Issue 4

Tues. Dec. 18, 2018 Vol. 64 Issue #4

Annandale High School’s

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Winter orchestra concert illuminates

GIVING BACK

Leadership student senior Haley Moss restocks the food pantry at the Parent Resource Center during W4 on Wednesday, Dec. 12. Leadership has been collecting donations and organizing items that are available for student families and the community. Items available include non-perishable food and hygiene items.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JUDE NANAW

BY KIMBERLY VAIDES Co-Editor in Chief

Students battle against poverty

BY JUDE NANAW & KIMBERLY VAIDES Co-Editors in Chief This holiday season, many clubs and organizations are participating in activities to give back to the community in various ways. This typically includes holding food drives, donating items to local shelters and hospitals or even volunteering in disadvantaged communities.

Community service activities that take place around this time of the year are typically targeted at aiding poverty-stricken and deprived groups and individuals. However, issues addressed by giving back during this holiday season like poverty and food deprivation are present year-round and not just during one month of the year.

Last school year, the student body at AHS was comprised of nearly 2,100 total students. Of these 2,100 students, 61.3% or 1,286 students qualified and were eligible for free or reduced fees for priced meals. This number has been on the uptick since the 2015-2016 school year where just over 58% of the student population was considered eligible for free or

families who really need support and reduced lunch. the people who are really struggling As of 2017, over 75,000 persons within the community.” were noted as living below the povWithin the Parent Resource Cenerty line in Fairfax County, a poverty ter is a food pantry that was introrate of 6.4%. This information reportduced just two years ago. Recently, the ed by the U.S. Census Bureau in their PTSA became involved in the pantry American Community Survey from in attempting to maintain its organi2013 to 2017 found that the poverty zation and keep the pantry stocked. rate from 2016 to 2017 had increased “Our goal for the pantry is that it by 1% meaning approximately 12,000 will assist and support our school commore individuals were considered as munity by helping alleviate some of living below the poverty line in Fairthe food insecurities that a portion of fax County. our student body experiences,” PTSA Due to these statistics, there are a President Norma Foti said. variety of resources available at AHS Food and items for the to assist in easing difficulties pantry are received via student families face in havdonations. Items are typiing access to basic necessities. cally brought to the main The Parent Resource Center office and placed in the is a prime example of providdonation cart which are ing aid to needy families withthen taken to the panin the Annandale community. try in the resource center.

Operated by Parent LiaiAnother donation option is sons Maria Delgadillo and EFRATA through the PTSA Amazon Gisela Sanchez, the Parent TECLE Senior Wish List where items can Resource Center is key in supbe shipped directly to AHS. plying food, clothes and other Leadership memItems available at the needs to the community. ber senior Efrata Tecle pantry are not only limit“Our role is to help serve helps restock the food ed to non-perishable food the community and to help pantry at the Parent but also personal hygiene whoever is in need and is look- Resource Center duritems such as shampoo and ing for resources,” Delgadillo ing W4. deodorant, and household said. “Our priority is to help

cleaning products laundry detergent.

Leadership students have been playing a pivotal role in assisting with the functions of the Parent Resource Center.

Multiple times a week, senior Leadership student Efrata Tecle makes her way to the Parent Resource Center during W4 and Pride Time along with other students. Leadership students help with sorting out the pantry and the clothing that is available as well.

“We want to make it so that it is organized and neat for students and families to look through whenever they need anything,” Tecle said. “The best part about helping out at the resource center is that we are helping students at our school and just seeing the great direct impact it has on the community.”

Students can pick up food from the pantry outside of school hours. Packs will be prepared for distribution at the end of the day on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for students who want to take food home. In addition to the pantry at the Parent Resource Center, there has been assistance provided since last school year by an organization known as SevaTruck.

CONT. Page 5

Fairfax County SAT scores improve

BY JUDE NANAW Co-Editor in Chief Every school year, high school students spend endless hours stressing over one three-letter test that can define their collegiate futures: the SAT. Originally introduced in 1926, the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) has been a major factor in determining student acceptance to universities and colleges after high school. Prior to the last few years of college applications, nearly all schools required students to submit SAT test scores as part of their application.

Fairfax County Public Schools has shown improvements as it relates to the average SAT scores of seniors in the class of 2018. Testing results from last school year demonstrate that seniors in FCPS continue to exceed the state and national averages for the SAT. The mean score for 2018 was 1213, 28 points higher than the 2017 mean score of 1185. The overall mean score of 1213 is also 103 points above the Virginia average and 164 points above the U.S. average.

For FCPS, the evidence-based reading and writing section average had a mean score of 604 and mathematics had a mean score of 608, 41 and 61 points above the Virginia average, respectively.

The scores for AHS also improved alongside the improvement of county scores. In 2017, the mean average SAT score was 1082. In 2018, that number went up to 1104, a 22-point improvement from the previous school year.

Not only are student scores used as part of the decision to accept an applicant to a college, but they are also

used in awarding merit-based scholarships.

With this being the case, a countless amount of students spend time studying and preparing for the exam, particularly during their junior and senior years of high school.

Student study methods typically include using online practice tests released or made available by the College Board (the organization that administers the SAT), using practice books and study guides, or even preparing for the exam with a tutor.

“To prepare for the SAT, I took multiple practices tests that I found online,” senior Izzudeen Yahia said.

“I also used the official College Board study guide book that I purchased.”

Some students find themselves using guided practice questions online and also learning tips on taking the SAT from these same sources.

“For me, I mostly prepared for the SAT by going online to Khan Academy,” senior Mariamawit Woldeab said. “I find it helpful because they provide explanations for the questions and tips and tricks that help with testtaking in general.”

Until recently, the SAT was scored out of a total of 2400 possible points.

However, the College Board redesigned aspects of the exam in 2016, changing the total amount of possible points to 1600 and also removing the scoring policy that penalized testtakers for answering questions incorrectly.

The test is comprised of four sections: Reading, Writing and Language, a non-calculator math section and a second math section where test-takers are permitted to use their calculators.

In addition, students can complete the optional essay if they wish.

The exam is timed as each section has a time limit totaling to three hours

overall.

“Due to the time constraints, a lot of students are not able to do their best because they have to rush,” Yahia said.

Despite the rise in SAT scores across the county, many students are skeptical about the practicality of the exam.

“I think the SAT is a good for measuring how well students are at taking and preparing for that particular test,” Woldeab said. “However, it is definitely not a good indicator of intelligence in my opinion.”

With this being the grievance of many test-takers, thousands of colleg-

“The way the SAT is set up, I don’t think it’s useful for measuring knowledge because it combines two subject areas that don’t have correlation.”

--IZZUDEEN YAHIA

senior es and universities have revised their policies regarding the consideration of standardized testing on their applications.

As of September, there have been more than 1,000 accredited, bachelor-degree granting institutions that have become test-optional. If a school is test-optional, that means that the decision to send SAT scores to the school for consideration with a college

application is left completely up to the applicant.

There are a number of highlyranked test optional schools including: the University of Chicago, George Washington University, the University of Iowa, Wake Forest University, etc.

“I think more schools need to become test-optional because the SAT does not need to be considered for college acceptance,” Woldeab said. “At the very least it shouldn’t be as big of a factor that’s considered with applications that it is right now.”

In addition, Score Choice, program implemented by the College Board, allows students who have taken the SAT multiple times to select and submit their only best scores to colleges.

With score choice, students can select their best score from the evidencebased reading and writing section and their best score from the mathematics section.

Despite these gradual changes, the vast majority of schools still require and strongly consider SAT scores.

Additionally, more prestigious universities do not permit the use of score choice and require the submission of all SAT test scores.

“I think the SAT as a requirement does not help in evaluating a student,” Yahia said. “A different form of standardized testing such as subject tests where students study for and take the subject test that they are most likely to major in would be a good replacement.”

As years pass, it is expected that more and more institutions will become test-optional, but it appears that the SAT will remain a widely considered exam by schools for the foreseeable future.

These last weeks, the orchestra room has been filled with sorrowful and hopeful music. To prepare for their annual winter orchestra concert on Thursday, Dec. 20, orchestra students have practiced extensively during W4 and afterschool rehearsals.

“I’m really excited about our winter concert. It is our second concert and at this point, we are starting to get more into our preparation mode,” orchestra director Larisa Marian said. “The next concert after this is assessments. We are more in the mind-set of perfection.” The theme for the concert is “Light In The Dark.”

“We want to acknowledge the fact that life is not perfect and it can be difficult often times,” Marian said. The concert will commence with the beginner orchestra playing challenging pieces.

One of which was composed by the class called “Sour Pumpkins.”

“It symbolizes the darkness. The darkness of the heart and fear. The fear of not being enough,” Marian said.

The following piece will be Star Wars’ “Imperial March” theme symbolizing the internal storm finished with a light of hope. Their final piece will be “Jingle Bells” to show the light of the journey.

Proceeding the beginner orchestra will be both Concert and Symphonic playing “Perpetuoso” by Brian Holmes, “Hungarian Dance” No. 5 by Johannes Brahms and “Three Carols.”

“At this point, the storm has calmed down. It will be more smooth and a lot more gentle and warm,” Marian said.

The groups will finish off with “The Silent Night” and “We Wish You A Merry Christmas.”

Artiste will follow with “The Odyssey”

by Soo Hee Newbold and “The Emerald Falcon” by Richard Meyer.

Lastly, the highest orchestra group, Philharmonic, will perform. Senior Alex Ohene arranged one of the pieces, the theme song of Princess Mononoke. Philharmonic will end the night with the 3rd movement of “Elegy” by Tchaikovsky and “You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch.”

Students are encouraged to attend the concert on Dec. 20 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium.

Senior Jiafu Li rehearses his piece during W4 for the concert on Dec. 20.

Elective fair to take place

BY KIMBERLY VAIDES Co-Editor in Chief The annual elective fair will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 9 during an extended W4.

The snow date will be Tuesday, Jan. 15.

The elective fair gives underclassmen an opportunity to have looks at different options for elective classes next year.

“Students can make a more educated decision on the classes they can take,” school counselor Luis Valencia said.

A menu of all electives available will be give to students on Monday, Jan. 7 the first day back from winter break.

Forms will be distributed at the end of W2 that day prior to the start of the fair.

Students will choose their classes, write down the room numbers and go directly to the first session when the bell rings.

In total, students can select four sessions to attend that last for approximately 10-15 minutes.

Students will meet teachers of the electives who will provide an overview of the class and its contents.

During the extended W4, seniors will meet and receive information about graduation and other obligations.

2 EDITORIALS

Tues. Dec. 18, 2018

Christmas Controversy Claus at the mall.

People who are opposed to Christmas say that it is not inclusive to everyone, and that Every winter, a conflict reig- it is not a big deal to change nites, a “War on Christmas” is Merry Christmas to Happy raged. The topic of discussion is Holidays, but it is a big deal. whether or not it is appropriate The National Retail Federato say “Merry Christmas”. tion estimates that $465 bilIn our parents’ time and lion will be spent on total gifts even in our older siblings’ this winter, and according to time, they would go to elethe Pew Research center 9 in mentary, middle, and high 10 Americans celebrate Christschool. They would not wish mas. Around $419 billion will each other, “Happy Holidays” be spent on Christmas gifts they would say, “Merry Christalone this year. This is a submas.” When they would go on stantial amount of money, and break, it wouldn’t be, “Winter so it would be significant to no Break” it would be, “Christmas longer use the phrase, “Merry Break.” This was not because Christmas.” our parents were insensitive or The fact of the matter is because they were denying peo- “Merry Christmas” no longer ple their right to religious freehas a the same religious condom, it was because that was notation as the official holit once did. iday celebratThus, when “If you greet people, ed, and it still people wish generally you should is the official each other holiday celea Merry not be afraid to brated.

Christwish them ‘Merry Each year mas it is the United no longer Christmas.’”

States Governa religious ment comes greeting. out with a list of National HolThe same is true in the Unitidays that the federal governed Kingdom. In the UK citiment will observe that year. zens wish each other Merry These are the only official holChristmas, and they are fine idays in the United States and with it because Christmas almost all businesses observe no longer has the same relithese holidays. Just like the gious implication. In fact, the Constitution, it is liable for man who wrote “White Christchange. In the month of Decem- mas,” Irving Berlin, a classic ber, the only official federal Christmas song that is played holiday is Christmas. Theremethodically each year was an fore, when we get off school in American Jew. Even here at December, it is not because it is Annandale with such a diverse winter or because of any other community people are okay holiday, it is because of the with greeting each other with national holiday, Christmas.

“Merry Christmas”.

Every year when people go When you greet your friends shopping, they go Christmas this winter, wish them Happy shopping, not winter shopping.

Hanukkah or Happy Kwanzaa, The stores are decorated with if you know, but if you greet bright reds and greens instead people, generally you should of any other colors. Children not be afraid to wish them are even able to see Santa “Merry Christmas.”

trade structure with the rest of Europe, but they don’t want the free travel without immigration restrictions in the U.K. The exit part in “Brexit” is The United Kingdom wants taking far too long as the negotito leave the union for reasons ations have reached the one year such as reduced immigration, mark. I agree with the Unitreduced terrorism, and the ed Kingdom leaving the union, fear of losing jobs, similar to however I disagree with some how the United States is feelof the reasons behind leaving. ing towards other countries.

The European Union is one of The Brexit referendum that the most powerful groups in the happened in the 2016 election world and they are has still not been carabout to lose one ried out because it is of its biggest memunclear exactly how it bers with the Unitcould happen. A way ed Kingdom. that they could carry The Unitit out is through a ed Kingdom is Hard Brexit, which is not a country. It’s where they could cut more like a counoff trade relationships THERESA MAY try of countries. It and immigration comUK Prime Minister is made up of four pletely. There is also nations including Theresa May, the Prime a Soft Brexit, which England, Scotland, Minister of Britain, has would keep the U.K.’s Wales, and North- struggled trying to pass relationship as close as ern Ireland. The and finalize a Brexit bill. possible with the E.U., rest of Ireland is its but they would no lonown independent ger be with the union. nation.

The Brexit impacts the rest So what in the world is a of the world significantly, not Brexit? Brexit is the idea that just Europe. The U.K. is the the Brits will break away from fifth biggest national economy the European Union. The Euroin the world. This will affect pean Union is a union consisting the rest of the world’s market of 28 countries located primarand can lead to bad news for ily in Europe. This union was any country’s economy. The made to create peace in Europe U.K. is also America’s seventh and allow trade and transporbiggest trading partner. For tation between countries to the U.S., we worry that the make everything less hectic and breakup of the union, which simpler. Most people in Britis a vital ally, will create even ain seem to want to keep the more instability.

BY ABEL SAMSON Staff Writer

The migrant caravan has thousands of people march from Honduras to the southern U.S. border in hopes of being allowed entry into the United States while illegally crossing national borders. The men, women, and children marched 2500 miles starting on October 13.

Migrant caravan Why this becomes a problem for the country

BY ELIAS MOURA Editorials Editor With a vast majority of Annandale being of immigrant descent, all eyes are on the large migrant caravan approaching America’s southern border.

This is a serious issue for the United States, and one issue that the U.S. doesn’t need. Thousands of migrants from Honduras and surrounding nations have gathered and marched through Central American and through Mexican borders and security to get to the U.S. The migrants have been receiving travel help from civilians.

I believe we as a sovereign nation, need defensive borders.

A country with no borders is no country, and I stand by that. We can’t allow people from other nations to just cross into our borders because they feel like it.

We all feel sympathetic for these people, it’s human nature; however, the United States should not and cannot have the responsibility to take in anyone who wants to enter, without a vetting process and reasons such as work skills that would benefit the country.

Marching through the border forcefully isn’t the solution for these people. Mexico kindly offered asylum for the migrants but they declined, beggars can’t be choosers.

Trump has responded by providing more border security on the Mexican-American border, which caused mixed emotions for some reason, with people questioning the cost of it.

Trump has stopped funding governments such as the Central American ones that are corrupt and produce a bad state for

these migrants to run away.

The migrant caravan members are now demanding delusional reparations. One of the groups is demanding that each of them receive $50,000 or else

that we need to follow such as illegal entries through the border and the ability to deport people.

Mexico offered hundreds of migrants refugee status, later

HN.USEMBASSY..GOV

Brexit: Two years later

SOURCE: DHS.GOV

BY PATRICK BROWN Staff Writer

A group of Central Americans climb a wall on the border between the US and Mexico as others try to bring it down. This was taken near the El Chaparral crossing in Tijuana, Mexico. they expect immediate entry to the U.S. What’s sickening is that the parents bring their children into a field of tear gas and begin to complain. Having a child next to you doesn’t give you the right to break the law. The parents just end up endangering their children and themselves.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and President Trump vowed to halt all foreign aid to the region if the caravan wasn’t stopped. President López Obrador ordered $30 billion to go to the development of Central America to act on the mass emigration.

I believe this is a proper response to the situation. The U.S. has laws and principles

on, the interior department reported thousands of refugee applicants.

They all have the right to apply for such status, however they have no right to illegally cross borders to apply for it. I believe Trump and the officers did a good job in bottling up the caravan to control it. Dozens of arrests have been made at the border from the caravan.

These are people wanting to escape their defective situation; however, like already mentioned, the sovereignty and principles of the U.S. doesn’t allow us to take precedence over running the country and domestic issues.

The continuing acceptance of the flooding migrants, will have

Monthly Poll

THE A BLAST STAFF CO-EDITORS IN CHIEF Jude Nanaw Kim Vaides MANAGING EDITOR Casey Nguyen NEWS EDITOR Jude Nanaw Kim Vaides

ENTERTAINMENT EDITORS Cameron Foti Christian Reyes Matthew Dinh Ayman Elhag

AD MANAGER Ethan Zimmerman

ADVISER Alan Weintraut

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Kayla Holcomb

LIFESTYLES EDITOR Maryam Dereje

CIRCULATION MANAGER Ethan Zimmerman

Annandale High School Vol 64. Issue No. 4 4700 Medford Dr. Annandale, VA 22003

PEOPLE EDITOR Jamie Hamadeh

STAFF WRITERS Ladan Abdi Robin Han Jasmin Harris Bismaa Khan Fatima Mohamed Marian Osman Manoucher Precht Thonny Anwar Dilan Yousif Ivanna Perez Mia Antezana Garcia Jane Elkins Tyler Plank Abel Samson Eyob Dagnachew Shyeim Campbell Jacqueline Claros Lopez Abraham Kebrom

EDITORIALS EDITORS Elias Moura Luke Elkins

ARTS EDITOR Galilea Sejas

COPY EDITOR Thomas Ray

INTERNATIONAL EDITOR Yabi Bereket

IN-DEPTH EDITORS Suad Mohamed Henry Hoang

HEALTH EDITOR Manny Precht

SPORTS EDITORS Alex Burita Eric Rivas-Martinez SPORTS X-TRA EDITORS Fares Ayoub Adam Shawish WEEKEND EDITOR Katie Pope

PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR Jessica Salisbury ACADEMICS EDITOR Khadija Ahmed SPANISH EDITOR Frances Montevilla SPANISH ADVISER Mauren Hunt WEB EDITOR/MASTER Victor Nguyen

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the best economy in the world dwindle. This is because letting thousands of undocumented, unvetted people that have no skills or anyway to benefit the economy and the country will take jobs and resources. Having a vetting process for them will allow the U.S. to pick and choose people that will work, pay taxes, and benefit themselves and their American peers.

Democrats have been using the immigration issue here against Republicans in a way that makes it seem like they’re against Latinos and Hispanics; they want to defend the border over letting them in. Everyone wants a strong, secure border, even Latinos in America want to live with secured borders.

Senator Lindsey Graham spoke on the issue, “Do you want to be the country of people that run ya up and down the halls and spit on ya? Or do you want to be a country of Republicans that’ll actually deliver for working families, that’ll put good judges on the court, that’ll stand up against the enemies of this country.

Nancy Pelosi will welcome the caravans here. Donald Trump and the rest of us will stop them.”

This isn’t out of a lack of sympathy, it’s because we need to abide by the rule of law in this country. The mainstream view of people flooding into the country being okay is wrong.

Instead of worrying about migrants which have plenty of other options to stay, worry about the homeless veterans, a valuable education, or how to benefit the environment.

Look out for the next poll @theablast on Twitter to vote for the next issue!

21 people voted 46% said that Christmas gifts are their favorite.

34%

said that snow is their favorite.

14%

said that warm drinks are their favorite.

6% said that baking seasonal goods are their favorite.

KENZIE GARDNER senior “I love winter because of the Christmas season. The long break and fun times I have with my friends have long lasting memories.

I also like the snow we get because it’s pretty and sometimes we get school off.”

SAMIR HOSSAIN senior “Usually during Christmas break, my family and I get out of town and visit my family. My family doesn’t celebrate Christmas but it’s still a nice time of the year. To top it off, the cold weather and snow that comes makes winter my favorite season.”

