October 2019

TJTODAY

vol. 5 issue 2 oct. 11, 2019

thomas jefferson high school for science and technology 6560 braddock rd. alexandria, va 22312

STEPPING into a STUDENT’S SHOES

Through Challenge Success’s shadowing program, teachers experience the daily stresses of a student.

ABSTRACT Bursting through a banner emblazoned with the words “TJ HOCO,” senior linebacker John Jones leads the varsity football team into the stadium. The team triumphed over the Hampton Road Generals 42-0 on Sept. 27, the night of the 2019 Homecoming game. Students, staff, and alumni from the class of ‘89 alike displayed pride and surprise at the team’s landslide victory. “It’s a testament to the team’s dedication. It’s taken a lot of hard work to get to this point, and I’m proud of everyone involved,” linebacker senior John Jones said. “They earned this win. At the end of this day, though, it’s just another step, and we intend to close out this season with a winning record.”

Photo by Fiona Zheng

STAFF

EDITORIAL BOARD Editors-in-Chief

Justin Chang Irina Lee Grace Mak

Broadcast Executive Producer Ashley Huang

Online Managing Editor Sonia Kanchan Pratika Katiyar

Social Media Manager Sid Ram

Team Leaders Vikram Achuthan Aumena Choudhry Stuthi Gupta Anuj Khemka Minjoo Song

Adviser

tjTODAY is the official newsmagazine of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology published by the journalism staff. The staff is deeply committed to a code of journalistic

Erinn Harris

ethics that demands the exercise of accuracy, good judgment and impartiality.

The content of tjTODAY is determined by the editorial board. Unsigned editorials reflect the majority opinion of the staff of tjTODAY, but not necessarily the opinions of individual editors.

tjtoday.tjhsst tjhsst_media

@tjtoday_news

tjTODAY

CONTENTS tjTODAY vol. 5 issue 2

26

oct. 11 2019

18

4 22

cover story 06

FOLLOW ME

COMPETING ON A HIGH NOTE Award-winning competitive duet team, seniors Jialin Tso and Alex Suh look back on their two-year journey

sci-tech 14

18

Parkinson’s disease

A SWEET WAY TO SUSTAIN Salamander IBET, now known as Donut IBET, turns attention towards climate sustainability

FALL SEASON STANDOUTS This fall season’s stand-out athletes reveal the motivating factors behind their success

20

MAKING OF THE MARK From soccer to football, senior Mark Hamilton kicks off his first football season on the team with a bang

opinion 22

CURE INSTEAD OF CANCEL What’s wrong with “cancel culture,” and other means to achieve change

24

ONLINE FLEXIBILITY VS. RIGID REALITY The ineffectiveness of online classes compared to in-school alternatives

APPLYING MACHINE LEARNING TO PARKINSON’S Davidson Fellows Scholarship Recipient senior Neeyanth Kopparapu explains his application of machine learning to

16

sports

LOCKE(D) PERSPECTIVE 2019 John Locke Institute Essay Competition winner, junior Muhurto Rahman, explores human nature

12

12

Challenge Success’ shadowing program sparks a debate about student stress

features 04

6

entertainment 26

SHINING LIKE GOLD Rising music producer, junior Jordan Lee, spreads addresses happiness and passion in his lyrics

“Just because one theoretically knows how a rocket functions and how the laws of gravity work doesn’t necessarily mean that you can land a rocket.”

FEATURE 5

Stuti Gupta, Minjoo Song

LOCKE(D)

PERSPECTIVE Passionate philosopher Muhurto Rahman wins philosophy category of the 2019 John Locke Institute Essay Competition

T

he undertaking: 1358 words The distance: 4,484 miles The destination: worth it.

An expression of perspective, philosophy calls into questions the very laws that hold our universe together. Offering his perspective, junior Muhurto Rahman ventured to define a question of human nature through the John Locke Institute Essay Competition. Meant to evaluate skills in writing and persuasion, this contest prompts competitors to respond to a question related to one of several categories including Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

Senior academics from Oxford University select winners from each category who receive 1000 euros and are invited to a two-day program at Oxford University. Through his ideas, Rahman eloquently crafted a winning essay in the Philosophy category, responding to the questions: “Do our intuitions provide a reason to believe one moral claim over another? Can we prove this?

Does it matter?”

THE PASSION Rahman’s debate camp counselor introduced him to the compatition and recommended that he apply for the philosophy category. While Rahman does not generally write outside of school, as a passionate philosopher, he decided to enter.

“I’ve liked philosophy for a really long time. I think the main reason that I like it is because it goes along with my main interest, which is

genetics and all the ethical issues that arise because of it,” Rahaman said.

With experience from LincolnDouglas Debate and a Philosophy course he had taken as a sophomore, Rahman was able to construct a well-structured argument. From debate, he learned how to properly construct arguments, whereas from his philosophy class he learned how to read and break down arguments of philosophy papers.

THE RESPONSE Before writing the essay, Rahman also spent hours conducting research using various resources.

“Most of my research was online.

A lot of the [Jefferson] databases helped because we have really good humanities databases,” Rahman said.

“There were also a couple of books at the library that I used. For about a week, I spent a good hour in the library every day for preliminary research and reading.”

His thought-provoking writing style is influenced by other philosophical writers.

“I think that if you read enough philosophy papers and things like that, you’ll start to write like a philosopher, so a lot of that [the essay] was just mimicking what I saw,” Rahman said.

This style can be seen in Rahman’s response, who argues that there is a fine line between basic common-sense and shared intuition.

“Morality should be intuitive. You shouldn’t have to study philosophy

for 15 years to learn that killing someone is bad, right? But what I think is that what seems obvious to us isn’t necessarily obvious to everyone,” Rahman said. “For example, something like slavery to us seems obscene, but to someone who lived in the 1600s in Virginia, it would have seemed like a normal thing.”

Moreover, he claims that because morality becomes subjective once personal instincts are involved, it is more sensible to use reasoning to conclude what is right or wrong.

“Just because one theoretically knows how a rocket functions and how the laws of gravity work doesn’t necessarily mean that you can land a rocket,” Rahman said, explaining his favorite line from his essay.

THE EXPERIENCE The program is split into two days, the first day being an award ceremony dinner.

“It was so much fun--I had a fivecourse meal, and I got to sleep in a castle,” Rahman said.

