December 2020—Silver Chips Print

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

December 9, 2020

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SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND

VOL. 84 NO. 2

COVID-19 cases climbing

COURTESY OF ISABELLE MEGOSH

The graph below shows the rolling seven-day average of new reported COVID-19 cases in Maryland each day from March 18 to Dec. 6. From left to right, photos show a worker stocking shelves at the Silver Spring Whole Foods Market in April, the family meal distribution service at Blair in December, and a doctor overlooking a crowd at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda in April.

ROBERT PADMORE

ROBERT PADMORE

seven-day average of confirmed cases, Dec. 7

1,090

In the absence of further actions, the hospitals will run out of space, and we may not have room to take care of people... To get to a lower level of community transmission [and] to open up schools... we may have to put some restrictions on other activities that we are not necessarily ready to let go of.

TRAVIS GAYLES, Montgomery County Health Officer, in a Dec. 2 media briefing

MCPS plans reopening

By Sean Li and Sofia Roehrig Staff Writers On Nov. 6, MCPS staff presented the Board of Education with a preliminary plan to begin a phased hybrid model of in-person and virtual learning as soon as next month. The Board’s plan could allow students in special education programs to return to physical buildings on Jan. 12, with all other students following in phases begin-

2,708

940

seven-day average of confirmed cases, July 31

ning on Feb. 1—if the health metrics outlined in the framework are met.

An updated version of the plan was tentatively approved by the Board on Nov. 10, with plans for further discussion during a meeting on Nov. 17 and final approval on Dec. 3. However, the Board delayed final action to their next meeting on Dec. 15.

On Nov. 6, Derek Turner, Chief of Engagement, Innovation and Operations in MCPS, outlined the seven-day average number of

cases per 100,000 residents and the 14-day test positivity rate as the key metrics used to determine the safety of the hybrid model. The county is using a 14-day case positivity rate of five percent as the threshold to start bringing students into physical buildings based on guidance from the Maryland Department of Health (MDH).

As of Dec. 6, there were 39.4 confirmed COVID-19 cases per see REOPENING page A2

COURTESY OF MARC ELRICH

COURTESY OF TRAVIS GAYLES

seven-day average of confirmed cases, May 7

Until vaccines and treatments are widely available, we, the people, are the only ones who, through our actions, can stop COVID-19’s spread. Please, keep physical distancing, wear masks when outside your house, and avoid any gathering of more than 10 people, and, yes, that means through the holidays. Keep everyone safe now, so we can celebrate together next year.

MARC ELRICH, Montgomery County Executive, in a Nov. 25 email to Silver Chips

Vaccinating MoCo

By Rekha Leonard Senior Writer As the release of a COVID-19 vaccine in the United States by the end of the year becomes more and more likely, the public health community is preparing to begin distributing a vaccine as soon as one is deemed safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

However, many questions remain, including how the vaccine will be distributed. Without a

clear timeframe of when the vaccine will be approved or knowledge of what exactly distribution will look like, public health officials and leaders nationwide have been unable to adequately plan and prepare.

Experts may realize some degree of clarity soon, as pharmaceutical company Pfizer—along with its partner BioNTech—and biotechnology company Moderna both recently achieved major milestones see VACCINES page G1

A WAP-ing success

Black women transform the rap scene

By Leila Faraday Staff Writer Many of us remember memorizing the lyrics to songs like “Super Bass” and “Starships” by Nicki Minaj before we even hit double digits. Allison Swann and Yamarie Sarr, two seniors at Blair, remember her as their first introduction to female rap, along with a few other prominent women in the genre. Now,

SHASHI ARNOLD

insidechips

A2 News B1 Opinions C1 La Esquina Latina D1 Features E1 Culture F1 Sports G1 COVID-19

Boundary analysis MCPS launches Phase Two of the process A5 Localize civic education MCPS must prioritize real-world civics curricula B3

Negocios locales Los negocios latinxs locales toman nuevas precauciones para sobrevivir la pandemia de COVID-19 y ayudar a los trabajadores de la primera línea.

C1

in 2020, we are in a new age of female rap, in which a myriad of talented women are changing the previously male-dominated world of hip-hop forever.

Double standards This summer, the song “WAP,” performed by rappers Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B, became the first female rap collaboration to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart after receiving

93 million streams within its first week—making it the most streamed song during its first week of release of all time. The song quickly went viral on TikTok and became a cultural staple, with creators performing their own versions of the music video’s dance.

Despite its phenomenal success, the song was also heavily criticized as inappropriate and obscene. In reaction to hearing the song, consee RAPPERS page E3

Behind the curtain How theaters are adapting to virtual performances D6

Copaganda The perils of portraying cops on television E4

The winter dilemma Having socially-distanced fun as temperatures drop E1

Recruiting in a pandemic How athletic scholarships are affected by COVID-19 F1

A2 News Dec. 9, 2020 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 EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Oliver Goldman Tony González Renata Muñoz Anika Seth LA ESQUINA LATINA EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Tony González Renata Muñoz MANAGING NEWS EDITORS Abby Brier Lilia Wong MANAGING OPINIONS EDITORS Aviva Bechky Clark Zhang MANAGING FEATURES EDITORS Anna Fisher Lopez Abednego Togas MANAGING CULTURE EDITORS Khayla Robinson Ishaan Shrestha MANAGING SPORTS AND COVID-19 EDITORS Adam Chazan Emilie Vigliotta LA ESQUINA LATINA EDITOR Cecilia Clemens Vargas Lugo OMBUDSMAN Kathryn LaLonde DESIGN EDITORS Aviva Bechky Simran Thakkar Grace Walsh COLUMNISTS Adam Chazan Ayush Dutta Ashley Thommana Charles Wiebe SENIOR WRITERS Rekha Leonard Sarah McKinzie ENGLISH STAFF WRITERS Jon Eckert Maia Egnal Leila Faraday Marijke Friedman Annie Goldman Sean Li Annie Mount Maybelle Patterson Samantha Rodriguez Sofia Roehrig Jasper Swartz Cal Tobias Luther Voltaire LA ESQUINA LATINA WRITERS Cecilia Clemens Vargas Lugo Ariel Godoy Angela Ramirez Sofia Roehrig Río Sanchez EXECUTIVE BUSINESS DIRECTORS Ryan Peralta Harris Devasena Sitaram BUSINESS STAFF Marina Deane-Gonzalez Kevin Gehl Maddie Whipple MANAGING ART EDITOR Shashi Arnold ARTISTS Jay Chao Jennifer Hu Leela Mehta-Harwitz Sonia Pivovarov Marissa Rhice MANAGING PHOTO EDITORS Miles Grovic Robert Padmore PHOTOGRAPHERS Christina Chen Arielle Granston Sarah Martin Delia Moran Edson Orellana Henry Reichle Elenora Rue Esther Tang MEDIA EDITOR Alex Dong PUZZLE EDITOR Alex Grosman COPY EDITORS Eva Allred Anika Dasgupta Isabella Fan Maya Guise Eric Lei Valentina Simon Shariar Vaez-Ghaemi Bracklinn Williams Colin Wu 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.

silverchips

County leadership adjusts plan for possible school reopening from REOPENING page A1

100,000 people in Montgomery County and a test positivity rate of 5.6 percent.

Phased-in approach Under the tentatively approved timeline, students in specialized education programs, including the Career and Technical Education (CTE) program, are slated to return before Group 1.

Sections of students grouped by grade would return starting on Feb. 1. At Blair, any students not on track to graduate would return first in Group 1, followed by juniors and seniors in Group 2 and freshmen and sophomores in Group 3.

Group 1 also includes students in kindergarten, first grade, and sixth grade; Group 2, those in pre-kindergarten, second grade, third grade, and seventh grade; and Group 3, those in fourth grade, fifth grade, and eighth grade.

Board vice president Karla Silvestre (At-Large) said in an interview that this order prioritizes students who need to return to in-person learning most urgently. “Lower elementary grades are definitely the priority,” she said, ex-

el and then others in the support model.

On Nov. 11, MCPS sent a survey to guardians asking them to indicate whether their child would participate in the hybrid model or remain entirely virtual. Based on these results, schools will determine specific learning models for individual classes.

On Nov. 10, Superintendent of Schools Jack Smith said MCPS will need to hire more staff members in order to account for more in-person instruction. At the press conference on Nov. 16, he added that MCPS will draw from substitutes and support staff to hire more teachers and from teachers to hire more administrators. He also mentioned recruiting from retirees and other community members.

Some students’ school assignments may shift based on the number of students who indicate they might return to in-person school.

At a Board meeting on Nov. 17, Smith confirmed that this is a possibility. “It’s not likely that we’re going to open 208 school buildings when we move back in,” he said.

MCPS has yet to release a clear plan demonstrating how student reassignment would work.

As of Dec. 2, MCPS had received 96,418 survey responses,

as they monitor their child’s symptoms regularly.

On Nov. 16 at a press conference, Smith said MCPS is engaging in “extensive conversations” with the Maryland State Department of Education and local and state health officials to determine if vaccines will be mandatory for students, teachers, and staff once released. “We’re going to continue to ask those questions at the state level,” Smith said. “We’re going to keep pushing for at least initial decisions and initial plans around what a vaccine set of requirements might look like.”

MCPS is also working to strengthen ventilation systems inside county facilities. Seth Adams, Director of the Department of Facilities Management for MCPS, explained in the Nov. 6 Board meeting that the county is looking to hire private companies to update Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) models in schools.

Throughout December, HVAC system evaluations will be completed at an estimated rate of 25 schools per week.

As of Dec. 3, MCPS had ordered more than 50,000 air filters and 2,000 air cleaners. More than 20,000 of those filters have already

11 students per vehicle. By Dec. 3, they decided to operate buses at 50 percent capacity in order to increase ability to provide transportation to all students.

According to McGuire, every other district in Maryland also intends to operate buses at 50 percent capacity.

Buses will be thoroughly disinfected with a high-power sprayer daily, high-touch areas will be disinfected by bus staff between loads of students, hand sanitizer and masks will be required, and bus staff will conduct health self-assessments each day before work.

Face coverings for special needs students who ride a school bus will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Teacher opt-out

The approved hybrid reopening plan also faces some pushback from staff. Following a Nov. 23 meeting between the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) bargaining team and MCPS representatives, MCEA wrote in an email to its members that the county was not willing to allow employees to decide for themselves whether to return in-person work or to guarantee that educators would only be responsible for

ANIKA SETH

plaining why younger students are in Group 1.

In an earlier version of the plan from Nov. 6, juniors and seniors were in Group 3, sophomores in Group 2, and freshmen in Group 1. On Nov. 10, Turner presented an updated phase-in model to the Board with juniors and seniors in Group 2 and freshmen and sophomores in Group 3.

During the meeting, Turner said the change was made based on community feedback and because MCPS intends to prioritize its “youngest learners” and the “high school senior experience.” In the interview, Silvestre added that some stakeholders wanted juniors to return to physical school sooner because colleges tend to heavily consider junior year grades and test scores. “People are making the case for juniors because junior year is such a critical year for college admissions,” she said.

What would school be like?

At the Nov. 10 Board meeting, Moran explained three potential hybrid models: support, which would be mostly virtual with some in-person delivery; simultaneous, which would be a blend of both; and direct, which would be primarily in-person.

Since the specific learning models for each class will be decided based on survey results, it is possible that a student may have some classes in the simultaneous mod-

which is approximately 60 percent of enrolled students, and 51 percent of families had selected the mixed model. Families who did not fill out the survey by Dec. 7 will default to virtual learning.

According to a schedule shared at the Dec. 3 Board meeting, schools were slated to receive a list of all students and their preferences by Dec. 8, allowing school leadership teams to develop detailed instructional models between Dec. 9 and 23. These plans will be shared with families from Jan. 4 to 8, and families will have to make a final decision between Jan. 11 and 15.

The schedule also stated that changes cannot be made between Jan. 18 and 29 to allow schools to finalize planning.

Building safety There are five core protocols included in the proposal designed to maximize the safety of students and staff upon the integration of hybrid learning: limiting building capacity, self-screening, requiring face coverings, distributing hand sanitizer, and following social distancing guidelines.

At a Board meeting on Nov. 17, Smith said the county does not have sufficient resources to monitor the temperatures of every individual entering county buildings.

Consequently, students’ parents, as well as teachers and employees, will be expected to self-report symptoms regularly. The county is still looking for ways to support parents

been received, and many have been installed in schools.

Essie McGuire, the Associate Superintendent of Operations, said on Nov. 17 that MCPS will have “more than enough inventory” of masks, hand sanitizers, and gloves for all students and visitors. McGuire also said MCPS is working with faculty, especially special educators, to determine what other protective gear will be necessary.

While the proposed health measures mitigate the likelihood of COVID-19 transmission, they don’t guarantee safety. Junior Samar Haddad said that the fact that the protocols put the onus on students might lead to complications.

“Obviously there’s a lot of kids at Blair... and the [school] works in a way where you’re exposed to a lot of people,” she said. “If one person is irresponsible, it affects a really large population of students.”

Read about MCPS’ provisions for high-risk students on page G2.

Transportation MCPS also is working to ensure safety on school buses. McGuire explained during the Nov. 6 meeting that students will likely need individual seat assignments on buses, which translates to about 50 percent of normal capacity, or 22 students per bus.

As of both Nov. 6 and Nov. 17, the county was also considering implementing the CDC’s recommendation of placing one student in every other seat, which would seat

teaching virtually or in-person, not both.

On Nov. 24, MCPS sent a separate email to employees stating that staff members who wish to be considered for an “accommodation based on qualifying health concerns” upon any return to in-person instruction must submit requests prior to Dec. 3.

“Staff is expected to return to in-person, in-building instruction at the designated time unless specifically approved not to do so,” the email read.

Blair English teacher Leigh Tinsley is struggling to accommodate her family’s safety with her demands as an educator. “My husband is immunocompromised; he has [multiple sclerosis], type one diabetes, and Hashimoto’s… but the only leave I would be able to take would be unpaid family medical leave,” she said.

MCPS spokesperson Gboyinde Onijala declined to comment on ongoing negotiations.

Other counties

On Nov. 6, Smith said MCPS has looked to school systems across the state and country for insight when designing their plan. Some school systems in Maryland, such as Allegany County Public Schools, began the year with some in-person learning opportunities.

As of Dec. 6, all counties in the state have reverted to fully virtual models due to rising COVID-19 cases.

silverchips

Dec. 9, 2020 News A3

MCPS changes grading protocol based on first quarter report cards

By Anika Seth Editor-in-Chief MCPS is adjusting teaching and grading protocols for the second quarter based on grade data from the first quarter, which show more students failing math and English classes across all included racial and socioeconomic groups.

Effective Nov. 30, these changes include a reduction to the total number of assignments allowed per class, clarification on due dates and deadlines, clearer expectations for how to implement the “50 percent rule” and when to assign zeroes, and the removal of the grading category reserved for quarterly progress checks. These tests will now be used as “diagnostic tools,” per the document.

Within these remaining grading categories, there are new limits on the number of assignments. In the All Tasks/Assessments category, weighted at 90 percent, only seven to nine assignments are allowed each quarter; however, core or advanced classes, like AP or IB courses, may exceed this limit. In the Practice/Preparation category, weighted at 10 percent, between four and nine are allowed.

At a Board of Education meeting on Dec. 3, MCPS shared math and English grades from the first quarter for cohorts of students in sixth, ninth, and twelfth grade, sorted by race, income, English proficiency, and special education programs. It was not immediately clear what these cohorts entailed.

This year, 41.7 percent of Hispanic or Latinx freshmen eligible for Free and Reduced Meals (FARMS), 31.0 percent of Black FARMS-eligible freshmen, and

24.1 percent of FARMS-eligible freshmen of other races failed English first quarter compared to 5.9 percent, 5.3 percent, and 3.8 percent from last year. Overall, 36.3 percent of all FARMS-eligible freshmen failed English compared to 5.5 percent in 2019.

English failure rates also increased for freshmen of all three of these race-based categories who are not eligible for FARMS and for those in Limited English Proficient (LEP) and special education programs.

Similar increases in failure rates were also reported for freshmen in math classes and for seniors in both English and math classes. The district did not provide data assessing the performance of the overall student body.

On Nov. 24, the district sent schools an updated version of the Secondary Grading and Reporting Guidance Document to revise the second marking period’s grading protocol and said these changes were based on increased failure rates in the first quarter. Those numbers were not made publicly available until the Dec. 3 meeting.

The new guidelines clarify that “teachers should accept and grade assignments turned in before the end of the current marking period.” Like in the first marking period, teachers will receive an extension to the grade submission timeline. Teachers may still lower the grade for an assignment turned in after the due date by up to one letter grade or 10 percent.

Over the course of the first quarter, some staff members described ambiguity around when to assign zeros as opposed to 50 percents.

The new grading guidance clears up this confusion: “[A] teacher may

assign a final grade of zero, only after appropriate support, intervention, and two-way communication with the student and parent (in the 90% category). Otherwise, teachers should err on the side of issuing a 50 percent (E) to indicate a failing grade.”

The document acknowledges that the second quarter has already begun and transition time is needed, specifically with the limitation on the number of assignments. “There may need to be a transition to some of the new guidance, and we totally understand that,” Scott Murphy, director of the Department of Secondary Curriculum and Districtwide Programs, said in an interview on Nov. 25, “but we did want to try to provide relief to students more immediately as opposed to waiting until second semester.”

As of Nov. 25, the update had only been sent to principals and teachers, according to Murphy.

He said students and parents would receive information about what to expect with progress checks and other grading adjustments during the first week of December. As of Dec. 6, some families had not yet received official word from MCPS. Murphy emphasized that this updated guidance is not a policy change. “In MCPS, the word policy means one thing.

The Board of Education takes action on policy,” he said. “This has not been a change in policy.

It’s really more… the day-to-day practices of teachers in their grade books.”

See additional first quarter grade data and one writer’s new grading proposal on page B5.

ANIKA SETH

FAILING GRADES INCREASE Percentages of failing grades have increased for every demographic group included in the MCPS first quarter grades report. (Numbers in above graphic from the Bethesda Beat.)

Up & Coming December 10

Junior College & Career Planning Meeting

December 11 Deadline for PSAT signup

Montgomery County Council members introduce bill to end SRO program

By Abby Brier and Cal Tobias News Editor & Staff Writer On Nov. 17, Montgomery County Council members Hans Riemer and Will Jawando introduced a bill to end the Student Resource Officer (SRO) program, which assigns police officers to several middle and high schools across MCPS. The bill was in response to 2016 countywide student arrest data, which show that students of color are arrested at disproportionate rates. These data include arrests made by both SROs and patrol officers on school grounds.

If passed, the bill would reallocate $3 million from the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) toward restorative justice training for MCPS teachers and staff, mental health services for students, and other support programs in schools. All current SROs would be reassigned within the MCPD. This bill is not the first attempt to end or diminish the SRO program. At an MCPS Board of Education meeting on June 11, former Student Member of the Board (SMOB) Nathaniel Tinbite proposed a resolution to end the program, citing that it contributes to the school-to-prison pipeline which disproportionately affects students of color.

While Tinbite’s resolution did not go through, the Board passed an adjusted resolution that directed Superintendent of Schools Jack Smith to collect and review data about the SRO program.

According to the resolution, the review will consider “all available demographic data showing the number of arrests, by offense, that have occurred on [MCPS] property or that have occurred as a result of an incident occurring on school property for the last 3 school years.”

The board also directed Smith to review alternative discipline programs used in other school districts and report his findings and recommendations in January.

In July, Jawando proposed eliminating the program to the Montgomery County Council Public Safety Committee; his proposition failed after two of the committee’s three members opposed it. Later that month, he offered a motion to the council to reassign 12 of MCPS’ 23 SROs to other areas of the MCPD. This move was rejected by a 5-4 vote.

Riemer explained that both

Awards & Honors Blair Quiz Bowl team

Thomas Jefferson Novice Academic Tournament, third place

December 24-31 Winter Break January 1 New Years’ Day January 18 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day January 28 Last day of the semester

of Jawando’s previous attempts to end or diminish the SRO program have been unsuccessful because a number of council members wanted to see results of the BOE’s review before passing legislation. “Several council members made it very clear that they wanted to see what the school system came forward with before making any decision,” he said.

Currently, SROs in MCPS receive a 40-hour training course focused on equity and school safety.

The training includes “intervention strategies, adolescent and youth development, de-escalation, bullying investigation, disability awareness, maintaining a positive school climate, victimization of youth and other key content areas,” according to the MCPS website.

If SROs are removed from schools, administrators would become responsible for calling the police to respond to disciplinary situations. Christina Connolly, the MCPS director of psychological services, fears this may increase arrest rates. “When I speak with the SROs, they say they try to do everything possible to not arrest the kids,” Conolly said. ”If it’s a patrol officer, I’m not sure that’s happening. I don’t have definitive evidence [that they would try not to arrest students] but… they don’t have the same training.”

A 2017 memorandum of understanding between MCPS and various local law enforcement agencies states that SROs must be trained in “crisis management.” Conolly explained that this allows SROs to serve as a resource for students during mental health emergencies.

“They can help schools to get a kid hospitalized if they [are suicidal],” she said.

On Nov. 20, over 70 community members joined a webinar to watch the introduction of the bill during a county council meeting. During the call, recent MCPS graduate Jason Molera testified in Spanish about negative experiences he had with SROs while in MCPS, saying they were rude and aggressive with him and his classmates.

County Council member Craig Rice, who opposed Jawando’s initial legislation, said he will respect the findings of Smith’s review and any subsequent recommendations MCPS makes. “If the school system says that they don’t want to have school resource officers in their schools and [wants] to pursue security for their school in a different way, we should respect that,” he said in an interview.

Dhruv Pai, Simoni Mishra, and Aditya Chattopadhyay

Army Educational Outreach Program Alumni Challenge, first prize

silverchips

A4 News Dec. 9, 2020

WMATA offers buyouts and proposes service changes to limit layoffs

Compiled by Khayla Robinson Culture Editor

Boy Scouts of America face claims of sexual abuse

Trigger warning: This section contains non-graphic mentions of sexual abuse

By Maybelle Patterson Staff Writer On Nov. 19, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) Board of Directors approved an employee buyout plan and various spending cuts in response to a $176 million budget shortfall caused by decreased ridership during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The move to offer buyouts— upfront payments that encourage workers to leave their jobs—indicates that WMATA’s strategy is to try to avoid as many layoffs as possible while also getting rid of up to 3,800 jobs.

Last week, WMATA, commonly referred to as Metro, also announced plans to scale back service operating hours starting in March to minimize costs, and even proposed cuts to weekend rail service for the first time in the agency’s history.

Though Metro estimates that ridership will rise as vaccine prospects develop, the newest budgetary proposals are the most drastic yet. Under the budget proposed last week—which, if approved, will take effect in July—trains would run every 30 minutes from 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., reducing daily operational time by 30 percent of current levels. The proposal also includes closing 19 different train stations and eliminating 33 bus routes.

On Dec. 10, the Board will vote on whether to open up the budget for input from the public and local governments. The budget will be sent to the Board for its approval later this spring.

To face the current budget discrepancy, Metro will offer buyouts to all retirement-eligible workers, both unionized and non-unionized, so the agency can minimize layoffs and involuntary job losses while also cutting costs. Eligible employees are guaranteed a buyout if they apply by Dec. 14.

Metro board member Michael Goldman explained the plan in an open board meeting on Nov. 19. “[It] will essentially encourage people at retirement age with a buyout bonus to retire early,” he said.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been difficult for Metro and transportation authorities across the country because they depend on

NEWS BRIEFS

ESTHER TANG

everyday commuter travel for revenue. Metro reported that its September ridership was down more than 80 percent across rail and bus services compared to the same time last year. Overall, decreased ridership led to more than $200 million in lost revenue for Metro in the past year.

In the same meeting on Nov. 19, Board member Devin Rouse explained how the problem of low ridership trickles down and affects workers. “It seems like a simple math problem, but it has a real-world impact on a lot of people,” he said.

While a lack of ridership and revenue have posed a problem for Metro and its employees, additional funding in the form of government relief spending has helped to weather the downturn.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which was passed at the end of March, helped shrink the budget deficit from $212 million to $176.5 million. Wiedefeld said the CARES Act funds will last until this March, but more relief is needed.

According to Maryland Secretary of Transportation Gregory Slater, the proposed budget cuts need to be so intense because of this lack of federal funds. “WMATA and the entire national transit industry nationwide really need help,” he said in a Metro board

meeting on Dec. 4. “I really hope they’re hearing us in DC.” The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689, the largest union representing Metro employees, hopes that some relief could come when President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris assume federal office in January because Biden has expressed support for giving transportation agencies more stimulus funding.

According to The Washington Post, the union disagreed with the approval of Metro’s buyout plan and would have preferred that the agency not approve any measures until the Biden administration is in office.

According to Wiedefeld, since the contract was approved before pandemic-related revenue losses, all unionized workers will receive regularly scheduled pay raises this fiscal year. They could, however, face raise deferments in fiscal year 2022, which starts on July 1. On the other hand, non-unionized workers won’t see an increase in their wages this year.

On Nov. 19, Metro’s Board of Directors also ratified a voluntary separation incentive to try to further curb losses. This option is only available to non-unionized employees. All workers, not just those close to retirement age—as is the case with the buyout program— are eligible.

Under the incentive, eligible employees are able to leave their job in exchange for $15,000 but only if Metro management determines that the position will not need to be immediately filled again. “If someone volunteers [to leave] a job that we have to backfill right away, then it doesn’t make sense,” Wiedefeld said during a Metro livestream on Facebook on Nov. 21.

