volume 53, Issue 1 September 24, 2014
Walt whitman High school
7100 whittier boulevard
Bethesda, maryland 20817
theblackandwhite.net
Central American immigrants find new life in MCPS
By Margot Dionne The real names of students and their schools have been withheld to protect their privacy.
photo by NICK ANDERSON Wide receiver Alex Hosker runs deep in Football’s 21-3 victory over B-CC Friday night. A fight broke out on the field during the third quarter after Whitman intercepted a punt, leading to the ejection of quarterback Evan Smith, running back Jacob Pitsenberger and linebacker Alec Spear for two games. Check out theblackandwhite.net for the full article.
Clara hadn’t seen her mother in six years. Her father was dead, and she was considering leaving her little brother behind in Honduras so she could be smuggled over the border into the United States to be with her mother. Fast forward two months: Clara now attends a high school in Montgomery County. While many associate the immigration crisis with faraway states and foreign countries, the matter actually hits close to home. Over the summer, MCPS saw a dramatic rise in student enrollment from Central America, according to a press release from Superintendent Joshua Starr. Within MCPS, the exact number of Central American youth who arrived in the U.S. without an accompanying adult has been hard to pin down. Starr told the Gazette on Aug. 21 that 107 of these students attended district schools last year, and 47 more entered the county since July. But, based on reporting done by the Black&White, the numbers appear to be larger. On Sept. 15, I had the opportunity to visit a high school in Montgomery County to talk to some of these students, and their stories were all heartbreakingly similar. A teacher directed me to an ESOL class where I could sit in and ask people questions. The atmosphere was relaxed; it looked like any other MCPS classroom. Most of the students spoke little to no English, so I brought along another Whitman student to translate the conversations. One student volunteered to speak with me, so we moved into the hallway, where she shared her story. Clara crossed the border in June of this year with the help of a coyote—a person who is hired to smuggle groups of undocumented immigrants into the United States. A coyote can cost between $5,000 and $12,000, National Public Radio reported, using figures from U.S. Immigration and Customs. continued on page
2, staff editorial on page 5
Whitman Shorts cuts down on comedy
Shorts shifts focus to reporting in response to direction from administration by Julia Gilman When the first Whitman Shorts Wednesday rolls around in October, the show may surprise students expecting 22 minutes of news and sports interspersed with amusing antics. This year, Whitman Shorts will trade its signature inside jokes and comedic skits for more serious journalistic reporting, advisor Geoff Schaefer said. The change is a response to a direction from the administration. In addition, students aspiring to join Shorts will need to take Journalism 1 in an effort to to bring more formal training and experience to the staff. Shorts took its first group of Journalism 1 recruits at the end of last year; they’re spending their first semester on Shorts in TV 1 learning about the tech aspect of the
program while contributing to the show. “It’s a good opportunity for Shorts to gain a little bit more respect regarding broadcast journalism rather than just getting a couple laughs from the students who understand the inside jokes,” said junior Rachel Berman, a Shorts reporter who took Journalism 1 last year. The change is a drastic one for Shorts staff members who are accustomed to the old process. “I think that it’s kind of trying to limit our creative freedom,” senior Joe Szczesny said. “I was looking forward to leading all the ideas and the production [for the skits], but we’re not going to have that opportunity.” Szczesny works on the “Speaks” segment of the show, the only segment maintaining its humorous tone. He and
Inside Look
Whitman Survival Guide
Students visit local psychic
Pages 8 and 9
Page 2
some other members are determined to uphold the show’s comedic reputation. “I think a big reason people watched Shorts was because it was funny, and that was the main excitement,” Shorts executive India Herdman said. “I think there will definitely be a couple little punches of humor.” Other staff members envision the funny and serious elements working well together. “I personally don’t see a problem with Shorts becoming more journalistic but still being witty,” Berman said. Shorts staffers hope to win broadcasting awards as a result of the revamp. Last year the program won an honorable mention in the Keeping It Safe contest with a video that advocated against underage drinking. With a heightened fo-
Meet new principal intern Karen Bryant
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cus on journalism, Schaefer plans to enter Shorts in a whitehouse.gov broadcast journalism contest this year. Shorts will also partner with the Black & White Online and produce segments to be featured on the website. “The main goal is to branch out and work with the Black & White and not try to steal stories or try to one up each other—just try to make more of a cohesive community,” Schaefer said. The changes make for an exciting year for Shorts to develop and redefine itself, Schaefer said. “This is the model for how broadcast journalism should be,” Schaefer said. “These kids are so focused and I think we’ll have a very successful year.”
Evolution of the cell phone policy
Q&A: Georgetown Bagelry Owner Mary Beall Adler
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Page 16
NEWS
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Briefs Whitman’s average ACT score best in nation
Air conditioning won’t be fixed this year The AC system is broken and there’s no hope for a quick fix. After 23 years of use, the central cooling system—the chiller—which produces cold air, has shut down and will not work again until serious repairs are made, principal Alan Goodwin said. The compressor and motor inside the chiller died last week. The county has to decide whether to repair the compressor and motor or to replace the entire chiller, Goodwin said. Either way, students and staff will not have the luxury of air conditioning for the rest of the semester because of a lengthy repair process. The broken AC system won’t affect areas of the school that are on separate units, including Whittier Woods. The building’s heating system turns on Oct. 1
Physics teachers adopt online homework program This year, physics students are getting a taste of online learning with the Quest and MasteringPhysics systems. Quest, a website produced by the University of Texas-Austin, offers video lessons and problem sets for a variety of school subjects. Honors and regular physics classes are using the site this year, and more classes may begin using the site if it yields positive results. Physics teacher Simone Kulin introduced Quest after finding success with the site last year at B-CC. Similarly, teacher Daniel Chen’s AP Physics C classes use MasteringPhysics. MasteringPhysics coincides with the course’s textbook and has similar features to Quest. Students can use it to check their answers immediately after completing problems, which Chen said is a helpful feature. Online modules are especially helpful for those who struggle in a classroom environment, physics teacher Kismet Talaat said. “Some kids need to be able to look at something repeatedly,” she said, “which they can do online, in order to get a concept.” Many students, however, find the systems difficult to use. “The format of Quest is really bad,” junior Sam Wenger said. “The answers always overlap onto other pages.” Quest and MasteringPhysics assignments are graded for accuracy instead of completion, increasing accountability and pressure on students. Love it or leave it, online learning is a step towards more efficient and personalized education. “E-learning in general, I think it’s fabulous,” Talaat said. “The more ways we can reach you guys, the better.”
Principal intern Karen Bryant joins administration team
BY TREVOR LYSTAD With an open door and a warm smile, principal intern Karen Bryant has made wonderful Walt Whitmanland just a bit more wonderful. Bryant started working at Whitman this summer as a part of MCPS’s “grow your own principal program.” She performs the regular duties of an assistant principal and shadows principal Alan Goodwin. Later in the year, most likely in January, Goodwin will take leave and work as an assistant principal at an elementary school while Bryant takes over as acting principal for six weeks. Bryant said Principal intern Karen Bryant works in her new office. She hopes to become a full she’s excited for the opportunity to principal at another school after she finishes her year at Whitman. be in charge of the school. “Hopefully what you’ll see walls of her classroom. From there, prepares to take over for Goodwin. throughout the year is first; me Bryant became an assistant principal Enthusiastic to try working in an shadowing; and then, us doing at Seneca Valley, her most recent job elementary school for the first time, Goodwin is confident that the school things together,” Bryant said, “and before coming to Whitman. MCPS assistant principals will run smoothly in his absence. then him stepping back a little bit Since the goal of the program until it’s time for him to make the can apply for the principal intern program each year. Selected is to train people to be principals, switch to leave the building.” Bryant’s path to administrative applicants are assigned to schools Bryant hopes to move into a full principal role at a different school work began at Ridgeview Middle throughout the county. “I was so thrilled when I was in the county next year. One of her School in Gaithersburg, where she taught English. She worked at named to come to Whitman because main motivations for getting an Ridgeview until moving to Richard Dr. Goodwin has an excellent administrative position was to help Montgomery, where she got her reputation among his peers,” she people realize their potential no matter where they are starting from. “dream job”—teaching high school said. Bryant’s personality and hard “I think it’s just the idea that English. “I loved it,” Bryant said. “I work have helped her fit in with the anybody can become anything,” she said. “They can grow their capacity, never, ever thought I was going to main office staff from the get-go. She characterizes herself as a you can really become what you leave that job.” However, her mother’s death in “people person” with a willingness want to be, but you can’t really get to talk to anyone, at any time. When from point A to point Z overnight.” 2003 changed her perspective. With her training and “They say that whenever a senior student walked into her office to get a form signed, Bryant experience, the staff feels that you have a trauma or a death of somebody close to you, it’s kind casually turned the interaction Bryant’s goal is certainly within of clarifying for you,” Bryant said. into a friendly conversation about reach. “I’ve been in the system a long “And it made me kind of sit back college and sports rather than time, and you can really tell when and take a look at some of the simply putting pen to paper. Assistant principal Kathy you get to know somebody whether things that I saw going on within education and how I might be able McHale said the staff found her they have all the things necessary especially helpful in overcoming to move into a principalship or not, to make a difference.” Bryant then worked as an problems early on, especially issues and she could be a principal at any school she wanted to be at,” McHale instructional specialist in the MCPS with the master schedule. As the year progresses, Bryant’s said. “You can just tell.” central office, where she felt she had an impact on people beyond the responsibilities will grow while she
PHOTO BY NICK ANDERSON
The recent graduating class scored higher on the ACT than any other school in the county, achieving a mean composite score of 29, a one point increase from the previous year. The county as a whole scored an average of 23.7, also higher than the state and national average. The average composite score in the state was 22.6 and 21.0 in the country. “MCPS graduates are showing steady improvement on the ACT and are demonstrating increased readiness for college-level work,” Superintendent Joshua Starr said in a press release. “This is good news, but we know there is a lot more work to be done to ensure that all of our students are ready for success in postsecondary education and beyond.” At Whitman, students tend to practice both the ACT and SAT and choose which one they want to take compared to other schools where students aren’t as aware of the ACT, resource counselor Fran Landau said. Thirty-eight percent of last year’s graduating class took an ACT. Whitman students score higher on he ACT because they are more likely to take prep courses, Landau said.
