Tattler Junior Edition 2019

JUNE 2019

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Looking Forward

BY TATTLER STAFF

The current Tattler senior editorial staff came into this year with the idea of B-CC 3.0.

Now, we’re going into the upcoming year with a new outlook: a 2020 vision.

The idea of B-CC 3.0 was derived from the pattern of change within the school. With a third new addition to the building, and the aftermath of the Climate Change article surrounding staff satisfaction from May 2017, the editors of The Tattler saw imminent need for change. However, the school wasn’t the only thing that was altered. For the first time, The Tattler was produced strictly in the form of newspaper magazines. With this new image, the quality of The Tattler surpassed expectation. The content of the articles was more sophisticated, the editing was significantly stronger, and the art and images were more creative and detailed than ever.

Many of these qualities can be attributed to the fantastic senior editorial staff. They’ve done

a phenomenal job with Tattler this year, proving The Tattler team of 2019 was undoubtedly one of the most talented the paper has seen. We, The Tattler editorial team of 2020, are determined to follow in their footsteps while adding our own originality and bringing our own spirit of change to B-CC. In our vision, we have chosen to keep the magazine format for The Tattler. While switching entirely to a magazine format has been criticized (we’re looking at you, Mr. Zehner), the magazines have proven worthy of keeping. Magazines are easier and more enjoyable to read, and expand the opportunity for artistic content.

we want to see the most impressive B-CC in all of history. This edition is the future of The Tattler.

We have the clearest and most optimistic vision: The 20/20 Vision. Please enjoy.

-THE NEW TATTLER EDITORIAL STAFF

In the edition you currently hold, you will find stories that focus on the future of B-CC. We hope that you view the diversity of articles in this edition as an accurate representation of what we promise to produce next year. In the year 2020,

GRAPHIC BY YAEL CHIAPPORI

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Student Profiles: The Class of 2020 Youth Creating Change: Fueling Student-led Social Justice Movements Profiles in Memories and Music Ethiopian Culture Thrives at B-CC and Beyond MCPS in the News for All the Wrong Reasons

By Charlie Kannapell

Read the stories of four exceptional students in the upcoming senior class.

By Ethan Tiao

Learn about the organization Youth Creating Change and the B-CC students leading projects in the area.

By Yael Chiappori

Read three B-CC students’ preferences of music, and the deeper meaning behind it.

By Rachel Auerbach

The D.C. Metro Area boasts one of the largest Ethiopian populations in the country. Learn more about how they celebrate their heritage .

By Lilly Behbehani and Emma Volkers

MCPS has had multiple scandals in the news cycle this school year.

What are these scandals, and how should MCPS’s culture change?

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Letter by Local Church Official Causes Backlash in B--CC Community

By Isabel Danzis and Grace Harrington

See how the community reacted to a incinderary letter written by an Our Lady of Lourdes church official about the decision to announce same-sex marraiges in a Catholic school magazine.

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Social Media’s Role in the Spread of Antisemitism

By Rachel Auerbach

Antisemitic incidents are on the rise. Explore whether the increase in hate speech can be attributed to social media.

Tattler’s Take: The Adversity Score Working Hard or Hardly Working?

Hot in the Lot

In Sports

By Dan Shapiro

Read the Tattler staff’s opinion on the controversial SAT adversity score.

By Dylan Greenhouse

Employment numbers for high school students are declining. What can be attributed to this change?

By Lilly Behbehani, Isabel Danzis, Grace Harrington, and Charlie Kannapell

Now that the class of 2020 rules the parking lot, take a look at three of the upcoming senior class’ hottest cars.

A Look Into B-CC’s New Sports Facilities Serving Up Some New Tennis Courts for the Barons Friday Night Lights: Suburban Maryland Edition This is Our Turf (or Grass?)

Top 5 Underclassmen Sports Moments

By our sports writers

By Dan Shapiro

By Aaron Knishkowy and Mateo Suter-Shannon

By Jason Grayer, Dylan Greenhouse, and Nick Roberson

By Asher Rubin, Dan Shapiro, and Emmett Siegel

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Student Profiles:

BY CHARLIE KANNAPELL

The class of 2019 has done an exceptional job as leaders of the Barons this year. After years of excelling in athletics and academics, their reign over the school is coming to a close, and the class will part ways to find their new homes as college-level athletes and hardworking scholars or experienced individuals ready to enter the workforce. The conclusion of this era will bring the emergence of new leaders in the school -- the class of 2020. The rising seniors possess a diverse student body, full of impressive talents and strong leaders, all of whom will have a major impact on the next year in the life of every B-CC Baron. The Tattler wanted to highlight some of the exceptional members of the 2020 class who will be major contributors to the “2020 Vision:”

The Athlete Maggie Lucas Maggie Lucas is a star lacrosse player who began playing the sport in first grade. Lucas, who is one of nine siblings, says that “[I] watched my older siblings play for as long as I can remember.” Upon her arrival at B-CC as a freshman in 2017, Maggie made the Varsity lacrosse team and has been an important weapon for “Pagan’s Army” ever since. As a lacrosse player in one of the most competitive lacrosse areas in the nation, Lucas’s excellent lacrosse skills have been noticed by college lacrosse coaches, especially during tournaments with her club team MC Elite. As a result, this year, Lucas committed to study and play Division Two lacrosse at the Queens University of Charlotte, in Charlotte, North Carolina. “I could never imagine myself not playing, so I wanted to continue to play into college,” said Lucas.

Named one of the captains of the Barons lacrosse team her Junior year, Lucas has played a major role in leading her team to success.

As for her plans for her senior year at B-CC, Lucas says she is “really excited” and “can’t wait for what next year has in store” for her and her teammates.

The Leader Arjun Akwei If you’re in the class of 2020, chances are you’ve heard the name Arjun Akwei a few hundred times. Akwei has a strong background in leadership, beginning his road to class presidency in elementary school, and now, he says, has “had the honor of serving as the class of ‘20s president since freshman year.” Throughout his time at B-CC, Akwei says “it’s been an enduring goal of [his] to expand our SGA’s mission to be encompassing of all sorts of student life initiatives.” For Akwei, this mission has meant working to plan more events to rally and promote school spirit, as well as partnering with student clubs and organizations to expand the impact of student-led activism.

After three years of dedication to the school as Class President, Akwei is excited and prepared to make a change his final year at B-CC. “ Next year is filled with opportunities for our class and our school”, says Akwei, who has laid out his plan for the school next year. Akwei says that for his senior year, he wants the SGA to not just give the class of 2020 a great homecoming and prom, but also to “pursue more lasting and meaningful campaigns as well.”

This, Akwei says, entails working with students to promote voter registration, “creating organizational boards” to ensure cooperation among school clubs, recognizing and reallocating tasks and jobs internally for the SGA, and lastly, “[he’d] like to capitalize on the return of the field and the entry of our largest freshman class to revitalize spirit.” Akwei believes that “with enough commitment, confidence, and creativity”, he doesn’t doubt that the class of 2020 can do great things.

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The Class Of 2020 The Artsit Ben Moran Ben Moran started his long path to becoming a musician at just 6 years old when he picked up his first guitar. Becoming a great guitarist certainly didn’t come easy: “I was still terrible at guitar after four years,” says Moran. Nevertheless, the young musician persisted, and finally found his big start when he heard his first Jason Mraz song. “I started to listen to Jason Mraz and wrote my first song. Since then, I’ve always been improving.” If mastering the guitar wasn’t enough, Moran picked up playing the piano at 12 years old, and the drums two years later at 14 years old.

Throughout Moran’s time at B-CC, he’s written and produced five of his own albums, the most recent being the eight-song collection titled “HUM”, which has received thousands of listens on the Soundcloud app.

Aside from making music, Moran sings for B-CC’s show choir, participates in an A Capella group with other classmates, and makes many appearances on B-CCTV. “I want B-CC to rock with me”, said Moran about his plans as a senior in his last year of high school; “I wanna be a person that brings us all together.”

The Writer Anna Roberson Anna Roberson has always loved reading. Whether it was a fictional piece or a short story, she has always found enjoyment in reading the work of a talented writer. Little did she know, her years at B-CC would culminate into a creation of her very own voice as a writer.

“I started creative writing the summer after freshman year,” Roberson said, adding that she took workshops at Writopia Lab in D.C. that summer to improve her writing skills. Roberson’s writing career really jump-started after she won her first scholastic award her sophomore year, which eventually led her to starting poetry. When she was 14, Roberson read a piece titled “Rilke’s Letters To A Young Poet”, which she says has “really stuck with [her].” “I think, as an observant person, who has always enjoyed reading, it just kind of came to me. There really is no formula for teaching how to write poetry, you just read and learn from other writers and integrate certain techniques into your work.” Roberson soon developed a liking for classic poets like Billy Collins, who she says can “manipulate humor and are still profound” and “contemporary rule breaking poets like Maggie Nelson”. In fact, another favorite poet of Anna’s is someone who she met and got to know well: “This past summer I took a course at Barnard and my professor, Caroline Hagood, has become another one of my favorites.” she said.

This January, Roberson was the recipient of two Scholastic awards for two of her collections of poetry. “They were poems I had been working on since the start of the summer so it felt really good to be recognized”, she said. Roberson’s awards case expanded even more only two months later, when she won 1st place in the poetry section for the B-CC writing contest for her poem titled “Growing Pains”. As a rising senior, Roberson will share her talents with the B-CC community as Editor In Chief of Chips, B-CC’s literary magazine next year. With this role, Anna says “ I hope to promote Chips so that more people are aware of the class and submission process, and that more people can showcase their creative talent.”

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Youth Creating Change: Fueling Student-led Social Justice Movements

BY ETHAN TIAO

What is Youth Creating Change?

Youth Creating Change essentially acts as a student-led social justice incubator. Its overarching goal is to provide students who are looking to address social justice issues with a platform to help them realize their potential as change makers and jump over the financial hurdles they may encounter. YCC provides the students with a combination of grant funding, adult mentorship, and grassroots organizing training.

Identifying Student Activists and YCC Fellows Youth Creating Change has student outreach coordinators in 15 MoCo schools who publicize YCC to their respective student bodies. Once applications came in, YCC vetted, interviewed, and accepted two rounds of Fellows who were immediately placed into the incubator process.

The Incubator Process The monthly grassroots organizer trainings, a key component of the incubator, are facilitated by veteran adult organizers or experienced student activists and focus on teaching Fellows essential organizing skills including facilitating a meeting, managing a team, fundraising, delivering an effective call to action, and more. During these trainings, YCC pairs students with experienced adult community organizers (mentors) who help the fellows apply what they’re learning during the training to their own projects. This gives students the opportunity to bounce ideas off of adept organizers who can use their wealth of knowledge to help the Fellows work through their obstacles. As the Fellow’s projects come to fruition, grant funding is administered as needed.

Pictures from December, January, and March grassroots organizer trainings.

What Has YCC Done?

Today, YCC supports 30 student Fellows who are leading 17 different social justice projects from 10 different schools across the county. The group has led a speaker series featuring YCC Fellows at Silver Creek MS focused on inspiring the next generation of student activists. The group’s culminating event, a Social Change Conference, featured County Council members, Board of Education members, our SMOB, and over 100 student activists from over 15 schools across the county. The conference attendees participated in panels and discussions surrounding the most pressing social justice issues that students face in their lives and interacted with YCC Fellows and other student activists through a social change fair featuring over 30 social justice groups from across the county.

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YCC Fellows Creating Change Within B-CC LGTBQ inclusivity in Methodist Churches (Jake Gee)

Jacob has been advocating for increased LGBTQ+ inclusion within the United Methodist Church (UMC).

He started by pushing his local church (Chevy Chase United Methodist Church) to take a stand on the issue of LGBT rights by joining the ranks of the reconciling churches, UMC churches that pledge to be welcoming and accepting to all people regardless of sexuality. Since the unfortunate decision of the UMC this February to strengthen its opposition to the LGBTQ+ community Jacob has spearheaded efforts within Chevy Chase United Methodist Church (CCUMC) and the Baltimore Washington Conference (BWC) to create a truly welcoming and inclusive environment. These efforts include: creating the ‘Rainbowing of the Church” tradition at CCUMC, writing letters to the BWC in support of ordaining LGBTQ+ clergy, and helping to organize reconciling Methodist churches to march in the DC Pride Parade for the third consecutive year.

