The Highlander - Issue 4 - April 2021 by The Highlander

Volume 65 • Issue 4 • April 2021 • McLean High School • thehighlandernews.com • @MHSHighlander

FACES OF RESILIENCE

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Letter from the editors Dear McLean, A lot has changed since the pandemic began just over one year ago. This issue’s in-depth focuses on several Highlanders’ lives during the past year. From teachers starting their first year at McLean or coping with the loss of a loved one to a student raising her own children during the pandemic, community members have faced challenges and demonstrated their resilience during this difficult time. We encourage you to read this in-depth to learn about the strength that exists among us. Check out our other sections to read about students finding innovative ways to get their COVID-19 vaccine, award-winning students and the best bubble tea places near us. In case you missed the fall sports season, flip to the sports section to read our recaps of the football, golf and field hockey seasons. Thank you for your support! Yours truly, Heran Essayas, Marina Qu & Jack Shields

Editors-in-Chief: Heran Essayas, Jack Shields & Marina Qu Website Editor-in-Chief: Akash Balenalli Head Designer: Taylor Olson Managing Editors: Addie Brown, Kyle Hawley, Shruthi Manimaran & Nicky Varela Chief Marketing Manager: Ariana Elahi Copy Editors: Maya Amman Josh Bass Mackenzie Chen Arnav Gupta Gianna Russo Photography Editor: Katie Romhilt Photographers: Akash Balenalli Dalia Fishman Sydney Gleason Cartoonists/Artists: Arin Kang Jayne Ogilvie-Russell Cameron Tebo Digital Media Editors: Layla Zaidi Polina Zubarev Designers: Akash Balenalli Ariana Elahi

Social Media Manager: Saehee Perez News Editors: Maya Amman Aleena Gul Lia Vincenzo Features Editors: Cc Palumbo Laine Phillips Polina Zubarev A&E Editors: Michelle Cheng Swetha Manimaran Opinions Editors: Saisha Dani Ana Paula Ibarraran Sports Editors: Josh Bass Emily Friedman Fact Checkers: Belen Ballard Stella Keum Cc Palumbo Laine Phillips

McLean High School 1633 Davidson Road McLean, Virginia 22101 thehighlandernews.com|@MHSHighlander Reporters: Noah Barnes Makda Bekele Hanna Boughanem Mackenzie Chen Andrew Christofferson Andy Chung Grace Gould Elizabeth Humphreys Max Irish Omar Kayali Christiana Ketema

Kaan Kocabal Nyla Marcott Ivy Olson Valerie Paredes Marroquin Saehee Perez Scott Shields Spencer Sirotzky Sangmin Song Paarth Soni Taylor Staats

Adviser: Lindsay B. Benedict

Editorial policy:

The Highlander is a designated public forum in which students can express themselves, discuss issues and exchange ideas. School officials do not exercise prior review on this publication or its online counterpart, and student editors are in charge of all final content decisions.

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The Highlander sells ad space on each page of the magazine except on the front cover and the opinions and in-depth sections. The staff reserves the right to reject any ads it deems libelous, obscene, disruptive or otherwise inappropriate.

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Please email it to thehighlanderstaff@gmail.com. The staff reserves the right to edit letters for grammar, clarity and length, and all letters are subject to laws concerning obscenity, libel, privacy and disruption of the school process. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

CONTENTS

on the cover

23-29

IN-DEPTH FACES OF RESILIENCE Highlanders share their personal pandemic stories Cover portrait by Marina Qu

NEWS 4 5 6 7 8 9 10-11

Students get vaccines Senior events scheduled COVID-19 mitigation at school Civic engagement bill passes Highlanders stay virtual AP exams coming soon Anti-Asian racism on the rise

FEATURES 12-13 14-15 16 17 18-19 20 21 22

Chloe Lahr’s clothing business Sexism at McLean

10-11

Profile of a classroom monitor 10 Qs w/ Wendy Pearson Brittany Peng wins peace award Marina Qu named Virginia Journalist of the Year

40-41

Highs and lows of in-person school Learning in the modular

A&E

OPINIONS

SPORTS

30 31 32 33

34 35 36-37 38

39 40-41 42 43 44 45

TheatreMcLean records play Empowering books for women Eden Center bubble tea reviews Justin Bieber’s Justice review

‘17, ‘20 Pacemaker Winner; ‘15, ‘19 Pacemaker Finalist; ‘15, ‘17, ‘18, ‘19 All-American; ‘12, ‘13, ‘14, ‘16 First Class; Hall of Fame

Editorial: Freedom of Speech Extend grading leniency Crossfire: In-person extracurriculars for virtual students? McLean is doing well with concurrent learning

‘16, ‘17, ‘20 Gold Crown Winner; ‘18, ‘19, ‘21 Silver Crown Winner ‘05, ‘07, ‘12, ‘13, ‘14, ‘15, ‘16, ‘17, ‘18, ‘19 CSPA Gold Medalist

‘14, ‘16, ‘17, ‘18, ‘19 , ‘20 George H. Gallup Award; ‘15 International First Place

Field hockey sticks together McFootball makes strides Golf season wraps up Spring sports preview Athletes opt for virtual learning The Finish Line

‘00, ‘18, ‘19, ‘20, ‘21 First Amendment Press Freedom Award

‘14, ‘15, ‘16, ‘17, ‘18, ‘19 VHSL Trophy Class; ‘11, ‘12 First Place Winner; VHSL Savedge Award

Page design by Pran Kittivorapat | Printed by aPrintis

NEWS

STUDENTS TRACK DOWN VACCINES

Highlanders go the extra mile for early COVID-19 vaccinations ADDIE BROWN & KYLE HAWLEY MANAGING EDITORS

airfax County moved into Phase 2 of its COVID-19 vaccination plan on April 18, making everyone 16 and older eligible to schedule a vaccine appointment, but a handful of Highlanders had already taken additional measures in order to obtain the vaccine sooner.

THE EARLIER I COULD GET THE VACCINE, THE EARLIER THINGS WOULD START TO FEEL NORMAL AND SAFE.” - ANNA PROCTOR SENIOR Some waited at vaccine sites for hours in hopes of getting leftover doses at the end of the day, while others drove long distances to secure immunizations. Several students were able to get the vaccine at Same Day Testing in Tysons Corner. The drive-thru center allows for anyone to pull up and get in line for extra vaccines. Cars are directed to a parked line to wait until the testing center closes at 6 p.m. If there are any unused vaccinations, the first people in line will get their shot. “I had to wait about three hours, but it was worth it. Same Day Testing in Tysons had a bunch of extra vaccines the day I went,” senior Anna Proctor said. “I was able to get my vaccination and so did a lot of other people as well.” While Proctor was fortunate enough to get it on the first try, other students said they had to keep returning to Same Day Testing every day in hopes of finally receiving the injection. For two days in a row, senior Andrew Nelson waited for four hours but was unable to get vaccinated. “I have spent a good part of my week waiting and ultimately failing to get my first dose,” Nelson said. “On the second day, I was so close to finally getting the vaccination 4 | NEWS | APRIL 2021

until this random woman accused me of being unethical with my attempt of getting it over her. Apparently, the way I was parked was somehow signaling to the clinic I was ahead of the woman and her family in line.” Other students traded long waits for long drives by finding vaccine centers in southern Virginia that were already open to all ages. Less populated areas of the state were able to move into Phase 2 weeks before the Fairfax County Health Department. Junior Nicole Mallus took advantage of the availability of vaccines around Virginia and decided to kill two birds with one stone. While getting the Pfizer vaccine two hours outside of Blacksburg, she was able to see her sister at Virginia Tech. “After finding availability on the Walgreens website, my mom signed me up and we drove down the next week,” Mallus said. “We drove for six hours to the Walgreens, got the first shot, and drove six hours back on the same day—28 days later, I did the same exact thing.”

While a majority of students have had the difficult task of obtaining their own injection, one student had the luxury of the vaccine being brought home to him. “My father, who is a doctor, brought multiple vaccinations home for my family to use and personally administered it to me,” senior Khari Kingslow said. For students, after over a year of living through a pandemic, getting vaccinated means getting one step closer to returning to their previous way of life. “The earlier I could get the vaccine, the earlier things would start to feel normal and safe,” Proctor said. “Even though my arm is a little sore, I feel so happy I got it.”

All Virginia residents 16 and older can visit VaccineFinder.org to find available vaccine appointments.

VACCINATED — Seniors Anna Proctor and Amelia Zug wait in their cars after receiving their vaccine. They got vaccinated after waiting for extra doses at Same Day Testing in Tysons Corner. (Photo courtesy of Anna Proctor) Page design by Addie Brown

SAVING SENIOR YEAR

Class of 2021 can look forward to in-person prom and graduation ADDIE BROWN MANAGING EDITOR | KATIE ROMHILT PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

ith vaccines rolling out across Fairfax County, things are looking up for the Class of 2021, who lost the highlights of their senior year to the pandemic. In an attempt to end the year on a high note, McLean students and staff have been advocating for in-person prom and graduation, and it looks like both will become a reality. This year’s prom is scheduled for May 15, but it won’t look like previous years’ dances due to pandemic restrictions. With Virginia Governor Ralph Northam’s 100-person gathering limit still in place, students must now sign up for hour-long time slots with their prom group between 6 and 10 p.m. Instead of in a ballroom, prom will be held outdoors in the courtyard as well as parking lots near the baseball and softball fields.

MCLEAN SENIOR EVENTS 6-10 p.m. (one-hour time slots) at McLean High School

MAY 15 PROM

MAY 17 1ST GRAD REHEARSAL

Cap & gown pick up from 3:30-5 p.m. Senior dues can be paid through MySchoolBucks

MAY 21 CAP & GOWN PICK UP

NOW WE CAN FORMALLY END HIGH SCHOOL IN A TRADITIONAL WAY.” - ELENA SOCKNAT SENIOR “I am so happy McLean decided to put on a prom for the seniors,” senior Elena Socknat said. “We almost went throughout all of high school without a prom, and that would have been depressing. Now we can formally end high school in a traditional way.” Northam announced that graduation ceremonies held outdoors will have a cap of 5,000 people or 30% of a venue’s capacity, so McLean seniors will graduate at Jiffy Lube Live at 7 p.m. on June 1. Students will receive four or five tickets to be joined by family and friends. “Jiffy Lube Live [works] for our graduation…mostly because we’ll have a cover and we can fit more people,” Principal Ellen Reilly said. The McLean administration and the FCPS Senior Events Committee put a considerable amount of effort into making sure the Class of 2021 has a fulfilling end to their high school careers. Seniors are hopeful these events will help them wrap up their last year at McLean with some sense of normalcy. “I think our prom and graduation are good considering the circumstances,” senior Alexia Granados said. “It’s the least our class should have since we missed out on half our junior year and half our senior year.” Page design by Ariana Elahi | Infographic by Addie Brown

SENIOR DUES DUE

MAY 26 2ND GRAD REHEARSAL

CONVOCATION

3RD GRAD REHEARSAL

JUNE 1 GRADUATION

JUNE 2 GRAD PARTY

8:30-10:30 a.m. on the McLean field

Arrive at 8:30 a.m. for convocation from 9-11 a.m. on the McLean field

MAY 27 MAY 28

8:30-10:30 a.m. on the McLean field

Arrive at 6 p.m. for graduation at 7 p.m. at Jiffy Lube Live

At McLean High School from 2-5 p.m.

APRIL 2021 | NEWS | 5

SIDE EFFECTS OF SAFETY

McLean implements safety procedures to protect those returning to school NYLA MARCOTT ONLINE NEWS EDITOR

o prevent the spread of COVID-19, McLean High School followed FCPS guidelines to implement new health measures for in-person students. Although designed to protect students and staff, the measures have altered learning and changed the school environment. Teachers and students are required to follow safety procedures, including wearing masks, using one-way stairwells, eating in socially distanced cafeterias and avoiding the use of drinking fountains. While students were initially required to be seated six feet apart from each other when they returned to classrooms in March, new CDC guidelines combined with a reduction in community transmission rates allowed FCPS to reduce this requirement to three feet on April 8. The safety measures are designed to allow in-person students to learn with as little disruption as possible. “Other than the fact that we wear masks and can’t be in rooms with too many people, my learning experience as a student has not changed much,” sophomore Olivia Jang said.

6 | NEWS | APRIL 2021

Some students report that in-person schooling is less enjoyable because many of their peers chose to remain virtual and those who did return have to remain at a distance. “The new rules have basically completely interrupted and ruined the experience of being a student as they place extreme limits on social interactions,” sophomore Freya Milbury said. Math teacher Kelly Bozzi attributes the challenges in interacting with one another to the circumstances of the entire year. “Students don’t know each other as well after being virtual for so long, so classes are a lot more quiet,” Bozzi said. “I miss the chatter and friendships you usually see grow…throughout the year.” Despite efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19, there have been some positive cases at McLean. People who were within six feet of someone with COVID-19 are contact traced and required to quarantine for two weeks. Students are not required to take COVID-19 tests, so if a student does not report their symptoms, the school does not trace their contacts. The first case was confirmed shortly after the return to school began. “My parents first received a phone call

from the principal letting me know I had been in contact with someone who had tested positive for COVID-19,” senior Christian Carroll said. “They debriefed my parents, telling me to stay home for the next two weeks.” Families were notified about this case via a schoolwide email on March 16, which caused some to reconsider their return to school. “I started out school in person but after the email was sent out, the experience affected my decision on returning to school,” sophomore Olivia Tennant said. Carroll switched back to virtual learning out of concern that COVID-19 cases would continue to occur in school. “I figured it’s not worth it anymore,” Carroll said. “If it happened within the first week of school, it could happen again, so I decided to stay home.” While the implemented COVID-19 mitigation procedures have protected the McLean High School community from any widespread outbreaks, they have resulted in an unusual learning environment this year. “People are more cognizant of the space around them,” Principal Ellen Reilly said. The new three-foot social distancing requirement enables schools to offer inperson learning four days a week, which began at McLean on April 20, meaning the building may start to feel more lively soon, with most students who have chosen to attend in-person opting to do so four days a week. As of April 19, 934 of McLean’s 2,293 students have opted to return in person. Of those, 863 said they will attend school four days a week. To prepare for additional students in the building, custodians added desks and chairs to classrooms. Core freshman classes were affected the most, as it is the only grade with more than 50% of its students attending in person. “Before, we would see so many people all interacting, and now that students are back in the building, it’s just not that noise level that we used to have,” Reilly said. “It’s not the crowd level that we used to have.” Infographic & page design by Nyla Marcott

UNIFYing FOR CHANGE Young Democrats and Teenage Republicans join forces to help pass Virginia civic engagement bill

VALERIE PAREDES REPORTER

hen Virginia Young Democrats Teen Caucus Chair Matthew Savage saw that FCPS had passed a civic engagement policy in 2019, he had the idea to make the policy statewide. This idea became a reality with bill HB1940, which is approved to go into effect on July 1. The bill will permit middle and high school students across Virginia to take an excused absence once a year to participate in a civic event. Savage, a junior at Marshall High School, first thought of this idea last July and reached out to his peers in the Young Democrats, who were excited and eager to help. Soon after, the Young Democrats contacted Virginia House Del. Sam Rasoul, and their conversation left the Young Democrats hopeful that they could win over lawmakers. “The Virginia Young Democrats Teen Caucus adopted a resolution calling on the General Assembly to enact this legislation,” Savage said. Even with the support of the Democrats, the bill needed Republican support to pass. The Teenage Republicans were interested in

what the bill had to offer and reached out via Twitter. “The Teenage Republicans wanted to get involved with this effort because it matters, not only to us, but also to students all over the commonwealth,” Teenage Republican Federation of Virginia Chair Brady Hillis said.

IT’S REFRESHING TO SEE THAT THE GOVERNMENT CAN GET TO WORK FOR THE PEOPLE.” - MATTHEW SAVAGE VA YOUNG DEMOCRATS TEEN CAUCUS CHAIR Once the bill was endorsed by the 8th Congressional District Democratic Committee, the Fairfax County Democratic Committee and the Democratic Party of the Virginia State Central Committee, it was time to put it into action. On Jan. 11, the Civic Engagement Bill was introduced to the House, and on Jan. 15, it was introduced to the Senate. “Working on this bill was a rewarding experience that has rebuilt my trust in democracy,” Savage said. “Despite all the hate, violence and fear-mongering that we’ve seen over the past four years, it’s refreshing to see that the government can get to work for the people.” The Young Democrats and Republicans set aside their differences to make a change and ignited a cooperative relationship by working together for a goal that benefits both parties and the overall population.

