Prince William Times 09/01/2022

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VOLLEYBALL PREVIEW: Colgan, Forest Park, Patriot and Battlefield look strong. SPORTS, Page 13

September 1, 2022 | Vol. 21, No. 35 | www.princewilliamtimes.com | $1.00 Covering Prince William County and surrounding communities, including Gainesville, Haymarket, Dumfries, Occoquan, Quantico and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.

Letting the light shine in Unity Reed H.S. is 1 of 5 older county schools to get windows By Cher Muzyk

Times Staff Writer

After teaching in a windowless classroom for more than a decade, Unity Reed High School teacher Lori Sterne said she sometimes begins her days without switching on the overhead lights. That’s because this school year, she doesn’t have to. For the first time ever, her classroom has a huge, floor-to-ceiling window that bathes the room in natural light. Sterne, who teaches International Baccalaureate English, said she can already tell that the new widows are making a difference. “There’s an overall positive vibe in here -- a little less head down. The need for natural sunlight is a real thing. I think it does affect students -- just their whole mood,” she said. “I absolutely love the windows, said Unity Reed student Fiona Delaroderie, 16. “It makes my mood much more bright and more optimistic. It’s just so perfect.”

English teacher Lori Sterne said she moved to the new classroom with windows over the summer. “It’s cozy,” she said. PHOTOS BY DOUG STROUD

The natural light, she added, makes her feel more “open-minded and happier” to be at school. Unity Reed Spanish teacher Lisa Stafford said she “loves” her classroom’s new windows. “This has been my classroom for 24 years. This is the first time I’ve ever had a window,” she said. “It’s amazing. I’m happier.” As for her students, Stafford says, “It’s the natural light coming in -the kids are different. There’s definitely been a change in attitude. Students come in here, and they all want to sit by the windows. It’s prime real estate right now.”

New look: Newly installed windows give the front façade of Unity Reed H.S. a more modern look. After two months of construction, more than 30 classrooms now have windows and more are coming. “They cut the brick, literally the last day of school,” Principal Richard Nichols said. The installation will be completed next summer. Brighter: Lisa Stafford’s Spanish students at Unity Reed H.S. are excited about the new windows and the sunlight pouring into their classroom. “The classroom feels more open, brighter,” said student Brandon Patterson, 16.

See WINDOWS, page 2

Residents turn up the volume on data center noise complaints Protesters warn of data centers’ impacts across the county By Jill Palermo

Times Staff Writer

TIMES STAFF PHOTO/JILL PALERMO

Protesters carry signs decrying the noise and nuisance caused by a Amazon Web Services data center campus that is about 600 feet away from the nearest homes in the Great Oak subdivision.

Just a few months ago, residents of Great Oak, a 30-year-old enclave of about 300 single family homes in Manassas, started noticing a constant mechanical buzzing whenever they worked in their yards or spent time outdoors. Earlier this week, they held a protest outside the source of that noise – a nearby Amazon Web Services data center campus – to warn fellow residents that the nuisance could soon be a problem heard in neighborhoods across Prince William County.

New ‘story trail’ at Independent Hill Library is a hidden gem, page 10.

“Great Oak is the first Prince William County community with an active data center impacting our people,” said Dale Browne, a retired engineer and the president of the Great Oak Homeowners’ Association. “We are the ‘canary in the coal mine’ as the county is pushing forward to build up to 130 more of these [data center] facilities. The madness needs to stop.” Browne was referring to an estimate of the number of data center facilities in the works around the county in the wake of numerous votes by the Prince William Board of County Supervisors over the past few years to approve rezonings accommodating data centers. See PROTESTS, page 4

Vote for your favorites for our 2022 Readers’ Choice awards, page 5

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