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online at www.connectionnewspapers.com December 28, 2016 - January 3, 2017 Children Childrens Connection 2016 s Connection 2016 Children’s Connection 2016 Vienna Vienna and Oakton and Oakton Watercolor Portrait, by Celine Gorkowski, grade 8, Thoreau Middle School, Art Teacher Michele Physioc.

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Page 1: Vienna and Oakton - connectionarchives.comconnectionarchives.com/PDF/2016/122816/Vienna.pdf“A Family Trip,” by Angela Yan, 7, Yanshun’s art studio, Grade 2, Oakton Elementary

Vienna/Oakton Connection ❖ Children’s Connection ❖ 2016 - 2017 ❖ 1www.ConnectionNewspapers.com online at www.connectionnewspapers.comDecember 28, 2016 - January 3, 2017

ChildrenChildren’s Connection 2016s Connection 2016Children’s Connection 2016

ViennaViennaand Oaktonand Oakton

Watercolor Portrait, byCeline Gorkowski, grade 8,Thoreau Middle School, ArtTeacher Michele Physioc.

Page 2: Vienna and Oakton - connectionarchives.comconnectionarchives.com/PDF/2016/122816/Vienna.pdf“A Family Trip,” by Angela Yan, 7, Yanshun’s art studio, Grade 2, Oakton Elementary

2 ❖ Vienna/Oakton Connection ❖ Children’s Connection ❖ 2016 - 2017 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

The RaspberryPi

Over summer break, I got aRaspberry Pi. I found it anawesome tool, and here’s why.The Raspberry Pi is a computerchip with many ports that allowyou to access and use manyprogramming interfaces to createapplications, hack things, andeven create a cool mod for anapplication.

But first, you will need toassemble it. You can simply buya kit and follow instructionsfrom raspberrypi.org’s help area.Check out the video section of it.You will be all set in less than anhour. Now let’s get to program-ming on it.

An example of this would bewriting this code in a Python 3shell for Minecraft Pi (A versionof minecraft specifically forRaspberry Pi):

>>>from mcpi importMinecraft

>>>mc = Minecraft.create()>>>x, y, z =

mc.player.getPos()>>>mc.player.setPos (x, y +

200, z)This code has the power to

teleport you 200 blocks aboveyour current position in-game!There is even a command thatyou can do to spawn in TNT thatexplodes when broken!

The best part is that you don’thave any limits as to what youcan do! You could open afranchise that creates apps usingRaspberry Pi’s or even upgradeMinecraft Pi to make it as goodas the full version of minecraft!

—Neel Sharma, Grade 6,

Louise Archer Elementary

The Vienna / OaktonChildren’s Connection

is published byLocal Media Connection, LLC.

A digital version of this publicationand 14 sister publications

available atwww.connectionnewpapers.com/

documents

For information on advertisingemail

[email protected]

For information on local contentemail

[email protected]

Children’s

Connection

Page 3: Vienna and Oakton - connectionarchives.comconnectionarchives.com/PDF/2016/122816/Vienna.pdf“A Family Trip,” by Angela Yan, 7, Yanshun’s art studio, Grade 2, Oakton Elementary

Vienna/Oakton Connection ❖ Children’s Connection ❖ 2016 - 2017 ❖ 3www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

Children’s ConnectionVienna/Oakton Connection Editor Kemal Kurspahic

703-778-9414 or [email protected]

Dear Readers:This week, the Vienna/Oakton Connection

turns over its pages to the youth and students.We asked principals and teachers from

area schools to encourage students to con-tribute their words, pictures and photos forour annual Children’s Issue.

The response as always was enormous.While we were unable to publish every piecewe received, we did our best to put togethera paper with a fair sampling of the submit-ted stories, poems, drawings, paintings,photographs and other works of art.

We appreciate the extra effort made byschool staff to gather the materials duringtheir busy time leading up to the holidays.We’d also like to encourage both schools andparents to mark their 2017 calendars forearly December, the deadline for submissionsfor next year’s Children’s Connection. Please

keep us in mind as your children continueto create spectacular works of art and inspir-ing pieces of writing in the coming year.

