December 2021 — Silver Chips Print

silverchips A public forum for student expression since 1937 Montgomery Blair High School

December 14, 2021

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VOL. 85 NO. 2

SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND

Santa’s not coming to town

Pandemic fears have kept actors who portray Santa and Mrs. Claus stuck in the North Pole, leading to a nationwide shortage.

Change on the horizon

While it was founded in 2015, Sunrise gained momentum during the 2018 midterm elections when it endorsed candidates who support renewable energy and other

Opinions

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News

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COURTESY OF PAUL CAMPION AND RACHAEL WARRINER

Local hub beginnings For high school and college students who are passionate about the environment, starting a Sunrise hub is a fitting opportunity. Such was the case for Ofori and her cohub coordinator Kayla Pitch, who is a senior at Einstein. Along with two other classmates, they founded Sunrise Einstein, a hub unaffiliated with the high school, in Aug. 2020 after participating in one of the many training programs provided by the national movement to help local hubs gain momentum.

In Sept. 2021, the hub coordinators at Sunrise Einstein organized a walkout, leading 40 high school students to join Sunrise American University’s protest in Washington, D.C. The protest was one of the many global climate strikes demanding for leaders across the world to enact change and pressuring Congress to pass GND legislation. Reflecting on the event, Ofori says, “even if we didn’t get the whole school to walk out, everyone knew about it, everyone was talking about it, and that was a really huge success.”

Pitch finds that taking charge in organizing a local campaign for her hub is extremely rewarding. She encourages others to participate in the process. “I’m happy to… do meaningful and purposeful protests and activities in high school because it leads to people wanting to be a part of bigger change,” she explains.

La Esquina Latina

HENRY REICHLE

One Punch Man - F2

Por Yasmine Rivera y Manuela Torres Escritoras La popularidad de la comida de origen latinoamericano ha crecido en los últimos años. Sin embargo, no todos los restaurantes latinxs tienen ese indiscutible sabor auténtico que, como explica Johana Martinez, una estudiante hondureña de doceavo grado, “[nos hace] recordar el país”. Aquí en La Esquina Latina visitamos tres restaurantes de comida latinx con la meta de destacar restaurantes auténticos en la comunidad de Montgomery Blair.

Las cadenas de restaurantes de inspiración latina, tales como Chipotle, han mantenido su popularidad incluso durante la pandemia, permaneciendo como segundo restaurante casual favorito del consumidor estadounidense tanto en 2019 como en 2021 de acuerdo con el Índice de Satisfacción del Cliente Estadounidense.

COURTESY OF SAMAR HADDAD

Yara Matar - D4

COURTESY OF SAMAR HADDAD

Teacher burnout - A5

lea RESTAURANTES en la pagina C3

JONATHAN CUMBLIDGE

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Features

Culture

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Foundations

Un bocado de cultura

like is helping set up and run phonebanks and build teams of volunteers to help us win that campaign,” Campion explains.

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“We’re running out of time,” Einstein junior and co-hub leader of Sunrise Einstein Anjali Ofori says when asked what led her to join the Sunrise Movement (Sunrise). Sunrise is a national youth-led coalition that fights for environmental and social justice issues, and has empowered many student activists to enact change within their communities. Localized hubs have sprouted across the country, with Sunrise Einstein, Sunrise Silver Spring, and Sunrise Rockville being the primary chapters in Montgomery County.

forms of progressive environmental legislation, including Ilhan Omar for MN-05 and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for NY-14.

Sunrise currently focuses on advocating for the Green New Deal (GND), a congressional resolution calling for the federal government to address the climate crisis by reaching 100 percent clean and renewable energy within the next ten years. Though the bill failed to pass the Senate, environmental activists continue to gather support and pressure Congress to pass the GND. The movement’s focus on the GND, beginning in 2018, are what attracted Sunrise national staff member Paul Campion to join the organization. He now trains high school and college students starting Sunrise hubs within their communities. “[I help them] run distributed components of our campaign[s]... so what that looks

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By Annie Gao Staff Writer

insidechips

Sports

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A2 News Dec. 14, 2021 silverchips Montgomery Blair High School 51 University Boulevard East Silver Spring, MD 20901 (301) 649 - 2864 Winner of the 2015 National Scholastic Press Association Pacemaker and the 2019 Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Medal

Silver Chips is a public forum for student expression. Student editors make all content decisions. Unsigned editorials represent the views of the editorial board and are not necessarily those of the school or of all Silver Chips members. Signed letters to the editor are encouraged; submit them to silver.chips.print@gmail.com. Letters may be edited for space and clarity.

Parent protests rise with the return to in-person school

By Christy Li Staff Writer In Central Bucks School District in Pennsylvania, some of the country’s most controversial issues have transformed school board meetings into political battlegrounds. Former Central Bucks school board member John Gamble, often considered the divided nine-member board’s moderate voice, swung an Aug. 25 vote to ban a proposed universal school mask mandate 5-4. Gamble received verbal harassment, including a death threat, from parents in the wake of his decision.

On Sept. 7, the Pennsylvania Secretary of Health announced a statewide mask mandate for schools. At the Central Bucks school board meeting later that day, Gamble swung the vote once again, this time in favor of adopting the state’s mask mandate, before resigning from his position.

In recent months, parents across the country have threatened school board members over controversial issues such as mask mandates in schools and the implementation of discussions of race in the classroom.

Although the vast majority of MCPS parents are civil when voicing their opinions to the Board of Education (BOE), tensions between the two

have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In MCPS, parents have long been vocal stakeholders in the school system. “Parents are really important in advocating for their children and... the schools that they attend,” Hana O’Looney, MCPS’s Student Member of the Board (SMOB), said. “It’s really wonderful to have those parents speaking up on behalf of their students and their peers and elevating issues that we might not otherwise have seen.”

During the largely virtual 2020-21 school year, the BOE received an increase of emails from parents unsatisfied with the quality of their children’s education. BOE Vice President Karla Silvestre notes that sometimes this frustration was expressed as rudeness in their correspondence with BOE members. “I think that was probably some of the worst rhetoric that we’ve had so far in [the three years of] my term,” she said.

At the Board’s regular business meetings, time is allotted for public comments. The first 15 individuals to sign up are granted two minutes to testify on agenda topics. Attendees are also permitted to carry small, unobstructive signs during the meeting. On Aug. 24, 2021, when Board business meetings reopened for in-person public comments, parents began bringing their concerns to the dais.

COURTESY OF BRIGITTA MULLICAN

SCHOOL BOARD SHOWING UARE members attend the Nov. 9 BOE business meeting to as anti-critical race theory demonstrators.

Former Blair parent and Montgomery County Republican Central Committee Member Amy Waychoff attended the BOE’s Nov. 9 business meeting as an anti-critical race theory demonstrator with the group United Against Racism in Education (UARE). She personally testified on the issue before the BOE at the Aug. 24 business meeting, and supported other members of the group as they testified on Nov. 9.

I think that was probably some of the worst rhetoric that we’ve had so far in [the three years of] my term.

KARLA SILVESTRE

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Leila Faraday Marijke Friedman Cecilia Clemens Vargas Lugo LA ESQUINA LATINA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Cecilia Clemens Vargas Lugo MANAGING NEWS EDITORS Samantha Rodriguez Ashley Thommana MANAGING OPINIONS EDITORS Maia Egnal Sean Li MANAGING FEATURES EDITORS Annie Goldman Sofia Roehrig MANAGING CULTURE EDITORS Maybelle Patterson Jasper Swartz MANAGING SPORTS EDITOR Jon Eckert OMBUDSMAN Ashley Thommana DESIGN EDITORS Annie Goldman Sean Li Maybelle Patterson COLUMNISTS Annie Mount Cal Tobias ENGLISH STAFF WRITERS William Ashford Haley Carter John Ernst Eliana Finberg Annie Gao Ingrid Holmquist Elina Lee Christy Li Rosie Orzulak Andre Parker Ila Raso Lucia Santoro-Vélez Ella Schrebler Sophia Stein Milan Tenn Sedise Tiruneh Zachary Williamson LA ESQUINA LATINA WRITERS Kimberly Castro Estefany Benitez Gonzalez Adan Guzmán Díaz Yasmine Rivera Sofia Roehrig Ivania Valladores Kevin Vela EXECUTIVE BUSINESS DIRECTOR Marina Deane-Gonzalez Ryan Peralta Harris Maddie Whipple BUSINESS STAFF Sela Colavito Kevin Gehl Isabelle Mathiascheck Finnegan Oakes Caleb Plank MANAGING ART EDITORS Jay Chao Leela Mehta-Harwitz ARTISTS Abjini Chattopadhyay Yeison Cotom Eliza Cooke Katalina Li Sophia Li Alexander Liu Sonia Pivovarov Karis Tebo MANAGING PHOTO EDITORS Arielle Granston Sarah Martin PHOTOGRAPHERS Fiona Bondarev Raffi Charkoudian-Rogers Jonathan Cumblidge Colin Lederer Henry Reichle Cal Tobias Maia Turpen MEDIA EDITOR Iris Montgomery PUZZLE EDITORS Alex Grosman Leela Mehta-Harwitz COPY EDITORS Celeste Basken Kiah Beachler Jordan Chafe Sally Kaye Emannuel Kraft Roshan Nandkumar Hunter Payne Amelia Schuler Liam Volz Emma Weinstein LA ESQUINA LATINA ADVISORS Maria Eugenia Tanos ADVISOR Jeremy Stelzner Maria Eugenia Tanos

Board rooms turned battlegrounds

Waychoff believes that parents have a right to be involved in local policy making. “Through our taxes, we pay every single employee and school board member, and likewise, the County Council.

We vote for them. We pay their salaries,” she said. “It’s part of our representative democracy to voice our opinions.”

The UARE members adhered to MCPS policies during the testimonies, following MCPS mask protocol and exiting the meeting promptly after the public comment session had concluded. Waychoff feels that, although receiving some disparaging comments from the public is expected for elected representatives, they should never feel unsafe. “Public officials, they do get terrible emails from some constituents. Most of them have hard skin, and they know how to deal with it,” Waychoff explained. “When they get death threats, that’s extremely serious and we do not condone that.”

Not all county school boards experience the same level of civility from parents. According to Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) SMOB Bunmi Omisore, an August AACPS BOE meeting had to be evacuated because parents refused to comply with mask mandates. “There were large, just enormous crowds of parents who came in,” Omisore said. “Many would speak over board members...

they wouldn’t wear their masks, or they would wear them incorrectly.”

These attitudes in Anne Arundel County are reflective of recent national trends. On Sept. 29, the National School Boards Association (NSBA) sent a letter to President Biden addressing incidents of threats against school board members. “As these acts of malice, violence, and threats against public school officials have increased, the classification of these heinous actions could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes,” the NSBA wrote.

In the same letter, the NSBA requested cooperation from the U.S. Departments of Justice, Education, and Homeland Security and the FBI to review cases of such threats and enforce consequences in accordance with the Gun-Free School Zones Act, the PATRIOT Act, and hate crime prevention statutes.

This statement received heavy backlash from many parents, school officials, and politicians. They opposed the letter’s comparison of parents to domestic terrorists and argued that these incidents of violence can and should be dealt with at the local level. “The [NSBA] never once cites local law enforcement in the letter,” former MCPS parent and former BOE candidate Stephen Austin said.

“If you actually look at every single example, every time that law enforcement was called, they handled it.”

The NSBA has since issued an apology for its statement after 26 state school boards rebuked the letter, 11 of which have discontinued their membership with the NSBA. “To be clear, the safety of school board members, other public school officials and educators, and students is our top priority,” the NSBA wrote on Oct. 22. “However, there was no justification for some of the language in that letter.”

Silvestre hopes MCPS parents and families continue providing constructive feedback to the BOE. “We want to hear from people if things are not going well...we want to hear dissenting opinions,” Silvestre said.

“We just need to be civil and respectful.”

Drawing new lines

By Ila Raso Staff Writer The Montgomery County Redistricting Commission released their proposed map for new County Council districts on Oct. 20 after months of planning. The new map was chosen out of three options developed by the commission of 11 volunteers, including Blair math teacher David Stein, in response to new census data that showed shifting demographics and an increase in population throughout Montgomery County. Each district needs to have roughly 150,000 residents.

The proposed plan will increase the number of districts by two and redraw boundaries. The number of County Council members who represent districts will increase from five to seven.

There will still be four at large members. On Dec. 7, the County Council voted 8-1 in favor of the map. Council Member Andrew Friedson, who represents District 1, voted against it. The official map deviated slightly from the map originally proposed by the Redistricting Commission.

County redistricting is a process in which the Montgomery County Redistricting Commission redraws district boundaries in response to changing demographics as reported by the decennial census. The census found that Montgomery County’s population grew from from 971,284 to 1,062,710 people over the last ten years. This is around a 91,000 person increase. Montgomery County

also grew in diversity, with nearly 60 percent of the county’s residents now identifying as Latino, Black, or Asian.

The choice to increase the number of County Council seats to represent this population growth was finalized in a 2020 ballot initiative—the passed measure keeps four at large representatives while increasing the number of districts and thus district representatives from five to seven.

This change made the redistricting process more involved. “Usually when you’re doing redistricting, you’re taking the existing map and you’re changing it around based on populations,” Stein said in an interview with Silver Chips. “We had to basically start over again, with a blank map, and figure out where to put seven districts.”

The map’s main change places North Bethesda in a district with Silver Spring, Takoma Park, and Kensington.

Many North Bethesda residents spoke up against the map as they feel it undermines North Bethesda’s power and some testified that it breaks up Asian American communities in the area.

Some North Bethesda residents sent in complaints saying they do not want to be split up from the rest of Bethesda. “The North Bethesda area had been part of District One for many years,” Councilmember Friedson’s Chief of Staff Cindy Gibson said in an interview with Silver Chips.

“People don’t always like change.”

Another change in the map is that the upcounty will be represented by only one seat, despite the overall number of representatives increasing by

COURTESY OF CINDY GIBSON NEW DISTRICTS The county council approved a new redistricting map.

two. Marilyn Balcombe, Germantown resident and a candidate for County Council, expressed her frustration with the portrayal of this decision. “My biggest concern is that the commission stated in the report that there were two upcounty districts and there aren’t… let’s just call it like it is,” she said in an interview with Silver Chips.

The entire Redistricting Commission and County Council went in with the goal of creating an equitable and fair map that benefits all demographics. “We wanted to make fair maps that didn’t advantage one part of the county over the other.

We wanted maps that reflected the changes in the population in terms of the area, and also in terms of demographics,” Stein said. The map had a Latinx plurality in one district based

around Wheaton and a Black plurality district in the East County.

The Redistricting Commission’s proposed map divided the Orthodox Jewish community in Kemp Mill between District 5 and District 6. The map was altered during the Dec. 7 meeting by the County Council in order to keep the community together in District 6, which would weaken the voice of Latinx residents in District 6.

The Latinx voting power was strengthened again with another map change during the same County Council meeting. Derwood and Redland, majority white areas, were moved from District 6 to upcounty District 7, increasing the Latinx plurality in District 6 while preserving the Orthodox Jewish community in one district.

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Dec. 14, 2021 News A3

Student stabbed on Blair campus

INTERNATIONAL NEWS BRIEFS Compiled by William Ashford Staff Writer

Iran Nuclear Deal Talks On Nov. 29, talk of establishing a nuclear deal with Iran resumed in Vienna, Austria after being first proposed in 2015. The negotiations between the United States, Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia, and Iran revolved around restrictions on nuclear weapon research, production, and testing. In a recent joint statement, representatives from Britain, France, and Germany blamed Iran for stopping diplomatic meetings; during which time they invested money in their nuclear program. “Over five months ago, Iran interrupted negotiations, and since then, Iran has fast-forwarded its nuclear program,” the statement read. Iran says that the country is seeking to return to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action while the European nations argue that Iran’s proposals conflict with that deal.

Iran took a hardlined approach to negotiations, demanding that all sanctions placed on Iran by the United States––in coalition with other western countries––be lifted. Western diplomats are unsure if negotiations will be successful if Iran maintains their stance. Further negotiations were paused to allow governments to confer with ambassadors before they continued on Dec. 9th.

Indonesian Volcanic Eruption As of Dec. 6, a volcano eruption on Mount Semeru in East Java, Indonesia left 34 dead, 57 hospitalized, and 27 missing. Mount Semeru is the largest mountain on the island of Java, which contains Indonesia’s capital of Jakarta and is the most densely populated area of the country––and even the world. The mountain erupted in columns of ash more than 40,000 feet high. Thousands of people were displaced, and hundreds of buildings were destroyed. Indonesian officials urged residents living within six miles of the volcano to evacuate.

Officials believe the cause of the sudden eruption to be severe rainfall in days leading up to the event that caused erosion and led to the mountain collapsing. High levels of volcanic ash and mud limited search and rescue efforts.

U.S. Will Not Send Olympic Officials

Around 10 a.m on Nov. 8, Blair went into lockdown following an altercation between students in Blair’s Colesville Road parking lot. A 16-year-old Blair student was stabbed, allegedly by another 16-year-old Blair student. 911 was called within minutes, and security was on the scene. The suspect fled the campus. Principal Renay Johnson initiated a lockdown for Blair students and staff immediately after learning about the incident and later sent out a message to the community via Twitter, followed by an MCPS approved letter that afternoon.

The victim was taken to the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, while the suspect was taken into custody after being returned to Blair by his parents. The alleged assailant was charged as an adult with attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, and reckless endangerment, according to The Washington Post.

The day after the altercation, a relative of the suspect brought a knife concealed in his backpack to Blair. After a self-search, the knife was confiscated by security.

The search occurred after a teacher noted the student suddenly returned to school after being absent for an extended period of time.

Some Blair community members expressed frustration that communication from administration to teachers and students during the incident was minimal.

At 10:34 a.m., Johnson tweeted the following message: “Montgomery Blair High School is in a lockdown. Students and staff are safe in the building. There was a serious incident in our parking lot.

Montgomery County police and school security are working with me on this issue. I will send a letter to the school community as soon as possible.”

Johnson explained that a letter to the community has to be approved by MCPS before she can release it. “Tweets don’t have to be approved, because it’s mine,” she said in an interview with Silver Chips.

However, many teachers felt that they had inadequate information when Johnson announced a lockdown over the loudspeaker.

Blair Math teacher Bryce Shemer explained that he does not have Twitter and found out the details

of the incident from students during lunch.

Blair ASL teacher Rita Torres, who is deaf, could not hear the loudspeaker. She was teaching her ASL 1 class, and none of the students were able to communicate

COLIN LEDERER

what was happening through sign language. Eventually, her students wrote on the whiteboard that they were in lockdown.

Some teachers want there to be a more transparent form of communication from administration.

“I think there needs to be a better system in place,” Shemer said.

Principal Renay Johnson initiated a lockdown for Blair students and staff immediately after learning about the incident.

As for suggestions on ways to modify the system, Torres believes text messages would work. “They could [send] a SMS alert to the teachers or to me to let everyone know what’s going on,” she said through an interpreter.

Some students reported that their teacher continued teaching as normal. In other classes, students hid in corners or took other safety measures. For example, Xan Middents, a junior at Blair, hid in a closet adjacent to his class.

“We were on the second floor in a locked and barricaded supply clos-

Apuñalamiento causa fuertes emociones entre los estudiantes Por Cecilia Clemens Vargas Lugo Editora-en-Jefe El 8 de noviembre dos estudiantes de Montgomery Blair estuvieron involucrados en un incidente en el estacionamiento que causó que la escuela tuviera que entrar en un cierre de emergencia durante una hora y media.

Para muchos estudiantes este incidente causó confusión y ansiedad, entre otras emociones fuertes.

De acuerdo con Lia Contreras, la consejera para los estudiantes de ESOL, después del cierre de emergencia ella contactó a la Oficina de Consejería del Condado de

et,” he said.

Some teachers believe procedure inconsistencies likely arose from the lack of lockdown drills this year. This year, staff received a brief emergency preparedness training during pre-service week.

Montgomery para obtener apoyo.

Al día siguiente tres consejeras y dos estudiantes de consejería hispanohablantes visitaron Blair para hablar con las clases de ESOL. Contreras explica que “preparamos una pequeña presentación y fuimos a las diferentes clases de ESOL para hablar con los estudiantes en español porque como muchas veces los estudiantes que hablan español tienen más dificultad para entender los anuncios o leer la información que está compartida o tal vez para entender las noticias”.

Entre los estudiantes hubo muchas emociones fuertes durante el cierre de emergencia, explicó

However, with the entire student body returning from online school, more emphasis was placed on COVID-19 safety protocols and less on general emergency preparedness drills. Torres feels this year’s teacher lockdown training was relatively bare and lacking in depth. According to Assistant Principal Joseph Fanning on Sept.

8, Blair also had a rolling staff meeting where teachers viewed a slideshow and video from MCPS that contained more thorough emergency preparedness training.

Additionally, a lockdown drill was not conducted with students and staff this year. “We haven’t actually done a lockdown drill with the students, I think since preCOVID,” Shemer said. Fanning confirmed this, saying, “Last year, MCPS central office suggested that we do not have live in-person drills for things like lockdowns, because they didn’t want to exacerbate the trauma that students had from being outside the school with COVID.” In the past, Johnson recalled teachers questioning lockdown training since lockdowns are uncommon. However, after the stabbing incident, she noted that teachers are requesting more training, which Johnson said is coming.

The incidents also restarted conversations about School ReContreras, y muchos sintieron miedo y confusión. Añade que incluso había estudiantes que no habían estado en Blair o en el país por mucho tiempo. Contreras dice que “tenemos estudiantes que estaban recién llegados, estudiantes que se habían registrado para comenzar clases la cual sería su primer día de clase y tenemos estudiantes que habían comenzado clases semana … o a principios de el primero o el segundo semestre si no que es durante todo el año entonces había esa confusión que no sabían que hacer, que no sabían porque estaban callados, cerrados, luces apagadas, hubo mucha ansiedad”.

Nicolás, un estudiante de doceavo grado que ha pedido quedarse anónimo, dice que su primera reacción después de oír el anuncio de que la escuela estaba en un cierre de emergencia fue “me preocupé porque tengo un hermano y pensé que había sido él o algo”.

Darryl Cooper, el líder del equipo de seguridad, dijo que él no vio una reacción específica en los estudiantes latinxs si no que

source Officers (SROs), who were recently removed from MCPS schools and would typically handle an issue of this nature.

Some believe that SROs would have prevented the altercation, while others maintained that the presence of SROs in schools poses a threat to marginalized groups in schools. Rather than SROs, they believe the school’s funding could be reallocated to increase counseling resources. Johnson acknowledges this community discourse.

“People say [the SRO debate is] either-or,” Johnson said. “Why can’t it be both? Why can’t you have SRO support and mental health services?”

In light of the incident, community members have also pushed for metal detectors in the school.

Johnson believes doing so would be ineffective at Blair. “I [envision] with so many kids here, I think it’ll be going off all the time.” she said.

MCPS is not planning to add metal detectors at Blair, according to MCPS Director of School Safety and Security Ed Clarke. “[They’re] not an option [we’re] looking at in MCPS,” he said in a Blair PTSA meeting.

Blair’s administration has sought to provide a strong mental well-being support system both after the incident and in general.

Resources available to students and teachers include collaborative drawing stations, therapy dogs, and counselors.

An innovation period dedicated to debriefing after the incident was scheduled on Nov. 18. The lesson included a slideshow with guiding questions to help students discuss and share their feelings regarding the incident. Experiences differed among classes, with some having a productive discussion.

“My classes were a little hesitant to open up at first,” Shemer said. “Ms. Contreras and I started talking to them about how we personally felt… [and] towards the end everyone was talking, participating, [and] sharing how they felt.”

On the other hand, some students like senior Alexandra Hernandez who witnessed the stabbing from the track, thought the innovation period was relatively ineffective. “Nobody was really interested in speaking [about the stabbing],” she said.

Fanning said that Blair is also planning an innovation period in January where students will review lockdown procedures.

“la [de estudiantes latinx] respuesta fue la misma que la de todos los demás estudiantes, estaban preocupados por el incidente, por su seguridad personal y si fue un Fuimos a las diferentes clases de ESOL para hablar con los estudiantes en español porque como muchas veces los estudiantes que hablan español tienen más dificultad para entender los anuncios

LIA CONTRERAS

In a White House press conference on Dec. 6, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki announced that while American athletes will still compete, the Biden Administration will not be diplomatically present in the upcoming Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympic games.

“The Biden Administration will not send any diplomatic or official representation… given [China’s] ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang,” she said in the press conference.

The decision stands as a political statement against Chinese counter protest measures of pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong, and human rights abuses of Muslims in the Xinjiang region. The decision was backed up by bipartisan support in Congress and was further amplified by the disappearance of Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai, after she accused a top Communist Party leader of sexual assault.

By John Ernst Staff Writer

incidente aislado o si fue algo más grande que afectaría a todo el cuerpo estudiantil”.

Hubo mucha confusión durante el cierre explicó Nicolás, quien después de saber lo que había pasado a través de la hermana de uno de los estudiantes involucrados, se sintió tranquilo porque “me di cuenta que los habían agarrado”.

A4 News Dec. 14, 2021 NEWS BRIEFS Compiled by Eliana Finberg Staff Writer

BOE appoints Scott Joftus to vacant seat Following the death of Board of Education (BOE) member Patricia O’Neill, the BOE has appointed Dr. Scott Joftus to fill the vacant District 3 seat. After interviewing eight finalists for the seat, the Board unanimously voted for Joftus on Dec. 2, making him the sole male member on the Board.

He is scheduled to be sworn in on Dec. 14 at Carver Educational Services Center in Rockville. Joftus is the co-founder and president of FourPoint Education Partners, an organization that aims to help teachers support students and improve the quality of learning. He earned his Doctorate of Education from The George Washington University and has two kids, one of whom currently attends Whitman High School and one who graduated from MCPS.

The Dec. 2 BOE meeting At their Dec. 2 business meeting, the Board of Education (BOE) voted to make several changes to the 2021-2022 calendar year. There are now three added half days, scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 12, Thursday, Mar. 24, and Wednesday, May 18. In a statement on the MCPS website, MCPS writes that they “[recognize] that teacher planning time is critical for the preparation of meaningful and engaging lessons for students each day,” thus creating the added half days. The county has also added systemwide closures over winter and spring break: the district will be closed Dec. 23, Dec. 27 through Dec. 30, and April 13 and April 14. MCPS also added a systemwide closure on June 20 for Juneteenth.

The BOE, with significant advocacy from Student Member of the Board Hana O’Looney, also voted to implement a pilot program adding free menstrual hygiene products in the bathrooms of all secondary schools in the county. According to a memorandum from Interim Superintendent Monifa McKnight, all 66 secondary schools in the county will have sanitary products in at least two of their female restrooms by Oct. 1, 2022. This is in accordance with a recently passed Maryland state law that O’Looney also pushed for.

Former Whitman coach under investigation In August of 2021, former crew coach of Whitman’s club team and social studies teacher at Whitman, Kirk Shipley was arrested on first and second degree sexual assault charges. A three-time winner of The Washington Post’s All-Met Coach of the Year award, Shipley had coached the crew team at Whitman since 2002, with many athletes going on to row at top schools such as Brown, MIT, and Yale.

