Falls_Church,_Virginia Academic Team Continues Undefeated Season
By Leslie Poster - Wednesday, December 15 2010
| George Mason High School's Scholastic Bowl team made major gains this week toward completing its second annual undefeated season, and is poised to pursue a second straight state championship. It defeated three other high school teams Monday by a combined margin of 1010-290. |
This is very much a feel-good story. Questions: Are the residents of Falls Church Virginia proud of George Mason High School's Scholastic Bowl team? Are they proud of the job GMHS's teachers are doing? Do they regret paying taxes at the level at which they are paying them? Just what are GMHS's secrets for such great success?
| Use of the term 'Planck time' almost immediately elicited the answer "Big Bang theory" from Anuraag Sensharma. Mention of a brief quotation from a poem led Asher Morse to the answer "William Cullen Bryant," the poet's name. From there, the George Mason team pushed forth with answer after answer - "Miranda v. Arizona," "chlorophyll," and "Constantinople" - until the first round of the meet the team hosted Monday came to an end. |
| Their competitors, the Rappahannock County High School team, scored 30 points in the round. The home team scored 120. After advancing the score to 230 - 70 in the second round, George Mason won, 295 - 130. The team then defeated its other guests, teams from Madison County High School and Strasburg High School, 335 - 110 and 380 - 50. |
| For the George Mason team, it was another victory in what has thus far been an undefeated season. Monday's wins came after an impressive showing at the University of Maryland's "Dr. Yakub" (Demonstrate Readily Your Academic Knowledge Using Buzzers) Tournament held Saturday, where the team competed against schools from states across the region, and among them bested even the mighty Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. |
| "This is the best team I've ever coached," said the team's advisor, Social Studies teacher Jamie Scharff. "We showed that Saturday. We played some of the best in the country and came in second." |
| According to Morse, their performance made last Saturday "a pretty eventful day. We have never beaten T.J. before. It shows how far we've come." |
| He added that another match-up, against Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, Md., was a big win for the team. |
| "Beating Richard Montgomery was the more impressive win," Morse said. "They came in first, and we were their only loss of the day." |
| Scharff, who has 22 years of experience as an academic team coach, has spent all of his 12 years at George Mason advising the group. |
| The team has won state championships four times in the past decade - 2002, 2003, 2007 and 2010. Three times, they placed second - 2004, 2006 and 2009. While the academic team has seven senior members - Morse, Sensharma, Crawford Taylor, Ross Wilson, Jakob Hand, Matt Baker, and Gemma Seidita - only four members can play at a time during competition. Players can be substituted between a match's three rounds of play. The first round of play is a toss-up round, where both teams are posed questions and the team member first to ring in with the correct answer gets the points for the question. In the second round, each team is posed a question in alternating order. The final round is a second toss-up round. |
| The questions posed to students are pyramid questions, meaning that the clues provided first give little information, but the answer becomes more obvious as additional clues are provided. |
| Scharff said that his team strives to answer questions on the first clue, and that this is a special source of pride in the game. |
| "If you answer on the first clue, it's because you know [the field] in depth," Scharff said. |
| Scharff attributes the success of his team to a number of factors. |
| "One of the reasons why this team is so good is because we have students who specialize," he said, referring to the various subjects where team members excel. |
Scharff also said having seniors on the team helps give them a competitive edge.
"It is a big advantage to have seniors on the team," Scharff said. "They have been hearing these questions since ninth grade." There are, however, disadvantages to having such a well-developed team. Scharff said that it is difficult to bring younger members into the group because they are often intimidated by what the seniors know and how well they perform. |
| "Especially this year because this team has gotten so good, it's difficult to get kids behind them," Scharff said. "It's hard to convince them that they can become that good, but they can, like these kids." |
And his team got that good, in part, by meeting regularly for practice.
"When we meet for practice, sometimes we simulate games with the buzzer system," Scharff said. "Other times, I just throw out questions. I've accumulated tons of question sets." Scharff has large stacks of questions that he can draw from. |
It's the punchline to the old joke: How do you get to Carnigee Hall?
When it comes to preparing his team, the advisor likes to give them a challenge.
