The Tide - April 2019

20

News 2-3

Opinions 4-6

La Marea 9

Center Spread 10-11

Features 12-14

Arts 16-18

Sports 19-20

PHOTOS COURTESY OF REMI ALI

@2kforbes shoots from the sidelines

by Brooke Hilliard With seconds left on the clock, the Rockets raced back to defend their three-point lead. The buzzer let out its final call, and a sea of black and gold erupted into cheers. By a razor-thin score of 57-54, the RM boys basketball team hailed victorious over Walter Johnson High School in the battle for the regional championship and a place in the state competition.

The boys gave it their all through a series of impressive three-point shots, powerful layups, and challenging plays. The game would go down in GRAPHIC

BY LANCHI RM history, and NGUYEN 2kforbes filmed it.

Remi Ali, who is

better known by his social media handle “2kforbes,” has over 11,000 followers on his Instagram page, which is dedicated to capturing local high school and college basketball games.

Ali is a long-time Montgomery County resident and basketball player. He played at Montgomery Blair High School and later at Frostburg State University. “My passion for the sport and filming clashed and it was a no-brainer to film the future of basketball through MoCo high school sports,” Ali said.

Ali’s affinity for videography began 10 years ago when he would create video-game montages and wedding recaps. Once basketball season started, Ali decided to aim his hobby towards creating highlight reels.

“Early on, I just made videos that people saw

but the more I made them and the more people tuned in, they started enjoying me as a person and supporting what I do,” Ali said.

At basketball games, Ali films and assembles highlights with Adobe Premiere Pro and backs them up with an energetic song.

“Every video is different so it just takes experience and knowledge of the sport to come up with some cool edits,” Ali said.

In the future, Ali wants to expand his passion for sports videos. He plans to cover lacrosse, baseball, soccer and football games. Due to his growing popularity, he also hopes to diversify his coverage and film games in Prince George’s County, DC and Virginia.

Despite his busy schedule, Ali still finds time to film the RM boys basketball team. Ali has made edits of both the RM vs. WJ game and the RM vs. Gaithersburg game.

RM basketball players sophomore

RM students react to national college admissions scandal

by Ishanvi Malayanil, Anna Chen and Helen Qian Just weeks before many seniors across the country receive regular college admission decisions, a major admissions scandal indicting 50 people broke on March 12. The alleged scam, which dates back to 2011, involves over $25 million in bribes. Among those accused are wealthy investors, CEOs, coaches and several celebrities.

An investigation by the Justice Department, known as “Operation Varsity Blues,” found evidence of parents hiring third parties to take standardized tests for their children, bribing testing center officials to alter scores and bribing coaches to pretend their

Inside The Tide...

children were athletes in the they can prove a point that ‘I’m admissions process, among many a famous star and my son got a degree from Stanford,’” chemistry other allegations.

The scandal has sparked teacher Michael Ashmead said.

“I find this scandal widespread conversation absolutely atrocious, among RM students and it honestly and staff about disappoints the college me that some admissions people can process. stoop down M o s t to such a expressed low level,” a n g e r sophomore toward D a n e s h t h o s e Sivakumar said. involved for The scandal has abusing their especially upset privilege. “You can GRAPHIC BY KATIE ZHANG RM seniors who are have Joe Schmo currently hearing be dumb as a box of rocks but if his parents have back from colleges they applied to. money, they’re going to have ADMISSIONS, cont. page 3 someone take the test for him so

News, 3

New classes introduced for 2019-20

Opinions, 6

Redrawing MCPS district lines

Ryan Cornish, senior Miles Gally and senior Djordje Orcev were all given special feature videos on Ali’s Instagram page as well.

“I always enjoy filming Richard Montgomery.

They have a great program and know how to play the game of basketball,” Ali said.

Ali also came to the Xfinity Center at the University of Maryland on March 14 to watch RM compete in the state championship.

When RM students saw Ali with his camera and “2kforbes” gear, they began chanting, “2kforbes! 2kforbes!”

Ali caught footage of the dozens of dedicated fans and the RM boys playing their hearts out.

“These are a group of young men that play unselfish, are driven and work harder than anybody I have seen,” Ali said.

Even though RM lost, Ali still posted a heartfelt message on his Instagram page.

“Richard Montgomery!!!

Collectively, you guys made history. Not just the players with the historic run they had to clinch the region, but you as the supporters,” Ali wrote.

On March 15, Ali posted his edit of the state championship, highlighting the best plays and fans from both RM and Broadneck High School.

Members of the RM basketball team admire Ali and his work.“In a way he has connected our community through sports in a way that hasn’t been done before,” senior Brian Sadeghi said.

“He’s a very ambitious video creator,” junior Hanok Kassahun said.

Shakespeare play set to a new score

by Grace Comer and Shane Querubin As not only the first Shakespeare play to be performed as a mainstage play at RM in over 10 years but also the very first mainstage full-length play to be accompanied by studentcomposed music, this year’s spring play, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” is expected to be a very unique production.

For those unfamiliar with the piece, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” written by William Shakespeare, is a comedy, with some romance and fairytale mixed in.

The romantic comedy GRAPHIC BY VA;ERIE WANG

Centerspread, 10-11 RM’s energy footprint

surrounds the marriage of Theseus, the Duke of Athens, and Hippolyta, the former queen of the Amazons. Much of the play is also focused on the adventures of four young lovers (Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius, and Helena), six amateur actors and the trickster fairies all over the forest, in which most of the play is set.

The play’s composers include sophomore Julian Saint Denis, a percussionist, junior Christine Zhu, a pianist and violinist, and senior Kidus Yared, a saxophonist.

They were chosen in February by drama program director Emily Davis for their skill and dedication to music. All three are members of RM’s jazz band and the Tri-M National Music Honor Society.

COMPOSERS, cont. page 16

Sports, 19 Shadowing RM’s athletic trainer

2 The Tide

NEWS

RM students meet to discuss mental health

PHOTO BY NYAWA ALLIEU

Students engage in discussion about the role mental health plays in their lives and how they deal with problems.

by Savva Brown Over the past six months, RM students have engaged in quarterly community meetings about issues such as gun control and race. The last of the meetings concluded in March, with mental health being the primary subject of discussion.

Teachers prefaced the meetings by telling students to be respectful and by informing them of their option to leave if the presentations became overwhelming. After laying the ground rules, teachers then asked guiding questions like “How can we improve each other’s mental health on a day to day basis?” before allowing students to explore the subjects on their own.

The idea for the meetings was originally pitched two years ago to IB coordinator Nancy Shay, who recalled a conversation with some students. “Some girls came to a instructional leadership team over the summer and proposed community meetings that they wanted to have held in homeroom,” Ms. Shay said.

Making this concept a reality was far from easy. “We couldn’t reach an agreement as a staff about whether or not we were ready to do this, and I fought for them for two years and

April 2019

we ended up with this model,” Ms. Shay said.

Although students were originally meant to meet in their homerooms, Ms. Shay’s idea of mixing students triumphed.

Hence, IB and non-IB students in each grade level were mixed together during this year’s community meetings.

Certain students, however, felt the presentations did not accomplish what they were meant to. “There is still a feeling that the conversation is a bit forced, which is off-putting for some students,” sophomore Nick Asante said.

Other RM students share Asante’s opinion. “They had the right idea but everything was pretty surface level. They could have really used the talks to get into real issues and solutions to those issues and I don’t really think that happened,” sophomore Mira Kux said.

However, Ms. Shay saw the issue differently. “I think the quality of the conversation was very much dependent on the instructional leadership and the student’s willingness to participate,” she said.

Guidance counselor Erica LeBright believes the discussions were vital for

awareness among students.

“It’s always great when there is a space for students to discuss their beliefs and experiences, especially when it comes to mental health,” she said.

“There is still a feeling that the conversation is a bit forced, which is off-putting for some students.”

- Nick Asante Ms. Shay felt planning needed to be addressed, in terms of what needed to be changed. “I think if more people are involved, then more people are invested not just in community meetings, but in the issues themselves,” she said.

Although the effects of the class discussions and presentations may not appear right away, Ms. Shay has bright hopes for the future of the community meetings. “We’ll have a richer outcome,” she said.

April

New courses debut next academic year

by Tejas Nazare

together,” Ms. Michaels said.

One of the main reasons for the addition of the course is convenience regarding college courses. Passing the AP Language and Composition exam exempts students from needing to complete a freshman writing course in some colleges, but taking the IB Literature course and the AP Literature exam does not. As of now, while many IB students do take the AP Literature exam, many also choose to self-study for the AP Language exam.

Upon the new change, many students have expressed interested in taking the new IB Language and Literature class.

“I definitely plan on taking the IB Language and Literature course. I think it will be a great opportunity to investigate a more diverse range of literature,” sophomore George Sellers said.

RM is revamping its curriculum for various subjects for the 2019-2020 school year. Changes include the elimination of several on-level classes, a new IB English course and the introduction of American Sign Language as a language option. All English classes and some social studies classes will transition from onlevel to honors, following in the footsteps of many other MCPS schools.

“I think the desire is to see that all students, no matter how they perceive themselves capabilitywise, can rise to the occasion and become inspired by a higher level of instruction,” IB Diploma Coordinator Nancy Shay said.

Encouraging students to branch out academically was another motivation for the curriculum change.

Another major change in RM’s curriculum will be the addition of the IB Language and Literature course. Since RM adopted the IB Diploma Programme, only IB Literature has been offered.

GRAPHIC BY MATTHEW “The IB Literature class is ADJODHA American Sign Language (ASL) strictly literature, such as fiction and poetry, whereas the IB will also be offered as a class next Language and Literature class year. This is a big stride for the has a lot in common with AP ASL club, which was founded Language and Composition. this year to promote the learning We’ll look at a lot of nonfiction, of the language.

“I’m very happy that this a lot of different variety of text school is making this language an types. So even things like option. Spanish and French are political cartoons languages that are commonly or just anything spoken, but people forget that could about ASL which is another constitute text. commonly used language,” It doesn’t have sophomore Julia Craig, to be fiction or ASL club president, poetry,” English said. department “My family and I head Leah appreciate not only Michaels said. this language becoming Unlike the a class, but the students current IB Literature GRAPHIC BY class, IB Language JILLIAN WIMBUSH who are eager to learn it as well,” Craig continued. and Literature will be available to all RM students, not Craig will also work with Magnet just students in the IB program. Coordinator Joe Jelen and the “It’s going to be really exciting ASL teacher, who is yet to be to have a mixed group where we determined, in hopes of turning can have all kinds of kids from ASL club into ASL Honors different programs in one course Society.

CORRECTIONS

The following is a correction for Volume 45, Issue 4 (February 2019): In the “Rockville considers student cap increase” News article, the council voted on Monday Feb. 5, not Monday Jan. 5.

April 1

April Fools Day What monster plays the most jokes? Prankenstein!

April 3

End of third marking period Why did the broom get a bad grade? It was sweeping in class!

April 5

Opening Night of A Midsummer Night’s Dream Come and see the show!

April 16

Report Card Distribution We hope your grades aren’t below C-level!

AWARDS

Congratulations to the RM mock trial defense team for winning the circuit six championship on March 19, 2019.

Props to RMHS Swim & Dive members Chris Ma, John Clado and Connor Din for their All-Met honorable mention on March 19, 2019.

Hats off to the RMHS Madrigals choir for straight superior ratings at county festival on March 13, 2019.

Congrats to Caroline Dinh, Isabelle Levine, Helen Qian, Emily Tian, Lydia Wei and Kathryn Zhang for receiving Gold and Silver Medals in the national level of the Scholastic Arts and Writing competition on March 13, 2019.

Well done to Mathew Ruane who was crowned 2019 Mr. RM on March 9, 2019.

Kudos to the RMHS Symphonic band for earning straight superior ratings at the MCPS Spring Band Adjudication on March 7, 2019.

NEWS

The Tide

April 2019

3

RM makes strides College admissions in biliteracy studies scandal stokes outrage

Many of the students who have obtained their Seal of Biliteracy are ESOL students. In order for Beginning next year, RM will ESOL students to obtain the Seal be bringing more international of Biliteracy, they must pass the flavor to its course offerings, English 10 PARCC test and then adding courses for a biliteracy and either pass an AP language exam international studies pathway. For or exams aligned with guidelines the past 10 years, the international from The American Council on the studies pathway was offered for Teaching of Foreign Languages only Spanish, but in the (ACTFL). coming year, it will also “They wanted a way now include to honor students’ Chinese and native heritages French. The and honor the change will things they bring expose to the table. It was students to such an important k n o w l e d g e of aspect.

It started language and cultures actually intended for necessary for a career in the English language international relations. learners, intended for ESOL GRAPHIC BY “As a nation, we CAROLINE DINH students, so they could have have a need for some way to show what more professionals who are they bring to the schools, what good communicators in a world they have, and not disregard their language and in their own native language, and not disregard English language. These future their literacy skills they worked professionals need to be able to so hard to have,” ESOL Resource know about issues beyond their teacher Jackie DeLucia said. community and this pathway is For Ms. DeLucia, the award designed to start the high school helps recognize the strengths that student in an academic path ESOL students bring to the school that may lead to professions in community. “They bring so many the world community,” Spanish interesting stories. I think the Seal teacher Maria Solernou said. of Biliteracy is a great way to show Next year will also be the third that we appreciate them, we value year RM and MCPS will participate them, we know how hard that in the Maryland Seal of Biliteracy, they are working. I’m all for it,” an award recognizing students she said. who attain proficiency in two or Students who are not in ESOL more languages by the time they can also achieve the Seal of graduate high school.

Biliteracy by showing proficiency The Seal of Biliteracy was first through a series of different offered in California but is now assessments, such as AP or IB offered in 36 other states. The Language exams.

