Issue 9

A

ANNANDALE HIGH SCHOOL

the VOLUME #59 ISSUE 9

Hottest Headlines EDITORIALS gives their opinion about Drop Everything and Read See page 2.

OLIVIA LAFFTERY/ DESTINY GAMMON

NEWS looks back at Battle of The Bands See page 4.

HEALTH

explains why foods make our mouths water See page 7.

In a unanimous ruling by the Virginia High School Leauge (VHSL) certain transgender athletes will be allowed to participate in high school sports.

Transgender athletes are now allowed to participate in the sport pertaining to their birth gender, unless the student has gone through sex reassignment surgery before puberty, or after puberty and have

profiles a student who has a penpal in India.

See page 12.

PHOTO creates a game of Atomic Eye-Spy See page 13.

Informiing the Atoms siince 1954 4

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9, 2014

(703) 642-4229

Unblurred Lines New VHSL rule define transgender students’ ability to play

BY DESTINY GAMMON Co-Editor in Chief

INTERNATIONAL

4700 Medford Dr. Annandale, VA 22003 470

had surgical atatomical changes, including genitilia, and must be taking or have taken hormonal therapy.

“In regards to gay rights, people are becoming more understanding of them and they are not as judgemental about it. Now it’s become much more normal,” senior boys lacrosse player Zakell Samere said. “I don’t think this will affect the dynamic of high school sports that much, but if a guy were to switch and play women’s sports he would probably play really well.”

With 18 states that already have a similar policy in place, the state of California allows transgender students to play mens or womens sports, depending on gender whichever they prefer to identify themselves.

Human Rights Campaign Representative Johanna Eager believes that while transgender youth have gained respect and equality over the past decade, this new law in a step in the wrong direction.

“The new policy makes it almost

impossible for a transgender student to actually play. There’s nothing fair in that,” Eager said. “I can’t speak for the VHSL but I can say that transgender youth deserve the same opportunities as their peers, including athletics.”

Just as women’s rights in athletics have become increasingly tolerated through the initiation of Title IX (the law allowing women to participate in high school athletics), gay rights “VHSL” continued on page 5

New security initiative for safety Entry control system in effect after Spring Break

FAST-FORWARD to next issue

BY BAYLEY BRILL News Editor

BAYLEY BRILL

AP and IB exams will begin to be administered. Many students will be juggling multiple exams.

Wednesday, April 9

All students who come to school after 7:20 a.m. are locked out and must go to the office.

Annual Red and White Golf Classic

BY DESTINY GAMMON Co-Editor in Chief Warm weather is finally here, which means golf season has arrived as well. Every May the Annandale PTSA hosts the Red and White Golf Classic, which is one of the highest grossing fundraisers for the PTSA. The Red and White Golf Classic takes place at Laurel Hill Golf Course on Friday, May 9, and is open for anyone to sign up.

“The Golf Classic is the major

fundraising event for the Parent Teacher Student Association,” event organizer Rich Fruchterman said.

“In each of the last two year ’s the tournament has netted about $15,000 for the PTSA. It is the only fundraiser for the academic programs supported by the PTSA. The Red and White Golf Classic has been an AHS tradition for 17 years. Many families and alumni participate in the event, with some donating a weekend at their family’s vacation home to be auctioned off.

“We get tremendous support from parents and alumni,” Fruchterman said. “A lot of parents, alumni, or just friends of the school come out to “Golf Classic” continued on page 5

Top stories On your smartphone, scan this code using the application “QR Code” to view the uploaded online content for the eighth issue of The A-Blast .

“Security” continued on page 5

Preparations for annual traditions begin

POLL On your smartphone, scan this code using the application “QR Code” to vote on the most recent poll.

All Night Grad Celebration

BY DESTINY GAMMON Co- Editor in Chief COURTESY OF BRIAR CREEK PHOTOGRAPHY

– Third Quarter Report Cards Distributed (W4) – 9th Grade Study Hall (Atom Time) (Room 250) – JV/Varsity Soccer vs. West Springfield: Boys (Away), Girls, (Home) (5:30/7 p.m.)

– Staff Training (Clausen Hall) – Theatre Without Borders Rehearsals (W8) (Auditorium) – 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. - TWB Rehearsals (Auditorium) – 2:30 p.m.- 4:00 p.m. - Heritage Night Cast Party (Clausen Hall) – 2:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. - Student/ Faculty Basketball Game (Main Gym) – 5:00 p.m. - Track & Field vs. West Springfield, T.C. Williams, West Potomac (West Potomac) – 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. - My Friend’s Closet (Neighborhood Center) – 7:00 p.m. - EIP Parent/Student Meeting (Auditorium/Cafeteria) – 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. - NOVA Information Night (Clausen Hall)

Students may have noticed that the jock lobby doors are no longer open during the day and have big signs saying “report to the front office,” posted on all of the jock lobby doors. This is all apart of the new Door Entry Control System that will be installed on April 23.

The Door Entry Control System is much like the ones used at the elementary and middle schools in FCPS. “FCPS is installing a Door Entry Control System at Annandale High School to create a safer and more secure environment at Annandale High School for our students and staff,” Principal Vincent Randazzo said in an email to parents.

The buzzers will be installed in the main entrance, as well as in jock lobby.

The doors will remain unlocked until 7:20 a.m., after which, the doors will remain during the remainder of the day.

The school will have both teachers and administrators monitoring the doors during class changes in order to prevent students from skipping.

The main reason for the new Door Entry Control System is to prevent unauthorized people from entering the school. In the wake of the Sandy Hook tragedy that took place last year, FCPS begun the process of adding security systems to all FCPS high schools, since both elementary and middle schools already have the technology.

“The county started talking about this [the security system] last year after Sandy Hook,” Safety and Security Specialist Chris Tippins said.

With the installation of the Door Entry Control System, students will now have to use a buzzer next to the doors to gain entry into the school. If they leave the campus, they will have to buzz in to gain access to the school and then report to the attendance office to sign back in. The buzzers are equipped with both video and audio, so the front office can both speak with and see whoever is trying to come into the school.

Last year, English teacher Brian Aldenderfer participated in the tournament.

#THROWBACKTHURSDAY On your smartphone, scan this code using the application “ QR Code” to view the photos from Spirit Week and the Winter Pep Rally.

Tickets to the annual All-Night Grad Celebration are officially for sale.

Taking place at Audrey Moore RECenter, at Wakefield Park, on June 17, ANGC is a post- graduation event for seniors consisting of music, games prizes and food. Sponsored by the PTSA, the event is a safe, chaperoned, alcohol and drug- free event that takes “ANGC” continued on page 5

SCORE UPDATES On your smartphone, scan this code using the application “ QR Code” to follow The A-Blast to get the latest updates on AHS athletics.

2

Do you think Drop Everything And Read is effective?

EDITORIALS

April 9, 2014

But I know how to read...

Drop Everything and Read needs to be improvised and implemented in a better way

“Yes, because it gives you an opportunity to read when you don’t have time.”

— Kim Mai sophomore

“Yes, because whenever I try to read or finish homework in W4, people are ignorant and loud.”

— Drew Hendrickson junior “No, because I believe it’s such a short time and you cant get anything done.”

— Berket Yemaneberhane senior

“No because not everyone is just going drop everything and just read.”

Drop Everything and Read is a new program that was implemented just a couple of weeks ago and happens on every White Wednesday. This is where every student in a W4 class is supposed to put away all their homework and electronic devices and read. AHS has joined other middle and high schools around the county in implementing the DEAR program.

“We hoped that DEAR would give students an opportunity to read for pleasure, something many students don’t have time to do,” Literacy Coach and IB English II teacher Courtney Dearinger said.

“We also hoped that it would encourage reluctant readers to pick up a book and read and perhaps discover a love of reading they didn’t have before.

We hope that by requiring that everyone read for this short amount of time, students can find some quiet time to read, think, reflect, and learn something that they wouldn’t otherwise have a chance to do during the school day.”

I honestly think that DEAR is amazing, mainly because looking at statistics, the number of high school students who read at or above “Proficient” and has been declining since 1992, according to the NAEP reading test.

Though I understand why DEAR is necessary, the only problem that I see is the way this program is followed through and implemented. It’s not the idea of reading a book that is bothering me, it’s the fact that you have to physically get a book and read it, instead of just pulling a book on your phone or tablet.

DEAR is helpful because “reading silently for an extended period of time has been proven to be very beneficial in helping students become better readers, improve vocabulary, and extend background knowledge so in a way it is a type of

Students usually end up sleeping or using their phones during the DEAR program, instead of reading a book.

studying,” Dearinger said. With that being said, can you not pull up a book on your tablet and read it?

First off, many students already have to read outside of school because of their English class.

Whether you are in IB English or regular English you are reading a book both at school and outside.

Isn’t that enough? I don’t think we should be forced to read at school for a straight 30 minutes only because a handful of students aren’t at the reading level.

Another thing to take note of is how our teachers are always telling us how we should take initiative in our grades and completing work.

W4 period is such a useful time to go to another teacher and ask for help for a test or for homework.

Instead of letting the students get help from their teachers or meet with their counselors, we are forced to stay in one class and not move.

Also, if everyone has to read, should that not include the teachers also? Why are we having to sit in one place and read a book, while our teachers are clicking away on their laptop, replying to

emails or putting grades in. As important as that may seem, shouldn’t they be forced to open a book just like all of their kids and read instead of fidgeting away. The whole point of this program was to make everyone read to help raise the reading proficiency and statistics show that forty-three percent of adults read at or below the “Basic” level. This accounts for roughly 93 million individuals, according to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy.

In all honesty, we should be implementing this program in the early years, like elementary and middle school level students. We could do everything and anything now, but if the base of the students reading is less than adequate, then implementing Drop Everything And Read now will not help. But since we are following through with this program, it should be done in a way that students are actually benefiting from DEAR. Everyone, which includes all the teachers should be making an effort to better the program, so it could benefit everyone.

Making a global difference Junior Umar Farooq discusses the importance of making a global difference in the world PHOTO COURTESY OF LEARNE-SERVE.ORG

— Hunter Sloan freshman

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SHAMAIM SYED

BY JOE SEHRER AND SHAMAIM SYED Managing Editor and Editorials Editor

“No, cause seriously who wants to read?”

BY UMAR FAROOQ Special to the A-blast

— Faith Paletti senior

Corrections: On page 17, the Baseball story was written by Sacha Cameron On page 15, Cragin Winkler was spelled incorrectly

QUOTE COLLECTION The A-Blast wants to hear your opinion. Your response to the following question might be features in our quote collection:

What is your opinion on Drop Everything and Read?

E-mail your responses to ablast.editorials@gmail.com

On your smartphone, scan the above code using the application “QR Code” to read “A myth about AHS”

As a kid, a lot of the times when you are growing up you would hear the words “no,” “stop,” or “you can’t do that.” Even when you were just trying to help out your community and you had a promising idea, an adult would more than likely shut you down. Fast forward to a couple of years and you are applying to colleges and they expect all these huge accomplishments on how you have made a positive impact or have initiated some kind of change in the world.

I grew up in the same way most people do, all my life I was rejected.

Nobody really wanted to listen to me or my ideas.

My trip to Pakistan left a permanent mark on me and that’s when I realized that no matter what, I needed to do something to help better the country. Since I am from Pakistan, it affected me more seeing everything in crumbles. I decided that I would not let any adult or anyone in general say no to me and not let me pursue in helping the world. I was not going to let anything stop me.

My dream was not fully initiated

Junior Umar Farooq gives an elevated speech at GMU about the Clean Our Water venture.

until I found the LearnServe International program. They were the ones that helped me visualize my goals and helped me pursue what I truly believed in.

LearnServe International is an organization geared to helping high school students become social entrepreneurs within their own communities. The great part about the organization is that they treat you as if you were an adult, and they listen to all the ideas that you have, not pushing away any thoughts you come up with. This is where I was able to come up with the idea to create a social venture that would help my country, Pakistan in the near future. I decided that I would focus on rehabilitating the water supply in the underdeveloped areas of the

country. Since sanitation of water was and is still a major issue in most places like Asia and South America.

With the new technology developed

by Homeland Security and now distributed by Cascade Designs called the SE200, I was able to put down a plan for how I was going to help the world, one step at a time.

One thing stopped me on my tracks to pursue my dream was the Taliban.

The Taliban have immense control over most villages in Pakistan. With this security concern in mind, I moved onto the next country I really want to help, Indonesia. Just like Pakistan, Indonesia suffers through the lack of sanitized water which leads to the numerous deathly diseases.

With the help from my advisors at LearnServe International, my

Staff Editors in Chief: Omnia Saed Destiny Gammon Managing Editor: Joe Sehrer Editorials Editors: Shamaim Syed Christine Tamir Copy Editors: Mark Slough Bailey Oliver Sarah Metzel News Editors: Bayley Brill Jarod Golub In-Depth Editors: Andrew Peters Destiny Gammon Sports Editors: Melanie Bennett Conrad Shartel Sports Xtra Editors: Erin Johnson People Editors: Chloe Loving Kiara Patino Weekend Editors: Gaby Camilli Priya Adhikary

International Editors: Nuhami Mandefro Entertainment Editors: Ayah Oweis Megan Ryan Lifestyles Editors: Diana Quezada Phuong Nguyen Health Editors: Berta Tarqui Photography Editors: Alex Zernik Cayley Byrne Ad Manager: Chelsea Alfonso Circulation Manager: Biruk Negash Art Editors: Melissa Stamp Academics Editor: Aniqa Rashid Linus Bumbaca Web Editor/Master: Jared Lefbom Head Photographer: Olivia Lafferty Head Videographer: Nadia Elgendy

Staff Writers: Nancy Evora Andrew Nunez Ashna Viswanathan Benny Le Soulisa Pathammavong Efstathia Carayiannis Mery Bernene Luka Fernandez Sabrina Hawa Kailyn Garay Maria Baragano Marin Masson Noah Nelson Cynthia Weiner Sean To Hezekiel Yonas Daniel Yenegeta Tara Ashi Yesenia Blount Sacha Cameron Hussein Salem Marilyn Rivas Kayee Lynch Arzoo Marzi Photographers: Tiffany Huynh Videographers: Medhane Berihun Fahmi Mohammad Amir Mohammad Rahel Tecle

venture which is “Clean Our Water or COH2O is now in the process of reaching out to a village in Indonesia and introducing this SE200 water sanitation kit to them.

I will be fundraising money for the rest of the year, and if the scheduling pans out, then I will head to Indonesia in December to introduce the kit and also teach a class on water sanitation and disaster preparedness.

I plan on raising money by asking individuals to donate money and I am planning on holding this huge expo in October.

I believe that Community service is an integral part of our society.

Without people giving back to their communities, there emerges a selfmotivated society that only pursues projects for personal gains.

Community service teaches people at a young age to come together with other people to further society and not let it regress. Giving back should not just stop at your own community, because this would just limit ourselves. We should push to a global level and reach out to communities in other countries that do not even have the basic needs to survive.

If we were to all come together and work to make the world better every day in any way, big or small, then one day a time will come when welfare programs will not even be needed.

Hopefully, when that day comes, community service will just become second nature to us.

Alejandra Iriarte Mohaned Zyoud Andrew Gonzalez Alex Lewis Ashley Britton Alexia Sung Summer Ayoub Adviser: Alan Weintraut

Annandale High School 4700 Medford Dr.

Vol. 60 No.9 Apr. 9, 2014

The A-Blast is an award winning newspaper that strives to inform, educate and entertain the student body and community. Published every three weeks, The A-Blast will not print any material that is obscene or libelous; or that which substantially disrupts the school day, or invades an individual’s right to privacy. The A-Blast is an independent, open forum for discussion that is printed at the Springfield Plant of The Washington Post. Signed letters to the editor of 250 words or less may be submitted to room 262 or mailed to the school. The A-Blast reserves the right to refuse advertisements. All submissions become property of The A-Blast, Copyright, 2013.

EDITORIALS

April 9, 2014

Is elite education worth it?

Traditional four-year universities cost more for the middle class

BY CHRISTINE TAMIR Editorials Editor While students have just received college acceptances, they’ve also received their financial aid awards.

For many students, the financial aid awards will either leave them shaking their heads or contemplating the mountain of loans they’ll have to pay off after their graduation.

Senior Amelie Trieu has been accepted to four schools – the most expensive of which is Boston College and the least, George Washington University.

Almost all of her choices require at least $20,000 a year, even with scholarships.

“From most schools, I’m getting [around] $30,000 in loans/aid,” Trieu explained. “For the remaining $20,000ish, I’m going to take loans out, which I will pay once I graduate.”

After four years, Trieu will have more than $80,000 to pay back, but she thinks it is completely worth it.

Trieu has wanted to study international relations since eighth grade, after several years of involvement in Model UN, a club which she has been president of at AHS for four years.

“In today’s society, a high school degree is worth almost nothing, and I believe a college education is almost a [pre]requisite for any job,” Trieu said.

Luckily for Trieu, she knows exactly what she wants to do, and

Senior Amelie Trieu visited Duke University this summer. She is certain that the loans she takes out (which total over $80,000 after her Bachelor’s degree) will pay off in the long run.

that knowledge has helped her make her decision about paying for college.