EDITORIALS 3 Timeline of the Pledge of Allegiance

Tues. Dec. 18, 2018

1887 George T. Balch, former Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army, writes the handbook Methods of Teaching Patriotism in the Public Schools. His campaign includes the placing of US flags in all public schools.

1892 Francis Bellamy writes the first Pledge of Allegiance with the words “I Pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands; one Nation indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for All.”

1898 The custom of rising

Should students stand for the pledge?

Yes, it is a unifying factor for the country

BY ELIAS MOURA Editorials Editor The Pledge of Allegiance is said at every school across Virginia, according to state law. It’s a symbol of patriotism and respect while summarizing the points of what the U.S. stands for, in theory.

Many do not understand the importance of the pledge and the meaning behind it, so they question why they should stand. As an American, I believe it shouldn’t even be a debate whether or not we stand.

We stand for the flag in order to honor those who fight, who have fought and who have died to protect our freedom and safety. We stand for the pledge to focus on what unites us as Americans not divides us. We stand for the flag not to pledge allegiance to a president, but to honor the reality that we have an elected president and not a lifetime king.

When I look at America and the pledge, I also look at other countries such as Iran and North Korea.

Oppressive countries like those that don’t allow anyone to publicly disrespect national symbols.

People that take these freedoms

for granted are foolishly disrespecting what binds us together as Americans.

Sitting during the pledge and kneeling for the anthem is not the correct time to protest racial injustice. The flag, pledge, and anthem stand for more than that, and some people fail to realize that.

Some of these people are like blind sheep following each other. There are reasons why some students don’t stand, but those are only a few intelligent students that think with reasoning.

Most students are lazy and when asked why they don’t stand they reply with “I don’t know, I just don’t feel like it.”

Several Supreme Court decisions have codified that no one has to recite the pledge, let alone stand when it is recited. That is your right as a citizen.

I agree with it being voluntary because a forced recital would be like something done in a Nazi society.

The act of sitting during a national unifying pledge to the country that grants you individual freedoms is not only stupid but it is also self-defeating and misdirected.

Then again, in most places, sitting and not standing is more of a statement about yourself than about America. You don’t come off as too smart, instead you come off as ignorant and ungrateful to the rights you are given.

No, students have freedom of speech

BY LUKE ELKINS Editorials Editor The United States of America is a free and democratic nation. There are no laws requiring students to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Therefore, students should not feel compelled to do something they do not want to do.

Under the rules of a democracy, it is wrong to force someone to speak or do what they don’t want to do.

It’s important to note that students who don’t participate in the pledge aren’t doing so just because they are lazy or because they don’t care about the country. There are a multitude of reasons.

Many students see an issue with blindly professing an allegiance to a country. You should not have to pledge allegiance to a country that is doing things you do not agree with. For that reason, many students have chosen to not stand for the pledge because they disagree with the policies of the current president, Donald Trump.

Another reason students choose not to stand for the pledge is the phrase “One nation, under God.” One important element of freedom in the U.S. is freedom of religion. The U.S.

may have a majority of people who are monotheistic, but that doesn’t mean that everyone believes we are united under one god. In fact, the phrase “under God” was added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954 by President Eisenhower. At the time, the Cold War was gaining steam, and Eisenhower was fighting communism across the globe. Back then, atheism was associated with communism, so he added “under God” to further separate the U.S. from the ideas of communism.

But, this phrase just simply isn’t as relevant nowadays, and is the reason many students choose not to stand for the pledge.

Many students also find issue with the phrase “with liberty and justice for all.” Many feel America discriminates against race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, nationality, so on and so forth. The idea of pledging allegiance to a country that doesn’t support them is ridiculous to them.

Whatever the reason, students should not feel obligated to stand for the pledge. Even if a teacher claims it’s mandatory, the reality is, students can choose whether or not they want to stand for the pledge.

for the flag begins during the Spanish-American war as patriotism increases.

1923 The National Flag Code is adopted at the National Flag Conference and it includes the Pledge of Allegiance.

1940 The Supreme Court rules 8-1 in the case of Minersville School District v. Gobitis that students can be expelled for refusing to recite the pledge.

1943 The Supreme Court reverses their ruling in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette deciding that students cannot be forced to recite the pledge.

1954 President Eisenhower signs a law adding the words ‘under God’ during the Cold War saying “we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America’s heritage and future.”

1992 Seventh Circuit Court rules that students may opt out of reciting the Pledge in the case of Sherman v. Community Consolidated School District 21.

Trump shows Are designer babies a good idea? Ivanka email hypocrisy Positives vs. Negatives

BY LUKE ELKINS Editorials Editor Imagine a world where parents are able to pick and choose the traits they want for their child. You could choose their eye color, hair color, height, gender, and any factor determined by genes.

This could be the new reality after a breakthrough by a Chinese scientist named He Jiankui from the Southern University of Science and Technology.

Jiankui claims that he has created the world’s first genetically edited human babies. He did it, he says, to protect the twin girls from HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. He did this using a powerful new gene editing technique called CRISPR to perform genetic surgery on their DNA when they were just a single-cell embryo in his lab.

While Jiankui’s experiment is quite a breakthrough, it is very controversial.

For one, no one knows whether Jiankui really did what he claims. His experiment hasn’t been verified by any independent scientists. But if he did what he says he did, it’s being widely

•

Decreases the risk of genetic disease like Alzheimer’s

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Decreases the risk of inherited diseases like cancer

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Increases quality of life

Most people will create babies with optimum characteristics, everyone will be relatively similar.

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Can increase the human lifespan by up to 30 years

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The child is unable to consent to something that will affect their life forever

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The parents can pick and choose the traits they want for their child

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Can contribute to a gap in society between the rich and poor

condemned as irresponsible human experimentation.

It is a good thing if we are able to eliminate harmful diseases from the gene pool, but editing genes has serious ethical repercussions.

Because of the potentially expensive costs of the operation, it could lead to widening gap between the rich and poor. Those who could afford to have a

It is not error free, and could cause debilitating issues

“designer baby” could create a custom baby with blond hair and blue eyes, improved athletic abilities, enhanced reading or math skills and more. This would create an even greater disparity between the rich and the poor.

The ethical, as well as legal, issues posed by gene editing is a minefield, and there are not enough positives to outweigh the negatives.

MAKIN’ THE GRADE Winter Break

A C D F

BY JANE ELKINS Staff Writer Emails! Emails! Emails! This was a constant refrain during the 2016 election cycle. Republicans made sure voters knew about Hillary Clinton’s private email scandal and Donald Trump even made it one of his main focuses in his campaign, labeling his opponent “Crooked Hillary.” This makes the actions of Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter as well as a part of Trump’s Cabinet as Special Advisor, all the more hypocritical.

All federal employees must abide by certain ethics, standards, and rules.

This includes following guidelines that are set in place to protect classified information from getting into the wrong hands. Ivanka Trump was found to have breached this as White House officials learned that for most of 2017, she sent hundreds of emails that discussed private White House business using a private email.

The spokesman for Ivanka Trump’s Lawyer, Peter Mirijanian, said in a statement that Trump only used her private email sporadically and before she was a briefed on the rules. He also said that no classified information was sent.

However, this does not excuse what she did. You would think that since her father’s main attack against Hillary Clinton was for using a personal email account as secretary of state she, of all people, would know how wrong it is.

She and her lawyers are claiming that she didn’t know that it was a violation of federal guidelines but I refuse to believe that she is that ignorant. Clearly, everyone joining the Trump administration should have been on high alert about personal email use.

Ivanka Trump’s actions are inexcusable and she should know better.

Cartoonist Corner

After a crazy week of due dates for many essays and assignments, students and teachers have earned a lengthy break from school. From Dec. 22 to Jan. 6, everyone will be able to enjoy rest and relaxation over the holidays. Many will be heading out of town to enjoy snow as well as time with their families.

The new homework free break policy will be beneficial to a stress-free holiday season.

Group rescued from West Virginia mine Three people missing in an inactive coal mine in West Virginia were found alive Wed. Dec. 12, after being reported missing four days ago, authorities said. A spokeswoman for the West Virginia Department of Commerce, confirmed they were found alive and would receive medical treatment.

However, many questions are surfacing over why the group was in the mine in the first place, as it is illegal.

Southwest Airlines

Facebook On Fri. Dec. 14, Facebook revealed that a major software bug may have allowed third-party apps to wrongly access the photos of up to 6.8 million users, including images that people began uploading to the site but didn’t post publicly. The mishap, which occurred over a 12-day period in September, adds to Facebook’s mounting privacy headaches after a series of incidents earlier this year in which it failed to fully safeguard the personal data of its users.

ERNEST OWEN

A Southwest flight was forced to turn around after it accidentally left a human heart meant for donation on board the plane. The plane had landed in Seattle, where the heart was meant to be deposited, but the plane had already departed to Dallas when the pilot realized a life-critical cargo shipment was still with him. Luckily, the heart was unharmed and still reached its destination on time, but Southwest need to be more careful.

4 NOTICIAS DESTACADAS

Martes. Dec. 18, 2018

EMBAJADA Y CONSULADOS DE ESTADOS UNIDOS

Westfield HS recita el juramento de lealtad en diferentes idiomas

El Presidente Donald Trump y el primer ministro japonés Shinzo Abe discuten sobre Corea del norte en la Cumbre del G20 en Buenos Aires, Argentina, el 30 de noviembre.

Líderes nacionales se reúnen en Argentina para la Cumbre del G20 2018 POR FRANCES MONTEVILLA Editor de Noticias El 30 de noviembre y el 1° de diciembre, la 13ra reunión del Grupo de los Veinte (G20) tuvo lugar en Buenos Aires, Argentina. Esto fue la primera vez que esta reunión tuvo lugar en Sur América.

Los países que asistieron incluyeron los EE.UU., China, Rusia, Arabia Saudita y Corea del Sur. La reunión ocurre cada año para traer a las 20 principales economías industrializadas y economías en desarrollo para discutir temas clave en la economía global.

Para este año, las prioridades de la reunión cumbre fueron el futuro del trabajo, la infraestructura para el desarrollo y un futuro sostenible de los alimentos, según la página del G20.

Los principales temas que se discutieron fueron el

comercio, la migración y el cambio climático. La cumbre del G20 es importante por la forma en que influye en cómo un país puede cambiar sus instituciones de gobierno, pero no se sabe si cumplirán o no los compromisos.

Además, los acuerdos no son fáciles de alcanzar con países de diferentes sistemas y creencias gubernamentales.

Una fuente del gobierno alemán dijo: “Éste no es un buen año para el multilateralismo”, y agregó que las negociaciones serían extremadamente difíciles de realizar.

Según Reuters, la opinión de Trump sobre cómo el cambio climático no es causado por la actividad humana desconcertó a los líderes mundiales, lo que afectó el acuerdo entre ellos.

Lo que hizo que la cumbre se tensara fue la guerra comercial entre los Estados Unidos y China. Sin embargo, el presidente chino, Xi

Jinping, acordó con Trump de tener una tregua de guerra arancelaria de 90 días después de que termine la cumbre.

Además, Trump acordó que no elevaría los aranceles a los productos chinos a $ 200 mil millones el 1 de enero. En respuesta, Jinping aceptó, pero no completamente, que compraría una pequeña cantidad de energía agrícola, industrial y otros productos de EE. UU. Para ayudar al país a pagar su déficit comercial con China, según AP News.

Además de la tregua acordada, Trump dice que sería más “blando” con el presidente Xi Jinping si también tomara parte en la desnuclearización de Corea del Norte. Sin embargo, no está seguro si lo hará para tener más influencia en el Japón y Corea del Sur democrático.

Trump también tuvo una conversación con el primer ministro japonés, Shinzo Abe. Según el Japan Times, ambos líderes intentan

desnuclear diplomáticamente los programas de misiles nucleares de Corea del Norte.

Respecto a su relación con Japón, Trump dijo: “Somos dos países que estamos trabajando muy bien de muchas maneras diferentes”. Está de acuerdo en que la colaboración de ambos militares se ha fortalecido para completar su objetivo.

Aunque Abe tiene una buena relación con Trump, no se puede decir lo mismo de la relación que tiene con Corea del Sur, debido al hecho de que Japón ha sido el propietario de la península de Corea desde 1910 hasta 1945. Sin embargo, estos tres líderes dejarán al lado sus diferencias y rencores para que Corea del Norte continúe a desnuclearizar.

La próxima Cumbre del G20 en 2019 tendrá lugar en junio en Osaka, Japón. En esta reunión, Abe planea continuar presionando para seguir discutiendo el tema del cambio climático.

POR FRANCES MONTEVILLA Editor de Noticias “Yo juro lealtad a la bandera de los Estados Unidos de América, y a la República que representa, una Nación bajo Dios, indivisible, con libertad y justicia para todos.” Estas palabras en español fueron las que llevaron a una controversia en la escuela secundaria Westfield del Condado de Fairfax.

En los últimos años, los estudiantes de secundaria en los Estados Unidos han sido juzgados y castigados por no levantarse para recitar el juramento. Ahora Westfield está en medio de la controversia de dejar a los estudiantes con la promesa de poder decir el juramento en otros idiomas además del inglés.

En la semana del Día de Acción de Gracias, el director Anthony Copeland inició una programa que intentó hacer participar a más estudiantes en recitar el juramento a través de dejarlos decirlo en su propia idioma, según FOX 5. El 20 de noviembre fue el última día del programa, cuando un estudiante dirigió a la escuela la recitación del juramento en español.

En una entrevista con FOX 5, Stephanie Somers, una madre de uno de los estudiantes, explicó que al fin del día, el

director de la escuela habló en el altavoz y pidió una disculpa a los estudiantes. Para ella, este programa dejaría un impacto positivo en la escuela, considerando que hay 80-90 idiomas diferentes hablados por los estudiantes.

“Es inclusivo, les hace sentirse orgullosos de su herencia y su origen étnico,” Somers dijo. “Así me sorprendió que en lugar de continuarlo, lo rechazaron y se disculparon. No me pareció correcto.”

Según FOX 5, las escuelas públicas del Condado de Fairfax enviaron una declaración que dijo: “Un administrador de la escuela sugirió que los estudiantes lideraran el juramento en español para promover el compromiso y la inclusión. Los administradores creían que esta era una oportunidad para que otras voces e idiomas se escucharan y para reconocer la diversidad escolar.”

Aunque muchos creen que este programa fue cancelado debido a las quejas de los padres, el distrito escolar dice que sólo fue para los dos días antes del receso del Día de Acción de Gracias.

Para la próxima vez la escuela quisiera hacer un programa o actividad, dicen que sería bueno consultar a los padres y estudiantes antes de que empiece para evitar un conflicto.

¿Crees que deben permitir a estudiantes recitar el juramento en otras idiomas?

México obtiene un nuevo Presidente 1988 y ahora el presidente de México.

Ha sido muy popular desde antes que se volvió presidente.

A medida que Enrique Peña Fue altamente reconocido en Nieto terminó su mandato de México por organizar protestas seis años, se necesitaba un contra daños ambientales en nuevo presidente para ocupar su ciudad natal y también su lugar. Ganando más del promovió varios cincuenta por ciento de programas para los votos, Andrés Manuel todas las clases López Obrador, más de ciudadanos conocido como AMLO, mexicanos. juró el 1° de diciembre de Estos 2018 como el cincuenta programas eran y octavo presidente de importantes México, según The Hill. para los más Ésta es la tercera vez que olvidados, como corre desde la primera los ciudadanos vez en 2006, en donde mayores, ocupó el segundo lugar los padres y nuevamente en 2012, solteros y los ganando sólo un promedio desempleados. de 33.45% de los votos de Todo esto El ex vice presidente Joe Biden se reunió con Candidato Presidencial la gente.

Andrés Manuel López Obrador en el Hotel Four Seasons en la Ciudad le ganó varios AMLO nació en el seguidores, de México el 5 de marzo de 2012. estado de Tabasco, México permitiéndole y fue elegido presidente en en 1983, presidente del Partido ganar las elecciones de 2018. julio de 2018. Se graduó de Revolucionario Democrático en AMLO, a diferencia de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México y estudió ciencias políticas y administración pública. Ha tenido altos puestos en el gobierno desde que era joven, incluyendo ser presidente del partido estatal del Partido Revolucionario Institucional

EMBAJADA Y CONSULADOS DE ESTADOS UNIDOS

POR BRENDA HUAMANI Escritor de Personal

otros líderes del mundo, ha optado por renunciar el estilo de vida lujoso. Según The New Yorker, en lugar de llegar a su inauguración en la limusina presidencial, optó por llegar en su Volkswagen. También prometió que su salario se reduciría por un sesenta por ciento, así que sólo ganaría el cuarenta por ciento de lo que ganaron los presidentes anteriores. Entre estos cambios, también ha vendido el avión presidencial y se ha deshecho del cuerpo de guardias.

Ahora sentado en el asiento del presidente, el pueblo de México, esperan mucho de él.

Según USA Today, AMLO planea derrotar la corrupción de México, aunque algunos lo dudan debido a intentos fallidos de personas que estaban sentadas en el mismo asiento.

Junto con esto, también planea reducir los niveles de pobreza porque “no se puede tener un gobierno rico y gente pobre.”

Narcotraficante mexicano “El Chapo” va a juicio POR FRANCES MONTEVILLA Editor de Noticias Joaquín Guzmán, conocido por muchos como el narco mexicano “El Chapo,” actualmente está en juicio en Nueva York por sus crímenes en relación al narcotráfico. En enero de 2017, fue capturado después de su escape de prisión por la segunda vez en 2015.

Según CNN, Guzmán fue escoltado con oficiales federales equipados con armería y perros detectores de bombas. Si una persona desea ver el juicio,

debe pasar por dos controles de seguridad. No sólo eso, sino que el puente Brooklyn también se cierra cuando El Chapo es transportado en un vehículo hacia y desde el cuadro federal de Manhattan.

El juicio de Guzmán es bien intenso. Uno de los jurados no pudo ser parte del jurado antes de la declaración inicial debido a la ansiedad causada de ser elegido. Como El Chapo, ellos también tienen que ser escoltado con oficiales federales por su propia seguridad.

El Chapo está siendo acusado por presuntamente haber participado en al menos

30 asesinatos en México y supervisar el tráfico de drogas como la cocaína, la heroína y la marihuana a los estados de Chicago, Florida, Nueva York, Arizona y California.

Guzmán se ha declarado inocente de tráfico internacional de drogas, la conspiración para asesinar a rivales, el cargo de armas y el lavado de dinero.

Su abogado defensor Jeffrey Lichtman dice que aunque El Chapo fue encarcelado, el problema del tráfico de drogas a los Estados Unidos desde México nunca se detuvo.

“Sin embargo, es culpado

por ser el líder. La verdad es que él no era el líder de nada,” Lichtman dijo.

De todos modos, el abogado estadounidense Adam Fels dice que harán todo lo posible para demostrar que es culpable de los presuntos delitos a través de pruebas de audio y video, mensajes de texto y testimonios de oficiales y ex asociados de Guzmán.

En las próximas semanas, El Chapo continuará enfrentando a EE. UU. en juicio para decidir si pasará el resto de su vida en la cárcel o no.

Eutanasia chispea una conversación en AHS a su propia muerte.

Los que se oponen al uso de la eutanasia argumentan que no es un derecho humano y que nadie la realmente necesita. A pesar de estos dos puntos de vista muy diferentes, ambos grupos de personas están de acuerdo en que siempre van a querer que sus seres queridos mueran con su decisión en paz.

En la clase de lengua y literatura española del BI, la eutanasia es un tema del que se está hablando actualmente.

Varios estudiantes no sabían

qué era la eutanasia hasta que fueron presentados el tema hace un par de semanas.

“Permitir que los estudiantes La eutanasia es algo que hablen sobre la eutanasia es es ilegal en la mayoría de los algo bueno, ya que nos permite países del mundo. Esta práctica ver este tema desde una solo es legal en menos de 20 perspectiva diferente”, dijo el países mundial, incluyendo estudiante de tercer año Tomás algunas divisiones de algunos Linares. Los estudiantes de países. Según Merriamesta clase están comenzando a Webster, la eutanasia se define observar los diferentes puntos como “el acto o práctica de de vista de varios temas matar o permitir la muerte controvertidos y comparar la de personas enfermas o información de los dos lados. heridas desesperadamente Según LIFE, los partidarios (como personas o animales de la eutanasia creen que las domésticos) de una manera personas deberían tener el “Permitir que relativamente indolora por derecho de elegir su muerte, razones de misericordia.” los estudiantes incluso cómo y cuándo se Ha habido una pelea lo debería hacer. Junto con hablen sobre la acerca de si la eutanasia esto, creen que es cruel y eutanasia es algo debería ser algo legal o inhumano de negar el derecho ilegal por varias décadas. a morir cuando uno sufre de bueno, ya que Siempre hay dos o más un dolor intolerable. nos permite ver este tema desde lados de un argumento. En Algunos de los que se este caso, algunas personas una perspectiva diferente.” oponen a la eutanasia argumentan que no permitir creen que es una opción --TÓMAS LINARES que los médicos les dan a el uso de la eutanasia es igual a no dar a alguien el derecho los pacientes vulnerables POR BRENDA HUAMANI Escritor de Personal

que pueden sentir temor por los resultados posibles de su tratamiento y que, dada esta opción, sería como una manera de escapar el sufrimiento posible que le espera. Estas mismas personas también piensan que es una forma de darle más poder a los médicos que están ayudando a los pacientes con la eutanasia.