“Both Democrats and Republicans alike were advocating on behalf of this legislation. I think allowing them to see how successful it was in the Fairfax County Public School System was another benefit,” Hills said. On Jan. 22, HB1940 passed the Virginia House of Delegates with bipartisan support. “It was interesting to see that eight Republicans voted for it—it was a surprise, but a delightful one,” Savage said. Some Republican lawmakers opposed the bill on the basis that students would take advantage of the bill. “Republican legislators were completely misinformed about the bill, and, unsurprisingly, Sen. John Cosgrove downright said he didn’t even read the bill,” Savage said. Even though most Republicans opposed the bill, HB1940 passed the Senate on Feb. 17 and was signed into law by Gov. Ralph Northam on March 12. The bill received praise from members of the community. “I’m really looking forward to using my voice in our democracy due to the passing of this bill,” junior Victoria Quila said. Due to McLean’s proximity to D.C., students will get the chance to take action next school year in the epicenter of democracy and civic engagement. “I feel like this bill will be a great way for students to get more involved in politics and world issues,” junior Thalia Veizaga said. When the civic engagement bill goes into effect on July 1, it will represent progress for the state of Virginia and will pave the way for a new tomorrow for generations to come. Other states will be keeping an eye on Virginia to see the bill’s end results. “Our commonwealth is a national leader in terms of civic engagement now,” Savage said. “We are a goldfish bowl before the rest of the country.”

MAKING A CHANGE — Virginia Young Democrats Teen Caucus Chairman Matthew Savage stands proudly after working on HB140 on Jan. 28. This bill, which goes into effect July 1, will allow all students in Virginia one excused absence per year to engage in civic activism. (Photo courtesy of Page design by Ariana Elahi

Matthew Savage)

APRIL 2021 | NEWS | 7

THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME What are the pros and cons of virtual learning? “Virtual is less stressful and I can do everything comfortably. However, I am not able to socialize or see my friends often.” - Sooma Ghodsi, freshman

“I can do all my work from bed, and that means I can get more sleep, but It is harder to communicate with your classmates and peers.” - Aaron Bremser, senior

“We can do everything when we want to and we are not stuck in a classroom. Unfortunately, I would have to say it is hard to stay focused from home.” - Eliana Bruck, junior

Majority of students opt for virtual learning ELIZABETH HUMPHREYS REPORTER

hen schools began concurrent learning in March, students and staff were forced to make the decision of returning to the school building. Despite the county’s efforts to prepare buildings for the return to school, less than half of all McLean students decided to opt for in-person learning. Several McLean teachers have stayed virtual too, including English teacher Marc Cascio. “In all honesty, when I see what school looks like, I don’t think [it is safe]. It’s not anyone’s fault, and I applaud all of the staff and students. I just think that with [the risk of] possible mutations, etc., the county could have just waited for the year,” Cascio said. “My two school-aged children, a sixth and a ninth grader, were not permitted to return to their schools by my wife and me.” As of April 19, 934 of the 2,293 McLean students, around 41%, are attending school in person. This is a significant decrease from the beginning of the school year, when 70% of students chose to return to the school building. “Some of [the people who decided to stay virtual] still had concerns about the pandemic and were just waiting to see if the situation was better enough for them to feel comfortable coming to school,” Director of Student Services Paul Stansbery said. “I think others have gotten used to being at home and did not want to change formats in the second half of the year.” Worsening case numbers during winter and spring likely made students concerned about another wave of infections, despite reassurance from the school district that infection rates in schools are low.

“I stayed online because the rate of vaccination is pretty slow and no one in my family has been vaccinated yet. I don’t want to take the risk of going into school and meeting people unnecessarily,” senior Matthew Yoon said. Along with health risks, Yoon did not see the incentive of returning to school only to be taught on his computer by teachers who have to simultaneously teach online students. “I don’t feel like I’m going to miss out on much by not doing in-person learning, except maybe the misery of having to actually sit in classes all day,” Yoon said. “It takes a valiant person to voluntarily endure suffering from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.” Faculty were permitted to stay virtual if the school district accepted their request under the Americans with Disabilities Act, which protects those with underlying health conditions. “I decided to stay home because I am asthmatic, and on top of that, I had a truly bizarre reaction to a cleaning product at school once,” Cascio said. “Other factors were that I have older, immunocompromised parents and stepparents, and I have a very young child. All those factors together made it an easy call for me.” FCPS announced that all students will be able to return in person for five days a week next school year, but the decision many students and staff made serves as a reminder that the pandemic is not over yet. “It is easy to feel like this is over, and it is particularly easy for young folks to feel superhuman, but this is truly a case where you can’t be safe enough,” Cascio said. “We all want to get out of this mess soon.”

Where are McLean students?

In Person 934 - 41%

Remaining Virtual 1,359 - 59%

*Data obtained from Paul Stansbery on April 19

8 | NEWS | APRIL 2021

Photos & additional reporting by Kaan Kocabal & Paarth Soni | Graphics & page design by Ariana Elahi

AP EXAMS COMING SOON

College Board announces 2021 AP testing dates and procedures SANGMIN SONG REPORTER

he College Board announced the 2021 AP Exam Terms and Conditions in March, along with the testing dates and exam formats for this year. Because 2020’s AP exams were abruptly changed into an online format due to COVID-19, there were lots of issues. “Taking AP Statistics and AP World History online last year was honestly one of my worst experiences with exams in my life,” junior Jay Shin said. “Not only were testing conditions terrible and rushed, but the format only judged students on a singular essay format.” The improvised online testing format was vulnerable to cheating and connectivity issues. “There was virtually no moderation of the students taking exams, which enabled them to easily cheat off of the internet or other resources,” Shin said. “Some [students] had trouble submitting questions and were forced to take the test [again] if they had connection issues.” To address the problems from last year, the College Board established new guidelines and procedures this year in order to ensure tests can be taken as smoothly and fairly as possible.

Infographic & page design by Sangmin Song

“For security reasons, digital exams won’t allow students to move back to previous questions or review questions they’ve already answered,” the College Board announced. “An internet connection is required, but students will be able to continue testing even if the connection drops momentarily.” In addition to modifying the digital exams for a better testing experience, the College Board brought back in-person testing this year. “I think it is good that the College Board is offering both types of exams,” AP U.S. History teacher Celina Morgan said. “FCPS has done a great job of making sure we can be safe in the building.” FCPS chose to follow the ‘Administration 2’ program for the AP exams provided by the College Board, so McLean students will take the exams from May 10 to May 28. Depending on the course, exams will be either in person or at home. Some exams will use a traditional paper and pencil format, while others will be taken on computers. “[Whether it’s in-person or online] depends on the subject and what is needed for each exam,” AP Micro/Macro Economics teacher Ryan Abrams said. “For example, AP Physics and Calculus may need [the work] to be handwritten or need more security for safe testing, which is why they

will be offered in the school building.” Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, FCPS has worked to minimize concerns about being in a relatively small space for several hours. “The College Board is trying to offer a more socially safe way to take the test for those students who prefer and need it,” Abrams said. “I think McLean and Mrs. Wheeler, our AP exam coordinator, are fantastic and able to carry out standardized testing safely.” With only a few weeks left before testing begins, this is a crucial time period for students to study and review content so they can end their school year on a high note. “It is always better to start reviewing early for the exams, which means we should study before our classes are done with the curriculum,” Shin said. For now, AP teachers are trying to keep up the pace in their classes to make sure students have enough review time before their exams. “We were open with our students at the beginning about the pace of the course and how much students were going to have to learn from their readings,” Morgan said. “We will finish our curriculum and have time for review, and we will make sure students get well prepared before the test date.”

APRIL 2021 | NEWS | 9

ASIAN HATE ON THE RISE

Hate crimes against Asian Americans surge due to pandemic paranoia SAISHA DANI OPINIONS EDITOR SWETHA MANIMARAN A&E EDITOR

n FCPS student was spat on by four individuals who used anti-Asian slurs after school on the Longfellow Middle School campus. Although the event occurred in March, no one has been held accountable for these allegations. Longfellow Principal Jim Patrick and McLean High School Principal Ellen Reilly sent an email to the McLean and Longfellow communities addressing the incident on March 24. “We stand with our Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students, staff and community and unequivocally denounce racism and discrimination of all kinds and to condemn all acts of hate,” Patrick and Reilly said in the email. While reports of racism against Asian Americans have become increasingly common in recent months, it has been a serious issue in American society since the first wave of Asian immigration to the U.S. “I think [racism against Asians] often comes in forms of systemic racism and microaggressions, so it’s not always obvious or gruesome. You can also get into the whole conversation about the Asian model minority myth,” counselor Tara Lodwig said. “The reality is that being people of color and from different ethnic backgrounds makes us different, and being different can be perceived as a threat now and throughout history.” The model minority myth refers to Asian Americans being perceived as having higher levels of success in comparison to other minority groups, which minimizes the racism Asians face. “I feel that racism against Asians has been so normalized, especially since so many people don’t call out those acts of racism when they occur,” junior Morgan Wu said. Discrimination against Asians has risen significantly in recent months. According to the Stop AAPI Hate National Report, roughly 3,800 hate incidents were reported to the organization in the past year. On March 16, a shooting in Atlanta left 10 | NEWS | APRIL 2021

eight people dead, six of whom were Asian women. The shooting caused an outcry from thousands across the nation who demanded the incident be labeled as a hate crime against the Asian community.

BEING PEOPLE OF COLOR... MAKES US DIFFERENT, AND BEING DIFFERENT CAN BE PERCEIVED AS A THREAT.” - TARA LODWIG COUNSELOR During a press conference in Atlanta on March 17, Captain Jay Baker, the Cherokee County Sheriff ’s spokesperson, stated that the attacks were not racially motivated. “He was pretty much fed up and kind of at the end of his rope. Yesterday was a really

bad day for him and this is what he did,” Baker said during the press conference. Wu said she found Baker’s defense of the shooter disheartening and frustrating. “I think by just looking at the demographics of who [the shooter] killed, it’s clear what his motives were,” Wu said. People have been speculating about the cause of the increase in violent attacks against the AAPI community in the past year. Senior Hannah Tsai, an officer for McLean’s Asian American Association (AAA), relates these hate crimes against Asian Americans to fallacious narratives concerning COVID-19. “The major factor that made Asian American discrimination increase is just that a lot of people circulated this kind of false idea that Chinese people, and eventually Asian people in general, brought the virus to the United States,” Tsai said. Tsai notes that if people blame members of the AAPI community for spreading COVID-19, they should hold others accountable as well.

PROTESTING HATE — Officers from the Asian American Association, senior Stella Shen, junior Songhan Pang and senior Emily Chen, attend an antiAsian racism march in D.C. on March 21. (Photo by Marina Qu)

Page design by Saisha Dani

“If there are people out there that think Asians are the source of [the pandemic], then they should be saying the same about the people who don’t wear masks, the people who go to gatherings of more than 10 people, the people who say that COVID is a hoax,” Tsai said. “Those people are the real threat.” Correlating COVID-19 with Asian Americans has also been a trend among public figures. “It began with the anti-Asian rhetoric in which political leaders started using terms such as ‘China flu’ or ‘kung flu’ at the start of the pandemic,” Lodwig said. “The hateful rhetoric and name-calling caused scapegoating and scaremongering.” Tsai faced racist scapegoating this winter when walking in a park in McLean she visits frequently. While sitting next to an elderly Asian woman, they were both asked to leave by a security guard. “We were allowed to be [at the park]... because there were a bunch of other people taking a walk there,” Tsai said. “I think that [the security guard was] first directing it towards the elderly woman, which was even worse, because that’s really clear targeting someone that’s weak and defenseless.” After the security guard threatened to call the director, the elderly woman left, while Tsai decided to stay and face the guard. “I told her she was welcome to go and get that director of hers. . .then she started telling me that she was going to call the police,” Tsai said. “Because I was pretty mad already after what had happened to the elderly woman, I told her to just go ahead and call the police.” Eventually, after making multiple empty threats, the security guard gave up and left Tsai alone. “I was really angry after that [encounter]. I remember ranting about it to my friends because I was so mad about it,” Tsai said. In a similar situation, senior Tracy Waagner’s cousin faced anti-Asian racism in D.C. While her cousin was walking her dog, a white man spat on her for no apparent reason. Hearing about this incident left Waagner fearing for her safety. “This definitely made me feel scared to just walk out in the city,” Waagner said. “It’s just scary to think that that could happen at any point in time.” The issue of anti-Asian racism is often overlooked or even normalized. Members of the Asian community have differing opinions on why this lack of awareness exists. Infographic by Jayne Ogilvie-Russell

Types of Asian hate incidents reported from March 19, 2020, to Feb. 28, 2021*

Verbal Assault (68.1%) Shunning (20.5%) Physical Assault (11.1%) Civil Rights Violations (8.5%) Online Harassment (6.8%)

*Data from 3,795 incidents reported to Stop AAPI Hate

BY THE NUMBERS — The organization Stop AAPI Hate received reports of 3,795 hate incidents between March 19, 2020, and Feb. 28, 2021. People ages 17 and under reported 12.6% of these incidents. By comparison, Stop AAPI Hate documented 3,292 incidents that occurred in 2020. “A lot of people in the Asian community don’t want to call too much attention to themselves, and they don’t want to get into much trouble,” Tsai said. “They always avoid speaking out or protesting, or really acting out against anything.”

THE [ASIAN COMMUNITY] IS TRYING TO DO THEIR BEST TO INCREASE AWARENESS ABOUT...ANTI-ASIAN HATE CRIMES...BUT THEIR VOICES AREN’T BEING [AMPLIFIED].” - MORGAN WU JUNIOR Wu believes members of the Asian community are doing their part to highlight these issues. “I feel like the [Asian community] is trying to do their best to increase awareness about

the anti-Asian hate crimes that have been occurring, but it’s just that their voices aren’t being [amplified] by other communities,” Wu said. AAA members are trying to create a safe environment to start the conversation about racism against Asians. The club is working on setting up an event to give people the platform to speak up and share their experiences. The officers of AAA were inspired by a march they attended in D.C. on March 21 to protest against Asian hate and draw attention to the issue. “There were tons of speakers that encouraged us to speak up,” said senior Emily Chen, an AAA officer. “It was a very good experience for me because it was my first time at a march, and seeing a lot of people supporting the Asian American community definitely made me feel a lot better.” In light of this kind of activism, members and supporters of the AAPI community are optimistic about the future. “I hope there are continued conversations, social activism and legal reformation that fight the racist discrimination and attacks on Asians,” Lodwig said. “People [shouldn’t] think it’s normal.” APRIL 2021 | NEWS | 11

FEATURES

12 | FEATURES | APRIL 2021

Senior Chloe Lahr grows Instagram clothing business, @bigfishbowlclothing HERAN ESSAYAS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF | MICHELLE CHENG A&E EDITOR

n search of custom sweatshirts, unique shirts or one-of-a-kind pants? Well, senior Chloe Lahr has them all. In 2019, Lahr was struck with the idea to start a thrifting business. After seeing the rise of online thrifting accounts, businesses that sell secondhand clothing, Lahr decided she wanted to be among the sellers. And so, she created Big Fishbowl Clothing. In her free time, Lahr goes through items at various thrift stores, purchasing clothing based on what she personally enjoys and hoping to provide clothing options that she could see herself and others wearing. “If I’m in a mood where I know it’ll be a good thrift trip, then I’ll put in the time and go through every section and look at everything on the shelf,” Lahr said. “When I go to the Goodwill bins, the ones that have a bunch of clothes that haven’t been sold in Goodwill stores, I’ll pretty much go through all of those bins for a couple hours.” Once Lahr has the clothes she wants to sell, she models all of her purchases, taking photos to post on her account. For each post, Lahr takes photos, edits them and writes captions. She also films promotional TikToks occasionally. Less than two years later, Lahr has gained more than 4,000 followers and has posted more than 400 items. But building this business was difficult. “[Growing my account] was slow. It took me a really long time to even hit 1,000 followers,” Lahr said. “I used to have infrequent drops, but now I’m trying to have at least one a week because posting a lot and getting my content out there is really important for more people to find me.” Lahr uses a 48-hour bidding process to sell her items. She also offers a significantly higher buy it now (BIN) price for those who wish to forgo the bidding process. “I set a starting bid, and people bid in the comments how much they want to go up by, usually a dollar. I’ll let them know when someone bids higher than them,” Lahr said. “I’ve stuck with this process because I think it gives a lot more people a chance to see my [item] and to bid on it. It gives people the chance to purchase it for less than I

otherwise would have listed it for.” Friends and customers say they are impressed with Lahr’s work and success thus far. Junior Kylee Majkowski frequently supports Big Fishbowl Clothing not only because she and Lahr are friends, but also because of the extensive and creative collection Lahr offers. “I have purchased so many things from that account: dresses, tops, skirts, whatever. Chloe is responsible for a decent part of my wardrobe,” Majkowski said. “I have always loved Chloe’s sense of style, and I thought shopping there was a really great way to open up my wardrobe to some stuff I wouldn’t necessarily pick out for myself.” Majkowski is amazed by Lahr’s ability to run her business.