Another way Metro aims to decrease the budget gap is by leaving currently vacant positions that are not essential. Wiedefeld explained that this will help limit the amount of layoffs.

Metro’s budget gaps are also affecting riders. After allowing people to ride for free since April, Metro buses will start to collect fares again at the beginning of January.

Wiedefeld said this will help revive some of the lost revenue flow.

“We’re estimating that [reinstating bus fares] brings in about almost $6 million,” he said. “That’s many more jobs that we can save… My primary goal is to avoid people losing their jobs.”

On Dec. 10, the Metro Board of Directors will vote on whether to send the proposed budget out for public comment. Follow @Silver_Chips on Twitter to stay up to date on this vote and ongoing budget changes to learn how to make your voice heard.

Corrections October 2020 A3

Michael Chu should be listed as National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist.

A4

In “The duality of RBG,” Ruth Bader Ginsburg is misquoted as referring to Colin Kaepernick’s protests as “inappropriately dismissive and harsh.” These words were used in her retraction; her initial description of the protests was that they were “really dumb.”

A4

In “Breonna Taylor indictments,” the date of Breonna Taylor’s death is misreported as March 12. She was shot and killed on March 13.

B3

In “Summer health? Not so sick.,” Norah Lesperance’s last name is misspelled.

D6

In “The pandemic and pollution,” Maryland Secretary of the Environment Ben Grumbles is incorrectly referred to as the Maryland Environment Secretary.

E6

In the international news briefs, the third headline says “France to ban wild circus” but should instead read “France to ban wild circus animals.”

G1

The headline “Disparities in funding: Native American tribes in Maryland receive no federal pandemic aid” should not include “American” and instead say “Native tribes.”

G1

In the above story, Jansikwe Medina-Tayac’s first name is misspelled.

G3

The COVID-19 dashboard on the back page erroneously inflated the “Blair zip codes” total case count by about four times.

G3

In “From the SAC to the steering wheel,” Roxanne Yamashita’s first name is misspelled.

In February, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) filed for bankruptcy in response to hundreds of claims concerning decades of sexual abuse from Scout leaders. By Nov. 16, which was the deadline for victims to come forward with allegations, they faced over 88,000 claims of sexual abuse. BSA’s bankruptcy filing effectively put a hold on the abuse claims until they were investigated and settlements were negotiated.

According to USA Today, defenders of BSA filing for bankruptcy believe the move allows the organization to handle their finances and compensate victims while also maintaining financial stability. Critics say it allows BSA to pay victims less than what they would have otherwise paid.

Van Arsdale, one of the lead attorneys representing survivors over the last year and half, stated that sexual abuse within the organization was an “unspoken norm” where children had to “perform certain duties to earn their coveted merit badges.”

Violent protests after election

On Nov. 7, after more than four days of counting outstanding votes in key swing states, former vice president Joe Biden (D) was declared the president-elect of the United States. Kamala Harris (D), a former California senator, made history as both the first woman and woman of color to be elected vice president. According to the New York Times, the final electoral vote count was 306-232 in favor of Biden and Harris.

Following Biden’s victory, both pockets of protests and celebrations broke out in cities across the country. On Nov. 14, a group of Trump supporters gathered in Washington, D.C during the day to protest Biden’s victory.

As night fell, the demonstration grew violent. According to NBC, one person was stabbed and taken to a trauma center with critical injuries after a fight broke out between the group of Trump supporters and counter protesters. Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington, D.C., said two police officers were injured and 20 people were arrested.

Middle school renamed in honor of Odessa Shannon On Nov. 10, the Board of Education voted unanimously to rename Col. E. Brooke Lee Middle School to Odessa Shannon Middle School as a tribute to the first Black woman to hold a position on the Montgomery County Board of Education.

The renaming process began in February of 2019 after Montgomery County councilmember Nancy Navarro (District 4) and community members raised concerns about the school’s namesake. Lee was involved in Maryland and Montgomery County politics in the early twentieth century and pursued racially restrictive housing policies against Black Americans.

In 1982, Shannon was elected to the Board, and, in 1984, she was appointed as the first female special assistant to the county executive. Shannon was also the executive director for the Montgomery County Human Rights Commission from 1995 to 2008, where she fought for civil rights and equity in employment, housing, and education.

Shannon passed away on May 17 of this year. The school will be officially renamed on July 4, 2021, which would have been her ninety-second birthday.

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Dec. 9, 2020 News A5

What’s next for the boundary analysis?

Montgomery County and WXY launch Interactive Boundary Explorer

By Marijke Friedman Staff Writer In October, MCPS launched Phase Two of the ongoing boundary analysis, a comprehensive examination of how MCPS school boundaries relate to four key components: school utilization, proximity, diversity, and assignment stability.

The first phase involved preliminary data analysis and community meetings, culminating in an interim report released this past March. The goal of the second phase is to use an Interactive Boundary Explorer (IBE) to allow community members to interact with and react to the data collected in Phase One. The full analysis has three phases, all of which are being executed by New York-based consulting firm WXY Studio. Originally, the full analysis was scheduled to be completed by June of 2020 but at a Board of Education meeting on Dec. 3, this was extended to spring of 2021 due to COVID-19.

The utilization component considers which schools are over and under capacity. The interim report from Phase One noted that the Downcounty Consortium and Northeastern Consortium “face greater issues of overutilization across all levels, as compared to clusters across the district.”

The proximity section assesses how far students have to travel to get to school, what percentage of students go to the school nearest to their home, and how many students live in their school’s walk zone. According to the interim report, middle schoolers are the most likely age group to attend schools further away from their homes, with approximately 40 percent of students not attending the school nearest to them.

For diversity, the analysis is looking at racial dissimilarity between schools, the percentage of students eligible for Free and Reduced Meals, and the number of students who are English Language Learners. The interim report explains that one racial or ethnic group makes up a majority of students at 42 percent of MCPS schools.

The MCPS website explains that the assignment stability section analyzes “the number of times a student, school, or geographic area is impacted by changes to student assignment over time.” The interim report found that the Downcounty Consortium and Northeastern Consortium have had the greatest number of boundary changes since 1984.

DATA COURTESY OF MCPS

GRAPH COURTESY OF WXY STUDIO

INTERACTIVE BOUNDARY EXPLORER A map from the IBE shows the distribution of ever-FARMS high schoolers across the county. Community members can interact with data like this on the IBE. According to the MCPS website, the IBE in Phase Two “will provide MCPS stakeholders a deeper look and better understanding of school boundaries” by allowing them to explore the metrics collected in Phase One and provide their feedback through a survey, which closed on Dec. 1.

In addition to the survey, Phase Two features targeted small group meetings to involve “hard-to-reach

All four models focus on optimizing utilization while considering one other factor: utilization within clusters, utilization between nearby schools, school diversity, or student distance from their schools.

These models will be presented in the final report.

Once Phase Two is complete, WXY will compile community feedback and a summary of their data observations into a final re-

soapbox What do you think about the boundary analysis?

“I think this is a really important thing to do.

It will be uncomfortable, but it will go a long way to creating equity.”

“I like the idea; however, I don’t like how it is carried out. For example, my parents worked really hard to buy a house in a good district.”

NOAM AVIV senior

KAREN CAO freshman

communities and other key stakeholders.” The MCPS website specifies that this includes constituents who lack transportation, have language and literacy challenges, and face other access barriers.

The data analysis in Phase Two includes a modelling approach.

In a presentation to the Board of Education on Dec. 3, WXY explained that they created four models with hypothetical school boundaries that balance the four key lenses in different ways and that each have different priorities.

port.

Abby Zan, a consultant from WXY, explained that while the interim report included information about utilization, diversity, proximity, and assignment stability separately, the final report in Phase Two will focus on intersections of these four lenses and how the school system can balance them.

For Phase Three, which is the final step, WXY will present this new report to the Board of Education in the spring of 2021.

WXY will not be making rec-

ANIKA SETH

ommendations about boundary changes. According to the MCPS website, this districtwide boundary analysis is merely an attempt to gain information about all MCPS boundaries, and the Board of Education will use the information from the final report to help inform future boundary studies.

Early in Phase Two, WXY and MCPS introduced the IBE at public webinars on Oct. 20 and Oct. 22. The online tool was then discussed by community members at a feedback meeting on Oct. 28.

The majority of participants at the IBE community feedback meeting on Oct. 28 were white.

Less than 9 percent were MCPS students, while nearly 80 percent were MCPS parents or guardians..

Zan explained that Phase Two also includes meetings geared towards students so WXY and MCPS can hear students’ perspectives. The first student forum was scheduled for Dec. 9 and moderated by Nick Asante, the Student Member of the Board of Education (SMOB). The second is scheduled for Dec. 19 and will be a virtual student summit with the Montgomery County Regional Student Government Association (MCR-SGA).

Mauricio Quintero-Aviles, a freshman at Northwest, thinks MCPS has failed to adequately publicize the webinars to students.

“MCPS has largely been focusing on parents. And while parents are important… it’s our schools,” he said in an interview.

The Board authorized the boundary analysis on Jan. 8, 2019 by passing a resolution from Ananya Tadikonda, the SMOB during the 2018-2019 school year. Tadikonda decided to propose the districtwide boundary review to better understand differences in resource availability, particularly between students of color and white students. “The MCPS boundary analysis is a comprehensive look at our school boundaries and how they either facilitate equity or draw away from it,” Tadikonda said.

Parents at the IBE community feedback meeting on Oct. 28 shared concerns about the ongoing analysis. Several parents said they want their students to attend the closest school to where they live; among these was Stephen Austin, a parent who ran in this past spring’s primary race for the At-Large seat on the Board of Education.

In 2019, Austin created a Facebook group called MoCo Neighbors for Local Schools, an organization primarily composed of guardians advocating for students

to attend schools close to their homes. The group now has more than 8,000 members, many of whom believe the boundary analysis will lead to school changes for their children.

Board member Patricia O’Neill (District 3) thinks that these parents are missing a key point: “One of the things that people fail to realize [is] that we have done a large number of boundary changes over the last 20 years,” she said.

The MCPS website clarifies that the analysis does not include any boundary changes: “The final report will not have any recommendations on boundary changes,” it states.

Tadikonda, however, hopes MCPS uses the findings from the boundary analysis moving forward to alter school boundaries.. “We need change. It’s great to look at boundaries and say that there has been… separation of students by racial and socioeconomic background,” she said. “But we can only make an impact if we truly act on the issues that we see.”

Richard Montgomery senior Claire Gelillo agrees with Tadikonda. Gelillo is the president of Montgomery County Students for Change (MCFC), a student advocacy group that supports the boundary analysis. “I think that the analysis, once completed, ultimately should be used as a tool to then go forward to try to change boundaries to make our schools more equitable,” she said in an interview.

Members of MCFC provided testimony to the BOE and attended public forums in Phase One to contribute student perspectives about how the current boundaries contribute to de facto segregation.

Other guardians at the Oct. 28 community meeting thought MCPS should be focusing solely on reopening schools right now and postpone the boundary analysis altogether.

Board member Karla Silvestre (At-Large), who is now the vice president of the Board, explained in an interview that MCPS is currently continuing the boundary analysis because WXY needs to fulfill their contract. “It’s not like MCPS is doing the work themselves. We have contracted with folks that need to complete their job,” she said.

But we can only make an impact if we truly act on the issues we see

ANANYA TADIKONDA

In August of 2019, MCPS awarded WXY a one-year contract not to exceed $475,000 for fiscal year 2020, with three oneyear renewal options. Despite the new timeline, Silvestre shared that the amount of money MCPS is paying to WXY has not increased.

“No new money will be spent on this study. The time for them to complete the work has been extended, but they are not receiving any more funding,” she wrote in an email on Dec. 6.

The final report was initially expected in June of 2020; however, on May 28, it was delayed to December, then on Oct. 20, WXY said the final report would be released in early 2021, according Bethesda Beat, and, as of a Board meeting on Dec. 3, is expected to be released in the spring of 2021.

Phase Two was delayed by over six months due to COVID-19.

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B1 Opinions Dec. 9, 2020

Should MCPS include comparative religion material in mandatory social studies classes?

YES

NO

Comparative religion material would broaden student perspectives, decreasing discrimination.

It should not be included in mandatory social studies classes as teaching the class without bias is impossible.

By Sean Li Staff Writer

By Calvin Tobias Staff Writer

AN OPINION

AN OPINION

sues in the news, such as abortion, are grounded in religion; other issues like gender and race relations are fundamentally affected by people’s religious beliefs.

Incorporating comparative religion material in mandatory social studies courses is crucial. Whether it be between different individuals or societal groups, conflict will always exist. But emphasizing diverse worldviews through comparative religion is the key to enabling progress on deep-seated disputes.

“People will inevitably disagree, but the question is how we work out our disagreement,” Christos Makridis, a research professor at Arizona State University, said in an interview. “If we approach one another with love and respect, trying to listen and understand, we’re much more likely to reach consensus on at least some issues and build a relationship in the process.”

Mandatory comparative religion content will let MCPS students learn how to engage in these discussions with empathy and awareness, prerequisites for meaningful connections and productive discourse.

MAYA BRITTO sophomore

TONY CAO junior

CERTITUDE LEMBION senior

NUAMEN AUDENA sophomore

“It helps students respect other religions, races, ethnicities [and also] more about the world.”

“Learning about [different religions] creates more well-rounded students.”

“Students would probably end up reinforcing negative stereotypes about certain religions.”

All photos courtesy of their subjects and edited by Delia Moran

Understanding diverse and conflicting perspectives today is both imperative and near-impossible. It becomes even more challenging when people are entrenched in their own limited mindsets. Implementing comparative religion material into mandatory social studies classes is critical to teaching students how to productively discuss religious differences, thus improving students’ ability to understand diverse viewpoints and resolve conflicts.

Comparative Religion is currently offered as a semester-long elective course at Blair, with just a single class period offered each year. For the most part, the curriculum is decided by Kevin Moose, the class’s current teacher. “I want to cover Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, [and] Judaism, the major faiths kids know and hear about in the paper… [I] even include a little section on secularism, atheism, [and] agnosticism,” Moose said.

The main purpose of the course is to give students perspective on the role religion plays in current events. “It’s teaching some of the nuts and bolts of the major faiths so that kids are literate about the world they live in,” he added. “They can read the news correctly and judge appropriately based on what facts are, not what they think.”

A 2018 study conducted by the Commission on Religious Education (CoRE) in England suggested that Moose’s contextualized approach to comparative religion is essential to helping modern students become socially responsible citizens. The report advocates for a new educational paradigm that emphasizes “worldviews”—which the paper defines as “a person’s way of understanding, experiencing and responding to the world.”

Similarly, Trevor Cooling, a professor of Christian education at England’s Canterbury Christ Church University, feels that only providing bits of religious information as they relate to specific historical events fails to equip students to understand others’ experiences.

“It’s not about the history of the religion. It’s more about how do people experience being a religious believer?” Cooling said in an interview. Comparative religion material offers that holistic perspective, preparing students to be stronger global problem-solvers.

The positive potential of this kind of religious education is multifaceted. Comparative religion instruction would also help to lessen religious discrimination at Blair and across MCPS. Judith Goldstein, a Blair senior who is Jewish, is a Group Leader for the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington’s Student to Student Program, an initiative that strives to reduce prejudice through informative presentations on Judaism. She said that antisemitic language is common at school.

“There is a general culture where jokes about the Holocaust are super normalized,” she said.

“Giving everyone at least some basic knowledge will give way to tolerance.”

Much of this insensitivity results from a lack of understanding and experience with religion. “People talk about that stuff because they don’t know the actual effects.

I think [for] a lot of people, the only part of Jewish history that they know is the Holocaust, [but] it’s so much bigger than that,” Goldstein said. Indeed, intolerance of foreign ideas is far more common than intolerance of familiar ones, which is why it is crucial to teach culturally diverse information.

Once students grasp how to study and discuss religious material, they can apply that same approach to foster productive discourse in other areas of conflict. “In any field, whether religion [or another], knowledge breeds familiarity, knowledge breeds awareness. Knowledge of any type, I think, leads to a lessening of conflict,” Moose said.

Thus, beyond just religious discrimination, focusing on diverse worldviews would give students important insight into a wide array of other conflicts. Many divisive is-

Comparative religion material, in its ideal form, should increase students’ knowledge of unfamiliar religions. But in some cases, comparative religion classes have done the opposite, pushing blatantly discriminatory stereotypes. For instance, a Bible class in one Texas public school system during the 2011-2012 school year explicitly asked students why “the Jews sought to kill Jesus,” according to a report from the Texas Freedom Network Education Fund.

Materials like this and their underlying biases have no place in public schools.

Such biases can be dangerously ingrained into the curricula itself, which is why comparative religion material should not be included in mandatory social studies classes.

Mark Chancey, a professor of religious studies at Southern Methodist University who studied a mandatory Bible course curricula in Texas public schools and authored the above-referenced report, explained that subconscious bigotry stems from the curriculum. “There’s always the question of what to teach and what gets emphasized?

ISS MAR

CE A RHI

And who decides that?”

Chancey said in an interview. “Sometimes, the people making those decisions… might choose to emphasize things that they happen to be familiar with, or they might choose to emphasize popular misperceptions.”

Chancey found that oftentimes, because of this implicit bias, certain stereotypes made their way into some mandatory Texas public curricula. “There were certainly some [members and advisors] on the Texas State Board of Education… that really wanted to make sure that Islam was portrayed in a negative light,” he said.

His study found many examples of biased and harmful teaching; for example, some course materials blamed Jewish people for killing Jesus. Not only is this incorrect, it could cause prejudice against Jewish people. Chancey also found materials claiming that America was founded as a Christian nation, even though the First Amendment ensures no official national religion. Religious biases like these are all too common and will invariably manifest themselves, whether as openly as in the Texas curriculum or more subtly, in any re-

voicebox

ligious-study curriculum MCPS tries to write.

But even if the course materials are somehow bias-free, prejudice still cannot be avoided. A teacher’s religious beliefs or lack thereof will inevitably seep into their classes.

Kevin Moose, who teaches the comparative religion elective at Blair, thinks he is not personally biased but does actively try to showcase diverse perspectives. “What kids perceive may be different,” he admitted. “If there is any bias for me, I want to counteract that by having kids meet other students and adults and religious figures, as many as I can get in.”

However, this can’t completely eliminate bias—at the end of the day, the teacher actually teaches the class, and most social studies teachers have not specifically studied how to avoid bias while teaching the complex and controversial subject of religion. “Regardless of what the guiding curricular standards are, and regardless of how good the textbooks are, what really matters is what actually happens in the classroom,” Chancey said.

“Teachers come at this with varying degrees of background in the material and with different presuppositions.”

Bringing in guest speakers cannot wholly absolve a comparative religion course or unit of the instructor’s implicit bias, and it does not even begin to consider partiality that may exist in the hypothetical districtwide mandatory curriculum itself.

That bias, whether due to uninformed perspectives or malicious intent, means these classes cannot be taught fairly—which, in turn, will likely increase religious intolerance.

Most teachers aren’t intentionally biased, but even subconsciously, they will likely end up promoting their preferred religion. Even small biases, such as portraying certain religious traditions—like some Muslim or Jewish people not eating pork because of religious restrictions—as strange or abnormal, could lead to a perception of these practices as different or wrong, perpetuating hate and religious discrimination.

Proponents of comparative religion argue it reduces religious intolerance. But this assumes that each teacher is perfectly unbiased, has an extensive knowledge of all world religions, and gives equal weight to each— which is, of course, unrealistic.

Lack of understanding can cause intolerance, but blatant misunderstanding is guaranteed to cause more. If one student learns nothing about Islam, and another learns that, say, Islam is linked to terrorism, the second is clearly more likely to be intolerant towards Muslims. It would be safer for students to learn nothing about comparative religion in school than to walk away with a flawed and bigoted perception.

We can’t rely on school boards to write fair curricula, and we can’t rely on teachers to be unbiased. Religion—even if comparative— must stay out of public schools.

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Dec. 9, 2020 Opinions B2

Shifting to thrifting

Thrift stores provide eco-friendly fun

By Grace Walsh Design Editor AN OPINION Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. The familiar mnemonic has been drilled into our heads since elementary school science class. While the “three R’s” are commonly associated with food and fuel conservation efforts, they can also be applied to our shopping habits.

In 2020, being a sustainable consumer looks like opting for metal straws, utilizing reusable bags, and shopping “green.” But it also looks like reducing excessive shopping habits, reusing secondhand items, and recycling old clothes via donation. Thrift stores check each of these three boxes and serve as an easy and accessible way for shoppers to be environmentally friendly while also enhancing their wardrobes.

From vintage plaid sweaters to trendy jeans, thrift stores offer a magical combination of economical shopping and scavenger hunting—completely different from ordinary retail shopping.

Blair science teacher and Green Club sponsor Elizabeth Levien almost exclusively shops secondhand for herself and her children because she realizes the impact that shopping has on the environment. “Our wastefulness has a massive impact on the world, and, as Americans, if we can reduce our footprint, we will have a big impact collectively,” she said. Levien even thrifted her wedding dress. “It was the most magnificent dress,” she added. “One woman probably wore it one time and… probably paid over a thousand dollars for it. And I bought it for $50.”

Thrift stores and secondhand shops were originally created to provide low-in-

come communities with affordable clothing options. However, in recent years, thrifting has broken into the pop culture scene and become a favored option for middle- and upper-class shoppers, too. With their growing popularity stores like Value Village and others have begun to spring up in larger numbers.

These recent trends have left some questioning thrift stores’ purpose and morals. They suggest that when wealthier people shop at thrift stores, they take away cost-friendly resources for communities in need, in turn expanding inequality.

But thrifting does not, in fact, strip resources from those in need or contribute to inequality. Instead, thrift stores are able to effectively support low-income communities while also giving shoppers of all income brackets the opportunity to be ethical and conscientious about consumption.

CHRISTINA CHEN

SECONDHAND SHOPPING Value Village is one of several thrift stores in Silver Spring, offering a more sustainable form of shopping.

Thrift stores survive on donations from the communities they serve, and, usually, those donations are plentiful. For example, Richard See, a retail store manager at Urban Thrift in Kensington, explained, “We’ve never run out [of items to sell],” he said.

“There’s no lack of donations.”

As See noted, supply is rarely a problem.

There is enough used clothing to serve both low-income and middle- and upper-income shoppers. And given the exorbitant rate of clothing waste in the United States—the Environmental Protection Agency reported that in 2018 alone, over nine million tons of clothing and shoes were in landfills—the more secondhand shopping, the better.

According to See, a wide-range of people shop at Urban Thrift. For the most part, shoppers can be categorized into three groups: those who shop due to financial constraints, those who are environmentally-conscious, and those who are cost-conscious—a segment of the population that can afford higher-end clothing but prefers to find the best deal.

Thrift stores are able to serve and aid all these different groups of consumers; therefore, all people can benefit from secondhand shopping without worrying about taking clothes away from those who shop at thrift stores out of financial need.

Buying less and shopping local—qualities that thrift stories embody at their core—is a crucial antidote to the environmental impacts of mass consumption we see today.

People generally push to buy more than necessary, especially individuals of higher income brackets. Thrifting and shopping secondhand is an alternative that serves us all well. It expands access to affordable clothing, helps combat clothing waste, and promotes eco-friendliness, all while letting us look more stylish in the process.

Ranked-choice voting is the clear winner for democracy

By Samantha Rodriguez Staff Writer AN OPINION Rather than representing the will of the majority, elections in the United States often favor minority opinion. Our current election system denies the public the fair representation it deserves, especially when it comes to voting, the foundation of democracy. We need concrete and sweeping change—namely, the implementation of ranked-choice voting (RCV), also known as instant runoff voting.

RCV is a system of voting in which voters rank candidates in order of their preference.

Until one candidate achieves an absolute majority of votes, the candidate with the least number of votes is disqualified and votes are reallocated according to voters’ second choice. This process continues until one candidate obtains a simple majority.

RCV has numerous benefits over the winner-take-all system used in most of the United States, wherein the candidate with the highest number of votes—the plurality, not necessarily the majority—wins the election.

For presidential elections, the United States utilizes an electoral system; most states cast all their electoral votes for the candidate who wins a plurality in that state’s popular vote.

One key advantage of RCV is it removes the spoiler effect, which causes an electorate to be split among two candidates with similar ideologies. This, in turn, gives a candidate with an opposing and altogether less popular ideology a better chance of winning. In cases where more than two candidates run, fear of this spoiler effect leads voters to strategically pick candidates based on how they believe the rest of the electorate will vote, rather than how they actually feel. By turning votes for non-mainstream candidates into throwaway votes, this system requires parties to coalesce around one candidate, which limits import-

ant and constructive dialogue about ideological differences.

One illustrative example of the spoiler effect was the closely contested presidential election between George W. Bush (R) and Al Gore (D) in 2000. In Florida, Gore and the Green Party candidate Ralph Nader split the liberal vote, allowing Bush to secure a victory in the bellwether state. Had RCV been in effect, Gore—the more popular candidate—would have won Florida and, in turn, the White House.

In the 2020 presidential election between Donald Trump (R) and Joe Biden (D), a similar spoiler effect occurred in Georgia. Biden won the state by about 14,000 votes, while Jo Jorgensen, the Libertarian Party’s candidate, received around 62,000 votes. Had a fraction of those voters chosen Trump, Trump could have carried Georgia. However, the true effect of Jorgensen’s campaign in Georgia is unknown as Libertarians tend to lean both Democrat and Republic.

