Issue 11

A

ANNANDALE HIGH SCHOOL

the VOLUME #61 ISSUE 11

2016 Graduation Seniors prepare for their caps and gowns

Informinng the Atoms siince 1954 4

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New policy protects transgender students Students respond to nondiscrimination change

BY SADIE MODICA

BY JUDY NANAW

Co-Editor in Chief

Heath Editor

Kaion Fetterman, a transgender AHS alumnus, came out to a few friends in February of 2014, during his senior year of high school.

"As long as I can remember I've always felt more comfortable with stereotypical boy clothing, activities and objects. Around the time I started middle school is when I went through puberty and that's when I really started feeling different and extremely depressed but I didn't really know what 'transgender' was so I couldn't figure out what was going on."

When Fetterman entered high school, things began to change. He started to see transgender people sharing their stories on YouTube and he found that he could relate to their stories.

"During my junior year of high school is

After four years of being Atoms, the class of 2016 seniors are ready to enter a brand new chapter of their lives. Less than a month from now, students will gather together with their families and friends, throw their caps into the air and celebrate their well-deserved success as graduates with each other.

On Monday June 20 at 7:30 pm, the senior class will be graduating from AHS at Constitution Hall located in Washington, D.C. Walking across the stage and finally receiving their diplomas that will mark the end of their high school careers and the beginning of a new exciting life outside of Annadale.

"It's kind of exciting, but kind of scary at the same time because you don't know what the future holds, but it's an exciting time" senior Shank Rai said.

4700 Medford Dr. Annandale, VA 22003 470

probably when I started seriously considering that I might be transgender."

Though Fetterman came to terms with his gender identity in his senior year of high school, he chose to wait until after high school to tell his family or start hormone replacement therapy. If Fetterman were currently at AHS, however, he might feel more comfortable doing so.

In response to the Obama Administration's prompting for all public schools to provide greater accommodations for transgender students, FCPS voted 10-1 in favor of adding gender identity to its nondiscrimination policy.

The White House's directive follows a growing national controversy regarding the use of bathrooms by transgender students in schools. The Obama Administration issued its directive in response to a lawsuit from the Justice Department conducted against the state of North Carolina over a law requiring people in the state to use the bathroom which corresponds to their birth gender.

In order to enforce their directive, the Obama Administration has threatened many school districts with the notion of rescinding federal funds. Though there have been multiple legal issues and much opposition in other states and districts, FCPS's response came relatively easily.

There were already procedures in place for dealing with transgender students, so adding gender identity to the nondiscrimination policy is mostly a symbolic move, and a response to Obama's directive. When an FCPS student tells someone on staff that they are transgender, the student, their parents and the school work together to plan out which bathrooms the student will use in order to make them feel comfortable in their learning environment.

Fetterman feels that transgender students should be allowed to use the bathroom of their preferred gender.

"In my experience, using the bathroom can be a really scary thing for a transgender person, they're not going to do anything to

make themselves stand out more," Fetterman said.

Those who opposed the motion in FCPS worried that students would take advantage of the policy to harass other students or get into a less crowded bathroom.

"While I understand the concern some people have about people saying they're transgender just to get into the other bathroom, in a school setting, a transgender student is most likely going to be somewhat open with teachers and administrators about how they identify because of name and pronoun usage so differentiating between an actual transgender student and someone just trying to cause trouble is probably not even as big of an issue as people try to make it" Fetterman said.

"I think that people should be able to use whatever bathroom makes them feel most comfortable without restrictions" senior and president of Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) Olivia Young said. "The issue shouldn't be with see TRANS pg. 4

see GRADUATION pg. 4

Robin Griffin, Family and Consumer Science teacher

Emotional final performance for seniors

Cheryl Kraus, Finance Technician

Special to the A-Blast

Twitter Poll Results What will you spend a majority of your time doing this summer?

Having fun in the sun: 34%

BY TEAGAN FOTI Co-Editor in Chief At the end of every school year it's inevitable that AHS will lose some of its dedicated and beloved teachers as they move on to new chapters in their lives, however it isn't so common for staff members to retire from the constant chatter and babble of high schoolers and trade it for the squawks and caws of 26 birds.

Featured are the eight teachers who volunteered to share their experiences at AHS and their plans for their upcoming years.

Finance Technician Cheryl Kraus is closing the door on her career at Annandale to retire with her "Macaws, Caiques, Conures, Cockatoos, Amboina King Parrot, Aracari, (which looks like a mini toucan) and Cockatiel."

After spending a quarter of a century in Fairfax County, more than half of it at AHS, Kraus is leaving so that she can "hang around, rest, relax and play with [her] birds, dogs and six grandchildren."

In addition to the 26 feathered friends, Kraus also has 10 dogs, two cats and two rabbits. Animals have always been a passion of hers and something that truly brings her joy.

"I might do some part time work, maybe in a vet's office just so I can learn more about animals and keep busy" Kraus said.

Kraus started at AHS 15 years ago in the

Working: 33%

Molly Jepson, Mathematics teacher

Jessica Irish, Chorus teacher

athletic office and then, after four years, moved into her current position in the finance office.

As she reminisced over all of her well spent years at AHS, she revealed that she will really miss "every year when the students have their cap and gown rehearsal, [she] loves watching them line up, [and finds it] it really neat."

Linnett Cormier, Kraus's office neighbor and longtime friend described her as positive, cheerful, always an accessible person who could always handle an emergency in a pleasant manner."

Although Kraus feels that it is her time to do something different and to enjoy retirement with her family, she will miss watching the triyearly pep rallies and, just in general, being an Atom.

LINDSAY ZURAWSKI Government and IB Anthropology teacher Lindsay Zurawski will become a Patriot this fall as she leaves AHS after 9 years to go back to school full time at George Mason University and get her PhD in education.

"She was amazing and definitely cares about her students, no matter what question you asked she will always be there to support it and interpret it in different ways, she's just an incredible teacher," junior IB Anthropology student Tran Nguyen said, who was surprised to hear that Zurawski was leaving. "Everyone loves her and will definitely miss her, especially since she will be leaving the IB students, we will

definitely be affected by her leaving" Zurawski hopes to be able to support teachers once she gets her newest degree and isn't exactly sure what she will end up doing after she graduates.

"I'm leaving [my plans after I graduate] open ended, I'm not sure. We'll just have to see what the future holds," Zurawski said.

Her favorite memory from the past nine years is "Heritage Night, because it's the culmination of everything that I love about Annandale, it's such a special place to teach, it's a special place to be a student and Annandale is such a great and diverse community, I just love seeing our students show off their heritage and their talents."

She will always hold a special place for AHS in her heart, as she will truly miss the community and the relationships she has made.

"I will miss the people, I will miss the students and I will miss my colleagues, I will miss the social studies department, I've loved working with them, they aren't just my colleagues they are my friends and I am really going to miss them," Zurawski said.

ROBIN GRIFFIN Robin Griffin will be trading her red and white for orange and blue next fall as she accepts a full time position as a teacher at West Springfield High School. Griffin has taught Family and Consumer Sciences as a full time

or part time teacher at Annandale for seven years.

"It's difficult being split between two schools, I'm only here on white days and I'm there on red days so it was difficult to make lesson plans and arrange schedules, it will be much easier [being at one school]" Griffin said.

Griffin worked part time at West Springfield this year but was offered a full time position for the upcoming school year.

I guess that kids liked me so I was offered a full time position over there" Griffin said.

Although she won't be teaching at AHS next year, she won't forget all of the great students she taught over the years.

"I will miss my students for sure" Griffin said "I have a lot of fun with my students and we laugh our heads off and we have a really good time in my courses so I will miss them a lot."

JESSICA IRISH Choral teacher Jessica Irish is choosing a less demanding job next fall as a middle school choir teacher after 16 years of instructing high school chorus so that she can have more time at home with her two young daughters.

Teaching middle school will hopefully be a better fit for Irish's young family and will require less after school commitments.

"I do love [teaching high school choir] but I have a one year old and a two year old at home and when you teach something like high school see TEACHERS pg. 5

Ashley Britton wins FCPS Sportswoman of the Year Atoms 3-peat athlete awarded for athletic excellence

BY TOOBA SIDDIQUE

Taking summer classes: 16%

David Tyndall, Physics teacher

S ying Good-bye

BY ALMAZ ABEDJE The auditorium was filled with tunes and tears as the rather large class of 2016 had their last performance on the Atom's stage.

The spring orchestra concert took place on Thursday, May 26 at 7 p.m..

"There really wasn't a theme to the concert, other than the fact that it would be the farewell concert for the seniors," senior violinist Erin Ahn said. "A lot of the songs were themed that way too. " The 'senior night' themed performance was a memorable one, especially for those who have been in orchestra all four years. "'Of Glorious Plumage' was a song that Ms. Ammerman has been waiting for four years so that we would be able to play for our final year especially since she's had most of us for all four years," Ahn said.

"It was really refreshing to be finally finished with orchestra as a high schooler." see CONCERT pg. 5

Jessica Klein , Mathematics teacher

Carmen Bartley, English and Leadership teacher

International Editor Ashley Britton has excelled in several sports over the past four years at AHS. She has broke the 50 yard freestyle record from 1975 this year, she has gotten first team all conferences, and for lacrosse she has gotten First Team all conference as well as all Region and all American. Britton has also scored over 300 goals and she has broke the all time scoring

record at AHS that was previously held by her sister, Paige Britton who graduated in 2013.

The High School Sportswoman of the year award is presented to a senior student athlete who has excelled in her sport. Performance on the field isn t the only factor taken into consideration, leadership, community service, as well as academic standing are also large factors when deciding on the winner for this prestigious award.

The annual FCPS Women's Sports Committee asks each school to pick nominees for the different award categories. This school year from AHS, senior Ashley Britton was nominated for the Sportswoman of the Year Award, senior Janan Gokturk was nominated

Traveling: 17%

for the Donna de Verona Spirit of Sports Award, Coach Ivy Jordon was nominated for the Female Coach of the Year Award and senior Almaz Ajebde was nominated for the Female Sports Journalist award. From these categories, FCPS chooses one overall winner.

"I feel very blessed and honored to be given this award and I feel very thankful for all my coaches and teammates" Britton said.

All of FCPS joins to honor the nominated women athletes, coaches and sports journalists who win towards the end of the year to award them for their dedication, hard work and extracurricular achievements.

Britton has made AHS proud and it is an honor to have such amazing female athletes see AWARD pg. 5

PHOTO COURTESY OF ASHLEY BRITTON

Orchestra Concert

Lindsay Zurawski, Government and IB Anthropology teacher

Ashley Britton takes draw against Langley high school.

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2 EDITORIALS

June 7, 2016

911 emergency system broken Call dispatch system needs a change

911 dispatch centers' outdated technology has led to slow responses for urgent care.

them to give him his location and they gave him one that was about a quarter mile away from him.

The reporter was actually standing right in their 911 center.

Why is it that our cell phones and Domino's app for ordering pizza can tell us exactly where we are, yet 911 cannot provide that accurate information? Nowadays, even Ubers can find you with more precision than 911 can!

There is a location problem with 911 because they are in serious need of funding and new technology and because of the fact that 70 to 80 percent of all 911 calls come from cell phones.

Stop Mount Everest climbs Consecutive deaths spark debate of summit safety

BY JULIE NGUYEN Health Editor Standing on top of the world's tallest mountain at 29,029 feet, looking down at the vast scenery is a common dream for many around the world. Those seeking adventure and adrenaline make it their goal to reach the peak on the border separating China and Nepal.

However this exciting expedition is prone to many dangers as five climbers have died in the last the last weeks of May. With the total deaths on the mountain up to nearly 300 and seeing as how the death toll is only rising, officials should make the logical decision of closing the tourist attraction for good.

At AHS, all sophomores taking honors English will have to read Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer's personal account of the devastating 1997 Mt. Everest disaster. As a part of the curriculum, English teacher Joy Korones annually assigns her students a persuasive essay arguing either for or against the closing of Everest to recreational climbing.

The persausive essay will written through the process of a research paper.

"I will be writing to keep Everest open," sophomore Rebecca Kindling said. "Sherpas should be able to keep their jobs and people will find a way to climb the mountain either way."

The ratio between students who write for and against the closing of Everest are close to equal.

"Everest should be closed to climbing," sophomore Benjamin Lee said. "The summit is clearly not meant to be climbed by humans."

A great danger of summit climbing includes the natural being of the mountain itself. The possibility of a random avalanche on the mountain at any given time is a factor that cannot be prevented. Although meteorologists may be able to predict hazardous weather conditions and insane temperatures, avalanches and stormscannot be foreseen.

In April of 2015, 19 climbers were killed at base camp as a result of an avalanche triggered by an earthquake that hit Nepal. This disaster led to the closing of the mountain for the 2015 season. The year before, 16

climbers died because an icefall on a glacier.

Being at an altitude so high will undoubtedly bring negative effects to the human body as our organs are not adapted to the intense atmospheric pressure.

Climbers are known to experience altitude sickness in which nausea, vomiting and fatigue are apparent which only adds to the risks of ascending an icy terrain covered in hundreds of crevasses. Imagine being in the middle of the highest mountain in the world and feeling disoriented.

At this point, you are forced to descend in the state of dizziness accompanied by a persistent headache. The chance of misplacing your feet is now even greater and falling to your death becomes a real and extremely high possibility.

Tourists are continuously risking their lives to climb a mountain that is clearly not a safe zone by nature. Everest itself is as well from the litter humans leave behind.

As climbers try to address and adjust to the lack of oxygen at high altitudes, bottles of O2 are being carelessly discarded along the trails.

Those metal bottles are not the only being left behind as climbers also litter their food, wrappers and tents around the mountain to lessen their load. Throwing gear and creating piles of waste along the mountain is only polluting and destroying the natural site.

Corpses of climbers are also not properly removed.

The bodies of the fallen are simply left in the snow while others continue to pass by. Retrieving the bodies oftentimes is too dangerous and helicopters are not able to reach the extreme heights of the mountain resulting in the abandonment of loved ones.

Over 600 successful ascents to the peak, the mountain is no longer a mystery that needs to be solved. Several journalists and tourists have already risked their lives to record images of the mountain leaving no need for more people to put themselves in the face of danger.

