The Tide - February 2019

20

News 2-3

Opinions 4-6

La Marea 9

Center Spread 10-11

Features 12-14

Arts 16-18

Sports 19-20

Highlights from the big screen 2018 films break out of the box office and make history

by Sabrina Mei The film awards season is here, bringing about the annual frenzy of red carpets, teary acceptance speeches and heated Twitter debates that come with the determination of this year’s standout films.

The past year introduced several groundbreaking films with diverse casts and important themes that shifted the perceptions of what makes a successful film.

“Crazy Rich Asians” and

“Black Panther” showed critics and studios that all-minority casts can dominate the box office, while movies such as “The Hate U Give” and “Boy Erased” brought awareness to controversial topics not often portrayed in cinema.

These advancements have broadened the perspective of the entertainment industry, but in the end, what films will actually take home awards?

“Green Book” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” have proven themselves as major players this year.

Peter Farrelly’s comedydrama, “Green Book,”

has already received numerous accolades, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture and Producers Guild of America Award for Best Theatrical Motion Picture.

Mahershala Ali, who plays one of the film’s central characters, won a Critics’ Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Additionally, the film has been

GRAPHICS BY VALERIE WANG

nominated for five Academy Awards this year: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing.

However, the movie’s enormous success has been sprinkled with controversy.

While Oscar voters seemed to love the concept, many critics found the depiction of 1960s race relations in the Jim Crow South to be placating and problematic.

T h e y a c c u s e d the film of telling the story of the black experience from a white perspective, portraying many of the issues in the film through rose-colored lens that keep the movie’s largest takeaways within a safe region of influence.

One of the film’s main characters is based on the real-life concert pianist Dr. Don Shirley.

His family did not support this retelling of his story, calling it a “symphony of lies.”

The film’s screenwriter, Nick

Vallelonga, defended the film, stating, “I think if they really took a look at it, the film is about people coming together, it’s about love.

I cared so much about how he comes across so I think it’s more of a misunderstanding.” “ B o h e m i a n Rhapsody,” directed

by Bryan Singer, is a biographical film about the British rock band, Queen, and it has earned numerous awards as well.

This includes the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture, Golden Globe Award for Best Actor, and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor.

The Academy Awards showered the film with accolades, two of which are Best Picture and Best Film Editing.

Similar to “Green Book,” many critics saw “Bohemian Rhapsody” as a censored and inaccurate retelling of a historical moment.

The biggest issues center around the film’s portrayal of Freddie Mercury’s sexuality and struggle with HIV. AWARDS, cont. page 16

Chemistry in and out of the classroom

by Meghna Pandey and Amna Shamim When asked about the ideal first date, a few words may come to mind—roses or chocolates perhaps. The Albaughs, however, would think of peaches, Shia LaBeouf, and almost being killed by their GPS. It all started in college, when science teachers Stuart and Bessy Albaugh were both pursuing science education majors at the

Inside The Tide...

University of Maryland. Their first impressions did not exactly resemble love at first sight.

“I thought he was scary,” Mrs. Albaugh said when recalling her first impression of him. Mr. Albaugh, however, didn’t think that way about her.

“I just thought she was super duper nice. And she let me use her laptop one time to finish my chem homework at the last second,” he said.

After they got to know each other better through continuous

News, 3

Government shutdown takes toll

classes together, Mr. Albaugh finally made the first move. “We were really both super awkward, so we would never officially ask each other out. I said ‘Do you want to hang out?’ and she said ‘Sure,’” Mr. Albaugh said.

ALBAUGHS, cont. page 12

PHOTO BY ISHA YARDI

Opinions, 5 Centerspread, 10-11

Black and Gold: Pep rallies

Mr. RM

Sports, 20

Sports around the world

2 The Tide

NEWS

Rockville considers student cap increase

PHOTO BY ISHA YARDI

A crowd of RM students leave school at the end of the day to find their bus.

by Tejas Nazare The Rockville City council has spent the past few weeks debating a councilmember’s proposal to adjust the Adequate Public Facilities Standard (APFS), which would raise RM’s maximum student capacity from 120 percent to 150 percent. The change would allow for increased residential development in the Twinbrook Quarter area, which would consequently draw in more economic growth for the city of Rockville.

On Monday Jan. 5, the council voted 3-1 to exempt “champion projects” such as the Twinbook Quarter from school capacity rules, according to Bethesda Magazine.

“Economic development is such a dry phrase, but what it really means is keeping the tax base up, providing jobs, providing homes, providing amenities and opportunities,” Rockville City Councilmember Pierzchala said.

An addition of almost 2,000 new homes, however, would lead to an influx of students into an already overcrowded RM. According to data from the 2020 Capital Budget, RM is currently at 112 percent capacity.

As stated by Bethesda Magazine, projections show that RM would reach 121 percent capacity by the 2023-2024 school year. By 2028, RM would be at 130 percent capacity.

Some of the most visible effects

of overcrowding at RM have been class sizes and room availability. “We have historically had classes as high as 36 in BC Calculus, which is above the limit for Montgomery County,” math teacher John Chase said.

“That is only partially related to the problem of overcrowding, because everytime we have more enrollment we get more teachers. The problem with overcrowding comes from the fact we just have a limited amount space,” he continued.

RM students are also adjusting to overcrowding.

“I’m really beginning to feel the congestion when walking through the hallways and the stairwells. Sometimes I don’t have time to go to the bathroom during our five minute transition because the bathroom is full,” sophomore Danny Shao said.

“I don’t think it would be reasonable to have more students attend RM when we are already feeling the impacts of overcrowding,” Shao continued.

Like Shao, Rockville City Council member Beryl Feinberg is concerned about overcrowding. “The adequate Public Facilities ordinance came about in the city as well as in the county in the early 2000s to ensure that when there was

development there would be adequate infrastructure for new developments,” Feinberg said at a public hearing on Jan 14.

Attendees at the hearing gave testimonies ranging from having to sit on the floor of the bus to the disadvantages of learning in portables. An overwhelming majority of people advocated for keeping the cap as it is or reducing it down to 100 percent.

Many also argued that an APFS exemption waiver defeats the purpose of having an APFS in the first place. The issue was further discussed at a PTSA meeting.

“Our organization is founded in our bylaws to have the purpose of advocating for laws that further the education of our kids. We had no other choice than to oppose any change to the current APFS that would raise the cap over 120 percent of its built capacity,” PTSA president Cynthia Griffiths said.

On the other side of the issue, proponents of increasing student capacity argue that the change would not have drastic consequences. According to Pierzchala, construction in the Twinbook area would not start for at least two years should the proposal pass.

“The proposal that I put together has virtually no impact for six years and at that point the new Crown High School and the new Woodward High School will be complete or very nearly complete,” Pierzchala said in an interview. “For this issue I don’t see much of a conflict at all between economic development and overcrowding at RM.” At the public hearing, Pierzchala also touched on the extent of overcrowding.

“The 150 percent number really has no relationship to the percent overcrowding at RM. That said, a lot of people don’t like that number and so that number will either be eliminated or lowered,” he said.

February/March

February 2019

NEWS IN BRIEF

SMOB election season kicks off with new candidate nominations Applications to run for Student Member of the Board of Education (SMOB) opened on Jan. 2 and closed on Jan. 25. During this window, sophomores and juniors could nominate themselves or others to be a SMOB candidate.

The next step in the election process is the nominating convention, which will occur on Feb. 20. Student delegates will convene at Watkins Mill High school and choose two finalists for the election.

SMOB election campaigns will then run until April 24, when middle and high school students will be able to vote for a new SMOB. Richard Montgomery senior Ananya Tadikonda is the current SMOB, and her term will finish in July of this year. “The term so far has been an excellent learning experience an oppurtunity to work with diverse people to improve the state of education in our county,” Tadikonda said.

The SMOB position was first created in 1978, and since then, seven RM students have become SMOB. Running for SMOB has changed a lot since 1978, with campaigns getting larger and candidates utilizing new technology.

The SMOB position, however, has also suffered some criticism. “It ends up being a lot of a popularity vote sometimes, and that doesn’t you know really give an accurate representation,” junior Will Garner said. “People will promise things like food trucks and no homework, but the chance of that actually happening is little to none,” he said, in reference to Alex Abrosimov’s campaign on food trucks.

Other students disagree: “I actually kind of like SMOB because I feel it’s done a lot of good for the country and is a good thing to have in the school system,” junior Noah Begines said.

As of now, the 12 SMOB candidates, none of which currently attend RM, have a little over two months to convince students to vote for them.

by Savva Brown MCPS Increases Mental Health Funding to help more students Mental health is a topic of conversation that is becoming increasingly popular amongst RM students in light of the planned MCPS budget increase for mental health resources.

“It is becoming more and more common for young people to be struggling with serious mental health problems, and it is very important for schools to provide support for these students,” senior Grace Anderson said.

MCPS currently assigns one psychologist for every two high schools, and they are often in all-day meetings three days a week. To remedy this issue, Superintendent Jack Smith is proposing a $2.65 billion budget that includes around 20 new full-time counselors and three psychologists.

Some students think that school and stress are the root causes of a lot of the mental health problems that students face. “I am sure that these problems happen all around, but I also feel like RM specifically, not just the county, sees a lot of mental health issues due to the IB program, which worsens the problems GRAPHIC BY ERIC KIM even more by putting extra stress on students,” sophomore Sara Logsdon said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in five school-aged children in the United States has a diagnosable mental health condition, but about 80 percent of those children do not receive treatment.

“I think MCPS should put more resources toward education surrounding mental health issues,” Anderson said. “Training teachers on how to help students dealing with mental health issues, educating students on the signs of mental health issues and how to reach out for help.”

Logsdon suggested other methods. He said, “I think MCPS could invest in more mental health days at school, therapy puppies, or even just more human resources, like counselors that specialize specifically in mental health.”

by Chloe Gonzalez

CORRECTIONS

Feb 14

Valentine’s Day Cupid is as cupid does.

Feb 18

President’s Day What’s Michelle Obama’s favorite vegetable? Barackoli!

Mar 1

Career Day I just lost my job as a psychic. I did not see that coming.

Mar 7

Interims Mailed Home C you soon!

The following is a correction for Volume 44, Issue 3 (December 2018): The Snow Border graphic that was made for the Features section was done by Katie Zhang, not Valerie Wang.

AWARDS

Congratulations to the sixteen RM students who became 2019 DC Metro Scholastic Writing Awards recipients on Feb. 1, 2019.

Hats off to the RM Boys Basketball team for winning the MCPS 4a West Title on Jan. 31, 2019.

Congrats to the RM Varsity Girls Basketball Team for winning 51-44 over Gaithersburg HS on Jan. 28, 2019.

Props to the RM poms for winning second place at the Northwest Invitational on Jan. 26, 2019.

Kudos to the RM Robotics team for winning the Connect Award, Second Control and Second Motivate at the Montgomery County 1 Qualifier on Jan. 19, 2019.

NEWS

The Tide

February 2019

3

Student video creates YouTube buzz

PHOTO COURTESY OF HUMZA MOHAMMED

Sophomore Humza Mohammed’s video has over half a million views.

by Grace Burwell With over half a million views, a student’s viral video has made RM principal Damon Monteleone famous. In 2016, Richard Williams, a spoken-word artist and rapper better known as Prince Ea, uploaded a YouTube video titled “I JUST SUED THE SCHOOL SYSTEM !!!,” calling out American public schools for letting down their students.

In his viral video, Williams argues that the modern education system forces students to adhere to the same cookie-cutter frame, which discourages creativity and individuality, keeps students at their desks for hours on end and fails to pay teachers enough.

Sophomore Humza Mohammed reacted to Prince Ea’s video by

making one of his own for his MYP Project, titled “SHOCKING! Principal Reacts to Prince EA - I JUST SUED THE SCHOOL SYSTEM !!!”

Mohammed, whose YouTube channel has a few thousand subscribers, asked Mr. Monteleone to watch William’s video and respond to its message. The video, uploaded on Dec. 20, 2018, has garnered over 500,000 views and counting.

Mohammed himself strongly supports the points Williams made in his video. “When I watched it, I agreed with everything that was said,” he said.

Mr. Monteleone was also eager and interested to respond when Mohammed approached him with his own video idea.

“I’m open to what kids bring me,” he said.

Much of William’s original video critiques the widespread conformity and standardization in our schools. “One teacher stands in front of 20 kids, each one having different strains, different needs, different gifts, different dreams and you teach the same thing the same way,” Williams said, arguing that the sheer number of students in classes makes it difficult to individualize learning.

Williams also points out that while technology has changed dramatically over the years, classrooms have remained the same. “I think the biggest point he made was that 150 years ago, classrooms looked the exact same as they look today,” Mohammed said. “That really hit home with me.”

After watching the Prince Ea video, Mohammed’s anticipation of Mr. Monteleone’s reaction inspired him to make his own YouTube video. “I personally wanted to see what [Mr. Monteleone] would say to it because I didn’t really know why a school couldn’t change,” Mohammed said. The principal’s reaction was better than he expected. “After the video, he kind of just took off; he knew what he was talking about. I agreed, he stayed on topic and he answered a lot of questions I would’ve had,” Mohammed explained.

Mr. Monteleone sympathized with Williams’ overall

sentiment. “I’m in full agreement,” the principal said. “I think we have a completely archaic system.”

He also offered his opinions on why the school system remains at a standstill. “There are people who rely on development, and rely on these buildings, and rely on the reputation of the school,” he said.

“There is an industry behind this.”

“I didn’t really know why a school couldn’t change.”

- Humza Mohammed “There is no job in the world that any of you will ever go into that looks like or feels like high school,” Mr. Monteleone said in an interview. “There’s nothing that resembles this.”

However, completely reimagining the school system would require a massive amount of change that one principal cannot enforce.

For example, one way that the public school system may limit its students is through graduation requirements. For Montgomery County schools, this includes four years of math and English, three years of science and social studies, two years of a world language and a number of elective credits such

as fine arts, physical education, technology and more.

These requirements often cause annoyance and frustration among students who feel that the courses deemed “essential” do not fit their intended career path. “You have to have graduation credits in courses that you don’t need,” Mr. Monteleone said in the video.

The video has not only gained over half a million views, but lots of public support as well. Many viewers praised Mr. Monteleone in the comment section. “This principal should become the world’s principal.

