The Viking / Issue 2 / Oct 2013

Video Game Club p. 4

Sleep Habits p. 10

Magic with a Message p. 12

the

viking Loudoun Valley High School . Purcellville, VA . Issue II . October/November 2013

Top / Bridget Dunn decorates the junior hall in preparation for Homecoming week judging.

Junior hall placed second in the hallway competition, with sophomore hall taking the lead. photo / Sami Morency Cover / Junior Cameron Carlson and guest speaker and magician Steve Bargatze interact onstage during Bargatze’s anti-bullying Magic with a Message assembly. photo / courtesy of Sydney Pitvorec

the

viking Newsmagazine Staff 2013-2014

Editor-in-Chief Charles Lyons

Managing Editors Brianna Jennings Emma Rodriguez

Copy Editor Leila Francis

Business Manager Courtney Morgan

Social Media Editor Elizabeth Sikora

Online Editors Sami Morency Henry Webster

Writers, Photographers, Business and Promotional Staff Carina Bucci, Jennifer Colantonio, Claire Deaver, Sacha Gragg, McKenna Holtz, Maddie Rice, Ainsley Sierzega Adviser Paige Cox

Letter from the

Editor

Dear Vikings, The Viking is a completely studentrun and student-funded newsmagazine, meaning that our staff is responsible for everything you see printed, unless otherwise credited. Our adviser, Ms. Cox, guides us through the process, but

thevikingnews.com | Twitter: @lvhsviking | Instagram: lvhsviking ultimately everything is produced and crafted by The Viking staff.

If there is something you want us to cover, let us know! Room 135, the publications room, is always open for you to come give us suggestions. Our goal is to paint an accurate portrait of the current cultural, scholastic, athletic and overall climate of the environment we visit every day; knowing what you all are interested in reading will help us reach this goal.

While we want to entertain our readers, we also are very serious about our work. We do not tamper with interviews; the words you give us during

an interview are what you will see printed unless you tell us otherwise.

Our interviews are backed up via audio files, and we promise to never intentionally place your quotes out of context. If you find that we printed something incorrectly or feel that we misrepresented you in any way, please feel free to let us know so that we can print an apology. As we said, we work to serve you, our student body, and do not want to misrepresent you.

Make sure to look for us throughout the year—we will be distributing six more issues before the school year

ends. In the meantime, visit our online iteration at thevikingnews.com, where we post articles, pictures, sports coverage, videos and more on a weekly basis. Also, if you are interested in submitting advertisements or shoutouts to friends or clubs, feel free to visit Room 135 or contact our advertising manager, Courtney Morgan, by e-mail at courtney.m.2014@gmail.com. As always, we hope you enjoy this issue of The Viking.

Thanks!

Charles Lyons Editor-in-Chief

CONTENTS October/November 2013

4 Game On The Video Game Club meets once a week to play popular games, but the effect is more lasting than their afterschool sessions.

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Malala

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Date Night

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Overcrowded & Understaffed

The women’s education advocate and youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize nominee visited the World Bank in October. Junior Maddie Rice recounts her experience attending the event.

When going out with friends or on a date it’s difficult to find somewhere close to home with a decent price range, a good vibe and great food.

As the number of the students in a classroom rises across the county, the same number of teachers struggle to provide education based on each individual’s needs.

10 We’re Too Tired...

The Viking : Virginia State Golf Champion Ian...

http://www.thevikingnews.com/top-stories/2013/1...

Sleep depravation and sleep culture are ubiquitous in the lives of high schoolers, aggravated by rigorous schedules and the consumption of copious sleep aids and supplements.

Golfer Ian Hildebrand takes a swing. Hildebrand placed first in the Virginia State Golf Tournament on October 14.

View the full story on Hildebrand’s golf career and his win at the Virginia State Golf Tournament on The Viking‘s website.

12 Magic with a Message Editorial:

Performer and magician Steve Bargatze brought bullying and its effect to the attention of the student body.

http://kaywa.me/d6odn

Download the Kaywa QR Code Reader (App Store &Android Market) and scan your code!

Game On

The Video Game Club meets once a week to play popular games, but the effect is more lasting than their afterschool sessions.

By Emma Rodriguez

When you think of a “gamer” you may picture an adult living in his mother’s basement, staring at a glowing computer screen hidden away from the sun. In reality, about a quarter of video game players are high school age, according to the Entertainment Software Rating Board, or ESRB. Some of those gamers meet after school on Thursdays and during C-club rotation to socialize, debate and, of course, play.

