[Uncaged.] by [Uncaged.]

freedom high school newsmagazine | volume 1 | issue 3

the

STAFF Adviser Kathryn Steele

Editor-in-Chief Mehr Kumar Design Editor Emma Gauthier Photo Editor Billan Omar Managing Editor Sarah Newell Copy Editor Mila Jasper Staff Manager Abby Agi Business Editor Anusha Khan Index Editor Joan Lee News Editors Emily Malacane Serena Thapa Features Editor Mahlet Wondwosen Culture Editor Maeve Dumais Opinions Editor Lauryn Forbes Sports Editors Joe Skinner Micah Natarajan Staff Writers Maryam Azeem Tahia Karim Simar Kohli Campbell Niehaus Kieran O’Brien Amanda Peña Jessica Scott Mallory Stokker Assistant Business Editor Hunter McCluer Photographers Cara Curtin Justin Sheehan Uncaged is the news magazine of Freedom High School. The attitudes, opinions, views, and ideas expressed in Uncaged do not necessarily reflect those of this staff, the faculty adviser, Freedom High School, or the Loudoun County Public School system. Uncaged follows the county and state guidelines established for student high school publications, and disclaims any liability with respect thereto the use or reliance on any such information contained in this publication. The Uncaged staff welcomes contributions and encourages the expression of students, faculty, staff, and members of the Freedom High School community. Cover photo illustration by Emma Gauthier

table of contents

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The caged bird sings with a fearful trill of things unknown but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill for the caged bird sings of freedom. //excerpt from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou

[news] [culture] [opinions] [features] [sports]

4 8 12 16 24

” 6

10 16

CONTENTS

from the editors Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s up, free bird? Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s us again! So glad you could join us for our third issue. It was incredibly humbling hearing all of the positive feedback after our last magazine. And for those of you who offered constructive criticism, we heard you, and we hope that you will see some of your ideas incorporated in this issue. But above all, thank you for talking about it. Here at [Uncaged.], producing a publication that makes our readers talk and think and discuss is more than we could ever ask for. So, thank you. Thank you for doing justice to the stories on the pages of our last magazine. We hope we continue to encourage conversation with this next issue. Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll notice that for this issue, in our features section (which begins on page 16), we decided to do something a little different to honor the great initiatives FHS has spearheaded this year. We are so proud to be a part of a student body that has been so proactive in raising funds and awareness for ideas that really matter, like helping pediatric cancer patients, instead of placing such high importance on the formalities associated with our often limited perspectives, like a traditional prom venue. As a result, the [Uncaged.] staff wanted to be part of that movement, too. Inspired by the caring students around us, we wanted to start our own movement, right here in this magazine. Realizing the prevalence of homelessness in Washington, D.C., so close to our own homes, we decided to use this issue to tell the stories of homeless people in the city. We hope that their stories help encourage you to make a difference in the community by helping others, in any small way that you possibly can. Thanks for listening. Later, free birds. n

[Photo by Sarah Bruno, 11]

letter from the editors

NEWS

FHS throws away approximately

43,200 pounds

of trash every year

[FHS[

Students and staff throw awa

321,840 ite

Of the garbage FHS throws out

35,280 pounds

of recyclable material

could be RECYCLED

If all of the aluminum at FHS was recycled, the energy could be used to run a for

18 years

ENERGY ST R 4

The Energy Star is an award presented by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DOE) that honors schools who have made contributions towards protecting the environment through energy efficiency.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The more money we can save just by energy, the less money it is going to cost parents, taxpayers, and things like that in the long run,â&#x20AC;? assistant principal William LeMaster said. [Story by Maryam Azeem]

[USA [ Americans throw away enough garbage a day to fill

63,000

garbage trucks

Of the garbage Americans throw out,

HALF could be RECYCLED

Recycling and composting prevented

87.2 million tons

away

of material from being disposed in 2013

items

Americans throw away enough aluminum to rebuild the

rial each year

37.5lbs

NOVEMBER

14.1lbs OCTOBER

21.0lbs

ENTIRE

commercial air fleet every 3 months

DECEMBER

9.05lbs

SEPTEMBER

[Infographics by Serena Thapa and Emily Malacane ]

DULLES FOOD PANTRY DONATIONS FROM FHS (2015)

PARTY

IMMIGRATION

“We do want to make sure that we are receiving a fair amount of immigrants, because this is in fact a country that is built by immigrants. The industry of this country is built by immigrants. And immigrants really do some of the best work in this country.” “I know Donald Trump goes off to say we need to kick out all the illegals - I mean, that’s not gonna work. You don’t just kick out 11 million people. But, we do need to round up the convicted felons and we need to let back in all the people that are gonna be assets to our country right now.”

