June 2011 Issue

WarriortheJune 9, 201133rd Year, Issue No.6

Sherwood High School

Inside: News: 1-4, BSW: 5, Features: 6-9, Humor: 10-11, Spotlight: 12-13, Opinions: 14-16, Wondering Warrior: 17, Entertainment: 18-20, Sports: 21-24

Recent cuts to MCPS’s budget have angered numerous teachers, including many at Sher-wood. Some teachers, driven by a belief of injustice, are speaking and acting out against the coun-ty’s budget. Numerous Sherwood teachers have joined other educa-tors around the county to partici-pate in “grade-ins” and marches to raise community awareness as the County Council determined next year’s budget. “We’re angry because we don’t feel the pain is being fairly shared. Teachers have already given up our pay raises yet we’re still being asked to give up more than other sectors,” said English teacher Gloria Condelli, head building representative for the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA). “Teachers are being forced to carry more of the budget-cut burden.” Teachers do not get overtime like other civil workers do, so while other county professions such as police and firefighters can make up for money lost from pay cuts, teachers cannot. Because educators will be hit the hardest by these cuts, many teachers belonging to MCEA

are taking a stand. In addition to “grade-ins” and marches, hun-dreds of teachers have written letters to congressmen, senators and county council members re-garding their dissatisfaction over budget cuts. “We’re frustrated because of course, we need to make a living for ourselves, but it’s really about the students’ learning condi-tions,” said Condelli. “If we lose teachers, class sizes go up, and the amount of one-on-one atten-tion teachers can give to students will go down. The classroom is really going to suffer.” The final budget was decided on June 2, and to many teachers’ relief, cuts were not as harsh as had been expected. Teachers’ pen-sions were raised by two percent and neither raises nor annual sal-ary step increases were given, but health benefits remain the same. Certain extracurricular programs like athletics will face cuts. Nine school technology support posi-tions will be eliminated, money allotted for school equipment and resources will be reduced and special education funds will be cut. “I think the public needs to understand that MCPS has made enormous progress in education over the years. But those gains

Teachers Stand Up Against MoCo Budget Cuts

(Top row) Sherwood staff Bonnie Sarf, Victoria Mannina, Barbara Hueter, Mary Thomas, (bottom row) Jodie Friedman and Gloria Condelli attend a rally on March 14 in Annapolis for retirement security and the prevention of budget cuts.

Technology education teach-er Don Gable is retiring from a teaching career that began in 1972. Gable taught at Sherwood for 39 years, which he described as the “fastest of his life.” After teaching thousands of students throughout his career, there is no way to measure the impact Gable had on them. How-ever, one former student, Steve Allen (’97), recently sent a thank you note to Gable in which he wrote, “When I thought I was go-ing to be an engineer you were the one who steered me in that path and opened my eyes to think about the world differently. When I discovered that was not the path I was called for, I decided to be-come a teacher. I thought about what kind of teacher I wanted to be and thought of you again. You were a teacher who would never let me take the easy way out and always pushed me to do my best, even if I did not think I could do

it …” Technology, business and consumer sciences resource teacher Jason Daigle has been a colleague of Gable’s for 15 years, and has observed the qualities that made Gable a memorable teacher for many students. “Two things that come to mind when I think of Mr. Gable are integrity and a commitment to doing what is right, even if it’s difficult,”

said Daigle. “In his own, low key way, Mr. Gable has instilled these ideas in many students and staff, always highlighting the positive work that others have done while holding people accountable for their actions, especially those that impact others. Making students think for themselves day in and day out is a trait that many current

Gable Retires after Four Decades Renovated Town Center Opens to Rave Reviews Merely nine months ago, Olney Town Center was empty. The newly opened restaurants Chipotle Mexican Grill and Five Guys Burgers and Fries at the in-tersection of Georgia Avenue and Route 108 generated more grid-lock about the crossroads than business. “Coming Soon” signs lined the streets while construc-tion crews chipped away at the brick that once covered the area. What a difference nine months can make. After a much needed facelift and a new name, the “Shops at Fair Hill” have formally re-opened much to the delight of the Olney community. Fair Hill has a new anchor store in Harris Teeter and new occu-pants Greene Turtle, Baskin Rob-bins and Panera Bread line its newly paved sidewalks. “I’m very pleased with the

by Olivia Snyder ‘12

came about not just from hard work, but also from increased funding,” said Spanish teacher Barbara Hueter. “So when you make cuts such as the ones that have been made, it is wrong to say that those cuts will not affect the classroom and the students. They will, and they will affect the quality of education that MCPS prides itself on.” As the County Council con-sidered cuts prior to its final de-cision, many Sherwood teachers, angry over the proposed cuts and the impacts they may have on Sherwood and their own fami-

lies, took part in organized pro-tests. “I participated in a rally on county council to call attention to funding,” said science teacher Glenn Miller, a Sherwood MCEA representative. “Educators and their families participated and marched. We like to think it made some sort of impact, but one can never really tell.” To challenge the belief that educators’ “easy” workday ends at 2:40 pm, some Sher-wood teachers also participated in grade-ins around the county. Teachers set up tables in local malls on which to grade their

students’ papers in order to show that their work day is much lon-ger than a regular school day. What much of the community does not realize is the work that teachers regularly take home with them. “People think our jobs are cushy because of the short school day. But the public doesn’t real-ize how much overtime we really have to work; overtime that we don’t actually get paid for,” said Miller. “We already volunteered to give up our raises, but we can’t afford to lose our other benefits. We have families to support too.”

new [attractions] and remodel-ing. I’m happy that they have the Greene Turtle, happy that they have Panera, so I’m definitely satisfied,” said frequent Fair Hill shopper Michael Kaczmareck of Brookeville. “So far I think [Fair Hill] is great,” said Susan Boltz, also of Brookeville, who commonly visits Olney for retail purposes. “It looks nice. They made some nice choices with the things they brought in: Harris Teeter, Panera and Greene Turtle.” Harris Teeter is arguably the most anticipated of the new ten-ants to open in Fair Hill. The grocery store replaces Olney Cin-emas 9, BJ Pumpernickel’s and Embroidery Express and was the first of landlord Carl M. Freeman Companies’ targets to agree to terms to anchor the redeveloped

by Maya Lennon ‘14

Retiring teacher Don Gable helps sophomore Jona-than McGee in Pre-Engineering.

see GABLE, pg. 4 see CENTER, pg. 2

photo by undetermined person

Paul Szewczyk ‘12

by Jacob Bogage ‘12

Barbara Hueter

TheWondering

WarriorReturns,

pg. 17?Spotlight

Exposes Cheating at Sherwood, pg. 12-13

The Warrior•NewsJune 9, 20112

News IN BRIEF

Executive Editor...............................................................................................Jacob Bogage ‘12Print Managing Editors.............................................Ellen Kirkness ‘12, Darby Whitehair ‘12Print Content Directors.........Jessica Carrera ‘13, Devin Cornelius ‘12, Rebecca Stussman ‘12 Print Managing Photo Editors........................................Brett Melnick ‘12, Paul Szewczyk ‘12News Editors................................................................. Connor Martin ‘13, Robel Wondimu ‘13Beyond School Walls Editor.......................................................................Nathan St. Pierre ‘12Features Editors.............................................................. Katie Nolan ‘12, Mandy Stussman ‘14Humor Editors........................................................................Ryan Coulter ‘12, Sam Farrell ‘12Spotlight Editor ...............................................................................................Olivia Snyder ‘12Opinions Editors..............................................Diana McDermott ‘13, Michaela O’Donnell ‘13Wondering Warrior Editor...........................................................................Isabel Paterson ‘12Entertainment Editors........................................................ Holly Cuozzo ‘12, Will Gavett ‘12Sports Editors.............................................................Jamie Langbein ‘13, Michael Natelli ‘14Print Fact Check Editors...................................................... Abby Inwood ‘13, Alex Porter ‘13Online Managing Editor...............................................................................Leah Schroeder ‘13Online Content Director................................................................................. Rachel Zemel ‘13Online Copy Editors.........................................................Christopher Jou ‘12, Arjun Singh ‘12Online Managing Photo Editors............................. Hannah Chertock ‘12, Allie Strosnider ‘12Online News Editor..............................................................................................Cal Wilson ‘14Online Features Editor.....................................................................................Vicky Florian ‘14Online Humor Editor...........................................................................................Vik Siberry ‘13Online Opinions Editor....................................................................................Asha Antoine ‘14Online Entertainment Editor..................................................................Briana Applewhite ‘13Online Sports Editor...................................................................................Hope Gouterman ‘13Online In-Depth Editor.............................................................................Amanda Woolson ‘13Online Blogs Editor........................................................................................Evan Schwartz ‘13Pollster....................................................................................................Amanda Harrington ‘12Cartoonist.....................................................................................................Michael Wagner ‘12Photographers.............................Bridget Cook ‘14, Taylor Fernandes ‘14, Mary Nickerson ‘12Executive Business Directors..................................Whitney Marie Halaby ‘14, Jenni Kenel ‘14Circulation/Publicity Director........................................................................Maya Lennon ‘14Advisor............................................................................................................Peter Huck

Sherwood High School300 Olney-Sandy Spring Rd.

Sandy Spring, MD 20860www.thewarrioronline.com

Fair Hill Plaza Reels in New Businesscenter. Construction of Harris Teeter took over a year and in-volved the destruction and even-tual reconstruction of the West wing of Fair Hill. Olney’s fifth super market, and second to open in two years, finally opened its doors in early April and is pleased with its newest location. “Olney has been great,” man-ager Brett Poole said. “We love small communities and towns where we can meet everybody and help everybody. Our niche is quality and customer service and that’s what Olney needed, and that’s what we provide.” “[Freeman] did a phenom-enal job [with the renovation],” he added. “The fountain is a real draw. The Greene Turtle is a real draw. I think it’s now the nicest shopping center in the area.” Customers also love Har-ris Teeter and find it a change of pace from traditional grocery stores like Giant, Shoppers Food Warehouse and Safeway. Customer ser-vice is excep-tional, they claim, and good prices abound. Boltz was a Safeway shopper until the grocery store closed for reconstruction in January. She tried both Giant and Shoppers Food Warehouse and found she was not a fan of either. Recently she made the switch to Harris

Teeter. “I like it here,” she said. “My first time I had trouble find-ing where everything was, but that’s to be expected. There were some pretty good deals and prices compared to Shoppers and more choices, and more variety, espe-

cially with the bakery and the

flower display, so I like that.” Existing busi-nesses are also reaping the benefits of Fair Hill’s overhaul. New retailers brought more pedestrian traf-fic to the center,

not to mention enthused Olney area guests and ultimately more business. Since the construction of the connecting drive between Olney Village Center and what

was then Olney Town Center and after the opening of Chipotle and Five Guys, Olney has become more accessible and more popu-lar among residents from a wider radius of communities. “Business is getting better,” said Sol Azteca assistant man-ager Freddy Ramirez. “Dinners are much more popular and lunch numbers are up. Like last night, it was crazy. [During the remodel-ing process] we still got the same people that usually come here but now we’re getting new custom-ers. Everybody goes to check out Harris Teeter which just opened and Panera too, and then they come here.” “But now parking is the problem,” joked Ramirez. “Even when the employees park around back, I have customers that park at Shoppers and walk down. It’s crazy.”

from CENTER, pg. 1

This new fountain sits in front of Baskin Robbins and Panera Bread, two new tenants in “Shops at Fair Hill.”

Mary Nickerson ‘12

On May 21, The Montgomery County Board of Education agreed on a new $2.086 billion dollar budget for the 2012 fiscal year. With this new budget, the county saves 168 of the 318 staffing positions that planned to be cut in the original budget. Sherwood regains 0.8 percent staffing that it was originally going to lose. These positions will be used to create an additional English 9 sec-tion, honors English 9 section, honors English 12 section and a math class that is yet to be determined. “I choose courses over enrolled that have High School Assessments,” said Principal Bill Gregory. The class sizes at Sherwood with the original cuts would have been 30 students per class, but with the .8 percent staffing increase the class sizes will drop down to 27 students, one below the class maximum. Many of the cut positions in MCPS are non-academic positions that include 51 staff teaching development, 34 media assistants, 34 office positions, 28 lunch aides, 20 reserve teacher positions, six spe-cial education teachers and nine academic intervention aides. The cuts amount to $17 million in savings, or 0.8 percent of the total bud-get. - Cal Wilson ‘14

Teacher Staff Positions Saved for Next Year

“We love small commu-nities and towns where we can meet everybody and help everybody.”

-Harris Teeter Manager Brett Poole

After voting in social studies classes this previous week, students found out on May 31 who will be the SGA and class officers for the next school year. In this election, five candidates ran uncontested, including the SGA Secretary. The results are as follows:

SGA President: Nicole JakobowskiVice President: Samantha CruzSecretary: Hope Gouterman (uncontested)Treasurer: Jess Beattie

Class of 2012President: Matt AbramsVice President: Jon BurnskySecretary: Steven JohnsonTreasurer: Abby Isaacs

Class of 2013President: Nikki SteinerVice President: Lia Kurihara (uncontested)Secretary: Katy ChiogiojiTreasurer: Evan Schwartz

Class of 2014President: Dino ZagamiVice President: Dean Emerson (uncontested)Secretary: Mollie Russell (uncontested)Treasurer: Emily Horwitz (uncontested) -Connor Martin ‘13

Officers Elected, Some Without Competition

Five MCPS high schools have been ranked in the National High School Challenge Index Top 100 List. These schools are Bethesda-Chevy Chase (59), Richard Montgomery (65), Poolesville (69), Wal-ter Johnson (82) and Winston Churchill (98). Sherwood ranked 346th in the nation and 46th out of Maryland schools. The Challenge Index ranks high schools based upon the number of AP or IB tests given each year divided by the number of seniors who graduated. Some MCPS schools saw dramatic improvement from previous rankings, including Northwood which moved up 326 spaces from 2010, Seneca Valley changed 232 places and Watkins Mill increased 117 places since the 2010 list. If this wasn’t impressive enough, MCPS also has eight of the top 10 ranked schools in Maryland, and all 25 of MCPS high schools fall in the top 56 of Maryland schools. Bethesda-Chevy Chase is the number one ranked Maryland school on the Challenge Index. - Diana McDermott ‘13

MoCo Schools Rank High Across the Nation

The Warrior•NewsJune 9, 2011 3

Farquhar Student Relocation Angers Parents

Farquhar students might be relocated to Tilden Middle School while Farquhar is being renovated. However, parents are not happy about the long drive to Tilden.

by Katie Nolan ‘12

A fair portion of Sherwood’s student body spent their middle school years in the halls of Farqu-har Middle School, which along with Rosa Parks Middle School feeds into Sherwood each year. Beginning in 2013, MCPS plans to relocate Farquhar students while it undergoes construction. In response to the planned relocation, Farquhar’s PTA has held numerous meetings at which parents have loudly voiced their complaints. When word of the relocation plans reached the par-ents, many of them were outraged and supplied MCPS with alter-nate plans. “We have provided the parents with a forum to raise their concerns. In addition to the scheduled FAQ meetings, there have been two additional commu-nity meetings scheduled where parents presented and shared their concerns,” said Farquhar Princi-pal Diane Morris. MCPS’s plan is to relocate students to Tilden Middle School during the modernization project of Farquhar, which will take two years. After opposition from the parents, other alternatives have been proposed by them that in-clude simultaneously feeding

students to Rosa Parks, Sherwood Elementary and Paint Branch. Purchasing adjacent land near Farquhar and building a tempo-rary space for students has also been discussed as an alternate plan to MCPS’s relocation plan. Parents of current students as well as students who are sched-uled to attend Farquhar during the relocation have come to to-gether to voice their oppositions. After informing MCPS that they desired an alternate plan during modernization, 2,000 citizens signed a petition. For many parents, like An-gela Edwards, building a separate building on-site is ideal. “I do not support relocation to the Tilden Holding Center and want MCPS to arrange for the land swap or build on the back of the current Farquhar site or if the kids have to go off-site to a holding center, a closer one,” said Edwards. The parents have raised the most concern regarding the travel time involved in relocation. Par-ticularly when relocating students to Tilden was discussed, parents were outraged at the travel time, which would be a two hour round trip during rush hour times. “If a child has to be bused to Tilden for two years, the extra time on a bus [over what their normal ride

would be] is the same amount of time it would take to drive to San Francisco and back five times,” noted parent Troy Kimmel. As a result of the long com-mute, parents are worried that other aspects of their children’s lives will be negatively affect-ed as a result. “There are many health concerns as well—lack of exercise and prolonged sit-ting idle. We are worried about reduced sleeping time which is crucial during these develop-mental years,” said parent Felicia Kimmel. Kimmel explained that students feel the same, as they

will have less time to participate in activities they are interested in. “They are not happy that they will have minimal time to do anything much past homework once they get home since most of the free time they might have had will be spent on a bus.” As the controversy continues, the Farquhar administration is be-ginning preparation. For exam-ple, when considering relocation, “We are considering the logistics of packing up the school, identi-fying bus routes, supervision, set-ting up the holding school,” said Morris.

