Springfield Franconia ❖ Kingstowne ❖ Newington Francesca Ferrara holds Classified, Page 12 Classified, ❖ the trophy she received Playbook for raising the second highest amount of money for individual For Sale walkers at the 2005 News, Page 2 Walk for Food Allergies. Sports, Page 10 ❖ He Ordered Calendar, Page 8 A Murder News, Page 3 online at www.connectionnewspapers.com Off to Camps & Schools Congress News, Page 3 Requested in home 9-25-09 home in Requested Time sensitive material. sensitive Time Attention Postmaster: Attention PERMIT #322 PERMIT Easton, MD Easton, PAID U.S. Postage U.S. inside inside PRSRT STD PRSRT inside Photo by Justin Fanizzi/The Connection by Justin Photo www.ConnectionNewspapers.com September 24-30, 2009 Volume XXIII, Number 38 Springfield Connection ❖ September 24-30, 2009 ❖ 1 News A Place To Grow School Age Child Care dedicated, unshared room. Instead of simply finding ways each day to occupy Program offers more the students’ time for three hours, the SACC program dedicates itself to building upon the education that than just day care. the child receives during the day. According to Cole, the SACC leaders create and plan a unique curricu- By Justin Fanizzi lum for each year, two years in advance. It is this File Photo File The Connection extensive planning, Cole said, that enables SACC to draw more than 10,000 students into the program. any parents across the county often feel “We plan our curriculum, and change it, based on Mthe crunch of raising a family and pro- the interests of the children,” Cole said. “It’s all about Former West Springfield High School Football Coach Bill viding for it each day, not to mention find- choices. If they want to do something, we will start Renner is selling the spread offense he developed at ing the extra time for all of the other commitments it, as long as it’s safe.” West Springfield online. Renner’s offense helped lead they must make. the Spartans to three back-to-back Patriot District titles. Though they would like to drive their children to THIS YEAR, SACC created a curriculum focusing and from school, attend every sporting event or play on the environment and human’s impact on it, nam- and efficiently perform at work, all at the same time, ing it “Earth Matters.” So, each SACC center will be sometimes it simply is not possible. Fortunately, the choosing their favorite biome and will create it within Offense for Sale Fairfax County Office for Children’s School Age Child their own classroom, and use their second room as a Care Program (SACC) is there to bridge the gap. “science lab.” According to Cole, the purpose of cre- Founded as a child supervision program for par- ating a biome in the classroom is for the students to Former West Springfield coach is ents who were not able to provide care for their chil- get an intensive look at certain aspect of the earth’s dren immediately before and after school, SACC has ecosystem. After decorating the room to look like their selling spread offense online. transformed into an extension chosen biome, Cole said, the of the day’s education and an teachers and students will study By Reed S. Albers attractive option for all chil- More about SACC the animals within the biome, The Connection dren. To find out more about registration for learn about how humans impact “The program is not a School Age Child Care or the program’s it and how they can protect it. efeat your rival! Win your conference championship! babysitting service,” said SACC sliding fee scale, visit In addition to the in-class edu- www.fairfaxcounty.gov/ofc/SACC.htm. Never be outcoached again! For $197 former West Regional Supervisor Art Cole. cation, Cole said that SACC is DSpringfield High School Head Coach Bill Renner is “It’s a social environment where stressing instruction out in the hawking a football playbook that promises to help a children can learn and master new skills. We sup- field. SACC centers will take their students out to coach reach these goals. port what the schools do during the day.” locations within walking distance to study their local Renner, who resigned from West Springfield after the 2008 The program, in its 30th year, is open to any el- environments. For example, Cole said that if schools season to watch his son Bryn play football at the University of ementary school students whose parents work at have bodies of water nearby, then those SACC center North Carolina, now is assistant head coach at Lake Braddock least 30 hours a week, are disabled, attend school students will be collecting water and soil samples and Secondary School. At West Springfield, he led the Spartans to full time, or a combination of them. At typical SACC