
Know anyone that’s a poet at heart? The City of Alexandria is opening applications to be the new poet laureate.
The poet laureate’s job, according to the press release, is to promote appreciation of poetry as an art form, encourage creative writing and reading, and promote literacy through poetry. The position has a three-year term starting on April 1, 2022, succeeding current poet laureate KaNikki Jakarta. The ceremonial role will also involve presentations of poetry to various audiences.
“Individuals can nominate themselves or be nominated by someone else,” the city said. “To qualify, nominees must distinguish themselves in the field of poetry through their body of work; be a resident of the City for a minimum of one year and maintain residency through the three-year term of service; and be 18 years of age or older.”
Entries are juried by a task force that will provide a recommendation to the City Council. The nomination forms are available online.
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If you had a chance to enhance a child’s future with a time commitment of less than 2 hours a week, how would you respond? You have that opportunity right now to join over 200 Alexandrians as a reading tutor volunteer with the Alexandria Tutoring Consortium (ATC).
ATC tutors work with one child in kindergarten, first, or second grade in Alexandria public schools who need extra help with reading. Tutors meet with their Book Buddy 1-2 times each week for 30 minutes October-May at school, during school hours. Many struggling readers only receive one-on-one instruction through this program, and it makes all the difference. Last year, ATC served 195 children, of whom 82% ended the year reading on grade level and 96% made substantial reading gains. But the need is great, and we are still seeing learning lags from the pandemic.
This year, ATC plans to significantly increase the size of the program to reach over 250 students and to serve every elementary school in Alexandria. This is very exciting news, but we will only succeed if we can recruit more tutors. ATC trains you, matches you with a child, and provides ongoing lesson materials and support.

If you have been thinking about buying your first home or haven’t owned one in the last three years, THIS IS FOR YOU!
In the DMV area, it can be difficult to save the downpayment necessary for you to get into your own home. We have a solution. The Funder’s Summit!
We have assembled a summit with different municipalities to tell you how to access their funds for your home purchase.
2023 Alexandria Fall Festival
Food trucks, bounce houses, pony rides, magic shows and more at the 2023 Alexandria Fall Festival, an Alexandria Living event presented by The Patterson Group. Join us at River Farm on Sunday, Nov. 5 from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.