“The parents have done a tremendous job advocating for their desire to build the school on site,” Morris added. “They provided MCPS with a number of alternative options, one which included looking at the adjacent land which may allow for a land swap.” The parents admit that mod-ernization is necessary, as Farqu-har is an old building; however, they find it completely unneces-sary for their children to waste so much valuable time traveling to Tilden. MCPS plans to reach a final decision in mid-summer.

Paul Szewczyk ‘12

The Warrior•NewsJune 9, 20114

Joshua Starr, formerly the head of the Stamford Public School system in Connecticut, has been unanimously selected by the Montgomery County Board of Education to serve as the next MCPS Superintendent. Starr replaces Jerry Weast, who steps down after serving as super-intendent since 1999. The change comes during a period of budget-ary stress and increased demands on teacher quality. Starr has not disclosed any imminent plans for change to one of the top perform-ing school systems in Maryland. “It is an honor and privilege to be the next superintendent,” and “to make MCPS a national model of excellence,” said Starr in a letter to Montgomery County School personnel. The new super-intendent has a four-year contract starting July 1. In March, the Montgomery County Board of Education re-viewed applications from 30 can-didates from 15 different states who applied for the position dur-ing a national search. From the group of applicants, the Board identified three finalists to inter-

view. A Community Committee that consisted of students, par-ents, multicultural and civic orga-nizations, employee unions, non-profit organizations, career and technology associations, special needs advocates, post-secondary institutions and county agencies interviewed the finalists. The Board conducted sec-ond interviews with each of the finalists. Based on input from the Community Committee and the Board, the preferred candidate was identified. According to the MCPS website, each finalist went “through a screening interview, reference checks, and a complete and comprehensive background check conducted by an indepen-dent third party company.” “[Starr] demonstrated that he is passionate about public educa-tion and the role it plays in the success of all our students,” said Board Member Phil Kauffman. “His educational philosophies were consistent with the MCPS approach.” Michael Durso, another Board of Education Member, said that Starr will be a “hands on” su-perintendent who will be “visiting schools, students, and employees to get an idea of MCPS overall.”

Retiring Gable Leaves His Mark on Sherwood Students

and former students respect about Mr. Gable.” Gable will be honored at a retirement dinner tonight along-side physical education teacher Gene Orndorff, who is retiring after 40 years in Montgomery County, including three decades at Sherwood during which time he also coached and was the long-time director and tech producer of Rock ‘n’ Roll Revival (profiled in February 17 Warrior, page 7). Ad-ditionally, Spanish teacher Sabine Hamidi retired in January after 36 years as a teacher with 24 of those at Sherwood (February 17 Warrior, page 3). Composition Assistant Paul Lasky retired in November after working at Sher-wood for four years. The Warrior asked Gable to reminisce about his long career teaching at Sherwood.

What drew you to technology and to teaching it? I was an Industrial Arts teacher when I started in 1972. I taught woodworking, general shop, architectural drawing and mechanical drawing until the cur-riculum changed to Technology Education in 1989. At that time I had to retrain to teach the new curriculum. In the new curricu-lum I have taught Pre-Engineer-ing, Technological Innovations and Communications Systems Technology.What have been other high-lights outside of teaching? I have always liked architec-ture. Architectural drawing and

my skills in woodworking have allowed me to create over one-hundred sundecks in the area. I built my first home in 1976-77 and just completed a five-year histori-cal restoration of a 100-year-old home in Virginia. What is the best part of your teaching experiences? Seeing people graduate, move on and hearing of their suc-cess—seeing students get recog-nition for their accomplishments.What will you and won’t you miss about working with teens? I like working with young people because they keep you on your toes. You hang out with old people, you get old. You hang out with young people, you feel young. I will not miss the part of having to be a parent for those students whose parents do a mis-erable job in raising them.What changes in education, good and bad, have you seen over the course of your career? What goes around comes around most of the time. Usually new catch phrases are just another name for what you have had done before or continue to do … More and more, testing and final exams take up more and more instruc-tional time. I have concluded that students really don’t care about taking exams. And teachers find increasingly that they wind up teaching the test. I have always thought the teacher’s role was to create the passion for learning, that learning is not only essen-tial but can be fun, too. I know it’s time to move on when I find myself teaching tests rather than people.

from GABLE, pg. 1

by Bridget Cook ‘14and Mary Nickerson ‘12

Starr “will make changes as need-ed, but in a very deliberate man-ner,” added Durso. Before his selection, Starr was superintendent of the 15,000-student school system in Stamford, Connecticut. He was named to lead Montgomery County’s 144,000-student system in April. Some have expressed concern that Starr may have problems in moving from a sys-tem with just 20 schools to one with 200. “We need to see how he translates from that small district to this large district. I think he understands what’s in his future here,” stated Montgomery Coun-ty PTA President Kristin Treble in a May 11 WUSA newscast. Nearly everyone agrees that a shrunken budget is the major issue facing Starr for the foresee-able future. According to Chris-topher S. Barclay, President of the Board of Education, MCPS has made more than $300 mil-lion in difficult cuts over the past three years. Starr is going to have to make do with less. Starr “will need to manage a school system that is growing in enrollment, as well as an increasing number of children with intense needs, with diminishing resources,” said

Kauffman. In addition, Starr inherits a strained relationship between the Montgomery County Board of Education and the Maryland State Department of Education. Weast and outgoing State Super-intendent of Schools Nancy S. Grasmick, who will retire in June, had differences over Maryland’s participation in the federal Race to the Top school reform grant. Montgomery County was one of two school districts in Maryland to opt out of the Race to the Top program, a decision which cost county schools $12 million. Starr

has the opportunity to promote Montgomery County’s successful system as a model for Race to the Top program in Maryland. “It’s a question of looking to what we know works,” stated Maryland State Delegate Eric G. Luedtke in a May 4 Gazette article. Starr, in an interview re-ported on WUSA by Delia Gon-calves, seems ready to continue in the path Weast has taken for the last twelve years. “Equity means very high standard for all children and giving teachers the right tools for success so that all children can achieve it,” Starr stated.

The new superintendent of MCPS, Joshua Starr, will begin his tenure on July 1 of this year.

Teen Job Market Thrives in Olney

by Ryan Coulter ‘12

Junior Max Fader slips on his gloves at the serving line at Panera Bread in Fair Hill Plaza.

Starr Named Incoming School Superintendent

mcpsmd.org

In previous years, landing a summer job has been almost a rite of passage for high school students. However, in a lingering recession with unemployment rates at about 10 percent, finding a job can be a challenge. With-out searching early, high school students nationally, especially those who waited too long to be-gin their job search, have found themselves struggling to find a part-time job to fund their sum-mer activities. Surprisingly bucking this trend, Olney has become a hot spot for youth employment as a number of new establishments, from brand new grocery stores to gourmet pet food shops, has opened over the past year. For students looking for employment, the key is to apply as soon as the stores open for business. “I think a lot of kids wait until school’s nearly out to find jobs, which is why so many kids don’t succeed,” said junior Cait-lin Kyber who got a job in April at Cheeburger Cheeburger. Students do not always have the most impressive resumés due to their lack of real world expe-rience; therefore, they are imme-diately at a disadvantage to those who have graduated high school, college or have worked a full time job. With more adults losing jobs in a lingering recession, teens are hit even harder with unemploy-ment because of older people’s willingness to take on jobs that are traditionally thought of as low paying or youth jobs. Youth and lack of experience

can be an advantage, however, in the hospitality and retail arenas. In fact, some employers show a preference to youthful appli-cants because they draw in large crowds that are willing to spend their parent’s money. Through lively youthful fac-es, businesses can better attract customers because it makes them feel welcome and gives them a sense of comfort. Junior Max Fader seems to fit this description perfectly. “In our little town of Olney, commu-nity is a big thing,” said Fader. “Having bright young faces that a customer may or may not know is a comforting feeling.” Fader was employed in May at Fair Hill Plaza’s newly built eatery, Panera Bread. “Olney is very community based, which I think has a lot to do with the fact that many local kids can rely on landing jobs in our area,” added Kyber. With the opening of so many

new establishments, Fader be-lieves that students can find work. “It was not really hard to get a job,” he said. “There are so many restaurants that are hiring right now that all I really had to do was turn in an application and sit down for an interview to get the job.” Due to the location, along with obtaining a job with ease, many local high school students enjoy the short travel to work. “I am so excited to work in Olney. Cheeburger is only five minutes away, which means much less time and money is wasted on commuting,” said Kyber. While nationally teens face the most competitive summer they have had to deal with to date, Olney seems to stick out as an ex-ception. With an excess of restau-rants and dessert stops, little more than a simple application gets teens that one job to get them out of the house and into a uniform this summer.

Brett Melnick ‘12

The Warrior•Beyond School WallsJune 9, 2011 5

May 1, 2011 will go down in history as the day that President Barack Obama announced that an operation to find and kill Osama bin Laden was a success. This is an event that affects almost every person in America, especially the current generation of students at Sherwood who have grown up in an age of terror brought on by the vicious attacks on 9/11 and the twisted ideals of a man who has become a real-life villain. “[bin Laden] was the face of terror,” said junior Tyler Ro-driguez, who lived in New York during the attacks on September 11 and was happy that bin Laden was found but not necessarily happy that he had to be killed. “The hurt is still there,” continued Rodriguez, who lost an uncle dur-ing the attacks and believes that the death of the victims can never be avenged. Still, he believes the death of bin Laden helps alleviate some of the pain. While bin Laden’s death

doesn’t affect everyone’s every-day life, it will shape the lives of the generation that grew up in this age of terror. His death does not have an impact on this generation solely because of the constant sense of alertness people had to adopt, but also because he created stereotypes that have troubled al-most every Muslim in America, especially those who do not re-m e m b e r a lot from b e f o r e 9/11. “Muslims [ s e e m ] to equal terror is t jokes in the eyes of Ameri-cans,” said sophomore Karimat Affinnih, a Muslim student. “[bin Laden’s death] makes me feel relieved that he is not hurting people anymore,” said Affinnih. However, she believes that this event still puts Muslims under the spotlight, and she is not nec-essarily sure that bin Laden’s

death will affect public opinion of Muslims that much. While bin Laden’s death has an effect on high school students across the country, it has greater meaning for Sherwood students, especially, because of the school’s proximity to the Pentagon, one of the buildings attacked on 9/11. This could cause some major distress in the Sherwood student

body be-c a u s e m a n y students have par-ents who work at the Pen-tagon or p l a c e s like it,

meaning they have to live with a constant concern for their par-ents’ safety. One of these students is ju-nior Anne Stout, whose father works for the National Security Agency (NSA). “[The govern-ment] over-publicized the good things [about bin Laden’s death]

but they under-played the nega-tive repercussions that the death of bin Laden could have,” said Stout. However, even though bin Laden’s death touches certain in-dividuals more due to where they are from, their race, religion, or what their parents do for a living, it is blatantly obvious that this event has had an impact in some way, shape or form on every stu-dent attending Sherwood and any other high school in the country. There is no greater evidence of how far reaching this event was than the pages of social network-ing sites like Facebook or Twit-ter. Within the hour Obama an-nounced bin Laden’s death these sites were flooded with varying opinions of the situation. Whether the comments were praising the efforts of the United States gov-ernment or rebuking the fact that everyone seems to be celebrating the death of another human be-ing, it became clear that the death of bin Laden has its own signifi-cance to a generation of students across the country.

by Will Gavett ‘12 and Asha Antoine ‘14

by Connor Martin ‘13 Barack Obama has led the United States for two and a half years now, during which time his administration has accomplished several extremely important vic-tories and suffered harsh defeats. Over the next 17 months, all of Obama’s efforts will be evaluated as he runs for re-election. Even if the 2012 presidential race is his to win, Obama and his team can’t take anything for granted. During Obama’s presi-dency, he signed and therefore established the health care law, (“Obamacare”), set a withdrawal date for troops in Afghanistan, signed the bill that lifted the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy in the military, nominated two Supreme Court Justices, and au-thorized a mission that ultimately led to the demise of Osama bin Laden. So far, Obama certainly can make the case that he has done a lot. In terms of his ap-proval rating, he has stayed pretty consistent around 50 percent ap-proval according to Gallup polls nationwide. He has only dropped about 15 percent in approval since he took office, which has gener-ally the same dip that happened to most of the last 12 presidents. Eight of those presidents won re-election. Nevertheless, there are many reasons why whichever Republi-can candidate that ends up taking on the Democratic giant could win. Obama promised an entire group of policies that have not yet been fulfilled. Obama prom-ised to fix the economy, but yet the debt ceiling has risen, the economy is still suffering through the recession and unemployment has plateaued at around nine per-cent. His health care bill that was supposed to solve the problems of millions of Americans has only caused controversy so far, as its legality is expected to be decided by the Supreme Court. On top of that, Obama has not fulfilled his promises to shut down Guanta-namo Bay, unite Republicans and Democrats for a bipartisan Wash-ington and reform immigration laws. With all of those issues still weighing him down, many of his supporters have been left disap-pointed. In a sharply partisan climate in which nearly half of Americans will vote for Obama and nearly half will vote for his opponent, the 2012 race could well be de-cided by the ever shrinking pool of voters who are still undecided.

The GOPCandidates

Will ObamaPull Out A 2012 Win?

In Gallup polling since 1952, Republican Party nomination races always featured a clear front-runner at this stage of the presidential campaign. With 17 months to go until the 2012 elections, the battle for the Repub-lican nomination for president is wide-open. Much of the reason for the uncertainty is that the Republican Party itself is divided. Polls show a socioeconomic divide within the Republican Party with differing views on critical national issues. The data indicates that upscale, more educated voters prefer candidates with a moderate platform on the issues. Voters without college degrees, with lower scale incomes favor candidates with the most conservative fiscal and social views. Thus the candidates are finding it difficult to gain front runner status when they need to appeal to vastly different elements within the party.

to restructure Medicare into a voucher system. While attempt-ing to keep Ryan’s mostly un-popular plan at a distance to at-tract moderate independents to his campaign, Pawlenty has felt compelled to pledge support for the plan to keep his GOP conser-vative base.

and the country to rally behind a candidate with Mormon reli-gious beliefs; and will his 2006 healthcare reform for the state of Massachusetts, which also has an “individual mandate” to purchase insurance, similar to Obama’s plan, contribute to the split in the party?

Why he’ll win: Romney, a for-mer governor of Massachusetts, was McCain’s top competitor for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, and he is the most nationally well known candidate. When polled, GOP conservative voters and those who characterize themselves as more moderate or Republican-leaning independents favor Romney.What worries Republicans: Unless Romney can hold onto his base of educated, higher-income voters while also selling a conser-vative platform, he is unlikely to succeed in his quest for the office. His candidacy hinges on two key questions: can he get his party

by Amanda Harringon ‘12

Tim Pawlenty Mitt Romney

Newt Gingrich Jon Huntsman Ron PaulRick SantorumWhy he’ll win: Huntsman is a fiscal conservative, former U.S. Ambassador to China and a for-mer Governor of Utah. He has conservative to moderate posi-tions on some social issues like gay rights which positions him as a center right Republican that can hold onto conservative swing voters. What worries Republicans: He is a relatively unknown figure and would need to market a well defined conservative platform on key issues to separate himself from President Obama who chose him to be ambassador. Since he has a moderate opinion on many social issues, he may not appeal to strong right wing voters.

