october 2011
DESCRIPTION
Issue 2, October 19, 2011TRANSCRIPT
In This Issue...Preview of Elections FCPS Debates Security CamerasHow to Use the Career Center Horror Movies: Past and Present
ContentsNews
Entertainment
Commentary
Middle Spread
Features
Sports
3 News Briefs
4Fairfax Considers Installing Surveillance Cameras in School
5Teen Unemployment Rates on the RiseNeutrinos Possibly Faster than the Speed of Light
7Recommendations from a Music JunkieHomo Explicatus: Rocker Kids
8Horror Movies: From Horrifying to Horrible
9Just So You Know...
10Hide Yo Kids! Hide Yo Keys!Teacher Sightings!
11In Memorium: Steve JobsIs it Still Acceptable to Trick or Treat?
12Fairfax Votes
14Robinson Shares Her Fashion SecretsTeachers Integrating Interests into Curriculum
15In Depth: Overcrowding
16How to Control College and Career Craziness
18Perfect Pumpkin Recipes
19Homecoming Court 2011
20Students Share How they got Scared StraightMeet New Admistrator Mr. Chong
21Sports Briefs
22For Joslin, Honesty Comes First
23How Do They Manage?
October 19, 2011
Rebel Roar Staff 2011-2012Editor-in-Chief
Emily StoneManaging Editor
Jessica MiersCopy Chief
Walker CarlsonNews EditorRachel Tran
Entertainment Editor
Gabrielle SeversonCommentary EditorBrandon Blankenship
Features EditorNikki Strickland
Sports EditorWalker CarlsonArt Director
Elizabeth FulmerBusiness Manager
Jessica MiersStaff Writers
Suha KhandkerNatalia ColonErinn Fecteau
Natalie ShabanAdviser
Carl Irvin
Editorial PolicyRebel Roar is a published forum of student expression. Letters to the Editor and guest articles are encouraged. Only signed letters are considered for publication. The editors reserve the right to edit all material in the interest of clarity and space. Opinions expressed do not necessarily rep-resent those of the staff or school administration. The staff writes
unsigned editorials on a majority basis. The Rebel Roar accepts all advertisements deemed appropri-ate for a public forum meant for young adults and are subject to the discretion of the editors. Stu-dents are encouraged to take an active voice in the student pub-lication. Questions, comments, and letters can be emailed [email protected].
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Corrections and Clarifications for last issue: In the “Marching Band Attacks the Stuggle Within” article on page 19, we incorrectly identified sophomore Helen Simachew as a freshman.
Cover by Elizabeth FulmerPhoto below by Jessica Miers
Letter from the Editor
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Sincerely,
Emily StoneEditor-in-Chief
News BriefsDear Readers,
This month, we continue to encour-age you to make your voice heard. Our middle spread features local
elections, which may seem boring at first glance, but take a closer look and realize that many of the issues being de-bated directly affect students! So if you are old enough to vote, take the oppor-tunity on November 8th. If you aren’t old enough to vote, on page 13 you can read about other ways to have your voice heard by our local representatives.
As a school, we also made our voice heard through our selections for Home-coming Court. You can read exclusive interviews with all the Court members on page 19.
Maybe I’m a little biased, but the best way to have your voice heard is through us! Talk to us on our Facebook fan page, follow us @FHSRebelRoar, email us at [email protected], or send us adorable fan mail, prefer-ably with gifts included. We accept all letters to the editor, guest articles, and pictures for consideration. I know for a fact that there are some seriously opin-ionated people in this school, so share your opinions with us! The people who usually listen to your opinions are prob-ably tired of hearing them.
On October 12th,
an unauthorized visitor entered Fairfax High School
through the field house lobby. “We are a public building, we have a great
deal of visitors that come and go from our school. Not all of them are here for legiti-mate reasons. This person did not have a le-gitimate reason to be in Fairfax HS. When questioned, he ran from my staff. When caught and identified, he had a criminal record, [including] sex offenses. He was
arrested and taken to jail immedi-ately,” said Will Gideonse, head
of security.
Steve Jobs, former
CEO and co-founder of Apple, died in his home on
October 5. Jobs died of respiratory arrest
caused by a pan-creatic tumor.
Fans of Jobs paid tribute to him
at the Apple store in Tysons Corner with apples, flowers, and messages on post-it
notes.Photo by Emily
Stone
The Occupy Wall
Street demonstra-tions against the influence
of corporations spilled over to D.C. on October 6. The pro-
tests have been confused with the ongoing Stop the Machine movement, also focused in DC, but the two movements say that while they support each other,
they are not related.Photo courtesy of
thetruthdenied.com
Zemar Melgerai, 59,
was taken into cus-tody by police at around 9:00 am while students were taking the PSATs.Photo courtesy of
Fairfax Police
In an effort to provide protection and crackdown on misconduct such as bullying and drug use throughout Fairfax County High Schools, all 27 high school prin-
cipals have recently signed off and presented a proposal to the School Board that would give them the rights to have video surveillance cameras installed in school buildings.
The idea of surveillance cameras in our schools has been a lingering topic for over ten years, and plans are now being made after last May’s violent and unexpected food fights at both Centreville and West Springfield High schools.
Our school principal, Mr. David M. Goldfarb wrote in a September Weekly message to the community, “Our advocacy for cameras inside schools is neither a response to a recent surge in disruptive incidents nor fueled by a belief that it will stop all negative behaviors.”
Though Fairfax High School has yet to make headlines for food fights, WJLA News Channel 7 reports that Fairfax County high schools, collec-tively, have had 16 food fights and a total of 70 incidents within the past two years, according to a survey conducted with Fairfax High principals.
According to the FCPS Student Rights and Responsibil-ities Handbook, cameras cannot be placed in private areas such as bathrooms or classrooms. However, video surveil-lance may start popping up in public areas throughout the school such as the cafeteria, the library, the hallways, and the field house.
With the watchful eyes of school security officials and administrators, throwing camera lenses into the mix could make some students feel scrutinized to the point of
discomfort. “It shows that administration doesn’t trust us,” said senior Alex Rashid.
In addition, junior Colin Malo said, “The school monitors enough and they shouldn’t take away the little privacy we have.”
Many other students argued that cameras do not affect privacy and are good for the whole school community. Senior Allie Kelly said, “It would pre-vent students from getting
in trouble and help to not take away from their education. In cases like food
fights that have been happening in other schools, [admin-istrators] have canceled events such as senior prom. [With cameras] they would be able to find the students in charge of the crime and only [the culprits] would suffer, not every-one.”
Mr. Goldfarb stresses that the intention of installing cameras is for safety and security. “It is about maintaining a safe, secure and drug-free environment, and we believe
cameras could provide schools another resource in providing this essential need.” He is concerned about the students that ride the bus or get dropped off early in the morning before staff enters the building. ”It is not unusual to have students dropped off as early as 6 a.m., before staff arrives. We are not fully comfortable when students are in our building when we cannot protect them. Having cameras in-side our main entrance would give us some additional peace of mind.”
The estimated cost of installing cameras in one school cafeteria alone would be around $8,000 dollars. If the School Board decided to have cam-eras set up throughout the entire school, around $120,000 dollars would be spent altogether. Fairfax HS has a suf-ficient amount of budget money for the maintenance of cameras, but several people would rather have this money spent on something else they find more worthwhile. Senior Gabriel O’Byrne said, “We could use more computers and possibly a bigger school…with the 700 freshman this year, I don’t think there is room for cameras.”
The Fairfax Zero Tolerance Reform Communications Di-rector, Michele Menapace, said that if the intentions of the camera proposal were actually to stop dangerous activities, principals and administrators should not have to monitor their school cafeterias anymore. The cameras cannot be proven helpful if school officials are still on duty.