“I’ll most likely be taking loans, but I also know that it’ll be worth it in the end. For my future career, the people you meet and the things you do (intern, shadowing, volunteering for campaigns etc) build your reputation,” Trieu said.

While undergoing the college admissions process, she said her parents made sure that she remained practical.

“My parents knew that I probably wasn’t going to go to a public school and they made sure I knew about the

costs,” Trieu said.

However, Trieu is a special case.

She knows exactly what she wants to study, and how necessary a college degree is to her future plans. There is little chance of her changing her mind, and so she knows that she will have a sufficient return on her investment in her education.

For others, it’s harder to determine how much debt is manageable because they aren’t sure of what they’re going to study, whether they’ll pursue their master’s degree or attend graduate school.

The average amount of student

loans after someone obtains their bachelor’s degree is now $35,200 in debt (according to money.cnn.com).

For a few, like Trieu, that amount is a necessary investment to achieve their career aspirations. For those who aren’t sure, which make up the majority of students entering college next year, the loans they’ll take out indicate a certainty about their investment in an education with an undecided direction.

To some, the perks of attending a school with a recognizable name makes the amount of loans they take out worth it. They can forge advantageous connections with future leaders, gain access to vast amounts of research and the like.

How acceptable loans are is completely depends on a student’s individual career goals, and largely relies on how much they would make in their future occupation.

The majority of college graduates don’t immediately enter a career that is related to their major. According to Reuters.com, the average unemployment rate for recent college graduates in 2012 was 44 percent.

That being said, a good amount of recent graduates get jobs that they’re overqualified for, which won’t pay off their college loans.

“To me, I know college and all of its attached strings are expensive, but I see it as a necessity,” Trieu said.

But for the rest of us, we’re not so sure about if we’d get a return on our investments. It might be that we’ll meet or become future leaders of the country, or we may join the ranks of unemployed recent college graduates.

IB Program should postpone testing

3

Would you go to the college of your dreams even if you’d have huge amounts of debt?

“Yes, if I were to go to the college of my dreams, I wouldn’t waste it, and I would work really hard to work off the debts as soon as possible.”

— Moonhyuk Choi sophomore

“Yes, I would because the profession I’m going to study will earn me large amounts of money.

Work hard, earn hard.”

— Brandon DiazSosa sophomore

“Yes, beause I would pay it all back by having a good profession.”

— Omar Ghoraman junior

If the AP exams and SOLs were pushed back a week, there’s no reason IB exams shouldn’t be delayed “Probably not bcause my mom wouldn’t let me.”

BY CHRISTINE TAMIR Editorials Editor It’s now mid-April, and everyone involved in the IB program is in the midst of a review frenzy.

With the IB test-filled month of May rapidly approaching, and 11 snow days under FCPS’s belt, both IB teachers and students at AHS have been feeling the pressure to review everything needed for the rapidly approaching testing season.

Even in light of the lost hours of instructional time, the IB program refuses to postpone the end-of-year exams.

The rigidity of the exam schedule is chalked up to the program having an international scope, which almost guarantees a lack of flexibility. The IB has two testing sessions - one in May and one in November. Of the two, May works best with most North American education systems.

However, the IB doesn’t sync well with North American education as a whole. Students who take IB classes and the subsequent exams must attend their assigned testing session – especially IB Diploma Candidates – regardless of extenuating circumstances, such as illness or (in our case) snow days.

It’s equivalent to forcing a round peg into a square hole – the IB is a world-class educational system, but the rules and regulations sometimes make the integration of the program into existing North American school systems difficult.

The most pressing of the issues concerns the testing schedule – there are only two exam sessions each year: the May and November sessions. The former is the only one that necessarily affects students receiving college credits for their exam scores, and the only testing session that would let students earn an IB Diploma.

— Jasmine Pringle senior

IB History of the Americas teacher Kathlyn Berry works to grade papers after school. Even though her students will take the exam next year, Berry still must cover all necessary material for the SOL at the end of the year.

It isn’t the fault of the Fairfax County IB programs that school wasn’t in session for IB classes to continue. Each class has missed out on five or six days of instruction of an alreadypacked schedule, resulting in missed topics or opportunities. In the case of snow days, several 90 minute class periods were cut in half, further stunting teachers’ ability to cover all necessary material.

Consequently, teachers and students are rushing through the material for the rest of the year, which often results in material being inadequately covered, but never eliminated, as all information in the curriculum is fair game for the IB exam.

In the case of various IB math and science classes, students have been assigned an onslaught of review work in the forms of practice IB tests.

“My IB teachers are more stressed out because of the delays and snow days. As a result, we’re getting more work to make up for the lost instructional time,” senior IB Diploma candidate Jasmine Pringle said.

There should be an option for IB programs in school systems to postpone their testing schedules in light of extenuating circumstances, such as inclement weather.

“Sometimes class can get a little hectic when we have a lot of work,” Pringle said.

While IB students are bright, the curricular cramming results in stressful class sessions, but there’s really no way around it, despite how beneficial moving the test schedule would be for all IB students.

“I think it would help a lot because we wouldn’t cram everything together, and we would have more review time,” Pringle said.

In the future, the IB program should allow for

wiggle room when it comes to setting the exam schedule in areas where students face major delays because of weather or other unforeseeable issues.

The program is immensely helpful in higher learning, but the uncompromising exam schedule is a facet of the program that doesn’t mesh well with several portions of Northern American education systems.

New security causes necessary inconvenience All efforts and measures implemented to keep students and staff safe in case of emergency

“Yes, because although I’ll be in debt, I think that the experience at my dream college will be priceless.”

— Eric Lien senior

“I think I would be more practical, and look at what my other options were, especially if I’d exhausted all my options for financial assistance.”

— Maureen Hunt IB Spanish teacher

BY CHRISTINE TAMIR Editorials Editor I’ve been locked out of the building four times in the past week and a half when walking from the modular to the building after school. At best, it’s a mild inconvenience if there are people within earshot who hear me knocking on the door.

The worst situation is when there are no students or staff in sight, but I have to get inside the building. Then I’m faced with the difficult choice of walking the approximate quarter mile to the front of the building or continue my loud attack on the door.

Ultimately, though, I realize my laziness, then walk to the front of the school.

Welcome to AHS security 2.0, where doors are locked after school, and administrators diligently patrol the halls after 2:30 p.m, handing out detention passes if students don’t have a pass from a teacher, coach or sponsor.

Administration plans to implement a door buzzer system that they anticipate will be fully operational after Spring Break.

To the average student, these measures are severely annoying. “Where’s the trust?” you might ask, and the answer is that the stricter measures weren’t implemented because of a lack of trust in students, but out of a desire to keep the school secure.

In light of school shootings and other acts of violence in the past years, parents and administrators are on edge about student security, and the new changes reflect that increased concern.

There’s an omnipresent threat to our safety as students. We don’t really

realize that the ease in which we walked through the doors of AHS is the same ease that intruders can easily take advantage of as well.

FCPS elementary schools and middle schools already use some of the measures that were recently implemented at AHS. The door buzzer system has been in use for at least ten years. The changes aren’t new to the FCPS school system, but they’re new to high schools.

That being said, the sentiment behind the stricter security measures isn’t to force students to abide by elementary school standards.

However, of the new changes, the administrators requiring students to carry passes after school is the least beneficial to maintain school security.

In the rare event that someone was looking to harm the student or staff, administrators asking him/her if she has a pass won’t necessarily deter them from taking whatever action they planned to take.

Even though I’ve been locked out of the building numerous times- and I anticipate several more occasions in the future- I understand the importance of the new security measures and the role that they play in our safety and security.

On your smartphone, scan the above code using the application “QR Code” to visit theablast.org.

NEWS

NEWS BRIEFS Heritage Night Cast Party From 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM on April 9 the Heritage Night cast will be holding their cast party. The show was held on Thursday, April 3.

Let’s Play Two Tournament The Varsity baseball team will be competing in the local Let’s Play Two tournament beginning April 12 and continuing through Spring Break

Edison Tournament Varsity will be participating in the Edison Tournament over Spring Break. Their games will be played on April 12 and April

Passover Passover, the Jewish holiday commemorating the freeing of the Jews from slavery, begins at sundown on April 14. The holiday will continue through the week.

Third Quarter Report Cards

Heritage Night entertains Cultural event returns to AHS after year of absence

BY JAROD GOLUB News Editor The Atoms Bhangra dance stole the show at the return of Heritage Night, mixing an array of popular dance moves with their cultural ones.

On April 3, Heritage Night returned after a one year hiatus from AHS. Heritage Night was started in the early 2000’s as an attempt to display students’ culture and heritage in a fun and entertaining way. During the night, students perform dances songs or other traditional acts from their cultures.

In the past, Heritage Night has been the most attended event held at AHS, both by students and parents.

The event on average brings the school $3,000 a year and attracts around 110 performers, 20 acts and 650 spectators.

This year things were no different.

Sales skyrocketed after a last-minute decision to sell tickets after school .

“We made a last minute decision to

OMNIA SAID

4

April 9, 2014

One of the highlights of the event was the Atoms Bhangra group. The group was created this year by the South Asia Student Association for the purpose of the show.

sell tickets after school and it showed a huge rise in sales. Word really got around,” Business teacher Monica Bentley said.

This is Bentley’s first year as the supervisor for the event.

“I got a lot of help from prior supervisors to make the event what it was,” Bentley said.

While she did receive help, Bentley also has some ideas of how to make the event special.

“What I see for the future is getting

AHS Battle of the Bands held Annual musical talent competition takes place

Third Quarter report cards will be distributed during W4 on Wednesday, April 12.

ACT

BY JAROD GOLUB News Editor

The ACT is being offered on April 12 beginning at 7:30 a.m.

Spring Break This year Spring Break will take place from Monday April 13 to Friday April 19. Students will return to school on Monday April 21.

Depression Awareness Program On Thursday, April 24, there will be extended W4 in order to have a program on Depression Awareness.

MYP Project Presentations On Wednesday, April 30, the MYP Project fair will be held in the Cafeteria. The fair is open to students during W4 and parents from 7:00-8:00 p.m.

SAT AHS will be administering the SAT on Saturday, May 3. Check-in will begin at 7:30 a.m. and the test will last until about 1:00 p.m. Students should remember to bring their ID and test tickets.

COURTESY OF NGUYEN CAO

Easter The holiday of Easter commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Easter is taking place on April 20. The week before, Palm Sunday and Good Friday are celebrated on April 13 and 18, respectively. Palm Sunday celebrates Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem one week before his resurrection.

the show more student run,” Bentley said. “From the director, to the tech crew, to the advertising, I want the students to have the final say.”

This year, performers, crew, faculty and students alike all enjoyed the show.

“It was amazing. It was a great chance to showcase my talent and all of the hard work was really rewarding,” junior Joseph Koroma said.

On Heritage Night, Koroma was

better known by his stage name, Kid JC. Koroma performed with fellow rapper, junior Amir Davis, who goes by his stage name, Astro Davis.

“We all enjoyed seeing the kids here, there was a lot of unity and a lot of spirit, and that’s what we like to see,” administrator Joe Thompson said.

“I’m really excited, because I remember freshman year I went and was really impressed,” junior Aya Eltahir said. “So last year I was disappointed that they didn’t have it.

But this year it was back and better than ever.”

While the night itself provides a chance for spectators to see into the cultures of their peers, for the people involved, it gives a different feeling of accomplishment.

“It was really refreshing to me as a teacher, it reminds me of why I’ve been at Annandale since 1994,” Bentley said. “Because the students are amazing. Annandale is a very special, unique place, very different from a lot of other different places.”

Heritage serves to represent a lot of the cultures at AHS. It serves to provide a chance for people to showcase their talents and be proud of their own culture.

“Heritage Night is Annandale,” Bentley said.

Sophomore Leif Jomuad plays in his band AfterDawn. The competition took place after school on Friday, April 4 in the auditorium.

The winner of this year’s Battle of the Bands competition was a group called Wishful Thinking, that had only been together for two weeks.

Led by senior Gabi Montes de Oca singing, the group played their way to victory. Other band members include Dominic Maier, Trevor Hobbs, William Chase and Jacob Velasquez.

Montes de Oca is no stranger to the spotlight. Just the week before, she had been participating in the AHS production of The Music Man as the female lead, Marian. While the stage may not be new to her, the group she was working with was.

“I didn’t really expect us to win, so it was not only a shock, but it felt like a good accomplishment to have people vote for you,” Montes de Oca said.

Other competitors in this years competition included AfterDawn and Steve Aderton performing under his stage name, Voxel.

Aderton produces Electronic music using a combination of computers and synthesizers.

“I produce electronic music because it is something that allows me to be both expressive and creative at the same time,” Aderton said.

While each person has a different process and a different style, all kinds of performers are welcome at Battle of the Bands. The competition provides an opportunity for each person to showcase their talents.

“Many students at Annandale have talents that others- their friends, their classmates- don’t know about,” Aderton said. “Battle of the Bands is an excellent experience to both showcase their talents and have a good time. Really, when it comes down to it, it’s just a bunch of musicians congregating and having fun.”

Peachfuzz game pushed back Male volleyball game pushed back due to scheduling conflicts

BY DANIEL YENEGETA Staff Writer The first annual Peachfuzz volleyball game has been off to rocky start. The junior-senior volleyball game, which is sponsored by Leadership, was originally scheduled for March 18 but has been pushed back due to snow days and inclement weather. The game will now take place on April 30 in the main gym.

The inclement weather days have forced spring sports to have indoor practices, which take priority over the Peachfuzz game.

“We had to push it back because of the weather,” Leadership sponsor Carmen Bartley said. “Spring sports keep having to come inside for their practices and they get first priority.”

The Peachfuzz game is the male alternative to the fall Powderpuff game, in which girls play football, a sport that is not normally available for them to play in a competitive atmosphere.

In the Peachfuzz game, there are two teams of at least 15 boys each, with only six on the court at a time. They will be coached by AHS volleyball players, leading to its similarities to Powderpuff, where boys coach the girls.

“It’s funny to watch us play volleyball,” junior Michael Velasquez said. “It really shows that the girls that do volleyball in the fall have a lot of skill and have practiced for a long time.”

Despite all the rescheduling and multiple delays, players and coaches are still excited to participate in the event.

“I’m looking forward to playing with my class and also getting to play against some of my friends on the senior team,” Velasquez said. “We’ve had a lot of trash talking, I just hope it benefits the junior team.”

The Peachfuzz game will now coincide with Battle of the Classes week. This is more than a month after the event was supposed to be held.

“We chose that day because that week is Battle

of the Classes week and we figured we could somehow tie the volleyball game into points for Battle of the Classes,” Bartley said.

Aligning the game with the Battle of the Classes is an alternative to the original plan of coinciding the game with Spirit Week.

The Peachfuzz coaches for the junior team are Erin Johnson and Kaitlyn Cook. The coaches for the senior team are Amy Reynolds, Chelsea Flores and Sarah Samee. The coaches have had to find a way to prepare their teams among the rescheduling crisis and inclement weather schedule.

“We’ve already had one practice where we taught [the boys] passing, setting, hitting, blocking and tipping,” junior coach Kaitlyn Cook said. “We also made a couple of plays so I’m hoping that by using the plays we can have a better strategy than the seniors.”

“Our coaches [Erin Johnson and Kaitlyn Cook] have done a good job in going over the fundamentals with the team,” Velasquez said. “It’s been really fun getting to play with the guys because none of us really have volleyball experience, we come from different sports like tennis and football.”

Battle of the Classes

Long-time faculty retiring

On your smartphone, scan the above code using the application “QR Code” to view the list of performers.

JAROD GOLUB

Heritage Night Performers

During the month of April, AHS will be losing two valuable members of the staff. Both Custodian Barbara Hunter (left) and Food Services Worker Judy Timmons (right) will be leaving AHS after more than a decade of work each.

Timmons has been at AHS for 14 years and in the Fairfax County school system for a total of 28. She is pictured here with Assistant Principal James Carayiannis.

Hunter has been working in the Fairfax County School System for 35 years, and AHS for upwards of 20.

“This was the most important school that I’ve worked at,” Hunter said. “I’ve learned some of the different cultures at this school, and I’ve made a lot of friends.”

COURTESY OF JAMES CARAYIANNIS

The annual Battle of the Classes competition will be taking place on Friday, May 2. The Peachfuzz game will also be taking place that week on Wednesday, April 30.

th April 9, 2014

NEWS

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VHSL defines gender Transgender athletes must compete in birth gender school sports “Transgender ruling” continued from page 1

have also become much more accepted in modern society.

“I like the fact that they are making it okay for you to play the sport if you get the surgery, making it socially acceptable for you to play the sport,” senior girls lacrosse player Lailumah Faisal said. “But the thing I don’t like about it is if you can’t afford to go through the surgery, but you still consider yourself a boy and you want to play that men’s sport, you can’t.

I feel like that’s them [the VHSL] denying you as who you are. They aren’t respecting the decision you’re making of who you want to be.”

Boys varsity lacrosse coach Bill Maglisceau was initially unaware of VHSL’s new ruling, but he believes that the outcome of such a law all depends on the attitudes of coaches and players.

“I think the coaches are very open about anyone playing sports. It depends on the player’s attitudes,” Maglisceau said. “ The team should have spirit and coaches love a person who puts their teammates first.”