RM community’s dedication for Going forward, these new learning another language was options and accomplishments in reflected in how 152 RM students biliteracy will help RM further have been able to obtain the Seal embody its name as an IB school. of Biliteracy so far this year, the “The more we look into the future, highest number of students to do the more we realize that education so at any Montgomery County needs to lead students to be global high school. citizens,” Sra. Solernou said.

by Chloe Gonzalez

COLLEGE, cont. from page 1 “I was frustrated because I value education and learning so much and I put in all this hard work to get into good colleges but all these people just used money to get in,” senior Katya Beltran said. “It’s just so corrupt.”

College counselor William “Rick” Singer has pleaded guilty to being the ringleader of the scheme and now faces up to 65 years in prison and $1.25 million in fines.

The parents and children involved in the scandal also face significant repercussions. “I think all those kids who are under investigation should have their degrees pulled and they should be expelled from school,” Mr. Ashmead said. “And I think their parents should either be fined or jailed.”

On the other hand, senior Nicole Win believes that the severity of the scheme was blown out of proportion. “It’s a known fact that the rich always had a corrupt way of getting things,” she said. “It was unfair but it wasn’t really a crime to me. It’s just like they paid to get into a school and that’s essentially how schools work anyway.”

Social media has also put a spotlight on the issue. Hollywood actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman were charged in the scheme and are now receiving a barrage of criticism. According to the federal report, Loughlin paid $500,000 for her two daughters, Olivia Jade and Isabella Rose, to be admitted to the University of Southern California (USC) as recruits for the crew team although neither play the sport. Likewise, Huffman allegedly donated $15,000 to help her daughter cheat on college entrance exams.

In addition to their parents, the children who were admitted through the scheme are facing

backlash, particularly Olivia Jade, a social media influencer with nearly 2 million subscribers on YouTube. “Olivia Jade, more like Olivia paid,” senior Tracie Kwon said. “I don’t watch her anymore.” However, others do not believe she deserves the amount of bullying she now faces.

“It’s a known fact that the rich always had a corrupt way of getting things.”

- Nicole Win “I feel like they kind of took her words and demonized her,” Win said, referring to a YouTube video in which Olivia Jade said she was attending college mainly for the game days and parties.

At the same time, many recognize the difficulty of ensuring complete fairness in an extremely competitive admissions process that often involves making judgments about students in a matter of minutes. “I think it’s difficult for colleges to get a full impression of a student,” senior Alex Holtz said. “There are so many people that schools would view as ‘perfect candidates’ that it often turns into a lottery.”

Mary Hull, RM’s college and career information coordinator, has extensive experience with the application process. “There are no guarantees.

There’s no secret formula to get your child in, and I’m sure that’s part of

the motivation behind behind parents who bribe” she said.

“Some parents are so driven by the name of the school.”

Nonetheless, the idea that attending a prestigious college opens up doors for students that less selective colleges do not does have some merit. For many students, this scandal also highlights the increasing socioeconomic and racial divide among applicants.

“With money comes affordability towards opportunities—opportunities that disadvantaged minorities simply don’t receive,” junior Daniel Williams said. The ease at which the rich can buy their way into better colleges and careers makes progress seem out of reach for frustrated students.

Although the scandal has led to a push for change in college admissions, many believe that these schemes will continue in the future. “I don’t think scandals like these will end, so for hard-working kids like us, we need to work twice as hard to get entrance into the same schools as everyone else,” Williams said.

GRAPHIC BY HELEN QIAN

CLIP ART COURTESY OF PIXABAY CREATIVE COMMONS

Green New Deal divides both community and country

PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA CREATIVE COMMONS

Rep. Ocasio-Cortez speaks on the Green New Deal at a press conference.

by Rohan Dewan Modeled after President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “New Deal” from the Great Depression era, the Green New Deal is a bill that was created by the Green Party over a decade ago. Now sponsored by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D - N.Y.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D - Mass.), the bill aims to halt climate change, revitalize the U.S. economy and transition the country away from non-renewable energy sources such as coal and oil. According to various politicians, the deal is ambitious, with measures on the scale of wartime mobilization.

Climate scientists in the United Nations estimate that

the world will need to change its environmental policies and outlook in the next 12 years to keep the Earth from being damaged beyond repair.

The issue is so dire that the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has moved its Doomsday Clock two minutes till midnight, citing Climate Change as a major factor in their decision. Doomsday references the nuclear end of all humanity, and the clock has only been this close to midnight (doomsday) since the Cold War at the height of nuclear weapons testing.

Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who both serve on the Senate Environment and Public Works committee, have not expressed

support for the Green New Deal.

However, Montgomery County Representative Jamie Raskin was the 14th House member to support the bill.

If passed, the Green New Deal is set to greatly impact the country, Montgomery County included. Citizens will be forced to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle to reduce their carbon footprint. For instance, electric cars will also be more available to the public, according to Ocasio-Cortez. Economy-wise, families would benefit from a universal income, which would help pay bills, a large plus for economically struggling families.

The Green Party and OcasioCortez hope that the bill will reduce U.S. carbon emissions to zero percent and shift the country solely to renewable energy by 2030. The bill aims to reach all its goals within the next 10 years and create 20 million new jobs, develop more eco-friendly infrastructure and overhaul and revamp transportation systems to reduce pollution as well.

All this may cost between $51 trillion to $93 trillion, according to American Action Forum.

However, others political figures claim that it is too early to estimate a cost.

Some members of the RM community agree that the Green

New Deal pursues the right cause.

“Global warming is a very serious challenge, and it’s probably going to be, if not the most important issue facing our generation, then one of the most important issues facing us,”senior Kevin Lu said.

However, RM as a whole is divided on the Green New Deal.

“The U.S. can’t pay for it, making it unfeasible and putting America in an unstable state of debt,” freshman Urbar Kattel said. “The Green New Deal is a step in the right direction but it does too much, costs too much and cannot be achieved in the current state of America.”

“What OcasioCortez says needs to be done right now really does need to be done for the environment.”

- Kevin Lu On the other hand, students still feel that it is the best solution to climate change, as of now. “I would say that there is not really a better alternative to the Green New Deal right now in terms of

the scope and ambition that it includes. What Ocasio-Cortez says needs to be done right now really does need to be done for the environment,” Lu said.

Ocasio-Cortez has claimed that the environment and economy only can be strengthened together, not separately. Thus, the deal stresses decarbonizing the economy and simultaneously making it more fair and just. The bill will ensure fair taxation for all Americans, make U.S. businesses more ethical and small businesses more sustainable.

Democrats have signed onto the bill and several Republicans have shown support for it. Although the deal may pass the House and Senate, it is likely that President Trump will veto it as he has mocked the bill several times via Twitter.

Currently, though, the bill does not have specific actions outlined and is rather a set of guidelines and ideas for future action.

With its controversial nature, the Green New Deal is likely to play a major role in the 2020 presidential elections. “Especially with the close election cycle coming up, the Green New Deal is going to be something that will differentiate candidates in both parties. One of the factors in my voting choice will be how they react to the bill,” economics teacher Douglas McDonald said.

4 The Tide

OPINIONS

Girl Scout Cookie Wars: Which one will prevail?

Peanut butter and chocolate are always an incredible combination, but the Tagalongs, otherwise known as peanut butter patties, represent the optimal ratio of these two flavors. Better yet, the crunchiness of the cookie inside adds the perfect texture. The richness of these cookies are all that anyone ever needs in their life.

Although highly unappreciaed, these cheerful cookies are nothing short of beautiful. The powdered sugar just dissolves in your mouth, and the lemon extract adds the perfect dash of tanginess. My only concern is that it can be an incredibly messy experience: the cookie binge is blissful, but the clean-up afterwards is simply annoying.

Shortbread cookies on their own are rather boring, but when dipped in fudge, the cookie becomes truly enjoyable, especially with milk. One of the more underrated cookies, Thanks-A-Lot are a pleasant surprise to those who discover this hidden gem.

Some people are definitely going to be incredibly upset at how low these are on the list, but in all honesty, they are not the greatest. The coconut taste can quickly become overwhelming, though I do have to give credit to the rich mix of caramel and chocolate and the chewy texture of the cookie.

Letters to the Editor Responses to:

RM Administration Skillfully Fights Hate

by Shevani Tewari The crowds of people walking through RM’s hall with brightly colored boxes can only mean one thing...it’s Girl Scout cookie season! Many of us have a favorite cookie, and can often spend lengthy periods of time defending our choice. Others are still trying to figure out the best cookie to buy.

Whether you’re looking for a list to vehemently disagree with, or advice on your worthy Girl Scout investments, here is a definitive ranking of the Girl Scout cookies.

April 2019

S’mores in compact, cookie form seem perfect; unfortunately, one cannot simply capture the beauty of s’mores in a packaged, room temperature cookie.

However, they definitely capture the sweetness of s’mores, and deserve credit for being the one cookie that is just too sweet to binge on.

Lemonades are essentially just a mix of Trefoils and Savannah Smiles. The tanginess of the lemons make it more interesting than the traditional shortbread cookie, but there’s nothing particularly craveable about them. They are definitely enjoyable, but not actually worth buying, especially when their sweeter alternative exists.

Like I said earlier, shortbread cookies with nothing added to them are just boring.

I have nothing particularly against these cookies — they’re definitely enjoyable with a cup of tea. But ultimately, when cookies that are simply better exist, they just end up closer to the end of the list.

Do-si-dos are the epitome of someone ruining the perfection of Tagalongs. Think about it. Why would you take a Tagalong, brutally strip it of its sweet chocolate, and add oats? In absolutely no situation will oatmeal replace chocolate. Even worse, why would you disrupt the perfectly good texture with more cookies?

Finally, they’re just incredibly boring.

There is nothing unique or special about a peanut butter sandwich, no matter the fun name you attach to it. Out of all the cookies available, they are not terrible, but definitely the worst.

And there you have it! The most correct ranking of Girl Scout Cookies that you will ever find. All these cookies are definitely tasty. Some are just tastier than others.

“ “ “

The administration’s actions to address this horrible incident sent a strong message of tolerance and solidarity while discouraging future hate crimes. But, the school should put cameras on every corner of the school so if it happens again, they'd know who did it. ~Yves Anrhei Batican, sophomore In my personal opinion the school didn't seem to talk with the students about the whole incident. They didn't seem to talk with them to tell them what they should or should not do. Many didn't know what to say to the students. The school should probably interact with the students more only because that’s maybe the reason why many of the students do these types of things. ~Jacqueline Lopez, sophomore I really think that our administration have taken a graceful step forward in response to these recent events. Creating the #ThisisRM movement has resuled in a lot of positive response, both not fueling the fire or ignoring the actions of students. In the future we can take more steps to make a point to show these students that this is unexpected, like student lunch protests or action protests, peaceful and calm actions. ~Albury Ward, sophomore

Submit a letter!

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 5 250 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.

Again, many are probably annoyed at this ranking. It may have been higher years ago. But at this point, these cookies are simply overrated. You find them everywhere. They’re just minty chocolate.

They’re good, but at this point, there’s nothing special about them. Let them be.

Questions, corrections, advertisements, and photos can be submitted to thetideeditors@gmail.com.

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

GRAPHICS BY VALERIE WANG

Editors-in-Chief..........................................................Emily Chen, 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..............................................................................................................Isabella Levine, Christine Zhu Podcast....................................................................................................................................Grace Burwell Photo...............................................................................................................................................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, Crystal Foretia, Rebecca Huang, Angela Sun,.

Shevani Tewari, Kyra Wisneski, Ashley Ye, Emily Zhao

OPINIONS

The Tide

April 2019

The Tide’s View: On the SMOB elections

5

The Tide Editorial Board interviewed both SMOB candidates and discussed the ins and outs of their respective platforms. Here is our take on their policies.

Nate for SMOB

Zoe for SMOB

by The Tide Editorial Staff

PHOTOS COURTESY NATE TINBITE

Tinbite poses with former SMOB Matt Post.

Cartoon Corner

2019 SMOB Candidate Nate Tinbite they know they will need to provide more funding for this.”

Tinbite has also considered ways to address the effects of racial inequality in this county. His idea to increase student interest in schools by diversifying the curriculum reflects this. “Students can only be interested in the picture when they’re part of it,” Tinbite said. If elected, he hopes to emphasize the need for minority representation in a range of MCPS classes.

“Students can only be interested in the picture when they’re part of it.”

- Nate Tinbite On the issue of mental health, while both candidates propose expanding wellness centers, Tinbite provides unique insight on another way to improve the stress levels of high school students: implementing effective homework-free weekends.

Often at Richard Montgomery, students have a love-hate relationship with these homework-free weekends, given many teachers tend to simply make assignments due either Friday or Tuesday, worsening the stress of students.

However, by actively working to destigmatize mental health, expanding no-homework-weekend policies across the county, and establishing a student taskforce to address student complaints regarding homework related stress, Tinbite hopes to improve mental health in students across the entire county.

Overall, while the goals for both candidates are similar in the upcoming race, both have different priorities.

Tishaev’s policies tend to favor specific schools, while Tinbite’s policies tend to apply and benefit all Montgomery County schools equally. While both methods are potentially beneficial, Nate’s approach is ultimately more thoughtful for the county as a whole, given students from all over the county will be able to benefit.

On a final note, if elected, Tinbite will be the first African American SMOB in over a decade, and he is from the Downcounty Consortium, which is woefully underrepresented in the county government. His position as a leader may inspire other underrepresented students throughout the county to express their voice and become more involved with student government.

Ultimately, the decision of who to vote for just depends on one’s priorities.

However, Tinbite’s policies are the best for the county as a whole.

GRAPHIC BY ANGELINA GUHL

Previous leadership history is a good indicator of potential performance as SMOB. Though both candidates have a repertoire of student advocacy, Nate Tinbite’s ample involvement with a variety of student leadership roles gives him unique advantages.

“I’m able to see ins and out of the system,” he said in a interview. By currently serving as the President for the Montgomery County Regional (MCR) government and a founder of MoCo Students for Gun Control, he demonstrates an astute capacity for leadership that he has been utilizing ever since he first became the vice president of his middle school class.