Video Game Club has grown dramatically since its inception in 2009 by former student Robert Heck and a few video game enthusiasts; the club, averaging 30 students in the after school sessions and about 75 on Friday mornings, is a constant flurry of activity that echoes through the halls. Club sponsor Vicki Shea was inspired to help Heck found the club when she saw the enthusiasm of the students.

“We said we’d give it a try the first year and see how it went, and it became very important,” Shea said. “I definitely feel like the passion has continued because we’ve actually grown... The first year we had 15 to 20 kids, and now we average at least 25.”

The club helps students with public speaking, requiring that each member do at least one presentation a year on any topic relating to the club, and provides a tie to the school that students might

Game Changers

not otherwise have.

“It might be the only club or activity that they actually participate in,” Shea said. “It helps give them a feeling of community with everyone else.”

Although the club has faced stigmatism from people who believe video games reduce productivity, and therefore have no place in school, video game producer and author Dr. Jane McGonigal disagrees.

“Right now, we spend 3 billion hours a week playing online games,” McGonigal said. “I believe that if we want to survive the next century on this planet, we need to increase that total dramatically.

I’ve calculated the total we need at 21 billion hours of game play every week.”

McGonigal, who was recognized by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as an influential figure in technology, argues that gamers are improving four skills essential for success: Urgent Optimism, the desire to act immediately combined with belief in success; Social Fabric, the ability to build strong relationships; Blissful Productivity, the enjoyment in working more than relaxing; and Epic Meaning, the attachment to tasks of planetary-scale importance.

“These are four superpowers that add up to one thing: gamers are super empowered, hopeful individuals,” McGonigal said. “These are people who believe that they are individually capable of changing the world.”

These skills have applications in high school and beyond, and studies show that video games

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actually do improve them. The average gamer will spend over 10,000 hours gaming by the time they are 21, or about the same amount of time spent in public school; 10,000 hours just happens to be the amount of time needed to become a virtuoso, according to best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers, a nationally acclaimed novel about the road to success for people like Bill Gates.

“We’re actually changing what we’re capable of as human beings,” McGonigal said. “We’re evolving to be a more collaborative and hardy species.”

The most noticeable “superpower” in high school is social fabric; studies have shown that playing games with someone strengthens the relationship, building trust and amity.

“Video games are something that can bring people together,” junior and self-proclaimed video game addict Tristen Bartnicki said.

And the club presents an unprecedented opportunity to meet other gamers, who may not be easy to find. While people involved in sports might be obvious, wearing jerseys or carrying equipment, gamers are harder to spot in the halls and don’t have a team to meet friends, according to club sponsor Mary Keffer. They need a place to share their passion, just like sports players have the opportunity to argue stats and discuss plays.

“This is a way they can connect,” Keffer said.

“That’s their interest.”

Keffer believes that there is a stigma surrounding video game players, making it difficult for gamers to share their fervor with other students.

percent of households in the US play video games

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Left / Gamers wait for announcements and presentations before splitting up to play. Every club member is required to present at least once a year.

Below Left / Erik Herrera plays the Xbox. M-rated games such as Call of Duty can be played, as long as members bring in permission slips.

Below Center / Robin Dezagottis plays the Wii. The Wii is one of the most popular consoles in the club, so there are two Wii consoles in use at all times.

Below Right / Brendan Shea and Keefer Ellis share a Wii. Everyone must pair up with someone to play; there are no one player games allowed during the after school sessions.

“Athletes go out and they talk about plays and football players and people might think [that’s okay,]” Keffer said. “Then we have the video game club members and they do the same thing, they talk about video games and sometimes people think [that’s not okay.] Why not?”

Shea says some club members even deny that they play.

“Everybody wants to say ‘Oh you play video games, you must be a geek,’” Shea said. “People play video games for a lot of different reasons.”

Most students prefer games with lengthy goals to accomplish and storylines that lead the player forward, following a plot. These games can improve critical thinking skills by forcing players to look ahead to beat levels, or might appeal to their independent sides, letting them choose how to play it out.

“There are quite a few games that I play that have a story that really speaks to me,” junior Brendan Shea said. “One of [the morals] is ‘don’t wait for somebody else to solve your problems.’”

One of the perks of the club is that it is open to all students; club members are as diverse as the school, with ranges in gender, academics, participation in other activities and even gaming skill.