The following day, Rahman and the students participated in an activity in which they defended their philosophical papers to various Oxford professors. His favorite part, he highlights, was meeting people from around the world.

“The best part of the experience?

All the people that I got to meet. I made friends from Singapore, Poland, all over England, Scotland, and met someone from the United States too,” Rahaman said.

FOLLO

M

OW

ME Challenge Success shadowing brings students and teachers together in a discussion on the competitive atmosphere found at Jefferson

COVER STORY 7

1. Senior Siddarth Ram and teacher Heidi Smith discuss aspects of Ram’s schedule. “ I’m interested in contrasting our experiences, because as students, we go through,, depending on the day, either four or seven different classes,” Ram said.

1 Justin Chang, Irina Lee, and Grace Mak

P

encils sharpened, notebook open, attitude at the ready. It’s English teacher Stephanie Glotfelty’s day to learn. As a part of professional development, teachers were given a choice between focusing on one of three Challenge Success avenues: project based learning, workload, or student perspective. Those who chose the student perspective path were given the opportunity to shadow a student of their choice for one day from Sept. 14 to Oct. 14.

Teachers on the student perspective path either asked to shadow a student they were familiar with or selected from a list of students who indicated that they were interested in being shadowed. The student-teacher pairs then contacted the Challenge Success team with three potential shadow dates within the given time period. On the day of their assigned shadow date, teachers followed students through their classes, lunch breaks, and eighth periods, if applicable, while a substitute teacher taught in their stead. Afterwards, teachers wrote a reflection on what they had observed and learned from their shadowing experience.

“Our goal was really to shift the TJ culture to be less toxic, less focused on grades, and healthier,” Challenge Success senior student coordinator Laney Moy said.

The Challenge Success team also hoped that the shadowing program would allow students and teachers to better understand each other’s perspective.

“Shadow days could be really useful [to the TJ community]

because for the most part, the TJ staff seem to care about their students, but it’s just hard sometimes for us to see what they’re doing and for them to see what we’re doing,” Moy said. “The goal of [the shadowing program] was to bridge this gap.”

WHAT LESSONS DID TEACHERS LEARN FROM SHADOWING? MANU ONTEERU: “A lot of the times teachers don’t really know what other subjects are like and I think that’s fair because they teach one subject - there’s no real necessity to focus on the others. I thought if I could take my English teacher through my day, I could show them what it’s like and how the work they assign affects me at home.”

SIDDARTH RAM: “I’m interested in contrasting our experiences because, as students, we go through either four or seven different classes. Teachers, as far as I know, teach the same or similar classes day-to-day, so I’m interested in knowing how the teachers feel about the rapid-fire changing of subjects.”

STEPHEN STERN: “I was surprised to see how many assessments my student was about to be assessed [on], and they ended up using student advocacy to push back their test because they had so much going on.”

COVER STORY 9 STEPHANIE GLOTFELTY: “I had the opposite [day]. It was a lot more chill than I was expecting, so maybe it was just the day.

The first class I went to was one of the senior research labs, and half the time was work time and the other half of the time was presentation skill practice stuff. The second class, it happened to be a work period for them. The third was very discussion-based, so I got the sense that they had a fair bit of reading to prepare for the discussion, but in class people seemed super into it. From my perspective, it seemed very manageable.”

Through the shadowing program, teachers are given the opportunity to learn from experiencing the academic stresses of student life. Their brief glimpse into student life brings up the question of where are these stresses coming from.

WHERE DO SOURCES OF ACADEMIC STRESS OCCUR? GURLEEN KAUR: “I started freshman year thinking that I was going to go to Harvard and take all the APs, but now as a junior, I’ve decided to only focus on extracurriculars that I like and to take classes that I’m interested, but I found that I’m still extremely stressed out. The problem is largely systemic, because even though I’m taking like all these initiatives to make my life better, I’m still really stressed out because [of] the way that our education system works, where you have to get these grades to get into this college to get into this career.

GLOTFELTY: “When the county moved to have there be a one point bump for AP classes, and to give point five for honors classes, I think that was a huge mistake. It essentially incentivizes students to take the higher classes, because unfortunately, what is put on your transcript is the weighted GPA. It turns into a situation where you’re taking too many APs in one year.

Part of [the workload] is adjustable by the teachers, but part of it isn’t because of the stipulated curriculum that goes along with it.”

“

I’ve decided to only focus on extracurriculars that I like and to take classes that I’m interested, but I found that I’m still extremely stressed.

Stephen Stern, Computer Science teacher

Teachers that particiapte in the student perspective path must attend three sessions organized by Jefferson’s Challenge Success team. The observations they make during the shadowing process will act as a sprinboard to future changes in their classrooms.

Before the first session on Oct. 14, teachers spend one day shadowing a student and interviewing them about their schedule during and after the school day.

During the session itself, teachers discuss observations they made as they shadowed their students and. Teachers get time to plan the additional data they need to collect from their shadow student and how they will obtain it.

OCT14

Teachers will collect further data from students after their shadow days and share their findings through a session on Nov. 4. During the session, teachers will get time to brainstorm ideas for changes to the curriculum they will implement iin the coming months.

NOV 4

Prior to Mar. 4,teachers will implement their changes in the classroom and obtain student feedback on those changes.

At the Mar. 4 session, students will share their findings with one another.

MAR 4

Gurleen Kaur, 11

I was surprised to see how many assessments my student was about to be assessed [on].

TIMELINE FOR CHANGE

”

1

2

KAUR: “I think that TJ’s curriculum is fairly unique, because it’s kind of hard to find resources online for TJspecific stuff. You either have lower level, Facebook-type of resources or too advanced college resources. It ends up making [learning] concepts at home really, really difficult.”

SENNA KEESING: “A big problem is when the base level course is extremely difficult. I think the TJ math courses, the ones we’re all required to take [like] math 3, 4, 5. They destroy you, and I think the problem is that there’s no other option

for you. You have to get destroyed if you want to come to TJ.” Although teachers can observe their students as they complete the school day, one of the limitations of the shadowing program is that the teachers are unable to witness the stress placed on a student when they come home.

HOW DOES STRESS MANIFEST AT HOME? KAUR: “I know that for a lot of students, their real stress

“

Teachers teach similar classes day-to-day, so I’m interested in knowing how [they] feel about the rapid-fire changing of subjects.

