May 2022 — Silver Chips Print

silverchips A public forum for student expression since 1937 Montgomery Blair High School

May 5, 2022

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VOL. 85 NO. 5

SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND

Blair responds to hate

Uncertainty over Roe v. Wade

On May 3, one day after Politico published a leaked initial draft opinion written by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito that would overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, protesters and supporters of the potential ruling gathered in front of the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. If Roe v. Wade is overturned, the right to an abortion would no longer be protected at a federal level.

Many of those gathered held signs, including ones that read, “my body my choice,” “I love my abortion,” and “abortion is violence.”

By Ingrid Holmsquist and Milan Tenn Staff Writers On the morning of Friday, April 29, Blair Principal Renay Johnson made an announcement that during Holocaust Remembrance Week activities in the Media Center, which were meant to combat antisemitism, some students left hateful symbols and messages on tables and posters. Johnson condemned the acts as ones of hate and racism and encouraged anyone who had information about the incident to tell a staff member.

Media Specialist Andrea Lamphier found these symbols on the morning of Wednesday, April 27.

She identified five swastikas, some drawn in pencil and others in ink.

Lamphier also noticed that some people had left hateful or inappropriate comments on sticky notes on the board where students were supposed to reflect on what they had learned. She took pictures of see HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE WEEK on page D1

ARIELLE GRANSTON

Pets for vets

Rift in reception

By Andre Parker Staff Writer

By Sedise Tiruneh Staff Writer

CRT - S5 Silver Chips dives into critical race theory in the U.S. education system

News

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European soccer - F2 A sport from across the pond sweeps the nation

El béisbol: Batiendo las barreras culturales Por Kevin Vela Escritor El béisbol es uno de los deportes más jugados y más populares en las Américas. Aunque el deporte es originario de los Estados Unidos se hizo muy famoso rápidamente en el Caribe.

Incluso, algunos estudiantes en Blair aspiran a llegar a las grandes ligas, como puede ser Alex Valdez, un estudiante dominicano en el doceavo grado que forma parte actualmente del equipo de béisbol en Montgomery Blair. “El año que viene voy a estar jugando en una universidad cerca de Baltimore, entonces desde el año que viene ahí estaré. Ya firmé los papeles”. Él

Opinions

elaboró que también planea hacer lo mejor que pueda e incluso ganar el campeonato este año, “La meta siempre es ganar el campeonato.

Yo quiero hacer lo mío y jugar bien personalmente y si puedo ganar el campeonato, pues mucho mejor todavía”.

La inspiración de Valdez para comenzar a jugar al béisbol se debió a su papá, “Desde muy chiquito mi papá [fue] muy loco con la pelota y a mi, desde que empecé a jugar me enamoré y cada, y cuando yo jugaba yo veía a mi papá contento y eso me motivó más a jugar al béisbol”. El béisbol ha sido una parte muy importante en su vida y por él ha sido capaz de tener experiencias, “en la vida me ha lleva-

La Esquina Latina

Education

do a sitios que si no fuera por el béisbol no hubiera ido a un torneo en Ohio, Florida. He viajado al béisbol y he tenido experiencias bonitas”. see BÉISBOL page C1

O JAY CHA

Time to get educated

This cycle of Silver Chips includes a special section dedicated to education. From teacher burnout to critical race theory, the staff spoke to administrators, teachers, and students to report on current issues impacting school systems. Turn to page S1 and look for the book icon at the top of each page to read more.

Features

Culture

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Insufficient support - C6 Latinx students require more support from the school

see REFUGEES page B2

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CEOs in schools - A3 MCPS implements CEO 2.0 policing plan in effort to make schools safer

Since Russian missiles erupted in Kyiv and columns of troops invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, millions of Ukranians have become refugees. The United Nations reports that over 12 million people have left Ukraine or been displaced within the country, and many Russians have also fled the turmoil.

One of Europe’s largest and most populous countries, Ukraine faces a large-scale offensive, a major escalation of the longstanding conflict over the Russian-Ukrainian border. Over half the population of Kyiv left the city as shelling and sirens echoed in the streets, and millions more have fled Kharkiv

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COURTESY OF WARRIOR CANINE CONNECTION

GOLDEN RETRIEVER DAY A litter of puppies prepare for their training as future service dogs.

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see SERVICE DOGS page E1

AN OPINION

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The puppy playroom at Warrior Canine Connection (WCC) teems with life as blurs of fur dart across the pen. These dogs are training to be a part of WCC, a non-profit organization based in Boyds, Maryland that specializes in therapeutic services for veterans through the training of and use of service dogs.

During the transitionary period between active duty and civilian life, some veterans are able to heal psychological trauma through interacting with service dogs.

In the wake of conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan in the early 2000s, many veterans returned to their

and the eastern Donbas region.

Displaced people have moved west in large numbers to neighboring countries Moldova, Poland, Romania, and Hungary.

Ukrainian refugees have widely received a warm welcome from other countries, often greeted with smiles, hot drinks, and crowds waving the Ukrainian flag, upon arriving at border crossings. They have also seen the removal of many obstacles that have made seeking asylum in Europe extraordinarily difficult for past waves of refugees.

In fact, all five million refugees from Ukraine have been granted the right to live, travel, and work anywhere in the European Union for one year.

Sports

silverchips

A2 News May 5, 2022 silverchips Montgomery Blair High School 51 University Boulevard East Silver Spring, MD 20901 silverchips.business@gmail.com Winner of the 2015 National Scholastic Press Association Pacemaker, the 2021 Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Medal, and the 2021 Columbia Scholastic Press Association Crown.

Silver Chips is a public forum for student expression. Student editors make all content decisions. Unsigned editorials represent the views of the editorial board and are not necessarily those of the school or of all Silver Chips members. Signed letters to the editor are encouraged; submit them to silver.chips.print@gmail.com. Letters may be edited for space and clarity.

By Haley Carter and Eliana Finberg Staff Writers On April 20, MCPS middle and high school students elected Arvin Kim to be the 45th Student Member of the Board (SMOB).

Kim, a junior at Walt Whitman, ran against Baba Cisse, a junior at Einstein.

Kim looks forward to the school year ahead and appreciates the support he received during his campaign. “I’m really grateful for everything and everyone that I’ve gotten to connect with and learn from,” he said in an interview with Silver Chips. “I’m really excited and thrilled to get started on my work on the Board.”

After election results were published, Cisse thanked those who voted for him. “I am eternally grateful for having been able to run for [SMOB],” he wrote on Instagram. “I’m grateful I was able to meet students from around the county and fight for each and every one of you.”

Since the announcement, thousands of comments have been left under posts by both Kim and the official MCPS Instagram account.

The MCPS account, @mcps_md, turned off comments for the post, which has almost 5,000 likes. Kim did not turn off comments, and his post has received over 2,000 of them. While there are some comments congratulating Kim for his campaign and victory, many were upset with the result of the election.

The comments included messages saying “not my smob,” “Baba

should’ve won,” and “stay in ur bethesda bubble rich boy.”

Kim has not responded to the comments. “I’m just hesitant to reply. I don’t want to speak on behalf of the County,” Kim explained.

Cisse addressed the deriding comments on his account. “There is no need for negativity in our SMOB elections,” he wrote in a post.

Several students have publicly denounced the hate comments targeted toward Arvin. “Hating on Arvin is not going to change the outcome of the election because, at the end of the day, Baba still lost,” said junior Sachini Adikari, who is involved in SGA and supported Cisse in the elections. Soon after the election results were made public, she took to Instagram to share her views, advocating for greater Down County Consortium

It’s much more difficult to get engaged as a DCC school student. I’ve been involved in SGA for five years and it’s still difficult for me to get involved in MCR.

CATE SAURI

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Leila Faraday Marijke Friedman Cecilia Clemens Vargas Lugo LA ESQUINA LATINA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Cecilia Clemens Vargas Lugo MANAGING NEWS EDITORS Samantha Rodriguez Ashley Thommana MANAGING OPINIONS EDITORS Maia Egnal Sean Li MANAGING FEATURES EDITORS Annie Goldman Sofia Roehrig MANAGING CULTURE EDITORS Maybelle Patterson Jasper Swartz MANAGING SPORTS EDITOR Jon Eckert OMBUDSMAN Ashley Thommana DESIGN EDITORS Annie Goldman Sean Li Maybelle Patterson COLUMNISTS Jon Eckert Maybelle Patterson Jasper Swartz Cal Tobias ENGLISH STAFF WRITERS William Ashford Ava Bedaque Haley Carter John Ernst Eliana Finberg Annie Gao Ingrid Holmquist Elina Lee Christy Li Rosie Orzulak Andre Parker Ila Raso Lucía Santoro-Vélez Ella Schrebler Sophia Stein Milan Tenn Sedise Tiruneh Zachary Williamson LA ESQUINA LATINA WRITERS Kimberly Castro Estefany Benitez Gonzalez Adan Guzmán Díaz Yasmine Rivera Sofia Roehrig Ivania Valladores Kevin Vela EXECUTIVE BUSINESS DIRECTORS Marina Deane-Gonzalez Ryan Peralta Harris Maddie Whipple BUSINESS STAFF Sela Colavito Kevin Gehl Isabelle Mathiascheck Finnegan Oakes Caleb Plank MANAGING ART EDITORS Jay Chao Leela Mehta-Harwitz ARTISTS Abjini Chattopadhyay Yeison Cotom Eliza Cooke Mia Levings Katalina Li Sophia Li Alexander Liu Karis Tebo Lucia Wang MANAGING PHOTO EDITORS Arielle Granston Sarah Martin PHOTOGRAPHERS Fiona Bondarev Raffi Charkoudian-Rogers Jonathan Cumblidge Colin Lederer Henry Reichle Cal Tobias Maia Turpen MEDIA EDITOR Iris Montgomery PUZZLE EDITOR Alex Grosman COPY EDITORS Celeste Basken Kiah Beachler Jordan Chafe Sally Kaye Emannuel Kraft Roshan Nandkumar Hunter Payne Amelia Schuler Liam Volz Emma Weinstein LA ESQUINA LATINA ADVISOR Maria Eugenia Tanos ADVISORS Jeremy Stelzner Maria Eugenia Tanos

Arvin Kim elected as 45th SMOB

(DCC) involvement in SGAs and advocacy. “It is not wrong to say that DCC students should get involved instead of spreading hate,”

she posted.

Some comments under Kim’s post mentioned the lack of representation of the DCC in countywide student government positions and the SMOB position. Of the past 10 SMOBs , 5 have attended schools in Bethesda and Rockville, such as Whitman, Bethesda-Chevy Chase, and Richard Montgomery.

Sophomore Cate Sauri, who is a member of Blair SGA, has experienced challenges entering county-level student government.

“It’s much more difficult to get engaged as a DCC school student.

I’ve been involved in SGA [Student Government Association] for five years and it’s still difficult for me to get involved in MCR.” Sauri explained.

MCR, or the Montgomery County Regional SGA, is a countywide group with over 100 student members. They are split up into eight departments with different focuses, one of which is the Special

Elections Committee (SEC). The SEC runs the SMOB election as well as the MCR officer elections.

Kim, who was MCR’s chief of staff last year, said that his role in the county-wide SGA helped prepare him for the SMOB position.

“It’s provided me with a lot of insight as well [as] what it means to be a student in MCPS,” he said. “[It also provided me] insight into how [we go] about making these important changes around these really critical issues.”

Kim recognizes the disparity between regional representation in the county and hopes to make MCPS politics more inclusive. “My experience as a student in MCPS might not be reflective of the other 160,000 experiences. My plan is to make sure that I’m including voices from across the county, voices from areas that go underserved or underrepresented,” he said.

Mapping Maryland Governor Hogan approves new congressional districts

By Ila Raso and Ella Schrebler Staff Writers On April 4, Governor Larry Hogan approved Maryland’s new congressional map, which will be implemented in the upcoming November congressional elections.

The approval of this map concluded a contentious partisan conflict in the Maryland state legislature over how to draw these districts.

Hogan’s final decision comes after Anne Arundel County Senior Judge Lynne A. Battaglia rejected a map passed by the Democrat-led state legislature, claiming it was illegally partisan. The original plan preserved all seven Democratic districts and made the singular Republican district more competitive.

Many Republicans in the legislature strongly opposed the proposed map, believing it skewed unfairly in favor of Democrats. In her rejection of the map, Battaglia cited the map being illegally partisan, saying it was a “product of extreme partisan gerrymandering.”

She claimed the proposed map did not uphold the Maryland Constitution’s equal protection, free speech, and free elections clause, and violates the need for districts to be compact. This original map, which was passed in December, was given a grade of ‘F’ for partisan fairness by the nonpartisan Princeton Gerrymandering Project, citing significant Democratic advantage.

The Maryland General Assembly was sent back to the drawing board and focused on creating a new map that did not unfairly place Democrats ahead in upcoming elections.

Democrats in the Maryland General Assembly created an alternate map to meet the court-imposed deadline and the clarified standards set by Battaglia. The new

map, which was later approved by Hogan on April 4, has more compact districts and preserves Maryland’s one Republican district, District 1, as safely Republican. District 6, one of Maryland’s Democratic districts, could now potentially be flipped by Republicans as a result of the redistricting.

Many Republicans supported Battaglia’s ruling, including Walter Olson, senior fellow at the Cato Institute, an influential libertarian think tank, and one of the three

nal map. “The General Assembly should adopt what is—quite literally—the will of the governed,” a letter from the caucus to Maryland’s legislature read. “The map created by the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission is ready to go.

It has been vetted through nearly a year-long process with input from all regions of the state.” However, Hogan approved the new map drafted by the General Assembly instead of taking action on the commission’s map.

COURTESY OF MARYLAND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

NEWLY DEFINED DISTRICTS The final iteration of Maryland’s eight congresssional districts, approved by Governor Larry Hogan on April 4. co-chairs of Hogan’s appointed Citizens Commission on Redistricting. “This map [was] so obviously partisan gerrymander[ed] that there is no possible way to defend it,” Olson said in an interview with Silver Chips. Hogan created the commission in early 2021 to create a redistricting map with no political motives and fair boundaries.

Following Battaglia’s ruling, the House Republican Caucus requested that a map drawn by the Citizens Commission on Redistricting be adopted as the new congressio-

The legal battle over redistricting led to changes to the upcoming 2022 elections in Maryland. The primary election date was moved from June 28 to July 19 and the deadline for candidates to file to run for was also pushed forward from March 22 to April 15.

Redistricting is the process of redrawing boundaries for congressional districts within a state. The process occurs every ten years and changes in districts are meant to reflect demographic changes found in the U.S. Census. It allows for

states to assess their populations and create districts that fairly represent them.

New or redrawn districts can have a large impact on the party demographics within a state and give one party a significant advantage over the other. Because of this, the redistricting process can create extreme contention between Democrats and Republicans as each party wants a map that benefits their respective party in elections.

“It’s basically a very political process,” Congressman Jamie Raskin, the Democrat who represents Maryland’s 8th District, said of redistricting in an interview with Silver Chips. He explained how gerrymandering can come into play during redistricting. “It’s… about tacking your opponent’s voters into one or two districts, and then creating districts that are safely in your hands.”

Raskin noted that Maryland’s actions are not out of the ordinary.

“There’s nothing unique about [gerrymandering in] Maryland,” he said. “The vast majority of the states have maps that produce different kinds of distortions.” However, he explained, in most states, Republicans are the ones benefiting from this partisan gerrymandering.

While some districts, including Raskin’s, became less competitive as a result of redistricting, overall, the new map is viewed by Hogan to be acceptable for the upcoming November elections.

silverchips NEWS BRIEFS Compiled by Ava Bedaque Staff Writer

Four shot by sniper near school in Washington, D.C.

Execution delayed for mother convicted of killing daughter

Florida revokes Disney World special district On April 22, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill that terminates a special districting agreement that, since 1967, has allowed the Walt Disney Company to pay for local services, such as road maintenance, in exchange for greater autonomy over Disney World. These services will become the responsibility of Orange and Osceola Counties when the law goes into effect in 2023.

Some have speculated that the new law was intended to punish Disney for their condemnation of the recently passed Parental Rights in Education Act, colloquially known as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, which restricts the ways sexuality and gender identity may be discussed in schools.

St. John’s wrestling coach resigns Michael Sprague, the wrestling coach for St. John’s College High School in Washington, D.C., resigned after the school administration refused to let a girl compete with the team. The girl, whose name has not been released, was allowed to participate in practices with the boys’ team in the absence of a girls’ or coed wrestling team, but she was never permitted to compete against other schools.

St. John’s has had to forfeit in the 106-pound weight class this season because they did not have someone to compete, although the girl would have been in that weight class. She remains a manager of the team.

By Sophia Stein Staff Writer In an April 26 press release, MCPS released a community message announcing the Community Engagement Officer (CEO) 2.0 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) effective immediately.

“We believe that these officers will be dependable and valuable members of our school communities,” MCPS wrote.

The CEO 2.0 MOU is MCPS and the Montgomery County Police Department’s latest response to an increase in school violence over the 2021-22 academic year.

The program reintroduces armed police officers to MCPS and makes them more accessible to staff. The final draft did not require a vote from the County Council or the Montgomery County School Board since the employment of police officers is not under their jurisdiction.

Under the CEO 2.0 plan, designated officers will be available to staff and principals through a direct phone call. Officers will have a work station at the schools within their assigned cluster, but they will not be permanently stationed there. Montgomery County Chief of Police Marcus Jones told WJLA that officers will check in daily at their assigned schools and be visible during “high volume times.”

MCPS has been without armed officers in schools for over a year, since County Executive Marc Elrich ended the Student Resource Officer (SRO) program—which placed law enforcement officers in schools full-time—in March of 2021.

Many students and community members had pushed for their removal due to their disproportionate impact on students of color.

According to police arrest data, Black children comprised nearly half of MCPS student arrests between 2016 and 2019, even though they made up only about one-fifth of the student body. Many students advocated for increased and accessible mental health resources and restorative justice efforts instead of policing to deter student crimes and violence.

Elrich replaced the SRO program with the first CEO model in 2021. Under this program, officers were not present on school

campuses and principals contacted non-emergency or emergency lines for officer assistance. The CEO 2.0 model was proposed by Monifa McKnight and is designed to make officers more accessible to schools in case of a serious incident.

The new plan gives officers part-time offices in school buildings and makes them directly contactable, whereas the SRO program allowed officers to be stationed in high schools full-time and respond to school incidents, including those in MCPS’ Code of Conduct, “upon request.”

Unlike SROs, CEO 2.0 officers will respond to incidents not covered in the MCPS Code of Conduct and they will not enforce MCPS policies, rules, regulations, or procedures. Montgomery County’s MOU Highlights document outlined CEO jurisdiction to include “death, sexual assault, robbery, hate/bias events, firearms/ brandishing a deadly weapon, and gang-related events.”

Student groups and organizations including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s (NAACP) Parents Council, the Silver Spring Justice Coalition, Racial Justice NOW, and the Sunrise Movement voiced concerns about the reinstatement of armed officers in schools. Members of the Sunrise Movement’s Silver Spring chapter held a vigil on March 20 to demonstrate their opposition to school policing. They previously hosted a rally on Feb. 24 outside the Board of Education building where students gathered to support police-free schools.

Student and activist organizations’ advocacy for increased mental health resources to provide students with the support they need instead of police officers has been consistent.

Noura Oseguera-Arasmou, a junior at Paint Branch, testified at the Feb. 24 BOE meeting, urging members to re-evaluate their decision on the CEO 2.0 program.

Afterward, she attended the rally where she repeated her testimony for fellow demonstrators.

Oseguera-Arasmou shared that her opposition to the program comes from her experiences as a student under the SRO program. “As a minority, I think that so many students similar to

COURTESY OF JANE HSAIO

me already face over-policing and surveillance in our own communities,” she said in an interview with Silver Chips. “Bringing forth those same attitudes into a learning environment… contradicts what MCPS says our school systems are supposed to be like.”

We want our students to feel safe and valued in their school environment… and then we also want to balance safety.

Oseguera-Arasmou, along with many who oppose the model, pushes for restorative justice rather than reformative justice efforts and preventative models focused on mental health to tackle the root cause of violent incidents in schools. “Having counselors and guidance officers for students to rely on when they’re faced with issues, instead of being met with heavy hands and policing… [are some of] the main alternatives.”

The county passed a bill on April 10 to expand the budget for mental health services by $8 million with the purpose of adding wellness centers to every high school. There are currently five high school wellness centers across the county, which offer physical health services and varying degrees of mental health services.

Elrich told WJLA that the county’s staffing shortages prevented them from proceeding with a plan to hire 50 new social workers after the SRO program ended.

Since this was not possible due to a staff shortage, he has supported the CEO 2.0 program instead. “I’m [okay] with what they’re doing… because they can’t hire the social workers,” Elrich said to WJLA. Blair sophomore and Sunrise political power team lead Hanan Miles disagrees with this approach.

“Students are asking for mental health support and they’re asking for restorative [practices],” she said. “I really don’t like the county executive’s mindset that if you don’t have enough staff for social workers, that more police could somehow do that job.”

At the time that the SRO program ended, all 26 Montgomery County high school principals wanted the program to remain in place.

After his school experienced a student-initiated shooting in January, Magruder Principal Dr. Leroy Evans told Silver Chips in an email that he supports the CEO 2.0 program as he had a positive experience with SROs throughout his tenure as a school administrator. “I am in favor of SROs being an active partner in our efforts to make all schools a safe place for teaching and learning… I am also fully aware and sensitive to the issues expressed by others who are

opposed to this idea,” he wrote.

“I believe that CEO 2.0 is a step in the right direction in efforts to create a balance that ensures safety in schools while respecting the concerns of those in opposition.”

At a student media roundtable on Mar. 22, McKnight shared some of the goals for CEO 2.0.

“We want to reconcile two things,” she said. “We want our students to feel safe and valued in their school environment… and then we also want to balance safety.” McKnight said that the county was careful to take into consideration the parts of the SRO program that community members opposed when drafting the new plan.

Students who support police-free schools still believe that the policing aspect of the program needs to be changed. “Students are asking for a complete extermination of this program and any kind of form similar to it,” Oseguera-Arasmou said. “And so I think that just bending the way that we see the program…so that it doesn’t seem as similar as the initial program just goes against the student voice.”

Miles agrees, claiming that the removal of SROs doesn’t mean Sunrise and other student groups’ requests have been answered. “[One] could say, ‘your demands have been met,’ but they haven’t, because [CEOs] are still police.

They just renamed them. SROs went out and another type of police went in.”

Students are asking for mental health support and they’re asking for restorative [practices].

McKnight explained some of the steps the county will take to monitor and maintain equity with the CEO 2.0 plan. “We’re going to continue to hear from our community [and] continue to monitor the data so if there’s disparity that’s happening as a result of this program, we have to quickly say, ‘this is a problem.’”

The MOU Highlights document establishes a multi-stakeholder oversight process with the goal of “ensuring there is no disproportionate impact on students of color and other student groups.” Stakeholders include a Restorative Response team to “prioritize repair and restoration via [the] Code of Conduct” and a multi-agency team to review wellness, police department engagement, and serious incident data for feedback and support.

There will also be new training implemented for CEOs in addition to their normal Maryland State Department of Education training. Chief among the topics of the trainings will be aligning security with the county’s goal of fostering an anti-racist community in MCPS.

corrections March 2022 A2

Safety is misspelled in the window quote attributed to Arvin Kim.

A3

In the caption for the “Ukrainian pride” photo Ukrainian is misspelled.

B3

The story “Two faced technology” was not listed as an opinion piece.

E2

The window quote attributed to Isoiza Emah reads, “...deal with my sister,” instead of “deal with [her],” per the original quote in the story.

F2

The page is incorrectly dated as March 24, 2021.

HANAN MILES

On April 25, a Texas court granted Melissa Lucio a temporary stay of execution and a new trial, just two days before her planned execution date. She was convicted of murdering her twoyear-old daughter in 2008.

Lucio’s daughter died in February 2007 after sustaining blunt force trauma to the head. She was found with a broken arm, a bite mark on her back, and severe bruising. Prosecutors maintain the injuries were the result of abuse from Lucio, but Lucio and her defense argue they were caused by a fall down the stairs.

Advocates in favor of Lucio’s new trial included over 100 Texas lawmakers, several celebrities, and five of the jurors who convicted Lucio. They doubt the validity of the confession she made after hours of intensive interrogation.

CEO 2.0: A new plan for policing in MCPS

MONIFA MCKNIGHT

Four people, including a 12-year-old girl, were injured in an indiscriminate sniper-style shooting on April 22 aimed at and around Edmund Burke School in Washington, D.C. The shooting began around 3:20 p.m., prompting the school to go into a nearly five hour-long lockdown. The sniper fired over 100 shots from the window of his apartment, which overlooks the school.

Police later found the suspect, 23-year-old Raymond Spencer, dead in his apartment from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Spencer’s motive for the attacks are unknown, but in an interview with The Washington Post, Washington, D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee III described him as a “lone-wolf sniper.”

May 5, 2022 News A3

A4 News May 5, 2022 INTERNATIONAL NEWS BRIEFS Compiled by John Ernst Staff Writer

Macron relected On April 24, France’s current President, Emmanuel Macron, was reelected for another 5 year term. The initial election on April 10 did not yield a majority winner, prompting a second round of voting in which centrist Macron, of the “La République En Marche!” party, defeated Marie Le Pen, a far-right politician of the “Comités Jeanne” party. Macron won 59 percent of the second round votes. France will hold parliamentary elections on June 12 and June 19.

China’s COVID-19 cases On April 22, the Chinese government announced 21,796 new COVID-19 cases. The city of Shanghai, where COVID-19 cases have been the highest, has reported 39 new COVID-19 related deaths. Shanghai went into lockdown at the beginning of April and recently erected metal barriers in front of streets and apartment buildings to keep residents at home. The Chinese government has also isolated neighborhoods with high COVID-19 transmission rates and mandated that each resident take three PCR tests between April 23-27.

Tensions in Israel and Lebanon

On April 25, Israeli tanks fired shells into southern Lebanon. The shells were in response to a rocket launched earlier that morning into northern Israel.

Israel’s military blamed Lebanon despite no Lebanese groups claiming responsibility for the rocket which landed in an open field and resulted in no injuries.

Ths Israeli response was the first confrontation between the Hezbollah Lebanese militants and the Israelis since a month-long war in 2006.

This was also the first major violence in the region since the tensions in Jerusalem and the Gaza strip last year, when nearly 270 people were killed in an 11day war between Israel and Gaza militants.