Maglisceau also believes that this new ruling will have little to no affect on AHS sports.

Director of Student Activities Karl Kerns understands the immediate impact of the rule on AHS sports.

“Right now, if someone asked to try out [for a sport] we can’t deny them, because there’s a VHSL rule allowing it,” Kerns said. “There will also be standards we will have to abide by.”

According to VHSL Executive director Ken Tilley, members of the VHSL felt that the ruling has “psychological standards” and felt that “would fit best” and were “most comfortable with that position.”

New VHSL transgender rule 1) A student-athlete will compete in the gender of their birth certificate unless they have undergone sex reassignment.

2) A student-athlete who has undergone sex reassignment is eligible to compete in the reassigned gender 3) A student-athlete seeking to participate as a result of sex reassignment must access the VHSL eligibility appeals process.

Although VHSL Spokesman Mike McCall admits a transgender student hasn’t yet come forward, the VHSL does not want to be “reactionary” and members

are working to create a policy that provides “safe and equitable competition” for all student-athletes.

“It will happen at some point -- it’s a matter of when,” McCall said. “We need to stay ahead of this before it drops on our door.”

While McCall and the VHSL believe the new ruling will better high school athletics, Eliza Byard, the executive director of the national Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, believes the opposite.

“This is overly restrictive,” Byard said. “It’s very important that transgender students have access to school activities. But if the idea was to increase participation, this won’t do it.”

Girls Varsity Basketball coach Patrick Hughes is also apprehensive to the new ruling.

“I think it’s going to be very confusing and it could be with anything like that. It’ll be a difficult policy,” Hughes said. “Hopefully it’ll be positive and people will be more tolerant. I just hope for awareness and a better understanding.”

In contrast to the new VHSL Ruling, the NCAA policy, which governs participation in most college sports, does not include a requirement for formal sex reassignment.

Executive Director of ROSMY, a Richmond-based group that works with sexual minority youth, Beth Panilaitis, believes that this policy should be the template for the VHSL as it is much less restricting on student-athletes who identify as transgender. Despite limitations, though, she is satisfied that the VHSL has taken action.

“The first thing I’d say is, I’m very pleased to have the Virginia High School League being proactive about this,” Panilaitis said. “It’s understanding (that) there are transgender students in Virginia schools and understanding that (there) are transgender athletes.”

With a 27-0 vote from the VHSL executive committee, the new policy will govern participation at the state’s 313 public high schools starting next school year.

Annual golf tournament at AHS raises funds “Golf tournament” continued from page 1

play in a tournament or to support it on tournament day. The point is to have fun while raising money for the PTSA.” The golf classic consists of teams of four that play in a best ball, scramble format where teammates can help each other. Each golfer purchases 18 holes of golf with cart, use of both the driving range and putting green, light breakfast, catered lunch, snacks and beverages on course and a gift bag. “[The] Level of golfing ability is not important. The parents, alumni and friends of AHS simply come out to have a good time and support the school,” Fruchterman said.

As well as the golf tournament, the PTSA hosts an auction where items are sold to help raise even more funds.

As well as an auction, where families like the Allshouses donate a weekend at their condo or vacation home for the highest bidders.

“We will be donating our Wintergreen condo again for two nights,” sevenyear participant Randy Allshouse said. “It is a part of a live auction that takes place during our lunch after the tournament.

To be a part in the tournament, participants must register by May 2, and pay either $500 as a foursome (a whole group) or $125 as an individual golfer. All AHS Staff and college students save $50 as a special discount, cutting the registration cost to $75.

The tournament also have sponsors who donate money. Sponsorship ranges from being a Title, or Presenting Sponsor that consists of

COURTESY OF BRIAR CREEK PHOTOGRAPHY

Red and White Golf Classic returns

Alumni Nolan Gilbert, Michael Hennessey and Jonathan Pratt competed in last years event.

Tournament Naming Rights, Two Foursomes and Award Plaque for $3,500, to a Tee Sponsor which consists of signing on one tee area and Recognition in the Program for $100.

Anybody can also be a Patron Sponsor,

starting at $5 and increasing in $5 increments. To become a sponsor, go online to the Annandale PTSA website to make a donation before April 30.

The registration form for the event can be found on www.annandale.net.

School security system upgraded New security system to be implemented soon “Security System” continued from page 1

“It will be a lot like a Secure the Building. Students will be able to move freely but all doors will be locked. We still have to work out a few problems with the modular, but that is essentially how it would work,“ Tippins said.

Historically, Secure the Building

was used when there was a robbery or other crime that took place in the neighborhood and the school locked all of its doors as a precaution. But now, every school day will essentially be a Secure the Building.

Students understand the need for this technology, which has been in place for almost a decade at some elementary schools.

“It’s gonna take some getting used to, but I think we’ll be fine,” senior Lewis Folli said.

Some students are not excited about this new system because of the added hassle it will create students.

“It’s just annoying because everyone uses jock lobby, so it would easier to have at least one door unlocked,” sophomore Aine Montes de Oca said.

But other students are looking forward to finally bringing the technology to AHS. “I think it’s about time we got the system because my elementary school had this technology [when I went

there],” Folli said.

In addition to these changes, the handicap entrance located next to entrance 2, where the stairs to the upstairs gym are, will be moved the front entrance.

“The handicap entrance is in a dead hallway, which I will still continue to lock, so it makes more sense to have it in an open hallway where people can see who’s coming and going,” Tippins said.

PTSA prepares for All Night Grad Party PTSA prepares for senior graduation event

COURTESY OF BRIAR CREEK PHOTOGRAPHY

“All Night Grad” continued from page 1

place from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.

The concept of ANGC was started about 25-26 years ago. High schools and community leaders were looking for ways to keep their seniors safe on graduation night. According to ANGC Committee chair Lupe Shartel, it began with a handful of high schools and has grown over the years with many high schools sponsoring such events with the support of Fairfax County Fire Department, Fairfax County Police Department, The United Prevention Coalition and many other community leaders.

“The premise is to keep the students safe and avoid any drinking, drugs, or “partying” on that night. We are very much aware of several tragedies that have occurred with graduating seniors partying on graduation night which ended up with lives lost,” Shartel said. “We want to avoid this for our AHS students. Students are encouraged to stay the entire night at ANGC and if they leave, we will call a parent, listed on their ticket form, to advise that their student is leaving.”

ANGC raises funds through the AHS Phantom Ball and the Mulch Sale, two annual fundraisers that rely

Alumni Rawand Shamdin, Dane Harlowe, Ashlyn Nisker and Sergio Moya participate in the All Night Grad celebration for the Class of 2012 at Audrey Moore RECenter.

on the efforts of the AHS community to be successful.

“ANGC is sponsored by the annual Phantom Ball, the annual Mulch sale and generous giving by parents of AHS, community donations and other fundraisers,” Shartel said. “It’s a good thing to support this event so that we can provide a wonderful evening for over 300 students each year.”

The Audrey Moore RECenter is closed to the general public on the night of ANGC, making the entire center available for use. Seniors arrive to Audrey Moore starting around 10:30 p.m. and check in all belongings.

“There will be an all night buffet for them, a casino, a DJ, a photo booth, all night swimming till 2:30

a.m., caricature artists, all night photographer to take photos to post later, arcade games, rock climbing, and much more,” Shartel said. “ We will have prizes to give away throughout the night as well as the big prize and cash drawings at 4:30 a.m. The celebration is over at 5 a.m.”

Class of 2012 Alumn Jessica Hotter believes that all seniors should attend the event.

“All night grad offered a wide variety of activities to keep you busy, “Hotter said. “Time literally flew by and I didn’t even realize what time it was when we were let out!”

Tickets are now $45 and include access to all activities, entertainment, a t-shirt, food and drinks. All students who purchase their tickets after June 1 are not guaranteed a t-shirt and the price of tickets rises to $60 if purchased at the door the night of the event.

The PTSA is still in search of about 200 volunteers, both parents and faculty who can sign up through annandaleptsa.org and work either a couple hours, a full shift or all night. Volunteer opportunities include putting up and taking down decorations, working at the prize table, working the casino, monitoring pool activities and much more.

To register to attend the ANGC, visit the PTSA website or the front office for more information.

5 AHS holds annual blood drive BAYLEY BRILL News Editor The annual Red Cross Blood Drive is coming to AHS. Every year, the Red Cross comes to AHS to encourage students to donate blood. The donated blood then goes to a blood bank, where patients with the same type of blood are given infusions during surgery or after an accident.

There are four types of blood and each blood type requires a certain blood type to safely transfer blood. Because of this, the Red Cross encourages as many people as possible to donate, in order to maximize the number of recipients and blood types.

The Blood Drive will be taking place during the entire school day and students will be assigned times to go to Clausen Hall to donate. To donate, a student must be at least 17 years old. If a student is 16 years old and wishes to donate they must have a permission formed signed by a parent.

Students also must meet a weight requirement. To donate, a student must weigh at least 110 pounds. If a student weighs less than 110 pounds, they are not allowed to donate.

If you donate, you also must eat and drink a lot of water the day before. When blood is being drawn, many people often feel sick and tired because of the loss of blood.

In past years, juice and cookies have been provided to keep blood sugar up so students don’t pass out or get sick.

“I’m not really scared of passing out because they give you plenty of things to keep your sugar up,” senior Jocelyn Hotter said.

One donation of blood consists of one pint. It takes about an hour and fifteen minutes to complete the entire donation process, including paperwork and preparation, but it only takes about eight to ten minutes to actually draw a pint of blood, according to the American Red Cross.

It takes about three pints of blood for a blood transfusion and it can take up to 100 pints of blood for a car crash victim, which is why it is important to have many people participate. Hospitals need to have all types of blood on hand at a moments notice in case of an emergency.

“I’m donating blood because I want to help people in need,” senior Jocelyn Hotter said.

There will be a table in the cafeteria today and April 11 to sign up to donate during all lunch periods. You must sign up in order to donate. Students who participate will be given a t-shirt for participating.

The Blood Drive will be taking place on Friday, April 25 from 8:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Clausen Hall.

Story of the Day On your smartphone, scan the above code using the application “QR Code” to read the Story of the Day at www.theABlast.org.

6

What is a struggle that you have had to over come?

“My biggest struggle was getting through football. I was not used to the work outs in the beginning but I overcame it by always saying to never give up and tomorrow will be better.”

—Brandon Hunt freshman “I don’t have a lot of motion in my arm and it is smaller and weaker. It makes it hard to play basketball, but I don’t let that effect how I play or who I am. I overcame it by practicing hard and not making excuses.”

—Casey Goettlicher sophomore

“My biggest struggle was in school this year. I had a D on my report card for the first time and my coach doesn’t let people play below a C. I overcame it by not slacking off or screwing around.”

— Caleb Britton sophomre

“I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety and I got over it with help from my therapist and my family.

I learned that I can’t go through everything alone.

Self advocating is the most important thing when dealing with an anxiety disorder.”

—Katherine Thomas senior

“My parents divorce was a really hard time in my life. It was a really big adjustment and I faced emotional struggles. I overcame is by growing up and I learned to accept something you can’t change.”

—Kelly Pratt senior

PEOPLE

April 9, 2014

Just breathe it all out Student shares his struggle with Hodgkins Lymphoma and his positive outlook

BY MARCO CESPEDES Special to the A-Blast

K

nowing that I was healthy, I thought I would never get cancer. Last school year, during the third quarter, I started to get a cough. My doctor thought it was allergic asthma, but it didn’t add up to me.

My doctor noticed my cough was progressing and prescribed steroids to open my airways. The steroids actually helped but this was only temporary.

No longer was I able to just breath as an involuntary task. I had to control my breathing and focus on the air coming in and out of my lungs. I had to see a specialist and he thought it was a sinus infection. He prescribed antibiotics to be taken at a high dosage of 4000 mg a day.

A week passed of taking the pills, and I was not getting better. I had been coughing all day, and I experienced uncontrollable coughing simply walking to my house from the bus stop.

Once I got home, I went straight to my bed. I had been hyperventilating during my sleep. When I woke up I found sweat all over my sheets and clothes. To the bathroom I went and ended up coughing mucus and phlegm.

The attack lasted for minutes and I felt unbearable discomfort in my chest.

The pain was just too much to endure.

My mom was very worried and wanted to take me to the hospital. I told her that I would be fine but she wouldn’t take no for an answer. nce I got to the hospital, they told my mother and me that an x-ray of my chest would have to be done. Once they received the results, they told us that they found something in my chest that was making it difficult for me to breath and the cause of the cough.

She told us that there were two possibilities. It was either bronchitis or cancer. The nurse also told us that I would have to get a biopsy to narrow down the possibilities.

The biopsy confirmed that it was cancer.

Cespedes is pictured (top) with his father Samuel, cousin Cynthia and brother Henry. at a Quinceanera in 2011. Cespedes is You would think hearing the results pictured bottom left in 2011, before his diagnosis. He is picture on the right now happy and healthy as he continues with his would shock me and throw me into an highschool career. emotional spiral but the fact is, it did me medicine to take because my value my life and all that has occurred, neither. I just accepted the fact that amounting.

They put me into a bed with a health wasn’t perfect yet. I had low but cancer was my wake up call.

I had cancer and I was perfectly fine ventilator, platelets and white blood cells. The do believe that I was doing pretty with it. t o h e l p m y medicine I had to take was Bactrim badly my sophomore year in grades I had no breathing. and blood thinners. Bactrim is an compared to my A’s and B’s of the hesitation in If I allowed myself to let Even though antibiotic and helps your body defend past years. I can’t blame cancer or saying “okay” this hold me down, I would those first days viruses and infections. Blood thinners my state or sickness for why I did right after they at the urgent are shots that are taken to prevent poorly in school. My life at the time become vulnerable and it told me. Even care were bad, blood clots from spreading. My tumor was a struggle and was harsh. I had though my mom would be the end of me.

I managed. I had been pressing on my veins, and just moved schools and was getting was crying and didn’t really because of that, I had blood clots accustomed to the learning style here. really sad about d o m u c h a t created. I also had collaterals, or blood I wasn’t sad, I was still happy and —Marco Cespedes the news, I was the hospital vessels created around blood clots so positive that all would go well, that AHS junior just fine. I could b u t w a t c h that your blood is able to transport I would try more next year, and do only think about television, eat, throughout the body. better overall. how I was going go on the computer, take pills, take The experience taught me many I wanted to improve. This school to get through this. things in life that a lot of people year, I came back cancer free with my I h a d t o l d m y m o t h e r t h a t scans, x-rays, and go to sleep. would later find out that I had might not truly understand until they new mindset of just overall improving, everything would be fine and she Hodgkin’s lymphoma, one of the undergo such an event. It taught me and I did succeed. I currently have all began to think positively. I was never more treatable cancers. The tumor that we humans take too many things A’s and Bs. I know I could do better, negative. If I allowed myself to let this hold me down, I would become was about 15 inches long and was in life for granted, whether it be just and I would like to see myself improve vulnerable and it would be the end classified as a bulk tumor, which the act of eating, or breathing. We just next year. My own struggle is not with required intensive treatment. The don’t fully understand just how easy others or the events in life, but with of me. myself. I struggle for achieving more I was always known as the person chemotherapy was probably one of the we have it. he common truth is nothing is happiness and success each year. I who would be positive no matter what. worse parts of the treatment.

When I was under chemotherapy, greater than to just be alive. We would like to say I have done well but I did find the fact that I had cancer all just get mad for no reason at there is still more to improve. annoying but, it was something I had I would get heightened senses like to accept. I just chose the better path my smell and hearing. The smell of all. You’ve got life set out for you and the food from the hospital became you don’t have the struggles that some to aspiration and happiness.

The hospital had to put me into unbearable. I would get nauseous others do. Why would we complain the urgent care as my body wasn’t and I wasn’t able to eat many of the if we have so much more than other really in a good state. My tumor had foods. The chemotherapy would also people have, and wish to have?

I learned that when you need been blocking my airways and it was make me very tired and lethargic.

According to the American Cancer pressing upon my windpipe. I had I was under treatment for three support people will always be there, Society, chemotherapy is the use of a lot of excess phlegm and mucus months, and my body reacted really especially family. They join in moments any drug (such as aspirin or penicillin) fast to therapy. The tumor’s size had like sickness of a family member. to treat any disease. become five inches by the end of the Life is simple yet harsh; it can However, when referring to cancer chemotherapy. be rough, but why be sad about it? I treatment, it is therapy to kill the O n c e I h a d f i n i s h e d m y believe that happiness is a choice, and dividing cancerous cells. chemotherapy I had to start radiation. I just wished everyone took that choice.

This is also referred as cytoxic Radiation is Happiness is The National Cancer Institute which prevents cellular division and usually the an unlimited describes this condition as the cancer kills the cells. last part of resource that You’ve got life set out for you of the immune system. The two Chemotherapy is a systemic the cycle of we should take major types are classical Hodgkin treatment which means the drug and you don’t have the struggles treatments. advantage of lymphoma and nodular lymphocytetravels through the body to reach the It is used to to live a better that some others do.

Why would predominant Hodgkin lymphoma. cancerous cells. This is partly why terminate the life, with we complain if we have so The systoms include many patients lose hair as it often kills last possibility compromise enlargement of lymph nodes, spleen, normal cells as well. much more than other people of the cancer and peace. or other immune tissue. Other This form of treatment can be from being able Arguments are have...