"When I have a team this good, I like to use college-level questions." |
| It was the welcoming environment of those practice sessions that kept now-captain Morse coming back for more. Morse said his teammate, Sensharma, encouraged him to join the group during his ninth-grade year. |
| "I enjoyed it," Morse said. "I didn't know that much, but it was a nice atmosphere." |
| From there, Morse was given a list of terms to look over to begin digging into the fields questions would be drawn from, "forming associations" between terms and expanding his knowledge. It helps that Morse is a "voracious reader," according to Scharff. |
| Though the team might be the winningest of the George Mason franchise, even home meets don't draw a large crowd. |
| "Because quiz bowl is not the best spectator sport, it's not like we draw spectators other than family and friends," Scharff said. "It's not like a football team or a basketball team in terms of the greater public [involvement]." |
| "It's really fun to watch because the kids have such a good time playing," said Ericka Schlager, mother to Jakob Hand and one of George Mason parents to attend Monday's meet. "Mr. Scharff has really inspired them." |
| Along with the joy of success in competition, the team is also just excited to be learning new and interesting information. |
"They like winning, but they get a kick out of learning stuff," Scharff said.
The team will return to play after winter break for two matches on Jan. 10. They will then compete Jan. 22 at the district tournament with the hopes of returning to the state tournament to bring home another title. |
| The team's competition on WRC-TV's "It's Academic" show, taped last month, will be aired on Christmas morning, Dec. 25, at 11 a.m. |
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
In what may NOT be an unrelated situation, we get a Falls Church headline proclaiming:
| F.C. Tops Nation in Median Income, Ratio of College Grads |  | |
| By Nicholas F. Benton |
| Tuesday, December 14 2010 04:16:23 PM |
Data released by the U.S. Census Bureau today, based on five years of information gathered in the American Community Survey, shows that the 11,400 residents of the City of Falls Church have the highest median income and the highest ratio of college graduates of any independent jurisdiction in the U.S.
The data shows that seven out of 10 adults in F.C.have at least a bachelor's degree, and 39 percent have advanced degrees, a higher ratio than even the "rocket scientists" in Los Alamos, New Mexico, home to the Los Alamos National Laboratory. In addition, the median household income in Falls Church tops $113,000. Falls Church Vice Mayor David Snyder, quoted by the Washington Post today, said of the median income number reflects a high number of two-income households. He stated, "It means there aren't a lot of super-rich people. But there are a lot of people who are strong achievers." |
Wikipedia reports:
The City of Falls Church is an independent city in Virginia, United States, in the Washington Metropolitan Area. The city population was 11,169 in 2008, up from 10,377 in 2000.[3] Taking its name from The Falls Church, an eighteenth-century Anglican parish, Falls Church gained township status within Fairfax County in 1875. In 1948, it was incorporated as the City of Falls Church, an independent city with county-level governance status.[4] It is also referred to as Falls Church City. The city's corporate boundaries do not include all of the area historically known as Falls Church; these areas include Seven Corners and other portions of the current Falls Church postal districts of Fairfax County, as well as the area of Arlington County known as East Falls Church, which was part of the town of Falls Church from 1875 to 1936.[5] For statistical purposes, the US Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the City of Falls Church with Fairfax City and Fairfax County.
...
By 1900, Falls Church was the largest town in Fairfax County, with 1,007 residents.[26] Many of the residents at that time had come from the northern states or elsewhere. A 1904 map of the town shows 125 homes and 38 properties from two to 132 acres (0.53 km2). The town had become a center of commerce and culture, with 55 stores and offices and seven churches.[26] In 1915 the town had a population of 1,386 (88% white, 12% black).[27]
In 1912 the Commonwealth allowed municipalities to enact residential segregation, and Falls Church's town council soon passed an ordinance designating a "colored" residential district, in which whites were not allowed to live and outside of which blacks were not allowed to live (black property owners already living outside that district did not have to move, but could only sell to whites).[28] The Colored Citizen's Protective League formed in opposition to this ordinance and worked to prevent it from being enforced. The League incorporated as the first rural chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1915. In November 1917 the segregation law was formally nullified by the Virginia State Supreme Court, though the Falls Church City Council did not formally repeal it until February 1999.[29]
One of only three Frank Lloyd Wright houses built in Virginia once stood at 1005 Locust Street, Falls Church (just outside current city limits, in Fairfax County).[30] Commissioned in 1939 by journalist Loren Pope and his wife Charlotte Pope, it followed Wright's Usonian design principles and was completed in 1941.[31] The Popes sold it to Robert and Marjorie Leighey in 1946. In 1963, the house was threatened with condemnation for the construction of Interstate 66. Marjorie Leighey (then a widow) donated it to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1964; it was dismantled, moved, and reconstructed at Woodlawn Plantation, where it opened to the public as the Pope-Leighey House in 1965.[32]
