Issue 4

A

ANNANDALE HIGH SCHOOL

the VOLUME #60 ISSUE 4

4700 Medford Dr. Annandale, VA 22003 470

Informinng the Atoms siince 1954 4

TUESDAY, NOV. 18, 2014

(703) 642-4229

Atoms' Hypesquad featured in USA Today

BY CHELSEA ALFONSO Managing Editor After all the screaming and cheering for the football team, AHS hypesquad has earned its praise and was voted favorite student section in the DC area.

The poll was conducted through USA Today's High School Sports section at usatodayhss.com.

Leadership took the initiative to stress the hypesquad reward system, which, in turn, encouraged students to attend sports games.

"The hypesquad started out huge, and it's a big improvement from last year, the team, the support and the school in general," senior Andre Wright said.

As winter sports approach students, Leadership hopes to have the same student section turnout and participation.

"This has been the most spirited year and it is evident to the teachers and community. I hope this winter is just as good," senior Kaitlyn Cook said.

Members of the AHS Hypesquad pose before a home football game.

The hypesquad created flags and cutouts of the football players to show even more support.

"I loved being in the hypesquad," senior Kara Hoisington said.

"Despite the cold, it's been so fun cheering the team on. I've loved watching them improve and work hard every game."

The installment of a hypesquad was a major change from last year, where students came to games to socialize and interact with their peers rather than to also support the team.

The A-Blast places Filament to hold Coffeehouse second at national journalism convention Singers, poets and musicians set to perform at annual event

BY AHMAD AYUB Staff Writer

"The Filament is meant as an outlet for student literature, art and creativity. We work as a method to showcase anyone and everyone's creativity to the school," Sabrina Rivera JAROD GOLUB

For the first time in eight years The A-Blast has earned as high as second place in Best of Show for the Broadsheet Newspaper category.

The A-Blast has placed this high only once in recent memory, the only time they got first place, in 2006.

The Journalism Education Association (JEA), partnered with the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA), to hold a national convention in DC, where over 6,000 journalism students from across the country attended to learn about ways to improve their respective newspapers and magazines.

The convention only comes to D.C. once every five years and it is the largest gathering of journalists, students or professional, that takes place each year.

"I feel really excited that we placed second after several years of not placing in the top ten," Co-Editor in Chief Berta Tarqui said. "I am so proud of our staff on how hard they have contributed to make us a well known newspaper in different high schools."

Because the convention draws students from hundreds of high schools, earning this award is an even bigger accomplishment than it seems.

"When we won, I was really happy. I wasn't sure we were going to win because it's a national convention with 6,000 students representing hundreds of schools," Golub said. "So to have gotten second place is really great because it sort of validates all of the hard work and late nights that we put in to create the newspaper."

In addition to the award received at the convention, The A-Blast also earned a VHSL (Virginia High School League) Trophy Class ranking, the top honor in the VHSL Publications Evaluation Service. Co-Editors in Chief Jarod Golub and Tarqui and Managing Editor Chelsea Alfonso see AWARDS pg. 5

Junior Andrew Peters auditions in front of the judges. Peters performed a poem that he wrote himself.

BY EMILY LIEN Photographer As November rolls around, The Filament prepares for its annual Fall Coffee House.

There is also a special performance this year. The Filament will have guest slam poet Joseph Green who is also the co-founder of poetryN.O.W. The Filament hopes

senior that the Coffee House and the guest poet will stir up more interest for The Filament's new project, creating a poetry slam club.

The Fall Coffee House is not a free event but the prices are affordable.

Tickets are $3 before the day of the show, which are sold at all lunches and by members. Afterwards, they are $4 at the door.

The day of the actual

performance comes and members were busily transforming the Clausen Hall into a cozy, café environment. They plan to arrange the tables, set up Christmas lights, the bakery table, sounds and bring in instruments if the performers cannot bring their own.

The process of setting up the Coffee House is an involved one.

Auditions were held for two days, and it was harder this year because of how the scheduling worked out, winter sports starting the week of auditions and the shift from Atom Time to Flex.

The Filament also has to contact Beanetics. Thanks to the partnership between The Filament and Beanetics, all of the coffee at Coffee House is given to The Filament for free.

"The Filament is meant as an outlet for student literature, art and creativity. We work as a method to showcase anyone and everyone's creativity to the school," senior see COFFEEHOUSE pg. 5

Living under the Poverty Line Students share personal experiences of harsh living conditions His father was able to start up a photography business but it has not been enough to support their family. enior Peter Baek vaguely remembers "My mom used to be a stay at home [mom], but being homeless for around a week. since the economy has been going so bad she has In 2008, he was still too young to been doing part time jobs right now. Right now she understand the difficulties his family works at a laundromat." was going through. They kept it a Baek is one of roughly 60 percent of AHS secret to him and his sister. students who can be identified as "in poverty."

"They [my parents] tried to cover up and say Several students have similar struggles to that we were actually just moving because they Baek's family and while the government locally wanted to move to a different and nationally attempt to provide house, but now that I know that PROFILE: PETER BAEK for those who have low income, it was by property swindlers, I the problem is steadily increasing realize how much we struggled overtime. · President of the National back then," Baek said.

Approximately 16 million Honor Society After his family lost their home children in the U.S. are considered in Fairfax to property swindlers, · Drum Major in Marching impoverished. The rate of poverty they were left without a place to Band has been steadily increases for call their own. the past 20 years and is moving · IB Diploma Candidate "When went to my relatives' towards an alarming number. house for a while and then we According to the National · Questbridge Scholar found a rent home we are still in Center for Children in Poverty · Interested in cancer research today," Baek said.

(NCCP), a family of four whose Baek was born in Korea and household income is $23,505 or · Co-editor of Publicity for the when he was about 100 days old, less is considered impoverished.

Key Club his parents immigrated back to the In theory, a family of four can live U.S. to raise Baek. His family had · Vice President of comfortably if they earn at least to move when the international Membership for Just World $44,700 a year. School expenses, monetary crisis hit Korea.

Interactive Club clothing, shelter and food can be "[My father] wanted to become covered with $44,700. However, a photographer initially. After that goal is almost double of what he found out he couldn't do it in many household can make.

Korea, he followed the American According to the NCCP, "86 dream and came to America," Baek said. percent of children with parents who have less Ever since moving from Korea, his family has than a high school degree, 7.4 million live in lowhad to deal with poor economy. income families."

"It has been generally okay up until I think since The correlation between the amount of starting high school. It has been sort of rough in education and the annual salary is large reason the sense that the money does go up and down and why students may struggle with money. you never know what is coming up next."

"My dad and my mom's family grew up in

BY BERTA TARQUI Editor in Chief

S

Rapper Duo

Student traditionss

Astro Davis and Kid JC share their journey People 12

Different cultures celebrate the holiday International 13

Top: Baek poses with his family on his Senior Night for Marching Band. Bottom: Baek and his family pose Korea. My mom's entire family moved to America after she graduated high school and she went to FIT, Fashion Institute of Technology in New York," Baek said. "My dad, his family stayed in Korea, but him and his brother came to California to pursue photography in Santa Barbara and for some reason

he moved to the east coast and they were working at a photography place as a part time [job].

A parent or guardian who works minimum wage may find themselves struggling to provide all the necessities needed to raise their child. In Virginia, $7.25 is the minimum wage and there are some who see POVERTY pg. 5

Q&A with alumni Actor Tony Cabalero speaks about his career.

Entertainment 19

2 EDITORIALS

Nov. 18, 2014

The definition of cheating Suspicions of cheating raise concerns in IB classes PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY PHUONG NGUYEN

BY PHUONG NGUYEN AND JULIA QUIZON Editorials Editor and Special to The A-Blast You waited last minute to write a commentary essay for IB English and you realize that it's 3 a.m. You consider two options --take a huge late penalty or steal some else's work on Google to fill up the half-finished essay Most AHS students are responsible enough to ask their teachers for an extension and take a late penalty.

On the other hand, some students resort to cheating out of academic desperation in order to temporarily save their grades.

Plagiarism on the rise Recently, junior students in IB English I classes were given an eye-opening lecture on the repercussions of cheating.

Many students were suspected of plagiarizing questions from summary websites such as Sparknotes and Shmoop.com or even from the back of their own books to complete a summative study guide assignment for Wide Sargasso Sea. According to IB English I teacher Stephanie Hanson, around 60 percent of students were suspected of plagiarism on the assignment.

IB English teachers expressed their discontent at the lack of academic integrity students had towards their work. Teachers ultimately decided to invalidate every assignment due to scale of the incident. It would take more effort for them to weed out the guilty students, and they just don't have time for that.

On the other hand, many students took pride in their work and spent a lot of time on the assignment.

Not receiving credit due to a group of students' unwise

Students who are concerned about their grades sometimes resort to cheating as an act of desperation.

decision to plagiarize is nothing short of a slap in the face.

It is also a sign of disrespect to the IB English teachers as they work hard to make sure that students are developing their writing and analytical skills by completing the assignment.

Students are constantly reminded to be original and give attribution to sources, yet many are oblivious to the important advice.

Plagiarizing indicates that students simply don't care.

Frankly, IB classes are for students who are responsible enough and demonstrate ATOM Pride, but it is obvious not everyone demonstrates it.

"I would be pissed if I gave out an assignment and everyone didn't bother to do it and just plagiarized," junior Ashley Giddings said.

Plagiarism in IB English, or any other IB classes should stop as the consequences for being caught run

high. The chances of getting away with the act remains low as teachers often use the universally feared Safe Assign plagiarism checker.

English Department Chair Alan Weintraut advised teachers to not give recommendation letters for students that cheat.

IB students are supposed to be role models for other students, thus cheating sets a bad example and sets the stage for future offenses.

Procrastination is one of many reasons why plagiarism is a major problem at AHS. One student stated that she plagiarized on the assignment because of time constraints.

Repercussions According to the FCPS SR&R guidebook, cheating is categorized as a "level A" offense. Teachers are allowed to intervene and make disciplinary decisions towards the offenders.

Possible measures include a "referral to counselor, parent teacher conference with administrator and teacher, detention and in-school suspension."

Consequences for one-time offenders in high school are pale in comparison to those in college.

Cheating, whether it is plagiarism or copying, immediately calls for the expulsion of the student.

Considering the harsh consequences, why plagiarize if it can ruin your life?

Is Sparknotes cheating?

Sparknotes definitely uses a different writing style and vocabulary than students. As veterans of writing, teachers are able to tell what has been taken from the Internet or not.

"If you're going to use Sparknotes at least read the book first," Giddings said. I just use Sparknotes to better understand the book and I don't think that is cheating."

Using Sparknotes instead of reading is just taking an easy way out and that is not what the IB is all about.

It's hard to imagine how the students would react to living in the earlier years of the Internet when educational websites did not exist.

Students need to develop their own thoughts and ideas while avoiding the impulse of taking ideas from Sparknotes summaries.

Cheating vs. Collaboration Nowadays, there is a very thin line between actually "cheating" and helping others with stuff they do not understand.

When students are concerned about their work, they often ask their friends for their work in order to double check answers and ask questions. However, students do this at awkward times, oftentimes during class and right in front of the teacher.

Teachers need to understand that students like to collaborate with each other when it comes to homework and that comparing answers should not count as cheating.

However, students in return should not be unethical by taking someone else's paper to bluntly copy. Copying does nothing to improve the knowledge of content. Most students can admit to commit this offense at least once.

It is often said that "procrastination is like constipation; the longer you wait, the harder it gets."

Seriously, simply put the iPhone down and start major assignments earlier.

Give potential athletes another chance Coaches should give students more opportunities to be a part of sports programs Staff Writer With the arrival of the winter sport season, many students are having a hard time being able to join the sports that they were once heavily involved in.

Nowadays, many sports teams have much stricter regulations for making the team. Just two years ago, Indoor Track & Field accepted as many people that tried out for the team.

A lot of people made track specifically because the coaches wanted to give them the opportunity to improve their athletic ability.

Speaking from personal experience, as a person who has never participated in any other sport besides rowing in middle school, I was overwhelmed and constantly at the back of the line during races.

Despite my initial lack of performance, I wasn't cut from the team and my coach consistently pushed me to work harder. He made me stay back after practice if I didn't complete a task properly.

Unlike previous years, coaches are now pushing harder, making cuts even on JV during the first week of practices.

However, it isn't right to cut someone and give them no chance

for improvement. I wasn't cut, even though it looked like I had the least amount of potential to be a talented rower.

I consistently improved as the season went on. Perhaps it was because making cuts was a hard decision for the coaches to make.

Another possibility was that the coaches simply wanted to make team.

The new coaches just want people with the talent to have a winning team. Does this really make what we call a team?

Look at AHS wrestling for example, everyone makes the team since there are no tryouts.

Depending on the number of people they have, they would take anyone even if they have little experience.

The overall team dynamic or skill may be at a lesser degree at first. However, with hard work, dedication and consistent feedback from coaches, the whole team can mature as a whole, according to my coach at the beginning of the season.

You're only as fast as your slowest rower. Well, how can we even have a single good rower if they aren't allowed the opportunity to grow and develop their skill?

Say a student who was cut, with the least amount of skill. You don't know whether that one kid could be

so many other extra-curricular activities that you can participate in- whether that is Model U.N. or the Atoms Writing Center.

Many student athletes partake in other activities in the mean time when they aren't participating in their off-seasons. Just think of the tryouts as an opportunity to showcase your talents, or potential.

But even if you aren't selected, like 38 girls out 60 that tried out for JV and Freshman basketball, don't fret. You'll find something even better to do.

JAROD GOLUB

BY ANIQA RASHID

Since last year, Indoor Track & Field has been accepting less members due to a shift in athletic standards.

the budding star of the night at the sprinting race in an outside race at Potomac High School.

Disregarding one's level of performance, students mature at different rates, emotionally and mentally. However, they also mature at different rates physically.

That one kid who was cut in the first week of practice could have been the best runner or swimmer.

Getting cut lowers your selfesteem. Studies have shown that

freshmen student athletes who get cut often never try out for a sport again. Students don't want to try out again because they may look desperate.

Coaches shouldn't cut people from JV teams.

Since varsity is reserved for talented athletes, the point of JV is to allow those with less skill and experience to also partcipate in the sport. What's the point of having JV if not everyone is given the same

opportunity?

In addition, there should be a freshmen team for track because so many people want to join the sport.

Freshman teams are a great way to students with no experience and skill to learn and participate.

While getting cut may send the wrong message to student athletes, it isn't the end of the world if you get cut.

Sports aren't everything, and that is simply a fact. There are

MANAGING EDITOR Chelsea Alfonso EDITORIALS EDITORS Phuong Nguyen Sarah Metzel COPY EDITOR Linus Bumbaca IN-DEPTH EDITORS Alexandra Zernik Cayley Byrne SPORTS EDITORS: Marife Baragano Sabrina Hawa SPORTS XTRA EDITOR: Daniel Yenetega

PEOPLE EDITOR: Biruk Negash

ART EDITOR: Bailey Oliver

WEEKEND EDITOR: Erin Johnson

ACADEMICS EDITORS: Kailyn Garay Alaina Garay

INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Summar Ayoub ENTERTAINMENT EDITORS: Nuhami Mandefro Conrad Shartel

WEB EDITOR/ MASTER: Jared Lefbom HEAD OF SOCIAL MEDIA: Andrew Gonzalez

LIFESTYLES EDITORS: Soulisa Pathammavong Marilyn Rivas

HEAD VIDEOGRAPHER: Rahel Tecle

HEALTH EDITOR: Nancy Evora

AD MANAGER: Zeke Yonas

PHOTOGRAPHY EDITORS: Kiara Patino Julie Swenton

CIRCULATION MANAGER: Zeke Yonas

STAFF WRITERS: Sheila Aguirre Faisal Hassan Ricque' Lynch Thida Pathammavong Nebeyu Solomon Maria Suarez Raphael Yu Timothy Gray Tipyan Abdelrahman Marem Atef Ahmad Ayub Jeanine Barakat Haben Cheffna Omar Haddou Emily Lien Mery Berhene Hussein Salem Arzoo Marzi PHOTOGRAPHER: Andrew Nunez ADVISER: Alan Weintraut

On your smartphone, scan this code using the application QR Code read about Atoms Red Cross.

Websites get bossy

Staff EDITORS IN CHIEF Jarod Golub Berta Tarqui

Online Exclusive

Annandale High School Vol. 60 No.4 4700 Medford Dr. Annandale, VA 22003 703.642.4229 Nov. 18, 2014 Adviser: Alan Weintraut ajweintraut@fcps.edu The A-Blast is an award-winning newspaper that strives to inform, educate and entertain the student body and community.

Published every three weeks, The A-Blast will not print any material that is obscene or libelous; or that which substantially disrupts the school day, or invades an individual's right to privacy. The A-Blast is an independent, open forum for discussion that is printed at the Springfield Plant of The Washington Post.

Signed letters to the editor of 250 words or less may be emailed to theablast14@gmail.com or submitted to room 262 or mailed to the school. The A-Blast reserves the right to refuse advertisements.

All submissions become property of The A-Blast, Copyright, 2014.

