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VOL. XIV, NO. 4 SPRING 2025 www.willishallherald.org

FEATURES

OPINION

FIELD DAY PROM FASHION INTERNATIONAL DAY

ANALYZING AMERICA ANALYZING “ADOLESCENCE”

INSIDE THE ISSUE PODCASTS IN PRINT

READ MORE IN-DEPTH ARTICLES ABOUT THE ONLINE TOPICS

Podcasts bloom!

Beware the thorns!

ARTS

SPORTS

MUSES AT BAY MATILDA SNOW WHITE REVIEW

WHO IS NBA MVP? SPRING SPORTS KEY ATHLETES

PAGE 2 SPRING 2025

EDITORIAL

We study, play, podcast, perform, and some of us work

S

THE

ome students feel they have too much to do after school, juggling AP classes, sports and extracurriculars. Meanwhile, some students work jobs throughout the year or during the summer.

Walker Reel ‘27 runs a cash register, scoops ice cream, mulches yards, cuts down trees and plays with kids at summer camps, while leading a steady student life as a Second-Honor-Roll student and three-sport athlete.

“I’ve been working for about three years,” Reel said. “It has been really good for me. I have been able to make a lot of money for someone at such a young age. I am blessed to have all of the opportunities. I have learned about improving my work ethic, coordination and time management. I work mostly 12-hour shifts on the weekends.”

A North Cross parent contacted him during the summer of his eighth grade year. The owner of Sugar Magnolia offered him a job.

“I wanted the job,” Reel said. “I had just got my learners, and would have to help pay for a truck, with insurance and all that. I started driving so I needed some money. Also for college, eventually.”

He helped teach and round up young athletes during the summer at NCS baseball and basketball camps. Reel also works for NCS summer programs.

Reel stresses the importance of getting work done during the school day as well as at home. He stresses the benefit of scheduling. It is difficult to balance work, sports, school and personal hobbies. Reel uses a daily planner and calendar which he writes every event in.

“Being a young worker has helped me with social interactions and communication,” Reel said.

Catherine Ferguson ‘26 works at Glazed-Bisque-It. She applied for a job because she went often and because of its close location.

“I like working there,” she said, “it’s fun and I get to talk to people. But I don’t like when people are rude, of course. I never get tips, either.”

Ava Dalaski ‘25 works as a hostess at Lydia’s restaurant in Salem.

“My job at work has really taught me a lot about responsibility because if I forget to tell somebody about a table, then nobody has the table, and the customer might become mad and leave.

“If I don’t communicate with people, that’s not good; everyone needs to know what’s going on. I especially check on my servers throughout the night to make sure they’re not too overwhelmed. My job has also taught me a lot about time management because I have to make and bag orders on time. Organizing all of the food can sometimes be really stressful when

Founded in 2010 and based in the Journalism elective, The Willis Hall Herald is the official student-led publication of the Upper School at North Cross School. The Herald may be published in magazine form three or more times per year. Founded in 2017 and produced by the Herald staff, GeoPrism: A Global Studies Journal may be published in magazine form once or twice per year. the Herald welcomes letters, commentary and submissions of original content that adhere to the Herald’s dedication to factual journalism. Letters and other content must be signed and may be edited for length and Herald style. The Herald does not guarantee publication of outside submissions. Submit letters to willishallherald@northcross.org. the Herald won Gold Medals from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association in 2012 and 2015. The Herald is also a member of the National Student Press Association, whih awarded The Herald “First Class” honors in 2024.

Survey Says

Students work Of the 56 students who took our survey from April 30-May 2, 24 (about 43 percent) said they work. Of those 24 workers, most work all year, while eight just work at NCS in the summer.

it’s really busy. So, I’ve learned to stay calm and kind of tune everything out so I can get my work done. It has also taught me how to deal with a lot of different people, especially when they’re older. It can be really awkward, but it has to be done.”

I [Lauren Boone] work at Hunting Hills Country Club as an Event Tech.

I spend my work days setting up events, such as weddings, parties, brunches and dinners. For food events, I bring food out, sometimes do dishes, bus tables and clean. On wedding days, which are my favorites, I get to set them up and take them down. My coworkers and I set up the venues, bring out tables and chairs, then put linens on dinner tables, prepare the hors d’oeuvres and much more. During the summer, I get to set up pool parties and work at the snack shack.

Carter Levan ‘26, who works with me as a server, and I spend lots of time together setting up and goofing around at the same time. I have learned a lot from work, having to almost constantly communicate with members of the country club, my coworkers and boss. My social skills have definitely improved, especially with talking to older people, which I have always struggled with. I told my boss I was too shy to work as a server or host, so I gladly became an event tech.

I have been able to provide for myself more because of work. Being able to make a sufficient amount of money as a teenager will benefit me both in the present and future. By improving communication, learning about how the kitchen and club works, and being in the service industry at this age, I will be more prepared as an adult than most. I have become used to working almost 10 hour days. I always encourage my friends to find jobs.

Vol. XVI No. 4 Spring 2025 North Cross School 4254 Colonial Ave. Roanoke, VA 24018 www.willishallherald.org Instagram: willis.hall.herald Co-Editors-in-Chief .....................................Lauren Boone ‘25 and Jacob Johnson ‘25 Podcaster Editors..........................................Anna Ciccozzi ‘26 and Mason Bibby ‘27 Calliope Editor-in-Chief...............................................................Aadeetri Pandey ‘26 GeoPrism Co-Asst. Editors-in-Chief................Hanchen Ou ‘26 and Victoria Real ‘27 Photography Editors......................................Monica Koene ‘28 and Akali Koeda ‘28 Junior Asst. Editor..........................................................................Kaitlyn Perkins ‘28 Calliope Asst. Editor ......................................................................... Akali Koeda ‘28 Opinion Editor................................................................................ Mason Bibby ‘27 Features Editors.............................Dara Kerman ‘27, Shree Patel ‘28, Isla Whittle ‘28 Arts and Entertainment Editor........................................................ Margaret Bass ‘28 Business Manager........................................................................ Joaquin Downey ‘28 Sports Asst. Editor........................................................................Luke Cocowitch ‘28 Staff Writers................................................................................................................

Fiona Parnell ‘26, Nola Daninger ‘27, Caroline Welfare ‘27, Mia Esposito ‘28 Advisor......................................................................................Robert Robillard P’35

NEWS

SPRING 2025 PAGE 3

‘Metalhead’ STEM faculty take Eagan to Metallica concert

Eager to attend a concert by a legendary metal band playing a historic show in a nearby stadium that uses the band’s most famous song as its football team’s entrance, Dr. Michael Koss bought four tickets knowing that Dr. Timothy Naginey would join him along with a JK4 parent/friend.

Knowing that Evie Eagan loves the music as shown by her devotion to learning how to play metal guitar, the fourth ticket went to the senior

who had recently played a medley of metal songs for Muses at Bay. She included “Enter Sandman” in her medley. (See page 18 story) The physics and math teachers have played guitar and bass in bands that honor variations of metal and punk rock genres since they were teens like Eagan. Likewise, she has practiced heavy metal licks for years.

“It was just electrifying,” Eagan said. “The energy was amazing and the crowd was so supportive.”

Rising against hunger together

QUAKIN’: STEM teachers Dr. Timothy Naginey, Dr. Michael Koss and Getulio Brasil come together for a photo before entering Lane Stadium. Fans set off seismic tremors when Metallica first appeared and when they played “Enter Sandman for their final encors song.

Photo illustration by Robert Robillard with photos by Dr. Koss and Tommy Olejniczak

Students elect SCA leaders

By Mason Bibby

Rising Up: Jacob Johnson ‘25 leads a team of Middle and Lower School students to

fill bags of rice, beans and other essentials to create a meal. On April 17 students once again gathered in the CAC for the annual Rise Against Hunger food packaging event.

“It’s [a] really good thing, we’re really helping out the underprivileged,” said Tyler Bloomfeild ‘25. In total, Rise Against Hunger in collaborations with communities around the country have distributed over 54.7 million meals.“So I think the earlier the better that we start teaching our kids to give back and to think about others,” said Director of Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion Debbie Taylor, who helps manage the event every year. Caption and photo by Joaquin Downey

Every spring trimester, students congregate in Fishburn Auditorium to hear their classmates plead their cases on why they are best equipped to lead their class.

I have grown accustomed to being a class leader, but some are new to SCA like Remi Lewis ‘27, who will be serving as the co-Social Chair for the Class of 2027. “[Being elected] means a lot to me because it means that I’ve shown my place here at North Cross,” Lewis said. “It means that I’ve opened myself up to a lot of people here.”

Along with Lewis, 22 students, including the Dorm Representative and ninth-graders, who will be elected in the fall, will serve on SCA for the 2025-26 school year.

12th Grade: Co-Presidents: Millie Chopski and Carter Krzeminski Vice President: Anna Ciccozzi Secretary: Emma Votta Treasurer: Maggie Bibby Social Chair: Tilden Ayers Sergeant at Arms: Ryan Thomas 11th Grade: President: Mason Bibby Vice President: Mac Byrd Secretary: Finn Chaney Treasurer: Maidah Ahmad Co-Social Chairs: Spencer Britton and Remi Lewis Sergeant at Arms: Cole Hoff 10th Grade: President: Wynn Yardley Vice President: Faith Johnson Secretary: Kemper Prillaman Treasurer: George Lugar Co-Social Chairs: Margaret Bass and Luke Cocowitch Sergeant at Arms: Cole Basile Remi Lewis. Photo by Mason Bibby

OPINION

PAGE 4 SPRING 2025

Episode 7:

Analyzing America podcast: Trump tariffs beg questions about markets

By Mason Bibby

“

We’re gonna win economically, we’re gonna win with the economy, we’re going to win with military, we’re going to win with health care and for our veterans, we’re going to win with every single facet. We’re going to win so much you may even get tired of winning, and you’ll say ‘please please it’s too much winning, we can’t take it anymore, Mr. President, it’s too much…’”

These words, delivered in 2016 with convicted certainty by then-presidential candidate Donald J. Trump, have certainly resounded and resonated with many Americans—but maybe not for their intended purpose. In late March, President Donald Trump expressed a renewed interest in a point postulated during his time on the campaign trail: “reciprocal,” that is, in response to what other nations were presumably charging the United States, tariffs. A tariff, in this case, refers to a tax imposed on goods and services imported from foreign countries in an attempt to make them less competitive with domestic producers.