“I was already a talkative annoying little boy so I thought I might as well use that for good,” Tinbite explained.

Not only does he have a strong leadership background on his own, Tinbite has also worked closely with previous SMOBs, such as Ananya Tadikonda and Matt Post.

By working with previous SMOBs in the past, he has a more intimate view of the responsibilities of a SMOB, which is a perspective that Zoe lacks. As a result, he will be able to continue the policies and initiatives established by previous SMOBs more effectively.

But enough with his background. Let us discuss his ideas. The candidates focus on and share stances on the same hot-button topics, such as closing the achievement gap and mental health, and using similar methods to approach those issues. A couple of Tinbite’s ideas, however, stand out from the rest.

In the interview, Tinbite cited one of his greatest priorities as the re-implementation of a driver’s education class in county schools, which would make the state driving school requirement for attaining a license affordable for thousands of students.

Not only does this plan benefit lowincome families who cannot afford the often expensive driver’s education classes offered by private driving schools, it is also the first of many necessary steps to reintroduce usefulness and practicality into the MCPS curriculum. Moreover, with this policy, Tinbite focuses on an area in which the effects of inequality may often be overlooked. We applaud him for his investment into broaching the issue from a variety of perspectives.

In terms of attaining funding, Tinbite said, “If we show this is something that eliminates some financial barriers, then

by The Tide Editorial Staff

“Political Efficacy”

If there is one criticism of the SMOB which has persisted through all these years and candidates, it is that after the campaign season ends, no one outside of the circles of student government and political advocacy groups really hears from the candidate again. While this is not to say they are not engaged in fantastic behind-the-scenes work, as an elected official the SMOB has a responsibility to their stakeholders to let us know what is going on behind the scenes.

Zoe Tishaev knows this. When asked what her top priorities would be as SMOB, her first emphasis was on communication as a means to bridge the gap between SMOB and the everyday student. The gap, as Tishaev notes, has led to many students left unaware of the regional government and SMOB, and therefore losing valuable opportunities for advocacy.

Tishaev shared her own struggle with the divide between students and student government institutions, recalling that she did not know of the Montgomery County Regional (MCR) Government’s existence until her sophomore year of high school.

As a result, Tishaev describes herself as less “entrenched” in the realm of student government. This, Tishaev says, is one of the major differences between her and Nate—and, we might add, from many of the SMOBs in years past, the past five of whom have held officer positions in MCR.

“I want to visit every middle and high school in my term as SMOB. I don’t care what I have to sacrifice.”

- Zoe Tishaev This, of course, can be both a weakness and a strength. Tishaev chooses to see it as the latter, and her arguments for why we should see it that way too are convincing.

For one, her platform, though as ambitious as any SMOB candidate’s, stresses, more so than Nate’s, the value of realistic rather than purely ideal outcomes.

One such example lies in her platform on mental health, which advocates for lightening counselors’ workloads with respect to administrative duties and advertising the presence of school psychologists. When speaking about these policies, Tishaev cited MCPS’ student-tocounselor ratio as the lowest in the state of Maryland, which is even lower than the national average.

While hiring more counselors would obviously be beneficial, a fact like this puts her policy into perspective by placing its emphasis on yielding more return with what resources we already have. Moreover, her policies get at the issue from all sides by acknowledging that counselor-student interaction is not just limited by students’ unwillingness to speak to counselors, but by counselors’ inability to reach out.

2019 SMOB Candidate Zoe Tishaev By increasing the prevalence of school psychologists, students can receive crucial mental health support, and counselors can become more accessible for administrative tasks such as adjusting courses and assisting in the college admissions process.

Her consideration of the role of another valuable stakeholder, our school counselors, with reference to our own is a refreshing approach. It also demonstrates a more nuanced understanding of the process of government itself.

Although her experience with student government may be limited, Tishaev holds crucial experience elsewhere in the world of student advocacy, more specifically the parent teacher association (PTA).

As a student member on the regional PTA, Tishaev has been able to develop experience as the only student member of an adult-led organization -- directly mirroring her role if elected SMOB. This lack of student-government specific leadership roles, when intertwined with experience elsewhere, provides a crucial advantage for the student body as a whole: she will be a voice for the students, not just the student government.

Most importantly, her dedication towards bridging this gap is unparalleled.

“I want to visit every middle and high school in my term as SMOB. I don’t care what I have to sacrifice,” Tishaev said.

In addition, Tishaev recognizes the role of the SMOB on the Board of Education, but plans to couple her traditional role as SMOB with a unique new component: student advocate for the county council.

“I want to work directly with the County Council on student-related issues that don’t necessarily relate to the Board of Education,” Tishaev said. By increasing her realm of influence past the Board of Education, Tishaev presents an opportunity to redefine the SMOB’s role and ultimately give more voice to the students in the long term.

The reasoning behind the creation of the SMOB is to have a channel for the students to express their views about their education.

Supporting Tishaev takes this voice from a select few students and returns it to everyone.

PHOTOS COURTESY ZOE TISHAEV

Tishaev speaks at the Nominating Convention.

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OPINIONS

Bilingual ESOL teachers would harm more than help

by Nicole Fang Current MCPS English as a Second Language (ESOL) teachers are not required to speak any languages other than English.

One of the current debates regarding how to best instruct ESOL students centers on this lack of requirement, asserting that schools should require their ESOL teachers to be certified as bilingual.

Back in 2012, then presidential candidate Barack Obama, in opposition to the educational approach taken by the Bush administration, even endorsed bilingual education as a means of helping students become English-proficient.

It is my opinion, however, that teaching English without using the student’s native language is indeed the most effective method.

Learning a new language is like learning to ride a bike. Using the training wheels feels safer, but ultimately they must come off in order to fully learn. Similarly, if students can rely on the support of their first language, they will never become fluent in another.

Researchers at the Stanford and San Francisco Unified School District found that English learners in dual language immersion programs scored lower than those in English-only immersion in an English Language Arts test.

Moreover, students need to constantly interact with others in English in order to fully learn it. “My sole purpose as an ESOL teacher is to teach my students English, so if I’m slipping into Spanish all the time

PHOTO BY SHEVANI TEWARI

The ESOL mural in RMHS represents the diverse nationalities of ESOL students.

with them, are they really learning the language?” ESOL teacher Jill Schuck said.

“The best way to learn a language is to be completely be immersed in the language.”

Fellow ESOL teacher Claudia Austin agrees. “I refrain from using Spanish with all my students because the goal is for them to learn English,” she said.

In addition, ESOL students speak a wide variety of languages. “Currently, I have students who speak Turkish, Chinese, Oromo, French, Sinhalese, Russian,” said Mrs. Schuck. “So if I’m bilingual in Spanish, it is great for me to communicate with my Spanish students, but I also have Turkish, Chinese, Oromo, French, Sinhalese, Russian students to teach.”

The number of English learners across the nation has grown by roughly 60

“My sole purpose as an ESOL teacher is to teach my students English, so if I’m slipping into Spanish all the time with them, are they really learning the language?”

- Mrs. Schuck percent over the past decade, according to a U.S. Department of Education brief.

It is the responsibility of public schools to educate ESOL students equitably and set them up for long-term success.

“In addition to wanting all of our ESOL students to be fluent English speakers, my colleagues and I also want ESOL students to feel part of the community, learn about the culture of the country, and to understand what it is to be a student in America,” said Mrs. Schuck.

Such goals can only be achieve with abundant exposure of ESOL students to the English language and to American culture.

In order to achieve these goals, MCPS should thus keep ESOL teacher requirements as they currently are.

April 2019

GRAPHIC BY ANNABELLE SARGENT

In order to win 2020, the Democrats must first unite Young Democrats Guest Column

by Jolly Rop Since the 2016 presidential election, the Democratic Party has become more divided than ever before.

The party has decayed into two main factions: the Democratic Socialists, with prominent figures such as Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and the left-centrists, represented by Joe Biden and Amy Klobuchar.

The Democratic Socialists have made controversial calls for a Medicare-for-All system and a Green New Deal, which have alienated party moderates. The Democratic Party cannot hope to win the 2020 presidential election with these divisions.

To be successful in 2020, the Democratic Party needs a dynamic personality with a broad platform that appeals to both progressives and moderates.

First and foremost, the Democrats should not make the mistake of allowing a few policy ideas, such as Medicare-for-All or a Green New Deal, to define the entire party. By allowing a few, divisive policies to dominate the discussion, the Democratic Party is shooting itself in the foot because such policies fail to unite the party.

Instead, the Democratic Party must push a broad-reaching platform that highlights the dissatisfaction that people have with the current state of America. Such a platform

could be something along the lines of fixing the American Dream by increasing economic opportunity and making economic policies work for everyone.

Under this overarching objective, the party could put forth a series of economic and social policies that would please both divisions of the party, including but not limited to lowering the cost of college and raising the minimum wage.

A message of egalitarian economics and revitalizing the American dream would also pull voters from the center and also serve as the basis for uniting the two Democratic factions, who both agree that the current state of the American economy needs improvement.

Overall, a successful Democratic candidate will have to provide a compelling, optimistic vision for the country, a vision that both factions could agree upon.

Right now, the Republican Party will likely re-nominate President Trump in 2020 unless major circumstances change.

To win, the Democratic Party must be smart and work towards the common goal of getting Trump out.

I am optimistic the party will be able to accomplish this. With the growing number of presidential hopefuls, the candidate that inspires the most people will surely stand out, win the primary nomination and the 2020 election. Who will that person be? We will have to wait and see.

Redrawing MCPS district boundaries: Great in theory, but ineffective in practice

by Victora Tong The issue of where to draw the school district boundary lines, or whether to change them at all, has always brought out staunch activists on all sides of the debate.

The public hearing hosted by MCPS on March 7 only reignited the issue, with parents and students presenting in front of the Board of Education about what they feel external consultants should consider in the proposed review of current boundary lines.

Ultimately, however, redistricting would only result in surface-level improvements in diversity; more effective action must be taken to support underperforming schools.

Although MCPS is considered to be diverse, there are clear disparities between individual schools. According to Greater Greater Washington, minorities make up at least 75 percent of the student body at the eight Northeast and Downcounty consortium schools, a stark contrast to the four highest-ranked high schools in MCPS, which all linger around 20 percent black or Hispanic students.

Junior Katie Kolodner said, “While RM is generally diverse in bringing groups of people from around the county, other schools in areas such as Bethesda and Potomac are heavily dominated by one race.” The students attending these schools

are not able to familiarize themselves with the diverse reality of the world and may enter society with biases that have never even had the chance to be corrected.

Unfortunately, it would be entirely impractical for boundary lines to change enough to include a substantial number of minority students in every MCPS high school.

One reason for this is because heavily minority-populated schools are often physically far away from whitedominated schools.

For example, it is unrealistic to expect that a student who currently attends Northwood High School, a Downcounty consortium school, to Walter Johnson, due to the 9-mile distance between the schools.

Students who currently walk GRAPHIC to Northwood would suddenly be faced with either taking the bus during morning traffic or having their parents delay going to work in order to drive them.

Either way, the commute time for these students would increase dramatically, sacrificing their sleep when they may already struggle to balance a part-time job,

homework, and other commitments.

Redistricted students would also be forced to attend a different high school than the people they have shared classes with for years, putting the undue stress of adapting to a new environment on them.

All of these burdens would lie especially heavily on low-income, minority students.

These students already experience more stress than their more advantaged classmates as a result of numerous factors, as reported by the American Psychological Association.

Even if the county were to redistrict, there is no guarantee that any resulting increase in diversity would last. Kolodner said, “The situation could eventually return to as it was before if people

BY KISHA YAN continue purchasing houses with the desire for their children to attend a specific school.”

Wealthy families, believing that their property values will decrease due to their impression that their child’s high school will fall in performance, would simply flock toward the better-performing schools,

ultimaely leaving worse-performing schools behind to be occupied by lowerincome students. Over time, the disparities we have now would just resurface.

Additionally, the increased diversity from redistricting would only be superficial.

What is the use of bringing in more lowincome and minority students into schools if they are doomed to sit at the bottom levels of their school’s performance?

Merely diversifying schools does not automatically mean that minority students will suddenly perform as well as their wealthier classmates. The opportunity gap is called the opportunity gap for a reason; underprivileged students fundamentally have had less support and fewer outside resources than their classmates.

Simply redrawing boundary lines and increasing diversity in schools does not break down the structural barriers that contribute the most to the existing opportunity gap around the county.

Instead of trying to solve our diversity disparities in one fell swoop through redistricting, MCPS must spend much more money on underperforming schools to fix classrooms in disrepair, increase parent engagement and create programs that specifically target the needs of low-income and minority students. An individualized approach at closing the opportunity gap will be more effective and more permanent than changing school boundary lines.

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El ritmo del flamenco se destaca en los pasillos de RM por Joseph Jasperse Durante el Día de Carrera cada año, los estudiantes ven presentaciones sobre varios trabajos en sus clases. Vienen: economistas, escritores, científicos y otras profesionales.

Pero este año, fue la presentación latina que sorprendió los clases de español. Con el ritmo de la guitarra y los pasos de la bailadora, fue el Flamengo que dejó a la audiencia con las ansias de aprender más.

El flamenco tiene tres partes que forman el arte: la guitarra, el canto y el baile. Pero el flamenco es más de un arte, es parte de una cultura arraigada en la historia de España.

El flamenco nació en las culturas de los

“La comunidad de flamenco se ha convertido en una gran parte de mi vida.”

- Eliana Mazin gitanos, moros, andaluces y otras, y tiene muchos aspectos de la cultura africana, europea y oriente en sus bailes.

Con popularidad en España, y un llamamiento internacional, el flamenco siempre está encontrando nuevas comunidades. Flamenco también ha cambiado mucho en las últimas décadas.

Originalmente, el flamenco no incluyó música de guitarra o canción, solo tenía el “toque de palmas” para establecer el ritmo.