In June of 2021, after their spring season was over, seven members of the team sent a letter to their parent-run board, reiterating claims that were made in 2018 that Shipley created a toxic environment. After the letter was submitted to the board, he returned to the coaching staff for the following school year, but was arrested just 8 days into the season. Shipley is being investigated by a grand jury, but is currently released as the court system processes his case.

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Sleeping on Howard dorm quality

By Elina Lee Staff Writer

On Oct. 12, students at Howard University began protesting poor dorm conditions after a series of transgressions including all students being removed from the Board of Trustees—a group responsible for discussing student housing needs. The protests took place at the Armour J. Blackburn University Center. There are 20 remaining members on the Board of Trustees, from company representatives to COVID-19 Response Relief and Recovery Task Force members.

Protesters hung posters around the school and slept in tents for over a month outside of the Blackburn University Center. Campus police became involved as the number of tents increased. Furthermore, Sodexo, Howard’s food service provider, decided to lay off cafeteria workers and shut down the cafeteria due to the proximity of the protests.

The school’s president Wayne A. I. Frederick participated in a panel discussion regarding the occupation of Blackburn. Students, staff, and alumni attended the panel to evaluate campus housing needs. The protest ended just over a month later on Nov. 15, after the university reached an agreement with the students, according to a Twitter post made by Howard’s official account (@HowardU).

Howard University freshman and Blair alumnus Denny Tsitsiwu believes that Howard’s poor dorm quality has caused health problems for him and his peers. “Obviously, mold is an issue,” Tsitsiwu said.

“I had hives for a while, not only because of the dry environment, but because of the mold. I was told by [other] students that those who had breathing problems—respiratory issues—would cough up... [and] vomit blood.”

According to the Howard Newsroom, all students affected by mold were given the opportunity to request relocation this semester.

The university identified 41 rooms with mold. Tsitsiwu’s roommate requested a dorm change, and they are now in their third dorm this semester, after first moving to a temporary room.

Across Twitter, Howard students have expressed frustration regarding Howard’s lack of action.

On Oct. 14, user @kaeebhabie tweeted that students on their floor tested negative for COVID-19 after trying to determine the cause of their respiratory infections. They later realized their health problem was caused by the mold in their dorms. “they don’t listen to our demands or our complaints. but it’s okay because my next step is legal action. our health doesn’t matter. #BlackburnTakeover,” they wrote.

The next day, they tweeted that mold had been growing everywhere in their dorm—on the mattress, in the closet, and in the fridge—and continued that Howard has yet to respond adequately.

On Oct. 19, Howard student @ pyarkarda tweeted, “rats roaches and mold,” alongside an image of mold growing near the stairwells of their dorm.

Students, staff, and alumni took legal action against Howard, citing violations of D.C. regulations.

“A class action lawsuit was filed against #HowardUniversity and #Corvias on Oct. 26. The suit is on behalf of 4th Floor Baldwin Hall residents and alleges violations of the Air Quality Amendment Act and DC housing code & unfair and deceptive trade practices,” Howard alumna and attorney @AngiMaryssa tweeted on Nov. 8.

Corvias, a property management company, has financed, managed, and maintained four residential facilities on Howard University’s Central Campus.

Alongside mold, Tsitsitwu says the water in Howard dorms also lacks temperature control. The cold water has prompted Tsitsiwu to keep track of what time of day hot water is generated.

Although Tsitsiwu was primarily affected by the mold in his dorm, he discussed how his peers experienced mice and rat infestations, as well as rundown walls in other rooms and residence halls.

He added that the fourth floor of the College Hall South dorms and the second floor of the East Tower dorms flooded, damaging school and student property. “​​Many electronics and other students’ belongings were all destroyed,” he said.

The Howard Instagram page (@howard1867) published a post on Nov. 13, the day after the College Hall South flood, noting that maintenance workers were immediately notified and working with affected students, all of whom were offered temporary housing.

Despite resident assistants offering support for students, especially freshmen, to adjust to college life, Tsitsiwu emphasized that the constant dorm quality issues have been a hassle. Nevertheless, he is pleased that Howard is beginning to work with students. “Things are getting done,” he said. “More janitors and more custodians are listening to students’ needs by helping to refurbish and clean up.”

COURTESY OF DARIUS SPENCER

MAKING A STATEMENT Howard University students engage in a campus protest for better dorm conditions.

Looking forward with Thrive 2050

By Sophia Stein Staff Writer In April 2021, the Montgomery County Planning Board released a proposed framework for Thrive Montgomery 2050, an update to Montgomery County’s leading infrastructure planning document, the General Plan. Thrive covers methods for accommodating population growth over the next 30 years through responsible development. If passed by the County Council, the proposal would be the first complete overhaul of the General Plan since 1993.

According to Montgomery County Planning Board Chair Casey Anderson, Thrive serves as an updated version of the General Plan, which was implemented in 1964. “[Thrive] adds some of the missing pieces and improve[s] on some of the approaches that were really helpful in 1964, but [proved to be] in need of some refinement or modification,” Anderson said in an interview with Silver Chips.

As stated on the Montgomery County Planning web page dedicated to the policy, Thrive aims to ensure that upcoming physical

development will contribute to three main objectives: a stronger economy, equitable communities, and sustainable infrastructure.

The plan aims to address these goals through sections on compact growth, walkable communities, arts and culture, transportation, housing, and parks and recreation.

In October, after the Planning Board released its draft of Thrive, the County Council’s Planning, Housing, and Economic Development Committee added amendments. The full County Council is currently reviewing the plan and will likely vote on the policy early next year after making final changes.

Anderson explained that the process of drafting and amending Thrive promotes community engagement and input. “We have probably… provided more opportunities for people to weigh in than in any other similar project in the county’s history,” he said. In an effort to raise awareness, the county sent out 94,000 postcards to residents, specifically in neighborhoods with a high minority populations and low-income residents and held hundreds of meetings.

“We wanted to be careful to make

HENRY REICHLE

sure that people who have been left out of planning and local politics in the past would be included and would be aware of what’s going on,” Anderson said.

Despite county efforts to make policy decisions accessible and open to public input, some residents have felt removed from the development of Thrive. “We’re afraid that they’re just going to vote on it,” Montgomery County resident Linda Necastro Pastel said at a rally against Thrive outside of the Marian Fryer Town Plaza in Wheaton on Nov. 4. “Usually they have hearings… [over] a couple of years for a master plan like this… [because] it’s a really big deal, and we have gotten really no say on this.”

Monica Reyes, another Montgomery County resident present at the rally, feels similarly. “We have [had] no say in this because… they did everything in the shadow of the pandemic,” she explained.

The proposal has spurred tension and discourse across the county due to aspects of its housing component, which focuses on increasing the amount of available housing and ensuring housing is suited to the needs of the community. Thrive includes a recommendation to incorporate more diverse housing types to serve residents across the socioeconomic spectrum. If passed, the policy could set the framework to allow the construction of more dense building types (e.g. apartment and multiplexes)—a change called “upzoning”—in neighborhoods that, thus far, have only been open to the construction of single-family homes.

At the Nov 4. rally, homeowners in opposition to Thrive voiced concerns over how the plan could affect the housing in their communities. “Property values go up, taxes go up, and people on fixed incomes get pushed out,” Necastro Pastel said. “ [Denser units are] very costly for very small units that

are not [very nice].”

Citizens participating in a virtual Thrive town hall on Nov. 30 also shared their opinions about Thrive’s housing policy. Community member Jamison Adcock had concerns about the effects of more dense housing. “The upzoning of single family neighborhoods… opens the door to a slew of unintended consequences including… gentrification, displacement, and a shift from homeownership to rentals,” he said in his testimony to the County Council.

Anderson pointed out that Thrive is strictly a planning document that will not change zoning or land use policies. Instead, it sets objectives for development that will be explored by county planners in the future. “Thrive is a framework for other plans. It doesn’t affect the zoning in any particular place,” Anderson said to Silver Chips. “That happens later through individual plans that cover specific parts of the county.”

Thrive also aims to ensure that affordable housing is made available by promoting price-controlling policies and expanding upon those that are already in place. “The idea of… something other than single family houses and single family neighborhoods is just one of many recommendations,” Anderson said. “Among the other [recommendations] is more subsidies for housing, more kinds of housing, [and] different types of financing for housing, like tax abatements.”

In the upcoming months, the County Council will decide whether Thrive will be instated as the county’s new leading infrastructure plan. Anderson says that Thrive is designed to address the county’s inevitable population growth as effectively as possible. “Things are going to change,” he said. “The question is… can we harness that change to serve the purposes that we want instead of letting change run us over?”

silverchips

Dec. 14, 2021 News A5

Educators on edge

MCPS teachers rally for better working conditions

By Ingrid Holmquist and Sedise Tiruneh Staff Writers Teachers across MCPS report experiencing new levels of stress due to current working conditions that stem from a contract violation between the Board of Education (BOE) and the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA). The contract outlines and protects teachers’ right to planning time, substitute coverage, and fair compensation for extra time.

Many teachers feel that MCPS has failed to honor this commitment to adequate working conditions, saying that this issue has left them feeling stressed, burnt out, and unable to provide the quality of education they strive for.

Most recently, educators have called for a resolution to their complaints in a demonstration outside of the Carver Educational Services Center during a BOE meeting on Oct. 26. The protest featured a car

KEVIN MOOSE

[When] working with fewer students, [there are fewer] papers to grade and you can spend more time with kids individually.

SPEAKING OUT Union member makes a speech outside of a Board of Education meeting to support teacher’s rights.

corrections

COLIN LEDERER

TIRED TEACHERS An educator stands at an MCEA rally to raise awareness about teachers’ struggles. for me to do my work,” she said.

Oliver expressed that losing free periods makes her feel as though the BOE doesn’t respect her as an educator. “We just want to be treated like human beings,” she said.

Because teachers are losing valuable work time, their jobs can spill over into their personal lives. Many of them say they work off the clock for several hours a night and during the weekends. “I spend… two to three hours [every night] making a lesson or grading,” Julia Estrada, an AP Calculus teacher at Blair, said.

Some teachers also find that their busy schedules increase fatigue and take away from rest and self-care. “I need to take care of myself,” Estrada said. “It can sometimes get overwhelming.”

Other teachers feel that the lack of balance between their work and personal lives detract from their planning periods, grading time, and rest opportunities, making it hard for them to create a productive learning environment for students. “A disgruntled, tired teacher can’t be the best teacher to [their] students. [If] you don’t get enough sleep at night, how do you manage to perform your responsibilities at the maximum potential?” Oliver said.

Another potential stressor for teachers is large class sizes. MCPS enrollment has increased by 30,000 students since 2000. Blair’s campus now contains 18 portables, which are intended to handle a rising student population.

Blair social studies teacher Kevin Moose has noticed this increase in the two decades he’s taught at Blair. He states that large class sizes have been an issue all along. However, he finds that the pandemic has worsened the stress they create.

“We’ve had large classes before.

It’s not new,” he shared. “But you throw in wearing a mask all the time and coming off a pandemic

year… it feels like more of a workload this year.”

Moose noted that some of his classes have up to 32 students, and he feels that it can be difficult to manage. With so many students, he cannot dedicate the time he would like to each of them. “[When] working with fewer students, [there are fewer] papers to grade, and you can spend more time with kids individually,” he said.

While overall, the pandemic has lowered enrollment across the country, many feel that the staffing shortage has prevented any notice-

A disgruntled, tired teacher can’t be the best teacher to [their] students.

TABITHA OLIVER

picket in which teachers drove by the building, honking repeatedly and displaying signs that urged the BOE to offer more protections to their teachers. Several MCEA and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) members also made speeches that detailed the BOE’s failure to meet their needs.

The teachers refrained from providing testimony at the meeting.

Most felt it was more impactful to rally outside and receive attention from news outlets like ABC and the Bethesda Beat. Other teachers, like Michelle Cohen, observed the meeting but did not offer any opinions to the board, because they felt it was enough simply to be there. “I’m not giving a testimony.

I’m going to be seen,” said Cohen.

“I hold my sign so that they know we’re here looking at them.” Her sign, written in permanent marker on a piece of printer paper, read, MCPS: Show us you care, bargain fair.

Teachers at the rally asked the BOE to address the staffing shortage by hiring more substitutes, paraeducators, and counselors. Many believe that this will remove the responsibility of covering other classes and reduce their stress overall.

Some teachers are also demanding higher compensation, increased technological support, and smaller class sizes.

Similar demonstrations have occurred at schools all over the county, including Blair. On the morning of Oct. 6, approximately 40 teachers stood outside of the school holding signs and wearing their red Blair gear, in a so-called, “Red for Ed” rally. Blair ESOL teacher and elected faculty representative Ryan Gerasimowicz feels that while the event didn’t result in any immediate change, it was important in making teachers’ issues known. “The protests are more to raise awareness in the community,” he said.

Due to COVID-19, many teachers retired early or quit, with some citing excessive stress. This perpetuates an ongoing issue of understaffing in schools that has been progressively worsening since the 1990s. MCPS is heavily affected with approximately 1,000 teaching vacancies.

As a result of this deficit, many teachers report being forced to cover classes for other teachers when substitutes are unavailable. According to Cindy Lotto, a history teacher at Gaithersburg, teachers are often asked to give up their planning period and free time to stand in for colleagues. “Every time we go to grade papers or write lessons we’re actually shoved into a classroom for a different topic,” she said.

Tabitha Oliver, a special education and math teacher at Westland Middle School, feels that teachers deserve unabridged planning time during their eight-hour workdays.

“I’m having to cover people’s classes during my planning period, which should be sacred and protected time

able effects. Moose explained that without enough teachers to divide students into several small classes, they all end up in one large class.

He claimed that to eliminate this stress, the BOE has to hire more teachers. “If you’re gonna have smaller classes, you need more teachers [and] you need more classrooms,” he said.

The pandemic has added further concern regarding overcrowding in schools as well. The number of students packed together during lunchtime poses a potential risk to the health and safety of students.

However, some believe that it is difficult to fix this problem amid the staffing shortage. Lotto feels that when schools try to space students out, it results in unfair ramifications for the staff who must supervise the students. “When it comes to application, you need an adult in each of those settings,” Lotto explained.

“Our elementary educators aren’t

October 2021

getting lunches because [they are] sitting with their students.”

Teachers are also grappling with mitigating the gaps in education that resulted from the virtual school year. According to the New York Times, math has suffered some of the worst learning loss due to missed instruction and academic and emotional stress placed on students and teachers from the pandemic. “Sometimes I feel like I’m teaching calculus to geometry students,” Estrada said. “The skills that they should have for this class aren’t as great as they would have been if we had been in-person.”

To address these issues, teachers are asking for the BOE to further acknowledge their concerns.

Cohen explained that she wants to provide her students with the best possible education, but that she needs assistance from the BOE to do so. “My concern is that the Board of Education is not supporting teachers the way they need to,” she said. “We want to be able to be better teachers.”

The overarching pleas from teachers are uninterrupted planning time, duty-free lunches, and monetary compensation for violations of these guarantees. Many teachers believe that the way to achieve this is through hiring more substitutes and educators. According to WUSA9, MCPS and the BOE are currently entering a period of contract negotiations, meaning that there is a chance for these demands to be met.

However, Oliver feels that this tension between the educators and the Board of Education has stifled progress towards a meaningful resolution. “I have never seen so much adversity between the school board and the teachers ever,” Oliver said. “It seems counterproductive and the people who suffer the most ultimately are students.”

Scan the QR code below to read the correct version of “Girls’ soccer strikes again.”

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The version of “Girls soccer strikes again” was not the draft intended for print.

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The photo attribution for “Girls’ soccer strikes again” should have been courtesy of Alli O’Neal-Freeman.

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A window quote in “Highlighting hispanic heritage” should have been attributed to Rodrigo Martinez instead of Geo Rivera.

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The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is listed as having two doses in “Montgomery County COVID-19 policy changes.” It is a single dose vaccine.

D1-D2 Kenneth Flemmer was referred to as Peter Flemmer in “Settling into Silver Spring.”

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A6 News Dec. 14, 2021

A conversation with Brooke Lierman

Brooke Lierman, who currently serves as a representative of the 46th district of Maryland in the Maryland House of Delegates, is running to be the next comptroller of the state. She spoke with Silver Chips about her campaign and hopes for Maryland’s financial future.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

BO

KARIS TE

We know that a lot of people don’t totally understand what a comptroller is. Can you explain to our readers what the position entails?

The state comptroller is the elected chief financial officer of the state. Importantly, it’s one of only three independently elected statewide offices that we have in Maryland, so it has a large bully pulpit to talk about important state issues, especially issues that are affecting our economy. The comptroller is also really uniquely situated to focus on income based issues. The comptroller is on a number of very important state boards, including serving as Vice

You mentioned that the comptroller has a very powerful bully pulpit. What would you use that bully pulpit for? What policy issues matter to you the most?

During my time on the General Assembly, I’ve tried to focus on issues that will build stronger communities, families, and small businesses throughout the state and really build for future generations.

To me, that looks like ensuring that we are supporting our schools.

I was a champion of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future to make sure that we’re funding our schools adequately, so I’m excited to continue to be a strong voice in support of our public schools. I also believe that our economy is very dependent on having a robust multimodal transportation system, and I would like to see us expand transit opportunities around the state.

Finally, I want to make sure that we are really tackling two big overriding issues that are confronting the state right now. Those are really working to close the racial wealth divide in the state and to confront the challenge of climate change.

You were talking about the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. If you’re elected to be the Maryland comptroller, how will you use the Blueprint? Why should our stu-

dents and other members of the community support you?

As the mom of public school students and the education chair for the Baltimore City delegation, I am very familiar with our public schools. I’m also a Montgomery County Public Schools graduate.

So I have a sort of unique understanding, among those running, of the challenges confronting our public school system. I have worked for the past six years on the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future as well as the Build to Learn Act. I’m well situated to be a strong and vociferous advocate for our public school students and our educators, and to make sure that we have the best public school system in the country.

You’ve mentioned a lot of policy issues that matter to you. If you’re elected, what are your plans to address them?

First, we’ll start with climate. I don’t think there’s any greater threat to our economy, our way of life, than climate change. One way that the comptroller’s office could be at the center of ensuring climate resilience is really analyzing implications for the state’s budget and focusing on equipping our state agencies to respond to climate change. I want to create a climate resilience officer in the comptroller’s office who would advise me on procurement practices, investments, planning risk reduction measures, as well as environmental justice concerns, and would also interact with state agencies and be a resource to local governments to really help prevent and then mitigate the impacts of climate change. I mentioned as well the challenge of the racial wealth divide, and that really holds Maryland’s entire economy back and certainly ensures that not every community or family is meeting their full potential. We do need to have an equity officer in the comptroller’s office to ensure that policies and practices take the wealth gap into account and that we’re intentionally focused on reducing that gap, but we also have to focus on a number of different measures that drive the wealth gap, such as homeownership promoting assets, savings, and promoting business ownership. I want to make sure that we are putting the full weight of the comptroller’s office behind investing in Black-owned businesses. We are also looking at homeownership and how we can address gaps in appraisal and assessment to encourage homeownership, monitoring banks’ small business lending to make sure that banks in Maryland are loaning to Black-owned businesses. Blackowned businesses are turned down for loans at twice the rate as white-owned businesses, and that’s a big problem in Maryland. I think

there are a number of ways that the comptroller’s office can be helpful in using the resources of the office to help tackle the racial wealth divide in the state as well.

If you’re elected to be the comptroller, what do you think you can do to help Marylanders recover from the pandemic?

I think first and foremost, the comptroller’s office has to use the bully pulpit to ensure that people understand that getting “back to normal” is not acceptable, because normal was not working for so many people. I think the level of evictions and people at risk of eviction really demonstrate that we have a lot of work to do to ensure that families, communities and businesses are financially resilient. The comptroller’s office has 12 field offices around the state. I want to make sure that all of those offices are doing additional outreach to communities, families, and small businesses in their area, and sort of reimagine how we can use those offices to be hubs of financial information, tax preparation, and financial literacy to help all of the communities that they serve. I also want to make sure that we are using the data of the comp-

I also want to make sure that we are using the data of the comptroller’s office to really pinpoint where help is needed.

BROOKE LIERMAN

Chair of the State Retirement and Pension Board and serving as one of the three members of the Board of Public Works, which is the state board that really holds the power of the purse in Maryland. It ultimately makes decisions on contracts that are awarded in the state. And finally, the comptroller runs all tax administration in the state and plays a large role in ensuring that people are paying their fair share and supporting our small businesses. You could say that the comptroller is the state official who sees the numbers that tell the story of how Maryland families and companies are doing.

COURTESY OF BROOKE LIERMAN

COMPTROLLER CANDIDACY Brooke Lierman speaks at a campaign rally.

troller’s office to really pinpoint where help is needed. We need businesses to start in Maryland and stay in Maryland, because businesses mean jobs. We have to support our small businesses as they regrow and support entrepreneurs who are starting new businesses in Maryland as well.

As the next governor and treasurer are also going to be elected in 2022, how do you plan to collaborate with them as well as with industry leaders?

I’ve always been very collaborative, looking for opportunities to partner with colleagues and advocates.

Last year when I brought the Digital Connectivity Act of 2021, with Senator Sarah Elfreth, we pulled together 60 organizations around the state to give us feedback and comments and then advocate for passage of this bill to create Maryland’s first Office of Statewide Broadband, connecting Marylanders around the state to Internet. I love working with people and look forward to collaborating, brainstorming, and learning from my colleagues.

Every day, the Blair speaker blares with the same announcement: “Blair is a closed campus.”

Even with the daily reminder, many students choose to ignore the rule, going off campus regardless of school consequences, which can range from prohibition from sporting events to in-school suspension.

These disciplinary actions serve mainly to deter students from crossing the busy streets around Blair. “Blair has a closed campus to keep the students safe from the busy streets: University [Boulevard] and Colesville [Road],” Blair security guard Brian Leatherwood said, referring to the intersection known as Four Corners. If students want to eat at restaurants like Santucci’s Deli, Chipotle, and McDonald’s, they must cross University Boulevard or Colesville Road.

Crossing the street can be dangerous, especially when students have the time pressure to be back in class by the end of the period.

“Some students may not cross the way they’re supposed to… [and] they’re not going to necessarily all cross at the crosswalks,” Blair Magnet Coordinator Peter Ostrander said. “Lunchtime is one of those things where there is an added level of haste.”

Lucas Suter, an urban and suburban studies student at George Mason University, whose high school had an open campus, theorizes that if an open campus policy were enacted at a school like Blair with food within walking distance, students actually might be safer because of the number of students crossing. “I felt like it was much less safe for me [to cross] the street… when it was just me versus when I was going to lunch [during lunch period] and there were a few hundred people walking to lunch at the same time,” he said.

Beyond safety, other factors such as attendance and nutrition

Even with the daily reminder, many students choose to ignore the rule, going off campus regardless of school consequences.

can also play a role in a school’s decision to close its campus. According to The New York Times, schools in Denver, Colorado that ended open lunches for 9th and 10th graders saw rates of attendance increase in afternoon classes.

Blair students who leave campus for lunch typically do not drive to purchase food. However, driving is still a safety concern. In 2005, a University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill study found that open lunch policies contributed to higher rates of car crashes involving teenagers. The study also found that open lunch policies encourage situations where there are multiple people in one vehicle, which further increases risk of injury or death.

I think having the freedom to go out and be outside of the school environment for an hour, and then come back can help students stay focused, and stay clear minded.

ELI LEVY-WRIGHT

BROOKE LIERMAN

The comptroller is the state official who sees the numbers that tell the story of how Maryland families and companies are doing.

By Cal Tobias News Columnist

Nevertheless, many Blair students remain in favor of an open campus. “I think having the freedom to go out and be outside of the school environment for an hour, and then come back can help students stay focused, and stay clear minded,” Blair senior Eli Levy-Wright said.

Some scholars, such as University of Pennsylvania professor of History of Education Jonathan Zimmerman, agree with him.

“The cost of [closed campus schools], I think, is arresting people’s development. It’s very hard to create autonomous individuals when you’re not giving them autonomy,” he explained.

The real solution, continued Zimmerman, lies elsewhere.

“What you need to do is… to create more sidewalks. You need to have stricter enforcement of vehicular speed,” he said.“I think that’s what we should do instead of preventing 18 year olds from crossing the street.”

TA-HARWITZ

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Blair arts roundup Blazers impress with their artistic endeavors.

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B1 Opinions Dec. 14, 2021

Do people compromise their values by listening to music with derogatory lyrics?

YES

Listening to derogatory music lyrics normalizes and perpetuates the spread of discrimintory ideologies.

By Ingrid Holmquist Staff Writer AN OPINION Tyler, the Creator has almost 16 million monthly listeners on Spotify. His more recent works include the 2019 album IGOR and the 2021 album CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST. In recent years, however, his older

ARIELLE GRANSTON

NO

Music choice does not define a complete individual, and music should be about personal expression and not upholding beliefs.

AN OPINION With new waves of activism pushing for inclusive language, songs with derogatory themes in their lyrics have been the topic of significant controversy. Whether they be considered sexist, racist, homophobic, or

stand up for,” said Truong.

Many listeners choose their music simply because they enjoy the sound, not because they personally align with the sentiment behind the lyrics. Blair senior Declan Kelly explained, “I don’t necessarily agree with [the misogyny in a lot of rap music] but when I’m listening to it, I definitely sing along to the lyrics… even though I don’t believe it to be true, I still like singing to it.”

American writer, professor, and feminist Roxanne Gay described the struggle of balancing between two conflicting actions in her speech “Confessions of a Bad Feminist.”

She spoke about how parts of her identity clash with the typical label “feminist.”

“When I drive to work, I listen to thuggish rap at a very loud volume,” she said. “I watch The Bachelor and romantic comedies.”

[Music] should be expressing who you are, rather than just always having straightforward opinions about something.

Cyrilla Truong

By Ella Schrebler Staff Writer

otherwise offensive, such lyrics are increasingly being censured, as critics call upon listeners to be more conscious of their music choices and consume art that reflects their core values.

These judgments wrongly equate one’s morality with their music taste, an unfair association to make when people’s values are far more intricate and layered than simply the music they choose to consume.

Derogatory lyrics are common in top songs across all genres, and many freely and frequently consume this music. Rapper Drake released a song this September titled “Girls Want Girls” that received criticism for its lyrics, which some claim invalidate and sexualize queer relationships. Despite the backlash, the song has over 165 million streams on Spotify, and it would be unreasonable to claim that all the people who have listened are compromising their values.

Just as music listeners should not be held to unreasonable standards regarding their tastes, creators should not be forced to cater their music to a particular moral or political agenda: music should continue to be an outlet for people to express themselves and have fun. “[Music] should be expressing who you are, rather than just always having straightforward opinions about something,” sophomore Cyrilla Truong said.

The lens of what is considered progressive and acceptable by modern audiences is ever evolving, and it would be unreasonable to expect music consumers to constantly change their listening habits to cater to these amorphic standards. “Music should just be a form of expression… it should [not] solely be for the purpose of [supporting] things you…

name. But to get it to that level of violence… that’s not okay,” she explained.

Maples also asserts that these kinds of messages contribute to the normalization of destructive ideas about the way women should be treated. “I do think it numbs or normalizes [harmful] thoughts to a certain extent,” she said.

