December 2016 - Silver Chips Print

Montgomery Blair High School SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND

A public forum for student expression since 1937

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December 21, 2016 VOL 79 NO 3

BOE sets 2017-18 calendar Seniors to graduate at Xfinity Center

By Hermela Mengesha

On Dec. 13, the Board unanimously approved the 2017-2018 calendar proposed by Superintendent Jack Smith. The upcoming school year will begin on Sept. 5, 2017 and end on June 14, 2018.

The calendar will adjust for possible closures by extending the school year to June 15 if needed.

If there is a need for additional makeup days, at least one day currently dedicated to spring break will be used as an instructional day.

Spring break will be between March 26 and April 2. Two of these days, March 26 and 27, have been reserved as possible instructional days. “We made some snow contingency days that [go into] spring break,” Board member Jeanette Dixon said.

The school year will have 182 days, two more than the state requirement of 180.

The new calendar meets requirements set by Governor Larry Hogan’s Aug. 31 executive order

mandating schools begin no earlier than the Tuesday after Labor Day and end no later than June 15.

In addition to the state mandated closings and spring break, the calendar has built in three professional days and one non-instructional day, which coincides with Rosh Hashanah.

In the event that all other options for make-up days have been exhausted, the county will be able to apply for a waiver to open schools beyond June 15 or the state will exempt the county from completing 180 days of instruction.

“The state most likely won’t provide a waiver to go past June 15 until we have demonstrated an effort to make up snow days before June 15 first,” Board member Jill Ortman-Fouse said in an email.

According to Dixon, the next few years will likely result in more conflicts with the school year limits outlined by Hogan, due to when holidays and state mandated closings will fall in the year. “The calendar will be a lot more challenging in years to come,” Dixon said.

By Christian Mussenden

Blair’s class of 2017 will graduate from the Xfinity Center at the University of Maryland on June 6 at 1:00 p.m. The venue and date were changed from DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. on June 7 at 10:00 a.m.

This is the first year since 2009 that Blair students will not graduate from DAR Constitution Hall.

Blair will share the June 6 date with Walter Johnson, whose graduation ceremony commences at 9:30 am.

The venue change was spurred

by Principal Renay Johnson and

her graduation committee, which is made up of parents of seniors.

Johnson said she was concerned that students would not receive enough tickets for their friends and family because of the large size of the graduating class, which currently contains 686 students.

“When I formed this committee probably a year and a half ago, I said I’m worried about the current junior class,” Johnson said. “The class is so big, and it was 700 at the time, that each senior is only going to get three tickets if we don’t find a larger venue.”

According to Johnson, the decision to select the Xfinity Center as

Blair’s new graduation venue was initiated by MCPS after representatives from her graduation committee informed the county of the size of the senior class.

Frances Frost, a member of the graduation council, said, “We gave them the numbers. We gave [MCPS], I think, two or three options that we had looked at and gave the justification for each one.

Then the county, basically they have their own negotiation process for those kind of contracts so they took it from there.”

The Xfinity Center seats 17,950

see GRADUATION page A5

Electric performance

Little kids, but big opinions

By Georgina Burros and Serena Debesai First-grader Jayden Kokobo is a bright-eyed six-year-old who loves golf, math, and soccer. He says that he has little interest in politics and has only voted in an election where the candidates were children’s authors.

But he still has an idea of what makes a good president.

Kokobo believes that the only leader he has ever known, President Obama, is an example of a good president. “He was nice,” Kokobo says.

Marisol, a second grader at Sligo Creek Elementary School, whose mother asked that she be referred to by only her first name, stresses the importance of a president’s compassionate character. A president should “be nice to the other voters and also be nice to the person that’s going to be against them,” Marisol says.

Kokobo and Marisol are a few of the many youth whose attention

turned toward the recent national election and who are adjusting to President-elect Donald Trump, the second president of their lifetimes.

Today’s elementary school students are part of the next generation of voters, but among discussions of the recent election, the focus has fallen mostly on the opinions of adults today. However, the past election will forever shape how children today perceive politics.

In the midst of the bustling Silver Spring Library, seven elementary school students, including Marisol and Kokobo, were given a platform to express their views on the recent general election.

Donald or Hillary?

When asked about his regarding President-elect Kokobo holds a steady in-the-middle. It is not a

feelings Trump, thumbthumbs

see ELEM. SCHOOLERS page C6

JEDEDIAH GRADY

KIDS HAVE OPINIONS, TOO Six-year-old Jayden Kokobo shows off his drawing of President-elect Donald Trump.

NEWS A2

Mental health initiatives Blair needs to advertise their resources for struggling students.

HANNAH SCHWARTZ

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OP/ED B1

CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA

FEATURES C1

GRIFFIN REILLY

BELT IT OUT Senior Camille Torfs-Liebman sings at the Electric Maid on Dec. 15 alongside fellow musicians and Blair alumni Zach Wathen and Reid Williams.

Michael Durso re-elected Board president

By Cole Greenberg On Dec. 13 Michael Durso was re-elected to serve a second term as Board President. He won by a majority of seven Board members to one. Durso’s re- election was accompanied by the election of Vice President Dr. Judith Docca. Both Durso and Docca are set to serve one-year terms.

Durso’s presidential duties will remain the same as last year: chairing the board’s Fiscal Management Committee, working with the superintendent, and conducting and preparing the agenda for bimonthly board meetings, among other tasks.

According to Durso, the majority of his duties as Board President are the same as those of other members. “There [are] some other responsibilities that come with being the president. I probably get

insidechips

invited to a few more things than the regular board members... So there is some of it that is ceremonial,” Durso said. “But generally we work as a team, and the president does not function terribly different than the others.”

Board member Jill OrtmanFouse predicts the Board’s biggest adjustment will be working with new superintendent Jack Smith.

“We have a new superintendent with an innovative and yet practical agenda. We are excited about all the possibilities to do the work of the schools in effective ways to maintain challenge for our highest flyers, and support engagement and rigor for all students who are not there yet,” Ortman-Fouse wrote in an email.

According to Durso, the Board’s biggest project for 2017 will be the budget. “$2.5 billion, that is a lot of money. So, that whole budget pro-

cess will last for several months.

We are also going to be finalizing the contracts with all of our employee associations. We have the teachers association, the administrators and support personnel, and then other issues that come before us,” Durso said. “So we have a pretty full calendar for the rest of the school year.”

According to Ortman-Fouse, Durso “has shown great skill at balancing the passions of the Board members” in the past. She said she is “confident he will continue to conduct his role similarly in his next term.”

Durso was flattered by his reelection and hopes for a successful year. “I look forward to a cohesive board, working with the superintendent and his staff to tackle the variety of challenges that we have in the Montgomery County Public Schools,” Durso said.

Main office

Holiday baking

Taking a lead

Blair’s secretaries keep the school running smoothly.

Check out some cool recipes to help get into the festive spirit!

Three new coaches tackle guiding wrestiling, swim and dive, and girls’ basketball.

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ENTERTAINMENT D1

ISABELLA TILLEY

D1

CHIPS CLIPS D6

BEN DOGGETT

LA ESQUINA LATINA E1

F2 SPORTS F1

A2 News

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December 21, 2016

Teachers express mixed responses regarding RQAs

New quarterly assessments reveal disparities across all levels

By Gilda Geist In October, MCPS students took the first Required Quarterly Assessments (RQAs). Implemented to replace final exams, these new tests have received mixed reactions from staff and students.

The RQAs are administered in social studies, foreign language, English, math, science, and technology courses. Although these assessments are given to students more often than final exams were, they are much shorter.

Scheduling has been one of the major changes in the transition from final exams to RQAs. According to social studies department resource teacher Mary Lou Thornton, finding time to grade and return the RQAs by the end of the quarter has been one of the biggest challenges in her department. Summer Roark, the science

department resource teacher, said that grading time was an issue for science teachers as well.

Eric Guerci, Student Member of the Board, said that while the Board of Education will continue to make adjustments to the RQAs, there will be no change in grading schedules for teachers. “We still expect teachers to have the RQAs graded by the end of the quarter, and that’s not going to be changed,” Guerci said.

According to Celita Davis, the math department resource teacher, students can benefit from the RQAs by seeing their graded assessments, an option that was not available with final exams. “It gives you a chance to look and see where your kids are and where they might need more support,” Davis said.

For Roark, this made it easier to identify concepts that students

soapbox

Do you prefer quarterly RQAs or semester final exams?

“Quarterly RQAs are the worst decision Blair has ever made. Unlike semester exams, students agree that they [RQAs] affect your grade more than semester exams.”

— Sabrina Flores, sophomore “I prefer RQAs over semester exams because RQAs only cover one quarter, so there is less material to remember and less stress.”

— Karlis Kuskevics, freshman “I prefer semester final exams because it is more structured and easier to prepare for.”

— Margaret McCarthy, junior

VICKIE ADAMNSON

were struggling with and provide extra support. “You have some data before the end of the semester so you can revisit some information with students if you need to,” she said.

According to Guerci, some of the adjustments that students and teachers might see in future assessments are modifications to “anchor texts,” which are long passages on some RQAs. Thornton said that the county has not found Advanced Placement (AP) and honors students at Blair to be struggling with anchor texts. Blair’s ESOL students and on-level students, however, have performed worse on RQAs that contain these long passages, according to Thornton. “ESOL classes and on-level classes have struggled with the length of the readings…” she said. “It’s been a challenge to try to get kids ready for a test that they’re not ready for.”

GILDA GEIST

Thornton also said that the social studies RQAs were more difficult for ESOL students than she expected. “We were under the impression that these RQAs were going to be written at the ESOL Four level, and they didn’t come in that way,” she said.

Guerci said that although the RQAs are supposed to challenge students, some timing changes could be made in the future to RQAs with anchor texts. “These tests are hard. They’re not supposed to be easy,” he said. “If time is an issue, that’s something we’re [going to] continue to look at.”

Sophomore Mahnaz Habib took RQAs in English, Spanish, and math this year. Like some other students, Habib favors final exams over RQAs because they allow for fewer assessments and a more relaxed schedule. “I prefer final exams because, first of all, it’s a break from school, but also

RQAs double the tests because we have a test per quarter,” she said.

“I think it’s easier to just have two exams per year.”

Although there are two RQAs per semester as opposed to one cumulative final exam, according to Guerci, the RQAs take up less instruction time because there is less time spent testing overall. “I know it might seem paradoxical perhaps, but we really are reducing testing,” he said. “We’re talking really about time and … how much we’re stopping the instructional flow throughout the year.”

According to Thornton, students need more time to learn before they are tested. “If you have, say, four and a half to five months to teach a subject and help kids along the road to mastery, you hope you get there,” she said. “You’ll have a better chance getting there by a final exam than you do interrupting every six weeks or so to take RQAs.”

County proposes plans to build three schools and expand 23 buildings

By Emma Cross Superintendent Jack Smith introduced a plan passed on Nov. 21 to build or expand 17 elementary schools, seven middle schools, and two high schools in the county within the next six years to deal with the rapid rise of student numbers in Montgomery County. The proposal also includes the possibility of busing students from the Downcounty Consortium (DCC) to a reopened high school in Rockville, Charles Woodward, to compensate for increasing student population.

After making amendments to Smith’s October proposal, the BOE adopted the superintendent’s plan to the Capital Improvement Budget to reopen Charles Woodward in November. This will ease overcrowding at Blair, Northwood, Albert Einstein, and John F. Kennedy.

The plan does not specify how students will be assigned to the new high school, and a roundtable discussion will take place in the spring to discuss different options for how to deal with capacity concerns. Expansions will also be made to various schools throughout the county to accommodate the growing student population.

According to Joel Gallihue, the director of the MCPS Division of Long-range Planning, the reopening of Woodward was initially planned to compensate for overcrowding in the Walter Johnson cluster.

On Nov. 21, the BOE adopted an annual Capital Budget as well

as a five-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) that funded an ongoing feasibility study of the impact of reopening Woodward.

This study demonstrated a need for discussion about overcrowding in the DCC high schools, with capacity rapidly increasing. “In the Downcounty Consortium … the high school utilization is around 102 percent … slightly over the range that the board is seeking to operate, which is 80100 percent utilization,” Gallihue said.

The county is considering a plan to potentially bus students from the DCC to the reopened Woodward high school in the coming years as student capacity rapidly increases.

According to Gallihue, over the six year period for the CIP, school utilization is projected to increase to 120 percent in the current facilities in the DCC. MCPS spokesperson Derek Turner wrote in an email that overcrowding does not necessarily mean students are being deprived of classroom learning.

“Being over the desired capacity doesn’t mean students have no seats or classrooms to sit in.

Rather, it means rooms designed for other purposes are being used for classrooms,” Turner said.

The BOE requested a budget of $1,729,609,000 for the CIP to complete all projects, including the construction of the proposed new schools, for the fiscal years 2017-2022.

Smith decided not to redraw district lines due to concerns about complicating the borders at

all levels of education and generating unease among parents and students. “There was concern in the community that boundaries would be changed … [people testifying at the board meeting] were happy that we’re adding capacity rather than moving the boundaries,” Gallihue said.

According to Turner, the specifics of the plan will not be discussed until the next Capital Improvement Budget is released.

“Neither the Board of Education nor the superintendent have made any commitment to opening Woodward ... The aforementioned feasibility study will look at multiple strategies regarding the Woodward building and what schools would feed into it,” he said.

Gallihue said the main goal is keeping up with the growing population and maintaining a sense of community. “The goal

… is to make sure people have a place to return to and a community that they can come back and work in and raise their families. So this capital investment in schools is very important to getting us there. The kinds of jobs that are being generated require significant investment in education, so having the facilities to be able to do that will help us to stay competitive and keep those jobs near here.”

CALEB BAUMAN

A WORK IN PROGRESS Bethesda Chevy-Chase Middle School No. 2 is currently being built in Kensington and is planned to open in August of 2017.

December 21, 2016

News A3

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Students walk out over Trump’s election and policies

Protests continue at many area high schools and across the United States

By Alexander Dacy Blair students walked out of class on Nov. 14 and marched through Silver Spring and Wheaton to protest President-elect Donald Trump’s policies. The march was one of the first of many student protests across the United States and occurred as a part of continued demonstrations nationwide in the wake of Trump’s election on Nov. 8.

Students have stated numerous reasons for their largely peaceful demonstrations, but most made it clear that they were denouncing Trump’s rhetoric, not the democratic results of the election. “I left school to protest because I don’t stand for some things Donald Trump stands for,” junior Edi Montero said.

Sophomore Patrick McNeilly, who also participated in the walkout, feels similarly.

“We are the future, and we don’t want our future to be like this,” he said. “We think he’s racist, he’s a bigot, and he has fascist tendencies.”

According to CNN, some students across the country have adopted the slogan “Dump Trump” to advocate for electors in certain states to flip their votes from Trump to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. The Electoral College officially voted to elect Trump on Dec. 19.

Sophomore Caroline Lanford believes that Americans must recognize the outcome of the election, regardless of their opinion of Trump. “We know we have to accept [the results of the election], like, he did win fairly,” she said. “I know there have been some protests all about trying to get him kicked out, and that’s just not going to happen.”

In response to the spreading student demonstrations and an episode of violence during one of the protests at Richard Montgomery, Superintendent Jack Smith delivered a video statement to all MCPS schools on Nov. 17.

He expressed to protesters that while their concerns were being heard, violence and illegal walkouts would not be tolerated.

Smith said that more punishments would be implemented for students who choose to leave class and school grounds to protest in the future. “Our goal is to keep students safe, under adult supervision, and engaged in the learning process,” Smith said in the televised announcement. “It is for this reason that I am asking and expecting all students to remain in school and participate in the daily educational program as intended.

If students do not comply with these expectations, they may be subjected to the regular disciplinary actions that align with whatever infraction is involved.”

The Blair protest The student protest movement came to national attention on Nov. 14, and Blair was one of the first high schools to hold a walkout demonstration against Trump. Students organized the walkout over social media shortly after the election and received ap-

proval from Principal Renay Johnson, as per MCPS Regulation JFA-RA, Student Rights and Responsibilities.

Students approached Johnson soon after the election, expressing concerns for their futures and those of their friends once Trump takes office. “Students came to me a couple days [after the election] and said … there were different walkouts in high schools and colleges, and we want to do something like that,” Johnson said.

Johnson explained that she did not approve an off-campus protest and “wanted to keep [students] on campus.” She communicated with the MCPS Central Office to arrange a “safety plan” for students to walk out. The plan consisted of letting students protest in the stadium under staff and security supervision for the final hour of third period. Johnson announced the plan to staff, students, and parents before the protest occurred.

Wheaton Plaza, where they were joined by local activist Jeffrey Thames, who further organized and guided the protesters.

Thames joined the march after recognizing that no adult was leading the students.

“I am a big advocate for children being able to have their voices heard and realize the power that they have,” Thames said.

After reaching Wheaton Plaza, a number of students chose to leave the protest and return to school, but around 600 people, led by Thames, continued marching south on Georgia Avenue into downtown Silver Spring. Shortly before 2 p.m., the group descended on Veterans Plaza and held a rally before ending the eight-mile march.

The students received mixed support regarding the protest. The local community praised students for making their voices heard in an organized and peaceful manner.

Other responses were more negative. In a Washington Post article, Jerry Cave, a lo-

from Woodrow Wilson High School and was expected to draw thousands of students from across the city. The protest was peaceful, with no violent acts reported.

Also on Nov. 15, a group of students at High Point High School in Beltsville, Md. spontaneously left class and blocked a nearby road in opposition to Trump.

Protests continued the following day, Nov. 16, across MCPS high schools. Students from Paint Branch, Springbrook, and James Hubert Blake banded together and marched throughout the northeastern part of the county against Trump’s election and rhetoric.

Students from Richard Montgomery also walked out of class on Nov. 16 and marched to the county courthouse, voicing their displeasure with the election result. Early in the protest, one student wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat was assaulted and kicked to the ground by a group of protesters. The student was injured and taken to a nearby hospital, while the assailants were held and charged with second-degree assault, according to The Washington Post.

In a letter to parents regarding the incident, Principal Damon Monteleone explained that the altercation occurred because the students “had opposing political viewpoints.”

Marches from coast to coast

COURTESY OF GABBY HEMMER

MARCHING THROUGH TOWN Student protestors from Blair, Northwood, and Einstein descend on downtown Silver Spring carrying a “Not my President” sign.

The walkout began at 10 a.m. According to Johnson, over 700 students gathered in the stadium and walked around with signs opposing the election of Trump and his views.

After approximately 30 minutes, the protesters started to make their way into the streets.

“To get our voice heard, obviously we had to go further than just our school campus,” senior Nolan Bay said.

Approximately 500 students left campus and marched onto University Boulevard, whereupon Montgomery County police provided an escort and initiated rolling closures on area roads. Students from nearby Northwood and Albert Einstein joined the Blair marchers, increasing the size of the crowd to just under 1,000 people.

The demonstrators then congregated at

cal Republican activist, said the protestors were attempting to delegitimize Trump’s presidency. He also added that “high school kids are supposed to be in high school,” not protesting.

Local students follow suit The Blair protest preceded other significant student demonstrations during that week across the Washington, D.C. metro area. On Nov. 15, upwards of 6,000 students across D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) walked out of classes and marched to the new Trump Hotel near the White House to picket.

Unlike the Blair protest, the DCPS demonstration was pre-organized by students

Student protests have also been a prominent reaction to the presidential election in other areas of the country, including Seattle, Portland, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, New York City, and many cities in California.

On Nov. 14, approximately 5,000 students from 20 middle and high schools marched through the Seattle streets in opposition to Trump, according to a CNN article. The article noted that students were protesting his lack of acceptance of diverse cultures. Three students were arrested in the Seattle demonstration.

Students in Portland, San Francisco, and East Los Angeles also coordinated walkouts after the election, marching in solidarity through their respective cities. These protests ended peacefully.

Local leaders as well as students have noted that demonstrations will most likely continue through Trump’s inauguration and during his first days as president. After the Blair protest, Thames created the Montgomery County Young Leaders non-profit organization. According to Thames, the Montgomery County Young Leaders “will give the students the ability to … go to Annapolis and testify for legislation that would impact them.”

Ultimately, Thames stressed the need for activism from passionate students as the transition continues. “[We need to] figure out what do we do to make sure that the issues that we care about aren’t lost while he’s in office, and the policies that’ve been created aren’t reversed while he’s in office without us having a voice at the table to give our opinions,” he said.

ALEXANDER DACY

A4 News

Newsbriefs

County bill to protect renters approved The Montgomery County Council unanimously approved a bill sponsored by Councilmember Marc Elrich on Nov. 29 to increase protections available to renters.

The bill focused on improving the county’s system of inspecting apartments and enhancing relationships between landlords and tenants, who make up over a third of the county’s residents.

The bill was introduced in 2015, but picked up traction after August’s Flower Branch apartment fire, which affected some Blair students and brought up concerns about apartment safety. According to Elrich, many apartments in the county have safety issues, but have not been inspected in years.

“We’ve got requirements that buildings be safe, that they do not have rodents, that the pipes not leak, all the stuff’s already in the law. But if you don’t have a good inspection system, it doesn’t matter what’s in the law,” Elrich said.

This bill also includes a model lease to ensure that leases conform to county law and increases the number of reasons that a tenant can get out of a lease if need be.

BOE proposes changes to cell phone policy The school board proposed changes on Oct. 24 to regulations on mobile devices, including cell phones, tablets, and laptops, that will go into effect if passed by Superintendent Jack Smith. The proposed modifications require students using mobile devices on school property to access the Internet through the MCPS network and prohibit them from using private cellular networks, which are accessed by turning on data. The proposed regulation prohibits users from placing a mobile device on the MCPS network that, “monitors, analyzes, or may cause disruption to the MCPS network,” like one that uses a Virtual Private Network.

Responsible use guidelines were also added which explicitly state that all activity performed on the school network or while logged into a school-issued account is tracked. “All MCPS equipment, the MCPS network, and the student’s MCPS network account are property of MCPS and can be monitored, logged, and archived,” the proposed regulation reads.

Proposed changes to this regulation also removed restrictions on the use of mobile devices for elementary school students.

Einstein teacher accused of providing liquor for student Albert Einstein math teacher Blaise Delizo has been accused of provided liquor to a 17-year-old senior, and faces criminal charges.

On Nov. 4, Delizo offered to buy liquor for the underage girl via text message, who was his former student, according to ABC7.

He then reportedly drove to meet her at the Shoppers Food and Pharmacy on Randolph Road, where he gave her bottles of whiskey and brandy. Montgomery County Police were notified of this incident by Child Protective Services. According to ABC7, it is unknown how Child Protective Services found out about the incident.

Delizo is scheduled to appear in Montgomery County District Court next month.

Newsbriefs compiled by Erin Namovicz

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December 21, 2016

Superintendent recommends 2017-18 budget Smith presents $2.52 billion operating budget to Board members

By Olivia Gonzalez MCPS Superintendent Jack Smith recommended his operating budget to the Board of Education for the 2017-2018 school year on Dec. 13.

The proposal requested a twoand-a-half percent increase in spending from last year to deal with enrollment growth and to help close the achievement gap.

Additionally, the budget recommended money to fund the construction of a new school, employee benefits, and salaries. Part of the increase also comes from taking inflation into account.

The new budget aimed to keep the same level of funding for most programs, while adjusting the budget by $62 million to account for increases in student enrollment. If the Board approves the budget, it will go to the County Council and County Executive Isiah Leggett, who will decide to approve or reject it.

Smith’s proposal is the highest in MCPS budget history at over $2.5 billion.

The operating budget is one part of the total money requested by the county each year. It covers operating costs, faculty salaries, and supports programs such as ESOL, Free and Reduced Meals, and Career Technology Education. In addition to the operating budget, MCPS has a capital budget, which covers structural and facility management, which was approved by the Board on Nov. 21.

COURTESY OF MCPS

PROPOSAL Superintendent Jack Smith presents his fiscal year 2018 budget to the Board and the public on Dec. 13.

According to Chief Financial Officer Nicola Diamond, Smith and his staff wrote the operating budget over the past four months and consulted the Board throughout this process. “The Board of Education provided ongoing input during meetings regarding the development of the Superintendent’s budget,” Diamond said. “They [did] this by sharing their interests at Board of Education and committee meetings.”

Of the $2.52 billion budget proposal, 66.8 percent will come from county taxes, 26.4 percent will come from state funds, and the remaining 6.8 percent will come from the federal government, enterprise funds, and the MCPS fund balance.

The majority of the money, $2.06 billion, will go toward instruction, which includes teacher salaries, class materials, and trans-

portation, according to the proposal.

For next fiscal year, the Board and Superintendent prioritized equal opportunity and closing the achievement gap. In order to fulfill this goal, they allocated $450,000 to ensure that all students are able to take the SAT and ACT, as well as $85,000 to provide college and career readiness to students.

The new budget expanded Career Technology Education (CTE), free programs that allow students to receive certification in a field of study, such as cosmetology, after taking classes in school. CTE allows students who do not plan on attending college to prepare for a career after high school.

Additionally, the proposal encouraged more support for Dual Language and Language Immersion programs. In his presentation of the budget, Smith emphasized

the value of speaking another language and cited it as an advantage in American society. He praised ESOL programs and immersion programs for increasing bilinguality.

In order to fund budget increases, money spent in fiscal year 2017 on bus parts and tires was reduced by over $600,000 in the new budget, the utility budget was reduced by over $1 million, and funding for textbooks and instructional materials was reduced by almost $5 million.

