Introducing Our New Series about the Changing American Dream

Greetings from Fairfax Station Patch!

We're excited to inaugurate a new series for our Patch readers: "Dispatches: The Changing American Dream."

Every day, the national media is full of stories about how American families, businesses, and neighbors are adjusting to these trying times. There are so many changes happening so fast that it's dizzying: national debates about unemployment, foreclosures, debt, religion, government and private enterprise all touch on fundamental ways in which we see ourselves and our communities. At Patch, we want to explore that conversation on a daily basis so we can better understand how our neighbors are adjusting to the challenges and opportunities that surround us.

We don't think there's one American Dream, but a multitude of American Dreams which a multitude of people are working toward. Here in Northern Virginia, we see businesses holding their breath deciding whether to expand; college graduates returning home because they can't find jobs; and senior citizens bringing boarders into their homes to help pay their bills. We also see bold new volunteer efforts, inspiring stories of local businesses that succeed because they innovated, and locals who've taken these trying times as a signal to engage more, not less, in their government.

At the local level, we want to know where we fit along these fault lines.

Nationally, there's a debate about which government-building efforts are "shovel-ready." Locally, we know the improvements on the Beltway and the Dulles Metro project are a big part of Fairfax County's growth.

Nationally, there's a debate about the education system, which is at the center of our dreams of a better life for our children. Locally, we know that even though more than 90 percent of Fairfax County Public students passed Virginia’s Standards of Learning (SOL) test last school year, about half of all schools in the county did not meet testing goals laid out by the No Child Left Behind Act.

And the most important person to turn that situation around is not a national politician, but our own teachers and principals.

"Dispatches" will be built upon the compelling vignettes and snapshots we unearth across all of our Patch sites.

We're interested in your stories, and we want to make "Dispatches" a conversation. Feel free to contact me with your thoughts.  Email me at fairfaxstation@patch.com, or find Fairfax Station Patch on Facebook or @FairfaxStnPatch on Twitter.

Sincerely,

Rachel Hatzipanagos
Editor, Fairfax Station Patch