—Marco Cespedes symptoms are fever, weight loss, delivered intravenously, as an to reproduce invalid, because AHS junior fatigue, or night sweats. injection, a pill, liquid medicine or even and shrunk there is always In America, 9,190 cases have just an epidermal creme. the size of the a solution, and been discovered in 2014.

Depending on the intensity of the tumor. I had faith is not 4,120 females and 5,070 males cancer, “chemo” can be given once a low levels of radiation used on my given but created. You aren’t controlled have been diagnosed. About 10-15% day, once a week, or once a month. chest. The radiation only lasted a by life, you control life. are found in children and teenagers.

The side effects can include; month, and was done every weekday in Would I believe that my fast The survival rate has increased in fatigue, nausea, vomiting, pain, hair the morning. Once the radiation was recovery was a sheer piece of luck? the past few years and is now about loss, anemia, infection, blood clotting, done, the tumor was about 2 inches in Well maybe. But I would like to believe 92% chance of beating the cancer. throat difficulties, nervous problems, size and inactive. it’s because I was positive and only However, about 1,180 people will flu-like symptoms, fluid retention and I was cancer-free and had to get had that one destination that I truly die from this condition. any other sort of infection. ready for school. My doctor prescribed wanted, which was to be cancer free. I

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What is chemotherapy?

Who am I?

What is Hodgkin Lymphoma?

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Use your smart phone to scan the QR code to find out which teacher baby picture is shown above.

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7

HEALTH Allergies worsen asthma symptoms Apr. 9, 2014

Students with asthma have a harder time dealing with the changing of the seasons

By the numbers: Asthma

1.3

BY AASHNA VISWANATHAN Staff Writer

14.4 BERTA TARQUI

Sophomore Dezhawn Dumornay has a hard time concentrating in class when his asthma acts up. “It also sometimes makes it hard for other people to concentrate due to wheezing and coughing,” Dumornay said.

Dumornay takes a rescue inhaler whenever his asthma acts up and a nebulizer when its really bad. “I am supposed to take a preventer inhaler every morning but I hardly remember since it is so early in the morning.”

According to the American Academy of Asthma and Immunology, “half of 20 million Americans with asthma have allergic asthma.

After a long spell of heavy snow and winter, spring has finally arrived. But along with spring comes the runny noses and watery eyes. Along with that, allergic asthma is the most common type of asthma.

About 90 percent of kids with childhood asthma have allergies. If you have allergic asthma, you probably have a family history of allergies.

Allergic asthma is when your lungs are hypersensitive to allergens. When these allergens get into the airways, your immune system overreacts. Inhaling allergens, such as pollens, can cause asthma symptoms.

The symptoms of asthma are the same if you have allergic or non allergic asthma, including coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, rapid breathing, tightening of the chest and many others. However, not every person with allergic asthma have the same symptoms.

One of the most common triggers of allergic asthma is something that teenagers often go through: stress. You may not completely get rid

22

million hospital visits are due to asthma every year

million total school days have been lost because of asthma

million Americans have asthma

Many students keep an inhaler or any other asthma medications just in case they feel any symptoms coming during spring.

of stress, but there are ways to manage it by identifying the problem, learning how to deal with situations that lead to stress and practicing relaxation techniques, such as meditation.

According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, the most common things that trigger allergies are tree, grass, weed pollen, mold spores, dust mite and household pets.

However, asthma can also be triggered by allergies. Some allergies that can trigger asthma are inhaled allergens, food allergies, which are rare, food preservatives and additives.

“Allergies trigger my asthma and make it worse. Trust me, a runny nose added to not being able to breathe is horrible,” sophomore Grace Yim said.

To keep your allergic asthma in control, it is vital to know what triggers your asthma symptoms.

Since food can trigger asthma symptoms, make sure to keep track the foods you eat and how you react to them.

Many people who are allergic to outdoor allergens such as trees, grass and pollen should not leave out food and beverages outside. Leaving foods outside can mean that you may consume the allergens.

Other triggers are household pets. Bathing your pets weekly may cut down on its dander.

Vacuuming frequently is also very helpful.

Pollen and outdoor mold is what most of the people are allergic to. According to asthma.com “Approximately 25.7 million people are allergic to pollen and outdoor mold.”

Stay indoors and keep your windows closed during the late morning and afternoon hours because that is when the pollen count is the highest. Also, heat, humidity and air pollution can cause asthma symptoms to worsen, therefore air-conditioning can prevent from pollen triggering your asthma.

“For me asthma is triggered by my allergies, so allergies makes it worse for me, as it is already difficult to breathe,” sophomore Jennifer Hall said.

The science of food cravings Stress

Melt in your Mouth

70

percent of people who have asthma have allergies

80

percent of asthma related deaths could have been prevented with proper care and education

$3,300

dollars were lost due to asthma from 2002-2007. The factors include medication and money lost due to sick days.

Complied by various internet sources

Foods that may help asthma On your smart phone, scan the above code using the application “QR Code” to view the story about foods that can help relieve symptoms of asthma.

How to stop cravings

Dynamic Contrast School can be stressful to many, especially towards the end of the quarter. You may feel like you are craving unhealthier food. When you are under a lot of stress, your body wants more sugars and carbohydrates to help you get through hard times.

Stress can cause your body to elevate your levels of cortisol, a hormone which helps relieve stress.

Elevated levels can cause you to want salty and sugary foods.

Many candies such as chocolate bars and cotton candy have this effect. When the food touches your tongue, the melting-in-your mouth sensation makes it feel like you are eating something lightweight. Your brain believes you are not eating enough and causes you to eat more than you should. Many companies that sell unhealthy snacks consider the texture of their foods. For example, chocolate companies spend a lot of their time testing the shape of their chocolate because certain shapes and textures can leave a better impression on the consumer.

Salivation

Sometimes you may catch yourself almost drooling over the thought of eating your favorite foods. Salivation is used to cover a larger amount of space on your tongue with the flavors from the food you are eating. The more you salivate, the more the flavors will reach around your tongue. Foods that promote salivation are dressings, sauces, ice cream and chocolate.

Common junk foods have different types of textures and many of them contrast with each other. For example, sweet and salty, sour and sweet and crunchy and smooth. Your brain enjoys the different tastes and textures, which makes you crave them more.

Memories Fruits Fruits have sugar in them, but they are natural and good for you. Next time you have a sugar craving, grab some fruit to snack on.

Thinking about previous times you have eaten some can cause you to crave particular foods. When you eat food, your brain remembers the senses as you ate the food. The texture, taste, smell and situation you were in. Advertisers use this to their advantage and produce foods and snacks that will be easily remembered, such as the powdery doughnut sugar left on your fingers or the smell of buttery popcorn at the movies.

What is your favorite unhealthy snack and why do you crave it? “ Potato chips because it is crunchy.”

— Brandon Lien freshman

“Pizza because its the best mixture of three international food which are cheese, sauce, and bread.”

Gum If you want to eat something sweet, eat a piece of sugar free gum to trick your body that you are eating something sweet.

“My favorite food is ice cream because it is scrumptious.”

“Burger because it is attractive and delicious.”

— Gohar Zeb junior

— Ashish Prasad senior

— Natnael Mulat sophomore —Compiled by Aashna Viswanathan

Nuts Eating a handful of lightly salted nuts can help curb cravings. Nuts are filled with protein and eating more protein will make you feel full and satisfied.

More tips to stop cravings On your smart phone, scan the above code using the application “QR Code” to continue reading the tips to help stop cravings.

8

By the numbers

7.3% The percentage of students who get accepted to Julliard school of the Performing Arts in New York City each year.

59 The number of performing Arts Institutions in the United States.

$1,754 The average weekly salary for Broadway actors. Increments can be received for taking on more responsibility such as being cast as an understudy or moving props during the show.

23,400 Number of people reported in 2013 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics officially employed as musicians and singers.

46 Number of new productions that came to a Broadway stage in 2013.

ARTS Are sensitive subjects art?

April 9, 2014

Exploring what subjects can be considered art forms

BY BAILEY OLIVER Copy Editor As the saying goes, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, simply meaning that, in this case, art, is subjective and that everyone responds to differently.

One person might look at a painting and find it hideous, while another might consider it a masterful work of craftsmanship.

The key aspect to note is the expression of important ideas or feeling. Art expresses these ideas in order to elicit emotion from the one experiencing art. But when those forms of art convey negative messages of violence and human suffering, can they still be considered a “work of art”?

Whether it be over-the-top violence in video games and movies like Grand Theft Auto or Pulp Fiction, blatant eroticism in books like 50 Shades of Grey or the scandalous truth found in The Jungle, the arts in all its forms have managed to push content that much of the public considers “controversial.”

The content may offend someone or even just make them sad, angry or happy. The one playing the video game, reading the book or watching the movie omits emotion in reaction to what is being experienced, whether it is substantial or not. Any work can bring out some sort of feeling from an audience, including work with sensitive material.

Including content that offends people has been the norm of art, allowing for artists to express ideas that question society and our humanity. This satire and commentary, produces statements that challenge its audience to ask questions that may be hard to answer. The creator can project their ideologies or messages they wish to convey in varying levels of interactive works.

So by legal definition, a creative expression, regardless of the medium in which it is presented, including such expression that may be considered highly offensive, is technically still art. Although that may be nice, the problem truly lies in people’s acceptance of art.

Perception of the public is where acceptance and tolerance must come from. Media outlets like CNN or Fox News will tout how violent video games

Violent scenes of torture are commonplace in films and video games such as 1992 film Resovoir Dogs depicting Mr. Blonde shooting a cop and covering him in gasoline. Below from left to right: Pulp Fiction, Grand Theft Auto.

cause real life violence. People complain online how a movie had a scene that offended them or that it is sexist. This is something that needs to stop. By pushing away the controversial art, boundaries cannot be pushed, society will only be hindered and fail to advance new moral change. The public needs to be able to able to constructively criticize dark subject matter instead of pushing it away.

Take Europe for example. Europe is known for being supportive of the arts. During the Renaissance the arts flourished. New ideas came to fruition and as a whole, it benefited society. That same case

can be made here. Denying explicit art as something other than art goes against what art has, and is, meant to.

Simply put, just because something may offend you, does not mean it is not art. Art is meant to evoke emotion, provide some sort of feeling for those who experience it in the numerous platforms that art is presented in. Art can elevate and question societal norms, and obstructing it will always have a negative outcome. Art is art, and the content it contains does not change that.

Spring Arts

The ins and outs of show business Courtesy of Briar Creek Photography

Events Calendar

Filament Spring Coffeehouse April 9th at 2:30 p.m.

The performing arts is a craft that has been developing since 500 B.C. From Greek plays to Vaudeville to Broadway, actors, dancers and musicians have earned respect because of their ability to command audiences.

Becoming a successful performer takes years of hard work to master. It takes more than learning a routine or memorizing lines and stepping onto a stage.

The work that goes into performing includes weeks of preparation and accepting criticism. The process of auditioning alone can be intimidating and extensive.

After being cast it takes weeks or even months of rehearsal to

bring together all the moving parts of a production and create the magic of the show for audiences to enjoy.

“Ultimately the performance is about pleasing the people watching, I want them to enjoy it, but I also want try to make it just for me,” sophomore Leif Christian Jomuad said.

Performing Arts is an extremely competitive profession and only the best succeed in making it to renown stages. While natural talent is needed, the key to becoming a successful performer requires selfdiscipline, self-confidence and flawless technique. When all these are mastered then you

Keys to becoming a better and more authentic performer Theatre Without Borders Performance May 9 at 7:00 p.m.

Rehearsal Technique

Broadway Desserts May 29-31 in the Auditorium

Professional Behavior

Spring Orchestra Concert May 22 at 7:00 p.m.

On your smartphone, scan the above code using the application “QR Code” to read about the Pyramid Art Show hosted at Annandale.

Performing Arts can be extremely competitive and selective, but it should never be discouraging. If turned down for a role or not chosen for the role you wanted, continue to be positive. Always thank the director of a show for the opportunity to even audition. Also, if an audition does not go your way, take the opportunity to learn from it.

Ask the director how you could have improved in order to get a similar or even different role. However you can participate is a chance to learn and will be a useful experience in the end. Also be supportive of all fellow performers and be encouraging. It is easy to allow jealousy to hinder your behavior but in the end it only causes tension in a professional and creative space. Lastly, treat the audience with respect, because without them you are nothing. They give time and often money to watch you enchant them and deserve to be respected. The best way to do this is to be prepared and on-time for the performance. After the performance, be gracious to accept applause and praise or even constructive comments from patrons of the arts.

Rehearsal should never be limited to the time you spend with fellow performers, directors, or stage managers. Spending time alone running lines, going over the staging, or incorporating any type of criticism is an excellent way to be prepared.

Working on your own will impress your director and the audience. Another way to improve is to study established performers and pick-up any skills they have to offer. Examine not only old techniques, but also new techniques to make yourself a progressive and innovative performer. In any role it is also important to study the history behind the show you are performing and its context. This will assist you in forming a connection with your character and all of the other characters around you. Lastly, never consider yourself too good to practice. Actively reviewing basic techniques such as sight-reading or finger positions will keep you sharp and on your toes.

Stage Presence One of the biggest parts of performing is stage presence. In order to truly captivate the audience a performer must step out on the stage, completely confident in their character or role. This is why rehearsal is so crucial. If there is any doubt or fear as a performer begins the audience will sense it. A great skill to acquire is covering up mistakes. On stage, even if you mess up, it is a bad idea to let the audience know.

Facial expression and body language should never change. Most likely, the audience will have no idea anything went wrong because they don’t know every line or cue like you do. Lastly, to execute a truly show stopping performance, spend time developing a personal connection with your role and understand how they are meant to perceived. When on stage you are not yourself, you are a character. Get lost in what you are doing. If you are unsure how to play a character, it will show in your performance.

— Compiled by Melissa Stamp

ACADEMICS

April 9, 2014

Being politically correct in class Students find that being “politically correct” affects the way the classroom work

9 Does it matter to be politically correct?

“It is good to be politically correct if you can be politically correct.”

––Ryan Peich freshman

Whether it be talking about students with disabilities or talking about how to refer to a specific race, there is an entanglement of issues surrounding the “politically correct” way of marking things.

Take the responsibility of teachers- should they be required to use politically correct terminology and does their political correctness affect the students?

“Regardless of what they need to say, most teachers tend to be more politically incorrect,” junior Gillian Thomas said.

Particularly in the beginning of the year, as teachers get more comfortable with the students, they also lose more authority because of less “correct” ways of referring to different things.

“When teachers are less politically correct, students are more comfortable and connected to each other, and have more fun with teachers because of the relaxed atmosphere,” junior Bee Coaquira said.

In order to make the classroom environment more appealing to students, teachers may talk in a joking tone.

“One of my history teachers would sometimes jokingly say ‘You punk, you didn’t do your homework,’ but in a half-serious way,” junior Alan Vargas said.

Perhaps students are affected educationallyhearing an English teacher talking about a subject in their respective curriculum, students could start following the way that the higher authority talks.

Many students find that there is a bit of correlation between teachers being politically correct and as a result, how education is affected.

Some students find that although a number of teachers may believe in one thing, they are forced to teach their students about material that is in the curriculum that is not quite in their favor.

Consequently, this leads to the use of perhaps derogatory terms when it comes to teaching unfavorable topics in class.

“Some teachers stay as neutral as possible, while other teachers are on the more radical side. They attempt to conform to that realm of neutrality- but sometimes end up being either extremely negative or positive,” Thomas said.

Neutrality comes into play when a teacher is not comfortable with students or don’t want to offend students by their language and tone.

Sometimes, steering away from a more appropriate mannerism of speaking can affect class discussions when students and teachers talk about certain issues.

At times, teachers would jokingly comment on

ANIQA RASHID

BY ANIQA RASHID Academics Editor

“No, being politically correct doesn’t matter to me at all.”

––Michael Heng sophomore

Students and teachers find that using politically correct or culturally sensitive terminology should be used in moderation.

the matter of race, perhaps trying to make a more comfortable atmosphere for students.

“When our history class was asked about those who were the troublemakers during Heritage Night, she pointed to herself, insinuating that African Americans were the ones who were mostly making trouble,” said Vargas.

Sometimes there would matters in which teachers would need to use themselves as props when talking about sensitive issues having to do with race.

“My math teacher once was comparing heights in a study for math class. He said how Asians were the shortest, and used himself as an example so he wouldn’t seem mean,” Thomas said.

“It’s distracting. The closer a teacher becomes the more off-topic they may get. So, I believe it is more appropriate to have a more professional air when teachers speak to students or other teachers,” Thomas said.

English and Creative Writing teacher, Fusun Sulzbach, believes that being politically correct is much more appropriate to be in class, to be good role models for students.

“I am way much more aware, even jokingly, I wouldn’t say anything that would hurt or disrespect anyone,” Sulzbach said.

When Sulzbach’s English class would be discussing the Holocaust, there would be especially more stress on speaking politically correct.

“Everyone has their own style of speaking, and if they can get away with that, then that’s fine but this is my way of speaking,” Sulzbach said.

