The Churchill Observer- November 2014

Volume 39 - Issue 3

A National Blue Ribbon School

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Math teacher wins ‘My Favorite Teacher’ award

By Gil Jacobson News Editor Sammi Silber Editor-in-Chief Geometry teacher Hsinyu Ho won the Gazette’s “My Favorite Teacher” contest for MCPS high school teachers after being nominated and named a finalist earlier this school year.

This award is given to a teacher who students believe exemplifies the model teacher.

Interested students were allowed to submit a nominating essay at the beginning of the school year.

The essays are then considered and finalists are then suggested from that group

through a vote. Finalists are later voted on and a winner is chosen. Although the winner will not be officially announced until Dec. 10, Ho was confirmed to have won the award on Nov. 11, the Gazette told the Observer.

“I feel great,” Ho said.

“The time and effort has finally paid off.”

According to the Gazette’s website, freshman Kierra Luu nominated Ho for the award because she believes that Ho combines his lessons with humorous personal stories, which helps him create personal relationships with his students and encourage them.

Ho started working at CHS in 2012 after working at high schools in New Jersey and New York, as well as at Blake High School in Montgomery County.

He decided to become a teacher because he wanted to be a role model for Asian male students and men who aspire to become teachers.

“You don’t see a lot of Asian male teachers,” Ho

said. “I want to be a positive role model for students.”

According to Algebra teacher Matt Rafferty, Ho deserves the award because he is likeable and devoted while also teaching math in a fun, engaging way.

“The [students] have always loved him,” Rafferty said. “He’s a great teacher and he’s dedicated. He’s one of those teachers who is here early and leaves late.”

Students who have had Ho as a teacher believe that his teaching methods and qualities define him as a “good teacher” and as a deserving nominee for the award.

According to senior Francisco Noguera, who had Ho for Algebra 2 sophomore year, Ho is a good teacher because of his teaching techniques and attitude towards students.

“He’s not too strict and not too laid-back, and he knows what he’s doing,” Noguera said.

“He can understand and help you in math.”

Ho’s philosophy of teaching is that in order to become a better teacher, he must bond with his students.

“To be an effective teacher, you have to make sure your students like you,” Ho said.

“Building a relationship and trust is important. I did my part as a teacher, and that’s not easy to do.”

Although Ho believes that the award reflects his teaching performance, he believes that there is a lot that he can approve on as a teacher, such as improving his use of English, since it is not his first lanuage.

“I get a lot of criticism because English is my second language,” Ho said. “I want to improve my ability to speak English.”

Overall, Ho is proud that he received the award and believes that it tells him that he is doing a good job teaching.

“The award shows me that I am on the right track as a teacher,” Ho said.

Scotland community recreation center reopens

Superintendent Joshua Starr outlines goals in student media round table.

PAGE 2

The newly renovated recreation center offers Scotland residents a variety of activities including a community room, a computer room and a full-size basketball court. time. The site is named after Thompson, a Scotland resident, who has committed herself to the renovation of run-down houses since 1960.

According to the Montgomery County Division of Building Design and Construction, the recreational site will comply with the Montgomery County stan-

Features Humans of Churchill

The Observer sits down with the people behind the site.

PAGE 9

dards to meet the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and energy guidelines mapped out in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) to receive LEED Silver certification.

Updates to the recreational center include new sports features, such as a larger gym, a pool ta-

ble, and a recreational-sized basketball court for kids to use. The center also includes a computer room, classrooms, and a community room with a warming kitchen.

“I really like the basketball court,” Soumah said. “Before, the basketball court wasn’t the actual size of the court, but now it’s bigger with actual lines. It’s just better.”

Arts Little Shop of Horrors CHS’ fall musical takes the stage with two casts.

PAGE 15

PHOTO BY KIM ROONEY.

News The future of MCPS

PHOTO BY PABLO ROA.

IMAGE BY MADISON HURR.

Three years void of a recreational area, the Scotland community will re-open its community center, now dedicated as the Bette Carol Thompson Neighborhood Recreation Center, to the public this month.

“The first-class renovation project completed by our Department of General Services greatly improves the Center,” county Recreation Department Director Gabriel Albornoz said in a November statement.

“The design offers greater opportunities to expand programming and continue building successful community partnerships that will benefit our residents.”

According to the project’s funding and expenditure schedule, renovation plans were scheduled after the Montgomery County

Recreation Department (MCRD) assessed the facility in 2005, formulating an agreement with the Department of Public Works and Transportation (DPWT) to start construction in 2012 and to allocate $6.5 million to the project. The old community center had unhealthy levels of rust, structural deterioration and an undersized gym, causing it to be inoperable for community members.

Before renovation took place, many of the community members did not have a functional place to gather; however, the renovations will provide community members the needed updates for a safer and useful site.

“It is really going to help the kids,” senior Oumar Soumah said. “The kids really had nothing to do for three or four years because they knocked down the center.”

The Thompson Center, spanning almost 13,000 square feet is now twice the size of the old site, which was 40 years old at the

PHOTO BY PABLO ROA.

By Katie Gauch Editor-in-Chief Hannah Yasharoff Public Relations Manager

News

2

theObserver

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Starr looks to future as county continues to grow

By Gil Jacobson News Editor

By Pablo Roa Production Editor

at an Oct. 29 media roundtable with MCPS student journalists. “I think that the issue we have with ESOL is that schools do it in different ways. We’re not as consistent as we need to be.”

With the additional money, Starr From an increased dependency hopes to ensure that each school has on technology to a student popula- a head ESOL teacher to help lead the tion that is growing by thousands school’s program. Starr says that improveach year, in the three years since ing ESOL programs is just one of many Joshua Starr became Superintendent steps the county has taken to help adjust of MCPS, he and the rest of MCPS to its growing special education needs.

“There has been an increase in stuleadership have adapted quickly to the ever-evolving conditions of the largest dents with special needs in the last 15 years,” Starr said. “Every teacher now school system in Maryland.

One major issue that has plagued knows that they not only have to be a MCPS in the last few years is the over- content teacher, but they also need to crowding of schools and the fact that know something about special educasome facilities in the county have not tion. We’re working hard on it, but it been renovated in decades. Starr be- comes down to money.”

The continued growth of the student lieves that these are some of the most pressing issues facing the county, and body and the lack of monetary resources for this reason he is recommending that to build new schools forces the county to $220.8 million be added to MCPS’ cur- use relocatable classrooms, known as porrent six-year school construction plan to tables, in order to accommodate students help the county address its space needs. without drastically increasing class sizes.

Starr hopes that an increase in “Montgomery County continues to make significant investments in meeting construction funding will help reduce the space and facility needs of MCPS and the need for portables as the county’s we are very appreciative of their com- construction efforts in recent years mitment,” Starr said in an Oct. 28 press have already led to a significant drop statement. “But enrollment in our school in the number of portables being used district is increasing every year and if we by MCPS. Montgomery County Board of Educaare going to keep up with that growth, an even bigger investment is going to be tion (BOE) president Philip Kauffman needed. It is our hope the state will step said that MCPS currently uses 404 portables – a sigup this year The county has done an enormous nificant drop and provide from the 700 additional amount, but we just can’t keep up. portables the revenue to We’re bursting at the seams.” county used in its largest 2007. and fastestAt the growing - Superintendent Joshua Starr roundtable, school disStarr and trict.”

While building new schools and Kauffman stressed that while progress modernizing old ones is something has been made to alleviate the presthat every school system does, the sures of the growing student populasituation has become especially dire in tion in MCPS, the county needs help MCPS, where the student population from the state if it hopes to continue to grow in the coming years. is booming.

“We are advocating strongly for Enrollment in MCPS for the 2014-15 school year is at 154,230 students – an some support from the state to help us increase of nearly 3,000 from last year with our construction because we need and an increase of 16,485 students since help,” Starr said. “The county has done 2007. Not only is enrollment at an all-time an enormous amount, but we just can’t high this year, but it is expected to con- keep up. We’re bursting at the seams.”

Several CHS students have cited tinue growing and reach around 165,000 technological advancements as an addistudents by the 2020-21 school year.

In the coming years, the Superin- tional reason to modernize schools. Of tendent hopes to increase academic CHS’ two feeder middle schools, Cabin standards throughout the county while John’s modernization was completed in managing pressing issues such as the 2011 while Hoover’s finished in 2013.

Another method the county uses to growing number of ESOL students and the issues that currently face the ESOL control the growing student enrollment program, along with the implementation rate is redrawing the boundaries that of new standardized testing procedures. determine what schools students must “We put $1.4 million in this year’s attend. Through redistricting, the county budget to focus on ESOL,” Starr said is able to add students to schools that

“

PHOTO BY PABLO ROA.

Superintendent Joshua Starr and Board of Education President Philip Kauffman address student journalists at an Oct. 29 student media round table. have vacancies and reduce the number of students at schools that are overcrowded.

While redistricting may temporarily help control the student population, Starr suggests that it should not be done frequently as it is disruptive to school communities.

“We will always look at boundary studies as well as building new schools,” Starr said. “But the issue with redistricting is that, when you do it, you want to try to ensure at least a 10-year stability so you don’t have to move people again.

You don’t want to be too disruptive.”

While the fate of Starr’s school construction plan rests in the hands of the state, MCPS has made progress in modernizing the technology inside the existing school buildings. The county is in the process of distributing Google Chromebooks to all schools – the first step in a major district-wide effort to increase the use of technology in classrooms and to combine all school-related technology into one Google platform.

“We wanted to start moving the technology conversation beyond just wireless infrastructure and Prometheans,” Starr said. “We want kids to have devices and to be using them to access lots of different materials.”

Starr says that many devices were considered to lead the county’s technology initiative but Chromebooks were ultimately the best fit. Other devices, such as iPads, would not work for MCPS’ broad technology needs because iPads “don’t play well” with other devices that the county uses.

“Chromebooks were decided on for multiple reasons,” Starr said. “The Google apps for education are really solid; it’s a really good platform. A Chromebook is also an inexpensive device.”

Along with Chromebooks, MCPS has now added Wi-Fi to schools throughout the county and, despite some problems with its implementation, has helped bring the school system to the forefront of technology use in education.

“We accelerated the implementation of the wireless networks two years ago, and whenever you’re making a huge technology push, there are going to be glitches,” Starr said. “Nothing’s going to be perfect right out of the box.”

Another major academic change that MCPS plans to make in the near future is transitioning from the Maryland High School Assessments (HSA) to the Partnership for Assessment of College and Careers (PARCC) assessments as end-of-course exams used to fulfill high school graduation requirements.

Although the Maryland State Department of Education plans to make PARCC assessments standard throughout the state, Kauffman and Starr believe that it is not appropriate to fully implement

the new assessment at this time because there is still no way of knowing if it is a better measure of college readiness than other, previously-tested exams.

Starr said that after months of contact with state officials, Kauffman was able to convince the state Board of Education to delay the implementation of PARCC as a high stakes exam for a couple of years – a decision that Starr believes will benefit students in the long run.

A major academic problem that has plagued MCPS in recent years is the county-wide trend of students underperforming on county math assessments.

Starr said that there are many factors that are responsible for this trend, such as students being pushed too far too fast by “skipping” math levels and students ignoring the county exam review guides. Starr also said that a big reason why many students fail county math exams is that they know that they do not need to do well on the exam to pass the class depending on their quarter grades, so they do not put in the effort to do well on the test.

Regardless of why students are not doing well on county math exams, Starr acknowledges that it is an issue that the county must and will address, and that any effort to help improve student performance on those exams must start with the teachers.

“We’ve taken a really hard look at this issue,” Starr said. “Math is a tough one. Some of our teachers are absolutely fabulous at helping all kids achieve at a high standard, and some of our teachers aren’t as good at that, and we’re working hard with them. There’s no one answer when it comes to math, but we are working very, very hard at it, and we have to take a hard look at the exam grades, because we know that they’re going to change. We’ve put together a plan to address it.”

Some CHS students agree that poor student performance on county math assessments has become a major problem.

“I found that mathematics is a framework for a way of thinking that’s different from any other subject,” senior Anand Upender said. “Math is all about problem solving and therefore, a decrease in math scores has a larger impact on our students than just the inability to do math alone.”

While Upender acknowledges that problems persist in MCPS, he is optimistic that Starr and other MCPS leaders will be able to solve these problems in the near future and help the county continue to grow.

“I think as a county we have the resources to help our students,” Upender said. “Our students seem to be highly motivated, but the county has to find ways to fix the kinks in our education – and I’m confident that they will.”