Noticeably, apart from the White House’s 185-nation list of countries that are tariffed, many notable ones, such as Canada, Mexico, Russia and Belarus, avoided the economic shockwave. Though Canada has worked on the fentanyl crisis and Mexico has attempted to stop the influx of Central American migrants, respectively, they were excluded from the order as they

had already been affected by previous Executive Orders enacting 25% tariffs. Around the country, individuals still sounded the alarm over S&P 500 in particular seeing a 9.5% increase, its a lack of economic action against Russia and its Eastern European proxy, Belarus. A White House largest since 2008. Still, those disgruntled citizens aren’t necessarily looking to see an incremental official said that the European behemoth is “not on this list because sanctions from the Ukraine increase, especially as futures across the stock War have already rendered trade between the two market including the DOW Jones Industrial Average, Nasdaq, and Standard & Poor 500, as countries as zero.” well as commodities such as oil, steel, and gold Americans, even the CEOs and owners of plummet. stateside economic titans such as BlackRock Videos have proliferated around social media and JP Morgan, have expressed their concern as platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and market futures falter. Jamie Dimon, the CEO TikTok, displaying the president delivering his of the latter, has lambasted Trump’s handling aforementioned remarks while accompanied by of the economy. Dimon, 69, has often taken a a graph in the background that illustrates a sheer cautionary tone. On April 7, those statements drop in stock prices. were continued in an interview with MSNBC. As countries seek to renegotiate their tariffs He said “The recent tariffs will likely increase inflation and are causing many to consider a greater and individuals such as U.S. Trade Representaprobability of a recession.” tive Jamieson Greer are grilled on Capitol Hill, Still, the Trump Administration remains investors, citizens, and government officials alike resolute in its stance, with Treasury Secretary are left with one burning question: Scott Bessnet and Commerce Secretary Howard Will the market regulate itself?

Lutnick leading the charge in proving that tariffs are a “short term loss for a long term gain.” This “The recent tariffs will likely increase comes as U.S. officials have set the tariff rate to inflation and are causing many to consid10% for over 80 of the originally tarrifed couner a greater probability of a recession.” tries, accompanied by a 90-day pause. Stocks or “short term loss for a long term gain.” surged after Bessnet’s announcement, with the

There are three types of tariffs that were imposed following the president’s post-bell announcement on April 2.

The three types of tariffs include: 1.

Ad Valorem (or, “to [the] value”) Tariffs– These serve to charge a tax on a percentage of imported goods or services. For example, a 10% tariff on a $100 item would be $10. These are the most common tariffs in POTUS’ recent uptick in tariffs, though the percent increase on these is much higher, with many sitting between 30 to 70 percent. China, the highest tariffed nation to date, has an 145% tariff on all items this country exports to the United States. China has hit back with a halt on exports of rare earth minerals.

2.

Protective Tariffs–These are designed to protect domestic industries, specifically in this case automotive manufacturers, technology suppliers such as those who create microchips, from foreign competition by making those goods more expensive. It is important to note that U.S. goods tend to be more expensive than nations such as China or India, especially due to higher labor costs, stricter regulations, and higher standards of living.

These tariffs, a combination of compound tariffs (a fixed percentage of the item’s value added to its price, and can also be known as “specific tariffs”) and Ad Valorem Tariffs, are

3.

also extremely common in Trump’s strategy.

Retaliatory Tariffs–As the name suggests, these are meant to counter tariffs or trade barriers set by other countries. While this has been an integral part of the president’s economic ideology, they are actually becoming more increasingly common among other nations seeking to fill the gap.

Investors, citizens, and government officials alike are left with one burning question: Will the market regulate itself?

ANALYZING AMERICA

SPRING 2025 PAGE 5

A sampling of Mason Bibby’s 7 episodes

Episode 7:

A new Pope

Survey says how students define themselves politically Politically I consider myself . . .

C

ardinal Robert Francis Prevost, now known as Pope Leo XIV, grew up on the South Side of Chicago—proving once again that even in the Catholic Church, you can go from working-class to world-class.

He spent years as a missionary in Peru, took Peruvian citizenship, and somehow still managed to avoid the limelight until now. Frankly, it’s refreshing to see someone rise through humility instead of hashtags.

Pope Leo XIV. That name isn’t random. It’s a respectful tip of the miter to Pope Leo XIII—the man who practically invented Catholic social teaching in the modern age.

Choosing “Leo” sends a message: this new pontiff is here to talk about work, wages, peace, and justice. And maybe, just maybe, calm the waters of a Church that’s spent a few too many years weathering storms. From conservative/ liberal divides to sexual harassment accusations, Leo could be the one to martial Catholicism back to order, If Pope Francis brought the Church out to the margins, Leo XIV might be the one to help it find its balance—compassion without chaos, tradition without rigidity.

Leo XIV has been called a reconciler, a quiet reformer, and a steady hand. He’s like the Church’s version of a seasoned middle-school teacher—gentle, firm, and probably unimpressed with your excuses.

That’s all for today’s episode of Analyzing America. Whether you’re lighting candles at Mass, scrolling headlines on your lunch break, or just wondering how long a papal term actually lasts (spoiler: it’s lifetime).

Even in the Catholic Church, you can go from working-class to world-class.

• • • • • • • • • • • •

Left leaning 14 Right leaning 13 It depends on the issue 10 Undecided/No affinity 9 Center 3 Apolitical 1 For the USA i think left leaning is the best 1 I dont know what any of this means but im a democrat 1 mostly left but agree with some right views 1 rather not say 1 No opinion 1 Tyrannical 1

Episode 4: As 10th-grade

Episode 1:

SNAFU in Security

O

n March 11, 2025, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz (pictured above in his official portrait) created a group chat on Signal—a messaging app renowned for its end-to-end encryption and privacy features.

The chat included several high-ranking officials: Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, among others.

The purpose? To discuss imminent military operations against the Houthi group in Yemen.

However, in a twist that seems almost too ironic, Waltz inadvertently added Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, to this highly sensitive conversation.

Goldberg, realizing the gravity of the situation, observed the discussions without participating and eventually left the chat. He later detailed the experience in an article published on March 24, bringing the incident to public attention.

class president, I sit down with my cabinet and mull over my next step.

Retirement? Re-election? Another form of leadership? I interview Mac Byrd, Finn Chaney, Maidah Ahmad and Cole Hoff. See what they say in answering my questions about their roles. What do they do? The cabinet turns the table and asks me what it’s like to be the president.

“So what have I learned? That being right isn’t enough. You’ve got to be respectful, that having that title doesn’t make people listen. You got to earn that every day. That sometimes the best move is not to speak, but to step back and listen.

This is where I pause the snarky sarcasm for a moment, where I truly express the moments of humanity even when it seems leaders don’t have them at all, because we’re fallible. We make mistakes, but we keep going, because that’s what it means to persevere. And we have to learn an important lesson. It’s easy to cast yourself as the hero in your own story, but an incumbent has to look at the whole picture, the good, the bad and the blurry. So where does it all lead? To reelection?

Maybe. To reinvention? Possibly. but most of all, to renewal. Because leadership isn’t about clinging to power, it’s about stewarding trust, and trust has to be earned over and over again. This is what this intermission is for, not to rest, but to reset. Whether you’re in the arena or watching from the seats in the auditorium, remember this: The show doesn’t end at intermission.

The second act is where the legacy is built. enough to lead, do it like it matters because it always does.

OPINION

PAGE 6 SPRING 2025

Girlhood Unfiltered: A podcast discussing sexism

By Margaret Bass with reporting by Fiona Parnell What do 9th and 11th grade girls have in common? Well, many things, but among them is feeling belittled and undermined by many of their male peers.

Fiona Parnell ‘26 and I interviewed girls from their respective grades about the differences in their experiences of girlhood based on age. We asked eight questions with topics ranging from issues with respect to fears of abduction to catcalling. The similarities in the answers were interesting to hear.

Question one through three all had something to do with inappropriate comments or fears in some way. Some results to point out were that all of the 11th-graders responded “yes” to the questions about knowing a friend, family member or other women who had been sexually violated in some way, whereas, only one of the ninth-graders responded yes to this. This is a point of interest because the age difference between these girls is only two or three years. That means that within those two to three years, these girls had to hear and learn of sexual violations increasingly.

The next couple questions were more directed to self defense, belittlement and sexism. All of the girls interviewed replied that they would definitely invest in a self defense tool of some kind.

Have you ever been catcalled?

3/3 - 9th graders replied “Yes” 4/4 - 11th graders replied “Yes” According to the IRL School at Cornell, 84% of teenage girls have experienced catcalling.

Check out the Girldhood Unfiltered podcast at www.willishallherald.org. Icon created using Canva

“Yes. They mock me.”

- NCS female student Most of their reasoning was for protection from people who want to harm them in some way. On the subject of belittlement from male peers, all of the juniors responded that they had felt belittled.

One junior said, “all the time”, and a freshman rescinded, “Yes. They mock me.” This belittlement has aided in their feelings of sexism being more prevalent in the past few years. Words used when talking about this sexism were “misogynistic,” “domestically abused,” “raped” and “sex trafficked.” These conversations are difficult to have

SURVEY SAYS Q: Do you think there has been an increase in the amount of sexism among boys since the rise of Andrew Tate?

56 responses

Maybe

No

“It was very degrading and hurtful to hear, but it is something that I have heard many times, and many people have normalized,” - NCS female student

Who is Andrew Tate?

Yes

Google forms survey conducted by email April 30-May 2.

but they help us understand how these topics are viewed from people in the center of the problems.

There was agreement on the topic of inappropriate comments and catcalling. Every girl, junior and freshman, responded that they had been catcalled and that they had heard inappropriate comments from the boys around them directed towards women. One of the comments included, “get back to the kitchen” and one of the freshmen stated that they had heard a comment about the type of girls a guy wanted to date based on their body type.

“It was very degrading and hurtful to hear, but it is something that I have heard many times and many people have normalized,” one of the juniors said. “Saying that this comment is a joke, even though it’s not funny in the slightest.”

The purpose of these interviews was to shed light on stuff that’s not really talked about pertaining to girls. Growing up, girls experience so many different things and have expectations about what that looks like for them. They expect to be driving around all summer with their friends, partying and wearing dresses. There is so much more to growing up though that isn’t brought to those little girls’ attention. The fears, insecurity, safety concerns and sadness that can come with all of those amazing things. We hope that by shedding light on these topics it makes speaking out about unfairness a bit easier for the next group of girls.