Alicia Pepper, a citizen of Australia where RCV is used in national elections,believes RCV allows voters to choose candidates who they’re most closely aligned with without worrying about the spoiler effect. “There’s a concept of wasting your vote [in the United States system], and that’s why a lot of people don’t pick who they might prefer,” she said.

Allowing people to vote for candidates they honestly agree with may also yield higher turnout. A 2020 study by the University of Technology Sydney found that when certain cities in Minnesota began to use RCV, there was a 9.6 percent increase in voter turnout for mayoral elections.

While RCV has the potential to bolster turnout, plurality systems—like in the United States—are linked with lower turnout, according to a 2001 study by Shaun Bowler from the University of California, David Brockington from the Universiteit Twente in the Netherlands, and Todd Donovan from Western Washington University. A In the

2020 presidential election, only 66.7 percent of the voting-eligible population voted.

Another major benefit of RCV is that candidates cannot simply rely on their loyal voter base and instead must appeal to voters across the aisle, which improves the accuracy of democratic representation. Coalition building is nearly unheard of in the current United States system, as politics are starkly polarized, campaigns are riddled with negative attack ads, and third party constituencies remain largely in the periphery.

In Australia, however, Pepper highlighted how mainstream parties are forced to accommodate the values of smaller parties in order to appeal to a wider base. “The Greens Party in Australia [is] all about the environment, but they’re not very popular,” she said.

“Because [candidates] need the second and third preferential votes, they’ll try and appeal to the values of the Greens Party. They now advocate against mining, and they try to look

at more eco-friendly ways of helping the environment.”

RCV opponents argue that a candidate who lacks a plurality of votes in the first tally should not win the race. But it is the current winner-take-all system that actually ignores important morals of democracy: consensus, mutual agreement, and compromise. RCV, on the other hand, ensures that the winning candidate is someone that the majority of voters find satisfactory.

The results of a single election can mean massive changes in policy for years to come.

It’s imperative, then, that we ensure that the people we put in our halls of power carry with them the will of the majority. Our winner-take-all system is outdated, and enacting RCV is both feasible and beneficial. We can cut down partisan divides, give voters more power and choice, and include more viewpoints in our democracy—all with just a slight tweak to our ballots.

SAMANTHA RODRIGUEZ

UPWARD TREND AFTER RCV The voter turnout percentage of Minneapolis’ municipal elections before and after RCV was implemented.

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B3 Opinions Dec. 9, 2020

Creating civicminded youth

U IFER H

AN OPINION Before senior Maddie Graham walked out of class on Sept.

20, 2019 to lead 11,000 people on a strike for climate action in Washington, D.C., she took AP Government and Politics at Blair.

Although she learned basic civic principles, she does not think the class prepared her for her activism efforts. “There was a lack of nuance,” she said.

Instead, Graham believes that much of what she’s learned about civics has come from organizing and advocating with peers.

MCPS and schools across the country must recognize that the current civics curricula fail to adequately educate and empower youth to become politically involved. Students’ ability to participate in democracy hinges on their education; thus, schools must provide realistic and accessible lessons about government and policy to foster student civic engagement.

Christopher Riano, president of the Center for Civic Education and a lecturer in constitutional law and government at Columbia University, believes it critical that students understand how to interact with the government. “What’s really important is to make sure that people [don’t] just have a basic core understanding of constitutional principles but that they then have an ability to apply and use them,” he said in an interview.

Hands-on experience is key, as Blair AP Government and Politics teacher Sean Gabaree confirmed.

“Just learning about the theory of how our process works doesn’t matter unless you’re doing something,” he said. He described a pattern of lifelong political engagement and input that typically emerges if students begin putting democratic principles in action when young.

As a part of the College Board’s curriculum for the AP course, students are required to complete a civic engagement project. Though last year’s students didn’t complete the assignment due to COVID-19, students ordinarily volunteer on political campaigns, work at polling locations, attend county council or school board meetings, or engage with their community’s government in a totally different way to get credit.

In other classes, teachers take different approaches to engage students in politics. Douglas Jimenez, who teaches Blair government classes primarily for ESOL students, does so by relating seemingly abstract government principles to tangible current events.

Efforts like these—along with measures like MCPS’ 2018 policy allowing excused absences for student political participation—are steps in the right direction, but

they are still not enough. Schools should actively encourage students to interact with political institutions beyond classroom walls, from getting registered to vote to testifying in front of local government bodies. Instead of simply explaining the steps a hypothetical lobbyist could take, the curriculum must explain why youth civic engagement is so important and inspire students to take part—not just for the grade, but because they see value in their voice being heard.

Schools should also emphasize teaching how to engage specifically with state and county governments, as local policies most directly affect students. Local participation, too, has an outsized impact compared to federal participation, according to Gabaree. “There [are]… questions on [the ballot this year] that impact both county government and state government,” he said.

“They are more impactful than who you pick for president.”

While youth typically have more access to and influence in local governments, the majority of instruction in American government courses surrounds the federal government and general political principles. Instruction rooted in local and state concepts is necessary because it will enable students to use what they learn to make a direct difference in their community.

For example, in sophomore year, Graham learned that the Maryland General Assembly only meets for three months of the year.

That knowledge influenced her to strategically focus her advocacy efforts and appeal to the legislature during that three month period while spending the rest of the year organizing. Graham feels that if the AP course had taught her more about community policies, she would have gotten involved in politics sooner.

Teachers must create those pathways for students to effectively interact with their local government. Jimenez highlighted one way for his students, even those who are not United States citizens, to become politically involved: partnerships between Blair and local advocacy organizations. The school system should create and promote programs like these, giving students a diverse array of the hands-on experience necessary to actively shape our government.

By emphasizing local government and forming these partnerships, MCPS can strengthen civics curricula and empower students to create the changes they want to see. “Blair is a very unique place in terms of civic engagement,” Graham said. “There’s so much hunger to make something happen.”

Schools need to capitalize on that eagerness and not only prepare students for college and careers but also for their role as active citizens in American democracy.

JENN

By Annie Goldman Staff Writer

MCPS guest columns

COURTESY OF JEFFREY SULLIVAN

By Jeffrey Sullivan MCPS Director, Systemwide Athletics AN OPINION Like all aspects of our lives, COVID-19 has impacted the operations of sports at all levels, including the MCPS athletics program. However, when faced with challenges and adversity, our “Why” and R.A.I.S.E. core values of MCPS Athletics continue to shine through even brighter.

This has certainly been the case during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the operations of MCPS Athletics have experienced multiple twists and turns and our student-athletes and the countless individuals who support them have continued to thrive.

This notion is captured in our slogan during the pandemic: “We CAN, We WILL, We R.A.I.S.E.” In short, we will continue to focus on what we CAN do, not what we can’t do; we WILL continue to deliver the greatest, innovative athletic experience possible throughout the year; and we will demonstrate an unwavering commitment to our R.A.I.S.E. core values of MCPS Athletics. Ultimately, the health and safety of students, staff members and our communities is the paramount priority.

While we recognize the dis-

COURTESY OF LINDSAY CAO

By Lindsay Cao MCPS Coordinator, K-12 School Counseling AN OPINION “School Counselors can do virtually anything.” I have seen this quote float around the Internet for quite some time, referring to the many tasks counselors can juggle during our time in distance learning. As silly as it sounds, it’s true. According to the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), school counselors must focus on three main areas for our students: social and emotional, college and career, and academic. Our ability to be face-to-face with our students has changed, but our focus has not.

Social emotional support is at the forefront of the work by all school counselors. Currently, school counselors have office hours and work as a team to ensure that the virtual office always has a counselor available during normal school hours. All K-12 school counselors are actively working with their students to do individual check-ins, social-emo-

appointment experienced by students, coaches, and all stakeholders regarding the inability to compete and participate in-person, we have continued to focus on the positive aspects of participation and engagement in the virtual setting. The R.A.I.S.E. Reimagined plan for the virtual delivery of the MCPS athletics program has allowed for the engagement of approximately 10,000 high school students and 2,000 middle school students during the fall and winter seasons. The spring virtual season will begin in December and continue through January.

The virtual program has been guided on four overarching areas of engagement: systemwide opportunities and speakers, sport-specific opportunities, school-based engagement and team-specific activities.

Using this model, we have been able to offer systemwide speakers for students, including motivational speakers, equity and social justice forums, information on the college recruiting process, a sports careers series, and a women in sports series.

Sport-specific opportunities have been driven by the efforts of design teams, which convened in August and outlined potential engagement opportunities for each sport.

These design teams included representatives from our Student-Athlete Leadership Council, coaches from across the county, and leaders across each sport and school. School-based engagement opportunities have included mindfulness sport sessions, leadership and character development, and alumni speaking sessions. Finally, similar to “normal” operations, coaches and student-athletes have had the ability to shape and provide a team-specific experience, including conditioning and skills-based

sessions and sport strategy “chalk talks.”

While we have been implementing the virtual program, planning for the return of in-person activities has been ongoing since last spring. The COVID-19 Task Force for MCPS Athletics has been formally meeting since June to plan for in-person engagement. This group is comprised of stakeholders across MCPS Athletics, multiple departments across MCPS, and representatives from the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Service and the Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.

The task force has developed procedures and protocols that can assist with maximizing the health and safety of students, staff members and our communities to the extent possible. The return of such programming would occur in alignment with the return of students to schools and when health metrics allow—when the opportunity arises, we will be prepared.

Again, it is important to note that we are committed to the health and safety of all across MCPS Athletics and will follow the guidance of the leadership in Montgomery County.

During the course of the school year, we continue to be amazed by the creativity of students, coaches and others to maximize the athletics experience.

While virtual athletics is new to all, I am proud of the collective efforts across MCPS Sports Nation to embrace our core values and create the GREATEST program possible, despite the challenges of COVID-19. I look forward to what lies ahead, knowing that the MCPS Athletics Family is stronger than ever and prepared to succeed no matter the circumstances!

Together, We R.A.I.S.E. MCPS Athletics!

tional classroom guidance lessons, and collaborating with staff when concerns arise. As active members of the Student Well-Being Teams, they use that time to determine the needs of students and how they can provide appropriate interventions, especially during virtual learning.

They are also continuing to meet with parents via online meetings or phone calls using Google Voice phone numbers.

Right now, all high school students are able to gain access to school counselors for assistance with college applications and letters of recommendations through a variety of ways. While each school has their own method of communicating with students, there are several universal practices. At this point in the year, school counseling departments have already held senior meetings.

It is also important to note that the College & Career Information Coordinators (CCICs) are key in this work as well. The work started last spring, when students received lessons utilizing Naviance to discuss the process. Then, during the summer, both CCICs and school counselors held workshops and forums open to all ninth through twelfth graders on college and career readiness. The topics included how to attend a virtual college visit, application deadlines, and other key areas of the college search process.

Each school has an individualized plan for connecting with the school counselor and/or CCIC. Regardless, Naviance remains our constant platform for the

college planning and application process. As many major college deadlines have passed, counselors and CCICs have been working diligently to ensure all students are prepared to submit the full application by their specific deadlines.

We also just completed our first Fall College Fair—led by your very own CCIC, Ms. Carmen Salazar—where over 400 students registered! In addition, a committee of school counselors—including your very own resource counselor, Mrs. Makeyda Soriano—CCICs, and other leaders are working on our thirteenth annual Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Fair. It will be virtual of course, but we are offering On The Spot Admissions opportunities, scholarships, and various breakout sessions. Save the date for Feb. 12 and 13!

We are in the midst of a dual pandemic. Feelings of anxiety, isolation, and sadness are very real. It is important to know and remember that your school counselors are here for you. Check out their social media pages listing activities they are doing (I know Blair has yoga with the counselors), read your emails with opportunities, and reach out. If you feel like there is a need that is not being met—especially during this time—let them know. We are always looking to best support all of our students. Also, know that school counselors continue to pursue professional development on how to support all students in a virtual setting through various MCPS-sponsored training and outside organizations.

School counselors are student focused; your well-being is their priority.

silverchips

Dec. 9, 2020 Opinions B4

County order threatens Nevada’s final blow community journalism

Transparency and freedom of information is paramount to holding institutions and governments responsible. Just as the federal Freedom of Information Act provides the public access to federal agency records, the Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA)—our local counterpart—gives us access to state and local information.

Under the MPIA, individuals may request any records from state and local governments, with certain exceptions based on personal privacy, making information of public interest readily available. As residents of Montgomery County, the MPIA is one of the most important tools we have to assess our schools and other local systems.

As journalists, the MPIA allows us to accurately inform our community about our schools and local governments’ performance; access to accurate information is the backbone of the freedom of press. Recently, this right has come under attack.

According to the MPIA, upon receiving a public information request, “the custodian must produce the record ‘immediately’… An additional reasonable period ‘not to exceed 30 days’ is available only where the additional period of time is required to retrieve the records.”

This 30 day deadline is essential for ensuring that we receive information in a timely manner and are able to inform the community when it is still relevant.

However, on Oct. 5, County Executive Marc Elrich issued an executive order that overrides the maximum 30 day waiting period indefinitely.

According to the order, “The deadlines contained in the above-ref-

erenced sections of the Act are extended until the 30th day after the Governor has terminated the state of emergency.” In other words, the state doesn’t have to respond to public information requests until 30 days after the state of emergency is over.

Given the volatility of infection rates and how the state has handled the pandemic thus far, the state of emergency could last for a year or longer, conceivably postponing responses to information requests until then. This includes important data requests, such as those relating to the pandemic, which are needed promptly.

Concerningly, the county has only responded to 50 MPIA requests

Navigating the MPIA system is already challenging and inaccessible. The county’s move to postpone information requests indefinitely only makes matters worse. since the executive order took “full force and effect immediately.” That’s compared to the 78 responses given over the same time period before the order was passed. Elrich justified the order by citing additional “operational challenges presented by the present COVID-19 state of emergency,” but nevertheless, the office still has the ability to meet some requests.

The question is which ones?

These responses could be due

DELIA MORAN

By Kathryn LaLonde Ombudsman AN OPINION In her 2015 commencement address to Tuskegee University, Michelle Obama said, “You’ve got to vote, vote, vote, vote. That’s it; that’s the way we move forward.

That’s how we make progress for ourselves and for our country.”

She gave this speech several months before the 2016 presidential election, in which the total voter turnout was roughly 138 million United States citizens. During the 2020 presidential election, there was the highest voter turnout in modern U.S. history, more than 156 million votes.

Around 66.7 percent of the eligible population voted. For some international context, in the New Zealand 2017 election, voter turnout was roughly 79 percent. In Sweden’s most recent election, their voter turnout was 87 percent. In 2018, Turkey’s voter turnout was 89 percent. Clearly, the U.S. needs to be doing better. But, first, we must

examine why even in a historic year, our voter turnout is still so low.

Our representative Democratic system essentially forces citizens to choose between two candidates. Often, it is a choice between the “lesser of two evils.” During the 2020 election, many progressives voted for Biden because he was the only alternative to Trump even though Biden isn’t a representation of the type of person they wanted in office. In 2020, our country is trapped in such a moment of polarization and division that many people, including Republicans, “settled” for Biden. For some Republicans, they felt they had to “settle” for Trump.

The two-party system is nowhere near ideal, and changes like rankchoice voting and a multi-party system are far from happening soon at a national level (read more about the benefits of rank-choice voting on page B2). Despite the electoral limitations of the current system, every eligible U.S. citizen, who feels they safely can, regardless of their political affiliation must vote because it is a fundamental part of how we

to miscommunication between the county and state, or arbitrary prioritization of some requests over others. Either way, this reflects an ongoing problem with the county’s implementation of the MPIA: ambiguity and unfair treatment.

In addition to indefinite deadlines and arbitrary responses, obtaining data from the county incurs a serious and disproportionate financial burden—even under normal circumstances. Upon receiving an MPIA request, a custodian will search for and prepare records for two hours free of charge. However, if the office estimates a request will take more than two hours, then the individual or group requesting information needs to pay the estimated fee to prepare the data up front.

Since the fee is based on hours worked and needs to be paid up front, there is no way to verify that the estimate accurately reflects the true cost of compiling the data.

Silver Chips faced this paywall in September when a member of our staff attempted to get access to student disciplinary data. The requested data was already published as a table in a PDF, meaning that the raw data was almost certainly readily available in spreadsheet format.

Despite that, MCPS spokesperson Derek Turner responded to our writer’s request with a two page letter. He wrote: “We estimate that the fee would be $1,393.40, based on 20 hours of work... at a rate of $69.67 per hour.” Unable to pay such an exorbitant fee, we asked if we could receive the two free hours worth of data gathering mandated by law. The Public Information Office responded, saying, “The pro-

JAY CHAO

cessing, assessment and initial response to your request has already exhausted the initial two hours.”

It is as important now than ever before for journalists and the broader public to be able to hold officials and corporations responsible and seek out the truth. Navigating the MPIA system is already challenging and inaccessible. The county’s move

to postpone information requests indefinitely only makes matters worse.

As a community-powered, editorially-independent high school newspaper, we take informing our community and ensuring accountability and responsibility seriously.

But it’s hard to fulfill our role when the county is hiding behind a timer and a paywall.

er registration, meaning that citizens can register to vote on Election Day or during the early voting period, including an online registration option.

But there are still issues with the voting process in the state of Maryland.

For example, Maryland requires some form of voter identification when registering to vote. Although the ID can be anything from a state driver’s license to a utility bill, voter ID laws are a pivotal part of voter suppression. Often, they discriminate against people with disabilities and low-income citizens. Accord-

every single registered voter without an application.

There are several steps we as individuals can take to ensure we are fighting to end voter suppression. Donate to organizations in Maryland, such as the ACLU of Maryland’s Election Protection campaign or CASA in Action, that organize voter turnout drives, or other groups outside of the state, like Stacey Abrams’ Fair Fight in Georgia, that strive to protect civil liberties. Call local, state, and national representatives to ask them to support making Election Day a national holiday. And support organizations like the Sentencing Project and Fair Vote that work to enfranchise felons and prisoners.

Our country is far from perfect— and it may never be—but we must recognize the power in giving a voice to the people to choose their leaders. In order to ensure that the privilege of voting becomes a right for all people, we must all play a part in ending voter suppression.

So many U.S. citizens had to fight for the opportunity to cast a single vote. Those of us who have the privilege to vote must. It may be easy to ignore politics and act as if your vote doesn’t matter, but politics affect everyone, and every vote counts.

Soon enough, we will have another election: the 2022 midterms.

Take action. Register to vote now.

Democracy depends on us.

It’s time to use our privilege: Vote.

can make our voices heard in our government. A democracy is where all citizens, no matter their identity, have the opportunity to participate in a free and fair election. But we know in practice, this is not what elections look like in our country, specifically for citizens of color and lower-income communities.

From the time of the first United States presidential election in 1788, it took white women 132 years and people of color 177 years to have a voice in their government. Even though the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed to prevent voting discrimination on the basis of race, a key part of it was struck down in 2013 by the Supreme Court decision Shelby County v. Holder, which made it easier for individual states to impose restrictions on voting and consequently limit the ability for marginalized groups to vote. Although every U.S. citizen above the age of 18 can legally vote in the twenty-first century, there are still forces that actively create voter suppression and prevent working-class and/or communities of color from voting.

From strict voter identification laws in Alabama to the permanent disenfranchisement of felons in Virginia, it is clear that those in power are deliberately discriminating against their fellow citizens. How can we expect every U.S. citizen to vote when our country is not providing the resources and opportunities for certain groups and communities?

Voting should be a right for all people, not a privilege for those who are white and wealthy. There are several steps we as a country must take in order to move away from voter suppression, but the first step is creating change at a local and state level.

Montgomery County has made many steps in the right direction.

Our county allows for same-day vot-

Voting should be a right for all people, not a privilege for those who are white and wealthy. ing to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), 11 percent of U.S. citizens lack photo identification.

And some of the alternatives, a utility bill or paycheck, mean that the person must have a job or the income to pay their bills.

During the 2020 election, the state of Maryland required an application in order to be considered for a mail-in ballot, which many considered another form of voter suppression. This made it difficult and challenging for many elderly and disabled people to vote because they could risk their lives voting in person during the pandemic. This new rule also further disenfranchised many Black and Latinx citizens who have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic.

Maryland should consistently do what they did in the 2020 primary— or what California has been doing since 1978—and mail out ballots to

To connect with Kathryn, email her at ombudsmansilver chips@gmail.com

silverchips

B5 Opinions Dec. 9, 2020

Our grading system is failing us

MCPS should create a participation-based format to help

By Luther Voltaire Staff Writer

MCPS can achieve this goal through a hybrid grading model that merges the rigor of the conventional letter-grade system with the flexibility afforded by last semester’s optional pass/fail system.

AN OPINION For Blair senior Thirein Kyaw, online learning has brought an inescapable pattern of minimal motivation. Kyaw has found himself regularly procrastinating and unable to consistently complete dayto-day assignments.

Kyaw is not the only student undergoing such experiences. With COVID-19 dominating all aspects of our lives, students are facing a slew of challenges—from mental health struggles to the deaths of loved ones—that are dramatically shaping their lives.

The existing grading system has amplified these issues, making it harder for students like Kyaw and fellow senior Jabir Chowdhury to turn in their schoolwork on time.

“I feel like [the grading system] does not alleviate a lot of stress… and [makes it] harder to get work on time,” Chowdhury said. “While this has always been a problem with school in general, these problems have been heightened with online learning.” Thus, MCPS must transition to a hybrid grading model that combines conventional letter grades with a score for participation to promote student well-being and to create more engaging class sessions.

Based on recent revisions to the MCPS grading policy, teachers are only allowed to assign students up to nine homework assignments per class during the second quarter. While nine homework assignments may not seem like a lot, it’s the length of those assignments

MARIJKE FRIEDMAN AND ANIKA SETH

that matters. In some cases, a single homework assignment can take three to five hours to complete, time that students would otherwise use for their favorite hobbies.

In such a dark and taxing time, recreational hobbies provide breathing room for students, in which they can relax, indulge themselves, and enjoy a brief reprieve.

According to Adventist Healthcare, having a hobby can also significantly relieve mental tension and stress.

However, without the means to devote a large portion of their time towards their hobbies, students become more stressed and less motivated to participate in non-required activities. While it’s important for a student to receive homework, as

it helps them develop study habits and time management skills, it’s also necessary that we reduce the length of those assignments and deemphasize their importance, so that students have more time for extracurricular activities.

MCPS can achieve this goal through a hybrid grading model that merges the rigor of the conventional letter-grade system with the flexibility afforded by last semester’s optional pass/fail system.

Yes, it’s important for a student to receive homework, as it helps them develop study habits and time management skills—but it’s also necessary that we reduce the length of those assignments and deemphasize their importance so students

“The current grading system is too hard because it was built on the system Should MCPS change the where students would be school with no distracexisting grading system intions, but now we are at temporarily in light of home now helping our virtual learning? Are families survive.”

soapbox

there permanent changes you think are necessary?

“I do not believe MCPS should change the existing grading system temporarily... continuing a regular class online includes following similar grading procedures.”

CHRISTIAN LE BLANC junior

KRISH WAHI freshman

have more time for extracurricular activities.

Unlike in the pass/fail system, where students passed based on assignment completion, this hybrid system would more heavily weight in-class participation. A student will be awarded points for participation based on how often they raise their hands and answer questions. This participation grade could make up 60 percent of a student’s grade, while other assignments, such as quizzes and homework, would comprise the remaining 40 percent.

Additionally, homework assignments for on-level courses should not exceed 90 minutes a week, and homework for AP or honors courses should not exceed two hours a week. According to a 2014 study by education scholar Denise Pope from Stanford University, spending more than two hours a night on homework can be counterpro-

ductive by reducing homework benefits, leading to adverse health effects, and hurting “critical life skills” such as building interpersonal relationships. Implementing this system will relieve the amount of stress on a student because they would know their grade depends on their level of engagement in class instead of how well they perform on a test. An added benefit would be increased student engagement—of which there is far too little over Zoom.

Eric Prange, a chemistry teacher at Blair, described the current lack of participation during Zoom classes. “It’s like I’m not teaching [students] but rather mysterious creatures hiding behind a box,” he said. “It doesn’t feel real… Most of the time, it’s only three to four students participating in a class of 20.”

But with a participation grade, that lack of student involvement in classrooms could be resolved as students would be more inclined to speak up, answer questions, and interact with each other for the benefit of their grades, replicating a learning environment more similar to what students and teachers alike experienced during in-person lessons.

If MCPS truly wants to ensure students get the most out of their classes, they must adopt a hybrid grading model with a heavier emphasis on class participation than on academic performance. This will reduce student stress, which is especially important given the heightened anxiety caused by the pandemic, and encourage more lively discussions, creating a school setting in which both students and teachers are excited to participate.

“It is the same amount of assignments even though “I think the grading syswe have two and a half tem is fine the way it is. fewer hours of class per It seems like teachers are week. It is harder to being flexible with grades comprehend the materiand due dates.” al when the only teaching we are receiving is through a screen.”

CARLY BOOTS junior PARKER ROBINSON senior

MCPS first quarter grade data

Read about changes to the secondary grading protocol for this quarter on page A3.