U.S. officials travel to Ukraine On April 24, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin traveled to Kyiv to speak with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

During the meeting, they informed Zelenskyy the U.S. would continue to send new military aid to Ukraine. The U.S. announced on April 21 they would be sending a new $800 million aid package to Ukraine including more weapons, military training, and new aerial systems.

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A guide to the BOE elections

By Christy Li Staff Writer

MCPS Board of Education (BOE) seats—District 1, 3, and 5 and one at-large seat—are on the ballot for the 2022 Montgomery County Gubernatorial Election.

The primary election will take place on July 19, followed by the general election on Nov. 8. Although candidates may only run for the seat of the district in which they live and at-large seats, voters may cast ballots for all of the district and at-large races.

At-Large candidates

Michael Fryar has over 30 years of professional experience in education, both as a classroom teacher and as an attorney representing students and parents involved in education. If elected, Fryar plans to represent student voices in BOE decisions with initiatives such as interscholastic high school video game teams. “I very much want to be that candidate and that Board of Education member that listens to what students actually want, and works to help students to achieve those things,” Fryar said.

Throughout the pandemic, Fryar became increasingly frustrated with the BOE’s handling of COVID-19 in schools. “The worst thing in the world you can do is make decisions out of fear,” Fryar said. “Every decision [the BOE] made has been because they’re afraid of something.”

Fryar points to the decision to close schools as one such fear-based decision. Instead, Fryar hopes to refocus county resources on core classes and delivering higher quality education.

Fryar is running on a slate with candidates Esther Wells (District 1) and Dawn Iannaco-Hahn (District 5), which means they share similar views on many issues and will join together to conduct and pay for campaign activities.

Domenic Giandomenico worked in education policy for nearly 20 years, including projects with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Project Lead the Way. Currently a stay-at-home dad, Giandomenico’s experience helping his daughter with autism navigate school accommodations has opened his eyes to a system that he believes does not prioritize its students. “I feel like we’ve forgotten that kids are what’s important here,” Giandomenico said.

Giandomenico hopes to serve the best interests of students by primarily addressing two issues: getting students back on track after learning loss incurred during the pandemic and teacher burnout. Giandomenico proposes a two-teacher team system in each classroom where a senior educator, who focuses on lesson planning, and a junior educator, who focuses on instruction, share the classroom workload and collaborate to provide more intensive support for students.

Karla Silvestre is the at-large seat incumbent running for election to her second four-year term.

She is currently serving her second year as the vice president of the BOE. Through Silvestre’s three years of experience on the BOE, she developed working relationships with other elected officials, such as the County Council, which funds the BOE. In addition to prioritizing pandemic recovery and staff recruitment and retention, Silvestre

hopes to implement the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future—a sweeping piece of education reform legislation which plans to increase education funding and includes comprehensive changes to Maryland’s public schools—in order to increase graduation rates and improve college and career readiness among students. “Graduation is great [but] we want the diploma to mean something, not just ‘I graduated,’ but a plan,” Silvestre said.

Mike Erickson is the owner of Diversified Contractors LLC, a landscaping business in Derwood.

He did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

District 1 candidates

Alexander Fahmy is a lifelong Damascus resident and former MCPS student who works in sports marketing. His experience coaching and speaking to students led Fahmy to believe that many of the students he spoke to had low career motivation. “I just thought that the kids weren’t being taught to think big, dream big,” Fahmy said.

With his campaign, Fahmy wants to inspire students to have strong work ethics by refocusing emphasis on core reading, writing, and math skills, as well as financial literacy and career readiness.

Fahmy also hopes to increase transparency between parents and the school system regarding class

content and advocate for parents and families. “I want to continue to be the voice for parents that show their discomfort [towards] what their children are being taught.”

Jay Guan is an education and transportation policy advocate and working MCPS parent who hopes to bring a unique Asian American perspective to the BOE. Drawing lessons from the pandemic, Guan aims to increase the resilience of basic MCPS operations by employing more modernized means of performance tracking and expanding the role of technology in education. Guan believes that these initiatives would lessen the inequities between students of different socioeconomic backgrounds by guaranteeing access to public education for all, should another crisis hit. “I think [ensuring the resilience of MCPS operations] is the one of the greatest equalizers,” Guan said.

Additionally, Guan hopes to improve communications with the community by holding informal, candid discussions with parents around the county, and then renew focus on curriculum and quality of instruction according to parent feedback.

Esther Wells is an MCPS parent and a former MCPS student herself. Wells still feels grateful towards the MCPS educators who

helped her throughout her academic career. “I’m very much invested in the future of our education system, because I feel like I am a testimony to [the belief] that Montgomery County Public Schools is one of the best in the nation,” Wells said.

“They were able to help me climb the socioeconomic class, from poverty into the middle class.”

She aims to promote financial literacy to students of all ages so that they graduate able to make informed financial decisions. “How amazing would it be that the next generation of kids don’t have to do student loans, or don’t have to delay buying a house or starting families?” Wells said.

Grace Rivera-Oven is a founder of Upcounty Consolidation Hub, an organization that provides food and other essentials to Montgomery County families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. She did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

and career ready. She proposes addressing pandemic learning disruption by providing online and in-person tutoring and equipping teachers with the training and tools they need to be successful. Additionally, Yang supports expanding Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs, prioritizing student mental health, and improving community engagement.

Marcus Alzona is the founder of small technology business keys net LLC, a Blair alum, and a MCPS parent. He did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

District 5 candidates

Valerie Coll is a retired elementary school teacher with 32 years of classroom experience who has taught in schools throughout District 5. During her time with MCPS, Coll noticed a lack of former classroom teachers on the BOE, especially elementary school teachers. “I just felt like I had skills [and] experience… to continue to District 3 candidates be of service to the kids that atScott Joftus is the District 3 tend Montgomery County Public seat incumbent who was appoint- Schools and to the community,” ed to the BOE in December 2021 Coll said.

If elected, Coll hopes to apply to serve the remainder of Patricia O’Neill’s term after her passing. a more reflective and flexible apJoftus is the co-founder of Four- proach to decision making. She Point Education Partners, a com- also believes that it is important pany that provides consulting to su- to recognize the learning that was perintendents and school boards, gained during the pandemic. “I and an adjunct professor at George think we have to honor and recognize that every student in our care was learning how to survive in a way that was never asked of students in recent history,” Coll said.

Dawn Iannaco-Hahn has been a school mental health therapist for 17 years and is a parent of a current MCPS student.

Witnessing her own children struggle during remote learning pushed Iannaco-Hahn to play a more active role in education policy. Iannaco-Hahn firmly believes that parent voices need to be represented COURTESY OF: (LEFT TO on the BOE. “[The RIGHT) KARLA SILVESTRE, BOE needs] people DAWN IANNACO-HAHN, that have, as we adults ESTHER WELLS, VALERIE like to say, skin in the COLL, SCOTT JOFTUS, game, because how can ALEX FAHMY, JAY GUAN, you truly understand if MICHAEL FRYAR, BRENDA you don’t have kids in WOLFF, DOMENIC GIANDOthe system?” she said.

MENICO, JULIE YANG Iannaco-Hahn hopes to implement a comprehensive mental Washington University’s Graduate health program for MCPS similar School of Education and Human to the one she worked on while Development, where he teaches working for the University of Maryleadership, program evaluation, land. Under this program, licensed and education policy. physicians would run outpatient Joftus prioritizes rebuilding trust mental health clinics at each school and communication with the com- and provide professional therapeumunity; expanding social, emotion- tic services. al, and mental health supports for Brenda Wolff is the District students; and addressing learning 5 seat incumbent running for elecloss resulting from the pandem- tion to her second four-year term. ic. In order to see new initiatives She is currently serving her second through, Joftus leans on his con- year as the president of the BOE. sulting background and uses per- Wolff believes that her leadership formance management to track and policy-making experience with data for improving implementa- the BOE will help her to continue tion. “What I’m trying to work on to serve the MCPS community. “I with them behind the scenes is… to know what it’s like to get something have short term metrics and make done on the Board,” Wolff said. changes along the way to make sure “It takes five votes to move anythat [initiatives are] successful,” Jof- thing on the Board. Therefore, you tus said. have to be able to work with your Julie Yang worked as an educa- fellow board members, coordinate, tor in MCPS for 11 years as both a negotiate, and collaborate.” classroom teacher and college and Wolff plans to continue to focus career counselor. Growing up in a on several issues that she has chamfamily of educators allowed Yang to pioned since her last campaign: gain appreciation for the long-term ensuring an equitable distribution benefits that education provides of programming in the county, esfrom a young age. “Education lift- tablishing universal Pre-K, measured me out of poverty and gave me ing the effectiveness of programs opportunity,” Yang said. “I know to provide accountability, and imeducation is the bridge for success, proving outcomes for all students. so that drove me into [working in] Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Wolff has also added expansion of education.”

Yang hopes to ensure that ev- access to social and emotional supery school has enough resources ports for students and staff to her to help students become college priorities.

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KA RIS T

May 5, 2022 News A5

EBO

By Cal Tobias News Columnist The highest temperature ever recorded in Maryland was 109 degrees Fahrenheit, set on July 10, 1936. This upcoming July, the region is, once again, set to heat up but in a completely different way: the contentious Democratic primary for Montgomery County Executive.

Among the issues most hotly disputed this election are the candidates’ policies on the environment, especially as they relate to local hot-button issues such as transit and housing. The candidates presented their vision with respect to the climate at a series of debates this spring, held at venues like Eastern Middle School and Veterans Plaza in Downtown Silver Spring.

The candidates are incumbent executive Marc Elrich, who has been serving since 2018, atlarge Montgomery County Councilmember Hans Riemer, and businessman and runner-up in the last County Executive election, David Blair. District 5 Councilmember Tom Hucker originally threw his hat into the race, but he withdrew on April 15 and announced he would run for an at-large County Council seat instead. The final Democrat running is Peter James, the CEO of an AI and robotics company and a former losing Republican congressional candidate who has since switched parties.

Two Republicans are competing in the Republican primary for County Executive, but as Montgomery County leans heavily Democratic, the winner of the Demo-

cratic primary is almost certain to be elected County Executive.

As the Purple Line and new bus routes are established, many of the candidates—especially Riemer and Blair—agree that public transit is key to fighting climate change.

Housing near public transit was also discussed as a way to prioritize and increase accessibility of public transit.

During his term, Elrich has opposed recently built housing near transit, vetoing a bill sponsored

by Riemer that would provide tax breaks to developers who built high-rise apartments near Metro stations. The County Council overrode Elrich’s veto in October 2020.

Riemer continues to support the development of housing near public transit. “We have to see housing growth, including affordable hous-

ing growth, along the Purple Line, [and] up and down the Red Line,” Riemer said at the April 6th debate.

Blair said he enacted policies at his businesses to motivate employee usage of public transit. “[My business had] a program where, twice a year, employees could come in late or leave early if they [tried] to use mass transit,” Blair explained at the debate.

Blair recently picked up an endorsement from the Montgomery County Sierra Club, whose political chair, David Sears, said he “has a track record of executive leadership and is dedicated to working for the public good.” If elected, Blair would be serving in a government position for the first time.

One unconventional alternative to current plans for public transit was proposed by James, who said he favored a system he called “personal rapid transit,” which involves small pod-like vehicles traveling on a fixed track.

In addition to public transit policy, the candidates also were asked about various highway expansions, such as the ones advocated by Gov. Larry Hogan. Hogan has long pushed for expansion of the Beltway and I-270, a policy which has been harshly criticized by some climate organizations. The Sierra Club claimed that expansion of I-270 and the Beltway would “exacerbate air and climate pollution [and] destroy hundreds of acres of forest canopy.” The Beltway expansion was set to add four toll lanes and cut through Blair’s athletic fields. It has since been shelved.

Riemer and Elrich both agreed that certain new highways were not necessary, such as the never built Midcounty Highway (M-83) and I-270. The two, along with Blair, focused on the need for other means of transit such as bus rapid transit (BRT), which is a bus system that has advantages over standard bus service which allow it to be more frequent, such as off-bus fare collection or bus-only lanes.

The Flash bus line, which services Four Corners and much of Colesville Road, is an example of this, although it does not have dedicated lanes as many BRT systems do.

Another contentious issue is the county’s trash incinerator in Dickerson, which was opened in 1995.

According to a 2018 study by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance for the Sugarloaf Citizens Association, the incinerator emits over 500,000 tons of greenhouse gases per year, making it the county’s second-largest source of air pollution.

Elrich said in 2019 that he wanted to close the incinerator by 2022, but it remains operational. According to The Washington Post, Elrich said that does not want to close the facility until the amount of trash being tossed out by the county comes down.

In the April 6th debate—which occurred before Hucker dropped out of the race—Hucker strongly criticized Elrich for not closing the incinerator yet. “It’s just one more area where we’ve had four years of talk and no progress,” Hucker said.

James agreed on the need to shut down the incinerator, and he also advocated the purchase of robots that would sort through the trash. He has introduced a slate of other unusual ideas, including a “digital twin” of the county that he likened to the video game SimCity.

In a place such as Montgomery County where many voters care so deeply about the environment, these issues are sure to come into play. And whichever candidate whose ideas resonate the most with voters may find themselves crowned County Executive come November.

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B1 Opinions May 5, 2022

Does grade inflation benefit students?

MAIA TURPEN

YES

Grade inflation policies benefit students because they remove barriers to graduation and give students the leniency to explore academic interests.

By Christy Li Staff Writer AN OPINION When MCPS reopened for fully in-person learning in the fall of 2021, junior Skye Sibrian dealt with increased social anxiety after spending over a year doing virtual learning. Like many students, she found it difficult to suddenly transition back to brickand-mortar school. “Coming back from not doing much during quarantine school… and

getting used to the new dynamic was very hard mentally, because you had to learn to balance things out,” Sibrian said. “It caused me a lot of stress and anxiety.”

In order to offer leniency during the transition to the 2021-2022 school year, MCPS opted to maintain the pandemic-era guidance towards the county’s 50% rule which required that teachers establish two-way communication with a student’s parents before issuing a zero on any assignment in the 90 percent grading category for All Tasks/Assessments.

This guidance, along with other MCPS policies such as the original 50% rule and the removal of trend grading, make it mathematically possible for students to earn a higher grade for the same amount of work compared to students in the past, a phenomenon commonly referred to as “grade inflation.”

These grading policies benefit students by removing barriers to graduation at a time when a variety of external factors, such as mental, financial, and academic stress incurred during the pandemic, are hindering performance in school, and by encouraging students to pursue challenging classes they are passionate about.

With regards to mental health impacts of the pandemic, Sibrian is far from alone in her experience. A 2021 survey by McKinsey & Company found that parents across the country reported increases in clinical mental health conditions among their children, with a five percent increase in anxiety cases and a six percent increase in depression cases from pre-pandemic years.

These mental health issues are deeply intertwined with students’ performance in schools. According to an analysis of the survey, “parents whose children have fallen significantly behind academically are onethird more likely to say that they are very or extremely concerned about their children’s

mental health.”

These pandemic-era learning disruptions show themselves distinctly in graduation data. Compared to the previous year, graduation rates for the class of 2021 fell in 20 of 26 states that have released their data.

While the graduation rate for Maryland students remained relatively unchanged, rising a modest 0.4 percent, graduation in MCPS was up 2.1 percent from the previous year, reaching 91.4 percent overall.

Studies have found that increased college graduation rates since the 1990s can be attributed to grade inflating policies, so it is possible that new MCPS grading guidance introduced during the 2019-2020 school year could be responsible for relatively high current graduation rates.

This guidance was implemented by the county in order to show compassion towards students’ varying situations during the pandemic. “The last thing [MCPS] wanted to do was have the complexities of a pandemic interfere with a student’s ability to graduate,” Blair Magnet Program Coordinator Peter Ostrander explained. “We wanted to give kids every benefit of the doubt… [and] make sure kids had as much time and as many opportunities to demonstrate that they knew enough material to pass the class.” Ostrander helps to facilitate grade collection and teacher adherence to grading policy at Blair.

Although some argue that increased graduation rates resulting in part from grade inflating policies will dilute the value of a high

school diploma, the societal cost of failing students out of high school is significantly greater. In 2014, taxpayers paid an estimated additional $292,000 per dropout through lost tax revenue and increased public welfare and crime rates. That year alone, these costs amounted to a total of $957 billion for the nation’s 3.3 million dropouts.

Additionally, current MCPS policies encourage students and give them greater confidence to pursue more challenging classes in their areas of choice. These policies ensure that students will not KATIE LI be put off by initial struggles, and give them the leniency to learn from their mistakes.

Sibrian is taking double period AP Biology this year, and despite warnings from her peers that the class was too difficult, she was determined to complete the course. Because of lenient grading policies, Sibrian has found the course to be manageable. “The class is very hard itself, but because of grade inflation, my grade is not horrible,” Sibrian said.

Ultimately, MCPS’s grading policies benefit students because they provide students with enough leniency to demonstrate that they understand the content and allow them to graduate, and reward learning growth instead of punishing initial mistakes. “One of the worst things we can do in education is having a student grow, and then say, ‘Who cares, you still fail,’ and not recognize that growth as a springboard to what comes next,” Ostrander said.

voicebox All photos

by Maia Turpen

“[Grade inflation] doesn’t motivate [students] to try their hardest. It gives them a failsafe.”

NATHAN MCCOWN sophomore

NO

MAIA TURPEN

Grade inflation policies do not benefit students long-term because they devalue diligence and hinder the development of crucial life skills.

By Sophia Stein Staff Writer AN OPINION In an attempt to aid student mental health during the pandemic and provide students with flexible grading, MCPS has implemented grade-inflating policies. Despite its good intentions, the county has gone too far with leniency, and instead created a system that devalues hard work and hinders students’

“Grade inflation policies are beneficial to the students both short term and long term.”

KESHAV MEHTA-HARWITZ senior

ability to gain skills that prepare them for the stricter policies of higher education and the workforce.

When the pandemic arrived, MCPS unveiled a new set of grading guidelines that provided students with more flexibility and opportunities to boost their grades. In a time of unmatched stress and pressure, the county’s decision was reflective of students’ needs.

After the return to an in-person learning environment, however, these policies have gone further than creating a safety net; instead, they remove much of the beneficial pressure on students to study and engage with material in ways that lead to long term knowledge and the acquisition of important skills for the future.

One of the more drastic and influential changes this school year was to MCPS’ “50%” rule, implemented in 2006. This policy originally stated that students cannot receive lower than a 50 percent on any submitted All Tasks/Assessments assignment unless they do not “meet the basic requirements of the assignment,” at the discretion of their teacher, or if they are academically dishonest.

The following changed for the 2020-2021 school year: before assigning a “zero”, teachers must administer “appropriate support, intervention, and two-way communication with the student and parent.” This rule now applies even when the student submits nothing for the assignment.

When Blair physics teacher Dr. Ken Halperin started teaching, there were no pro-

“Grade inflation prompts students to work less hard and try to cheat the system…In the long run, it makes work ethic worse.”

ELENA BAMBURG junior

tections for work that was less than half complete. “When I [started teaching in MCPS], if you handed in 25 percent of the work, you got 25 percent. [The next policy was] if you handed in 25%, you got 50 percent. Now you can hand in nothing and get 50 percent,” he shared. “Each of these steps has been a decline in the standards of what [students] had to achieve…

I would say that the percentage of students who are doing nothing has gone up and KATIE LI up and up.”

Instead of acting solely as a protection for students who are working hard, this rule makes it so that students can easily pass a course without attending the majority of classes or attempting the majority of assignments. “[If] you’re in a class and there have been 10 assignments [and] eight of them, you don’t do it at all…

Now you pass completely by handing in nothing for eight of the 10 assignments,” he explained.

Additionally, the 50 percent benchmark can create complications that lead to discontinuities with grading across the board. “I wind up giving 60 and 70 percentages to people just for having tried, because I don’t want them to get the same grade as the people who haven’t tried at all,” Halperin shared. “I’ve discussed it with other teachers and we all generally tend to do that.”

Students who experience difficulties with

“If students have to work harder…it can be a lot more stressful. Mental health is…greatly needed in school systems.”

AIDEN MCCOWN sophomore

their physical and mental health or learning material should be met with understanding and support in a school environment, but protections shouldn’t extend to all students at all times. “When I know a kid is troubled, I’ll give them anything. I’ll give them any amount of extra time. I’ll forgive assignments,” he said. “We can find out [if a student needs help] or they can communicate it [to us], but that’s not the majority of the people who are taking advantage of this.”

In addition to decreasing the necessity for a strong work ethic, current policies do not equip students for the stricter policies of college or the workforce. “We’re teaching kids that you don’t have to do any work in order to get paid, the pay being the grades. They’re not learning the lesson of how it is to work in the real world,” Halperin said.

Blair Counselor Raolat Agbedina also thinks that the county’s policies do not prepare students who try to take advantage of the grade protections they provide. “When you enter the world of work, integrity, transparency, and fidelity… are all skills that you’re going to need,” she said. “[If] you just skate by the entire time, when you do leave the comforts of the structure that’s in place here in high school… it’s going to be hard for you.”

To act in the best interests of its students and develop disciplined, prepared individuals, MCPS must start phasing out some of its COVID-era policies. Stricter grading policies don’t have to result in decreased student wellness; there can be a healthy balance between hard work and support systems for students. Although it may be difficult to adjust to a pre-COVID grading scale again, students will benefit from the motivation and strong work ethic that less lenient grading policies promote.

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May 5, 2022 Opinions B2

Ukraine war reveals double standard

S

stark and disturbing contrast with the experience of Ukrainian refugees in Poland, which saw a massive mobilization of private citizens in response to the exodus from Ukraine. Individuals in Poland have donated funds and free food, housing, and transportation to this new wave of migrants, while many refugees who are not European continue to be pursued by border patrol agents and forced to move secretly

ING

The characterization of European countries as peaceful and “civilized” implies that countries in the global south are somehow inherently war-torn and uncivilized, a portrayal that affects the perception of refugees fleeing those countries.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov’s statements to the press regarding the influx of Ukrainian refugees at the border drew accusations of generalization and stereotyping of refugees from the Middle East and Africa. “These people are Europeans. These people are intelligent, they are educated people,” Petkov said. “This is not the refugee wave we have been used to, people we were not sure about their identity, people with unclear pasts, who could have been even terrorists.”

Blatantly racist and anti-Muslim notions like these have an acute

effect on the sentiment toward refugees from “war-torn” countries seeking asylum, making many Europeans less amenable to accepting those refugees. A 2016 study by Stanford University and the University of Zurich, conducted in 15 European countries, found that people were 11 percent less likely to say they would accept a Muslim refugee than a Christian one.

Perceptions of nonwhite and Muslim refugees informed by stereotypes and prejudice result in them facing heightened barriers, enmity, and violence when attempting to find safety in Europe. For example, Poland’s border police and army deployed batons, water cannons, tasers, drones, and helicopters to prevent an influx of refugees from the Kuznica-Bruzgi border crossing and other checkpoints at its eastern border with Belarus.

At least 21 migrants, mostly from Iraqi Kurdistan, Syria, Afghanistan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, died along the freezing, forested border in 2021, as Poland created a militarized zone lined with razor wire and displayed an inhumane level of force. Refugees described a state of limbo, being violently pushed across the border in both directions by Polish and Belarusian border guards, already dangerously weakened from hunger and hypothermia.

These experiences stand in

LEV

[It] has caused an unprecedented refugee crisis, not seen since World War II. The difference is that this is taking place in Europe, which is witnessing millions of people fleeing the war.

OLIVER SMITH

According to a poll by Fondation Jean-Jaurès, individuals across Europe strongly support accepting Ukrainian refugees: 92 percent of people in Poland, the nation that has accepted the most Ukrainians, support taking them in.

However, the generous reception afforded to Ukrainians has not been extended to refugees from countries like Syria, Yemen, Sudan, and Afghanistan, leading many to call out hypocrisy in the West. The disparate perception, and consequent treatment, of refugees based on nationality is rooted in racism, and nations have a responsibility to defend the universal right to seek asylum.

It is easy to attribute the difference in reception to geographic proximity, as Ukraine is much closer to many of the European countries taking in numerous refugees.

Oliver Smith, Senior Operations Officer at the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees, the UN’s agency dedicated to aiding and protecting displaced people, explains that the war in Ukraine hits especially close to home for many Europeans. “[It] has caused an unprecedented refugee crisis, not seen since World War II. The difference is that this is taking place in Europe, which is witnessing millions of people fleeing the war,” he wrote in an email to Silver Chips.

“It is also notable that Ukrainians and others are not fleeing from a civil war but from foreign invasion.”

However, there is more to this story. Europeans not only share a geographic proximity to Ukrainians, but a perceived cultural similarity as well, which has informed reactions to the invasion.

As Russia began bombing Kyiv, CBS News Senior Foreign Correspondent Charlie D’Agata framed

the fighting as startling: “This isn’t a place, with all due respect, like Iraq or Afghanistan that has seen conflict raging for decades... You know, this is a relatively civilized, relatively European—I have to choose those words carefully, too— city where you wouldn’t expect that,” he said on air.

MIA

from REFUGEES page A1

between safe houses. Disparities in the treatment of refugees from different countries reveal the precarious nature of Europe’s immigration systems, as well as the racial biases that pervade European politics.

The Western countries that championed universal human rights after World War II, including the right to asylum, have welcomed Ukrainian refugees with open arms while turning away countless others from Africa and the Middle East. As Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki told a security forum in March, “We have seen every means we were told could not be activated for over 70 years deployed in less than seven days.”

The promise of equal access to safety and security must be respected, and all nations should be held responsible for ensuring their systems of asylum are both effective and egalitarian.

The inequality of refugee perception and reception not only exposes but perpetuates racism, positioning the suffering of people of color as less grave than that of white people. How issues of war, displacement, and immigration are framed is immensely important, because it informs the way we view parts of the world, and thus the way we treat people from those places. It is critical to question, and denounce, the vast desensitization of violence against people of color, particularly people in the global south. Only then will we see a world where human rights are truly guaranteed without regard for race, religion, nor origin.

It’s not just you

MCPS needs to reinstate its mask mandate

By Ava Bedaque Staff Writer AN OPINION

FIONA BONDAREV

POLICY IN ACTION Students can now choose whether or not to wear a mask in class.

of 1.1 million students found that during the Delta variant surge, schools with mask mandates had 72 percent fewer COVID-19 cases than schools with mask optional policies.

MCPS is learning this the hard way, as the reported seven day case rate per 100,000 people in Montgomery County has more than doubled since the day after the mandate was lifted, from 45 to 157.42, as of April 26.

