Category: Meetings

Kaci Daniel, a representative of the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service, will speak to the Lake of the Woods Democratic Club on April 21 on the work of the Extension Service in Orange County.

The presentation will take place at 1:30 p.m. in the Woods Center meeting room. Guests are welcome.

Agriculture continues to be a significant part of Orange County’s economy and way of life. Ranked by sales, Orange is the seventh largest agricultural county in Virginia. The county is home to more than 400 active farms averaging 243 acres each, according to the Orange County Chamber of Commerce.

Ms. Daniel will provide an overview of the programs that Extension offers and will suggest ways that citizens can take advantage of educational opportunities the agency provides in its four main areas of emphasis: agriculture and natural resources, 4-H youth development, family and consumer services and family nutrition.

Ms. Daniel has served as the 4-H Extension agent in Orange County since 2001. She is a native of Madison County who grew up in the 4-H program. She received her bachelor’s degree in dairy science and her master’s degree in career and technical education from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.

She is a member of the National and Virginia Associations of Extension 4-H Agents and a volunteer for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Virginia and the Madison County Fair.

Ms. Daniel’s Extension work in Orange focuses on youth development in clubs, camps, and school program settings as well as volunteer development and support for more than 400 volunteers.  She has conducted interdisciplinary programs with Agriculture and Natural Resources, Family and Consumer Sciences, and the Family Nutrition Program.

More information is available at the Virginia Agricultural Extension Service Web site or the Orange County Extension Office Web site.

The April meeting of the Lake of the Woods Democratic Club’s Steering Committee will take place at the home of Pat Drake, 108 Riverdale Lane.

Kaci Daniel, a representatives of the Agricultural Extension Service, will discuss Extension programs available  in Orange County.

Jesse W. Magruder, principal of Locust Grove Elementary School, and Linda Carlton, director of secondary instruction for Orange County Public Schools, led a lively and informative discussion of civics education at the club’s monthly meeting on March 17.

The educators assured members and guests that local schoolchildren are getting the kind of instruction they need to become well-informed and productive citizens — from kindergartners who learn to take turns and share to high school seniors who are encouraged to register as voters.

Mr. Magruder and Ms. Carlton provided a broad view of civics education that included the legal requirements mandated by Virginia’s Standards of Learning and examples of charming trinkets made by students to sell at a “market day” event intended to teach the fundamentals of economics.

The educators distributed several informative documents for participants to read to further advance their understanding of civics education in Orange Schools. Among them were these:

• Social Studies K-12 Course Sequence
• Civics instruction at Locust Grove Elementary School
• A quiz given to fourth graders on state government

Participants were encouraged to learn more by studying the Standards of Learning for History and Social Science on the Virginia Department of Education Web site.

Mr. Magruder, whose school benefited from a fund-raising auction and raffle last fall organized by the Lake of the Woods Democratic Club, told members that “My fellow principals are kind of envious of me when I say, ‘Let me tell you what the LOW community did for me!’ ”

Ms. Carlton reported that Dr. Robert Grimesey Jr., superintendent of Orange County Schools, had testified before the House Education and the Workforce Committee in Washington this week on the impact of federal regulations and reporting from the perspective of an administrator in a small rural school division.

The person who will be elected president of the United States in 2060 is a pupil in an elementary school class somewhere right now. He or she is just beginning to learn about the rights and responsibilities of American citizenship. What that child is taught will have a profound and lasting effect on that future national administration.

That child’s classmates, who may never seek public office, are also developing an understanding of a citizen’s relationship with government that will help steer the course of the Republic.

Jesse W. Magruder, principal of Locust Grove Elementary School, will explore the status of civics education on the local level when he speaks to The Lake of the Woods Democratic Club at 1:30 p.m. March 17 at the Woods Center. Visitors are welcome to attend.

Alexis de Toqueville observed that “each new generation must acquire the knowledge, learn the skills and develop the dispositions or traits of private and public character that undergird a constitutional democracy.” What kind of civics education are Orange County children receiving in our public schools? Is it the kind of training they need to become good citizens?

Mr. Magruder is veteran educator with 29 years of experience as a teacher, assistant principal, and principal. He graduated from Charlottesville Public Schools and attended Wilberforce University in Xenia, Ohio, where he earned a bachelor of science in elementary education in 1980. In 1996, Mr. Magruder went to the University of Virginia to study to become a school administrator. During this time he worked full time on his studies while serving as an administrative intern at Fluvanna Middle School in Fluvanna County.

During his career, Mr. Magruder has served as a teacher, assistant principal and administrator in schools in Charlottesville, Albemarle County, Fluvanna County, Culpeper and Orange County. He was appointed principal of Locust Grove Elementary School in 2007.

For those wishing to prepare for a discussion of civics education following Mr. Magruder’s presentation, here are some excellent resources:

• Center for Civic Education
• National Alliance for Civic Education
• The Role of Civic Education, a position paper of The Communitarian Network