English & math failure rates (Grade 9)

Non-FARMS math failure rates (Grade 11-12)

Non-FARMS math failure rates (Grade 8-9) 50

50

50

40

40

40

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30

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10

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10

0 G rade 8

G rade 9

G rade 11

50

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LEGEND:

G rade 12

FARMS math failure rates (Grade 11-12)

FARMS math failure rates (Grade 8-9)

G rade 8

0

0

G rade 9

Asian/White/Other

F AR MS Other

Non-F AR MS F AR MS B lack Non-F AR MS Other B lack

F AR MS Latinx

Non-F AR MS Latinx

English & math failure rates (Grade 12) 50 40 30 20 10

G rade 11

Black

G rade 12

Latinx

Math class failure rates increased for FARMS and non-FARMS-eligible students currently in ninth and twelfth grades, based on MCPS first quarter grade data presented on Dec. 3. Each graph shows one population group’s failure rates from the previous and current school year’s first marking period.

0

F AR MS Other

Non-F AR MS Other

LEGEND:

F AR MS B lack

Non-F AR MS B lack

English

F AR MS Latinx

Math

Non-F AR MS Latinx

CLARK ZHANG

Per MCPS data, students struggled more in math classes than in English classes during first quarter. Each graph compares the English class and math class failure rates for different demographic groups.

la

El 9 de diciembre de 2020

esquinalatina Representando la comunidad latinx desde el 2003

Volumen 18 Número 2

La Casita, lidiando cambios ante la pandemia Por Angela Ramirez Escritora Debido a la pandemia, muchos negocios latinxs han tenido que adaptarse y crear diferentes opciones para garantizar la seguridad de sus clientes y empleados. Los negocios tienen que seguir las regulaciones del estado de Maryland que fueron anunciadas por el gobernador Larry Hogan en el mes de mayo, tales como usar mascarilla y mantener una distancia de seis pies entre personas, para ofrecer un ambiente seguro y sano.

Muchos negocios han ayudado a los que están en la primera línea, ofreciéndoles comida a los doctores y enfermeros/as y a las personas que se encuentran sin hogar.

Se han unido a diferentes organizaciones para ayudar a la comunidad latinx. Asimismo, también hay iglesias donde, sin importar si eres miembro o no, puedes ir a recoger una caja de comida.

Iris Veronica Jimenes, una de las dueñas de La Casita, un restaurante salvadoreño, cuenta que, “Estamos ahorita básicamente en el negocio de gente, verdad, estamos sirviendo nuestra comida, estamos en contacto con las personas todos los días entonces crear como esa

barrera entre nuestros clientes y nosotros ha sido bien difícil”. Esa barrera a la que hace referencia son las medidas de precaución que ellos están siguiendo. Lo más impactante que han tenido que cambiar es la estructura de su negocio para mantener un ambiente sano para todo el mundo y a la misma vez poder tener una buena atención para sus clientes.

El restaurante está siguiendo varias medidas de precaución, tales como mantener la distancia de seis pies. Además, todos los clientes y empleados tienen que usar sus mascarillas dentro del restaurante y adicionalmente todos los empleados usan guantes.

Hasta el momento, “No se sientan más de cuatro por mesa, estamos haciendo sanitización en las mesas entre cada persona, les aseguramos hacer una completa sanidad con el aerosol de desinfectante”, dice Jimenes.

También sólo se permite el ochenta por ciento de empleados dentro La Casita basado en las restricciones del gobernador de Maryland. Asimismo no ofrecen “menús, entonces solamente usamos el código QR para agarrar el menú en línea entonces de allí pue-

EDSON ORELLANA

RESTAURANTES EN LA PANDEMIA La Casita desea brindar un ambiente seguro y sano para la comunidad. den ordenar y también podemos hacer pedidos en línea para que la gente recoja y no tenga que conversar con nadie cuando llegue”, dice Jimenes.

Es importante destacar que La Casita ha ayudado a la comunidad local, “Trabajamos con los hospitales, dimos comida a los empleados del Hospital Suburban, a los empleados del Hospital Holy Cross y

a los empleados del Hospital Adventist”, nos cuenta Jimenes.

El restaurante trabaja con diferentes organizaciones, una de ellas en Gaithersburg, donde dejan comida gratis para la gente con COVID-19, otra de ellas es una fraternidad de la Universidad de Maryland, donde hacen entrega de domicilio. De igual forma, dieron comida a un grupo de desampara-

dos de Silver Spring.

Lo que les ha dejado de experiencia a La Casita es la importancia de tener un plan alternativo. Si sucediera una pandemia de nuevo, ya saben cuáles serían las tácticas y procedimientos que emplearán y la importancia de la comunicación entre sus vendedores, clientes y empleados. Además, ahora han incorporado el uso de las redes sociales y su página web para mantenerse comunicados con sus clientes y crear transparencia con sus clientes para seguir adelante. Crearon este sistema para estar mejor preparados ante cualquier situación que siga en el futuro.

Esta pandemia ha causado muchos cambios en la vida cotidiana.

A pesar de la cantidad de cambios por los que han tenido que pasar este negocio, los dueños han tenido que implementar todas las medidas de seguridad para ofrecer un buen servicio. También se han unido a varios negocios locales que donan comida a personas en necesidad y a los trabajadores en hospitales. Tal como demuestra este ejemplo, durante estos tiempos difíciles, se ha podido ver cómo la comunidad se ha unido para ayudarse los unos a los otros.

La escuela virtual no es igual Ausencias en MCPS aumentan con el aprendizaje en línea

Por Renata Muñoz y Cecilia Clemens Vargas Lugo Editora en Jefa y Editora Debido a la pandemia de COVID-19, las escuelas públicas del condado de Montgomery (MCPS), incluyendo Blair, han tenido varios problemas al comunicarse con estudiantes sobre las reglas de asistencia y en asegurarse que los estudiantes están conectándose a sus clases.

Ha sido evidente que el número de ausencias de estudiantes latinxs en MCPS es drásticamente más grande que el número de ausencias de estudiantes de otras etnias. Aunque históricamente los estudiantes latinxs e hispanos en MCPS han tenido tasas más altas de ausencias cuando comparados con estudiantes de otras etnias, el cambio a aprendizaje en línea ha presentado nuevas dificultades.

Según un reportaje de la Junta de Educación de MCPS, los estudiantes latinxs e hispanos tienen la tasa más alta de estudiantes que no se han conectado a las clases virtuales en el condado.

Durante la primera semana de clases, hubo un total de 4,349 estudiantes a través del condado que no se conectaron a clases vía

MyMCPS Classroom o por la cuenta de MCPS de Zoom. De esos 4,349 estudiantes, 47.48 por ciento fueron hispanos o latinxs.

El 3 de diciembre, la Junta de Educación dijo que siguen trabajando para asegurarse que todos los estudiantes estén conectados. Aun así, de los estudiantes en la escuela secundaria que no se están conectando, 63 por ciento son latinxs o hispanos.

Roxanne Fus, la secretaria de asistencia de Blair, considera que el alto número de ausencias en Blair durante el primer mes de clases se debe a un problema en el sistema de Synergy, el nuevo portal implementado este año escolar para centralizar información de estudiantes. El cambio causó dificultades en avisar a los estudiantes sobre sus ausencias. “El condado no había vinculado las llamadas de teléfono que salen en las noches [para notificar estudiantes y padres sobre ausencias] al portal Synergy. Entonces esas llamadas de teléfono para avisarte que has sido marcado ausente en una clase no comenzaron hasta mediados de octubre”, dice Fus. Fus piensa que la falta de notificación sobre ausencias causó que estudiantes tengan una falsa impre-

sión sobre las reglas de asistencia.

“Yo pienso que había una suposición hecha que tal vez la asistencia no importaba”, dice Fus. Al comienzo del año escolar, Fus también notó un número bajo de estudiantes excusando sus ausencias. Ella cuenta que, “En una escuela de este tamaño, debería haber estado recibiendo más correos electrónicos para excusar estudiantes [de sus ausencias]... Yo si le echo la culpa a eso por el hecho que no hubo llamadas de teléfono.

Yo creo que realmente no fue claro para estudiantes y padres que si su hijo estuvo ausente por cualquier razón, ellos realmente necesitaban mandar una nota”.

Además de que los estudiantes no fueron notificados sobre sus ausencias, la transición a aprendizaje en línea requirió un nuevo sistema de excusar ausencias. Cuando un estudiante está ausente, sus padres deben mandar un correo electrónico a Fus con el nombre del estudiante, su número de identificación estudiantil y la razón por la ausencia. El condado también requiere que los estudiantes completen un formulario electrónico para reconciliar su ausencia.

Ramona Washington, la trabajadora de personal estudiantil (PPW) asignada a Blair, cita otra razón por el aumento de ausencias al tener aprendizaje en línea. “Siento que los problemas de asistencia… han aumentado, yo creo que participación para estudiantes es cada vez más difícil para ellos para poder mantener y sostener la plataforma en línea”, dice Washington. Como PPW, ella coordina relaciones entre el hogar y la escuela. Cuando un estudiante a menudo falla a conectarse a las clases, ella investiga las razones porque e intenta resolver el problema.

Las razones más comunes que Washington encuentra porque estudiantes no se conectan a la clases son problemas con la tecnología, conflicto con el trabajo o el horario con otras responsabilidades como cuidar a familiares y falta de interés en la escuela. Washington nota que hay una falta de conocimiento de las opciones disponibles a estudiantes que tienen problemas con asistencia. “[Hay otras] alternativas [al día escolar tradicional] que nosotros ofrecemos para hacer que los estudiantes estén más involucrados [en la escuela], a nosotros ciertamente nos gustaría trabajar con ellos y apoyarlos”, dice Washington. Ella enfatiza la importan-

cia de asistir a clases. “Muchos estudiantes realmente no entienden la importancia o el impacto que tiene su ausentismo en sus notas y historial académico… yendo a la escuela todos los días es la mejor y la forma más fácil de recibir el diploma de escuela secundaria”, afirma Washington.

Los obstáculos que enfrentan los estudiantes, especialmente durante una pandemia, puede limitar su flexibilidad para asistir a clases.

Aunque la Junta de Educación de MCPS está tratando de resolver los problemas que estos estudiantes enfrentan, todavía existen muchos problemas con la asistencia de estudiantes latinxs.

SHASHI ARNOLD

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C2 La Esquina Latina 9 de diciembre de 2020

Falta de claridad durante el aprendizaje en línea Por Tony González Editor en Jefe UNA OPINIÓN El 25 de agosto, las Escuelas Públicas del Condado de Montgomery (MCPS) anunciaron en una Guía de Recuperación de la Educación el nuevo plan para el primer semestre de aprendizaje virtual.

Esta decisión trajo mucho estrés y frustración para los estudiantes del condado a causa de la falta de información sobre las nuevas normas del año, comenzando con las calificaciones. La guía indica que, “MCPS utilizará un sistema de calificación más estandarizado y tradicional para el semestre del otoño”.

Las escuelas secundarias no fueron completamente transparentes con sus estudiantes sobre lo que signi-

ficaba el “sistema de calificación tradicional”. A diferencia del final del curso escolar 2019-2020, donde se le dio la oportunidad a los estudiantes de elegir una calificación final “pass/fail” o calificación tradicional (A, B, C, D o E), en este año escolar la única opción es recibir una calificación tradicional.

Otra polémica entre los estudiantes ha sido cómo darle seguimiento a sus tareas y calificaciones.

A partir de este año escolar a todos los profesores del condado se les ha exigido utilizar MyMCPS Classroom para publicar tareas, pruebas y dar a conocer calificaciones antes de ser publicadas en Synergy, el sistema de calificaciones que sustituyó a Pinnacle. Sin embargo, se siente que cada maestro tiene un enfoque diferente en cómo mane-

JAY CHAO

Los cambios constantes en el sistema Los Latin Grammy de calificaciones crean confusión

jar esta plataforma. Los estudiantes han tenido que adaptarse a diferentes hábitos de manejo en distintas clases. Por ejemplo, algunos maestros/as ponen sus tareas en MyMCPS Classroom bajo la categoría de módulos y otros lo agregan bajo la categoría de tareas.

Más allá, algo que parece ser tentativo por cambiar cada semana es las fechas límites para las tareas. Algunos maestros han estado aceptando el trabajo tarde sin justificación de la tardanza de sus estudiantes pero otros han sido menos flexibles.

Sin un lenguaje en la guía que indique que los maestros tienen que aceptar trabajos tarde, la pregunta que se plantea es: ¿Qué tan diferente está la situación actual en comparación con marzo, cuando los maestros tenían que aceptar todos los trabajos?

Se puede entender que si un estudiante contrae COVID-19 y necesita dejar de hacer trabajos o de unirse a clases, será difícil recuperarse en sus estudios. En momentos en que la comunicación y flexibilidad entre alumnos y profesores debería ser priorizada por los obstáculos que se podrán enfrentar en las casas, algunas escuelas y profesores carecen de transparencia ante los cambios constantes. ¿Cuál es la lógica en hacer que los estudiantes y profesores sean responsables por adaptarse a cambios en medio de una pandemia?

El comienzo del segundo semestre comenzará una nueva ola de cambios y adaptación con nuevos pro-

fesores.

MCPS ha revisado las pautas de calificaciones y su informe estando ya en el segundo periodo de calificaciones. Los siguientes cambios comenzaron a ser vigentes el 30 de noviembre: exámenes de progreso pueden ser calificados o no, si se califica sería como una tarea.

El mínimo de tareas para práctica/preparación calificadas por ser completadas se ha reducido a un mínimo de cuatro. Se le ha sugerido a los profesores que asignen de siete a nueve tareas calificadas para demostrar aprendizaje con un peso de 90 por ciento de la calificación final de precisión. En clases avanzadas o de AP se puede asignar más de nueve “all tasks/assessments” a discreción del profesor’. También, los profesores han sido instruidos a que sean flexibles con trabajos entregados tarde pero está a la discreción del profesor deducir 10% de la calificación final de acuerdo con lo indicado anteriormente a los estudiantes con respecto a las fechas límites.

Los profesores y la administración de Blair están conscientes que hay estudiantes en situaciones que interfieren con la responsabilidad de mantenerse al tanto con asuntos escolares. Los cambios esperan ayudar el desempeño académico de los estudiantes en el ambiente virtual. Es importante tener buena comunicación entre estudiantes, profesores y padres o encargados para que todos estén informados de los cambios o ajustes que vengan en el futuro.

SHASHI ARNOLD

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9 de diciembre de 2020 La Esquina Latina C3

Cine parcial: representación latinx en Hollywood Por Sofia Roehrig Escritora Teniendo en cuenta que la población latinx es el grupo demográfico con el crecimiento más rápido en los Estados Unidos, sorprende mucho que sean representados tan marginalmente en la industria de televisión y cine. Los latinxs componen sólo 4.5 por ciento de los personajes hablantes en las películas más populares y los directores latinxs componen sólo 4 por ciento de los directores más populares, de acuerdo con un estudio hecho por La iniciativa de inclusión de Annenberg, en la Universidad del Sur de California.

David Rothman, un profesor de cine en Montgomery College, dice que Hollywood consiste principalmente de productores de medios que copian entre sí y reproducen el mismo contenido una y otra vez. “Hollywood es 10 por ciento inspiración y 90 por ciento imitación”, él explica. La industria continuará estrenando contenido que no incluya o represente voces diversas mientras haya mercado y personas que paguen por él.

Ahora, no es un secreto que la televisión y cine estadounidense convencional tiene margen para mejorar su producción de contenido inclusivo y diverso––hay décadas de críticas a la industria para apoyar esto. Sin embargo, en un entorno que depende en gran medida de la influencia cultural y económica de la demografía latinx, es necesario llamar la atención a la representación dispar que Hollywood, el apodo para la industria de televisión estadounidense, le da a un grupo tan esencial en la sociedad occidental.

Latinxs componen 18 por ciento de la población y 24 por ciento de los ‘cinéfilos frecuentes’, personas que van al cine al menos una vez al mes, de acuerdo con la Asociación de Imagen en Movimiento de América.

En otras palabras, una gran parte de la población que consume y contribuye a la industria de la televisión y cine está marcadamente subrepresentada por el contenido que esta produce.

Aunque existe mercado para

que haya contenido más inclusi- necesariamente malo, de hecho vo, los principales productores, es todo lo contrario. Estas histolas personas con dinero y que rias existen en la vida real y absocontrolan las palancas del po- lutamente debería haber conteder en Hollywood, se niegan a nido cinemático que represente diversificar su contenido. Estas las experiencias que comparten son las personas que tienen el muchos inmigrantes. A la misma mayor control sobre la narrati- vez, la amplitud de este conteniva de la industria y estos son los do debe ser proporcional a las que, según Rothman, tienen más demográficas de la comunidad margen para mejorar. “No estoy latinx y debe haber producciones seguro que los reales agentes de de televisión y cine que demuespoder de Hollywood hayan abra- tren la variedad completa de la zado completamente [el conteni- experiencia latinx. do inclusivo]”, el dice.

Para las mujeres Otro problema enorme en latinxs, hay la industria de televisión y cine estadounidense es que en el contenido que sí incluye una voz latinx, su representación es deficiente.

M u chas veces, cuando los inmigrantes latinoamericanos son representados en la televisión, es para capitalizarse de su trauma y sufrimiento. Aunque sólo el 24 por ciento de latinxs en EEUU viven sin documentos, la historia latinx más popular en la televisión es la de la lucha OLD indocumenARN I H S tada. Estas histoSHA rias traumáticas están muchas veces sólo incluidas para aumentar el dra- una distinta forma de mercantima, demostrado por programas lización que ocurre frecuentecomo Orange is the New Black, mente en la televisión estadouque se centra en las inquietantes nidense. El estereotipo que son historias de deportación en su in- seductoras es muy popular en tersección con la experiencia de su representación—algo visto en la serie Modern Family. El perla prisión.

No es que tener una represen- sonaje de Gloria, representado tación de historias de inmigra- por Sofia Vergara, se muestra ción dolorosas y traumáticas sea como una esposa de trofeo hi-

¡óyeme!

persexual, con el único propósito de presentarse de manera promisoria y servir como objeto a su esposo.

Cierto es que tener un personaje que representa un lado de la feminidad estereotipada no es intrínsecamente dañino, pero cuando feminidad latinx está exotizada constantemente en la televisión y cine estadounidense, vin-

cula el idioma español y la cultura latinoamericana con la sexualidad extrema y la promiscuidad.

Al igual que en todas las culturas, por supuesto, hay mujeres latinxs que se presentan de una manera que se ajusta a los estereotipos descritos, pero eso no es necesariamente aplicable a todas las mujeres latinxs. Es importante tener contenido que represente la variedad en la experiencia latinx con la feminidad.

De acuerdo con el citado reporte hecho por La iniciativa de inclusión de Annenberg, el 24

por ciento de los personajes latinxs que hablan son retratados como violentos o “infractores de la ley no violentos”, con 62 por ciento de estos personajes tomando parte en crimen organizado. Producciones como Narcos, West Side Story y Scarface, por nombrar algunas, demuestran que hay muchos personajes latinxs que son incluidos solo para someterse a estos estereotipos clásicos.

El mero acto de representar a personajes latinxs como criminales o personas hipersexuales no es automáticamente perjudicial.

Después de todo, una gran parte del contenido televisivo en EEUU gira en torno a las drogas y el crimen.

Pero cuando el 24 por ciento de personajes latinxs en la televisión son representados como infractores de la ley, perpetúa un estereotipo muy dañino para la comunidad latinx de forma tangible y real.

Aunque los latinxs en el estado de California componen solo 39 por ciento de la población entera, representan 46 por ciento de los tiroteos policiales mortales entre los años 2016 y 2018, de acuerdo con un estudio hecho por CalMatters––los latinxs ya son victimizados por instituciones legales en EEUU. No es la responsabilidad completa de la industria de la televisión y cine arreglar el complejo industrial-penitenciario (Prison Industrial Complex, PIC). Sin embargo, la influencia que tiene Hollywood requiere que trabajen para proporcionar contenido apropiado y representativo de la población latinx o al menos no perpetuar activamente estereotipos dañinos.

Es importante destacar que de todos modos, ningún contenido multimedia va ser perfecto. Cada cosa tiene sus defectos, sus faltas, sus generalizaciones. No obstante, el análisis crítico es clave para discernir qué contenido contribuye a una representación más justa de la comunidad latinx.

¿Qué piensan los estudiantes sobre la elección presidencial?

Compilado por Tony González. Todas las fotos son cortesía de los entrevistados.

“Cuando yo vi los resultados, me alivié porque yo tengo muchas amistades y muchos familiares que están en los Estados Unidos por visa y Donald Trump estaba amenazando de quitar esas visas”.

ALEXANDER VALDEZ onceavo grado

“La elección no fue una sorpresa, se anticipó, “Siento que estoy más tranquila que ha Joe Biden es un mejor candidato yo creo para ganado Biden porque con Trump nunca los Estados Unidos que puede ayudar más a los se sabe que iba a pasar y en qué dirección Estados Unidos que ha sido Donald Trump en íbamos a ir pero con Biden ojalá podamos los cuatro años que estaba de presidente”. ir como un país para arriba”.

ERICK OLIVAR doceavo grado

SILVIA QUIÑONES onceavo grado

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D1 Features Dec. 9, 2020

ROBERT PADMORE

ROBERT PADMORE

REACTING TO THE RESULTS Clockwise from top left: Biden supporters celebrate on Black Lives Matter Plaza on Nov. 7 after a Biden win was called earlier that morning; posters, signs, and balloons bidding President Trump farewell cover the fence in front of the White House; a Trump inflatable was placed in D.C. to celebrate his loss; “Stop the Steal” protests in front of the White House took place a week after Trump was projected to lose; an ocean of D.C. residents filled the streets with chants and song; a park in Washington, D.C. amassed a crowd to watch the election reporting.

ARIELLE GRANSTON

ARIELLE GRANSTON

ROBERT PADMORE

Board of Education District 4

Board of Education District 2

Kate Stewart

Lynne Harris

Shebra Evans

Rebecca Smondrowski

COURTESY OF REBECCA SMONDROWSKI

Board of Education At Large Seat

COURTESY OF SHEBRA EVANS

Takoma Park Mayor

COURTESY OF LYNNE HARRIS

COURTESY OF JAMIE RASKIN

Jamie Raskin

Local Election Winners

COURTESY OF KATE STEWART

Congressional Representative District 3

ESTHER TANG

Circuit County Judges

Bibi Berry David Boynton Christopher Fogleman Michael McAuliffe

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MCPS spends millions on third-party analyses

By Kathryn LaLonde, Anika Seth, and Lilia Wong Ombudsman, Editor-in-Chief, & News Editor

Disclaimer: All contract related data were obtained from the MCPS procurement website on Dec. 4; however, these numbers may not be entirely updated.

Over the past four years, MCPS has spent nearly $3.5 million on third-party reviews of the school system. Some of these contracts are for day-to-day operational expenditures, such as financial auditing; others are for district-wide analyses to gather information about the whole county. MCPS and the Board of Education sometimes use these results to inform future work.

Several MCPS community members and stakeholders feel these third-party analyses can be misguided and unhelpful. Janis Zink Sartucci, a member of a county advocacy group called the Parents’ Coalition, questions the need for contracting with third-party organizations when qualified professionals already exist within MCPS. “Don’t we already have the staffing to accomplish the goal that supposedly [the] outside company is going to accomplish?” she says.

“They have a lot of really smart people that could definitely crunch all these numbers.”

the four-year period, the amount has been split between six contracts, some of which are renewed annually. These include an ongoing $454,680 anti-racist system audit, which will evaluate facts like class material and staff diversity; the ongoing $475,000 ongoing boundary analysis, which evaluates the need to redistrict school zones; a $250,000 review about schoolwide supervision and reporting policies following the alleged locker room rapes at Damascus in October of 2018; annual auditing of MCPS financial reports, which cost $125,800 each year; an evaluation of growing student body sizes at two high school clusters and predictions of future system-wide enrollment for the school system, which cost $99,100; and annual facility and infrastructure assesments of all MCPS educational buildings, which MCPS spent $1,289,873 on in 2018 and renews for $200,000 annually.

The process MCPS third-party spending is not limited to these reviews. External companies provide day-today operational necessities like textbooks and paint, as well as more extensive projects like infrastructure renovation. Depending on the expected fee, procurement contracts, which purchase MCPS necessities, with these companies can be sorted into three different categories.

For procurement contracts that are less than $25,000, the county will put out a Request for Quote (RFQ) to interested companies.

According to the MCPS Procurement Manual, “the award will be made to the business offering the lowest quotation that meets specifications.”

For partnerships expected to cost more than $25,000, MCPS will either send out an Invitation for Bid (IFB) or a Request for Proposal (RFP). An IFB is “a sealed bid process” for acquiring vendors that includes an advertisement,

Breakdown From 2017 to 2020, MCPS spent $3,471,893 on third-party reviews of the school system. Over

ANIKA SETH

ABOVE MCPS payments for systemwide reviews.

Included data in graph and story only concern external analyses, not action-based analyses.

Dec. 9, 2020 Features D2 as well as specifications from the county on what is needed from the organization. The board’s other option is an RFP, which is “a formal solicitation” normally used for vendors when price and quality are both considered. The submitted proposals from different vendors are not open publicly. Instead, the Board and the superintendent evaluate the circumstances of the procurement to decide when to send out an IFB or an RFP. MCPS often solicits external reviews when they believe an external perspective is beneficial, often after an issue arises in the county.

Mike Durso, former Board of Education president, says contractors must undergo a lengthy process to gain approval from multiple parties before they are selected. “It’s a recommendation from the school administration, through the superintendent, and then the Board approves it, or doesn’t approve it,” he explains.

Community perspectives Former board member Jeanette Dixon opposed offering a contract to legal consulting firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr (WilmerHale). The purpose of the contract, which was approved, was to “[identify] measures that MCPS can take to improve school culture, as well as existing policies, procedures, and practices related to supervision and reporting,” after the alleged rape incident at Damascus in 2018, according to a letter from Superintendent Smith.

