RB
- 740 - 6950
EDITORS IN CHIEF
Lou Phillips-Anderson
Madison Riggs
STAFF WRITERS/DESIGNERS
Declan Ritchotte
Gabriella Rivas
Joshua Chhoeun
Kelin Santos Castellanos
Kevin Perez Gonzalez
Lou Phillips-Anderson
Madison Riggs
Maxwell Eaton
Porter Wooden
FACULTY ADVISOR
Brett Harwood
Run it Back!
NORTHWOOD vs WHITMAN
The football season has officially started for the Northwood Gladiators as they held their first game on Friday, September 13th. Many other schools in the region had their first game the previous Friday (September 6th) which was week one of Montgomery County Football, but the gladiators did not have a game. Northwood had a win by forfeit from their week 1 opponent (Paint Branch), so their first time suiting up was Friday, September 13th at Walt Whitman High School
Everyone knows that fans are extremely important to sports teams. An engaged crowd can inspire and boost the team's energy. Although this was an away game for the Gladiators and the Whitman Vikings student section was loud and packed, many Northwood Gladiators came out to support their team. The theme for the Gladiators in the student section was a “white out,” and many of the Gladiators who attended this game participated in the theme
As for the game, it did not go well for the Gladiators The Vikings jumped out to an early 15-0 lead and never looked back The final score was 52-0 Whitman It was a balanced game for the Gladiators on offense as they ran 45 plays with 51.11% of them being pass plays (23 total), and 48.88% of plays being runs (22 total). As for their opponent, the Vikings only ran 18 offensive plays with 38.89% of them being passes (7 total) and 61.11% of them being runs (11 total). The Vikings did most of their scoring on defense & special teams
NEW BUILDING SAME NORTHWOOD HOME SWEET HOME?
by: Madison Riggs
Since 2020, Northwood Hig been preparing for the move Charles W Woodward build the school from Silver Sprin Rockville. This plan has be works for many years, with to COVID, budget, and mo this past summer, Northwoo worked tirelessly to move in building with students starting this fall.
Despite the move having been on the table for many years, the Northwood community felt as if they weren’t as informed as they could have been. In April, when moving plans were released many students, parents, and staff expressed concerns regarding transport, features of the building, and impacts on education.
One of the major concerns was the proposed earlier start time at 7:25 as opposed to the standard 7:45. A large part of concern was students having to make their way to bus stops in the dark. “I live in an area where it’s not safe at night, and it wasn’t safe for me to be going where my bus stop was in the dark. We also didn’t know where the bus stop was going to be or if it was going to be well lit.” says senior Candia Melvin.
Thankfully, in April, senior members of the bus union worked together to alter their routes to accommodate a more normal start time This, combined with the 2:10 dismissal time (in opposition to the old 2:30) were some of the strategies put in place to make the move slightly easier. Buses are being provided to every student attending Northwood, and students are encouraged to take the bus if able.
Another concern was the lack of performance space and sports fields. Originally, Woodward was planned to be finished when Northwood moved in.
Due to delays, students were informed that they were to move into a building, without an auditorium or sports fields. Sports teams were promised alternative practice spaces while performing arts were ensured to have a small black box theatre.
One of the biggest challenges to come out of the move is transportation. Despite various efforts, the issue still remains; Northwood is away from the community the majority of students pool from. Many students relied on public transport at old Northwood, which is no longer easily available. Within the first week of school, students dealt with overcrowded buses and unreliable communication. Many students had to catch chaser buses due to buses running out of space.
The logistics of traveling from home to Northwood have been problematic since day one. “Practices used to be 2 or 3 hours, and we’ve had to cut them down to like an hour and a half because of needing to catch buses.” Said Declan Ritchotte of the Varsity Soccer team. “We had to go to a school further away, the bus came late, and we had to cut down the JV game to 35 minutes as opposed to the usual hour.” Many students and families are more reluctant to attend school events due to the extra strenuous journeys.
Another issue is the lack of auditorium space In April, a large protest was held due to the auditorium getting taken out of the building plans entirely After the protest, the auditorium was put back in the plans to be built in 2027 During the time Woodward was without an auditorium, staff and students were assured a black box theater would be available starting this year as a performance space
Upon arriving, the black box has not been finished, forcing the arts to find alternate spaces as well. “It felt like the county’s way of showing us which extracurriculars matter most. Unfortunately, the arts weren't included in that.” Sidney Walter, one of the organizers of the April protest commented.
On a final note, one of the overarching concerns is the lack of communication from MCPS. From contrasting instructions about bus routes to various questions still unanswered, the Northwood community has found themselves asking for more clarity in the future.