The Board will submit the operating budget to the County Council by February after examining Smith’s proposal during meetings and public hearings. “After the Superintendent shared his recommended budget, the Board of Education spends time reviewing the budget in detail,” Diamond said.

According to Diamond, the community has the opportunity to give input at Board meetings as they review the budget. “We gather input and work with stakeholders and partners including our employees, the Board of Education, MCCPTA, and the community,” she said. “Decisions are made through a budget steering committee and senior leadership.”

After the Board approves the budget, County Council members will determine how much of the budget will be funded. The Council will then return it to the Board, which will adopt the final budget for next school year, based on the Council’s recommendations.

A guide to Immigration and Customs Enforcement

The powers and limitations of the gover nment agency

By Laura Espinoza As a new administration comes into office on Jan. 20, future plans for undocumented immigrants in the U.S. are unknown. During his campaign, President-elect Donald Trump proposed plans to build a wall on the country’s southern border, to introduce the End Illegal Immigration Act, and to terminate prior executive orders that help

ICE could take people from anywhere.

According to WRAL News, parents stopped sending their children to school after Acosta’s arrest in fear of an ambush. In response, ICE spokesman Bryan Cox identified locations where undocumented immigrants would not be arrested. “ICE does not conduct enforcement at sensitive locations,” Cox said to WRAL News.

Maryland’s undocumented immigrants are from: Asia

Mexico and Central America

Africa

South America

MIGRATION POLICY INSTITUTE

Europe/Canada/Oceania

represents 1% of the undocumented population

undocumented immigrants, such as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

The agency that currently handles issues regarding immigration is U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the Department of Homeland Security. Currently, undocumented immigrants are entitled to several rights when they encounter police officers or ICE officials.

School When ICE officials apprehended 19-year-old Wildin “David” Guillen Acosta on his way to school in North Carolina in January of this year, the public believed

Carribean

LAURA ESPINOZA

These locations include all religious sites, hospitals, and schools.

According to The Atlantic, ICE had previously apprehended undocumented immigrants on the way to or outside of schools. In 2011, agents surrounded a Detroit elementary school to detain families inside. In 2012, two Detroit parents were arrested while dropping their children off at school.

At the beginning of 2016, ICE established a priority to remove more immigrants who arrived in 2014, when a surge of Central Americans came to the U.S. Nestor Alvarenga, Montgomery County’s Latino community liaison, shared the worries of the large Salvadoran populations in parts of Wheaton,

Langley Park, and Silver Spring with Bethesda Magazine.

These immigrants were concerned for their children and no longer felt that the county was safe for their families, according to Alvarenga. “Parents are afraid and we’ve had parent coordinators and principals notice students who haven’t come to school. We’re trying to tell people to calm down,” he said in the article.

ESOL teacher Megan Hamouch stressed that teachers never require students to share their immigration status. “We’re not allowed to ask, but if they divulge the information, that’s fine,” she said.

According to the Equal Educational Opportunities Act, which prohibits discrimination based on nationality, race, or color, students cannot be denied an equal education because of their immigration status. For this reason, teachers and schools cannot ask for a student’s immigration status in an official capacity, and teachers do not share this personal information with anyone in the school or the county.

Even if the school is aware of a student’s immigration status, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act protects student information. This law prevents schools from collaborating with ICE to apprehend undocumented students without criminal records.

Contact with police Ricardo Campos, Education Program Manager at CASA de Maryland, believes there is a lack of education on immigrants’ constitutional rights. “I think the biggest misconception is that the community thinks that police have the right to question either their immigration status or asking any kind of personal information of country of origin,” Campos said. “It’s

pretty intimidating knowing that a figure of authority is questioning you.”

If a law enforcement office requests someone’s immigration status, that person has the right to remain silent. If immigration officials ask to see a non-U.S. citizen’s identification papers, he or she must present them. Presenting falsified documents is a criminal act.

Custody

If someone is ever apprehended by the police or ICE, many of the same rights guaranteed to U.S. citizens and residents apply. The right to remain silent and to have an attorney are rights given to all arrested people. However, in deportation cases, the government is not required to provide an attorney if someone cannot afford one.

Work or home

ICE can come to a private residence, but they cannot enter without a warrant signed by a judge or permission from the resident. If they enter, they may arrest anyone inside who is also an undocumented immigrant, even if their warrant only identified specific people.

At a private workplace, the employer can give permission for ICE officials to enter, even if they do not have a warrant. In any public location or workplace, ICE officials do not need a warrant to find an undocumented immigrant, but they may need one to arrest them.

Alvarenga reaffirmed that Montgomery County is a sanctuary city, a place that does not cooperate with ICE to arrest undocumented immigrants. “The policies are not changing. The police department is not working with ICE,” he said. “We are continuing and holding our way, our Montgomery County way.”

News A5

silverchips

December 21, 2016

Graduation fee rises to accommodate venue cost

Class of 2017 will graduate from UMD Xfinity Center from GRADUATION page A1 guests, a significant increase from Constitution Hall’s seating capacity of 3,702 people.

Students will be given 12 tickets for family and friends to attend graduation.

In addition to Blair, three other high schools decided to move their graduations to the Xfinity Center because of their large senior classes.

Walter Johnson will hold their graduation June 6 at 9:30 am and Zadok Magruder and Sherwood will graduate from the Xfinity Center on June 7.

The cost to rent out the Xfinity Center for one day is approximately $30,000. As a result, Blair and Walter Johnson are each responsible for paying around $15,000 to cover their June 6 date.

MCPS provided Blair $2,500 toward the price of the new venue, so Blair must make up the remaining cost. In order to reach this goal, each senior must pay a $30 graduation fee, in addition to a mandatory $40 fee for the cost of a new graduation cap, gown, and tassel.

Johnson said she was instructed to impose the fee by those handling the contract in MCPS. “My people above me have said that ... if students pay $30 that should cover it,” she said.

Senior class sponsor Roxanne Fus said that a large portion of the money left over after the venue fee is paid will be used to pay for graduation tickets and programs.

“650 times 12 is 7800, so I have to print 7800 tickets, actually more than that, because there are people that have asked for extra tickets, so you’re talking at least 8000 tickets,” she said.

“We’re not going to invite extra people and not have programs for them. So the costs for that are also … up.”

Certain payment plans are available for students who cannot afford an upright $70 payment. “There is a $15 a month payment plan for families who can’t do $70 all in one go,” Johnson said.

This year, each senior who plans to at-

tend graduation owes Blair $70 before they are granted their tickets, as opposed to the $35 required fee of previous years.

In the past, a new cap and gown was not mandatory for graduating seniors. Students were permitted to borrow them from a friend or family member who had graduated from Blair.

Johnson requested that each senior purchase a new cap and gown this year to avoid inconsistent color tones of the garments and to prevent last minute malfunctions with the regalia. “The people who used the gowns from the past, it was orange. It was an ‘orange red’ and this was ‘red red,’” Johnson said.

Each new graduation set costs $40, and according to Johnson, the school does not make any profit from selling the apparel.

Fus said that in addition to avoiding color discrepancies in the garments, students are required to purchase new caps and gowns this year to prevent feelings of embarrassment that arise when students wear regalia that are not uniform with the rest of the class.

“People are embarrassed when they get them and they are sitting next to someone and it is not the same color.” Fus said. “So, then they come to us and say, ‘Oh my gosh, is there a leftover gown or something, can I switch it out and go ahead and pay for one?’”

Each of the four schools graduating from the Xfinity Center will pay the same amount to cover the cost of renting out the venue, although the schools have varying methods of payment collection.

Magruder does not require its seniors to pay a graduation fee, as the difference is covered through school-sponsored fundraisers and donations from the PTSA. Sherwood requires seniors to pay $75 to participate in graduation, but students are able to pay this cost over the course of four years.

Walter Johnson collects $55 from each senior, but they are allowed to reuse old graduation robes.

Johnson explained that each school used its own discretion to decide how to pay the venue fee.

“You know, different schools have different wealth in their community,” she said.

“They’re going to have the same costs to use the venue. How they pay for the venue is really up to the individual schools.”

MCPS was unavailable for comment.

ALEXANDER DACY

Up and Coming December 24 - January 2 Winter Break - No school for students

January 16 Martin Luther King Jr. Day- No school for students

January 20 Inaguration Day - No school for students

January 27 Professional Day

Student & Teacher Awards & Honors The Math Team, consisting of senior Pratik Rathore, juniors Guang Ci, Dilhan Salgado, David Wu, and sophomores Kevin Qian, Steven Qu, Jacob Stavrianos, and Daniel Zhu, won first place in the Princeton University Mathematics Competition. The B team, consisting of seniors Joshua Fernandes and Jamie Vinson, juniors Jyotsna Rao and Eric Shen, sophomores Anson Berns, Olivia Fan, and Haydn Gwyn, and freshman Ambrose Yang, won third place in the B division.

Senior Samuel Kebede won the Posse Foundation scholarship.

Blair was named a Top 25 Engineering Source School by the University of Maryland’s A. James Clark School of Engineering.

Juniors Divya John, Christopher Wang, Eric Shen, and Michael Yin and sophomores Avik Barva, Grace Cai, Bennet Coukos-Wiley, Olivia Fan, and Jonah Nan received a perfect score of 1520 on the PSAT. Seniors Desmond Colby and Cliff Carter were selected to the All-MoCo Football First team.

Seniors Daniel Chen, Nayman Leung, and Joshua Yuan, juniors Prem Chandrasekhar, Arman Siddique, Ray Weng, and sophomore Justin Hung won first place in the Silver Spring Rubik’s Challenge.

Sophomore Justin Hung also won third place in the Rubik’s Challenge.

Senior Julia Aviles-Zavala won the Hispanic Heritage Foundation Youth Award for Community Service.

Senior Jack Russ was selected to the 2017 Maryland All-State Chorus.

Juniors Maggie Wang and Ariel Zhang were selected to the All-County volleyball team.

Seniors Desmond Colby and Ponce DeLeon were selected to the Fall All-Met Honorable Mention Football Team by the Washington Post.

Sambuddha Chattopadhyay was named a semifinalist for the Calvin Coolidge Scholarship.

B1 Opinion silverchips Montgomery Blair High School 51 University Boulevard East Silver Spring, MD 20901 Phone: (301) 649-2864 Winner of the 2015 National Scholastic Press Association Pacemaker Winner of the 2015 Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Crown

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silverchips

December 21, 2016

Improve access to mental health resources Schools should help students take advantage of available solutions

By Leila Jackson An opinion

It is no secret that students are under a lot of stress. The pressure to be involved in clubs and sports, to take challenging classes, and to succeed in those classes can be overwhelming. This stress can lead to mental health problems or intensify pre-existing mental conditions.

Although there are some efforts in MCPS to address student psychological health, many students are hesitant to speak with their counselors or other adults to address these issues.

School should be a safe place to be able to talk a trusted person about any problems. Guidance counselors have basic training to help students cope with mental health conditions. According to counselor Susanne Bray, although counselors cannot diagnose mental health conditions, they are able to refer students and families to professionals.

However, some students do not necessarily have a close enough relationship with their counselors to feel comfortable discussing personal issues. “I just don’t know my counselor well enough,” sophomore Megan Burke says.

Since Blair is such a large school, it can feel like all counselors are there for is schedule changes and college prep and this discourages students from seeking their help.

Counselors are able to talk to students about any problems they might be having and if they see signs that there might be a serious condition, they have resources

in place for students outside of school. “We have an agreement with the YMCA Youth and Family Services where we can refer students and families for counseling services through their program,” Bray says.

This program provides free services to students without health insurance, so Bray recommends this to students who may not have the means to afford private therapy. If a student is 16 or older, they can seek treatment without parental consent, so counselors are not required to notify their parents.

Counselors can also refer students to the Montgomery County Crisis Center in Rockville, which is open 24 hours a day. “We’ve got a number of resources the county gives us … We can’t say you should go to this therapist, but we can provide a number of different places and help the parent make that contact to see which facility would work best,” Bray says.

There are also school psychologists in MCPS, but they split their time between schools. These psychologists do meet with students, but also administer educational testing. “Some school psychologists also meet with students individually and run groups,” says licensed clinical marriage and family therapist Kate Alcamo. Alcamo previously worked through the Linkages to Learning program which is a county program that contracts with local schools and Montgomery County. Alcamo explains that because school psychologists split their time between schools, all they might have time for at each facility is educational testing and Individualized Educa-

HANNAH SCHWARTZ

WALL OF POSITIVITY Students leave encouraging messages and quotes on the wall of Blair Boulevard to inspire others. tion Program meetings.

Blair has a school psychologist, Dr. Brenda Barbour, who works at Blair every day. Mainly, school psychologists consult with teachers about students’ behavioral and academic performances and work with students who are having difficulties. “We spend time working with students who need some short-term counseling,” Barbour says.

Barbour also has open office hours on Mondays and students can drop in without a referral from a counselor or teacher, but she says there is a need for more school psychologists. “Particularly in a building this large, … it’s very hard for one person to make any kind of impact,” Barbour says.

There are clearly resources at Blair that can be useful to students

struggling with mental illnesses, but a lot of students are not aware of the help that they can receive.

“I didn’t even know we had a school psychologist,” senior Jasmine Blassingame says.

Counselors could mention the resources available when they visit classes. We also need more reminders to catch the attention of students in crisis; strategically placed posters in hallways and in classes, for instance, or flyers available for pickup at the counselor’s office.

Raising awareness is essential so that students are able to reach out and get the help they need.

“You can’t fix a broken bone on your own. [Mental illness] is a health issue just like a regular physical illness. You have to seek professional help,” Bray says.

Looking ahead to 2017: Things to hope for in the new year

By Henry Wiebe An opinion

Without a doubt, 2016 has been a pretty tough year for a lot of people. There have been Zika outbreaks, record high temperatures, countless acts of terror, and deaths of music icons like Prince and David Bowie.

As a high school student, I have seen this year take its toll on those around me, and looking back, there are small things that we could have done to make our day to day lives more positive.

Despite this, I have extreme confidence that we will start to notice an upward trend. This new year will be full of opportunity, and all we have to do is seize it in order to create change. Here are a few things that I would like to see change in 2017.

after lunch and before classes are a direct result of people who suddenly decide to stop or slow down right in the middle of the hall.

Do everyone a favor, and make sure you are not one of these people. If you are one of these students, the problem has an easy solution. In order to make this issue obsolete, all you have to do is pay more attention to what everyone else is doing around you.

Weekend homework We all know that feeling of the last few minutes of class on a Friday afternoon. We see the light at the end of the weeklong tunnel.

Then, just when we think that we are home free, the teacher decides to assign textbook readings or some worksheet and announce a quiz for next class. As a student

Slow walking in the hallways There are few things in life that truly annoy me. However, I have almost no tolerance for those people who think that it is okay for them to clog up Blair’s hallways by idly standing there, blocking everyone’s way, or by drudging to class with a speed that is barely above a crawl.

All traffic jams that happen

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. Signed letters to the editor are encouraged.

Submit your letter to Jeremy Stelzner’s mailbox in the main office, to room 158 or to silver.chips. print@gmail.com. Concerns about Silver Chips’ content should be directed to the Ombudsman, the public’s representative to the paper, at silver.chips. ombudsman@gmail.com. Letters may be edited for space and clarity.

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body, we are belabored by weekend assignments that strip us of some of the only free time that we have as students.

We already dedicate five days a week to the study and practice of our academics. I wish to use my weekends to spend time with family or friends, not to work tediously on unimportant homework. It is not like the stuff we learn is going to be applicable in real life anyway. The concept of

soapbox What are you looking forward to in 2017?

“In 2017, I am looking forward to watching all of my best friends graduate.”

— Grace Hildebrandt, junior “I look forward to summer break in 2017.”

— Beamlak Gebre, junior “I am most excited for the Blair spring musical.”

— Sarah Gao, junior weekend homework demonstrates a total disregard for the feelings of students.

Trying new things In the last edition of Silver Chips, I became a vegan for a week and wrote about my experience. I did not enjoy my time as a vegan, but I value the exposure to another lifestyle.

So for my last call to action, I propose that everyone should be a little bit more open to trying new things. I would encourage all students to try veganism, or something else out of their ordinary, even if it is only for a few days, especially if you are someone who eats a lot of meat and dairy. I do not suggest that you stick with it for an extended period of time, but I do think that there is value in having experiences that allow you to be more empathetic with those who hold different views.

If we are able to incorporate all of these things into our lives for the new year, 2017 is bound to be a great year. The main character from the “Rocky” movie franchise,

Rocky Balboa, once famously said, “It ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.

How much you can take and keep

MARISSA HE

moving forward. That’s how winning is done!”

Here at Blair, we are winners. I know that we are capable of picking ourselves up after hard times, and pushing through.

Even though 2016 was rough, that does not mean that 2017 will be, too.

December 21, 2016

Opinion B2

silverchips

Is MCPS focusing too much on college readiness?

YES:

NO:

College readiness is a necessity for success.

Schools need to present alternatives to college.

Get good grades, graduate, go to the best college, get a job, and live happily ever after. That is the cookie cutter plan looming over students throughout their K-12 education. The happilyever-after part seems far-fetched, but for many recent college graduates, surviving after college under the weight of student debt and the pressure to find a job is a small miracle in itself.

The consensus among the general BEN DOGGETT public seems to be that college graduates Hermela Mengesha earn more and lead healthier and happier lives. But it is time to stop pretending that college is the best path for everyone, and that those who do not fit this mold cannot lead successful lives. MCPS is in part to blame for perpetuating the narrative that getting into the best college is the be all and end all of a person’s future. Schools have failed to present adequate alternatives to college for students from a young age.

Trade schools and Career and Technology Education (CTE) programs should be advertised as legitimate options.

College and Career Centers in MCPS do not take into account the vast range of students’ needs. This is evident in the College and Career Readiness and College Completion Act (CCRCCA), which details new graduation requirements. Students are required to take the SAT, ACT, Accuplacer, AP, or International Baccalaureate assessments by the end of grade 11. Students also have the option of taking summative assessments for Montgomery College (MC).

Another option is to take CTE assessments geared towards gaining a professional license or industry certification.

For instance, by the time they graduate, students can be trained in marketing, nursing, computer programming, and many other fields. The problem with this path lies in the fact that these programs not only lack promotion in schools, but that they are not widely available to students. “[MCPS is] certainly trying to do more to promote [CTE programs]...But is it enough? By no means,” Benjamin OuYang, director of the Department of Career Readiness and Innovative Program for MCPS, says. Schools should be judged not only on their college acceptance rates, but also on the number of students that complete CTE programs.

The reality of college today is far less ideal than it is made out to be. Many college graduates are finding the dreams of success and financial stability that were instilled in them from a young age to be just that dreams. A study done by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that 48 percent of employed college graduates are working in jobs that require less than a four year college degree. On top of this, graduates are burdened by student debt, with outstanding debt in the U.S. increasing by $2,726 a

Prim Phoolsombat Senior

second, according to Market Watch.

Senior Jesus Hernandez’s decision not to go to college mainly stems from financial concerns. “They never bring up the negatives about going to college, like financially,” Hernandez says.

It is clear that going to a four year college is not a guarantee for success, and for some, it has even been detrimental to their futures. In addition to CTE programs, schools need to make an effort to present trade schools as alternatives to a college degree. A trade school focuses on teaching the skills needed for a specific job. Most trade school educations take two years or less to complete and cost significantly less than a college degree. According to the Idaho Department of Labor, the average bachelor degree costs $127,000. In comparison, the average trade school degree costs $33,000, according to the U.S. News and World Report. These degrees can not only result in well-paying careers, but are also more affordable for some students.

This is not to say that college preparedness is not an important aspect of a

A towering pile of college applications comprised of similar elements — 4.0 GPA, 1500 SAT scores, etc. — faces an admissions officer. On paper, the applicants are relatively indistinguishable from one another, each student a product of both hard work and extensive — probably expensive — preparation for college. Only a select few will come out on top and win a four-year trip to their dream university.

BEN DOGGETT Although this Cole Greenberg cutthroat admissions process has long since been the hallmark of America’s top-ranked universities, namely the Ivy League, a similarly competitive atmosphere has steadily pervaded other schools across the nation. For example, at the University of Maryland, once considered a safety school for many MCPS

student’s education. But even for students confident that they will be attending college after high school, taking CTE programs in high school provides a backup plan to protect them in hard times. If they find themselves leaving college, forced to work in a job outside of the field they studied, or working while attending school, having training in another field can go a long way.

“Over 54 percent of your fellow classmates are going to be working at least 30 hours a week while they’re going to college. And they might as well be doing it in a better paying job,” OuYang says.

The excessive emphasis that is placed on college from a young age creates a stigma around alternate career paths, to the point where choosing not to attend college is looked down upon. Students deserve a healthy environment to explore all options available to them, so that in the end, the choices they make are based on what their futures look like in their own eyes - not how it appears through the blurred lens of the county.

students, expectations have skyrocketed. In 1993, the median SAT score among UMD freshmen on a 1600 scale was 1086. In 2016, the median score is a whopping 1340. As a tougher admissions process becomes more commonplace nationwide, it is imperative that MCPS continues to focus on preparing students for college through free and accessible college readiness.

In an economy marked by disruption and rapid change, higher education is no longer considered an optional path. As President Barack Obama put it in 2009, “In a global economy where the most valuable skill you can sell is your knowledge, a good education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity. It is a pre-requisite.” The world’s parameters for achieving economic success have changed, and so too must the course of our county’s yellow-brick road to financial security.

Free and accessible college readiness programs in MCPS, such as Achieving Collegiate Excellence & Success (ACES) and CollegeTracks, help students dealing

TIFFANY MAO

voicebox

with learning disabilities, language barriers, and financial challenges apply for college. MCPS needs to increase its students’ chances of success by expanding the availability of and access to free college readiness programs, rather than diminishing those initiatives.

The biggest benefit of free, accessible college readiness programs is that they help close the educational chasm between lowincome and high-income students.

This socioeconomic divide manifests itself in MCPS just like it does across the nation. Data from the College Board shows that in 2014, students from families with an income of $40,000 or lower scored an average of 1402 or lower on the SAT on a 2400 scale. In contrast, students from more affluent families, with an income of $100,000 or more, scored 1569 or more on average.

Increasing college readiness in MCPS helps to level the playing field between affluent college applicants who can afford extra tutoring and those who rely only on the offerings of their school. The county’s newest graduation requirement, a minimum score on the SAT, ACT, or ACCUPLACER, is a step in the right direction. But there is still more to be done.

MCPS needs to make sure that their students are aware of schools’ College and Career Centers, and the county needs to increase funding to these hubs of college readiness.

Providing more study materials and staff members in College and Career Centers would allow for more SAT tutoring, mock interviews, and essay help for students who really need it.

Focusing on college readiness may involve deeper preparation for standardized tests, but it also means an earlier introduction to the world of higher education.

Jamming college readiness into the first grade curriculum right after nap time is not the right answer, but involving younger students in conversations about scholarships, majors, and college environments will benefit those students in the long run.

There is no reason why the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” has to be a topic of dread for high school students. Students with their goals in mind are better able to select classes and activities that will benefit them most in the future.

And yes, some students prefer to work with their hands, and a university is simply the wrong place for them. However, even today’s blue-collar occupations require higher level thinking and skills that can be obtained through preparing for college.

Focusing on college readiness in MCPS will also make sure students have the basic qualifications to enroll in a university in case their career plans change.

Besides, while a county-wide initiative promoting college readiness might not directly benefit students on a career track, it would unlock the potential of those who need that extra help and offer them the opportunities they deserve.

Adia Keene Freshman

Alia Rice Junior

Teddy Beamer Freshman

“No, I think they are not shoving it in your face too early on, but you are still able to prepare.”

“Yes, I feel like they also do not offer other alternative options.”

“No, I think that it’s important for MCPS to make students ready for college.”

Milos Pajic Senior

BEN DOGGETT

“Yes, I think that it is important that we focus on creating pathways to technical schools as well as other options.”

“No, we don’t really educate everyone about the steps involved to get to college.”

B3 Opinion

silverchips

December 21, 2016

Why I marched: Blazers unite behind a common vision Even those who cannot vote reserve the right to political demonstration

By Noah Chopra-Khan “This is what democracy looks like!” The chant echoed in the streets and resonated deeply in the hearts and minds of every student marching down University Boulevard the morning of Nov. 14.

For many of us, the recent election was painfully frustrating because we could not vote. Our voices were not heard, our values were not considered, and our opinions were not taken into account.

The Monday after the presidential election, my sense of civic responsibility was ignited when I joined hundreds of Blair students in walking off of campus.

Like most of my peers, I was not looking for an excuse to skip class, but for a chance to be heard.

I marched to stand in solidarity with the students and families that make up our beautiful, diverse community. Donald Trump won the presidential election with a campaign built on ignorance and hate and exploited the fears of millions of Americans from places not as culturally diverse as Blair.

And now his election has validated bigotry.

This bigotry and intolerance is showing up in public, in the workplace, and even in schools.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, “In the ten days following the election, there were almost 900 reports of harassment and intimidation from across the nation.” And it is clear that kids are paying attention.

The message is loud and clear: you do not belong in Donald Trump’s America.

This message was heard when middle schoolers in Detroit,

Michigan chanted at their Latino peers “Build a wall!” It was heard in Washington when a middle schooler yelled out “I hate Muslims.” And it was heard when swastikas were spray-painted in Westland Middle School in Bethesda.

