The Washington Post - 19.08.2019

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MONDAY, AUGUST 19 , 2019. WASHINGTONPOST.COM/REGIONAL EZ RE B

JOHN KELLY’S WASHINGTON

Forget mopeds. Just

imagine D.C. streets when

a rental steamroller is only

an app away. B

MARYLAND

A teen is gunned down

outside his Burtonsville

home six days before he

was to head to college. B

OBITUARIES

Read about the lives of

residents of the D.C. area

at washingtonpost.com/

79 ° 90 ° 93 ° 87 ° obituaries.

8 a.m. Noon 4 p.m. 8 p.m.

High today at

approx. 2 p.m.

96

°

Precip: 60%

Wind: SSW

4-8 mph

BY LAURA VOZZELLA

richmond — Virginia’s Crime

Commission will devote two days

this week to mass shootings and

other gun violence, issues vexing

a state where 32 died in a univer-

sity massacre a dozen years ago,

where another 12 were cut down

at a municipal complex in May

and where an average of three

more were lost to less sensational

shootings every day in between.

Over day-long hearings Mon-

day and Tuesday, the commission

will hear from law enforcement

officials, academics and activists.

State delegates and senators will

be there, too, presenting about

60 bills proposed for a special

legislative session on guns that

Republicans ended abruptly in

July.

Gov. Ralph Northam (D) called

the special session following a

May 31 shooting at a Virginia

Beach municipal complex. GOP

House and Senate leaders ad-

journed after 90 minutes without

taking up a single bill, promising

to reconvene Nov. 18 — after piv-

otal state elections in which all

140 legislative seats are on the

ballot.

GOP leaders said the crime

commission, which is bipartisan

but under Republican control,

would use the time in between to

study the legislation and make

recommendations to the General

Assembly. The hearings Monday

and Tuesday will launch those

SEE GUNS ON B

Panel

to weigh

Va. gun

violence

HEARINGS TO FOCUS

ON MASS SHOOTINGS

Lawmakers prepared

to present dozens of bills

BY REBECCA TAN

On a cool summer night, 200

people filed into a community

center deep in the Maryland sub-

urbs for an atypical town hall. On

the agenda: race.

Armed with Sharpies and post-

er boards, uniformed police offi-

cers, elected officials and stu-

dents were asked to “take a deep,

big cleansing breath” before shar-

ing their experiences with racial

inequity in Montgomery County.

The disparities in this liberal,

majority-minority suburb were

glaring. The poverty rate for

black and Latino residents is

nearly triple that of white resi-

dents; Latinos are more than five

times as likely as whites to lack a

high school diploma or GED;

black youths make up one-fifth of

the school-age population, yet

they account for 3 in 5 juvenile

arrests.

The conversation, awkward at

times, was revealing overall. At

the end, though, the path forward

remained unclear. In this way, it

epitomized the growing trend of

local governments trying to undo

generations of racial inequity

with ambitious, sometimes

vaguely defined initiatives.

The movement began on the

West Coast a decade ago, but has

accelerated in recent years as

elected officials — mostly from

SEE EQUITY ON B

Racial gaps

prove hard

to reduce

BY VALERIE STRAUSS

In Virginia’s Pulaski County

public school district, two cam-

puses closed early Friday because

of “extreme heat,” officials said.

In Baltimore City, where ex-

treme weather in summer and

winter has long created problems

for aging and cash-strapped

schools, the teachers union is

seeking donations to buy hun-

dreds of fans for the beginning of

the school year, Sept. 3.

The 2019-2020 academic year

is just getting started, and al-

ready schools throughout the

country are facing a big problem:

searing heat and classrooms

without air conditioning. It’s not

just about comfort, researchers

say, but about teachers and stu-

dents being able to do their best

work.

“If we want our students to do

their very best, to tackle and

master rigorous content, to imag-

ine creative solutions to the com-

SEE HEAT ON B

For schools,

heat can stifle

young minds

BY PERRY STEIN

The daily countdown to the

start of school has reached single

digits — and Digital Pioneers

Academy is in shambles. Desks are

buried in soot. Newly installed

floors have been ripped up. A

stench of smoke and cleaning

chemicals lingers in hallways from

a fire that erupted Tuesday.

And boxes of unworn uniforms

have been sent to the dry cleaners

to see if they can be salvaged from

the smoke that engulfed them.

The first day of school — Aug. 26

— was supposed to mark a second

beginning for Digital Pioneers, a

public charter middle school with

a focus on computer science. The

D.C. school opened last year with a

sixth-grade class and operated out

of the Sunday school classrooms of

a church in Southeast Washington.

SEE SCHOOL ON B

After fire, 1st day of classes might not be in school

BONNIE JO MOUNT/THE WASHINGTON POST

Workers repair damage at Digital Pioneers Academy in the District on Friday. Students are supposed

to start the school year at the new campus near Capitol Hill, but a fire has left the building in shambles.

BY LAUREL DEMKOVICH

In the basement of the newly

renovated community center, 9-

year-old Akeylah Edwards takes a

seat in front of her computer and

a small piano keyboard. Hanging

on the wall next to her is a large

red-and-pink painting with stick-

ers reading “Girl Power” and “Tal-

ented.”

“Okay, everyone, create a track

using four genres,” Deanna Haw-

kins instructs four students. “Use

something you’ve never even

heard of.”

Akeylah opens the program

GarageBand, creates a file and

goes to work. She was making

music — and history — in an old

building with a new mission.

That building is part of Living

Classrooms, a nonprofit organi-

zation that aims to educate by

doing and that recently moved

into a community center in

Southwest Washington.

Akeylah, along with her two

sisters, has only been learning

music production since Living

Classrooms’ summer camp start-

ed in late July, but she knows

exactly what she’s doing.

She chooses prerecorded loops

of music from five of Garage-

Band’s genres: hip-hop, R&B,

funk, world and jazz. She cups her

hands to her headphones and

nods proudly. When it’s time to

share, Hawkins, D.C. music pro-

gram coordinator for Living

Classrooms, instructs the stu-

dents to unplug their headphones

and to play their mixes for the

group.

“Mine sounds a little crazy,”

Akeylah said, giggling.

Hawkins listens. “No, that’s

good stuff!”

This music lab where kids can

write, produce and record their

own music — they call it Beat-

Zone — is one of the many pro-

grams run by Living Classrooms.

Founded in 1985, the organiza-

tion creates programs that focus

on learning through experiences.

The goal is to help children and

adults achieve their potential

with hopes it will disrupt the

cycle of poverty. In the District,

Living Classrooms runs outdoor

camps, workforce development

programs, an education program

aboard a ship and music classes.

SEE CENTER ON B

Old house starts new chapter

Living Classrooms, which encourages learning by doing,

sets up shop at historic site in Southwest Washington

MARVIN JOSEPH/THE WASHINGTON POST

Instructor Deanna Hawkins, left, works with Samaria Edwards, 15, inside the community center used for Living Classrooms programs.

D.C. charter may return

to church as repairs to

new location are made

Various equity efforts

in D.C. area have had

mixed results