Obama Honors Class of 2020 Through TV Special
Olivia Garrone, Editorial Board
May 21, 2020
Even though many U.S. seniors will not be getting the traditional graduation ceremony they envisioned this summer, their accomplishments are not going unnoticed. A variety of unique virtual celebrations have begun to emerge on local and national scales. On May 16th, the uplifting one-hour special Grad...
Podcasts to Curb Quarantine Boredom
Olivia Garrone, Editorial Board
May 7, 2020
Television watching has become a go-to activity for many high schoolers in quarantine. Unfortunately, it’s not exactly eye doctor recommended to binge Netflix all day long. That’s where podcasts come in: all of the entertainment of television without having to stare at a screen. For an opportunity...
Racial disparities in AP classes
Editorial Board
April 23, 2020
Holding a megaphone and a new vision of education, Nelson Luna stands on the steps of Tweed Courthouse demanding school integration. A student activist from New York, he redefined a movement among young people insisting that public schools offer equal education to black and white students. In re...
Seniors Take On Capitol Hill
Olivia Garrone, Editorial Board
April 20, 2020
On Wednesday, February 26th, the Senior class went on a field trip to Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Students had varying to-do checklists to complete for their government classes, but had the freedom to explore the places they were interested in on the hill. “Most of our students go to three main loc...
Justin Bieber’s ‘Changes’ Album Review
Olivia Garrone, Editorial Board
February 19, 2020
Justin Bieber’s latest album, Changes, is a solid, if not bland, product of the times. Laced with melancholy sounds and synthetic beats, its songs fit right in with every other pop song on the radio today. Combined with Bieber’s signature smooth vocals, the album is not bad in the least, it merely l...
2024 Moon Landing: Ambitious or Hopeless?
Elene LIpartiani, Staff Writer
February 19, 2020
An ambitious goal set by the Trump Administration last year, numerous people hold skepticisms about NASA’s ability to successfully manage another moon landing by 2024. For the president, this would be an immense triumph in the last year of his second term should he be reelected. NASA meanwhile views...
To rename or not to rename high schools in FCPS?
Wendy Gao, Editorial Board
February 19, 2020
From its birth as the first colony to its now renowned reputation for producing presidents, Virginia has played a pivotal role in shaping America’s history since the beginning. But its past is not one of pristine patriotism, and like many other former Confederate states, Virginia’s story is one battered by...
A sustainable future in Davos?
Wendy Gao, Editorial Board
January 24, 2020
Amidst the tumult of the Senate impeachment trials occurring on the Hill in real-time, President Donald Trump is far from Washington, D.C. as 50 Senators preside as jurors to decide the fate of his presidency. While all American eyes are on the Senate floor, environmentalists and climate activists have thei...
Speaking (youth) truth to power
Wendy Gao, Editorial Board
January 24, 2020
At the close of business on New Year’s Eve, Newseum visitors found their way to the exits of the museum, and staff members began to shut down exhibits - as they had done for 11 years. Only this time, the Newseum would not open the following morning. The glass doors of the Newseum closed for the l...
“The Circle” Reveals That Appearances Can Be Deceiving
Olivia Garrone, Editorial Board
January 14, 2020
The new Netflix reality competition series, The Circle, manages to entertain while highlighting the deception of appearances on social media at the same time. The goal of the show is for the contestants to be perceived as the most likable and real on a fake social media platform in order to avoid being...
U.S. Schools Fall Behind in National Rankings
Olivia Garrone, Editorial Board
December 13, 2019
In an international test of education systems around the world, the United States fell behind top countries, remaining around the same level it has found itself for the past ten years as other countries skyrocket in rankings. Though the U.S.’s already stellar reading results have improved, its aver...
Netflix for French Students
Olivia Garrone, Editorial Board
October 30, 2019
Learning a language isn’t easy, and French is no exception. Many people say that the best way to learn a language is to be completely immersed in it, but most people don’t have the option to jet off to Paris for the semester. So they have to resort to the second-best method of immersion: watching N...