Without the sense of professionalism or use of the “politically accurate” terminology, teachers

are not able to maintain their authority which can result in kids taking advantage over the weakness of proficiency in using correct language.

“If teachers are too lax, students don’t learn.

They might have fun, so teachers like doing that sometimes, but it is not good for learning in the long run,” Thomas said.

Even when teachers do talk in a higher voice, some students may take no heed to the lecture, and become disinterested in class, which is why there must be a good balance between socially acceptable words for the youth, as well as professional.

“Teachers have to watch how politically correct they are, and try to have a mix or variation in tone, in order for the students not to be dull or disinterested,” Coaquira said.

IB Anthropology teacher Holly Miller believes that there is more to being politically correct- as the ideology itself is demeaning.

“A better word for politically correct is “culturally sensitive”. It means being sensitive to the differences of other people whether they are cultural or biological in nature,” Miller said.

“I try to use culturally sensitive terminology. I try to be respectful of various cultural and biological differences in people and use the terms they prefer to be called,” Miller said.

Ms. Miller found through her own experience that some terms are better suited to being used than others in school. For example- saying “little people” instead of “midget,” “inter-sex” instead of “hermaphrodite.”

“It’s all in moderation. It’s detrimental to education if there is too much of a loose term system in class,” Coaquira said.

Comparing classroom environments

“To a certain extent, because while it’s good to watch what you say, if you’re too careful, then you’ll never get your point across ––Abigail Belayneh senior

Vocabulary Words OBFUSCATE verb To render indistinct or dim; darken.

Discussion-based Language class

Lecture-based Government class

“It is good to be politically correct because it is important to know about your government.”

––Kerim Idris sophomore

NEOPHYTE noun Someone who is young or inexperienced.

LINUS BUMBACA

GARRULOUS adjective Given to excessive and often trivial or rambling talk; tiresomely talkative.

Christiane McConnaughey teaches French in room M25, using a dynamic and discussion-based classroom setup. The desks are all in pairs, facing inwards around the front of the room.

“It helps me work on different activities,” McConnaughey said.

“For group work, partner work, we can move the desks around to face each other. That’s the most important part of a French class, to communicate.”

As with any language class, participation is a significant part of doing well. From most seats in the room, students can see and hear each other.

“Students have assigned seats, but they have the opportunity to choose their seat each quarter if the previous quarter was good,” McConnaughey said. “It lets them get a better result in class activities.”

Around the classroom are posters and objects that relate to the French language and culture. These include French flags, posters that describe French-speaking countries, and vocabulary terms that are important for students to remember.

Lindsay Zurawski teaches Honors Government and Anthropology in room M2, using a dynamic and lesson-based classroom setup. Desks are usually arranged in rows of two and three, all facing the front of the room.

“I try to have direct information for the first part of the period, which is me giving information to students,” Zurawski said. “Then we typically have group work to reinforce the lesson and what was learned.”

Teaching classes that balance taking in information and discussing it with others, Zurawski rearranges the classroom to fit the current activity.

“I have students move their desks if they need to,” Zurawski said. “My room moves around a lot. It gives the opportunity for students to talk in pairs or small groups.”

Zurawski gives students opportunity to influence their learning environment.

“Everybody gets to choose their own seat,” Zurawski said. “I try to hang up student work as much as I can, stuff that connects to the material to help them remember

Lab-based Chemistry class

Yaara Crane has been teaching Chemistry and IB Chemistry for three years in room 125, and has taught in other chemistry rooms for eight years, sometimes sharing the classroom with another teacher. The desks are set in rows of four, facing the front of the room, and behind them are the science lab tables.

“Desks are in rows so that everyone has a view of the Smart board,” Crane said. “The desks are touching so students have someone to work with in class.”

Because chemistry involves labs and experiments, students are often moving around the classroom to work.

“We use lab tables for labs and activities one every two weeks at least,” Crane said, “more frequently if I can.”

The desks themselves are rearranged frequently as well.

“When I’m not sharing the classroom, most of the time I do move desks around,” Crane said. “I change desks on test days and I also change them on review days.”

“When I’m changing desks for tests, I separate students around the room, but most of the time they have assigned seats. I change them about once a month.”

PRESCIENT adjective Perceiving the significance of events before they occur; foresighted SACROSANCT adjective Regarded or treated as being above or beyond interference, criticism

CYNTHIA

LINUS BUMBACA

Lesson-based Geometry class

PARAGON noun A model of excellence or perfection.

Jessica Arias teaches geometry in room 208, with a constant, lesson based desk setup. The desks are in pairs, all facing the front of the room.

While the desks don’t get moved around, Arias does change seating from time to time.

“I assign them seats,” Arias said. “At the beginning of the year I let them choose, but if there are problems like chatting or if I feel like we need to change the classroom dynamic, I move them around.”

To make sure students understand the geometry, Arias moves around the room to assist students that need help.

“It depends on the day,” Arias said. “For normal lessons I’ll be at the front using the Smart board, but if we’re reviewing for a test I give them a packet to work on and walk around the room to help them.”

In addition to geometry-related posters, Arias also displays outstanding student work around the room.

“On the board, I put what is due that night, what homework they have, and assessments that are coming up soon,” Arias said. “In the back I have student work, exemplars of projects and high test grades. I also have a birthday calendar, so a student can ask me at the beginning of the year if they want to be on it.”

Tackling the History of Americas “Death packet” On your smartphone, scan this code above using the app “QR Code” to learn how to tackle the HOA “Death Packet.”

April 9, 2014

Senior Year

101

10

IN-DEPTH

BY OMNIA SAED Co-Editor in Chief “Be warned, juniors, senior year is not easy,” senior Jasmine Pringle said.

It seems that as the year comes to an end, seniors across the hallways collectively breathe a loud sigh of relief, as the year finally seems to come to a close.

“It’s been a long, long, long, LONG and stressful year.

I was not prepared for this,” senior Aysha Ghaffar said. “I mean, a lot of seniors last year told me how fun and easy senior year was going to be. I’m kind of sitting here waiting for that to happen.”

In an effort to help juniors to steer clear from the deathly ailment that is senioritis, which often shows symptoms far earlier than what can be considered healthy, your fellow senior class and The A-Blast upperclassmen have decided to share the problems that plagued them during this tumultuous year. This is an earnest effort in hopes that future students heed to their advice.

Listen up juniors; senior year is not all fun and games.

In fact the first semester is work, a lot of work and there are certain things you need to know before throwing your cap in the air and walking the stage at Constitution Hall.

The College Process Begins Now It’s never too early to start the college process. Yes, even in the midst of summer where the last thing you want to think of is school.

“I was very anxious about the whole college application process and I felt like I had no one to help me,” senior Kowthar Said said.

The Common Application opens up on Aug. 1. Start it now. Here at The A-Blast, an overwhelming majority of seniors recommend that you at least begin the clerical part of the application.

“You don’t necessarily have to start your essays,” senior Tahani Yosuf said. “But I would have a clear idea of ideas of possible topics, but the first part where you simply fill in information, that should be completely finished.”

“Also, make sure you research the colleges you want thoroughly, I say, your list [of colleges to apply to] should finish taking shape,” senior Jaskiran Kaur said.

“The fall will be very stressful, but they [juniors] can alleviate that stress by thinking about where they want to apply to college over summer break,” career specialist Robin Roth said. “Also, they should have a list of schools. Six is plenty,” Roth said.

Taking the SATs early is also vital.

“Take the SATs and ACTs in June as well as the following fall,” Roth said.

Avoid Senioritis at all costs Colleges will often times, even if you apply early decision, see your first semester grades, so slacking off and catching senioritis is not a possibility.

“You have to finish strong, don’t let the last few months

ALEJANDRA IRIARTE

Senior reflections: advice to the junior class

Juniors find themselves preparing for their senior years, as they maintain their workloads, take their SATs and apply to schools.

pull you down and tarnish all the work you’ve done in the past four years. Senioritis is real and it can haunt you. You have to push through or you can go down bad – real bad,” senior Jasmine Pringle said.

“Don’t procrastinate. It’s hard because on the one hand it’s really tempting to just throw your homework away, miss class and relax but you know that you have to keep pushing through. fourth quarter is your reward, but you have to get there. If you start planning now, you might be able to breathe,” Kaur said.

Often times juniors and even seniors find themselves anticipating the days they hold their diploma.

“Graduation will be the greatest day of my life,” junior Ariana Islam said.

However, leading education professors are concerned.

Data from the National Center for Education Statistics, reported that in the fall of 2000, 20% of entering freshmen at four-year public institutions took a remedial course, while 42% at community colleges did. Stanford Education professor, Michael Kirst has been leading the initiative in voicing his concerns.

“If you are not well-prepared to succeed in college,” Kirst said. “Then the senior year is your last chance to be prepared.”

“Don’t slack off senior year!” senior Jackey Mendez said.

Attempt to find your passion “I think it’s important that students are involved in something that they are extremely passionate about. Don’t try to just involve yourself in everything,” Said said. “There’s a misconception that colleges want to see a student who is in every activity and club a school has to offer, but that’s not true. Be involved in a few clubs, but be extremely passionate about them and put all your effort in making them succeed.”

Have fun It’s your last year and it’s stressful, but don’t forget that this is also an end to an extremely poignant part of your life.

Have fun, enjoy it, cherish it, because senior year is the end of a pivotal point and transgression into adulthood.

“Remember to just have fun. It is your last year of high school. Make the best fit. Don’t worry too much about schoolwork and to focus on what you plan to do in the future,” senior Alishia Sampene said.

Go to every game, go to every AHS event, partake in spirit week, and hang out with your friends when you have the chance because before you know it, it will be fourth quarter and your going to reminisce on these years. College is exciting and it can be easy to rush into it, but high school is an experience that you will learn from and cherish, make it worthwhile while you have the chance.

Senior Reflections: Did Senior year live up to your expectations?

“Yes, because I kind of expected the work to be a lot. Don’t slack off and keep trying all the way through.”

“No, I felt that I came in not knowing where and how to apply for college. Start your college applications in the summer.”

“I did feel somewhat prepared. You need to stay organized and once you’re unorganized, it’s hard to stay on track.”

— Christian Tarqui

— Elisha Musih

— Yemi Zewdu

“Yes, I felt like I was prepared. Don’t slack off because colleges will see that.”

— Joe Dinh

“It was a challenge, but I was prepared.

For Juniors, don’t ignore first semester, it is still important, also don’t let yourself get too stressed.”

“I certainly thought I was, but it was definitely more challenging than I thought.

Some advice, would give to juniors is that once they are used to the workload, it will get easier.”

“I felt prepared but don’t get overconfident because you never know what could happen. Do you work and DO NOT PROCRASTINATE. It will be your downfall.”

— Rita Hamdani

— Kamran Shahbazz

— Noah Wolfenstein

“I knew what I had to do, you should be prepared, but I kind of procrastinated, but I could have been prepared. Don’t procrastinate, get all of your essays done, and decide what colleges you want to go to in the summer. Get all of your scholarships done and keep up on your grades.”

— Nguyen Cao

IN-DEPTH

April 9, 2014

11

Every year, millions of high school students are diagnosed with one of the nation’s most deadliest epidemics — Senioritis. The A-Blast seniors have voted and compiled a list of what every junior needs to know before being diagnosed.

1

Take the SATs early “Take the SATs as early as possible. That way you can be flexible later on, as you see where you stand. Trust me, it sucks to scramble months before worrying about SATs. The first semester of senior year is already as stressful as is, adding your SATs to that makes it even worse and you don’t do as well as you intend or can. Make sure you know all the dates and start planning. Use your time wisely!”

— Priya Adhikary, Weekend Editor

May 3

June 7

*Administered at Annandale

Don’t forget scholarships

2

“Don’t forget about scholarships and financial aid. The one thing I hate to hear is when people shy away from applying to certain places out of fear. If you’ve worked your hardest the past four years, than don’t let anything get in your way. Some of the most lucrative scholarships start early. Start looking for scholarships over the summer and get your financial aid documents in order. Aim for those reach schools.”

Scholarship to consider: Questbridge aids low-income students apply to schools they often shy away from applying out of fear of financial obligation and prestige. The application opens early August and is due September 4. Teacher recommendations, a transcript, short answers and an essay is required, so early preparation is a must. However, if considered a finalist juniors choose from a selection of partner colleges with the possibility of attaining a full–ride scholarship.

Deadline: Sept. 4 — Omnia Saed, Co-Editor in Chief

3

Don’t go on College Confidential “Don’t go on college websites like College Confidential, College Data or even Naviance, which the school uses. It really psyches you out. When I was trying to get into my school, I was looking at James Madison. I looked at all the people on College Confidential talking about it. They all had perfect SATs and lots of extracurriculars.

I was really concerned, because I had a 1730 SAT. I am not going to have a 2400. I was really scared that I was not going to get in. When there were rumors going around that it would be out. I kept checking the websites, it was psyching me out.

Everything I read there was so far-fetched that I had psyched myself out for year and a half on that website. That’s a year and half I wish I got back.

Don’t go on that website. Whatever school you are applying to, don’t go on that website.”

— Bayley Brill, News Editor

5

4

Try to challenge yourself

“For senior year, challenge yourself appropriately. Don’t give yourself really easy classes, because that’s not appealing to colleges. But at the same time don’t kill yourself, where it is actually going to hinder your GPA. Don’t lose motivation, because you have to get in the habit, even if doesn’t count all the time, just get in the habit of always producing your best work. That way the rest of life will come as a natural thing, because you are used to pushing yourself.

“Take electives that will be fun, but that will also help further your skills.

“Have fun and socialize, but remember that you’re still going to be here for school. Get in a habit of giving yourself freedom, but not too much freedom. Because in college you have to be able to have a good moderation.”

— Chloe Loving, People Editor

Don’t slack off senior year “Going into your senior year do not expect it to be a cakewalk, because it’s not. The first part of the year you have to work really hard on your grades because colleges still see it. You’re going to have to do all of your applications and you are going to have to do everything get ready for college. Then later on the year, that’s the time when you can chill.

“Be prepared to work hard your first semester and then you can have fun the second one once you get into colleges. The second semester you can reap the benefits of everything you did the first semester.”

— Cynthia Weiner, Staff Writer

“I think juniors going into senior year should know that there is going to be lots of work. Right of the bat there is going to be a lot of work. It may get easier along the way, but don’t neglect to take good classes. Try and take good classes.

Don’t take slacker classes, because you’re still going to have to work either way.”

— Ayah Oweis, Entertainment Editor

xceeding

E xpectations first generation student attends college

BY DESTINY GAMMON Co-Editor in Chief When I was seven years old, my step-grandmother gave me my first college t-shirt: pink, with the words “Virginia Tech” sprawled across the front in green.

College was never an expectation growing up, as neither my mom or dad attended further education after high-school. With the bar set low, I have exceeded both of my parents’expectations throughout my years of schooling.

As the oldest child in my family, with a younger brother four years under me, I have been the guinea pig of the family since the day I was born. From the first day of high-school, every experience was completely new and the start of senior year was no different.

I knew I wanted to attend Virginia Tech right when I received that simple t-shirt, so it came as no surprise when I fell in love with the campus. After my official visit over spring break of my junior year, I knew that I would be applying early decision as soon as possible.

When senior year began, I had already applied to Virginia Tech. As ninety-percent of the senior class was savoring their last weeks of summer, I was sitting at my laptop completing my early admission application. Early decision is a major decision, as it is binding, so I recommend that you consider all options before you apply.

After sending in my application, I realized the process had only begun. With today’s economy, college is practically impossible to afford. Living in a single parent home with an income stretched to its limits, the search for scholarships was and still is, imperative in order to pay for my future education.

When most seniors see “Robin Roth” as the

subject line in their inboxes, they quickly press delete. While ignoring the incessant emails may be easier, it is these same emails that have given me at least five more scholarship opportunities of over ten thousand dollars worth of money. Even though this is only one semester of the average year at any college, specifically Tech, every bit counts.

There are literally scholarships for everything and even if it may not seem like a lot of money it all adds up. Already applying to over forty-thousand dollars worth of scholarship money, I still continue to fill out applications and look endlessly for more opportunities.

Another very important piece of advice is to make create relationships with your counselor and teachers. Ms.An has been one of the most important people in this college-decision making process and I will never forget the attention she gave me whenever I entered her office.As well as Ms.An, Mr. Weintraut was definitely the most important person throughout my high school experience. His faith in my abilities, as well as his desire to push me to my limits forced me to continue to strive to be the best student I could be. Without the help and experience of my teachers, I fully believe that the process of getting into college would have been a much greater challenge.

On Dec. 11 my hard work paid off when I opened my phone and saw the words “Congratulations” flash across my view. After throwing my phone across the room while my daycare students looked at me with fear and concern, I screamed to the world that a Gammon was finally going to attend college. Right away, I called my dad in hysterics, not completely understanding what had just happened.

After ten years, my dreams had come true: I would be attending Virginia Tech with the expectation of becoming an elementary school teacher. While all

Above, Gammon meets with her future roomate for the first time. Right, Gammon poses with her younger brother and father. She is the first person in her immediate and extended family to attend college.

seniors love the feeling of being accepted into college, for my family this meant a brand new chapter and experience.

Although I’d like to avoid turning this into a long list of thank-yous and shout-outs, I could not have become the woman I am today without my parents.

