The timing couldn’t be more perfect. Just this week — in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day — a TV critic for The New Yorker disparaged our little city on Twitter. Emily Nussbaum tweeted to her 280K followers: “LOL, just watched an episode of The Dating Game in which the prize was a trip to glamorous … Roanoke, VA. That seems more like a punishment. …” LOL, just watched an episode of The Dating Game in which the prize was a trip to glamorous… Roanoke, VA. That seems more like a punishment. <Preparing to be ratio'd by Roanoke.>— Emily Nussbaum (@emilynussbaum) February 8, 2021 As you can imagine, the response was swift. By the next morning, “Roanoke” was trending on Twitter, with local citizens, journalists, the Visit Virginia’s Blue Ridge tourism bureau — even Gov. Northam’s Twitter account — coming to Roanoke’s defense. Author Stephen King is also involved, and not in a good way. The Roanoke Times covered the twitterstorm here. Many of us reacted by noting what we LOVE about Roanoke, which included everything from the beautiful mountains to the families we are raising here. It was an opportunity to send some hearts to our Star City.… Continue Reading My valentine to Roanoke starts with a mean tweetRead More
When I was about to turn 30 — and shortly after watching “The Holiday” starring Kate Winslet — I made a bold decision. I would travel to London for vacation. Alone. Just me, giving myself the gift of adventure while I thought about what I really wanted in life. And I would save money by traveling right after the winter holidays — on New Year’s Eve. I thought flying overnight on NYE would be exciting and romantic: I envisioned a dramatic midnight countdown … a hearty cheer from the passengers … and maybe a champagne toast as we landed in the new year. Alas, that dream was quashed. No countdown, cheers or bubbly. The pilot only wished us a happy new year right before we deplaned. That was one of the last times I expected someone else to make my fantasies come true. On this solo trip to London, I learned how to create my own quests. First, I read a couple of guidebooks in the weeks leading up to my trip. This instantly made my vacation more meaningful: I knew some history, but only in book form. I was ready to bring that history to life.I made a *short*… Continue Reading Planning your time is boring. Create quest maps instead!Read More
Curious about Virginia Western’s Title III grant? Our grant narrative might have been 55 pages long, but we were able to boil main points down to one page. You can download the summary as a PDF and print, or find the overview below (updated as of March 2021): Get REAL One Sheet SummaryDownload Get REAL (Refocus Education on Adult Learners), 2020 to 2025 What: A 5-year, $1.8-million grant from the U.S. Department of Education Title III Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP). VWCC President Dr. Robert H. Sandel calls it the “holy grail” of community college grants. Purpose: To better serve and model stronger pathways to employment for the region’s adult learners (age 20 and older) – the new majority in higher education – especially adults from low-income backgrounds and students of color. VWCC data (2018-19): Average age: 25 / 54% adult learners / 82% of all students attend part-time Project director: Dr. Milan Hayward, Vice President of the School of Corporate and Career Training National education reform organizations Achieving the Dream (ATD) and the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) will provide data coaching, professional development, and expertise in the adult-learner space. Personnel to be hired (updated March 2021): Activity… Continue Reading Summary: Get REAL (Refocus Education on Adult Learners)Read More
About Shelley
Shelley Lyons is glad to be back on campus as she is a Virginia Western alum, and has served as the Administrative Officer for Grants Administration at Virginia Western since early 2022. Prior to VWCC, her career focus was within the Human Services and Arts fields. She wrote her first grant in 1996 on a whim and has continued to plan and learn since that time. She most enjoys seeing a well-planned project come to fruition, where funder, project manager and beneficiaries can all feel success and see impact.
Recent Posts
- Have you heard? October 28, 2024
- The Game of Life – Innovation Edition! August 29, 2024
- Why Try An LOI? May 10, 2024
- Grant Nerds Unite! March 12, 2024
- The Power of Collaboration November 17, 2023