The children’s issue is only a part of ouryear-round commitment to cover educationand our local schools. As always, the Con-nection welcomes letters to the editor, storyideas, calendar listings and notices of localevents from our readers. Photos and othersubmissions about special events at schoolsare especially welcome for our weeklyschool pages.

Our preferred method for material is e-mail, which should be sent [email protected], butyou can reach us by mail at 1606 KingStreet, Alexandria, VA 22314 or call 703-778-9414 with any questions.

Editor Kemal Kurspahic

Welcome

By Molly Samburg of Vienna, Grade 1, Art Teacher Lauren Grimm.

“A Family Trip,” by Angela Yan, 7, Yanshun’s art studio, Grade 2, OaktonElementary School, Oakton.

“Friends,” by Eva Huang, of Vienna, 5, Kindergarten, Laurel Ridge El-ementary in Fairfax, Teacher: Ms. Jacqueline Patterson.

“A Sunny Morning,” by Emma Huang, of Vienna, 5, Kindergarten, LaurelRidge Elementary in Fairfax, Teacher: Ms. Lorna Cordero.

“Watercolor Music,”by Katelin Dow,Grade 8, ThoreauMiddle School, ArtTeacher MichelePhysioc.

Page 4: Vienna and Oakton - connectionarchives.comconnectionarchives.com/PDF/2016/122816/Vienna.pdf“A Family Trip,” by Angela Yan, 7, Yanshun’s art studio, Grade 2, Oakton Elementary

4 ❖ Vienna/Oakton Connection ❖ Children’s Connection ❖ 2016 - 2017 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

Children’s Connection

By Natalie Bernier,age 6, of Vienna,Grade 1, Yan’s ArtStudio, Fairfax,Teacher: Yan ShunSui.

Merry ChristmasBy Jonathan Kong, age 11.

Christmas is coming, spreading new holiday cheer,Happily, we enjoy this time of the year,Reaching out to everyone’s heart,It’s definitely the gifts, for a start,Still, Christmas isn’t only about a toy,This is also a time to enjoy,Make someone else happy today,Add some fun, now what else can I say,Swell, have a Merry Christmas

Grade 6, Louise Archer Elementary, Vienna, Teacher: Ms. Sahai.

There Is NothingIt’s as shapeless as a cloudWhite wisps with no true formIt can have no meaningOr all the meaning we give it

The soul within usIntrigued by the small thingsMoved on a whimTaking flight above the cotton beds

The freedom to go anywhereBut with no directionRoaming the skiesUntil it reaches the end

While the sun is settingTucked under its satin blanketIt seems as if there is nothingBut from nothing comes everything

—Ryan Mai, of Oakton, grade 7,

Westminster School

By Jeffrey Li, age 9, Flint Hill Elementary School.

“Family Portrait” by Ethan Forbes, age 4 of Vienna.

By Maylee Batucan, age 5, of Vienna, Birthday: Feb.21, Grade: kindergarten, home schooled, Teacher:Yanshun Sui.

Watching fireworks withfriends, by Marissa Lin, age6, Grade 1, Freedom HillElementary, Vienna.

Poetry Corner

Summer in the WoodsThe willow tree screams in silence as the wood-

peckerPecked, pecked, peckedThe fish glide along the water like tiny torpedoesPassing the tree as if they don’t careThe flower strokes the butterfly as it collects the

yellow pollenStoring it for lunchThe fish spray a light mistAs the kind willow trees create a tunnel for me to

walk throughThe rain pounds on the plants, punishing them for

taking their waterThe curious animals gather close to see this ruckus

—Arti Marzban, of Dunn Loring, Grade

3, Westminster School

Page 5: Vienna and Oakton - connectionarchives.comconnectionarchives.com/PDF/2016/122816/Vienna.pdf“A Family Trip,” by Angela Yan, 7, Yanshun’s art studio, Grade 2, Oakton Elementary

Vienna/Oakton Connection ❖ Children’s Connection ❖ 2016 - 2017 ❖ 5www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

Classes for 2’s, 3’s, 4’s, Pre-K

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"In Our Backyard,"by Valerie Li, 12,Longfellow MiddleSchool.