EVEREST FACTS 路 Overall, 248 people have died on the mountain from 1921-2013 路 Jet stream sits on top of Mount Everest almost all year round 路 Temperatures on the summit can drop to negative 80 degrees Fahrenheit 路 Several climbers attempt to ascend without supplemental oxygen, despite the increasing atomospheric pressure

Although The FCC mandated that they improve accuracy, fixing the location problem will not solve everything as the present 911 system faces many obstacles.

When we used to use landlines, 911 could easily match the call to your billing address and know exactly where you were. On the other hand, when using a cellphone, you could be anywhere.

Using cellphones to make 911 calls also means a greater amount of accidental 911 calls are being made.

According to the FCC, around 84 million 911 calls made a year are butt dials which leads to even more straining on the 911 emergency system.

Dispatchers often find themselves in conflicting

Long checks call for long lines Lengthy waits to accompany upcoming summer travels

BY BINQI CHEN Editorials Editor As the year comes to a close, students are counting down the remaining school days and families are finalizing summer plans. Aside from the adventures, beaches and journeys, families should also prepare for the long and tedious airport security checkpoints.

It is commonly known that airline checkpoints are time consuming; however, in recent years airports both around the nation and the world have seen a dramatic increase in their security checks.

Just in the past few weeks, thousands of people have TSA security lines are longer and busier than ever. missed their flights due to timely screenings, which has security lines to go on for even longer. taken over two to three hours to complete.

In response to the heavy criticism, TSA's chief Peter "I will be flying to Lebanon for the summer with my Neffenger announced a 10-point plan to reduce the wait siblings and we also will have a pit stop in Paris," sophotime at security checks. He testified his ideas and resomore Michelle Akl said. "I really don't want to wait extra lutions before the House of Representatives Homeland hours just to get my bags inspected."

Security Committee.

In late May, Chicago's O'Hare International Airport In his plan, Neffenger said that an additional 768 had over 450 people miss their flights on American Airworkers will be employed by June, bomb sniffing dogs lines alone due to long screening time. will be used and part time workers will transition to full Locally, at Dulles International Airport, passengers time. have also seen growing lines. This was not the situation For travelers like Akl, who will be spending over 15 just a few months prior. hours in the air, there is little that they can do to speed up "When I traveled to Ethiopia this past summer," sophthe process without spending extra money. However, the more Heaven Lemma said, "It only took me about 30 minbest way to avoid prolonged security waits is to just enroll utes to get through TSA." in TSA's Pre-Check program.

The increasing wait is a problem as many passengers Through a series of tests and a fee of $85, passengers already show up hours prior to their departure time. who are considered "low risk" will be able to be alleviated With these additional hours piled on, flyers are of the long wait and pass through expedited screening. practically forced to spend an entire day at the airport.

Even though there is an application process and a fee, Standing in line at a crowded airport is definitely not how going through trusted-travelers is worth the effort. Since anyone would like to begin their holiday. travelers are already splurging on other traveling costs According to Forbes Magazine, The largest contribusuch as hotel arrangements, tour tickets and gifts; spendtors to the long waits are tightened procedures in reing an extra $85 will not be a significant monetary toll. sponse to terrorism, budget cuts and higher passenger With an estimated 740 million people projected to loads. Low budget given to the Transportation Security be screened this year, TSA seriously needs to find an efAdministration (TSA) by Congress has significally impactfective way to shorten security lines. In the meantime, ed the size of its workforce. frustrated customers and future travelers should give the TSA's staff has been reduced by 12 percent in the last Pre-Check program a try. year alone, and 1,600 workers are scheduled to leave the agency in the 2016 fiscal year. These leaves will cause the

HOMELAND.HOUSE.GOV

Shanel Anderson was delivering newspapers in the dark in Atlanta when her vehicle fell into a pond.

Although she knew exactly where she was and repeatedly told 911 the streets she was located on, the 911 dispatchers could not find her on their map.

It took emergency services nearly 20 minutes to get to her. Anderson ended up dying because the system had failed her.

911 is an important number we have memorized since childhood and parents still make sure to teach their kids in case of emergency situations so they know how to react and who to call for aid. However many times it is unsuccessful in doing what we were taught it could do for us, which is to save our lives.

We all have great confidence in the 911 system, and trust the system to save us when we are in need of help, but the system can break down more than you think.

A situation like Anderson's is not uncommon. The emergency dispatch system often loses valuable time that they could use helping others because they have trouble locating their callers.

According to the Federal Communications Center (FCC), improving location accuracy could save approximately 10,000 lives a year.

According to USA Today, your chance of 911 getting a quick fix on location ranges from as low as 10 percent to as high as 95 percent.

When one reporter from NBC news tested a dispatch center right here in Fairfax County, he called 911 asking

FAIRFAXCOUNTY.GOV

BY JUDY NANAW Health Editor

Staff CO-EDITORS IN CHIEF Teagan Foti Sadie Modica MANAGING EDITOR Sabrina Hawa NEWS EDITORS Nancy Evora Jesseica Salisbury EDITORIALS EDITORS Binqi Chen Aseal Saed COPY EDITORS Linus Bumbaca Yvonne White IN-DEPTH EDITORS Ruth Mekonnen Kim Laura SPORTS EDITORS Cameron Foti Jude Nanaw SPORTS XTRA EDITORS Ryan Gammon Grace Hogye PEOPLE EDITORS

Soulisa Pathammavong Marilyn Rivas WEEKEND EDITORS Mohamed Elhag Conrad Shartel INTERNATIONAL EDITORS Lina Al-Taii Tooba Siddique ENTERTAINMENT EDITORS Julius Miller Hussein Salem LIFESTYLES EDITORS Sheila Aguirre Lucie Lefbom HEALTH EDITORS Judy Nanaw Julie Nguyen PHOTOGRAPHY EDITORS Alaina Garay Kailyn Garay ART EDITORS Serene Ghul Kavi Shamdin

ACADEMICS EDITORS Rachel Shogren Halley Thadeus WEB EDITOR/MASTER Alex Tran HEAD VIDEOGRAPHERS Crew McCarthy AD MANAGER Mauricio Reyes CIRCULATION MANAGERS Mauricio Reyes STAFF WRITERS Almaz Abedje Seham Ahmed Marem Atef Fares Ayoub Summar Ayoub Ahmad Ayub Marife Baragano Jeanine Barakat Yabi Bereket Cayley Byrne Laura Clemons Anthony Dinh Christopher Han

Faisel Hassen Nicole Jordan Jennifer Kang Carolyn Lemens Kirk Lindberg Amani Muntu Biruk Negash Casey Nguyen Andrew Nunez Tipyan Omer Thida Pathammavong Kiara Patino Sergio Pozo Sharon Sanchez Nebeyu Solomon Camilia Soruco Maria Suarez Julie Swenton Karungu Thuku Melanie Valencia Firdousa Wasuge Daniel Yenegeta Hezekiel Yonas Raphael Yu Alexandra Zernik PHOTOGRAPHER ADVISER Alan Weintraut

situations in which they do not know how to handle 911 situations.

This leads to the dispatchers stressing over the idea of whether they could have done something more to save a life. This causes further strain on the workers at the centers. That stress along with funding shortages has led centers to be understaffed.

This is dangerous because if a 911 center is understaffed, the first thing one might hear when calling 911 could all be operators are busy so please remain on the line.

For the past decade, the federal government has been talking about Next Generation 911 which upgrades dispatch center to an IP based network so they could do things like accept videos and text messages.

This can be lifesaving in situations where you cannot make a phone call such as in an event of domestic violence or a home invasion.

So far, no state has enforced Next Generation 911 which makes no sense because it would make everything so much better and easier for dispatchers whose jobs are clearly already hard enough.

What makes this whole issue even worse is that almost every one phone bill has a 911 service fee that you would think goes directly to fund 911 centers, but the FCC's fee report shows that since 2008 at least 20 states, including Virginia, have used the money elsewhere.

Diverting money from 911 into other general funds is not right. This is an unacceptable act that is putting so many people in grave danger.

911 is currently a disjointed system that needs serious upgrading. For a place that deals with life and death situations, it is scary for the 911 system to be underfunded, understaffed, and filled with outdated technology.

Dos and Don'ts: Airport Edition Annandale High School Vol. 61 No.11 4700 Medford Dr. Annandale, VA 22003 703.642.4229 June 7th, 2016 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 theablast15@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, 2016.

Do check TSA's regulations. Liquids should be less than 3.4 ounces per container.

Don't leave without important documents such as your passport and boarding pass!

Do arrive at the airport early! It is your responsibility and expense for a missed flight.

Don't be disrespectful and ruin others' vacation! Being polite will make the staff's jobs a little easier.

EDITORIALS 3 A look back on the past school year June 7, 2016

From new teachers to new dances, AHS has evolved.

bad pitfalls that made the year a little harder, but it was not enough to bring down the Atoms.

1. PRIDE TIME LEAVES STUDENTS SPENDING TIME ON PHONE: Most students do not get requested for Pride Time, so they spend most of the period on their devices and waste their time. The strictness of the pass system does not allow students to leave to other classrooms without a pass and forces students to stay in their rooms.

BY ASEAL SAED Editorials Editor The A-Blast takes a look back at the ups and downs of the past year.

Here are a few of the positive things from the past year: 1. NEW PRINCIPAL TIM THOMAS: As previous Principal Randazzo left, the new principal, Tim Thomas has filled in his spot. He quickly became quite popular among students.

2. SIS PARENTVUE GRADING SYSTEM: Teachers are able to update the system as soon as they grade an assignment. You can easily see your grades on line, but your parents can also see it too.

3. SADIE HAWKINS KICKS OFF: In this new dance, girls were encouraged to ask boys dance instead of the other way around. Although not as popular as homecoming, students were able to have another formal dance to enjoy.

2. STUDENTS BEHIND ON MYP: The Middle Years Program has been a staple in all English classes, but with a shift to online assignments students spent procrastinated.

New principal Tim Thomas in front of Annandale High School.

4. NEW TURF FIELD FOR BETTER GAMES: Though expensive, the turf field offers a better alternative than the grass field. The turf can drain easier and last through most types of weather.

5. MORE ART MURALS MAKE THE

WALLS LOOK BETTER: New art murals were added in the math hallway and near the cafeteria which has improved Annandale's look.

County, who were favorites to win the Conference Championship. However, through great strength and teamwork, girls lacrosse was very successful.

6. GIRLS LACROSSE DOMINATES PATRIOT CONFERENCE: The Lady Atoms were able to beat schools like Woodson and South

Annandale has had a great year with a lot of popular events and new things that made the year better. However, there were still some

3. OLD TEACHERS ARE LEAVING, BUT NEW TEACHERS ARE ARRIVING. It is sad to see teachers who have been here a long time leaving, but they have left a lasting legacy for us to love. There is excitement for the new teachers who will come to replace them because they will leave their own lasting impressions.

Students were encouraged to bring in bottle caps to get into Battle of the Classes. Although the bottle caps were for a good cause, it was still hard to bring in support.

5.STUDENTS COMING HOME LATER: Last year, school began at 7:20 a.m. and ended at 2:05 p.m. However, last year the school board ruled to have this changed to 8:10 a.m. and end at 2:55 p.m.

Students wake up later, but they have to come home later as well, which is especially hard for students inolved in sports.

6. PUT YOUR PHONE DOWN: Despite being a yellow zone, students continue to use their phones in the hallways, and don't pay attention to what is around them.

With all of these new changes, Annandale has evolved to become better. The 2015-2016 school year has been quite successful for students and faculty members, and hopefully this will continue in the coming years.

4. BATTLE OF THE CLASSES LOW IN ATTENDANCE:

How beneficial are final exams?

"It can help students "It is a way to see what "It goes more in depth "There aren't any bring up their grade you learned at the end of what we learned in benefits because they last minute." of the year." the school year." add more stress."

EFRATA TECLE DARNELL KAY LINA OSMAN IAN MARBURGER freshman freshman sophomore sophomore

"The only one I can see is that it is a good review of everything you learned. " JESSICA FERSON junior

"I don't see my "It proves our knowledge and shows if benefits because it is we did or didn't learn." just another test."

TIM JOHNSON MADISON SCHINSTOCK senior junior

"There are no benefits to final exams because it is the end of the year and no one wants to do them."

MONGNHI NGUYEN senior

Why final exams should not be required Projects are a better alternative

BY LINA AL TAII International Editor During September of 2015, Montgomery County Public Schools decided to eliminate final exams, and instead use quarterly tests or projects which can test students' learning comprehension on less content but more in depth.

It is now that time of year where students go into a frenzy, studying furiously for different exams, and the controversy of cancelling final exams is more prevalent than ever.

Final exams bring an unnecessary amount of stress to a time of the school year which should be peaceful.

For students to be fairly tested on the content they learned throughout their time in class, a considerably long and time consuming test would be needed.

It is hard to study and find old materials from the beginning of the year, especially if some teachers decide to not review for a beneficial

Students stressing because of the overload of tests for final exams at the end of the year.

amount of time.

After working hard all year long, even students with the highest grades have to worry as they frantically try to memorize every piece of information they learned.

An advantageous alternative for final exams would be to have four quarter grades each worth 25 percent of the final grade, or replace final exams with a long term project.

In order to complete a project, students can really show what they have learned without the stress of a testing environment.

With a project assignment, students can show their creativity and the content they learned in a unique way.

Even if a student knows all of the material, the effort and time it takes to complete a project on their work

can show them the hard work ethic that they need to use for the rest of their life.

Additionally, students do not get the opportunity to come back to school and receive their final exam grades or see what they could have done differently.

Many students only see the tests' effect on their grades once they receive their final report card, and

have to accept their grade without argument.

For students who passed every quarter with As, final exams can be somewhat tedious and wasteful of time and resources.

After many other standardized tests, final exams can become a bit useless and bring more stress to students who have just went through an even more stressful testing environment.

Many teachers and students would argue that final exams can help many students who fell behind but still learn the material to pick up their grades and prove their knowledge of the material.

However, for most students who are not borderline passing, final exams are an extra amount of stress and do not have any positive outcomes.

If a student really learned the material throughout the school year, they would not need another exam to prove it.

Rather there should be other alternative ways to test a students ability other than a test.

The final exams are repetitive of unit tests, and if a student passes all of their unit tests, then they should

not have to prove once again that they know the material.