KOLTISKO

we how

{on the issues} KASHANI

this is

NEWS

WELFARE “Things like Social Security are not just protecting everyday Americans, but they’re also protecting those who are in the poverty line, below the poverty line, or falling into the poverty line. There are basic human rights, like healthcare, that should be guarenteed to all Americans.” “Welfare is something that - I’m not saying it should be abolished by any means, but it needs to be reformed. We can’t have a welfare system that you can be unemployed for three years.”

GUN CONTROL “In further introducing more gun culture to our society; it just promotes the violence, it escalates it. Gun shows in particular need to be strictly monitored because they’re a breeding ground for the people whom, Joe is describing, as criminals.”

//Sophomore Ashkaan Kashani 6

//Senior Joe Koltisko

“I think the gun laws that are in place right now are fine. They’re enforced correctly, there’s a decent amount of background checks, and a few more background checks I wouldn’t be against, but I’m fine with the way it is now.”

[Photo by Billan Omar]

[Story by Mallory Stokker]

CONSERVATIVE CLUB

clu

bs}

If you’ve ever wandered the halls or looked on the board in one of your classrooms and seen a poster that says “I <3 Capitalism,” you may have wondered what the FHS Conservative Club is all about. But the FHS Conservative Club is not just about capitalism. A passion for political discussion was the motivation for seniors Joe Koltisko and Joe Reeves to begin the club. “We were thinking about starting the club just because of that - because of our interest in politics. We wanted to share that interest with the community,” senior and vice president of the Conservative Club Joe Reeves said. “Our number one goal is just to share our message and what our party stands for. We just like to talk about any current events that are happening in politics, especially with primaries season going on right now.” The club might seem intimidating to someone with a non-conservative political philosophy. However, a difference in opinion in order to promote constructive discussion is exactly what the club is looking for. “We promote the club within the community, we always tell people of all political cultures to come out and be with us, because we’d like to hear the other side’s point of view as well,” Reeves said. “It’s not just to spread awareness for our beliefs and values, it’s also to take in other people’s opinions and get a broader perspective of the political culture in general.” “We welcome all party ideologies to the club,” the club’s sponsor Susan Nigro said Of course, the club does have a conservative base. “Students came to me wanting to start a conservative club because they wanted a place where they could discuss their conservative ideals,” Nigro said. Still, someone who does not identify as conservative should not be deterred from attending a meeting. In fact, one of the club’s major goals is to promote organized, intelligent debate. “We like to talk about primary results. We like to talk about changing policy issues, because a lot of the candidates tend to, change their policies while they’re on the campaign. But if there are other people of other political ideologies there, we want to invite them into conversation and debate issues such as foreign policy and the economy,” Reeves said. “We like to invite people of all political beliefs and ideologies into our club.” n

YOUNG DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS CLUB

{in si

de t

Recently, the Young Democratic Socialists Club (YDS) were featured on the school announcements when they held their clothing drive. So far, this has been their biggest, but not their first, charity drive. The members of the Young Democratic Socialists Club have been interested in being active, helpful community members for quite some time. The roots of their club, however, lie not just in community service, but also in students’ motivation to discuss politics and express the changes they wanted to see. “It was really Ashkaan who started it all,” sophomore and club member Patrick Kruk explained. “Ashkaan and a group of his friends are all very passionate about politics and societal issues, and they’ll usually debate them at lunch,” Kruk said. “It’s a live discussion, so this [the club] was kind of formed out of that.” In addition to community service, one of the club’s goals is to promote their ideals. “It [YDS] believes there should be more democracy, really, more representation of the people. One of the major things now is curbing the excesses of capitalism,” Kruk said. True to its name, the club also engages in political discussion. “The last time we met, we discussed an idea called ‘basic income,’ which is a proposed solution to poverty. We talked about its benefits, discussed it. We’ll usually talk about something like that, or how we can address an issue,” Kruk said. The club members are excited to continue bettering the community. “Most of the members are in Freedom for Human Rights and Philosophy Club and they wanted to be more active and more targeted in what they were discussing. So we talked about doing the group, and then they did things like the clothing drive, and a couple other drives in the spring. They’re motivated,” the club sponsor Tyson McCord said. “We’ve already got - what, five bags and two boxes full of clothing, so they have the potential to do a lot of good and community service projects.” Kruk agreed that the club is excited to continue their community service mission. 7 “We’re trying to get something like [the coat drive] going again. One of the other things is we’re trying to grow the club so we can have more of an impact,” Patrick Kruk said. n [Stories by Mallory Stokker]

