The Black and White Vol. 55 Issue 5

OPINION

SPORTS FEATURE

Opinion: counting calories harms students

Spring sports: featuring players from baseball, tennis, lacrosse, vollyball and softball PAGE 19

PAGE 6

photo by TOMAS CASTRO

Walt Whitman High School

FEATURE

‘The Overachievers’: Where are they now?

PAGE 9

CROSSWORD

Photo by OLIVIA MATTHEWS

7100 Whittier Boulevard Bethesda, MD 20817

March Madness PAGE 15

Monday, March 20, 2017

Volume 55 Issue 5

Assessment, analysis tools added to Edline

by VALERIE AKINOYENU

T

hirty-two MCPS schools are currently piloting Performance Matters, a web-based platform with innovative online assessments and comprehensive student evaluations expected to supplement Edline, myMCPS and Google Classroom next school year.

Performance Matters allows students to take computerized tests and quizzes created by their teachers, who

can then compare the results to students’ standardized test scores, other online assessment results and grades in other classes to provide a rounded view of students’ academic progress. Currently, MCPS teachers don’t have direct access to student data in a single location and must formally request it from counselors and administrators.

“The wave of the future will be taking more tests online, so we want to make sure that students have those experiences in the classroom,” said Scott Murphy, director of MCPS secondary curriculum and districtwide programs.

“A platform like that gives teachers more immediacy back about how students are doing, and being able to do that more efficiently allows teachers to then do something about that the next day.”

Although teachers can view student grades through Performance Matters, they’ll still manage grades through myMCPS, and students will access them solely through Edline.

Performance Matters is part of a long-term effort to revamp and streamline MCPS’ learning platforms considering the limited functionality of Edline and myMCPS. It aims to familiarize stu-

dents with more modern assessments and to tailor educational efforts to students by giving educators the means to analyze and identify trends in individual and combined data.

“We’ll be evaluating things that have been in place and determining whether it’s time to move away from those things,” said Janet Wilson, associate superintendent of the MCPS Office of Shared Accountability. “We wouldn’t want to duplicate efforts, and we wouldn’t want to have multiple platforms to pay for that aren’t necessary.”

Continued on page 3

Student skiers carve place in national rankings

by KYLE LAYMAN

Guard Abby Meyers scored 26 points in the state finals agaisnt the Catonsville Comets.

Photo by TOMAS CASTRO

Meyers breaks 49-year record

I

by CARMEN MOLINA

n the second quarter of a Feb. 8 game against the Richard Montgomery Rockets, guard Abby Meyers took a shot—an unassuming two pointer—that would go down as one of the most memorable in Whitman basketball history.

With that basket, the Princeton commit scored the 1,566th point of her high school career, making her Whitman’s all-time top scorer.

Prior to Feb. 8, Garry Browne (‘68) held the record for 49 years with 1,565 points. Meyers had already broken the scoring record for women’s basketball earlier this year, which was set by Courtney Gaine (‘95), a forward on the 1995 State Championship team.

When Coach Peter Kenah discovered how close Meyers was to breaking the record, he planned for the team to surprise her. The celebration was also intended to acknowledge Meyers’ 1,000 point milestone from last year, a landmark that was overshadowed by senior night and playoffs.

“As we knew we were getting close, we were figuring out that math and we thought, ‘why not have some fun with this?’” Kenah said.

Her teammates withheld Meyers’ upcoming record from her until she scored her recordbreaking shot, when they then stopped the game and stormed onto the court.

“I pulled up for a simple jump shot and made it and everyone started screaming and running onto the court, and they dogpiled on me and told me I broke the all-time record,” Mey-

ers said. “Being surprised after I took a simple jump shot like that is something that I will never forget.”

Coach Peter Kenah had coordinated with the refs and the Rockets’ coach to ensure the Vikings wouldn’t get penalized for interrupting the game. He also informed Meyers’ parents ahead of time to ensure that her family, friends and the Princeton coach could be there to witness the achievement.

After the team announced her record, Kenah presented Meyers with a customized basketball featuring her name, picture and the 1,565 point record she broke.

For Meyers, this record wraps up an astounding four-year Whitman career. She recently led the team to state finals against the Catonsville Comets March 11, where she scored 26 of Whitman’s 46 points before fouling out with two minutes left in the game. Last year, she scored a team-high of 21 points when the Whitman girls team won the state championship for the first time in 21 years against Western High School.

“She’s a really special person,” guard Brooke Gumataotao said. “Playing with her is such an awesome thing because you get to see such a high level of basketball in a high school league.”

But Meyers said she would never have anticipated this level of success when she first joined the Whitman team.

“I had no idea that I wanted to play college basketball first and foremost, let alone beat any sort of record,” Meyers said. “Breaking a record like that is really special. I hope that it can inspire others to dream big and break records themselves and maybe break my record someday.”

After falling in love with the sport at a young age, freshman Megan Olsen and sophomores Florian Knollman and Noah Conlan spend their winters skiing competitively.

Knollman and Olsen both compete as downhill skiers, focusing on speed and navigating turns; Conlan participates in freestyle skiing, which involves performing tricks to impress judges.

For Olsen and Knollman, there are four main variations of downhill skiing events: slalom, giant slalom, super giant slalom and downhill.

Slalom involves skiing between poles and gates; in giant slalom, super-G and downhill the gates are farther apart.

Both Olsen and Knollman have participated in a variety of downhill skiing events in competitions across the country. Last year, Olsen placed first in Maryland and placed 12th in Eastern regionals, and Knollman placed in individual races. Olsen hopes to reach nationals, and Knoll-

man hopes to go further in the state championships.

“It’s all about speed. It’s about time, how good you are, how quick you can get around turns, how fast you can go,” Knollman said.

In freestyle skiing, there are three main events: rail jam, where skiers perform tricks on objects such as rails or boxes; slopestyle, in which skiers navigate a course that includes different obstacles like jumps or rails; and skier cross, which is a timed race that involves different obstacles.

Conlan primarily competes in slopestyle and rail jam competitions at Wisp Resort in western Maryland, like the Maryland Open, where he placed first out of 20 competitors, but the competition was discontinued two years ago.

Whether skiers are executing tricks or skiing for speed, freestyle and downhill skiing both require intense training during both the regular season and offseason—practices can last three hours, Olsen said.

Continued on page 17

Photo courtesy MEGAN OLSEN

Freshman Megan Olsen competes in downhill skiing across the country.

Olsen placed first in Maryland and 12th in eastern regionals.

NEWS

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Increasing diversity in MCPS prompts petition to rename Churchill High School

by CARMEN MOLINA Walt Whitman. Colonel Zadok Magruder. Albert Einstein. Walter Johnson. Richard Montgomery. Thomas S. Wootton.

These men are namesakes of MCPS high schools— and they’re also all white. While they might have represented MCPS students when those schools were first founded, some students, like Einstein High School freshman Hari Iyer, believe that’s no longer the case.

Iyer launched a petition on Change.org Jan. 27 to rename Winston Churchill High School after Malcolm X. Thus far, students have met the petition with varying levels of interest.

MCPS has a complicated history regarding racial diversity; when the school system first opened in 1860, it was an education system exclusively for white students.

The school system for students of color was established in 1872 and remained segregated until 1954, when the county began integrating.

“

When [students] want to know about the person their school is named after, and then they find out they’re not really supportive of their minority group, it’s kind of discouraging.

- sophomore Sydney Johnson

“[Malcolm X] was an African-American, and he was Muslim,” Iyer wrote. “With the growing rates of Islamophobic and anti-black crimes across the nation, as well as the growing diversity of the MCPS population, it’s necessary to commemorate positive role models that weren’t Islamophobic or anti-black.”

Iyer isn’t alone in his criticism of MCPS namesakes; a recent article penned by historian David Rotenstein in The Washington Post March 5 found fault with the namesake of Colonel E. Brooke Lee Middle School.

While Lee played a pivotal role in developing Silver Spring, Rotenstein points out that he was equally responsible for the discriminatory policies that prevented African-Americans from living in his newly created suburbs.

Iyer and Rotenstein highlight a controversial question: to what extent should historical figures be condemned for holding these racist viewpoints if they were considered the norm in the past?

For sophomore Lucas Sturla, renaming Churchill High School seems excessive.

“I don’t think it’s really realistic,” Sturla said. “You can recognize the problem, but I think what’s done is done. It was named Churchill because he did do a lot of good things despite the bad things that the petitioner claims, and he really influenced our history.”

But sophomore Sydney Johnson says the problem isn’t just Churchill High School, but rather how historical figures are idolized without considering their negative attributes. Johnson warned that doing so, especial-

ly in schools, can have an impact on young minority students’ identities.

“When they want to know about the person their school is named after, and then they find out they’re not really supportive of their minority group, it’s kind of discouraging,” Johnson said.

Iyer’s push to rename Churchill High School mirrors a nationwide trend of renaming buildings in order to remove the names of xenophobic historical figures or to commemorate minorities who have been lost in history.

This trend is especially prevalent on college campuses; recently, Yale University renamed Calhoun College— a residential college of the university originally named for vice president and avid defender of slavery, John C. Calhoun—after computer scientist Grace Hopper.

Junior Christiana Turay, founder of Whitman’s Black Student Union, believes that changing the school name may be logistically complicated. Instead, MCPS should focus on actively working to diversify the narrative and scope of their history lessons to acknowledge all perspectives, she said.

“In a lot of my classes, I’m the only black person in the room. And so in history class, when we talk about slavery, people don’t know how to look at me. But it’s part of my history. I can’t pretend it isn’t,” Turay said.

“Schools in general should really bring awareness to how tough a subject it is. When schools start with it, that can make us much more aware, and then we can spread that open-mindedness.”

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Yet even with efforts for integration, MCPS has a predominantly white history: in 1970, 91.6 percent of enrolled students were white. But in 2000, minority groups surpassed the white population, which dropped to 49 percent.

Today, 37 percent of the MCPS student population is white; 63 percent of students are of minority races, and this percentage continues to grow.

Despite MCPS’ diversifying student body, of the 11 high schools in the county named after people, only one is named for someone of color: James Hubert Blake.

Driven partly because of this lack of diversity, Iyer seeks to rename Churchill High School, named for British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. While Churchill is widely admired in the Western world for his leadership in World War II, the petition, which has 68 supporters so far, denounces him as xenophobic for his support of brutal segregative policies upholding white supremacy in Africa and the Americas.

By contrast, Iyer argues that history classes too often characterize Malcolm X as a violent oppositionist, rather than commemorating him properly for his role in the Civil Rights movement.

Naming a high school after Malcolm X would be especially powerful in light of continued prejudice against minorities, especially Muslims, Iyer claims in the petition.

Graphic by AVERY JOHNSTON

County officials propose new speed limit plans

by LILY FRIEDMAN Every day, seniors drive to downtown Bethesda, attempting to park, eat and return to school by the end of their 46-minute lunch block. For some students, the drive back to Whitman becomes a race against time.

But soon, the trek may become even more difficult. The Montgomery County

30 MPH

Council proposed to the state legislature in November to reduce speed limits and traffic deaths in the county.

The first plan would lower speed limits from 30 mph to 25 mph on roads without posted speed limits in Montgomery County. The second plan would do the same but also allow the council to alter speed limits in select neighborhoods or urban areas to as low as 20 mph. Both

25 MPH Graphic by SOPHIE DEBETTENCOURT and JULIA RUBIN

plans would affect the speed limits on local roads, like Whittier Boulevard, MacArthur Boulevard and Goldsboro Road, and on downtown Bethesda streets.

Council member Hans Riemer developed the plan in November with city delegates Marc Korman, David Moon and Eric Luedtke. The bills are intended to increase pedestrian and driver safety in the county, Riemer said.

“People aren’t going to get to work any faster by stepping on the gas and racing up to the next stop sign,” Riemer said to Bethesda Magazine in January. “But they might kill somebody.”

Personal injury attorney and Whitman parent Salvatore Zambri, who also led an assembly on distracted driving at Whitman this fall, stressed the importance of speed control in reducing accidents, especially in the Whitman area.

“Since high-school-aged drivers are the most inexperienced drivers, and consequently, the least effective drivers, forcing them to drive slower and without distraction is the best way to minimize injuries and death,” Zambri said.

Despite professionals’ reasoning for traffic adjustments, some argue the speed changes in downtown Bethesda and on local roads like Whittier still won’t persuade drivers to abide by speed limits.

“Speed limits already seem pretty low on some local roads,” senior Devon Bragale said. “People already speed on roads like Whittier, so if they decrease speed limits, it could just get worse.”

Even if these specific bills don’t pass in the state legislature, movements such as Vision Zero, a project that seeks to address traffic-related deaths, are likely to spread throughout the country. New York, Boston and D.C. areas have already implemented Vision Zero policies, such as speed limit reductions and pedestrian protections, founder Leah Shahum told the Washington Post in February.

“People make mistakes; humans are fallible,” Shahum said. “There will still be traffic crashes. But if they [drive] at a lower speed, the likelihood of walking away with a broken ankle or an injury that is survivable is dramatically greater than if there is high speed involved.”

News

3

Overcrowding prompts plan to reopen Woodward High School Opening in 2022, capacity will be 2,400 students

by LILY FRIEDMAN In response to overcrowding, MCPS drafted a resolution declaring the 2022 reopening of Woodward High School in Tilden Middle School’s building and created a parent focus group to discuss other solutions to MCPS student overcrowding. The county hopes that these measures will reduce class sizes and create space to accommodate MCPS’ influx of new students.

MCPS intends to reopen Woodward in its previous location, Tilden Middle School’s current building. Tilden will move to a new building, which is also set to open in 2022. The school will make room for at least 2,400 students, MCPS Senior Facilities Planner Debbie Szyfer said.