bringing them back to their science labs to perform three back-to-back Patriot District titles with his five wide attack centers, housed in 135 area elementary schools, child tests. Also, SACC is continuing its push for its centers spread offense. He also broke two care programs are available before school from 7:15 to connect with their communities. Throughout the regional playoff offense records. a.m. until the start of the school day, after kinder- year, each SACC center will be performing commu- “It’s an ongoing Now Renner’s 160-page garten from 12-3 p.m. and after school from 3:35- nity service, whether it is litter pickups or even grow playbook and 10 instructional 6:15. Each SACC center has two rooms provided by issue and we’re DVDs, including game footage of the school, with some centers even having their own See Not Just, Page 14 West Springfield playing W.T. taking a look into Woodson High School, are avail- able on the Web site [who owns the www.playqb.com. The Web site sells multiple playbook]” playbooks including the Tom — Bill Curran, Fairfax Brady Quarterback Training Sys- County Public Schools tem. director of student activities While it’s not uncommon for coaches to sell instructional guides on the Internet, Fairfax County Public School administrators are investigating who owns a team’s intellectual property — the coach or the school? by Photo “It’s an ongoing issue and we’re taking a look into [who owns the playbook],” said Bill Curran, Fairfax County Public School’s director of student activities and athletic programs. “Right now, Fanizzi Justin we just don’t have an answer.” The group investigating the issue isn’t just looking at playbook ownership rights, but also if teachers can sell lesson plans on the Internet. According to Curran, the group has been deliberating for a /The Connection year and might have a decision on the issue in the coming year. Currently, a school can decide whether a coach can sell his or her playbook or take it to another school, Curran said. “It’s tricky,” Curran said. “The schools reserve the right to [the playbook], but it is up to the school [to determine] if the coach See County, Page 10 The students compare the wooden flutes they made. 2 ❖ Springfield Connection ❖ September 24-30, 2009 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com Springfield Connection Editor Michael O’Connell News 703-778-9416 or [email protected] Giving the Not Allergic to Advocacy ‘Order’ Girl selected as junior ambassador To Murder for Kids’ Congress. Second gang member By Justin Fanizzi by Photo sentenced to life. The Connection utside the Springfield Garden ight years ago, an allergic reac- Fanizzi Justin O apartments on May 5, 2007, tion to a snack almost made Springfield resident Oscar Omar EFrancesca Ferrara a statistic. Now, Lobo-Lopez ordered associate gang mem- she is one of her generation’s lead- ber Sergio Amador Amador to “finish” a ers in the fight against food allergies, hav- man they believed was a member of a rival ing been selected to lead a group of 80 to /The Connection gang. the nation’s capital to lobby their elected On Friday, Sept. 18, Lobo-Lopez, 30, was officials. sentenced in federal court in Alexandria to Francesca, 9, has spent much of her young consecutive sentences of life in prison and life raising money and awareness for food 10 years for his role in the fatal shooting. allergies so that other children do not have Amador and Oscar Omar Lobo-Lopez, to become one of the 30,000 people admit- MS-13 gang members, killed Reyes because ted to emergency rooms each year for al- Francesca Ferrara they believed Reyes was a member of the lergic reactions, like she was. As a result of Webb (D) and Mark Warner (D) and U.S. to nuts. Her parents gave her celery with rival 18th Street gang, according to Col. her efforts, the Food Allergy and Anaphy- Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-11) to urge them peanut butter, and soon after eating it, she David Rohrer, Fairfax County Chief of Po- laxis Network (FAAN) named Francesca a to pass the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis broke out in hives, her lips blistered and lice, Dana J. Boente, United States Attor- junior ambassador for its third annual Kids’ Management Act. The bill, introduced to the she stopped breathing temporarily. Though ney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Jo- Congress on Capitol Hill. House of Representatives in March, calls for she was treated and released, the experi- seph Persichini Jr. of the FBI, and James “These children impressed us with their voluntary national guidelines to help pub- ence had a major impact on Francesca and Dinkins of the U.S.