Sherwood High School

300 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Sandy Spring, MD 20860

www.thewarrioronline.com

Warrior
38th Year, Issue No.1

October 15, 2015

the

Inside: News: 1-5, Football: 6-7, Features: 8-9 Humor: 10-11, Spotlight: 12-13, Opinions: 14-17, Wondering Warrior: 18 Entertainment: 19-21, Sports: 22-24

American Sign
Language:

Added as a Foreign
Language Class
pg. 3

Football:

Causing Serious
Injuries at All
Levels of the Game
pg. 6

imgarcade.com

Social Media:

Its Effects on Our

Generation
pg. 12-13

Jump on the
Bandwagon:

How Sherwood
Students Feel
About Trends
pg. 18

Scream Queens:
A Review of the New,
Star-Filled Show

pg. 19

imdb.com

Soccer:
The Ups and
Downs of the Fall
Season so Far
pg. 23

Solar Panels Ready To Go on Roof of School

by Tyler Ruth 16
As a part of MCPSs ongoing
efforts to become a more environmentally friendly and sustainable
organization, the departments of
Facilities Management and Materials Management, in partnership with SunEdison LLC, have
begun installation of solar panels on Sherwood and three other schools. Installation of 2,041
solar panels onto the entirety of
the roof (excluding the auxiliary
gym) of Sherwood was supposed
to begin on August 24 but permits
have not yet been attained, delaying the project indefinitely. The
project is expected to be done by
mid-December.
MCPS made an agreement
with SunEdison LLC for the latter to be responsible for the possession, installation, operation,
maintenance and financing of the
photovoltaic cells that are rated
for a capacity of approximately 564 kilowatts at Sherwood
(total energy for all of the solar
panels being installed at the four
schools is 2.2 megawatts). Last
year Sherwood used 2,060,074
kilowatt-hours in energy. Depending on the time of year, the
solar panels at Sherwood will be
able to account for 20-40 percent of those power needs. In exchange for this, MCPS has agreed
to a 20-year term agreement for
the solar panels to be hosted on
MCPS property.

The school is expected to install 2,041 solar panels on the roof by mid-December. The project was delayed
due to difficulty acquiring permits. Sherwood is one of four schools in the county implementing solar energy.
SunEdison LLC was chosen
for the project because of its successful installation and operation
of solar panels on eight schools
in 2008 and 2009. SunEdison
LLC also provides MCPS with
the most competitive prices as the
prices have essentially been subsidized so SunEdison LLC can
offer fixed prices that are lower
than the competition. With this
new deal in place, MCPS has
an estimated annual utility cost
avoidance of about $206,000.

MCPS Votes To Eliminate

Countywide Final Exams
by Morgan Hill 16
The Board of Education voted unanimously on September 8
to remove county exams for all
high school students. The decision will become effective for the
2016-2017 school year, making
the final exams at the end of this
school year the last exams that
the county will administer. Externally assessed courses, which
are classes that require students
to take the PARCC or HSA tests,
will not be subjected to county
exams for the second semester of
this school year.
The decision comes just
weeks after the board eliminated
all exams for middle school students in MCPS. In doing so, the
Board hopes to shift education
to a more project-based system
of learning. Before making their
final decision, the Board reached
out to students and parents across
the county for input on the proposal. This is a decision which
directly benefits the students,
said Eric Guerci, Student Mem-

ber of the Board (SMOB). In

reaching out to students, this was
the option they felt was the best
by an overwhelming majority.
Leadership came to agreement about the removal of exams less than two months after
the idea was first proposed. It has
been pointed out that the Board
took little time to debate the consequences of its decision and how
it would affect students in the long
run. I fear that MCPS is moving
too fast on something that is going
to have a deep impact on the high
schools. They have in many ways
put the cart before the horse,
said science teacher Glenn Miller, who is a Sherwood representative to the Montgomery County
Education Association (MCEA).
The Board of Education and the
MCPS leadership should have
spent more time vetting this idea
and talking it over with stakeholders. They should be able to
show what the other assessments

see NO EXAMS, pg. 3

All the energy produced by

the SunEdison panels will be
bought up by MCPS and used
only in accordance with MCPS
buildings and services.
This
means that no energy will be distributed to the surrounding communities like some residential
owners of solar panels choose to
do in order to be paid for the outputted energy to the county.
Since 2003, MCPS has reduced greenhouse gas emissions
by over 70,000 MtC02e (million

metric tons of carbon dioxide

equivalent) from the 178,000 MtCO2e that used to be produced
every year before sustainability
management plans were put into
place. With the new solar panels
and better power management,
such as using LED instead of fluorescent lights, timed lighting and
virtualization of servers, MCPS
hopes to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions by another 15 percent
by 2024. MCPS plans to install
solar panels at more schools.