Proving Maples’ point, a 2018 study by Craig Pinkney and Shona Robinson-Edwards found that violent lyrical content is correlated with a rise in criminal behavior among youth.

Though this an extreme example, it only serves to illustrate the damaging potential of lyrical portrayals of violence.

This change in thinking does not only affect outward viewpoints. It can also twist self-perception, rupturing closely-held beliefs about oneself and therefore compromising a person’s confidence. Blair sophomores Ellie Pitner and Sofia Woldeab described how the glamorization of certain body types in music makes them feel uncomfortable. “There are lots of lines about being skinny, and it doesn’t make me feel great, so I try not to listen to it,” Pitner said. “I just don’t want [those lyrics] in my head,” Woldeab agreed.

Furthermore, the consumption of derogatory music has a profound effect on the industry. The greed of record producers means that labels will put out whatever genre or style is popular. Listening to songs with of-

I don’t like supporting people who discriminate against [others] for their way of living.

ALDEN NEWSOME

ARIELLE GRANSTON

music has gained criticism, most notably his 2011 song “Tron Cat,” which is rampant with misogynistic lyrics and references to sexual assault.

Among Tyler’s listeners is Blair junior Aditya Das, who struggles with his favorite artist being so controversial. Das shares that even though he loves Tyler, something about listening to his older music feels wrong. “I enjoy it, but at the same time I don’t feel like listening to it because [some of the things he says are] awful,” he said.

Das is not the only person with internal conflicts regarding derogatory music lyrics, and Tyler, the Creator is certainly not the only artist to release problematic music. The situation is pervasive across genres and styles, from Chris Brown’s “Need a Stack” to holiday classics like “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.”

A reason for the guilt that comes with listening to derogatory lyrics is simply the knowledge that one is absorbing offensive messages in their brain. Research shows that music has the power to manipulate emotions, actions, and perceptions. A 2011 study

by Jacob Jolij and Maakie Meurs, published with scientific research non-profit PLOS, concluded that because music affects feelings, it also affects the ways in which humans perceive the feelings of others. This makes the choice of consuming derogatory lyrics heavier than an innocent form of entertainment; it is an act of complicity.

Blair women’s studies teacher Andrea Maples characterizes Eminem’s “Kim,” a 2000 song in which the rapper fantasizes about murdering his ex-wife, as an example of crossing the line between art and unacceptable depictions of violence. “[If] you’re angry at somebody, you might call them a

fensive themes creates a demand for it and tells record labels to put out more, perpetuating the spread of problematic ideas.

A significant portion of streaming revenue also goes to the individual artist. Financially supporting a person who spreads hateful messages is a direct contradiction of values such as acceptance and equality. It enforces the idea that those beliefs are acceptable and funds their expansion. Blair sophomore Alden Newsome tries not to support bigoted artists because he feels that doing so would compromise his values. “I don’t like supporting people who discriminate against [others] for their way of living,” he says.

Just because listening to problematic lyrics feels like a blameless offense does not mean it has no damaging implications. The reality is that every music stream endorses a message. However, the content of that message is always up to the listener.

ELIZA COOKE

Gay described the pressure she feels as a feminist to always act perfectly in alignment with her outspoken values, for fear of judgement and ridicule from society. Her solution is that, instead of tearing women down for how they are “failing” at feminism, society should instead be uplifting the ways in which women are succeeding.

Rather than be only spotlighted for its faults, the focus of the discourse about misogyny in music should aim to highlight the successes of women’s breakthroughs. As representation is increasingly prioritized in the industry, there is much to celebrate.

It is not fair to denounce those who choose to listen to music with derogatory lyrics and draw the conclusion that it represents their values. People are multifaceted and should not be defined by the media they consume.

Judging someone’s character based on a single negative facet of their personality would result in them being considered a bad person. It is illogical to think in absolutes like this, as people are not simply good or bad.

Self expression should not be forced to go hand-in-hand with upholding one’s beliefs, because that’s not the only part of one’s self that needs to be expressed.

voicebox All photos by Raffi Charkoudian-Rogers

“When you listen to an artist, you’re supporting them… it’s basically supporting their views.”

“I don’t like music when it’s derogatory and I feel like it takes away the spirit of the music.”

Sophia Clark Junior

Ray Cho Freshman

“I think people can separate their values and beliefs from what they listen to but I also think that what you hear can have an effect on you.”

Eloise Carter Freshman

“It’s usually for the song and most rappers don’t live the life they say they do... I kind of find it a little funny.”

John White, Jr. Sophomore

silverchips

Dec. 14, 2021 Opinions B2

Scrapping scantrons

MCPS standardized testing aggravates pandemic impacts

By Milan Tenn Staff Writer AN OPINION

Time that’s spent not teaching and learning but rather in testing, that’s time that’s lost.

JOSEPH FANNING

“[Standardized testing] was horrible,” Blair English 11 and AP Language and Composition teacher Leigh Tinsley said. “The kids were exhausted and angry about having to take tests, and it was really just a terrible experience altogether.”

MCPS currently requires high school students to pass standardized tests in algebra, science, English, and government in order to graduate. These tests have also been used to measure learning loss over the pandemic.

However, standardized tests provide neither sufficient benefits to learning nor an adequate measure of learning loss to justify the amount of time that they take.

In the first quarter of this year, after returning from the pandemic, MCPS administered two tests mandated as graduation requirements for students by the Maryland Department of Education: the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program (MCAP) and the Maryland Integrated Science Assessment (MISA).

This year, MCPS administered tests to students at an unusual time in the year, taking away more vital instructional time during the fall than they normally would. According to Blair Assistant Principal Joseph Fanning, tests that were originally scheduled for the spring of the 2020-21 school year were pushed back. “All the testing that occurred from September 27th to October 22nd doesn’t usually occur in the fall,” Fanning explained. “They were actually some of the ones from last spring, which we were tasked with administering in the fall.”

Fanning also believes that standardized testing can help administrators and teachers to educate students. “We get data in aggregate that will let us know how students are doing on certain types of questions,” Fanning said. “The county and individual schools can work with their teachers about how to best address that.”

Even so, Fanning acknowledges that when standardized testing occurs, students lose the opportunity to learn more in school. “Time that’s spent not teaching and learning but rather in testing, that’s time that’s lost,” he

said.

While the unusual circumstances brought about by virtual learning last spring prevented standardized testing from occurring, having students take those tests this fall was not the solution. The presence of these tests poses a burden for students because it occurs during a time period that would be devoted to instruction in other years.

In addition to the testing in the fall, there will be more testing in December and the spring of this school year. Tinsley believes that students will be harmed by the increase in testing days. “I’m hoping that two periods are not a huge deal in the long run, but I guess that depends on how many more times our schedules are interrupted for more testing that they’re supposedly doing in December and in the spring,” Tinsley said. “Any loss in instruction time after all the lost instructional time last year is critical.”

Blair junior Evan Wu agrees that standardized testing was an inconvenience in students’ schedules, as it extended into every period. “It takes up quite a lot of class time,” Wu said. “We have to have different schedules for those days.”

Tinsley also thinks that taking standardized testing immediately after returning to in-person school from the pandemic has been more difficult for students than standardized tests would be in most years. “I felt like I was part of a system that was traumatizing students who had already been traumatized for eighteen months by bringing them back into the building and spending that kind of time taking tests,” Tinsley said.

Tinsley also feels that standardized testing has been devoid of benefits for her teaching, as she has not obtained any results from it.

“I don’t even know if I’m getting the information from [standardized testing],” Tinsley

MARIJKE FRIEDMAN

STANDARIZED TESTING This fall, MCPS students participated in an abundance of testing that spanned various subjects. said. As teachers like Tinsley are not receiving any information from standardized tests that their students take, they are unable to adjust their teaching methods based on students’ performance.

During this fall in particular, Tinsley sees testing as fundamentally flawed because students were not required to meet a certain baseline to earn their high school diploma.

She believes that this made students less willing to put effort into taking the MCAP. “They didn’t have to get a [minimuml] score to have the test count for their graduation,” Tinsley continued. The lack of student effort during the fall MCAP test potentially means that scores will not accurately reflect comprehension of the material.

Any measurement of learning loss from these standardized tests will likely be overestimated, as scores in past years when students were motivated by graduation requirements will be higher, even if students in both years are equally proficient in the material. “If you don’t have kids buying in and trying on the test, then I don’t know how they measure anything,” Tinsley explained.

Wu also believes that the standardized testing process was poorly managed. As a

student in the Magnet program, he did not receive a testing ticket and was unable to take the MISA at the originally scheduled time.

“I had to… come to school and they just neglected to print the testing tickets of the entire Magnet,” Wu said. “We just sat around for an hour with nothing to do.”

Furthermore, in light of the difficulties that standardized testing caused for students, Tinsley believes that both learning loss and student performance in general could be better determined through alternative methods.

“Teachers have some variety of ways that we can measure what students know, but we are hamstrung because the only way that people think you can is by taking tests,” Tinsley said.

“I’m not allowed to give final exams which would actually be meaningful and help kids prepare for college.”

Due to the questionable benefits of standardized testing and the burden on both students and teachers, a balance should be struck with standardized tests being administered less frequently than they currently are.

“I don’t feel that [standardized testing] accurately represents the ability level of students,” Wu said. “It just takes up time that would be better used doing other things.”

silverchips

B3 Opinions Dec. 14, 2021

Free for all, nutrional for none he said. “Recently, there’s been no options.”

Prior to the recent shortage, according to some students, the

AN OPINION This school year, the MCPS Division of Food and Nutrition Services (DFNS) is offering free breakfast, lunch, and dinner to the students of the county’s 209 schools. While this change benefits the student body overall, students with dietary restrictions have not been able to access the food they need.

In previous years, one in three MCPS students were eligible for free or reduced-price meals. According to MCPS, there are difficulties in forecasting how much food each school needs, now that every student is eligible.

In recent weeks, Blair has faced overall food shortages, leaving students without dinner multiple days in a row.

Senior Julien Lee, who does not consume pork or beef and is moving away from eating poultry, explained that this shortage has amplified the lack of vegetarian choices across all three meals. “Normally, there’s only one [vegetarian] option every meal, so there’s only one thing I can take,”

only consistent vegetarian option was Smucker’s Uncrustables peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches on wheat bread. “Usually, there are vegetarian options, but the only thing they have on a daily basis is PB&J,” senior Caroline Gagnon said.

With 30 grams of sugar for a 150 gram sandwich serving 600 calories, this is an unhealthy and nutritionally deficient entrée.

“A peanut butter and jelly sandwich everyday is not only just not healthy, but it also doesn’t make me want to eat,” Lee said.

“Sometimes, I don’t eat it even when I’m hungry because I just can’t stomach another peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”

Regardless of dietary restrictions, each student that enters the lunch line must exit with at least a fruit, vegetable, and entrée item ac-

cording to the DFNS Food Services school-provided meals and end Supervisor II and registered dieti- up having an insufficient amount cian Shaun Sawko. With this pol- to eat. “It’s stressful not knowing icy, vegetarian students have been completely if I’m going to get a full put in ridiculous situations. They meal that day,” Gagnon explained. are forced to take food they cannot “Food is very important to help eat and told to give it to a friend or me have energy, [so] if I can’t eat leave it at one of the cafeteria’s shar- enough for lunch, it is harder to foing tables. “[The cafeteria work- cus in classes.” ers] make you take a The recent shortage is partially meat option if you attributable to supply chain want any other food, issues beyond the DFNS’ which I find kind control. “We had an order of uncomfortfor 700 cases of pizza and able,” senior only 70 of them showed Zoe Schoeneup,” Sawko said. Deman-Froye said. spite this, vegetarian Gagnon has options are still availalso experienced able on a daily basis. this on multiple “We offer vegetarian occasions, deoptions everyday and spite her alerting vegan options most I the cafeteria workdays,” he continued.

L A ers that she is vegetarThus, while the DFNS LIN A T ian. “When they didn’t occasionally experiences supply A K have vegetarian options, chain issues, it is ultimately up to they made me take the meat,” she Blair to take advantage of vegesaid. “Sometimes, they’ve tried to tarian and vegan options. “Every give me [just] bread... but it’s not single school actually places their enough.” own order,” Sawko said. If there is a lack of these options, the school is at fault for not requesting enough to provide for its students. Administration should keep track of how many students with dietary restrictions opt for school lunch by surveying students at the end of the lunch line for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and recording the maximum This has had a negative effect number over the course of a week. on vegetarian students, especial- This would ensure that Blair has ly those who frequently rely on the data to request a more accurate

Teaching taxes

“It’s stressful not knowing completely if I’m going to get a full meal that day.”

CAROLINE GAGNON

By Elina Lee Staff Writer

number of specialized meals.

Blair should also clearly label which items are vegetarian and vegan, especially for wrapped foods, such as burgers and sandwiches, that could be meat or vegetable based. Labelling may also discourage students without dietary restrictions from taking vegetarian and vegan options, leaving more for those who need such meals.

The DFNS is responsible for feeding all students this school year. However, Blair must do its part by requesting a sufficient amount of food so every individual can focus on learning instead of an empty stomach. Enough food should be available even for students who do not go for school lunch everyday, like Schoeneman-Froye. “I expect it to be there because they say they’ll have food for us.”

MCPS should require financial literacy courses across all schools

By William Ashford Staff Writer AN OPINION

MATTHEW CASERTANO

[An] understanding of credit is a huge advantage when students start working with money.

a semester-long financial literacy course for all high school students.

In the resolution, O’Looney emphasized that MCPS students have

students by EVERFI—a financial taxes, which is an essential skill to education company—only 51 per- become financially proficient. “To me, giving a student a diploma means that they have the full faith from our [They] are conschool system, from the BOE, from the superintendent, that this student cerned for the is ready for college, career and comfuture, not feeling munity. I don’t believe that we can say like they’re ready to that if our students don’t know how to do their taxes,” O’Looney argued. go out into the real Although investing is unnecesworld and be [fiscalsary for financial security, students are being encouraged to make ly] independent. high risk investment opportunities through social media at young ages. cent of participants said Schools must inform students of they plan on paying off these risks to protect their finantheir credit card bills cial security. Some of these risks on time. This lack include investing in non-fungible toof financial respon- kens (NFTs) and crypto currencies sibility would be whose value is entirely dependent alleviated by finan- on how many people buy and sell cial literacy cours- it. Trading these commodities was es which teach stu- made popular through social medents responsible dia, and is drawing in naive invesspending habits. tors. As of December 2021, the Tik Blair Finan- Tok #personalfinance hashtag has cial Literacy amassed 5.1 billion views. Although Club captain the increased online participation in Matthew Caser- finance is encouraging, it is pressurtano recently ing teens to invest without a comtestified before plete understanding. the BOE to arMany students are taking this risk gue in favor of with their own earned income. “A O’Looney’s pro- lot of kids will get their first job in posal. He believes high school. It’s important for peocredit comprehen- ple to have some idea of how to insion would have vest their money,” Casertano said. A immense benefits financial literacy course will provide for MCPS students. students with further knowledge on “[MCPS] should teach the subject so that they may make credit, [specifically] how informed investment decisions. to build credit [because] Many students are financially it’s really important to start ignorant because schools do not that as soon as possible,” he provide substantial education opsaid in an interview with Silver portunities about such matters.

Chips. Building a good credit score O’Looney’s most recent resolution leads to long term financial success detailing a mandatory financial literwith better insurance rates, higher acy course across the county would spending limits, and lower interest. prepare students for life after high “[An] understanding of credit is a huge school. “In life, paying taxes and advantage when students start working managing finances isn’t something that you can opt out of,” O’Looney with money,” Casertano explained.

A financial literacy course said. “I don’t think that it should would also address student con- be something you can opt out of in cerns about the process of filing school.”

HANA O’LOONEY

As students apply to colleges, enter the job market, and become more independent, they will come face-to-face with the daunting task of managing money, if they have not already. They should be taught how to deal with this enormous lifelong responsibility in school.

Schools teach a variety of essential topics, but neglect to prepare students for real world issues. “We know how to do calculus, we know how to read Shakespeare, we know how to do all of these things that are wonderful and interesting. But often a lot of us don’t know how to do the very basics of functioning in the society that we live in,” Student Member of the Board (SMOB) Hana O’Looney said. The popularization of stock trading among teens, the increasing cost of higher education, and the pressure to become financially independent at 18 are forcing students into fiscal affairs without a basic understanding of finances.

In a recent resolution, O’Looney urged the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Board of Education (BOE) to explore the potential implementation of

voiced doubts regarding their fi- and knowledgeable on the finannancial proficiency. “[They] are cial aspect of college would beneconcerned for the future, not feel- fit students greatly. “[For] students ing like they’re ready to go out into who are considering applying to the real world and be [fiscally] in- higher education, it is key to have dependent,” she explained. an adult who understands the proCollege will be many students’ cesses well enough to guide them,” first major financial encounter, and the lucrative expense of pursuing E higher education means that stu- COOK dents need to be informed IZA EL about the risks of taking out a college loan. Data from the U.S. News and World Report showed average tuition and fees at private universities increased 144 percent, out-of-state tuition and fees at public universities rose 171 percent, and in-state tuition and fees at public Universities grew 211 percent since 2001. The Federal Reserve Economic Data estimates that Americans owe more than $1.6 trillion in college debt. In an effort to cover these costs, many students are taking out high-interest loans without a plan to pay them back.

When high school students make the decision on which colO’Looney said. lege to attend and how much monStudents gain financial liberty ey to borrow, they face an immense when they become independent. financial decision.

Often, this means owning a credAlthough parents can help stu- it card, the risks of which many dents with the application process, students may not understand. In a teacher who is more objective a 2019 study of Gen Z college

silverchips

Dec. 14, 2021 Opinions B4

Cutting connections MCPS has overdone its regulation of online content Many MCPS students and teachers alike can relate to seeing a frustrating message that pops up daily on their screens: “This website is currently unavailable for Montgomery County Public Schools.”

In an effort to prevent students and staff from accessing inappropriate online content, MCPS’ WiFi and school-issued chromebooks prevent students from accessing a host of websites and pages. The potential benefits of this policy, however, have been overshadowed by its excessive implementation.

To enforce its restrictions, MCPS has hired a third-party private vendor to investigate sites and block them on school devices and networks. Some of the sites being blocked were reasonable—gaming and shopping sites that could distract from learning—but other bans have proven to be completely disruptive. The list of inaccessible sites includes educational platforms, professional communication sites, and informative websites that can be used for research.

And the list keeps increasing.

Here at Silver Chips, we have experienced first-hand the hindrance imposed by the restrictive web access at Blair. Slack, a communication platform that Silver Chips, other clubs, and even professional workplaces depend on, was recently blocked by MCPS. This makes communication difficult for our team while we are in the school building. The Bethesda Beat, a trusted local news source we frequently refer to, is also inaccessible on the MCPS WiFi.

The impact of this restriction extends its reach across the school.

Teachers have been forced to jump through hoops when creating lesson plans, trying to find online resources that their students can use. On Dec. 7, the educational tool Padlet was banned for hours, leaving teachers stranded without a resource they frequently rely on for daily classroom discussions. Padlet was created for educational purposes and has been a staple of classroom lessons for nearly ten years.

While the teachers were eventually able to regain access, the disruption highlights MCPS’ indiscriminate and meritless website blocking practices.

Blair’s Women’s Studies class, taught by Andrea Maples, has also had lesson plans disrupted by county restrictions. A click on “womensvote100.org” will take students to the all-too-familiar “Page Restricted” screen. The extent of restrictions imposed by MCPS has undoubtedly become excessive, as a website on women’s suffrage should be accessible to students.

Students similarly struggle to access sites needed to participate in academic pursuits. The seemingly arbitrary nature of the blocking has fueled frustration throughout the student body—social media websites such as Twitter and Instagram remain unblocked despite the stringent nature of the restrictions placed on other types of sites.

Furthermore, the restrictions can be easily circumvented by using the MCPS guest WiFi, begging the question why they are so strict-

ly and excessively implemented through MCPS student and staff access.

This blocking also leaves students without access to necessary resources on their school computers, which in some cases constitutes their only reliable access to the internet. Additionally, under MCPS Internet Safety guidelines, any website that is categorized under abortion is banned. While the implementation of this is not particularly stringent, MCPS has still banned some sites allowing students to book appointments for abortion, a practice that is completely out of line with our county’s politics and practices. For the many students who struggle to find other methods of internet access, this blockage

could potentially lead to disastrous results.

While these are only a couple of the websites that the Silver Chips staff finds to be some of the most egregious examples of blocking, this is by no means a comprehensive list. Every day, MCPS students find sites that they had previously frequented for academic purposes newly prohibited.

There are numerous feasible solutions to this problem. The first of these is a teacher-authorized bypass button. If students are in a teacher’s class and an educational website is blocked, teachers should be able to allow access to that site, even if it is just for that class period.

While there is currently a bypass process for teachers, it can take

I’ll get my Vitamin D on the weekend An editorial cartoon

LEELA MEHTA-HARWITZ LEELA MEHTA-HARWITZ

Media misrepresentation |

By Ashley Thommana Ombudsman/News Editor AN OPINION On Nov. 8, after a stabbing on school grounds, a spate of news stories chronicled the unfolding events and aftermath. The incident even graced national news, and in the following weeks, more articles were published on the ensuing criminal charges.

In an interview with Silver Chips, Principal Renay Johnson said, “The press was very negative, [saying] ‘Whoa, Blair’s out of control.’” The articles fueled heated discourse across the Blair community.

The truth of the situation was more nuanced. “We had some students who made poor choices,” she clarified. “The school is not out of control.”

Many stories about the incident, however, did not focus on

this perspective. “If you look at the stories that did break around this incident, and particularly the ones that followed as far as what criminal charges were brought, a lot of the coverage focused on sensationalizing A) the violence and B) the fact that the student involved was charged as an adult,” Rahman Culver, Blair’s Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator, said.

The issue of sensationalization has long been a pervasive problem in the media. In a 2008 research article, “The News Media on School Crime and Violence: Constructing Dangerousness and Fueling Fear,” published in Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice: An Interdisciplinary Journal, articles from The New York Times and USA Today on school crime were evaluated. The research found that many news articles overstated the issue of school crime. “They rely on emotional responses to inform readers, rather than more objective

SARAH MARTIN

days for the request to go through.

Trust needs to be placed in teachers so that they can properly teach the student body.

Furthermore, there should be an appeals process that allows students to petition the county for access to websites they need. The inaccuracy and inconsistency of the current banning process warrants MCPS providing students a pathway toward gaining access to inaccessible pages, not just a help desk phone number.

If MCPS wants to use technology as a tool to further facilitate learning, they must enact more sensible restrictions and give a voice to all stakeholders in the site-blocking process.

sources of information,” the article stated. “[Certain] characteristics of news stories stoke readers’ fears by providing a heightened sense of the threat of school violence, without a broader context for understanding how rare it is.”

Apart from writing stories to elicit emotional responses, the media’s portrayal of the stabbing at Blair highlighted another issue: media representation, especially the representation of communities and individuals of color. “We [at Blair] have a diverse community,” Culver said. “Did that impact the way that the story was covered in my opinion? Absolutely.”

Often, we see a striking difference between how acts of violence are reported for white perpetrators versus perpetrators of color.

Adultification and the push to hold perpetrators of color accountable compared to the more lenient response to white perpetrators is one such factor in this difference.

For example, several news stories in the wake of the Nov. 30 school shooting at Oxford High School with a death toll of four evaluated the lost opportunities to address the needs of Ethan Crumbley, the student who shot multiple students, prior to the incident. “That was not the narrative when it came to our student here at Blair,” Culver said. “There’s no reason that we can’t choose to prioritize looking at those situations with the same lens that we afford some of the other community members.”

Doing so is important because the biases we see in the media are cyclical, reinforcing themselves in the eyes of the general public.

A 2014 “Race and Punishment: Racial Perceptions of Crime and

Setting the school violence narrative

Support for Punitive Policies” report from The Sentencing Project, a non-profit research and advocacy organization focused on criminal justice, summarizes, “Mass media are therefore a major contributor to Americans’ misconceptions about crime, with journalists and producers apparently acting based on their own or expectations of their audiences’ stereotypes about crime.”

In the wake of the incident at Blair, Culver noted how the stabbing too was used to reinforce previous biases and stereotypes.

“Some community members even talked, not always in the most informed way, about how we’re monitoring for gang activity or immigration status and things that [are based in] some of our typical prejudices and biases when it comes to violence and community trauma in a [diverse] community,” he said.

“What we don’t want to happen is allow an exceptional incident like this to play into narratives that do not accurately reflect our school

Scan this QR code to fill out a quick survey on Silver Chips to help us improve our paper.

To connect with Ashley, email her at scombud@ gmail.com

community.”

The media can take several steps to recognize its shortcomings and faults when it comes to representing communities of color and school violence in the media.

One easy fix is to critically evaluate the narratives and angles of stories through the perspective of eliminating bias.

Additionally, having a diverse body of staff and representation in the newsroom is another way, Culver notes, that media organizations can strive towards unbiased and factual news. “When you have a true diversity, an authentic diversity of perspectives incorporated into the decision making process, the chances of these [biases] being addressed increases,” he said.

As a news source ourselves, Silver Chips seeks to uphold journalistic ethics and integrity as we report on stories, including the stabbing incident at Blair. Taking time to reflect on biased media coverage is an important step that all media outlets should employ in order to ensure they are providing the community factual and informative narratives and news. At Silver Chips, doing so is a priority.

la

El 14 de Deciembre de 2021

esquinalatina Representando la comunidad latinx desde el 2003

Volumen 19 Número 2

Regresa la diversión

Las quinceañeras vuelven después de un año de demoras las familias que no pudieron celebrar a tiempo. El sector económico se vio impactado también. En una entrevista con la BBC Norma Capitianachi, la directora de la revista Quinceañera Magazine, dijo que, “El gasto promedio de una celebración está entre los $10.000 y $15.000”. Estas cifras incluyen las decoraciones, el vestido, la comida, el lugar de la celebración, y el pinchadiscos entres otras variantes.

Esto evidencia que la celebración de quince años no solamente tiene implicaciones sentimentales, hay además un elemento económico innegable. La industria de fiestas de quince impulsa el sector económico de muchos negocios latinos, especialmente de los pequeños negocios aquí en los Estados Unidos. Uno de estos comercios es KC Bridals, que tuvo que cerrar debido a la pandemia, “Lo cerramos como por prácticamente 7 meses,” dice Carolina, una de las trabajadoras en esta tienda, así como KC Bridals muchos otros negocios han tenido que cerrar y se han visto afectados.

A pesar de que bastantes establecimientos pequeños cerraron durante la pandemia, algunos negocios como Ms. Poppins, @ms.poppins93 en Instagram, tuvieron que luchar para poder comenzar su negocio y hacerse conocidos. “Empezó un poco despacio porque no estábamos teniendo fiestas durante

La fiesta de quinceañera, también conocida como fiesta de quince, es una ocasión en la cual se celebra la transición de una niña a una mujer al cumplir sus quince años. Esta celebración es muy importante en la comunidad latinx, y fue uno de los varios festejos que tuvieron que ser postergados o cancelados debido a la pandemia.

Originaria de México, esta celebración tiene elementos de las culturas indígenas inca, maya, tolteca y azteca, entre otras. En la antigua sociedad azteca, cuando las chicas llegaban a cierta edad, se llevaba a cabo una celebración para declarar a la sociedad que la joven estaba lista para casarse y tener hijos.