Why he’ll win: Paul has amassed a passionate follow-ing for his libertarian positions on critical issues such as foreign affairs and domestic monetary policy. Libertarians embrace indi-vidual responsibility, oppose gov-ernment bureaucracy and taxes, tolerate diverse lifestyles, support the free market and defend civil liberties.What worries Republicans: Research shows that Libertarians represent only 10-20 percent of the American voting base. There-fore, Paul attempted to join a co-alition with the Republican party. However, this strategy has proven to be a challenging fit with a plat-form that promotes legalization of drugs and calls for a sudden end to the “War on Terror.”

Why he’ll win: The Senator from Pennsylvania, Santorum is known for his confrontational, partisan style of politics. He has openly stated his strong op-position to amnesty for illegal immigrants and believes that Islamic “fascism” is the great-est challenge of our generation. These views mirror those of the Republican grass roots.What worries Republicans: How does one recover from the worst defeat of an incumbent in a Senate election in 30 years? Clearly his message did not res-onate in Pennsylvania, seen as a key battleground state. If he cannot hold on to his position as Senator of Pennsylvania, how can he expect to have nationwide ap-peal?

Why he’ll win: The former Minnesota governor, Pawlenty is a staunch fiscal and social con-servative who has mass appeal to the right wing of the party. He thinks Social Security and Medi-care need to be cut to balance the federal budget. He opposes abor-tion and thinks the United States Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade wrongly.What worries Republicans: His message fits well within the GOP but has no legs with mod-erate Republicans and indepen-dents. This is indicated by the recent polls that show a backlash by moderate independents against Representative Paul Ryan’s plan

Why he’ll win: During his term as Republican Speaker of the House from 1995-1999, Gingrich led a so-called “Republican Rev-olution” and Congress produced welfare reform, cut the capital gains tax and passed the first bal-anced budget since 1969. What worries Republicans: Gingrich carries significant per-sonal baggage that led to his de-cline in politics, including dating his current third wife while still married to his second wife. Gin-grich also labeled Representative Paul Ryan’s plan for reducing the federal deficit as “Right-Wing Social Engineering” which makes him unpopular with party loyal-ists who see Ryan’s plan as a le-gitimate blueprint for restructur-ing the economy.

Growing Up in The Age of Terror

“[The government] over-publi-cized the good things [about bin Laden’s death] but they under-played the negative repercussions that the death of bin Laden could have,” ~Junior Anne Stout

netrightdaily.com

caica.org

The Warrior•FeaturesJune 9, 20116

Juniors Begin Search for Collegeby Holly Cuozzo ‘12

Exploring College Options Through Summer Programsby Rebecca Stussman ‘12

The end of the school year marks a time of great freedom and relief. Summer break pro-vides students with a well-de-served opportunity to relax and have fun without the threat of looming deadlines or dishearten-ing grades. Yet amidst this season of refreshment, many students, especially rising seniors, choose to increase their academic experi-ence and enroll in precollege pro-grams in interests ranging from writing to biology. Current junior Alyssa Lesho first discovered the benefits of pre-college programs last sum-mer when she participated in an on-campus summer course for high school students at Columbia University in New York City. Le-sho attended classes in her chosen focus of Advanced Creative Writ-ing and found her experience extremely rewarding, providing both a newfound sense of free-dom and valuable insights into college life. “I spent three weeks in New York City, writing and exploring Manhattan. I was entirely inde-pendent. It was the best three weeks of my life,” said Lesho, who looks forward to attending another on-campus pre-college program this summer, this time at Cornell University. At Cornell, Lesho will focus not in Creative Writing but rather in Computer Science, a major which she feels will provide her with more stable career opportunities after college. Lesho will also have the opportu-nity to earn college credit for her class work, an option that was not available in her program at Co-lumbia last summer. Like Lesho, juniors Brian Fanelli and Stephanie Golding look to gain college experience

by participating in pre-college programs, although they will at-tend the more local University of Maryland in its Young Scholars and Jump Start Programs, respec-tively. Fanelli, who chose to live on campus in Maryland dorms for the duration of his three-week course in biotechnology, decid-ed to participate in Maryland’s Young Scholars program to bet-ter prepare for college and learn about his intended major. “[This jump start program] will show colleges that I have experience with campus life and it gets me ahead by giving me credits for a class I will take in college,” said Fanelli. “I want to learn about biology and biochem-istry, which I find really interest-ing.” Like Fanelli, Golding’s in-terests lie in the biological field, but she has a more medical focus, and will participate in Maryland’s weeklong Jump Start program in biomedical science. “[The program] will help me get into college and also it’s really inter-esting. I’m into medicine, and I’m planning on doing pre-med in college … so I want to learn about [medicine and biology].” Eric Johnson, assistant direc-tor of Maryland’s Young Scholars Program, thinks the greatest ben-efits of precollege programs are the preparation they offer into the actual college experience. “The Young Scholars Program is de-signed to challenge students aca-demically and to prepare them for the time they spend outside of the classroom,” said Johnson. “This program allows them to dem-onstrate [their] potential while learning to exercise good time management and to cope with a schedule that isn’t completely dictated by their parents or their school.”

As students of the Class of 2012 begin to search for and ap-ply to colleges, stress begins to bombard them. As underclass-men, college seemed like such an unreal thing, but all of the sudden it is the fast-approaching reality that can no longer be pushed to the side. Some juniors have yet to begin to search for colleges, while others already have their top and safety schools picked out. Regardless of how far one has come on one’s search, assis-tance is always available, whether the recipient wants it or not. Al-though this can help make the college search process more bearable, it remains nevertheless a painful and frightening ordeal. “I knew that I would have a lot on my plate for my senior year with juggling academic class-es, honor societies, a job, a social life and college applications, but I have to say it wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be,” said Payton Clark, a graduated senior who will attend Towson University to major in biology. Although the college search and application process can seem overwhelming, Sherwood staff members offer helpful resources that make this process seem less like a NASCAR race track that goes around and around but gets one nowhere and more like an ex-citing cross-country road trip that may take a lot of time, but offers plenty of benefits. “[I’m afraid that students] don’t start planning soon enough ahead ... My fear is that they come into our office forgetting [the resources that they are given in their sophomore years] or just not being prepared,” said coun-selor Erin McKenna.

Beginning in sophomore year, students have the opportu-nity to access a Naviance website, known as “TCCI Family connec-tions,” which McKenna deems one of the most helpful websites and the best place to start one’s college search. However, students may or may not use this website for various reasons. “Some kids use [Naviance] a lot and some don’t and [many don’t use it until] it’s almost time [to decide] ... It involves partici-pation on their part, or they just forget about it—that’s the big one,” said Joe Hock, Career In-formation Coordinator.

The college search process can be easy and fairly painless if the student has the right out-look and ambition; no teacher or counselor can do the search for a student, but they can help anyone on his or her track to the perfect college. However, once a student has found his or her top schools and safety schools, the road trip comes to an exciting close. Unfortunately for the san-ity of rising seniors, colleges are about much more than the hunt; once a student gets his list of schools, he must apply, find fi-nancial aid (in some cases), find scholarships (in most cases), take standardized tests, write essays, get teacher recommendations and finalize everything about his high school career before the ac-tual college experience is even a twinkle in his eye—although it is never too soon to jump up and down with excitement over

move-in day. “Begin [college applications and essays] over the summer. Don’t wait to get everything in line; it will make senior year so much easier,” said Eric Boltz, a graduated senior who will attend Salisbury University and major in mathematics and secondary edu-cation. College admissions officers may seem like a group of people only there to scrutinize every de-tail of every essay and application all in an effort to reject as many students as possible, but that is not the case. Colleges want stu-dents who have proven that they

can do well in a college environment and they want as many of those students as possible, so when applying to schools, ensure that they see growth and potential. But schools, believe it or not, look at more than just grades and tran-

scripts. “Try to do as well as you can in school ... as long as you try, you will be successful,” said Hock. “You can get where you want to go, but you may need to take an alternate route.” Although some students eas-ily achieve straight A’s, that is not the case for everybody. And thus, schools look at more than just a student’s GPA. Some students may not be able to get into their dream Ivy League school, for ex-ample, with a 3.0 GPA, but there is a school for everyone. “When I applied to Towson, I never expected to go there and considered it more of a fallback school, but when I visited it I ab-solutely fell in love. Within my first ten minutes on campus, I knew that was where I belonged—I think I actually teared up a little, I was so glad I had finally found my place,” said Clark.

On the road to college success...

“Within my first ten minutes on cam-pus, I knew that was where I be-longed—I think I actually teared up a little, I was so glad I had finally found my place.”

~Graduated Senior Payton Clark

Don’t Slack off!

The Warrior•FeaturesJune 9, 2011 7

Ames Plays the Tuba Into His Future

Chaudhry Kicks Off Staff Zumba Lessons

To all students who think of teachers as robots who disconnect once school is over and reboot every morning at 7:20, here is a wakeup call. The teaching staff is far from a sedentary. In fact, once a week, dedicated staffers from all branches of the school meet in the dance studio after school to Zumba. Zumba is an aerobic form of exercise which combines kickboxing, strength training and interval training all put to dance music. “I teach at Life Time Fitness in Columbia and [social studies teacher] Ms. [Christine] McKeld-in suggested the idea that it would be great if we could offer this op-portunity to the staff at Sherwood so they don’t have to step outside the building and they get their workout right after school,” said math teacher and zumba class in-structor Sapna Chaudhry. McKeldin went on to orga-nize the class by clearing it with Principal Bill Gregory and send-ing out mass emails to the entire staff in hopes of rousing interest. McKeldin’s hard work was worth it in the end as approximately a dozen staff now enjoy a rigorous and exhilarating workout. For one hour a week these staff members have a chance to relax and have fun together while breaking a sweat. “[The Zumba classes have] a lot of social ben-efits because we don’t see each other as much as we would like to during the school day because we’re all in different departments. When I’m doing Zumba, I get to see people from social studies, from math, from English and I’m in science and I never see them. So it’s kind of fun,” said science teacher Janet Frensilli. The Zumba classes also have unforeseen benefits as they help Sherwood meet one of its major staff goals of bonding and to-

Math teacher Sapna Chaudhry teaches a Zumba class to other staff in the dance studio.

Menchetti Brings Nepal to Classroom

by Rachel Zemel ‘13

On April 15, the start of spring break, Kathleen Menchet-ti, AP World History and Global Issues teacher, began her journey to Nepal. Although there was lim-ited time to visit Nepal due to the conflicting school year and mon-soon season, Menchetti found a good time to explore a part of the country. Menchetti could only reach her destination, the Khum-ba region in Northeast Nepal, by flying to the Lukla Airport, right on the edge of a cliff and one of the most dangerous airports in the world. Once there, Menchetti trekked on Mount Everest, visited monasteries and experienced the diverse culture of the Sherpa peo-ple, who migrated from Tibet to the Khumba region. “It has eight of the ten highest peaks in the world. There is a community of people who lived in relative iso-lation for centuries. To be a part of it helps me to understand Bud-dhism. In turn, it helps me with my teaching to bring the richness back to the students,” explained Menchetti. Menchetti stayed with Nepal-

ese people in “tea houses,” a cross between a guest house, restaurant and social hang-out. Consequent-ly, she was able to experience the culture firsthand. She noticed that there were arrangements for water conservation, independent chil-dren that often went unsupervised and a new movement to clean up Mount Everest. Further, she was surprised to see people fre-quently using cell phones where there were no televisions, cars or electricity. Internet connection was only available in cafes to ca-ter to tourists. “There was a lack of type of extra ... The materials stuff wasn’t there ... The room I stayed in has basically four wood walls. Very simple. It has a sim-ple bed and mattress,” recounted Menchetti. Certainly no amateur after traveling to China, South Africa, Tanzania, Australia, Thailand, India, Romania and throughout Europe, Menchetti is traveling to Cambodia and Laos this summer with fellow AP World History teacher Michelle Games. “The world is open to you and chang-ing so much with globalization. You really have to travel,” en-couraged Menchetti. She wants to

return to Nepal to see more beau-tiful nature and experience more with the Sherpa people. Returning from her trip with pictures and stories, Menchetti is excited about increasing the depth of her students’ knowledge. “You can enrich the lives of stu-dents if you can come back and share experiences, tell anecdotal evidence and give personal ac-counts. You can make it personal and can break stereotypes,” said Menchetti. In AP World History Menchetti will use pictures and experiences in the Tangboche and Pangboche monasteries to further communicate the origin, evolu-tion and diffusion of Buddhism. She will also use anecdotes to teach about the Sherpa’s migra-tion to Nepal. In Global Issues, Menchetti will teach about Nepal’s varying problems, such as horrific poverty and government corruption. She will also present Nepal as an un-derdeveloped country to compare to more developed ones. “We, as Americans, have very different views of the world,” she said. “People are people no matter where they are.

When junior Ben Ames was just starting at Rosa Parks Middle School, he made a decision that would come to shape his future. His music teacher asked him which instrument he would like to play, and Ames, just beginning on his musical journey, replied that he wanted to play the tuba, “because it was big and loud.” This rash and seemingly insignif-icant decision has guided Ames since then, and will continue to shape his career and beyond. “[The tuba has] definitely given me direction as to what I want to do with my life. I couldn’t imagine not doing something with it at this point,” said Ames. He participates in many tuba re-lated activities, including Mary-land Classic Youth Orchestra (MCYO), an exclusive and pres-tigious group of young musicians. Ames was accepted at the begin-ning of this year and performs once every three months through MCYO. In January this year Ames traveled with MCYO to London where he performed at Cadogan Hall, a great honor for musicians. On May 18, Ames received a one, the highest possible score at a county-wide competi-tion, allowing him to advance to the state-wide competition where he also received a one playing an extremely challeng-ing piece by Edward Greg-son that he had been working on for about a year and a half. “I really like the sound of bass instruments. It’s rare to play the tuba and I enjoy that I have a unique sound when I’m playing,” said Ames. Ames practices for at least

half an hour every day. He also meets with his private tutor, who he has had for five years, Scott Cameron, once a week. “Through his tuba playing, Ben shows a lot of dedication and attention to de-tail. That’s how he’s progressed as far as he has,” said Cameron. Ames currently takes Sym-phonic Band, Jazz Band and AP Music Theory, and on top of that participates in the Pep Band.He plans to take the tuba with him into his future, to make it his future. Ithaca College in upstate New York is Ames’s top choice, one reason being its great music program. Ames wants to major in either music perfor-mance or music education, de-

pending on what he decides to do for his career. “For a while I was debating whether to go into music or not. I worried about job availability and how much I would get paid,” said Ames. Seeing Cameron succeed in the music industry has given Ames the hope that he could do it too. He is deciding whether he wants to become a music teacher or perform in a sym-phonic band of some sort. “At first, Ben was just trying to master the concepts, but he has recently turned into an artist,” said Cameron. Ames has grown exceptionally as a tuba player, and looks forward to the musical journey that lies ahead of him.

getherness. Other regulars to the class include math teachers Kathy Siarkas and Kathy Bredland and social studies teacher Karen Sin-clair. Accessibility is another key allure these in-school workouts provide. “It’s extremely conve-nient. All I have to do is change my clothes. I have no excuse not to go,” said Frensilli. Teachers and staff get the satisfaction and simplicity of leaving the building with work and their workout for the day complete. Though there is an easy-breezy feeling to accomplishing so much in one day, the classes themselves could not be char-acterized as easy in any way. “I am so engaged and into [teaching Zumba classes] that I kind of ac-quire a different personality. I am a drill sergeant,” joked Chaudhry. “I want energy. I give them op-tions … if you have some health issues. It does not mean you can just stop and not do anything. I always tell them … ‘Keep it mov-ing!’” The classes have gained am-ple notice throughout the school as participating teachers share stories with their students. “I think talk about the class has drummed up curiosity about this fun and exciting way to exercise,” said McKeldin. On May 25 curiosity led to action as many students came to observe the class and learn more about Zumba’s unique benefits. Some of Chaudhry’s students even started to attend her Zumba classes taught at Life Time Fitness. These staff members serve as an important symbol of dedica-tion and fitness for students and non-participating staff members alike. A flame has been ignited throughout Sherwood for this new and lively form of exercise. A meeting will take place to dis-cuss the continuance of the Zum-ba classes next year.