Despite challenges, there are upsides to the move. Northwood students are now in a school large enough to support the capacity of students, and that has updated facilities. “I like that it has so many places to sit and that we can walk much more easily in the halls,” says Alyson Reyes along with many students who echoed that sentiment. After the years spent at this school, a new Northwood building, along with the new Woodward High School will allow for the alleviation of some of the overcrowding within MCPS.
AstudentmadebannerduringtheAprilprotest. PhotoCredit:AlekHardman
RUNWAY OR RUNAWAY
IN THE HALLWAYS
OF
NORTHWOOD
by gabriella Rivas
“Sagging pants, and showing your bottom in the process.” ~ Liana Tam Gander “Randomness of colors and clothing”~ Claire Palmer Boyd
Fill out this form to see your answers in the next “FASHION RUNWAY OR RUNAWAY” article.
INTRO:
Many people have stated that their least favorite popular fashion trend is men sagging their skinny jeans and showing their undergarments.
For a little more understanding; Sagging of pants started from musicians in hip hop in the 1990s. A great example is the late Tupac Shakur (right).
SERIOUS ISSUE:
“I dislike how other cultures are stealing trends other countries created and then putting a new name on it and acting like they created it.”
~Fendi Degoh, Senior
This situation can be shown on social media, especially on Tik Tok. Having people rename another cultural origin. This happened with doing edges and having them be called “Sticky bangs”.
Edges are known to be a Black and Brown style, which has been involved throughout decades and show representation.
SOCIAL MEDIA
On social media, the most popular trend I have been seeing is the “Clean Girl” aesthetic which started in 2021 and became more popular in 2023-2024. Clean Girl is essentially wearing “clean” minimalist clothing, enhancing natural features, having dewy skin, fluffy brows, and matching two-piece sets and high-quality fabrics. The least popular fashion trend is Plant mom. A plant mom is both a fashion aesthetic and often literally taking care of/ owning a bunch of plants. There is no particular reason why the plant mom aesthetic has come about, but it was popular in early 2020.
PROM AND HOMECOMING
Homecoming and Prom are coming around the corner! Choosing the perfect outfit for homecoming dances and proms is an exciting journey that allows you to express your unique style and personality ... to an extent. Don’t know where to begin? Start with a basic nice dress that is outstanding but cute and simple. Nowadays, going over that line of extent is wearing a ballgown type of dress or having too much on the dress, like prominent ruffles everywhere and a high leg slit that shows too much.
THE GREAT DEBATES
The first and probably only debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, hosted by ABC on September 10 was a series of roller coasters, personal attacks, and horrible attempts at swaying the American people. The debate was riddled with false claims and misleading comments. Harris started quite shaky but slowly picked up speed Trump often ignored questions trying to tie everything back to immigration and crime rates going up. Both sides were not very persuasive in changing the minds of the American people. A poll conducted by CNN says an absolute whopping 4% of the debate watchers changed their mind.
One good takeaway for Vice President Harris is her favorability polls rose at very good rates. She went from -11 percentage points (39 percent favorable, 50 percent unfavorable) before the debate to +1 point (45 percent favorable, 44 percent unfavorable) after it Trump however barely changed (from -11 points to -12 points)
Being favored like that is obviously very good for Harris, but there are still a few things to note. It’s still early and there is still one month left before election day. Also, there have only been a few polls taken post-debate. The more polls the less nonresponse bias In a larger survey with more people, these favorability polls could easily change
This year, due to the closeness of this race with constantly changing polls and there still being plenty of time, both presidential nominees need to work the seven swing states Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada. These states combine for ninety-three total electoral votes. A swing state is a state that, by definition,
“plays a key role in determining the outcome of a presidential election ” The swing states are often the same in every election. Recently though, Georgia was added after a surprise democratic win in the 2020 Presidential election and 2022 General election.
Right now in the swing states, Trump has a strong devoted base, but Kamala's polls among voters are increasing. The election is close and is only seen to get closer.
To know who may win, you must understand how the election works. To win the election you need 270 electoral college votes. The Electoral College consists of 538 electors. Your State has the same number of electors as it does members in its congressional delegation: one for each member in the House of Representatives plus two Senators. (Ex: Maryland has eight House of Rep. plus two senators; resulting in 10 electoral college votes.) A state like California (54 votes), large, and huge population, has many more electoral college votes than a state like Delaware (3 votes). Often, presidential candidates spend their time in the bigger states with more electoral votes. They also spend lots of time and money in swing states
Governor Walz and Senator Vance had the first and probable only VP debate Tuesday night. The debate, shockingly, was very civil and relatively related to the problems the voters care about. Vance, a good speaker with lots of previous debate experience, started very strong, in comparison to Walz who uses his folksy and ‘people person’ style to connect to voters rather than being an avid debater. They each played defense on different topics, Walz on immigration and Vance on abortion rights. With all this being said, this election is very important and will decide our future If you can, get out and go vote.