Children’s Connection

Page 6: Vienna and Oakton - connectionarchives.comconnectionarchives.com/PDF/2016/122816/Vienna.pdf“A Family Trip,” by Angela Yan, 7, Yanshun’s art studio, Grade 2, Oakton Elementary

6 ❖ Vienna/Oakton Connection ❖ Children’s Connection ❖ 2016 - 2017 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

Children’s Connection

Pink and Yellow Flower, by Ava Kang, of Vienna, age 13, Grade 7,Congressional School, Falls Church, Art Teacher: Mrs. Rula Brock.

Blue Bird in a Tree,by Crystal Xia, age12, Grade 8, Con-gressional School,Falls Church, ArtTeacher: Mrs. RulaBrock.

“Room with a View,” byAbigail Paredes.

Abigail Paredes, 14, of Great Falls,attends Dominion High School in Sterling.

Paredes Gallery

By Vivian Yu, Grade 5,Oakton Elementary School,Teacher: Yanshun Sui.

By CynthiaYuxin Huang,age 10, ofOakton, Grade5, SunriseValley Elemen-tary in Reston,teacher: Mr.Ian Kidder.

Page 7: Vienna and Oakton - connectionarchives.comconnectionarchives.com/PDF/2016/122816/Vienna.pdf“A Family Trip,” by Angela Yan, 7, Yanshun’s art studio, Grade 2, Oakton Elementary

Vienna/Oakton Connection ❖ Children’s Connection ❖ 2016 - 2017 ❖ 7www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

By Eythan Huang. Grade 2, Flint Hill Elementary.

Children’s Connection

Page 8: Vienna and Oakton - connectionarchives.comconnectionarchives.com/PDF/2016/122816/Vienna.pdf“A Family Trip,” by Angela Yan, 7, Yanshun’s art studio, Grade 2, Oakton Elementary

8 ❖ Vienna/Oakton Connection ❖ Children’s Connection ❖ 2016 - 2017 Vienna/Oakton Connection ❖ Children’s Connection ❖ 2016 - 2017 ❖ 9www.ConnectionNewspapers.com www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

Children’s Connection

Artwork submitted by Thoreau MiddleSchool Art Teacher Michele Physioc.

Thoreau MiddleArt Gallery

Sleigh Ride, byCorinne Church,Grade 7.

Bridge in Winter, byRiley Stevens, Grade 8.

Peaceful Snowman,by Tami Nguyen,Grade 8.

Santa’s Workshop,by Tran Vo, Grade 8.

Snowman, by Sydney McCarthy,Grade 8.

Holiday Fun, by LaurenRichardson, Grade 7.

Balancing the Holidays, by Savan-nah Le Tendre, Grade 7.

Watercolor Music, by SydneyMcCarthy, Grade 8.

Watercolor Music, by Katelin Dow,Grade 8.

Watercolor Music, by KatieRodgers, Grade 7.

Watercolor Portrait, by CelineGorkowski, Grade 8.

Watercolor Music, by DanielJacobson, Grade 7.

Watercolor Music, Ellie Saunders,Grade 8.

Watercolor Music, by MatiTurunen, Grade 7.

Watercolor Music, by Nora Galvin,Grade 8.

Page 9: Vienna and Oakton - connectionarchives.comconnectionarchives.com/PDF/2016/122816/Vienna.pdf“A Family Trip,” by Angela Yan, 7, Yanshun’s art studio, Grade 2, Oakton Elementary

10 ❖ Vienna/Oakton Connection ❖ Children’s Connection ❖ 2016 - 2017 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

Children’s

Connection

Colvin Run Elementary

Artwork submitted by teacher Lauren Grimm.

Colvin Run Elementary

Art Gallery

Artwork submitted by Sandy PughArt Instructor.

By MollySamburg, ofVienna,Grade 1.

By Morgan Frederick ofGreat Falls, Grade 6. By Sanika Kale of Great Falls, Grade 5.

By Ellie Wen,Grade 2.

By Rocco Zhang,Grade 4.

By Rhys Frischling ofGreat Falls, Grade 3.

By - from left - Ellena Suh,Grade 2; Cayden McCusker ofGreat Falls, Grade 2; andClaire Nitowski, Grade 2.

By Ponteha Aryavand ofGreat Falls, Kindergarten.