“

Board of Education approves calendar revisions

by CAMILLE CALDERA

Photo by ANNABELLE GORDON

Woodward high school will reopen in 2022 bringing in students from Whitman, B-CC, Walter Johnson, Blair, Kennedy, Wheaton, Northwood and Einstein.

When classes are too big, it can be hard to understand teachers and learn the material.

If Woodward pulls some students from other high schools, it could give kids more one-onone time with teachers.

- freshman Sam Mermelstein

“

“The purpose of reopening Woodward is to provide seats for students,” Szyfer said. “Woodward closed back in the ‘80s because of a decline in enrollment, but now enrollment is up again and the county needs more room.”

Because of its location, Woodward will draw students from overpopulated schools such as Whitman, B-CC, Walter Johnson, Blair, Kennedy, Wheaton, Northwood and Einstein, Szyfer said.

“MCPS already planned addi-

Briefs

tions at Whitman and B-CC, so Woodward shouldn’t take too many students from their areas,” Szyfer said. “But it will definitely address the deficits at WJ and draw some students from other schools.”

Some students support Woodward’s reopening because of the advantages of smaller class sizes.

“When classes are too big, it can be hard to understand teachers and learn the material,” freshman Sam Mermelstein said. “If Wood-

ward pulls some students from other high schools, it could give kids more one-on-one time with teachers.”

Especially in the WJ community, parents support the reopening because it will give students more extracurricular opportunities, WJ parent Nermine Demopoulos said.

“At the rate Walter Johnson it growing, county statistics show it would eventually be a 3,600-student high school,” Demopoulos said. “There will still only be 11 positions on the soccer team and teachers will only write so many recommendations. It won’t be the same kind of experience that a student would get at the county recommended limit of 1,800 to 2,400 students.”

The county will host parent meetings throughout the spring to collect feedback and will create a final plan for Woodward next November.

New online assessments facilitate data analysis Online assessments administered through Performance Matters are similar to online PARCC and HSA tests, and they enlist an array of assessment tools, called innovative item types, which leverage technology to make assessments more versatile. For example, students can drag and drop matching items, rearrange an ordered list or pinpoint locations on a map.

“The way the system supports assessment is what engages students in something that is more relevant and interesting than just traditional multiple choice questions,” Performance Matters president and cofounder Woody Dillaha said.

Performance Matters also offers graphic analysis of student data, such as grade distribution or performance in specific topic areas, from which teachers can draw constructive conclusions and assess the effectiveness of their teaching style. During parent-teacher conferences, teachers can share and discuss a student’s data profile with parents.

While the county stated that schools will be ready to incorporate Performance Matters as of the 2017-2018 school year, some teachers expect complications with the program.

“Obviously it’s a lengthy process, so to expect it to be implemented smoothly and without issue is a fallacy,” social studies teacher Gregory Herbert said.

“I think there’s going to be a steep learning curve for some teachers, and hopefully, the ones that do get it can offer help to the ones that don’t.”

To prepare teachers for the transition, Performance Matters offers a blended training program that allows for traditional instructor-led training as well as web

seminars, instructional videos and other multimedia content, Dillaha said. At Whitman, staff development teacher Anne Chiasson and Information Technology specialist Oriole Saah will arrange for staff training leading up to next school year.

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Continued from page 1

The more information we can have to support students and the faster we can have it, the better off we are as a system and as individual teachers.

- English teacher Madeleine Tanzi

“What frustrates teachers is when they are expected to use something or do something and they don’t know how, or they’re unfamiliar with it and it takes time,” principal Alan Goodwin said. “There definitely will be some adjustments that have to be made, but that’s our responsibility as a school to try to provide that training when we can.”

With adequate training, teachers are confident that Performance Matters will prove a useful tool in modernizing educational efforts to meet the needs of students.

“The more information we can have to support students and the faster we can have it, the better off we are as a system and as individual teachers,” English teacher Madeleine Tanzi said.

In response to state recommendations, the Board of Education revised the 2017-2018 school year calendar Feb. 27, converting the professional days after first and third quarter to half days and reducing the number of total instructional days from 184 to 182.

Per Governor Hogan’s Aug. 31 executive order, all possible emergency closure make-up days must be scheduled prior to June 15. To accommodate this, the end date has been moved from June 14 to June 12, reserving June 13 through 15 and up to two days of spring break for contingency days.

Some students and teachers apprehensive about the changes.

“I feel sorry for the teachers that are new and trying to prepare for the second quarter,” French teacher Michele Beach said. “They only have half a day, and they’re also trying to do grades.”

Despite concerns, officials expect this to be the final change, said Essie McGuire, Executive Director of the Office of the Chief Operating Officer.

Computer science to be offered for summer tech credit

by VALERIE AKINYOYENU Beginning this summer, MCPS students can enroll in online Foundations of Computer Science (FoCS) to satisfy the technology education credit necessary for graduation.

In FoCS, students learn about human-computer interactions, basic computer programming, web design and robotics. Last summer, the county successfully ran a six-week course pilot with 32 students, said Michelle Lipson, supervisor of MCPS student online learning.

“It really has a little bit of everything,” MCPS Information Technology (IT) instructional specialist Elizabeth Bell said. “It kind of launches students into the world of IT.” Unlike Foundations of Technology, which students have traditionally taken online to meet graduation requirements, FoCS is a weighted, advanced-level class. Its introduction follows the surge in MCPS enrollment in computer science classes this year, up from approximately 13,000 to over 16,000 enrollees.

Whitman offered FoCS, taught by Hong Wang, for the first time this school year. Limited teacher-student interaction is a constraint on taking advanced computer science courses online, Wang said.

“I like face-to-face teaching because then I can tweak the curriculum towards individual students, and they can get help right on the spot,” Wang said.

Chorus honors

Broadway legend

by CARMEN MOLINA Whitman’s Men’s and Women’s chorus performed in the Young Artists of America’s (YAA) winter show, “The Circle of Life,” March 12 at Strathmore.

YAA, a group composed of Strathmores’ youth choir and Broadway group, produced the show as a tribute to renowned Broadway lyricist Sir Tim Rice.

The show featured pieces from many of Rice’s notable works, including “The Lion King,” “Evita,” Chess” and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”

The choir worked with YAA director Rolando Sanz and production director Hugh Wooldridge, who has collaborated with Rice before. The performance gave the choir an opportunity to showcase Whitman’s music department on a professional level, choir students said.

“The fact that Whitman and YAA are working with these two is a step above what the average high school choir does,” senior and YAA member Becky Keteltas said. “Our music department is very advanced, and this kind of event really shows how unique Whitman is.”

4

News

Quiz Bowl team buzzes past competition

by JULIE ROSENSTEIN As Whitman’s Quiz Bowl team’s season comes to a close, the team reflects on one of the most successful seasons in Whitman history: the team placed 4th at the Beltway League tournament Feb. 9 and will be competing in the semifinals of the televised It’s Academic tournament in April.

In the Beltway League, four members from each competing team participate in matches, which occur at high schools in the D.C. area. In It’s Academic games, only three students per team compete in each game, and the competitions are filmed at NBC studios in D.C. and televised on NBC. At the Beltway League semifinals, seniors Michael Hepburn and Ellis London, junior Braden Longstreth and freshman Nate Olson won all three games.

“We beat three teams that we lost to during regular season,” Longstreth said. “Especially in our first game against Quince Orchard, there was a lot more fluidity with a lot of our teammates.”

In the Beltway League finals Feb. 23, the team lost to Rockville, beat Blair’s B team, and won against Richard Montgomery by forfeit.

“It’s absolutely amazing that we have been able to get as far as we have.”

The team’s on-air competitions have also been successful despite some lineup changes. Junior Brandon Joe, Longstreth and Olson competed in the playoff round of It’s Academic Feb. 18. With Hepburn and London away at a debate tournament, Joe filled the team’s third slot.

“The kind of dynamic has changed in the past month,” Longstreth said.

“When you lose a player, much less two, it throws in an extra element.”

Whitman won with 500 points at the end of the game, narrowly defeating St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes High School, who scored 465 points, and Loudoun County High School, who scored 360.

“It was so great to see them be successful there,” Fus said. “We’re good at what we do, and they were able to rely on their strengths and pull from the knowledge that they have, and they rePhoto by JULIE ROSENSTEIN ally impressed me.”

From left: freshman Nate Olson and juniors Brandon Joe and Braden Longstreth competed in the The playoff recorded in February is playoff round of It’s Academic, beating St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes High School by 35 points. scheduled to air on NBC April 29 at 10:30 a.m., and the team will be competing in Despite losing many of last year’s se- the semifinals taping of It’s Academic “In the end, we still got fourth place out of all of the schools in Montgomery niors, the team performed well this year, versus Montgomery Blair High School County,” Olson said. “I would say it was Quiz Bowl coach Danielle Fus said. and Wootton High School April 23.

“I’m really proud of what we were a negative end to the tournament, but we able to accomplish this year,” Fus said. had a good season.”

MCPS parent coalition petitions for hate-free schools Advocates call on schools to emphasize student rights and anti-bias policies

by PEARL SUN MoCo Parents Rising, a coalition of parents advocating for racial and immigrant inclusion in schools, created a Change.org petition last December urging MCPS to address and prevent harassment and discrimination in schools, ensure the security and well-being of undocumented immigrant students and their families and protect students’ rights to activism.

The petition is currently pending; it has over 1,700 signatures and will be sent to Superintendent Jack Smith and members of the Board of Education if it reaches 2,500 signatures.

MoCo Parents Rising started the petition to protect students from recent hate incidents and president Donald Trump’s January executive order banning refuges from multiple Muslim countries. The coalition formed last year as a result of these hate incidents, which consisted of episodes of discriminatory vandalism such as hateful language and symbols inscribed on bathroom walls, spray painted on sidewalks and poles and burned into the grass at many schools.

The petition states that MCPS schools should be “hate-free zones,” calling on schools to put up signs with empowering statements inside school buildings and on school websites, train

families and staff on local and federal anti-bias policies and revise the Student Bill of Rights to emphasize students’ rights to free assembly and speech.

“The petition aims to protect students who currently feel vulnerable in hopes that Montgomery County schools will support students who currently feel unsafe,” MoCo Parents Rising member Monisha Shah said.

Sophomore Daniel Harris supports the petition’s initiative to ensure the security of undocumented immigrant students, he said.

“Kids who were brought here illegally deserve a chance,” he said, “But disagreeing with that isn’t necessarily hateful, it’s just a

different point of view.”

To address discrimination, the petition asks schools to directly address Islamophobia by training staff on immigrant protection laws and outreach to Muslim, Sikh and South Asian students and families in their native languages in order to reassure them of their safety.

While discrimination still exists, MCPS Public Information Office communications specialist Melissa Rivera believes MCPS has taken a comprehensive and inclusive stance in addressing Islamophobia in comparison to other counties, she said.

To promote inclusivity, MCPS has repeatedly denounced hate crimes through public letters.

Following Trump’s immigration ban, the MCPS Board of Education (BOE) released a message addressing all MCPS families on their website explaining that federal immigration officers don’t conduct interviews or arrest students in schools and that the BOE will continue to encourage inclusion and safety for immigrant students.

“MCPS has reacted quickly to the new circumstances,” BOE legislative aide Patricia Swanson said. “The board will continue informing Montgomery County parents and staff that they should not take any action that may discourage participation or exclude undocumented immigrant students.”

Robotics showcases talent at MoCo’s first STEM Summit

by ANNA GRAY Moving robots and miniature cars transformed the Silver Spring Civic Center for the first ever Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) Summit Feb. 26.

County councilmember-at-large Hans Riemer hosted the event to encourage the early introduction of STEM to students, a goal MCPS superintendent Jack Smith has supported. The event included a gallery walk through science-fair-style tables, two panels discussing STEM opportunities and a speech by Smith.

Senior Ari Mindell, sophomore Raffi Metz and freshman Kenneth Miura from Whitman’s Robotics team, The Body Electric, showcased their robots at a table alongside other STEM-related groups like Panda Programming and FIRST Robotics.

“The Whitman team makes an effort to be active in the community by raising awareness about robotics and advocating for better STEM education,” Mindell said. “The summit was an opportunity for us to share our love for robotics with the community and its leaders.”

The summit was open to the general public and attracted many adults interested and already immersed in the STEM field. Event organizer Kathy Mitchell estimated that while coordinators expected

200 people to attend, well over 400 individuals showed up.

Riemer, who began planning the twopanel summit in the fall, hopes it will develop into an annual event, he said.

“I wanted to see the county do more to connect the opportunities that we have to people who need those opportunities,” Riemer said. “We have a STEM-based economy, and there’s a lot of young people in our community who may not really understand the opportunities that surround them. I want to open up the world of careers to everybody.”

In his speech, Smith highlighted his hope to close the achievement gap, especially within the STEM field. He also stressed the importance of encouraging girls to pursue the STEM track—a path from which they’re often deterred, despite performing just as well as boys.

“We study mathematical and computational thinking so that we understand the world around us,” Smith said.

“STEM is critically important and should be a priority. This is an area with high levels of interest, high levels of need and high levels of possibilities for students and our community.”

Both panels, which featured representatives from STEM-related groups like MdBio Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to bioscience awareness, KID Museum, an institution that encourages empowering the next generation to create

the future, and local colleges, answered questions from a preselected list as well as from the audience. They discussed their personal connections to STEM, gave advice on how to succeed in the field and shared stories about students

they mentored who now thrive in STEM careers.

“Technology isn’t the future,” director of the Department of Recreation and panelist Gabe Albornoz said. “It’s truly the present.”