September 24, 2014
Immigrant students flee from homeland1 violence to MCPS continued from page
In the United States, Clara was reunited with her mother, and lives with her in Montgomery County. She didn’t know the details of her father’s death. Other students came into the hallway to share their stories. One boy, Daniel, met his mother for the first time four months ago. She had left for the U.S. when he was a baby in order to provide for him, and he’s enjoyed getting to know his mother since he’s come here, Daniel said. Responding to the growing controversy surrounding undocumented immigrants, MCPS emphasized on their website the district’s “legal and moral obligation to ensure that they receive an education and have access to the services they need.” One way the district does this is through METS, The Multidisciplinary Education, Training and Support Program, which is designed to help students who received little to no education prior to entering MCPS. METS provides basic academic skills, as well as social and emotional support, to help student adjustments into new schools. Patricia O’Neill, vice president of the Board of
Education, explained the complications of being an immigrant in an MCPS school: “Many of them have higher needs because they’ve come from very violent situations,” she said in a phone interview. I was allowed to observe one of these classrooms for a few moments. On the Promethean board, students were solving math problems like “5x2=10.” I wasn’t allowed to interview any METS students because “each moment they have in school is valuable,” a teacher told me. In the same classroom, the teacher was training a white lab puppy to become an aide dog. He sat under her desk during class, and she walked him in the hallway in between classes. Students would come to see the puppy and pet him with smiles on their faces. He is the second dog this teacher has raised at school, she said. Although these teenagers’ lives are improving now that they receive structured education in a safe environment, their futures are still uncertain. One girl from the Dominican Republic, who said she has a visa, likes
living in the U.S., she said, though she still has roots in her home country. She misses her mother, whom she hasn’t seen in about two years. “I don’t know what my future will be like,” she said. Clara, the first girl I spoke with, said she hopes to continue studying in the United States and eventually get a job. She likes going to school here, especially because she has the opportunity to learn English. Children who are not fortunate enough to have a visa can stay in the U.S. until they appear at an immigration hearing. But, as NPR’s Carrie Kahn reported, some hearings will not be held until three years from when they’re apprehended by U.S. authorities. These students believe jobs and education in the U.S. are worth risking deportation and giving up family. Clara had to leave her younger brother back home in order to be with her mother in the United States. I asked if her brother is planning to come live with her and her mother. “If God allows him to,” she said.
See page 5 for the staff editorial
By the Numbers
66,000 Number of unaccompanied children who have been apprehended at the border since last October (Washington Post)
3,312 Number of miles from Tegucigalpa, Honduras (the capital) to Montgomery County
3,000
Number of unaccompanied minors who reside in Maryland, largest amount per capita in the Nation (Office of Refugee Resettlement)
107
Number of unaccompanied minors who were officially enrolled in MCPS last year (The Gazette)
47
Number of students who have entered MCPS since July (The Gazette)
News
September 24, 2014
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New social media app Yik Yak facilitates cyberbullying By Grace Steinwurtzel & Leor Rosen To protect Yik Yak cyberbullying victims, the yaks included in this story have been altered from their original form and names have been changed. Sally Smith walked through the halls, head down, trying to block out the whispers and stares. She felt eyes glued to her back as she self-consciously pulled down her shirt. She watched her steps, careful not to trip or do anything Yak-worthy. One of Sally’s friends bumped into her, and she couldn’t help but think that maybe this friend was the one who called her “a thirsty b***h” last night on Yik Yak. Sally felt alone and vulnerable, in constant worry of being bullied again on Yik Yak. For some reason, she was a favorite target.
“This app is actually the cyberbullying headquarters of Whitman.” Yik Yak, the new social media fad among students, works like an anonymous community bulletin board, allowing a user to post a comment that anyone in a 1.5 mile radius can see. Yik Yak claims its app is aimed at college students “to create con-
versations and build communities.” Despite its social mission, the app has become a platform for cyberbullying. Anonymity turns out to be a double-edged sword; while creating a forum that allows users to speak their minds, it also allows posts like, “Bertha is a fat slut. She needs to leave.” “Students think they can say whatever they want about others,” Smith said. Users can “up vote” or “down vote” a post, and posts that get five down votes are removed from the page. A higher “yakarma,” a score calculated by tallying a user’s number of up or down votes, provides a powerful motivation for many users. Yik Yak is hardly the first app that has been misused to hurt others; cyberbullying has been a growing problem since the 1990’s.
“The shade on yik yak tonight tho>>>>>” Yik Yak attracts students with its anonymity and offbeat geographical element, which distinguishes it from former cyberbullying gateways like Formspring and Ask.fm. In 2009, Formspring,
an anonymous online question-and-answer app, revolutionized social network cyberbullying. Users had the freedom to make negative comments about others without consequences. It was a feeding ground for bullies, but it didn’t provide the convenience Yik Yak does. Formspring was criti-
“
“I wouldn’t want to share a drink with Bertha. Who knows where that mouth has been.”
YAKATTACK
cized for opening the door to harassment and bullying in 2011 after Natasha MacBryde, a 15-year-old girl from The United Kingdom, and Jamey Rodemeyer, a 14-year-old from New York, committed suicide due to repeated incidents of bullying on the site. While Formspring and ask.fm, a similar network, may seem like old news, they paved the
New APUSH curriculum to emphasize critical thinking By Trevor Lystad In an effort to make AP U.S. history classes more critical thinking-based, the College Board has modified the AP test, prompting curriculum changes at Whitman. The test no longer contains questions that require simple memorization of facts, APUSH teacher Andrew Sonnabend said. Instead, every multiple choice question requires students to analyze a document, such as a map or primary source. Furthermore, the multiple choice section of the test will be scaled down from 80 questions to 55, and a short answer section will be added to the test. “It relies a lot more on your ability to interpret and to make connections,” Sonnabend said. “There are no direct, ‘what is the name of this’ questions anymore.” APUSH teacher Greg Herbert predicts that the reduction in multiple choice questions signifies a shift from specific questions to questions about general historical themes. To accommodate the new exam, teachers will have to refocus their teaching from specific historical facts to broader historical themes, he said. The changes give teachers more freedom to teach topics they know well and want to teach so they can tie those ideas into general historical concepts, Sonnabend said. While these changes have only been made to APUSH thus far, it’s possible that other AP history classes may see similar ones. Social studies department head Bob Mathis said that history classes are reaching a point where there are too many facts for students to memorize— each year more history is added to a curriculum while none is removed. To combat this, AP tests will move away
way for Yik Yak, a gamechanger with its location element.
from memorization and towards critical thinking, he said. “I think this is the trend in all the history classes,” Mathis said. “I don’t see that changing anytime soon.” Teachers said the trend towards critical thinking is good because it allows students to understand history holistically and avoids straight memorization of dates and facts. “I love it,” Sonnabend said. “Looking at the sample questions that they released, I really think it’s more about understanding the big picture.” Mathis agrees that the changes are beneficial. If the changes do what the College Board says they will, most people will support them, he said. Some students, however, liked last year’s test and curriculum, believing that facts are instrumental to understanding history. “The facts that they tested us on were pretty comprehensive and I think were a good gauge of how well people understood the material,” said junior Samuel Arnesen, who took APUSH last year. “Obviously thinking questions are important, but I think the essays were sufficient enough to gauge that type of comprehension.” Junior Nathan Witkin, another former APUSH student, said he thinks a transition away from fact-based questions is unnecessary. “I think that learning history necessitates a lot of straight memorization of what went on, and I think we focused enough on critical thinking skills through document based questions and other writing assignments,” Witkin said. Students and teachers are excited to see how the changes will pan out. “I’m a little nervous because it’s new,” Herbert said, “so I’m not totally sure what to expect.”
”
Student-specific yaks are common on the app. “Once someone sees that a yak about someone is successful with many ‘ups,’ that person is continuously yakked about, and it just becomes this ongoing cycle,” junior Dani Nahabedian said. Anonymity gives bullies the courage to make offensive comments. “If you wouldn’t say it in person, why say it on-
line?” Smith asked. Students victimized on the app are afraid to ask for help, believing there are no possible consequences for the bullies. Principal Alan Goodwin also voiced his concern for those who don’t speak up. “It’s the silent sufferers I worry about,” he said. Although it’s popular with kids, most of the teachers and counselors say they haven’t heard of the app. None of the five guidance counselors The Black & White spoke to recognized the name “Yik Yak.” However, Yik Yak can be constructive when it’s used by its intended audience—college students. A quick scan of Duke’s, Franklin & Marshall’s and The University of Michigan’s Yik Yak pages revealed plans for late night pizza meetups, study groups and football tailgates.
“You appear to be using this too close to a school. Yik Yak is for adults only.” Essentially, Yik Yak is what users make of it. Throw it into a high school setting, with hormones, stress and jealousy, and the app is manipulated into the bullying app
du jour. Responding to criticism, Brooks Buffington and Tyler Droll, Yik Yak founders, blocked access to the app in high schools and made the age restriction 17+. Yet users under 17 can still download the app and post at their convenience. “We were a bit naïve in thinking high schoolers could handle it. To be honest, we didn’t even think they’d get their hands on it,” Buffington admitted to Wired Magazine. Yik Yak has caused larger problems for students from other high schools around the country. In California, San Clemente High School was put on lockdown after a bomb threat was posted on the app in March, according to the Los Angeles Times. Fairfield Public Schools in Connecticut released a statement in April alerting students and parents about the dangers of the app, according to a Fox News report. Yik Yak is certainly not the last hoorah on the never-ending cyberbullying timeline, but traffic is dying down as students are turned off by its negativity.
“Sally Smith... You da real MVP.”
