the
viking Loudoun Valley High School / Purcellville, VA / December 2017
Common Enemy or Common App? Students shift their attitudes, choosing to use their brief high school tenure as an opportunity to explore personal interests rather than to focus solely on developing a college-ready resume. Page 11
Above / Freshman Betsy Thorne decorates the Spirit Club’s annual giving tree, where Valley students can provide gifts to families in need. (photo / Tyler Valentine)
THE
VIKING Newsmagazine Staff 2016-2017
Editors-in-Chief Chris Cerne Ben Manning Sean Webster
Online Editors Carleigh Rahn Zach Stevenson
Online Managing Editor Griffin Hunt
Photo Editors Olivia de Stanley Madison Stiles
Multimedia Editor Tyler Valentine
Writers, Photographers, Business and Promotional Staff Tito Alcazar, Jacob Coleman, Heather Feconda, Sadie Grant, Brianna Henriquez, Jordan Iwerks, Grace Jennings, Ben Keane, Alexandra Krens, Gillian Krug, Lauren Madey, Caleigh Marsh, Madison McIntosh, Jared Sanders, Ella Serafin, Claire Slook, Madison Stiles, Charlotte Twetten, Kerry Webster Adviser Paige Cox thevikingnews.com | Twitter: @lvhsviking | Instagram: lvhsviking | Snapchat: lvhsviking
Letter from the Editors 2
THEVIKINGNEWS.COM
Dear Vikings, The Viking is a completely student-run and studentfunded newsmagazine, meaning that our staff is responsible for everything you see printed, unless otherwise credited. All interviews are fairly represented, and audio files are kept for reference.
December 2017
This year, our goal is to serve the student body by covering a variety of topics, ranging from experiences with the college admissions process to pop culture events. Finally, the Viking is lucky enough to have a faculty and student body overwhelmingly supportive
of our newsmagazine. Thank you for your readership and your feedback. Thanks, Chris Cerne, Ben Manning, and Sean Webster Editors-in-Chief
CONTENTS December 2017
4
Sweet and Salty
5
The STEM Generation
The weather is colder, the days are shorter and the holidays fast approach. With these recipes, you can sweeten any holiday party.
Students enrolled in Independent Science Research investigate important scientific questions and unlock the potential of math and science.
6
To Text or Not to Text
8
Got Game?
With cellphones ever present among teens, teachers are increasingly using them to keep in touch with students.
As both a family tradition and a cultural touchstone, hunting serves to bring together nature enthusiasts.
11
Common App Enemy
15
Loudoun Leisure
Students shift their attitudes, choosing to explore interests rather than to focus on developing a college-ready resume.
The lack of activities for teenagers in Purcellville is worrying and detrimental to the development of our small town.
Right / In preparation for “Peter and the Starcatcher�, Senior Noah Wayde assembles set pieces for the show during tech week. (photo / Caleigh Marsh)
December 2017
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Sweet and Salty
The weather is colder, the days are shorter and the holidays fast approach. With these recipes, you can sweeten any holiday party. By Griffin Hunt
Pecan Pie
Brownie Trifles Mixing healthy foods with dessert is the bane of sweet-toothed food connoisseurs existence. In a world scarred by black bean brownies and kale infused cake, these raspberry brownie trifles stand out. A mix of dark chocolate, tart raspberries and sweet whipped cream, these trifles contain the perfect amounts of sweet, chocolate chips and the fruity flavor of raspberries. It doesn’t hurt that they contain a generous serving of whipped cream.
2 eggs 7 oz. of melted chocolate 3/4 cups butter 1/4 cup water 1 cup sugar 3/4 cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 7/4 cups flour 1/8 teaspoon salt 2 pints of raspberries
Preheat the oven to 350 Melt the chocolate with the water and butter. Pour the chocolate into a mixer and mix in the sugar and brown sugar. Once combined, add eggs and vanilla extract. Add the flour and salt and mix until combined. Pour the mixture into baking dish. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cooked all the way through. Once done, take them out and let cool completely. Once cooled, flip the dish onto a cutting board and cut the brownies into ½ inch cubes For the whipped cream, put a whisk attachment on the mixer and whisk the heavy cream, vanilla and powdered sugar until soft peaks begin to form. For assembling, put down a layer of whipped cream, then added the brownies and raspberries on top. For Pecan Pie and Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate recipes, visit thevikingnews.com 4
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December 2017
Pecans on their own are bitter with an odd taste, but when combined with a chocolate crust, and a maple bourbon glaze they’re life-changing. Using a chocolatey crust, contrary to most normal crusts, this pie is enough to stand out. The maple bourbon glaze that tops the pie makes is a mix of sweet with subtle hints of bourbon. FYI, it bakes off.
Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate
This dish is a trademark drink for the holiday season. This salted caramel hot chocolate spins a new twist on the holiday favorite and creates the perfect mix of sweet and salty that is sure to delight sweet tooths and salt fanatics alike. Be sure to add this to your list for the next time you’re making hot cocoa. layout / Griffin Hunt photos / Madison Stiles
STEM Generation The
Students enrolled in the Independent Science Research class investigate important scientific questions and unlock the potential of math and science. By Sean Webster
Left / Multiple projects in ISR include computer science and programming.
S
cience education is vitally important, but there is a persistent struggle to find the best way to teach it. In Independent Science Research (ISR), students tap into their creative potential to develop innovative experiments and discover their inner scientist. As a self-driven course, ISR requires students to choose a year-long project to research. At the end of the year, they present their findings in the annual Regional Science and Engineering Fair. This selfdirection gives increased accountability to the students. “What I like about it is that it doesn’t necessarily confine you to one aspect of science,” Senior Sam Hinton said. “There are so many different ways you can go in this class.” For her project, Hinton is testing the efficacy of three depression diagnosis tests. She intends to distribute the tests among two AP Psych classes and record student responses. ISR grants Hinton the ability to explore such a serious topic, an opportunity that she wouldn’t have had in other science classes. “My project is actually on something that’s not even completely science related, it’s more in the social sciences area,” Hinton said. “[The class] gives me a lot of room to work in that field while still getting that science credit that I need in order to graduate.” ISR permits students to explore any topic that interests them, so long as it encourages them to engage in research and experimentation methods.
Right / Junior Jessica Lu and Senior Rachel Campbell hold cayenne pepper and thyme, two essential substances for their research on roundworms.
Classes like ISR are a part of an effort across Loudoun County Public Schools to improve “STEM literacy” among high schoolers, preparing them for the 21st century. Senior Rachel Campbell, working with junior Jessica Lu, believes that the program offers an unmatched approach to research science. “It’s not like a lab experiment in any of your other classes, where you already know the outcome. You are actually looking to find out what would happen, so you’re doing actual research,” Campbell said. Their project seeks to determine the effectiveness of native African spices in killing parasitic roundworms. The purpose is to find alternative treatments for parasitic illnesses, preventing their severe and painful symptoms. With the help of the instructors, Campbell and Lu feel capable of going out on their own to investigate such an intriguing idea. This inquiry-based classroom experience is part of a commitment across LCPS to train students to be leaders, creators and collaborators. “I think science lends itself specifically to the development of that skillset of problem solving, so [the students] are developing ways to look at problems and apply those methods to other situations, and that doesn’t necessarily have to stay in science,”Science Department Co-Chair Erin Wissler said. Wissler first became involved in the ISR program five years ago, two years after the class was first offered. According to Wissler,
growing class sizes have presented more varied ideas and projects, particularly in the area of computer science. “I think people who are in high school today have had a lot more experience using computers and applying them to educational research and to projects that they’re working on that it’s become a much more natural part of [their] everyday life,” Wissler said. Educators like Wissler and Biology teacher Suzanne Lohr emphasize the importance of the skills fostered in scientific research to the success of future problem solvers. In her thirty years as a science teacher, Lohr has observed a shift in the way science is taught, whereby students are given greater responsibility to create their own investigative methods. According to her, high school classes are increasingly “inquiry based.” Lohr sees this development as highly encouraging, demonstrating the priority placed on science education. “If we’re going to keep up with other countries or be able to solve so many of the scientific problems that are going on in the world, we need to have the new generation of students being able to really think outside the box,” Lohr said. “If we’re getting them to think scientifically, hopefully they will be the new problem solvers for the future. photos / Tyler Valentine layout / Sean Webster
December 2017
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TO TEXT OR
NOT TO TEXT
Mobile Learning
88 percent
70 percent
The percentage of teens who have access to smartphones.
“
If I didn’t have the ability to text him [David Mininberg], I wouldn’t have had the correct information for me to get a good grade in class” -Colin Lowrance
The Teacher Take
“
The Remind App allows me to send out messages to all students if I forgot something in class or if I have to change something without having to wait for the next school day.” -Teresa McConnell
THEVIKINGNEWS.COM
By Ben Manning
Remind
The percent of teens who use their smart phones to coordiante doing school work.