Amazing person!” a commenter wrote, gaining nearly 4,000 likes. Other popular comments included “That principal should be praised,” ”Your principal is intelligent,” and “Respect to this principal.”

While Mohammed’s video continues to rack up thousands of views and comments, he is still getting used to all the attention.

“My parents are proud of me, and it’s a cool experience,” Mohammed said. “So many people walk up to me and ask me, ‘How did you get views?’ and other questions that I really can’t answer.”

By highlighting the thoughts of a school principal, his video brought a new perspective to the longtime debate about the efficacy of our school system.

With a viral video under his belt, Mohammed is eager to do more.

“I’m looking forward to making a lot more videos, but the attention is definitely a big change,” he said.

Government shutdown leaves its mark on community

by Rohan Dewan The heavily publicized 2018-19 government shutdown was the longest in history, spanning a total of 35 days, from Dec. 22, 2018 to Jan. 25, 2019. The shutdown revolved around the budget for President Donald Trump’s border wall, and it made history after surpassing the 21-day record set during the Bill Clinton administration in 1995-96.

In early December last year, Trump requested $5.7 billion for wall on the U.S.-Mexico border in the new federal spending legislation for the 2019 year.

When House Democrats refused to pass the new spending bill, the resulting deadlock led to a partial government shutdown starting Dec. 22, 2018.

“We need to get better at compromise, and that can only be accomplished when both sides give up something.”

- Danesh Sivakumar The shutdown affected several key departments, including the Department of the Treasury, the Department of the Interior and the Department of Transportation.

Over 800,000 federal employees and millions of government contractors were furloughed, meaning they could not come

to work and did not receive paychecks.

Other federal employees were not furloughed but had to work without pay during the shutdown.

Montgomery County and RM were no exceptions to the consequences of the shutdown, as students across the county have family members that work for the federal government. The 35-day period was especially hard for families living paycheck to paycheck, and some had to dip into savings in order to pay living expenses.

“We were okay financially, but I know some people really struggled,” freshman Ryleigh Culligan, whose father was on furlough, said. “My dad was disappointed because he felt like the government was basically saying his job was not important and uncertain because he didn’t know when he would go back and get paid again.”

While furloughed employees do receive back-pay following a shutdown, government contractors do not. In total, government employees in Maryland lost about $778 million in wages every two weeks during the shutdown.

To aid furloughed employees, Montgomery County offered assistance throughout the shutdown.

MCPS hosted recruitment fairs on Jan. 15, 2019 and Jan. 18, 2019 to allow furloughed employees to find both temporary and permanent positions.

County officials interviewed government employees to immediately fill positions including teachers,

substitute teachers, maintenance staff, bus drivers, clerical staff and security staff.

The fairs were extremely successful, w i t h over 200 furloughed employees registering for a

is the most effective solution, as people can still find ways to get over the wall, and, given the steep price point that it holds, the wall may not be the most efficient solution.”

Tensions grew between Democratic party leaders and the president as the shutdown

GRAPHICS BY LANCHI NYUGEN AND VALERIE WANG

temporary position within the first hour. In an interview with WTOP, Stacey Kopnitsky, acting assistant director for human resources at Montgomery County Public Schools, said, “We have on average 1,000 substitute opportunities every day.”

With regards to the border wall, the country is heavily divided, and the RM community is faced with a similar conflict.

“I feel that the wall will help decrease illegal border crossings to some extent,” sophomore Danesh Sivakumar said.

“However, I don’t feel like it

progressed. In an attempt to secure border wall funding on Jan. 4, Trump threatened to declare a national emergency and make the shutdown multiple years long. In response, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi asked Trump to postpone his State of the Union address, an unprecedented move.

Public perception of the shutdown also began to sour throughout the month of January.

A Pew Research Center poll conducted in late January showed that a majority of the country felt any budget that included funding for the border wall would be unacceptable. According to a

Gallup poll, 61 percent of the nation blamed Trump for the shutdown, and his approval ratings dropped below 40 percent.

After weeks of debate, Trump conceded to Democrats on Jan. 25, agreeing on a spending bill that included no funding toward the border wall. According to The Hill, many Americans see this as a victory for Democrats and the first major challenge to the president following the 2018 midterm elections.

At RM, students feel differently about the process and resolution of the shutdown. “I supported the Democrats 100% throughout the shutdown,” freshman Rebecca Halper said.

“I believe that Nancy Pelosi did the right thing and that she is a good role model.”

Other students had more moderate views. “Both parties are generally too stubborn at the moment, and it is very difficult for them to agree on pressing issues,” Sivakumar said. “We need to get better at compromise, and that can only be accomplished when both sides give up something.”

Although the government shutdown has ended, Trump has not given up on his goal of building the border wall and has set a new deadline of February 15 for Congress to fund the wall. “I will use the powers afforded to me under the laws and Constitution of the United States to address this emergency,” Trump said in a speech from the White House Rose Garden.

As of now, however, all government agencies and departments have been funded and a temporary budget has gone through. This will sustain the government until Trump’s deadline.

4 The Tide

February 2019

OPINIONS

RM administration skillfully fights hate

by Faith Cheung While it is mostly the job of the student body to come together after an act of hate at school, administrative actions also play a significant role in the outcome.

On Saturday, Jan. 19, the local police department was informed that a orange swastika had been spray painted on a wall of Richard Montgomery High School.

What separates this from standard vandalism is its blatant anti-Semitism.

The severity of this, along with the fact that a previous incident in which red cups on the fence of the baseball stadium were rearranged to spell the n-word occurred just three weeks prior, leaves RM’s administration with two tasks: first, to prevent crimes like this for the future, and second, to maintain RM’s image as an accepting community.

By founding initiatives to stimulate discourse in the community, RM’s administration certainly battled these displays of hate effectively.

While ordinary graffiti can be physically erased, hate crimes require more than

mere eradication. Principal intern Ms. Butler stated, “Additional steps that our administration took was to bring a higher level of urgency to the situation because we can’t have members of our community becoming desensitized to stuff like this.

PHOTO BY ISHA YARDI The #ThisIsRM poster being displayed on Main Street promotes community solidarity.

We don’t want to tolerate it at any level at any point in time.” Both initial and long term solutions were implemented to alleviate the trauma as well deter future hate crimes.

Even though the act of hate from the spray-painted swastika caused shock both in and outside of the RM community, RM’s administration was able to use this situation as a motivator to bring about

Online dating: an innovative alternative

by Nicole Fang

Tinder, eHarmony, Match.com, OkCupid, Zoosk. These online dating apps, though once stigmatized and fringe, now make up a $3 billion industry that has reached over 50 million Americans.

Though dating has existed for centuries, online dating is changing the game.

Even though dating apps have become mainstream, online dating is still frowned upon. Many people still believe that those who use online dating are desperate and that finding love in one swipe is not authentic. However, online dating is just as valid as traditional dating.

Online dating is merely replaces the traditional way of meeting someone. Dating should definitely occur in person, but there is no reason why finding the person to date cannot be systematic and efficient.

Online dating offers a higher chance of finding “the one” because of its large member population sharing the same goal. Experts at Match.com said, “The idea of dating websites is to give you the opportunity to meet people that you might not have otherwise had the chance to.”

Dating apps give everyone the opportunity to connect with people of different cultures and nationalities but similar interests.

Several of them offer personality tests that help guide individuals toward

GRAPHIC BY ALANA LU partners who they may be compatible with.

Love comes in all different forms from all different places. Our world is becoming increasingly digital; online dating is about to become more and more common.

Pew Research Center found that the share of 18- to 24-year-olds using online dating roughly tripled from 10% in 2013 to

positive change, building cohesiveness and increasing respect between students.

Sophomore Hannah Levy stated, “When Ms. Butler acknowledged the swastika and reassured students that this behavior was not going to set a standard for RM’s community

27% in 2015.

Most people prefer to use their devices to fit dating into their busy schedules.

Research by the PEW Research Centre found that almost two in three respondents thought that online dating was the most efficient way to meet potential partners.

“Online dating is a great opportunity for those who do not have time to meet new people to test the waters and broaden

“It allows so many people to explore and meet others outside of their normal group or bubble.”

- Alyssa Utochkin their chances of finding their soulmate,” freshman Monica Escalante said.

Furthermore, online dating has increased marriage rates and created long-lasting relationships. A study from the University of Chicago found that married couples who met through online dating are happier and are less likely to get divorced. The beauty in meeting others online is that people tend to open up and be themselves, which are crucial in creating a solid relationship.

“My mom met her current partner through online dating. It really seems to work. It allows so many people to explore and meet others outside of their normal group or bubble,” said sophomore Alyssa Utochkin. Online dating has impacted the lives of many in the RM community.

As popular as online dating has become, it is not a safe way for young people under the age of 18 to explore relationships. “It’s good for adults who are eager to meet someone but definitely not for teenagers,” said freshman Angelina Guhl.

According to Marketdata Enterprises, there are many online predators who fake their identity in order to harm and deceive innocent children.

The dating industry has transformed immensely in the past few years, making online dating more universally accepted.

Online dating gives a great opportunity for shy people to start communicating with others, busy people to have time for dating, and every person a chance to find their one true match.

over the announcements, I was simply satisfied knowing this vile act wouldn’t be ignored.”

The RM administration’s actions to address this horrible incident sent a strong message of tolerance and solidarity while discouraging future hate crimes.

Additionally, the administration began the “This is RM” campaign on Main Street during lunch. Students were invited to write

positive messages on a banner to stimulate inclusiveness and to discuss the current situation with Ms. Butler.

These bold initiatives demonstrated that anti-semitism, or any type of discrimination, is not welcome at RM. Critics complain that RM’s administration has not been effective combating the mental repercussions of the hate crime because the perpetrator has not been caught and punished.

However, the core goal of the “This is RM” campaign and the announcement

by Ms. Butler was to kindle a discussion within RM’s community in hopes of bringing students together in light of the current situation.

With the strength of an accepting community comes stronger resistance against future displays of hate.

The discourse stimulated by these initiatives effectively helped RM grow as a school community. Ms. Butler stated, “If you spark one mind then you’ve made a difference.”

Although RM’s administration aided in the leg work, at the end of the day, students ultimately hold the power to bring about true change.

Letters to the Editor

Have an opinion on something you read in the last issue of the Tide? Whatever the opinion or the issue, we welcome you to share your thoughts with us by emailing tide.opinions@gmail. com. Letters will be published in either the upcoming print issue of the Tide or online at thermtide.com.

The Tide

Volume 43, Issue 4 250 Richard Montgomery Drive Rockville, Maryland 20852 www.thermtide.com 301-610-8000 The Tide is the free student newspaper of Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, Maryland. The Tide is dedicated to keeping the Richard Montgomery school community accurately informed and to providing a forum for student expression.

Richard Montgomery High School is composed of approximately 2450 students and 220 staff members.

The opinions presented in The Tide do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff and administration at Richard Montgomery. Opinions are written separately from news articles.

The Tide is affliated with CSPA. Questions, corrections, advertisements, and photos can be submitted to thetideeditors@gmail.com.

Letters to the Editor can be submitted to tideopinions@gmail.com Any corrections are printed in the following issue on page 2.

Editors-in-Chief................................................................................Angela Sun, Emily Tian, Derek Yao Business Manager...................................................................................................................Michelle Ling News..........................................................................................Anna Chen. Robyn Fohouo, Helen Qian Opinions...............................................................................Rebecca Huang, Shevani Tewari, Ashley Ye Center Spread.............................................................................................Angela Mu, Maureen Zeufack La Marea....................................................................................................Daniel Lopez, Daniela Moreira Features......................................................................................................................Tesia Shi, Emily Zhao Arts.......................................................................................Emily Chen, Isabella Levine, Christine Zhu Photo........................................................................................................................Emily Chen, Isha Yardi Graphics......................................................................................................Lanchi Nguyen, Valerie Wang Sports................................................................................................Orrin Ni, Clare Zhang, Justin Zhang Digital Art Specialists...........................................................................................Alana Lu, Valerie Wang Social Media Managers.....................................................Ananya Krishnan, Angela Mu, Katie Zhang Faculty Advisors..........................................Ms. Laurie Brown, Ms. Jennifer Kidd, Mrs. Bonnie Peyer Editorial Board.......................................Emily Chen, Faith Cheung, Crystal Foretia, Rebecca Huang, Angela Sun, Shevani Tewari, Kyra Wisneski, Ashley Ye, Emily Zhao

B

OPINIONS

The Tide

Black & Gold k c Bla

YES:

Do pep rallies still have a place in high schools?

They encourage spirit and support for sports

by Arushi Singh A roaring sea of black and gold, meticulously choreographed dance routines, and enthusiastic students battling it away at musical chairs. Sound familiar?

These are just a few activities among the many held at our pep rallies. There is no doubt that pep rallies are beneficial to the school community regardless of whether these benefits include a break from class or an opportunity to show school spirit.

First of all, they provide some much needed support for all our school’s teams and foster school spirit overall. This display of enthusiasm propels the student athletes to perform to their best ability knowing their school is behind them. These athletes play a variety of sports as these rallies highlight the achievements of all sports, rather than focusing on those deemed more popular.

PHOTO COURTESY OF RM SGA

Seniors cheer during winter pep rally.

Sophomore Caia Gelli said, “Pep rallies really help the morale, especially of the captains, because they feel like they are supported by the school and it’s nice to have sports like cross country be recognized because people usually only talk about football and basketball.”

Furthermore, pep rallies are vital in providing an outlet for students to interact with other peers and bond over a general feeling of school unity. Academic and class distinctions that often can seperate students such as IB and AP or grade levels are disregarded and the whole student body comes together as one.

Sophomore Bianca Romano said, “Pep rallies are a good time for me to see people that I rarely see during my classes, which helps to build more relations with others that I otherwise may not have gotten the opportunity to.”

They also allow various groups to express their talents through several mediums such as the school’s marching band or Poms. It is not everyday that students are exposed to the interests of their peers. Not only does this showcase talents but also helps to spark the interests of future newcomers.

Sophomore Olivia Blucker said, “For me pep rallies help show all the hard work and dedication poms has put behind the scenes and feels nice to share it with others.”

n o o t r Ca rner Co GR

AP

HIC

BY

CA

R

IN OL

IN ED

H

“Self Love”

Opponents of pep rallies often bring up the fact that students are forced to attend these mandatory pep rallies and engage in school spirit. However, this is one of the main reasons that pep rallies are so integral, as without them, students on their own would not feel attached to the school that they are spending a significant portion of their lives in. Though the animation and cheering may be out of some people’s comfort zone, this environment is only stimulated a few times a school year, so it is important to make the most of it.

