VCC Magazine Summer 2017

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Virginia C apitol Connections, Summer 2017 11
NRV Putting Passengers
A Broad-based Regional Initiative
For more information, visit
• Enabling future economic
development opportunities
• Promoting safer, more efficient
travel on the I-81 corridor
Passenger train travel to the New River Valley,
one of Virginia’s fastest-growing regions
Safe, Efficient and Convenient Passenger Rail for a Fast-Growing Region
NewRiver Valley
RA I L 2 0 2 0
Putting Passengers On Track
unmanned aerial vehicle. Denbigh’s Aviation Academy recognizes
that all students must gain post-secondary education. Whether they
are receiving additional training in a military branch or working
toward a two-year or four-year degree, the program sets strong
expectations so that the transition is easy.
Denbigh’s Aviation Academy has been recognized at the state
and national levels. In the last six years, the program has been
awarded over $120,000 in private grants, and recognized by the
Virginia Department of Education as a winner of the Creating
Excellence Award for Secondary Business and Industry Partnerships
with NASA. On a national level, the Society of Manufacturing
Engineers Education Foundation awarded the Aviation Academy
with the Partnership Response in Manufacturing Education
(PRIME) award in 2013.
At the Aviation Academy the motto is simple: Attitude =
Altitude. This often reminds a student that nothing is impossible
as long as they work hard and believe in their ability to succeed.
With this mindset combined with the skill sets gained at school,
graduates are more than college, career and citizen-ready. They are
cleared to take off in clear blue skies.
This is the Denbigh Aviation Academy. Ready for takeoff!
Dr. Brenda D. Long, Executive Director, Virginia Association for
Career and Technical Education.
Virtual Education
By Delegate Dickie Bell,
20th House District of Virginia
As chairman of the Virtual Learning
and Education Technology subcommittee
under the Joint Committee to Study the
Future of Public Elementary and Secondary
Education in the Commonwealth, I have
accepted the challenge to better educate
and expand the awareness of virtual
education in Virginia.
The technology available to us in
the twenty first century, and the speed at
which it changes and advances makes it absolutely essential that
we better understand the virtual educational model. Although there
are several products and a variety of vendors available in Virginia
today, there is far less known about virtual learning than perhaps
any other learning tool. Our objective is to make those willing to
participate in our exercise more comfortable with the practical
applications of virtual education.
Members of both the full committee and this subcommittee
realize that many different perceptions, and more than a few
misconceptions, currently exist regarding virtual education. To that
end we have asked WHRO public television, the administrator for
VirtualVirginia’s on line learning programs, to create an opportunity
for legislators and staff personnel to have the hands on experience
of participating in a virtual education exercise.
We believe this will provide the experience and the knowledge
needed to make informed decisions on the future of virtual
education in Virginia. It is our hope that an increased awareness
among decision makers in the legislature will foster a better
relationship between traditional bricks and mortar education and
the opportunities that instruction without walls can provide. If we
are successful in this mission virtual learning in Virginia should
offer many more educational opportunities to Virginia students.
The exercise, which actually enrolls participants in a virtual
class that will run for three weeks, should begin in early August.
Access will be on the participant’s own timetable and identities will
remain anonymous. No grades will be taken.
I look forward to the review that will take place at the meeting
of the full committee in September.
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