Después de la llegada de los españoles, aunque ciertos elementos de la celebración cambiaron, este festejo continuó por toda Latinoamérica.

Generalmente de esta educación dependía el futuro rol que los jóvenes ejercerían como miembros de sus familias. Al terminar, realizaban otra ceremonia que terminaba con una gran celebración.

Hoy en día, la celebración de las quinceañeras se ha extendido por todo Latinoamérica, y las tradiciones particulares varían dependiendo del lugar. Por ejemplo, en

años. Aunque el director ejecutivo del comité de organización de la Copa Mundial de 2022, Nasser Al Khater, insistió que Qatar es “tolerante” y “acogedor” hacia los turistas LGBTQ+ que asistirán a la Copa Mundial, aún existe aprehensión.

En los Estados Unidos hay

nguna representación y no ver que pueden ser un atleta queer y tener éxito porque no parece suceder en el resto del mundo’’.

Poco a poco, la aceptación para atletas queer está mejorando en diferentes niveles. Rita Boule, la especialista en atletismo en Blair, dice sobre la escuela que: “Desde

sido un gran sistema de apoyo. “El fútbol es uno de los lugares donde me siento segura”.

Taylor añade que para los estudiantes queer, los espacios de seguridad son esenciales. “Siento que ahora es aún más importante para los estudiantes tener ese e s pacio aquí.

CORTESÍA DE ABIGAIL TORRES

Me sentí bien triste si era cancelada porque estaba planeando y lo tenía que hacer en marzo pero después se canceló y me sentí triste.

GÉNESIS FLORES

algunos países sudamericanos no se requiere una misa, elemento típico de México, sino que la festividad empieza tras la llegada de la quinceañera, quien luce un vestido extravagante especialmente creado para la ocasión.

También se realizan otros rituales, tales como la última muñeca, que se basa en la tradición maya sobre la posesión del último objeto infantil de la homenajeada, ya que su casamiento se acerca y pronto tendrá que actuar como una mujer.

Otra costumbre se conoce como la

zapatilla, en la cual el padre cambia el zapato plano por uno de tacón alto, simbolizando la madurez de la joven.

Para las familias hispanas en Estados Unidos, “lejos de perderse, la costumbre está muy vigente”, dice Patricia Sulbarán Lovera, corresponsal de BBC News Mundo.

Tal como explica Abigail Torres, una estudiante de décimo grado en Blair, “Para mi familia significa que ya me estoy haciendo más grande, ya estoy llegando a ser adulta”.

De acuerdo con Paola Velez, la organizadora que ayudó a Torres en su fiesta, “No importa el presupuesto de la persona...puede hacer algo que parezca tan grandioso que aparentemente gasto más”.

El impacto ocasionado por la enfermedad del coronavirus ha causado un cambio en los planes de muchas personas en los años 2020 y 2021. Las quinceañeras no fueron una excepción. Antes de la pandemia, ocurrían más de 400.000 quinceaneras al año. Sin embargo, muchas familias han tenido que retrasar sus fiestas, lo cual, para muchas jóvenes, ha sido devastante. En las palabras de Génesis Flores, una estudiante de onceavo grado en Blair, “Me sentí bien triste si era cancelada porque estaba planeando y lo tenía que hacer en marzo pero después se canceló y me sentí triste¨.

La pandemia no solo afectó a

Por Ivania Valladares y Adan Guzmán Díaz Escritores

la cuarentena. Pero ahora está empezando a recoger un poco más,” dice Cindy Varela, fundadora de este comercio.

Gracias a las vacunas se ha visto una disminución en los casos de COVID, y esto ha causado que los negocios vuelvan a tener ganancias, “Durante la pandemia yo he notado que en el comienzo había menos clientes, y como ya estamos saliendo más de la pandemia, está subiendo más la clientela,” añade Varela.

Aunque muchas quinceañeras han tenido que esperar más de un año para finalmente disfrutar de sus celebraciones, el comienzo de estas fiestas señala el regreso a la normalidad, “Ya estoy feliz de que lo pude hacer,” dice Torres tras haber realizado su anhelada fiesta de quince después de casi un año de larga espera.

Representación dentro y fuera la cancha

JOSHUA CAVALLO

Soy futbolista y soy gay.

actos sexuales entre personas del mismo sexo son ilegales, con una sentencia en prisión de uno a cinco

N

CO TO M

que hay muchas cosas sutiles que creo que no comprenden que son necesarias”.

Aun así, Valencia dice que en su experiencia los deportes han sido un espacio donde se siente cómoda. Ella añade que “Definitivamente brinda apoyo [el departamento de atletismo], como mi entrenador, él siempre dice que podemos hablar con él sobre cualquier cosa que suceda fuera del fútbol”.

Adicionalmente, Valencia explica que mientras juega “Realmente nunca me desempeñé de manera diferente. Si he mejorado con el tiempo solo porque comencé a disfrutar más del deporte.

muy poc o s atletas masculinos en deportes p r o fesionales que se hayan declarado públicamente queer. Eso sí, al menos por primera vez en la historia en todos los deportes profesionales masculinos hay un jugador que ha salido del clóset. Aun así, estos números no son muy reconfortantes para jóvenes atletas que se identifican como queer.

Shay Taylor, la patrocinadora del club Pride+ y maestra de lengua de señas de Montgomery Blair, encuentra que la falta de representación LGBTQ+ en deportes profesionales aleja a los estudiantes que se identifican como parte de esa comunidad. Ella piensa que “es difícil para las personas que buscan ser atletas profesionales no ver ni-

Así que m e gustaría p e n sar que tener el Pride+ como un espacio ha sido r e a l mente beneficioso para los estudi-

que estoy aquí han habido cambios actuales en las leyes, reglas y regulaciones sobre esa [LGBTQ+] población,” dice “Definitivamente veo un aumento en el apoyo.”

Sofía Valencia, una futbolista de Montgomery County que se identifica como queer, reitera la importancia de crear espacios seguros para estudiantes que pertenezcan a la comunidad LGBTQ+. “Las personas deben sentirse cómodas para mostrar su identidad; si su equipo lo hace sentir incómodo, entonces cambie de equipos porque no es donde debería estar”. En su experiencia personal, los deportes han

antes.”

Mark Eckstein, el director del comité LGBTQ+ de la Junta de Asociaciónes de Padres del Condado de Montgomery, opina que MCPS ha tenido políticas buenas en referencia al apoyo para estudiantes queer, pero que hay espacio para mejorar en términos de su implementación. Él explica que “Legalmente, creo que es un espacio seguro. Pero creo que escuchas muchos insultos homofóbicos, transfóbicos, LGBTQ+ fóbicos, no tienes afirmación, no tienes inclusión dentro del tipo de trabajo curricular que hacen en los deportes o como entrenador. Así

El fútbol es uno de los lugares donde me siento segura.

SOFÍA VALENCIA

“Soy futbolista y soy gay”, afirmó Joshua Cavallo, un mediocampista para el prestigioso club de fútbol Adelaide United de la liga Australiana. El jugador de 21 años hizo historia al declararse públicamente parte de la comunidad queer a través de sus redes sociales el pasado 26 de octubre.

Tras su salida pública del clóset, muchos clubs de fútbol–incluyendo Barcelona, Arsenal, Manchester United y la junta global gubernamental de FIFA–mandaron su apoyo por Twitter y otras redes sociales.

Sin embargo, la recepción a la declaración de Cavallo no es común en el mundo del fútbol masculino. Hace solo unos pocos meses, en febrero de 2021, Héctor Berellín, jugador del Arsenal, declaró en una entrevista que ¨es imposible que un futbolista se declare homosexual¨ por la falta de acceptacion en la cultura futbolística.

Esta actitud en el deporte también se siente en la próxima Copa Mundial. Cavallo ha dicho en una entrevista con El Guardian que si llega a ser invitado a jugar en La Copa Mundial de 2022 en Qatar, un país hostil hacia la comunidad LGBTQ+, tendría miedo y no quisiera ir.

No existen los derechos de la comunidad LGBTQ+ en Qatar. Los

YE ISO

Por Estefany Benitez Escritora

Pero no por haber salido ni nada por ese estilo. Entonces, mi identidad como jugadora, simplemente no choca.”

El nivel de apoyo y aceptación a nivel mundial dentro de la industria del deporte hacia los hombres atletas definitivamente ha aumentado y continuará creciendo si la administración de los equipos y de los deportes comienza a escuchar a los defensores de LGBTQ + y a la comunidad misma. Los atletas queer de todo el mundo se reúnen a través de competencias, redes sociales y clubes de alianzas y muchos otros servicios para apoyarse mutuamente y continuar elevando a su comunidad e influenciando a los atletas más jóvenes y estudiantes de secundaria para que puedan mostrar públicamente quienes son

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Dec. 14, 2021 La Esquina Latina C2

Ayuda financiera para estudiantes latinx Estudiantes latinxs enfrentan dificultades en el pago de sus estudios Por Cecilia Celmens Vargas Lugo y Kevin Vela Editora en Jefe y Escritor

La ayuda financiera para la universidad, como préstamos y becas, ha crecido en importancia en los últimos años para estudiantes latinx. La matrícula de la universidad estadounidense ha aumentado un 169 por ciento desde 1980 y con más de 3.2 millones de estudiantes latinxs inscritos en la universidad, de acuerdo con un estudio del Centro Nacional de Estadísticas sobre Educación, NCES por sus siglas en inglés, se destacan más ciertas barreras que enfrenta este grupo.

Para muchos estudiantes, la habilidad de pagar la matrícula universitaria es una preocupación. En los últimos años, los Estados Unidos ha tenido que lidiar con una crisis de préstamos estudiantiles.

De los estudiantes latinxs inscritos en programas de licenciatura, un 30 por ciento usan préstamos para pagar su matrícula, de acuer-

ARIEL LEMUS GODOY

La verdad que si no tenía casi nada de información, no sabía casi nada al respecto.

do con un reporte de Excelencia en Educación. En el año escolar de 2015 a 2016, el 82 por ciento de los estudiantes latinxs registrados en la universidad a tiempo completo recibieron becas. Con la pandemia afectando desproporcionadamente a los latinxs en los Estados Unidos, ese número probablemente aumentará.

Aunque proveer más dinero es esencial para los estudiantes latinx, la realidad es que también tienen que enfrentar varias barreras para encontrar los recursos necesarios para solicitar ayuda financiera.

Melissa Young, la Coordinadora de Logros Latinos en Montgomery Blair, dice que “La barrera más grande para muchos estudiantes es la información. Solo sabiendo que existen las oportunidades y sabiendo dónde encontrarlas”.

Un ejemplo de becas diseñadas específicamente para estudiantes latinxs es la Beca del Fondo de Educación Esperanza, la cual provee ayuda a ocho a doce estudiantes inmigrantes que vienen de padres inmigrantes y viven en Maryland, Virginia, o en Washington DC. Para poder aplicar, el estudiante tiene que estar a punto de graduarse, y también los ingresos del año 2021 en su hogar tienen que ser menores a $100.000.

Ariel Lemus Godoy, un estudiante de doceavo grado, dice que al empezar el proceso para solicitar el ingreso a la universidad conocía muy pocos recursos sobre la ayuda financiera, “la verdad que si no tenía casi nada de información, no

sabía casi nada al respecto”.

Adicionalmente, Young explica que este proceso es difícil para muchos padres latinxs por que “si tu hijo te dice, [por ejemplo] mamá, quiero postular a la Universidad Towson, y tienen ayuda financiera disponible. Si tu mamá no es capaz de leer lo que envió la universidad, o entender de qué está hablando el presentador… entonces no es bueno”.

Lemus Godoy, quien ha sido aceptado a Montgomery College y tiene planes de transferirse a una universidad de cuatro años para estudiar biología marina posteriormente, explicó que aunque sus padres no conocían el proceso, “Ellos me apoyaron, cuando les expliqué lo que quería hacer y cuales eran mis planes para el futuro, me dijeron que ellos me iban a apoyar en todo lo que pudieran y yo podía hacer lo que quisiera”.

Aun así, Blair ofrece una gran variedad de recursos para los estudiantes que necesitan solicitar ayuda financiera. Carmen Salazar, la coordinadora de información de la universidad y carreras explica que “lo que yo hago es ayudo a los estudiantes a por ejemplo si necesitan ayuda con sus aplicaciones de universidades tal vez necesitan información sobre becas o ayuda financiera”.

Lemus Godoy añade que Salazar fue su primer recurso para aprender lo esencial sobre la ayuda financiera, “Ella me explicó lo básico. Pero yo también busqué un poco en el Internet y me di cuenta de que hay varios tipos de ayuda financiera, no solo los

VATOS DE NCES

que ella me dijo. Así que poco a poco me estoy informando más”.

También hay maneras en que los estudiantes indocumentados puedan acceder a ayuda financiera que son específicamente para ellos. En las universidades privadas cuentan con más flexibilidad a la ahora de otorgar becas para estos estudiantes.

Young cuenta que “Una universidad privada, especialmente una universidad privada muy bien conocida y prestigiosa, como ser Harvard, por ejemplo, pueden de repente decir que tienen una beca reservada para un estudiante quien sea el primero en su familia en ir a la universidad y que pueda ser indocumentado”.

Adicionalmente, Salazar explica que hay un programa del estado llamado Aplicación de Ayuda Financiera del Estado de Mary-

CECILIA CLEMENS VARGO LUGO

land, o MSFAA por sus siglas en inglés. Ella dice que “cuando tengo estudiantes que me vienen y me dicen Señorita Salazar, yo no tengo documentos, también mis papás viven aquí pero ellos también no tienen documentos. Hay esa forma [MSFAA] que pueden hacer … si quieren continuar su educación”.

Young dice que siempre hay espacio para mejorar el sistema para ofrecer a los estudiantes latinxs recursos de ayuda financiera, “En verdad, no puedes tener la idea de postular a la universidad de repente cuando ya estás en el último año. Lo hace mucho más difícil.

Entonces creo que lo que se podría mejorar es, trabajar con estudiantes más temprano en la escuela secundaria, por ejemplo, para decir, en este país todos pueden ir a la universidad”.

Nancy Valenzuela: entrevista a la asistente de biblioteca de Blair Por Sofia Roehrig y Manuela Torres Coreas Escritores

y le ayudo porque a mi me gusta mucho que ellos quieren leer más y aprender más. Y este acceso

Como hispanos creo que si no hemos nacido aquí en este país, los que venimos de afuera, ver un li-

Esta entrevista fue corregida para obtener claridad.

NANCY VALENZUELA

¿Qué hace para apoyar a sus estudiantes fuera de su trabajo Como hispanos creo que como asistente de biblioteca? si no hemos nacido aquí en este país, los que A los estudiantes que vienen yo travenimos de afuera, ver to de decir que tienen que poner su un libro en espanol es parte para poder estudiar más y yo siempre les digo que los maestros, muy interesante: administradores, los que trabajamos te sientes en casa. como asistentes estamos dispuesta para ayudarles en lo que podemos para que ellos se puedan salir adelantes. Le ayudamos si tienen problemas con las computadoras, pero lo tenemos. Pues con lo que quieren hacer copias para las clases, tenemos pueden comenzar a leer o buscar libros, o por ejemplo si hay una tarea que ellos no saben lo po- y no perder su español porque es demos mostrar o pintar algún tipo importante también-- tanto el inde trabajo que la maestra lo pone. glés como el español.

¿Podria presentarse?

Me llamo Nancy Valenzuela y soy un asistente de biblioteca en Blair High School. A mi me gusta mucho ayudar a la gente. Ayudo a los estudiantes, siempre les hablo en español—los miro con la cara hispana y siempre hablo español aunque ellos no quieran contestar.

Me gusta eso. ¿Qué le inspiró trabajar en la biblioteca?

Cuando era niña, o joven, adolecente, no teníamos libros donde yo nací en Perú. No había libros excepto un libro que de repente teníamos para toda la clase. Los libros que veo aquí son una cosa inmensa, es una alegría que tanto acceso tienen los estudiantes.

Antes de llegar a ser asistente de biblioteca, trabajaba como servicio de mantenimiento, y me gustaban mucho los libros y pregunté al principal de Blair a ver si ella me puede dar la posición. ¿Qué le gusta de su trabajo?

Específicamente de los libros me gusta recibirlos, organizarlos, dárselos a los estudiantes para que lo lean. Poder distribuir los libros a los estudiantes es lo más importante de lo que hago.

Me emociona mucho porque cuando veo a un estudiante que dice, “estoy buscando este libro”,

hay nada para ti. El hispano cuando muchos más libros en español aquí llega, llega sin hablar mucho Inglés, en la biblioteca. Tenemos un peasí que es un poco difícil agarrar los dacito aquí atrás que no es mucho, libros y empezar a leer.

MAIA TURPEN

que tienen a tantos libros; no sola mente son libros de textos, sino libros de todo lo que usted quisiera.

Las bibliotecas proveen más acceso a los libros físicos y digitales en nuestra nueva era.

bro en español es muy interesante: te sientes en casa, te da más ganas de leer o dices pues aquí sí habla alguien el español, que hay libros en español. Si no te encuentras te sientes un poco triste, que no

¿Qué consejos tiene para sus estudiantes hispanohablantes basa- Como hispanos no todo el mundo do en su experiencia como inmi- le gusta leer, y eso es un poco triste grante? ver porque a veces tenemos que Yo pienso que los estudiantes nun- empujarlos para que ellos pudierca deberían perder su identidad. an buscar un libro. Les dije a ellos Tienen que tener en cuenta que deben acoplarse pero sin perder que se pongan a leer, que tenemos su identidad. Aquí se viene con un muchos recursos. Digamos que sueño y alcanzar ese sueño que ellos hay un libro que ellos están busbuscan. cando y no lo tenemos aquí, poHa sido difícil y es trabajo duro. demos conseguirlo. Gracias a Dios Aprender inglés no es muy fácil, en este país se puede conseguir, pero sí ponen de su parte si puede ser. Hay tanta gente que ha apren- no es como en los países de donde dido inglés o aun graduado de la venimos es casi imposible buscar universidad, así que creo que solo acceso a una biblioteca libre, sin deben poner el esfuerzo. estar pagando y sin rentar. ¿Qué quiere hacer en el futuro para mejorar los recursos para Si quieren venir a buscar libros, estudiantes hispanos? nosotros estamos aquí para Estamos tratando de conseguir ayudarles.

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C3 La Esquina Latina 14 de diciembre de 2021

Restaurantes latinxs: rinconcitos reconfortantes A pesar de su popularidad, la autenticidad de restaurantes como Chipotle es cuestionable. Por otro lado, los restaurantes auténticos latinxs no tienen el mismo nivel de reconocimiento, ya que la gran mayoría de los consumidores son clientes locales.

Sin embargo, los restaurantes auténticos son muy importantes para la comunidad latinx. Marlon Antonio, un estudiante salvadoreño de noveno grado, comenta que la razón por la que él va a El Comalito, un restaurante salvadoreño, es que “me identifico ahí”.

Estos establecimientos logran crear una conexión con los clientes, quienes acuden porque se sienten identificados en esos restaurantes, se sienten como en casa.

Crear un ambiente animado es una parte esencial en poder lograr tener esa autenticidad en un restaurante.

Poder oír bachata, reggaeton, cumbia, o merengue al fondo, ver un partido de fútbol o una novela en una televisión recuerda a muchos latinxs a sus costumbres familiares. Sonia Davidson, una maestra ecuatoriana y colombiana de español, comentó, “No es solo la comida… es todo un contorno, la música, los paisajes que se ponen en las paredes en realidad lo lleva a ese remoto lugar de donde uno salió”.

En un restaurante es el ambiente que le da vida, que hace que uno sienta nostalgia y felicidad que aunque no esté en su país todavía puedes tener una parte consigo mismo.

Situada en un espacio pequeño en Tacoma-Langley, la Pupuseria El Comalito sirve comida principalmente de El Salvador, aunque su menú incluye una variedad de comida de diferentes países. Al entrar a El Comalito, cuyo nombre viene de la sartén donde se cocinan las pupusas, se oía la canción Yo También por Romeo Santos con Marc Anthony. Adentro, El Comalito tiene un ambiente agradable y las meseras charlan con los clientes.

El Comalito tiene una variedad extraordinaria de opciones para rellenos de las pupusas. Tiene pupusas de chicharron, queso con loroco, queso con frijoles, queso con ayote, revueltas. Además tienen algunos rellenos poco comunes tales como espinaca con queso, pollo con queso, frijoles y ayote, y chicharrón con loroco. No solo venden pupusas, también ofrecen platos típicos como carne asada con arroz, ensalada, frijoles, tamales, sopas, yuca frita con chichar-

rón y muchas opciones de bebidas.

Además, los clientes tienen la opción de elegir la masa para sus pupusas, que puede ser de maíz o de arroz. Nos hace sentir como si

nas con chicharrón, queso, y frijoles, estuvieron muy buenas. Lo único que nos pareció extraño es que nos dieron cubiertos aunque tradicionalmente las pupusas se comen con las manos.

Nuestra experiencia en la Pupuseria El Comalito fue agradable. La comida estaba muy apetitosa y las meseras nos atendieron bien. Siendo nosotras de El Salvador, sentimos nuestra cultura representada y recomendamos comer ahí.

El segundo restaurante que visitamos fue El Catrachito, cerca de la estación de Wheaton. Este restaurante, cuyo nombre viene del término usado por hondureños

similar a un tamal de elote, pero su consistencia era diferente y de sabor dulce y suave. A pesar de su dulzura, este platillo, tenía pollo en medio y pedacitos de elote. Las bebidas de maracuyá y la de horchata también fueron deliciosas y si van al restaurante recomendamos estas bebidas. La comida evoca recuerdos sobre la cultura propia y nuestros países, en un ambiente cómodo y acogedor.

El último lugar fue Arepas Pues, un restaurante colombiano, situado en el centro de Silver Spring.

En una pared tenían una bandera colombiana colgada en la pared, igual que en El Catrachito. También

estuviéramos en El Salvador.

A pesar de que la comida se demoró un poco, mientras esperábamos tomamos ensalada de fruta que estuvo muy rica. Tenía manzana, piña, melón, y pedacitos de marañón. Fue muy refrescante.

No estuvo muy dulce pero tampoco muy simple. Cuando recibimos la comida también nos llevaron curtido con jugo de tomate. Las pupusas estaban muy sabrosas.

Tal como Melissa Miranda, una estudiante salvadoreña de onceavo grado, describió, “Las pupusas están bien hechas, no son como las otras que tienen poquita comida, tiene comida por todas partes”.

Nosotras pedimos pupusas relle-

para describirse a sí mismos, está situado en un espacio pequeño pero reconfortante y sirve principalmente comida hondureña, aunque también ofrecen comida salvadoreña y mexicana. Al entrar, vimos la bandera hondureña en una pared y un mapa de Honduras.

Este local tiene un menú enorme y Martinez nos recomendó probar, “Pollo con tajadas, las baleadas, la horchata, las montucas, los tamales de pollo”. Aunque no somos hondureñas, las baleadas, que son tortillas de harina con frijoles, huevos, crema, aguacate y queso, estuvieron exquisitas.

También pedimos una montuca.

Este platillo tenía una apariencia

ESMERALDA ARCILA

del RESTAURANTES en A1

Restaurantes auténticos latinxs de la comunidad de Blair

Estos establecimientos logran crear una conexión con los clientes, quienes acuden porque se sienten identificados en esos restaurantes, se sienten como en casa.

gran variedad de comida. Además, el ambiente acogedor invita a pasar un rato agradable.

Esmeralda Arcila la dueña de Arepas Pues y La Fonda Paisa, otro restaurante colombiano nos contó “este lugar significa mucho para mi y porque aquí es nuestro medio de vida, tenemos más de 20 años aquí y aunque estos tiempos han sido muy difíciles estos años hemos logrado mantenernos.

Estoy orgullosa de este lugar, mi esposo y yo lo hemos hecho con mucho esfuerzo”.

Esta fue una experiencia única la cual nos mostró la identidad culinaria y cultural de otros países.

También nos enseñó a apreciar nuestra propia.

“Aquí puedes venir a comer antojitos colombiano tenemos todo el menú colombiano, dulces, postres, también tenemos productos colombianos, es muy rico, tenemos desayuno, tienes que venir y probar, lo que te cuenten pues pueda ser que no lo tomes mucho en cuenta pero deverias de venir a conocerme”, esta es otra cosa que Arcila nos contó.

Esta experiencia nos dio la oportunidad de probar comidas nuevas que no son de nuestro país. Nos encantó visitar este lugar por su amabilidad y servicio, y lo recomendamos sin dudar. El servicio es rápido y trabajan duro para satisfacer al cliente.

Arepas Pues nos hizo recordar que MAIA TURPEN compartimos el sentimiento de orgullo había ilustraciones de la historia del restaurante en la pared. Pedi- sobre nuestro origen, tal como los mos arepas de frijol, queso, y agua- que trabajan y comen allí. Esperacate, también pedimos una bebida mos poder tener la oportunidad de volver a comer allí y les sugerimos que traten la comida de allí.

Estoy orgullosa de Las diferencias entre los restaueste lugar, mi esrantes autóctonos y los que están poso y yo lo hemos más americanizados es el sabor hecho con mucho auténtico que le dan los trabaesfuerzo. jadores de esa región. Comer en estos sitios es importante porque define a las personas y destaca de de lulo y una de mango natural. manera genuina una de las facetas Reconocido por colombianos del más atractivas de nuestra cultura área, este restaurante ofrece una

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Noticias breves

Dec. 14, 2021 Esquina C4

Compilado por Sofia Roehrig y Yasmine Rivera Escritoras

tividades de recreación también, desde pintar rocas a expresiones de apreciación para otros, y continuará ofreciendo todos sus recursos— materiales y emocionales—a través del resto del año.

Honduras hace historia

El siete de diciembre, la Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica tuvo una ceremonia de iniciación para celebrar a siete alumnas sobresalientes en sus estudios de español.

La Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica fue fundada por la Asociación Americana de Maestros de español y portugués en 1953, para los estudiantes de las escuelas secundarias norteamericanas. El capítulo se llama William Carlos Williams, en honor del poeta puertoriqueño cuyo poema Amanecer se leyó durante la ceremonia. Cada candidato recibió una vela, que representa la cultura hispana, y todos repitieron el juramento de la sociedad.

Además, recibieron un certificado, y firmaron sus nombres en el registro. Karen Araujo, una maestra de español en Blair y patrocinadora de la sociedad, explica que los requisitos para entrar a la sociedad son un promedio de calificaciones (GPA) de tres y medio en sus clases de español y un promedio general de tres puntos. Para poder entrar a la sociedad, los alumnos deben estar, como mínimo, en el onceavo grado, aunque pueden solicitar membresía cuando estén en su décimo grado. Además, necesitan tomar un mínimo de dos años de clases de español en la secundaria, así como una muestra de escritura. No limitan la membresía, si un estudiante cumple con todos los requisitos puede entrar. Araujo comenta, “Yo amo el español, me encantan los idiomas, mi corazón está en esto y adoro este grupo, y siento

Ceremonia de iniciación de la Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica

RAFFI CHARKOUDIAN-ROGERS

CEREMONIA DE INICIACIÓN: Los nuevos miembros de la Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica celebran su éxito académico. un lazo fuerte de haber estado en el grupo yo misma” también recomienda que los alumnos que reúnan los requisitos que llenen la solicitud para el próximo año en abril.