HAVE AN OPEN MIND. IF YOU FIND A PIECE THAT MAYBE YOU WOULDN’T NORMALLY WEAR, YOU CAN TRY IT OUT. THROUGH THRIFTING, YOU CAN FIND SO MANY DIFFERENT KINDS OF THINGS IN ONE SPOT.” - CHLOE LAHR SENIOR “Chloe and I already had a personal relationship, so I knew she would be great,” Majkowski said. “But when I first saw her account, I was honestly shocked by how professional she was about everything. She’s really committed to what she does, which is super admirable.” Senior Lyssa Bass, another frequent customer, appreciates Lahr’s dedication. “Chloe has amazing items and is very timely about delivering items,” Bass said. “She also has super cool packaging and puts a lot of effort into her account.”

Photos courtesy of Chloe Lahr | Page design by Taylor Olson

After growing her following, Lahr decided to expand her business by offering custom sweatshirts, and this led her to change her store’s name. “Originally, [the name of my account was] ‘That 70s Thrift,’ and I decided to change it because I felt like I was putting myself in a box with that name, not only because I wasn’t just doing thrifting stuff anymore, but also because 70s wasn’t really the vibe of [my account] anymore,” Lahr said. Lahr creates her own designs and uses an embroidery machine to transfer the designs onto the sweatshirts. As she became familiar with the embroidery process, Lahr began investing in the necessary equipment and incorporating more of her unique ideas into her work. “I saw that embroidered stuff was kind of becoming popular within the thrift community, and I realized that was something I could also do,” Lahr said. “I bought my own embroidery machine and I got design software for Christmas that I could use to digitize my own designs and put them on there.” Lahr’s thrift business has furthered her awareness and commitment to sustainability. “When I started my account, I learned more about sustainable fashion and how thrifting is good for the planet,” Lahr said. “After learning about all of the negative effects of fast fashion, I [wanted to] help with that. Ethically and environmentally, [fast fashion] is not something that I want to support.” Lahr hopes to continue expanding her store. With her frequent posts, custom clothing and various sizes, Lahr encourages potential customers to visit her store and thrift more often, as there are both environmental and personal benefits to exploring the world of secondhand shopping. “Have an open mind. If you find a piece that maybe you wouldn’t normally wear, you can try it out. Through thrifting, you can find so many different kind of things in one spot,” Lahr said. “I think its really cool that there’s a history behind things, and it’s more unique than getting the same clothes from [fast fashion brands].” APRIL 2021 | FEATURES | 13

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Following Sarah Everard’s death, McLean students speak on sexism HANNA BOUGHANEM REPORTER She was just walking home. Since the death of Sarah Everard, this simple phrase has been the rallying cry for women and activists around the nation. On the night of March 3, 2021, Everard walked down a well-lit London street, keeping in contact with her boyfriend while on her way home—a destination she never reached. A police officer has since been charged with her kidnapping and murder. “[Everard’s] death is a tragedy that is cause for outrage,” said senior Tallisen Scott, co-president of the McLean Feminist Club. “It is reflective of a worldwide and ongoing issue of violence against women.” Scott, like other students at McLean, was angered by the tragedy and didn’t hesitate to share her opinions. While some students expressed resentment and shock, others were unsurprised by the incident. “[Everard’s death] was definitely sad and tragic, but it wasn’t completely surprising,” sophomore Olivia Jang said. “Things like that happen all the time. Her case was just one that kind of blew up.” The tragedy ignited a movement that inspired discussions about the normalization of harassment and rape culture as a whole. This normalization is prevalent in schools, especially among impressionable teenagers. “I’ve absolutely heard of other people having those kinds of experiences [with sexism and harassment],” Jang said. “I’ve seen microaggressions and people definitely have those kinds of attitudes.” According to junior Luca Moukheiber, subtle signs of sexism are common at McLean, especially from his male classmates. “I have [heard male students] say certain slurs or disrespectful terms [towards female students],” Moukheiber said. “I think it’s more common than harassment, and it’s really not OK.” This “locker room talk” and degradation doesn’t just come from male classmates, but from other girls themselves. Junior Doris Zhang, for one, has overheard a lot of harmful rhetoric, from slut-shaming to jokes about other girls’ appearances. She believes these rude comments are rooted in sexist 14 | FEATURES | APRIL 2021

and misogynistic ideals. Zhang said she has experienced this kind of sexism from teachers. “Sometimes, when we would do group work in class, [teachers] would assign the guys to the leadership roles, and then the girls would be the organizer or something,” Zhang said. “A guy might say that I seem organized and [ask me] to be the organizer or do the handwriting aspect [of a project].” Like several of her fellow female classmates, Zhang feels she is often handed secretary-like roles in group projects. Scott said that while assumptions like these may seem harmless, they are indicative of a much larger problem at McLean, where these subtle biases are inadequately addressed. “While McLean puts effort toward giving equal opportunities, it doesn’t account for individual sexism or biases held by individual teachers or students,” Scott said.

Counselor Kathleen Otal, who is the co-lead of McLean’s Equity Team and sponsors the Girls Leadership Committee, acknowledged the potential biases that exist but said everyone has positive intentions. “We try very hard at McLean to treat everyone fairly and equitably. It’s basically impossible for us to be completely fair all the time [because] we have our own biases,” Otal said. “Although we’re not perfect, we are striving always to be better, and I really do think we’re pretty good here overall.” Zhang pointed out that part of the problem with the way these issues are discussed among students at McLean is the health curriculum itself, which she said promotes dangerous messages about harassment and gender-based issues, relying on scare tactics directed at women. “[When I first] learned about sextrafficking, every single example was a girl and some sketchy guy who would bring her

Infographic by Cameron Tebo | Page design by Hanna Boughanem

[somewhere],” Zhang said. “[They would tell] girls to be careful and [avoid] talking to strangers or people online. But there was nothing saying how people shouldn’t be texting strangers or asking others for [inappropriate] favors.” Girls are exposed to this information as early as seventh grade, and Zhang said that the current curriculum is relatively unsuitable for young audiences.

calling for a shift in the curriculum’s direction and suggesting that certain repetitive lessons be replaced by more relevant content. “I [don’t] think they need to teach us the same things [about anatomy] every year. It’s not really necessary,” Zhang said. “Instead of doing that, they could spend more time talking about consent, and they should also explain that [harassment and rape] don’t only happen to girls.”

who asked to remain anonymous due to the nature of the incident. “I went to talk to my teacher. She was visibly uncomfortable [when I told her] and briefly tried to console me, but she did nothing, and I verified that [later].” Otal wants students to know that all claims are taken seriously and that equality between male and female students is important to McLean’s administration.

IT’S DEFINITELY IMPORTANT TO TEACH PEOPLE HOW TO PROTECT THEMSELVES. BUT IT’S ALSO IMPORTANT TO TEACH BOYS HOW TO CONTROL THEMSELVES.” - OLIVIA JANG SOPHOMORE

“Before [learning about sex-trafficking], I would just walk around outside and not be scared at all,” Zhang said. “But after that, I [became] pretty scared.” Jang finds that these tactics perpetuate the idea of victim blaming. “[Scare tactics] create this feeling of fear and shame around the subject, [reaffirming the idea] that if it does happen to someone, it’s their fault for not protecting themselves instead of the other way around,” Jang said. “It’s definitely important to teach people how to protect themselves. But it’s also important to teach boys how to control themselves.” Jang agrees that the current curriculum is in dire need of an update. She is particularly critical of the burden the curriculum places on women, who are more likely to experience harassment. “[Harassment] is scary,” Jang said. “But instead of making it seem scary and super dramatic, [the school] could just inform people about this subject and teach to both ends.” Health and P.E. teacher Rebekah Person said the current curriculum aims to be equally targeted at all students, regardless of gender. “The curriculum makes it clear that the victim is never at fault and that bad things can happen to anyone regardless of what actions you take to prevent it,” Person said. “Sexual violence is a crime, and crimes occur no matter how safe you are, unfortunately, so this is why the victim is never at fault.” Zhang sees room for improvement,

Other students suggest that health lessons should take a holistic approach to sensitive topics. “I would definitely suggest more emphasis on teaching boys how to better respond to these situations themselves,” Jang said, “and more focus on how to create a safer environment at McLean, [specifically].” But the curriculum isn’t the only issue for many McLean students. Several have reported explicit instances of sexism and harassment both on and off school grounds. “I have had students come to me about difficult and uncomfortable situations that have involved male-female dynamics,” Otal said. This problem manifests itself more seriously through social media, where girls are often subject to unwanted attention and crude comments. “A student I didn’t know from McLean replied to my story on Instagram one day,” a student who asked to remain anonymous said. “He made some really objectifying comments and outright said he wanted sexual favors from me. The messages just made me feel really uncomfortable and disgusted, and I’ve been scared to post again since.” A McLean student said they lost trust in their teachers after reporting an incident of inappropriate groping. “In ninth grade, we were playing flag football, and this guy was supposed to be guarding me. He basically reached out and grabbed me [inappropriately],” said a student

“If we see something or hear something we address it right away, even little joking comments,” Otal said. “If a student [told] me, as a counselor, about that, the administration would directly get involved. One of the principals or assistant principals would deal with it because we take it very seriously.” In the meantime, Scott would like to see support from all students when discussing these issues. “Male classmates need to show support,” Scott said. “It is the responsibility of men to learn about and speak against these issues so that they can support women, who are disproportionately affected by harassment, but also so that they themselves can learn how not to perpetuate this culture.” Although Moukheiber believes men, along with women, should speak out in difficult circumstances, he does not think it should be expected of everyone. “I think that it’s a personal choice.” Moukheiber said. “It would be the right, mature, responsible thing to do, but I don’t know if it’s necessarily a [man’s] responsibility.” Gender-based issues can be divisive, but while the students, teachers and administrators at McLean have varying opinions on the matter, they all agree on one thing: there is hope for progress. “To some degree, that [sexist] mindset will always be there,” Jang said. “But we can do a lot to help lift that and change that attitude as a whole. We can still do a lot to fix it.” APRIL 2021 | FEATURES | 15

NEW SCHOOL MONITOR SUPPORTS MCLEAN Jill Taylor signs up to help during time of need

ARIANA ELAHI CHIEF MARKETING MANAGER & DESIGNER

ill Taylor has been a stay-at-home mom for the past 15 years. With the pandemic raging, she decided to become an in-person monitor at McLean High School to help watch over students whose teachers are unable to be there in person. She is currently a classroom monitor for English teacher Michael Enos, who is teaching virtually. Taylor grew up in Michigan, then pursued a degree in English and a second degree in education in Pennsylvania. “After college, I got engaged to a boy from Virginia and followed him here, where I have been ever since,” Taylor said. “However, I did not marry that boy—I ended up marrying someone else here.” Her love for Virginia has remained constant for the past few decades. “I have lived in Norfolk, Stafford, Alexandria, Charlottesville, Leesburg and now we’re here in Fairfax. I really like the state, and I just love popping all over it and loving it from different places,” Taylor said. “So I’m grateful to my college boyfriend for bringing me in, because that was very helpful.” When she first moved to Virginia, she put her education degree to use. After being a teacher for three years, though, she wasn’t sure if it was right for her. “I quit because it was hard. I didn’t know what it was really going to be like. While I love language, reading and teaching, I wasn’t ready for the administrative work,” Taylor said. “It’s hard to pick a career when you’re 18 that you would want to do for the rest of your life.” But after the pandemic began, she wanted to take a more active role in providing support in any way she could. “I wanted to help. I feel almost as if we’re in a war and everyone has to have a role. I’ve watched my son do online school all year, so I know how much extra work teachers have to do in order to teach online,” Taylor said. “I just thought that if I can help them have one less thing to worry about by being in the classroom, then it’s worth it.” Taylor’s personal experiences shaped her personality and the way she interacts with others. “I am a very introspective and empathetic person. I also struggle with depression and anxiety, and they are two big reasons why it took me so long to return to work,” Taylor said. “However, I use them as strengths to give me empathy and compassion towards others who struggle with those diseases.” As much as Taylor loves to help out in the classroom, she is still overcoming her own challenges. “The hardest part of this job is just getting up and getting here. I mean that two ways: it is a big change to my routine, and it is a big mental struggle nearly every day,” Taylor said. “I hope by sharing my experience, it can help someone feel less alone.” Taylor said she took the classroom monitor job not for the money, but for the students. “I feel for students, because they are wonderful people. This is supposed to be such a fun time, and friends are so important as well as socializing, and I just wanted to get you guys in the classroom as soon as possible,” Taylor said. “It’s really important. It almost makes me cry.” 16 | FEATURES | APRIL 2021

Photo courtesy of Jill Taylor | Page design by Ariana Elahi

10 Qs with

Wendy Pearson (Chinese language teacher)

Reporting by Sydney Gleason & Christiana Ketema Photos by Marina Qu

What do you do in your spare time?

I bake bread and muffins, but my spare time is in short supply. Most of the time, I watch Korean soap dramas and learn to cook authentic Chinese dishes through YouTube tutorial cooking channels.

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What is something you and your family enjoy doing together? We enjoy eating crabs at waterfront crab shacks dotted along the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay—not just crabs, shellfish of any kind: oysters, lobster, shrimp, crawfish, clams, mussels. I shuck my own oysters.

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What did you do before teaching? I’ve been an educator in Virginia for almost 25 years. Before that, I had a wonderful full-time job raising my two young boys.

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Where did you grow up? I grew up in the center of Taipei, Taiwan, speaking Mandarin in school and at home while listening to Taiwanese locally.

What do you enjoy most about being Asian American Association’s sponsor? I like to see students with [common] interests and similar family backgrounds. [We] hang out and discuss topics of mutual interest or current events in my classroom every other week, [but this year] we do that virtually.

What’s your favorite movie? The Last Emperor, which is even more enjoyable if you’re familiar with the Forbidden City or just look up the transition from the last dynasty to the Republic of China.

What is your favorite spring break memory? I have so many because we always travel during spring break. Touring the ancient tombs of the pharaohs in the Valley of the Kings, Egypt, and getting to see Peru’s Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley are among my favorites.

What was your experience moving from Taiwan to the U.S.? I arrived in the U.S. after first spending two years in Liverpool, England, where I did my postgraduate education. It wasn’t so big of an adjustment coming here after living in the U.K.

Do you have any pets? Yes, a 15-year-old cockatiel, Kramer, we’ve had since he was a baby. He responds to sudden noises like doorbells, telephone rings, clock chimes by saying, “What’s that?” and twisting his head. It’s funny to see a bird react as a person would.

What is the hardest aspect of Chinese? Most people would think writing Chinese characters is the most difficult, but students need to learn all these components and strokes and memorize each distinct Chinese character, along with its tone sound to read it. And the only way to learn those characters is rote memorization.

