Volume 38 - Issue 3
Wednesday. October 23, 2013
A National Blue Ribon School
We are family: Benz establishes Sister School in China By Elizabeth Campbell Editor-in-Chief
P
rincipal Joan Benz established a Sister City Partnership and an exchange program with China’s Xi’an No. 1 Middle School on Sept. 18 as part of MCPS’ County Executive Isaiah Leggett’s China Trade, Education and Cultural Mission Trip. The trip included over 80 MCPS officials, including Superintendent Joshua Starr, who toured multiple Chinese schools and historical sites. Despite it being called a middle school, the Chinese students are the same age as CHS students. The program will include a student-teacher exchange program, a possible focus on a scientific research project and the encouragement of Internet communication between students. “We’re hopefully going to start this spring when Churchill students could go to Xi’an,” Benz said. “When students go to Xi’an, they would either be staying in the school dormitories or with those families, and they would be going to school with those families, so it would be a full immersion program in all facets, not just education.” Benz would first consider
PHOTO COURYESY OF XI’AN NO. 1 SCHOOL.
Principal Joan Benz and Xi’an No. 1 Middle School’s Principal exchange a flag to promote a sense of unity at the Sister School program official cermony. students currently enrolled in Chinese classes for the exchange program. According to Chinese teacher Yih Lee, who will most likely go with the students to China in the spring, the program is an excellent learning opportunity, and her students are very excited. “Students will get to use their language outside of the classroom, which is the greatest thing they can do when they are
learning a language,” Lee said. “We see it in the book, but now we get to see what they actually do every day and see the language and culture in action.” More than just enriching the Chinese curriculum, Benz plans to expand the Chinese courses CHS offers and encourage all CHS feeder schools to start Chinese programs. “I do want to talk with some of the other elementary school
principals about starting Chinese, and I want to increase excitement about China,” Benz said. “Right now, we don’t offer level one or two, and if you haven’t taken it at middle school, you can’t start it, and that’s too bad. I think students should have the opportunity to learn the language.” In addition to supplementing the Chinese program, Benz hopes to incorporate all aspects of the student experience that make up
CHS including the athletic teams, actors, and musicians. “We’ve talked about athletic teams doing some sort of exhibition soccer games or having instrumental kids come here or there, or putting on things such as mini plays or doing some performances together or instrumental concerts,” Benz said. Benz also hopes that Xi’an students will be able to visit CHS in the fall to experience American school traditions such as homecoming. Senior Jennifer Holstein, who spent her junior year at a Chinese high school for an exchange program, sees this new CHS program as a great opportunity for other students to immerse themselves in the culture and promote mutual understanding. “I think that Dr. Benz setting up an immersion program at Churchill would be an incredible opportunity for our student body to develop a new perspective of the people in the world around us,” Holstein said. There is currently no timeline for how long the program will run, but Benz hopes to keep the program going for as long as possible. “I want to keep the program up forever,” Benz said. “I feel that Chinese is the language of the future.”
CHS ranked No.1 in MD USDA limits snack for third consecutive year options after school
Whitman’s music video to Katy Perry’s “Roar” celebrates their fundraising success for cancer research.
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Opinions Miley
Miley is creating a movement, not making a mistake.
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ILLUSTRATION BY GREER SMITH.
MCPS announced it would be following the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) new Smart Snacks rule, which limits items to 230 mg of sodium and caffeinated sports and isotonic beverages to high schools only. The milk, fruit juice and water rules will remain in schools. According to the MCPS website, the rule is in an effort to promote and maintain a healthy school environment. Schools must also follow the new nutritional requirements for foods sold 30 minutes after school lets out. This new regulation will affect CHS students who rely on the vending machines and pizza sales to provide them with after school snacks for sports
Sports CHS alumni
The Observer follows the athletic careers of several CHS alumni.
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and other fundraising. Several CHS clubs and honors societies rely on pizza sales for fundraising. “It will adversely affect us because that is a main source of how we raise our money,” senior and Science National Honors Society member Matthew WestonDawkes said. Despite students’ disapproval, the rules have nutritional benefits that teachers and parents appreciate. “The new requirements by the USDA are to improve diet and overall health of American children,” school nurse Deborah Stapleton said. “The rules will benefit CHS students by limiting foods available for purchase to those that meet the new nutrition standards.”
PHOTO BY ZACH KABELAC.
News Whitman Roars
By Ana Faguy Production Editor
PHOTO BY JULIA REAGAN.
CHS has done it again— landing the No.1 school ranking in Maryland for the third year in a row. According to the report by U.S. News and World Report, CHS ranks as the best high school in Maryland against the 240 other charter, magnet and public high schools in the state. CHS placed 52 nationwide. Schools were evaluated on AP performance, the student-teacher ratio, and how students performed in the state’s math and English exams. At CHS, 92 percent of students participated in APs with an 84 percent passing rate. According to the report,
CHS’ college readiness index is 85.6 out of 100. The 111 teachers at CHS play a significant part in the school’s success with the 19 to 1 student-teacher ratio. “I really like that teachers make themselves so available to help students and are willing to sit down and work with them until they master the course material,” senior Wing-Mei Ko said. The other aspect of the Maryland ranking involves English and Algebra scores, measured by student High School Assessment results. Ninety-seven percent of CHS students are proficient in English with 64 percent being advanced. Ninetyseven percent are proficient in Algebra with 68 percent being advanced. PHOTO COURTESY OF YOUTUBE.
By Natalie Cortez Public Relations Manager