Photo by ANNA GRAY

The Feb. 26 first-ever STEM Summit aimed to increase interest in STEM, especially among girls.

the

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OPINION Staff Editorial

5

Transgender rights need to be protected

President Trump’s administration revoked federal protections that advised school districts nationwide to issue anti-discrimination policies protecting transgender students Feb. 22. The Obama administration enacted these protective policies last May, but even before Obama’s policy implementation, MCPS created its own guidelines explicitly providing students access to bathrooms and locker rooms in alignment with their gender identity.

MCPS superintendent Jack Smith and Board of Education (BOE) president Michael Durso released an official statement Feb. 23 confirming that county directives will still stand despite the recent actions of the Trump administration.

In light of the federal government’s refusal to ensure transgender rights, it falls on school districts nationwide to protect all students. School districts should follow MCPS’ example and issue similar guidelines that protect students from gender identity harassment and discrimination and allow them to use school bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity.

In their letter addressed to the nation’s schools, Trump’s Departments of Justice and Education stated that each state and school district should determine education policy concerning LGBTQ+ student rights.

Distracted by the conflict over who has jurisdiction in settling this matter, the federal government has disregarded student safety and civil rights.

When school system policies fail to defend transgender students, there are serious repercussions. Transgender students often face relentless harassment, which contributes to lower academic achievement rates, according to a 2009 report from the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). The consequences of leaving this problem unaddressed extend beyond school walls, as almost one-third of transgen-

der youth report that they’ve attempted suicide, and 42 percent report a history of self-harm, according to a 2016 study by the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

Furthermore, inclusive gender identity policies in schools have effected encouraging progress in reducing instances of harassment. Students in schools with comprehensive policies protecting their rights are 16 percent less likely to hear negative remarks referencing gender identity, and they are more likely to find staff responses to incidents of harassment effective, a 2015 GLSEN study revealed.

Opponents of these policies argue that providing transgender students access to bathrooms aligned with their gender identity impedes the privacy rights of the cisgender student majority—those who identify with their biological sex—putting them at risk for sexual harassment from predators.

Statistical evidence doesn’t support this thinking.

There have been zero documented cases of transgender individuals attacking cisgender people in public bathrooms, according to the Human Rights Campaign and the National Center for Transgender Equality.

In reality, those who are transgender are far more likely to encounter harassment and violence in public restrooms, according to a 2013 survey by the UCLA School of Law. This targeting of transgender youth perpetuates falsified stereotypes and sends a harrowing message that their existence isn’t welcome in public.

Schools showcase mission statements claiming that the well-being of every student is their utmost priority, yet 75 percent of transgender students in the United States still feel unsafe in their schools, according to the 2009 GLSEN report. Independent of any political controversy, schools have a responsibility to proactively combat this disparity.

Google ..Education: increase transparency

by TIGER BJORNLUND

Each day, over 50 million students use Google’s G Suite for Education (GSFE), a set of educational tools including Classroom, Drive and Docs. What students don’t know, however, is that the privacy of their personal data may be in jeopardy.

Google has been hit with a series of complaints from multiple school systems over its handling of student data. Senator Al Franken (D-MN) brought these privacy concerns to the public’s attention January 2016 when he wrote in an open letter that Google may be collecting students’ personal data and selling that information to advertisers without notifying students or their parents.

More recently, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood filed a lawsuit against Google Jan. 17, alleging that Google has been “collecting personal information and search history obtained from [students] in order to advance its own business interests and increase its profit.”

MCPS—which has been using GSFE programs since 2014 when the county signed a contract with Google—should request more information on Google’s data collection practices. This is essential to ensure the privacy of the 159,000 MCPS students who use Google’s services.

The extent to which Google collects student data is unclear because Google didn’t disclose this information when the GSFE program was first introduced. In 2014, a California lawsuit revealed that Google was collecting personal data from students, but Google claimed to have stopped doing so from core services—Drive, Docs, Gmail and other commonly used school ap-

plications—as a result of the suit.

Whether they followed through on that promise is unclear, according to Hood’s lawsuit.

Additionally, there was no promise on data collection from non-core services, including the Chrome web browser. Hood’s lawsuit claims that Google could therefore be collecting students’ entire browsing and search histories and selling personal information to third-party advertisers. Students would be unwitting victims of a massive invasion of online privacy.

More problematic, however, is that students often have no choice but to use Google’s services in class on school-issued Chromebooks.

Even a student who chooses not to use Google products at home because of privacy concerns could potentially experience the loss of privacy that this lawsuit describes.

MCPS did address privacy concerns when it initially introduced Google products into schools. But its assurance of privacy, communicated in the press release that

announced the partnership, was based on Google’s privacy policy.

If the lawsuit’s allegations are true, then the privacy policy is obsolete and MCPS needs further clarification.

Google claims on the GSFE website that their practices are ethical, saying that they comply with federal educational privacy laws.

However, the lawsuit points out that they have yet to release records proving that they aren’t collecting sensitive data from students. If all their practices are legal and ethical, Google should be enthusiastic to prove so and help instill a similar confidence in their customers.

As education shifts toward including more and more technology, online privacy is a growing concern for school systems, including MCPS. By proving that they aren’t collecting student data, Google could pave the way for successful and safe integration of digital resources into the classroom and ensure the privacy of MCPS students and millions of others.

6

Opinion

Food tracking: more harm than good

by CAMILLE CALDERA Breakfast: Fried egg: 90 calories, 7 grams fat. Toast: 70 calories, 0.9 grams fat.

Lunch: Chicken breast: 230 calories, 5 grams fat. One cup rice: 200 calories, 0.4 grams fat. Two carrots: 25 calories, 0.1 grams fat.

For some students in health, anatomy and other science classes, eating a meal has become a taxing endeavor. As part of some assigned projects, students must track all the food and drinks they con-

Photo by TOMAS CASTRO

sume by keeping a log of food intake or calculating and recording calories, grams of fat and other levels of nutrients.

Though teachers claim these projects seek to improve students’ diets, class curriculums should no longer include food and drink-tracking projects due to the prevalence of eating disorders among adolescents and the risk of exacerbating body-image issues.

Food-tracking assignments have the potential to complicate the recovery process for some students with eating disorders. Individuals affected by eating dis-

orders often worry about their weight, counting calories and obsessively tracking their food, according to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA).

Assignments requiring students to do just that could cause these issues to resurface.

A sophomore girl recovering from anorexia said she felt uncomfortable with an assignment in her anatomy class which required students to track food intake and fat content. Her eating disorder experience included a severe phobia of fat, and tracking fat in the project was an upsetting experience.

Food tracking could also cause healthy students to develop an unhealthy relationship with food. Monitoring food intake makes students feel self-conscious and guilty about what they eat, said a junior girl who did the assignment in middle school. Feelings of guilt or shame about food can cause individuals to begin restricting, purging, binging or exercising excessively, according to The Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt.

Adolescents are already an at-risk demographic: up to 57 percent of adolescent girls engage in crash-dieting, fasting, self-induced vomiting or taking diet pills or laxatives, NEDA reports. This is especially concerning because eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of all mental illnesses, also according to NEDA. Teachers are aware of this danger.

MD sets positive model for in-home education

by ELISA MCCARTIN It’s a simple hierarchy of needs: students struggling with physical or mental health problems have a harder time attending school as they must focus on improving their health first. Fortunately, as mandated by Maryland law, MCPS provides students with the Interim Instructional Services program (IIS) which connects students with tutors when they’re unable to attend school for an extended period of time. This program is essential for guaranteeing equity in education, ensuring that all students, no matter the mental or physical health concerns, have access to instruction.

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The pressure of missing school work and falling behind may lead some students to pursue an early return to school, but IIS gives students the educational security they need to fully recover.

MCPS should be commended for their efforts to guarantee that all students get equal educational opportunities. While the federal government has made important strides to ensure education for all students through programs such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, homebound education policy decisions are currently left up to individual states and the state’s Individualized Education Programs (IEP), according to the Wrightslaw Special Education Rights and Advocacy group. The MCPS IIS program should be used as a model nationwide so that more students reap the program’s benefits.

On average, 800 MCPS students a year enroll in IIS, MCPS instructional specialist Mark Griffiths said. The services are free as long as a student fills out an application, has a doctor’s note explaining the circumstances, has school approval and will be absent from school for more than four weeks, Jean Carter of the MCPS

IIS Office said. Each application remains valid for 60 days and in that time, an instructor will meet with the student six hours a week for students in a full-day program and three hours a week for students in a half-day program in their home or at their hospital, according to the MCPS website.

MCPS’s interim services provide instruction in the four core subjects—math, English, social studies and science—to keep students on track to meet graduation requirements. Staying updated with courses during absences decreases the likelihood of needing to repeat courses upon returning to school, a report by Fuel Education found. By providing students with educational assistance during their absence, the IIS program enables students to continue on their current trajectory without having to worry about falling behind.

The program also gives students adequate time to handle their health concerns before rushing back to a school environment. The pressure of missing school work and falling behind may lead some students to pursue an early return to school, but IIS gives students the educational security they need to fully recover.

While convening for only a few hours per week may not seem like it can fully provide students with the instruction needed for them to catch up, these services are the only way to ensure that all students have access to instruction without needing to pay for private tutors. Tutoring services can charge around $90 per hour with companies like the Educational Connections Tutoring Company which many families can’t afford, especially over an extended period of time. Instruction organized by the school system is what homebound students need. This work keeps them engaged and on track without overwhelming them as they heal.

The IIS program has established equity in the Maryland education system by guaranteeing all qualifying students the instruction they need to continue their education while leaving time for healthy recovery. All school systems should provide such programs to give students the opportunity to meet their hierarchy of needs.

Steps to getting IIS services Fill Out Application

School approval Parent approval

Doctor‘s approval

Confirm student absence for over four weeks to receive service

Have meeting with counselors to create a schedule Graphic by IRIS BERENDES-DEAN

Some, such as anatomy teacher Melanie Hudock, allow students with eating disorders to opt-out of the assignment; Hudock excused two students from a recent project after they emailed her with their concerns.

However, not all affected students feel comfortable speaking to teachers about such a personal topic. Discussing the issue is often the hardest part, the sophomore girl said; she didn’t feel comfortable asking to be excused from the assignment.

While tracking food intake allows students to reflect on their unhealthy habits, such as consuming too much fast food, salt, sugar and fat, there are safer methods to teach proper nutrition and the importance of a balanced diet.

Projects requiring students to perform a holistic reflection on their diet could provide the same hands-on experience without the risks. Students could analyze their consumption of different food groups without tracking specific values; classes could use MyPlate, the federal guideline for better nutrition as a reference for these projects.

From the extreme photoshopping of models to constant advertisements for diet and weight loss solutions, society is filled with images and messages pressuring adolescents to fit a certain body type.

School must remain a safe haven from this toxic culture; teachers should save counting and calculating for the classroom, not the cafeteria.

Political discussions should cultivate respect

by MICHELLE SILVER The day after President Donald Trump’s election, the school was buzzing. While some teachers went on with usual class instruction, others discussed possible impacts of the new president with their students.

By supporting educational and civil dialogue regarding political issues and allowing students to express their perspectives in a safe setting, these teachers promoted a culture of political awareness.

The administration should encourage English and social studies teachers to further discuss politics with their students.

Fake news and “alternative facts” currently clog social media feeds, and students may struggle to discern reality from fantasy in these political discussions. Teachers can play the role of a truth teller; by informing students about political events in a fact-based and unbiased manner, they can ensure students have a sound understanding of major historical and political events and its varying perspectives.

Aside from exposing students to recent political events, discussions enable students to learn a crucial skill: how to talk about politics in a civil manner. This lesson is extremely important, especially with a government that remains divided because the two major parties are focused more on political posturing than legislating. Politicians who disagree throw slanderous comments at each other, like when President Trump called Senator Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas” after she argued against his policies.

Learning how to compromise and listen to opposing points of view grants students experiences that will be useful for the rest of their lives; in college and the workforce, it’s important to have civil discussions with people with different ideologies.

Additionally, classroom discussions about current political events provide an opportunity for students to reflect on how these issues will affect them personally. After the election, many students were worried that President Donald Trump’s victory might lead to the overturning of some of their rights—like the right to abortion and gay marriage.

As a response to student concerns, some teachers took steps to mitigate students’ fears. English teacher Matthew Bruneel had students write down what they were thankful for, helping students like sophomore Gabriela Helf take a step back after the election and reflect on their values, she said.

Current political issues like President Trump’s executive order banning immigrants and refugees from certain countries likely affect many students, whether it’s because they know someone trying to immigrate to the U.S. or can relate to immigrants’ positions because of their family’s background. If students can reflect in school on the impact of government policies, they may be exposed to new ideas.

The concern that some teachers may introduce bias into political conversations, offend their students or sway their opinions is valid, so teachers must be sensitive to political issues, principal Alan Goodwin said. Because of this concern, MCPS staff are told to refrain from imposing their own personal views in discussions, MCPS spokesman Derek Turner said. Instead, teachers who lead discussions should lay out the factual information about a topic and remain objective, fostering respectful dialogue and teaching students to develop their own arguments, leading to an engaging learning experience.

When students graduate, they need to be able to compromise and have civil discussions about politics. Starting political discussions in the classroom will ensure that students have these skills throughout their lives.

Opinion

7

Ending opioid epidemic starts with legislation Governor Larry Hogan proposes bill to combat local opioid use

by EMMA SORKIN 47,000.

That’s how many people died of opioid overdoses in 2014— the most deaths of any year on record, the Department of Health and Human Services reports. The U.S. government has recently attempted to curb this opioid epidemic. In December 2016, former President Barack Obama signed the 21st Century Cures Act. The bill provides $4.8 billion in funding for the National Institutes of Health, and includes $1 billion dedicated specifically to helping states deal with opioid abuse, The Washington Post reported in a Dec. 7 article.