In addition, another leading argument against pep rallies is the amount of time it takes away from learning. Even though classes may be shortened to accommodate the pep rallies, this does not mean that students are not learning out of the classroom.

Our school encourages students to implement the IB profile characteristics in various assignments and projects. Pep rallies provide just another means to do this as this social setting allows us to be a communicators with those around us, open-minded to the different ways people express themselves, and balanced in providing an adequate time learning and socializing. In a more literal sense, pep rallies also help to provide information about upcoming school events and are conducted only twice a year for approximately thirty minutes each, not taking away much time.

It is important to understand that pep rallies don’t always have to focus on sports with the increasing number of education related rallies sweeping the nation.

According to the Wichita Eagle, schools have started to have pep assemblies for the purpose of motivating students to do better on tests. It allows the students to view tests in a more uplifting and positive manner with the chant “Do your best, Beat the Test” humming through their minds.

These few words of encouragement can do a lot in helping kids feel less isolated in their stressful schedules and is definitely something that should be implemented within our own school.

More than just for social benefits, pep rallies are also valuable from an economic standpoint. The spirit shack opens before every pep rally allowing students to purchase merchandise representing the school colors.

The revenues that pep rallies bring in could be used to fund internal issues in the school whether it be incorporating more technology or newer textbooks. Even the rallies themselves could help spread the word about fundraisers the school is participating to buy newer jerseys or better equipment.

With the numerous advantages pep rallies provide, it is no surprise that they continue to be conducted at schools nationwide. The benefits are diffuse, as they help both the school and the individual students become more zealous towards their school. Even though few pep rallies are conducted, each packs a lot of Rocket Pride!

NO:

G

February 2019

5

Gold

They are sexist and actively promote toxic masculinity

by Rebecca Huang and Victoria Tong Picture this: you and your class are slowly filing into an already-overpacked gymnasium while some students that you may or may not know thrust black-andgold-colored Mardi Gras beads towards you. You accept one of the offered strands of beads because you think to yourself, ‘hey, free stuff!’, but as you step inside the gym and the cheering and screaming of other students almost rupture your eardrums, you start having second thoughts.

Pep rallies are a staple of the high school experience. Many people believe that the pep rallies at RM promote school spirit, and the chanting, cheering sea of black and gold present at pep rallies all seem to support this belief. However, there are too many flaws that come with pep rallies, including the overemphasis on sports and the sexism inherent in the tradition.

Currently, attendance at pep rallies is mandatory for all students, but students who do not enjoy pep rallies detract from the energetic atmosphere and dampen the general feeling of school spirit. Freshman Uma Fox said, “I think that a lot of students, especially students who might be more introverted, aren’t the most interested in just sitting out there and cheering and yelling and screaming.”

Instead of making pep rallies mandatory, they should either be held during lunch or after school. Although fewer students will attend, only those students who are truly excited to attend will take part, which will ensure that the general atmosphere of pep rallies is one of total enthusiasm.

“I think its really necessary for us, the student body, to recognize the importance of other clubs and other people’s passions.”

- Uma Fox An added benefit of not holding pep rallies during class time is removing the burden they place on teachers’ schedules.

Teachers already often do not have enough time to teach all the material that they were planning to teach that day, so on a pep rally bell schedule, teachers are even more squeezed for time.

Biology teacher Dr. Karl Kovacs said, “[Pep rallies] require adjustments, no doubt.” An event that glorifies sports over all of RM’s other activities is not a worthy cause to cut instructional time.

Pep rallies place too much empasis on

sports. As Dr. Kovacs said, “We certainly need to celebrate all of our students, regardless if it’s sports or not.” I love a good show as much as anyone else, but if we have an event that hypes up our sports teams, we need to hype up our debate team, mock trial team, and all of our other non-sports teams as well.

GRAPHIC BY CAROLINE DINH

Another argument is that participating in a sports team requires lots of time and energy from its players, so their efforts should be acknowledged and celebrated in a pep rally. The problem here is that many other clubs that require an equal amount of work are overshadowed by our sports teams. Fox said, “I think it’s really necessary for us, the student body, to recognize the importance of other clubs and other people’s passions.”

By overlooking academics and arts, pep rallies revert us back to a stage reminiscent of 80’s rom-coms and high school dramas: filled to the brim with testosterone and jocks parading around the school as royalty. Pep rallies support a culture of toxic masculinity that masquerades as good fun and school spirit.

RM pep rallies take place twice a year: once before the football playoff game, and once before the boys’ basketball game.

Both are traditionally masculine sports, and although we have a girls’ basketball team that performs exceptionally year after year, they are notably absent from the celebration. Only the boys’ captains stand in front of a cheering crowd to receive adulations and support when they address the whole school and call them to attend their playoff game. There is no girls’ football team to be represented (or rather, unrepresented) at all.

The sexism extends further than the emphasis on masculinity and underrepresentation of less popular teams. boms, one of the hallmarks of the RM pep rally, is more than just a fun routine.

Although boms can be seen as empowering because they provide a platform for men to behave effeminately, this context is only allowed when it is seen as a joke or a mockery. The dichotomy between poms, which is expected to perform flawlessly, and the uncoordinated and overly sexual performances of boms creates the unrealistic expectation for female perfection.

Although pep rallies are a seemingly integral part of the high school experience, maybe it’s time to rethink the venerated and outdated tradition. The enthusiastic cheering of the students drowns concerns a lot more troubling than school spirit.

6

The Tide

OPINIONS

The Tide’s View: Black history matters. Let’s teach it properly.

by The Tide Editorial Staff When it comes to the history of AfricanAmericans, all roads lead to slavery. This is fundamental in understanding American history as a whole, yet it is often poorly taught.

In 2015, McGraw-Hill textbooks in Texas undermined the brutality of slavery by referring to slaves as “immigrants” and “workers.” In 2017, the Southern Poverty Law Center found only eight percent of high school seniors could identify slavery as the cause of the Civil War. So we need to answer the question: Is RM any better?

Well, the answer is complicated. It would be disingenuous to say that there has not been any progress, or that our teaching is as offensive as the example in Texas.

But unfortunately, advanced history courses at RM dedicate little time to the voices of black communities.

“The thing about the IB History course is that it requires a regional focus,” social studies teacher Todd Stillman said. As a result, there is limited space in the curriculum for black history.

Within IB History, the curriculum covers the consequences of imperialism for nations such France and Italy, but often fails to show the effects on the colonized and exploited. After asking over a dozen IB seniors, none of them could state that they

MCPS snow day policies need revision

by Athira Nair You wake up to the same monotonous alarm every morning. Eventually you are ready for school and about to open the door, when you look outside the window and see the roads covered in snow. A smile grows on your face as you check the Montgomery County Public Schools website. And there it is! A two hour delay, or even a cancellation!

Either one is a call for celebration.

However, this means the efforts you made to drag yourself out of bed and prepare for the upcoming school day have gone to waste. Montgomery County has emergency weather announcements made as late as 5:00 a.m., and by this time, many high school students are already up, especially those who go to schools far from home.

MCPS follows very strict guidelines and procedures to close school, call a two hour delay, or call an early dismissal. According to the MCPS website, a number of factors play into this decision. Starting at 3 a.m., the Department of Transportation checks the conditions of all the roads and schools in the county. They consult with other counties, weather prediction services and state and county road officials. The department considers ice and snow, safety of teacher and staff commutes, geography and temperature in their decision.

At 4:15 a.m., this information is compiled and a recommendation is made to the chief operating officer (COO). The COO makes their recommendation to the superintendent who has the final call.

MCPS encompasses a vast region, so people in different sections could be experiencing vastly different weather conditions. By 5 a.m., the announcement is made, or at least it is supposed to be. There are some cases where the weather becomes unpredictable

read a document from the perspective of colonized Africans when they learned about the Scramble for Africa and African decolonization last year.

Here is the crux of the problem: just because western nations treated Africa as a commodity does not mean classes about western nations should do the same. History is key to understanding the present, and people cannot effectively discuss issues such as de facto segregation and global poverty without a firm understanding of those who were and are still oppressed.

Those taking standard U.S. History and World History courses experience a more nuanced approach. The Tide analyzed the MCPS curricula provided by the MCPS Public Information Office.

This collection of documents includes many resources for controversial topics, and also recognized slavery and use of the n-word as emotional. The Modern World History curriculum instructs teachers to name specific leaders of the African resistance toward colonization.

However, there is still room for improvement. An eighth grade United States History document, “Resources for Teaching about Slavery in Colonial America,” sampled several historical sources, but none from the perspective of slaves. The ninth grade U.S. History curriculum does not explicitly mention the Great Migration, even though it

represented a pivotal point in American race relations.

Regarding his World History class, senior Camron Franklin said, ”We definitely learned about the impact of [African] people, but it wasn’t the same type of focus we would give American revolutionaries in the 1700s.”

The legacy of slavery persists through various incarnations, from convict leasing to mass incarceration. Many racist attitudes that once justified slavery now manifest through microaggressions and police brutality.

While Montgomery County is a generally progressive area, this does not mean we are exempt from this legacy. Housing inequality in the county perpetuates de facto segregation within the school district, which in turn lead to racial disparities in educational attainment. The county school board recently acknowledged this problem and voted to conduct a boundary study.

“MCPS has lost ground in achieving its racial and economic integration goals since 2008,” a 2014 report by the Montgomery County Office of Legislative Oversight noted. This reinforces the importance of teaching about topics such as white flight and redlining, as it showcases that present inequities did not develop in a vacuum.

“I think we can always do better,” Mr. Stillman said. “My sincere hope is that we give kids a taste of what’s out there.”

One may argue that there isn’t enough time to include minority perspectives in European or World History, especially when students need to prepare for IB and AP exams on the material. However, if teachers can dedicate time to discuss Hitler’s paintings, which will not appear on any test, then they can also spend time

February 2019

humanizing the other side of colonization through memoirs.

The African American History course serves as a hidden gem. Through this class, students can truly explore the Black movements and the effect of Western imperialism on African peoples in ways European history classes rarely cover.

Mrs. Angela Robinson, who teaches the course, said, “Throughout the course, we’re able to discuss issues that are important today to African American communities.”

She cited Confederate monuments and poverty as topical connections.

African American History juxtaposes IB History in its structure. Robinson’s class gears towards “people’s history” while the IB focuses on charismatic leaders. The former approach is far more fascinating, as you go beyond tritely reciting the virtues of MLK and Rosa Parks, instead diving deep into the lives of those in the trenches.

As historian James Loewen wrote in his textbook “Lies My Teacher Told Me”: “The antidote to feel-good history is not feel-bad history but honest and inclusive history.”

GRAPHICS BY ERIC KIM

Rockville City Council must not increase RM student cap

by Rithik Patel With students packed in narrow hallways and overpopulated classrooms, school overcrowding has become one of the top concerns in Montgomery County Public Schools. Last school year, many middle and high schools—especially in western Montgomery County and downcounty—as well as elementary schools along the I-270 corridor suffered from overcapacity.

GRAPHIC BY ANGELINA GUHL Mark Pierzchala, Rockville City Council and the call to close schools is made after member, recently proposed increasing the threshold of capacity of Richard 5 a.m..

This has happened as recently as in Montgomery and Walter Johnson High November, when there was a two hour schools from 120 to 150 percent. This would delay before the decision was made to allow for increased development in the region, even if the school capacity were to close schools.

Regarding that day, freshman Eashana exceed 120 percent, which is estimated to Subramanian said, “We were on the bus, occur by the 2023-2024 school year. If not and it was snowing heavily outside, and enacted, once the school reaches 120 percent we were wondering why MCPS hadn’t capacity, a moratorium on development closed schools because we were driving will be imposed.

School overcrowding has incredibly during unsafe conditions.” This is a very good example of why MCPS should make negative consequences on the learning the call earlier even if unsure whether the environment, such as overcrowded classes and hallways that negatively impact the weather will become worse or better.

It is better to be safe than sorry. Even if well-being and grades of students. The the weather could improve, there is always issue is already persistent at school, and would simply be exacerbated if the student a chance that the worst will occur.

Subramanian said, “[MCPS should cap increases. announce cancellations] in the morning because it is more accurate, but it has to be earlier because students like me are on the bus as early as 6 in the morning.” While cancellations are more accurate the day of, announcements should be made earlier for the sake of students who ride early morning buses.

MCPS announces cancellations while most students are asleep. It would be better of MCPS to evaluate the situation faster, rather than waiting till the last possible minute to make a decision.

After all, MCPS values safety above GRAPHIC BY SARAH MIREKUA everything else.

This means that it is simply irresponsible for the Rockville City Council to increase the population capacity cap to 150 percent.

Instead of prioritizing development that would increase the population of the city and therefore schools, the city must first address the current issue of overcrowding and advocate plans for MCPS to include redrawing district lines and extending or renovating school buildings if possible.

The most ideal solution to deal with school overcrowding would be simply building extensions to the school. However, the process of getting a construction project that extends the building approved by the county government is complicated and often time-consuming.

Because of this, portables can be a considered solution at certain schools.

Support from students, staff, and parents is also needed. Additionally, it is difficult to keep costs to expand buildings low, hence why portables can serve as a temporary remedy.

One potential idea that schools across the county should consider when accommodating for the increasing populations is to find ways to have more classrooms. Last school year at Richard Montgomery, for example, the Writing Center located in room 247 and some other computer labs were converted into classrooms which took a step in minimizing large class sizes, a major and detrimental effect of overcrowding. Solutions such as these can provide temporary relief to the issue, while extensions and new schools can serve as effective long term solutions.

The solutions to such a pressing concern is by no means a one size fits all approach.

Different school districts should find ideas that are the most viable to them, and they can differ from district to district. However, simply increasing the school capacity cap would be a gross irresponsibility to students, harming school performance in the long term for marginal economic benefits.

The Tide

ADVERTISEMENTS

February 2019

7

8

The Tide

ADVERTISEMENTS

February 2019

The Tide

LA MAREA

Febrero 2019

9

La influencia del deporte y legado para la universidad por Mireia Gonzales-Ysern Con la mayoría de estudiantes del último año de la escuela ya acabando sus solicitudes y exámenes de admisión a la universidad, se debe reconocer que existen otros factores controversiales que pueden facilitar la aceptación a una universidad.