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News
September 24, 2014
Laptops modernize social studies classes
photo by NICK ANDERSON
Chromebooks enable in-class internet exploration
Seniors Katie Sullivan and Rachel Ordan use new Chromebooks, which were provided by the county for use in social studies classes.
by Sarina Hanfling Students will be able to use new Chromebook laptops in social studies classes starting this year. MCPS launched an effort to add more technology to the classroom, purchasing 40,000 of the laptops and tablets for schools around the county this summer. This spring, the laptops will be used to administer the statewide PARCC exam, which will replace the HSA. Each high school social studies classroom received one set of laptops last week. Chromebooks are laptops that run the Google Chrome operating system, which works similarly to the Google Chrome web browser for the internet. Chromebook applications run through “the cloud,” so files are saved on the internet, allowing users to access them from any device. Each class has a cart carrying 30 laptops, which teachers can incorporate into their instruction as they see fit. Social studies teacher Greg Herbert said he was excited to have the Chromebooks. “I don’t have to worry about scheduling issues in the computer lab with the other teachers,” Herbert said. “I think it will also be
easier to communicate with students as far as them turning in work, me providing feedback and making sure things are done on a timely basis.” In other departments, teachers will have to schedule spots in the computer lab far before they know their plans, but having Chromebooks avoids these scheduling conflicts for social studies teachers. “Another huge benefit is now labs can really go for English so I think that’ll be a nice little domino effect,” social studies teacher Pete Kenah said. Recently, teachers attended training sessions on how to use the Chromebooks for taking notes, classroom simulations and group work. Applications like Google Drive allow teachers to monitor the students’ work and ensure that every student contributes an equal amount, resource teacher Bob Mathis said. While most teachers don’t know exactly how they will incorporate the Chromebooks into their daily classes, Kenah already has specific activities in mind. “We’re going to do a constitutional scavenger hunt,” Kenah said. “It’s going to bring the class
to life, using the computers.” Some teachers expressed concerns about students’ ability to access social media or inappropriate and distracting sites on the internet. While the school blocks certain websites, students still find ways to access things they shouldn’t, principal Alan Goodwin said. “I don’t want to be up there talking and see you shopping online,” Mathis said. “I’ll be able to monitor everyone in the classroom, but most kids here do what they’re told to do.” Students embrace the rapidly expanding availability of technology. “We’ll have the internet at our fingertips so we can find answers really easily,” sophomore Simi Gold said. “I actually prefer typing notes, so I’ll probably understand things better.” If the first wave is productive, MCPS plans to purchase an additional 60,000 Chromebooks by 2017, according to news channel ABC7. “We’ve entered a new era,” Mathis said. “I think it’s going to be great that we will have access to the world in class every day.”
General Assembly considers starting school after Labor Day by Julia GIlmAn Labor Day weekend is always a welcome break after a long first week of school—a time for students to adjust their habits from tanning to annotating. Next year, it could instead be a weekend full of pre-first day-of-school jitters. Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot has started a campaign to push back the start date of all Maryland public schools until the Tuesday after Labor Day. A Maryland task force voted 11 to 4 in support of the proposal, which the Maryland General Assembly will likely vote on during the January-April 2015 legislative session, said Christine Feldmann, Franchot’s spokesperson. If the proposal is successful, schools could begin after Labor Day as soon as the 2015-2016 school year. Right now, Worcester County is the only county in Maryland that starts after Labor Day, while all schools in Virginia are required to start after Labor Day unless
they get the directive waived. The tourism industry supports the later start because of the extra money it could bring to Ocean City and other Maryland travel destinations during the week before Labor Day, Maryland Hotel & Lodging Association president David Reel said. Starting schools after Labor Day could potentially generate $7.7 million dollars in tax revenue from tourism, Franchot told the Washington Post. “By starting schools after Labor Day, we would be giving families the chance to spend precious time together,” Feldmann said. “We would be helping our small businesses who, under the current calendar, lose both customers and a significant part of their seasonal workforce.” Educators generally oppose the change because it would push back the last day of school and adversely affect teachers and students, particularly in AP classes that have set exam dates in May.
“Schools in California and Texas have a good two weeks ahead of my world program,” AP World History teacher Wendy Eagan said. “My students are starting chapter three but I have friends in chapter ten. For AP World, it would really impact the amount of instruction.” MCPS Superintendent Joshua Starr wrote a letter to the chair of the task force in February that also argued against a mandated post-Labor Day start. “We firmly believe that starting the school year before Labor Day with a full five-day week allows for us to generate instructional momentum at the optimal time for our students, and the feedback from this practice has been overwhelmingly positive from our local community,” Starr wrote. In addition, principal Alan Goodwin said he is against a post-Labor Day start because it would force the school year to extend farther into June. Conversely, Franchot said even
with school starting after Labor Day, school could end near the usual date by reducing the number of days off during the year. “Every parent out there who has children in the Maryland public school system can personally attest to the amount of ‘soft time’ that is padded into the academic calendar – from off days that pop up at random and make no sense, to those seasonal breaks that last much longer than necessary,” Feldmann said. Reel said small adjustments to the current calendar can keep the last day of school in mid-June. However, MCPS attributes all days off to specific reasons, including religious holidays, the Maryland State Education Association Conference, professional days for teachers and election days. Next summer will begin on June 12, but for now, the date we’ll return remains up in the air.
By Elsa Bjornlund ASL 3 has been added to the sign language program to accommodate students who began taking the class two years ago at its conception. To meet the growing demand for classes, ASL teacher Cathy Horowitz joined the staff to teach ASL 1 and 2. McAleese was Horowitz’s daughter’s translator in high school, making for an easy and comfortable transition. Whitman is the first school to offer ASL 3 in MCPS, so McAleese has to create her own curriculum. She plans to report her feedback to other teachers in the county so that they can launch it at their schools. Every day, Quince Orchard senior David Murayama commutes 30 minutes each way to take ASL 3 at Whitman. “ASL at Whitman is a little different,” Murayama said. “The kids here are more respectful of sign language.” Each signer has their own “dialect” of sign language--some signs vary from person to person. Adjusting to a new
teacher’s dialect complicated the transition, Murayama said. “I think it’s good for the kids to see other signers, to get used to when they go out into the deaf community and see people signing differently,” Horowitz said. ASL has seen an increase in popularity because it is a unique and visual language, McAleese said. “There might be kids who have learning challenges, so learning a written language may be a little bit more difficult,” Horowitz said. “Because of the visual and kinesthetic nature of American Sign Language, it’s sometimes a better option.” Murayama started taking ASL sophomore year and discovered it was the best fit for him, he said. “I don’t particularly do well in Spanish or French,” he said. “I’m dyslexic, and ASL is a visual language so it’s something I took to easily.” Students can use ASL as a basis for future careers, Horowitz said. The teach-
photo by ELSA BJORNLUND
New ASL teacher and class satisfy increase in enrollment, popularity
Juniors Nora McIntyre and Angie Ames are enrolled in the new ASL 3 class. It was added to the program this year to allow ASL students to continue their sign language education.
ers hope to inform their students about colleges and universities that offer interpreting, deaf studies and deaf education programs. Murayama has been looking into Gallaudet University, a school for the deaf and hard of hearing, and Towson’s ASL program. “Now that I’m taking sign language, it’s popping up all over my life,” Lynch said. “I think that being a translator would be really fun.”
McAleese and Horowitz hope that the program will soon expand to include an ASL 4 and AP level so that students are able to take it all four years of high school, McAleese said. “ASL is definitely growing in interest,” she said. “It’s been able to grow to where we have the numbers to keep classes up and bring in another teacher. The kids are really enjoying it and having fun with it.”
September 24, 2014
5
opinion
Staff Editorial Central American immigrants should be welcomed in MCPS
Face time is better than FaceTime By Noah Franklin I have a legitimate theory that just as the deaf have learned to read lips, the smartphone-less and the naturally curious will learn to read thumbs. But until that happens, and I assure you it will, don’t use your phone while you’re talking to me. I was enlightened by a comment that Mrs. Crewdson made to my AP Lit class on the first day of this school year. She said, and I paraphrase here, that she has to get used to the fact that it’s now considered socially acceptable to use a cell phone while in a real-life social situation. No! Sorry Mrs. Crewdson, this doesn’t reflect poorly on you; your striking observation is just a poor reflection on the society you live in. A friend of mine coined a term for this heinous habit: Cupcaking. Yes, that’s a verb form of your favorite tiny edible fad. The idea is that chatting/snapping/browsing on your phone while being present in an actual conversation is like bringing your own personal cupcake to a party. Bring a nice layer cake or tray of brownies, and everyone at the party can chow down together. For those still with me in this analogy, that would be the equivalent of actually conversing with actual people. But greedily stuff your face with a scrumptious cupcake while everyone watches, and that’s no fun for anyone else. And so this would represent hanging out in the cloud while your lifeless body is stuck on the ground.
This cannot become a thing any more than it already is one. Because contrary to popular belief, you’re not that good at multitasking. If you’re looking _____ phone while _________ to you, ____ bet ________ understand about 50% ____________ I’m saying. While it’s an issue of rudeness and dysfunction for one-on-one conversations, it’s harder to draw the line when it comes to groups. I get that. There is always a time when you find yourself in a large group of people, and it just… feels like it’s time to whip out your phone. It’s safe to say though that most people know that mini wakeup call when you look up from your phone to find that all six of your other friends are also cupcaking. In this case, it turns into a nice little cupcake potluck, where everyone’s individually indulging themselves. And it seems fine because, in a way, nobody’s left out. But zoom out of that picture for a moment. That’s a sad situation, honestly. Social media is a beautiful thing, and we never have to be out of touch, but it still suffers a hard defeat when compared to actually spending time with people. I think we’ll all regret this if we let it get out of hand. The next time you feel a phantom vibration or an itch to use your phone as a crux, think first. If nothing else, at least let go of the classy unlock, swipe right, swipe left to mindlessly make sure none of your apps have wandered off.
In a foreign country, with hardly any education and no ability to speak the native language. Thousands of miles from home, staying with unfamiliar people. Emotionally scarred from violence and the journey to America. And attending MCPS. This scenario is daunting; yet for many of the unaccompanied immigrant students who attend MCPS, this scenario is real life. The number of unaccompanied minors from Central America who attend MCPS is unclear, with reports ranging from 47 students to several hundred. They are among the 66,000–and growing–unaccompanied minors who have fled from violence in their Central American countries to America in the last year, according to U.S. Customs and Borders Protection. Approximately 3,000 unaccompanied minors from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala currently reside in Maryland, the largest group, per capita, out of any state according to the Office of Refugee Resettlement. These minors, the vast majority of whom are teenagers, are staying with long-lost relatives, entering foster care or staying in shelters. They are trying to improve their lives and settle in a safe, welcoming environment. Adjusting to American school has been a challenge for many. A number of these students have had their education interrupted by unrest in their home countries. The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime found that Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala have the first, fourth and fifth highest homicide rates in the world, due to the prominence of gangs and the illegal drug trade. Violence has affected many of the minors psychologically, so many need counseling that may not be readily available in MCPS. Also, many of the students speak little to no English, increasing demands for additional ESOL resources. We have a an obligation as a community to support them. Unsympathetic to all of the minors’ difficulties, some people object to their presence in the school system. Montgomery County Council President Craig Rice said in a recent meeting that he’s received several messages from constituents objecting to the use of tax dollars to assist these minors. They complain about schools already being overcrowded, and say that the extra students with their additional needs will strain the school system even more. This is all true, but helping them is a moral obligation we have as a county. Governor Martin O’Malley has made it clear that we should not view the unaccompanied minors as immigrants. Rather, we should recognize them as refugee-seekers fleeing violence. It’s a humanitarian crisis as much as it’s an immigration crisis, and we must treat it as such. The county’s Multidisciplinary Educational Training and Support (METS) program, which helps students whose education has been interrupted, offers another effective tool for helping these minors. When coupled with ESOL or other bilingual programs, METS can provide vital support for the unaccompanied youths entering MCPS. These children’s situations have been tragic, and MCPS can help them adjust to their new lives. This can be done by providing more counselors and translators, or simply being understanding of their situation. There is no quick fix, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to help. We don’t know each of these kids’ individual stories, so we should respect them and remember the troubles they have endured just to reach the place we call home.