SPORTS TALK WITH MR. FUGGITTI
On Sept. 12, 2024, Marco Fuggitti, our beloved school's athletics director here at Northwood was interviewed at school to discuss his appreciation of our beloved sporting community and exchanged thoughts on its future.
Q: What is your Favorite thing about our sporting community here at Northwood?
A: The biggest thing is that, like all sports teams, they cheer for and support each other.
Q: What is your favorite fall sport and why?
A: Soccer because I grew up playing it at a very young age and enjoyed watching it on TV.
Q: After the current sports games, what sports games did you attend, and what was your favorite part of them?
A: There was only one home soccer game we played at Blair and it was super exciting to see the energy of the fans, and the kids that came out to support the team—I think they appreciated that.
Marco Fuggitti - Athletic Director
Q: Out of all the sports that are going to happen this year which one are you most excited for and why?
A: Volleyball, because they get a chance to play here, so they like the first sport that gets to play in the building while all the other sports go away from campus. It's exciting that volleyball gets to be played here.
Q & A conducted by: Porter W
“Make sure to get the free sports game passes! Except for football, we can't do that.”
- Marco Fuggitti
NorthwoodActivities
BY: KELIN SANTOS
CLUBS
Northwood’s clubs allow students to go and find something they like Almost all of the clubs meet during lunch Some are created from the students, too! They are able to build a club from the ground up and allow anyone to join! Is there a club at Northwood you want to join or interested in starting?
SPORTS
Northwood provides many opportunities to play sports for students who are interested in athletics. Possible teams to join include soccer, football, volleyball, track and more! Students need to have a good GPA and attendance record to be able to play a sport. This allows student athletes the ability to achieve success both on and off the field
Check out more clubs and activities on the next page and GET INVOLVED! Contact the Club Sponsor and be a part of one of our amazing extra curricular activities!
NorthwoodActivities
QUIZBOWL:
Quiz bowl is academic trivia about history, literature, science, fine arts, current events, popular culture, sports, and more The Northwood quiz bowl club is a fun and supportive space to learn new things.
Room: 1217
Time: Mondays at Lunch Sponsor: Zahner
MINDS MATTER:
The Northwood Minds Matter seeks “to encourage self-care and healthy habits, promote social connectedness, increase prosocial behaviors, and increase health seeking behavior ”
Room: Wellness Center
Time: 2nd & 4th Mondays at Lunch
Sponsors: West Gibson & Ponce
LIBRARY BOOK CLUB:
Read a book and discuss each section with peers Visit bit ly/NHSBookClub to learn more
Room: Media Center
Time: Every Other Thursday at Lunch
Sponsor: Hairston & Saah
JEWISH CULTURE CLUB:
The Northwood JCC is a place for Jewish students and their allies to meet up in a safe and fun environment
Room: 3rd floor
Time: Every Other Wednesday at Lunch Sponsor: Baldinger
MUSLIM STUDENT ASSOCIATION:
MINORITY SCHOLARS:
MSP seeks to “create a world in which black and brown students and their intersectional identities experience true equity, a sense of belonging, and fully thrive in school and our communities ” Learn more at @northwoodmsp on Instagram
Room: 2004
Time: Wednesday and Thursday at Lunch
Sponsor: Reff-Presco
LIBRARY ADVISORY BOARD:
The LAB “provides input on programing, book recommendations, and fun ideas for our physical and online spaces ” Visit bit ly/NorthwoodLAB to learn more
Room: Media Center
The Northwood MSA is a place for Muslim students and their allies to meet up in a safe and fun environment Room: 3215
Time: Fridays at Lunch
Sponsor: Homer
BLACK DIASPORA CLUB:
NATIONAL ART HONORS SOCIETY:
The National Art Honors Society “inspires and recognizes students with an outstanding ability in art and keen interest in the visual arts It brings art to the attention of the school and the community and allows members to display their talent.”
Room: 2006
Time: Tuesdays at Lunch
Sponsors: Froelich
HOMEWORK CLUB:
The homework club gives students a safe space to complete homework, receive tutoring, and study.
