Browsing: People

Three Chesterfield County teachers were lauded and lavished with balloons and flowers as choices for the 2017 – 2018 Teachers of the Year for elementary, middle and high school and county wide Teacher Elementary School Teacher of the Year and Robious Elementary’s Teacher of the Year; Katherine Byers is Chesterfield’s Middle School Teacher of the Year and Midlothian’s Middle School Teacher of the Year; and Beth Lucas is Chesterfield’s High School Teacher of the Year and Bird High’s Teacher of the Year. John Erbach, Dale District representative on the Chesterfield County School Board, praised Lucas for her dedication to her…

WASHINGTON – C-SPAN recently announced that Joseph Stoll has been named one of three recipients of C-SPAN’s 2017 Teacher Fellowship Program. Stoll teaches U.S. History and U.S. Government to high school students at L.C. Bird in Chesterfield. He is an AP U.S. exam reader, and he teaches a U.S. History course at Reynolds Community College in Richmond. Now in its 24th year, C-SPAN’s Fellowship Program invites teachers nationwide to apply for an opportunity to collaborate with the network in their Washington headquarters. Fellows will spend f our weeks during the summer developing new educational resources with C-SPAN’s Education Relations team…

Members of St. John’s Episcopal Church on Richmond Street lost their beloved music director, Paul Roberts Bartsch, suddenly in December. Still feeling the loss, a committee was formed to bring his works to life. “A Musical Tribute to the Life and Musical Works of Paul R. Bartsch” will be held at St. John’s on Sunday, May 21 at 4 p.m. The tribute will take place in the nave of the church, with a recep tion to follow in the Parish Hall. Ben Miller will serve as musical director. “St. John’s was greatly blessed when Paul became the director of music…

Katie Sponsler is not a name that comes to mind when you are talking politics. Until 2015, she was busy serving her country in other ways. She is still taken aback by being described as a politician, “I don’t feel like a politician,” she said. Sponsler worked for 15 years in several government agencies. She served 11 years in the United States Air Force as an aircraft armaments specialist, completed a combat tour in Afghanistan and Guam, served with the Ohio State Police and most recently she received a commission as a Park Ranger from the National Park Service. She…

By Mark Fausz If you attended high school in Chester in the 1970s, you would have lived and breathed Thomas Dale High School especially if you were a cheerleader and the homecoming queen. But cheering wasn’t enough for an energetic girl who would go on to garner accolades from her life as a newspaper reporting. While working toward a degree in Liberal Arts from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, she worked on the college newspaper, The Collegiate Times. Her degree in journalism and communication set her on a path that would last the rest of her life. Kathryn Thompson…

RICHMOND – Sean, 25, didn’t socialize much in high school, but respite weekends at the Greater Richmond ARC’s Camp Baker in Chesterfield now give him the chance. Sean truly enjoys his time with his Camp Baker buddies, according to his mom Teresa, who says it is a safe place where he gets a break from his daily household routine. Sean would be a “sadder, more moody person” without Camp Baker respite, she says. “It’s given him a sense of independence where he’s doing things on his own.” The Greater Richmond ARC’s Camp Baker will provide weekend respite for children and…

Birthday Celebration for the Dodd Family The Dodd family celebrated Imogene Dodd’s 80th birthday Nov. 18. Out-of-town family members continued their stay to enjoy Thanksgiving and helped celebrate Imogene’s grandson Ethan’s 13th birthday Nov. 24. Those present for the occasions were; Imogene Dodd, Ethan Dodd, Candice and Lydia Dodd, Ava and Kathryn Wagner, Kent and Michelle Dodd, Richard and Robin Dodd, Jonathan and Jennifer Dodd, Jane and Michael Wagner, cousin Renee McCormick and their family dog, Romi.

Kaitlyn Ward is your typical nine-year-old in the fifth grade at Curtis Elementary. She is obsessed with dance and has been since she was 18 months old, says her mother Kristin Ward. “She loves dance with such a passion that you can’t help but keep your eyes on her,” said Ward. Kaitlyn is being trained at Tip Tap Toes by Maggie Floyd in Chester. ”Maggie has brought out the very best in Kaitlyn,” Kristin said. Along with her regular dance classes, she is part of the Toe-Tal Package Dance Team, with which she competes. Last spring, “Be Discovered” posted a…

The first ever Chesterfield CountyPublic Safety Chili Cook Off had 20 entries from four departments competing for Public Safety Chili Grand Master. The cook-off enlisted employees from ECC, Police, Fire, and Sheriff’s departments and was held at the Eanes-Pittman Public Safety Training Center last Tuesday. The idea came from Sgt. Bivens, who had organized a similar chili cook off with his shift at the jail. Members of the Sheriff’s Office, Fire & EMS, Police and Emergency Communications participated. The 20 entries were then judged by Dr. Joseph Casey, County Administrator along with Steve Elswick, Dorothy Jaeckle and Christopher Winslow from the…

In Aaron Xavier Wittman’s senior year at The Citadel, his yearbook quote was “If you don’t live for something, you will die for nothing.” His father, Duane Wittman, said it was shocking that he chose this quote, but that it was also a prophetic sign of things to come. Sgt. Wittman became the first U.S. casualty of 2013 in the War on Terror when he was killed in Kyogyani district, Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan on January 10, 2013. It was his second tour in Afghanistan, and he was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star with V for Valor posthumously. His…