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Boys swim tops Division I Drama: one act at a time by Irene Park Following a week away from the water thanks to Winter Storm Jonas, the Richard Montgomery Swim and Dive team returned to the pool on Saturday, January 30, entirely out of shape and feeling rather under the weather. It seemed like it would not be the best championship meet ever, and that would be an understatement. “The lack of practice threw the guarantee of the win out of the window, and we knew that we would have to fight for every point,” said junior Matt Nguyen. However, rockets are made to do the impossible. And RM’s Rockets did just that. The RM boys posted unbelievable results at Divisionals on January 30, finishing first with 470.5 points and earning the title of 2016 county champions. It was a full 78 points ahead of first runner-up Churchill, who had handed the boys their first dual meet loss in three years earlier this season. RM produced the only 1-2-3 sweep in the entire meet when juniors Kenny Afolabi-
Brown, Nguyen, and Greg Afolabi-Brown took first, second, and third, respectively, in the 50 freestyle. Senior captain Bouke Edskes also finished off his MCPS swim career with a bang, capturing wins in all four of his events by enormous margins. According to coach Aryn Wheeler, the boys’ only weakness is their speed--if that can even be considered a weakness. “They’re so fast that I have some really fast kids that don’t even get to swim,” she said. But even those who did not get to swim showed up at Divisionals. “In every event, there were people behind lanes cheering on their teammates, and people came even though they weren’t swimming,” said Nguyen. “Everyone on the team works hard, and everyone acknowledges each other’s hard work and dedication to the time-consuming sport that we all love.” For freshman Connor Din, winning Divisionals was the perfect way to cap off his first ever high school season. “Adapting to the new high school was difficult, but life became so much simpler when I joined the swim team,” he said. “I’ll cherish these memories for a long time.”
by Stella Ho Less publicized, but no less exciting than the fall and spring mainstage shows, the RM One Acts Festival on February 5th was one of the school year’s most unique events. Consisting of four short plays, the festival featured productions that were directed, acted, and some even written entirely by students. “Each show [brought] something unique to the table...both comedic and dramatic productions, both realistic and absurd productions...there’s a real variety that you won’t see in the mainstage shows,” said junior Noah Montemarano, one of the producers. “The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon,” a comedy written by Don Zolidis and directed by juniors Charlotte Beckford and Mallory Simcox, was by far the most extravagant production. In it, two narrators try to combine all 209 fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm into one single performance. Needless to say, anything that could go wrong does go wrong, but
the problems prove to be hilarious (at least, for the audience). According to Beckford and Simcox, their favorite part of directing was definitely working the actors. They described, “They’re such hard workers and made directing really fun.” With characters ranging from Cinderella to Hansel and Gretel to Rumpelstiltskin, students surely recognized many of the actors who played this diverse range of characters. In contrast to the shenanigans of “The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon,” the plot of “Mole,” written and directed by junior Naomi Park, is much less far-fetched kind of. A small organization discovers that there is a mole in its midst giving away their secrets to an evil corporation, appropriately acronymed E.V.I.L. What ensues are ridiculous allegations, some romance, and a lot of melodrama. The production design itself was modest in comparison to the other plays, so what really made “Mole” stand out is its witty dialogue, surprising plot twists, and intriguing characters. ONE ACTS, cont. page 16
Debate looks to win counties Breaking the ice with RM break dancers by Rachel Li and Irene Park
Public Forum Debate involves opposing teams of two debating a monthly topic concerning a current event. Debaters deal with a variety of real and controversial issues, including the Syrian refugee crisis, economic sanctions in Russia, standardized testing, and racial justice. Or, as sophomore Grace Wang put it, “it’s a bunch of teenagers all dressed up and low-key verbally attacking each other, just in a sophisticated way.” RM’s team meets every Wednesday during lunch, and tournaments occur after school on one Wednesday each month. Meetings consist of breaking down the monthly resolution, coming up with arguments, sharing research, and
discussing strategy. “Right now, we’re debating whether or not economic sanctions have reduced the threat Russia poses to western interest, so we all research that and make pro and con contentions. Previous ones we’ve done have been anything from whether or not GMOs are too dangerous to use to whether or not we should have private prisons,” explained junior Becca Levy. Following those lunch meetings are tournaments, in which high school debaters from all over the county gather at Montgomery Blair High School. “Imagine a hyper-competitive round robin tournament with every other high school in the county. Then imagine everybody in a suit. It’s sort of like that,” Yu explained. The team also holds optional meetings on Mondays after school for extra help. DEBATE, cont. page 19
by Cindy Song With jaw-dropping dance moves, complex footwork, and incredible spins, RM’s new dance group “The BBoys” debuted this past winter by taking an original twist on breakdancing. They rocked the stage during the Common Grounds assembly and Winter Pep Rally in December and continue to display their amazing dancing abilities. This is the first year that the BBoys have performed as a group at RM. In past years, the members performed as a part of RM’s Dance Club, but the group decided to split into a separate club this year. Club president and junior Sherman Lien said, “The original club was too widespread in the type of dance we did.” The BBoys specialize in breakdancing. However, everyone in the club is free to add their own personal touch to express themselves. Besides breakdance, the members also incorporate hip-hop and other eclectic types of dance in their moves. The club is very diverse, and anyone with an interest in dancing can join, no matter their skill level. Lien said, “We all started off with the roots of breakdancing, but as we all progressed, we found our own styles and made our own moves.” Lien revealed more about his own dance style and commented,
PHOTO BY KAITLYN WANG
Bboys dance everywhere, even on Main St. “I personally have a more flashy and dynamic type of breakdancing where I do mostly power moves like spinning.” Other members, like junior Hugh Le, have a different approach and style of dance. “My style is more about details and hitting every beat I can,” described Le. No matter what style of dance the members have, the BBoys unquestionably impressed everyone at Common Grounds. With a wide variety of seemingly gravity-defying moves, just watching the performance made the audience members’ heads spin, just like the popular headspin move in breakdance. Although the entire student body had their eyes on the stage, BBOYS, cont. page 17
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Student Member of Board
School secularization
Year in Review
Summer 2016 Olympics
Chinese New Year
Gym suffers water damage