early childhood

Doubles Volleyball - Competitive A level @Bluemont Park Let's get together to play some fun A level Doubles games at Bluemont. Format: Doubles COST: FREE Court Type: Outdoor grass Minimum Skill Requirements: BB-A level (click [here](https://docs.google.com/document/u/2/d/1PojSi4qdlRsv1msCHhvpQ43iDc4FfzQwpWCc3kafVMY/mobilebasic) for details) Attention: 1. This event is not always on a first come, first served basis. Those who can bring a net and ball, may get priority over others on the waitlist. 1. Since skill levels are self-reported, some attendees may not meet the expected level in reality, so we encourage you to choose a partner you can enjoy the game with, and since this is a competitive event, it is okay if you make a strong team and win all the games. 1. Since people arrive at different times, each group of 1. Players will set up and claim a net as they arrive, and may continue playing without rotating until all nets are set. ——— Smiley Social documents: [Group Rules](https://docs.google.com/document/u/2/d/1HrG35p_0M08leRvCp8XWG3CMkr_GL928XFabl5T6Dvg/mobilebasic) [Liability Waiver](https://docs.google.com/document/u/2/d/1W2mq-7m99lmvd7gdWYaSUFtvVg4UGnzV6koafAbHmco/mobilebasic) [Volleyball Levels](https://docs.google.com/document/u/2/d/1PojSi4qdlRsv1msCHhvpQ43iDc4FfzQwpWCc3kafVMY/mobilebasic)

**\*Cross-posted to DMV Social 20s to 40s. You can RSVP to either event\*** Since Friday is a federal holiday, I'd expect that a bunch of us can meet up earlier and capitalize on Happy Hour a bit more, so let's meet up at Punchbowl Social. **We will aim to meet at the 2nd floor bar, I'll update the event day of in case we have to meet on the 3rd floor instead.** Once HH is over, we can keep on hanging out there, or take the party somewhere else nearby if we see fit! 🍔 **Food, Games & Vibes:** Punchbowl Social is a 3-floor bar and restaurant. The top floor has everything from arcades, to bowling, darts, and foosball. There's also a comfortable outdoor patio area if the weather's nice. Their happy hour menu (until 6:30pm) has select cocktails and beers for $5-6, and select bites and snacks ranging mostly around $5-8. The non-HH food and cocktail menus also have a wide selection to choose from. View the menus at this link, and scroll to the bottom: [https://punchbowlsocial.com/location/arlington](https://punchbowlsocial.com/location/arlington) 🤝 **Meet & Mingle:** This hangout is all about the social vibe — chatting, laughing, and meeting others while enjoying great food and drinks. Each floor has a different vibe, so come meet and explore the place, and find your nook to hang out with if you want to branch off of the main group! **🚗Punchbowl Social Location + details:** 4238 Wilson Blvd.Suite 1180 Arlington, VA 22203 **Happy Hour 3-6:30pm** **HH Food/Drink Menu:** [https://punchbowlsocial.com/happy-hour](https://punchbowlsocial.com/happy-hour) ### 🅿️**Parking:** Cheapest parking around is to park in the Ballston Public Parking garage next-door to the bar. 627 N Glebe Rd, Arlington, VA 22203 Rates: Up to 3 hours, $1 3-4 hours, $3 4-5 hours, $5 ### **🚇Transit:** Take the Orange/Silver lines to Ballston-MU stop, walk 2 blocks east to N Randolph St. Turn right and walk south 2 blocks. https://maps.app.goo.gl/RsQFQkfynrQcBkB96

