June 2021 — Silver Chips Print

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

June 14, 2021

VOL. 84 NO. 5

SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND

Bringing hate to a halt Read guest columns on discrimination plaguing AAPI groups on page D4

AO JAY CH

Q&A:

Robert Hur talks hate crimes

Robert Hur, a former United States Attorney for the District of Maryland, spoke with Silver Chips about the rise in hate crimes against Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, his new role as the head of a workgroup convened by Governor Larry Hogan to address this issue, and his work on a case representing hate crime victims.

LEOBR repeal on page A3

See the full Q&A on page D4.

Class of 2021 graduates!

ARIELLE GRANSTON

Montgomery Blair said goodbye to the class of 2021 at graduation on June 2.

Senior athletes celebrated with their teammates, coaches, and parents at their senior nights.

insidechips A2 News B1 Opinions C1 La Esquina Latina D1 Features E1 Culture F1 Sports

HENRY REICHLE

All-in Honors Montgomery Blair plans to pilot new courses aimed at increasing equity A4 Clothing overconsumption A look into the role of social media in the fashion industry B2

Los premios Oscar Falta de latinxs en los premios Oscar y tres recomendaciones de películas latinoamericanas C2 Driver’s education Students recount their experiences taking in-car lessons D3

HENRY REICHLE

Taylor Swift Exploring the sexism Swift faces as she advances her career E3 Sports round up Montgomery Blair sports teams reflect on their seasons F1

A2 News June 14, 2021 silverchips Montgomery Blair High School 51 University Boulevard East Silver Spring, MD 20901 (301) 649 - 2864 Winner of the 2015 National Scholastic Press Association Pacemaker and the 2019 Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Medal. 2020-2021 American Scholastic Press Association First Place Winner with Special Merit.

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Cecilia Clemens Vargas Lugo Leila Faraday Marijke Friedman LA ESQUINA LATINA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Cecilia Clemens Vargas Lugo MANAGING NEWS EDITORS Samantha Rodriguez Ashley Thommana MANAGING OPINIONS EDITORS Maia Egnal Sean Li MANAGING FEATURES EDITORS Annie Goldman Sofia Roehrig MANAGING CULTURE EDITORS Maybelle Patterson Jasper Swartz MANAGING SPORTS EDITOR Jon Eckert OMBUDSMAN Ashley Thommana DESIGN EDITORS Annie Goldman Sean Li Maybelle Patterson COLUMNISTS Cal Tobias Annie Mount LA ESQUINA LATINA WRITERS Angela Ramirez Sofia Roehrig EXECUTIVE BUSINESS DIRECTORS Marina Deane-Gonzalez Ryan Peralta Harris BUSINESS STAFF Kevin Gehl Maddie Whipple MANAGING ART EDITOR Jay Chao ARTISTS Abjini Chattopadhyay Eliza Cooke Leela Mehta-Harwitz Sonia Pivovarov Karis Tebo MANAGING PHOTO EDITOR Arielle Granston PHOTOGRAPHERS Sarah Martin Henry Reichle PUZZLE EDITOR Alex Grosman COPY EDITORS Emannuel Kraft Jordan Chafe Audrey Payne Liam Volz Sally Kaye Emma Weinstein Celeste Basken Roshan Nandkumar Kiah Beachler Amelia Schuler LA ESQUINA LATINA ADVISORS Dianette Coombs Maria Eugenia Tanos ADVISOR Jeremy Stelzner

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

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MCPS plans for next school year

By Jon Eckert Sports Editor

In an April 20 meeting, the Montgomery County Board of Education (BOE) announced that, for the upcoming fall semester, all students are expected to attend in-person classes and follow the pre-COVID-19 class schedule.

The BOE also announced the launch of a new virtual academy, called Montgomery Virtual, where students in grades K-12 can apply to take online classes with designated virtual academy teachers as an alternative to in-person classes.

Full return to the classroom

In the fall, all schools are expected to reopen at full capacity, bringing back many students that have not been in a classroom since Mar. 13, 2020. Additionally, all staff members who are not teaching in the virtual academy are expected to return to school buildings.

During a BOE meeting on June 10, it was announced that masks will be mandated inside schools in the fall and will be strongly encouraged outdoors, in accordance with state requirements. Other than the mask mandate, most other COVID-19 restrictions and safety measures will be eased.

In a presentation during the April 20 BOE meeting, officials explained that they expect public health regulations to improve by the start of next school year. “It is expected that continued improvements in public health conditions, increases in vaccinations, and relaxation of restrictions will allow for more students in-person, more resumption of typical in-person activities and instruction,” a slide read.

Montgomery Blair principal Renay Johnson expressed concern over the proposed reopening plan.

“I think the county’s very ambitious to say, ‘let’s open fully and have everyone return together,’’’ she said.

“My concern would be that not every student may be vaccinated by the start of school, which could put some students and their health and staff in jeopardy.”

Johnson also explained that

some teachers expressed reservations about fully reopening due to how many people are expected to be in the building at once next school year. “I think [at] Blair, because we’re just so big, and [the teachers]... just think there’s so many contact areas, there will need to be...guidelines for a large school and class sizes, to continue to make sure that when students return to school, they return safely.”

Many measures have already been implemented to set up a safe return to classrooms, including the vaccination of 16,170 MCPS employees as of April 14. Many high school and middle school students have also been vaccinated, as COVID-19 vaccinations in Maryland are now available to anyone over the age of 12.

Montgomery Blair ran a Pfizer vaccination clinic on Wednesday, June 9 where the vaccine was available to anyone 12 or older.

The Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) President Jennifer Martin said in an interview with Silver Chips that there are concerns about reopening too quickly. “Some of our educators feel [that] we may be rushing in removing some of those protections.

But, we’ll follow CDC guidelines, we’ll listen to the health officer of Montgomery County. We have to trust the science,” Martin said.

“Teachers want our students to be safe and also have our own safety assured as much as possible.”

ARIELLE GRANSTON

WELCOME BACK While some Montgomery Blair students came back to the building in the spring, even more will return in the fall.

The BOE announced the launch of their virtual academy in the April 20 meeting which will be a year-long virtual option for students in grades K-12. Montgomery Virtual will be an MCPS centralized program that incorporates synchronous and asynchronous instruction with schedules designed to be accommodating for students.

Montgomery Virtual is available on an application-only basis to students with “extenuating circumstances,” meaning MCPS will make the decision on whether to admit applicants. Applications are open as of June 2 and will close on July 2. As of the BOE meeting on June 10, around 500 students had

applied to the virtual academy.

Program eligibility, as outlined

by MCPS, explains that families must either have extenuating circumstances related to health conditions for which the family is required to produce documentation to prove their condition or, for high school students, have an internship or job that can make a student eligible for Montgomery Virtual.

Teachers leading instruction at the virtual academy will only teach classes online and will not teach at any other schools. Educators from around the county can apply to teach in the virtual academy, but if they take the position, they must vacate their position at the school where they currently teach.

Students enrolled in Montgomery Virtual will continue to be enrolled at their home-school but will not take any classes with that school. They will, however, still be able to participate in extracurricular opportunities like clubs and sports and receive meals at their home-school.

Montgomery Virtual will be different from current distance learning models utilized by MCPS. Teachers will be specialized in the use of technology in a virtual classroom setting, and the curriculum will be specifically tailored to an

online learning model.

There will be different courses available in the virtual academy, including core content classes, a limited number of AP and elective courses, and support classes.

Martin, the MCEA president, has concerns about the value of education that Montgomery Virtual can offer. “Our main concern, particularly [in] high school, is that it [should] be a real school experience,” Martin said. “We want to make sure that there is real learning [and] students are getting enough of the real time instruction to make it a more valuable experience.”

Johnson noted that if a student is involved in a specialized program, like the Magnet or the Communication Arts Program (CAP), opt for the virtual academy next school year, they will not be able to simultaneously participate in the program and the virtual academy.

“The virtual academy just has the regular high school curriculum,” Johnson said. “CAP and Magnet are very rigorous, and [they have] courses that are only offered at Montgomery Blair. So they won’t have the staffing… to teach those rigorous courses.”

the end of the boundary analysis completed by WXY Architecture + Urban Design, a New York-based consulting firm. The first phase of the analysis began with public engagement and data analysis, ending with the release of an interim report in March of 2020. Phase Two consisted of more data analysis and utilized an Interactive Boundary Explorer that allowed community members to interact with the data and react to it through a survey.

The data analysis in Phase One and Phase Two looked primarily at four key components: school utilization, proximity, diversity, and assignment stability. WXY used five school boundary models to test the implications of balancing the four components: two focused on improving utilization, two on proximity, and one on improving diversity.

One key finding of the 178-page report was that MCPS’s cluster model, in which elementary and middles schools feed into specific high schools and consortiums, makes it difficult to resolve capacity issues relating to school utilization. Additionally, WXY found that their model that focuses on diversity is able to improve school utilization and diversity at the same time through changing boundaries between neighboring schools.

The models indicate that improving students’ proximity to their school is difficult to do while improving the other components.

“Existing school boundaries may

be minimizing distances to school at the expense of other lenses,” the report read.

Four of the models show that districtwide boundary changes can be more effective than small localized changes at improving the four components.

The report does not include recommendations for boundary changes but instead focuses on the effects of possible changes. An MCPS press release stated that the Board of Education (BOE) will explore next steps in the 2021-2022 school year.

Lynne Harris, at-large BOE member, questioned why the BOE did not want recommendations for boundary changes in the final report. “Why did we spend a half a million dollars on something if we’re not going to really use it in every way that we can to help us improve as a school system?” Harris said.

Northwood senior Abigail Leibowitz echoed Harris’ frustration about the report’s lack of recommendations for direct action.

“Why would you invest your time and money into something if you plan on not taking action after it?” she said. “I think that if you’re doing the study, then the goal should be to make the county more equitable and more fair.”

The boundary analysis process itself has been met with mixed reactions from staff, students, and families. During community meetings,

parents expressed their opinions about how and if school boundaries should change. Some parents shared concerns that the efforts to advance equity through diversity would detract from the quality of education at their students’ schools.

Though WXY made efforts to reach out to the entire MCPS population through the aforementioned Interactive Boundary Explorer, community meetings, and surveys, they struggled to diversify the perspectives included in the report. According to the final report, 54 percent of people who responded to the survey on the Interactive Boundary Explorer reside in Bethesda, Potomac, and Chevy Chase. Only 27 percent of the respondents were students themselves, while 64 percent of respondents were parents.

Springbrook junior Alex Nguyen believes that these disparities are at least partly due to a lack of outreach in underrepresented communities. “I think no one really knew about that survey. I don’t even think letters were sent in the mail,” he said.

Karla Silvestre, at-large BOE member, thinks that the report amplifies the perspectives of wealthier areas of MCPS because those parents had a greater level of involvement throughout the analysis process. “The report is largely skewed to certain parts of the county,” she said.

Montgomery Virtual

Final boundary analysis report released

By Marijke Friedman, and Sofia Roehrig Editor-In-Chief & Features Editor The final report of MCPS’ boundary analysis was released on May 13, nearly a year after its expected release. The report found that the district could improve school diversity and utilization by redistricting up to 10 percent of students.

The release of this report marks

JASPER SWARTZ

BALANCING THE LENSES The final report analyzes four components: diversity, utilization, proximity, and stability.

Jasper Swartz contributed reporting.

silverchips

June 14, 2021 News A3

MD legislature repeals police Bill of Rights

By Sean Li Opinions/Design Editor

On April 10, Maryland’s legislature repealed the state’s Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights (LEOBR) and enacted four other police accountability measures in response to the death of George Floyd last May and other incidents of police brutality. The bills will reform the police disciplinary process, redefine use-of-force guidelines, and limit the use of no-knock warrants.

Lawmakers overrode vetoes by governor Larry Hogan on three of the five bills—House Bill (HB) 670, Senate Bill (SB) 71, and SB 178. HB 670, which repealed the LEOBR, also gives law-abiding bystanders the right to record police officers and requires every county to establish a police accountability board; these boards will review the results of disciplinary action and appoint civilians to newly formed civilian trial committees. SB 71 requires police departments to take preventative action against officers at high risk of using unnecessary force and mandates that all officers wear body cameras in public that automatically save extra footage by July 2023. SB 178 releases police complaint records to the general public.

The two bills that Hogan did not veto—SB 786 and SB 600— will return the Baltimore Police Department to city control and prevent all departments from acquiring military weapons from the federal government, respectively.

Calls for police reform in Maryland ramped up significantly after the murder of George Floyd last May, but had also intensified in the aftermath of earlier police brutality incidents, including the 2015 death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore. The LEOBR became a target for legislative reform in

both instances. “[The state legislature] had the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights as a focus of police reform even back in the Freddie Gray era,’’ David Moon, a member of the MD House of Delegates and Chair of the Criminal Law & Procedure subcommittee, said in an interview with Silver Chips. “But it would be fair to say that back then, the discussion was really looking at tinkering with it… this year, the call was very squarely about repeal.”

Moon believes that the intense national response to Floyd’s death was key to passing the recent accountability bills. “[There would not] have been as much pressure on some of my colleagues to get this done without the months of protests that have been going on in every corner of the state since that incident,” he continued.

Even so, the legislation was not enacted without resistance. In his veto letter, Hogan judged that the new use-of-force standard established under SB 71 is too harsh when applied to instantaneous decisions made under high-pressure circumstances. “I cannot support a hindsight review of an officer’s actions when the officer must react in a split-second to a deadly situation,” he wrote about the bill.

John Nesky, chief of police for the City of Bowie, Maryland, agreed, clarifying that while hindsight evaluations are common, the process should include those with personal experience. “[Police departments] review things in hindsight all the time…[and] there’s nothing wrong with independent reviews. But you need people who have been in those situations and understand the split second decisions that are made,” he said in an interview with Silver Chips.

Nesky also believes that the release of all complaint records established in SB 178 threatens

ARIELLE GRANSTON

IN THE LINE OF DUTY Under House Bill 670, citizens may record the actions of officers in public if they act lawfully and safely.

Awards & Honors

the reputations and livelihoods of officers, as it includes dismissed filings. “We’re fine with [releasing records] if you’re found guilty of something, but [legislators] want to open up everything,” he said.

“So you’re putting something out there that was possibly slanderous to this officer that was proven to be untrue.”

While Maryland is the first state to repeal its LEOBR, it was also the first to pass one in 1972.

This led at least 13 other states to enact similar protections, according to The Washington Post and University of Pennsylvania Law Review.

Since then, some have criticized law enforcement departments for using police bills of rights to stifle investigations into misconduct incidents and release officers from responsibility

[The state legislature] had the [LEOBR] as a focus of police reform even back in the Freddie Gray era.

DAVID MOON on technicalities. “Many times, [LEOBRs] have strict procedures for how officers are to be investigated,” Radley Balko, a criminal justice writer, wrote in The Washington Post in 2015. “The ‘bill of rights’ can essentially become a how-to guide for cops to get their colleagues out of trouble.”

According to Kevin Keenan, a vice president at the Vera Institute of Justice, an independent policy research organization specializing in social and criminal justice issues, the most problematic part of the LEOBR was the indemnity the bill provided to officers in the immediate wake of use-of-force incidents. “The worst provisions… are the waiting periods [after an incident] when an officer doesn’t have to talk about what just happened, and instead can get together with their union representative to craft a story,” he said in an interview with Silver Chips.

Even with the newly enacted accountability bills, both Keenan and Moon believe that more must be done. “There’s many different levels on which reform needs to happen,” Keenan said. “Unless you get all of those, we’re not going to get to a place where we have the kind of policing we want and the kind of accountability and transparency that we need.”

O KARIS TEB

By Cal Tobias News Columnist On May 11, the Montgomery County Board of Education (BOE) announced that there will be no school resource officers (SROs) in MCPS schools next year. The BOE has not yet decided what alternative will replace SROs. MCPS began to review its SRO program in June of 2020 amid calls for police reform. Community push for an end to the program was mainly driven by reports that SROs disproportionately arrest Black and Hispanic students. The BOE created a work group composed of community members and stakeholders that has met over the last year to discuss the program. The group presented their final report to the BOE on May 11.

However, school officials believe that more information is needed in order to formulate an alternate plan for police in schools. “We will be redoing the [memorandum of understanding with the local police departments], and we don’t know what that will look like yet,” BOE president Brenda Wolff told the Bethesda Beat. “We do know SROs will not be in school buildings.”

The Montgomery County Council has been working alongside MCPS on the issue of SROs throughout the year. In November, Councilmember Will Jawando and Councilmember Hans Riemer introduced a bill to remove SROs from MCPS schools.

Others, such as Councilmember Craig Rice and Councilmember Sidney Katz, disagreed with their stance and co-sponsored a rival bill to reform the SRO program by requiring more training in de-escalation, restorative justice, mediation, and conflict resolution.

Councilmember Nancy Navarro has proposed an amendment to Katz’s bill allowing SROs on school grounds, but not inside the buildings.