Estas son admisiones por legado y deportes.

La admisión heredada o por legado se refiere a alguien que está solicitando admisión a una universidad de la cual se graduaron cualquier miembro de su familia.

Por ejemplo, si el padre del aplicante se graduó de la Universidad de Chicago, entonces es considerado un aplicante por legado o un postulante heredado.

Aunque la competencia de entrada de postulante por legado y otros postulantes es mínima, ya que en general un tercio de esos postulantes son aceptados, varias universidades favorecen esos estudiantes por que dan la impresión que están muy motivados y interesados en estudiar ahí por la buena reputación que les dieron sus padres. Ryan Migler, un estudiante del duodécimo grado aplicó a la Universidad de Pennsylvania, donde asistió su papá, dijo que, “Mi decisión de aplicar ahí, aparte de ser independientemente de mi preferencia, es porque siempre he querido

Cada año, dentro de cada grupo de vivir dentro de la ciudad de Filadelfia por las maravillosas experiencias que tuvo mi aplicantes, existen muchos deportistas de futbol americano, basquetbol, futbol, papá cuando era joven.”

Aunque existe una pequeña ventaja en voleibol y béisbol, a los que llamamos el porcentaje de postulantes admitidos, estudiantes atletas. Estos son los que se si el perfil del aplicante no cumple los han dedicado dia a dia ha entrenar dentro mínimos requisitos como buenas notas y fuera del colegio para llegar a su metas, y por lo cual algunos de ellos pueden llegar en el colegio y el examen del SAT a jugar para la universidad que deseen. o ACT, el factor de legado no Dentro de las aplicaciones, tiene mayor consideración la participación en un para la admisión a esa deporte es visto como una universidad. Pero si se está actividad extracurricular en una buena posición, por la buena demostración este factor, que representa de compromiso, control interés, puede llegar a del tiempo libre y dar el empuje suficiente cualidades de liderazgo. para mover la aplicación arriba Simon Abedimungu, de todas los otras dentro de un capitán del equipo de fútbol mismo grupo. Sofia Schuchner, americano y estudiante estudiante del duodécimo grado, del doceavo grado, explicó dijo que, “A mi me parece muy injusto. Para los que tienen GRÁFICO POR LANCHI NGUYEN que, “Desde octavo grado, mis amigos y yo siempre legacia, tienen mucha suerte y muy afortunados. Para los demás hablábamos sobre los equipos de fútbol no tenemos tanta suerte. Es especialmente americano de las universidades. Yo sabía frustrante cuando eres inmigrante lo mucho que me tenía que esforzar para porque tienes cero posibilidad de entrar alcanzar esa meta de alta requerimiento y con legacia. Uno tiene que hacer todo el nivel, y como ven finalmente lo he logrado esfuerzo y no puede depender en la plata o con mi compromiso de jugar primera el nombre de la familia, que es como debe división, en Temple University. Escogí ser. Es difícil ser optimista cuando aplicas a Temple porque me encantó el ambiente universidades que prefieren a estudiantes entre los jugadores y entrenadores. Todos se quieren profundamente y se preocupan en con legacia.”

Viene una nueva Venezuela

Centellas comentó que, “Sinceramente me da mucha pena que un país con tanto por Sandra Aching potencial, con su industria de petróleo, no pueda salir adelante solo por las malas La desnutrición, las enfermedades, la decisiones tomadas por su gobierno. Lo falta de alimentos y medicinas han llevado peor es que Maduro se aferra a seguir al pueblo venezolano a clamar ayuda a los en la presidencia. Cada día mueren más organizaciones internacionales, como la personas de desnutrición y la situación Organización de los Estados Americanos en general se ha convertido en una (OEA) y la Organización de las Naciones lucha de supervivencia. Todos los días Unidas (ONU). Se puede observar que están enfrentando falta de comida, falta la incertidumbre ha forzado al pueblo de medicinas y muchos no tienen los Venezolano a tomar democráticamente recursos para emigrar... Fue necesario que el poder ejecutivo a mando del líder de la se haya involucrado los organizaciones oposición Juan Guaido, quien está siendo internacionales para parar el escasez y la respaldado por la comunidad europea, incertidumbre.” los Estados Unidos y otros países. Como A pesar de muchas luchas internas, el consecuencia, la ideología chavista y líder chavista una vez más intentó, a través su opresión con su líder actual, Nicolás de la manipulación de las elecciones, Maduro, está llegando a su fin. de quedarse en el poder. También ha En los último años, más de 2,3 millones amenazado al líder de la de venezolanos han visto la necesidad de oposición, Juan Guaido, emigrar a otros países fronterizos, huyendo con encarcelamiento del nefasto gobierno de Nicolás Maduro. para disminuir su Los gobiernos fronterizos, como influencia.

Sin Colombia, Ecuador y Perú, han embargo, Guaido, brindado toda la ayuda básica con la ayuda de para los ciudadanos venezolanos. las organizaciones Keiry Garcia, estudiante del internacionales, y duodécimo grado, comenta en por presión de los Estados las razones por la cual muchos han Unidos, en referencia de la emigrado de Venezuela, diciendo, “Hay entrega de la ayuda humanitaria, muchas razones por continúa presionando a Maduro la migración de a convocar nuevas elecciones y país a país pero la a abandonar el poder. Así razón más común mismo, Guiado será el es por opresión. nuevo presidente Hay muchos países i n t e r i n o donde hay mucha reconocido por violencia y crímenes, GRÁFICO POR JULIANNA OLANO la OEA y entre pocas especialmente en palabras están tratando Venezuela por el abuso del poder. Los de sustituir a Maduro democráticamente. ciudadanos huyen del peligro y de la Por otro lado, Centellas dice que, “El inseguridad. No se sienten protegidos reconocimiento del presidente interino es entonces la única opción que tienen es un gran paso hacia la democracia. Esto es irse. Buscan una vida mejor para ellos y resultado de todas las personas que luchan para sus familias.” También, al realizar dia a dia en cada una de la protestas en esta travesía, Marisol Centellas, estudiante contra del gobierno de Maduro. La ayuda del duodécimo grado, explica que, “Las des las ONU les brindara los recursos personas que toman esta decisión arriesgan básicos que les hace falta.” sus vidas y las de sus familias al enfrentar Jazmin Heredia, estudiante de un nuevo lugar desconocido.” duodécimo grado, agrega que, “Espero A medida de las continuas protestas del que los problemas en Venezuela se mejoren pueblo venezolano, se han pronunciado y que se resuelvan de manera pacífica.” las organizaciones internacionales, la Aunque el futuro de Venezuela es incierto, comunidad europea y los Estados Unidos, sus ciudadanos esperan por una solución exigiendo al gobierno de Nicolás Maduro rápida y un buen gobierno democrático que convoque a nuevas elecciones. Así que ayude a mejorar su situación.

esforzarse académicamente y físicamente.”

Los estudiantes que resaltan más, son los que han participado en un deporte por varios años. Aunque hay personas que no creen en la ventaja que jugar un deporte te puede dar admission a una universidad, existen momentos donde si.

Hay colegios donde son menos exclusivos en solo enfocarse en la parte académica de un estudiante, si es que es rankeado como unos de los mejores de sus estado o del país con participación en clubes o equipos de desarrollo olímpico. Además, si que es una persona que está interesado en un colegio de primera división, normalmente se presenta una gran cantidad de fondos para poder cubrir al estudiante con becas.

Se debe tomar nota, de que aunque no todos los atletas tienen que estar académicamente fuertes, dentro del 50% de aplicantes, si deben de tener notas que no resaltan de ser muy bajas comparado al promedio de la universidad. Si un estudiante atleta presenta todas estas cualidades a una universidad, es muy probable que sus habilidades les atraiga y enganche al colegio en aceptarlo para el comienzo de clases en Agosto. Pero debemos resaltar y reconocer que el proceso de reclutamiento es muy largo y a veces hasta toma una año para poder asegurar una lugar en un equipo de primera, segunda o hasta tercera división de NCAA.

Los Oscars van hacia el sur por Daniel Lopez

Resulta que muchas personas la vieron y cayeron enamoradas de esa película, en especial porque está disponible en Netflix.

Es posible que sin el apoyo de Netflix, y sus millones de usuarios por el mundo, “Roma” nunca hubiese sido tan popular.

Las ceremonias de los Oscars de años recientes han sido criticados por su falta de diversidad en sus nominaciones de actores y actrices. En cambio, el premio de mejor director ha sido dominado por nuestros “Ahora los vecinos del sur. En los últimos cinco años, jóvenes tienen esa La Academia ha premiado a cineastas mexicanos cuatro veces, celebrando tecnología para a visionarios como Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro González Iñárritu y Guillermo explorar el mundo Del Toro por su trabajo increible. Esta racha entero.”

Mexicana podría continuar este año con el éxito de “Roma,” dirigido por Cuarón.

- Michael Arenas Con diez nominaciones, entre ellas las categorías de mejor director, mejor actriz, mejor cinematografía y mejor película, esta película disponible en Netflix ha capturado Pero todavía es extraño que una película las emociones de los votantes, y espera que explora un tiempo tan específico y dejar una huella memorable del cinema personal, de la vida real de una empleada latinoamericano en Hollywood. domestica mexicana en los años 70s, gane Aunque la Academia ha nominado a tanto reconocimiento en la industria directores mexicanos en años pasados, sus de Hollywood. Incluso Cuarón estaba películas siempre han sido filmadas en el sorprendido con todos los cinéfilos que sistema de Hollywood. Películas como expresaron como la película los había “El renacido,” “Birdman,” “Gravedad“ conmovido. Michael Arenas, profesor de y “La forma del agua” han tenido mucho film dijo que, “Las personas más jóvenes éxito por tener presupuestos grandes, son más globales que las personas cuando actores famosos y por ser producciones yo era joven. Estábamos más cerrados, no americanas, ayudándoles a alcanzar a una teníamos las redes sociales, no teníamos el audiencia inmensa. Sin embargo, “Roma” Internet… Mientras que ahora los jóvenes ha alcanzando altos niveles de tienen esa tecnología para explorar aclamación crítica en los Estados el mundo entero.” Arenas agregó Unidos y el mundo, incluso sin que, “Culturalmente, [“Roma”] emplear actores profesionales está trayendo ideas que son muy y siendo actuado en Español interesantes y distintas para las y Mixteco. Además, “Roma” personas que han vivido aquí toda su significa una desviación del vida. Nuestras perspectivas sobre la trabajo de Cuarón, siendo una familia y la educación, siendo latinos, historia modesta cuando antes son diferentes de lo que sean para la estaba dirigiendo películas mayoría de los estadounidenses.” taquilleras de ciencia ficción, Cuarón piensa que la resonancia devolviendo al país donde nació y emocional que ha tenido “Roma” es creció para contar un cuento semiporque abarca la experiencia humana, autobiográfico que es muy personal. algo que todas las personas en el mundo Para un ejecutivo de Hollywood, tienen en común. Enfocándose en los ese tipo de película hubiese detalles que vienen a su memoria y sido un riesgo enorme para al filmar las escenas como hubieran distribuir, especialmente ocurrido en la vida real, Cuarón comparado al cinema transforma lo convencional americano de hoy en dia. en algo verdaderamente Una película internacional en extraordinario. Un sentimiento blanco y negro de México en que extiende más allá de su cultura los años 70s, ¿Quien GRÁFICO POR DANIEL LOPEZ mexicana a algo universal. pagaria para ver eso?

10

CENTERSPREAD

The Tide

February 2019

CENTERSPREAD

The Tide

Tickets

March 8, 2019 7 p.m.

Auditorium

Pre-sale: $7 At Door: $10 Matthew Ruane

Mr. HTML

Mr. Big Heart

Guilty Pleasure: Weekly face masks Fave Store: Trader Joe’s Inspired By: My grandma Pet Peeve: Needing to excessively repeat something (@ my child) Theme song: The Mii Channel Theme Song Interesting Fact: I’m an only child.

Fave Artist: The Weeknd before 2013

Interesting Fact: I have not come across anyone who can code HTML better than me.

Fave Food: Nigerian Jollof Weirdest Talent: I make up words and act like they’re real.

Hashtag: #TrustYourJourney “Titanic” or “The Notebook”: Neither, “Dear John” is the greatest love story ever told.

Mr. Africa

Bilal Saleem

Mr. C’ est la vie

Hassim Dialo

Gideon Wikina Kidus Yared

February 2019

Guilty Pleasure: Salty plantain chips Celebrity Crush: Zendaya #1 on Bucket List: Skydiving Annoying Habit: I bite my nails all the way down to the skin.

Pet Peeve: People that are fake Dream Trip: BACK TO THE VILLAGE!

Guilty Pleasure: Watching weird Youtube videos like lumberjack competitions, tag-and-run, pranks, and useless things Annoying Habit: I get petty for nothing.

Fave Store: Ikea. It’s like a maze.

Fave TV Show: “Spongebob Squarepants” (French version)

Mr. Swoosh

Fave Food: Sushi, easy.

Looks up to: Kendrick Lamar. The GOAT. Hashtag: #SauceItUp Fave store: Chinatown Market. All day any day.

Catchphrases: “Never That” and “Better than no” #1 on Bucket List: Performing a sold out show

Austin Cheung Mr. Fine China

Brian Sadeghi

Interesting Fact: I’ve torn my right ACL twice.

Guilty Pleasure: I may or may not watch “The Bachelor.”

Biggest Pet Peeve: Bruh, hearing people CHEW. Catchphrase: “Heyy, bighead” Favorite Store: Uniqlo or Banana Republic “Titanic” or “The Notebook”: #JackAndRose4ever

Mr. Spaghetti

Interesting Fact: I speak 5 languages, play 6 instruments, and I’m a pathological liar. :) Biggest Pet Peeve: People fishing for compliments Inspired by: Raquel Wetzler Fave Artist: Billie Eilish Celebrity Crush: Colton Underwood Theme Song: “Fireworks”Katy Perry

Sean Boyce Mr. Punslinger

Interesting Fact: My parents make wine for a living, so watch out competitors—I’m used to sour grapes.

Fave Food: Avocados. They are the one food that provides all necessary nutrients provided you eat the skin. Also, they taste good.