While some people in our community think that surveil-lance cameras are an invasion of privacy and a waste of money, video surveillance cameras can serve as a valuable resource, providing visual evidence when incidents occur. With accurate footage caught on camera, there would be little to no need for administrators to interrogate and rely on students that may provide misleading information. Video surveillance cameras are very common in Fairfax County and its surrounding areas, so having cameras in the school is not too much of a stretch. “There are cameras in 7-11 to protect candy bars; we want to have cameras in our school to protect students. You guys are way more important than candy bars,” said Mr. Goldfarb.
Before the final decision on installing cameras is made, Mr. Goldfarb and many other principals are looking to our school community for support as well as opinions and concerns.
4Natalie Shaban ‘12Staff Writer
There are cameras in 7-11 to protect candy bars; we want
to have cameras in our school to protect students. You guys are way more important than candy bars.- Mr. David Goldfarb,
Fairfax principal
“
”
Aerial view of the hallway; where surveillance cameras could poten-tially be placed. Photo courtesy of Natalie Shaban
Fairfax Considers Installing Surveillance Cameras in School
For those high schoolers who were excited for school to let out last June and ran out to get as many job applications as possible, it quickly became obvious
that jobs were scarce. After filling out endless applica-tions and driving miles across the city, a few motivated students succeeded in nabbing a job, but more students failed in their endeavors. Could it really be that so many students had horrible applications and were not worth a
job, or is it because of the surprisingly low rate of employ-ment for teens? See-ing that only 55% of teenagers aged 16-19 currently have jobs, it may be more than a few spelling errors and a non-existent job history that are keeping students from employment.
What does this mean for students now? It means adult-hood is being post-
poned for nearly half of the teenage population. By simply having a job, even if it only lasts for the summer, young adults are brought into the working world and exposed to its realities. By gaining an early experience in the work-ing world, the number of adults living with their parents, currently at 5.9 million, will decrease and give the young adults an opportunity to begin living on their own. But with the economy suffering and the Baby Boomer genera-tion suffering along with it, many jobs that were reserved for teens are being given to 55 to 60 year olds. Until the economy begins to improve, student working rates may stay at the 55% area, or, even worse, the rate of teenage unemployment may continue to grow. “I’m lucky to have a job, I actually work two. One job I work every Saturday and the other job I work three or four times a week. It’s a really good source of income for me,” said senior Courtiney Kennedy. She’s had one of the jobs for over a year, and the second job she started during the summer. Unlike many students in the country, Ken-nedy is quite lucky to be able to have the experience of a couple high school jobs. However, much of the teenage population in the United States is still deprived of work opportunities and valuable teenage experience.
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Gabrielle Severson ‘12Entertainment Editor
News
Teen Unemployment Rates on the Rise
Neutrinos Possibly Faster than the Speed of Light
Rachel Tran ‘13News Editor
“Even though my focus right now is on school and not work, a lot of teenagers need jobs to support their family.” -junior Sruthi Davuluri
For more than 100 years, scientists have based re-search and several scientific ventures around the premise of Albert Einstein’s theories, particularly
his theory of relativity. The theory of relativity concluded that nothing can travel faster than light, which goes at a speed of 300,000 kilometers or 186,000 miles per second. However, researchers at CERN, Europe’s Organization for Nuclear Research, believe that they’ve made a new discov-ery, challenging the credibility of Einstein’s theory.
According to the Science AAAS website, the 1300-met-ric-ton particle detector named OPERA (Oscillation Project with Emulsion-tRacking Apparatus) was launched and proved that, on average, neutrinos, which are tiny subatomic particles, were 60 nanoseconds faster than the speed of light. 16,000 neutrinos were shot from CERN, the particle physics laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland, at a 730 kilometer distance for 2.43 milliseconds. Then, the ratio of the distance and time was calculated to get the velocity.
Though the OPERA researchers were careful about making precise measurements, they are still skeptical of the reliability of the results; the speed of the neutrinos could be up to 10 nanoseconds off, since only one experi-ment was performed. Physics teacher and ex-astrophysi-cist Ms. Neda Doneva said, “One experiment is not enough to form a theory, so it can not be concluded that neutrinos are faster than the speed of light... but I look forward to
seeing more research and experiments in the future to prove this.”
Until there is sufficient evidence regarding the scien-tific breakthrough of the velocity of neutrinos, researchers cannot say for certain if they have made a revolutionary discovery or just encountered a glitch in the experiment.
The OPERA particle accelerator is used to test the speed of neutrinos.Photo courtesy of www.symmetrymagazine.org
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7
ENTERTAINMENT
Sometimes it can be a bit difficult for the average music junkie to find new music that’s not on Hot 99.5 or DC 101.1. So here’s a little introduction to a range of music that students may not have heard before, and bands similar to them. Be inspired to go forth and find new music of your own... then share it with all the other music
junkies you know.
For students who like: AWOLNATION, Two Door Cinema Club, Vampire Weekend-Late of the Pier / dance-punk from Castle Donington, England-Crystal Castles / electronic from Toronto, Ontario, Canada-The Postal Service / electronic indie pop from Los Angeles, California
For students who like: Three Days Grace, Breaking Benjamin, Linkin Park-R.E.D. / heavy rock from Nashville, Tennessee-Day of Fire / hard rock from Nashville, Tennessee
For students who like: Death Cab for Cutie, Muse-Isles and Glaciers / experimental rock from United States-Nada Surf / alternative rock from New York, New York
For students who like: All Time Low, You Me At Six, Hey Mon-day-Fireworks / pop punk from Detroit, Michigan-Let’s Get It / pop rock from Dayton, Ohio-The Ready Set / indie pop from Fort Wayne, Indiana
Recommendations from a Music Junkie
Photos courtesy of underthegunreview.net, residentadvisor.net, and solutepunk.net
Homo Explicatus: Human Unraveled
#The Rocker KidsBand Tees: Rocker kids would never be caught without a band tee. Black tee’s with wild graphics depicting a favorite band’s logo. (Can be purchased at Hot Topic)
Rubber Bracelets: Also readily available at Hot Topic, these rubber bracelets don’t necessarily have to be band-related, just simply have to be kick-butt.Black Skinny Jeans: A universal style icon be-tween many fashion styles, the skinny black jeans, or skinny jeans of any kind, are an important part of the “Rocker Kid” look.
Black Vans: Similar to the black skinny jeans, black Vans are not absolutely necessary, just some type of skater shoes. The shoes, contrary to popular belief, are probably the most important aspect of the style. Afterall, first impressions are the only impressions!
Photo by Gabrielle SeversonGabrielle Severson ‘12Entertainment Editor
Gabrielle Severson ‘12Entertainment Editor
8Erinn Fecteau ‘13 and Suha Khander ‘13Staff Writers
October is all about watching movies that offer skin-crawling chills. The adrenaline rush that comes from ax mur-derers appearing from seemingly nowhere, or zombies swarming a house with only a few lone survivors inside is addicting. Whether it be old 70’s, 80’s and 90’s movies that scar for life, or newer films that are about as scary as
an episode of Teletubbies, horror movies are an almost mandatory festivity around Halloween. Much has changed in the world of horror, though. There were reports of fainting and hysteria at the first theater showings of the 1973 hit “The Ex-orcist” contrasted with the ringing laughter in theaters at showings of “Paranormal Activity” from 2007. Here’s a guide for all the adrenaline junkies at Fairfax looking for a good scare, comparing movies over the years and telling you what to watch and what to skip:
Paranormal
Psychological Thrillers Zombies
SlashersSlashers are the sub-genre of horror that hasn’t seen much of a change in quality over the years, as the depth of their plots typically don’t extend past there’s a serial killer in town, and now he’s out for revenge, while the action usually consists of a man appearing from nowhere with a big knife. The 2010 remake of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” tries to improve on the typical plot, but ends up making the film almost laughable with the amount the killer talks. The only thing slasher movies have going for them is the dread a viewer feels, knowing a killer is go-ing to pop out and attack the heroes, but Freddy Kreuger does a great job of making that fear disappear with his
endless chatter. “Halloween” is a step in the right direction-- the villain doesn’t speak, and the plot is concise yet interesting-- but the film to watch this sea-son is the timeless slasher classic: Scream. There’s a reason at least one kid wears the movie’s iconic mask every Halloween; since its 1991 release, “Scream” is still a satisfying horror film, with plots twists to ap-pease even the toughest critics, and action to appeal to any adrenaline junkies.