Facebook Notice anything new about dying social media website?

Facebook has recently introduced a donation banner to ask users into donating towards organizations fighting Ebola in West Africa. This is undoubtly a good cause, however is it any of Facebook's business to guilt their users?

Google Like Facebook, Google decided to hop on the guilt bandwagon with an enticing offer to double people's donations. Just stick to search results and leave the charity to some other qualified organization.

EDITORIALS 3

Nov. 18, 2014

The problem with violence

Five myths about violence

How violence in the media is affecting the next generation

BY SARAH METZEL Editorials Edtior

MYTH #1: KIDS ARE MORE VIOLENT THAN ADULTS

BY SARAH METZEL We can scarcely sit through TV commercials without witnessing the fabricated, gory death of a well-known movie actor. Our younger siblings laugh hysterically at Tom and Jerry whacking each other upside the head with baseball bats.

We may chuckle at the misfortune of fictional characters, but do we ever stop to think about how exposure to violence might influence us?

In a 2007 poll conducted by Polling Point, 49 percent of people agreed with the statement that violent movies and video games inspire mentally unstable people to commit acts of violence like the shootings at Virginia Tech. In the same poll, 35 percent said they disagreed and 15 percent were not sure.

The facts indicate that the majority of the American public views the violence in our culture as detrimental to a person's mental health.

If people are conditioned from a young age to enjoy the gruesome slaughter of their enemies, is it surprising that we have the tragedy of school shootings in our society?

I talk about how horrible video games are, but the truth is that I've played them myself.

Though it was years ago, I still remember playing Grand Theft Auto at a friend's house.

At first I cringed at the image of shooting down civilians and running them over in my car, but eventually I became desensitized to these atrocities and started to enjoy myself.

This is my concern: that children who become desensitized to the scenes in violent video games will turn a blind eye when they see the same scenes in real life. These games are so realistic that it is easy for young children to conflate their virtual lives with their real ones.

Despite their drawbacks, video games are an important part of teenage interaction.

Electronic communication -- through gaming, texting, social media -- is the primary way that

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SARAH METZEL

Editorials Editor

teens communicate with each other outside of school.

According to the Pew Research Center, 76 percent of adolescents say that they play video games with their friends, either online or in person. Many of us have gone over to our friends houses, bypassed smalltalk and gone straight to the Xbox.

Video games span all ethnicities and socioeconomic classes. In this way, they can be a way for people with differences to connect over a common interest.

Personally, I prefer a tamer role-playing game -- one in which I can choose a career path and not whether I kill a person in my path.

Predictably, a group where violent video games are not as popular is among girls. The female gender tends to favor games that explore the social lives of characters, such as The Sims.

The majority of violent video games are sold to young men.

It is not uncommon to see little boys laughing maniacally as they gun down their best friend in Call of Duty, Halo or Counter Strike -- all of which are popular role-playing video games. Could this bloodlust, borne by

the video games of their youth, translate into a real-life massacre years later?

I would contest that it is highly unlikely that every game-obsessed child will one day become a psychotic mass-murderer. However, I believe that the few people who have violent, pathological tendencies are more easily triggered when they play violent video games.

According to the Pew Research center, 97 percent of American youths from ages 2-17 play electronic games - either on their computer, gaming console or cell phone. Many of these games, especially those targeted toward teenage boys, involve extreme violence and receive a rating of "M" for mature content.

This is a potential problem for the young men of the next generation. Though most of them will never shoot their neighbors or express any explicitly violent tendencies, studies have shown that kids who are exposed to violence are left with a stunted sense of morality.

In February, BBC News reported that teenagers who play violent video games for three or more hours a day without any interrupting human interaction often suffer

from a lack of empathy.

Empathy, or understanding and concern for others, is a complex emotion that usually develops in the teenage years. If a teenager does not experience the positive social interaction necessary to learn how to empathize, their moral reasoning can be delayed or permanently stunted.

Many of us would not be alive today if not for the caring power of empathy. As babies we were cared for by our parents, our guardians who fed, clothed and cleaned us. If they had not loved us enough to understand our needs, we would have been neglected.

A society without empathy is a dreary place. Without human connection, life is lonely and unfulfilling. As the future of our society, we must learn to connect with people beyond the gaming console.

The best way to combat this problem is to be immersed in a community where people give and take. Helping others through acts of charity is the best way to learn how to empathize. Interacting with people less fortunate than yourself makes you realize that the world is wider than your widescreen TV.

Heard in the Hall: How do violent games affect us?

"It's fun but sometimes people get mad and go crazy."

AMIN BESHIN freshman

"They cause people to repeat what they see in the game. My little brother watches T.V. and copies everything he sees."

"It has nothing to do with anything, it's just something that society blames tragedies on."

AMIRA LARRANAGA-VEGA

BRANDON OH sophomore

"It does influence a lot of kids to do stuff, depending on what it is. They look up to their virtual character."

"In the right hands, they are okay. But if a kid has mental problems and it runs their life, then it can be a problem."

SHANNON LEWANDOWSKI

ALHASSAN SESAY

freshman

"My little brothers play these wrestling games and they try to put the moves on each other. They're violent children."

senior

junior

TOBA RASOLI senior

All the Internet should be created equal

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SARAH METZEL

We need net neutrality as we spend more time in cyberspace

Sarah Gets Sassy

BY SARAH METZEL Editorials Editor Supporters of net neutrality cheered as Obama endorsed their cause last Monday.

In his two minute video to the public, Obama urged the Federal Communications Commision (FCC) to create new rules that support net neutrality.

Net neutrality is the concept that everything on the Internet should be equally accessible. It is similar to the idea that small, local businesses should receive all the same opportunities as large multinational corporations.

In his statement, Obama credited the internet with being "one of the most significant democratizing influences the world has ever known."

After acknowledging how important the internet is in a modern democracy, Obama endorses net neutrality but at the same time recognizes that the FCC is an "independent agency, and ultimately this decision is theirs alone."

The FCC is deciding between

WIthout net neutrality, Internet speed is slower and less content will be available to the public.

two scenarios: making the internet completely open, or keeping some content on lockdown and give preference to the biggest, highestpaying websites. This decision is probably the most monumental in the short history of the Internet.

Net neutrality would allow for increased competition and the consumer's freedom of choice, which are principles that the American economy was built on.

To wrap up his statement, Obama mentions the reason why the FCC was created in the first place: to promote competition, innovation and investment in our networks.

I have to agree with the president when he says that "In service to [the FCC's] mission, there is no higher calling than protecting an open, accessible and free Internet.

I have seen articles and debates about net neutrality popping up on my Facebook and Twitter feeds, but in the past I've simply skipped over them because the term meant nothing to me. A few days ago, I decided to look into the topic and discovered that the outcome of this important debate will affect my life and the lives of everyone I know.

Many of our favorite startup websites, like BuzzFeed, are important to growth of the Internet.

Broadband providers, however, currently have the ability to crush any of these new startups that would interfere with the business they already support.

Net neutrality would preserve our freedom of choice on the Internet, a principle which would fully agree with the constitutional

policies of freedom of the press and freedom of speech.

China is a nation that is famous for its internet censorship.

Commonly called the "Great Firewall" of China, the incredible amount of government intervention is reminiscent of Mao's communist policies. If internet had been around during Mao's rule, he undoubtedly would have been against the idea of net neutrality and gone to great lengths to censor the internet.

After years of anti-communist policy, it would be completely counter-intuitive for the U.S. to oppose net neutrality, just as a communist government would.

In places where democracy is only beginning to develop, the internet is the most essential tool in creating a free government.

Throughout the governmental coups and protests of the Arab Spring that started in 2011, access to internet and social media played a vital role in publicizing the chaos.

When a Tunisian street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi selfimmolated himself, or set himself on fire, it made headlines in the New York Times because of internet communication.

This act of protest against a corrupt dictatorial regime sparked other protests in neighboring nations. These countries managed to topple their old governments, but are still struggling to operate functional democracies.

The U.S. is a role model for these countries and any others attempting to instate a government with basic human rights and fair elections. Our nation made history when it managed to free itself from tyrannical colonial rule and survive under a novel system. Despite our humble beginnings, we grew to be the most powerful nation on Earth.

Yes, we deserve to be proud of our history and reputation. But can we still brag about our success if we reject net neutrality?

As a role model for budding democracies, we need to incorporate free internet into the fabric of our nation. Net neutrality needs to be recognized as a right, almost as if it is the sixth freedom of the First amendment.

Just as the framers of the Constitution decided to create a free democracy, the FCC needs to decide to enforce net neutrality. All of the internet should be created equal.

Juveniles account for only 12 percent of all violent crimes. By the time we reach adult age, our habits usually stay with us for the rest of our lives. Accordingly, there is a certain percentage of adults that is responsible for the majority of crime since they are repeat offenders.

However, it is possible that youth violence is underreported because parents prefer to discipline their children using their own methods.

MYTH #2: TRYING JUVENILES AS ADULTS REDUCES THE LIKELIHOOD OF FUTURE CRIMES It is best for juvenile delinquents to remain in the juvenile justice system. Youths who are transferred to adult criminal court are more likely to commit the same crime again, or additional felonies that will get them more time in jail. In addition to this risk, youths who are transferred into the adult justice system run the risk of being sent to prison with adult inmates. This increases their chances of becoming victims of physical and sexual assault.

MYTH #3: BLACKS AND LATINOS ARE MORE VIOLENT THAN OTHERS While interviewing youths, teenresources.org found that race and ethnicity have little influence on the occurrence of nonfatal violent behavior. However, there is a correlation between race and homicide rates. Also, there are higher percentages of the aforementioned groups in prison due to the timing and continuous occurrence of their crimes. The social stigma that blacks and latinos are more violent is often perpetuated by the media, which often chooses to report crimes by black and latinos and neglects the reporting of other crimes.

MYTH #4: VIOLENCE AND VIDEO GAMES DO NOT RELATE Some studies have indicated that video games do not encourage violence, just as some smoking studies have not found links to lung cancer. There will always be anomalies when conducting research. The most accurate conclusion is the one that is drawn from the majority of the data. In the case of violent video games, there are definite links to the following conditions: increased aggressive behavior, thoughts and decreased prosocial behavior. Delinquency, fighting at school and violent criminal behavior can also come from playing violent video games.

MYTH #5: YOUTH VIOLENCE IS ONLY CAUSED BY VIDEO GAMES This is not true. There are many reasons for kids to be violent: pent up anger or frustration, mental triggers, a history of violent abuse by relatives. Some people even argue that video games provide an outlet for rage and violent feelings, emotions that are then never physically expressed. Siblings were beating each other up long before there was an Xbox in the living room. In Grimm's fairy tales, the famous children's book that was published three centuries ago, there are many gory and violent scenes.

For example, in Snow White, the evil queen is forced to dance in redhot iron shoes until she dies. The unpleasant fact is that violence is a tale as old as time.

SESAME STREET TURNS 45 On your smartphone, scan this code using the application "QR Code" to read about the fourtieth birthday of Seasame Street.

4 NEWS Members work on care letters

BY JAROD GOLUB Editor-In-Chief This year, National Honor Society, sponsored by Math teachers Molly Jepson and Casey Grandy, has come up with a new idea for community service; military care letters.

Organized by Soriya de Lopez, this is the very first year NHS has held this type of service opportunity.

"We were thinking that NHS last year [was] really based on contributing to the school and giving back," senior Peter Baek said. "But [this year], we were thinking that we should look at it in a more global perspective."

So, to have the maximum turnout possible, officers have deemed this event as one of their few mandatory community service events.

As NHS is based on community service and tutoring, this will be one of the opportunities that members can partake in to gain the five or ten hour requirement needed.

Some members, regardless of the hours needed, feel this is a very important service opportunity.

"For me, I think it's really important," NHS member senior Diva Chowdhary said. "You get to do your little part in the community, and they obviously do their part by serving us on the field."

Members who participate will be writing personalized letters to random military recipients, expressing in several forms their gratitude for the service these military men and women provide to this country. The letters will then be sent out to , hopefully reaching members of the military in time for the holidays.

As expressed by the officers and members, this is an important role not only for students, but the community as well, as it gives the community a greater perspective.

"I think that it's more important to the community than Annandale as a high school," junior Julia Quizon said. "The kids are taking initiative of actually doing something for the troops to show appreciation, and I think it's important because it gives

them this feeling that 'wow, people are actually thinking of us.'"

The purpose of the military care letters is to send a reminder to the troops that they are appreciated and cared for back in the states. This is crucial during this period of time, as most of the troops shipped overseas will be missing major holidays, such as Thanksgiving and Christmas.

This is not to say that there will not be any mention of other holidays within the span of November to the end of December, but since those are prominent holidays in the U.S., it will be the primary focus of the letters.

This is why NHS, along with several other clubs, will be taking part in these kinds of appreciative activities for the defenders overseas.

These events are usually very simple and require little to no effort, therefor encouraging a larger amount of students to participate.

Both members and officers have a generally positive outlook on the project. Officers especially show their enthusiasm for this project over most others.

"They are going to be successful," senior Katie Tieu said.

"This is going to be one of our mandatory events, so that's how everyone's gonna get involved in it. We basically told them all before hand how everyone should make it and everyone should make a letter because we're basically appreciating those who help maintain our freedom."

The care letters will be sent to Operation Gratitude/CA Army National Guard in California. They will then be transported to different military bases and distributed amongst the service men.

The difference from this event and other normal service opportunities at AHS is that, as mentioned earlier, it reaches out to the global community, and has an effect on something much larger than the students.

The idea of reaching out to a bigger community includes reaching out to younger ages.

Since NHS is filled with only juniors and seniors, it may seem as though there is a limited perspective and limited capability,

Poe students raise awareness for Africa

ALAN VARGAS

National Honor Society hosts caring tribute to military in the form of letters

Senior NHS President Peter Baek and NHS care letter coordinator Soriya de Lopez work together to make an example care letter for NHS members on December 5.

but, as expressed by Soriya de Lopez, it is not limited to just these high schools students.

"I guess the first time I actually did a care letter by myself was in middle school," NHS officer senior Soriya de Lopez said.

"You could either chose to make packages and put stuff in them or write letters, and I thought writing letters was really cool. It's more engaging to write a personal letter and remind them that they're okay and that they're going to see their family soon."

Sponsors and officers both hope that this event will be a success. They will continue to find new, creative, and outreaching events to offer to their members, in an effort to create a more globalized community.

Nov. 18 2014 Gay staff and students see change as ammends to a policy are made The Fairfax county school board has approved in an 11-1 voting to approve of a policy protecting gay students and staff from discrimination.

This is the second attempt at adding sexual orientation under consideration for non-discrimation, as the first attempt in 2002 had failed.

This provides many benefits to not only students and staff of any other sexual orientation besides heterosexual, but also provides those in same sex marriages benefits that might have previously not been allowed.

Though this change hasn't made a significant impact on the community yet, those who fought for the passing of the ammendment to the policy believe it will be.

They are hoping it is just as significant as the overuling of the ban on gay marriage, made previously this year.

This year, Virginia has made a significant change in its policies towards the gay community, just as the rest of the country has done.

This is only another small step to achieving a larger sense of equality.

UNICEF success at AHS

Key Club members work together to raise Poe students work to stop child labor in Africa money incorporate past events that were somewhat forgotten

BY JAROD GOLUB Staff Writer It has become an apparent problem to the public that there is a high amount of child labor in impoverished areas, such as Africa, and a group of Poe students have decided to take action against it.

As these children have made themselves and others aware, the government receives a big portion of their money from companies that purchase their cocoa from Africa. By doing this, our own country is encouraging child labor.

Big companies like Hershey, Mars and Nestle actively buy tons of cocoa from Africa. This leads to people and children working on cocoa farms against their will, and with 70 percent of the world's cocoa coming from africa alone, almost every child is guaranteed to take part in these practices.

With all this dilema continuing on undealt with, a group of eighth graders have decided to take a stand and stop this child abuse. They have gotten together and

used their rights as U.S. citizens and started a petition.

These Poe students have composed a petition to raise awareness of child labor in Africa and eventually put a stop to it.

They believe that the children in Africa cannot have their voices heard, so it is up to the United States and other economically developed countries to put a stop to it.

The petition requires 150 signatures to go public and 100,000 to get the Obama Administration involved. If you would like to participate in the awareness of child labor in Africa you can sign a petition at a website the eighth graders made themselves. Get involved now at http://wh.gov/ic0UF. On your smartphone, scan this code using the application 'QR Code' to see to read more about the Poe kids online

Just World fights polio Just World sponsors the purple pinky project at AHS

BY ANDREW NUNEZ Staff Writer AHS can make a change and stop the terrible disease Poliomyelitis, better known as Polio.

Before Ebola, there Polio was the major global crisis that, thanks to a massive human effort, has all but been eradicated from the earth.

Through the efforts of youth organizations, such as Just World, many people have become more educated on the topic of Polio and how much of an impact it had on our society.

"The Just World Interact Club is having a meeting on Monday to educate our students more about polio and how they can help." senior president Soriya Lopez said. "There will be opportunities for students to help stop polio and support those in need during all lunches during the week."