APRIL 2021 | FEATURES | 17

PENG PROMOTES PEACE

Senior Brittany Peng receives Fairfax County Student Peace Award for youth community peace-building organization ALEENA GUL NEWS EDITOR POLINA ZUBAREV FEATURES EDITOR

he room was loud, with over 50 Northern Virginia students in attendance at the Open Peacebuilding and Leadership (OPL) Conference in December 2019. Then-sophomore Brittany Peng was helping Xuan Huynh, a senior friend from Woodson High School, organize the event. Peng is the current CEO of LeadPeace, an organization that holds different peacebuilding events, particularly for youth minorities and women. “I think that everyone deserves a chance to be heard because I know what it’s like to not be heard, and I never want to make anyone else feel like that,” Peng said. “I want to make sure that people recognize that they do have a position in society where they can do something.” LeadPeace initially started as the OPL Conference. Peng and Huynh transformed it into what it is today. “[The conference] was just really inspiring, so we just took it from there, and we rebranded to LeadPeace,” Peng said. “Because of COVID, we cannot hold another conference, even though we were planning to.” When Huynh graduated and went to college, she passed down LeadPeace to Peng, who has served many roles both in the OPL Conference and LeadPeace. “Why I got involved was [partly because of] my friend…but also [to see] how, together as youth, we could unite and make change, especially with all the issues going on right now,” Peng said. Peng’s drive for initiative and passion to highlight peace in her community made her one of 21 FCPS students to earn the Student Peace Award of Fairfax County this year. Peng is grateful for the recognition and hopes to continue bringing positivity and change within the community. “Impact can go a long way even in my personal life, besides the community,” Peng said. “The way I think about change…is that there [are] three landscapes. There’s the interpersonal level, there’s the cultural level, 18 | FEATURES | APRIL 2021

and there’s the structural level.” On these multiple levels, young CEO Peng is using her platform to work on combating issues that face the globe, while focusing on the local community first. “Moving forward, it’s already 2021, and we still have humanitarian issues that are just so exacerbated by war or whatever it might be,” Peng said. “But even locally, [issues can be determined by] how you treat other people too [and] how you can take into account someone else’s feelings or point of view, even though you might not understand it or resonate with it.”

I THINK THAT EVERYONE DESERVES A CHANCE TO BE HEARD BECAUSE I KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE TO NOT BE HEARD, AND I NEVER WANT TO MAKE ANYONE ELSE FEEL LIKE THAT.” - BRITTANY PENG SENIOR

As part of her mission, Peng organizes Lead Talks, a public speaking initiative, and ArtPEACE, an art expression initiative. These two new forms of peace-building events have found success during the pandemic. Lead Talks consist of youth guest speakers, usually activists and people from other peace-oriented professions who identify as people of color, women or other minorities. They are invited to come to the organization each month to share their stories. “I think one of the most memorable ones was with a Syrian-American activist,” Peng said. “She said when 9/11 happened, she was in elementary school, and she was pulled out of her class [by her principal] because she was evidently Muslim. [She also] talked about being harassed from then on and how

she got involved in human rights activism.” The point of Lead Talks is not to center on negative stories or simply talk about a person’s achievements or their work. “[Lead Talks are for] these leaders to share their stories, like, ‘I’ve been through this, and I’m sure you’ve been through things too, but guess what? I made it and you can make it too,’” Peng said. “It’s about empowerment.” For those who are more creative, ArtPEACE is a monthly art challenge event that encourages people to create pieces of art about a specific topic. “[After] people submit their art, those are used as catalysts of discussion during [subsequent] community dialogues,” Peng said. “For example, back in May, we held a systemic racism versus institutional racism dialogue…just so we can foster those discussions because those discussions are really important.” Through LeadPeace, primarily the Lead Talks and ArtPEACE events that she holds, Peng and her team hope to engage local youth minorities in important issues and make sure their voices are heard, which can impact their community in a positive way. “Once the participants come in and listen to their speaker, our main goal is for them to leave the talk feeling empowered,” said Kheira Bekkadja, a senior at Thomas Edison High School who is the Lead Talks director. “[We focus on] letting everyone know that they have the power to make their own change, [and] they have the power to do whatever they want. We want them to achieve their dreams.” Using social media as a platform, the LeadPeace team has focused heavily on mental health lately but hopes to elevate awareness and provide support to teens regarding a variety of subjects. “[We] love to talk about mental health, and it’s a very important topic, [but we want] to cover as many topics as we can and make our audience feel welcome in every single platform, whether it’s [promoting] mental health, spreading awareness or feeling represented,” said Shanti Ashok, a sophomore at Oakton High School who is the LeadPeace content team director. Page design by Polina Zubarev

Since LeadPeace has taken off, its positive influence has reached many students, including those who lead the organization. “Having influence over younger girls and showing them what they can do is amazing,” Ashok said. “I think LeadPeace has really allowed me to grow mentally with everyone around me and see that we all have different stories.” Similarly, the organization has seen immense success in growing connections between its audience and those it hopes to impact. Members of LeadPeace and its leadership have grown connections to each other as well. “I just like the safe space and the community that it has built,” Bekkadja said. “Having that team being able to be so flexible and willing to work with one another, and so creative as well, [makes it feel like a family].” The primary reason for the organization and the work its members do, however, is to promote peace throughout the community. “I would say peace and security are ways of dealing with conflict…that take into account the interests of all parties while ensuring that humanity is the bottom line,” Peng said. Peng’s team is proud of her work and the recognition she’s received from earning the Peace Award. “It brings me joy seeing female leaders, especially my friends, get recognized for such an honorable award,” Ashok said. “It really means a lot just knowing that one small idea from one person can grow to empower so many people.” Peng hopes that being named a Peace Award recipient, as well as achieving other Photos courtesy of Brittany Peng

accomplishments with LeadPeace, will allow her to continue the organization and impact more youth. “I hope to expand LeadPeace globally. Right now, it’s very centered in Northern Virginia, which is such a great start, but hopefully [we will be able to expand] maybe even nationally or internationally,” Peng said. “[For] some of our events, we have gotten international participants, but I would like to expand maybe in the form of an ambassadorship program, which is in the works.” Peng’s longtime goal has been to study political science, a dream she plans to make a reality when she attends Georgetown University in the fall. “I do hope to pursue political science in college and ultimately go to law school. Law school has been my dream since I was a kid,” Peng said. “Law is interesting in the

way it has worked historically, and that’s how I want to make an impact.” LeadPeace has shown Peng how relationships can affect people, and she wants to keep making connections and building relationships as she gets older. “Relationships go such a long way,” Peng said. “Just acknowledging someone else’s human-hood is superb.” As a leader for minorities, women and the younger generation of Americans, Peng has the ability to help many young adults. She hopes the organization leaves them with a lasting mark by teaching important skills to make lifelong connections. “Ultimately, our mission at LeadPeace is to cultivate youth leaders and peace builders, and that all has to do with skills and mindset. Leading by example is such an important thing,” Peng said. “But perfection shouldn’t be a goal. The goal should be the authenticity.”

PEACE, POSTERS AND ACTIVISM — Xuan Huynh, a freshman at Elon University, displays a poster she created for an ArtPEACE event. Senior Brittany Peng’s LeadPeace organization holds the monthly art challenge to help spark community dialogues. APRIL 2021 | FEATURES | 19

TOP-NOTCH JOURNALIST The Highlander’s Marina Qu wins Virginia Journalist of the Year SHRUTHI MANIMARAN MANAGING EDITOR

enior Marina Qu understood the power of journalism when she immigrated to the U.S. from China at the age of 13. “When I came [to America], I knew the power and the impact that journalists can make on society, and also just as student journalists in our community, because we’ve seen what our locals have done,” Qu said. Qu’s belief in the power of the press and willingness to work hard helped her earn the position of editor-in-chief of The Highlander this year, which led to her being named the 2021 Virginia Journalist of the Year by the Virginia Association of Journalism Teachers and Advisers. The application process for the highly coveted award involved submitting a resume, transcript, three letters of recommendation and a portfolio website detailing different types of journalism work she’s done during her time on the staff. Qu’s initial reaction was excitement after The Highlander’s adviser, Lindsay Benedict, called her with the news. “I called Marina and she had just seen [the news] one second before, too,” Benedict said. “We were both able to squeal together and be really excited.” Despite this school year being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, school closing and virtual learning, Qu continued to report on what mattered most. “It’s been such a wild news year with just constantly changing developments in Fairfax County and with our virtual learning and return to school plans,” Benedict said. “She’s really covered every step of that. She’s sat through dozens of hours of school board meetings and the superintendent’s press conferences.” Qu’s articles are more than just relevant and timely—they’ve also enacted tangible change in the McLean community. “[One article I wrote] was about overcrowding and the policies that the former board members were looking at at the time,” Qu said. “It’s really cool to see the policy progress throughout the years, because now we are actually having a boundary change. It was really great seeing the changes happen.”

20 | FEATURES | APRIL 2021

One of a letter of the Virginia was former McElveen.

the three people who wrote recommendation for Qu for Journalist of the Year Award school board member Ryan

SHE DOESN’T DO ANYTHING JUST FOR THE CREDIT OR FOR THE GLORY—SHE DOES IT BECAUSE SHE KNOWS IT’S IMPORTANT.” - LINDSAY BENEDICT THE HIGHLANDER ADVISER “My motivation for writing a recommendation for her was that she interviewed me on numerous occasions for various articles, ranging from student activism and civic engagement to climate change issues,” McElveen said. “While working with her, it was very clear that she was very passionate about the work and very professional in how she handled her assignments.”

Fellow editor-in-chief senior Heran Essayas can also attest to Qu’s work ethic after working closely with her this year. “We’ve been able to work really well together because she is so talented in the way where she knows exactly what to do,” Essayas said. “She’s always working toward that goal of making a successful magazine.” Qu isn’t just a writer. Over her three years at The Highlander, she has been able to expand into art, photography and design. “I definitely like the aspect of journalism where you can combine a lot of interests together,” Qu said. “The design aspect of journalism really allowed me to kind of use my creativity, but also put it on something that is more objective and more informative.” Qu is looking ahead to a bright future at Harvard University next year, where she plans to write for the school newspaper and potentially pursue a career in journalism. No matter what she decides, Qu’s impact on The Highlander staff has been profound, and the effects of her leadership will be long-lasting. “Marina’s had a large influence over so many different articles in The Highlander, just by really working closely with the reporters,” Benedict said. “She doesn’t do anything just for the credit or for the glory—she does it because she knows it’s important.”

QU STEPS UP — Marina Qu steps up to the podium to ask the superintendent about overcrowding solutions at McLean High School for an article for The Highlander. She attended the McLean Community Center meeting with Principal Ellen Reilly, parents and students on March 5, 2019. Photo by Ava Rotondo | Page design by Shruthi Manimaran

“A new change of scenery.” - Alex Lin, 12th

“Learning from my teachers in person.” - Alden Wagner, 10th

What’s one of the best parts of returning to school?

“Meeting my teachers and classmates.”

- Manoli Karageorgos, 9th

“Getting back into a normal schedule.” - Emily Levinson, 11th

“I like being able to interact and ask teachers questions in person.”

“Less screen time.”

- Jacob Farmer, math teacher

- Griffin Stieg, 11th

“Settling into this new school as a freshman.” - Caf Eaton, 9th

“The classroom setting will force me to be more productive and have better time management.” - Melanie Lindsey, 11th

“I like having a sense of normalcy for my senior year.” - Leila Ilkhanoff, 12th

“Having a set routine to feel more motivated.”

- Melissa Duluc, Spanish teacher

hIghlanders’ HIGHS AND LOWS OF IN-PERSON LEARNING “Wearing real pants again. Team pajamas all the way!” - Melissa Duluc, Spanish teacher

“Even in person, you still have to do the activities on your laptop.” - Leila Ilkhanoff, 12th

“Not being able to take advantage of every break to do things like eat whenever you want.” - Griffin Stieg, 11th

“Being split up into different days from other classmates.” - Alden Wagner, 10th

What’s one of the WORST parts of returning to school? Reporting by Khushi Rana & Ivy Olson

“Not having the freedom to go to my kitchen or porch or room to get super comfortable.”

- Melanie Lindsey, 11th

“Wearing a mask all day.” - Jacob Farmer, math teacher

“Not having the luxury of being able to get in a little more sleep every night.” - Alex Lin, 12th

“Having to sit separately from everyone.” - Emily Levinson, 11th

“Taking tests with a different atmosphere than home.” - Caf Eaton, 9th

“The tiny classes.”

- Manoli Karageorgos, 9th

APRIL 2021 | FEATURES | 21

MOD SQUAD

Students and teachers adjust to the new modular building

JOSH BASS SPORTS & COPY EDITOR | ARNAV GUPTA COPY EDITOR

t’s January 2020: you turn a corner, meeting a mob of students flooding the hallway. Immediately engulfed, you follow the crowd, hoping to break free in time to make it to class. At this point, it’s a daily routine. What else would you expect from a school at 127% capacity? McLean students have learned to push and shove between class periods, but overcrowding quickly became an afterthought as the pandemic began its global rampage. With the majority of McLean students stuck at home, officials were able to take the first step toward alleviating overcrowding by installing a modular building in place of cramped outdoor trailers. “Construction started about the time we were put out of school due to COVID and finished in the middle of February,” Director of Student Activities Greg Miller said. Almost like a miniature version of the school building, the mod has several hallways and classrooms, which leaves space for amenities such as bathrooms and teacher workrooms. “The mod is so much nicer than the trailers,” English teacher Elise Emmons said. “We have bathrooms, our own workroom, and I park outside right outside of my room,

so I feel very comfortable out there.” Students no longer have to traverse a maze of trailers searching for their classrooms, as the mod serves as a centralized class hub. “The location of the mod is perfect [in proximity] to the school; the breezeway is right there as well as most of the main doors,” junior Bella DeMarco said. “The only [downside] would be having to go outside to enter the mod, but with nice weather it’s not really a problem.” The mod provides a comfortable learning space for students. “[The mod] is more secluded, less crowded and cleaner than the building,” DeMarco said. “The Wi-Fi and temperature are also much more consistent than the trailers.” McLean’s addition isn’t particularly new, however; the mod was transported from Carson Middle School during the quarantine. The mod was originally planned to only house world language classes, but McLean’s administration decided to take advantage of the space and place other classes there this year as well. As the school year approached, administrators calculated the amount of students who could safely fit in each class, relocating teachers to accommodate pandemic restrictions.

RIGHT IN OUR BACKYARD — Serving as an extension to the school, the modular is a short walk from the main building. The construction process started in March 2020 and finished roughly a year later in February 2021. 22 | FEATURES | APRIL 2021

“Our original plan was to put world languages out there as a group, but we had to make adjustments due to social distancing,” Assistant Principal Jeffrey Barham said. “Eventually, we hope to get world languages in the mod to keep them together.” Safety policies in the mod are no different from those in the building. “COVID restrictions are the same but a little bit easier to follow,” DeMarco said. “With less people in the mod I am not as worried about feeling overcrowded or having to constantly think about social distancing.” The spacious classrooms in the mod give a variety of classes the room they need to succeed. “I agree with the plan to have the mod be here semi-permanently,” said Entrepreneurship teacher Debbie Fargo, who teaches inside the modular. “It is a nicer structure with classrooms that can be set up for collaborative projects and discussions.” The mod seems to be a success so far, with teachers and students alike expressing their happiness about its convenience and various amenities. “I like the mod better than [the trailers],” Fargo said. “It feels like your own space and is away from some of the crowds that will be back next year.”

JUST LIKE HOME — The inside of the new mod is similar to the interior of the actual school. The new building provides much more space for both students and teachers, including bathrooms and workrooms. Photos by Katie Romhilt | Page design by Taylor Olson

FACES OF RESILIENCE

or people around the world, 2020 was not an easy year, and Highlanders were no exception. In this in-depth story, we sought out the voices of the McLean community and captured the stories of students and teachers who experienced unique circumstances and overcame unforeseen challenges over the past year. Senior Diana Juarez Castaneda raised two children during the pandemic, balancing virtual learning, childcare and work at the same time. Junior J.T. Fulkerson worked for FCPS as a student tech, and he was able to be among the first to receive his vaccinations. English teacher Michael Enos lost his mother-in-law to COVID-19. New Geosystems teacher Dylan Persinger spent much of his first year of teaching behind a laptop screen. Members of McLean Youth Harmony started an instrument drive to help music students. Sophomore Christy Khalil is still adjusting to American culture after a bombing in her hometown of Beirut, Lebanon, prompted her family to move to the U.S. last August. After a year of isolation and uncertainty about the future, these Highlanders’ stories of resilience and courage show us that we are not alone. Together, we can all move forward.