OPINION

SPRING 2025 PAGE 7

Everyone should watch the Netflix series Adolescence

By Fiona Parnell

A

SURVEY SAYS

dolescence, a 2025 British crime drama mini-series, has started a media frenzy across all platforms. Its touchy and rarely discussed themes and topics regarding masculinity are portrayed in a chilling and disturbing light, setting this series apart from others.

Have you seen the Netflix series called Adolescence?

If so, what did you think of it? 56 responses

With 66.3 million views in its first two weeks, Adolescence has broken YES = 8 including these comments the record for the most watched limited series on Netflix, surpassing the “Yes, it is a good representation of how the radical ‘manosphere’ content previous record holder, Queen’s Gambit. Adolescence is about a 13-yearembraces and normalizes cruelty and hatred towards women in boys.” old boy arrested at the beginning of the series for suspicion of murder of a “Yes. It was great and everyone should watch it- especially young boys.” female classmate.

“I watched it and found it very realistic and informative as well as The series opens with a house raid of a small, average looking family and disturbing and sad.” the arrest of the young boy in the suburbs. As the series continues, Jamie, a “I have started it and thought it was good.” small, frail, naive, and seemingly harmless young boy’s story unravels into a “I have, It is so good and twisting.” sequence of events that led to the murder of his female classmate. Throughout the show, Jamie subconsciously uncovers his true feelings about women upon further investigation and dialogue between police officials, family, and NO = 48 including interactions in person and online “No come on bro.”

Adolescence is more relevant than ever in a time of social media and uncensored online content young people are exposed to. Influencers like Adolescence has struck a chord and disconcert among parents and teachbrothers Andrew and Tristan Tate (who are mentioned in the show) profit ers after watching the show. There has been talk about how this might be off deceiving and poisoning the minds of young boys into believing the something that we need to show to kids to warn them and expose them to a false claims of masculinity in which they root violence toward, dominance different perspective of something they might have deemed harmless before. over and degradation of women.

Adolescence has become particularly These men, along with the many popular in the U.K. so much that Influencers like brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate Prime Minister Keir Starmer has made other influencers in the manosphere, have become a danger not only to the public statements urging parents to (who are mentioned in the show) profit off psyche of young boys but also to the show their children and even advocatdeceiving and poisoning the minds of young boys ing for it to be available and shown in safety of young girls, which as we saw into believing the false claims of masculinity in all public schools. in this show, can be fatal.

In Adolescence, we see acts of which they root violence toward, dominance over Adolescence is not just the new toxic masculinity and misogyny in popular TV show of the month, but and degradation of women. the forms of cyberbullying, hidden rather a warning or even a foreshadowmeanings in social media, parental ing of events that could unfold in real neglect, hateful ideology, supremacy, and other situations relating to the mi- life with the unchecked and normalization of misogyny in modern society, sogynistic epidemic we are witnessing today. The events shown in Adolesespecially those navigating their teenage years. Adolescence is a dark and cence are consistent with real-life scenarios as people all over the world have depressing series, but also a stark reminder of the dangers of unchecked seen a rise of misogyny among the youth – especially in the classroom. actions and behaviors that foster the progression of unsafe and, in this case, even fatal actions against women.

Analyzing Adolescence and true crime on our podcast

By Nola Daninger and Dara Kerman

N

o Body, No Crime is our true crime podcast that discusses on not only true crime cases, but also responds to scary stories on similar subjects. If you like scary shows and true crime documentaries, you will like this podcast.

“After listening to Nola and Dara’s podcast, No Body, No Crime, I am very interested in watching more shows like adolescence,” Emily Nguyen ‘27 said, “Even if your favorite thing isn’t true crime or scary movies, it is still fun to hear your classmates speak about this topic.” No Body, No Crime, not only reacts to movies and documentaries, but we also try to share insight on events

that take place in life.

“Do you think sociopaths are born or made?” we ask each other.

If you are a fan of having conversations about movies/shows that make you think psychologically, this podcast is for you. The episode that just

got released is the first part of the No Body, No Crime.. It focuses on the TV series Adolescence and talks about certain scenes and character development that takes place during the series.

“Did you ever think that Jamie was innocent?” we ask.

“I thought that since he was originally accused,” Nola says, “that there would be a twist to where it wasn’t him. I thought maybe someone even put him up to it, he isn’t even 18.”

If you want to hear more discussion concerning this critically acclaimed show, Adolescence, “Many calling it a flawless and powerful TV drama,” listen to No Body, No Crime at www. willishallherald.com.

PAGE 8 SPRING 2025

OPINION

Apple products: Worth the money or a scam?

Are Apple products really worth it, or are you better off elsewhere?

By Joaquin Downey

W

henever you hear the word Apple, what do you think of? Perhaps a VR Headset, an iPhone, Airpods, or maybe just an actual apple. The company Apple has become the largest technology company, with their market cap being around $2.99 trillion dollars as of April 9, 2025. However, Apple has and still continues to receive a lot of backlash from the community for a variety of reasons.

Let’s take a step back to 2020, when Apple started to improve their carbon footprint by reducing their emissions. Along with this, they promised to start using less packaging to reduce waste and preserve the environment. To do this, they began to quit including multiple accessories with their products. For example, Apple iPhones used to come with both a charging cable and a wall socket adapter. They exclude the socket now, meaning the consumer must also purchase it separately, not to mention that it comes in its own individual package.

Also, iPhones no longer have universal headphone jacks. Because of this, a consumer who wishes to use wired headphones must buy a separate adapter to be able to use their headphones or buy Apple headphones, which also comes in its own packaging. People have wondered why the headphone jack was removed. What replaced it?

Eventually, people opened up newer

models of phones to find a singular useless piece of plastic in the place of the jack outlet.

It would also be important to mention that Apple is constantly changing what type of cable they need to charge iPhone models, again making the consumer pay for more and waste more packaging.

Besides chargers, the cases change too, as Apple is constantly changing the size of the phone along with the button and camera arraignments.

Once again, the consumer must spend more and waste more to get a new case for their IPhones.

Another point that’s worth mentioning, Apple products aren’t cheap. Remember that headphone jack adapter previously mentioned?

That thing by itself goes for $9.

Others that are arguably just as good are going for as low as $1.50.

Also, while researching these prices I also found another product that’s basically the same thing, but it’s an entire headphone cable rather than just the adapter. The offering from Apple was $39 dollars, while one from Insignia was only $9.99. I have used Insignia products before, and they work just fine, just as good as Apple ones in fact.

Many other allegations have been made against Apple for various other reasons. However, as someone who has a couple of Apple products, I will admit the quality they have is very nice. However, I could just go to my local Best Buy and find a similar product from a different company that works just as good, if not better, for a much lower price.

Not Even Funny: Displayed above is a screenshot from Google, displaying identical products, one from Insignia and one from Apple. While the Insignia product only rings up $10, the Apple one is almost four times as much, coming in at $39. Caption by Joaquin Downey

In conclusion, Apple products tend to be of very good quality, but for the price, they aren’t worth it.

SURVEY SAYS Apple products are worth the price compared to other alternatives?

If not, can you name an example of a product from another company that is better than the same type of product Apple offers?

No

Yes “They are not worth it. Insignia products work just as well. Also, look at Sony 1000X5M headphones vs. Apple AirPod Maxes (they’re called airpods, but they’re headphones).”

“I’m not sure.”

“I’m not really sure.”

“Samsung picture quality far exceeds Apple for the price.”

“VENGEANCE i7600 Gaming PC: Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF, GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, 32GB DDR5, 1TB M.2 SSD, Win11 Home.”

UNPOPULAR OPINIONS

SPRING 2025 PAGE 9

By Monica Koene and Victoria Real -- Ok, some of the following opinions are not really that unpopular. We simply asked an assortment of students if they had any opinions they thought might be unpopular, and this is what they said. You decide.

“E

“S

“S

“T

“O

“I

“A

“L

“R

“B

“S

“H

verything you desire must be earned. occer is better than football. Footbll If you want to achieve your goal, you stops every five seconds, but in have to work for it. For example, if you soccer, we actually play.” Victor Latz ‘27 want to be a starter on a sports team, you have to work hard and earn your spot by practicing.’’ Charlie Zhao ‘26

ne gorilla would win, because 100 men, even if they were the strongest men, do you know how tall a gorilla is? And how much muscle they have? A gorilla weights about 430 pounds.” Mia Rueda ‘26

ecently, directors try to make their work seem really thoughtful and deep, but the way they do this is by introducing all these characters and plot points that they try to make us think are important and are usually way more interesting than the main plot just to drop them in again. It makes me really frustrated and makes the whole thing seem disingenuous and not thought through.” Lily Lenkowski ‘28

think, between one gorilla and 100 men, the 100 men would win. It’s just one gorilla.” Massiah Smalls ‘28

TS is one of the best boy bands because they write their own songs, choreograph their own dances, while other boy bands probably use AI for both. A lot of people think BTS isn’t that good, and they stereotype you just for being a fan.’’ Taahir Imam ‘27

occer is better than American football. Because American football required a lot of expensive equipment like helmets and pads. For soccer, you just need a ball and maybe something to set up for a goal.” Nguyen Nguyen ‘26

pretty face is nothing, if you have an ugly heart. If you’re not kind and say things that shouldn’t be said, you’re suddenly not pretty anymore to me.” Maria Albishah ‘27

ports in America are overrated.

Some people are willing to miss school or not focus on their GPA in college just to play sports. While they could become coaches in the future, playing sports alone doesn’t provide enough education to qualify for certain important jobs.” Viktoriia Iarkova ‘25

rue love never goes away. Real love will always be there but over time it will grow smaller and fade but never truly disappear.” Spencer Britton ‘27

aMelo Ball has the most aura on the planet. Because, LaMelo Ball is my idol; I wanna be just like him when I grow up. I don’t think many people think that.” Huw Wente ‘28

umans are the worst creatures.

We are the most aggressive ones and we are able to destroy everything and anything at any time. Animals have their way of life so they don’t need to destroy anything, they just have the predator and the prey. They don’t fight for power or money or argue about who has the best car or who has the best clothes.” Pietra Fischer ‘26

OPINION

PAGE 10 SPRING 2025

Should students be allowed to opt out of senior speeches?