Late School Times

Students across the school were asked how their
schedules were altered by the twenty-minute change.
Have the delayed start and end times affected you?

42% no
58% yes
Do you get more sleep due to the later start time?

55% no
45% yes
If you could select the school hours, which choice
would you pick?
6% said 9:00-3:45
8% said 8:30-3:15
22% said 8:00-2:45

25% said 7:45-2:30

39% said 7:25-2:10
*109 students surveyed
compiled by Samantha Schwartz 16

The WarriorNews
2

October 15, 2015

Pay To Park or Park and Pay

S
W
E
N
in brief

by Samantha Schwartz 16

Each year a fortunate few drive to and from school, gaining

five extra minutes of sleep and speedily leaving right before the
busses pull out. These student drivers gain the luxury of wheels,
but at a cost. Students who park at school must pay $75 at the beginning of the year for a parking permit.
The initial parking permit and cost itself are no different from
other years, but what is new are the consequences that result from
parking without a permit. In the past students were issued a warning or a small fine if caught without a permit, but this school year
students found parking without a permit hanging from their front
mirror will be issued a county citation parking ticket. Students can
contest the fine in court.
If students fail to pay the initial ticket or do not appear in court,
their license will be suspended, just like any other county-issued
parking ticket. Students caught driving without paying their ticket,
meaning a suspended license, will receive larger fines.

Former Student Sentenced to

Jail Term for Fatal Accident
by Bryse Thornwell 16

The court trial for former Sherwood student Austin Hall (15)
came to a close on September 10. Hall pleaded guilty to driving
under the influence of alcohol, as well as causing the vehicular
manslaughter of Shawn Gangloff and life threatening injuries to
Max Dechter. Evidence shows that Hall lost control of his car while
driving at 119 mph, and that he possessed a blood-alcohol content
of 0.11 two and a half hours after the crash.
Hall was originally sentenced to eight years in prison, but the
Judge reduced the sentencing to 18 months along with five years
of probation and 150 hours of community service. The judge also
said he wanted to see Hall speak in schools and other organizations
about the dangers of drunk driving.
When Hall spoke to the courtroom, he said, Words cant describe the way I feel about everything that happened. Hall pleaded
guilty because he wanted to take responsibility for his actions as
well as make a difference in the community by talking about what
happened. Halls attorney in the Washington Post described him
as a good person from a good family who made a horrible mistake.

Program Creates Awareness

About Music Education
by Megan Werden 17
More Music Montgomery (MMM), a student-led project organized by Rockville senior Michael Silverglade, is creating a new
awareness campaign to increase funding for music education in
Montgomery County.
On September 21, Silverglade spoke to the Montgomery County Board of Education, saying that music education is something
very important to thousands of students and families in the county.
Silverglade described how kids will stay more engaged in school,
will obtain better SAT scores, and will learn collaboration and
teamwork. He added that colleges value students who study music.
Music education has not been given a substantial amount of
funding as the countys student population has grown. MCPS is
behind the rest of the State of Maryland in its commitment to instrumental music for elementary schools. According to Silverglade,
elementary students in other counties receive up to 90 minutes of
music each week, while Montgomery County elementary students
receive only 30 minutes. However, music education enrollment
grows at all levels each year with 13,000 elementary students anticipated this coming school year.