By Chloe Xie, Grade 3.

By Alexis WoosleyAnderson, Grade 2.

Page 10: Vienna and Oakton - connectionarchives.comconnectionarchives.com/PDF/2016/122816/Vienna.pdf“A Family Trip,” by Angela Yan, 7, Yanshun’s art studio, Grade 2, Oakton Elementary

Vienna/Oakton Connection ❖ Children’s Connection ❖ 2016 - 2017 ❖ 11www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

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By fifth graders in Katy Curran’s classat Hutchison Elementary in Herndon.

If I could give my mom a gift I’dgive a helpful thing, a hug or anicest card and a love candy andif we could go to Vietnam to havefun and at home finding the notes.

—Andy Nguyen

If I could give a free gift to mymom and dad it will be a card, itwill be shiny. Inside the card say ilove you. Mom gave me a kiss inthe head. We’d all be happy.

—Bryan Rivera-Argueta

If i can give a gift to my momwith no money it’s going to beSpanish song to make her feel thebest mom in world.

—Jose Hernandez

I will give you a hug because youhave been really nice to me andyou have never talked behind myback and I trust her because I havebeen best friend since secondgrade and I have never heard thatsomeone says to me that she istalking behind my back or she saidsomething mean and I love her likea sister.

—Nancy Parada-

Rodriguez

My Mom and I would like to giveher a card it would say I love yousong. I’m so happy she is the bestMom in the world. Her food is bestin the world.

P.S - I love you Mom—Leslie Portillo

Dear mom, I love you becauseyou do all the work in the houseand you care about me and ourfamily, that’s why I love you.

—Patrick Castillo

My friends are my family. It willbe a hug, a card of love and astuffed animal. I will give a stuffedanimal that i have because it willmake her or him feel great. And Iwill give her or him help them ifthey need help. And I will givethem a big kiss and a big hug, allday long love.

—Sandy Arana Tome

I will give my mom a hug and akiss so she is happy and give herlot of hugs.

—Santiago Panozo

If i could give a gift to my dad itwould be a handmade ship, be-cause he likes ships.

—Umair Bhall

“Gifts toGive”

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12 ❖ Vienna/Oakton Connection ❖ Children’s Connection ❖ 2016 - 2017 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

Children’s

Connection

Odyssey ofthe Mind

By Mulan Pan

I’m sure many of you have heardof it, and some of you might evenbe in Odyssey of the Mind compe-tition, but for those who aren’t, Iwanted to give you an insider’sview of what it’s all about. I’vebeen participating in Odyssey ofthe Mind, which I will refer to asOotM, since fourth grade, and Iabsolutely love it! It’s a great en-richment activity for me, and ithelps me relax and have fun withfriends.

When I first started out, ourteam chose the balsa wood prob-lem. In this problem, we had tobuild a structure that could sup-port the most weight possible. Itcould only be made of balsa woodand glue and could weigh no morethan fifteen grams. The amount ofweight held translated into points.This part of the problem took themost time and effort, where weexperimented with many differentdesigns. Every week, teammateswould bring in their newly madestructure, and we would carefullyload weights onto it until itsmashed. After we recorded theweight held, we would then ana-lyze it to figure out how it brokeso we could improve the design.Guess how much weight our finalstructure held? Over five hundredpounds!

While trying to build a balsawood structure, we were pre-sented a long-term problem. Wehad to come up with a solution tothe problem, which had to incor-porate the structure, and turn thesolution into an eight-minute skit.The judges would decide how cre-ative and effective our solutionwas and award us points. Theywould also look at our handmadeprops, costumes, and other thingsalong those lines, and award usStyle points for those.

The Spontaneous part must bemy favorite. We were presented aproblem, and we had no clue be-forehand what it would be. Theygave us a limited amount of timeto solve it, so we had to think onour feet, getting our creative juicesreally flowing. An example of aproblem would be, “What was thebest thing since sliced bread?”, inwhich each member would give adifferent response. The more cre-ative responses our team gave, themore points we would get.

Last March, our team got firstplace in Regional Competition. Itwas the best day of my life! I mustadmit, we weren’t the best sportsabout it though. We kept jumping

By Nicole Holtz Djiba, age 9, Grade 3,Waples Mill Elementary.