Student Perspective
6
With cellphones everpresent among teens, teachers are increasingly using them to keep in touch with students.
December 2017
Created in 2011, Remind uses text-messaging and its mobile app to allow teachers to communicate with students and parents
90+ percent
The number of U.S. school districts that use Remind.
5-10 million
The number of downloads Remind has in the Google Play store.
3.6 Billion
The total number of messages sent through Remind.
20 Million
The amount of students, teachers and parents that use Remind.
Statistics provided by Remind
photos / Olivia deStanley and Tyler Valentine layout / Ben Manning
YOUR YEAR
Y(O U R) BOOK
BUY TODAY jostensyearbooks.com
160825
GAME?
Got
Hunting in Western Loudoun, with its natural beauty and abundant wildlife, has long been a centerpiece of the area. As both a family tradition and a cultural touchstone, hunting serves to bring together nature enthusiasts. By Olivia deStanley
E
very Friday night from September to November school tradition calls for a crowd of teenagers standing in The Jungle decked out in camouflage and neon orange. A smaller number of those teenagers will don the same gear multiple times while participating in one of their most beloved pastimes: hunting. While these students find joy and excitement in hunting, they also understand
“
I started going out hunting and sitting in the blind with my dad when I was about two. -Bobby Lohr
the responsibilities it entails. Many hunters strive to use as much as the animal as possible. “I take the deer to a butcher, so he can make jerky and baloney with it,” junior Tressa Kagarise said.“I do this because I don’t want to waste the life that I just took. My family eats the meat, and nothing is wasted.” Although hunting is a dangerous sport, many young children still participate. According to a 2011 national survey conducted by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, 1.8 million 6 to 15 year olds said that they hunted. Often, the children who hunt come from families that have a 8
background in hunting. “I started going out hunting and sitting in the blind with my dad when I was about two. I wouldn’t shoot anything, it would probably kill me if I tried,” senior Bobby Lohr said. “But it was always fun to go out there and sit around and watch my dad hunt. It was probably my first memory sitting in a duck blind while my dad shot geese.”
THEVIKINGNEWS.COM
December 2017
Most people dread leaving a warm, cozy bed at four in the morning, but for these hunters, it’s worth it. Early mornings are prime hunting time. “If I’m hunting deer, I’ll normally hunt around 6-7 am, around sunrise,” junior Jake Dunk said. Other hunters spend their day in anticipation for a hunt either leaving school early, or using their early release privilege to get to their blinds in time for a hunt at dusk. The weapons used to hunt, such as rifles, muzzleloaders and bows are inherently dangerous. According to a 2011 survey done by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, 6,759 out of 16.4 million
people were injured while hunting with firearms. Hunting safety courses are required in order to obtain a license. Todd Mumpower, an environmental science teacher, has dedicated part of his time to ensure the number of hunting related accidents go down. Mumpower teaches hunting safety courses that are required in order to obtain a license. “The number one rule of hunting safety is making sure when you use a firearm you always treat it [as if] it’s loaded,” Mumpower said. Hunting provides some with food, some with fun, and even some with relief. “It’s kind of like a stress reliever. You just get to go out and sit in the blind you don’t have to worry about anything you kind of get away from the world for a little bit,” Lohr said. “It’s a great way to let go and relax, be out in nature.” layout /Olivia deStanley and Sean Webster photos / Courtesy of Bobby Lohr , Noah Turner and Greyson Rauch
Top/ Junior Greyson Rauch poses with a wild turkey he caught on Monday, December 5th in Marshall, Va.
Bottom right / While duck hunting, Senior Bobby Lohr and his family pose on the banks of a North Carolina lake. Duck hunting is one of Lohr’s favorite winter activities.
Bottom left/ Junior Noah Turner supports his 8-point buck that kicked off his 2015-2016 deer season.
December 2017
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varsity club Promoting all Loudoun Valley athletics Follow Varsity Club on Twitter @LVHS_VC
Follow The Viking @lvhsviking Check out The Viking online news site
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COMMON APP
^ ENEMY
Students shift their attitudes, choosing to use their brief high school tenure as an opportunity to explore personal interests rather than to focus solely on developing a college-ready resume. By Jacob Coleman and Charlotte Twetten
The spring of junior year has attained an almost ritualistic importance in high schools across the nation. Each year, tens of thousands of fresh-faced students make the pilgrimage to the nation’s institutions of higher learning, eager to impress the keyholders of the gateway to their future.