Thursday, November 20, 2014

News

theObserver

3

MCPS to remove chemical additives from cafe food

By Eugenia Cardinale Production Editor

MCPS Division of Food and Nutrition Services is working to remove a number of dangerous chemical additives and food dyes from food served in cafeterias after receiving a petition this summer from Real Food for Kids Montgomery (RFKM).

These additives and dyes include dyes Yellow 5 and 6, TertButylhydroquione (TBHQ) and artificial sweeteners such as aspartame.

RFKM proposed the banning of these additives because they are either mainly used in unhealthy foods and are substitutes for nutritious ingredients, cause a reaction in people sensitive to them or pose a risk of cancer or other adverse effects.

“There is a lot of documentation and research around these chemicals and the various risks and side effects,” RFKM co-director Karen Devitt said. “Some are carcinogenic, some affect behavior, [and] some exacerbate asthma.”

The Center of Science in Public Interest (CSPI) also contributed to this decision as its executive director, Michael Jacobsen, sent a letter to the Board of Education about the harm these additives and dyes can cause.

According to the letter from Jacobsen, almost all safety testing of food additives is conducted by manufacturers themselves and not the FDA. While the FDA recommends what testing should be done to demonstrate that a substance is safe, many of the recommended tests are rarely conducted.

RFKM argues that this should be a concern to all MCPS parents because these substances may cause hyperactivity in children who may be sensitive to them, therefore affecting children’s entire classroom environment.

According to the FDA, the behavior of certain children with ADHD may worsen if their diet contains too many of these substances, specifically artificial food colors.

“For kids who have ADHD, the removal of food dyes from their diet has been shown to help certain behaviors,” Devitt said. “If one kid is acting up in class, that has a negative effect on everyone.”

These changes will affect all MCPS food product contracts going forward, but will not affect current contracts until they expire.

“We are working with manufacturers to reformulate their products,” said Marla Caplon, Director of MCPS Division of Food and Nutrition Services. “It is my hope that the next time a bid for purchase is submitted manufacturers will reformulate their recipes and minimal products will need to be removed.”

The RFKM and many parents hope for a change in MCPS’ way of serving processed, reheated food by preparing food fresh in a central facility, which would eliminate the use of many chemical additives.

However, the main concern for some students is how the removal of these additives and dyes will change the overall taste of the food.

“If it makes it taste worst, I’m against it, because it already tastes bad,” sophomore Evan Altschuler said.

For other students, the removal of these substances is seen as a positive change.

“If dyes and additives were removed, that would make it more appealing,” junior Griffin Bentzel said.

For the MCPS Division of Food and Nutrition Services, this is just one of many steps that has been taken in order to provide students with healthy and nutritious food.

“We are always working with manufacturers to improve the quality and nutritional value of foods and beverages available to our students,” Caplon said.

MCPS will implement a new snow removal policy this winter on sidewalks that fall on school grounds to make travel safer for students who have to walk.

This new legislation will require sidewalks on school grounds to be fully cleared after snow storms, allowing more immediate usage.

“MCPS plans for snow every year, coordinating internally as well as with local jurisdictions

and contractors,” said Lynne Zarate, Director of MCPS Division of Maintenance. “We have a preplanned matrix and documented processes for response. Before each storm, a customized action plan is developed that discusses weather conditions, forecasts, and outlines an action plan.”

The plan aims to make people’s lives easier during the winter months and will help those in need of assistance.

According to a February 2014

memo, written by Montgomery County councilman Hans Riemer on the Montgomery Community Media website, the new plan will include a “digital map of the county” and a “major storm event communications plan.”

This plan however will have little influence on the current CHS snow removal practices.

“It’s always been a thing that the parking lots and sidewalks have to be cleared after any storm,” Principal Joan Benz said. “Often times if there’s no school for students and teachers, I’m still here, so one of the first things that happens is that the plows come in and they clear the parking lots, and then our building service people are out clearing the sidewalks.”

With a harsh winter forecasted to hit MCPS later this year, the policy will be implemented as soon as possible to ensure that the plan works.

“We will be doing a test run of our communications systems next week,” Zarate said. “Throughout this month, we are also inspecting and performing preventive maintenance on our snow removal equipment and making necessary repairs so that all is operational and ready to go for the first storm.”

Despite all of the plan components, more severe snow storms will slow sidewalks cleaning and make it harder for those in charge of cleaning to do their jobs.

“We do the best we can with our available resources,” Zarate said. “In more severe storms, there may be a delay in securing contractor support because they are still assisting with clearing roads and highways.”

INFOGRAPHIC BY EUGENIA CARDINALE.

School sidewalks will be priority in snow removal

By Thomas Atkinson Public Relations Manager

Sophomore Jacob Friedman remembers having to walk to school last winter on icy, uncleared sidewalks.

“Many people didn’t shovel the sidewalks, including the school,” Freidman said. “All of the unshoveled snow on the sidewalks turned to ice the next day, making it even harder to walk to school.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF JANETTE HENRY-ATKINSON.

Snow-covered sidewalks made it difficult for students to walk to school during last winter’s severe weather.

4

The Churchill

Opinions

theObserver

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Observer Editors

Editors-in-Chief Katie Gauch Sammi Silber

Chief Production Manager Katie Clem News Editors *Ana Faguy *Gil Jacobson Opinions Editors Fiona Asbury *Alissa Li *Eugenia Cardinale Observations Editors *Alissa Li Features Editors *Julia Heimlich Danielle Kiefer *Thomas Atkinson *Kim Rooney *Pablo Roa *Hannah Yasharoff Arts Editors Madison Hurr *Julia Heimlich *Emiliana Cardinale *Eugenia Cardinale Sports Editors Michael Fox Julia McDermott *Hannah Yasharoff *Eugenia Cardinale *Ross Tanenbaum *Emily Raab Photography Editors Jasmine Baten *Pablo Roa Fact Checkers Eugenia Cardinale Ariel Levchenko * Production Editors

Managers

Advertising Manager Balbina Yang Business Manager Daniel Miyares

Circulation Managers Emiliana Cardinale Emily Wang Contest Managers Nathan Gertler Arielle Gordon Public Relations Thomas Atkinson Nathan Deychman Hannah Yasharoff Adviser Kelly Knarr

Our Policy The Churchill Observer is published monthly by the students of Winston Churchill High School, 11300 Gainsborough Road, Potomac, Md. 20854. Advertising and subscription rates are available by e-mailing churchill. observer@gmail.com. Advertisements do not necessarily reflect the opinion of staff, faculty or the student body.

Every effort has been made by the staff to assure that the news is accurate and free of bias.

Editorial opinions are those of the Observer staff, and personal commentaries and cartoons reflect the opinions of their writers.

Letters to the editor must be signed, and assertions must be documented upon request.

The Observer is a public forum for the purpose of expressing the views of and informing the Churchill student body.

Clubs not always started for wrong reason CARTOON BY SAM LEE.

Seventy-five SSL hours is a burdensome requirement for many MCPS students, but an easy enough feat to accomplish. Although nowhere in the graduation requirements does it call for a student to start his own club, volunteer regularly at a retirement home and protest for equal pay, more and more CHS students feel that what is required is barely a suggestion; a successful student must go far above and beyond in order to even stand a chance in college admissions.

According to a 2011 U.S. News and World Report article, a student’s community service is ranked fourth in importance on some college applications, above reference letters, interviews and even legacy.

While this is mainly a mere testimony to the obvious increase in the competitiveness of college admissions, it directly affects every aspect of students’ lives. Especially in schools as college-competitive as CHS, a student’s every action is attributed to building a college résumé. This assumption, though correct some of the time, tarnishes the noble intentions of the impassioned students who truly want to make a difference.

CHS offers roughly 120 clubs, almost 50 of which are

dedicated to community service, whether it be tutoring students or helping local homeless shelters. Many of these “charity clubs” only host one or two fundraising or community service events a year.

This is unacceptable. Regardless of why a student starts a club, he or she must at least follow through with the club’s mission.

It is one thing to start a club for résumé boosting, but it is another issue to deliver less than what was promised.

According to Principal Joan Benz, colleges can usually figure out if a club is not taken seriously on a college application.

However, students who slack are always able to find a way to promote their club or charity work in a way that makes it sound better than it actually is. Those who embellish their service not only cheat the system, but also take away from students who were completely truthful in their service.

The clubs that slack off in actually following their mission give a bad rep to clubs at CHS that are trying to make an actual difference.

According to Benz, clubs such as the Key Club, which is part of

a national organization, host fundraisers and races throughout the year in order to meet the national initiative.

All national clubs should require as much from each individual branch. To prevent students from relying on the national organization to promote themselves, each branch should have specific guidelines in order to gain the privilege of using the club’s name, rather than the loose suggestions that many clubs have now.

Though CHS has sponsorship and application requirements for clubs, it is not enough to prevent ineffectiveness. CHS should separate interest clubs from service clubs and require the service clubs to file additional reports that detail what they are doing to help the community throughout the year.

Clubs that do not meet the requirements should not be labeled as such.

Granted, students have a lot on their plates in high school and these rigorous requirements would only add to a student’s stress. However, if charity work falls as the fourth most important aspect to a student’s application, it must be

taken very seriously. Students who are solely focused on getting into college can do away with activities that are less important for college admissions, thus eliminating stress.

The clubs and students at CHS who do make a difference face criticism for their motives. It isn’t normally misguided to assume that a student is thinking about college at least somewhat when starting a club or volunteering in the community. However, there is no way around the inevitable “résumé building,” so if a student is making a positive impact, that should be enough.

Though there are students at CHS who do charity work for noble reasons, it is impossible to eliminate the skepticism when it comes to service. People want to assume that a student has exactly one thing in mind when performing acts of kindness: college.

It’s time to loosen the strings that wind us so tight, CHS. Yes, there are the obvious cheaters who attempt to promote themselves as community-serving saints. However, there are also students who actually want to better our community. Stop questioning their motives and accept the fact that regardless of why a student is doing what he or she is, the community is improving as a result of his or her actions.

By Ana Faguy News Editor

midterm elections have almost always brought out a smaller number of voters.

This consistent trend should not dictate the future of midterm elections. If anything, the results of the 2014 midterm elections should reveal to voters that their votes do matter. Not enough Democrats voted, and as a result the party lost control of the Senate. Republicans showed up in larger numbers, and as a result they gained the gubernatorial majority, maintained the House majority and retained the Senate majority.

Pundits, advisors and even politicians themselves divide the political process year after year by demographic, but there is a larger issue at hand: people are not voting, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity or party.

According to a Census Bureau analysis on the 2008 election, approximately 30 million eligible Americans are not registered to vote, and of those 30 million eligible nonregistered voters, approximately 15.5 million did not register because they were not interested or refused.

In light of the results of the 2014 midterm elections, both parties need to recognize the importance of voting. Democrats need to learn

a lesson: there is no “sure thing” in politics. Even the bluest or reddest of states should not be labeled as positive, as proven in the Maryland Governor’s race. Republicans need to recognize that voter turnout can truly make a difference, shown in multiple states where the Republican candidate was labeled as a non-contender.

If the 2014 midterms do not change opinions on elections, nothing will. Everyone needs to realize, and see, that every vote counts. No matter how red or blue your district or state is, stop taking your vote for granted.

Voting should be viewed as a duty similar to filing taxes or filling out the census, not well loved but done because it is important in maintaining a democracy.

According to a July 2012 Huffington Post article, higher voter turnout in other developed countries such as Belgium and Australia can be attributed to strict

laws that enforce voting, but these laws would not work well in the U.S. because of the sense of voting as a privilege.

The 2014 midterm elections are sure to change the American perspective towards voting, hopefully for the better. Our constitution hands us the duty to elect our leaders, but when this duty is ignored, democracy is put off-balance. Only those who view voting as a duty participate in government, and those who see it as a privilege fail to realize that they are ignoring their responsibility, allowing other citizens to make decisions for them.

Two years from now American citizens will once again be given the chance to voice their opinion on the work government is doing. CHS and community go out and vote. Let your voice be heard. After all you, never know what could happen. Your vote could make all the difference.

BSERVER O OPINION

Voting is a responsibility, not just a right

It is the first Tuesday of November; people line up inside schools, churches and community centers to cast their vote in the midterm election. Election day comes around every two years, and allows American citizens to play their role in democracy, but many CHS students and community members fail to realize that voting is more than just a right or a privilege; it is a duty.

As a democracy, U.S. citizens elect leaders to represent their views and opinions in government, but in recent midterm elections they are not fulfilling their roles. The common perception held among voters is that their vote does not matter because their one small opinion will not change the scope of the election.