Despite their very different upbringings, they have always had complete faith in me, trusting me to make the best decisions for my own self. Through instilling responsibility and independence into my daily routine, I was able to push through the busiest years of my life in order to prepare for even busier ones to come.

Being a first generation college student has forced me to step up and make my own decisions.

With no direction or bias, my opportunities have been endless from picking my college, to deciding my future occupation I have had no limits. Although my mom and dad have been unable to give me advice in regards to the college-decision making process, they have been the most supportive parents I could ever ask for. Knowing that I am the first one in my entire family to attend college is one of the most exciting experiences in my life, and I hope that I can fulfill the expectations that both my family and I have set for myself.

— Bryan Benavides freshman

“I’d go to Brazil because all the girl there are gorgeous and have really nice bodies.”

— Dianna Agyeman sophomore

“I’d like to go to Hawaii solely because it’s paradise.”

— Nelson Bersal junior

Student shares his journey across the world to deepen a 14-year friendship

BY ANDREW PETERS In Depth Editor I just returned from India. My mother, sister, and I traveled with Compassion International on a Sponsor Tour to visit our sponsored child of twelve years. Mano and I are one day apart in age, and have been pen pals since we were four years old. Our traveling group had 27 Americans traveling to see their sponsored children.

The sponsors spent a Fun Day with their sponsored children, translator, and parent at an amusement park.

When we met Mano, I was nervous and didn’t know what to say. It worked out fine, and we especially had fun jumping over the waves at the beach. Mano had never seen the ocean before and was looking forward to being in the water. We ate lunch, gave gifts, and prayed together. The park had old county fair rides that were rusty and rickety, and we were wondering if they would collapse on us, but we were fine and had a great day.

In addition to our group meeting our sponsored children, we visited Compassion centers and projects and visited homes of sponsored children near Chennai, Bangalore, and Dehli.

As we saw small homes with minimal electricity and saw dirty and cramped slums, we also saw smiling children, joyful faces, hopeful mothers and amazing and selfless Compassion staff members.

The children stuck in poverty deal with dangerous diseases, poor quality schools, parental alcoholism, malnutrition, crime, and tiny homes. However, Compassions International is truly fulfilling their mission, “releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name.”

To accomplish their noble mission, Compassion partners with existing churches that have programs for children. The children attend the church, called a project or center, two hours every day, except Sunday, in addition to school. Compassion provides the children with a nourishing daily meal, medical exams and checkups, Bible study, mentors, tutors, and a sponsor.

Sponsors donate a monthly amount to provide for their sponsored child, and become pen pals with their

Andrew Peters and Mano pose with India’s cultural iconic animal, the elephant, on Fun Day.

sponsored child. The relationship of sponsor to child is vital to breaking the cycle of poverty. Three of the project directors that we met had been sponsored children in Compassion programs. They were so benefited and transformed, they wanted to give that gift to other children. Through all of their work, Compassion is Christ-centered, child-focused, and Church-based.

Compassion has three programs, the Child Survival Program (CSP) to aid mothers in raising and nurturing their newborns, the Child Development Sponsorship Program (CDSP) to carry children through their schooling to help them become “fulfilled Christian adults”, and the Leadership Development Program (LDP) to guide promising students through university and leadership training, equipping them to transform their countries. We had dinner with LDP students who shared their stories.

Currently Compassion works in Asia, Africa, South America, and Central America. Canada, the US, France, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, and Korea are the current donor countries.

Photo Courtesy of Andrew Peters

“I’d like to go to Russia because I love the culture, the history behind it and the language itself is so unique.”

Photo Courtesy of Andrew Peters

“If I can go anywhere in the world, I’d go to Disney World in Florida because of the awesome views and all the friends you can meet.”

Long term Indian connection

— Marissa Reynolds senior

“I’d like to visit parts of Italy specifically Rome and Venice, the city on stilts. The renaissance originated in Rome and I’d love to see the art and culture that came from that era.”

Peters visited the sponsored children from the Compassion centers. The centers and projects are Church-based and Child-focus. They give food and an outlet for the children that lack essentials in the city.

Korea was formerly a country that Compassion worked in, but because of Compassion’s work, Korea was so benefited that now they are the second largest donor country.

Many in our group sponsored more children during the trip, and got to meet their parents and see their homes. Our family added a little girl, Ankita.

There are many children who are waiting for a sponsor just like you. Currently over 1.3 million children are sponsored, but Compassion’s goal is to have 4 million children sponsored by 2020. You can be part of this. You too can change a child’s life and help break the cycle of poverty.

Just as Matthew West says in his song “Do something”, “people living in poverty, children sold into slavery, the thought disgusted me, So, I shook my fist at Heaven, said, ‘God, why don’t You do something?’ He said, ‘I did, I created you.’ If not us, then who. If not me and you. Right now, it’s time for us to do something.”

You can make a change in a child’s life now. Do not look for someone else to do it.

On Fun Day, Peters spent the day with his pen pal, Mano, in Chennai. Peters tells us that he was anxious to meet Mano but everything worked out as they picked up their friendship from the one from their letters.

Photo Courtesy of Andrew Peters

If you have the opportunity to go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

April 9, 2014

Photo Courtesy of Andrew Peters

12

INTERNATIONAL

Peters visited the neighborhoods and the homes of the sponsored children from the Compassion centers in India.

— Brian Aldenderfer English teacher

Compiled by Nuhami Mandefro

Fun Facts on India – In 14 years, India will be the most populous country in the world – India was once considered a continent – Over 1,000 languages are spoken in India

– India has the world’s largest democracy

This photo was one of, if not, the first letter Mano wrote to Peters.

This is the most recent letter Mano has sent to Peters.

Photo Courtesy of Andrew Peters

Photo Courtesy of Andrew Peters

The picture on the left is Mano from their initial conversations. The photo on the left is a picture Andrew took of Mano during his trip to India.

Peters and Mano have been pen pals for over 14 years. The relationship between Andrew and Peter continued to progress and strengthen over the years.

Compassion International On your smartphone, scan the above code using the application “QR Code” to visit the website to sign up. Help make a difference in a child’s life and “release them from poverty in Jesus’ name”.

Photo Courtesy of Andrew Peters

Photo Courtesy of Andrew Peters

– India has three of the biggest megacities

13

PHOTO

April 9, 2014

Spot the difference

Challenge yourself and see if you can detect the 9 differences between the two seemingly similar pictures of AHS students enjoying their lunch.

AHS I spy

ALEXANDRA ZERNIK

ALEXANDRA ZERNIK

Try our mini-scavenger hunt and find these items around the school!

“Spot the Difference”: 1. Missing Starbucks logo, 2. Milk carton straw is missing, 3. Missing second ‘F’ on the milk carton, 4. Missing Ralph Lauren Polo logo on shirt, 5. Missing one earbud on headphones, 6. Headband color is changed. 7. Missing phone on table, 8. Lunchbox color is changed, 9. Missing one stripe on shirt.

ALEXANDRA ZERNIK

A mystery student has been spotted roaming throughout the halls of AHS these past few days. See if you can spot our very own “Waldo” in the pictures provided.

Keep your eyes peeled for the red and white!

ALEXANDRA ZERNIK

ALEXANDRA ZERNIK

“I Spy” Answers On your smartphone, scan the above code using the application “QR Code” to find out where each item is located around school.

14

LIFESTYLES

April 9, 2014

What Would You Do? Based on the popular ABC series, Lifestyles Editors Phuong Nguyen and Diana Quezada test students’ reactions and abilities to act in everyday situations

Take the money and run?

“I returned it because its her money and not mine.”

— Madelyn Sanchez sophomore

“I [returned the dollar because [other] people were looking at the dollar and it’s the good thing to do. Honesty is the best policy.”

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY PHUONG NGUYEN

DIANA QUEZADA

Spring DIY: Fruit Infused Water

Junior Tony Gibbs picks up the dollar laying on the ground near the jock lobby.

Step 2: Wash fruit then cut the lemon and strawberries into smaller wedges.

“I was going to keep it and run away. “

— Fabiana Hinojosa sophomore

Senior Sulton Naieem quickly returned the dropped dollar after finding it next to his locker.

“The money didn’t belong to me. I’d [also] be very sad if somebody took my money.”

— Erin Ahn sophomore

DIANA QUEZADA

Step 1: Cut a lemon and 3-4 strawberries.

DIANA QUEZADA

— Rachel Soon freshman

Senior Angel Jomuad grabbed the dollar and looked around for the owner to return it.

Seeing a dollar laying on the ground can tempt many students to keep it for themselves. Senior Amelie Trieu went around the halls and dropped dollar bills to see if anyone would be honest enough to return them back. The majority of students who noticed the dollar on the ground were kind enough to ask Trieu if she had dropped money and quickly gave the bill back. Others were tempted to walk away and keep the cash.

Binder troubles — Kim Mai sophomore

On your smart phone, scan this code using the application “QR code” to read and see a slideshow about local boutiques for your spring shopping.

— Amber Hines junior

PHUONG NGUYEN

When in a rush to get to class, students sometimes accidently trip and drop their bulky binders on the ground. Senior Teresa Nguyen tested students ability to help others in need by dropping her binder and spilling all of its contents. With papers strewn all over the floor, some students stop their conversations to help while others simply express their sympathy and walk away.

No one bothered to help Nguyen when she dropped her binder in the science hallway.

Sophomore Kim Mai stops on her way to track practice to help Nguyen pick up her papers.

“She dropped her stuff all over the floor and it just seemed right to help her. I wouldn’t anyone stepping on my papers.”

— Ceilidh Williams sophomore

PHUONG NGUYEN

–Compiled By Diana Quezada

“I helped because it’s the right thing to do. Like our school motto said, do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do!”

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY PHUONG NGUYEN

Step 3: Place the sliced fruits inside a plastic refillable water bottle and fill the bottle with water. For a stronger concentration, fill with less water.

Step 4: Shake the bottle to diffuse the fruits and water.

PHUONG NGUYEN

“All of her papers went everywhere and she looked like she needed a lot of help.

If this happened to me, I would want people to help me.”

Junior Christina Gomez stops her conversation with a friend to help Nguyen.

What would you do? self quiz

1. You are sitting in the lobby on your phone texting and see a student getting bullied by a jock...

A. Call out the bully and tell them to go away. (10 points) B. Set and watch the situation play out. (5 points) C. Agree with the jock and take his side. (0 points)

2. You’re walking down the halls and see a girl faint right in front of you...

A. Frantically scream and call 9-1-1. (10 points) B. Repeatedly poke the girl to make sure she’s alive. (5 points) C. Walk around the girl because you know she is faking it. (0 points)

3. A group of classmates plan to cheat on an upcoming math test that is suppose to be hard...

A. Expose the cheating ring to the teacher. (10 points) B. Contemplate on whether you should join the group. (5 points) C. Join the group! You desperately need a good grade. (0 points)

4. You find a phone in the bathroom...

A. Pick it up and try to find the owner. (10 points) B. Leave it alone, it’s not mine. (5 points) C. Take it and run, I need a new phone. (0 points)

Add the point values next to the answer choices.

Good Samaritan (40 points) You always know what to do and stand up for what you believe in. Helping others is what you do best.

Ordinary Atom (20-35 points) The motto you live by is “don’t get involved.” You tend to sit back and watch the situation.

Devil’s Advocate (0-15 points) You are a heartless self-centered person that doesn’t care about others.

You don’t care about the consequences of your actions.

–Compiled By Phuong Nguyen and Diana Quezada

SPORTS X-TRA

April 9, 2014

Should athletes be required to take P.E.?

BY ERIN JOHNSON Sports X-tra Editor

BY ALISHIA SAMPENE Staff Writer

NO

Is three hours of practice a day not enough for studentathletes? Is there a need to push kids who are already physically active past their limit? And what benefit does gym class provide these athletes?

The daily schedule of an athlete is hard enough as it is: six hours of school, two to three hours of practice per day, an average of two or more hours of homework a night and for most athletes a lack of sleep is not unusual.

When you add up the total amount of practice an athlete gets per week on a two hour practice schedule you get a total of 12 hours of practice a week (including Saturday practice). Whereas the average student who has gym every other day only gets four and a half hours of exercise a week at most. Athletes on their average practice schedule almost triple that number in one week.

Back in my freshman and sophomore year, when I was required to take gym, I not only had gym and practice on a given day, but also on game days! I have never thought gym was necessary for athletes, especially ones who do multiple sports throughout the year, so wasting my energy on the day of a big game never thrilled me. Even on days where I only had practice I still needed the energy to practice well. As people always say, “you play how you practice.”

Adding on to my dislike for gym class would be the negative impact it had on my school schedule. Since I was fulfilling my need to exercise on a daily basis, I thought it would be smart to use that elective class to take another class that I was required to take to graduate. However, I couldn’t do that because I was also required to take gym at the same time, which in my case was not benefical to me at all.

On average, students who have practice right after school generally don’t get home until at least 5 p.m on a given night. On game days, varsity athletes don’t get home until at least 10 p.m. So instead of having a period forcing athletes to be more active than we already are, the school should make an exception for athletes to either have a free period to manage their schedules better or to take a required class that works at helping you graduate. I think the obvious answer here is to side with the athletes.

In honesty, what real benefit are athletes getting from playing boccer, team handball, frisby, SARA DEIBLE occasionally runnning the pacer, occasionally doing ten push-ups and taking a test on the rules and regulations of a certain sports game? The intensity of playing a varsity sport far exceeds the intensity of gym class. Most athletes will say that they don’t benefit from it. Since these athletes are also doing the school a favor by participating in their programs all throughout high school and on a daily basis, shouldn’t the school give athetes a little more than just a pat on the back?

There are many reasons for athletes to engage in physical activity during the day. Just because they are getting exercise outside of the school day does not mean they are better than any other student. Athletes learn more in various gym classes than they could from their sport, like how to create a workout program, proper ways to lift, diet, nutrition and so much more.

Physical education is part of the national education curriculum, which laws have been implicated to maintain physical education in schools. Taking that program away from certain students, in this case athletes, would be unfair to the rest of the students. It would create a lack of fairness in the school system. Not taking P.E. would give athletes another class to deal with and this causes more stress to complete homework after practices.

Some may say that athletes receive certain privileges that seem unfair to the non-athletic student body. They should be required to participate in gym classes; this would make them seem less just like every other student at this school.

“Yes, I believe athletes should be treated equally as any regular student,” track coach Phillip Harris said. “They should not be excluded from taking advantage of extra classes.”

It may seem as if athletes already receive enough physical activity, but in reality they need more of it to balance out their lack of exercise before and after practices. Enrolling in a physical education class allows their coaches to check on their progress outside of practice.

Not only should athletes have to enroll in gym class SAM VALENCIA because of equality, but also due to the benefit of their physical abilities. Did you know that approximately 17 percent of young people between the ages of 11-19 are obese? This statistic shows the danger of a quick rise in these numbers if gym class was eliminated.

“Physical education is a staple in the American education system in our society and it is important to promote healthy lifestyles,” golf coach Brian Aldenderfer said.

Athletes have the benefactor of achieving more than they could during practices. It allows them to incorporate training into their everyday physical activities. While participating in physical education requirements, the overall obesity rates in students will gradually decrease.

Aldenderfer believes that athletes in gym will aid in combating the growing obesity rates while creating a better, healthier future for the youth.

Being able to exercise the body is just as important as exercising the mind.

With the various physical activities gym class provides for students, athletes are able to set examples for the non-athletic students. They learn to play with other students who are not their teammates and they become capable of gaining leadership skills that will benefit them in the future. P.E. does not only teach students about staying fit and working out, they teach students personal fitness and healthy lifestyle choices.

YES

15

Ten sports apps to download

The SPORTSCENTER app can instantly connect you with live scores, news stories, video highlights and any other personalized alerts that you set up.

With the TEAM STREAM app, you can get your favorite teams news first! By setting up personal settings, you can get alerts sent straight to your phone the moment it happens.

The NCAA SPORTS app includes live video coverage, live scores and you are even able to track your favorite teams rankings all throughout the season.

Enhance your world of soccer with the FIFA OFFICIAL app, as the World Cup approaches get yourself ready for all to come in the amazing soccer world!

Do you think student-athletes should have to participate in gym class?

“No, because you already work out all the time and you don’t need an extra workout during the day that’s just going to make you tired again.”

---Brandon Hunt freshman

With your HUDL app, you can watch all videos and game footage that your coach added to your account anytime and anywhere.

“Yes because they should still be involved with the grade. Just because they are in an activity doesn’t mean they should be excused from P.E. class.”

“No, because what if they have a game and they get hurt in gym?”

—Abdulahi Abdella sophomore

“Yes, because it’s been like that for years and if everyone else can do it then they should.”

—Edenia Benitez sophomore

—Iris Arrazola freshman

“It should be their choice, gym class is for everybody that wants to enjoy gym.

Everybody shouldn’t have to but if they want to they can do it.”

—Dilsher Singh junior

“It should be their choice, gym class is for everybody that wants to enjoy gym.”

“No they shouldn’t because they already do extra athletic activities by doing a sport.”

— Sarah Munoz junior

— Leidy Gonzalez senior Use the NIKE+ RUNNING app to get training experience, daily workouts, and coaching experience to help you improve your fitness.

Get fitted!