Siddarth Ram, 12

We want we want to be authentically responding to the students and what we see.

”

Malcolm Eckel, Challenge Success teacher coordinator

COVER STORY 11 Students and teachers who participated in the shadowing program also proposed solutions based on their observations.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

3

1. Teacher Stephanie Glotfelty and senior Joseph Lee write about Challenge Success and sources of studetn stress. “I think one of the systemic issues is that the county has set it up to where that’s the way you increase your GPA is by taking more of those classes,” Glotfelty said. 2. Computer Science teacher Stephen Stern takes a notepad out of his backpack to expereince part of a student’s day. “I noticed there’s a lot of teachers who are kind and compassionate, but they’re not that empathetic towards students,” Kaur said.

“They don’t actually understand what it’s like to be a student, especially at TJ.” 3. Chemistry and BC Calculus teacher Adam Smolinsky takes a test. “School days, even when there are tests and projects, that’s the relaxed part of the day. When I get home, it’s just non-stop studying,” Deng said.

when they get home because a lot of them have really aggressive parents or some of them have sports until nine o’clock or 10 o’clock, and then other people have problems with their family and stuff.”

ONTEERU: “I think that almost all those issues with AP courses and getting all those grades and getting the colleges are source from a parent’s intuition that education is the only way to go and [to] get the best education possible, when that’s not completely true.”

MALCOLM ECKEL: Parents say that they feel the same pressure relative to other parents to

ECKEL: The idea is to is to have all the teachers talk about what they experienced, and then brainstorm a whole bunch of ideas that could respond to the student needs that they’ve identified from going through the days, and not really think about if they are reasonable or doable, or what the downsides are. Each teacher is going to get to pick which things that they’re interested in. We didn’t want to make up anybody’s mind in advance. We want we want to be authentically responding to the students and what we see.”

ONTEERU: I’ve had a three hour round-trip commute the past three years. I’ve taken classes that have challenged me. I honestly don’t know how I would have gotten through it if I didn’t have teachers who were willing to support me, if I didn’t have parents who said it was okay if I didn’t get straight As. There’s just such immense pressure on so many kids that it does make it feel impossible even though it really is realistic. I really hope that the shadowing program at least helps to solve some of these issues.”

get their kids more successful.

There’s a community pressure from that direction as well. The parents feel like if they’re not pushing their kids to do all the extracurriculars and get good grades, their kids are falling behind the other parents’ kids.

NICOLE KIM: “We have to have the late buses again. Maybe that’s better than [studying] under parents’ pressure at home.”

The challenge success team will consider the different experiences of teachers in the shadowing program as well as the stressors rooted in multiple aspects of students’ lives when planning for potential solutions.

“

I honestly don’t know how I would have gotten through it if I didn’t have teachers who were willing Manu Onteeru, 12 to support me, if I didn’t have parents who said it was okay if I didn’t get straight As.

Vikram Achuthan and Aumena Choudhry

COMPETING ona

HIGH

Seniors Jialin Tso and Alex Suh reflect on their adventure as a competitive duet team

NOTE 2

3 1

S

ide by Side. Fingers ready to pounce upon the piano keys. The task: a 30 minute memorized duet. The audience: the nation’s most renowned piano teachers.

Earlier this year, the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) awarded 1st place to Jialin Tso and Alexander Suh, a competitive piano duo, in the piano duet category for the MTNA Senior Piano Competition in Spokane, Washington.

THE COMPETITION Tso and Suh had to compete in preliminary rounds before qualifying for the final competition. First, they auditioned at the state level, where they won first place. They then advanced to the Virginia state competition at Liberty

University. The final hurdle, the southern division competition, required them to submit a professionally recorded video.

The annual MTNA convention allowed music teachers from around the country to watch the performances as well. There were also exhibition halls for major music companies.

“They had a lot of really cool stuff such as a lot of music from piano music publishers, and demonstrations of Steinways, Yamahas, Shigeru Kawais and Faziolis, which are all really amazing piano companies,” Suh said.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT While it may seem easier than playing solo, performing the piano in a duet setup requires meticulous attention to detail and lengthy practice to be

successful.

“Because you are working together with someone else, you have to be very synchronized,” Tso said. “You cannot only think about what you are playing, but you also have to match the dynamics and the style of the other players because in duets, if you make a mistake, then that mistake is the entire team’s.”

Reaching the competitive level required years of practice. Both players developed a passion for piano in their childhood and worked closely with a private piano teacher, with Tso playing for 11 years and Suh for nine years. Their experiences led them to become a competitive piano duet.

“We’ve been working together for two years. We started when I was a sophomore and when Alex was a

FEATURE 13

4 1. Tso and Suh play at the NIH center, an opportunity they received through their work with the Tacy Foundation. “It was really gratifying to be able to give them the gift of music,” Suh said. 2. Before the judging, Tso and Suh were provided with a 30 minute rehearsal period to practice their memorized duet. “We were the second

freshman because we both go to the same school, and we have this same piano teacher, our teacher decided to put us together to form it, because she thought that we had potential,” Tso said.

A BALANCING ACT Since both Suh and Tso attend Jefferson, they have the added convenience of being able to practice during lunches and some 8th Period blocks. However, in order to reach the national competition, they had to devote chunks of time during weekends and holidays.

“Having to rehearse together and schedule two hour blocks every other weekend is a challenge, but it is necessary,” Suh said. “You can practice by yourself as much as you want, but to put it together with someone else takes a lot of time and effort. You can’t just make your own artistic decisions. You

to last group to rehearse. After we finished rehearsing, we heard the people after us and they were really, really good. So we were a bit intimidated by them,” Tso said. 3. Pictured in front of the clock tower, Suh and Tso explore Spokane, Washington during the MTNA Senior Piano Competition in early 2019. “We tried to

not only think of it as a competition, because Spokane as a city was really cool. We took a lot of walks [around the city] because it was a great way to get rid of your nerves.” 4. The duo’s 30 minute performance included selections from Mozart, Debussey, and Rachmoninaff.

have to agree on many, many things, and sometimes come to compromises.”

Though balancing coursework at Jefferson is often difficult, with assessments and homework consuming much of a student’s time outside of school, Tso and Suh agreed that playing the piano has helped them alleviate some stress.