This neglect is the sole factor in the poor results of midterm elections. Citizens ignore their responsibilities and it needs to stop.

According to a June 2014 article by the Pew Research Center, a mere 37 percent of voters cast ballots in the 2010 midterm elections. Not having surpassed the 50 percent margin since 1908,

Observer Corrections

We incorrectly reported in the October 2014 “Athlete of the Month” article that sophomore Julia Reicin finished 7th in the 50 free and 12th in the 100 free in the 2014 Metropolitan Swim and Dive Championship. She finished 25th in the 50 free and 34th in the 100 free.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Opinions

theObserver

5

Understanding the Bible is necessary for English classes

By Jasmine Baten Photo Editor

When I first heard about the use of biblical allusions in AP Literature, I was incensed. I would need to read the Bible to pass? I’m not Christian, so why should I have to? Why should anyone have to?

Students are frustrated. In English classes everywhere, they’re being asked to pick out words like “lamb,” “snake” and “apple” from a vast network of words and somehow come up with a well-developed and correct analysis.

Whether or not a student has read the Bible, he or she is expected to identify and analyze biblical allusions. Many are upset—they’ve never read the Bible, so is it reasonable or fair to ask them to suddenly start reading deeply into its messages?

How was it fair that I stood at a disadvantage in my English class simply because I didn’t read the Bible often?

How was it okay that I would be pushed to read a book that wasn’t central to my faith in order to do well in a class? How was it fair that anyone who wasn’t Christian was placed in the same situation?

But let’s stop and take a deep breath.

Students must realize that understanding the Bible is essential to understanding literature rather than an infringement upon their time and beliefs.

AP Literature teachers aren’t out to disrupt our lives or force us to read the Bible just for the sake of getting students to do it. There’s a bigger picture. The Bible increased in popularity during the 14th and 15th centuries in Europe, and therefore was a major source of inspiration at the time literary classics were being written.

According to AP Literature teacher and team leader Eleanor Goodwin, most authors use the Bible to bring up basic ways of looking at life.

Students are taught that the Bible is “a good book”, not “the good book.” But sometimes we forget what that means.

The Supreme Court case Abington vs.

Schemp states that the “Bible is worthy of

alleviate the frustration students are feeling now. Students still feel aggravated by the fact that they struggle to find allusions and analysis when some classmates have had a Christian upbringing or years of religious education—virtually a training ground for AP Literature.

According to Goodwin, sometimes it’s actually harder for students who have grown up knowing the Bible when they must analyze it in a literary setting rather than a religious context.

This puts everyone on a level playing field. AP Literature isn’t an easy course, so no matter what background a student has, it’s tough to work through the word-

help students throughout their lives.

According to Principal Joan Benz, the ability to evaluate biblical allusions helped her as both an English and math major. She believes that if students look at allusions in a guided setting, they’re more likely to be able to analyze them in the future.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t help to

ing and develop a response.

Additionally, students aren’t being pushed into actually reading the Bible at any point in time. Up until two years ago, certain books and chapters from the Bible were on the summer reading list, but they’ve since been taken off.

According to Goodwin, she removed

the Bible readings from the summer reading list because she felt that the teachers could explain them well enough in class.

She also believes that students have a better chance of understanding the different sections if students and teachers discuss biblical material in class rather than leaving students to try and work out what it means on their own.

The real reason for the use of the Bible is simply because people used it to write classics. If they hadn’t, then the Bible wouldn’t be in our curriculum. Since they did, we have to know the Bible to know what on Earth they actually mean when they write about the “lovely little lamb of a girl.”

Even though realizing why students do have to learn about the Bible is great, it doesn’t help for their next free response.

According to Goodwin, the best way for students to understand the most popular stories in the Bible is by reading children’s picture books.

She believes that it’s the easiest and best way to understand basic stories.

As students understand more, they can graduate to bigger and better picture books. You’re never too old to read a picture book.

And if it’s any consolation, according to the College Board, none of the scoring guidelines for the AP Literature exam in the past five years have required students to specifically refer to the Bible or any biblical allusions in their answers in order to ace the free responses on the test.

So there we go. Don’t worry about it too much and read those picture books. Don’t be offended, because the AP Literature creators aren’t out to get you… Western classic literature authors are. Just kidding!

Good luck AP Literature students… now all you’ve got to worry about is what Hamlet may or may not be saying about nothing.

Not only that, but schools filled with impoverished students do not tend to give students the same opportunities that schools in wealthier areas offer, making it difficult for even high-achieving and ambitious students attending less affluent schools to compete. Even if they succeed, they are met with a significant income gap and social gap that holds them back.

The media presents white people as the standard of beauty and perfection in modern, western society. Meanwhile, they are much more eager to portray people of color as thugs and criminals because people of color do not fit their standard, and they crave any evidence that proves that people of color are inferior.

There are exceptions, of course. Professional athletes of color are excused all the time for misdemeanors and crimes. However, men of color are often seen as more threatening when walking on the street, and one of the only ways for them to reassure people that they mean no harm is for them to dress according to the demands of modern, western, white society.

We are taught to make judgments and assumptions of people based on their external appearance, and for many people of color, these judgments are harmful stereotypes that have become so integrated into our culture that they creep into our thoughts without our notice.

These stereotypes teach us about violent black men, sexy Latinas, nerdy Asians and so much more. Even those who deny believing these stereotypes and know that this is wrong can easily conjure up these images in their minds. Why? Because these images are so pervasive in our culture--in media, in literature, in daily conversations.

The media and society prefer stereotypes of people of color, especially when

people of color refuse to assimilate completely into the white, western norm. The differences are exaggerated and reinforce a harmful ignorance of complicated cultures that limits people of color in ways that whites do not experience. People of color have identities. They do not exist to be white people’s caricatures.

As two Asian girls, when we first walk into the classroom, we’re seen as quiet, intense, high achieving and hard working.

Though many see these as positive traits and compliments, they aren’t. They’re constraining and unjust.

We are pushed harder yet expected to stay unaffected by stress. “I know you can do better” has been pounded into our minds, but when our best meets the teacher’s standard, it’s dismissed by our peers because we’re Asian. When we stress about school, we’re ridiculed, yet “I know you can do better” still rings in our minds. Stereotypes don’t exist in vacuums; they exist in cycles, and the longer the cycle is allowed to exist, the more difficult it becomes to end.

That’s not to say that there aren’t stereotypes regarding white people. “White basic girl” and “cracker” are just some, and there are plenty of jokes about Starbucks and white athletic socks that poke fun at stereotypical aspects of western white culture, especially in America.

While stereotypical comments should not be made at all because of our diversity and complex nature, there are three things that separate these “white” comments from stereotypes against people of color.

Firstly, these jokes are not reinforcing years of racism and oppression because there is no such thing to reinforce for white people. Meanwhile, jokes about people of color point out how they are not white and

do not fit into western, white culture, and they create a dangerous us versus them dichotomy that teaches hatred.

Secondly, while they are assuming, they are not limiting; a white person can still be anything he or she wants to be with a Starbucks drink in hand.

A white person can wear whatever he or she desires without worrying about being viewed as dangerous. These jokes point out white privilege; they do not create white oppression.

Thirdly, these jokes can be aimed at people of color, and when they are, it means that an individual is acting like a modern, western white person, which is a societal norm. Just that white, western culture is the norm is another piece of evidence that white people are not being oppressed.

Whites may be becoming a minority, but being a minority does not equate to being oppressed. The dictionary definition of oppression is “prolonged cruel or unjust treatment or control.” While there is a very visible version of oppression that has been seen in the form of slavery, internment camps and genocide, whites misconstrue oppression of people of color as being gone in the modern world when it has simply evolved.

Today, racial oppression is the wage gap. It is the stigmas and the stereotypes and the under-representation and misrepresentation in media, literature, and wider society.

Stay conscious of stereotypes and avoid falling prey to them when interacting with others. Be aware and active because the sooner people can recognize privilege, the sooner society can make true steps towards egalitarianism.

study for its literary qualities… such study of the Bible or of religion, when presented objectively as a part of a secular (public school) program of education, may not be effected consistently with the First Amendment.”

This means that with the way CHS teachers are incorporating the Bible, no students’ rights are being violated, even if some are irritated that they have to delve into what’s largely considered a holy book rather than a classic read.

But understanding the Bible is an absolutely necessary part of understanding Western literature, so even though it may seem painful, acquiring those biblical-allusion-spotting skills will

PHOTO BY JASMINE BATEN.

White oppression doesn’t exist but white privilege does

By Alissa Li Observations Editor Kim Rooney Production Editor

With college application season upon us, students channel their frustration at the perceived roots of their strife. Recently, Affirmative Action has become one for some white students who feel cheated by the system because it grants students of color with below par scores entry while depriving a deserving white student the spot.

Only that’s not quite the case. Some white people need to recognize that because they are white, they benefit from white privilege; they do not suffer from white oppression.

While white people may face oppression, it is not because of their race. Instead, they may face oppression due to weight, sexual orientation, gender, socioeconomic class, religion or a host of other things, but there is not systematic oppression against white people due to their race.

Affirmative Action is not oppression of whites. It is an attempt to bridge the serious socioeconomic gaps that tend to fall on racial lines. Though students whose scores may not fall in the usual range are accepted by certain schools, SAT scores correlate strongly with socioeconomic class, and the decision to admit the student is not solely based on race. The Grutter v. Bollinger Supreme Court case ruled that race may be a factor in a university’s admissions process, but it cannot be the only factor.

Not all minorities are impoverished or underprivileged, and not all Caucasians are wealthy and over-privileged. However, members of racial and ethnic minorities are more likely than Caucasians to live in poverty, and attend high-poverty schools.

6

Opinions

theObserver

Thursday, November 20, 2014

School calendar should recognize religious holidays

By Danny Gordon Staff Writer Noah Salzberg Online Features Editor Superintendent Joshua Starr recommended that the MCPS Board of Education remove the names of all religious holidays from the calendar.

On Starr’s proposed 2015-2016 school calendar, all religious holiday names would be removed and replaced with the label “No school for students and teachers.”

It is wrong to select which holiday names to include and Starr should instead include all religious holiday names in the school calendar.

In a liberal county where we preach inclusion and denounce discrimination, Starr is setting a poor example for students by not recognizing different religions.

According to a November 2014

article from Bethesda Magazine, in September, the Council on American-Islamic Relations lobbied the MCPS Board of Education to recognize Eid al-Adha as a holiday, especially since it falls on the same day as Yom Kippur for the 2015-2016 school calendar.

Yet, instead of including Eid alAdha along with Yom Kippur, Starr removed the names of all religious holidays from the school calendar.

CHS students are often reminded, through posters and pledges, to be inclusive and accepting of all people, religions and cultures. However by removing the names of religious holidays from the calendar, MCPS is taking a step backward and teaching its students to ignore our differences instead of embrace them.

Starr did decree that the two

religious holidays of Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fatr are “no testing” days. Despite this recognition, Starr’s decree still pales in comparison to the closing of schools on other holidays such as Christmas, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Good Friday and Easter Monday, along with other non-religious holidays.

According to the Bethesda Magazine article, the closing of schools on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is based on the substantial amount of teacher and student absences on those days, and it is not based on “favoring a particular, religious, cultural, or ethnic group.”

However, by removing the names of all religious holidays from the calendar, Starr is inadvertently showing favoritism for Christianity and Judaism, shown by his notion that he would rather not recognize any religious holiday than recognize Muslim holidays.

While MCPS decided not to include all religious holidays on the school calendar, other districts across

the country have begun to recognize Muslim holidays in addition to Christian and Jewish holidays.

According to a June 2012 Huffington Post article, school districts in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Burlington, Vermont, Dearborn, Michigan and Trenton, New Jersey now close for Muslim holidays.

As one of the most respected counties in the entire country, MCPS should be at the forefront of religious tolerance, but Starr’s insensitive decision to remove the names of all religious holidays from the calendar is a major step backward and sets a poor example for other counties to follow.

Instead of removing the names of all religious holidays, Starr needs to recognize all religions on the school calendar.

He needs to reconsider his decision and help MCPS regain its status as a community that embraces all religions and cultures.

Vending machines can provide benefits to students

By Arjun Swaminathan Online Arts Editor Students often have sudden cravings during the school day for a nice, tasty snack or a cold, refreshing drink.

Imagine students’ surprise when they discover that their favorite snacks and drinks are inaccessible until after school.

Vending machines are essential appliances within every high school, serving as a food source for any person willing to pay a small amount.