Junior Ben Ames practices the tuba during one of the three music classes he takes.

by Mandy Stussman ‘14

by Devin Cornelius ‘12

Paul Szewczyk ‘12

AP World teacher Kathleen Menchetti tells her students about Nepal upon returning.

Paul Szewczyk ‘12

The Warrior•FeaturesJune 9, 20118

Katz To Explore Language in Russiaby Darby Whitehair ‘12

In just a few short weeks, junior Talia Katz will venture to Russia and return two months later as an American with knowl-edge of both a foreign culture and its language. Financed by the U.S. Department of State’s Na-tional Security Languages Initia-tive for Youth program, Katz and 12 other Americans will spend their summer in Russia, learning how to speak Russian while im-proving diplomatic relationships. After a review of expecta-tions in New York, the group will fly to Moscow for some sight-see-ing and then hop onto the railway to Kirov, where they will stay for the remainder of the trip. While there, Katz will receive Russian language instruction for five hours every day, followed by social interaction and exploration in the afternoon and evenings. As the group gets accustomed to Russian culture, they will stay together in an apartment. Then for their last three weeks, they will live with Russian families. “While I’m mainly there to learn the language, I’m also there to really learn from the people and try to look at the world from a new perspective, helping to create a cultural bridge between

our two countries,” said Katz.Following her love of foreign lan-guage and diplomacy, Katz long has immersed herself in learning foreign cultures and languages. Her attendance at a Jewish school for grades kindergarten to seventh gave her fluency in Hebrew. Cur-rently Katz is enrolled in honors Spanish 4 and honors French 3 and practices the languages daily. However, her interest in foreign affairs goes far beyond educational requirements. “It

… shapes who I am as a person; my parents never know which language I’ll use to answer their next question, half the songs on my iPod are in other lan-guages, I adore foreign films, and my internet homepage is BBC World News,” said Katz. Unlike many who dread and struggle with foreign languages and cannot wait to get through their requirements, Katz picks up languages with ease. She current-ly speaks Hebrew and English flu-

ently and Spanish and French pro-ficiently, and after this summer, Katz will add Russian to the list. “I guess I’m lucky be-cause to me languages have al-ways just seemed like a puzzle; they’ve never been hard. I think the more you learn, the easier others are to pick up—even if they’re not related because each language trains your brain to think in a new way,” said Katz. The trip to Russia offers Katz a summer full of her inter-

New Club Soars into Sherwoodby Hannah Chertock ‘12

The Blue Birds Club, founded by sophomore Hailey Hershey and sponsored by AP Environmental Science teacher Laura Dinerman, started this year with a mission to track birds liv-ing in boxes placed around the fields of Sherwood. The club hopes to increase the popula-tion of birds which has recent-ly hit an unfortunate decline. “The Blue Bird houses were built by an Eagle Scout candi-date last year. The Green Team agreed to maintain the houses on-site when asked to do so by the Audubon Society ... “Audu-bon Society is one [organiza-tion] that we work closely with on issues of water quality and invasive species. When they asked, I agreed.” said Dinerman. The boxes surrounding Sher-wood act as homes for different species of birds. Once a family builds a nest inside the box, they lay eggs which then get moni-tored by the Blue Birds Club weekly. Hershey and the newest member of the Blue Birds Club, junior Megan Stanley, record the number of eggs and observe them until they hatch, after which they record the number of eggs that turned into birds. Once the baby birds disappear from their nest, they remove the nest and clean the box for the next family. The monitoring process gathers information from Sher-wood and other locations of Blue Birds. The clubs track all species of birds compiling a local bird

population statistic, which can be analyzed to show the increase or decrease of the bird population nationwide. The statistics prove the boxes help the population of birds by providing them with a safe and clean living environment. Hershey decided to start this club to care for local birds. “There were boxes at Sherwood and no one was taking care of them. Since I knew how to monitor the boxes I decided to start the club with Megan to monitor the blue bird population,” Hershey said.The two members worry the club will not continue once they graduate. They plan to open the club to new coming members. “It could be popular, but it would sort of be an exclusive club with about six members,” she said. “Many people would be interested in what our club is…The more eyes we have on the population and all the records…would be very beneficial to the population. We would have a bet-ter idea about the population.”

The goal of the Blue Birds Club is to continue growing the population of both members and birds. With enough advertise-ment, an adequate amount of students can be trained to handle the birds. “[Hailey] and Megan Stanley spend several hours a week working on the project,” noted Dinerman. “By the time they graduate, I hope to have a stable group that will continue their work. I also hope that they, like many other Green Team al-ums, will continue to be active in the group after graduation.” Dinerman explains her moti-vation comes from the students’ desire to positively change the en-vironment. “This is an opportuni-ty for students to make a tangible difference in improving biodiver-sity and reversing negative im-pact on an important species that is native to our area. I feel that it is important to help students iden-tify environmental problems that they can correct and then help them to create positive change.”

Sophomore Hailey Hershey and junior Megan Stan-ley maintain the bird houses to keep the birds safe.

ests. As the trip focuses on lan-guage and diplomacy, Katz will feel right at home with her pas-sion to learn and develop an un-derstanding of other countries. “My love of foreign languag-es has led me to become involved in international relations and in-ternational economic develop-ment. Since freshman year I’ve been very involved with Model UN and I’m definitely considering pursuing a career in diplomacy or international business,” said Katz. Russia has been and contin-ues to be a country that is feared by other nations. Katz hopes that by going to Russia, she will be able to more clearly under-stand Russia and the tension be-tween it and some other nations. After this summer’s trip to Russia, Katz will trav-el to France as an exchange student in the fall to fur-ther her education in for-eign affairs and languages. “As of now, I really just want to concentrate on gaining fluency in French, Spanish and Russian before I move on to new languages. I think learning Ara-bic or Swahili would be cool and I’d also love to learn a few of the South American indigenous lan-guages like Quechua,” said Katz.

Junior Talia Katz practices her Spanish conversation skills with Spanish teach-er, Barbara Heuter. Katz has become proficient in the language, as well as in French, and speaks fluent Hebrew.

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The Warrior•FeaturesJune 9, 2011 9

designed by Katie Nolan ‘12 and Olivia Snyder ‘12

Social Studies teacher Daniel Soso re-sembles the Hulk from the popular mov-ie “The Hulk.” They both have an intimi-dating presence and muscles of steel.

The White Witch from the movie “The Chronicles of Narnia” strolls our halls everyday grading English papers. Eng-lish teacher Beth Dibler could easily pass for her twin.

Popular rapper Pitbull and Social Studies teacher Todd Rubenstein look so much alike it is uncanny. Rubenstein agreed with the comparison, “I could see how people can confuse me with Pitbull, but I, of course, am much better looking.”

TEACHER-CELEBRITY LOOK-ALIKES

Emily Deschanel plays Dr. Temprance Brennan on the popular T.V. show “Bones.” Deschanel is the mirror image of English teacher Brianna Russell. Their high cheek-bone structure and personalities are iden-tical.

Walking through the halls, you may see a student who looks identical to your sister, or a substitute teacher that could pass as your neighbor’s

twin. There are also the rare cases in which our teachers resemble celebrities or famous characters.

The Warrior•HumorJune 9, 201110

Also known as “Spring Fe-ver,” “Laziness,” and “H1-N2,” Senioritis is an epidemic that is quickly infecting students of all ages. In MCPS, Sherwood is the most infected school with a whopping 97.6 percent of stu-dents suffering from this highly contagious disease. “Every day, I see more and more students in here simply sick as dogs. We have had to expand the office, putting a trailer outside for the critically ill students to be quarantined so as to not infect the rest of the students, but we still have reason to believe that the ep-idemic is spreading rapidly,” said Joseph Peterson, a nurse called in from Montgomery General Hos-

pital help the school deal with the epidemic. Senioritis has school officials on constant lookout for infected students. The known symptoms of Senioritis are head-to-toe sweat, wearing a blank expression dur-ing classes, excessive coughing, aloofness, lack of incentive to get to class on time and fainting. The disease lasts from four days to 12 weeks, depending on the length of time that the victim goes un-treated. “I’ve already seen so many of my friends just collapse in the hallway as I’m just saying hello to them. It’s really unfortunate, though, because we just started a series of Hangman games in our AP Language class and now we only have two people left in class who can play,” said junior Kelly Ferguson. Clearly, the disease affects many students in a significant way. But what worries school officials the most is that students continue to attend school even when they are infected. “We are trying as hard as we possibly can to get students to go home and stay home, but they just keep coming back to school, and thus back to the trailer. We don’t know why they won’t stay away,” said Peterson. The new trailer placed out-side has become so popular among students that it was recent-ly unofficially named “The Bub-ble.” However, the new worry is

by Holly Cuozzo ‘12

coming up soon anyways, so I’m just going to tough out these last few days here,” said sophomore Fred Layhill. However, Senioritis could have even more in store for the Sherwood area. Montgomery General Hospital is currently overflowing with teenagers who have been “slacking off” during school hours and thus an alarm-ing number of infected students

remain in schools with the illness. Olney is said to be going into quarantine if the epidemic is not put to rest by June 16. “This is a very serious prob-lem and we are trying to deal with it as soon as possible, but if the H1-N2 disease continues to spread this rapidly, we will have no choice but to shut down the entire cluster of schools,” said MCPS official Oliver Stewart.

that students may be going there when they are well just to spend time with their ill friends. “The Bubble is the hottest hangout in all of Olney now. I’ve gone there every day for the past few weeks, and now my only problem is that I can’t seem to get myself out of bed and to class every day. In fact, yesterday I thought I was going to faint! But, I just shook it off. Exams are

The Health Room has been swamped with senioritis running rampant through all grade levels at the school.

by Michael Natelli ‘14

Cartoon by Michael Wagner ‘12

Has this ever happened to you? “Hey Bob, I like your shirt!” “Yikes…That’s awkward.” Well, thanks to the all new Anti-Awkward Machine version 1.0, all of those problems can magically go away! (If only life was that simple…) Each and every day, I suffer through hearing what is perhaps the most annoying word in the English language: awkward. It’s not even just once a day! It is this lingering problem that constantly nags me, like when my mother

tells me to clean my room, or when a teacher tells me to stop talking, if not worse than those! What does awkward even mean? Wait, why am I asking you? You’re probably one of them … you know … that group of about 1,800 students at Sherwood who don’t know how to use that terrible, terrible word. If that’s not the case, then I greatly apologize for taking a cheap shot at your in-telligence. You’re smart. You’re one of the people I can actually tolerate. So, good job. But if you are one of these people without a

clue, let me help you out a bit. Not to go all brainiac on you, but ac-cording to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, awkward is defined as “Not easy to handle or deal with.” Now let me ask you this question. What is so difficult about receiving a complement from somebody, or going to say hi to someone? What is so unbear-able about being the only guy at a party, even when all the girls are talking about boys and make-up? Sure, that may be tough for a min-ute or two, but if you’re social, it shouldn’t be a big deal. Most guys

I know, myself included, would actually enjoy that scenario, as any normal teenage guy should. Now, let’s learn when it is ok to use … that word … so that all you little “Awkward Addicts,” as you’ve just been named, can use your most cherished device at the appropriate times. If you get a new seat in one of your classes, and you are put next to a former companion whom is apparently difficult to deal with, then that is awkward. If you show up to a for-mal dinner in a polo and khakis, but everyone is wearing a suit and

Holly Cuozzo ‘12

tie, that is awkward. You’re just a bit underdressed, bud. If you’re talking behind someone’s back (which I hope you don’t) at lunch, and all of a sudden, that person shows up, that is awkward. You have to instantly change what you’re talking about. Well, I could go on, but I won’t. You’ve heard just about all of big points in the fight to fix the use of the word awkward. So all I have to say is this: If you think there’s a weird moment, and you’re considering calling it awk-ward, don’t.

Misuse of Word “Awkward” Drives One Staffer to Rant

Prevention• Senioritis is contagious for the first week that the person is infected, but it can still be easily transferred after this pe-riod if the infected person is in close contact with others (i.e. sharing drinks, kissing, etc.)

•Having a car can signifi-cantly increase one’s chances of contracting Senioritis.

•The number one way to pre-vent Senioritis is to attend class consistently and on time.

Epidemic Threatens to Overwhelm School

The Warrior•HumorJune 9, 2011 11

by Paul Szewczyk ‘12 On April 27, Harris Teeter opened its doors in Olney, now occupying the former site of the infamous Olney 9 Cinemas. Har-ris Teeter now shares its shop-ping center with ice cream parlor Baskin Robbins, Subway and the family friendly restaurant Greene Turtle, among other restaurants. Customers are attracted to this new market, and are willing to pay the very high prices for the items this store has to offer. As the doors opened, crowds of people entered the store fight-ing over shopping carts, coupons and checkout aisles. Katherine Smith, mother of four, allegedly pushed three elderly ladies and a child aside to ensure her spot as one of the first people to enter the super store. “I also really like the Cheeri-os they sell here. Their taste is a lot like the Cheerios I usually buy at Giant. The store’s baguette look like the baguettes I usually buy at French Confection as well, it tastes so fresh and delicious,” said Smith. “Harris Teeter is bet-ter because it’s new and they have everything I ever wanted.” Customers aren’t the only people attracted to Harris Teeter; employees from the other four other grocery stores are attracted to Harris Teeter as well. A former Shoppers cashier and February employee of the month, Chaz Mi-chael, is now employed at Harris Teeter. “It’s not too different from Shoppers. I get paid the same amount and work about the same number of hours, and they have my favorite brand of pizza here, Digiorno. The only true differ-ence is that I see a lot more people here, especially employees from my last job who now work here with me. It feels a lot like my pre-vious job at Shoppers,” said Mi-

chael. Harris Teeter is known for its catalog of food products, which includes freshly wrapped sushi, hot subs, custom pizzas and store brand ice cream. The Harris Teeter of Olney also features a Starbucks Cof-fee shop near the entrance of the store. The barista behind the counter made customer Ju-lie Stinston a grande size vanilla latte. “This coffee is a lot like the coffee at the Starbucks across the street, or even probably the coffee offered at other stores in Olney, but there’s just something about buying it at Harris Teeter that makes it far superior to the rest of the coffee offered in the town,” said Stinson. The prices of the store do not scare away customers from this brand new supermarket. James Allen, recently divorced father of six, is an avid grocery shopper. Giant used to be Allen’s super

market of choice, but Allen has moved on to Harris Teeter since its grand opening a month ago. In his recent visit to the store, Allen bought two twelve packs of Coca-Cola, a white pizza with peppero-ni, a scrumptious chicken Ceasar salad, six pieces of California roll and a half gallon of plain vanilla ice cream. The price of his bill came out to be 84 dollars and 74 cents, plus taxes added on at the end as well. “Harris Teeter would actu-ally have all the food that I want. I would expect them to have the pizza I want, the flavor of sushi I want, and the plain vanilla ice cream I have always enjoyed and loved. Its food selection is clearly superior to both Giant and Shop-pers,” said Allen. Now with Safeway under re-construction, Harris Teeter seems to be strengthening its hold on lo-cal supermarkets and on the sub-urbanites of Olney as well.