Eric Holtz Djiba, age 9, Grade 3,Waples Mill Elementary.

“Mutant Penguins Celebrating Christmas”Artwork by Mulan Pan, grade 6, resident of Great Fallsand student at Forestville Elementary School.

around, screaming, “We won! Wewon!”, the shining gold medalbouncing on our chest. Later inApril, we attended the State Com-petition, where we got third place!This year, our team is determinedto get to the World Competition(and maybe even win!).

Overall, OotM is a great sport forthe mind. You get to make newfriends, exercise creativity, andcrush your rivals in the competi-

tion. You also learn how to coop-erate with your teammates. OotMallowed me to delve deeper intomy strengths, as well as find newones. Although I’ve only been par-ticipating in this event for twoyears, I have no trouble saying thatit’s become my favorite part of myafter-school life.

Mulan Pan, 12, is a sixth grader atForestville Elementary School, Teachers:Ms. Conner, Ms. Donlon, and Ms. Kroog

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Vienna/Oakton Connection ❖ Children’s Connection ❖ 2016 - 2017 ❖ 13www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

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Children’s Connection

Cunningham Park Elementary Artwork submitted by Alice Bredin-Karny,Art Specialist at Cunningham Park Elementary.

By Lizzie Britt,age 8, Grade 2,Cunningham ParkElementarySchool, Vienna.

By Jenna Jumaili,age 10 Grade 4,Cunningham ParkElementary School,Vienna.

By MatthewMothElementarySchool, age 7,Grade 1,Cunningham ParkElementarySchool, Vienna.

By SavannahVernon, age 10,Grade 4,Cunningham ParkElementary School,Vienna.

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14 ❖ Vienna/Oakton Connection ❖ Children’s Connection ❖ 2016 - 2017 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

21 Announcements 21 Announcements 21 Announcements

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ABC LICENSEThai Boys Inc. trading as Tom Yum Thai, 226 Maple Ave. W, Vienna, VA 22180. The above establishment is applying to

the VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL (ABC) for a Wine and Beer On Premises and

Mixed BeverageRestaurant license to sell or

manufacture alcoholic beverages. Tanitta

Diewtragulchai, PresidentNOTE: Objections to the issu-ance of this license must be

submitted to ABC no later than 30 days from the publishing

date of the first of two required newspaper legal notices.

Objections should be regis-tered at www.abc.virginia.gov

or 800-552-3200.

Kenny Lourie is an Advertising Representative forThe Potomac Almanac & The Connection Newspapers.

By KENNETH B. LOURIE

Seldom WrongBut This TimeI’m Write

Because of the change in some of ourpublication deadlines for December, I havehad to write multiple columns weeks inadvance, somewhat unusual for me.Typically, I write my column five days beforepublication, so time-wise, I’m fairly currentand emotionally present as well. Writingahead, as December dead-lines (it’s nothingnew. I’ve been managing to accommodatethese deadlines for years) is still a bit off-put-ting. Though I want to think ahead and livelike I have a future; as a cancer patient, it’sdifficult not to live in the present. Thinking,feeling, projecting ahead, seems presumptu-ous almost.

This is not to imply that I have to some-how presume a future and write about can-cer subjects — or not, which have not yethappened. Hardly. My columns are rarelytime-sensitive or date-specific. Still, my col-umns are generally better written when I’mwriting from current feelings, facts, circum-stances, etc. And though many of the feel-ings, facts and circumstances relating to mycondition don’t exactly change on a daily,weekly or even monthly basis (thank God!),surprisingly, my reaction to them sometimesdoes. Moreover, writing multiple columns atone time also forces me to pile onto myselfemotionally the effects of my disease. Which,if you must know, I’d rather not do. In fact, ifthere’s any way I can not think about mysituation, that’s a ‘way’ I’d like to be.

Not that I moan and groan or woe is meabout my age 54-and-half-terminal-diagno-sis, as those who know me or have regularlyread my columns likewise know; but some-times I’d prefer not to have my hand forced.And even though reading or hearing aboutother people who have been diagnosed withlung cancer, or who have succumbed to itsravages, doesn’t bother me — too much,really (I’ve matured); occasionally, I’d ratherbe blissfully ignorant.