By Caroline Welfare and Kaitlyn Perkins

A

few times each year, students will wake up to an email in their inbox excusing them from a senior speech due to potentially distressing content.

The senior is aware of it and agrees to it, and after a discussion with their faculty advisor, a content-specific warning is sent out.

Recently, Kathryn Hancock’s speech on hormonal treatment for women’s periods, received a warning, which some students commented should not have been necessary.

However, Hancock defended the warnings, saying that no one should be forced to remember something that was traumatic.

“I mean, I think you’re not talking about, it could be, like, traumatic, like mine, or like Lauren’s may have

This is the title slide to Kathryn Hancock’s senior speech.

been. I think it makes sense we talk about, like the body. I think it’s a natural process,” Hancock said, “People should have to know about it.”

However, Lauren Boone’s speech

“I think students should be mature enough to listen to the speeches,” - Lauren Boone

SURVEY SAYS Some senior speeches should come with warnings that allow students to opt out.

56 respnses

Disagree

N/A

on absentee parents did not receive a warning, which some students thought it had needed.

“I think students should be mature enough to listen to the speeches,” Boone said.

Disagree strongly

Agree strongly (3.6%) Agree

“Agree, but only with permission from parent and reasoning.”

“Everyone should have to watch.”

“I agree but I believe they should only be used when necessary. I do not believe they were always necessary this year.”

Google forms survey conducted by email April 30-May 2.

However not everybody thinks this way; a big concern is that students will use the content warnings to skip for fun, not because they are sensitive to the issue.

“I have directed students [away from broader topics],” advisor Ms. Jones says, “but I haven’t [discouraged them from a topic].”

“If the advisor in that process says, Hey, we might want to consider just giving folks a heads up, because more information is better than none,” Dean of Students Stephen Belderes said, “then we do. I mean, it’s basically how it happens.”

In any topic, there is a chance for someone to be sensitive to the subject, however, seniors are still allowed to present on whatever they choose. The DeHart Project and senior speech are centered around the senior giving it, and so they are given a lot of choice.

OPINION

SPRING 2025 PAGE 11

No means no, it’s not your fault Help Save the Next Girl addresses sexual assault.

By Mia Esposito

A

ccording to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is the “illegal sexual contact that usually involves force upon a person without consent or is inflicted upon a person who is incapable of giving consent.” But victims know what it really is. It is trauma, violation, isolation.

Victims of SA are not affected only once. It is a daily struggle, a mental fight. Their body is no longer theirs. It is not what they were wearing, not the child’s nightgown, or the suit, not the cheerleading uniform. Not the pink sundress or the military uniform or the diaper.

No. Not even the miniskirt.

It was not what they said or how they acted.

It was not the smile or maybe the glare they gave. It was nothing other than what it is. Abuse, criminal, horrible, abuse.

Assault, deadly traumatic, assault. A look or an outfit does not imply consent.

Consent is a word and it is also a need. The dictionary defines con-

sent as “permission for something to happen or agreement to do something.”

Sexual Assault doesn’t happen that much though, right? Wrong.

According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC), nationwide, 81% of women and 43% of men experienced sexual assault in their lives. Those closest to you, those meant to protect you can be the ones that hurt you the most.

Not only does it hurt the victim mentally and physically there is an average cost of $122,461 per victim, according to NSVRC. One of North Cross’ clubs is Help Save the Next Girl.

Led by Fiona Parnell ‘26, Emma Votta ‘26, Millie Chopski ‘26, Brandon Carey 26’, Mason Bibby ‘27 and Margaret Bass ‘28, on April 17, HSTNG dove into the scariest possibility we all face: sexual assault.

A heartbreaking realization hit when we were asked to stand if we knew a survivor or if we were a survivor. The majority (only seven remained seated) stood

According to National Sexual Violence Resource Center, nationwide, 81% of women and 43% of men experienced sexual assault in their lives. One in three female victims of rape experienced it between the ages of 11 and 17.

You’re not alone: The ribbon seen above is used widly around the U.S. to open peoples eyes about the pressing issue of sexual assult. It represents raising awarness for sexual assult and domestic violence. This message is meant to prevent further sexual assult cases from occuring.

up. Then, when we were asked to If you or someone you know has stay standing if it was reported, the been assaulted, reach out to a trustnumber of people dramatically deed adult. If you are a North Cross creased. Why? Two words: victim student, Upper School counselor blaming.

Sarah Cocowitch is always an availVictims hear able resource. If so many things you do not feel implying that comfortable they deserved reaching out to what happened someone you to them. know, RAINN “It was proba(Rape, Abuse & bly that top…”

Incest National Was it the top Network) is or the crimian anonymous nal that took helpline where something from you can chat their victim with trusted that they can fairfaxcounty.gov/ professionals. never get back?

There is no “Well, you causation for didn’t say no…” But did they say sexual assault. It is not your fault, yes? Were they in the position to not your mannerisms, and not say yes? Or did their attacker make your choice. that decision?

In the U.S. there are aproximately 463,634 victims (age 12 or older) of sexual violence each year.

FEATURES

PAGE 12 SPRING 2025

Serbian students stand with Ana Brnabić Brnabić In episode 1 of our Power Podcast, we reveal the story of a woman elected PM.

By Shree Patel and Isla Whittle Serbian exchange students, Aleksa Zivanov ‘27 and Milicia Andelkovic ‘26 bring their diverse culture to the North Cross community.

When interviewed, both students immediately brought up a famous female leader in their country, Ana Brnabić the former Prime Minister of Serbia.

As the first woman and openly gay person to be head of state in Serbia as prime minister, Brnabić is a leader in the LGBTQ+ community even if she does not want to be defined that way. She and her partner have a son but are not married yet since same-sex marriage is not legal in Serbia.

She is the second woman in the world after Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir of Iceland to lead her country’s government.

Brnabić said, “I don’t want to be branded as a gay minister, just as my colleagues don’t want to be primarily defined as being straight,” Though she respects her identity, she wants to be known for her abilities in office.

Some Serbians feel uneasy with her about this, they think she is ashamed

and should advocate for the LGBT+ community more. Her main career goals while she was in office were to improve education and modernize the Serbian government.

This is very similar to many American politicians. America is very focused on women’s equality and empowerment. You can constantly find movements and people speaking out on the topic. Serbia is slightly behind America. They want equality, but it’s not as focused on as it is in America.

In fact, she came to the U.S. for her undergraduate education. At Northwood University in Midland, Michigan she completed her bachelors in business administration.

From the University of Hull in England, she earned her MBA degree in marketing.

Though women’s rights to vote and their equality was promised in 1946, Serbia is still attempting to gain more female representation in the leadership positions of their country.

Hopefully, in the next few years, we will begin to hear more about them advocating for women’s rights.

“Serbia is changing and changing fast, and if you will, I am part of that change, but I do not want to be branded ‘Serbia’s gay PM’.”

--Ana Brnabić

“When the society is in a crisis, talks are the only way.”

-Prime Minister from 2017-24 - Currently President of the National Assembly - Her partner Milica Đurđić gave birth to a boy they named Igor

Openly lesbian or gay heads of state and government

• • • • • • • •

Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir Iceland 2009-2013 Elio Di Rupo Belgium 2011-2024 Xavier Bettel Luxembourg 2013-2023 Leo Varadkar Ireland 2017-2020, 20220-24 Ana Brnabić Serbia 2017-2024 Xavier Espot Zamora* Andorra 2019-Incumbant Paolo Rondelli San Marino 2022-2022 Edgars Rinkēvičs* Latvia 2023-Incumbant

2033 Electric Rd. Cave Spring, VA 24018 Hours: Monday-Friday: 4:30-9 PM Saturday-Sunday: 12-9 PM

FEATURES

SPRING 2025 PAGE 13

Symposium takes a trip to Paradise

By Mia Esposito and Dara Kerman

Kevin Finch enjoys presenting to students during Symposium. Photo by Monica Koene

The Peace Corps is the toughest job you will ever love. That is the message CrossWalk teacher Kevin Finch, and father of Addie ‘25 and Brigitte ‘27, probably repeated that to himself countless times over the two years he spent in Honduras.

There he experienced poverty “at a level that we in the United States can’t fathom.”

Finch explained how he gained a new perspective on life, and a new sense of gratitude for the life and privileges we have here in the United States. One of the hardships he mentioned was that they had a limited supply of water, with running water for only an hour out of the day.

With Phillip Schueller ‘16, Finch took us through his time with his wife Christina Finch in a small village El Paraíso (which means the paradise.)

When speaking about language barriers, Finch said, “My wife was

Alum presents ‘Punchline’

By Margaret Bass Catherine Justice, one of the co-owners of Punch Boutique in Piccadilly Square, presented at Symposium 2025 about banding and building a small business.

Justice showed how her small business is run, what the challenges of owning a small business are and discussed the most important steps into building a small business.

Justice explained branding -- promoting your business with advertising and designs that customers can recognize. The logo for Punch Boutique is an example. The bright pink and orange square with Punch Boutique written elegantly in the center is well known in Roanoke.

Justice came up with a fun game for students to play to get their creative minds going. Each student paired up into groups of two or three and created a fictional business. They came up with the name, targeted the audience and most importantly, they came up with who would be in charge of running the

Photo by Monica Koene

business’s storefront and who would be in charge of more organization and technical aspects of the business.

By the end of the session, students headed to lunch with smiles on their faces and sounds of laughter coming from their mouths.

“It was one of the more entertaining sessions and it was interactive,” said Natilie Brochero ‘28.

fluent in Spanish, though I had only taken a beginner class before we left.” By the end of his two year stay Finch said, “I could speak pretty good Spanish.”

The hardships that taught him to be deeply thankful. Finch remarked one of his favorite experiences was when he formed a girls basketball team at the local elementary school that he would volunteer at.

Schueller and Finch even took the time to walk us through the application process.

Schueller is currently going through background and health checks to join the Peace Corps in the next few years. He hopes to be serving as an English teacher in Colombia due to his background in Spanish and studying international relations. He took four years of Latin during his time at North Cross and four years of Spanish at William and Mary, where he graduated with a double major in 2022.

Finch’s experience was so life changing he wrote a book about it.