The appointment of anti-Islamic, anti-Semitic white nationalists like Steve Bannon to the upcoming presidential administration is a signal that acts of hate like these will not only be tolerated, but endorsed. We cannot afford to treat this as politics as usual.

I hold strongly to my American values — that everybody should be treated equally and with respect regardless of their ethnicity, religion, gender, wealth, or sexual orientation. My decision to join the protest was driven by a desire to reaffirm those values, for myself and my community. It was an amazing, empowering moment.

But it was more than a stand of solidarity and an outright rejection of bigotry. It was a loud message that we, the youth, we, the unrepresented, demand accountability. We demand a voice.

There has been criticism from the public that, as minors, we should not be protesting. The more articulate critics argue that we should stay in class to get an education rather than leave class to make meaningless gestures.

But as James Baldwin and Martin Luther King Jr. preached, education is about empowerment and critical thinking. It is not about submissiveness. At its best, education is learning to think for yourself and to understand and evaluate the world you live in.

However, there is no value

ARITRA ROY

in learning about our world if we do nothing to shape it. It is a testament to our Blair education that hundreds of students felt a civic duty to stand up for what we believe in. We willingly left school grounds fully aware of the consequences, because we know that democracy only works when we show up.

So, we took to the streets and drew national media attention.

But that is not enough, and our critics will be proven right if we

stop there. We must use our newfound voice to demand action and accountability.

Students should organize around coherent goals and offer an alternative vision for our country’s future based on tolerance and mutual respect. We need to put pressure where it counts. Using social media and other tools, an organization of student leaders across the country can and should hold our elected representatives on the local, state, and national

levels accountable for their actions in office.

In two years, millions of my peers and I will vote. Until then we are watching, not waiting. We are protesting, not staying silent.

I hope that our Presidentelect will keep his election night promise to be a president for all Americans. But it takes more than looking into a camera to bring together a country that has been torn apart.

It takes action.

My body, my choice: A look into women’s issues under Donald Trump

The new administration could challenge the reproductive rights of American women

By Emma Cross After years of fighting for equality and independence, women and girls now face another possible challenge: the Trump administration. Both Trump’s influence on reproductive health policies and his concerning persona, riddled with a history of alleged sexual abuse and negative rhetoric, create a troubling vision of the future for women.

As Trump’s presidency approaches, women, including teenagers, are threatened by cuts in access to birth control and hateful speech that could affect their health and independence. It is important, however, to realize that despite the president-elect’s harsh words, checks and balances ensure some protection from the complete reversal of abortion and other reproductive rights.

The Republican Party has clearly stated on its platform that

it supports the appointment of a Supreme Court judge who will repeal Roe v. Wade, a critical Supreme Court case which legalized abortions in the first trimester of a pregnancy. While Trump cannot single-handedly overturn this verdict, his appointment of a conservative justice could potentially allow for a Supreme Court decision to repeal the ruling.

As concerning as this is to proponents of reproductive rights, repealing a Supreme Court case is not easy, and even in the worstcase scenario, access to abortion would not be completely eliminated under the Trump administration.

According to NBC Associated Press, if Roe v. Wade were overturned, abortion laws would be handed down to the states, meaning the laws would vary according to states’ individual ideologies. Although some conservative states would likely impose severe

restrictions on abortion, there is always the possibility of traveling to another state that allows the act.

Consider the United Kingdom: Northern Ireland does not allow abortion, but this does not stop women from traveling elsewhere in the U.K. to obtain one.

Trump’s power to select a Supreme Court Justice does give him great power, but unless all the states individually decide to outlaw them, abortions will still be available in some states.

With a Republican majority in Congress, Trump will likely be able to defund influential health care reforms such as the Affordable Care Act. Jonah Engel Bromwich writes in the New York Times that Trump’s opposition to the law could have huge effects on women’s healthcare. “The health care law gave 47 million women access to preventive health services. It also required insurers to

MARISSA HE

make birth control available at no cost to women, eliminating costly co-payments that in many cases ran to hundreds of dollars a year or more,” Bromwich writes.

While Trump may not be able to take away birth control completely, he can limit accessibility by eliminating subsidies that allow many women to obtain contraceptives. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, an estimated 37.9 million women are currently in need of contraceptives.

Threatened with limited accessibility, some women are considering forms of birth control that will outlast Trump’s term. “After Mr. Trump’s win on Tuesday, women on social media announced plans to obtain intrauterine devices (IUD), a form of contraception that can last as long as 12 years,” Bromwich writes.

Junior Raina Newsome began looking into IUD options after the election of Trump, worried about accessibility to birth control after he takes office. “Just hearing about the kind of policies that Trump and Pence have in mind … if they somehow did make oral contraceptives illegal then there would need to be an alternative, and it would need to last for a long time,” Newsome says.

Aside from legislative and executive influence, Trump’s general rhetoric toward women throughout his campaign has also worsened the stigma attached to abortion and birth control. For example, Trump fat shamed former Miss Universe Alicia Machado, calling her “Miss Piggy.” His alleged history of sexual abuse

and his tendency to say and do whatever he wants to women may make women feel less emboldened to stand up to issues regarding reproductive health.

With the support of over 62 million Americans, Trump’s successful campaign has revealed that women may not be as close to equality as they thought. Trump’s voters essentially validated his actions against women by supporting him, revealing that the belief of inferiority of women is more widespread than many may have hoped or realized.

The President-elect’s blatant disrespect toward women may also create a negative climate that discourages women’s rights and reproductive choices, particularly because the election results suggest that Trump was not held accountable for his sexist behavior.

As a young Muslim woman, junior Ifrah Nur was upset by Trump’s election. However, she has dealt with the result by reminding herself that she has rights despite the President-elect’s opposing views. “I am still in shock that [Trump] won, but I have to go about my business. I still have rights, responsibilities, and liberty in this country. So all that I can do is keep moving forward and hope for the best,” Nur says.

Although it may be hard to see the light with an openly sexist President-elect, protections under the law prevent total destruction of reproductive rights.

While defunding of important healthcare reforms is possible, there is no way for Trump to single-handedly remove all access to abortions or birth control.

Opinion B4

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December 21, 2016

Education turned upside down: Examining a new teaching model

Flipped classrooms help to individualize and improve student learning

By Alexander Dacy An opinion Typically, when you open your laptop to do your homework, you are searching for information to reinforce the lecture you received in class that day. Instead, imagine opening your laptop at night, going to your teacher’s YouTube page, and pulling up a video lesson to get your instruction online rather than in the classroom. Sounds novel, right?

But this scenario is becoming more common as high school teachers and college professors turn toward flipped classrooms as their preferred teaching style. Flipped classrooms, an emerging trend in academia, should continue to be implemented because they indi-

vidualize student education, make the learning process more efficient and engaging, and help improve student performance.

Flipped classrooms utilize the components of a traditional classroom, such as homework and lectures, but “flip” them by having students watch recorded lectures and engage in online discussions at home while doing “homework” and supplemental activities in the classroom. The goal of this teaching method is for students to better synthesize and understand the information by applying it in class.

Blair English teacher Keith Anderson implements a flipped classroom because he feels that having students work and receive feedback in class is a better use

of their time than listening to lectures. “I think that there’s far too much valuable time when kids are attentive and ready to work during the day that we waste by either doing busy work or by having the teacher chatter at them,” Anderson says. He records six-to-sevenminute video lectures and posts them on YouTube for his students to watch at home; then when they come to class, they focus on their writing and can get immediate feedback on their work.

According to junior Mikaela Moore, one of Anderson’s students, the videos emphasize writing techniques, which are then used for in-class writings. “He teaches us different writing styles in the videos, and then we come to school and we write with different

AVERY LIOU

organization and techniques,” she says.

A major benefit of flipped classrooms is the individualization of student learning. Students are able to work at their own pace and can meet one-on-one with their teacher, thereby maximizing understanding of concepts and improving learning.

Writing for TeachThought, a website that helps teachers succeed in the classroom, educator Mike Acedo explains that flipped classrooms “allow students … to take their time reviewing the material without getting left behind and receive immediate assistance from teachers and classmates.”

This individualized approach can help prevent students from falling behind since teachers are able to constantly check for understanding in class.

Vanderbilt University compiled research on flipped classrooms and also recognized this improved efficiency in learning. “The flipped classroom helps students learn to correct misconceptions and organize their new knowledge such that it is more accessible for future use,” the study reads. This allows students to practice the information while they have access to immediate feedback from peers and the instructor.

These improved methods translate to improved performance, and numerous case studies in recent years demonstrate this positive trend. For example, The Atlantic conducted a study over a three-year period in a pharmaceuticals class at the University of North Carolina in which student performance on tests improved by

roughly five percent in a flipped classroom environment, compared to a traditional educational setting.

Furthermore, a 2014 independent study commissioned by Sophia, a company that assists college students with studying, reported that 71 percent of surveyed teachers observed improved student grades after implementing flipped classrooms.

While these numbers provide a source of optimism for both educators and students, they are still only preliminary. Results with this teaching approach can vary significantly because students’ backgrounds, needs, and responses to education methods are so individualized. It is too early to definitively say that flipped classrooms are the way to go for all academic courses and settings, but it is easy to denote a positive trend for flipped classroom results thus far, which will hopefully be validated by future studies.

Flipped classrooms are a popular new trend in the teaching world, and they have benefits that range from a more focused, efficient education to better academic performance and meaningful application of newly-learned concepts. Students can get input from their peers and instructors during interactive classroom time, which helps to minimize frustration and extra time spent trying to relearn concepts outside of the classroom.

The approach has helped Moore, who finds her writing and understanding of concepts consistently improving. “I understand the information more in detail, and I’m more comfortable doing the assignments,” she says.

B5 Opinion

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December 21, 2016

My Blair: Personal Column A missing piece in introductions

HANNAH SCHWARTZ

By Rebecca Wessel Guest writer At the summer camp I attend, one key event that makes it such a supportive environment is our name circle. At the beginning of every two-week session, we stand in a big circle on a wide grassy field and introduce ourselves with our preferred name and the pronouns that we’d like people to use when referring

to us.

Pronouns are the words used in place of a name when talking about another person. The binary gendered pronouns are she, her, and hers, or he, him, and his, but these don’t apply to everyone. If someone does not feel like they fit with any binary gendered pronouns, pronouns exist that imply both or neither gender such as they, them, and theirs, or ze, hir, and hirs (pronounced “hear” and “hears”).

This introductory activity at camp gives people control over how they are referred to during the summer. It informs the rest of the community about what language to use to be respectful to each individual. Addressing people by their preferred pronoun promotes the accepting and inclusive values of the camp.

Coming back to school this year, I realized how easy it would be to incorporate pronouns into our name games and icebreakers, not only in class, but in clubs and sports too. It’s a little surprising to me that I’ve never been in a situation at Blair where we’ve shared our pronouns, and I want that to change. Someone’s

THEN: 2001

pronouns are more relevant and important to share than a favorite flavor of ice cream or a favorite animal.

I think of Blair as an inclusive environment in most respects, and I would like for it to continue to be that way. Introductions including preferred pronouns are becoming more and more common, especially at colleges and universities.

When people, whether they are students or staff, assume someone’s pronouns based on how they look or their name, it can make students feel uncomfortable, and nervous to correct them. If a student is never given the opportunity to say which pronouns they prefer, the student’s peers may be uncertain how to reference them, and it can result in an incorrect assumption. Not only would a situation like this be awkward, but it would be insulting. Everyone has the right to be called what they feel comfortable being called.

Making pronouns an essential and ordinary part of introductions for all Blazers would eliminate the stress or embarrassment that someone may feel if they are the only one who is referenced with

incorrect pronouns. It leaves no room for assumption, which is where many issues stem from.

Blair as a whole is a big community, but within Blair there are countless smaller ones. For every class, club, or team to function as a whole, each and every member must feel like they belong.

Including pronouns in introductions at the beginning of the semester or season can help to bring a group of people closer and encourage every person to participate. I used to think of pronouns as something we only include in our introductions at camp, but there’s no reason why we shouldn’t do it in school too.

Camp has always been a loving and supportive environment for me, and I love bringing traditions and conventions from camp to other areas of my life. Extending this accepting culture outside of camp is important to me and helps others to thrive as well.

With the second semester coming soon and new sports seasons starting, I hope the Blair community can become more mindful in using correct pronouns for our peers.

& NOW: 2016

COURTESY OF SILVER CHIPS ARCHIVES

SAMI MALLON

MARCH ON THE CAPITOL Demonstrators march past the Capital Building to show support for reproductive rights at the Emergency March for Women’s Lives.

SILVER SPRING MARCH Blazers protest the election of Donald Trump on Nov. 14.

They joined students from surrounding schools on their journey to Wheaton Mall.

My Blair: Personal Column

Finding a home in Blair’s halls

GRIFFIN REILLY

By Ankit Bhargava Guest writer Growing up in Potomac, surrounded by lush forests and manicured golf courses, I felt detached from the rest of the world. Although my classmates in Potomac each had their own dreams and experiences, I always sensed that we were prey to conformity, myself included. We all wore the same neon yellow Nike tees to school, worshipped the same Kanye tracks, and played the same FIFA video games. We had been friends since kindergarten, so deviating from this uni-

versal standard seemed akin to treason.

This led to an environment which stifled nearly all experimentation. I felt trapped.

My only recourse was a clean break.

For both academic reasons and because of my yearning to explore, I was excited to accept an invitation to the county’s STEM magnet program. The summer before ninth grade, I momentarily questioned this decision as my friends organized classes and visited their future teachers together. Though they were bonding over their new school, I knew a fresh start could only benefit me. A short month later, I groggily stepped off of the school bus as the sun was inching over the horizon. The scenery outside had slowly shifted from the picturesque greenery of Potomac to the concrete jungle of Silver Spring. Watching the industrial Discovery News building tower Silver Spring during gridlock traffic completed this transformation.

Although I was repeatedly told that my new school, Blair, was in the city, only now did I realize what a radical adjustment it would be. As the first few weeks of school passed, not only did I discover the eclectic food and culture Silver Spring had to offer, I also made new friends.

I began to understand what diversity meant in a way much more authentic

than in our annual diversity seminars.

Growing up, we were told how important diversity was; however, I didn’t truly understand its value until I experienced it. Peers who grew up in the city, or even in different countries, had not encountered a better or worse childhood – just a different one. One of the very first friends I made at Blair had devoted every minute outside of school to her trapeze.

Another turned a nice profit by purchasing shoes from eBay, refurbishing them, and then reselling them. During my first week at Blair, I went fishing with these new friends, and then made sushi out of the fish we caught. Experimentation was encouraged. The wacky things we did became stories to be celebrated, rather than hidden. Freshman year was not only refreshing; it was also liberating. On the streets of Silver Spring, I did not have to conform as I had in Potomac. I was proud to be distinct.

I remember tasting this freedom for the first time when I picked up the jazz saxophone. For years, I had internalized the strict rules and disciplined vibe of classical music. Rote perfection was my only goal; most of my peers’ playing had been driven by sheer competition. Mastery itself was the reward. I had forgotten the innate pleasure of letting life’s frustra-

tions melt away into soulful music.

However, at Blair, I gained the freedom to embrace an entirely new way of experiencing music – one without technical boundaries, where I focused on what I was feeling rather than the callous notes printed on the page before me. I went back to classical music asking myself, “What emotion did the composer want me to experience?” This new perspective propelled me farther in my musical experience than any new technique or etude. I thought replicating the military precision of the “1812 Overture” after performing “Take the ‘A’ train” would be arduous, if not impossible. Instead, I found myself falling in love with classical music all over again.

I knew I was home at Blair since my first day, and I’ve never looked back.

Want to submit a personal column? Email it to silver.chips.print@gmail.com The Editorial Board will read through all submissions and determine a selection.

December 21, 2016

Editorials B6

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MCPS’s hasty replacement for final exams Required Quarterly Assessments are detrimental to learning for many students

As the first semester comes to a close, some students may feel relieved that there will be no final exams in January.

To replace final exams, MCPS introduced Required Quarterly Assessments (RQAs) last quarter, which are mandated in core subjects, including English, social studies, science, math, and foreign languages.

Though the Board claims that these assessments reduce the total amount of testing, RQAs are just the latest addition to MCPS’s repertoire of disastrous decisions.

Besides taking away valuable instructional time, the tests were rolled out with little foresight on the part of MCPS leadership.

Before the testing change, final exams and quarterly formative assessments were distributed to honors and on level classes, and each test was designed for the appropriate course level. However, in trying to roll out the best alternative to final exams as quickly as possible, MCPS did not create a on-level version of each RQA. As a result, students who perform at or below grade level were forced to take the honors level version of the test, and unsurprisingly, these students in on-level classes underperformed.

Nearly 30 percent of the 284 students in on-level English 10 received an E on their Quarter 1 RQA. Subsequently, these 84 on-level English students had an E as 10 percent of their first quarter grade because the county did not take the time to make a test compatible with their skills.

In addition, MCPS did not create RQAs compatible with many ESOL students.

While teachers expected RQAs to be at the

ESOL Four level, social studies resource teacher Mary Lou Thornton said the assessments were unexpectedly challenging (see A2 for more on RQAs).

The purpose of eliminating semester final exams was to reduce overall testing time and improve instruction for students.

According to the MCPS website, RQAs are designed to be “meaningful, rigorous, available to students and parents, and tied more closely to the instructional cycle.”

However, by neglecting to create onlevel or appropriate ESOL-level RQAs, the county is hindering these students’ quarter grades and simply wasting their time.

A benefit of the new RQAs is that students can see their graded assessments to learn from them, and teachers can identify areas in which students are struggling, two advantages that previous final exams did not have. But it is impossible for students in on-level and ESOL courses to reap these benefits when they are being assessed unfairly.

Before tens of thousands of high schoolers are assessed again later this year, MCPS must develop RQAs that fit all academic levels, not just honors and AP. A failure to do so will only discourage ESOL and onlevel students and take away valuable class time that will actually assist in learning.

If the county is serious about replacing final exams with RQAs, it must step up and provide a fair, accessible test. The superintendent and the Board have made it clear that they are determined to close the achievement gap in MCPS, but how do they expect to do so if they are just pushing onlevel and ESOL students farther behind?

SHIVANI MATTIKALLI

Comments? Questions? Concerns?

Email silverchipsprint@gmail.com!

Obama announces revote for election Executive order initiates special election in certain precincts

What do you think?

By Cole Sebastian The latest development in a slew of post-election controversies came on Dec. 12 when President Obama signed an executive order calling for a nationwide recount and special re-vote elections in certain counties where voter suppression was suspected to take place, according to ABC News. This executive order is the most recent example of Obama’s extreme governing during his lame duck presidency. He also recently signed executive orders that banned the Pledge of Allegiance in schools and the national anthem at all sporting events, according to ABC News.

I hope that by now, you have figured out that everything I reported above was completely false. However, a recent study from the Stanford History Education Group suggests that there is a good chance you believed those stories. The researchers asked 7,800 middle school, high school, and college students to evaluate the credibility of information presented in tweets, comments, and articles. What they found is that our generation is inadequate when it comes to identifying fake news versus real news.

The study found that 80 percent of middle school respondents were unable to tell the difference between an article and a native advertisement—an ad that is made to look like a news story. Only 25 percent of high school respondents could tell the difference between a Facebook post from Fox News and a Facebook post from a fake news website made to look like Fox News, and over 30 percent claimed that the fake news post was more reliable than the real news post.

While Facebook and Google are making noble efforts to cut down on the proliferation of fake news, the responsibility will ultimately rely on the consumer. As long as we have free speech, fake news will reach a mass audience. That is why it is vital to the function of our democracy that the public is properly educated in media literacy, specifically, the ability to analyze the credibility of online news services.

The first thing to do is check the URL of the article. For example, the fake news I reported in the beginning of this article comes from a website pretending to be ABC News

Feel free to access a feedback survey below to tell us what you think about Silver Chips!

GRIFFIN REILLY

Ombudsman Cole Sebastian with the URL “abcnews.com.co.” Many websites are designed to look exactly like a mainstream news source but that “.co” extension and other minor URL differences can give away a fake news site.

Then, go to the homepage and browse through the entire website. Fake news writers thrive on the knowledge that people rarely find stories by going to the front page of their site but by clicking on links from social media or click bait advertisements.

Because of this, not much effort is put into making a convincing homepage.

Check if the website has fewer than a dozen stories published. Check if every story is attributed to the same author.

Check for any obvious headlines that you know to be false. Check the “about us” page or the writer’s biography page to find excessive embellishments—the main writer at abcnews.com.co claims to have “a handful of Pulitzers.”

However, much to my dismay, not

everybody in the U.S. reads my column and not everybody will read similar articles that prepare people for defense against misinformation. For this reason I implore you to be vigilant against the spread of fake news for the sake of others. If you see someone sharing fake news on social media, point it out to them—even though it may seem rude. Confront them kindly and provide the evidence that will disprove the article (snopes.com provides reliable fact checking of questionable news).

The best way to encourage conscious news consumption is through public education. Many elementary and middle schools already have courses in Internet usage and cyber safety. These programs must be expanded to every school in MCPS and incorporate news media literacy. In this country, the people have the power. It is the responsibility of our schools to educate students on how to identify fake news so that that power is not misguided.

Scan the code above with a QR reader app, or use the URL http://www.chipssurvey.com/ to access the feedback survey!

Comments or concerns?

Email the Ombudsman at ombudsmansilverchips@gmail.com

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Features C1

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December 21, 2016

From courtrooms to classrooms: Getting back on track

Shining a light on the students in the local juvenile justice system

By Olivia Gonzalez and Erin Namovicz Where only first names appear, names have been changed to protect the identities of the sources.

Billy did not expect to see the police at school on this February day, especially not coming towards him. Then again, he did not expect to get in a fight in the first place. He swallows as the reality of his splitsecond decision hits him. Only a sophomore, Billy now has charges on his record which will stay with him until he turns 24.

One four-page essay to the police and an expulsion letter later, Billy finds himself sitting in a classroom in the MCPS Alternative Programs school with two other students. To Billy, this program, located in the Blair G. Ewing Center in Rockville and colloquially known as Mark Twain, is a culture shock. “You got like two, three kids in the class and there’s like two teachers,” he says. “They barely teach you and you just basically write notes and that’s it.”

Mark Twain is a special focus school for both students who have been in the juvenile justice system and for students who are having trouble in school. Students have to be referred there by a resource teacher or by court order, and the student can choose to stay in the program for as long as they feel necessary.

Students like Billy who are involved in the juvenile justice system are given special support from MCPS, which can be seen as both a blessing and a curse. These students are mostly minorities; at Mark Twain, 85 percent of the student body is made up of students of color.

In-school services Michael, a sophomore, crossed paths with the law he was wrongly accused by called “friend” of trying to

also after a sosteal

a jacket from a neighbor’s house.

After going to court and meeting with officials there, Michael was let go without having to face criminal charges. “[The official] told me that ‘I’m gonna let you off with a warning,’” he recalls. “It’s still in my juvenile record, but it only affects me if I ever go to the military or the Marines.”

But while Michael’s brief encounter with the Department of Juvenile Services is technically over, he still has to meet with his resource teacher daily. “Because of [my charges] and my grades, they were like, ‘We have to put you in or else we’re gonna send you to Mark Twain,’” he says. “So, I have to go every single day to Mr. Middleton and stuff to get my grades up and talk about stuff.”

According to Blair resource education teacher Kimani Middleton, most of the time counselors will identify students who are coming through the juvenile justice system and automatically place them in Alternative One, a class run by Middleton that provides them with extra support.

Some of these students have home monitoring devices and attend school as a part of their probation. “Part of their condition of probation is that they attend school on a consistent basis,” Middleton says. “The probation officer or their case manager will come in, check in with the main office and have the student come in say, ‘Hey look, let’s look at your grades, what’s going on in school,’ you know, ask me for attendance reports.”

Alternative programs Students who need more support than Alternative One at Blair can be referred to Mark Twain.

“After one semester, if you do well with your grades and your attendance and behavior, you’re exited from the program, and you are seen on a consult basis,” Middleton explains. “Then, if you’re not

successful, you’ll either stay in the program, or you’re referred to level two.” Once in level two, students remain at Mark Twain, where they can stay until they graduate.

When Billy was a sophomore at Northwood last February, he got involved in a fight, and as a result he faced punishment from both the school and the police. “The school, they suspended me for 10 days and then they sent a letter saying that I got expelled,” he says. He was also placed on probation for 90 days.

As this was Billy’s first offense, he was sent to Alternative Programs at Mark Twain. According to Middleton, students can wind up there either because they require extra support or as a more punitive measure because they have been expelled from their home school.

To Billy, it was another world.

At Northwood, he was an honors student, but at Mark Twain, no honors classes are offered. “Supposedly they send you over there so you can learn, [but] you don’t really learn from over there,” he explains. “I mean, most of [the other kids], they don’t really want to go to college. They [are] just in school to be in school, to graduate I guess.”

He had never viewed himself a troublesome student, but at Mark Twain, Billy was surrounded by them. “All the kids over there are bad, most of them got the box,” he says. The box that Billy refers to is a home monitoring device worn on the ankle to make sure that juveniles do not violate the terms of their probation.

To students like Billy, there is a dividing line between those who can escape the system and those who cannot. Billy has found success at Blair and believes that being at Blair provides many more opportunities than Mark Twain ever would.

However, he says that while attending Mark Twain is by no means ideal, for some more violent students, it is necessary. “I think

Demographic Breakdown of MCPS Enrollment vs.