On a local level, Governor Larry Hogan introduced legislation to curb overdoses, in part responding to 18 prescription opioid-related deaths in 2015 in Montgomery County alone—more than the 11 alcohol-related deaths, according to data from the Maryland Department of Mental Health and Hygiene. Governor Hogan’s plan calls for strengthening the already-existing prescription drug-monitoring programs and promotes prosecution of drug trafficking as part of a criminal enterprise. The Maryland General Assembly should approve Governor Hogan’s proposal to end the state’s growing opioid epidemic.

Opioids are drugs intended to relieve pain; while OxyContin and heroin are often the first drugs that come to mind when hearing the word “opi-

Photo by VALERIE MYERS

Photo by VALERIE MYERS

An increase in opiod-related deaths prompted policy makers on both national and local levels to introduce legislation to curb this opiod epidemic. Governor Larry Hogan’s bill pends approval by the Marlyand legislature.

oid,” even common products, like Robitussin A-C and Tylenol with Codeine, classify as opioids. People often first get addicted to prescription opioid painkillers before they turn to less expensive opioid drugs like heroin, WTOP reported in December 2016.

The governor’s legislative proposal limits opioid prescriptions to a seven day dura-

tion. Consistent with Centers for Disease and Control (CDC) guidelines, the order also maintains that opioids shouldn’t be considered routine therapy for pain nor prescribed in large amounts. CDC guidelines state that prescriptions lasting up to three days would “often suffice for acute pain,” and it’s rare to need more than a week of opioid drugs.

A recent Bethesda Magazine article highlights Potomac resident Renee Benzel’s experience with the dangers of opioid drug use for pain. Benzel’s son became addicted to prescribed painkillers after he injured his back while weightlifting. Four years after his initial prescription of opioid painkillers, he fatally overdosed on heroin while visiting home for the holidays.

This death, like so many others, may have been prevented if painkillers were initially monitored more strictly.

A handful of opponents to Governor Hogan’s legislation argue that his proposal is unnecessary since limiting opioid exposure hasn’t oficially been proven to stop the epidemic and the CDC guidelines are relatively new and thus unverified. But states that have implemented policies similar to this proposal have seen almost instantaneous benefits.

Florida implemented two policies in 2011 aiming to track patients, especially those who had received multiple prescriptions from multiple doctors. The policy also monitored loosely-regulated pain clinics that have prescribed unusually high levels of opioids.

Just one year after the laws went into effect, opioid prescriptions from Florida’s top opioid prescribers—accounting for 40 percent of opioid prescriptions—fell 6.2 percent and the volume prescribed dropped 13.5 percent, according to a study by the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The only way to completely halt the epidemic is to never begin using opioids, one psychiatrist said. Once you start, you can never go back. While it may not entirely solve Maryland’s opioid problem, approving Hogan’s order to address the crisis is a critical step in the right direction.

Online activism amplifies voices of protest

by PEARL SUN Following the recent election, newly enacted policies have spurred some students to post about their political views, share videos of injustice or use social media to organize student meetings to call Congress members about pressing legislation. But not everyone takes the efforts of these online activists seriously, making mocking comments like “triggered” or labeling them as “slacktivists.”

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Online activism actually increases the efficacy of offline activism. For instance, the Arab spring, Women’s Marches and Black Lives Matter campaigns were all initiated online and ended up reaching millions of people.

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But there’s no reason for students to make these comments: online activism expands protest platforms and calls attention to issues in a way that other forums can’t. Students should respect those who use the internet to express their political views rather than dismiss their posts as pointless or bothersome.

Online activism increases access to protests by including people who might

be physically unable to participate in marches or walks. Facebook campaigns such as the Disability Visibility Project—which has over 10,000 members— enable individuals with disabilities to share their stories and political views online and to mobilize activists. Although they aren’t the same as in-person protests, online protest spaces are more inclusive, National Organization on Disability member Steve Aaron said.

Moreover, without the internet, students wouldn’t be able to effectively disseminate powerful photos and videos of injustice. Students in South Carolina captured footage in October of a white police officer body-slamming and dragging an African-American teenage girl across the classroom. Another video in May showed a Texas police officer throwing a 15-year-old girl to the ground at a pool party and aiming his gun at several unarmed AfricanAmerican teens around him.

Videos like these have up to eight million views. Heart-wrenching photos and videos express a complete story: photojournalist Erik McGregor, who covers New York protests, said that visuals can capture the senses and bring the elements of a story to life. Then, when audiences view the striking or often haunting images , they may feel more empathy and be more persuaded to get involved by donating and taking action.

Yet, some believe that online activism doesn’t make any real-world difference; keyboard warriors rarely facilitate policy or cultural change, according to a March 2014 article from the Guardian.

But online activism actually increases the efficacy of offline activism. For instance, the Arab spring, Women’s Marches and

Information from 2017 Global NGO Online

Black Lives Matter campaigns were all initiated online and ended up reaching millions of people.

During the Arab Spring, a civilian uprising against authoritarian regimes in the Middle East and North Africa, Twitter was used as a broadcasting tool for spreading reports of the atrocities against protesters in Tunisia to global media outlets, and Facebook provided a platform for organizing and networking, according to the International Journal of Communication.

Graphic by EMMA DAVIS

Using the internet, people in Arab countries united unlike ever before, leading to the resignation of two unpopular leaders and destabilization of authoritarian regimes, according to a March 2016 Washington Post article.

Whether online or offline, students disregarding others’ efforts to create change hinders any potential progress.

This lack of respect can be stronger and more dangerous than any riot—it silences people finding a new voice and creates an unaffordable culture of apathy.

8

FEATURE

Trump’s immigration order divides community

by SABRINA MARTIN and ABBY SNYDER The hours dragged as junior Melika Mohammadi waited anxiously with her family at a crowded gate in Washington Dulles International Airport. Her older sister would be arriving from Iran that day with her husband and their five-year-old son, a U.S. citizen—but whether they would be allowed into the country remained uncertain.

Tears rolled down the faces of her mother and father, her aunt and uncle and her grandmother and grandfather as they all wondered if their loved ones would emerge from a holding area, Mohammadi recalls. After eight emotional hours of anticipation, the Mohammadi family reunited.

This moment of uncertainty resulted from President Trump’s Jan. 27 executive order, which banned Syrian refugees from entering the United States indefinitely, limited the entry of all refugees for 120 days and banned immigrants from seven countries for 120 days. Those seven countries—Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen—account for 12 percent of the world’s Muslim population combined.

Following a lengthy legal battle over the policy’s constitutionality, the administration released a revised version of the order March 6 which clarified that U.S. citizens and green-card holders are exempt from the order, and Iraq will be removed from the list of affected countries.

Mohammadi’s family story is one of many narratives that illuminates the hardships people endured as a result of the executive order.

Since moving from Iran in 2013, Mohammadi says that she has enjoyed Bethesda’s accepting community. But because of the executive order, Mo-

hammadi and her family found themselves in the middle of Dulles airport the day after the order’s release, unsure if they would see their loved ones.

Mohammadi was frustrated and felt like Trump’s order was harming her family and generalizing her country, she said.

“How can a five-year-old boy that’s a U.S. citizen be a threat to the national security?” she asked.

Junior Jasmine Shakir, whose parents are from Iraq, also opposes the order, calling it “discriminatory” and “morally wrong.”

Other students, however, argue that temporary restrictions on these countries is rational. Sophomore Mark Meinecke praised President Trump’s policy, suggesting a temporary halt on travel from these countries is necessary to keep terrorists out of the country.

“The temporary immigration ban is simply on high terrorist-risk countries where vetting of citizens for terrorist ties cannot be done effectively,” Meinecke said. “Additionally, countries with higher Muslim populations than the ones included on the order were omitted—like Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India—which to me is an indication that the ban was not religiously driven.”

The executive order echoes past immigration restrictions: the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which banned Chinese immigrants, and the Immigration Acts of 1921 and 1924, which limited immigration from southeastern Europe and Japan, respectively. Citing these policies by previous presidents, junior Kathryn O’Halloran said that she found many Americans’ current negative reactions ironic.

In the midst of debate between the courts and the White House over the policy’s legality, Americans have become increasingly divided on the is-

sue: according to a Feb. 3 CNN poll, 47 percent of Americans say they favor the order, while 53 percent oppose it.

Nonetheless, Trump’s decision encapsulated an American fear of terrorism; two of the top five most prevalent fears are terror-related, according to the Chapman University Survey of American Fears. But from 2005 to 2015, 94 Americans were killed by Islamic extremists, all of whom were citizens or legal residents of the United States.

None of these extremists were from the list of banned countries on the initial executive order. Despite the data, most Americans see foreign country terrorism as an imminent threat, the study noted.

Since the order’s release, many Whitman students have expressed support for their immigrant peers.

When asked whether the order reflected American values, Mohammadi shook her head, saying that the community’s response to the order is more indicative of American values.

“It was really nice to see how people are actually supportive of you, and they don’t fear you or hate you,” Mohammadi said.

Whitman will continue its effort to ensure that all students feel comfortable and accepted, especially Muslim students who may feel targeted by the order, English teacher Linda Leslie said. Leslie recommends student communication as the best way to fight disconnection.

“I’ve been really heartened by the public’s spontaneous expressions of welcome,” Leslie said. “Like, ‘Hey, are you Muslim? Guess what? You’re a Viking. We want you here. We don’t care about your status. We don’t care about which god you worship. We’re all the same.’”

Immigration Executive Order Timeline Jan. 27 - First executive order issued Feb. 3 - Seattle Federal judge halts order nationwide

Feb. 9 - Circuit Court of Appeals upholds halt of executive order

March 6 - Trump issues new version of the order Graphic by EMMA DAVIS

Feature

9

‘The Overachievers’: Where are they now?

by ANDIE SILVERMAN Chronicling the lives of eight Whitman students in her New York Times bestseller, “The Overachievers,” author Alexandra Robbins (‘94) provided a journalistic narrative to showcase the students’ distinct backstories and how their high school experiences shaped their identities. The story follows AP Frank, the workhorse; C.J., the flirt; Audrey, the perfectionist; Julie, the superstar; Pete, the meathead; Sam, the teacher’s pet; Taylor, the popular

girl; and Ryland, the slacker. Robbins shadowed them in 2004-2005 as they handled—or tried to handle— the crushing academic pressure and the influence of drugs, drinking and depression.

Though the narrative details the lives of these students during their Whitman experience and the first year of college, it leaves the reader wondering where they are now. The Black & White tracked down three students from the book and checked in on what these “Overachievers” are up to 10 years later.

Sam: the teacher’s pet Photo courtesy JULIA PLEVIN

After struggling to choose which type of college to attend , Sam ((left center) went to Middlebury.

Sam requested to use only his first name

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he teacher’s pet. There’s one in every class and when Sam assumed the role, he was proud. Even today, he happily reflects on the time he spent at Whitman getting to know his teachers.

AP Frank: the workhorse Photo courtesy FRANK WASHBURN

Frank Washburn (‘04) (right) took 17 AP classes throughout high school.

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he average Whitman student graduates having taken eight AP courses. Comparatively, Frank Washburn took 17, earning a five on all but one of his exams. Washburn, affectionately known as AP Frank, came to Whitman his sophomore year from the Blair magnet program. He received 800s on his SAT II Writing and Math tests on his first try, and after getting a 790 on his SAT II physics test, his mother made him retake it.

He managed to earn a perfect score on his second attempt.

His mother played a significant role in his academic achievement. Prioritizing education, she limited what Washburn could do: he was allowed 30 minutes a day to watch either NBC or ABC news because his mother considered any other show “junk”; he couldn’t talk on the phone because his mother screened all of his calls; and he and his brother were not allowed to go out. After a grueling high school experience, Washburn found himself attending the only school acceptable to his mother: Harvard.

In college, Washburn had a relatively normal experience, even though he still took more classes than the average student, he said. Unlike in high school, Washburn had an active social life and went to parties with friends.

“I had the idea of throwing a piñata party,” Washburn said proudly. “I’m going to pat myself on the back for that.”

After graduating college with bachelor degrees in Environmental Science and Public Policy, he had two job offers lined up: contract work for the EPA, requiring travel and offering a steady salary, or testing video games for $12 an hour.

“I figured, ‘Well, I have the education and degree, and it’s not like the planet is magically going to get better, so I’ll test video games while I’m young and responsibility-free,’” Washburn said.

Since then, he has spent time working for Harmonix, the creators of rock-band-themed video game Guitar Hero, and has developed several of his own video games, including “Bloody Alloy.”

Washburn lives in Boston with his wife and 10-monthold son and pays the bills by tutoring and helping students navigate the test-prep and college-prep process. He’s even considering becoming a teacher, he said.

While juggling tutoring, parenting, Kung Fu and working on his game projects, Washburn still plays video games in sweatpants and eats lunchables in his free time; there’s no such thing as being an adult, he said.

“Part of you will never grow up—that’s okay,” Washburn said. “Accept that you are a work-in-progress and know that anyone who tells you that they have it all figured out—in any age group—is likely either deluded or a liar. But this knowledge comes with the responsibility to consciously better yourself and to fight like hell.”

“There were definitely moments I played into the role, but I don’t recall ever trying to butter up a teacher in order to get something,” Sam said. “I loved my teachers, and I enjoyed getting to know them as people.”

In “The Overachievers,” Sam weighed the benefits of large schools, smaller liberal arts colleges and Ivy League schools. After much contemplation, he chose Middlebury, a small liberal arts school in Vermont, which he found to be the perfect fit.

“I needed to be in a place that allowed me to explore all sorts of things without feeling like I had to choose,” Sam said. “And what ended up happening was I learned

a hell of a lot more about how I approach things, which armed me to better be able to evaluate what felt true to me.”