There will also be a Rotary club member present at the Monday meeting and the AHS sponsoring of the purple pinky project, and students that are in the Just World Club are motivated to collect donated money during all lunches.

The Rotary member and other members present at

the tables will paint your pinkie if you donate a dollar to show that you are supporting the eradication of Polio.

Another reason why they will paint your pinkie for donating is because when a child would gets vaccinated, they would get their pinkie colored purple to show that they have been vaccinated.

Rotary, a group of members who work together to make a difference and to do a change, has helped significantly in the eradication of Polio, along with other big named organizaitons.

Rotary has also gone to many different schools to spread the word of this deadly disease. For more information to support the cause you can go online to endpolio.org.

Polio is very close from being abolished from history.

"One polio vaccine only costs one dollar, so if every student in Annandale donates a dollar then we can vaccinate 2,100 people." sponsor of Just World Club Ms. Mounteer. said AHS can help spread the word to abolish polio and save children's lives from this terrible fatal disease. Over two billion people have already been vaccinated and the world is very close to abolishing this terrible disease.

"We are only a pinkie's length away from eradicating polio!" junior member Elise Kim said.

Tuesday. Nov. 18 —10:30a.m.-12:30p.m. - Just World Interact Polio Eradication Awareness — 2:30 p.m..-3:30p.m. - Hispanic Leadership Club Bake Sale — 3:30 p.m.-5:30p.m. - Atomic Dance Practice — 4p.m.-9p.m. - Varsity/JV Wrestling Scrimmage — 7p.m. - 9p.m. - PTSA Meeting

Editor-In-Chief After raising more than $200 in 2012, Key Club managed to raise around $150 (Final tallies were not submitted as of publication) this year.

Every year around Halloween the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) holds the Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF fundraiser.

This fundraiser aims to make money for underprivileged children who suffer from poor conditions in their living situations.

After not participating in the fundraiser last year, Key Club has again collected money for UNICEF this year.

"Key Club has been doing the Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF fundraiser since 2009, but we didn't do it last year," Key Club president senior Alan Vargas said. "I introduced it back into the club this year, so I pretty much took complete control over it."

The process of donating the money goes through five stages. First, if the Key Club is not already automatically receiving boxes from UNICEF, they must order them.

Next, the boxes are given out to the members of Key Club for them to go around and collect donations. Then, the money is counted by members of Key Club. Finally, the money is sent to UNICEF. "After we collect the money, we count it, all the change and everything from the boxes, and put it into our finances," Vargas said. "Then we write a check to UNICEF and they go about using it to help the children around the world."

All of the money collected by Key Club is being donated to UNICEF. "The boxes are going to UNICEF, so there are a variety of things that get a portion of the money," Key Club sponsor Caylen Beight said. "The money can go to providing vaccinations, getting clean water or even food to kids in need."

According to the UNICEF website, $1 can provide 40 days worth of clean water, $5 can feed a malnourished child for five days and $10 can vaccinate 280 children.

There are also several different benefits that come from donating to UNICEF. Vargas has been a member of Key Club since his sophomore year, so he has a lot of experience with the events that the club holds, as well as how to get members motivated to participate.

His experience in the club has enabled members to

about, as well as alleviating the stress of being a first year sponsor of a club.

"This is my first year and it's going really well," Beight said. "The officers make it a lot easier because they're all students who did it last year and most of them have been doing it since freshman year and they know how to run things."

Aside from the Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF fundraiser, Key Club also participates in and runs other fundraisers.

"March of Dimes is another big one that we did last year," Co-Editor for Publicity senior Trami Ly said. "It's a walk to raise money for premature babies. People sign up to donate money to walk. There are also guest speakers who talk about their experiences with premature births or children who have died."

Another project that Key Club has worked on in the past is the candy drive for soldiers.

"Anyone with leftover candy from Halloween could donate it and we could send it to troops overseas," Ly said.

In the future, Key Club hopes to replicate the success of the UNICEF fundraiser.

"I hope to have similar success with our future projects," Beight said.

"I think [the UNICEF fundraiser] was a great success.

Everyone who did know about it got very motivated to get people to donate," Vargas said. "I myself tried to get as many people to donate as possible. So I think it was a very good and easy project. People always have loose change. I think it's something that our officers from next year will continue."

ALAN VARGAS

BY JULIUS MILLER

The 2014 Trick-Or-Treat UNICEF used by Key Club members to collect loose change.

5 News

4.5 6

percent is the unemployment rate in northern Virginia. One of the lowest in the state. percent is the average unemployment rate for all of Virginia.

11.7 15.8

percent is the poverty rate in Virginia in 2013.

percent is the average national poverty rate in the U.S.

$48,733

is the average personal income in Virginia.

Statistics complied by Virginia Performs

Preparing for Stress Less week

Students and financial instability Cont. "poverty"

believe that it is not enough for a family to live comfortably.

Especially with the holiday season coming up, some students are trying to apply for seasonal jobs to have a little extra money to spare. However, families with a similar status or worse than to Baek's, this time of year can seem like a struggle to live without extravagant items.

Some students, even though they live with low income, do not apply for free reduced lunch. Sometimes they feel too embarrassed apply because they do not want to identified as poor.

"To be honest about being low income, I know a lot of people think of it as a disadvantage and are really embarrassed by it but for me I think it sort of defines me in the aspect that without being low income I would not have found my interest in science because of that driven quality to make ends meet for my family," Baek said.

Free and Reduced Lunch can help students and their family move forward and Choo believes the stigma attached should be overlooked.

"I think that is ridiculous. I think that if you have somewhere you want to be, I think you should take the steps to get there," Choo said.

While Baek is disadvantaged by being low income, he manages to find a positive outlook and sees the benefits his life has given him.

"So when they ask me if I am low income, I don't try to hide it. I think I am very open about it, but I am not going to go around saying 'hey I am low income', but if they ask I am in the sense proud of it because even though I have been living in those circumstances I have come this far," Baek said. "I think that is from the driven passion I have and the support from my family."

However, the benefits from the Free and Reduced Lunch Program can help a family not spend too money on school supplies or musical instrument and use that saved money to pay for their house or buy food. Breakfast meals for K-12 is $1.25 and lunch is $3.00 for high schoolers. Even a daily spending of a few more dollars can hurt a family who is conscientious of money.

"[The Free and Reduced Lunch Program] has been really helpful. People don't like being low income but especially for college [application] waivers, like SAT or ACT; everyone is like 'I wish I was low income', but I don't think they understand what being low income life is like, but I guess that is an advantage to that." Baek said.

Free and Reduced Lunch can also help students with college preparations. Most colleges require a SAT or ACT score to be submitted. Students who may not be able to

Poverty Statistics Average federal poverty level $23,050 for a family of four $19,090 for a family of three $15,130 for a family of two Recommended income level $44,700 for a family of four. $37,060 for a family of three. $29,420 for a family of two.

" I am not going let my low income status hinder me, but I want to use that as a catalyst for future aspirations; going after and getting scholarship and going above and beyond,"

25 percent of children in immigrant families are poor; 17 percent of children with nativeborn parents are poor.

In the six states with the largest populations of immigrants; California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, and Texas. The poverty rate among children in immigrant families ranges from 13 percent to 31 percent.

More than 16 million children in the United States, 22% of all children live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level.

Peter Baek

67 percent of children living in low-income families, about 21.6 million are covered by public insurance.

senior

afford the fee by College Board and have Free and Reduced Lunch can ask their counselors for a waiver that will eliminate the costs. Schools can also help pay for college applications once seniors are ready to apply since to several colleges can run to the hundreds.

However, the several benefits from college can only extend to a certain of number low income students. Those who do not have an American citizenship will have to face the realities of paying for college without as much financial help.

"Well there is college tuition and also I am not an American citizen so I can't get a lot of financial aid," Choo said.

Originally born in Singapore, Senior Vera Choo's parents brought her over to the U.S. when she was about six months old.

Her two bedroom home holds six people.

Choo notices that there are times where her home feels overcrowded.

According to the NCCP, overcrowding in homes is not common in many households,

five percent of those who are not as financially well off experience overcrowding in homes.

which changes frequently, but takes interest in forensic science.

"Well, I don't have my own room, which is kind of annoying and I think it would be nice [to have my own]. We don't really have [space], we kind of just our stuff on the floor outside.

We used up all the closet space."

While Choo and Baek are not as financially well off as others, they still have aspirations which they plan to go after without letting money be a challenge to them.

Being low income, as I think about the future, I don't want to let that hinder my interests and passion. Right now I am part of the Questbridge Program which is a scholarship program for low income students and I definitely want look into more programs like that as I continue my education because I don't want to burden my parents with the tuition," Baek said.

Choo has several career choices in mind

"William and Mary is my first choice. I want to stay in state, but there are not a lot of schools in Virginia with a Classics program, which is what I want to major in," Choo said.

"I just want to study full time because I don't think I can balance a job and study full time at the same time, but then you are left in debt at the end of it."

Choo chooses not to worry too much about paying for college.

"I am just kind of hoping it will figure itself out," Choo said.

Baek aims to utilize his experiences he has gone through to reach his goals.

"I am not going let my low income status hinder me, but I want to use that as a catalyst for future aspirations; going after and getting scholarship and going above and beyond," Baek said. "I know most people perceive it as

Coffeehouse to showcase artists

Students learn how to relax

By Ahmad Ayub Staff Writer

AHS will hold Stress Less Laugh More week for the second year in a row. AHS will hold this event from Dec. 1 to 5.

Brosnan is heavily involved in the planning process, and the students carry out all the events planned for the students. During the week, much more will be happening during school. For instance, music and cartoons will be open for students in Clausen Hall, yoga will be done during PE classes, buttons will be created, Moments of Joy videos will be shown, news show interview, handouts and posters about self-care will be given, and there will even be music and dancing in between class changes.

"A school counselor, Ms. Shaffer, and I started planning it a couple years ago. We spoke to our Director of Student Service, Mrs. CrumpStrawderman, and she was very enthusiastic and supportive and helped us get started," Brosnan said.

AHS has a committee that plans and provides the means for SLLM week, which, this year, consists of staff, such as teachers, school psychologists, counselors, a librarian, as well as students.

The students include students who participate in a large variety of activities for AHS, like The A-Blast, Leadership, Yearbook, Psychology, Art and Music, and any student who is interested in helping.

"Mr. Randazzo also helps by reviewing our ideas and giving us

Cont. "CoffeeHouse"

Sabrina River said.

Rivera has been a member of The Filament since her freshman year and is now the current editor-in-chief.

Auditions were held after school on Nov. 10 and Nov. 12 the previous week, and they ranged from an array of original poetry and raps to jazz quintets.

"I was just blown away by the amazing talent that Annandale students have. There's a lot of variety" The Filament sponsor Fusun Sulzbach said.

All types of artistic and creative performance are allowed.

The Filament can find a spot for anyone who wants to perform.

Performers are also not restricted to members of The Filament. In fact, most performers are not part of the club, such as junior Leif Jomaud, "I want to perform at the Coffee House because of my love for performing. I have been blessed with my talents and because of this blessing; it is my purpose to share it to the world no matter if the event is large or small," Jomaud said. "Also, I've been performing at the Coffee House ever since freshmen year and I would love to continue. This year, I am only performing with a new Vocal Group I created called "Stratosphere". We are an a cappella group consisting of three lead singers, two backing vocals, and a beat boxer."

The income generated from the Fall Coffee House, the The Filament club is sells tickets for the Cofeehouse. Tickets are only $3 during lunches but $4 if you buy it after school.

Spring Coffee House, and the ads in The Filament's magazine magazine. work towards paying for The Filament's end of the year

Emily Lien

Economic Statistics in Virginia

Nov. 18, 2014

JEA convention Financial Aid night held

By Jeanine Barakat

Cont. "convention"

chose three of the best newspapers from last year.

"I definitely think we can achieve this level of success again if next years' editors keep up the work that we continued this year," Golub said.

"We're aiming to earn the online and print Pacemaker awards as well as hopefully earning the VHSL Trophy Class ranking again."

Continue “Stress Less� Story On your smartphone, scan this code using the application "QR Code" to read the rest of the "Stress Less" story.

The award given to The A-Blast. Students recieved this award for Best Show.

Staff Writer

On Nov.12 in the Clausen Hall, Financial Aid Night was held. This event is held to inform students who are concerned with college payments. The director of financial aid at the University of Mary Washington, Heidi Hunter-Goldsworthy, attended and spoke about various aspects of financial aid.

She also discussed the importance of students getting informed about financial aid as soon as possible.

"It's important because there's a lot to learn and students don't often have the exposure to financial situations, they may not have a bank account, checking account or credit cards," director of financial aid Heidi Hunter- Goldsworthy said. "Financial aid is the very first time that they really step into the arena of what things cost and having to pay for them, including borrowing loans and applying for grants and scholarships. The younger you start learning about finances the better off you are."

Across the nation, financial aid assists students pay for college. Financial aid can come in a form of a grant, scholarship, or loan, which is offered to college students to help them pay for their college expenses.

As Hunter-Goldsworthy discussed these need to know facts about financial aid, she also discussed ways for students to find and apply for scholarships. Goldsworthy offered some advice to students on the topic of scholarships.

"Apply for everything, go to fastweb.com, apply for scholarships and search everything. Don't say no to

anything, take it all in and then look at all the different schools. Compare them, look at what they offer you and talk to your parents about what cost really is," HunterGoldsworthy said. "Also talk about what you're going to have to pull out of your pocket, and what these schools really offering to you. That's the best advice, be involved in the process, don't say mom and dad do it; you do it and have them be partnered with you."

Students and their parents in grades 9-12 were invited to attend and learn from Hunter-Goldsworthy.

Mostly juniors and seniors attended, as they are getting closer to college. This program is beneficial to the students at AHS but at the moment it is beneficial to juniors and especially seniors because regular decisions deadlines are nearing. Although mostly juniors and seniors attended, it served as an early preparation for the freshman and sophomores that attended as well.

"I'm just interested in college a lot and I attended because I'm curious and interested in financial aid. The college I want to go to, which is Duke University, is about $60,000 a year and I couldn't pay that so that's also why I came," sophomore Janu Gellert said.

Students were introduced and taught about all the different aspects concerning financial aid. Most students left with a new and better understanding of financial aid and applying for college.

"I didn't realize there were so many opportunities offered by schools, and this database filled with scholarships. I didn't realize how many pieces go into calculating financial aid and college money," junior Caitlin White said.

News Briefs PTSA Meeting

On Wednesday, Nov. 18, there will be a PTSA meeting in the school library from 7 to 9 p.m.

Parent/Teen Traffic Safety Night On Wednesday, Nov. 19, PTTSN will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Students planning on getting their liscense will need to attend.

Senior Dues Collection

Class of 2017 Bake Sale

Winter Sports Pictures

Collaboration Day

The Class of 2017 will hold a bake sale at the cafeteria lobby after school from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 21.

On Monday, Nov. 24, those playing a winter sport will report to the Clausen Hall for pictures.

On Tuesday, Dec. 2, there will be a collaboration. All grades except freshmen must arrive by 8:27 a.m.

College Planning & Admissions for Spanish Speakers

Seniors will need to have their $67 dollars by Wednesday, Dec. 3. The money will be collected during all lunches. Cash and checks are accepted.

Hispanic Leadership Bake Sale

Stress Less Laugh More

PTSA Mock ACT/SAT Testing Students who wish to take the Mock ACT/SAT must arrive at school by 8 a.m. and remain until 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 22.

Students who speak spanish can go to the Career Center on Monday, Dec. 1 on 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The Hispanic Leadership club will hold a bake sale in the cafeteria lobby on Tuesday, Dec. 2 from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

School psychologist Anne Brosnan will be leading the Stress Less Program. One event will be held on Thursday, Dec. 4 during all lunches in the Clausen Hall.

6 ACADEMICS Students work to improve their GPA

Nov. 18, 2014

Tips and pointers on raising your GPA

By ALAINA GARAY Academics Editor Not happy with your first quarter report card? Is it pulling your GPA down? You're not the only one. Sophomore Carson Goettlicher isn't quite fond of hers either.

"I got a C+ in Latin" Goettlicher said.

"Latin is so easy for me, having this grade made me think that maybe Latin was hard, or maybe I was just slacking."

"I think this poor grade brought my GPA down, but not drastically because I know I can get a 3.5 GPA or higher," Goettlicher said. "To improve this my thought was to be more persistent on my work and actually put effort into what I'm doing by being more persistent. I wish to find Latin to be as easy as I thought and for my grades to reflect my effort."

Students are just beginning the second

Students work on homework and get help from teachers after school.

quarter. For some students second quarter is a way to help you get back on track. Here are some ways to help you redeem yourself from your bad habits from first quarter.

Staying concentrated is hard in a classroom full of distraction. If you find your mind starting to wander in class, look at the clock. Tell yourself to focus on your teacher

for the next 10 minutes. If you're truly focusing, you won't notice the 10 minutes have past. Continue doing this every 10 minutes until it is not needed.

For your brain to perform at its best and to stay focused you need to eat well, sleep a lot and exercise.