Customers viciously search through the vegetable aisle to find the food they want.

help her. I keep walking and see the entire original cast of “The Goonies” passed out asleep in my bath tub. This party must have been the greatest thing ever. In my bed room, Doogie Howzer M.D., Chuck Norris and Burt Reynold’s mustache are all cuddling. Of course I join in. When I wake up I decide to go downstairs, where I find a portal to the seventh di-mension with fire coming out. Two owls are ripping apart the paper clip dude that helps you out in Microsoft Word. There is a pool of green colored super lava. I call up my girlfriend Devin Cornfelius and am all like “Ey babe tryna get yo Mongolian BBQ on?” She responds with “Heck yes.” I ride on Falcor, the dragon from the “Never Ending Story” and she rides on a Norwe-gian Ridgeback. We sit down but get caught just staring into each other’s eyes for three hours … we never even ordered. When I take her home she kisses me on the cheek. My cheek now has a heart on it. I go home and cuddle with the Snorlax (that’s now wearing Burt Reynold’s Mustache) until I fall asleep. Today was a good day.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. I wake up at exactly 12:01 in the after-noon. I look to my left and I see an old yogurt container filled with ketchup. To my right is a wild Snorlax snoring and munching on my foot. I realize I don’t know where I am and I’m scared. My Scooby Doo costume is on the floor and there is whipped cream all over my favorite pants … well, I guess it’s now time to start the day. I go down stairs and there is an entire family chained down to a couch. They are screaming in a strange dialect what I assume are profanities. I ignore them and go to the coffee machine to have a fresh brew. I then realize there is a cat in the coffee machine. I scratch that idea and walk out of the house. It is a beautiful summer day and the birds are abuzzin’ and the bees are aflyin’. Walking down the road I pass two unicorns play-ing in a drainage ditch, slurping up industrial run-off from a nu-clear power plant … maybe that’s why they are unicorns? Nah, that can’t be it. So I keep walking and eventually end up at my house. There is toilet paper everywhere and a horse and carriage up 20 feet in my tree. I think “YES!” it must have been an awesome par-ty. I am suddenly hit in the back of the head with a large, blunt ob-ject. I wake up later and look at a large beard; it’s brother Mor-dechia. That explains the horse and carriage in my tree. I apolo-gize to him and he takes a pound cake as reimbursement for his horse. Looking at my watch, I realize it’s time to go home. I walk inside and immediately see my best friend, Mary Kath-erine Nolan, trapped in a mime-made- box. I laugh and refuse to

by Andrew Wasik ‘13 A special to The Warrior

Cartoon by Michael Wagner ‘12

Paul Sczwczyk ‘12

Opening New Harris Teeter Attracts Dangerous Business

An Average Summer Day for an Average Teenage Superstar

Wasik, stunned by his own glory.

Paul Sczwczyk ‘12

.is it worth it?A Controversies about how stu-

dents use the Internet to assist them with school work, especially in specific areas like

science, are becoming more relevant as the usage of online resources increases in a stu-

dent’s daily life. Those who argue for the use of online resources say that they are fast, easy,

and provide a lot of information. Internet sources they cite include online databases like Wikipedia and

Yahoo, as well as other common sources. Some argue against the practice, saying that using the online resourc-

es is cheating and also that information from some sources, such as Wikipedia, are edited by the public and may be incorrect.

To science teacher Glenn Miller, online resources are more often helpful than not. “There is just so much more information at

your fingertips,” said Miller. “It is easier and faster to get information that way.” But he also attested to the fact that such accessibility also

can be harmful to learning. Besides the numerous distractions caused by social networking and gaming sites, there is danger in the way ref-

erence websites often spoon feed answers. “Students don’t know how to paraphrase. There is no processing of information,” he explained.

For juniors Stephanie Golding and Kelly Kendall, the same type of con-flict arises. The pair recently won several awards for their science fair proj-

ect and traveled to Texas for a convention at which they represented the state of Maryland. To them, using the resources is a huge help, but has cer-tain disadvantages to it. “A lot of people get wrong information or use it to cheat,” commented Golding on the challenges of using internet resources.

Cutting Corners To Learn

Foreign Language By: Vicky Florian ‘14 Although students commonly see online translators as a modern form of the dictionary, foreign language teachers view them as detrimental shortcuts. Teach-ers in the foreign language department recommend Word Reference as an online alternative because “oth-er translators, like Google, are not acceptable to use. [The student] does not know where the definitions are coming from,” said Spanish teacher Xaviera Gutierrez. The primary reason teachers forbid translators is they are unreliable and are not always correct. In some in-stances they give a literal translation of a foreign phrase into English. When this occurs, the entire meaning of the phrase or sentence can become misinterpreted. Also, when a student uses a translator for an entire sentence, rather than a single definition, the translated sentence is often inaccurate. In a Warrior survey, less than 20 percent of students reported that they do not use Google translate, while more than 60 percent said they used the application four or more times in a semester. Students use translators because of the convenience. Most stu-dents think that online translators, in addition to Word Reference, should not be considered cheating. “[Using an online translator] is basically the same as looking up a vocabulary word in a nor-mal dictionary; it’s just quicker,” said freshman Katie Mercogliano. Due to frequent errors and relative ease, online translator use correlates with a decrease in the students’ comprehension

of the language. “The thought process that goes into writing in a foreign language is lost when a translator is used,” said Guti-

errez, who said it’s often obvious when a student translates an entire sentence or paragraph because the translation is often in-

comprehensible and does not follow the structure taught in class.

Every teacher assigns work to be graded for completion, and this category of assignments can count for as much as 10 per-cent of the grade in a class. Some students, however, do not take work for completion seriously and view it as an invitation to

copy. According to math resource teacher Debbie Hiltner, work for completion is an important part of the learning process. “They [students who copy] are putting themselves at risk for never learning the material so their quiz and test grades will suffer,” she said.

Even so, students view copying completion homework differ-ently than teachers. “Yes, it is [cheating], but I don’t care,” said ju-nior Lauren Steck who has no problem allowing other students to copy off her because, “one of these days I’m going to need

them to help me.” Steck is not alone in her opinion about copying. In a Warrior survey of 151 students, 38.4 percent of students admitted to copy-ing another student’s homework at least once a semester and 11.2 percent have copied 10 or more times. Less than one-third

of students said they had not copied another student’s home-work in a semester. Cheating is not just a product of teenage laziness. After all,

By: Allie Strosnider ‘12

They’re Just Resources, Right ?

By: Jamie Langbein ‘13

embezzlement, insurance fraud and identity theft are forms of cheating in the adult world. So maybe cheating is less of a high school issue and more of a human issue. “Adults set the tone,” noted science teacher Mary Cross. Teachers more specifically can affect students’ choices by making it more difficult for them to copy homework and other work for completion. For example, Cross gives each student a different version of a work sheet when assigning home work so it is impossible to copy the right answer off a fellow student. She also walks around during class and watches for suspicious behavior to discourage students from trying to copy off each other during class. As a final measure against copying, students who wish to retake an assignment must redo the work in front of her at lunch so she can see that they are not just copying the right answers from a friend. By taking these precautions Cross sends a mes-sage to her students that copying will not be tolerated and discourages students from taking short cuts. Nevertheless, teachers face an uphill battle to get stu-dents to take work for completion seriously. “If it is just work for completion [students] don’t have to try,” said junior Anna Nightingale. “They get the points either way.”

Hey, Can I Copy the Homework?

Have you ever...1.) Used the internet to plagiarize written work?

Assigned reading is an intrinsic aspect of education, beginning as early as elementary school. As students get older, however, many increasingly find the “easy solution” by turning to online sites such as Sparknotes. These sites provide summaries of books and analyses of each chapter, and while students use these sites to reinforce what they have read, others simply read the summary in place of the book. While advocates of Sparknotes and other online resources assert that students should be able to use online resources to help them understand and interpret sophisticated read-ings, critics argue that too many students use sites as a crutch to shirk actually reading, stunt-ing development of reading comprehension skills. According to a Warrior survey of 151 students, 65.6 percent of students do not believe reading Sparknotes instead of the ac-tual book is cheating. Even though English teachers may disapprove, numerous stu-dents continue to utilize Sparknotes.

“[I use Sparknotes] about every other time a teacher assigns chapters to read,” said sopho-more Alex Shoop. “[Sparknotes] helps me get a better understanding of the material if I don’t understand the teacher’s explanation.” While there is no official English department policy regarding Sparknotes or other online technologies, rules against plagiarism apply to online resources for writing assignments. Some critics say students who rely on Sparknotes like-ly get only a superficial understanding of the novel or play and presumably will do worse on formative and summative assignments. Beyond grades on assignments and in the class overall, teachers assert that the dependence on these resources negatively impact reading and inter-preting skills. “[The English department] doesn’t think [technologies such as Sparknotes] help kids get to be better readers at all,” said English re-source teacher Shelley Jackson. “It just doesn’t help them develop their reading skills, and

we see fewer and fewer good readers come through.” While some English teachers do not ap-prove of Sparknotes, others believe online resources give students the ability to find ad-ditional analysis of books outside of class that help them interact and understand their book while reading it. “Students have opportunities online, not just using Sparknotes, to look at literary anal-ysis while they are reading a text for a class,” said English teacher Liza Schad. “If they look at some form of analysis it probably helps them understand the text better.” The use of Sparknotes has forced teachers to use creative methods to distinguish those who use Sparknotes in addition to reading the book and those who use Sparknotes in place of reading books. Teachers use various online technologies to check for misuse of Sparknotes and personalize tests to prevent cheating and ensure that students actually read their books. “[Next year] the English department is go-ing to be enforcing the use of turnitin.com [to

prevent direct cheating],” said English teacher Brianna Russell. “I check Sparknotes to ensure that the quiz questions I have created can-not be answered simply by a student reading Sparknotes.” Even with these precautions against cheating, students continue to utilize online resources for assigned readings in English class. A Warrior survey, 96 percent of stu-dents believe that reading Sparknotes while reading an assigned book is not cheating and 66.9 percent of students think that us-ing Sparknotes does not hurt their reading comprehension skills. “Everyone learns differently, and for me Sparknotes clarifies things,” said junior Sara Grantham. “I don’t consider it cheating; I’m not plagiarizing or stealing answers, I’m reading information that is avail-able to me to help me understand the work I need to do.”

Sparksnotes Sparks DebateBy: Arjun Singh ‘12

2.) Copied Someone else’s homework?

-1 to 6 times: 11.2 percent

-1 to 6 times: 50.3 percent-7 or more times: 18.4 percent

-7 or more times: .6 percent

Survey!(How many times?)

Compiled by Connor Martin ‘13

-Never: 88 percent

-Never: 31.1 percent

survey of 151 students

The Warrior•OpinionsJune 9, 201114

I n O u r O p i n i o n . . .

Olney has four, soon to be five, major grocery stores, three pet stores, four tex-mex restau-rants, five Chinese restaurants and zero entertainment opportu-nities, making our adorable-yet-mundane suburbia haven more like a collection of fragmented strip malls than a true, commu-nity. We have food, we have shops, we have all the dog chow we could ever need (including a plethora of the organic variety); however, we are lacking in a cru-cial area, not only for teenagers but for residents of all ages. The unfortunate truth is that there is nothing fun in Olney. While businesses keep piling in to fill already occupied eco-nomic niches, no company seems to be capitalizing on the almost guaranteed monopoly found in Olney’s entertainment gap. Our student body has lashed out in outcry against this clear folly, first mourning over our movie the-ater’s demise and then bemoan-ing its conversion to a grocery store (no matter how great Har-ris Teeter’s overpriced sushi may be), but beyond the collective student complaint that our town’s lack of entertainment is annoy-ing and disappointing, I feel that this fault has robbed us of not only our town’s entertainment but also our sense of community and unity. For bowling alleys, we go to Gaithersburg. For ice-skating, we drive to Wheaton. For movie theaters, we must drive to Rock-ville Town Center or the Rio. And, unfortunately, for parties and drugs and alcohol, we walk the couple of blocks to the nearest bash. In the absence of entertain-ment, Olney’s teens must resort to less-healthy measures of passing

the time, leading to accidents, ad-diction, conflict, and, tragically, loss of lives. Entertainment in Olney—movie theaters or con-certs or bowling alleys or safe clubs—is crucial not only for our enjoyment but for our safety as well. Olney can never be a secure and fulfilling community until we attain the entertainment alterna-tives we so desperately need. Our saturation in food over fun is not only nauseating, it’s devastating. Additionally, this commercial gap tears down our town’s poten-tial sense of unity and replaces it with disheartened apathy. How can we feel proud of our home when it values chicken low mien

over bowling alleys? Sure we’ve got adorable children running through fountains in Olney Town Center, but where’s the ice skat-ing rink for teens to cool off? Yes, we have every burrito we could imagine, but where’s the movie theater to watch blockbust-ers? In order to call Olney a com-munity, our town requires some form of entertainment that teen-agers along with people of other ages can enjoy. Those who choose not to par-ty or drink must go far to find the clean fun they desire. We view Olney as a bed rather than a home, as a place of residence rather than a community of life.

Olney’s lack of an entire market area makes it no more of a com-munity in this regard than the strip malls alongside Route 355. We are not a unified people, but rather a dysfunctional, discon-tented suburban mass. Certain model communities near our own show us the almost utopian society that can exist in a town of full, enriched com-mercial opportunity. Rockville town center, one such example, features movie theaters, commu-nity centers and musical enter-tainment alongside plentiful food options. Silver Spring, Bethesda and Gaithersburg also flaunt en-tertainment opportunities. Those who live in these fulfilling, entic-ing cities enjoy parks, entertain-ment and food within walking distance of their well-kept and community-oriented neighbor-hoods, promoting clean, safe fun and a sense of togetherness. The solution is a gradual transition from fragmented ac-tivities to unifying fun. We need safer sidewalks and crosswalks along Olney’s “downtown” area. We need greater entertainment possibilities that fit our whole town’s needs. We have already missed some valuable opportu-nities, such as redeveloping the Stained Glass Pub building into fast food rather than fun, and re-placing the movie theaters with a grocery store, yet there is still hope. There is still time. In order for Olney to grow into a true community, a true, unified town, we need to acquire commercial opportunities that ex-ceed our current, narrow range. We need entertainment. We need a home. We need a market setting that provides us with an outlet for leisure. In order to become a community, we need to become fun.

Amazing Grocery Stores Don’t Make a Communityby Rebecca Stussman ‘12

The End Is Near … Againby Isabel Paterson ‘12

Theories about the world ending in 2012 have been in the air for a while now. Some look at it as more of a joke, something to poke fun at or use in a punch line. Something bad happens and usually there is that one person in the group who says, “Oh it’s okay guys, we’re all going to die in 2012 anyways.” I’ve been that joker many a time, but the fact of the matter is, some weird stuff has gone down lately. No, no, this column won’t turn into a warn-ing that aliens are coming to take over our planet or that we will all simultaneously combust on De-cember 21, 2012. But there is a serious matter to address here. Even pop-stars have noticed. Jay Sean themed one of his songs around 2012 with a chorus say-ing, “We gonna party like, party like it’s the end of the world. We gonna party like, like its 2012.” It’s pretty clear these celebrities view the idea of 2012 as a mar-ketable event. However, we must all at least acknowledge that this year, lead-ing up to 2012 hasn’t been the best. Record-breaking natural disasters, along with civil strife and revolution, have been filling the news lately. It is naïve to think there won’t be retribution for kill-ing Osama bin Laden. Our gov-ernment almost shut down over a budget. There were 620 torna-does in just the month of April, a record breaking high since 1925. The earthquake in Haiti, the flooding in the Philippines, the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. This might not be the end of the world, but it’s definitely not the start of a lively upbeat one. There is a thought lingering in the back of my mind that these disasters will become less rare and less of a shock. I’m hoping 2012 will prove me wrong, but if we keep going on this path of natural destruction and violence, it’s not just the disasters I worry about. What will it do to our per-ception of disaster? In 10 years, will an incident such as an earth-quake, like the one in Japan, be considered a horrible disaster or will it eventually become the norm? Will revolutions happen monthly, like the ones in Libya and Egypt? Will rivers flood regularly like the Mississippi just did? And how will we respond? No, I do not personally be-lieve we will all vanish or die on December 21, 2012. However, something seems to be going on, call it global warming if you’d like, blame it on us or technol-ogy or say it’s due to pollution or that we’re corrupted by politi-cians. Whatever it is, it’s getting a lot of attention by the media and our culture. I worry that this fluky year with a very high death count isn’t just a fluke. I worry that this will soon become the norm, and we won’t even notice.

Olney has recently opened a new shopping center with stores all related to food, which has teenagers begging for something to do.