“A lot of the time you’re so focused on your schoolwork that it’s kind of hard to take your mind off of it. So you definitely need something that can help you relax and get away from school.

There’s a lot of school work at Jefferson, so [playing piano] helps me relax and it gives me something to focus on besides studying for tests all the time,” Suh said.

competitions, Tso and Suh frequently voluntarily perform at senior centers in the Northern Virginia area. The duo aim to continue competing in duet competitions, and are also looking forward to performing in Jefferson’s annual talent show, and giving back to their community.

“Playing as part of a collaborative ensemble has taught me a lot of valuable life skills, but I also just enjoy playing chamber music as a whole. Working with other people gives you new perspectives on music and means that you have to really connect with them to achieve a unified sound,” Suh said.

“It’s also just been really enjoyable to perform and compete while traveling, and our audiences always appreciate our music, so we love to connect with the community in that way as well.”

FUTURE PLANS In addition to participating in

applying Anushka Molugu, Aumena Choudhry

MACHINE L toE A R N I N G Parkinson’s

Jefferson senior Neeyanth Kopparapu was announced as a Davidson Fellows Scholarship Recipient for his work surrounding the neurological disorder known as Parkinson’s disease (PD)

A

1 1 At a conference, Kopparapu talks about his project, PDGAN. He was aided in his project by former Jefferson Science and Technology Department Division Manager Mr. Mark Hannum, Dr.Gil Alterovitz of Harvard University, and the University of Southern California. “I was talking about something called sparsely connected networks which is network optimization that I used,” Kopparapu said. 2 In front of a panel of distinguished judges, Kopparapu presents his project. His project focused on the early diagnosis of PD, a neurological disorder that has high rates of misdiagnosis since its symptoms are similar to those of other diseases. Using machine learning, Kopparapu was able to generate life-like images of scans of a PD brain for his model.

$25,000 scholarship.

A chance to present months-long research in front of a distinguished panel of judges. This is what awaited Jefferson senior Neeyanth Kopparapu when, after months of hard work, he submitted to the Davidson Fellows Scholarship, and received a $25,000 scholarship.

His project focused on diagnosing Parkinson’s Disease (PD), which is a neurodegenerative disorder.

He decided to pursue this project after his grandfather was diagnosed with latestage PD. “The medication commonly prescribed doesn’t work for those late stage patients, so it was sort of a mess with the diagnosis system,” Kopparapu said.

THE DISEASE PD has several biomarkers used for detection that are often mistaken for symptoms of other diseases. As a result, up to 50% of PD cases are

being misdiagnosed, often being corrected only with postmortem autopsies.

“Parkinson’s disease, biologically, has been understood to be the shrinking of a part of the brain called the substantia nigra. The shrinking of that part is what most people look for in Parkinson’s disease when they look at scans,” Kopparapu said.

THE DIAGNOSIS Kopparapu researched further about the often latestage diagnosis of PD, and then decided that he was going to try to improve the system through the creation of an early detection system.

“Essentially it used machine learning to find early signs of Parkinson’s disease in a person’s brain [by] looking at MRI scans, which are anatomical images of the brain, and then structurally looking for patterns to see if a patient might have early signs of Parkinson’s so they can get treatment,” Kopparapu said.

FEATURE 15

“Machine learning lives in the fact that we need hundreds of thousands upon millions of samples.”

Although the use of a machine learning (ML)based approach proved to be a valid way to determine early detection of PD, it also revealed several issues about biological research that strained the ability to get accurate results.

“Machine learning lives in the fact that we need hundreds of thousands upon millions of samples.

That is really hard to find in biology because you need thousands of patients who are willing to give up data. Something that I did that was a cornerstone of my research and its backbone, was synthetically generating data that looked really lifelike,” Kopparapu said.

THE FUTURE His work and achievement was awarded by the Davidson’s Fellows $25,000 Scholarship. He had heard about it through the Society of Science, a nonprofit organization that emphasizes the importance of science and its role in human advancement. As

for the future, Kopparapu intends on furthering his research by sticking to the same subject but adding other aspects to improve on the detection of the disease on a larger scale.

“The goal is that its like an all encompassing system that doesn’t just look at a brain, but looks at patient history and blood tests- like a lot of different things to make a more informed decision,” Kopparapu said.

His research and its impact has allowed him to determine a career that he would be able to contribute to. With his combined interest in both biology and computer science, Neeyanth plans to improve health tech industry.

“I think the focus is going to be on CS. I think this health tech industry is really impactful, so I hope to do a lot of work in there because it’s helping people very directly. It’s a very rewarding feeling,” Kopparapu said.

2

3

4 3 Standing with Joe and Jill Biden at the Biden Cancer Summit, Kopparapu and his sister TJ Alumni Kavya Kopparapu pose for a photo. “That was lots of fun,” Kopparapu said. “I’ve never gotten the chance to meet someone that important so it was really humbling that they would take the time to talk to me.” 4 Both Kopparapu and his sister enjoy pursuing research to contribute to the bioengineering field. In the future, Neeyanth hopes to work at a health-technology startup with the potential to vastly contribute to society. Kavya, a sophomore at Harvard University, is conducting clinical trials on her glioblastoma project with hopes of bringing it to patients.

a sweet way to sustain

1

2

Salamander IBET shifts focus to climate sustainability Vikram Achuthan and Anuj Khemka

3 1. The salamander IBET required students to take measurements in the field. “There was really the strong aspect of teamwork, and everybody got closer when we had to stand in the rain and mud for around four hours,” sophomore Lynelle Chen said. 2. Freshmen on the IBET field trip wade throgh pools while studying salamanders. The study tracked salamander populations which live

around such pools. “I liked getting to do science out in the real world and I liked the relevance of the issue [of global warming],” sophomore Jack Ebert said.

3. Freshmen from the Salamanader IBET worked in teams to collect data. Some of these data collection tasks include counting eggs and the measuring the depth of the pools.

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Political Voice

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L o ss of B

This model is used to represent donut economics, the focus of study for the Donut IBET. The model connects various factors that deal with environmental sustainability

Nitrogen Loa din g

Income & Work

Housing

the new model The salamander IBET, renamed the Donut IBET, will now focus on the idea of donut economics, which uses a donut to symbolize a sustainable but just way for humans to live.