What it costs to be a lacrosse player Head $49.99-$99.99 @ lax.com

Helmet- $199.99 @ lax.com Gloves- $34.98$189.99 @ Lacross Monkey

Improve every part of your game with the COACH’S EYE app, the app is designed to take slow motion videos to break down a players technique step by step.

Netting $29.95@ Sport Stop

With your STUBHUB app, you can buy tickets to all types of sporting events for cheap prices in whatever area you select for your game destination.

RE ME SA L L KE ZA

Jersey- $14.99 @ Sport Stop

Download the TEAMSNAP app, this app works to keep both you and your team organized. The app focuses on team development, daily organization, and communication with your team.

—Compiled by Erin Johnson Short Stick- $29.90$144.99 @ lax.com Cleats- $109.99-$139.99 @ Dick’s Sporting Goods

—Compiled by Erin Johnson

Elite Socks- $13.99 @ Foot Locker

On your smartphone, scan the above code using the application “QR Code” to read about how inclement weather has affected spring sports

16

SPORTS Softball falls to Yorkown High

April 9, 2014

Coach’s Corner Boys Soccer: Ryan Mrowka

Rest of the season looks hopeful

BY CONRAD SHARTEL Sports Editor The varsity softball team currently has a record of one win and three losses, but that is including their tournament game against Yorktown HS, located at Edison HS, which resulted in a 7-2 loss for Annandale. Even though Annandale did not beat Yorktown, the team still felt as though they played well together.

“I think it was good game!

Everyone on our team fought hard on the field and at bat,” senior Marissa Reynolds said.

While there were multiple positive things about the game, there are certain things that players feel should be fixed in order to secure upcoming victories against other schools and teams.

Q. What advantages and strengths does your team have this season?

A. “We have seven returning starters and three boys who joined the team that played together at the McLean academy.

They are all pretty smart players, with experience playing at a high level that have a strong desire to win.”

Q. What are some weaknesses the team has this season?

A. “We have outpossessed and out-played the three teams we have played thus far, but we have struggled to maintain our dominant intensity for the full 80 minutes.”

“Everyone at bat could have swung their bats more than just watching the strikes come in,” Reynolds said.

The expectations for the next game are very high. Since the team had a loss, they expect to improve upon on their performance in the upcoming games.

“I expect everyone to be swinging at bat and getting on base. I also expect communication throughout the game and everyone focused and fighting hard while on the field,” Reynolds said.

The softball team has 15 games left in their season and has room to improve greatly. Their outlooks on this season are very high and they are all very confident.

“I think this team has the potential to be amazing this season. We all showed we are willing to fight for it and we all want it this season,” Marissa Reynolds said.

Coach Caity Butler practices tagging Marissa Reynolds while running the bases.

Girls soccer is determined to win more district games

The team hopes to overcome their current record

BY ZEKE YONAS Staff Writer Now that the weather has changed and it is finally spring again, the Annandale boys tennis team’s season is underway. They have started the season off to a rough start but are trying to work hard and improve so they can have a strong season.

“We aren’t doing so well, right now our record is 0-5,” varsity tennis player Nebyeyu Solomon said. “We’ve had a bad start.”

“We are 0-5, but we are slowly improving,” varsity boys coach Steven Zaret said. “We’ve played a lot of good teams because of our district.”

Even with the slow start, the Atoms have high expectations to finish off this season.

“Our goal is to even our record and hopefully we can win districts,” Solomon said.

Sophomore Shawn DeLopez awaits the ball.

Alumni Postcard Rowan Shartel Q. What is your favorite memory of AHS track?

A. “My favorite memory of AHS track was winning the 4x100 relay and then movng on to regionals and states in 2012.”

Q. What do you miss about AHS track?

A. “I miss AHS track so much! I loved being part of the team, working hard each day, and being able to compete.”

Q. Why did you choose track in general?

A. “I chose track because I am a competitive person, I wanted to push myself, and I loved the idea of getting to race and work on my speed.”

Q. What advice would you give a student doing AHS track this season?

A. “My advice is to try your absolute best in each workout, because you will only see results by constantly pushing yourself and working on your speed and endurance.

Also, do not get discouraged by a poor race or bad day, because the beauty of track is that you have so many other opportunities to improve and challenge yourself.”

Compiled by: Melanie Bennett

On your smartphone, scan the above code using the application “QR Code” to visit the A-Blast website to see more stories.

BY THIA CARAYIANNIS Staff Writer The girls’ varsity soccer team beat West Potomac on Friday with an overwhelming score of 4-0. Two goals were scored by senior Michelle Burnett, one from sophomore Isabella Jimenez and one from sophomore Caroline Lowery. Despite the losses, the girls have high hopes for the rest of the season.

“I could have taken more control of my box and been more aggressive on corner kicks,” junior Daniela Salinas said, “but we all worked much better as a team than we did previously. I have really high expectations for our upcoming games. I know that we’ll do good from what I saw last game.”

The team has proved how well they work together with each other through their multiple wins so far.

“We have a lot of strengths, including our individual talent and our ability to play off each other so easily,” junior Rachael Allshouse said.

However, there is room for improvement. Because of their losing record last year, they are determined to do better this season.

“I am expecting to have better chances to win than in years past because of the new players on the team,” Allshouse said.

“I expect us to go far this year,” Salinas said.

Junior Rachel Allshouse practices headers.

Girls tennis looks to improving this season The momentum from the girls recent win hopes to carry on over to future

BY ZEKE YONAS Staff Writer As the tennis season has progressed, the Annandale Girls Tennis squad has improved and look forward to a good spring season. The team won their first game on April 3 and they are looking to use this momentum to finish their season off on a high note.

“The team is doing well this season, and we are competing well”, head coach Hassan Mimms said.

“We have lost a lot of matches and our first victory was last night against Lee High school(April 3).”

“In spite of the team losing two number six players this year, we are competing well,” varsity tennis player Hannah Coulter said.

The Atoms are achieving the goals they’ve

set before the season and are still making adjustments to better themselves as a team.

“Our goals in the beginning of the season were to compete well and develop our tennis skills,” said Mimms “So far we’re right on pace, our tennis players skills are developing, we are competing as best as we can, and the girls are having fun.” “[Our goal is] to improve and gain experience for the new players on the team,” Coulter said.

Their incredible leadership and team chemistry has become their main strengths.

“I have two excellent captains, Chloe Loving and Hannah Coulter, they have been able to be the backbone of the team, they have helped the girls come together as a team,” Mimms said.

“Our two awesome co-captains and our meshing as a team are our strengths.” “[Our strengths are] we practice hard and our team is really close,” Coulter said.

“We are still trying to become more competitive, we continue to have tough losses and we want to turn them into tough wins,” said Mimms.

CYNTHIA WEINER

COURTESY OF CINDY MITLO

Q. How is the team chemistry this season?

A. “Pretty solid. Most of the boys have played together before and many of them are friends. As the season progresses, they are becoming even more familiar with each other on the pitch.”

Their 2-3 record hopes to carry throughout the entire season

“[Our goal is] to improve, get better match by match, point by point, game by game,” Zaret said.

It might be hard for some to look on the bright side with the squad starting off winless, but with their positive attitude they are able to not worry about the start of the season and focus on finishing the season off strong. They continue to work on improvement every practice. “[Our strengths are] our positivity and our attitude towards other opponents,” said Solomon.

“We are like a family,” said Varsity Tennis player Lorenzo Miguel.

The Atoms need to work on being calm, cool, and collective in order for them to finish points.

OLIVIA LAFFERTY

Q. Do you have greater hopes for this season than last season?

A. “Yes. I am confident that we’ll be able to compete with the top teams in our district.”

OLIVIA LAFFERTY

Boys tennis struggles to meet pre-season goals

Senior Hannah Coulter practices her serve at practice.

Boys soccer record is strong this season Team chemistry gives the boys a strong advantage

BY CONRAD SHARTEL Sports Editor Annandale’s varsity boys soccer team is looking very good this season with a record of three wins, one tie and zero losses. The team has many unique strengths that makes them different, in a better way, than most teams they are up against.

“We have seven

returning starters and three boys who joined the team this year but played together at the McLean Academy. They all have experience at a high level and have a strong desire to win,” head coach Ryan Mrowka said.

Like all sports teams, the boys soccer team has a few specific weaknesses.

“We have out-possessed and out-played the teams we have played so far, but we’ve struggled to maintain our dominant intensity for the full 80 minutes,” Mrowka said.

Along with their other strengths on the field, the team is very strong outside of the field. The chemistry on the team

is very good and is improving even more as the season goes on.

“The chemistry this season is pretty solid.

Most of the boys have played together before and are friends. And as the season progresses, they’re becoming even more familiar with each other on the pitch,” Mrowka said.

With the season currently being 3-10, and the tie being against West Potomac HS, proving to be their toughest opponent yet this season. The team has great outlooks and confidence for the rest of the season.

“I am confident we will be able to compete with the top teams in our district,” Mrowka said.

An Atoms soccer player practices dribbling around a defender at their practice.

BY MELANIE BENNETT Sports Editor The girls lacrosse team defeated West Potomac 10-7 on April 3. With the win against West Springfield as well, the girls are now 2-0 in the conference.

“The game against West Potomac was a very competitive and exciting battle where the Atoms started strong and continued to improve throughout the game to earn another big conference victory,” head coach Cindy Hook said.

The team also took part in the Atomic Blast Tournament which took place over the past two weekends.

“The tournament was a great chance to work with

COURTESY OF ANYA MONTES DE OCA

The girls lacrosse team continues their winning streak with a 2-0 record so far

Sophomore Sara Deible drives the ball down field attempting to score during the game vs. West Potomac.

different players, try different defensive tactics and further develop our transition and attack,” Hook said. “Overall, we learned the importance of getting everyone on the same page in order to have success.”

With many tournament and conference games under their belt, the girls review their strengths and weaknesses and evaluate what needs to be done in practice in order to improve.

“Our biggest strength was

our communication on defense and our transitions,” senior Kaitlin Martindale said.

“We will continue to work on our spacing and timing of cuts on attack, our shot selection and our strength and

conditioning in practice,” Hook said.

In addition to the tournament the team got to go on a very special trip to UVA on March 26 to tour the campus and watch the UVA vs.

ODU girls lacrosse game.

“The UVA trip helped the girls begin to begin considering their educational and athletic options after high school,” Hook said. “It was a first opportunity for many of the girls to tour the grounds and see a division one women’s lacrosse game in action. It was also a great team bonding experience.”

With so much positivity to look back on, the girls have the extra drive to bring more wins to the table. They are looking forward to playing Lake Braddock on Thursday to continue their game winning streak.

“We will continue to keep working to improve individually and as a team each day and play our games one at a time,” Hook said.

“The better our teamwork, the better the results.”

As a senior, what did you learn from visiting UVA?

17

Alumni Postcard COURTESY OF BETSY KRUSE

SPORTS Girls lax defeats West Potomac April 9, 2014

Betsy Kruse Q. What is your favorite memory of AHS girls lax?

A. “One of my favorite memories from lacrosse is the Atomic Blast Tournament. It was such a fun way to start off the season and get to know your teammates better both on and off the field. It was also always really cool to look back at and be able to see how much the team improved throughout the season.”

Q. What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome during lax?

A. “It was trying to find a balance between playing smart and playing hard. I didn’t want to just run head first into every play, but I also didnt want to hesitate and not be aggressive.”

Q. What lesson(s) did AHS lax teach you?

A. “Lacrosse taught me so many lessons, but I think the biggest lesson I learned, as cliche as it may sound, was that you can accomplish so much more when you work as a team rather than relying completely on your star players.”

Lizzie Manthos “It gave me a good taste on how competitive college sports actually are.”

Amanda Villafana

Kaitlin Martindale

Lailumah Faisal

Jenny Nguyen

“My favorite part was getting to watch an actual college game to see how they play vs. how we play.”

“I learned that college lacrosse is very fastpaced because they were scoring goal after goal.”

“I liked that we got to see inside peoples’ dorms to see what they’re like and how they lived.”

“I learned about the campus and the history of the school. I also liked watching the fast paced game.”

Q. What advice would you give a student doing AHS lax this season?

A. “For everyone playing lacrosse this year, some advice that I want to give is that you can improve so much in a single season, but in order for that to happen, you need to work outside of practice too. Take some time to go on that extra run or do some wall ball, it will definitely help!”

Boys lacrosse looks forward to improvement

Coach’s Corner

MELANIE BENNETT

BY DANIEL YENEGETA Staff Writer After a slow start and a 1-1 record so far, boys varsity lacrosse is working to improve. They won their first district game 9-7 against West Springfield and on Thurs.

April 3 fell to West Potomac 13-4.

“We started out kind of rough, but I feel like we’ll be able to go up against some of the better district teams pretty well,” sophomore Caleb Britton said.

“I’m optimistic even though we lost to West Pot, all we need now is the confidence to win more games,” sophomore Beau Hatch said.

The team’s ability to work together helps the team gain confidence and improve.

“We all work together and like each other,” Hatch said.

“We got better from our first game to our second game. Our players are supporting and looking out for each other and our stick

skills are improving every day,” varsity coach Bill Maglisceau said.

The team still has areas of weakness, but coaches and players alike are determined to address weaknesses in practice “We’re doing more ground ball drills, like scooping the ball and moving to the other side of the field. We also will increase the amount of shots players take in practice.

If a player is taking 5 shots in practice we want to get him up to 8 or 10 shots and if a player is taking 10 shots we want him to take 12-15 in practice,” Maglisceau said.

“I feel like the lack of a strong lefty puts us at a disadvantage, because other teams do have that advantage. Everyone else is right handed,” Britton said. “We will work on our offhand as much as we can. Even if coach is going to yell at us, it’s something that we need to work on.”

Coaches like how the team stacks up in the conference. Though the team has a losing record, it is early in the season and the team is working hard to fix weaknesses.

“Last year the four seed won the conference championship, so we are pretty optimistic. If you can play well you can be right there,” Maglisceau said.

“I am looking forward to the rest of the season and all the improvement we will make,” Hatch said.

Bill Maglisceau: Boys Lacrosse

MEGAN RYAN

After a loss against West Potomac the boys rally to improve their skills during practice

The boys lacrosse team works together to get the ball on a transition during a game.

Baseball victorious over Lee High 10-6 The baseball team gets closer to their goal of getting top four in the conference

OLIVIA LAFFERTY

BY CYNTHIA WEINER Staff Writer

Senior co-captain Steven Schwartz throws the ball around during practice.

The baseball team defeats Lee High School 10-6 in their third game on April 2.

The tough game added to their early-season winning streak after beating Woodson in their second game 5-2. With these two wins, the team now has a 2-1 record of wins and losses under their belt.

“We play in what is probably the most talented conference in the region and possibly the state,” head coach Daniel Porter said. “I feel like our guys are comparable in skill level with a great senior leadership and talent across several grade levels.”

However, even with these wins and recognition of being a talented team, the team evaluates the previous gameplay to better future games.

“In the game against Lee, we did not play our best game, but we rallied in the end and fed off of the energy,” senior cocaptain Noah Wolfenstein said. “It was overall a great win, but we need to work on routine plays and keeping the energy up, also being more aggressive at the plate.”

“We need to work on getting signs and keeping our energy and intensity up the entire game, not just for one or two innings,” senior co-captain Tyler Pacak added.

To strengthen these weaknesses, the team looks toward specific practices as a tool for this improvement.

“We look to do a lot of situational drills and try to have high intensity practices to simulate games,” senior co-captain Steven Schwartz said.

The team looks to improve for the season with these practices, as well as to help reach their goal in upcoming seasons.

“As a team were looking to get our first playoff win in a couple years and place top four in the conference,” Schwartz said. “I think we have some really good talent and I think that if we keep practicing and playing like we have then we will be able to reach our goal.”

Q. What are some positive observations of the team given their performance so far?

A. “We got better from our first game to our second game. Our players are supporting and looking out for each other and our stick skills are improving every day.”

Q. What are some weaknesses?

A. “We are not making good ground ball decisions.

We are also too tentative to shoot, we keep passing to other players hoping that they will take the shot.”

Q. What are you planning on doing in practice to improve the team’s weaknesses?

A. “We are doing more ground ball drills, like scooping the ball and moving to the other side of the field.

We will also increase the amount of shots players take in practice. If a player is taking five shots in practice we want to get him up to eight or 10 shots and if a player is taking 10 shots we want him to take 12-15 in practice.”

Q. How do you think the team stacks up in the conference?

A. “Last year the four seed won the conference championship, so we are pretty optimistic. If you can play well you can be right there.”

Q. Any other thoughts or comments?

A. “We are looking forward to improving weather and playing more games.”

18 Just keep on binge watching ENTERTAINMENT

Upcoming concerts and events

April 9, 2014

Popular movie and TV show streaming website take over students’ lives

BY AYAH OWEIS Entertainment Editor

AYAH OWEIS

CLAY VS LEVI Wed., April 9 Jammin Java

For senior Eric Mejean, watching shows on Netflix was one of the more important things in life. He couldn’t go a day without watching at least one episode of his favorite show, House of Cards.

“I had such an obsession with Netflix that I had to give it up for Students can keep up with their favorite shows on through mobile apps and popular websites.

Lent,” Mejean said.