Esta sociedad provee un espacio para aquellos estudiantes que quieran continuar con sus estudios hispánicos. Tal como Daniela Luseko, una estudiante de onceavo grado que fue iniciada a la sociedad este año, comenta, “Los chicos aquí son muy simpáticos, es una comunidad muy simple, y una comunidad que no solamente se enfoca en [el] español [sino también] en la amistad”.

Un acto de ama-

bilidad

A mediados de noviembre, La Asociación Latinx de Blair recogió donaciones para la comunidad de Blair—tales como ropa de abrigo y productos de higiene, nuevos y empaquetados. Estudiantes y maestros por igual donaron recursos que fueron recolectados en cajas designadas a través de la escuela.

La Asociación Latinx se encargó de la colecta de donaciones.

Durante las semanas previas a la colecta de recursos, miembros de la Asociación Latinx de Blair diseñaron cajas y carteles que fueron distribuidos alrededor de la escuela. La colecta se llevó a cabo junto con La Esquina de Am-

abilidad, un grupo fundado por la coordinadora de padres de Blair, Farzaneh Nabavian. La Esquina de Amabilidad se dedica a proveer recursos necesarios para los estudiantes y sus familias, y la colecta de ropa para el invierno fue parte de su misión de la temporada invernal. Los abrigos y productos de higiene se comenzaron a distribuir a principios de diciembre afuera de la oficina de la Sra. Nabavian. Todos los miembros de la comunidad de Blair pueden tomar recursos de La Esquina de Amabilidad, pero el enfoque principal son los miembros de la comunidad escolar que tienen menos acceso a recursos financieros.

La Esquina Amable ofrece ac-

El 29 de noviembre, Xiomara Castro—candidata de oposición de izquierda y ex primera dama––fue declarada Presidenta de Honduras para un término que durará cuatro años. Siguiendo 12 años de liderazgo conservatorio con el Partido Nacional de Honduras, su victoria demuestra un movimiento nacional hacia ideas progresistas. Después de haberse postulado para presidenta tres veces en el pasado, su triunfo no viene sin un esfuerzo constante y considerable por parte del partido de Libertad y Refundación, el partido socialista democrático al que representa Castro. Ella será la primera presidenta mujer en Honduras, ganando con un 53 por ciento de los votos--un amplio margen considerando que el candidato con la siguiente mayor cantidad de votos solo obtuvo un 33 por ciento.

En un discurso durante su campaña, Castro expuso su posición sobre cuestiones políticas clave.

“Creo firmemente que el socialismo democrático que propongo es la solución para sacar a Honduras del abismo en el que nos han sepultado el neoliberalismo, el narcotráfico y la corrupción”, dijo ella.

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“I

skate because it’s taught me that I am capable of more than I ever imagined,” 24-year-old Brooklyn-based skateboarding influencer Liv Collins writes in an email to Silver Chips. Collins has been skating at skateparks throughout the borough for five years and has learned self-confidence, commitment, and perseverance because of the sport. “Once you learn one trick, an ollie for example, you realize, ‘if I can do that, then maybe I can do a pop shuv, and eventually someday I might be able to kickflip,” she writes. “You end up learning all of these tricks and you feel like you can do anything, as long as you put your all into it.” For many, skating isn’t just a hobby—it’s an immersive community of support.

Similar to the Brooklyn skateparks where Collins has mastered her skill, Veterans Plaza in Downtown Silver Spring harbors ever-present echoing sounds of skateboard wheels rolling on cement. The plaza, situated on the corner of Ellsworth Drive and Fenton Street, is the epicenter of the Downtown Silver Spring area, featuring rows of benches shaded by trees, a wide expanse of flat concrete, and a seasonal ice rink. Despite signs that read “No Skateboarding” and past attempts to ban skateboarders from the plaza, the large area remains a hub for skaters young and old.

23-year-old Deyvi Lainez has been skating at Veterans Plaza, which the skaters refer to as “The Rink,” for roughly seven years. “[Skating] teaches you a lot of life lessons… especially not giving up,” he explains.

Skateboarding in style

Characterized by baggy clothes reminiscent of the 90s, skateboarder style is instantly recognizable and an important element of the community’s culture. For 13-yearold skater Charles Pucci, there’s no question that skating has influenced his fashion choices. “I used to dress in just normal athletic shorts, but now I change it up a little bit [with] more baggy clothes,” he says, gesturing toward his loose-fitting green corduroys.

Blair sophomore and skater Ethan Stacy dons a knit cap and chain necklaces no matter the weather or occasion. When interviewed, he sported an oversized T-shirt and wide-leg jeans with beat-up skate shoes, along with his beanie and chain. “There’s a whole culture behind [skating in general],” he says. He describes how skaters are inspired by each others’ attitude and style: “Other skaters will influence me. I’ll hear their music taste or [see] what they’re wearing, and I’ll think that’s cool and… try myself.”

Because the skater style is so distinct, some skaters have created their own cloth-

CHARLES PUCCI The 13-year-old skateboarder performs a skate trick at The Rink after school. ing brands, expressing their community’s individuality. “A lot of skateboarders create their own clothes and their own brand,” Lainez says.

Collins, for example, co-founded an online shop called “Sk8Babes,” which sells a variety of graphic T-shirts, skateboard decks, board wax, stickers, and more. Her Instagram page is filled with pictures of other skaters modeling her clothes.

The style common among skaters is a fundamental aspect of the community’s culture. “Skate culture has always been the misfits of society that refused to conform to social norms,” Collins says, and as a result the aesthetic of skating is relaxed, informal, and youth-driven.

Skating is wheely hard

Style isn’t the only aspect of culture shared among the crowd: skaters are also incredibly devoted to their sport. “Skaters are set apart [from other people] because skating takes a lot of commitment and skill to learn,” Pucci says. “It’s really intimidating for a lot of people.”

Justus Swan, a sophomore at Blair who has been skating for the past five years, finds

that it’s important for skaters to be tough, as the sport is extremely physically strenuous.

“You get hurt, you fall on the ground, and you’re bleeding… I don’t think I have any scars on me right now,” Swan says before noticing a long scar trailing above his right knee. “Just one. But, if it’s hurting or bleeding, suck it up.”

Skating is unique as a sport because it takes place on the relatively unsafe surfaces of concrete and metal, and just learning basic skating often requires a lot of courage and determination. 20-year-old skater Gabriel Eshete explains that learning a trick requires perseverance and remaining unfazed when you fall. “The biggest [lesson] would be to always get up and keep trying,” he says. “[Skating] definitely teaches you persistence.”

The Rink

According to Eshete, urban environments are a skater’s playground. “Whenever I go to a city, I’m just looking around for skate spots, and stuff like that,” he says. Urban areas often provide flat ground, ledges, stairs, and railings—ideal obstacles for tricks.

Stacy explains that he prefers to skate

and hang out in more has to be a good are people there too [bec skate alone. I hate ska Veterans Plaza off ronment for many ska made specifically for t prefer The Rink to a s reasons. “The plaza’s everything and right n says. “I skate here bec nice people there to h Caden Mueller, a occasionally skates at lieves that the easygoin Rink appeals to ska bothers you… and a bu there. So of course, t are there, the more pe draw,” he says. On a ty anywhere from three the plaza to skate or h A close-knit su has formed at The R has been a part of sin of high school. “It’s [Skaters] look out for

I think that a those kids co going dow ly bad path they’re not be they’re sk

SKATING IN SILVER SPRING A skateboarder flies off a bench at Veteran’s Plaza.

explains. “I think tha could be going down they’re not because th According to Swa things that draws skat is the social aspect. “ it’s more [of] a social a “It’s a flat spot, which about the people you Despite the enrich many skaters have fou ver Spring, their prese a commotion among t munity. The plaza wa with a skater presenc parents, and urban de for years to eliminate— after.

According to a 201 ger, activist, and Mon Dan Reed, some by the excess of skaters a pelling reason to bui locations. “‘Looks l turned [the plaza] into

Dec. 14, 2021 Features D1/D2

Freedom Plaza

lively public areas. “It ea. I want there to be cause] I don’t want to ating alone.” fers exactly this enviaters. Although it is not the activity, the skaters skatepark for multiple right in the middle of near everyone,” Pucci cause… there’s a lot of help me learn stuff.” senior at Blair who t Veterans Plaza, beng atmosphere of The aters. “Nobody really unch of people gather the more people that eople that it’s going to ypical day after school, to 30 people come to hang out with friends. upportive community Rink, which Mueller nce his freshman year a good community… each other,” Mueller

CADEN MUELLER

a lot of ould be wn realhs, but ecause kating.

at a lot of those kids really bad paths, but hey’re skating.” an, one of the main ters to Veterans Plaza “The Rink is fun, but atmosphere,” he says. h is nice, but it’s more meet there.” hing relationships that und in the heart of Silence has caused quite the surrounding comas developed in 2010, ce—which businesses, evelopers have worked —accumulating shortly

10 blog post by blogntgomery County local ystanders condemned at the plaza as a comild alternative skating like they’ve already o a skatepark,’ I hear

In Washington, D.C., on Pennsylvania Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, skaters can find another urban space turned skatepark: Freedom Plaza. The plaza was named in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., as it’s near where he presented his famous “I Have A Dream” speech. Freedom Plaza remains a popular space for political protests and civil events, and its flat ground and vast amount of space has proven desirable to skaters for the past few decades.

Eshete grew up in Maryland, and has since moved to Pennsylvania. However, he makes sure to visit Freedom to skate every time he’s in his hometown. Eight years ago, Eshete’s uncle introduced him to skating.

“My uncle, who skated all his life, bought me a skateboard when I was seven,” he says. “I would just ride it around, and then I started doing tricks in middle school.”

Eshete recalls early memories at Freedom Plaza, as his uncle used to skate there and eventually introduced it to him. “The first time my uncle brought me here I actually was scootering. I was five.” The plaza has remained a staple in Eshete’s skateboarding experience since he started to go on his own in high school.

Much of the Plaza’s appeal lies in the supportive, inclusive community of skaters. “I like the scene because it feels like a family,” Eshete explains. “It’s pretty inclusive… [and] whenever you [land] a trick, everybody’s giving you props.” Interactions between the skaters consist of handshakes, cheering, and smiles. “People cheer for you even if you eat s**t,” Eshete says of Freedom Plaza.

The wide space and urban backdrop of many public plazas such as Freedom Plaza proves convenient for video clips of tricks.

“It’s different from a skatepark in the sense that we could film a clip here and it’s a lot cooler than filming a clip in a park,” Eshete says. The historic and diverse Downtown D.C. buildings that can be seen in videos taken at Freedom Plaza make for a more interesting and unique background than the chain link fences of many skateparks.

Skating through stereotypes

Skateboarding attracts participants of a wide range of ages, from toddlers who just got their first penny board for Christmas to professional adult skaters who get paid for competitions. “Skateboarding doesn’t really have an age,” Eshete explains.

Pucci initially started skating at The Rink when he was 11, and has become a frequent presence at the plaza. “I skated a little bit here [starting] in sixth grade, but now I skate here almost every day to get better.” For Pucci and other young skaters, skating has become an outlet through which they gain security within themselves and have a good

time. “Skating has helped me develop more confidence in what I do, and it helps me be [happier] because I enjoy doing it,” he says.

The age barrier isn’t the only societal norm skating surpasses. In 2021, skating represents an increasingly gender-inclusive community. Although marginalized groups still experience discrimination within the sport, over time, some observe that the stigma against women and minorities in skating has been on the decline. Collins explains that skating has become a lot more inclusive, diverting away from its white, cisgender male founders. “I would say skating is definitely diverse now,” she writes. “There’s so many different skate communities now.

Queer skaters, black girls shredding, [and] we’re seeing an increase of women getting skateboard sponsorships.”

When Collins first began skating in 2016, she experienced a lot of harassment from other members of the skating community. “When I first started, I got a lot more hate than I do now. Going to skateparks was scary for me because guys would make fun of me, or stare at me, sometimes harass me or hit on me,” she writes. The rise in female skaters has lessened these threats for Collins. “In 2021, seeing girls at a skatepark is normalized so guys can’t get

away with what they used to be able to.”

However, female skaters at The Rink are extremely rare. Emma Vandermoortel, a 14-year-old skater, hangs out at The Rink almost everyday, and is often one of the only girls there. “I know three or four girls that skate and the rest are all guys,” she says. However, this doesn’t get in the way of her being a part of The Rink’s community.

“I don’t get hate because I’m a girl. I’m in a skate group and they’re all guys, but they don’t really care [that I’m a girl].”

Rolling into influencer stardom

A lot of skateboarders utilize social media to share videos of them skating and doing tricks. Filming clips allows skaters to celebrate and share achievements like mastering a difficult trick. Skaters like Eshete post clips on their social media accounts, like Instagram, where their accomplishments can be appreciated by a wider audience.

Marlene Mangold, a 20-year-old skater in Germany who goes by @marlene_mangold on Instagram, is beyond thankful for the countless opportunities sharing her talent

I post myself skating on social media because I want to inspire other girls, and it definitely influenced my life in many ways.

MARLENE MANGOLD

a middle-aged couple grumble as they walk past,” he writes. “The need for a skatepark in downtown Silver Spring has been known for years.”

Stacy believes the Silver Spring community has grown more accustomed to the noise and commotion brought on by skaters. That’s not to say, however, that instances of conflict have been completely eliminated. Stacy explains, “it’s a pretty regular thing that people are skating [at Veterans Plaza]. But if you’re at different places, there will be an old lady that will yell at you, which actually happened to me a few weeks ago.”

has given her. She was given the chance to join Vum skate crew, @vumgram on social media, a skate group of girls in Germany that goes on tour to showcase their talent.

Mangold initially began posting with the intention of inspiring other girls to skate, but says she is forever grateful for the experiences Vum has given her. “I post myself skating on social media because I want to inspire other girls, and it definitely influenced my life in many ways,” she wrote in an email to Silver Chips. “I had the chance to be part of the vumgram tour with 12 different girls from other countries. I filmed for Vans and I got sponsors.”

Stacy films videos for his friends, but he opts not to post himself skating on social media. “I have my own camera and I film a lot of my friends skateboarding… I’ll be the one behind the camera, usually,” he says. Stacy explains that this has offered him an outlet for creativity and connection between other skaters, especially at The Rink. “It’s pretty fun. It’s a lot of creativity, especially with editing the videos. I think that’s what helped me meet a lot of people at Veterans Plaza.”

Collins, @girlbrainz on Instagram, uses the app to post videos of herself skating and to become even further involved in the skating community, hoping to encourage others to get involved too. “It’s crazy to think that I have an impact on others and can encourage more women to join our community. I didn’t have many people like me to skate with when I first started so I love that everyone is joining in on the fun now,” she writes.

Collins shares her biggest piece of advice for young skaters: “Skate for yourself! Do not worry about what anyone thinks, do not worry about impressing others, do not worry about not being good enough. Everyone’s skateboarding journey is unique and different. As long as you love what you’re doing and are having fun, that’s all that should matter.”

Story by Rosie Orzulak and Andre Parker Art by Leela Mehta-Harwitz Photos by Raffi Charkoudian-Rogers and Sarah Martin Design by Sean Li

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D3 Features Dec. 14, 2021

Environmental activism on the rise from STORY page A1

Change starts at a local level

Though Sunrise is a national movement, localized student-led hubs are considered the key enforcers of change. Blair senior and Sunrise Silver Spring Hub Coordinator Celeste Basken describes her work as mostly speaking with county-level officials. “​​Often, it’s just a couple of teenagers on a Zoom call with a staff person from a County Council member’s office, but those are the meetings where things happen. We get signatures and endorsements, and that’s been really exciting,” Basken says.

One of Sunrise Silver Spring’s successes was led by Basken, who worked with County Council President Tom Hucker and County Executive Marc Elrich to secure Montgomery County’s endorsement of the GND in a letter sent to the Biden Administration March of 2021.

The environmental crisis is not the only focus of Sunrise Silver Spring; the hub also works on social justice initiatives in Montgomery County. Counselors Not Cops, which aims to replace police in schools with qualified counselors who address the needs of students, is one such initiative. “We need to invest the massive amounts of money that are currently invested into policing in schools, to quality psychiatrists, therapists, and counselors,” Blair senior and member of Sunrise Silver Spring Jacob Hutter explains.

Sunrise Silver Spring organized a Wide Awake—a form of protest that takes place in front of a politician’s house, waking them up at sunrise or earlier—on Elrich’s lawn in July of 2021. Basken and the other students present spoke with Elrich that night regarding Student Resource Officers (SROs) in MCPS schools. Although the county has replaced SROs with Community Engagement Officers who patrol outside of schools instead of being physically in the building this school year, many, like Hutter, push for a more extensive solution.

“Having cops in school is a direct help to that pipeline to prison. It provides a direct path from disciplinary action to jail,” Hutter says.

A hunger strike stance in the capital

Washington, D.C. has long been a national stage for activists to bring a spotlight to their movements, so it’s no surprise that Campion and other youth climate activists decided to go on a climate hunger strike outside the White House in Oct.

2021. Frustration from undelivered climate policy promises under the Biden Administration fueled the activists. West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin’s pressure on Biden to cut the Clean Electricity Performance Program—a part of the Build Back Better Act, a budget reconciliation bill addressing key environmental promises among other issues,—that works to turn electricity sourcing from oil, coal, and gas to renewable energy—added insult to injury. “I was along with four others,” Campion says. “We didn’t eat, and we were demanding that President Biden and Congress deliver on their climate justice promises.”

The strike received press coverage from major media outlets and put pressure on the Biden Administration to publicly fight for the climate legislation. When asked what

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now understand the way our action has fueled antisemitism, which benefits white nationalism and political movements that build power by dividing us, and endangers Jewish people drastically,” Sunrise DC tweeted.

Though Sunrise DC responded to the controversy that their statement sparked, the message remains: social justice movements are built across all classes, races, genders, and religions. Jamie Raskin, U.S. Congressman for MD-08, believes that these movements have control over the attitude of the public. “The politics and the ethics that are created in our social movements prefigure the kind of society we will have,” Raskin said in an interview with Silver Chips. “I hope and trust that the people in the movement maintain an open, borderless, democratic posture that’s

issues,” Campion says.

The power of youth activism

Student activists have historically been the center of America’s notable social movements. “It’s hard to imagine a modern civil rights movement without the high school kids who sat in at lunch counters and the college kids who went down to Mississippi and confronted Jim Crow racism and disenfranchisement,” Raskin says. “Young people have always been on the front lines of the movements to change American society for the better.”

The responsibility of holding politicians accountable for their environmental and justice policies presently lies in students, according to Pitch. “People in high school, middle school, and college… are the

COURTESY OF PAUL CAMPION AND ALLYSON WOODARD lessons he learned, Campion says, “even a small group of people making a stand and putting our bodies on the line for all the things we deserve, is an act of hope. It’s an act of liberation and love, because we’re fighting for that world that we deserve.”

Movements and intersectional justice

In Oct. 2021, Sunrise DC released a statement declining to

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speak at the Freedom To Vote Relay—a voting rights rally in Washington, D.C.—due to the participation of three Jewish groups who supported Zionism, a movement for the Jewish national state of Israel.

To many, the act seemed to single out solely the Jewish groups who supported Zionism present at the rally and fuel antisemitic beliefs.

Pitch says that although she disagrees with the groups’ support of Zionism, she believes Sunrise DC was also wrong. “[Sunrise DC] was singling out Jewish organizations’ support for actions of the Israeli government… when other organizations in the [voting rights rally] coalition had similar positions,” she explains.

Many found that Sunrise DC’s boycott harmed both movements’ respective goals toward fighting for

voting rights and climate justice. “I think it isn’t wise—and this is not to say that the issue was in any way unimportant or that it shouldn’t be addressed—to alienate people from your fight if you want to succeed,” Hutter says.

After facing criticism from Jewish groups and the national Sunrise team, Sunrise DC released a statement on Twitter apologizing for singling out the Jewish groups. “We

inclusive of everyone.”

Movements powerful enough to simultaneously fight the climate crisis and issues such as policing in prisons or immigration reform are built on the open, borderless sense of intersectionality Raskin spoke about. “No issue is siloed. The root of the climate crisis are the roots of white supremacy and colonialism and racial capitalism, the things that are underpinning a lot of different

people who [the politicians’] policies are going to affect,” she says.

For many, living in a world threatened with a dire climate crisis and deep-rooted injustice, the power of youth activism to enact change remains a beacon of hope.

“We have an extraordinary amount of power as young people, and let’s use it, because we deserve a world where we can live and thrive,” Campion says.

If you would like to support the paper, go to tinyurl.com/subtochips21-22 to subscribe to Silver Chips, be featured in the paper, and receive merchandise.

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By Haley Carter Staff Writer

By Sophia Stein Staff Writer Halfway across the world and quite a few time zones away in Palestine, 19-year-old Yara Matar wears a smile on her face as she speaks eagerly about her upcoming return to the United States. “I’m really excited. I can’t wait to [come back],” she exclaims.

Matar resides in Gaza, a region of Palestine that has been the site of conflict for decades due to disputes between Palestinian and Israeli forces. After more than two years since her time as an exchange student at Blair, Matar is preparing to fly back to the U.S. to continue her education at Earlham College in Indiana, an effort made financially possible by contributions from the Blair community in the summer of 2021.

Matar’s family could not cover Earlham’s required $25,000 annual “family contribution” for interna-

Ideology up in arms club is providing an open space for people to talk about current events and politics surrounding Democrats,” club President Sinhawe Haji says.

Many Blair students feel that it is a notably liberal-minded school.

Senior Lucy Attis observes that the school is fairly consistent in its political beliefs. “Blair exists in a pretty liberal bubble,” she says, pointing to the benefits that this like-mindedness can have. “We…

People of all different political orientations go to Blair... but people make friends and hang out with people who generally agree with them on politics.

DIXIE TAVELA

“The majority of the people there came just to argue,” Blair freshman Lili Miller says. “It [is] disgusting that a safe place turned into something like this.”

Miller, who attended her first meeting of Blair’s Young Republicans club at the beginning of this school year, does not identify with the Republican political identity herself, but was curious about the program. The club aims to be a space where students, mainly those with Republican ideals, can share their beliefs and discuss relevant political issues—ranging from police presence in schools, to gun control, to healthcare.

Edmund Ryan, the sponsor of Young Republicans and a critical reading teacher at Blair, noted that the club has largely strayed from its original purpose. At recent meetings in particular, the club has attracted the attention of non-Republican Blair students who attend with the intention of arguing with the club members. “The kids that started the Young Republicans club were trying to follow an agenda for discussion, [which] kind of fell by the wayside because it [became] a screaming match,” he says.

As a school with a considerably politically active student body, Blair also has a Young Democrats club.

Like Young Republicans, Young Democrats offers a place for discussion about contentious political topics—but it caters to Democratic political ideals. “One of the most important things to me about the

Dec. 14, 2021 Features D4

have a really unique ability to target issues in our own community.”

Despite the consistency of the school’s politics, Blair junior Nailah Singh, director of communications for Young Democrats, finds that the club can offer its members a space to tangibly apply their political ideologies through community mobilization. “It’s definitely an outlet for students who want a voice in the community and want to make a difference,” she explains.

Outside of the occasional conflict between students with liberal and conservative beliefs, noted most prominently in the arguments

and confrontations that took place at Young Republicans club meetings earlier this year, the ‘liberal bubble’ at Blair can insulate students from being exposed to political beliefs different than their own. Dixie Tavela, a Blair senior, observes that students with differing political beliefs rarely overlap.

“People of all different political orientations go to Blair… but people make friends and hang out with people who generally agree with them on politics,” she says.

Some feel that clubs like Young Democrats and Young Republicans offer students the opportunity to expand their understanding of their own political beliefs, but rarely harbor diverse political perspectives.

Attis claims that the bubble creates the false illusion that the rest of the country is equally politically engaged. “I think a lot of times where we assume this level of political participation is like uniform across the nation, that’s really not the case,” she says.

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Although the Young Democrats and Young Republicans clubs don’t necessarily shape the political culture at the school, there are benefits to offering students a space to share their beliefs with like-minded people. One reason Young Republicans started was to create an opportunity for alternative viewpoints to be expressed. “[The Young Republicans] are in such a great minority, that they have a place they can go to share their views, explore their views, which they may not always get,” Ryan explains.

Singh finds that the Young Democrats club has been an important player in the development of her own political identity. “It’s really important to have political clubs at Blair, because it educates students on modern day politics, as well as it gives the students an opportunity to truly have a voice and speak to what they believe in.” Singh says.

Although many students feel represented by either Young

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Democrats or Young Republicans, there are a range of political identities that are left without any club representation at Blair. Tavela explains that this leaves some students feeling alienated from the political culture at the school itself. “I think people of all different political orientations go to Blair and people of all different political backgrounds go to Blair,” Tavela says. “I think it would be nice if there were more [political clubs] because there is so much political diversity at Blair.”

Attis observes that the dichotomy between Democrat and Republican clubs and school groups reinforce nationwide trends where people are forced to subscribe to one of the two parties, regardless of if they feel it represents their political beliefs. “I think we’ve had this pattern in the past of choosing between two evils… and that pattern is going to continue to persist if we continue to have a two party system between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party,” she says.

AL E X

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A two-way exchange

tional students. In a demonstration of widespread community mobilization, hundreds of donors from the Blair community and beyond rallied to raise over $30,000 to help cover Matar’s first year of family contribution expenses through a GoFundMe started by her host mothers. “There are [about] 500 donors, and I would say I know about 10 percent of them. It was just extremely heartwarming and lovely how many people came out to help,” her first host mother Susan Baker says. Matar has also received several financial pledges from community members to help cover a percentage of her fees in upcoming years.

Her next four years at Earlham will allow her to continue pursuing her lifelong interest in language.

“I’ve been learning English since a very young age, mostly from Hollywood movies and TV shows,” Matar explains. For two years prior

to her exchange, Matar participated in the English Access Microscholarship Program, in which she studied English and American culture.

This opportunity prepared her to apply for an exchange program to come to the U.S., something she’d been hoping to do since fifth grade.

Matar’s dreams came true when she was accepted into the American Field Service (AFS) international exchange program. She flew to America in August of 2018, where she split her time between two Blair families and attended Blair as a sophomore for the 20182019 school year.

Experiencing American high school in real time was uncharted territory for Matar. “It was a bit intimidating and overwhelming, because Blair was the most diverse place I’ve ever been to. [There were] kids from all around the world with all religions and beliefs,” she recalls.

She didn’t expect to find a com-

COURTESY OF SAMAR HADDAD

INSEPARABLE Samar and Yara embrace for a photograph during Yara’s time in Maryland.

munity of people from her religion or culture, but Blair’s diversity allowed her to connect with many students and staff. “I looked like a lot of kids there. A lot of girls were Hijabis and Muslims, and [there were] some Arabs… I felt at home most of the time,” Matar remembers.

Matar spent her first few months with the Baker family in Takoma Park, who supported her as she became acclimated to living and learning in the U.S. “It’s always a great honor and privilege to have someone in your home and try [to] explain American life to them and learn about their country,” Baker says.