Flourishing Friendships

(Lily O’Hanlon) Lily organized an Autism-Awareness fair on April 28th, 2019 in honor of autism awareness month. The fair provided families who have autistic children with a fun weekend getaway, and an opportunity to meet other families in similar situations. The fair included craft tables, outdoor zumba, relay races and guest speakers who advocated for autism-awareness. She partnered with Open Door Sports to engage the special needs students in fun outdoor sports activities during the event. In addition to the fair, the group led an autism awareness week of advocacy within B-CC.

Citizens Field Guide for Gun Violence

(Dan Navratil, Lee Schwartz, Malaika Bhayana) Dan, Lee, and Malaika created “A Citizen’s Field Guide to Gun Violence in America” - a factual source for the most important information about gun violence, gun ownership, and gun control. They specifically created the booklet to be non-partisan because gun violence is an issue that affects all Americans, and believe that all Americans can come together to solve it. The booklet contains definitions of gun-related buzzwords, profiles of different types of guns, a summary of the background check system, and the gun control positions of every major candidate running in a swing state in the midterms, among other things. They also created an insert specifically for Maryland voters. It contains the gun control positions of the top two candidates for every Maryland House race along with the Senate race and Governor race.

Diversity Mural

(Krissy Raisner & Willow Frohardt) Krissy and Wilow are creating a mural that is indicative of the diversity that now exists in our school and address some of the current political divide. Their goal is to have mural be a representation and reminder of B-CC’s stance on inclusiveness and acceptance. They aim to reflect this diversity by talking to different B-CC clubs which represent many different groups of students within our school.

MoCAT Museum of Cultural Toxicity (Camilo Montoya, Melissa Carr, Andrew Cha, Anthropology Class) Coming of Age in Toxicity is the B-CC anthropology department’s continuation of the Museum of the Contemporary American Teenager (MoCAT.) Similar to Mocat, Coming of Age in Toxicity an all-interactive art exhibit and museum, with various projects researched and completed by B-CC students. The part museum, part art exhibit, part escape room focused on six cultural toxicities: polarization, stress, masculinity, binary, comparison, and inequality. Within these broad categories, students have the creative opportunity to choose a subtopic from any of these toxicities and pursue a more specific project that they can express artistically, whether it be the student-athlete culture within toxic masculinity or the dichotomy of gender within toxic binaries.

Connecting Cultures

(JD Gorman, Camilo Montoya, Ben Moran) Connecting cultures is a non-profit led by 3 B-CC students with the ultimate goal of end the ongoing issue of self-segregation in the community, by tackling the problem from its roots. For example, BCC has been described as so segregated to the point where there are 3 different schools inside one building. Black BCC, White B-CC, and Hispanic B-CC are the three most obvious groups in the school. JD’s non-profit plans to reach such goal by hosting community events such as talent shows/art showcases, music lessons, sport tournaments and a 2 week summer camp where, for example, kids from Silver Spring get to hangout with kids from Westbrook.

Other projects from across the county

In addition to the extensive array of projects that we supported in B-CC, we are also supporting other social justice initiatives based in Richard Montgomery, Blake, Einstein, Georgetown Prep, Bayard Rustin ES, Silver Creek MS, and more. These projects encompass a variety of initiatives focused on combating, socioeconomic disparities, sexual assault and harassment, lack of inclusivity, the achievement gap, oppression against minority students, discrimination against special needs students, and the struggles Hispanic students and immigrants face in today’s school climate.

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FEATURE

In Her Playlist: Connections and Memories Built Through Music

AMELIA DEWELL

BY YAEL CHIAPPORI

“Personal, Subculture, and England,” that’s how Junior Amelia Dewell describes her music preferences.

To most people our age, the twenty-first century’s music perfectly captures their taste. For others such as Dewell, they turn to the past to find the music that suits them. “I think it’s just the lack of genuineness and honesty in music [today] that I don’t really like,” she says.

There is a metaphor used to justify the use of ghost writers: “...on a film there’s a director who has the driving theme and he has the work of the lighting assistants, actors... to make his vision come true.” Dewell responds to this, arguing “some people use that as the reason for accepting ghost writers, but I don’t see that as an example because some people can make films on their own with a Kickstarter budget and twelve people on the crew”. An artist can create a song without the expensive production. Often times, that is the sign of the most capable artists. Dewell certainly thinks so.

Her method of music discovery is described as “testing” and immersing herself in a particular genre and then zoning in on a few artists, albums, and eventually songs she likes. Her favorite artists are those able to adapt and evolve through time, valuing most those able to take life experiences and weave them into their craft. One of these artists is Damon Albarn. Dewell said, “He’s done everything. He’s done Blur, Gorillaz, he’s made an opera. I think he’s just like a musical savant he’s really good at what he does and he’s good at evolving his music as well over time”.

When asked what her most memorable moment connected to music

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was, the answer was unlike many: not a concert or song, rather something unique. When learning to play guitar, Dewell noticed a pattern in the chords she found herself drawn to, a pattern she connected to her favorite songs. “My favorite parts of songs over and over and over again were a series of two or three chords… You know what I mean. Think of your favorite song. There’s a certain section that’s your favorite part right?”

With music also comes memories. Songs can capture the depth of a moment in a way no other form of expression is able to. Each music lover can connect a specific moment or time to a song “America” by Simon and Garfunkel is Amelia’s connection to a road trip her and her family took. She says, “Last year my family drove up the I-95 through New York to Rhode Island. This song just reminds me of driving through New York City. It was a way of re living that American greatness that may or may not be going away at this point.” Dewell claims “America” is a fitting song for a road trip with lyrics like, “And I’m empty and aching and I don’t know why Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike They’ve all come to look for America,” To Dewell, music was a way of coping with difficulty “I, like most people, went through a phase where I was very unhappy with my life.

I wasn’t in a good head-space and I literally had no one to talk to. But I just felt like almost, as stupid as it sounds, listening to music makes you feel like you’re not alone, someone else is going through what you’re going through and it’s sort of like a medium to express how you feel”.

PHOTOS and IILUSTRATIONS BY YAEL CHIAPPORI

FEATURE

NATALIE MARTI

CRISTINA GARRIDO

By just looking at Natalie Marti, one can immediately tell she breathes music, and her Rolling Stones T-shirt isn’t the only give away.

Music has been her escape and inspiration. She says, “I think growing up it really shaped me to have a much better outlook on life. I had hardships I would go through where I would just listen to music and everything would go away”.

The song “Fool to Cry” by the Rolling Stones is sung from Mick Jagger’s perspective as a father, in which his child is trying to help him through heartbreak. It comes to no surprise that the song developed a lot of meaning to Marti and her father when hard times hit. Marti admits, “I think that was the first Stones song that stuck with me. It was my dad playing it for the first time and we had a lot going on at the time.

It especially grew on me when I went through a very hard point in my life where I had lost my home to a fire. I felt like my whole world was crumbling down. My dad and I weren’t close… when I was with him we would play… all these albums and especially that song is something I held close for comfort and helped me really push through”.

Her guilty pleasure music: Metallica. Though her friends make her turn it off in the car, Marti enjoys the music. The T-shirts are popular but the music isn’t so much anymore, Marti says “A lot of people when they think of Metallica they’ll think ‘Why the hell would anyone listen to Metallica?’ and people wear it on their shirts because they’re like ‘Oh, it’s a great clothing accessory’”.

Music has always been something parents pass down to their children, just as Marti’s father did with her. But with the growth of technology those connections are often missed, Marti claims: “I don’t think parents play their music anymore because now with electronics they [the children] have their headphones in they’ll turn the world off and put on trap or something”.

Cristina Garrido moved to the U.S. from Madrid, Spain in 2016. Her music influences and preferences have shifted because of her move and the people she met here. Garrido says: “...before… a lot of the music I listened to was in English. I barely listened to Spanish music when I lived in Spain, but moving here and meeting a lot of Latin people influenced me a lot… also missing Spain”.

Some of her favorite music is Reggaeton, a genre that started in Puerto Rico but has now spread a through all of Latin America. It has influences of Caribbean, hip hop, and Latin music. Though one of Garrido’s favorite artists is Rosalia, is a Spanish singer whose music holds powerful Spanish flamenco influence and boasts a powerful and sharp voice.

In particular, the song “Imported” by Jessie Reyez connects with Cristina’s feeling of being out of place at times. “I identify a lot... with Jessie Reyez and her song “Imported”. It reflects feeling a little out of this world and like you’re just passing by everywhere. Like you’re not staying in one place forever”, said Garrido.

Another favorite of Garrido’s, the song “Deep Down” by Zhavia Ward, is self motivating and challenges one to look to the good of the coming future. The upbeat and melodic rhythm is fitting with Garrido’s description of her music “Upbeat, rhythmic, and smart”. The song speaks to the listener, “Tellin’ me ‘listen to your gut’ Your instincts, you should always trust calling you to run run to and not from”, sings Zhavia.

Cristina’s favorite music moment was singing at international night in 2018, “I look at it now… and I hate it. It was pretty cool because all my friends started using their flashlights and then everyone started doing it. When I look back at it I feel like it was a moment between my friends and I because I saw the four little lights and stopped being so nervous. It was the first time I performed for a big group of people”.

Music has been a shared passion with Garrido’s friends in America. Though her parents don’t share her preferences, in fact Garrido says that “My parents kind of hate it”, her friends do.

Through her exploration of Latin music Garrido found commonalities between her and her friends’ favorite songs, “My friends… do share part of it since a lot of my friends are Hispanic we share a lot of songs that relate. We come from a similar culture”.

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FEATURE

Ethiopian Culture Thrives at B-CC and Beyond Vibrancy. Pride. Spirit. Community. These words capture the essense of Hasheba Club, an organization dedicated to spreading Ethiopian culture and ensuring all Ethiopian students thrive at B-CC.

BY RACHEL AUERBACH Since the 1980s, the Ethiopian population in the Washington D.C. area has grown rapidly, spreading their rich, unique culture throughout the nation’s capital and nourishing the community with the palatable flavors and spices of the east African country. Washington D.C. now boasts the highest concentration of Ethiopians outside of Africa--a statistic appreciable by any Washingtonian lucky enough to explore the vast number of restaurants and shops lining the blocks of “Little Ethiopia” on 9th and U Street.

This community began taking shape in the early 1960s, as many Ethiopians immigrated for the educational and business opportunities provided by the District. As the decade progressed, conflict ensued within the Ethiopian government as the emperor, Haile Selassie, was overthrown by a military coup and a repressive communist regime was established. Beginning in 1976, this government, called the Derg, began to commit atrocities against civilians accused of resistance, prompting thousands to migrate to the U.S for a safer and more stable life. Even after this period of political terror elapsed, Ethiopian people have continued to migrate to D.C. in increasing numbers.

The largest cluster of Ethiopian people in the region live within Montgomery County, fostering small communities of Ethiopian-American students in local middle and high schools. The Ethiopian community at B-CC has grown and thrived throughout the past few years, with help from students like junior Wongelawit “Wongi” Ayele.

Ayele’s family moved to the U.S from Ethiopia when she was in fifth grade with hopes of better education opportunities and gender equality for Wongi and her sister.

During her freshman year at B-CC, Ayele noticed the lack of unity between the many Ethiopian students at the school. “When I first came to B-CC, I saw that there were a decent number of Ethiopian students at the school, but we were all kind of disconnected. I really wanted to have a stronger community where everyone had a resource to get them the opportunities possible for them and stay updated with things happening at the school.”

This prompted her to form the Habesha club, which provides tutoring and college information to new Ethiopian students, and shares traditional

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“I really wanted to have a stronger community where everyone had a resource to get them the opportunities possible for them and stay updated with things happening at the school.”

Ethiopian music and dance at events like International and Diversity Nights.

One of the major goals of the Habesha club is to help Ethiopian students new to the United States overcome any linguistic barriers and succeed academically. During after school mentoring sessions, students can come in to ask questions about their homework, receive tutoring in a variety of subjects, and get advice about classes to take in future years. Additionally, the club organizes visits to colleges and provides information about the college process to new upperclassmen. “We really want to make sure the Ethiopian community stays on par with college prep opportunities available to them.” said Ayele.