Although I readily admit that being igno-rant too long concerning my disease is hardlypenny-wise but it is most definitely pound-foolish. The trick is, somehow not gettingconsumed by one’s circumstances and main-taining an optimistic point of view. And sinceI’m a funny guy (though not really fun), I amable to humor myself — and others, so theseless-than-ideal circumstances under which Iattempt to thrive are not overwhelming,except when forced to confront my demonsand focus on myself when newspaper dead-lines are advanced and jumbled and I’m hav-ing to write four columns in two weeksinstead of writing one column in one week.

Though it’s not exactly trouble, it is toquote Jerry Seinfeld from a long-ago Seinfeldepisode, “something.” ‘Something’ I couldlikely live without, but ‘something’ unfortu-nately I must live with, every December. ButI’m a “big boy,” as my father used to tell me,with “broad shoulders” (figuratively speakingto my ability to handle the load), so I’ll man-age. In fact, in another paragraph, I will havecompleted the task and the presumptiveweight of it will be off my ‘broad shoulders.’

Now I can relax a little bit, exactly whatone (especially this one with cancer) needs.Between the holidays and advanced dead-lines, the column-writing and the ad-selling;I’m living and learning with my ever-evolvingcircumstances (further from the beginning orcloser to the end; I never know).

Nevertheless, I am extremely happy tohave been there and finished doing it yetagain. I hope to see you all back here nextyear. Happy Holidays!

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21 Announcements 21 Announcements

Johnson, Richard Lee, 88, of Radnor,PA, formerly of Vienna, VA. Beloved hus-band of Anne Chapman (nee Hungerford)Johnson, Father of Anne Johnson Graf(Chappy) (Bayard H.) of Strafford, PA andJessie Edwards Johnson of PurceHville,VA. Also survived by five grandchildrenand his sister Lois Johnson Held ofMilwaukee, Wl. Funeral service will be atSt. John’s Episcopal Church, McLean, VAon Wednesday, December 28th at noon.In lieu of flowers contributions in hisname may be made to St. John’s ChurchMemorial Fund, St. John’s EpiscopalChurch, 671 5 Georgetown Pike,PostOffice Box 457, McLean, VA 221 01-0457.

OBITUARY

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Vienna/Oakton Connection ❖ Children’s Connection ❖ 2016 - 2017 ❖ 15www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

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Walkways, Patios, Driveways,Flagstone, ConcreteFREE ESTIMATES

Licensed, Insured, Bonded

703-250-6231

PAVING PAVING

Partial or Full. Kit. Floors, Backsplashes.Specializing in Ceramic, Porcelain, Glass Tiles

and Natural Stones. Also repair work. 35 yrs exp.

BATHROOM REMODELING

703-250-2872Licensed • Bonded • Insured

www.brennan-tile.com

by Brennan Bath and Tile

TILE/MARBLE TILE/MARBLE

Quality Tree Service& Landscaping

Reasonable prices. Licensed & insured.

24 Hour EmergencyTree Service

25 years of experience – Free estimates 703-868-5358

Summer Cleanup...Tree removal, topping & pruning,shrubbery trimming, mulching,leaf removal, planting, hauling,gutter cleaning, retaining walls,

drainage problems, etc.

TREE SERVICE TREE SERVICE

LANDSCAPING

SOD, Mulch, Clean-UpLeaf Removal

Hauling.703-863-7465

A&S CONSTRUCTION

ELECTRICAL ELECTRICAL

Recessed LightingCeiling FansPhone/CATVComputer Network CablingService UpgradesHot Tubs, etc…

Office 703-335-0654Mobile 703-499-0522

Licensed/Bonded/Insured

[email protected]

If tomorrow were never tocome, it wouldnot be worthliving today.

-Dagobert Runes

Page 15: Vienna and Oakton - connectionarchives.comconnectionarchives.com/PDF/2016/122816/Vienna.pdf“A Family Trip,” by Angela Yan, 7, Yanshun’s art studio, Grade 2, Oakton Elementary

16 ❖ Vienna/Oakton Connection ❖ Children’s Connection ❖ 2016 - 2017 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com