Potomac Conference

Shenandoah Valley Academy Volleyball

Story by Becky Patrick

Shenandoah Valley Academy (SVA) math teacher and volleyball coach, Becky Patrick, is committed to girls’ sports. Patrick recognizes that girls who participate in sports are more likely to have lower rates of teen pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse and possess more self-confidence. She has witnessed sports help girls focus more on their athletics than their aesthetics, and how teamwork has taught them to support and encourage one another:

Story by Tiffany Doss

A plethora of thoughts swarmed around in her head as she entered the church for the first time after her husband’s funeral. Charlotte Conway and her husband, Bob, had been members of Potomac Conference's Sligo church in Takoma Park, Md., for 37 years—but now things were different.

The familiar sense of belonging she embraced every time she walked into the massive edifice to worship was replaced with uncomfortable feelings of loneliness and uncertainty. Conway remembers sitting on “their pew” in “their spot” with tears flowing. Should she stay, or should she go home? The grief was overwhelming.