Studies show that your brain cannot

focus when there are heaps of stuff on your desk. Clear off your desk and only have the things that are needed.

If you are worrying about a million things while trying to do your work you will not be able to focus.

Try writing down your non-study thoughts so you can clear your brain and get back to them later. When a teacher talks for a whole class it can get boring but realize that only you can make yourself bored. The teacher cannot make you bored; you choose to be bored. If you don't choose to be bored, then class will go by more quickly for you.

While a lot of students cringe at the idea of having homework, it is a task that needs to be done. When at home make specific areas for studying and homework, eliminate as much distraction as possible.

Work at a desk or table that has all the necessary supplies such as pencils, pens, paper, books, and other essentials. Turn off the TV at home while doing homework and studying. When it is study time, it is not TV time.

Take notes if you're reading a chapter.

Also learn how to skim through material and study tables and charts. Learn to summarize what you have read in your own words. A good studying habit is to make your own flashcards for quick review of dates, formulas, spelling words, etc.

You've probably heard about a hundred times that school should be your number

one priority. This doesn't mean you have to stop hanging out with your friends or not have a social life, this just means you need to manage your time. Do your homework right when you get it instead of waiting until the day before its due.

To stop procrastination try breaking your work into steps. Break down your project, then create an overall timeline with specific deadlines for each small task. This way, you know you have to finish each task by a certain date, because most of the time the reason why people procrastinate is because the work is overwhelming.

Try to create a deadline for yourself.

Having just one deadline for your work is like an invitation to procrastinate.

A great way to help raise your GPA is to participate in class. Open your mouth every once in a while during class and ask a question or a comment. If you're bouncing around from a B to an A, those points will really help you on your final grade.

When you don't understand something stay after with your teacher and get as much help as you can. Especially if you have a test the next day, because it is good to review your notes with your teacher before a test.

Although first quarter report cards might have made some students upset, Interims will be a good way to know if you're working more efficient.

Heard in the Hall: What's your advice on how to succeed at AHS?

"[My advice on how to succeed at AHS is to] Treat your teachers with respect and work as hard as you can. " AFOMIA ASSEFA freshman

"My advice on how to succeed at AHS is to do all your homework because it will help you in the long run.

You should also get as much help as you can from your teachers if they offer it."

"My advice is that you should really use your agenda."

SANTIAGO MEDRANO sophomore

"My biggest piece of advice is to find what you really like and IVANA JARIN to find where it can sophomore fit into the school.

So basically when you come to school every day you have something to look forward to."

DREW HENDRICKSON

"My advice is that you shouldn't procrastinate because eventually it's going to catch up to you and you will be overwhelmed by everything you have to do."

ALLIE REHBURG

"To be present in school. If you're absent, absent from life, absent from school there is no way that you can learn. If you can't learn, you can not be CRAGIN WINKLER successful.

Physical Education MIKE MATHIS

"To succeed at Annandale you have to participate whether it is in class doing a sport, doing a club, get yourself involved so you don't get in trouble."

senior

teacher

"I think to succeed you need to do all your homework and don't be afraid to ask your teachers for help when you need it. " ELIZABETH TUFTS Chemistry teacher

History teacher

senior

IB diploma candidate spotlight: Diana Nguyen Q: How do you keep up with your academics and social life?

A: Time management is essential to keeping up with my academics and social life.

Unfortunately, I spend a lot more time cooped up in my room doing homework than going out. IB basically beat my social life to death.

Before my junior year, I used to go out with my friends every week. Even if my friends and I don't go out to the movies or to the mall to hangout like we used to, we dedicate long weekends to catching up with each other on non-academic things and hang out.

Q: What is your favorite subject?

A: My favorite subject is math because there

ALAINA GARAY

are rules and everything is usually black and white. Furthermore, doing math problems is sometimes like solving puzzles, which can be equally frustrating and fun.

Q: Do you have any advice for future IB candidates?

A: To all future IB candidates, IB classes

Senior IB Diploma candidate Diana Nguyen

are not as bad as they seem once you get used to them. As long as you work out a schedule, plan your time wisely, and follow through, you should be fine.

Q: Who is your favorite IB teacher?

A: I do not have a favorite IB teacher since all of my IB teachers are pretty great, but my favorite group of IB teachers would be the Social Studies teachers, including Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Berry, Mr. Hawes and Mr. York. They always find ways to make class engaging and fun.

Abbreviate Adversity Anachronistic Antagonist Asylum Abstinence Aesthetic Anecdote Arid Adulation Amicable Anonymous Assiduous Benevolent

Censure Collaborate Conformist Circuitous Compromise Congregation Camaraderie Clairvoyant Conditional Convergence Deleterious Diligent Divergent Demagogue

Discredit Digression Disdain Enervating Exemplary Empathy Evanescent Exemplary Emulate Exasperation Extenuating Florid Fortuitous Frugal

Hackneyed Hypothesis Haughty Hedonist Impetuous Impute

Word search answers

Q: What are your studying habits?

A: My studying habits vary from class to class but in general, if I have a big test coming up and I know almost nothing about the topic, I devote at least two hours to going through my notes, typing up a study-guide, and reviewing my homework.

Q: Is your only focus academics?

A: I did cross country for three years, starting in my sophomore year as a way to relieve stress. I also

participate in clubs at school, like Just World and Key Club. Since all of my friends and I are always busy, going to the meetings or service opportunities is a way for us to hang out in school without stressing about school. I also dedicate my Friday afternoons to watching all of the shows I missed over the week, like The On your smartphone, Flash, Arrow and Modern Family. My favorite show of all times is definitely Sherlock on BBC, and watching it scan this code using always puts me in a better mood when I am feeling stressed and overwhelmed. the application “QR Code� to see the answers to the word search.

Q: What school do you want to go to and why?

A: My dream school would be Rice University because the students there are all friendly, quirky and intelligent. It also has a beautiful campus, and it has intense Quidditch competitions.

HEALTH 7

Nov. 18, 2014

Healthy DIY:

Do's and don'ts for this season

Skin care during the winter

Try a pumpkin face mask to help your skin become smooth

Eating DO: Knowing how to stay healthy and fit is important. Eating food rich in vitamins and nutrients that will keep the body and in shape. Eat oranges, kiwi, papaya, fish and vegetables such as cucumber, broccoli and tomatoes. These foods are rich in nutrients and omega 3 that help you to keep your system clean and soft.

Ingredients needed: -2 Tablespoons of organic canned pumpkin puree or a whole pumpkin -1/2 Tablespoon of organic honey -1/2 Tablespoon of milk ( your choice what kind of milk you will use)

Before you do anything, wash half of a pumpkin, remove it's seeds and then peel it. After you are done with peeling the portion you will be using, cut it into small pieces, put it a blender and then blend it until the pumpkin is no longer in pieces.

The pumpkin has to turn into a soft mixture, if it has small pieces, repeat the blending step again as many times as necessary but do not use water.

After the pumpkin is blended, using a clean plate put the mixture in it and add the cup of milk and the organic honey together and then mix it. Then, using your fingers, apply smoothly the mask to your face as if you are applying make up (avoiding your eyes). -Finally, leave the mask for 20 minutes.

Wash your face gently with warm water. This mask is recommended for any type of skin. The mask is great for the skin during the winter season. pumpkins contain A, C and E vitamins that help the skin to become smoother.

DON'T: Do not be like those people that during the summer they workout and over the winter they eat whatever they want. Try to avoid sugars such as candies, fast food and even coffee which contains lots of caffeine that is not good for the system because it has a lot of sugar that gets stored.

Try a face mask of Cultured milk to help you with skin dryness

Exercise DO: •

Ingredients needed: -1/4 of natural yogurt (any kind of yogurt of your choice).

-One cup of milk

Using a clean bowl, take a scoop of natural yogurt and a scoop of sour cream and mix until you get a soft mixture( mix about five minutes). After you are done blending the yogurt and the cream, add a scoop of milk and mix it all for another three to five minutes, then put it on a clean plate.

-One cup of sour cream

Put the mixture in a clean plate and apply the mask to your face avoiding the eyes and leave it there for 15 minutes until it dries or you feel like it's ready.

Finally wash the mask off using warm water after the 15 minutes have passed. You can repeat the process as many times as you want. This mask is recommended for people who suffer from dry skin.

The mask will help your skin a lot from drying itself during winter time. The ingredients help to soften and rejuvenate the dry skin.

Even though during the winter it is mostly cold, it is important to still stay in shape by doing indoor exercises like Zumba or Just Dance. It would not just help your body to stay in shape, but it will also help your cardio system and legs.

DON'T: Some people consider not doing exercises during the cold season, however, that affects the person's body since the routine has changed and the body is not used to the change.

Try to make a Chocolate oatmeal face mask for a sensitive skin

Use of sunscreen

DO: •

Ingredients needed: • -1/3 cup of melted chocolate • • -1/4 cup of pure honey • • -2 tablespoons of sour cream • (your choice)

•

Put a piece of chocolate in a pan and cook it for five minutes until it's melted.In a clean bowl put the 1/3 cup of melted chocolate and the pure honey together and mix. Then put the two tablespoons of the cream you chose and mix it.

Finally add the oatmeal and mix. Using your fingers, apply the mask to your face avoiding your eyes and leave it there for 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes have passed, remove it with warm water.

This mask can be used by any type of skin. The mask helps to give your skin more vitamins and exploitation. Also, it's main ingredient cocoa helps to reduce the skin from getting damage and old.

Just because summer is over it does not mean that you do not have to take care of your skin. Try to apply broad spectrun (a type of cream for the skin care) to your face and hands.

DON'T: •

Not applying anything to your face, lips and hands will cause severe damage such as dryness.

Three easy indoor exercises to try over the winter Run up and down the stairs • Walking up and down the stairs of your house is a good way of staying in shape during the winter. Instead of just walking, you can run down the stairs two or three times back and forth. It is easy and will help your muscles, legs and gluteus.

Do Zumba after school at your house

Use a jump rope •

Try to stay fit by using a jump rope.

Doing exercise with the jump rope will give your body a lot of benefits. It will give you more strength in your legs and arms. It is an easy and fun exercise that you can do after school or during the weekend.

•

Doing Zumba with your friends can be fun but also can be a hard workout that will keep you active and fit.

Zumba helps to workout your legs, and arms. It is fun and worth it. Zumba sessions are held here nearby Annandale at the Annandale Sport Health on 4317 Ravensworth Rd. The classes are held every Thursday from 6:30 to 7:30. p.m

8 PHOTO

Nov. 18, 2014

AHS Theater Presents...

A Line In The Sand A play about segregation and integration of schools in Norfolk, Virginia in the 1960s

Seniors AJ Walker and Daniet Girmay look for a reaction from their "son," freshman Billal Kamara, when a member of the NAACP, junior Natnael Weldegioris, tries to persuade Kamara to attend a white school during the 1950s. The author, Chris Hanna, came to watch the play on Thursday.

Alejandro Vinas makes last sound and media checks before the actors take the stage at dress rehearsal.

BAILEY OLIVER

COURTESY OF SARAH WOODWARD

Senior Andrea Pereira curls junior Sacha Cameron's hair before the start of the opening performance last Thursday. "The entire cast got really close. I've never been so close to a cast and we bonded really well so it's hard to let that go now that it's over," Cameron said.

Junior Sarah Woodward and sophomore Jessica Smith hang out at a diner and discuss how their parents would react to interracial

Media designer junior Long Nguyen writes down notes in preparation for the last dress rehearsal.

Some play members hang out and set up before rehearsing for one of their last practices before opening night.

Theatre teacher Noelle Vinas directs the actors and actresses while they warm up before dress rehearsal.

"Acting in general is fun, but being in a play is fun as well because you get to be really close with the people you perform with," Woodward said.

Play members gather in a faith circle to have a pep talk and relax before the opening act of their last dress rehearsal. "I think that it was an incredible experience overall, I learned so much as an actor from our cast and our director," junior Trevor Boynton said, "I think it was a really important play and I hope that the message came through."

ARTS 9

Nov. 18, 2014

Staging a work of art Set designers for A Line in the Sand share the process of making the stage come to life

Jessica Smith, Media Designer

Meet the Team

BAILEY OLIVER

BAILEY OLIVER

Noah Woodward, Set Designer & Technical Director

Furniture

The wall

Noah: We just pick the tables according to the time period and what we thought would fit in. We have some houses like the latten home. We have all props and all the set tables and desks and everything already picked out.

Noah: We have a brick wall that is unfinished on purpose, because it is meant to symbolize how on one side it is completely finished, which says that in the beginning of the '50s, you couldn't break through the wall when you were a colored person. You were stuck in that time, but over time the wall broke down because you broke that wall of racism. You were once again "free".

Noah: With the cage design, it was a whole three week process and it's all basically metal pipes put together and it's about 300 pounds a piece.

The point of the cage is to symbolize how racism entraps you and keeps you captured in the '50s and how people were stuck and how they couldn't get out.

Jessica: We got monitors and then we bolted them onto the cage.

Then, what we do for content is I got videos off of Youtube and pictures off of Google images and I put them into powerpoints and arranged them chronologically depending on the scene.

On your smartphone, scan this QR code using the application QR Code Reader to read more of what Jessica and Noah had to say.

Facing Challenges BAILEY OLIVER

Jessica: We just wanted to make it [the cage] really grungy and disgusting.

ONLINE: BEHIND THE SCENES SET DESIGN INTERVIEW

"The Cage"

Noah: One of the hardest parts was probably the brick wall, which gets covered during some scenes, because obviously you can't have that [being seen] in a house, so the hard part was finding some set pieces to put in the background to make it not seem bland and not just with the two cages.

Jessica: We had to weld the pipes into the stage and that was a big issue. Another challenge was that we didn't have enough supplies, so that [the building process] was also delayed and the fact that Ms. Vinas was working with us just recently, that was a big challenge, so we had a lot of changes.

Set Designer Noah Woodward had to construct a detailed drawing of "the cage", to establish the proper placement of parts and in order to be as cost efficent as possible when buying supplies.

Amani Muntu, Freshman Q: What is it that you do and what got you into doing it? Why do you do it?

A: My best friend Tehya Moss got me into dancing almost 10 years ago!

The reason I keep doing it is because of the passion I've had for so many years.

Q: What materials/equipment do you use for what you do?

A: Equipment we use are the different types of shoes. Ballet shoes are made of canvas and others like tap shoes are made of leather and

have metal on the bottoms to make noise.

Q: What is it about what you do that you enjoy? What sets what you do apart from other types of art or other activities?

A: What makes me love dance more than any other activity is that I can tell so many stories through my movement.

Q: What advice do you have for other young, developing artists?

A: Advice I would give to someone is to never give up! If you're doing something you love it shouldn't matter your skill level.

Q: What do you plan to do with your talents in the future?

A: In the future I hope to get a dance scholarship, dance through college and see wherever auditions and performances take me.

Q: Do you have a favorite painting or piece of art? Do you have a favorite personal work?

A: My favorite song right now is "Not in That Way" by Sam Smith because his voice is perfect and it's a great song to dance to.

Q: What would you say to someone that wants to get into creating art, whatever form of art it may be (artwork, music, literature)?

A: For someone wanting to get into an art I would advise to not get upset in the beginning if you're not succeeding right away.

PHOTO COURTESY OF AMANI MUNTU

Want to have your art featured in the next issue of The A-Blast? Each issue, the Arts page will pick a student's art of submitted content and feature a their work of art on the Arts page. All mediums are welcome, whether it be a painting, doodle, poem or song. Videos can be submitted too! Send all submissions, or if you have questions, to ablastartsmailbox@ gmail.com, or send it to our dropbox (using the same email as above) for files larger than 2 GB.

AHMAD AYUB

Featured artist of the month PHOTO COURTESY OF STEPHANIE SOLORZANO

Featured art of the issue

Amani Muntu practices dancing.

12 PEOPLE Seniors make music personal

Nov. 18, 2014

PHOTO COURTESY OF AMIR DAVIS

When rapping becomes more than a hobby

BY BIRUK NEGASH & MARIA SUAREZ People Editor and Staff Writer Seniors Amir Davis and Joseph Koroma pose for a picture. The two have been collaborating together and have produced their music on SoundCloud.

"Superheroes" by "Still Grateful" by

by Kid JC 4.

3.

1. Ft."Timing" 2.

Astro Davis Ft. Kid Astro Davis Astro Davis

"No More" by Kid JC

JC

A

s for Koroma, he is inspired from his surroundings and personal feelings.

"My inspirations are stuff that I'm feeling, stuff that you can't just go out and say every day and stuff that you hold in. I spend a lot of time looking at people, looking at the world and I use that and express it in my music," Koroma said.

Their songs are based on their relationships, their future ambitions and expressing who they are. "Reaching 2,000 views on SoundCloud and meeting new people is dope as well," Davis said in terms of their accomplishments.

They have performed for different audiences and are gradually expanding their abilities. Koroma and Davis have performed at several places like Homecoming; Heritage Night and individual performances at AHS coffee house and even at George Mason University annually, in a program Koroma participates in.

Davis' advice to students who are interested in pursuing music is to be patient and observe those around you.

