were just going to be building stuff,” Zittle said. “They
didn’t realize that they would be able to take these bookshelves home.” The day started early with one group of JBAB volunteers assembling small bookshelves, 200 to be exact. The shelves are the center piece of a campaign that Leckie Elementary School Principal Atasha James titled in the form of a question, “What’s On Your Shelf?” Initially Capital One’s philanthropic group The Heart of America Foundation READesign was seeking a partner in Washington’s Ward 8. James spoke with them on behalf of Leckie Elementary and said she also sought a partnership that would be productive and meaningful. “I told them that I want my heart and soul to be poured into reading, because without that our kids are on a rocky foundation,” James said. “And if the students walk away with nothing else from elementary school it should be a real love for reading.” James added that she grew up
See READING, Page 2
U.S. NAVY PHOTO BY LT. CMDR. JIM REMINGTON
Airman 1st Class Shaquile Garcias-Phillips, of the U.S. Air Force Honor Guard, shares a smile with a young girl from Leckie Elementary School while the two paint a bookshelf together as part of the school’s literacy program - “What’s on Your Shelf.” The program encourages children to develop a lifelong love of reading.
Study shows benefits of water taxi service BY PAUL BELLO JOINT BASE ANACOSTIA-BOLLING PUBLIC AFFAIRS
U.S. NAVY PHOTO BY LT. CMDR. JIM REMINGTON
Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling Commander Navy Capt. Anthony T. Calandra discusses the possibility of a water taxi service to the region with Libby Garvey, a council member with Arlington County, and Amanda Chuzi, a transportation aide to Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine.
WASHINGTON – A year-long study commissioned by several area counties, including Prince William, Fairfax, Arlington and Charles County, Md., has determined there is a demand for a water taxi service to ferry commuters across the Potomac River and its tributaries. This comes as a result of the area’s robust population and the market of jobs located along the water, according to the study. Tim Payne, a principal at the firm handling the study, has combed over results that show a sustainable market to support a daily water taxi service to various places in the region, includ-
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ing Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling (JBAB). To gauge a better understanding of this concept, guests from various agencies and municipalities from around the region, including JBAB Commander Navy Capt. Anthony T. Calandra, were invited to take a tour aboard a water taxi Oct. 28. The tour included a visit to the Pentagon’s marina and docking area before returning to JBAB. “In Alexandria alone, we found there are a little more than 1,800 residents who currently work at either the St. Elizabeth’s U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, or at a building on JBAB,” Payne said during the tour. “A service like this could cut their commute and result in having fewer cars on the road during the morning or evening rush hour.”
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While it must be decided whether a service like this should be operated by a public entity or through a public-private partnership, Payne said short connections among Alexandria, Reagan National Airport, National Harbor, the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and Washington are certainly worth pursuing. The Potomac Riverboat Company, which hosted the tour, currently operates a fleet of passenger boats out of Alexandria, Va. While providing service to National Harbor, Md., boats routinely dock just two blocks away from Nationals Park during baseball season. The idea of water taxis and ferries in the region has been talked
See WATER, Page 4