“We’re open to people whether they can play or not,” Keffer said. “A lot of people think that if you’re in Video Game Club you have to know how to play video games. You don’t have to know, you don’t even have to play.”

The diversity is another factor that appeals

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to students, creating an inherently accepting atmosphere and allowing students to be themselves.

Some students come from the special education department, having found a medium where they can excel and a social environment that’s not too intimidating. Keffer, a special education teacher, agreed to sponsor the club to support her students; while the club doesn’t negate their disabilities, Keffer believes that it helps them evolve socially and teaches them critical thinking skills.

“When you’re playing video games, even if you’re playing with people, you’re still playing your own controller,” Keffer said. “Certain disabilities they do better, or feel more comfortable, when they’re by themselves, and this gives them a situation where they are working by themselves but have others surrounding them.”

Other members are new gamers, or new students looking for an activity; many are students who, while they don’t identify as gamers, put in just as many hours on games like Call of Duty. Students range from choir members to jocks; regardless of background, students find acceptance and welcoming.

“They don’t see anything except they all like video games,” Keffer said. “They try to help [less skilled gamers] play them.”

Shea first realized the impact of the club when two seniors and their parents asked for pictures with her at graduation, saying that the club was the only reason they’d stayed in school.

“They really knew who I was, and their

parents knew who I was, just from that,” Shea said emotionally. “I think the main thing is that it helps some students feel more connected.”

Shea also fondly remembered a student who used war games to relate to his veteran grandfather; this was one of the arguments used to attain permission to have M-rated games during the after school sessions, despite concerns that video games promoted violent behavior.

“I think that it gives students an outlet for certain feelings, to work things through,” Shea said, adding that she doesn’t believe video games relate to violent behavior.

Despite the challenges the club has faced, including stigma and belief that video games contribute to violence, club members benefit from the opportunities it presents.

“People are here because they don’t want to be in their basement by themselves, they want to have that social interaction,” Shea said. “It sometimes gives students other tools to interact with the world that they might not already have.” photos / Elizabeth Sikora layout / Emma Rodriguez

Gamer Superpowers percent of gamers are girls

- Entertainment Software Rating Board

According to game producer Jane McGonigal

desire to act immediately combined with Urgent Optimism The belief in success Social Fabric The ability to build strong relationships enjoyment in working more than Blissful Productivity The relaxing attachment to tasks of planetary-scale Epic Meaning The importance OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2013

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MALALA

The women’s education advocate and youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize nominee visited the World Bank in October. Junior Maddie Rice recounts her experience attending the event.

The atrium of the World Bank is packed with people standing shoulder to shoulder. I sat listening to the rich mixture of languages, French, Swedish, Arabic but everyone was waiting, waiting to catch a glimpse of an international icon.

Malala Yousafzai, a 16 year-old girl from Swat Valley, Pakistan stood up against the Taliban for equal education rights of women one year ago. As a result, members of the Taliban invaded her school bus and she was shot in the head. She miraculously survived and now, with her father, she continues her campaign for the global education of women.

I had the privilege to photograph the event.

I watch Malala walk down the stairs of the atrium with the president of the World Bank, Dr. Jim Yong Kim. She is poised and modest. As she began to answer questions it became clear to me that global education is the most important resource available.

She speaks in an adult tone and I realize that she is my age, a teenager, on her birthday she spoke to the United Nations about the importance of education and how the Malala Fund can help solve it.

At the end of the interview the crowd resumes to their daily life, trying to absorb the enormity of her words. I left feeling empowered and informed. I wanted to stand beside her and fight.

“I am proud to be a girl. We girls can change the world,” Malala said. photos / Maddie Rice layout / Maddie Rice, Charles Lyons

6 THEVIKINGNEWS.COM OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2013

Date Night

By Brianna Jennings

When going out with friends or on a date, it’s difficult to find somewhere close to home with a decent price range, a good vibe and great food. Here are a few choices that fit all the criteria.

Not Your Average Joe’s Not Your Average Joe’s in the Landsdowne Town Center gives customers a semi-formal, calm restaurant, which is perfect for a little nicer, but not too expensive evening out. However, even though the food is decently priced, teens may see the costs at the medium to high range of their budget.

Even though the food is amazing, the distance scares away Western Loudoun residents, with a nearly half-hour drive to the restaurant. However, when going out with a large group or someone you don’t know that well, the large menu offers something for everyone that many other restaurants can’t.