COVID-19 cases all across the country will likely only increase with the emergence of the exceptionally contagious XE subvariant, which mutated from the Omicron variant.

MCPS Board of Education (BOE) member Lynne Harris says she voted to lift the mask mandate based on revised guidance from the CDC that focuses on hospitalizations and deaths, and continues to stand by that decision, even as cases increase. “We’re seeing rising case numbers, but we aren’t seeing the impact on the health system. We’re not seeing people land in the hospital, we’re not seeing people get really sick… I think that COVID-19, as a virus, is here to stay with us, just like the influenza viruses,” she told Silver Chips in an interview.

Just accepting COVID-19 as part of a new reality places people’s health in jeopardy, however. “Long COVID-19,” a condition in which a person experiences COVID-19 like symptoms for weeks or months after recovering from a COVID-19 infection, can develop even in people who initially had mild cases. According to the American Medical

Association, between 10 percent and 30 percent of all recovered COVID-19 patients will develop long COVID-19.

Moreover, because COVID-19 can be prevented, we should not strive for fewer deaths, but for none at all.

I don’t want people [to give] me a virus, I don’t want to give people a virus.

MOLLY LICHTENSTEIN

“Masks: On or Off, It’s Just Me.” MCPS’ slogan for its new mask-optional policy is a selfish lie.

COVID-19 is a contagious disease, and universal masking has been proven time and again to be one of the most effective methods for preventing its spread.

When someone who does not know they are sick, or who knows and does not care, takes off their mask, they put everyone around them at risk of contracting the virus. No one lives in a bubble, and thus no one’s actions only affect just them. By nature, COVID-19 is a crisis that requires a community response, not simply an individual

one.

A 2021 study published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that if a person with COVID-19 is unmasked and five feet from someone wearing an FFP2 mask—the European equivalent of an N95 or KN95 mask—there is an approximately 20 percent chance that the masked individual will be infected. That risk drops to just 0.4 percent if both people are wearing an FFP2 mask.

Molly Lichtenstein, a kindergarten teacher at Woodfield Elementary School in Gaithersburg, Maryland, thinks that MCPS’s new mask-optional policy puts people in danger. “I feel like I can only do so much to keep myself safe,” she says. “Now I have to rely on other people to do those things, too.”

A 2022 Duke University study

Despite the dangers of COVID-19, on the day the BOE voted to lift the mask mandate, some MCPS parents at the public comment session appeared preoccupied with the possibility that masks have hurt their children’s development, education, and ability to socialize.

However, Suzanne Djidjoli, a speech pathologist who works at several MCPS schools, disagreed, and said that she and her students adapted to the mandate. “[MCPS was] able to obtain masks with a clear window for us, and they also got some child-sized masks with clear windows [for] students whose primary concern was speech articulation,” she said in an interview with Silver Chips. “It’s not ideal, but there’s definitely ways to work

around the obstacles.”

Moreover, a study from a group of University of Miami psychologists found that masks had no effect on the amount of language sounds produced by young children. Mask wearing was actually associated with the production of more complicated sounds, suggesting masks do not impede the development of children’s communication skills.

A study published by PLOS One in 2020 also reported that there was little difference in children’s ability to infer emotions from facial expressions between pictures of masked and unmasked people. “Children’s ability to infer and respond to another person’s emotion, and their resulting social interactions, may not be dramatically impaired by mask wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic,” it reads.

While masks may be a mild inconvenience, MCPS as a school system must decide which it values more: personal comfort or the health and lives of its students, staff, and families. If MCPS is going to espouse the value of compassion, they must stop pretending mask wearing is a matter of “personal choice” and reinstate the mask mandate.

“It’s what we teach everyday in Kindergarten—how to share and how to be kind and how to treat others how you want to be treated,’’ Lichtenstein said. “I don’t want people [to give] me a virus, I don’t want to give people a virus.

Therefore, I will wear a mask and I’d hope you do the same.”

silverchips

May 5, 2022 Opinions B3

Lack of support leads to lack of success Blair needs to do more to support its Latinx students

By Cecilia Clemens Vargas Lugo Editor-in-Chief AN OPINION I first joined the staff of La Esquina Latina, the Spanish section of Silver Chips Print, in tenth grade and, over these past three years, I have grown increasingly frustrated by the disparities and issues Latinx students face at Montgomery Blair.

When I started writing for Esquina, I knew I would end up writing about inequalities at school.

However, I did not realize how constant these conversations would be. The phrase “lack of Latinx students”—“falta de estudiantes latinx”—is now a permanent part of my vocabulary in both English and Spanish. Despite more than a third of Montgomery Blair’s student population identifying as Hispanic, there is a lack of support systems and policies from the school to help ensure the success of these students.

First and foremost, there needs to be a more overarching and consistent system for Latinx students to better understand the benefits available to them at Blair. With dozens of different courses offered every year and countless clubs and organizations, our school has a unique ability to support every student’s interests. But, many times Latinx students do not know about these opportunities.

This problem is not in any sense new. In an Esquina article, written in Spanish, from October 2014, “Present But Not Represented: Latinos in the School,” Esquina writers Alisson Fortis and Carlos

Fuentes argued that “Despite the evident increase in the Latino student population, our participation in school life and extra-curricular activities is still minuscule compared to other ethnic groups. As Latinos, it is important to show more initiative in our school community so that our needs are recognized and our voices are heard.”

There has consistently been a lack of participation in school activities by the Latinx population and, if the school did more to advertise these classes to students, it could help augment the percentage of participation.

Additionally, Latinx students have low participation in AP classes and exams due to lack of knowledge about the tests and students being unable to handle the workload. As translated from an article, written in Spanish, published in Esquina in February 2022 by Yasmine Rivera, “Progress and Efforts in AP Classes,” “One of the reasons some [Latinx] students are discouraged from taking advanced classes is because of the amount and difficulty of the assignments they will receive.”

According to data provided by Leslie Blaha, Blair’s AP coordinator, for a recent Esquina article, about 120 Hispanic students took at least one AP test in 2017, 153 students in 2018, 142 in 2019 and 124 in 2020. In the 2019 to 2020 school year, there were roughly 1,090 Hispanic students enrolled in Blair, meaning only 11 percent of the school’s Hispanic population took an AP test. While this number does not necessarily reflect class enrollment, it does demonstrate the lack of Latinx students taking

CECILIA CLEMENS VARGAS LUGO; DATA FROM PEW RESEARCH CENTER

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Mr. Eric W. and Dr. Jamie S. Padmore

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advantage of AP opportunities.

While this may be caused by a lack of understanding of the school system—by both students and parents—there is simply no overall push from counselors and teachers to alleviate misunderstandings and get these students into AP classes.

Instead of relying solely on students to relay information about classes and clubs to their parents, the school should hand out a physically printed manifesto with all the classes and clubs at Blair.

This packet should be both offered in a variety of languages, not just English and Spanish. The packet should also offer a breakdown of the opportunities and some possible student opinions about each opportunity so that students do not have to share this information through word of mouth while also allowing parents and guardians to have an easy-to-access explanation of what their students can participate during their time at Blair.

As of now, there are at least four different links to navigate through even to just find the list of courses offered next year.

Furthermore, in a 2020 survey conducted by Latino Decisions, 33 percent of Latinx families in the United States reported not having regular access to the internet and 37 percent reported only having access from their cell phones.

By ensuring this information is not only offered digitally but also on a physical paper, the school can lower the number of families who do not understand the school system.

Many Latinx students are also navigating the American school system with little to no background information on how it functions.

Blair and its surrounding community receives a constant stream of immigrants from Latin America and oftentimes these individuals have minimal information about how high school works. Accord-

First and foremost, there needs to be a more overarching and consistent system for Latinx students to better understand the benefits available to them at Blair. ing to the American Immigration Council, in 2018, 13 percent of Maryland’s population were native-born Americans with at least one immigrant parent, and there were more than 55,000 children

who are immigrants. It’s unreasonable to ask Latinx students to just “figure it out” without anyone to consult with about high school options.

Additionally, there needs to be a more well rounded cultural understanding of the Latinx students.

While I must reiterate that every Latinx student comes from a different background and culture, there are certain issues that affect a large portion of our population.

There are hardly any classroom discussions about issues in Latin America. In my own experience, I have only had one teacher mention a conflict in Latin America.

According to a 2021 study by the Pew Research Center, 77 percent of Hispanics in the U.S. are very familiar with their origins, and 71 percent feel a strong connection to their cultural roots.

Being Latinx means having to navigate multiple cultures and nationalities at once. It’s stressful and confusing, and promoting conversations about the situations our family members and friends face in other countries will ensure that students feel seen and understood at Blair.

I realize these issues can not be solved immediately as they have been around for so long with seemingly no solutions, but even small changes will benefit Blair’s Latinx community.

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May 5, 2021 Opinions B4

Public colleges cannot act private The use of inequitable admissions policies does a disservice to students The private universities in the United States can play by their own rules. Each of them are companies following a simple supply and demand economics equation: they have a product that everyone wants and they have yet to find the limit to how much consumers are willing to pay for it. They are private entities and to expect them to act ethically is a battle one could fight for the rest of their life and never see an inch of progress. But public universities should be held to higher standards.

Each state is required by federal law to have at least one public university, and such institutions are heavily funded by state and national governments. These funds combine to make up about 34 percent of public schools’ total revenues, with the proportion of federal funding growing each year. Public universities should be the natural extension of the free K-12 public education that is valued throughout the country. Instead, many of them have transformed into private school-esque institutions, joining the eternal collegiate battle for higher rankings and growing endowments.

As a greater proportion of American high school seniors set their goals on private higher education, public universities have had to change their policies to try to balance their duty to educate students with their desire to keep their best and brightest minds within the bounds of the state. After investing money into primary and secondary education, states want to see a return on that investment through talented students bringing prestige to their universities before settling down and working in the state.

Because of this, some public universities have started using a policy that can best be described as both the carrot and the stick—the Early Decision (ED) process.

Private universities have used

the ED process in varying degrees for decades, allowing students to commit to their university early in exchange for a leg-up in their admissions process, as the acceptance rates for this admission choice are higher. In turn, their regular decision acceptance rates tended to drop further, as many private institutions filled increasingly higher proportions of their incoming class with ED accepted students. As the college admissions process has become more demanding, more and more students turn to the ED process every year to try to give themselves a chance at their dream school.

As ED has come to dominate the private university application process, some public universities have adopted it in an attempt to compete for top applicants and those that are willing to fully commit to the school on an earlier timeline.

ED is considered by many to be an economic gamble for those who need aid meeting the financial burden of college.

The University of Virginia (UVA), Virginia’s flagship university, started using ED during the 1960s, but removed the application option in 2006, due to the vast inequity that surrounded it. ED is considered by many to be an economic gamble for those who need aid meeting the financial burden of college. Many financial aid packages are released to students after ED decisions are released. This means that students may have committed to the school and withdrawn all other applications as is required, only to find that they cannot attend the school given the financial aid pack-

age they were given. Then-UVA President John T. Casteen III named ED “an identified barrier to qualified low-income students.”

During the application cycle before ED was removed at UVA, less than 2 percent of the students admitted through the ED process had applied for any financial aid, no matter how minimal. Only a single student who qualified for the maximum financial aid package offered

by UVA’s financial aid program even sent an application into the ED process. It is important to note alongside this statistic that the ED admits made up around 30 percent of each UVA class.

In 2019, ED was reintroduced to UVA after a 13-year hiatus.

While UVA claims that this policy is now equitable due to it being offered alongside a nonbinding early action option, UVA heavily favored those that applied ED. In 2020, ED applicants enjoyed a relatively high acceptance rate of 33 percent while the early action applicants faced a 21.7 percent acceptance rate. In 2021, the ED rate stayed relatively similar at 31.37 percent while those that applied early action faced an acceptance rate of 20 percent.

Even beyond the appalling fact that UVA reinstated a policy that they knew disproportionately benefited affluent students, this policy excluded many in-state applicants from a school where they should have been given priority.

Early Decision is a policy that private schools use to game what is called a “yield” rate, or what percentage of students who are admitted to a school actually end up enrolling. A higher yield rate means a higher ranking for the college. Private universities also use ED to get around having to give merit-based scholarships or even generous financial aid packages. In short, ED is another ace up private colleges’ sleeves to even further stack the deck in their favor in every aspect.

For a public school to use this policy is absurd. It should not matter to a public university what their yield rate is, because it should not matter what their ranking is. It should not matter if they have to give out extra financial aid or merit-based scholarships, because the entire reason these universities exist is to help provide further educa-

tion to those who want to pursue it, regardless of their financial status.

It is insane for in-state students to be rejected from their state’s premier university because they chose not to or were unable to apply ED. Public schools funded by state tax dollars should not use inequitable admissions policies like the early decision option.

JAY CHAO

Shining a light on schools

By Ashley Thommana Ombudsman/News Editor AN OPINION 1.8 trillion hours—a mind boggling, yet relevant, number.

In Sept. 2021, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that more than 1.8 trillion hours of in-person learning were lost due to COVID-19 lockdowns. In an interview with the L.A. Times, Director of Education and Adolescent development at UNICEF Robert Jenkins quantified the learning loss further: “To give you a couple of key statistics: in low- and middle-income countries before the pandemic, about 53 [percent] of children could not read or understand a simple text at 10 years old. That’s now gone up to 70 [percent] two years after school closures began,” he said.

The number doesn’t even begin to quantify the disruption education globally has faced over the past two tumultuous years. Within MCPS, the same trends exist. Between the 2018-2019 school year and the 2020-2021 school year, literacy readiness for second graders decreased 35 percent, while math readiness for fifth graders dropped 25 percent.

There are many more statistics to cite that highlight the impacts of the pandemic. But, over the past two years, legislators, educators,

students, and families have expressed renewed interest in the other facets of education that are beyond the immediate effects of the pandemic. For example, a spotlight has been cast on disparities in education access, teacher burnout, the restriction of content that is taught in schools, and more. Addressing these issues requires attention and action.

This cycle, in acknowledgement of the rapidly evolving nature of education, Silver Chips has included a special section dedicated to stories focused on education. From speaking to a Blair alumna who serves as president of the Montgomery County Education Association to evaluating the importance of diversity and representation in the content taught in schools, the articles feature a broad range of pertinent education-based topics both through the lens of the pandemic and beyond.

Why is it important for us to publish these stories? And why now?

The past few years have drawn back the curtain, revealing the many shortcomings of our current approach to education. Furthermore, during this time, an accelerating rate of change across the globe has placed novel expectations on the education system; an increasingly technology-based, interconnected world, recovering from major global disruption that

To connect with Ashley, email her at scombud@gmail. com

SARAH MARTIN

fundamentally changed society, demands new skills.

With all this in mind, it is important that educators, students, and families alike recognize the opportunity we have at this moment to adjust and improve our education in order to better support the next generation.

What we need now is bold solutions. School systems across the country are getting creative, and it

is time we do the same in MCPS. It can be frightening to implement major changes, but without doing so, we resign ourselves to the status quo.

Facing student and teacher burnout? Implement four-day weeks like two school districts in Bowie County, Texas. Want to improve student mental and physical wellbeing? Introduce a 15-minute recess for middle schoolers like

Fairfax County, Virginia. What about increasing student learning and focus, you ask? Push back school start times.

When the pandemic first hit, no one knew how to transition the in-person education experience online. While it wasn’t perfect, virtual learning certainly improved during the school year. The other problems we face in education require the same approach. Maybe we don’t get it right the first time, but if we refuse to even try to solve these issues, we never will. Every passing day is a lost opportunity.

Education holds a special place in our hearts at Silver Chips—well, because we are a school newspaper. But, it should hold a special place in yours as well. Please enjoy the stories we chose to highlight this cycle and remember that there are many more extremely important education topics that haven’t yet gotten the coverage they deserve. The future of our country and world is dependent on the decisions we choose to make today.

Supporting students is non-negotiable.

la

El 5 de mayo de 2022

esquinalatina Representando la comunidad latinx desde el 2003

Volumen 19 Número 5

El Salvador a la ofensiva Gobierno salvadoreño en guerra contra las pandillas Por Ivania Valladores y Kevin Vela Escritores

YEISON COTOM

este es preocupante por la cantidad de homicidios, el día más violento de la administración Bukele”, sostiene Breda.

Adicionalmente, el presidente Bukele amenazó dejar sin comida a los pandilleros que están actualmente en prisión si en la calle sus grupos buscan “venganza” por el régimen de excepción. “Les juro por Dios que no comen un arroz y vamos a ver cuanto tiempo duran” dijo el presidente tras dar una cadena de prensa el 10 de abril.

“Y no me importa lo que digan los organismos internacionales” dijo, siendo consciente de las críticas recibidas. “Que vengan a proteger a nuestra gente, que vengan a llevarse a estos pandilleros sin tanto los quieren. Se los entregamos

todos, al dos por uno” expresó el mandatario.

Estos hechos han afectado mucho a la comunidad salvadoreña y han causado que jóvenes busquen salir de este país para poder estar más a salvo. La Esquina Latina habló con varios estudiantes salvadoreños, todos quienes cuyos nombres se han mantenido en anonimato por razones de seguridad.

“Me siento muy frustrada e impaciente por lo que está pasando” dice una estudiante salvadoreña de noveno grado que llegó recientemente a Estados Unidos tras ver el incremento de violencia y las pandillas. ”Habían muchas pandillas, se desaparecen muchas personas, muchas niñas, niñas violadas y nunca las encontraban y si las encon-

Erika Pastor, quien es de nacionalidad salvadoreña dice “ yo estoy acá por resultado cuando las pandillas comenzaron en el país y a razón de eso yo salí del país”. A la señora Pastor se le pidió su opinión sobre las acciones que está tomando el mandatario y comenta “pienso que todo lo que está sucediendo yo lo apoyo y es fantástico…yo aplaudo la decisión del presidente, lo de el plan territorial y todo lo que él está haciendo yo lo aplaudo perfectamente.”

La Unicef advierte que “ninguna de esas medidas se ajusta a las disposiciones vinculantes de la Convención sobre los Derechos del Niño, de la que El Salvador es parte”.

Debido al incremento de arrestos han acelerado la construcción de cárceles en El Salvador con el objetivo de responder a la “guerra” lanzada por el gobierno de Nayib Bukele a las maras.

El 26 de abril a la media noche terminaba el primer régimen de excepción, por lo que el 27 de abril el presidente de la Asamblea Legislativa, Ernesto Castro, junto al mandatario Bukele convocó una sesión urgente para poder ampliar el régimen de excepción durante 30 días más, la cual fue aprobada tras ver que más de 17.000 pandilleros fueron arrestados durante los primeros 30 días del régimen de excepción.

Habían muchas pandillas, se desaparecen muchas personas, muchas niñas, niñas violadas y nunca las encontraban y si las encontraban las encontraban sin vida.

ESTUDIANTE DE NOVENO

El día sábado 26 de marzo de 2022 la Policía Nacional Civil confirmó haber registrado 62 asesinatos y tres desapariciones en El Salvador. Este fue declarado como el día más violento durante el gobierno del presidente Nayib Bukele, quien asumió el cargo en junio de 2019, y el día más violento en 30 años.

La asamblea legislativa declaró un “régimen de excepción” el 27 de marzo de 2022 el cual suspende por 30 días la privacidad de comunicaciones, la libertad de asociación, así como otras garantías debidas a dicho proceso.

El 28 de marzo Bukele tuiteó “tenemos 16.000 ‘homeboys’ en nuestro poder, aparte de los 1.000 arrestados en estos días. Les decomisamos todo, hasta colchonetas para dormir, les racionamos la comida y ahora ya no verán el sol PAREN DE MATAR YA o ellos la van a pagar también”. De acuerdo con BBC, se han detenido un total de 17.000 durante el estado de excepción.

El analista Tiziano Breda, quien trabaja en Centroamérica para el Grupo de Crisis Internacional, la cual es una organización independiente que se dedica a prevenir guerras y diseñar políticas para construir un mundo más pacifico, explica a la CNN que el aumento de asesinatos es una medida de presión de las pandillas, o como se conocen en El Salvador, las maras, que está siendo usada y fue usadas en el pasado.

“Siempre han sido mensajes de las pandillas a los gobiernos. Pero

traban las encontraban sin vida”, elabora la estudiante de noveno grado.

Muchos de los estudiantes temen por la seguridad de las personas salvadoreñas, como lo es un estudiante de décimo grado quien dice “[Me siento] triste por las personas que están en El Salvador, todo lo que está ocurriendo es una tragedia, es un trauma para muchos”.

Las Naciones Unidas y otras organizaciones sin fines de lucro (ONG) que luchan por los derechos humanos han respondido con preocupación hacia las acciones que está cometiendo el Bukele.

Aseguran que la solución no es encarcelar a los jóvenes y esto solo llevará a que estén más involucrados en pandillas (maras) “Encarcelar a los niños, niñas y adolescentes no proporciona un entorno que mejore su desarrollo ni promueve su integración como miembro positivo de la sociedad” afirmó Unicef en un comunicado.

Aunque estas organizaciones salgan a defender los derechos humanos de los pandilleros, hay estudiantes que piensan lo contrario, dicen que está bien lo que está haciendo el presidente actualmente y que los pandilleros no deberían de tener. “ Yo digo que no, porque imaginate antes que tenían mejor comida y estaban en mejores condiciones, aun a pesar de todo el daño que habían causado. No estoy diciendo que tienen todo eso pero tampoco es justo”, dijo una estudiante de onceavo grado.

Las acciones que ha tomado el mandatario han dado mucho de qué hablar y han traído consigo distintas opiniones. La personal de seguridad de la comunidad Blair,

El béisbol en primera base del BÉISBOL en A1 Sebastián Guzmán, quien también está en el equipo de béisbol y es de Colombia, apenas está iniciando su carrera en el equipo, ya que está en noveno grado. Sin embargo, fuera de la escuela ya inició su viaje. “Fuera de la escuela estoy en un equipo en el cual vamos a viajar”, explica. Guzmán planea seguir jugando los siguientes años para el equipo de la escuela, ya que él tiene una gran pasión por el deporte, “Jugar al béisbol es mi pasión y quiero seguir jugando bien”.

Cuando termine la escuela secundaria, Guzmán planea seguir jugando al béisbol. “Después de que termine high school quiero ir a una

universidad y seguir jugando en ella”. Mientras que su inspiración para jugar al béisbol es, “representar mi país y familia, mantener el apellido mio en alto”. El béisbol ha sido una parte constante de su vida y sigue jugando porque, “Me ha ayudado bastante ya que me divierte, he jugado desde pequeño toda mi vida y eso es lo que me apasiona”.

La llegada del béisbol al Caribe y a otras partes de Latinoamérica como Colombia se debió a un grupo de cubanos que estudiaban en los Estados Unidos durante el siglo XVII. Su popularidad se extendió muy rápidamente, ya que la gente lo encontraba como una manera de escapar del régimen español, ya

CORTESIA DE BRYAN RODRIGUEZ

SEBASTIÁN GUZMÁN En un partido contra otra escuela Sebastián Guzmán se prepara para recibir la pelota.

que para ese tiempo todavía estaba presente la época colonial. En 1969, el juego fue prohibido por los gobernantes españoles; esto causó que unos de los jugadores más famosos emigraran.

Esteban Bellán, un jugador cubano, fue el primer latinoamericano en jugar en las grandes ligas de beisbolistas en los EE.UU. Por la gran guerra que estaba ocurriendo entre Cuba y España, el béisbol era una forma de expresar simbolismo de la libertad durante estos tiempos difíciles.

Mientras que para los cubanos fue un poco más complicado jugar al béisbol, los puertorriqueños pudieron librarse del control de España. Como uno de los resultados de la Guerra Hispano-Estadounidense, Puerto Rico pasó al control de los Estados Unidos, lo cual incrementó el desarrollo en el béisbol.

Roberto Clemente, un puertorriqueño que jugó 18 años en las grandes ligas para el equipo de los Piratas de Pittsburgh es uno de los mejores jugadores de béisbol, reconocido mundialmente. En 1966, fue premiado con el premio al jugador más valioso y en 1972 fue capaz de alcanzar un récord de 3.000 hits, unos meses antes de su trágica muerte, causada cuando su avión, que llevaba recursos y suministros para Nicaragua tras el terremoto, se estrelló lo cual causó su muerte.

Después de que esto ocurriera, en el año 1973, Clemente fue añadi-

CORTESIA DE BRYAN RODRIGUEZ

JUGADOR DE BÉISBOL En un partido con el equipo de Blair, Alex Valdez esta a punto de batear. do al Salón de la Fama del Béisbol. Esto causó que se convirtiera en el primer latinx en integrarse.

También en su honor se creó el Premio Roberto Clemente y las grandes ligas nombraron el día 15 de septiembre como el de Roberto Clemente.

Otro país caribeño donde este deporte es sumamente popular es la República Dominicana. El béisbol en la República Dominicana alcanzó su mayor punto de popularidad por personas que llegaron de Cuba, quienes promocionaron el béisbol entre sus trabajadores.

Uno de los jugadores más reconocidos de la República Dominicana es Sammy Sosa, quien, como venía de una familia pobre, tenía que conseguir dinero y utilizó su talento en el béisbol para hacerlo.

Fue el primer extranjero en llegar

a los 500 home runs en los Estados

Unidos, lo cual fue un gran evento para la historia del béisbol.

Los estudiantes del equipo de

blair también tienen equipo y jugadores a quienes ellos admiran, el

equipo de Guzmán son los Boston

Red Sox, mientras que Alex Valde

no tiene el dice que, “yo siempre

he dicho que el equipo que me

coja en el draft, ese va a ser mi equipo favorito”.

silverchips

el 5 de mayo de 2022 La Esquina Latina C2

Extra-variedades con limitaciones Por Estefany Benitez Escritora UNA OPINIÓN

Ten pasión por algo que quieras hacer.

MICHAEL GUZMAN

En la escuela secundaria, los niños pasan por etapas formativas donde descubren más sobre qué le interesan: fuera del horario escolar, la participación en actividades escolares es crucial para desarrollar sus identidades. Esto es algo positivo, pero también trae más responsabilidad y complicaciones para estudiantes que no se integran inmediatamente con cualquier conjunto de habilidades o pasiones. Se ve esta dualidad particularmente en la comunidad de estudiantes latinx, quienes tienen razones por las que no pueden participar en programas fuera del horario escolar.

Así lo explica una estudiante, Lisbeth Sosa, que está en su segundo año en Blair y cuenta que la razón porque no participa es porque tiene que priorizar otras cosas. “En este momento estoy pasando por algunas cosas personales, por lo que no participo tanto en programas,” elabora Sosa.