Instead, Dixon favored creating a coalition of parents, students, and staff to evaluate the circumstances surrounding the event and craft new recommendations. She felt that spending a quarter of a million dollars on an external investigation was not “good stewardship of our funds,” according to the Bethesda Beat.

Zoe Tishaev, former candidate for the Student Member of the Board in 2019, thinks that while these types of studies have merit, the allocated resources don’t allow them to go far enough. “I think that we need to acknowledge that in order for change to get done, we do need to spend money,” she says.

“Unfortunately, and I think this is especially highlighted with the boundary analysis, what may have had good intentions is just being basically halted.”

Brian Kramer, a local education advocate who graduated from Northwood in 2019, believes that it is sometimes necessary for MCPS to hire third-party organizations in order to render an unbiased opinion and achieve change. “I think MCPS has limited capacity to do a lot of things… in some cases, it’s really important for them to ask for help.”

Both Tishaev and Kramer agree

that the boundary analysis conducted by WXY Architecture, which was an external study ordered in 2019, had some merit because it sparked an important conversation. “It definitely started a dialogue, which in itself was extremely helpful, because now we know not only where the Board of Education members stand on this incredibly important issue, we know where different regions of the county fall on this issue,” Tishaev says.

Kramer says that public access to data that the analysis produces is important. He traveled to the MCPS central office in Rockville to look over maps of past boundaries after he emailed MCPS to request the reports, as they weren’t available online. Kramer says that being able to see his personal research on the WXY report felt vindicating.

“It was just me going through and looking at the books and [saying], ‘Oh, that line hasn’t changed in like 30 years,’ and then I go to WXY, and they [state], ‘That line hasn’t changed in 30 years.’”

Although the boundary analysis was a big stride, Kramer thinks that it could have yielded more results.

WXY will deliver a final report on their analysis of the current boundaries, but didn’t offer suggestions for future boundaries. He says that he would’ve liked to see WXY’s role extend to making recommendations as to how the county should proceed based on the information that they got. “We could just take [WXY’s] recommendations [and] do whatever we want with them,” he says.

Tishaev also thinks that recommendations from WXY would’ve been useful. “The boundary analysis could have been a fantastic tool for us to continue, it could have given us some major policy recommendations on how we could [get] our school boundaries to be more efficient and more diverse,” she says. “It’s regrettable that we couldn’t get actual recommendations developed and that it was seriously watered down as much as it was.”

Sartucci, however, thinks that the procurement process is closed.

She says that MCPS will often tailor the released RFPs to a specific brand or company, so they are the only organization that can win the bid. “They can basically write the procurement so there’s only one company that can respond,” she says. Sartucci says that it is often known who will win these types of contracts before the decision is released.

She believes that a clear procurement process needs to be in place for MCPS to be held accountable.

“There’s no reason for MCPS staff to be flying around to meet with vendors,” she says. “They should be putting out an open and transparent contracting process.”

KATHRYN LALONDE, ANIKA SETH, LILIA WONG

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Small business

How Black-owned businesses Many small businesses have suffered during the long months of the pandemic and are relying on their most loyal customers to retain an income.

However, in the midst of a racial reckoning in the

United States, some Black-owned businesses are attracting new customers, with creative offerings like popcorn, sustainable streetwear, and handmade fabrics.

A truly popping business When Renette Dallas noticed her favorite brand of popcorn was no longer sold at her local health store, she was shocked. She took to the kitchen, exercising her fitness experience and doctorate degree in naturopathy—a form of alternative medicine—to make her own healthy, home-made popcorn. Just like that, True Pop Popcorn, also known as Dallas Popcorn, was born. Spreading first through her fitness classes, her product quickly expanded to health food stores all over the National Capital Area.

Dallas prides herself on the health benefits associated with her vegan popcorn, which is free from genetically modified products and artificial preservatives—according to her website, the popcorn is a good source of fiber, protein, folic acid, and niacin. “When you look at a list of foods that have the highest amount of dietary fiber, popcorn is at the top of that list,” Dallas says.

Story by Maybelle Patterson Photos courtesy of True Pop Popcorn, BrownMill Company, and Sew Creative Lounge Background fabric patterns from Sew Creative Lounge Design by Aviva Bechky

“If I couldn’t get people to be fasting… because they felt like they had to be chewing or crunching on something, I figured that I would create a snack that was good for people,” Dallas says. She wanted to make her popcorn delicious without adding high fat ingredients like butter and cheese.

The popcorn comes in three flavors: “Original Crowd Favorite,” “Garlic Overdose,” and “Just Plain Good.” The “Original” flavor is anything but normal—it stands out with a blend of herbs, spices, sea salt, and nutritional yeast that simulates a buttery and cheesy taste without the dairy. Retailing for $25 for a pack of six bags, the popcorn can be purchased at stores across the capital beltway region, including in the Takoma Park Silver Spring Co-op.

Reduce, re Justis Pitt-Goodson, the chief executive officer and co-founder of BrownMill Company, has been an entrepreneur since the eighth grade. After making neckties and bow ties in middle school, Pitt-Goodson created BrownMill Company with his friends Taha Shimou and Kwaku Agyemang in 2009, when he was in high school. Instead of selling neckties, however, they created a streetwear brand known for standout pieces made from recycled materials.

In high school, Pitt-Goodson, Shimou, and Agyemang relied on their community to support their fledgling business.

Now that they have grown in popularity, they are returning the favor. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, BrownMill Company hosted community basketball games in their hometown of Piscataway, New Jersey. These games were a place for community members to ward off summer boredom, meet with friends, and connect with the rest of their community. “[The games let people] come, socialize, see people they hadn’t seen before, and also stop people from doing something that’s probably not going to be the best idea,” Shimou says. Periodically, they also host pop-up clothing shops in Maryland.

In addition to community, sustainability is a crucial part of BrownMill Company’s business design. They aim to become a fully sustainable business by 2022 and already craft some of their pieces from pre-owned fabric, which makes for one-of-a-kind clothing items. “Something that we’re known for is our ‘one-of-one’ pieces,” public relations director Johana Supreme says. “That’s really what people go for because they’re like, ‘Yo, I love this jean jacket, it has all these patches, it has all these cuts, this logo that somebody else doesn’t have,’ and they go crazy for it.”

BrownMill’s one-of-one pieces, which range from hats to shirts to jackets, are usually pieces with a solid background that are reworked by add-

Dec. 9, 2020 Features D3/D4

ses, big hearts

s connect their communities Excellence in every stitch

euse, resew ing a myriad of patches, occasionally accompanied by a clean white logo cutting through the chaotic bursts of color.

Other pieces from the brand’s recent “Think Bigger” collection include vibrantly colored shirts and sweatshirts with “Think Bigger” emblazoned across the chest in slightly curly letters. Their sweatpants are vivaciously colored as well, with the same slogan over the hip.

Another design in the shop is the “Piscataway,” which is featured on shirts, sweatpants, and a jacket. It displays a Native chieftain. The design is based on the founder’s high school mascot, according to Agyemang: “We wanted to pay homage to what we grew up in and our community that supported us.”

BrownMill recognizes that issues that could arise from using an Indigenous person’s image in that way. “It’s still an ongoing conversation for us, the ethics behind it, and how we can offset that,” says Pitt-Goodson.

Not only does BrownMill make unique clothing, but they also have a unique approach to education. Through their social media feed and community outreach, BrownMill Company aims to promote more race-conscious education about U.S. history. “For us being Black people living in America, there’s different fundamentals that we should know ourselves. And I think BrownMill does a good job of teaching people about it,” Shimou says.

Supreme feels that the release of BrownMill’s “Think Bigger” collection just before the pandemic couldn’t have been more timely. “It really was amazing to see how it correlated directly with what was going on,” Supreme says.

“Everyone was forced to think bigger as soon as COVID hit: bigger than yourself as a brand, bigger than yourself as a person.”

For Cecily Habimana, the most rewarding part of running Sew Creative Lounge, a business where she teaches others to sew, is watching customers complete a project. “The best part is that moment when someone has finished their project and they’re just like, ‘Oh, I’ve made it!’” she says.

As Sew Creative Lounge began to outgrow its humble beginnings as a sip-n-sew pop-up class, Habimama and her business partner, Tisha Thorne, decided to settle down in their current studio space in Mt. Rainer, Maryland.

For them, it was a matter of convenience. “Both of our husbands were tired of lugging thirty-five sewing machines to do classes,” Habimana says.

Like many other businesses, everything changed when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Now, Habimana and Thorne are busy teaching virtual classes and selling fabric online. Online classes, Habimana notes, are not the same. “It’s not the most ideal learning environment; sewing is very hands-on,” she says.

But Habimana still loves her job. “I couldn’t imagine working someplace outside of this during COVID,” she says. “This place brings a lot of joy for me, and I couldn’t imagine working someplace where I wasn’t happy.”

As some start to feel the pull of boredom during the pandemic, Sew Creative Lounge offers an outlet. “Some of our more advanced students, we haven’t seen in a while, but we definitely have gotten an influx of new, beginner students,” Habimana says.

Habimana also sells clothing from her brand Simply Cecily, and her African prints and unique styles have earned her international acclaim. Even after working with singer-songwriter Mary J. Blige and holding fashion shows in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, she keeps a cool head. “I just enjoy the moment,” she says.

In tribute to George Floyd after his killing this summer, Habimana created a “Black Lives Matter” fabric. The fabric’s featured item on her website is a jumper with a black background and slanted words covering it, pro-

claiming “Black Lives Matter.” Three stripes of black, red, and green adorn the sides, representing the Pan-African flag. Habimana also makes two versions of a “Black Beauty” fabric, which features multi-colored silhouettes of a woman’s head with an afro puff ponytail.

Habimana says that making clothing and fabric that reflects her experience is important to her. “I was looking for fabric that connects to the African American experience, versus the African experience, versus the American experience, and I found that there was a gap in that,” says Habimana.

Many Black-owned businesses, like the Sew Creative Lounge, experienced an increase in sales during the height of the Black Lives Matter protests. Now that this spike has somewhat faded, Habimana needs to purchase many advertisements to direct attention to her website and keep revenue up. “I didn’t really have to work as hard [during the summer] as far as getting those sales,” she says.

BrownMill Company and TruePop Popcorn also shared in this phenomenon. In an email, Dallas from TruePop wrote that contracting opportunities have increased for her since the start of the Black Lives Matter movement this summer. “It has allowed a few more doors of contracting [opportunities] to open as no one wants you to suggest there may be a hint [of] racism,” Dallas wrote.

Not only has BrownMill Company gained an influx of new customers, the company believes that they are here to stay. According to Shimou, “I definitely don’t see the support going away once people start to go back to their regular lives.

I think this is always something that we’re going to have.”

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D5 Features Dec. 9, 2020

Braking out into new roles

MCPS transportation team keeps school in session

By Sarah McKinzie Senior Writer Many of Blair’s bus drivers and transportation staff have always been essential to the Blazer family. In new and uncertain times, the staff is working hard to ensure that students have access to the food and resources they need to succeed throughout virtual learning.

When physical schools closed in March, MCPS decided not to furlough any of their transportation staff. During a press briefing in July, Superintendent of Schools Jack Smith reaffirmed his commitment to avoiding layoffs for service workers, including bus drivers, cafeteria workers, and janitorial staff, describing them as “critically important.”

“Bus operators [are] one of the categories of employees where any kind of furlough would be particularly devastating,” MCPS Director of Transportation Todd Watkins explains.

It had already been difficult to hire enough bus operators to meet MCPS’ needs prior to the pandemic, and Watkins worries that if some operators are furloughed they may not return to the job when virtual learning ends. “If we were to furlough or lay people off, I’m very concerned than when we… go back to in-person school, we [will] not be able to provide the transportation services that we need to provide,” he says.

Given that transportation staff has remained on MCPS’ payroll, bus drivers and other staff members have taken on a variety of tasks to assist with the transition to digital learning. They’ve filled diverse demands—from helping deliver food to MCPS families and distributing

ARIELLE GRANSTON

BEHIND BARS While some classic yellow school buses are no longer running, MCPS transportation staff are taking on new delivery roles. technology and school supplies to er school materials witnessed the doing really important things for providing assistance to building enormous effort by the transpor- our community.” services and transporting students tation staff—along with other staff Levien recounts being touched to non-public special education members—to assemble and distrib- by the momentary reconnection facilities. “We’re looking for as ute packages of teacher-requested she had with members of the commany things as we can possibly help materials for first semester classes. munity when she visited Blair this with,” Watkins says. “We reached “I just happened to come across fall. “[That day] was kind of emoout all around the school system to [the distribution effort],” Blair sci- tional,” she says. “Everybody was say, look, if there’s something you ence teacher Elizabeth Levien says. masked, and I recognized this need help with [or] an extra set of “[Staff] had been working for over woman, and she recognized me, hands, or two, or 10, or 20, we’ll a week trying to organize a massive and we couldn’t really place each help you. We’re here to help.” amount of materials for 3,400 stu- other… She came up to me and Blazers and staff members who dents, and it was just really exciting she was like, ‘Do I know you?’ and stopped by the school building at and beautiful… [It] made me proud I gasped. It was Ms. Claudia. It the beginning of the school year that we were not abandoning our was my children’s bus driver from to pick up Chromebooks and oth- workers, and they were definitely Montgomery Knolls Elementa-

ry School who was helping out at Blair.”

Students aren’t just receiving materials through distribution at school buildings. Bus operators have also been part of a growing initiative to bring technology and learning supplies to students through home delivery. “We’re helping some schools now, and we’re thinking this effort is going to grow,” Watkins says. “We go out a couple times a week with a school staff member and a bus driver on an MCPS bus and hand out materials in [local] neighborhoods.”

Bus operators have also been instrumental in delivering fresh produce from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to families in Montgomery County—around ten thousand boxes to community distribution sites each week.

In October, the USDA started including meat and dairy products in their provided boxes, which means that refrigerated vehicles are now required to transport them for distribution. Consequently, employees can no longer deliver USDA produce in MCPS’ yellow school buses.

Watkins explains that this change has not resulted in a loss of employment or salary for MCPS bus drivers, nor has it stopped MCPS bus operators from helping the community during trying times.

Although they are no longer distributing fresh food, transportation staff members are still delivering food to distribution sites across the county. “In addition to [delivering produce,] we were [making] weekend backpacks… that have a couple of meals worth of dry and canned goods in them for folks over the weekend,” he says. “We’re continuing to do that on Fridays.”

In-person jobs in a virtual world

By Jon Eckert Staff Writer Teenagers aren’t generally expected to get excited about heading into work, but in the midst of a global pandemic, sophomore Allison Wellage looks forward to the human interaction with coworkers and customers that she can’t find anywhere else.

Through her job at Sister’s Sandwiches and Such in Olney, the opportunity to have face-to-face conversations with others is a welcome break from hours of staring at her classmates through a computer screen.

But Wellage knows that despite these perks, working in-person increases her risk of exposure to COVID-19.

“There’s definitely a little worry,” she says, “The place I work at is pretty small, so when it gets crowded in there, I’m really concerned about social distancing.”

Students who have been working in brick-andmortar jobs share common experiences of trying to balance COVID-19 concerns with a refreshing break from monotonous days on Zoom screens.

For example, senior Hilina Bezabih, who works at Ben and Jerry’s in Silver Spring, says the stress of contracting the coronavirus is always present. “Every time I go somewhere or I go to work, there’s always the fear of, ‘Oh, I might get COVID,’” she says. Coronavirus-related policies only add to the stress, she adds. “Wearing a mask for six hours… small [things] like that add up and make it all

stressful going into work.”

Despite measures like mask mandates, social distancing, and clear plastic barriers between workers and customers to limit exposure within the store, Bezabih is always conscious of the risks associated with working in-person—especially when customers don’t adhere to safety measures.

Junior Sally Kaye, who works at Sexy Vegie, experienced an incident like this while working at a farmers market. “[A woman] came up to my booth [where] I work… she wasn’t wearing a mask,” Kaye says. “She was wearing a lanyard that said ‘citizens for free speech,’ and then she had a ‘mask exemption card’ which was obviously fake.”

Despite the fear that Kaye felt, she was able to calmly handle the situation. “I stepped back and [said], ‘You actually can’t be here,’ and she looked at me in disgust and took her food and walked away,” she recalls.

Other student employees have had similar interactions.

“I’ve had instances with customers who [are] on their way in, and I tell them they can’t be there without a mask on,” Wellage says, adding that the business she works for could get in trouble if customers enter without wearing a mask.

U RH For Kaye, activity cancellaE F NI tions due to the COVID-19 panJEN demic presented an opportunity to get a job and earn money. “I start-

ed [working] at the end of June because I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to do my normal summer activities,” Kaye says. “I usually go to camp, and I had a summer internship program that I was going to do, [but] they both [were] canceled because of coronavirus. So I figured I would like [to] make some money, and I got a job.”

Wellage says that while she, too, started working to earn extra money for herself, she wants to contribute to greater causes as well. “I’m also [working] to donate money to certain organizations, especially with the Black Lives Matter movement.”

Earning her own money makes Wellage feel as though she can

make a larger impact on issues she cares about, “For the past few years, I’ve had an interest in social causes, and I have the money [now that can] help out [in more ways] than just going out to protest,” she explains. “I’m able to actually make a difference.”

Moreover, the structure provided by a regular job structure has also been advantageous for students like Wellage because of the extra free time some Blazers now have. “I think [working] has honestly made my stress level go down a bunch because I’m able to keep a schedule,” Wellage says. “I’m able to have an idea of what my day… is going to be like.”

soapbox Have you been working at a job—either in-person or virtually—during the pandemic? Describe your experience.

“I work as a lifeguard.

There have been a lot of new rules implemented to keep swimmers and lifeguards safe. At the moment there are only classes and swim teams swimming at the pool.”

BRANDI LING senior

“I currently have two jobs working retail and it hasn’t really been a challenge other than telling people to put their masks on, always wiping and disinfecting the stores, [and] capacity counting.”

BLAIN NDINGSA senior

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Dec. 9, 2020 Features D6

All the world’s a screen SHASHI ARNOLD

By Annie Mount and Jasper Swartz Staff Writers When pandemic-induced school closures abruptly ended rehearsals of hit Broadway musical In The Heights at Blair last spring, deep disappointment ran through many students who had invested significant time and effort into the show. But as Blair Theater continues into its virtual fall season, theater director and English teacher Kelly O’Connor is determined to look on the bright side. “We’re trying to always keep positive about it and see it as an opportunity rather than a limitation,” she says.

Last spring, when the world went into lockdown, plays and productions everywhere from Blair’s auditorium to London’s Globe Theatre were forced into indefinite hiatuses. Performances closed, rehearsals were canceled, and sets were left unfinished in empty auditoriums. However, as the pandemic wears on, actors and directors are developing creative ways to perform their stories from a safe distance.

Shakespeare goes virtual

In a typical year at this time, Blair Theater would be wrapping up final productions of the fall play. This year, however, they are putting on a virtual Shakespeare festival, featuring a variety of pre-recorded scenes from classic plays like Macbeth and Twelfth Night.

on the following Wednesdays. O’Connor originally planned to put on a virtual production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but there was not enough student interest. “A lot of kids didn’t even try out. Kids who had done every show for all four years [didn’t show up to auditions],” O’Connor says. She thinks this was because of the amount of commit-

You have to ask yourself what you need and what’s essential. Can we get rid of things we thought we needed, but we really don’t, to tell a story?

JULANE HAVENS ment rehearsing for a full play on Zoom would require.

Thus, at the instigation of the student assistant directors, O’Connor decided to switch from a fulllength play to a series of less intensive scenes and monologues.

Subsequently, “[Students] realized ‘Oh, well I could do a scene or I could do a speech,” O’Connor says. Many who previously hadn’t auditioned for A Midsummer Night’s Dream tried out for the new version.

For some of these newer per-

COURTESY OF BRANDON CRABTREE

UNFINISHED When rehearsals for the Blair Theater musical In the Heights paused, so did the construction for its set.

These scenes will be spread out across five episodes, each of which will have three scenes. The first episode was broadcasted on Dec. 2, and the next four will be released

formers, virtual Shakespeare is their first exposure to acting. But because virtual performances require a distinct skill set from traditional shows, veteran and rookie actors

Theater companies explore the new realities of online performance

alike now have to bolster their craft.

In a typical play, actors can react to each other in real time.

While some professional theater companies opted for live readings of their plays over Zoom, Blair Theater chose an asynchronous approach. Actors rehearse together on Zoom and then record their lines individually with the help of a family member. Ultimately, Blair theater’s stage crew edits all the footage together to produce a final episode.

With this new structure, O’Connor has had to change her directing style. In person, O’Connor used to instruct her actors to stay present in a scene by authentically reacting to action and dialogue occuring on stage at any given moment. Now, however, actors must pretend to have organic conversations even though they are performing separately.

O’Connor hopes that, despite the differences between acting for a live audience and acting for a pre-recorded video, some of the skills students learn through this year’s Shakespeare festival will translate over to in-person performance. “I think, in some way, they’ll be more comfortable with really being expressive when we go back to traditional live theater on a stage because they’re so used to their face being really big,” she says.

Behind the curtain In a regular show, the stage crew would be in charge of building the set, designing and operating the lights and sound, crafting the props, painting the scenery, and operating the special effects. Because the show is virtual right now, they have been forced to adapt their roles.

Senior Raquel Sklar, the head of fly and digital media, says stage crew has been missing out on many of the activities they would normally be doing at this time of year. “We would’ve been doing our fall play right now, which would’ve involved building and designing an entire set and running the show,” Sklar says.

Instead, stage crew is now responsible for editing and compiling actors’ recordings to prepare the final episodes for publication.

Now that actors are performing from their own homes, stage crew isn’t the only asset lost—costume design and prop access have also been challenging. O’Connor laughs, “People don’t have stuff like crowns and doublets or whatever in the back of their closet.” Instead, actors dress in the modern

clothes that they already own.

This dilemma permeates the professional world of virtual theater, too. The Washington, D.C.-based Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC), which showcases main-stage productions with adult actors and hosts a variety of camps and classes for younger performers, is also improvising with what’s available at home.

Julane Havens, the New Generations Manager at STC—responsible

people of all ages, virtual theater is also proving more accessible for actors. “With the Zoom format, it’s a little bit easier to make it to rehearsals, so somebody that might otherwise have a conflict that would make them miss rehearsal [is] more often able to join,” Sophie Cameron, the incoming co-executive director, says.

But the advantages of virtual theater come with trade-offs. Despite the convenience of rehearsals, the loss of large-ensemble productions are keenly felt. Wendy Cassidy, a

ROBERT PADMORE

MAKING A STATEMENT The Silver Spring Black Box Theater where Lumina Studio Theater and other companies hold their performances during normal times, lies dormant. for “all of the young people in the company”—enjoys the challenge of finding all of the stage materials at home. “You have to ask yourself what you need and what’s essential.

Can we get rid of things we thought we needed, but we really don’t, to tell a story?” she says.

Havens referred to the experience of sourcing props and costumes from household materials as a “found objects summer” and is glad that pandemic gave her the opportunity to think outside the box. “We made all of our props and costumes. It was actually really fun to get to do all of that,” she says.

Opening up to new possibilites Another advantage of virtual performances is that actors from across the country, and even the world, can come together to make art in a way that has never been possible before.

Havens had students from as far as Canada performing in camps normally limited to residents in the National Capital Region. “I would love to keep them connected in some ways,” she said. “It’s been fun to think about, ‘How do we merge?’”

At Lumina Studio Theatre, a Silver Spring acting company for

stagehand at the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees who previously worked at the Kennedy Center, thinks that safety measures will limit the types of performance available in the near future. “I think for the time being, at least for the next year… you’re going to see a lot of one- or two-person plays,” she says. “You’re going to see comedians or a single musician.”

Chris Bloch, who is a professional actor and also Cassidy’s husband, predicts that musicals—like Blair’s canceled production of In The Heights—will be one of the last styles to return to physical stages because of the large number of required people. “There’s a lot of physical exertion, and it’s hard to be socially distanced,” Bloch says.

O’Connor says that when in-person schooling resumes, Blair Theater will focus on In the Heights, which was delayed indefinitely. “Our priority is the musical.

The set is up on stage… and we really want to do it as soon as we get cleared to do a show.”

Until then, O’Connor remains positive about the circumstances, viewing the current situation as an opportunity instead of a limitation.

“The fun thing about it is… learning about the possibilities of this new medium,” she says.

D7 Features Dec. 9, 2020

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Dec. 9, 2020 Features D8

A conversation with Jeanette Dixon

By Anika Seth Editor-in-Chief

Jeanette Dixon was an At-Large member on the Board of Education from December of 2016 to December of 2020. She was formerly an MCPS social studies teacher, an assistant principal at Walter Johnson and Banneker Middle School, and principal at White Oak Middle School and Paint Branch. Dixon’s seat was filled by former MCPS teacher and PTA leader Lynne Harris.

Closing out her term, Dixon wrote a brief “Leaving Out Report” to summarize her experience on the Board. Silver Chips spoke with her to learn more about her recommendations going forward. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Could you tell us about the years you were on the Board?

I went there with the idea that the system needed greater oversight from Board members and with the idea that I worked for the students, so my loyalty was first and foremost to them. I’m proud to say that’s how I sat on the Board for four years. I think, in some ways, I helped make those who work in the central office a little bit better because they had someone who was asking questions, not necessarily believing everything I was told.

After about a year, I understood that if you really wanted to get something done, you should introduce a resolution. Then, you have to speak to your colleagues one-onone to get their support.