RAISING TWO CHILDREN during THE PANDEMIC BY MARINA QU EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

SWEET SMILES Senior Diana Juarez Castaneda sits in her children’s crib, holding them in her lap. Juarez Castaneda’s daughter, Dara, is almost 2, while her son, Jacob, is 3 years old. (Photo courtesy of Diana Juarez Castaneda)

ntil she turns her camera on, most of senior Diana Juarez Castaneda’s classmates don’t realize that when she logs into Blackboard Collaborate, she is often holding her two small children in her lap. Her young children require so much attention that sometimes she needs to feed or bathe them during class. At the start of the pandemic, her son was turning 2 and her daughter was only 9 months old. “There was no one in the house to help me; it was only me, the children and my classes,” Juarez Castaneda said*. “I had to make breakfast, bathe them, feed them and put them to sleep while attending classes.” Juarez Castaneda moved to the U.S. from El Salvador in September 2016. When she became pregnant in 2017, her pregnancy was difficult because she had no other support besides her mother, her sister and her nephew. She reached out to her counselor, Greg Olcott, who connected her with resources for medical checkups and pregnancy supplies. She was alone in the hospital when she gave birth to her son, Jacob, in April 2018. “When I had the first child, I was bothered that it was just me alone,” Juarez Castaneda said. “My mom was not with me, nor was the baby’s father.” She became pregnant again about six months after giving birth to Jacob, and she gave birth to her daughter, Dara, in June 2019. Taking care of her children while balancing schoolwork was not an easy task, 24 | IN-DEPTH | APRIL 2021

but it became an even bigger challenge after the pandemic hit the U.S. She worried about her children’s health and safety. “My sister worked as a nurse with patients that had COVID. This scared me a lot because I thought my kids might get sick,” Juarez Castaneda said. “I was cleaning every day.” When the 2020-21 school year began, Juarez Castaneda went to the public library every day to attend virtual classes, but when her children’s babysitter was infected with COVID-19 in January 2021, the responsibilities fell solely on her. “During the time I was alone, if I turned away for just two seconds, one of the children would be biting the other or pulling the other’s hair,” Juarez Castaneda said. “There were days that I would cry at night because I was so frustrated. I would say, ‘I’m not going to attend classes anymore.’” Even though Juarez Castaneda often had thoughts of quitting school, she persisted, knowing the importance of education. Her ESOL teacher, Zamira Seyfulla, said she has witnessed Juarez Castaneda’s resilience over the past year. “She would always come to class. Sometimes she would show her daughter sitting on her lap,” Seyfulla said. “She knows it’s important for her to be in class. With [her] kids and [schoolwork], she’s doing her best.” Supporting two children created an extra financial burden on her family during COVID-19, and Juarez Castaneda’s concerns about money were amplified when she

noticed her daughter was starting to outgrow her clothes. Although her mother helped her financially, Juarez Castaneda wanted to contribute as well. In early February 2021, she began working at CAVA. “Since my daughter was so young, I had been there for her entire life. The first day I began working, it was very difficult. When the kids saw me changing, my son told me to stay inside with him,” Juarez Castaneda said. “When I came home from work I was frustrated because it would be very late but I still had to bathe them and feed them.” Despite the hardships she faced, Juarez Castaneda maintained an optimistic attitude. “She’s always cheery and smiley—her [glass is] three-quarters full all the time,” Olcott said. “I don’t know the kind of things she went through in her previous life before coming here, but I can only imagine. Keeping all that in mind, just her vibe, energy and positive aura lent itself to staying positive and being healthy.” Juarez Castaneda started teaching her children English during the quarantine, hoping they will lead happy lives and be successful in the future. After graduating this year, she plans on attending Northern Virginia Community College and becoming a nurse or a doctor’s assistant. “My dream is that when my daughter is 5, I will have that career. My dream is to be able to support my family and pay for everything without having to think about it,” Juarez Castaneda said. “It is difficult to work, go to school and take care of my kids, but my dream is still alive.”

*Interview translated from Spanish by Elizabeth Humphreys

hen junior J.T. Fulkerson decided to work for Fairfax County Public Schools, he never foresaw one benefit: getting vaccinated early. Fulkerson works as a student tech, a job that entails being in charge of the lighting and sound for events in the McLean auditorium. Due to his employment, Fulkerson was eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccination alongside other FCPS employees. Fulkerson received his first dose on Feb. 4 and his second on Feb. 26. Although Fulkerson was only 16 years old at the time, he was able to get it early in the vaccination process, months before most students and even before most adults in the county. “I filled out a Google Form, and I got an email a few days later saying I was able to go to Inova in Fairfax. I waited in line and I walked right in. There was a very small line,” Fulkerson said. Though getting the first dose was a relatively easy process, he ran into challenges when scheduling the appointment for the second dose. “The appointment system wouldn’t let me make a second appointment if I was under 18, so that was a hassle. We were on the phone for seven hours with Inova and

the Virginia Department of Health, and they finally found a way to schedule the appointment,” Fulkerson said. Fairfax County began vaccinating group 1b, essential workers and people with underlying medical conditions, on Jan. 11, over three months before opening vaccine appointments to everyone above the age of 16 on April 18. While many students with underlying medical conditions were able to start getting vaccinated before this date, Fulkerson, who has both asthma and celiac disease, was able to use this opportunity to receive the vaccine significantly earlier than his counterparts. Fulkerson was the first person in his family to get immunized, and he felt it was important to get the vaccine while it was offered to him. “I was surprised because I was 16 at the time, so I didn’t think I should be able to get it. But I thought it would be dumb if I turned it down because who knows when my next opportunity would be,” Fulkerson said. “I didn’t think that I would be able to get it, and once I showed up and got my first one, I was like, ‘Well, now they have to give me my second one.’” Though Fulkerson has been fully

vaccinated since the end of February, most of his family and friends were not, so the vaccine served as an additional preventative measure and provided him with a sense of security. While Fulkerson has continued with online learning, he returns to the building for TheatreMcLean performances and events in the auditorium. “I’ve kind of treated [the pandemic normally] because most of my friends haven’t been vaccinated, so I can still transmit the disease, but I won’t show symptoms,” Fulkerson said. “I still have to be careful around friends, so I haven’t really changed anything. Once more people get vaccinated it’ll be different, but as of now, nothing has changed.” Now that vaccinations in Virginia have become more available to the general public, Fulkerson encourages everyone to get vaccinated as soon as they can. Based on his own experience with the vaccination process, Fulkerson feels it is important that those who are eligible take the necessary steps to protect themselves and the community as a whole. “Anyone who gets the opportunity should get it,” Fulkerson said. “The more people vaccinated, the more beneficial it will be.”

Getting the vaccine early BY HERAN ESSAYAS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

DOUBLE DOSED Junior J.T. Fulkerson poses with his COVID-19 vaccination record card. He received the first dose on Feb. 4 and the second dose on Feb. 26. (Photo courtesy of J.T. Fulkerson)

APRIL 2021 | IN-DEPTH | 25

nglish teacher Michael Enos’s mother-in-law, Michelle Christine Davis, was put on a ventilator on Nov. 2, 2020. He and his wife, Rachel Enos, never got to speak to her again. Davis tested positive for COVID-19 in October 2020 while living in a nursing home. Davis suffered from underlying health conditions that put her at higher risk for serious illness. “As soon as I found that out I was really, really worried because I had been thinking from the beginning of this whole thing, ‘If my mom gets this, she’s not going to survive it,’” said Rachel Enos, a behavior analyst at Falls Church City Public Schools. “I’d been dreading this happening the whole time.” When they last spoke to each other, Davis had so much trouble breathing that her words were almost indiscernible, but her daughter remembers their last conversation vividly. “She was like, ‘Oh, you’re my favorite person to talk to,’” Rachel Enos said. “It was so sweet and innocent-sounding that that’s what I try to think about rather than thinking about how labored her breathing was the very last time I talked to her.” After being sick for three weeks, Davis died due to acute respiratory failure on Nov. 14, 2020. She was 71 years old. “We did a funeral/memorial service through Zoom, which is a strange way to do it,” Michael Enos said. Knowing that Davis passed away just a few months before the arrival of the vaccine heightened the emotional burden of the family’s loss. “It was really heartbreaking for me that she was in [a nursing home] where she was supposed to be protected, but she still got sick,” Rachel Enos said, “especially because all the people who interacted with her were healthcare professionals.” Losing a loved one made the pandemic more real for Michael and Rachel Enos. Unlike most people who have watched the number of COVID-related deaths rise from a distance, they feel closer to those in similar situations. “Once it becomes your family then it creates a different reality and a little more fear along the way,” Michael Enos said. “It makes me feel like I identify with the rest of humanity because people all over the world are losing people that they love.” Michael Enos said that McLean High School and the English department have been supportive in this difficult time. “They sent us flowers, notes and meals so we wouldn’t have to worry about cooking on some nights,” Michael Enos said. “That kind of support has been really uplifting and almost humbling in a way to know that you have this network of support. If we didn’t have [that support from family, work and friends], it would have been much harder, but right now we’re both in a better place.” Rachel Enos reminds people to treasure the moments they spend with loved ones because another chance to see each other is never guaranteed. These memories will help carry the couple forward. “It’s not all doom and gloom,” Michael Enos said. “There’s been sadness along the way, but it’s something that we’ve all had to go through and do the best we can. And we’re getting there. We’re getting there.”

26 | IN-DEPTH | APRIL 2021

LOSING A LOVED ONE to covid BY MARINA QU EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & ALEENA GUL NEWS EDITOR

FOND MEMORIES Rachel Enos, her mother Michelle Christine Davis and her brother Jeremy take a photo together decades ago. Davis died on Nov. 14, 2020, due to acute respiratory failure caused by COVID-19.

FAMILY BONDING TIME Michael and Rachel Enos play with their son, Oliver, who will turn 3 this summer. Oliver hasn’t been able to see his grandparents and other relatives since the pandemic began. (Photos courtesy of Michael Enos)

oing into the 2020-21 school year, distance learning presented lots of logistical challenges to the faculty at McLean. Transferring curriculum and materials from the physical classroom to a virtual space proved difficult for even the most experienced teachers, making the work of new, young teachers more challenging than ever. Dylan Persinger is one such teacher whose first year on the job was far from the norm. Originally from southwest Virginia, Persinger attended George Mason University, where he discovered his passion for teaching. After getting both his undergrad and master’s degrees from Mason through an accelerated program, Persinger found himself drawn to McLean High School during his job search. Although he was excited to teach Geosystems, Persinger’s first year at McLean played out far differently than most first-year teachers would hope. “Before this, having never done distance learning or thought much about distance learning, coming into the school fully virtual and doing that for almost 75% of the year was definitely a challenge,” Persinger said. “It took a lot of planning before school even started to adjust my curriculum and what I know I have to do and switch it over to virtual—that took a lot of planning in itself.” Adding to the difficulties of teaching, Persinger has been mostly deprived of the opportunity to meet his colleagues and students and start forming relationships with them during his first year.

“Of course, getting to know other teachers and students, all that was a huge challenge too because when you don’t see them in person every day it’s hard to get to know everyone and put faces with names,” Persinger said. Despite these unfortunate circumstances, Persinger has been making the most of his time at McLean and said he enjoys the atmosphere of the school. “What’s really stood out to me is the incredible student body, the student experience here. The way the students are, the mentality of the students, it’s way different and way more positive than other high schools I’ve visited,” Persinger said. “Everyone’s been really great about trying new things and taking this adventure together just to see what we can get out of it.” Fortunately, there was a light at the end of the tunnel for Persinger’s first year of teaching. McLean students returned to the building (in limited capacity) on March 2 through hybrid learning, a system blending in-person and virtual instruction. Although still far from the typical school year, hybrid learning has at least restored some of the human elements that make teaching enjoyable. “It’s definitely a huge difference from virtual learning, and it has allowed for a more personal dynamic where now somebody can raise their hand and I can better answer. I can see what they’re doing a lot better, and it allows for better and quicker feedback,” Persinger said. “It’s also really nice to have

that human interaction where you don’t have to just look at a computer screen anymore; now you have that good mix—on the computer some but you can also teach like normal to an extent.” Although a huge step up from an entirely virtual classroom, with just 41% of McLean’s students opting to return to in-person learning, a lack of students has created interesting social dynamics in the classroom. Persinger finds himself in front of some classes with up to 11 students while other periods he has just a few students in the physical classroom. “It’s a bit of a weird adjustment going from a lot to a little just between classes,” Persinger said. “There have been times where it’s just me and one other student in the classroom talking, and it makes an interesting situation. It’s not bad—it’s just very different from what you’re used to.” With FCPS’s recent announcement that schools will return to five-day in-person instruction this fall, Persinger is excited to experience everything McLean has to offer in a normal school year. “I’m looking forward to having everyone back in the building safely and being able to actually get to make those connections at the beginning of next year…and getting to see people’s faces and getting to know them more than just a picture on the computer,” Persinger said. “It’s going to be really cool to see what the community is like and what the school spirit is like and how it all comes together at McLean.”

starting out as a new teacher in a virtual environment BY JACK SHIELDS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

CONCURRENT LEARNING Geosystems teacher Dylan Persinger manages his digital classroom during Highlander Time. He tries to balance his presence in both the physical and virtual classrooms every day. (Photo by Katie Romhilt)

APRIL 2021 | IN-DEPTH | 27

supporting the community through music BY JUNGYOON KEUM FACT CHECKER

DREAMS DONATED McLean Youth Harmony cofounders Alicia Kang and Julia Tan pose with orchestra teachers Alicia McMahan and Starlet Smith as they donate musical instruments to Rose Hill Elementary School. The organization started an instrument drive last November, delivering 15 instruments to elementary schools. (Photo courtesy of McLean Youth Harmony)

hortly before Christmas, presents wrapped in glittering ribbons were delivered to the orchestra students of Rose Hill Elementary School. Three violins, a viola and a cello came to decorate a side of the empty white wall of the orchestra room under a placard that reads “Youth Harmony.” Created in 2019 by Alicia Kang, Cynthia Ma and Julia Tan, who are all juniors this year, McLean Youth Harmony initially started as a club for students to host concerts in local senior centers. “It was really heartwarming to see everyone singing to the same song [during one of our concerts],” said Ma, recounting one her best memories with McLean Youth Harmony before the pandemic struck. The spread of coronavirus brought these concerts to a halt, and the gentle music that filled the senior centers was replaced with anxiety and fear. “I just assumed that McLean Youth Harmony would not be able to continue [its projects],” McLean Youth Harmony sponsor and orchestra conductor Starlet Smith said. “When COVID-19 hit and McLean and other schools were shutting down, I knew that holding concerts this year would be impossible.” Countless clubs struggled to operate once virtual learning began. The pandemic put a stop to nearly all extracurricular activities, but Kang noticed that some classes and clubs were hit harder than others.

28 | IN-DEPTH | APRIL 2021

“When coronavirus hit, we realized that the majority of the Fine Arts Department, the classes that deal with nonverbal communication, were struggling to operate,” Kang said. “We also knew that a lot of people were hit financially by the pandemic, so we thought that donating instruments would be very helpful.” Music joined the ranks of the many things people lost during the pandemic. While some lost their loved ones or their jobs, others lost their passions and were forced to give up the small joys of life. By working to return music to the daily lives of people in the community, McLean Youth Harmony challenged the impacts of the coronavirus. “[When we started our club] we wanted to show that music could empower the community and bring it together,” Tan said. “[During] the coronavirus epidemic, that’s really hard for people, so we started sending out concert videos and…started instrument donations, as we really wanted to give opportunities to students who don’t have access to instruments but [want to] cultivate a passion for music.” The members of McLean Youth Harmony didn’t expect to get many donations for their first instrument drive since their organization hadn’t established much credibility. “Because people spend a lot of emotion and time on instruments, [we knew that] letting an instrument go would be a very hard choice,” Kang said.