Tradicionalmente, los músicos y bailarines de flamenco no tenían una educación formal en el arte. Era una tradición que cada generación transmitía a la siguiente, pero ahora, los profesionales usualmente tienen una educación especial.

La presentación de carrera incluyó unos de estos profesionales que viven cerca a Richard Montgomery. La madre del director Sr. Damon Monteleone, Sra. Natalia Monteleone, es una maestra de flamenco y ha presentado bailes de flamenco profesionalmente en lugares como el Centro Kennedy, en Washington DC. También, un músico de guitarra profesional, que toca para grupos de flamenco, habló sobre su trabajo.

Los dos presentadores no eran latinos, y nacieron en los Estados Unidos. En vez, fueron introducidos a este estilo de música española por medios fuera de sus culturas. Cuando era niña, Sra. Monteleone vio una película de España que tenía un baile de flamenco. Ella estaba intrigada inmediatamente.

Pero cuando Sra. Monteleone era niña, no había nadie que la podía enseñar el flamenco en su ciudad. Era aún más difícil porque ella no hablaba español, y lo hubiera necesitado aprender para realizar su meta de ser bailarina de flamenco. Ahora, la educación del flamenco es más popular, y es más fácil encontrar una profesora local.

Durante su actuación, Sra. Monteleone presentó un baile de flamenco acompañada con una canción tradicional tocada por el guitarrista. Pero, ambos tenían la ayuda

de dos personas que están aprendiendo el flamenco: Sra. Nancy Shay y Eliana Amazin, una estudiante de Richard Montgomery en el grado nueve. En flamenco hay reglas que

FOTO POR JOSEPH JASPERSE

Dylan Goetz, Eliana Amazin y Elise Barber demuestran sus pasos de flamencos. todos los bailarines y músicos necesitan saber y seguir, pero durante el baile la mayoría es improvisado y, por esto, los cuatro podían bailar juntos durante el día de carrera sin practicar.

La estudiante de Richard Montgomery, Amazin, empezó su aprendizaje de flamenco cuando tenía más o menos diez años. Su mamá encontró una clase de flamenco y Amazin quedo enamorada.

Amazin dijo que, “Yo fui a la primera clase y tuve un tiempo increíble.”

Pero Amazin quería hacer más con el flamenco, ella quería compartirlo con el mundo. Al final de su presentación, anunció su proyecto a todos los estudiantes de español. Quería dar a conocer su club de flamenco, en donde todos pueden aprender el arte del baile.

En el club de flamenco, los miembros aprenden nuevos ejercicios cada semana.

Pero para Amazin el flamenco es más que un baile, ella quiere que todos puedan tener la experiencia de un arte increíble.

Como comentó ella, “Quería enseñar a la gente más de esta cultura, el baile flamenco es una experiencia completa. Se trata del sonido, la actuación, y la sensación.”

Durante la reunión, se dejó en claro que todos los miembros aprendieron mucho sobre el flamenco. El club es uno sin estrés, donde todos pueden expresarse sin juicio.

Como dijo Amazin, “El club de flamenco se trata de intentar nuevas cosas sin tenido miedo. Todos somos talentosos, pero nadie necesita ser un profesional.”

También, una gran parte de sus reuniones es la comida. Amazin siempre tiene comida durante sus reuniones y todos pueden comer todo lo que quieren. El club es un lugar para practicar, conversar, y comer comida nueva, solo se necesita llegar.

A diferencia de la experiencia de Sra. Monteleone, hoy todos pueden aprender flamenco en la escuela y es más fácil que antes. Amazin dijo que, “La comunidad de flamenco se ha convertido en una gran parte de mi vida.” Amazin quería compartir esta comunidad, para que todos puedan tener la misma alegría que tiene ella en sus vidas. El club se reúne en el aula 210 cada otro jueves.

Despegando 2020: viaje directo a Perú por Sandra Aching Richard Montgomery ha organizado muchos viajes fuera del país, pero en el 2020 hay un viaje especial con una conección personal del organizador: Sr. Jason Colchao. Sr. Colchao es un profesor de español y está organizando una excursión a Perú. El quiere transmitir su amor por este país a sus estudiantes y a los que quieran participar en su excursión porque cree que es importante que los jóvenes tengan experiencias fuera de sus comunidades.

Al escoger un país Sr. Colchao decidió seleccionar a Perú, explicando que, “Mi padre es peruano y me cultivó el cariño de su país, y la primera vez que fui, me enamore completamente de su cultura y la calidad de su gente. Entonces yo quiero compartir mi entusiasmo por la cultura que yo encontre, con todos mis estudiantes.”

Así como México tiene de origen la cultura Azteca y los Mayas tienen mucha influencia en Centroamérica, la historia de Sudamérica fue formado primordialmente por los Incas. En el viaje, estudiantes podrán subir a Machu Picchu, que fue la ciudad más conocida y preservada del imperio de los Incas.

En referencia al itinerario del viaje, Sr. Colchao detalla que, “Nuestro viaje va a comenzar en Lima. Después, vamos a viajar a Cuzco, en donde vamos ir a conocer a Ollantaytambo en dirección a Machu Picchu, y de paso vamos a parar por el Valle Sagrado. Regresaremos a Cuzco para tener un dia libre en la ciudad, para también conocer los lugares históricos y culturales.

Al final regresaremos a Lima para los últimos días, y desde allí partiremos de regreso a los Estados Unidos.”

Pero Sr. Colchao agrega que, “Este es un viaje cultural, entonces no hay requisito para participar en el viaje,” aunque no

FOTO POR ALBURY WARD

Jason Colchao para en frente de su bandera peruana, su destino el verano del 2020.

hayan tomado una clase de español. “Al viajar a cualquier otra parte del mundo, eso te abre la mente hacia otros puntos de vista muy aparte de las que ves en los Estados Unidos.” Todos quienes estén interesados pueden ir. Este viaje está abierto a todos.

Keiry Garcia, una estudiante del duodecimo grado, agrega que, “Es interesante saber que aunque haya muchos avances tecnológicos, los jóvenes aún apuesten por tener viajes culturales y turísticos. Pienso que esto ayuda a enriquecernos a las distintas sociedades que existen fuera de los Estado Unidos y de nuestra comunidad.”

“Perú es un país súper diverso, geográficamente y culturalmente, tiene bastantes etnias diversas como sus raíces españolas, influencias asiáticas, más específicamente los chinos y japoneses, y sus influencias africanas,” Sr. Colchao dice. Es verdad, Perú es un país que se conoce por su cultura y recientemente a nivel internacional, su gastronomía. Es localizado en sudamérica entre los países del Ecuador, Chile y Brasil y trae bastante diversidad ya que su ubicación facilita al turismo para conocer sus diferentes culturas regionales.

Jasmin Heredia, una estudiante del duodécimo grado, explica que, “La primera vez que escuche sobre esta excursión, me pareció interesante poder viajar y visitar nuevos lugares, y pienso que Perú brinda mucho que ver y probar en referencia a sus comidas típicas. He escuchado bastante sobre Perú y pienso que Machu Picchu tiene mucha importancia para nuestra historia latina.”

Es una oferta que es bastante valiosa por todas las experiencias que promete Sr. Colchao. Espera que los jóvenes puedan tener una experiencia inolvidable, pero es importante que su guía también lo disfrute.

Sr. Colchao se siente orgulloso que él será la persona quien va a ejecutar esta excursión y dejará recuerdos inolvidables en los participantes. Si esto suena interesante se puede encontrar la información necesaria con Sr. Colchao en su salón.

por Amanda Rodriguez-Michel ¿Te gusta escuchar música? ¿Tienes tiempo extra y no sabes qué hacer? ¿Quieres mejorar tu español? La música española te puede ayudar con cualquier de estas cosas. Entre rap y el pop, hay una gran diversidad de ritmos y variedades de música para satisfacer a todo tipo de persona. Para ayudarte, hemos compilado algunas canciones nuevas y series de televisión para ustedes, y esperamos que les guste también.

Música: “HP” por Maluma “Soltera” por Lunay “Un ano” por Sebastian Yatra “Solo De Mi” por Bad Bunny

GRÁFICO POR DANIEL LOPEZ

“BAILA BAILA BAILA” por Ozuna Programas (que se pueden encontrar en Netflix): Casa de papel (2017-) Ingobernable (2017-) Élite (2018-) Gran hótel (2011-2013) Las chicas del cable (2017-)

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CENTERSPREAD

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CENTERSPREAD

April 2019

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“We’re the generation that has inherited this planet, and we’re the ones who are going to have to live with the effects...”-Aral Markert Energy Usage

Waste Management

While RM has won numerous quarterly energy awards and the 2018 first place Lead By Change Award from the county School Energy and Recycling Team (SERT), it is extremely difficult to keep energy consumption low in a school this large.

RM is an all-electric school. “We have no natural gas, so it’s very expensive. Our electric bill last year was around $600,000,” administrative secretary and RM SERT sponsor Laura Hermansdorfer said. In 2009, RM completed the installation of 784 solar panels on the roof. Even still, the cost has only increased. According to MCPS, in the 2016 fiscal year, RM paid $610,032, in 2017, $621,571, and in 2018, $655,617.

In January of this year, MCPS schools accumulated a total of 696.32 tons of trash. Despite the 1.34 percent decrease from January 2018, that is still a significant amount of trash. Ms. Smith, the ninth grade administrator, estimates that RM produces about 100 large trash bags a day.

But what can RM do to produce less trash? Recycle more. In the 2018-2019 school year, RM recycled 1.9 pounds of material (paper and other recyclables) per person, far from the county average of 2.76 pounds per person. “Our recycling percentage is really low. For a school this big, we should be recycling a ton more paper,” Ms. Hermansdorfer said.

She added, “Something I have been working on with the building services manager, Ms. Rosario, is paper recycling because we have never won an award for that.”

This year, RM SERT is participating in Trex’s Plastic Film Recycling Challenge, a company that makes decking material out of recycled plastic. “We’re taking the plastic that comes around your paper towels or your water bottles, or the bubble wrap you get or clean sandwich bags. It doesn’t include water bottles or reusable containers, so it’s limited,” Ms. Hermansdorfer said.

PHOTO BY ANGELA MU

RM won the 2018 1st Place Lead by Example Award.

Because the RM building can be rented after school, basketball games, Chinese school and summer programs are regular occurrences. If there is one thing in common between the uses of the school building, it is electrical lighting, which, according to MCPS, makes up one third of school energy consumption.

There have been multiple efforts to preserve energy when the school is not in use, but this remains difficult when the building is open from 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. every day.

RM is also the first MCPS high school to implement a geothermal unit, a renewable source that saves both energy and money. This system pulls water through a collection of pipes, known as a heat exchanger, underneath the football field to heat and cool the school. “[It] might actually not be conducive to a building this big. That’s why if you go to different floors in this school, you might find that some places are extremely cold and others are hotter,” Ms. Hermansdorfer said.

The geothermal unit also pulls debris from ventilation units, clogging the filtration system in the building. “We have been working on trying to clean everything, and [Mr. Monteleone] has been in communication with people in MCPS and air quality. There might be some changes happening this summer for us,” Ms. Hermansdorfer said.

For a school that is in operation nearly the entire day, it seems that the best way to conserve energy lies in the hands of the students and staff during the school day.

by Lulu August and Sydney Weiss

Building Services Team

Water Conservation

PHOTO BY ANGELA MU

Students can throw plastic bags and material in bins as a part of Trex’s Plastic Film Recycling Challenge.

The challenge kicked off on Nov. 15, America Recycles Day. As part of the challenge, the school received three Trex recycling bins, with one located on each floor. Each month, the recycled plastic is weighed by the Goetz family and delivered to a drop-off retailer location.

As of February, RM had collected and recycled a total of 206 pounds of plastic. The winning school will be announced on April 22, Earth Day, and will receive a bench made of Trex material.

by Nicole Yanakiev and Erin Mullens

At RM, one of the greatest water expenditures is caused by flushing it away: toilet usage. However, in recent years MCPS installed an energy efficient system to minimize water wastage. With this new system, only a certain amount of water is used from the tanks, so less is sent down the drain.

Another conservation effort RM has made recently is the new water bottle refilling stations have been popping up in the halls of RM. RM SERT provided every fountain with monitors that keep out dangerous chemicals such as lead.

In the summer of 2018, MCPS reviewed the levels of lead in water at schools and found that 86 out of 208 MCPS schools had water with elevated lead levels. These schools exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) and the Maryland Department of the Environment’s (MDE) mandate that if any water fixture had more than 20 parts per billion (ppb) of lead, it was to be removed.

RM passed the drinking water test with flying colors: out of the 80 water fixtures tested, every single one had water below 20 ppb of lead. For the future, leaders in Montgomery County government are seeking to lower water lead levels to five ppb.

Water purification is important to RM even on the campus’ outer edges. Similar to the array of trees planted alongside the school, the pond by RM was built during development to take in runoff. However, the pond is not RM property, preventing RM SERT from continuing their gardening projects in the area.

Many students are aware of the ways they can conserve water at home, such as taking shorter showers or turning off the sink while brushing their teeth. However, there are many ways students can save water at school. Students can report water leaks, turn off the tap and bring a reusable water bottle to school in order to make RM a more eco-friendly place.

Among the many staff members contributing to the RM community, the Building Service Team is vital to the maintenance of the school and the positive environmental impact it has. The Building Services work hard after school and during lunch to keep hallways, classrooms and bathrooms clean, as well as replacing the trash and recycling on a regular basis.

The mission of the Building Service Team, also called the Division of School Plant Operations (SPO), is to “provide building service with qualified people to ensure a Clean, Safe, Comfortable, and Attractive Facility environment that is conducive to health and learning, by using efficient, effective techniques,” according to a paper posted in their meeting room next to the cafeteria.

Building Service Manager Jacqueline Rosario explained, “We do recycling, trash, sweeping, mopping, cleaning, and we also do bathrooms and take care of the outside.

We also have to make sure the emergency lights and all the fire alarms work—we have a lot of work.”