FEATURES

PAGE 14 SPRING 2025

Brazilian showcases her home country on International Day

By Kaitlyn Perkins “For me the best part of Brazil is the songs and the food,” Pietra Adelino Fischer ‘26 said. “[I] especially [miss] the food, because the songs I can search on my phone and I can listen to every time, but the food I can’t.” Because Fischer feels deeply connected to Brazil through food and song, on International Day this year she brought a taste of Brazil to North Cross School through providing traditional Brazilian music and treats.

“Can you just put in the word for whatever the chocolate balls were,” Millie Chopski ‘26 said, “I really liked them and I really liked how I got to try a piece of someone else’s culture.”

Chopski was referring to the Brigadeiro dessert Fischer made and provided for everyone to try. The dessert consists of chocolate powder, butter, and condensed milk rolled

Photo by Kaitlyn Perkins

into a ball and covered with chocolate sprinkles to form a delicious truffle that is a traditional and much loved dessert of Brazil.

“I really thought that her table was

very interesting and interactive,” Chopski said, “she did a really good job.”

“Her art was really cool,” Isabelle Snyder ‘26 said.

Both Synder and Chopski went on to describe how impressed they were with Fischer’s art, especially her replica of the famous Christ the Redeemer statue that sits atop a mountain in Rio de Janeiro.

Fischer put a lot of effort and time into her display; She made many things for her display including a playlist of her favorite Brazilian music, multiple pieces of art representing some of Brazil’s traditional structures, a poster with a plethora of information, a dessert representing Brazil’s traditional cuisine, and she even wrote stories detailing multiple music genres in Brazil.

For those planning on visiting Brazil, Fischer suggested visiting in the Summer saying, “It’s the best time of the year to go because it’s hot and you can go to the beach. You can find good people that will help you to find the best food, the best drinks, the best parties.”

One girl, two national heritages on display

By Victoria Real On International Day, the Spain and Netherlands tables stood side by side. An arrangement that, by pure coincidence, mirrored the identity of Monica Koene ’28. With a Dutch father and a Spanish mother, Koene has always lived between two cultures, but this was the first time both her heritages were literally side by side in the same room.

Dressed in traditional Spanish attire, a Real Madrid t-shirt, Koene proudly volunteered at the Spain table, handing out chorizo, Manchego cheese, and olives to curious students. She hadn’t planned on repping both nations, but when she noticed the Dutch table was right next to, something clicked. “I loved that they were next to each other,” she said. “I could just go from one country to the other.”

Growing up in Spain, Koene feels a strong connection to Spanish culture in the language, the food, and the dry weather that encourages walking everywhere. But the Netherlands also holds a special place in her life. “It’s really green and people use bikes all the time,” she explained. “I feel really safe there.” She visits at least once a year, especially to spend time with her grandmother and cousins.

While she tries to speak Dutch, she often switches to English with her relatives, as her Dutch “still needs a bit of work.”

At school, Monica appreciated the chance to share her Spanish roots and to discover that there was a Dutch community at North Cross she hadn’t even known about.

“I didn’t even know there was a Dutch table until I saw it,” she said. The event also allowed her to explore new cultures, especially when it came to food. Her favorite? Brazilian. Her roommate, Pietra Adelino ’26, brought a whole box of little chocolate balls. “I just kept sneaking them,” Koene secretly revealed.

For Koene, International Day was more than just flags and food samples, it was about visibility and connection. “It’s really nice that the school does this,” she said. “It gives students a chance to feel proud of their background and share it with

Photo by Victoria Real

others.”

And when asked whether she feels more Spanish or Dutch, Koene answers with a shrug and a smile: “I’m both. I like chocolate like the Dutch and eat like a Spaniard.”

With a Dutch father and a Spanish mother, Koene has always lived between two cultures.

FEATURES

SPRING 2025 PAGE 15

North Cross welcomes students from Argentina

By Shree Patel For three weeks North Cross School hosted six Argentinian students from the school’s sister school in Mendoza Argentina. Throughout these past weeks students got to explore Roanoke with their host families.

They attended prom, went on a hike, ate ice cream at Blue Cow and experienced an Argentinian restaurant in downtown Roanoke called Familia Argentina. They went to classes like chemistry and AP history.

They got the full Roanoke/North Cross experience. “I love how small the city is,” said Benjamin Fontenla.

All of these students enjoyed their stay and can not wait for their North Cross student hosts to join them in Argentina this summer.

Vicky Ghiretti said, “I wish we could stay longer.”

So we say adios to the students as they traveled back to Argentina. They stayed with six NCS students who will be traveling there this summer. The day after prom farewells were said at the Roanoke train station. Left to right: Catalina, Bruno, Vicky Ghiretti, Charlie and Elizabeth Jackson, Shree Patel, Jazmin, Thomas Greer, Romeo, Annabelle Coles and Benjamin Fontenla holding the flag in front.

FEAST OR FAMINE: Faced with potential starvation, the group got to know each other better

at Familia Argentina downtown. Sampling the Americanized Argentian food, the kids put on a brave face. Welcoming them in a comfortable environment. The students ended up renting out the restruant due to the large group.

ARRIVAL: Right: The six students and their chaperone smile for the welcoming committee at the Roanoke airport.

“I wish we could stay longer,” Vicky Ghiretti.

PROM FASHI

PAGE 16 SPRING2025

International style

CAPTIONS BY LAUREN BOON

Left: Argentinian students Catalina and Vicky along with chaperone Carolina show off their shiny and glittery fashion. Carolina’s gold earrings and gold mosaic top fit with the glitzy Hollywood theme.. Daniel Skoog of Sweeden enjoyed prom with his girlfriend who flew in from Sweden for the occasion.

Prom was full of solid colors as Eliza Vogel, Scout Kappe most noticeable color was pink. Girls wore pastels, spark dates with their bowties. Purples, yellows, reds and blues

SURVEY SAYS TOP THREE DANCE SONGS AT PROM “Cotton Eye Joe” by Rednex “Get It Sexyy” by Sexyy Red, Wobble (V.I.C.) “Fein” by Travis Scott and Playboi Carti

“NO ONE CAN MESS WITH US:” Jaziel Ha

sported an NCS button up with cutoff sleeves. “It was re Rhodes ‘24 wore a quilted fabric over his shoulders that

ION REVIEW

SPRING 2025 PAGE 17

NE PHOTOS BY SARAH SLEDD

MATCH MADE IN CYBERSPACE: Izzy Snyder ‘24 displayed a full-blown pink look. “I dyed my hair pink, and chose a

pink, floral dress,” she said. “Eason matched my dress with the same pattern, which he did with a website. I think it’s called TieGuy. With our group of Maddie Howes ‘23 and Hanchen Ou ‘24, we decided to go to the Happy Hollows Gardens, because it matches my floral theme.” Zhou makes sure to visit North Cross every few months to say hello to past teachers, and wcatch up with his old high school friends. “It’s good to come back, see my friends and teachers again and have fun at prom meanwhile,” Zhou said. “Everything is so familiar but not the same, still makes me feel like I’m part of the school. It’s kinda gives me a break right before the final week of college.” Nola Daninger contributed to this caption.

es, Kathryn Hancock and Elinor Blackshaw show. The kly florals and metallic dresses. Most boys matched their s showed as well.

art ‘24 and Jase Rhodes ‘24 let the world know they eally just a rock star kind of look,” Hart said. Jase matched his pants.

ROCKIN’ PIC: Covered in Fender guitar picks, Evie Eagan ‘25 wore a handmade dress alongside Jahnvi Patel in a pale embroidered lace. Eagan’s ears and neck were decorated with custom earrings and a necklace with Fender picks as well.

ARTS

PAGE 18 SPRING 2025

Muses at Bay: Piano, poetry, spee eech, violin, guitars!

By Isla Whittle and Mason Bibby Dr. Koss introduced the annual Muses at Bay talent show right before he handed the microphone off to the emcee of the event, Kaitlyn Perkins ‘25.

Muses at Bay has been a staple finale of Willis Hall’s annual Symposium the last few years, allowing students from across the Upper School to display their own unique talents. The two brothers, who certainly wowed the crowd with their musical acumen, kept the flame burning, delivering joyful sound to every student in the Upper School.

After a day of Symposium, in which people explained what they do for work, complete with a

METAL MEDLEY: Evie Eagan ‘25 and Dr. Michael Koss play a heavy metal medley including famous riffs from bands like Metallica, who Eagan and Koss (along with Dr. Tim Naginey saw live at Virginia Tech’s Lane Stadium on May 7. Photo by Compass staff

Muralist discusses his art

By Caroline Welfare Mural artist Jon Murrill sat in front of his Symposium session, with two capless spray paint cans for students to inspect.

Capless, because “I don’t trust you guys,” he joked during the last session.

Murrill is a mural artist in Roanoke who has made street art on the greenway a community project, and has assisted international artists with some of our most iconic murals, including the Mountain Climber by

Chick-Fil-A lunch, the students settled down in the auditorium for a special event. The event began with Valeria Dancea ‘25 singing “From Eden” while also playing the piano.

Next, Mason Bibby ‘27 gave a speech on the Constitution and the rights that are provided because of it. It was titled, “A Living Promise: The U.S. Constitution.”

Turner Faires ‘26 played next; a song on the piano.

“Let’s give it up for everyone that performed today,” Perkins exclaimed.

Julia Cephas ‘28 said that her favorite was, “Evie’s, because I recognized a lot of the songs she played.”

SYMPOSIUM SYMPHONY: Miao brothers dazzle “Let’s just start over.”

Photo illustration by Victoria Real

By Mason Bibby, Victoria Real and Isla Whittle

Photo by Monica Koene

the highway.

He shared how he transitioned from a full-time job at Patrick Henry to a street artist, saying how he tried it out one day and fell in love. He also couldn’t decide which of his works he liked the most, but he is especially fond of the ones he made with other people. He looks up to other, more talented artists, and learns new styles from watching them work. His current project is a series of murals called Lady Appalachia, the main figures based on some of his friends.

Silence descended on Fishburne Theatre as Josh Miao ‘25 and brother Caleb Miao ‘28 prepared to perform their piece—a piano and violin duet, and the last act of NCS’ Muses at Bay talent show.

From the very first note, the audience was drawn into the emotional atmosphere they created together.

But halfway through the performance, the music came to a halt.

Josh turned to Caleb with a confused expression and whispered, “Bro, what are you doing?” Josh asked his brother what happened, and Caleb responded that he accidentally skipped ahead.