In a real world situation, if a student fell behind in a class and failed a test, they would need to move on with their life and aim to do a better job the next time.

To give students 20 percent of their final grade out of one exam is to let students go through the year thinking that if they fail one quarter, they have a safety net to bring their grade back up.

Final exams are also a questionable way to show what students have learned. In the real world, students will not be able to take a multiple choice test in a classroom to prove that they know the material.

Students will be challenged and will need to overcome adversity to succeed in life, and schools should take the "finals" opportunity to teach that to their students.

Final exams are not setting any example for students to follow, and they are not benefitting the futures of students in real world situations.

Video slams Annandale

Cartoonist Corner

Annandale called "ashtray of a town"

ILLUSTRATION BY MOHAMED ELHAG

BY ASEAL SAED Editorials Editor A camera pans over dirty and litter filled streets as a deep voice narrates, "Are you an emotionally disfigured person whose life has gone completely off-track because of your own lack of judgment?"

"Do you need somewhere to live cheap and fast? Is no price too low? Then welcome to Annandale, Virginia."

These scenes are from a viral video titled "Welcome Home to the S***hole of Annandale, VA" created by Annandale native Angelo Mike.

The video came out two years ago in 2014, but it was not until the last two weeks that the video became viral because of the website, Reddit.

The video is two minutes long, and it spends its entire time degrading Annandale as

the worst place to live, saying things like, "Only degenerates live here" and says that Annandale is "A miserable ashtray of a town."

The video makes Annandale look like a dirty town that is filled with litter and dirt. Not only this, but the scenes in the video which only show the ground, make Annandale look like a dumping ground.

The video does not represent the Annandale that we all know.

Also, the video is has a dark filter which makes Annandale look dreary, and in doing so, the viewer is inclined to see Annandale as a bad place to live.

The video subsequently ends with a black screen and huge words pop up saying, "Kill Me." Just because Mike does not enjoy Annandale does not mean he has to brand it as a place all degenerates live and label it as the worst place to live.

Although the video does have a sort of humor to it, it makes the viewer feel bad for Annandale.

Additionally, the video is in the perspective of a privileged

man living in suburbia. By making the town seem way worse than it seems, it takes away from the fact that there are actually other communities that are struggling.

He also does not take into consideration that Annandale is a part of one of the richest counties in America.

Because of this, the video is misinformed, and hurts Annandale's reputation.

Watch the video

On your smartphone scan this code using the application QR Code to watch the video

4 NEWS

June 7, 2016

Seniors prepare for All Night Grad PTSA hopes to attract seniors to Audrey Moore Rec Center after graduation

BY NANCY EVORA News Editor

LUPE SHARTEL

All nighters are nothing new to seniors, but instead of endless projects and homework, at All Night Grad students will spend the night swimming, eating, playing games and spending time with their friends post-graduation in a safe environment.

In the past years, Fairfax County and parents were concerned with groups of students who were drinking and driving after their graduation ceremony.

A recent survey, conducted in 2014 by Fairfax County Youth Survey and it revealed that 36.2 percent of seniors had engaged in binge drinking in the last two weeks of school.

These statistics concerned Fairfax County parents because each year, groups of students would drink and drive resulting in many accidents.

Fairfax County and the Parent Teachers Students Association (PTSA) decided to start the All Night Grad Celebration for seniors to attend after graduation and have a great time with their friends at a safe, alcohol free place.

"The event was started over 25 years ago in Fairfax County by parents and PTSA groups who were

Students from class of 2015 having a great time at The Audrey Moore Rec Center.

concerned about the drinking and driving seniors were doing celebrating their graduation, sometimes resulting in horrific accidents," Co-chair Lupe Shartel said.

According to Shartel, the celebration is sponsored

by PTSA which gives the graduating seniors a fun, safe place to go to after graduation to celebrate their hard work and celebrate one last time with all their friends.

Students at AHS are looking forward to attend the celebration with their peers.

"I will be attending the party because I want to celebrate that I finally graduate after all the hard work I did and I love how I get to spend one of the most exciting days with my friends," senior Fabiana Viera said.

The celebration party is supervised by volunteer parents Lupe Shartel and Kathy Dannholz who plan all year to ensure they have everything ready in time for graduation so seniors can have a great time.

In the past years, the celebration has had over 250 to 350 students attending the event. This year ANAGC's co-chairs hope they can have 300 students at the event.

This year's celebration will be taking place at the Audrey Moore Rec Center where there will be a variety of activities for students to join.

"We have booked many vendors to entertain the students including temporary tattoo artists, caricature artists, all night wally-ball, massage therapists,

Senior awarded AHS sports journalist of the year

a photo gallery to take pics, all night food and drink, many moon bounce type games, plus swimming pool from 11:30 pm to 2:30 am, the evening will end with a show and raffling off awesome prizes including cash prizes," Shartel said.

This event cannot be done without underclassmen parents volunteering to organize this event, and AHS definitely needs underclassmen parents to help set up Audrey Moore Rec Center on the night of graduation.

Those who attend the event will be supervised by volunteers and parents all day so they can feel safe.

"We usually have about 60 to 80 volunteers throughout the event to keep an eye on students," Shartel said.

Providing seniors with an unforgettable night requires a lot of funding from the ANGC and parents who help with the event.

"We have had many fundraisers to help off-set the cost of putting on the ANGC. We had a Pampered Chef fundraiser in January. We had the Phantom Ball fundraiser in February and the Mulch sale in March. Those are the three primary fundraisers," Shartel said.

Asides from fundraisers, the ANGC asks parents to donate 16 dollars above the cost of the ticket to help offset the expense of the celebration.

According to Shartel, the celebration requires 100 volunteers to help setup Audrey Moore Rec Center and another 60 volunteers to stay through the night to chaperone the students, serve food and then help clean everything up and take all our equipment back to AHS to pack away for the next year.

Students who wish to volunteer and earn community service hours are more than welcome by the staff.

The celebration will take place on June 20 starting at 11 p.m..

Ticket will be sold for $45 until June 10 and at the door tickets will be $60.

Leadership prepares for senior send off party celebration

BY JULIE NGUYEN Health Editor

BY NANCY EVORA News Editor

Leadership is preparing to recognize and appreciate the seniors for their hard work and dedication.

Leadership has a total of 18 seniors who will be graduating and going to college. To wish good luck to those who are graduating, Leadership is organizing a party for them.

"We are having a senior send off which is a last goodbye party for the seniors to thank them for the year," junior Tara El- Achi said.

The tradition is that underclassmen members are assigned a senior to "send off" and whoever they are assigned, they give them a special gift.

President of the Student Board senior Marem Atef remembers all the good memories she shared with her peers and teachers.

"There have been countless memories I will take with me but a main one is all the awkward interactions I have witnessed Mrs. Bartley encounter and just being able to laugh. She really did create such a positive and funny environment" Besides gifts, Leadership will be giving funny awards to its members.

"We are doing paper plate awards and seniors get their SGA chords," Atef said.

The party will be taking place at Lake Accotink on June 15.

MAREM ATEF

ALMAZ ABEDJE

When she first heard that she had been nominated by the A-Blast for the Sports Journalist of the Year award from the Fairfax County Women in Sports Committee, senior Almaz Abedje was shocked.

As a first year member of the A-Blast, she has written a total of 22 stories and has greatly contributed to our school newspaper. Members of The A-Blast staff wanted to recognize her hard work.

Although she has written for a variety of genres including entertainment and academics throughout the school year, sports journalism is where she seems to truly excel.

"It felt really good to have my hard work appreciated and having that to show for my short time on the A-Blast," Abedje said. "Since my childhood, sports Almaz Abedje posing for a picture with her Sports Award. have always been a big part of my life."

By building relationships with her editors, Abedje each containing quotes from various sources. Abedje has efficiently written her stories throughout the year takes the time to interview students, athletes, teachand always meets her deadlines. ers and coaches when covering sports and makes sure Whether she has to cover girls lacrosse or boys to correctly report scores when writing. basketball, Abedje gets the job done. Her interest in "Covering sports this past year has been a great exsports has allowed her to stand out in the field of jour- perience," Abedje said. "[It] has made me heavily connalism and is rightfully praised for her hard work and sider the idea of possibly studying sports journalism in dedication. the near future."

"I have always loved playing and watching sports Her ability to accurately report on sports events so combining my outside interests with journalism re- has been recognized and she serves as a role model ally improved my writing," Abedje said. "As an athlete for future staff writers. Abedje has committed to myself, I was genuinely interested in the games that I George Washington University and will start her colcovered and could relate to the players." lege career this upcoming fall semester.

She writes an average of three stories a month,

Alumni Rahel Tecle posing with Leadership president Marem Atef after receiving her Leadership chords.

Junior Josue Valyene asks junior Jessica Smith to marry him during the play "Title."

BY NANCY EVORA News Editor

The Annandale Theatre Company performed their very first Annual Theatre Arts Showcase on May 27.

The play started with individual monologues by students who were accepted into Theatre Governor's School over the summer.

Juniors William Rangel Cardozo and Maya Koch performed first. Cardozo performed his monologue "Betty" which was inspired by a blue hat. Koch performed a monologue from Mary Warren in The Crucible, which she used at adjudication for governor's school. Ramata Sesay's Emulation Project followed the monologues, in which she emulated her aunt.

Following the featured performances were the main performances. The first main performance was White Elephant, written by Barbara Winther. The play was Annandale Theatre Company's competing VHSL play in which they tied for second place and won "all star cast"at the competition. The all star cast members included juniors William Rangel Cardozo, Maya Koch, and Beckman Hollis, along with senior Sacha Cameron.

Following White Elephant were plays A Brighter Future for America and "Title: A Story of What Could Have Been, But Never Was." A Brighter Future for America was written and directed by seniors Sacha Cameron, and Trevor Boynton.

The play was about a newly elected president that made executive decisions that were unconstitutional and contained a lot of political controversy. The cast included juniors Danyom Beyene, Beckman Hollis, William Rangel Cardozo, Maya Koch, Juliana Iglesias and Mikhyla Atkinson.

"Title" was written and directed by seniors Sarah Woodward and Michael McLean. the play was mainly about the love story between Maggie Stout, played by junior Jessica Smith, and Jonathan Tape, played by Josue Valdez. The play also featured Katherine, Maggie's best friend, played by junior Ramata Sesay.

Before the process even began, the W8 theatre class got together and did a read through of both plays.

"After reading both plays as a class, the juniors auditioned, and then had callbacks," Jessica said. "This was an in class project where the seniors wrote and directed the plays, while the juniors acted in them. After we were all cast, we then rehearsed in class up until the showcase."

CONT. "TRANS"

CONT. "GRADUATION" people and teachings will remain with them as they continue on their individual journeys.

Rai recalls his favorite memory and experience he shared with his friends at AHS. "Sitting in the pub lab and talking with my friends while getting work done. That whole environment was really really something I'm just gonna keep a hold of because it is kind of close to me" Shank said.

Everyone will keep a hold of the special moments they shared together as they continue forward

The Antenna annual yearbook is coming out on June 7. Students can get the yearbook at Yearbookforever.com or in room 268 for a price of $80. This year's theme is called Against Time that represents the school time.

"The theme is supposed to represent the change in our [school's] time this year, the one hour difference, and shows how it completely changed some people's schedules and how we are in a constant battle against time" junior and AHS Yearbook Team Leader Yuki Zheng said.

Members of yearbook are excited about this year's product after working hard for months.

"I think the best thing about the yearbook is the cover. They shot panoramic shots of the sunset and when the book is fully opened, it is so pretty," Zheng said.

Even though Yearbook is excited they completed the Yearbook's logo and theme "Against Time." Books can be books, the process they had to go throuh was hard.

"The journey was something, it was definitely difficult purchased for 80 dollars either online or at Clausen hall. at a lot of times. One deadline we had to sit at Tropical Smoothie for like eight hours to finish, but it really was a mistakes.

"Next year we want to manage the class better. We different experience with all of the new staff and the new want to make sure we get things done in a timely manner design," Zheng said.

One of the main problem the staff faced was pro- and that there's minimal errors, and that it will be a more fun and less stressful time," Zheng said. crastination.

Those who pre-ordered their yearbooks will receive "We did a lot in the last minute and should have used them on the distribution day. If students want to purour time more wisely in the beginning," Zheng said.

For next year, the Antenna plans to make a change chase them, they can pay $80 cash or pay online. in time management so they don't repeat this year's

Recent controversy causes FCPS to take action

Seniors prepare their caps and gowns Every senior has a different goal and dream that they are chasing from here on out. Some will be attending community college, public and private colleges in and out of the state, others will be joining the military or pursuing their own explorations beyond high school.

Whichever the case, the memories made at Annandale will not be forgotten.

This is home to the place where friends were made and valuable lessons were learned. These

BY SADIE MODICA Co-Editor in Chief

YEARBOOK TWITTER ACCOUNT

JESSICA SMITH

Annandale Theatre Company performs Yearbook publishes Against Time

in their lives. After June 20th, the seniors will be entering new buildings, classrooms and areas that will create more memories for them, but the ones made here will remain cherished.

"There are people I am going to miss and the school definitely because I've made a lot of memories here" Rai said.

LGBT+ people, but rather with teaching people that aren't on the spectrum not to judge a book by its cover. Keeping trans people out of the bathroom of their identified gender only helps erase their identity. We should be taking steps forward, not back."

That being said, Young believes that "our schools are a lot more open-minded than other counties, minus one or two people, so kids are a little more welcome to express themselves even if they can't do so at home or other places."

FCPS has not faced quite as much opposition as other school districts, but this action was passed more quickly than in other school systems for a reason.

"A lot of school systems are still trying to follow within the interests of the masses, and that means hearing out a lot of closed-minded people. And, while we deal with that in our county as well, we have amazing board members who are able to argue and push it through" Young said. "Maybe it's because of where we live; we're so close to DC in an extremely diverse area, so we tend to have more diverse board members. The counties that are having the most trouble with this are probably in areas where they're still trying to teach abstinence as the only form of birth control. It may sound harsh, but they need to realize that times are changing; my advice would be to keep up."

Young's voice joins many others

in communicating the message that the times are changing, and school systems have to adapt. Though accommodating transgender students may not have been an issue in the past, it is increasingly prevalent now.