Deborah Gabremariam, a sophomore at B-CC who moved to the U.S from Ethiopia when she was seven years old, joined Habesha club as a freshmen after spending many of her middle school years working to accept herself and her cultural identity. Her family chose to move to the U.S after winning the Diversity Visa Lottery; an exciting but scary opportunity for a child who spoke just a small amount of English and had never left her home country.

“It was very interesting to move to a school that was primarily white. At Westland and B-CC, it was very hard to adjust to that and find self-acceptance about who I am and how I’m different from other people.” Gabremariam said.

Being part of a community of individuals who shared her culture was a big part of the journey towards self-acceptance for Gabremariam.

By working with other Ethiopian students to to plan extraordinary dance performances for B-CC events and organize fundraisers to send money back to Ethiopia, Gabremariam was able to learn even more about her own culture and embrace her individuality in a supportive environment.

“It’s been really amazing being part of the Habe-

sha club. It’s really nice to be part of something where you can come as a community with people like you, with people from the same background who faced the same obstacles, it helps me and other people to find common ground with so many others at a school like [B-CC].”

To stay connected to their heritage when outside the walls of B-CC, Gabremariam and Ayele both find joy in working with their churches and spending time with their families. “I’m active in my church community, so I do interact with other Ethiopians which has helped me practice my knowledge of the language. I speak, Amharic, which is a prominent language in Ethiopia.”

Wongi said. “Church community events like socials have allowed me to continue to learn even more about my culture and history.”

Similarly, Gabremariam explained that in order to stay connected and keep learning about her heritage, she likes to go to an Ethiopian church and spend a lot of time talking with members of her family. “I try to have my mom teach me some more about the culture and how life was like living in Ethiopia, since she lived there a lot longer than I did. I also try to visit [Ethiopia] as much as I can.”

The Habesha club at B-CC is just a small part of the vast community of Ethiopians across Maryland and D.C. The Ethiopian markets, restaurants, stores and churches spread throughout the region provide a little piece of home to hundreds of Ethiopians in the area, while also teaching native DMV residents a bit more about a culture different from their own.

FEATURE

Suicide Prevention Training Lacks Substance GRAPHIC BY BELA OMOEVA

BY EMMA VOLKERS AND ALEX WATERMAN

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wenty-five students file into their class, most excited because there was no lesson on English today. The bell rings.

“I will not pretend that I am qualified to talk to you about this...” starts their teacher, pacing in front of the Promethean board. Worksheets are distributed, students are told to read aloud, and then the comments begin. “I know a girl who did this once,” one said excitedly. One acronym particularly caught the student’s attention.

“A.C.T, (acknowledge, care, and tell)” said one, “I’m studying for mine right now that’s scary.”

“Yeah,” responded the teacher, “talk about being triggered.” A teacher making a suicide joke? This was beginning of the “Signs of Suicide” training at not only B-CC but all over Montgomery County.

In November of 2017, a young girl from Whitman took her life, opening the community’s eyes to the reality and severity of mental health.

Just a couple weeks later, a male student at Walter Johnson took his life. The community was in shock. For the first few weeks after the suicides, awareness buzzed throughout Montgomery County, but was lacking within the school systems. While the schools that were directly affected by the suicides received counselors and extra support for any and all students, the tragedies were barely addressed within the others. This was many students’ first exposure to the realities of the severe effects of mental health, and the only resources they were provided were each other. Due to this, the teen community saw the suicides as more of a spread of gossip than one of support and learning.

The “Signs of Suicide” Training was first introduced into B-CC at the end of the month in November 2017, presented in science classrooms

by SGA student volunteers who read quickly through county-provided slides. The whole presentation lasted no longer than 15 minutes, and questions were unasked and unanswered, with most teachers rushing to excuse the presenters in order to continue their lessons. This year was a bit different. Students were made aware of the lesson a day or so before, and those who did not feel comfortable staying in the vicinity were al-

lowed to step out, the first red flag. Who would want to inadvertently admit that they or someone close to them struggles with mental illness by asking to be excused in front of the whole class? We wondered. Although required by the county to present this topic in class, there was discussion among students that some teachers didn’t go over the resources. How are the students expected to take the topic seriously if there are teachers within the school that don’t take it seriously themselves?

This year, the training was even more of a joke. The resources that were handed out by teachers were outdated, and clearly worded for a much younger audience. “Depression is more than the blues and the blahs…” was one of the first sentences that students were directed to read aloud. Our class erupted into laughter after this sentence was read, and the joking only got worse. The objective of the training is to talk about a serious issue that impacts our own lives and those of our peers, but the classroom was far from a safe environment. Embarrassment is how we felt. Yes, you could say that depression is more than the blues and the blahs, but that seems to be the way one would address a class of kindergarten students, not a classroom of well educated young adults. To add more to the discussion, students in the education system are constantly exposed to severe and difficult topics.

U.S. and world history classes are required in order to graduate high school, and students are exposed to hard-to swallow topics such as the Holocaust, and are taught and expected to be able to process serious themes. Yet, the training in high schools reflects that adults still find teenagers to be too naive to understand mental health.

Not only was the information dumbed down, but it was also outdated and isolating to those who suffer. The statistic that stood out to us the most was found within a resource from 2016 and read “Depression...is less common for teenagers [than adults].” Not only does this isolate teenagers who are experiencing mental health struggles by telling them it is abnormal, but the claim itself is completely incorrect. In fact, according to The National Alliance on Mental Illness

(NAMI), 1 in 5 youth (ages 13-18) suffer from a severe mental disorder, while 1 in 25 adults experience the same. Not only this, but mental health can have extremely detrimental effects on a person’s life and future. According to NAMI, “50% of students age 14 and older with a mental illness dropout of high school,” and suicide is the 3rd leading cause in death in youths ages 10-24. These statistics make mental health more relevant not only to young people, but also to the high schools that are losing students. With such a high statistic, many feel that schools should be more active than ever in supporting those who struggle with the support they need to stay in school, and that includes informing the student body and making mental health a normalized topic in the classroom. In fact, the official Montgomery County website underneath the “Mental Health Crisis Support” section it reads: “In the event of an individual or school wide crisis, the goal of the team is to return those affected to their academic focus as quickly as possible.”

This being said, many students need to have support focusing on themselves mentally before focusing academically, and for many students the only adult resources they have are found within school walls.

One of the main causes of mental health stigma is misinformation and ignorance, with people making assumptions regarding these issues simply because they do not know enough about them. This lack of information starts with our schools. If we do not educate our citizens about mental health, then how can we expect them to understand such an important topic. Not only this, but if mental health is rarely discussed, then many students struggling with it may not feel comfortable reaching out for help, or recognizing symptoms early, leading to more detrimental effects.

With 450 million people worldwide suffering from mental health, it’s time to finally take the matter seriously and open the discussion.

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FEATURE

MCPS in the news...

BY LILLY BEHBEHANI AND EMMA VOLKERS

T

his school year, Montgomery County Public Schools have been in the news cycle for all the wrong reasons. Instead of being recognized for student and school achievements, MCPS has been recognized for poor practices of students.

On April 29, two female freshman students Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda posted a picture on Snapchat of themselves wearing face masks, posing as if they were wearing blackface.

The picture was accompanied with a caption including the n-word. Soon after, one of the girls posted another picture of herself wearing blackface with a caption including the n-word.

Of the 2,085 students at Whitman, 67% are white and less than 5% are black, according to official Montgomery County Public School data.

This is the third reported incident of racism at Whitman this year alone.

The photo came a week after students in Whitman’s Minority Scholar Program gave presentations to all students in math classes on how it feels to be in a minority at Whitman and the inequalities they face at their own school. In a letter home to parents, Whitman’s principal Robert Dodd condemned the racist photo and said that the incident has been reported to Montgomery County Police as a hate bias incident. The photo has sparked outrage amongst not only the Whitman community but Montgomery County schools and the school board as elected officials said they were deeply troubled by the racism. It has been said that the two female students only received 5 days of suspension.

On October 31, six 15 year old Junior Varsity football players at Damascus High School in Damascus allegedly hazed and sexually assaulted four 14 or 15 year old teammates in the JV locker room.

The boys suffered from what was reported to be a habitual hazing, but both current and former Damascus players told Fox5 that the hazing has never gone this far before. The six alleged attackers were indicted and charged with rape or attempted rape. They were originally charged as adults because of the violent nature of the crime, but one, who some call the “ringleader” was soon brought to junior court, with excuses ranging from “family problems,” to “undiagnosed and untreated attention hyperactivity disorder.” The teen tried as a juvenile simply received 100 hours of community service. The other four boys have all been indicted on eight counts each: one count of first degree rape, three counts of attempted first degree rape, and four counts of conspiracy to commit rape, according to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Alongside the excuses from the victims came a strange lack of response from Damascus administration. A text chain released by The Wash-

12

ington Post showed and exchange between JV football Coach Wallich and principal Crouse of Damascus where the principal seemed to care more about the “star” JV team than the victims and a sexual assault on campus. While the leadership at Damascus may have had mixed responses to the incident, the surrounding community was much less dismissive of the charges.

“These were 14-year-old boys traumatized in front of their teammates through no fault of their own.

The last message they needed to be hearing, even inadvertently, was that this wasn’t incredibly serious.”

A retired member of the Special Victims Investigation Division who goes by the name of Humphries found the reactions of the school to be appalling. “These were 14-year-old boys traumatized in front of their teammates through no fault of their own. The last message they needed to be hearing, even inadvertently, was that this wasn’t incredibly serious,” Humphries said.

Four months later and seven miles away at Winston Churchill High School in Potomac Maryland, four male sophomore students were found passing out n-word passes that resembled Willy Wonka’s golden ticket. These tickets granted “permission” for recipients to use the racial slur. Mostly handed to white students, the passes were quick to appear on social media sites such as Snapchat and Instagram, with a range of

FEATURE

... for all the wrong reasons reactions spreading from humorous to enraged.

Finally, a black female student found the passes and reported them to the administration. The four students found to be the sources of the tickets came from a background of “mixed races,” and received anywhere from 1-6 days suspension (MCPS chose to keep this private). This was met with a range of emotions. Friends and parents of the students found the punishment to be blown out of proportion, with one parent labeling the condemnation as “grossly mischaracterized,” and one sophomore claiming that, “No one was trying to offend anyone, no one was saying the actual word, and no one thought it was okay to say the actual word.” The administration at Churchill however, was quick to urge the community to set their standards higher. “I feel very fortunate

to be the principal at Winston Churchill High School, but acts of hatred and intolerance frustrate and sadden me because I believe that we are better than this,” said an email sent by Principal Brandice Heckert to the families at the school.

The Churchill community was quick to respond and focus on rebuilding and educating its members on tolerance and respect. While some students were defensive, calling the cards “memes” and jokes”, most were appalled. “I just think we as students realized that even though we live in a more progressive community there are still individuals who are ignorant and do not understand the effects of their actions on others.

Instead of taking a more cynical approach and outwardly attacking the students who made the passes most of us wanted the students to be more

educated on why it was wrong and how others were hurt by it,” said a Churchill student. Around 40 student leaders stepped up and began working with the administration to find a way to share their experiences with racism, its severity, and its effects with their peers.

Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School hit the headlines recently after a list made by several boys ranking 18 senior girls in the International Baccalaureate diploma programme based off of their appearances circulated around the senior c As soon as the list came out, the girls united together and created an initiative against toxic masculinity within B-CC. Not only did their efforts focus on creating a more respectful male community, but also on giving young women the ability to find strength and confidence within themselves. The student body is split between those who do not see an issue with the list and are frustrated by the attention it is receiving and those who deem it a product of toxic masculinity. In an effort to start a conversation about the toxic aspects of our society, both girls and boys gave presentations to underclassmen classes about what happened and toxicity. Within their own grade, the IB students held multiple socratic seminars in hopes of creating common ground between those split about the list.

MCPS is a county that prides itself on being inclusive and diverse, yet there seems to a pattern within its high schools this year. Montgomery County needs to focus more of its efforts on educating its youth and teaching them about the practice of tolerance and acceptance. Ignorance is not bliss. We have some of the best resources in the country, so we should be using them to educate our kids and make them more aware of their surroundings instead of letting the privilege make them naive. We should acknowledge the wrongdoings in our community and make efforts to prevent them in the future instead of covering it up now. It should not be assumed that every child, every family, and every area in Montgomery County is aware of their privilege and the bubble they live in.