"Learn from people's mistakes and your mistakes as well," Davis said. "It's not easy. People always think it's easy. You should just start on your own and do everything by yourself. Roll into it."

Koroma's advice to others consists of similar concepts.

"Start off on your own. Sometimes we get people that ask if they can start doing stuff with us, but they're not ready for us yet," Koroma said. "You can't just jump up to where we are. We started off low and you have to just take your own journey."

Despite their passion for music, they have other priorities to attend to and must organize their schedules.

"During the winter, I'm usually working on basketball.

Other than that, I'm always on music and school work. I try to balance it. I used to stay up until three in the morning just working on music, thinking about new things, and working on content," Davis said.

WHO AM I? •

This is my fourth year teaching at AHS

•

I attended East Henderson High in North Carolina

•

I went to the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

•

I grew up in Asheville, North Carolina

•

My favorite shows are The Office, Scandal and The Voice

•

My favorite book is Boy 21 by Matthew Quick

•

My favorite book to teach is The Great Gatsby

•

I always have my students talk in front of the entire student body however, I’m terrified of speaking in front of large groups of people

•

I played club basketball in college

•

One interesting fact about me is that I’m learning how to knit

ASTRO DAVIS FUN FACTS · Collects graphic and design socks · Played the alto saxophone and piano in middle school · Plans to release a mix tape in the winter · His mom is Egyptian and Italian and his dad is black and Native American · He got the name Astro from the Astro Boy comic · The first album that he owned was Marvin Gaye's What's Going On

PHOTO COURTESY OF AMIR DAVIS

about themselves.

"I think this is a talent," Davis said. "At first I was messing around and thinking my music wouldn't be that good and then when I put it out on SoundCloud, I saw the thousands of views with Joseph and I started taking it more serious. Now it's like a job."

Koroma, on the other hand, believes his music ties into more than one aspect of the spectrum. To him music is always about developing and getting better. He has began to take music more seriously after he saw progress in the development of his music .

Since they started pursuing music, their style has changed over time.

"Vocabulary gets bigger and music flows better," Davis said.

Koroma describes his change in style as being able to develop into his own person.

"The lyrics have gotten more detailed and as you get older, the music changes, and it starts flowing. Before I sounded too much like one artist and too much like another and now I sound like myself.

Now I have my own identity," Koroma said.

Davis's musical inspirations when writing his songs consist of trying to relate with what people are thinking and as well as his personal experiences.

"With my music, I try to say the stuff that people are thinking, but don't have the courage to say. I talk about my life and I try to relate with my audience and the people I make music for," Davis said.

Amir Davis poses for the cover of his single "Invincible."

KID JC FUN FACTS · Auditioned for America's Got Talent in middle school PHOTO COURTESY OF JOSEPH KOROMA

I

've always had this dream when I was a kid of having a sold out show in Madison Square Garden," senior Joseph Koroma said.

"I want to travel the world and help everyone that supported me while I was growing up and doing this," senior Amir Davis said.

Music has always been more than a passion for Koroma and Davis. It is something that they hope to pursue as a career. Koroma, who is best known as Kid JC, and Davis who is known as Astro Davis, have produced multiple songs and remixes together on SoundCloud.

Davis' interest in music first started off as poetry from a young age. When he was in the seventh grade he began rapping in what he considers was "low-key." Koroma's interest started around the age of 15 after the creation of his rapper name he started to see himself as an artist.

The two met at Poe Middle School. Koroma helped Davis adjust to the middle school after arriving from Alexandria Public Schools.

Over the course of their friendship, they soon realized that music was something that united them. Davis observed Koroma and was able to expand his interest after he saw him succeed.

"There was this one day where we were going to a birthday party and I was showing him one of my verses," Koroma said. "He started singing and messing around with it. I heard it and I told him that it was really good. He had this beat for me and he sent it to me and I wrote a verse and he wrote a verse and we ended up singing it at Heritage Night last year."

The use of technology has played a big part in their music. They have been able to change and modify their use in technology since they first started. During their earlier years working on their music consisted of using a webcam microphone in Koroma's room and with Davis computer software they were able to produce music. Several of the recordings take place at Davis' house where they are able to manipulate the sounds and effects.

"At first it was just a fake green screen and now we do a lot of our stuff in my house until we get an actual studio, probably next year.

We started off with a lot of basic stuff and made it something big," Davis said.

Both artists have varied music inspirations that have helped them expand in their music styles. Koroma's music inspirations are Drake Chance the Rapper, Kendrick Lamar and Frank Ocean. Davis' musical influences consist of old school stuff like Wu Tang, Frank Sinatra and Marvin Gaye.

The process to writing songs can sometimes be lengthy and tedious. After Koroma finds beats on YouTube, he tries to connect to how he feels. Perfection is important to him before he shows it to Davis to work on. Davis attempts his process with writing first and then adding in the music. After he has the lyrics he finds a beat that flows and then he shows it to his group.

The duo is consistently challenged, but they keep moving forward towards their goal.

"Some of the challenges are getting my views up. It started off really low and I never even expected to get 500 to 1,000 views," Koroma said. "Staying patient is always hard."

As for Davis, keeping everyone united is a challenge that he takes on personally.

"Trying to get everyone together in a group can sometimes be a challenge because every now and then someone has to take responsibility for it and trying to get people to listen to ," Davis said. "The biggest challenge, like Joseph said, is staying patient and having to wait and watch what happens."

The musical duo however, has expanded recently with additions to their group.

"It started off as just us two and then we made a rap group called The New Youth and we have people like senior Andre Wright, two kids that graduated and then some middle school kids as well," Koroma said.

Over time, as the two rappers have grown, they have also learned

· He plans on releasing a mix tape in the spring · The "C" in Kid JC comes from his middle name Casim · Played football all four years in high school · Originally going to choose "The Kid" as his rap name · His first microphone was a webcam microphone

Joseph Koroma poses with rap name for musical purposes.

Davis's favorite thing about pursuing music is that it allow him to be something he isn't always allowed to be.

"You have an excuse to do things you can't do. It's like an alter ego because you get to be something you're not. You get to touch other people with the music. It's cool," Davis said.

Koroma shares his favorite thing about pursuing music is the emotion that he gets from it.

"The explosion you get from it. The feeling when you're on stage in front of people and you're able to express yourself. You can't do that just walking around being normal. You get to step outside of your normal self," Koroma said.

When performing, Davis and Koroma have techniques that allow them not to be as nervous.

"Before, I get nervous, but when we get on stage it's all gone," Davis said.

"I usually get nervous right before. At homecoming I got pretty nervous, but then once the music goes on, it's just natural for me," Koroma said.

wesome toms Raiza Parada received the Awesome Atom Award for volunteering a lot of her time to work with students and multiple school organizations.

Special education teacher Christine Passut received the Awesome Atom award for approaching each student as an individual with specific needs and different learning styles.

Senior Astrid Islande received the Awesome Atom Award for having a unique ability to inspire her peers, gain respect from those around her, and for taking an active anti-bullying stand.

Zolia Contreras received the Awesome Atom Award for having a positive attitude and for being an exemplary professional. Her dedication to FCPS and caring about the students well-being at AHS is greatly appreciated.

INTERNATIONAL 13 Thanksgiving around the world Nov. 18, 2014

AHS teachers and students talk about their traditions and activities during the holiday International Editor & Staff Writer

Considering the diversity at AHS, there is more than just one way to celebrate Thanksgiving aside from eating turkey and mashed potatoes.

Thanksgiving dates back to the 1600's. Although the holiday originated in the U.S., there are many immigrants that live in the US that have added their own cultural change to the tradition.

The common Thanksgiving tradition is watching football with family, then eating turkey, mashed potato and yams for dinner.

But throughout the years, many different cultures have been introduced to the U.S. Thanksgiving in Greece is celebrated for the same reason as the U.S. does for giving thanks for what is on their dinner table.

Therefore, they eat stuffed turkey or lamb, spinach and cheese pie and brown lentils and rice.

"We carry on a tradition that has been going on for years, my grandmother made a Greek stuffing that she labored over for two days, then she taught my dad how to do it, then he taught it to me, then I taught it to my wife, then she taught it to our children and that's something

that's special for us," said assistant principal Jamie Carayiannis.

Other families consider the upcoming holiday's while preparing for Thanksgiving.

In other countries, such as Sierra Leone they celebrate Thanksgiving as a remembrance day. They celebrate it by eating different African foods such as African pumpkin soup, savory mixed beans and fried rice.

Similar to junior Kadijah Sesay, senior Ariana Daiyan also has a

"My family and I eat lamb instead of turkey on Thanksgiving because we enjoy the taste of lamb over turkey."

Kadijah Sesay

ing ksgiv lbs n a h 30 tT abou ing turkey isturity s t c a a v Fun f ge Thanksgi athers at mnnot fly

WHITEHOUSE.GOV

BY SUMMAR AYOUB AND JEANINE BARAKAT

President Barack Obama with his daughters, Malia and Sasha, pardon the turkey "Liberty", on Nov. 23, 2011 in the White House.

Daiyan said.

Daiyan is Bengali. Nabanna is the name for the Bengali Thanksgiving. The word Nabanna translates to the word "new crop".

This particular harvest festival is celebrated with dancing and traditional food, although their main focus of the holiday is food.

Bengali cuisine such as Pithe is served and offered at many locations during this holiday.

Irreechaa is the name for the Ethiopian Thanksgiving, which has been celebrated for over 500 years.

This holiday originated from the

junior

unique twist to her Thanksgiving turkey.

"Instead of having a normal turkey for Thanksgiving, my family and I eat a spicy marinated turkey for Thanksgiving," senior Ariana

Egyptians, and was passed down throughout different cultures.

"We have thanksgiving lunch with close family, then we have Thanksgiving dinner with extended family, there is a lot of food at both events," senior Beza Yospeh said.

Although Thanksgiving is a well-known holiday for its original traditions, it has many other tweaks to it depending on the families it is celebrated by. This holiday is celebrated for giving thanks and having appreciation for their food that they are about to eat and celebrate their happiness.

r fe ra h yea ca 3,500 d turkeys e sold eac d e v a ys ar eys h raise ange - Turk mercially llion turke ng was ch i i - Com ut 280 m hanksgiv igin -Abo date of T my. us or .S. o i g i l e o U re - Th he econ have in the ost t g doesn't iginated o b o t or vin g was nksgi - Tha anksgivin - Th - Ave

- Sarah H - Wild tu ale started Th an rkeys so metime ksgiving - Every s sleep in p resid - Deer w as serve ent pardons a trees d on turk -Pumpk in pie o the first Thank ey riginate d in Am sgiving erica Source: Huffington Post

The history behind Thanksgiving foods Turkey

Apple cider

During the first Thanksgiving, Pilgrims and Indians shared the delicious joy of eating a turkey together, thanks to the Spanish who were their imperial rivals.

The Spaniards encountered turkeys in their early years in the New World. Therefore turkey became popular from western Europe to the Mediterranean.

Turkey is now enjoyed in almost every American household on the day of Thanksgiving.

Apple cider was introduced to the U.S. by the people of Europe. In the spring and summer time, colonists would nourish their orchard trees so during the fall they would be able to enjoy their homemade apple cider.

The colonists would often say that apple cider was healthier and cleaner than water.

The colonists of Massachusetts would drink an average of 35 gallons of cider per person per year.

Cranberry sauce

Pumpkin pie

The turkey's most popular companion is cranberry sauce. It's reported that Indians and English use it excessively, boiling them with sugar for a sauce to eat with their meat.

In the 17th century German settlers called cranberries a legacy fruit. The cranberry is also known as the native food because the people had raised and eaten berries for a while.

Dating back to the 1600's, colonists used to make cookbooks containing various pumpkin pie recipes. It was not until the 1800's that people started including pumpkin pie in their Thanksgiving meal.

In 1869, the Connecticut Courant called the pie an inevitable Thanksgiving dish. Throughout the years, pumpkin pie has had many changes made to it, including going vegan.

Source: Washington Post

Do you think other countries outside of the U.S. celebrate Thanksgiving?

"I think Thanksgiving is celebrated in other countries because a lot of countries show some of the same interests."

ADRIEN HENAO freshman

"I think other countries may celebrate Thanksgiving, but with a harvest festival."

"Yes, I do think Thanksgiving is celebrated in other countries because Thanksgiving is an important holiday."

BRYAN ZAMBRANA ANICA LIND freshman

sophomore

"No, I don't think that Thanksgiving is celebrated in other countries because it's an American holiday."

"Yes, I think Thanksgiving is celebrated in other countries like Canada."

GABRIELA JORDAN

TUCKER MACK

sophomore

junior

"I think other countries celebrate holidays that are the same as Thanksgiving but with a different name."

AMANDA ADENAN

"Yes, I do think Thanksgiving is celebrated in other countries, but on different days."

junior

SHAWN COURTNEY senior

"In my opinion Thanksgiving is an American holiday therefore it is only celebrated in America."

BEZA YOSEPH senior

Annandale: American Stories

BY RODRIGO SANCHEZ Special to the A-Blast Imagine living in a new country with a different life style. In my case, when I came here it forced me to adapt to a new system.

However, this made me learn new things and gain new experiences such as school, food and transportation.

First of all, a main difference between the schools in America and Peru are that some schools from Peru are pretty small. Schools in the United States are mostly bigger with the capacity of hundreds or thousands of students.

I came from a Catholic school where we were required to wear uniforms every school day. We had to wear uniforms to school every day because of the rules that existed. However, here in Annandale the school allows students to wear normal clothes, but it has to be appropriate.

During lunch students have to pay for their food and have a duration of 30 minutes to eat. I like the United States because the government is based on the education for the students and provide free lunch, books and help with technology.

Secondly, Peru is recognized for their variety of food and drinks.

When talking about Peruvian drinks, the first that comes to mind is the Pisco, Peru's National Drink. Pisco Sour is a welcoming cocktail for guests or is drunk before you eat a Peruvian meal.

However, there are some guests that like to start with our famous dish called Ceviche. Ceviche is the pride dish of all Peruvians. Ceviche is made of five ingredients. These ingredients are fish, lemon, chili peppers, onions and salt. Along with the variety of ingredients that people use to make Ceviche, this dish has a certain and unique Peruvian style and taste. Here in the United States I found some Peruvian Restaurants with different styles, ingredients and tastes.

Lastly, talking about transportation in my country, I will say that we have a diversity of transportation. The most common public transportation in Lima is the bus. People prefer to ride the bus because it is cheaper and you will find it anywhere at any time of the day.

In addition, there are some Peruvians that prefer to buy their own car and turn it into a cab to make a couple of extra bucks. However, in the United States people are more independent than the people in Peru. People in the United States buy and drive their own cars. Also, buses are organized and responsible for coming to a certain location on time.

In conclusion, living in a new country is difficult for me, but the experiences I faced helped me to develop new skills in school and become an independent person in my life. There could be some differences between United States and Peru, but I'm happy to have a new life with my family here in U.S. and I'm still proud to be a Peruvian.

PHOTO COURTESY OF RODRIGO SANCHEZ

First person accounts of immigrants coming to the United States

Rodrigo Sanchez is posing with his mother (Lilia), aunt (Carmen Mogrovejo), cousin (Allyson Mogrovejo), and sister (Jalinne) in their house in Peru (right to left).

14 LIFESTYLES

Nov. 18, 2014

Springfield Mall opens as town center "I like the new town center because it's cleaner, organized and has more stores, but they're expensive," junior Joyce Romero said.

With the Regal theater's new wine, dine and recline motto, the amenities offered are endless. The new theater has been constructed and remodeled with reclining chairs, adjustable table tops and a lobby that includes a full bar where adult guests can unwind.

"The theater is very comfortable, and it has a tray where you can put your stuff and there's more space," junior Symone Jenkins said.

You get a variety of stores that range from retail to high end designer store, including the sale of beauty products. A few stores are Clarks, Pacsun, Sephora, Nordstrom

BY THIDA PATHAMMAVONG AND MAREM ATEF Staff Writers Fighting against traffic when you go last minute shopping at Tyson's Corner? The new and improved town center is place to go. Springfield Town Center made its debut on Oct. 17 after a seemingly endless two year renovation.

Many students are pleased with the remodeling as it includes a new movie theater, two floor retail and many restaurants both indoor and outdoor that reflect the town center style. Compared to the interior before the renovation, it became more modernized and people friendly.

PHOTO COURTESY: TO SPRINGFIELD TOWN CENTER

Students look forward to Maggiano's, Topshop and Dave and Busters

Many people have arrived at the town center and look forward to the new and improved stores and restaurants. Shoppers rush to the opening of Topshop.

Rack, Michael Kors and Bath and Body Works.

The construction of the brandnew stores Topshop, H&M and Forever 21 caught the attention of many students. The popular awaited Topshop brand has emerged from Nordstrom to their own store. To celebrate the opening of Springfield Town Center, Topshop had a photo booth and served drinks to greet the shoppers entering the store.

"The Topshop in Springfield has more merchandise than the Topshop section of Nordstrom in Tysons Corner Mall," senior Toba Rasoli said.