In an April 12 press conference with Jawando, Rice—who had previously been a staunch supporter of SROs in schools—announced that he had changed his mind. “[Councilmember Jawando and I] now both strongly believe that the way for us to move forward is to acknowledge that we’re not going to have school police

2021 Bezos Scholars

June 16

MCPS English Language Development Community Member of the Year

August 23

Isoiza Emah and Tony Mensah

Maria Portela

Up & Coming

Last day of school for students First day of school for faculty

Award for Excellence in the Study of Peace and Non-Violence at the MD State History Competition

officers walking our hallways, enforcing our hallways any longer,” Rice said.

In the same press conference, Jawando and Rice announced a task force that will focus on finding SRO alternatives in the form of mental health support for students. This task force will be partly made up of students.

County Executive Marc Elrich, the County Council, and MCPS also announced an initiative centered around a committee that will explore how the county can reimagine public safety in MCPS schools. Jawando and Rice’s task force will provide recommendations to this larger committee.

The final report from Elrich’s larger committee is expected to be released by Sept. 30, 2021, and these findings will be used by the BOE to determine how MCPS will replace SROs. “What we will be doing is taking a look at those recommendations and seeing how we can use those to formulate whatever program we come up with,” Wolff told the Bethesda Beat.

Rice’s announcement to partner with Jawando on this initiative comes as a surprise to community activists, parents, and others who have known him to be an ally of police in schools, but has nonetheless been welcomed by many.

Community activist and Albert Einstein senior Avery Smedley, a lead organizer for Students Toward Equitable Public Schools, an organization that seeks to further equity in MCPS, believed that the views of his constituents required Rice to change his stance on SROs. “[The students and the community have] been so loud and clear about this,” Smedley said in an interview with Silver Chips.

County Executive Marc Elrich removed funding for SROs in his proposed budget for the 2022 fiscal year. Instead, he allocated funds for community resource officers: police officers that are stationed in the community instead of schools. “They will literally be out in the community, available to the schools,” Elrich said during his announcement of the budget.

However, some community members do not see this as a reasonable alternative. Smedley deemed the idea of community resource officers “ridiculous,” saying “[SROs] can still actively cause harm being outside the building.”

June 17

Last day of school for faculty

August 30

First day of school for students

Simone Keenan, Trini Szell, Josephine Panner, and Nitney Veopradith

silverchips

A4 News June 14, 2021 NEWS BRIEFS Compiled by Maybelle Patterson Culture/Design Editor

States ban critical race theory As of May 26, at least 15 states have introduced or adopted legislation to ban teaching that the U.S. is fundamentally racist or sexist in schools. This is often associated with critical race theory (CRT)—an academic theory that racism is fundamentally embedded in American society.

Advocates of the bills argue teaching CRT in schools promotes students feeling guilty about their race or gender, though that is not intended to be a part of the theory. Opponents argue that the legislation is racist and discourages classroom discussions of race.

Some critics claim that the bills are not truly aimed at stopping the teaching of CRT, but rather the teaching of race as a whole. Jonathan Chism, an assistant professor at University of Houston-Downtown told NBC, “The larger issue that this is all stemming from is a desire to deny the truth about America, about racism.”

Updates to beltway widening plan The Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) has altered their plan to widen Interstate 270 (I-270) following strong opposition from some community members and officials.

The MDOT’s previous plan involved expanding a stretch of highway on I-495. There will now be “no action” on I-495 east of I-270, according to MDOT. The department has announced that it will instead focus its efforts on building a new American Legion Bridge and building high-occupancy toll lanes on I-270.

Many praised the MDOT’s new changes, including Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, who wrote in a statement that the changes were “very welcome news.” However, Elrich also expressed some apprehension. “I am concerned that the plan will change the location of the bottlenecks rather than alleviating them,” he wrote.

Other critics say that the plan encourages the use of personal cars rather than more environmentally friendly public transportation. The MDOT will release the plan’s Environmental Impact Statement this summer.

Lawsuit against Montgomery County This spring, a lawsuit against Montgomery County claiming that COVID-19 relief money was illegally distributed to undocumented immigrants was appealed to federal courts. The five million dollars of relief money, meant for residents below the poverty line who do not qualify for federal or state aid, was distributed by the county in April of 2020.

Judicial Watch, a nonprofit group suing on behalf of two Montgomery County residents, wrote that since illegal immigrants do not qualify for federal or state aid, the county is violating federal law by distributing the money without passing a state law first.

However, the county argues that nothing they have done is against Montgomery County taxpayer law.

At the state level, a judge ruled in favor of Montgomery County, saying that private citizens could not challenge a county’s compliance with federal law.

The appeal was heard on May 5 in US district court and has not yet been decided.

Montgomery County rolls back restrictions as vaccination rates rise

By Maia Egnal Opinions Editor On May 10, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the emergency use of the Pfizer vaccine in adolescents ages 12 to 15. This news came five months after the Pfizer vaccine was approved for people over the age of 16.

Montgomery Blair served as a temporary Pfizer vaccination site on Wednesday, June 9 from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.

As of June 7, over 3 million people in Maryland have received their second dose. This is approximately 49.8 percent of the state’s population.

While some feared that the public might have doubts about the Pfizer vaccine, many Maryland teenagers flocked to receive their vaccines at the first available moment. Less than a week after receiving her first shot, Josephine Panner, a 15-year-old freshman at Montgomery Blair, said, “I’d been waiting for this moment for so long that it was… important to

me to just get [the vaccine] as soon as possible.”

As the younger generation receives their first vaccine shot, much of Maryland is already fully vaccinated. As of June 7, over 3 million people in Maryland had received their second dose. This is approximately 49.8 percent of the state’s population. Over 3.5 million people, 58.5 percent of the state’s population, had received at least their first vaccine.

While this is a significant percentage, the possibility of herd immunity—when a significant percentage of a population is immune to a disease making it difficult for the disease to spread—remains elusive for the time being. According to WebMD, medicine experts estimate that somewhere between 70 percent to 90 percent of a population would need to be vaccinated in order to achieve herd immunity.

While Maryland is far off from reaching herd immunity, there have been multiple new developments pertaining to COVID-19 vaccines that leave many hopeful.

On May 5, scientists announced that they had seen evidence in their studies that the Pfizer vaccine was extremely effective against both the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351. variants.

Given the rise of new variants, vaccine efficacy against these mutated versions of the virus will remain important moving forward in order for the United States to safely and fully reopen.

As of May 28, Montgomery County announced that it would be following all of the Maryland

MAIA EGNAL

VACCINATIONS INCREASE Nearly 60 percent of Maryland’s population had received at least their first vaccine dose as of June 7.

COVID-19 restrictions and would be reopening with the rest of the state. On May 14, Governor Larry Hogan ended the statewide mask mandate for all vaccinated citizens.

Masks are still required in select spaces, such as schools and public transportation. As of May 15, all state capacity restrictions have been lifted.

As vaccines have continued to be administered, COVID-19 cases have steadily dropped. During the week of June 7, Maryland had an average of 110 new COVID-19 cases per day, while Montgomery County had an average of 9.3 new cases per day.

After more than a year of re-

strictions, many feel like hope is in the air. Camille Salyers, a Takoma Park resident who has been volunteering at local vaccination sites, shared her favorite story of giving someone their first dose. “My favorite experience vaccinating someone was when this 16-year-old girl came in. She was so nervous to get the shot but she really wanted it and she was crying,” she said. “Then I gave it to her and as soon as it came out of her arm, the first thing that came out of her mouth was, ‘I love you.’ That was just so nice to hear and it made me feel like the work I’m doing is super important.”

All-in Honors courses set to begin this fall

By Marijke Friedman Editor-in-Chief In the 2021-2022 academic year, Montgomery Blair will pilot an All-in Honors initiative in which all 9th grade core content area classes will be coded as “Honors.” This is part of an ongoing effort to increase equity within the school. The pilot courses include English 9, Geometry, U.S. History, and Biology. Modern World History, typically taken by 11th graders, will also be an All-in Honors course.

Rebecca Hughes, the resource teacher for social studies at Montgomery Blair, explained that Allin Honors courses will provide every 9th grade student entering the school next year with access to honors curricula in their core classes. “Currently we run various levels so we have on-level, honors and… AP options,” she said. “[All-in Honors] essentially means that the on-level and the honors will be combined.” These All-in Honors courses will provide the same weighted credit as traditional honors classes do for students.

If achievement data indicates that the All-in Honors initiative is helping students, the school administration plans to expand the course format to core content areas in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade in the following years.

According to Rahman Culver, the diversity and inclusion instructional coordinator at Montgomery Blair, separating students into on-level and honors classes creates segregation within

schools. “If you look at the demographic distribution of what students typically end up in [honors] classrooms, you’ll find that there’s quite significant disparities,” he said. “We have high concentrations of our white students and our Asian students in those honors classes, and then we find an underrepresentation of our Black or African American students and our Latinx or Hispanic students.”

He further explains that reduc-

er-performing students achieving better and reduced biases among students.

According to Hughes, professional development will be provided to teachers throughout the summer and next year so that they are best able to meet the needs of individual students in their All-in Honors classes. Hughes also noted that some social studies teachers have expressed a desire to partake in professional development in or-

tied specifically to the application program curriculum,” he said.

“There are more opportunities for the students in application programs to actually end up in a classroom with students from a broader kind of background.”

We’re doing whatever we can to… increase additional opportunities for folks to have every experience possible without their background... playing a factor.

RAHMAN CULVER

MARIJKE FRIEDMAN AND ANNIE MOUNT

ing these disparities is one of the primary goals of piloting All-in Honors courses. “We’re no longer going to be kind of segregating students out based on what track they arrived on,” he said.

A presentation to the Montgomery Blair PTSA in April reiterated this idea. It stated that “students will have the opportunity to learn within an inclusive learning environment.” The presentation also detailed other benefits of integrated classrooms, including low-

der to successfully implement lessons in classrooms with students who have different learning styles.

While students in magnet programs will remain cohorted for classes pertaining to their respective programs, Culver explains that the creation of All-in Honors classes will expand opportunities in magnet students’ schedules for them to interact with the rest of the school in their other core classes.

“Our approach will not impact the instruction that they are receiving

In addition to the development of the All-in Honors initiative, Culver and the rest of Montgomery Blair’s administrators are working on ways to make the curriculum more culturally relevant and responsive and are exploring how the tracking process works within feeder middle schools. “We want to make sure that we’re doing whatever we can to… increase additional opportunities for folks to have every experience possible without their background, culturally, or socioeconomically, playing a factor in what they have access to,” Culver said. “We want to dismantle that racial predictability. That’s not a goal just at Blair. That’s a goal for the entire county.”

silverchips

June 14, 2021 Opinions B1

Should people prioritize eulogy over criticism for the recently deceased?

Trigger warning: this article contains non-graphic mentions of sexual assault.

COURTESY OF JON ECKERT

YES

While there should be context put around the lives of the dead, people cannot justify themselves from the grave.

By Jon Eckert Sports Editor AN OPINION Just hours after the announcement of Prince Philip’s death, memes, jokes, and criticism flooded the internet. At a time when one would hope to be remembered, at least briefly, for the good they contributed to the world, Prince Philip was posthumously mocked and vilified by many online. This reaction to a controversial figure’s death is wrongfully becoming more socially acceptable and needs to be put to rest.

In the period shortly following the passing of an influential figure, especially a controversial one, we should seek to honor the good that they did in their life as opposed to scathingly criticizing them.

Today, it is not uncommon for the deaths of those in the public eye to garner criticism from people looking to highlight the faults of their life. Before we rush to criticize the recently deceased, we should ask ourselves, why? Is this criticism a response to an overemphasis of the positive effects the figure had on the world? Is it to discredit something that the deceased once symbolized or stood for?

Or, is it criticism for the sake of criticism?

Dr. Mihai S. Rusu—a lecturer in sociology at Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Romania—wrote in an email to Silver Chips that the social norm of not speaking ill of the dead is meant to protect the reputation of the deceased. “The deceased simply cannot defend themselves against the accusations addressed to them by the living,” Rusu explained. “As such, the dead can constitute an easy target for expressing defamatory remarks.”

Over time, our social etiquette has drastically changed, with the death of any major political figure or celebrity leading many to pick apart their previous actions without giving proper respect for loved ones to grieve, rejecting a philosophy that has been generally agreed upon for more than 2,000 years.

While much of this etiquette has changed in order to hold people responsible for their actions, the rising importance of accountability is often used as a veil in order to discredit the successes of an influential figure. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., for instance, was criticized for infidelity in his marriage following his death. Regardless of the merit these claims have, broadcasting these criti-

cisms serves to portray the civil rights hero as an unprincipled person and takes away from the strides he made in the fight for racial equality. Critics did not give context that genuinely held him accountable for something that he cannot answer for from the grave.

Nobody wants to be remembered for their lowest points. Instead, we would prefer to be remembered for our successes. This common respect that we would want for ourselves should be extended to influential figures who pass away.

While context around anyone’s life is important, criticisms that seek to disparage someone’s character following their death are inappropriate.

Rusu explained that there should be a balance between respect for the deceased and accountability. “I would argue that [the philosophy] of not speaking ill of the dead… should be countered by the equally moral imperative of speaking the truth of the dead,” he wrote. “I believe that the assessment of a deceased should take into consideration the historical and cultural context in which the acts were done.”

Rusu explained that there should be a way to balance valid criticisms of

the dead while still showing respect to them by having a period shortly following their death where they are not widely criticized.

“The two conflicting moral principles ([the] prohibition of speaking ill of the dead and the right and duty of telling the truth of the dead) can be avoided by instituting a moratorium,” he wrote. “That is, a period of several days of mourning, during which the deceased is protected by critical assessments.”

Rusu added that after the moratorium is lifted, the reputation of the deceased should be debated amongst the public to give an accurate representation of their life.

While influential figures should not be given a halo just because they have died, they should nevertheless be remembered for the good they were able to impart on the world.

There will always be valid criticism for any person who walks the earth, as we humans are inherently imperfect. However, the time for criticism is not shortly following one’s death when many are grieving.

While social etiquette has shifted towards accountability, it still takes significant time to analyze a dead person’s life and criticize them fairly because they are not alive to justify themselves. Therefore, praise should take the forefront immediately after someone’s death.

There is a basic sense of respect that has been lost over time under the veil of accountability and eulogy of the dead should take priority over criticism of the dead shortly after their passing.

AO JAY CH

COURTESY OF JASPER SWARTZ

NO

Death does not exonerate hurtful actions. Truth is the most important aspect of memory.

By Jasper Swartz Culture Editor AN OPINION When Prince Philip passed away this April, he was remembered by some for his long history of service to the royal family, and by others for his direct ties to British imperialism and his endless list of racist comments.

Shortly after his death, numerous publications such as The Washington Post and Insider ran stories detailing Prince Philip’s well documented history of blatantly insensitive remarks. Reflections like these are essential when a public figure passses away and must not be shied away from for fear of disrespect-

voicebox All photos are courtesy of their subjects.

ing the person’s memory.

Refusing to give serious weight to a person’s harmful actions after death sends the message that their behavior was excusable.

Death should not exempt one from criticism, nor does it erase any of their negative actions. Family members and grieving loved ones need to be considered, but so do the victims of the deceased.

In the aftermath of a celebrated figure’s death, many victims watch as those who traumatized them are glorified. Furthermore, victims may find themselves vilified when they acknowledge any hurt the individual caused them.

Deceased influential figures with numerous crowning achievements or accomplishments still have the potential to cause deep and traumatic pain within their personal lives which must not be ignored by virtue of their other merits.

When publications reported on Prince Philip’s past transgressions, they were not writing ill of the late prince, they were merely presenting the truth of his past actions.

The legacy a person leaves behind should reflect who they truly were, including the harm they may have caused over their lifetime. While everyone is entitled to recognition for their achievements, it is dishonest to gloss over or ignore their wrongdoings solely because they have died.

Soon after the death of basketball star Kobe Bryant on Jan. 26 in 2020, Felicia Sonmez, a reporter with The Washington Post, was placed on administrative leave after tweeting about sexual assault allegations against Bryant. In an interview with The Post, Sonmez defended her tweet. She argued that “the seriousness of [the sexual assault] allegations is a valid part of [Bryant’s] legacy and his life. Those allegations should not be minimized in any way.”

“It is important to grieve the deceased which means... highlighting their positive qualities, but their death does not erase their mistakes.”

ELIZABETH DUNNE junior

Taking allegations such as the ones against Bryant seriously, even posthumously, broadcasts the message to victims that their pain and trauma is being taken into account and that their assaulters are not being exonerated through excess praise in death.

Many feared that mentioning Bryant’s history of sexual assault would tarnish his legacy as an eminant basketball player, and indeed, a frequent concern regarding criticism towards the recently deceased is that any conversation surrounding the wrongdoings of the person is blatant disrespect towards their memory.

This is not only insensitive to victims, but completely baseless. Remembering a person’s flaws is just as true and accurate to their legacy as recounting their best moments.

Viewing the legacy of a person through the entirety of their actions instead of just their more positive traits makes them more relatable and human, which is crucial in an age where celebrities are glorified to an extreme.

Furthermore, the positive aspects of an individual’s memory are not always overshadowed by criticism. Chances are that if you ask any American walking down the street to tell you who Kobe Bryant was, they will tell you of his many sports accomplishments rather than mentioning the woman whom he allegedly sexually assaulted in 2003.