Soon after graduating, Sam embarked on different life adventures. He traveled to Asia and back, all while developing a new outlook on life.

“What’s been great about life for me is learning to meet everything—successes and failures—with gratitude and love.”

Now, after his many ventures, Sam lives in San Francisco and is the CEO of a startup that works to help people find direction in their life. The startup was founded by his graduate-school classmate.

“It’s a nutty job for more than a few reasons, but in the scheme of things, it’s exactly what I needed right now in life,” Sam said.

“Not only do I get opportunities to practice daily what I learned in grad school, but it’s pushing me to learn more about self-care and how I want to show up in the world for others.”

Julie: the superstar Photo courtesy JULIE PLEVIN

Julie Plevin (‘05) (right) took part in many activities such as track, the hiking club and volunteering at local homeless shelters. She now lives in San Francisco, working as a design entrepeneur.

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n high school, she did it all. Julie Plevin was a co-captain of the varsity indoor and outdoor track teams, cross country team captain, class officer, cofounder of the Hiking Viking club, mentor at a homeless shelter and a straight-A student since her first day at Pyle. Stress inevitably took its toll, and by the end of junior year, Plevin’s hair thinned so much her mother took her to see a doctor.

After graduating, Plevin attended Dartmouth and found that her work ethic at Whitman was key to her success.

“I’m really glad I pushed myself so hard in high school. It gave me a really strong foundation,” Plevin said. “But high school was a great time for me to challenge myself and start to understand my limits. There’s

a difference between embracing a challenge with excitement and being stressed out about it.”

While in college, Plevin took the time to explore a variety of activities including hiking, skiing, rock climbing, camping and joining a sorority. Her volunteer work took her to Nicaragua twice on service trips, sparking her love for travel.

After returning from Vietnam where she had been on her post-college travels, she settled in San Francisco and now works as a design entrepreneur.

“I launched a company and am now working on creating a studio to help clients get clear on their visions and launch their projects,” Plevin said. “ It’s an exciting time.”

10

In-De

WHITMAN’S DREAM TEAMS: 1962-2017

by LILY FRIEDMAN and SAM SHIFFMAN Since Whitman’s opening in 1962, thousands of athletes have represented the Vikings—

many going on to play in college and even professionally. The Black & White looked through boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer and football archives dating back 55 years to compile all-time dream teams of the

best athletes in these sports based on statistics and coach interviews. The Black & White also chose five athletes to profile from the teams who exemplified talent, leadership and athletic success since their first games at Whitman.

ROSTER:

Judah Cooks (‘95): Boys soccer Many young soccer players dream of a stadium full of screaming fans, freshly cut grass and the thrill of scoring a gamewinning goal.

Although playing professional soccer remains a fantasy for most young players, soccer coach Judah Cooks (‘95) made his dream a reality. Cooks transformed a dominant high school career into five years in Major League Soccer (MLS) and a lifelong career in soccer.

“A friend in the first grade asked me to play on his soccer team, and my brother played some recreational soccer, so I just jumped into it,” Cooks said. “As I grew up, I started getting better and thinking that I may play professionally eventually.”

At Whitman, Cooks scored 14 goals his senior year, won two state championships, was named first team All-Met twice and an All-American three times, and played for multiple youth national teams.

“It was like having another coach on the field when Judah played. He was very fast, his technical skills were off the charts, and he was very competitive,” coach Dave Greene said. “He was one of the first true national team players to play at Whitman.”

girls team

In 1993, Cooks became the first U.S. national team player to ever score a hat trick in an international match on the U-17 team. Although he took pride in playing for the national team, balancing school and soccer was difficult, he said.

After his Whitman career, Cooks played for the University of Maryland for two years and then left school to play professionally for D.C. United and the Miami Fusion.

Now, Cooks coaches youth academy teams and runs a training camp for Whitman players every summer since 2011.

“I never thought I would make a career out of coaching, but you really just fall in love with it and it combines helping kids and soccer,” Cooks said. “It was so fun playing together and sharing experiences, traditions and stories about Whitman soccer with the guys.”

Recently, Cooks moved from his job with the Weston Football Club in Florida back to D.C. to continue his passion for coaching.

“For me, it was all about the guys and just playing the sport I love with my friends,” Cooks said. “Now that I’m back, I can make it to more Whitman games which will make my experience even more special.”

L A Z E AR

31

Photo courtesy RON PRADETTO

GK: Bliss Hanlon ‘06 D: Emily Martin ‘14 D: Tanya Schuman ‘91 D: Charlotte Rizzi ‘07 D: Morgen Bernius ‘92 M: Tanya Schuman ‘91 M: Clare Severe ‘15 M: Aliza Wolfe ‘14 M: Anna Gurney ‘14 M: Erica Wright ‘05 F: Abby Meyers ‘17 F; Emma Anderson ‘15

boys team

GK: Steve Baer ‘80 GK: James Roth ‘01 D: David Glaudemans ‘02 D: Chris Gormley ‘00 D: Mike Jeffries ‘80 D: Rodrigo Zuelta ‘08 M: Matt Gormley ‘97 M: Ben Ferry ‘94 M: Andreas Djurhuus ‘17 M: Al Boggs ‘89 F: Jeff Gaffney ‘83 F: Joshua Anderson ‘96 F: Judah Cooks ‘95

Pat Lazear (‘04): Football ROSTER: QB: Anthony Dilweg ‘84 RB: Zac Morton ‘13 WR: Michael Flack ‘11 ATH: Matt Clayton ‘17 OL/DL: Michael Dunn ‘12 OL/DL: Ben Quinn ‘79 OL/DL: Carl Ehrlich ‘05 OL/DL: Ned Daryoush ‘11 OL/DL: Adam Masters ‘08 OL/DL: John Floyd ‘02 TE: Bob Raba ‘73 LB: Pat Lazear ‘07 from Wheaton HS LB: Ryan Kuehl ‘90 LB: Beau Dickerson ‘99 DB: Anthony Young-Wiseman ‘09 DB: Tyler Lazear ‘04

Covered in dirt and sweat, the undefeated 2003 Whitman football team trailed Gaithersburg 12-7 in the first round of playoffs in front of a packed home crowd.

With his team’s state championship dreams on the line, coach Dean Swink called on star freshman linebacker Pat Lazear to play running back for the Vikings.

Despite Lazear’s dominant performance at running back and linebacker, which helped earn him defensive MVP his freshman year, the Vikes couldn’t find the endzone and fell to Gaithersburg. Over the next two years, Lazear had a historic career, earning first team All-Met and All-Gazette honors, leading his team in tackles for both years and racking up over 20 Division I offers from schools including Alabama, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Notre Dame.

“Pat’s best quality was his level of confidence,” Swink said.

“He could not be intimidated no matter what the situation.”

In his first scrimmage his freshman year, Lazear started at both fullback and linebacker, and on a play designed to gain only a few yards, he exploded for a 35-yard run, sending his teammates and coaches into a frenzy, Swink said.

Aside from Lazear’s athletic ability, his work ethic and

knowledge of the game made him a force to be reckoned with on the field and the Rivals.com tenth-best linebacker in the country in his class, former coach Jim Kuhn said.

“It’s one thing to have the skill, but working hard at it really separated him and made him a special player,” Kuhn said. “His knowledge of the game, experience playing since he was a little kid, physical traits and work ethic all combined to make him a great player.”

His senior year, Lazear was set to lead his team on another playoff run.

But in March of his junior year, five Whitman students, including Lazear, were involved in the armed robbery of a Bethesda Smoothie King. After being charged with conspiracy to commit armed robbery, MCPS reassigned Lazear from Whitman to Wheaton.

Despite his reassignment, MCPS allowed Lazear to continue his football career at Wheaton, and he accepted a scholarship to the University of West Virginia.

At West Virginia, Lazear started at middle linebacker for three years. After graduating and participating in multiple NFL tryouts, Lazear moved back to the D.C. area.

11

epth

Courtney Gaine (‘95): Girls Basketball In 1983, Little Flower Church only allowed kids ages seven and up to play basketball at the school. But one sixyear-old girl couldn’t wait a year to take the court.

12 years later, that six-year-old would hold both a state championship plaque and the Whitman girls basketball scoring record. Up until this basketball season, Courtney Gaine (‘95) held Whitman’s scoring record and established herself as one of the greatest players in Whitman basketball history.

“I loved [basketball] from the start,” Gaine said. “My freshman and sophomore year I was a point guard and then my junior and senior year I was a post player, so my play changed over the course of four years.”

In her Whitman career, Gaine earned First team All-Met, honorable mention All-American and averaged over 18 points and eight rebounds per game her senior year. In addition to her personal success, Gaine led Whitman to their first state championship in school history under head coach Kerry Ward in 1995. “[Ward] was really good and brought so much discipline,” Gaine said. “You had to buy into the philosophies of the program. I don’t think every high school program was like that.”

In addition to basketball, Gaine was a dominant soccer player and was named honorable mention All-State both her freshman and sophomore year but decided to quit soccer for her junior and senior years and focus on basketball, she said.

“I loved both sports equally but basketball was easier to play around in the driveway,” Gaine said. “Basketball was really cool and getting a lot of attention on TV when I was in high school, so basketball just seemed cooler to me.”

After playing at Whitman, Gaine continued her basketball career at the University of Connecticut, a women’s basketball powerhouse. At UConn, she was co-captain of her senior year team, which was ranked number one in the nation, helped her team reach the final four and won four consecutive Big East titles.

“I got to college and I had watched all these girls on TV and at the Olympics who were incredibly good,” Gaine said. “UConn is probably the most intense program in the country. People would kill you to win.”

Gaine now works as the president of the Sugar Association, a nutrition company that educates the public on sugar’s role in nutrition.

ROSTER: G: Ellen O’Brien ‘06 G: Abby Meyers ‘17 G: Courtney Gaine ‘95 F/C: Erin Brown ‘08 F: Lindsay Seawright ‘93

Photo courtesy COURTNEY GAINE

Michael gruner (‘06): boys Basketball In 2006, two players were co-named Montgomery County basketball player of the year: one would go on to become the 2014 NBA MVP; the other was a scrappy 6’2’’ sharpshooter who had just carried Whitman in one of the most improbable state championship runs in Maryland playoff history.

Whitman guard Michael Gruner (‘06) earned numerous honors throughout his high school career, including his playerof-the-year award alongside Kevin Durant and first team All-Met honors. Gruner led Whitman boys basketball to their first and only state championship, scoring 23 of his team’s 39 points in their improbable upset over the Eleanor Roosevelt Raiders.

“I’d put him as the best player I’ve coached,” varsity basketball coach Chris Lun said. “Gruner was just a complete

basketball player: he was good with the ball, could shoot it and was one heck of a defender.”

But Gruner’s contributions weren’t limited to the court; he was the team’s unquestioned leader both on and off the court, Lun said.

In the state championship against Eleanor Roosevelt, Gruner proved his leadership skills. Late in the second half, it seemed like Roosevelt was going to take the game. But four consecutive three-pointers by Gruner and forward Mikey Fitzpatrick sparked a 12–0 run, giving the Vikes the lead.

In the final minutes, with the score deadlocked at 38, Gruner stepped to the free-throw line. Despite calf cramps and the pressure from 10,000 screaming fans at what is now the Xfinity Center, Gruner made the first free-throw, giving the Vikes a

one-point advantage.

“I remember thinking about how many times I’ve taken this shot in the hoop outside of my house,” Gruner said. “My childhood was an obsession with basketball. I was confident and so locked in at that moment.”

After Roosevelt’s last-ditch effort rimmed out, Gruner ran down the court and was mobbed by his teammates.

“Everything went silent then for me as I watched the ball float to the basket,” Gruner said. “It came off the rim and I just remember it all feeling surreal, and I started sprinting.”

After Whitman, Gruner attended Lafayette College where he started for three years. Gruner currently owns Jaunt, a company that sells revamped fanny-packs.

Gary browne (‘68): boys Basketball

ROSTER: G: Michael Gruner ‘06 G: Shaq Diboti-Lobe ‘16 G: Gary Browne ‘68 F: Mikey Fitzpatrick ‘06 C: Jerome Habel ‘04

GARY BROWNE BASKETBALL POINTS PER GAME

CAREER HIGH POINTS

PERIOD Graphics by MEIMEI GREENSTEIN

For the 1968 state-finalist boys basketball team, every game plan was simple enough: get it to Gary.

Gary Browne (‘68) was one of the greatest basketball players in Whitman history, setting multiple records and leading the Vikes to the team’s first state final in school history. His senior year, Browne was named an All-American, All-Met, averaged 33 points per game and received over 150 scholarship offers.

Browne only played baseball until he discovered his passion for basketball in eighth grade, he said.

“I never touched a basketball before the eighth grade,” Browne said in a 1968 interview with the Black & White.

“I started playing basketball because I was bigger than everybody else and because basketball is the only organized sport at the junior high school level.”

Browne still holds numerous Whitman boys basketball records including most points in a season and most career rebounds. Even though the three-point line didn’t exist during Browne’s career, Browne was prolific in part because of his outside shooting abilities, he said.

One of Browne’s most iconic games was his 62-point performance in the 1968 county championship against Gaithersburg.

“That was a special night for sure,” Browne said. “I remember coach Bill Dargert just telling the fellas ‘just get it to Gary because he seems to really be in the zone again.’”

In 1968, Browne led the Vikes to the state finals at Cole Field House at the University of Maryland. In the state finals, in front of 15,000 fans, Browne scored 43 points despite injuring his leg in their loss to Northwestern High School.

“I’d say the most intense game we ever played in were the ones at Cole Field House,” Browne said. “Those were for all the marbles.”