Early morning coffee meet and greet walk China town

**Make sure to RSVP** **[here](https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/reactor/events/27321/)** **at the Microsoft Reactor site** https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/reactor/events/27321/ We're excited to announce the **Microsoft Build 2026 Local Host Conference** happening in **Reston, VA,** on **Friday, June 19, 2026**, from **09.00 AM to 4 PM EDT**! This **free conference** will take place at the **Microsoft offices** at **11955 Freedom Dr, Reston, VA 20190, on the second floor in the rooms MPR RESTON-11955/2.2D, MPR RESTON-11955/2.2E, and MPR RESTON-11955/2.2C.** **Agenda:** * 09:00 AM - 09:30 AM: Registration and Breakfast * 09:30 AM - 10:00 AM: Build 2026 Keynotes Highlights * 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM: **Session:** Build context-aware agents at scale with Microsoft IQ * 11:00 AM - 11:50 AM: **Panel:** Ask Us Anything about AI (with focus on skilling and finding jobs) * 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM: Lunch * 01:00 PM - 2.30 PM: **Hands-On Lab:** From zero to deployed on Azure with AI agents * 2:45 PM - 4:00 PM: **Hands-on Lab:** Observe, optimize, and protect your hosted agents in Microsoft Foundry The venue is **Metro accessible via the Silver Line**, and there’s plenty of **paid parking available** in the Reston Town Center garages. We'll have **breakfast, lunch, and snacks** for all attendees! Make sure to **RSVP** — you’ll receive your **event badge at check-in**, and you’ll need it to attend. This in-person event is built for developers and cloud engineers who want to design, build, and deploy real-world AI solutions on Azure. Expect a hands-on, implementation-focused experience using Microsoft Foundry and GitHub Copilot with live demos, guided labs, and practical developer workflows. **What to expect:** * Key takeaways and announcements from Microsoft Build 2026 * Deep dive into Azure AI and Generative AI use cases * Live demos with Microsoft Foundry and GitHub Copilot * Hands-on labs to build and test AI-powered features end-to-end * Best practices for building AI-powered applications * Networking with the local AI developer community Whether you're shipping your first AI feature or scaling production systems, this event is designed to give you actionable insights to accelerate your AI journey with Microsoft.

Ready to tackle those classic books you’ve always meant to read (or reread)? Join DC Explorers and the I Should Read That, book club. We are launching a new, open book club dedicated to the classics, and everyone is welcome—whether you read these decades ago or are diving in for the very first time! Our first meetup is Friday, June 19th to discuss **Jules Verne’s** timeless adventure, **Journey to the Centre of the Earth.** We are **ONLY** discussing **chapters 1-15**. So no spoilers please. We'll always keep a relaxed pace of about 70–100 pages per week so there is plenty of time to enjoy the story before we gather over coffee, tea, or wine. **Location:** Busboys and Poets, 235 Carroll Avenue, Takoma Park **RSVP Deadline:** Wednesday, June 17th (so we can give the venue an accurate headcount) Logistics for the Meetup **Venue courtesy:** Please start a tab at the bar for any food or refreshments. We kindly ask that everyone purchase at least one beverage (coffee, smoothie, wine, etc.) to thank our hosts for providing the meeting space. **The Book Edition:** Warning: Because there are many heavily altered translations of this book, we highly recommend purchasing the Oxford World's Classics edition. It features the complete 45 chapters so we can all stay on the same page! You can order the book from our host Busboys and Poets [at this link.](https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-extraordinary-journeys-journey-to-the-centre-of-the-earth-jules-verne/1aafdcac17641bfe?ean=9780199538072&next=t) RSVP to reserve your spot, and feel free to ask questions. Your RSVP helps our host plan for space to accommodate everyone. Can't wait to read with you!

**THE POWER OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS OVER YOU** You are welcome to arrive 15 minutes early for refreshments! At the lecture "The Power of the Subconscious", the speaker will clearly and understandably explain topics such as: What is the exact definition of the Subconscious Mind? How does it inflict unwanted feelings and anxiety in you? What determines how much pressure it exerts on a person? What exactly is the goal of the subconscious? This is not just a lecture where you sit quietly and listen. It's interactive and LIVE, so you can ask questions at any time. And the most important topic: **HOW DO YOU TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR SUBCOUNSCIOUS!** This group is sponsored by the Dianetics Life Improvement Center.

Play games and enjoy food. I recommend ordering food from the bar. I may reserve table depending on how many people reserve.