Annoying Habit: I sing constantly, loudly, and poorly.

Emmanuel Corporal Mr. Modest Manny

Celebrity Crush: Victoria Justice Catchphrase: “It’s whatever” Fave Show: “Friends” Dream Trip: A month or more around the Philippines Theme Song: “Young, Dumb, and Broke”- Khalid

Photo by Isha Yardi and Mikhaila Estwick Graphic by Vivian Yeh

Derek Yao Mr. 1 Derektion

Guilty Pleasure: Binge watching old seasons of Hell’s Kitchen.

Fave Movie: “Wall-E” Theme Song: The original Pokemon opening, but who doesn’t jam to that?

Annoying Habit: Constantly asking people, “Are you okay?”

Reggie Shardow

Alex Makori

Mr. Regal

Mr. Sound Boi

Guilty Pleasure: Eating peanut butter by the spoonful Pet Peeve: People sneezing or coughing in their hands. So freaking nasty.

Fave TV Show: “Avatar the Last Airbender” Fave Store: Costco. It has everything and I can have a meal if I can get all the samples.

Rajan Agarwal

Mr. Marvel

Hashtag: #baljeet #1 on Bucket List: Meeting a Marvel Star Fave Food: Smoked salmon and cream cheese on a bagel Celebrity Crush: Tom Holland Guilty Pleasure: Rom-coms Interesting Fact: I am a first degree black belt in karate.

Adam Ababu

Mr. Fun-Size

Fave Food: Deep fried Oreos. If you’ve had one you’ll understand.

Fave Artist: Michael Jackson.

His music is timeless.

Fave French Fry: Cheesy bacon Guilty Pleasure: Itching the outline on your leg after wearing a sock for the entire day.

Nick Leiva

Alex Coster

Mr. Fútbol

Fave Food: My dad’s French onion soup Looks up to: Ms. Shay Celebrity Crush: Betty White Dream Trip: Watching Arsenal at the emirates Fave Restaurant & Go-To Order: 1 liter of Chick fil-a sauce

Mr. Floof

Celebrity Crush: The KoolAid man Annoying Habit: Talking to fill awkward silences Dream Trip: Cruise around the world Weirdest Talent: Being able to sound like a trumpet Theme Song: “High Hopes”

by Panic! at the Disco

Guilty Pleasure: Watching anime, reading manga, Chinese light novels Pet Peeve: People thinking that dark chocolate is better than milk chocolate Fave Movie: “The Lion King” or “Up” Looks up to: Ms. Davis #1 on Bucket List: Securing my mom and me a house and a stable life

11

12

The Tide

FEATURES

Henriquez pursues dreams

by Eliana Mazin On Nov. 8, the ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, Calif. upheld a lower court’s ruling which blocked the Trump administration’s attempts to stop the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, commonly known as DACA. So far, the Supreme Court has declined to add the case to their February docket.

While this news may not mean much to most, it sustains the chance for people like senior Genesis Henriquez to pursue their ambitions in the U.S. Henriquez was born on June 23, 2001 in Puerto Cortes, Honduras. Up until the age of four, she lived with her grandparents on a farm. “I remember seeing lots of dogs everywhere, lots of cows, lots of horses,” Henriquez said. “We lived in a very rural area; it was just one house and then acres and acres of land.”

Although Henriquez came to the US in 2005 with her father, her mother Rosa Herrera had already come to the US a couple months prior. “She [told] me she was heartbroken throughout that time: when I was in Honduras and she was here,” Henriquez said.

Initially, language barriers stood in young Henriquez’s way. “Communicating with the other kids when I first came here was a bit difficult. I remember my first day in kindergarten, people would ask me all these questions and I didn’t know what they were saying. I just nodded and shook my head to whatever I thought was appropriate,” Henriquez said.

However, Henriquez was determined to adjust to her new life. “I learned English in two months,” she continued. “My mom emphasized education, so whenever I would go to school I would really focus and pay attention to what I was taught.”

In 2012, former President Barack Obama established the Deferred Action

for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which allows Henriquez to stay in the US legally and provides her a social security number and an authorization to work.

At this point in time, Henriquez became a DREAMer, named after the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act introduced by Senator Durbin (D-IL) and former Senator Hatch (R-UT) in 2001.

Since DACA status is temporary, DREAMers have to apply every two years to maintain it. The process involves extensive background checks, including fingerprinting, and a personal interview.

“I get a paper in the mail saying that I have to be [there] at [a certain] time, so there has been various times where I have [had] to [leave] school,” Henriquez explained.

Becoming a DREAMer has transformed Henriquez’s outlook on life.

“It’s made me more open-minded and more kind to others. I know that people h a ve d i f f e r e n t experiences and that I can’t judge a book by its cover. I can’t assume that everything in [someone’s] life is swell,” Henriquez said.

“I feel like we all have a purpose in life and we all should strive to be better people.”

Henriquez strives to be a better person everyday, dedicating her

free time to giving back to the community by working at a senior living home and volunteering at a summer camp for kids with disabilities.

“I’ve volunteered there for five summers straight, so I’ve really got to bond with all the children there and get to know more about autism and down syndrome,” Henriquez said.

At this summer camp, Henriquez met a ten-year-old child with autism named Stuart Gordon who became her role model.

“He’s taught me so much, which is kind of ironic because I’m there to teach him, but he teaches me about life all the time,” Henriquez said. “He’s too young to realize the gravity of his circumstances in life, but the fact that he’s still able to smile and play as normal kids would is awesome. It shows me that we should be grateful for what we have in life no matter how small it is.”

Henriquez has big plans for the future, and she is determined to change the world for the better through the world of medicine.

“I feel like my main goal in life, whatever I end up doing, is helping other people,” Henriquez said. “If, at the end of the day, I’m able to tell myself what I did today was good work, then I consider that a good day.”

Since DACA recipients do not qualify for in-state tuition, a fundraiser has been created (www.gofundme. com/send-genesisto-college) to help alleviate the cost of Genesis’ college tuition.

Albaughs: a complementary pairing good movie for a date. “It was three hours long and both of us didn’t really know that,” Speaking of romantic, the Albaughs Mrs. Albaugh said. “It was the worst movie decided to go to the grocery store for their ever,” Mr. Albaugh said in agreement.

Their date was unexpectedly saved by first date. Mr. Albaugh had never tried peaches before that day and Mrs. Albaugh delicious Peruvian chicken for lunch, but was looking to change that. The experience later that day, they faced a near-death turned out unsuccessful. “They were the experience thanks to their GPS. “The GPS tried to kill us,” Mr. Albaugh worst peaches… they were dry and hard,” said. “We almost entered on the exit ramp Mrs. Albaugh said.

Thinking they could improve their for the highway. So, that was almost kind first date, they decided to go to the movie of fatal.”

Despite their experience, the Albaughs theater. As it turns out, “Lawless”—a movie about bootlegging and a sadistic lawman stayed together and eventually got engaged. from Chicago—with Shia LaBeouf is not a Four years ago, Mr. Albaugh decided to propose.

He stuck sticky-notes around his house with all of their favorite memories. The last one was stuck on his guitar, where he played her a variation of the song they listened to on their first date. Mr. Albaugh then asked her to marry him. Her response, however, was a little underwhelming.

“She was like ‘O-kay,’” Mr. Albaugh said.

“I literally said ‘Okay,’” confirmed Mrs. Albaugh. Mr. Albaugh then elaborated, “I wasn’t really sure what that meant at the time. I was like, ‘Does she really not want to do this? Fair enough.’”

And fair it was. They got married the summer after their first year of teaching, and have loved every moment with each other ever since.

“It’s pretty awesome for most of the time.

We’re super clingy so maybe other people don’t like it, but we’re around each other 24/7, and I feel like we both really enjoy it,” Mr. Albaugh said. “We have personal space PHOTO COURTESY OF BESSY ALBAUGH and we know that we can take it, but it’s The Albaughs snap a selfie during college. awesome living together, teaching together ALBAUGHS, cont. from front page

and basically being around each other 24/7.”

As part of living together for a long time, the Albaughs have grown to appreciate certain characteristics about each other.

“I’ve always just really appreciated that she’s a much better person than I am, so she’s kind of like my moral compass,” Mr. Albaugh said.

“I think he has a really funny sense of humor, and so I find him humorous, so even if I’m mad at him, he still makes me laugh,” Mrs. Albaugh said.

Not only do they enjoy every moment of their time together, but they also share it with their two cats Milo and Ally. Milo prefers Mrs. Albaugh’s company, while Ally seems to be friendly with everyone.

“She likes whoever is feeding her,” Mrs. Albaugh said. “She doesn’t really have much loyalty.” Mr. Albaugh said.

Both of the Albaughs are known for their stellar sense of humor, especially when it comes to jokes about science. However, they aren’t sure about who is funnier. “He’s wittier. He has more of an immediate kind of humor,” Mrs. Albaugh said. Mr. Albaugh disagreed. “I feel like [she’s] more well thought out with [her] humor though. When [she does] something, it’s way funnier than what I can do,” Mr Albaugh said.

Contrary to his own witty chemistry analogies to dating and love, Mr. Albaugh has some advice for young people in a relationship. “Communication, I think, is key. Like don’t hide things or bottle things up. It’s just not going to lead to anything productive. If you’re feeling a certain way, let them know and you can hash it out.

If you guys can’t hash it out, then it’s not meant to be,” he said.

February 2019

- question of the month -

by Laura Chang

William Fielding, senior “One time, I was going out with a girl back in middle school, and I was pretty immature at that point, so when she asked me if she was cute or something along those lines, I said no.”

Hazel Hope, freshman “One time, a guy I didn’t know who’s a junior, and I’m a freshman, asked me out, and I’d only known him for two days. Not gonna lie, I really did ghost him. I feel like he knew that it was going to happen, so it’s his fault.”

Elizabeth Fielding, senior “The worst thing I’ve ever done was when some guy asked me out, and I didn’t really know how to turn him down, so I kind of said that I couldn’t be in a relationship with him at the time because my parents were thinking of getting a divorce. That was just straight up false, but I told him I was just too emotionally burdened. It was a lie, but I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.”

Kevin Yuson, senior “One time my friend, Isaiah, hit on a cashier by asking her ‘do you come here often?’ He got curved pretty quickly” Gabby Lara, sophomore “A couple years ago, I went to my ex’s house, and we watched ‘Ratatouille.’ He started crying at the part where Remy was drowning in the sewers. I looked at my ex and didn’t know what to do. It was uncomfortable.

Will Garner, junior “Definitely ask them out in person. Don’t just be like, “Hey, do you want to hang out, just the two of us?” Just be upfront about it and say, “Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to go on a date.”

Kyle Liao, sophomore “Get you a guy like Alex Karbowski.”

Joy Royster, freshman “Do it when you think the time is right.

Don’t do it with a crowd of people around them.”

Nicole Wetzler, junior “It’s okay as long as you’re really cute and sentimental.

Some people like huge proposals, but some don’t, so if you know what that person likes, do that. It has to be from the heart and not superficial. That’s a good way to get someone to notice you.”

Zach Sliter, sophomore “The friendzone isn’t as bad as everyone says it is.”

Blake Desmond, junior “Don’t think too much about what to say—just let it out.”

GRAPHICS BY NICOLE FANG

The Tide

FEATURES

ASL Club introduces students to deaf culture

by Amanda Wu From Spanish to Chinese, Richard Montgomery offers a variety of language courses to enrich and expand students’ world views and communication skills.

However, with around 500,000 signers, one of the most widely-used languages in the U.S.—American Sign Language (ASL)—has consistently slipped from the attention of public school systems.

To address this gap, the ASL Club aims to teach students ASL and educate them about deaf culture.

Sophomore Julia Craig, whose parents are both deaf, founded ASL Club earlier this school year after spending time informally teaching her friends sign language the previous year.

“I wanted to teach people ASL, teach people about deaf culture, what goes on in that community,” she said. “I feel like all of that would really help educate people.”

While part of the club’s objective is to teach the language to other students, a larger goal is to reach out to more and more people to educate them, dispel common misconceptions, and ground people in the actual day-to-day realities of those who are deaf or have hearing difficulties.

In this pursuit, Craig usually follows up lessons on the language with segments about deaf culture.

In alignment with their goal of expanding education of ASL, the club welcomes and encourages beginners to join. Many current members, including vice president Nikki Shah and secretary Anjali Natarajan, were all initially unfamiliar with the language. ”Definitely I think that the way that Julia teaches it is really clear and is really easy to learn because she goes through each thing one at a time and then we review it the next week,” Natarajan said.

Craig uses a variety of methods such slideshows, flashcards, and extensive review that has enabled the club to successfully teach its members basic words, numbers and phrases in ASL. “I thought that I’d never be able to get up to the speed that Julia signs at and be able to understand that,” Shah said. “But now when I’m learning, I realize that I can understand her actually, and sometimes I’m almost up to that speed.”

This newfound corner of RM meets every Wednesday at lunch in Room 340, and welcomes all interested in learning about ASL. For those with a free space in their schedule for next year, American Sign Language may also tentatively be offered as an elective course.

PHOTO BY AMNA SHAMIM

Students spread eating disorder awareness

by Rosemary Yang and Katie Yuan Feb. 25 to March 9 this year is National Eating Disorders Awareness Week.

Currently in the United States, there are at least 30 million people of all ages and genders living with eating disorders.

While symptoms vary between patients, people with eating disorders tend to skip meals, be uncomfortable eating in front of others, and have an extreme concern over body shape.

“Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric illness,” school psychologist Emily Kaplan said.

“Emotionally, it can cause anxiety, depression, mood swings and suicide.

Physically, it can have severe medical problems such as heart attack or kidney failure.”

Luckily, RM provides several accessible options for those who need help. “Our school has a psychologist, Mrs. Kaplan, who is always happy to help out any student in need. Additionally, we have great counselors!” senior Emily Yuan said.

PHOTO COURTESY OF RM SEDAA

Students discuss body image positivity.

Mrs. Kaplan can also be found in the counseling office and is open to walk-ins.

There are also plenty of online resources available, like The National Eating Disorders Association which has a helpline: 1-800-931-2237. Students can also text “CONNECT” to 741741 to receive advice from trained volunteers at The Crisis Textline.

To increase awareness in the community, senior Emily Yuan co-founded the Student Eating Disorder Awareness Association (SEDAA) club as a sophomore with senior Grace Zhou.