Según CBS, la eutanasia se legalizó en los Países Bajos en el 2002 y ahora es una de las formas comunes de morir. Es la razón de más del 4,5% de las muertes anual es en este país.

La eutanasia solo se administra a los que sufren “de manera insoportable”, pero es dicho que las solicitudes de los que no padecen una enfermedad mortal está aumentando cada año y los médicos no les han negado su deseo. La gente cree que si no hay más restricciones, este porcentaje seguirá aumentando más cada año que siga.

ALAN NGUYEN sophomore “Sí, se debe permitir que los estudiantes digan el juramento en su propio idioma para que otros estudiantes puedan sentirse cómodos hablando su idioma nativo.”

ABRIL SANCHEZ junior “Sí, los estudiantes se les debe permitir decir el juramento en diferentes idiomas, ya que todavía lo estaría diciendo. El idioma en el que se dice no debería importar.”

ANDREW DELGADILLO junior “Sí, siento que los estudiantes deben ser capaces de decir el juramento sin ser oprimidos hacia el idioma que hablan, ya que es el mismo de cualquier manera. Tenemos que tener respeto hacia todos.”

JASON MERCADO senior “Sí, creo que deberíamos hablar en otros idiomas porque así todavía podemos tener respeto por nuestro país.”

ARACELI CABRERA-ORTUNO senior “Yo sí creo que nosotros, los estudiantes,merecemos poder decir el juramento en cualquier idioma.

Es una forma de expresión e identificación con nuestra cultura, nuestra etnia y nuestras historias.”

CAROLINA SANABRIA senior “Sí, yo creo que los estudiantes deben tener la opción de decir el juramento en su propio idioma porque nuestra escuela (acepta) la diversidad.”

Humanos de Annandale Señor Obando Profesor de matemáticas ¿Cuál es su país de herencia?

“Yo nací en Nicaragua.” ¿De qué manera contribuye a la comunidad hispana?

“Soy voluntario de ‘Unidos por las aves.’ Esta es una organización auspiciada por el Smithsonian que se encarga de proteger a las aves migratorias.

Por medio de esta organización se ha creado un intercambio cultural entre estudiantes de este país y los estudiantes que viven en zonas rurales en Nicaragua para proteger a estas aves.

Además, como maestro, trato de motivar y educar a mis estudiantes sobre los beneficios y la importancia de la educación.” ¿Está orgulloso de ser hispano?

“Naturalmente que sí; el ser de origen hispano me hace ser de cualquier raza. Saber que por mi sangre corre desde sangre indígena, blanca, africana o alguna otra raza me hace sentir muy orgulloso.”

Why is this page translated in Spanish?

This section was created with the intention of expanding our reach as a publication towards the growing population of Spanish-speaking students. As one of the most diverse schools in Fairfax County, Spanish has become the second most spoken language at our school, accompanied with an extensive ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) program.

The goal of The A-Blast is to inform and entertain the largest possible group of readers. Las Noticias Destacadas is a collection of articles of relevant news affecting the hispanic community, written in Spanish. We hope that this section will allow the A-Blast to be a more inclusive and diverse newspaper.

NEWS 5

Tues. Dec. 18, 2018

New bleachers to be installed

News Briefs Freshman Course Orientation

BY JUDE NANAW Co-Editor in Chief

Winter Chorus Concert The Winter Chorus concert will be held tonight in the auditorium. The concert will begin at 7 p.m. and admission will be free.

Filament Deadline The deadline for submissions to the Filament Literary Magazine is this Friday, Dec. 21. Submit art to room 270B and contact Soo-Jin Lee if you have any questions about submission.

Winter Break JUDE NANAW

Anyone looking out at the stadium lately can make out a noticeable difference, the stadium bleachers on the home side are no longer in sight.

Just over two weeks ago, the bleachers, along with the press box, were taken apart and removed.

A plan that was originally supposed to take place last summer, the bleachers were not replaced in time for the fall sports season due to issues arising pertaining to construction permits. The installment process for the bleachers on the home side of Bolding Stadium is set to begin in the next two weeks.

“I requested that they [the bleachers] would be done by the first of February because that is about the time that spring sports start,” Director of Student Activities John Ellenberger said. “Ideally, we want them to be completed so that there is no interruption with the spring season, but the worst case scenario is that we would use the visitor side until construction is complete.”

The previous set of bleachers which included a home-made front railing had been utilized for decades without replacement. The incoming bleachers will be brand new however, they will also be slightly different than the previous set.

Due to handicap requirements, the bleachers will lose approximately one to two rows of seating in the front. There will be about an extra foot of added space in between the stadium fence and the bleachers. This will widen the walkway and help in reducing crowdedness.

“The whole set will be the same size length wise as the previous bleachers, but we did lose a row or two of seating,” Ellenberger said.

Payment for the bleachers will

Freshman course orientation will be taking place today, Dec. 18 during W4. The orientation will be held in classrooms and in Clausen Hall as well.

The bleachers on the home side of Bolding Stadium were recently taken apart and removed. It is expected the the installation process of the new bleachers will begin in the coming weeks and that they will be complete in time for spring sports. not be from AHS, but rather Fairfax County Public Schools. In addition to installing new bleachers, a new press box will be added as well fitted with an air conditioning and heating unit.

“I think that it’s pretty cool that they are putting in new bleachers,” senior Alex Brennan said. “Hopefully the new bleachers will improve the viewing experience during football and soccer games and the added walkway space is an added bonus too.”

The visitor side bleachers will not be replaced anytime soon as they are virtually brand new after being

replaced only a few years ago.

The installment of the new bleachers comes only as one of the recent improvements made to athletic equipment and facilities at AHS. A new scoreboard at the baseball field was installed at the end of last month. Payment for the scoreboard was courtesy of the Athletic Booster Club.

Other recent improvements include the replacement of the track last school year and the updated tennis courts as well.

An upcoming renovation will be taking place for the main gym floor

which went through serious damage this past summer.

“They were fixing the roof and had about one third of it off one day,” Ellenberger said. “A crazy storm rolled in and within an hour it put it about two inches of water down on the gym floor.”

The water damage to the court resulted in the formation of ridges and bumps along the seams of the floor.

The gym floor is set to be sanded down to bare wood in order to remove the ridges and will then be freshly painted. Images of the new floor

Winter break will begin on Monday, December 24 to Friday, January 4. Classes resume Monday, January 7.

Alumni Game The first annual alumni basketball game will take place on Saturday, Jan. 5 at 6 p.m. in the main gym. Tickets will cost $5 at the door.

IB Diploma Panel An IB Diploma Ceremony and Panel is set to take place on Monday, Jan. 21 at 9:45 a.m. in the Auditorium. Snow date will be on Jan. 9.

Quarter Ends The second quarter will end on Thursday, Jan. 24. There will be no school on Friday, Jan. 25.

This will be a workday for teachers.

Clubs participate in community service activities CONT. Page 1 The organization is dedicated to helping eliminate food insecurity in the Washington, D.C. metro area through their Free Meal Service.

SevaTruck has partnered with schools of Title 1 status meaning schools with a student base where at least 40% come from low-income families. In addition to schools, the nonprofit organization is also partnered with local food banks, shelters and assistance programs.

The food truck comes to AHS once a month and serves meals to students

after school. The most recent visit from SevaTruck was on Nov. 28 where approximately 200 burgers were served using food donations from Elevation Burger.

“I think having the food truck come once a month has a really positive impact on the school and community,” senior Philip Barlow said. “It gives students a healthy option over eating junk food and also provides food in general to those who don’t have access to much.”

Clubs and organizations at AHS are giving back to the community by serving various causes. Mission

Possible, a club in its second year, has organized and participated in multiple community service activities throughout the school year.

This holiday season, Mission Possible began collecting cereal boxes for their cereal drive. Students were able to donate cereal boxes that were then donated to the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFSA).

“Although we live in a relatively affluent country, there are still families struggling to make ends meet due to high living costs,” Mission Possible president Maisha Maliha said. “Kids and families need a balanced breakfast

to help them remain focused and satisfied throughout the day.”

Mission Possible sets a new goal at the beginning of each month relating to a cause. Previously, Mission Possible made crayons and collected children’s books that were donated to patients at INOVA Children’s Hospital.

The Key Club also took part in giving back this month by holding the annual blanket making activity on Dec. 3. Key Club members gathered in Clausen Hall and spent time crafting blankets that were also donated to local children’s hospital.

“The best part about blanket

making is that club members get to work together to make a final product that will be donated to a good cause,” Key Club Vice President Alvin Kim said.

Prominent local issues ranging from poverty to homelessness to disabilities are matters that are constantly taking place. Organizations and resources should be focused on providing for groups and individuals affected by these problems year round and not just during the “season of giving.”

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JUDE NANAW

Waiver program for students 18 years and older

Junior Elvera Miller performs the songs “Untitled” and “Between the Bars” at the Winter Coffee House on Dec. 12.

Winter Coffee House a success “The service is fantastic and very professional. Titus gave me constant feedback while I was learning to drive, and expertly explained to me everything to me everything I needed to learn about how to drive safely.”

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BY JUDE NANAW Co-Editor in Chief The Filament Literary Magazine hosted the third Coffee House of the year heading into winter break.

Entrance to the event on Dec. 12 was $5 with free coffee being available to audience members as well. As opposed to the two prior Coffee House events that took place in the Bistro, the Holiday Coffee House was held in Clausen Hall due to an increase in audience turnout.

Approximately 75 people were in attendance at the event. Being a fundraiser for the printing and publication of The Filament, the Holiday Coffee House raised $375.

Students and staff packed into Clausen Hall as performers of various talents took the stage.

Seniors Ephrata Yohanes and Yabi Bereket hosted the Coffee House and introduced performers.

“The Coffee House was a lot of fun because it was my first time being an emcee and introducing performers while making pus, rapping and joking around with Yabi [Bereket],” Yohanes said. “The music was really festive and the entire mood in the room was really dynamic and upbeat.”

The Coffee House opened with a performance from the band “Chicken and Waffles” who played their version of “Deck the Halls.

The band composed of seniors Justin Phan and Milton Ramos, junior Noah Byrne, sophomores Nareg Boghosian and Jackson Fornaris and freshman Adam Shawish, played two more Christmas themed songs during the Coffee House including “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and “Johnny B. Goode.”

Juniors Tarik Dawiesh and Kaleab Mengistu along with senior Idris Dahir performed a rap-version of “Jingle Bells” with original lyrics.

Freshman CJ Billeaudeaux sang “Hallelujah” and junior Elvera Miller performed two songs while also playing her guitar, “Untitled” and “Between the Bars.”

Juniors Duc Ngo and Johana Guillen performed a one-act play titled “Mars and Persephone” where the actors went back and forth in a dialogue that also featured a narrator.

Seniors Sesen Beyene and Hemen Besufekad concluded the Holiday Coffee House with a duet of the song “White Christmas.”

Check out the YouTube video on Coffeehouse.

6

ACADEMICS

Tues. Dec. 18, 2018

Should FCPS make Photomath holiday breaks longer?

Use these apps to succeed in school Todoist

Whether you’re struggling or simply want to improve in math, this app might be your new best friend. Photomath can read and solve math problems ranging from arithmetic to calculus. All students have to do is scan any problem or question with their phone camera and the app instantly gives answers and different ways to solve the problem. There is a calculator in the app where students can fix a problem if it is scanned wrong or they can just type it straight into the calculator to get the same results.

The Todoist app helps students manage their seemingly never ending amounts of homework. Todoist keeps track of everything, from homework assignments to long term projects. Organizing assignments into a list and being able to add due dates ensure users don’t forget to complete anything.

Todoist is not only used for school, but for home too. For instance, it can have reminders about chores, books to read and shows to catch up on. Using this app gives anyone the chance to build long lasting habits.

JAMES GORE senior “I used the app to get detailed instructions on things I didn’t understand and to check my homework for any mistakes.”

JENNIFER SANCHEZ junior “I was really confused at first, but the app has a lot of instructions and it gives you a couple of tips to get you started.”

Socratic

StudyBlue

The days of flipping through textbooks to get notes and homework answers are over. This app helps students get homework help in all of their classes in a quick easy way. For this app, all students have to do is take a picture of any type of question, or manually type it, and then the app instantly gives step by step explanations, definitions, graphics and videos. The app uses strong text recognition technology to recognizes handwriting inside an image.

Instead of spending hours writing flashcards just to lose them the day of a test, StudyBlue can be used to access study materials seamlessly at home, school or on the go. Not only flashcards, but also study guides and notes can be created, enhanced with audio, images and shared with friends. Students can track their progress using study reminders and self quizzes. Teachers can also use this app to make quizzes for students, flashcards and extra notes to help them prepare for tests.

JAYDEN JOYA sophomore “It’s a super fast way for finding useful information and I don’t even have to look that hard.

It’s like having a virtual tutor in your pocket.”

AYAZ AHMED sophomore “I’m not the best at making flashcards, and I could just go on this app and use and study someone else’s premade flashcards.”

Tinycards

DMV Genie Get ready for the car, motorcycle, or CDL learner’s permit and driver’s license test the right way. DMV Genie helps prepare students for the test with questions that are based on their state’s official driver’s manual. This app gives detailed explanations and helps students understand when they get a question wrong. The app’s test stops as soon as they reach a passing or failing score. By downloading this app and taking the practice test students are sure to not have any surprises when they take the actual test.

From the makers of Duolingo comes a fun new way to prepare for a test and memorize vocabulary. In addition to offering thousands of already made flashcards with adorable pictures to make sure learning is appealing, it lets students create their own flashcards and share them with others. Tinycards adapts to students learning with a technique called spaced repetition. Sometimes students might forget what they learned over time, so the app brings back the flashcards they’ve mastered for review.

ONIK ANWAR senior “DMV Genie was a great app to use when I was preparing for my learner’s permit test with things like personalized challenges.”

STEPHANIE MANCO freshman “I still use it even though I’m in Spanish 3, just for a quick refresher to make sure I don’t forget the Spanish 1 material.”

Hunter Schinstock scoops through IB

BY MARIAN OSMAN Staff Writer Going to school for consecutive months can get overwhelming. This might cause students many health issues if they don’t begin to take care of themselves and value their health over their academics.

“I don’t really have time to think about my physical and mental health, because I’m so focused on getting good grades,” sophomore Kristina Regmi said.

A solution to this issue is that students need to have a longer break during the holiday season. This will allow students to rest up and maintain good mental health. Currently, students in Fairfax County Public Schools get from Nov. 21 to Nov. 23 off for Thanksgiving Break. Then, Dec. 24 to Jan. 4 off for Winter Break, and from April 15 to April 19 off for Spring Break.

At the end of quarters, students get a day or so off, as well. However, Palm Beach County Public Schools gives a whole week off after every quarter.

This allows the county’s teachers and students to prepare themselves for the new quarter as well as serving as a time of recovery.

Many students spend a lot of time stressing over achieving good grades and not paying attention to how academics are affecting their mental health. Students become concerned about the amount of homework that is due and weekly tests. This leads to students staying up late at night and finishing assignments.

Sleep deprivation can put students at risk of heart issues, such as heart disease, heart attacks and heart failure. Weighed down by sleep deprivation, individuals will also potentially be at risk of high blood pressure, stroke and diabetes. These are only a few things that can occur to someone if they don’t get enough sleep. These are consequences that students need to be aware of.

Stress can have many effects on your body, such as headaches, muscle tension, chest pain, fatigue, stomach pain and sleep problems. Stress can also have effects on your mood, such as anxiety, restlessness, lack of motivation or focus, feeling overwhelmed, irritability and depression.

Additionally, stress can also affect someone’s behavior, such as over or under-eating, angry outbursts, drug or alcohol abuse, social withdrawal, and exercising less often.

All of these potentially long-term health issues may have serious effects on students. Individuals can be suffering from any of these things or have the symptoms and not think that it is anything serious.

Having longer holiday breaks would give students time to not stress and enjoy themselves. It would also allow students to rest their minds and lessen focus on school.

Having breaks would benefits students greatly and reduce the risk rate of having any health issues.

FCPS should take all of these things into consideration and lengthen at least one of the holiday breaks.

Winter Word Search

BY KHADIJA AHMED Academics Editor

Q: What is your favorite IB subject?

A: I would have to say that IB Topics is my favorite subject, because I love learning about history and find it to be very interesting.

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

A: The skill that it has mostly taught me is how to deal with stress and how to operate under it. I know later in life that will be a very important skill to have.

IB Spotlight: Profiles of Diploma Candidates

Q: What is your extended essay topic?

A: I chose something on history and it was about the Greco-Persian War. Specifically, it was about comparing the Ancient Greeks and Ancient Persians about who was essentially nicer.

Q: What colleges are you applying to?

A: I am applying to seven colleges: University of Virginia, George Mason University, James Madison University, Christopher Newport University, Miami University and the College of Charleston. I chose these colleges because they are all good schools and I also wanted to diversify with a couple of out-of-state ones.

Q: How are you preparing for IB exams?

A: At the moment, I am just trying hard in all my classes to learn the subject material. I am sure I will go over a lot of notes when the time comes.

HUNTER SCHINSTOCK

Q: How have your friends and family supported you this year?

A: My friends and family understand the stress I am going through and help me take my mind off work. My sister especially understands because she also went through the same thing.

Senior Hunter Schinstock plays during a lacrosse game last season, representing the varsity team.

Q: Where do you see yourself in ten years?

A: I hope to see myself having a stable job and possibly having my own business. I would want something in business as I intend to major in that in college. I’m not sure what job I want, possibly accounting.

Q: What advice do you have for future IB candidates?

A: You can avoid a lot of stress by managing your time efficiently. Putting everything off to the last minute may have worked earlier in high school, but the IB program is no joke.

Candle Celebration Christmas Hanukkah Holiday Icicle

Lights Mistletoe Ornament Reindeer Snowflake Star

HEALTH 7

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION OF TOOMY CHANG BY MANNY PRECHT

Tues. Dec 18, 2018

DRAINED AND EXHAUSTED Sleep deprivation hits students hard As junior Tommy Chang sits through his classes throughout the day, he finds it harder and harder to pay attention. Words blur as he drifts in and out of sleep. Chang is sleep deprived, or suffering from a lack of sleep.

Chang is an IB diploma candidate and gets loads of work every day. The IB diploma is the most demanding track in high school and the work takes tolls on students like Chang.

In addition to the heavy workload, Chang, like many high school students, as other responsibilities and methods of procrastination to attend to.

“I’ll usually get home and do my chores, then start my homework, eat lunch, either finish up or watch a show, then go to bed,” Chang said when asked about his after school routine.

Once all of his homework and responsibilities are out of the way, Chang finally gets to unwind and go to sleep. By this time, however, it is already late at night and his sleep schedule stays unchanged.

A high school student can suffer from sleep deprivation for many reasons. However, the main cause is the deadly combination of procrastination and a heavy workload. Everyone’s work load is dependent on the rigor of their classes but no matter what classes you take, you’re bound to have a lot of work.

Chang, like many high school

Do you think you get enough sleep every night?

students, has his own method to manSleep deprivation can affect your There are positive and healthy ways age his time more effectively. mood as well. Common moods among to help your sleep deprivation howev“I’ve been trying to use my agenda to sleep deprived teens are irritabilier, According to medicalnewstoday.com, improve my schedule recently,” Chang ty, anxiety or lack of motivation. Sleep some suggestions for good sleep habits said when asked how he could break his deprived teens can also suffer from lack include: going to bed when tired, followunhealthy sleeping habits. “I find that of concentration, lack of energy, forgeting a routine for bed and wake-up times making a checklist really improves and avoiding food 2 to 3 hours before my efficiency when I have a lot of bedtime. assignments.”

Also, medicalnewstoday.com rec“Lifestyle Although Chang is making ommends engaging in regular exerstrides to fix his sleeping habits, he cise during the day, keeping the changes such still suffers from sleep deprivation. bedroom quiet, dark and coo and as going to bed “I’m usually tired during school, turning off electronic devices when especially during the middle of the you go to bed. at the same school day,” Chang said.