After several months with the Bakers, Matar moved in with the Jordanian Adely-Haddad family. Her second host mother, Fida Adely, shared how Matar’s Arabian heritage motivated them to become her host family. “I don’t think we’d ever thought about hosting a student… but when we saw that there was a student at the same high school as [our daughter] from the Arab world… we were just like, ‘we need to help,’” she explains.

Adely’s daughter, Blair senior Samar Haddad, was a freshman at the time of Matar’s arrival. She also wanted to help Matar after hearing her story. “This [was] the least we [could] do for someone who’s from the same region [as us],” Haddad shares.

At the Adely-Haddad’s residence, Matar was able to experience a piece of home. “It’s weird how Arabs keep their culture with them wherever they go, even though they were born in the [U.S.],” she says. Matar recalls going to family parties where the guests all spoke Arabic while listening to Arab music and eating Arab food. “It was like I was in Gaza.”

Matar’s time in America facilitated a two-way exchange in which she learned about American traditions and was able to teach her host families and the wider Blair community about her Palestinian culture. “I felt really honored to teach them about my culture—the right way, from me. [It wasn’t] filtered,” she says.

Despite feeling pressure to act as

the face of Palestine at Blair, Matar shares that staff like Global Issues teacher Kevin Moose made it easier to discuss her country’s situation.

Baker says that Matar’s story is eye-opening, and a testament to why she participated as a host in the exchange program. “One of the nice things that Yara was able to bring to our community was some real life personal experience about what it’s like to live in Gaza… [She] put a face to a problem, to humanize it,” she says.

For Haddad, whose family is active in fighting for Palestinian rights, Matar opened her eyes to the reality of a conflict that she had heard about, but never experienced.

“Knowing someone who lives there makes the issue more real,” Haddad says. “This is someone I know and love and care about who’s being affected every day by [this conflict].”

Matar, who has wanted to study sign language for as long as she can remember, took the first opportunity she could to take an American Sign Language (ASL) class when she came to Blair. She enjoyed her experience with Blair’s ASL course and instructor Shay Taylor, and wanted to use her knowledge for good back in Gaza. “When I went home, I wanted to… raise awareness for the deaf.” Matar taught deaf awareness and ASL workshops and started a sign language club at her school in Gaza.

Since finishing high school, Matar has been studying Hebrew and working towards returning to the U.S. for college. After a long process to obtain her student visa, Matar will be able to further her passion for language this January, when she will start her first semester at Earlham College studying comparative language and linguistics.

Matar is ecstatic to start this new chapter of her journey and is deeply appreciative of the support she’s received from the Blair community, which Baker has fondly named “Team Yara.” “I’m so happy,” Matar shares. “Just feeling the love from people is amazing.”

D5 Features Dec. 14, 2021

MCPS has ‘the talk’

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Workshopping sex education to support teen moms

By Eliana Finberg Staff Writer “Teen pregnancy should be something we all should talk about more, especially with the younger generation,” Einstein senior and teen mom Yamileth Galan writes in a text to Silver Chips. Her son is currently 7 months old, and she describes him as energetic and fast-learning.

Galan explains that being a mother and a student are two full time jobs, and she has had to learn to juggle the two. “Balancing school and a baby isn’t easy. I have to do homework and school work in my free time in school, or often at midnight after the baby goes to sleep.

After school I end up going home to the baby and watching him,” she writes.

YAMILETH GALAN

Balancing school and a baby isn’t easy.

class seriously. “There were multiple times in the class where the teacher would ask a question that I thought was common knowledge or even a question that encouraged students to go deeper and put aside whatever discomfort they had, and I just felt like I was the only one consistently answering these questions.” she comments.

Barham feels like changes could be made to the curriculum to improve it. “Sex ed could be a lot more comprehensive. The part that bothered me the most was that it was very heteronormative, with barely any queer education in terms of sex ed,” Barham says.

Galan also feels that the curriculum is lacking. “[Sex education] had good information, but I feel as though birth control should be more talked about thoroughly and how the body changes after birth.

I don’t feel like the classes really prepared me,” Galan explains. “I just knew that if I’m not protected I can get pregnant. I didn’t know anything about during pregnancy or after or what is the best birth control.”

There are many professionals who are working to provide more information in sex education, particualrly about birth control and other contraceptives. Janet Max, President and CEO of Healthy Teen Network, a non-profit committed to providing schools and teachers with proper resources to teach kids sex education, believes that school districts across the country aren’t doing enough to teach their students about sex education. “Even if [school districts] have a good [curriculum], one semester is not enough to prepare anybody to be… an adult and to engage in relationships.” Max says.

Instead of sex education every few years, her organization promotes what she calls “K-12 sex education”, or sex education that is taught every year of grade school.

With K-12 sex education, students get new material each year as they mature, as well as a review of old material from previous years. The consistent teaching of

sex education material allows for kids to learn about new topics as they mature instead of only learning sporadically.

According to Max, teaching sex ed in schools allows for parents who aren’t as comfortable explaining the content to still be able to discuss with their children.

“It’s so important to have sex ed in schools. If the schools deliver the content, then the parent can overlay with family values or conversation,” she says. “Young people want to know about their bodies, and they want to know about other people’s bodies. They’re interested in sex, and they’re interested in sexuality, they’re interested in gender identity, and that’s just the reality of adolescence.”

A report released by the Montgomery County Council in 2016 revealed that teen pregnancy rates have gone down in the past 20 years, dropping from 22.6 adolescent births per 1,000 females in 1996 to 12.3 adolescent births per 1,000 females in 2014. Rates in Maryland and the United States as a whole have also gone down.

Despite the drop in teen pregnancy rates, schools across Montgomery County continue to provide sexual health services, in addition to the health curriculum. Some schools have school based health and wellness centers, who serve their community by offering health education, medical care, and counseling. These centers are staffed with “physicians, nurse practitioners, school nurses, [and] certified nursing technicians,” per the MCPS website. Other schools, like Blair, just have a health room, with a nurse who is equipped to provide information and direct students to other resources in the area.

At Blair, efforts have been made in the community to provide better access to sexual health information and products. Condoms are available in the nurse’s office for

Young people want to know about their bodies, and they want to know about other people’s bodies.

JANET MAX

As someone who has gone through the process of giving birth while being a teenager, Galan believes that sexual health information should be taught earlier in school. “Birth control should be researched more and told to us which is more effective,” she writes. “I also believe that it’s important to have ‘the talk’ about sex more often… starting in middle school.”

In high school, students used to be required to take one semester of health in order to graduate. It was announced at a Nov. 9 Board of Education meeting that MCPS students are now required to take a full year of health in high school in order to graduate, starting with the class of 2025. This course, which can be taken any year of high school, covers depression and suicide prevention, drugs, abstinence, contraception and sexual activity, and nutrition and fitness.

Michael Rothman has been a health teacher at Blair for three years, and after having gone to Blair himself, says that the health curriculum is sufficient for students, but one semester isn’t enough. “As far as the curriculum goes, there’s actually a decent amount of flexibility,” he explains. “I think the content is mostly all there, it’s just a question of how it’s taught and

that’s obviously true of any subject.”

Blair junior Ava Barham took health last year and observed that her classmates did not take the

any Blair students that would like them. “Someone comes into the

health room and asks for a condom and we give it to them,” Blair nurse Anisa Harris says. “It’s a confidential process: we give them out in packages of five at a time, and then whenever they need to come back, they can come back and get more.” She often gives a short teaching session to those who come in to ensure that they know how to use a condom safely and correctly.

Blair also has a teen parent support group run through Crittenton Services of Greater Washington. “Our support group is called

post-secondary education.

The process for joining the group is simple, Lopez says. “[You] go to a teacher or counselor, [they] tell the counselor or the nurse, then the nurse tells me, then we invite them,” she says. “We’re always looking to give support to newly pregnant or parenting moms and dads.”

Despite the programs and resources already in place to support teen parents, Galan believes that changes should be made within the school regarding support for teen moms. “I did have a teacher tell me that I was using my son as an excuse. I believe teachers need to be talked to about this situation more seriously,” she says. “Most of us teen moms do everything we have to do and some days we’re just too tired to get the homework done.”

G a l a n feels that education is the key to equipping teens with the knowledge they need to engage in safe sex. “I think [supporting teens] starts with education.

I feel like that’s the big probPEARLS [Parenting lem with teaching Education and Re- LEELA MEHTA-HARWITZ abstinence,” Galan sponsive Life Skills]… and it gives all the life skills that any explains. “Kids are going to have teenager needs: healthy relation- sex, but the education needs to be ships, goal setting, just responsible more all-encompassing and spedecision making,” Deb Lopez, who has been running the group at cific. I think schools need to open Blair since its founding 5 years ago, up counseling and a place where says. PEARLS is specifically for students can feel safe and able to parenting mothers and fathers, but talk about teen pregnancy in a way SNEAKERS, another Crittenton program, is for all high school girls that’s not just the general counsellooking to learn about healthy re- or that you go to to talk about your lationships, setting boundaries, and schedule.”

Up & Coming

December 22 Early Release Day

December 23 Winter Break Starts

December 25 Christmas Day December 26 First Day of Kwanza

December 31 New Year’s Eve

Awards & Honors Blair Senior, Raniya Delil

Received a full four-year scholarship to Boston University Will be featured on the national

Blair Sophomore, Sofia TV trivia/quiz show, Harry Potter: Crandall Hogwarts Tournament of House Blair Senior, Sky Pigrom

NCAA Division I Lacrosse Scholarship to Youngstown State University

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Dec. 14, 2021 Culture E1

Unfit for influence

Most fitness influencers falsely brand themselves standard,” Blair junior Anna Uehlin said. “That’s very skinny… that’s just not how people’s bodies are.”

Blogilates, for instance, a Every day, Americans scroll through a deluge of Instagram posts multi-faceted company that proand TikTok comment chains. Ev- duces fitness content and is owned erything online is impacted by soci- by YouTuber and pilates instructor etal standards, and within t h i s , Cassey Ho, often claims to support healthy, there is the all-toobalanced common expectation habits.

KARIS TEBO for the “perfect” However, body shape. Today, fitness influencers have taken on the role of telling all TikTok, InstaSC gram, Twitter, and Youtube users how to get the “perfect” body, and this needs to change.

Fitness influencers emerged Social media isn’t the alongside the rise of social media.

Riding the 2019 surge in TikTok’s core reason for starting popularity, these influencers have [disordered eating habhad more opportunities to create its], but it definitely can content as people look to their apps for health tips related to trigger it. food, exercise, or other aspects of fitness. Although fitness influencer accounts look to be beneficial on CATE SAURI the outside, there are underlying issues that can lead to triggering content that harms viewers’ body image and even mental health.

As society has improved its body Ho blogged about a image outlook and gained under- “90 Day Journey” in standing about body positivity and 2020, during which neutrality, many fitness influencers she followed a strict, have rebranded to support these self-curated meal and exnew norms. However, some have ercise plan for 90 days. Her claimed that most fitness influenc- documentation included before ers continue to promote the toxic and after photos, showing American beauty standard. “The her dramatic weight loss, and vast majority of fitness influenc- workout videos with triggering ing content promotes this idea of titles like “10 Minute Waist [the perfect body] so that everyone Whittler,” “Corset Workout can look like the American beauty for a Slim Waist,” and “20

By Ila Raso Staff Writer

Minute Leg Slimming Cardio Pilates Workout” that promote the traditional, unattainable American beauty standard rather than healthy living. If Ho’s goal is to create a safe workout space where her audience is moving their body to feel better, then there is no need to create the idea through these titles that workouts are needed for solely aesthetic purposes.

The online backlash following the “90 Day Journey” was intense. Many of Ho’s previously loyal followers saw it solely as a way to change her body’s aesthetic and demonize larger bodies that do not fit the traditional societal beauty standard. “[This] sends a message to your followers that you always need to strive to shrink your body to be healthy,” one follower commented.

Ho is not the only influencer with these toxic tendencies. Fitness influencers often only highlight the positive aspects of their lives.

“You’ll either see a video after they’re done working out so they have a good [pump] or you’ll see a picture of them flexing. You never see them just being normal. You always see their best,” Blair junior Boston Stofa says.

“What I Eat in a Day’’ is another online trend that has recently grown in popularity. Short videos or posts show-

ing exactly what a fitness influencer consumes throughout the day have become especially popular on TikTok, where users can share their daily food intake using calorie counting and more. Sharing this information can negatively affect others by encouraging them to adopt diets consistent with someone else’s needs but not their own.

Blair sopho-

Although most fitness influencers feed into the push to achieve the unattainable American beauty standard, there are some that are pushing for a more balanced and healthy network. Hannah Meakin, a fitness influencer who runs a more health-focused platform on Instagram, says that she tries to ensure that her content doesn’t affect the body image of her viewers.

“I am a huge advocate for natural bodies and absolutely love to see real life women promoting different body types. I try to also keep it real, raw, and relatable, I keep my SC health page filter free,” she wrote in an email to Silver Chips. “I am a firm believer that everyone trains differently depending on their body type.”

You never see them just Meakin explains that she conbeing normal. You always sistently works to push out content that is about working out to feel see their best. good, eating well to fuel your body, and emphasizing that all bodies are supposed to be different. Her platform, which has posts that include BOSTON STOFA positive quotes and fun recipes with no calorie counting, also highlights her personal fitness journey LUCIA SANTORO-VELEZ and how she healed her relationship with movement. more Cate Sauri, explains the Other fitness influencers need potential for fitness influencers to to follow in Meakin’s footsteps. spark disordered eating There needs to be a behaviors.

“Social change—fitness influmedia isn’t the core encers need to unreason for starting derstand the impact [disordered eating that they have on habits], but it defisociety. Viewers nitely can trigger it,” she feel pressured to says. “With something so meet an unachievunavoidable popping up in your able beauty standard, and these infeed, it’s pretty easy to be influ- fluencers need to focus on pushing enced by what you see.” against that, not feeding it.

Strutting Blair Boulevard To Blair junior Melody Mathews, fashion means the power to influence her self-confidence.

“Fashion, to me, is the one thing that you can really control about your appearance. While I might not be happy with… how I look or different things about me, I can always control what I wear,” she explains.

MELODY MATHEWS

I want my style to be a mix between Strawberry Shortcake, and like, rococo paintings.

themselves because we were all so alone for so long,” he says.

Mathews echoes this, saying she began wearing what she wanted over quarantine, which improved her self-esteem. “I was really not happy with myself, and part of that was because I felt like I couldn’t dress the way that I wanted to. And so I kind of said, ‘If I can’t dress how I actually want, then I won’t put any effort into how I look,’” she explains. “That made me feel really bad about myself and not like my appearance… I’ve become a lot more confident in wearing what I like, and that makes me feel a lot happier as myself.”

Adikari also feels she became more true to her style during the pandemic. “I used to wear a lot of skinny jeans and sweatpants to school, but now I don’t think I’d ever wear skinny jeans again,” she says. “I used to wear a lot of what I thought other people would like, but now I wear more of what I like.”

For some students, expressing their style at Blair is easy and comfortable. “I don’t see why anyone wouldn’t, just because it’s such an inclusive school,” Levy-Hector says. “No one cares…

I think people just don’t care anymore about how they present themselves because we were all so alone for so long.

YUYAH LEVY-HECTOR

Fashion can be a powerful way for many Blair students to feel comfortable in their appearance and impact how they’re perceived.

Many students take inspiration from social media, movies, and art to craft their own sense of style. “I want my style to be a mix between Strawberry Shortcake, and like, rococo paintings,” Mathews explains.

“I really love… beautiful Renaissance art, and I like to add kind of a modern, cutesy, childish twist.”

On the day she was interviewed, Mathews’ pink monochrome outfit featured a sweatshirt with Japanese characters and an illustration of a star riding a unicorn. Beneath that, she wore a pastel skirt printed with sleeping bunnies and frilly lace trim, shoes with bows and ribbon, and lacy socks. She topped off the

ensemble with a matching pink hat and mask.

To form her own personal style, Blair junior Sachini Adikari takes influence from Pinterest. “I just like everything on there,” she says.

Similarly, Mathews draws inspiration through social media, as well as from her own imagination. “I really like to look for outfit inspiration on Pinterest, but a lot of it just comes from my head, and I draw a lot, so I like to draw what I would want to wear,” she says.

Many students are also turning to thrift stores to find unique pieces of clothing to express their personal style without spending as much money.

Yuyah Levy-Hector, a Blair sophomore, shops in person exclusively at thrift stores due to their low prices. “Thrift stores are really easy, everything’s cheap. It’s really easy to go, not spend that much money, and leave with something cute,” he explains.

The isolation brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic was an opportunity for many to discover themselves JAY CHAO without outside pressures.

According to Levy-Hector, being quarantined made people more confident and less afraid of judgment when expressing their personal style. “Before the pandemic… no one was as confident.

I think people just don’t care anymore about how they present

There’s a lot of people that I’ve noticed this year who aren’t afraid to wear what they like, and that makes me more comfortable to wear what I want to wear.

SACHINI ADIKARI

By Andre Parker Staff Writer

and no one’s [going to] say anything if you wear something ugly or whatever.”

Adikari is inspired by the increased number of people unafraid to express themselves. “There’s a lot of people that I’ve noticed this year who aren’t afraid to wear what they like, and that makes me more comfortable to wear what I want to wear,” Adikari explains.

However, prejudice against certain aspects of people’s identity can make it challenging for them to wear what they want. “A lot of the time I get compliments, and that’s really great, and it makes me super happy,” Mathews says. “But there’s lots of offhand comments... especially as a trans person at Blair, it’s difficult using the bathrooms and also just existing.”

Some may think of fashion as shallow, but for many Blair students, it helps them feel pride in their appearance and identity. “I feel like self expression is really important,” Mathews says. “ I feel like people see wearing nice things as somewhat vain, but I think that if something makes you feel better about yourself, if something makes you feel more confident, [then] that’s amazing.”

E2 Culture Dec. 14, 2021

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@BlairInstagrammers|

Dec. 14, 2021 Culture E3

The rise of Blair’s student-run accounts

the account.

Kidane’s friends had him pose for the picture w i t h his food for fun and a cou- p l e days later they found @blairreats and sent it in. “They took [the picture], and then @blairreats was cre-

Are you just trying to put people on blast, [or] are you trying to get Instagram famous for having this account?

BRYCE SHEMER

“It’s kind of weird. [My friend and I] were just walking down the hallway and someone [was] photographing [me],” Blair senior Clare Ahunhodjaev says when talking about one of the five times she has found her picture on @blairantimaskers—an Instagram account which posts pictures of Blair students and staff without their masks on or wearing them improperly. @blairantimaskers is only one of several recently created comedic accounts by and for Blair students.

The accounts each have their own theme, such as @blairsleepers— which posts Blazers napping in school. These accounts crowdsource photos from anonymous students using Instagram direct messages. Anyone can take a picture and have the photo posted on the account, regardless of the pictured student’s consent. These accounts have amassed popularity within the Blair community; @ blairantimaskers has over 600 followers. @blairreats, which posts pictures of Blair students mid-bite, was the first account to post, and currently has over 700 followers.

In one of their posts and several stories, @blairreats has repeatedly encouraged people to have consent of the subjects of the photos they send in, as posts are often considered unflattering or embarrassing.

Ahunhodjaev says she was sometimes asked for consent before her picture was taken, but never before it was sent to @blairantimaskers to be posted publicly. “There’s

been one that’s a selfie with two of my friends… and they sent it in. I didn’t think they were gonna do that,” Ahunhodjaev explains.

Blair math teacher Bryce Shemer, who was also posted on the account, explains that he finds it disrespectful for students to share these images on social media. “[It’s not] good. I had to have a talk with every single one of my classes… it’s just all about respect,” he says.

Some students, like Blair sophomore Micheas Kidane, knew his pictures were being sent into @ blairreats before he saw them on

ated a couple days after,” Kidane explains. “They had my consent.”

One account that has stirred a lot of controversy around consent is @blairshitters, which posts pictures of people’s feet under bathroom stalls. Some, like Shemer, don’t understand why such an account was created in the first place.

“I don’t understand the reasoning behind taking people’s pictures of their feet in the stalls,” Shemer explained. “Are you just trying to put people on blast, [or] are you trying to get Instagram famous for having

this account?”

Soon after they were first created, a TikTok about the Blair accounts created by a Blair student went viral. The student posted a video with text reading, “When you can’t eat, sleep, or breathe at your school because you have an eats, sleeps, and antimaskers page,” while showing pictures from the accounts.

The video amassed over 157,000 likes, and many of the comments corroborated stories about similar photo pages at their respective schools. “A lot of the comments were just talking about

how [other] schools were also doing that,” Blair freshman Carmella Beach, whose picture was used in the viral TikTok, explains. @blaircantpark is another popular account featuring the cars of students and teachers parked crookedly or outside of the parking lines.

The creator of the account, senior Danielle Kashkooli, was also inspired by other schools. “Before I saw @blairreats, I had seen TikToks [criticizing student parking jobs], and I was like, ‘Oh, that would be so fun to make,’” Kashkooli says.

At first, Kashkooli didn’t know if anyone would follow the account. “[I thought] I don’t AO know if it will get too H C JAY many hits. But when a l l these Blair [accounts like] eats, sleepers, or antimaskers came up, I was like, this is my time,” she explained.

The Blair accounts are divided in somewhat of a hierarchy. The main three, @blairantimaskers, @ blairsleepers, and @blairreats, may “endorse” new accounts by giving them a shoutout. @blairshitters has been actively denounced by the other accounts, with @blairantimaskers posting a screenshot of @ blairshitters saying, “we don’t con-

When all these Blair [accounts like] eats, sleepers, or antimaskers came up, I was like, this is my time.

DANIELLE KASHKOOLI

By Haley Carter Staff Writer

done this account.”

Kashkooli’s account is growing fast, with over 100 followers in less than a week, but it has yet to be endorsed by some of the main Blair accounts. “The first people I followed were the @blairantimaskers and @blairreats, and I even got a shout out from @blairshitters.

Even though [they] haven’t been condoned by the other accounts,” Kashkooli explains. “[When asking for a shoutout] all the other accounts left me on seen, other than @blairshitters.”

While there has been some in-fighting among the accounts themselves, some students believe they have brought the Blair community together. “[The accounts are] good for school spirit… They help us come closer… and acknowledge the funny things,” Kidane says. “I think we need to laugh.”

Celebrations caught by COVID-19 Blazers revisit meaningful milestones

By John Ernst Staff Writer

COURTESY OF EZRA GALLUN

individual outdoor parties. Even though the event was outside and

“I was really excited to see all these people I hadn’t seen all year except for on Zoom.”

EZRA GALLUN

Blair Administrative Secretary Claudine Biggs felt the sting of the pandemic when she helped organize the 2020 Blair retirement party. “Anything that isn’t person to person is going to lose some of the fun or the joy. It’s just different,” she explained. But as mask mandates are lifted and vaccination rates increase, celebrations are back on, even if to a lesser extent than they were prior to the pandemic.

Some Jewish middle schoolers and Blair students have had to delay their Bar and Bat Mitzvahs because of COVID-19 restrictions.

With students wanting to celebrate with as many of their loved ones as possible, some had to turn to virtual events in order to share the cere-

mony with others.

Blair freshman Ezra Gallun’s Bar Mitzvah was originally scheduled for May 30, 2020, but it ended up being postponed to Aug. 31, 2020. Gallun’s temple shut down over the pandemic and he had to continue Hebrew lessons over Zoom. His Bar Mitzvah was limited to around 20 people in-person, with the rabbi and cantor participating in the ceremony over Zoom. “It was a lot more informal,” he explains.

Despite these obstacles, the social aspect of the Bar Mitzvah served a greater purpose by allowing him to see friends and family. “[The reception] was really fun for me, especially since it was hectic up until that point,” Gallun says.

“It was a huge rush and relief, and at the party I was really excited to see all these people I hadn’t seen all year, except for on Zoom.”

Mischa Blue Rogin, an eighth grader at D.C. International School, also had her B’nai Mitzvah—a joint coming-of-age celebration between two or more people—delayed. Similar to Gallun, she participated in Jewish cultural classes and study sessions online when the pandemic struck. She estimates that she and her B’nai Mitzvah partner had about 100 guests at their ceremony, with around a quarter attending over Zoom. “It was outside,” she explains in an email. “[The host] had a stage and a big yard so we spoke on the stage and the people sat on chairs in the yard.”

After Rogin’s ceremony, the families split and went to their

much smaller than her older siblings’ parties, she still enjoyed the celebration. “It was a great overall experience,” she writes. “I wouldn’t change anything because it was so unique.”

Staff celebrations have also changed significantly due to COVID-19. Normally, Blair’s staff throws a party for those retiring or transferring to work at different schools. At the conclusion of the 2019-2020 school year, the parties were held over Zoom instead of in-person.

Biggs, who helped plan some of these parties, explains that the Zoom celebrations still allowed co-workers to converse and congratulate even though they were on computers. “People could write something in the chat [to] say something about the person,” she says. A few traditions to celebrate teachers were also different in the virtual format. “We always… give… a golden apple, and it has their name on it,” Biggs explains. “We weren’t able

to hand it to them in person.” Instead, the golden apples were dropped off at the homes of retiring staff members after the virtual celebration.

Teachers and other staff were finally able to meet at the end of the 2020-2021 school year for an in-person retirement party in the

COURTESY OF NAILAH SINGH

Student Activity Center. Although they wore masks and were only able to eat prepackaged food, Biggs feels the in-person party definitely improved morale. “I always feel it’s more fun when you’re actually with someone instead of on a screen,” she explains.

A few Blair students have recently been able to throw Sweet 16 parties as well. Nailah Singh, a junior at Blair, was able to have a Sweet 16 party in August of 2021.

She notes that this celebration was

“ a l o t bigger” than her small 15th birthday celebration with only her immediate family in 2020. Holding her party at a ballroom in Rockville, Singh was able to have 150 guests, most of whom were family members she hadn’t been able to see over the pandemic. “[One of the things I missed] was definitely just being able to see everyone and especially with the family members that I haven’t seen in forever,” Singh explains.

Singh and her court of six friends took pictures at Pike and Rose, an outdoor mall in Bethesda, before going to the ballroom.

They had a walk-in ceremony at the venue, with Singh’s grandma and grandpa walking her into the celebration. Similar to some quinceañeras, Singh’s family also presented her with her heels and crown. The main present Singh received at her party was a car.

Many celebrations have been on a smaller scale than usual due to the pandemic, but with more vaccines and fewer cases of COVID-19, parties and other social events have been returning slowly but steadily.

Every celebration is special in its own way, and each has shown the importance of celebrating important KAR events to the fullIS T EBO est capacity possible.

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E4 Culture Dec 14, 2021

JAY CHAO

By Maybelle Patterson and Jasper Swartz Culture Editors Maybelle and Jasper, culture editors extraordinaire, watch horrible movies so that you don’t have to.

Dungeons and Dragons (2000)

Rotten Tomatoes: 10% When we sat down to watch Dungeons and Dragons, the one thing we didn’t expect was for half the title to be killed off in the first five minutes. Director Courtney Solomon starts his film with dragon decapitation, and the stakes only rise from there. The movie, which is such a convoluted mess of fantasy cliches that it doesn’t merit a plot summary, is the daring tale of two thieves, Ridley (Justin Whalin) and Snails (Marlon Wayans), who are on a quest for a magical dragon-controlling staff.