Thoughtful and nuanced reflection on the flaws of the deceased do not necessarily come from a place of malice or of spite.

They can provide healing for both victims and fans alike. Calling attention to the pain that someone caused is not antithetical to remembering the positive marks they left on

“Instead of getting political, [people] should just focus on honoring the deceased and supporting their families. ” MIRA COHEN

junior

the world.

Criticism can and should be voiced in a respectful manner, with the situation surrounding a person’s misdeeds being taken into account. Nuances such as whether or not they apologized during their lifetime, how lasting the harm they caused was, and the opinion of their victim(s) should all be addressed after death by those eulogizing them.

Kobe Bryant, for example, issued a statement in 2004 apologizing to his victim. “I want to apologize directly to the young woman involved in this incident. I want to apologize to her for my behavior that night and for the consequences she has suffered in the past year,” he wrote. He added that, “Although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did.”

Such apologies do not undo or excuse any injury, but they are important to acknowledge when weighing criticism within a legacy.

The death of a public figure can be a painful moment, even more so when they leave behind a complicated legacy. In the end, it is the living who are affected the most by eulogies, and the manner in which we approach a controversial figure’s death informs the behavior of everyday people.

When a public figure dies, there should be no taboo against speaking out and having difficult conversations about their lives.

Their entire legacy must be examined, both good and bad, with support for victims and those affected at the forefront of intentions.

Only then can we truly understand the deceased for who they were and begin to heal the wounds they may have inflicted.

“While I don’t think it’s good to be vicious about it... it’s better to try to stick to being objective instead of trying to be super positive.”

KATALINA LI

sophomore

B2 Opinions June 14, 2021

The devil wears SHEIN

By Leila Faraday and Jasper Swartz

Editor-in-Chief & Culture Editor AN OPINION In the past few years, fashion trends and styles have seemingly come and gone in the span of mere months, especially as shorter forms of social media have risen in popularity. The rising consumption of media on apps like TikTok has directly benefited fast fashion companies, and our clothing overconsumption habits have become dangerous.

Fast fashion is exactly what it sounds like—rapid production of “trendy” clothing items for a low price. In an effort to clothe a population that finds completely different clothing items and accessories fashionable week to week, fast fashion companies have eagerly played into the creation of new trends and the mass sale of cheap items to accommodate them.

The model is often extremely profitable for companies like SHEIN, Forever 21, Zara, Princess Polly, and Fashion Nova, who partake in it by selling massive quantities of cheap, low quality merchandise items with short lifespans.

When you drill down into those individual trends, you’ll notice that there are singular items that will have a shining moment or two, and then you’ll never see them again.

MANDY LEE Social media also plays a critical role in the rapid acceleration of trend cycles, contributing directly to the harmful business model that fast fashion follows. As a new kind of celebrity classification—the social

media influencer—has risen in popularity, online platforms have become fast fashion’s biggest weapon in promoting mass consumption of its products.

Companies like Princess Polly and Fashion Nova that operate exclusively online rely heavily on the hiring of creators with high follower counts to sponsor their brands.

These partnerships often entail the influencer releasing “hauls”—videos in which they showcase what they bought or were given and try on each article of clothing. Creators often offer a unique discount code at the end of each haul for their followers to use on the sponsoring company’s website, earning influencers a small commission each time the code is applied to a purchase.

For instance, SHEIN—an online clothing retailer founded by Chinese businessman Chris Xu in 2008—has gained huge popularity recently, especially with teenagers. A survey conducted by Piper Sandler—an investment banking company— found that five percent of upper-income teens ranked SHEIN as their favorite clothing store, outranking popular companies like Urban Outfitters and Nike. SHEIN’s website bombards users with deal after deal, advancing the company’s simple objective of pushing customers to add massive quantities of clothing to their cart and buying from the company as frequently as possible.

Thus, many ordinary social media users are coaxed into making their own hauls, further contributing to the cycle of mass purchasing that engages teenagers who are desperately trying to stay “on trend.”

Fortunately, some creators are beginning to criticize and speak out against this phenomenon. Mandy Lee, a sustainable fashion content creator with over 100,000 followers on TikTok, explains how many feel forced to buy exactly what their favorite influencers are wearing or what their favorite brands are featuring on their websites. “You’re not making a decision, you’re letting that decision be made for you by capitalism,” she says.

When a social media consumer can scroll through up to 20 TikTok

videos every five minutes, their mind becomes full of the need to consume. Lee explains that she has seen a rise in something she calls “microtrends,”—when singular clothing items or specific aesthetics become popular for a short period of time. Their existence is both damaging to the environment and our senses of personal style.

“When you drill down into those individual trends, you’ll notice that there are singular items that will have a shining moment for a week or two,” she says, “and then you’ll never see them again.”

In order to produce these clothes at such a rapid rate, fast fashion companies rely on highly unethical manufacturing practices, such as child labor and sweatshops, to make the cheap and “trendy” clothes that so many influencers endorse to their followers.

Workers at these companies can often be paid between one half and one fifth of the living wage.

According to the International Labor Organization, around 168 million children, ages five to 14, are employed in sweatshops in developing nations.

Manufacturers are eager to employ these young children to work in appallingly unsafe conditions for meager wages, all to ensure that people can buy hundreds of dollars worth of cheaply made garments that fit the style of the week and will subsequently be thrown out and never worn again. In some sweatshops, workers are forced to work for 72 hours without sleep and are subject to physical, verbal, and sexual abuse.

But Blair sophomore Maria Sawadogo thinks that even though many people are aware of the dark side of buying large amounts of clothing, it’s easy to feel detached.

“People are so focused on what they want that they… don’t really connect to the kids [working in the sweatshops],” she explains.

The environmental destruction that comes with garment overconsumption is another one of its most devastating effects. According to The True Cost, a documentary about the current state of clothing production and consumption, the average American throws away around 82 pounds of clothing each year. Synthetic fabrics take an estimated 20-200 years to decompose, leaving landfills to fill up more and more each year.

Despite these detrimental impacts

of fast fashion, individual consumers who buy from companies like SHEIN and Forever 21 are not directly to blame for how the workers are treated and the devastating environmental effects. Companies should be held responsible for preventing child

corrections March 2021 B4

Some ads were not up to date

D2-D3 $250,00 is written instead of $250,000

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labor and ensuring that products are ethically sourced, but buyers should actively hold them accountable by refusing to purchase immorally manufactured items.

Because attractive clothing can be expensive, however, Sawadogo feels like it can seem unattainable to buy cute clothes that are also affordable without relying on fast fashion. “Everyone on TikTok is always saying they’re going to try to buy more sustainable things,” Sawadogo says, “but most people don’t actually have enough money to [do so].”

Luckily, buying your clothing second hand is a significantly less harmful method for purchasing stylish clothing that is still cheap.

Thrifting clothes keeps some garments out of landfills and does not put money towards corporations that utilize child labor and sweatshops.

While thrifting is a far better option than buying newly made clothes, the easiest way to avoid contributing to the fast fashion industry is to simply limit the amount of clothes one buys altogether. Lee explains that although rapid trend cycles might encourage people to refresh their O HA wardrobes freC Y JA quently with cheap clothing, it is better to resist the urge and instead develop personal style by repurposing what is already in one’s closet. “What kind of capitalist hellscape are we living in where we can’t re-wear the clothes that we have?” says Lee.

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June 14, 2021 Opinions B3

When everything went wrong, what went right?

Online classes, check-in days, and reasonable start times have become the standard for MCPS students during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite being an entirely foreign concept only a year ago.

With the world under lockdown, MCPS was forced to reconcile with their new virtual reality, adapting traditional learning to what remains a largely virtual model using Zoom, Canvas, and Synergy.

There were issues abound early on, from technology failures to plummeting rates of student engagement, all exacerbated by the fact that teachers were left to solve most of these problems alone. Online learning itself took an additional toll on students by widening the achievement gap, forcing students to spend unhealthy amounts of hours on screens, disrupting learning styles, and creating unprecedented social and emotional pressures—issues that remain largely unresolved.

Despite these pitfalls, not all of the reforms made to school structure had a negative impact. Rather, some of the changes necessitated by the pandemic brought a new opportunity for progress—they can and should persist even when in-person life resumes.

When students were sent home on Mar. 13, 2020, MCPS scrambled to close the gaping county-wide divide in access to technology—an issue that already existed in the years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The county quickly mobilized to address the crisis and bridged language barriers to successfully distribute chromebooks and WiFi hotspots to every student and staff member who needed

them. By the time the 2020-2021 school year began, MCPS had ensured that every student possessed the technology necessary to engage in virtual learning.

While this rapid effort highlights the county’s incredible ability to quickly and efficiently respond to student needs, it also brings attention to the lack of initiative MCPS had in the past. School officials couldn’t have anticipated a global pandemic, but they have long been aware of inequities in students’ access to technology and other critical resources. Going forward, the county should use their swift pandemic response as the new standard for maximizing resources and ensuring all students have the tools they need to learn both at school and at home.

Like the disparities in access to technology, food insecurity also plagued MCPS students long before it was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. While preexisting county programs gave students access to free or reduced meals at school, the system had many flaws; students had to grab dinner right after school ended and were only able to get food for themselves. While many of these problems were not MCPS’s fault, they lent themselves to a faulty system.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, MCPS took their meal distribution efforts to the next level, making unparalleled efforts to help families and even providing boxes with week-long supplies of food.

The county also established relationships with local non-profits, allowing their donations and resources to have an even broader reach.

With a proven reputation for sup-

What MCPS should take away from the pandemic

porting students and their families, this system should remain in place moving forward.

While tackling food insecurity and access inequality within the student population had sizable impacts, one of the most wide-spread changes—and improvements— for students in middle and high schools during virtual learning was the revised daily schedule. Classes, which started at 7:45 a.m. for high school students pre-pandemic, now begin at 9 a.m.

For years, there have been calls to push back the start time for middle and high schools in MCPS, and not without reason. Research has proven that early start times cause sleep deprivation, poor academic performance, and profound damage to mental and physical health among teens.

Despite the obvious benefits to starting schools later, prior calls to action from the community resulted in meager, and practically negligible, changes. In the 2015-2016 school year, following strong advocacy in support of later start times, the Board of Education allowed high school classes to start at 7:45 a.m. rather than 7:25 a.m.—a mere 20 minute delay.

The pandemic, however, led to a revised schedule that started much later in the morning, mitigating the damage of unreasonable schedules.

Given the critical importance of starting schools later, MCPS should prioritize student health and wellbeing by maintaining the adjusted schedule when we return.

MCPS has also rearranged its system on other fronts. The current remote learning option—while not ideal for everyone—provides

some students with the flexibility to get work done on their own schedule and provides those who are employed, have childcare duties, or struggle with transportation with much-needed independence Fortunately, the county has recently announced that they will continue to offer a virtual learning option—called the Virtual Academy—for students who apply with county permitted extenuating cir-

cumstances. This option is long overdue, and will provide an appropriate educational model for those with medical issues, full-time jobs, and other outlying situations.

MCPS must take into account what has worked best for students this year and consider how it can continue to implement these new policies, protocols, and resources to benefit everyone in the years to come.

The duality of cicadas

ELIZA COOKE

It’s time to reinvest in local news

By Ashley Thommana Ombudsman/News Editor AN OPINION According to the 2020 Digital News Report, the COVID-19 pandemic increased news consumption across the globe. Unsurprisingly, people have turned to media sources to stay updated as information is disseminated at the local, state, national, and international level.

COVID-19 news.

Ironically, the pandemic, which has jeopardized many local news outlets, has highlighted this strength of community based media.

At the onset of the pandemic in Feb. 2020, the volume of information surged. It was and is, truly, overwhelming. Along with the national, state, and county-level guidelines, community members had much more media on their plate to juggle.

Local outbreaks, testing sites, food drives, eviction moratoriums, and updates on how MCPS would continue students’ education were just some of the many local pandemic-related events and issues that affected community members.

As we grappled with the barrage of information, it was local news, staffed by journalists and volunteers, that supported the community—be it the Bethesda Beat, the Takoma Park Newsletter, or student

Local news, which has worked tirelessly to inform community members since the beginning, continues to help us navigate reopening the county, new variants, and vaccine rollout.

While the pandemic has encouraged more media consumption from a variety of news sources, local news has once again proved itself as a vital and underappreciated resource for Americans.

Local news sources are uniquely equipped to provide the most specific and relevant information to their audiences. In fact, according to a survey conducted by Pew Research Center, 46 percent of U.S. adults considered their local news outlets as major sources for

COURTESY OF ASHLEY THOMMANA

newspapers, to name a few.

Even now, more than a year into the pandemic, there is still uncertainty and we, the public, still need relevant information. Local news, which has worked tirelessly to inform community members since the beginning, continues to help us navigate reopening the county, new variants, and vaccine rollout.

Non-local media sources simply do not have the scope to report on the details of a specific community.

While essential in their own right, they can not serve as a replacement for local news.

Despite this, local journalism has declined steeply over the past few decades; and the pandemic only accelerated this trend. Between 2005 and 2020, research from the Hussman School of Journalism and Media (HSJM) at the University of North Carolina reported the loss of one-fourth of the country’s newspapers.

Funnily enough, in this report, among the hundreds of news outlets disappearing, HSJM specifically identified the loss of local news in Montgomery County. While most papers that were forced to shut down were weekly newspapers in economically struggling communities, the report identified the loss of the Sentinel—a weekly newspaper in Montgomery County—as notable, because it left roughly 1 million residents without a local newspaper.

During the pandemic, a ruptured supply chain meant prices for printing could be volatile and sudden changes can affect already struggling papers. Just two years ago, Silver Chips unexpectedly lost $900 when a tariff on Canadian newsprint was suddenly enacted.

The loss of local news we are witnessing has a tangible effect on

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

our community. In an article published in “The Journal of Politics” in Jan. 2018, researchers stated that declining local political news coverage is reducing citizens’ engagement.

The Poynter Institute for Media studies reports that accountability and transparency in local government and organizations are also lost, while their costs, spending, and borrowing rise as a direct result of newspaper closure, according to the Columbia Journal Review.

What is even more worrisome is that in the scramble to save local news across the nation, remaining local news is losing its distinctive connection with the community.

The report from HSJM identified a trend of consolidation of the newspaper industry. This means that fewer larger corporations that are not connected to the communities they report for make the decisions for the paper.

Local journalism is losing on all fronts. As a result, communities are losing.

The pandemic has temporarily brought back focus to local news.

Now more than ever, we are relying on local news to update us as we navigate the return to “normal”. But when we do get back there, I sincerely hope we remember to appreciate and support local journalism.

la

El 14 de junio de 2021

esquinalatina Representando la comunidad latinx desde el 2003

Volumen 18 Número 5

Vacunas atrasadas

Discrepancia en tasas de vacunación entre grupos étnicos Por Sofia Roehrig y Cecilia Clemens Vargas Lugo Escritora & Editora en Jefe

Los sitios de vacunación son notoriamente dispersos, y para muchas familias, recibir la vacunación es imposible sin acceso a un carro.

Siguiendo de más de un año de sufrimiento desproporcionado a raíz de la pandemia del COVID, la comunidad latinx ha enfrentado varias barreras para recibir la vacuna que ofrece un alto porcentaje de inmunidad contra el virus. La distribución de la vacuna en todo el estado se ha desarrollado extensivamente—al presente 71 por ciento de la población de Maryland ha recibido por lo menos una dosis de la vacuna Pfizer or Moderna, de acuerdo de las estadísticas del Centro de Control de Enfermedades. Los residentes latinxs componen el 10 por ciento de la población estatal en general, pero solo un 6.65 por ciento de las personas que se han vacunado son latinxs, de acuerdo con los indicadores del Departamento de Salud en Maryland.

Es de importancia recalcar que no se requiere documentación de residencia legal o ciudadanía para recibir la vacuna.

Los obstáculos que más han contribuido a esta disparidad son el acceso al automóvil y el internet para programar citas.

Una encuesta publicada en el 2019 por el Centro de Investigación Pew reveló que sólo 57 por ciento de las personas hispanas poseen un portátil o computadora, en contraste a 82 por ciento de personas blancas nacionalmente.

Mientras 93 por ciento de blancos tienen su propio medio de transporte, de acuerdo con la Administración Federal de la Carretera, 13.7 por ciento de casas latinxs reportaron no tener acceso a un vehículo. Muchos dependen

SARAH MARTIN

EQUIPO MÉDICO Los centros de comunidad se han convertido en centros de vacunación. de la transportación pública para tener acceso a recursos comunitarios. Los sitios de vacunación son notoriamente dispersos, y para muchas familias, recibir la vacunación es imposible sin acceso a un carro.

Otra posible razón respecto al número de latinos que no han recibido la vacuna es el tener un modo de identificación oficial. Es de importancia recalcar que no se requiere documentación de residencia legal o ciudadanía para recibir la vacuna. En 2012, Maryland firmó legislación que permite a los inmigrantes sin documentos obtener licencias de conducir, haciéndolo posible recibir identificación estatal oficial.