To their surprise, several people reached out to them and happily donated their instruments to be used by prospective musicians who do not have their own instruments. “When I went to pick up the instruments, I told people that I was very thankful that they were able to donate these amazing instruments,” Kang said. “But instead, they were thanking me for the opportunity to share and give their instruments to people who really needed them. And that wasn’t just one nice person, but a general response I got.” McLean Youth Harmony donated 15 instruments including flutes and various string instruments to three elementary schools. Some of the instruments were added to the school’s supply of instruments and some were lent out to individual students who were willing but not able to play. Although the pandemic forced McLean Youth Harmony to pause their previous projects, the club has been able to use these abrupt changes as an opportunity for improvement. Now, with a significant rise in participation and influence, Youth Harmony is an official nonprofit organization in the DMV area. “Whether you are performing music or just listening to music, music is something that people can enjoy,” Smith said. “McLean Youth Harmony comes to spread music to a larger audience, along with the happiness it creates.”

ophomore Christy Khalil was watching TV with her sister in her home in Beirut, Lebanon, when a thunderous blast shattered the glass in their windows. The city was torn into pieces by an explosion on Aug. 4, 2020, causing at least 210 deaths and leaving 300,000 people homeless. Khalil’s home was 15 minutes away from the incident. “My sister was crying, my mom was outside and we didn’t know what to do,” Khalil said. “We were alone. On that day I lost everything beautiful in my life: my house, my friends, my grandma and my school.” Khalil could not accept the fact that her loved ones had passed away due to the tragic incident, especially her grandmother, with whom she had a close relationship. After the explosion, Khalil’s family decided to move to the U.S. out of fear for their safety despite the challenges the move would bring. “It’s hard to adapt to a new life that you don’t know,” Khalil said. “You have to be alone each time. You don’t know the language very well, and when you’ve lost everybody and everything, it’s so hard [living

in] a different country with nobody beside me, especially my grandma, who had always been beside me.” When Khalil started attending McLean at the beginning of the school year, classes were fully virtual. Her school in Lebanon didn’t use much technology, so she struggled with attending classes and completing assignments on a laptop. In addition to adjusting to the new environment, Khalil encountered the language barrier and had difficulties making new friends. “I am always depressed, and I can’t talk to anybody [because] I always stay in my home,” Khalil said. “When I need help or support, nobody can teach me or help me in the house, so I depend on myself to do my assignments.” To cope with the various obstacles, Khalil reached out to her counselor, Jenna Jablonski, for help. “I am talking to my counselor [every week],” Khalil said. “She has been beside me. I can’t handle all the problems together here because I have many challenges in Lebanon that really hurt me.”

Zamira Seyfulla, Khalil’s ESOL teacher, has already witnessed her growth in the past few months. Seyfulla described her as a proactive and responsible student, setting an example in class and helping her family outside of school. “With all the challenges and losses she had to go through, you can see that helped her mature,” Seyfulla said. “She knows what she wants in life. She’s aware of what it takes to succeed, and she is never challenged by the difficulties.” Back in Lebanon, Khalil’s grandmother taught her that “learning is the key to life” and encouraged her to pursue an education. Khalil cherishes this advice and strives to make the best of her new opportunities. She wants to become a teacher. “I know how it feels to lose someone you love. I started a new life in a new country, and a lot of things are evolving in my life,” Khalil said. “You should do the same. You should move on and see what life holds for you and for your future. I passed through a lot, but I am here, chasing after my dream just like my grandmother taught me.”

starting over after the lebanon bombing BY MARINA QU EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & ALEENA GUL NEWS EDITOR

REMEMBERING THE PAST Sophomore Christy Khalil wears a fez, a hat traditionally worn in Lebanon, while looking at a photo of her family that was taken before they came to the U.S. Khalil and her family moved to America after losing her grandmother in the bombing in Beirut in August 2020. (Environmental portrait by Marina Qu)

APRIL 2021 | IN-DEPTH | 29

A&E

PANDEMIC PERFORMANCE

TheatreMcLean’s VHSL entry combines in-person and virtual actors LIA VINCENZO NEWS EDITOR

OVID-19 has canceled countless events this year, but for TheatreMcLean, the show must go on. The Virginia High School League (VHSL) Theater Competition runs from April 14 to May 14, but instead of the usual live performances, each school is sending in a recorded show. This year, a cast of 11 seniors took part in Vocal Work written by Ed Monk. The show follows radio studio owner Amanda, played by senior Chloe Lahr, as she tries to navigate through a hectic work day after realizing that her husband accidentally took the schedule book home with him the previous night. Theater teacher and show director Phillip Reid had a lot to consider when choosing the show. It had to be enjoyable and fit into a time limit while allowing the cast and crew to adhere to social distancing measures. “I wanted to make sure that this show took place in the present COVID time because when we perform on stage and indoors, we have to have our masks on. I didn’t really like the idea of doing a play where we couldn’t address the fact that we’re wearing masks,” Reid said. Because of its timeliness, they were able to incorporate safety precautions into the show itself. “There are a couple of times that I have to go over to the mic stand and wipe it down with Clorox wipes, and then sometimes [other actors] take hand sanitizer,” Lahr said. The pandemic presented several unique obstacles. Due to social distancing requirements, the cast was only able to meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays. But the biggest challenge was acting with masks on. “We don’t get to see [the actors’] facial expressions, so we’ve had to really change up how they express themselves with more physical movements and more physicality, rather than small facial twitches,” Reid said. In order to adapt, Reid put extra emphasis on body language. “I would sit in the very back of the theater, and if I could understand and figure out how they’re feeling from the very back, I knew that we were OK,” Reid said. Although the majority of the cast is inperson, two actors opted to stay virtual, so 30 | A&E | APRIL 2021

they had to be incorporated as voice-over actors who are dialing in to the studio via a Zoom call. In order for the actors to be visible, they had to be projected onto a giant screen, which presented its own tech issues. “Usually, our light plots don’t factor in a projector screen as part of the set, but because we’re using the projector screen, we had to really adjust our lighting and take out all the shadows that were being created by the projector screen,” Reid said. Since VHSL is a smaller scale production than TheatreMcLean’s other shows, each of the tech crews focused on just one person. The tech crews that interacted with the actors the most, such as the costume and hair departments, discovered that social distancing requirements limited their abilities. “I design hairstyles that fit characters and are good to wear in performance,” senior Tracy Waagner said. “[This year], I’m not able to actually do the hair myself, so I have to create or only design styles that are easy for the actors to do themselves.” As seniors who have worked together for years, the limited contact felt strange. “It’s definitely a lot harder to get in the space and the mindset [of] when we were in school [last year],” Lahr said. “We’re

all still really good friends, but it’s kind of harder when we’re all super spread apart and everything.” Not only did the pandemic create both a literal and figurative distance between the cast, it also disrupted other theater traditions. Some, like the monthly No-Shame shows, were adapted to the virtual environment. Others, however, had to be scrapped. “Normally, we do a thing called ‘breaking bread,’ where one of us goes and buys a baguette, and we’ll grab a piece of it and rip it before the show. But now we can’t do that,” Waagner said. Even with the disruptions and limitations, the cast and crew were grateful for the opportunity to return in person. “When we started rehearsing in person, it was almost a full year since we had kids in the auditorium. Having an empty auditorium for almost a full year is crazy,” Reid said. “Having them [in person] brought such an energy and such joy, and that has been so fun to work with.” Despite the changes, this year’s VHSL competition format does have a silver lining. “It feels very rewarding to have a finished product, especially one that we can all look back on and rewatch,” Lahr said.

MASKED ACTORS — The all-senior cast of Vocal Work, including Ben Cudmore, Chloe Lahr, Will Chapman and Anna Potocki on stage and Michael Aten and Emilia Ermanoski on screen, films their entry into VHSL’s Theater Competition on April 8. The contest is entirely virtual this year. Image courtesy of TheatreMcLean | Page design by Lia Vincenzo

-Junior Clare A’Hearn

She comes to America, to the fairly wealthy Chicago suburbs, and she definitely has PTSD, but just the fortitude of keeping it all in and also trying to fit in...but she doesn’t give up.”

Penguin Random House

Simon & Schuster

“When Ginsburg speaks, it makes me feel like I can overcome any obstacle despite my gender. I want to premiere and parallel the intelligence she has to become the best version of myself.”

-Head librarian Joan McCarthy

My Own Words

The Girl Who Smiled Beads

My Own Words features over 300 quotes from Ruth Bader Ginsburg, collected from interviews, court opinions, speeches and dissents. The book offers insight into Ginsburg’s life, showcasing the hardships she faced as a female in the law world, her accomplishments and the lessons she learned along the way, reminding women across the world to never let anything get in the way of achieving their dreams.

The Girl Who Smiled Beads is the memoir of Clemantine Wamariya, who seeks refuge in Chicago at the age of 12 due to the massacre happening in her homeland of Rwanda. Wamariya continuously faces adversity throughout the novel due to her social standing and past trauma. Despite these hardships, she never backs down and always finds a solution to her problems. Wamariya’s determination and courage sends a universal message to women to never give up and to look for the light at the end of the tunnel.

by Ruth Bader Ginsburg

by Clemantine Wamariya & Elizabeth Weil

Society so often tells us as women that we’re not good enough and that we have to change, but this character refuses to accept that. Because it is set in the early 1900s, this message really is timeless. It shows that if this character can stay true to herself, I can too.”

-Junior Clare A’Hearn

Random House

Bantam Books

BOOKS TO EMPOWER WOMEN

LAYLA ZAIDI DIGITAL MEDIA EDITOR MAKDA BEKELE REPORTER

Gemma’s perseverance and ability to not let society’s norms limit what she should and shouldn’t do really made me feel like I should not be confined to the boundaries society has set for me.”

-Junior Kaitlyn Conly

Anne of Green Gables

A Great and Terrible Beauty

Anne of Green Gables follows 11-year-old orphan Anne, who is accidentally sent to the owners of a small farm interested in a boy who can help with farm work. Throughout the novel, Anne is restricted in what she can achieve due to strict gender-based social norms. Her perseverance and unwillingness to back down encourages women to always stay true to their hearts and never limit themselves to their prescribed roles.

A Great and Terrible Beauty is the story of a 16-year-old girl named Gemma Doyle who is sent off to a boarding school in England and begins having visions after the sudden death of her mother. As the story progresses, Gemma finds herself pressured to look and behave a certain way based on others’ opinions. She doesn’t listen to them, instead finding strength in her friendships and embracing her own unique beauty. Gemma’s refusal to conform to society’s standards urges readers to be confident in themselves.

by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Page design by Akash Balenalli

by Libba Bray

APRIL 2021 | A&E | 31

ONE TEA house

INFINI-TEA

PRICE: $3.25

PRICE: $4.50

FLAVOR: 3/5

FLAVOR: 2/5

BUBBLES: 1.5/5

BUBBLES: 1/5

OVERALL:

The tea had an okay flavor, but it was a bit watery, and the bubbles were way too mushy. However, it was the cheapest option and had a good portion size.

The tea had a slightly soapy taste and was by far the worst tea. The bubbles were also lackluster and were even mushier than One Tea’s.

TEA-RIFFIC BOBA Finding the best boba tea in Eden Center LAINE PHILLIPS FEATURES EDITOR | ANA PAULA IBARRARAN OPINIONS EDITOR

VIVI bubble tea

TeaDM

PRICE: $4.25

PRICE: $5.00

FLAVOR: 3/5

FLAVOR: 4/5

BUBBLES: 4/5

OVERALL:

Although the portion size is much smaller than other boba places, the tea had a decent flavor, and the bubbles were just the right texture and sweetness.

32 | A&E | APRIL 2021

This was by far the best combination of tea and bubbles. It was a great portion size, and the store has a cool spaceship theme.

Page design by Taylor Olson | Photos by Ana Paula Ibarraran

DOING IT JUSTICE

Justin Bieber’s new album is exactly what should’ve been expected

ustin Bieber’s sixth studio album, Justice, caused some commotion when it was released March 19. Met with both high praise and a cease and desist letter from dance duo Justice, the album gives listeners a lot to unpack. First and foremost, the songs themselves should be addressed. The first track on the album, “2 Much,” begins with a recording of Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) speaking about justice, then immediately transitions into a poppy love song, leaving the listener perplexed as to why MLK was even included. After that come several more vague, relatively catchy, but mostly forgettable love songs. “Deserve You,” “As I Am,” “Off My Face,” “Holy” and “Unstable” all fit in this category. Just like almost all of the songs on this album, they have really interesting and well done instrumentals. Ranging from piano solos and guitar ballads to more electronic beats, the interludes and music behind the lyrics are certainly the best part of the album. The most bizarre moment of Justice falls after track six. “MLK Interlude” is just one minute and 44 seconds of MLK giving one of his powerful speeches from Selma in 1965. Bieber didn’t alter it in any way, shape or form. He just took the revolutionary’s words and put them on his album for no apparent reason. The second half of the album is certainly better than the first. “Die For You,” “Peaches,” “Loved By You” and “Anyone” are the best songs on the record. They are

Page design by Dalia Fishman & Taylor Olson

DALIA FISHMAN ONLINE A&E EDITOR all different from his usual pop sound in the best way possible. Each has a distinct style, ranging from slow and simple traditional ballads to faster songs better suited for dancing or singing along to in the car. The rest of the songs on the album, “Hold On,” “Somebody,” “Ghost,” “Love You Different” and “Lonely,” all fit into the category of being extremely mediocre. None

every way, possibly because each of their singing voices are just so much better than Bieber’s own. The worst aspect of every song is Bieber’s voice. He sounds whiny. Even when the songs start to pick up tempo, he either doesn’t match the instrumentals with his singing, or he rushes and sounds both out of breath and mousy. The lyrics are nothing special, with lazy rhymes, vague phrases that feel like typical love song pandering and have no evident deeper meanings. Lyrically, Justice is just like anything else on the radio. Nothing about it stands out as especially insightful or skilled. From the title, cover art and insertion of MLK, this album seemed as though it was going to make strong statements about justice—or lack thereof—and maybe even touch on Bieber’s religious experience. Instead, it’s just another collection of semicatchy but mostly forgettable and basic pop songs. Perhaps the album’s greatest weakness is that it doesn’t feel like a family of similar songs with common themes, but rather a collection of random songs, all with very different sounds. Def Jam Recordings None of the songs on this of the songs are appalling, though, and most album are inherently bad. If any one of them Bieber fans won’t find anything unlistenable came on the radio, it’s unlikely they would (MLK speeches aside). be skipped immediately. However, between Bieber features amazing artists, such the lack of cohesion among the tracks, the as Khalid, Chance the Rapper and Daniel surface-level lyrics and, worst of all, Bieber’s Caesar, on this album. Every one of these irritating voice, this album is an injustice to guest singers instantly outshines Bieber in music fans.