It makes sense to let students satiate their appetites and quench their thirst whenever they choose. However, when MCPS limited the access of certain machines to after school in 2006, they affected students who need the quick energy found in snacks and beverages in the machines.

Countless students come to school exhausted from having slept late the previous night, craving a source of energy that can help them stay alert throughout the day. These students often turn to the caffeine in soda as a quick, effective method of revitalizing themselves. However, by limiting some vending machines, MCPS prevents these students from being able function for the remainder of the school day.

According to Caffeine Informer, a website detailing facts and statistics about the stimulant, the effects of the average caffeinated drink last anywhere between four to six hours, or the length of a school day.

In addition, limiting vending machines affects low-income students who come to school hungry. Although MCPS makes accommodations for these students with its reduced meal plan for lunch, the machines also serve as a source of food and drink for them. The average cost of a single snack is 75 cents, which can be added to a 40 cent reducedcost lunch. This total price of reduced lunch and one snack is still less than half the price of a $2.80 regular lunch. Thus, vending machines are beneficial to lowincome students, providing them with a source of inexpensive sustenance.

PHOTO BY ARJUN SWAMINATHAN.

Buying products from vending machines is banned during school hours and only available before and after school.

According to No Kid Hungry, a campaign to reduce student hunger, of the 21 million low income students who eat lunch at school, only half eat a breakfast.

Thus, getting sustenance in school is all the more important for such students.

With all the snack or drink options made available to students in vending machines, it is counterintuitive to limit students’ preferred choices.

Students should be allowed access to all of the snacks or drinks that they desire, not just one or two of each. It is aggravating to students to not be able to use the one vending machine out of the school’s 11 since it is only

open after school.

According to MCPS Director of Food and Nutrition Services Marla Caplon, food and beverages available for sale to students between midnight and 30 minutes after the school day must meet guidelines for student health that are provided by USDA, MSDE as well as the MCPS Wellness Regulations. If the product does not meet these guidelines, then it cannot be available for sale.

One might argue that the negative impact on health by the caffeine in soda outweighs the positives that result from its stimulating effect.

However, studies have shown that

low doses of caffeine increase mental alertness and decrease fatigue without causing serious side effects.

Limiting the use of vending machines has its effects on students who require a source of energy throughout the school day. In addition, MCPS needs to accommodate for the students who arrive at school hungry and look to the vending machines as a food source. For now, this issue can be partially resolved by MCPS removing all restrictions upon these appliances from its wellness regulations.

Until then, limited use of vending machines remains a problem not only for CHS but for all MCPS schools.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Observations

Senior writes first novel

By Katie Gauch Editor-in-Chief Senior Observer Editor-in-Chief Sammi Silber published her book Ultima in June, as a part of the 2013 National Novel Writing Month competition (NaNoWriMo). Her book is about the world 450 years in the future. Ultima is available on Amazon.

“It was a difficult path, but I had my friends and family to help me,” Silber said.

theObserver

7

What’s Online?

The Observer is updating its online content EVERY DAY! Check it out on www.thechurchillobserver.com Like us on Facebook The Churchill Observer

Follow us on Twitter @CHS_Observer

PHOTO BY KATIE GAUCH.

‘The Girl Child Project’ D.C. journalism convention

By Sammi Silber Editor-in-Chief

Senior Shreya Navile is the assistant artistic director and lead dancer for “The Girl Child Project,” a classical Indian dance performance that raises awareness for the prevention of violence against women. The performance is on Nov. 21 and Nov. 23 at VisArts at Rockville and shows again on March 22.

“It’s a humanitarian effort to bring awareness to the importance of gender equality,” Navile said. “It’s a movement that will hopefully go on until progress is made politically, culturally and economically.”

By Alissa Li Observations Editor

PHOTO COURTESY OF SHREYA NAVILE.

Navile speaks for Girl Child Project.

CHS Newspaper and Yearbook students joined students in journalism and yearbook programs all over the nation in attending the JEA/ NSPA convention on Nov. 7-8.

Students attended sessions and listened to key speakers including Jay Harris, Mary Beth Tinker and Bob Woodward to learn more about journalism and improve their school publications. Students additionally met other student journalists to exchange papers and learn from high school publications

from around the country.

“I like how there were so many students from across the country, which brought many different ideas about yearbook and yearbook design,” said sophomore yearbook staff member Leah Fine.

PHOTO BY PABLO ROA.

It’s Academic undefeated CHS spirit week winners

By Alissa Li Observations Editor It’s Academic, the longest-running television quiz show in the world, hosts high school students all around the country to play trivia.

CHS students seniors Michelle Yuen and Yash Nigam and juniors John Dorsey and Shayan Sadegh have taken up the challenge and are currently 6-0 in the “Beltway League” competition of It’s Academic.

“I think it’s fun to see what you

7:00 P.M. Auditorium

know, and kind of surprise yourself at how much you know,” Yuen said.

“Everyone at competitions is really nice, and the team is really close too.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF IT’S ACADEMIC.

7:00 P.M. Auditorium

By Alissa Li Observations Editor Throughout Spirit Week, CHS students fought valiantly to have their class crowned as the best in numerous competitions: Coin Wars, Spirit Week, Murals and Float Performances.

The juniors won the mural competition, but the seniors retaliated by winning the float performance and overall spirit week. The freshmen surprised everyone by stopping the senior three-year streak

7:00 P.M. Room 126

by winning coin wars.

“We put a lot of hard work into the mural, and I’m very happy that we came together as a class and won,” said junior class vice president Eileen Zhi.

PHOTO COURTESY OF HANNAH YASHAROFF.

7:00 P.M. Auditorium

8

Features

theObserver

Thursday, November 20, 2014

New website personalizes college applications

By Daniel Miyares Business Manager Senior Michelle Yuen opens up her computer, navigates to an all-too-familiar page and blankly stares at the text box before her.

The activities section of the common application, as daunting as it is restrictive, allows little room to describe much of anything in detail, let alone her extensive extracurricular accomplishments.

Yuen is not alone. Along with other seniors across the country, she undertakes the stressful phases of writing, rewriting, revising and worrying over the essays and activity sections which are so central to any college application. ZeeMee, a newly founded startup, aims to transform this process by emphasizing personal presentation over traditional description.

“As we have spoken with thousands of students and parents over the past 18 months, we have discovered the two biggest pain points in relation to college admissions to be the inability to truly showcase all of one’s talents and skills and the anxiety that accompanies the application process as a whole,” said ZeeMee co-founder and CPO Adam Metcalf.

ZeeMee, a website that launched just a few weeks ago, puts a face to the name on the college application by providing a link to a unique social media profile of the applicant. This profile allows pictures, personal videos and more informal descriptions of extracurricular activities.

“Nowhere on the common app do you get to see and hear the applicant describe him or herself,” said Savita Potarazu, one of 20 Youth Outreach Coordinators and a senior at Sidwell Friends. “With ZeeMee, you’re allowed to get creative about the way you portray yourself.”

According to senior Austin Abdun-Nabi, the college application essays do not allow for thorough expression and place too much pressure on succinct writing.

“They are definitely stressful because you only get one shot at getting into college,” Abdun-Nabi said. “You only get 500 characters to show who you are as a person, and you cannot really know what they are looking for.”

According to Potarazu, ZeeMee is currently targeting high school juniors and seniors, but hopes to soon achieve recognition among underclassmen in

PHOTO COURTESY OF SAVITA POTARAZU.

Zeemee allows students to show more about who they are and answer questions that college applications don’t ask. the coming months through online awareness campaigns.

However, one of the downsides to ZeeMee is that colleges may not be willing to spend limited time and effort on an additional link when they already have so much to review.

According to College and Career Coordinator Luana Zimmerman, the greatest challenges to ZeeMee’s growth are redundancy and time constraints. Selective colleges want to see creativity in the form of essays, not necessarily in pictures, and the online profile would likely be ignored by larger schools that receive tens of thousands of applications each year.

While Zimmerman finds that colleges have limited demand for the “generic form of expression” that ZeeMee provides, those associated with the startup remain optimistic.

According to Potarazu, the company’s board includes admissions officers from universities such as Stanford and Cornell who have actively voiced their support, claiming ZeeMee has the opportunity to “revolutionize” the college application.

The startup’s unique “My Video” feature may also be its most popular among these notoriously hard-toplease college admissions officers.

“The video introduction that we

encourage students to complete on their ZeeMee profile is something that admissions officers have told us they love,” Metcalf said. “This is an opportunity for a student to make their application come to life and provide a vivid, visual depiction of the story they are telling two-dimensionally in their essays.”

ZeeMee also appeals to those concerned by the essay prompts of the common app as well as of schoolspecific applications, both of which tend to emphasize story-telling over personal description and creativity.

“Not everyone has a traumatic or dramatic story to tell,” Potarazu said.

“In the college process, if you don’t have a story, or are guilty of being privileged, you’re at a disadvantage.”

Furthermore, another of ZeeMee’s chief objectives is alleviating the stress of describing high-school life in a short time frame by allowing students to work on the applications throughout high school.

“Instead of packing the application process into a three-to-six month period, all students would have completed applications by the spring semester of their junior year,” Metcalf said. “When the time to apply comes around, they simply click ‘submit.’”

According to Zimmerman, social media has grown faster than anyone could have anticipated and may very

well influence the college process presently and in the future. Those involved with ZeeMee would claim this is a positive trend, not something to be dreaded by students and parents as it is currently.

“We are the Instagram generation, always framing our life through different lenses, and we should be able to take advantage of that,” Potarazu said.

Including a link to an applicant’s ZeeMee profile might be preferable to another popular trend among CHS upperclassmen: changing names on Facebook to hide one’s profile from prying college admissions officers.

Some even delete their accounts for fear of an off-color comment or a picture counting against them in the application process.

“I could see why they would do it, [but] it would be better to make sure you don’t do things that are bad for colleges in the first place,” Abdun-Nabi said.

ZeeMee aims to merge social media with college applications at a time when it seems toxic to do so in order to benefit not only students, but also admissions officers.

“If one day the common app can be replaced by ZeeMee, it will add a flavor that officers do not get a taste of currently,” Potarazu said. “They will be seeing who [we] truly are instead of reading between the lines.”

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Features

theObserver

9

‘Humans of Churchill’ goes viral in Potomac

By Madison Hurr Arts Editor

This April, seniors Andy Kuo and Jaclyn Shin created the Humans of Churchill blog, modeled after Brandon Stanton’s Humans of New York—a blog that photographs New Yorkers and posts their picture with an accompanying quote about their lives. Kuo and Shin post photographs of CHS students and staff along with a quote or anecdote on Facebook, Weebly and Twitter daily.

This month, the Observer sat down with the “eyes” of CHS, Kuo and Shin, to discuss their blog, which is becoming exponentially popular online.

“Last spring, Andy approached me about doing a project similar to Humans of New York but for CHS,” Shin said. “I loved the idea of it, so then we got started on making a Facebook page and website, and boom: Humans of Churchill was born.”

Kuo did not know what Humans of New York was until it showed up on his Facebook newsfeed one day.

“From the start, I loved what Humans of New York was doing,” Kuo said. “Then a friend of mine at Wootton created Humans of Wootton, so I thought, ‘Hey, why not create one for Churchill?’ And that’s what we did.”

The Humans of Churchill photographers roam the halls of CHS every day, looking for interesting individuals or groups of friends to feature on their blog.

“We try to find random groups of friends who seem close to each other because we want to bring a sense of community,” Shin said. “We try our best to have a variety of students from each grade so that we’re not biased.”

What most people do not know is the amount of work that is put into each and every Humans of Churchill photograph.

“Even though it might not seem like much, we have to do a lot,” Kuo said.

“We have to give up almost every lunch to get pictures for Humans of Churchill.”

According to Kuo, after finding the perfect subject to capture, they record the conversation so they can get the exact words the people use to create a realistic setting. They then go through the entire recording to find the best quote and post it to Humans of Churchill every evening around 6 p.m.

Kuo and Shin not only act as photographers, but also as journalists. They ask questions that are sometimes humorous, sometimes probing. One such question was “If you could ensure one thing about your future, what would it be?”

“Initially, we looked through the questions asked by Humans of New York, but as we continued with Humans of Churchill, we came up with more of our own,” Kuo said. “We actually have a few questions that we thought of when we thought to ourselves, ‘What is a question that I wouldn’t want to be asked?’ That way, we can try to get the more personal answers, instead of just generic responses.”

People featured on the blog have been individuals, couples, large groups and even teachers. Social studies teacher Christopher Forney was featured in a Sept.