“Helping students at RM has been one of our club’s main focuses,” Yuan said.

Throughout the year, SEDAA hosts a variety of events such as inviting guest speakers and organizing workshops.

Most recently, an art therapist from the Sheppard Pratt Center for Eating Disorders came in after school to RM to conduct a “Love Your Tree” workshop–a postermaking activity focused on promoting positive body image. “Our club is working on a mural inspired by Love Your Tree to spread positivity in our school,” Yuan said.

SEDAA has also been working hard to reach beyond RM to other schools.

“We have reached out to Julius West Middle School’s Women’s Leadership Club to talk about positive reinforcement, confidence,and general facts about eating disorders through various activities,” junior Heidi Leung, one of the officers, said.

Although much progress has been made over the years, there is still room for improvement.

“The topic of eating disorders isn’t acknowledged enough. Since eating disorders are more of a mental battle rather than a physical battle, it’s hard to really tell visually,” Leung said.

13

PHOTO BY ISHA YARDI

Officer Halverson parks his police car in front of RM in order to deter suspicious activity.

Rockville Police keep the peace

by Brooke Hilliard and Kevin Hrozencik

ASL Club officers Callie Dunn, Julia Craig, and Vierra Queen sign the letters “ASL.”

February 2019

The second a threat is caught on the cameras in the halls of Richard Montgomery, the Rockville police are already rushing to the aid of students and staff members.

Whether it be on the streets of Rockville Town Center or in the halls of RM, the Rockville Police Department works tirelessly to keep the community safe.

For RM, one of the most important members of the department is Rick Halverson, our school resource officer, a member of the police department who works on a daily basis to ensure the safety of our school community. “I am a liaison between [school] administration and the police,” he said.

Officer Halverson has worked with RM for over four years. He can be found in the security office or patrolling the crowded hallway of Main Street. He also makes regular stops at Julius West Middle School to ensure the well-being of the staff and students there as well.

The main job of a school resource officer is to keep a school safe, inside and out.

Officer Halverson, along with the RM security team, secure school entrances during the day and keep an eye out for suspicious activity.

Especially in light of the growing number of active assailant incidents in schools, Officer Halverson and members of the Rockville Police Department have innovated new response protocols and are continuously working to improve the

“I am a liaison between the [school] administration and the police.”

- Officer Halverson overall safety of students and teachers in the Rockville area.

For instance, instead of waiting for the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team to neutralize a threat during an emergency, the first law enforcement officers who arrive on the scene will now attempt to identify and eliminate the threat.

The Rockville Police Department also trains with Federal Bureau of Investigation

(FBI) agents so that they are well versed in how to assess and respond appropriately to any possible emergency.

Officer Halverson trains with the SWAT team consistently every summer. His training involves practicing emergency simulations that require him to accurately examine a situation and neutralize the immediate threat.

This training has made Officer Halverson one of the most equipped and prepared officers to handle an emergency situation.

“I’m your first line of defense,” said Halverson.

Officer Halverson is not the only member of Rockville’s finest that is watching over our school. Located less than a mile away from RM, the Rockville Police station is always prepared to respond the instant a threat is identified on school grounds.

“We’re really centrally located,” patrol officer Javier Banquero said. “We’re by your high school, by Town Center, so we can have a pretty quick response.”

At the station, many different kinds of officers work together to pursue their common mission of keeping Rockville safe.

Every police officer in Montgomery County must be trained at a police academy. Some, like Officer Banquero, even trained at the Montgomery County Police Academy.

After graduation from the academy, Montgomery County police officers pursue additional in-service training in order to prepare for a variety of situations.

“We have training that we do with the county, within our department; everything from the use of force to active shooter scenarios. Our job here is to familiarize ourselves with every kind of scenario,” Officer Banquero said.

The average workweek of a Rockville patrol officer challenges them to stay on their toes. While there can be days where there is little action, that could change at any time.

“You’re expected to act within a moment’s notice,” Officer Banquero said.

Occasionally, officers are even called out into the streets of Rockville. For instance, on Jan. 24, the Rockville Police spotted six men commit a high profile theft in a store along Rockville Pike.

The men resisted arrest by the police and ran, resulting in a foot chase down the Rockville metro.

“That was a pretty substantial event because you saw… a dozen police cars were coming into the area,” lieutenant officer Brian Paul said.

Officer Paul was called out onto the metro tracks in order to assist in apprehending this threat; he and his fellow officers rushed to both ends of the metro tracks to deter the criminals from running.

14

FEATURES

The Tide

Dear Alessandra, You are above average <3 Molly Stamets, senior

Thank you for making me laugh constantly. You are a great best friend to have!

Megan Avery, sophomore

You’re the greatest, Linsen!

Linsen Liu, sophomore

To the wonderful staff of The Tide, Ms. Brown, and Ms. Peyer for bringing joy and excellence to every issue.

Ms. Kidd, Staff To Natalia Gonzalez: The sister I never asked for. The friend I’ve always wanted. You are the reason I am sane and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love you with my entire being. Sincerely, your favorite gal.

Nicole Yanakiev, junior

Hi Clare I love you very much you’re so smart and cool and give me lots of memeable content.

Kat Chen, junior

Clare is bestest girl <3 All of my friends best girls <3 Annyah St. Louis, junior

I love William Shakespeare.

Mr. Dumas, Staff

alejandra!! thank you so much for being my best friend and i’ll miss you so much next year but i know that you will do great in college!

Sophia Taur, junior

Happy Valentines Day to all the wonderful ESOL teachers. Thank you for supporting and loving our students every day!

Ms. Koroknay, staff

Thank you for coming over to my house for a date and blow drying my lizard when her heat lamp died. You saved her life. And they say romance isn’t alive!

Genevieve Grenier, junior

To Grace Burwell: Happy Valentines Day! I love you so much! Thank you for everything!

Thank you for giving me my coffee addiction.

To Natalie Kent: Hey best friend!

I love you so much! Hope you can enjoy a chocolate vanilla squirrel today!

Izzy Bohorquez-Stevenson, sophomore

I love all my friends because they hold me down and pull me through the tough times.

Especially that guy Isaiah Fredrick I’m his #1 fan and I hope he goes far in life. Same goes for Carlos, Ray, Dima, Manny, Jeff and all my homies I hang out with.

Kevin Yuson, senior

I LOVE Rose, Elizabeth, Akshaya, Ayesha, and Christine for being the most amazing, inspiring, encouraging, and beautiful friends ever, both inside and out. You guys are all truly excellent people and I hope you know that our friendship means so much to me!

Meghna Pandey, junior

Hey Andrew! I love you so much, im so happy that we’re finally in school together again. You’re a pain in the butt, but(t) you’re my favorite brother and im so happy that you’re in my life. :) :) :) <3 Campbell, junior

I love all my friends and want to say that I’m really glad that I came to RM. From playing smash bros to going to RTC to panicking about tests and commentaries, we’ve really had a lot of fun and my freshman experience wouldn’t be the same without them. You know who you are <3 Angelina Guhl, freshman

Happy Valentine’s day to Marble!

Marble is the best cat ever!

Happy Valentine’s Day to Clair too, i guess...

Katie Zhang, junior

“Dear bae, Did you get my bouquet?

This may seem too cliche, But hey...

You make me so gay Even more than Ms. Shay When I see you I say, “Dang boi, slaayyy!”

It’s Valentine’s Day! Fell in love in a cafe When you ordered that frappe.

So delicious, so gourmet, Ate you like you were an entree.

(I overate so now I’m overweight.)

“Touché.”

I think as I sashay Away from the mirror in the hallway.”

Charese Vo, senior

no u Daisy Liao, senior

Mr. McDonald, my love for you is infinite, your z-score is at least 6 and my happiness has no upper bound!

Mrs. McDonald, staff

February 2019

Hey ratatouille i love you a lot MC, senior

4 years into yeetus deletusing with miss daisy liao :sadfisty: Lanchi Nguyen, senior

E, you’re the best thing that’s happened to me these past few years. LUH U ENDLESSLY <3 Lydia Levy, junior

Katie is a great DECA partner!

We have survived much.

Laura Yao, junior

To Natalie and Izzy - thank you for brightening my days and being the best friends I could ask for! Also, thanks for all of the coffee.

Grace Burwell, sophomore

Kenneth Trinh, I love you, son.

You almost make me forgot about my real son.”

Connor Din, senior

To Katie: u r my swolemate 4 lyf To Clair: u r a pogger sometimes To Ayesha: u r my worst enemy K-Diggy, junior

My little burrito bowl, if every word I wrote to you made you smile, I’d write forever.

Rithik Sebastian, senior

Our biobond isn’t broken. Emily, I love you always although you only love me sometimes.

Tesia Shi, senior

i am annes #1 fanne i stanne anne <333 love me like oedipus loves his mother <3333 owo Yolanda Li, freshman

Dear Taylor, You are the best indoor street lamp in the whole wide world.

You’re always there for us when we need you. And although you can get in the way sometimes we wouldn’t want to sit anywhere else. <3 Bridget McKirgan, sophomore

Happy Valentine’s Day to my favorite substitute teacher and full-time partner, Jack.

Ms. Smith, staff

Dear Atwood Your poems are great But mine go beyond your conventions of feminism and deceit and explore the luminous world of Amtaf spelled backwards as Fatma Said by the sand tiger from Aladdin as a diamond in the rough A rough but silky Brown skin.

Jonathan Stewart, senior

Anthony Naritsin might be bald, but I still love him.

Nathaniel Huang, senior

Connor Din, I love you, guy.

Thank you for being a father figure in my life. You almost make me forget about my real dad.

Kenneth Trinh, senior

To Joshua Yu and Layna Lu, I love you guys Also, love my EICs Derek Yao, senior

GRAPHICS BY VALERIE WANG AND LANCHI NGUYEN

If you don’t see your thank-you note here, check thermtide.com for the rest. Some of the notes have been abridged for formatting purposes.

“Nyawa Allieu You are the best (worst) mother ever. Happy Valentines Day. Hopefully you’ll find someone to spend Valentine’s Day with extremely low standards.

P. S. Fresh Chicken deserved better “ Juan and Scarlett, seniors

The Tide

ADVERTISEMENTS

February 2019

15

Catch The Tide

ONLINE thermtide.com

Get the latest scoop on sports, news, drama, and other events from the convenience of your home or on the go!

16

The Tide

ARTS

February 2019

Behind the scenes Has Hollywood changed?

GRAPHIC BY VALERIE WANG AND KISHA YAN GRAPHIC BY VALERIE WANG

AWARDS , cont. from front page Though the film focuses on a queer individual, it downplays that aspect of Mercury’s identity, choosing to opt for an inspirational tone that better suits the band’s public image.

Some reviewers accused the film of disgracing Mercury’s legacy and exploiting his HIV diagnosis for the purpose of dramatizing the plot’s structure. The script uses his illness as a reason to cement the band’s reunion. In reality, Mercury was not disagnosed with the ultimately fatal disease until much later.

Additionally, Singer, the director of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” has been accused of multiple incidents of sexual assualt of minors throughout his career. These allegations date back to 1997, when the parents of a 14-year-old extra on Singer’s “Apt Pupil” sued Singer and producers for filming their son and other minors naked without their permission. In an extensive investigation by the Atlantic, Victor Valdovinos, another “Apt Pupil” extra who was 13 years old at the time, alleges Singer molested him during production.

Most recently, Cesar Sanchez-Guzman filed a lawsuit against Singer on Dec. 17, 2017 claiming that Singer had raped him in 2003 when he was 17.

In response to these allegations, Millennium Films has delayed shooting for “Red Sonja,” Singer’s upcoming film that was scheduled for production this year, according to a Variety article. “Bohemian Rhapsody” also lost its GLAAD and BAFTA Award nominations shortly after the Atlantic’s investigation was published.

Besides the emergence of these controversial new films, problems regarding female representation behind the screen still remain. Although this issue includes all women behind the scenes, such as writers and visual artists, it is more prevalent within the community of female directors in Hollywood.

From 1994 to 2018, a four percent of Golden Globe Best Director Awards

have gone to female nominees. Out of this small percentage, none of the female nominees won the award. These numbers portray the extreme underrepresentation that consistently follows women in this industry.

Despite this, progress has been made in recent years. Particularly in light of the Time’s Up movement and Hollywood’s recent push for diversity, the entertainment industry has drastically improved. 2017’s “Wonder Woman,” directed by Patty Jenkins, crushed the box office, while Greta Gerwig’s stunning debut, “Ladybird,” earned widespread recognition and several awards.

“There was such incredible work done this year by women.”

- Greta Gerwig “Wonder Woman” is significant in the sense that its protagonist is a female superhero. Additionally, Gal Gadot, a woman of Israeli ethnicity, plays the lead role. The film represents the movement towards both gender and global diversity in mainstream Hollywood films.

In an interview with New York Times, Gerwig said, “I think that this is a turning point for women, especially as writers, directors and producers. There was such incredible work done this year by women… that I have great belief in the future of filmmaking being much closer to a 50-50 split between male and female creators.”

These advances show progress—a pattern that can be extended in all areas of diversity. Hollywood’s conventional recipe for success is evolving; it is, slowly but surely, becoming far more inclusive.

Film critics and movie lovers can only hope that the 2019 season will continue the conversation and reflect this expanding perspective.

Will the Oscars snub deserving nominees yet again?

by Isabella Levine On Jan. 22, comedian Kumail Nanjiani and television darling Tracee Ellis Ross announced the 2019 Academy Award nominees via live stream. Yorgos Lanthimos’ off-beat “The Favourite” and Alfonso Cuaron's critically adored “Roma” tied for the lead with 10 nominations apiece.

Unsurprisingly, “Green Book” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” received heavy nominations even after facing controversy; not only do the directors of both films (Peter Farrelly and Bryan Singer, respectively) face accusations of sexual harassment and assault, but the films’ coverage of hot-button topics, such as homosexuality and the AIDS crisis as well as racism in the South, has not fared well in the court of public opinion.

After an exciting year of invention and innovative filmmaking, here are our predictions for the snubs and dubs of the 2019 Academy Awards. The Oscars will air on ABC on Feb. 24 at 8 pm.