"Sometimes people don't understand what "transgender" really is.

I think it's important for people to realize that transgender students have probably spent most of their life feeling different or left out when it comes to the gender they identify with" Fetterman said. "Not allowing them to use the bathroom they identify with is going to make them feel more outcasted and uncomfortable or in some cases could even automatically out them to their peers."

NEWS 5

June 7, 2016

Beloved teachers leave Annandale chorus there are a lot of after school, evening and weekend things that are expected from the teacher and it's really difficult right now with my girls being so young," Irish said, "but who knows, maybe I'll teach high school again at some point."

Irish, like many other teachers, struggled to pick her favorite moment as she reminisced over the six years she has spent with the AHS choir department.

"It's really difficult for me to pick [a favorite moment or memory] because I feel like we are always making really awesome memories," Irish said. "I've traveled to Germany twice with my students and we've performed at numerous great locations, like the Kennedy Center, [so it's hard to pick one], I actually just have a lot of really great memories with my students."

Besides the talented students she teaches Irish also admitted that she will miss the performing arts teachers at AHS because of how cohesive they are as a department.

"I am just really hopeful that the level of collaboration that I have with the other performing arts teachers will continue at my new school because that doesn't always exist at every school," Irish said. "I've really enjoyed teaching with the other awesome performing arts teachers and so I think that I'm really going to miss that [at my new school]."

DAVID TYNDALL David Tyndall is excited for change and an easier commute as he leaves AHS to teach at Marshall High school next year.

"I think that change can be good. Change is scary but I also think that change allows for growth so I'm looking for change so that I can always keep being better at what I do," Tyndall said.

Tyndall has taught the Atoms for the past five years and was an intern for the year before that. He has taught all different levels of Physics over his years at Annandale and looks forward to teaching similar courses next year at Marshall. "[Teaching] at Marshall High School will cut my commute in half so it will be much easier,"

Tyndall said. "[But] I will miss the students [at Annandale] and I'm worried about that, because I know I'm going to miss them."

Tyndall reflected over his years at AHS and all of the memories and moments he will miss with the students in the upcoming years.

"Even though there are teenagers all over the world, my entire teaching career I've taught students at Annandale and I've enjoyed it and I really hope that students elsewhere are similar to the students at Annandale."

CARMEN BARTLEY As the class of 2016 retires their Atom's spirit wear to go and achieve higher education at various institutions nationwide, English teacher Carmen Bartley will be waving goodbye to AHS and embarking on a similar journey.

"I am going to the University of Wisconsin to get my PhD in Educational Leadership and Policy Analyis" Bartley said.

Bartley has been a staff member at AHS for a total of five years now, teaching everything from English 11 to literacy classes to Leadership. Bartley has had great, strong connections with an abundance of students who are sad to see her leave.

"I'm devastated [that Ms. Bartley is leaving] because she has been with me throughout my whole leadership experience" junior, leadership executive board member Tara El-Achi said. "She was the one that accepted me into the program and now she is leaving and won't be here for my senior year, she will definitely be missed a lot."

Bartley herself is bittersweet about leaving AHS and its students for Madison, Wisconsin.

"I will definitely miss the students the most," Bartley said, without hesitation, "I will miss laughing with them and getting to know them and being a part of their daily lives."

JESSICA KLEIN Math teacher Jessica Klein has seen both sides of AHS, as a student for four years and then as a teacher for five, so the decision to leave Annandale for Williamsburg, VA was not easy for her.

"I'm moving to Williamsburg because I really just can't deal with inside the beltway

CONT. "ORCHESTRA"

PHOTO COURTESY OF TEAGAN FOTI

CONT. "TEACHERS"

Spring Concert

David Tyndall performs a physics project for his class anymore. It's too congested and people are just crazy and I need a slower pace [lifestyle]," Klein said. "My mom still lives here, and my dad lives out in Fairfax [so] it's going to be a huge impact [moving to Williamsburg] because my whole family is here."

Klein has been a very active member in the AHS community as she has coached swim and been the Atoms' Red Cross sponsor for the past three years.

"I really liked Ms. Klein as a coach" freshman swimmer Katie Pope said. "She always came up with good sets and was very flexible with what we swam in meets, I'm really going to miss her."

Klein has already found a job teaching at York High School in Yorktown, Virginia and knows that she will be teaching a math class, but isn't sure of the exact course yet.

"I will really miss my co-workers, our department works really well together and I'm hoping the my department in my next school works just as well because they are really reliable," Klein said.

Although she is getting slightly more anxious as the time gets closer Klein is overall excited for her new adventure south of NOVA. "It's a good time to leave, if there is a good time," Klein said. "It's a very good closure year for me, [since] I have a senior W4 and IB math

studies year II." MOLLY JEPSON Algebra teacher Molly Jepson is preparing to travel across the pond next fall to teach Math and English Literature in England after teaching at AHS for four years.

"I'm moving to a different country which is something I've always wanted to do but it's going to be hard because this is the happiest I've ever been in my teaching career," Jepson said. "I'm going to be living in a small town called Buckinghamshire and it's going to be a big change because I live in DC right now so I'm going from a city to [a] country [setting]."

Jepson decided to move away to fulfill her lifelong dream of living in another country, and her location, England, will hopefully make it easy and affordable to travel and see other European nations.

Annandale has been Jepson's home her whole life and she will miss the community and kids. "[I will miss] everything. I grew up around here and I went to this school, it means a lot to me," Jepson said. "What I like the most about working here is I finally get to see the kids I taught as freshmen graduate as seniors and I'm going to miss seeing all of my other groups of kids graduating."

The concert was extremely emotional for some seniors, like Lara Riad, who've been playing since elementary school.

"The concert was a wake up call to realizing I wasn't going to be here next year," Riad said. "Like the realization hit me that after four years, I'm not going to be here anymore."

This was a very successful year for the orchestra department. Along with the Philharmonic Strings being the only school in our district to get a superior rating in all categories at their District Assessment, members also raised over $12,000 for a fellow member's surgery and medical expenses.

"This was without a doubt my best year of teaching," orchestra director Angela Ammerman said.

It was an emotional roller coaster for both Ammerman and members of the orchestra program.

"There were some tears during our last piece," senior Leif Jomuad said.

"Although it was a long concert the audience stayed and were touched by the emotional concert."

Sportswoman CONT. "AWARD" and coaches recognized for what they do. The county also takes great pride in recognizing every school's female athletes and coaches through the FCPS Women Sports Awards.

"Ashley is a very dedicated, competitive, and gifted athlete who challenges herself and her teammates, in every positive and motivational way, to give their best at every practice and game" Britton's field hockey and lacrosse coach, Cindy Hook said. "I am very happy and excited and thankful to be given the opportunity to be her coach. Ashley embodies all the of qualities of a true AHS Atom, and all who wear the red and white should stand tall, be proud and follow her example."

ACADEMICS 7

June 7, 2016

Summer assignments canceled With the exception of IB, AP and Honors classes

BY ALMAZ ABEDJE Special to the A-blast In a policy change for the upcoming school year the Instructional Coucnil, made up of department chairs, and counselors, met to discuss the cutting of "regular" class summer assignments while the IB/AP and honors classes will still have summer assignments.

This new concept highlights the difference between regular and IB/Honors classes with the new reading requirement. Students taking regular classes are not permitted have summer reading assignments while IB/Honors students are required to.

Sophomore Cece Joseph views the new rule as fitting for the challenge that comes with advanced classes.

"I think it's okay that IB kids have summer

assignments because they need to be prepared for next year and know what the work is going to be like," Joseph said. "If you sign up for IB you know what's coming so I think it's good to have summer assignments."

Other students, like junior Iris Arrazola agrees with the idea to a certain extent but also acknowledges its flaws.

"I think that is the expectation because the IB and honors students are signing up for rigorous courses but

at the same time regular students should have assignments just to keep their minds fresh but of course not as hard,"Arrazola said.

Students with a rather large IB course load, like junior Vicky Luu, view this as a negative.

"I think IB and honors kids should not have summer assignments because they already stress out so much throughout the year," Luu said. "It is a bad thing because our brains will not remember anything because we are on vacation mode and it is mainly busy work."

Joseph on the other hand feels that summer assignments, rather than busy work, are designed to keep students minds working throughout the break to prevent them from forgetting things.

"I do not know about most people but I forget about school over the summer and having assignments helps to stay focused and not forget things," Joseph said. "It will force me to stay focused and set my priorities because I'll have to find time to do them in between my job and sports and vacationing."

Junior Karla Mejia, who took multiple IB courses this year and numerous honors classes in the past, believes that summer assignments give those advanced courses an intimidating reputation.

"It seems pretty bad because some kids might just take regular classes for less work when really everyone should be challenging themselves," Mejia said. "I see it as a bad thing because it just makes IB/Honor classes look more intimidating because of some more work."

Students with a less challenging course load, like Arrazola, see it as a way to keep the mind active with minimal stress.

"It will give me something to do over the summer," Arrazola said. "I see summer assignments as a positive concept."

Due to Mejia's past work load, summer assignments do not come as a shock to her.

"This doesn't impact me because I always have summer assignments and it looks like nothing is changing," Mejia said.

Joseph, on the other hand, has yet to experience the rigor of IB classes therefore feels less intimidated by the work.

"I see it as a good thing because I'm learning how to take care of my responsibilities and manage time and stay focused," Joseph said. "Some people might see this as negative and a waste of time but I think it's a good thing."

FCPS Summer School Students prep for upcoming school year

BY AMANI MUNTU AND ALMAZ ABEDJE Staff Writer

With the end of the school year approaching, students are beginning to prepare for a relaxing summer vacation.

But when students hear the words "summer school" they usually aren't too thrilled by the idea of being in a classroom during the summer time for full school days. In most cases summer school is necessary for students who severely struggled in certain classes the previous year.

Junior Jose Lopez will be attending summer school for the second consecutive year.

"I'm only taking algebra 2 this summer because I failed the course," Lopez said. "I've taken summer school before for geometry."

Summer school offers students a chance to receive credits that are mandatory in order to graduate, change a low grade from the previous year, and here in Fairfax County students can register for SOL remediation which allows students that did not meet the passing score requirement, to take classes in order to better prepare for their SOLs and ensure a passing score.

FCPS is offering several summer learning programs for summer 2016 such as SOL remediation, credit recovery, online programs, ESOL programs, TJHSST (Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology) programs, and information to register for educational enrichment camps. The closest location to Annandale that is offering a summer school program is Jeb Stuart High School, there are SOL remediation classes and credit recovery programs that are taking place for FCPS students at Jeb Stuart, Herndon, and West Potomac.

BY ALMAZ ABEDJE Special to the A-blast

For those who wish not to participate in a class that requires students to go to a school and take a course at one of the FCPS listed earlier, there is an online option that students in grades 7-12 are eligible to register for.

"For me it's effective because I feel like it's easier for me and it s not nearly as stressful as school," Lopez said.

Every summer school program listed comes with a price depending on which program you would like to take and in some cases whether you have free and reduced lunch. The details to all the summer school programs are on the FCPS website, you can also find things such as class dates, prices, what classes are offered, and what grade levels are allowed to participate in each summer program.

As the 2015-2016 school year comes to a close, students begin to reflect on this past year as well as prepare for next year.

For younger students, like sophomore Tyler Westfall, this year was a productive one.

"I felt like I had a good transition from freshman year to sophomore year which is a harder year," Westfall said.

"I felt like I managed my time well."

In cases of more veteran students, like juniors Iris Arrazola and Fatmata Kamara, this year served as a huge learning experience.

"Finding my place in school and realizing my real friends were definitely some important things I learned this past school year," Arrazola said. "I also realized how important studying longer for tests and quizzes are."

For Kamara, her main focus was strictly academics which she reflected on.

"My time management, working under pressure, and I guess not enough sleep were my main concerns this year," Kamara said. "I'm hoping to start college applications this summer and not wait till the last minute so my senior year can run smoothly."

As the classroom curriculum increases in difficulty each year, more students are planning to go the extra

mile in order to achieve maximum results.

"My goal next year is to have better time management," Westfall said. "I plan on being more organized so that I can finish homework at a decent time and go to bed earlier."

Some students, like sophomore Cece Joseph, were not challenged too much this past year.

"I feel as if my grades were really good this year and the classes flowed easily," Joseph said. "It was pretty easy to get used to."

Joseph also focused on athletic reflections in addition to academic.

"Unfortunately though, I feel as if sports could've been much more interesting and stress relieving," Joseph said.

Rising juniors similarly hold high academic expectations for themselves for next school year.

"My goals for next year are to transition smoothly to IB and maintain good grades while working on improving my GPA as well as to take my SAT once and for all," Joseph said. "Next year I plan on approaching sports differently because I'm going to have to set priorities and try to do sports that please me and help relieve my stress."

The last day of school for freshmen, sophomores, and juniors is June 23. Seniors will graduate and say goodbye to AHS on June 20.

What are you doing to prepare for the next school year?

"I will be doing the summer review packets that teachers give out."

ANISSA CHEIKH

"Making sure I have all of my summer assignments done as soon as possible."

ZAIN GUHL

freshman

"I'm already getting my pencil box and the rest of the supplies."

JESSICA ROOP

freshman

sophomore

"I am asking people who are in higher grades then I am what to do to in order to prepare for the classes."

OMNA TEDLA sophomore

"Over the summer I'll go on college tours in order to find out what other things I'll need to do before applying."

JESSICA SMITH

"I am going to invest in a calendar to improve my organizational status."

WILLIAM RANGLE

"I'm trying to pass all my classes, succeed in life and keep to the success."

KASEY RICHITT

"I'm going to go home and do my homework all alone rather than staying after school."

FATIMA KAMARA

junior

junior

junior

junior

SAT Wordsearch

IB Spotlight: Summer Ayoub Q: What are your studying habits?

A: I am the type of person that studies everyday, even if I have or didn't have school today. I take plenty of notes and review whenever I have the chance.

Q: What is your favorite IB subject?

A: My favorite IB subject is IB Arabic.

Q: What are your plans after high school?

A: I plan on attending Manhattan College next year.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SUMMER AYOUB

Q: How do you keep up with your academics and social life?

A: I prioritize my academic studies so I really didn't have a social life, but when I did have time, I would hang out with my family and friends on the weekends which is rare.