Horror Movies:From Horrifying to Horrible
Zombies have become extremely popular in recent years, making them one of the only subcat-
egories of horror that has seen an actual improve-ment from their early movies. In 1968, “Night of the Living Dead” was released, one of the first zombie flicks. The plot? Not great. It leaves a lot to be desired, and the characters are terrible. The female lead spends the entire movie sitting in a near catatonic state. The 1990 remake of the same movie was an improvement- the heroine was actually seen kicking some zombie-butt! The biggest upgrade, however, came with “Dawn of the Dead,” released in 2004; zombies can actually run in this film. The
movie does have it’s comedic sides, along with some strange scenes (giving birth to a zombie baby? Really?), but its got great elements to it. Full of truly frightening zombies, characters with some depth, and a satisfyingly realistic ending, “Dawn of the Dead” is the zombie movie to see!
Supernatural movies are hard to compare, since supernatural can range from ghosts to witches to exor-cisms; however, they are important to consider because they help remind viewers that monsters and murderers are not the only things that terrify them. Paranormal films play on the fear of the unknown. The 1999 moc-kumentary, “The Blair Witch Project” toys with the imagination of viewers, combining a shakily filmed tape where the villain is never seen for multiple nights, creating a common fear of getting lost in the woods. “Paranormal Activity” (2007) tries to revamp the same idea, with “homemade” footage of doors opening and noises supposedly caused by a demon, while ex-posing viewers to the possibilities of what can happen when they’re most vulnerable-- in their sleep. The winner in the “paranormal” category isn’t clear cut, though, as the 2010 movie “The Last Exorcism” is something Rebels may want to watch for reasons more than just a scare....
Movies that mess with the mind and send a chill down the spine. Whether it is watching a video and getting a call saying you’ll die in seven days, or interviewing serial killers and hearing their twisted stories, these are the movies sure to keep people up at night. “One Missed Call” is sure to creep out even the toughest viewers. The plot revolves around people getting phone calls telling them the exact time of their death. Not scary enough? “The Ring,” presents people watch a sketchy video and receive a call telling them they will die in seven days. Both mov-ies have similar premises, so some may think that their plots are a tried and true recipe for great scares. Rebel Roar staff members agree, though: nothing will horrify you more than delving into the dark, twisted depths of a serial killer’s mind in the 1991 hit: “Silence of the Lambs.” If you’re looking for a movie to keep you up all night, the winner is clear.
ENTERTAINMENT
COMMENTARY
Just So You Know...Ready yourselves, ghouls and goblins! Grab your masks and pillow sacks, Hal-loween is so close now; prepare yourself for mayhem. The best holiday is right around the corner, so as my gift to you, you’ll notice that my writing this month is a lot less harsh than many previous months. I promise to take it easy on you all, but there are still some things that need to come to light. Prepare yourselves, Fairfax, for mischief! Nothing is as it seems.
HOT NOTToddlers And TiArAsAs the 4th season wraps up this fall, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on our significant failure as the human race for promoting such a degrading show over the last 3 years. We’ve been awarding money to mothers who bully their children into becoming the spitting image of their failed childhood; the girl they could never become. This show has ultimately taught us the awful side of family values and distorted our view of true beauty by forcing toddlers to cake their face in make-up and wear clothes that are a little less than appropriate for pre-schoolers. Having this show promoted in the media can only lead to these children growing up and tormenting their kids just the same, destroying our society.
ChAin sTATusesStudents, faculty, promoters of the peace, for the love of God, I beg you to stop plaguing society’s news feed with obnoxious reposts that no one cares about! We are not in third grade anymore, people, cut the unnec-essary posts and get over yourself. It’s insignificant how many people send a heart to your inbox, or how many times someone reposts your status about can-cer. Honestly, it’s so old. Say something about what you believe in for once, and stop following these lame, childish trends.
MCdonAld’s MonopolyFairfax Rebels rejoice! The time is now to band together, my brothers, and form an alliance to conquer the impossible task that is McDonald’s Monopoly. Throw your money to the gutters and destroy your health for what!? To dominate Ronald McDonald once and for all, and win the million that is rightfully ours! So whether we win free food, or $1 million, we should all join together and share our cherished pieces to this puzzle! This only hap-pens once a year, and our time is NOW! Let’s take this addicting game and beat it once and for all; just please don’t throw away your pieces! Donate them to one of your fellow peers and help us win!
philly Cheese-sTeAk ChAllengeMany of you may not be too familiar with this most prestigious of rituals around Fairfax County Public Schools, but let me tell you, this is probably the most exciting thing that will ever happen to you throughout your stay here at Fairfax, so be sure to enjoy it and at least give it one shot. The idea of the challenge is to, as a Senior, get marked onto atten-dance as present for 1st period, ditch school, drive to Philadelphia, get a cheese steak, eat said cheese steak, and make it back to school before the buses leave for the afternoon. Odds of you making it? Slim to none, but if you are so successful as to shatter the speed limit and disrespect all authority in attempts of conquering the ultimate challenge, you may just be the coolest person to grace this whole Earth.
“Cool sTory Bro”There are some things in this world that I’ve come to realize I might not ever understand; things that are just so far gone, that humanity might not ever recover from a failure of such epic proportions. Walk-ing around with “Cool Story Bro” or “Cool Story Babe” branded on your clothing in capital letters is a prime example here. If you’d like, I can mass produce shirts that say “I’m An Ignorant Child” in the same font and colors so you can look nice and fresh with your poser skater friends. Please throw these ugly, egotistic, sexist pieces of garbage in the dumpster where they belong.
Brandon Blankenship ‘12Commentary Editor
VoTe 4 pABlo!Enough said. You deserved Homecoming King more than anything, buddy. Let’s give it up for the most selfless, kind- hearted person in the entire Senior class. Couldn’t think of anyone more deserving than the kid who’s gone all four years without doing a single mean thing to anyone. I applaud you, sir.
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Teacher Sightings!
You sit in classes all day and hesitate through boring lectures on top of mounds of homework, struggling to survive the extraneous task that is
high school. But at the end of each day, you are set free to roam the urban wilderness for 17 hours until you are mandated to repeat these steps once again; five times a week, 194 days a year. The worst part of it all, however; learning how to make peace and maintain a healthy alliance with your greatest ally, and strongest foe, the faculty.
You work all year to ensure stability for a measly 90 minutes in the heated battle field that is math class, then you part ways to rebuild defenses and cool off from a long day of book work, until a sudden obstacle is thrown in your path; encountering the teacher outside of the classroom. But how!? I thought they were weakened by natural light! Aller-gic to the fresh air! Here we were, led to believe that they were spell bound to these walls for eternity, only show-ing themselves under a full moon, but somehow they have broken free and spotted you amongst various shopping malls and supermarkets.
We all know the feeling, teachers too, that awkward “…Hey” you give when you realize that this fun op-pressing leech has encountered you when you’re most vulnerable. “What should I say? Can they give me a referral? Is this grad-ed..?” You scramble frantically for a way out, but realize you’re trapped. There is no way out now.
“Hey Mr. Cribbs,” you respond instinctively. Just re-main calm and collected as if they are your friend, while keeping a close eye out for escape routes; your endurance may pay off significantly. Remember your training, and if you make it out alive, rewards will await you. Just try not to let them catch you acting mischievous and land your-self a desk next to their own. And remember, no matter how awkward your encounter may be, an act of courage here could go a long way.
“It won’t happen to me,” “My doors are locked so they can’t get in,” “That doesn’t happen at Fairfax High
School;” all of these are reasons to believe your car won’t be broken into at or around Fairfax, and I hate to be the one to tell you, but they are all wrong. It can, and has happened to students at our beloved high school. During a field hockey practice, and I’m sure this is not the only occurrence, three cars parked on Rebel Run at the bottom of the field were blatantly broken into, including my own.