Pero esto no elimina la barrera por completo. De acuerdo con Kevin Rector del Baltimore Sun, agentes del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE)

Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas pueden accesar la base de datos de información de licencias de conducir. Esto implica que no hay manera de prometer la seguridad de residencia de personas indocumentadas que han obtenido una licencia de conducir legalmente.

Al presente los oficiales de salud a nivel estatal están en el proceso de transición de facilidades de vacunación en masa a clínicas de vacunación locales más pequeñas.

Los sitios de vacunación en masa en el estadio M&T de Baltimore y Six Flags en Bowie están cerrando, y las vacunas continuarán de estar disponibles en más de 700 farmacias y consultorios médicos Maryland, de acuerdo con oficiales del estado.

Para que el coronavirus sea funcionalmente extinto, un 70 por ciento de la población tiene que tener inmunidad con dos dosis de la

RECIBIENDO LA VACUNA El Centro de Control de Enfermedades ha autorizado el uso de la vacuna de Pfizer para adultos y niños mayores de 12 años.

SARAH MARTIN

SARAH MARTIN

CORTESÍA DE CECILIA CLEMENS VARGAS LUGO

vacuna Pfizer o Moderna y una de vacunación no solo afectan a perla vacuna de Johnson & Johnson, sonas sin documentos, ni solo a escribe Gypsy Amber D’Souza los latinxs—cuando una cantidad sustancial de la población no en el blog de la Escuela puede recibir cuidado de Medicina de Johns médico apropiado y Hopkins. De acuerdo de manera oportucon un estudio na durante de la del Centro de pandemia, hay Investigación efectos dañinos de Pew, los sobre la inmulatinxs constinidad colectiva tuyen el mayor del resto de la porcentaje de población. inmigrantes Con tasas en el estado. de vacunación Si solo la citada 6.65 por ciento de tan bajas en la polatinxs en Maryland blación latinx, una han recibido su vacuamplia demográfica en na, el equilibrio de la ABJINI C AY Maryland, tiene un largo HATTOPADHY salud en todo el estado camino por recorrer antes está en peligro. de que sea posible una atención En fin, las políticas dispares de médica equitativa para todos.

CENTRO DE VACUNACIÓN Gel antibacterial y guantes, algunos de los equipos que se usan en los centros de vacunación. El gobierno del estado de Maryland está expandiendo los puntos de inmunización a espacios más accesibles.

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14 de junio de 2021 La Esquina Latina C2

Por Cecilia Clemens Vargas Lugo, Angela Ramirez, y Sofia Roehrig Editora en Jefe & Escritoras Las nominaciones de los premios de la Academia de Hollywood de 2021 fueron llamadas las más diversas en la historia de los premios. De manera histórica, la directora Chloe Zhao siendo la primera mujer asiática nominada, ganó el premio de Mejor Director. Este ejemplo puede indicar que parece que los Oscar están haciendo los cambios necesarios para diversificar sus premios.

Pero, aun así, sólo hubo seis latinxs nominados en 2021 y ninguna de las nominaciones fueron por actuación. Los únicos latinxs que ganaron fueron Jaime Baksht, Michelle Coutolenc y Carlos Cortés quienes compartieron el premio Oscar por Mejor Sonido.

Son películas que tu nunca te pudieras imaginarte que Hollywood produjera, es una mentalidad totalmente diferente.

Spring, por los últimos 31 años durante el mes de herencia hispana se ha presentado el Festival de Cine Latinoamericano, donde se estrenan películas de Latinoamérica, España y Portugal de ese año.

Reemberto Rodriguez, el director regional del Festival por los últimos 12 años, explica que las películas latinoamericanas en el festival “son películas que tu nunca te pudieras imaginarte que Hollywood produjera, es una mentalidad totalmente diferente”.

El empuje para la diversidad en Hollywood no solo viene de la necesidad de representación sino de la necesidad de historias notables. El elabora que “la gran mayoría son [películas sobre relaciones] y no son películas que dependen en [efectos especiales]. Son películas que dependen en relación”. Rodriguez espera que Hollywood se de cuenta que “hay una profundidad, hay variedad, no nos encasillen como latinos”.

Aquí en La Esquina Latina decidimos ver tres películas latinxs que fueron estrenadas en el último año y escribir un poco sobre cada película. Estas películas fueron las entradas para el premio para la Mejor Película Internacional de Guatemala, Chile y México.

La llorona

REEMBERTO RODRIGUEZ Aunque los latinxs componen el 18 por ciento de la población en contraste componen el 26 por ciento de personas que van frecuentemente al cine, de acuerdo con un reportaje de la Asociación de Películas hecho en 2019. Aun así, la representación latinx en Hollywood y en los Oscar sigue siendo de tasa más baja que otros grupos.

En el Instituto Americano de Cine en Silver

La llorona es una película de drama y terror. Dirigida por Jayro Bustamante la película trata del genocidio que vivió la gente indigena de Guatemala. Una mujer llamada Alma es asesinada con sus hijos durante un ataque militar en Guatemala, pero 30 años despues, cuando el general que ordenó el genocidio no es declarado culpable. Alma regresa al mundo de los vivos

para atormentar al general.

En los 93 años de la historia de los Oscar Guatemala solamente ha presentado tres películas para la consideración de los premios.

En 1995 entró El silencio de Neto, en 2016 Ixancul que también fue dirigida por Bustamante y este año La llorona, pero ninguno avanzó en la carrera hacia una nominación. Aun así, en febrero, la película se convirtió en la primera presentación del país en hacer la lista corta para la Mejor Película Internacional.

silver patrons Diamond

Mr. Eric W and Dr. Jamie S Padmore

Platinum

Kate Stewart

Gold

Silver

Christy Lopez and Michael Fisher - Mike Ashford - Diane Kelleher and David Attis

Bronze

El agente topo

Dirigida por Maite Alberdi, El agente topo es un documental divertido y conmovedor que celebra las excentricidades de una comunidad chilena de ancianos. Seguimos la experiencia de Rómulo, un detective privado, mientras sirve como agente de topo investigando una residencia de ancianos. La película ofrece una vista a los personajes interesantes y únicos que habitan la residencia, incluso la personalidad amable y cariñoso de Rómulo mientras explora el romance y cumple su misión. La película fue estrenada en el Festival Sundance en 2020 y fue nominada para un Oscar a la Mejor Película Documental en los premios de la Academia en 2021. También fue seleccionada como la entrada chilena a la Mejor Película Internacional para la lista corta (una lista de las películas elegibles para nominaciones).

La industria de cine chilena se ha expandido rápidamente en la última década, con la película Una mujer fantástica, dirigida por Sebastián Lelio, poniéndolo en el mapa de atención internacional. La nominación de El agente topo es un paso significativo en incrementar la conciencia internacional del cine chileno y del cine latinoamericano en general.

Ya no estoy aquí

Ya no estoy aquí es una película dramática dirigida por el director JAY CHAO

a l Bril

l e a t n i i n c x l e

mexicano Fernando Frías de la Parra. La película trata de un joven mexicano, Ulises, viviendo en Monterrey, México.

Ulises es miembro de Los Terkos, una banda de jóvenes que pasan su tiempo asistiendo a fiestas y bailando cumbia. Pero después de una confusión entre Ulises y otro grupo, Ulises tiene que huir de Monterrey para Nueva York. En Nueva York, Ulises tiene que averiguar cómo sobrevivir en una ciudad donde no entiende el idioma. Ya no estoy aquí fue seleccionada como la entrada para México para la Mejor Película Internacional en los premios de los Oscar en 2021 y fue parte de la lista corta para el premio.

Desde la Época de Oro del cine mexi-

cano, entre los años 1930s a los 1950s, a las recientes victorias de directores mexicanos en los premios de los Oscar, México ha tenido una larga historia en la industria cinematográfica.

Por otro lado, películas sobre mexicanos son poco comunes entre las nominaciones de los Oscar. Se espera que películas como Roma, dirigida por Alfonso Cuaron, hayan comenzado a resaltar el cine mexicano en los Estados Unidos.

Suzanne and Maynard Goldman - Barbara Griffith - The Borzekowski Family - Chenmuren Zhang - Claire Cocciole - Claudia Deane - Emma Soler - Jeff and Richelle Meer - John & Katherine Maynard - Megan Lankenau - Griffin Reilly - Pam Winston & Leonard Bailey - Pat Fisher - Stefanie Weiss - Stuart Guterman & Fran Sussman - Tom LaLonde & Julie Zito - Tom Ernst & Grace Manubay - Amy Schwenkmeyer - Kristen Lefevre - Whipple Family - Goldman Family Margery Arnold - Allison MacDonald - Brett Heimov - Peter & Carol Gordy - Cathy Henderson - The Civic Circle - Ellen Ensel - Emil Parker - Jane LaLonde - Kevin Harris & Maria Peralta - Lauren Kenworthy - Lester Yuan - Margaret Bolder - Mary Gonzales - Meena Poder - Natalia Zamora - Patrick & Donna Moran - Peter Franchot - Rex & Helen Robinson - Spire Family - Tang-Tong Ye - Ye Wu & Wanije Sun - Yoyo’s Yo-yos - Susan Katz Miller - Steven Brier - Eno Aquaowo - Seth Family - Elizabeth Duval - Taranjeet Singh - Patricia Eckert - Mark Swartz - Peter McGarvey - Paul & Doldres Silverman - Cheryl Bechky Bendis Deepa Iyer

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A culture o

Exploring the discussion of w

W

hile Montgomery Blair junior Geneva Palmer had long recognized a culture of disordered eating habits being normalized within the running community, she never expected her own coach to reinforce it.

Defined by the American Psychiatric Association as “severe and persistent disturbances in eating behaviors and associated distressing thoughts and emotions,” eating disorders are deeply pervasive in the lives of many teenagers today. Common types of eating disorders are anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder, all of which have shared symptoms including control of food and weight, frequent dieting, dizziness, and trouble concentrating.

According to the Harvard School of Public Health, “9 [percent] of the U.S. population… will have an eating disorder in their lifetime.” Many more people are affected by disordered eating, which is not an eating disorder but can involve similar symptoms that occur less often and less intensely. According to Psychology Today, “up to 50 percent of the population demonstrate problematic or disordered relationships with food, body, and exercise.”

Palmer, who runs on varsity track and field, remembers an incident in her first high school track meet in which her coach promoted a disordered eating practice. After she had finished her race, she sat down with chicken tenders and fries to refuel while waiting for the end of the meet, which would last six or seven hours total.

During the middle of her meal, one of the coaches came up to Palmer and informed her that she would need to run another race. Palmer remembers feeling like she would become physically sick if she ran so soon after eating. She explained to her coach that she was only told that she would be running one race and that she was not comfortable running a second, especially right after eating.

“And then [my coach] basically said, ‘Well, go throw up.

Instead of getting sick during the race, just go throw up beforehand,’” Palmer recalls.

For Palmer, hearing those words was devastating. “I was just so shocked... I think I was almost in tears. I think I did cry. And I was just like, ‘I don’t know what to do.’”

According to the British Columbia Children’s Hospital, “some of the most common types of disordered eating are… self induced vomiting,” the same behavior Palmer’s coach was encouraging.

Measuring strength

In her Weight and Strength Training class at Montgomery Blair, junior Audrey Payne completed quarterly progress checks to track her improvement in lifting weights.

The assignment also included tracking changes in her own body. “You had to record your weight and… measure around your bicep and around your thighs,” she says. “It felt like you were scrutinizing yourself, in a way, and that just didn’t really sit well with me.”

The curriculum’s overemphasis on physical build and weight is not limited to Payne’s class. It occurs throughout Montgomery Blair, MCPS, and the nation as a whole.

And, according to Denise Hamburger, the executive director of BeReal USA—a nonprofit that works to spread body confidence in schools across the country—parts of some high school curriculums “have… practices that can exacerbate the prevalence of eating disorders.”

Emanuel Charles, a weight training and physical education teacher at Montgomery Blair, says that Payne’s assignment was county-mandated and was not aimed to hurt anyone. “These are all optional things. I tell the kids a lot, you don’t feel comfortable with it, that’s fine. You don’t have to do it,” he says.

Counting calories

An emphasis on weight is not only perpetuated in physical education curriculums and sports, but also in a wide range of classes. When Albert Einstein junior Julia Moon was told to log the food and calories she consumed over the course of a day for an assignment in her Foundations of Technology class, she found herself confused and taken aback. “I was just kind of surprised that they brought up calories and weight in tech class… I would expect that to be something you would go over in the health curriculum,” she says.

The assignment listed 43 different foods and beverages and the calories they contained, including a singular grape at two calories and one slice of “bread, regular,” at 75 calories. A chart at the bottom of the assignment then asked students to fill in what they ate for “one of the days from [their] five day food log,” including the total calories for each meal. There was one row each to fill in a student’s breakfast, lunch, dinner, drinks, and snacks.

Hamburger explains that counting calories is a particularly damaging activity often taught in school health classes. “When you have the kids start to count calories, that’s when they begin to worry about their weight,” she says. She elaborates that since restricting food is common among

people struggling with eating disorders, calorie counting assignments are “setting [students] up with the most common underlying symptom of an eating disorder.”

For some students, like Albert Einstein sophomore Darlene Iriarte, the calorie counting assignment negatively impacted their mental health and body image. “I was in this phase where I was trying to lose weight… [Doing the assignment] just put [me] in this place where it’s really triggering,” they explain. “And I turned it in, I got my grade, but at the end, I just felt like ‘What was this even for?’”

Albert Einstein junior Haley Tesler echoes this sentiment. “It... repeats unhealthy habits that I’ve definitely experienced [in] the past year or so,” she says.

For Tesler, reflecting on the assignment made her understand the ways school curriculum can affect people’s mental health. “It led me to realize how insensitive so much of society is [and] how damaging it can be to focus on your calorie intake each day,” she says. “It can lead to really unhealthy habits.”

Albert Einstein principal, Mark Brown, says that the assignment is part of MCPS’s Foundations of Technology curriculum and is intended to relate to the technologies used to make foods. He admits that it may have gone a step too far in asking students to log their caloric intake. “It did appear to be an assignment that would suit the health class as opposed to Foundations of Technology,” he says. Brown explains that he never heard any feedback from students regarding the assignment or struggles with eating in general, but acknowledges that he has only been principal of the school since July of 2020.

Neither Moon, Iriarte, or Tesler recall their teacher providing a trigger warning for the assignment, offering alternative assignments, or offering students the ability to opt out. According to Merriam-Webster, a trigger warning is “a statement cautioning that content… may be disturbing or upsetting.” Many find them helpful when sensitive topics, such as weight and eating disorders, are discussed in classes.

Montgomery Blair resource counselor Makeyda Soriano thinks the key to communicating possibly triggering ideas with students is the way in which the teacher presents the information. “How did the teacher communicate it? How did they prepare the students in understanding [what] the impact of this could be?” she says. “Did they give another option for a student if the student isn’t comfortable?”

senior Yamarie Sarr found herself having to adjust to the Montgomery Blair team’s form-fitting uniforms. “There’d be days where you’re wondering if the uniform makes you look a certain way, bulky or bigger than you are,” she says.

“I just had to realize that there was literally nothing wrong with my body.”

Montgomery Blair junior Declan Herlihy describes a mostly positive environment on the school’s wrestling team. However, he has seen some people in the wrestling community use unhealthy methods to try to lose or gain weight. “I see so many people [trying to lose weight] by just starving themselves [for] one day rather than making it a healthy process,” he says.

“I wouldn’t say there’s necessarily a pressure from

Struggles in sports

In athletics, up to 19 percent of males and up to 45 percent of females struggle with eating disorders, according to the European Journal of Sport Science. Montgomery Blair athletic specialist Rita Boule speculates that one reason eating disorders and body image issues are so prevalent in sports is the focus on having a physically fit body. “We are constantly as athletes thinking about our bodies, and what we look like, and how we feel physically,” she says.

According to the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA), while eating disorders exist in a variety of sports, they are most prevalent in sports that involve weight classes, such as wrestling and rowing, and sports with a focus on aesthetics, such as dance and gymnastics.

Payne, the Montgomery Blair weight training student, knows the effects of weight class driven sports firsthand from her time on the Montgomery Blair club crew team. She felt the pressure, even from coaches, to make the “lightweight” class in order to race in her competitions, which are called regattas. “Since I was in a boat with lightweight people, and I was the heaviest person in that boat, they were like, ‘Okay, you’re about there. So just try to not eat pizza for a week,’” she says. When racers did make the elusive lightweight class at regattas, they were given a wristband proclaiming “#LightAndProud.”

Because of the focus on aesthetics in the Poms world,

LILY WALL

Trigger warning: this article contains information about and descriptions of eating disorders and disordered eating.

[In] cross country, usually there’s a very uniform body type and there’s a pressure to fit into that. I’ve felt that myself.

your peers or coach, but I would say there’s probably a pressure from the culture of the sport itself.”

Montgomery Blair junior Lily Wall shared Palmer’s experience with diet culture in her track and field and cross country teams, where people believe that if they weigh less, they will run faster. “[In] cross country, usually there’s a very uniform body type and there’s a pressure to fit into that,” she says. “I’ve felt that myself.”