Throughout these many events, the county has seen students step forward with a new voice for positive change and growth in the community. Whether it be holding a discussion on a controversial topic, or spreading awareness to fellow peers, Montgomery County should recognize the positive leadership that is stemming from these negative incidents. The dirty laundry has been waved long enough. It’s time to take the steps necessary to get MCPS out of the rinse and repeat cycle and into the dryer.

GRAPHIC BY YAEL CHIAPPORI

13

news

B-CC Places Fifth in Maryland in Controversial New Ranking

BY JOSH GARBER AND YAEL CHIAPPORI The U.S. News and World Report, a resource frequently used to identify the top colleges and high schools in the nation, recently released a high school ranking, in which they placed Bethesda-Chevy Chase High fifth among all high schools in Maryland and third among high schools in Montgomery County. As a comparison, Walt Whitman High and Thomas Wootton High received first and second placings, respectively, in both Montgomery County and all of Maryland.

Dr. Jones reviewed the report and was particularly enthusiastic with B-CC’s placement. “I was very excited about our ranking.” Dr. Jones, however, mentioned that “the school system put out a statement, and there was a concern about accuracy.”

The statement Dr. Jones is referencing was an email Montgomery County school officials delivered to the MCPS community on May 1st, a day after the rankings were released, that challenged the validity of the report. The officials claimed that some of the data points the U.S. News collected were inaccurate.

“We have identified that several schools in our district did not have the full complement of their data as part of the magazine’s review,” the email wrote. “We believe this may have led to an assessment of their performance that is inaccurate.”

According to the rankings, Montgomery County schools rank in the top 40% of schools nationwide, and Whitman ranked as the 93rd best school in the nation. MCPS officials acknowledged these achievements, commenting, “while MCPS is proud of the performance of our

schools in this national ranking list, we know that there are many different methodologies and data configurations that can be used to assess school performance.”

Chief data strategist for the U.S. News and World Report Robert Morse responded to MCPS officials a few days later, explaining that “in order to calculate the rankings for more than 17,000 high schools, U.S. News relies on state assessment data that comes directly from the states.

For privacy reasons, some states, withhold —or suppress—some data involving small numbers of participants.”

“This includes Maryland,” Morse noted.

“In those cases, U.S. News factored in state assessment data only on subject exams for which enough data was available, which is consistent with our methodology.”

Jay Mathews, a Washington Post education columnist, and creator of the oldest high school ranking system in the country, The Challenger Index, understands Morse’s statement but believes his data collection to be unnecessarily complicated.

“His problem is, in my view, that his methodology is too complex,” Mathews said. “Not only does that bring distortions when states don’t answer all of his many questions, but it makes it impossible for ordinary readers---or even alleged experts like me---to understand with any precision what they are doing.”

Morse’s methodology possesses an abundance of data points that focus mainly on AP scores, but Mathews’s rankings solely look at one thing: the number of graduating seniors divided by the number of AP, IB or Cambridge tests.

“My list started in 1998, nine years before

theirs. I was flattered that they adopted my challenging test participation rate when they began, but they then bowed to convention and piled on top of it a big load of data that reflected basically test scores,” Mathews said.

Mathews believes the usage of test scores as a significant means of ranking a school is an ineffective way of determining the best schools.

“Most rating systems use test scores. Most people think that is the best measure of a school.” Matthews disagrees. “What it does measure is family income, so a school with a lot of poor kids is at a big disadvantage.”

Dr. Jones agrees that high schools should not be exclusively ranked based on their test scores.

“I think that there are a wide variety of things that have an influence of what makes a great high school. It’s certainly not just about test scores,” Dr. Jones said.

The distinctions of Mathews’ ranking to the ranking of the U.S. News and World Report are evidently depicted in his results. The numbers he received put Winston Churchill High School at number one and Poolesville at number two in the county. “They are affluent schools with many advantages,” Mathews explains, “but you can look at my list and see how much better they did than schools with the same demographics, but less interest in involving average kids.”

All in all, despite being disputed by MCPS officials, the U.S. News and World Report ranking prompted necessary discussion about school achievement, the impact of affluence on educational outcomes, and the extent to which different educational markers should be valued.

B-CC Overpopulation Not Solved by F-Wing

BY ISABEL DANZIS AND GRACE HARRINGTON

In September 2018, the new addition of Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School was completed. This new addition, named the F-wing, was built to address the overpopulation concern at B-CC. When the new addition was requested during the 2014-2015 school year, B-CC was 309 students over capacity. Just before the new addition was completed in the 2017-2018 school year, the school was over capacity by around 500 students. Once the new addition was built, B-CC was under capacity with room to grow. However, projections up to 2033 show that B-CC will soon again surpass maximum capacity, even with the new addition.

Montgomery County Public Schools allocates additions for schools through a program called the Capital Improvements Program (CIP). According to Montgomery Planning, the CIP is a program with “objectives of capital programs with cost estimates and proposed construction schedules for specific projects.” MCPS uses this CIP to determine which schools require resources. “If you need a new roof, that’s part of the Capital Improvements Program. A new H-VAC system, floor replacement, door replacement, anything that is in your building [or] [expanding] a building,[building] a new school, [adding] an addition, [doing] a revitalization [or a] facility upgrade, [all] of those individual projects make up the capital improvements program,” said Di-

14

rector of the Division of Capital Planning, Adrienne Karamihas.

Every year, the CIP takes enrollment projections of the schools in MCPS. These enrollment projections are indicators of whether a school’s resources are being overused. “If a high school is over [200] seats or more in the last year of our Capital Improvements Program, usually what we call a feasibility study gets recommended,” Karamihas said. A feasibility study is the first step to an addition. It determines whether adding classrooms to a building is possible, how many can be put on the building, and how much money the entire endeavor would cost.

By 2024, B-CC will be at 100% capacity, only six years after the opening of the F-wing. The new addition was thus a temporary fix into B-CC’s overpopulation problem. Soon, a new solution will have to address the latest influx of new students.

According to the MCPS Cluster Articulation for 2018–2019 School Year, by 2033, B-CC will be 232 students passed capacity, prompting a study into how B-CC can accommodate the new students. B-CC’s campus lacks sufficient land to accommodate another addition, so other options will have to be explored. “One [option is to look at] adjacent high schools where there’s capacity, and then we would do a boundary study to re-assign students out of B-CC High School to [that] school,” said Ms. Karamihas.

“We certainly may, depending on the future,

[and] if there are other high schools in the area that are over-utilized, we could build a new high school and then share [the new] high school among other clusters to populate that school,” said Ms. Karamihas.

Overpopulation at B-CC is merely a symptom of overpopulation in other schools. All six elementary schools and two middle schools in the Bethesda-Chevy Chase cluster that feed into B-CC are dealing with overpopulation as well.

By 2023, elementary and middle schools in the B-CC cluster will be at or near 100% capacity.

For middle schools, the CIP needs to indicate an overpopulation of 150 students. Silver Creek Middle School, one of two B-CC feeder schools, will be over capacity by 2021 by 20 students, only four years after its opening in 2017. By 2028, only eleven years after its opening, Silver Creek will be 258 students over capacity by 2028, likely prompting the construction of a new addition to the school. These crowds of students will attend B-CC, causing there to be overpopulation at B-CC as well.

In the future, radical measures such as redrawing school boundaries or building entirely new schools will have to be taken if the county hopes to address the overpopulation. Overpopulation is symptom of the rising population of Montgomery County, and as Montgomery County grows, MCPS has to adapt to accommodate the influx of new students.

NEWS

Supreme Court Accepts Maryland Gerrymandering Case

BY DAN SHAPIRO America has long prided itself on the concept of “one man, one vote.” In other words, our democracy should permit every citizen an equal say in determining our elected officials.

Unfortunately, this well-meaning theory is not always put into practice. Welcome to partisan gerrymandering: the practice of redrawing congressional district boundaries to give a political party an advantage in elections. While the practice is technically illegal as of the Supreme Court case Baker v. Carr, politicians are able to get away with it as long as they can reason that there was a motive for the redistricting other than partisan reasons.

Gerrymandering is used by both sides of the political aisle to ensure that the party in power will stay in power for a particular congressional or state legislative district.

Congressional district lines are determined every 10 years based off of the results of a census. The state legislature then decides whether to maintain the boundaries from the previous decade or to redraw the district lines. In recent years, the Democrat-majority Maryland State Legislature has drawn district boundaries that gives a clear advantage to Democrats in congressional elections.

Democrats in Maryland spread out liberal voters from the Washington DC and Baltimore metropolitan areas to various congressional districts throughout the state to offset the primarily Republican voters in the rural areas. Montgomery County has been front and center with this redistricting, as it has been extensively divided up due to its large, majority Democrat voting population, so this issue hits home.

Mr. Gallagher, an AP US Government teacher, lives in Silver Spring and is grouped into Maryland Congressional District 3, which includes parts of Silver Spring, Howard County, and Baltimore. He believes that “being in such a geographically diverse district does not represent the interests of the constituents nearly as well as a compact district would.”

The redistricting has led to what Christopher Ingraham of the Washington Post has called “among the least geographically compact [districts] in the nation.” It has gone so far that one district is only contiguous by swimming across the Chesapeake Bay. These gerrymandered

GRAPHIC BY ISABEL DANZIS

districts translated to Republican candidates winning 37% of the statewide vote, but only receiving 1 of Maryland’s 8 congressional seats.

Understandably, this has angered many Republican voters, as they feel that their voice is not being heard by their elected officials. As a result, 7 Republican voters have filed a lawsuit against Democratic officials in Maryland, arguing that the gerrymandering has inhibited their equal protection under the law, which is guaranteed by the 14th amendment. This case is well known across the nation as Lamone v. Benisek.

“Being in such a geographically diverse district does not represent the interests of the constituents nearly as well as a compact district would.”

The plaintiffs are claiming that the Democrats gerrymandered the state’s 6th congressional district specifically to unseat the Republican incumbent, Roscoe Bartlett, who represented the district for 20 years. Their evidence for their claim is that while population growth should have added approximately 11,000 voters to the district, the election officials moved over half of the existing voters out of the district. This created a +90,000 voters margin for registered Democrats compared to registered Republicans, in a district that consistently voted for a GOP candidate a few short years ago. As one could expect, Bartlett lost the 2012 election by a mar-

gin of 21%, in a district that she won in a 28% margin landslide two years before.

The Supreme Court heard the oral arguments for the case on March 26 and they should reach their decision in the coming weeks. The court can either decide to allow partisan gerrymandering to continue or they put an end to it, and recommend a policy that would stop the practice from taking place.

Even though this local example of the issue paints the Democrats as the perpetrator of this practice, it is important to remember that both parties engage in this equally. It is a bipartisan problem that needs a bipartisan solution.

Several Republicans and Democrats-- including Kathleen Matthews, the former chairwomen of the Maryland Democratic Party-- have called for bipartisan independent commissions to be created to create fair congressional districts every ten years. These independent commissions are currently used effectively in California and they could be a potential solution to this problem, if they are enacted correctly.

Whatever the Supreme Court’s decision will be, the decision will have huge ramifications in Maryland and around the country in 2020, as it is a redistricting year and a decisive congressional election which will determine the immediate political future of our country.

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news

Letter by Local Church Offical Causes Backlash in B-CC Community

BY ISABEL DANZIS AND GRACE HARRINGTON An open letter written by Our Lady of Lourdes Monsignor Edward J. Filardi strongly criticizing Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School’s decision to include announcements of same-sex marriages in the alumni section of its school magazine has stirred controversy in the B-CC community. While some have defended Filardi’s stance, many have called the letter “homophobic.”

The letter criticized a decision made by nun, Sister Mary Berchmans at Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School, to allow the announcement of same-sex marriages by alumni to be published in the Visitation school magazine.

In Filardi’s response, he derided Berchmans’ decision, stating that, “the physical logic to man and woman underlies the very meaning of marriage. Biology matters.” Additionally, he praised Berchmans for her time in the church while still expressing disdain for her choice, claiming, “Sister, you have beautifully given yourself to God and our Church in consecrated life for 70 years and have done so much good. For this I offer my highest admiration. Why betray it now?”

Filardi went on the further chastise Berchmans by stating “Sister, I am sure this decision takes a lot of pressure off of you, secures the financial fortune of your 220 year-old academy, and will make you the toast of the town. But is it worth becoming toast? And worse leading others to the same?”