School Removals in 2015 MCPS Enrollment

School Removals

The role of race

White

Latino

Black

Asian

represents a percentage point OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT

it’s a good idea to isolate them because they can get angry fast,” he says.

Middleton, however, believes that Mark Twain helps give students the necessary tools to help them mature from their situations.

“You have internship opportunities, and then they have a real good incentive program where students, if they do well throughout the course of the week, they are rewarded,” he says. “It’s an excellent opportunity, one, for students to go to a smaller environment, to get a new start, and there, you have online classes, you have credit recovery.”

ISABELLA TILLEY

Both Billy and Michael are male students of color, a demographic that tends to be overrepresented in the school-to-prison pipeline. According to a 2016 MCPS report on the school-to-prison pipeline, this phenomenon describes students, mainly minorities, who get suspended or expelled often, are at a higher risk of ending up in the juvenile justice system.

“Extensive available data demonstrates that black and Latino juveniles are more likely than their white peers to be arrested,” the report reads. “Studies show that youth of color are sanctioned more punitively than white youth who have committed the same offense, even given similar offense histories.” Some students, like Michael, are still stigmatized without being declared guilty by the justice system.

Racial disparities in school discipline start as early as preschool.

According to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, black children represent 19 percent of preschool enrollment, but make up 47 percent of students receiving out of school preschool suspension.

However, neither Billy nor Michael thought race was the reason for their predicaments. “If I was Hispanic or white, same thing would’ve happened,” Michael

TIFFANY MAO

says.

Regardless of the reasons that high school students enter the juvenile justice system, the effects are still tangible. No matter what efforts Billy and Michael take to erase this part of their history, it will still stay with them for the next few years.

Reform

According to the MCPS report, over 94,000 people under the age of 21 are in juvenile justice facilities around the country. The report also states that students in the juvenile justice system are more likely to repeat offenses later in their lives.

Steve Baynes, former Senior Program Manager for Residential Programs and Services at the DC Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, says that this recidivism is a problem that must be addressed.

“There needs to be a lot of work on, maybe, diverting some of these kids from being in the system in the first place, because once a kid gets in the system, it’s hard for them to get out,” he says. “It just becomes an evolving cycle, and unfortunately … a lot of these kids graduate to the adult system.”

Baynes also says that there is reform to be done. “I always promote trying to keep kids out of locked facilities,” he says. “Believe it or not, I think they do much better being in the community [with] provided services in the community.”

Additionally, Baynes believes that these improvements need to address mental health issues “because that’s what we were seeing a lot, much more increase in youth that had mental health issues that weren’t being addressed in the community, so it manifested in them committing crimes.”

Billy, however, says that his experience at Mark Twain was enough to keep him from ever committing a crime again. “Never gonna do something like that again, I don’t want to go back there,” he says. “You’re lonely over there. It’s far, you’re isolated.”

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C2 Features

December 21, 2016

The main office secretaries take the tough calls

Keeping the school running smoothly from behind the scenes

By Henry Wiebe “Montgomery Blair, hello,” Robin Platky says as she picks up the phone to answer questions from a parent. As an administrative secretary in the main office, she deals with tardy and absent students, greets people as they enter the school, files papers, and, of course, answers phone calls.

Platky has been a secretary at Blair for over 14 years, and she could not be happier with her job. She works with several other secre-

taries to ensure everything in the school is running smoothly at all times.

Daily duties Each of the main office secretaries supports an administrator. “I work for Mr. Cauley, Ms. Barillas works for Ms. Carrillo … and of course, Ms. Biggs works as the Principal’s secretary,” Platky says. “We do all of their administrative work.”

The secretaries also perform more spe-

cific duties. “Although they all can do the basic jobs, they each have specialties,” says Principal Renay Johnson. “They all have their unique skills.” Some of these include managing school finances, supervising attendance, and helping with college and career consultation.

Another important job that the secretaries have is greeting visitors and answering questions over the phone. “We still try to make people feel like they are warm and welcome and happy to be here,” Platky says.

In addition to the traditional tasks that the secretaries handle, some also play large roles in other parts of the school. Attendance office secretary Roxanne Fus is also the cheerleading sponsor and the senior class sponsor. She goes to cheerleading practice and helps the team with organizing events and maintaining the uniforms.

In her role as the senior class sponsor, Fus gets to organize all activities and excursions for the twelfth grade. “My favorite part about that is planning prom. I love prom. It’s like planning a party for 600 of your closest friends,” she says.

Family ties

CHAMINDA HANGILIPOLA

MAIN OFFICE FAMILY Wendy Barillas (left) and Robin Platky (right) work together happily to complete their daily administrative tasks and duties.

Platky, who is set to retire at the end of this year, comes from a long line of Blazers.

“I have a long history at Blair. My parents are Blair graduates, as are my husband and I, as are … our two kids,” she says. “My son even married his high school sweetheart.” These family connections make her job even more meaningful.

Although not all of the secretaries have familial ties to Blair, they still form strong bonds with the other people who work in the main office. In fact, the secretaries love meeting new people and forming relationships with Blazers. “I just really love get-

ting to know the students,” Fus says. “I love getting to know, meeting a freshman and watching them grow and seeing them graduate when they are a senior ... it is unbelievable how much you see a person change in four years.”

Phoning in

Answering phone calls is a big responsibility in the main office. Platky stresses the importance of keeping a cool head when dealing with complaints and tries her best to give callers active responses to their problems. “It was just being able to recognize what their concern is, be sympathetic, be supportive, try to give direction to whatever [the callers] need, or get them to whoever can best help them,” she says. “That’s really what my job is.”

The secretaries experienced an extremely high call volume during and after the student walk out on Nov. 14. “[The protest] was pretty unbelievable for me,” Platky says. “I have been here for 14 years and I have never been inundated with so many phone calls from across the country that were, I would say, more on the unfortunate, nasty side.”

Despite the overwhelming amount of negative phone calls, the school also received many kind messages in support of the protest. “I am glad to say, though, that Ms. Johnson got a lot of really positive feedback,” she says.

Through their myriad of duties and responsibilities, the secretaries in the front office make sure that the various functions of the school are fulfilled. They work hard to create a warm and friendly tone in the office.

“I feel comfortable and welcome,” secretary Wendy Barillas says. “It is a really nice environment.”

Climbing back from a first date gone wrong

Teachers and students share their most memorable and embarrassing dates

By Hermela Mengesha Senior Nicholas Yonkos and the girl he is trying hard to impress are still laughing as they walk towards their cars after a long hike. As first dates go, Yonkos thinks this one has been a success. That is, until he sees the police.

Two officers approach and one asks, “Is this one of your cars?” Yonkos’ gaze follows the officer’s hand as he gestures to a car in the parking lot. His eyes land on the shattered windows of his date’s car. Glass is scattered on the ground. Scratch marks cover the car. To top it all off, the numbers “666” are written on the hood of the car in bright spray paint.

Shock does not even begin to describe their emotions. After talking with the police, Yonkos and his date sit in silence on the curb, waiting for her father to come pick her up.

The pair parted ways with the promise of talking soon. They texted some, but that did not last long. While Yonkos does not think this disturbing surprise was the only reason the relationship did not survive, he says it certainly did not help their odds. Like the perpetrator of this bizarre crime, Nick and his date’s future together remains uncertain.

A divine intervention Senior Daniel Jones and his current girlfriend went on their first real date in down-

town Silver Spring, where many Blair relationships go to blossom or die. They planned on the usual dinner and movie and ended the night at Panera Bread. As they stood awkwardly with their trays looking for a seat, a man approached with a smile on his face, and struck up a conversation. They listened with puzzled faces as the man explained that he was part of a church ministry, and a youth group was currently at Panera.

The stranger then asked Jones and his girlfriend if they wanted to join his “church session” at Panera, something Jones was not entirely sold on. “I go to church regularly. I love the Lord but I was on a date, I wanted to really connect, get to know her,” Jones says.

Jones and his girlfriend did not have the heart to say no to the man. Before they knew it, they were being led to a table of teenagers. “We had a Bible study on our first date and then we finished eating and we got up and we went,” he says. Jones actually kept in touch with the man, even attending another one of his Bible studies.

For Jones and his girlfriend, who recently celebrated their 13-month anniversary, this uncomfortable experience is now just a funny story to tell. “We laughed about it afterwards. It was pretty funny, but it was a little awkward at first,” Jones says.

A series of unfortunate events In his college days, English teacher Chris-

soapbox

Have you been on a memorable first date?

What happened?

“The girl brought her sister and her sister just sat there silently while we were eating.”

— Matt Morris, junior “He got nervous and tried to back out an hour before.”

— Mackenzie Tyler, freshman

LINDSAY HARRIS

topher Klein had a special approach when it came to dates. “It’s a theory of setting a low bar. In that way, the next time you see that person it would be easy to do a little bit better,” Klein says. “I admit this is flawed.”

On his first date with his current wife, Klein wooed her with a gift certificate he won from a chess tournament, which covered most of the bill for dinner.

After this date, Klein asked her out again to dinner in downtown Manhattan. Following his theory, Klein purposely left his wallet in his dorm room.

Klein still recalls the glare he received when the check came; it assured him that the chances of another date were slim. “She looked at me like, ‘Are you kidding?” he says. “She was livid.”

His date then excused herself and called a mutual friend to vent. Thankfully, the friend vouched for Klein and convinced her to return and pay for dinner.

When they returned to campus, the two started walking together, a conversation flowing naturally between them. They neared a construction site when Klein felt a

sudden rush of spontaneity. He convinced his date to climb over an 18-foot fence with him. “She jumped down and sprained her ankle quite badly. I then had to help her home. So the date started with her paying for our meal, and ended with a sprained ankle,” he recalls.

This crazy idea ended up working in Klein’s favor. For the next few days he was by her side, helping her from class to class.

“In short, that’s how you find yourself a wife,” he says, jokingly.

Happily ever afters

More often than not, first dates are a bust.

Social studies teacher Peter Cirincione has been on his fair share of awkward dates, but he believes that the benefits far outweigh the risks when it comes to dating. “Love is one of the most powerful and beautiful and mysterious forces in the universe,” he says.

“The fact that we can find it, and build it, and create more of it is amazing and a reason to keep living. It’s absolutely worth all the rejection and trails and embarrassment.”

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December 21, 2016

Students at Blair explore a different kind of game For some, hunting is a family tradition and a way to connect with nature

By Elias Monastersky

the deer … we have tried tanning deer hides before and using them,” he says. “We try and use as much of the deer as we can.”

The sun is not up yet, but senior Garret Kern is awake. The chill of West Virginia autumn is in the air.

Kern is bundled from head to toe in the warmest clothes he can get his hands on, which he will need in order to gun down his prize.

Kern joins more than 350,000 hunters in West Virginia’s woods each year looking for deer, turkey, bear, and other game. He is also one of several Blazers who enjoy the thrill and experience of hunting.

Safety first

Starting early The process of hunting is quite extensive, according to Kern. “We drive up the mountain and it’s a pretty sketchy road. There is always the danger of our truck getting stuck,” he says. “We try to get into the deer stand by like 6:45 so we have a good 15 minutes to sit there, and then the best time to get a deer is around like between 7 and 10 in the morning.”

Senior Nate Chappelle has a similar experience when he goes hunting in Maryland. “You get some good sleep, wake up at 5 o’clock … You drive to the property and stand on the tree stand,” he says. “Just hanging out in the tree stand and being quiet, just taking everything in. And as soon as you hear that break of noise … you look up and see what you want to see.”

Misconceptions Kern says that he often has to explain his reasons for hunting, as the activity is less popular among

COURTESY OF GARRET KERN

INTO THE to attend

WILDERNESS Senior Garret Kern often drives out to early morning hunting trips with his grandparents

Blair students. “I think at first, people [at Blair] are kind of biased against it. You tell them that you’re hunting and they’re like, ‘Oh that’s kind of cruel, you know you’re killing animals,’” Kern says. “But if you explain to them, you know, I hunt only for food, we respect hunting, it’s a way for me to connect with my family. Then once you tell people that, they’re pretty understanding.”

Chappelle has had mostly positive experiences, and many of the people whom he has talked to about hunting are fine with it.

However, he has also encountered

some people with a misconstrued notion of the activity. “As soon as they think hunter, they think redneck,” Chappelle says. “I think some things aren’t aligned perfectly with your persona or the thing you do.”

Family tradition Reasons for hunting can vary.

Some hunters hunt for food, while some do it just for fun. In Kern’s case, it is an annual ritual for his family. “I think for me it’s mostly about the tradition … I go to my grandparents’ every year during

West Virginia and cousins.

Thanksgiving to hunt,” he says. “[It is] part of my heritage in a way and it’s a way for me to connect with [my family] and so just going out in the woods with my grandfather and my cousins and my uncle, it’s kind of a family connection I think.”

Chappelle also views hunting as a family tradition, and has been hunting with his family for a few years.

Kern only hunts deer, and his family tries to use as much of the animal as possible. “My family gets probably one or two deer a year.

And we butcher the deer, we eat

Although both students agree that hunters should use every part of the animals they kill, they differ in their weapons of choice. Kern hunts with a rifle, while Chappelle prefers to use a bow.

“I’ve never hunted with a rifle.

I’ve only hunted with a compound bow, and it is just so much safer because an arrow can only go so far before it hits something or it just loses momentum and drops to the ground,” Chapelle says.

Hunting in the region requires a specific permit as well as knowledge about safety. “I’ve grown up around constantly being reminded about gun safety, and my grandfather [has] taught me since a young age,” Kern says. “I hunt on land that my family owns so it’s safer that way in that there’s not going to be any people on our land.”

Chappelle recommends a hunter’s safety course to learn about the necessary safety precautions that must be taken when hunting.

For Kern, being out in the woods and having a connection with nature is the main appeal of hunting. “I really just enjoy sitting out in the woods, in my stand, by myself, and just listening to the forest around me. It’s quite relaxing compared to school,” Kern says.

“It’s a good way to reset after a few weeks at school, just to go out in the woods.”

The student becomes the master in UMD graduate program

Interning teaching assistants gain hands-on experience working with Blair students

By Leila Jackson As Thomas Nakamura walks to his classroom on the last day of his internship at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Prince George’s County, he wonders why some of his students have not been very receptive to him. His group has been shy throughout the quarter, and he feels like he has not bonded with them as much as he would have liked to.

When Nakamura opens the door, his doubts melt away. His students have thrown him a surprise party to say goodbye and thank him with presents. Small moments like these make being a student-intern worth it for him. “It reminded me that I was doing the right thing,” Nakamura recalls.

Now, Nakamura is completing his student internship in the social studies department at Blair. The internship program he is a part of brings students from the University of Maryland (UMD) to middle and high schools in local school systems to help them gain teaching experience. At the end of this program, they will be prepared to step into their very own classrooms.

In each department, studentinterns are able to choose between a four-year undergraduate program and a five-year integrated master’s program. In the four-year program, students complete their internship during their senior year of college.

If students choose the more intensive program, they stay an extra year and earn enough credits to graduate with a master’s degree in education. “The master’s candidates go in every single day,” says Peggy Wilson, Professional Devel-

opment Schools Coordinator for Secondary English at UMD. “The undergraduates only do their student-teaching in the spring.”

Roles in the classroom

Student-interns start the program by watching and taking notes on their teacher mentors. As the year progresses, they gradually start to do more tasks. “You start off just observing from the outside and then you start easing into the classes,” says math teacher Megan Lusby, who was a student-intern during the 2014-2015 school year.

By the second semester, studentinterns take over two to three of their mentors’ classes.

Student-interns complete any tasks that prepare them for teaching. “We do pretty much everything that a teacher does, just on a smaller scale,” Nakamura says.

“We grade papers, help students, and pass out papers.”

During second semester, student-interns take their first big step toward actual teaching. “You make tests and quizzes, decide on the formatives, exit tickets, and warm-ups, plan lessons, and do all the teaching and the grading,” Lusby says.

The UMD program gives student-interns hands-on experience.

“In education classes, it’s great to discuss with other peers and professors the role and responsibilities and foundations of what teaching is,” English Department studentintern Carly Moore says. “But being able to actually see all the pieces come together in action and … be in front of an actual group of students, I think that’s where you really learn how to become an ef-

fective teacher.”

This year, social studies teacher Alison Russell is a teacher-mentor for the first time, guiding Nakamura. One task she is glad to pass on is grading. “Especially when all the students answer the same prompt,” Russell says. “I don’t miss being the one who has to assign homework or watch them take a test.”

Russell says that having a student-intern has made her reflect more on her own teaching practices. “Teaching is a lot about problem solving … and that is something I used to love,” she says.

A balancing act Lusby, who always knew that

she wanted to pursue math, says she liked the idea of having a bachelor’s degree in math and a master’s degree in education.

She appreciates that the internship program is shorter than other master’s programs, which can take two to four years, if not more. “Doing one year is very intensive but you got it over with and I don’t have to go back to school for quite some time now. The full year of student-teaching really prepares you for being on your own,”she says. Although the program provides useful experience, it can be difficult to balance with college, as interns are still taking classes online or in the evening. “It is a little challenging. It’s strange to balance

being in both a pseudo-teacher position one day a week with high school students and also having to balance being a student myself in college,” says Moore.

Lusby says her experience in the program was stressful but did not seem like it at the time. “Two to three afternoons a week you would have class but the class wouldn’t start until 5 o’clock or so,” she says, “I did a lot of work on the weekends.”

Moore and Nakamura will soon start applying for teaching -jobs in Maryland counties and hopefully teach full time next fall. “I’m confident and hopeful that I can get a job,”Nakamura says.

SAMI MALLON

LENDING A HAND University of Maryland intern Thomas Nakamura helps one of his social studies students with a challenging online assignment on the Chromebooks.

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December 21, 2016

Te I

t’s still dark outside when Karely Alcantara wakes up on Tuesday morning. At 5 a.m., most students are still asleep, but Alcantara has things to do. She gets out of bed and prepares a baby bottle and diapers. Before she can go to school, she needs to finish her homework, and feed and change the diaper of her six-month-old son. Still a freshman, and only 15 years old, Alcantara balances parenting, a responsibility most people will not carry until at least their mid-twenties, with schoolwork.

In the past two decades, the number of 15- to 17-year-old girls who have children has dropped, according to the Center for Disease Control, but the U.S. still has a higher teenage birth rate than other industrialized nations. According to the Guttmacher Institute, 22 percent of U.S. women reported having children before age 20, com-

pared to 15 percent in Great Britain, 11 percent in Canada, 6 percent in France, and 4 percent in Sweden.

In addition, the National Center for Health Statistics reported that in 2014, there were 24.2 births for every 1,000 girls who were between 15 and 19 years old. This rate differs between racial and ethnic groups: Asian girls are far less likely than any other group to give birth during their teenage years, with only 7.7 births per 1,000 teen girls, while Hispanic girls are the most likely to give birth, with 38 births per 1,000 teen girls.

However, according to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, even though black and Latina teens are more likely to get pregnant than white and Asian teens, birth rates for black and Latina girls have been dropping faster than the birth rates for white girls.

Deb Lopez, a liaison between Blair’s teen parent support group and Crittenton Services of Greater Washington, says that one possible reason for differences in birth rates is the difference in cultures.

According to Lopez, adoption and abortion are less common decisions for Latina and black girls. “I think that among the young teens who get pregnant…Latinas for sure are keeping their children, and I would say that it’s also higher among African Americans to not… [choose] abortion,” she says.

Lopez also mentions a cultural difference in discussion of sexuality and contraception between parents and children. “Particularly for my Latina families, sexuality and contraception are not things that their mothers generally openly discuss with them,” she says.

Alcantara says that her mother tried to discuss sex with her, but often Alcantara was the one who felt uncomfortable. “I would just be like ‘Whatever, I don’t care, go away!” she says.

5:00 a.m.

Alcantara wakes up at 5 a.m. to take care of her son. On Mondays and Tuesdays, either her mom or aunt takes care of her son while she goes to school. For the rest of the week, six-month-old David must go to a babysitter at a nearby apartment, which means that Alcantara must get his diaper bag and bottle ready before she leaves for school. Once she is done getting David’s baby supplies together, she finishes any leftover homework.

After an afternoon of caring for her son and a night of waking up every couple of hours to feed him, it is normal for Alcantara to work on her homework in the morning. David does not like sleeping in his crib, and he does not like sleeping with anyone else except for Alcantara.

5:45 a.m.

Karely Alcantara and her son, David, six months old.

David wakes up around this time, forcing Alcantara to set aside her homework to change his diaper and get him dressed. Once he is dressed, Alcantara returns her attention to her laptop and focuses on finishing her homework.

Usually, David is calm while she does this, but today, he is more active than normal. He sits on her lap while she does homework, but eventually starts moving too much for Alcantara to focus. She lays him down on the bed next to her and hands him a stuffed animal.

He is momentarily fascinated by the tag of the stuffed animal, but he is starting to become strong enough to crawl, and enthusiastically arches his back in an attempt to scoot toward the Christmas lights that hang on the wall behind him.

After about 20 minutes, Alcantara suspects that David might be hungry, so she abandons her laptop to make him a bottle of baby formula. She begins by carefully disinfecting the bottle, since it has been sitting out all night, and then mixes powder formula and warm water together.

She brings the bottle back to David, who, reluctant to drink it, gets the milk on his forehead. Alcantara laughs, wipes away the milk, and helps him put the bottle into his mouth. He barely drinks any of the formula, so she puts the bottle away and resumes her homework.

6:30 a.m.

Alcantara slams her computer shut and begins packing her bag.

She moves David to her sister’s bed—she shares a room with her younger sister—and asks her to look after him while she makes the bed. Once done making her bed, she slips on a pair of black high-top Converse.

Usually, Alcantara has to leave by 6:50 a.m. to drop David off at his babysitter, but today David will be staying home with Alcantara’s aunt.

Alcantara’s mom was initially disappointed when her daughter became pregnant, but Alcantara says she has been a huge support. “My mom helps me out a lot,” she says. “She’ll be like, ‘Oh you know you can take maybe today off, go hang out with your friends.’”

Alcantara’s mom herself was a teen parent. “Before, I had a lot of respect for teen moms, just because my mom is a teen mom and she would talk to me [about] all their struggles,” Alcantara says. “She had to drop out of school because her work schedule and her school schedule just didn’t add up.”

According to the Schuyler Center for

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extbooks and Teddy Bears Analysis and Advocacy, daughters of teen mothers are 22 percent more likely to become teen mothers themselves. It is not an uncommon occurrence, and it also applies to 22-year-old Blair alumna Evelyn Diaz. Diaz is a 2012 graduate who had a daughter during her senior year, when she was 17 years old.

About a week after Diaz found out that she was pregnant, she told her mom. Her mom began crying when she heard the news. Diaz thinks that her mom was let down because she had hoped it would not happen to her daughter. “She had my brother when she was 15, and I think that she felt not disappointed but just let down,” she says. “She didn’t want that lifestyle for me.”

Alcantara’s parents first found out about her pregnancy after about 16 weeks. She fainted and was taken to the hospital, where the nurses revealed to her parents that she was pregnant. Alcantara had known before then, but was too scared to tell her parents. “It didn’t hit [my mom] exactly when she found out, but after it set in, she reacted,” she says. “She already kinda knew, she would get hints.”

Her dad did not have as much of a reaction, but she could tell he was not pleased. “He was disappointed but he didn’t show it,” Alcantara says.

7:00 a.m.

Usually, Alcantara has to rush from the babysitter to her bus stop, but today, since David is at home with her aunt, she can walk a little bit more calmly to her bus stop.

For other teen mothers, catching the school bus would be a luxury. According to Debra Bitonti, the school nurse and supervisor of Blair’s teen parent support group Parenting, Education, and Responsive Life Skills (PEARLS), the main reason that teen mothers do not finish high school is a lack of a babysitter or daycare. “Probably the biggest [challenge] is, who’s going to watch their child while they’re at school,” she says. “It’s very hard for them a lot of times to find daycare or to be able to afford daycare.”

7:45 a.m.

At school, Alcantara feels exhausted. Some nights she goes to bed at 10 p.m., but she has stayed up as late as 3:30 a.m. to finish homework. Whatever time she goes to bed, she always has to wake up every few hours to take care of her son. “He still doesn’t sleep good at night,” she says. “I’m waking up maybe every two hours and then waking up early again in the morning.”

Most of her teachers recognize that Alcantara is dealing with more than most students, and she says that most of them have helped her.

“My English teacher, for example, she knows I have a son and I’ll be like, ‘Hey, you know, I didn’t have time, I fell asleep, my son was sick,’ and she’ll normally be like ‘Oh my God, it’s fine, take another day,’” Alcantara says.

Only one teacher was not supportive, but Alcantara says she is no longer in that class. “My son will always be first, and if I have to take care of my son instead of doing homework then that is what will happen,” she says.

PEARLS, the support group, works with the mothers’ counselors to make sure that each student is on track to graduate. “They have different challenges, like sometimes their children are sick and so they’re missing school,” Bitonti says. “Administration has been wonderful [in] supporting the groups and the counselors are all really good about supporting them.”

Most of Alcantara’s peers know that she is a mother, but she says that she does not mind. “I did go to school while pregnant, and so other people definitely did see me, and they did tell other people … you don’t really have many 14-year-old moms running around,” she says. “I don’t care if they know, just the reaction…kind of gets to me.”

Alcantara replies to criticism firmly, especially when it comes from adults. “It’s like yes. I know. I don’t need you to keep repeating it.”

Knowing that she made a mistake is part of the reason Alcantara kept her baby. “I didn’t give up the baby for adoption because it wasn’t nobody else’s responsibility but mine, because I had sex and I felt like that was my responsibility to take care of him,” she says.