“The center ring of the donut is the social foundation, [which is] the basic necessity for everybody. The outer ring is the ecological ceiling, and the idea is that [here], we don’t want to overstep what it is that we do as humans. We don’t want to adversely affect climate change, we don’t want to add to pollution, we don’t want to decrease biodiversity,” Glotfelty said. “The idea is that we live within the rings so that we are not having people suffer, and we are not having the planet suffer.”

Keeping this model in mind, students will be tasked with completing a project that helps Jefferson become a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly place.

“I would love to see plants growing on the window in the library, or to have a study on how much power we’re using to charge all these laptops all the time -- something like that,” Holman said. “We’re gonna give them parameters they have to

an optimistic outlook Recognizing the importance of the subject, many students share Holman’s excitement.

“I think it’s a really good goal to make everything sustainable and better for the environment, because it’s going to help with the climate change crisis going on at the moment,” freshman Kritika Kumar said.

Though the current model is subject to change in years to come, Holman is optimistic that the IBET’s new direction has promise, and will deliver productive results in the upcoming year.

“We’re hoping the quality of the projects are awesome, and that some of them are so good that TJ keeps them up.”

Holman said.

nd Distribut ive a ive rat Ec

background Over the past several years, students have collected data on Ambystoma Maculatum and the vernal, or seasonal, pools in which they dwell. But with changes to the climate, the project’s viability faltered.

“Climate change has adversely affected what it is that we’re able to do. Last year, there was water and there were pools in the fall. There’s not supposed to be pools in the fall because they are vernal pools,” Glotfelty said. “A whole bunch of data that we normally are able to get, we [were] not able to get, because the water never dried out from the summer rain.”

Additionally, changes to IBET groupings gave Holman only one IBET as opposed to two. This left only one IBET that would be doing the salamander project.

“It would have been twice the amount of work with less time,” Holman said.

With the official end of the salamander project at Jefferson, students such as former salamander IBET student Kailyn Pudleiner expressed sadness about the change.

“I’m very sad to see the IBET changing. I think salamander was one of the best projects because you got to see what it would be like to work and collect data out in the field,” Pudleiner said. “Being in the salamander IBET was a lot of fun, and going on our field trips created strong bonds with my classmates that I wouldn’t trade for a lifetime.”

SCI TECH 23 meet and then the sky’s the limit on what they can do within that boundary.”

The idea for the project came after Holman, who’s had a passion for sustainability since college, was contacted by the Outreach Director at her alma mater, Furman University, about the school’s sustainability efforts.

“A lot of [Furman’s] buildings have LEED certification, [a popular system used to verify environmentally friendly construction and design]. As they renovated it, they were going after the highest certification level that they could, and then they built this entirely greenhouse on campus that became the offices for a sustainability center,” Holman said. “And so their Outreach Director contacted me, and we talked about how Furman teaches sustainability to its students, and they use this model.”

ne ge re

w

hen life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. And for the teachers in charge of the newly-made Donut IBET, when life took away their salamanders, they made donuts.

This year, a combination of climate and IBET grouping changes prompted biology teacher Aubrie Holman, lab technology teacher Monica Geiger, and English teacher Stephanie Glotfelty to move on from the salamander project and instead undertake projects to make Jefferson more sustainable.

Fall Season

STAND Minjoo Song

Sydney

Szabos

David

GIRLS XC

“I was able to pass 16 [people] during the race, so that just felt really good.”

GOLF

“What makes me good at golf is I can focus really well under pressure.”

Senior cross country captain Sydney Szabos believes that her early beginnings in running have helped her avoid injury.

“I started track in fifth grade, and I continued through high school,” Szabos said. “I think that’s really helped me because if you try to ramp it up too fast, you end up getting injured.”

Szabos, who placed third in the district last year, consistently helps her team do well at meets.

“There’s a relay meet we go to where we run half a 5K. And I was the anchor leg for that, so I ran last,” Szabos said.

“I was able to pass 16 [people] during the race, so that just felt really good.”

Luo

Senior David Luo, who has been playing golf for 12 years, attributes his golf prowess to his ability to remain unfazed under pressure.

“I think what makes me good at golf is I can focus really well under pressure; I don’t really get nervous in pressure situations,” Luo said. “If I’m in a good mood or zone, I can play really well.”

Luo, who placed second at golf regionals on Oct. 1, mainly strives to help the team do better overall.

“I just want to [continue to] help our team do well, because our team has been doing pretty well the past few years,” Luo said. “Since this is my last year, I really wanted to have a good ending to my [Jefferson] golf career.”

19:23 71 Szabos’s best three mile time of the season

Lou’s best 18 hole course score of the season

Athletes explore the motivating factors behind their success in fall sports

Sihun

Kim

FOOTBALL “I’ve been playing for seven years. Experience definitely helps.”

As the quarterback on Jefferson’s football team, senior Sihun Kim (11) has helped his team to a +.500 record.

Kim credits his success to both his teammates and his previous experience “My teammates [and I] work as a unit.

[I’m] helped by my offensive line and the receivers, [who] are a good addition to the team.” Kimsaid. “I’ve [also] been playing for seven years so I think experience definitely helps.”

In a season complete with defining moments, Kim’s favorite was throwing the winning touchdown that gave Jefferson its first National District win in ten years.

“We beat Lee 7-6 with two minutes left. Being the underdog and winning was pretty hype,” Kim said.

.630 Kim’s completion percentage

SPORTS 19

DOUTS Tucker

Lauren

Andra

BOYS XC

FIELD HOCKEY

VOLLEYBALL

Stanley “My team really pushes me, and I have a strong mental attitude.”

Despite already being a top runner and captain of Jefferson’s cross country team, senior Tucker Stanley continues to strive for improvement.

“The goal for myself is that I want to win our conference, so I’m trying to work towards that,” Stanley said.

This season, Stanley’s best threemile time is 16:18, which placed him 15th in the district. Reaching for first, Stanley works toward his goals through consistent practice.

“We have practice every day and our coaches make sure we work on long distance. My team kind of pushes me, and I have a strong mental attitude,” Stanley said. “I [also] run over 40 miles a week.”

16:19 Stanley’s best three mile time of the season

Delwiche Velea “I love this sport so much that I’m willing to practice it over and over again.”

“Our energy and motivation has been so high.”