Q: How do you think you did on your recent IB exams?

A: The IB exams were a mixture of good and bad, but I believed that I passed. I worked hard throughout the school year and made sure that I prepared myself for these IB exams.

Q: What was your extended essay topic?

A: How did Gandhi affect the outcome of the Civil Rights movement?

Q: Is your only focus academics?

A: Yes, my only focus is mainly my academics.

Q: Who or what has helped you on your IB journey?

A: Mrs. Layaly and Ms. Bradshaw have helped my through my IB journey because they motivated me and made sure I made it to the end.

Q: What advice would you give future IB diploma candidates?

A: Work hard, give each subject an equal amount of attention because focusing on one subject will throw you off. Do not let IB scare you because you got this.

Q: What skills do you think the IB program has taught you that can help you later in life?

A: IB has taught me how to work hard and productively and how to manage my time.

Q: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

A: Working in a hospital as a pediatric surgeon.

SAT Words: Abasement Abhor Abrasive Abrogate Bigot Bilk Billowing Blasphemy Counterfeit Covert Cower Credible

Enfranchise Engender Enhance Enigma Hamper Hanger Harangue Harbingers Kindle Knotty Labyrinth Noxious Nuance

Nullify Nuzzle Placid Plagiarism Plaintiff Remuneration Renown Replete Reprehensible Talisman Tangent Tangible Tardy

8 IN-DEPTH

Congrats Grads!

A big congrats to all the seniors who have put in so much effort this year. You have finally made it class of 2016. Here are the official college decisions for our seniors. We hope you all the best in the future!

MANHATTAN COLLEGE Summar Isa Ayoub

UNIVERSAL TECHNICAL INSTITUE Tesleme Sahid Lamin

SAINT JOSEPH UNIVERSITY Timothy Alexander Johnson

ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY Brittany Ann Beery

WESLEY COLLEGE Nathaniel Jamal Stamp

YALE UNIVERSITY Rebecca Blake Rutland Soulen

DEPAUL UNIVERSITY Bailey Oliver UNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN OHIO Yenifer Yanira Osorio Lazaro

WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY Jason Jafar Farman Abedje, Almaz Ashenafi Andrew Xavier Gonzalez-ArmasCameron, Sacha Elizabeth Jordan Amin Hermann Nguyen, Phuong Hoai Caitlin Emma White KINGSTON UNIVERSITY LONDON Calin Luca Anescu

EDINBORO UNIVERSITY Oscar Alexander Joya LOS ANGELES VALLEY COLLEGE Fatima Jasmina Escobar Solano

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT WILLMINGTON Molly Marie Gormley

Abdalla, Abdulahi Omar Abdel Aziz, Remah Mohammed Abdelhamid, Omer Mubarak Hashi Abdulkadir, Naser Yassin Abdulkadir, Nawal Fakhrudin Adawi, Khalid Yasir Aguilar Delgadillo, Gerson Mijail Ahmad, Ismail Ahmed, Akrem Ibrahim Ahmed, Sriti Ahmer, Muneeb S Akhtar, Shaheer Naeem Aleman-Chavarria, Jenifer Ali, HIbo Mohamed Ali, Hibo Mohamed Ali, Hodo Yusuf Ali, Mariam Hussien Aljaaf, Abdullah Almanza, Carlos Alqahtani, Nader Hadi Baker Alvarez, Brandon Ariel Alzhrani, Mohamad Ghurmallah Amaya Sanchez, Breni Aracely An, Ka Yeon Andia, Elizabeth Angulo Herrera, Diego Joel Angulo Viera, Fabiana Andrea Arevalo Villarroel, Sergio Arnez Velasco, Cecilia Arnold, Charles Ridgely Arrazola Telleria, Fernando Enrique Arriaza-Matarrita, Balmore De Jesus Askovic, Stefan Ayala, Enmy Nohely Balcazar Aguilera, Moira Michelle Barahona, Lucero Marilyn

DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY Sohail Chopra

REYNOLDS COMMUNITY COLLEGE Edenia Elizabeth Carbajal Benitez

PIMA COMMUNITY COLLEGE Jose Omar Guadalupe Marquez

UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI Amanda Kathryn Adenan

SALISBUY UNIVERSITY Tucker Richard Mack

IN-DEPTH 9

June 7, 2016

June 7, 2016

Bascope, Alison Stephanie Bautista, Stephanie Paola Benitez, Anthony Bermudez, Amanda Marily Bernal, Gabriela Margarita Bhullar, Navneet Kaur Bobadilla Ruiz, Jose De Jesus Bolanos, Jennifer Melissa Borisut, Soracha Boung, Jacky Bumbaca, Linus Dominic Butron Vargas, Laura Andrea Callapa Baldelomar, Maria Fernanda Callejas Mejia, Brenda Carolina Camacho, Sergio Andres Camacho, Sergio Andres Carothers, Ajaya Monique Castellon-Buendia, Eddy Wilner Castellon-Villazon, Leonel Antony Celedonio Torres, Blanca Alondra Cespedes, Dayanna Alexandra Chilin, Andres Choi, Moonhyuk Choque, Carlos David Chung, Anthony Quan Clavijo, Kevin Daniel Coleman, Amy Nana Mbeaba Colomo Escobar, Gary Alexander Contreras, Laura Guadalupe Corcoran, Nathan Falco Cruz Diaz, Luis Antonio Davis, Jordan Huron Davis, Steven Rene DelCore, Phillip Anthony Diaz Molina, Nicolas Andree Diaz-Sosa, Brandon Doan, Nguyet Khanh Doan, Nhat Khanh Eddy, Robert Carter Elahi, Muntaqim Espinoza, Wendy Noemy Estevez, Maria B Fekade, Yosias Dagnachew Ferrufino Camacho, Sergio Paul Ferrufino, Alvaro Ferrufino, Sidney Yailim Folli, Teko Charles Kevin Fortich, Gabriel Eduardo Foster, Justin Stephen

Gabow, Fardowsa Mohamed Gaim, Daniel Debesai Galindo, Nicolas Matias Garay Ramirez, Josue Daniel Garcia, Andrea Breanna Garcia, Rey Alberto Gebrehiwet, Raeey Yohannes Getsey, Paul Laudien Giron, Jocelyne Anahi Giron, Ryan Ivan Gonzalez Quinteros, Naun Ezequiel Gonzalez, Davian Luis Gross, Antonella Gutierrez, Stephon Antonio Guzman, Gabriella Guzman-Escobar, Mirella Elizabeth Ha, Alan Hailu, Adreana Alemu Hamza, Mohammad Hassan, Rayan Elhag Hinojosa Guevara, Fabiana Hunter, Arundel Theodore Hussain, Syeda Khadeeja Huynh, Victor Thanh-Chuong Tran Idris, Kerim Hussein Ighrayeb, Samer Iriarte, Andrea Islam, Mohaiminul Jalloh, Alhaji Dauda Jalloh, Jemil Amadu Jaradat, Amier Nawaf Jemere, Lidya Webetu Jenkins, Symone Keolani Jin, Emmanuella Joseph, Franklin Kimuyu Kabir, Ahasan Kamara, Charity Maikay Kargbo, Alhaji Sulaiman Kebede, Himanot Keyes, Tyler Lewis Khaled, Sitav Hameed Khan, Abdul Basit Kim, Dong Hyun Le, Linh Hoang Thuy Leon Pereira, Crisley Cecilia Linares, Maria Antonela Linarez-Dominguez, Cristian O'Neil Little, Madeleine Ann Littlefield, Brian Andrew

Lodhi, Hammaad Ahmed Lopez Villalobos, Marlene Vanessa Lu, Ngan Nguyen Thanh Maan, Abhishek Maldonado Fuentes, Cristiane Gisel Maldonado-Cabrera, Alan Maldonado-Cabrera, Kevin Malik, Hassan Mansaray, Foday Manzano, Fredy Ernesto Marquez Romero, Daniela Justine Martinez-Ortez, Julio Cesar McCleary, Schuyler Corrinne Mekonen, Yavan Temesgen Mesfin, Eden Michael, Matthew Mohamed, Leyla Abdirahman Montiel, Keila Vanessa Moore, Rachelle Lorraine Napan-Garcia, Enrique Alejandro Nguyen, Anh Vu Dinh Nguyen, Anna Nguyen, Huyen Thi Thu Nguyen, Nhi Mong Maria Nguyen, Tiffany Peaches Nguyen, Tong Anh Nguyen, Tran Kim Noble, Syneese Siccola Nunez Anchiraico, Giuliana Omid, Marina Osman, Ayda Salah Paletti, John Anthony Pathammavong, Thida Perez, Anna Marissa Perla, Nancy Icel Picado, Tatiana Patricia Poling, Jared Wayne Postigo, Cherie Celia Power Werking, Karmena Lee Ramampandrison, Aina Nirina Ramos-Salinas, Adrian Jessi Reams, JaShon Kenneth Riensche, Karina Ashley Rivas Salinas, Jacqueline Christine Rivera Roman, Ezequiel Rollins, Vincent Alberto Romero, Joyce Mary Ross, Savannah Grace Ruiz-Justiniano, Jocelynne Victoria

Sajanie, Amir Salazar-Cruz, Claudia Beatris Sanchez, David Alexander Sanchez, Rodrigo Marcos Sandoval, Justin Salvador Sandoval, Karla Ivette Sandoval, Leonardo Santos Sanchez, Katherine Lizeth Sanzetenea, Antonio Jacob Sarmiento Justiniano, Yitzhak Sayed, Sayed Osman Segovia Ramirez, Elizabeth Marleny Sellman, Aubrianna Kay Serban, Nicholas Sesay, Alhassan Ibrahim Sethi, Simran Seyoum, Lydia Haile Sohn, HyunJune Solomon, Nebeyu Solorzano Blanco, Stephanie Tatiana Soruco Terceros, Camila Fernanda Sosa, Natalie Adriana Stratton, Gregory Scott Strother, Kaylah Tania Suarez Coronado, Karla Patricia Suarez Ortiz, Maria Alejandra Suchar, Michael Joseph Tauqir, Muniza Tecle, Issachor Abraham Thai, Hong Dao Thi Tineo Kuong, Maria Fernanda Marg Tran, Tammy Thanh Tweneboa, Seth Oduro Tyree, Bebhinn Caoili Vallejos Ordonez, Alan Gabriel Ruben Vargas, Angelique Kayla Velasquez, Brenda Faridi Vo, Minh-Quan Vu, Mi Bao Ngoc Walsh, Gamaliel M Waseem, Hasham Weaver, Allison Cara Weaver, Michael Anthony Whichard, Shannyea Rasjay Woodward, Noah Haroutioun Woodward, Sarah Lucine Wu, Zi Jun Yang, Autumn

BETHEL UNIVERSITY Georgia Stenberg

UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURG Tabitha Jolie Barnes

HIGH POINT UNIVERSITY Britton, Ashley WHEATON COLLEGE Andrew Stuart Peters

BRINGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY Julia Kezia Diokno Quizon Matias German Sierra Patricia Anne Stout

Palm Beach Atlantic University Danielle Genevieve Robinson

UVA WISE Emily Junemarie Harper

TEMPLE UNIVERSITY Evan Isaac Salters AVERETT UNIVERSITY Ryna Abise Ebwe

CONNECTICUT COLLEGE Amiansu Khanal

WASHINGTON AREA NEW AUTOMOBILE DEALERS ASSOCIATION Ibrahim Quiroz Cordova

FROSTBURG STATE UNIVERSITY Caroline Brooks Lowery

Ayele, Mahlet Barakat, Jeanine Emad Bottcher, Stanley Ray Chang, Han Sol Giddings, Ashley Nicole Gokturk, Janan Alia Harrison, Jamiah Lurene Howe-Flint, Anarae Sung Nelson, Noah WM Goodwin Nguyen, Danny Nhat-Huy Nikolic, Vanessa Rai, Shashank Redi, Hanan Muzein Swenton, Julie Ann Toure, Lamine Mohamed Tran, Cameron Dinh Uglietta, Brian Pat Yim, Grace Yeyoung

WINCHESTER FAIRFAX

Bayisa, Naol Deme

ANNANDALE Cooper, Monique Rangel Cardozo, Gabriela

HARRISONBURG

FREDERICKSBURG CHARLOTTESVILLE

COLLEGE OF ALBERMARLE Amanda Liliet Villagran HOLLINS UNIVERSITY Emily Jo Platt PENN STATE UNIVERSITY Kiara Sofia Patino Clinton Chen Rodell

UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA Nathan Tai-Vinh Pho

LYNCHBURG UNIVERSIDAD IBEROAMERICANA Alexis Diaz Roque,

BLACKSBURG

WILLIAMSBURG RADFORD

DELI TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY Aditya Chaturvedi

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND Lara Riad

NORFOLK

Anthony Terrell Walker

Kiara Michelle Robinson

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT COLORADO SPRINGS Matthew Kenneth Hayashida BRONX COMMUNITY COLLEGE Yzel Zachary Buquel Raquepo

Agyeman, Dianna Achia Opoku Bradley, Benjamin Daniel Curran, Hannah Patricia Lopez-Najarro, Angelo Valentino Swedish, Christopher Charles Ryan, Michael James

Sarthak Rathi GOUCHER COLLEGE Kaitlyn Taylor Pacak NATIONAL INSITITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY DELHI

NEWPORT NEWS

FARMVILLE

WISE

SAVANNAH COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN NORTH CAROLINA AGRICULTURAL AND TECHNICAL STATE UNIVERSITY

RICHMOND

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS Jimenez, Isabella V

PULLEY CAREER CENTER SCHOOL Callie Aziza Wilson

Ahn, Yea In Ayub, Ahmad Sulaiman Boyd, Aaron Zachary Byrne, Cayley Erin Chung, Brian Vuong Fuentes Aguilar, Jhonny Josue Han, Chun Jun Heng, Michael Jeong, Jaeseuk Jones, Natalie Elisa Lind, Alexander Charles

Lindberg, Kirk Howland Pagulayan, Aldwin Galiza Pozo, Sergio Raul Reta, Gelila Weldegiorgis, Natnael Mulat Berklee College of Music Al-Ayoubi, Loui S de Lopez, Shawn Dumornay, Dezhawn Aesayah

Britton, Caleb P Listopad, Joseph Aaron

Boynton, Trevor Elisha Mesfin, Woubshet Hackfeld, Zachary David

Alvarado, Risky Camilo Awoke, Temesgan Yibeltal Daggle, Luke Marshall Goettlicher, Casey Lynn Hatcher, Asaada Rasheedah Mamo, Ruth Ephrem Pringle, Cory Rangel, George-Vinicius Gomes Samuel, Natnael Sesay, Kadijah Sesay, Kadijah

Dolan, William Richard Park, David Bum

AHS senior gets a full scholarship Student explains college process

BY SUMMAR AYOUB Special to The A-Blast It all began at Buffalo Wild Wings, while I was looking through a list of colleges located in New York, when I came across my soon to be future home for the next four years, Manhattan College.