In 1948, Falls Church became an independent city in order to control its municipal services, including the school system, which, at the time, was segregated by race and under pressure from rapid population growth.[33][34] These boundaries did not encompass the entire area of Falls Church, however, and the city immediately worked to annex an area reaching north beyond Pimmit Run, west to Holmes Run, and south to Lake Barcroft, including all of Seven Corners.[35] Had this effort been successful, the present city boundaries would have included most of the Fairfax County Falls Church ZIP Codes 22042, 22043, and 22044, in addition to the parts of 22046 not already in the current city boundaries.[36]
With the desegregation crisis following the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, one city school board member pushed to allow black students to attend Falls Church City schools (they attended Fairfax County schools, with the city paying tuition to the county), but others delayed, and the state government's "Massive Resistance" action prevented desegregation of any schools.[25] In the 1959 school board elections, candidates supported by the Citizens for a Better Council (presently known as Citizens for a Better City, or CBC), which lobbied for increased school funding overall, won the majority of the school board. These more "progressive" school board members then allowed "pupil placement" of selected black students into Falls Church schools as allowed by Virginia's 1959 "freedom of choice" law. Three students applied for fall 1961, two for Mason High School and one for Madison Elementary; all were approved and attended city schools that fall. In 1963, one of these Mason students helped gain full desegregation for the State Theatre, on Washington Street, which had previously excluded black patrons.[37][38]
Northern Virginia is home to a sizable Vietnamese-American community that began to develop with immigration from South Vietnam after the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. One visible sign of this community is Eden Center, a Vietnamese-American shopping plaza constructed in 1984 in the southeast corner of Falls Church City, at Seven Corners, and marked by a traditional gateway, guardian lions, and a clock tower modeled on one in Saigon. It houses restaurants, bakeries, and shops.[39][40]
Demographics
| Historical populations |
Census
year | Population |
|
| 1930 | 2,019 |
| 1940 | 2,576 |
| 1950 | 7,535 |
| 1960 | 10,192 |
| 1970 | 10,772 |
| 1980 | 9,515 |
| 1990 | 9,578 |
| 2000 | 10,377 |
| 2005 | 10,781 |
| 2008 | 11,200 |
As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 10,377 people, 4,471 households, and 2,620 families residing in the city. The population density was 5,225.8 people per square mile (2,013.4/km²). There were 4,725 housing units at an average density of 2,379.5/sq mi (916.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 84.97% White, 3.28% Black or African American, 0.24% Native American, 6.50% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 2.52% from other races, and 2.43% from two or more races. 8.44% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos of any race.
Eden Center, a large mall of Vietnamese specialty stores, is located in Falls Church City, and draws Asian consumers from the region. The area also has a significant population of ethnic Salvadorans.[citation needed]
There were 4,471 households, out of which 30.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them; 47.1% were married couples living together, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.4% were non-families. 33.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 3.01.
The age distribution was 23.4% under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 31.1% from 25 to 44, 28.1% from 45 to 64, and 12.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 94.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $74,924, and the median income for a family was $97,225.[citation needed] Males had a median income of $65,227 versus $46,014 for females.[citation needed] The per capita income for the city was $41,051. About 2.8% of families and 4.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.3% of those under age 18 and 4.1% of those age 65 or over. Falls Church City was the nation's most affluent municipality in 2002.[46]
Politics and city services
Falls Church is governed by a seven member city council, each elected at large for four year, staggered terms. Council Members are typically career professionals holding down full-time jobs during the day. In addition to attending a minimum of 22 Council meetings and 22 work sessions each year, they also attend meetings of local boards and commissions and regional organizations (several Council Members serve on committees of regional organizations as well).[47] Members also participate in the Virginia Municipal League and some serve on statewide committees. In January 2010, the Falls Church City Council voted to move the date of municipal elections from May to November.[48] The change will take effect in 2011.[48] Members elected in May 2008 and 2010 will have their terms shortened by six months but will continue in office until their successors are elected in November 2011 and 2013.[48] The Mayor is elected by vote of the members of council. The City operates in a typical council-manager form of municipal government, with a city manager hired by the council to serve as the city's chief administrative officer.