After graduating from Whitman, Browne attended the University of West Virginia where he played on the freshman basketball team, but his college career ended suddenly when he was rear-ended by a drunk driver. Unable to play basketball, Browne pursued a career in law enforcement where he eventually became the chief of police in Franklin county Kansas.

12

Feature

‘The Art of the Qur’an’ spotlights Islamic culture rabic script begins to appear, scrawled in yellow lettering across the bright blue background of a glowing projector screen.

The chanting voice of an imam, the traditional prayer leader at a Muslim mosque, reverberates throughout the room, bringing the invocation of the Qur’an to life.

“The Art of the Qur’an” opened Oct. 22 and closed Feb. 20 at the Arthur M. Sackler and Freer Gallery of Art, one of the Smithsonian art museums in D.C. The exhibition aimed to educate the public about the artistry and dedication behind individual manuscripts of the Qur’an, the Muslim book of prayer and a cultural treasure of the Islamic world.

“We wanted to do this because there had never been a major exhibition on the subject in the United States, and we had the opportunity to work with one of the best collections in the world,” said Massumeh Farhad, Chief Curator and Curator of Islamic Art at the Freer-Sackler.

Farhad, along with co-curator Simon Rettig, worked for six years to prepare the exhibition. They were tasked with creating an exhibition narrative, which explained the background behind each artifact, including its origin and historical or artistic significance, she said.

The exhibition featured colorful and intricate Qur’an manuscripts of all sizes, brought from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic arts in Istanbul, Turkey. Different calligraphers created each manuscript so the pieces of art can be distinguished by their artistic styles. Ornate Qur’an stands, meant to hold the holy book during recitations, were also on display.

“I hope that the exhibition will show the visitors the artistry of the Qur’an and the way that artists have given it visual form,” Farhad said. “I hope that visitors also understand the care and attention that went into the making of and caring for these manuscripts,” The exhibition has been one of the museum’s most

popular in recent memory, drawing extraordinarily large crowds, a museum staff member said.

“This exhibition has been exceptional at bringing people together from all over the world,” he said. “Normally, weekend tours at the Freer-Sackler are seven, eight, maybe 10 people big, but with ‘The Art of the Qur’an,’ docents could give up to five large tours per day.”

“

“

A

by JENNIE YU

This exhibition has been exceptional at bringing people together from all over the world.

- Chief Curator Massumeh Farhad

The exhibition provided visitors of different ethnicities an opportunity to interact with one another, brought together through their discussions about the meanings of different verses. Women wearing hijabs bent over one case, carefully deciphering the Arabic scrawled across centuriesold pages; next to them, a tall, blonde man was absorbed in the display’s English explanation, mounted on the wall.

For senior Joy London, touring the exhibition enabled her to fully immerse herself in the rich culture and pride surrounding Dar al Islam, or the world of Islam, she said. After her AP World and Arabic classes introduced her to Islamic culture, London was compelled to explore it further, and the museum provided the outlet to do so.

“It really opened my eyes to the history and unifying factor a Qur’an has over time and different cultures within the Muslim world,” London said.

“The time and workmanship that goes into creating one is such an example of faith and reverence.”

Photos by JENNIE YU

The temporary “Art of Qur’an” exhibit aims to educate the public about the dexterity of the manuscripts in the Qur’an.

Stores combat students’ ‘thrill’ of shoplifting

by ALLIE LERNER Two students requested anonymity in order to speak about the topic. They will be referred to as sophomore girl and junior girl.

Glancing around the store to ensure no one is watching, a girl grabs a tiedye t-shirt, rips off the tags and sensors, stuffs the shirt in her bag and exits the store without paying.

Although it’s a crime, Whitman students say they steal for several reasons, most notably to save money and for the “thrill.”

Montgomery Mall is a common target for theft, according to a sophomore girl.

She and her friends have stolen from Sephora, Pacsun, Victoria’s Secret, Urban Outfitters, American Apparel, Free People and Vineyard Vines.

“Urban Outfitters is really the main shop to get stuff because they don’t have cameras in the store—the only bad thing is that you have holes in your clothes,” the sophomore girl said. “Walking away with it, knowing you’re gonna have a

whole new wardrobe to wear for the rest of the week, is very thrilling.”

The junior girl said she also steals for the “rush” because she doesn’t know if she’ll get caught.

“I mainly shoplifted for the thrill that you get afterwards,” the junior girl said.

“Getting away with it was just the coolest thing ever because you got really nice clothes out of it, but you also got the adrenaline rush of walking out of the store and not knowing what was going to happen.”

While each store has different methods of preventing stealing, shoplifters find ways to combat the security systems.

Students may remove price tags and sensors or simply walk out of a store that doesn’t have sensor detectors, the sophomore girl said.

While the sophomore girl makes stealing seem simple, surveillance has advanced over the years to better catch thieves, said Georgine DeBord, a legal assistant for the State Attorney Office.

“Anytime students come in, especially

Photo by TOMAS CASTRO

in a group, especially with bags or backpacks with them, they are being watched from the second they walk in the store,” DeBord said. “There is surveillance all over the place, and of course they have undercover police too.”

High-end stores, like South Moon Under, take specific measures to work against potential shoplifters.

“We make a point to greet all of our customers, we write everyone’s names on our dressing rooms and we put the clothes in the dressing rooms, so we know how many items each person has,” said senior Sophia Zambri, who is a parttime employee at South Moon Under.

The anonymous students agreed that when they began shoplifting, it was terrifying, but they became more comfortable with it as they stole more clothes more often.

“It 100-percent got less scary because you have methods, like if you go into a store twice, you know exactly where the security cameras are located,” the junior girl said. “You just became more experi-

enced with the situation and how to deal with your nerves.”

At first the girls thought that if they were caught shoplifting, they would be banned from the store, have to pay for the stolen items on top of a theft fine and would have their parents called by the police.

After learning of the possible consequences of theft, the sophomore says the risk of punishment makes her want to shoplift less.

According to DeBord, students may have to pay three times the total value they stole, in addition to other consequences. If shoplifting occurs in groups, students are responsible for paying a collective cost. For example, if a student stole $15 worth of items and another stole $500 worth of merchandise, both students would pay $515, she said.

In Montgomery County specifically, first time offenders who stole less than $1,000 worth of items can attend Teen Court if they plead guilty. Cases where stolen merchandise adds up to over $1,000 qualify as felonies and students must go through the Department of Juvenile Services for further action.

When shoplifting, most students neglect to consider the impact of their actions. However, DeBord described how even at bigger franchises like Nordstrom or Macy’s, the effects are devastating.

“Part of the myth with youth that steal is that the big department stores make a lot of money so they are not gonna miss it,” DeBord said. “But if people do it all over the country, stores cannot sustain and they lose all that income, so the ripple effects of that is the prices will go up and that affects all of us.”

Students need to ask themselves if the short-term thrill of shoplifting is worth the potential lasting consequences, DeBord said.

“Eventually you get caught,” she said, “and is it worth it in the end?”

Feature

13

Q&A

Deputy Attorney General nominee, Whitman parent

by ANNA GRAY President Trump recently nominated Whitman parent Rod Rosenstein for Deputy Attorney General. The Black & White sat down with Rosenstein to get insights on his past government positions as he awaits his potential confirmation.

After graduating from Harvard Law School, Rosenstein dedicated his career to the Department of Justice, where he currently serves as U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland and supervises federal, criminal and civil cases in Maryland. If confirmed, he will work under Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Deputy attorney generals are usually easily confirmed. Due to Sessions’ recent recusal from the federal investigation examining Russia’s possible interference in the presidential election, the topic dominated Rosenstein’s Senate confirmation hearing March 7.

In a written statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Rosenstein outlined his commitment to his present job, the Department of Justice and the law.

“If you confirm my nomination, I will work to defend the integrity and independence of the Justice Department; to protect public safety; to preserve civil rights; to seek justice; to advance the rule of law; and to promote public confidence.”

The interview has been edited for clarity.

The Black & White: If approved, what will be your specific job description?

Rod Rosenstein: The Deputy Attorney General is responsible for helping the Attorney General manage all the operations in the Department of Justice. In my current role as a U.S. Attorney, the Deputy Attorney General is my boss. The Justice Department actually has more than 110,000 employees, so the U.S. Attorneys are only one relatively small component of the Department of Justice. We run all the federal prisons and are responsible for the FBI and the U.S. Marshall Service, among other organizations. We’re responsible for all federal civil litigation and for managing $1.4 billion in federal grant money. We represent the government in civil cases and government employees against civil lawsuits.

B&W: What has been the most fulfilling aspect of your job?

RR: It’s really hard to pick just one. The thing I’ve spent most of my time on is fighting violent crime and gang violence in Maryland. It’s very fulfilling work because you’re able to remove criminals from the com-

Photo courtesy ELI ALFORD

Whitman parent Rod Rosenstein speaks at his confirmation hearing for Deputy Attorney General March 7.

munity who represent a serious threat and are likely to cause more harm if they’re left on the street. That’s one of the most interesting aspects of the job.

B&W: What’s been the most difficult case you’ve dealt with?

RR: The most difficult cases are where the victims who have been harmed by crime want to see the case prosecuted and we aren’t able to because we don’t have enough evidence. Also, personally, it’s difficult for me when it involves children. I’ve prosecuted a fair number of cases involving children who have been exploited or abused.

B&W: Since the Bush administration, how has the political climate changed?

RR: I’ve worked under Presidents Bush, Clinton, H.W. Bush, Obama and now Trump. The thing that is important to recognize about the Department of Jus-

tice is that we’re not a political organization. We’re part of the government and follow the priorities set by the president. But you don’t consider politics when making decisions like who should be prosecuted. In terms of how it’s changed by president, there are changes in the policy, but there are no changes in the department’s principles.

B&W: What advice do you have for students in general and specifically any students who are considering law in the future?

RR: To a lawyer, the most important skills you need are reading, writing and speaking. So I encourage students who are thinking about a career in law to make sure they focus on developing those skills because that’s what lawyers do for a living.

Rod Rosensteins is News Writer Julie Rosenstein’s father.

Broadcasting station hits the airwaves

by AMY NANKIN

Photo by MATEI FAWZY

Last December, the “Whitman Broadcast Radio Club” released its first podcast, featuring topics on conspiracy theories and foreign invasions, led by senior Connor Mitchell.

“Hello, and welcome to WBRC news radio podcast!”

Senior Connor Mitchell’s voice echos out, confident and composed, marking the beginning of the Whitman Broadcast Radio Club’s 30-minute podcast.

The club published their first and only 30-minute radio podcast on Soundcloud last December featuring segments on news, technology and music, but plans on releasing a new episode once every few months, according to Mitchell.

Mitchell said he was inspired to start his own news broadcasting station after visiting his sister at Fordham University this past summer and hearing about her university’s popular news station.

“I was really committed to the idea by early summer when almost everyone told me I had a nice voice and should do some sort of podcast or radio thing,” Mitchell said. “So I just took that idea and ran.”

Mitchell advertised at clubs night for a radio broadcasting club and ended up with a team of five members to fill the positions of scriptwriter, audio editor, music selector, music editor and technology head.

“I’m really into technology, and I wanted to expand on my interests with it and help out,” said freshman Hayden Shinabery, who is WBRC’s music editor. “Connor’s club caught my eye, and I signed up to see

what I could do in it.”

The club meets every Friday to discuss content ideas and news pegs to incorporate into upcoming podcasts. To create their first podcast, the group started by drafting scripts and choosing interviewees.

Mitchell then recorded the segments at school and the editors pieced them together to form an episode. After a couple of weeks, club members put the finishing touches on the podcast and posted it to the club’s Soundcloud page, “Walt Whitman Broadcast News Radio.”.

The podcast’s news and technology segments highlight obscure topics that are still relevant to Whitman, like global conspiracy theories and foreign invasions, Mitchell said.

“I really want to tell news that is interesting, yet not ‘mainstream,’” Mitchell said. “I want to share news that is obviously newsworthy but not many people hear about.”

Mitchell hopes the podcast’s focus on more uncommon topics will draw in a wider student audience and result in more listeners and Soundcloud subscribers while creating an enjoyable podcast at the same time, he said.

“The team’s goal would be to just keep making it fun for everyone,” Shinaberry said. “We do want more viewers but our priority is to have some fun and make the station great to listen to while at lunch or waiting for the bus.”

14

Feature

Newseum exhibit commemorates 50-year anniversary of Civil Rights Movement

by ELEA LEVIN 1967: The Black Power party gained support, Loving vs. Virginia struck down limitations on interracial marriage and 43 protesters and bystanders were killed in Detroit race riots.

2017: The Black Lives Matter movement expands, African Americans remain the most frequently killed racial group by law enforcement and millions of individuals have marched across the world to show their support for African Americans, women, immigrants and other minority groups.

To honor the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Movement, the Newseum in Washington D.C. created an exhibit entitled “1967: Civil Rights at 50.” The exhibition supplements the museum’s broader Civil Rights Movement display which opened in 2013.

The exhibit opened to commemorate important moments during the Civil Rights Movement, but it has grown especially popular because of its relevance Photos by ELEA LEVIN to the current political and social cliImages of 1967 protests in the Newseum exhibit help visitors better understand the civil rights mate, museum staff members said.

“Many of the issues civil rights pro- movement 50 years later (above). Muhammad Ali (right) was a leading voice during the era. testers were fighting in 1967 are the same issues we’re still dealing with 50 highlighting trademark events during tion.

Visual artifacts accompany many of years later, including police brutality, the 1967 Civil Rights Movement where systemic racism and a lack of opportu- individuals were determined to speak these pieces; old newspapers, videos, replicas and photographs bring to life nities for black Americans,” Newseum out against societal injustice.