First let me say that all of these cars were locked, so don’t think that just because you are diligent in making sure your doors are locked every day that you are immune to having your car broken into. How did they get into the cars if the doors were locked? Don’t ask me.
The odd part of these break-ins was that the only things stolen were a sweatshirt and soccer pants from the car of junior Katie Rossbach.
“It was frustrating because I always make sure I lock my car, and that didn’t matter,” said Rossbach. However, more valuable items were left in the cars. It makes no sense! Steal a dirty sweatshirt but leave expensive RayBans? Please tell me the logic in that.
In my car, where I had left my camera and GPS-- neither of which were stolen, thank God-- the “rob-bers” had somehow managed to jam the end of my GPS cord under the passenger side seat in a way which made it nearly impossible to get out. With the amount of effort it took to get out, I can only imagine how hard it was to get in, meaning whoever did this decided to spend a rather large amount of their free time messing with cars, and NOT take anything of real value? Really?
I mean seriously, if whoever did this is reading-- and I hope you are so you’ll do what you should by apologizing to Rossbach and returning her clothing-- what is the point in that other than to be incredibly annoying? Let me tell you, if that was your goal, you succeeded.
Nikki Strickland ‘13Features Editor
Brandon Blankenship ‘12Commentary Editor
Hid
e Y
o K
ids!
Hide Yo Keys!
10
Running into Mr. Cribbs outside of school could be the most terrifying experience of your life.Photo by Brandon Blankenship
Halloween is like a utopia for sugar addicts. It’s the one and only night where begging neighbors and indulging on large amounts candy and sweets is
considered socially acceptable. However is there an age limit to this beloved tradition? A cute little third grader can get away with going door to door wearing a vampire costume but imagine an awkward teenager with a face full of acne knocking on your door for free candy. Although there are a plethora of reasons as to why I feel this way, I’ve decided to spare you the tedious rant and save a few trees. First of all, if you’re old enough to watch MTV and going around asking for candy don’t expect adoring gazes from neighbors; more than likely they’ll give questioning looks. So please, unless you are just accompanying siblings to keep an eye on them, spare everyone the awkwardness
and just stay home.Secondly, why go scouring for the neighbor who gives
the best candy when you could stay at home, watch scream inducing movies, or throw a party? The adrenaline rush you get when you’ve just been scared out of your mind is surprisingly refreshing. If that doesn’t suit your tastes, invite a bunch of friends and ask them to bring a bag of candy to make a candy bar that caters to everyones’ taste buds.
These are great alternatives to the once appropriate tra-dition of trick or treating. If you’re cool, you’ll stay at home or just accompany younger siblings but if you decide you have no shame, by all means be my guest and condemn yourself to a night filled with awkward looks.
COMMENTARY
Is Trick or Treating Still Acceptable?
Suha Khandker ‘13Staff Writer
We are born for a moment, placed on this Earth amongst struggle and chaos in faith of someday changing the course of history and leaving a sliv-
er of our memory that lives amongst the generations post our existence. It is our nature, however, to lead a mediocre life and wait for someone to teach us right from wrong so we can one day make a change ourselves. But once in a while there is one human who breaks the cycle and leads others through their vision, daring to be different, chang-ing the world forever.
They come and go predictably like everything else, but their influence and memory lives forever among us. Through their music, fearlessness, revolution, and innova-tion, we find guidance within these individuals, and carry on their legacy to one day make a difference ourselves. Steve Jobs of course, was recently added to this list of Great American Innovators, as his life, in an unfortunate turn of events, came to an abrupt end.
The students at Fairfax will typically remember Jobs for his iconic inventions such as the iPod, Macbook, and iPad which were landmark advancements for our genera-tion. But we must also carry his memory of hard work, creativity, and bravery, through insurmountable odds and with death right over his shoulder. Steve Jobs always displayed a calm, cool, and collected attitude while doing exactly what he loved.
Given up for adoption shortly after his birth and hav-ing lost his biological father at such a young age, Jobs spent most of his time aimlessly wandering, trying to make sense of his purpose here on Earth. After compiling massive student loans from colleges he had no desire in at-tending, Jobs took a leap of faith and dropped out to follow his dreams.
This endeavor led him to co-found Apple Computer Co with long time friend Steve Wozniak, and they developed and marketed their first personal laptop within a year.
The computer was not an instant suc-cess, with a shiny price tag of $666.66 ($2,572 Current USD). However, over time his partner helped him in ac-cumulating millions of dollars for their project.
After a brief hiatus from Apple in 1985 due to a power struggle between Jobs and former CEO, John Sculley, he returned to lead the computer market and transform his company into a multibillion dollar international organiza-tion that currently has more money on hand than the U.S. treasury. With the company valued at $323 billion at the time of his death, Jobs undoubtedly held the key to run-ning a successful business.
Unfortunately, though, his battle with pancreatic cancer was inevitably taking its toll. A few short months ago, Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple Co and Pixar Animations to live out the last few days that were allotted to him. Then, on October 5th, 2011, Steve Jobs lost his battle to cancer, and became another casualty to this horrendous condition.
Steve was buried Friday October 15th during a private service held at Stanford University with no public service planned yet. His memory however will long remain after his recent passing through our love for his products, re-spect of his story, and gratitude for his guidance. He was a role model to many of us, and he will be greatly missed.
In Memorium: Steve Jobs
Brandon Blankenship ‘12Commentary Editor
11
airfax Votes
“As your school board mem-ber, I will provide transpar-ency in decision-making by requiring clear and accurate information which is readily available to the public, value community input by offering stakehold-ers more participation in decisions which impact our students and schools... and promote collaborative lead-ership by working together with the Board of Supervi-sors to best manage our county’s education.”-Sheree A. Brown-Kaplan,School Board at Large
“I look forward to being your next state senator and helping to create a business friendly environment to get our economy moving again ...To-gether we can get Vir-ginia back to work. My goals are to create jobs and grow Virginia’s economy, improve education and lower taxes and reduce wasteful spending.”-Jason A. Flanary,37th District Senate
“I’m seeking a Fairfax County School Board at-large seat because for too long we have allowed our focus to drift from education to issues with little value to our children and their futures. We need to make remedial education obsolete. I can bring a more ana-lytical, less political approach to the gover-nance of our education system.”-Lin-Dai Y. Kendall, School Board at Large
“[I] will stay ahead of the curve on important issues including class size, disci-pline reform, and critical infrastructure invest-ments. We need a ‘new norm’ that values feed-back from parents, teach-ers, and taxpayers about administrative spending and curriculum decisions. If elected, my goal will be continuous improvement for all students. I’ll never stop listening to you!”-Lolita I. Mancheno-Smoak,School Board at Large
“I am Gerarda Cu-lipher, candidate for Virginia’s 34th Senate seat, and I am ask-ing for your VOTE on November 8th, 2011. I will relentlessly work to cut your commute and cut your taxes precisely because I’m for your family.”-Gerarda Culipher,34th District Senate
“I’ve been representing in the Virginia Senate for four years and seeking re-election. I’m so proud of Virginia that we’ve been able to keep a balanced budget without rasing taxes during this recession. I’m looking forward to ways to expand higher education. I also want to find more transpor-tation options for folks in Virginia.” - J. C. “Chap” Peterson,34th District Senate
“As a School Board mem-ber, I will ensure that Fair-fax County Public Schools: are the best schools in the country, produce graduates with essential 21st century skills, provide students access and opportunity to participate in the arts, athletics, and other extra-curricular activities, give teachers the support they need to resist ‘teaching to the test,’ reduce class size and increase compensation for our teachers.”-Theodore J. “Ted” Velkoff,School Board at Large
“The topics [Ilryong] hopes to address as an at large candidate are: maintaining continuous improve-ment, recruiting and maintaining the best teachers and employ-ees, efficiency and the audit committee, clos-ing the achievement gap and increasing stakeholder and com-munity involvement”-moon4schools.com, on Ilryong Moon,School Board at Large
“Fairfax County schools are the best in the nation and I will do everything in my power to help keep them that way. It is critical that we give our teachers and students the resources they need to succeed. I believe we have to hold the line on taxes and cut wasteful spend-ing. Finding the balance between providing quality services, without burden-ing families and busi-nesses is critical.”-Dave W. Marsden,37th District Senate
“My priority is to build on the programs that have made FCPS a national model for success. I am committed to the follow-ing goals: instituting full-day kindergarten, restoring trust and trans-parency to the school-board, improving teacher compensation, abolishing athletic fees, supporting sports, music and arts programs and, expanding healthy food options.”-Ryan McElveen,School Board at Large
Students Get Involved On Nov. 8, parents, teachers and students of the legal
voting age will have the chance to submit their votes for this year’s local elections. For students, some of the most important candidate seats on the ballot would be the “at-large” seats on the Fairfax County Public School Board. At-large candidates can directly impact schools such as Fairfax High School by working on major school issues and starting new academic projects.