Graduate Dies in Vehicle Accident

Recent
Sherwood
graduate, Jarrett Harman
(14) died in a motorcycle collision on September 4. After the fatal
accident occurred, he
succumbed to his injuries
at MedStar Montgomery
Medical Center.
Harman was a second-year student at
Montgomery College in
hopes of earning an engineering degree. While
he was at Sherwood, he
thrived in cross-country
and track and field. The
news of his death sparked
an outpouring of trib-

utes on social
media, most
notably about
his beautiful
smile and genuine character.
The viewing and funeral services
were held on
September
11 and 12 at
The Lutheran
Church
of the Good
Shepard
in
Olney, Maryland. Numerous members of the
Sherwood Community

attended to mourn and

to honor this incredible
young mans legacy.
- Alleigh Keyes 16

Day in the Life of an Office Aide

by Milan Polk 16
In the middle of class, some
mysterious junior or senior may
walk in, hand the teacher a pass
and be on their way. To the freshman, the idea of an office aide is
a whole new concept. Until high
school, it is difficult for a student
to do anything other than go to
class. Even student aides are technically in a class. Office aides, on
the other hand, get to be in a different environment.
The idea behind office aides
was simple enough: staff in the
counseling and main office needed help, so students were enlisted. However, students are able to
benefit from the arrangement as
well.
It was originally used for
when a students schedule choices
just didnt work out. Sometimes
its also used for those who are
overwhelmed with hard classes
and need a more relaxed period,
said Nancy Benson, a counselor.
She is unsure exactly when the

program started at Sherwood, but

she knows it has been going on
longer than 14 years, which is as
long as she has been at the school.
Office aides do more than just
pass out notes to teachers: They
answer the telephones, run the
passes, collate papers and do any
other odd jobs we have for them
like alphabetizing papers, said
Georgianne Linthicum, the overall manager of the office aides as
well as a receptionist at the front
desk in the counseling office. The
most important job, according
to Linthicum, is answering the
phones. The phone is always
ringing, she said. If the students
run out of tasks, they simply do
homework for other classes.
Being an office aide gives
students a sense of menial work
and could help them consider if
they want to work in an office setting. It could lead to a secretarial
position, Linthicum said.
In order to become an office
aide, there are a few requirements. Generally, students are in

eleventh and twelfth grade because upperclassmen tend to have

more flexible schedules. In addition, the students must be mature
and responsible. We like them to
be polite, and have no foolishness
in the halls when theyre passing
out notes, Linthicum says. When
on the phone, students have to be
respectful to the people they are
talking to and make sure the callers are not giving students any
overtly personal stories or details
by letting them know a student is
talking, Linthicum said.
Students who have an extra
space in their schedule should
consider a position as an office
aide. The staff greatly appreciate
the students help that is a product of the aides program. They
all are really good kids, said
Benson. Office aides are students
who want to help others on a daily basis by handing out notes, answering phones and completing
other tasks. Students interested
in becoming an office aide should
talk to their counselor.

Religious Toleration Guidelines Distributed

To Students Throughout the School System
by Ketki Chauhan 16
After requests to honor other religious holidays, MCPS has
decided for the first time ever to
create guidelines for religious
diversity. The booklet, which
was given to all the students in
the county (Sherwood students
received it in their advisories),
begins with a set of FAQs about
the accommodations for students
observing a special holiday and
then specific sections regarding
policies about absences, religious
dress, prayer in school, etc. It was
created in partnership with the
Montgomery County Executives
Faith Working Group.
On June 10, an interfaith forum was held to strengthen the
collaboration between the school

system and the faith communities

in the county. The developments
for the guidelines were set in motion to placate those angered by
the Board of Educations initial
vote in regard to religious holidays.
In 2014, the Board of Education voted against closing school
for Muslim holidays, like Eid
al-Adha, after multiple requests
were made by Muslim communities to treat their holidays like
Jewish holidays in which school
is closed. Instead, the Board removed religious holidays off
the calendar, opting to just refer
to the day as No school rather
than specifying the holiday for
which they are closing. This resolution was originally proposed by
then Superintendent Joshua Starr.

The board defended its decision of not closing school as

well as affirmed in the guidelines
that students who miss school to
observe a religious holiday are
considered excused and must be
given an opportunity to make
up whatever work they missed.
However, parents still believe
that this puts their child at a disadvantage, making them choose
between their faith and school
work.
Public comment on the calendar policy was available until
October 9. One of the items covered in the policy was the consideration whether school should
be closed because of high absenteeism. More information on the
guidelines and a copy of it can be
found on the MCPS website.