A healthy curriculum

MCPS high school health classes are required to cover topics such as nutrition, body image, and eating disorders.

Though there is not a specific unit dedicated to eating disorders, they are included in both the nutrition unit and the mental health unit. However, according to Montgomery Blair health teacher Lindsay Greene, discussion of eating disorders was cut short during the primarily virtual 2020-2021 school year due to the condensed curriculum.

Michael Rothman, a health and physical education teacher at Montgomery Blair, feels that the curriculum has always been too condensed, as teachers have to fit their content into just a semester of class time. Recently,

of counting

June 14, 2021 Features D1/D2

weight and calories in MCPS some students have issues with their existence in the first place. “There was a huge issue with the health curriculum, in my opinion,” Iriarte, the Albert Einstein student, shares.

They remember watching a video in class telling students to exercise a certain amount in order to burn off calories.

“It was just encouraging you to eat less and exercise more…

It was just very upsetting to be in that class and [have] to watch those videos,” they say.

Some students don’t recall learning about eating disor-

There isn’t any training for eating disorders—it’s probably something that needs to be looked at.

RITA BOULE

on May 26, the Maryland Board of Education announced that starting next school year, the health requirement will be one credit, or a full year, instead of the usual half credit, or one semester. This will allow teachers to spend more time discussing topics like eating disorders.

One assignment health classes have completed was a fast food makeover journal, where students try to make healthier choices at fast food restaurants than they would usually make. In this exercise, students choose three meals they might normally order from a fast food menu, and determine the number of calories and amount of fat in the dishes. They then choose three alternative—as the assignment describes them, “healthier”—dishes, and are told that the sum of all three healthy dishes has to be less

ders in health class at all. Tesler explains that she does not remember any mention of the topic in her health class last year. “We covered a lot of mental health issues, but never anything about eating disorders,” she says.

Wall, the Montgomery Blair cross country and track and field athlete, was in a health class during the second semester of the 20192020 school year that followed a similar pattern. “There was very little discussion surrounding nutrition and eating disorders,” she says. “We talked about anorexia, like, once.

It was just sort of brushed over and I think talking about it more in the health curriculum could have a good impact.”

Teresa Shatzer, the Pre-K-12 Health Education Content Specialist in MCPS, explains that health teachers are given key objectives to cover and sample activities to use with their classes but can be flexible in how they choose to teach the objectives. Additionally, health teachers receive annual updates regarding the health curriculum as it evolves.

Shatzer also describes the health curriculum’s shift away from calorie counting and towards focusing on helping students develop healthy eating patterns. “We’re still including things like nutrition facts,” she says, “but other topics that [the curriculum is] heading towards are food choices [and] describing the relationship between personal eating behavior and your overall personal health.”

Discussing eating disorders

DECLAN HERLIHY than 600 calories and less than 25 grams of fat, regardless of the student’s individual fitness level or weight.

This type of exercise can increase a student’s likelihood of developing disordered eating habits, says Hamburger. At least one Montgomery Blair health teacher did not provide a trigger warning, alternate assignment, or the ability to opt out of the activity.

Cara Grant, Supervisor of Pre-K-12 Health and Physical Education in MCPS, notes that county-mandated trigger warnings were recently added to units regarding mental health issues, such as eating disorders, as a direct result of student feedback. “The goal is that our teachers know their students, and how to teach them, and are creating a class climate and environment that builds on students strengths and growth areas.”

Greene works to create a safe space for her students through the use of trigger warnings and alternate assignments before talking about sensitive topics surrounding mental health, including eating disorders.

Despite the efforts taken by many health teachers and the county to reduce the harmful effects of such activities,

According to some athletes, eating disorders are rarely discussed within teams and coaches—despite their prevalence and often dangerous consequences in athletics.

Boule explained that Montgomery Blair follows MCPS’s mandated Health and Safety presentation at the beginning of each sports season. Athletes and coaches view a slide show that covers a wide range of topics, including a few slides on nutrition.

Palmer, the track and field athlete, does not recall any mention of eating disorders during the presentation before the 2021 spring sports season. “There wasn’t anything about it,” she says. “They talked about steroids, about hazing, all these other incidents, but how many kids take steroids versus how many kids have eating disorders?”

Wall notes that the cross country team usually talks about nutrition and eating disorders with each other but not their coaches. “My experience has definitely been that the conversation surrounding health and nutrition has been more student led,” she says. Wall also shares that the girls’ cross country team does a good job supporting each other and ensuring that all teammates are getting enough nutrition.

Palmer explains that she has also learned about what to do if she is struggling with an eating disorder from older teammates on track rather than teachers or coaches.

Greene, the health teacher who is also a coach of the track and field team, emphasizes nutrition when talking with her athletes. “We do stress the importance of eating,” she says. “Especially with track, it is important to eat and eat everything… to keep your body fueled for the workouts and the meets.”

Soriano, who is also the coach of Montgomery Blair’s Poms team, says that she works hard to ensure her team does not fall prey to the body image issues that so often affect dance teams. “I really work hard in developing a space that’s open for my athletes to come and talk to me.”

Sarr shares that she would feel comfortable going to her Poms coach if she was ever struggling with an eating disorder. “I’ve already had some problems with my mental health and I’ve been open about it with my coach,” she explains. “I’ve just let her know that Poms [has] really helped

me deal with it.”

Herlihy believes that his Montgomery Blair wrestling coach has done a good job in regards to creating a positive environment when it comes to weight and eating. “He’s not going to put pressure on us about weight,” he says, “and he has discussed eating disorders with us.”

Training teachers Although health and nutrition are not part of MCPS’s biology curriculum, the Montgomery Blair biology department spends class time exploring nutrients and their effects on health. Biology teacher Samantha Cruz explains that while students usually enjoy this unit, she has not received any training regarding how to cover weight and eating disorders. “In college I took a nutrition class,” she says, “but I don’t think we get any actual training.”

Cruz feels ill-prepared to handle a situation in which a student came to her looking for guidance about an eating disorder. “I would probably try to seek a counselor to help with that… I don’t know how I would go about it, to be honest,” she explains.

Charles, the weight training teacher and former coach, also feels that while he would help anyone who came to him with body image issues, he does not feel entirely qualified to do so. “As far as body image, I don’t feel like I’d have the credentials for that,” he says.

Although coaches get some training through an annual meeting with the entire MCPS coaching staff, per Greene, they are not specifically trained on how to discuss eating disorders with their teams. “There isn’t any training for eating disorders—it’s probably something that needs to be looked at,” Boule says.

In fact, 91 percent of college trainers of female athletes surveyed by NEDA said they had dealt with an athlete with an eating disorder, but only 27 percent said they were confident in identifying eating disorders.

Millie Plotkin, an informationist for Eating Recovery Center, says that advising students about weight should be left to qualified nutritionists whenever possible. “You need to have someone who themselves has gone through training [on] the best way to talk to people about why eating disorders are dangerous.”

Building a better Montgomery Blair Over the past two years, Montgomery Blair’s counseling department has taken steps to address eating disorders.

In February of 2020 and 2021, the school recognized National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. Over the course of the week, the counseling department brought in speakers and hosted events in order to provide information to students. During this past school year, these events have taken place over Instagram Live.

Hamburger, the executive director of BeReal USA, emphasizes the importance of teaching all school staff how to foster a body confident school environment and recognize symptoms of eating disorders. She says that in order to create a body confident society, there will need to be several shifts in perspective. “Instead of fixating on appearance or [a] number or a measurement, we want to focus on self care,” Hamburger explains. She thinks that society needs to switch from the mindset that being “thinner is better, to being healthy and active is better.”

Greene feels that people should discuss eating disorders more openly. “I know it’s a topic we can’t talk about…

But I wish we would go away from that and get it out in the open and talk about it,” she says.

Tesler, the Albert Einstein student, hopes that more dialogue will prevent instances of insensitivity in the classroom—like the aforementioned calorie counting assignment from her Foundations of Technology class—by decreasing teachers’ oblivion about eating disorders. “I feel like it may not help people [who] are affected by eating disorders for it to be publicized more,” she says, “but at least things like this won’t happen anymore.”

If you or someone you know is struggling with symptoms of disordered eating, contact NEDA at (800)-931-2237 or a school counselor.

Story by Marijke Friedman and

Maybelle Patterson Design by Maybelle Patterson Art by Leela Mehta-Harwitz and Jay Chao

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D3 Features June 14, 2021

The brake-down on in-cars

Blair students reflect on their driver’s ed experiences

By Leila Faraday Editor-in-Chief When Montgomery Blair senior Conrad Bohn showed up to his first in-car lesson for driver’s education, he was not expecting to be driving with his instructor’s toddler in the backseat.

Driver’s education—a legally required step for all Marylanders looking to obtain their driver’s license—is a standout experience for many teenagers first learning to be behind the wheel.

The course was offered in MCPS schools free of charge to students until the 1990s, but it has since been removed from the curriculum, leading families to seek out privately-owned, for-profit schools that require registration fees ranging from around $200 to $700.

During his 2019-2020 term, former Student Member of the Board Nate Tinbite proposed the return of school-provided driver’s education. Since his proposal, no major developments have been made on its return.

Some popular driving schools serving the area include Greg’s Driving School, iDriveSmart, Habesha Spring Driving School, and Silver Start Driving School.

Greg’s Driving School is the largest driving school in Maryland, with 45 locations scattered throughout the state, including one in Silver Spring.

All new drivers who have received their learner’s permit are required to complete 30 classroom instruction hours, pass a written final exam, and complete six hours of behind-the-wheel practice with a driver’s education instructor—typically referred to as “in-cars”—before taking their license test. Drivers are scored by their instructor at the end, and this score determines whether they will be eligible to test for a license at the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA).

According to Ryan Ellis, the director of finance for Greg’s Driving School, these in-car lessons can especially benefit students who may not get a lot of practice at home with family and need experience with a professional instructor.

“Lots of students really struggle to get time behind the wheel,” he says.

“If [they] get some guidance from [people outside of their family], it might prevent some students from picking up… bad habits that their parents have.”

Driving lessons aim to provide students with hands-on driver’s education and necessary skills to take on the road solo, but some Blazers’ in-car experiences strayed from the intended goal.

Bohn’s in-car lesson that featured a surprise appearance from his instructor’s child happened with Greg’s Driving School back in 2019. “I showed up and [my instructor] was parked in his car outside of Greg’s driving school in the parking lot… I looked inside, and there was a kid in the back. So I thought, oh, there’s no way this is my car because obviously, he has a kid,” he remembers.

After we start [driving], the kid just starts crying in the back. I mean, this was a toddler.

CONRAD BOHN The instructor proceeded to tell Bohn that the toddler was his kid and that he’d be in the back of the car for the duration of the lesson.

“After we start [driving], the kid just starts crying in the back. I mean, this was a toddler. He had one of those booster seat things,” Bohn recalls.

Ellis states that the incident of having an instructor’s child in the car is unheard of during his time at the company.

After getting out of the car to discipline his child, the instructor asked Bohn if they could get some food, and the three of them ended up stopping at Dunkin’ Donuts.

According to Bohn, at some point during this stop, his instructor became upset at the employees for forgetting an item in his order. “[The instructor] just gets more and more angry until he basically

gets in a shouting match [with] the manager,” Bohn remembers. “I’m just sitting there with his kid right at the table, watching this dude screaming at the manager.”

When they eventually left after spending around 30 minutes at Dunkin’ Donuts, the instructor informed Bohn that they would be ending the lesson and that he could drive the car back to the parking lot. Bohn’s lesson (including the time spent getting food) only ended up lasting an hour, which is half the amount of time it should have.

Bohn was also alarmed by the fact that there seemed to be several mechanical issues with the instructor’s car, which he used for the duration of the lesson. “The check engine light was on, there were all kinds of dash lights on, the tire pressure gauge, all that was on.

Nothing broke [during the lesson], but it was just really weird,” he says.

Kate Wachter, a Montgomery Blair junior who recently earned her driver’s license, grimaces as she remembers her first two incar lessons with Greg’s Driving School from this past September.

“He just had [his mask] on his chin the entire time,” she remembers.

Wachter also says that her instructor started making fun of a former student, remarking that they were “not a real boy” because of how they presented themself.

Wachter’s instructor’s inappropriate behavior did not stop at his lack of wearing a mask and mocking of a former student, she recalls.

“We had to parallel park, and I had never parallel parked before because you don’t need to learn it [for the driver’s test],” Wachter says. “He gets mad at me because I don’t know what to do, and so he just grabs the wheel.”

After parking the car for her, Wachter says he told her that “women aren’t that good at parking anyways, so you’ll probably never get that good.” She remembers feeling too shocked at the time to say anything in response.

Leaving the lesson feeling uncomfortable, Wachter called the company to complain about her experience. While she was able to receive an instructor reassignment for her final lesson, she claims she was not issued an apology or

ARIELLE GRANSTON

DRIVER’S EDUCATION Greg’s Driving School is a popular choice for many Silver Spring students. informed of how Greg’s Driving School would handle the instructor’s misconduct.

Ellis explains that it’s important for students to let the company know if they have a negative experience, and they will do their best to take the appropriate action from there. “We encourage people to call us directly, we try to follow up… if it’s negative,” says Ellis. “We’ve got training staff. We’re doing observations on our instructors all the time, so we’ve got lots of ways to go back if we think we need to make a change.”

Sometimes these negative incidents can become more serious. In December of 2020, a Greg’s Driving School instructor was charged with second degree assault of two female students during their in-car lessons. One of the students was a minor. He is no longer employed by the company.

Montgomery Blair junior Gigi Segal believes that in order to better handle situations like this one, Greg’s Driving School should inform students of their instructor’s name before the lesson so they can more easily identify them, especially if they do need to make a complaint. “It would be helpful if they just provided the name of the instructor because I had no idea,” says Segal. “If something did happen, I wouldn’t really have a way of

being like, ‘this was the guy.’”

Some students are concerned about how often instructors are being monitored because lessons are often so isolated from anyone but the student and the instructor. “I think there’s not a lot of pressure on them...they can kind of do whatever they want,” Wachter shares.

Ellis asserts that instructors do go through a thorough background check and complete multiple legally required steps to get certified and hired, including a test with the MVA. He also explains that instructors are regularly monitored by other staff members who sit in on lessons. “Training staff will literally ride with the students and be present for a lesson… and that’s somewhat standard.”

While it can be hard to know when negative incidents are happening at such a large company, Wachter believes that it is essential for students to be in contact with multiple staff members when they arrive for and return from their lessons so they can report something immediately if necessary. “I think they could allow the students to have… access to more than just the one driving instructor, because that’s the only person I knew at Greg’s. So if there was a problem, I couldn’t tell someone else,” she says.

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Personal columns

More than a stereotype

Unpacking the term ‘Asian American Pacific Islander’

This pattern of generalizing AAPI communities into monogroups exists in every aspect of our lives. Whether it’s being good at math, eating dogs, or causing COVID-19, so AN OPINION many people only see AAPI people For as long as I can remember, my as stereotypes and assumptions. family and I have been concerned for Seeing these patterns of genermy safety leaving the house alone, alization, I’ve often felt afraid to largely due to the misconception misrepresent AAPI communithat all East Asian women are submissive and docile. Recently, beties in what I say. No individual fore going on a hike alone, my should feel like their words repmom told me to be prepared to hit resent their entire community. someone, scream, and run. We’ve I urge you to fight these stealways known that I could easily reotypes and see the depth be singled out as a target, but and character that exists the recent rise in hate crimes against Asian American Pawithin AAPI communicific Islander (AAPI) womties. Consume AAPI meen has shown that even dia, listen to your AAPI in “safe” circumstances, peers, learn about Asian AAPI women are still seen history, and see us as as easily taken advantage of. more than just AAPI. COURTESY OF CLAIRE HWANG

By Claire Hwang Guest Writer

among peers and even friends centered around the validity of my Asianness—because it is not East. In addition to feeling AN OPINION out of place in spaces centering whiteness, When one thinks of an Asian American, I felt—and often still feel—out of place in a certain stereotypical identity often comes spaces supposedly centering Asianness. to mind: East Asian, well-off, and relatively lighter-skinned. A “model minority”—a When is my variety of Asian okay to dismarginalized person who, despite racial and cuss? When am I speaking over voices ethnic barriers, managed to make it big in “more Asian” than mine?

America. And if they could do it, why can’t

As Zhou explains, this ethnic everyone else? homogenization worsened in Dangerously, the idea of the model the 1980s and 90s when the minority is used to assert that all people label was broadened to inof color can overcome racism through admirable displays of grit and tenacclude Pacific Islanders To ity. As NPR author Kat Chow exmany Pacific Islanders, plains in a 2017 article, many white the Asian American and people leverage the perceived Pacific Islander (AAPI) communal socioeconomic success of Asian Americans to sow classification minimizes division among communities the distinct harms of of color—especially beEuropean colonialism tween Asian and Black on their Indigenous Americans.