Director of CDC’s Division of time each When a student is suffering from Populaton Health Wayne Giles recsleep deprivation, it greatly affects ognizes that Americans do not night; rising their academic performance in get enough sleep in general, “As a at the same time each mornschool. Chang is no different. nation we are not getting enough “My lack of sleep affects my pering; and turning off or remov- sleep,” Giles said. formance in school sometimes,” Giles also recommends teching televisions, computChang said. “Most of the time I can niques that anyone can do to get a make sure I’m paying attention, but good night sleep, “Lifestyle changers, mobile devices from the occasionally I’ll drift off or zone out.” such as going to bed at the same bedroom, can help people get es Despite the issue of sleep depritime each night; rising at the same the healthy sleep they need.” time each morning; and turning off vation being prominent in high schools like AHS, not much can be or removing televisions, computers, --WAYNE GILES done to help students. Work loads mobile devices from the bedroom, director of CDC’s Division of Population Health cannot be altered too much and the can help people get the healthy sleep habit of procrastination is one that they need.”

Many students like Tommy Chang is hard to break. To get enough sleep fulness and fatigue. struggle through their school day withevery night, students must take initiaAnother problem that exists without a sufficient amount of sleep. If a tive to be on top of their school work in sleep deprivation are the methods student is suffering from sleep depriand other responsibilities. used to combat the effects. Many teens vation, it is important to contact a docAccording to assm.org, the primary turn to caffeine to cop with their sleepitor or make sure to work on your sleep effect of sleep deprivation is excessive ness and some even turn to drugs such schedule. daytime sleepiness. A sleep deprived as adderall. These methods can, rather person is likely to fall asleep when than help ones sleep deprivation, build forced to sit still in a quiet situation, a dependence on these artificial enersuch as during a meeting or class. gizers.

CAMILY SALVADOR freshman “Sometimes, my sleep at night depends on how much homework I have and how I manage my time.”

BIRUK AYELE freshman “Not really, because sometimes I have a lot of projects and I have to study for tests and quizzes.”

ANNIE NGUYEN sophomore “I definitely don’t get enough sleep every night because I usually sleep late because I have a load of homework to do after sports practice so I become used to sleeping late.

Therefore I can never sleep any earlier.”

NATALIE NGUYEN sophomore “Yes, I sleep around 11 at night and wake up at 7 so I get about 8 hours of sleep. Also in the morning I get ready quickly so I have more time to sleep in.”

NATE PETERS junior “Yes, I get about the right amount of sleep because I prioritize my sleep and don’t go to bed super late.”

NIA LEWIS junior “No, with three sports and being an IB diploma candidate I end up staying up really late to do homework and study. I usually get 3-4 hours of sleep per night.”

Sleep Facts The recommended sleep durations for teens (14 to 17 years old) is 8 to 10 hours The recommended sleep durations for adults (18 to 64 years old) is 7 to 9 hours 35 to 37.9% of adults (18 or above) sleep for less than 7 hours a night Americans report sleeping an average of 7 hours and 36 minutes every night Americans on average go to bed at 10:55 p.m. and wake up at 6:38 a.m. on workdays Despite sleeping within the recommended number of hours a night, 12 percent of Americans report their sleep quality as “poor” Regular poor sleep puts you at risk of serious medical conditions, including obesity, heart disease and diabetes – and it shortens your life expectancy

CHASE ROBSON senior “Yes, I think I get at least 7 hours of sleep every night. I try not to let my schoolwork keep me from getting a good night sleep.”

SOURCE: MEDICALNEWSTODAY.COM

BY MANNY PRECHT Health Editor

ABBEY YARED senior “No, my teachers assign large amounts of homework and it’s usually hard for me to stay focused for long periods of time. On top of this, because I play sports for the school, I get home late which gives me less time to do my homework.”

Narcan: Why it needs to be on school grounds The powerful opioid overdose reverser, narcan, can save student lives and isn’t on school grounds

Narcan Facts 81.6 % of reported naloxone reversals involved heroin 14.1 % of cases involved prescription drugs In the past four years leading up to a study in 2014, the number of organizations reporting they distributed naloxone doubled.

The study also showed there were around 26,000 overdose reversals reported with the use of naloxone It’s also not possible to become addicted to Narcan, no matter how often you used it.

Naloxone, known by common brand name Narcan, is a medication designed to reverse the harmful effects of opioid overdose. Opioids include heroin, hydrocodone, morphine, oxycodone and others. If not treated immediately, an opioid overdose can be extremely dangerous to a person’s health.

If you take Narcan and you’re not overdosing on opioids or using opioids, nothing will happen.

The number of non-medical professionals trained on how to administer naloxone went up by 187% since 2010

SOURCE: CDC.GOV

With the growing problem of opioid overdoses in America, Naloxone is almost a necessity on school grounds.

An opioid overdose can happen on AHS grounds at any time so it is important that the nurse and school officials are able to access narcan when necessary.

Narcan could save someone’s life, without it our school community is not taking the necessary precautions to be as safe as possible.

Around the country, narcan is becoming more and more available on school grounds while AHS has not followed suit.

“There are only some officers on the street that have been trained,” School Resource Offier Adam Curcio said. “If there was something like that [an opioid overdose] I’d have to call rescue.”

Learning about narcan, its benefits and its importance is important to understand why it is a necessity on school grounds.

Narcan is a brand name nasal spray version of the drug naloxone. Naloxone is an opioid antagonist, meaning it reverses the effects of opioid use, and an opioid overdose. It does this by knocking

the drugs out of the opioid receptors in the central nervous system.

Naloxone can be administered as a shot, while Narcan is specifically a nasal spray that can be given during an overdose. While Narcan and naloxone are technically prescription drugs, there has been a big national push to make them as widely available and as accessible as possible. In most states, you can purchase Narcan over-the-counter, and it’s even becoming increasingly available in schools.

The effects of naloxone are to temporarily block opioid receptors and prevent opioid drugs from working. Naloxone cannot be used to get high, so it has no potential for misuse.

There is no evidence that extended use of naloxone can cause harmful physical effects or dependence. People who take naloxone do not develop a tolerance to its effects and there have been no reported deaths from naloxone overdose.

Without narcan available on school grounds, the protection against opioid overdose is little. Nurses and school officials in AHS should be trained to administer narcan in case of an emergency.

Without narcan, student health and safety is not completely safe.

CDC.GOV

BY MANNY PRECHT Health Editor

8 PHOTO

Tues. Dec. 18, 2018

What really goes down during

Lunch?

Students use their time to do more than just eat

ALL PHOTOS BY JESSICA SALISBURY

Instead of hanging out in the cafeteria, Senior Matthew Parraga gets some Math homework done in the library. “I like to use my free time during lunch to get my assignments done so I don’t have to do them at home,” Parraga said.

Sophomores Iris Tran, Diane Nguyen and Anissa Wooding tell funny jokes and stories to one another while eating during B lunch. “It’s cool to get to see my friends and just have some time to sit back and joke around before having to go back to class,” Woodling said.

Freshmen Keiry Bermudez grabs a snack from the vending machine during her lunch. “I like the fact that we get the option to go to the snack machine,” Bermudez said. “I don’t always like what they are selling in the lunch lines, so this gives me more options.”

LEFT: Sophomores Grace Kliewer and Amanda Chung choose to hang out outside of the auditorium during their lunch period.

“We were just laughing together and talking about the winter formal that happened last weekend,” Kliewer said.

BELOW: Seniors Mariamawit Woldeab, Aklesiya Abebe and Elleni Abraha meet up and sit together during every lunch on white days. “We love to talk and gossip about different things that are happening,” Abraha said.

TOP: Assistant Principal Brian Valentine makes an announcement notifying students that C lunch is now over. “I find it to be really helpful that they announce when lunch is over because I tend to lose track of time,” freshmen Ashley Holcomb said.

Below: Senior Leadership student Hangyul Chang sells winter Spirit Week t-shirts to Junior Dani Villarroel during A lunch for $10. “For Leadership, selling things and making annoucements during lunches is really beneficial because it allows us to reach all students,” Chang said.

Seniors Jocelyn Ramirez and Hugo Valenz spend their lunch relaxing in the library watching Netflix and texting friends. “I like the library because it’s quiet and peaceful, and it allows me to take a break from school,” Ramirez said.

Freshmen Camily Salvador and Sayde Pritt walk through the lunch line together and decide what they want to eat. “I got chicken tenders and Sayde got pizza,” Salvador said. “This is my favorite part of the school day because I am usually very hungry by this time.”

ARTS 9

PHOTO COURTESY OF AMY ROSSETTI

Tues. Dec. 18, 2018

AHS’s top choir, Annandale Singers, sing one of their 10 songs in the White House as tourists and notable people walk around to take note of the holiday decorations by Melania Trump at the White House.

Students perform at the White House for the 2018 Holiday Tour

BY GALILEA SEJAS Arts Editor Senior Alene Boghosian woke up as she would any other day and went on through her morning: rode the bus to school, attended her R1 class and her R3 top choir class; the only two classes she went to on Nov.29, because of the field trip that Annandale Singers attended at the White House for their Christmas Tour.

On Nov. 29, AHS choir students are going to the White House to perform 10 of their songs to celebrate the holiday season.

These songs include “Here We Come A-Caroling,” “Lully, Lulla, Lullay,” “White Winter Hymnal,” “Deck the Hall,” “Season of Light,” “Pat-apan,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “Carol of the Bells,” “In

How was your experience singing at the White House?

dulci jubilo,” and “Jingle Bells.”

Though they sang in such a prestigious and notable location, they prepared for their performance as they would any other concert or gig; of course with a different audience.

“I think that it was a great honor. I had a couple of kids say that they don’t want to go up and support the White House, but this event did not involve anything politics related,” said choral director Patrick Vaughn. “It was an opportunity for us to share something that’s very positive and to put that into a place where there are negative things happening…to bring in some lightness in the White House.”

Each Annandale singer had to fill out a simple form with their social security information and legal name in order to participate in the performance.

The performance was made possible with the help of two choir students’

BRANDON CAO sophomore “It was really fun and educational, because ofthe fact that we get to the tourists that are walking around the White House, seeing the historical sights and learning about each place in the White House.”

parent, Joyce Boghosian, who is a staff photographer for the White House.

“You don’t have to be the best at what you do in order to suceed. The key is being passionate, motivated and having the right connections.”

--ALENE BOGHOSIAN

“Although [my mom] has been on and off throughout her years working there, she started interning for Ronald

JACK DALRYMPLE junior “It was a pretty good experience, it wasn’t too hectic and it was efficient, because we had all of our things in check and we were all prepared.”

SAVANNAH GRAVITT junior “It was super fun. I could tell that the people taking the tour were engaged and liked to hear us sing.

I’ve never been to the White House at all before so it was really awesome to get to sing there.”

Reagan when she was 19 years old,” said Boghosian.

Now, years later, Boghosian was able to offer the open slot for performers at the Holiday Tour to our very own Annandale Singers, the top choir group in the school.

They were able to skip the application process to perform at the White House because of their invitation; hopefully this won’t be the first and last year performing.

Either way, it was a true honor to not only perform at the White House in high school, but also being the first performers to kick-off the Holiday Tour.

“For the Holiday Tour, people are able to come walk through the White House and see all the various decorations. While that was happening, they had various musical ensembles, both instrumental and vocal that were doing concerts as people were walking

KYLE DALSIMER senior “It was really cool. I had a great time meeting the staffers, people who work there, going through the whole process like walking through the back door of the great building.”

through,” said Mr. Vaughn.

For most people, singing in such a place, surrounded by years worth of political figures, can be very nerve racking and a bit stressful, but the Annandale Singers have prepared their various songs since the fall choir concert that took place at the beginning of the school year.

“Being able to perform for the Christmas Tour can be very competitive, but I feel like our choir was in a good place to be able to sing these different songs in acapella,” said Boghosian, “We put in our all when performing for the audience, and that’s what counts.”

All in all, their performance at the Holiday Tour was one for the books, for they brought some holiday cheer from AHS to the White House.

GEORGE SANDY senior “It was magical, being able to go there for the first. I enjoyed having the ability to see the artwork that was salvaged by one of the previous first ladies during a raid and learning about history from IB HOA, then actually seeing it in person, which was a big honor.”

PATRICK VAUGHN Choral Director “In the first hour of the tour, we were mainly singing for ourselves which served as a glorified rehearsal. As we progressed through the afternoon, crowds came in and were able to hear us sing so it was cool.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF EMMANUEL RIVERSON

Artist Spotlight: Junior Emmanuel Riverson

PHOTO COURTESY OF EMMANUEL RIVERSON

What’s your inspiration in art?

“My family inspired me to do art when I was little because my family and I would always have fun doing it during the holidays.”

How long have you been doing art?

“I’ve been doing art since I was three years old, but I’m not taking any art classes this year, even though I took them during middle school, freshman and sophomore year.”

Why did you choose to share these artworks?

“I chose to draw these characters, because they remind me of family and friends and how they have helped me through the year, much like how these superheroes.”

“‘Batgirl’ drawing that I drew inspiration from some of my friends,” said Riverson.

“‘Nightwing,’ a superhero who is friends with Batman,” said Riverson.

PHOTO COURTESY OF EMMANUEL RIVERSON

“One of my favorite drawings that I did are based upon DC Comics characters, like ‘The Flash,’” Riverson said.

PHOTO COURTESY OF EMMANUEL RIVERSON

Do you consider yourself an artist?

“Yes, I consider myself to be a good artist. I create digital art, paintings, and pencil drawings when I have free time.”

“‘Dark Knight rises’ which took me a while to complete, since I wanted to make sure that it was perfect,” said Riverson.

10 IN-DEPTH

Tues. Dec. 18, 2018

IN-DEPTH 11

Tues. Dec. 18, 2018

EARTH IS IN PERIL

Trump dumps on the Earth

Climate changing the world

BY SUAD MOHAMED In-Depth Editor

President Donald Trump often tweets his skepticism about climate change and global warming, as seen in this tweet from last month.

ACCORDING TO: HISTORY.AIP.ORG

New studies show that ice in the Arctic is melting at a faster rate than was previously believed.

Studies show that carbon emissions, such as those from coal plants and factories, are only exacerbating the effects of global warming.

1983 Reports from US National Academy of Sciences and Environmental Protection Agency spark conflict; greenhouse warming becomes a factor in mainstream politics.

1914-1918 World War I; governments learn to mobilize and control industrial societies

1

STOP USING GAS ON A WEEKLY BASIS Instead of going on the bus or going in a car every day to school, make a change and either walk if you live close enough to your school or ride a bike.

Any means of transportation that uses any fuel will be detrimental to the climate when time goes by.

Cutting down on it will furthermore make life a healthier home and earth a beautiful home for all of us.

This means that using a bike or even walking to school on a nice breezy blue-skyed day will be good for exercise.

If this isn’t a good choice for you, carpool with others and it'll cut down

2

EAT GREENS, NOT LEAN MEAT PRODUCTS There are four simple changes you can make to your diet to reduce its climate impact.

Prioritize on eating meat-free meals to cut the slack on these innocent animals being slaughtered.

If this is not possible in your carnivorous meals and diets, when going grocery shopping, look for organic and local foods whenever possible.

These types of foods are really beneficial to your health and can boost vitamins and how you live your days.

After making these quick food switches, remember to not waste food, this is such a heartbreak because of the fact that in the United States, we lead the world in food waste.

Roughly fifty percent of all produce in the United States is reportedly thrown away.

This leads to 60 million tons worth of produce annually thrown away into your trash when it could be reused into different meals and recipes.

The United States is leading the world in the amount of food wasted also brings up the point of growing your own vegetables in your own household.

Growing food is very simple and easy.

Finding a spot in your backyard or even the front yard if needs be is a perfect spot to start growing simple fruits and vegetables that cuts costs when needing to go grocery shopping, a win-win situation.

3

REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE A simple thing to do at home is to recycle bottles and just any product

recycle and go to parks to do the same.

This club has many members and is looking for more.

These simple changes in the community can cause an impact and a

Green Atoms work on obtaining the Eco-School award

movement.

Encourage yourself to use these tips in their daily lives to cut down and help the environment.

BY MIA ANTEZANA-GARCIA Staff Writer As environmental issues keep accelerating, many schools have created organizations that try to help and try to fix the issue.

At Annandale, this club is known as Green Atoms.

In previous years, the Green Atoms has been known for collecting recyclable items, such as paper and plastic bottles, from classrooms.

This year, the Green Atoms have a lot of new plans to try and accomplish, specifically when it comes to global issues.

Vice President of the club, junior Eileen Ngo-Tran, says that the club is trying to revitalize.

“We have roughly 83 people who currently participate in the club,” NgoTran says. “At meetings, all of us have been trying to come up with new ways to help the environment, and make activities more engaging so that more

4

USE LESS A/C OR HEAT Using less heat and air conditioning can lower the costs of bills in your household.

Adding insulation to your walls and attic and installing new weather strips around windows and doors in your house can lower your heating costs by more than 25%.

This altogether reduces the amount of energy needed to heat or cool your home.

Also, turning down your heat while you’re sleeping at night or even turning it off while you’re away during the day can really help cut down on these costs and also moderate the temperatures in your house as well.

Setting your thermostat just two degrees lower in the winter or higher in the summer could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide each year.

This will really protect the ozone layer.

5

TELL YOUR STORY OF WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO SAVE A healthy planet with stable climate isn’t all about political issues and a discussion of if its real or fake.

It’s about the families, the kids living on this planet, the vast communities and the future of humanity altogether.

It’s important that everyone hops on board on this wave to work towards solutions for our planet.

People tend to be more influenced by friends than by experts, so make sure to bring up the topic of climate change with friends and family.

Green Atoms bands up together to

HENRY HOANG

A breeze is blowing at your window and you can feel the cold radiating from your glass window into your room.

You look at your phone and check the weather app and see that it’s an astonishing 40 degrees.

After using your phone, you bundle up in a sweater and a pair of comfortable sweatpants.

Once the door opens, you feel the cold rush into your body and you are amazed about how cold it is.

Climate change is the cause of the very cold winter nights and blazing hot summer days.

The cause of climate change is because of the many fossil fuels that have been propelled into the ozone layer, attacking it at every minute.

Many superpower countries have been evaluated as the primary cause of climate change. These countries like the United States, China, Russia and many more have pumped out fossil fuels for the last century, causing the sea levels to rise at least eight inches.

This isn’t an alarming subject about the bigger picture, global warming.

As of now, you can do many things to help Earth. Here are five tips to prevent climate change in your own household.

that is able to be recycled. Instead of disposable water bottles, making a switch to a reusable water bottle will help too.

Whenever you can recycle paper, plastic, newspapers, glass and aluminum cans is a starter too.

If there isn’t a recycling program near where you live though, starting one would be an amazing option to help everyone in your community make it a better living area for everybody.

2017 The UN Climate Change Conference takes place from Nov. 6 to the 17, at the World Conference Center in Bonn, Germany.

2007 Fourth IPCC report warns that serious effects of warming have become evident; cost of reducing emissions would be far less than the damage they will cause.

Students bring awareness to global warming

What to do at home to help the environment on how many cars on the road by having a friend or a relative to pick up others and go to school together.

Also, switching to an electric car may seem pricey for others, but if it is in hands reach, going for an electric car from brands like Tesla will be good for everybody.

Just everyday transportation can really push towards the ozone layer depleting and cutting down on this helps later on.

A report done by NASA concluded that 95% of climate change since 1880 was caused by human activity.

When all this information is considered, how is climate change connected to extreme weather?

Climate change can be linked to floods, hurricanes, forest fires, and droughts very easily.

As Earth’s surface and atmosphere gets warmer, it is able to hold much more moisture. This moisture comes from rising sea levels, which are caused by melting ice near the poles.

This is why precipitation levels are so high nowadays, and why rain and snow can be seen in areas that are relatively dry.

All of these factors also increase the level of rainfall during hurricanes and tropical storms.

Scientists have also noted a link between an increase in the pressure of hurricanes and rising temperatures. A higher pressure means that the hurricane is likely to be deadlier.

NASA’s climate change study also stated that warmer temperatures only increase the length and severity of forest fires.

Climate change’s link to droughts is much more obvious.

In some areas, such as parts of the Southwest, Asia, and Africa, the number of droughts is expected to increase.

Why? Higher temperatures are increasing evaporation rates, meaning that water is being removed from Earth’s surface in these regions.

When all of this evidence is considered, it's clear to see that there is an obvious link between climate change and the ever-worsening natural disasters.

2015 Eric Rignot, a researcher for NASA finds a collapse of West Antarctic ice sheet is irreversible, will bring meters of sealevel rise over future centuries.

2002 Studies from Murray Mitchell finds surprisingly strong "global dimming," due to pollution, has retarded arrival of greenhouse warming, but dimming is now decreasing.

1988 News media coverage of global warming leaps upward following record heat and droughts plus statements by James Hansen.

1977 Scientific opinion tends to converge on global warming, not cooling, as the chief climate risk in the next century.

Five tips on

BY HENRY HOANG In-Depth Editor

A firefighter in Malibu, CA looks on at the Woolsey Fire, which burned over 96,000 acres in November of this year.