School Neglects AP Test Takers’ Achievement by Forgetting AP Party

Paul Szewczyk ‘12

Students who took an AP exam this school year, whether it was one or five, deserve to be recognized for their achievements. They challenged themselves by taking college-level classes and should be proud of what they have accomplished. For this reason, many stu-dents were disappointed this year that there was no AP picnic or AP t-shirts, which students who took an AP exam last year did receive. This year, the school’s Honors/AP committee was ready to have a celebration, and even made it part of the Honors/AP Action Plan, which is a part of the larger School Improvement Plan. However, the AP committee, consisting of AP teachers, was apparently not on the same page as the school administration when it came to planning the celebration and so when it came time to actually hold a meeting to discuss the picnic in detail, there was neither enough time nor avail-able money to throw a party. But all these reasons don’t add up and only amount to excuses. The College Board gives the school $8 per AP exam. Because stu-dents at Sherwood took more than 1,600 AP tests this past May, the school received more than $10,000 in rebates. Yet, there somehow wasn’t enough money for a party or gifts (even something less costly than t-shirts) for the very students who took the exams that earned the school that money. Beyond that, how does the school lose sight of planning an event that is intended for 800 students, which is more than a third of the student body? So, in the end, there was no AP picnic for the students who had

expected it. It is true that rewards at the end of the year should not be the primary reason for taking an AP course, but a little recognition wouldn’t have been so bad. But then again, could expecting rewards, even small ones, be a sign that students are expecting too much for doing little? At Olney Elementary School’s recent field day events, there were kids whose natural ability at sports and competition shined while there were others who were not so gifted in those areas or were disin-terested in physical activities. But at the end of the day, when all the events are done and the kids are going home, they all carry a green ribbon. This ribbon signifies that the child carrying it participated in field day (showed up to school) and that they got a reward, regardless of their outstanding achievement or lack thereof. This mentality is wrong. Kids are being shown that it doesn’t matter whether they put in effort or not, and that they will be reward-ed in the end and held in the same regard as those who went above and beyond. This is why there should have been a celebration for students tak-ing AP classes. No, it’s not for AP students to rub it in their peers’ face, but to show them that they did do extra in their academics. Congratulations to all those who took an AP exam. You didn’t get your party and that was wrong, but look back and realize that the party wasn’t the ultimate goal and that the best rewards are yet to come.

The Warrior•OpinionsJune 9, 2011 15

T h e W a r r i o re n t e r s t h e

b o x i n g r i n g

A Solution to Semester Examsby Whitney-Marie Halaby ‘14

Way back in 1999, the Board of Education first discussed a change in high school exam poli-cy. This proposal became known as the double ‘A’ exemption poli-cy. Ultimately, the policy was not accepted by Board members be-cause the members felt that there would be more pressure to have other types of tests for seniors and also felt they did not have enough information to abandon exams. Seven years later, MCPS stu-dent Nathan Friedman launched a petition in defense of the Double ‘A’ exemption policy. The peti-tion said that “Students who con-sistently perform at an outstand-ing level should not have to risk that grade by taking an exam. Under the current system, a stu-dent who receives two ‘A’s’ for his report card and a ‘D’ or be-low on the exam would drop his semester grade to a ‘B’. This is not representative of the students’ true effort and may simply be the result of a hard exam.” Friedman was right and the double ‘A’ ex-emption should be implemented in Montgomery County schools to assure fairness and reward stu-dents’ quality work. The double ‘A’ exemption policy would provide an initia-tive for students to work harder during the semester; as students strive to succeed to excuse them-selves from exams, their grades

will improve. The ability to miss a week of school is a great reward for working hard all semester. The county is always trying to find ways to motivate students and yet they neglect to implement a double ‘A’ exemption policy, which would do just that. The policy would also reduce teachers’ workloads, allowing them to grade their exams more accurately because there would be less to grade. Let us be honest, when teachers have 150 exams to grade, they are not going to grade each one to the best of their abil-ity because of the time constraints to grade the tests. Therefore, if teachers have significantly less exams to grade, they can grade each one more accurately and ef-ficiently. This could benefit even the students who do not receive straight ‘A’s’ because it would in-crease the fairness of exam grad-ing. Teachers themselves would benefit in other ways beside just having fewer exams to grade. Increasingly, teachers are judged by how their students do on ex-ams. Although it would seem like teachers would want students who received an ‘A’ both quarters to take a exam, in practice, most of these double-A students hardly prepare for the exam because they can receive a ‘C’ on the exam and still get an ‘A’ for this semester grade. And then there is the danger of the one test ruining a student’s

grade. I know from personal ex-perience that an exam can drop your grade. In my honors English class, I worked hard all semester to get straight ‘A’s’. As we all know, we cannot really study for a county English exam. I went into the exam confident that I was going to do well because I had the grades to prove my knowledge. This was not the case. I got a ‘D’ on that exam, which dropped my average to a ‘B’. This grade does not represent my hard work and effort, but unfortunately this is what colleges will see. My ‘B’ was undeserved and unfair and not a reflection of my true poten-tial and work ethic. The double ‘A’ exemption policy clearly has the potential to benefit students and teachers in MCPS. It is like a parent telling his her kid if you show me you are responsible by doing certain things and you work really hard, then you’ll get a new laptop. Just as a parent rewards his or her child’s good behavior with in-creased trust and privileges, so must a school system encourage academic success with appropri-ate awards. With so many obvi-ous benefits of enacting the dou-ble ‘A’ policy, it becomes clear that MCPS should immediately implement it, so that students and teachers will both benefit, which will help MCPS to become a bet-ter school system than it already is.

In the final week of May a spurious event takes place in Sher-wood, SGA elections, our school’s emulation of democracy. I ran for Junior Class President and what I found out is disheartening. In Sherwood the problem with elections lies in the underlying procedural structure. Candidates running for office are limited to four posters and are banned from distributing labels or stickers, but they are permit-ted to give out unlimited amounts of candy. What kind of a message is that to send to students? You’re free to try and bribe your way to office, but attempting to get your name around is out of the ques-tion. Not only does this cripple the integrity of our school’s supposed democratic elections, it also leads to apathy. For example in this year’s Freshman Class elections, three of the four candidates were running unopposed and all of them won by default. This leaves a lot of voters disinterested, because, “What does my vote matter any ways?” Even as a candidate this is true, because the sponsors never tell you by what margin you won or lost; for all I know the election results are made up entirely, damaging the ideal of high school elections.

High School Elections: A Petty Democracyby Robel Wondimu ‘13

AP Classes Come with a Catchby Olivia Snyder ‘12

Since when are juniors “free” the moment May hits? How is it that classes are considered “pointless” and therefore deemed “skippable” in those last weeks of school? And why is it that ju-niors develop “senioritis” when there’s still a good month of junior year left to complete? My guess is AP classes. The curriculum for most AP courses is centered solely around preparing students for the AP exam; therefore, as soon as AP exam weeks in early May roll around, those AP classes no longer have a point, as they have technically finished their purpose. For the juniors with many such AP courses, the year feels es-sentially over. As for those juniors with just one AP, that feeling of freedom becomes contagious — once one class feels futile, other classes begin to feel the same. This AP conundrum has lead to premature senioritis. . . char-acterized by dismal academic performance, shameless skipping, and an overall lack of effort and motivation. AP Classes: Be warned- for side effects may occur.

Give Us News We Can UsebyJacob Bogage ‘12

“There was a time,” the movie “Anchorman” begins, “when the local anchorman reigned supreme.” The same adage rings true at Sher-wood. Every morning from 9:04 to 9:09 the morning announcements are piped via public address system and Sherwood TV channel 37 to each and every classroom. Announcements are inescapable and some-times irritating. They spread news that is rarely relevant to large num-bers of the student body and often times become a bore and part of the daily second period routine. So our friends in TV production thought to liven things up. An-chormen were given quirky aliases and read the news with funky ac-cents. Broadcasts became a time for silliness rather than information distribution; and when important news was read, it was hard to distin-guish from the rest of the morning prattle. Though Sherwood TV made a gallant effort to up prestige and viewership (a problem we at The Warrior encounter as well), the childish antics were a huge swing and miss. If the announcements want to be taken seriously by students and faculty alike, it would do well to cut trivial news and unprofessional gimmicks. Sherwood media between The Warrior and its yearbook counterpart Leaves has a long standing tradition of excellence. With-out TV production’s tiresome tomfoolery, Sherwood TV would be a welcome addition to the fold.

1st Punch

2nd Punch

Knockout

cartoon by Michael Wagner ‘12

Students who receive an ‘A’ both quarters should not have to take a final exam.

The Warrior•OpinionsJune 9, 201116

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Offshore Drilling Necessary for a Better Economy

by Mandy Stussman ‘14

Deep Sea Drilling Destroys Natural Beauties

by Jenni Kenel ‘14

As gas prices and the unemployment rate both continue to stay stuck at historically high levels, Americans are search-ing for ways to save money. Offshore drilling is a reason-able solution that will lower gas prices and provide more job opportunities in communities that have been hit hard by the economic recession. While the oil spill last April in the Gulf of Mexico was tragic, future incidents are preventable and the time has come to untap the massive supplies of oil in the Gulf. With President Obama lifting the ban on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, gas prices will slowly decrease and employees of the oil companies will receive higher wages. The environment is something that should strongly be tak-en into account when restarting offshore drilling. During last year’s oil spill, BP was not properly equipped to fix a spill that happened that deep in the ocean. Therefore, when the oil started gushing out into the ocean, nobody knew what to do. BP also has committed to putting $1 billion into projects to keep the environment safe and secure during its drilling process. With this money in addition to the correct equip-ment to correct any mistakes made, the risk of another accident is nearly non-existent. In addition, other countries such as China and Brazil already have been allowed to drill in the Gulf even after the spill oc-curred. If other countries are able to drill in American waters, then the United States should be able to as well. Instead of getting the majority of our oil from OPEC nations in the Middle East, we can ease our dependence on oil from for-eign countries by drilling in both the eastern and western sections of the gulf. Citizens are saying that there is no quick fix to the high gas prices, but if the United States drills more in the Gulf then the price for gas will slowly decrease. By avoid-ing getting oil from other countries, there will be lower gas costs and possibly less of a reason for the United States to be entangled in the Middle East. The government has started to give permits to companies whose plans for deepwater drilling have been approved. Four-teen companies have gained permits to restart offshore drill-ing in the Gulf, giving jobs back to the men and women who have lost them due to the ban in May 2010. Around 35,000 people had jobs on the oil rigs in the deep water of the Gulf. The smaller rigs in the shallower employ only half as many as the larger rigs do. Therefore, half of the people that lost their jobs are now gaining them back because of the lift of the ban on deepwater drilling in the Gulf.

Should There be Offshore Drilling in the Gulf of Mexico? After the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico during April of last year, President Obama issued a moratorium on permits to drill new deepwa-ter wells. As prices have risen at the gas pump to over $4.00 and the job market continues to suffer, Obama reversed his decision this past May and now says that the United States will seek to expand domestic oil pro-duction, including in the Gulf, in an attempt to reduce dependence on imported oil and bring down fuel prices.

On April 20 last year, a BP oil well deep in the Gulf of Mexico cracked and erupted, releasing more than 210 million gallons of oil into a delicate ecosys-tem. The spill destroyed nearly 90,000 square miles of

habitats, seeping oil into flourishing coral reefs. The oil saturated and killed approximately 5,000 animals ini-

tially, and hundreds more died daily due to re-sidual oil. Along the coast lay some 150 bodies of dolphins, an astonishingly intelligent but

endangered species. This spill, the worst in history, forever altered an ocean paradise.

After the oil spill, President Obama correctly banned deep sea drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico for seven years.

Despite the tragedy that still haunts the region, Obama reversed his decision on May 14 and now permits drilling in the eastern Gulf. His decision was made in an effort

to counteract growing gas prices; however, killing irreplaceable marine life is not the solution to our energy conflict. Drilling in the eastern gulf only provides the United States with 1.8 percent of the country’s oil. Exploration in the eastern Gulf is dangerous and risky, and is only expected to decrease gas prices by a few cents per gallon. The spill last April destroyed commercial marine species as well, including shrimps, crabs and oysters, costing $273 million, or 98 percent of Louisiana’s seafood in revenue. The spill also took the jobs of nearly 200,000 marine workers

and cost $11 billion dollars in tourist-based incomes. The economies in states sur-rounding the gulf plummeted. Now as drilling resumes, there is no guarantee such a

tragedy will not happen again. The BP oil spill was extremely devastating, but even in the absence of a nation-

ally known event environments are still damaged by offshore drilling. Ocean rigs spill and leak oil daily and chemicals used to operate rigs pollute nearby habitats. By simply maintaining wells deep in the ocean, we are slowly sucking life from a haven that once prospered. To save the beauties that lie deep within the Gulf of Mexico, the United States should no longer drill there at all. Reinstating Obama’s seven year ban would be the first of many

steps to remove all oil wells in the gulf, and eventually the world. The solution is not to keep drilling until the world is completely out of oil. The solution is not to demolish every beauty found in the ocean for our own selfish gain. The solution is to invest

in something promising, something that will never run out, something that could reduce our dependence on oil. The solution is alternative energy. A far-fetched idea that could be our future. A natural source of energy without toxic emissions could power our society. Deep sea drilling or oil from the Middle East would no longer be needed. The change would be gradual, but with the removal of oil wells from the gulf and other areas and an increase in funding for alternative research, eventually the world could survive, and dolphins, along with millions of other irreplaceable species, could survive with it.

The Warrior•Wondering WarriorJune 9, 2011 17

“Fall down on the couch, let out

a huge sigh of relief, and turn on

the Xbox”-Drew Metrey ‘14

“Going to take a long nap”-Brandon Izzo ‘13

“Burn everything school related.

I will dance on the ashes for a

week and invite everyone over to

do the same” -Chris Witczak ‘12

“Hit up 7-11 and get me a piña

colada slurpee”-Brandi Dudrick ‘13

“Bike on the double yellow

lines through traffic” -Avery Parker ‘14

Hot dog or hamburger orBBQ chicken?

Chloe Hadeed ‘13

Hot dog or hamburger or

BBQ chicken?

Hot dog or hamburger or

BBQ chicken?

Hot dog or hamburger or

BBQ chicken?

Computer or pool?

Computer or pool?

Computer or pool?

Computer or pool?Tanning or going in the water?

Tanning or going in the water?

Camp counselor or at a

local restaurant or in retail? Tanning or going in the water?

Tanning or going in the water?

Camp counselor or at a

local restaurant or in retail?

Camp counselor or at a local restaurant or in retail?

Camp counselor or at a

local restaurant or in retail?

What will you do as soon as you get out of your last exam?

Cesar Martinez ‘13Sam Fregly ‘12

Emily Horwitz ‘14

WORST part of the school year

BEST part of the school year

“Reading the school n

ewspaper”

-Lauren Paese ‘13“When the fire alarm went off and we stood in the rain for 30 minutes”-Kristen Lauda ‘14

“The end”-Rewa Kumar ‘12

“Mondays”

-Alec Wheatley ‘14

“The end of the year when AP classes are done”-Lauren Whitten ‘12

“Exams, tests, quizzes, homework and classwork”-Briana Covington ‘12

June 9, 201118

Lady Gaga: This Generation’s Madonnaby Whitney-Marie Halaby ‘14

The Warrior•Entertainment

The notorious Lady Gaga, known for her unique choice of dress, her provocative songs and her outspokenness for gay and transgender rights, is continu-ously evolving into something new. But, as she becomes this generation’s Madonna, contro-versies follow her. The most re-cent uproar surrounded her song “Judas,” a single from her second album “Born This Way.” The name of the song itself is not what caused the hullabaloo—it is the lyrics and its video. One of the most controversial parts of “Judas” is when she sings “I wanna love you/ But something’s pulling me away from you /Jesus is my virtue/ Judas is the demon I cling to.” Later in the song’s lyr-ics, and in the video as well, Lady Gaga betrays Jesus. Not too sur-prisingly, the song has offended some Christians. Lady Gaga has not always been as outspoken as she is now. Her first album “The Fame” was just like any other pop singer’s album. It had spunk, with its own twist. But somewhere along the

road between “The Fame” and “Born This Way” something changed. She was no longer a typical pop star aspiring to make it to the top ten on the bill-boards; she became a fear-less artist who sparked plenty of controversy. This change, whatever it might have been, has caused her to become one of the most controversial stars of this generation and it seems to overshadow her place as a legitimate pop star. In a review of her new al-bum, Washington Post critic, Chris Richards describes Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” as a “dark, dense and surprisingly aggres-sive listen. But musi-cally, it felt conservative and predictable. And at its worst it sounds like reheated left-overs from some ‘80s movie sound track. For an information-age superstar who’s managed to squeeze us all into a global group hug, shouldn’t Gaga be deliver-ing something a little more zei-

geisty?” Criticism has come from oth-ers besides music reviewers. A

spokesperson for the Catho-lic League, a group for religious and civil rights,

stated that Lady Gaga is constantly pushing the en-velope and that her actions are juvenile and immature. “ S h e

is trying to rip off Christian idola-try to shore up her talentless, mundane and boring perfor-

mances,” added Bill Donahue, president of the Catholic League.