APRIL 2021 | A&E | 33

OPINIONS

TINKER 2.0: protect STUDENTS’ RIGHTS

Supreme Court should not infringe on off-campus speech The staff editorial represents the opinion of the majority of The Highlander editorial board

t some point during most students’ time in high school, frustration bubbles to the surface, and today’s teens often turn to social media to share their thoughts and feelings. For student-athlete Brandi Levy, a simple Snapchat story has brought her all the way to the Supreme Court. Today, this case could determine the new extent of students’ First Amendment rights and the jurisdiction that schools hold even off campus. Schools should respect the right to freedom of speech for students, especially off campus.. When Levy did not make her school’s varsity cheer squad in 2017, she expressed her anger through Snapchat, making the statement “F*** school f*** softball f*** cheer f*** everything” at a local convenience store after school hours. After her cheer coach saw the Snap, her school, Mahanoy Area High School in Pennsylvania, suspended her from cheer for an entire year. Levy’s parents filed a lawsuit against the school district and won, which appealed the decision and petitioned for the Supreme Court to take on the case. The hearing will take place on April 28 with a decision expected to come around June. “It will finally, belatedly, address the question that has been open for a very long time—whether schools can treat all students’ speech like it is on-campus speech, just because it has the possibility of causing a reaction,” said Frank LoMonte, professor of media law at the University of Florida and former director of the Student Press Law Center, in an interview with The Highlander. This is not the first time students’ rights have been restricted by schools. In 1965, three students were suspended for wearing black arm bands to school to express opposition against the Vietnam War. In Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the students, stating that schools would need to prove that students’ speech would cause a substantial disruption to the school in order to justify censoring them. “It really is going to be the Tinker case 34 | OPINIONS | APRIL 2021

of its day,” LoMonte said. “Maybe it didn’t seem all that significant at the time, whether somebody could [protest at] school or not, but it has set the standard for every other case that has come after it for half a century.” Today’s Supreme Court must acknowledge the significance of the Tinker case and continue to uphold students’ rights both on an off campus in order to maintain a safe learning environment for all students. A decision against Levy could lead to the chilling effect, a term often used in courtrooms and legal settings. The chilling effect is when people are silenced, not even attempting to speak up, as a result of fear of being punished. “My concern is that if Brandi Levy loses this case and the school district wins, we will see students being punished just for acts of off-campus whistleblowing or activism,” LoMonte said. “I think the chilling effect of a loss for Brandi Levy would be profound, and it would be felt in every public school in America and at the college level too.” LoMonte is concerned that if this level of control is extended to higher education, as typically happens with Supreme Court school speech cases, it will have an even greater impact on college-aged students’ futures. Current high school and even elementary students should be just as concerned—the results of B.L. v. Mahanoy Area School District could have long-lasting effects if students are deprived of the right to speak their minds about issues that concern them.

Some argue that if schools do not discipline students for inappropriate or violent off-campus speech, bullying and harassment could go unpunished by schools. If off-campus speech is severe enough to disrupt learning at school, it is likely severe enough to be considered unprotected speech, and if schools are really concerned about bullying, they should focus on making safe spaces instead of trying to regulate every student’s words off campus. Given the significance of this case and the impact it will have on the future of students’ rights both on and off school grounds, the Supreme Court needs to uphold students’ basic First Amendment right to freedom of speech. “This [case] is another test of bravery for the justices,” LoMonte said. “It’s another test of are they going to…treat students as if they’re all monsters and maniacs who are going to use the internet to destroy each other, or are they going to look past stereotypes and recognize that students use their voices in all kinds of socially, politically and artistically valuable ways?” We, the editorial board of The Highlander, are proud to be students at a school that has earned the Journalism Education Association’s First Amendment Press Freedom Award five times, and we see how this freedom has empowered us to speak out in the face of injustice—this is why we must raise our voices in support of Brandi Levy and all students at risk of being silenced.

Cartoon by Arin Kang | Reporting & page design by Aleena Gul & Polina Zubarev

SHOW ACADEMIC LENIENCY

Grading policies must be forgiving next year after this year’s loss of learning OMAR KAYALI & SAEHEE PEREZ REPORTERS

he past school year has been a historic one, and there is no doubt that students, along with everyone else, have faced many challenges. With school switching to a virtual setting, FCPS’s grading policies were modified in order to ease the downward drop of students’ performances. As we approach the end of the school year, it’s simply unrealistic to expect these problems to disappear next fall and to go back to the previous grading policies. It’s imperative that academic leniency continues to be shown in the 2021-22 school year. As of Jan. 26, no assignment can be scored under 50%, the minimum assignments teachers need to assign per quarter dropped from nine to six, late work can’t be penalized more than 10% and no assignment or assessment can be weighted as more than 20% of the overall grade. On April 5, the county announced that NM (No Mark) will be used instead of an F grade, final exams may only benefit students and students can select two courses to show a mark of P (Pass) instead of a letter grade. This level of academic leniency has helped improve students’ wellbeing and mitigated some of the challenges they have faced throughout the pandemic. “[The new policies] really helped me prioritize myself,” sophomore Tabasum Chowdhury said. “It took me a pandemic to understand that, ‘Hey, maybe I should survive before I worry about college,’ because if I don’t survive this year, how am I going to be worrying about four years later?” That being said, there is no way for teen mental health issues to be magically resolved by the start of the next school year. With shortened class periods and asynchronous Mondays, valuable instructional time has been lost, creating deficits in students’ knowledge that will make some courses especially difficult next year. “It’s almost like all bets are off in terms of what you can expect they will have mastered and retained [going into] the following year,” English teacher Anna Caponetti said. Some students have struggled more than others in the virtual setting, and the stress of dealing with a pandemic has further intensified that struggle. No matter what, there will be obvious disparities between students due to the amount of information they retained this year. “Next year poses slightly different but unique challenges,” Caponetti said. “Some students got a lot more out of this year than other students, often through no fault of their own.” Cartoon by Jayne Oglivie-Russell | Page design by Omar Kayali

Teachers recognize that this school year has been taxing for the majority of students, and they have shown students leniency so long as they are understanding the necessary information. “I think most teachers realize that we have to be extra forgiving this year because there’s all kinds of struggles,” math teacher Steven Walker said. This level of empathy and understanding from teachers is necessary for students to benefit from school, both this year and next. Minimizing students’ stress about their grades allows them to learn and understand material better. “Ultimately, the goal is that you learn as much as you can this year, and if that means inflating your grade a little bit, that’s fine with me,” Walker said. For students planning to pursue a post-secondary degree, learning is the most important aspect of high school. Not giving students room to breathe during a difficult year puts immense stress and pressure on them, which negatively impacts their academics. With the current grading policies, students are able to prioritize learning over grades. “Right now, I could go back to assignments that I’ve been missing for two months and do them not because I have to, but because I want to understand,” Chowdhury said. If late work policies were to return to normal, students would be deprived of the opportunity to focus on gathering and retaining information over getting a good grade. In a normal year, it’s not uncommon to see students wanting high GPAs to the point of it becoming an unhealthy obsession. “If [students are] this obsessed and worried, there needs to be reform [to the education system], and this new grading policy is the first step so everyone has an equal opportunity and feels less stressed,” Chowdhury said. Changing the grading policies was one of the most responsible decisions FCPS has made for students’ mental health. If nothing else, this year has offered students a chance to reflect on their former attitudes about grades. “If I’m crying my eyes out, then doing my work, was that A or B really worth it? Did I really learn anything?” Chowdhury said. FCPS has already announced a plan to return to full in-person instruction for next school year. The changes they made during this school year helped to ease both the academic and mental health burdens on students, but returning to normal immediately will cause grades to fall and anxiety to spike. The best way for students to return to school without major negative impacts would be to continue showing academic leniency throughout the next school year. APRIL 2021 | OPINIONS | 35

Virtual students deserve to participate in extracurricular activities

ANDREW CHRISTOFFERSON REPORTER

fter school, in-person and virtual students alike meet up for their extracurricular activities. Despite not returning to school, virtual students are able to play sports, participate in clubs and join student organizations. Many reasons could play into a student’s decision to choose an extracurricular activity over attending in-person learning. But these factors are ultimately the student’s choice, and students who choose to stay home should still have the opportunity to participate in inperson sports or clubs. “There are a myriad of reasons why students are choosing to stay home for school that have nothing to do with their participation in sports,” varsity baseball head coach John Dowling said. Just because someone is comfortable with going outside and playing sports, it does not mean they are comfortable sitting

36 | OPINIONS | APRIL 2021

in classrooms for up to seven hours a day. Sports and other activities are presumably safer since the number of participants in a specific activity is less than the number of people roaming the halls.

OUTDOOR SPORTS ARE, WITHOUT QUESTION, MUCH SAFER THAN BEING IN SCHOOL.” - JOHN DOWLING SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER & BASEBALL COACH Wrestling, for example, seems unsafe since wrestlers are constantly in contact with others, yet the wrestling team was able to restrict the number of interactions to just two people, with strict contact tracing and

pre-practice requirements that ensured the safety of the wrestlers. The regulations for attending in-person school are not as strict, which has caused some concerns. “[My] biggest [concern is] the uncertainty,” junior Atticus Gore said. “I have yet to get COVID or be exposed, and I have safety concerns [with] returning to school.” The school building is an enclosed environment with minimal movement, but sports and other extracurriculars often meet outside. With sports, students are constantly moving around and spaced apart, and most fall and spring sports train outside, which is much safer than staying inside. “Outdoor sports are, without question, much safer than being in school,” Dowling said. “Outdoors, we have virtually unlimited space to utilize for social distancing and are never really in a confined space where the air is not circulating.” Even with all the safety concerns and uncertainty surrounding in-person school, for most students, safety was not necessarily the most important factor to consider. Many students decided to return to school because they do not enjoy learning in a virtual setting. Others returned to just get out of the house. And some were coerced by parents to return. “I returned to school because I focus so much better when what I’m learning is physically in front of me,” junior Kylee Majkowski said. For those who continued with online learning, most have adapted to the virtual classroom setting and would not like to return to in-person school for the time being. “I have gotten into a really good routine with my school day,” Gore said. “I know how to get my work done, be productive, learn the content and get good grades.” Students who are acclimated to the online learning environment deserve to have the same opportunities as in-person students. It’s unfair to consider placing requirements that restrict a student’s ability to participate in anything they want to and are comfortable with doing.

Should REMOTE LEARNERS BE ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN IN-PERSON ACTIVITIES? If you can attend sports practice, you can attend school in person

MAYA AMMAN NEWS & COPY EDITOR

fter experiencing online learning at the beginning of the school year, a large percentage of students switched from inperson to online learning, using COVID-19 safety as an excuse to just stay in bed all day. Virtual students shouldn’t be able to participate in in-person activities. If they believe it is too unsafe to return during the school day, then they shouldn’t be involved in in-person activites after school. “At least half of the students are not coming back because they are concerned about their health. The other half I would say has gotten comfortable with being at home this year, and at this point in the year, they just don’t feel like changing,” Director of Student Services Paul Stansbery said. With only about 40% of students back in the school building, many people were discouraged from returning to school by class sizes of less than five people. During the first weeks of in-person learning, more and more students were dropping from inperson school each day. “It’s unfair that kids get to stay home but still enjoy the same luxuries of playing sports and doing other activities. My classes are basically empty, and I miss student interaction and just the experience of normal school, and people shouldn’t be able to just get that loophole,” junior Maggie Olifer said. “I think those who are doing sports should also come to school because it’s essentially the same.” Previously, there was a rule in place that prevented students from participating in a sports game if they did not attend school that day. “The spirit of the rule is that if a kid is skipping class or too sick to come to school, he or she should not be participating in sports after school,” Director of Student Activities Greg Miller said. There’s no reason that rule shouldn’t still apply, since it’s nearly impossible to

participate in a sport and have it be more safe than attending school in-person. The social aspect of sports is just as prominent as the athletic part. It is inevitable that teammates

IF YOU AREN’T PLANNING ON GOING IN PERSON, YOU CERTAINLY AREN’T DOING YOURSELF ANY FAVORS BY PARTICIPATING IN ACTIVITIES IN PERSON.” - KYLEE MAJKOWSKI JUNIOR will hang out before and after practice. Team rituals still take place and people still ride to and from games together, which is why the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) reported that off-field activities can lead to

Cartoons by Jayne Ogilvie-Russell | Page design by Ana Paula Ibarraran

the transmission of the virus. “I think for personal safety, if you aren’t planning on going to school in person, you certainly aren’t doing yourself any favors by participating in activities in person,” junior Kylee Majkowski said. The AAP noted that sports practiced indoors with little to no ventilation, such as hockey, basketball and wrestling, pose the greatest threat in the spread of the virus. “During basketball season, most people didn’t even wear their masks correctly. It was always hanging under their noses or even their mouths,” junior Macey Johnson said. “It wasn’t even on purpose. Most people just can’t play a sport without their mask falling down.” Because sports pose an equal—or even greater—risk of spreading COVID-19, students should not be able to choose when they want to consider safety. Students either need to fully commit to protecting their health by participating in online school and activities, or they need to return to school and follow the in-person health precautions. But students shouldn’t decide when to participate in-person solely based on convenience.

APRIL 2021 | OPINIONS | 37

HIGHLANDER SUCCESS McLean has done an admirable job at structuring in-person learning, given the circumstances MACKENZIE CHEN ONLINE OPINIONS EDITOR & COPY EDITOR

wo years ago, schools across America looked much different than they do today. From the socially distanced lunches to the fact that a majority of the student body is still at home, it is safe to say that McLean has changed. Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, the McLean administration has worked hard to ensure that students still get the best high school experience possible. In order to ensure a successful and safe return to school, the administration had to reevaluate a lot of the familiar aspects of school. While things may not be ideal, the adminstration has done a fantastic job at planning the logistics, and this effort should be recognized. One of the biggest hurdles McLean has had to overcome is the structure of lunch. With the ongoing pandemic, the McLean administration had to make some severe, yet effective, restrictions so that students could still socially distance during their break. “This year, we got rid of the long tables. To maintain [social distancing], we have to keep everybody facing one way,” Principal Ellen Reilly said. “The reason we did that is because it helps us get more people into the cafeteria. We can fit about 180 [people] in there.” In addition, they implemented a procedure for students to follow whenever they go to the cafeteria or any other spot for lunch. In case contact tracing is necessary, students use their phones to scan QR codes at each lunch table or other area. To help students whose families may be struggling financially during the pandemic, McLean, like other FCPS schools, offers free “grab and go” lunches. “We have tables out in front of the cafeteria, and [students] can just grab a lunch out from a bag,” Reilly said. “Every kid will get a lunch if they want it, and there’s no charge for anything.” 38 | OPINIONS | APRIL 2021

McLean’s administration has done all they can to protect students during their class periods. Students are required to wear masks and remain three feet apart from each other in the classroom. Stairways are now labeled as “up” and “down” staircases. Each classroom is equipped with surface cleaner, paper towels and hand sanitizer. McLean has excelled in keeping students safe while still making high school an enjoyable experience for them. Their efforts are evident in the low number of positive COVID-19 classes at McLean since students returned in March. However, some students have misgivings about inperson learning in general. Some critics have pointed out that McLean has not adequately communicated necessary information to students that would keep them safe in the school. But given the uncertainty of the pandemic and the reliance on local and state regulations, it was difficult for the administration to have all of this information ahead of time. Prior to the retun to school, the McLean administration published a back-to-school video that thoroughly discussed all of the safety procedures students would need to follow in order to be safe. Since the start of the pandemic, McLean has done nothing but try to stay engaged and connected with students. From making educational videos about staying safe in school to keeping

students informed on Google Classroom, social media and other platforms, McLean has done its best to relay information despite uncertainty. McLean’s administration has constantly listened to students’ feedback by giving surveys and working with groups like the Committee on Raising Student Voices, and it is evident that they’ve been receptive to suggestions through changes such as the implementation of Highlander Time pods, which addressed student concerns about how the period was structured. The COVID-19 pandemic has been difficult for most schools across the world, including McLean, but McLean has not let the virus prevent students from having an enjoyable high school experience. Despite the setbacks, McLean is slowly inching its way towards its former self.

Cartoon by Cameron Tebo | Page design by Ariana Elahi

STICKING TOGETHER

SPORTS

Varsity field hockey team reunites for shortened season JACK SHIELDS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF SCOTT SHIELDS REPORTER

onsidering that McLean’s field hockey team didn’t even know if they would get a season during the 2020-21 school year, the past couple of months have been a dream come true for players and coaches. In a shortened and heavily modified season, the team won three games, but it was the memories the players made along the way that made this season so enjoyable. This year was especially important for the team’s 10 seniors to get one last season together and a chance to lead the team. “We have this program called ‘Senior Mamas’ where each senior would lead a group of juniors and underclassmen as a ‘family,’ and we would compete against each other in mini games and races,” senior LanAnh Dang-Vu said. One of the standout moments from this season was the team’s 1-0 win over thenundefeated Yorktown midway through the season with a goal scored by senior Kylie Keysor. “I remember just talking to them before the game and knowing that we were about to face a great team. I remember just telling them to control what they can control. Just play the game under control, don’t let them get in your head,” coach Lizzie McManus said. “I think I’ve never witnessed so many student athletes connecting at once. I really kind of sat and witnessed it.” Still, the circumstances of this year and some of the team’s dynamics presented unique challenges throughout the season besides the COVID-19 protocols hindering every sports team. “We do have a big team, and I know that we’re all going through some various struggles. I know some student-athletes are fighting for minutes on the field,” McManus said. “So I think it has been a test of mental strength for a lot of these girls, and I think that’s been a challenge but also a rewarding one.” McManus was impressed to see how the players overcame these challenges and came together as a team. “I think they’re developing really well

SMOOTH STICK-HANDLING — Sophomore Olivia Tennant dribbles past Herndon defenders in a March 5 game. The Highlanders lost 1-0 to the Hornets. skills-wise, they’ve adapted to the changes, and it’s moved fast,” McManus said. “This season is so condensed, so they’ve been super flexible with time changes, rained out games, wins, losses, the bigger team and working with the program.” In the end, it was a memorable season for

the field hockey team, who made their coach and the McLean fan base proud this year. “I hope that everybody walks away from the season having given everything they could and also having learned more about themselves and how to work with a team,” McManus said.