Voting; a concept that many Americans tend to over-look, especially students. Whether it’s an election for the nation’s new president or an election for local government candidates, voting remains the crucial connector between the national, state, or local government and the American people it represents. For those eligible to vote, it’s time to drop the overused excuse of, “my vote doesn’t really count,” and participate in one of the most important civic rights granted to American citizens; the right to have a say in government. The right to vote.
Although most students at Fairfax are not yet eligible to vote, it does not limit opportunities to get involved in elections and be informed. During the volunteer fair on Sept. 23, political groups offered students chances to get involved and help out with campaigning while also earning volunteer service hours. The Fairfax County Democratic Committee, even offered chances for internships. Senior Elena Kysar took advantage of the fair and joined the Democratic Campaign with Chap Peterson. As a volun-teer Kysar will hand out surveys, poll people and help out at events such as the fall festival while at the same time learning more and getting experiences in politics that in-terest her. “I’m planning on attending political orientated schools, like American and GW, it’s where my tendencies lie,” Kysar said.
The Volunteer Fair isn’t the only time for students to
get involved. Fairfax High also has a Young Republicans club available for students to join. As of now there is no established Democrats club, but it is always possible to create a new club with the permission of the school. Just simply go to the school website and click on the clubs link. The school also offers an opportunity to apply to the Youth Leadership Program, a paid summer internship with the opportunity to get involved with several departments of the Fairfax government.
Even if students aren’t involved in a program or club, there are still many other ways to get political opinions out by writing letters to school board members, making suggestions or even expressing complaints. Students are almost always allowed to attend school board meetings which makes getting involved and being informed as simple as attending a few meetings. School board elections may not seem like a huge deal, but whichever candidate is elected will directly impact all FCPS students.Though the voting age may limit students from directly voting in elec-tions, parents can serve as a proxy to student’s opinions and candidate choices. Students under the age of 18 should encourage parents to vote for certain choice candidates and school board members in the upcoming November elections.
The options to get involved are endless. No matter what age, it is never too early to start taking an interest in local, state and national politics. At the end of the day, it’s the American people who have the final say in government.
For more information on the November 8 election candi-dates and chances to get involved or volunteer, visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov.
Voting Info:Election Day November 86 a.m to 7 p.m Where (in Fairfax County)-Little Run Elementary School-Wakefield Forest Elementary School-Woodson High School-Laurel Ridge Elementary School-Oak View Elementary SchoolVilla Elementary School-Robinson Secondary School-Bonnie Brae Elementary School-Eagle View Elementary School-Fairfax County Government Center-GMU - University Hall
Elizabeth Fulmer ‘12 & Jessica Miers ‘13 Art Director & Business Manager and Managing Editor
14
“I love teaching, and as a bibliophile, I have an ardent passion for certain authors and texts,” says English 11 and AP English Lang teacher, Mr. Michael Hra-
bak. Hrabak has his class read excerpts from the book Fri-day Night Lights, also a popular television show, to help teach. Each year, teachers are starting to integrate more of their own interests or popular culture into curriculums rather than strictly following school districts’ recommen-
dations.“I attended
the Library of Congress’s 11th Annual National Book Festival, and I had the ex-treme pleasure of hearing the eminent histo-rian David Mc-Cullough speak to a crowd of a couple of hun-dred people,”
said Hrabak. “He spoke to the idea of teachers bringing their passion into the classroom… by teaching the books that teachers love, and not the works that people dictate to them.”
This evolution is not only evident in the constantly changing classroom atmospheres, but also in required work. Ms. Laura Chu’s grade 10 English class, for ex-ample, is split up into various “houses” as depicted in the Harry Potter series. Students are split into either Gryf-findor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin houses, and take exams called O.W.L.S (Ordinary Wizarding Levels), straight out of the popular movie and book franchise. “The class is very interesting and unique. It’s a fresh change,” said sophomore Nick Shafik.
“I know I have responsibility to, at bare minimum, instill the love of reading into my students like my teach-ers nurtured and instilled into me many moons ago, and bilaterally, the students enjoy the texts at a deeper level when you exude excitement that they can see and feel in the classroom,” Hrabak said. “Without the idea of integrat-ing your passion into your teaching, we cannot really call it teaching at all.”
Teachers Integrate Interest into Curriculum
APPLY TO BOTH: 1) If you have exposed belt loops, wear a belt (or suspenders if you want, just not both).2) Do not wear navy blue and black, any other shade of blue and black are fine.3) Do not wear brown and black, even if you have something that has brown and black in it. Pick one to accessorize with, not both.4) If you HAVE to wear socks with moccasins, make sure they’re white.5) You don’t just have to wear blue jeans, try colored pants and jeans for a change.
GIRLS:1) LEGGINGS ARE NOT PANTS. 2) If you wear tight jeans, wear a looser top, if you wear a tight shirt wear looser fitting jeans. (Same for skirts)3) Never wear knee-high socks and skirts.4) Light jeans or acid wash jeans with rips are trashy.5) If you have to dress up for school, don’t wear a homecom-ing dress and silver fancy shoes.
BOYS:1) Unless you fit in the size XXL in shirts, do not wear them!2) Same goes for jeans, do not wear baggy jeans, make sure jeans are fitted, but not tight. 3) If you wear a tie make sure it hits some-where right above or right below your belt, and always tie a double Windsor knot. 4) Don’t wear pajama bottoms to school. IF you’re going to bum it, wear sweats. 5) Don’t wear polos or nice shirts with bas-ketball shorts.
Okay Fairfax High School, this page is supposed to be for alumni to tell students about college. Well I’m going to NOVA and there is not much to tell. It’s just like high school but in different buildings, and harder. So I decided that I wanted to write about
something I’m actually interested in, fashion. So here is my fashion Do’s, Don’ts and opinions. Dress according to these rules and you could possibly follow in my “best dressed” footsteps…if you’re lucky.
Robinson Returns to Share Her Fashion Secrets
Photo courtesy of Emily Robinson
Photo by of Erin Facteau
Erin Facteau ‘13Staff Writer
Emily Robinson Alumnus writer
Mrs. Chu places the Harry Potter “sorting hat” on one of her students.
The lion roars overhead as crowds of students surge through the halls, crammed body to body, yelling phrases such as, “Get out of the way!” “Get off me!” and “Move it freshmen!” Welcome to Fairfax High School. Population: 2600.
It’s not uncommon for a school’s population to gradually increase over the years. However, for FHS, “gradual” is far from an accurate description of this year’s trend. With a freshmen class of nearly 800 and school offices predict-ing a continuation of the trend, overcrowding at FHS has started to show its effects. Buses are overloaded, finding teachers has become a game of hide-and-seek, classrooms are now filled to capacity, and even the shortest walk to class can be stressful and difficult.
“Sometimes it just becomes a hassle because there are so many more freshmen that it feels like every hallway I go through, I’m pushing and shoving. It’s a struggle this year to get to class on time,” said Junior Travis Godfrey.