In a recent column for Bethesda Magazine, Sunil Dasgupta—who ran to fill your seat this fall—described inefficient governing due to the Open Meetings Act limiting honest back-andforth conversation during Board meetings. What are your overall thoughts on the act?

Editor’s note: The Open Meetings Act is a state law requiring many state and local public bodies to hold their meetings publicly, to give the general public ample notice of those meetings, and to allow the public to inspect meetings minutes.

The Open Meetings Act was put in place so that elected officials could not be someone the public thought was hiding things. Whether it had to do with a budget or a program, the whole idea was for greater transparency—which I support.

We do have closed session, where there are personnel matters, appeals from students, and families who may want to change their school assignment or are appealing a disciplinary issue. Aside from that, no more than four members are allowed to be together at one time for business-related discussion without declaring a quorum.

Do you feel like that adds another level of bureaucracy to board decisions?

Yes, it does. For example, there are Board members that don’t like to put anything in writing in an email because all of them are subject to a public information request. In some ways, it can hinder very frank discussions, and that’s been an unfortunate side effect of the Open Meetings Act. Several past and present board

members have said Board positions should be treated as full-time instead of part-time jobs. What are your thoughts?

There’s no question. In order to do the job thoroughly, it’s a fulltime job. The job does not currently pay very much—it pays $25,000 a year. I don’t think we even get $50 for an 11-hour Board meeting, which is a little ridiculous. They expect you to be available whenever something comes up. If the pay was high enough that someone could serve on the Board as a job, I think there would be a greater pool of candidates. It’s very difficult if you are a parent and you have children to support or put through college or a mortgage to pay.

As chair of the Fiscal Management Committee, what have you learned about how the school system manages money, and what recommendations do you have going forward?

Editor’s note: A certificate of deposit (CD) is a type of savings account usually issued by commercial banks, which restricts access to invested money but typically offers a higher interest rate than a standard savings account.

It’s pretty tight in terms of checks and balances. I do think that they could make a lot more money for the schools. Right now, there’s about $9 million in the fund for all of the schools in Montgomery County, and it’s at .045 percent interest. It’s not often that schools go and take money out of the central investment fund because they have a general fund as well. Instead, I would take half the money in the central investment fund to get a certificate of deposit and an interest rate of 2 percent.

What the school system needs— and I said this in my Leaving Out report because nothing was done in the four years that I was there—is an audit. They do currently have an audit, but they ought to look at it from the perspective of, “Are we efficiently using the funds we have?”

Sometimes we waste money, and I think we need to look at all of the positions that we have. Also, I think that we’re probably over staffed in the central office.

In your Leaving Out report, you

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Editor’s note: The Maryland Association of Boards of Education is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to serving and supporting boards of education in Maryland. All 24 Maryland boards of education are members of MABE.

An example of that is from last year. I’m on the budget committee for MABE. We get a budget from them that they want us to approve, but they don’t delineate the use of all the money. One of the things I was asking about is, “Well, what are the salaries? They’re not spelled out.” The executive director didn’t want to tell us, which is ridiculous because the use of public funds should be public knowledge. Last year, we voted unanimously that we wanted to know the answer to these questions. My understanding was that the Board of Directors said we could have that information, but to date, I have not seen that information.

I also think the training that Board members get from MABE needs to be updated. We’re not living in the twentieth century anymore. Maryland is a very diverse state, and our school system is very diverse. Between updating the training for board members, which—this is my thinking—is, “Oh, just do what the superintendent wants you to do,” and the lack of transparency with the budget, the salary specifically, I just think that’s not acceptable.

You are a strong advocate of reinstating final exams, which were removed in 2015. Do you have any background on why exams went away in the first place?

I don’t. It seemed to happen all of a sudden. They came up with those Required Quarterly Assessments (RQAs), now the progress checks. At the time, 79 percent of the teachers were against getting rid of final exams, but the Board did anyway.

What I’m hearing from students who come back from college is, “We weren’t prepared for college and these exams.” We’ve also lost the ability to benchmark across the system and see how students are doing from school to school.

Part of the reason they said they wanted to do away with these final exams was to give more time for instruction. But, in fact, I think all of those RQAs and progress checks have taken more time away from instruction.

In 2019, after alleged locker room rapes at Damascus, MCPS commissioned an independent review from the international law firm

COURTESY OF JEANETTE DIXON

CHAMPIONING SUCCESS Presenting Rosa Parks First Day Cover stamp to Rosa Parks MS Principal Jewel Sanders.

Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale, and Door (WilmerHale) to assess whether a countywide culture of bullying and hazing existed. At the time, you were concerned that MCPS was paying a large sum of money to be told what we already know. What do you think a more productive approach might be?

I was opposed to spending $250,000 for that because I think— well, I know now—they didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know. They told us exactly what the general counsel for MCPS told us. The other thing that bothered me about that was the thinking that there’s nobody in the system that had the integrity or good judgment to deal with that situation, that our stakeholders didn’t trust us to do that and be honest about what we found. That’s one instance where we spent money that I did not agree with.

What are your thoughts on how the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA), the teachers’ union, interacts with the Board, the county, and other parent and community groups?

Any relationship is a two-way relationship, and both sides have to work at it. Right now, the relationship with MCEA is not good, and it bothers me that we don’t have a better working relationship with them. This is something that the Board will have to work on because we don’t have a contract.

MCEA has some things that they want to see done, and there are some problems that may be in specific schools. Where MCEA thinks there’s a problem, they should speak to the people who supervise the schools and the principals and work through that. Otherwise, it’s sort of like punishing the whole class for something that one kid did.

What do you think the next steps for the boundary analysis need to be going forward?

Editor’s note: Read more about the current state of the boundary analysis on page A5.

We have 11,000 seats at schools that are unoccupied. The board will have to make some decisions.

It can (a) do nothing and just leave everything as it is, (b) make some changes based on proximity, or (c) go further and redraw boundaries.

Nothing has been decided yet. All those people that were speculating that we were going to bus students all over the county—it’s just a lie.

That was all a lie. We’ve never even discussed it.

Where do you think all that speculation has been coming from?

I think it comes from parents who are very happy with where they live, and the schools that their children attend, and I think they feel threatened. Things like, “Oh, our housing values are going to go down,” or, “There’s going to be busing,” are all things that I call dog whistles. I think having integrated schools is providing the best education for our students, and it’s wrong to concentrate students highly impacted by poverty in one school.

That’s currently the case in Montgomery County. I think it’s always good for students to see other students who are more well off to see what they can aspire to. Culturally and educationally, it’s best for us to have integrated schools.

Do you have any final comments?

I think there’s a lot of work to be done, and I think people often look very closely—maybe firstly—at the reputation of the institution as opposed to always doing what is best for students, who I think of as the institution. You all embody MCPS. We shouldn’t forget that.

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emphasized about the Maryland Association of Boards of Education (MABE) and the $64,000 our school system pays in dues every year. Could you elaborate?

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

E1 Culture Dec. 9, 2020

o n w d r e e r t l an n i d W

This winter, one big challenge for us all will undoubtedly be finding fun activities to do in the cold while staying COVID-safe.

Here’s how some Blazers plan to stay warm—and six feet apart—while still having a blast.

For junior Caroline Gagnon, wintertime usually means waiting eagerly for Saturdays so she can hit the slopes at Whitetail and Liberty Mountain Resorts with the Takoma Park Ski Club. This year, however, the club was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “I was disappointed,” Gagnon said. “I’ve just done it for so many years, and it’s something I look forward to in the winter.”

This winter will mark the first time since Gagnon joined the club in sixth grade that she won’t be able to participate.

Despite the cancellation, however, Gagnon predicted that she will still return to the ski resorts

during her own free time without the club. “[I will] maybe try and go with my family a little, but it will be different,” she said.

According to Whitetail’s website, face coverings will be mandatory at all times while at the resort, and payments will now be completely cash-free.

Due to these COVID-19-related restrictions, Gagnon foresees a decrease in activity at the resort. “There’s going to be a lot less people,” she said.

Junior Kiah Beachler explained that the Takoma ski club, which she participated in for four years, doesn’t lend itself well to social distancing. “When we go, we ride on these big, huge tour buses, and oftentimes, if I’m being honest, they’re over capacity,” she said. “That in and of itself would be really problematic, and I don’t think social distancing would ever really work for the club.”

Instead of skiing, Beachler plans on seeing friends outside in other ways. “If we can’t ski, we’ll just take advantage of the wintertime and maybe hike. [I’ll] still see the people who I would ski with normally but under safer circumstances,” she said.

Beachler also recommends gathering outside around a fire as a way to both stay warm and keep safe . “It’s been really nice having fire pit get-togethers with family friends,” she said. “It’s the new substitute for hanging out like we normally would.”

One of senior Lily Creekmore’s favorite winter activities is going to the movies, but with most nearby movie theaters completely shut down, Creekmore has found a socially-distant alternative: outdoor drivein movie theaters.

The process at drive-in

International News Briefs Prominent Hong Kong journalist arrested On Nov. 3, Choy Yuk Ling, a journalist and producer with Hong Kong-based public broadcast network Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), was arrested by Hong Kong police. She was arrested because last year, she accessed a public database of car registrations while conducting research for a documentary.

The documentary investigated the Hong Kong police force’s failure to respond to a mob attack on anti-government protesters that took place on July 21, 2019 in the western town of Yuen Long. Several men armed with bats and metal rods attacked pro-democracy protesters returning from a demonstration in a transit station. Various reports surfaced after the attack suggesting that the police force may

theaters is simple, she explained. Moviegoers purchase one ticket per car online and, upon arrival, tickets are scanned from the outside of the car.

Employees then direct patrons towards a parking spot in a row of the lot of their choice. “You never have to leave your car unless you want to use one of the porta-potties,” Creekmore said. “You never come in contact with other people.”

Creekmore’s drive-in theater of choice, located in Arlington, even has snack options, just like traditional movie theaters. At the entrance, moviegoers receive a packet with instructions on how to order food from a selection of food trucks.

Even the biting winter cold isn’t a problem at drive-in theaters, Creekmore added. “It was super easy to stay warm, too. You can bring blankets… and put the car heat on,” she said.

Creekmore, who recently watched a horror-adventure film called “The Mummy” at

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the Arlington theater, said that while the experience wasn’t an exact substitute for a traditional theater, she still had a great time. “It was definitely different than being at a real movie theater,” she said.

“But I’d say it’s the closest thing that I’ve found since COVID started.”

Creekmore described the whole experience as fun, easy, and—most importantly— safe. “It’s really good, really great, for COVID,” she said.

By Ashley Thommana Culture Columnist

have colluded with the attackers.

In the aftermath of the arrest, the Hong Kong Journalists Association and a number of other organizations issued a joint statement on Facebook condemning the arrest, stating that providing journalists’ access to public records is essential to the preservation of the freedom of the press.

Protests in Guatemala against new budget On Nov. 21, protests erupted in Guatemala City, the capital of Guatemala, in response to a $12.8 billion budget passed by the country’s congress. The proposed budget would cut funding for education, healthcare, the judiciary, and various human rights agencies while increasing lawmakers’ meal stipends.

Most demonstrations in the capital city were peaceful; however,

according to the New York Times, a video shared on social media showed a group of protestors setting fire to part of the congress building. Firefighters were able to put out the fire before it spread to other parts of the building. According to BBC, Guatemalan president Alejandro Giammattei’s administration called the event an “act of terrorism.”

Local media reported incidents of police using excessive force against demonstrators during the protests, including spraying protesters with tear gas, leading various human rights groups to condemn police violence and call for an investigation.

After one day of protests, Allan Rodríguez, the Speaker of Congress, announced on Nov. 22 that the congress would not send the budget to Giammattei for his signature, which signifies that the budget will not be implemented as written.

Rodríguez did not address if the congress would edit the budget or draft a new one to pass into law before the December deadline. As of Nov. 28, according to Al Jazeera, protests were continuing in Guatemala.

Hungarian government proposes ban on adoption by same-sex couple On Nov. 10, the Hungarian government proposed a constitutional amendment that would effectively ban child adoption by same-sex couples. According to the BBC, the proposed legislation requires that children be raised with a “Christian interpretation of gender roles.”

In addition to same-sex couples, single parents and non-married straight couples would be affected by the legislation; they would need special permission from the coun-

try’s Minister of Family Affairs before adopting.

The legislation was proposed by the right-wing Fidesz party. This month, the country’s parliament, which sports a two-third Fidesz majority, will likely vote the bill into effect.

This proposition follows several other constitutional changes implemented since 2010, when Viktor Orbán was elected prime minister for the second time. For example, the constitution was amended in 2012 to redefine “the institution of marriage as between a man and a woman.”

Many human rights groups, like Human Rights Watch and ILGA-Europe, which is an European rights group, have condemned the recent legislation. According to NBC News, the European Union has also proposed a formal strategy to protect the rights of queer citizens in response.

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By Ashley Thommana Culture Columnist As cold temperatures usher in the winter, many of us are looking forward to staple holiday foods. From the classic pumpkin pies that mark our Thanksgiving tables to the steaming hot chocolate we sip while watching classic seasonal films, this column dives headfirst into the history of these winter holiday essentials and evaluates whether the good ol’ classics will stand the test of time in comparison to some less traditional takes.

Pumpkin

Pumpkin pie! Pumpkin spice lattes! Pumpkin bread!

Pumpkin is autumn’s star, decorating farmer’s markets and front yards all season long. This beloved fruit (yes, it is indeed a fruit) has had a unique path to becoming one of the most popular foods of fall.

Dec. 9, 2020 Culture E2

In an interview with NBC New York, Cindy Ott, a historian and author of “Pumpkin: The Curious History of an American Icon,” noted that pumpkins are the oldest domesticated crop in the Americas, dating all the way back to 10,000 B.C.E. in what is now Mexico. However, pumpkins did not resonate with Americans until people started leaving farms to live in cities.

In the interview, Ott named sentimentality as the key driver of the fruit’s rise from relative anonymity to seasonal fan favorite. “Americans [were] getting nostalgic about this old-fashioned farm life,

LEELA MEHTA-HARWITZ

Blazers of Note grams dedicated to giving minority students a safe space to talk about things like microaggressions and get help from people who look like them. We wanted to create a community within the larger community of MCPS choice programs. The only key difference from Black CAP, which was what the club was called before, is that we’ve made structural changes to make the club more inclusive to Magnet students and people of colin general rather than just AMINA KING or Black students in CAP. King: We also aim to increase diversity within the COURTESY OF AMINA KING CAP and Magnet programs as well as in application programs at other schools. We changed our name to MoCo Color so that we can eventually start expanding our work to other schools.

What happens at meetings, and what should students know about what the club does?

King: At meetings, we talk about any microaggressions that someone in the club may have witnessed. We discuss to proceed, usually CHE MOORHEAD ways talking to the teacher or student who committed the microaggression. We have COURTESY OF CHE MOORHEAD also started to have dialogues centered around specific events that afQ&A with seniors Che Moor- fect people of color. For example, head and Amina King, co-heads we talked in one meeting about the protests that followed George of MoCo Color.

Floyd’s death.

This conversation has been edited for Moorhead: A small portion length and clarity. of our meetings is also dedicated to trying to establish relationships within our mentorship program, What is MoCo Color? which pairs upperclassmen with lowerclassmen to provide youngMoorhead: MoCo Color is a er students a peer who’s already student-run organization within gone through the program. The the larger CAP and Magnet pro- upperclassmen help guide the low-

[and] the pumpkin starts appearing in poetry in the mid-nineteenth century and paintings,” she said. “People start celebrating because they’re nostalgic for that old life of old times and the pumpkin in particular.” Per Ott, this wistfulness amplified the pumpkin’s popularity, bringing it to the forefront of American dinner tables.

A slice of pumpkin pie is perhaps the most notable example of pumpkin-inspired desserts. However, fall’s favorite fruit has since pervaded the realm of another delicacy: cheesecake. I dropped by my local grocery store to pick up both of these pumpkin treats and see how the classic and the modern twist compare.

Taking my first bite of pumpkin pie this year, I immediately remembered why this is my favorite kind of pie. Creamy and flavorful, it is nothing if not a tried-and-true recipe. The spiced pumpkin puree has hints of cinnamon, which pair perfectly with the slightly-salty crust and sweet swirl of whipped cream.

Each bite is light and airy, dancing delicately on my tastebuds.

As I moved on to the pumpkin cheesecake, I was skeptical about whether the taste of pumpkin itself would be prominent enough. The dessert looks exactly like normal cheesecake—with the addition of a few dark orange streaks across the top. But upon closer inspection, that iconic pumpkin spice smell wafted from the cheesecake, foreshadowing its rich, decadent flavor.

Traditional cheesecake blends seamlessly with distinct pumpkin

flavor, resulting in a rich, dense dessert. While you can discern the pumpkin and cinnamon flavors, the cheesecake retains its characteristic cream cheese-like flavor as the graham cracker base crumbles with each bite.

These desserts match each other pretty evenly. Ultimately, it comes down to what you prefer in a dessert—I personally enjoy a light, creamy dessert, which entrenches pumpkin pie as the winner for me.

If you prefer a heartier dessert, however, pumpkin cheesecake may just be up your alley.

chocolate to other flavors. I decided to pick up both the classic and raspberry hot chocolate packets from my local grocery store and gave them both a try.

The conventional hot chocolate was as good as always. Silky and smooth, the chocolate flavor was just right—sweet but not overpoweringly so.

Above all, it is a warm and comforting drink, perfect

Hot Chocolate

There is nothing quite as special as a nice, warm cup of hot chocolate on a cold, snowy day. Similar to pumpkins, this winter classic has a rich history in the Americas.

In an interview with Smithsonian Magazine, Hayes Lavis, a cultural arts curator for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, said the Olmec, a major Mesoamerican civilization that inhabited modern-day southern Mexico along the gulf, likely cultivated cacao plants as early as 1500 B.C.E. The Aztecs, a Mesoamerican civilization that lived in central Mexico, enjoyed a predecessor of hot chocolate known as xocolatl.

This spiced frothy chocolate drink was so beloved that Aztec leader Montezuma II supposedly drank multiple cups each day. According to the World Cocoa Foundation, after the Spanish conquered the Aztecs, they brought the beverage back to Europe. Then, from Europe, hot chocolate slowly but surely spread across the world.

Its long-standing popularity has since prompted a deviation from

for a winter day.

The raspberry hot chocolate, however, did not offer that same experience. The smell was strong, but the flavor was not. Instead, the drink turned out to be a mellowed version of normal hot chocolate with an artificially sweet aftertaste. It fails to clearly express either component, neither the raspberry nor the chocolate, making for an unsatisfying drink on both fronts.

I recommend sticking with the normal hot chocolate. While new flavors may only serve to dilute and destroy this staple drink, you can never go wrong with the classics.

But this winter, certainly don’t be afraid to try new twists on holiday favorites in addition to all your classic favorites! You never know when a certain novel recipe will capture your heart—and your taste buds.

By Maia Egnal Staff Writer erclassmen through any trouble they might be experiencing with individual projects or teachers.

Moorhead: When you have conversations with students of color in other application programs across MCPS, you’ll hear the same thing over and over again about the challenges of being a student of color in these programs. Having a safe space has been very beneficial for me.

It’s important that people feel like they aren’t alone and that they don’t have to struggle through imposter syndrome by themselves. It would be really great to see clubs like this one in other schools.

King: We’re hoping to improve our organizational leadership structure so that people already in the club can be more closely involved. Also, we are definitely a mostly CAP-centered organization at this point. We want to expand, beginning with the Magnet program and then moving to other schools. We’re hoping to establish the foundation for future leaders of the organization.

While many Blazers have picked up new hobbies over quarantine, sophomore Claire Hwang has spent her time at home expanding instead on an existing passion: calligraphy.

Hwang has been doing calligraphy with a pen and paper for a few years but started exploring digital calligraphy for the first time when schools closed in March.

Hwang explained that her iPad, which she recieved over quarantine, opened up a world of possibilities. “Over quarantine, I really refined my skills and got into digital CLAIRE HWANG lettering,” she said. “I started seeing… a possibility to sell some of [my work].”

SARAH MARTIN Hwang decided to create an Etsy account where she promotes a multitude of designs with differand sells stickers with her own ent messages, from inspirational custom designs. However, she sayings and to mental health mandoesn’t think of her endeavor as tras to Black Lives Matter protest a business just yet. “To be hon- chants. “[I include] feel-good mesest, I consider myself more of an sages because I think that is what artist who has ventured into the people want to see the most,” she world of selling my art,” she said. said. Hwang creates and presents Hwang also has an Instagram ac- her designs in many different ways, count where she posts works of calligraphy that she has not yet whether as hand-drawn sketches in her artist’s notebook, stickers she’s been made into stickers.

Hwang’s Instagram features created on her iPad, or illustrations from her online bullet journal.

As the holiday season approaches, Hwang is thinking about exTo be honest, I panding her enterprise: She wants to make personalized ornaments consider myself with custom colors and incorporate more of an artist quotes of the buyer’s choice into who has ventured the design. “If I get around to dointo the world of ing that,” she said of the ornament idea, “I’ll make an announcement selling my art. and put some listings up.”

To get involved with MoCo Color, reach out to them via @moco.color on Instagram.

Check out Hwang’s work on Etsy @ChanterbelleDesigns and on Instagram @clairplane.calligraphy_.

Is MoCo Color open to all students?

King: MoCo Color is only open to students of color in application programs because they often feel isolated and are disproportionately underrepresented in classrooms.

Where do you hope to see MoCo Color go in the future?

CLAIRE HWANG

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E3 Culture Dec. 9, 2020

New age for women in the rap industry

How Black women in rap are changing the game and overcoming criticism from RAPPERS page A1

servative commentator and podcast host Ben Shapiro mocked Cardi B for being a sex worker before her music career and described the lyrics of “WAP” as “extremely vulgar.”

Another conservative commentator, Candace Owens, shared her own thoughts in an Instagram video post, in which she criticized artists like Miley Cyrus, Harry Styles, and Cardi B- artists who all have released songs that candidly discuss sexual topics. “You’re sitting here glorifying people like Cardi B who are telling you to put your vaginas on the floor and [who] talk about what you can do with men behind closed doors,” she said. “You are all disgusting.”

In contrast, the song “Or Nah”

by Ty Dolla $ign featuring The Weeknd, Mustard, and Wiz Khalifa includes lyrics that are arguably even more sexually explicit than those of “WAP,” describing the most intimate details of a sexual experience, yet the song received positive feedback from critics and the public.

This double-standard of criticism is nothing new to female rap artists who have continuously had their achievements belittled over the last few decades as they have become more successful in the rap industry. As female rap artists have seen this sharp increase in popularity in the last five years, they are continuing to prove those who doubt them wrong and inspire

Swann, who is currently taking Hip Hop Studies taught by Kenneth Smith, noted how it doesn’t make sense to pit all these women against each other. “I think in general, female rap is just better than male rap,” she said. “A lot of times, in order for a female artist to get into that mainstream sector, they have to be above and beyond.”

Sexual liberation

AS HI

AR

NOLD women everywhere.

It’s no secret that the world of hip-hop has historically been controlled by male artists and fans. Many lyrics brag about degrading women, portraying them as nothing more than conquests to be used for their bodies and then thrown out. The genre has almost never let more than one woman be successful at once, as shown through the pitting of Nicki Minaj and Cardi B against each other when Cardi B first rose to fame back in 2017. Fanbases argued endlessly over who was more successful and talented and could not allow two successful and high-achieving women to coexist.

But there is a double standard for men and women in the industry, as fans have always been able to accept countless different male artists while respecting their individual strengths.

SHASHI ARNOLD

SH

Female rappers often face heavier criticism f r o m people uncomfortable with the relatively new occurrence of women performers feeling sexually liberated and creating music about sex as provocatively as men do. In 2015, Nicki Minaj, whose original name is Onika Tanya Maraj, experienced heavy criticism from Twitter users, some of whom wrote that she was only successful because she showed off her body. In response, Maraj tweeted, “I’ve gone toe to toe w/ everyone of your favorite male MC’s.

To undermine my skill & diversity as an MC is actually comical @ this point.”

Maraj may be one of the first women in rap that our generation remembers, but years before her, other strong female artists were a l s o making their mark on the genre.

Rappers Lil Kim, Missy Elliott, Lauryn Hill, and MC Lyte were some of the female artists to pave the way for our current rap superstars. They pioneered the embracement of femininity, independence, and womanhood within rap tracks, concepts which were not widely ac-

LEE LA M EHTA -HARW

plays a big role into this. Other rappers that have lighter skin, such as Saweetie, Mulatto, and Doja Cat, while still facing criticism for a multitude of other characteristics, are rarely the butt of jokes that imply them to be unattractive.

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cepted or discussed at the time. Though they faced their fair share of misogyny and sexism in the industry, they set the stage for many female artists to come.

Nearly all popular female rappers today have been criticized for past career choices, the way they choose to display their bodies, the sexual experiences described in their lyrics, and many other aspects of their lives; these details are often picked apart and used to discredit their fame and achievements.

Tackling racism Sometimes, criticism goes beyond sexist Twitter comments and extends to serious mockings of the livelihood and safety of Black women.

This summer, Megan Thee Stallion, whose original name is Megan Pete, said she was shot in both her feet by another artist, making it out without long-lasting injuries. Just days after the incident became public knowledge, people everywhere were sharing insensitive jokes and memes making fun of her. Other celebrities such as 50 Cent and Draya Michele shared such comments on their social media accounts and apologized after Pete and her fans called them out.