Students like Mejean are a In a recent study done by Comcast, While Amazon and Netflix offer growing example of the diminishing past seasons of popular shows, Hulu Washington D.C ranks number one in importance of cable TV and the and Hulu Plus focus on adding cities that binge watch when it comes growing popularity of on-demand new episodes of current seasons for to TV show episodes. movie streaming websites. Why watch popular shows.

Out of all of the binge watchers, your favorite show once a week when Hulu streams certain episodes 88 percent admit to watching at least you can watch five episodes back to of shows for free, with ads every few once a week and 52 percent admit to back? minutes, but also gives viewers the binge watching in order to avoid work.

Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime choice to pay and gain access to up to “I watch Netflix to avoid doing are the three major legal streaming date episodes of all shows. homework,” junior Kristel Franjie sites. Most students’ families have Both Hulu and Netflix require said. accounts that they share with family a $7.99 monthly fee, while Amazon These streaming websites have an members and friends.

Prime has a yearly fee of $99.00 and abundance of shows to choose from.

“I use my friend’s sister’s account,” also offers free two-day shipping on Hulu even has an exclusive deal with senior Brian Abedi said. “I watch absolutely anything you buy on the NBCU to stream past seasons of their when I’m bored at night, which is all site. most popular shows. the time.”

WIZARDS VS BOBCATS Wed., April 9 Verizon Center

Netflix has 76,897 different categories that include the basics, like comedy and romance, but also categories that are suggestions based on what you have previously watched.

For some, binge watching TV shows is no longer a hobby, it is a way of life.

After the first episode, students become hooked. Whether the show has two seasons or six seasons, a student will do anything just to figure out what happens next. Some students even watch their shows in class either on a computer or on their phone.

Despite the rush to get through the season, most students actually are sad once they are all caught up or they have finished the series in all.

“When you’re done watching the show, there’s no more anticipation for the next episode and you have nothing better to do once you’ve finished the series. ” junior Hawa Ehsan said.

A lot of students go back and rewatch some of their favorite shows that have ended, simply because there’s nothing better to do and they don’t want to go out and find new shows.

Binge watching serves as a filler for homework, sports or any other fulfilling activity. Students need something to watch and obsess over.

“I’ve watched the entire Gossip Girl series twice,” Ehsan said.

Sharing their obsession

MILEY CYRUS Thurs., April 10 Verizon Center

AVICII Sat., April 12 Jiffy Lube Live

“I watched clips on Hulu and shows like Brooklyn 99 and Community. I spent a Sunday getting caught up and now I watch an episode a week.”

“I watch movies on Amazon Prime. I don’t watch anything in particular but I watch at least two movies a week. Kill Bill Volume 1 is my favorite.”

— Noah Wolfenstein Senior

— James Barker Senior

“I watch basic shows that I’ve missed and didn’t get to watch when they were on TV. I usually watch Twisted at least once a week.”

“I started watching American Horror Sotry on Amazon Prime, it is a really convenient website. I watch at least two or three episodes a day.”

— Ruth Tiguh Sophomore

— Nadia Fakhra Sophomore

“I watch The Vampire Diaries because I like Damon Salvatorre. I watch it pretty much everyday.”

“I watch The Originals almost every week, I watch the shows I miss because I miss them when they’re on TV.”

— Sadie Modica Freshman

— Remata Sesay Freshman

“Amazon Prime is easy to use, it’s fast and it’s convenient. I have a lot of documentaries, movies and TV shows, like Downton Abbey.”

“I watched Lost and finished the entire series over spring break last year. I hated the ending.”

RINGLING BROTHERS Sun., April 13 Patriot Center

— Ryan Fitzgibbon Senior

KID INK Fri., April 18 Fillmore Silver Spring “I started watching Breaking Bad because everyone said it was good and I finished all five seasons in four months.”

— Davian Gonzalez Sophomore

BURN THE BALLROOM Sat., April 19 Empire

LAUGHS IN THE LOBBY Sun., April 27 Jammin Java

— Holly Miller Social Studies Teacher

STYLE TO THE AISLE Sun., April 27 Fillmore Siilver Spring

The Fillmore Silver Spring hosts the last show of an amazing pop-rap duo

BY AYAH OWEIS Enterainment Editor

On your smartphone, scan the above code using the application “QR Code” to read the review of a 2 Chainz and August Alsina concert.

The pop-rap duo Aer finished off their Word of Mouth tour with a bang at The Fillmore Silver Spring, making the audience beg for an encore for five minutes straight.

The night started at around 8:30 pm, when last minute addition Guy Harrison came onstage to open for New Beat Fund. Harrison is an up and coming rapper who was featured in one of Aer’s songs, “Tell It Straight.”

When they first stepped out onstage, I have to admit, I was a little taken aback by their weird style.

However, as soon as they started playing their most popular songs, “Peachez” and “Scare Me,” me and the rest of the people in the audience who had never listened to the techno-pop group, quickly warmed up to them.

Next came RDGLDGRN (Red Gold Green), a Reston based band that was formed in 2011 and has quickly grown in popularity. The trio kept up New Beat Fund’s energy and kept the crowd hyped with their multi-genre feel and amazing songs, including “Million Fans.”

Once RDGLDGRN was finished, the crowd was ready for Aer’s dynamic duo, Carter Schultz and David Von Mering; instead Aer’s official DJ, DJ Smiles, came onstage.

At first the entire crowd was screaming and yelling their objections but once Smiles started, the crowd when wild. Then the beat dropped and the already crazy concert was taken to a whole new level.

Once DJ Smiles was done, it was

AYAH OWEIS

Aer: Word of Mouth Concert Review

The duo came out onstage energetic and kept the energetic pade up all throughout their set.

finally time for the real show to start.

Schultz and Von Mering spent now time starting up their show, opening up with fan favorite, “Floats My Boat.”

The rest of their set went by extremely fast, but every song they

played sounded great and kept the crowd screaming.

The overall feel of the entire concert was upbeat and wild and has now taken the spot as my favorite concert I’ve been to.

April 9, 2014

Green River Ordinance

ENTERTAINMENT

Horoscopes Aries (March 21- April 19) Have confidence in your decisions. The path you have chosen for yourself is the right one; don’t let others interfere with your goals.

Exclusive interview with the drummer of GRO; an upcoming band that has been traveling around the nation on their most recent tour, Chasing Down the Wind

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

BY MEGAN RYAN Entertainment Editor Q: How and when did you guys start your band?

A: 10 years since James and Jeff were brothers, they just wanted to become musicians and just kind of made a band in their garage. Then through mutual friends in college and in high school we just all got together and started making music with each other.

Q: Have you guys always wanted to go into the music industry?

A: I think I can pretty much speak for the whole band, but we’ve always wanted to be in the music career and succeed in it.

Q: How would you describe your kind of music? And has your background from Texas influenced it any?

A: Right now, it is more of an alternative county/ southern rock.

If you want to compare it’s like The eagles, or the Zac Brown Band, but earlier in our career we were more

like pop rock since that was in the 90’s. But since we grew up in Texas, as we got older our sounds changed and matured with us.

Q: How did it feel to release your newest EP? A: It was really exciting to release new music and especially this for this EP because we only wrote these songs in a couple of weeks basically around a campfire. We just went to a cabin for a couple of weeks and wrote songs that we just felt were right. We don’t really have anything that we specifically write our songs on, sometimes Josh just writes his own ones. Or if it is a Friday night and we just want to write a song to show how we feel Friday nights should be like, then we do! There really isn’t much to it.

Q: What artists inspired you when you are writing songs or wanted to get in the business?

A: We went on tour with Third Eye Blind, Train and the Goo Goo Dolls and those are some important

people to us, but also some of the older kinds of music like, The Eagles, The Band, and Tom Petty has always inspired us and our music.

Q: You guys went on tour With the Goo Goo Dolls, Third Eye Blind and Train. How was it?

A: They inspired our music and gave us great opportunities when we went on tour with them. It was also just a lot of fun to get those kinds of experiences and to have people listen to our music.

Q: Since you guys are on tour now, how do you deal with the struggles of being on tour?

A: Normally us five guys would be in a small 15 passenger van traveling around, which meant we have to spend a lot of time together.

But we are pretty good at keeping to ourselves when we need to and also we just get along really well. Plus we just got a new tour bus and it’s like a whole new world. There is so much more room for us.

Some relationships may not be worth fighting for.

Whether it is a friendship or love, or if the other person isn’t taking it seriously you should move on.

Q: What are some advantages of being a group band rather then a single artist?

A: Being a group is a lot of fun and there are more personalities in it, rather then just being one person.

We can show all of our different personalities in during one show and it’s like five of us in one song.

Q:What advice do you have for upcoming artists?

A: It is hard thing to do, what we do, so you honestly just have to believe in yourself. Just keep doing what you’re doing and whatever you do, don’t give up. Also, it does help so have good songs and good music.

Q: Anything else you’d like to say to your fans?

A: We couldn’t do this without you and you guys mean the world to us.

We wouldn’t be here without you guys either.

A night at Jammin’ Java

Gemini May 21- June 20) This month you should try to keep to yourself a little more. There is nothing wrong with staying home and having some personal time.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) Try to chance the outlook you’ve had for the past few months. If your perspective changes maybe your luck will change too.

Leo (July 23- Aug. 22) Enjoy the situation you are in. Soon, a lot of things in your life may shift and you might find yourself being nostalgic.

Virgo (Aug.23-Sept.22) Recently, the past has been on your mind. Owing up to old mistakes would be a great step to take before moving forward.

With the line-up of Mark Scibilia, Elenown and Green River Ordinance, it was a night that I will never forget

Libra (Sept.23-Oct. 22) COURTESY OF HTTP://WWW.NODEPRESSION.COM/

BY KAITLIN MARTINDALE Special to the A-Blast Rustic atmosphere, dim lights and a crowded room is what you picture late on that Saturday night. People of all ages coming from around the DC Area came to support this band which has recently become popular.

The first person on stage was contemporary a blues and jazz artist with an interesting pop twist. Marc Scibilia played songs which had a nice head bobbing, foot tapping beat to them.

His songs were very easy to get stuck in my head as well. It was the feel of a new and upcoming genre, bringing back the blues for the 21st century. At this point the crowd was about 30 people, but as the next band came onto stage people started to file in as the more well known acts were about to preform.

Elenowen, the second on stage, consisted of married couple Josh and Nicole Johnson as well as a third member playing the drums. It was clear that the couple loved to make music together and it was fun to listen to them enjoy themselves on stage.

Their set gave off a relaxing mood to sway to the mellow sounds of the couple’s voices, a guitar and light percussion. As the music was playing there were many couples sharing a warm embrace cherishing these love songs, which was the main theme for most of Elenowen songs.

Finally for the main act Green River Ordinance, a long time band of five (Joshua Wilkerson, Jamey Ice, Denton Hunker, Josh Jenkins and Geoff Ice) came on stage one at a time with almost an alienesque-themed song.

19

Once they all were ready, the music started and soon everyone was enjoying themselves, allowing the concert to burst with life. The venue filled with thirty people during the first act then became at least sixty people now. Everyone was singing along and getting into the music, with new songs from their new album Chasing Down The Wind.

The rock and country mixed-genre became a new sound with inspiration from the popular Mumford and Sons with some Zac Brown Band as well.

After their set, people in the audience shouted “encore” and they came back on stage to perform one more song.

For their encore they came into the crowd with their instruments unplugged. This gave an up close and personal connection with the audience, a concert that would most certainly be remembered by most who went there.

“I liked how much they interacted with the

audience. They seem to make it a big goal to really connect with them in which they do a great job!” senior Lailumah Faisal said. “My favorite song was the one where they sang to us when they went off-stage.”

Out of all the songs played that night the best two were “Bright Day” by Marc Scibilia and “Heart of Me”

by Green River Ordinance. “Bright Day” was a more relaxed song, while “Heart of Me” was more upbeat, both of which seemed to have the audience dancing to them.

Overall the concert was one of the best I have been to. The audience was all close to the stage and the members of every band were roaming around waiting to meet people.

Going to Jammin’ Java and getting to hear these underground bands was an amazing experience. Marc Scibilia, Elenowen and Green River Ordinance are definitely three bands to look out for. to meet people.

Watch how your life will change if you put your effort and attention into new things.

Your old routines will not continue to benefit you.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) Patience will be extremely important in the next few weeks. People may seem to be disappointing you but seek for the deeper reasons and you will be presented with an opportunity to help.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Lately, you have been taking something for granted. Take some time to appreciate everything in your life, even the things you don’t think are important.

Capricorn (Dec. 22- Jan. 19) You have been relying on a new person to help with a pressing issue. Don’t put too much responsibility on them until you open up about what you need them to do.

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 18) Focus is key for the coming month. Don’t get distracted by things that won’t benefit you. If you stay alert you may notice an opportunity that you have been waiting for.

Pisces (Feb.19- March 20) All of your relationships are rocky at the moment and being mad will lead you to an unsuccessful solution.

Calmly evaluate every aspect and you will come to the write conclusion.

On your smartphone, scan the above code using the application “QR Code” to read a review of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes.

20

Spring Break To Do List

WEEKEND

April 9, 2014

Take it outside As spring weather arrives, the DMV offers outdoor adventures for all personality types

Sakura Matsuri Japanese Street Festival

For the city dwellers, take a stroll down King Street in Old Town, Alexandria Dining

What: It is one of the biggest street festivals in D.C. Enjoy a day of new experiences with exhilarating performances by Japanese dancers and foods from over 30 Asian restaurants.

When: April 12 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Where: The festival is centered at 12th St.

Red Mei is the perfect place to go if you’re in the mood for some Thai food. The minute you walk in, you’re welcomed into a cozy restaurant with a lot of choices. Most entrees are $6.79 and includes everything from Pad Thai to Asian Coconut Curry Chicken.

Avicii Concert

Shopping

What: Transcendence, starring Johnny Depp, is a thrilling Sci-Fi focused around a terminally ill scientist who downloads his mind onto a computer and becomes unstoppable.

When: Released on April 18 Where: Found in most movie theaters around the area. Go to AMC Courthouse Plaza 18 in Arlington to enjoy the reclining seats and cozy atmosphere.

2014 class bulletin Make sure to get your All Night Grad tickets!

Tickets are $45 until June 12, then they will be $60, so get them soon!

Graduation countdown: 69 days!

Prom countdown: 58 days!

Sight Seeing

Great Falls is the powerful section of the Potomac River that lies along the border between Maryland and Virginia. The park is home to many challenging hiking trails, beautiful views and 800 acres of wild life. Many students take advantage of the warm weather that spring brings by visiting the park. The park makes for a perfect day trip for those who seek an adventure.

Hiking

Sophomore Sara Deible loves going to Great Falls during the spring because of the beautiful weather and views.“I went to Great Falls with my friends and we climbed to a secluded area and watched the falls. It was very hot out and it was hard to climb the rocks but it was definitely worth it,” Deible said.

“I would recommend going with a big group of friends and taking lots of pictures.”

Walking through downtown Alexandria, you’ll see various places to go shopping including Lou Lou, Francesca’s and Anthropologie.

These stores provide a wide selection varying from accessories to clothing.

What: Avicii is a Swedish DJ/ mixer whose hit songs “Wake Me Up” and “Hey Brother” put him on the charts this year. Lawn seats are available for $40 online and pavilion seating is available starting at $70.

When: April 12 starting at 7 p.m.

Where: Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, Virginia.

New Movie Release: Transcendence

For the nature lovers, hiking at Great Falls Park is the perfect way to spend a sunny afternoon and get some exercise

Alexandria is home to multiple docks looking out on to the Potomac River.

Enjoy different activities such as fishing, watching the sunset and taking a boat ride. The scenic spots give you a chance to celebrate the nice weather.

Scenic spots

Meditating

Junior Reem Lakkis often goes to Great Falls to get away from her everyday life and enjoy a stress free day.

“Great Falls is a great place to visit and hike in when you need to escape reality. It’s very peaceful and beautiful,” Lakkis Said. “My friends and I went on all sorts of trails and we would climb up on the rocks to take pictures of the beautiful scenic views.”

Exploring

Senior Sureyya Gokturk goes to Billy Goat Trail at Great Falls to enjoy a day of hiking and spending time with friends when it’s nice out. “It’s really good hiking and you get a workout by climbing up all the rocks. I like to do outdoorsy things as often as possible, especially on the weekends,” Gokturk said.

i h s u S

For Dummies

Do:

DoN't:

Dip the fish side of the sushi into the soy sauce.

Try to dissemble the sushi, it should be eaten in one bite.

Keep an open mind, don’t allow the foreign look of sushi to stop you from enjoying your experience, sometimes the strangest looking foods are the best.

Turn flash off before taking pictures of the sushi.

Newbie

Rub your chopsticks together to remove splinters.

Be afraid to use your fingers if you cannot use chopsticks, sushi originated as a finger food.

WASABI is a very hot horseradish-tasting root that can be mixed with soy sauce to make your sushi more spicy.

Use a fork to eat your sushi with.

Experienced

Risk-Taker PICKLED GINGER is used as a palate cleanser. If you ordered more than one type of sushi, you should eat this in between.

On your smartphone, scan the above code using the application “QR Code” to read about the new Ferris wheel opening at the National Harbor.

Avocado Roll

Salmon roll

Volcano Roll