“And also, I don’t feel that I have the right to take another human’s life away for my mistake, so I kept him.”

Alcantara wishes David’s father would feel the same responsibility for what was his mistake as much as Alcantara’s. “It’s kinda like, you left me with a kid that I’m raising by myself,” she says. “I don’t mind because I really love [the baby], but sometimes it’s kinda like, ‘Oh I see you going out with your friends and you have a teenage life,’ and I’m just at home with him all the time.”

Alcantara says that her ex-boyfriend has not seen David in at least two months, and she tries to maintain her distance because she does not like the choices he makes. “I really loved him,” she says, “but my son comes first.”

When Diaz, the 2012 alumna, first had her daughter, she and her boyfriend maintained distance. After a year, though, she says that they learned to co-parent, and have since gotten along.

Just a few weeks ago, they got married and bought a house. “We went through hard things in our lives which brought us back together, and now for us to be together and raising her, I think it’s just, how

do I say it,” she says. “We’re there for each other and we have each other.”

3:00 p.m.

Once home, Alcantara disinfects David’s pacifiers and bottles, and devotes all of the time her son is awake to caring for him.

“I just hang out with him and I do anything that needs to be done regarding to him, doctor appointments and all of that,” she says.

After about an hour, her son usually falls asleep.

Alcantara often uses this time for her homework.

“At like 4:30, he’s knocked out, so I do my work then. Then when he wakes up I stop, and then he takes another nap and I do it then, if not then I stay up a little late,” she explains.

8:00 p.m.

After a long day of napping, it is time for David to take his bath. “I don’t think I can just name one thing I love about him,” Alcantara says. “To me, he’s so perfect.”

Despite the difficulty of raising a child and going to school, Alcantara feels like her son came into her life at the right time. “[Before I got pregnant], I would get suspended for the dumbest things because I don’t know how to keep my mouth shut or I would get in fights,” she says.

However, when she had David, Alcantara started to think about how she was treating people. “If somebody, anybody, acted [the way I used to] to my kid, I don’t think I’d be very happy with it,” she says.

Diaz, whose daughter is now five, has had more time to learn about her daughter’s personality, and says that she has loved watching her grow. She particularly loves her intelligence. “Just watching her grow into her own person … I think it’s amazing to see that progress, and again I just think she’s so smart, sometimes for her own good too smart,” Diaz says. “That’s what I love about her the most.”

9:00 p.m.

After his numerous “mini-naps,” Alcantara’s son is ready to go to bed. Sometimes, this means that it is also Alcantara’s bedtime, but she often has to stay up later to finish her homework.

It has been a long day for Alcantara, and she is preparing for a long night of erratic sleep. This will be her life for the next few years, and the odds are not in her favor. According to the National Conference of State Legislature, only 40 percent of teen mothers finish high school, and only 2 percent finish college by the time they are 30 years old.

These statistics do not deter Alcantara, who says that her pregnancy has not derailed her plans for the future. “I wanna be a doctor,” she says. “I just feel like it’s gonna be a lot more challenging, a lot harder, but I don’t think that it’s impossible, it’s just gonna be extra hard.”

Lopez is inspired by this kind of tenacity from teen mothers. “They’re unbelievably resilient… they can be wonderful parents,” she says. “The way they step up and how strong they are is just very admirable to me. I’m always amazed at their strengths.”

Births per 1000 females (15-19) by population Hispanic

Black White

Total

story by Isabella Tilley photos by Chaminda Hangilipola design by Dawson Do

38 34.9 17.3 24.2 NATIONAL CENTER FOR HEALTH STATISTICS

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December 21, 2016

Hey there, Mr. President: Little kids discuss politics Elementary school students share their opinions of the recent general election from ELEM. SCHOOLERS page A1 down, because “on the news he said he would be a good President,” but it’s not a thumbs-up because to Kokobo, Donald Trump is “mean.”

In contrast, Kokobo has heard from his friends that Hillary Clinton is “nice.” “She would be a good president and a nice president,” he says. Yet, he feels as though he has little knowledge of Clinton based on what he has seen on the news. “I didn’t see the picture, and I don’t know what she said,” he says.

Kokobo is not alone in his perceived lack of information regarding Clinton. According to the Tyndall Report, a broadcast analysis group, coverage that was identified as neither positive nor negative about the Trump campaign received 822 accumulated minutes of screen time on the 60 minute nightly news broadcasts of ABC, CBS, and NBC between Jan. 1 and Labor Day. Coverage discussing Clinton’s campaign received 386 total minutes on the same channels. Eighty-nine of these minutes were spent discussing her email scandal as Secretary of State. No other candidate in history has ever gotten more airtime than Trump, and as a result, his influence is extremely prevalent among children.

Zoe, whose mother also asked for her daughter’s first name to be used, is a second grader at Forest Knolls Elementary School whose feelings reflect these statistics. “I don’t think I heard much about Hillary Clinton, but I heard a lot about Donald Trump,” she says.

Despite the disproportionate attention given to Trump, many of the children still expressed positive opinions about Clinton. The main issue that comes to the children’s minds regarding Trump is the wall he has pledged to build along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Rock Creek Forest Elementary School third-grader Keon Pacquette says, “now [Trump] wants to build a wall around America, and make…Mexico, pay for it.”

He adds, “I think it is mean, because if he builds a wall then that wouldn’t be nice and people probably couldn’t come unless they did like a rocket ship...around the wall.”

St. Frances Catholic School fourth-grader Mia Bowman wishes she could grow up with a woman president, and she is still coming to terms with the realization that the nature of the next four years will not be like her last eight. “I didn’t really see anything change because my whole life [Obama] was the President, so I liked what the world was,” Bowman says.

Pacquette fears that if Trump is unkind, support for oppressive systems may rise. “I think in a matter of years if people start liking an idea, then he will probably start slavery all over again,” he says.

Pacquette’s concerns regarding Trump’s presidency are largely based on how he perceives the new administration could impact his friends. “He said he would build a wall and send Mexicans away,” Pacquette says. “It is mean because I have Mexican friend[s].

They hated Donald Trump. They absolutely hated him.”

School discussions Kids are often major sources of news for each other, especially since the election was a prevalent topic over the past two months.

In the classroom, teachers are expected to follow certain guidelines when discussing the election.

MCPS regulations state that class-

room discussions about the election must relate to the purpose of instruction.

As a result, Allison Russ, a fourth grade teacher at Garret Park Elementary School briefly and informally taught the election because it was not part of her curriculum. “I did want them to see where each candidate stood on issues that would affect them, so we did do a comparison chart when reading the Scholastic News and then we discussed,” she writes in an email.

For Bowman, everyone dis-

Zoe recalls discussing the election in her social studies lessons.

“We talked about..Trump winning and who we wanted to win and stuff like that,” she says.

Over the summer, Zoe says the election also came up in her art camp, and it was a focal point of discussion at recess during the school year. She notes that although she and her peers did not really understand the platforms of the candidates, there was overwhelming support for Clinton and many strongly disliked Trump.

the election would impact their school friends. “My kids go to a Catholic school where it’s predominantly immigrant kids and some of them are refugees,” Bowman says. “After [Trump] was elected, there was a lot of fear about ‘What does this mean for my friends? Are they going to get shipped out of the country? Are they going to get separated from their parents?’ and all these different things.”

Studies have shown that the tone of the election has led to an onset of fear in many schools across

JEDEDIAH GRADY

SHARING THOUGHTS (From top, clockwise) Mia Bowman, Zoe, Liam Bowman, and Owen Barton discuss the presidential election and their opinions of the candidates at the Silver Spring Public Library.

COURTESY OF ZOE

COURTESY OF MARISOL

COURTESY OF JAYDEN KOKOBO

IMAGES SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS (From top left, clockwise) Zoe draws herself yelling “Darn it!” in reaction to the election. Kokobo and Marisol show the candidates trying to gain the support of voters. cussed the results at school the day after the election.

Her primary socialization comes from her parents and the opinions of her friends, as she did not discuss the results with her teachers. “My best friend, she was crying because Donald Trump got elected,” Bowman says. “On the way to the church, we were talking about how we were so disappointed that he’s our president and that the whole of Maryland chose Hillary but Trump still won by a lot.”

Owen Barton is a fourth-grader at Woodland Elementary School.

He has heard about the effects of the election results frequently in the news, as well as at school, where Donald Trump is a frequent topic of discussion among students. “Everybody talks about him at school,” Barton says. “That he is crazy, he is rich, and he is just everywhere.”

“They wanted Hillary Clinton because, well, she disagreed with Trump a little bit and she would be our first girl president,” Zoe says.

Forming their own views This election season sparked an unprecedented wave of political discourse in the Bowman household. “We’re not a very political family,” David Linehan, Bowman’s father, says.

But this election cycle was different. According to Linehan and his wife Elizabeth Bowman, they discussed the election daily with Mia and her brother Liam, who is in fifth grade. “Other than everyday stuff like playing video games, it was the main point of conversation for them,” Linehan says.

Bowman and Linehan say their children’s interest in the election was spurred by concern over how

the country, like the Bowmans’. In an online survey of over 10,000 K-12 educators conducted by the Southern Poverty and Law Center’s Teaching Tolerance project, 90 percent of educators said that the election results have negatively impacted the school climate. Additionally, 80 percent of the survey participants reported increased concern in students regarding the potential impacts of the election.

Now the two parents are working to reassure their worried children.

“They’ve been really nervous since all of this happened, mostly from what they hear at school,” Bowman says. Both parents have explained that the president is not all-powerful. “I told them that we’re not electing a king and so they can’t do everything that they promise, as crazy as it sounds,” Linehan says. Linehan and Bowman used different approaches to

address the results of the election with their children. During the election, Linehan preferred to explain every side of an issue to his children. On the other hand, Bowman felt that it was important to voice her own opinions in order to comfort her children. “I just wanted to reassure them that...this whole concept of this racist xenophobe...wasn’t actually going to be something that was going to affect us,” Bowman says. “I was wrong, so now we’re just sort of doing damage control at this point.”

While Linehan supports the fact that his children learned about the election in school, he wishes that St. Francis had taken a more even-handed approach. According to Linehan, the students often included wishes of Clinton’s victory in their school-led prayers. “The problem with the way the school is teaching it, though, is it’s all onesided. And so anybody who voted Republican was demonized,” he says.

Russ notes that some students in her class had similar concerns to the Bowman children. “I had one child come to me and voice concerns that their friend was going to be sent out of the country,” she writes in an email. Russ held a class discussion after the election and noticed that many children in her class were upset by Trump’s victory. She says she aimed to keep the discussion as optimistic as possible. “I reminded them that people were entitled to their opinion and that is the good…part of our government,” she writes. “We also talked about ways we could continue…to be good citizens.

They were pretty quick to see the positive in the situation.”

Throughout the election cycle, Bowman and Linehan chose not to watch the news in their home.

Bowman did not want to expose her children to, what she views as, often biased and depressing news that dominated the airwaves in the past year. “The news is never completely unbiased,” Bowman says. “I really just don’t want them filling their little brains with that.”

While Bowman is not pleased with the outcome of the election, she does hold on to the hope that it will serve as a lesson to her children. “I hope that the experience of this fear and…the actuality of him not being able to accomplish all of these awful things he promised to accomplish…[will help] my kids get a better picture of what the presidency really means,” she says. Many of these children fear that Donald Trump will forget what they perceive to be a crucial aspect of being a president: being nice. Yet, they still see the chance for a bright future, provided that President Trump implements certain changes. Marisol believes that Trump’s presidency will leave a positive mark on the U.S. if he chooses to aid the homeless and be kind. Barton hopes that the president will promote growth in technology during his time in office. “Maybe [he will] improve our technology for more futuristic stuff. I think that would help a lot,” Barton says.

Mia Bowman believes that anger motivated many of those who supported Trump. “A lot of the people in our country, the people who elected him…some of them are angry at the world,” she says.

“Some of them…actually want what’s happening.”

Regardless of their level of understanding of the election, all of the children agree that voting is vital. “It is a big decision...and everybody needs to get a word in,” Barton says. “Everybody should vote.”

December 21, 2016

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December 21, 2016

‘Tis the season to bake up a sweet, sweet snowstorm From cookies to candy, Silver Chips tests out the best holiday recipes

By Isabella Tilley In first person

Holiday cheer promises a lot of things: music with sleigh bells, sparkly lights, presents, and most importantly... holiday-themed food! Each December, Americans cook and eat foods infused with holiday spirit, thanks to the recipes passed down for generations, published online, or found in lifestyle magazines. This cheerful spirit is infectious, and despite my lack of expertise in the kitchen arena, I had to try some of these especially festive recipes.

Gluten-free chocolate chip volcano cookies I found this recipe in one of my mother’s cooking magazines. At first, I was hesitant about the lack of gluten. But, surprisingly, they taste like normal chocolate chip cookies, and take less time to bake too! Usually, baking cookies can take anywhere from 30

traditional holiday recipe, if you put the right sprinkles on top, it will become a festive treat. The candy takes about 15-20 minutes to prepare, and no baking is required.

Most of the preparation involves making the caramel, which tastes surprisingly good. I do not usually like caramel, but I did enjoy these crackers. It’s a perfect combination of salty and sweet for those who are naughty and nice!

Here is the recipe, also adapted from Good Housekeeping: 1. Line a large baking pan with aluminum foil and lightly coat it with nonstick cooking spray. Lay out a sleeve of saltine crackers (about 35) on the pan (the crackers should be touching each other). If you use 35 crackers, I recommend laying them out in a 5x7 cracker rectangle.

2. In a large microwave safe bowl, microwave 1 cup or 2 sticks of butter until melted.

3. In the large microwave safe bowl, add ½ cup granulated sugar, ½ cup brown sugar,

SHIVANI MATTIKALLI

the classic sugar cookie, this is the perfect recipe.

Chocolate fudge

SHIVANI MATTIKALLI

minutes to an hour, but these took about 10 minutes to prepare and 13-15 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit before they were ready to devour. This recipe is a quick and easy option if you are ever faced with unexpected carolers!

Here is the recipe, adapted from Good Housekeeping: 1. In a large bowl, whisk 1 lb, or 3 ½ cups, of confectioner’s sugar, ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa, and ½ teaspoon of salt.

2. Add 4 egg whites and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract. Mix until smooth.

3. Fold in 1 ½ cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips.

4. Drop scoops of dough (use spoons, not hands) onto lightly greased cookie sheets with parchment paper.

5. Bake for 13-15 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

When scooping out the dough, make sure to use small scoops and keep them far apart.

The cookies melt a lot, and mine turned out to be too big. If you use smaller scoops, you should be able to make about 24 cookies.

Caramel cracker candy I found this recipe in the same Good Housekeeping magazine where I had discovered the previous one. While it is not a

2 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to the butter. Whisk ingredients together.

4. Microwave the bowl uncovered on high for 2 minutes, 3 times (6 minutes total).

After each interval, whisk thoroughly, and then put it back in the microwave.

5. After 6 minutes, keep microwaving in 1 or 2 minute intervals until the mixture is a dark amber. It should be a liquid.

6. Once done microwaving, pour the caramel onto the cracker spread, making sure that the crackers are evenly covered.

7. Sprinkle with salt or sprinkles (or both).

The caramel is supposed to harden after a while, to make the crackers crunchier. I do not know if I heated the caramel too much or too little, but I microwaved it for about eight or nine minutes, and after 24 hours of sitting out it was still soft and chewy. Although the consistency was not what I had aimed for, I still enjoyed the sugary taste. You can definitely taste the vanilla in the caramel, but the tastelessness of the saltine crackers balances out the sweetness of the caramel. The recipe suggests putting salt flakes on the caramel at the end, but I would caution against this step. The saltines have a neutral taste, but are salty enough that adding salt to the caramel is overwhelming. For more adventurous cooks who wish to stray away from

My family rarely interacts with our neighbors, but every year, we come together in holiday spirit (or my mother just makes me carry her fudge over to my neighbors’ houses). I am not sure my mother has an actual recipe for this fudge -- it seems like she just throws the ingredients together and magically makes something good -- but I was able to find a recipe on All Recipes and adapt it per my mother’s suggestions.

Here is the recipe: 1. Melt ¼ cup of unsalted butter in a pot on high until the butter is liquid, but make sure it does not sizzle.

2. Add 3 cups of semisweet/bittersweet chocolate chips.

3. Add 1 can (14 ounces) of condensed milk.

4. Mix together until the texture is consistent. You may want to turn down the stove so that it does not burn but still has time to melt.

SHIVANI MATTIKALLI

5. Add a handful of marshmallows. This is something my mom always does to make the fudge a bit chewier and de-intensify the chocolate.

I definitely enjoyed the results of this recipe, and I am guessing my neighbors did, too. There is not much room to go wrong with this fantastic fudge, so for us less experienced bakers, it is a bit of a relief to cook something like this after trying out more complicated recipes, like the stained glass cookies.

Stained-glass butter cookies

SHIVANI MATTIKALLI

4. Add the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt) to the egg mixture (butter, sugar, vanilla, eggs) while alternating with ⅓ cup of milk.

5. Mix all the ingredients together.

6. On a floured surface, roll out the dough with a floured rolling pin. The dough is very sticky, so make sure to flour well.

7. Once the dough has been rolled out, use cookie cutters and place each cut-out on a well-greased cookie sheet or parchment paper. The cookies will not melt or expand much, so you do not have to keep them super far apart.

8. Use a smaller cookie cutter (I used a bottle cap) to cut out smaller holes inside the cookie. You can put the dough from these small holes back into the original dough.

9. Take hard, fruit-flavored candies like lollipops or Jolly Ranchers and sort them by color. Put candies of the same color in a plastic bag and smash the candies until they are in small bits (they should be bigger than dust particles but small enough so that you can sprinkle them).

10. Sprinkle the candy pieces into the holes of the cookies. Fill up the holes, but

These were my favorite treats to eat, but probably my least favorite to actually bake.

It took nearly an hour to put all the ingredients together, and about 10 minutes to bake them at 350 degrees.

Here is the recipe, adapted from an All Recipes online recipe: 1. Cream together ⅔ cup butter and 1 cup white sugar.

2. Stir in ½ teaspoon vanilla extract and 2 eggs.

3. In another bowl, sift together 3 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, and ½ teaspoon of salt.

not too much. There should be just enough so that when the pieces melt they fill the hole and touch all of its sides.

11. Bake for 6-8 minutes. These cookies stay pretty white, so it is a bit difficult to tell when they are done just by looking at them.

12. Let the cookies cool. Once they are done cooling, you can lift up the cookies and see light shining through the holes in the middle.

The holes in the cookies with candy in the middle are aesthetically pleasing, but blue raspberry mixed with butter cookie is a combination that I do not ever wish to try again.

I usually like to contrast flavors in my normal meals, but eating something so artificial alongside the delicious taste of homemade cookies is like seeing your teacher at the grocery store: it is just not normal.

Every Christmas Eve, my family gathers by the Christmas tree to eat snacks, read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, and listen to a podcast my mom likes about the historical context of Santa Claus.

This year, as I learn about the influence of capitalism on Saint Nicholas, you can bet I will be snacking on one of these holiday treats.

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December 21, 2016

D.C. Maryland Virginia Slang: An old dog learning new tricks The outlandish linguistics of the DMV through the eyes of the elderly is Jih? Does he also go by “Jhi” or “Jah”? I have heard of them too.

By Cole Greenberg What is this DMV all the kids are talking about? The Department of Motor Vehicles? I can never keep up with all these newfangled catchphrases and all of that jargon hoo ha.

I swear these youngsters were talking about Silly Bands and Pokemons just a second ago.

Nowadays, I have no clue what my grandson and his friends are ever talking about. Even the googles has no idea what he means! I mean, he could at least friend me on gmail or stop by once in a while.

How hard could it be to learn this secret code of his anyways? As a past owner of a Little Orphan Annie decoder ring, I should have no problem figuring out what this lingo means all on my own. Somebody turn up the thermostat, because a cool grandpa just entered the room.

“I’m hip” Wait a second, like the body part? How could somebody be hip? Could somebody be arm? Do kids say “Yeah dude, I’m so kneecap”? Maybe this has something to do with all of that hip-hop music. I can dig that. I might not look it, but I used to be one of the funkiest cats in the neighborhood back in my heyday.

“Kill”

MEGHNA SAMBATHKUMAR

“I stamp” What are they stamping? They have to be talking about collecting postage stamps. In that case, I can finally bond with my grandson! If these youngsters want to talk about stamp collecting, then boy, did they come to the right place. I remember when you could run down the street to the local post office and buy a whole roll of stamps for a shiny nickel. The next time I hear someone say “I stamp”, they better be ready to talk about some good old fashioned snail mail memorabilia!

“Moe”/“Slim”/“Bob” Do I have a doppelganger named Moe or does my grandson have a worse memory than I do? He and his friends are always calling me Moe, or Bob, or some crazy name like that. Is it a cool way of saying more, like “Can I get some moe prune juice?” What confuses me is that my grandson is calling me Moe one second, and then Slim another.

Hah! With my high cholesterol, I can only wish I was slim.

“Jih like” Huh, so maybe deciphering this slang is a little tougher than I thought it would be.

Is it possible that Jih is a person and the kids want to know what Jih likes? Are they talking about the peanut butter brand Jiff? Who

MEGHNA SAMBATHKUMAR

Why does everybody suddenly want to whack Moe? I have yet to meet the guy, but he seems like a pretty fine fella from what people say. He might be a real character, but why would I want to kill Moe? The biggest thing killing me right now is my back.

“Welling”

piece of pizza that you wanted and you are like, ‘kill’” - senior Thierry Siewe.

“Welling:” “You are lying or you are playing games” - freshman Rachelle Antoine.

“On mothers:” “You know when you say like ‘on God’ and stuff, it is like saying that, but saying ‘I swear on my mother’” - freshman Lemlem Samuel.

Now that I can walk the walk and talk the talk, I am never going back. From here on out, nobody will believe that I am a day over 41!

Does nobody say “the bee’s knees” anymore? These youngbloods keep telling me that I am “welling”. Do they mean to say welding? Maybe they mean spelling. The interweb says that “welling” is when something “arises and become more intense.”

Maybe the kids are describing my blood pressure as I try and figure out this slang!

“On mothers” On Mother’s Day? Is “Mothers” some kind of show on the tube that all the kids are into? Maybe whenever some teen says “on mothers” to their friend, they are about to discuss the hottest shing-ding on one of those “reality shows” that everyone is always talking about. Oh brother, this is hopeless. This old brain gives up on figuring this out solo. Looks like I need some youngsters to help me figure this out.

After some digging, this is what some funky teenagers explained to me.

“I’m hip:” “It means that you know about something”- junior Sushanth Gupta.

“I stamp:” “It is like I swear” - junior Sammie Grant.

“Moe”/“Slim”/”Bob:” “Moe is kind of like a way of calling someone, not their name but like a friend, like ‘hey moe.’” - freshman Nicole Spriggs-Moye.

“Jih like:” “Jih like is like ‘really’ — ‘kind of’ or ‘really’” - junior Nora Olagbaju.

“Kill:” “Imagine somebody ate the last

MEGHNA SAMBATHKUMAR

sidebar

The linguistics of slang While poking fun at slang from the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area can make for an entertaining article, the social science behind the lingo is actually quite fascinating. Dr. Margaret J. Antonisse, a linguistics professor at the University of Maryland, explains that the existence of the DMV’s peculiar language style demonstrates a shared culture between small groups and a bigger community. “Different ethnic groups have slang terms that may or may not get noticed by the larger society. But the accurate use of such expressions signals group identity,” Antonisse wrote in an email. “So slang is inherently tied to different subgroups in a culture and it changes as all language changes over time.”

2016 year roundup: An unforgettable year to forget

Tunes, television, and theaters: A candid review of the year’s entertainment

By Elias Monastersky “Okay, ladies, now let’s get in formation.” 2016 has been a year of new releases and creations, with everything from big hitting albums like Beyoncé’s Lemonade to lesser known gems like grammy nominated Smoove Jones by Mýa. Unique television shows like the critics’ choice award winning, American Crime Story, gave viewers the chance to revisit important historical events, like the O.J. Simpson murder trial, from the comfort of their couches.

2016 also had a wide variety of movies that hit the theaters. While some may have preferred big action blockbusters like Captain America, others enjoyed Kubo and the Two Strings, a claymation adventure movie.

From the big screen to the television, Netflix also surprised everyone and won the prize with multiple new original shows.

Things to hear On the music scene, 2016 has been full of breathtaking performances and risk-taking albums. Revolutionary new albums were released from some of the most popular musicians, such as Chance the Rapper, Kanye West, and the Rolling Stones.

Big albums tackling social issues stormed

the music scene. Beyonce’s album Lemonade discussed the experiences of black women through historical references in her music video for the song “Formation.” “4 Your Eyez Only” by J. Cole delves into a multitude of social issues, such as poverty and crime, that are omnipresent in predominantly poor and black neighborhoods.

Artists also challenged the conventional methods of releasing albums this year.

Kanye West released his album Life of Pablo through the streaming service Tidal. Known to be a perfectionist, Kanye West took this opportunity to continually edit his songs.

Tidal was not the only music streaming service to burst onto the scene. Older streaming services such as Spotify regained popularity as music listeners drifted away from purchasing individual albums and songs.

In addition, musicians reached milestones this past year, such as when Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize for Literature. However, with great wins, there come great losses, such as the passing of music icons Prince and David Bowie, whose deaths left many of their fans understandably upset.