The Monsignor’s letter makes the assumption that Berchmans’ decision had financial motiva-

tion. There had been discussions in the Visitation community previous to the final outcome to be about allowing the announcement of same sex marriages to be printed in their magazine, and the consensus was leaning towards allowing the announcements. The allegation that Filardi makes in his letter is that Sister Berchmans wanted to allow the announcements to increase donations to Visitation. The letter also insinuates that by allowing same-sex marriages to be announced, Sister Berchmans will be celebrated for her inclusivity, but will burn in hell for accepting same-sex relationships.

According to Filardi, the response to his letter from his own parish has been mixed. A local Bethesda resident ran into Filardi recently and spoke to him about her disagreement with his letter. In that interaction Filardi allegedly told the Bethesda resident that “‘gay people are making a perverted lifestyle choice.’ He said ‘homosexual behavior is abnormal and disgusting.’ ‘[And] he kept repeating the line “only vaginas and penises should be together’”. This interaction has sparked even more outrage in the Bethesda community, specifically the East Bethesda neighborhood, which provides a lot of membership to Our Lady of Lourdes, with many people disagreeing with Filardi.

Many people in the Visitation community disagreed with Filardi’s opinion and publicly stated their views. J. Caitlin Finley, a 2000 graduate from Visitation, spoke to the Washington Post about Filardi’s response. “I was raised by

a Church that calls us to ‘love thy neighbor’ and admonishes us ‘not to judge lest ye be judged.’ Sr. Berchmans is living her faith, reminding us that we are all children of God, with inherent dignity and deserving of respect and love. Fr. Filardi, regrettably, is encouraging judgment and exclusion” said Finley.

Although a lot of people in Visitation agreed with this policy change, that wasn’t the opinion of the entire school’s network. Four alumni of the school wrote a letter in response to the change on the website First Things. The alumni stated that “The false choice [Sr. Berchmans has] set up, between embracing the truth of Catholic teaching and loving our LGBTQ sisters and brothers, is already spreading a culture of fear. If Visitation’s leaders will not affirm Catholic teaching, the school cannot promise to be a home for students and teachers who do”.

The conversation that this situation has created has allowed an issue within the Catholic church to be brought to light and discussed. According to the Pew Research Center, in 2017 67% of U.S. Catholic support gay marriage indicating a steady increase from 2012 where only 54% approved.

Pride Only Grows With Age

BY ALEX WATERMAN

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popular within the community, and people of all labels were welcome there. The Stonewall riots, also known as the Stonewall rebellion, was the first major act of the LGBTQ+ community that demonstrated anger towards the unfair treatment from the police and law. This riot sparked a movement for the community, leading to some of the most progressive and inclusive laws.

On the 50th anniversary of the riots, which will be this year, New York City plans on having the largest pride parade in history, memorializing the violent event that took place so many years before, and led the path to fair treatment.

In D.C., the pride parade has become so large that the event planners had to move streets, no longer taking place in Dupont Circle, but now they will be blocking off roads by the National Cathedral. The importance of the parade is to emphasize the love that everyone has for each other, and in a time of hatred and violence, pride allows for a sanctuary where everyone can feel supported and safe.

Members of the community welcome straight allies to come and show their own encourage-

ment and support, as pride is about all inclusion.

In the end, straight-allies are asked to keep in mind that although their participation in all the events is important, the ordeals and challenges that most of the community has had to overcome throughout their life marks an important bond between them all, and straight-allies should remember that these days are about their coming together, not just a cute place to take photos with your friends.

PHOTO BY ALEX WATERMAN

The first day of June marks the start of the annual gay pride month, encouraging all members of the LGBTQ+ community to come together and support one another and the struggles they may have endured. Over the weekend of June 8, cities all over the world will host parades and festivals, marking one of the most exciting events of the month.

“It’s a really fun month. [The parade is] one place in the LGBTQ+ community where everyone can come together and not be judged by strangers and not be in the minority,” said Maren Dunn, a junior at Wilson High School. “It’s nice when people put out stuff and support you.”

The first organized parade took place on Saturday, June 27, 1970. Since then, the parades have become a symbol for the LGBTQ+ community, an inspiration to those who are still closeted, and a way that allies can show their support and love.

On Saturday June 28, 1969, gays and transgender persons rioted after a police raid on a bar called the Stonewall Inn in a neighborhood within Manhattan, New York City. The gay bar was

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FEATURE

How Anti-Iranian Speech Has Been Normalized

BY LILLY BEHBEHANI

When my sister was in kindergarten, she came home one day and told my parents something troubling: her classmate had grabbed her by the shoulders, shaken her, and told her “I don’t like you, I don’t like where you come from and I don’t like your religion.” These words laced with hate still haunt my parents as they remember their confused five-year-old daughter asking them why someone wouldn’t like her for being American. My parents then realized that their young daughters would soon be exposed to comments of hate based solely on their Iranian heritage.

In 1975, Taher Behbehani moved to Madison, Wisconsin from Mashad, Iran to get an education and become immersed in his uncle’s American family. He considers himself a Wisconsinite as he spent eight years of his life there, graduating from both high school and college in the state.

But, in 1979, a group of Iranian student revolutionaries stormed the American embassy in Tehran, taking 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.

As news broke of the Iran Hostage Crisis, tensions between both Iranian and American governments and Iranian and American people escalated.

“Everyone was painted with the same brush and all of a sudden, we went from being foreign kids who were well-liked and never felt threatened, to being very uncomfortable,” says Taher Behbehani. Behbehani remembers the time someone spray painted ‘Go Home’ on the driveway of his uncle’s house in protest of the Hostage Crisis.

After the Iran Hostage Crisis, anti-Iranian marches erupted in Washington, D.C. People demanded the deportation of Iranians in America, claiming America was not their home. “I remember one day my brother coming home and saying that with spray paint on the side of Georgetown Prep’s gym, someone had written ‘Nuke Iran’” says Iranian immigrant, Hedyeh Esfahanian, who immigrated from Tehran to Maryland in 1978, a few months prior to the Iranian Revolution. “My brother thought it was interesting since [the] majority of Iranians here at the time came to America to flee the Revolution and the hate and violence there but they were now being faced with the same things from their classmates.”

Lilinaz Hakimi, a junior at B-CC, moved to America from Shiraz, Iran in 2014. Hakimi is known to be unafraid of embracing her Iranian heritage. Regardless of the situation, when asked where she is from, Hakimi always replies with Iran, except for one uncomfortable occasion this past year. “When I had my last in-car with a retired police officer, he told me a lot of general information about himself… He began to rant against Middle

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Easterners and then he asked me where I was from. I said that I was born and raised in Bethesda.”

On April 8, 2019, the United States labeled Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps -- Iran’s main military -- a terrorist group. This means that anyone who works with the Iranian Military is at the risk of criminal charges. The message that ‘Iran breeds terrorists’ is sent to Americans and the rest of the world is one that further hurts Iranians. The recent designation of the American government to call the Iranian military a terrorist organization creates a negative sentiment for Iranians, indirectly calling the people terrorists.

Iranians are continuously blamed for the actions of their government.

President Trump implemented a travel ban on citizens from 5 Muslim countries that may show acts of terrorism, even though none of the countries on the list have committed an act of terrorism against the United States.

Naturally, one of the countries on the list was Iran. The ban was more of a stab at the Iranian people, barely affecting the government. Members of the Iranian government would most likely not be traveling to America, but innocent Iranian citizens who have family members or ties to the US would be. Lines are continuously blurred between civilians and the government as Iranians are often faced with hate due to the actions of the government.

When I was in fifth grade, I was called a terrorist by one of my classmates. I was a frightened 10-year-old girl, paralyzed in shock, unable to comprehend why someone would call me a terrorist. It soon hit me that my Iranian heritage was to blame. I was taught to embrace my heritage; I am proud to be an Iranian-American. But for the first time, standing there in the hallway of my elementary school, I felt as if my Middle Eastern heritage made people see me differently.

Tensions have been rising between the United States and Iran. A singular photo of Iranian short-range missiles on a boat in the Persian Gulf (6,816 miles away) has been seen as a threat to America. As of May 17, the United States claims to have pictures of Iranian commercial ships that they believe are carrying missiles. According to CNN, there is nothing to support this claim by the US and only adds fuel to the growing turmoil between Iran and the US. As these two countries dance on the fine line between tolerance and war, I fear for my future. I fear the comments that will be said to me, my family, and my friends. I fear the actions that may be committed based on detestation. I fear that people will see anti-Iranian hate as justified.

FEATURE

Social Media’s Role in The Spread of Anti-Semitism

BY RACHEL AUERBACH

This March, a Snapchat photo featuring grinning teenagers doing Nazi salutes around a swastika made of red solo cups rapidly spread across social media platforms, a blunt and gut-wrenching reminder that among certain individuals, antisemitism continues to be nothing more than a punch line.

The actions of these teenagers, later identified as students at Newport Harbor High School in Orange County, were condemned by both school officials and the public, and the Internet quickly moved on, shifting focus back to other national scandals and problematic events.

Unfortunately, incidents similar to the one in Orange County are happening at an increasing rate: a 2018 study by the World Jewish Congress revealed that social media posts involving anti-Semitic symbols and Holocaust denial increased by 30% between 2016 and 2018. The bigotry contained within posts are often cloaked by quirky, dark humor. A particularly disturbing example is an Instagram post from students in Minnetonka, Missouri, in which two students are holding up a sign for a school dance that reads “Sweethearts would be a Hit(ler) with you, and I could Nazi myself going with anyone else. Be Mein? Yes/Nein.” In the caption of the post, the teenager attempted to justify her actions by claiming she was not anti-Semitic in any way, because she “hates everyone equally.”

This phenomenon is amplified by certain famous social media users who promote dark, violent humor, such as Youtuber Felix Kjellberg, or “Pewdiepie.” Kjellberg is well-known for twisted, taboo humor that frequently involves racism and antisemitism, including a video where he paid two men to publicly hold up a sign saying “Death to All Jews,” and paid another man to hold up a sign reading “Hitler Did Nothing Wrong.”

Using shock humor to mock Jewish people and their history of oppression and systematic murder is an way to gain attention quickly, whether that attention is positive or negative. “Since we, as a society, don’t condone antisemitism in any form, these people feel that posting anti-Semitic jokes is just a way to sort of be cool and rebel against society.” B-CC junior Eli Kales said. “They don’t realize the full consequences of their actions.” Pushing the boundaries on humor is a slippery slope as the line between funny and cruel becomes more faint and teenagers become increasingly desensitized to offensive material.

While online antisemitism stemming from people in California and Minnesota may seem distant, it’s important for Bethesda teens to remind themselves of the events that have transpired in our own backyard. The in-

famous swastika drawn on a wall at Westland in 2018 is a perfect example of casual, nonviolent anti-Semitic action in our seemingly progressive community. Sidwell Friends School experienced a comparable event after students decided to put swastikas next to their usernames during a schoolwide game of Kahoot. Although these incidents didn’t transpire via social media, they hardly differ from posting Nazi symbols on Snapchat. In all aforementioned instances, teenagers are expressing anti-Semitic views under the guise of humor without recognizing the severity of their actions.

Social media may be a small part of the equation that contributes to the recurrence of anti-Semitic violence, but it cannot be ignored when addressing this issue. Displaying Nazi symbols as a joke online allows anti-Semitic beliefs to fester in the open and inspires others to push the boundaries and gain attention by posting offensive content. Fighting against this type of cyberhate is both incredibly simple and incredibly difficult. Calling out antisemitism, whether online or in person, matters. Drawing boundaries between dark humor and blatant bigotry matters drastically, despite how uncomfortable it may be. And refusing to laugh when Jewish people are the punchline of the joke matters the most.

Doing these things allows social media to be used for its true purpose: to connect people across the globe and spread messages of positivity and community. In fact, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter can allow Jewish people and other minorities to unite together in ways unimaginable ten or fifteen years ago. “Social media gives people a million different ways to engage in the Jewish conversation. The night before Yom Kippur, I’ll go on Facebook and see tons of people wishing each other happy holidays and good wishes. As superficial as social media posts may seem, I think it’s amazing that it has the ability to bring Jewish people together and stay connected to their community.” said Temple Sinai Rabbi Hannah Goldstein.