16 post where was photographed holding up a picture of his daughter; the post received over 160 “likes” on Facebook.

“As a parent, you definitely like to show off your kid,” Forney said.

“Humans of Churchill captures humanity and allows students to see their teachers and peers in candid moments.”

According to Kuo, the blog’s popularity has soared since it was started, to the surprise of its founders.

They have found that most students are familiar with their blog, which has over 800 “likes” on Facebook.

“My favorite experience with Humans of Churchill has been seeing people get super excited when we approach them for a picture and seeing how people respond to different questions,” Shin said.

“I never imagined Humans of Churchill would be as big as it has become, and I’m so proud of how far we’ve come. Most students we ask are already familiar with it and get really excited when we ask for their picture, so that always makes my day. Everyone is also really unique, so we always get such varying responses which can be interesting and amusing at times.”

Kuo did not expect the blog to become this popular. Each of their posts receive over 2,000 views, with people from Dubai all the way to Brasilia “liking” the page.

Aside from sharing interesting stories about CHS students, Humans of Churchill is thought to have brought a sense of community to CHS. “I think Humans of Churchill has brought the Churchill community closer,” Shin said. “It shows students the different sides of their peers. That was our original goal—to bring the community together—and I really hope that we’ve been able to accomplish that at least in some way.”

As for the future, Kuo and Shin plan to “find someone who can take over Humans of Churchill in the second semester.”

“We hope to find people that will love Humans of Churchill as much as we do,” Kuo said.

more connected to the food and the source,” Whitener said. “The farmer is right there.”

According to Whitener, she has been going to farmers markets for years, but this year she took her love for them a step further when she began working at the Rockville Farmers Market with Quarter Branch Farm.

Her new job, along with a visit to some of California’s markets during a vacation, inspired her to start a blog.

Whitener’s blog varies in topics from spaghetti squash recipes to explanations of different types of seeds.

“The main posts are the ones where I go to farmers markets and talk to all the

vendors and write about what they sell and where it comes—information for people looking for markets in the area,” Whitener said.

Whitener creates recipes based on her “haul” from the market on a particular day.

“Sometimes I find other recipes to learn how to cook something, but then I adapt the flavors and ingredients myself,” Whitener said.

According to Whitener, she also hopes to extend her blog topics into food issues and debates, such as what “certified organic” really means.

“Before reading the blog, I wasn’t really into buying food from farmers

markets,” senior Ximena Tellez said.

“Just reading the blog gave me so much more information on how the produce makes its way to the display.”

For those who are looking to enter into the farmers market sphere, Whitener suggests starting at the Rockville Farmers Market, which takes place every Saturday until Thanksgiving from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. at Rockville Town Center.

“I hope people can appreciate fresh food right as it comes from the ground and learn a little more about where it comes from,” Whitener said. “Yeah, it’s a little more expensive; yeah, it’s not as convenient, but it’s important.”

PHIOTO BY MADISON HURR.

Seniors Andy Kuo and Jaclyn Shin started Humans of Churchill after being inspired by the popular Facebook page Humans of New York.

Veggie tales: senior starts farmers market blog

By Emily Raab Online News Editor Do you know what a kohlrabi is, or how to make your own coconut milk?

How about the proper etiquette for bargaining at a farmers market?

Senior Olivia Whitener can make a mean kohlrabi-beet pancake and knows the ins and outs of farmers markets in the area. She shares her recipes, information and observations on her blog, Farm to Blog, which she began this September.

“It’s such a different experience from going to Safeway, Giant or even Whole Foods because you are so much

10

Features

theObserver

Thursday, November 20, 2014

By Sammi Silber Editor-in-Chief Due to the personal nature of drug use discussed in this story, the Observer has respected the request of students to remain anonymous.

By the end of high school, students have sat through years of health classes to learn the horrors of drugs and the proper way to “just say no” to using them. Regardless of being taught these dangers, some students rebel.

Although CHS is a National Blue Ribbon School and is known for its academics, many students still use drugs behind closed doors.

According to CHS senior Michael, he once walked into the school bathroom to find a couple of students smoking marijuana. However, CHS students are not the only students using drugs.

Engaging in drugs has proven to be popular among students all over Montgomery County, not just at CHS. “Statistics only show instances where a student is caught,” said Tom Manger, the Chief of Police for Montgomery County.

“It’s impossible to know how many students are experimenting with drugs who have not been caught.”

According to Manger, from February to June 2014, there were a total of 63 drug-related incidents throughout MCPS.

Illustration by Sam Lee.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Features

theObserver

11

Getting caught and getting help

How many CHS students use drugs?

Does CHS have a drug problem?

According to an Observer survey of 206 students from all grade levels, 41.4 percent of CHS drug-using students have used drugs in school, and 54.4 percent of all students who were surveyed have seen other students using drugs on CHS property.

Although statistics show that more than half of CHS students have seen others using drugs on school grounds, many drug incidents go unnoticed by security.

According to Security Team Leader Terry Bell, around five to six drug incidents are reported at CHS every school year. However, he believes there is a high percentage of drug use among students that goes unreported.

“Based on students’ comments and other communication, I would state that drugs are a prominent problem at CHS,” Bell said.

Some students, however, do not believe that drugs are a problem at CHS because the blame cannot be put on every student in the school.

“It’s too broad to say the school as a whole has a drug problem,” Alex said. “It’s an individual choice to use drugs and an individual’s problem if they let it progress too far.”

According to the Observer survey, 39.8 percent of CHS students have admitted to using drugs before. The junior class has the highest percentage of drug users, with 62.8 percent of junior survey-takers admitting to using drugs.

Some students claim that a “drug culture” at CHS is what pressured them into getting involved with illegal substances.

“I was pressured into starting doing drugs by [someone] in my [grade],” said Blake in response to the survey. “At first it just started out as recreational, but it has slowly developed into somewhat of a problem. The drug culture at Churchill does not help better this problem either.”

Why do students use drugs?

According to the survey, almost 77 percent of drug-using students have experimented with marijuana, which is the most commonly used drug among teenagers.

Next to that, 32.9 percent have used Adderall, a narcotic meant to buffer ADHD side effects, even though not all of these students have ADHD. About 14 percent have used ecstasy and 12 percent have used cocaine.

According to John, he often uses marijuana because he believes it is safer than other drugs and it allows him to release stress.

“It gives me a sense of euphoria and relaxation,” John said. “I choose to use marijuana because the risk associated with other drugs is too much for me.”

Other students use different drugs, such as Adderall, in order to stay focused.

Adderall is a prescribed medication but is still bought and sold illegally on the black market. This stimulant drug has an effect that helps users stay alert, awake and attentive.

These effects usually associated with Adderall make this drug sound tempting during the school day.

According to Micah, who responded to the survey, he uses Adderall in order to “keep up with school.”

Where do students get drugs?

According to the survey, 45.1 percent of student drug users get their drugs from another student.

According to Rick, who has used marijuana, cocaine, crack and acid, he has spent $850 on drugs since beginning to experiment with them freshman year.

He gets his drugs from an old friend, with whom he helped manufacture drugs.

Some students who have dealt drugs to other students in the past quit rather quickly because they do not like being dubbed a drug dealer.

According to Stuart, he dealt drugs for three days, but he hated it and decided to throw the rest of the drugs away.

Students involved with drugs tend to buy drugs from someone they trust.

According to Jacob, he only gets drugs from a reliable source.

“You have to get them from people you trust because people could [give] bad product,” Jacob said.

“Sometimes the product could be deadly.”

When a student is caught on school grounds with drugs, a number of procedures must be taken, according to Bell.

“Students are immediately reported to their grade-level administrator,” Bell said.

“Students who may be in possession or caught using or distributing drugs are subjected to a self-search by security and administration, and the Montgomery County Police are notified.”

From there, the police investigate the situation. An arrest will be made based on what the student has done or the drugs they are using.

“If the drug is marijuana, the student may be issued a citation for possession of marijuana and released,” Manger said. “If the drug is any other illegal drug, then the student may be physically arrested, searched and transported to the Police District Station.”

Although a student can be handcuffed for any drug other than marijuana, for which they would issue a citation, Manger said the police are only there to help.

“As police officers, we have seen the effects of drugs on young people,” Manger said.

“Our focus remains prevention and treatment if needed. Arresting someone is not our first choice, but sometimes it has to be done.”

According to Manger, any student who sees other students having problems with drugs should “seek out a school sdministrator, school security officer or the school resource officer” to give your friend “the help he or she needs.”

However, some students believe that even though other students may use drugs, and even though they know the negative side effects that come with using drugs, it is their choice whether they should take drugs, and administration should not try to change that.

According to assistant principal John Taylor, the number of students who use drugs at CHS may be small, but the number of students who use them outside of school is growing.

“Very few incidents occur at school, yet according to reports, many students use them on the weekend,” Taylor said. “Some students are smart enough not to use drugs at school but not smart enough to not use them at all.”

12

Features

theObserver

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Listen up: Seven ways to improve from first quarter

By Emiliana Cardinale Production Editor Second quarter is a time for second chances and a fresh start. It is a time to learn from your mistakes and fix the bad habits that may have held you back first quarter. Here are seven ways to help boost your grades before the semester ends: 1. Reflect on the previous quarter.

Learn from your triumphs and failures.

At the beginning of a new quarter, take time to truly reflect on the last one.

What helped? What slowed you down?

Keep learning and growing by keeping in mind both the things that have helped you and the things that have hurt you in the past. Making a list of pros and cons may also help you learn from what you’ve done in the past.

“It’s always a good idea to see what mistakes you’ve made academically and correct them so you’re more prepared,” senior Olivia Shannon said. “In calculus or any math for that matter, the only way to learn the material you got wrong is to go back and work them through.”

2. Balance your time.

This is something you will hear time and time again because it is important in everything you do. It should not, however, just apply to balancing work with free time. Balance the time spent studying on each subject. Find out what you need to work on.

“To minimize stress it becomes really important to know how to divide your time up well,” junior Monica Oves said.

“I worry much less now about things.”

3. Know your weaknesses.

Learning what you are weaker at will save you a lot of grief down the road.

You will not be good at everything, and

knowing which subjects are not your strong suit will help you decide what you need to focus on. Have priorities, and work on your weaknesses before advancing your strengths.

“Knowing your weaknesses is important so you can know best how to study and learn for yourself,” senior Erin Schiffman said. “I learned that I have to write things down because I am a poor listener since I get distracted in class.”

4. Ask for help.

Once you know your weaknesses, focus on improving them. Not everything is going to come easily to you, and that’s fine. You don’t have to be a genius in every subject, but don’t let yourself fail one class just because you’re acing another. Ask the teacher or a peer. Do not be afraid to ask for help; there is nothing wrong with being lost or confused.

“Asking for help can get you to an easier and better answer through talking and collaborating,” junior Noah Fogelson said. “I began asking my teachers for feedback as I work on a project so I know whether I’m on the right track or not.”

5. Use your resources.

CHS offers many resources, so don’t take them for granted; look for guidance beyond the help of your teacher.

The English Writing Lab and National Honors Society tutors are just some of the resources available. There are also many places you can go for help outside the walls of CHS. If you’re lost, keep searching.

“You should take advantage of teachers who are willing to help after school, before school, or at lunch,” junior Aishwarya Sastry said. “ Many schools are not as privileged as us.”

6. Keep trying, don’t fall behind.

It may be cliché, but you are not a reflection of your grades. One “D” on a

INFOGRAPHIC BY EMILIANA CARDINALE.

quiz is not going to kill you, as long as you don’t let the bumps in the road keep you down forever. Remember, you’re not weak for falling down every now and then; just make sure to keep picking yourself back up.

“If you give up, you’ve already lost,” junior Madelyn Higgins said.

“Winning and success come from overcoming and growing.”

7. Accustom yourself to learning.

This will not only improve your study habits, it will also help you grow as a human being: listen, pay attention and learn, not just in

school, but everywhere you go. There is so much right in front of you that will help you in ways you are unaware of.

Acquire knowledge from places outside of CHS because life continues after high school and it is important to keep a constant stream of learning. The more you accustom yourself to learning, the easier school will become.

“Something that I’d say is pretty important is figuring out how you personally learn best,” senior Claire Lin said. “I think I tend to retain information when I handwrite my notes, and I found out that there’s a certain mindset that I test really well in.”

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Arts

theObserver

13

Bindeman Center presents bullying documentary ‘Finding Kind’ show struggles of womanhood

By Julia Heimlich Features Editor

Behind their caked-on makeup and pearly whites, girls can be vicious creatures. Because of their ability to cover up whatever drama goes on behind the scenes, situations in which a girl is both the bully and the victim is not always taken as seriously as it should be.