Room: 1013
Time: 2:40-4:10 Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday
The BDC is a place for Black students and their allies to meet up in a safe and fun environment Room: 2001
Time: Mondays at Lunch & Wednesdays After School
Sponsor: Davis
NABI:
NABI is a K-pop club for students to dance, have fun, and make friends
Room: 1306 (upstairs dance studio)
Time: Wednesdays at Lunch
Sponsor: Solar
Time: Every Other Thursday at Lunch Sponsor: Hairston & Saah
ZINE CLUB:
A zine is a self-made magazine In the zine club students read, discuss, and make zines
Room: 3rd floor
Time: Tuesdays at Lunch
Sponsor: Acosta-Fox
MATHLETES:
Mathletes gives students the opportunity to participate in fun and challenging math competitions
Room: 2209
Time: Thursdays at Lunch
Sponsor: DeMoya
BY: LOU PHILLIPS-ANDERSON
NORTHWOODBEAT
ByJoshuaChhoeun
In September 2024, the US music charts took a slightly different turn from what we’re used to, with a ‘renaissance’ within Pop, and a massive drop-off from Rap like we’re used to
Former Disney actor Sabrina Carpenter released her sixth studio album in the final week of August, immediately reaching the No. 1 spot, dethroning Post Malone’s “F-1 Trillion.” For four weeks, it had been standing strong at No 1, with tracks “Espresso,” and “Please Please Please,” claiming the No. 3, and No. 8 spots respectively on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. Though she was later overtaken by Travis Scott’s rerelease of “Days Before Rodeo,” she still remains in the top three on the Billboard 200. Following the release of her lead single “Espresso,” she immediately set the bar for Pop as a genre altogether, sparking life into a dwindling genre. Her dominance in the music world should stand as a preview of what’s to come for the artist inthefuture.
Post Malone is no stranger to being in the spotlight. The self-proclaimed “Diamond-Certified American Hitmaker,” took a new step towards his music career, moving away from the Hip-Hop/Pop genre that earned him over 14 Grammy nominations. In an interview with Apple Music’s Kelleigh Bannen, he said “I’ve always wanted to make a record like this, but for the longest time it seemed so inaccessible because I didn’t know how the hell it worked.” His lead single with renowned Country legend Morgan Wallen “I Had Some Help”, debuted at the No 1 spot, spending five weeks in the top spot, and still standing strong inthetopfivewiththisnewcountrysound.
GLADIATORS MONTHLY SPOTIFY PLAYLIST
Post Malone, “F-1 Trillion”
Sabrina Carpenter “Short n’ Sweet”
Billie Eilish is a well-distinguished artist, with nine Grammys to her name. Her newest album “Hit Me Hard And Soft,” is undoubtedly one of her best works, shining bright among such a remarkable discography. The 22-year-old really emphasizes the title of the album, composing a track list that hits the listener hard, and soft, both through the well-written lyrics, and the instrumentals produced by her brother FINNEAS. Though there was no lead single, she stated that this was with a purpose, as she revealed that she believed her fans should receive the entire album all at once One of the highest streamed songs off of the album, “Birds of a Feather,” goes in-depth, expressing her personal view on love, and how a ‘real’ love, should endure forever, until the end of time, which was an overall representation of thealbum.
leased nearly a ddenly finds its top five highest s in these past er spending 24 e Billboard Top ell Roan’s debut ise and Fall of a cess’ found its during the first eptember. The ed high praise s that reflect her al values, and while celebrating ure. The 26 year ey of selfofoundly shapes with up-beat Femininomenon” er realization of of sapphic love, bar for all future ip
Billie Eilish - Hit Me Hard And Soft
Chappell Roan - The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess
SUMMER SEQUELS
ImageSource:IGNNordic
ImageSource:DrydenWire
ImageSource:Yahoo
As the weather begins to get colder and the days get shorter it’s a great time to reflect on a few of the big movies that came out during the summer, sequels particularly. How were they received by fans? Critics? How did they perform commercially? Do they just suck? Let’s take a closer look.
ImageSource:Variety
Deadpool 3 once again features Ryan Reynolds’ Wade Wilson as he’s given an opportunity to join the main Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, it comes with the catch of having to leave his universe behind as it’s terminated by the TVA The story follows Deadpool as he rejects the offer and fights to save his world from impending annihilation.
Sitting at a nice 8/10 on IMDB, Deadpool 3 was a smash hit at the box office becoming the first R-rated film to make $211 million in its opening weekend and now sitting at over $1.1 billion worldwide.