The Internet can be as harmful or beneficial as people choose to make it. Social media can be used to mock injustice and inspire hatred, or it can be used to unite communities and spread knowledge. Luckily, we have the opportunity to make the right decision every time we pick up our phones.

GRAPHICS BY BELA OMOEVA

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FEATURE

Tattler’s Take: The Adversity Score

BY DAN SHAPIRO

The College Board, the nonprofit organization that administered the SAT, recently announced that in addition to distributing their merit based standardized testing scores, they will be providing “adversity scores” to all who take their exam.

This adversity score is designed to assess the hardship that the test takers face, scored through means such as the quality of the high school the students attend and the average poverty and crime levels in the neighborhood the students live in. Once applicants are assessed on a set of 15 criteria (the exact metrics have not been released yet), they will be as-

signed a score of 1 (no adversity) to 100 (extreme adversity).

It was commented in a debate about the topic that “Malala’s school would have scored a 100. Whitman would score a 1.”

It appears that the adversity score will be factored in to the admissions of incoming college applicants-- starting with the class of 2020. As one could imagine, such an abrupt change to something as important as the college application process is bound to produce strong-- and mixed-- reactions. These are some of the opinions of the Tattler Staff about the topic.

“By definition, this score holds the privilege of well-off students against them, as they are being scored based solely on their assumed level of affluence.

This is wrong. Even if I had a tutor for the SAT, it was still my merit, capability, and grit that earned me my score. It upsets me that hard work is chipped away by this rating.”

-- Grace Carter

“Colleges already have admission officers whose job is to know the ins and outs of schools in their assigned geographic area. They already know all the information that the College Board is calculating, so I see no reason for the College Board to create this and add a whole other dimension to the college application process.”

-- Natalie Schwartz

IMAGE BY YAEL CHIAPPORI

“With the holistic review process, people do not understand why they got rejected. This attempts to fix this problem by contextualizing students’ scores” -- Malaika Bhayana

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“The College Board is a standardized testing organization whose job is to give fair scores that are standard for all applicants. It is not their place to judge adversity. Instead, colleges should be judging individual struggles when they read your personal essay.”

-- Josh Garber

“It is a step in the right direction. It shouldn’t be the only metric used to determine a student’s hardship, but does help to address inequalities-even if the college board is doing it in a hand fisted way.”

-- Bela Omoeva

“You cannot quantify adversity. The College Board is putting a number on someone’s whole life through a few questions. All the information should be given along with the SAT score, but not in the form of an ‘adversity score.’”

-- Rachel Auerbach

OPINION

Applying to College in the Age of Gen-Z

BY FIONA KELLEHER May 1st: the parking lot is filled with college ready, B-CC seniors, proudly wearing their university t-shirts, taking pictures, and sharing bittersweet memories as high school comes to a close. The bell rings and unlike the preoccupied seniors, hundreds of juniors rush inside, a textbook in one hand and coffee in the other. The college process has only just begun for them.

The average high school student used to struggle with balancing a social life, family life, and school. Generation Z, on the other hand, struggles with balancing school, school, and school. A common perception of this generation is that they have become extremely competitive academically, expect a high caliber educational experience, and believe that the gateway to the most rewarding career is through the best college. These characteristics are prevalent especially among students with so-called helicopter parents; those who hover over and have an excessive interest in the life of their child.

Sociologist Annette Lareau, a contributor for Inside Higher Education, has outlined the academic priorities of not only Generation Z, but their parents as well. Credited with the creation of the term “concerted cultivation,” Lareau argues parents have become more hyper-involved

in their child’s life, increasing time and expenses on enrichment activities for their children, and being more willing to intervene in their child’s education. This pressure from parents, combined with the pressure from teens themselves and their peers, have led students to go above and beyond in high school with their eyes set on career paths, success, and achievement.

Talia Armoza, a B-CC student, repeatedly hears from her parents, “Chances are I wouldn’t even be admitted to my alma mater today.” Getting into any school is harder now than it was 20 years ago when the norm was applying to three or four schools. Today, applying to six or seven is on the low end. According to Dan Accord, a specialist in the college search process for high school students, application inflation is mostly due to the existence of the Common Application which became an online college process ten years ago. Applying to colleges has become far easier -- allowing students to send their application to a dozen colleges through one source with no extra paperwork. This is a widespread belief supported by data that shows an increasing applicant pool as the Common Application becomes more and more prominent. In Forbes’s “Universities: Then and Now” , more high school students apply to college now than twenty years ago when more

went into the workforce or pursued vocational education.

2017 was the hardest year on record to gain acceptance into a competitive college; acceptance rates have declined every year. In 2001, Harvard had a recorded 12.3% acceptance rate, and now, in 2019, it has declined to a whopping 5.4%.

As the acceptance rate declines, the academic credentials of high school students applying to schools have gone up. This ties back to Annette Lareau’s theory of “concerted cultivators,” as parents, and their teens, push for full commitment to grades, activities and test scores, seeking to better their college applications as competition increases.

As the number of colleges that accepts the Common Application increases each year, the number of applications high school students submit will increase, causing the applicant pool to grow and the acceptance rates to decrease. As the acceptance rates decrease, the competition goes up in terms of the quality of one’s application, giving high schoolers added stress to measure up to their peers in terms of grades, test scores, and extracurriculars - a continuous cycle without any foreseeable end.

Latinos Are Being Left Behind at B-CC

BY ARANZA LARA understand the intricacies of American culture.

But what about the newcomers? The nature of simply learning a new language is difficult enough, let alone confronting a relatively complex and unknown school system.

Sophomore year was the last year I was able to truly interact with students of my heritage. This year, I am in the IB diploma program, where I find myself in an environment surrounded mostly by white students. In my math class last year, I met a boy from El Salvador named Joel; he had moved to the U.S. two years prior, and was struggling with his English. I became friends with him and began to tutor him. Our math teacher did not speak Spanish so she strongly relied on me to help Joel understand the material. At first, the language barrier prevented him from doing well in school. But as the year progressed, Joel’s math grade improved significantly.

I realized that what truly stood as a challenge for him was not so much the material that was being taught in class, but rather the cultural fence that stood between him and the school environment. He did not feel comfortable asking questions or reaching out for extra help during class.

I also noticed that throughout the school year, not once did a non-Latino student approach, befriend, or attempt to help Joel.

B-CC’s problem with Latino exclusivity extends further than its cultural barrier. The very nature of the school curriculum explicitly silences Latino culture and history both in Latin America and in the U.S. In my history class this year,

we spent a maximum of one week learning about Latin America. As one of the very few Latinas in that class, it was devastating to me how little attention was given to my history. In my experience, the only class that has dove deeper into Latino culture is my Spanish class. It seems as if people believe that Latino culture deserves to be boxed into a singular subject rather than mixed into a more overall school curriculum.

Although I do believe that the lack of Latino inclusivity at B-CC partially stems from cultural differences, I do not think that should excuse the school and the student body from distancing themselves from our rich culture. Latinos, without a doubt, are an extremely prominent group in America that will only continue to grow. But as of right now, Latinos are in need of more attention and deserve to be given more room for integrity at B-CC.

graphic by charlie kannapell & lilly behbehani

When people ask how diverse our school is, Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School students are usually able to give a straightforward answer. Given that we are the most urban school in Montgomery County and that our student body is made up of students from over 55 different countries, it is easy to accept the notion that our school is indeed diverse. We hear multiple languages and see people of varying ethnicities in the hallways. There is no doubt that there is great diversity at B-CC, however, there is an evident problem concerning lack of inclusivity, especially when it comes to Latinos.

Latinos make up 18% of the student body at B-CC, mirroring the percentage of Latinos in the United States as a whole. I have noticed, though, that at B-CC, Latinos are merely seen as a percentage. Yes, Latinos are visibly present. But can we really say that Latinos are truly integrated at B-CC? It is important to draw attention to the varying levels of acculturation. There are Latinos whose parents or grandparents migrated to the U.S, those who migrated to the U.S at a young age like myself, and a significant amount that are newcomers, having migrated no more than four years ago. Only the Latinos that have been able to assimilate into American culture are the ones being integrated at B-CC. We are more than just a large demographic.

We are a culture that is systematically being put at a disadvantage both socially and academically.

I am lucky to have English as a proficient second language which has enabled me to navigate and

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OPINION

A Private Perspective On Public Schools

BY SONALI HETTIPOLA AND MIA ROMANO You hear it asked all the time. “With so many great public schools in Montgomery County, why would families send their kids to private schools?” Turns out there are lots of reasons.

Some of those reasons are based on personal preferences and learning styles and some are based on misconceptions, while people send their children to private school for smaller class sizes.

Coach Benjamin Minturn (B-CC Football) who attended both public and private schools growing up, described his experience of what it was like to go to private school. “The biggest difference with public and private to me was the size of the classes, the ratio of student to teacher. When I was in private school there were thirteen students in the entire 6th grade and four different teachers.”

Although an entire grade made up of thirteen students may seem foreign to a Montgomery County public school student, public school classes of more than 30 (or 60 in some rare cases) can seem equally strange to a private school student.

Casey White, a student at The Field School, said “I really feel like my friends who go to public school have no relationship with their teachers; [time with teacher] is something that’s really helped me learn.”

Cecilia Fainberg, a student at the St.

Andrews Espiscopal School heard similar “common misconceptions” after she switched from public to private school. “People who have never been out of private schools have said that [public school] teachers don’t care,” said Fainberg. “I have also heard that many kids feel like private school education is better.”

Randolph Kamins, a freshman who attends Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart, said

“I loved public [school] but moved to private because I have learning issues. I work better in a smaller, more one-on-one setting.”

is out of reach for families of lower socio-economic status.

“In public school, it was more diverse, you get people from different backgrounds and not just white people who have money, which gets annoying and snooty sometimes,” said Kamins.

The decision to attend private over public school depends on the student’s learning ability and what environment they can thrive within.

An individual’s actions can affect a school’s credibility, but that doesn’t make all public or private schools are better than the other. Despite the differences between public and private school conditions, at the end of the day, an adequate and well-rounded education can be achieved at either institution.

Although many students who have made the switch from public to private school accredit the shift to the fact that they work better in classes of 15-20 rather than classes of 25-30, there are others who based their decision on negative misconceptions.

“People say public schools are ghetto, and a lot of people would feel unsafe.” said Linnea Forsberg, a Stone Ridge sophomore. “They also say that the chances of getting into good colleges are higher if you go to private school.”

That being said, the same privilege is not extended to all students. Private institutions can cost thousands of dollars a semester, a price that

The Toxicity of Entitlement When we were younger, we would always hear people talk about the “ungrateful” teenagers, the “selfish” teenagers, and, we’d probably think to ourselves “I’ll never be like that.” But now that we are older, that thought has transformed into a question: I’m not like that … right?

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whether it is our neighborhood, school, or social group. This is especially true for teenagers here in Bethesda, where in such a high income area, people are used to getting what they want and therefore see luxury as normal. Many feel pressured, in person and on social media, to always participate in whatever is seen as the hot new trend. Eventually, we begin to expect to get the next iPhone or trendy closet. Teenagers can

of them. For example: after a long day at work, your parents come home just to go back out and drive you to practice, taking an hour or two out of their evening. You sit in the car scrolling through social media without a word, oblivious to the person spending their time to help you.

Then, once the car pulls up at your destination, you climb out and mutter “Bye” still absorbed in your phone, leaving your parent sitting in their

Entitlement: the belief that one is inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment.

Appreciation: recognition and enjoyment of the good qualities of someone or something.

As teens, we may find ourselves stuck in the trap that is entitlement. It starts with small things like putting your feet up on the chair in a movie theater, despite various signs asking you not to, or running into a store as it’s closing and not considering that the store employee might have somewhere to go. Then before you know it, you catch yourself doing this more frequently and taking it even further than before, whether that is by expecting others’ attention and assistance without returning the favor, or disregarding rules that you expect others to follow.

As we develop these tendencies, it can be difficult to accept this reality, especially since much of the influences are out of our control.

A major contributor to our feeling that we deserve special privileges and treatment is the culture which we are surrounded by everyday,

car wondering to themselves: “why do I even bother?” But it does not have to be this way. A simple “How was your day?” during the ride, and a “Thanks for the ride” could have avoided the issue.

It is not a bad thing to be in a good situation or to be comfortable financially. It is something to be glad for, as long as you realize and are thankful for what you have, and still work hard despite any benefits you were born with.