The big screen 2016 did not start off well for the movie industry, as viewers suffered a heavy loss

soapbox What do you look forward to in 2017?

“I’m looking forward to the ‘living in the moment’ that will occur due to the constant threat of imminent nuclear annihilation.”

— Claire Sparks, junior “I’m looking forward to writing many more fun soapboxes. Along with that I am really excited for Christmas 2017. Christmas 2016 will be nice and all, but in 2017 I can get a boat or something.”

— Leo West, junior

SABRINA TAN

with the death of Alan Rickman in January. Rickman, famous for playing Professor Snape in the beloved Harry Potter series, represented a generation of fantasy lovers.

While the movies released this year may not have been groundbreaking, 2016 will always be remembered as the year when the world lost a legendary actor.

The past year also had its misses. With huge budgets and huge hype, superhero movies Batman vs. Superman and Suicide Squad were mixed bags, with Rotten Tomatoes scores of 27 percent and 26 percent respectively.

Equally disappointing was Independence Day: Resurgence, the sequel to the 1996 sci-fi classic. Similar to the superhero super-flops, the movie received a score of 31 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the real heartbreaker was Zoolander 2 which scored a painfully low 23 percent. This went past laughably bad, as most of the jokes fell flat on fans who had been eagerly awaiting the sequel for almost 15 years.

On the couch

Throughout the duration of the general election, SNL came out with some brilliant sketches, with some of the best being their interpretation of the presidential debates.

Alec Baldwin encapsulated president-elect Trump so well that at times, their facial expressions and voices were almost indistinguishable. Of all the debates, the first sketch did especially well, gathering about 22.5 million views on YouTube.

The boldness of original shows from Netflix made for a varied year full of TV shows for everyone. Narcos, Stranger Things, and The Get Down were all huge Netflix shows that have been part of the company’s efforts to establish themselves as a producer of hit TV series. Narcos follows the long and bloody path of Colombian drug lord, Pablo Escobar. Stranger Things introduced many new actors in an 80’s style thriller surrounding the existence of a sinister parallel universe that seeps into ours. The Get Down is a fictional retelling of the origins of hip hop in New York City. The show portrays the harsh reality of life in the South Bronx during the 70s, while featuring moments of passionate rap.

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Vogue says ‘modest is in,’ and we have to agree

Dressing modestly is a creative and religious outlet for some students

By Erin Namovicz

JEDEDIAH GRADY

Yuchabel Sanon Senior After school, some students like to play their favorite sports, and others participate in a club or play. However, senior Yuchabel Sanon enjoys attending events with First Lady Michelle Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Sanon was the only student in Maryland to win Beat the Odds, a $10,000 collegiate scholarship for students who have overcome struggles. The scholarship rewards students who have demonstrated academic excellence despite experiencing adversity.

“Beat the Odds is a scholarship for the Children’s Defense Fund … it’s telling kids that it doesn’t matter what your struggle is, it won’t define your future,” Sanon says.

In addition to having dinner with Hillary Clinton when receiving the award, Sanon also enjoyed other experiences with the First Lady’s Administration Program through Beat the Odds. “We got to go to Camp David … and also the Oval Office, which is really cool,” she says.

Despite these amazing experiences, Sanon does not take her opportunities for granted. “I’m very blessed and happy,” she says.

December 21, 2016

As temperatures plummet into the winter months, take a stroll down Blair Boulevard and you will encounter freezing students clad in sweatpants and hoodies. Gone are the breezy summer days of short shorts and exposed midriffs. As many Blazers struggle to stay covered up and keep fashionable, it is time to take notes from the fashion lookbooks of the students who have been doing it all along.

Religious guidelines and personal preferences motivate some Blazers to wear clothing that the average teenager would consider modest. Though it is not always easy finding stylish clothes in uncommon cuts, these students are able to cover up creatively, throughout all four seasons.

One student who incorporates style with modesty is senior Razan Ahmed, who wears hijab while creating her own look. “I try to find really nice modern clothing that’s still modest. I usually wear skirts, like I don’t really know a lot of other people that wear skirts like I do,” she says.

Junior Suraya Mohamud also wears hijab and likes to use color coordination to make her outfits, a mix of traditional bright Somali colors and typical modern clothes, stand out.

Mohamud explains that dressing modestly allows for her to be comfortable. The concept of hijab “goes kind of beyond just covering your head with a scarf. It’s more along the lines of covering your body and having a sense of humbleness, and being able to build the self-respect and shield yourself in a way that people tend to understand you more as a person, first, than just by the way you look.”

Abbigail Willis is a junior who chooses to dress modestly because of her Mormon religion. Like Mohamud, Willis agrees that dressing modestly allows for self-respect.

“The idea is that your body is a gift from God and it’s meant to be respected, and so the clothes that you wear should reflect that kind of respect that you have for yourself,” she says.

Still, religion is not the only motivation for students to dress modestly. Junior Grace Hoggarth has been designing clothes since she was a child, and enjoys exploring mod-

est styles. “I feel like a lot of girls feel that in order to dress well and be attractive to other people they have to show more skin,” she explains. Hoggarth believes that you can express your own style with or without wearing revealing clothes.

While many stores may advertise the

she says.

However, modest fashion has recently begun to find its footing in pop culture. This September, Muslim designer Anniesa Hasibuan presented a show at New York Fashion Week with every model clad in hijab.

Ahmed looks up to hijab fashion icons such

SAMI MALLON

MODEST FASHIONISTAS Clockwise from left: juniors Najat Abdella, Suraya Mohamud, Najwa Abdella, Grace Hoggarth, and Abbigail Willis; seniors Shima Abdullah, and Razan Ahmed, show off their stylish modest outfits. more revealing outfits that can be found inside, all it takes is a bit of patience and know-how to find clothing that shows less skin. “It’s not too hard to find clothing that covers you up when you shop at stores like H&M, American Eagle, and Forever 21, but honestly it all depends on how modestly you like or need to dress,” Hoggarth says.

In the ever influential pop culture age, many Blair students get many of their style inspirations from TV and the internet. Willis believes that this can leave students such as herself at a disadvantage, as modest fashion is rarely represented. “If you watch TV shows that have teenage girls or young women in them, they don’t wear modest clothing in the summers. That makes it hard to find things that are cute but also modest,”

as YouTube star Habiba Da Silva, who has used the internet to make a name for herself and her new hijab line called Skin.

At Blair as well, modest dressers have found themselves receiving generally positive comments on their outfits. While some students had issues with Mohamud’s scarf freshman year, she says that now she often gets compliments on her cute color combinations. “I kind of found myself like … feeling more welcome in Blair,” she says.

It may not be the norm, but modest fashion has become a creative outlet for Blazers of many backgrounds. By covering up, these girls are not only able to stay warm through the chilly winter days, but they are also able to gain confidence and self-respect. “I mean, I just look fabulous,” Mohamud laughs.

Plastic is not fantastic! Simple ways to save the ocean Little, every day environmental actions that can save little lives

By Brianna Forte In first person

CALEB BAUMAN

Laura Lill Junior When junior Laura Lill picked up the flute in fourth grade, she never expected that one day, she would play at the famous Carnegie Hall in New York.

On Dec. 1, Lill played a benefit concert at Carnegie Hall with the Chesapeake Youth Symphony Orchestra. The event aimed to raise awareness for The Golden Hat Foundation, an organization that strives to change the way autism is perceived. Lill says she enjoyed accompanying famous singers, including Melora Hardin.

In order to prepare for the concert, Lill endured rehearsals up to five hours long and learned extensive music pieces. “I had to learn 18 pieces in like one month,” she says.

Despite the long hours and intense practices, Lill says she relished the experience.

“It was a really amazing opportunity because it gave me firsthand insight into what being a professional musician is like,” she says.

By Emma Cross

“The Earth’s a Gift. Give it a Lift!” Just about any student at a public school in Montgomery County is familiar with this slogan on posters plastered along the hallways. As cheesy as these posters seem, they have a point.

We are the next generation. We are the ones who will have to deal with climate change. It is time that we start taking responsibility for our planet. And, while not everyone wants to drastically change their lifestyle by switching to solar panels and skipping showers, these are some small tips to get you on the right track.

Lights and other little things If you are reluctant to plunge head on into the environmental effort and spend your entire life savings on eco-friendly solutions, do not worry; you are probably not the only one. You can still make a difference!

A tiny task that makes a huge difference is turning off the lights whenever you leave a room. Keeping your bedroom light on while you are downstairs in the kitchen is pointless, and it is also a huge waste of energy to keep the lights on in an empty room.

While on the topic of wasting energy, who knew that chargers and other appliances could suck so much? But in all honesty, when appliances are left plugged into the wall, they suck up energy even when they are not turned on or being used. According to Global Tech LED these energy vampires that are plugged in but not in use, such as “computers, printers, mobile phone chargers, and other electronics still draw energy and can account for 10 percent of a home energy bill each month.” A quick way to decrease your energy consumption is by unplugging a phone charger or lamp when you are done with it. Simple and easy!

CARLY TAGEN-DYE

Finally, turn off the faucet! I could list thousands of facts about how much water is wasted when you keep the water running while brushing your teeth or doing the dishes. But I will not bore you. The point is, do not do it!

Taking the next step If you are willing to invest just a little bit of money into the cause, then these next couple of steps are for you! First things first, buy a tote. It can be cute, it can be big, it can be bright, or it can be patterned. Whichever style it is, this bag will save you lots of time, space, and money in the long run.

Whenever you go out shopping with your tote, put your products inside of it instead of wasting another plastic bag. Not only will this get you out of paying the Montgomery County bag tax, but you will also reduce the amount of plastic you use.

Speaking of plastic, there are other ways to reduce your waste. Instead of buying and wasting countless water bottles, invest in a

reusable water bottle. Not only does this reduce the amount of plastic being used, but according to North Country Recycles, this “will help save some of the 47 million gallons of oil used each year to produce plastic bottles.” Whether you go with a cheap one from Five Below or a hydro flask from REI, having a reusable water bottle makes a huge difference in cutting down on plastic waste.

Even if you recycle the plastic water bottles you use, energy and materials are still wasted on making that water bottle. By using a reusable water bottle, you automatically reduce the amount of resources you waste, and in the future, you will not have to pay money for water bottles. Just fill up your cup and go!

This next step can be a bit hard: I myself still struggle to remember it sometimes. Try to stop using plastic straws. Seriously. These bits of plastic are so pointless since they can only be used one time. Most of the plastic ends up in the ocean, and some of it ends up inside sea creatures.

If you are not convinced, there is a video on YouTube of a sea turtle with a full length plastic straw up its nose. It serves as a reminder that everything you do and use can impact the earth and its creatures. You can choose to make your impact a good one by either skipping the straw or investing in reusable straws.

What matters most

I have saved the easiest way to help the environment for last. The most important thing to do if you want to help the environment is spread the message. Share why it’s important, share how people can help, and do your part! If you set an example of being eco friendly, your peers will take notice and follow your lead. The more people you impact the better. We all live on the same planet, and share the same ocean. It is time to do our part.

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December 21, 2016

Entertainment D4

Christmas trees, fireworks, lasagna, and samosas

A look at the various ways Blazers celebrate some of the winter holidays

By Noah Chopra-Khan “I mostly eat all of the lasagna,” freshman Misael Saldana says, fondly recalling his Thanksgiving Day meal. “I go to my grandma’s house, help her cook the food,” he says. “After we’re done cooking the food, we pray, and after we pray, we all share the food we love. Get fat. Love each other hug each other and then go home.”

This year, thousands of Blazers celebrated Thanksgiving Day with the simple yet glorious combination of family and food.

Some students, however, also enjoyed the holiday by fusing their own cultures with beloved American traditions.

Turkey, mullah, and family time Senior Shima Abdulla enjoys Thanksgiving potlucks with her family members, who come to her house from around the D.C. area, and bring their own dishes. “At our house we cook like turkey and then there is gravy and mash potatoes, but like my mom will also cook Sudanese traditional food, and my cousins will bring other foods,” she says.

Abdulla’s favorite Sudanese foods are samosas, a pastry-like food that can be filled with potatoes, onions, and green peas, and mullah, a green dish with spinach.

Freshman Guy Lingani mixes the traditional turkey meal with a variety of dishes from Mali like tchep, a spicy rice-based dish with tomato sauce and fish. However, the best part of the holiday for Lingani is not the food, but the family bonding. “It’s a

time to get together with my family cause I don’t get to see them all the time because they live in Philadelphia,” he says.

The day before Thanksgiving, Lingani’s family gathers at his house, and they spend the night cooking together. “The kitchen is filled with everyone, we’re all having fun, we put music on and the smell of food is everywhere,” he says. “We’re all talking, we’re all catching up.”

Come Christmastime

The joyous celebrations only start with Thanksgiving, as many students continue their festive traditions into winter break.

In the weeks approaching Christmas, lights hang from the shutters, stockings drape from the fireplace, and all the rooms are full in the Lingani household. “Christmas is the same thing as Thanksgiving where our family comes over, but they come in a little more in advance,” Lingani says. “That way, we can go present shopping.”

Soon after his family arrives, they do their annual Christmas shopping tradition, pairing off in groups of two until everyone has gotten gifts for everyone else.

“For example, if I want to buy presents for my mother, I go with the other people like my father… basically do duo’s and then switch,” he says.

On Christmas Eve, the Lingani family observes the religious holiday by celebrating the birth of Christ. “At Christmas Eve at ten, we go to church from ten to midnight.

We do that every year. Then directly after

soapbox Do you have any unique holiday traditions?

“My mom’s birthday is New Year’s Eve, so my sister and I bake her cupcakes, and we watch New Year’s Eve specials on TV together.”

— Jasmine Ali, freshman “I watch the ABC Family movie marathon on Christmas day, and the days leading up to Christmas.”

— Nayla Henriquez, freshman

SHIVANI MATTIKALLI

that we go to bed,” he says. “And then in the morning after we wake up, we get everyone else up, take a few pictures, and start opening presents.”

Opening presents is a common Christmas morning tradition for many students; others celebrate the holiday with a bit more flair.

Junior David Lopez fondly recalls celebrating Christmas 2013 with his family in El Salvador. They gathered at his grandmother’s house on Christmas Eve, sharing food and quality time until 11:30 p.m. That is when the fireworks went off.

Red, blue, and green sparks streaked through the sky in an exciting celebration of the birth of Christ. Although Lopez is not very religious, he enjoyed the fireworks and had a good time. “That was the first time I spent Christmas over there,” Lopez says, “so it was something new and that was lit.”

Like Lingani and Lopez, junior Kaleb Bikil enjoys Christmas, but as an Orthodox Christian, he observes the holiday differently. For 40 days leading up to Christmas, Bikil prays often, goes to church every weekend, and fasts.

In his fast, Bikil restricts his food intake to smaller portions and follows a vegan diet. “Here it is really difficult because most of the food contains dairy or meat product,” he says. “So it is hard but I am getting used to it.”

As Christmas approaches, Bikil’s family begins preparing food to break the fast. “Christmas Eve is the day we make the traditional foods to eat the next day,” he says.

Bikil’s family prepares a variety of Ethiopian dishes. His favorite is doro wat. “It is a chicken but it is made with a sauce and it has boiled eggs inside. It’s really good,” he says. “We eat it with injera. It’s a sort of bread.”

After preparing the food, the family heads to church, making sure to arrive before midnight for a night of prayer.

“There are all sorts of praying, praising God and singing, different kind of religious things to do so it takes a long time to finish,” Bikil says.

They arrive home around 11 a.m. “We gather together all the family,” Bikil says.

“We eat the food and we give each other gifts just spending time together for the rest of the day.”

For all students who celebrate the holidays, religious or not, this season can be a beautiful time to come together with family and enjoy special traditions.

As junior Charles Gyrder describes it, it is simply a time to remember. “It is a time to remember where you are, where you came from, how you got where you are now,” Gryder says, “and who’s been with you the whole way.”

A day of thanks: The sorrily overshadowed holiday

Thanksgiving is better than Christmas and there is nothing you can do about it

By Cole Sebastian Humor Thanksgiving has come and gone, but it seems that my favorite holiday lacks the sort of flare that it so deserves. The all-American feast is woefully underappreciated and leaves Thanksgiving lovers with little time to celebrate. The Lametivity lovers get a whole season that starts on the day after Halloween, while I’m left with only one day to celebrate.

That’s why I propose a full Thanksgiving season on behalf of all my turkey-stuffing, potato-mashing, saucy cranberries.

Before I get into the details of the coming festivities, I should explain the need for a Thanksgiving season. Christmas is invading. The beginning of the Christmas season is marked by the gift buying on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. But Black Friday isn’t Black Friday anymore. It’s Black Thursday and sometimes even Black Wednesday.

These early sales are the first sign of Christmas making a guerilla assault on Thanksgiving.

The only way to combat this aggression is to fight fire with fire. Let’s face it; Christmas is a big deal. In order to fight back, Thanksgiving needs the same level of big-dealness.

Thanksgiving is vastly superior to Christmas anyway. Sure, Christmas is magical and fun as a child, but that magic gradually wears off with time and is replaced with commercialism and the awkwardness of having that friend that gets you a gift but you didn’t get them a gift because you didn’t know that you guys were that close so you pretend that their gift is in the mail and then grab a weird candle from your closet. The true Thanksgiving

values never wear off.

Thanksgiving is just about getting together with the people you love and eating a whole lot of food: a simple yet beautiful concept. When designing the new Thanksgiving holiday I have tried to keep focus on three things: family, love, and food.

The Thanksgiving season will officially begin on the first Thursday of November with the first feast, Firstsgiving. This feast will be eaten with your immediate family and can be any food the family desires.

However, I strongly encourage this first feast to be a time to explore foods of new styles or cultures that you are not familiar with. This feast will put a focus on reflection on the past year as a family and the experiences you’ve shared together.

Next Thursday will be Worksgiving, when every workplace holds a potluck.

Everyone will bring in dishes from their own cultural backgrounds and celebrate those of their co-workers. Worksgiving will have an emphasis on making connections with coworkers you don’t know very well. This feast can also be held in school classes or clubs.

The last additional feast will be called Thankseating, on the third Thursday, and will be entirely focused on the food.

The only requirement for this feast is that, at some

point in the day, you eat your absolute favorite meal. It doesn’t matter who you eat it with as long as you love the food and you eat a whole lot of it.

The next addition to the Thanksgiving season is on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. This will be designated as a day for charity and giving back. It will become tradition to do community service on that Sunday and to ensure that every family has all the resources for a perfect Thanksgiving.

We need to return the thanksgiving to Thanksgiving. Each Thursday of November, make sure you remind someone in your life that you are thankful that they are in your life. November will become a month that has an emphasis on kindness and community.

With that, I am announcing my candidacy for President in 2036 on the sole platform of making every Thursday in November its own national holiday. On the first Thanksgiving of my Presidency, I will not only pardon a turkey, but I will appoint the turkey as Vice President. Then, having accomplished everything I promised to my voters, I will resign and leave the country in the claws of said turkey. Animals are pure of heart and represent the true spirit of Thanksgiving.

You’re welcome.

SHIVANI MATTIKALLI

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December 21, 2016

E1 español

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21 de diciembre, 2016

La Esquina Latina

Silver Chips 21 de diciembre del 2016

Movimientos de unidad y justicia en la comunidad latina

Latinos muestran interés en el cambio social y la paz se vuelve una prioridad Por Andrés Pérez El panorama nacional dio un giro de 180 grados luego de las elecciones presidenciales. La nación se vio dividida en varios grupos, pero los más notables parecieron ser aquellos que apoyan al nuevo presidente electo Trump y aquellos que se oponen a su elección como presidente de la nación. Personas de todas razas y edades se juntaron para expresar sus opiniones. Sin importar cual fuera su causa, todos sentían que esta elección había dado comienzo a una división de ideales en el país.

Lo que atrajo tanta atención hacia los resultados de la elección tuvo que ver en gran parte como los medios de comunicación anunciaron los avances de cada candidato.

Fue evidente como la mayoría de encuestas apuntaban hacia una victoria para Hillary Clinton, cuando la realidad al final fue el opuesto. Esto se ha llegado a conocer como la “mayoría silenciosa,” ya que se dice que aquellos que apoyaban al ahora presidente electo Donald Trump no estaban expresando su expresión honesta en dichas encuestas o simplemente eran excluídos de las mismas. El ambiente se intensificó cuando empezaron a aparecer marchas y movimientos en las redes sociales y otros medios de comunicación. A pesar de que la situación ya tenía la atención, estos últimos acontecimientos sirvieron para establecer una llamada de acción para que cada quien pudiera defender su punto de vista.

La comunidad latina se vio en su mayo-

ría atraída hacia aquellos movimientos cuyos propósitos eran obtener igualdad social y justicia racial. En las marchas y demostraciones que se llevaron a cabo en Maryland, se podía observar que gran parte de los que atendieron eran latinos. A través de estas plataformas,

también de otras maneras que sirven como formas de expresión pacífica para la población general. Por otro lado, también rompió el estereotipo de que los jóvenes no tienen interés en asuntos gubernamentales. Con cientos de estudiantes unidos

CORTESíA DE SEAN CULLEN

UN MENSAJE IMPORTANTE Un cartel en la protesta dice, “No mi presidente” muchos sintieron un alivio que les permitió expresar sus ideas y compartir un espacio público con aquellos que también se sentían identificados con la misma causa. Un gran ejemplo de esto es la marcha que se llevó a cabo por parte de estudiantes de Blair el pasado catorce de noviembre. Cientos de estudiantes de nuestra escuela decidieron asistir, ya que sentían pasión por el movimiento.

Esta marcha sirvió como una lección para muchos, ya que les enseñó que la participación política no consiste solo de votar y trabajar directamente para el gobierno, sino

por una causa, se envió un mensaje claro de unidad y pasión por un mismo propósito, unificar la nación y convertirla en un lugar seguro para todas las personas.

Esto inspiró a muchos jóvenes a seguir participando en asuntos políticos, ya que se dieron cuenta de que su voz también cuenta. A pesar de esto, muchos aún desconocen cómo pueden seguir participando en demostraciones para apoyar sus ideales, especialmente aquellos relacionados a las elecciones. Las protestas son generalmente lo primero que viene a la mente cuando se

piensa en demostraciones, pero en realidad hay muchas maneras más de ser activo en causas sociales. El primer paso para lograr esto es mantenerse informado. Principalmente, estos eventos se anuncian en redes sociales, por lo tanto, es importante seguir páginas que defiendan la causa en la que estén interesados y es el primer paso para volverse activo. El mantenerse informado también construye bases más fuertes para defender su causa. De esta manera, el público se va a tomar más en serio sus propuestas.

Después de eso, es fácil formar parte de la acción. Si se siente apasionado por participar de manera más activa, atender a dichos eventos es la mejor manera. Estas marchas o asambleas se anuncian especialmente por redes sociales, ya que es la manera más fácil de alcanzar a más personas. Por otro lado, también puede participar de manera pasiva ayudando a publicar los anuncios de dichos eventos o donando a las organizaciones que los llevan a cabo.

Sea cual sea la causa que le interese, debe mantener en cuenta que cada movimiento tiene sus riesgos, especialmente ahora que el ambiente social está tenso luego de las elecciones. Muchos de estos eventos, incluso los que empiezan pacíficamente, se pueden volver violentos de manera muy rápida ya que muchos se dejan llevar por el momento. Si cree que su vida o su seguridad podría ponerse en peligro al participar activamente, se recomienda mantener la calma y dialogar.

El diálogo interracial en Blair, sin presencia de los latinos

Ausencia latina e hispana crea esfuerzos para que participen en el futuro Por Sofía Muñoz Durante la semana de noviembre 14 a 18 un club de Blair organizó una semana de discusiones llamadas Blair Interracial Dialogue (o en español, el Diálogo Interracial de Blair), lo cual ocurrió en la sala 162 y después en la biblioteca debido a la gran cantidad de estudiantes que asistieron.

El tema de las discusiones era la raza y el racismo, y los argumentos que aplican a la población diversa de Blair. El diálogo fue auspiciado por el profesor Kevin Schindel y las estudiantes Iyanu Bishop, en el onceavo grado y Claire Maske, en el doceavo grado quienes tuvieron la idea el año pasado y decidieron continuarlo. Este año, el diálogo atrajo cientos de estudiantes, lo cual Bishop, Maske y Schindel creen fue debido al resultado de las elecciones presidenciales y la protesta durante el día escolar ese mismo lunes 14 de noviembre. Lo único que faltaba en el diálogo fue la presencia de los estudiantes latinos e hispanos quienes muchos notaron que solo habían unos cuantos.

El diálogo interracial tenía una estructura fluida en donde Bishop y Maske introdujeron diferentes asuntos relacionados a la raza y dejaron que los estudiantes puedan hablar sobre ellos en grupos de una mezcla diversa entre amigos y personas desconocidas. Uno de los días, hubo la opción de participar en un taller enfocado en definir el racismo a través de las experiencias de las personas oprimidas. También hubo otra opción para ayudar a organizar más esfuerzos para continuar el movimiento de paz después de la protesta.

Muchos estudiantes encontraron mucha empatía en las discusiones que ocurrieron

durante el transcurso de la semana y Maske añade que es importante, “tener conversaciones en donde uno puede ver las perspectivas de otras personas… puede ayudar a mejor entender muchos de los problemas que tienen.” El diálogo dio la oportunidad para que la comunidad de Blair pueda hablar sobre sus sentimientos, preocupaciones y posibles soluciones para combatir el racismo.