T
his annual throng of hopeful suppliants is symptomatic of a national obsession with college admissions, one revolving around rankings, prestige and the desire to make the best possible impression Obsession over the closed-door innerworkings of admissions committees takes an overlooked toll on the growing population of high schoolers that must brave the application process. “From the start, we as high school students understand that we need to be competitive to get into college. We’re given the rules [from colleges and counselors] and are expected to play by them,” senior Jasmine Mao said. “It’s like a cruel game.” A large portion of the problems with college admissions stems from the sheer number of applications submitted. In an almost self-perpetuating cycle, nervous seniors see their only choice in the face of ever-more competitive admissions as filling out more applications. A little over 1 in 4 seniors will submit more than seven, and it’s not uncommon to see numbers upwards of a dozen. Colleges themselves encourage this, sending a dizzying amount of online and paper mail to massive lists of names bought from education conglomerates like the College Board. In the hopes of augmenting profits made from application fees, universities aggressively court high school students from their freshman year onwards. National ranking systems, such as the US World News/Report college rankings, take into account acceptance rate, thus it is very much in the best interest of colleges to solicit as many applications as possible, even from students who have little chance of receiving an offer of admission. This practice has significant repercussions on the mental and financial well-being of students. “There’s way too much pressure to go to these schools where everyone’s like, ‘only the best of the best get to go here,’” junior 12
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December 2017
Chase Dawson said. In spite of this, schools continue to drive down acceptance rates and experience corresponding spikes in prestige. Stanford University, the current titleholder of the lowest undergraduate acceptance rate, received 43,997 applications in 2016 and in turn gave 2,063 offers of admission—an unprecedentedly low acceptance rate of 4.69%. The implication of plummeting acceptance rates is not lost on students. “[I started thinking about college] literally freshman year,” Dawson said. “I got really worried about whether I had an A or not.”
It’s not just grades that high school students have to polish and then peacock on the Common Application. The current admissions process also demands a bevy of impressive extracurriculars and awards to simply be considered as a serious candidate. Mao reported feeling intense pressure to have a perfectly padded resume to ensure that she gave colleges what they wanted. “There comes a point where you push kids so much they no longer value their education,” Mao said. Even the physical wellness of students is affected. “My biggest source of stress is just trying
FRESHMAN EXPERIENCES AURORA ALCAZAR “I procrastinate and then I get really stressed because I haven’t done the work. So I’ll spend two hours one day and two minutes the next.”
ELISE ABBE “It’s been pretty stressful but it teaches me to be efficient with my work so I do all my work at school and none at home.”
“
There comes a point where you push kids so much, they no longer value their education. –Jasmine Mao
to get enough sleep,” said Dawson. The oligopoly on college entrance and Advanced Placement examinations held by the College Board the ACT is another source of concern. “They are monetizing standardized tests that are required for getting into college,” Mao said. Her frustration reflects the feelings of many who have taken the SAT or ACT and then wondered at the fairness of the system. However, while most students wearily accept the unreasonable demands and taxing workload, some have said enough. A growing movement is determined to
return high school to its place as a time of freedom, exploration and the savoring of lingering youth, not four years concerned with the entry requirements to institutions of higher education. “We need to start emphasizing that it’s okay not to be everything,” Mao said. “We need to start promoting high school as a time to learn about yourself, and not [a time to do] what colleges expect.”
SENIOR REFLECTIONS
&
FAC T S F IGU R E S
$26,432 Average student debt in the state of Virginia.
$1.7 billion
Estimated cost of standardized testing in the United States.
6.7 million Students who have taken an SAT or PSAT in the 2015-2016 school year.
MICHAEL CIAFRE “I regret letting people’s opinions of me bother me as much as they did. I wish I would have stuck to myself more and not let other people dictate my life.”
93 students
from the Loudoun Valley class of 2016 applied to Virginia Tech.
45 students
from the Valley class of 2015 to University of Virginia.
CHARLIE TROCHLIL “My biggest regret in high school is that I often times took my academics more seriously than my physical and mental wellbeing and that’s not a good thing to do. I don’t endorse it.
85 students
from the Valley class of 2016 applied to James Madison University. layout / Christopher Cerne photo / Olivia deStanley December 2017
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Loudoun Leisure Loudoun Leisure The lack of activities for teenagers in Purcellville is worrying, and is due in part to the lack of representation in the county government.