Los Tios

Los Tios Grill provides a fun, energetic, semi-chaotic atmosphere where customers enjoy quality Tex-Mex and Salvadorian food. If you like Mexican food, this is the place to go. The quality food comes in large amounts for a low price. Los Tios isn’t that far from Purcellville, located in Market Station in Downtown Leesburg. Overall, Los Tios delivers the qualities for a fun, loud night out.

BurgerFi

The Village of Leesburg’s new addition, BurgerFi, serves gourmet burgers with fresh ingredients that taste delicious, especially compared to greasy fast food burgers. The farm fresh ingredients cause for a medium to high price, but the quality is definitely worth the slight upcharge. Perfect for a casual or laid-back hang out place before a movie or after shopping, BurgerFi’s location is perfect for any occasion.

Jasmine

Jasmine Chinese Cuisine and Sushi serves slightly above average Chinese food, definitely better than many smaller restaurants in Purcellville. Equal to the price of Pen’s in Purcellville, the prices are fair for entrees and sushi. While many people order take-out meals, eating in the restaurant offers a perfect place to go with large groups and get a lot of food to go around. Located in Market Station in Downtown Leesburg, Jasmine is a short 15-minute drive from Purcellville.

IHOP

IHOP, the International House of Pancakes, is a chain restaurant famous for their 24/7 service and enormous stacks of pancakes. Perfect for a late-night hangouts or early-morning breakfasts, IHOP provides teens with a lot of food for great prices. While the food is good but nothing exceptional, it’s great for a quick stop with a bunch of hungry students. Not a far drive from Purcellville, IHOP is located in the Leesburg Wal-Mart shopping center. photos / Emma Rodriguez layout / Brianna Jennings OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2013

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Student Perspective “In a class that’s smaller, it has more interaction and I believe that you have more projects and more class discussions than you do in bigger classes.”

- s enior Caroline Rose

“When I’m in a big class there’s less motivation to pay attention and get the work done because [I feel] like the teacher’s not going to notice me.”

- s enior Emily Jackson

“This year I have a class of 13 kids for Spanish 5, and it feels like private tutoring. She has time to help each person correct mistakes, answer everyone’s questions, and activities and projects take less time because everyone has a turn to talk. There’s nowhere to hide so it challenges us to stay focused.”

- j u n i o r Je s s K a m i e n s k i

Unders Overcro

As the number of the students in a clas s county, the same number of teachers st r

by C based on each individual’s needs.

T

he frazzled teacher weaves in and out of the 41 desks jammed into the miniscule classroom, skillfully dodging the backpacks scattered across the aisle. With only 10 minutes left and 20 students still confused on the day’s lesson, the teacher rapidly tries to answer questions and relieve their worries.

In any classroom, there are several factors that can affect a student’s learning, such as, class size. This year, several students and parents have complained about the number of people in their classes stating that it disrupts the learning environment.

“When there are a lot of people in a class you have to wait for everyone to understand and ask questions,” sophomore MaryKate Crawford said. “A teacher’s attention can only be split a certain number of ways.”

The English department’s classes illustrate this ongoing issue, with classes topping out at 37 students. For example, the AP College Board Handbook suggests

8 THEVIKINGNEWS.COM OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2013

that rigorous courses such as AP Language and Composition have 20 people to a class. Most of the English classes have around 35 students. For a class focused on writing, this makes grading extremely difficult, requiring a balance of reading 35 essays per class in a certain amount of time while still giving good, in-depth feedback.

If the class were only 20, students would benefit from more one-onone attention in class and longer responses on their graded papers.

Science classes such as biology and chemistry are growing as well, topping out at 33 and 32 respectively.

While teaching nuances of Victorian literature to a large class is difficult, monitoring lab-based classes in which students are entrusted with explosive chemicals and other dangerous substances becomes an extraordinary struggle. Teachers are caught between a responsibility to do their jobs and circumstances to their jobs that prevent them from doing them well.

One of the reasons for the large classes is the need of a lowcost education. A huge portion of this cost per pupil goes to paying

for instruction, a teacher’s salary.

Therefore, a lower cost per pupil means there’s less money to pay for teachers so fewer are hired.

In 2012, the cost per pupil in Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) was $11,014, lower than all but one of its comparable surrounding counties.

With LCPS having such a low cost per pupil now, higher class sizes were an inevitable result.

In addition to this, the enrollment in LCPS has increased every year.