Aunque los problemas personales, muchas veces fusionándose con la salud mental, impiden la participación de los estudiantes, muchos piensan que vale la pena y esfuerzo para involucrarse. Jade Monterano, otra estudiante de décimo, dice que las escuelas intentan proveer oportunidades para todos tipos de intereses. “Creo que estos nuevos clubes son buenos para la comunidad porque hay diferentes tipos, por lo que los estudiantes probablemente puedan encontrar uno.”

La importancia de las actividades

extracurriculares en la preparación para carreras profesionales y la edad adulta se remonta hasta décadas.

Durante la Primera Guerra Mundial, el currículum educativo empezó a centrarse en cursos estándares, requiriendo que los estudiantes desarrollaran sus intereses específicos independientemente de la escuela.

En ese entonces, los clubes centrados en la creación de publicaciones periodísticas y anuarios eran actividades extracurriculares populares.

En la actualidad, los estudiantes tienen opciones extracurriculares que brindan oportunidades positivas para el desarrollo personal y social. El condado de Montgomery es uno de los más adinerados en el estado de Maryland. Gracias a esta situación financiera, el condado ha podido crear áreas de recreación, que son lugares para la comunidad donde la gente joven hasta mayores

pueden participar en actividades.

Uno de los programas que está conectado con el área de recreación del condado de Montgomery es TeenWorks.

Este programa fue creado para ofrecer a estudiantes la oportunidad de realizar horas voluntarias.

Los estudiantes obtienen experiencia de trabajo y al mismo tiempo se

benefician. Además, los estudiantes están aprendiendo a ser sociales y mejoran su salud mental. “Muchos estudiantes usan este lugar para distraerse de su ayuda emocional, especialmente si tienen algo que hacer en casa” comenta Genesis Valles, una estudiante en el grado onceavo que es una voluntaria actualmente.

Este programa colabora con “Rec Zones”, un espacio para los estudiantes que participan en actividades al mismo tiempo voluntarios en TeenWorks donde también participan. Genesis Valles explica que “ el propósito es ayudar a los estudiantes del condado de Montgomery a desarrollarse y hacerles sentir que tienen algo después y, especialmente con el programa TeenWorks, el propósito es ser un trampolín para que los adolescentes se desarrollen para tener habilidades de liderazgo.

Una de las mejores experiencias de Valles recuerda “Trabajé con el equipo de fútbol de las escuelas intermedias y había estudiantes que acababan de llegar de su país y usan este programa para comunicarse con otros estudiantes y practicar sus habilidades en inglés.”

Jose Rafael Granados Hernandez es otro estudiante que trabaja como voluntario en este programa. Él comenta que el programa se dedica a “promover el bienestar de los estudiantes y simplemente buenas vibras.”

Otro programa que se está expandiendo es el arte. Por ejemplo, en Montgomery Blair High School, muchos estudiantes latinos están participando en el teatro o también detrás de la obra. Con el estreno de la obra teatral In the Heights se pueden ver estas participaciones.

Actualmente muchos estudian-

COLIN LEDERER

TRABAJO CONSISTENTE Y DURO Una estudiante participa en trabajo fuera de la escuela. tes latinx pasan tiempo en las áreas enseñan en la escuela.” de trabajo. Jade Monterano explica Membreno dice que muchos esla razón porque no puede participar tudiantes latinxs citan excusas sobre en extracurriculares después de cla- el rigor de sus padres como la razón ses “tengo que hacer cosas en casa porque no pueden participar en accómo cuidar a mi sobrina”.

Evely Membreno, una estudian- tividades extracurriculares. “La mate del onceavo grado, explica que yoría de los padres latinos son muy ella trabaja después de la escuela, y estrictos y mis padres fueron uno de encuentra valor en ese trabajo. “Es ellos. No pude participar en las acimportante porque te enseña a ser tividades escolares en la escuela seindependiente, desde que comencé cundaria porque no me permitieron a trabajar no les pido dinero a mis …Siento que debería ser una forma padres porque sé que puedo com- de hacer que los padres entiendan prar lo que quiera y se siente bien y dejen que sus hijos hagan cosas, saber eso.” Aunque ella no puede especialmente si es algo que realparticipar en actividades extracurriculares, encuentra que hay benefi- mente les gusta hacer” Membreno cios únicos de trabajar. “Trabajar nos cuenta. Con muchas opciones me ha enseñado a administrar co- de clubs y extracurriculares Michael rrectamente mi dinero, aprendí a Guzman un estudiante en el décimo hacer mis propios impuestos fuera dice que “Ten pasión por algo que del trabajo y eso es algo que no te quieras hacer”.

Reggaetón: comienzo de un legado Por Sofia Roehrig y Estefany Benitez Escritores El 20 de marzo, el músico Daddy Yankee decepcionó a fans globalmente cuando anunció que iba a retirarse después de 32 años en la industria. Su publicación en las redes sociales fue recibido con miles de emojis llorando, comentadores dando gritos de “NOOOOO,” y todos exponiendo su tristeza que la era de las melodias maravillosas melodías de Daddy Yankee haya finalizado.

Daddy Yankee fue un pionero del género de reggaeton, que es una combinación de hip hop, ritmos latinos y coros caribeños. En su nota de retiro, él escribió del reggaeton que, “este género, la gente dice que [yo] lo hice global, pero fueron todos ustedes los que me dieron la llave para abrir las puertas para hacer de este género el más grande del mundo”.

GENNI VELASQUEZ

Casi todos los días quiero oír las [Becky G y Karol G]...Pues a veces me siento como que quiero bailar o cantar

Es cierto que, con las contribuciones de Daddy Yankee y una gran colección de otras artistas, el reggaeton ha adquirido influencia y alcance global––pero esta fama es relativamente reciente. La palabra ‘reggaeton’ solo fue usada por primera vez en 1994, cuando Daddy Yankee y DJ Playero lo usaron en su álbum, Playero 36. Crearon

la palabra para describir un estilo emergente de Panamá que después fue comercializado por Puerto Rico. Es una combinación de música reggae de Jamaica con sonidos tradicionales de Latinoamérica y esa palabra simplemente se quedó con la gente.

Desde su incepción, el reggaeton ha subido en la lista de top hits, incluso en los Estados Unidos.

En 2004, Daddy Yankee lanzó su rompedor de récords internacional, “Gasolina”, que permeó desde las pistas de baile estadounidenses hasta los tonos de llamada de la gente.

Genni Velasquez, estudiante de Blair de noveno grado, ha comprado en la fama del reggaeton. “Casi todos los días quiero oír las [Becky G y Karol G]...Pues a veces me siento como que quiero bailar o cantar,” dice.

El hit de 2017 de Luis Fonsi, “Despacito’’, fue el sencillo más vendido y más reproducido de 2017 en los Estados Unidos. También fue la tercera canción en español en la historia entera del Top 100 Billboard, marcando un boom reciente en la recepción internacional de la música latina.

No se puede decir que haya sido puro éxito: el grupo conservador de vigilancia Morality in Media (ahora conocido como el Centro Nacional sobre Explotación Sexual) se opuso dramáticamente al estilo de música cuando se originó en los años 90, diciendo que el reggaetón reflejaba una subcultura juvenil donde “la violencia, la el uso de drogas, los libertinajes sexuales y la falta de respeto por los demás” era la norma. Grupos políticos en Puerto Rico tomaron esta misma posición, abogando que se prohíba la música por su lascivia y énfasis en la sexualidad.

Pero los fanáticos no fueron

disuadidos por estas protestas conservadoras, evidenciado por la creciente y masiva base de fans del estilo musical. Mientras que empezó con El General, Daddy Yankee y Ivy Queen, el reggaeton ha creado muchas estrellas de pop, incluyendo a J Balvin, Karol G, Nicky Jam, Anuel, Bad Bunny y otros más.

En su éxito, el reggaeton ha creado una subcultura única para los jóvenes. La selección urbana le ha dado una plataforma a muchos artistas, como Bad Bunny, para expandir su talento a más éxitos del hip hop latino y al mismo tiempo mantener sus pertenencias de reggaeton.

Aunque tiene una amplia audiencia global, gran parte de la audiencia del reggaeton tiene información mínima sobre sus raíces.

Jefferson Ortega, estudiante del noveno grado en Montgomery Blair High School, cuenta que aunque “tiene buen flow” afirma que “no [sabe] de donde viene el reggaeton”.

En agosto de 2021, Spotify lanzó un nuevo podcast titulado Loud, que exploró la historia y la evolución del reggaeton. El podcast fue presentado por La Caballota, también conocida como Ivy Queen, quien es también acreditada como una pionera del reggaeton. Antes de su estreno, ella dijo que el podcast explicaría a los fanáticos cómo el sonido “crudo e irresistible” del reggaetón desafió el racismo y se apoderó del mundo.

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C3 La Esquina Latina el 5 de mayo de 2022

Washington Heights llega a Blair

Compilado por Ivania Valladares Escritora

Estudiantes Latinx abren el telón

Expresidente extradictado

Por Yasmine Rivera Escritora Esa bonita bandera! Contiene mi alma entera!

Y cuando yo me muera Entiérrame en mi tierra!

Estos sentimientos orgullosos sobre la identidad latina se pueden oír por todo In the Heights, la obra estudiantil que se estrenó el 22 de abril en Montgomery Blair High School. In the Heights es una obra musical cuya música y letra fueron escritas por Lin-Manuel Miranda, basada en la obra escrita por Quiara Alegría Hudes. In the Heights trata sobre un grupo de personas que viven en Washington Heights, Nueva York, un vecindario predominante dominicano y como poquito a poquito está entrando la gentrificación. El musical también tocó puntos sobre la inmigracion, la lucha de ser latino, y la importancia de la familia y la comunidad.

In the Heights estaba programada a estrenarse en 2020 (antes de la pandemia) en Montgomery Blair High School pero se tuvo que cancelar por el cierre de las escuelas a causa del Covid-19. Este año In the Heights fue el musical de verano de la escuela y para muchos estudiantes era su última vez en ese escenario. In the Heights también tuvo dos elencos para darle más oportunidades a todos los estudiantes que audicionaron. Los dos elencos se turnaron para cada show. A la vez, también es la primera vez para muchos estudiantes en el escenario, sin embargo todos hicieron un

UZIEL GONZÁLEZ

Mi experiencia fue muy maravillosa, en verdad fue algo muy impresionante que me ha llevado a ser reconocido en la escuela.

INTERNACIONAL NOTICIAS BREVES

González comenta que, “Mi experiencia fue muy maravillosa, en verdad fue algo muy impresionante que me ha llevado a ser reconocido en la escuela, pero eso no es lo más maravilloso sino que fui partícipe de una obra porque siempre quise… es un sueño hecho realidad”.

En esta obra, González no solo pudo mejorar su voz y sus habilidades de actuación sino también, “He aprendido a tener confianza en mí mismo, y a poder ser una persona carismática, una persona que puede lograr aquello que quiere si se lo propone”, explicó. Guadalupe comentó, “Estar en In the Heights ha sido una de las mejores experien-

Hay personas que tienen el talento pero no lo hacen porque tienen otras cosas ‘más importantes’.

chas partes de la escuela que nunca había hecho antes”. Para estos estudiantes, participar en la obra musical les ayudó en muchas formas, no solo en su experiencia escolar sino también en sus vidas sociales y personales.

las artes. González comentó, “Si, en verdad necesitamos personas latinas que que tengan intereses, porque, porque los latinos podemos ser alguien diferente que no solo venimos a los Estados Unidos tal vez por una cosa como solo trabajar, como solo sacar la high school y dejarlo. Yo creo que hay que seguir, y podemos hacerlo los latinos podemos seguir adelante. Necesitamos personas de todos los países latinos que tengan ese interés y que puedan hacer estas obras porque es algo muy lindo. Las experiencias que tienen son muy hermosas”.

Guadalupe dijo, “Ahora mismo hay una baja representación de minorías en el teatro. Los estudiantes latinos usualmente no son alentados a participar en teatro o música.

Mucho menos los estudiantes en ESOL. Varios estudiantes piensan que no hay oportunidades para ellos en el mundo de las artes, pero no es así. Es nuestra responsabilidad como latinos hacernos oír y demostrar que somos capaces de crear. Ningún estudiante latino debería contenerse de tomar un curso de teatro o música si eso es lo que realmente desea. No necesariamente para ser un actor o músico.

Todo lo que uno ama hacer se puede convertir en un hobbie”. Abi destacó que, “Algunas veces siento que tienen tanto para dar pero hay veces que ellos dicen que por la familia que no creen que es bueno para los niños que no es importante que hacer. Pero al final del día es una manera de fusionarse uno mismo sin tener que hacer otras cosas como el deporte sí es importante pero no es lo mismo que cantar.

Hay personas que tienen el talento pero no lo hacen porque tienen otras cosas ‘más importantes’. Creo que sí es importante”.

¿Por qué es importan- Un mensajito de los te? estudiantes Participar en una obra escolar puede ayudar a muchos estudiantes a subir su autoestima y poder tratar algo nuevo. Además, es muy importante que estudiantes latinx tengan interés o formen parte en

González, Guadalupe, y Torres quieren terminar con unas palabras de agradecimiento y aliento para otros estudiantes. González dijo, “agradecerle a Dios por todas las oportunidades que me esta

dando y las puertas que me esta abriendo y también con toda mi familia estoy muy agradecido con ellos y con la directora, la señora O’Connor, la directora del espectáculo. [Estoy] muy agradecido porque es un sueño hecho realidad, por poder ser partícipe de esta obra In the Heights”. Guadalupe comentó, “Para finalizar, me gustaría resaltar la valentía y determinación de Uziel Gon-

Me he divertido mucho e hice muy buenas amistades.

ANDRE GUADALUPE

¿Cómo fue la experiencia?

cias desde que vine a Estados Unidos. Me he divertido mucho e hice muy buenas amistades. Estar todos los días conversando y practicando líneas me ha ayudado mucho en mi habilidad con el inglés. Ms. O’Connor fue una maravillosa profesora y fue una gran experiencia haber trabajado con ella. Aprender diversas técnicas de actuación y canto fue una experiencia fascinante y única que sólo se puede vivir en la secundaria”. También comentó, “In the Heights me enseñó que hay espacio en Broadway para los latinos como yo. In the Heights me enseñó que no debería estar avergonzado de ser latino, sino que debería abrazarlo como parte de mi identidad y estar orgulloso de pertenecer a ella.

Orgulloso de las tradiciones de mi familia. Orgulloso de hablar dos idiomas. Orgulloso de representar a mi cultura en el escenario”.

Torres destacó que, “Sobre todo ha sido muy bonito, pude conocer muchas más personas que no conocía antes y pude conocer mu-

ABI TORRES

buenísimo trabajo.

Algunos estudiantes que vale la pena destacar son Uziel González, Andre Guadalupe, y Abi Torres.

Estos estudiantes se destacaron muchísimo en la obra. González es un estudiante en el décimo grado originario de El Salvador, quien tuvo el papel del piragüero en la obra. Él vendía piraguas en el vecindario de Washington Heights.

Andre Guadalupe, oriundo de Perú, está en el doceavo grado e interpreta a Kevin Rosario, el papá de uno de los personajes principales y el dueño del servicio de carros. Abi Torres es una estudiante salvadoreña de décimo grado que interpreta a Nina Rosario, una de los personajes principales.

JONATHAN CUMBLIDGE

MUSICAL DE PRIMAVERA Estudiantes participando en la obra de In The Heights

zález, un estudiante de ESOL, quien a pesar de no hablar inglés fluido, consiguió un papel principal en In the Heights. Él fue un gran compañero de trabajo y es la prueba viviente que hay espacio para todo estudiante latino en el teatro. Ms. O’Connor, la profesora de teatro y directora de In the Heights, siempre recibe estudiantes latinos en su clase y acomoda las tareas y proyectos si es que no tienen mucha experiencia con el inglés. Si es que hay suficiente apoyo ¡Podremos abrir una clase de teatro para estudiantes en ESOL! Así que si es que necesitas crédito en Fine Arts o están buscando oportunidades para mejorar tu pronunciación, enunciación e interpretación, ¡Únete a la clase de teatro”! Abi terminó con esta recomendación, “Deberían probar algo nuevo”. Estos estudiantes pudieron sobrepasar los límites e hicieron un gran trabajo con sus partes en la obra.

El día jueves 21 de abril de 2022 el expresidente de Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández fue extraditado en un avión de la DEA desde Tegucigalpa hasta Estados Unidos para ser juzgado por narcotráfico en el cual se pueda enfrentar a penas de cadena perpetua.

El exgobernador de 53 años, quien fue presidente entre 2014 y 2022, fue capturado en su residencia en Tegucigalpa el 15 de febrero, un día después de que su “detención provisional” fuera solicitada por Estados Unidos con fines de extraditarlo.

El día 8 de abril, la Sala Constitucional del Supremo confirmó la extradición de Hernández, que el pleno de la Corte de Justicia Suprema (CJS), compuesto por quince magistrados, había confirmado el 28 de marzo.

Estados Unidos acusó al exmandatario de Honduras de operar su país como “narcoestado” y de usar sobornos que recibió de narcotraficantes como “El Chapo” para cometer fraude electoral en las pasadas elecciones.

Unas horas después de que Hernández despegara hacia Nueva York, donde fue juzgado, el Departamento de Justicia estadounidense publicó la acusación completa contra el anterior presidente.

La acusación formal, de 20 páginas, alega que Hernández formó parte de una conspiración que desde el 2004 transportó más de 500 toneladas de cocaína hacia Estados Unidos a través de Honduras, la cual era procedente de Colombia, Venezuela y otros países.

Protestas contra el feminicidio Cientos de mujeres marcharon el domingo 24 de abril de 2022 en un suburbio en el centro de la Ciudad de México para protestar por los recientes asesinatos de varias mujeres.

Hubo protestas adicionales en la ciudad Nezahualcóyotl donde dos mujeres fueron asesinadas la semana del 18 de abril.

Los manifestantes en su mayoría mujeres, portaban letras donde se leía “No al acoso” y “México es una fosa común”.

Las marchas en la ciudad de México fueron pasivas en su mayor parte, a diferencia de otras protestas por los derechos de la mujer en años recientes. Los manifestantes no realizaron pinturas con grafiti en el Ángel de la Independencia, uno de los monumentos más emblemáticos de la ciudad.

En el lugar pegaron muchos afiches, cada uno de ellos con la descripción de la desaparición de cada una de las mujeres. Muchos de ellos tenían la foto de Debanhi Escobar, cuyo cuerpo fue encontrado dentro de una cisterna en un hotel en Monterrey, dos semanas después de su desaparición.

Los activistas dicen que las autoridades no han ejercido bien su trabajos tras que el padre de la víctima Escobar dijera el el lugar había sido registrado pero no la encontraron hasta que los trabajadores se quejaron de un mal olor en la cisterna Los manifestantes gritaban “justicia!, justicia!” y portaban carteles donde decía “Nos faltan 24.000” refiriéndose al número de mujeres que han desaparecido en el país.

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el 5 de mayo de 2022 La Esquina Latina C4

Un platillo de oro

Los precios y sabores de las pupusas en nuestra comunidad Por Axel Henriquez Escritor UNA OPINIÓN

Así se hace una pupusa revuelta. Si va a querer hacer una de otra carne, ponga la carne que quiere

CON DEDICACIÓN Preparando la masa. estaba aquí para recoger tres pupusas revueltas. Me dijeron que iba a ser $9.43.

La Casita Pupuseria por mucho tiempo ha sido el lugar para obtener las pupusas en el área de Silver Spring, Maryland, especialmente si buscas “calidad sobre cantidad” según Leslie Magadan, empleada de la casita por cinco años. Sin embargo, en tiempos recientes,

usar en lugar del de puerco y si la va a querer hacer de queso, no le ponga nada de carne. Con todo incluido, el costo de ser

EN EL SARTÉN Una empleada de La Casita cosina pupusas. una pupusa revuelta es de menos de dos dólares usando esta receta.

Entonces, ¿por qué es tan costoso una pupusa de la casita cuando se puede hacer más barato?

La receta que usa La Casita Pupuseria para hacer una pupusas revuelta es: 1. Comience cocinando el cerdo (Para hacer el chicharon).

JONATHAN CUMBLIDGE

2. Añadir las especias a la carne de cerdo.

3. Moler la carne o tirar la carne para ser parte de el relleno(cada persona lo así différente) 4. Con la parte del relleno que usaron mezcla lo con el queso (Mozzarella) para terminar de hacer el relleno.

5. Hacer la masa mezclando harina y agua.

6. Asegúrese de que la masa no sea demasiado dura (consistencia correcta).

7. Poner el relleno en la masa que se mire como una pelota.

8. Dele forma de tortilla, asegúrese de cerrar los lados.

9. Ponga la tortilla con el relleno en la plancha entre a 10 a 15 minutos (cambiar los lados de las pupusas cada cinco-siete minutos).

10. Ya está lista. Ponga el curtido y la salsa para comer.

Leslie Magadan explicó que el aumento de precios de las pupusas se debe a que los precios de queso, cerdo, carne de vaca, aguacates y más alimentos subieron de precio también. Los dos productos más vendidos en La Casita son la horchata y las pupusas revueltas.

En La Casita me dijeron que en un día normal vendían menos de 1.000 pupusas, pero en un día ocupado podían llegar a vender 1.000 pupusas. Cuando pregunté si el precio había subido en los últimos años, me respondieron que probablemente, aunque todo el tiempo que ha trabajado aquí, siempre ha estado ocupado.

Cuando le pregunté cuánto cuesta hacer un pupusa normalmente (no incluyendo pupusas hechas de arroz) Me dijeron que cuesta un poco más de tres dólares y cuando pregunte cómo pueden venderlas en $2.95, me di-

ANG LUCIA W

JONATHAN CUMBLIDGE

jeron que en El Salvador (De donde las pupusas) pupusas son conocidas como comida callejera, y a su vez, tienen que tener un precio barato. La forma que ganan dinero para seguir la venta es con la venta

El aumento de precios de las pupusas se debe a que los precios de queso, cerdo, carne de vaca, aguacates y más alimentos subieron de precio.

LESLIE MAGADAN

Sonó la campana, señalando el final del día escolar y mi estómago me avisó que era hora para comer.

Decidí que se me antojaban unas pupusas.

Las pupusas son un platillo delicioso. Estas tortillas con el relleno adentro son la perfecta representación de la comida salvadoreña.

Honestamente, las pupusas son un milagro. Estos regalitos del cielo han sido parte tanto como de mi cultura y de experiencias con mi familia.. Cuando visitaba a mi tía, ella vendía las pupusas dos veces a la semana en su vecindario.

En todo caso, resolví llamar a La Casita Pupusería, un restaurante salvadoreño en Silver Spring fundado en 2002, de acuerdo con su sitio web.

Me pedí tres pupusas revueltas, rellenas de puerco y queso. Me dijeron que se iban a tomar unos 15 minutos para estar listas. Cuando estaba esperando en el bus, mis ojos estaban mirando hacia afuera al cielo queriendo que se pasara el tiempo más rápido para comerme unas pupusas suaves como las nubes esponjosas que estaba mirando, con mi boca salivando del pensamiento. Me bajé del autobús y al entrar olí todos los ingredientes sabrosos. La mezcla de maíz, grasa y queso me emocionó aún más.

Cuando llegué al restaurante, esperé en la fila. Después de unos segundos fue mi turno y dije que

los precios de las pupusas han subido de $2.25, precio de cuando comenzó la pandemia, al costo actual, que por ahora está cerca de tres dólares ($2.95) por una pupusa revuelta.

Pero La Casita está lejos de ser la única opción donde encontrar pupusas en la comunidad de Blair.

El camión de comida Eden Zero está situado en 112 University Blvd W, Silver Spring. Una forma de hacer una pupusa revuelta por menos de $2 es la receta que usa Eden Zero y que me compartió Maria Chavez: 1. Se compran todo los ingredientes y se preparan (masa, queso, carne de puerco, frijoles refritos, tomate, cebolla, y chile verde).

2. La carne de puerco se pone a cocinar y se deja dorar, que se haga chicharrón (el chicharroncito es cuando ya la carne de puerco esté doradita).

3. Eso lo sacas y le agregas tomate, cebolla, chile verde, y un poquito de frijoles y eso lo mueles (ese es el chicharrón).

4. Al chicharrón se le revuelve el queso (por eso se llaman revueltas).

5. Se envuelve en la masa, se hace la tortilla, y le echas la comidita en medio, cierras la palmita, la pones a cocinar.

6. Se sacan las pupusas cuando ya están doraditas de los dos lados.

7. ¡Ya está lista! Ponga el curtido y la salsa para comer.

de otras cosas, como la horchata.

Pregunté a 19 estudiantes de Montgomery Blair High School de donde eran sus pupusas favoritas ,si eran de restaurante, de camión de comida, o de casa. De los 19 estudiantes, nueve me dijeron que les gusta más el restaurante. tres de los estudiantes me dijeron que les gustaba más el camión Y de los cuatro estudiantes les gustaba más de casa. tres de los estudiantes no estaban seguros de cuál eran sus favoritas.

El estudiante Taiki Hernandez explica que la razón por la que le gustan más las pupusas de restaurante es porque en general las pupusas de camión son más pequeñas que las de restaurante”. Otros estudiantes también me dijeron que las pupusas de restaurante son de mejor calidad.

Las razones que unos estudiantes me dijeron por la que las pupusas de camiones son las mejores es porque son más buenas y más baratas.

Las razones que unos estudiantes me dijeron que las pupusas de casa son las mejores son porque llevan más ingredientes porque son para la familia.

Cuando pregunté a los estudiantes cuanto es lo máximo que ellos van a pagar por una pupusa los precios fueron dispersados, con el promedio siendo $3.23 con el precio más barato siendo 50-75 centavos con él más altos siendo $10.

Leslie Magadan describe las pupusas como arte y explica que “las pupusas son modestas y llenas de textura”.

S1

Education May 5, 2022

Segundas opciones

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Alternativas de la universidad para estudiantes latinx Por Yasmine Rivera Escritora

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la academia de profesiones de la salud, es un programa de dos años, el primer año aprendes sobre la estructura y función del cuerpo humano, y en el segundo año profundizas en el conocimiento de lo que aprendiste el primero año y estudias para convertirte en un asistente de enfermería certificado”. Ramírez también destaca, “Algunos de los beneficios de Edison son poder obtener experiencias prácticas en el hospital Holy Cross, aprender habilidades que no aprendería en su escuela integral y convertirse en un MA (asistente médico), NA (asistente de enfermería) y BLS certificados (soporte vital básico)”.