The WarriorNews
October 15, 2015
MCPS Weighs Grading Options
from NO EXAMS, pg. 1
are going to look like instead of
just mentioning the idea in broad
terms.
The formulation of a final
grading plan for calculating semester grades is still underway.
The Board recently unveiled
four possible grading options
that could replace the old system.
The first option would determine
semester grades by averaging
together the students grade percentages from the two quarters of
the semester. The second option
would use a point system similar
to the one used for calculating a
students GPA. An A would be
worth four points, a B worth three
points, and so on. To calculate the
semester grades, the two numbers
would then be averaged together. Another option is the use of a
trend line. A student who earns an
A in the first quarter and a B in the
second quarter would receive a B
for the semester. This option has
received little support from board
members and faculty across the
county. The last option would
be to replace the county-made
final exams with exams made by
teachers for their respective classes. The Board is slated to make a
final decision regarding grading
options on November 10.
In recent years, concern has
been increasing regarding semester-ending exams. Both teachers
and students alike voiced concern
over the amount of instructional
time the exams consumed. Under
the new plan, teachers will regain
a week of instructional time as
well as multiple days previously
dedicated to reviewing material

for the exams. This would help

students have more time to learn
and process the material than under our traditional model. English teacher Patty Jasnow said.
The Board and community
members also had concerns over
the effectiveness of the exams.
Many questioned if the exams
accurately indicated how well the
students understood the material. In an analysis of countywide
exam performance, Board members found that nearly 50 percent
of Algebra 1 students were failing their math exams each year.
Across all math classes, more
than 60 percent of students failed
exams annually. Additional analysis showed that many of the
students who failed exams were
excelling in the class during the
quarter.
Testing advocates believe
that exams prepare students for
college level learning, which includes cumulative exams. I feel
students still need the experience
of preparing for a final in all core
courses, said engineering teacher Brendan Lees. Unless colleges are eliminating final exams
also, students still need the practice.
Moving forward, the county
will look to resolve the details
regarding implementation of the
plan. Eventually, the Board will
develop and implement communication programs, which will
allow the county to report to both
students and parents on student
progress. Changes to the plan are
also probable, as the Board looks
to identify the best possible grading guidelines and procedures to
accompany the policy.

American Sign Language Introduced

To The Foreign Language Department
by Maddie Peloff 16
This year, a new sign language class was introduced to
the foreign language department.
The class teaches students about
American Sign Language (ASL),
including how to sign and the languages cultural history.
Amy Crumrine, the sign
language teacher, is new to the
Sherwood community. Being
deaf herself, she understands the
challenges deaf people face when
attempting to communicate with
others. For that reason, she believes the sign language class is
a great opportunity for students
to learn to communicate with
the millions of deaf people in the
country. She urges students to
take sign language because she
believes they, as well as other
deaf individuals, will benefit by
being able to communicate with
an entirely new group of people that they may not have been
able to communicate with before. Approximately 15 percent
of the population experiences
some trouble hearing, explained
Crumrine.
The curriculum for the new
sign language class is based off
the Master ASL book, which
is the only sign language curriculum that meets the American Council on the Teaching of
Foreign Languages standards
of a foreign language class. The
classs content is based in two
categories: language and culture.
As for the language portion, students learn ASL vocabulary and
grammar that enables them to

Kayla Cohen 17

Alexis Romas (16) and her classmates practice signs in their ASL class.
properly communicate with deaf
individuals. For the culture section, students learn all about deaf
culture and history, giving them a
unique appreciation for the deaf
world. In order to teach this content to students, Crumrine uses
many PowerPoint presentations
interspersed with interactive activities to convey to students new
vocabulary and help them better
understand how to expressively
and receptively sign.
Senior Alexis Romas decided to take the class after it was
recommended to her by a friend
in college who is studying sign
language. Romas stated that she
finds the class to be extremely

enjoyable, and her favorite part is

learning new vocabulary. All the
different hand gestures are really
fascinating and some are kind of
difficult, she explained. It kind
of makes you think this is someones language and its awesome
how [someone] can just do a hand
gesture and you know exactly
what they mean.
Crumrine encourages students to take her class because
ASL is a language of its ownjust like Spanish or French, and
just like both of these classes,
ASL gives students a unique opportunity to widen their cultural
understandings and learn something new about a culture they