Pete went live on her Instagram to address the public reaction. “It’s not funny. There’s nothing to joke about, there was nothing for y’all to start making fake stories about,” she said. “I didn’t put my hands on nobody. I didn’t deserve to get shot.”

The mockery is not all too different from that which was faced

by Rihanna, a popular Black singer, after being assaulted by ex-boyfriend and fellow performer Chris Brown. Despite facing violence

Inspiration in pop culture and brutality at overall higher rates than women of other races, Black women often do not receive the same level of concern for their well-being.

In addition to the jokes about her shooting, Pete has also long been the victim of many jokes saying she appears to be transgender.

Not only are such jokes transphobic, as they imply that being transgender is negative and unattractive, but the off-topic bullying can also b e

These artists provide critical representation for young Black girls and women, a demographic often overlooked in pop culture, as they intentionally break the narrative that women should be submissive and are simply accessories for men to use however they please. Black rappers like Nicki Minaj, Doja Cat, Megan Thee Stallion, City Girls, Flo Milli, Asian Doll, and Rico Nasty—among many others—are icons for a number of young Black women. These artists are reclaiming rap, which some female consumers

invalidating to her success in a male-dominated industry. Pete is far from being the only successful Black woman to be subject to comments like these, as former first lady Michelle Obama and tennis star Serena Williams also receive comments questioning their femininity due to their physical features. Darker skinned women are no strangers to being insulted for a perceived masculine appearance, and colorism

feel is a remindSH er that sexual SHA liberation and independence are not reserved for men.

Women in hip-hop are helping to develop the genre further into what it was always intended to be: a counterculture movement that speaks out against sexism, racism, and other prominent social justice issues. “Whenever I listen to female rappers, I just feel so confident,” Blair senior Sarr says of Megan Thee Stallion and Asian Doll.

“I just love the fact that… they’re comfortable rapping about something they want to rap about, and they don’t care what people say.”

LD

O I ARN

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Dec. 9, 2020 Culture E4

kind of switch things up.”

However, this increase in time with her pet doesn’t mean that raising her puppy has been any easier. “So far I’ve lost two pairs of shoes to Maisy,” she said. “But it’s just a puppy thing, so I can’t really blame her.”

Similarly, Berley shared that her dog, Lucie, has been a welcome deviation from her old routine.

“I know I’m so much happier because I have something here to dis-

tract me from everything else going on in the world,” she said.

Rosen noted that “pandemic pals” are bettering people’s lives all around and providing a sense of companionship during a time of self-isolation. “I have a dog and I live by myself,” Rosen said. “I don’t know what I would do without her.”

“Getting a new puppy and having… this little ball of joy that always needs attention and needs love and will give you love back I think has definitely just made everyone in our family a lot happier,” Haverland said.

Over the course of these last few months, pets have brought an abundance of joy into their owner’s lives—a needed distraction from the global pandemic. These four-legged friends prove that we can make PAWsitive memories in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic.

COURTESY OF AUDREY HAVERLAND

ARIELLE GRANSTON

E RT

SY

New opPAWtunities

CO U OF

N BERLEY LAURE

Pet adoptions during the pandemic

By Marijke Friedman Staff Writer

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many of us to isolate ourselves in our homes and suffer through agonizing boredom. But for some, this time has been made more bearable thanks to new additions to their families: ones with four legs.

Pets have served as great companions to many community members through these trying times.

Whether someone had their pet before the pandemic or adopted their new best pal in the midst of all of the pandemic’s chaos, furry friends have played a big part in brightening people’s quarantine experiences.

Senior Audrey Haverland’s family was spurred by the pandemic to get a new pet. “If it wasn’t for COVID… I don’t know if we would have adopted a puppy,” she said.

Haverland’s family wasn’t alone in wanting to take in a new animal.

AR

Rachel Rosen, the Marketing and Events Manager at the Montgomery County Humane Society (MCHS), noted that an abundance of people were looking to adopt pets over the quarantine period.

“We’ve definitely seen… the increase in people looking to adopt as they are home more often and they have the time to really devote to a new pet,” Rosen explained.

However, the adoption process has become more complicated because of COVID-19 as shelters implement additional precautions to ensure the safety of their staff and potential adopters. The MCHS closed to the public at the beginning of the pandemic but now has reopened for appointments only.

“Right now, the process is started virtually. All of our adoptables [pets] are up on our website to view,” Rosen said. “From there, people can fill out an application online, and then we invite them in.”

The MCHS has had a food pantry for pets the last several years and is observing a surge in use and need over recent months. “Anyone who needs

GRANSTON IELLE

food for their pets can stop by our rescue building weekdays between noon and 4:00 p.m. and pick up food,” Rosen said.

“We don’t want any pets going hungry.”

Increased interest in pet adoption has led to some animal shelters not being able to fill the requests of every potential adopter. In early August, Haverland’s family was looking to adopt from shelters in the Washington, D.C. area but had a difficult time finding any puppies. “Since everybody was adopting dogs over the pandemic… they didn’t have any dogs that were available,” Haverland said.

Fortunately, her family ended up able to adopt their new puppy, Maisy, from an Amish farm in Pennsylvania.

Junior Lauren Berley had a more conventional adoption process, as her family had planned to adopt a dog before the pandemic had started. “We got her March 15,” Berley said of Lucie, her mini goldendoodle. “It was perfect timing because we were able to train her, and we were home all the time.”

Regardless of how they adopted their new animals, pets have undoubtedly improved many Blazers’ pandemic experiences. Haverland enjoys having a new activity to fill up her days. “During the first couple months of the pandemic, not much new was happening,” Haverland said. “It’s just been nice to have something new to do and

FROM TOP CLOCKWISE Lucie was adopted by Blair junior Lauren Berley in March. Silver Spring residents Tyler and Carson Hebb show off their new dog, Koda. Audrey Haverland poses with her pets. Koda has fun with her ball.

Copaganda: police portrayal in television

By Samantha Rodriguez Staff Writer AN OPINION

Alleged perpetrators generally cease to exist after they are imprisoned. This coming and going dehumanizes criminals.

This pattern is not unique to White Collar. In several police-related shows, alleged perpetrators generally cease to exist after they are imprisoned. But this coming and going dehumanizes criminals and portrays them as lesser beings, which is particularly damaging in a society that is already too quick to jail people and does not give enough support to incarcerated individuals.

In another Brooklyn Nine-Nine episode, “Tactical Village,” the New York police precincts gather to test new gadgets and devices.

One such device, the Long-Range Acoustic Device, is merely shown as a new and cool gadget. However, in 2014, this same device—which weaponizes sonic waves by using a

series of loudspeakers to produce powerful and damaging beams of sound—was used against peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters in Manhattan to disperse protestors.

Its effects were so harmful that five years later, in 2019, a student photojournalist with no prior hearing problems still felt immediate pain in response to high-pitched noises, particularly sirens, according to NBC News.

Equipping cops with military-grade weaponry without any display of ethical consideration portrays cops as figures of absolute authority and moral righteousness and is disrespectful of the trauma real people, especially communities of color, have experienced because of these devices. A study

by Jonathan Mummolo of Princeton University in 2018 found that “militarized police units are more often deployed in communities with large shares of African American residents.”

On top of that, scenes like this one imply weapons to be necessary components of the police force, but they are not—they only serve to promote more violence. A 2017 study from the American Economic Association by Vincenzo Bove of the University of Warwick and Evelina Gavrilova of the Norwegian School of Economics found minimal or no deterrent impact of military-grade weapons on crime, and multiple other studies have found that police militarization leads to more police use of force. It is problematic to reinforce the notion that these devices are necessary when they both disproportionately hurt communities of color and are grossly ineffective in the first place.

Furthermore, the effectiveness of police at solving cases is inaccurately portrayed in cop shows. Cop

shows generally maintain an arrest rate of about 90 percent while actual arrest rates are about 25 percent across all crimes. These exaggerated statistics reinforce police authority, instinct, and virtue while inflating police effectiveness. A 2015 study by Kathleen Donovan from St. John Fisher College and Charles Klahm IV from Wayne State University found that viewers of crime dramas held higher opinions of police, affirming this trend. “[Viewers] are more likely to believe the police are successful at lowering crime, use force only when necessary, and that misconduct does not typically lead to false confessions,” it states. This unrealistic perception of police force efficacy can make people more resistant to change, fostering complacency and stalling progress.

Producers must change the narrative of police in pop culture. With captivating storylines, cop shows are the perfect platform to highlight the intrinsic problems within the system and to advocate for policy change. Although some cop shows, like Brooklyn Nine-Nine, feature single episodes addressing problems within the police force, they aren’t enough to highlight the systemic issues.

Instead, cop

shows need to make these problems a consistent theme, and they must also depict serious and lasting consequences for “bad” cops.

Blair junior Kira Notkin

agrees that cop shows can easily sway the audience’s views but believed that being well-informed about police brutality can combat such persuasion. “Being more informed and [educated] on the rise of police brutality… I can look at these shows with a much more critical and less biased point of view,” she said.

The entire genre does not need to be canceled. However, in addition to shows themselves offering a more honest portrayal of the criminal justice system, audiences and writers must view cop shows with a critical eye, understanding subconscious biases of entertainment in order to counteract copaganda.

SONIA PIVOVAROV

In response to the countless police killings of Black people, ‘abolish the police’ is becoming an increasingly popular call for action.

But in contrast, the popular television genre of cop shows continues to often sway the public toward a sympathetic view of the “tough cop” and the use of deadly force.

Though cop shows range from thrilling, suspenseful crime dramas to lighthearted, quirky comedies, a common theme is the positive light in which the police are represented. This misleading media representation of police is copaganda, and it—either consciously or unconsciously—romanticizes police use of excessive or illegal force to catch a “bad guy.”

Most cop shows follow a specific structure: The cop is a clear protagonist throughout the entire show, and criminals are one-dimensional characters who only appear in a single episode. This structure reinforces a clear divide between good and evil, as suspects are presumed guilty. Any and all steps taken to catch the criminal are deemed necessary and moral, even breaking into someone’s home without an approved search warrant and physically beating up suspects—both of which are not only illegal but also can lead to false confessions.

One example is the police sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine. In an episode titled “48 Hours,” cop protagonist Jake Peralta attempts to find the culprit of a jewelry store robbery. Peralta arrests the primary suspect without any evidence he committed or conspired in the crime. Despite Peralta unconstitutionally detaining somebody, the viewer is led to believe that he was

morally right the whole time and expected to just trust Peralta’s intuition.

White Collar, a crime drama, includes a slightly more nuanced view, as the story revolves around the partnership of an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and his criminal informant (CI). Different from most crime shows, the CI is the protagonist.

But even with the character depth this affords, the criminals the duo locks up are not developed with the same care as the CI.

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E5 Culture Dec. 9, 2020

Chips Clips

ALEX GROSMAN

ACROSS

DOWN

1) Pool move?

6) George’s songwriting brother 9) Encounter 13) Israel God 15) ___ pal 16) Fresh 17) Hearthrobs 18) Tanner at the beach 19) Earth has an inner one and an outer one 20) “The Grim ______” 22) Morgana portrayer 23) Danny Elfman, 1993 27) Aptly rhyming nickname of Ben 28) The formal you (Sp.) 29) Boring tools?

31) Alt. to vector 32) Belonging to actress Greta 37) Louis Prima, Phil Harris, Bruce Reitherman, 1967 40) Advice for surviving a fire 41) Long. opposite 42) Icicles do this 43) Foot parts 45) The loneliest number according to Three Dog Night 46) Dickie Jones, 1940 53) Sound from a blanket lump, maybe 54) Precipitated 55) Transportation to the Golden Fleece 56) Occasionally gender neutral term 57) Most under the weather 61) Body of water 62) Fair hiring inits.

63) Relatives 64) Language enders 65) The end of MBHS? 66) Kermit speak

1) Vehicle 2) Mess 3) Half of a movie genre 4) What many people are, based on a test?

5) New Zealand native 6) Bette Midler, 1993 7) Revolution usually involves this 8) Difference between raise and rise 9) Colorful avian 10) Online post-it 11) Vibe of Poe’s work 12) Middle schooler 14) First part of a triangle 21) Something green?

22) Photographer 23) Thomas or Henry 24) Beginning of “then perish” meme 25) Acquired family member 26) Real, briefly 30) ___-Cone 31) One from the UFO who steals cows 33) “___ Dwarf” 34) Father of the Founder of Scientific Computing 35) In awe 36) Bosses, in slang 38) Ask this to get instruction 39) Wonder Woman’s weapon 44) Came after 46) Reputation is part of it 47) Search term that peaked in March 2020 48) Highest scouting award 49) Section on IMDB 50) Monozygotic or dizygotic are the more common types of this 51) You dig it?

52) They might loiter 56) ___ whiz 58) Surroundings prefix 59) Sargasso ___, completely enclosed in the Atlantic Ocean 60) Expressment of irritation

Scan the QR codes to see the puzzle answers

Crossword answers COURTESY OF SUDOKU OF THE DAY

Sudoku answers (see Fiendish Puzzle 4)

SHASHI ARNOLD AND LEELA MEHTA-HARWITZ

silverchips

Dec. 9, 2020 Sports F1

Scrambling for sports scholarships COVID-19 throws collegiate sports scholarships for a loop

By Jon Eckert and Maia Egnal Staff Writers “Basketball is something I’m very passionate about,” former Blair varsity basketball player Roman Cannuscio says. “It’s a dream of mine to play at a collegiate and even professional level, so as a young kid or a teenager, I want to achieve those goals and those dreams.”

Cannuscio was a star player on Blair’s varsity basketball team for three years. As his senior year approached last spring, college scouts were reaching out to him to discuss scholarship and recruitment opportunities. Then, COVID-19 hit.

Nine months later, he now finds himself struggling to come up with game recordings to show recruiting officers and secure scholarships.

For this year, Cannuscio transferred to schools in different districts and states to try to play basketball—he is currently a senior at Liberty High School in Henderson, Nevada—but still hasn’t been able to get on the hardwood.

Cannuscio’s story echoes across the country, as the COVID-19 pandemic is jeopardizing athletic recruitment and scholarship opportunities for many high school juniors and seniors. On March 13, the NCAA declared a “dead period” on recruiting, prohibiting Division I coaches and scouts from meeting in-person with prospective players or attending high school games until Jan. 1. On Nov. 18, the NCAA extended this dead period through April 15.

More than 180,000 students receive collegiate athletic scholarships each year. Many high school athletes rely on these financial awards to pursue athletic and scholastic college opportunities, and a number of them worry that with the pandemic limiting chances to showcase their skills to recruiters, they will be unable to play at the next level.

Lack of scholarships For high school upperclassmen like senior Brady Mason, one of the main challenges in trying to get recruited this year is the shortage of available scholarships. “Normally there would be 70 schools, and each would commit about 15 to 16 [recruits],” Brady, who plays varsity lacrosse and football, says. “This year, they were only taking between 8 and 12 [recruits], so they cut their recruiting classes by [almost] onethird.”

COURTESY OF BRADY MASON

HIGHER-LEVEL COMMITMENT Senior Brady Mason, pictured above, committed to Saint John Fisher College in Rochester, New York to play lacrosse at the collegiate level.

Usually, collegiate athletes are eligible to play sports for four seasons in college over the span of five calendar years, with certain exceptions granted on a case-by-case basis, and when seniors graduate, they make room for a new recruiting class of players. There is a limited number of athletic scholarships spots on any given college sports team, and due to COVID-19, many colleges have reduced their incoming recruiting classes because many current college seniors have been granted an extra year of eligibility.

High school seniors like Cannuscio are dealing with the consequences.

“It’s hard [because]... seniors in college get another year to play, so they give less scholarships,” he says.

Basketball is something I’m very passionate about. It’s a dream of mine to play at a collegiate and even professional level.

ROMAN CANNUSCIO

And while some programs are limiting athletic scholarships, others are shutting down entirely. Cannuscio is lucky in one regard: He plays basketball, which is an extremely popular collegiate sport. Lower profile sports have been hit harder than more popular, money-making sports like basketball and football.

In June, Sports Illustrated reported that 30 different Division I teams had been shut down over a period of eight weeks for financial reasons due to the pandemic. Brown University alone reported cutting eight different teams from their athletic program.

Kept off the field In recruiting processes for some sports, like football, high school athletes rely mainly on their school seasons to get colleges’ attention. This year, the cancellation of in-person fall and winter sports seasons in MCPS left many athletes without that opportunity.

Blair football coach Samuel Nosoff notes that around 75 percent of seniors on the team would be gaining attention from colleges in a normal year. That number dropped this year. “A handful of

our seniors have heard from some colleges, but definitely not as many as they normally would because we don’t have the film to send out and kind of create that buzz,” he says.

Nosoff adds that for college recruiters, it will take a bit of guesswork in order to find talent in this recruiting cycle. “They can see what happened in junior year on the field and then try to make some assumptions and evaluations,” he explains. “But it certainly hurts us that we can’t take junior year game film and say, ‘Look how much they’ve grown with the offseason and in-person workouts.’”

Junior year seasons are arguably the most important seasons to generate interest for collegiate scholarships because colleges are able to communicate and evaluate players, which often leads to players committing before their senior year seasons even start. This varies based on the sport, school, and situation of the potential recruit, but often, junior year is a critical year for youth athletes working towards collegiate recruitment.

Fall and winter sports, like football and basketball, did experience an in-person season last school year, which allowed athletes in those sports to generate interest from college recruiters, while spring sports did not have that same opportunity. Without an in-person season, many athletes have turned to social media to market themselves, making highlight videos and compiling recruitment profiles to get coaches’ attention.

The club team approach

COURTESY OF ROMAN CANNUSCIO

TRANSFERRING TEAMS Senior Roman Cannuscio, pictured above, transferred to Liberty High School in Henderson, Nevada to try to continue playing basketball and garner interest from college coaches.

For some athletes who play on club and travel sports teams, the pandemic recruitment process has been easier than for those who do not. “A lot of [the process], especially this year [because] of the virus, went through the club aspect. If you were a person that didn’t have that, I can’t even imagine,” Mason says. “It’s very tough. I know a lot of my football friends are struggling because they don’t have film from their junior year and that’s when coaches like to get you on their board.” This summer, many Blair football players organized to play on a private club team together in order to stay in shape and get film

for their portfolios.

For sports like lacrosse, swimming, and basketball, recruitment usually takes place through club teams and isn’t necessarily tied to athletes’ high schools, especially if they attend public schools. Under normal circumstances, many college coaches encourage athletes like Cannuscio to play on club teams, which are typically deemed more competitive. “If a college coach doesn’t like the competition you’re playing against [at school], he’s going to rely on seeing you in a club atmosphere against kids that are as good as you, or, you know, up there with you,” Cannuscio says.

The problem this year, however, is that many club teams’ practices and competitions have been postponed for an extended period of time or called off completely. “[Recruitment officers] said they were going to come watch me play AAU [Amateur Athletic Union] basketball which also ruined my chances of being recruited because the AAU season was canceled,” Cannuscio says. “I didn’t get that chance to show the coaches what they wanted to see.”

Although athletic directors and coaches are doing what they can to assist student athletes throughout the recruitment process, oftentimes the challenging circumstances are out of their hands.

“Obviously, it really affects our seniors,” Blair’s athletic specialist Rita Boule says. Boule says that if students are back in school in-person this year, though, the athletic department will arrange various opportunities for athletes to showcase their skills. “As soon as we can go in-person, we want [to]… take kids through like a football combine,” she says, citing football as an example.

With COVID-19 presenting unforeseen hurdles and difficulties in the recruitment process—including cancelled seasons and showcases—many athletes like Cannuscio find themselves all alone scrambling to get their foot in the door. “The coaches that were interested in me, since [COVID-19], they lost interest,” he says. “Now, I’m kind of on my own.”

silverchips

F2 Sports Dec. 9, 2020

Blair sports’ virtual reality

By Annie Goldman and Marijke Friedman Staff Writers

thinks that the virtual format dissuaded many athletes from playing this season. “If we had tryouts at school and then we got to play… that would get more people to sign up,” he explained.

Despite the absence of many of his former teammates, Torontow enjoyed the team’s virtual season,

Cheer

Senior Fiona Conway said that the field hockey team was able to successfully maintain a sense of community throughout the virtual season by engaging in team-building activities. Senior captain and 2019 All-County First Team player Emma Smith said she “missed being on the turf under the lights,” but was happy to have a season nonetheless.

Her favorite memories on the team include attending team pasta parties, cheering from the sidelines, and beating Sherwood for the first time in school history last year. Smith is planning on playing field hockey in college and hopes to see Blair’s field hockey team continue to be the “powerhouse… of the [Downcounty Consortium].”

Boys’ soccer

Junior Muller Torontow, one of the few returning boys’ soccer players to participate this fall,

COURTESY OF EMMA SMITH

was confined to Zoom breakout rooms. “I still tried to motivate everybody to go and get the runs in,” she said.

Haverland aims to keep participating in club running when she goes to college next year. Junior captain Indy Lyness also has big plans for the future: “I’m going school-record hunting,” he said.

Golf

Junior Sumin Choi, a returning member of the Blair golf team, feels the team “did the best [they] could despite [their] circumstances.” She hopes that players will be able to push themselves and become stronger as a team moving forward, as they’re currently limited to improving their game from their backyards and individually at golf courses.

The weekly Zoom calls and individualized athome practice left Iris Xue, another returning junior, feeling encouraged. She was able to meet new teammates and their new coach, strengthening their team bond.

Handball

COURTESY OF ESHAN SHARMA COURTESY OF ABONIE BLOUNT

Field hockey

only lost four games,” she said, “which is a lot better than our previous record.” As a leader on the team this year, Megosh helped teach the younger players about volleyball. “I demonstrated the drills for the position I play,” she explained.

Megosh’s favorite team memories from playing in-person are senior nights. “It’s really nice because you get to spend time off the court with your teammates and appreciate your seniors,” she said.

Junior Emma Weinstein explained that on Fridays, the team had fun days instead of working out. “We would watch old games and sort of

COURTESY OF JADYN HARVEY

Last fall, Blair cheer won the Division III MCPS Cheerleading Championship. This season, senior captains Allison Swann and Abonie Blount worked to bond with the new cheerleaders. “We made a group chat with all the girls who participated,” Blount said. “I thought that was a good way to mimic some of that team dynamic that we usually have.”

Swann was personally excited to experience being a captain. “I had wanted to be a captain since my freshman year, so even though it was really different, I still like that I got that opportunity,” she said. Both Swann and Blount hope to participate in cheer in college.

dyn Harvey said senior nights are among her favorite team traditions, along with Saturday practices, because connecting with her teammates on the weekends was “a different kind of feeling.”

For junior Adalia Winters, “soccer is [an] escape from reality.” She explained that the virtual season taught her to selfmotivate because s h e didn’t

COURTESY OF GARRETT SIFF

Over 300 students signed up to participate in Blair’s virtual athletics program this fall. Despite new and challenging circumstances—the fall and winter seasons were called off in July due to COVID-19— many teams enjoyed reconnecting, and Blair Athletic Specialist Rita Boule saw athletes making the most out of their fall season. “It’s the best possible scenario for the kids and the coaches,” she said.

Boule says that MCPS athletic staff is prepared to do everything they can to ensure a safe return to athletics in the coming seasons.

“We are literally ready COURTESY OF INDY LYNESS for whatever is thrown at us,” she said.

MCPS has announced a second semester plan for shortened fall, winter, and spring athletic seasons to occur beginning in February.

These modified in-person seasons are supposed to be five weeks long.

Silver Chips reached out to Blair athletes on different teams to explore their experiences navigating virtual athletics this fall.

A season to remember

A LIFETIME AGO Student athletes engaging in physical sports before the COVID-19 pandemic.

COURTESY OF ALLISON SWANN

which consisted of Zoom calls and getting touches on the soccer ball on his own. Torontow and his teammates had fun seeing each other and laughing together during their meetings, albeit virtual.

have teammates and coaches around to push her. Winters said she was still given the virtual support she needed to keep bolstering her skills in the hope of playing together again.

Girls’ soccer

Girls’ volleyball

The 2019 season was girls’ soccer’s best yet, making it to state semifinals for the first time in Blair’s history. Senior captain Ja-

Senior Isabelle Megosh and the girls’ volleyball team were looking forward to playing this fall after a successful season last year. “We

get to talk about how those went, or watch college games,” she said.

Cross country

In last year’s cross country season, the boys’ team placed third at states while the girls’ placed 10th.

Senior Audrey Haverland’s role as a captain has changed since the team’s successful 2019 season.

While Haverland used to lead in-person workouts, this fall she

This season, the reigning 2019 county handball champions still had their spirit and usual energy, according to senior Eshan Sharma.

He sees the sport as an opportunity to “[make] more friends and [have] a coach to… help you with everything, not just handball.”

Sharma still felt supported by the team this season, even virtually.

Despite a drop in student participation due to COVID-19 restrictions, virtual handball was an opportunity for the team to check in with each other in hopes of a future season.

Football

Throughout the virtual football season, senior wide receiver Garrett Siff found that “the hardest part [was] maintaining focus.” He explained that an unstructured environment at home can be difficult, but he was pleased to see most of the team logging into meetings and maintaining communication with one another.

He enjoyed having the opportunity to just talk with teammates, whether about things going on in their personal lives, the nation, or school. Siff said he is hoping for a home playoff game in a possible abbreviated spring season before his time on the team comes to an end.