Keeping the school clean daily continues after students and staff leave. “The cleaning of the school is mainly done at night,” Ms. Rosario said. “We basically have day crew and night crew, who comes in at 3:00 p.m. and go to classrooms, where they remove the trash, the paper recycling, the plastic recycling, and also sweep and mop, clean the dry boards, and dust the blinds.”

Working on a daily schedule with multiple staff members, it can still be hard to maintain a strong positive environmental impact for the school.

“I think we are [environmentally friendly], but I think there are ways in which we can make an improvement, for example the recycling,” Ms. Rosario said. “We go through a lot of classrooms, and we notice that the students throw paper and plastic together with trash. We don’t have the time and manpower to start separating them.” Building Service member Devika Weerasinghe added, “Yes, I wish students would help us pick up recycling.”

RM SERT SERT, which stands for the Student Energy and Recycling Team, is a program that reaches students across MCPS and helps foster a culture of environmental conservation. Run by student leaders, the RM SERT club puts in work behind the scenes to enforce environmentally friendly practices.

In addition to weekly shutdowns, SERT hosts clean-ups around RM to pick up trash that would otherwise pollute the water and area around the school. Students also host booths at local community events to educate individuals and families about how they can become more environmentally conscientious citizens.

As a relatively low time-commitment club, SERT emphasizes that even the smallest of actions, like shutting off the lights or reusing a water bottle, can make a large impact. “We’re the generation that has inherited this planet, and we’re the ones who are going to have to live with the effects if the environment is destroyed around us,” SERT Vice President, junior Aral Markert, said.

by Julie Yeo and Natalie Weger

Envirothon The Envirothon Club has immensely improved RM’s environmental impact over the last few years.

Envirothon includes students who compete in groups of five to demonstrate their environmental science knowledge.

Students showcase their skills through the exploration in aquatics, forestry, soils, wildlife and agriculture. Within these tasks, students participate in activities, such as testing certain water levels in streams, consulting with marine biologists about complex underwater ecosystems, measuring and marking trees, identifying soil levels, learning about the importance of animal preservation and more.

“It’s an outlet for some of our students who are very environmentally oriented to learn more and to share their knowledge,” science teacher Cynthia Stevens said. In addition to the state competition held at the Agricultural History Farm Park, the students have one training day to practice and apply their scientific skills with practiced biologists.

Envirothon gives students the opportunity to train with professionals, encouraging them to share knowledge with the school community and take actions to improve RM’s environmental impact. “The main goal is to help people learn more about the world around us,” senior Siobhan Light, Envirothon leader, said.

by Julie Yeo and Natalie Weger

PHOTO BY MAUREEN ZEUFACK

Building Services Manager Ms. Rosario wishes that students would recycle and conserve more.

by Daniel Chen

by Brooke Hilliard

GRAPHICS BY VALERIE WANG

12

The Tide

FEATURES

April 2019

SMOB hopefuls vie for student votes

by Amanda Wu and Rosemary Yang

Nate Tinbite

As a long-time resident of the Downcounty Consortium, Nate Tinbite has experienced firsthand the deteriorating school buildings and the growing achievement gap in the student body.

However, Tinbite has not always been so outspoken.

“I used to be scared to even stand up and say my name,” Tinbite said. “Just imagine being in a room with nobody that looked like you, nobody who had been through anything that you’ve been through, nobody that can relate to you and help you as a middle schooler.”

However, after hearing a speech by 2015-2017 SMOB Eric Guerci, Tinbite was inspired to enter the world of student advocacy and began fighting for MCPS’ ESOL population. “I just couldn’t stand seeing the underrepresented communities in our schools continue to go underrepresented,” Tinbite said. “And I was already a talkative and annoying little boy, so I wanted to at least utilize that for good things.”

Now a junior at John F. Kennedy High School, Tinbite has gained experience and confidence as the president of the countywide SGA, a founding member of MoCo for Change and a leader in the Minority Scholars Program.

“I’m always before the Board of Education echoing the need for more bilingual teachers, more career pathways, more funding for ESOL programs,” Tinbite said.

For his SMOB term, Tinbite aims to reintroduce Driver’s Education courses into high schools and decrease the financial gap between students while setting them up for future success. He also wants to

As MCPS heads into April, school halls are again filling up with election flyers about the next Student Member of the Board (SMOB), who serves on the Board of Education as a student official who can vote on various policy and administrative issues. This year’s candidates have been whittled down to two juniors: Nate Tinbite from John F. Kennedy High School and Zoe Tishaev from Clarksburg High School. expand the ACES (Achieving Collegiate Excellence and Success) program, which strives to bridge the education gap and prepare students for educational success.

Currently, the program is only offered in around half of all MCPS high schools.

“Approaching my senior year, I will finally learn what to look for in colleges and what SAT scores I should expect, but a lot of my friends don’t,” Tinbite said.

In the future, Tinbite looks to go into humanitarian relief, especially in Africa and Asia. “I feel that my voice would be better used in those type of places. I really want to help those communities that are oppressed by their governments and marginalized by their societies,” Tinbite said.

Random fun fact: In the face of a zombie apocalypse, Tinbite hopes to keep his calm.

“My gameplan is figuring out where the hell my friends and family members are to come together and form a neighborhood alliance,” he said.

PHOTO COURTESY OF NATE TINBITE

Zoe Tishaev

Unlike many members of Montgomery County Regional Student Government Association (MCR), Tishaev was not aware a county SGA existed until the spring of her freshman year when MCR elections were held.

As she handed out campaign stickers for then-MCR president candidate Montgomery Blair senior Michael Yin, she was immediately drawn to the politically charged atmosphere of active change and student voice.

“I think it was just listening to speeches and realizing that I don’t know what they’re talking about even though they’re talking about my school system—that made me want to learn more,” she said.

“And then just attending MCR meetings and hearing about the real problems such as lack of diversity and the achievement gap that really opened my eyes to the

PHOTO BY EASHANA SUBRAMANIAN

Tinbite speaks at the MLK Jr. Day breakfast, and Tishaev connects with students at RM.

different issues we have around the county, and whetted my appetite.”

Two years later, Tishaev is now one of the most prominent student voices in the county. She has served on the MCCPTA Board of Directors, the SMOB Advisory Council, the Curriculum Advisory Assembly and as a Vision Zero Ambassador fighting to improve infrastructure and reduce roadside death.

“I’m now light years ahead in knowledge than I ever expected,” Tishaev said. “It was a gradual process. There wasn’t any one moment where I was like, ‘Yes I’m gonna run for SMOB!” Drawing from her personal experiences, one of Tishaev’s main campaign points is pushing for more communication with students, adopting the campaign slogan, “No decisions about us, without us.”

As a student who has always depended on school lunches, Tishaev has committed to improving school lunches by addressing long lines and lack of nutrition. She aims to explore locally grown food sources and bring back strawberry milk to school cafeterias.

If elected, Tishaev has also pledged to visit all MCPS schools during her term.

Promoting wellness initiatives in schools, such as creating mental health wellness centers and hiring more school counselors, is also among her priorities.

After graduation, Tishaev hopes to study political science at a four-year university and is interested in becoming a lobbyist in the DMV before eventually running for Senate.

Random fun fact: With only 24 hours to live, Tishaev would call out the B.S. of the system, immediately cash in on stocks, go explore nature in Washington state, go skydiving, rent a boat and go jet-skiing.

42 days till graduation: seniors check off bucket lists

by Katie Yuan The halls of RM are bursting with excitement and nervous energy from seniors as the graduation date approaches in a few months. With the conclusion of the busy college applications season, many seniors now have the a little more time to take a step back and relax. From traveling the world to getting caught in a hall sweep, seniors have their graduation bucket list items to check off before heading to college.

“I want to skydive, get tatted, pass

my classes, go to prom and deadlift 475 pounds,” senior Sami Kirmani said.

Bucket list items also include traveling to locations both in and out-of-state. One of the top things on senior Elaine Han’s bucket list is completing the Philly Challenge with her friends seniors Sean Liu and Natalie Hasemann, which involves driving all the way up to Philadelphia, grabbing a Philly Cheesesteak and coming back down to RM before the school day ends.

With the 2019 Dreamville Festival coming up in April featuring stars including J. Cole, Young Thug, SZA, Big Sean, Nelly and Teyana Taylor, senior Kidus Yared is ready

GRAPHIC BY VALERIE WANG

to hear some of his favorite musicians live.

“I am going to a concert before I graduate.

Period. I already have it lined up. I am going to the Dreamville Festival in North Carolina with my cousin, and it will be fantastic,” Yared said.

Another highlight of senior year is beach week, in which seniors travel with friends down to various locations such as Ocean City during the week prior to graduation day. Filled with food, music and most importantly the beaches and the boardwalk, Ocean City offers a memorable trip.

However, for those who prefer a closer option, there are many opportunities and restaurants available right next to RM. One example is the Buffalo Wild Wing challenge, in which seniors try to eat the spiciest wings located at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Rockville Town Center.

In addition to the numerous food options, other fun locations include Shadowland Laser Adventures in Gaithersburg and The Rockville Escape Room.

“We keep talking about all going as a group and doing some sort of giant paintball, laser tag, escape room nonsense and something to that effect. We never actually got to organize and do it. I hope we can do that and have experiences that will turn into inside jokes for years to come,” senior Sean Boyce said.

Besides attractions in the area, some seniors have bucket list items within the walls of RM. Senior Nicole Quinteros hopes to experience being caught in one of RM’s hall sweeps and is curious about what happens to students who are caught.

“In all my years here, surprisingly, I’ve never been caught in one so I hope that

GRAPHIC BY LANCHI NGUYEN

happens soon,” Quinteros said.

But perhaps one of the most popular bucket list items is prom, with many beginning to plan out their outfits and dates for the big night.

“I want to have an amazing time with everyone at our last prom. Although getting ready is always so stressful, at the end of the day I’m excited to take pictures with all my friends and anyone else I know,” Quinteros said.

As June 7, the 2019 graduation date, nears, each senior is choosing a different way to spend their last moments of high school.

“Honestly, my friends and I all have severe senioritis, but I’m really trying to treasure every day. It’s really only once in a lifetime you get to go to semi-finals for basketball or watch your last ever Mr. RM. I’m appreciating the time I have with my friends before we all go our separate ways,” Han said.

The Tide

FEATURES

TikToker dances into fame

by Kevin Hrozencik While walking through the halls of RM, many ordinary students may pass by, not particularly standing out in any fashion, but instead mixing together to form a sea of alike faces. However, one person may stand out from the others: senior Chandler Brown, who many know from the popular social media platform, TikTok. For those not yet familiar with it, TikTok is a video-sharing app where users can post up to 15-second clips of themselves.

Since his debut in early November 2018, Brown has gained over 16,000 followers on the app and continues to grow at a rapid pace everyday.

Going by the username Mr. Cloutcredible, Brown often uploads 1-2 comedy/dancing videos daily that both him and his followers can enjoy. “While it is cool that many people seem to enjoy what I do, it isn’t about trying to make them happy. I make videos that I can enjoy myself,” Brown said.

Despite lacking an initial interest in online entertainment, B r o w n was inspired to join the community a f t e r watching some of his friends post videos

GRAPHIC COURTESY OF CHANDLER BROWN

on the app.

From his time on the platform, Brown has been able to improve his social skills through his online interactions with friends and fans. “I’ve met and befriended people from completely different places and backgrounds, all with different stories and lives,” he said.

Brown has even found that posting videos has allowed him to lay aside his stage fright and express himself. “I have broken some of the more introverted aspects of my personality. I used to not be so good at talking to people I don’t know very well, but after months of talking to strangers I feel like it comes a lot easier to me,” he said.

During his time spent on TikTok, Brown has not only seen his social skills improve, but his dancing abilities as well.

“Before TikTok, my dancing skills were that of an old dad exclusively, and I was very self-conscious most of the time,” Brown said.

However, after practicing and learning from experience on the platform, Brown has grown confident in his dancing abilities and has even created a few routines of his own.

“While I’m obviously not at the level of people who actually

PHOTO BY TESIA SHI

do dance, I feel like I have come a long way from where I was before,” he said.

Even with such a massive following, Brown finds that his internet fame does not interfere with his day-to-day life as a senior at RM. Brown has also found that his time on Tik Tok has been rewarding outside of the app.

“I feel like I have come a long way from where I was before.”

- Chandler Brown “Occasionally somebody I don’t know will stop me in the halls and say that they love my videos, which I find very sweet,” Brown said. When he is not online creating new content, he is still able to balance his time between RM’s varsity baseball team everyday after school and his social life.

While still waiting for his “blow-up video,” Brown finds himself crediting a great deal of his success to getting lucky on the seemingly-random nature of the Tik Tok algorithm, the system that shows users recommended videos on the “For You” page of the app.

Brown also believes that the short nature of each video allows him to remain consistent and dedicated to his content. “I also believe that my ADHD allows me to think of random ideas on the spot that a lot of people seem to enjoy as well, which had helped me stay creative for so long,” Brown said.

April 2019

13

- question of the month -

Interviews by Carina Guo Here are some students’ most memorable experiences of April Fool’s Day pranks gone wrong (or right!)

Nick Asante, sophomore “In 4th grade, I found out that my mom was having another baby so I told all my friends and they thought I was joking because it was April Fool’s Day. I was really confused until I realized it was April Fool’s Day.” Andrew Yuan, junior “This year, I’m planning on playing a prank on my friend because he really wants a girlfriend. To avoid suspicion about this prank, I created a fake WeChat account using my sister’s phone number and I’ve been posting on that account’s timeline for weeks now to make it seem like it’s a legitimate account. I’ll be using this account to talk to him and then reveal it as a prank on April 1.”

Riki Doumbia, freshman “I decided to prank my brother who’s three years older than me. I read in a prank book that it’d be a good idea to put honey on the doorknob on the outside of his bedroom and wait for him to touch it.

