News

Governor McAuliffe's Standards of Learning Innovation Committee has held its inaugural meeting, and its members now have their marching orders. 

One of their long-term goals is revise the school standards to be more interesting and far more inclusive.

The Virginia Education Association got its starts in the middle of the Civil War.  The story of the VEA’s last 150 years is told in a book set for release next month.

Even though school is out for summer in just a couple of hours…some eight-graders at Woodrow Wilson Middle School in Roanoke don’t seem to mind taking a few last questions on the periodic table from science teacher Sharon Simpson.  She’s been teaching for 30 years, but says she wants to do it for another five years before she retires.

While they sat separately but alongside their defense teams, former Governor Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, seemed to have a much calmer demeanor than some of other court appearances associated with their upcoming federal corruption trial.  Their defense has been dealt several blows, but their latest pretrial hearing sought to discredit the prosecution’s tactics and star witness.
 

Around the country, investor participation in the stock market has been declining over the past 15 years -- never mind the fact that equities keep setting records. This has dented the popularity of investment clubs, where members meet regularly to learn about markets and pool their money to invest.

This week on his Richmond-based show “Full Disclosure,” host Roben Farzad introduces us to one club full of mothers, aunts and grandmas still going strong since it began in 1996.  It’s the Women’s Investment Club of Richmond, known as “Wicker” (WICR.)
 

Last month, millions of kids in Virginia collected their high school diplomas.  The nation is at an all-time high, with 80% of students completing 12th grade.  For those who did not get a degree, there’s another option.

Each year, about 800 students take night-time classes, twice a week, at the Adult Learning Center in Charlotteville.  Beyan Johnson is a 35-year-old refugee from Liberia who has a full-time job, but wanted to set an example for his four children.

“I just want them to understand how much education means to me.’”