Starting at 40,250 students in 2003, the enrollment number has grown by a couple thousand every year, resulting with 68,289 in 2013.This ongoing problem is really out of school administrators’ hands and all up to the school board, who decides on the budget.

“If it comes down to last minute counts in someone’s classes being way too large, Ms. Ross will beg for more manpower,” Director of School Counseling LeeAnne Johnson said. “It all comes down to budget and what is allotted.” photos / Ainsley Sierzega layout / Leila Francis

&

staffed owded

s sroom rises across the st ruggle to provide education

y

Cl a i r e De av e r a n d Le i l a Fr a nci s

English teacher Julie Hildbold’s seventh block AP Language and Composition class listens attentively to a lecture. This class of 33 students has nearly 50 percent more students than what is recommended by the College Board.

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We’re Too Tired...

to study for the chemistry test, to wake up for morning lifting, to write an essay, to go in to work, to get to school on time and to write this headline. by Elizabeth Sikora Every day is a struggle for the average teen to get out of bed and to school on time. Every morning students have the same habit of getting up, getting ready, skipping breakfast and instead going for a huge cup of coffee or an energy drink. Whether it’s a line of tired girls waiting in line at the Harris Teeter Starbucks before school, a room full of boys gulping energy drinks before practice or students popping headache pills to make it through class, we depend on caffeine and massive amounts of sugar to mask the true problem: sleep deprivation.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, a teenager needs at least eight and a half hours of sleep per night to function properly. The average student reports getting less than seven.

“I hear kids talk about how tired they are on a daily basis,” English teacher

“I run on about four hours of sleep a day,” Akin said. “I drink energy drinks to give me a boost when I’ll be up very late.”

Eight out of 10 students who drink energy drinks, coffee or take pain killers regularly would consider themselves addicted. According to News Medical these substances contain caffeine, a white crystalline xanthine alkaloid that is a psychoactive stimulant drug in the same category of substances as cocaine, nicotine and marijuana. But unlike many other psychoactive substances, it is legal and unregulated. When these substances are taken occasionally, most people don’t have a tolerance for it, but regular users will develop a strong tolerance to caffeine and in turn an addiction and need for more of it.

Caffeinated beverages are not only becoming an addiction of this generation, but also a social status enhancement. Most students agree that just holding a coffee or an energy drink can make that student seem more likeable.

“Coffee is definitely a status symbol, like ‘I-Spent-All-Night-Studying.’

People who drink straight black coffee automatically earn my respect,” senior Megan Thackaberry said.

Some teachers tend to blame the students’ lack of sleep on their procrastination of assignments, but students see it the other way around and blame the amount of work they get for their lack of sleep. As colleges become more and more competitive, students have to push themselves to join more - sophomore Philip Akin activities, take more higher level classes and get better grades. Forty percent of Valley students say they would rather take an extra AP class with more work, Kristyn Heiser said. “I’d rank it as the number one complaint next to the amount knowing they might have a better chance of getting into their dream college, of work kids say they are being saddled with.” than get more hours of sleep. With colleges amping up their competitiveness, it A typical student’s day consists of seven hours of school piled on top of is becoming more necessary for students to sacrifice their personal health for a sports, jobs and extracurricular activities where 60 percent of teens report they chance of getting into their ideal college. Teens feel a system is slowly beginning won’t get home before 8 p.m. Once home, exhausted from school and activities, where they won’t have time to sleep if they want to be successful in life. students are greeted with an average of three hours of homework per night, “We are overloaded with tons of homework on top of extra-curriculars. We causing many to stay up until the crack of dawn. This cycle causes a large don’t have time to sleep,” Thackaberry said. amount of teens to turn to routine coffee and soda drinking, sleeping pill usage and energy drinks to keep themselves from physical and mental exhaustion. photo / Elizabeth Sikora For a majority of students, like sophomore Philip Akin, it isn’t unusual to use layout / Elizabeth Sikora caffeinated substances weekly, or even daily.

“I run on about four hours of sleep a day.

I drink energy drinks to give me a boost when I’ll be up very late.”

Teens who average less than eight hours of sleep on weeknights tend to eat more fatty foods and are more likely to become obese than a student that gets more than 8 hours of sleep.

During REM sleep your brain determines what’s important to know and stores it for future use. Teens tend to get better grades when they get more sleep.

What time do Valley students usually go to sleep?

10 p.m.

11 p.m.