Maske, Bishop, Schindel y varios otros estudiantes que estuvieron presentes duran-

BEN DOGGETT

INCLUSIÓN Pierre Moglen (11) comparte su opinion con miembros del Club interracial. te el diálogo se dieron cuenta que no había una gran audiencia de estudiantes hispanohablantes’ o latinos. Stephanie Montes de Oca, una estudiante latina decidió asistir el diálogo para conocer más sobre los diferentes temas que rodea el racismo y las diferentes opiniones de las personas en Blair. Montes de Oca se desilucionó cuando encontró que no había muchas personas latinas en el diálogo,

explicando que, “la comunidad hispana también debe envolverse en eso porque es bueno para entender porqué tiene que ver con ellos también.” La ausencia de la comunidad latina causó que muchos de los temas cubiertos fueran relatados por personas con distintas experiencias, porque no incluyo las dificultades que enfrentan a los latinos.

El diálogo interracial fue creado cuando el profesor Schidel y sus estudiantes de CAP (el Programa de Comunicación y Arte) se dieron cuenta que al hablar sobre el racismo en clase, no habían muchas personas de color y de diferentes etnicidades. Esa decepción comenzó la iniciativa para que la clase abriera sus puertas e invite a personas que estaban interesadas en escuchar y participar en las conversaciones. Muy pronto hubo más demanda para que otras personas en la escuela puedan unirse al diálogo y así comenzó el Diálogo Interracial de Blair. El diálogo fue organizado por Maske, Bishop y la clase del noveno periodo de CAP del Señor Schindel como una extensión de su currículo escolar. Aunque el diálogo era destinado durar por 45 minutos, muchos estudiantes decidieron quedarse después y continuar a hablar hasta tarde. Después que terminó la semana de diálogo, Bishop y Maske se dieron cuenta que muchos estudiantes todavía estaban interesados en continuar las conversaciones que comenzaron durante la semana y decidieron comenzar un club que tenga ocurre durante el almuerzo y después de la escuela.

Tratando de atraer a más estudiantes es una meta importante para el club y hay mucho incentivo de parte de Bishop, Maske y otros miembros para crear comi-

tés de diferentes temas que puedan interesar a los alumnos latinos e hispanos. El club ha planificado tener servicios de traducción para los estudiantes que prefieren hablar y escuchar español durante el diálogo. Para

BEN DOGGETT

APOYO ADMINISTRATIVO El profesor Schindel ayudó a comenzar el club. los estudiantes que todavía se encuentran tentativos y no saben si quieren participar, el profesor Schindel dice, “no creo que es un ambiente intimidante, las personas pueden venir y solo escuchar si quieren.”

El club del diálogo interracial de Blair no requiere ningún compromiso serio, y lo que Bishop dice que más valoran es, “que si las personas vienen y están apasionadas y tienen la motivación para hacer proyectos, recaudar fondos y otras cosas, entonces creo que podemos realizar mucho”. El club tiene las intenciones de crear más diálogos entre la población culturalmente diversa que se encuentra en Blair y esperan que todos se sientan incluidos en progresar las conversaciones y sentimientos sobre la raza y discriminación.

D6 Chips Clips

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SILENT NIGHT Silent Night 1

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21. Saint in a children’s rhyme 22. Gets up 23. Sushi bar drink 25. Brownish gray 26. Founder of modern nursing 33. Let out hot air?

34. Milder alternative to hell 35. Rapper ___ Uzi Vert 36. Suspicious of 37. Place for jewels 39. Twists the truth 40. Poetic tribute 41. Honey Bunches of Oat producer 42. Playwright who wrote ‘The Zoo Story” 43. Stays up grinding 47. “___ Como Va” 48. High wind?

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11. Centers of hurricanes 12. Peach or beech 13. Roles, metaphorically’ 18. Foamposite manufacturer 19. Magician’s prop

46. "____ to differ" 49. Milk option 50. Floor square 51. Words after "come" or "go" Across 52. Actress Hathaway 1. Oil proj. in the news 53. Former Toronto Blue 5. D sharp equivalent Jays manager Gaston 7. Not show up 54. Surrounded by 8. What tots might go after?

55. Chanel of fashion 9. Ear pieces?

56. Futuristic disney film 58. Golfer Poulter Down 59. Get along in years 1. Highly skilled 60. Stimpy's TV companion

23. Meh 24. Gallery display 25. Webster’s ref.

26. Dipping dish in Dijon 27. Not now 28. Laundry drop 29. Shocking swimmer 30. Suspect’s story 31. Defamation in print 32. Alternatively 33. Fool 37. Go to the polls 38. Volcanic emission 39. Floating arctic mass 41. Coll. course in which to study Freud 42. “Much ___ About Nothing” 44. Library no-nos 45. Wake-up call, informally 46. “____ to differ” 49. Milk option 50. Floor square 51. Words after “come” or “go” 52. Actress Hathaway 53. Former Toronto Blue Jays manager Gaston 54. Surrounded by 55. Chanel of fashion 56. Futuristic disney film 58. Golfer Poulter 59. Get along in years 60. Stimpy’s TV companion

Sudoku (hard)

2. Company with a spokesduck 3. ‘The Republic” author 4. Nick Young or D’Angelo Russell, eg.

6. Coastal diver

COURTESY OF WEBSUDOKU ALEXANDRA MENDIVIL

Teamwork is good

ARITRA ROY

NICHOLAS YONKOS

21 de deciembre 2016

español E2

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Conoce tus derechos sin importar tu estado migratorio

Sigue estos consejos para poder ejercer tus derechos civiles en cualquier situación Por Michael Hernández La inmigración sigue siendo un tema de incertidumbre con la elección del presidente electo, Donald Trump quien tomará el mando del país a principios del próximo año. Trump prometió la deportación de los 11.1 millones de inmigrantes indocumentados que radican residencia en el país durante la elección presidencial. Después de haber ganado el puesto de presidente electo de los Estados Unidos su propuesta ha cambiado a solo deportar a unos 2 a 3 millones de indocumentados que hayan cometido delitos y poseen una amenaza directa para la seguridad de la nación americana. Una de las cualidades del presidente electo es cuan impredecibles pueden ser sus decisiones. Es de importancia saber que el estar bien informado ayudará a todo inmigrante que no ha estado involucrado en crímenes. Lo cierto es que los inmigrantes indocumentados tienen derechos que pueden ejercer en caso de encontrarse en una redada migratoria repentina.

Lo primordial para evitar problemas, es tener bien claro lo que bajo la ley el departamento de inmigración puede y no puede hacer. Los agentes de inmigración son los únicos que pueden detener a alguien por su estatus migratorio. La policía del condado no es parte de estas redadas. Primeramente, uno tiene derecho a preguntarle a la policía si está haciendo detenido. Si el oficial le responde que, “No, usted no está siendo arrestado o detenido,” le deben preguntar al oficial si usted se puede ir. Si el oficial le dice que sí, váyase lentamente y calmadamente.

Por otra parte si el oficial dice que usted está siendo arrestado, usted tiene el derecho de permanecer en silencio. En el estado de Maryland no es un delito negarse a darle su nombre a las autoridades. Esto es crucial porque ICE podría comenzar un proceso de deportación si sabe su nombre. Si no tiene documentos no conteste ninguna pregunta y

pida hablar con un abogado ya que lo que usted diga puede ser usado en su contra. Es muy importante que si usted posee documentos falsos no los enseñe porque esto puede tener graves consecuencias ya que robar o inventar una identidad es un delito federal.

Cuando los agentes de inmigración se

Si los agentes de inmigración se presentan en su lugar de trabajo usted tiene nuevamente el derecho de permanecer en silencio. Ellos deben de tener una orden firmada por un juez o la autorización del patrón para entrar al lugar de su trabajo. Es muy importante que usted no huya del lugar y que mantenga la calma.

SHIVANI MATTIKALLI

presentan a un domicilio ellos deben de tener una orden judicial para poder entrar a su casa. Una orden judicial es un papel firmado por un juez que le da permiso a los agentes de inmigración para entrar a la vivienda de una persona. Si un inmigrante se encuentra en esta situación es muy importante no abrir la puerta. Pídale al agente que pase la orden por debajo de la puerta porque si usted abre la puerta es como que usted le esté dando consentimiento para entrar a su hogar. Asegúrese que la orden esté firmada por un juez antes de entregarse o rendirse a las autoridades.

Los agentes de inmigración no pueden detener a nadie en un lugar público a menos que tengan prueba que esa persona sea indocumentada. Usted tiene el derecho a negarse de ser registrado y permanecer en silencio. Si usted tiene documentos legales o temporales los debe enseñarlos y no tema tener más problemas.

Otra posible situación donde un inmigrante puede hacer detenido es mientras conduce o navega un vehículo motorizado. Si es parado por un agente usted debe poner sus manos en el volante donde el oficial pueda verlas y permanecer en el

carro hasta que el oficial se acerque. El conductor tiene la responsabilidad de enseñarle su licencia de conducir y el documento de registración del vehículo.

En todo caso usted puede escribir la clase de oficial que lo detuvo, el nombre del oficial y el número de placa por cualquier incertidumbre que tenga en el futuro. El oficial le puede preguntar cosas simples como ¿De qué país es usted? Usted está en todo su derecho de permanecer en silencio. Si usted es un pasajero en el vehículo tiene el derecho de mantener su identidad oculta y negar que el oficial vea su identificación. Usted puede pedir irse ya que es simplemente un pasajero.

El proceso que sigue después de haber sido arrestado es complicado pero hay ciertas cosas que pueden hacer en caso de encontrarse en esta situación. Para empezar averigüe quien lo arrestó. Luego no firme documentos que no entienda, sin consultar o hablar con un abogado porque los agentes de gobierno pueden engañarlo a que firmen documentos comprometedores.

Estando en la cárcel o centro de detención usted tiene el derecho de hablar con un abogado y de hacer una llamada de telefónica.

Otro punto de gran importancia es comunicarse con el consulado de su país de origen.

La oficina del consulado puede ayudarle a encontrar un abogado o le puede ayudar a contactar a su familia. Finalmente tiene el derecho de obtener una fianza si comprueba que no es una amenaza directa para los la nación americana y los ciudadanos Cómo establecido en este artículo, lo mejor que se puede hacer es prepararse y educarse sobre los derechos que un inmigrante tiene para enfrentar cualquier situación adversa que involucre a ICE. Datos basados en la publicación“¡Conozca sus derechos!” de CASA de Maryland, Detention Watch Network y el National Inmigration Project of the National Lawyer’s Guild.

Don Francisco la gran leyenda Descanse en paz Equipo Chapecoense de la televisión hispana regresa 71 muertos y 6 sobrevivientes en accidente Por Michael Hernández Después de que Mario Kreutzberger, mejor conocido como Don Francisco, anunció la cancelación de su programa Sábado gigante el animador regresa a la televisión con un nuevo programa, Don Francisco te invita transmitido por la cadena de Telemundo. Don Francisco empezó su carrera en su natal Chile y luego decidió extender su exitoso programa a los Estados Unidos. El programa duró 53 años al aire y 30 años en Univisión, una compañía televisiva ubicada en la ciudad del sol, Miami. El programa fue visto en 42 países en Latinoamérica y Europa. Tanto fue el éxito que el libro de Records Mundiales Guinness reconoció que el programa rompió el récord del programa de variedades que más tiempo lleva en el aire, ya que se transmitió sin parar durante 2,600 semanas. Don Francisco también tuvo un programa que se llamaba Don Francisco presenta que duró 9 años al aire todos los miércoles a las 10/9c por Univisión.

Este programa aportó algo mas intimo para los artistas porque era un espacio donde ellos contaban exclusivas y historias de sus vidas. Sábado gigante estuvo al aire todos los sábados por tres horas donde Don Francisco conducía el programa junto a un equipo de modelos y otros presentadores.

Por muchos años Don Francisco ha sido reconocido por ser muy humanitario y también por crear talentos televisivos. El creó el Teletón USA donde la cadena de Univisión recauda dinero para niños con incapacidades físicas. El año pasado los donativos sobrepasaron la meta con más de 15 millones de dólares. Por el otro lado Don Francisco dejó que su programa fuera como una universidad para muchos presentadores al igual que servir como un guía. La conductora Alejandra Espinoza acompañó a Don Francisco por muchos años después de ganar el certamen de belleza, Nuestra Belleza Latina. Allí ella se desarrolló y se convirtió en el talento que

es hoy en día, Espinoza ha conducido programas muy importantes para la empresa de Univisión y ahora es la animadora principal del programa La banda.

Ahora Don Francisco regresa con un nuevo programa que se llama, Don Francisco te invita por la cadena televisiva Telemundo.

Este nuevo programa reemplazó al programa de Angélica Vale y Raúl González, Que noche lo cual fue cancelado. El programa se puede ver todos los domingos a las 10/9 centro. Este nuevo programa incluye una hora de diversión y entretenimiento. En este nuevo e innovador programa hay entrevistas y retos divertidos con los famosos del medio de entretenimiento. Además, hay historias conmovedoras e inspiradoras de gente con vidas cotidianas.

Don Francisco logró recuperar a su gran equipo de producción que él empleaba en Sábado gigante después que muchos quedarán sin trabajo. El formato del programa se parece mucho a Don Francisco presenta donde incluye conversaciones muy íntimas con los artistas del medio artístico. Don Francisco anima el programa junto a la periodista Jessica Carrillo quien trabaja para el programa Al Rojo Vivo durante la semana laboral. También el programa cuenta con orquesta compuesta de mujeres y que se llama Sexta clave.

Don Francisco te invita que será televisado todos los domingos por Telemundo.

LINDSAY HARRIS

Por Angie Mejia

En la noche del 28 de noviembre, 71 personas perecieron después de que el avión se estrelló en la ladera de la montañas cerca de la ciudad de Medellín en Colombia. El avión llevaba 77 personas que

que el piloto espere hasta que otro avión fuera capaz de aterrizar. Flightradar24, un radar de tráfico aéreo, muestra el avión Lamia 933 volando en círculos esperando direcciones. Las últimas palabras del piloto fueron “Vectores, señorita. Vectores de aterrizaje “, es decir, el piloto estaba solici-

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incluían a miembros del equipo de fútbol Chapecoense de Brasil, periodistas y la tripulación. Sólo 6 personas sobrevivieron el accidente: tres jugadores, un periodista, una azafata y un técnico de vuelo.

El equipo de fútbol brasileño se dirigía a Medellín desde la ciudad Sao Paulo para competir contra el Atlético Nacional por el título de la Copa Sudamericana. Sin embargo, el avión que fue operado por la línea aérea Lamia, se estrelló aproximadamente 12 kilómetros de su destino.

Las dos cajas negras, un sistema que graba todas las actividades en un avión, han sido encontradas y están siendo investigadas por profesionales. Hasta ahora, se ha dicho que el avión se quedó sin combustible, sin embargo, parece que existió algunos problemas eléctricos también. El público está atacando al piloto, Miguel Quiroga, por no abastecerse de gasolina en Bogotá y por no declarar una señal de emergencia. El avión no fue diseñado para un viaje largo, y usualmente debe contener 30-45 min de combustible extra en caso de emergencias. Otros ven la falla en la controladora de tráfico aéreo por hacer

tando dirección para su aterrizaje.

Aunque los miembros del equipo Chapecoense no pudieron jugar en su partido, el Atlético Nacional escribió una carta a la CONCACAF pidiendo que se otorgue la copa al equipo brasileño. CONCACAF dijo que también darán, “privilegios deportivos y económicos” que conllevan el ganar el campeonato.

Durante el día del partido programado, el club Chapecoense envió un tweet a sus seguidores para que asistieran al partido vestidos de blanco. Muchas personas han estado twitteando #ForçaChape que se traduce “Fuerza Chape” para mostrar su apoyo en estos tiempos lamentables. Jugadores de fútbol como el Gabriel Paulista del equipo Arsenal se han condolido por lo sucedido y lloro después de escuchar la trágica noticia. “No dejes para mañana lo que puedes hacer hoy,” dice Paulista en una emotiva entrevista después de compartir que sentía esa necesidad de hablar con un miembro del equipo brasileño de fútbol en su cumpleaños, pero decidió dejarlo para un dia que nunca vino. otro día, un día que nunca vino.

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21 de diciembre, 2016

Los exámenes estandarizados son un requisito importante

Los estudiantes de ESOL proyectan sus opiniones sobre los exámenes Por Carlos Fuentes Unas de las pólizas en Blair son los exámenes estandarizados como los HSAs de gobierno y biología, y son requisitos de graduación escuela superior. La mayoría de estudiantes toman el examen SAT o la ACT y en unos casos el Accuplacer, los cuales son una de las maneras que las universidades pueden evaluar la preparación académica y la educación post-secundaria a nivel universitario.

Es de importancia notar los cambios en exámenes como los HSAs de inglés y álgebra los cuales fueron reemplazados por los nuevos exámenes de PARCC en el año 2015. Estos exámenes sirven como una prueba para que los estudiantes demuestren el aprendizaje en las materias que el estado requiere que se examinen.

En el caso de los estudiantes de ESOL, no hay ninguna diferencia o acomodaciones cuando llega la hora de tomar los HSA o el examen PARCC y esto es asombrosamente algo positivo para la comunidad latina. De hecho, muchos estudiantes de ESOL hacen relativamente bien en sus exámenes estandarizados y dan la bienvenida a la dificultad de tomar un examen en un idioma que no es su lengua nativa.

Edwin Lopez es un estudiante en ESOL quien tomó los HSAs de gobierno y biología pero fracasó el examen de gobierno y atribuye el resultado a su falta de dominio del inglés a nivel académico cuando tomó el examen. Hoy Edwin está listo para retomar el examen de gobierno, comenta, “cuando lo tome la primera vez no sabía mucho inglés pero ahorita creo que lo pasaré porque he mejorado mucho mi inglés.” Es una alegría ver a estudiantes como Edwin identificar sus errores y tratar de mejorar académicamente para estar listo la próxima vez. Para el resto de los estudiantes de ESOL que no aprueban los exámenes, la razón casi siempre es la misma. Ellos conocen el tema pero cuando encuentran una o múltiples palabras que no

conocen la pregunta se hace completamente desconocida. Edwin explica que “hay unas palabras que no se entienden y cuando esas palabras son claves al concepto de la pregunta no se puede responder.” A pesar de que pala-

un ensayo en un cuadro de texto en la computadora no tuvo una buena acogida y causa una ola de quejas cuando viene la hora de tomar el PARCC. Al igual que los otros estudiantes, parece que los hispanohablantes de

MARISSA HE

bras desconocidas puedan afectar el resultado de cualquier estudiante, es especialmente para los estudiantes de ESOL. Extrañamente aunque los estudiantes de ESOL por general salen peor en los exámenes, ellos tienen opiniones de los exámenes estandarizados más positivas que el resto de la escuela.

En el año escolar de 2014-2015, el condado de Montgomery incorporó los exámenes de PARCC como reemplazo de los HSAs de inglés y álgebra. Esta decisión trajo mucha controversia entre los estudiantes por el cambio demasiado abrupto. El examen de PARCC se toma en una computadora sin un lápiz u hoja de papel en vista, a menos que sea para solucionar una pregunta de matemáticas. La idea de hacer clic para responder y escribir

ESOL generalmente no le gustan el formato del PARCC. Juventino Méndez, un estudiante del décimo grado, comenta que el nuevo formato que trae PARCC se siente incómodo.

Juventino dice “es un poco más complicado, se hace más difícil hacerlo en la computadora donde uno no puede organizar sus pensamientos.” Simplemente no es lo mismo. ¿Qué estaba mal con un lápiz y la hoja de scantron?

Un examen cual es específicamente para estudiante de ESOL son los exámenes ACCESS de WIDA. Los exámenes de ACCESS funciona como un medida para determinar la capacidad de escuchar, hablar, leer y escribir en inglés de los estudiantes.

Estos exámenes se administran en los grados k-12 para examinar el desarrollo de destrezas

del inglés. Similar al examen PARCC el examen ACCESS se toma por parte en la computadora pero las secciones de leer y escribir todavía se administra por papel. Si uno quiere aprender más sobre el examen ACCESS puede visitar la página web de preguntas frecuentes en el sitio de WIDA por www.wida.us para saber más sobre cuál examen de ACCESS deben tomar y como se puede prepara para el examen.

Los únicos exámenes que son opcionales, pero igualmentes importantes, son los exámenes SAT, ACT, accuplacer y el TOEFL. Estos exámenes son requeridos para solicitar a la mayoría de colegios comunitarios o universidades en los Estados Unidos y se deben tomar muy en serio.

El proceso para inscribirse para tomar el SAT, cuál es la más popular de las opciones, sí mismo es algo complicado especialmente para uno que no habla bien el inglés. Edwin piensa en tomar el SAT en el futuro y planea ir a la universidad entonces espera salir bien en sus exámenes.

Aprendiendo recientemente que existía la clase de preparación para el SAT, Edwin planea tomar la clase y comenta, “pienso que lo voy a tomar porque quiero tener toda la preparación posible para salir bien en el SAT.” Uno no tiene que sentirse perdido, hay muchos recursos en la escuela como la clase de preparación y sitios web como el khanacademy.org donde uno puede corroborar su nivel de preparacion en cuanto al conocimiento de los temas que se ven en el examen.

Los exámenes estandarizados generalmente tienen una reputación negativa según la mayoría de estudiantes, no solamente por categorizar a todos como iguales pero por lo estresante que son. Últimamente, el propósito de estos exámenes es demostrar evidencia de progreso en el dominio del idioma del inglés y del aprendizaje de las materias examinadas y son requisitos que no se pueden evadir.

Fallece el ex-presidente cubano Fidel Castro a los 90

Los efectos de la muerte tienen repercusiones en Cuba y Latinoamérica Por Andrés Pérez El pasado 25 de noviembre el mundo recibió la noticia del fallecimiento del expresidente cubano Fidel Castro. Su largo legado de liderazgo siempre ha causado revuelo entre los críticos, ya que se dedican a clasificarlo en dos extremos muy diferentes.

Por un lado, hay quienes lo clasifican como el liberador de Cuba, a quien le atribuyen el éxito de la revolución cubana. Mientras que hay otros que clasifican su liderazgo como una dictadura o como una fuerza opresora.

Por un lado, está el destacable sistema de salud pública que estableció el comandante.

En Cuba no existen los seguros médicos ni los hospitales privados. La salud es gratuita, de acceso público e incluso muchas medicinas son subvencionadas. Esto ha sido reconocido alrededor del mundo, ya que se sabe que la educación médica en Cuba es gratuita y se concentra mucho en la práctica, lo cual crea médicos muy capacitados que usualmente tienen más experiencia que aquellos médicos provenientes de países desarrollados.

Cuando la revolución estaba en sus momentos más críticos, se pueden observar que cometió muchos crímenes contra la humanidad. Los más famosos crímenes de los que se le culpa son las ejecuciones en masa de funcionarios de Batista, el internamiento y maltrato psicológico a grupos LGBT en campos de conversión (una terapia cuyo propósito es volver a una persona LGBT heterosexual), la persecución de artistas y periodistas que no estaban de acuerdo con sus ideales. Como cualquier líder, Castro tenía sus fortalezas y debilidades, las cuales por ser generalmente controversiales, le han ganado la fama que ahora lo hace una de las figuras políticas más famosas alrededor del mundo. Entre personalidades del pasado que estuvieron involucradas a manera de amistad con él está el reconocido autor Gabriel García Márquez.

Sin importar qué opinión tuvieran sobre Castro, cabe mencionar que todos compartieron el sentimiento de sorpresa que su muerte causó no solo en el pueblo cubano, sino tam-

bién en la comunidad internacional. La sorpresa fue tan enorme que en el momento en el que la noticia se hizo pública, todos los bares y discotecas decidieron cerrar sus puertas.

Este estado de sorpresa se debe en gran parte a que el estado de salud de Castro se mantenía siempre en secreto por razones desconocidas.

Líderes políticos de naciones latinoamericanas, se dedicaron en su mayoría a expresar sus condolencias hacia el pueblo cubano luego de lo que muchos llamaron una “catástrofe.” Enrique Peña Nieto, actual presidente de México expresó su pésame en el siguiente tweet “Fidel Cas- tro fue un amigo de Méxi-

Por parte de la comunidad internacional, Estados Unidos fue uno de los primeros países en opinar de manera pública. El presidente Obama se limitó a mantener su opinión neutral, simplemente diciendo que “La historia recordará y juzgará el enorme impacto que tuvo esta singular figura en la gente y el mundo a su alrededor.” Al contrario, el presidente electo Donald Trump decidió dejar en claro sus sentimientos hacia Castro en un tweet en el que exclamaba “¡Castro está muerto!”

co, promotor de una relación bilateral basada en el respeto, el diálogo y la solidaridad.”

Compartiendo el mismo sentimiento, Jimmy Morales, actual presidente de Guatemala, también expresó sus condolencias en la misma red social “El pueblo y gobierno de Guatemala jamás olvidará a Fidel Castro por ser un amigo que tendió su mano cuando más lo necesitábamos.” tuiteó el presidente luego de recibir la noticia del fallecimiento de Castro.

Las implicaciones de su muerte aún no son

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claras para Cuba, pero sí se puede convenir que su fallecimiento ha abierto las puertas a un nuevo capítulo en la historia política y social de Cuba.Gracias a su extendido período de liderazgo, la mayoría de cubanos lo ven como la única figura líder de la nación, ya sea que estén de acuerdo o en contra de los ideales que Castro defendía.