After the team won two games last season and none the year before that, varsity field hockey midfielder sophomore Lauren Delwiche has carried her team to a 5-5 record so far this season.

Delwiche, who is the only player on the team who plays outside of school, sources her motivation to become better from her passion for the sport.

“I love this sport so much that I’m willing to practice it over and over again and not get bored of it,” Delwiche said. “I really like the freedom of field hockey. There’s so many different ways you can get creative with passing or shooting options. And I think it’s just really fun to experiment and play around with them.”

As libero, or defensive specialist, on the Varsity Volleyball team, senior Andra Velea is no stranger to the sport.

“I’ve been playing since 7th grade, so [it’s been] 5 years. I started because I never clicked with soccer, and at tryouts, ,all the coaches were surprised that I was 100% inexperienced,” Velea said.

Velea cites winning the Invitational Tournament, which took place amongst NOVA high school teams on Sept. 14, as a notable moment of the season.

“That was a really big day for us because since then, our energy and motivation has been so high,” Velea said. “I’m sure everyone can agree that our tournament [win] was the turning point of our attitude towards the game.”

.923 .364

The percentage of team goals Delwiche has assisted or scored

Volleyball’s win percentage this season

MAKING of the MARK Anuj Khemka

Mark Hamilton lights up the scoreboard in his first year on Jefferson’s football team

S

ix-zero. Jefferson trails back at their 19 yard line, with time running out. Quarterback Sihun Kim takes the snap. He pivots right, and the ball flies out of his hand, traveling downfield.

20 yards feels like 20 hours, and suddenly, as the crowd holds its breath collectively, #24 rises over an obstacle of blue. He plucks the ball out of the air, swivels around, and takes off.

A red blur flashes down the sideline, going from the 50 yard line to the 30, and then, touchdown.

Most first year players aren’t known for making an immediate impact, but most rookies aren’t senior Mark Hamilton. From scoring the game winning touchdown for Jefferson’s first National District win in 10 years to totaling 27 points, Hamilton has provided a spark for the Colonials football team as they’ve matched last year’s record, a two win total, in just four games.

ROLE OF SOCCER Despite playing football recreationally with his brothers, Hamilton stayed away from Jefferson football due to his commitment to varsity soccer, on which he plays at center-mid, until now.

“I didn’t have time to play football when I was in my first three years, but this fall, I decided to just play football because I really wanted to, and it’s my last chance to play football,” Hamilton said. “I made a good decision.”

SPORTS 21 Although soccer prevented Hamilton from playing football his last three years, Hamilton also credits it as one of the factors responsible for his success.

“Soccer helped me build up my endurance, so that’s a big part. Just playing soccer made me a good athlete, which helped me a lot when playing football,” Hamilton said.

“Being fast [also] really helps me be a good player. Also, going to all the practices is really important to understand what’s going on, both offensively and defensively.”

In addition to his success as a wide receiver, Hamilton has also helped the team as a kicker and punter, scoring 14 points and averaging 24.5 yards per punt. His experience with soccer has also helped him.

“Kicking a football is kind of similar to kicking a soccer ball,” Hamilton said.”There’s some difference, but playing soccer has helped me be a good kicker and punter.”

Hamilton did have to make several adjustments as well try out to be the team’s kicker, however.

“My brother is also a kicker and punter -- he went to Langley, and over the summer, he taught me a lot of technique for kicking footballs,” Hamilton said, “[Then], when I first joined the team, I told the coach that I wanted to be a kicker, but I could also play other positions, so the coach knew I could kick. But there’s another guy who also plays soccer, and he can kick well too, so during practices, we both kicked and Coach decided he wanted me to be kicker.”

that it’s pretty cool that other people are happy for what I accomplished.

And it’s a pretty good feeling.”

Nonetheless, Hamilton stresses that although he has accounted for approximately 40% of the team’s points, every player has an integral role.

“I’m not really that special compared to everyone else.

Everyone works hard and contributes a lot to the team. It might seem that since I scored the most touchdowns, that I’m the best player, but that’s not true,” Hamilton said. “There’s a lot of things that I need to work on, and it’s a team sport, and we need everyone to contribute or to play well.”

And just like every other player, Hamilton has encountered a number of struggles that come with being on the team, including the intensity of practices.

“The practices [are the hardest part of being on the football team].

During the summer, practices are really hard. We had two days, and two practices a day, and by the second practice, I was just really tired,” Hamilton said. “Also, I’m not used to having practice after school because soccer team practices are before school. During football practices, I’m more tired than I would be before school. It’s not too big of a challenge, but it’s still there.”

However, despite the difficulty, Hamilton realizes that he would not be where he is now without the work put in during practices.

“I’m a lot less experienced than everyone else, but I’ve learned a lot CONTINUED SUCCESS since August, since practice started.

Now, Hamilton reflects on the joy It’s kind of cool to think that two of scoring to help his team win. months ago, I never played football “[When I score a touchdown] I’m before, and I’m here now playing just really happy. Last game, my well -- it’s pretty cool.” first touchdown, when I scored, I thought it was just another catch,” Hamilton said. “But I realized when I looked in the stands that everyone was celebrating, and I just realized

1. Celebrating a touchdown against the NOVA centurions, Hamilton bumps chests with his teammates. “I’m just really happy [when I score a touchdown],” Hamilton said. “When I scored my first touchdown, I thought it was just another catch. But I realized when I looked in the stands that everyone was celebrating, and I just realized that it’s pretty cool that other people are happy for what I accomplished.” PHOTO // Antonio Martin 2. The ball in his hands, Hamilton gallops into the endzone to add to the Colonials’ point total. To date, Hamilton has 3 touchdowns this season. “Being fast really helps me be a good player.

But also, going to all the practices is really important to understand what’s going on, both offensively and defensively,” Hamilton said. PHOTO // Antonio Martin 3. Putting his hands out, Hamilton prepares to catch a football coming his way. This type of recreational practice shaped Hamilton’s football experience prior to joining the team. “I started watching football and I really liked it, so I play a lot [of] football with my brothers for fun,” Hamilton said. PHOTO // Anuj Khemka

Illustration by Michelle Liu

CURE LEAD EDITORIAL

LEAD EDITORIAL 23

The toxicity of cancel culture and alternative approaches to promoting change

instead of

A

high profile politician partakes in blackface.