Timeline of Climate Change 1939-1945 World War II. Military grand strategies are largely driven by a struggle to control the oil fields

1879 International Meteorological Organization begins to compile data about global weather including temperature 1800-1870 Levels of carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere are measured in ancient ice and are discovered to be about 290ppm.

Forest fires, caused by the increase in the temperature of Earth's surface, are decimating the amount of trees on Earth.

Environmentalists are in protest of Brazilian companies chopping down trees in the Amazon Rainforest, which produces over 20% of the world's oxygen.

Sophomore Abdullahi Ali recycles his coffee cups. "Recycling is an easy way to help the environment," Ali said. "It requires no effort, so I don't understand why other people don't do it.

What do you think should be done about global warming?

people will join and help.”

In recent weeks, the club has had guest speakers come and talk to students about specific issues after school.

Earlier this year, the club held a session with a beekeeper who talked to attendees about the importance of having honey bees in the environment.

Just two weeks ago, Resource Director and tennis coach Hassan Mims held a session in the library.

“The people who came to these meetings were very interested, so hopefully we will be able to do more of these later on in the year,” Ngo-Tran said. “We are also trying to come up with some sort of incentive with science teachers, too.”

Another thing that the Green Atoms club is trying to do more is Ossian Hall cleanups.

Every once in a while, about a dozen club participants come together and clean the park and it’s parking lot.

They are joined by members of Science National Honor Society who are trying to fulfill community service hour requirements.

“We always have good turnouts for these cleanups. It’s very important that Ossian stays as clean as possible, so we’ll probably do more of the cleanups,” Ngo-Tran said.

Perhaps the biggest new thing that

STEPHANIE ALVERADO freshman "I think that everyone should start caring about the world more. In asian countries, there are many asians around the world that wear a face mask because of the amount of pollution in their homeland."

KENNETH ANDERSON freshman "I think that we should all band up together to recycle more in eachothers communities. The amount of times that I have seen trash just laying on the floor is too much."

CAROLINA SANABRIA

Trump defended this plan by saying that he “represents Pittsburgh, not Paris.”

Despite this statement, nearly 80% of Americans believe that climate change is real and needs to be limited, including Republicans and Trump’s own daughter, Ivanka.

The Paris Agreement, which was signed on April 22, 2016 by 195 foreign leaders, is an agreement between nations to attempt to lower greenhouse gas levels and work on decreasing the effects of climate change.

Trump’s declaration to withdraw is only symbolic for now, as none of the nations involved in the agreement can withdraw until Nov. 2020.

Still, Trump’s actions have encouraged other nations to consider withdrawing, such as oil-rich Saudi Arabia.

At the same time, the Trump administration has already taken actions that could accelerate climate change.

Just two weeks ago, the EPA announced that restrictions on the greenhouse gas emissions of coal companies would be loosened up.

Clearly, Trump doesn't care much for the environment, and his policy is starting to move awareness of climate change backwards.

NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION

Trump’s remarks aren’t surprising, and they only support the belief that he and his administration meant to cover up the report because they disagreed with its content.

Time and time again, Trump has shown his stance as a climate-change denier. A list compiled by Vox in June 2017 noted that he had posted over 115 tweets doubting the validity of climate change, just between Nov. 2011 and Oct. 2015.

On Nov. 21, just 2 days before the release of the National Climate Assessment, Trump tweeted to his nearly 57 million followers, “Brutal and Extended Cold Blast could shatter ALL RECORDS - Whatever happened to Global Warming?”

On Dec. 28 2017, he tweeted, “In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year’s Eve on record. Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that out country, but not other countries, was going to pay TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to protect against. Bundle up!”

But as a President, Trump has taken his skeptic beliefs from Twitter to the real world.

In 2017, he announced his plan to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement.

In Sept. of this year, the east coast was hit with Hurricane Florence, whose aftermath is still affecting North Carolina and South Carolina today.

A month later, Hurricane Michael devastated citizens in Florida and Georgia.

Just last month, California was hit with fast spreading forest fires.

These are just a few of the dozens of natural disasters that took place in the U.S. in 2018.

All of these disasters combined have killed hundreds and displaced thousands. Damages that have resulted from the high winds, flash floods, and blazing fires are are believed to cost several billion dollars.

When all of this is considered, it’s only natural to wonder what could be causing the sudden outburst of

natural disasters.

Most scientists agree that one major factor is linked to these occurrences: climate change.

Climate change is the change in weather patterns around the Earth due to an increase of the presence of greenhouse gasses, such as carbon, in the atmosphere.

Contrary to popular belief, climate change and global warming are not the same thing. Global warming is the increase of the Earth’s surface temperature, and is a cause of climate change.

Though there are some climate change deniers, there is strong and consistent scientific evidence that climate change is happening, and it’s happening rapidly.

Since 1880, Earth’s surface temperature has increased 0.9 degrees Celsius. The oceans are warming up.

Perhaps the most well known evidence of climate change is the shrinking of the Arctic ice caps.

NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION

TWITTER

On Black Friday, while Americans were busy shopping and eating Thanksgiving leftovers, President Donald Trump’s administration was up to something else.

The administration released the National Climate Assessment, a report on climate change.

It's believed that the administration moved the release date up to ensure that it would not recieve public attention.

Worked on by over 300 climate change specialists and 13 different federal agencies, the report was meant to be released this month.

The information in the report concluded that the Earth’s temperature is rapidly increasing at an alarming rate.

It also stated that human actions, such as the accumulation of factory waste, was the cause of the rise in temperature. The report went onto say that climate change has the potential to drastically affect the U.S. economy.

Contrary to the administration’s theory, reporters and citizens alike latched on to the report in disbelief with what it said.

Within minutes of the report’s release, most news channels went from reporting on Black Friday deals to criticizing Trump for it’s early release.

Talk about the report was fueled once again on the following Monday when Trump was asked about the report. He responded by saying that he doesn’t believe in climate change, and for that reason, he hadn’t bothered to read most of the report.

White House spokespeople went on to say that the evidence in the report wasn’t completely factual, as it depended on models and data used and collected during the Obama administration.

BY SUAD MOHAMED In-Depth Editor

Green Atoms members Rudha Fareed, Carolina Sanabria, Johanna Huarachi, Eileen Ngo-Tran meet with Braddock Elementary Principal Keesha Jackson-Muir to talk about the Eco-School Award. the club is doing this year is a plan to earn the Eco-School Award for Braddock ES. The Eco-School is an award that is given to elementary schools for excellence in environmental action taken by the school.

Currently, the Green Atoms are

working on the process with Braddock’s principal, Keesha JacksonMuir.

First, they will have to get the program to conduct an environmental audit on the school.

“The audit that will be conducted will be on issues like biodiversity,

AMIRA CONTEH sophomore "Global warming is very scary and I think that we should recycle more to help the planet. In school we have a lot of clubs that recycle every month."

SAVANNAH GRAVITT junior "This is a cause that includes politics. But, we just need to look past our differences and worry about the important effects of global warming. We need to recycle and make everything better for our planet."

IDRISSA KARGBO sophomore "I think that we should call up China and Russia to stop using coal and the production of coal hurts our ozone layer. I learned about it in my science class."

HAKIM IDRIS junior "I think global warming is a big consequence to our earth. Everyone has contributed to how our world is now and it is horrible. What I think should be done is that Trump needs to do something about it."

climate change, consumption and waste, energy, healthy living, healthy school, teaching students about forests, school yard forests, sustainable foods, transportation availability, water, and watershed oceans,” NgoTran said.

Currently, the program is in the process of auditing for waste and consumption.

The club intends to look at the infrastructure of the school, such as the presence of recycling bins and posters around the school.

“If there is a problem with one of the topics that are audited, then we’ll need to have an action plan to change the issues. One example would be reusing food or making sure that untouched food isn’t thrown out,” NgoTran said.

Despite all these new changes and plans, the club is still doing the activity that it is known for: collecting recyclables around the school.

“We can help global warming if everyone takes their part in taking steps to be more eco-friendly,” NgoTran says “We need to think about our planet’s future, and how our actions impact it.”

For people who want to join, the Green Atoms meet every Wednesday in Room 104 from 3:10 - 4:00 P.M.

EFRATA TECLE senior "What should be done about global warming is that we take the initiative to fix what is wrong now. Many countries around the world use fossil fuels too much and it makes the rise of pollution go up."

ABBEY YARED senior "I don't think it's about what should be done, but what could be done now. We could be doing so much recycling to help our planet but no one wants to do the work for it."

12 INTERNATIONAL

Tues. Dec. 18, 2018

Has Christmas lost its meaning?

Religious aspects get overlooked by holiday decor

Around the world Shooting at Christmas market

BY YABI BEREKET International Editor

Children placed on deathrow

PHOTO CREDIT: JAMES GORE

Senior Raymond Ramirez was once a devout Catholic attending mass on Christmas Eve, fasting when necessary, and did not allow worldly things to get in the way of his faith.

However, as he grew older, the hardships of life had consumed his time from practicing his faith.

The holiday season took a shift from being about going to mass, to lighting Christmas trees with bright and festive colors and exchanging expensive gifts.

Ramirez is not the only one who went through this shift. Christmas has been a long standing holiday, first celebrated for its religious significance by many Christians. This holiday is known as the day Jesus Christ was born into the world.

Yet as time continues to pass, Christmas has developed a new image; an image which has distorted its once spiritual definition to a whole new meaning. This new Christmas has been developed into yet another money-making holiday in America.

“This wasn’t the way I thought my Senior James Gore decorates his Christmas tree with ornaments which encapsulate the meaning of what Christmas is to him. life was going to go,” Ramirez said.“I always thought that I was going to be true spirit of Christmas. someone who put faith first, but that’s December, and not really for the relithe purpose of why you’re getting someIt seems as though the changes this hard to do with so many outside influgious parts.” thing for someone in the first place. holiday has gone through were made ences coming in.”

Many others share this same point “It is sad that most people only care to appeal to the With Christof view as well. Stores, such as Starabout the presents and forget about public.This can mas being of the bucks, also help to lead the month religion at a time like this,” senior be seen in how 'Nowadays, most religious of December into becoming all about Hemen Besufekad said. it is now expectholidays in ChrisChristmas, but not the devout version Alongside this, it has also affected of people to everytianity, it has of it. The holiday has been developed ed recent generations of children who say ‘happy holione sees been overshadinto helping stores sell cheerful items, are enculturated into not knowing anydays’ rather than owed by attempts which are created to add to the festive thing about the meaning of Christmas.

‘Merry ChristChristmas as of glamorizing the outlook of the whole month.

They are taught to anticipate the arrivmas’ to be more celebrating month of DecemOne of the major parts of this al of Santa in their homes, but have no inclusive. ber into being all devolved Christmas is gift giving. While concept of who Jesus is. This further the mood of “I like the about traditionbuying presents for your loved ones removes later generations away from songs, the atmoDecember, and not really sphere and gival treats, frivomay be a way to show your love and the true aspects of Christmas, and the lous designs and care for one another, which makes up pattern will be continued unless somefor the religious part.” ing gifts with my listening to music part of the true meaning of Christmas, thing is done about it. friends. It does --MARYAM ATIQUE related to the it takes away from the central idea of The spirit of Christmas which is feel a little weird senior newly morphed Christmas. This then allows for stores extended throughout the entire month though since it holiday. to make profit off the idea of showing of December helps to incorporate some is supposed to By doing this, it seems as though love through materialistic items. of the main facets of the holiday, but be a Christian holiday,” senior Marysomething of sentimental value to When most of your time is put it remains a problem among the genam Atique said. “Nowadays, everyone many is taken and deformed to appeal towards panicking on what to get someeration today to remember the truth just sees it as celebrating the mood of to all, which in turn deflects from the one as a present, it completely defeats behind it.

On Dec.11, a shooting took place in Strasbourg, France at a Christmas market, injuring 11 people. and killing 2.

The shooter had a criminal record already established in France, but this did not stop him form committing the crime.

After the separation of Sudan from South Sudan, the number of people who have been on death row in South Sudan has increased significantly.

Some of the people who make up part of this statistic are now children as well.

Turkey attempts to arrest Saudi allies Since the murder of journalist Jamal Kashoggi, Turkey has now tried issuing an arrest warrant upon who they believe to be accomplices of the murder. These two people are also thought to have been alliances wiht the prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohamed Bin Salman.

Four dead in church On Dec 11, a shooting took place inside a Cathedral in Brazil, ending with four people dead, and many wounded.

The shooter killed themselves after the attack. This shooting is considered ot be one of the worst Brazil has seen.

Student celebrates authentic Christmas How senior Alex Bellem celebrates his Christmas holiday with family, while keeping the faith

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY: ALEX BELLEM

BY YABI BEREKET International Editor

Senior Alex Bellem reads the story of Jesus' birth with family every Christmas.

It’s during the Christmas time that senior Alex Bellem finds himself practicing his faith more often than usual.

“I go to Christmas Eve mass every year with my family,” Bellem said.

This is common among many Christians who celebrate Christmas, since it is a significant holiday for many. This holiday is known as the day when Jesus was born.

During Christmas, Bellem and his family follow a traditional Christian Christmas routine. One that includes a balance of going to church services, and incorporating parts of a traditional American Christmas as well.

“My family is Protestant, and my parents try their best to incorporate the faith in our lives ,” Bellem said.

“We usually go to church as often a we can, and we also try to be active in it as well by helping out, but we make it a top priority to do so during

this time,” Bellem said.

His Christmas festivities begin with family bonding through putting up the Christmas tree, and wrapping gifts with his family as well. This is done weeks in advance, as it is usually done among other families who celebrate the holiday.

But his Christmas is celebrated a little more religiously. As the weeks get closer to Christmas, Bellem and his family, as a way to celebrate the birth of Christ, attend church services on Christmas Eve. “At around 6 or 7 p.m., we go to a candlelight church service, which lasts for about two hours,” Bellem said.

“During the service, we sing hymnals and read Bible verses about the birth of Jesus,” Bellem said.

On Christmas day, Bellem and his siblings all gather together in their parents bedroom in the morning, and read the Bible story of Jesus being born into the world.

“This is a tradition which my family and I have been doing since I was very

young, and we all love doing this since it means a lot,” Bellem said.

Afterwards, this is followed by opening stockings and receiving their first gifts of the day.

From there, a Christmas day breakfast is prepared by the family, and they all take turns saying a prayer, and what they are thankful for.

“My dad says the final prayer before we start eating, then we consume the good food my mom made,” Bellem said.

The day is then followed by having family members come over, the kids playing games while the parents discuss other things.

“I get to see a lot of family who I usually don't have the chance to see that often,” Bellem said.

This is then followed by a family dinner, and dessert as well.

After this ends, gifts are exchanged among family members, and they all go home.

“This is really just a chance for all of my family to have a grand old time,” Bellem said.

BY YABI BEREKET International Editor After living in Jordan for six months, senior Ahmad Al-Swaiti made his journey to the U.S. via Turkish Airlines with his parents and older brother in 2001. Since then, his life has been split between liing life in the U.S and Jordan. He returned to the U.S. once again last year to omplete high school.

“Since I first left America to go back to Jordan, I have returned almost every 2-3 years," Al-Swaiti said. "I came back again last August to finish school, and to get into a good university,” Al-Swaiti said.

After living in both of these countries, Al-Swaiti has been able to pick up on many differences between the two. One of them being the mass amounts of diversity in the U.S. as opposed to Jordan.

“Here, you can see so many people from so many different countries.

But over there, most of the people are Palestinians, Jordanians, Syrians, and Iraqis,” Al-Swaiti said.

While diversity lacked in the streets, Al-Swaiti attended an

International Baccalaureate school, meaning he was bound to see many people of different cultural backgrounds.

“At my international school in Jordan, there were some students of diplomats that were from Italy, the United States and other places as well,” Al-Swaiti said.

When it came to the curriculum in Al-Swaiti’s international school in Jordan, it consisted of 13 classes total, proving to be much more rigorous than courses here.

“I didn’t have an option with the classes I took in Jordan, I was always given my courses. Some of the classes I had to take were three science classes, World Religions, and Vocational Arts,” Al-Swaiti said.

Despite the rigor which presented itself in Al-Swaiti’s international school, the course load helped create an easier transition to AHS. “I like the system, since I can see that now I’m not having any hard times with the classes I’m taking here,” Al-Swaiti said.

One of the reasons for incorporating English into the courses in schools was due to Jordan being under British mandate, which

then increased the importance of the English language in Jordan.

This worked in favor of Al-Swaiti, since having transferred schools to America.

The differences in how the schools are run is only one of the many contrasting parts of life in Jordan as opposed to America.

“The main dish which is eaten is called Mansaf, which is a type of yogurt,” Al-Swaiti said. “This yogurt is called jameed. Salt and other things are added into it as well. It’s left outside to dry, and is eaten with rice,” Al-Swaiti said.

Most food items are eaten by hand, since many people in Jordan are Bedouins, meaning they live nomadically in dominantly Arab countries.

“I choose to eat this way as well, simply to feel the culture of it all,” Al-Swaiti said.

Other than foods, being in the atmosphere, specifically nightlife, is a feeling which Al-Swaiti misses deeply.

“In Virginia, many places are closed by nine or 10 p.m., but in Jordan, the night starts at 12 a.m.,” Al-Swaiti said. “It’s very similar to life in D.C. or New York," Al-Swait said.

PHOTO CREDIT: AHMAD AL-SWAITI

Immigrant stories: coming to America How senior Ahmad Al-Swaiti made his journey from Jordan to America

Senior Ahmad Al-Swaiti first came to the U.S. when he was only six months

LIFESTYLES 13

Tue. Dec. 18, 2018

Get into the Christmas spirit

BY MARYAM DEREJE Lifestyles Editor If you are like me, just hearing the word "December" makes you happy.

Why December? Well, December basically means Christmas.

Many people are excited for the holidays, however, there are also those who are not into it yet. Here are a few ways that will hopefully help you get in your holiday spirit.

1

PHOTO CREDIT: EVELYNE NQUYEN

WATCH A CHRISTMAS MOVIE Watching Christmas movies may not seem like a huge deal; however, it is a very important part. A person's reflection on something can change by the type of music they listen to or by what movies they watch.

Just like how comedies can make you laugh, horror can make you scared, and drama keeps you entertained, Christmas movies are a perfect combination of it all. From the start to the end of the movie you will be waiting and hoping for a moment like that to happen to you.

2

PUT UP A TREE Putting up a tree can be pretty exciting for the most part. Even with all the hard work you would have to put in, it will always end up being worth it because of it’s lovely appearance.

If you are not a morning person, waking up to a tree in your living room can brighten your morning.

Looking at a fully decorated Christmas tree helps you understand that Christmas is around the corner. If you think putting up a tree is too much work or it's boring, I suggest doing it with friends. Playing Christmas music and movies in the background can lighten up the spirits.

What is the best and worst Christmas gift you have received?

Senior Evelyne Nguyen decorated her house in Annandale with various Christmas lights that she and her family put up earlier this month to show their holiday spirit.

3

PUTTING UP CHRISTMAS LIGHTS Christmas lights are another easy way you can replace the symbol of Christmas and still enjoy all the benefits.

You could decorate either your living room or personal bedroom and it doesn’t have to be huge decorations.

Anything as simple as LED string lights or LED window lights, which can be found as cheap as $10 on Amazon

LIM BAHAR freshmen "The best thing you can get me for Christmas is food, electronics, and makeup. The worst you could ever recieved is a pair socks and a book."

ELDANA MENGISTU freshmen "The best gift you can receive for christmas is a phone or any electronics and the worst would be clothes because you can grow out of them easily and you may not like how it looks."

would suffice. You could also go to any Target or Walmart near you and get any single light for $5 or less.

If you are planning on only decorating your room this is perfect project that would not only make it feel cozier, but also ready for the holidays.

4

SING CHRISTMAS SONGS Everyone knows at least one or two Christmas songs that suddenly enter our minds when Dec.

GABRIELLE GRIFFITH freshman "The best gift I have ever received is a playstation 3 and the worst gift was a very useless book because it had no educational purpose."

AAMIRA CONTEH sophomore "The best gift I have ever received was Uggs, my macbook, and makeup, and the worst thing would be getting nothing or a calendar from a year the already happened."

1 hits, and that we can’t seem to hear enough of it on the radio. Fortunately, almost everywhere you go, you will hear a Christmas song playing at least once or twice a day. Christmas songs really help you get into the Christmas spirit.

However, what I think is best would be learning a new Christmas song. You can memorize it easilyand it doesn’t matter if the song is popular or not as long as you can sing along to it.

KELSEY LAZARD junior "The best I ever received was my phone when I was eight years old and my worst gift was socks from my mom and her reason was because I was bad that year."

TARIK DARWIESH junior "The worst gift I ever got for Christmas was a pair of fake earrings.