Por un lado, se especula que su hermano Raúl tendrá más libertad e independencia para tomar decisiones, ya que ahora él acarrea más responsabilidad como líder. Otra especulación es que ahora que Castro, quien definió la calidad de las relaciones internacionales de Cuba, está ausente del gobierno, dichas relaciones se volverán inciertas. Sin importar lo que ocurra con Cuba, es imposible negar que la historia de la isla ha sido moldeada casi por completo en las manos de Castro, quien dedicó toda su vida a defender causas que él creía convenientes para el país.

Este acontecimiento le dio comienzo a una nueva era histórica en Cuba, la cual posiblemente tenga a su hermano Raúl como el protagonista, ya que logró aprender mucho de trabajar lado a lado con Castro. Una gran preocupación en Cuba por el momento y quizá la más prominente debido no solamente al fallecimiento de Castro sino también a la victoria de Trump, es el estado de las relaciones entre Cuba y Estados Unidos.

Durante la presidencia de Obama, Cuba y los Estados Unidos crearon un cierto balance que les permitió disminuir la rivalidad entre ambos países, pero ahora que ambos mandatarios que realizaron dichos acuerdos se retiran del puesto, es completamente desconocido el destino de la delicada relación que ya existía.

A pesar de que muchos no estaban de acuerdo con la filosofía de Fidel Castro y otros lo estiman. Su apoyo al gobierno de Cuba fue un cambio radical en el gobierno, que benefició a muchos y a la vez ayudó al progreso de un país que estaba en su apogeo socioeconómico y cultural.

December 21, 2016

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December 21, 2016

Scoring their way into a top academic university

Athletes have an unfair advantage in collegiate special admissions processes

By Laura Espinoza An opinion

Scoring the winning goal of a tied ball game takes skill and composure that few athletes have and can even land some a one-way ticket to a prestigious university. However, being a star athlete should not mean more than being a star student when applying for college.

Special admissions processes accept athletes who may not be academic equals to their non-athlete counterparts. Admissions of academically unqualified athletes can lead to them struggling in their coursework and to schools compromising their academic integrity to compensate.

Athletes from powerhouse schools are the best of the best. For some colleges, however, athletic ability is more important than academic preparedness.

Mary Willingham, a learning specialist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), analyzed reading levels for football and basketball players at UNC from 2004 to 2012.

In an interview with CNN, Willingham reported that 60 percent of those players had between fourth and eighth-grade reading

levels, while eight to ten percent read below third-grade level.

UNC is not the only school where athletes enter with lower academic averages. Based on data from 21 colleges including Binghamton University and Clemson University, CNN revealed that between seven and 18 percent of athletes at those schools read at an elementary school level. Many of them also scored between 200 and 300 on the critical reading section of the SAT, well below the national average of 500.

For those student-athletes, getting into college may only have been achievable through sports, but UNC, Binghamton, and Clemson were not helping athletes by pushing them into both classes and long practices.

How can students expect to succeed in college level courses if they cannot read past the middle school level?

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) often reports that athletes graduate at higher rates than non-athletes. However, it bases its statistics on data including part-time non-athletes. This is problematic because according to National Student Clearinghouse, part-time students are more likely to drop out of school. Athletes are not comparable to part-time students since the

soapbox Should athletes receive special consideration in college admissions?

“No, athletes shouldn’t receive special consideration in admissions because they should be held to the same academic expectations than regular students.”

— Saba Teferra, junior “Yes, because they are juggling school and sports.”

— Rafael Perez, freshman

Out of 183 football and basketball students at Chapel Hill, 60 percent read between the fourth and eighth-grade level.

CNN

LAURA ESPINOZA

NCAA requires athletes to be enrolled fulltime.

The University of South Carolina’s Collegiate Sports Research Institute performs yearly studies for several sports and adjusts their results for graduation rates from parttime students.

Its 2016 study of football players found that those athletes were 15.2 percent less likely to graduate in six years than their male, non-athlete peers.

Rather than using faulty statistics that include part-time students to make athletes look good, the NCAA needs to accept that some top athletes do poorly in school. Admitting students into schools with rigorous academic programs and expecting them to be full-time athletes will not prepare them for success.

More concerning than graduation rate discrepancies are the measures schools will take to make up for athletes’ low grades.

In 2014, a scandal broke out at UNC when it was revealed that professors, assistants, and counselors worked together to create “paper classes” for athletes. These classes had no assigned meeting times, and assistants gave students high grades to remain eligible to play. This dishonest boosting of grades went on for 18 years before it was caught.

At the University of Southern Mississippi in 2012, the then head basketball coach wanted recruits from junior colleges, so he sent his assistants to help them pass their classes.

These assistants completed assignments for

these students, so they would be immediately eligible to play once they transferred.

For some students, the coach paid for their classes out-of-pocket, in direct violation of NCAA rules.

UNC and the University of Southern Mississippi are not the only schools that have committed blatant academic fraud. Several other universities have been investigated by the NCAA following reports of policy violations, including Southern Methodist University, Syracuse University, and Weber State University.

The NCAA makes almost $1 billion a year, and colleges pitch in to the college sports market with another $11 billion from ticket sales and merchandise. With the immense amount of revenue schools can earn from their athletes, it is no wonder that athletes are exploited.

Admitting athletes who need immense academic help is already a problem, but cheating to help them pass classes serves only to fill a school’s wallet. These institutions are supposed to be non-profit entities that prepare students for careers in the real world. It is morally wrong to value cash over the students that universities are supposed to serve.

For some students, special admissions are the only way into big-ticket schools. Colleges need to understand that pushing their athletes to be competitive on the field and in the classroom can be too much. And the athletes that never play professionally? They may never recover from a poor education.

Chilling out and working out: Students engage in unique sports Whether skiing or curling, students share their passion for winter athletics

By Serena Debesai Senior Kinjal Ruecker can feel the adrenaline pumping through her veins as she hurtles down the powdery, snow-covered slope.

As she nears the first flag, she is poised to follow her line and make a sharp turn. Even the slightest of unnecessary movements could lead to lost time. For Ruecker, skiing is far more than a fun outing on a family vacation — it is a competitive sport.

When the temperature starts to dip below freezing and dead leaves cover the ground, most students retreat to the warmth of the indoors. However, a few students brave

the cold to take part in their unique winter sports.

A chilly start Ruecker has been skiing since she was three years old, when her father, an ex-ski racer, introduced her to the sport. Now, Ruecker competes in alpine skiing at the national and international level.

Ruecker mainly competes in the alpine skiing discipline of slalom, where competitors must ski down a hill between multiple sets of poles called gates. Last year, she placed eighth at the Eastern U-19 Finals, and placed 20th overall at the Can-Am U-14 Championship in 2013.

Sophomore Amy Krimm finds her home on the ice as opposed to the snowy mountain slopes. Krimm is a synchronized skater on the D.C. Edge Masters team.

At skating competitions, teams each perform a routine and are judged on their technical skating skill, synchronicity, teamwork, and presentation. Krimm and her team have generally been very successful and have attended U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships for the past two years.

Senior Lara Shonkwiler plays a sport even more unconventional than skiing and synchronized skating. A friend introduced Shonkwiler to curling in the eighth grade, and she now curls regularly for the Potomac Curling Club. In curling, players must slide out onto the ice in a position similar to a lunge and slide a stone into a target called the house. Curlers play in teams of four, and the sport involves a high level of strategy and teamwork.

half to Liberty Mountain in Fairfield, Pennsylvania for practice. Ruecker hits the slopes four times a week — two hours of practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school and a full day on weekends.

For Ruecker, it is essential to work hard in all of her practices. “It takes a lot more commitment for me to keep up with people who are skiing out west and up north … I just have to make everything count,” she says. Nonetheless, Ruecker loves the sport.

“I always want to work on something all of the time… for skiing, with every run, I can work on something different,” she says.

In contrast to Ruecker, Krimm practices mainly in the morning, before school. She has private morning lessons five or six days a week at Cabin John or Wheaton Ice Rink, and team practices on weekends.

In her individual lessons, Krimm works

Looking ahead

Work hard, play hard

COURTESY OF AMY KRIMM

SMILING IN SYNC Sophomore Amy Krimm poses as her team finishes a routine.

Besides the challenging technical aspects of the sport, Ruecker must balance a large time commitment to skiing with school.

During the ski season, she carpools with a group of skiers and drives for an hour and a

toward mastering different moves, and in team practices, the group works on perfecting their routines. “It’s hard to work together with people, and you really have to interact well with everyone,” Krimm says.

Luckily, this is not a problem for Krimm and her team. “Everyone is just like really friendly and outgoing. And genuinely cares about each other,” she says.

Shonkwiler enjoys the team spirit of her sport. Common curling traditions include buying a loser a drink after a game, and wishing opponents “good curling” before a game. “There is a lot of emphasis on fair play [and] enjoying the game,” she says.

Shonkwiler most enjoys the continuous learning involved in curling. “It’s not something you deteriorate at as quickly as you get older. And also it’s just interesting, like every year you pick up new stuff. It never gets boring,” she says.

COURTESY OF KINJAL RUECKER

NEED FOR SPEED Senior Kinjal Ruecker makes a sharp turn during a ski race.

Although she loves skating, Krimm plans to stop competitive synchronized skating after college, but sees the possibility of joining an adult team when she is older. “Maybe when I have kids, I can go on some less rigorous adult team. I think that would be very fun,” she says.

Shonkwiler wants to continue playing in curling leagues throughout college. “It really depends on where I go to college, because in America curling places are few and far between,” she says.

Similarly, Ruecker’s future in competitive ski-racing will depend on where she attends college. Since she values her academic career over skiing, Ruecker is focusing on finding a school that will offer rigorous academics and then, if possible, a strong ski program.

Regardless of whether she continues to ski competitively in college, Ruecker maintains that skiing will always be a hobby.

“Skiing will always be a huge part of my life … ski racingnot so much,” she says.

December 21, 2016

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Three winter teams are sporting new coaches An introduction to Blair’s new swim, basketball, and wrestling coaches

By Olivia Gonzalez

with great games and a lot of positives,” she says. “I feel like I’m adjusting well, it may be a harder adjustment for my athletes.”

Hollis was not always the one on the sideline. “I was a high school basketball player and a college basketball player,” she says. “After I played, I realized that I really enjoyed teaching and that I really enjoyed the game, so that I wanted to coach.”

Coaching challenges

“Get in the water, guys!” swim coach Vanessa Zarou yells. The frigid morning air is filled with sounds of splashes and complaints as the swimmers dive into their first practice of the season. Zarou herself is diving into her first season as a Blair coach, and is one of several new coaches hoping to make their rookie seasons one for the record books.

Rooted to the sport Zarou is in her second year teaching ESOL at Blair and was inspired to take up coaching again after she was approached by some of her former swimmers from her summer team.

“A couple of Franklin Knolls swimmers from [Blair’s team] hunted me down last year,” she says. “It was an exciting opportunity to coach students that I coached when they were, you know, six, seven, eight years old.”

Zarou had previously taken a break from coaching due to conflicts with her work schedule as the supervisor of a nonprofit mental health program, but her flexibility as a teacher allowed her to return to the sport.

“Part of the perks of teaching would be to get back into the pool,” she says. “When I heard [the previous coach] was leaving, I jumped on the opportunity.”

For new wrestling head coach Tim Grover, adjusting to being a Blair coach has been work hard, play hard. “[It’s] a lot of paperwork, more paperwork than I ever thought possible,” he says. “But outside of that, it’s been a lot of fun.”

Grover has been involved in wrestling for over 25 years and volunteered as an assistant coach at Blair last year. “I just sent

JEDEDIAH GRADY

GETTING HER HEAD IN THE GAME New basketball coach Hayley Hollis gives her team an intense pep talk in a game against Walter Johnson on Dec. 1. an email out to all of the returning head coaches in the area to see who needed some help,” he says.

Transitioning onto the team For Grover, the transition into becoming a Blair coach has been strenuous. “This year, since I’m not a teacher, I had to go through a whole application process,” he says.

Zarou agrees that joining the swim team coaching staff was a lengthy process. “Honestly, it’s a lot more administrative work than I was expecting,” she says. “I know how to coach, I know a lot about swimming, but knowing about the administrative requirements [is a whole other story].”

Girls’ varsity basketball coach Hayley Hollis has found the transition to be much smoother. “Everyday they’re surprising me

For the newcomers to Blair’s winter teams, coaching is not always fun and games. Aside from extensive paper work, coaches must deal with many of their teams’ challenges, like cutting student athletes.

“I’ve coached before. I’ve never had to make cuts. That’s the biggest challenge because especially with swimming, I mean everyone was doing a pretty good job out there,” Zarou says. “Having to tell someone who swims on their summer team who just assumes that, ‘Oh I’m going to swim for my high school team’ that they are not is difficult.”

Grover had the opposite issue; the wrestling team is too small. “Last year we only had seven kids on the team who had any experience, and we finished the year with 23 guys on the team, so I knew we needed to get a bigger team,” he says. “I‘ve been working since last year, so that was probably the biggest challenge, for me, because I’m not a teacher, so I’m not around students a lot.”

Just like an athlete trying to figure out how to succeed, coaches have their own game plans.

“You really have to be a student of the game, no matter what sport you’re coaching,” Hollis says. “You have to be a sponge, you have to observe the game and really work your craft.

Girls basketball outplays WJ

By Henry Wiebe

By Christian Mussenden It is time to free John Wall. As a Washington Wizards fan, I have experienced more than my fair share of disappointments over the past eight years, but one of the few positive aspects of being a Wizards fan during this time has been our star point guard John Wall. Wall, who was drafted by the Wizards with the first overall pick in 2010, used his electric speed, jaw-dropping defense, and finishing abilities to become a nightmare for opponents the minute he put on a Wizards jersey. Yet therein lies the problem, because Wall has been one of the only bright spots the franchise has experienced in the past eight years.

Ignoring the Wizards two consecutive playoff appearances in 2013-2014 and 20142015, the Washington Wizards have statistically been one of the worst franchises in the NBA, posting a paltry .369 winning percentage since the 2008-2009 season.

A large reason for this dismal performance has been the roster. When Wall came into the league, he was expected to carry either a team full of mediocre, injury prone veterans like NeNe, or a bunch of on-court doofuses like JaVale McGee to victory every night.

The worst part is there seems to be no end in sight for Wall. This summer during free agency, the Wizards signed Jason Smith, Trey Burke, Ian Mahimi, and Andrew Nicholson to long term contracts, hoping that they could shore up the Wizards’ bench.

Not only has the Wizards’ bench been awful this year, but due to the copious amounts of money the team spent on those players, there is now very little hope that the Wizards can get an impact player in free agency to help Wall in years to come.

With the Wizards experiencing yet another horrible season this year, Wall’s frustration with the team has reached a boiling point, and many reports are surfacing that detail his frustration with his teammates’ lack of production.

With no end to the mediocrity in sight, the Wizards must realize that now is the perfect time to trade him. Wall is posting the best stats of his career this season and he has two years left on a relatively cheap contract.

Considering the way things have gone this year and in years past, and factoring in Wall’s increasing frustration with the franchise, it would be unsurprising to see Wall join another team in free agency as soon as possible.

There would be teams lining up to give up a lot for John Wall if the Wizards are willing to entertain offers, and if the Wizards want to get any significant players in return for him, now would be the time to do so.

Wall is in his prime of his career, and considering all that he has given to this franchise, it would make Wizard’ fans like me feel a little bit better if he did not spend the prime of his career wasting away on such an underwhelming team.

As a Wizards fan it pains me to write this, but it would bring me great joy to see John Wall continue his NBA career elsewhere.

“Christian’s Corner” is a monthly column in which staff writer Christian Mussenden expresses his opinion on current events in the world of sports.

NELSON H. KOBREN MEMORIAL GYMNASIUM, Dec. 14— The varsity girls’ basketball team defeated Walter Johnson 50-40 in comeback fashion.

Walter Johnson came out of the gate hungry, jumping to an early lead by taking advantage of aggressive defensive plays. The Blair offense struggled in the first quarter, scoring only six points and repeatedly turning over the ball.

As the game progressed, the Blazers showed more stamina than their opponents, consistently scoring off of fast breaks and beating the defenders to the basket.

They also had a significant size advantage, with junior center Aissatou Bokoum and junior power forward Nora Olagbaju combining to score 21 of Blair’s 50 points.

Olagbaju scored twice in the final two minutes of the first half to put the Blazers up 24-22. The half ended with the score 28-22, and Walter Johnson never regained the lead. Almost half of the Blazers’ baskets came in the second quarter, when they scored 22 points.

Walter Johnson ran into foul trouble as the game progressed.

They sent the Blazers to the line 15 times throughout the course of the game, which easily accounted for the score deficit at the end of the game.

Coming off of a tough loss to Richard Montgomery only two days earlier, this win was crucial for the Blazers in regaining their momentum. “Our team really needed this, especially after our last loss,” Bokoum said.

Blair won despite missing their senior captain and starting point guard, Allison McKenzie.

“I was really pleased with how we responded,” head coach Hayley Hollis said. “With your point guard being hurt, you never know how a team responds.”

Hollis attributed the comeback to a change in defensive strategy in the second quarter. “We made some adjustments defensively,” she said. “I think … getting us the stops helped boost our confidence and gave us a little extra push.”

Olagbaju agreed that the defense was key in the victory. “A good offense always

JEDEDIAH GRADY

TOSSUP Senior Lauren Frost inbounds the ball to her teammate on the court while a Walter Johnson defender attempts to block her.

[starts] with a good defense, so once we were able to get more defensive stops, we were more motivated on offense,” she said.

Hollis, who is in her debut season as Blair’s head coach, expressed excitement and optimism about the rest of the season. “I think that we have a pretty good chance to finish well,” she said.

The Blazers currently have a 3-1 record, and they have high expectations moving forward through the season and even into the playoffs in February.

All things considered, the team was satisfied with the win.

“I feel like it was good,” Olagbaju said. “It took us a while to really get it together but once we found our fight, I think we were really able to do what we came out here to do.”

F3 Sports

silverchips

December 21, 2016

Eye on the ball: A look into Gallaudet University sports

Players who are deaf and hard of hearing succeed in collegiate athletics

By Gilda Geist

At the end of the second half, Gallaudet University’s men’s basketball team is tied with Bridgewater College at 64. Through overtime, the two teams are neck and neck, and Gallaudet basketball coach Kevin Kovacs frantically makes hand signals to his team from the sideline.

In the last minute of the game, junior forward Andy Cruz passes the ball to senior center Joshua McGriff. In the last 22 seconds of overtime, McGriff brings the score to 76-71 with an explosive dunk.

The crowd and the players on the bench jump to their feet. They are cheering, but most of the players do not hear it. Instead they look to their supporters’ hands thrown triumphantly in the air.

Gallaudet’s athletes play sports the same way any other college team does, but their experience is slightly different. Their teams are mostly made up of players who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Gallaudet University is a NCAA Division III school located in Washington, D.C. for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Much of the staff shares these traits, and it is a requirement for them to be fluent in American Sign Language (ASL) so that they can communicate with their players.

Some athletes at Gallaudet are profoundly deaf, meaning that they cannot hear at all, while some are hard of hearing, meaning that they can hear only partially. Players at Gallaudet may not be able to hear very well, or at all, but that does not stop them from participating and excelling in sports.

Gameplay and logistics While there are differences in sports at Gallaudet compared to other colleges, they tend to be very subtle. For example, rather than listening for a whistle to know when to stop a play, players look at the referee for hand signals, according to Sam Atkinson, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications at Gallaudet.

“Referees that are assigned to Gallaudet athletic games understand we’re the national deaf and hard-of-hearing university,” he says. “They understand coming into it that they’re going to have to use hand signals or signs to help communicate.”

Referees’ hand signals can vary in different sports. Gallaudet vol-

leyball coach and assistant athletic director Lynn Ray Boren says that in volleyball, when there is a dead ball, referees will do the ASL sign for “stop.”

In soccer, referees put both hands in the air to signal that the whistle has been blown. Sometimes, Gallaudet coaches ask the opposing team to also raise their hands when the referee blows the whistle.

Michael Weinstock, Gallaudet’s athletic director, says that the football team sometimes uses signs with colors, pictures, or letters to communicate.

According to Weinstock, deaf swimmers can be at a slight disadvantage because they have to look for a hand signal from the referee as a cue to start, whereas hearing swimmers get their start cue from an announcement over a loudspeaker. He says that a device called a reaction lighting system was recently invented to communicate instructions to swimmers through the use of flashing colored lights instead of sound.

Justen Burns, the coach of Gallaudet’s softball team, says that deaf and hard-of-hearing athletes can usually just rely on visuals to tell what is going on in the game.

“Deaf people are very perceptive to when something different has happened,” Burns says.

Although players know to look for hand signals and other visual cues, teams have been penalized a few times for continuing a play after the whistle was blown because they could not hear it, especially in football. “Our players are very well disciplined and they know to stop,” Atkinson says.

However, Atkinson says that there are times when a defender hits a quarterback or a receiver after the whistle. Often, the referees will not flag the player because they understand that they could not hear the whistle, but sometimes players receive penalties nonetheless.

Communication is key Up until the early 2000s, Gallaudet’s football team had a less conventional way of communicating when the center should snap the ball. A team member on the sidelines would beat a large drum in a certain pattern. The players could feel the vibrations of the drum and know when to snap the ball. In 2005, the football team replaced the drum with hand signals so that the quarterback could communicate

SAMI MALLON

HEAD IN THE GAME Gallaudet University players (from left) Noah Valencia, Joshua McGriff, and Andy Cruz attempt to block a pass from Bryn Athyn player Deion Boyer at a game on Dec. 7. with his teammates more easily.

Gallaudet’s football team is famous for inventing the football huddle as a way for coaches and players to confer. In the 1890s, Gallaudet quarterback Paul Hubbard first used it so that the opposing team could not see what he was signing to his teammates in ASL. This eventually fell out of practice because Gallaudet never encountered other deaf teams, and most hearing players on opposing teams do not know ASL. Today, Gallaudet teams mainly use ASL to communicate in their sports, along with a mixture of other signals and cues. In addition to sign language, Adele Fass, a junior on Gallaudet’s softball team, says she uses lip reading, facial expressions, eye contact, and body language to communicate. According to Fass, umpires use hand signals for their calls, even in games with all hearing players.

Because of the varying degrees of hearing loss in athletes, forms of communication between players and coaches also differ. “Every year we have different communication modes and different communication needs,” Boren says.

Alyssa Barlow is a fully hearing sophomore pitcher on Gallaudet’s softball team. She grew up playing softball on a team with only hearing players. Now, instead of communicating with her team verbally during a play, as she did in high school, she uses sign language to confer with her teammates be-

tween pitches.

According to Barlow, their opponents often expect their whole team to be deaf, so they will openly discuss when they have decrypted Gallaudet’s hand signals. Barlow can hear the other team discussing the meaning of a hand signal that Gallaudet is using, and can communicate to her teammates to change the sign.

Unexpected advantages From an outsider’s perspective, it might seem as though being deaf or hard of hearing would be a large disadvantage in sports. These athletes have difficulty hearing their teammates, coaches, referees, and the whistle.

While this may seem like a significant drawback to people who can hear, it does not seem to hinder deaf or hard-of-hearing players from succeeding at sports. “Hearing and deaf people are the same,” Boren says. “There’s sometimes a little bit of a delay, but most of the time it’s just normal for us.”

In some ways, deaf or hardof-hearing teams can have unexpected advantages in sports. One example of this, according to Gallaudet football coach Charles Goldstein, is that when the opposing team does a fake snap count to try to get Gallaudet players to go offsides, it does not work because the players cannot hear the count.

Atkinson says that at away games for basketball, when players are at the foul line, they are able to block out the cheering and taunts of the home team. “It doesn’t matter what they’re saying or what they’re screaming, our players can remain focused on the court,” he says.

Another advantage that athletes at Gallaudet have is the support of the Deaf community around the country. “The Deaf and hard of hearing community is close-knit,” Atkinson says. “We’ll go up to Maine or Vermont for football and anyone that’s deaf or hard of hearing in that area will come out and support us, knowing that we’re the deaf and hard-of-hearing university.”

Looking into the future

SAMI MALLON

SHOWING SUPPORT At a Dec. 7 game against the Bryn Athyn Lions, Gallaudet basketball fans twist their hands in the air, making the sign for applause in American Sign Language.

Post-college sports career options for deaf and hard-of-hearing athletes do not differ very much from those of hearing athletes. “It doesn’t matter if you’re deaf or hard of hearing. If you’re good enough to play and continue your career, then you’re going to have an opportunity,” Goldstein says.

In 2013, Gallaudet football defensive lineman Adham Talaat had

that opportunity. Throughout that season, in which Gallaudet had a 9-2 record, Talaat was scouted for several NFL teams. If he had made the draft, he would have been one of the only deaf players in the NFL. A unique option for deaf or hard-of-hearing athletes is the Deaflympics. The Deaflympics is an international elite sports competition for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Similar to the Olympics, the Deaflympics host both summer and winter games.

Gallaudet University sports might seem like an entirely different world to hearing athletes, but the main difference is merely how players communicate. Deaf or hard-of-hearing athletes use visual rather than sound cues and ASL instead of speaking.

Regardless of how these players communicate, they can do everything that hearing players can do.

“We’re like just like any other student athletes,” Atkinson says.

insideSPORTS Chill out with these cool winter sports see page F1

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Meet Blair’s new coaches see page F2

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