I forgot that I left something in the room and tried to go back inside to get it. I forgot about the honey on the doorknob and got my hand covered in the honey that I had put there myself.”

Girl Scouts: More than just cookies

by Amna Shamim Honoring all of the courageous and important women in history, National Women’s History Month began as a local, week-long celebration in the sunny hills of Santa Rosa, California in 1978.

One of the most notable women has been Juliette Gordon Low, who founded the Girl Scouts after meeting with the founder of Boy Scouts in 2011. The organization has since grown to around 2.5 million members and is one of the most recognized nonprofits in the world, aiming to empower girls as community leaders. Continuing her legacy, the RM community is home to many Girl Scouts of its own.

Girl Scouts offers programs for K-12.

Many start early as a Daisy scout, which covers ages 5-7. Members are taught basic skills on everything from camping to money management and earn Petals which are arranged in a daisy design. As scouts progress through the membership levels, they participate in bigger and more complex projects.

“It’s not all about survival; we do go camping, we do start fires, we learn how to cook stuff and we do fun stuff campingwise, but we have more opportunities that aren’t just focused on wilderness. It’s more of getting little girls interested in the idea of becoming something through business and creating something or innovating,” sophomore Julia Craig, who joined Girl Scouts in first grade, said.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JASMINE PHAM

Pham (pictured bottom right) and her troop hiking at Old Rag in Shenandoah Park.

Similar to the Boy Scouts’ Eagle Scout designation, Girl Scouts can earn the Gold Award, the highest honor available, through planning an 80-hour-minimum service project. For her project, which was completed in the spring of her junior year, senior Clarissa Halpern created and led workshops for middle and high schoolaged students on financial literacy in the Rockville and Potomac area.

“I was really glad that I was able to teach these girls skills that they needed in the future such as budgeting and practical uses such as how to write a check,” Halpern said. In addition to teaching the physical workshop, Halpern spent hours planning and reaching out to a woman from a local bank for help on formulating her lessons.

Projects can take many forms depending on the scout. Interested in technology and computer science, junior Jasmine Pham, who joined in fourth grade, created her own computer program to teach HTML and Scratch coding to young girls at her local middle school.

“I learned how to become a better person.

I didn’t know how to work with others, but being in scouting has taught me how to lead and to follow,” Pham said.

Of course, one can never forget the Girl Scout cookie sales, one of the organization’s most well-known and popular traditions.

“My favorite memory was that when I was a kid, because you know, we were adorable, people would buy out all of our cookies,” Craig said. “There’s this one time where this guy donated $100 to our troop and I was like ‘Wow!’ That was the first time I saw Benjamin Franklin on a bill.”

However, beyond the technical and leadership skills, scouts also become part of a close-knit community. From hiking to to playing scout games, they also form lasting bonds to the other girls in their troop. “Some girls move around, but I’m still in the same troop with the same core girls today,” Halpern said.

GRAPHIC BY ALANA LU

Gianluca Umana, junior “I woke up one morning with no idea that it was April 1. I saw a batch of donuts on the counter and was like ‘ayyyy’ and I got one and took a bite. I guess my brother was inspired by memes the night before because he just filled them all with mayo.

Mayo. I haven’t touched a filled donut ever since.”

Cung Uk, senior “On April 1, 2016, my parents told me that I was adopted. Then, they told me ‘April Fool’s!”

Danesh Sivakumar, sophomore “Back in middle school, my friends and I placed an air horn underneath the teacher’s seat. The unsuspecting victim sat down and jerked up when the horn blared. The blast was rumored to have been heard from many rooms away.

Luckily, nothing was harmed except the teacher’s reputation. As we all exclaimed ‘April Fool’s,’ the teacher wasn’t very happy and proceeded to sit back down.

However, the air horn was still there, leading to a second, louder blare.”

Lauren Ryals, freshman “One year, I woke up and my dad was in my room. He told me that he would take me to school. I didn’t realize until lunchtime when I looked in the mirror that he had drawn all over my face in Sharpie. It wasn’t even just a little bit; it was like a big tattoo, and nobody said anything about it.”

14

The Tide

FEATURES

Glenstone Museum

by Matthew Wong From April 17 to 22, this year’s spring break is merely six days, essentially a long weekend. Despite the short amount of time, there are a multitude of options available for students in the DMV area.

Hirshhorn Museum PHOTO USED UNDER CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE

The scenic Skyline Drive at Shenandoah National Park is a hit among daytrippers.

National Parks GRAPHIC BY VALERIE WANG

While most D.C. and Maryland natives have been to many Smithsonian Museums, some overlook the constant cycling of new exhibits. At the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, be sure to check out the Insta-worthy “Pulse” exhibit, closing April 29, to see Canadian-Mexican artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s interactive art installations. The centerpieces of the exhibit include an unnerving wall-length display of fingerprints called the Pulse Index and the Pulse Room where rows of lightbulbs hang from the ceiling and the sound of 200 heartbeats resonates. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and admission is always free.

From April 20-28, the National Park Service celebrates the national’s natural wonders with National Park Week. All entry fees for the many sites and parks run by the NPS are waived during this week.

Some of parks around the DMV include the Shenandoah National Park with its popular Skyline Drive, the picturesque Great Falls park where the family-friendly Billy Goat Trail attracts hikers of all ages and Assateague Island where wild horses roam freely along the beaches. Entrance fees are typically $25 per vehicle, so families should take advantage of this thrifty getaway.

PHOTO USED UNDER CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE

Nationals Park is near the Anacostia River.

This often-overlooked modern art museum lies just nine miles away from RM, housing a variety of both indoor and outdoor contemporary art pieces from the post-World War II era. Built in the middle of a vast field, the museum highlights the surrounding nature, with over 7000 trees planted on the property. One popular exhibition includes Michael Heizer’s largescale steel structure called “Collapse.”

The museum underwent a major expansion in 2018 and is open and free to the public from Thursdays to Sundays.

To help avoid overcrowding, the curators implemented a three-month reservation cycle. However, one way to get around this is to bring a Ride On bus pass; admission is always guaranteed with no need for a reservation.

PHOTO USED UNDER CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE

In 1912, the mayor of Tokyo and others in Japan donated 3,000 cherry trees to D.C.

Cherry Blossoms

Each year, the cherry blossoms in D.C. bloom for a couple weeks before turning into regular old trees. While the MCPS spring break unfortunately misses the National Cherry Blossom festival by a couple days, the flowers should last past the peak bloom period (April 3-6), weather permitting.

The tidal basin gets extremely crowded with tourists from across the world, so students should consider visiting in the early morning or trying the less-visited U.S. National Arboretum, Stanton Park or Anacostia Park. To get to the cherry blossoms, students can take a Metrobus or walk 15 minutes from the Smithsonian Metro stop to the tidal basin.

Escape Room

GRAPHIC COURTESY OF ROCKVILLE ESCAPE ROOM

Only a 10-minute drive from RM, Rockville Escape Room provides the perfect escape from stress and homework.

With four different escape rooms all lasting an hour, students may find themselves finding hidden treasure while running from pirate ghosts or conducting a top-secret diamond heist. This is a perfect opportunity for friendshipbonding as the timer ticks down.

Currently, Rockville Escape Room has coupons for groups of two, four and six with discounts around 25 percent off.

Brookside Gardens GRAPHIC BY LANCHI NGUYEN

Earth Day on the National Mall

Nationals vs. Giants

“Take me out to the ball game” is how the lyrics of the famous song goes, and RM students are lucky to have the Washington D.C. Nationals Park just a few metro stops away. Be sure to catch the Nationals as they play their fourth series of the regular season against the San Francisco Giants.

This three-day series takes place at the beginning of spring break. Last year, the Nationals lost to the Giants in a six-day series, ultimately losing four to two. On April 17 and April 18 the two teams will again face off in Nationals Park at 7:05 p.m. and 1:05 p.m., respectively. Tickets start at only $10.

April 2019

Every year on Earth Day, April 22, citizens all across the world volunteer, protest and work to help support environmental causes. This year, the focus lies on protecting and raising awareness for the world’s endangered species.

In Washington D.C., Earth Day is celebrated with Earth Day on the National Mall, a large festival taking place near the grounds of the Washington Monument featuring demonstrations and interactive exhibits, among various other events. Best of all, this annual event is totally free. The highlight of Earth Day on the National Mall is the all-day concert to enjoy the music and celebrate the earth.

A striking 50-acre public display garden is hidden away inside Wheaton Regional park. With azaleas and magnolias in peak bloom, the garden offers a picture-perfect getaway with friends. During spring break, the Wings of Fancy Live Butterfly & Caterpillar Exhibit is open with an entrance fee of $8 to enter the butterfly garden and experience the hundreds of butterflies from all around the world fluttering around.

GRAPHIC BY CAROLINE DINH

Renwick Gallery

The Renwick Gallery is currently hosting a new exhibit (from November 9 to May 5) called “Disrupting Craft,” which showcases unconventional, bizarre and enigmatic room-size art installations.

Working in an expansive variety of media including ceramics, wood and fibers, the four artists establish a new way of displaying historical and social narratives.

From a teetering assemblage of foldable felt chairs to a wall of skulls, “Disrupting Craft” challenges the public’s perception PHOTO USED UNDER CREATIVE COMMONS of the current political, social and cultural LICENSE The Washington Monument towers over D.C. landscape.

GRAPHICS BY ALANA LU

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April 2019

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ARTS

April 2019

New midsummer night’s melody charms COMPOSERS , cont. from front page “We have such talented students in the music department that I thought it would be a great opportunity for them to get some experience composing some original music,” Mrs. Davis said. She, along with the Black Maskers’ board of directors, selected the student composers and have been working with them for the past few weeks to make sure the music fits their vision.

This experience presents another way in which students can express their creativity.

“I’ve always felt that instrumental music is underappreciated,” Zhu said. “I definitely think [this opportunity is] cool and am grateful to be able to share my original work to such a large audience in a way that I’ve never really done before.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF JULIAN SAINT DENIS

Junior Christine Zhu plays a selfcomposed piece on the piano.

Saint Denis shares similar sentiments about the importance of letting students compose. “I think it aids in giving the entire play an authentic feel that makes the production unique and also gives the directors another layer to direct and mold to their own visions,” Saint Denis said.

The three have had to compose a lot of music. “[The current score contains] an overture, entr’acte, bows, two dances, and lots of interludes between scenes,” Zhu said. The composers began with the overture, from which the remaining songs were drawn. “[The theme is meant to be] pretty whimsical and lyrical,” Mrs. Davis said.

Using this vision as a guideline, Saint Denis composed his music to fit the dreaminess and comedic mix of realism and fairy tales that are featured in the play. “I tried to reference some of the great overtures to comedies from [the Romantic era], as well as some modern ones to get inspiration,” he said.

During Yared’s creative process, he focused on matching the mood of the music with the mood of each scene he wrote for.

“I had to rewrite the fairy dance music because [...] it’s a lullaby and my original version was too energetic for that,” Yared said.

“Mostly [the music] is background music, but there is one number in the show [where] Shakespeare wrote the words, but [the composers] are setting it to music,” Mrs. Davis said. The fairy dances feature these Shakespearean lyrics set to the composers’ original melodies.

While enriching, the composing has certainly been difficult. “It’s a little scary that it’s never been done here before and we’re essentially setting a precedent for if it ever happens again in the future,” Zhu said.

“Time was very tight for all composers.

“Writing music takes a lot of time with revisions and fixes,” Saint Denis said.

Although all the student composers had prior experience composing music for an audience, a show on this scale presents its own unique worries. “Composing is

PHOTO COURTESY OF ADAM SCHRIER

Senior Kidus Yared, junior Christine Zhu and sophomore Julian Saint Denis rehearse their original music for the spring play, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” especially a personal form of art, so sharing let alone for a real audience and purpose. it can be a bit intimidating,” Saint Denis So enjoy that opportunity.” said.

Yared said, “Make sure to make a good For those who are inspired by the efforts schedule and just work on a bit every day.” of these student composers, they offer a Over the past month and a half, not few words of advice: “Keep putting ideas only the student composers, but also all of down. It doesn’t matter if it’s good or the actors, directors, tech, and backstage something that’ll be tossed out. The only members of drama have dedicated way to improve is through doing,” Zhu countless hours to putting together “A said.

Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The play “Go all for it and enjoy the experience,” will run on Apr. 5, 6, 12 and 13 at 7 PM. Saint Denis said. “It’s really rare to be able Tickets can be purchased at the door or on to get some of your own music performed, the Richard Montgomery Drama website.

Teacher feature: Mr. Koenig’s passion for music

“Classical music will do that through the 20-minute first movement of a symphony.

There’s a lot going on, and the listener has to do some work, putting together how these voices, how these themes, interact,” Mr. Koenig said. “It’d be interesting to structure a lesson in that way, where you’re not just frontloading all this information, instead just feeding some threads and really letting the listener construct meaning.”

Outside of the classroom, Mr. Koenig maintains many different hobbies and pastimes. In addition to music, he enjoys completing crossword puzzles and running. These activities allow him to meet

by Sabrina Mei RM students know English teacher Jeremy Koenig for his expertise in literature and his careful dissection of various texts, but few are aware of another facet of his intrinsically artistic personality- his love of music.

Like many, Mr. Koenig’s interest in music developed from band in elementary school. He started playing the saxophone at Richards School in Wisconsin, beginning with the alto sax in fifth and sixth grade, and eventually moving on to the baritone sax, from seventh to twelfth grade. When he was a sophomore at Whitefish Bay High School, his father decided to invest in his playing and purchased a Super Action 80, a high quality saxophone.

“It’s a beautiful instrument, and you know on Ebay, those instruments will go for tens of thousands of dollars. I think my dad spent $4000 on an instrument,” Mr. Koenig said.

“Early in life, I sang; that was part of my identity.”

- Mr. Koenig However, his love for music was not confined to the saxophone. In tenth grade, while he continued to play in band, he also joined the school choir.