They irritated my ear and they didn't tell me it was fake. The best gift would be a laptop."

This could be a bit time consuming depending on the song you choose yet during the process you get more and more excited for Christmas.

In addition to this, you can even create a small dance number with some of your friends or close family members to perform at any holiday party or gathering.

FUAD KOROMA senior "The best gift I ever got was a hoverboard, computer, money from my mom and the worst gift would be a book because I barely read."

ABU ELSADEG senior "The best Christmas gift I ever got was a new playstation from my uncle and new soccer cleats from my mom and the worst gift would be a pair of socks from my aunt ."

Volunteer this Christmas Give back to your community this holiday season

BY BROOK FEKRU Staff Writer While many of us are getting ready for the Christmas season with excitement, several others are out in the streets unable to have the same delight.

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, there are currently an estimated 554,000 people across the U.S. that are homeless.

Hundreds of families are unable to have a warm meal or a cozy home amidst this harsh winter cold.

As the holiday spirit is all about loving, caring, and helping one another, it is especially important to help those in need.

Finding the time to volunteer can be difficult. Throughout the school year it may be hard to find the time to

volunteer and help those in our community.

Students have huge amounts of school work, extracurricular activities and sports after school, so devoting time to help the community can be strenuous.

This is why it is the perfect time during the two week winter break to go out and help those in need.

For instance non-profit organizations such as “Food for Others”, gives food supplies for those who are struggling to make ends meet.

Food for Others has multiple opportunities that allow people get involved, from donating food supplies, to contributing money, or even volunteering at the food drives or warehouses.

They have various opportunities that allows people of all ages to participate and help out.

Volunteering is not the only way to

help. Many of us have seen the Planet Aid bins that are stationed at various locations across the DMV area.

Planet Aid is a non profit organization that takes used clothing and resells it to manufacturers for a cheaper value in developing countries.

All the money gained is used towards development in areas such as Teachers Aid, child care, and the Farmers Club across the world.

So this upcoming winter break we should all go out and try to make a difference by volunteering at a homeless shelter, make food for those in need, or just donate those clothes that don’t fit anymore.

We should all try to help those in community by truly embracing the holiday spirit: helping those in need.

4 places you can volunteer • KEEN https://www.keengreaterdc.org/ Helps disabled kids with working out and staying fit.

• Hope Lutheran Church http://www.hopeinannandale.church/ Help set up Christmas decorations and get prepared for the season.

• ACCA https://accacares.org/ Provides early childhood care, education, food, rental assistance and more.

• Burke Lake Park https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/burke-lake Help plan activities for families to enjoy..

Fashion Spotlight: Idris Dahir, senior Q: How did you learn to dress?

A: I like to believe that I was born fashionable.

Q: What's your favorite season to dress for?

A: Winter is my favorite season to dress for because I can wear my trench coat.

Q: Where do you like to shop?

A: I like shopping at expensive places like Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton.

However I try to find good deals to avoid paying a lot of money.

Q: How long does it take you to get ready?

A: I wake up at 5:30 am to get ready.

Senior Idris Dahir wears a gray shirt with black jogger pants and limited edition Lebron 10's.

Q: What is your typical outfit for school?

A: Since winter has started I have started to wear my feather jackets and my kangaroo fur moccasins.

Q: What do you wear on bum days?

A: I don’t have bum days.

Q: What is your favorite outfit to wear?

A: Flamingo Feathers, jeans and moccasins.

Q: How much do you invest in clothing?

A: I don’t spend money on clothes, I already have a lot.

Q: What is your favorite pair of shoes?

A: Even though I have a variety of shoes to pick from I would have to pick my Moccasins as my favorite.

Q: Do you dress to impress or for yourself?

A: I dress elegant because that's how my mother raised me.

Q: Who is your fashion inspiration?

A: My fashion inspiration is Russell Westbrook and Jonathan Assefa.

PHOTO CREDIT: IDRIS DAHIR

PHOTO CREDIT: IDRIS DAHIR

Q: What is your favorite accessory?

A: My favorite accessory would be my Dior Monocles. I don’t get to have it on me that often, however, they are by far my favorite piece of accessory.

Dahir wears a navy blue jacket with black jeans and white shoes.

14 PEOPLE

Tues. Dec. 18, 2018

REACHING THEIR DREAM COLLEGES Two students explain the process of applying and getting accepted

Senior Aileen Obregon becomes a saint at Marymount

COURTESY OF AILEEN OBREGON

BY AILEEN OBREGON Special to The A-Blast

Obregon took AVID for two years which prepared her to get accepted into Marymount University.

Applying to scholarships and colleges is definitely a long and stressful process but after a few applications, I got accepted into Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia.

I applied for a scholarship because of the high cost of college tuitions and thankfully, I got a scholarship to Marymount.

The school offers the three original degrees which are bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees.

So far I have applied to four other colleges.

I am looking to apply to many more just to have many options when it comes to making the final decision.

My dream colleges would either be George Mason University (GMU) or Christopher Newport University (CNU) because I love the environment and people of both colleges.

Staying close to home is something that would be a huge plus side to a college acceptance and since Marymount University has offered me a scholarship, I am leaning more to their side especially since they are also close to home. I

would also commute to school each day.

I plan to commute to and from school every day just so I can still be at home with my family, but if I get into CNU I will have to make the sacrifice of leaving home.

I am still not sure what I want to study after high school but I definitely want to make a decision as soon as possible. Many topics and majors interest me which is why it is so difficult for me to choose one.

I hope to be very successful in college because I want to be able to go far and succeed in life after school.

I am currently enrolled in the AVID program so I have all the information and motivation I need to be as successful as possible in my college life. AVID stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination.

I applied to be in Avid because I wanted to be able to do as good as possible in high school so I could do even better in college.

Hopefully, I get into my dream colleges since they have always been a goal for me to attend, but if not I will be sure to carefully choose the college that fits me best and the college that will fit the standards of my major.

Senior Leonardo Iriarte gets accepted into ODU

Senior Leo Iriarte hopes to get accepted into Old Dominion University.

HUMANS OF ANNANDALE Although I was born in Virginia when I was 4, I moved to Lebanon for 1 year.

This experience brought me to love the county and the language.

Ever since then, it has become a tradition to travel to Lebanon every summer.

I love traveling, but so far Lebanon has been my favorite place to visit for many reasons.

One of them being, most of my family lives in Lebanon so I always get to visit them and spend time with them.

Another reason is that the scenery is so beautiful. There is so many breathtaking sights and so many things to do.

This past summer, I got to face my fear of heights and get to experience bungee jumping. I was terrified, but excited at the same time.

Visiting Lebanon so many times has got me to practice the beautiful language of Arabic and our traditions.

I became fluent in the language when I was 12 years old. The language of Arabic is definitely one of the most complicated and difficult languages to learn, but once I got the hang of it it became very effortless.

I am the oldest of 3 siblings in my family.

At times being the oldest can be challenging because I have to always put them before myself. For example, if I want to go and hang out with my friends I usually end up staying home and babysitting them because no one else is available.

COURTESY OF LEONARDO IRIARTE

BY LEONARDO IRIARTE Special to The A-Blast

So far, I have applied to three colleges. Two of which are local and one is on the further side.

I am hoping to get accepted into more so that I can have many options to decide from.

I have not decided what I would like to study, but I have some options before I go with a final one.

My dream college is Old Dominion University (ODU) and thankfully, I got accepted into it.

I was really excited when I got the news and I told everybody in my family and all of my friends.

They were all really proud of me because they all know how Old Dominion Univeristy is a big goal of mine.

I love the environment and location of ODU. It is pretty close to the beach so summer time will call for many beach days.

Being away from home will be a little difficult for a while but hopefully, I adjust quickly.

I only know of a couple people that are going to the same school as me so I hope that I can find a crowd and stick with them throughout college.

I am not really sure how the college vibes are so I am hoping that I will not get homesick or start regretting my choice of going far from home.

I have many high standards for myself when it comes to college or school in general.

I really hope that I do good so that I can have a bright and clear path for myself for the rest of my life.

I want to be able to have a life that is already in line for me so I will not have to end up struggling in the future.

I am hoping that I don’t lose motivation while I am at school because I feel like that tends to happen to everybody.

At times, I will say that I will get a certain amount of school work done then other things tend to come up which distracts me from being able to finish the work.

In college, I hope to continue to play soccer and try to strive in that.

I hope to find a perfect balance between studies and soccer. Both are my passion and I will wait to see what the future has in store for me.

What would you like to study after high school?

JASON DOCK sophomore “I would like to study air space engineering at MIT, RIT, or the University of Texas.”

VI BUI

junior “I would like to study something in a medical field and then go to med-school.”

MITCHELL EGGERT junior “I would like to study daughter computer science or electrical engineering at Virginia Tech.”

VANESSA GUTIERREZ senior “I want to double major into law and political science.”

KIDUS HAIMANOT senior “I would like to study computer programming at Virginia Tech.”

WHO AM I? I attended: Northwestern University in Illinois The extracurricular activities I did were: Tennis, Golf, Track, Softball, French Club, Environmental Club, and National Honor’s Society I was born in: Columbus, Ohio Before teaching at Annandale: I taught in Chicago and was in the Peace Corps

LARA DIB SOPHOMORE

They can drive me crazy but at the end of the day, I will always love them.

Once I graduate, I hope to go to college and eventually get a medical degree. It has always been a dream of mine to become a neurosurgeon since I was 13 years old.

It will take a lot of school and long studying hours but I really hope to achieve this goal.

Another thing I hope to achieve is traveling across the world. I love seeing new places and hopefully, I can find one that tops Lebanon.

Favorite movie is: Raiders of the Lost Ark directed

by Steven Spielberg. It is about an archeologist who tries to defeat a band of Nazis for world domination My greatest fear is: Tornadoes.

I teach at Annandale because: I love the diversity of the students here and the wonderful staff that supports them.

What I do in my free time is: Hike, travel, take pictures, adventure and play with my dogs.

Favorite quote is: “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” -Pablo Picasso

This is the answer key to Who Am I? Use the QR Code app on your phone or camera.

SPORTS X-TRA 15

Tues. Dec. 18, 2018

Cracking down on concussions Basketball also dangerous When people think of concussions in high school sports, football is the first sport that comes to mind.

Although most concussions do take place in football, winter sports such as basketball and wrestling, also have very high concussion rates.

A concussion is described as a brain injury that is typically caused by a blow to the head or a violent shaking of the head and body. Higher contact sports have a greater risk of concussions.

Aproximately all sports-related concussions account for 3.8 million concussions per year and of that 2.4 million are from high school and teen sports. 63% of all concussions in the U.S. come from sport-related injuries.

Of that 63%, 47% account for high school sports.

“I got my concussion in a basketball game last year,” junior Annika Yungner, a power forward on the girls varsity basketball team. “There was a cross-court pass and an elbow from an opponent that both hit my head at the same time.”

Girls basketball sees the third most concussions in all high school sports after football and girls soccer.

According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, girls are at a significantly higher rate of getting concussions than boys.

COURTESY OF RICH FINK PHOTOGRAPHY

BY JANE ELKINS Staff Writer

conditioning with the team, and finally contact practice.

Cumulative sports concussions are shown to increase the likelihood of catastrophic head injury leading to permanent neurologic disability by 39%.

Many think that new safety measures should be taken in sports to prevent injuries.

Wrestling has banned some high-risk moves in past years for fear of concussions and other injuries. Although wrestling has lower rates of concussions since the safety measures were implemented wrestling has had a slight drop off in concussion rates.

“You can’t entirely prevent concussions if you play a contact sport,” Yungner said. “All you can do is be prepared for it if it ever happens.”

Concussions and injuries, in general, are hard to prevent, but there are a couple things you can do on and off the court to be prepared. Wearing the proper equipment and talking to your coach or trainer after a knock to the head are good ways to ensure that you don’t have a concussion. Knowing the symptoms and taking the proper concussion education courses are ways off the court or field to help.

In no way should this discourage students from playing a sport. Concussions and other sports injuries are always a possibility in any sport you play, but playing a sport has so many other benefits for high school students.

Senior Junior Lotongo is surounded during a boys varsity basketball game against Falls Church on Dec. 4. AHS won 55-44.

Althoughg Lotongo has never sustained a head injury, he has come close during his games.

“At first I didn’t know I had a concussion,” Yungner said. “It was ten minutes later when I felt very dizzy and had blurry vision.”

Concussions can put athletes out of sports for weeks. Recovery from a minor concussion can take up to 24 hours and as long as three weeks.

Symptoms like dizziness and nausea can last multiple weeks after the

injury. A major concussion, however, is very different. An athlete can be out for more than a month and is significantly more likely to get another one down the road.

“We have a pretty comprehensive program that we have at AHS,” athletic trainer Ryan Hughes said. “Every student that plays a sport has a baseline computer test. This tells us how

their brain is working before a concussion. If a student does get a concussion we notify the parents and the student checks in with us every day until the symptoms go away completely.”

Once the symptoms have gone away, a rigorous five step return to play protocol. It starts with light conditioning then moves to longer conditioning. This leads to agility exercises,

BY EYOB DAGNACHEW Staff Writer When sophomore Abraham Belayneh goes home on Friday, the first thing he does is load up a game of Overwatch or League of Legends.

League of Legends is a session-based, Multiplayer Online Battle-Arena game where rival teams compete against one another for victory.

Overwatch is a team-based, first person shooter game where you join other players to compete against other teams to complete a common goal.

“Being able to play the game I love makes life a whole lot better,” said Belayneh.

Games like these have become increasingly popular in recent years. Before, esports gaming used to be a more personal thing that you do with your friends on the weekends. After the popularity of games like League of Legends and Overwatch, esports gaming became bigger than ever before These games have massive worldwide fame with millions of fans around the globe .

Esports began in the 1980s when big

Which esport game is your favorite?

companies started to record video game scores, starting the idea of competition between other players. Esports became more connected with the world wide web in the 1990s.

PC games and companies such as Nintendo and Blockbuster began sponsoring video game world championships around this time, introducing the support of big companies to esports.

In the 2000s major international tournaments such as the World Cyber Games and the Electronic Sports World Cup were launched, followed by the Major League Gaming (MLG) in 2002. In the present day, esports is a fast growing sport.

There have been two titles that have been dominating the esports realm in recent years, Overwatch and League of Legends. League of Legends has been a massive game with its main esports competition. League of Legends World Championship had 43 million viewers in 2016. On top of having millions of viewers there are millions in prize money. There are professional teams from all around the world competing for the prize money.

A relatively new game has an esports competition that rivals the scale of League of Legends, and that game is Overwatch. Being released in 2016, Overwatch exploded in popularity by getting 7 million players in its first week of release. The popularity naturally led

HARRY KHONGSAWAT freshman “My favorite esport game is Overwatch because there is a variety of characters, it is super fun, and the mechanics are great.”

ROMEO VELEZ freshman “My favorite esport game is FIFA because I grew up playing FIFA. It was a very popular game and my parents would buy it for me every time I got good grades.”

MATEO CARRASCO freshman “My favorite esport game is FIFA because I play soccer and my favorite team, Barcelona, is on the game.”

Junior Kaleab Mengistu enjoys a game of Overwatch on PC. to an equally successful endeavor in its esports debut. Its world competition which is also known as the Overwatch World Cup, has a similar setup to the League of Legends championship. This is because they both have professional teams from all around the world competing for the prize money.

With all of esports popularity you would expect that everyone would be playing these kind of games. In reality esports popularity

ANON RAHMAN sophomore “I like League of Legends the most because it is the game I play with my friends the most.”

College football update This reinvented the football program making Notre Dame a dominant football team once again.

Oklahoma, the underdog of this playoff, is the only team with losses. It was a difficult season for College football is making its way to the end of them, but they were able to get through it with the season, but it’s not quite over. The four team Heisman winning quarterback, Kyler Murray. playoff is yet to take place.

They will play Alabama first which will be The College Football Playoff (CFP) was added huge for them if they can win. Alabama almost in the 2014-2015 season. This year, the four lost to Georgia in the SEC Conference champiteams consist of Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame onship game. Even though Georgia was ranked and Oklahoma. Alabama in the top 4, Alabama was will play Oklahoma in the able to dominate in the secOrange Bowl in Miami, Quarterback ond half.

Florida and Clemson will Some other notable bowl Kyler Murray play Notre Dame in the games are the Rose Bowl was awarded Cotton Bowl which takes game which is Ohio State place in Arlington, Texas. vs. Washington. Both teams the Heisman Both games are happenwere contenders for the playTrophy for ing on Dec. 29. The Chamoff, but just couldn’t quite pionship game will happen hold on. his 2018 on Jan. 7.

The PlayStation Fiesta season.

Murray plays for “I think Oklahoma will bowl game which is LSU and take it all the way,” senior UCF. LSU had a tough seathe Oklahoma Sooners.

Max Bernal said. “They son because of the matchups, have had a great season they just couldn’t win against and they have the champ, the bigger teams. UCF on Kyler Murray, on their the other hand had a groundside.” breaking season. They went undefeated, but Alabama’s season played out like any of their because of lack of schedule strength, they weren’t other seasons, undefeated. There were some tough quite playoff material. games in the schedule, but they were completely “I’m really excited for the Play Station Fiesta dominant throughout the season. Clemson’s seabowl,” senior David Betanco said. “It dosen’t effect son seemed easy, being in one of the most nonthe big games, but I love watching it.” threatening conferences in NCAA Football, the ACC. They did have some competitive games and having three top level quarterbacks helped them get to the number two spot. In the three seed, Scan here to view the whole Notre Dame is getting their first go-round in the story playoff after a great season with a record of 13-0.

BY TYLER PLANK Staff Writer

JACKSON FORNARIS sophmore “FIFA 19 because I am a dog at it and I really like soccer. It’s a good platform to extend my love and passion for soccer.”

stems from the fact that anyone, regardless of physical ability, can play.

With all of esports popularity you would expect that everyone would be playing Overwatch or League of Legends.

The promise of esports has has just begun. the growing popularity of esports can lead us to expect that it will grow in the coming years and become a major sport in the future.

PETER EPPERLY junior “My favorite EA game is Madden because it lets you create a dream team and play against friends.”

OMAR AVENDANO junior “My favorite esport game is Madden because the celebration is pretty nice and the graphics are good too.”

ALEX OHENE senior “My favorite esport game is League of Legends because it is fun and inclusive.”

Player Profile: Patrick Lee

BY ABEL SAMSON Staff Writer As cold weather and winter break approach, winter sports such as wrestling begin. Players and coaches are extremely excited for the new season. The mat room is finally able to be put to use and wrestlers are feeling better than ever. One wrestler in mind is junior Patrick Lee. Lee also plays football and lacrosse and this is his third year wrestling here at AHS. The varsity squad produced an impressive 12 regional qualifiers and four state qualifiers last season, with Patrick being a state qualifier within the 182 weight class. He had an excellent record last year, going 13-2 with 13 consecutive wins.

Patrick believes this season could be his best yet, as he has prepared all offseason to become the best he can be.

Q: How did you discover your interest in wrestling?

A: As a kid, my dad took me to youth practice and I really enjoyed it.

Q: What are your strengths as a player?

A: I have experience and can use that as an advantage when I go up against someone.

Q: How do you prpare for a new season?

A: I prepare for a new season by going on a diet.

COURTESY OF MEGAN LEE

Online games draw student popularity

ADAM SHAWISH

Are esports the future of sports?

Patrick Lee (top) graples an opposing player during a match.

Q: What are your best and worst memories as a player?

A: My best memory was getting the information that I qualified for states and my worst memory was having to cut weight for the first time.

Q: How long have you been wrestling?

A: I started when I was six years old, so 10 years.

Q: Did you do any wrestling in the offseason?

A: I attended practices at hayfield to stay in shape.

Q: How do you prepare for a new season?

A: I prepare for a new season by going on a diet so I can drop to my desired weight.

16 SPORTS

An announcement for the newly established annual alumni basketball game has been made by the AHS athletics department and boosters club.

The goal of the games will be to raise money for the boys and girls AHS basketball teams.

The games are set to take place on Jan. 5 at 6 p.m.

The teams will consist of five basketball players each that have graduated from AHS in the past.

Each player registered paid a $5 fee in order to play. Additionally, tickets will cost $5 each.

All equipment such as jerseys and basketballs will be provided to the players given the $5 fee.

However, there will be two sets of games, one for the older and another for the younger generation of alumni.

Then, each player was put onto random teams with teammates around the same age.

Information about the event is posted throughout the school.

The announcement about the decision of team compositions from the draft will be made via the AHS athletics twitter in the weeks leading up to the event.

By the publication date of this article, the teams have not yet been decided.

Coaches for the teams of alumni include: Amy Lipicky, Patrick Hughes and Ramano.

Just like college basketball, each game played that night will consist two 20 minute halves.