Displays document the year’s vio- the day-to-day events from the time pepublic relations manager Sonya Gavankar said. “Activists used, and continue to lent, country-wide protests, Thurgood riod.

“Something that I thought was paruse, their First Amendment freedoms to Marshall’s appointment to the Supreme Court and Stokely Carmichael’s devel- ticularly interesting was the pictures fight back against injustice.”

The Newseum brings these instances opment of the term “black power” to they had flipping through which really of First Amendment expression to life, promote unity in order to fight segrega- gave you an insight into the hardships

and what it was like during the time as opposed to just reading about it,” junior Addy Rodd said.

As the injustices protesters faced in 1967 continue to extend beyond the Civil Rights movement and into elements of society today, the exhibit remains timeless for museum visitors.

“The exhibit has received a terrific response,” Gavankar said. “People are fascinated by this period in our history and the parallels to today.”

‘Pyle social sports club’ fosters friendships

by AMY NANKIN On Tuesday afternoons, the Pyle basketball court doesn’t only serve as a space for basketball players; the court doubles as a place that encourages companionship between Pyle students with disabilities and Pyle and Whitman volunteers.

The Pyle Social Sports Club, an organization Pyle teachers Corey Stewart and Lisa Mahallack created with the help of parent volunteer Gena Mitchell, has fostered camaraderie between Pyle and Whitman student volunteers and Pyle students with disabilities through stress-free sports games like soccer or scooter basketball.

“My daughter absolutely loves this program,” Mitchell said. “In middle school or elementary school even, many kids participate in after-school programs, but besides this one, there are no other programs that Devin [her daughter] can participate in without me needing to be with her.”

Because Pyle doesn’t have a formal Best Buddies chapter, a program designed to end the stigma surrounding students with disabilities through inclusive activities, the Pyle Social Sports Club provides students with the types of activities and socialization that Best Buddies offers.

“It’s almost like an introduction to Best Buddies,” Mitchell said. “The kids get to meet people who are in the club or those

who didn’t get into the club because it is so competitive.”

To reach students outside of Pyle, Whitman Best Buddies club vice-president Grace Goldman posted a link to the program on Facebook, which caught the eye of Whitman students like juniors Jessica Chelst and Zion Raeburn.

“I love working with the students in Best Buddies, so I thought it would be nice to do more with that and work with the other kids at Pyle and help them,” Chelst said. “I really like that the club is really relaxed. We all just play different sports and games together and just have fun.”

Through fun games, the club sparks relationships between Pyle students and volunteers.

“I like this program because it helps kids out who don’t normally get to go out and play sports,” seventh grader and club volunteer Alan Zhu said. “This helps them to be more social because it’s a lot more inclusive.

I’ve gotten to know a lot of them through this and have started to talk to them all more in school, too.”

Although Devin Mitchell will be graduating from Pyle at the end of this year, Mitchell, Stewart and the rest of the paraeducator staff decided to continue the club.

“Everybody likes to stay after school and do activities,” Gena Mitchell said. “And this is one of their opportunities to do that.”

Photos by ANNABELLE GORDON

Junior Zion Raeburn and other students spend Tuesday afternoons playing games with disabled Pyle students in the Pyle Social Sports Club which was started by Pyle teachers along with parent volunteer Gena Mitchell.

CROSSWORD

15

W C R O S S R D J2 Presents: March Madness

by JUSTIN BAKER and JOEY SQUERI

ACROSS

1. Fingers of the feet 5. Grow back, as in a body part, abbr.

10. Rollings stones frontman ___ Jagger 14. A mixture, variety 15. Supreme Court justice Kagan 16. Biblical son of Judah 17. Where Bane grew up 18. As seen on TV knife brand 19. How Jack painted Rose 20. Go on ___ (start a relationship) 22. Often political sector of comedy 24. Teach, impart knowledge 27. Rebukes, criticizes 28. “The ___ trap” 29. Most complex organ 30. The bank of Switzerland, abbr.

31. Onomatopoeia sound of an explosion 33. Organization for those who have left the work force, abbr.

37. Another term for wireless communication, abbr.

38. What you do in crew 39. TV series focusing on a motorcycle gang, abbr.

40. Former Wizards Brazilian center 42. Big 12 college in Lawrence 45. What Copernicus suggested the earth revolved around 46. Sight, touch, hearing, smell, taste

48. Revolve, move around an axis 50. Basic unit of biological classification 53. Military college in South Carolina 54. Roll Green Wave!

55. Morons, clowns 56. At the end of “Inception,” Leo spins ___ 57. The upper part of a duet 59. “___, sweet, gone.”

63. An aged fruit 64. Furniture company Ethan ___ 65. Humorist ___ Bombeck 66. Thunder Center ___ Kanter 67. Airline with triangle logo 68. The introduction to a journalism story

DOWN

1. A type of truck you don’t want to see in the Whitman parking lot 2. Bullfight chant 3. Slippery sea creature 4. Bond Film: Quantum of ___ 5. Rowing or sailing competition 6. Cream of the crop 7. Unit of heredity 8. Els, Ems, ___ 9. Ad ___ 10. Big Sky college in Missoula 11. Northern indigenous tribe 12. Specialized person or member of the Chinese Communist Party

13. Location of ACL’s, MCL’s, LCL’s 21. Something that the memes can be 23. Jeremy Piven famous role: ___ Gold 24. HP printer rival 25. Author of “Inferno” 26. Description of a city 27. They’re often waxed or threaded 29. American frontiersman Daniel ___ 32. Alloy of copper and zinc 34. Incumbent president of Syria 35. The GPs wants the fastest one 36. A group of analysts 41. Breaks out 42. Protection needed to play indoor volleyball 43. Pac-12 University in Tucson 44. First European to cross the Mississippi 47. Id number used in tax returns, abbr.

49. String on graduation cap 50. Prolonged gaze 51. President who invaded Crimea 52. To flee for the purpose of marrying 53. Space ice with trail of gas 55. Former president and saxophone enthusiast 58. When runs of data are stored as a single value in coding, abbr.

60. Raw metals extracted from a mine 61. Go Terps! Abbr.

62. Hip hop duo ___ Sremmurd

Cartoon Happy St. Patrick’s Day

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SPORTS

17

Hockey skates through historic season

by ANNA GRAY This year, for the third time in school history, the Whitman hockey team advanced to the state semifinals. After coming off an impressive regular season, the team ultimately fell 2–1 to the Marriotts Ridge Mustangs Feb. 23 at The Gardens Ice House in Laurel, Maryland.

The Vikings ended the regular season 9–4–1 and secured the 14th seed in the state playoffs despite several setbacks.

After wins against Northern, the 3rd seed, and South River, the 6th seed, players were hopeful to win the state semifinals and advance to the finals, they said.

“Over time, the team dynamic shifted due to the amount of injuries and suspensions we had, but close to playoffs we ended up being very determined to win,” forward Martin Torrey said.

The semifinal game started off with a scoreless first period, but in the second period the Mustangs pulled ahead and scored twice. The Vikings retaliated with a goal from Torrey in the third but couldn’t sustain their momentum.

While the Vikes maintained possession for the majority of the game, they were stifled by the Mustang’s goalie, freshman Gavin Ross, who dominated with 37 saves.

“As a team, we played really well and coordinated, and no matter what, we stood as a team,” Torrey said. “Overall, we just got really unlucky in our

offensive chances, but we’re still proud of our efforts.”

Earlier in the postseason, goalie Brendan Daly made the All-State second team, defenseman Tiger Bjornlund made the All-County second team and Daly and forward Sam Dexter were selected to the County All Star team, which is comprised of only seniors.

“I didn’t have many personal goals other than leading the team to a state championship,” Daly said. “Sadly, this goal wasn’t completed, but personally, I had a really successful season.”

With a significant win over multiyear private school division champion Landon and a tie with last year’s state champion Churchill, the Vikes had a successful run heading into the playoffs.

“This year was very strong both defensively and offensively,” forward Joseph Tseytlin said. “The team got closer as the year went on. When we started, there was a lot of animosity, but this seemed to have faded by the time we got into playoffs, although the end result was stinging.”

With crucial starters graduating this year, the team now must prepare for a fresh start, head coach Thomas Sneddon said.

“We will need to find their replacements on the roster as quickly as possible to start building another contender,” Sneddon said. “The faster we can identify the players who will step into their

Photo by TOMAS CASTRO

The Vikes ends their 9-4-1 season with a 2-1 loss to the Marriotts Ridge Mustangs despite being Whitman’s third team to advance to the state semifinals since the clubs start.

spots, the better off we will be.”

Sneddon, who has been with Whitman for 10 years, said that despite the loss, he still considered the team elite because of their historic playoff run.

“There wasn’t any one strategy or concept that got us there,” Sneddon said.

“What got us there is what always gets you there: hard work, discipline and team chemistry. We had issues with all those things at various times this year, but in the end when it counted, we had those things and accomplished some great things together.”

In memoriam: football coach Jamie Werner (1989-2017)

by ANDIE SILVERMAN Beloved varsity football lineman coach Jamie Werner (‘07) passed away Feb. 9, leaving community members in mourning. He was 27.

At Whitman, Werner played football for four years, playing three of those years on the varsity team. He became co-captain senior year and earned All-County status as an offensive lineman. After graduating from the University of Maryland in 2012, Werner returned to Whitman and coached for six years. Werner leaves behind a legacy in the football program; his players remember him for having a big heart and a passion for the game and his team, they said.

“He would always compliment you,” running back Devin Carone said. “If you were hurt, he wouldn’t make fun of you. He’d ask if you were okay and be genuinely sorry if you weren’t.”

Werner’s dedication to his players wasn’t limited to the field, said Jim Kuhn, head football coach during Jamie Werner’s tenure.

“He was the kind of kid that you wanted to coach,” Kuhn said. “Everybody loved him. I often saw him talking to kids in difficult situations in a way that made everyone feel valued.”

Werner transcended his role as coach to help former

Photos courtesy RICK WARNER

Jamie Werner (‘07) passed away Feb. 9. He will be remembered as a player and a coach for the varsity football team.

offensive lineman Josh Feder (‘16) through the college application process.

“When I told him that I had been deferred from my first choice of college, he wrote me a recommendation without me asking him to,” Feder said. “He would do stuff like that for all of his players, even if they just rode the bench like me.”

Off the field, Werner was a cooking enthusiast; he would host large gatherings for friends and family and make dishes by instinct, not with recipes, his father Rick Werner said. Jamie Werner also worked at an Irish Pub in D.C. and at RICA, a special education school, where he worked as an educator.

Few knew about Jamie Werner’s struggle with mental illness, however. Now, his family wants to raise awareness for mental illness.

“If you’re struggling, if your family member or your friend is struggling, tell someone, reach out, ask ‘how can I help?,’ suggest resources, share experiences,” Jamie Werner’s sister Morgan (‘09) said.

Over 600 attendees commemorated Jamie Werner’s life at his memorium Feb. 16. The event was a testament to Jamie Werner’s warm-hearted personality; his presence could bring happiness to anyone, Rick Werner said.

“Coach taught us all to have fun with everything you do. He would tell us stories about making lunch, and we would be hanging onto every word,” Feder said.

“He just had that much fun with everything he did, and I think that reflected in his coaching style.”

Josh Feder was a managing sports editor for Vol. 54 of The Black & White.

Skiers travel internationally Continued from page 1 “It does get kind of hard,” Olsen said.

“I leave right after school most days and don’t get back until 10 or 11, and either I do work in the morning or manage to fit it somehow.”

Skiers have to travel to nearby resorts for practices. Knollman and Olsen normally go to Whitetail Resort in Pennsylvania every day after school during the season, while Conlan spends his weekends training at Wisp.

This winter, however, the unusually warm weather and lack of snow forced Olsen to change her normal routine to keep up with training, so she enrolled at Aspen High

School in Colorado for a quarter. After a successful ski season, she’s now back at Whitman.

Off the slopes, Conlan practices on a trampoline and a turf ramp to rail in his backyard, and Knollman and Olsen train in the weight room, particularly focusing on strengthening leg muscles. The two distance skiiers also travel to ski during the summer; Olsen travels to Chile, while Knollman travels to Oregon.

After high school Conlan and Olsen both plan on skiing in college while Knollman is still considering his options.

“I want to go to a school that has skiing,” Conlan said. “It’s something that’s good to have during school as it helps get stress off your back.”

Photo courtesy AUGUST HENRY

Whne sophomore Noah Conlan isn’t practicing at Wisp Ski Resort, he practices tricks for competitions using a trampoline and turf ramp in his backyard.

Sports

18

Players become leaders in ‘Lead ‘em up’ program

by AMY NANKIN For 30-40 minutes every week during the season, the boys varsity basketball team takes a break from shooting free throws at practice and makes its way over to the bleachers. One by one, players begin reciting positive things they, a teammate and the team accomplished that week.

This reflection starts the team’s Lead ‘Em Up session, an educational program designed to bring out leadership qualities in players both on and off the court.

Beginning in 2015, these sessions, led by company founder Adam Bradley, became a part of the team’s practice schedule. Due to popular demand, Bradley has returned during the past two seasons.

“I felt that in order for our guys to become better leaders, we needed to devote some practice time to developing those traits,” boys basketball coach Christopher Lun said. “Meeting once a week throughout the season gets our team into the habit of focusing on developing leadership traits.”

The idea of learning how to be a leader began as a tough concept for the players, captain and forward Jack Berson said.

“We already thought we knew how to do things like give criticism, be responsible and listen, but we realized that we really didn't,” Berson said. “He teaches us how

Photo courtesy ADAM BRADLEY

Varsity basketball practices positivity with the “Lead ‘em up” program, which aims to foster leadership skills in players.

to be more effective with how to have those things translate into things on the court.”