Aunque muchos estudiantes, toman la opción de entrar al ejército, hay ciertos requisitos que una persona debe cumplir para aplicar.

Una de las más importantes es tener un estatus legal en este país. Los soldados registrados deben estar entre 17-35 años de edad, médica y físicamente aptos, y en buena posición moral, un ciudadano estadounidense o residente permanente con una tarjeta verde válida (tarjeta de residencia permanente), un graduado de escuela secundaria o equivalente, y un puntaje mínimo en el examen de ubicación del Ejército (un 31). Al entrar o unirse al ejército pueden recibir 30 días de vacaciones, atención médica integral, vivienda, asignaciones en efectivo para cubrir el costo de vida, dinero para educación, servicios familiares e incluso apoyo profesional después de servir.

Después de graduarse, los estudiantes también tienen la opción de ir a un colegio comunitario.

Montgomery College es un colegio comunitario del condado Mont-

gomery. Cualquiera puede aplicar para Montgomery College, incluso los estudiantes indocumentados también pueden solicitar la admisión y a su vez pueden aplicar para el Maryland Dream Act (MDA,

Allá muchos no tienen la oportunidad de seguir después de la secundaria porque ganan muy poquito dinero.

ALEXANDRA TORRES

COURTESY OF ANGELA RAMIREZ

cas universidades de cuatro años porque los programas son menos académicos y más enfocados en el trabajo. Hay diferentes tipos de programas vocacionales, algunos ejemplos son asistencia médica, asistente dental, cosmetología, codificación médica, y técnico en farmacología.

En el condado de Montgomery hay una opción para los estudiantes de secundaria, que pueden asistir a un programa llamado Thomas Edison High School of Technology.

Thomas Edison High School of Technology (TEHST, por sus siglas en inglés) es una escuela se-

cundaria de entrada por solicitud únicamente que ofrece programas de educación profesional y tecnológica (CTE, por sus siglas en inglés) de medio día a los estudiantes inscritos en cualquiera de las escuelas secundarias de MCPS. Los estudiantes de secundaria presentan su solicitud a través de la oficina de consejería escolar en la escuela secundaria integral del estudiante.

Los estudiantes aceptados asisten a TEHST durante la mitad del día escolar y asisten a la escuela secundaria integral de la misma inscripción durante el medio día restante para completar los requisitos de graduación de la escuela secundaria y participar en actividades extracurriculares. Los programas TEHST tienen una base académica e incorporan requisitos de competencia de la industria, desarrollo de habilidades de empleabilidad, componentes de planificación universitaria y profesional, y oportunidades para el liderazgo estudiantil.

Unos de los varios programas que ofrece TEHST son programas automotriz, de construcción, servicios humanos y al consumidor, como también academia de educación de preparación profesional. Angela Ramirez, una estudiante del doceavo grado que asiste a TEHST para la academia de profesiones de la salud dice, “En Edison estoy en

ANGELA RAMIREZ

La universidad es un tema que muchos estudiantes de la secundaria tratan de evitar, sea por razones de estrés o de indecisión. Pero para muchos es por factores económicos. Después de graduarse de la escuela secundaria muchos estudiantes continúan su educación en la universidad.

Muchos estudiantes no tienen los recursos para seguir pero acuden a aplicar para becas y poder recibir ayuda del gobierno lo cual les facilita poder pagar la universidad. Sin embargo también hay estudiantes que no califican para ayuda del gobierno, o hay estudiantes que no tienen un estatus legal y eso hace que tengan dificultades para ir a la universidad.

En un estudio del National Journal de 2014, el 66 por ciento de los hispanos que encontraron trabajo o se unieron al ejército justo después de la secundaria dijeron que no fueron a la universidad porque necesitaban ayudar a mantener a sus familias, en comparación con el 39 por ciento de los blancos.

Alexandra Torres, una estudiante en el onceavo grado dice, “Ya que estoy aquí no puedo perder la oportunidad que me han dado de poder aprender un nuevo idioma, una cultura nueva, y poder seguir estudiando sin la preocupación de que no ganamos mucho pero puedo ir a la escuela y allá muchos no tienen la oportunidad de seguir después de la secundaria porque ganan muy poquito dinero”.

A pesar de eso hay otras formas en que los estudiantes pueden

sacar una carrera sin tener que ir a una universidad. Por ejemplo pueden ir a escuelas vocacionales, entrar al ejército, o ir a un colegio comunitario donde pueden estudiar dos años en lugar de cuatro.

Las escuelas vocacionales son escuelas para estudiantes en la secundaria y postsecundaria para ayudar a brindar su vocación o habilidades técnicas para un trabajo o tarea en específico. Las escuelas vocacionales son diferentes de las típi-

por sus siglas en inglés). Los graduados de la escuela secundaria, ya sean inmigrantes indocumentados, ciudadanos estadounidenses o con cualquier otro estatus migratorio, tienen la oportunidad de recibir la tasa de matrícula más baja en su colegio comunitario local, si cumplen con ciertos requisitos. Los requisitos son asistir a una escuela secundaria de Maryland, ser graduado de una escuela secundaria de Maryland o recibir un GED de Maryland, y estar registrado dentro de los seis años después de graduarse de una escuela secundaria de Maryland o de recibir un GED de Maryland.

No tener recursos económicos o tener un estatus legal no significa que un estudiante no pueda salir adelante. Ir a una escuela vocacional, entrar al ejército, o ir a un colegio comunitario son formas en las cuales los estudiantes y sus familias pueden ahorrar dinero y también avanzar de forma profesional y económica.

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May 5, 2022 Education

S2

ESOL: El sistema para nuevos estudiantes Una explicación del programa de estudiantes de inglés Por Cecilia Clemens Vargas Lugo Editora-en-Jefe Debido a la constanza llegada de inmigrantes de Latinoamérica en los Estados Unidos, el Centro de Estudios de Inmigracion estima que hay 46.6 millones de inmigrantes viviendo en los Estados Unidos, las escuelas del condado de Montgomery tienen que acomodar a los estudiantes que llegan sin mucha comprensión del inglés y el sistema escolar.

El programa de inglés para hablantes de otras lenguas, o ESOL por sus siglas en inglés, se dedica a “capacitar a los estudiantes multilingües emergentes para que dominen el inglés académico para prosperar en la escuela, la universidad, las carreras y como ciudadanos globales. La educación de los estudiantes que aprenden inglés como un nuevo idioma es una responsabilidad colaborativa compartida por el maestro de ESOL, el maestro del salón de clases, todo

inscritos en ESOL. Este programa parece complicado a primera vista pero hemos creado esta explicación para simplificar el programa.

Lia Contreras, la consejera de ESOL en Blair explica que cuando estudiantes de ESOL primero llegan a Blair ella “ahorita, hay diferentes formas en que nosotros ayudamos a los estudiantes. Por ejemplo, [yo] me reuno con los estudiantes desde la primera entrevista inicial que es con los padres, donde yo les explico en un forma general acerca de lo que es Blair, de las diferentes políticas de la escuela, cuáles son las expectativas de los estudiantes, parte académico y horario”.

Para ayudar a que los estudiantes se aclimaten en Blair Contreras explica “tenemos un grupo, ahora hemos creado un grupo que se llama el “grupo de bienvenidos” en que nosotros nos estamos reuniendo con los estudiantes por ocho semanas. Durante estas ocho semanas ayudamos a los estudiantes a lo que llamamos ‘la transición’. Entonces

es donde explicamos más detalladamente información como asistencia… ciertas reglas como no salir de la escuela, la razón porque Blair tiene un almuerzo cerrado”.

[Yo] me reuno con los estudiantes desde la primera entrevista inicial, que es con los padres, donde yo les explico en un forma general acerca de lo que es Blair.

LIA CONTRERAS

el personal apropiado de MCPS, así como también el estudiante de ESOL”, de acuerdo con el Condado de Escuelas Públicas de Montgomery, o MCPS por sus siglas en inglés.

La necesidad de programas escolares que enseñan inglés empezó al principio de la historia de los Estados Unidos. En su artículo, La historia de la enseñanza del inglés como segundo idioma, M.P. Cavanaugh, explica que “Después de la Revolución [Americana], se presionó para que todos los ciudadanos aprendieran el mismo idioma y los mismos principios del gobierno republicano a través de las escuelas comunes. Estas lecciones debían enseñarse en inglés para todos los niños. Durante un tiempo fue primordial la necesidad de crear lazos comunes y lealtades de construcción de nación”.

En Montgomery Blair, en el año escolar 2019-2020 el 17.7 por ciento de los estudiantes estaban

Antes de entrar al programa de ESOL en Blair un estudiante tiene que ir por varios pasos. Primero toman un examen llamado WIDA

por sus siglas en inglés. De acuerdo con el sitio de web de MCPS en este examen “los estudiantes pueden obtener puntajes de 1.0 a 6.0 en atención oral, habla, lectura, escritura y puntaje general. Los estándares coinciden con el lenguaje del contenido académico del salón de clase”. Este examen ayuda a las escuelas a decidir en qué nivel de ESOL tendrá que entrar un estudiante.

Theresa Hiller, la maestra de recursos para ESOL, elabora que después de tomar este examen muchos de los estudiantes, “están comenzando en un nivel uno, tenemos muchos estudiantes que entran, en, ya sabes, ni siquiera pueden decir mi nombre, también miran su, como dije, su historial educativo para ver si fallaron. años de educación, como si no hubieran ido a la escuela durante un par de años. Y si es así, entonces reciben una evaluación adicional de alfabetización y matemáticas en español”.

Después de este proceso, una vez que un estudiante está inscrito en los servicios de ESL, si se ha determinado mediante esta prueba oficial que tiene un nivel de competencia en inglés por debajo del nivel de grado, entonces son servicios ELDS legalmente garantizados, servicios de desarrollo del idioma inglés. Y entonces hay todo un papeleo y un proceso que va junto con eso. Entonces, uno es la notificación de la ubicación de la celda. Esa es una carta para los padres, pero no es inmediata, pero dice que su estudiante ha sido identificado como estudiante de inglés y esto es lo que eso significa. Así que sí, se notifica a los padres que su estudiante es, ya sabes, un estudiante de inglés, pero estamos hablando de los padres de esos estudiantes que no hablan inglés. Saben que por eso estamos aquí”, continúa Hiller.

Para poder salir de ESOL Hiller explica que un estudiante tendría que tener una conferencia con ella, el estudiante, sus padres y su administrador. Después si el estudiante pasa el examen de WIDA ACCESS. Después que uno pasa

Me importa más llevar las dos clases de inglés porque en mi país ya participar en clases de electivos y ahorita me gustaría estar más profundo en aprender el inglés.

EDIS ANTONIO CRUZ AMAYA

AYUDA EN CLASE Un estudiante de ESOL habla con su maestra.

APRENDIENDO VOCABULARIO Sra. James enseña la clase de Seminario para ELD.

este examen oficialmente ya no es parte del programa de ESOL. Edis Antonio Cruz Amaya, un estudiante del onceavo grado en ESOL cuenta que, “Para mi llevar las dos clases de inglés es un beneficio. Me importa más llevar las dos clases de inglés porque en mi país ya participar en clases de electivos y ahorita me gustaría estar más profundo en aprender el inglés”.

RAFFI CHARKOUDIAN-ROGERS

CONVERSACIONES EN CLASE Sr. Landau enseña una clase de historia estadounidense a estudiantes de ESOL.

silverchips

Where only first names appear, last names have been omitted to protect the identity of the sources.

W

hen Silver Chips visited New Hampshire Estates Elementary School (NHE), the kindergarten and second grade hallways were deceptively quiet, until childrens’ chatter floated from open classroom doorways. Long corridors covered in rainbow bulletin boards led to classrooms splashed with vibrant shades reminiscent of crayons. Tiny hands reached from equally tiny chairs to grab from overflowing crayon bins before desperately trying to color within the lines.

Speaking with kindergarten and second grade students at NHE, Silver Chips gleaned an often forgotten, but important, perspective on education: what children actually value.

Flowers for Ms. Foard For many students, like kindergartener William, their favorite part of school is interacting with others in the building. “It’s the people,” he puts simply.

Karla, another kindergartener, shares William’s love for the people at school. She especially enjoys showing her appreciation for those who have helped her learn. “I like to give flowers to the teachers,” Karla says.

To continue the caring atmosphere outside of the kindergarten classroom, second grade teacher Emily Daly encourages children to act with kindness.

She keeps a list of “Kindness and Generous Activities” in her classroom. Once the class collectively does 50 actions, they earn a treat. “We have 42!” Ananias says, bouncing with excitement.

Stairs are built so wobbly.

People might fall off with their backpacks.

KALEB

COVID-19 Concerns Ms. Daly’s second graders also have more serious worries: the COVID-19 pandemic. One student, Kennedy, explained how hard it was for her when she got COVID-19. “I thought I was going to go away. But I didn’t want to.” To protect the rest of her family, Kennedy isolated herself. “I was in my room ‘cause I didn’t want to come out because other people come to my house, and I didn’t want to give them [the virus].”

I was in my room ‘cause I didn’t want to come out because other people come to my house, and I didn’t want to give them [the virus].

KENNEDY

May 5, 2022 Education

Children in charge Not everything is rosy for the kids at NHE. While they have gripes against their school, they also have solutions—if only they had the power to implement them. Kaleb’s primary concern with his school is architectural. “It’s so hard to walk on the stairs. I’m tired with my backpack,” he complains.

His solution is simple. “Get rid of all the stairs,” he says with a smile, and replace them with elevators. This innovation functions as a safety measure as well, he assures. “Stairs are built so wobbly,” he says. “People might fall off with their backpacks.”

The second graders have a more jaded outlook on their school, and would rather decrease their time in

the classroom than make changes to the building. The length of recess was a common theme; if Jairo were in charge, NHE would see immediate benefits. “[I would] have six hours of recess,” Jairo says. He would follow it up with another leisurely activity. “Eat pizza all day.”

Ananias had the same thought process, wanting to increase the amount of pizza he consumes at school. “I would make everyday pizza for lunch,” he says.

While Kaleb has ideas to improve the school, he also recognizes the effort of those already doing so. “It’s so hard to be the principal. They have to know what they have to do,” he says.

S3/S4

l want to be a crayon maker DAVID

Fears of leaving NHE For the second graders especially, the prospect of leaving NHE can be daunting. Following NHE, the students will transition to Oakview Elementary, which serves third to fifth graders. After the doors close on their elementary experience, they face even bigger foes: middle and high school.

Many of the students have concerns about their safety after NHE. Jairo worries that as the youngest at Oakview, he will be bullied by students older and bigger than he is. “They can fight you,” he says.

Ananias is concerned about what will happen when he enters ninth grade. “[High school will have] a lot of fighting,” he says. “[My sister] was in high school… a lot of people… fight a lot. And I know that’s going to happen.”

Creativity in the classroom Many of kindergarten teacher Alexandra Foard’s students have artistic inclinations and mention doing art as one of their favorite parts of the day.

Kindergartener Andrea loves to draw, especially when her art takes the form of her favorite subject: her cat, Lulu Princesa.

She isn’t the only one who enjoys sketching; some of her peers are even inspired by other classes, like Justin, who drew his picture about “reading books,” and William, who simply drew “math.”

Kaleb, another kindergartener, loves the colorful freedom of art, and the wide array of markers at his table reflect this passion.

When it comes to his favorite color,

though, he is less decisive. “We have red, orange, blue, purple, and other colors that I don’t know,” he says. “[My favorites are] blue, red, and orange.”

Another favorite activity is free choice, a time when the students are allowed to do whatever they want, from reading picture books to playing with toys. Kindergartener Mayna loves playing with Magna tiles— colorful magnetic shapes—to build structures during the free choice period.

Another student in her class, Evelyn, a future Michelin star chef, loves pretending to cook for others during her free choice time. Her favorite food to make? “Burgers.”

Design by Elina Lee, Sean Li, and Rosie Orzulak Art by NHS students Story by Maybelle Patterson and Lucía Santoro-Vélez

Looking into the future

One second grader, Kennedy, is determined to be a pet rescuer. “When The NHE students may animals are in danger, I be young, but that doesn’t can go hug them, and I can stop them from dreaming take them to the hospital, about a wide range of future and then when we get them careers. back, we can try to adopt Some of the kids have ca- them,” she explains. “And reer aspirations that are out- when I have too many aniside the box, like David, who mals, then other people can hopes to help other kids color adopt [them]!”

CREDIT outside the lines. “I want to be BOX a Jacob has big aspirations crayon maker,” David explains. as well. “I want to be a newsMayna, a classmate of Da- paper guy,” he says. But bevid’s, also plans for a unique ca- fore this future Silver Chips reer. No one will see her future Editor-in-Chief can step foot job coming. “I want to be a ninja,” on Blair Boulevard, he’ll need to graduate from kindergarten. she says.

S5

Education May 5, 2022

silverchips

What is critical race theory?

A look into discussions of race in the classroom On Jan. 15, his first day in office, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin signed an executive order banning the teaching of critical race theory (CRT) in K-12 public education, citing its divisive nature.

At public school board meetings nationwide, including MCPS, the very mention of the acronym CRT is enough to provoke heated debates. As of April, 17 states have successfully passed bills imposing restrictions on discussion of CRT and racism in K-12 public schools.

With such a strong nationwide movement of supporters and critics, what really is CRT, and what does it have to do with education and political discussion?

of performance, you see how people from different backgrounds engage with these candidates far from just white,” she explains. “[Shakespeare’s plays] actually dramatize very important questions for us to think through a critical lens… [the questions are] synthetic in characters and casual side comments.”

However, part of the current political debate over the discussion of race in K-12 education can be traced to a misunderstanding over what the term actually means.

While anti-CRT proponents defend that CRT points fingers, reinforces a divide between white people and people of color, and should not be taught in K-12 schools, CRT experts and some school officials claim that CRT is not even able to be taught in K-12 schools due to its complexity.

Gary Peller, a professor of Law

Silver Chips.

In a Feb. 2 letter to the MCPS community, Superintendent Dr. Monifa B. McKnight explained that the goal of MCPS’s recent Antiracist System Audit is to provide a “comprehensive and district-wide review of our practices and policies.” McKnight clarifies that the audit is not to target anyone, and the district “will not condone the blaming or shaming of anyone, or any group, for the actions of others.”

In addition to the audit, MCPS encourages the school community to focus on awareness and intentional actions to eliminate racism in its buildings. “[MCPS] made it clear [that] we as a school system should be engaging in antiracist practices… and talking about race within the proper context in the classroom,” Rahman Culver, Blair’s Diversity

context,” he explains. “You want to use it to try to describe the world around you and the world around us includes race.”

Although the vast majority of K-12 educators do not teach CRT, Sarah Fillman, the CAP Coordinator and CAP English 10 teacher, has recently incorporated elements from its framework into a unit about race and identity. “While it’s not usually something covered in high school, I have integrated it and its tenets into… the unit,” she says. “I want students to see what it really is and evaluate for themselves whether or not it should be discussed and give them access to this theory that would otherwise just be at the collegiate level.”

Fillman introduces CRT to her students by giving them an article about a private school that she views as having similarities to

INFORMATION FROM EDUCATION WEEK

STATE POLICIES As of April 28, 17 states, colored dark gray, have passed legislation imposing restrictions on the discussion of critical race theory and racism in K-12 public schools.

LUCIA RAFANELLI

Something doesn’t qualify as critical race theory simply because it is in some way related to race or racial justice.

at Georgetown University, does not believe that CRT is actually being taught in any K-12 school and clarifies how the redefined “CRT” cited by anti-CRT groups is not the same as the topic taught to law students. “[The anti-CRT definition of CRT is] a broader transformation of the way that race, ethnicity, and differences are being taught in schools,” he explains.

Others in the legal education field agree. “Something doesn’t qualify as CRT simply because it is in some way related to race or racial justice,” Dr. Lucia Rafanelli, an assistant professor of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington University, writes in an email to Silver Chips.

Regardless of misinterpretations over what the term encompasses, some argue that concepts of race that do not fall under the umbrella of CRT should still be taught in K-12 education. “A critical lens of race should be inherent in our teaching in America at all institutions,” Joubin says.

According to the president of the MCPS Board of Education, Brenda Wolff, CRT is not a part of the mandated curriculum, though discussions of structural racism are being incorporated into lessons by many teachers. “The MCPS curriculum strives to teach a full and factual history of the American experience, including events and policies that have contributed to structural racism,” she writes in an email to

You can’t understand the way that American history has unfolded without race being front and center.

DAVID SILVERMAN

CRT originated as a framework in legal academia in the 1980s to analyze the role of race in American history and society today. Its five tenets assert that race is a social construct and systemically embedded into American laws and society. Instead of the idea of “colorblindness,” critical race theorists recognize the racial disparities still prevalent today. Taught in higher education, CRT is the practice of investigating the role of institutionalized racism in society.

George Washington University professor Dr. Alexa Joubin’s journey with teaching Shakespearean studies through a CRT lens began when she studied English literature in college. After realizing that few stories by Shakespeare were actually set in England, she discovered something she calls global Shakespeare, which are worldwide and multilingual plays based on the renowned English author. “Within the plays, you find global ritualized differences, but also in the history

and Inclusion Coordinator, says.

In his role, Culver helps teachers across every discipline to incorporate lessons about race into their classes. “[It is] definitely an expectation that… every faculty member in the building is being reflective about how to be culturally responsive,” he says. “If they’re doing it well, it’s kind of hard to ignore race.”

Culver believes that Blair’s diverse community aids in the school’s perspectives and ability to have safe classroom spaces for the discussion of race. “We already have this wonderful base and foundation of resources when it comes to folks with various experiences and perspectives,” he says.

Blair statistics teacher David Stein has incorporated lessons about real-world issues such as systemic racism to teach his students statistical concepts for over 25 years. In recent years, he examined stop-and-frisk data to compare the severity in criminal charges between different racial groups. “Statistics… should be only taught in

CAP and then allows her students to draw connections between the teachings of CRT and The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. “We go through facet by facet, tenet by tenet,” she explains, describing how her class compares counter-storytelling—a major tenet of CRT that aims to elevate the experiences and voices of underprivileged communities—and the counterstories that are in The Hate U Give.

The recent legislation in Virginia banning CRT and fringe MCPS parent protest groups have not dissuaded Fillman from continuing her lessons. “If I end up getting fired for teaching critical race the-

We have to be educated about what the issue is, what the issues were, how we go about not perpetuating the same cycles and doing the same thing.

DAVID ANDERSON

By Annie Gao and Jasper Swartz Staff Writer & Culture Editor

ory, then okay,” she says.

Outside of the Blair community, however, some teachers worry about the backlash they may receive for touching on structural racism in their classrooms. “I have colleagues that I’ve spoken to that have expressed what it is like to try to teach and worry about ending up on a list where someone can literally call a hotline [to report teachers for talking about race],” Culver shares. In Virginia, Youngkin set up an email address for parents to report any “inherent[ly] divisive practices in their schools.”

David Anderson, U.S. History and AP Government teacher at Thomas Jefferson High School in Virginia, feels the pressure of teaching about structural racism in a state where doing so could potentially lead to legal repercussions.

“My department is super supportive… [but] anytime the governor is putting out a tip line for students and parents to submit to if they feel like their teachers are teaching something that is divisive or critical race theory… it makes me hesitate, like, ‘okay, so what should I teach?’” Anderson explains.

Despite the current divisive political climate, Anderson maintains the necessity of talking about race in the classroom. “We have to be educated about what the issue is, what the issues were, how we go about not perpetuating the same cycles and doing the same thing,” he says. “Not talking about it doesn’t help anybody. Not talking about it doesn’t make the problem go away.”

Anderson feels, as a history teacher, it is his job to provide a whole and all-encompassing picture of history for his students. “As a history teacher, you have to describe things that are structural racism… that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s critical race theory. Slavery is structural racism, [but it] doesn’t mean I’m talking about critical race theory, it just means that I’m talking about slavery,” he says.

Many educators find it impossible to separate discussions about race from their lessons. “The complexity of the American past has everything to do with race,” George Washington University professor Dr. David Silverman says. “You can’t understand the way that American history has unfolded without race being front and center.”

COURTESY OF ALEXA JOUBIN

BOOKS ON RACE Dr. Alexa Joubin speaking at a launch event for her book titled Race, written by her and Martin Orkin.

May 5, 2022 Education

The exorbitant costs of senior year

By Marijke Friedman and Ingrid Holmquist Editor-in-Chief & Staff Writer

the reasons she isn’t going to prom is because of the ticket price. “The tickets are too expensive... because a lot of seniors don’t work,” she explains.

AN OPINION Aside from purchasing a tickSome of the most magical mo- et, students attending prom usuments of students’ high school ex- ally have to shop for a new outfit. periences occur during their senior When senior Isabel Corvington year. While these memories might went shopping for a prom dress, be invaluable, most of them come she was shocked at the price with a cost. Together, these prices tags. “I went shopping for [a can add up to a steep and often in- prom dress] at the store, and they were all huntimidating expense.

At Blair, a third of the student dreds of dollars. I’m body qualifies for Free and Re- trying to keep it under duced Meals (FARMs), meaning a hundred dollars which many students need financial as- is actually a bit of a chalsistance to participate in activities lenge,” she says.

For some, it that come up at school, such as field trips, dances, and purchas- can be difficult ing school memorabilia like year- to rationalize so books. Tickets and additional costs spending for important milestones such as much on a dance. prom and graduation come with “I just don’t want prices that can be a barrier to stu- to waste the money... dent participation. MCPS and Blair [prom] costs a lot,” senior must take steps to break down this Zachery McFarlane says.

While the ticket and a barrier and alleviate these formal outfit are the only reconcerning costs. quirements to attend, many students make the choice to Senior Unity Day JAY CHAO add extra costs for a more luxuStarted at Blair in 2012 by Renay Johnson during her first rious experience. Senior Declan year as principal, the purpose of Kelly, who plans to rent a limouSenior Unity Day is to provide se- sine with his friends on prom night, niors with a fun way to begin the estimates that he will be spending year by spending time outdoors about $350 on prom.

Because prom is an optional with friends. This field trip costs event, the school does not provide students $50, a price that covers the venue, food, transportation, a any financial aid for tickets. This T-shirt, sunglasses, a zip line, tem- means that if $65 is too expensive porary tattoo artists, and a DJ. Ac- for someone, they will not be able cording to Brandon Crabtree, one to attend, potentially losing out on of Blair’s senior class co-sponsors, a special experience many high this school year, 513 out of 786 se- schoolers dream of for years. niors paid to go on the field trip.