Applying was easy, just had to send my transcript and all the paperwork that was necessary for the admissions office.

After submitting all the needed material, I wasn't sure whether I would get in, seeing how competitive the admissions pool was, after doing

my research.

So one day, my mom and I were heading to the mall I decided to randomly get the mail so see if anything had come for me, little did I know that my Manhattan college decision letter would be in there.

The envelope was small, so I had the thought that I didn't get in, because in reality the envelope is usually big when you get accepted, which is what I was told.

Not having much enthusiasm, I slowly had my own walk of shame from the mailbox to the house, not knowing what the letter actually contained.

As I walked inside the house with my mother curiously looking at the mail that was in my hands, her eyes seemed to focus on the only piece

Ahmed, Amal Mohamed Baig, Mirza Juned Camacho Moreira, Jose Maria Cha, Ashley Collette, Camille Monique Annik Dang, Annie Phuong-Anh Le Dinh, Anthony Mark Elnour, Saba Abbas Fatima, Jannat Fatima, Rida Ghoramah, Ali Anwar Gutierrez, Kimberly Raquel Hassen, Faisal Osman Ho, Anthony Israilov, Azamat Timur Ugly Kurland, Joseph Daniel Mai, Kim Van Nguyen, Christi Vu Nguyen, Jacob An Nguyen, Kasana Angeles Nguyen, Kevin Nghia Nguyen, Vu Tuan Noor, Abdul Mussawir Nour, Zakaria Nabil Payung, Riley Christopher Pham, Annie My Poudel, Ananda Sahal, Raghad Abdirahman Schaedel, Katherine Ellen Tabassum, Sanila Tang, Vinh Quoc Thadeus, Brooke Amber Toledo Guzman, Nayerli Katherine Ton, Vi Thanh Nu Tran, Ngoc Vy Vaid, Mohnish Mohitkumar Vaz, Joshua Alonzo Weiner, Robert James Woodward, Zachary Ronald Xin, Moyuan Yonas, Hezekiel Yu, Raphael Zheng, Nancy

of mail I was hoping she didn't see, which was my Manhattan College decision letter.

I did not want to open it because the idea of being rejected was already in my mind.

I didn't want to face the reality of actually getting rejected, but my mother insisted on me opening it.

My heart was racing, my arms were shaking, I could hear my heartbeat through my ears, meanwhile my face was becoming as red as a tomato, I finally opened the envelope.

I held the envelope up to the light hoping I would be able to read the letter before actually opening it, but that didn't work.

So I slowly pulled the letter that would determine the next four years of my life, out of the envelope.

Feeling my heart almost come out of my chest, I open the paper, and there was my Manhattan College Acceptance letter.

My heart began to race even faster because I couldn't believe what I had accomplished, and that I have finally made my way into a good college, but little did I know that this was only the beginning of what was in store for me.

I soon began to research even more about Manhattan College, trying to see how much everything would cost if I planned on attending the school for all four years, and that would be around almost $230,000 for all four years.

My hopes then were crushed because the cost had held me back from pursuing my dream of going to

a college I fell in love with.

Two weeks later, I received another letter in the mail regarding my financial aid hoping that it would be a good amount so my parents would allow me to go.

I was even more nervous to open this letter than my decision letter because this would determine whether or not I would be able to attend the college or not.

My heart began to beat so fast that it began to hurt, but without hesitating I opened the letter because at this point whatever happened happened. I was at my mentality at that point.

My eyes then began to focus on the numbers, while I tried to calculate all the numbers in my head.

I was confused because it

Hall, Jennifer Grace

seemed to be the amount of my actual tuition.

Have been completely oblivious to the fact that I received a full ride, I began to slowly realize and immediately begin to cry because the idea of my parents to having to pay a penny for my college education made me so happy.

After going to my mother and informing her, she had cried and cried and was thanking God for blessing her with this.

Not having expected this full ride had me very excited to attend the college even more.

This was valid evidence that I worked hard in high school, and that hard work does pay off in the end.

Corey, Colin Charles Hatch, Donald James

Dagnachew, Tihitina Giddings, Ashley Nicole Han, Christopher Phu Kang, Jennifer Sunny Lee, Christopher Mortensen, Nicholas Sevcenko Negash, Biruk Abiyu Nguyen, Julia Minh Thu Ohene, Nathan Kweku Said, Lailah Abdu Shartel, Hannah Austin Yenegeta, Daniel Tadele

Abdelrahman, Tipyan Moneir Adu, Angel Brittany Asgedom, Amanual Gebremichael Atef, Marem Ahmed Awlaki, Meriem Jemal Ayele, Eyerusalem Asmare Baragano, Maria-Fernanda Berehe, Amanuel Behailu Bereket, Mahlate Cambero Justiniano, Ana Carola Dahir, Idman Abdirahman Dang, Tina Nguyen Deible, Sarah Katherine Dinh, Vivian Ngoc Yen Thi Dusek, Phillip James

Flynn, Ryan Christopher Hoang, Trinh Thi My Kim, Elise Tael Im Koroma, Hassanatu Jalloh Le, Lisa Nguyen, Brandon Trong Petruzziello, Benjamin Joseph Sanchez Rosario, Madelyn Lisbeth Thuku, Karungu Tiguh, Ruth Valencia, Melanie Crystal Vargas, Angelika Kia Yasmeen, Farah Yohannes, Liilt Gessesse

Alfaro, Alexander Manuel Aliaga, Justin Leonardo

Survey outcomes provided by the Career Center. Results are of May 26, 2016

SPORTS 10 Playing sports at the collegiate level June 7, 2016

For some, playing sports in college seems out of reach, for AHS alumni Jenny McCann and Antonio Gibbs, it is a reality. Both alumni graduated last year and are now participating on their university's sports teams.

McCann is a freshman in college and plays for their division one field hockey team. When she attended AHS, she played soccer, field hockey, and ran track for the school team.

During her senior year, the field hockey team had a very successful season and won the Patriot Conference.

Gibbs participated in AHS football, wrestling, and track. He was a regional champion for wrestling and was also ranked second in the state of Virginia.

Both of these athletes excelled in their sports and had successful high school athletic careers. In order to achieve their success, they were dedicated and trained their hardest to succeed.

Although all of the effort required for school sports can be difficult, all of this training helped them transition from high school level to collegiate sports.

"AHS sports prepared me well because the coaches pushed me to limits I thought I couldn't reach."

Gibbs said. "It made the transition easier from high school to college."

Another challenge that school sports create is the lack of time and energy for studying. Most student athletes are aware of how demanding high school sports are. They require a lot of time and physical effort and it is hard to balance the time between playing and studying.

Some athletes lose sight of academics when they enter into college for sports. It's exciting to play sports in college, but it is also important to not lose sight of the academic nature of college.

"Stay focused on what you came to college to do," Gibbs said. "You are a student first and an athlete second."

Many student athletes taking IB or honors classes may think that sports add too much stress to their school life. The academic stress can often hinder student athletes from pursuing further athletic participation.

Although balancing the busy schedule is challenging, Mccann believed it prepared her for the also demanding collegiate level sport.

"Playing sports and taking all IB classes definitely prepared me for

time management skills needed to be a successful student athlete in college," Mccann said. "Also I've always had pretty good time management skills, but the William and Mary athletic advisors provide a lot of helpful resources in order to make sure we are on top of our schoolwork."

High school sports proved helpful to these students, but the collegiate level sports these alumni participate in are a totally different experience.

Along with the obvious increased skill and difficulty, college sports require even more time than high school sports.

The athletes require a lot of training for their bi-weekly games.

Many of the games are also away in various out-of-state colleges and require long bus rides, or even flights.

Despite all the challenges, Mccann and Gibbs enjoy their ongoing athletic careers.

"My favorite thing about playing college is that everyone has the same competitive drive to win and get better," McCann said. "Everyone works hard for each other and has the same end goal."

Current AHS student athletes should not be discouraged to pursue further athletics. Although it may be difficult, the results are rewarding.

Collegiate sports are challenging but enjoyable.

COURTESY OF JENNY MCCANN

BY GRACE HOGYE Sports X-tra Editor

Jenny McCann class of 2015, plays forward for William and Mary. She runs to the ball during her game.

Student athletes should plan for their future and train hard to achieve it, but also enjoy their current athletic position. High school sports provide many unique experiences and memories that cannot be found at the collegiate level and beyond.

The alumni are enjoying their

current school athletics, but they reminisce the memories only AHS sports could provide.

"I miss Friday nights when all the attention is on you and there isn t a worry in the world," Gibbs said.

These two alumni pursued and achieved their goals to play at the

collegiate level. Although playing in college may seem unreachable, these alumni proved that anyone is capable.

AHS future college athletes

NAOL BAYISA

AARON BOYD

ASHLEY BRITTON

COLIN COREY

TIN JOHNSON

BEAU HATCH

TUCKER MACK

KATIE PACAK

GRANT THOMPSON

Shenandoah University

Virginia Tech University

High Point University

Lynchburg College

St. Joseph's University

Lynchburg College

Salisbury University

Goucher College

Shenandoah University

Winchester, VA

Blacksburg, VA

High Point, NC

Lynchburg, VA

Philadelphia, PA

Lynchburg, VA

Salisbury, MD

Division 3

Division 1

Division 1

Division 3

Division 1

Division 3

Division 3

Track and Field

Swim and Dive

Lacrosse

Baseball

Baseball

Lacrosse

Football

Baltimore, MD Division 3 Basketball

Girls lacrosse season ends

Baseball wraps up season

Pioneers down Atoms in second round of regionals

The baseball team played their last game in regionals

BY JUDE NANAW Sports Editor

Division 3 Baseball

Senior Ashley Britton going for a pass against South County in the finals.

against the Patriot Pioneers in the second round of the regionals tournament on May 19.

The Pioneers jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, but the Atom's effort cut down the Pioneer lead to 2 goals as it was 9-7 Pioneers at halftime.

With about 4 minutes remaining in the match the Atoms found themselves down 16-12. The girls were able to score two more goals to cut the lead to 16-14, but there was just not enough time left.

Unfortunately for the Atoms, this was their last game of the season, as the loss to the Patriot Pioneers eliminated them from continuing in the regional tournament.

"I feel like we should've won but we did the best that we could for the game we were given," sophomore Grace Hatch said.

However, the team still had a lot to be proud of after getting their season off to a rough start, they made adjustments and put forth their best effort which led them to winning conference.

"I feel like for the season we went as far as we could and had a pretty successful season," Hatch said.

Many seniors will be leaving the Atoms varsity lacrosse team after this season, some to continue playing lacrosse at the collegiate level.

Seniors graduating this year were very talented and were a huge part in the team's success.

Yet there were still many sophomores and juniors on the varsity squad this year who will be returning to play next year.

A positive for the Lady Atoms here is that now that the underclassmen have played a season together, they will have improved chemistry for next year.

The girls had great accomplishments this year but were not able to continue to further rounds of regionals and states as they would have liked.

This accomplished season has motivated the girls to continue their success for next year' s season.

The girls still have great hope for next season and beyond to win and reach higher levels in the region and state.

The boys varsity baseball team's season has been mostly on the successful side this year. The Atoms had the third best record in the conference with a 13-7 record during the regular season.

The Atoms were able to close out their regular season by winning two of their last three games. After the regular season the boys prepared for the conference quarterfinals as they had earned a bye for the first round of the tournament.

The Atoms watched their competition from a distance and ended up facing the T.C. Williams Titans in the conference quarterfinals round. The boys took on the Titans on May 16 at home in a nail biting match-up.

The game was very close but the Atoms were able to take the lead after senior Tucker Mack delivered with a big hit and Colin Corey hit a home-run in the 6th inning.

The boys beat T.C. Williams for the third time this year by a score of 5-4 to advance to the next round in the conference tournament.

In the conference semifinals round, the Atoms were up to take on the Lake Braddock Bruins on May 18. The Bruins had a very successful season themselves, going 15-5 in the regular season .

The Atoms had lost to the Bruins on two different occasions this season prior to the semifinals; on April 8 the Atoms were defeated by Lake Braddock 5-7 and lost to them again on May 3 by a score of 0-3.

The boys worked hard in preparation for the semifinals but at last were no match for the Bruins. The Atoms lost on May 18 to the Bruins 0-11.

This meant that the Atoms would be eliminated from the conference

COURTESY OF AARON BOYD

BY JUDE NANAW Sports Editor

COURTESY OF ASHLEY BRITTON

The girls varsity lacrosse team was perhaps the most successful team in Annandale spring sports this year. Although the girls did not have the best record in the regular season (7-8), they were able to pick it up as they entered the conference playoffs ending the regular season 11-9.

The girls closed their regular season with three straight wins, which gave them more confidence for the conference.

Entering the tournament, the Atoms took on the West Springfield Spartans in the first round and the W.T. Woodson Cavaliers in the second round defeating both teams in a convincing fashion.

These first rounds of conference were not the best performances by the girls as on May 13 they faced a very impressive South County team for the Patriot Conference Finals title.

Nonetheless, the Atoms were very imposing against the Stallions and became conference champions by defeating the Stallions by a score of 13-7.

After winning the conference, the Atoms advanced to the regional tournaments. In the first round of regionals the girls faced off against the Oakton Cougars with the home field advantage.

The game proved to be a thriller as the two teams exchanged goals early on, but the Cougars were eventually able to grab the lead. The Atoms were down 11-9 with little time remaining, but were able to rally and tie the game 11-11 to force overtime.

The tie did not last long however, as the game was a mere 40 seconds into OT when the Atoms scored to win 12-11, capping off the phenomenal comeback.