12 a.m.

1 a.m.

2 a.m.

17.7 pounds of pure sugar is consumed just by drinking two Starbucks mocha Frappuccinos or two 16 oz. Cokes every week for a year.

information from National Sleep Foundation, CNN, and a voluntary survery of Valley Students

OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2013

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EDITORIAL

MESSAGE RECEIVED Performer and magician Steve Bargatze brought bullying and its effect to the attention of the student body.

Tweet Reactions Josh Poncin

@joshponcin That guy was insane, that was easily the best assembly of all time.

Sophie Roberts

@NEBACANEZZAH That was the best assembly we’ve ever had. We all needed to hear that.

Belmira Machado

@belmiramach Casually cried during the entire assembly

The Jungle

@LVHS_Jungle Thank you Mr. Bargatze!!!

Awesome show! Thanks for visiting.

by Emma Rodriguez

On the afternoon of October third, hoards of students crowded the usually mute halls, some dabbing running mascara, others continuing to laugh with friends. The flurry of emotion was overseen by members of the SCA, who stood on the fringes smiling at the fruitful product of months of hard work and preparation.

Stephen Bargatze hosted two assemblies about the effect of bullying in his life, but it was the delivery, not the content, that carried the message. Bargatze combined bullying with magic, a choice that led to dubious whispers in the days before the assembly but ultimately proved cohesive. Once students entered the auditorium, they cast aside their doubts in favor of laughter while Bargatze used students and magic to crack jaunty jokes.

Finally Bargatze took a more serious turn. Although he continued to make jokes, laughs subdued as he explained the profound emotions he experienced as a result of bullying. His voice distorted with the loneliness of his childhood, he ended the show with a plea for students to treat everyone with kindness, to incorporate everyone, and to give their peers a second chance.

Suddenly, the message reiterated day after day since kindergarten held weight again.

People are hard-wired to be a community, and the national effort to end bullying is a reflection of our desire to interact and form healthy relationships. The problem is that many branches of this effort sound the same, a monotonous deluge of bullying clichés delivered in trite speeches and out-of-date videos. Bullying is such a common lecture that most students are desensitized to it by third grade; the idea of another assembly on bullying makes us want to take a nap. The unexpected twist in the tone of the assembly, the transition from magic and jokes to heartfelt tears, made us wake up.

No one walks around with the intent of being cruel; in fact, the majority of us try to reach out and make a positive difference in the lives of our fellow students. Bullying is often less verbal violence and more a failure to empathize with people, to be proactive in finding people who need a friend and seeking out opportunities to make them feel good. When one person forgets to invite someone to eat lunch at their table, it’s not a problem; when everyone forgets, that student is abandoned and alone.

The secret to Bargatze’s success hid in his ability to do what none of the speeches and videos could: with his emotional personal experience, he underlined the devastating effects when we fail to include everyone. photo / Sydney Pitvorec layout / Emma Rodriguez, Brianna Jennings, Charles Lyons Magician and performer Stephen Bargatze shares the details of his painful childhood on October 3 at Valley for the SCAsponsored bullying assembly. Bargatze moved students by demonstrating the importance of empathy and kindness.

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During a string of hard-fought wins, the varsity football team traveled to Sterling on October 18 and defeated Dominion 24-7. Senior Robbie Carter watches as his teammates pump up for the decisive game that crowned the team with an overall record of 6-1 and a district record of 3-0. “The football team as a whole feels awesome about our winning success this year.

We put a lot of work into getting to this point,� senior Brandon Grayson attested. Valley is the only Dulles District team currently undefeated in district play.

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Juniors Sarah Quick and Cameron Carlson hop across the gym during the underclassmen pep rally relay races at the Homecomng pep rally.

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Senior Homecoming Court members Sarah Ashworth and Caleb Vineyard prepare to compete in the pep rally activities.

During their debut October 16 performance, sophomore Taylor Thackaberry and freshman Daniel Carpenter lead the school’s improv team, the Comedy Cult.

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Juniors Ben Canan and Roxanne Smith dance the Polka at the German Club Oktoberfest celebration following the PSAT.

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Senior Matt Regan gains yards during the game against Dominion, which the team won 24-7.

Bluegrass Club members, juniors Jake Lutman and Doug Barton, play guitar during the post-PSAT assemblies. photos / Elizabeth Sikora, Ainsley Sierzega, Jackie Garcia layout / Elizabeth Sikora

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