Despite how well it’s done some critics argue the film is rather simple with a cookie-cutter plot weaker than the 2 films that came before and abandoning the small cast of friends Wade had made for a cast of cameo characters who don’t serve much narrative purpose and does a poor job trying to end both the fox universe and the Deadpool trilogy
Fans of the film argue it isn’t meant to end the Fox universe but is simply a fun romp with famillar faces The simple story just being an excuse for what the film truly sets out to do, which is to have as many good character interactions between the titular 2 and the few returning characters from the Fox movies. Fans of the film say it does this really very well.
Taking place decades after the original 1988 film, Winona Ryder reprises her role as the ghost seer Lydia Deetz, who now has a rebellious teenage daughter of her own (Astrid Deetz, played by Jenna Ortega) and is shifting through life with her boyfriend Rory (Justin Theroux) as a TV star
Then stepmother Delia Deetz once again played by Catherine O'Hara informs her of the passing of her father
Charles Deetz so the family is forced to return to the iconic house in Winter River Connecticut to host the funeral all while Lydia begins to have ‘visions’ of the titular Betelgeuse
Supernatural hijinks ensue.
ImageSource:CBR
There appear to be primarily 2 camps for the people who saw Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,
Those who thought it was a terrible waste of time with too many ongoing plot threats that have anticlimactic endings, and strange arbitrary plot developments Just a consensus of simply not being up to snuff with the original movie’s quality even among those who enjoyed the film.
Then those who thought it was an enjoyable return to the world of Beetlejuice with good performances (Betelgeuse especially receiving praise), fun special effects, and Tim Burton’s wife, for some reason.
ImageSource:ScreenRant
The movie came out to fairly mixed reviews with a 7 1 on IMDB and mixed reviews from audience members on rotten tomatoes (where the following reviews were lifted from)
Shay H - “My Family and I really enjoyed this movie! This is definitely worth the watch especially if you’re a fan of the classic Bettle Juice Also, we really enjoyed seeing some of the OG's back with it.” 5/5
Kendra - “It was a good movie but expected it to be better You just can’t beat the original!” 3/5
Vicki - “Loved Original Beetlejuice with all the special effects, didn't care as much for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. I was very excited to see this movie as the original is one I've watched many times and enjoy This movie seemed to drag with not as many side effects I also really dislike the song MacArthur's Park which went on too long.” 3/5
Mr Harwood - “It was one of the worst sequels to anything I’ve ever seen. I hated it so much” 0/5
Set in the year 2142 Alien: Romulus is a spin-off to the franchise where we follow ‘Rain’ played by Cailee Spaeny, her android Andy, and a group of her “friends” as they plan to escape their miserable lives on a mining colony by shipping themselves off in cryosleep someplace better To achieve this they need the pods themselves and the sci-fi gunk to power them so they plan to rob an abandoned space station in the hopes of scavenging what they need. Little do they know the horrors that await them onboard.
Alien Romulus is the latest film in the alien franchise since 2017’s critical flop Alien: Covenant and it’s another spin-off this time only sort’ve a prequel set 20 years after the first film Alien but 37 years before the events of the sequel Aliens. There was a lot of excitement around the film when trailers first came out. People on social media would commonly say things like “Alien is scary again!” etc. Then when the movie came out it released to largely positive reviews from fans (reviews again taken from rotten tomatoes)
On the whole, fans and general audiences appeared to have enjoyed Romulus quite a bit and believe it to be a worthy addition to the franchise even if, according to them, it doesn’t stack up to the highest highs the franchise has hit before.
STUDENT RATINGS OUT OF 5
Brad - “Great movie. Entertaining. 7 out of 10 Was a repeat of the original of sorts, but still kept you guessing.” 4/5
Michael. E 3/5 - “Was hoping for a bit more horror than action but still a good entry for the series.” 3/5
Londa - “I wasn't looking forward to seeing this movie but my son wanted to see it so I went. I was expecting to hate it but it was entertaining and suspenseful. But, I hate it when sequels copy specifics of the original.” 4/5
Richard. R - “A decent but, ultimately, underwhelming attempt to reboot the series for a new generation Doesn't hold a candle to the original Alien and Aliens that it so desperately wants to be.” 3/5
Luke’s G - “Going back to the roots of what makes the Alien franchise great is what Alien: Romulus does best. Incredible set design and prioritizing the use of practical effects. The plot consistently keeps viewers on their toes, never knowing what danger may be around the corner. The only issue would be how the non-main characters didn't have much to them and were seemingly used just for kills. If there was more depth to them, then the kills would of had more meaning.” 4/5
Study or Procrastinate
Class