The previous Forever 21 at Springfield was renovated and improved to consist of two floors. It provides various types of clothing for men and women. The store provides the latest trends including their collection of styles.

Forever 21 has a variety of styles such as Modern Femme, Bohemian, Heritage, Minimalist and Free Spirit.

The collections are inspired by the latest trends and seasons. Minimalist and Bohemian seem to be the most fashionable trend right now.

Across from Forever 21, you can find a two floored H&M. H&M focuses

mainly on business attire for adults.

The first floor of the H&M consists of the women's apparel, while the men's section is located downstairs.

Outdoor dining is provided for those who love to enjoy their meals in the beautiful weather. The expanded and spacious food court on the second floor lets diners have a beautiful view of the outdoors.

As of right now there are only a few functioning outdoor and indoor restaurants available to shoppers.

The current places to dine at are located on the upper level, which include Sarku, Tutti Frutti, Panda Express and Auntie Annes. They will continue to construct more dining areas such as Chipotle and Dino's Little Italy.

Springfield Town Center has gained many people's attention due to the renovation and modernization.

The creation of the new stores attracts people of all ages.

The average shopper can't find some of the stores available at this mall in other local malls. This gives access to everyone's personal style and allows a wider range of up to date trends and fashion.

What to wear in any weather guide: Fall 2014 Raining

Sunny

Chunky sweater Urban Outfitters $50

Windy Cropped plaid sweater H&M $20

Ribbed crop top Topshop $16

Sweaters are always a go to top. When you don't feel like dressing up throw on a chunky sweater. Go for dark fall colors.

This black and white plaid top is an alternative for wearing a simple plain shirt. This pattern gives a vintage appearance.

Ribbed crop tops are very trendy for the season. Although it is a basic tee, the design makes the shirt more appealing.

Scarf H&M $12

Leather jacket Forever 21 $30

Marled pattern skirt Forever 21

You can never go wrong with your favorite scarf and a cozy sweater. Add a little bit of your own style to the basic fall outfit.

Layers! Layers! Layers!

Keep yourself warm without wearing a parka.

Leather jackets will give your outfit an edgy look.

Marled patterns give a more classy look without looking overdressed. These colors bring a modern look to your classic

Leggings PINK $20

Knee socks Steve Madden $12

Leggings are obviously the most comfortable pants ever and are perfect for the fall sweater look.

Boyfriend jeans American Eagle $40

Don't let the cold weather stop you from wearing a skirt. Add knee socks to keep your legs warm and make your outfit pop.

Riding boots Forever 21 $39

Skinny jeans are overrated and boyfriend jeans are so in right now. The rips in the jeans add a more daring appeal.

Ankle boots Aldo $90

Combat boots Urban Outfitters $60

Riding boots are great for gloomy, icky weather. They will keep your feet dry and you will be comfortable. Plus they are adorable.

Combat boots are magnificent for completing a model-offduty look. These black boots are great for looking stylish at fall activities.

MADIE WALSH SOPHOMORE

Ankle boots are the type of shoes you can wear with any outfit and make it look fabulous.

HIWOT DAGNACHEW SENIOR

SARAH DEIBLE JUNIOR

Compiled by Marilyn Rivas and Soulisa Pathammavong

Heard in the Hall: What is your fall must-have?

"My favorite fall essential is a sweater."

"A jacket because it is important to stay warm this season."

"Boots because they are very comfortable and warm."

"A book because it keeps you entertained."

KATHERINE ANGEL

ELLIE FRANCIS

GENESIS GARCIA

SAAD FAROOQ

freshman

freshman

sophomore

sophomore

"My favorite fall essential are fuzzy socks because they are warm and cozy and come in clutch."

"You know you can never go wrong with ear muffs. Don't forget to keep your ears warm."

DIANNA AGEYMAN

MAHLATE BURKET

junior

junior

"My must-have for this season is definitely leggings."

"My fall must-have are athletic hoodies and sweatpants. "

CODY REAGAN

MICHAEL VELASQUEZ

senior

senior

Compiled by Marem Atef

SPORTS X-TRA 15

Nov. 18, 2014

Battlefield coach has Annandale roots Coach Mark Cox won the 1978 state title as quarterback for the Atoms

BY FAISAL HASSEN

Mark Cox was the starting quarterback for the 1978 state championship team.

DANIEL YENEGETA

coaching at Annandale. My goal in coaching was to build the same strong tradition at Battlefield," Cox said.

Coach Cox was excited to play his old school, where he learned all of the things that made him the coach he is today.

"It was really nice getting to see a lot of old friends and be able to catch up with them," Cox said. "Playing your old school in the playoffs is like a win win situation. Of course there was an extra incentive to beat Annandale. When you play or coach against friends, you always want to win."

However, Cox knew that he could not let the excitement get to him, and tried to get ready for this game as if there was nothing special about it.

"We prepared for this game like we prepare for any other. We wanted to play the way that we had done throughout our regular season. We wanted to play the same football that allowed us to go 9-1," Cox said.

Unfortunately, AHS fought hard but could not endure what the Battlefield Bobcats had to offer. AHS lost 49-20.

Although that loss ended their season, AHS football had an amazing turnaround this year and that is something both the players and staff are proud of.

"Annandale had a great year, my hat is off to Mike and all the coaches for what they've done with the team. To go from 2-8 to 6-4 is no small feat. It's a really big accomplishment," Cox said.

The 1978 state championship trophy resides in the jock lobby.

The 1978 varsity football team won the state title under Coach Bob Hardage. The main gymnasium bears his name.

favored teams such as the Netherlands, Italy and Spain. However, the champion of the World Cup was Germany. Some fans then began to say that they were Germany fans simply because Germany won the World Cup. Arjen Robben, a player for Bayern Munich and the Netherlands international team is a world class player who could have his own fan base. If he was to switch his club team, many Bayern Munich fans could switch their favorite team to whatever team Robben goes to.

A way that sports teams are even developed are by their sponsors. If the sponsors make team merchandise, new fans have to buy the merchandise.

This is a good way for new fans to get more pride for their new team, and for their team's sponsors to stay with that team.

If a person new to football decided to like the Seahawks because he heard all the news about them, he would be considered a bandwagon.

However, every person wants to see their favorite team win. If a person chooses a team for a player or position, let them do as they please. Let that person support whoever they want to support.

Bandwagoning is generally a no. However, under certain circumstances it can be For example,

BY KAYEE LYNCH accepted. you move from San Staff Writer Diego, home of the San Diego Chargers, to Atlanta, home of the Atlanta Falcons. Due to your new location, you may want to switch and support your new local NFL team. Another instance could be if you were to marry into a team. Your husband or wife is a diehard Baltimore Ravens fan. To prevent conflict in the household, you may switch to becoming a Ravens fan.

However, some sports bandwagon fans more than others, are in my opinion imitators, posers or team-hoppers. By bandwagoning, you lose your own input of opinion and just hop on board to whatever team is highly favored at the time. Your average bandwagoner will know who is currently the highest ranked team of the sport, imitate the actions of loyal supporter, and suddenly begin to buy all their fan gear posing as a real fan.

There have been way too many times where I've seen basketball and football fans hop on to another team's wagon and abandon their favorite team. I've seen a die-hard Washington Redskins fan all of a sudden transform into the ultimate Dallas Cowboys fan. As an actual Dallas Cowboys fan, I find that very offensive. I am probably not the only person who would find it offensive as well. Other fans of the team would find it just as offensive as I would.

Just because your team had a terrible season does not justify your decision to leave them and join the team of the moment. Not only is that betrayal by favoring the enemy, but where is your dedication? Disregarding the great victories, where were you especially when times got rough? Where's the loyalty you proclaimed to your beloved team? Quite frankly, I don't think there ever was any loyalty.

Not only are these socalled fans easy to call out, but they're the easiest to spot.

Band-wagoners usually will not retain the memories as well as the knowledge of a true fan. Unlike a genuine spectator who could possibly reiterate stats and the roster off the top of their head, a poser would have to use Google or the league's website for assistance.

It would be shocking to me if they even knew what the record is.

Problems with bandwagon fans are that the so-called supporters won't be able to legitimately rejoice when their team wins, or cry when being defeated in the last moments of the game. Being able to look back and recall the greatest moments in the team's history is a part of the experience.

Sports teams do not need bandwagon fans. They need authentic, original fans in the stands at a home game or at home, on the couch, shouting to their television screens at the top of their lungs.

Bandwagoners need to hop off the wagon. You may think you're a true fan but in all reality, you're a follower. Your love for a team should not sway depending on a scoreboard.

PHOTO COURTESY OF NBA.COM

YES

The 1978 state championship banner is in the main gym for all to see.

Is being a bandwagon fan okay?

NO

PHOTO COURTESY OF NBA.COM

As transfer windows open up in the world of sports and franchise

BY RAPHAEL YU players enter free Staff Writer agency, teams with money are able to prosper. Some of the best players in the world join different teams, as do the fans of the sport. In soccer, there are great rivalries between teams. A fan can favor a certain team for a long time, or a fan could have recently started to like the team.

However, some fans might not fancy the whole team, but individual players.

For example, if a person liked LeBron James, and James went from the Heat to the Cavaliers, a fan could switch from liking the Heat to liking the Cavaliers.

Some may call this fan a bandwagon fan. I feel like someone who switches teams constantly is a bandwagon fan.

Even if the fan switches teams just because a player that they like switches teams, they are still a bandwagon fan.

However, I feel like bandwagoning is okay. In the basketball world, there are teams that obtain very good players and they would end up leading the league. A person might want to support the next big team. Maybe the fans favorite player switched teams, and they decided to like that team now.

In the soccer world, the transfer window is a very big thing. It's the teams with the most money who obtain the very best players. A person could like Lionel Messi, who is controversially the best player in the world. If Messi was to ever switch teams from Barcelona to Bayern Munich, it is very possible for Messi fans to become Bayern Munich fans.

During the World Cup, many fans

DANIEL YENEGETA

PHOTO COURTESY OF ANTENNA YEARBOOK

Usually not too many alumni are remembered, but there's a reason to remember Battlefield HS varsity football head coach Mark Cox. As a sophomore, Cox played quarterback for the AHS varsity football team. He was the much needed quarterback that led AHS to their state championship in 1978.

AHS was undefeated that year and ended the year ranked number one in the state.

Last Friday, Cox went face to face with his former school and colleagues. After many years away from AHS, Cox still has fond memories of his old school.

"What I remember the most is the friendships that will last forever and the great teammates and coaches that I had the pleasure of playing with," Cox said.

AHS has one of the strongest football traditions in the county. AHS has six state titles to its name, the first of which came in 1965., 11 years after AHS first opened its doors. The tradition continues to this day.

For years, rival schools have attempted to create that same tradition and emulate the success that AHS has. It has to do with the players dedication and willingness to win.

Coach Scott has that same tradition with the current varsity football team.

"What I remember about Annandale the most is the tradition the football program had and still has. Everything I have done as a player and as a coach, was and is, a direct result of what I learned from playing and

PHOTO COURTESY OF ANTENNA YEARBOOK

Staff Writer

How do you prepare for winter sports during the offseason?

"I stay in shape by practicing and I run a mile or two every day."

DONTAE JOHNSON sophomore

"I do workouts, lifting and conditioning.

I also work on the fundamentals of basketball and lower body workouts."

"I practice five times a week. Then I do sprints and lifting three times a week."

"I have offseason practices and three tournaments per month."

"I do AAU workouts and school workouts.

I also do independent drills in the summer."

"I workout during the week with lifting and skill building. I also practice at the basketball court in my neighborhood."

"I went to a camp at Penn State. I also lifted and gained enough pounds of muscle to move into a new weight class."

JORDAN ADAMS

FRANCIS SILLAH

WESLEY MILLER

sophomore

senior

senior

AARON BOYD

AZAMAT ISRAILOV

DINI MOHAMUD

junior

junior

junior

"I run and workout at home and in the offseason I do club swim."

MADDY COOK senior

16 SPORTS

Nov 18, 2014

WINTER SPORTS PREVIEW Wrestling season begins strong

BY NEBEYU SOLOMON Staff Writer With fall coming to an end, it's the start of a new season and one sport we will be looking for is wrestling.

After the Atoms impressive season last year, they look to improve and succeed, focusing on one goal: winning districts as a team. Individual goals are set for certain returning state competitors trying bring home the gold.

Wrestling coach Keith Sholders has high hopes for their season.

Sholders talks about how his team has prepared for the season.

"We are working together, running, lifting and working extremely hard," Sholders said. "I am most excited for our team unity and coming together and rise above each challenge we have."

The Grappling Atoms have

Grapplin' Atoms Senior wrestler Wesley Miller finishes off his final year of wrestling at AHS by competing his hardest at this season's competitions.

introduced new freshmen into the interesting sport of wrestling.

They have been teaching them new techniques that will be beneficial to the wrestlers so that in a match they can score points and win matches for AHS. With a record of 20-9, they look to improve and become the number one seed in the district.

"My specific goals are to get optimal effort out of our individual wrestlers, and that will help us be great

students and champions in and out of the classroom." Sholders said Senior Tony Gibbs, who wrestles for the Grappling Atoms at a weight of 220, looks to become state champion this year. While last year, he placed eighth place. This year Gibbs has his eyes set on the number one spot.

"I'm going to turn it up to the next level and try to the best of my ability to win states," Gibbs said Gibbs has been training hard for

the upcoming season. He has been working and playing other sports so he can be conditioned for wrestling.

"I played football in the fall which helped me prepare for wrestling. I also lifted and ran on my own."

Gibbs expressed how badly he wanted to be state champion and with his hard work and dedication that goal might be met.

Another wrestler in his last season is senior Wesley Miller, who also went to states last year but sadly fell short and ended up getting eighth place.

This year, Miller is faced with a bigger competition as he now moves a weight class up from 170 to 182.

Miller is the type of wrestler who likes to share his talents with the other wrestlers; he wants his team to succeed and conquer in districts.

"My individual goal is to win the state championship at 182 pounds and as a team win the district championship," Miller said.

Miller has his sights set on winning states, and he will work as hard as he can to accomplish his goal.

The Grappling Atoms looking promising and strong are going to work hard this season to be the best they can possibly be.

Wrestling senior interview: Wesley Miller and Tony Gibbs

Head coach Keith Sholders

BY SABRINA HAWA & NEBEYU SOLOMON Sports Editor and Staff Writers Head wrestling coach Sholder talks about the wrestling season and his goals for the season. He also talks about how the team is working had to make it to states this year.

How are you preparing for the season?

"Working together. Running, lifting and working extremely hard together."

NEBEYU SOLOMON

PHOTO COURTESY OF WESLEY MILLER

Senior Tony Gibbs among returning leaders

What are you the most excited for this season?

"I'm most excited for our team unity and coming together and being able to rise above each challenge we have."

What are your goals for this season?

"My specific goals are that we want the optimal effort out of our individual wrestlers and that it will help them be great students and champions in and out of the class room.

What are the strength and weaknesses of the team?

"Strengths are that we are talented wrestlers but we need work on team unity. That is key to put us over the top. "

AHS WRESTLING SCHEDULE

BY SABRINA HAWA & NEBEYU SOLOMON

BY SABRINA HAWA & NEBEYU SOLOMON

Sports Editor and Staff Writer

Sports Editor and Staff Writer

11/25 Lake Bradoock, South County, McLean, Marshall and Westfield (Scrimmage) (H) @ 4 p.m.

Senior Wesley Miller weighs in about his final wrestling season at AHS and his feelings about the upcoming season.

Senior Tony Gibbs talks about the upcoming wrestling season and what he expects to happen.

12/5 and 12/6 Opening Day at the Park Duals at Forest Park High School @ 6 p.m and 9 a.m.

1/13 Lake Braddock Secondary School (H) @ 9 a.m.

How are you preparing for the season?

"It is hard to prepare for wrestling season while you do football. Wrestling is more of a mental strength than physical strength."

How are you preparing for the season?

"I played football in the fall which helped me prepare for wrestling, I lifted and ran also."

12/12 and 12/13 NOVA Classic at Fairfax High School @ 10 a.m (Both Days)

1/22 T.C Williams High School and West Springfield (A) @ 6 p.m and 7:30 p.m.

12/17 Osbourn High School at South County High School (A) @ 6 p.m.

1/28 Fairfax High School (Pack The Pit event) (H) @ 7 p.m.

12/17 South County High School (A) @ 7:30 p.m.

2/6 Patriot Conference Tournament (H) @ 4 p.m.

What are you the most excited for this season?

"I'm excited because my team has a good shot at winning districts and have two really new talented lightweights like Jack Carayiannis. " What are your goals for this season?

"My Individual goal is to win the state championship at 182 lb. As a team, our goal is to win districts. " What are the strengths and weaknesses of the team?

"My strength is that I am really good at wrestling on my feet. My weaknesses are scoring on top."

How do you feel about this being your last year wrestling for AHS? "I am going to turn it up to the next level and try to win states with the best of my ability."

What are you the most excited for this season?

"I am excited for the new competition and Pack The Pit."

1/07 W.T Woodson and West Potomac High School (A) @ 6:30 p.m.