Donahue is speaking not only for Catholics,

but for other major Christian religions who feel that Lady Gaga has offended their religion with her “vulgar” lyrics. Freshman Alexis Amangua-

na would beg to differ with this statement. She says that Gaga has said that she is a devout Catho-

lic and is just expressing herself through her music. Fans of Lady Gaga are quick to point out that many pop stars have stirred up controversies in the past. “She isn’t the only one to do things with religion. Madonna’s music video ‘Like a Prayer’ was also controversial, and I think she used biblical references to ex-press how she has been betrayed by her past lovers,” said Aman-guana. French teacher John Falls, a fan of Lady Gaga, said that he remembers a time when ‘Like A Prayer’ was taboo, and now he says it is played on several sta-tions without controversy. Falls sees other similarities between Madonna and Lady Gaga, say-ing that Madonna led the way for Lady Gaga to be so upfront with her stance on social issues; Lady Gaga learned from Madonna that creativity equals longevity. Still, Lady Gaga’s future is as up in the air as her lyrics. Whether she stays as famous as she is now or becomes a distant speck in pop culture past depends on whether she can deliver talent on top of controversy.

The Warrior•EntertainmentJune 9, 2011 19

‘Game of Thrones’ Offers Plenty for the Attentive Viewer

Death Cab for Cutie Fuses Vintage Roots with a New Vibrant Soundby Sam Farrell ‘12

by Christopher Jou ‘12 also an alternate plot where evil from times past/the north is returning to wreak havoc on the land, accounting for one of show’s other taglines, namely “Winter is coming.” While disjointed, it remains comprehen-sive to viewers paying attention, as it flits from prince of land Y to queen of nation A to princess of Kingdom M. This show is not for lazy viewers who do not want to think. For devoted watch-ers, “Game of Thrones” rewards them by building suspense until the breaking point. And then the terrific cliffhangers leave viewers wanting to tune in next week. Due to the extensive amount of char-acters, I will only be naming the important ones. First, we have Eddard Stark and his loving wife, two sons, two daughters and illegitimate son. Next, Robert Baratheon,

the king, and his family which includes one queen (who is plotting a coup alongside her twin brother with whom she has an in-cestuous relationship), a son (who is oddly reminiscent of Malfoy from Harry Potter) and the younger brother of the previously mentioned queen, who happens to be ver-tically challenged. Then, we have Viserys Targaryen, prince of the deposed king of Westeros, with his sister Daenerys who is being married off to Khal Drogo, who is leader of a Mongol-like tribe called the Dothraki, because Viserys aims to enlist his help in taking back his kingdom. It is worthy to note that they created a Dothraki language just for the series (maybe the next Klingon?). Though it may seem a burden to remember all the characters listed here, it is quite easy as they all have some iden-

tifiable trait and therefore succeed in capti-vating the audience. The HBO show is based on a series called “A Song of Ice and Fire,” written by George Martin, of which the first book is “A Game Of Thrones.” I haven’t read the series recently, so I cannot attest to the faithfulness of the show to the original, but the author has been cited as saying that it was. This series is not for the easily dis-tracted. Watching requires that you focus on the setup so that you will understand what goes on later. If you succeed, you will be rewarded with a bounty of enjoyment. And what the future holds can only be bet-ter. Perhaps it can form a fan base as rabid and spirited as Trekkies or froods, while still maintaining its cult status.

A medieval fantasy series? Mature audiences only? It’s about time. With the majority of television shows either fami-ly-friendly sitcoms or reality television, I had been waiting for a series that makes me want to watch TV again. “Game of Thrones” premiered on April 17 and so far has been met with critical acclaim. A fairly amazing series actually, it was renewed for a second season two days after its pre-miere. Set in the land of Westeros (think Mid-dle-earth without magic and orcs), “Game of Thrones” offers an initially confusing yet coherent plotline of approximately seven groups fighting for control of the throne, thus “Game of Thrones.” There is

Paisley Accurately Claims ‘This is Country Music’

by Ryan Coulter ‘12

In just about every sense, Death Cab for Cutie has represented the Indie plat-form and everything it has stood for the past six years. Even before they had their coming-of-age, before radios were blaring “Soul Meets Body” and “Crooked Teeth,” they were honing their indie roots with three gold albums from 1998 to 2001 that many nostalgic fans consider the real gems of the band’s work. When I first popped their newest in-stallment “Codes and Keys” into my car stereo, I was somewhat apprehensive. Since their 2008 album “Narrow Stairs,” two major events occurred in lead singer Ben Gibbard’s life: he quit alcohol and got hitched to actress Zooey Deschanel. That sounds like a pretty healthy and happy hia-tus for the average guy, but for Gibbard it has the potential to drastically ruin his lyr-ics, guitar riffs, tender wailing and every-thing else that made him the melancholy front man of Death Cab for the first decade of the band’s existence. The single released prior to “Codes and Keys” was a cause of concern for me. “You Are a Tourist” is a brilliantly addic-tive tune with such a killer guitar riff and a roaring bass line that it definitely is in contention for a top song of the summer. But, this is also from where my skepticism originated. While this tune is excellent, it invokes a sense of happiness and exuber-ance. Those are not two adjectives I would use to describe this band. I hoped with all my might I was wrong, that they would not release a horrific album that would batter their indie reputation into dust. I’m happy to report I indeed was wrong.

The jazzy swing of “Home is Fire” opens the album, and immediately there is a change in the established Death Cab mood in just the opening seconds. The constant piano mashing and quick snare drum work perfectly together as they lead into the album’s title track “Codes and Keys,” which is an even better example of how Gibbard’s exceptional piano playing, coupled with his unique song writing, re-ally make the band stand out in the music world. As for the rest of the songs on the al-bum, they more or less follow the same musical theme that was implemented in “You Are a Tourist.” “Under the Sycamore Tree” and “Unobstructed Views” are two tracks I also really liked, because to me they sound like the original Death Cab sound that I want. And while some songs, such as “Portable Televisions,” missed the mark because I thought they were a little bland and too instrumentally mixed, I wasn’t expecting a perfect set-list. But considering all 11 songs as a whole, I re-ally did enjoy this album. While it’s not revolutionary, the experimentation heard on this album could easily be the founda-tion of another uplifting change that Death Cab has brought time and time again in the past. So is the new album the harbinger for the future sound of Death Cab? To answer my own question, I personally have deep connections to the old, cynical Death Cab, and I hope on their next record they re-trieve that sound. But “Codes and Keys” was a real pleasure ride that fans can appre-ciate and is one that I, for one, could learn to love.

One of country music’s most promi-nent singers is back with more stories to share. When naming an album “This is Country Music” you need to deliver on that promise and Brad Paisley does exactly that on his eighth studio album. “This is Coun-try Music” offers 15 tracks of love, loss, family, sunshine, partying, hurt, hope and everything else one would expect from a country album. Many people look down their noses at country music because they see it as only twang and fiddle. Today, country music has reached a totally different level than the stereotype that so many judge it by, and Paisley’s sound is a direct correlation to country’s new generation of music. Stray-ing away from that hard country sound, Paisley’s music revolves around a slightly more mainstream pop sound with the oc-casional twang of his guitar solos. From the summer-like feel in “Work-ing on a Tan” to the lively beat of the title track “This Is Country Music,” there is nothing more complete than having the privilege to hear one of Paisley’s guitar so-los. “So turn it on, turn it up and sing along/ This is real, this is your life in song/ This is country music,” Paisley sings on the title track. There has been much debate about what modern country music really is, with mainstream artists sounding more pop and rock than traditional country and blue-grass, but these lines sum up country music better than anyone has in a while. Coun-try music is more about the songs than the sound. It offers snapshots of everyday life and touches on topics that no other genre dares to. The reigning Country Music Asso-ciation entertainer of the year enlists sev-eral fellow superstars to help him make his case, even persuading beloved country vocal group Alabama out of retirement and into reuniting for the single “Old Ala-bama,” Paisley’s latest No. 1 hit. Sampling pieces from Alabama’s hit “Mountain Mu-sic,” Paisley crafts a song that perfectly blends country’s old fashion twang, with a touch his own flamboyant melodies. The true standout of the album is “Re-mind Me,” a duet with Carrie Underwood about rekindling the flame in an aging re-lationship. Underwood’s voice soars on the

record and blends perfectly with Paisley’s. The pair previously teamed up on “Oh Love,” a track from Paisley’s 2007 album “5th Gear.” “Remind Me” is bound to be a No. 1 single on country radio and its suc-cess will hopefully in turn lead to more collaborations between Paisley and Under-wood. Listeners will love this album if they are just getting into Paisley’s music or have been a fan of his music from the begin-ning. With each song in of itself its own story, listeners may find a preference to-wards some songs over others, which, in that case, they should just buy select songs rather that the whole album. Overall, “This is Country Music” is a great update to Paisley’s already remarkable music career. Paisley sure is one of his own: a great gui-tarist with a good sense of balancing both modern and classic country music.

wqhsradio.tumblr.com

guitargallows.com

Paisley gives his listeners a real taste of country in his newest album.

The Warrior•EntertainmentJune 9, 201120

Let’s get straight to the heart of the matter. “X-Men: First Class” blows away any comic book based science fiction movie preceding it. Everything from its plot to the acting performances to special effects contributes to a action film that enthralls the audi-ence. Directed by Matthew Vaughn, who also contributed to the screenplay, “X-Man: First Class” stars James McAvoy as Charles Xavier, Michael Fass-bender as Eric Lehnsherr, and Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Shaw. “X-Men: First Class” is a prequel to the X-Men trilogy of films and explains the origins of Professor X’s X-Men and Magneto’s Brotherhood. When Charles Xavier becomes a pro-fessor on human mutations, he is asked to join the CIA in a search for a dangerous mutant criminal Sebastian Shaw, who is planning on starting World War III. During an operation he meets Eric Lehn-sherr (Magneto), another mutant after Shaw, but with a different motive. They team up along with a multitude of other mutants to track down Shaw, but throughout the journey Eric and Charles’ re-

lationship will be tested. Audiences can enjoy the flick no matter their background knowledge of the X-Men team. The movie does a good job of keeping the progression of the plot at a pace that new fans of the story can follow without be-coming confused. Even if the plot lines could overwhelm some viewers, the action alone will keep them engaged. Mixing it

up, this prequel contains not only big explosions and mutants with cool powers but also sprinkles in laughs and romance. In scenes with tables melt-ing, hundreds of missiles explod-ing and giant submarines being lifted out of the water, “X-Men: First Class” makes full use of 21st century computer advance-ments and sports amazing spe-cial effects. The lasers and sonic

sound waves emitting from the mutants truly look as if the actors produced them themselves. Audi-ences can be forgiven for forget-ting that they’re watching a world of make-believe as the film’s ef-fects look so realistic. Making the story even more believable, Vaughn does an ex-cellent job of intertwining histori-cal events with fictional events. In a concentration camp, during

World War II, Eric Lehnsherr discovers his powers for the first time. Even major work events get re-imagined, and in the story told in “First Class,” the Cuban mis-sile crisis in 1962, for example, was even more threatening and dangerous. There might not re-ally have been mutants who have influenced the historical events of the past 70 years, but it sure does make for a great adventure flick.

Latest X-Men Prequel Will Fly Farby Cal Wilson ‘14

Warped Tour is the upcoming summer concert that appeals to an extensive variety of tastes of teen-agers. Coming on July 26 to Merriweather Post Pa-vilion in Columbia, the music fest brings together bands such as The Devil Wears Prada and Asking Alexandria for rock lovers. For those more into pop, The Ready Set and Paramore will be performing, as will be rap/hip hop performers Gym Class Heroes. Lucero from Memphis is the featured band and will

be showcasing their alternative country/southern rock sound. Warped Tour is an all-day concert that consists of multiple performances on different stag-es. In addition to being an exciting, all-day event, Warped Tour also appeals to those who may not be fans of the bands performing; many teens show up simply for the fun of it. Tickets cost between $55- $130 and the event has long been a major summer attraction for teenagers in the D.C/Baltimore area. -Maya Lennon ‘14

From left: Michael Fassbender, Rose Byrne, January Jones, Jason Flemyng, Nicholas Hoult, Lucas Till, Zoe Kravitz, Jennifer Lawrence and James McAvoy star in the prequel to “X-Man: First Class.”

IGN.com

Com

ing soon!Green Lantern: June 17

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2: July 15

Winnie the Pooh: July 15

Movies:

Katy Perry: June 15 at Merriweather

Warped Tour: July 26 at Merriweather

Ke$ha: August 21 at Patriot Center

Concerts:

Tha Carter IV by Lil Wayne: June 21

Chief by Eric Church: July 26

Scenes From the Suburbs by Arcade Fire: August 2

Albums:

Shows N’

Shindigs

And don’t miss...

The Warrior•Sports21June 9, 2011

Intramural Fútbol Helps Break Down Barriersby Leah Schroeder‘13

don’t know who is going to be the leader next year. So it’s going to be different, but I still have inter-est in doing it,” said Kondjang. In this year’s intramural soc-cer tournament, Kondjang’s team, ‘Thierry,’ composed entirely of ESOL students, came out on top with a record of 4-1.

jang all served as team captains this year and are all current or exited ESOL students. Kondjang and Fuentes have participated in intramural soccer for the past two years while Duron Salgado is new to the activity. “People say that if you are Hispanic, you play soccer, but

I play it because I like it,” said Fuentes. Duron Salgado similarly cites his culture and his friends as the reasons for his participa-tion in soccer. Even so, his love for the game makes him want to keep playing. “You get to know people and learn something about

the game … If there is another tournament, I might play again, just to play [soccer],” said Duron. With Orndorff retiring, Ber-nard-Sanchez, Orndorff and many players hope that another teacher will take over the program.. “[Mr. Orndorff] is a great guy … al-ways trying to get me involved. I

Five years ago, physical edu-cation teacher Gene Orndorff created intramural soccer after a number of ESOL students ex-pressed interest. The program initially attracted enough partici-pants for four teams. Now, it has grown to eight teams with a total of 60 participants, half of which are ESOL students. “We have 20 to 30 countries in the school that have a soccer background and they have a ca-maraderie amongst themselves ... When they break down into teams, there might be a Latin team, an African team and a French team,” said Orndorff. “This gives them an opportunity to play competi-tively against each other in a sport they are good at.” The activity offers any stu-dent the chance to play “the world’s game.” For the conve-nience of ESOL students, games are held during lunch and after school on the days on which the activity buses run. Most ESOL students rely on the activity bus for transportation home from af-ter-school activities. “[Intramural soccer] allows [ESOL students] to participate in a sport they all love without the costs associated with playing on a school team. It also gives them a positive venue for socializing,” said ESOL resource teacher Lau-ra Bernard-Sanchez. Juniors Renzo Fuentes and Eduardo Duron Salgado and freshman Thierry Tommy Kond-

Brett Melnick ‘12

In the second round of the intramural soccer tournament, clockwise from left, Andrew Burlin defends Abraham Solaimanpour, Burlin scores a goal, Jabril Omar catches a shot on goal, Choul Min Park-Zuniga defends Mau-riccio Navarrete, Navarrete prepares to kick and Brad Kuntzman walks down the field followed by Navarrete.