CULTURE

...I had Mr. T [for] my first block on my first day of high schoolâ&#x20AC;Ś I thought if all teachers were like him, it was going to be a good four years. // Senior Owen McCafferty

A NOTE FROM MRS. T Dear Freedom Students, Staff and Families, Thank you for your thoughtful words, prayers and generous acts during this tough time. Your support and kindness has helped to carry us through these past few weeks. It has been an honor to read all of the tweets, notes and letters from the Freedom community. I have always admired who Steve was as a person. His thoughtfulness about others and the gentle way in which he interacted with all he met, I have never met his equal. Steve was a creative soul with an amazing spirit. From his woodwork to his welding to his hilarious caricatures, our house is full of his art and creativity. What I miss most though, is his laugh. Despite everything that he was going through, Steve always had a smile or a joke ready to share. He had an uncanny way of bringing humor to just about any situation, especially when it was needed most. I can honestly say we laughed every day, even at the very end. You need to know that Steve cared deeply about and admired his Freedom students, either in his classes or not. He would often share how proud he was of your accomplishments, laugh over some of your antics or shake his head at the times you lacked confidence in yourselves. Steveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s belief in each of you was fierce. He believed that each of you is capable of goodness in who you are and greatness in what you do. What he wanted for you is what he wanted for his own children. Believe in yourself. Persevere. Be kind to others. Make yourself proud. Know that you are worth all that is good in the world. Take care, Freedom Eagles. You will always be in my heart, Johnna Tselides [Photo Illustration by Emma Gauthier]

CULTURE

IN MEMORY

Mr. T. was well-known for [pranks]. In our supply closet that we would have, he would put it on edge so that everything would fall out on me as soon as I opened it, and that was kind of my initiation. And we would go back and forth doing it to each other throughout the year. And we never knew it was coming, so that’s the kind of humor we would have... Or he would misplace something, he would take something of mine and put it on my desk in the other room and I’d be looking for it, and then the bell would ring and there it was, and he would walk out with that grin [that said], “I got you!” So, that’s the type of humor he would have with the students too, he would make them think. That’s what I’m going to miss the most, his humor and making you think about what you were doing, in his own funny way.

“

//Kevin Jones, Career and Technical Education Teacher I think [my favorite memory] would be after I found out that I got into [Virgnia] Tech. Obviously, I told my parents first and some of my friends knew, but I remember the next day I went and told him and he reacted like he was excited, and like he knew it was already going to happen, he wasn’t surprised or anything. We had connected over being Tech fans since the beginning, we would always talk about their games, so it was pretty great being able to tell him.

“

//Senior Kaitlyn Small

[Photo Illustration by Billan Omar]

[Interviews by Jessica Scott, Campbell Niehaus, Tahia Karim, and Sarah Newell] 10

“

[Mr. T. taught me] creativity is never a bad thing. //Junior Ian Pilgreen Thank you. Thank you for two and a half amazing years that I really enjoyed and will never forget. //Senior Carter Beardsley

“

He taught me to be happy throughout life. //Senior Dylan Davis

He has always taught me to never give up. //Senior Rodrigo Giron

“

He started being our friend first instead of just a teacher. //Senior Neerav Gupta

“

Thank you for teaching me to give everyone a fair chance in life. //Senior Daniel Grizzard

OPINIONS

let’s talk about... [FOOD]

I had no desire to become a vegetarian. No, my descent into vegetarianism was entirely a product of inevitable necessity. For me, it began with refusing to eat certain types of seafood. I avoided seafood that was industrially caught or unethically farmed. Recently, I challenged myself to apply the same sort of advocacy to all meat. I wanted to eat meat that I knew was farmed ethically, grown without hormones that are detrimental to other species, and in support of industries that treated their workers and contracting farmers fairly. Or so I tried. The lack of sufficient access to information regarding the contents of the animal products available to us as consumers promotes a culture of disregard to the sustainability of the food production. “In 1998, the USDA implemented microbial testing for salmonella and E. coli 0157h7 so that if a plant repeatedly failed these tests, the USDA could shut down the plant. After being taken to court by the meat and poultry associations, the USDA no longer has that power.” The only reason I was able to avoid eating unsustainable meats was because I ended up avoiding meats all together. It took a great deal of research to distinguish the farming practices and nuances hidden in the labels or online, and while I found a few, the amount of effort it took to try to only support sustainable providers nearly made me give up all together. “The SB63 Consumer Right to Know measure, requiring all food derived from cloned animals to be labeled as such, passed the California state legislature before being vetoed in 2007 by Governor Schwarzenegger, who said that he couldn’t sign a bill that pre-empted federal law.” The fact that I, in my quest to be an advocate for sustainability, was forced into unintentional vegetarianism is indicative of a problem with clarity and transparency in the food industry. n 12

[editorial by Mehr Kumar]

[STEREOTYPES]

[

PEOPLE ARE ANALYTICAL BEINGS.

