2018 - A Year to Celebrate!
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This year ranks high in the history of ACVA and is ushering in the holidays with exciting news. Read more in the special features below.
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President's Letter
By Jyoti Devi (Charlotte Benson)
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Om Gam Ganapataye Namah!
H
ello
again dear friends of ACVA. Hope this letter finds you well and warm. Gosh, a lot has happened since our last edition! 2018 has been quite a year – one of the best, and worst, years ever, for me. And for ACVA, too. However -- we all taught a lot of priceless knowledge, and learned a lot, too.
Our college suffered a huge loss in 2018, with the deaths of both our president, and of our vice-president. In January, our strong and sweet scholar VP Jessica Sayles died. Then in late February, ACVA’s beloved and brilliant President, Bill Levacy passed away. On a personal note, between these two crushing events, I also lost the love of my life, my first husband, Carl Benson, who died peacefully in my arms, in late January. But true love never dies, and the legacy of these wonderful people lives on.
So, the ACVA board of directors and faculty mourned our losses, re-grouped, and are continuing to carry on the mission of the college. On a lighter note, we have poured a tremendous amount of effort, time and heart into developing ACVA’s new Learning Management System – which is very close to completion. We’ll announce the launch of this new LMS in the next quarter.
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The Year of 2018 in Review
by Angela Pennington
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Greetings ACVA Family and Friends,
I
know it’s
cliché
, but it feels like each passing year goes by faster than the last. As 2018 comes to a close, I find myself reflecting on the past year and what’s to come.
This year has been the most transformative year ever for ACVA. As we rang in the New Year 2018 we were confronted with the loss of our Vice President Jessica Sayles. Her knowledge of Jyotish, Hindu Studies and education shaped and infused the ACVA curriculum with light.
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The Observatory-Winter 2018
by Jyoti Devi (Charlotte Benson)
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H
ere we are, once again, at the time of year when the Sun, magnificent Surya, stands still in the sky for a few days, to once again turn towards his Northern trajectory. We here in the Northern hemisphere are honoring the lengthening of the hours of daylight with timeless celebrations from many traditions.
This quarter begins with Saturn in Sagittarius, remaining direct in Purva Ashadha nakshatra, for the duration; Rahu is in Cancer, just having moved into Punarvasu nakshatra, Ketu in Capricorn, Uttara Ashadha nakshatra; Jupiter, and Mercury are together in Scorpio, Anuradha nakshatra; Mars is finishing his transit through Aquarius rasi, Purva Bhadrapada nakshatra. The Sun occupies Sagittarius, in deep Mula nakshatra; and Venus finishes his long and lovely sojourn through Libra, in Vishakha nakshatra.
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Special offer for ACVA e-newsletter readers!
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AstroVed
has offered our ACVA friends and alumni their excellent 2019 calendar, for merely the cost of shipping from India. We welcome anyone who wants to visit
www.astroved.com
and use the code: ACVASH3 to get the calendar for only $2 from now until January 15, 2019. Be sure to use the special ACVA coupon code, before 1/15/19. Just fyi, I paid $20 for their 2018 calendar, last year, and have found it very useful. Enjoy!
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A Labour of Love
ACVA New Learning Management System
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2018
has marked the apex of a three-year period of intense and dedicated work towards creating our new Learning Management System (LMS). The Curriculum Development and the Site Administration Directors have joined forces in building and producing a refined version of the previous ACVA Jyotisha online courses through Moodlerooms-BlackBoard. This combined effort will bring into existence a streamlined, contemporary and evolved academic model, which will make teaching and distance learning easier and more fun for both instructors and learners. This can only be described as a true labor of love that leads to the transformation of ACVA in 2019.
ACVA and Moodlerooms have partnered to offer a high-performance hosted environment architecture that provides improved service levels and a more enjoyable learning experience. Stay tuned for more news as we get ready to step into a vital and exciting 2019 with the new LMS launch.
Such initiatives and improvements are only possible through your generous and kind donations. In order for ACVA to continue to carry on its mission to divulge the sacred science of Jyotisha, we ask that you consider giving to this worthy cause as part of your
year-end tax donations, helping preserve “Levacy’s Legacy.”
In gratitude,
ACVA Curriculum Development Team
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