Vol. 53 » Issue 2

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volume 53, Issue 2 October 16, 2014

Walt whitman High school

7100 whittier boulevard

Bethesda, maryland 20817

theblackandwhite.net

New drills for severe weather, suspicious activity

photo by KATE CURRIE

MCPS adds new evacuation drills for overall preparedness

Whitman Drumline, left, takes on the Damascus Hornets, right, in a friendly battle after the homecoming game Oct. 10. The spirited competition kept the Whitmaniacs cheering after suffering a 28-6 defeat.

Junior Val Katsman aspires to make U.S. national figure skating team in partner dance By Arya Hodjat When you think of a high school sports star, images come to mind of a hulking football linebacker or a lanky basketball forward- not a graceful figure skater. Junior Val Katsman is currently training for a USA national figure skating team audition, and ultimately, for a chance at making the 2022 Winter Olympics. Katsman moved to Bethesda from Colorado Springs this summer in order to practice with his skating partner and to have access to better coaching, he said. Katsman’s passion for the sport began when he was three years old. He started out skating solo freestyle events under the guidance of his mother, a former amateur skater. “Originally, it was just kind of my mom pushing me to do it,” Katsman said. “I really liked it though and now I’m doing it because I want to.” However, Katsman’s road to success wasn’t all smooth. When he was nine years old, he broke his leg while practicing a jump and landing incorrectly. “I was worried that I may never be able to skate again,” Katsman said. It took Katsman ten months to return to active competition, he said. After his return, he switched from freestyle to partner dance, a form of ice skating comparable to ballroom dancing. Katsman said his decision to change events was not because of his injury, but rather his desire to skate with a partner.

“It was very strange at first because I was used to skating alone,” Katsman said. “It felt like the other person was always in my space.” Katsman improved significantly after the switch. He and his partner won four medals at the regional level and placed second at the U.S. National Championships in 2013. However, when personal issues arose between Katsman’s coach and his original partner, Katsman began to look for a new match, he said. As Katsman searched for partners online, 11-year-old Bethesda native Coco Becker’s small stature and dancing style caught his eye. A month after they connected, Katsman decided to move to Bethesda so that he and Becker could practice regularly. The four-year age gap between himself and Becker has been a challenge for Katsman. “All my previous partners have been closer in age to me so this is definitely a different experience,” Katsman said. “It can be difficult to find the middle ground of talking to a little kid and a teenager.” Katsman and Becker practice four days a week for two to three hours a day at the Rockville and Wheaton ice rinks. At an average practice, they work on choreography and on interpreting the music they dance to, which Katsman said is his biggest weakness as a skater. While they occasionally

I n s i d eSchool L oshooting ok

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miss school for tournaments, both have said that their skating careers hasn’t impacted their academics. “It gets stressful sometimes, but we manage,” Becker said. Despite Katsman’s high aspirations, he doesn’t allow pressure to crush his love for skating, he said. “What I’m doing feels great,” Katsman said. “There aren’t many young people who get the opportunity to achieve such big things like I have.”

By Sarina Hanfling This year, MCPS is implementing drills for severe weather events, earthquakes and threats that require evacuation or re-entering the building quickly. Students and staff have never needed to evacuate because of suspicious activity, but it’s important to be prepared just in case, principal Alan Goodwin said. He’s confident that the students will take the drills seriously. “The thing about doing drills in this school that’s refreshing is that the kids cooperate,” he said. “They know we have to do them.” MCPS didn’t add the evacuation drill for any particular reason, said MCPS security supervisor Douglas Steel. “It’s not just from one event,” Steel said. “It’s a global approach to make us more prepared.” The evacuation and reverse evacuation drills, in which students re-enter the building as a result of an outdoor threat, will either take place this month or later this semester. Security team leader Cherisse Milliner sent teachers a Powerpoint last week on how to manage their classrooms during the drills, but they will not receive formal training. Students need to move 300 feet away from the building during an evacuation, compared to 50 feet during a fire. For the evacuation drill, teachers will bring their classes to the far side of the parking lot. But if a real emergency were to occur, students would have to walk to the stadium field or be transported to Pyle or Landon, Milliner said. Administration will run the evacuation, reverse evacuation and fire drills consecutively to save class time, Milliner said. Severe weather drills are necessary in the event of a tornado or a hurricane. During weather drills, teachers will lead their classes to designated windowless areas. These places, which include the locker rooms, the hallway near the cafeteria and the wrestling room, are labeled with “Tornado Shelter” signs. Milliner is not yet sure how all students and teachers will make it to these locations in an orderly fashion, but is confident that the drills will run smoothly, she said. “We’re going to have to practice and see,” she said. “We will have to figure out if we can assess the problems and how to fix them.” Although tornadoes don’t hit the Maryland area often, drills will increase overall preparedness. “Is there going to be a tornado in Bethesda? That’s not as likely as in Kansas, but you just have to be on the forefront trying to figure things out,” Goodwin said. Unlike the evacuation and reverse evacuation, MCPS added the mandatory earthquake drill as a direct result from the 5.8 earthquake in 2011, Steel said. In an earthquake drill, students will stay in their classrooms and take cover under their desks in the fetal position. “It’s a simple drop, cover and hold drill,” Milliner said. If an earthquake strikes while students are outside, they will have to move away from the school building and from any objects that could possibly fall on them, Milliner said. Administration hopes the new drills will make students feel safer about emergency preparedness in the building. “I feel safer that we’re practicing [the drills],” freshman Caleigh Stenger said. “If something were to happen, I would know what to do.”

See related article on page 6

photo courtesy VAL KATSMAN

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Guide to editing college essays

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Freshman skimboards to two national championships

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