“The choir director was a serious recruit, and he would talk to people in choir,”Mr. Koenig said. “If he got word that somebody was out there that could hold a tone or match pitch, he would track you down and encourage you to join.”

And thus, Mr. Koenig joined the choir

PHOTOS COURTESY OF JEREMY KOENIG

Mr. Jeremy Koenig sang in choir and also played saxophone and guitar in high school. and attended meetings during lunch, while teaching his English classes. At first glance, still participating in the band program. it may seem as though the two subjects “I played in a band; I was the saxophone are worlds apart, yet the development of in a trio. It was alto sax, country, and guitar. theme and its importance within the work, We would play weekly, up in the attic of are actually quite similar. somebody’s house,” Mr. Koenig said.

“I listen to a lot of music that’s carefully Since then, although Mr. Koenig has crafted. Not that other forms of music maintained his appreciation of music, aren’t, but they’re very grand in scope, and he has deviated far from his high school try to hit at big ideas,” Mr. Koenig said. band and choir days. He stopped playing “Maybe in the future I’ll think about what the saxophone in college and picked up are those things that are important, how the guitar as a new musical endeavour, can something be crafted in a way to get occasionally playing for his nine year-old students thinking about those central, core son. ideas that are important.”

“I play guitar. I own a couple of them, Much of music is interpretation, similar and I’ll play every now and again. I took to a literary work, it is up to the listener some formal lessons in a style of guitar or reader to form meaning out of the playing,” he said. material. Both are more successful when Music has undoubtedly shaped Mr. subtle, and the minute complexities of their Koenig’s life and the way he approaches compositions are of utmost significance.

“What is important is, whatever your interest be, to seek out a group of like-minded folks who also enjoy doing that thing.”

- Mr. Koenig and become acquainted with new people.

“I would say what is important is, whatever your interest be, to seek out a group of like-minded folks who also enjoy doing that thing, because that’s just a way of branching out. For an introvert like me, crossword puzzles and running are very solitary,” said Mr. Koenig, who recently met fellow crossword enthusiasts during the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Stamford, Conn. “[But] it’s good for community. It’s good to have community.”

ARTS

The Tide

Fashion: What fits spring?

adding interest to a boring outfit. Most asymmetrical tops focus on the detail of the neckline; runway styles often feature interesting cutouts or other variations

The one thing that fashion to the classic one shoulder top. Usually bloggers, gurus, designers and models monotone or color blocked, these tops all agree on is that trends are recyclable. are a super modern twist on the 60s Mod 2018 and 2019 have been especially look. retro, with trends from the 90s and 80s Square necklines returning in full force. This spring season Another trend focused on brings some trends from the 2000s, the the neckline is the Victorian 80s, and going even further back, the inspired square neckline.

Victorian Era. From linen tops, to stretch knit bodycon dresses, the square Ruching neckline has already been The 2000s brought on a slew of popping up in many ruched tops, and spring 2019 fast fashion brands, promises to bring more. as well as designer This girly trend is back brands.

Designers in season with designers such as Christian such as Tory Burch and Dior, Hermes and Tom Ford releasing tops, Carolina Herrara have dresses and skirts sent models down the featuring ruching runway clad in square neck detail. dresses and tops in all sorts Not only of colors, patterns and are these tops fabrics. flattering on These items are anybody, they are also easy to style also comfortable to GRAPHIC COURTESY because wear. There are many OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS the silhouette is simple. types of ruching, from They are also easy to find because many loose chiffon tops with Victorian esque fast fashion brands already sell them cinching, to Kardashian approved jersey at varying prices. “I have been buying knit tops and skirts. This trend is easy a lot of square neck tops because they to rock in real life too, as it is not very have been really popular in stores like outrageous like some more avant garde Brandy Melville and Urban Outfitters,” runway styles. sophomore Michelle Zhao said.

by Mary Ma

Asymmetrical necklines A futuristic and structural update from last year’s off-the-shoulder necklines, this asymmetrical silhouette is the next big trend. Designers such as Haider Ackermann, Calvin Klein and Isabel Marant all incorporated this new style into the runway outfits they created.

Asymmetrical tops are great for

Puffed shoulders A more feminine version of last season’s bold rectangular padded shoulders, the puffed shoulder is growing in popularity in the high fashion and fast fashion world. Designers such as Brock Collection, Christian Siriano and Stella Mccartney and retailers like Reformation, Urban Outfitters and Zara

have all been releasing tops with the accent.

A nod to Victorian style, the puffed shoulder is often accompanied with a square neckline. The dresses and tops that feature this detail are often constructed with either a feminine tulle, or a structured, stiff suiting material.

To style for daily wear, it is best to wear a puffed shoulder top with a slim bottom. The top or dress may seem a little too excessive or formal, so by wearing a pair of combat boots or sneakers the outfit would be more casual and the juxtaposition of these two items would look street savvy.

“I think it’s a thing [to] wear fancy clothes with more athletic things now,” sophomore Corinne Hanway said. “I’ve seen a few bloggers do it.”

April 2019

17

Decorating Main Street

by Grace Comer On Sunday, March 10, the senior AP and IB art students debuted many pieces at the annual AP/IB Art Show. Featuring more than 150 pieces of art by the 24 artists, the show is on display in the art gallery and on Main Street. Each piece follows the show’s theme of “Ever After.”

PHOTO BY CHRISTINE ZHU

“Hidden in Red and Gold” by Eric Kim explores the relationship within space.

GRAPHIC COURTESY OF GOOGLE IMAGE COMMONS

Ruching is coming back in style this spring in full force.

As winter starts to wind down, it is time to stock up on spring styles. These are some of the trends that designers are experimenting with this season. Fashion is all about self expression, so draw inspiration from this trend report, but don’t feel required to adhere to it.

“It’s meant to be a night of fantasy,” senior Elena Yates-Lonske said. This theme was selected by all of the students, who shared their own ideas and voted on the final theme. “[The theme] gives everyone the opportunity to share their own stories, their own fairytales, their own personal experiences,” senior and curator Eric Kim said. The theme extends to the decorations as well, which include an array of hanging stars and vines in the gallery.

Teacher Advice Column: Spring break not because you’re trying to get every single detail or think about what’s gonna be on that test. Just taking the time to read something just for you.

Mr. Pearce: You’re not gonna have the time like this where all your friends are off at the same time after high school, and so enjoy the time with your high school friends while you can. You guys are all gonna be going off to different places soon. If you can try to organize something to where you guys are doing something and spending time with each other, those are memories that you really look back on and appreciate.

compiled by Janet Choi

Where are some of your favorite vacation spots?

Mrs. Eyler: My favorite ever was my honeymoon, which I took on my very first spring break teaching. So my first year teaching, which was ten years ago, my husband and I got married one week before spring break because we set the wedding date before I even had a job, and I didn’t know what my spring break was gonna be. And then we waited a week- I worked that week- and then we went to the Bahamas over my first spring break.

Any budget-friendly activities or “staycation” ideas?

Mrs. Vincent: Get on the metro and go down to museums. There’s so much to do around here, and I’m sad because my kids have gotten a little bit older so I’m not doing that as much. Take the time, go to your local park.

Mr. Pearce: Going outside and doing something like going for a hike, going for a walk in the park. I think those are great. There’s tons of places in this area that are just beautiful to go to, to see and reconnect with nature.

PHOTO BY IRENE KIM

Chorus teacher Mrs. Carrie Eyler suggests self-care and reading over break.

PHOTO BY TESIA SHI

Mrs. Vincent recommends visiting colleges and museums when travelling.

Do you think there is anything students should try to do over break or spring break in their high school career?

Mrs. Eyler: Traveling is wonderful and I know a lot of times upperclassmen are spending break visiting colleges, and that’s important and it’s a great time to do it because you’re off school and you don’t have to miss class. But, I think also just taking time for yourself, like “selfcare.”

Mrs. Vincent: Whenever you travel, take advantage. If you travel someplace, go visit colleges, go visit museums. The bad thing about being a high school student or college is that you have lots of time but no money. The good thing about being out of college is you have lots of money but not so much time. You just have to be strategic about your vacations.

Mrs. Eyler: To take time to read a book, and not just something you have to read for a class. But a book that you choose and you’re interested in for your own reasons, and really reading for pleasure,

What are your favorite things to do during breaks?

Mrs. Vincent: I like to use them to organize and think ahead and deal with planning, because I find it makes me less stressful when I come back off of break.

Mr. Pearce: I like spending time with my kids and going to see family. I like trying to enjoy the weather. I’m ready for nice, spring weather and playing sports with my kids outside, and trying to do those things.

PHOTO BY TESIA SHI

Mr. Pearce encourages students to spend time with friends over the break.

PHOTO BY CHRISTINE ZHU

Senior Maria Soboleva’s “Cy Twombly” draws inspiration from the namesake artist.

The students had a lot of freedom with their flats, as they were allowed to choose a personal theme around which to center their artwork. “Each artist can find some place where they feel comfortable to express themselves, whether it was something dark, like themes of war or sadness, or something more light,” senior and curator Maria Soboleva said.

The displayed pieces included everything from traditional paintings to interactive sculptures, such as a white box where viewers could look in to see a silhouette illuminated by LED lights.

The art show, the cumulation of four years of high school art classes and countless hours of dedication, proved to be rewarding for all those who were involved. “[The show] is such a rare experience, You’re not gonna get it at any other school,” Soboleva said. “It was one of the happiest nights of my life,” Kim said.

The pieces in the gallery are on display through the end of the month. “Go out and support [the artists] by looking at their art and appreciating what they’re trying to express,” Yates-Lonske said.

18

ARTS

The Tide

April 2019

Ever After: Students display their work at AP/IB Art Show

PHOTO COURTESY OF ERIC KIM

Senior Eric Kim presented his work and helped curate the show.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MATTHEW XIA

“This year’s AP/IB senior art show, ‘Ever After,’ was a culmination of all the hard work of the art kids over the past two years and

The art show was curated by seniors Kai Samuels-Jackson, Eric Kim and Maria Soboleva (center left to

a project that has made me extremely proud to be a part of the arts

right) alongside art teacher Ms. Kelly Posey (far-right). Student curators organized the show and helped

program here at RM,” Kim said. “Personally, it was one of the hap-

bring the theme to life. Artists, under the collective theme of “Ever After,” created whimsical collec-

piest nights of my life and it was so nice having all the people in my

tions through different mediums and artstyles and presented work from their junior and senior years.

life come into one space and sharing all my art with them. It made

Each student artist took the theme to new heights by interpreting it in their own way. Through the AP/

all the work and frenzy of putting the show together so worth it.”

IB Art show, RM again showed the wide diversity in perspective and creativity within its student body.

GRAPHIC BY ERIC KIM

THE TIDE CROSSWORD: Ewe Wouldn’t Believe Across

1. Some IRS employees 5. “The Emoji Movie,” for one 9. Push down and turn, maybe 14. Recruiting time for frats 15. Under any and all circumstances 16. Waterproofs 17. Number for one 18. Unit passed on to offspring 19. Site of some tablets 20. Novel about a wildebeest dystopia?

23. Pen lead-in 24. Sound signaling a flat 25. Ramayana heroine 28. Agcy. overseeing neglect 31. Namesake and original source of formic acid 33. Applied, as flattery 35. Miniscule margin of victory 37. Vulpine disguise for Anonymous?

40. With 53-Across, location of a labyrinth 42. Promoter’s cut 43. “__ luck!”

44. Cause the migrating bird to reverse course?

47. When pigs fly, to poets 48. Rectifies a text 49. Col. neighbor 51. Org. issuing nine-digit IDs 52. Pub projectile 53. See 40-Across 56. She portrayed Sally 58. Shamelessly ursine fibber?

64. Razzie, e.g.

66. Millstone around one’s neck 67. Chilling 68. Fixed a pump, say 69. Horrid sort 70. Rat Pack member, ___ Martin 71. Reserves at a restaurant 72. They can be tie-dyed 73. NFC or AL division

Down

1. One moving side to side 2. Noise that may be used to improve bone density 3. Green section of a Risk board 4. People want a close one 5. On bended knee, perhaps 6. Dutch ___ 7. Maitre d’ handouts 8. Utilizes a French press 9. Nation who put the first woman in space 10. “The Odd Couple” playwright 11. Viers for office 12. In the style of 13. Penultimate letter 21. Mercury regulating org.

22. City where you can view Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” 26. Chucks 27. City of Ataturk’s tomb 28. Sounded the hour 29. A straw hat 30. Pitches that drop quickly 32. Clump of grass 34. Guns N’ Roses’ 36. Appeared for the second time 38. “___-haw!”

39. Green housewarming gift 41. Cool, retro 45. Type of interface 46. Superheroes, to villains 50. Flower-raising place 54. Impending 55. Open grazing area 57. Move like a parasailer 59. Totals 60. Preserve by drying 61. Mental block breakthrough 62. “Woe is me!”

63. $50, for Boardwalk 64. Traditional ingredient of soap 65. Win the love of

Note from the Editor: Hey guys, welcome back to the long-awaited, much-anticipated, nail-biting sequel to last month’s Tide Crossword™©®. Congratulations to Sofia Chartove and Gus Carvell (2 people! I couldn’t decide!) 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. As my time as your faithful crossword constructor is winding down (we’ve had a good run), I’m going to look for my apprentice cruciverbalist in the near future. Please let minnow and email if you are interested! Happy solving! ~ Grant Yang

The Tide

SPORTS

April 2019

19

A unique opportunity: Students shadow Tori

by Grace Zhou March is National Athletic Training Month, which is the perfect opportunity for students to learn about the work of Tori Simonetti, Richard Montgomery’s athletic trainer. While Simonetti works tirelessly to ensure the highest performance of RM’s athletes, she also takes time out of her day to allow a small team of student interns to shadow her work.

Athletic trainers are health care professionals that address injuries and assist in rehabilitation. For students who want to go into a career in the medical field, an internship with an athletic trainer is a helpful introduction into the world of health care. “We cover some basic anatomy, common injury diagnosis and treatments and some common injury prevention techniques: ice, heat, taping, stretching,” Simonetti said.