But this interpretacommunities, lumption completely disreing their experiences gards generations of with the often immisystematic dehumanizagration-based ones of tion of Black people, unCOURTESY OF ANIKA SETH Asian Americans. fairly conflating the histories of various groups of color. And it also

Racial labels too often connote ignores the fact that this is empirically not one monolithic experience, erasing the every Asian American’s experience: As Vox reporter Li Zhou describes in a May article, rich multiculturalism within our commuAsian Americans have the largest income nities and further marginalizing various gap of any racial group in the United States. groups of color. The solution? Don’t The label of Asian American itself encompasses so many identities that it inevita- generalize. Don’t stereotype. Recognize bly fails to include them all. Growing up as the diversity within the AAPI communian Indian American, too many conversations ty—and be specific.

By Anika Seth Silver Chips Alumnus

June 14, 2021 Features D4

Q&A with Robert Hur

By Annie Goldman and Sofia Roehrig Features/Design Editor & Features Editor Robert Hur, former United States Attorney for the District of Maryland (2018-2021) spoke to Silver Chips about spearheading a state workgroup to combat the rise in anti-Asian discrimination and his experience taking part in a pro bono initiative to help victims of a hate crime. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Can you describe your work, and how your life experiences contextualize what you do?

In the wake of the Atlanta shootings, Governor Hogan decided that he wanted to stand up a group of people who had a variety of perspectives on the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes to think about the problem and to bring to him a number of recommendations and strategies for him to think about putting into place as governor. He came to me when I was U.S. Attorney during his tenure as governor and he said, ‘Rob, I’d like you to lead this group.’ One of the things that I’ve been doing is reaching out to a bunch of different people, educators, pastors, business owners, police officers, prosecutors, to try to figure out what are some good things we can recommend to the governor for him to think about.

It’s very sad that during the pandemic, it seems like every day there’s another video being put online, going viral, of Asian Americans being punched, kicked, beat up because they’re singled out as looking different, as looking Asian. Recently, an incident like this came to my attention where two Asian American women who were working in a liquor store in

Baltimore, were victims of a horribly vicious attack. And that really struck me because when I was U.S. Attorney for almost three years in Maryland, my primary office was in Baltimore, so I spent a lot of time in Baltimore, and I was familiar with that neighborhood where the attack took place. I jumped in and I tried to get in touch with the victims, the two Korean American women. I reached out to them, I said, ‘I would like to help you for free.’ And that’s the key here

al barriers. And so I feel like I can be particularly helpful by saying, ‘Look, I’m American, I was born here, and I know the American legal system. But also I was raised

by Korean immigrants, and Korean was my first language.’ I’m not fluent, but I can be a familiar face or a bridge to them. I feel like I am in a unique position to be able to help people and offer some comfort and help gain trust of people who are going through these types of experiences.

What specific change does the workgroup hope to accomplish to address the rise in discrimination targeting Asian Americans?

We are just at the beginning of our work. We’ve assembled the members of the workgroup, and I really did not want to get a group of people together who all came from the same background. beR I didn’t want just a bunch cause U T H of police officers or prosa lot of BER O R ecutors. I wanted people who times folks COURTESY OF come from a variety of different who are victims of the attack, they don’t have a ton vocational backgrounds. We have of money to hire lawyers. I will do a pastor, we have a MCPS teacher, this all for free. I just want to help we have a police officer, who is also you. I’ve been representing those relatively young in her 20s. I also victims and working with them to wanted generational differences. I interact with police and prosecu- want to hear from people who are tors and the media because it can in their 60s or their 70s, who lived be very overwhelming when you’re much of their lives elsewhere, and the victim of this kind of horrible then came to the States. I also want traumatic attack and all these dif- to hear from younger Asians who ferent considerations are coming at were born here, like myself, so my you and English may not be your perspective is kind of different. We also have an academic professor–– first language.

Life in the U.S. can be hard any- it’s one thing to rely on anecdotes, how with language barriers, cultur- but it’s quite another thing to say,

‘All right, let’s get down and look at the data. Let’s look at the surveys.

Let’s look at the numbers tracking different kinds of bias related incidents across the state and across the country.’

The simple solution is to say, ‘Well, we’re going to make sure that we divert more police, and we prosecute the heck out of people who get caught with these things.’

That’s one approach. It’s an important approach. But you also have to start at the front end and say, ‘What is making people think to themselves: I’m angry, I’m frustrated, I don’t like the way the world is going, I don’t like the way my life is going. And I’m going to see an Asian person, and I’m going to go beat him up.’ It’s one thing to say, ‘If you do that, you’re going to get prosecuted.’ That’s one way to stop that from happening. But there are other things to try to figure out how we change the way people are thinking about these things to prevent them from having that thought in the first place.

What do you see as being the cause of the recent rise in anti-Asian hate crimes? How is your workgroup or your work on the pro bono case taking these factors into account?

There’s been a pandemic, and a lot of the reporting and scientific analysis so far has traced the origins of the virus back to East Asia. In a very simplistic way, if you’re angry about what COVID-19 has done to our country and to the world, you can say ‘Well, this is all China’s fault. This is the fault of Asian people, and if they had just stayed in their country, and none of that had come over here, then our lives would be much better.’

People react and lash out in that way by saying, ‘Well, look, there’s someone that looks different and I’m gonna take it out on them.’ I suppose in some way that might

JON ECKERT

make people feel like, ‘Hey, I got that off my chest, I released some of my anger.’ So that’s an intuitively attractive explanation for some of this recent rise.

And there has been some rhetoric, frankly, from some of our elected leaders that has arguably fanned those flames. I think what is important to keep our eye on is that anti-Asian discrimination and violence has been a part of American history for decades, or even centuries. It can make it a little bit challenging for people who feel, ‘America is my country, I am an American,’ to be regarded as a foreigner or an ‘other’ again and again and again. It hurts. It can make it challenging to really feel knit into the fabric of this country. But my hope is that generation by generation, we continue to make progress.

My hope is that we can always be moving forward to make it a place where everyone respects each other as Americans.

What is the importance of having bipartisan support for the workgroup?

Frankly, I don’t actually know the political affiliation of the people in the workgroup. What was most important to me was the fact that I knew that we were getting people who were smart, thoughtful experts in their respective fields, open minded, and coming with a variety of perspectives.

If you just have people who all think alike about a particular issue, you’re going to get one-sided and myopic suggestions for solutions.

It’s very easy for issues to be overly politicized, so I thought it was very important to bring together a bipartisan group to say, ‘Look, we might not agree on everything. But we all agree that something needs to be done and we’re going to have these discussions with respect and figure out the right thing to do.’

silverchips

E1 Culture June 14, 2021 INTERNATIONAL NEWS BRIEFS Compiled by Sean Li Opinions/Design Editor

Tokyo Olympics controversy The 2020 Summer Olympics are scheduled to begin on July 23 in Tokyo, Japan, following their postponement last summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While Japan has remained the designated host nation for the event, many citizens and medical professionals alike have called for its cancellation due to heightened COVID-19 safety concerns.

Japan has managed to limit its caseload relative to nations like the U.S., but vaccination rates are exceedingly low, with Japan Today reporting on May 28 that only 5.2 percent of the Japanese population has received at least one dose.

In comparison, the U.S. is 50 percent fully vaccinated as of May 25, according to The Guardian.

83 percent of the Japanese population opposes continuing with the Olympics this summer, according to a survey conducted

by The Asahi Shimbun, one of the largest newspapers in Japan. However, according to BBC News, the Japanese government has thus far allowed the International Olympic Committee to continue with the Games.

Indian COVID-19 crisis subsides Following a devastating second wave of infections that began in March, India’s daily COVID-19 cases are now trending negatively.

Daily cases rose from roughly 9,800 in February to a peak of 414,188 on May 7, according to The New York Times and Reuters. The surge in cases was largely caused by premature nationwide rollback of virus precautions as the government reopened movie theaters and sporting events, held elections and political rallies, and allowed millions to participate in large-scale religious festivals, according to The New York Times.

The drastic increase in infections also overburdened many hospitals and drained oxygen supplies necessary to keep patients alive, causing dozens of deaths throughout the country. Since then, foreign aid from other nations and the mobilization of the Indian military have bolstered supplies and accelerated delivery of oxygen and vaccines. According to the Times of India, as of May 29, daily new infections have dropped to 173,790, allowing cities such as the capital, New Delhi, to begin lifting restrictions.

Israel and Palestine exchange missile strikes On May 20, Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire, following 10 days of missile strikes by both parties which killed 12 Israelis and at least 230 Palestinians in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, according to The New York Times.

Reuters reported on May 22 that the pause in conflict was brokered by Egypt, which has since sent a delegation to bolster the temporary peace.

The conflict erupted after tesions between Israelis and Palestinians in the Gaza strip escalated during April, the holy month of Ramadan for Muslims. Palestinian protestors clashed with Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and 13 Palestinian families living in Jerusalem were faced with imminent removal as part of Israel’s ongoing efforts to expand their settlements, according to Reuters and CBS News.

While Hamas launched over 3,000 missiles across the Gaza Strip border, Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted and destroyed around 90 percent of the strikes, minimizing casualties. It is unknown exactly how much ordnance Israel used against Gaza, but Al Jazeera reported on May 15 that the Israeli military’s strikes were far deadlier, leveling civilian residences and a building that housed offices of Al Jazeera and The Associated Press.

Communities in collaboration Local mutual aid groups organize to help people in need

By Sofia Roehrig Features Editor Often considered a pillar of class solidarity, mutual aid refers to the exchange of resources between members of a community—typically in the interest of liberation and social change.

Many low-income people rely on the resources exchanged through mutual aid, which come in the form of GoFundMe pages, legal support, food and clothing drives, essential transportation services, and much more. If you use social media, you have likely encountered a donation request or solicitation of resources yourself.

Keren Cabral, a staff member with community organizing group Impact Silver Spring, recognizes the crucial safety net that mutual aid provides for struggling individuals and families nationwide. “It’s solidarity and not charity, because the community knows best what the community needs,” she says.

Impact Silver Spring offers a series of workshops and tools—such as English classes for non-native speakers, youth soccer programs, and sewing circles for Latina women—as a means to connect and support the community. Impact is just one advocacy group among many that promote unity among members of their community, which is a main tenet of mutual aid.

According to The Mutual Aid Movement DC (MAMDC)—a network of local mutual aid groups—mutual aid aims to address community needs left unmet by political structures. “In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic it is clear that the federal and local DC government are not meeting the needs of the people,” MAMDC writes on their website.

Kayla Kelly, founder and leader of DC mutual aid group Heal Da Homies, says that mutual aid is a powerful tool for establishing unity. “It’s imperative for us to have that community solidarity and have each other’s backs in order to build ourselves up… and actually have some sort of foundation for [our] community,” they say.

While mutual aid provides channels for both self sufficien-

cy and solidarity, not every form of financial support for struggling families has had the same impact, argues Kelly. They believe that private charities uphold a cycle of dependency and often fail to meet the true needs of the community. “[Charity] has a power dynamic where you recognize that you are privileged, and that you are pitying anyone you are giving help to, in more of a transactional way,” they say.

In contrast to mutual aid resources provided by neighbors or friends, charity and philanthropy are often fueled and organized by individuals who aren’t members of the community itself—which Cabral feels makes them more limited in their ability to tangibly help people.

Charities are never fully effective in their ability to support a community they are not a part of, Cabral claims. “Often, charities and social services and governments are so far removed from what the actual needs are.”

In addition to being limited in its impact, Kelly argues that people often only contribute to charity for their own benefit. “It’s out of self interest,” they say.

Data from the Tax Policy Center shows that 74 percent of those who make use of the charitable tax deduction have incomes in the top 20 percent. Many donors can take advantage of these steep tax writeoffs by donating to tax-exempt federal subsidies like art museums and foundations that over-inflate the value of “charity,” according to a story by Patricia Cohen in The New York Times. “Wealthy collectors... have long saved millions of dollars in federal taxes by donating art and money to museums and foundations,” Cohen writes.

Merriam-Webster defines charity as generosity towards those in need. However, Cohen’s story highlights community members who feel that wealthy donors with large amounts of disposable income have found ways to make tax write-offs on donations that do not address any urgent community needs.

According to a study conducted by the Non Profit Source on the

Blazer of Note

COURTESY OF SOFIA ROEHRIG

AIDING EACH OTHER Community members in D.C. mobilize to distribute critical resources to their neighbors during a protest. statistics related to charity-giving, most donations to charity follow the trend mentioned by Cohen and never even end up helping meet community members’ tangible needs. While charitable giving increased 7.5 percent in the first half of 2020, only 12 percent of donations on average go to human services charities.

Writer Luke Savage from Jacobin, a New York based socialist magazine, argues that charity that solely benefits wealthy donors is fiercely hypocritical and counterintuitive. “It actively seeks to perpetuate the very injustices that the institution of charity purportedly exists to alleviate—and often rewards their architects with plaques, patronage, and public prestige in the process,” he writes.

But you might wonder—if mega-corporations and the top earners in the country are providing even small amounts of their vast wealth in the interest of charity, does it matter what their incentive is? Ultimately, the benefits are still obtained and poverty is alleviated, right?

Self-interested corporate charity causes more harm than benefit, argues Kelly. “It grants them that power over us with our trauma, because they can decide one day

to cut off our resources,” they say.

In the midst of inequalities that have become increasingly noticeable during the pandemic, the value of mutual aid is further emphasized by many groups who practice it. “The current COVID-19 pandemic has made the disparities in those who have fixed incomes apparent… low income families are in desperate need of cleaning supplies, food, and internet access,” MAMDC explains on their website.

According to Cabral, mutual aid addresses the needs of the community in an all-encompassing way. “We need alternatives to the systems that currently exist,” she says. “There’s racial injustices, environmental racism, economic injustices, poor access to health care, inequitable access to education, the right to housing… there’s so many different facets of inequities and injustices.”

Kelly believes that mutual aid is a great way to connect with your community. “It’s all genuine and it’s all based on the desire to help your own neighbor, so it’s humbling… you know the people, you babysat for them, they were your neighbor, they were your friend in church, and [there’s] a bond.”

By Cecilia Clemens Vargas Lugo Editor-in-Chief

In May, Montgomery Blair senior Brigitte Bonsu was awarded the Montgomery County Youth Volunteer of the Year Award in recognition of her volunteer work throughout 2020.

Bonsu started her community service journey at Takoma Park Middle School after she joined Difference Makers—a club that works to get youth involved in community service. Through Difference Makers, Bonsu learned about the local organization Small Things Matter, and in her sophomore year of high school, she decided to join.

Small Things Matter, which is “founded on the idea that small acts of kindness can BRIGITTE BONSU make a big impact on someone’s life,” runs several different proSARAH MARTIN grams, one of which is their Books for Bedtime Literacy Program. “When we were in person, I was able to help out by reading books to children during PTA meetings,” Bonsu explained.

Additionally, two summers ago she helped out at Takoma Park Elementary School’s summer program and supervised arts and

crafts activities.

Currently, Bonsu volunteers with Small Things Matter every other week on Tuesdays at the Takoma Park-Silver Spring Food Co-Op where she helps with food distribution. “I just volunteer as much as I can,” she said.

During the beginning of the virtual school year Bonsu started a bedtime stories program with Small Things Matter. “I would read a book to children, and I would share my screen on the day and read a children’s book. It didn’t last too long, but we’re hoping to revamp it later on,” she said.

Bonsu hopes to one day continue the program in person, once children are vaccinated.

Bonsu plans on majoring in English at Hollins University in Virginia and hopes to promote literacy in her community through her volunteer work. “Reading for children is one of the best gifts you can give the child, because starting them off on a book can really affect how they feel about education going forward,” she explained.

Bonsu plans to continue her volunteering efforts in college.

More specifically, she hopes to join a Rotary Club. According to

their website, Rotary is an international network of about 1.2 million people who “take action to create lasting change—across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.”

Last summer, Bonsu helped set up a racial equity town hall with the organization Community Bridges, a group whose mission is to empower girls from “diverse backgrounds to become exceptional students, positive leaders, and healthy young women,” according to their website. Bonsu explained how she and other members were able to speak with local and state officials about “food insecurity, mental health, and the current rise in sexual assault cases that we saw early in the pandemic.”

After a year of finding various ways to continue her volunteer work within the context of the pandemic, Bonsu added that she hopes people realize the positive impacts of community service.

“There [are] a lot of ways you can volunteer and help your community and one way is just speaking up and sharing your concerns for what’s going on because your voice is valuable,” she said.

silverchips

June 14, 2021 E2 Culture

E3 Culture June 14, 2021

Taylor Swift: She’s The Man

silverchips

How Taylor Swift has combatted sexism in the music industry

By Maia Egnal Opinions Editor AN OPINION

COURTESY OF ROBIN KORALEK

Cicada Invasion

By Annie Goldman Features/Design Editor The telltale sign that the summer of 2021 has arrived is not the climbing heat, or even the exciting feeling of school finally coming to an end. Instead, it is a shrill screaming in the trees signaling an invasion: red eyed, shiny winged cicadas. On May 10, a moment 17 years in the making arrived as the cicadas made their long-awaited appearance.

On May 10, a moment 17 years in the making arrived as the cicadas made their long-awaited appearance.

Some east coast residents dreaded the reemergence of Brood X, the generation of cicadas due this spring, while others were fascinated by the scientific wonder that is their survival throughout time.

