Post date: Jun 19, 2015 4:49:46 PM

Neighborhood College Now Accepting Applications

• Become an advocate for your community

• Space limited

• Spanish interpretation, childcare available

• Apply by September 10

Learn how to become a neighborhood advocate and effect change through Arlington County’s free Neighobrhood College program, which will meet on eight consecutive Thursday evenings beginning September 24.

This civic engagement and leadership development program, now in its fifteenth year, provides the knowledge and skills necessary for residents from across the County to get involved in local issues that affect their day-to-day lives and the lives of their neighbors.

Space limited, applications due September 10, 2015

Participants will learn, practice, and sharpen core communication and influencing skills, including giving and receiving feedback, asking questions that will elicit the most helpful responses, building consensus, and organizing for action. Sessions will feature conversations with representatives from the County Board, the County Manager’s office, Arlington Public Schools, the Department of Human Services, Public Safety, and Neighborhood Conservation.

“Since the class I have been more active in the Cherrydale Volunteer Fire Department as a ‘platoon leader,’ and active in my neighborhood civic association and our local invasive plant removal effort,” said 2014 graduate Bo Pryor. “My condo association has asked me to be the liaison between it and the civic association, and the civic association has asked me to be an ‘ambassador’ to the other condo associations and apartment complexes.”

Class starts September 24

The program runs Thursdays from 6-9:30 p.m., Sept. 24-Nov. 12. Participants who complete the course also are invited to take part in a graduation ceremony at a meeting of the County Board the evening of Nov. 17. Each session begins with a healthy dinner. Childcare and simultaneous Spanish interpretation are provided at no cost to the participants, if needed.

The sessions will take place at Courthouse Plaza, 2100 Clarendon Boulevard, 9th Floor Conference Room, Arlington, VA 22201. Free parking is available.

Learn more and obtain an application here. All applications are due Thursday, Sept. 10. Contactml@arlingtonnc.info call 703-575-8152 with any questions.

Background

Neighborhood College is a key component of Arlington’s civic engagement infrastructure. The program seeks to strengthen our community by building broader, more diverse participation in Arlington’s civic life. Its goal is to give Arlingtonians skills that will help them raise and address issues in their neighborhoods, or in the County as a whole, and to encourage their involvement in volunteer activities.

Some 317 participants have graduated from Neighborhood College since its inception in 2000. Many of those graduates have gone on to become neighborhood leaders, members of advisory groups and commissions, officers in their civic associations, leaders on special neighborhood improvement projects, and managers of Neighborhood Conservation plan development efforts, among other efforts.

Arlington Va., is a world-class residential, business and tourist location that was originally part of the “10 miles square” parcel of land surveyed in 1791 to be the Nation's Capital. Slightly smaller than 26 square miles, it is the geographically smallest self-governing county in the United States, and one of only a handful with the prized Aaa/AAA/AAA bond rating. Arlington maintains a rich variety of stable neighborhoods and quality schools, and has received numerous awards for Smart Growth and transit-oriented development. Home to some of the most influential organizations in the world — including the Pentagon — Arlington stands out as one of America's preeminent places to live, visit and do business.