In what could have been a poignant critique of classism if it actually put in an ounce of effort, the movie is set in the Empire of Izmir, tragically split between the magic-wielding ruling class known as ‘Mages’ and the commoners they oppress. The class disparities are entrenched throughout the movie, even in the romantic scenes between Marina (Zoe McLellan), a low-ranking Mage, and Ridley, whose relationship is defined by their differing social status. “I did not understand why [the empress of Izmir] would want commoners to be equal with us. But now, after being with you for only a few days… I understand why the em-

press is right,” Marina says, before their abrupt but passionate kiss.

Instead of delving deeper into this (or any other moral quandary), the viewer is left with half-baked social commentary. The film falls into some traps of its own, perpetuating stereotypes like the “Black best friend.”

From clumsily applied translucent makeup to ill-fitting and tacky clothes, costuming for this movie was not the high-fantasy dream one would have wanted, but it was nothing compared to the childish CGI. Instead of enveloping the viewer in the scene, the bad ef-

COURTESY OF MAYBELLE PATTERSON

fects snapped the viewer back to reality, and made horrifying scenes of gore into comedic goldmines.

While this would have been a serious drawback to almost any other movie, Dungeons and Dragons draws its strongest moments from the delicious campiness of it all. And, of course, the name “Snails.”

Rating: While this movie didn’t roll a natural 20, it rolled a solid 15.

Birdemic: Shock and Terror (2010)

Rotten Tomatoes: 18% The real terror of this movie was not the comically juvenile attempt at CGI, the painfully stale acting, or the pervasive presense of the male gaze, but the fact that it took 47 tedious minutes for the birds to attack. Birdemic follows software salesman Rod (Alan Bagh), who has the sparkling personality of a three-day-old corpse, and his fash-

ion model girlfriend, Nathalie (Whitney Moore), as their budding romance is interrupted by an apocalyptic onslaught of deadly bird attacks.

Writer and director James Nguyen’s trainwreck of a movie feels less like horror and more like a climate change awareness skit written by a sixth grader with a pension for bird GIFs. Tidbits about environmentalism are notso-subtly sprinkled throughout every interaction—the romantic leads go on a double date to watch An Inconvenient Truth and later encounter a man living in a Redwood forest who doesn’t share their winged fears. “It’s not the eagles that I worry about, it’s this dry-drought weather killing these trees,” the aptly named “Treehugger” says.

Despite his passion for the environment, Nguyen didn’t spend the money to show it off.

The shots, often over-exposed, have a similar quality to that of a flip phone camera smeared with vaseline. That, combined with the overuse of thirty-second long pans across dull settings, makes the film’s cinematography almost worse than the dialogue (but not quite).

It wasn’t all bad, though. There was one standout performance— Patsy van Ettinger, as Nathalie’s unnamed mom. Though she appeared in only two scenes, and would’ve been unremarkable in any other movie, van Ettinger was Birdemic’s saving grace. Her grasp of basic acting principles was unparalleled by any other character, and made her the highlight of the tedious hour and forty-five minutes the film lasted.

Rating: Watch this movie only if you are passionate about poorly designed bird animation from the early 2010s or if you are willing to pay the $2.99 it costs to rent on Amazon to make fun of it.

Blazer of Note

By Sedise Tiruneh Staff Writer With the Fall 2021 athletic season coming to a close, Blair junior Alexa Avila is fresh off a successful season on Blair’s cross country team. Avila broke new personal records, running a 5k in under 19 minutes. She also ran at events such as Maryland XC Invitational and Bull Run Invitational.

Avila developed a love for running early on in her life. “I started running when I was young,” she explains. “My dad first introduced me to this sport... and he showed me the ropes.” Since then, she has made racing and training a high priority and hopes to run competitively in college. She loves being able to constantly surpass personal records and improve—that is part of what makes the sport special to Avila. “Getting to cross the finish line, knowing that you pushed your hardest [and] ran the fastest you’ve ever run before is just an amazing feeling,” Avila says. “That’s something really unique about running.”

The community of the cross country team is what makes practices and meets so enjoyable for Avila and her teammates. Between stretches and singing to Taylor Swift on long runs, the team has parties and dinners. As a team captain, Avila helps to plan these events. “The meets are a lot of fun too [and] the ride home on the bus. The energy is great and we’re all super close,” she describes. These shared memories and experiences push Avila further as she dedicates herself to evALEXA ery practice.

Off the

track, Avila understands that balance between her athletic, academic, and personal life is essential. “I try and find a routine and stick with it,” Avila explains. Her after-school routine usually consists of several hours of practice followed by homework. In addition to a consistent routine, Avila mitigates the stress of the year by finding ways to relax. Stretching and scenic runs in the woods or on the beach help her take her mind off school. While running initially was a fun way for Avila to stay active, she learned about the trials and tribulations of being part of a team.“I think [cross country] taught me a lot about patience and supporting others,” Avila says.

Through cross country, Avila has learned many skills that she will carry into her academic and professional future. “You learn a lot about team bonding, [cheering] for your friends, and just being there for one another,” she says.

AVILA

SARAH MARTIN

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Dec. 14, 2021 Culture E5

Blair’s blizzard of traditions

By Annie Gao Staff Writer From cooking latkes and feijoada with extended family to celebrating Shabe Yalda and Christmas, many members of the Blair community look forward to spending time with their families during the winter holidays. Despite differing traditions within each household, all of the seasonal proceedings warm hearts and connect families during the cold time of year.

For Blair senior Lauren Berley, Chanukah has always been a time to gather with extended family, cook traditional foods, and exchange gifts. “[We] all make latkes and Chanukah sugar cookies together,” she says.

Blair senior Noah Protas also makes latkes, a Jewish potato pancake dish, for the holiday. “They tend to have a very potent smell, so it’s funny,” he says.

“We’ll close all the doors in the house to make sure the smell doesn’t get in people’s rooms.” Protas says that the recipe, passed down to his family from his grandparents, always reminds him of winter.

The winter is a time to connect with loved ones for many, including Blair art teacher Donovan Lee. “[Christmas] brings the family together and also gives us time to reflect on our faith,” he says. Lee attends church services on

Christmas morning and gathers for a family dinner later in the evening.

In many Latin American cultures, families join in the act of cooking food traditional to their countries on Christmas. Blair junior Daniel Hirsch says his family makes feijoada—a Brazilian rice and beans dish—for Christmas every year and finds that it brings them together. “Eating and just enjoying it together is even more special, since we made it together,” he explains.

Food also plays a big role in Blair junior Genesis Valle’s and her Honduran family’s traditions—one of which is The Twelve Grapes, which represents good luck on New Year’s Eve. “You eat a grape, make a wish or... [goal] you want to achieve that year, and you eat it in the last 12 minutes: one for each minute,” Valle shares.

Students with mixed cultural backgrounds, like Blair junior Amina Mokhtarzada, often participate in multiple traditions.

Mokhtarzada observes Shabe Yalda (Yalda Night), a Persian celebration which takes place on the winter solstice.

“On the longest night of the year, we’ll stay up and we’ll eat together, have tea together,

and have pomegranates,” she says.

While Mokhtarzada and some of her family are Muslim, she also has Christian family members with whom she celebrates Christmas, without emphasis on the religious aspect of the holiday.

However, Mokhtarzada finds that COVID-19 has limited festivities for Yalda Night in the past year.

“Coming together on the longest night completely looked different, because you couldn’t bring the whole Persian community together,” she says.

With the pandemic closing the door to many community gatherings, Protas believes that smaller family practices were what kept the spirit of the festivities alive. “Especially during COVID-19, individual family traditions helped to perpetuate and keep, in my case, religious connection strong, because we couldn’t really go to synagogue for a long time,” he explains.

As vaccination rates increase, many are hopeful for a return to a more normal holiday season.

Mokhtarzada feels that quarantine made it more difficult to connect with her family, and is looking forward to spending time with them this year. “I’m just excited to have a time where I’m able to really just enjoy family presence now that people are getting vaccinated,” she says.

In a time of pandemic uncer-

tainty, many feel that the true purpose of the holidays has been lost to consumerism, and hope that people focus less on the gift-buying lifestyle. “We don’t slow down, especially now during this time of [COVID-19], to think about how precious life is... I’m hoping that this Christmas, people are focusing more on each other, rather than focusing on material gifts,” Lee says.

Valle also hopes that people step back to be more appreciative of family. “Most people like to celebrate but forget why we’re celebrating,” she explains. “Be thankful that your family is here with you.”

Beyond immediate family, Berley emphasizes the importance of

learning about the ways people in her community celebrate the holidays.

“I love

to learn about different religions and different people’s traditions,” she says. “I like to share what I do and I like to learn about what my friends do.”

One way Berley does this is by sharing traditional foods with her friends. “I’ll bring my friends leftover latkes or homemade applesauce that my grandma has made, and they really like that, because it’s not something that they typically experience,” she says.

A combination of food from different countries is another aspect of the holidays for many. Lee, who is South Korean, says he eats a mix of Korean and American cuisine in his Christmas dinner. “We typically eat Korean food, but because we’ve been here in America, we will also enjoy American food too,” he says.

Though the pandemic has slowed down certain celebrations, Blair’s mosaic of family traditions is evermore present. Thinking about their plans for the upcoming winter, students and staff are excited to bond with family and share their traditions with friends and community members.

ALEXANDER LIU

Archives Compiled by Annie Goldman In Silver Chips’ 84th year, we will continue the tradition of our predecessors by going through our archives and reprinting the best, most timely, and most local stories. Without further ado, some of our favorites.

On Christmas, The War, And Blair Editorial Board December 16, 1941 This year we are all getting a bigger Christmas present than we anticipated. Although we have feared in our hearts that war would come, none of us expected it so suddenly. Although we have been told for months that we were practically in the war, few of us really took it seriously until last week, when in twenty-four hours events took place which have completely changed our manner of thinking.

We at Blair are now experiencing war for the first time in our lives. Our best friends may soon be sent away to fight; at this moment there is a real and terrifying danger from the air.

And all this happens on the eve of the most joyful time of the year, the anniversary of Christ’s birth.

But we shall celebrate this Christmas as usual, and it is good that we shall, because before another year has passed, the whole mode of our existence may be changed.

We are slowly maturing, adding responsibility to our lives, becoming more serious in our thinking; the war will hasten these processes.

We shall remember this Christmas for a long time as a farewell to the happy-go-lucky existence we have always led.

This Christmas perhaps we shall enjoy for the last time new clothes, abundance of every kind of food, the presence of those dear to us.

Perhaps the luxuries of American life will be followed by the sight of skies filled with barrage balloons awaiting possible air raids, artillery in public parks, perhaps the sound of dive bombers and anti-aircraft fire.

We shall have a Merry Christmas as usual, disturbed but slightly by the war; we shall shop in crowded stores, give lavish presents, laugh, play, eat heartily, sing carols—all as usual; but soon we shall be fighting, and before it is over, this war will leave its indelible mark on all our lives.

County Announces The Results of T.B. Tests Taken Here At Blair Editorial Board May 2, 1940 The tuberculosis tests given by the County Health Department were completed last month. One hundred ten Blair students tested positively out of the four hundred three who took the test. Those having positive results were then given the second and final X-ray test. Dr. Welch, who is in charge, consults each pupil and reads his X-ray to him. The tuberculosis tests given here at Blair were part of a nation-wide program to prevent the spread of this dreaded disease and to bring about an early cure for those infected.

Clothes Closet

By Joe Fashion January 30, 1941 Hi, gang… well, here goes nothing— The Christmas Formal certainly proved that dear old St. Nick had good intentions this year. Billie Wyvill looked very Joan Crawfordish in her red chiffon dress, rhinestone necklace, bracelet and earrings. And Jackie Hood wore white net embroidered in gold. Barbara Spencer takes the prize for the prettiest net dress there. Her’s was light blue, with a very clever design on the skirt worked out in narrow net ruffles.

Earrings are back in style, and several gals wore them to the Formal. Leah Burket had on very pretty antique earrings which hung down below her very slick pageboy. Jean Soden’s earrings were pearl and Martha MacDonald’s were rhinestone.

Since Santa Claus’ visit to our fair city, there have been a lot of cute and clever things about Blair.

Have you noticed the clever Mexican pins worn by ten of our senior girls? Compacts were prominent on the gift lists. How about the leather compact (initialed) of Betty Jane Cissel? Peggy Fisher has a very clever compact. Gold with a little watch in the left hand corner.

Now she’ll always know the time— maybe.

At the vice-versa the boys held the spotlight. Beautiful as well as clever corsages were worn by the boys. Ralph Mann got hungry, and by the end of the dance his corsage had dwindled to almost nothing.

Here stops nothing (silly, isn’t it).

Ken Levin Attends Classes in Bed; Communicates by Intercom System

By Phyllis Murdick November 22, 1961

Ever wish you didn’t have to get out of bed to go to school? Well, don’t try it—it’s too much work.

So says Kenneth Levin, a senior, who has been out of Blair for nine weeks with rheumatic fever. Ken goes to his classes everyday in bed through a special intercom system.

Through this system, Kenneth can hear everything in his classes and ask questions when he wants to.

He also has another big help in the form of a twin brother, Howard.

Howard brings home special assignments and carries around the portable intercom to each of Ken’s classes. The intercome [sic] is plugged into a telephone socket and hooked directly to the Levin’s house.

The intercom system is paid for

JIM HALL

KEN RECITES Ken Levin, home ill, attends class via an intercom system rigged up in his room.

by the county which arranges for tutors and/or the intercom system for anyone who is out for a period of six weeks or more.

Although Ken is keeping up with his work mainly by intercom, he also has a tutor-liaison, Mr. Robert Harder, his physics teacher. Mr. Harder comes to his house at varying intervals to help Ken in his studies.

Kenneth, president of the French Honor Society and a member of both the National Honor Society and Mu Alpha Theta, has thus far been able to maintain his straight A average.

Although he is not in the classroom, he still actively participates in class projects—including quizzes and oral reports.

On a recent physics quiz, Mr. Harder had Kenneth take the quiz with everyone else. Then to “guard against changes,” Mr. Harder told Ken to read his answers aloud through the intercom. His test was graded right then and there.

Unit tests are taken at home under test conditions. Howard brings home exams and Kenneth is trusted not to take advantage of his accessibility to textbooks. After he finishes, Howard takes the test back to school the next day to be graded.

Besides his school-day work, Ken has much to keep him busy. “I’m just packed with things to do,” he says.

The “things” include being co-editor of Le Journal d’Argent, Blair’s French publication, and being in the French club. He also has three term papers and an oral report in European History—given via intercom.

“I want to say how grateful I am to everyone,” asserted Kenneth, speaking of how helpful everyone has been.

He misses Blair and wishes he were hooked up to the cafeteria so he could “get a wider variety in menus.”

Ken hopes to be back in school by late November or early December so he can take December College Board Exams.

E6 Culture Dec. 14, 2021

By Zachary Williamson Staff Writer As the holiday season approached, I wanted to provide my Silver Chips friends with festive beverages. Many classic holiday drinks use dairy, which made my task more difficult, because I am vegan. I have never made more than microwaved hot chocolate, much less a vegan rendition, so this was quite the undertaking.

First, I had to decide what to make. Eggnog was off the table, given that it literally has “egg” in the name. While I could try a vegan substitute, I wanted to keep the sick stomachs to a minimum.

Hot chocolate, however, can be made vegan surprisingly easily by substituting milk chocolate with dark and using non-dairy milk. Despite this, I was skeptical of my ability to prepare the drink while staying true to the typical rich and creamy flavor. Apple cider had potential, but I was much more inclined to buy apple cider straight out of the bottle rather than dumping 12 apples into a pot and crossing my fingers. Given that I intended for these beverages to be at least a little bit homemade, store bought apple cider would definitely not suffice.

After some research online and conferring with my parents, I settled on two drink ideas. A quick Google search revealed an array of festive mocktail recipes, and I

Cheers, Chips!

chose a fancy watermelon drink that looked simple to prepare and fit for a classy holiday party.

My mom found some Sillycow vegan hot chocolate mix lying in the depths of our cupboard, so my hope for easily prepared and microwavable hot chocolate was realized. Wanting to add a personal touch, I went to the store and bought peppermints, which I planned to crush into a garnish for the hot chocolate.

Given that I wished to present these drinks to my classmates in the middle of the school day, I could not mix all of the ingredients together the night before, as it was doubtful anyone wanted lukewarm hot chocolate. I would need to mix the chocolate and soy milk at school, using the school’s microwaves to heat it up.

If I had put the sparkling water

into the JAY mocktail 12 CHAO hours before the taste test, all of the carbonation would be lost by the time I gave it to my fellow staff members, so I would need to wait to add that as well. Consequently,

the only thing I could do the night before was crush the peppermints and prepare the other components of the watermelon mocktail. The method I would use to crush the peppermints had not yet crossed my mind, and when a rolling pin and garlic crusher could not do the trick, I found myself grabbing a hammer from my toolbox and letting out my rage on five innocent peppermints. With my mom’s help, we blended the watermelon and mixed all of the ingredients together—watermelon, agave, and lime juice. I dumped the watermelon mocktail mix into a half-gallon water jug and packed two grocery bags with the remaining ingredients. Although I looked ridiculous carrying two canvas bags filled to the brim with soy milk, I was now ready to head to school.

When the bell rang for my Silver Chips class, I immediately scurried off to the microwaves. There, I mixed all the ingredients for the mocktail and heated up the hot chocolate. I poured the drinks into small Dixie Cups, and made sure not to spill any of my precious concoctions as I brought them to the Silver Chips computer lab.

The first taste test went poorly. My hot chocolate was overpowered by the soy milk and had too little peppermint.

The watermelon mocktail was even worse, as I neglected to strain the watermelon, leaving my friends a chunky watermelon surprise inside each drink. Cecilia Clemens Vargas Lugo, an edi-

JONATHAN CUMBLIDGE

SENIORS SAMPLE Silver Chips’ senior culture and art editors sample vegan hot chocolate drinks. tor-in-chief of Silver Chips, soundly advised me to “not pursue a career as a bartender.” Among my peers, the hot chocolate was rated three snowflakes out of five and my watermelon mocktail got an impressively low score of one and a half snowflakes out of five.

Despite my unsuccessful first attempt, I would not let my bartending career die until I had prepared the perfect holiday drinks for my friends, so I got back to work.

This time, I dumped an unhealthy amount of dark chocolate mix into the hot chocolate and strained the watermelon mocktail. After extra inspections for undesirable lumps, I felt ready to present my improved recipes.

This time, the taste test went much better. “I wouldn’t even notice that it’s vegan,” Culture Editor Jasper Swartz said about the hot chocolate. “It’s a thousand million times better than before,” Culture Editor Maybelle Patterson said regarding the watermelon mocktail.

My hard fought success came with

Holiday happenings Photos by Fiona Bondarev, Raffi Charkoudian-Rogers, Jonathan Cumblidge, and Cal Tobias

silverchips

a few casualties. I accidentally excluded the peppermints from the second batch of hot chocolate, a mistake I regret making. The peppermint was my favorite part of the drink the first time around, but I forgot to crush the peppermints before heading to school for the second batch. I also did not put enough agave in my watermelon mocktail, which prevented it from showcasing the perfect sweetness I had hoped for. Regardless, I could rest easy with four and a half snowflakes out of five for my hot chocolate and three snowflakes out of five for my watermelon mocktail the second time around.

Making these drinks was by no means easy. I spent most of the preparation time frustrated rather than excited. Instead of my secret ingredient being a dash of love, it was enraged peppermint smashing.

In the end, though, the feeling I got when I was given three snowflakes out of five was incredible. I have never been so proud of such a mediocre score.

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Dec. 14, 2021 Culture E7

Chips Clips Start

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COURTESY OF PUZZLEGENERATOR.COM

End

To see the answers to the maze, sudoku, and crossword, scan the QR codes below.

Maze

Sudoku

Crossword SONIA PIVOVAROV

The Zoo

BY ALEX GROSMAN

Across: 1 - Not said 6 - A cloud 10 - E of QED 14 - What do you call a girl with one leg?

15 - Pedro’s something else 16 - Has a bridge and smells 17 - Rushes of wind 18 - Element in signs 19 - Threat with or 20 - Middle of summer?

21 - TV channel based in Atlanta, GA 23 - A pandemonium 25 - DNA plus OH26 - See 49-Across 28 - Apparatus 29 - Occurrence 32 - Uni-, bi-, or tri36 - McKellan and Fleming 37 - Floranym example 39 - Collector of words, Abbr.

40 - Soother 42 - Musical group spawned by Making the Band 44 - Apt almost anagram of left 45 - Meas. used to calculate 46-Down 46 - Very soon 47 - Writer of the Appalachian Trail’s “green book” 49 - With 26-Across photon emission 51 - Something else 55 - Jade, for example 57 - This 58 - Big boss, Abbr.

59 - Egyptian monarch 63 - Question 64 - Dykes’ employer, Abbr.

65 - Adore 66 - Enclosed area 68 - Produces 70 - Leave out 71 - 6-Across anagram 72 - Sounds like the center point of the military at sea?

73 - Ties the knot

74 - Chile to Argentina direction 75 - John in farm equipment

Down: 1 - A streak 2 - Grads 3 - Endings 4 - Alt. to long 5 - Nuclear negotiation of the ‘60s 6 - Ornamental tree 7 - Had 8 - Overly in Nice 9 - Underwater detection system 10 - mc2 11 - Bite sized chocolate 12 - Intern, often, Abbr.

13 - Gets ready to golf 22 - Backs 24 - Most popular food staple in Indonesia 27 - Foolish 30 - Home to the tallest building, Abbr.

31 - At this time 33 - Type of noun that inspired this puzzle 34 - Homophone of 41-Down 35 - One of a comedic 2000s trio 38 - Ados 40 - How many months have 28 days?

41 - Homophone of 34-Down 43 - Male fox 44 - To 46 - See 45-Across 48 - December 18-19, e.g.

50 - An RSVP 52 - Set food on fire 53 - Sweet plant juice 54 - Mess with (as hair) 56 - Code with dots and dashes 59 - Prepare to sow 60 - Where your heart is 61 - Ardent 62 - Red ____ 67 - It’s for horses and humans 69 - Betty Boop voice actress Questel

F1 Sports Dec. 14, 2021

From the NCAA to MCPS

silverchips Compiled By Maia Egnal and Eliana Finberg Opinions Editor & Staff Writer

Rita Boule

Blair athletic specialist

Ms. Boule made her debut in Division I college sports at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, where she played both soccer and softball. Boule was heavily recruited for softball in high school, and also earned a scholarship spot on the soccer team after her first year, despite being a walk-on. She played there for two years, before transferring to the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, where she continued playing soccer. Although she purports to be better at softball, Boule says that soccer was her love. “I remember scoring my first goal in college,” she said. “That was an incredibly exciting moment.

The team was really excited. I’ll never forget that.” Boule continues to share her love of sports at Blair, hoping to prepare Blazers for their athletic endeavors in college and beyond. “It’s really important for kids nowadays to understand that playing sports in college is a part time job,” she explained. “It is a big commitment and it takes away from a normal college experience. But at the same time, it’s awesome because you have that group of people that you’re really close with.”

Heather Nelson Blair physical education and health teacher COURTESY OF RITA BOULE Ms. Nelson spent her college years running hurdles and relays on the track and field team of Indiana University of Pennsylvania. After a strong high school running career, competing in state championships every year, and qualifying for nationals in the hurdles her senior year, she says her recruitment process for collegiate sports was intense. As a student on an athletic scholarship, she had to work hard throughout her college career to maintain good grades at her school. Despite these pressures, Nelson says that she had many positive experiences in college, and remembers her friends fondly. “When you have structure going into college like this… [you’re] going to have… a built-in group of friends, so you’re with peers… in college that have the same interests that you do.”

Jeffrey Seals Blair security officer

Before Blair security officer Jeffrey Seals patrolled Blair’s hallways, he was a player for West Virginia University’s football team. He was recruited while he was in high school and has many cherished memories from his time on the team. “It’s crazy that you meet and play football with men that after 40 years I still keep in touch with,” he says. Although he no longer plays football, Seals continues to carry with him the importance of self-confidence and sticking together with one’s teammates.

“Everybody loves to win, but they don’t really talk about losing. That was one thing I really learned… everyone’s gotta believe in themselves, it’s a team sport.”

COURTESY OF SILVERLOGUE (RAFFI CHARKOUDIAN-RODGERS)

Scoring Deals

How NCAA athletes are navigating the world of sponsorships

By Christy Li Staff Writer Recent changes to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) regulations that went into effect on Jul. 1, 2021 allow NCAA athletes to profit from selling their name, image, and likeness (NIL), ushering in a new era for college athletics. Although some state laws put limitations on the kinds of NIL deals athletes can take, NCAA athletes around the country have begun taking advantage of the opportunity by partnering with companies, uploading sponsored posts to their social media, and building their own marketable brand.

“Two percent of NCAA athletes make it to the pro level, so if you can compensate off your name, image, and likeness in the four years when you are at these star programs, why not?” Blair senior and Davidson College swimming signee Liam McDonough says.

Here at home, the University of Maryland (UMD) is playing an active role in landing its athletes and programs these coveted brand deals. In February of 2021, Maryland Athletics launched its MOMENTUM program in partnership with Opendorse, a sports endorsement company. MOMENTUM helps UMD athletes build and profit off of their personal brands.

The program educates athletes on how to gain exposure and provides them with content such as photos, videos, and graphics that they can use to grow their following. According to UMD Athletics Strategic Communications Officer Jason Yellin, in just the first three months of MOMENTUM, UMD athletes shared more than 10,000 pieces of content through the program, making UMD one of the top

ten schools in the country for content shared with student athletes.

14 out of the 20 sports teams at UMD have athletes with NIL deals for a total of over 100 deals, an accomplishment that Yellin credits to MOMENTUM. “We share the content with them, and it helps grow their brands,” Yellin says.

“If they have more followers and they have a larger brand on social media, then an outside company, agency, or corporation is going to be more likely to want to partner with them for an NIL deal.”

An NIL deal for a UMD athlete can require a variety of actions on the athlete’s end. First, the athlete must disclose all NIL deals to the school, which they can do through Opendorse.

Athletes usually promote companies or products through their social media, or become a spokesperson for a brand.

Around 65 percent of NIL deals at UMD are for monetary compensation, while the other SOP 35 percent HIA are for gifts in kind: LI products or services that the company produces and wants the athlete to promote.

In order to strike a partnership with a company, athletes must actively pursue opportunities. “It’s basically a third thing that they have to occupy their time with [in addition to being students and

athletes],” Yellin explains. “And if you really want to be good at NIL you’ve got to work at it; you’ve got to go pitch yourself.”

For many UMD athletes, NIL deals are changing the conversation around what it means to be a college athlete. “It inspires a lot more athletes than people expected,” volleyball player

Rainelle Jones says. “It gives us hope that what we’re doing… [is bringing] more media and more coverage to the school.”

Jones, a senior middle blocker who leads the NCAA in blocks per set as of Dec. 3, is currently a brand ambassador for a laser hair

removal and skincare company called Reflections Image Center in Woodbridge, Virginia. She receives free skincare products and services from the company as compensation for posting about the products on various social media outlets.