Volume 53, Issue 1 2014-2015 The Black & White is published 9 times a year by the students of Walt Whitman High School, 7100 Whittier Blvd., Bethesda, MD, 20817. The Black & White is an open forum for student views. Students and staff can pick up the paper free of charge. Mail subscriptions cost $35. The newspaper aims to both inform and entertain. Signed opinion pieces reflect the positions of the individual staff. Opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Walt Whitman High School or Montgomery County Public Schools. The Black & White encourages readers to submit opinions on relevant topics in the form of letters to the editor. Letters must be signed to be printed, though names will be withheld upon
request. The Black & White reserves the right to edit letters for content and space. Letters to the editor may be placed in the Black & White mailbox in the main office or the editor’s mailbox in room B211, or may be emailed to blackandwhitevol53@gmail.com. All content in the paper is reviewed to ensure that it meets the highest levels of legal and ethical standards with respect to material that is libelous, obscene, or invasive of privacy. Accuracy is of utmost importance to the Black & White staff. The address of the Black & White Online Edition is <www.theblackandwhite. net>. The online edition contact is theblackandwhiteonline@ gmail.com.
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opinion
September 24, 2014
Q&A: Should students take online classes? A teacher and a student offer their perspectives on the complexities of the issue By Peter Hoogstraten Junior Caroline Evans didn’t have to dress up for her first day of AP Language and Composition. She didn’t have to worry about her teacher’s first impressions of her. Not face-to-face, at least. This is because her first conversation with her teacher was via a circa-2003 internet forum. Evans’ situation isn’t as unique as you might think. Online education is growing in popularity across the country, and MCPS is among many school systems embracing the trend. The Black & White spoke with Evans, as well as social studies teacher Wendy Eagan, about online learning. Although Eagan has never taught an online course, she has trained teachers across the country over the Internet and knows several professors who teach online courses. How do you personally feel about online courses? Eagan: I think that the real joy of teaching is having the students in the room talking. I believe students should be learning from each other, as well as from me. I prefer the Socratic Seminar as a style of teaching, and I think when you’re face-toface it’s a completely different dimension than when you’re digital. There’s a human element that’s not there. There are some people who are working who want to get credit, and for those people I can see the rationale for an online course. For people who don’t have enough money to go to the schools that
you kids go to, it makes sense. It’s a more inexpensive way to earn a degree. Evans: My experiences with online courses have been, on the whole, positive. They offer an excellent alternative to the traditional classroom setting, with the additional benefit of flexible pacing. Do you think that online courses are an adequate source of education? Eagan: I don’t even know if I would use the word adequate. I know several people that signed up for these “.com” colleges, which I think are total rip-offs. So you’d have to be taking an online course, from my point of view, from an academic credited “.edu.” I think there’s some confusion out there, and I think there are some lessthan-credible companies trying to make money from education. Evans: Having taken multiple, I certainly hope they're adequate. In certain cases, aspects of classroom learning diminish, namely class discussions and the group projects. For literary classes, this can be a challenge. However, most of the classes I've taken have not had much analytical reading, so it has not greatly impacted me. And I don't particularly care for group projects, so online classes are perfectly adequate. Would you encourage students to explore online education? Eagan: That’s hard for me to answer because everybody is situ-
ated differently. There are so many variables, I wouldn't say ‘no.’ I know a student in college who has a chronic illness. For somebody like that it’s wonderful. Or for someone who’s overseas for their parent’s job. I think like any other aspect of life it varies from person to person, so I think it’s a question of seeing how it all shakes out. Right now we’re in the middle of this information revolution and we don’t really know where it’s going to go. Are people going to be speaking into their watch in five years to talk to their professor? Technology is going to change so much, nobody can predict where it’s going. Evans: I would recommend online classes to kids with good time management. Most teachers give more wiggle room on due dates, requiring entire units to be turned in at the end of a week. I had to be very careful not to procrastinate. So pacing is a must. On the other hand, online learning certainly helped me advance my time management skills, so you could take online classes to help with that too. Financially, the online classes are burdensome. For kids taking classes online to allow them to take different classes in school, the cost makes sense. It's a convenience cost. For kids who take it out of necessity, for whatever the reason, the classes should be subsidized at least somewhat. At the very least, financial aid should be more abundant and better advertised.
Do you think MCPS should raise more awareness about online learning as an option? Eagan: I have not explored those programs. But I don’t know how on earth you could really successfully teach AP World online. I don’t think it’s advisable for kids to take an online course during the school year. It’s not a black and white issue, as there are so many variables. It’s clearly something that’s out there that I haven’t had a lot of experience with. It’s a new approach to education, and like anything else, is going to take some time to settle down. Evans: MCPS should certainly raise awareness for their own online classes. I understand their reluctance to push the state-run courses, which are the AP’s, as the county believes the traditional classroom setting offers better instruction. I'd argue that like any class, you get what you put into it. So, online or not, you're not going to get a 5 unless you really work. Personally, I think the county needs to properly learn how to teach through this medium. Some things will not directly translate from the class to learning. Videos are one alternative, but they're costly and time consuming. Online classes are an excellent idea but need a little bit of troubleshooting to reach their full potential.
Unpopular opinion: In defense of summer work BY WILL ARNESEN As Troy and his compadres sing at the start of High School Musical Two, “What time is it? Summertime. It’s our vacation!” At most other schools, it’s more like: “Time for annotation.” Summers nowadays are filled with highlights, comments, readings and problem sets, all occupying time formerly consumed by summer jobs, vacation, or simple relaxation. But reluctant as I am to say it, that just might be for the best. Just to set the record straight, let’s disperse most common misconceptions about summer work. 1. “It’s just busy-work. It doesn’t actually accomplish anything aside from eating up my time.” I completely sympathize with this complaint. Much schoolwork is a ravenous black hole of useless goobledygook. Fortunately, summer work is not one of these meaningless tasks. According to one report by the RAND Corporation, students lose on average over a month of material they learned during school over the summer. The National Summer Learning Association found that around two-thirds of teachers spent three to four weeks reteaching material from the past year.
Fortunately, summer reading has been proven to be an effective remedy to the “Summer Slide.”A report from the University of Tennessee found that students who read over the summer gain a three to four month advantage in comprehending complex texts and analysis over their non-reading compatriots. 2. “The math is useless. It’s all just review that we go over in class.” Au contraire! If anything, the math is the most essential part of summer work. While there are plenty of chances to do some reading over the summer, the sunny season provides little incentive to take a crack at some trigonometry or algebra problems. So reinforcement in math is paramount. The research bears this out. Duke University professor Harris Cooper found that the drop in scores over the course of the summer was even more pronounced in math than it was in reading. That stands to reason. How often do you use sine functions in your everyday life? Without som reinforcement, all those trig identities go down the drain. 3. Annotations don’t do anything. They make me want to read even less The research is a little more sympathetic to this gripe. Most recently, Ron
“The Path of Knowledge: Beware of Pitfalls” by David Whyman Brown of the University of North Texas found in a study that text annotations have no effect on scores or on retention of the reading material, confirming much of the past research on the topic. But perhaps there’s another justification. While I hate to be a lackey of the English department, annotations aren’t intended to facilitate rote memorization or bump test scores. Rather, their purpose is to slow down the reader, to focus
in on specific parts and to more closely examine different elements of the text. In fact, a study published by Israeli researcher Gal Ben-Yehudah found that while text annotations had no effect on factual questions, they increased scores on inference-based ones. As Ryan sang as he slid down the bannister in that seminal Disney movie sequel, “it’s an education vacation.” Let’s just not forget the education.
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Homecoming Week is the week of October 6th-10th: Monday - Pajama Day Tuesday - Tie-Dye Tuesday Wednesday - BOTC shirt day Thursday - American Day Friday - Blackout Hallway Decorating is from October 6th-10th BOTC is Wednesday October 8th at 7 p.m. Homecoming game is October 10th against Damascus Tailgate is at 5:30 p.m. and kickoff is at 6:30 p.m. Homecoming Dance is October 11th from 8:30-11:30 p.m.