The toxicity of today’s teenagers is spreading like a wildfire and entitlement is the spark. We must make the conscious decision to end it.

Entitlement and the habits it creates have to be understood before toxicity can be extinguished.

We must learn to recognize and appreciate what others do for us, for it is gratitude that fights the fire.

become easily blinded by desire to keep up with everything they see on the internet, and feel as if they are entitled to these belongings.

This sense of entitlement is often evident in the way teenagers treat the people taking care

GRAPHIC BY ARDYN KESTERMAN

BY MIA ROMANO

feature

Working Hard or Hardly Working?

BY DYLAN GREENHOUSE With summer approaching, teenagers around the county will be looking for jobs or internships… just, not as many as you would think.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, over 50% of high school students had jobs in 1982, compared to the dismal 20% that have jobs today. But, what is the culprit of this drop-off?

“I think it’s the pressure and all the work students have today,” said junior Jack Merritt, who recently accepted a job as a caddy at Columbia Country Club. Merritt went on to explain that he feels the increase load of work has caused too much stress for the average student for them to do more work outside of school. A 2018 survey done by the News and Features from the National Education Association (neaToday) shows that 70% of teens say anxiety and depression is a major problem among themselves and their peers. This seems to be a direct correlation to the decreasing employment rate as more teens would rather focus

on their mental health than deal with a job that will give them more anxiety. Mr. Gilmore, an economics teacher at B-CC, suggest that “it has to do with the area we are in. Some kids don’t [need] a job” and students “now have ‘17’ other things [they] are involved in.” With all of the students’ energy diverted to school, it’s no surprise that they want to use their summer to relax.

However, there is another side to this story.

“I think it is very important to get a summer job,” said junior, Sebastian Valencia, who seemed to take great pride in his stance. “We are getting to a point in our lives where we need to start spending our own money and not our parents’ money.” Valencia has a first hand experience as he has been working with a variety of special-ed programs over the last two years.

Even former first lady, Michelle Obama, agrees with this point as she told People Magazine, “every kid needs to get a taste of what it’s like to do that real hard work.”

Only time will tell if teenage employment will reach the standards set by the generation before us. For now, with the school year coming to an end, and anxiety decreasing, look for the employment rate to make a steady increase as more and more students earn their first paychecks.

There Is No One Right Side

BY LILLY BEHBEHANI AND JOSH GARBER

Part of the goal of the 2020 vision is to include more diverse voices in the Tattler. This diversity will be spearheaded by the introduction of new conservative members. A common concern among various conservatives at B-CC is that there is only one voice on Tattler who shares their own opinions for Tattler, but that viewpoint may not appeal to all conservatives. The 2020 Tattler

will contain several distinct voices so that these concerns will be met.

Meet Peace Kim and Eli Glickman. Kim, a junior who’s proud to speak his mind in any setting, plans to continuously express his views as a new opinion contributor to The Tattler. Along with these consistent contributions, Kim plans to assume the role as the leader of the Young Republicans Club next year, in which he hopes to reinvigorate the club with more events and discussions.

An ambitious sophomore, Glickman also speaks his mind and will further do so on The Tattler. While Kim and Glickman consider themselves conservative Republicans, they maintain somewhat disparate viewpoints.

Kim hopes that, through his integration onto the Tattler staff, conservatives will be able to be heard. Kim recalls a moment where he felt attacked due to his ideologies in his IB Chinese

class: “I was the only conservative in that class.

There are very smart kids in our grade who take Chinese and they are very liberal. As soon as I tried to tell them a point, they would [interrupt me] and say this wouldn’t work. As I was trying to speak, they were trying to speak, and they were like ‘no’. I was just stating my points, but they didn’t want me to.”

Glickman also experienced an upsetting confrontation during one of his classes when he shared his own views on social media about Israel. “Some individual kind of busted into the class and started yelling at me about Israel. I just thought that they absolutely have the right to their opinion, and I’m sure that they have a just reason to be upset, but I think that for there to be any progress, people need to talk first and yell second, should it come to that,” says Glickman.

Hopefully, through these differing perspectives, barons will be able to be more accepting of other people’s opinions.

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SPORTS

A Look Into B-CC’s New Sports Facilities With the school year coming to a close, the B-CC student body is starting to dream about the new age of Baron athletics. The 2019-2020 school year will mark the end to a homeless B-CC athlete, with the addition of new tennis courts and a fresh football stadium on campus. As final touches are being made to the facilities, both excitement and controversy are sparking up around the B-CC community, with a vision of a revitalized B-CC in everyone’s mind.

IMAGE BY CLARK CONSTRUCTION

Serving Up Some New Tennis Courts For the Barons

BY DAN SHAPIRO

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It seems that the long awaited tennis courts will finally be constructed on campus for the upcoming school year. There will be six courts put up on the roof of the staff parking lot, and the Boys and Girls’ teams could not be more excited.

For the past three years, the teams have had to commute to Westland and Tilden Middle Schools for practices, and they have played their games at Silver Creek Middle School and Meadowbrook Local Park. The teams are looking forward to the superior quality of the new courts, as the courts at Meadowbrook “were cracked, which negatively affected gameplay” according to Sophomore Nathaniel Winnick. The new courts will further be far more convenient as there will be no need to commute off campus for practices. The commute would have been a significant burden for the boy’s team, as current junior, Zach Martel will be the only senior, and he would have been “required to transport oth-

ers around to the other locations,” says Martel.

These updated tennis courts will be a new luxury for the teams, as the new courts will contain six courts compared to the four courts that they

have had to use for the past few years. When playing against another team, six matches should occur simultaneously. If there are only four courts, two of the matches must take place after the

rest. Considering that each match takes approximately two hours, the additional two courts will greatly reduce the time of the entire team match.

Likewise, the team will have a better feel for the court as they will be practicing where they’ll play.

They will know whether the ball bounces slow or fast, and high or low, while their opponents will not have this feel for the court going into matches.

As it has been three years since the tennis teams have last played home games, none of the current team has had the experience of playing on a home court. Previously, fans had not wanted to make the commute even to the home games, as every “home game” was never really at home. But now, both teams hope that, with the addition of the new courts, more fans will start coming to cheer them on. The courts are long overdue, and although it has been a tumultuous wait, the Barons are ready for the new tennis era.

SPORTS

Friday Night Lights: Surburban Maryland Edition

BY AARON KNISHKOWY AND MATEO SUTER-SHANNON

With the completion of the new football field finally in sight, B-CC students are beginning to imagine what a home football game would be like. For the last three school years, the football field has been under construction and home games were played at Walter Johnson’s field. While there were some dedicated fans who still attended every game, they only represented a small portion of the B-CC’s population. But how will a new field affect turnout and allow Barons to represent their school from their own bleachers? Only time will tell.

With access to their own field, practice environment will improve as the team will be practicing on the same field they will be play-

ing their games on rather than a baseball field.

Maybe even more importantly, it will provide easier access to games for fans and an outlet to hang out with friends in a familiar setting. It has been a long time coming, as B-CC football has not had their own field since the 2015 season.

Most players have never even seen B-CC’s field in use as they weren’t at the school when it was last played on. But with increased pressure and incentive to attend B-CC sporting events thanks to the Baron Brigade, a fresh field could really help the cause. With attendance to sports games this season at an embarrassing low, this new field will provide students with a much more accessible and likable setting to cheer on their fellow

Barons. “I’ll totally go to more games...it’s a way easier commute now and it’ll be more fun than going to WJ,” said Junior Sebastian Valencia.

In addition to sporting events, the field will also provide a nice place for students to hang out and eat lunch during the day. In past years when there was a field, students were free to eat or relax outside and get some sun on the bleachers during lunch. “I think I’ll definitely eat outside next year, especially when it’s nice. It’ll be nice to have outdoor seating besides those little tables out front,” said junior Max Block.

After three years, the field will finally be here, and it’s up to the students to make sure the construction wasn’t a waste.

IMAGE BY CLARK CONSTRUCTION (ADAPTED BY YAEL CHIAPPORI)

This Is Our Turf (or Grass?)

BY JASON GRAYER, DYLAN GREENHOUSE, AND NICK ROBERSON,

For the first time in years, the 2020 Barons football team will have a home field on B-CC’s campus. As construction continues, there is starting to be a debate between what type of field the new stadium should have: natural grass or synthetic turf? There are certain pros and cons about a turf and grass that many athletes tend to agree on. Many athletes enjoy the natural feel of a grass field, as well as giving their cleats a better grip, however some cons about grass include the degraded quality of the grass after extended usage, as well as the possibility of mud in rainy conditions.

On the flip side, many athlete like turf because it’s easier to maintain, and it’s easier to run on. Some cons about turf include the fact that it’s more expensive to implement, and, op-

posed to grass, becomes slippery in the rain. The most important opinions on this issue, however, are clearly those using the field: the players.

B-CC’s quarterback, Lucas Carvalho, voiced his thoughts on the upcoming field. “I prefer grass because it’s a lot softer than turf, so you won’t get turf burns.” he said, a huge concern for B-CC’s football players. In regards to what field is better for injuries, Carvalho said, “I’ve played on both grass and turf, and I’ve gotten hurt on turf a lot more. I got turf burns a lot last season, and I also dislocated my shoulder on WJ’s turf field.” On the rest of the team, however, the sentiment is a lot more diverse. “My teammates are mostly half and half on the issue.

Some of my teammates prefer turf because it looks better, and some, like myself, prefer grass because it’s easier to play on and can also look

good if it’s maintained well,” explained Carvalho.

Charlie Kannapell, a junior on the Lacrosse team, believes that turf should be used for our new field “but not the turf whitman has” because their turf is sanded underneath and requires a whole different shoe to wear for lacrosse. On why he believes turf should be used at BCC, Kannapell said “turf would be more visually appealing and convenient for weather situations.”

B-CC will likely get a turf field, as they are easier to maintain and simply more sensical overall, but the kind of turf is expected to be that of Whitman’s, the sand kind.

This upcoming season marks a new era in Barons athletics as B-CC athletes are excited to finally have a true homefield- regardless if it is grass or turf. No matter the outcome, everyone wins with Baron pride.

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SPORTS

Top 5 Underclassmen Sports Moments

BY ASHER RUBIN, DAN SHAPIRO, AND EMMETT SIEGEL

The 2018-19 year for B-CC sports featured some great moments, but the greatest part of it all was the prolific performances from the underclassmen. Many of the most exciting and impressive highlights were from the less-experienced members of the teams, which will pave the way for great future seasons from the Barons.

1.

The B-CC girls’ basketball team made yet another run to the state semifinal during their 2018-19 campaign, capturing the 4A West regional championship along the way. The roster featured 8 underclassmen, many of whom played valuable minutes down the stretch. Sophomores, Caroline Orza and Ava Haraldsson, were both named to the Montgomery Sentinel’s All-County team, with Orza receiving County Player of the Year honors as well as an All-Met Honorable Mention from the Washington Post. The youthful, talented eam is a force to reckoned with in the future and are poised to make another deep playoff run next season.

2. Junior Jeo Martinez, and Sophomore Drew Guttentag placed 4th and

5th respectively at the 3A/4A Maryland State Wrestling Championship. This was an outstanding achievement, as all of their hard work from the grueling wrestling season paid off and they were able to secure a spot on the podium.

Next year they look to pick up where they left off, place further in the tournament, and hopefully win state titles. As well, they will be key contributors in the Wrestling team’s dual state champion run next year.

3. Junior midfielder, Maggie Lucas, of the girls’ lacrosse team announced

her commitment to continue her career at Queens University of Charlotte this past winter. The Royals, ranked as the 10th best NCAA Division II girls’ lacrosse team in the nation, recently won their 6th straight South Atlantic Conference championship. Lucas, along with varsity basketball player Elijah Wood, currently stand as the only members of B-CC’s 2020 graduating class that are formally committed to play college athletics. She helped lead the Lady Barons to an 8-4 record this past season.

4. Being a varsity athlete in high school is a great accomplishment. How

about being a two sport varsity athlete… or even three? That is just what Beck Urofsky had done, but that’s not even the most impressive part.