The girls continued on to play

Winchester, VA

Senior Aaron Boyd batting during a game against Lake Braddock.

tournament but would still be able to compete in the regional tournament.

After a tough loss in the semis, the team set up to play the Centreville Wildcats in the first round of the regional tournament.

The Atoms fought hard to keep their season alive against the Wildcats but were not able to pull out the win. The game was extremely tight and close but the Wildcats slimmed by the Atoms by a very close score of 3-2.

"The game was really close but we didn't play to our full potential and we lost Colin (Corey) in the third inning which hurt us," senior Aaron Boyd said.

Colin Corey who will be playing Division three baseball at Lynchburg University next year was one of the team's most productive players and losing him during the game was a major blow the team couldn't afford.

The boys were disappointed by the close loss to Centreville but still had a great season overall. They had some big wins over great teams and were very proud of those games.

As a whole, this baseball season

was great, we didn't quite reach our goals but we won a lot of games and had a blast and grew close as a team," Boyd said.

The baseball team will have some players moving on to continue to play baseball at the collegiate level.

Senior Tim Johnson will be playing Division 1 baseball at St. Joseph's University and Grant Thompson and Colin Corey will continue their baseball careers to play Division 3 at Shenandoah University and Lynchburg University.

With many talented seniors leaving the team now that the season has ended, the Atoms could possibly have a problem on their hands.

Out of the 16 athletes on the varsity baseball team, 12 of them were seniors. This leaves only few experienced athletes who have played varsity for next season. It will interesting to see how the Atoms handle this issue next year.

11 ARTS

June 7, 2016

Museum Spotlight: Ripley's Believe It or Not Ripley's Museum Address: 1735 Richmond Rd, Williamsburg, VA 23185 Telephone: (757) 220-9220 Email: fun@williamsburgripleys.com Daily: Sunday & Thursday: 10am - 7pm Friday & Saturday: 10am - 11pm Admission: $11.99 - $25.99

RIPLEYS..COM

the way they look, dress, and act.

Some of these pieces consist of out of this world art work, multi-limbed animals, and albino animals such as snakes and alligators.

"Ripley's was one of the best museums I have ever been to.

It was filled with so many cool things I have never seen before" said sophomore Willy Crespo.

The unexplained and odd artifacts have been collected from "Wicked spinning vortex tunnel" exhibit at Ripley's Museum. hundreds of countries throughout the years and have continued to attract people from all over the world for decades.

Even if you can't seem to get yourself to one of these musuems, you can always pick up a Ripley's Believe It or Not book that can be found at your nearest library or book store.

RIPLEYS..COM

With tickets for adults usually starting at $14.99, online purchases offer a discount of $2.00 off your purchase for each adult ticket and children ages five to eleven are $6.99.

The museum has been collecting for over 95 years and has exhibits which include things anywhere from outer space, to dinosaurs, to history and to art.

Ripley's believe it or not has a collection of over 25,000 strange, unbelievable, and interesting pieces that are not seen on a daily basis.

"One of the reasons I have always wanted to go to Ripley's is because I love reading the books and would love to see some of the stuff in real life" Freshman Zain Ghul said.

The museum is known for its mind-blowing art and unbelivable facts. The majority of the art is based on real people and

RIPLEYS..COM

By Amani Muntu Staff Writer Looking to try something fun and different with family and friends this summer? A great idea is to take a visit to Ripley's Believe it or Not museum.

Ripley's is a family friendly and fun museum filled with various unique and surprising items that have been collected for over 90 years.

The Ripley's Believe it or Not located closest to Annandale are in Williamsburg, Virginia and Baltimore, Maryland.

Ripley's also has locations in 12 different states consisting of California, Missouri, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Florida, New Jersey, Texas, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland.

Ripley's believe it or not also has aquariums in two out of twelve state locations which are Gatlinburg, TN Myrtle Beach.

Ripley's also has a location in Toronto, Canada.

The "Dinosaur Exhibit" filled with different historic animals at Ripley's.

math hall have been in the works ever since last year.

Besides all of these paitinings being created by students, they have something else in common: math.

The majority of the murals around AHS go along with the idea "Math Is Everywhere".

Students from the art department have been working hard and dilligently on these murals everyday.

"It was really nice because I got to chosose the design and then decide how to execute it. It was also cool to paint on a wall because I had not previously done that." junior Jessica Ferson said.

Although the mural below the math hall is still a work in progress, it's clear to see how fast the project is progressing.

Not only do these murals add lots of color and creativity to the school, it also informs the students on how important math is .

These murals are not Different math and science formulas painted by studone easily, in fact it has dents displayed above the lockers in the math hallway. basically taken all year to accomplish.

"Creating the mural took a few months. Last Students at AHS from the Art Department work on new mural year we did most of the below the math hallway with the theme "Math Is Everywhere". work but we're doing the final elements of it now" Ferson added.

So, next time you find yourself walking down the halls with some free time, take a minute to look at the murals and admire your fellow peers hard work. The word math on a coordinate grid found in the math hallPHOTO COURTESY OF SERENE GHUL

With art all throughout AHS, it is no surprise to hear about a new work of art found in the halls.

Throughout the year, students at AHS have been working on different murals around the school in many different hallways.

The newest one is located right below the math hallway near the cafeteria.

This specific mural was created entirely by juniors Jessica Ferson, Maddie Schinstock, and Jacob Weber.

"Creating this mural was really fun. This was my first one that was entirely planned and executed by Jacob, Jess, and I." Schinstock says.

Incase you have not noticed, the murals in the

PHOTO COURTESY OF SERENE GHUL

By Amani Muntu Staff Writer

PHOTO COURTESY OF SERENE GHUL

Math murals in the making

way to go along with the theme "Math Is Everywhere"

Q & A with Cindy Ma: Abstract Painter Q: What materials do you use for your artwork?

A: I often use graphic pens and pencils to create my artwork. I like to use them because they are the most comfortable materials for me to use and I feel like everytime I have one of these in hand, I'm inspired.

Q: What is it about creating art that you enjoy?

A: I create art primarily because I like the process of making beautiful things. I enjoy it because spending time filling a space in my own creative way is fun and fulfilling.

Q: What do you like most about your artwork?

A: I like abstracts and lines. I often like to combine these two elements together to create my own style of artwork.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CINDY MA.

Q: What do you plan to do with creating art in the future?

A: I am planning on majoring in arts and designs in college, but I might change my mind later on.

Q: Do you have a favorite piece of artwork and why?

A: Yes, I do have a favorite piece of artwork. It's my most recent piece which shows my improvement as an artist, which makes me very happy.

Q: What would you say to someone that wants to get into creating art?

A: You don't necessarily need to be a professional to create art, as long as you have passion and something to draw with, you should do it.

Sophomore artist Cindy Ma enjoys painting because she

Sophomore Cindy Ma painted this piece called "Growth". This painting was created using liners, marker pens, and watercolor paper.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CINDY MA.

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

A: My advice to younger artists is to be persistant about creating your artwork. As time passes by, you will see the improvement of your art skills.

Featured art

This photo was taken of beautiful different colored tulips found in Mohamed's back yard on her iPhone 6.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARIAM MOHAMED

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARIAM MOHAMED

These photos were taken by sophomore Mariam Mohamed.

She took these while vacationing in Europe. 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 from submitted content and feature 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 to theablast15@gmail.com, or send it to our dropbox (using the same email as above) for files larger than two GB.

Mohamed took this photo of a canal in Venice, Italy while visiting.

12 ENTERTAINMENT Film students prepare for festival

June 7, 2016

BY TIMOTHY GRAY AND HUSSEIN SALEM Videographer and Entertainment Editor The IB Film Festival, held on June 15 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium, will feature genres such as action, comedy, drama, romance, and horror, all developed by the AHS' own IB Film students, both first year and second year. It's a fundraiser for the IB film program.

The films submitted to the festival will be graded as their final assessment. Each film will amount to 5-10 minutes each and will be assessed by a panel of judges, mainly teachers at AHS, based on their sound quality, script, cinematography, writing, and editing.

The short films will be given a final grade and a chance to win a prize based on the requirements met.

The judges are shown the films a week in advance in order to assess their quality as best as possible.

Competition is very prevalent among 11th and 12th graders at the festival. "There's always competition

between classes, last year seniors took most of the awards but juniors took best documentary which was a big blow for them," Senior Shank Rai said.

The best films are chosen among a variety of categories. "There's many different categories ranging from best film, jury choice, best narrative, best actor," Rai said. "Many of the films are group efforts and everyone is credited with the successes of a film," Rai said.

Film students have made many sacrifices in order to provide an entertaining, interesting and enjoyable festival. "Everyone's worked really hard and taken lots of time outside of class to make the film festival possible, shooting a short 5-6 minute film can take up to two to three weeks," Rai said.

Students may have noticed creative and humorous posters advertising the film festival lining the halls at the end of the school year each year. "Every year we have an interesting poster design. This year we wanted to continue the tradition and had Weintraut as Don Corleone from the Godfather," Rai said.

The Film Festival is a great way to support your school and have an enjoyable and entertaining time. "Everyone should come out and support the festival as many students are having their films showcased and the films are going to range every genre, so it'll be a fun time," Rai said.

The 15th AHS IB Film Festival is advised by IB film

teacher Alan Weintraut. "The Film Festival is a huge opportunity for students to display the best of their works. It's one of my favorite nights of the year because you see about 300 people watching you film at once instead of just three gathered around a computer screen; it's a great opportunity for students to showcase the best of cinema arts," Weintraut said.

" There's many different categories ranging from best film, jury choice, best narrative, best actor."

Awards of the night include: Jury prize, audience choice, best documentary, best screenplay, best cinematography, best editing, best actor and best actress. After the festival, all films will be accessible to watch on the AHS Vimeo website.

Last year, former senior Steve Aderton took home three of the nine awards. Another senior, Ricky Lam, won two awards and was the runner-up for the Jury prize with his comedy film, "Cards Against."

PHOTO COURTESY OF SHANK RAI

The IB film festival gives students the opportunity to show off their skills

Poster for the 15th annual IB Film Festival

DW album review

Sounds of summer 2016

BY KAVI SHAMDIN

Entertainment Editor

Arts Editor The 22 year old Ariana Grande did it once again, with the releasing of her third studio album titled Dangerous Woman. Fifteen songs are on this album, two of which were previously released called "Dangerous Woman" and "Into You." This album features many artists such as Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, Macy Gray and Future. The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and number one in the U.K. To help promote and spread the word about her album, Grande launched a website, where she would post information regarding her album as well as an online shop selling Grande's cover for her third studio album merchandise.

The lead single "Dangerous Dangerous Woman.

Woman" was released with the pre-order on iTunes and it became top ten on the Billboard Hot 100. At the moment, Grande's album ranks number seven on the top ten albums on iTunes.

This album came off as surprisingly different to many listeners, considering the style and lyrics she chose to use for her songs were so different. Society says that Grande's style of music appeals to the younger crowd, however this album changed the age range of her fans.

When asked about her album, Grande described it as "a 22-year-old girl comes into her own trying to balance growing up, love, and a lot of other crap along the way." Overall this album was most definitely different from her previous work and is full of songs that can attract any listener. She used so many different styles of music, and many recommend giving it a listen even if you would not usually listen to her.

BY HUSSEIN SALEM

So far, this year has been extremely successful for music. New albums and projects were consistently released by big artists. Some of the more notable ones include, Kanye West's The Life of Pablo, Drake's VIEWS, Rihanna's ANTI, and many more. We've also seen new and upcoming artists drop impressive tapes, Lil Uzi Vert's Lil Uzi Vert Vs. The World, dvsn's Sept. 5th and several others.

Many projects are still expected to come out this year, especially this summer. Kanye West tweeted out that he promises an album this summer, currently named Turbo Grafx 16. Frank Ocean's album, that was expected to release July 2015, is rumored to drop this summer as well.

There has also been a lot of talk for Rae Sremmurd's second studio album, SremmLife 2, coming June 2016.

Top Dawg Entertainment is also expected to have a busy year. Their CEO, Anthony Tiffith, announced that six albums are set to drop, including projects from Schoolboy Q, SZA and Kendrick Lamar. "S--- is about to get nasty real soon, I told ya'll I got y'all on 2016 #TDE, Tiffith said.

Rumors for MC's releasing a project this summer also include Jay-Z, whose last dropped an album in 2013, DJ Khaled, Snoop Dogg. Desiigner, the artist for "Panda," which peaked at number one on the charts, is also rumored to release his first tape, The Life of Desiigner, named after West's TLOP. The Red Hot Chilli Peppers are also releasing their 11th studio album this summer. The album is called The Getaway.

Students are excited for a wide variety of albums this summer. "I'm very hyped for Moose Blood's second studio album, Blush. After their album in 2015, I'll Keep You In Mind From Time To Time, their new album is going to be a lot different with their instruments and sounds but still staying true to their previous album style," junior Brandon Ho said.

What album are you looking forward to this summer?

"I'm still waiting on Frank Ocean's album to come out" ANA GRAY sophomore

"Andre 3000 said he's working on an album, if that's true that's what I'm waiting for."

"I'm hyped for that new Kanye album."

EDDY MENDIETA sophomore

"Travis Scott's album, Birds In the Trap, Sing McKnight, because Rodeo was fire."

"I can't wait for Astroworld by Travis Scott to release this summer."

MUSTAFA RAKIN

DREW WHITE

SALIMA KHAN

sophomore

junior

junior

"Shy Glizzy's Young Jefe 2 is about to be fire."

"I'm excited for The Getaway by The Red Hot Chili Peppers."

MARCELO MARQUEZ

JENNI HALL

junior

senior

"I'm looking forward to Turbo Grafx 16 because TLOP was amazing."

ANANDA POUDEL senior

X-Men: Aplocalypse gives hope to future films

BY AHMAD AYUB Staff Writer SPOILER ALERT: Three things made the 80s and important time period for many people: A crazy fashion sense, rising nuclear tension, and the return of a several thousand year old mutant named Apocalypse that was ready to destroy the world. Luckily, we get to see all three in X-Men: Apocalypse.