11/10 Annandale Duals (H) @ 9 a.m.

12/19 and 12/20 Appalachian Duals at Skyline High School @ 12 p.m and 10 a.m.

What are your goals for this season?

"My ultimate goal for the season is to be state champion."

What are the strength and weaknesses of the team?

"My strength is my stamina but my weakness is how mentally prepared I am sometimes I freak myself out."

Track runners ready for the season Returning runners and seniors talks about goals and expectations

Head Coach Phillip Harris

BY SHEILA AGUIRRE & HUSSEIN SALEM Staff Writers

BY SHEILA AGUIRRE & HUSSEIN SALEM

What are you doing to prepare for the season?

"We are just trying to get the stamina and endurance up, that's what we're doing right now but this year we're doing this a little different, we're keeping tabs on them a little bit more with endurance and we're tracking it more then we have ever done before."

Staff Writers As indoor winter track approaches, students begin to prepare for the upcoming season. Students had a three day tryout to show their strengths and abilities. The week started with sprints, leading to distance and field events the other days.

Coaches Klein, Harris and Roe searched for boys and girls that will have the potential to improve and become future track stars.

Returning athletes come back to work their hardest to advance past districts and on to regionals and states.

Returning seniors will help, set a good example for the underclassmen and lead the team in the championships towards the end of the year.

To begin their season, the athletes will start to train for their first meet on Dec. 12 at TJ Middle School.

Harris is confident for the upcoming winter track season.

"We have much more talent starting off than we have had in a long time, especially on the girls side," Harris said.

The runners continue to keep their confidence up as the season starts.

"I'm very excited for the upcoming season, this is also my first time doing a winter sport," sophomore Dagim Tigabu said.

"As always you want to try to come out of the conference.

"That's the goal, you want to

What is your goal for the season?

"Try to get as many kids as I can to win the conference like every year."

Any thoughts about the seniors final year of track?

"I hope that they still love it like they did when they were freshmen, some of the drills are designed for them to have fun but at the same time I want them to remember what the goals are. They should also be team leaders, that what we're looking for in our seniors, they should be telling the kids yes we can do one more, yes it's cold but we need to dress up, that's what my seniors should be doing."

Runnin' strong Freshman runner at girls tryouts competing for sprints. Tryouts lasted all last week and went into this week.

score high in the conference," Harris stated about his expectation for this season .

Last year winter track season, eight boys and one girl qualified themselves for districts, including the 55m Dash, 500m Dash, 55m Hurdles, Long Jump and the 4x200m Relay.

"My goals for this season is to get below a five minute mile for long distance," Tigabu said.

AHS's next meets include races against Herndon, West Potomac, Lake Braddock and Wakefield.

TOP: Senior Robert Lamb and Justice Kerfoot at the track tryouts last Thursday ABOVE: Returning indoor track runner at the outdoor track for tryouts.

What are the strength and weakness of the team?

"We have numbers this year, I think we have more talented people in that mid-distance group on the girls side, on the boys side we have a little better speed and we do still have availed who was a state runner."

SPORTS 17 Football season comes to a close Nov. 18, 2014

Atoms fall to Battlefield Bobcats 49-20 with an overall record of 6-5.

Improving last year's record immensely Sports Editor Ending off the season with a 6-5 overall record, the Atoms showed a remarkable amount of improvement in this year's football season.

Compared to the 2013 season, where the atoms overall record was 1-9, this year has completely shocked and inspired the AHS community.

"This season definitely gave me more school spirit especially at games and more people came out and participated in the hype squad than they did last year," junior Amanda Adenan said.

The entire season had brought a different spirit to AHS. The students and faculty were so proud to come and support their team.

As the week would drag on students would anxiously await for Friday night to come around so that they could go and cheer their team on.

"It made me feel great! All the hard work and dedication paid off. I think it brought more spirit to the school, more people wanted to support the football team and watch the games together," said Running back senior Devin Hamlett. "It gave AHS students more pride to be an Annandale Atom."

JAROD GOLUB

BYMARIFE BARAGANO

Wide receiver Tim Johnson runs down the field to help the Atoms adavance the ball at the end of the 3rd quarter.

Hamlett was also one of the many AHS varsity athletes that made 1st Team AllConference Honors. Along with Hamlett are senior Abu Kamara, junior Tim Johnson, senior Ahmed Hassan, senior Khalil HajAssaad and senior Tony Gibbs. Players that made the 2nd Team All-Conference Honors are junior David Park, senior Andre Wright,

Swim teams prepare for the season

Senior Aviad Gebrehiwot wins 11th place in States

Junior Aaron Boyd emerges up after an intense swim at Wakefield Rec Center.

The team has traditions aside from winning states though. Swim and dive have always had team dinners and big sibling little sibling.

These dinners root back to when swim first started, and are a way

Senior Aviad Gebrehiwot won 11th place in Cross Country state finals on Saturday in the Plains. Ending with an outstanding time of 15:57, Gebrehiwot suprised all expectations. "I was aiming for top 15 cause that's first team Allstate, I had no idea I would hit that time though. The course was pretty hilly but overall it was a good outcome."

New girls varsity basketball head coach comes to AHS Any information you would like to add/share about yourself with the school.

I have a fantastic life and I'm really excited about this opportunity. I want to build AHS into a second family where everyone will be excited to come see us play because we play as a team with an exciting style. Also, I played basketball in college. In college , I also helped with two Division 1 basketball staffs.

How will you strike a balance on your team between academics and the sport of basketball?

We will not be able to start practice everyday until 4:30, so my plan is after school to give the girls an hour to do what they need to do. After this there will be a study hall until 3:45 to 4:00, then get ready for practice.

Which coaches do you draw basketball knowledge from? How about personal inspiration? and outside of sports who do you draw inspiration from?

A number of coaches from all over have contributed to my teaching styles as a coach. Some of these men include Ryrd Byrd from Belmont University, Fred Hobierg from Iowa State, Bob McKillop from Davidosn College, Bill Belichek from the New England Patriots, Bill Parcells an American football coach, Vince Lombardi famous old Green Bay Packers coach, Greg Polinsky and Jeff Price from Georgia Southern University. My father was fortunate enough to play for Vince Lombardi in the first two Super Bowls. Outside of sports I draw inspiration from my family and

fantasy football.

BY MARIFE BARAGANO

What are your goals for the team this year? And what goals do you have personally?

The goals never change, we want to win a conference, district and state title. But that does not mean the season is a failure if that does not happen. We need to play as a team and peak in February and see what happens.

Sports Editor

What is this more important parts of basketball to you? Ex. Fundamentals, team work, etc Team work, playing together and playing for each other is more important than anything else there is.

How will you be a role model for the players you coach?

I hope that the girls feel as comfortable over time coming and talking to me and the staff about anything. We want this to become a second family for the girls. My real hope is that they come back after they graduate to "pass forward" the fun they had in their time in the program.

Jimmy Brown last worked at Elizabeth Seton Catholic School in Manassas.

You expect that your players will give their all for you on the court, how will you give back to them and to Annandale High School?

My job is to be there to support them all the time especially when times are tough. On and off the court the coaches nee to help with life first and then basketball will follow.

Is there one promise you can make to (the school/the fans/ the community/etc.) about the upcoming season?

We will play for each other and I hope we play a style that fans want to come and see, the work has already started because winter will ask the summer what the girls did to improve.

The varsity boys basketball team are in full swing preparing for the upcoming season. Each and every player has began preparing way before the season was set to by participating in green days or going out on their own and playing in outside pick up games.

"I was trying to working hard at getting my body mentally and physically in shape for what was to come. It was definitely hard but well worth it," senior Michael Velasquez said.

The boys are anxious to begin practices and work hard to make the season worthwhile.

"I feel really good; I feel confident," Assistant Coach Sean Hardy said. "I like a lot of the players we have coming back, we have good experienced players, which allows for a good mix with young players as well."

"I hope the outcome of the season is that

we win the conference championship, but if not my goal would be to have a home game in the conference tournament which means we would have to finish as the first four in the conference," Hardy said.

If the boys are able to make this into a reality it would add another great accomplishment to the long list in AHS history.

"I feel very good and optimistic about this season. We had a team camp up in South County and we played very well. We expect to do better than we did last year," Head Coach Matt Behne said.

'We are hoping for a lot of wins, district champion, district title from the regular season and then into tournament, hopefully make the regional tournament which is the biggest goal of all," Behne said.

It is important that the school stays one family and comes to support the boys at home and away games. With the support of all students and hard work the boys will be able to accomplish their goals.

COURTSEY OF ANNANDALE BASKETBALL

What is the name of the previous school you are coming from?

I was head the head varsity coach for eight seasons at Bishop O'Connell Catholic High School.

The last two years I have been at Elizabeth Seton, I was the JV. coach last season.

Boys basketball gets ready for upcoming winter season

Boys working hard and conditioning getting ready for the starting season at green days.

Senior Erin Johnson, Rochelle Kenny, and Beza Yoseph pose for a picture in their uniforms.

COURTSEY OF ANNANDALE BASKETBALL

Staff Writer The returning swim and dive state qualifiers are back for another year of intense competition. The team is more determined than ever and some members have been preparing all of the off season.

"I spent my off season days swimming up until this point, and I hope to go to states once again this season," junior Aaron Boyd said.

Last season Boyd broke two school records including the 200 free with a time of 1:45.31 and the 100 free with a time of 47.61.

of team bonding. They also allow newcomers to feel comfortable and long-time teammates to sit back and enjoy a meal.

The dinners usually take place after practice the day before a meet.

"Team dinners are a fun way to get to know new teammates and I love the food," junior Gabe Martino said.

Also if most of the team members make it to districts the boys bleach their entire heads and the girls dye the tips of their hair red.

The first swim meet is at Oak Marr RECenter on December 5, 2014 at w. Come watch your Swim and Dive team compete once again.

During the game, the Atoms showed dedication and continued to push against the Bobcat defensive lineman.

After advancing to their first playoff berth in seven years since 2007, the Atoms got off to a slow start, not scoring at all before halftime. The Bobcats held a 35-0 lead after the second quarter and did not

COURTSEY OF AARON BOYD

BY JULIUS MILLER

senior Ayman Mohammed, senior Shawn Courtney, junior Colin Corey, sophomore Malik Moten and senior Wesley Miller.

Honorable Mention recipients include junior Tucker Mack, senior Akim Bangura, junior Cory Pringle and senior Ayobami Fakulujo.

The loss against Battlefield eliminated the Atoms from the Division 6A Playoffs.

give it up throughout the rest of the game.

The first touchdown for AHS came from junior Quarterback Tucker Mack with 3:19 left in the third quarter, making the score 42-6. The other scores for the Atoms came from senior Running back Devin Hamlett with five minutes and 3:13 left in the fourth quarter respectively.

These scores both came after another Battlefield touchdown, making the score 4918.

A two-point conversion after the second touchdown put the score at 49-20, where it would stay until the end of the game.

This disappointing playoff game comes after a seven year drought from the 6A North Region post-season for the Atoms.

While it was disappointing, it does mean that the Atoms have something to build upon in the coming seasons.

Senior Devin Hamlett ran for 187 yards on 40 carries adding 2 touchdowns and a 2-point conversion in the fourth quarter.

With the weather not being a common friend, it was amazing the amount of people that came out and supported the Atoms.

Fans took the hour long drive to come and show their support. Facing the cold weather the atoms were excited. " The teams improvement from last year to this year made me more proud to be an Atom. With all the school spirit and talent it definitely brought Annandale together," Senior Rochelle Kenney said.

The improvement of the team this year definitely has to do with the new coaches and the different play style. For other teams, trying this different style of play would confuse players and fans. But for the Atoms, it was exactly what we needed this year.

18 ENTERTAINMENT Interstellar launches into theaters

Nov. 18, 2014

Christopher Nolan's new movie brings science, time travel and space together

BY CONRAD SHARTEL Entertainment Editor

Interstellar, which premiered on Nov. 7, proved to be an amazing, yet very confusing movie. The director of the film, Christopher Nolan, is primarily known for directing the Dark Knight trilogy and Inception. He is also known quite well for leaving audiences very confused at the end of movies, and viewers usually need to research topics online to fully understand the content of his films.

The movie starts off in the distant future with the main character, Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), on his farm. His wife passed away a few years back, and he lives with his teenage son Tom (Timothee Clement), his 10-year-old daughter Murph (Mackenzie Fox) and his father-in-law Donald (Jon Lithgow). Before Cooper became a farmer he was a pilot for NASA, but then retired to pursue farming so he can provide his family with food.

At this time in the future (the date is not given), Earth is shown to be quickly running out of food and resources and mankind is starting to die out. A lot of people, like Cooper, have resorted to farming as a life because it means food on the table. But as the years go on, many crops are starting to die out. Throughout the beginning of the movie, Murph continuously bugs Cooper about a so-called ghost in her room that keeps knocking over her books. He finally goes and takes a look and realizes that it is a gravitational anomaly that seems to be giving messages. They realize it is binary coding, and Cooper and Murph figure out the coordinates then head for that location on a map.

When they reach the destination, they are kidnapped and taken inside.

It turns out to be a top-secret NASA building that is trying to save Earth.

They recruit Cooper and a few other members of NASA such as Romilly (David Gyasi), Doyle (Wes Bentley) and Amelia (Anne Hathaway) to embark on an interstellar journey through a black hole to a new galaxy in search of a new planet that can sustain life and save the human race. They go through the hole and reach the new galaxy, and find three planets which they name after previous astronauts sent years earlier with the same mission. The

A poster for Interstellar where the characters are on a foreign planet.

planets are called Miller, Mann and Edmund. They decide to look at Miller's planet first, and send a crew of three out the four members down to look around. Amelia also discovers that for every hour they spend on Miller, seven years passes on Earth, due to Miller being so close to the black hole and time being different because of the gravitational pull.

When they reach the surface, they discover it to be all water, and there is nothing useful for them there. A large wave starts to form, and before they can all get out safely, Doyle is killed and Cooper and Amelia are forced to leave Miller's planet. Once arriving back on the ship, the pilot who decided to stay, Romilly, tells Amelia that she was wrong, and for that hour they were gone 23 years passed in Earth time. Cooper's children are all grown up now.

The crew realizes they will not have enough fuel to venture to the remaining two planets and make it home, so they choose to go to Mann's.

Upon arrival, they meet Mann and find his ship to have crashed. They also learn that Mann created the data of this planet himself in order to be

saved, and after a long fight about this and Mann's future motives, Mann kills Romilly but then also dies himself. Amelia and Cooper are all that's left and they decide that they should go inside the black hole to figure out the gravity equation being worked on back home that could ensure Earth's survival. Cooper ends up sending Amelia back to Edmund's planet so that she can find life, and he ventures inside the black hole himself.

Inside of the hole, Cooper's ship is torn apart, forcing him to eject. He finds himself inside of an odd room that has no gravity. With his robot companion, TARS, he realizes he is inside of a room built by the future humans where time and space are no longer linear and are tangible quantities. He tells his young daughter the answer to the equation, which he finds in the room, allowing her to guarantee a safe travel of the entire population of the Earth through the black hole to Edmund's planet. Cooper later wakes up on the space station while it is traveling, and is now 124 years old. Cooper's dying, daughter ensures him that mankind is on the way to safety at Edmund's planet with Amelia waiting for them.

Lot to take in, isn't it? That's how Nolan's movies usually are. The intensity of Interstellar matched no other movie, with there being suspense in literally every moment of it. On the one hand, some of the things in the movie were difficult to understand without a large knowledge of quantum physics and astrophysics. But, on the other hand, if a high school student can see it and then understand it after some quick Google searches, so can anyone else. McConaughey's performance was spectacular. He was able to deliver a wide array of emotions through Cooper's character and did it very well.

The movie was very long, almost three hours, and is very difficult to have a movie keep a fast-paced style for that long. The first hour or so of the movie was a little slow, and basically included Cooper discovering this chance to save humanity deciding and whether or not he should take it.

Once he takes off in the shuttle, the film starts to take off as well. All in all, fantastic movie, fantastic actors and fantastic plot if you can wrap your mind around it. It definitely is one of those fun brain exercises. Rating: 9.5/10

Advanced Warfare hits The newest Call of Duty brings the future into play

BY OMAR HADDOU Staff Writer Every year, Call of Duty comes out with a record breaking game. On Nov. 3, Advanced Warfare hit local video game stores, causing traffic jams everywhere. The game was an absolute hit. The games main attraction, judging by the name "Advanced Warfare" is an Exo-Suit, which your character wears at all times in both single and multiplayer.

Video games don't usually cast movie stars to voice animated characters, but Sledgehammer Games, the developers of this year's Call of Duty, decided to bring in Kevin Spacey who stars in the hit Netflix series House of Cards. The campaign was utterly astounding and takes about five hours to complete for an average gamer. The graphics were above normal and confused players what was real and what wasn't.

The story follows Private Jack Mitchell in the year of 2054 where he suffers a severe injury which causes him to get a prosthetic arm. He is then recruited by Atlas, a company owned by Spacey's character, Jonathan Irons.