Candidates for city elections do not run under a nationally affiliated party nomination. The dominant organizing force for city politics for many years has been the Citizens for a Better City (CBC) which endorses a slate of candidates for each election[citation needed]. The origin of the CBC relates, in part, to the high number of federal employees in the city falling under the Hatch Act restrictions on partisan political activity. Funding levels for city schools, tax rates, quality of city services, and land use decisions are among the prevalent themes in city elections.[citation needed]
City services and functions include education, public safety and law enforcement, recreation and parks, library, land use, zoning, and building inspections, street maintenance, storm water, and water and sanitary sewer service. Often named Tree City USA, the City has one full-time arborist. Some public services are provided by agreement with the City's county neighbors of Arlington and Fairfax, including certain health and human services (Fairfax); and court services, transport, and fire/rescue services (Arlington).
The City provides water utility service to a large portion of eastern Fairfax County, including the dense commercial areas of Tysons Corner and Merrifield. The City of Falls Church and Fairfax County in 2009 entered into a legal dispute about the areas of coverage that each respective entity should provide. In January 2010, the Fairfax Circuit Court ruled the City's water fee an unconstitutional tax on non-City residents, as those revenues are transferred to the City's general fund.[49] The City has appealed this decision to the Virginia Supreme Court,[50] while the City and County have settled the anti-trust lawsuit out of court.[51]
Economy
Falls Church is home to two Fortune 500 companies: General Dynamics and CSC. Other companies headquartered in Falls Church include DynCorp. Falls Church will also be the headquarters location for Northrop Grumman.[52]
Top employers
According to the City's 2009 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,[53] the top employers in the city are:
Education
The city is served by Falls Church City Public Schools:
Of these four Falls Church City Public Schools, only one, Thomas Jefferson Elementary School, is located within city limits; the other three are located in neighboring Fairfax County. Falls Church High School is not part of the Falls Church City Public School system, but rather the Fairfax County Public School system; it does not serve the city of Falls Church.
Falls Church City is eligible to send up to three students per year to the Fairfax County magnet school, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology[54]
The city is home to Saint James Catholic School, a parochial school serving grades K-8, and to Stratford University, a private college.
News and media
The Falls Church News-Press is an independent weekly newspaper founded in 1991 that focuses on local news and commentary and includes nationally syndicated columns.[57]
The Falls Church Times is an online community news and opinion outlet founded in 2008.[58]
The area is also served by national and regional newspapers, including The Washington Examiner, The Washington Times, and The Washington Post.
WAMU Radio 88.5 produces several locally-oriented news and opinion programs.
- Annual events
Memorial Day Parade. Held since at least the 1950s, with bands, military units, civic associations, and fire/rescue stations, in recent years the event has featured a street festival with food, crafts, and non-profit organization booths, and a 3k fun run (the 2009 race drew some 3,000 runners).[59]
Tinner Hill Blues Festival is hosted every summer by the Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation and the City of Falls Church at locations across the city, including Cherry Hill.
New Year's Eve Watch Celebration, co-sponsored by the City of Falls Church and the Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation.
- Weekly and monthly events
Falls Church Farmer's Market is held Saturdays year-round, Jan. 3 – April 25 (9 am – Noon), May 2 – Dec. 26 (8 am – Noon), at the City Hall Parking Lot, 300 Park Ave. In addition to regional attention[60], in 2010 the market was ranked first in the medium category of the American Farmland Trust's contest to identify America's Favorite Farmers' Markets.
First Fridays of Falls Church features food, arts, and music events at local shops and restaurants across the city the first Friday of every month.
- Cultural institutions
The Falls Church Village Preservation and Improvement Society was originally founded in 1885 by Arthur Douglas and re-established in 1965 to promote the history, culture, and beautification of the city.
The Mary Riley Styles Public Library, 120 N. Virginia Ave., is Falls Church's public library; established in 1928, its current building was constructed for the purpose in 1958 and expanded in 1993.[61] In addition to its circulating collections, it houses a local history collection, including newspaper files, local government documents, and photographs.
The State Theatre, 220 North Washington St., stages a wide variety of live performances. Built as a movie house in 1936, it was reputed to be the first air-conditioned theater on the east coast. It closed in 1983; after extensive renovations in the 1990s, including a stage, bar, and restaurant, it re-opened as a music venue.[62]
City vehicle during 2007 Memorial Day parade