Baseball SoftballBoys’ Lacrosse Girls’ Lacrosse

Boys’ Volleyball

Boys’ Tennis

Standings

Team W-L Pct.

S’Brook 14-1 .933Blair 11-2 .846SHS 11-3 .786B-CC 5-6 .455 Magrud. 5-8 .385

CoEd Volleyball

Track & FieldStandings

Team W-L Pct.

B-CC 10-2 .830SHS 8-3 .727Blair 7-5 .583Magrud. 6-6 .571S’Brook 5-7 .417

Standings

Team W-L Pct.

SHS 13-3 .813WJ 10-5 .667P’Branch 7-6 .467B-CC 5-8 .385S’Brook 4-7 .364

Standings

Team W-L Pct.

SHS 14-1 .933P’Branch 10-4 .714Magrud. 9-4 .692BCC 5-8 .385S’Brook 5-8 .385

Standings

Team W-L Pct.

QO 11-1 .917C’Burg 10-2 .833SHS 9-2 .818P’Ville 4-8 .333S’Brook 4-8 .333

Standings

Team W-L-T Pct.

SHS 17-2 .895Blair 17-4 .810P’Branch 11-7 .611Magrud. 0-9-1 .000S’Brook 0-7 .000

Standings

Team W-L Pct.

SHS 20-1 .952B-CC 13-8 .619Blair 13-8 .619P’Branch 12-6 .667Magrud. 10-6 .625

Standings

Team W-L Pct.

SHS 12-3 .800WJ 11-3 .788S’Brook 7-5 .583BCC 5-8 .385P’Branch 3-8 .273

The Warrior•Sports22 June 9, 2011

DIVISION 4A WEST STATS AND STANDINGS LAST UPDATED: June 9Spring Sports Roundup

bigapplemetstalk.com

This Day in SportsJune 9

1999- Mets Manager Bobby Valentine (above) sneaks back into his team’s dugout a couple innings after getting ejected for arguing. Valentine fooled many with his bat-tape ‘stache and stylin shades, but was fined $5,000 two days later.

Results

Lost 3 sets to 1 to Springbrook in the County Quarterfinals.

Results

The Warriors will re-turn to Division I next year after their stellar performance in Divi-sion II this season.

Results

Upset by Walter John-son in the Regional Semi-Finals by a score of 17-16.

Results

Lost in 3 sets at the County Championship to Damascus.

Results

The girls placed 3rd in the 4A West Regional Championship and the boys placed 10th.

Results

Lost to Blair 8-6 in the Region Finals. See story on page 24.

Results Lost to Churchill 2-1 in the Region Semifinals.See story on page 24.

Results Lost to Churchill 11-8 in the Region Finals.

The Warrior•Sports23June 9, 2011

Local Teams Show Signs of Life by Michael Natelli ‘14

Anyone who has been a D.C./Baltimore sports fan for the past decade knows that there has been little to cheer about, other than perhaps the 2000 Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ra-vens. The Orioles haven’t had a winning season in 13 years, the Nationals have had only one non-losing season (81-81 in inaugural season, 2005), and the Wizards, well, don’t even get me started. The Capitals have been the No. 1 overall seed each of the past two seasons, but have managed to get out-goalied by Montreal and swept by Tampa Bay in the playoffs the past two years. But despite all of this bad mojo, there is hope, my fellow sports fans, there is hope. Let’s start with baseball. This offseason, the Nationals made a big splash, adding star outfield-er Jayson Werth and consistent journeyman first baseman Adam LaRoche. Werth will add some fame and production to the un-productive, unknown Nationals outfield. LaRoche will replace Adam Dunn, which is a plus be-cause there was no clear replace-ment for him otherwise. Jumping ahead to 2012, superstar pitcher Steven Strasburg will return from Tommy John Surgery, and Bryce Harper might also get a chance to hit in the Bigs. The Orioles are also start-ing to learn what it takes to win, courtesy of the man himself, Buck Showalter. Showalter took a struggling 2010 Orioles club, which was 34-48 heading into the All-Star Break, and led them to the second best Post-Break record in the American League. Buck has managed to keep this year’s Orioles hovering around the .500 mark, which is an im-pressive feat when you have a team full of players who are ei-ther just getting started or filling out their retirement papers. The Orioles will be looking to add chips either mid-season or during the offseason, not to mention that their excess of young talent will only improve. So, look for the Orioles to be on the right side of .500 next year. Now on to football. The Redskins struggled last year, as newly acquired quarterback Donovan McNabb was not quite the savior the Redskins so des-perately needed. This proved the often-mentioned theory that Donovan McNabb only put up great numbers because of the many elite talents that surround-ed him. Rex Grossman did show some promise in the few appear-

ances he made, and he will prob-ably be the starting quarterback come next season (whenever that is…). Upstart unknown quarter-back John Beck will also have a strong chance to lead the team next year if he puts in the effort and can beat out Grossman for the job. Regardless of who is under center, they will have many new talents surrounding them. The ‘Skins drafted three wide receiv-ers, led by Leonard Hankerson out of the University of Miami. They also drafted two running backs: Roy Helu and Evan Roys-ter. The ‘Skins also continued building up their defense this offseason, using their first round pick on defensive end Ryan Ker-rigan (Purdue), and their second round pick on defensive tackle Jarvis Jenkins (Clemson). They also signed OJ Atogwe to team up with DeAngelo Hall, Carlos Rog-ers and LaRon Landry to create a solid defensive backfield. The Wizards have scared away fans for the past several sea-sons, filling Verizon Center with

troubled former All-Stars (see: Gilbert Arenas) and players who were supposed to be great, but never were (see: Kwame Brown, Oleksiy Pecherov). But, don’t give up on them just yet. The Wizards will be flashing a new look next year, with improved youngsters and also literally with flashing new retro jerseys. Owner Ted Leonsis clearly knows what he’s doing changing back to the red, white and blue Jerseys, as that already worked for his hock-ey team, the Washington Capi-tals, back in the 2007-2008 sea-son. The Wizards hit the jackpot last offseason, winning the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft Lottery to pick on Kentucky su-perstar John Wall. The Wizards also got a nice surprise, when unknown rookie Jordan Crawford began playing like an All-Star. The Crawford/Wall combo will be fun to watch next year, as they work with Rashard Lewis, and whatever young studs they select with the No. 6 and No. 18 picks in this year’s draft.

With the drafting of superstar point guard John Wall in the 2010 NBA Draft, many locals are beginning to stop and take notice of the upstart Wizards.

JV Softball poses at home plate after the completion of their undefeated season with a 15-1 win over Blake. This season is the JV’s second con-secutive undefeated season. After the final out, the girls spread chalk on the field writ-ing out “14-0.”

Mike Bonavia walked into J153 and gazed out at 60 new fac-es in front of him. Wearing a grey t-shirt sporting the high school player development emblem, black shorts and tennis shoes, he placed his hands on his hips and smiled. The air conditioning had stalled inside Sherwood on a day when temperatures reached 94 degrees. Before he addressed the team prior to the beginning of outdoor workouts he wiped the sweat off his brow. “It’s hot in here,” he said. “That’s good. That will make outside feel easier to work in.” Bonavia was hired March 4 after a three-month search for Marc Thomas’s long-term suc-cessor. A long-time Al Thomas assistant and former head coach at Richard Montgomery and Ein-stein, Bonavia exudes passion—a quality that comes from not only his experience, but his intensity as well. “His passion for the sport and this team and the players has I think helped quell some of the doubts about him as a new coach,” and the fourth coach in as many years, said junior offensive lineman Connor Black. Bonavia began the team gath-

ering by commending his players for their hard work in the weight room that day, but scrutinized them for shirking other days. He lauded his rising senior class, whose leaders sat front and cen-ter five feet from him. The rest of the room was scattered with underclassmen hungry for a taste of varsity football. The Stormin’ Warriors lost 21 of 22 starters to graduation and 25 seniors total. He put his foot up on the stool sta-tioned in the middle of the room and took roll without a list; recit-ing the names by memory and fa-cial recognition. Bonavia found a program to prosper in. “This is a young program, but I really like it,” he said. “There’s just a few things that we’ll have to change and a few things we’ll have to get after to change our mindset because right now it’s in limbo. But once we get that fig-ured out, I think these guys will buy in. I like them. I think these guys are buying in.” Bonavia calls himself “a players’ coach” and after roll call the mass of athletes shuffled out of the room one by one, each re-ceiving a word of praise. He sat down in the office that on June 17 will officially be his and squinted at a depth chart. “Looks solid,” he said, “but it will get better.”

Passionate Bonavia Takes the Helm as New Football Coachby Jacob Bogage ‘12

Congratulations to the JV softball team for go-ing undefeated for the second season in a row! The girls won all of their games by over 10 runs, with the exception of a 10-1 win over Da-mascus. Way to go Warriors!

Becky Geller

Scheduleat Churchill W 19-8vs. Clarksburg W 22-11at Richard Montgomery W 27-8vs. Gaithersburg W 20-1vs. Springbrook W 14-2at Magruder W 14-0vs. B-CC W 15-3at Blair W 11-0at Quince Orchard W 22-7at Walter Johnson W 15-4vs. Paint Branch W 15-3vs. Wooton W 15-3vs. Damascus W 10-1vs. Blake W 15-1

JV Shoutout

Streeter Lecka

Record: 14-0

The Warrior•Sports24 June 9, 2011

Baseball, Softball Hit into Double Play of DisappointmentTeams suffer playoff losses in 4A West Regional rounds after stellar regular seasons; baseball falls to Churchill while softball falls to Blair.

‘Killer’ Loss a Major Disappointment for Girls

Brett Melnick ‘12

Blair Blazers

8

sherwood warriors

6

4a west regional

Finals

Perfect Season Ended on Harsh Suicide Mission

ChurChillBulldogs

2

sherwood warriors

1

4a west regional

semi-Finals

by Jamie Langbein ‘13

by Matt Diogo ‘14

Graduated senior Amy Laughner and juniors Kris-ten Holonich and Juliana McClurkin line up to shake hands after a 13-1 victory over Paint Branch.

Graduated senior Jamie Dejter (center) and team-mates hang their heads over a 2-1 loss to Churchill.

Jacob Bogage ‘12

Single elimination playoff games can be cruel, suddenly ruining what had been an amaz-ing season. The Warriors’ var-sity baseball team entered the 4A West Regional Semi-Final game against the Churchill Bulldogs on May 18 riding 20-0 regular season and a No. 2 ranking in the metropolitan area by The Wash-ington Post. They were the de-fending 4A State Champions and were favorites to win it all again. Then, just like that, the Warriors saw it all evaporate after a 2-1 loss to the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs struck first in the second inning, scoring a sin-gle run. Sherwood answered in the third when graduated senior Jake Stockinger doubled home graduated senior Joey Saah. The game then would see five in-nings of scoreless baseball, with Warrior starting pitcher, graduat-ing senior Jamie Dejter, pitching strong. The two squads battled nine innings until Churchill right-fielder Matt Kogan pushed a run home on a suicide squeeze. “It was definitely rough. It was a game where we didn’t re-ally find a way to hit [opposing pitcher Kelby Spring],” said De-jter. Spring pitched eight innings and allowed only three hits to Sherwood for the game. Mean-while, Dejter held the Bulldogs

to two hits and only one earned run. The winning Churchill run was an unearned one, as the run-ner got into scoring position on a Dejter wild pitch. Sherwood was favored to win states for the second year in a row, which makes the upset even more surprising. “We just didn’t hit the ball,” said Coach Bill Goodman. “It’s a shame the one game we lose all season had to be in the playoffs.” Their first game of the season was against, Churchill, which the Warriors won 2-1. The first playoff match-up was against the Wootton Patriots, a rain-struck game that featured a two-hour rain delay. Prior to the delay, The Warriors had scored four runs in their half of the first inning, and then the delay came and washed out the field. The Warriors scored two more runs, but then in the final inning, Woot-ton started a comeback, scoring four runs. Sherwood held on for the 7-4 victory. Two days later, they fell to Churchill who subse-quently lost to Gaithersburg by a score of 8-3. The 4A champion-ship ultimately was claimed by Westminister in a 8-7 win over Severna Park. Over the offseason, Sher-wood graduates 11 players, in-cluding eight starters. Next sea-son will bring a lot of new faces to the squad, but could also bring back a few from the team this season. Starters Adam Abramson, Jake Stockinger, Danny Hunt, Nathan Craft, Mike Sarecky, Joey Saah, Drew Knapp, Will Bouey, Jamie Dejter and Anthony Papio are among the graduating se-niors on the team. Catcher Colin McMahon is the only returning starter with Tyler Rodriguez, Daniel Bower, Matt Chanin, Ed-ilier Peguero and Charlie Rogers anchoring next year’s team that looks to build on this year’s regu-lar season’s success.

standards,” commented Dejter. After the game, emotions for Laughner and Dejter were running high. For senior captain Laughner, it was her job to be strong and to comfort the girls. “It was hard for me because it was my last high school game, and I had to be tough because ev-eryone else was upset. I had to be

the captain that I needed to be and try to make everyone feel better,” said Laughner. Dejter was affected as well, but on a more personal level. “I personally feel I didn’t throw a very good game and I felt that I had let the team down,” said De-jter. But it is not all bad news. The girls had a remarkable season, with 15 wins and only one loss, coming to Damascus on April 14. As tough as losses are, changes made to the lineup because of that loss led to the Warriors coming out stronger than they were be-fore and allowed them to finish off the rest of their season with wins.

A large part of the girls’ suc-cess this season was due to the talented underclassmen—a com-bination of five freshman and four sophomores, including star pitchers sophomore Kailyn Co-hen and Dejter. “Everyone was expecting us to be not as good because we are so young, but we had a lot of talent in the under-

classmen, which really helped us,” said Dejter. The next step: preparation. Accord-ing to Laughner, all of the girls on varsity play summer softball and participate in a winter clinic in preparation for the season, so they

will train to come out harder and stronger. “All the returnees need to focus as much as they can and work harder next year to master their defense and get to score ear-ly in the game,” advised Laugh-ner. The future looks bright for Sherwood softball, as the JV team boasted an undefeated re-cord. The varsity squad will con-tinue to stay one of the county’s youngest, as up and coming ju-niors Megan Brady, Rachel Deal, and Erica Everett will join rising sophomores Lisa Intoccia, Dejter Rae Harrison, Kasey Rosen and Addie Armbruster. A core group of four rising seniors will anchor the 2012 campaign.

“I think we were really playing on our heels and we didn’t get on top early, which put us behind. We really just weren’t playing up to our regular standards.”

~Freshman Meggie Dejter

On May 20, the Sherwood Softball Warriors lined up for the Montgomery County 4A West Regional Finals. The girls had a stellar season behind them and lots of talent, especially coming from five underclassmen. They were poised to contend for a State Championship. But not today. The Warriors made their earliest exit in the last five years. According to graduated se-nior Amy Laughner, “No one in playoffs is an underdog and no one is a powerhouse, anybody can beat anybody,” said the cen-terfielder and leader of the team. Her statement was proved when Blair pulled off an upset of a fa-vored Sherwood team that went 15-1 during the regular season. The score went back and forth many times. In the first in-ning, Blair’s Emily Halisip drove a double to left center, allow-ing Blake Morgan-Gamer to put the first run on the board, which Sherwood answered with a run in the third inning. Blair tried to pull ahead in the fourth inning, but Sherwood’s Sara Sabry leveled it with a homerun over the center fence. In the fourth inning, both teams added two more runs. After that, however, the Warrior defense fell apart. Blair exploded with four runs in the sixth inning, and while Sherwood scored twice more, the Warriors fell into a hole they could not climb out of, los-ing the game by a final score of 8-6. For freshman Meggie De-jter, the bad omens started at the beginning of the game. “[I think] we were really playing on our heels and we didn’t get on top early, which put us behind,” she said. Although Sherwood started strong, errors early on af-fected their play as they finished the final innings. “We really just weren’t playing up to our regular