A showing of the 2011 documentary Finding Kind will be held at 7 p.m. Dec. 9 at the Julia Bindeman Suburban Center in Potomac. Finding Kind documents the uniqueness of womanhood, compiling personal experiences and universal truths that many females can relate to, as well as revealing the effects of girl-on-girl bullying.

“We all assume that girls who have been bullied may still be suffering years later,” said Ira Miller, who is organizing the program. “Hearing from women who bullied other girls in high school, and finding out that they carry tremendous guilt and shame from how they treated them, was really eye opening.”

Lauren Parsekian and Molly Thompson, who created the film, ventured out and interviewed real women to capture both the perks and struggles of being female.

According to Finding Kind’s official webpage, Parsekian was labeled as a “popular” girl until her friends turned

IMAGE COURTESY OF JENNIFER MILLSTONE.

against her and she was left all alone.

Thompson experienced a similar loneliness after she too was mistreated by a group of girls all through high school.

“The filmmakers really show how

girl-on-girl bullying affects everyone involved—parents and siblings included— and how the only way it can stop is if each of us changes our own behavior,” Miller said. “Girls are doing this to each other

for all sorts of reasons, and it won’t stop unless people choose to make it stop.”

Even with everything done at school to promote treating each other with respect, girl-on-girl bullying is not a situation uncommon to many CHS students.

According to a freshman who wished to remain anonymous, the way girls bully each other can often be more destructive than the physical bullying traditionally associated with boys.

“I’ve heard about girls taking their fights to social media so that it’s public for everyone to see,” the freshman said. “It doesn’t have to be in extreme forms, but even the smallest remarks can be hurtful.”

Sophomore Emma Siritzky plans to watch Finding Kind in December because she wants to learn how girlon-girl bullying can be prevented.

“I think this program will help promote kindness and support between girls in our community, so the psychological bullying and gossip that girls inflict on each other will stop,” Siritzky said.

According to Miller, the girl bullying focused on in the documentary includes spreading gossip and starting rumors, giving dirty looks, or even physical and emotional violence and harassment.

“People need to look out for each other and care for each other,” Miller said. “We are all part of one community, whether it’s our neighborhood, our house of worship or our school. When someone is harassed or bullied, we have to imagine that this is us, it’s our friends, it’s our siblings—and that we won’t put up with it anymore.”

‘Mockingjay: Part One’ coming to big screen

By Arielle Gordon Business Manager

By Isabel Dibble Online Observations Editor

PHOTO COURTESY OF RAZ MOAYED.

Fans of the Hunger Games trilogy are not sure what to expect in the third installment of the movie franchise, since the movie is being split into two parts.

Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) have survived two Hunger Games. Katniss is alive and well in the underground city of District 13. Peeta is in captivity somewhere in the Capitol.

The first half of the third and final Hunger Games book, Mockingjay: Part One, is about to hit the big screen Nov. 21.

Part Two is expected to be released Nov. 20, 2015. While some are saddened that the trilogy is coming to an end, others are excited that the series is not coming to an end just yet.

“I’m so excited that the legacy will be longer and that the anticipation will be stronger, and I will be able to get to have my movie night again,” junior Raz Moayed said.

Lionsgate, the producer of the movie, has not announced where Part One will leave off. Fans are left to wonder if Peeta will be rescued and reunited with Katniss in Part One or if they will be held in suspense for another year.

According to freshman Sarah Morgan, she is most excited to see Peeta and

Katniss reunite but does not know when it will happen.

As in many young adult novels, two boys are clamoring for the heart of one girl. Some fans are rooting for Katniss to show real affection for Peeta and forget about her longtime friend Gale. Others want Katniss to express her feelings for Gale now that the Capitol cannot force her to be with Peeta.

According to whatculture.com, a movie preview website, Gale will be featured more often in Part One because he will be spending more time in District 13 with Katniss.

Anticipation for this movie is higher than ever before. Advance tickets went on sale Oct. 29, three weeks before the release date.

According to deadline.com, Mockingjay set a record for the highest advance movie ticket sales in 2014, with more than $93.4 million worth of tickets sold.

Many dedicated fans of the books get together with friends to enjoy the movie and have activities that they do each time another Hunger Games movie comes out.

“Every year, I get together with a bunch of my friends, about 40-50 people, and we go sometime during the premiere weekend and watch it all together,” Moayed said. “It is so fun and we plan to do it this year and next.”

Arts

14

Thursday, November 20, 2014

theObserver

Thanksgiving recipes good enough to gobble up

By Jordan Janis Online Editor-in-Chief Danielle Kiefer Features Editor Although many elements go into celebrating Thanksgiving, the one that is most often thought of is food.

However, the usual dishes that grace the dining table can start to become boring and repetitive and may lose their appeal. This year, try out some new recipes to spice up old, familiar tastes. Here are taste-testers’ opinions of some of these recipes.

White Chocolate Pumpkin Bread

1 cup oil 2/3 cup water 2 cups cooked mashed pumpkin

(canned) 1 cup white chocolate chips Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine all dry ingredients together: sifted flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt.

3. Combine all liquid ingredients together: eggs, oil, water, pumpkin.

Stir dry mixture into liquid mixture 4.Add white chocolate chips.

5.Pour into three medium

loaf pans.

6. Bake for one hour.

Observer opinion: “Gordon Ramsay himself would be proud to taste a delicacy half as good as this,” Observer public relations manager Hannah Yasharoff said.

Raspberry Jam Bars

Scott Rivinius said.

Ingredients: 3 cups of flour 2 teaspoons of baking powder 1 cup of sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon of vanilla 1 cup of butter 1 pound of jam Directions: 1. Cream butter and sugar.

2. Add egg and vanilla.

3.Add sifted flour and baking

powder and mix together.

4.Saving about a fifth for the topping, spread and press the rest into greased pan.

5. Spread jam on top.

6.Mix 1/5 remaining with flour to make streusel topping (optional: add a little cinnamon).

7. Sprinkle on top.

8. Cook for about 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

9. Cool and enjoy.

Observer opinion: “It was like floating on a cloud of sugary goodness,” senior Editor-inChief Katie Gauch said.

Pecan Pie Cups

Served as an appetizer or a dessert, this delicacy offers the classic Thanksgiving taste of pumpkin spiced with nutmeg and cinnamon.

The white chocolate chips moisten and sweeten each slice of bread so that every bite melts in one’s mouth.

“If fall had a taste, this would be it,” senior Morgan Machado said.

Ingredients: 3½ cups sifted flour 3 cups sugar 2 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. ground cinnamon 1½ tsp. salt 1 tsp. nutmeg 4 eggs beaten or mixed

PHOTOS BY DANIELLE KIEFER.

These jam bars will have mouths watering in no time. Sweet, but not too sweet, they are a perfect alternative for those who are too full for rich pumpkin pie, making them a perfect end to a delicious meal.

“It has a good flavor balance of tart and sweet,” athletic director

This pecan pie with a special twist provides the perfect sugary end to a

savory Thanksgiving meal. With all of the same pecan taste as a regular pecan pie, each pie cup is the perfect serving for one person.

“It was an explosion of joy on my taste buds,” sophomore Judy Johnston said.

Ingredients: Graham cracker crust: 1½ cups graham cracker crumbs 1/3 cup sugar 6 tablespoons butter, melted ½ teaspoon cinnamon Pie mixture: 1 cup corn syrup 3 eggs 1 cup sugar 2 tablespoons butter, melted 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1½ cups pecans, whole.

Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. To make the graham

cracker crust, mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, butter and

cinnamon with a mixer. Mix well.

3. Spray muffin tins with non- stick cooking spray.

4. Fill muffin tins with graham cracker crust mixture, patting the mixture down around the edges 5.Bake the graham cracker crust for seven minutes, and then cool completely.

6. To make the pie mixture, mix corn syrup, eggs, sugar, butter and vanilla extract well.

7.Add 1½ cups pecans into mixture.

8. Pour mixture into muffin tins with graham cracker crust.

9.Bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees, then cool completely 10. Put final pecan pie cups in microwave.

Observer opinion: “I like that they’re sweet but not too overly rich,” senior news editor Gil Jacobson said.

Washington’s Premier School of Music e Benjamin T. Rome School of Music seeks to educate, engage, and energize its student body in a dynamic program that integrates classroom learning with real-world performance. Our variety of undergraduate and graduate majors allows our students to find their niche and to develop into professional performing artists, teachers, and scholars who are ready for a 21st-century career.

Bachelor of Arts in Music with concentrations in • General • Performance • Music History and Literature

Bachelor of Music with concentrations in • Performance: Orchestral, Instruments, Organ, Piano, Voice • Musical eatre • Music Education • Composition • Collaborative Piano • Piano Pedagogy

music.cua.edu 202-319-5414 cua-music@cua.edu THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA Washington, D.C.

The Catholic University of America admits students of any race, color, national or ethnic origin, sex, age, or disability.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Arts

15

theObserver

‘Little Shop of Horrors’plants seed for program success

By Kim Rooney Production Editor Rock music, Motown and a giant, talking plant don’t often mix, but with the help of a talented cast, they are brought to life in Little Shop of Horrors, CHS’ fall musical.

Little Shop of Horrors was performed Friday, Nov. 14 and Saturday, Nov. 15, and it will be performed Friday, Nov. 21 and Saturday, Nov. 22 in the Gertrude G. Bish Auditorium.

“I’m impressed with the amount of talent at CHS, especially the acting talent,” said freshman Nick Schaap, who plays Seymour in the Ashman cast.

The show will be performed by two casts, which are named after the writers of the musical: the Ashman cast, which performs Nov. 14 and 22, and the Menken cast, which performs Nov. 15 and 23. The choice of dates allows both casts to perform on a Friday and a Saturday evening.

“Everyone thought it would be weird at first, but I actually really like it,” said junior Natalie Hwang, who plays Audrey in the Menken cast. “I have a wonderful counterpart who I can run lines with and practice my songs with.”

The major roles were double casted, and while not playing the lead roles, actors and actresses will be members of the ensemble or pit. Other roles are solely ensemble, and they will perform all four nights. During rehearsals, the two casts practiced together with pairs of leads running scenes and receiving notes together.

“I was overwhelmed by the amount of talent that showed up for the auditions, and seeing as Little Shop of Horrors is performed with

PHOTO BY KIM ROONEY.

Little Shop of Horrors has two casts, the Ashman cast and the Menken cast, which will each perform on different weekends. such as small cast, I felt that it was more than able to be double casted,” said director and musical producer Matthew Albright.

Both casts match each other in enthusiasm and skill, and each person has a different interpretation of his or her character that creates two different but equally interesting shows.

“It’s fun in the sense that a lot more talented people get to showcase their talent, but it’s sad knowing that your cast is only performing in its roles two nights instead of four,” said senior Antonia Gaviria Rozo, who plays Ronnette in the Ashman cast.

Many actors and actresses in both casts have powerful stage presence, and the interactions between characters feel genuine and believable. While on stage, they truly embody their characters—the reward of long hours of practice and rehearsals.

“Rehearsals are fun because we’re

getting to expand our ranges in acting and singing,” Gaviria Rozo said. “They’re also stressful because we don’t have a lot of time to put the production on. But it’s mostly fun.”

With rock, Motown and a mix of other genres, Little Shop of Horrors has something for everyone. The story is centered around characters who wish to escape the shabby urban area where they live, and it features a talking plant that many characters see as their ticket to success. The unique plot contributed to the choice of Little Shop of Horrors for the musical.

“I chose Little Shop of Horrors for a number of different reasons: cost, familiarity with the script and score, as well as not knowing what student base was going to audition for a fun and upbeat ‘50s rock musical,” said Alright, who has previously been involved in six productions of the show. “I think it will be greatly appreciated at CHS.”

Although the musical has traditionally been CHS’ spring production, this year it starts the year as the fall production, competing with Richard Montgomery’s performance of Beauty and the Beast.

“We felt that moving the musical to the fall and moving Blast to the spring provided students with ample time to do as many productions as possible,” Albright said.

With catchy music, two incredible casts and a talking plant played by an enormous, man-sized puppet, Little Shop of Horrors is worth watching twice.

“It’s a very funny show with great music, and we’ve got lots of fantastic people,” Hwang said.

“Everyone should definitely come see it, and, if given the chance, I recommend coming to see both casts!”