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Class Officers:
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Jonny Rasch, Rachel Ordan, Katie Sullivan Carolyn Hoover, Trevor Lystad, Selvi Ulsan Jaiwen Hsu, Michael Choi, Keara Sullivan Arianne Banda, Clara Ryan, Pablo Rothschild
september 24, 2014
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in-de
In a high school full of overachievers, devoted teachers, and dominant school sports, the Black & White—that’s us— tries to do the impossible: create a guide that will help you survive school. *results may vary
Insiders’ guide Advice from upperclassmen to underclassmen “Don’t play soccer in the hallways.” “Don’t worry about being hot in school, the AC always works.” - junior Jared Shapiro
“Go to your counselor before second semester starts so you can get the classes and teachers you want.” - senior Lauren Furst
“Learn the AAC rule. It’ll become your best friend when exam week comes.” - junior Kate Morrison
“Savor the final years of parents packing your lunch for you.” - senior Aaron Dane
The ones who made it out alive “Whenever you feel worthless just remember that your liver is worth $157,000 on the black market.” “When the number of hours you sleep drops below your GPA, reevaluate your life.” - Jessi Li (‘14) “In college no one gives a hoot what your GPA or SAT scores were.” -Michelle Huey (‘13)
Advice from alums to current students “Don’t forget to watch the “Roar” video at least once a week.” - Max Vogel, (‘14) “I can promise you no one will remember who was popular or the best singer or the most liked Instagram but will instead remember the kindness and humor of a classmate in a stressful time.” - Ben Bouvier, (‘13)
“Don’t decide that a teacher is bad because of rumors you’ve heard from other students, but rather consider they’re people just like you who may be wrong sometimes, but who might also have so much to teach you.” - Pablo Ramirez, (‘13)
september 24, 2014
epth
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by Lindsey Wytkind and Ariel Plotnick
Predator v. Prey How to tame the school’s most terrifying species: the teachers Mr Herbert:
Mr. Chen:
Mr. Schaefer:
Mr. Michaels:
“Don’t be that kid who kills his fish.” -senior Lex Payne
“There’s no way to survive it, just pretend like you know what you’re doing.” -senior Milani Chatterji-Len
“Well schooled in the art of sarcasm.” - Junior Zoey Berkovitz
“Laugh at all of his jokes, no matter how funny or unfunny.” -senior Becca Haven
Junior Year: You’ll cry. A lot. by Emilia Malachowski The elephant in every high school student’s room: junior year. It’s worse than climbing to the third floor after you just ate the entire last supper at lunch. It’s worse than exam week and even the noise your alarm makes at 6:30 in the morning. It takes a true survivor to make it out alive, so heed my advice: outwit, outlast, outplay. First, gear up for a battle with Lang. If you don’t copy every character of Owl Purdue in your MLA citations, rest in peace. If you don’t know how many blades of grass Plato wrote about in one line of The Republic, you might as well drop out
now. Next, sell your bed. You won’t be needing it anymore, considering you will be passing out face first onto your laptop, or even worse, on the toilet. Prepare to crawl to school after one hour of sleep, your eyelids sore from fighting a losing battle with drowsiness. Also, lose contact with all of your friends: who needs them anyway when coffee exists? Finally, make sure you schedule two driving tests instead of one in order to prepare yourself for failure (just in case). Don’t park 13 inches away from the curb like I did while parallel parking and fail... in Hagerstown. Beware the orange cones
of death and fight through the twohour awkward silence during your in-cars. Despite this less-than-happy advice, junior year is ironically one of the happiest years. You’re not old enough to apply to college, and yet you’re still considered an upperclassmen. Getting your license will be the most liberating event of your lifetime and the joint suffering makes for closer relationships with your classmates going into senior year. Warning: side effects may include misery, spontaneous sobbing, prepicture day breakouts, racing heart beat and Netflix separation anxiety.
Memorable Moments “Some big kids came up to me and my friends on the first day of school and said ‘are you a freshman?’ I was so scared and they were huge. I thought they said ‘fresh meat’ so I stuttered and stuff, but they eventually left us alone.” - freshman Andrew Leung “I was walking up the stairs and the people in front of me had an entire conversation composed of the word ‘but.’” - junior Caroline Evans
“I tripped while trying to jump over a chair while practicing for my english play in front of half of the class.” - sophomore Josh Millin.
“During the juniors vs. seniors dizzy bat event at BOTC, no one on the junior or senior team made a basket. I was the last to shoot and made it, but it didn’t count.” - senior Lila Hobby.
News
september 24, 2014
Junior smizes and struts her way into DC’s professional modeling scene
photo courtsey DAKOTA OLIPHANT-LINDEN
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by Lindsay Wytkind So you wanna be on top? Thousands of girls across the country only ever dream of modeling professionally. For junior Dakota OliphantLinden, this dream is a reality. Dakota regularly models for her agency, T.H.E. Artist Agency, in D.C. She aspires to be a full-time professional model after high school. Dakota has been modeling on and off her entire life. Fiona Oliphant found her daughter’s first modeling job after receiving several suggestions that her daughter should be a baby model. Dakota modeled until she was two years old for Macy’s pajama shoots in New York. When Dakota was eight, she ended up on the cover of a French magazine by coincidence. She was camping with her family when a photographer for a European magazine approached her and asked her to be in a winter clothes photoshoot. While Oliphant said that her daughter seemed to enjoy the experience, she ended Dakota’s involvement because she didn’t want the superficiality of the industry to negatively influence her. However, Dakota picked up modeling again when she moved to D.C. at age 14, this time independently and with serious ambitions, as well as with the support of her mother. “It’s great to see Dakota’s
professionalism, poise and passion when she’s working,” Fiona Oliphant said. Dakota hopes to take a gap year after high school to model full-time in New York. She dreams of one day becoming a Victoria’s Secret Angel. “I want to be an Angel so badly,” Dakota said. “I think that would be amazing.” At the moment, Dakota
“I’m just a normal person. I eat constantly and I wear sweatpants out all the time.” -Dakota OliphantLinden stays sharp by frequently taking jobs through her agency. However, D.C.’s fashion market is more limited than New York’s, making it more challenging to find work. The few jobs available are highly sought after, she said. “It’s really hard to get work, but since I’ve been with [T.H.E. Art Agency] for such a long time, I’m on the top of their list,” Dakota said. In an average month, Dakota will get two or three jobs for a variety of platforms, including magazines, catalogs, online catalogs and runway shows. The jobs vary in length,
resulting in many half-days and absences. Dakota’s schedule can be chaotic, but she does her best to balance academics with her career pursuit. “It’s hectic but my teachers understand and the school is really supportive,” she said. Dakota advises other prospective models to have an unwavering sense of confidence—the key to success as a model, she said. “If you don’t get a job, it’s not because you are ugly or something like that,” Dakota said. “You really can’t take things personally.” Another thing she can’t “take” are the clothes—a common misconception about modeling. Even though Dakota can’t keep the garments she models, she does get paid. As a model, Dakota hopes to disprove stereotypes surrounding her profession. “I’m just a normal person,” Dakota said. “I eat constantly and I wear sweatpants out all the time.” While modeling is a large part of her life, it does not define her as a person. She wants people to see her for who she is and not just as a model. “Just to put it out there, I’m really weird and modeling does not change that,” Dakota said. “It’s a profession, not a personality.”
Junior Dakota Oliphant-Linden in her project wedding photoshoot, put separate photo courtsey of Daktoa
Help! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up by Rose Pagano You sprint to the phone to dial 911. Wailing sirens surround your house. You swing open the door to greet your savior, and come face to face with that kid who sits next to you in math class. No, this isn’t a dream. In fact, it is very much a reality in Montgomery County. Seniors Liam Black, Ryan Graves, Patrick Hoeppner, Dominique Meier and Zach Winter are all Maryland-certified Emergency Medical Technicians who volunteer at firehouses across the county. As EMTs, they are first responders to emergency calls and administer the care necessary to safely transport patients to the nearest hospital. Any situation requiring more assistance than basic care requires that a paramedic accompany the EMTs; otherwise, they respond only with the driver. “If they’re cut, you bandage the cut,” Black said. “If they need painkillers, you can give them a small amount of painkillers. Whatever needs to be done is what you’re going to do.” To administer this type of care, volunteers must go through a strenuous process to become certified. The 110-hour-long program requires participants to take a college level course and score at least a 70 percent on each of the nine chapter tests. In Montgomery County, candidates must take additional classes on topics
ranging from cultural diversity to hazardous material operation. Volunteers also need to attain their riding status, which allows them to ride in the ambulance and fire engine, by getting a county physical, a background check and taking a class on the structure of the fire house, senior EMT Ryan Graves said. “An EMT must be someone who’s optimistic and excited about helping their fellow human beings,” said Glen Echo Fire Department Chief Herb Leusch. “For high school students, it’s a great opportunity to get exposure to emergency medicine.” Meier originally volunteered because of her interest in medicine and her admiration of first responders. Despite her excitement, she was still nervous on her first few calls. “I was scared I was going to fail, but once you get certified and comfortable, you know your things and all you want to do is do the right thing for the patient,” Meier said. On days they volunteer, the EMTs wait anxiously at the firehouse for a call for help. They normally answer basic calls, like assisting someone who has broken a bone, in the Bethesda area. Usually there are several EMTs and a designated driver over the age of 18, who is also a certified EMT in the ambulance. “In this area, there’s not much that goes on,” Black said. “It’s mostly just sick
courtsey of DOMINIQUE MEYER
Seniors respond to emergency calls as certified EMTs, gain experience in medicine
Seniors Dominique Meier and Liam Black volunteer at Glen Echo Fire Department. They, along with seniors Ryan Graves, Patrick Hoeppner and Zach Winter are all certified EMTs.
people who need to go to the hospital. I volunteer in P.G. county as well. There you have shootings, drug calls and domestic abuse. It’s a lot worse.” When on call, EMTs have to be ready for any situation. Awareness is key, Meier said. “On one call, there were these drivers on drugs, and they were just going crazy,” Meier said. “I was terrified and learned you never know what you’re gonna get when on call and you just have to stay alert.” Whitman alumni who were inspired to achieve EMT status in high school have gone on to pursue their interest in medicine. Former Glen Echo EMT Ashley Griswold (‘07) now attends Nova Southeast-
ern University’s college of medicine. “My patient care experiences in those couple years showed me that I did not get queasy at the sight of blood,” Griswold said. “My experience at Glen Echo was the greatest contributor as to why I pursued a path to medicine.” Griswold said being a certified EMT isn’t only about the medicine. “Becoming certified as an EMT taught me way more than the basic life support skills,” Griswold said. “I learned more about leadership skills, the sense of a greater community, bridging out of the Bethesda bubble, increasing my awareness of the cultural diversity of Montgomery County and challenging myself to some of the complexities of patient care.”