Three time-outs can be taken by each team during the course of the game.

Boys varsity basketball coach Deidrich Gilreath and girls varsity basketball coach Fawn Tucker will be the referees for the games.

Inspiration for the fundraiser came from girls basketball coach Fawn Tucker who brought the idea from Alabama where it was a success in the past to AHS student activities director, John Ellenberger.

“The goal is to raise money for the basketball programs to buy shoes, sweats, and other equipment we need,” boys varsity basketball coach Deidrich Gilreath said.

Instructional Assistant Mohamed Khalid will be the DJ throughout the game with a performance from the dance team at halftime.

“I am unsure of what to expect from this new fundraiser or how successful it will be,” Gilreath said.

Overall, it is expected to be a fun way to give students the opportunity to come out and support both AHS basketball programs and the athletics department.

Two Atoms finish fourth place in the NOVA Classic

BY ALEX BURITA Sports Editor To begin the varsity season, Atoms wrestling headed to Washington-Lee to test where exactly the team is at so far in terms of improvement.

The result of the match was a heartbreaking 29-39 loss for the Atoms, but it was only the first of many matches to come this season.

Nevertheless, the match was a close one that could have easily resulted differently, as expressed by coach Joshua Damico.

“There were three matches in total in which we lost by four points or less which were close and could have gone the other way,” Damico said.

If those matches had resulted differently, the Atoms could have left Washington-Lee with their first win. “[For the dual on Dec. 4] my expectations for the meet were to just go out and wrestle as best we could and we did for the most part,” Damico said.

Despite the loss, the team got the opportunity to wrestle together for the first time this season and still put up a respectable effort.

“With all things considered, the team performed well. Also, we were able to be part of a new trend by getting to wrestle on the auditorium stage at Washington-Lee,” coach Damico said.

“This caused for a bit of stage fright.”

Additionally, success was seen in the match as many AHS weight classes claimed victory.

MIKYAS SAHLU Junior Cross Country “It definitely feels like an honor to be athlete of the month. My favorite part of running cross country this season was when we won the district meet this season”

Junior Dylan Weaver steps up to the podium to celebrate his fourth place finish in his weight class bracket of 170 at the NOVA Classic tournament. His elimination in the semi-final came on Dec. 8 in a bracket featuring 32 total wrestlers.

“Those who won include: Breanna Sanchez, Philip Barlow (who won by a forfeit), Michael Mendez and Kalunga Nseka pinned their opponents, and Dylan Weaver tech falled his opponent,” Damico said.

The Atoms then had to rebound from the loss at Washington-Lee to head to the NOVA classic invitational tournament at Fairfax.

This meet took place on Dec. 7 and went through Dec. 8, just three days after AHS’ first match.

However, Atoms wrestling’s improvement since the start of the season has been a significant force to be reckoned with. Especially through their tough conditioning training.

“Conditioning is our strongest suit.

Coach [Carl] Klein does a fantastic job getting these kids into shape with his workouts before they come to me for technique,” Damico said. “I haven’t

seen these kids tired in scrimmages or a match yet.”

Obviously, this suit of skill is something that should benefit AHS going into a tournament as large as the NOVA classic.

Last year in the same tournament, AHS placed sixth out of 32 teams with a score of 56 points.

“I was looking forward to the tournament this weekend despite only having our first match three days prior,” Damico said.

However, this year resulted a bit differently as AHS as they placed 27 out of 32 with a score of 52.

Some of the highlights in the meet include a fourth place finish by Dylan Weaver and Patrick Lee in a tournament of 32 and 30 total wrestlers respectively.

Although AHS’ performance looks better on paper last year, these two

meets are too small of a sample size for how the rest of the season and postseason will turn out.

“There were both positive and negative things that I saw in the matches, but everyone is working hard in practice, so I think our goal is attainable,” coach Damico said.

From the loss, the team had to shift gears to preparations for the next match that they hosted against Lake Braddock and C.D. Hylton on Dec. 12 at 6 p.m.

By the time of the publication of this story, the match had not yet taken place.

The next invitational tournament will be the cavalier classic which will be located at Woodson on Dec. 15.

For this tournament, the Atoms will continue to prepare like normal and put in the effort in hopes to produce significant results.

Cross country runners prep for indoor track

BY ALEX BURITA Sports Editor After the closure of a successful season for both boys and girls cross country, AHS indoor track headed into their first meet with hopes high.

Both teams qualified for the regional meet, but only two runners advanced to the state meet in The Plains, Virginia to run individually.

Now, their focus shifts to the shorter distance races featured in track.

The Atoms’ first meet of the season was the DCIAA Indoor Open Invitational in Landover, which took place on Dec. 1.

The meet combined distance events of runners who took part in cross country, short distance sprinting events, relays, and field events.

Most of the teams that participated in the meet were schools from the D.C. area who are known for their sprinting skills.

Additionally, some teams located closer to AHS participated like Justice and T.C. Williams. They were also looking to get a taste of what the competition looked like in the D.C. area.

However, the purpose of the meet was to serve as a time trial as every performance would set a personal record for the season.

Athletes of the Month: December

DEVIN GILL Senior Football “It feels great to be able to represent my teammates as athlete of the month. I love football and it’s my passion. I like everything about it.”

COURTESY OF JOSHUA DAMICO

BY ALEX BURITA Sports Editor

Wrestling hits the mats

JULIA GHISELLI Sophomore Cross Country “It feels great to receive the athlete of the month award. It is definitely something special and fun that AHS athletics has done. I loved the different races that we got to do.”

LUISA CORTES PEDRAZA Senior Cheer “It feels nice to be athlete of the month.

During cheer, I definitely loved the competition aspect.”

COURTESY OF ABBEY YARED

Alumni basketball game set for Jan. 5

Tues. Dec. 18, 2018

Senior Abbey Yared races in the 26th Annual Carlisle Invitational. He earned a personal record with a time of 17:49.

With this, coaches now have an easier time identifying where improvements need to be made and how exactly to go about them before postseason.

“At the meet on Dec. 1 in Landover, we performed fair,” Phil Harris said.

“Overall, as a team, we could have done better. But, it is early in the season and we were missing many of our older athletes due to SAT testing.”

On Dec. 22, AHS will again return to the same facility in Landover for the PR Holiday Invitational.

The teams registered so far for the meet seem to have a completely different dynamic than the teams who participated on Dec. 1. Most of the teams registered for this meet are closer to the location of AHS, however few are from the Bethesda area.

“This year, I am very excited about the high number of athletes that we have on the team this year,” Harris said.

These numbers are necessary for a team to be successful in a sport like track as there are a wide variety of events from field to relays to short and long distance races.

“When we keep working hard in practice, I feel that we will have a lot of talent for each of the events in our meets,” Harris said.

Overall, these two meets will offer AHS a broad taste of the skill levels of many different teams in preparation the season that lies ahead.

“We have been and will continue to work hard every day. I believe that we have the numbers and commitment

“We have many great athletes on the team this year.

I am excited about what we can accomplish this season” --PHIL HARRIS

Indoor Track Head Coach

to give teams in our district like T.C. competition,” Harris said.

Harris also expressed his goals for the team to accomplish and how exactly the ideal improvement would look like.

“We are working toward the goal of placing as best we can in the district. I would also like to have our relay teams advance from districts to the regional meet.

Thus far in the season, it is difficult to tell exactly how the season for AHS indoor track will turn out. But, we will have to just wait to see what this season has in store in terms of success for the Atoms.

Winter Sports 2018 Season Calendar Tuesday, December 18 Basketball: Girls Freshman Game vs Washington-Lee-4:30pm Basketball: Boys Freshman Game @ Washing ton-Lee-4:30pm Basketball: Girls JV Game vs Washington-Lee-5:45pm Basketball: Boys JV Game @ Washington-Lee-5:45pm Basketball: Girls Varsity Game vs.

Washington-Lee-7:30pm Wednesday, December 19 Wrestling: JV Match against Fairfax, Robert E. Lee, South Lakes, Woodson, and West Springfield @ Fairfax Friday, December 21 Basketball: Girls Freshman Game vs.

Chantilly-4:30pm Basketball: Boys Freshman Game @ Chantilly-4:30pm Basketball: Girls JV Game vs. Chantilly-5:45pm Basketball: Boys JV Game @ Chantilly-5:45pm Swim & Dive: Boys and Girls Varsity Meet against Mt. Vernon @ George Washington RECenter-6:30pm Basketball: Girls Varsity Game vs.

Chantilly-7:30pm Basketball: Boys Varsity Game @ Chantilly-7:30pm

Saturday, December 22 Wrestling: Saxton Invitational Varsity Tournament @ Langley High Schooltime TBD Indoor Track: PR Varsity Invitational @ Prince George’s County Learning and Sports Complex-9:00am Thursday, December 27 - December 29 Basketball: George Long Holiday Tournament for Boys Varsity @ Wakefield High School-times and opponents TBD Friday, December 28-December 29 Wrestling: Battle at the Bridge Varsity Invitational Tournament @ Woodbridge Senior High School-10:00am Wednesday, January 2 Basketball: Boys Varsity Game @ Woodbridge Senior High School-7:30pm Friday, January 4 Swim & Dive: Boys and Girls Varsity Meet against Westfield @ Cub Run RECenter-6:30pm Friday, January 4- January 5 Wrestling: Joe Verciliglio Memorial Varsity Invitational Tournament @ Chantilly-times TBD

Saturday, January 5 Basketball: Alumni Basketball Game @ Annandale-6:00pm Tuesday, January 8 Basketball: Girls Freshman Game @ Hayfield-4:30pm Basketball: Boys Freshman Game vs.

Hayfield-4:30pm Basketball: Girls JV Game @ Hayfield5:45pm Basketball: Boys JV Game vs. Hayfield-5:45pm Basketball: Girls Varsity Game @ Hayfield-7-30pm Basketball: Boys Varsity Game vs.

Hayfield-7:30pm Wednesday, January 9 Wrestling: Varsity Meet vs. Hayfield, Mt. Vernon, T.C. Williams and West Potomac Thursday, January 10 Wrestling: JV Meet against Falls Church, James Madison, Marshall, Oakton, T.C. Williams @ Falls Church Gymnastics: Varsity Meet against Centreville, Lake Braddock, Marshall, Woodson, Westfield @ Marshall

SPORTS 17

Tues. Dec. 18, 2018

Basketball looks to find consistency Team looks to rebound after loss against the Bruins

BY ERIK RIVAS-MARTINEZ Sports Editor The Atom’s girl basketball team has started their season. The team has already played eight games this year. The girls have managed to start off the season on the right foot and are much improved record wise from last year.

Head coach Fawn Tucker knows that the girls have some spots in which they can improve.

“I believe that we can always improve on our defense, because defense wins championships but also at the core, it builds championship caliber programs,” Tucker said.

Even though the season started on the right foot, the girls don’t want to stop training and let their guard down as they practice two or sometimes even two and a half hours everyday after school.

The girls have a record of 3-5 as of their most recent game.

The team managed to beat the Justice Wolves 53-42. The team also defeated the Thomas Jefferson Colonials recently in a tight game by a score of 46-44.

The team has also played the Falls Church Jaguars twice this season. The Atoms managed to win the first matchup by a score of 66-64 but lost the second game by a score of 63-55.

The girls fell short against the Fairfax Rebels by a score of 53-49. They also lost to the Lee Lancers 66-62 and were also defeated by the Oakton Cougars 50-35. In their most recent game, the Atoms were knocked off by the Lake Braddock Bruins, 60-37.

The team underperformed in many respects in the game in which they were defeated by a narrow margin.

“We didn’t do the little things that were needed in each game,” senior Jayla Irvin said. “This eventually led to those little things adding up at the end of each game.”

The girls will not let the games they have lost get to them and plan to improve on their weak spots.

Although the team has had a decent season thus far, the girls know where their weakness lie.

“Each of our teams have individual areas which can always be strengthened,” Tucker said. “Because the sport of basketball is ever so evolving, we always want to make sure that we are fundamentally strong so that we are able to build up on a strong foundation.”

Senior Sarah Shamdeen believes that the team’s strengths is that they have heart and do

The Atoms start the season off on the right foot with a winning record

not give up easily.

“Our biggest strength is our fight and hustle,” Shamdeen said. “We don’t give up even if we are down.”

Irvin has had her personal goals for the season set and is looking forward to achieving this goals.

“Me personally, I’m striving to be a better all around player, I would say I’m good at driving and scoring, but I still want to get better with my shooting and defense because I feel like like those are areas that I need more work on,” Irvin said.

Upcoming games for the girls team are against the Washington and Lee Generals and the Chantilly Chargers.

BY ERIK RIVAS-MARTINEZ Sports Editor The Atom’s boy varsity basketball team has officially started their season. They have already played a total of seven games. Thus far, the team has had a successful start with a record of 4-3.

Head coach Diedrich Gilreath believes that the team can improve on their free throw shooting because he believes that their free throw shooting is a cause of losing games that were within reach.

“The team can improve on free throw shooting and decision making,” Gilreath said.

“What went wrong was bad decision making and missing a lot of free throws.”

The Atoms beat the Stonewall Jackson Raiders in a nail bitter 66-64. The team also defeated the Falls Church Jaguars. The Atoms clinched a convincing victory 55-44.

Atoms made history in a game they played against the Lee Lancers. The Atoms made a high percentage of three-pointers in this game.

The Atoms romped the Lancers and ended up winning by a margin of 104-41 winning by 63 points. This was the first time that the Atoms have exceeded 100 points scored in a single game in a number of seasons.

The boys were not successful against the Fairfax Rebels though as they lost 47-39. This was the Atom’s second loss of the season. The Atoms were also not been successful against the Oakton Cougars. The boys were close to winning but however, they lost in a nail biter by a score of 65-62. The boys basketball team was most recently disappointed against the Lake Braddock Bruins 100-66.

“We just let the game get to our heads,” Behailu said. “But we managed to turn around the game to make it close but it was a little too late.”

The boys and coach both know the teams strengths which is their speed and shooting.

“Some of the teams strengths are shooting the ball,” senior Alejandro Casquino said. “Our defense is doing well and we did good at taking charges and getting steals.”

The team is also looking to address their weakness which are currently rebounding and free throw shooting.

Casquino has had his personal goals for the season already set and is working harder and harder everyday to achieve his goal.

“Some personal goals would be to score in conference games and do the best I can to help the team win,” Casquino said.

Upcoming games for the boys will be against the Washington and Lee Generals and then finally, their last game before the Christmas is against the Chantilly Chargers. The Atoms have not let their fans down and will be prepared mentally and physically to get back to their winning ways.

Senior Jalon Lipford against Fall church on Dec. 4.

Senior Sarah Shamdeeh. Shamdeen against Thomas Jefferson Dec. 5.

Swim and Dive off to a rough start

BY ERIK RIVAS-MARTINEZ Sports Editor The varsity swim and dive team at AHS have started their season. This season, everyone is looking forward to compete, practice and make memories with one another. The sport of swim and dive has been a very competitive sport nonetheless. On the swim and dive team, there are roughly 23 girls and 13 boys on the team. The roster is a little smaller than the one last year, but is looking past that to be victorious in meets.

The Atoms have had a rocky start to their season. Even with the early inconsistency,

the team manages to improve throughout the season to better the team and have everyone starting out better. The team won’t let their rough start to their season get to them and are looking to do better in their next meet.

The swim and dive team have only had three meets this year and have lost all three of those meets.

The swim team usually practices Monday through Thursday after school from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Practice sometimes lasts even longer.

“I tend to stay till 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. because of the amount of effort I put into this sport,” sophomore TJ Hutnan said. “I started my freshmen year and I look forward to

competing again this year.”

The AHS swim and dive team is showing improvement by improving times and making it a goal for everyone to drop their times in their particular events.

“I believe that with the drop in time, people will work harder,” sophomore Madison Cruz said. “Our team can do this by continuing to practice hard.”

Cruz typically swims the 50 meter breaststroke in the 200 meter medley relay, the 100 meter breaststroke, the 500 meter freestyle and the 100 meter freestyle in the 400 meter relay.

Abigail Reynolds a senior who typically swims the 500 meter free, 200 meter free, and the 50 meter fly in the relay views different strengths of the time.

“Our strength is that we are a close group so we are all comfortable and supportive with one another an there’s always someone to help you.” said Reynolds Cruz has set her personal goals for the season and is practicing harder each practice in order to achieve her goals.

“A personal goal of mine for this season is to swim well at districts to make it to regionals in the 100 meter breaststroke,” Cruz said. “I had the opportunity to swim in regionals last year so I’m hoping to repeat.”

The swim and dive team has an upcoming meet against West Potomac. The results were not available at the time of publication.

The last meet before the end of the year for the swim and dive team will be against the Mount Vernon Majors.

Freshman Ashely Holcomb and junior Megan Le get ready to swim the 50 freesystyle at the Herdon meet.

What is your favorite part of a basketball game?

ABEL MEHARI freshman “My favorite part about a basketball game is most likely when the Atoms are winning and scoring a lot because the game gets really hyped.”

LOREN JIMENEZ sophomore “My favorite part about a basketball game is when all my friends go because it ends up being a really fun night.”

Coach’s Corner: Victoria Douglas Q: Where are you from?

A: I am from right outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Q: How did you first discover your interest in swim and dive?

A: Ever since I can remember I have loved the water and swimming! My parents tell me that when I was little I would stay in the pool until it closed.

Q: When did you start coaching?

A: I started coaching three years ago here at AHS. My first year I was the assistant, but have been the head coach for the past two years.

ANDREW PANG sophomore “My favorite part about a basketball game is when the Atoms score a lot and even start dunking which makes the game really fun to watch.”

TIYA AYELE senior “My favorite part of a basketball game is watching Michael’s long arms and Abbey’s beard working together on the court.”

FARIS VADAKOOTsenior “My favorite part of a basketball game is cheering on my friends, especially my favorite player, Micheal Behailu .”

Q: Did you swim or dive when you were younger?

A: I swam for my local country club summer team until I was in middle school. Then I broke my arm and was unable to participate in any activities for about five months.

Q: Where did you go to college?

A: I went to The Pennsylvania State University Q: Is AHS the only school you have coached at?

A: AHS is the only school I have coached swim at.

18 ENTERTAINMENT

Tue. Dec. 18, 2018

THROWBACK CHRISTMAS MOVIES

Dave Grohl, member of Foo Fighters, is the son of a former teacher at AHS. Foo Fighters will perform in the festival.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

The Polar Express Director Robert Zemeckis, who also directed Forrest Gump, Back to the Future, and Cast Away, also delivers the Polar Express, an inspiring adventure based on the beloved children’s book by Chris Van Allsburg.

The movie is about a young boy who travels to the North Pole, and learns the wonders of life and is taught to never stop believing.

Ron Howard’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas is a classic film released on Nov. 8, 2000. Based on the book by Dr. Seuss, it stars Jim Carrey.

The green Grinch lives in a mountaintop home with his dog Max, right outside of Whoville. Right before Christmas, the Grinch sneaks into town and takes everything Christmas related, even the trees and decorations. He then learns the true meaning of Christmas.

MOAISSR MOHAMED freshman “The Polar Express is one of the best Christmas movies out there. My favorite part is when the kid wakes up with the bells in his pajamas.”

SHIELA SINDI sophomore “My favorite Christmas movie is How the Grinch Stole Christmas. At first I hated the Grinch, but Jim Carrey played the role very well.”

Elf Home Alone

This film, directed by Jon Favreau, is a classic for the winter holiday season, and an even better Christmas movie. It was initially released on Nov. 7, 2003. Elf stars big time actors like Will Ferrell and Peter Dinklage.

Ferrell, who plays Buddy, accidentally grows up in the North Pole and becomes an elf, regardless of his huge size. Like all good Christmas movies, he travels to New York in search of his birth-father and his biological family.

This is the first installment of the classic Home Alone movies. Kevin McCallister, played by Macaulay Culkin, wishes to have no family.

When his family mistakenly leaves him behind before their trip to Paris, he believes his dream to have come true.

He then has to protect his home from two con-men, who have planned to rob the McCallister residence.

CASSY LOWRY junior “I love Elf because it is really funny. Its a great movie to watch with your friends because of all the funny and crazy moments.”

IDRIS DAHIR senior “Being the kid in Home Alone is every little kid’s dream. I always wanted to experience the freedom as a little kid.”

The Reading Festival 2019

BY TYLER PLANK Staff Writer On Nov. 21, the lineup for Reading and Leeds Festival in England was announced, and it may just be one of the biggest lineups of all time.

The festival happens twice, once in Reading and once in Leeds, both stretching over three days.

The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend, sharing the same bill.

The headlining artists (the big ones) consist of rapper Post Malone, indie pop band The 1975, pop band Twenty One Pilots, and rock band Foo Fighters.

But that’s not all, there will also be appearances from Juice Wrld, Hayley Kiyoko, Blossoms, Billie Eilish, PVRIS, Bastille, The Distillers, and Yungblud, just to name a few.