W E A R T O D AY

SELL

TOMORROW

ITE

Uptown Cheapskate buys the things you loved yesterday and sells what you want today. Bring in your gently used clothes (guys & girls), shoes & accessories for cash on the spot. Then find your favorite brands up to 70% off mall prices.

  1830 York Rd. Timonium, MD 410.560.5890

2618 Salisbury Blvd. 1038 Rockville Pike Salisbury, MD Rockville, MD 410.845.2751 301.762.1089

20% OFF any one item

One per household. Not valid with other offers.

Expires 12/10/14 CPNTI1214

16

Sports

CHS tennis star turned

By Hannah Yasharoff Public Relations Manager

It is not uncommon to see high school athletes participate in more than one sport during the school year— plenty of athletes use the same skill sets to play football and basketball, or football and wrestling, but football and tennis? It’s almost unheard of, but that didn’t stop senior tennis player Elliot Thaker from taking his athletic skills to the gridiron.

“I didn’t really have any football background outside of throwing the ball around and playing pickup football at Beverly Farms,” Thaker said. “But I kicked a ball one day and everyone told me I should at least give the team a shot since the last kicker had graduated.”

Thaker was pushed to try out for the team by his friend and now teammate, senior defensive back Paolo Tranquill. The team was still in need of a starting kicker after tryouts had ended, so Thaker was able to try out during the team’s first practice.

“We didn’t really have a kicker in the beginning of the season and he told me he could kick,” Tranquill said. “I said it would be fun to be on a team together, and it would be a great way to end our senior year.”

Thaker won the 2013 mixed doubles state tennis championship last year along with senior Katie Gauch, but now he had to figure out a way to transfer his tennis skills to football.

“You do have to have some smarts, [and] he

has all that instinct from tennis to start with,” kicking coach Faris Bandak said. “He has those skills with hand-eye contact, ball contact. He already knew how to get his steps right from tennis, which helped him get his steps right for a field goal. He was somewhat already ready, which was pretty nice, but he had to get the techniques down.”

Thaker was able to master those techniques, although it meant catching up by working hard after practice had ended to ensure that he would be ready to play just two weeks after his first football practice ever.

“He recognizes that there’s something he needs to do and he does it on his own time,” Bandak said.

“There are intricacies in how you kick and when he learned something, he would go home and come back the next day and he will have spent a good portion of the time that’s available working on the footwork techniques.”

Once he learned the basics of being a kicker, Thaker still had to work to secure his spot as a starter.

“It’s not easy to come out and be expected to do something,” Bandak said. “There are other kickers who w e r e kicking and were doing very well.

He had to compete for the position.

He didn’t just come out and take it. It was a unique situation

theObserver

Thursday, November 20, 2014

football kicker

and it’s tough to do.”

Joining the football team also meant acquiring a new team mentality.

“I think the biggest difference has been the importance of doing your part, because on the court if I lose, somebody else can pick up the slack by winning, but in football, everybody has to do their thing in order for the kick to get up,” Thaker said. “I think there is a

lot more pressure in football because I only have one shot, and if I mess it up then it’s points lost that we may not get back.”

However, as daunting as it may seem to be the rookie on a team of boys who have played together since middle school, Thaker did not have any difficulty adjusting to the new team dynamic.

“It really felt just like tennis because by the end of the first day, everyone was already messing with

me like I’d been there the whole time,” Thaker said.

Thaker also became a source of positive energy for his teammates. “[Thaker] is just fun to be around, and always kept his spirits high,” Tranquill said. “Even when we’d lose he would get up and help everyone hold their heads high and prepare for the next game.”

Thaker started consistently throughout the season, making 24 of the team’s 25 extra points and kicking two field goals in the first game of the season—his first career game.

After finishing up this football season, Thaker will move on to his fourth and final season on the varsity tennis team.

“I think the added leg strength and improved attitude could be huge for the [tennis] team this year,” Thaker said. “Plus, it’s senior year, so it’ll be all about winning, and I think with a new transfer, a couple of good freshmen, and a bunch of returning players, this could be the year we win counties, and hopefully I can get another state title.”

No matter what sport Thaker is playing, he proves that hard work and dedication are the keys to success.

“There were many times he exceeded my expectations, like when there was something that he had to get right,” Bandak said.

“It’s very unique that somebody comes in for the first time, never kicked before, and can kick the way he kicked under pressure. That’s completely him. That’s fantastic.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF ELLIOT THAKER.

Sports

Thursday, November 20, 2014

theObserver

17

OSPN’s top five most memorable fall sport moments

By Katie Clem Production Manager Jake Certner Staff Writer In any sport, a well-executed move, a quick reaction, and even pure luck can produce extraordinary plays, but no matter how it happens, every great play deserves credit.

This month, the Observer decided to rank our top five most memorable plays from the various fall sports team’s achievements.

nature, but also the opening salvo in the shutout of our biggest rival, leaving no doubt that it belongs at number four on the list.

3. Varsity Cross Country: Alexis Viezis, absolute exhaustion effort, Sept 20th

all goes away after the gun shot.”

Adidas is known to be a fast course because a majority of the race takes place on soft ground and contains few hills, meaning everyone running is

5. Girls Soccer: Senior Sarah Johnston’s opening goal in the WJ blowout, Oct. 1 Soccer goals are extremely hard to come by and scoring just three is considered a lot.

However, after Johnston put the first goal on the board against Walter Johnson, the CHS girls varsity soccer team dominated the field and pulled out a 6-2 victory.

“The first goal set the tone for the entire game,” senior captain Annabelle Phillips said. “It was a great, fast play.”

Going into the game, the Bulldogs were prepared for a neck-and-neck battle, but as soon as Johnston scored, the girls opened the floodgates and scored five more times, a true display of dominance.

“We thought it was going be a hardfought game, because not only was it a rivalry game, but we were both undefeated at the time,” senior Natalie Allen said. “We came in expecting it to be a pretty close match.”

But after Johnston scored, the game was anything but close.

The confidence her goal gave the team, coupled with the power the team displayed to back it up, is how “the swaffs” nabbed the fifth spot on our list.

4. Boys Soccer: Junior Sepehr Hoghooghi’s opening goal against Wootton, Sept. 18 The opening goal sets the tone, energizes the team and makes winning that much harder for the opponent. Fortunately for the Bulldogs, Hoghooghi carved up the Wootton defense by himself and did just that.

“We didn’t expect the Wootton defense to be as solid as they were, and once we finally broke them down with that first goal, we were elated,” senior captain Conor Quigley said. “That first goal lifted a weight off our chest.”

This was no ordinary first goal. Hoghooghi put on a show, taking matters into his own hands, slicing through the defense by himself and netting the opening goal.

The goal was not only impressive by

Rival games mean bragging rights and bold pride are at stake. Fans flood the stadium which causes the on-field energy to spike even higher, and in this type of high pressure situation, big plays are that much more special.

When Zuckerman exploded with a 26yard touchdown run against Wootton to ice the game at 35-14, it was a shoe in for our top five.

“It was a pivotal play,” junior Elliot Sloate said. “The touchdown sealed the game for us.”

Not only did this play shore up the Bulldogs’ victory over Wootton, but it was also a launch pad for the fans’ energy.

“People went crazy,” Sloate said. “The whole student section was jumping, and throwing powder.”

Without the touchdown, the threat of a comeback would have been much more realistic, but the blow to Wootton’s confidence the score provided, along with the three-touchdown lead it gave the Bulldogs, made it a clear choice for number two.

1. Field Hockey: Sophomore Jenny Langerman and freshman Faith Kean comeback goals to win in the last minutes versus Springbrook, Oct. 18

PHOTOS COURTESY OF JILLIAN KIRSCH, SCOTT SILVERSTEIN, SEPEHR HOGHOOGHI, GIRLS’ SOCCER TEAM AND ANDREW ZUCKERMAN.

Cross Country calls for an excessive amount of mental and physical strength to keep running even when the body is screaming to stop. It requires people to push themselves to their absolute limits.

Few runners can do this, but even fewer are able to push beyond it.

Freshman Alexis Viezis is one of those few. During the team’s annual trip to the Adidas XC race in North Carolina, a big race that attracts some of the fastest runners in the region, Viezis went above and beyond what was asked of her.

“From the parts I can remember, I was really scared because it was our first invitational,” Viezis said. “Before a race, I feel a deep panic, but it

going that much faster.

“The competition was not what I was used to,” Viezis said. “I pushed myself too hard.”

Viezis pushed herself so hard that as soon as she crossed the finish line, she fainted from pure depletion of energy.

She finished with a time of 20 minutes and 25 seconds, beating her personal record by one full minute. The commitment Viezis displayed, along with her excellent result prove that Viezis’s run unquestionably deserves third place.

2. Varsity Football: Junior Andrew Zuckerman’s fourth quarter 26-yard touchdown against Wootton, Sept. 19

Pressure is highest when a team is down by one goal with only a couple of minutes to spare. Facing this exact situation, the Bulldogs were down by one with just five minutes left in the game when Langerman scored to tie the game to 1-1, and Kean put in a rebound to cap off the score at 2-1.

“This gave us a lot of momentum as a team which powered us to score the second goal with three minutes left to win 2-1,” junior Nina Kothari said. “We knew we had to make this last one count.”

Now with the game tied, senior Isabel Mangan passed the ball to senior captain Carly Kabelac who then drove the ball at the goal. The ball deflected off the goalie’s pads, and Kean was open at the stroke mark to push it into the bottom left corner to give Churchill the late-game lead.

“Everyone went crazy and we were beyond excited,” Kothari said. “Earlier in the season it was hard for us to finish and especially hard for us to come back from a deficit. Springbrook was the last game before playoffs, so it really put us in a good state of mind. It was the perfect game to reflect all that we had accomplished this season.”

In the last minutes of a game, a single goal is more valuable than diamonds, but our Bulldogs managed to snag two. Not only did they manage to pull of some incredible goals, but they also secured an impressive comeback win, ensuring the lady Bulldogs their spot as number one on our list.

18

Sports

theObserver

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Golf adds another win to State Championship record

By Julia McDermott Sports Editor The CHS golf team won its 12th overall state title Oct. 29 at the University of Maryland golf course, its first since 2008.

Finishing with a final score of 603, the team took first place overall in the 3A/4A division, beating rival runner up Wootton, champion the previous two years, by ten strokes.

“The golf team has just become more serious this year,” junior Luke Schaap said. “Our goal was to win states before the season and we have been working hard all year to accomplish this.”

CHS took 12 golfers to the state championship, including nine girls, three boys and five freshmen.

“I knew the team was talented, and I can say comfortably that they exceeded my expectations,” head coach Mike Fisher said. “I expected to have maybe 10 golfers to make it to states, but I never expected a record 12.”

Freshman Dylan Rotter was the runner- up in the boys individual competition with a final score of 145, only four strokes behind Whitman’s Graham Hutchinson, who won the title. On the girls side, freshman Lena Capoccia finished third overall with a final score of 156.

“I think a big part of CHS’ strength this year is the influx of talented freshmen that take the team to the next level,” senior captain Hanna Jia said. “Taking

12 players to states and five of them being freshmen is huge and unprecedented, but having really stable and dependable upperclassmen made the team consistently strong throughout the season.”

After dominating for the majority of the last year’s state tournament, but losing by a close margin of five strokes, the Bulldogs began the 2014 season with one goal in mind— a state title.

“The golf team has a strong work ethic this year which has led to us shooting some really low scores,” Schaap said. “The team’s strength is our confidence, as well as our drive to work hard on their games after suffering a heartbreaking loss last year.”

The team shot a collective score of 299 during the first day of the tournament, leaving it tied for first with WJ going into the second day of competition. In the second day alone, Wootton outshot the Bulldogs 301 to 304, but it was not enough to overtake the Bulldog’s lead.

It was not only in the state tournament where the CHS golf team demonstrated its dominance. The team finished 17-1 in the regular season and won the Montgomery County District Tournament Oct. 1.

“We were not even our best at States, but we didn’t have to be because we outworked all the other teams,” Schaap said.

Not only was this state championship title the Bulldog’s first since 2008, but it was also Fisher’s last for his career, as he announced his retirement from coaching before the season.

“This was my last season as head coach,

PHOTO COURTESY OF EUNBBIE KIM.

The golf team brought 12 golfers to states and beat rival and previous state champion Wootton to win the state title. and the team accomplished more than I could have hoped,” Fisher said. “We set many records this season, and the team is set to succeed for many years. Having the opportunity to know each team member and realize how unique and special they are is what made this season and coaching special.”

Although the team will not be under the guidance of Fisher next season, the

Bulldogs still hope to be able to use the momentum from their state championship win and their strong underclassmen performance to build the program.