The school provides financial Yearbook assistance for students who may The conventions of not be able to afford to go through the high school experithe form of donations. “If you want ence holds significance for many to go, you’re going to go,” Rox- students, and memories can be anne Fus, Blair’s other senior class preserved for years into the future co-sponsor, explains. in the form of a yearbook.

Dana Simel, English teacher Prom and advisor of Silverlogue, Blair’s Originating in the 1800s, yearbook, stresses the sentimenthe tradition of prom began tal value that yearbooks can have at elite Northeast colleges and for students. “Yearbook means universities which held dances you matter. You were here, to teach social etiquette and and you mattered,” she says. manners. Over the years, the In 2020, Silverlogue sold prom was adopted by high around 650 yearbooks total. schools, remaining a forSimel shares that the majorimal event for seniors to ty of students who purchase celebrate their four years yearbooks are seniors. of hard work on their However, not all seniors journey to adultorder yearbooks. hood.

For some, cost is a barrier or While deterrent from originally the purchase. created to A Blair yearpromote tradibook currently tional upper-class costs $100, not invalues of “proper” cluding add-ons like icons, behavior, prom at Blair maintains a formal dress code and monograms, and other forms of culture of paying for additional lux- personalization. Discounturies like limousines, photographs, ed prices are available to students who order their and hair and makeup services.

At Blair, a prom ticket costs yearbook at the begin$65. Many students who do not ning of the school year, have extra spending money find with the lowest price bethis expense alone to be a burden. ing $87.74, from late SepSenior Jafri Castro says that one of tember until early October.

Prices are set by Jostens, the memorabilia company contracted with Silverlogue to print the yearbook.

Simel feels that all students should have access to special memorabilia like yearbooks. “I’m concerned about all the things our students can’t afford, yearbooks being one of them, [because] everyone should have a yearbook,” she says.

In an effort to combat prices that may be too high for some students, Silverlogue has a “giving program” that allows families to donate money to pay for other students’ yearbooks.

“In 2020, we had over 30 books [paid for through the program],” Simel says. “It was very sweet.”

Though this program is benevolent, students should not have to rely on the generosity of others to have conventional high school experiences.

Castro shared that she chose not to buy a yearbook when she saw the cost. “I noticed how it was going to be $100… and I was like, ‘I don’t think so,’” she says. “That’s too much.”

Corvington, one of the Editors-in-Chief of Silverlogue, says that even people on the yearbook staff are alarmed by how expensive it is. She purchased a yearbook in her sophomore and senior years but chose not to get a yearbook her freshman year. “I didn’t think it was worth it because it’s so expensive,” she says.

A notable feature yearbooks are stusenior portraits, all seniors are able to take free of charge.

Seniors can pay additional amounts of money to order copies of their portraits f r o m Lifetouch, the photography company contracted with Blair.

Cost dissuades some students, including Castro, from purchasing

Graduation

As seniors wrap up their final year of high school, moving the tassel from left to right has come to be a symbol of transitioning from adolescence to adulthood.

Blair requires every student who participates in the graduation ceremony to pay $50 for a cap, gown, and stole. McFarlane tried to save that money by reusing his brother’s cap and gown but was told that it was not permitted. “My brother [graduated] last year, so I thought I could use his, but they didn’t allow me to… they said there was a new tassel,” he says.

Fus explains that the school allowed students to reuse gowns one year but because red dye changes so often, the difference in color was disappointing for students who had older ones. “As [students with reu s e d caps and gowns] sat with all the other

S6

seniors, they realized that their red was [very] different than everybody else’s red. It made people feel uncomfortable,” she says.

Fus notes that no student has ever not gotten a gown because they could not pay for it. “There are teachers that have paid for kids’ caps and gowns. There are counselors that have paid for students caps and gowns,” she says. “We would never turn someone away because they couldn’t afford it.

Although the school ensures that all students get a gown if they need one, Blair generally advertises payment plans rather than full financial aid. Corvington feels that the school should make students more aware of how they can get help paying for caps and gowns. “For your cap and gown, which you need to have [in order to] graduate… [it should be] made more clear how you can get a fee waiver,” she says.

Making senior activities more affordable

Because all of these costs are spread throughout the year, they can add up without students realizing. “It’s kind of spaced out. [There is] one big event and then a two or three month wait before the next one, so you don’t really think about it,” Kelly explains.

In other cases, students who are more aware of the costs have to make sacrifices and pass up going to events because they cannot afford it.

This is especially true for optional activities, because there is no financial aid. Even if prom is a voluntary activity, the lack of financial assistance for the event still excludes lower-income students from an experience that higher-income students have easy access to.

Senior Emmanuel Odim feels that the school should offer financial support for students who want to attend prom. “I feel like every senior should have that experience of going to prom. I would understand having a fee waiver for that, especially if you can’t afford it,” he says.

“I think everyone should be able to go, regardless of their financial background.”

Nobody should have to skip school functions or not get a yearbook because of a financial barrier. MCPS and Blair must take steps to make senior year activities more affordable for all students, including offering fee waivers for optional activities like prom. Instead of spacing out payments of activities throughout the year, students should be informed of all of the potential expenses at the start of their senior year.

“They should do something about how expensive senior year is because everybody should be able to enjoy it,” Kelly says.

Awards & Honors

Efe Eroz

2nd place poster presenter in the Engineering and Technology category at the National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium

Anushka Poddar, Aileen Qi

Regional Exploravision Winner

It’s Academic Team

Top 3 of 81 teams in the DMV

May 27 Last Day for Seniors

June 2 Graduation

A number of other expenses exist for seniors who apply to college.

These include fees for AP tests, the SAT, sending transcripts and test scores to schools, and applications.

This is not to mention the potentially enormous cost of actually attending a higher academic institution once graduating from Blair that many families spend years trying to save for.

As Blair’s registrar, Rose Ponce manages the records of over 3,000 students, including transcripts. She explained that each student has 5 free transcripts to send. After that, each transcript costs students $4.

The more colleges students apply to, the more their transcripts will cost. Fee waivers are available for students who are unable to cover the cost. Students can talk to their guidance counselor to request waivers.

of the dents’ which

May 12 Non-senior Interims

May 30 Memorial Day

College

Senior portraits

Up & Coming

May 18 Early Release Day

these portraits. “[They were] too expensive, as well,” she says. “And I didn’t really want it.”

Some students are simply disinterested in their senior portraits or view them as pointless, due to the cost. “It’s not worth it if there’s other pictures of me that [my family has] for free,” Corvington says.

ALEXANDER LIU

silverchips

S7

Education May 5, 2022

silverchips

A shot at the literary canon

By Sedise Tiruneh Staff Writer AN OPINION From The Great Gatsby to Catcher in the Rye, English curriculums across the country continue to champion books considered to be the “classics.” Within this repertoire and the broader literary space, writers of color and other marginalized groups are seldom featured— according to Harvard’s Education Magazine, only 7 percent of children’s literature is written by people of color. This lack of representation is particularly injurious in school districts, such as MCPS, with high proportions of students of color.

The absence of diversity in curriculums is further compounded by a lack of racial diversity in professional staff. In the fiscal year

2021, 71.5 percent of MCPS teachers were white, while only eight and 12.3 percent of teachers were Hispanic and Black respectively.

This is in stark contrast to the demographics of enrolled students, where only 26.9 percent are white, while 32.4 percent are Hispanic or Latino and 21.4 percent of students are Black. This imbalance is also present on a national scale, as 79 percent of public school teachers are white and over half of the enrollments in public schools are students of color.

These disproportionate teacher-to-student demographics exacerbate the systemically white-centric curriculums of English Language Arts classes across the country. “It’s easier relating to a novel and talking about certain experiences when your teacher can relate with you,” Senior Edwige Ghembesalu says.

DATA COURTESY OF MCPS

The combination of limited teacher diversity and narrow curriculums can hinder the ability of students of color to succeed academically. Black and brown voices are too often shut out of literary spaces, causing students of color to struggle to see themselves represented in the material they are taught. “Overall, I think in schools I don’t feel represented in the books we read [because many] books were about white students and white adults, written by and for white people,” Ghembesalu says. “There wasn’t a lot of representation and it was hard to relate to the characters and stories and participate in class discussions.”

Ghembesalu is not alone. Other students of color sometimes find themselves unable to connect to works of literature featured in the curriculum because they are so of-

MAIA EGNAL

ten written by a homogenous set of authors. “It would be nice to be able to read more books about my religion. I’m Muslim and I don’t think I’ve read anything featuring that yet,” freshman Hanim Shafi notes.

The lack of diversity in instructional material and in the demographics of teachers amplifies other effects that exacerbate the academic achievement gap between white and minority students, such as inferior school resources and the lower socioeconomic status of students of color. These, alongside the overrepresentation of white, male-authored, and heteronormative narratives, are only a few symptoms of the racism entrenched in our country’s education systems.

A starting point to solving this problem is to select and approve more books from more diverse perspectives. In MCPS, books are approved based on cultural awareness, age appropriateness, understandability, and other relevant factors. While MCPS pledges to include materials that are “relevant to and reflective of the multicultural society and global community,” the inclusion of this literature is gradual and currently limited. “A lot of what you see [with] a lot of white authors on a list is this [is] carrying over from year to year and decade to decade of what was considered the most important literature for all students to study,” Jaclynn Lightsey, MCPS’s Secondary English Language Arts and Literacy supervisor, says. “I do think that it takes time for a curriculum to catch up to the beliefs of the time.”

While the tyranny of predominantly white-authored “classic” literature is systematically baked into education systems, individuals and groups are taking it upon themselves to ameliorate and expand

the diversity of instructional materials. #DisruptTexts, a grassroots movement made up of teachers, is one example of educators pushing for the inclusion of more diverse and representative literature in classrooms. Their movement is founded on a principle of shared effort in order to see the desired change in education systems. “It’s going to take all of us working collectively, to really push back on systems and really insist that change happens, holding each other accountable, and not being silent until it changes,” Dr. Kimberly Parker, a co-founder of #DisruptTexts, says.

In addition to movements like #DisruptTexts, some school districts, including MCPS, have worked to dismantle this definition of “classic literature” by encouraging educators to confront their own biases and apply a critical lens to the types of perspectives they teach.

“We really want for teachers and leaders to take a look [and identify] whose voices are not represented here, who is really dominating this story, who’s left out, how are different voices being represented, and really use it as a tool to further that conversation,” Lightsey explains.

Contemporary literature from marginalized voices has benefits for students and educators of all races, gender expressions, sexual orientations, and backgrounds. “[Literature] creates the ability to engage in conversation with people who might feel differently than you in a way that’s informed by the reality of having to read about another person’s lived experience [that] is different from yours,” Lightsey says.

By incorporating a more diverse repertoire of literature into school curriculums, students are better equipped to navigate a diverse world with self-awareness, empathy, and above all, humanity.

A look at education with MCEA President Jennifer Martin

By Milan Tenn Staff Writer

I’m here to work with individuals and in groups to help young people find their potential.

JENNIFER MARTIN

“The really sustained trauma that we’ve all gone through during the pandemic… has made our jobs much more difficult,” Jennifer Martin, president of Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA), says in an interview with Silver Chips. “It’s been a very draining experience. It’s been hard on morale.”

In July 2021, Martin—a Blair alumna—was elected as the president of MCEA. MCEA is the teachers’ union in Montgomery County, spanning over 14,000 members and advocating for issues such as social justice and better working conditions for teachers.

As president, Martin has made issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic her main priority. “I’ve been in the job for about eight months now. So it’s relatively new, and it’s all been during COVID,” Martin reflects. “Of course, COVID has been a major emphasis this year, so the health and safety issues have been foremost.”

Martin believes that while COVID-19 has been a major challenge, the MCPS community has done well in staying vigilant throughout the pandemic. “Whether you’re a student or a teacher, COVID has made learning and teaching harder, and so I think that we all have experienced some setbacks,” Martin says. “We’ve also shown tremendous resilience through this time. I go, and I visit schools a lot in my work, and when I go to elementary

schools, I see the children engaging with each other.”

Prior to serving as the president of MCEA, Martin taught at a number of MCPS schools over twenty years, including Pyle Middle School and Takoma Park Middle School, as well as Wootton, Gaithersburg and Watkins Mill. Howev-

er, she believes her actions as president will primarily be shaped by the experiences of MCEA members as a whole, not just her own life. “My own experiences, I think, are really less important than what the collective experience has been,” Martin says.

In addition to COVID-19, Martin and MCEA are prioritizing working conditions in schools.

Though the pandemic has increased some of their concerns, Martin says issues with working environments, testing, and the overworking of teachers existed before the pandemic. “We’ve been much more worried about the environment because of the threat of severe illness,” Martin explains.

“But we didn’t stop worrying about things like over testing and the loading of teachers’ plates with ad-

ditional responsibilities when nothing… is ever coming off the plate.”

According to Martin, teachers burning out and leaving their jobs at MCPS is caused by unsatisfactory working conditions. “Burnout is a result of exploitation,” Martin says. “Burnout happens when people are pushed too far, too hard, and feel unappreciated and overworked, and are put in a position where they don’t feel as if they can be successful.”

In addition to leading teachers to leave their jobs, Martin believes that the working conditions can make people less likely to become teachers in the first place. “You don’t sign up to sacrifice your own happiness and wellbeing when you take on a job,” Martin says. “And unfortunately, that’s what’s been asked of educators increasingly in recent years.”

Despite the difficulties that teachers currently face, Martin still believes that the profession is fulfilling and worthwhile. “There is such joy in being an educator [and] in being connected to the generation that comes after you… That’s the best part of being a teacher,” Martin says. “I hope [youth] will think about it and help us make it a better profession.”

In addition to negotiating with MCPS to work towards better working conditions for teachers, MCEA also focuses on improving students’ learning conditions.

“We’re not just looking out for ourselves,” Martin says. “We’re looking to make sure that students have better learning conditions, that there are opportunities for all our students that are fair, and that

every student gets the support and opportunity that they deserve.”

In terms of the MCPS educational experience, Martin believes that the school system focuses too much on evaluating its students numerically, rather than helping them grow. “I’m a strong proponent of student-centered education,” Martin says. “I’m not here to fill out spreadsheets, I’m here to work with individuals and in groups to help young people find their potential, develop the skills they need,

and seek meaning and purpose in their own lives.”

MCEA is still working towards achieving a number of its goals, and Martin notes that the power of unions has increased in recent years. “I think it’s interesting to see that labor seems to be somewhat ascendant right now,” Martin says. “There’s a renewed interest in unions, and as a [National Education Association] affiliate, we’re part of the largest group of organized labor in the nation.”

COURTESY OF JENNIFER MARTIN

silverchips

May 5, 2022 Features D1

Antisemitism plagues Blair’s Holocaust Remembrance Week

from HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE WEEK page A1

what she saw and then erased or removed them before contacting Johnson. “I didn’t want any student to see that,” she says. “That was really the most important thing to me… just not having anybody get hurt by having to be confronted with that.”

Jewish Culture Club co-President Sally Kaye believes that these acts stem from a lack of knowledge regarding the Holocaust that is common among students. “A lot of people our age don’t know why the Holocaust happened [or] how many people were killed in the Holocaust,” Kaye says. “Even though we learned about it in school, there’s a really shocking epidemic of misinformation.”

Lamphier also feels that students need to educate themselves on the gravity of the Holocaust and the harm caused by antisemitism.

“I can’t accept that it was a joke,” she explains. “If they think it’s a joke… that’s something they need to work on within themselves. But it’s not a joke when it happens publicly.”

According to the U.S. Millennial Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness Survey, almost half of the respondents in a sample of Gen Z and Millennials in America were unable to name any of the concentration camps or ghettos that existed during World War II. The same survey found that nearly one in four respondents either were unsure about the severity of the Holocaust or believed that it was a myth or exaggerated, with one in 10 respondents under 40 years old saying that they had never heard

the word “Holocaust” before.

Blair English teacher Anne Rubinovitz worries about this lack of knowledge, especially when there are so few Holocaust survivors left. “We’re at a critical time where our survivors are few in number because they’re dying. They’re all very elderly. And we don’t want this history to be lost,” she says.

In response to the recent rise in anti-semitic incidents and to ensure that students are aware of what happened during the Holocaust, Rubinovitz proposed recognizing Holocaust Remembrance Week at Blair. From April 25 to 29, in accordance with the dates designated by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Blair community observed the week by learning about the Holocaust and participating in activism projects.

Some events took place at lunch, while others occurred during class.

Teachers were provided a signup sheet to bring their classes to the events.

One component of the event was a poster exhibit from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, which was displayed in the media center. This exhibit focused on the early warning signs of genocide and focused on the Holocaust but also included other mass atrocities to acknowledge that such brutalities also occur elsewhere. “The Holocaust wasn’t the first [genocide], and it won’t be the last,” Rubinovitz says.

Holocaust Remembrance Week also included a book disussion about Maus, a graphic novel in which author Art Spiegelman tells the story of his parents’ survival during the Holocaust. Lamphier shares that over 200 people came to the media center to listen to

some of the week’s speakers who included a Holocaust survivor, a parent whose father was a decorated U.S. soldier and liberator of the Dachau concentration camp, and a representative from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL)—an organization that combats antisemitism and other forms of hate.

According to Rubinovitz, the ADL presentation focused on prejudice existing in the present day.

“It’s going to be [focusing on] the sources of some of these antisemitic tropes,” Rubinovitz says.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum lists some warning signs for genocide as discrimination or hate speech, including propaganda aimed at blaming a certain group of people for a problem. This type of propaganda was prevalent leading up to and during the Holocaust, used by the Nazi party to amass public support for their antisemitism and violence.

Almost 90 years later, antisemitic propaganda still persists. Just this past December in Silver Spring, several people found fliers under their car windshields that included a QR code for a pro-Nazi website that promoted Holocaust denial.

Similar instances have occurred in North Carolina and California, including the distribution of fliers that theorized that the Jewish community was to blame for the COVID-19 pandemic.

This type of antisemitic propaganda can have devastating consequences for the Jewish community.

For instance, in 2018, the perpetrator of the Tree of Life shooting in Pittsburgh was motivated by such propaganda, claiming that Jews were funding a “migrant caravan” from what he had seen in anti-Semitic propaganda.

Jewish Culture Club sponsor Marc Grossman points out that the act of placing blame on entire groups of people isn’t unique to the Holocaust. It also applies to other genocides around the world where ethnic minorities were targeted by authoritarian regimes, such as in Rwanda and Burma. “We can look at Rwanda, we can look at the Rohingya in Burma, we can look at what happened in Cambodia… [It is] this desire to scapegoat a group of people for your problems, and believe that somehow by eliminating them, your group’s issues will go away,” he says.

To help non-Jewish victims of genocides like those in Rwanda and Burma, Blair’s Holocaust Remembrance Week planning team also worked on a letter-writing campaign with several activism clubs such as the Jewish Culture Club, We the East, and Amnesty International. “[We have clubs] putting together letter-writing campaigns,

focusing on helping refugees in situations where they need shelter like the Jews needed it to get out of Europe during World War Two,” Rubinovitz says.

Lamphier believes that the majority of students acted appropriately throughout lessons and learned from the Holocaust Remembrance Exhibit. However, the hateful actions of some students create questions for her when planning future exhibits like this. In continuing to educate students on serious matters, Lamphier is unsure of how to emphasize the gravity of an important topic to students who may only see it as a joke. “We’d certainly like to consider doing other things like this,” she says. “But yet, this has made me think: how can we impress upon each other the seriousness of what we’re [talking] about, while at the same time allowing room for growth in somebody who maybe won’t feel the same way [we] do about things?”

HENRY REICHLE

ROJE CT

RO BO TP

Content warning: this article contains non-graphic references to sexual assault and the reporting process.

When I was 15, I was sexually assaulted. Then a sophomore, I was terrified to tell anyone—even my closest friends—of the emotional scars that a generally wellliked and respected senior inflicted upon me. Filing a report with administration? Entirely out of the question.

I couldn’t fathom making eye contact with my administrator and describing the extent of my injuries—especially because my administrator was also my abuser’s administrator, because my principal was also my abuser’s principal.

It was this experience, compounded with tragically too many similar ones that my peers and friends also faced, that informed my accountability-centric reporting as editor-in-chief of Silver Chips last year. We chronologized pitfalls in the process of reporting misconduct at Blair, criticized the lack of Title IX transparency across educational institutions more broadly, and documented disparities in the way athletes— and people considered important within a school—are treated when it comes to allegations of harm.

Over the course of my year, I grew distinctly more aware of the lack of uniqueness my story carried. Among survivors at Blair, and in MCPS broadly, my narrative of fear and anxiety shrouding the reporting process was by no means an isolated one.

As such, after graduating from the school district that raised me, I decided I wanted to do something—anything—to help.

In collaboration with current Board of Education member Lynne Harris and drawing on the insights of two of my former Silver Chips colleagues—Kathryn LaLonde and Aviva Bechky—we began imagining a version of the reporting process where this anxiety could be minimized in the form of an app. One where students could obtain transparent information on the status of their report, receive a clear picture as to what reporting would entail as opposed to being traumatically blindsided by the consequences of coming forward, and—most importantly—where students could both file a report and access resources to support them through deeply painful times without having to bear the emotional weight of a face-to-face conversation.

It is my absolute joy and privilege to be working alongside leaders in the MCPS central office, especially Emily Cole Bayer, Peter Cevinini, Greg Edmundson and Shella Cherry, to make this vision a reality. Over the course of this

As a community, we have an infinitely long way to go before we can say we’ve built a fully inclusive and safe academic environment. But I am honored by the chance to do my part.

NI KA

By Anika Seth Former Editor-in-Chief

ANIKA SETH

Power tools, clanking metal, and the smell of grease permeates the pit area where all the teams gather to prepare their robots for matches. Heading onto the field, the roar The robotics team at Blair is of the crowd fills your ears as two one of the lesser-known clubs alliances of three robots face off. yet one of the longest-standing. These randomly chosen alliances Formed in 1999, FRC Team 449: need to quickly strategize for the The Blair Robot Project has been match, lest their opponents come designing and competing custom out on top. robots for over 20 years. Our team The robots take their positions learned quickly, studying the ins on the field while the drivers clutch and outs of building a competitive their controllers. The robots zip robot. Nothing could stop us from around the field, manipulating soaring to incredible heights. game pieces and scoring points.

The season starts the first week- But up in the stands, a completely end of January when the game for different game is playing out. Team the year is revealed in a presen- scouts and strategists are working tation watched by thousands of quickly to log data on every robot teams around the world. Every- to gain every edge possible. After one springs into action, forming three days, and over 100 matches small groups and strategizing for played between 60 teams, playoffs the months ahead. For the first are ready to begin. The top eight eight hours, the goals of teams draft their alliancthe season’s robot are es, and participate in layed out trying to a best of three, sinoptimize the numgle-elimination ber of points we bracket. Intencan score in a sity is ramped match. Once up to 11 with those plans everyone on are formed, the edge of the speciftheir seats ic design of the entire the robot time. In the begins. Proend, only totyping and one alliance early drafts are can stand at created, and fabthe top. rication begins in After all is R AI said and done, earnest. Over the L B next two months, a roand the competiT HE bot takes shape. A drivetrain COURTESY OF tion season is over, we is made first, then the mechabegin the most important nisms. Sparks flying, metal is cut, facet of our work: outreach. Takbent, and pounded into shape ing our robot and the knowledge through countless hours. Finally, we’ve gained, we aim to spread it the electronics are added, wires to the community at large. Visiting snaking all over the robot to power schools, providing demonstrations, different motors and pneumatics and creating an engaging atmothat power the mechanisms. After sphere, we aim to spread STEM to months of hard work, we head to a wider audience and empower the younger generation. competition.

By Alex Heimov and Shivani Nanda Guest Columnists

SE TH

Personal columns

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FA

academic year, we have been in constant communication about what this app could and should be. We expanded the scope to involve resources and supportive reporting options for various types of hate bias, not just sexual misconduct—racial bigotry, gender exclusion, transphobia, and homophobia, to name a few—and I’m thrilled to share that we are hoping to roll the app out before the start of the 2022-2023 academic year.

As a community, we have an infinitely long way to go before we can say we’ve built a fully inclusive and safe academic environment.

But I am honored by the chance to do my part—and I hope, if you have any feedback or suggestions, you know that I am here to listen and adapt.

If you would like to join the process or share any feedback on the app, Anika can be reached at anika.seth@yale.edu.

silverchips

D2 Features May 5, 2022

Students observe Ramadan For the estimated 1.9 billion Muslims around the world, Ramadan—the holy month of the Islamic lunar calendar—is a time of major religious significance. During Ramadan, Muslim students at Blair explain that they strengthen their spiritual discipline, introspection, sense of community, relationship with charity, and relationship with their family.

A common practice of Ramadan observers is a fast of all foods and beverages, including water, from dawn to sunset for each day of the month. Fasting for an extended period might appear daunting to outsiders, but many Muslims look forward to it.

Amina Mokhtazada, a Blair junior and outreach manager for the Muslim Student Association (MSA), contrasts the perspective of non-observers to her own. “I think outside of the Muslim community it looks like, ‘oh my God, [fasting] is something that’s terrible.

It’s a burden,’ but in the Muslim community it’s really exciting because everyone around you is fasting,” she says.

“I always at a very young age was like, ‘can I please fast?’”

Habib Camara, Blair junior and MSA member, highlights the value of Ramadan to him, as

it strengthens his relationship with Islam and those in need. “The reason we [fast] is to deepen our connection to Allah… it really humbles me,” he says. “Not everybody has access to food like I do… And even if I might not like the food I eat, I’m still extremely grateful for the food I get.”

Mokhtazada expresses similar sentiments. “[Fasting] becomes more than just food,” she says. “It becomes more than just this physical thing because it brings on this idea that there’s people who live like this. There are people who don’t have meals who have issues or things that they can’t get away

from… It adds onto this idea of empathy and learning about other people’s struggles,” she says.

Ahmed Mohamud, Blair junior and MSA board member, further highlights Ramadan’s emphasis on charity. “This is a time of giving for us,” he says. “It encourages you to do big deeds and acts with family.”

Mokhtazada cherishes eating with her family before sunrise.

“We are all in this moment together, which is special,” she says.

Fasting brings her community closer together, too. “There’s something special about being able to know that if you see someone who’s Muslim, they’re probably fasting too,” Mokhtazada notes.