“At first, I had never heard of the reading festival,” senior Anissa Cheikh said. “The first time I heard of it was when I found out Post Malone was going to perform in it.”

This hasn’t been the first time Reading and Leeds has put on a lineup of this kind. The Reading festival has had one of the most memorable live albums of all time in the form of the 1992 Nirvana act.

Some other memorable performances from the festival include, the 1994 Radiohead and the 2000 Rage Against the Machine, 2005 Queens of the Stone Age, and the 2012 Foo Fighters performance.

And they are continuing their rock theme in the past couple years with bands like Muse, Arcade Fire, Mudhoney, and Green Day. But it always hasn’t been rock artists, Kendrick Lamar, A$AP Rocky, Lil Pump, Travis Scott have all played this festival.

Billie Eilish teases Christmas album Playlist of the Issue

Come Out and Play reaches new height of success

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS Mariah Carey Merry Christmas (1994) Carey’s song debuted in 1994 and the song is still a hit today.

BY PATRICK BROWN Staff Writer

At just 17 years of age, Billie Eilish is not taking over her high school, but instead is taking over the music industry.

Her alternative music has appeared on the Billboard Top 100 chart three times and her breakout song, Ocean Eyes, has also been featured on the popular Netflix show, 13 Reasons Why. Her dark, rebellious, and emotional pop music has resonated with young people and has created her a sort of cult following.

In late November, Eilish released Come Out and Play. Her new single is a holiday song created for Apple’s Holiday advertisement campaign. The video ad that went along with the song was a claymation stop motion animation.

“I started listening to Billie Eilish when I was searching for new music,” senior Makayla Lopez said.

“I wanted to try something new so I went to the alternative section and that’s when I found her music.”

Eilish’s unique style and genre has allowed her to resonate with the masses. Her youth has also allowed her to stand out from today’s hot artists.

“I liked her music because she is different from other artists. She also has her own unique vibe to her that no one else really has at her age or

LAST CHRISTMAS Wham!

Music from the Edge of Heaven (1986) Wham! originally wrote and sang the song which is now remade by many recording artist.

IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS

Michael Buble Christmas (2011) Buble’s remake brings a new era feel to it.

Eilish released the audio for “Come Out and Play” in late November of this year.

even in this industry,” Lopez said.

“Her style is so unique and her voice is so soothing,” senior Vitalina Fuentessaid. “I could listen to her all day.”

Eilish’s constant release of new singles is helping her maintain the buzz she has created in the music industry.

The new release of her Christmas single has recently garnered much attention.

“I think her new Christmas song is good, but I don’t think it should be categorized as a Christmas song because it sounds just like her other songs and it hardly mentions Christmas,” Lopez said.

There have been talks that, Come Out and Play, is just the first of a Christmas EP from Billie Eilish.

Although it is just rumors it is stirring a lot of noise in her fanbase.

“I think that Bilie Eilish will not drop a Christmas album because she is

not big enough as an artist yet,” senior Efrata Tecle said. “But I am hoping for some new music from her. Her voice was really distinct. She is also younger than I expected, so I am rooting that she makes it big.”

If Billie Eilish were to make a Christmas project, it could be very lucrative for her. Come Out and Play, already has 18 million streams on Spotify and is ever increasing.

But it’s not just more popularity she could obtain.

Mariah Carey’s infamous Christmas song, All I want for Christmas is You, reportedly made $60 million in Royalties in 2017 according to NewsWeek.

Whatever ever the future hold for Billie Eilish it is likely that that this is just the start for her, and at 17 she has plenty of time to take over the music industry.

SANTA CLAUS IS COMIN’ TO TOWN Jackson 5 Jackson 5 Christmas Album (1970) What would a Holiday playlist be without Jackson 5’s famous SANTA BABY (FT LIZ GILLIES) Ariana Grande Christmas Kisses (2013) Grande’s Christmas album is very underrated but it would top off her sucessful year.

MISTLETOE Justin Bieber Under The Mistletoe (2011) This is Bieber’s biggest hit from his holiday album. It is still one of the most streamed songs today.

ENTERTAINMENT 19

Tues. Dec. 18, 2018

CREED II

BLACK PANTHER

MANNY PRECHT

GET OUT

Why are movies with black actors doing so well?

BY AYMAN ELHAG Entertainment Editor From the cultural impact that Black Panther had, to the fan base around Michael B Jordan’s character, Adonis Creed from Creed II, predominantly African American casts are becoming more prevalent in the film industry.

Movies with a majority black cast like Get Out, Black Panther, and Creed II have been successful and they seem to have the formula for success. Students have loved seeing a better representation of themselves on the big screen.

Within just 26 days of its release, Black Panther made over $1 billion in the global box office. The movie about one of Marvel’s Avengers, prince T’Challa taking over the throne and the Black Panther after his Father’s passing. Some could argue it was not even Marvel’s best film, but it was one of Marvel’s most successful movies. How? When it comes to casing and superheroes there is always the stereotype of the strong and very masculine hero who is always a white male and the black characters who get associated with the negative aspect of the film like villains, gangsters, and thugs. When a black protagonist emerges in a film, it appeals to

What is your favorite album out right now?

a whole new audience.

“I was not surprised to see how much money some of these films were making. It is a simple formula for a director that is getting ready to cast a film,” senior Chase Robson said.

By casting a role to an actor who is historically very popular or, a minority, that the director would be appealing to a new type of audience, but it can also be considered a risk.

Get Out, was African American director Jordan Peele’s first ever film.

Peele’s vision was to illustrate his views on racism. The movie is about a black man and his white girlfriend going home to see her parents. The girlfriend’s parents try to abduct him and turn him into one of their slaves.

The cast, however, had mostly been unheard of prior to its release. There was no Robert Downey Jr. or Chris Hemsworth on set and the film was still the 10th highest grossing in money made in the U.S. box office.

“I was surprised he did not win the Golden Globe award,” Robson said.

It was a surprise to see the impact on the industry that these films have had and directors are starting to realize this.

On Nov. 21, the sequel to Creed, Creed II was released and made over

YAZID SAKTA freshman “Street Gossip by Lil Baby because I have always been a Lil Baby fan and this is his most recent project.”

ERICA LILLER freshman “My favorite album is More Life by Drake because I like drake and I believe this is his best album”

$60 million in its first weekend out.

The movie stars Michael B. Jordan who plays the long-lost son of Apollo Creed and his trainer, Rocky Balboa played by Sylvester Stallone in the movie. Director Steven Caple Jr.’s was strategic in his casting of the main pro-

superheroes on the screen for my whole life, seeing someone who looks like me and may have had some of my same struggles be a hero is a reason for me to go watch.”

Marvel’s Black Panther is a great example this. About 37% of the movie’s opening weekend audience in North America was African American, compared to the 15% who typically make up the Marvel movie demographic. Caucasians made up 35% of the audience, according to The Box Office MoJo..

It has been a myth for years that international audiences do not particularly like watching movies that star or are directed by African Americans.

In 2012, Anthony Hemingway, a black director, and George Lucas had struggles finding a producer for the film Red Tails about the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African-American military pilots who fought in World War II. Black Panther disproved the myth, “black films don’t travel” by smashing overseas sales projections and making $169 million abroad on opening weekend.

Race is not the only reason movies like Black Panther did so well. The film is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. By releasing this movie as one of the Marvel films, it attracted Marvel

“The film industry could be used as a tool to change stereotypes associated with black people. ” --JAVONTE DURR-CANNON

senior tagonists in the film.

So why are movies with primarily black casts making money and having so much success?

“It starts with what we are used to seeing,” senior IB Film student Javonte Durr-Cannon said. “After seeing white

GLORY NSEKA sophomore “Championships by Meek Mill because it is like comeback album for him since he was in jail and this will put him back on top.”

JAYDEN JOYA sophomore “My favorite album out right now is Drip Hardder by Lil Baby because it has a good vibe and I like the features.”

TARIK DARWEISH junior “Scorpion by Drake because it was his best album and it has a variety of music and shows all of Drake’s sides.”

Meek Mill Releases Comeback Album Rapper voices his struggles with unlikely features

ALEX HUYNH senior “My favorite album is Championships by Meek Mill because his features are unexpected and he collabs with other good artists”

LEILA ALAJMI senior “My favorite album is Queen by Nicki Minaj because I like her music and she makes me feel like a boss .”

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BY ABEL SAMSON Staff Writer Philadelphia native Meek Mill has pleased the hip-hop community as he released his new album “Championships” on Nov. 30. In the first week upon release, his album landed at the number one spot on the Billboard 200 chart, passing other recent releases from rappers such as Lil Baby and Ski Mask the Slump God. ‘Championships’ includes features from rappers such as Drake, Roddy Rich, Future, Young Thug, Ella Mai, and Kodak Black.

“My favorite song from the album is ‘24/7’,” senior Ruth Seyoum said. “It’s my favorite because Ella Mai is in it and I love her voice.”

Robert Rihmeek Williams, known professionally as Meek Mill, was born in South Philadelphia. As a young child, he lost his dad in an attempted robbery, leaving him scarred throughout his childhood. In songs such as “Cold Hearted” and “Flamers 3”, he refers back to his dad saying he had no role model and had to learn everything on his own.

Meek grew up as a shy and quiet kid and experienced many hardships with his mother, as she broke the law frequently by abusing drugs and shoplifting. Meek felt he was obligated to make it out on his own, but he didn’t know how to do so in such a

SALVON SIMMAVONG junior “Beerbongs and Bentleys by Post Malone because it is upbeat and give me positive vibes”

fans regardless of race.

The movies Creed and Creed II were of the first major movies to showcase black men and women who are fully developed, have aspirations and are well dramatized, instead of the stereotype roles, like thugs, villains or scapegoats.

Get Out was released at the perfect time for its success. The movie which showcases cultural appropriation was released as the Black Lives Matter movement was in full swing and while police brutality toward unarmed black people was under the microscope. These factors made for perfect conditions for this film to be successful.

“Get Out released at a very uneasy time in America and showed white people wanting to literally be in black people’s skin,” Durr-Cannon said.

The representation of black people in film has offered many opportunities to for young black actors and filmmakers, as well as discovered a new fanbase.

“Black culture, in a way has changed filmmaking,” Durr-Cannon said. “The film industry could be used as a tool to change stereotypes associated with black people. It may take awhile, but that is my hope.”

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Duolingo The cover art features a close up on Meek Mill surrounded by Phillidelphia Eagles colors with the words “Championships” in big font resembling that of the Eagles’ Super Bowl LII Rings. bad community.

Meek knew he had a talent when it came to making music, so over the years he continued to improve and ended up forming his own underground rap group called ‘The Bloodhoundz’.

They became well known and reached public exposure.

His first big break came in 2008, when he signed his first label with rapper T.I., leading him to sign with Rick Ross later on.

Since then, Meek Mill has become one of the world’s most talented and successful rappers, with hit Albums including ‘Wins and Losses’, ‘Dreams and Nightmares’, ‘DC4’, and many others. He is currently signed with top record labels such as Atlantic

Records, Maybach Music Group, and Roc Nation LLC. Meek’s life didn’t turn out to be perfect though. Last year in 2017, he was arrested for violating his probation which was set from a gun and drug case from 2008. He violated his probation by popping wheelies on his dirt bike and getting into a fight earlier that year. He was sentenced to two to four years in prison.

The case moved beyond the courtroom, as other rappers such as Jay-Z, T.I. and Rick Ross rallied behind him.

His sentence sparked controversy about criminal justice reform.

“Although I’m blessed to have the resources to fight this unjust situation, I understand that many people of

color across the country don’t have that luxury and I plan to use my platform to shine a light on those issues,” Mill said.

“If his name was something like John Smith, he wouldn’t have gotten a second in jail,” senior Chadwick Gore said. “It’s not fair how African Americans get treated sometimes.”

Meek was released from prison on bail on April 24. The hip-hop community celebrated for days and teams like the Philadelphia 76ers and Philadelphia Eagles welcomed their hometown artist.

‘Championships’ is available on websites and apps for free such as Spotify, Youtube, Apple Music, Soundcloud, and Spinrilla.

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20 WEEKEND

Tues. Dec. 18, 2018

Lighting up faces one bulb at a time Forget the long trip to see the Smithsonian Zoolights or the Meadowlark Winter Walk of Lights; it’s all about the light attraction on 5406 Fremont St. in North Springfield, Virginia.

Every year AHS class of ‘73 alum and retired fireman Cliff Berner brings smiles to faces with his 24 minute original, mesmeric, award-winning light show. Onlookers from nearby and even from other states stop by to check out the talking Loony Toon characters, the music and Santa Clause passing out candy canes.

It all began 30 years ago when he bought his childhood house from his parents. The lights first started as a static display with 11 Christmas trees connected together by lights and stars. It wasn’t until 12 years ago when he transitioned to using computerized lights that it turned into a show that everybody knows and loves. “[Putting up the lights] is fun to me, but it’s a lot of work,” Berner said. “It just beats you to death, and this year I wasn’t going to do it, but a friend came over and convinced me to keep up the tradition.”

Although putting up the demonstration takes a month and a half of hard work and focus all by himself, he continues to do it for his community and the joy that it brings them.

In total, the display contains approximately 5,500 light bulbs, with a single arch consisting of 1,600 lights bulbs and 16 channels, and a newly rebuilt wreath with 1,900 LED lights and 200 strobes.

The lights change color in tune to the music that blasts from the speakers in his yard. With an F.M. transmitter, the music is also available through his own personal radio station on 107.5 to observers who wish to stay in their cars, protected from the cold.

Each bulb is controlled individually by control panels and they all sync with the songs playing on the radio.

Berner controls every action the lights make with his computer. He sits down with his headphones and

PHOTO BY KATIE POPE

BY KATIE POPE Weekend Editor

A quick snapshot during one of the seven songs of the remarkable Christmas light show that Cliff Berner has put on every winter for the past twelve years. “I have handmade every piece that is lit up except for the reindeer and sled. The Loony Toon characters, the mega-tree, Charlie Brown and Linus were all built by me,” Berner said. The mini Christmas trees are handmade out of two tomato cages, just flipped upside down. listens to each song over and over retired fireman, I have a lot of con- happy to spread holiday cheer and Meet the man behind it all make the public’s night. again until he gets it exactly how he nections through my friends and envisions the pattern. my wife, Terry, that are still in the “I always say, ‘why didn’t I put up - An AHS alum from a simple display like my neighThere are red, green and blue department.” the class of 1973 lights and with his imagination, he The kids love to see him every year bor across the street? That’s all I need,’ but it makes me happy and pictures what he wants the lights and are excited to receive candy I never realized I would be people’s - A retired fireman to do and when he wants them to canes. after 31 years of Christmas tradition. I’ve literalchange.

“They bring me in as Santa serving in Fairfax When that’s done, he goes outside Clause and they have the fire trucks ly had people stand out here and County tell me that.

They start getting CLIFF BERNER and watches each bulb to make sure with the red lights and sirens and we go to the homeless shelters for abused emotional and then I start getting it’s exactly how he wants it. emotional too. It’s just a great feel- - Used to raise ducks and quail in “I can only imagine the patience children and I give them all gifts.” ing to reach so many people,” Ber- his backyard Obviously Berner has other interand dedication it takes for [Bernner said. er] to decorate his yard with lights to ests, especially since he is retired, but - Loves birds; he used to own a How long the lights will conthe extent that he does,” senior Abby currently the light show production parakeet when he was a kid tinue on in the years to come is Reynolds said. “But I’m sure glad he takes up all of his time. The time and does it because it has become a holi- work he has dedicated to making people unknown, but this year they are - Currently has three dogs (Roxy, day tradition for me and my family.” smile certainly has not gone unnoticed. estimated to stay up and lit until Gus, and Smokey), two birds, and He has won awards such as the North Dec. 31.

In addition to bringing smiles a cat (Maizers) “I never imagined it would be Springfield Civic Association Best Lights to faces with the plethora of lights, Berner spreads holiday cheer when on several occasions and #1 Voted House this big, but this year is going to - Owns another home near Smoke be my biggest show ever,” Bernhe dresses up as Santa Clause and Lights in Northern Virginia.

Mountain Lake er said.

“I voted for Berner and his lights hands out candy canes in front of his Come and witness the fascinathouse. Not only does he cheer up his to win the Northern Virginia House - Has a daughter who is a nurse visitors, he goes out of his way to help Lights award, because he never dis- ing and mesmeric lights yourself, you won’t be disappointed.

Berner homeless and abused children as well. appoints and every aspect of the - Has two grandsons ages five and show is unique and cool,” sophomore asks to please avoid parking cars “I love to play Santa Clause eight right in front of the house or in TJ Hutnan said. because I am a semi-professional,” Berner doesn’t care about the Berner said. “I dress up for homeless anyone’s yard. people and abused children. Being a awards or recognition, he is just

Visit Botanical Gardens this season

BY KATIE POPE Weekend Editor

During the holidays, the plants look more extravagant than usual. “The Botanical Gardens is one of my favorite places to visit in December, because all of the sights are simply jaw dropping,” junior Kia Morawetz said.

ALL PHOTOS BY KATIE POPE

Join the 1.2 million other visitors who make their way downtown to explore George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison’s dream come true. Open from Nov. 22 to Jan. 1, the nation’s capital shows off a breathtaking exhibit full of holiday spirit and natural beauty. The Botanical Gardens in Washington, D.C. consists of a collection of unique plants from all around the world, including deserts and rainforests.

The museum is split into three sections- Bartholdi Park, the Conservatory, and the National Garden. Within the sections there are a variety of gardens, such as the butterfly garden and the rain garden.

The Conservatory is a unique glass buildings that holds intriguing wonders from all around the globe. From Hawaii to Mexico to the Mediterranean regions, there are a variety of native plants available for admiring in a single location. The Botanical Gardens also displays rare and endangered plants and highlights the beauty and importance of conserving and caring for our nature.

Now that is is officially the holiday season, the Botanical Gardens has seasonal viewings with new and exciting sights to see. Their annual holiday showing, ‘Season’s Greenings,’ includes monuments and historical buildings that can be found in D.C. like the Capitol Building, the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Memorial, but they’re made out of plants.

Another special holiday feature at the Gardens is the mega tree decorated with multi-colored lights. All around the garden are gorgeous poinsettias, adding festivity and color to the already beautiful scene.

In addition to learning about plants from all around the world, the gardens are a great place to take striking photos and spend quality time with friends and family.

The Botanical Gardens is a stunning place to visit all year round, but during the holiday season it seems to be even more colorful, bright and festive. Make sure to visit before New Year’s Day for a fun and educational time. The ideal days to go are on the weekends in December and it is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

True Food Kitchen lacks in flavor despite great service there were some crunchy parts that might have been tomatoes and onions which did not add to the dish.

There was also fennel in the dish which did not mix well, giving it an overall bitter off-taste. I am not a fan of From bowls to burgers to fish to pasta, True Food fennel, but that’s just my preference, others may like the Kitchen in Mosaic District has it all. The ambience of taste that fennel adds. the establishment was very earthy and natural with The other dish was the turkey burger with a side of decorations like bamboo for walls and live plants all sweet potato hash for $14. On the burger was smashed avoaround. cado, tomatoes, butter lettuce, smoked gouda cheese on a The modern and decorative restaurant is a great flax seed bun with a jalapeño remoulade on the side per place to indulge, but in a healthy way. According to request. It certainly was not something to rave about, espe- Below: the lasagna bolognese one of their waiters, a few of the most popular dishes cially since it lacked flavor and the meat was dry. Even the was soupy with few noodles in it. include the teriyaki quinoa and ancient grain bowls. sweet potato hash was flawed.

Above: the turkey burger was People also enjoy the turkey burger and chopped The first bite actually tasted pretty good, but the next dry not very flavorful or tasty. salad which are $14 and under, and the reasonably bite tasted bland. Not all of the sweet potatoes were fully sourced striped bass which is $26. cooked, in fact the onions were the tastiest part of the side One of the dishes that I ordered was the lasagna dish. Overall the meal was not uniformly appetizing. bolognese with fennel chicken sausage, lemon ricotta Contrasting the food, the service was superb. The waiter cheese, mushrooms, spinach and other herbs. The price constantly refilled our drinks, asked if we needed anything was $15 for a decently sized, one-person portion. and delivered our food quickly. He was very accommodatThe dish was not at all what I was expecting. It was ing and he answered all my questions about the restaurant more of a soup and did not resemble a normal lasagna. in great detail. He even gave me a menu to take home.

Although I personally did not appreciate the texI personally would rate this restaurant a 2.5/5 stars. My ture, it certainly was a unique take on an otherwise overall experience at True Food Kitchen was a disappointcommon dish. In addition to the lasagna being soupy, ment due to the food, so we decided skip dessert.

ALL PHOTOS BY KATIE POPE

BY KATIE POPE Weekend Editor