Canceled. A YouTuber sells contaminated make-up products. Canceled. An SNL comedian uses racial slurs. Canceled. Justin Trudeau, Jaclyn Hill, and Shane Gilis are only a few from the ever-growing list of names that have trended under a hashtag in the form #SoandSoisOverParty.

To the left, a girl blindly hates on a boy who is unable to speak out because everyone is too busy following the canceling trend to listen to his side of the story. This is the toxic nature of cancel culture, a form of boycotting on social media of someone who shares an unpopular opinion or displays questionable behavior. Usually, it’s caused by an accusation that incites the hatred of a mass of people without further research into the accusation’s merit. The purpose? To promote change.

However, oftentimes this form of online boycotting turns into public shaming. What originally began as a request for an admission of wrongdoing becomes a screaming match for the sole purpose of hating on someone. When cancel culture turns into fighting fire with fire, the situation is only worsened.

Moreover, when it becomes a trend to shame someone for their actions, beliefs, or values, the truth of what happened is frequently distorted. It’s natural for humans to be quick to judge, but this leads to the rapid spread of false accusations.

This also brings up the question of whether cancel culture effectively promotes change. While cancel culture does result in short term change -- as proven by the countless tearful public apologies from canceled celebrities -- cancel culture brings intense attention to an issue for only brief periods of time. Almost immediately afterwards, everything is forgiven and forgotten and we move on with our lives.

While the original intent of cancel culture could be positive, there are much better ways to achieve the same results. Replace accusatory statements based on rumors with unbiased questions that seek the truth. Perhaps a person’s intentions were completely different from what others perceived them to be. Additionally, direct communication is key -- sending angry anonymous threats is never helpful. Try to work with the person involved to find a solution. Don’t fight fire with fire, fight fire with a cure.

ONLINE

FLEXIBILITY Aumena Choudhry

Why online classes are more effective (or ineffective) than you think

VS.

I

RIGID

REALITY

t’s 7:30 a.m.

You rush to catch the bus. School starts at 8:40 a.m and ends at 4 p.m, but for many students, it continues on to around 7 p.m with sports and extracurriculars. By the time you get home, it’s already 8 p.m and you still have to shower, eat, study for that test, and get to bed.

With the increasing workload and strains on time, it’s no wonder that flexibility is sought everywhere - with one solution being online classes.

Over the past few years, online classes have increased in popularity, especially for those in university. However, with the increasing emphasis on technology in the classroom, online classes have become prevalent in middle and high schools across Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) as well.

In general, schools are limited in the courses they can offer to students, and as such, it makes sense to offer online courses to students are pursuing higher-level courses, or cannot fit the class into their schedule. Yet, some courses are more popular to take online than others - what’s behind the discrepancy?

CONTENT One argument is that the subject can affect whether students decide to take it online; AP Psychology, Economics and Personal Finance, AP Macro/Micro Economics and AP Government are all common online courses taken by Jefferson students.

With the myriad of courses available, it might seem that taking online classes is the best way to go. However, a lot of personal discipline is required - especially for subjects that are challenging and require discussions between

students and the teacher, such as mathematics. Math requires that you practice consistently and inquire about any issues you have with understanding a concept early on before the teacher moves onto the next lesson. Although it is possible to explain mathematical concepts using PowerPoint, it is a lot easier to do calculations by hand on the board. This method also allows other students to work together to clarify general concerns and strengthen their skills.

At Jefferson, several humanities options are offered online, including World History II and AP Government.

However, since these classes are often designed to be discussion-based, the lack of interaction between students in an online class is detrimental. Although the teacher can give insight into a novel, for instance, the fact that the students can’t talk to each other defeats the purpose of the class: to foster discussion-based learning so that students form their own conclusions, since there is often no right or wrong answer in history/literature analysis and interpretation.

However, certain courses lend themselves to being taught online. For example, Economics and Personal Finance is primarily activity-based, allowing students to learn concepts through modules that teach them the basics of personal finance. In this instance, reading a textbook would not help the student as much, since these are real-life skills that are more likely to stick with a student through experience.

Another class is Health & PE 9/10. Although this class requires physical activity, it can be done individually, especially since many students are likely to already be

OPINION 25 exercising for recreation (i.e. being on a tennis team outside of school). The style of teaching is mainly based around teaching students how to be physically healthy and play different games, which students can practice on their own.

REQUIREMENTS Online classes are taught once a week, and attendance is mandatory. In addition, FCPS policy dictates that a student must remain active throughout the course by completing assignments; if they are inactive for 15 days, they face possible removal from the online curriculum.

Along with these guidelines, students have to adhere to strict deadlines for assignments, tests (typically, only one extension is allowed per semester), and the grading policy. The lack of flexibility for moving deadlines means that students face more workload than if they had opted for an in-person class, where they could get an extension from the teacher. Also, there are many more assignments than would otherwise have been assigned in a classroom, which speaks to the fact that the teacher cannot judge the understanding of their students as well in an online class. In a classroom, a teacher can observe their students to see if they understand a concept or not and students can ask a teacher more questions. However, in an online setting, teachers cannot see their students and instead have to rely upon assignments to judge the understanding of their students, which puts pressure on students.

To compound these issues, time in online classes is very limited (usually one hour), and the teacher is often from a different school, making email the prioritized option for communication. This restricts how much a student can ask if he/she is confused about a topic, and forces the student to study harder to keep up with the class.

Further, studying in a classroom simply creates more opportunities for enriching learning that online learning cannot. For instance, students can attend field trips can be to see art made in the 20’s, but if you are taking a class online,

2 then this is not possible. Doing other activities is also limited in an online class, as the fast pace of instruction makes it difficult to enrich learning.

FLEXIBILITIES Despite inherent issues with online classes, there is still a major benefit: flexibility. For Jefferson students, the struggle to maintain their academics along with their personal lives makes online classes a tantalizing solution. The hours can be adjusted according to a student’s schedule, so they can plan for the class around other commitments. At Jefferson, this allows Mentorship students to balance graduation requirements with doing research in an outside institution, as students can take their 5th period online at home and then go directly to mentorship.

Online classes are seen as better because they allow students to self-study content, while being guided by a teacher. The fact that the assignments are spaced out in the week means that students can balance studying with their school workload. With the digital nature of the classes, two other resources are often saved: time and money. Time that would otherwise be spent commuting to and from school is cut out completely.