The idea for an internship began during Simonetti’s first year at RM, when a field hockey player suffered an injury and was out for the remainder of the season. The injured player showed interest in athletic training and began assisting Simonetti in treating other players. “It kind of spread

like wildfire after that,” Simonetti said. “The interest this spring was so high I couldn’t take everyone that wanted to help out.” With the start of the spring sports season, there are currently eight students who are shadowing Simonetti’s work.

The student interns spend most of their time working on basic physical rehabilitation exercises with injured athletes.

GRAPHIC BY LANCHI NGUYEN

“Say someone sprains their ankle.

Our role is to make sure that the injury is not worsened by limiting the athlete’s participation in sports, as well as exercising those ankle muscles to restore full strength and mobility,” junior intern Ameen Elhamdani said.

During the fall season, interns have a variety of tasks such as pre-wrapping injuries, stretching athletes, helping with concussion testing, and treating minor cuts and burns. “In the winter, it is more laid back since there are less players than football. So I made a lot of ice bags, knee wraps and other smaller things like that,” senior intern Addie Gagnon said. The spring season brings a new round of athletes and responsibilities.

If there are sports games on the interns’ working nights, they will go with Simonetti to watch over games and help deal with any injuries as they arise, allowing them to apply their knowledge in real time. “They get handson experience working in some high pressure situations and handling patients’ different reactions to injuries,” Simonetti said.

Interns can also play an essential role in surprisingly high-stake situations. “They also play a giant role in any situation where EMS is needed,” Simonetti said.

“While I’m attending to the injured athlete, the interns will gather any supplies I need and make sure the ambulance makes it way to the correct field.”

On top of dealing with injuries, interns can also learn about medical documentation through Simonetti’s injury

Softball suits up for new season

by Sophia Taur With the spring season quickly approaching, the girls softball team is ready to take the field. The team—consisting of returning players and fresh faces recruited to fill in the gaps left by last year seniors—is prepared to start the season.

This year, the team is comprised of five freshmen, two sophomores, two juniors and four seniors. Naturally, some players have much more experience on the field than others, but every player has the potential to improve. The more experienced upperclassmen often give tips and offer assistance to the lesser experienced players, creating a dynamic team environment.

“Everyone always has opportunities to practice together and work on strengthening their skills by playing with more advanced players,” junior Evelyn Li said. “Including everyone is definitely helpful in creating balance because everyone always has potential to improve.”

Despite the differences in skill level, the team is unified by their desire to succeed. “I really want to go to states this year,” senior Aviva Feldman said. “That would be so much fun, especially for my senior year.”

Because softball is a team sport, the success of the team is heavily reliant on proper coordination between players.

“Communication helps us win games. On the field we call plays, tell people where to throw, and cheer on our teammates while

they are batting,” Feldman said.

In order to improve coordination, the girls often perform group exercises.

“Scrimmages and situation drills help us get used to each other,” sophomore Lulu Shenkle said.

Off the field, the team also bonds over various activities.

“Doing things like going to get dinner after a practice or just hanging out waiting for practice to start really helps us bond,” Shenkle said.

Through long, grueling practices and bonding exercises outside official practices, the team has become a second family for the girls. “Everyone is really friendly, open minded and hardworking. Being a senior on the team with a lot of freshmen, I feel like a mother and I love it!”

Feldman said.

PHOTO COURTESY OF KATIE SPENCER

The softball team poses for a photo in last year’s spring season on senior night to honor the graduating players.

PHOTO BY JUSTIN ZHANG

Simonetti teaches student Elizabeth Blake how to address ankle injuries.

reports. Additionally, interns can gain other generally valuable life skills, such as how to stay calm in emergency situations and communicate with different people. “I’ve learned how to interact with people. I’ve learned how fulfilling it is,” Elhamdani said. “This experience has taught me that we should all do our best to help others and also follow our passion, whatever it may be.”

The internship helps students explore and develop their interest in the sports medicine and athletic training fields. “The way athletic training programs are designed, they tend to weed out people early, because the classes and number of clinical hours are intense,” Simonetti said. With this experience, students can prepare for the intensive path of becoming

an athletic trainer or obtaining a career in the sports medicine field. “It’s well worth it in the end. It’s an extremely rewarding profession,” Simonetti said.

The experience can also be very useful outside of the medical field. “I didn’t do the internship for a career in medicine,” Gagnon said. “I did the internship because I wanted knowledge on first aid and sports injuries for when I have kids.”

The experience is truly invaluable for just about anyone.

“It’s a very humbling experience,” Elhamdani said. “You get to help a lot of people and see them improve from their injuries and see them gradually return back to the sport that they love and and enjoy playing. It’s like the fuel of the job.”

Turf war rages on RM property:

Clash for field space sophomore Kieran Chai-Onn said. “Sometimes when you have four teams sharing the same field, it’s hard to get more gameIn sports, if there’s one phrase like reps in.”

Sharing the field also packs that immediately evokes a sense of confidence, it’s “home-field many high-momentum athletes into a relatively limited space, advantage.”Although the jury remains out on how much elevating the risk of injury. “It of it is merely placebo, its impact leads to a higher risk of danger as undeniably exists and has been more people in less space means well documented. However, this more errors that could result in injury,” junior Michael Schuck valuable familiarity is said. something the Though the boys and teams have girls varsity not yet started lacrosse playing official teams matches, this will have year’s fall to play season has without already provided this year. proof of the Due psychological to bad impact of not truly weather GRAPHIC BY LANCHI NGUYEN having a “home” and plans for reconstruction on their stadium. The varsity field hockey own field, the Magruder boys team had to share their senior varsity lacrosse team will also night game with Einstein, dealing be practicing and playing in the a blow to morale in a game which Roy Lester stadium. Not only should have represented the does this eliminate an important pinnacle of team unity. “[The balloons] were the psychological advantage for the Rockets, it has also introduced wrong color,” senior field hockey scheduling conflicts that the captain Katie Spencer said.

“Then it dawned on me that this teams will have to plan around.

The problems with sharing was Einstein’s senior night! Our one field between many teams younger players and parents starts in practice. This means were scrambling around with there will often be three or even balloons and posters of our own, four teams on the turf at the same but there was no place to put time, leading to less effective them.”

With both RM and Magruder practices, and ultimately, unprepared teams. “It can be teams sharing the stadium, such inconvenient due to the space chaotic scenes will likely become that we are not allowed to use,” commonplace.

by Tide Sports Editors

SPORTS

20 The Tide

April 2019

Triple threat Delaney Goetz: Her path to success

by Lauren Zhou Senior Delaney Goetz is well-recognized in the Richard Montgomery sports community, as a varsity player for soccer, basketball and lacrosse—one sport for each school season. Yet, playing for RM only scratches the surface of her story.

The Goetz family has always been sports-oriented. Her father, RM physics teacher Jon Goetz, played soccer, basketball and tennis. Growing up, he also loved playing more informal sports like street hockey or pickup basketball. He met Delaney’s mother, RM math teacher Laura Goetz, when playing volleyball, and they still play a variety of

sports together. Their passion for sports has also passed down to their children, who have almost all played a sport every season since they were children.

Delaney Goetz is no exception.

Some of her earliest childhood memories were of kicking a soccer ball. Goetz credits her love of sports to her father. “He’s the one who got me into them,” Goetz said. “And he always pushes me to be the best I can be.” While Delaney Goetz pursues her sports with full dedication, Mr. Goetz also instilled an appreciation for the casual enjoyment of various sports.

Goetz currently plays soccer, basketball, and lacrosse at the school varsity level. “They’re all different and a lot of fun, but lacrosse is definitely my favorite,”

PHOTO BY BRITNEY ERICKSON

Goetz (right) practices with teammates in afterschool scrimmage.

she said. Goetz has played varsity soccer since freshman year, varsity basketball this year, and varsity lacrosse since sophomore year.

However, Goetz’s athletic success has been accompanied by many challenges. In 11th grade, Goetz was knocked down and tore her ACL during the soccer season. After getting surgery, she had to undergo physical therapy and could not play sports for an entire year.

“It was really hard for me physically, the most physical pain I’ve ever been in, but mentally it was way worse,” Goetz said.

Prior to the injury, Goetz had meshed athletics and sports well, balancing homework with after school practices. Despite the huge time commitment, sports were a huge stress reliever for Goetz.

“I get to spend a few hours not thinking about any work or tests or quizzes,” she said.

The forced inactivity from being sidelined was much worse than having to balance sports with homework. However, she did what she could to contribute to the team, from recording stats to training goalies.

The year off helped Goetz gain a deeper appreciation for the sports she plays. “Sitting out for a year made me realize how much I took playing sports for granted,” she said. “Now I push myself harder and play harder because of it. When I’m running sprints I’ll

PHOTO COURTESY OF DELANEY GOETZ

Delaney Goetz dribbles up the field looking to score another goal. run a little harder because I know each of them as important in their what it felt like to not be able to own ways. “Each team has sort run.” of a different vibe to it,” she said.

Goetz’s effort does not go “All my teammates are wonderful unnoticed by her teammates. and I think sports teams are really Senior Cassie Hartmann, one special because we all share this of Goetz’s fellow varsity soccer mutual love for the game.” captains, appreciates the energy While Goetz has constantly and encouragement she brings pushed herself, her passion has to the team. Hartmann said, not faltered. “It is hard to play at “She works really hard and she a competitive level if you’re not doesn’t get pushed around. She’s playing year round, but I’m not a a really good captain. She’s very huge believer in that. I’ve seen a encouraging on the field and off lot of players by high school that the field.” Goetz is always willing burn out,” Mr. Jon Goetz said.

This evidently does not apply to lend a hand, whether to help an injured player get back on their to Delaney. “If I decide to go to feet, or to get water or cones for MIT, I’ll play lacrosse there,” she said. “If I end up going the rest of the team.

As a player of different somewhere else, I would still try sports, she has been part of many to play club lacrosse and maybe different teams as well, regarding club soccer or basketball.”

Zeineddin brothers make waves with SwimLife

by Kevin Zhang Sophomore Pierre Zeineddin and freshman Sebastien Zeineddin, brothers and members of the RM Swim Team, recently started SwimLife, a club dedicated to teaching kids with autism how to swim. In just a few short weeks, the club has gained more than 25 members at RM and organized four sessions to work with several kids with autism, helping them become more comfortable swimming.

The club focuses on addressing the challenges that kids with autism face when they are in the water. “What sets them apart are their super-sensory abilities.

If something happens across the room, if something makes a noise, they will immediately notice it,” Pierre Zeineddin said.

However, these senses ultimately pose a hazard for these kids, especially in the water.

“Everything around them can sometimes be overstimulating enough to panic them,” he said.

“In water, the sensation of floating and the feel of pressure can be too much—those are the cases where drowning happens.”

“The two options people with autism then have is to completely avoid bodies of water their entire life, or learn to swim,” he continued. “We believe it’s better to know how to swim.”

By helping these kids practice their swimming skills, the SwimLife volunteers can help lessen the kids’ fears that come along with large bodies of water, allowing them to enjoy going to

the pool or the beach rather than avoiding it.

In each session, SwimLife volunteers work with several different children, and often have to improvise to figure out how to best teach each individual. “The kids are really cute and they’re all unique,” freshman SwimLife member Kara Venditti said.

“Some do better with visuals; I’ve met a seven-year-old who pretended he was Venom; I’ve helped to improve another’s kicks by counting numbers up to 40.”

This essential element of creativity can often be fun and rewarding for all those involved, but it also brings plenty of challenges. “Sometimes the kids are nonverbal and they just don’t want to pay attention to you,” freshman SwimLife member Daniel Mitchell said. “They just keep on harming themselves physically, and you have to think of outside-the-box strategies to get them to focus on you, and most importantly swimming.”

However, the kids’ improvement and increased comfort level in the water ultimately makes any challenges worth it. “Any progress I make with them just gives me so much joy because I know how difficult it is for them,” Mitchell said.

Students can make huge leaps in improvement in just a few sessions. “There is a student we have who is non-verbal and, when we first started teaching him, was unwilling to get into the water,” Sebastien Zeineddin said. “We learned that all the stimulation from the currents from the other swimmers in the lanes was causing him to be overstimulated.

PHOTO BY IRENE KIM

Sebastien Zeineddin works individually with students, teaching them beginner’s kicking exercises.

Deciding to take him to the deep end, he began to cooperate much better. He now knows how to swim freestyle and now we’re even working on backstroke!”

In addition to helping those with autism, the club also strives to educate members about the developmental disorder.

“We started SwimLife to teach others about what autism really is, and what they can do through coaching and instruction to help others in their community,” Sebastien Zeineddin said.

“Our primary objective is to create a place for students to come together and help teach the neurodiverse the basics of swimming, a life skill.”

The brothers’ inspiration for starting the club stemmed

from their love of the sport. Both brothers have been swimming from a very young age, and Pierre Zeineddin is nationally ranked. “It offers the challenge that the team trains to tackle but the athlete overcomes,” he said. “It combines teamwork and individualism; it is the perfect sport.”

This passion brought the brothers to the nonprofit SportsPlus, where they have volunteered as swim instructors for kids with autism every Saturday since last summer.

“Our experiences as swim instructors showed us how essential swimming is to those on the autism spectrum,” Sebbie Zeineddin said. To teach the life skill of swimming to even more kids with autism and to

spread awareness within RM, the brothers started SwimLife.

Aside from the volunteering itself, the SwimLife members are currently working on creating more volunteer opportunities for current members, as well as prospective members outside of RM. “We plan to get the paperwork in order to solidify SwimLife as a nonprofit organization so we can spread the club to other schools,” Pierre Zeineddin said.

“Hopefully, with our combined power, we will bring more swim clinics to the area.”

The brothers also plan to partner with USA Swimming to spread awareness to other schools and swim teams about the importance of teaching swimming to those with autism.