On Nov. 29, Jones released her personal apparel line with online merchandise company Spreadshop. Her merchandise includes clothing and accessories featuring custom designs which highlight her blocking as well as her social justice activism Through her partnership with Spreadshop, Jones is able to bring attention to issues that are important to her by incorporating them into her personal brand. “ I ’ m protesting the national anthem.

I’m using [my brand] to let others know I’m a good volleyball player, and I’m also fighting for something,” Jones explains. “It’s a good combination when it comes to volleyball, because it’s not a very diverse sport at all.”

While the NIL era offers exciting new financial opportunities for the NCAA’s elite athletes, Yellin expresses concern that it will cre-

ate greater economic disparities between different programs and divisions. “The gap is going to continue to widen,” Yellin explains.

“Everything with NIL is just part of the equation because there’s the separation of the exposure you get from when you’re playing in the Big 10 or the SEC, and all your games are on Fox and ESPN and ABC, [compared to] some of these other conferences, if they’re not out there.”

NIL compensation distribution between different programs can also highlight other underlying disparities in college athletics. According to data released by Opendorse, the average Division I athlete that received at least one NIL deal through Opendorse was compensated $686 between Jul. 1 and Oct. 31, 2021, while average Division II and Division III athletes were compensated $68 and $35 respectively. During the same time period, men’s sports accounted for 83 percent of NIL compensation, while women’s sports accounted for the remaining 17 percent.

For athletes who play less popular sports at smaller schools, NIL deals have a much smaller impact on competition and recruitment.

“For swimming, [NIL] doesn’t really pose much of a risk, because you’re not going to see huge NIL deals coming out of swim,” McDonough explains. “I think it’s not really much of an issue to have these small package NIL deals. It’s really to the benefit of the swimmer.”

silverchips

The One Punch Man challenge

By John Ernst and Zachary Williamson Staff Writers The cold air tugs at the fingers of those who forgot to bring gloves.

Our friends plead to get started. It is 46 degrees outside of Blair and we are completing our final day of running by the track. With the darkening sky, we need to get started now, or we will not be able to finish our 10 kilometer run before pitch black surrounds us.

Our group of nine begins to jog. We ease into our stride, slowing down and letting the cool breeze brush against us, motivated to end a week of intense physical and mental exertion.

When our GPS indicates we have run all 10 kilometers, we finish our workout on the tennis courts by doing push-ups, sit-ups, and squats, eventually reaching 100 of each.

The One Punch Man challenge has come to an end! As we look up in triumph, a full moon shines over us; a cinematic way to conclude an animatic challenge.

FIVE DAYS EARLIER… In the anime, One Punch Man, the protagonist, Saitama, becomes a superhero by doing a 10 kilometer (6.2 mile) run, 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, and 100 squats every day for three years. “He becomes the strongest guy and can defeat anyone in one punch,” Blair senior Julian Hutchins, a fan of the anime, says. During quarantine, anime became increasingly popular, and new One Punch Man fans like Hutchins gravitated toward the inhumanly powerful Saitama.

Here at Silver Chips, we have decided to embark on our own journey by adopting his training regimen for five days with our eager friends. It’s doubtful that one school week’s worth of effort will compensate for Saitama’s three years, but we still hope some of his powers will rub off on us.

We start the challenge fearful but excited. For today’s workout, we will find a good pace without pushing ourselves, since we still have four more long days to go. Our shoes crunch the leaves around the Woodmoor neighborhood lawns until we have completed a full 10 kilo-

Dec. 14, 2021 Sports F2 LEELA MEHTA-HARWITZ

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meters.

Exhausted from the run, we take a break before completing the rest of the workout. Later that night, we finish our push-ups, situps, and squats with relative ease, but notable soreness. It’s clear that the rest of this week will be brutal.

Getting out of bed the following morning proves tough, our legs creaking with every movement.

“Walking up and down the stairs at Blair [was] very difficult,” Blair junior Sebastian Porras, who is participating in the challenge with us, says. “The running combined with the squats just did not help.” By the end of the school day on Tuesday, our

haps so far, excluding when Sebastian accidentally left the last third of his push-ups, sit-ups, and squats until 11:55 p.m. on Wednesday night, which made for an intense four minutes.

The blaring of our alarm clocks on Friday brings newfound motivation. Our stomachs are full of butterflies as we anticipate the workout today, if only because we are so close to the finish line!

Wanting to get a small taste of the challenge, a few friends from Silver Chips will be coming to the workout for the final day. Running together provides a much needed morale boost, and it is refreshing to workout

HENRY REICHLE

ONE SIT-UP AWAY John nears the end of his grueling 100 sit-ups. bodies become accustomed to the soreness. We run to Sligo Middle School—the alma mater of some students participating in the challenge with us—and the uphill trek back to Blair brings our hamstring pain to a new level. Reaching the trackside parking lot brings desired relief, and we begrudgingly finish the rest of our workout.

Over the next two days, we grow accustomed to the sore awakenings and fall into our respective workout routines. Some participants run right after school and immediately transition into the rest of the workout, whereas others distribute it evenly throughout the day. There have been surprisingly few mis-

with new people. The workout feels quicker this time, and the typically unforgiving push-ups, situps, and squats are eased by the group’s positivity.

We had set out to bring a beloved anime to life and, in a sense, we succeeded, at least for a week.

More importantly, it was a rewarding experience and we can both see ourselves doing this again.

William Ashford, a Silver Chips writer who did the challenge with us, says he saw a lot of self-improvement over the week. Though our bodies ache from the long week, we are overcome by a sense of accomplishment. The physical and mental energy this challenge demanded was worth the effort.

Now that we are done, it is going to be nice to take a nap and relax.

By Jon Eckert Sports Editor/Columnist Let’s be honest, Lincoln Riley does not deserve the most lucrative head coaching deal in all of college football history.

The facade of Lincoln Riley appears as if it will continue with his groundbreaking move from the University of Oklahoma to the University of Southern California (USC), where it is estimated he will become the highest paid college football coach in the country signing what is estimated to be a $110 million plus, 10-year contract with incentives including unlimited use of a private jet. Since 2017, Riley has dominated a debilitated Big 12 that faded from its former glory. Many fans will see Oklahoma’s four College Football Playoff berths over the last five years as a benchmark for an elite coach building a top tier football program. The more keen college football eye can see that Riley is nothing more than a glorified recruiter.

Riley’s beginnings as a head coach differ from the way most successful head coaches get their starts. Most new head coaches are brought into struggling programs after a school fires a struggling coach. New head coaches then have to build programs from the ground up, recruiting new players, hiring a new coaching staff, and building a winning football culture from the ground up. Riley’s start at Oklahoma was different. He spent two years as the offensive coordinator behind Bob Stoops, who built the Oklahoma Sooners into a powerhouse program. He was a real head coach. Stoops was brought in after Oklahoma suffered three straight losing seasons, and in his second year as head coach, the Sooners went undefeated and won the Orange Bowl.

Following Stoops’ retirement, the

Riley did not have to rebuild a program, he just had to stop himself from messing it up. powerhouse program he built was handed over to Riley with existing top-tier talent. Riley did not have to rebuild a program, he just had to stop himself from messing it up.

The only thing Riley excels in is recruiting. He has enrolled five five-star recruits along with 69 four-star recruits during his tenure as head coach of Oklahoma.

By any metric, these numbers are exceptionally impressive; however, Riley’s ability to develop these players has not met the threshold needed to be considered an elite coach that demands the highest salary in his profession. Despite Riley’s impressive recruiting numbers, the most successful players to come out of Oklahoma during his tenure were Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield, who were both inherited from Stoops. The backto-back Heisman winners are not the only thing that carried over from the Stoops era; Riley inher-

ited an already wildly successful football program from a coach on the Mount Rushmore of Oklahoma football.

When Riley has recruited his own talent, he has been unable to develop the vast majority of them to play against any real competition. Riley recruited Spencer Rattler, who was widely considered to be a guy that will start on Sundays, and even being projected to be the #1 overall pick in the

It seems as if Riley had a visceral reaction to someone peeking behind the curtain to expose the guise of his coaching.

2022 NFL draft by several sports outlets. While training with Riley, Rattler struggled early this season, leading Riley to bench him in favor of Gonzaga graduate Caleb Williams. Riley changed his mind several times on this decision, most notably in the Red River Showdown game against an underperforming Texas team. Riley flip-flopped between Williams and Rattler before eventually escaping the game during which they trailed by 21 points with a win. Following the spectacle that was the Red River Showdown game, Riley banned all press from the team after The Oklahoma Daily, the school’s student-run newspaper, tried to report who would start their next game against Texas Christian University. Rattler’s shortcomings are not because he is untalented; rather, they are coaching related. It seems as if Riley had a visceral reaction to someone peeking behind the curtain to expose the guise of his coaching.

Lincoln Riley inherited an already flourishing Oklahoma program from Bob Stoops, and its apparent success has only continued under Riley just because of how bad the Big 12 has been. As Oklahoma and Texas announced their moves from the Big 12 to the Southeastern Conference, Riley likely saw that his facade of success would be broken if he played real competition in the regular season.

Riley’s move to USC is a cop-out.

He will once again be in a conference (the PAC 12) where there will be no competition for him and his four and five star recruits.

Riley will likely lead the Trojans to multiple College Football Playoff appearances where they will be trounced like the Sooners were under his coaching. He is incompetent coaching big games against real competition, and it is just a matter of time before even the average college football fan wakes up and sees that.

F3 Sports Dec. 14, 2021

Playing in the pandemic

By Rosie Orzulak Staff Writer For Blair students, the winter athletics season is always highly anticipated, and the bleachers are often packed wall-to-wall with exuberant fans whose electrifying cheers echo through the main gym at basketball games.

Blair Athletic Specialist Rita Boule notes that enthusiasm is especially high this year as winter sports return for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

“Everybody’s excited to be back.

Our numbers are about the same as they used to be, even a little bit higher,” she says. “I think everybody is really trying to do a great job.” Along with the transition from

spectators safe. The specifics of these regulations were covered in a letter addressed to the MCPS community from MCPS athletics. The letter detailed that masks must be worn at all times for indoor sports except in specific circumstances.

For basketball, athletes who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 are not required to wear masks while playing. Cheerleaders do not have to wear masks when they are “stunting/tumbling/flying” the letter reads, and swimmers and divers do not have to wear masks when they are in the water. The letter notes that masks are discouraged during wrestling contact due to a potential safety hazard. In addition to the specified rules regarding distinct sports, spectators, coaches, and officials must wear a mask at all times

the fall season to winter season, the majority of the sports transition from outdoor to indoor. Winter sports include basketball, wrestling, swim and dive, indoor track, cheer, poms, and bocce.

The pandemic has redefined the concept of indoor sports as countless regulations have been instituted to keep participants and

while indoors. Athletes who are not actively competing are also expected to wear a mask.

Blair junior Aisling Gearhart, who is a swimmer at Blair, was itching for the season to start. Her lack of swimming in the past two years has only increased her excitement.

“Freshman year I was concussed so I couldn’t do swim,” Gear-

hart explains. “Then, obviously, sophomore year, we were all in a pandemic so we weren’t going to school and it wasn’t in-person. I’m just really excited to actually connect with the team and actually be able to participate.”

Yann Aubert, a Blair senior on the varsity basketball team, is similarly thrilled to have an in-person season. “I am extremely excited, especially because we’re finally back in the building,” he says.

Aubert recalls the lively crowd at basketball games his freshman year. “There were so many people. It was crazy,” he remembers.

“When we played a team, both schools would bring their students to the one gym, and they would both be cheering super loud.” Aubert thinks the same energy will be shown this year, despite the COVID-19 regulations. He believes the only conflict that might arise is the masks muffling the crowd’s cheers.

“The gym will still be full. There’s just [going to] be a mask mandate... so it might be difficult to be loud.

But this crowd is going to be crazy,” he explains.

Boule says that Blair’s athletes have mostly been complying with the COVID-19 regulations. “Kids, especially, need gentle reminders to put their masks up, but it’s hard when you’re competing to wear the mask,” Boule explains. “They’re doing a pretty good job. It’s most important that the kids are protecting themselves and each other.”

According to Boule, there isn’t much fear from administration regarding the large crowds. “We have limits in the gym so we’re following the protocols. There’s not a lot of anxiety, but I don’t expect to ever reach capacity [1900] in the gym, so that gives us more room,” she says.

Some athletes fear that the winter sports season will be shut down. According to MCPS policy,

if exposed to COVID-19 through “close contact,” students may be asked to quarantine. “Close contacts are individuals who are less than six feet from someone who tests positive for a cumulative total of 15 minutes over the course of 24 hours, or less than three feet in a classroom setting,” MCPS says in their COVID-19 Health and Safety Procedures webpage.

silverchips

CAL TOBIAS

Aubert expresses his concern that one person on his team testing positive for COVID-19 will end his season. “[I’m] kind of worried because I don’t want our season to be shut down. I want to have a full season… if me or my teammates get [COVID-19], I know our whole team is going to shut down,” Aubert explains. “We just need to be safe.”

Dec. 14, 2021 Sports F4

silverchips

NWSL Faces Abuse Allegations

By Eliana Finberg Staff Writer On Nov. 20, the Washington Spirit beat the Chicago Red Stars with a score of 2-1 to win the 2021 National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) championship. This comes after a tumultuous season for the Spirit and the NWSL as a whole.

In August, an article in The Washington Post by sports investigations reporter Molly Hensley-Clancy detailed the verbal and emotional abuse that Spirit players suffered under former head coach Richie Burke. The article details that players on the team were too scared to speak up against Burke for several years in fear of losing their jobs. “At the time some players were really scared of retaliation from Burke or the club’s owners, and they really didn’t want to be identifiable. So I did everything I could to protect their identities in the story,” Hensley-Clancy explained in an email to Silver Chips.

Despite Hensley-Clancy’s article and calls from fans for Burke’s resignation, he stepped down from his coaching position later that month, citing “health reasons.” The Spirit then released a statement saying that Burke was no longer coaching, but was still working in the front office. The team gave no indication that Burke would be fired, saying instead that when his health improved, he would be moved to another branch of management.

When the club’s owner, Steve Baldwin, did not fire Burke, the NWSL stepped in and conducted an investigation into the allegations before suspending Burke in September. Following pressure from players on the Spirit, Baldwin is selling his shares of the club.

Despite the coaching and ownership changes, the Spirit arose victorious from their season. “It’s been a lot of different emotions, but we’ve been leaning into them

and soaking up the chaos and seeing what we could do with it,” Andi Sullivan, a team captain of the Spirit, told ESPN. Former commissioner of the league, Lisa Baird, resigned on Oct. 1 amid allegations from athletes that Paul Riley, former head coach of the North Carolina Courage, engaged in sexually abusive behavior with players. Riley was fired soon thereafter while Baird and the NWSL were accused of dismissing the concerns of players.

On Oct. 6, Steve Malik, owner and chairman of the Courage, posted a letter on the team’s website.

He apologized for failing to create a safe space for players, noting that Riley was fired immediately.

“There is no place for that behavior and abuse in our sport and society,” Malik wrote. “Firing Mr. Riley was the first step, and we continue to reflect on how we could have been better.”

Malik also claims that the Courage administration did not know about Riley’s misconduct during his time at Courage, or before Riley assumed his role as head coach.

However, in 2015, the Portland Thorns fired Riley following allegations of sexual abuse and harassment from a former team member.

Several months after his firing, Riley began coaching another NWSL team.

Most recently, on Nov. 22, two days after his team lost the NWSL championship, the coach of the Chicago Red Stars, Rory Dames, resigned from his position. This comes after Hensley-Clancy and The Washington Post prepared to publish a story detailing allegations from seven former players of Dames who believed him to have been emotionally abusive. According to The Washington Post, Dames is the “fifth male NWSL coach to be accused of misconduct this year.”

A few weeks later, a supporter

group of the Red Stars, Chicago Local 134, released a letter, which called for the resignation of Arnim Whisler, the owner of the team.

The Local 134 says that Whisler knew about Dames’ allegations, making him complacent in “further[ing the] abuse [of] not only Chicago Red Stars players, but also the greater Chicago soccer community.”

When news broke of the accusations against Riley, the NWSL went on hiatus for nine days.

Matches were postponed, and when athletes returned to the pitch on Oct. 6, players in every NWSL game stopped playing in the sixth minute. They stood in a circle and locked arms with their opponents to honor the victims of sexual assault in the league who had recently come forward.

Eliza Palmer, a Blair sophomore who plays for the school’s girls’ varsity soccer team, believes that the advocacy of the NWSL athletes is important. “I think it’s a really powerful message,” Palmer, a fan of the Spirit, said. “The league needs to do a better job overall with hiring people that know what they’re doing.”

On Oct. 6, the National Women’s Soccer League Players Association (NWSLPA) released a list of

eight demands of the NWSL, in- they need to start working with the cluding the ability for the union to teams, hiring the right people and open their own investigation into making sure that the players are possible abuse at any time, and ac- safe,” she explained. “Because at cess to all official investigations and the end of the day, that’s the most important thing.” documents.

The league has been working on improving, but many feel that [The league has] they still have a long way to go. definitely improved, “It’s about putting people in power who have the respect of players, but now they need to including as many former playstart working with the ers as possible, and treating teams, hiring the right peoallegations very seriously when they are made,” ple and making sure that the Hensley-Clancy said to players are safe.

Silver Chips.

Palmer echoes ELIZA PALMER her sentiment. “[The league has] definitely improved, b u t now

HENRY REICHLE

WTF is the name of the WFT

Blair students talk about The Washington Football team

By Jon Eckert Sports Editor/Columnist The decades-long saga of resistance from owner Daniel Snyder and the Washington football franchise towards changing its name ended in July of 2020 when the team announced a change to The Washington Football team name.

Snyder was outspoken about maintaining the original team name and logo that was offensive to Native Americans. The team consistently used their website to publish numerous articles negating the fact that people even wanted a change.

In July of 2020, Washington announced they would “undergo a thorough review of the team’s name.”An announcement was released two weeks later saying that until a decision had been reached on a new permanent team name, they would be temporarily known as the Washington Football Team. The announcement of the interim team name sparked debates about what the permanent name should be.

Many have suggested names related to the history of Washington, D.C., while others want names that keep the team colors.

Co-CEO of the team and wife of owner Daniel Snyder, Tanya Snyder, confirmed in an interview with journalist Adam Schefter that the final eight names under consideration were: Armada, Presidents, Brigade, Red Hogs, Commanders, Red Wolves, Defenders, and the Washington Football Team.

Blair students have their own opinions on what they would choose as the permanent name of the team. Here they are:

ABJINI CHATTOPADHYAY

Grade 10 “Well, since they’re located in DC and like the Capitals and the Nationals are both related to what DC is, it could be named after something like that. The Nationals used to be named the Senators so maybe something related to the government or where they’re located.”

move to change it to the Washington Football Team was a little bit controversial, and it is a little boring but I feel like the fanbase has really grown to like it and I kind of like the retro look they got going on with the numbers on the helmet instead of the logo. So I think they should keep the Washington Football Team name and not change it.”

Ben Russell

Sohccem Ruphael

Eliza Warren

Grade 12 “They had a bunch of good names. I like the Washington Armada personally, because I think that sounds sick. ”

Jack Ossi

Grade 12 “The Redwolves because it sounds cool, it’s tough. I saw it on Instagram.”

Liam McDonough Grade 12 “I know the

Grade 10 “How are you going to tell someone that you’re going to support the Washington Football Team?

What type of name is that? Just find some type of mascot that starts with the letter W. Like Washington Wizards, the basketball

team already has it. I honestly don’t know, but they should change it before the next season starts.”

Sudhish Swain Grade 10 “I think it should be something related maybe to the history of the [district]. Something definitely less controversial. I think something that people can relate to.”

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F5 Sports Dec. 14, 2021

Touchdown into history

By Jon Eckert and Milan Tenn Sports Editor/Columnist & Staff Writer

CAL TOBIAS

WHO WANTS THE SMOKE Blair cornerback Malachi Deveaux catches a pass in warmups before a 56-35 playoff win against Laurel. their first Blair football game since graduation. “I saw a lot of alumni that probably hadn’t been to a game since they graduated, but this one meant something.”

Despite this support compounded by Blair’s performance in the season leading up to the playoffs, many still had reservations re-

I saw a lot of alumni that probably hadn’t been to a game since they graduated, but this one meant something.

It’s always amazing to be able to prove how good you are [and] do what you know you can do.

RYAN FRANK

garding the team’s chances against Laurel. Frank says that while the team was doubted in many of their games, they were most doubted in their first playoff game as people still thought Blair had something to prove. “Everyone not part of the team [was] saying that we’re going to lose to this team [or] that team...

Everyone thought we were going to lose [the Laurel] game.”

After giving up a touchdown on Laurel’s first offensive play of the game, the Blazers locked in and went on to beat Laurel 56-35.

Frank was very satisfied with the outcome against Laurel. He was especially pleased that they were able to overcome the doubtful perceptions regarding their ability to win.

“It’s always amazing to be able to prove how good you are [and] do what you know you can do.”

Despite finding immense success in both the season and in the playoffs, Blair was unable to make it past the quarterfinal game against Wise. Dinkel was saddened by their loss, and believes that the team could have performed even

better than they did. “It was really sad. It was one of those things where it’s… kind of hard because they’re really good,” Dinkel says.

“But it’s also like we’ll always look back and… there’s some practices you want to have back and definitely a lot of plays you want to have back and so it’s just one of those things where it sucks.”

While Nosoff thinks that it would have been nicer to win more games throughout Blair’s season, he believes that the team did the best that it could and would not change anything that they did. “I mean we’d obviously like to win the games against Paint Branch and Sherwood rather than have those be our two losses, but I think that everything we did this year put us in the exact position that we’d hoped to be.”

For their outstanding play this season, juniors Kendell Anderson and Jamall Worrell along with sophomore Mikhail Seiken were named to the 2021 Consensus Coaches 4A All-MoCo Football First Team. Seniors Tony Cruz, Ryan Frank, and Ricardo Villars Jr. were named to the All-MoCo Second Team as well.

As a junior, Anderson is hopeful about next year’s season. He believes that next year’s football team will be able to outshine even this year’s performance. “It was a great season and I’m saying we’re going to come back better next year. This is only the beginning, you know. So next year is going to be even better,” Anderson says.

SAM NOSOFF

ANDERSON ON THE ATTACK Blair quarterback Kendell Anderson rushes for a first down in a 41-6 win against Wheaton. didn’t understand it, but then I also ball game against Northwood. Blair did, because… we’re not really a defeated the Gladiators on their powerhouse football team. Going home field, winning 30-0 against into the season, I took it as motiva- the nearby rivals.

In an interview with Silver tion, [and] the team took it as motivation. We came in, and we made Chips following the game, Nosoff commends the energy the student a name for ourselves.”

The team showed promise ear- section brought to the game. “Our ly in scrimmage wins against teams student section’s the best in the from Prince George’s County. As county,” he says. “This is three head coach Sam Nosoff saw the games in a row, even with a road solid play of the team, he knew they game, we’ve had entirely packed would be special. “It was probably stands. No one in the county beats during our first scrimmage, going our student section and it shows on against some of the bigger teams the field.” in PG County, and being able to…

Following the Battle of the Bouplay well against them,” Nosoff levard, the Blazers took their first loss to a talented Paint Branch team before beating Blake by a touchdown ahead of the Blair No one in the county homecoming game against a then beats our student undefeated Rockville team. Excitesection and it shows ment was abundant at the homecoming game, creating an electrifyon the field. ing atmosphere. Senior linebacker and captain Ryan Frank describes his enjoyment of the homecoming says. “I noticed that we were going game, saying, “The homecoming to be a little bit better than the ex- games are always amazing. Everypectations.” one’s always there, it’s always enNosoff noted the great deal of ergetic, it makes me want to play ability on the team this year, saying, better.”

“As a collective group, this is probThe game was competitive from ably the most talented that we’ve the start; Rockville came out firing had.” on all cylinders and the game stayed The season was marked by ex- close until the very end. Late in the uberance to be back in person af- fourth quarter, the Blazers were ter a shortened COVID-19 season up 35-31 with a third and fifteen this past year without fans. Ander- play from their own 30-yard-line. son described the return of fans This consequential play would de-

termine if Rockville would get the ball back with minutes to go, giving them a chance to win the game.

“Rockville was coming back, and we had this one drive,” Anderson remembers. “It was third down…

I dropped the snap, and the ball rolled behind me so I turned around and grabbed the ball.” A blitz from the Rockville defense put heavy pressure on Anderson.

Free rushers swarmed him as he spun and launched a 38-yard bomb down the field. He remembered his thoughts from the moment. “I was wishing in my head please be out there, please be out there. And I threw the ball and I was like oh shoot, and I got hit and I got up.

And I saw that [Jamall] jumped up for the ball and caught the ball.

And I was like yes!” The ball was caught by Blair’s wide receiver Jamall Worrell for a 38-yard gain to help seal the homecoming upset against an undefeated Rockville team.

Following the Rockville game, the Blazers lost by two points at home to Sherwood before beating Wheaton and Bethesda-Chevy Chase. The Wheaton game included the longest offensive play in school history with a 99-yard touchdown pass from Anderson to Mikhail Seiken. This led Blair to a 7-2 record before entering the playoffs.

The Blazers were set to host the first ever home playoff game in school history against Bladensburg. However, due to COVID-19 troubles, Bladensburg was forced to forfeit the game. This advanced Blair to the second round of the playoffs where they would host 8-2 Laurel.

Leading up to the playoffs, the support the team received only increased. “The Laurel game was awesome,” Frank says. “[During] the first playoff game, everyone came out to show support. It was amazing.”

Students, families, and alumni alike attended in support of the Blazers. Laurel also had no shortage of support in their stands, creating an intense environment for the game. Anderson says, “All my family went out there, my cousins, my grandmother… And Laurel’s side was packed. It was a great environment.”

At the game, Nosoff saw people who he believed were attending

SAM NOSOFF

Calling this past football season a success for Blair would be an understatement. The team racked up a 7-2 record before securing a home field advantage for the playoffs, a feat which no previous Blair football team has ever accomplished. Though the team concluded their season in the quarterfinals of the Maryland Division 4A playoffs, they were still able to leave their mark as the best football team in school history.

As Blair has not historically carried the reputation of a standout football program, their ability to succeed was questioned coming into the season. Star junior quarterback Kendell Anderson describes how it felt for people to be skeptical about the team’s capability. “We were always doubted,” Anderson says. “It was rough… sometimes I

and families to the stands, noting the morale boost it gave the team.

“That two game season, it was weird. No crowd, no nothing, but when I saw [the] first game [this past season], I saw the kids, I saw my family, [I saw] my friends. It felt great because everybody was supporting me.”

Even during the team’s away games, Blair had very strong support from the stands. Senior running back Michael Dinkel says that the Blazer student section was often stronger than the home team’s crowd. “It was pretty amazing, especially because we have such a great student section and the Blazer Ragers,” he says. “Going to some of the other schools, you just see they didn’t have that… Sometimes it felt like we had a better crowd than they did at away games.”

The Blazers started the season strong, winning the first two games by double digits against Magruder and Einstein. This led up to the annual Battle of the Boulevard foot-

Football reflects on successful season

BLAKE BEATEN Blair varsity football coach Sam Nosoff celebrates with the team after a midseason 13-6 win over Blake.