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Feature
september 24, 2014
Freshman displays “unmatched generosity,” donates food to help needy Westland students by Gabe Kahan It’s Thursday and the school day is coming to a close. As students rush to gather their school supplies, a few feel an extra something weighing down their backpacks. They peek inside to see a brown paper bag full of Ramen, granola bars and juice boxes to last them through the weekend. This happens to almost 1,000 students from 17 MCPS schools each week thanks to local real estate agent Jeremy Lichtenstein’s nonprofit Kids in Need Distribution. Founded in 2012, KIND distributes meals to students in the government’s Free and Reduced Meals program who often can’t afford their own on the weekends. Through what she calls the Westland Project, freshman Sophia Chirico has formed a KIND satellite effort at Westland Middle School. Each week, she provides food to some of the 145 students who would otherwise leave school on Fridays wondering where they’ll get their next meal. Chirico and her parents started The Westland Project after meeting Lichtenstein at a formal dinner where they exchanged ideas about how she could contribute to his cause. “I wanted to do it in a way that I really got in touch with my community, so he suggested that I start at Westland and take it as my own responsibility,” Chirico said. KIND has provided tens of thousands of free meals to students on FARMS, collaborating with MCPS principals and counselors to identify the kids and distribute the packaged meals. Every six weeks, KIND’s unpaid staff goes to the grocery store to buy non-perishable food and, in the fall, personal hygiene supplies. School staff bag these items and covertly slip them into students’ backpacks to be taken home for the weekend. Chirico buys, packages and delivers meals every Thursday to be sent home the next day. She compares prices, buys in bulk when possible and keeps the total price of each bag under $2. She and her parents are currently the only people working on the project, but Chirico is looking for more volunteers. As of now, she has bought enough
food to provide 35 students each week with meals for the next four to six weeks. Chirico’s family pays for the food, but gets a discount from a local grocery store, courtesy of KIND. She hopes to get donations for both her project and for KIND through future fundraisers and events in the Westland area. “It took me a while to think how much effort this is going to take,” Chirico said. “But it’s worth it because you’re helping all these kids and they really have nothing.” While it may be surprising that child hunger exists in this well-to-do suburb and distinguished school district, it’s important that people realize that this problem is prevalent even here, Chirico said. Providing food for students on weekends isn’t expensive—approximately $72 provides meals for one child every weekend for an entire school year—making it easy for others to pitch in, Chirico said. Last year, Westland’s PTA and staff tried to provide for the underprivileged students via donations, principal Alison Serino said, but they didn’t have the same success as Chirico. “Her generosity is unmatched,” Serino said in an email. “When Sophia stepped up to offer families guaranteed deliveries every two weeks, we were astounded. Her initiative regarding the fundraising and awareness about food security is remarkable.” Chirico plans to expand her efforts to include all 145 of Westland’s FARMS students and possibly help another school. Her goal is to help Lichtenstein and KIND in any way, she said. As KIND and the Westland Project move forward, Chirico said she appreciates any small contribution. Because the project is an extension of KIND, SSL hours are available to anyone who is willing to spend a few hours packaging meals or shopping for the students. “Any creative fundraising ideas, packaging, runs to the store,” Chirico said. “It’s all great and it’s all really helpful.”
UNIQUE ELECTIVES By Ariel Plotnick No matter how hard we try, personal fitness will never be as fun as yoga. Some MCPS schools offer entertaining and obscure classes like yoga to fill requirements.
school CLASS
Want to help? Contact Sophia Chirico at westlandkind@gmail.com.
Fashion and Merchandise Illustration and Construction: Students in this class will design and produce artwork and create a real articles of clothing using recycled materials.
Yoga:
Wootton and Walter Johnson have offered yoga for 17 years. Teacher Michelle DeLeo teaches five periods a day, each of 28-34 students, how to perform yoga postures and create their own yoga routine.
Horticulture:
Student enrolled in this class spend time gardening the greenhouse to learn about landscape principles and design and botany.
International Cultures and Cuisines:
There are only two periods of this international cooking course daily, and enrollment fills up quickly.
Medieval History:
In this class, students learn about the basis of Western civilization and the European Renaissance. The class is recommended as a prerequisite to AP World and AP Euro.
graphic by JOANNE CHOI
over the Years: the Evolution of the Cell Phone Policy By Sophia Higgins
The rules and punishments associated with cell phone use have continuously evolved over the past 20 years. As smartphones have become more prevalent, their role in the realm of education has increased dramatically along with the leniency of the policy.
Maryland General Assembly bans cell phones and pagers from all public school grounds.
High Schoolers may have cell phones as long as the devices are concealed and not activated during the school day. Families’ efforts to keep in touch with their kids on 9/11 helped push this policy through the state legislature.
Whitman students can use cell phone in designated areas during lunch only. Students may not call or text their friends who are in class. Students who have class during fifth or sixth period have to turn their cell phones in to the teacher if leaving the room during class.
Cell phones are allowed at Whitman in designated first floor areas between classes and during lunch.
graphic by MIKAELA FISHMAN
Feature
12
september 24, 2014
Local psychic: “It’s the future I can see”
Whitman students get fortunes told by Kensington psychic and question their validity by Sophia Higgins Some call it magic. Some call it clairvoyance. And some call it ridiculous. Upon hearing the term “psychic,” senior Skylar Mitchell’s first thought was Disney Channel’s “That’s So Raven.” Unfortunately, Raven Baxter is only a fictional character. But self-proclaimed psychics are available locally to meet those who seek their fortune. For Bethesda-based psychic Amanda Johns, extrasensory perception is a quality inherited from her great-grandmother. “She came from Russia, and she lived until she was 97,” Johns says. “She spoke seven languages.” Johns was seven years old when she discovered she had psychic abilities, she said. She had a vision that made her realize she could predict the future. “A family was looking for their daughter, and I saw that she was all right, that everything was fine,” she says. “It was one of those things you know before you actually talk to people--you know their situation.” All four of Johns’ children have psychic powers, and they are especially strong in the two girls, she said. But for now, Johns carries on the family legacy with an independent business started in Bethesda. Curious to investigate the local psychic scene, I follow junior Kate Schwichtenberg and sophomore Jacob Asher as they test out Johns’ services. Asher
doesn’t expect any accurate prophecies. “I think a psychic is usually deluded or a liar,” he says. “I’m not a believer.” I expect to walk into a candlelit room, walls draped with royal purple tapestries woven by gypsies in foreign lands. I expect to smell incense, emitting from delicate wooden sticks smoking on a table in a far-off corner. With these images in mind, I enter Johns’ workspace, and I’m caught off guard. The beige carpeting and lime green walls with white wainscoting are washed out by the afternoon sun. Aside from two white metal stools, the only piece of furniture in the room is a short white wooden table, its mirrored surface the size of a standard sheet of paper. Asher and Schwichtenberg are two of her four customers on this rainy Saturday. Since her business just relocated from Bethesda to Kensington, this is average. She said her customers are about 80 percent women ages 25-50. Only the psychic, the students and I occupy the bare room, located below a nail salon on Connecticut Avenue. From her appearance, Johns could be almost any middleaged muggle. She wears a lightweight grey t-shirt and black knee-length skirt, holding an iPhone in her hand as we step into the room. Three services are available
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—palm readings for $10, Tarot card readings for $25 and full psychic readings for $50. “The Tarot cards will tell you about love, business, past, present, future,” Johns says. “Palm tells about yourself, characteristics about you. A full psychic reading shows what you’re going through spiritually or emotionally; it’s much deeper.”
“I think there’s a reason people are attracted to psychic readings, zodiacs and horoscopes. It’s because even if you’ve gone countless times and you’re sure there’s little validity, there’s always that little bit inside you that feels like, ‘What if?’” -Kate Schwichtenberg Having just relocated from Bethesda to Kensington, business is slower than usual. “A good day would be about three, four people,” she says. “My clients are mostly women, about 80 percent. The women tend to be ages 25-50.” Schwichtenberg decides on the Tarot card reading, so Johns pulls out a deck of cards, handing them to Schwichtenberg to shuffle. Johns fluidly lays the
cards in a semi-circular array on the mirrored surface, continuously predicting Schwichtenberg’s future. Each card is unique, depicting a human or god-like figure in vivid colors. Johns can see that Schwichtenberg has good grades, for which her parents often reward her. She says Schwichtenberg will meet her soulmate after college, and the two will marry and have two children. “A lot of what she said aligned with my life, but there were some things that conflicted,” Schwichtenberg says afterward, reflecting on the reading. “She said I was very outgoing, which I can be among friends, but not so much with peers.” Asher chooses the cheapest option—the classic palm reading. His prediction comes true—the reading is no eyeopening revelation. The psychic, holding Asher’s open palm, immediately notices a deep gash, pointing out that he’s on a path toward injury. Johns can also envision him developing an interest in expensive Italian cars. She says he will be a ladies’ man, but he will meet one special girl with whom he will have three kids. “I was like, ‘No, no, I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a guy,’” says Asher, who is openly gay. “It seemed like a lot of the time she would just spew out enough words until it seemed like something would connect.
She’d be looking at our faces and seeing if we would react to something she said, and she would go along that path.” Despite her two teenage clients’ opinions, Johns boasts of her high accuracy rate, saying her customers are often shocked and surprised. “They’ll say it’s just so true, and they’ll ask me advice about how to deal with their situation,” she says. She mentions one particular couple that followed up after Johns offered them comforting advice. “They were getting a divorce,” Johns says. “I said they were going to patch things up, and that’s what ended up happening.” Other customers return regularly in search of answers about their lives, the psychic says. Some travel as far as 20 miles to see her. Although they don’t intend to return, both students enjoyed the readings and say they would recommend the experience for the entertainment value as well as the element of mystery. “I think there’s a reason people are attracted to psychic readings, zodiacs and horoscopes,” Schwichtenberg says. “It’s because, even if you’ve gone countless times and you’re sure there’s little validity, there’s always that little bit inside you that feels like, ‘What if?’”
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news
september 24, 2014
13
ATHLETE OF THE MONTH
Boys Soccer: Davey Mason “His pace is unreal,” midfielder George Xourias said. “No one can keep up with him.” Mason has played on varsity all three of his years at Whitman, although he missed the second half of last season with an ankle injury, Despite the injury, Mason scored four goals in six games and still earned a place on the All-Gazette second team. While not the most vocal leader on the team, Mason leads by example. “It boosts morale to have good players like Davey on the field,” midfielder Aaron Tanenbaum said. “It makes everyone more confident and comfortable.”
photo by NICK ANDERSON
by Arya Hodjat For those who miss being dazzled by spectacular goalscorers like James Rodriguez and Thomas Muller from this past summer during the World Cup, boys soccer has your fix. Forward Davey Mason has dominated for the soccer team this season, scoring four goals in just four games. He had a hat trick and an assist in a 4-3 victory against St. Joseph’s and scored again in a 4-0 win against Watkins’ Mill. His stellar play this season has inspired the Vikes to an undefeated record at 3-0-1. Mason makes his opponents look silly with his technical dribbling skills and blow-by speed.