From there, Mitchell goes on numerous missions, including the first mission where they raid North Korea to help protect South Korea. During these missions, Mitchell is equipped with the highly anticipated Exo-Suit. The suit has a variety of features including an increase in jumping abilities and also enables the character to be invisible for a certain amount of time. These abilities are also compatible on multiplayer mode which makes it even more exciting.

A character from Advanced Warfare who is wearing the new Exo-Suit.

Multiplayer was a delight. However, it has a few cons. The game mostly produced good servers and enjoyable maps and game modes. A new game mode that stood out the most is Uplink. In this mode, a player must grab the ball that is placed in the middle of the map then it must be taken to the opponents side to get the points. It is also an easy mode to gather up a ton of points. I mean, who doesn't want to prestige before everyone else?

The game's pace is also brand new and unlike any Call of Duty game before this. It is much faster than the old ones. Since the Exo-Suit gives you the ability to jump faster and dash, it almost looks like Halo and Titanfall's online games. They're much crazier and it makes it easier to die, which is a large component of Call of Duty's online gaming. With the double jump ability, and the dash ability, if one knows how to one can make their character fly for a small period of time. Since many experienced players figured this out, the battles include many aerial conflicts which adds to the craziness of Advanced Warfare.

Although, it has a few cons. Weapons this year aren't as pleasant as they were last year in Call of Duty: Ghosts. Some weapons had no details and they were very weak when it came to playing. Although they added something new that gives you an upside on the undetailed weapons. As you casually play the game, you receive random supply drops which hold exclusive weapons that are innovated and more useful in the animated battlefield.

Heard in the Halls: What is your favorite Call of Duty and why?

"I like the first Black Ops because I like its name and the zombies mode."

"My favorite was Modern Warfare 2 because it was my childhood and I JACK MCCROSSIN was really good at freshman quickscoping."

"My favorite is Black Ops because it was the first game I owned and I liked the maps."

"I like Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 the most because I spent the most time playing it."

MATTHEW VOGUS

JASHON REAMS

sophomore

junior

SAUD SHAH

"Black Ops because zombies was the best game mode ever."

"Call of Duty Modern Warfare, the first one, because I grew up MICHAEL HENG with it and my best junior first person shooter memories are with that game."

sophomore

"My favorite Call of Duty is Black Ops, simply because we would never lose an online game."

"My favorite is Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 because of the map Rust."

ABDUL MOHAMMED

GEORGIO KHOURY

senior

senior

LARA RIAD junior

Coming in December Sleepy Hollow (TV episode) @ 9 p.m.

The Flash (TV episode) @ 8 p.m.

Chivalry: Medieval Warfare

Student poll: Hottest video games this Fall

Constantine (TV episode) @ 9 p.m.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (ABC Family)

Halo: Spartan Strike

(release)

A Year Without a Santa Clause (ABC Family)

Americnan Horror Story (TV episode) @ 10 p.m.

Exodus: Gods and Kings (premiere)

The Hobbit: Battle of Five Armies (premiere)

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes

Constantine (TV episode) @ 9 p.m.

(release)

Twas the Night Before Christmas (ABC Family)

Meet the Santas (ABC Family)

34 percent Super Smash Bros. (WiiU) 24 percent Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

Snowglobe (ABC Family)

(release) Unbroken (premiere)

Picking Up and Dropping Off (ABC Family)

Ernest Saves Christmas (ABC Family)

16 percent Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire

Jack Frost (ABC Family)

26 percent Assassin's Creed: Unity This poll was conducted between the dates of Nov. 6 and Nov. 13 with 100 different respondents asked during lunch or over text.

ENTERTAINMENT 19 AHS alumni stars in School of Rock Nov. 18, 2014

Personal Background and Q&A with Tony Cavalero uprise to fame in his new sitcom

BY NUHAMI MANDEFRO Entertainment Editor Like most students attending AHS, Tony Cavalero walked through the building's doors his freshmen year eager to experience and benefit everything high school had to offer.

By his senior year, Cavalero took the fundamentals he learned at AHS and used them to help him follow his dreams. Today, Cavalero is a rising actor and is now the new "Jack Black" in the upcoming sitcom, School of Rock.

Cavalero is a native Northern Virginian. Born and raised in Fairfax County, he has a similar, if not the same background, as most students in AHS today.

"I was born at Fairfax hospital and lived right off of Braddock and Backlick in Annandale," Cavalero said. "I lived in the same house all the way through college. I went to

Tony Cavalero Timeline Freshman year '99

the best of his ability.

"Freshman year was a blast because my brother was a senior so I spent my first year with him," Cavalero said. "All the following years were a lot of fun as well. Senior year was great because I won the district championship in wrestling and just being a senior in general was really awesome! Annandale traditions make the year so memorable. I also acted in a little film in the Annandale Cavalero has successfully pursued his high film festival that I was really career in acting and still displays his proud of called Feminine Problems!" love for sports.

Since then, Cavalero moved Poe Middle School which is right to California about five years ago down the street then attended to pursue his acting career. After getting smaller gigs in Modern Annandale all four years."

Cavalero is a generational Family and other plays, he got his big Atom. Both his parents and older break in playing Dewey Finn.

He is thankful for getting such a brother attended AHS, so the school has a special place in his heart. big role and opportunity. Knowing Cavalero participated in multiple how hard it is to make it, he continues extracurricular activities and clubs. to strive and preach the importance He utilized his high school years to of following your dreams.

Q: When did you attend AHS? For how long?

A: I went to Annandale for all four years of high school.

I was an Atom from the fall of 1998 to the spring of 2002.

Q: How was life like when you went here?

A: I had the best time being an Atom! It was very culturally diverse then and now. I was the fourth member of my family to attend high school there (Dad '68, Mom '72, Brother '99) so there was already a pretty cool legacy going on by the time I got there.

Q: Describe your favorite memory at AHS. A: I have a lot of great memories at Annandale but my favorite is definitely a tie between winning the district lacrosse championship my freshman year with my brother, Nick Cavalero, in 1999 and winning the district wrestling championship my senior year in 2002.

Q: Did AHS help shape you into the person you are today?

A: Absolutely. The teachers, activities and friendships I made left an imprint that will last forever and have helped me mold myself to the person I am today.

Q: When did you decided you wanted to become an actor?

A: I was always a ham [an actor who overacts or relies on stock gestures or mannerisms]. Some of my earliest memories I can remember are of me goofing around in hopes to making my family laugh. There were times at AHS where I definitely remember feeling that rush of performing, whether it was on the athletic field or on stage. The rush was such a great and liberating feeling; I'm lucky to experience it everyday on the job.

Q: How long have you been in the business?

A: I moved out to Los Angeles in the fall of 2006 and I have been working professionally for about five years now. It's incredibly hard to get your foot in the door. It takes auditioning, taking classes, networking, writing and producing your own live shows and much more in order to really get your name out there. There's millions of people all striving for the same dream so you have push through and keep your dreams as the priority.

Q: What was your favorite project?

A: This is a tough one. I've been lucky enough to perform with my fiance in a live sketch comedy show

Cavalero was involved in indoor winter track (left, fourth row) and lacrosse as a freshman.

He was also part of the theater department.

Sophomore year '00

(Tonannie) that we wrote together and performed at the Groundlings Theatre. This is where we met in the Sunday Company. That's pretty much pure joy. As far as acting on camera goes, I really had a blast working on Modern Family.

Cavalero was on the varsity football (left, #52) and wrestling teams his sophomore year. He was still part of the theater department.

Q: Can you tell us a little bit about your new show,

School Of Rock?

A: Totally! It's basically a continuation of the 2003 feature film starring Jack Black. It will trace the mishaps of fake substitute teacher, Dewey Finn (played by myself), as he struggles between teaching and his dreams of being a rock God.

Junior year '01

Q: What are you excited about the new show?

A: Well, there's so much to be pumped about. I'm really excited to learn more and expand my talents musically. I also love working with kids, so I'm really looking forward to that as well. Not to mention being the star of my own show! How cool and lucky is that? I'm still pinching myself.

Q: What do you plan on do afterwards (i.e. in the future)?

A: I have lots of goals creatively. I'm working on several screenplays and pilots, a few of which my fiance and I are developing together. I would love to continue to build my resume in features, and hopefully continue to work in TV as well.

Q: Advice for anyone trying to get into acting or, in general, just following their dreams?

A: You have to be grateful for everything given and happening throughout your journey. Because if you really want to be an actor or pursue any kind of job in the film industry, you have to be prepared for tons of rejection. Every little victory has to be celebrated, because the odds are that it will take you at least 10 years to get your big break.

Cavalero was on the varsity football, wrestling, and lacrosse teams (right, #15) his junior year.

He continued being a part of the theater department.

Senior year '02 Cavalero was nominated for Homecoming court and was voted "Best Hair" of his class (right). He was also one of the captains of the lacrosse team and a district champion wrestl(left, bottom right man).

He finished his senior year as a member of the theater

Q: Anything else you'd like to mention to the AHS student body?

A: I will also be starring in the upcoming pilot on MTV Ken Jeong Made Me Do It coming soon, so stay tuned! If you have a dream to do something, you're going to find a way to make that dream happen, whether it happens when you're 18, 35, or in your 60s. Give it a shot and don't ever give up!

Never getting back together? "It feels so empty, without me" Taylor Swift and Spotify controversy

Guess who's back with a new album: Shady XV

BY ARIANA DAIYAN

BY ARIANA DAIYAN

Special to the A-Blast

Special to the A-Blast

Taylor Swift just released her fifth latest album, 1989, on October 27th of this year, projected to be the most successful release of the year thus far. However, even after two weeks at number one, the pop star's most recent work is still stirring up controversy.

At the start of November, the singer and her team had pulled her entire catalog off Spotify, the world's largest music streaming website, claiming that the company underpaid the artists and their labels.

Swift has stated that music streaming sites like, Spotify, detract from potential artist revenue; the website has made a public response claiming that Swift could have made $6 million, a figure significant even for a star of Swift's stature. Spotify founder, Daniel Ek, asked for Taylor Swift's return to the service, mentioning that out of its 40 million users, two million of them are active followers of the Red artist. That is

In late August of 2014, Shady Records announced the release of a two-disc compilation CD of the label's greatest hits as well as new content from its artists.

Eminem and his manager, Paul Rosenberg, started the label as a subdivision of Interscope Records 15 years ago: hence the title, Shady XV. The anniversary album is said to include acclaimed songs off 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin' (the fastest selling debut album in history) and the 8 Mile Soundtrack album (the first hip-hop work to win an Academy Award).

New content includes tracks from Slaughterhouse, D12, Bad Meets Evil, Yelawolf, and of course, Eminem himself.

The Marshall Mathers LP 2 marked a poignant return to the music industry for the 13 time Grammy Award winner; the album debuted at

Taylor Swift breaks news with her new album 1989 and controversy against Spotify.

two million disappointed "swifties".

In conclusion he asked for Swift's help to construct "a new music economy that works for everyone"; she has not yet made a public response.

Many industry experts expect that the catalog returns to Spotify, only after the fall of direct sales. An industry native, Dave Grohl told Digital Spy that he simply does not

care for the unnecessary tension and drama of the technical peculiarities, instead focusing on the music itself.

"You want people to (expletive deleted) listen to your music? Give them your music. They like hearing your music?

They ll go see a show," says the Foo Fighters front man. To him it's "that simple" it used to work that way. Most other

artists seem to share the same stance.

Spotify could serve as a solid platform for Swift to share her music universally and provide the consumer audience with a chance to get a feel for her music before actually purchasing it.

The music industry should be fueled by the drive to make and share music, not hindered by the drive for profit.

"I think it should be an inherent value placed on art."

- Taylor Swift, Times

Preview photo of Eminem's newest upcoming album, Shady XV.

number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold over 792,000 copies in the first week.

Since this revival of his musical output, Eminem has recently released multiple tracks, including "Trouble Soon" in collaboration with D12.

The song includes a catchy beat line with driven bass,

very reminiscent of Dr. Dre's composition on the Slim Shady LP (1999), as well as clean cut, clever hooks like those off the original Shady record.

On October 18, the official Shady Records YouTube account posted a preview clip of a familiar voice on a nostalgic beat, with the hook phrase,

"Guess Who's Back": an obvious connection to Eminem's "Without Me", off the Slim Shady LP. Fans can expect the return of his mischievous persona from the early 2000's in the record scheduled to be released on Black Friday. Needless to say, the man is back.

Back again.

"IThe album requires a certain focus of mine that I can't really explain-let's just say that." - Eminem

20 WEEKEND Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Nov. 18, 2014

Survival Guide

Stores with the best deals

Macy's is known for their huge discounts on pricey apparel. They also provide great deals on home decor, kitchen appliances and jewelry. What is even better about Macy's is that they offer you coupons with an even bigger discount when you get there. If the prices weren't good enough to begin with, they are now.

How to stretch your holiday dollars

Heard in the Hall: What is your Black Friday plan?

If you have your eye on any type of electronic device, BestBuy is the place to go. BestBuy is known for its huge ads and a multitude of discounts on some of the most expensive items.

BestBuy is one of the first stores to open up on Black Friday, which means you have more time to search for all of your holidays wants!

"My plan is to go to Willam and Sonoma to get my parents Christmas presents."

"I plan on going to Finish Line because I need new running shoes."

SHERYL FOX

SAAD FAROOQ

sophomore

sophomore

"I plan on going shopping with a group of friends and I plan on leaving right after Thanksgiving dinner to beat the crowd to the mall."

"I am probably going to Best Buy because I need a new laptop for college."

AKIM BANGURA senior

LEE HAYES Walmart is a game changer with its wide variety of goods ranging from electronics, appliances, home decor, apparel and much more at a huge discounted price. If you want the best deals get there early because the goods go quickly. Use Walmart's deals to give you a head start during the holidays.

Black Friday is the time to get all the items on your friends and family's wish list for a super cheap price. Last year, Toys R Us had a store wide discount of 70 percent off everything! The discount runs all night and even online. Doors open Thanksgiving day so don't miss out.

Heard in the Hall: What is your Cyber Monday plan?

Tips to help you stay sane during your shopping extravaganza 1. Go early! Parking will fill up fast!

2. Have a plan. Know what stores you want to go into so you don't waste your time wandering through the crowded mall.

3. Go with a group of friends. Shopping can be boring and stressful if you don't have your friends there to help you out.

4. Be patient! You are going into this knowing that it will be crowded, hot and annoying. Try to remain calm while you are shopping.

5. If you are questioning buying something, just buy it. It is better to get it super cheap now than buying it later for full price.

Where to start your shopping mission Springfield Mall "I plan on shopping at Forever 21, H & M and American Eagle.

I am not looking for anything in particular."

TEAGAN FOTI

"I plan on shopping at American Eagle because I love their jeans and Forever 21 for their jewelry."

HASSA KOROMA

"I am going to look for a pair of Chelsea Boots from anywhere, but when I find them.

I am going to buy them."

junior

TODD LE

FRANCESCA MAST

senior

Human Anatomy Teacher

sophomore

"[I plan on shopping at] REI, Pacifica Beauty because that is my favorite cosmetics place and Amazon of course."

Cyber Monday Steals

Newly opened and renovated, start your Black Friday shopping here. You may be able to avoid the crowds at Tysons as well as experience the newest Mall that Nova has to offer. Come check out all that Springfield Mall has to offer.

Fair Oaks Mall

Vera Bradley is helping you score the most for your money. Cyber Monday will lower the prices to begin with, but when you buy one Vera Bradley item that is on sale, you get the next one FREE. Don't miss your chance to score free stuff.

Our most famous mall with over 300 specialty stores will provide a great variety that will satisfy all your Black Friday needs! There are multiple parking garages, so get there early to ensure a spot.

Leesburg Outlets

Amazon is known for its hot deals on Cyber Monday. Last year a new deal arrived every 10 minutes. Free shipping on all items is a given this year. Be ready and on the look out for what Amazon will deal out this year.

Fair Oaks Mall may not be as close as Springfield or Tysons, but their huge quantity of stores makes up for it. The mall is quite spread out so make sure you know where all your stores are located before you head in!

Online

This holiday season, Nike is offering free shipping on all purchases. That means you do not need to spend an excess amount of money just to get your gear shipped. On average, any person will spend between $8-$25 on shipping alone. That means you have $25 extra to spend.

Tysons Mall

This year, the Sony 60" 120Hz Smart HDTV is on sale for $798 at both Best Buy and Walmart online. This price is $100 less than what you can buy it for every other day! The amazing quality and size of this TV at a low price deem this

If the outlets weren't good enough already, they just got much better. The outlets already are a great source of deals and Black Friday deals make them way better. Consider taking the longer drive to save a ton on your shopping needs.

For those of you who do not plan on leaving your house to wait in the long line with a ton of your closest friends, then we suggest you stick with the Cyber Monday plan. Sit at home, relax and fulfill your shopping needs without ever having to leave your spot on the couch.

Class of 2015 Bulletin To-do List: November EDITION Attend the Fall Sports Banquet on Nov. 20 @ 6 p.m.

Get ready to submit your college app if the deadline is in December!

Enjoy your Thanksgiving break with your family!

210 days until graduation