“When we talked about going into the season we wanted nothing less than to win states,” Schaap said. “That will be the same next year except next year we will want to win by a ridiculous margin, and break more records.”

Team spirit fills CHS hallways on game days

By Jonathan Greenzaid Online Sports Editor It’s game day. A sea of collared shirts and ties flows through the halls. A gala of girls toting togas strolls by. A group clad in all neon colors lights up the halls.

Many CHS sports teams dress up and give out food to teammates on game days. Here’s a look at the reasoning behind all of the traditional baking and dressing up.

Volleyball The volleyball team went 13-1 in the regular season and its players like to dress up on game day in order to raise awareness of their great record and squad. They had many different themes of clothing such as toga day, neon rave day, camo day, private school day and pink fairy day.

“It brings us more energy because if we don’t have energy and spirit on

game day then we will be dragging through the game,” junior defensive specialist Tiffany Cao said. “Also, for Dig Pink, we dress as fairies, and it reminds us that we are playing for breast cancer awareness. It brings more people to our games to raise money. It helps the spirit a lot and helps us keep our energy up for games that turn out really long.”

Boys Soccer The soccer team dresses big for the games that mean the most. Against Whitman, Wootton and WJ, they dress in shirts and ties. On other games they wear a practice jersey or polos to school. The team also receives baked treats from their Poms team secret buddy.

“It’s more of a unification thing, showing we are all on one team,” senior goalkeeper Kyle Solomon said. “A big part of soccer is team work and you have to have team chemistry. Also, it’s partially to get pumped up for the game. When you wear a shirt and tie, you look good and feel good.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF TIFFANY CAO.

The volleyball team dresses as fairies to support breast cancer awareness.

PHOTO COURTESY OF KYLE SOLOMON.

Boys soccer takes a pre-season trip to Ocean City in order to bond as a team.

Girls Tennis The tennis team dresses in a variety of themes on game day including Risky Business, pink out, neon day, black out and white out. Dressing up for matches helps the members of the tennis team get mentally prepared and pumped up for the game later in the day.

“It is nice to bake for another girl on the team because it helps them with the nervousness that comes with a tennis match,” junior Namrita Perincherry said. “It brings us together and makes us one strong unit. It makes us more unified and more of a team. Tennis is a very individual sport, so it helps bring us all together.”

Poms The squad prepares for the spirited day ahead of them by meeting at Starbucks before school and trading the baked good they made for each other.

Poms usually wear their uniform to school with a Poms t-shirt and blue or green beaded necklaces or ribbons.

“Dressing up and giving out food benefits the team in that it encourages us to do better and promotes the team

unity that helps us do the best we can,” junior captain Danielle Marks said.

“These activities promote team bonding because whenever we do it the team gets to be together outside of practice which is where the real bonding happens.”

Cheerleading The cheer squad went all out the week before their cheer competition on Nov. 14. They dressed in a variety of themes including dress shirts, cowgirls, and camo.

“Secret buddies is something that is really exciting because every week a new, unique treat is baked for our buddy,” senior Evangeline Pergantis said. “It’s something fun to do before a game because it gets everyone peppy and excited.

It is important to carry out the tradition of the cheerleaders before us.”

Cross Country All the runners running in states shave their hair into Mohawks.

“It’s a long tradition for cross country to get Mohawks before States,” junior Jason Shefferman said. “Will Conway and other greats did it, and so are we.”

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Sports

19

theObserver

Athletes Commit

By Michael Fox, Julia McDermott and Hannah Yasharoff

Senior Kali Becker

Senior David Fitzgerald

Congratulations to senior Kali Becker who recently committed to dive for The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“The team is awesome, the coach is awesome, and they have a beautiful campus,” Becker said.

Becker has had her heart set on becoming a Tar Heel since she was 10, when she competed there for a regional dive meet.

“I’ve been in love with UNC ever since I dove there,” Becker said. “I have so many friends on the team it feels like a family.”

Congratulations to senior David Fitzgerald who recently committed to run both Cross Country and Track and Field for Temple University.

“The guys on the team are the best guys I’ve met,” Fitzgerald said. They also have the perfect balance of college life and running. The perks are endless.”

“Despite having his college plans all set, Fitzgerald will still focus on making his last seasons of indoor and outdoor track count.

“I have to prove to the coach that he made the right call,” Fitzgerald said.

Senior Sara Chang

PHOTO COURTESY OF SARA CHANG.

Congratulations to senior Sara Chang who recently committed to Oberlin College to play volleyball.

Chang has been on the varsity volleyball team since her freshman year, playing over 118 sets for the Bulldogs. As a captain of the season, helped the team to a 15-1 record and a division title.

“The people there are from all over the country and really believe that they can change the world and aren’t afraid to be themselves,” Chang said.

“It’s a very community oriented school and the girls are amazing and the coach is adorable. I’m excited.”

Senior Elaina Gu

Becker, McDermott and Fitzgerald Senior Julia McDermott Senior track and field runner Julia McDermott recently committed to the College of William and Mary.

McDermott has been on the varsity track and field team since her freshman year, competing in the long and triple jump, which she will continue in college. McDermott qualified for states in all three of her

PHOTO BY HANNAH YASHAROFF.

years at CHS, and this past year she competed at New Balance Nationals in June 2014.

“I am so excited to be spending my next four years at William and Mary,” McDermott said. “ I know that college level athletics will be a step up, but I feel like the environment of the school as well as of the team will create an atmosphere where I can thrive.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF ELAINA GU.

Congratulations to senior Elaina Gu for recently committing to swim for Princeton University.

Gu has been on the varsity swim and dive team since her freshman year, scoring points for the Bulldogs in the Washington Metropolitan Interscholastic Championships as well as the

Maryland 3A 4A state championships.

For her club team, Gu qualified for and swam in the 2014 NCSA Junior Nationals Championships in June.

“The first time I visited the campus I knew I wanted to be there for the next four years of my life,” Gu said.

“Not only does Princeton offer good academics, but the girls on the team are also very inspirational and the environment is amazing.”

Senior Louis Dubick

PHOTO BY PABLO ROA.

Senior Louis Dubick verbally committed to the University of Maryland at College Park as a sophomore after the 2011-2012 spring season, but Dubick officially signed as a Terrapin for the 2016 season Nov. 12.

Dubick shined in his four years as a Bulldog, scoring 189 goals and having 175 assists in his first three lacrosse seasons. Dubick was named an AllAmerican lacrosse player for each of his three years at CHS, and he plans to continue his extraordinary performance at the college level.

“I am just looking forward to getting on campus and putting in the work with a national championship team,” Dubick said.

According to Dubick, he hopes that a state championship comes out of this upcoming lacrosse season.

observer

Winston Churchill High School 11300 Gainsborough Rd. Potomac,MD 20854

the churchill

flipsi

de

www.thechurchillobserver.com

Volume 39 - Issue 3

Thursday, November 20, 2014

By Cristian Edwards Staff Writer

PHOTO COURTESY OF DYLAN ROTTER.

Freshman Dylan Rotter helped lead CHS to a 2014 State Championship.

Nobody knew about him, an unnoticed freshman who has never played high school golf before. Expectations were low until he proved everyone wrong. This kid can play.

The golf team won the Maryland 3A/4A state championship Oct. 29, and freshman Dylan Rotter helped CHS seal the win by shooting the lowest score on the team.

Rotter placed second overall in the individual rankings out of over 100 student athletes, shooting a combined score of 145 in the two days of play. He was only four shots behind the first place individual winner, Graham Hutchison from Whitman.

However, Rotter’s performance fell short of his expectation: first place.

“I was playing really well and got to one stroke down with nine holes to go and then I let it slip,” Rotter said. “I hate coming in second because it’s first to lose, but it felt pretty good. I stayed consistent and believed in myself.”

Rotter’s success didn’t just start this season, though.

Ever since Rotter started playing golf at age 2, his father would take him and his brother out to the putting green to work on his stroke. Rotter

only plays golf, allowing him more time to focus on the sport he loves.

Rotter also plays at least nine holes of golf every day and has a coach at Avenel Country Club and Woodmont Country Club to help him perfect his game. As a result, Rotter won three major junior tournaments last summer.

“Dylan came into the season following a successful summer, where he won three prestigious junior tournaments,” Rotter’s coach Michael Fisher said. “He continued his stellar performance throughout the entire season.”

Rotter’s father, Steve, is also proud for all he has accomplished in his 12 years of playing golf.

“It’s been wonderful to watch Dylan blossom to the golfer he is now,” Rotter’s father said.

According to Rotter’s coach Michael Fisher, there is something very special about Rotter and his demeanor and talent on the golf course, and he is very impressed by the way he carried his success from the summer into the season, leading the record twelfth state championship.

“Dylan was a welcomed new addition to the team,” Fisher said, “His immense talent, easy going attitude and confident demeanor made him a special player-which is seldom seen in any golfer, let alone a freshman.”

Cycle of new coaches affects teams’ spirit and play

By Emily Wang Circulation Manager Every few years, the coaching staff of CHS sports changes. In fact, many athletes on teams have seen at least two coaches come and go during their time on a CHS team.

“When I first joined the team it was [former swim coach Brendan] Roddy’s first year as well, and now [math teacher Chris] Tappis will be coaching the team for my last year here,” senior swim team captain Elaina Gu said. “Over the course of four years I would have two different high school coaches.”

Coaching high school sports is, in some ways, a thankless job; the pay is low and the hours are long. Yet, they do it because they are passionate for the sport and love working with athletes. Nevertheless, coaches are often forced to pass the job on after a few years as situations change.

“The hours required to coach at the high school level can be challenging and some people either leave coaching or choose to coach in a different envi-

ronment like clubs, private schools or youth organizations,” athletic director Scott Rivinius said.

According to MCPS regulations, coaches have one-year contracts, which may be a cause of the high turnover rate in the CHS coaching staff. Furthermore, when a teacher becomes the head of his respective department, he is no longer allowed to coach. However, a resource teacher will be allowed to fill the position when a coach cannot be found.

“Roddy was the coach my freshmen year because Van Tassell got promoted to be a resource teacher for the Social Studies department,” Gu said.

When selecting coaches, staff members get first priority for coaching positions because it is a union position. Regardless of where the coaches are from, they are all qualified, according to Rivinus.

“Prior to Churchill, I coached recreational, high school and all-star cheer in North Carolina,” said Jennifer Clark, CHS’ new varsity cheer coach.

“I am also a former cheerleader.”

In general, junior varsity coaches seem to have a higher turnover rate

than those of varsity coaches, possibly because varsity coaches are more experienced. Baseball alone has seen two new JV coaches in the past two years.

“Many of our varsity coaches have held the positions for five years or more,” Rivinius said.

Coaches have personal lives too; they have careers outside coaching and family. Thus, they often have to put their coaching aside to focus on other aspects of their lives.

According to former swim coach Brendan Roddy, who gave up his position as a coach in order to become the art department resource teacher, it was a tough decision to make since he loves coaching and getting to work with students outside of the classroom, but he knew it was beneficial to his career While some sports only have a new coach every few years, varsity cheer has had a new coach every year for the last four years. Three years ago, Brandi Richardson, now assistant school administrator for the Class of 2016, was the coach, but she had to relinquish her position in order to become assistant school administrator. A year later it

Team schedules* Girls @ Paint Branch Dec. 5 Boys v. Paint Branch Dec. 5

Wresting @ Magruder Dec. 10

was parent of former CHS student Leslie Blalock, Lynn Blalock, then health and gym teacher Margo Hopkins.

This year, Jennifer Clark, an assistant teacher at Whitman, is the coach.

“The biggest challenge for me coming into the new varsity position was the team getting accustomed to my coaching style,” Clark said.

For students, adjusting to new coaches can be difficult as they have to get used to the new coaching philosophy, style, practice, rules and expectations.

“It’s hard to continue tradition, but at the same time, it allows us to see different coaching styles,” cheer senior Ryann Siegel said. “Every year we gain new strengths.”

According to Gu, Roddy did a “really great job” his first year coaching when Gu was a freshman and “things got better as each year went by.”

Hiring new coaches every few years can be both a blessing and a curse; it can provide new opportunities for the team to bond and reinvent themselves, but it could weaken a team as well.

“Change isn’t necessarily bad, but frequent turnover for a program can be challenging for athletes,” Rivinius said.

*AS OF 11/18/14

Swim and Dive V. QO Nov. 29

Track and Field Dec. 6

FOR UP-TO-DATE SCORES AND STATS, FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @ CHS_OBSERVER.