GRAPHIC BY MATTHEW ADJODHA

Best Director Prediction Alfonso Cuaron (“Roma”) Should Win Alfonso Cuaron (“Roma”) Snubbed Barry Jenkins (“If Beale Street Could Talk”) Nominated But Shouldn’t Have Been Adam McKay (“Vice”)

Best Cinematography Prediction “Roma” or “The Favourite” Should Win “Roma” or “Cold War” Snubbed “If Beale Street Could Talk”

Best Film Editing Prediction “The Favourite” Should Win “The Favourite” Snubbed “Spider-man: Into the Spiderverse”

Best Actress in a Leading Role Prediction Glenn Close (“The Wife”) Should Win Yalitza Aparicio (“Roma”) or Lady Gaga (“A Star is Born”) Snubbed Toni Collette (“Hereditary”)

Best Picture Prediction “Roma” or “Green Book” Should Win “Roma” Snubbed “If Beale Street Could Talk,” “Cold War” Nominated But Shouldn’t Have Been “Black Panther,” “Bohemian Rhapsody”

Best Foreign Language Film Prediction “Roma” Should Win “Roma” or “Cold War” Snubbed “Burning”

Best Actor in a Leading Role Prediction Rami Malek (“Bohemian Rhapsody”) or Christian Bale (“Vice”) Should Win Bradley Cooper (“A Star is Born”) Snubbed Ethan Hawke (“First Reformed”)

Best Actress in a Supporting Role Prediction Emma Stone (“The Favourite”) or Regina King (“If Beale Street Could Talk”) Should Win Emma Stone (“The Favourite”) Snubbed Claire Foy (“First Man”)

Actor in a Supporting Role Prediction Mahershala Ali (“Green Book”) Should Win Richard E. Grant (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”) Snubbed Timothee Chalamet (“Beautiful Boy”)

The Tide

ARTS

Step team tries a new beat

by C. Lai and Christine Zhu

RM’s step team made its first schoolwide debut during the winter pep rally on Dec. 14, 2018, showcasing their hard work over the past few months. Cocaptains senior Nimah Nayel and junior Ariel Thomas led the performance.

The percussive dance included creating rhythms and sounds through footsteps, spoken word, and hand claps.

The concept of step teams originated in the 20th century, when African American students developed performances to commemorate their induction into newly-made black Greek organizations.

Many popular routines have been passed down and take inspiration from tap dance, military drills, and South African gumboot dance. Over time, similar dances have been performed in order to celebrate African American culture. With its roots in black culture, step teams today can be found in schools and communities across the country.

“The lack of a step team at RM was painfully clear.”

- Nimah Nayel The inspiration to form this team came from the captains’ observations that RM lacked a group focusing on this particular feature.“I used to be a part of the [Julis West] step team in middle school, and when I came to RM I noticed that there wasn’t one,” Thomas said. “RM has not had a step team in over 10 years.”

“The lack of a step team at RM was painfully clear,” Nayel said. “RM is extremely diverse, but there wasn’t a

When and where did you first meet?

Mrs. Albaugh: We were at the University of Maryland in College Park and we both wanted to be science education majors. All of our classes were like nine people so inevitably it happened. We also had like three classes together, semester by semester, so we always saw each other.

Mr. McDonald: We met here at RM in 2010 when I started teaching and Mrs. McDonald was already a teacher.

Novels to swoon over Whether for hopeless romantics or cynics, these three novels, both modern and timeless, feature romantic stories just in time for Valentine’s Day.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MAUREEN ZEUFACK

One of RM’s newer groups, the step team made their debut during the winter pep rally. clear output to express our blackness.” motivated the team to work harder in Their solution for this was founding the order to make the performance spotless. step team.

Preparing for the pep rally performance Although members of the group are helped to strengthen the bonds between from different backgrounds, they united individual team members, as well as over representing a lesser-known aspect the team as a whole. “We were on a of African American culture. “Some time crunch and everyone was working students were glad to see a part of their hard,” Thomas said. “When a group culture during the pep rally,” Thomas of people are working hard together said. they tend to grow strong as a unit, so I While Nayel and Thomas both had think the team’s greatest strength is in prior stepping experience from middle each other, and making sure that the school, many members began stepping other teammates are up to speed with for the first time on RM’s team. everything.”

Not only did the co-captains teach Thomas has aspirations for the future the techniques to the less experienced of the step team. “Within the next year members, but they also worked I hope to have the step team perform at collaboratively to choreograph the both the fall and winter pep rallies, and group’s routines. also get some competitions going for “Creating a performance was not other step teams throughout MoCo to easy,” Thomas said. The routine required have a chance to shine,” Thomas said, heavy coordination and practice. “but we’ll still show them that we are However, Thomas believes the challenges number one.”

sometimes when you have a conversation with somebody and you always feel like what am I gonna say next,’ and stuff but like I felt like whenever we did talk it was really natural. It didn’t feel like forced, it was just like easy to talk to him and I felt like that was the underlying part of like our relationship.

What told you that your significant other was the one you wanted to marry?

Mr. McDonald: Well, just look at her!

Look at how cool she is.

Mrs. McDonald: We had a lot in common, and we enjoyed the same things. I liked his sense of humor.

Mrs. Albaugh: I felt like we were so compatible and like he made me laugh like nobody else could, and you know

What is your favorite memory together?

Mrs. Albaugh: We went to Spain together and I remember it was one of those summer nights where it was nice and really warm. We went to this fancy dinner with a three course meal. Then we got to walk home because everything was walking distance and so being able to take those nice, long romantic walks through a city that you’ve never been in. I think the whole feeling of being in a different setting‑-the ambiance and the whole city was beautiful and I think that’s kind of what made it one of my best memories of just being together.

Mr. McDonald: I would say travel is near the top of the list. Being in nature together, that’s when I feel sort of most centered, and fulfilled is when I’m

PHOTO BY SHANE QUERUBIN

PHOTO COURTESY OF LESLIE MCDONALD

Mr. McDonald and then Ms. Jessell met in 2010 and vacationed together in 2011.

17

by Mary Ma

RM teacher couples give love advice compiled by Janet Choi and Shane Querubin

February 2019

Nine years later, Mr. and Mrs. McDonald are married and continue to work at RM.

in nature with Leslie, it’s the perfect combination.

Mrs. McDonald: The other nice thing is we both have things that we love to do, that don’t involve the other person so we respect that. Mr. McDonald likes camping in crazy wilderness places, he likes to skydive, you know I’m not that crazy about those two things but I let him do this thing. I love baseball and he’ll humor me by going to some games but he’s never going to be as crazy about baseball as me.

What is something you want to do together in the future?

Mr. Albaugh: Get another cat. We always wanted to get a house and we just got one last year so we’re feeling great about that.

Mr. McDonald: Continuing to find a way to be engaged with young people in some capacity. We’re currently teaching and we’re gonna continue teaching for the indefinite future. But at some point beyond that, we would find other ways to be engaged with the community and especially with younger people.

What advice would you give to young couples in high school?

Mr. McDonald: First of all, I think one always has to be very careful when giving romantic advice because there’s so much uncertainty. But I always think the focus in relationships should be on friendships.

Start with the foundation of friendship, and that’s a win-win situation because you can either then continue a friendship or use that to develop a more romantic partnership.

Mr. Albaugh: Don’t try to force things, let them happen naturally.

Communication is the most important thing in a relationship because you have to be able to talk about things and both be comfortable about seeing where each other are coming from, and appreciating others’ perspectives.

”Flight Season” by Marie Marquardt Not in the mood for a cheesy romance?

Marquardt’s “Flight Season” is the perfect choice. The story is told in the alternating perspective of the three main characters, Vivi, TJ, and Angel.

Vivi is a former Yale student whose life fell apart after a tragic event. Vivi is an incredibly strong character, holding her ground no matter what hits her. TJ is a Brazilian American boy who wants to be a doctor. However, their stories are not that simple.

TJ’s family wants him to give up on college and take over their family restaurant. Angel is an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala with a lifethreatening heart disease. This is where the three characters’ stories intertwine.

TJ, who is working as a nurse, and Vivi, who is hoping to get back to Yale Medical School, are assigned to take care of “trouble patient” Angel.

This book focuses less on the romance, and more on the heartwarming friendship that’s shared between the three. Get some tissues ready because this one is a tearjerker.

“Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen For those who love a classic, Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” is a perfect romance that withstands the test of time.

Elizabeth Bennet is a lively, opinionated young woman who is pushed together with Mr. Darcy, a prideful but quickwitted man.

Their romance ensues, along with witty conversations, manners and affections and all the joys of high society England.

The first few chapters may be tedious, and the endless dinner parties may not be your favorite thing, but this novel has been popular since it was published over two centuries ago in 1813, and for a good reason.

“Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” by Benjamin Alire Saenz This one is truly amazing. If you don’t want to compare every single novel you read after this to this, then don’t pick this one up. It may not have dramatic twists, heart-wrenching tragedies, or declarations of love, but it still manages to impress. Aristotle,a rough and brooding guy, and Dante, a sweet and sensitive poetry lover, could not be more different, but they end up sharing a friendship and connection of a lifetime. The story’s a simple one, two Mexican American boys stumbling together through the rough years of adolescence, a classic coming of age love story. But through every laugh, every conversation, every page, their emotions are palpable. It is almost as if the reader can feel the strong bond that exists between the two. With his poetic, flowing prose, Saenz truly creates an immersive experience for the reader.

So curl up with a cup of coffee, put on some music, and start reading this Valentine’s day!

GRAPHIC BY KATIE ZHANG

18

ARTS

The Tide

February 2019

Senior artist Alexa Paat breathes new color into memories

by Helena Yang

In the months leading up to the annual AP/IB art show, senior art students devote more and more time to creating and curating paintings that convey their own talents and stories. Among the 2019 class of RM art students, one artist to look out for is Alexa Paat—AP Studio Art student and watercolor extraordinaire.

Like many aspiring artists, Paat’s journey began with the medium of choice for young children: crayons. It was through this medium that she discovered her interest in visual arts, which she cultivated through her own exploration of different styles.

“It didn’t stop at crayons from a Crayola box, but expanded with my interest in

paints and different mediums of artwork,” Paat said. “I [did] mostly my own works, exploring on my own instead of taking classes.”

Paat did not begin taking more serious art classes until later. After years of experimenting and teaching herself, Paat found an entirely new artistic environment in high school. Her first art class at RM, Digital Art, introduced her to the digital side of art, which soon became one of her favorite mediums.

As Paat went on to take Drawing and Design, an entry-level art course for firstyear and second-year art students, as well as AP Studio Art, one of the most rigorous art classes offered at RM, she found herself getting more and more involved in the welcoming yet constructive art community.

“Richard Montgomery really helped create a friendly, respectful atmosphere to

PHOTO COURTESY OF ALEXA PAAT

PHOTO BY EMILY PAN

Art student Alexa Paat poses with her work, “The Chosen One.” The collage depicts the hierarchy of animals and was inspired by some National Geographic magazines.

Paat plans on exhibiting her work, “Memories,” in the IB/AP Art Show in the spring. share ideas,” Paat said. “[My peers and I] exploration and painting has persisted often teach each other techniques we learn since her Crayola days. While Paat in our own artistic journey.” continues to experiment with different It is this very environment that Paat mediums such as oil, her self-proclaimed credits to her personal growth as an artist. favorite is watercolor.

As someone who loves learning and getting “I love love love watercolor,” Paat said. criticism on her work, Paat flourished “It’s an addicting medium of art to use, under the feedback of her classmates and super easy, and accessible with materials I teachers. “I believe it’s a whole experience could easily take on the go.” when you learn from others,” Paat said. “It It is perhaps a testament to her passion helps you grow overall.” for art and her love for her community Paat’s emerging talent did not go that Paat’s most recent art piece is titled unnoticed by art teacher Ms. Kelly Posey, “Memories.” who was Paat’s teacher for Drawing and This artwork, which is the first in a Design in her junior year. Ms. Posey invited series of similar paintings, is a watercolor Paat to enroll in AP Studio Art, a two-year collage of Paat’s most joyful moments with program that Paat was able to condense someone she cares deeply about. “It means into one year. so much to me,” Paat said. “I will always “She’s very talented,” Ms. Posey said. replay back those times every time I look “Her work is design-oriented, colorful, and at it.” symbolic. She’s got an interesting visual Paat plans to exhibit this work, among language.” many of her other best pieces, at the Despite her growth, Paat’s love for upcoming senior art show in the spring.

THE TIDE CROSSWORD: Bring home the bacon Across

Down

Note from the Editor:

1 4 8

1 Stat for a student 2 Bookmark list entry 3 Belle, Ariel, and Jasmine, notably 4 Diamond devaluers 5 Indian goddess 6 Rock’s Billy 7 Impromptu, as a photo 8 Shawnee chief in the War of 1812 9 Lends a hand 10 Pupil controller 11 “The ___ of the Ancient Mariner” 12 Student loan, for example 14 Namesakes of a Louisiana sandwich 21 MLB execs 23 Ridley and Adam 24 Continue a journey 26 Out of ___; not oneself 28 Ding or dent 29 Basis for soups 30 Make more neutral, as a cell 31 Stuck, as a landing 32 Who said “Take it from me, every

vote counts” 34 Juul output 36 Distinct and discrete 38 Wife to Orpheus who he lost twice 39 Palin portrayer for “SNL” 45 Like some Friday work attire 46 Dessert in a shell 47 See 48-Down 48 Rulers before 47-Down 49 Voices, as grievances 50 ___ Barrymore, ET actress 51 “Metamorphosis of Narcissus” painter 53 Subject of 2013’s “Blackfish” 54 “Read ‘em and ___!”

58 “The Marvelous ___ Maisel” 59 Start a course

Hey guys, did you miss me last month (year)? Well, here’s the long-awaited return of

Blow Pop core Banking org. since 1933 63-Across that used brick in a

popular fable 13 Part of a stage setting 15 “___ and the Swan”: Yeats poem 16 Like cemeteries at night 17 Boy’s choir range 18 Renowned English river 19 Mount Kilimanjaro?

20 Out of control 22 Sporting surprise 23 Animals produce ambergri s 25 “Organ” and “capital” endings 27 Keeps in check 28 Classic PC system 30 Macromolecule with nucleotides 33 Nobel Peace Prize city 34 Brewery vessel 35 Caulk again 37 2019, to many people 40 50-50 chance 41 These, to Thierry 42 Activity on horseback 43 Chatroom IDs 44 Trainer in “Creed” 46 More like a ghost 47 Harp constellation containing Vega 48 Long, vehement speech 49 Made sense, with “up” 52 Item that can’t be made into a silk purse 55 “Argo” film extra 56 Nitrogenous breakdown product 57 Something you might need to kill 60 Shroud of Turin, e.g.