We are NPS Weed Warriors and Arlington Regional Master Naturalists and you should volunteer with us on Sunday, May 17 to learn about nature and remove invasive plants from everyone's favorite urban island. Meet us at the entrance to the bridge (on the parking lot side, look for the sign) at 10:00 and bring your garden gloves and loppers/pruners if you have them. If not, we can provide gloves and tools. Wear long sleeves and pants and don't forget a water bottle. We will have tasks ranging from easy (cutting English ivy and honeysuckle vines from trees) to hard (sawing down bush honeysuckle). Parking at TRI can be tight if it's a pretty day. When the parking lot is full, you can park in Rosslyn and take the trail down. If you can bike or walk or take public transit, that's wonderful. We'll see you there! Erica, Stephanie, and Heidi P.S. If you can't wait until then to RIP (Remove Invasive Plants!), go here to find more volunteer opportunities in Arlington parks: [Volunteer to Restore Native Habitat – Arlington Regional Master Naturalists (armn.org)](https://armn.org/volunteer-opportunities/)

Join the Jaycees in volunteering at the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC)! We sort donated canned goods or bag portions of dry goods or produce for AFAC's weekly food distributions to low-income families in Arlington. AFAC is a long-time community partner of the Arlington Jaycees! At 2:30, or when we are done at AFAC, we will head to **Guapos** in nearby Shirlington for food and drinks. So that we can appropriately plan the tasks to do for the right number of volunteers, **PLEASE UPDATE YOUR RSVP** as soon as possible whether or not you are able to attend. We have to limit the number of volunteers due to limited space at AFAC, and don't want spots to be taken by people who sign up but don't show up. AFAC is located at 2708 South Nelson Street and Four Mile Run Drive. There is street parking available near the building although parking spots are limited. The Volunteer Entrance is the GRAY DOOR by the loading dock. Volunteers must wear closed-toe shoes (no sandals or flip-flops) and must have your hair covered while bagging food. You can bring a hat from home or AFAC will provide disposable hairnets. The Arlington Jaycees (part of Junior Chamber International) is the premier nonprofit in Arlington that provides young people (ages 21-40) with opportunities for personal & professional growth, business networking, community involvement and social engagement in the Arlington Community and worldwide. Our mission is **leadership development through community service**. Check out our website [www.arljaycees.org](https://arljaycees.org/) to learn more and to become a member of this amazing organization!

Title: What Is Progress? Knowledge Aggregation, Living Textbooks, and the Automation of Scientific Discovery Date: June 20 2026 Noon - 14:00 EDT Summary: Our collective knowledge infrastructure — the textbooks, professional training resources, and literature syntheses that define what professionals across disciplines believe to be true — is quietly accruing a structural liability. Compounded confirmation bias, stacked citation-by-citation into the foundations of formal knowledge, means that breakthroughs can take decades to reach the classrooms, clinical workflows, and decision-making frameworks where they matter most. Meanwhile, the deepest friction is rarely acknowledged: before any field can build meaningful consensus on "why" or "how" a phenomenon occurs, it must first establish honest, consolidated agreement on "what" has actually been observed. That prior step is routinely skipped, assumed, or fragmented across siloed literatures that never cross-pollinate. This talk introduces a framework called "Knowledge Aggregation" — with two distinct but complementary ambitions. The first is descriptive transparency: algorithmically mapping what has been said, measured, and documented across a problem space, without imposing causal interpretation or narrative. The second traces the boundary between empirical observation and explanatory claim, building systems that can separate the "what" from the "why/how" — because consensus on mechanism cannot be meaningfully constructed until consensus on phenomenon is first established. Both ambitions are now within reach. By composing tools already at our disposal — large language models, classical NLP pipelines, public data repositories, and engineering-grade automation frameworks — it becomes possible to model knowledge itself, rather than merely imitate individual experts. One concrete expression of this is automating the writing of living textbooks: compressing the lag from bleeding-edge discovery, through replicated evidence, all the way to professional training resources. But the deeper aspiration reaches further — toward automating the discovery of scientific insights that have never previously been conceived, by systematically surfacing hypothesis combinations that no single siloed researcher would have had the cross-disciplinary vantage point to even ask. Drawing on ongoing systems biology and computational research — with ME/CFS research demoed as a use case for what siloed, fragmented knowledge infrastructure costs in practice — this talk maps the conceptual architecture, the real-world friction, and the data science toolkit for building it. Speaker: As a systems biologist at heart, Sam specializes his biomedical research on interactions and connections in biology - rather than just one domain of expertise. He wears many hats and collects skill sets across disciplines, with degree studies and industry experience acquired across Chemical Engineering (BSc), Bioinformatics (MSc), Systems and Synthetic Biology (M2), Biomedical Sciences (MSc), and beyond. Even more important to him than niches or fields of work, comes down to the synergistic approaches that allow us to move beyond reductionism. The notion that a question can only allow for one answer, is inherently reductionist. By resisting many norms in science and engineering which can get overly reductive, his current role as Principal Investigator of Research for DMV Petri Dish (501(c)(3) non-profit local to the DMV region) embraces computational frameworks that aide scale-up and automation - not only around the processes which already exist with established workflows, but also taking a keen interest in attempting and accomplishing ambitions which have never been perceived to be possible previously. Sam carries a passion for the synergy of computational biology - fused with wet lab validation. This way, one can build a beautiful knowledge base in the theoretical sense, and then test to see if said computational prediction might actually be able to stand in the real world with wet lab validation. Translational modeling starts to become possible once biological experiment design can be iteratively looped alongside computational model design, optimization, and analysis - empowering the design of a better wet lab experiment, followed by a better computational model, back and forth until science is done!

