LoudounNow LOUDOUN COUNTY’S COMMUNITY-OWNED NEWS SOURCE
[ Vol. 2, No. 30 ]
[ loudounnow.com ]
June 1 – 7, 2017 ]
Spotlight On Grads
27
Schools Consider 2nd Officer Training Corp
CULTIVATING CHANGE
BY DANIELLE NADLER
Loudoun County’s agriculture tradition will soon nourish the inner city. Husband-and-wife team Kasey Clark and Tonya Taylor are planting the first seeds at Bainum Foundation Farm near Middleburg, which will grow fresh produce for children living in Washington, DC’s urban food deserts. Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now
32
Marking History
70 Years Later, Marshall Plan’s Global Milestone Celebrated
O
70 Years Ago
BY MARGARET MORTON n June 5, the George C. Marshall International Center will celebrate the 70th anniversary of The Marshall Plan. About 300 people will gather at The Marshall House in Leesburg for a day-long symposium, featuring former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright as the keynote speaker. The evening will feature a free public concert performed by the U.S. Army Brass Quintet of the U.S. Army Band at the Marshall House. Find details at georgecmarshall. org.
It was on June 5, 1947, that Gen. George C. Marshall made a speech at Harvard University that resulted in one of the most significant and generous efforts by the U.S. government to help the nations of Europe recover from six years of devastation during World War II. Marshall, who had been a crucial voice for the Allies as U.S. Army Chief of Staff to President Franklin Roosevelt, spoke of the urgent need to help European countries get back on their feet through a far-reaching economic stimulus plan. In speaking of the remedies he sought to effect, Marshall said, “With foresight,
! LE W A O S N N O
George C. Marshall
and a willingness on the part of our people to face up to the vast responsibility which history has clearly placed upon our country, the difficulties I have outlined can and will be overcome.”
Classroom space is tough to come by in Loudoun County, still home to one of the fastest-growing school divisions in the nation. But soon space will open up at Dominion High School in Sterling, as the Academy of Science moves out in 2018 and into the new Academies of Loudoun. School system staff recommended to the School Board last week opening a National Defense Cadet Corps JROTC in that space. Right now, the county operates a Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program out of Loudoun County High School in Leesburg. The program is open to any high schooler in the county. It’s at capacity, with 206 students enrolled, and hundreds of students are turned away each year. “We really see this as an opportunity to provide more students access to this program,” Assistant Superintendent of Instruction Cynthia Ambrose told the School Board. Loudoun has relatively few offerings for young people interested in military careers. Loudoun has 78,348 public school students and just the one Navy JROTC program, while Prince William County has 89,000 students and nine programs (four Air Force, two Army, two Navy and one Marine); Chesterfield County has 60,000 students and five programs; Fairfax County has 187,467 students and eight programs; and Virginia Beach has 69,345 students and five programs, all Navy. It would cost about $400,000 to renovate the nine classrooms at Dominion into space for a JROTC program, and another $400,000 in annual instructional costs. But most School Board members sounded open to the idea. Beth Huck (At Large) credited the Navy JROTC program with providing her husband exceptional education and career opportunities he wouldn’t have had otherwise. “I support providing the same opportunities to more students,” she said. Chairman Jeff Morse (Dulles), who served in the U.S. Navy and retired as commander in 2006, and Jill Turgeon
MARSHALL >> 16
JROTC >> 26
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