61 Taiwan-based electronics giant 62 Pound of poetry 63 Animal to not cast pearls before 64 Napkin holders, sometimes 65 Setting in DC

the Tide Crossword™©®. Congratulations to Mr. Dumas for solving last issue’s crossword and emailing the solution. Share your crossword-solving stories and solutions by emailing tidecrossword@gmail.com for a chance at a shoutout next issue. This month’s puzzle is the result of family and friend festivities and a lot of procrastination (but so is everything I do...). To do past crosswords, visit thermtide.com/crosswords/. Happy solving! ~ Grant Yang

The Tide

February 2019

SPORTS

19

Gym requirement raises questions

by Kathleen Li and Sophia Taur As part of its curriculum, MCPS requires that all high school students take one year of Physical Education, which most students do in their freshman year. According to the MCPS website, “The goal of Pre K-12 physical education is to help students become responsible citizens who are both physically educated and health literate.”

But is the impact of a single year of P.E. enough to accomplish this goal?

for students to take different electives in their other high school years. However, MCPS’s attempts to balance this promotion of a healthy lifestyle with student satisfaction may limit the ability of the program to achieve its main goal.

MCPS offers a variety of PE classes, ranging from weight training to volleyball. “I think that alternatives to common sports like yoga, weightlifting and dance classes are good to have,” freshman Kalina Sloat said. “So gym doesn’t have to be a pain for people who aren’t as into the common sports.” This way, every

GRAPHICS BY VALERIE WANG

This survey regarding gym requirements was administered to 277 RM students. 43 percent of respondents were freshmen, 40.1 percent were sophomores, 14.1% percent juniors, and 2.9 percent seniors.

The requirement makes logical sense, as it keeps students physically active in some way for a significant amount of time, while still leaving plenty of room

student can find a course that they enjoy and get their credit.

However, this also makes the evaluation of the students in different PE classes hard

to compare based on criteria established by MCPS. For instance, student’s levels of physical activity, one MCPS criterion, may be very different between yoga and weight training students.

“To be honest, depending on what teacher you have, you could be doing very serious things in class,” sophomore Lucy Shen said. “But for the class I took, it was basically a free period, so I used the time to sleep, play volleyball, take a break from my classes, or study.”

Many students have the same mentality, seeing their PE class as an opportunity to just relax, sleep, or catch up with work. “It’s kind of like a free period to just chill after all of your other classes,” freshman Amanda Wu said.

Weight training seems to be the exception to this rule.

Sophomore Jaewoo Chung said, “I feel like one year of PE isn’t going to change whether you’re fit or not, unless you’re doing weight training.”

Sophomore Corinne Hanway said, “I know that I’m getting physically stronger than I probably would in any other PE class. My class teaches me how to do different types of lifts and exercises that I think will really help me exercise on my own in the future.” Weight training classes teach activities that students can try at home, which encourages

A slam dunk for boys’ hoops

by Megan Harrington and Eileen Zhang Fueled by a combination of top-tier talent and teamwork, the varsity boys basketball team has rocketed out to a league best 14-1 record and 10th on the Washington Post’s DC-area power rankings. Yet, with only a few weeks left in the season, the boys are not content to sit back on their laurels; they are chasing the ultimate triumph—the regional and state championships.

Even before the season had started, it was clear that the sheer talent on this year’s team was going to be a key to their success.

They had won the 2018 Maryland Elite Basketball Summer League Championship, and senior captains Miles Gally and Djordje Orcev, as well as sophomore

starter Ryan Cornish, were voted to the Summer All-Star team.

Specifically, the team’s all-star potential has translated into an offensive firepower that has been a stand out point in many of their games.“We have an amazing combination of size and shooting ability this year,” Orcev said.

However, just as important to the team’s success has been the strong sense of camaraderie and teamwork that pervades their every practice and match.

“Our team chemistry and overall bond is the best I have ever seen in a high school basketball team,” Orcev said.

This lethal combination has catapulted the boys basketball team to the top of the standings in the county wide league. Yet, the boys have not allowed their pristine record to lull them into complacency. In spite of

PHOTO BY NYAWA ALLIEU

Senior captain Miles Gally (left) aims over a Wootton defender’s hands.

the success they have already achieved, improvement is always on their minds. “I think we haven’t played up to our potential yet, but we show our sparks of each little area where we separate ourselves from other teams,” Cornish said. “All we have to do now is put them all together and I truly believe nobody will be able to compete with us.”

Ultimately, this insatiable dissatisfaction is fueled by their high expectations and neverending pursuit of excellence.

By constantly setting higher standards for themselves, the team has avoided the feeling of complacency that often plagues winning teams. “Our goal is to stay undefeated for the rest of the season,” junior Devin Liyanamana said, “But after that it’s to win regionals and then states.”

Perhaps, most importantly, despite the hard work they put in day in and day out, the team sees their daily practices and games not as drudgery, but as enjoyable.

“This season has been great,” senior Austin Cheung said, “by far the most enjoyable season I’ve been a part of at RM.” With the regular season coming to a close, the boys will finally have a chance to realize the desire that they have been harboring since the summer. Yet, the knowledge of the end being in sight has only pushed the team to be ever the more self-critical and determined down the final stretch. “If we can just put the last few pieces together here at the end,” Orcev said, “we could be unstoppable when it comes to playoffs.”

PHOTO BY ISHA YARDI

RM offers a variety of physical ducation classes, including basketball.

students to stay active even after the class ends.

The skills taught in other PE classes are usually less applicable to students’ daily lives. “Anything you would learn that is new is just going to be forgotten if it’s only taught once, so there’s no point if no one is going to remember it in several years,” junior Jillian Wimbush said.

Overall, students seem to enjoy taking PE, and many students find the class valuable.

“Although taking PE didn’t necessarily educate me on much, other than the basic rules of certain games like volleyball, I think that PE gave me a better understanding of the importance of exercise,” senior Sarah Mirekua

said. “I was obligated to actually put effort into keeping myself in shape and participating in a sport that I enjoyed without having to play competitively.”

But some students are uninformed as to the intended purpose of the PE requirement, believing that the county simply wants to keep students healthy and active over the year that they will be required to take the class, rather than introducing students to a long-term healthier lifestyle.

“Spending 45 minutes playing a sport can only do so much health-wise,” freshman Joey Lien said. “It’s not as if we do extreme exercises during the class, so it doesn’t exactly boost your health in the way one would hope.”

Athletes: Not ready for March 1?

Top tips for tryouts

by Tide Sports Editors

go in with a game plan

Mental preparation is just as important as physical training in any sport. Whether it be simply going over the fundamentals of the sport or picking a certain skill to target, planning ahead will reduce stress and remove distractions when it counts.

With March fast approaching, it is spring tryout season again—a time which can be nerve -wracking, especially for inexperienced newcomers.

Yet, as daunting Do not be as tryouts afraid to may seem, show up and with a few show out preparations First impressions GRAPHIC BY HELEN QIAN and adjustments, matter, so strive to be players will be the fastest, strongest, able to breeze past them with no or hardest worker from the start. trouble.

A sure-fire way to catch the attention of the coach is a goGet to know the getter attitude.

team

A player that fits well into the team culture and atmosphere already has a leg up on the competition. Pre-tryout workouts, even if not mandatory, are the perfect opportunity to build relationships with the returning players. Come March 1, the already established familiarity with the team may help ease tension and act as an extra boost over the finish line.

talk to the coach beforehand

Tryouts can be a confusing process, so never hesitate to go to the coach with questions. Not only does this show initiative, but also adds another familiar face on the big day.

Remember to bring your forms

This deceptively burdensome hoop to jump through has tripped up even the most seasoned of veteran players.

MCPS policy bars playing without them, and with the everincreasing competition for those coveted few starting spots, one less day of evaluation can make all the difference.

just try

There is truly no harm in showing up, so just go for it!

Make it or not, tryouts present an opportunity to learn and grow under pressure, which is the most important element of any sport.

SPORTS

20 The Tide

February 2019

Ndiaye stays en garde against the competition

by Byron Fan RM junior Edriss Ndiaye is a phenomenal athlete and incredible fencer. He has ranked in numerous fencing competitions at both the national and international level. In addition to his remarkable fencing skills, he also motivates others to improve along with him.

Unlike most high-level fencers, Ndiaye only began the sport around three and a half years ago at the Rockville Fencing Academy.

“My mother had signed me up for a beginning class after seeing an ad on the street,” he said. Ndiaye was intrigued by the individual aspect of the sport, so he tried it out and fell in love.

Ndiaye is a foil fencer, meaning he uses the lightest and safest of the three fencing swords. It came from the French word refouler, meaning to turn away. The foil blade is typically very versatile and flexible, which makes it difficult to wield and requires much practice to use proficiently.

What makes Ndiaye such an amazing fencer is his dedication to the sport. “Most fencers come once or twice a week. Edriss was here religiously, everyday.

Hours at a time. Six days a week on average for the first couple years,” his coaches Stuart Sacks and Jaclyn Anne said. “At this

point in time Edriss didn’t even have a full fencing uniform yet, he would fence with partial equipment, street clothes and just sneakers.”

Ndiaye’s willingness to learn from his mistakes and experiences also sets him apart.

“In fencing you lose a lot in order to win. Edriss wasn’t afraid to lose. He just wanted to improve,” his coaches said. “Swallowing constant losses is hard for many, but not Edriss, he just loved to fence and had a strong desire to be great. He learned something from every match.”

According to his coaches, Ndiaye’s personality perfectly

fits the sport of fencing. “Edriss displayed the heart of a champion.

He brought a friendly competitive rivalry to our club which inspired a lot of other fencers to work harder during those first couple years,” his coaches said.

Ndiaye was always willing to fence with any fencer that was available, both for enjoyment and improvement. “We noticed how Edriss quickly became very good at getting his opponent to do what he wanted him to do. He was able to quickly figure out how to trick his opponents and gain control,” his coaches said.

Six months after joining the sport, Ndiaye started participating

PHOTO COURTESY OF EDRISS NDIAYE

Ndiaye (left) uses his foil to block his opponent during a match.

in local tournaments and soon started placing and winning these events. He then moved onto state and national tournaments.

Intially, he was not very successful since his opponents had been fencing for a longer time and had much more experience under their belt. Nonetheless, he persevered and worked hard.

Match by match, he started improving, allowing him to start getting wins against his seasoned opponents. Within two years of fencing, he started placing and winning medals.

This season, Ndiaye began competing in international events after being ranked top 20 in the country. In 2018, he visited more than 10 states for competitions and traveled to Poland, Austria, France, Slovakia and Rome for international tournaments. He has placed 8th place in Division 1 in the North American Cup in Cincinnati, Ohio; 12th place at the Cadet World Cup in Rome; and 27th at the World Cup in Bratislava, Slovakia.

His immense success did not come without challenges. Along the path to success, he had to deal with personal challenges.

Moreover, since fencing is often dominated by Asian athletes he had to deal with being underestimated due to his race. “I channeled the negative emotions I felt into a greater drive to get to the highest level of my sport,” Ndiaye said.

In the future, Ndiaye plans to major in business and management to become an entrepreneur. During college, he plans to be on a Division 1 varsity team for mens foil. Looking

PHOTO COURTESY OF NDIAYE

Ndiaye placed 13th at the North American Cup in Anaheim, Calif. ahead, he also aspires to take part in the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Ndiaye’s dedication and achievements serve as a model for those who wish to work hard and achieve a goal regardless of any challenges.

“Within these short four years, Edriss has proved he has what it takes to go all the way,” his coaches said. “Given his strong work ethic, mental toughness and hunger to succeed there is nothing Edriss cannot accomplish.”

RM community features sports around the world

by Kevin Zhang

Ice hockey, popular in Canada, is a contact team sport played on the ice rink. Since age four, freshman Dylan Goetz has been on the ice, initially in ice skating then transitioning to hockey.

“I didn’t start playing [ice hockey] until I was about 8 and decided then because my dad played hockey, and we watched it on TV a lot,” he said.

Today, Goetz plays for the RM ice hockey team and the Montgomery Youth Hockey Association Bantam Lower A team. Goetz said, “I would recommend ice hockey because it combines skating and playing, which makes it challenging but fun. If you just devote some time and effort you’ll get the hang of it in no time.”

Sanda, also known as Chinese kickboxing, is a martial art originally developed for the military. Over time, the sport was integrated into Chinese culture, becoming a key component of the Chinese martial arts training. For freshman Alexander Tong, he decided to take up Sanda to learn how to defend himself. “Back in elementary school, I used to be bullied by this one kid and see many others get bullied, and decided to take up Sanda so that I could protect myself in the future,” he said. Sandra, which follows a mixed martial arts format, is based on sparring methods and is a full contact sport. “We constantly practice dodging, punching, chokes,” Tong said. “Another important factor of sanda is strength, because knockout blows don’t just come out of nowhere.”

The flamenco, a dance based on folk music and cultures of the Southern Spain region, is a form of conveying passion through intricate dance steps. Eliana Mazin, the founder of RM’s newly formed flamenco club, began dancing the flamenco at the age of nine. “My parents had previously been to Spain and liked flamenco so my mom signed me up for a class,” she said. Since then, she has performed at venues such as Strathmore for the Feria de Sevilla and the Gala Hispanic Theatre.

Mazin said, “I would recommend trying out flamenco because it is so unique and flamenco dancers are part of a very tight-knit yet welcoming community.”

The Bharatanatyam is an Indian classical dance originating from the Tamil Nadu region that is expressed through intricate footwork and sophisticated sign language, such as hands, eyes and face movements. The dance, which was originally intended for religious purposes, has evolved to become a prominent sense of self expression. Inspired by her friends who danced, junior Anagha Shastry started Bharatanatyam at age four. “Dance is a large part of my Indian culture as it brings together so many different aspects of any culture,” Shastry said. “This year, I’m preparing to do my arangetram which is my solo dance debut and a three-hour performance.”

GRAPHICS BY WENYU CHEN, ERIC KIM, LANCHI NGUYEN, VALERIE WANG