Mohamud appreciates the physical and mental clarity Ramadan brings. “Fasting in general gets your

ABJINI CHATTOPADHYAY

Not everybody has access to food like I do… And even if I might not like the food I eat, I’m still extremely grateful for the food I get.

duration. Because usually, I train

HABIB CAMARA

By Zachary Williamson Staff Writer

body and mind together,” he says. “[Ramadan’s] also a great time for you to just recognize what bad habits you have… and then as you go on with your life, you start off with a new chapter.”

Muslim students have to juggle their academics with their extracurricular lives as they fast, which can be an adjustment. “If there’s one thing that I feel all Muslims in the school that are fasting can attest to, [it] is the idea that we all have to understand that for as much as we are fasting, school doesn’t necessarily stop for us… When I was younger, I kind of didn’t understand that,” Mohamud shares.

That said, some teachers try to accommodate Muslim students.

“I think teachers are more aware this year, and I feel like every year they become more aware of our situation,” Mohamud says.

Additonally, many Muslim student athletes adapt their athletic schedules while fasting. Rather than enduring long workouts, Mohamud—a MMA fighter and kickboxer—finds shorter, quicker ones to be preferable.

“It’s become very short bursts of intense workouts rather than long

anywhere between one and a half hours to two, but now I’m getting it down to about an hour maximum [to] an hour and

a

half,”

he

says.

While fasting may

be

the standout aspect of

Ra-

madan

to

the outside observer, it isn’t the only element. “There [are] a lot more layers than just the fasting,” Mokhtazada says. “The physical thing is like a cherry on top, more than like the whole thing of Ramadan,” she emphasizes. Instead, she explains, there is an overall greater prioritization of family, community, and religion. “The fasting is an aspect to it, and it’s a great aspect to it… But I think [at] the end of the day, [Ramadan] is [an] understanding and appreciation for religion, God, and spirituality, more than it is about physical thing[s]” she says.

Vegans protest Soko butcher shop

That day, a group of about 15 vegan protesters entered the shop around 1 p.m. and were escorted outside by police, who Soko staff had immediately contacted, shortly thereafter. They continued peacefully protesting outside the store, observed by two police officers, for around two hours.

Another protest was scheduled

science teacher Chris Brown says.

“Obviously, we thought that the protest was gonna happen today, so that’s why we wore the shirts… [to] embrace the moment and make it feel like a more loving moment rather than an ‘us versus them’ kind of thing.”

Soko markets itself as a more ethical and sustainable alternative

COURTESY OF AVA BEDAQUE

to other meat distributors, writing on their website that they “focus on local & sustainable farms that raise animals ethically and human[e]ly.”

“Everything is pretty much as minimally processed as possible, everything comes from as locally as possible from farms that are hopefully as sustainable as can be in this area,” Brown says.

Still, some local animal rights activists are not content with this, including Steve Teske, who began organizing the protest through Facebook in February. “What they do is just horrible to animals. So much suffering. They claim that their animals are raised on farms, but they’re still slaughtered brutally. [It] doesn’t matter if they’re on big farms or little farms,” he told Silver Chips at the protest.

Tiffany Wilt, co-founder of the website Active Vegans, where the protest was promoted, led the chants that were meant to drive away customers on April 3. “If they come from a factory farm, or an organic, local farm, they all end up at the same place. They all have their throats slit. They all have bullets put into their skulls… None of them want to die,” she yelled from just outside the store at the protest.

Teske hopes that the protests will place financial pressure on Soko and encourage them to completely change their menu, or force them to close. “We’re gonna keep this up as much as we can. Hopefully we can affect their business a little bit,” he says.

However, according to Brad Feickert, a chef and the other owner of Soko, the protest had the opposite effect. “It’s actually picked up business for us. We’ve been busier than on [past] Sunday[s]. We’ve actually had more people coming and supporting us from hearing the protests down the street.”

Wilt is also a member of the international animal rights activist group Anonymous for the Voice-

Everything comes from as locally as possible from farms that are hopefully as sustainable as can be in this area.

CHRIS BROWN

“Soko Butcher profits from cruelty!” “It’s not food, it’s violence!” and “Animals don’t want to be made into a f---ing sandwich!” were among the chants that could be heard outside the newly opened Soko Butcher on Carroll Avenue in Takoma Park, Maryland, on April 3.

for April 24, but never happened.

In preparation for the planned protest, Soko employees at a celebration for the Takoma Park Silver Spring Food Co-Op’s 40 year anniversary wore shirts reading “Soko [hearts] vegans,” as a sign of their openness to the protesters. “It’s more of a gesture of ‘it’s okay that you came with the megaphones and yelled. We still love you,’” Soko co-owner and former Blair

By Ava Bedaque Staff Writer

less (AV). They take a hard-line stance against the consumption of animal products, calling it “exploitation” and a “non-human animal holocaust” on their official website.

AV is best known for their “Cube of Truth” demonstrations, which involve activists holding signs and screens playing footage of animal farming and slaughter.

They wear “anonymous,” or Guy Fawkes, masks while others talk with onlookers.

“We’re educating the public about factory farming. Obviously, our goal is to get people to go vegan, but more than that, our goal is to get people to come to the conclusion of veganism on their own,” Wilt told Silver Chips at a Cube of

Truth event in Downtown Silver Spring on April 15. “When people watch the footage, they are, most of the time… horrified by what they’re seeing. We show organic, local, free-range farm footage, but they all end up at the same slaughterhouse at the end of the day.”

While Brown believes that a vegan diet is better for the environment and animal welfare, he also thinks an all-vegan future is impractical, and that ethical butchers like his own are a good compromise for those consuming meat. “There’s no fully [humane] way to raise an animal… so if we are gonna raise animals for food, I think those animals should be happy throughout their lives and so we focus on farms where… up until the end, they live as happy as a life as they can,” he says.

silverchips

May 5, 2022 Culture D3

In The Heights Blazer thespians electrify the stage with vibrant song, dance, and acting in the spring musical In The Heights.

Photos by Jonathan Cumblidge

silverchips

E1 Culture May 5, 2022

Coping with canines from PETS page A1 civilian lives with new psychiatric barriers. Rick Yount, a career social worker, established a dog-training program focused on treating symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI). Because of its efficacy, the training program’s use of safe non-pharmaceutical treatment grew into what is now WCC. The non-profit expands the availability of therapeutic dog-training services to veterans across the country.

Part of what sets Warrior Canine Connection apart from other psychiatric service dog programs is

DOMENIQUE KIM My overall mood was increasing just by visiting and working with the dogs. its Mission Based Trauma Recovery (MBTR) model. During this eight-week program, veterans train puppies into service dogs and benefit from the psychological and physical connection they make throughout the process with the dogs. Not only does this serve a therapeutic purpose for veterans in MBTR, but the method provides responsive and well-trained service dogs for other veterans.

The program works to address

and manage symptoms of PTSD vice dog for a fellow veteran renews own without any handler intervenand TBI, while also providing ve- that sense of purpose and doing tion,” Cheyenna Wilde, a training terans with a safe space to heal. something good for someone else.” instructor at WCC, explains.

“I went once a week to help work Dogs are trained to provide theAfter over a decade of training with and train service dogs,” Do- dogs with MBTR, Kim menique Kim, former Air Force was placed with her own critical care and trauma nurse, ex- full-time psychiatric serplains. “[After my training visits], vice dog. Dogs and vemy anxiety was going down, [chro- terans are paired using nic] pain was going down, and my a matchmaking process overall mood was increasing just by that assesses the tempevisiting and working with the dogs.” raments, behaviors, and Kim started working with WCC needs of both parties. in 2010 after being diagnosed with PTSD. Following her diagnosis, she went through varapy by “grounrious treatments ding,” a technique including therapy that helps people and medications pull away from but found the traumatic flashmost effective backs, thoughts, care with MBTR or emotions by reat WCC. connecting them Kim grappled with their physiwith a lost sense cal surroundings. of purpose along Psychiatric service with the sympdogs are able to toms of her postpick up on distress traumatic stress. cues and respond MBTR gave her to activate this a purpose in traiCOURTESY OF WARRIOR CANINE CONNECTION recentering proning the dogs.

“They created PETS SAVE LIVES Psychiatric service dogs bond with veterans to cess. “The person with PTSD sym[MBTR] to help help them cope with post traumatic stress ptoms [can] reaus heal through giving us a purpose. When we’re Trainers assess dogs from an early lize they’re here in this room and in [the military] we feel wearing our age to refine and smooth behavio- they’re not wherever they think uniform gives us a sense of pur- ral patterns of the dog to best suit they are in their mind,” Wilde says. pose, that we’re doing something them for clients. “We go in, and “The dog is really helping them great for our fellow citizens for our we look at how the dog reacts to a realize that they are exhibiting the nation,” she says. “When we are new environment, to different sti- signs of anxiety… like shaking of the no longer able to do that, it leaves a muli, sounds, and things like that legs, wringing of hands, cracking void. Coming in and training a ser- to see how the dog reacts on its knuckles; the dog will interrupt that

behavior, and then encourage the person to pet them.” Petting dogs, even for a brief period of time, reduces stress and releases oxytocin in the human brain.

When Kim matched with Shannon, a yellow labrador, in September 2021, the two immediately bonded due to their similar personalities and Shannon’s ability to appropriately respond to Kim‘s symptoms. “She was picking up on my stress cues by sight since I brought her home and she alerts me to panic attacks before even I know that they’re coming,” Kim describes. “She also has been specifically trained for nightmare interruption. If she hears me making noise or moving around in the bed at night time, she will come and lay gently across me to wake me up.” Through MBTR and her own service dog, Kim has been able to function again within the context of civilian life.

Kim feels that PTSD is often portrayed as something dangerous.

To help destigmatize her struggle with PTSD, Kim documents her journey with her service dog on a public Facebook page. “I want [veterans] to know that… they’re not alone,” she says. “If I can educate people who have not served in combat, who are not suffering from PTSD, what this is like, then I feel that I can help break down those barriers.”

A direction of his own A look into Harry Styles’ solo career

By Haley Carter Staff Writer “I’m 47, so One Direction was not on my radar,” Blair parent Amy Pollick, who is Deaf and uses a cochlear implant, says. But when her 12-year-old daughter asked her to put the band on in the car one day, she found an integral difference between Styles’ voice and those of other popular musicians. “I just feel like [in] so much popular music, the voice is obscured,” she says.

“You can hear [Harry’s] voice and his music, and I just found that so appealing.”

Formed in 2010, British boy band One Direction consisted of five members: Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik. Fans—who were mostly young girls—had differing opinions on who their favorite member was, but, for the most part, the band was beloved as a whole.

In 2016, One Direction devastated many fans by announcing they were going on “hiatus.” To Blair junior Marin Barclay, who is both a Styles and One Direction fan, this was not welcome news.

“When [they] did break up, I was upset because that was probably one of my favorite artists at the time,” she says.

Years later, Barclay says she would love to see a One Direction reunion. “I’m still upset because they were faking their 10 year anniversary and nothing really happened there,” Barclay says, alluding to when One Direction’s social media pages became very active around the ten year anniversary of the bands formation, leaving fans hopeful of a reunion.

Blair junior Allison Wellage, who is also a fan of Styles and One Direction, did not have the same

immediate reaction to the band breaking up, as she did not fully grasp the break up. “I think I was still young. Like, ‘what does this mean’ they’re going on a break,” Wellage explains. “But I was [still] heartbroken.”

Since One Direction’s breakup, Styles’ solo music has climbed to the top of both the United States and global charts several times. His most recent hit is his March single, “As it Was,” which is currently at the number one spot of the Bill-

LYDIA PASS [I] think [his music is] not really like the One Direction music. It’s still pop, but it’s a little more adventurous. board Top 100 chart. Other songs, such as “Watermelon Sugar” have also held this spot in the past.

“As it Was” is receiving love from fans and breaking records, including the most streams in a single day from a male artist on Spotify.

Blair freshman Kellin Pegg is one of these fans. “My mom got mad at me for listening to [“As it Was”] too much,” Pegg says.

Styles’ post One Direction popularity has drawn the attention of some who used to favor other members of One Direction.

Wellage shares that her favorite member has evolved over time. “I was a Niall stan, but after they’ve all released their own music, I’ve grown more towards Harry,” Wellage explains.

Pollick thinks that some doubt-

ed Styles at the start of his solo career. “When he first came out with a solo album, he still had a lot to prove,” Pollick says.

Pollick has been to eight of Styles’ concerts and witnessed how he has progressed from smaller venues such as theaters to selling out stadiums across the globe. “He didn’t [used to] have the confidence, or his team didn’t have the confidence, [that] they could do big arena tours,” she explains.

Some fans describe an evolution in Styles’ music. Blair freshman Lydia Pass notices a distinct difference in genres between One Direc-

tion and Styles’ solo projects. “[I] think [his music is] not really like the One Direction music,” Pass explains. “It’s still pop, but it’s a little more adventurous.”

Another way that Styles has changed himself is through his image. Styles has gone from a “basic” boyband look, typically consisting of skinny jeans and a white T-shirt or flannel, t o

being known for pushing gender norms with his clothing, most recently wearing a red and sparkly jumpsuit in the “As It Was” music video.

In late 2020, Styles wore a dress on the cover of Vogue magazine.

While many praised him for breaking gender norms, Candace Owens, a conservative

whatever they want,” Pass says.

“It’s not that big of a deal.”

Pollick, who grew up in the 1980s, believes there is importance in what Styles is doing with his fashion to inspire youth culture. “People [in] my generation remember David Bowie, and Mick Jagger…

Harry’s not the first one to push gender norms, or just question them, but he’s doing it for this generation,” Pollick explains. “He’s inspiring a whole generation of kids to be super comfortable with who they are, to be fluid.”

Through releasing new music and changing his image, Harry Styles has been able to gain new fans, such as Pass herself. “I hated Harry Styles… like four years ago. I thought he was annoying, and now, look at me,” she says.

One of the reasons Wellage loves Styles is his fanbase.

“The fan base is very supportive.

L i k e even at the concert, everyone was

JAY C

HA O

influencer and political commentator, bashed Styles on Twitter, saying it was not “manly” for Styles to be wearing a dress.

Some fans, such as Pass, disagree with Owens and support Styles in his exploration of fashion. “I dislike Candace. I think that anyone should be able to wear

making sure no one is getting squashed or anything.” Wellages explains.

In his song “Treat People with Kindness,” Styles sings about practicing goodwill. Pollick believes that Styles and his fan base practice what the song preaches.

“I’ve never been made to feel like I didn’t belong [at one of Harry’s concerts],” she says.

silverchips

May 5, 2022 Culture E2

Blazers of Note

Hide and seek! Our header art is hidden in the art somewhere else in the paper – tweet at us @SilverChips on Twitter when you find it!

“It Gets Better Project.” TikTok allows creators to choose organizations they would like to recognize in their bios to bring awareness and help raise money. “The ‘It Gets Better Project’ is for LGBTQ+ folks who need help or support,” they say. “I like to have that there for people who do have the money to support, and I think there’s one person who [has] donated.”

Seat is attending Ithaca College next year and plans on studying music because of the motivation and inspiration her account has given her. The school was originally a music conservatory, so it will give them many opportunities to pursue music. “They’re pretty big on music,” she says.

Seat plans on continuing to grow their TikTok account and upload more frequently on YouTube, though they find editing to be time consuming.

She encourages others to explore music as well. “Just go for it,” they say. “It’s really fun.”

long waistband and a curved waist seam... while [the tunic] was a little more challenging mostly because of all the fabric that I was working with,” she writes in an email.

“Those two pieces were my favorite to make.”

Designing has taught Wyatt to focus less on brand names and more on clothing quality and style.

Her favorite part of the design process is its creative freedom. “You can do anything with it and it will speak to an audience,” she writes in an email.

Camille Wyatt However, she still needs COURTESY OF CAMILLE WYATT to balance marketability After three vigorous months of prototyping muslins and confer- and business with the encing both in-person and online artistic aspects of with the director of Black-owned, fashion. “It is inWashington, D.C.-based design credibly temptlabel Dur Doux, senior Camille ing to create Wyatt saw her designs come to whatever I want,” life at the semiannual New York she explains in Fashion Week (NYFW) this past an email. “So I February. “It was a lot of work,” struggle with keeping an she writes in an email. “But seeing a u d i e n c e the final result on the runway was in mind extremely fulfilling.” and makHer love for fashion began ing sure when she saw how influential it is my designs in culture, dictating what’s hot and sell.” what’s not. “Everyone participates N e x t in fashion,” she continues. “I was year, Wyinspired by how inclusive it is.” att will Wyatt first pursued her interest a t t e n d in design with an apprenticeship P a r s o n s in a local Ghananian seamstress’s S c h o o l shop. There, she learned not only of Dehow to construct garments, but sign in also how to interact with clients New York which prepared her to contact Dur City, which Doux with her portfolio. “At the hosts one seamstress, I had become quali- of the most fied enough to go straight into ap- p r e s t i g i o u s plying [for an internship],” Wyatt fashion design shares in an email. programs in Dur Doux, who focuses on va- the world, with cation wear, hit the NYFW runway notable alumfor the first time on Feb. 13 with ni including their summer-themed “Terre Et Tom Ford and Eau”—land and water—collection. Norman RockWyatt’s designs are diverse, from well. The curricpalm leaf-print pleated skirts with ulum has a heavy matching tops and head scarves course load, with to draped tunics inclusive of plus- some design masized models. “[The skirt] was fun jor classes lasting because I had experimented with a up to six consecutive

hours, but she is most excited for the networking opportunities. “I chose the school because [of] the connections it has to the industry and for the travel and internship opportunities it will offer me,” she writes in an email.

Her ultimate goal is to be a creative director for a label that focuses on being more eco-friendly. “I haven’t totally figured out what I want to do or where I’ll be,” Wyatt

writes

in an email. “[But] I am...

N MAR C

interested in sustainability

PHELA

and popularizing sustainable

ESY OF

As of May 5th, seniors (including the writers of this column) have 16 school days before their high school careers end forever. In 18 days, they will pick up their caps and gowns and sit on the field to watch the sunset. And in 20 days, they will walk across the stage, turn their tassel to the left and throw their caps in the air as they move on to the next chapter in their lives.

Seems like a great time to reminisce.

And so, we now take on our greatest challenge yet: to rate Montgomery Blair High School.

Using an advanced and highly mathematically accurate method, we will evaluate Blair, as we have done with bad movies, crystals, and Blair clubs, but this time based on four aspects required to create the perfect highschool experience: A robust and friendly student body, an in-person experience, a pristine campus, and of course, a state-of-the-art pool. Finally, using a scale of 1-126, for the amount of times we were promised a Silento concert, we will give our final judgment on Blair as a whole.

The first thing that comes to mind when many think of our great school is simply “big.” And they’d be right! With over 3,200 students, Blair is larger than many colleges; which is great when you think about opportunities to meet others, or to participate in the nichest club possible, but not so great when you are just trying to get lunch and there are so many people on Blair Boulevard that you can’t even think and they are all just standing and talking to one another and no one is moving! But we digress.

With all of those people crammed together as you fight your way to third period, you’d think it would be easier to break out of your bubble. Blair’s famed magnet programs, however, often create a chasm between those in and out of the programs that can be hard to breach. Although the Communications Arts Program (CAP) markets itself as promoting communication skills—it’s even in the name—CAP students in the program mostly learn to communicate with other CAP kids. Sure, we spent months learning about hoity toity academic buzzwords like the Dada art movement and transcendentalism, but unfortunately, Henry David Thoreau doesn’t make for a good conversation starter. For some reason, isolating students while teaching them about world issues doesn’t really mix.

To be fair, it was difficult to form meaningful connections last year while logging onto a 9 a.m.

Zoom physics lesson (beyond the Wi-Fi signal). There’s no need to describe the overwhelming boredom, lack of motivation, and communal sense of loss that permeated the 2020-2021 school year.

COVID-19 overshadows our high school experience, a cantankerous sore that will definitely bring our rating down.

Perhaps most important, however, is the physical campus. After all, is Blair truly even Blair without its Boulevard?

We can’t forget to mention Woodmoor, our second cafeteria beckoning from across the street

with the promise of Old Bay fries and caramel lattes. In myth, of course, a cryptid-like security guard traverses the grounds to catch skulking runaways, groaning with the sins of students past, stomach rumbling for his favorite meal of confiscated Chipotle bags.

Strangely, we’ve never seen him.

But how can we claim to rate Blair’s campus when there is still one area that remains an incorrigible mystery? With the help of school secretary and head of stage crew Brandon Crabtree we struck out to discover the secrets of the roof.

The road to the roof is long and winding. First, we traveled through the auditorium, past the amazing In The Heights set, and up a tucked away staircase into the world of stage crew. A nondescript black door held the secrets we were waiting for: “roof access.”

With the simple turn of a key, the door opened dramatically, revealing the stuff of legends.

The roof is paved in pebbles, with multiple levels that make those walking on it feel almost enclosed. Our vantage point sat just over the second floor and spanned the length of the school, giving us a view of both Colesville Avenue and the courtyard.

From up above, the courtyard grass really did look greener, unmarred by the mud students tracked over it. We waved frantically through windows looking into students allegedly learning, but no one returned our salutations. Disappointed, we turned to leave.

Until the bell tower called our names.

Blair’s bell tower stands as the highest point of the building, overlooking the main entrance. This makes getting there a challenge.

Timidly, we climbed up three ladders, each more precarious than the last. As we ventured upwards, we stifled our fears as the floor below grew smaller with each passing rung. If you ever find yourself inside the bell tower, we don’t recommend looking down: the only floor is a latticed catwalk which provides a queasy reminder of just how high you’ve climbed.

Turning our gaze upwards, however, we were met with the inner anatomy of the inaptly named bell tower. The ceiling is modest and unfinished, crisscrossed with bare wooden planks and woefully lacking in bells of any sort. The catwalk itself is too far down from the windows to yield any actual view, but the afternoon sunlight that filtered through shone warm on our faces.

On our way down, a shimmer of blue caught our eye. Could it really be? Blair’s famed fourth floor pool? Before we could get the scoop, we were ushered away from its chlorinated glory. But readers, hold out hope. The pool is there and waiting for the Chosen Freshman to discover its secrets.

Overall, we give Blair a score of 83 out of 126 Silentos.

videos, she became even more motivated to play and share her progress to pass on the inspiration. “It was really fun to be able to practice on my own, but also encourage others to practice as well,” they say.

Seat recently turned 18 and is on her way to joining TikTok’s Creator Fund which pays adult creators with at least 10,000 followers and at least 100,000 views in the last 30 days. “I’m not sure how much they pay, but hopefully, it will be [good],” they say.

Seat’s most popuNaomi Seat lar TikTok is a loop cover of “Where Is COURTESY OF NAOMI SEAT My Mind?” by the Pixies posted on Dec. 19, 2021.

Senior Naomi Seat, who uses This video received over 292,900 she/they pronouns, plays the elec- likes and 2,400 shares. Loop covtrifying yet soft intro of Redbone ers are created by recording short

by Childish Gambino in her room, phrases of notes that a looper plays strumming the simple yet electrify- back to the user with the click of a ing melody with masterful preci- button. Seat uses an external softsion. Since they posted their first ware, Probox, which allows one video on Nov. 15, 2020, Seat has person to play multiple parts using amassed over 82,000 followers layering. and 2.3 million likes on TikTok, However, her personal favorite @naomikei.music, with covers on is a tougher piece, a solo playing electric bass guitar, acoustic guitar, the Eagles’ “Hotel California” and voice duets. posted last November, which reSeat started small, inspired by ceived over 18,600 likes and over other guitarists on TikTok’s For 300 shares. “It was more techniYou page to improve her skills. “I cal,” they say. “But I was happy I never had any intent of growing an could do that.” account,” they say.

Seat’s page features a shoutout As more people discovered her tag showing her support for the

practices

in

fashion.”

COURT

By Maybelle Patterson and Jasper Swartz Culture Editors

Compiled by Elina Lee Staff Writer

For aspiring

designers,

she recommends keeping an updated

portfolio

and to be proactive. “[Don’t] wait for opportunities to

come,”

she

writes in an email.

“Do your research and reach out.”

silverchips

May 5, 2022 Culture E3

Winging it

By William Ashford and John Ernst Staff Writers Whether as an appetizer, a Super Bowl staple, or dinner, chicken wings are a spicy and tasty treat shared by friends and families. Inspired to find the best wings within a 20 minute drive from Blair, we set out to try wings from six local restaurants.

There are several primary components that go into a great wing.

The chicken has to be cooked thoroughly but still have moisture, the dipping sauce has to be thick enough to coat the wing but not fall off, and all of the components have to be balanced to make each flavor pop. With the right sauce, meat, and texture, the perfect chicken wing can be revolutionary.

The most traditional of wings is the

buffalo wing, ordered alongside the dependable ranch and blue cheese dips, so we decided that would be the focus.

Our journey started right across the street from Blair, at The 4 Corners Pub, a Woodmoor staple known for their family friendly atmosphere. Available in orders of six or 12 wings, they featured the buffalo hot wings we were looking for, as well as six other sauces. Although the sauce was not as spicy as we would have liked, we were impressed by the crispiness of the wing and the amount of meat on the bone. If readers are looking for taste bud numbing wings, they also make an extra spicy option, but the regular hot wings offer the typical hot sauce taste without extreme heat.

The second stop on our quest was The Stained Glass Pub in Glen-

COURTESY OF BRYAN ROBINETTE

CHIPS TESTS WINGS Staff writers William Ashford and John Ernst stand outside Heavenly Wings in Silver Spring.

mont, right off Georgia Avenue.

Their wings were dubbed “Tony’s Wings” on the menu, and came in orders of 12. The first thing that jumped out to us was the sauce, which was much more peppery and zesty than the previous one.

However, the dish sacrificed the crispiness of the chicken itself. The ranch and blue cheese dips didn’t meet our expectations, as they were a little watery and didn’t cling to the wing. An overall solid wing with a standout sauce, we would recommend The Stained Glass Pub for wings with a flavorful tang and pleasant spice, but not so much if you’re looking for a crunch.

Our next restaurant was McGinty’s Public House, a welcoming bar and restaurant on Ellsworth Street in Downtown Silver Spring.

The buffalo wings, evenly coated in sauce, were laid out appetizingly on a tray and garnished with fresh celery and carrots, along with some greatly appreciated sanitizing hand wipes, making it the best plating we had seen thus far. These wings looked the most appetizing, but fell short of our expectations, as they were less crispy than they appeared.

Fortunately, the actual meat of the wing was the best we had tasted because we could tell it had been generously seasoned beforehand.

Paired with similarly well-seasoned ranch and blue cheese dips, these wings rivaled the previous two.