SUPER SENIORS — McFockey’s seniors celebrate their senior night on March 9 before their game against South Lakes. The Highlanders won the game 2-0 with goals by seniors Megan Williamson and Kylie Keysor.

Photos courtesy of Lianne Garrahan | Page design by Jack Shields

APRIL 2021 | SPORTS | 39

GRIDIRON GAUNTLET Counter-clockwise starting from the top right: Connor Greer (#21) returns a kick against Langley. Ryan Jessar (#24) churns for extra yards against Mount Vernon. The Highlanders’ defensive front lines go up against the Langley offensive line. The ‘Ders celebrate their 16-7 win over rival Langley. Bijan Soltani (#14) lets a pass fly during the Langley game. The Highlanders lift the Rotary Cup after beating Langley. Billy Ludwick (#5) runs after a catch against Mount Vernon.

FOOTBALL TEAM TACKLES SETBACKS ‘Ders end successful season after positive COVID-19 case benches receivers EMILY FRIEDMAN SPORTS EDITOR | ANDY CHUNG REPORTER

ollowing a sudden halt to activities in the fall as a result of pandemic restrictions, McLean’s football season came and went quickly this spring. With players eager to hit the field again, their sights were set on district stardom. When a positive coronavirus case resulted in benching their entire starting wide receiver core, the beginning of the season was nearly derailed. Nevertheless, the McLean football team was able to put together a three-game winning streak to start the season despite an incomplete team. The constant threat of positive cases was not the only effect coronavirus had on the football season. With students unable to attend games this year, the once large and supportive McLean student section was not able to cheer on their Highlander football team. “It’s a bummer to not have all your friends and family in the stands, especially when you’ve experienced a student section like ours, but no matter how few parents or seniors show up, they always do a great job showing support and keeping us motivated no matter how small the crowd,” senior quarterback Bijan Soltani said. The Highlanders didn’t let the empty stands hurt their performance on the field. They went 3-0 through their first three games, which they haven’t done since 2011. “I know they would kill to have fans here, but at the end of the day they have to go out and play. It’s a little bit weird not having a student section being as awesome and as amazing as it usually is,” head coach John Scholla said. “They’ve done a really good job playing hard for each other and for the love of the game.” The team, led by a strong group of upperclassmen, made the best of a shortened season which only consisted of six regular season games this year. “Most of our starters last year were juniors with one or two sophomores,” junior tight end and defensive lineman Brigham DeVore said. “Now they’re all older, bigger, faster and stronger, which is making a big difference.”

In a surprising senior night victory, the Highlanders played their hearts out against a historically talented Mount Vernon team. “For them to put a win together against a very good Mount Vernon team showed that this shouldn’t be a surprise anymore. This should be the norm, and it really set the standard. That made me very proud. The players made it a great day, especially the seniors,” Scholla said.

EVERYONE HEARS THE CHATTER AND EVERYONE’S DOWN ON MCLEAN FOOTBALL, [BUT NOW] WE’RE TURNING A CORNER.”

- JOHN SCHOLLA HEAD COACH

After falling to Mount Vernon 45-12 last season, the team bounced back, winning 2814 over the Majors. This turnaround was a great way to start the season. “Beating Mount Vernon week one was awesome because last year they killed us, and we had a pretty dominant win against them. THE ACTION BEGINS — Nicky Varela

(#73) hikes the ball to his quarterback, Bijan Soltani (#14), during the team’s crosstown rivalry match-up on March 12. The Highlanders went on to beat Langley 16-7.

Photos by Katie Romhilt | Page design by Taylor Olson

[It made us realize] that we don’t just think we’re good. This is for real. We’re a good team,” DeVore said. Continuing their successful breakout season, the Highlanders hosted Herndon for their homecoming game, shutting them out 49-0. The big win was indicative of the Highlanders’ progression as a team. “My favorite memory of the season so far is seeing the change in our team from my freshman to senior year and finally putting together the version of McLean we always said we would,” Soltani said. “It’s great to finally see [success] come to reality after all the hard work we’ve done to achieve it.” The Class of 2021 are the first group Scholla has coached from their freshman to senior years. Considering the sacrifices the seniors have made this year, Scholla found their progress on the field especially impressive. “This shouldn’t surprise anyone anymore. I mean, trust me, we’ve gotten beaten up in the past. It has been a process of development with these guys,” Scholla said. “Everyone hears the chatter, and everyone’s down on McLean football, [but now] we’re turning the corner and everything’s going well.” Even without their starting receivers, the Highlanders took home a win against Langley (and the Rotary Cup that comes with it) for the second year in a row. A monumental victory, this was the Highlanders’ first win at Langley since 1996. “We won back to back, and I got to share that with the teammates and coaches that I love to play with,” Soltani said. “However, we most definitely could have played better—we expected it not to be that close of a game.” McLean ended the season with a 4-3 record, but Scholla is hopeful about the future of the team and looking forward to seeing how the rivalry plays out in the coming years. “Yeah, they’re the crosstown rival, but with the way our program is trending, I really believe the new norm will be McLean on that trophy a lot more than Langley,” Scholla said. APRIL 2021 | SPORTS | 41

GOLF SWINGS INTO ACTION

Co-ed golf team indulges in short but sweet season MAYA AMMAN COPY & NEWS EDITOR

nlike many other sports at McLean, the golf team did not have to undergo drastic changes in order to participate in their season. “It’s actually really refreshing to see that golf hasn’t really changed much because of the pandemic,” junior Tommy Lam said. Despite being relatively restrictionfree, the golf team still had to follow the COVID-19 guidelines outlined by the Virginia High School League (VHSL) in order to practice safely. “Practices and tryouts have not really differed too much due to COVID, as golf is already a fairly socially distant sport,” varsity golf head coach Ryan Abrams said. “Just having to follow protocols, including signing in, wearing masks and not being allowed to share equipment, is what makes it slightly different.” With their last practice before the shutdown happening all the way back in October 2019, the team was finally able to reunite after over a year of no play. While the golf team usually tees up in the fall, VHSL’s shuffling of the sports seasons had them

starting tryouts in the middle of February. “Unfortunately, moving our season to the early spring has been very hard,” senior Luke Pedulla said. “Normally, we play in summer weather and don’t have to worry much about weather, but this year we have lost a lot of time to rain, wind and the cold.”

I’M PROUD OF OUR TEAM FOR MAKING THE MOST OF OUR PECULIAR CIRCUMSTANCES.” - LUKE PEDULLA SENIOR In addition to the adjustment of playing in chillier weather, the season was much shorter than the team is used to. “It is always great to get out on the course with the team and put in the work and be able to connect, but it has been rushed, and we are ending when it feels like we just started,” Abrams said. “That is probably the least enjoyable part of this season.”

BAZOOKA — Junior Cab Fooshe hits a line drive down the middle of the fairway at his penultimate match. “I don’t think everyone was playing at their best, I think I was 42 and everyone else was mid 40s-50,” Fooshe said. 42 | SPORTS | APRIL 2021

UN-FORE-GETTABLE — In the team’s last match against Yorktown on March 30, sophomore Ellie Wormser tees off at hole one. The golf season took place during the winter season instead of fall this year. While these unexpected factors have taken their toll on the state of the golf team, the players have found ways to adapt their usual traditions outside of practice to fit the unusual season. “Every year, we normally participate in a fantasy football league, but this year we did an NCAA bracket challenge,” said junior Cab Fooshe, one of the team captains. With little time for practice and very few games in the season, the team did not get the outcome they expected, but they are excited to bounce back stronger than ever in four months when the next season begins. “Our team did not play our best in our matches this year, but I think we are going to have a strong senior season coming up,” Fooshe said. As the end of a season is always bittersweet, the members of the golf team cherished the little time they had together this year and made lasting memories. “I’m proud of the team for making the most of our peculiar circumstances,” Pedulla said. Photos & page design by Maya Amman

SPRING SPORTS BLOOM JOSH BASS COPY & SPORTS EDITOR | NICKY VARELA MANAGING EDITOR

BASEBALL & SOFTBALL The baseball and softball squads finished with dueling 17-6 records in 2019, along with losses in the regional quarterfinals to end their seasons. Hungry for revenge, both teams, led by coaches John Dowling and Maurice Tawil, respectively, are looking to continue their streak of dominance over the rest of the Liberty Conference.

CREW The girls and boys varsity teams missed out on potentially adding another state title to their resumes due to the pandemic. Winter conditioning has prepared the athletes for a demanding season on the water.

Sophomore Qais Sarsour works on his throwing during infield practice at baseball tryouts on April 13. The team is looking to chase another Liberty District Championship following their successful 2019 season.

LACROSSE The boys, boasting an impressive group of seniors, will begin their season with an away game against Marshall on April 26. The girls are hoping to bounce back after a disappointing 2-10 campaign in the spring of 2019.

SOCCER The girls, led by Howard University commit Kyra Bolden, will open their season versus Yorktown on April 27. The boys roster features returning stars Adam Kunz and Kobe McCowan. Both teams are looking to build off of their 2019 season .500 records.

Junior Melanie Lindsey tries out for the girls lacrosse team on April 13. The girls lacrosse team tryout featured several agility drills to prepare athletes for the season.

TRACK & FIELD Head coach Kyle Jemison, joined by his state champion son Xavier Jemison, is seeking his first Liberty District championship as varsity head coach. The team will kick off the season with a meet at WashingtonLiberty on April 27.

TENNIS The tennis squads, often among the strongest in the McLean athletic program, haven’t won a state championship since 2017, but stars Brandon Winegarden and Michelle Martinkov will do their best to return McTennis to its rightful spot on the podium. Photos by Katie Romhilt

Junior Abigail Esin practices high jumps at tryouts for the track & field team on April 13. The team will take on Langley and South Lakes at their first home meet on May 5. APRIL 2021 | SPORTS | 43

SPACED OUT — At a baseball green day, the team practices their social distancing in preparation for the spring season. After last year’s canceled season, players are doing what it takes to keep this season running.

AT-HOME ATHLETES

McLean athletes stay online to remain in sports BELEN BALLARD ONLINE FEATURES EDITOR | GIANNA RUSSO COPY EDITOR

tudent-athletes who play spring sports have been longing for a season since last March, and with coronavirus cases decreasing, they finally have that opportunity. In-person school has also begun, but the choice to go in-person or stay online remains a hot topic. This choice has been especially difficult for athletes. The unprecedented year brought many changes to sports seasons in Virginia. The seasons are now shorter and more crammed, creating a busy schedule for McLean’s athletes. This tight schedule does not allow for interruptions, such as postponements due to COVID-19 exposure, meaning athletes are walking a tight rope to make the most out of their season. “I decided to stay online because I didn’t feel like there was much of a benefit going in-person for only two days a week, and I wanted to limit my exposure for baseball,” junior Evan Fontaine said. Student-athletes, like all students, were able to make their own decision regarding the return to school. Although some were influenced by their sports, most were encouraged to do what was best for them academically. “They are student-athletes, right? So, we want them to always be thinking about academics. They’ve got to do whatever’s best for them academically,” Director of Student Activities Greg Miller said. “If they think they’d be doing better in the classroom or 44 | SPORTS | APRIL 2021

virtual setting, that’s what they should be doing.” With their first games coming up, athletes are working hard to maintain their health. Even as students start to get their first doses of the vaccine, they know they must remain cautious and avoid possible exposure. Students understand the importance of their health and considered their season when making decisions.

WE ARE VERY CAREFUL TO ABIDE BY THE COVID PROTOCOLS. ESPECIALLY HAVING OUR SEASON CUT SHORT AS IT IS, WE ALL REALIZE WE CAN’T RISK LOSING ANY MORE OF OUR SEASON.” - ETHAN DRAY MCLEAN BASEBALL PLAYER “I stayed online mainly to avoid further COVID exposure so that I would have a better chance of playing a full season of baseball, unlike last year,” Fontaine said. Club, travel and school teams have all been following COVID-19 restrictions and

taking precautions during their seasons. Players are required to stay safe not only for themselves, but for their teammates, coaches and their season as a whole. “As players, we are very careful to abide by the COVID protocols. Especially having our season cut short as it is, we all realize we can’t risk losing any more of our season,” senior baseball player Ethan Dray said. Although team coaches may not be allowed to make decisions for their players on returning to school, they can advise the student-athletes to do the best thing for them. “Our coaches gave us the option to go back to [in-person] school if we chose to, but they did remind us of the importance of staying safe and healthy,” Dray said. So far, the return to school has had little impact on the athletic process for McLean sports. The knowledge that students are back in school and remaining safe from COVID-19 is good news for students who were hesitant about returning to school due to sports. “We are taking many precautions to ensure students’ safety when playing their sports, including constantly sanitizing all equipment, social distancing and wearing masks,” Miller said. “With all the precautions we take, it’s very very rare for a kid to get it and spread it to teammates. We will keep doing what we can to continue [our] sports seasons.”

Photo by Belen Ballard | Page design by Ariana Elahi

THE

FINISH LINE

VAUGHN MCCOLLOUGH

ONE THING YOU’D BRING TO A PICNIC?

GO-TO OUTOOR ACTIVITY?

FAVORITE POST-PRACTICE MEAL?

WHAT DID YOU DO OVER SPRING BREAK?

TAKIS

PLAYING FOOTBALL

PB & J

VISITED MY SISTER AT JMU

CHARCUTERIE BOARD

PLAYING SOCCER IN MY BACKYARD

CAVA AND CHOCOLATE MILK

VISITED MY BROTHER AT AUBURN

A HOT DATE

PLAYING FOOTBALL AND SOCCER

HOMEMADE GYRO

PLAYED FOOTBALL

SUSHI OR SPARKLING CIDER

HIKING

PASTA AND CHIPOTLE

HUNG OUT WITH FRIENDS

A BLANKET

HIKING NEW TRAILS

MEXICAN FOOD

RELAXED AT HOME

FRESHMAN, FOOTBALL

ANNA LAZLO

SOPHOMORE, SOCCER

NICHOLAS HALTEH JUNIOR, FOOTBALL

KYRA BOLDEN SENIOR, SOCCER

LIZZIE MCMANUS FIELD HOCKEY COACH

Photos courtesy of athletes & coach Reporting by Taylor Staats & Scott Shields | Graphics & page design by Taylor Olson

APRIL 2021 | SPORTS | 45

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The Highlander - Issue 4 - April 2021

Articles inside

Athletes opt for virtual learning

Spring sports preview

McFootball makes strides

Golf season wraps up

McLean is doing well with concurrent learning

Crossfire: In-person extracurriculars for virtual students?

Field hockey sticks together

Extend grading leniency

Editorial: Freedom of Speech

Justin Bieber’s Justice review

Eden Center bubble tea reviews

TheatreMcLean records play

Learning in the modular

Marina Qu named Virginia Journalist of the Year

Brittany Peng wins peace award

10 Qs w/ Wendy Pearson

Profile of a classroom monitor

Civic engagement bill passes

Chloe Lahr’s clothing business

Anti-Asian racism on the rise

Highlanders stay virtual

COVID-19 mitigation at school

Students get vaccines

Sexism at McLean

AP exams coming soon