“Let’s just start over,” Josh said.

The unexpected comment broke

the seriousness of the moment and sent the audience into laughter. Despite the unexpected situation, both brothers smiled, kept playing and managed to finish the piece beautifully. As soon as it ended, they stood up and shared a hug, showing the strong invisible string between them.

“It was fun that we got to hear from alums,” the elder Miao brother said.

“It was cool to hear from people who left North Cross, and I thought our performance was wonderful.”

This sentiment was certainly sharedby many members of the student body and the faculty, who made their approval evident by way of hoots, hollers, applause and even a YouTube eagle screech sound.

“I really liked the violinist,” (Josh Miao) Natalie Brochero ‘28 said, “It looked really hard to play.”

ARTS

SPRING 2025 PAGE 19

Disney flops

Live action Snow White ruins a classic story

By Mia Esposito

D

isney used to produce classics. We bundled up with our families and a bucket of popcorn to watch Cinderella or Cars. It did not matter what it was, it seemed perfect.

Walt Disney’s dream was to bring wonder to everyday life.

The hit movies all started in 1937 with a classic, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The 88-year-old movie was recently reprised starring Rachel Zegler as Snow White and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen. The movie has been out for a little over a month and has received more backlash than ever expected. From casting to costumes to music it has all been under scrutiny.

While most think of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as a story about a young girl who runs away from her evil step-mother. The first thing that comes to mind is not the so-called love story. While she does end up happily married to the Prince that saved her life, it is a minor part of the story. Zegler attacked the original in a 2022 interview with Extra TV saying that there is “a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird! WEIRD!” More tension built when Zegler referring to the princess cooking and cleaning for the dwarfs. Zegler was not media trained, referring to “an individual who has received

training and guidance on how to effectively interact with media outlets.”

The movie was not only a nightmare in the public’s eyes but backstage, where Gadot and Zegler weren’t exactly the best of friends.

Politically the two actresses do not agree. The Israel-Hamas War broke out in October of 2023 and the movie got caught in the crosshairs.

Gadot served in the Israel Defense Forces and has been outwardly pro-Israel. Zegler is the opposite, even describing herself as “pro-Palestine.” In a post on X, where she reposted the Snow White trailer she signed it “and always remember, free Palestine.”

Zegler has made it difficult to sell this movie to the public, constantly dragging down the original. Some fans have even gone as far as boycotting the movie. Out of all the live action Disney remakes, this is by far the most hated.

Despite all this controversy, I wanted to give Disney a chance.

I went to see the movie in a theater with a friend expecting to feel some of the magic I felt whenever I watch old Disney films. I expected to leave the cinema singing a memorable song or whistling while I work. But 20 minutes into the movie the focus on the romance and the CGI dwarfs, made us decide to walk out. All in all, watch the movie at your OWN RISK!

All in all, watch the movie at your OWN RISK! IMDB ratings average shows that over 350,000 viewers gave the film an average score of 1.6 out of 10! Nevertheless, enough people across the world awarded Disney enough ticket sales to cover the immense costs of making the film. Snow White poster image from Wiki.

PAGE 20 SPRING 2025

Matilda the musical

ARTS Photos by Morgan Kemp

“Since we had the first rehearsal, that scene was always my favorite.The song is very lively and the choreography is very energetic. And especially in that scene I had my only Italian lines in the entire show, and it was kinda funny.”

- Emily Nguyen In her final performance as a student on the Fishburn stage, Valeria Dancea ‘25 dances with Hayden Saunders ‘28. Photo by M. Kemp

By Monica Koene During the school performance of Matilda the Musical, one scene really stood out: the tango dance with Mrs. Wormwood and her dance partner Rudolpho.

The characters were played by Valeria Dancea ‘25 and Hayden Saunders ‘28, and the audience couldn’t look away. As the music started, Dancea, dressed as the dramatic Mrs. Wormwood, stepped into the spotlight, moving with energy and style.

“It was really fun,” Dancea said. “I really enjoyed playing a ‘bad’ character because I haven’t gotten the chance to do that before.”

Saunders danced beside her.

“I liked that the scene was funny and memorable,” Saunders said. “I really liked that feeling.”

The scene was loud and full of personality. People in the audience were

laughing while the actors took over the stage. Besides the main duet, two other duets were surrounding the scene.

“I liked doing this dance scene because it was a lively and fun dance to do with one of my close friends.

I had fun doing this and dancing with other people,” Garima Patel ‘28, who played two roles in the musical, said. “We had a fun time doing a duet together and learned how to dance with others and found it interesting to learn a new choreography and songs which we have never done before.”

Emily Nguyen ‘27, played Ms. Honey the caring teacher.

“Since we had the first rehearsal, that scene was always my favorite,” Nguyen said. “The song is very lively and the choreography is very energetic. And especially in that scene I had my only Italian lines in the entire show, and it was kinda funny.”

Lenkowski plays dual roles

MIRACLE: Lily Lenkowski ‘28 takes the stage as both a doctor and a big kid.

Photo by Morgan Kemp

By Shree Patel “Lily is so good on stage and I loved her singing voice,” Samantha Belderes ‘28 said. “I am so excited to see how her voice blossoms.”

She took charge on stage leading the

way alongside Belderes ‘28 on the left of Lenkoski. Belderes enjoyed playing the role of the nurse and acrobat. In addition to maintaining top grades, these girls poured hardworking effort into the 2025 spring musical.

Students emerge from fog

ARTS

SPRING 2025 PAGE 21

SCHOOL SONG: Featured above is Pietra Fischer ‘26 (center), Lilly Lenkowski ‘28 (center left), Garima Patel ‘28 (left), and many more students from the NCS Upper and Middle School participating in Matilda. In this particular scene they are singing the “School Song” which introduced Matilda to their school. Photo by Morgan Kemp

By Dara Kerman Student played students attending the school that Matilda joins.

On April 10 the Matilda cast performed scenes of the musical for

Middle and Upper School students before putting on the full musical April 11-12.

Mary Huff ‘31 headlined as the Matilda, who is a young girl that feels misunderstood by her parents

because she likes to read books.

When she starts attending school she meets her welcoming teacher Ms. Honey, she finally feels accepted and she ends up being adopted by Mrs. Honey in the end.

Emily Nguyen ‘27, who played Miss Honey, said, “this was my first time being in a musical production, yet everyone in the cast was super welcoming and nice to me.”

PAGE 22 SPRING 2025

SPORTS

Field Day lets students compete for fun

Captions and photos by Akali Koeda

HYDRATE! SCA Advisor Susan Wenk offers water to stu-

dents on the 83-degree day. “Gotta stay hydrated!” Wenk said as she spiritedly encouraged students to get bottles of water.

‘FOOTIE’: Nate Hayes ‘26

shows he can play the global game while Tina Chikwata ‘26, Huw Wente ‘28, Milica Anjelkovic ‘26 and William Hendrickson ‘27 aim to dispossess him.

STRIKE: Freshman Kemper

Prillaman disappointedlly throws the ball back to Turner Faires ‘26 after a devastating home run by the opposing team. Senior Carter Krezminsky shows his disappointment in the back, hand placed heavy on his head.

FOCUS: Micah Evans ‘28 keeps

WIND UP: With a winding leg, sophomore Lucas Cass prepares to let the ball fly across the field. In the back, senior Bob Almenas takes in the action.

KEEP AWAY: Charlie Zhao ‘26 tries to dribble around Ameer Albishah ‘26 while Maddie Howes ‘27 and Henry Lugar ‘25 offer secondary defense.

his balance while preparing a shot on goal while Chris Carter ‘25 looks on.

FEBRUARY 2025 PAGE 25

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PAGE 24 SPRING 2025

SPORTS

Marilla assists girls lax Seniors lead lax to playoffs achieve No. 4 ranking

The four seniors on the girls lacrosse team, Grace Sheppard, Lauren Boone, Indira Weed and Ava Dalaski, stand together, smiling on their senior day. Photo by Compass staff

ASSISTING THE TEAM TO VICTORY: Charlotte Marilla ‘28 grabs some water in between quarters at a home game on Willis Field. Photo by Compass staff

By Margaret Bass (Editor’s note: Margaret has 13 goals this season.)

Charlotte Marilla ‘28 passes the ball well enough to have almost assist one assist per game. She has 13 assists and 11 goals in 14 games going into the state tournament.

Marilla starts on low attack for the team and brings positivity and passion to every game and practice.

Samantha Belderes ‘28 said, “She is a great motivator.” Belderes also shares the ball well with 14 assists.

Coach Stephen Belderes com-

mends Marilla on her left handed play. Being an eighth grader on varsity last year was a bit daunting for Marilla, but she says coach Belderes has eased those nerves.

Another change the team has seen this year is making the state polls for the very first time.

“It makes the games mean more,” says Marilla.

This achievement of the team has something to do with the bonds they have formed. This year, Marilla feels, “like I really like the team this year and it’s really really close.”

By Akali Koeda On April 29, the girls lacrosse team played one of their biggest conference rivals, Virginia Episcopal School.

VES was at the No. 2 spot in the state, whereas the Raiders had risen to the No. 4 position in the state poll. This was the last match in the regular season, and one of the toughest games that the team faced.

Although the game ended in a 18-7 defeat, the Raiders learned what it would take to win.

“It was very nice to say goodbye to everyone in a formal setting,” said Sheppard.

“I thought senior night was really fun, but I thought it was a little sad because I’ve been playing lacrosse with some of these seniors for so long, and kind of grew up with them playing lacrosse together,” said Anna Ciccozzi ‘26. “I’m really proud of all the seniors, and I’m sure they’ll do great wherever they go and we’ll really miss them. I hope they come back to play lacrosse sometime.”

Juniors rule the field

Elusive Cephas roams midfield and scores

By Fiona Parnell (Editor’s note: Fiona ‘26 is the goalie, who saves 79.3% of shots on goal.)

Julia Cephas ’28 meticulously moves the ball both skillfully and audaciously, making her a crucial player on the girls lacrosse team.

Cephas moves so fast and stealthily, it is often hard to keep up with where she is on the field.

Cephus is the team’s second leading scorer with 40 goals and five assists, which has helped the Raiders achieve it’s most successful season. Last year the team was ranked No. 9 in the VISAA Div. II. This year the Raiders are ranked No. 4.