N
o teen should waste half a tank of gas (and half of their Friday night) driving to Leesburg or Ashburn to have a good time. But with the only real recreational center in Purcellville being the Bush Tabernacle skating rink, it is hard for young adults, especially younger high-school students, to socialize without making the commitment to drive out of town. Public and private organizations accommodating Eastern Loudoun’s growth is detrimental to the development of Western Loudoun. With no access to transportation, and consequently, less access to activities outside of Purcellville, younger teens are prone to the influence of drugs and alcohol. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, one of the multitude of reasons teens try drugs is boredom. Loudoun is actively supporting recreational facilities. In fact, one of the lesser-known referendums on the ballot in the most-recent election related to the state of parks and recreation in the county: should taxpayers finance a new community center in Ashburn? Unsurprisingly, the referendum passed in Loudoun, with a majority of voters in Loudoun supporting the 76 million dollars for the park. But the issue isn’t the large price tag of maintaining these facilities, but rather that those same funds aren’t allocated towards Western Loudoun for new recreational facilities. In Loudoun County’s Fiscal Year 2017 budget, there are no proposed plans to build teen centers or recreational facilities in Loudoun. Instead, proposed projects include a trail from Franklin Park to Purcellville, a STEM library in
Leesburg, and a few parks in Western Loudoun. And let’s be honest: what good is a teenager going to do late at night at a park? Fortunately, Mark Novak, the Chief Park Planner of the Loudoun Parks and Recreation department, says that two new teen centers will come to Loudoun, but they both will be located in Eastern Loudoun. None of these projects help mitigate the ever-growing problem of teen boredom in Western Loudoun. Some disregard these concerns, claiming that towns in Western Loudoun have a smaller population, thus, less demand for recreational activities. A bigger problem is the lack of representation that teens have in Western Loudoun. The Loudoun County government has a council called The Advisory Commission on Youth (ACOY), that seeks to “foster the programs and services necessary for the wholesome development of the youth in Loudoun County,” advised by government and school board officials. There is a separate teen-run group of 56 students known as the Youth Advisory Council (YAC) that interfaces with these local government entities. Alex Beard is the Youth Initiative Specialist of the Loudoun Parks and Recreation department, and advises the YAC. “We work with the members of YAC to connect directly with The Advisory Commission on Youth (ACOY) as well as the Board of Supervisors,” Beard said. “This allows their voice to be heard within the local government on a larger scale.” Beard said that the YAC recognizes the lack of teen programs in Western Loudoun and already has plans to address the problem.
“This year, we are partnering with Franklin Park Arts Center to bring LCPS high school Improv comedy teams together for first annual LoCo Improv Festival on April 28th, 2017,” Beard said. While the inadequate representation of teens from Western Loudoun contributes to the problem, the private sector is also to blame for the lack of activities for teens. The closest movie theater to Purcellville is the Cobb Village 12 Theatre in Leesburg a twenty minute drive from Loudoun Valley. Other entertainment venues, such as Top Golf, are located in Ashburn, almost 30 minutes away from Loudoun Valley. With no entertainment centers in close proximity, it makes it impossible for younger teens without transportation to have fun, especially with working parents. There is no real way to solve the lack of private entertainment companies in Purcellville, other than to encourage some Purcellville residents that some development is good for the well-being of our youth. To solve the public problem, I encourage passionate students to reach out to their local government representatives and join groups like the YAC that speak directly to the county. In the meantime, take advantage of old-school recreation that already exists for teens, like a bike-ride along the W&OD. Though real changes will take a while to materialize, we can secure recreational facilities for future generations of Western Loudoun teens. layout / Chris Cerne photo / Bush Tabernacle
December 2017
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VIKING VIEW 1
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1. Seniors Rasheem Thornton and Nick Kallivokas celebrate a touchdown in their last regular-season game. Despite an early lead, the team lost to then-undefeated Woodgrove, 27-48. (photo / Olivia deStanley)
2 While sprinting down the court, sophomore Ally Dunkleberger leads a fast break for the JV girls team. The team lost their ďŹ rst home game to Woodgrove 21-38. (photo /Madison Stiles)
3 Senior Noah Franco prepares to serve for the students in their 3-0 sweep of the staff during the student-teacher volleyball game. They faced off on November 22, the last school day before Thanksgiving break. (photo / Gillian Krug)
4 Their instruments glinting in the dimmed auditorium, band members perform during the annual Veterans Day assembly. (photo / Madison Stiles)
5 A stream of water in his wake, senior Tito Alcazar competes in the boys individual 200m IM. (photo / Caleigh Marsh)
6 Senior Jared Forero tentatively removes a Jenga block during a morning Jenga club meeting. (photo / Tyler Valentine)
layout / Ben Manning & Olivia deStanley