Neighborhood news:Congrats to Bull Run teacher

Congratulations to Netia Elam, a teacher at Bull Run Middle School who was recently awarded a $2,000 ING Unsung Heroes grant to help fund her "Flipping for Foreign Language: A Tour of Latin America" innovative idea and bring it to life in the classroom. She will now compete with other winners for one of the top three prizes—an additional $5,000, $10,000 or $25,000.

Elam's winning project will allow 200 eighth-grade Spanish students at Bull Run Middle School to work in collaborative groups to create a virtual tour of a Latin American country using camcorders and audio recording devices. As a culminating project, students will act as travel agents to create a multimedia presentation to advertise their country to potential tourists. The students will also be required to include spoken language in both English and Spanish. One of the library computers will display each final project and the students will get to take a virtual "Tour of Latin America." This project gives the students the opportunity to practice writing and speaking Spanish as well as increase their technology literacy by utilizing cameras. They also get to learn editing software.

ING, a global financial services company and provider of retirement plans and programs for teachers, recognizes the challenges faced by educators when developing innovative program ideas and lessons that not only integrate traditional instruction but are also relevant and compelling enough to keep their students interested and excited about learning. Since 1996, ING has awarded $3.2 million to nearly 1,400 educators across the U.S. The 2009 ING Unsung Heroes winners were selected from a group of more than 2,000 applications.

To learn about this year's winning projects as well as those from previous years, visit the ING Unsung Heroes Web site at http://www.ing.com/us/unsungheroes. Applications for the 2010 Unsung Heroes awards are available on the Web site or by calling 1-800-537-4180 or e-mailing .

Lake Jackson/Mid-County Lions Clu

The Lake Jackson/Mid-County Lions Club will hold its final Flea Market of the year Saturday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the intersection of Hoadly Road and Dumfries Road, next to the Woodbine Shopping Center. For more information on renting a 10 foot-by-10 foot space, call Lion Blain Stockton at 703-791-3881.

Need a tent for a birthday, wedding or graduation? The club has tents for rent. These are 20 by 30 feet. The rental fee is $275 ($250 per tent if you rent more than one), which includes setup and take down. To reserve a tent or for more information, please call Lion Joe Blatter at 703-754-3565. All proceeds from the market space rentals and tent rentals are used to support the community projects the club is involved in.

Until next week.

Fay Wallace reports your neighborhood news from the mid-county area every Friday in the News & Messenger. If you have news about birthdays, your family, your club or your HOA activities, please send it to Fay at .