The Next Big Thing: Discovering New Talent

The Next Big Thing: Discovering New Talent

By: Caitlin Megonigal

On Sunday February 19^th, about 30 local bands showed up at the Rock N Roll Hotel in Northeast D.C to play in an epic battle of the bands called The Next Big Thing. This event is put on every year by the executive producer of the The Next Big Thing, Joey Perez. The 12 hour event, starting at 11 in the morning is based out of three venues in the D.C area; The Rock N Roll Hotel, DC Nine, and the 9:30 club. When asked about how the event went overall, Steve Lambert, the co-owner of the Rock N Roll Hotel stated, “We do this every year a lot of people from the suburbs outside of DC come, overall it brings some new people to the venue. But it went fine, no different than any other year.” Most the bands that showed up were alternative and hard rock bands. I caught up with one of the bands that played, In Visions (shown in the picture above), a “post-hardcore” local band from Manassas/Gainesville Virginia. This was a big night for In Visions because it was their first show as a band. Shane Lewis, the lead guitarist for In Vision said, “Performing this show was....unreal. I admit it was my first show ever and I was really shaky and nervous at parts and made a few mistakes but in all, the energy of the crowd and just seeing people’s reactions was insane.” The grungy, modern-victorian style of the Rock N Roll Hotel contributes to making it such a great venue to have events like this. “I thought the venue was really well put together considering some of the other venues in the area, it gave a lot of room for people to move around and never feel cramped when a band was playing, and the stage was big enough for us to move around and get crazy!,” said Lewis. The Next Big Thing event brought approximately 300-400 people to the Rock N Roll Hotel throughout the day and everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves. Unfortunately, the results of the event were not posted by the time of deadline. To learn more about The Next Big Thing Tour click the link below. Also below is a link to In Visions Facebook page.

Links:

http://www.nextbigthingtour.com/

http://www.facebook.com/InVisionsband

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FSU’s Federal Student Education Association’s February Meeting

By Katie Newlin

Engl. 336.002

The Frostburg Student Education Association (FSEA) met last Wednesday night in the Compton Science Center. The organization is filled with the perspiring educators of Frostburg State University. The club meets twice a month in the same location in the Compton Science center. The group is lead by a hierarchy of students, which include, President Jenny Davis, Vice President Jenn Cosner, Secretary Tajah Gloster, and Historian Danielle Hall. The club sponsor is Frostburg’s own Dr. Ornstein who is a professor in the Department of Educational Professions. The club is dedicated to being a helping hand in the community and they take active part in doing so. They are involved with many charitable functions and organizations that include Relay for Life, Storybook Holiday, Big Brother Big Sister, and a function that is soon approaching on March 3^rd , Read Across America.

            Read Across America is a national celebration of Dr. Suess’s birthday. The event is run by the National Education Association (NEA) and has become an award winning literacy program. The NEA developed this program in order to show how important a reading motivation is to children and teens. The event takes place in libraries all across the country. FSEA has joined Alleghany County’s children librarian Jodi Reed in this event. Jodi Reed has been the chair person and children’s librarian for Alleghany County for the past four years. Reed has inspired past FSU students to become figureheads for the event and is proud of the work that the students and volunteers put into the event each year she was quoted, “The event is a good one year after year and the families look forward to it.” The FSEA members are split into teams of three or four and placed into the local libraries. The members are to have a children’s book prepared to read to small groups at a time. During the day the children will be visited by the Cat in the Hat himself, which is another responsibility of the FSEA members.   To join in on the event or to become a volunteer just visit the local libraries on March 3^rd or go to http://www.seussville.com/Educators/educatorReadAcrossAmerica.php to learn more.

            The FSEA meetings not only consist of discussing their upcoming events but Dr. Ornstein sees to it that the students are exposed to as many experiences to help them become successful educators as possible. At this week’s meeting she invited three graduates of FSU to come and speak. The speakers are new to the teaching profession and were asked to share some stories about how they have adjusted after graduation. The first speaker was Sara Cosner, she is a first year math teacher at Friendsville Elementary. Sara Cosner spoke about the interview process for teachers and explained how it differs from other interviews. She told the aspiring educators, “To be a successful teacher you need to think quickly on your feet.” The second speaker was another math teacher named Megan Knepp. Mrs. Knepp spoke about how she developed three keys to success for early teachers. Her plan involved 1) differentiation which she stated as being essential to every teachers  classroom 2) flexibility which correlates to the first speakers thoughts and 3) motivation which she said, “is the most important thing to a student’s success.” She ended her thoughts with a word to the wise, “a teachers success is not attained without a student’s success.” The final speaker was Steve Knepp and he showed the club members different examples of ways to implement his wives, Megan Knepp, three keys to success. Again, the club meets twice a month and will gladly accept any help towards their organizations philanthropies.