I am finally scheduling the astronomy outing! Join us in attending the June "Exploring the Sky" event, a joint program between the National Capital Astronomers and the National Park Service. We will talk, eat snacks, look at items in the sky, and maybe play simple boardgames. This month, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and the Moon are all aligning near each other in the sky. We will probably see at least one planet, and if we are lucky we will even see these in a row. Come on time for the best chance to see this. The event may be canceled if the weather does not look accommodating. The location is the field by Picnic Grove #13 off of Glover Road, and can be reached by either public transportation plus walking or by coming by car as there is a parking lot, there. This link is the easiest way to find it: https://maps.app.goo.gl/BPrLLp8F4u2tjiTd7

The romanticized Robin Hood is a childhood staple from Disney to Kevin Costner, and I'm a big Jodie Comer fan. Your host will be in E4. Let's get food afterwards.

Social Sips & Bites family - ready for something new, fun, and a little competitive? We’re bringing you a Rummikub Social Gathering - a relaxed night of games, laughs, and great company. Never played before? Perfect. Miriam will be there to teach us step-by-step, so no experience needed at all. Just come ready to learn, play, and connect. What to expect • Easy-to-learn, addictive game • Plenty of laughs and friendly competition • A great way to meet new people and bond with our SSB crew Whether you’re a game night pro or just curious to try something new, this is your night. https://dunnloring.thecasualpint.com/

Welcome to Drunken Philosophy, a casual, curious, social discussion club. Come grab a drink and a seat at The Oracle. **Optional topic for this meetup: Where is everybody?** In 1950 the physicist Enrico Fermi was talking about aliens over lunch and asked a question that still has not gone away: if the universe is so vast and so old, and even a fraction of those billions of stars have planets, where is everyone? By the numbers the galaxy should be crowded with civilizations. Instead we look up and hear silence. That gap between "they should be everywhere" and "we see no one" is the Fermi Paradox. One of the most unsettling answers is the idea of a **Great Filter**: somewhere on the road from dead chemistry to a galaxy-spanning civilization, there is at least one step that is almost impossible to get past. Maybe the filter is behind us. Maybe life starting at all, or simple cells becoming complex, or intelligence ever evolving, is the freak accident, and we already cleared the hard part. Or maybe the filter is ahead of us, and advanced civilizations reliably wipe themselves out before they spread. Here is the part that messes with people. If we ever found life somewhere else, even pond scum on Mars, most people would call it the greatest discovery in history. But it might be the worst possible news. It would mean life is common, the early steps are easy, and the hard step is still in front of us. So the eerie silence overhead might actually be the best sign we could ask for. **Questions to wrestle with:** * Is it better to be alone? Would you rather we find alien life and learn we are not special, or find nothing and quietly improve our odds of surviving? * Where do you bet the filter sits, behind us or ahead of us, and why? * If it is ahead of us, what is it? Nuclear war, climate collapse, AI, something we cannot even picture yet? And can we do anything about a filter we cannot see coming? * Two principles pull opposite ways here. The principle of mediocrity (the Copernican principle, Sagan's "no privileged place in the universe") says we are ordinary, so what happened on Earth probably happened everywhere, which makes the silence scream louder. The anthropic principle says of course we find ourselves somewhere life was possible, since we could not observe anything else, so our being here may say almost nothing about how common life is. Which lens do you trust, and does the silence still demand an answer once you account for observer selection? * And if we did confirm life out there and had to accept we are not special, what would that do to belief in a higher power, and would shedding (or keeping) that belief help or hurt our odds of pulling together as one species? * Does any of this change how you live, or how humanity should be spending its time and money right now? As always the prompt is optional. Come for the conversation, stay for the drinks, and bring your own questions.