Our next stop was at Heavenly Wings, a food truck in the nondescript parking lot of the Georgia Avenue Exxon gas station. Ordering their classic 12 piece wings, we were pleased to see a lower cost menu. But the cheap price was no indication of the quality, as we were blown away by the best sauce

we had tasted so far. The spice was perfect, balancing the tangy taste and offering a good amount of heat while still allowing the other flavors to shine. Although we found the ranch dip to be bland, it had a great consistency and complimented the chicken well. The wings were especially crispy, and we agreed Heavenly Wings was worth visiting again.

Our final stop of the journey was Quarry House Tavern, a dimly lit basement bar and restaurant in downtown Silver Spring. It felt like we were transported to an underground lair as we walked down the narrow steps and into the cool, dark, low-ceilinged seating area.

We ordered twelve wings: 6 original buffalo and 6 hot buffalo. Although

the bill was a little steep, the chicken did not disappoint.

Deliciously crispy and liberally sauced, these were some of the best wings we had tried. Although the blue cheese dip was too thick and the ranch too watery, we devoured the wings and ordered extra crispy tater-tots to soak up the remaining sauce. The tavern was a unique environment with great wings to go along with it.

Each wing offered its own strengths, so picking the best one was difficult. The 4 Corners Pub offers a classic family friendly dinner environment, and the meaty

and crispy wings are the perfect appetizer for any meal. The Stained Glass Pub offered some of the hottest wings we tried, and the tangy sauce set the sports bar apart. Although McGinty’s Public House didn’t top our list, they had the best dipping sauces and presentation of any restaurant, and their diverse menu is definitely worth checking out. Heavenly Wings was the perfect stop for quick wings whether as a meal or a snack, and offered great wings in the middle of a

bustling gas E

K ELIZA COO

station

that would be easy to

pick up on the way back from work or school. Quarry House Tavern served excellent wings all around, with an intimate sit-down experience. Our final recommendation is The 4 Corners Pub, an iconic Four Corners spot, just across the street from Blair and just about the most local you can get.

silverchips

Archives Compiled by Lucía Santoro-Vélez

In Silver Chips’ 84th year, we will continue the tradition of our predecessors by going through our archives and reprinting the best, most timely, and most local stories.

Without further ado, one of our favorites.

Teacher opinions limited in class discussions Sarah Peller December 23, 1993

Principal Phillip Gainous announced at a faculty meeting that teachers should exercise caution about expressing their opinions in the classroom. Gainous says that he has always had this unwritten policy with his teachers.

On December 3rd he met with the resource teachers and he later discussed his views at a full faculty meeting on the 6th.

The issue has been brought to the attention of the administration this year because of two incidents involving teachers expressing their potentially offensive positions during class discussions. Mr. Ganious spoke privately with both teachers.

Before the faculty meetings, most teachers had no idea whether or not there was a policy restricting opinionated lectures. Instead, they set their own limitations on what they would and would not express in their classrooms, based on courtesy and common sense. Media teacher Chris Lloyd, who doesn’t act according to any particular county guidelines, tries to remain impartial during class discussions.

“I have a whole set of beliefs… but

I try not to bring my own personal bias in,” he says.

At the meetings, Gainous told the teachers that “they have to keep in mind their influence over students. Staff’s purpose is that of facilitator and it’s not necessarily their position to give their personal opinion because that’s going to immediately slant the discussion.

[They need] to try and get all views of that issue out and let the students formulate their own opinions.”

Two cases

According to some students at Blair, there are situations in which teachers’ opinions are so demeaning to individuals that it interferes with their learning. In the two recent cases at Blair, students have dropped classes in which the teachers said things so offensive as to make the class unbearable.

One of these students, a sophomore who wishes to remain anonymous, dropped a Spanish class this year in which the teacher, according to the student, directly expressed her dislike for homosexuals. The teacher started out by telling the class one day that in Spanish, the word “pato” means both “duck” and “gay.” According to the student, it didn’t end there.

The third or fourth time the word was pointed out, the student said, it was accompanied by a statement that the teacher wrote on the board. It said “No me encantan los patos,” and in parentheses beside “patos” was written “homosexuals.”

Translated, it reads “I don’t like the homosexuals.” The student, who is gay, took personal offense and dropped the class almost immediately. “I felt so offended. It really affected my self-esteem, and I’m glad I’m not in that class anymore,” she says.

May 5, 2022 Culture E4 The second incident began last year and involved a similar offense.

Marcia Ventura, a senior at Blair last year, dropped a class because of the personally offensive statements the teacher was making.

Ventura says that she has been offended by the teacher’s expression of her opinions all year long, but that a particularly offensive statement caused her to finally request a schedule change. “We were talking about sexuality,” she recalls. “What it came down to was her saying and I quote, that ‘homosexuality was an abomination in her opinion. I had gotten upset before this, but it hadn’t led me to do what I did after this.”

The teacher that Ventura complained about last year continued this year to hold class discussions and to express her opinions on issues that came up.

She says that her personal policy is to wait until her students inquire to give her own opinion. “My basic tendency is to have kids express their opinions and then, if they ask, I express mine, she explains. “It’s not to convince anyone of my opinion; it’s to get a discussion going on an issue.”

Gainous was surprised and concerned to hear that this teacher was still expressing her opinions in class because, he says, he spoke to her last year and he “felt that we had an understanding.” Gainous and an assistant principal have since met with the teacher again and Gainous believes “we have a clearer understanding.”

Although she says that in the past students have disagreed with her opinions, the teacher denies that, before this year, she had ever gotten any complaints about her class conduct.

Policies

There are no official Montgomery County policies that restrict

ADD

teachers’ class lectures so as to forbid expression of opinions on certain topics. According to the MCPS teacher’s handbook, teachers aren’t allowed to distribute materials advocating a particular political candidate or imposing a particular religious belief, but that’s as far as written guidelines go.

When it comes to formal MCPS policy, however, those who believe that teachers should keep themselves aren’t so sure official policy would be appropriate. Lloyd, for instance, is uneasy about the possibility of a policy limiting teachers’

discussions. “I hate official policies, because usually when I think of policy I think of restricion,” he says, wincing at the question. “Maybe if we had a policy which was more unrestrictive than restrictive, that would ask teachers to at least open up to the possibility that maybe their view isn’t the only view.”

Freedom of speech is a prized and highly publicized right in America, but in many ways, it’s not applicable in high school. Students are forbidden from using certain words in class, responding to their

teachers in certain ways, wearing clothes that are deemed likely to distract the learning process, or violating other rules unique to the school environment.

Sure, each of these specific rules is being constantly disputed, and there are arguments on both sides.

But if these rules restricting students’ freedom of speech can exist, where should the line be drawn on what teachers are allowed to say to students in the classroom?

Lloyd believes that as a teacher, simply revealing your own opinion is not a good idea, because students are so easily influenced. “I think that especially at this age in high school, people are trying to formulate opinions on a whole range of issues. Teachers are an authority figure in the classroom… and students have impressionable minds. As the authority figure, what you say goes,” he says.

Blair students have mixed views on the issue. Junior Bridget Smith believes that freedom of speech should be taken into consideration, with some exceptions. “I think [teachers] should be able to [express their opinions] because students aren’t obligated to go along with that opinion, as long as the teachers don’t take it so far as to have a bias against a student because they don’t agree with their opinion,” she says. “But they’re like any other human being, they should be able to say their opinion.”

The sophomore who dropped her Spanish class also doesn’t favor a strict county policy forbidding teachers from mentioning sensitive subjects. “It seems like it would be getting into censorship,” she says. “[Teachers] should be in a position where things could be open to discussion.”

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E5 Culture May 5, 2022

Chips Clips

May Crossword

LEELA MEHTA-HARWITZ

To see the answers to the 7-Eleven puzzle, the Sudoku, and the Crossword, scan the QR codes.

7-Eleven

Sudoku

Crossword

7-Eleven Leftovers

ELINA LEE

LUCIA WANG

ELINA LEE

Across:

1: Common currency among friends 6: Oft-memed test for eleventh graders, Abbr.

10: Latin for “and the rest”, Abbr.

13: Some of Americas’ largest domesticated mammals 15: Megamind, in the end 16: Organization opposing gun regulation, Abbr.

17: Encourage 18: Split up 20: Musician Frank 22: Cook at high heat to develop a crust 23: Solanum nigrum: Tomato’s toxic relative 30: Three trillion dollar industry focused on fads and trends 31: United Kingdom’s largest protected wetland 32: Pay to play 33: Dell competitor 34: Alliaria petiolata: Invasive species with the name of two common ingredients 41: Letters spelled out for a playground prank 42: Praise (as a noun or a verb!)

44: Miami Dolphins center 47: Stutter on words 50: Acer saccharinum: fast growing deciduous tree 52: Greenland might be a really big one 53: Pig food 54: Retired, still teaching, professor 58: Stay in place 63: Lil ___ X 64: Window unit 65: Dazed state, or what you might listen to in one 66: Genre of music, Abbr.

67: Tippity top 68: What just happened to the across clues

Down:

1: A season that’s not winter, spring, summer, or fall 2: Mountain on the border of Italy and ALEX GROSMAN Switzerland

3: What a var. has after you declare it 4: “Cheerleader”’s artist 5: Monkey in “The Lion King” 6: Meme caption of an amphibian (Var.) 7: A pirate’s first love 8: “The ___ of War” 9: Etienne’s you 10: Group of nine 11: What one does lightly on a sensitive topic 12: Small activist group 14: Short for a shorthander 19: Guidelines you should follow at work, Abbr.

21: Haruka’s frenemy in “Free!”

23: Degree received at RISD 24: AP that many eleventh graders take 25: Prolific dog actor with credits in the “Thin Man” movies 26: Goddess of Pop 27: Group of sch. including Howard 28: ____ Leches 29: The fastest method for doing this is aptly named “Quick” 33: 49-Down, for short 35: Low-fat 36: Cake finisher 37: What you might do to get in the house when there’s a guard outside?

38: Abuela in Encanto 39: Allium best served roasted with butter 40: What throwing your glove initiates 43: Famous doctor?

44: How a fan feels when their team loses 45: Worst off in terms of ailment 46: Across all of time and space 47: “Blueberries For ___” 48: A couple of trans people 49: Units for I in V=I/R 50: School for dyslexia in Silver Spring 51: English art county 55: Those funny letters next to words in the dictionary make up this, Abbr.

56: Type of dance 57: Nice one?

59: Benedict Cumberbatch, for one 60: “So what?”

61: Care for (as a bruise) 62: Spider-Man’s “guy in the chair”

silverchips

F1 Sports May 5, 2022

Shooting for equity in youth sports

By Annie Gao and Ella Schrebler Staff Writers

DANIEL GRIFFIN

Sports has always been the least common denominator, it’s something that… can unify everybody. It’s something that can bring people together from all walks of life.

Amanda DeFilippo, countywide Programs Manager for Montgomery County Recreation, emphasizes the importance of sports in providing opportunities for student athletes. “I am the product of youth sports,” she says in an interview with Silver Chips. “I started in a little league program playing softball, worked my way up, played in high school, and got the opportunity to go to college with some scholarship help. I don’t know if I would have been able to afford to go without that.”

In the past two years, Montgomery County’s Office of Legislative Insight conducted two studies on gender, racial, and socioeconomic barriers to local youth sports participation to inform the council along their policymaking process.

The most recent report, published in February, cited notable dis-

I started in a little league program playing softball, worked my way up, played in high school, and got the opportunity to go to college with some scholarship help.

I don’t know if I would have been able to afford to go without that.

COURTESY OF DANIEL GRIFFIN

SPORTS EQUIPMENT Leveling the Playing Field hosts a tennis equipment distribution. crepancies in gender equity with- sourced communities and schools. iel Griffin, the program director in Montgomery County youth Founded in 2013, Leveling the for the LPF Greater Washington sports. It also cited a 2018-2019 Playing Field (LPF) is a nonprofit chapter, says.

High School Athletics Participa- that collects donations of new and In addition to addressing sociotion Survey conducted by the Na- lightly used sports equipment to economic barriers to youth sports tional Federation of State High distribute to youth sports programs participation, the organization also School Associations that found that across the county. “In 2021, we dis- dedicates itself to gender equity. LPF, there were over one million more tributed over $1.1 million worth of along with various other Washingmale athletes than female athletes equipment to 252 programs,” Dan- ton, D.C. sports teams, formed the nationwide. In response to the Office of Legislative Insight’s report, the Montgomery County Council approved a $100,000 appropriation on March 22 to engage elementary and middle school girls in various sports programs by offering recreational leagues for various sports and introductory skills classes and clinics.

At Blair, the student athlete demographic makeup is a continued consideration. “Blair is just a wealth of diversity in every way, and it’s such a beautiful thing,” Blair athletics director Rita Boulé explains. “I would like our teams to be reflective of that.”

Boulé emphasizes Blair’s focus on finding ways to reach all of the Blair community to encourage this representation. “We reach out to the ESOL teachers and go in to talk to their classes,” she says. Other staff members also lead initiatives that introduce students who are new to the country to the athletics programs offered at Blair.

In recent years, the county has also seen an expansion of local organizations that serve under re-

COURTESY OF DANIEL GRIFFIN

DONATIONS Leveling the Playing Field distributes basketball equipment to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington.

AMANDA DEFILIPPO

On March 15, Montgomery County Council President Gabe Albornoz introduced Bill 6-22, calling for the creation of a 23-member commission to study opportunities and participation in Montgomery County sports. If passed, the commission will make recommendations to the County Council and County Executive regarding expanding athletic opportunities and addressing inequities in youth sports across the county. This bill is one of several recent initiatives in Montgomery County striving towards diversity and inclusion in youth sports.

The Montgomery County Council accepted public testimonies for the bill at an April 19th council session. One individual was Doug Remer from Play Ball Academy, a sports academy that provides athletic training through camps and clinics for youth athletes in Montgomery County, who emphasized the benefits of focusing more attention to the youth sports program in the county, including athletic scholarships and recruitment. “One of the best parts about the commission that I’m excited to see… is the fact that we can provide the post-secondary opportunities,” Remer said in his virtual testimony to the council.

Washington Coalition of Women’s Professional Sports (WCWPS) to connect women’s sports teams in the Washington Metropolitan Area and create fundraisers to provide female athletes with equipment necessities. “[WCWPS works for the] collection and fundraising of new sports bras so that we can ensure that all young female athletes have the basic necessities from an equipment standpoint in order to participate in sports,” Griffin explains.

Beyond providing a means of physical and social activity for children, more sports facilities and programs can serve as an economic and quality of life booster for Montgomery County residents.

Griffin was inspired to join LPF due to his love for sports and community service. “Sports has always been the least common denominator, it’s something that… can unify everybody,” he says. “It’s something that can bring people together from all walks of life.”

silverchips

F2 Sports May 5, 2022

Americans enthralled by European soccer Blair community bonds over the sport

American players are becoming more prominent in Europe and that’s helped popularize the game here.

WIll LANKENAU

Liverpool Football Club playing on the TVs. U.S. [restaurants have] sports in general [on TV], but not specifically soccer.”

Peter Young, a social studies teacher at Blair, has been a fan of European soccer ever since he played soccer as a kid 20 years ago. He credits the popularity of European soccer partially with club teams touring IA the U.S. in the H P SO summer. “I think

LI

Full of scarves and Saturday morning game day excitement, the fandom of European soccer is like no other. As its popularity grows globally, European soccer has cemented itself as one of the most popular sports to watch in the U.S. with some of the most unique traditions. Blair students and staff alike have become engrossed in the culture of the sport, along with the rest of the world.

In the 2019-2020 season, 3.2 billion people across the world watched English Premier League matches. La Liga, the Spanish club league and the second most popular league in Europe, amassed 2.8 billion viewers in the same year. The leagues’ popularity has no borders; Premier League game viewership is double that of the National Hockey League in America.

Blair junior Will Lankenau traveled to England in 2018, where he visited several soccer stadiums before deciding to support Liverpool Football Club, which plays in the English Premier

League. He says that the sports fan atmosphere in England was different than it is in the U.S., where soccer is less popular. “I would say what really stuck out was we visited a restaurant in Liverpool,” Lankenau says. “They had highlights of

the Premier League and other European clubs have made a considerable effort to tour in America over the summer,” he says. This summer, teams like Real Madrid, Juventus, and Barcelona are planning to play friendly tournaments across the U.S. Venues have not yet been decided.

Several pubs and bars in the DMV area that show European soccer games, with some bars being dedicated solely to one club. “The people who are there genuinely care about the team… You’ll see people, some of whom are from England, and some are American, but they’ve fallen in love with the team,” Blair junior Jack Bevington says.

“It’s just a good atmosphere, everyone’s having a good time, watching the game, meeting new people.”

There are over 50 players from the U.S. Men’s National Team who play on club teams across Europe, with the most well-known player being Christian Pulisic, a midfielder who plays for Chelsea FC in the English Premier League. Lankenau believes that

the increase in American players in Europe has led to more Americans watching European soccer.

“American players are becoming more prominent in Europe and that’s helped popularize the game here,” he says.

Another way that European soccer has become more popular is through video games. FIFA, a soccer video game that allows players to simulate a professional soccer match, is the highest selling sports video game of all time. Players can choose soccer players from hundreds of club soccer teams around the world. “I think that’s also helped because it’s one of the most popular video games,” Young says.

“It’s a way to learn all of the players.”

On FIFA, players can also compete with national teams, which many Americans also watch. In 2020, more Americans watched the UEFA Euro championship soccer game between Italy and England than the NBA finals.

The 2022 World Cup is taking place in Qatar, with many countries participating, including the United States and England. Bevington, who supports England, says

It’s just a good atmosphere, everyone’s having a good time, watching the game, meeting new people.

JACK BEVINGTON

By Eliana Finberg Staff Writer

that he will watch every game. “I don’t believe that England, who I’ll be supporting, will play at 5 a.m., but I’ll be watching all their games for sure. I’ll take school off for it,” he says. In 2026, the World Cup is taking place in North America and Bevington hopes to be able to attend at least one game.

Young recalls attending a game in 1994 when the United States hosted the World Cup. “I remember having a mug that had the silly dog mascot with U.S. ‘94 on it, and that was my favorite mug when I was younger,” he says.

Young’s son is 4, and has recently started watching soccer with him.

“I have to tell him to stop watching it because he just wants to watch soccer,” Young says. “[My] favorite part [has been] just watching him enjoy it as much as me.”

silverchips

May 5, 2022 Sports F3

Enemies and adversaries Blair’s sports rivalries

By Rosie Orzulak Staff Writer “So long as there are men, there will be wars,” Albert Einstein professed many years ago. It may seem trivial to compare high school sports to armed combat, but the visceral feeling that comes with facing one’s enemy in war translates to the animosity exhibited by athletes on the field. At Blair, the most infamous rival is Northwood, with both schools’ campuses being located on University Boulevard. The annual “Battle of the Boulevard” football game features huge student sections of exuberant fans from both schools. However, athletic rivalries regarding Blair venture beyond the

student section has been known to express racist or sexist messages to the players of the teams they’re playing, and these acts often target DCC teams. Luisa Mini, a junior on the varsity soccer team, explains that her disdain for Sherwood stems from former games against them, and their reputation. “We’ve had a lot of hard battles with them.

We beat them earlier in the season… then, later in the season, we lost to them in extra time penalty kicks,” she reflects. “As well as Sherwood’s ‘history’ in being racist and sexist. So it’s always a school we want to beat.”

Mini feels that this passion to beat Sherwood and other rivals unites her team. “I think it’s important to have the specific teams

and beat them in the playoffs this year,” he explains.

With the prominence of modern social media culture, rivalries spill out of the arenas and onto Instagram. Moore was personally attacked by B-CC’s student-led spirit Instagram page, @rollrons. They posted a video of him on their story and tagged him with a slick comment. Moore says he wasn’t bothered by it, though, because he let the game speak for itself. “It was funny because we beat them by like 20. And I dropped 30 [points] in ten [minutes]. Yeah, that was funny. Call me out because you lost,” he says.

B-CC’s student section page took their social media comments past sports when they posted screenshots regarding the student stabbed at Blair, with the caption, “@blazerragers Y’all worried about the wrong things… how about you

CAL TOBIAS

MAX SCHAEFFER

It makes it more fun for everybody.

It gives people an extra reason to come to the game, support

get ur students in check… Only thing u leading moco in is stabbings.” The Blazer Ragers retaliated with, “Was this supposed to hurt our feelings?”

Senior Max Schaeffer—who is a member of the Blazer Ragers, Blair’s senior-run spirit club and student fan section—explains that social media makes rivalries stronger, while ramping up the energetic atmosphere of athletic events.

“Social media is seen as an outlet for kids to talk trash to each other or whatever. I think it’s helped them and made [athletics] a little bit more competitive,” Schaeffer explains. “It makes it more fun for everybody. It gives people an extra reason to come to the game, support… People are more passionate about it that way.”

Despite this, the Blazer Ragers try to rarely get into altercations on social media, and instead focus more on the student body’s capabilities. “It’s just not what we’re trying to be about, [the account is] a little bit more… official,” Shaeffer explains. “We’d rather just win games and if we can celebrate our student athletes and make a good student section, that’s the main focus.”

SAM NOSOFF

DUNK ON THEM Blazer senior Gio Moore dunks on rival Sherwood High in a 26-point performance that could not secure the win in a 68-61 loss.

Boulevard and tend to be specific that you really want to beat to bring to past matchups and the athletes’ your team together,” she says. personal connections with oppoAs Nosoff described, grudges nents. against rivals often accumulate over Blair football coach Sam Nosoff several years. Senior Gio Moore claims that Einstein High School is has been on the varsity basketball the most prevalent rival to Blair’s team for three years and explains that his desire to beat Paint Branch only grew with their losses. “It all started my freshman year when It’s kind of a they beat us in the second round of playoffs, and then my sophomore personal vengeance year, they beat us in the first round we have against of playoffs,” he says. them now.

Moore further explains that Paint Branch’s team did not shy away from boasting their victories either. “They’re a team that talks football team. The rivalry stemmed heavy,” he says. Moore used this as from Einstein defeating Blair three further motivation to play his hardyears ago. “For me, personally, est, and the reward was worth it. “It I think they’re our biggest rivals meant a lot to just come out there because they were the first DCC [Down County Consortium] team to beat us… and that had been a record of about six years when we hadn’t lost to teams in the DCC,” he says. “It’s kind of a personal vengeance we have against them now.”

This “personal vengeance” Nosoff refers to is a common theme throughout athletic rivalries, especially towards schools that have continuously beat the Blazers. Jamall Worell, a junior and football player at Blair, explains that a loss is only greater fuel for athletes on the team, making them want to beat their rivals more. “Right now, I feel like we have two rivals, and those would be the two games we lost.

For us, it was Paint Branch and JONATHAN CUMBLIDGE Sherwood,” he says.

A rivalry with Sherwood is a BLAZING HOT Blazer Kendell Anderson takes the ball down the field common theme at Blair. Their in a heated game against Sherwood football.

LEELA MEHTA-HARWITZ

By Jon Eckert Sports Editor/Columnist The Brooklyn Nets are a joke of a team.

The former favorites to win the championship had the most talent-loaded team since the Golden State Warriors team that won the 2018 finals. The Nets touted the most recent “big three” with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden. KD is undoubtedly a top 15 player all-time and Harden is 100 percent a top 50 player all-time. Let’s not forget about arguably the best ball-handler in the league in Kyrie Irving.

The Nets also added other talented players in Blake Griffin and Patty Mills. This team was absolutely stacked, leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of the league in terms of talent. So why could they not win a playoff game? The answer is simple: Egos.

This was the first year in which KD, Kyrie, and James Harden would have a full offseason to prepare for a run at a championship. Expectations were stupidly high going into the season despite the group never playing a full season together due to injuries. The first big blow to the Nets seemingly inevitable run to the finals started with Kyrie’s refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccine. This left him unable to play in any home games, as well as games in select cities in the league due to local COVID-19 restrictions.

The lack of chemistry among the stars was the biggest issue among the star-studded roster.

If we are being honest, this was a locker room of divas. Let’s remember how James Harden first ended up in Brooklyn. The ten-time NBA All-Star decided he wanted out of Houston after they had not performed well and he decided to stop trying and allegedly wore fatsuits in warmups and games to try and force a trade. Magically, once he was in Brooklyn all was well once again as the former MVP appeared to be in the best shape of his life.

Interesting…

Kyrie and KD both came to Brooklyn with something to prove. Kyrie seemed to still need to prove that he could be better than the Robin to Lebron’s Batman but ended up in a situation where he wasn’t even one of the two best players on the team.

Kevin Durant had just come off of an amazing stint in Golden State where he ended with two rings on a team that other than him was drafted instead of bought. KD seemed to want to prove he could win without a superteam before deciding to try and build his own in Brooklyn.

Ultimately, this jumble of talent ended up looking like a team with less chemistry than you would see in your local rec center pickup games. The stars almost never saw the floor together due to injuries, along with Kyrie’s

absence at home which led to an underwhelming regular season for the expected champs. This led to James Harden jumping ship, which makes sense as he hasn’t been a player to stay on a team when he

Ultimately, this jumble of talent ended up looking like a team with less chemistry than you would see in your local rec center pickup games.

has to face major adversity. He left in a trade to Philadelphia that gave the Nets infamous former first overall pick Ben Simmons.

Despite constant speculation of a return, Simmons would never see the floor this past season for seemingly a different excuse each week.

After a let-down of a regular season, the Nets faced off against Kyrie’s former team, the Boston Celtics. During the games in Boston, Kyrie let issues with Boston off the court affect his game on the court as he was busy shooting birds at the Celtics’ fans. Of all of the players that have played against the Celtics and have endured a plethora of abuses from the fans, Kyrie became the first player to show how much it hurt his ego to be heckled. While fans should be held to a certain standard of decency, as a professional basketball player, Kyrie should be able to tune out the noise and play ball like every other NBA player that’s been heckled by Celtics’ fans.

The Nets played in that series like the divas they are, losing four straight games and being swept by the Celtics. After Charles Barkley criticized KD for not leading the team the way a star player should, instead of ignoring his critics like the vast majority of NBA stars, Durant had to clap back at Barkley on social media. It seems like the last thing this team wanted to do was play basketball at a high level. The Nets this past year were not a superteam, but a conglomerate of talented divas assembled to play the best rec center basketball you’ve ever seen.

silverchips

F4 Sports May 5, 2022

COURTESY OF PETER DAVIS

HENRY REICHLE

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CAL TOBIAS

Springing into sports Blazer athletes bring the heat

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