The film released on May 27th for the US, and although it dominated the box office and surpassed the first weekend results of X-Men: First Class (the first of the Bryan Singer "re-do" trilogy), it didn't do as well as X-Men: Days of Future Past, or as well as any other superhero movie this year, for that matter. Before the release of the film, skeptics were criticizing the film heavily (earning this film a 52 on Metacritic and a 48% on Rotten Tomatoes), and although they may have been a bit harsh, they have a point. In the film, we start off with seeing Apocalypse back in the time of Ancient Egypt, preparing to switch his consciousness and his power into the body of a mutant who can heal from wounds, which would ensure that he could live forever and not have to switch into another body again. However, he is betrayed by some of his disciples, and although he switched into the new body, he was left trapped under tons of rubble from a pyramid that fell on top of him.

Flash forward to 1983, we see Moira MacTaggert, whom you may remember from X-Men: First Class, in Cairo, trying to find clues about Apocalypse and his followers in the present day. Of course, she accidentally awakens the most terrible force that the X-Men have ever faced. If there's one thing that makes absolutely no sense in the film, it's the fact that Moira obviously brings back Apocalypse to life yet no one gets angry at that fact. She doesn't even feel regret at that fact. Anyways, when he wakes up, he recruits the great Ororo Munroe, or Storm, and you can see that Mystique is a role model to her. This really strengthened one small plot point in the film, that Mystique was a role model to all mutants worldwide. We move onto a young Cyclops that develops his powers while in school, and afterwards, his older brother, Havok,

The new villain Apocalypse is on the left, with his new team, including villain Magneto.

takes him to Professor X's school.

This was a great small part in the film, because as soon as many fans saw Havok appear in X-Men: First Class, the question whether Scott would ever appear was on many minds. There is a nice brotherly moment between the two. Professor X and Beast meet Cyclops, and take him under their wing in order to help him learn to control his extraordinary powers. We move onto the new life of Magneto, who is living in Poland under a new name and identity, with a wife and daughter as well.

However, tragedy once again comes after him, and his powers are uncovered. When the police find out that he was responsible for the events in the previous film, his family is accidentally killed, and once again his rage in unveiled. This really showed Michael Fassbender's great acting skills.

The emotion in the scene is incredible, and you can feel for his loss. Apocalypse finds Magneto and recruits him along with Psylocke and Angel, and brings him to Auschwitz to help him realize his true strength. This part wasn't incredibly necessary to the storyline. Yes, it was where he found his powers and became Magneto, but there was no need for him to deface and destroy a

historical location. While Professor X enlists the help of Moira to learn about Apocalypse, they look for Magneto using Cerebro. Apocalypse feels this and takes over Cerebro, and forces all nations to shoot their nuclear missiles into space, leaving no one with nuclear weapons.

This was another weak plot point.

The exact same thing happened in second GI Joe movie, and was one of the reasons that the movie had terrible reception. Apocalypse comes to the mansion and takes Professor X, and when Havok accidentally blows up the mansion trying to stop the villains, the mansion explodes. Luckily, Quicksilver is coincidentally there to save the day, helping everyone (except for Havok, who dies in the havoc) get out of the house safely. After the destruction of the mansion, returning villain Colonel Striker comes and captures Mystique, Quicksilver, Beast and Moira. Luckily, Nightcrawler, Jean Grey and Cyclops are able to follow and rescue them. Thanks to a mind trick by Jean, they aren't seen by any of the guards.

When they get to where the mutants are being held, they release Wolverine in order to help them get their friends.

However, in this continuity, this makes absolutely no sense.

At the end of DOFP, Wolverine is with Mystique, yet he still ends up with Striker somehow. This is once again another dent in the storyline of the X-Men franchise.

They've always had continuity problems, and although DOFP tried to rectify these mistakes, they've come back once again. Returning to the story, Apocalypse is trying to use Xavier and switch into his body to gain his power as well, so he could then amplify the telepathic powers and control the world. After giving Magneto a lesson in how to use his powers, Apocalypse orders him to mess with the magnetic waves of the Earth, shifting the ground in several different locations around the world. Mystique and Quicksilver try to stop him by talking to no avail.

However, one incredibly annoying tidbit of the film is that Quicksilver had the chance to tell Magneto that he is his son. This could've saved much of the fighting, as Magneto would most likely turn against Apocalypse right away, and make sure his son leaves unharmed.

When the X-Men travel to Egypt to stop Apocalypse and his Four Horsemen, a big fight ensues, with the X-Men first trying to stop Apocalypse from switching into Xavier's body, then trying to kill Apocalypse himself.

The film uses the (almost) transition of consciousness as a way of getting rid of Xavier's hair and giving him the signature bald look. After being saved, Xavier tries to take Apocalypse down mentally, but he is too strong. So instead, Xavier tells Jean to unleash the Phoenix Force onto Apocalypse, which disintegrates his body. Psylocke escapes, and Quicksilver is left with a broken leg. The fight at the end is great, as it is the first time since the original X-Men trilogy that we see a proper team working together to fight a threat, everyone pitching in to take down Apocalypse.

On your smartphone, scan this code using the application "QR Code" to read more of the movie review.

ENTERTAINMENT 13

June 7, 2016

Should in-app purchases be used anymore?

YES

BY AMANI MUNTU

BY ALMAZ ABEDJE

Staff Writer

Staff Writer

NO

COURTESY OF BGR.COM

In-app purchases have seen In-app purchases have been a significant increase. They give extremely common, especially users full access to features not among games that have come out included in the base software of within the last couple of years. an app.

They're used in order to find some "I used in-app purchases sort of compensation to make up for for Clash Royale," junior Gabriela Jordan said. "It helped me play the the app's lack of charging. game to the best of my ability."

Senior Fredy Manzano, an avid gamer on the Xbox and phone, In app purchases are necessary because they are a simple and strongly disagrees with the concept. easy way for companies to make money and purchasing something "In app purchases are basically where the general app is free but through an app is a very speedy process. With just a few steps, you have to pay to unlock more features," Manzano said. "Well for me, sometimes including putting an apple ID password in, users can make I dislike in-app purchases because it gives away the 'free' feel to the their in app purchase. application."

Although the notification to complete an in app purchase can be This concept is evident in not just gaming apps, but popular social annoying to users at times, it is a really simple way for companies media apps as well. Snapchat recently started offering a way to buy to make money while allowing the app to be free when initially 'replays,' when someone wants to reply a picture or video sent to them. downloaded. One of the amazing parts of in app purchase is that For senior Nancy Zheng, who uses the app daily, she claims that it is the price is automatically charged straight to the associated iTunes a tedious addition to the extremely addictive app. account, making the process of in app purchase very simple.

"For someone that uses the app often, it's annoying that it even When an app is free to download, customers are more likely to has that option to be honest," Zheng said. "It makes the app much less buy it as opposed appealing." to an app that costs Rapper Kanye West money. This leads to launched a tirade on more people buying Twitter last October about something in the app the frustrations of in-app Clash Royale is an app that uses in-app purchases considering the initial purchasing as a result of his purchase of the game daughter, North West, racking up numerous charges to his credit card was free. while playing on her iPad. Without in app purchase there would most likely be more apps "We give the iPad to our child and every five minutes there's a new in the app store that cost money which is why in app purchases purchase," West claimed. "If a game is made for a two year old, just are necessary especially considering the fact that they are allow them to have fun and give the parents a break for Christ sake." optional and users do not have to buy whatever is being offered. In some cases, before something is purchased, a The tweets received a huge amount of feedback, but the majority of the general Twitter public agreed with West in temporary free trial of the deluxe version of an app is offered to users. his dislike with in app purchasing.

During that trial customers can try out the app and decide if it is something they want to continue. If it is, users Although Zheng doesn't necessarily agree with it, she gives credit to the meaning behind the idea. can then purchase the full app which may include access to additional features that will improve the experience "Although it is extremely annoying, it is a great way of advertising a certain product," Zheng said. "It makes of using the app. the app look more appealing and exclusive."

All in all, in app purchases are a key factor in apps because they offer opportunities for a better version of the Manzano on the other hand, only views this as a negative. app. They are quick and easy, and they are one of the best ways for companies to make money.

"Having in-app purchases is like having a trial to something you would have to eventually pay for," Manzano said.

"There's no point in having a free app when its best features need to be paid for."

In-app purchases exclude a majority of users from many features of apps that are supposed to be enjoyable. This exclusion can cause for a lack of a community for an app or a significant decrease in the app's reputation.

"They offer opportunities for a better version of the app."

"It gives away the 'free' feel of the application."

Top eight movies you have to see this summer

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS RELEASE DATE: JUNE 3 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows is the sequel to the movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which was released in 2014.

The 2014 film was an ambitious take on the infamous animated TV series released in 1987. It received an IMDb score of 5.9/10, but accumulated $493 million worldwide.

The second film will continue with the normal four main characters Raphael, Donatello, Leonardo and Michelangelo in the same setting of New York City but they will take on a new threat to the city.

This sequel is projected to perform better than its predecessor in the box office as well as deliver a more quality film.

Moviegoers should dive into the film series by watching the first film and then plan to view the second as soon as it releases.

FINDING DORY RELEASE DATE: JUNE 17 After a waiting period of nearly 13 years upon Finding Nemo's release in 2003, Finding Dory is set to release this summer.

Finding Dory was initially set to release on November 25, 2015, and was announced by Ellen DeGeneres on The Ellen Show in April of 2013.

Ever since then, the hype for Finding Dory has only been building up.

Finding Nemo has raked in $936 million since its release and received a rating of 8.1/10 by IMDb. In Finding Dory, Nemo (Hayden Rolence), Marlin (Albert Brooks) and Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) embark on a journey to find Dory's mother (Diane Keaton) and father (Eugene Levy).

Finding Nemo was arguably one of Disney's most iconic and memorable movies.

It dominated the early 2000s and was a landmark for many cartoons made in following years.

This poses the question: Will Finding Dory live up to the hype it has accumulated due to it's predecessor?

ME BEFORE YOU RELEASE DATE: JUNE 3

THE CONJURING 2 RELEASE DATE: JUNE 10

WARCRAFT RELEASE DATE: JUNE 10

In Me Before You, a girl by the name of Louisa 'Lou' Clark (Emilia Clark) constantly works multiple jobs and shifts her places of work in order to support her family.

Her lifestyle is put to the test when she is tasked with taking care of Will Traynor (Sam Clafin), a young and wealthy banker who became paralyzed when he was involved in an accident two years prior to their association.

Will's outlook on life before Lou's care is negative and he believes that life is not worth living due to his current condition.

Through Lou's care, he is able to gradually change his outlook on life.

As Lou and Will increase the time spent together, their bond grows stronger and their lives change in ways they never thought they would.

Although critics say that the movie is predictable, they also say that the predictability is made up for through the way it affects the viewer.

The Conjuring 2 is the sequel to the film The Conjuring, released in 2013.

The Conjuring performed very well at the box office, where it made $318 million worldwide and received a score of 7.5/10 by IMDb. Director James Wan also was responsible for the Insidious and Saw series', two great series in the world of horror films.

The Conjuring film series also branches off into a film, Annabelle, based off a possessed doll in the first film.

The Conjuring 2 brings back Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) to conduct a paranormal investigation in London, England for a single mother and her four children in order to rid their council home of poltergeist activity.

Judging from the performance of the first film, The Conjuring 2 is a must see film for all horror moviegoers.

Early viewings of The Conjuring 2 by critics and fans came out to be positive.

Historically, films based on video games do not perform well in the box office and do not accumulate much of a dedicated fan base.

Warcraft, a film based off of the hit video game series World of Warcraft, hopes to change that.

In Warcraft, an orc shaman named Gul'dan uses dark magic in order to escape his dying world and travel to the human realm of Azeroth.

Gul'dan then organizes the orc clans to form a conquering army called the Horde. King Llane, a mighty warrior, Anduin Lothar and a powerful wizard Medivh unite to fight off Gul'dan's Horde.

As the two races collide in the realm of Azeroth, they begin to question if war is the sole answer to the problems encountered.

In early viewings, it received an IMDb rating of 8.1/10, supporting the idea that Warcraft may be the film to break the trend of movies based off video games consistently performing poorly.

INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE

THE LEGEND OF TARZAN

SUICIDE SQUAD

RELEASE DATE: JULY 1

RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 5

RELEASE DATE: JUNE 24

The Legend of Tarzan is a film that develops a plot around a human raised among wildlife. This movie takes on the classic Disney film Tarzan, released in 1999, and attempts to bring it to life through computer graphics and other visual representations.

The original Tarzan animation film raked in $277 million worldwide and received an IMDb rating of 7.2/10.

What arguably made the movie so impactful was the amazing soundtrack, produced and written by Phil Collins.

The Legend of Tarzan takes a different approach to the usual Tarzan story. This time, Tarzan (Alexander Scarsgard) must return to the jungle after he adapted to his new life in London, England. He encounters conflict that ensues due to a mining encampment.

The Legend of Tarzan provides one of the most quality casts today. The most notable name on the list is Christopher Waltz, who is set to play the antagonist in the story.

With a quality cast, exciting plot and large anticipation, the film looks to live up to its hype.

Suicide Squad is what every superhero fan wants in one movie. It boasts an incredible cast, amazing production and a great plot.

The dedication of the cast to this movie is incredible, only assuring the quality its expected to have upon its release.

Jared Leto insists on staying in character on set, and is known to have acted nearly as insane as the Joker role he is set to play.

The film derives from comic books that depict a group by the name of the Suicide Squad, (a closely related but independent supervisory organization).

The Suicide Squad is essentially a group of the most insane and odd individuals in the world who are brought together to fight a malicious force.

The film has been hyped for a while due it's two released trailers that hint at the interesting plot.

Suicide Squad is a must see this summer, and is likely to live up to its expectations.

Independence Day: Resurgence is a sequel to the film Independence Day, released in 1996.

Although the film only received an IMDb rating of 6.9/10, it remains a classic movie in households worldwide.

The acting done by Will Smith as Captain Steven 'Steve' Hiller in this film will live on forever.

Independence Day has raked in $817 million worldwide since its release.

In Independence Day: Resurgence the nations of Earth work together to create an immense defense system to protect the planet from the threat of extraterrestrials.

When the aliens attack Earth, only the skills of a few brave men and women can save the world.

The cast includes renouned actors Jeff Goldblum and Liam Hemsworth, only supporting the likeliness of success.

15 ADVERTISMENT

June 7, 2016