[

[ [ I HAD NO DESIRE TO BECOME A VEGETARIAN.

Stereotype- the word itself has a nasty connotation, bringing back painful moments in our nation’s history. So if there is vast resentment associated with stereotyping, then why do we do it? The most well-known reason is that society has conditioned us to; but it’s also because our internal selves conduct it automatically. People are analytical beings; stereotyping is largely a psychological process, according to John Dovidio, a professor at Harvard University. As soon as you come into contact with a person, you distinguish them immediately and place them into a category- an action that isn’t necessarily out of malice. It is mere human instinct to act and engage in decision-making based on previous experiences. I’m not saying that the violence and hatred associated with stereotyping is justified in any manner; but honestly, whether we stereotype or not isn’t up to us; it’s up to the way in which our brains are wired. So the trick to conquering stereotypes is to overcome them, not to eliminate them. We’ve all heard ludicrous stereotypes out there that could not possibly be true. But instead of getting angry, having a good laugh about it might be the better solution. When listening to a podcast in AP Literature the other day, it was said that white people- stereotypically- use loofahs instead of washcloths. I use washcloths. It was also stated that white people do not like the Cheesecake Factory. I love the Cheesecake Factory. So I guess this means I’m kicked out of the white club. n [editorial by Abby Agi]

[CONCUSSIONS]

“

THE ISSUE...IS UNDEBATABLY SEVERE.

CRUNCH! Linebacker Vontaze Burfict’s shoulder smashes into the helmet of defenseless-receiver Antonio Brown at upwards of 20 miles per hour. Brown’s neck whips and twists as he tumbles limply to the cold turf, his head whiplashing onto the ground. Out run the trainers. They ask some quick questions. He stumbles to the sideline. Concussed. While this controversial play resulted in a crucial penalty which was widely considered instrumental in the Pittsburgh Steelers victory, can one little, yellow flag appropriately compensate for the damage done by a severe hit-to-the-head? The issue of head-to-head contact and concussions is undebatably severe. However, the level of preventative action is highly debatable. For the betterment of sports and the protection of athletes’ lives, the full attention of numerous neurological experts should be devoted to this pressing issue until a feasible solution is discovered and executed. It is estimated that during each sixteen-game season, the average professional football player will endure nine-hundred to fifteen-hundred hits to the head according to concussiontreatment.com.This vast number of hits leads

to upwards of two-hundred concussions per year in the NFL according to CNN. However, this issue isn’t limited to the National Football League (NFL). It isn’t limited to football. It isn’t even limited to professional sports. Across all ages, genders and sports in America, there are an estimated 1.6 to 3.8 million concussions per year according to prevacus.com. Head injuries are common in other sports as well. For instance, a headed soccer ball can collide with a player at 70 miles per hour according to concussiontreatment.com. Think about that speed. Stand at the side of the highway, watch the cars pass, and imagine a small object hitting your head at that velocity. For reasons such as these, head injuries are frighteningly common, yet nobody seems to be taking quick enough action to prevent them. Despite developments in helmet technology, a staggering ninety percent of thirty-four NFL players who have had their brains tested after they passed away, have tested positive for the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), as ABC News discovered. Tragically, Hall of Fame NFL linebacker Junior Seau took his own life in 2012 be-

cause of the mental struggles caused by CTE. Occasions like this may be rare, but as the speed, size, and strength of players continue to increase, these nasty hits and these heart-wrenching stories are likely to arise more and more frequently. All leagues need to attack this issue urgently by diverting reasonably small but impactful funding to increasing protection. The NFL collected 7.24 billion dollars of revenue during the 2014 season, according to Bleacher Report. While presently they divide these profits among each of the thirty-two teams (226.4 million per team), they could significantly impact player safety by retracting just one million dollars per team. With 32 million dollars of funding per year, professional leagues will be able to take initiative and develop safer equipment for players before fatalities increase. When breakthroughs are made and more dependent forms of head-protection are developed, these technologies will progressively work their way down to youth leagues and protect all athletes’ lives. However, it is imperative that professionals take an initiative and secure safety for participants of all ages and skill levels. n [editorial by Campbell Niehaus]

<My Music

The Life of Freedom

Quincy Stiles, 11 -Shoutout to the Machine Dineen for scoring goals.