Several other students like Godfrey also expressed their frustration. Sophomore Kelly Anderson said ,“A lot of my classes are far apart and I can’t walk quickly because of these constant roadblocks.”
Along with the constant struggle of getting to class, buying lunch and eating it in the time left is also nearly impossible for students in crowded lunches especially for those in “D” lunch.
“I think it’s way too crowded everywhere at school, espe-cially the lunch-line because once you finally get through the long line and sit down to eat, you have only a few min-utes left. There’s just not enough time,” said Sophomore Caitlyn Blankenship.
Because of the growth of the student body, FHS had no other choice but to expand. All marketing students were relocated to the new trailers near the tennis courts to re-lieve crowding in the main school building. Now, market-ing students can avoid the crowded walk to class. How-ever, the weather is sometimes inclement and occasionally students may have to make this trip to the trailers in snow, wind, or even a torrential downpour.
“We’ve made the best of the situation with the trailers. We even name it Deca Island,” said junior and advanced
marketing student, Brian Latimer. “Try-ing to stay dry when it rains is a challenge, but it fits into the survivor mental-ity we’ve taken,” he added.
However, for senior advanced marketing stu-dent, Becky Goldman, having class in the trailers is just another unnecessary burden added to an already stressful routine.
“I personally don’t understand why the marketing classes have to be shoved aside for all of the incoming freshmen,” Goldman said. “What this school needs is a second level,” she added.
Just like the new trailers, new teachers were also hired in response to the influx of students. However, with 46 new teachers, and a lack of classrooms, most teachers will be required to “float” through the halls varying classrooms. For students, this may make it harder to stay in contact with teachers and find them when help is needed.
“It sucks not knowing which classes your teachers are in apart from when you have them because if you have a question about homework, a test, or anything, you have to search around the entire school just to find them,” said junior Barbie Rejendra.
Junior Aneesa Zarzis added, “I think the fact that there are floating teachers is just a huge problem because sometimes it’s very necessary to find them before or after school and there’s never a set place to go looking. Also, all the teacher carts in the hallway are like produce trucks on a highway. Meddlesome and annoying.”
“They’re everywhere,[teachers] except when you’re trying to find them,” added junior Will Park.
However, some relief is in sight. Recently, program-ming classes in D lunch have switched to C lunch to reduce crowding in the lunch-lines. As for other un-necessary road-blocks such as couples meeting in the middle of the halls between classes, Goldman added, “Stop making out and get to class.”
15
In-Depth: OvercrowdingFEATURES
Jessica Miers ‘13Business Manager and Managing Editor
Photo by Jessica Miers
Photo by Jessica Miers
Photo by Jessica Miers
Whether students are looking for advice on where to go and what to do after high school, or hoping
to find scholarships for which they qualify, the career center is the place to go. Fair-fax High School’s career center is full of information and resources to help students accomplish all their goals.
The three main purposes of the career center are to aid students in preparing for college, learning more about careers, and applying for scholarships. The career center has lists of which colleges are best for certain majors, where they are located, what they are best known for, and other useful information. Ms. Maureen Kim, the FHS career center specialist, also is always willing to help students find any informa-tion they are looking for, as well as help them complete their applications.
There are always scholarships that can be applied to through the career center as well. Right now the Harry F. Byrd Leadership Award is open and is offering a scholar-
ship of $10,000. Kim’s advice to students looking for scholar-ships is to “apply to many. It takes many applications to win one or two, but students should be persistent.”
Some other resourc-es found in the career center include SAT and ACT information, volunteer opportuni-
ties in the community, and local job listings. Currently included in the list of jobs kept in Kim’s jobs book is the Four Seasons Tennis Club, which is looking for student employees. Many local businesses go through the career center to look for applicants when they are hiring.
Kim is also in charge of helping students looking to join the military, those who are looking into the gap year op-tion, and those applying to technical schools. So the moral of the story is that if you want any information, scholar-ships, or just some good advice, a visit to Kim is the best choice. The career center is there for exactly that purpose. Kim thinks it’s great because, “It helps students make informed decisions.”
16
How to Control College and Career Craziness
Seniors have piles of paperwork to fill out during college applica-
tion season, and most of it is due at different dates. The purpose of this calendar is to make the process a little less confusing and overwhelming.
October 21
Last day of Late Registra-tion for November SAT
October 22ACT at FHS
November 1Applications to most col-
leges for Early Action and Early Decision due
Senior Year Time-Line
Taking Advantage of the Career Center
Nikki Strickland ‘13Features Editor
Photo by of Nikki Strickland
Photo by Nikki Strickland
17
November 4Application to Pathways
Program due
November 5SAT and SAT Subject Tests
January 1Applications to most col-
leges for Regular Decision due
FEATURES
Making a good impression on the admissions representative is an important step to getting into colleges. While some may say that impressions don’t matter because the people reading your application won’t take their personal biases
into their decision, look at it from another angle. Imagine reading two applications and choosing one to accept. Wouldn’t the applicant with a firm handshake seem like a better choice, over the faceless applicant that never made the effort to get in touch? Biased or not, that is human nature. And in that situation the applicant they remember meeting definitely wins.
College visits should be taken as an opportunity for the student to be the applicant the admission representatives remember. So with that in mind, question asking is a great way to make a good impression. That kid sleeping in the back is not going to be the one the admissions rep is going to have fond memories of. If they think a student is bored in their half-hour college visit, why would they think that sleeping student would be any less bored once they got to college?
Some tips for having good college visits are to “do some research before you walk in,” said guidance counselor Ms. Jennifer Washechek, “Have a list of questions.”
However, students shouldn’t stress about not being prepared. College visits are there for you to learn more about the school, according to career center specialist Ms. Maureen Kim; you don’t have to be an expert before you get there. Kim said, “They are very infor-mal,” and are all about “getting to know more about the schools.”
According to Washechek, what is good about going to college visits is that students get to meet the people who will actually be reading their applications. Often times the admissions representatives will give students their cards. This allows the reps to be con-tacted directly if the students have any more questions during the application process, according to Washechek.
In addition to attending the college visits here at FHS, now is the time to look into visiting the schools in person to get a better feel for what it would be like to be a student there. Washechek said, “Do both. Go in person during the school year.” That way you can see students instead of just a vacant campus.
Making College Visits Worthwhile
Here are some questions from the College Board to help get you started:
1. What do students do for fun? Is there a good balance of academics, social life, and extracurricular activi-ties?2. What are the types of food plans?3. What kind of facilities does the student center have?4. What is the most popular major on campus? Why?5. How would you characterize the academic pressure and workload?
Family ConnectionFamily Connection is a great resource for students to keep track of their GPS, sign up for college visits, look for scholarships, and prepare for the SAT’s and ACT’s.
Service HoursMany classes and clubs at Fairfax High School require students to get in and out of school service hours through-out the year. Here are some tips for getting the service hours you need:
In School:
-Ask your favorite teachers if they need help grading papers or organizing.
-Talk to the Leadership class to see if they have anything you can help with.
Out of School:
-Volunteer at a local home-less shelter, or with another community organization.
-Sign up to coach a youth sports team, like basketball this winter.
Senior Dues:Now-Thanksgiving: $30
Thanksgiving-Feb. 1: $35After Feb. 1: $40
Nikki Strickland ‘13Features Editor
Photo by of Nikki Strickland
Senior Jesse Colligan attended a college visit with Lynchburg college.
18
Perfect Pumpkin Recipes
Pumpkin JuiceIngredients:2 cups chopped edible fresh pumpkin chunks2 cups apple juice1/2 cup pineapple juice1/2 cup apricot juice (optional)1 teaspoon honey (or to taste)1/8 teaspoon cinnamon1/8 teaspoon ginger1/8 teaspoon nutmeg1/8 teaspoon allspice
Directions:1. Grind the pumpkin pieces up in a food pro-cessor, and squeeze out juice through a fine mesh strainer or a piece of cheesecloth.2. Mix all juices together in a bowl, and stir in honey and spices. Chill thoroughly in fridge.3. Stir again, and pour the juice over ice to serve.
Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients:1 1/2 cups Cooked, strained pumpkin(or canned) 2/3 cup Sugar 1/4 cup Brown Sugar 1 1/2 cups Evaporated Skim Milk 3 Eggs 3/4 teaspoon Cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon Ground cloves 1/4 teaspoon Ginger 1 teaspoon Grated Orange Peel 1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon Salt 1 Unbaked Pie Shell
Directions:Preheat oven to 425 degree.Mix pumpkin, sugars, orange peel and spices in large bowl.Add evaporated milk and eggs.Mix all ingredients wellPour pumpkin filling into pie shell.Bake at 450 degrees for fifteen minutes.Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for 45 minutes more.
TIP: If crust begins to get too brown, loosely cover crust only with foil.
Pumpkin PastriesDirections:1. To make filling add eggs and sugar to a mixing bowl, mix until well blended. Stir in pumpkin, salt and spices. Add evaporated milk and mix well.2. Bake the filling in a large casserole dish that has been buttered or sprayed with pam. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Keep oven door closed and reduce temperature to moder-ate (350 degrees) and continue baking for 45 minutes or until table knife inserted in center of dish comes out clean. Cool filling completely on a wire rack.3. Make or purchase pie crust pastry. Roll pastry thin and cut into circles approximately 4 inches in diameter. Put a spoonful of the cool pumpkin mixture towards one side of the cen-ter of the circle. Fold over the crust into a half-circle and firmly crimp the edges closed. Cut with a paring knife three small slits in the top for venting. Place on a greased cookie sheet.4. Bake at 400 degrees only until crust is a light golden brown, approximately 10 minutes.5. Serve at room temperature.
Tired of the same old Halloween inspired recipes? Well here are some different types of pumpkin
specialties you’ll surely love. Before this, I had never made any sort of pastry and I have to admit mak-ing these “specialties” wasn’t as easy as it seemed. But it was a new and overall fun experi-ence for me. I would definitely recommend the pumpkin juice and pie for those looking for a traditional meal, but for those looking for a new and more challenging experience I rec-ommend the pumpkin pastries. Either way you’ll surely get a kick out of the experience.
Ingredients:2 eggs, slightly beaten3/4 cup sugar1 lb. canned pumpkin (or 2 cups fresh, roasted in the oven)1/2 teaspoon salt1 tsp. cinnamon1/2 tsp. ginger1/4 tsp. cloves1/2 t. allspice1 2/3 cups evaporated milk (1 can)Pam or butter for greasing casserole dish9 oz. pie crust pastry (enough for two single standard pie crusts)
Recipes Provided By Harry Potter Recipes
Photos by of Natalia Colon
Natalia Colon ‘12Staff Writer
FEATURES
Homecoming Court 2011
Sal Juarez
Jisoo Kim Allie Kelly
Robbie Ashton
Matt Frank
Mitch Ardinger
Angela Wi
Leah Smith
Cassidy Tammaro
Jenny Thai
Pablo Santiago & Paulina Tammaro
Advice for a freshman who wants to be on Homecoming Court during their senior year:“Be yourself.”
Her dream homecoming theme:“Under the sea!”
Advice for a freshman who wants to be on Homecoming Court during their senior year:“Be like me.”
Advice for a freshman who wants to be on Homecoming Court during their senior year:“Put money in envelopes and slip it under your teachers’ doors.”
His dream homecoming theme:“Harry Potter.”
Advice for a freshman who wants to be on Homecoming Court during their senior year:“Don’t be shy and play football.”
Her dream homecoming theme:“Barbie!”
His dream homecoming theme:“Pineapple under the sea.”
Her dream homecoming theme:“Petting zoo!”
Advice for a freshman who wants to be on Homecoming Court during their senior year:“Stay actively involved, participate in as much as you can, respect your teachers, peers, and other faculty, and express your school spirit!”
Who would you like to thank in an acceptance speech?“I would like to thank all my sup-porters and all my teachers who have helped me succeed.”What advice would you give a freshman who wants to be on Homecoming Court during their senior year?“Stay focused.”What is your dream Homecoming theme?“Club-like.”
Who would you like to thank in an acceptance speech?“The teachers who nominated me-- because I wouldn’t be here without them-- and my parents, who made me who I am today.”What advice would you give afreshman who wants to be on Home-coming Court during their senior year?“Get involved, and don’t feel ridiculous if you go all out during spirit weeks. Also, give everyone a chance.”What is your dream Homecoming theme?“Mexican fiesta!”
Emily Stone ‘12Editor-in-Chief
19Photos by Elizabeth Fulmer and Emily Stone
New year, new students, new trailers, and new teachers. With a large influx of students this year, “changes” has become the theme for the 2011-2012
school year. Along with the new teachers, a new assistant principal, Baek Chong, was also hired to help manage this year’s crowd of 2,600. This year, Chong is responsible for students with last names Huo-Men.
Chong graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a major in Social Studies education
and George Mason with a master’s in education leadership. This is his 15th year working in Fairfax County Public Schools, having previously worked at South County Second-ary School and Laurel Hill Elementary School as an assistant principal. After hearing about FHS’s high academic reputation, he decided to work at Fairfax HS.
“I had heard great things about the school-- excellent teachers, great community support, diverse student body, [and] great traditions,” said Chong.
So far he enjoys Fairfax and can feel the school’s hos-pitality, “Everything is great so far. The staff has been welcoming and the students are personable. I’m trying to get to know as many students and staff as possible,” said Chong.As the new assistant principal familiarizes himself with the environment, he establishes goals to further help the school. Chong said, “I have two goals this year. One goal is to work with staff to make sure that Fairfax remains one of the best all-around schools, and my other goal is to work with students to make sure that they take advantage of all the opportunities that Fairfax High has to offer.”Now a part of the Fairfax family, Chong is proud to be a rebel and eager to help students succeed. Chong said, “The best part about Fairfax is that students and staff take ownership and pride in what they do here.”
Meet New Administrator Mr. Chong
Rachel Tran ‘13News Editor
FEATURES
20
Students Share how they got Scared Straight
Diana Hartford ‘12 Leah Smith ‘12
Photo by Rachel Tran
“I went to Fright Fest at King’s Dominion last year with my friends and all the guys that chase you around in masks, ganged up on us and made us beg for mercy! I love being scared!”
Brandon Lee ‘15
“I was walking around Fairfax Corner with my friends and some random guy popped out of nowhere and scared us half to death!
“Last winter I was driving my car when the ground was still re-ally icy, and I ended up sliding off the road and over a baracade. When I finally realized what happened I was upside down in a ditch.”
Nick Moran ‘12
“I was on a Boy Scout crew trip, at 12 am on the Shenandoah River. We had no fire wood, so we were in the pitch black woods trying to find some, when we heard leaves and sticks cracking around us.”Brandon
Blankenship ‘12Commentary Editor
21 Walker Carlson ‘13Sports Editor
Sports BriefsSPORTS
Rebels Win Homecoming
Field Hockey Dominates
Volleyball Tries to Break Slump
Cross Country’s Strong Core
As the boys cross country team makes their run into the Liberty District meet, they are buoyed by a strong core of five runners. In cross coun-
try meets, teams’ scores are determined by the places of their top five runners. For example, a first place finish would give a team one point. The team with the lowest score wins.
“Some of the other teams might have faster guys than us, but because our runners are usually packed close together at the finish, we have a chance of doing well,” said Coach Mark Whalley. With the District Champion-ship scheduled for October 27, Whalley admits his team is “not the strongest, but not the weakest,” and has a chance to be one of four teams to advance to Regionals.
The Lady Rebels are going into the Liberty District Playoffs as the number one seed, giving them a
first round bye. They ended the regular sea-son with a 5-1 record, losing only to McLean.
“Getting the bye is a huge mental lift,” Coach Amber Beaudoin said. “I don’t like all the extra time between games, but I’ll take the security of knowing we made the region-al tournament any day. Plus, the number one seed means we only have to go through one of the top four teams, not two, to make it to the District Championship game.”