Read more about plans for the upcoming spring season in a column from Jeff Sullivan, the MCPS director of systemwide athletics, on page B3.

silverchips ASHI ARNOLD SONIA PIVOVAROV, SH

Dec. 9, 2020 Sports F3

Sports debate shows are a television staple, consistently pooling hundreds of thousands of viewers and frequently yielding viral social media clips. Out of over 15 major shows, ESPN’s First Take, featuring Max Kellerman and Stephen A. Smith, and FS1’s Skip and Shannon: Undisputed, with Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe, have separated from the pack and solidified themselves as the two most prominent sports debate programs—but which analyst duo reigns supreme?

Ayush’s Take

Charlie’s Take

By Ayush Dutta Sports Columnist

By Charlie Wiebe Sports Columnist

AN OPINION

AN OPINION

ESPN has dominated the sports television market for decades. But since the introduction of a competitor channel by Fox Sports, FS1, ESPN’s empire has begun to dwindle. Nowhere has this battle been more apparent than in the networks’ respective debate talk shows, ESPN’s First Take and FS1’s Undisputed. Undisputed has clearly laid the foundation for FS1’s imminent surge to the top of the sports debate hierarchy.

Let me set the record straight. ESPN, which was founded in 1979, is the older, larger, and more well-known channel. It makes sense, therefore, that First Take has greater viewership than Undisputed, a fouryear-old show airing on a channel created in 2013—34 years after ESPN. However, since its premiere in 2016, Undisputed has single-handedly driven FS1’s surge in ratings, netting a two percent increase in total viewers in 2016.

And while this increase in Undisputed’s viewership may seem trivial, First Take simultaneously took a major hit, with viewership spiraling to a 41-year low. For a period in June, Jay Leno’s Garage on CNBC was outperforming the so-called “Worldwide Leader in Sports.” Viewers would rather watch an overwhelmingly mediocre—and barely entertaining—retired late-night talk show host discuss antique cars than First Take. Need I say more?

The separating factor between First Take and Undisputed is the quality of the shows.

Co-hosted by Shannon Sharpe, statistically one of the greatest tight ends in National Football League (NFL) history, Undisputed provides the athlete perspective that First Take lacks. Rather than two near-fifty-yearold journalists dissecting the plays and choices athletes make in First Take, Sharpe frequently refers back to his 13-year Hall of Fame career, providing an authentic look into the intricacies of an athlete’s lifestyle.

I mean, seriously. You would prefer hearing Super Bowl coverage from someone who has personally played in three of them, right?

Undisputed is undisputedly the more entertaining show. The duo’s amusing victory antics elevate a viewer’s experience by providing an entertaining comedic spectacle. Particularly when discussing the feats of LeBron James, Shannon goes above and beyond First Take’s bland format, frequently sporting a goat mask, a bottle of Hennessy, a cigar, and a LeBron jersey. From the energetic “SKYUUP!!’’ sound-bytes to Shannon bringing a live goat to the debate table after the Lakers 2020 Championship win, Undisputed brings (literal) life to the sports debate show scene, easily surpassing First Take.

The notorious and irreplaceable Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman have delivered more than a few iconic lines over their careers as stars of ESPN’s First Take.

For me, “STAY OFF THE WEED-DUH” stands out, but each viewer has their own favorite moment. The clashing personalities of the two sports experts allow for both meaningful discussion and endlessly entertaining quarrel. Fantastic ratings, longevity, and host quality push First Take into sports debate fame.

As of May, First Take has been running for 13 years, making it nine years senior to Undisputed. It has been able to maintain its standing in the world of sports for such a long period of time due to continuously exceptional ratings. For reference, Undisputed’s single best day occurred on Black Friday in 2019 when it garnered 366,000 viewers—a mere 52 percent of First Take’s viewers that day.

Undisputed’s ratings skyrocketed in September after First Take co-host Skip Bayless made reckless and insensitive comments about Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott’s mental health following Prescott’s brother’s death. However, Undisputed’s average audience still trailed First Take by a margin of 175,000 viewers.

While the statistics clearly demonstrate that First Take is the better show, it is childish to compare the quality of debate programs by their ratings. Instead, we must look at the content itself.

Looking just at the analysts themselves, truthfully, Undisputed’s stars do not have much to offer. Sure, Undisputed’s Shannon Sharpe is a legendary NFL player—but that does not necessarily convert into being a legendary commentator, a fact that is painfully obvious. When discussing football, Sharpe provides an intimate view into the life of NFL players and what is truly happening behind the scenes, but once the show goes beyond the narrow subject of football, so does his expertise.

And while Skip Bayless, the other host of Undisputed, is an experienced analyst, the near-70-year-old’s outdated views and lingo should remain in the past.

On the other hand, Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman from First Take are able to discuss all sports through an entertaining and informative medium, as they both have spent their entire lives studying and documenting athletics.

I understand why casual, ignorant sports fans may contend that Undisputed is the better show, but any mature and knowledgeable viewer will quickly conclude that First Take is not only the most successful but also the most meaningful sports debate program. It is ridiculous and frankly laughable that Undisputed fans think their show can compare.

silverchips

G1 COVID-19 Dec. 9, 2020

Distributing the doses

Distribution in Montgomery County

The Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is working to develop an effective vaccine distribution plan in order to curb the spread of the virus and protect atOne of the things we risk communities as quickly as possible once a vaccine is available. want to make sure of Because access to the vaccine is that it is offered to will be limited at first, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunianybody in the state zation Practices (ACIP) is recomof Maryland, regardmending that states and counties plan to make the vaccine available less of any kind of to the public in phases. racial, ethnic, or so“They’ve asked us to prepare for a three-phased approach to cioeconomic… barrier. vaccine distribution,” Sean O’DonKURT SEETOO nell, the program manager for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response at DHHS, says.

Based on current research and “The first phase [will be] when data available about Pfizer and there is a more modest initial sup- Moderna’s vaccine candidates, ply of vaccine, followed by a sec- public health officials have begun to ond and third phase where [the] piece together what successful vaccine is available [in] a much administration of a vaclarger amount.” cine would look like.

Phase 1 will focus on vaccinat- “We feel pretty coning certain priority groups. In par- fident at this point ticular, O’Donnell cites high-risk that the vaccine healthcare workers, first respond- will be something ers, and individuals with comor- that requires two bidities—existing health conditions, doses, so you like heart disease or asthma, that would get can lead to adverse outcomes from it and then COVID-19. you would According to Maryland’s be advised COVID-19 Vaccination Plan, to come which the Maryland Department LD of Health sent to the director of the RNO A I CDC on Oct. 16, Phase 2 will in- SHASH clude a wide-scale distribution of the vaccine to the general population. Phase 3 will signify continued vaccination and a shift to a routine strategy, in which most people will have been vaccinated but vac-

Expanded access to the vaccine Once Montgomery County enters Phase 2, officials are hopeful that a vaccine will be available for all residents. “We’re hoping that we’ll be able to have it in so many different locations that people can go wherever to get it, and there really won’t be any kind of limitations on who will be able to get it,” Seetoo says. “One of the things we want to make sure of is that it is offered to anybody in the state of Maryland, regardless of any kind of racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic… barrier.”

To further improve access, Seetoo says the county intends to provide a vaccine for free: “What we’re hearing is that the vaccine will be at no cost to the recipient… so you can go to any clinic or any doctor’s office or pharmacy once it’s widely available and be able to get the vaccine for free.”

O’Donnell echoes Seetoo. “There is widespread interest at

RW

back a certain period later, a few weeks later, to get a second dose,” O’Donnell says.

Another key point is how doses of the vaccine will be stored. “They have a couple different types of vaccines that would be stored at different temperatures,” O’Donnell adds. “For our planning purposes, that’s been the biggest difference.”

For example, Pfizer’s vaccine must be stored at around negative 70 degrees Celsius, signifying yet another large logistical hurdle to clear if approved.

M EH TA -H A

in their vaccine trials. In recent trials, Pfizer’s vaccine proved approximately 90 percent effective and Moderna’s 94.5 percent.

Pfizer submitted their vaccine candidate to the FDA for Emergency Use Authorization on Nov. 20, and Moderna submitted theirs on Nov. 30. On Dec. 1, Moderna announced in a press release that vaccination shots may be available to high-risk people as soon as Dec. 21.

cine access will remain open and ongoing.

During Phase 1, the vaccine will be distributed directly to health care workers, local health departments, and hospitals across Maryland. In Phase 2, Maryland residents will be able to obtain the vaccine at various public venues and retail pharmacies, as well as directly from their healthcare provider. “We are going to be registering providers that are interested in giving the COVID vaccine,” Kurt Seetoo, immunization program manager at the Maryland Department of Health, says.

“Once providers are registered in our system, they’ll be able to order vaccines directly through us. We’ll place an order with the CDC, and then that vaccine order will be shipped directly to the provider’s office, whether it’s a doctor’s office [or] a pharmacy.”

all levels of the government and the community to have there be no barriers to getting it,” he adds.

Because Montgomery County has already invested robustly in resources and infrastructure to limit the spread of the virus, such as with the implementation of widespread testing, health officials believe distribution of the vaccine will be streamlined. “We are currently… going to great lengths to try to make sure that testing is accessible throughout the county into all populations in the county, and a lot of the strategies that have been successful with that, we would likely try to replicate with the vaccine rollout,” O’Donnell says.

LE EL A

from VACCINES page A1

ITZ

How Montgomery County plans for the COVID-19 vaccination

Vaccine readiness timeframe Earlier this year, President Donald Trump promised widespread access to a vaccine by October or early November, but, evidently, that timeline proved inaccurate.

Some health officials—like Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases—speculate that the vaccine could be ready for preliminary distribution by the end of 2020, although the exact timeframe is still unclear.

One thing is clear, however: Once the vaccine is authorized for use, it will take months to manufacture and distribute doses to Americans. In an interview with CNN in November, Fauci estimated that all Americans could have access to a vaccine by the end of April 2021.

The recent progress from Pfizer and Moderna offers promise for Fauci’s estimate.

Even once a vaccine becomes widely accessible, though, it will still take time before the United States reaches

herd immunity, which is when enough people are immune to a disease, whether through prior infection or vaccination, such that it is unlikely to continue to spread through the population. According to the CDC, it is still unclear how herd immunity will play out with COVID-19, and officials don’t yet know what percentage of the population must be protected to achieve herd immunity.

Vaccine safety

Montgomery County will work with federal groups such as the ACIP and state partners to ensure the safety of a vaccine before distributing it to the public. “We certainly take [federal input] into consideration, as well as our state health department guidance, on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine,” O’Donnell says. “Ultimately, it is the local health officer’s decision on the direction he would like to take locally. So it’s one part federal, one part state, one part local.”

The CDC and FDA plan to use the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) to track incidents where Americans experience any negative effects from a COVID-19 vaccine. “We use [VAERS] for just our routine vaccinations, but we will also use that as a system to monitor any adverse events to the COVID vaccine,” Seetoo says. “That would be reported to the CDC through an on-

Once the vaccine is authorized for use, it will take months to manufacture and distribute doses to Americans.

line system… and then we also get copies of those reports [at the state] so that we’re able to monitor… for those adverse events that may happen in Maryland.”

Although much remains up in the air about the readiness, safety, and distribution of potential vaccines, Montgomery County health officials are working closely with federal and state partners to create a feasible distribution plan and ensure that residents will have access to a safe and effective vaccine as soon as possible.

silverchips

Dec. 9, 2020 COVID-19 G2

Not just a slip-up

Students must not ignore COVID-19 safety measures

By Sean Li and Clark Zhang Staff Writer & Opinions Editor AN OPINION

Currently infected in the United States: over 13 million.

Back in January, when the U.S. could still count its cases on a single hand, this number would have been unthinkable. We were careful, careful to avoid crowds, careful to keep masks on, careful to protect ourselves just as much as others. And yet now, even in the shadow of several Blair family deaths, students seem to be getting tired of staying safe.

With the start of school clubs and the holiday season, there seem to be even more and even larger in-person events than ever before.

The pandemic is flaring again—partially because too many students are pretending everything is back to normal. But with hundreds in the country dying and over a hundred thousand new cases every single day, this could not be further from the truth.

Students like Student Member of the Board of Education (SMOB) Nick Asante appear to think the guidelines don’t apply to them. In order to make up for canceled homecoming dances across the county, Asante posted pictures of him and dozens of other students at a “fake” homecoming (FoCo) event in mid-October at Lake Needwood, not wearing masks, failing to socially distance, and disregarding just about every COVID-19 guideline.

At Blair, our Blazer Ragers hosted their own homecoming party on Nov. 7 at Pinecrest Park.

Rager senior leaders Jackson Plank and Noelle Efantis assured us of the gathering’s harmlessness—“this

event is going to be very safe,” Efantis asserted—and said attendees would engage in socially distant games like spikeball, a cornhole tournament, and a seven-on-seven football game. They claimed to take precautions such as ensuring social distancing, requiring masks, and wiping down the sports balls and surfaces.

However, in practice, it is impossible to play spikeball or football safely. Junior Booyya Berhane tried playing sports with a few of his friends, but his group could not do so without coming within six feet of each other. “We kept masks on, but even then, we have to have direct contact,” Berhane said.

These large organized events aren’t even the most egregious violations of guidelines—they still must maintain the appearance of safety so they don’t get “canceled”. Sports teams across the county are meeting to practice contact sports without masks. Students are streaming to community centers, like Downtown Silver Spring, for unsafe social gatherings without any consideration for those they put at risk.

Some students insist that by meeting exclusively with those in their quarantine bubble, they are adhering to necessary safety guidelines. However, as quarantine drags on, these bubbles are becoming larger and more relaxed, decreasing the efficacy of co-quarantining. “Some people have bigger bubbles,” senior Raquel Sklar explained. “If I see two people, [and] those people are seeing other people, and those other people are seeing other people,” she said, “keeping track of this social network can quickly spiral out of control.”

To justify the Blazer Ragers’ relaxed approach to guidelines, Efantis said quarantine is harmful. “We

have to start living again,” she said.

“It’s not healthy… to be cooped up for so long.”

It’s understandable to want to go outside after spending hours in front of our computers. Having been at home for so long, in-person meet-ups are a much-needed change of pace. But everyone needs to follow guidelines—because these events can never be safe. As much as large hangouts are desirable, ensuring their safety is almost impossible.

Still, excuses ring loud and clear: “But we tested negative!”

“Our temperatures are normal!”

With so much impact put on testing, we often forget that the sensitivity of these tests is as low as 60 percent, meaning that as many as 40 percent of tests return a false negative. Even among high-ranking government officials, some of whom are tested multiple times in a single day, super-spreaders are inevitable.

Take, for example, President Trump’s now-infamous nomination of Justice Amy Coney Barrett on Sept. 26 in the Rose Garden.

Despite their regular testing and temperature checks, several attendees, and even Trump himself, were infected with COVID-19, causing an outbreak that infected over 40 people, lawmakers and everyday residents alike.

And with young people, this danger is further amplified, as temperature checks don’t pick up on asymptomatic cases—which are much more common amongst the younger population.

Still, students continue to meet unsafely, sometimes pressuring others to loosen up and join them.

This pandemic has affected everyone differently, and students need to respect each others’ safety de-

CAL TOBIAS

MASKLESS At an Oct. 31 event organized by Sherwood students, athletes play football in Manor Woods Park. cisions. As Sklar put it, “there are to happen safely—but in practice, people that just can’t do that be- not just on paper. Some clubs, like cause they have pre-existing condi- Blair’s Jewish Culture Club (JCC), tions.” It is grossly unfair for high- have continued to meet in-person risk students to be peer pressured while following strict guidelines. into events that are significantly “None of our meetings have exmore dangerous for them or to be ceeded 10 people,” said Sklar, socially ostracized for putting their a student president of the club. health first.

“We’re not having physical conStudents like these are at fault, tact… we were just sitting in a big and MCPS needs to teach students circle.” to protect theirs and others’ safety, They are still able to play disand they cannot do this by being tanced games, like Celebrity, withso flippant about life-threatening out sacrificing safety. When asked mistakes. We cannot afford “slip- if she thought she was missing out ups” when they risk the collective on more intimate social activities, well-being of our communities.

Sklar responded flatly, “I am doing Disappointingly, some MCPS fine… I’d rather be alive than playofficials have been incredibly dis- ing football games with people.” missive of concerns related to these Contact activities like football events. When asked about the or spikeball, as well as intimate soFoCo gatherings at a virtual Board cial gatherings, are not necessary to of Education stakeholder meeting live—JCC proves that. If you want on Oct. 19, MCPS spokesman to meet with others, follow estabDerek Turner responded that such lished guidelines. Treat yours and an event and the disregard of guide- others’ safety with the same respect lines was simply “a slip-up.” you treated it back in the spring.

This isn’t to say in-person meet- You need to act as if our lives are ings cannot happen; they just need on the line. They are.

High risk, high concerns

High risk students describe problems with MCPS guidelines

By Leila Faraday Staff Writer MCPS recently announced a plan for students to return to physical school facilities as early as Jan. 12, 2021, if the county meets an appropriate COVID-19 infection rate. Students will be able to choose whether they would like to participate in a hybrid learning environment with some in-person education or remain in a fully virtual model.

Though these plans may give many students a glimmer of normalcy, those who are immunocompromised have been left with a slew of questions and concerns.

The tentative plan says the first students to return to school would be special education students as well as those severely struggling with online school.

In regards to high-risk students, Board of Education member Karla Silvestre (At-Large) said the Board believes students who cannot safely return to school will simply choose not to. “We are assuming that because we are giving the option to stay fully virtual… those students would choose to remain in the virtual model,” she said.

Renata Muñoz, a senior at Blair who is high-risk for COVID-19 and also one of Silver Chips’ Editors-in-Chief, worries that this may

we’re talking about these reopening plans, I get the sense that high-risk students are being left behind,” they said.

“A lot of people don’t consider… teenagers to be in the category of immunocompromised.”

Concerns about immunocompromised students, however, are not limited to a potential return to in-person learning—they have been present throughout several aspects COURTESY OF JUDITH GOLDSTEIN of recent MCPS adaptations to HIGH RISK Judith Goldstein, above, faces great- COVID-19. As er potential consequnces from COVID-19 be- the college apcause she is immunocompromised. plication season is in full swing, not be a reasonable assumption to these students are also grappling make. “What about students who with staying safe during standardare really struggling [with online ized testing, as assistance for highschool] and are [also] at high-risk risk students is not explicitly offor COVID? What are they sup- fered. Though students must wear masks and sit at least six feet apart posed to do?”

Muñoz also expressed concern from one another during SAT or over a seeming lack of consider- ACT exams, some students, like ation for high-risk students. “When immunocompromised senior Ju-

dith Goldstein, think these precautions are not sufficient.

After her test, Goldstein said the testing center she attended became congested with students leaving.

“Everyone was just leaving [in an unorganized fashion], and there were so many kids… [It] was super crowded, and I was swept in with the crowd,” she recounted. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, Oh my God,’ and I was holding my breath.”

Tests are also taken inside enclosed spaces or classrooms that may not be properly ventilated.

Due to limited options, some students like Goldstein may feel the need to choose between protecting their well-being and taking a test that may better support their college applications. Goldstein noted that she would have liked to see a safer version of the ACT, saying, “The least they could do is be more flexible and provide way more options. I don’t know how they weren’t able to develop an online [version.]”

In addition to standardized tests, the protocol for senior portraits posed additional challenges to high-risk students. This year, MCPS high schools made special arrangements to ensure safety during the pandemic, but despite the usage of masks, no-touch photography, and social distancing, some students felt the picture-taking process did not adequately ac-

commodate high-risk students.

The precautions taken may be sufficient to create an atmosphere that feels safe for the majority of seniors, but many high-risk students have limited options when it comes to participating in these activities without fearing for their health.

Muñoz, for example, had to go through an extended process of communicating with Dana Simel, the teacher supervisor for Blair’s yearbook, and photography company Lifetouch to explain the nature of their condition and arrange a way to take their portrait in a safer outdoor location. “I should not have had to jump through all these hoops to try to get my senior photo taken,” Muñoz said. “There should’ve been some sort of clear outlined procedure for high-risk students to take photos.”

Muñoz believes that an active effort to include information for high-risk students would help them feel more included. “A lot of teachers compliment me on how I advocated for myself… and it’s great that I have that characteristic,” said Muñoz. “But I shouldn’t have to.

These things should be available to me because they’re available to everyone else.”

In an email to students on Nov. 30, Blazer senior portraits were postponed until future notice due to the recent local rise in COVID-19 cases.

silverchips

Dec. 9, 2020 COVID-19 G3

Community colleges grapple with funding cuts and low enrollment amidst pandemic

By Simran Thakkar Design Editor All around the country, community colleges provide a cost-effective way for students to earn college credit, often obtaining certificates, diplomas, or associate degrees. During both a recession and a pandemic, based on historical precedent, one may expect enrollment in community colleges to be on the rise. And yet reports have found that community college enrollment has dropped dramatically this fall.

Following the Great Recession in 2008, community college enrollment spiked, with over one million more students registering in the fall of 2010 than in the fall of 2008, according to the Community College Research College. Since the economy recovered in 2010, however, community college enrollment has been steadily falling.

When businesses closed earlier this year, many parents lost their jobs, leaving families without money to spare. In an email to Silver Chips, Linda Hickey, Montgomery College’s Budget Director, explains, “during past recessions, community college enrollments tended to rise as students sought ways to improve skills and/or seek certificates or degrees for possible changes to their employment status.”

This trend was not replicated this year. According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, an organization that tracks college enrollment, this year’s community college registration dropped by 18.9 percent across the country compared to 2019. Although rates have steadily declined

since 2010, this drop is nearly 19 times steeper than the 2019 rate of decrease.

At Montgomery College specifically, enrollment dropped by six percent from 2019 to 2020.

“At MC [Montgomery College], I wish I could say that yes, they can afford to remain enrolled, working towards a degree or a certificate,“ Hickey writes. “However, the reality is that higher education is a financial burden for families all over the country, and every family has its own circumstances, many attributed to the pandemic.”

Four-year colleges have also taken a hit, as nationwide enrollment is 4.4 percent below the level it was in the fall of 2019.

Even disregarding revenue losses from enrollment dropoffs, community colleges might not receive enough money to survive. According to The Baltimore Sun, the Maryland state budget for fiscal year 2021 cut over $190 million from higher education, threatening pay cuts for faculty, furloughs for staff, and reductions in student aid. Hickley writes that Montgomery College currently has “a soft hiring freeze in place and is monitoring operational spending” due to the funding cuts.

Over $136.2 million were also cut from the Support for State-Operated Institutions of Higher Education, a program that funds both community colleges and four-year colleges in Maryland. Because of this, the University of Maryland System, which is composed of twelve campuses, cut its budget by $117.3 million, according to Maryland’s Office of Budget Analysis.

Along with those reductions, the

COVID-19 tracker Silver Chips is following the COVID-19 pandemic closely. As part of our coverage, we will be updating this section with COVID-19 statistics. For daily updates and an interactive display of data in the state of Maryland, visit mdcovidtracker.com.

Covering COVID-19

Virtual sports roundup see page F2

see page G2

see page G2

SHASHI ARNOLD

NOTE The previous iteration of this dashboard contained a mathmatical error that inflated the total case count for “Blair zip codes” by roughly four times. The error has been rectified.

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Blair zip codes Montgomery County Maryland GRAPHICS BY ADAM CHAZAN

October 15

November 01

November 15

December 01

Positivity rate (7-day avg.)

7-day positivity rate

Debating debate shows

High-risk students express worries

Guideline fatigue

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0

University, Hagerstown Community College, Allegany College of Maryland, Frostburg State University, and Garrett College will also receive funding, according to MyMCMedia.

Despite budgetary pressure, community colleges like Montgomery College are still doing their best to provide an education that benefits all students, Hickley writes, “The college will continue to work with community leaders and business organizations to determine and provide the education and training needed for future workforces.”

see page F3

10

*

Montgomery County 6.5% 930

Cases per 100k this month

SPORTS

to Hickey, half of this money will go toward student aid by providing “emergency student aid grants to eligible students.” These emergency grants will lower students’ cost of attending the school through full or partial coverage of housing, food, and course materials. The other half of the $11 million will go toward “funds for eligible costs associated with significant changes to the delivery of instruction due to the coronavirus.”

This financial support is not limited to Montgomery College.

Frederick Community College, Hood College, Mount Saint Mary’s

Cases per 100k (7-day avg.)

Cases per 100k this month

Maryland 1114

Inside

ELENORA RUE

DESERTED A lone University of Maryland student studies with a mask on at the College Park campus.

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Blair zip codes 869

Cases per 100k this month

Maryland Higher Education Commission also faced a cut of $55.3 million, with $36.3 of that amount taken from community colleges.

Before the pandemic hit, the state of Maryland proposed a budget increase of $18.2 million for community colleges as part of the planned budget for fiscal year 2021. This increase, however, was cut as funds were redirected towards the purchase of personal protective equipment.

In a federal attempt to relieve budgetary pressure on colleges due to COVID-19, eight colleges in Maryland have received federal funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), a $2.2 trillion national stimulus bill that provided aid to millions of workers, families, and small businesses in the United States.

Montgomery College is one of these colleges and “will receive nearly $11 million in funding,” MyMCMedia reported. According

Blair zip codes 20901

1081 cases per 100k this month

8%

20903

855 cases per 100k this month 6%

20910

800 cases per 100k this month 4%

20912

700 cases per 100k this month

7.8%

7-day positivity rate

2%

0%

October 15

November 01

November 15

December 01

*These four zip codes are contained in Blair’s service area. Many students who attend Blair through the Magnet, CAP, or downcounty consortium do not live in these zip codes.