The buzzing of their mating sounds reaches a peak as they look for mates, then go on to reproduce and lay eggs. The cicadas leave reminders of their existence even after they molt; once they emerge from their nymph exoskeletons, they leave their dead husks clinging to any available vertical surface.

Free of their old shells, their adult skin hardens, and they are ready to begin the rest of their adult life cycle.

Once in their mature form, cicadas spend the majority of their brief time above ground looking for mates. After they mate, the females lay their eggs in tree branches during the six long weeks the insects spend above ground. Then, all of the adult cicadas will die as their lifecycle expires. The eggs will then hatch, and the cicada nymphs will burrow themselves back underground in search of tree roots, beginning the 17-year cycle all over again.

However, some cicadas have had a different life. A small number of them have been infected with a fungus called Massospora cicadina, which effectively takes over their bodies. It causes them to lose their lower abdomen and genitals, which are then replaced by a white plug of the fungus, somewhat resembling chalk. Those infected then become hypersexual, allowing the fungus to spread to other cicadas before it eventually kills them.

Billions of periodical cicadas can be seen emerging synchronous-

ly in 15 states across the eastern and midwest United States. The large quantity of cicadas arriving at once is a survival strategy known as predator satiation: a phenomenon when a population of prey briefly appear in high numbers, reducing the chance of an individual being eaten. If too few cicadas emerge, or if they come out gradually over an extended period of time, they are not as likely to survive against predators.

Cicadas typically make their ground exit when soil is at 64 degrees Fahrenheit for three days or longer. According to scientists, as the climate crisis further impacts the earth, soil is reaching high temperatures earlier than it has in the past. A small segment of Brood X even emerged in 2017, a full four years earlier than expected.

These insects are not just a passive nuisance to some. Those who have dogs have likely witnessed their furry companions digging in and eating cicadas, some in high volumes. The insects are not toxic to dogs, but eating too many cicadas can result in them suffering from serious consequences, from an upset stomach to vomiting.

Though, for the adventurous eaters out there, cicadas can be eaten by humans, with many recipes available online.

While they are generally harmless to humans and plants alike, cicadas can damage new trees because of their egg laying habits, so many people have taken measures to protect young trees on their property by covering them in netting.

The days of screaming trees, squashed insects on the sidewalk, lingering husks, twitching cicada legs, and what some would consider tasty treats will soon be a thing of the past.

Although cicadas have one of the longest insect lifespans, their time above ground only lasts about four to six weeks total, and will soon come to an end. The days of screaming trees, squashed insects on the sidewalk, lingering husks, twitching cicada legs, and what some would consider tasty treats will soon be a thing of the past.

Many celebrated on April 9, when Taylor Swift released Fearless (Taylor’s Version)—her first re-recorded album. The album was nearly identical to her first rendition with one exception: Swift owned the entire thing. Her re-recordings were released as the newest installment in a long saga of Swift fighting against the sexism of the industry.

As Swift continues to dominate the music industry, she is facing praise and criticism from around the world.

Her steady rise to the top has been challenged by the raging sexism that inevitably emerges to meet powerful women.

According to Business Insider, Swift was ranked as the thirty-first best-selling music artist by album sales of all time in 2020, even before her latest album and first re-recording came out. She broke records with her last full U.S. concert tour for her sixth album Reputation, which is the highest grossing U.S.

tour ever.

This year, Swift won her third Grammy for Album of the Year, out of only eight albums of hers that have been eligible for the award.

She has won the most American Music Awards of any artist ever, and she is only 31 years old.

By any standards, Swift is one of the most successful musical artists in the world today. Her steady rise to the top has been challenged by the raging sexism that inevitably emerges to meet powerful women. With the release of her first re-recorded album, the time has come to address Swift’s history with the music industry, and the underlying sexism that reverberates throughout it.

What are the Taylor Swift re-recordings?

In August of 2019, Swift announced that she would re-record her first six albums, complete with never before released songs “From the Vault.” This followed an intense battle over the rights to Swift’s first six albums when American media executive Scooter Braun acquired Big Machine Records—the recording company that Swift worked with throughout her entire career.

Swift had a long, rocky relation-

ship with Braun preceding the selling of Big Machine Records. One of Braun’s clients, Kanye West, had repeatedly humiliated her on international stages. Even more infuriating to Swift, she claims to have only found out about the sale of the recording company to Braun at the same time as the rest of the world.

The resulting social media whirlwind fight caused many prominent music artists to take sides. Many, such as Selena Gomez, supported Swift and her fight for artists to have more autonomy over their own work. Others like Justin Bieber supported Braun, saying that Swift should not have publicly aired her grievances or that she was lying and exaggerating.

When did the Taylor Swift “drama” start?

Swift’s fight with Scooter Braun truly started with Kanye West.

When Swift was accepting her 2009 VMA award for the “You Belong With Me” music video, West ran onto the stage, took the microphone from her, and proceeded to announce to the world that Beyoncé deserved to win the award instead of her.

Swift

While this deeply ingrained misogyny may take a long time to change, the very first step in fixing this is acknowledging that it exists.

Sexism in the industry

What Swift faced is not new to women in the music industry. Even from the beginning of her feud with West, it was clear that much of the sexism she faced was due to her young age and being new to the music scene. After the incident at the VMAs, television host Larry King said, “I can name ten to fifteen people that he

wouldn’t have gone up and taken that mic away from. But he did it with a [19] year old girl because he could.”

In 2016, it also became increasingly clear through mean tweets and talk show host comments that a lot of the true O A H hostility towards Swift was JAY C simply based on sexism, rather than any personal faults. Nikki Glasser, host of a talk show on Comedy Central, was quoted in 2016 saying, “She’s too good. She’s too skinny. It bothers me.”

Other television hosts who were quoted in documentaries about Swift made comments about her dating life, with one saying, “She’s going through was 19 at the time. guys like a train,” and others comWhile the drama menting on how she would not be appeared to subside going home alone after how wonover the next few years, derful she looked in a dress. with West and Swift publicly What Swift faced is reminisinteracting civilly on multiple oc- cent of so many stories of women casions, he later released his song in the music industry. From The “Famous” in 2016, which angered Chicks—formerly known as the Swift. The line included the misog- Dixie Chicks—being called sluts ynistic message, “I feel like me and and ditzy for sharing their politiTaylor might still have sex. Why? cal views, to Billie Eilish being harassed for her baggy clothing prefI made that b---- famous.”

Videos from West concerts erences, the very women who have would show footage of entire shaped the music industry have crowds chanting, “F--k Taylor faced and continue to face brutal Swift.” Swift was also facing back- sexism.

While this deeply ingrained lash from Kim Kardashian, West’s wife. After Swift publicly claimed misogyny may take a long time to she did not agree to the addition change, the very first step in fixing of that lyric, Kardashian posted this is acknowledging that it exists. music industry needs to look a video showing Swift giving con- The at the discrepancies in how women sent over the phone to West. The are treated compared to their male clip was later revealed to be Swift counterparts, and Swift’s journey is agreeing to a separate part of the a prime example. song.

The release of this video was Check out Taylor Swift’s re-recorda massive turning point in Swift’s ings using the QR code below: career. At this point, it became increasingly clear that the world had just been waiting to see Swift fall. “#TaylorIsOverParty” became the number one trending hashtag on Twitter worldwide. A tweet from user @ryancald in 2016 read, “Taylor Swift is that girl everyone wants at first before realizing that she’s literally a psychopath.” Television anchors and internet users alike delighted in the downfall of the woman that they had seen as previously untouchable.

silverchips

Routine swap

June 14, 2021 Culture E4

By Leila Faraday and Marijke Friedman Editors-in-Chief

Editors-in-Chief Leila and Marijke switch routines to get to know each other better!

Leila’s experience My eyes jolted open to see the clock read 4:10, my typical wakeup time when going to a morning swim practice. I was filled with dread thinking about the morning ahead before realizing that I was graced with an extra three hours of sleep this morning. As a swimmer who is often forced to wake up to a pitch black sky, I greatly appreciated Marijke’s more manageable wake up time of 7:30 a.m.

Beginning the day with a solid eight hours of sleep is always something to be celebrated… with a cold apple sauce packet for breakfast. I was slightly concerned with Marijke’s breakfast of choice consisting of a Go-Go Squeeze and a granola bar—a “meal” far different than my usual eggs and toast. Most of all I missed my morning cold brew, but I appreciated this later when I didn’t get jitters and a caffeine headache.

I followed breakfast with a short walk through the neighborhood while listening to one of Marijke’s favorite podcasts, What a Day. Despite being passionate about my student journalism, I have never enjoyed listening to news podcasts.

Listening to podcasts is something I do to wind down and relax, feelings I rarely get while hearing a daily run-down of current events. I normally achieve this by listening to my favorite true crime podcast, Crime Junkie, which I find far less terrifying than the news. Contrary to my expectation, I actually enjoyed the episode, which discussed how fully vaccinated people can safely be outside unmasked from now on.

I appreciated Marijke’s initiative to leave the house each morning to get some light exercise while also connecting with the natural beauty of the asphalt road. The walk helped me learn new things about my neighborhood, like that seemingly everyone in the area owns a dog. Normally, I would be taking my first nap of the day during the time I spent on my walk, but after getting a good night’s rest, the desire to lie down again didn’t even cross my mind. When I arrived back home, stomach growling, I decided to have another granola bar, as my first round of breakfast didn’t fill me up as much as I’m used to.

PHOTO COURTESY OF LEILA FARADAY, ART COURTESY OF JASPER SWARTZ

bothered by the narrators’ voices because they reminded me of the voices behind the Amoeba Sisters, two sisters who create videos about biology for students. It was strange to hear the same voices I had heard in class discussing the cell cycle the day before talking to me about gruesome murder.

At this point, it was close to 7:30 a.m., my normal wake up time, when Leila usually eats breakfast.

Usually, I don’t eat much early in the morning, but after the workout I was feeling pretty hungry. Luckily for me, Leila eats a relatively big breakfast. My sister scrambled me an egg while I made an iced coffee and toast. I am not very good in the kitchen, so I’d imagine that if I’d been the one to cook the egg, it would have somehow turned into an actual chicken and walked away.

The toast was definitely my favorite part, mainly because my family had just bought a fresh loaf of my favorite sourdough bread.

I wasn’t very hungry at lunchtime because of my larger than usual breakfast, but Leila usually eats a full hot meal at lunch. I struggled to do the same by reheating leftover pasta from the night before.

I attempted to enjoy this delicious meal but was stopped in my tracks by my full stomach from breakfast.

Normally, my smaller, more frequent meals allow me to eat whenever I decide.

I continued with school and by

LITTLE FISH Leila poses with her fish Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—and her imaginary fish Timothée Chalamet.

While Marijke loves spending runs. While one could reasonably and have had a productive walk and quality time each morning with her assume my experience in swim- homework session all by the time pets—three cuddly striped cats—my ming gives me a solid cardiovas- class starts. However, it was hard to animal companions are not exact- cular foundation for running, that drag myself out of bed in the mornly of the same nature. Not to fear could not be further from the re- ing to follow Leila’s morning routhough; Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy— ality. Initially, I felt somewhat opti- tine, probably because she gets up at my four pet fish named after the mistic as I slipped on my sneakers 4 a.m. for swim practice.

When my alarm went off, I lay Little Women—were perfect com- and headed out the door, greeted pany as I enjoyed my meal. Al- by warm afternoon sun and a cool though not quite as furry and soft, breeze. Unfortunately, my positivithey swam right up to my face to ty evaporated just minutes into the say hi as I sat by their tank. I could run. “Run, Leila, run!” the voice in only wish that Timothée Chalamet the back of my head told me to no could join our morning bonding avail. My joints felt intense pressure with each stride, and I quickly session as well.

After an energizing yet ultimate- developed stubborn side stitches. ly relaxing morning, I commuted Despite my extreme muscular agoto my desk to begin online school. ny, I was able to make it about one When 11:15 a.m. came around, mile (only a fifth of Marijke’s usual I got out Marijke’s favorite lunch distance) before turning back and combination: a medley of cheese, concluding my outing with a much crackers, turkey, and orange slices needed walk.

I closed out my long day with an arranged like a sort of casual charepisode of HBO’s VEEP and alcuterie board. The whole thing only took five minutes to assemble, so I most could not distinguish that it was was able to dig right in. Admittedly, not real footage from Capitol Hill.

After living a day in Marijke’s it did seem like a gourmet lunchable that would be best enjoyed by running shoes, I was able to cona kindergartener. While it could firm some things about my physical not be more different than my typ- activity preferences that I already ical bowl of chicken and pasta that knew. I did, however, enjoy switchtakes around half an hour to cook, ing up my diet and trying out some COURTESY OF MARIJKE FRIEDMAN I was pleasantly surprised with this new eating habits.

BREAKFAST TIME Marijke enjoyed toast, eggs, and an iced coffee: fresh change of pace.

Leila’s usual morning meal.

As 2:30 p.m. crept closer, I Marijke’s experience remembered my most dreaded I’ve always considered myself a in bed, sleeping with my eyes open, the end of the day I was more tired part of this routine swap: the run. morning person, especially com- for at least 30 minutes before truly than I normally would be. I guess Marijke—being a member of the pared to those who wake up at 8:50 getting up. While Leila normally that’s what waking up at 4 in the track and cross country teams at a.m. before joining virtual class from moves quickly through this part of morning does to you! At the end of Montgomery Blair—does not mess bed. Being the overachiever that I the day—she has to drive 25 min- the school day, Leila usually relaxaround when it comes to her daily am, I normally wake up at 7:30 a.m. utes to get to the pool compared es and has a short rest so I tried to to my 30-second walk to the base- do the same. Unfortunately, I am ment—I was struggling to motivate physically incapable of napping. Inmyself to go to the basement to do stead of actually sleeping, I turned a supplemental high-intensity inter- off my lights and laid in bed with val training (HIIT) workout. my eyes open for around 30 minSurrounded by my teammates utes wondering if that could quali(three very excited cats who were fy as a nap. This was probably the cheering me on and walking all over peak of my stress, as it gave me time my computer keyboard), I sluggish- to worry about all of the homework ly got through a 40-minute workout I had to do when I “woke up.” video. I chose Gabby Allen’s Low Later that night, after finishing Impact HIIT Workout primarily up some homework, I concludbecause low impact usually means ed the day by unwinding while no jumping and I was too tired to watching Leila’s current favorite do anything that involved flailing TV show: Orange Is the New Black. my body up and down. I usually do The episode consisted of the main my workouts after school, but I can character going to jail, and I missed understand the appeal of getting the my usual sitcoms that I watch just heart pumping in the morning. It for laughs. It was definitely not as left me feeling like the rest of my day light and happy as the shows I tend would be a dream in comparison. to gravitate to and felt a little dark While getting dressed and to be watching before bedtime—I ready, I listened to an episode of found myself once again questionCrime Junkie, one of Leila’s regular ing Leila’s methods of unwinding— podcasts, and wondered why she but I enjoyed it nonetheless. listens to stories about kidnappings Through adopting Leila’s schedfor relaxation. As someone who ule for the day, I learned that she identifies as a scaredy cat (walking is even stranger than I am. Who downstairs alone in the dark at 4 wakes up at 4 a.m. by choice?! I apa.m. was enough to make me feel preciate her dedication to her sport uneasy), I did not particularly en- but running is so obviously superijoy learning about the abduction or to swimming. Leila’s infatuation COURTESY OF MARIJKE FRIEDMAN and murder of Sierah Joughin. It with crime podcasts is also a tad terCHEERING FROM THE SIDELINES As she did squats and pushups for her HIIT workout, Marijke’s cat left me looking over my shoulder rifying; I only hope that the murder on my run the next day. I was also stories don’t keep her up at night. stared intently at the workout video on her computer screen.

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E5 Culture June 14, 2021

Chips Clips

ACROSS

1 - Immediately 5 - Members of a group in The Outsiders 9 - Philly rail system 14 - Stun 15 - Paris’ home 16 - Online shopping 17 - Things to look for before a performance 19 - Type of seasoning 20 - Video game main character 22 - US healthy eating organization 23 - Subway alternative 24 - Choice on a printer 27 - Lennon’s drummer 30 - BNHA obstacle 33 - “This is ______!”

35 - Class taken by Magnet freshmen, Abbr.

36 - Frozen treat 37 - Writing on a card on your bro’s best day 40 - Diva’s piece 41 - 2k + 1, k ∊ Z 42 - Enemy of The Doctor 43 - Happened upon 44 - “What up I’m _____ I’m 19 and I never f***ing learned how to read” 46 - First movement in Holst’s famous piece 47 - Gelatinous substance 49 - Initials inscribed on Slytherin’s locket 51 - Open source art software and what it can be used to do 58 - Acting 59 - ; 60 - Type of seasoning 61 - Sir alternative 62 - Unusable 63 - Lauder of makeup 64 - Otherwise 65 - Slippery fish

DOWN

1 - Result (from) 2 - Turn, as a plane 3 - D ____ dog 4 - ____-à-____ 5 - Mixes 6 - Church instruments 7 - Meeting with the CEO, perhaps 8 - S in GPS 9 - Generic programming function 10 - Synonym of 62-Across 11 - Tax form 1040 12 - Homophone of 19-Across 13 - Drink at a pub 18 - Insufficient 21 - Sharp 24 - Extra tire 25 - America’s economy, e.g.