Bradley’s presentations are different each week; some sessions focus on enthusiasm while others emphasize listening. Despite rotating messages, Bradley’s lessons keep the same structure.

The session opens with the players sharing weekly accomplishments, followed by an interactive game created by game on Nation, a company partnered with Lead ‘Em Up that creates leadership activities. Bradley transitions into a teaching exercise specific to that week’s topic, and the session finishes with a reiteration of the week’s purpose, Bradley said.

“At first, the players were a little hesitant because they weren't familiar with the program or myself, but after a few weeks you began to see them fully embrace it,” he said. “The players’ engagement, enthusiasm and willingness to be vulnerable allowed them to grow so much through the season.”

In the week following a session, players are motivated to practice what they learned.

“If we focus on enthusiasm in our program, then during practice three players will be named enthusiasm captains and be making the other players more enthusiastic,” Berson said. “If those three players aren’t as enthusiastic as the rest of the team, then we’ll normally have a punishment like running.”

Through his work with the team, Bradley has been able to witness players grow as individuals.

“You could see the players asserting themselves in leadership ways they never had before,” Bradley said.

“Players who in the past may have just gone through the motions were now approaching practice and their teammates passionately, trying to bring the best out of each other.”

Because of the program’s success, Lun plans to make Bradley and Lead ‘Em Up a staple in the team’s schedule for years to come.

“I think the guys have responded very well to Coach Bradley's lessons,” Lun said. “They are very engaged throughout each lesson and really seem to get a lot out of them. I will definitely continue to use Lead ‘Em Up.”

Photo by TOMAS CASTRO

Avery Williams won the state championship in the 50-meter freestyle and broke the 100-meter freestyle record at regionals.

Williams wins state championship

by KYLE LAYMAN Senior Avery Williams finished her high school swim career with a state championship and state record, taking home first place in the 50-meter freestyle at states and setting a state record in the 100-meter freestyle at regionals.

Williams’ time of 52.47 seconds in the 100-meter freestyle at regionals shattered the previous record of 53.12 seconds set in 2013 by Churchill’s Elaina Gu. Williams attributed her own and the team’s success to their strong energy and chemistry.

“The team practiced a lot to prepare and got really pumped up for every meet which helped a lot,” Williams said. “I think I did well with staying positive through the season and getting really excited for championship meets, so then, when they came around, everyone else was excited as well.”

The team came out with major wins during the regular season, including a three-point upset against Wootton.

“It was a strong finish at the end for states. Our records were 2-3 for both [girls and boys],” coach Geoffrey Schaeffer said. “In general it’s been a great season.

We’ve had a lot of kids step up. Champions rise when they are called upon.”

Sports

19

Spring sports preview 2017

by TIGER BJÖRNLUND and JOEY SQUERI

Boys Lacrosse: Jackson Parker

Baseball: Sean Hannegan Coming off a second-team allcounty junior season, infielder Sean Hannegan is poised for a dominant senior campaign.

Last season, Hannegan appeared in every game for the 18–5 Vikes, playing both second base and shortstop. In addition to being a surehanded fielder, recording a 96-percent fielding percentage throughout the year, Hannegan also led the team with a .340 batting average and 14 runs-batted-in.

“I just try and get a little better each day,” Hannegan said. “Improving in the field and hitting for power are things I need to work at.”

As one of the team’s older athletes, Hannegan will play a leadership role this season.

“I’ll take pride in being one of the more experienced players on our team,” Hannegan said. “I’ll try and keep everyone in line throughout practice and games.”

After losing several graduating players last year, like second-team All

Photo courtesy SEAN HANNEGAN

Met pitcher Sean Cook and starting shortstop Ian Atkinson, the team will rely heavily on its offense to compensate, Hannegan said.

“We lost a lot of great pitchers since last year,” Hannegan said. “But we have some great sophomores and some really good returning bats in our lineup that will step up for us.”

Girls Lacrosse: Eden Gray

Photo by ANNABELLE GORDON

In her fourth and final varsity season, midfielder Eden Gray aims to lead the lacrosse team to another outstanding year.

Gray, the team’s leading scorer over the past two years, has been vital to the team’s offense since her sophomore season. Last year, the Vikes scored over 15 goals in five different games with Gray recording multiple goals in each of those games.

“I try to see the whole field rather than just focusing on where the ball is,” Gray said. “I also try to contribute a lot through assists so that our wins can be a

whole team effort.”

Gray also believes her ability to win draws leads to more offensive possessions for the team, she said.

This season, the team plans to focus on outplaying their top county competition; last year, Churchill and Sherwood proved hard to beat.

“Our team goal is definitely to beat Churchill again since we lost to them in playoffs last year,” Gray said. “We also [aim] to connect early in the season and to have good chemistry throughout the year.”

Volleyball: Maddie London After a disappointing loss in the first round of last year’s playoffs, the coed volleyball team hopes to make a deeper run this season. Senior libero Maddie London hopes to help achieve that goal with her strong defensive play and dedication to the team.

“I think I bring a lot of energy onto the court, and I care so much about the Whitman volleyball community,” London said. “This year I want to focus more on connecting with all my teammates on and off the court.”

The squad also emphasized rebuilding their offense after losing key leaders, London said.

“I hope that the new boys trying out will be able to step it up and replace the two strong hitters we lost,” London said.

An energetic attitude and a shifted practice focus will allow the team to realize their full potential, London said.

“We want to focus more on our fundamental skills,” London said. “I

Photo by JEFFERSON LUO

really want to make sure all the new players are comfortable and proficient.”

Coming off a 7–5 season, the boys lacrosse team hopes to make a deeper playoff run this year, and senior goalie Jackson Parker will be a key component in accomplishing this goal.

As a junior, Parker posted a 59-percent save percentage and looks to improve that statistic this season.

“I want to continue to lead the defense and be the best goalie I can be,” Parker said. “This season, I want to improve my outlet passing and saves per game.”

Parker prides himself not only on his on-field contributions, but also on his leadership.

Photo courtesy PARKER KEITH GREENBERG

“Last year I was a vocal leader to the defense, calling out directions and positions during practice and games,” Parker said. “I always tried to encourage my teammates and keep team morale high.”

Parker wants to pass on a legacy of hard work and leadership to the younger members of the team, he said.

“I give it everything I have and try to inspire my teammates through my play,” Parker said. “This year I want to inspire underclassmen on what it means to be a leader for the Whitman lacrosse program on and off the field.”

Tennis: Andrew Leung In his sophomore season, third singles player Andrew Leung posted a 12–0 singles record and won the 4A state doubles championship with second singles player Jack Welch. Now a junior, Leung is primed to return as a crucial player for the squad.

Leung attributed last season’s success to the consistency and patience he maintained throughout the season, posting wins against top programs like Wootton and Churchill.

“I just stayed confident,” Leung said. “I played my game and got the results that I wanted.”

Leung primarily relies on his offensive game in matches, he said.

“My forehand and my serve are definitely my strengths,” Leung said.

“I’ve gotten a lot taller, so my serve has definitely improved, and I love to dictate the points with my forehand.”

Last spring, Leung, along with undefeated first singles player Evin Mcdonald and Welch, stormed through the county competition to lead the Vikes to a Division I title, a feat Leung

Photo by OLIVIA MATTHEWS

believes they can accomplish again this spring.

“We have a lot of returning players and some strong freshman coming in this year,” Leung said. “Some other juniors who missed previous years might jump in, so our singles lineup will be something to reckon with.”

Softball: Laura May

When the softball team found itself without a second baseman last year, then-junior Laura May stepped in. Now a senior in her second season at the position, May thinks she can further improve as a middle infielder and increase her knowledge of the position.

On offensive, May strives to become a stronger presence, she said.

“I definitely want to work on my batting,” May said. “I’ve always had issues with my batting strength and consistency, so I will be spending a lot of practice time on my form.”

Photo by OLIVIA MATTHEWS

To improve on last year’s 4–12 record, the squad will need contributions from new players, May said.

“The turnover from last year is pretty significant,” she said. “There are a lot of younger players stepping up to fill in the roles, and I see them really eager to learn and excited to get out and play.”

But the team’s success is dependent on more than just individual skills, May said.

“We’re really looking to mesh as a team. It’ll be a lot of fun to learn how we fit together.”

Back Page

20

Album reviews: spring ‘17

by MICHAEL GORMAN

‘Cat’s funk infuses comedy, substance After garnering respect and popularity for his feature on Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly,” Thundercat released his first full project, “Drunk,” Feb. 24. The bassist brings the funk throughout the album, even adding his signature comedy.

From “Friendzone,” where he cleverly sings “I’ve got enough friends anyway,” and “I’d rather play Mortal Kombat,” to every aspect of the song “Captain Stupido,” Thundercat stays entertaining throughout the marathon 23-track album.

Although the 23 songs make the release seem long, only six are over three minutes, so listeners won’t be bored because the album is a reasonable 52-minutes. However, the downside to having so many short songs is that each song

sounds unfinished and experimental. For example, “Jameel’s Space Ride” is fun but not much more, and “Lava Lamp” is just weird as Thundercat’s falsetto doesn’t fit in with the sound he created for the track. Neither serve much purpose on the album.

One of the centerpieces is “The Changes,” the funkiest song on the album. The bass is bumping, and here, his Falsetto is mesmerizing.

Throw in the upbeat piano and saxophone that compliment the bass, and Thundercat made one of the grooviest songs on the album.

He may be new to the music industry, but Thundercat is here to stay. “Drunk” is a testament to his ability to master and combine different skills for a full-length album.

Artwork by BRAINFEEDER

‘Drunk’ Rating 3.5/5

Artwork by ATLANTIC RECORDS

‘SweetSexySavage’ Rating 3/5

Adams a ‘Prisoner’ to emotion From the first chords of “Do You Still Love Me,” Ryan Adams confirms that his latest album, “Prisoner,” is wrought with emotion, following his recent separation from actress Mandy Moore.

Each track evokes the rawness of his recent breakup, and listeners can expect typical, low-key Adams, drenched with heavy emotion.

On the title track, Adams sings about how deeply the divorce has affected him: “I am a prisoner / For your love.” The smooth guitar throughout the song helps create the depressed sound of his newfound loneliness.

The best song on the album is “Outbound Train,” a track about how Adams feels empty,

as though he is fading away like an outbound train: “The fan stutters in the room / where we slept.”

Driving drums and guitar help simulate the feeling of a moving train.

Adams closes the album with “We Disappear,” a morose ballad in which he uses wordplay to note how this arduous time “is like a bad commercial in the movie of my life.” He puts all of these feelings on full display throughout the album rather than keeping them to himself: “Didn’t fit in my chest, so I wore it on my sleeve.”

Adams’ 16th studio album is not the rocker that his fans often appreciate, but it’s quintessential Adams, full of longing, honest lyrics and memorable guitar riffs.

Migos ignites ‘culture’ shock in rap Rain drop. Drop top. Migos are changing the rap game a lot lot.

With “C U L T U R E,” released Jan. 27, the North Atlanta trio Migos stayed true to their roots, putting out their most unapologetic trap music to date. Although there are a few throwaways, (“Big on Big” comes to mind), the majority of the tape is fiery with catchy hooks and clever lyrics. For example, from “Brown Paper Bag”: “Go to the mall in a Bentley / Money is bigger than Winfrey’s.”

The opening and title track, “Culture” features DJ Khaled, but his annoying bursts of noise take away from the confidence that Migos bring on the rest of the album. After Khaled’s end-

less yelling, the song is almost over.

Standing at 2:33, it’s little more than an intro, and leaves listeners wishing DJ Khaled’s contribution never happened.

Other than mega-hit “Bad and Boujee,” the best song on the album is “T-Shirt.” It’s classic Migos, as members Quavo, Offset and Takeoff trade verses with their trademark braggadocio and stuttering flow: “I’ma hit the gas, 12 can’t pull me over.” The music video is also fantastic as the trio stomps through the tundra with their fur coats and icy watches.

As a complete project, Migos succeeded, but some songs shouldn’t have been included.

Artwork by RYAN ADAMS

‘Prisoner’ Rating 3/5

Artwork by QUALITY CONTROL

‘Culture’ Rating 4/5

Fans go ‘crzy’ for Kehlani’s passion Drawing comparisons to a young Rihanna, Kehlani has been making waves in the R&B world. On “SweetSexySavage,” the singer successfully combined many R&B and hip-hop influences from the past 20 years to create one amazing sound.

Kehlani capitalized on the popularity from hits “CRZY” and “Distraction,” two songs with soothing vocals and mature lyrics for a 21-year-old; this maturity shows she’s here to stay.

The first song on the album, “Keep On,” is a light yet meaningful track in which Kehlani sings about a relationship she felt she didn’t put enough effort into: “But every time I come crawlin’ on my knees / You’re there.”

She further proved herself as a capable songwriter with “Advice.” Taking a

turn from “Keep On,” the Oakland singer gushes about how she needed to “Take [her] own advice” and move on, “‘Cause how is the man of my dreams / Not a man of his words?”

Kehlani ends the album on a pleasant note with “I Wanna Be,” a song about how she “Wanna be the only girl you ever need.” As it isn’t a particularly clever song and doesn’t add anything to the album as a whole, it proves that “SweetSexySavage” could have been stronger with fewer tracks.

Kehlani has a beautiful voice but doesn’t always take full advantage of it.

Many of her songs give off a similar, soft tone and lack the dynamic sound she has the potential to produce.

International Night

Photos by JEFFERSON LUO

“It[International Night] allows us to share our stories and cultures with the Whitman Community.

Visit theblackandwhite.net for the full photo gallery.

- Andres Garcia