Cephas has been a part of the lacrosse program since 6th grade. She is a star not only in her game but also in her character. Cephas is an amazing example of sportsmanship and a supportive teammate.

“Emma is a great player,” Margaret Bass ‘28 said, “who is thrown into all positions depending on our opponent.” Number 17 Votta ‘26 plays lacrosse because her friends played it and found out that she loved it. “She is not only a very good player,” Charlotte Marilla ‘28 said, “but a great friend and teammate to have on the field as well as a good role model to younger players.” Those close friends include juniors Anna Ciccozzi and Millie Chopski. Ciccozzi leads the team in a statistic that rarely gets mentioned: caused turnovers. She causes turnovers at least once per game on average. Meanwhile, Chopski leads the team in the statistic that everyone understands: scoring. Number 13 has scored 66 goals in 15 games. Caption by Nola Daninger. Photos by Compass staff

SPORTS

Seniors aim for four-peat

SPRING 2025 PAGE 25

Soccer soars to No. 2 ranking

FINAL RALLY: As the boys tennis team defends their state championships, the three

seniors, Tyler Bloomfield, Christian Lang and Henry Lugar hold their pictures at their senior tribute game. On April 16, the boys tennis team played Forsyth Country Day, ending in an incredible but expected 9-0 win. The three seniors all played, winning their matches without letting the opponent win more than three games. “It was fun being able to play alongside the seniors,” Sam Schaefer ‘26 said, “but it will be sad to see them go.” With Lugar playing at No. 2, Bloomfield playing at No. 4, and Lang playing at No. 6 singles, it is no wonder that the lineup was able to easily defeat the opposing team. “I think it was a great opportunity to watch Christian play his game on Senior Day,” said Nikheel Sherigar ‘26, “I love all my seniors on my team and it’s going to be sad to see them go but we had a great match to honor them.” The Raiders are currently well on their way to winning their next state championship as the No. 1 ranked team in VISAA Div. II. Caption by Akali Koeda. Photo by Suvi Hansen

Wente takes mound and wins first start

Photos by Compass staff

By Hanchen Ou

A new face is standing on the mound and pitching for the Raiders baseball team. A closer look reveals that he is the freshman, Huw Wente.

In the game against Eastern Mennonite on March 27, the head coach of the Raiders, Rodney Spradlin, decided to start Wente. This game was Wente’s debut as a pitcher.

“I was a little nervous before the game,” Wente said. “but I pulled through it after my first strike out.”

Wente pitched very well and got his first varsity win by logging four strikeouts and allowing zero runs. His strong performance on the mound helped the North Cross baseball team get their fourth win in a row.

“I started to enjoy the game after I got my first strikeout,” Wente said. “Everyone will feel nervous before a big game, but how you handle the nervousness can really change the direction of your performance.”

Wente did not let the nerves get to him, he used the stress as motivation and started to enjoy the process during the game. His attitude of focusing on the process and not caring too much about the results is worthwhile for us to learn from. Wente’s impressive pitching performance and good attitude set the tone for the Raiders, and helped the team go undefeated for all 10 games in April.

The team beat VES twice including the semifinal game of the BRAC tournament. They lost to Miller in the BRAC final and then Atlantic Shores.

Kickin’ It: Scout Kappes ‘26 dribbles the ball down the field with Kathryn Hancock ‘25 just behind her. This game ended in a 1-1 tie after a hard fought 80 minute game and 10 minutes of overtime. The girls soccer team has gone 8-2-1 this year, with eight wins, two losses and a tie. Overall, 47 goals have been scored by the team. They are currently 4th in the DII state rankings.

Their season continues with six games left in the regular season, plus possible state and conference games. Their season continues today, April 17, with a game against Chatham Hall. Photo by Compass staff

SPORTS

PAGE 26 SPRING 2025

Track and field athletes qualify for state meet

By Jacob Johnson After a long day of running in the frosty, whipping wind, Parker Britton ‘28, JD Grubb ‘27, Jase Rhodes ‘26, and I came together to run the 4x400 meter relay at the Terrier Team Classic at William Byrd High School on April 12.

We all had events before this and were tired and cold. Jase had done the 400, long jump and triple jump.

JD had run the 100 and 200. Parker ran the 400 in the Distance Medley Relay and the 400 meter dash.

I long jumped and ran the 400.

After this long day of pushing out good times despite the weather, we all came together to try and do a one and done, run once and qualify for the state tournament 4x400. We needed a time of 4:08.49.

I started the race in lane four. As soon as everyone came around into that first straight away, it felt like running into a brick wall with how bad the wind was. After catching the person in front of me, I handed the

State Bound: Our 4x400 meter relay team wins the heat solidifying their qualification in the state meet. Photo by Jennifer Britton

“Our boys showed tremendous heart to win.” their heat.” Coach Dickenson

baton to JD for his first 400. Even though this was his first ever 400 and was very nervous about how to run it, he did very well and kept us in first place. JD put out an impressive first time split.

After finishing his leg with a pained look on his face, JD handed the baton to Parker. Parker held the first position as he passed the baton to Jase. Jase took off and by the end was competing side by side with the anchor from Northside, but pulled away to a decent sized win. As Jase crossed the finish line we all looked towards the clock and saw the time of 3:46.93. As we won the heat and hit the qualifying mark by a long shot, we celebrated.

“The boys’ 4x400 at the end of the day, where our boys showed tremendous heart to win their heat in 3:46.93 and place a close fourth overall [in the total meet],” head coach Ed Dickenson said. *In the BRAC championships, the boys improved their time to 3:44.

BRAC CHAMPIONSHIP HIGHLIGHTS ON MAY 10 Boys (2nd place overall)

Spencer Britton ‘27 1st in 1600 and 3200 Bryce Austin ‘28 2nd in 1600 Finn Chaney ‘27 2nd in 3200 Jaziel Hart ‘26 2nd in High Jump Nate Hayes ‘26 2nd in Shot Put Nate Bonds ‘25 3rd in Discus Kamen Petkov ‘26 3rd in 200 4x100 team 2nd 4x400 team 3rd*

Girls (3rd place overall) Kerrigan Chaney ‘25 1st in 1600 and 3200 Gabby Miller ‘26 1st in 100 and 2nd in 200 Faith Johnson ‘28 1st in 200 Brooklyn Chen ‘27 1st in Shot Put Kaitlyn Perkins ‘28 3rd in 1600 and 3200

3200m and 200m? Speedwork redefined

By Kaitlyn Perkins

COOL SHADES: Spencer Britton runs a late night race early in the spring season. Photo by Morgan Kemp

“Can I do the 200?” asked Spencer Britton ‘27.

The group of distance runners looked at each other shocked. Spencer’s doing the 200m? Huh? Britton holds school records in the 5k (16:03), 3200 meters (9:58), and 1600 meters (4:28) but on April 9 at the Lord Botetourt meet he decided to switch it up a bit. Sure enough, Ed Dickenson, Head Coach of Track and Field and Cross Country, allowed Britton to enter the race, as he had planned for the meet to be a speed workout day for his distance crew anyway.

“I ran the 200m because I thought it would be fun,” Britton said, “and it was a part of the meet workout.”

It is not unusual for Dickenson to enter his distance crew in the 400m race to build speed on workout days, but the 200m was a change, as not many athletes excel in both distance races as well as sprints. This is why Britton’s performance came as quite a surprise.

“Going into the 200m, I was expecting a 28-27 [second time] since I’m a distance runner, and I ran two 800m [events] before [the 200m],” Britton said, “But I ran 25.70, which really surprised me.”

SPORTS

SPRING 2025 PAGE 27

Johnson does double duty

3-sport star sprints between track and travel volleyball.

By Margaret Bass Faith Johnson ‘28 is a three-sport student athlete, who participates in club volleyball with Next Revolution Volleyball.

Clearly Johnson is a busy woman, so how does hse keep up?

Well, she works hard and finds rest when she can.

Johnson’s typical day starts at 6a.m. when she does some light lifting in her garage home gym with her dad.

Then, at around 6:30 or 6:45 she’ll shower and get ready for school. If she has time, Johnson makes something at home for breakfast, but if time is limited she’ll grab something on the way to school.

School days are the usual routine.

Classes, assembly, break, more classes, lunch and more classes.

After school she heads to track practice at 3:30. Sometimes the team practices with drills on the track and sometimes they lift in the gym. Practice ends sometime between 5 and 5:15.

DAYS IN THE LIFE: Faith Johnson ‘28 prepares to play in Atlanta, GA at the Big

When Johnson’s lucky, track ends early enough for her to go home before heading to travel volleyball practice. Depending on her coach’s mood, volleyball practice will end at 8:30 or 9. Most of the time it ends at 9, she said. Then she heads home.

Dinner is very similar to breakfast for her. Sometimes she’ll eat at home, but sometimes she picks up something fast on the way home.

After eating she takes a shower and does homework. Sometimes she doesn’t get to start on her homework until 9:45 or 10. After that she winds down for bed. With such a long day it must be hard to head from one practice to another, right?

Johnson says the hardest part is, “having one good practice and then having to go to the next sport and not having as good a practice. It really makes me feel imbalanced and then I have to remind myself that, like, I’m doing more than one sport.”

South Volleyball Tournament and runs in a meet at William Byrd High School.

Buzzer Beater Podcast Podcast about student-athletes

By Jacob Johnson and Hanchen Ou Hanchen Ou ‘26 and I talk about our experiences of being a student-athlete on our new podcast the Buzzer Beater.

On the podcast we speak on topics like making that transition from student to athlete.

“I mean, the best way to do that is just manage your time,” Ou said. “have your schedule every single day and do as much work as you can in your study hall.”

This is the story of many student athletes that truly love their sport and aren’t just doing it for something to fill up their schedule.

Hanchen is someone who already has a rigorous schedule with school, but he adds to it through his practices through school but also has outside training with The Lab. Another topic we spoke on was how athletes that miss many classes due to leaving school early for games stay up to date with the work and mate-

by student-athletes

rial being taught in the class. “I mean, it just I would always think at different points, I would think about different things. So if I already left the class, I should not care anything about the class. The only thing I’m focusing on is just playing the game. But when I get back to the classroom, I should not think anything about baseball. I should just focus on the class work and the homework and do as much as much as you can. So it’s kind of like that mental switch on and off and like where are you all that,” said Hanchen.