Urofsky is a freshman at B-CC this year. In the fall he was on the golf team, then received a varsity call up for basketball, earning himself playing time during the playoffs. Finally, Urofsky plays baseball in the spring, which he considers to be his main sport. In the 2019 season, Urofsky had the walk off winner that beat an undefeated Sherwood team. Beck had a very impressive freshman year and looks to be a major part of the future of B-CC sports in the coming years.

5. B-CC versus Whitman is the most prominent high school rivalry in

Montgomery County, and the rivalry continues on the ice. Earlier this school year, the Barons took on the Vikings in front of a raucous crowd. This game was also the season opener, and the Barons looked more than ready, as the juniors put on a show for the fans. Junior Bowie Lanter, one of the the Barons most prolific playmakers this year, scored an incredible goal, going coast to coast past all of the Whitman defenders. Trey Edelstein also got on the scoresheet with a goal of his own. The great talent from the juniors and underclassman should allow the Barons to make another exciting run at states in the 2019-2020 season.

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opinion

Slacktivism Only Helps Yourself

BY AMELIA DEWELL On May 16th, 2019, the governor of Alabama, Kay Ivey, signed into law the most restrictive abortion bill in the United States. Social media erupted in a frenzy of support for abortion and the greater cause of women’s reproductive rights.

Many B-CC students posted support for the prochoice movement on their Instagram stories, sharing posts of brightly colored text proclaiming “women’s rights are human rights” and circulating photos of the congressmen who passed the law, pointing out their lack of diversity.

However, despite the outrage around the bill displayed on social media, legitimate attempts to take action against the bill were few or nonexistent. Among the hundreds of social media posts and stories I saw in the immediate aftermath of the abortion bill being signed, I did not see one single attempt to actually take tangible action against the bill. When I questioned a student who I had seen circulating some of the widely-shared posts why they had done so instead of directly supporting abortion or helping to take action against the bill, she explained that the activism

on social media had helped to “raise greater awareness” around the issue. Presumably, those needing awareness must live without electricity or Wi-Fi, as I saw the issue being covered on both CNN and other major news channels, and on most, if it not all news websites both before and after the bill had been passed.

Why then had people chosen to not actually support the cause? Similar behavior had occurred on Earth Day, when a multitude of B-CC students I knew, particularly girls, posted similar shows of support for the environment, sharing videos explaining the severity of global warming and tragic photos of marine life surrounded by plastic, and a few people even exploited the opportunity to post vacation photos of themselves with captions such as “Protect our beautiful planet!”, as if the caption had redeemed the selfish photo opportunity.

Such cases of fatuous social media ‘activism’ are visible back to the Kony 2012 campaign, used by people globally to show off their supposed dedication to capturing Joseph Kony, who had

forcibly recruited child soldiers for his guerilla army. These cases are prime examples of “slacktivism”, where participants support issues via social media, resulting in only their own personal satisfaction without taking any means to legitimately support or work towards change.

Instead of posting support for abortion and women’s rights on social media to feel good about yourself, try actually supporting the legality of abortion by donating to women’s health groups such as National Network of Abortion Funds and Planned Parenthood. Look for petitions by reputable groups to help repeal the draconian abortion laws that have been passed, and call your local lawmakers and tell them to support or continue supporting women’s rights and abortion. They work for you, after all.

Imagine how good it’ll feel when you take real action towards something you support.

feature

Refugee Family Resettles in Prince George’s County

BY GRACE HARRINGTON government is very strict about the process. If a supervisor gives a prospective immigrant fake documents, the supervisor can have their American citizenship revoked and their passport taken.

While the family going through this process in Afghanistan, preparations are made in the US. First, the Silver Spring International Rescue Committee (IRC) receives notice from their headquarters in New York City. When the family arrives, the IRC has to provide them with basic goods to start their new life. “My job as the logistics specialist is to make sure the family has safe and affordable housing and that it is furnished with all of the required items, the essential household goods,” said Corey Rheingrover, an IRC employee.

While the IRC has funds to pay to furnish the apartments, they are greatly helped by local organizations that set up the apartment themselves through donated items. One such organization is KindWorks, based in Bethesda, Maryland.

KindWorks furnished Abdul’s family’s apartment when they arrived in Prince George’s County. “The great thing is that we can reallocate t h o s e funds [for furnishing to] for example,

paying [Abdul’s] rent for extra months,” said Rheingrover.

KindWorks was established in 2007 as a way for moms to get themselves and their kids more involved in volunteer work. Now, the organization has expanded and offers many different services, including helping refugee families resettle.

“It is incredible to see it all come together – people contribute generously; our apartment set up team is absolutely incredible in collecting, storing and sorting items; dozens of volunteers come out to set up the apartment; and in a few hours, blank walls and bare rooms turn into a warm and inviting home, right down to a home cooked meal from the family’s country of origin in the fridge, so their first taste in America feels familiar and nurturing,” said the Vice President and Chief Inspiration Officer of KindWorks, Salma Hasan Ali. “In general I am very happy to be here with my family, and I am very thankful for the services. They provided me housing basic needs that I have.

I am very thankful for everything and I am very happy to be here,” said Abdul.

GRPAHICS BY BELLA OMOEVA

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On February 6th, 2019, a family left their home country of Afghanistan to restart their lives in Prince George’s County, Maryland. The family wanted to leave Afghanistan because the job that the head of the family, Abdul, had with the US government made their family a target for terrorist groups. “[The extremists] are thinking that [people who work for the US] shouldn’t be living in Afghanistan, and that is the main reason that we fled and came here,” said Abdul.

Abdul, his wife Hamida, and their three kids, Jaihoon (7), Yasna (6), and Elyas (16 months), originally lived in the Badakhshan province of Afghanistan. There, Abdul worked many jobs in agriculture before working for the US government. “I graduated from agricultural [university]. I worked 13 years in an agricultural field, with] livestock and cereal crops project and in a seed program,” said Abdul.

When the family decided to come to the US, the process ended up taking around four years.

The family came to the US through a program called the Special Immigrant Visa. In this program, applicants must have an American supervisor who can vouch that the applicant has worked for the US government and later give a recommendation to help them get work or get into school. “[The supervisor] can guarantee that you were working in a war zone. That your life and your family’s life is in danger. And on that basis you can come to the United States,” said Abdul.

After that, the family had to provide documentation “[The US government] are making sure the right people have the right to come to the United States not someone with the fake documents,” said Abdul. Some people try to fake documents in order to come to the US, so the US

STYLE

Societal Dress Codes Fuel Objectification

BY MONIQUE BOATENG AND SEMHAL NEGUSSIE

Societal dress codes have been part of the middle and high school experience for years. This has led to the sexualization of women in our society. The objectification of women on social media has made the problem even worse. Women’s bodies are perceived as a form of entertainment that should always be sexually appealing. In a poor effort to combat the problem at hand, many high schools across the nation have installed dress codes, which limit what female students are allowed to wear.

Telling a girl to put on a sweater or change fosters the idea that what she is wearing is “wrong.” It will make her think that her is body is a sexual object, and that showing her skin is inappropriate.

The assumption that men are uncontrollable and “boys will be boys” has allowed people to justify female censorship by saying that revealing clothing is distracting to men. This being said, why do a girl’s shoulders and thighs have anything to do with men?

What girls wear is something that they con-

trol, and it is not to please the opposite gender.

Making girls hide their bra straps -- even though they are simply pieces of elastic -- is a prime example of sexism.

People tend to remember what they were taught as little kids; therefore, teaching young girls that their physical appearance is not a distraction would be very beneficial to their confidence.

A few of our Lady Barons have shared their experiences: “When I wore tighter shirts, sometimes, my bra-strap hung off my shoulder and I didn’t even realize it. It was very embarrassing for a staff member to call me out about what I was wearing, especially in front of so many students. Even though I didn’t do anything wrong, I still felt very guilty” “I know my body isn’t a distraction. I don’t know how or when but this is something that needs to change.”

“I have longer arms than most girls, so in middle school, when they told us we had to wear shorts that reached the tips of our fingers, I couldn’t wear the same things as my friends.”

“Not all girls have the same body type, so we all wear clothes differently. Dress codes have isolated me from my peers in the past because things that are “appropriate” on them suddenly became “too sexy” on me.”

“When a teacher dress codes me, I feel so uncomfortable that they’re looking at me and my body in that sort of way. I wish I could just wear clothing that I like and that makes me comfortable without being scared I’ll be shamed by an authority figure.”

“Dress codes are created specifically to target female clothing. Yes, a boy can get dress-coded for wearing a shirt with an image deemed “obscene,” but for girls there are limitations on every type of clothing we have access to.”

ALL QUOTES ARE ANONYMOUS

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STYLE

Hot in the Lot

BY LILLY BEHBEHANI, ISABEL DANZIS, GRACE HARRINGTON, AND CHARLIE KANNAPELL

The Double Agent Two CIA agents in training at B-CC ironically carpool to school together. However, only one of the trainees has a pass...

PHOTOS BY CHARLIE KANNAPELL

The Bethesda Mom & Mutt Mobile The fur-filled Honda CR-V is a classic Bethesda mom favorite. The abundance of melted candy and children in the car fulfills its dream of being the ultimate carpool. If there is an absence of children, there will surely be two friendly (and cute) labradors in the backseat.

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Bertha Bertha can be spotted from a mile away because of her outrageously long size. Her light blue color often confuses pedestrians into thinking the sky is falling because of her ridiculously slow pace. She often needs help going uphill, but her senior citizen status makes her all the more lovable. Bertha once held a deluxe theater in 2002, but now, it’s a historical site.

STYLE

2020 Hits the Ballots

BY RACHEL AUERBACH, LILLY BEHBEHANI, AND EMMA VOLKERS

In the upcoming elections, the graduating class of 2020 will hit the polls for the first time. Here’s how they are feeling: “I feel that voting in 2020, especially since we are the generation that can change things, makes it very exciting for us to see what we are going to do.”

-Iman Khosrodad “I’m excited to get one of those stickers so I can put it on my computer.”

-Luke Swatland

“I’m definitely excited about voting, especially after the 2016 election. At Thanksgiving meals, I always hear my family talking about the election and the candidates. I’m excited to actually have the opportunity to do something, because voting matters.”

-Ava Evans

“I feel that I can actually make my voice heard in a way that actually impacts the government instead of just saying something to somebody.”

-Jed Lewis

“I’m definitely excited. Voting is tuff. Shout out Gilmore for that voter efficacy or something! It’ll be fun to actually watch the election with an end result.”

-Isaiah Sullivan

“I feel like it’s a big responsibility but also a great way to show one’s patriotism toward the country because you are supporting what you believe in and standing up for your right as an American citizen.”

-Sofia Sergei

GRAPHIC BY YAEL CHIAPPORI

“I think it’s gonna be cool to make our own decisions.

I’m planning on voting. You gotta vote, it’s your duty as an American citizen.”

-Christian Simpson

“I’m excited to vote. I feel as though I can help promote a change in society and hopefully change my future and the future for my kids.”

-Natalie Ryan

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Animals Brought to Viewers Like You

BY LILLY BEHBEHANI

Trump’s Dream Wall!

BY YAEL CHIAPPORI

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GRAPHIC BY BELA OMOEVA

Imagine this: you’re a house pet. Any house pet--turtle, gecko, ferret, dog, cat, it doesn’t matter. You like to spend your days lounging, playing, sleeping, eating, watching your owners leave in the morning, drinking out of the toilet, just the usual house pet things. Your life is pretty carefree. But one day, something awful happens. Something worse than the time your owners switched you to vegan food. It’s 11 am. A figure walks through the door, snatches you and puts you in a cage. Is this was petnapping is? Is this what you read about on the dark pet web? You quickly say a prayer as you’re placed in a car and sent on your way to god know where. Maybe the vet? Maybe to get a shower? The location is unknown. The car stops and you’re taken out. A mass of people are surrounding you. Thousands of eyes are watching you. You haven’t prepared any tricks for this moment! You see your owner, the one who leaves during the day with a large sack. Then, you see a small, unknown man with his socks tucked into his sweatpants. You see 20 unfamiliar girls with the same white, chunky shoes. Perhaps this is jail. Someone you vaguely remember approaches your owner with a large white sign that could say anything, for all we know. All of a sudden, as you quiver fearfully in the back of your cage, you hear boisterous cheers. Are they cheering for you? Are you becoming a celebrity? No, you’re just a prop in a promposal. As you’re put back in the car and transported home to your comfort zone, you think about how much lounge time you just missed.