Our next much-awaited **COLUMBUS** meetup is **Tuesday June 30th from 7-10 pm EST at ACE OF CUPS**. Meet patients, cultivators, processors, dispensary managers/staff, physicians, home growers, educators, activists, nonprofits, artists, attorneys, business owners, writers, students, and supporters to network, share our knowledge, collaborate, support each other and make new ones! Hope you will be there too! Save the date and pass the word. **Please RSVP** so we know who is coming and how many to expect. Find us to say hi and we will introduce you to others. We should be easy to spot. (The happy-looking group wearing cool nametags! See photos from our past events.) Sign in, grab a name tag, start your own bar/food tab, meet old friends and make new ones! Everyone is welcome. SEE YOU THERE!

**Self-Proclaimed Trivia Master, Paul, has all the questions AND answers**: All YOU have to do is bring the answers. Easy? Let's find out in the next rendition of Trivia Night. Let's warm up with the question that I like to ask to establish your knowledge of current events and IQ. Don't be shy. Shout this one out. What happened in April in America that had not happened since 1972 ? (warm up questions answer is posted at the bottom) Okay, not bad. I heard that. RSVP and form up into teams of up to 4 people when you show up. Compete for prizes so large we had to park them at the airport. Prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd, 3rd place and Dead Last (that one's more of a remedial learning aid, but it will be fun. I promise). **On Freestyle night** \- just bring a bottle to share\. There is NO formal wine tasting like on other weeks\. Door charge is $10 \(cash or Venmo only please\)\. We may have some left over wines to clear out\! Glasses are provided\. Take Care\. See you there\. **Parking**: There are several public parking lots near the Alive614 hall. Please be careful to NOT park in private parking lots. They do tow. Check Google maps to scope out your space. Anyone who is early could easily find a parking space on the street nearby. I am told that the Chase parking lot is safe after hours. **Glasses**: …will be provided. Please note that after the wine tasting, the EMPTY glasses need to be returned to the boxes at the service table. Please do not make me hunt down your empty glass. Please be gentle, our glasses are fragile. Uh, they are made of glass! (ps - empty the glasses into the sink, not the trash ... please) **Food**: You are welcome to bring a snack to share. It is not required. Most people do though. If no one brings anything, there will be nothing. **Code of Conduct**: Though mostly understood, it’s still worth mentioning. We don’t have rules per se, but we highly discourage the following topics of discussion because they are likely to incite anti-social responses - Sex, Politics, Religion. Please don’t mistake this as an attempt to limit your free speech rights but rather a guide to a place and time for appropriate discussions. **After the lights go out**: After the last sip of wine, when we clean up and turn the lights out, if you still haven’t had enough of us, it is typical for a group to get together and go to a local eatery for food and/or drinks or coffee. Again, We look forward to meeting new members and reuniting with old friends. Sincerely, ***Paul Uttermohlen***, **Red 1 Realty** *Your Hilliard Wine Club Host* **Answer**: *That's right!* / We sent a rocketship with live astronauts to the moon for a quick lap around our only natural satellite. They didn't land. And they never got out of the capsule... for 10 days! Been there. Done that! (It's like they're replaying all the greatest hits from my childhood.)