Girls Volleyball Montgomery Gold Division TEAM
Montgomery Division 1
TEAM
DIVISION
OVERALL
PERCENTAGE
Churchill
3-0
5-0-1
1.000
Wootton
3-0
6-0
1.000
6-1
.667
Whitman Sherwood
PERCENTAGE
1-0
3-1
1.000
Churchill
1-0
4-0
1.000
Walter Johnson
1-0
1-3
1.000
Wheaton
0-1
1-3
.000
Whitman
0-1
1-3
.000
Quince Orchard
0-1
2-2
.000
Varsity Football Montgomery 4A South Division TEAM
Next Game: 9/29: 6:30 pm home against Quince Orchard
PERCENTAGE
Churchill
3-0
3-0
1.000
Wootton
2-1
2-1
.667
Whitman
1-0
2-1
1.000
Richard Montgomery
1-0
1-2
1.000
4-2
.333
0-3
4-3
.000
B-CC
0-3
0-3
.000
0-3
3-3
.000
Walter Johnson
0-3
0-3
.000
photo by NICK ANDERSON
photo by JONAH ROSEN
Next Game: 9/26: 6:30 pm home against Wootton
Forward Abby Meyers dribbles around Blair’s defenders in a 6-0 girls soccer victory. Meyers scored twice during the Sep. 15 game.
Varsity Girls Soccer
Setter Lily Carlson sets up a teammate for a spike in volleyball’s 3-0 thrashing against Springbrook. The have had the best start of any team in their division.
Montgomery 4A South Division DIVISION
OVERALL
PERCENTAGE
B-CC
0-0
6-0
.000
Churchill
0-0
5-0-1
.000
Varsity Boys Soccer
Whitman
0-0
4-0
.000
TEAM
Walter Johnson
0-0
4-0
.000
Whitman
0-0
4-0-2
.000
Richard Montgomery
0-1
2-1
.000
Churchill
0-0
3-1-1
.000
0-0
1-2
.000
Richard Montgomery
0-0
3-2
.000
Walter Johnson
0-0
3-1
.000
B-CC
0-0
1-2-2
.000
0-3
.000
Kennedy
OVERALL
1-2
Next Game: 9/26: 3:30 home against Richard Montgomery
TEAM
DIVISION
Next Game: 9/27: 12 pm home against Einstein
Montgomery 4A South Division
Kennedy
DIVISION
OVERALL
0-0
Next Game: 9/27: 12 pm @ Einstein
*Stats as of September 22, 2014
PERCENTAGE
photo by JONAH ROSEN
Richard Montgomery
2-1
OVERALL
B-CC
Girls Tennis
B-CC
DIVISION
Ellie Gill faces off against a Watkins Mill defender in field hockey’s 6-1 win. Gill snuck one past the opposing goalie during the Sep. 15 game.
Varsity Girls Field Hockey Montgomery 4A West Division TEAM
DIVISION
OVERALL
PERCENTAGE
B-CC
2-0
3-1-2
1.000
Churchill
2-1
4-1
.667
Wootton
1-0
4-0
1.000
Walter Johnson
1-0
1-1-1
1.000
Whitman
0-1
3-1
.000
Kennedy
0-1
2-2
.000
Blair
0-2
1-2-1
.000
0-1
3-1
.000
Richard Montgomery
Next Game: 10/27: 10 am home against Blair
sports
14
Freshman fills top singles spot for girls tennis
“Tennis is an escape for me. It’s a break from the outside world.” -Freshman Sarinah Wahl Wahl began playing tennis when she was seven, but it didn’t become her focus until she was 11. She couldn’t play contact sports because of several head injuries, so tennis seemed like the perfect fit. “Tennis is an escape for me,” Wahl said. “It’s a break from the outside world.” Wahl, who plays at the Carderock Springs Club during the school year, attributes her success to her calm style of
Competitive Leagues: 1 Recreational Leagues: 0 Montgomery County Recreation cuts funds to youth sports as young athletes shift to competitive play
photo courtsey SHELLEY DANE
by Caleb Friedman The girls tennis team came into the 2014 season looking to build on their 10-2 campaign last fall. Freshmen Maria Adiaconitei and Sarinah Wahl were set to play the top two singles spots and each of the doubles team were building chemistry. But after playing two matches everything changed. After securing the top singles place in practice, Adiaconitei, ranked 76th nationally by tennisrecruiting.net, decided that the commitment of the team was too large in addition to her training and tournament schedule. Her decision shuffled the team’s lineup before a number of important matches. “I didn’t have time to play high school tennis and train competitively for tournaments,” Adiaconitei said. “I didn’t want to miss that for five more weeks.” New coach Patricia Wayerski still thinks the team will be able to compete in the top division for public schools. “Maria has decided to pursue other tennis goals, but we still remain a very competitive [division 1] team,” she said. Without Adiaconitei, Wahl now holds the the top singles spot, and other players will get moved up a spot.
september 24, 2014
First singles player Sarinah Wahl serves in her match against Quince Orchard.
play. “I try to clear my mind, so everything else doesn’t distract me,” she said. “I talk to myself during the games to help me recognize the mistakes I’m making.” Six freshmen made the team this season, and three out of four starting singles players are underclassmen, but Wayerski said she doesn’t coach the younger players differently. “These girls have earned their positions because they have played a lot of competitive tennis,” she said. “Coaching isn’t different.” Sophomore Lauren Evoy, currently slotted in the third singles spot, says that Wahl is ready to play against the division’s best players. “Sarina is very consistent, she knows where to place the ball.” Evoy said. Evoy herself will be a big part of the team’s plans to succeed this year. A squash player for most of the year, Evoy says she plays differently than most tennis players. “Because of squash, most of my game is composed of slices rather than topspin,” she said. “A lot of times it helps because most players aren’t used to returning slices.” The Lady Vikes were 4-3 at the time that this article went to print.
by Benjamin Katz The team t-shirts and parent coaches have been swapped out for jerseys with company logos and coaches who were former athletes. Recreational sports have been sent to the dugout, with select and travel leagues coming in from the bullpen. Over the past four years, the Montgomery County Department of Recreation has reapportioned their budget and reduced funds given to all youth sports except basketball. According to the department’s director, Gabriel Albornoz (‘94), the rise in popularity of classic and travel sports leagues has led to decreased middle and high school involvement at the recreational level.
“It’s always good to have competitive sports because you are always challenged by your teammates and your competition to work harder and win. You always strive to be the best, so when someone’s better [than you], you strive to work harder than them and that only comes with competitiveness.” -Senior Andrew Cashmere “Kids at earlier ages are looking for much more competitive leagues,” Albornoz said. “Families are looking for more competitive environments, so the club teams in particular around Montgomery County, for all sports, have really thrived in part as a result of that.” Albornoz said students are trying to gain an advantage in one sport by playing in competitive leagues. He believes that student athletes specializing in one main sport has led to a drop in recreational league participation, and an increase in early college recruiting. “[Nowadays,] you see kids playing sports year-round, whereas before, you used to see them play on a seasonal basis,” Albornoz said. “Because they’re concentrating on those one or two sports, you’re not seeing as big a diversity of sports out there, and more
kids participating in more sports.” Dr. Caroline Silby, a sports psychologist at American University, believes kids should experiment with a variety of sports until at least 12 years old. “We cannot lose sight of the fact that unstructured and creative play is important for both cognitive and emotional development,” Silby said. Tony Korson (‘01), CEO of Koa Sports, a Bethesda organization that provides athletes with more intense sports leagues, said that travel sports have grown because of their professional coaching. “Many former athletes have decided to take on careers in coaching and personal training while in years past, they would accept sales jobs,” Korson said. “We have seen a spike in the registrations with Koa the last five years, as the appetite for professional coaching [has grown].” Athletes argue that playing in more competitive leagues lets them improve faster. Varsity baseball player Andrew Cashmere has played BCC Baseball since he was four years old. In fourth grade, he switched from a rec team to a select team he had to try out for. Cashmere said he wanted more competitive games and more practice after realizing he wanted to play baseball for the high school team. “It’s always good to have competitive sports because you are always challenged by your teammates and your competition to work harder and win,” Cashmere said. “You always strive to be the best, so when someone’s better [than you], you strive to work harder than them and that only comes with competitiveness.” Sometimes, the benefits from competitive sports don’t pay off for student athletes. Girls’ varsity basketball coach Pete Kenah said that most middle and high school athletes playing in competitive leagues might face disappointment as their high school careers come to an end. “The sad fact is that very few athletes go on to earn a college scholarship,” Kenah said. “So are these yearround leagues really worth it at the expense of playing [more] sports and doing other things?”
Loss of players doesn’t mean loss of talent for girls socccer by Anna Marcus Last year, the girls soccer team accomplished something that most teams only dream of: becoming state champions. But after graduating the three year top scorer Anna Gurney, All Gazette Co-Player of the Year Aliza Wolfe, and starting defenders Emily Martin and Bahar Ulusan, the Class 4A defending champions look significantly different than they did a year ago. But while the graduation of a number of key players would mean a rebuilding year for most, this is not the case for the Lady Vikes who still have an arsenal of talented, driven players. After starting 3-0, girls soccer looks to have another unstoppable season. The Vikes
have talent in all areas of play, and according to coach Greg Herbert, the younger members of last years team have matured, and worked hard to improve their skills in the off season. However, despite defending the state championship title, Herbert has the same expectations as always for the team, emphasizing looking forward. “I don’t talk about last year,” he said. “It’s a whole separate team, a whole separate season.” Because of the team’s personnel this season, Herbert decided to change the team’s formation from a 4-3-3 to a 3-52. The new formation lets the team focus more on their attack.