Differences on how schools affect the life of a student-athlete came up. Both of us coming from different schools on two different sides of the spectrum helped us get an experienced point of view on the situation.

Hanchen who came from China where the school days extend over 13 hours. I came from Salem where the material was a little less and not as diffi-

cult due to the eight classes a day school plan. “It’s a big difference because at Salem one the work wasn’t half as hard. I mean, it’s not that it wasn’t as hard. It’s just the way that it was handed out was a lot different. and it’s like it was a whole different ball game. Like and it was just like so they kind of were a little less understanding, but it was a lot less work,” I said in my Salem to NCS comparison.

After a good conversation between my good friend, podcast member, Hanchen and I, we went on towards the future and how we will balance this load in college. With my school, Randolph College, no classes are held on Wed. giving me more time to finish work from my professors. In Hanchen’s case he wants to go to an Ivy League school. “I will try my best. So for an Ivy league school, they like a lot of good athletes who don’t choose to go there because if you don’t have a strong academic like level, you couldn’t graduate from those schools. So if you want to go to an Ivy League school, you have to have confidence in your academics. So for me, I would just say, I would just focus on getting the work done during classes, just like high school and also try my best to play baseball,” Hanchen said.

SPORTS

page 28 SPRING 2025

Kerrigan’s Comeback “I believed in Kerrigan,” Myles said, “she’s built different.”

By Kaitlyn Perkins When Kerrigan Chaney ‘25 got the baton for the 1600-meter anchor leg of the mixed distance relay, she faced a 200-meter gap behind Franklin County, Patrick Henry and Auburn runners.

Head Coach for Track and Field, Ed Dickenson, was nearly positive that Chaney, despite her incredible talent, could not close a gap that large.

The relay took place at Terrier Team Challenge Meet at William Byrd High School on April 14. The relay consists of 1200-, 400-, 800- and 1600-meter distances for a combined distance of 4000m. I, Kaitlyn Perkins ‘28 ran the first leg (1200m) in 4:19 handing the baton to Gabi Miller ‘26, who ran the 400m in 1:09 and then to Ainsley Myles ‘27, who ran a 3:15 for the 800m and passed it off to Chaney to carry the team home.

As soon as Myles handed off the baton to Chaney, the future UVa Cavalier flew off the line passing the 200m split in a time of 33 seconds.

Dickenson worried Chaney would fall off the pace due to the raging wind and the blistering cold but Chaney possessed a great determination and tolerance for pain as well as incomparable speed.

Contradicting the many doubts that Chaney could make up the gap, Myles was confident in Chaney.

“I believed in Kerrigan,” Myles said, “she’s built different.”

Chaney continued to run at lightning speed passing multiple runners and in the last 200m caught up to the Franklin County runner showing sheer speed, mental toughness and endurance. Chaney finished the race two seconds ahead of Franklin County. Her 1600m time of 4:58 made up more than a 30-second gap and left coaches, parents and athletes alike in awe and disbelief.

“I knew how strong the girl in the lead was because I’ve watched her over a couple of years in big meets, and to give an athlete of that quality a 200m lead and expect to try to close that over four laps is more than I would expect out of any athlete,” Dickenson said. “It was the strength of Kerrigan’s performance that brought that back and allowed us to take the win in the end.”

It was the challenge of overcoming a 200m deficit that really drove Chaney.

“It’s definitely easier to run a faster time with people running ahead of me, who I can try to catch,” Chaney said.

It is not often that Chaney has runners ahead of her but when she does it motivates her to run faster so she can catch them.

“It was really nice to do it (the re-

“It was the strength of Kerrigan’s performance that brought that back and allowed us to take the win in the end.”

-- Ed Dickenson

ON FIRE: Kerrigan Chaney runs at William Byrd High School. Photo by Morgan Kemp.

Photo illustration by Kaitlyn Perkins

lay) with all my teammates,” Myles said, “Because it’s not often that we get to do it, especially distance [relays].”

Perkins, Miller, and Myles had all pushed their limits for their team during their legs of the relay but it is undoubtedly certain that without Chaney’s outstanding performance the team would not

I didn’t even know we had won until 10 minutes later when the results came out.”

-- Kerrigan Chaney

have been able to claim the victory.

Though no performance was arguably as jaw dropping as Chaney’s, each team member was undeniably invaluable. The small size of the NCS Girls’ Track Team meant that if one person could not complete their leg of the relay, the relay would not have been able to compete.

“I didn’t even know that we had won until 10 minutes later when the results came out,” Chaney said, “because, like I thought, someone had finished ahead of us, so I was really surprised.”

SPORTS OPINION

SPRING 2025 PAGE 29

This years’ MVP race is the most intriguing in recent times SGA and Jokic face off in the 2nd round of the playoffs highlighting the top 2.

By Luke Cocowitch

A

s the 2024-2025 NBA season comes to an end, the MVP race begins with the first confirmed finalists; Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, Bucks power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Let’s take a look at the stats to see who this year’s MVP of the NBA will be.

The Thunder and the Nuggets are projected to be top seeds in the Western Conference; Thunder with the one seed, Nuggets with the three, and the Houston Rockets in between the two with the two seed. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, first off, is currently projected to be the league MVP, averaging 32 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists per game. But, many NBA fans are calling Alexander a “free throw merchant,” which if you look at the stats, fouls, and games, would be statistically correct. If you don’t believe these claims, go watch the Pistons vs Thunder game on March 15. You will see how Alexander gets a lot of the calls to go against

Photos gathered from each player’s Wikipedia page.

the Pistons.; and iIn the post-game interview, with Pistons’ head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, he expresseds to the NBA community that the reffing in a lot of games, mostly with the Thunder, is terrible. “I’m disgusted by the way the game was officiated,” he said. “The level of disrespect was above and beyond.”

On the other side of the race is Nikola Jokic, who is currently averaging a triple double for the Denver Nuggets, looks to collect his 4th MVP, and go home to Serbia

to ride horses. Jokic currently has 30 triple-doubles on the season, only the fourth person all-time to record such a feat. Jokic averaged 29 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists per game this year. Jokic has recently sat out a couple of games because of a bum ankle, along with his teammates who often struggle to stay healthy and make shots. But recently, Jokic owned the T-Wolves in a two-overtime loss on April 1, putting up serious numbers of 60 points, 10 boards and 10 assists.

Though a very strong team in the playoffs, the Nuggets team needs to stay healthy throughout the rest of the season and into the postseason.

They have tough competition in the west, looking to top the Thunder and Rockets in the West playoffs.

Lastly, we will be looking at Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is having another record season, averaging 30 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, and one block per game.

Who is my MVP for this season? I believe it could go both ways; Jokic is having another record season, Shai is averaging over 30 points per game, and Giannis had a typical Giannis season. But my MVP is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, because of his record-breaking 63 straight appearances with 20+ points.

Though Jokic’s statline is perfect, I believe Gilgeous-Alexander will raise the Michael Jordan MVP trophy at the end of the season.

PAGE 30 SPRING 2025

SPORTS

Sending a message more important than the game

Messager: Eliza Vogell ‘26 gives a speech about what Morgan’s Message is and what it does at the girl’s varsity soccer game on April 23 against Carlisle. Photo by Jennie Vogel

By Isla Whittle Both Raiders and Chiefs teams stood behind Eliza Vogel with blue ribbons tied in their hair to support Morgan’s Message.

The organization was formed by Morgan Rodger’s parents after she tragically committed suicide in July of 2019. In January 2017, before her sophomore year playing DI lacrosse

at Duke University, she injured her knee. She had level 3 tears in her ACL and MCL. She struggled with mental health before ultimately committing suicide.

Morgan’s Message was brought to North Cross this year by Millie Chopski ‘26, who is now the president of the club. She is supported by her two co-vice presidents, Emma Votta ‘26 and Jase Rhodes ‘26. Ka-

leb Robinson ‘26 is the treasurer, Winni Ferguson ‘26 is secretary, and the media team consists of Scout Kappes ‘26, Maggie Bibby ‘26, Lillie Dearing ‘26, Gabby Miller ‘26, and Vogel. “[Our goal is] to spread awareness for mental health and to stop the stigma around conversations about mental health,” Vogel said.

“[Our goal is] to spread awareness for mental health and to stop the stigma around conversations about mental health,” Vogel said.

Mirza leads golf to No. 3 ranking before state tourney 14-3 team places second in the BRAC tournament before state tournament on May 12 on the Yorktown Course at the Williamsburg National Golf

By Luke Cocowitch Zuhair Mirza ‘26 leads the golf team with consistently low scores.

“To keep up the consistency in practice and to trust your ability to hit good shots,” Mirza ‘26 said, “as well as keeping a good mental space is the key to success when playing golf.”

The boys varsity golf team has been exceptional this year, having an impressive 14-3 record. Led by coach

and math teacher Scott Wilde, the squad has a bright future with freshmen, sophomores and juniors with impressive golf talents. Additionally, the lone senior, Will Nolan Jackson, helps add tournament experience.

“My dad got me into it by taking me to the driving range every week and I soon got hooked on the game,” Mirza said. “It is my favorite sport because of the satisfaction I feel after hitting a good shot or shooting a good score.”

Zuhair Mirza ‘26 warms up his chip shot before a recent match. Photo by Compass staff

SPORTS

SPRING 2025 PAGE 31

Doubman’s 33+ goals this season help No. 1 lax On the way to 100 goals for his career.

By Luke Cocowitch Carter Doubman ‘27 leads the sophomore class with 30 goals so far this season.

Doubman has been playing lacrosse for almost 10 years. He started with RVLA (Roanoke Valley Lacrosse Association) and has played for Valley Select, Team 91 Virginia, and of course North Cross. He has lettered on the varsity team for three years so far; “My favorite memory is easily winning the state championship in 8th grade,” Doubman said “That was the most fun I’ve had playing and I barely touched the field.”

When asked about how he improves his game, Doubman said, “I watch a lot of lacrosse and when I see a move that works, I try it out in practice. I think a lot of my skill comes from just watching the game.”

When asked about his motivation, Carter Doubman said, “My motivation is just that the better I get the more fun I have. I think wanting to win for my teammates pushes me in games and in practice because I want to accomplish our goals as a team.”

Sophomore Carter Doubman in a game against Trinity Christian

“I watch a lot of lacrosse and when I see a move that works, I try it out in practice. I think a lot of my skill comes from just watching the game.”

- Carter Doubman

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