Beaudoin’s team plays in their first play-off game Wednesday, October 19 at Madison High School, 7:00, as they go for their third straight Liberty District Championship.
Photo courtesy of Daniel Vanderplas
In what might not have been the prettiest game, after more than ten years, Fairfax finally gave homecoming fans a victory. It took a beat-up Thomas Jefferson team that struggled in the red
zone, but regardless, the final score had Fairfax on top by 13 in a shut-out. The Rebels are now 6-1, one of the best starts in school history.
The Rebels started hot, forcing a fumble on the kickoff, and recov-ering within 10 yard line. Within minutes, they were up seven, after Anthony Bowen scored his first touchdown of the game.
Although they didn’t convert on the two point attempt, it didn’t take long for the Rebels to get back in the endzone. Their next drive Bowen took it in again, putting the Rebels up 13-0.
At the time, it seemed like Fairfax was on the way to a blowout. The Jefferson offense was consistently stopped inside the red zone by a solid Rebel defense. Apparently having little confidence in his kicker, the Jefferson coach opted to go for it on every fourth down within reason-able field goal range, and his offense could never convert.
After a long game of stalling offenses, time finally expired and the Fairfax student section emptied onto the field. It was a long time com-ing, but the Rebels finally came home in style.
The Fairfax varsity volleyball squad started to emerge from a rough couple weeks, winning at home against Madison and South Lakes in their last two games.
Coach Christine Zanellato’s team had started strong, going 4-2 to start the season, but struggled in a long stretch of road games, losing five out of six games from September 19 to October 11.
The Rebels have another home game coming up on October 20 against the Herndon Hornets.
Photo by Jessica Miers
Freshman golfer Eric Joslin looked up at the scoreboard after finishing his round on Monday, October 3, the first day of the Northern Region
tournament. Eighty-two it said. Not bad for a cold, rainy day, he thought. If he really played well Tuesday, he might move on to the state tournament. In fact, if not for those six shots he had to take on the 18th hole, he’d be in great shape, but he still couldn’t help feeling optimistic. He found his name on the board and glanced at the 18th slot. Wait… He checked the score again. Suddenly the cold got colder and the rain got wetter, and there were no more good feelings.
Joslin moved from Dallas to San Antonio, the summer of 2007. His father, an assistant director of human resources in the federal government had been relocated again, this time to a golf course community. Joslin didn’t have much prior exposure to the game, though. He had never played before, but now he found that he literally couldn’t escape it.
“I kinda got into it that way,” he said.
He started to play more often on that course in his backyard. After a year, he realized something; he was pretty good.
“I guess after one year of playing was when I got serious,” he said. “I started to play in a bunch of tournaments. I went to Arizona to play also.”
That’s when his golf game began to soar. In each of the tournaments in which Joslin played, the result was the same. The kid who had been golfing for just over 12 months was going home with all the trophies.
Only one tournament was an exception. It was an international event in Arizona. Joslin was competing against international golf prodigies, and finally he didn’t return victorious.
But he did finish fifteenth. Joslin was a budding prodigy among prodigies.
Joslin’s mind went blank. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing, didn’t believe what was on the scoreboard. Does anyone else know? They couldn’t possibly.
For a split second he considered keeping it quiet. Who could it hurt, anyway?
It was the summer of 2011, and Joslin had just started golfing for the Fairfax High School Rebels. He had moved to Fairfax the summer before, and it wasn’t long before he found out that high school golf in Virginia was an entirely different game than what he was used to out west.
“It’s a lot more competitive here,” he said, “[the older players] have an advantage. A big one.”
He was playing against golfers who were older, stronger, and more experienced, and, at first, it showed.
“He started a little slow,” said Fairfax golf coach Jeremy Owens, after Joslin shot an 89 and then an 81 in the two rounds of the Rebels’ first tournament. But he didn’t stay down for long.
“I recover very well while I play,” Joslin said. “Some guys get down on themselves and lose it if they mess up. I fight back if I have a bad hole or a bad shot. So I guess [the older players] have an advantage physically, but not mentally.”
That resilient attitude is what Joslin used to pull himself back up, as he played in the Cougar Classic, an invitational tournament hosted by Oakton High School, just four days later. He was not only tied for first place in the whole tournament after 18 holes, shooting a 72, but he won it all in a head-to-head, one-hole, sudden death playoff round. He is the only freshman to ever win the event.
From then on, Joslin was as consistent as any golfer on the team, averaging 39-40 strokes in nine-hole matches, according to Owens. He was even able to perform under the pressure of District Playoffs. He posted one of the top five individual scores in the district and became Fairfax’s only player in the Northern Region tournament.
22Joslin after winning the Cougar Classic. He was the first freshman to ever win the event. Photo courtesy of Jo Ellen Joslin.
(Continued on p. 23)
For Joslin, Honesty Comes First
“Go talk to the official,” Owens told the freshman. Joslin knew he had to at this point. If what he suspected had happened, it was the only thing to do. It was the right thing to do.
The rain broke, but the cold was unyielding as the sky grew darker and Joslin made his way to the scoreboard. He asked to see his scorecard.
The official obliged, and Joslin checked the scoreboard’s last slot one more time; “5.” His eyes scanned down the card, to the eighteenth hole; “5.”
Joslin showed the official the card again. He told him what happened.
The official just looked down at the kid. “You know what this means, right?”
Joslin looked up at the official. “Yes.”
“I think I’ll improve a lot,” Joslin said. “Next year I will come back and do my best to be way better than I was this year.”
“Eric is a fine young man that shows great promise,” Owens said. “I hope he’s able to really focus himself and make personal sacrifices to step up his game.
“He has a lot to learn from his upperclassmen as well, so I hope he stays humble in the process. If he’s mature enough to learn from our captains and other golfers, I think he’ll be in good shape,” said the coach.
Joslin came completely clean to the scorers. He showed them the scoring mistake on the eighteenth hole, how the scorer had recorded a five, when he had actually shot a six. He had signed the card, so he took the responsibility. That was all it took to disqualify him: one point. He wouldn’t be playing the next day; he wouldn’t be going to states.
“I was really bummed,” he said. “No one caught it. Everyone thought the score was right.
“But I felt like I did the right thing,” he continued, “I couldn’t live with it. Knowing if I made it to States that I didn’t deserve it, and knowing that I took away the opportunity from someone else. So I guess I have no regrets.”
SPORTS
23
Walker Carlson ‘13Sports Editor
A football team is made up of many different types of people. There are the players who practice every day after school. There are the coaches who
work the players hard to ensure a winning team. Then there are the managers who make sure the players are taken care of.
According to senior Kat Spigner, who has been a football manager for three years, “making sure the players are hydrated and taken care of is the main thing we do. We also clean, help the coaches and athletic trainers out with anything they may need help with. From the sideline or at practice, if we see something happen to one of the boys, we ask them if they are okay and tell the athletic trainers to check on them and then they do whatever they feel best.”
Senior Lily McGrail, who has been a manager for two years, added “we make sure that [athletic trainer Brett] Gustman can do his job on the field.”
Along with tending to the players, football managers help the Athletic Trainers out by filing, getting equipment from storage, and copying important papers. They also clean the Athletic Training room and the players’ equipment every Friday, which they have dubbed “Super Friday Cleaning on Friday.” Spigner says that managing football is different from managing other sports because they are expected to do more jobs.
Although the games are the most fun part of being a football manager, Spigner says they are also the hardest.
“You’re on your toes the whole time, ready to do what you’re asked to do and what you’re expected to do. They are definitely intense,” she says.
Both Spigner and McGrail say that their favorite part of managing the football team is the friendships they build with the boys and watching them grow throughout the season. Spigner says they are like a family. McGrail agreed, adding “Family is a really good word to describe us. We fight a lot but at the end of the day, deep down, we like each other.”
Suha Khandker ‘13Staff Writer
How do they Manage?
Manager Lily McGrail gets ready for football practice. Photo by Suha Khandker
Homecoming Week