For those who are academically inclined, or simply just need more flexibility, online classes are a viable alternative to physical classes. However, the assignments and deadlines should make it easier, not more stressful, to learn effectively.

1

1. Logging onto FCPS’s online campus, sophomore Anuj Khemka downloads the blackboard collaborate launcher software to enroll in the mandatory web conferencing sessions. Like hundreds of other students enrolled in online classes at Jefferson, Khemka is required to participate in weekly online sessions and spend approximately five to seven hours on homework, quizzes, tests, and projects per week. 2. Materials such as these are required by FCPS’s online campus to ensure that all online couses are identical to those offered in traditional classrooms.

Photos by J. Chang

H

appy.

To junior Jordan Lee, making music is not about success, it’s about making just one person smile.

With his release of a three-song EP and two singles, Lee’s genre of music can be classified under pop and lyrical rap. From “Cliché” to “1-Up,” his music traverses the lines of rhapsodic love-songs to catchy upbeat bops.

He draws his inspiration from type beat artists such as YBN Nahmir, Lil Mosey and students from his base school.

Junior Jordan Lee’s happiness radiates through his smile.

Through his lyrics, Lee’s goal is to spread joy. “If I’m able to make one person happier, that’s enough success for me,” Lee said. Photo by Forrest Meng

SHINING LIKE GOLD Stuti Gupta

Junior Jordan Lee emphasizes happiness and passion through his song lyrics

Releasing all of his songs onto Spotify, Lee utilizes another medium to reach his audience in addition to SoundCloud. His first song, “1-Up,” was released on Feb. 28, 2019. “I know Jordan is really putting himself out there... he has a lot of high quality productions, and his cover art is no joke. I think he’s doing a great job with doing what he wants to do and just really going after it,” senior Jae Canetti said.

SUCCESS As a novice artist, Lee used a USB mic and GarageBand to record and produce his songs. Additionally, he used Youtube to find type beats, instrumentals that mimicked already existing songs and were modified to fit a song structure molded for a rapper.

“You have to get into some sort of vibe. When you’re writing lyrics, it has to be something that you can identify with. I’m not the best singer; it takes a lot of different tries to get my vocals to sound right,” Lee said However, with 1,100 views on Youtube for his “1-Up” music video, he was off to a solid start.

ENTERTAINMENT 27 Lee and Forrest Meng, who directed the video, decided to shoot a music video for “1-Up” as it was his first song.

“Although ‘1-Up’ may not be as popular as his others, this song is what influenced him the most to continue to rap,” Meng said.

SONGS In terms of the actual songs themselves, Lee enjoyed creating the beats more than the actual lyrics. He intended “1-Up,” his first song, to be a fun, catchy tune representative of traveling on the road to success and happiness with no barriers standing in the way.

His favorite lyrics, in fact, came from this song: “Repping the C-D-G I got the hearts on me I love my G-O-D, glory is heavenly I’m kinda O-D-D, loving my enemies Gotta be M-V-P, this is my destiny” “Here, I call out to my Christian faith because it’s a big part of who I am as a person. I try to do everything for God’s glory and not my own, so I wanted to put that in there,” Lee said.

“Yours,” another song he released on Spotify, was both the hardest song for him to make and was his favorite song. Originally, the beat used for this song was going to be used for 2021’s Freshman Homecoming Song “Freshest Freshmen.” After using a different beat for the class song, Lee, decided to use it for his own. “‘Yours’ is all about selfless love, where you aren’t in a relationship for yourself, but you are in it so you can bless the other person. It’s a song of what I think an ideal relationship looks like and a selfless love I strive to have everyday,” Lee said.

Similar to how his life affects his music, his music greatly impacts his life.

“Throughout my life, I haven’t been the most musically technical person in terms of notes and keys, but I have always appreciated melodies and the power of songs, I’ve always had a connection to them,” Lee said.

1

2

3

4

1. In the boardwalk at a New Jersey beach, Lee takes a photo with Kevin Jonas. When Lee was young, the Jonas Brothers were one of his favorite artists, playing a role in inspiring him to create music. “On vacation during the seventh grade, I’m just chilling on the boardwalk until my mom notices a guy that looks like Kevin Jonas. I realize that that’s him, and hop up to take a photo. I think I was the first to ask him for a picture, because then everyone started lining up.

It was crazy because it happened out of nowhere,” Lee said. Photo courtesy of Jordan Lee 2. In a clip of his “1-Up” music video, Lee stands singing while holding balloons that were created as an effect to go along with the lyric “I’m way up now.” Whenever he watches the music video he’s reminded to be grateful of everything he has. “With the effects, my friend Forrest went crazy. That’s probably one of the coolest parts [of the music video],” Lee said. Photo

by Forrest Meng 3. Alongside Jefferson senior David

Cha and Westfield junior John Lee, Lee strikes yet another pose for his “1-Up” music video. The video was recorded in the summer, and Lee’s two friends voluntarily helped him by taking part in the filming and getting hype with Lee. “I am so happy that David and John came out to be in the video, I really needed people to get hype with, and it was really fun especially with all the accessories that David brought,” Lee said. Photo by Forrest Meng 4. With three love songs in the album, “Heart2” is Lee’s first Extended Play (EP). The EP was released on Aug. 23, 2019, with the tracks “Cliche,” “Clouds,” and “Yours.” “It’s not always easy. There’s just four songs on there, but I’ve tried to make many others that didn’t work out. I think the hardest part is just, you have to get into some sort of vibe. When you’re writing lyrics, it has to be something that you can identify with,” Lee said. Photo by Jordan Lee

BETTER “

EVERY

Last year our homecoming was not as strong showing.

I think the biggest thing this year is how tremendous the support and spirit our class is showing [has been], and I think it’s because of the organization and a desire to prove ourselves.

YEAR

On the pep committee, we’re all equals so nobody’s idea is worth more than others. But I think we’re really good about being introspective and taking a step back, asking ourselves “is our video actually good, or do we just think it’s good because we made it?”

The student leadership in middle school was definitely not the same as high school - it was a lot less work and relaxed. TJ has traditions, so you can’t just pull something out at the end of the year. So it’s the tradition that really brings out the student leadership.

PHOTO by Maria Abramova REPORTING by Ashley Huang

WHAT I’VE LEARNED Leon Jia Sophomore

”