26 - 2021 pandemic response, Abbr.

28 - Exchange 29 - Either 31 - Searches for, with out 32 - One of Rory’s love interests (Gilmore Girls) 33 - Farce 34 - What you climb on a ship?

36 - Land in el mar 38 - Classic arcade game, for short 39 - Shakespeare’s pentameter 44 - Maybe a sound of bells?

45 - Soap operas 48 - Both Robin Williams and Will Smith played one 50 - Counterpart to manga 51 - Fancy scarves 52 - Jerome’s wife in The Ersatz Elevator 53 - Actual 54 - Ambulate 55 - Soothing plant 56 - Work 57 - Terminates 58 - Unit of sound, Abbr.

ALEX GROSMAN

JAY CHAO

Difficulty level: very hard

Crossword answers below

Sudoku answers below

COURTESY OF WWW.SUDOKUOFTHEDAY.COM

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Back to the field

June 14, 2021 Sports F1

Montgomery Blair atheletes return to play

By Samantha Rodriguez News Editor This spring, Montgomery Blair athletics came back stronger than ever with both fall and spring sports playing shortened—yet still competitive—in-person seasons. Let’s take a brief look at each team’s season!

Girls Soccer

The girls soccer team had a strong season, winning four of their five games—a feat which was especially impressive as the team had many new players. “There were a lot of people who had never been on varsity before, so we had to bond really quickly,” said senior captain Sophie Kim. Younger players adapted swiftly to playing at a varsity level and set up a stellar senior night that was Kim’s favorite memory of the season.

“It was definitely harder because we had so few meets and so little time to train but we did pretty well considering everything,” she said.

Girls Volleyball

Girls volleyball experienced some major changes this year, most notably a new coach and their inability to hold tryouts due to COVID-19 restrictions. The team worked hard during practices and games, remaining energetic despite the challenges. “All the games were fun because [the team was] high spirited,” said senior Sarah Kapstein-O’Brien.

Boys Volleyball

The boys volleyball team saw a new wave of players this year.

“Most of the team are freshmen

Boys Soccer

The boys soccer team had success during their season, winning four of their five games. Benjamin Finlay, a senior on the team, enjoyed the low commitment that came with the shortened season.

His highlight of the season was winning their game against Sherwood and celebrating in front of the crowd.

HENRY REICHLE

DUSTING OFF THE PLATE Montgomery Blair’s baseball team plays with energy, eager to dominate their upcoming playoff games.

[Baseball] is looking for a championship and we believe we can win it.

Football

The football team hit an unexpected roadblock during their season after one of their players tested positive for COVID-19. The team was forced to isolate for two weeks which resulted in missed practices as well as a missed scrimmage.

Despite these setbacks, junior Ricardo Villars Jr. was pleased with the team’s ability to overcome challenging circumstances. “We have a lot of promise for the next coming season,” he said.

Poms

Although the Poms team was forced to forgo their normal county competition due to pandemic limitations, the team was still able to perform at three football and soc-

We have a lot of promise for the next coming [football] season.

RICARDO VILLARS JR. cer games. Even without their main competition, junior Lottie Doughty was able to witness the improvement of the team. “To feel us get stronger and better over the couple of weeks we were able to work was pretty amazing,” she said.

Cheer

Senior captain Abonie Blount noted that the cheer team faced difficulty this year due to COVID-19.

“Usually in a normal season we are stunting, we’re learning cheers, we’re jumping, we do a dance for our routine… but we couldn’t do that [this year],” Blount said. However, the team did cheer at one football game, giving the cheerleaders a chance to show their skills.

Cross Country

Cross Country had a successful season overall, winning several meets. The schedule for the season differed from normal, as the team was only able to participate in dual meets, whereas, in a typical season, they would attend invitationals with teams from across the county. Despite these challenging circumstances, senior captain Bridget Griffith felt each individual performed well.

JASON LOTT HENRY REICHLE

and sophomores… so it’s exciting to see the next generation of people who are going to be on the team,” senior captain Ezra Bernstein explained. Bernstein feels more comfortable on the team being a captain and helping the relatively inexperienced younger players.

“It’s definitely a different dynamic being one of the older kids but it’s still a lot of fun,” he said.

Co-ed Volleyball

Co-ed volleyball is a tight-knit team, with unique bonding opportunities facilitating close connections between the players. Senior captain Billy Scott describes how the coaches found time to let them take a break from volleyball and hang out as a team. “One Friday, in the middle of practice, the coaches decided to take us to Sweet Frog for a little bit of team bonding,” he said. While he cherishes the social aspects of co-ed volleyball, Scott most looked forward to playing competitive games.

this year with many hard fought games. However, junior Anika Darbari felt that the best part of tennis, regardless of wins and losses, was the community aspect. She recounts that her favorite part of the season was being able to bond with her team.

Boys Tennis

Greenberger said. In terms of their performance, Greenberger felt that while they were in a hard division, the team persevered. “We played every team to the best of our ability and we made every game competitive.”

Boys Lacrosse

Boys tennis had an exciting season. Alex Jiang, a senior captain on the tennis team, felt the team had a lot of up and coming talent. “There [were] a lot of freshmen coming in who are really good players,” he said. Jiang also loved the team’s spirit. “[It was great] meeting the people on the team and really fostering team unity.”

Boys lacrosse prepared for a tough season. Senior captain Brady Mason, however, was confident that the team played competitively throughout the season regardless of their opponents. “[There were] a lot of close games,” he said. This year, lacrosse also got a new coach.

“He really knew what he was talking about and the program is heading in the right direction,” Mason said.

Girls Lacrosse

Softball

Girls lacrosse started some new traditions this season to boost team morale during the pandemic.

“Every Tuesday we made a team Tik Tok,” senior captain Sydney

This season, softball only has one varsity team consisting of 23 players—as opposed to the typical structure of 15 players on both varsity and JV. Junior Kelly Greenleaf

felt that this change has improved the spirit of the team. “Having that many people cheering at games makes it a lot louder [and] a lot more interesting,” she said.

Baseball

The baseball team is hungry for success and is looking to win more than just their regular season games. “We’re looking for a championship and we believe we can win it,” said senior captain Jason Lott.

The team itself has around 13 seniors who have been together for all of high school. “[As a team], we’re a lot older and we’re more mature and we’re better at what we do,” he said.

Track and Field

While the sport of track and field has many individual aspects, the later part of this year’s season allowed runners to combine their pods and embrace the team building elements of track. Before combining pods, senior Elise Kinyanjui felt that the team faced division as the different pods—determined by the distance of the runner’s events—were disconnected from each other. “As a sprinter, [I didn’t] really get to see the distance people practice which [was] really unfortunate,” she said. Regardless, the team and individuals persevered and continued to improve.

Field Hockey

Field hockey enjoyed a successful season, remaining undefeated against their tough competition.

Senior captain Emma Smith felt that the team was one of the best Montgomery Blair has seen. “I know that they’ll do great things next year and had we had a real season I think that it would have broken real records,” she said.

Golf

Golf was one of the sports least affected by COVID-19. Julian Heppen-Ibanez, a senior on the golf team, loved the sense of normalcy it provided. “It was just great to be outside with my friends again in a safe environment,” he said.

This year was his first time playing on the team and he enjoyed the lighthearted atmosphere. Overall, the golf team dominated their competition, winning seven of their eight matches.

Girls Tennis

Girls’ tennis had a tough season

COURTESY OF PETER DAVIS

UP IN THE AIR Girls lacrosse was excited to have an in-person season this year when their 2020 spring season was cut short due to pandemic restrictions.

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Pay to play

By Annie Goldman Features/Design Editor “I truly do love the sport,” Montgomery Blair sophomore Delia Chen says. “But… it can be a disconnect to not see anyone who looks like me on the field.” Chen has been playing field hockey for eight years, including two years on Montgomery Blair’s varsity team and seven years on a club team.

However, she does not feel represented in the sport.

Chen, who is mixed-race, explains that the Montgomery Blair field hockey team does not mirror the diversity seen in the school as a whole. “The Blair field hockey team is very white, which can sometimes feel disheartening,” she says.

“It’s confusing, especially because Blair is such a diverse school, but the field hockey team does not at all represent that.”

She is not alone in her experience of grappling with being a minority athlete playing on predominantly white sports teams. “The big question is just, why? Why is it like this?” Chen wonders.

She believes that if there were more diversity, more Black students would feel comfortable joining the team. “Since it’s not a very diverse sport, that probably makes Black people not want to do it as much because they don’t see very many other Black people doing it,” she explains.

Sawadogo recalls feeling the pressure of being the only nonwhite person at many of her club swim practices. “It’s just definitely kind of weird when you’re surrounded by people who are all different than you,” she says. “I feel like you have to be kind of better.”

Montgomery Blair senior Erica Matthews-Williams also experienced a harmful lack of diversity in some of the school’s sports programs. Matthews-Williams, who is a softball player of about five years, explains that her experience

Barriers limiting youth participation in athletics

while playing sports. Matthews-Williams says that she has gotten used to having an all white coaching staff throughout her years of playing softball. She feels that having a more diverse array of coaches can help some students feel more inclined to participate.

“Having more minority teachers, coaches, [and] administrators can definitely be encouraging for other minorities to try out,” she says.

Socioeconomic trends

The average American family spends a total of $693 on youth sports per child annually.

Some sports average much higher though, such as field hockey, ice hockey, gymnastics, lacrosse, and tennis, which can each cost close to $3,000 per child annually. In today’s ultra-competitive youth sports culture, families are often required to pay for equipment, travel, lessons, camps, and clinI feel like ics on top of the actual registraI’m obligated tion and entry into organized to do the best I sports. can in order to These hefty price tags can make youth athletics inaccesrepresent my sible for many families. Max entire race.

Levitt, founder and executive ERICA MATTHEWSdirector of Leveling the Playing Field, cites cost—especially that WILLIAMS of equipment—as one of the main factors restricting some from getbeing the only Black player this ting involved in athletics. season has been frustrating.

Leveling the Playing Field is an While Matthews-Williams organization based in Silver Spring doesn’t feel excluded or unsup- and Baltimore that works to break ported on Montgomery Blair’s var- down barriers that prevent children sity softball team, she thinks that in under-resourced communities the expectations she has for herself from accessing sports, primarily by because of her racial identity affect donating used sporting equipment her experience playing the sport. to youth programs and schools so She explains that the normal pres- that they can expand access. sures and expectations of a varsity Levitt also believes that the priteam influence her differently than vatization of youth sports and the other players who are not Black. subsequent decline in public recre“If I mess up, then it’s kind of ation over the last few decades worse than if anyone else on the is the root of inequities team messes up,” she says. “I feel in youth sports. like I’m obligated to do the best I He explains that can in order to represent my entire 20 to 30 years race.” ago, if parents Like Sawadago, she believes wanted to regthat having more minority players ister their child on a team will encourage others to in sports projoin the team as well. “The thing grams, they would that would limit me from wanting often go to their public to get involved with softball… is if recreation department and find I see that group of people meeting accessible options. “The amount and I don’t feel like I have some- of money you had played little to thing in common with them. If I no role in whether you could get saw… more people that looked like involved in sports,” he says. me on the team, I would be more However, Levitt explains that as inclined to join the team,” she says. the popularity of privatized youth Chen agrees, saying that she athletics increased, many parents doesn’t always feel welcome join- became more willing to pay large ing a team when it doesn’t have amounts for their child to have a many members who look like her. higher quality sports experience.

“It’s not easy to be one of two, or These extra expenses can include one of three, in all white spaces,” better coaches, nicer facilities, offshe says. “It takes a lot.” season training, and the opportuMatthews-Williams also notes nity to travel. “It’s just a different that she felt much more comfort- ballgame,” he says. able playing when she was on the Levitt also points out that Montgomery Blair basketball team wealthy private leagues are often where about a third of the girls well connected and have priority were also Black. access to critical resources like exAdditionally, the makeup of perienced coaches and substantial coaching staff can have a signifi- field or location space and time. cant impact on students’ According to Levitt, the incomfort levels creased popularity of private sport programs has left many kids without access to the opportunities that had once been accessible to children in

Sports help define many students’ high school experience. But this doesn’t always start at freshman year tryouts—many are involved much earlier on in their lives. The Aspen Institute’s Project Play, which studies athletics and helps strengthen communities through sports across the country, reports that in 2018, 71.8 percent of children ages 6 to 12 played a team or individual sport.

Racial disparities

The racial disparities within teams that Chen observed can create an uncomfortable environment for many athletes. Certain sports are notoriously dominated by white athletes because of barriers that prevent many children of color from getting involved, according to research done by Ohio University Online Master of Athletic Administration.

Montgomery Blair athletic specialist Rita Boule says that the school’s sports teams need to represent the diversity of the student body itself, and the athletics program is working hard to accomplish this. Boule also explains that both Montgomery Blair’s fall and spring sports this school year were more diverse than they have ever been—but the testimonies of Montgomery Blair athletes of color show that there is still a long way to go.

Montgomery Blair sophomore Maria Sawadogo, who is Black, has been swimming since she was 7 years old, and currently swims on a summer swim team and a private year-round swim club, as well as the Montgomery Blair swim and dive team. She explains that while her summer team is one of the most diverse in their league, she notices that Montgomery Blair swim and dive is mostly made up of white and Asian students.

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KARI

June 14, 2021 Sports F2

the past. Chen’s experience with a private field hockey team reflects some of the socioeconomic trends Levitt describes. “My travel team is very white, but not only is it white… it is also very wealthy,” she says. “I think, obviously, class and race go hand in hand.”

Sawadogo points to money and location as possible factors that contribute to majority white swim teams. She explains that swimming can be very expensive for families, and the locations of pools impacts their quality. Pools in more affluent areas are often cleaner and offer more programs, while pools in low-income communities can lack these amenities. “The pools [in low-income areas], if they do have pools, [are] not well funded, and they might not have good coaches,” Sawadogo says. “If you don’t live near a pool in your youth, you’re probably not going to start competitive swimming.”

With sports only available to those that can afford it, organized sports teams—which are part of the close to $19.2 billion youth sports industry—consist largely of children from affluent backgrounds. This continues into high school, where athletes who have had prior training and experience are more likely to participate and succeed in their sports.

Boule explains that the higher the level of a club sport, the more expensive it is—which can go on to affect the makeup of some of the school’s athletic programs. “The lack of experience at the higher level of the sport can really impact whether the kid makes the team or not,” she says.

However, at the high

importance of kids starting sports early, whether through a school program or outside leagues. There are great disparities between the physical education programs in schools, varying largely on account of the affluence of the school itself.

According to Levitt, schools that are in wealthier areas often have PTAs and booster clubs that can raise additional money for athletics, whereas many schools in lower-income areas don’t have this opportunity to the same extent.

Levitt also explains that most kids who play high school athletics likely started playing in elementary or middle school. Children who attend schools in low-income communities may depend on their school’s physical education curriculums to introduce them to different sports, and if funding is low, it’s likely that the equipment available is very limited. Levitt explains that in these scenarios, kids are often only introduced to the few sports that schools can provide equipment for.

These same children may become discouraged if they don’t enjoy the few sports that they get the chance to learn, which has lasting effects, according to Levitt.

“There’s ramifications to the kids not getting involved in sport at a young age,” he says. “It has to be elementary [or] middle school where you hook them into it.”

He says that the more sports that schools are able to offer, the higher the chance of students attaching to a sport and continuing to play it.

Moving forward

In order to make sports more equitable, Boule proposes If you don’t strengthening outreach for live near a pool in athletics programs. If your youth, you’re families know about probably not going to start opportunities to decompetitive swimming. velop athletes when they are young, chilMARIA dren will be better SAWADOGO equipped to participate in competitive high school sports. school According to Levlevel, itt, the solution lies in Boule well-funded public recreation and afasserts that financial status will never prevent ter-school sports programs, which help a student from participating in kids play sports earlier in their lives for sports, as the athletic department a lower cost. He explains that local will work with families to best sup- government needs to increase fundport them. “MCPS is great at trying ing for public recreation centers that to alleviate… the lack of equity,” run sports programming, especially she explains. “If a student wants in low-income communities. to be a student athlete and play on Levitt describes the benefits any team, there’s not going to be a of athletics in children’s lives— financial barrier.” for those who can access them.

Another barrier that can limit “Beyond being just a game, it’s a equitable participation is access to youth development tool, it’s good transportation. Parents’ availability for your [health], [and] it teaches to provide transportation for their valuable life skills” he says. “But children back and forth to sport- unfortunately, there’s a huge ining events varies greatly, and per equity—it’s much harder for kids Boule, it’s a big time commitment. in underrepresented areas to get Levitt thinks that after-school proinvolved in sports programming.” gramming for younger kids can help eliminate this challenge.

Starting early

Levitt emphasizes the

It’s much harder for kids in underrepresented areas to get involved in sports programming.

MAX LEVITT