“We have a lot of midfielders, and not many defenders, plus two strong center forwards,” wing Clare Severe said. “Therefore, we’re suited to play a 3-5-2.” Forward Emma Anderson and wing Clare Severe will be players to watch this season, leading the offensive charge for the Vikes. The Lady Vikes’ back line of defense consists of talented players Lindsay Wytkind, Kate Morrison, and Lela Walter. While Wytkind and Morrison are returning starters and look to continue where they left off last year, this is Walter’s first time starting. Captain Erin McClanahan also looks to be a key player in goal this year. After transitioning from field player to goalie
her sophomore year, and leading the team to the state championships junior year, McClanahan will be a dominant force behind the Vikes defense. “I think over the past year I’ve become more confident in myself which has definitely helped my performance as an all around keeper,” she said. “Being defending state champions motivates me to work harder this season so I can be as strong as ever for my team.” The team also has a big underclassmen presence, with four freshmen and five sophomores on the team; seven of whom are new to the team this season. “Being a freshman on a defending state champion team is exciting,” forward Chelsea Cahill said. “I get to play with
with very talented players which will help me grow individually as a player.” The Lady Vikes’ biggest competition this year are local schools within the division, with B-CC, WJ and Churchill always being tough opponents Herbert said. In addition to individual players’ skills, the team’s cohesion will set the Lady Vikes apart from their opponents during these rival games. “I think this year we have come together more as a team and rely on each other more so than just one or two individuals,” Herbert said. “Everyone’s going to have to contribute, and I really think that’s a huge strength for us.”
september 24, 2014
15
Sports
Football adopts targeting rule from NCAA, NFL
Rule in reponse to increased concussion awareness making the game safer. Last year, MCPS adopted baseline concussion tests for all high school sports and assigned athletic trainers to each of their 25 schools to work with players and coaches to treat concussions, as well other injuries. For football, MCPS limited the number of fullcontact practices to just two a week. Since the new rule protects players from hits to the head, skeptics might assume it will lead to a spike in lower body injuries-especially after the Vikes lost three players to torn ACLs this season. When asked if there was any correlation, Kuhn said there was no link between the rule and the recent injuries. “It has nothing to do with targeting,” said Kuhn, “It just happens to be our unlucky year.” However, while Kuhn feels that protecting players from concussions is a good idea, he’s not sure that the new rule will completely solve the problem. “It hasn’t really affected us much,” Kuhn said. “We’ve limited the amount of contact in practice, but that has more to do with keeping everyone healthy than it does with the rule.” Among vocal advocates for head trauma awareness in MCPS is Tom Hearn, a former Whitman parent. Hearn, who has testified about the issue before the MCPS Board of Education, became active in raising concussion awareness after his son suffered a serious concussion during the 2011 JV season. “I’m not saying football should be banned, “ Hearn said. “I’m just
questioning whether or not a school system should be supporting an activity that undermines their primary goal of academic support by delivering brain damage to its participants.” That brain damage, according to Hearn, is not just due to repeated concussions and huge hits, but also the hundreds of smaller hits to the head players endure over the span of their careers. “While the rule change is a good thing, intentional targeting is only a small piece of the problem,” Hearn said. “The bigger issue is the repetitive head hitting that occurs on every down of every contact practice and game.” Another possible solution to the issue is the Heads Up Football program, which teaches coaches and players proper tackling techniques, discouraging use of leading with the facemask or head. While the program was adopted by other counties in Maryland, it fell through in MCPS due to liability issues. However, Kuhn said tackling techniques found in the Heads Up Football program are already taught during Whitman practices. While the full effects of this recent rule change have yet to be seen, the general response from players and coaches seems to be positive. “It’s the best officials can do to protect against concussions, without taking too much away from hard hitting football,” lineman Alec Spear said.
If a player tackles another above the shoulders, they are ejected from the game and suspended from the next game under the new rules.
Vikes have had three ACL tears this season photo by MICHELLE JARCHO
by Arya Hodjat High school, college and professional football share several commodities: devoted fans, passionate players and wild tailgates. However, unlike its higher levels, high school football did not have a defined rule to prevent head injuries until this season. In an effort to make the game safer and deter head injuries this season, the MPSSAA, the governing body for high school sports, adopted the “targeting” rule from college and pro football. The new rule penalizes players for initiating contact above the shoulder area. Any player who violates this rule will be ejected from the game as well as suspended for the following game. Varsity football coach Jim Kuhn is among those in favor of the rule change. “It’s definitely warranted,” Kuhn said. “Head injuries are the biggest threat to football and we need to figure out how to make the game safer.” This rule change represents a response to increased awareness of the possible effects of head injuries. Football players are three times as likely to die from brain diseases such as ALS, Alzheimer’s or dementia, than the average citizen. This is a result of repeated head trauma sustained over the course of their careers, reported a 2012 study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. For MCPS, the new rule change is part of a general trend toward
Jacob Pitsenberger, running back for Whitman Football
How to throw a football with quarterback Evan Smith
Stills by Naba Khan, captions by Anna Marcus
Step 1: Smith positions his left foot (his dominant foot) behind his right.
Step 2: He brings the ball back to his left shoulder.
Step 3: Smith bends his legs and takes his right hand off the ball, bringing the ball up with his left hand.
Step 4: Smith steps forward with his left foot and releases the ball with a straight follow through.
16
by jesse cao Mary Beall Adler, owner of Georgetown Bagelry, is an entrepreneur and creativity coach. She is a former gymnast and elite coach with expertise in choreography. Adler recounts her experiences founding Georgetown Bagelry and gives advice to students interested in pursuing a business career.
Q&A
Mary Beall Adler, CEO of Georgetown Bagelry, discusses experience managing a business when we got divorced, we had several businesses. I kept the bagel shop because it was fun, and because I knew how to bake bagels. I always wanted to give the business my touch. Before then, I would come in and help, learn and work sideby-side with him, but I didn’t have any kind of managerial control or ownership. B&W: What has been the greatest challenge you’ve faced over your years of bagel-making? MA: Not changing the recipe. It sounds simple, but not doing what everyone else does is probably one of the most important things I’ve done. When commodity prices and expenses go up, other people use cheaper flour. There are all kinds of things you can do to cut the costs, but we don’t do that.
B&W: How did you get into bagelmaking? Mary Beall Adler: I loved bagels, so everywhere I traveled, I scouted out bagel shops. About 35 years ago, my ex-husband started Georgetown Bagelry and I learned from him. We met in Georgetown Bagelry a month after he opened, and we got married a couple months later. I learned how to bake and mix from him. It was my love of bagels—that’s how I met him, and that’s how I got involved. I never imagined doing it myself, but
september 24, 2014
B&W: How have the challenges you’ve faced shaped your outlook on life or on business? MA: Disasters happen here-- powers go off and there are storms, and we just deal with it. There was that one power outage in 2011, and the power was out for a few days. We had no money coming in, but we still had to make payroll, and there were still bills that had to be paid. So I had everybody come in, and we had a huge cleaning session-- we got everything out of the walk-in refrigerator, and pretty much everything had to be thrown away. We saved as much as we could, but the power was out for so long that we just decided to start fresh. I was really proud of our team because we washed every bagel board and really sanitized the place. Even though we were down for three days, we took that time to do things that we can’t normally do.
B&W: What has been the most memorable event in bagel-making for you? MA: I threw a book signing about a year ago here at the bagel shop. I had never really done an event here, and it was such a hit. We put a little bar in the shop. We had little bagel platters and teasers and it was just so much fun. When the [troops] were coming back after many American marines and diplomats were killed in Benghazi, and the Chief of Protocol at the time called me. These people were coming in from Benghazi and they wanted food for the families. Before I even got through to whoever Hillary Clinton’s right-hand person was, I called the shop and said, “turn the ovens on, we’re baking bagels for these people.” It was food for about 100 people. So we did it, it was really nice, and they sent a thank-you note and they were so appreciative. Another thing we started doing a couple years ago is a 50 percent discount for all military members. all they need is an ID or an uniform. I’m really proud of doing that. A lot of people do 25, but no, give them 50 frickin’ percent off. B&W: Could you run through a day in your life? MA: I don’t spend a lot of time [at the bagelry]. I usually come in [to the bagelry] by four a.m., not because I need to, but just because nobody’s here, so I can sit and think. And then I go and do the books—deposits, marketing, a plan for growth. I’m also in business forums. One is the Women’s Presidents Organization, so I’m with these women who have these amazing businesses, and we mentor each other. I’m also a part of the Young Presi-
dents Association. Even if I’m not here, I’m on the phone talking to everybody, or I’ll zip in and zip out. I spend a lot of time talking to vendors, and I also try to get out and cycle every day. B&W: How does your experience as a creativity coach influence various other aspects of your life? MA: It helps me a lot with how I work with my employees in a creative way. I have them all going out for a walk every day in the middle of their shift. They leave their cell phones, and take thirty minutes to just walk and think about who they are and what they want to be in life. They come back refreshed. B&W: What’s your favorite thing to do outside of bagel-making? MA: Cycling, both outdoors and indoors. I teach spin at Congressional Country Club. I do a lot of century rides on weekends. I’m going to California in a couple of weeks to cycle in the mountains, and I also play piano. I love to read. B&W: What advice can you offer to students who are interested in going into business? MA: Get as much education as possible, because that’s something nobody can take away from you. With education, you don’t just learn about what’s in the books, but about people too. Especially in college and graduate school, you learn how to communicate and write well. B&W: What’s your favorite bagel? MA: Right now, whole wheat everything. Another one I really like that I don’t eat very often is chocolate chip.
HAM By William Arnesen
ACROSS 1.“Leaves of Grass” poet’s first name 5. Roach, for example 9. It goes well with green eggs 12. Alter ego 14. Milk’s favorite cookie 15. Early civilization: Mohenjo____ 16. Greatest reindeer rider of all time? 18. Dry climate 19. Born before the 37th week, casually 20. Wrinkled pooch 22. Scar 23. Actress Gardner and her namesakes 25. Down for the count, pl. for short 26. Coniferous tree 27. A wall might wear a paint one 28. Preceding mode or carte 29. Give out 31. Outshined 35. Forever 37. Five Seconds of Summer song 39. What funds Maryland, for example 41 Alexander I and Alexander II, for example 42. Charlton Heston’s org. 43. Wine valley
45. Beehive State native 46. Home to 4.4 billion people 48. Mac stock symbol 49. MV Teacher 50. Potential Iberian breakaway state 52. Years the French call the Trente Glorieuses 53. Largest Shia-majority nation 56. Light brown makeup color 58. Lots 59. Pre-Google Vista 60.“Robinson Crusoe” author Daniel 61. Finish 62. It tolls for thee 63. Make DOWN: 1. Stinging bug 2. Scaremongers 3. All-line group 4. Tuber tots 5. Renaud Lavilennie’s sport 6. Its end marks the start of an age, according to Taylor Swift 7. Author of the “Butter Battle Book”
8. Comedian Daniel 9. Marx Brother 10. Zodiac ram 11. Current Indian prime minister Narendra 13. Moonrise Kingdom’s Shakusky 15. The barbarian years 17. Goodbye, in Milan 21. 1996 Olympic host 24. Cell energy, for short 26. Disgust or outrage, say 27. Middle 28. Cash machine, abb. 30. Seventh planet residents 32. Why brass instruments are the hottest? 33. Basemath
34. Earth transport 36. Org for money geeks 38. Enzyme suffix 40. Prefix of the Radical Reformation Baptists 44. Sly tactic 46. Packers’ Rodgers 47. X3: The Last ____ 48. Marvel’s asparagus-like Young Mutant 49. What beef is made of 50. Quote, attribute 51. Moby Dick’s pursuer 53. Carbon Monoxide, for example, abb. 54. Fantastic Four’s Richards 57. However, in texting lingo