The Warrior thanks its many wonderful patrons:

Abramowitz Family, Allen Family, Averbach Family, Frank and Alexis Bentz, Bray Family, Rick and
Rita Brigham, Durond and Lisa Brown, Jan and Bill Carlson, Chauhan Family, Cohen Family,
Cooper Family, Deal Family, Deffinbaugh Family, Dymond Family, Falcigno Family, Rosanne Ferris,
Ganey Family, Jonathan and Ruth Golomb, Gormley Family, Hein Family, Hoyt and Karen Hughes,
Jonas Family , Kanaskie Family, Susan Mize and Kevin Kanstoroom, Kendall Family, Randy and
Nancy Keyes, Kuhlmann Family, Levy Family, Little Family, Loughner Family, Malakoff Family,
Newman Family, Paidas Family, Proctor Family, Rosendorf Family, Laura and Craig Sanchez,
Schwartz Family, Sentner Family, Sousane Family , Spillman Family, Suissa Family, Sutherland
Family, Tagliere Family, Thornwell-Williams Family, Tobb Family, Tom Family, Weinberger Family,
Stacey Wells, Andy and Bev White, Lynn Fields and Steve White, Todd and Renate Wilson,
Witkin Family, Yates Family
If you are interested in becoming a patron, contact Peter Huck at Peter_J_Huck@mcpsmd.
org
or go to the Warrior Online at www.thewarrioronline.com

The WarriorNews
4

October 15, 2015

SAT Loses Popularity as Scores Continue To Decline

by Jacob Golomb 16
Recent SAT reports have
shown an overall decline in national and local scores. At Sherwood, SAT composite scores
have gone down by 40 points in
the past three years. Sherwoods
Class of 2015 averaged a composite score of 1582, with Math
scores at 537, Critical Reading at
527, and Writing at 517.
Sherwoods decline mirrors
a national trend of falling scores.
Overall, scores in the United
States have gone down by eight
points since 2012, with a larger
drop for Maryland and MCPS.
As the SAT scores decline, the
popularity has decreased, too.
Whereas 70.7 percent of the Class
of 2012 for MCPS took the SAT,
67.8 percent of the Class of 2015
took the test. Sherwood, however,
is an anomaly in MCPS because it
is one of the only high schools in
the county with SAT participation
above 80 percent last year.
The ACT is increasingly
being viewed as an attractive
replacement for the ever more
unpopular SAT. In contrast to
the SATs declining scores, ACT
scores have seen a slight increase

Mean SAT scores nationally and locally have been slowly decreasing since 2012. Sherwoods scores correlate with this constant decline. However, the scores for Sherwood have remained higher than the nations.
in recent years, indicating that the
ACT is a better fit than the SAT
for some students. The increasing attractiveness of the ACT is
probably driven by the fact that,
unlike with the SAT, the ACTs
essay is optional and its multi-

ple choice questions are more

straightforward. The SAT has
decided to follow the ACTs example in hopes of remedying the
decrease in its popularity.
The new SAT test, launching
in March 2016, will have an op-

tional essay and no section with

difficult vocab questions. This
will result in four, rather than the
three, sections: Reading, Writing
and Language, Math, and the optional Essay which will no longer
be factored into the Writing score.

The Reading and Writing sections

will be reported as one score out
of 800 possible points. The redesigned SAT will have a composite score out of 1600 rather than
2400 and there will be no penalty
for guessing. In the current version of the test, each wrong answer subtracts .25 of a point from
the score.
In the new version, incorrect answers will neither add nor
subtract from the score, similar
to how the ACT works. Therefore, whereas with the current
SAT students are only supposed
to answer if they are confident
they know the answer, students
taking the new SAT will have better chances of scoring higher by
guessing rather than leaving the
question blank because getting an
answer wrong is counted just like
not answering it at all.
Despite the SATs decreasing popularity and the increase
in popularity of the ACT, all colleges in the country accept both
tests. According to the director
of admissions at Harvard, Either
[the ACT or SAT] fine with us,
and we dont have a feeling that
either favors students with any
particular profile.

Three New Restaurants Coming to Olney

by Nicole Reich 17
A trio of new restaurants will
soon opening Olney, giving students even more options for eating out. Jersey Mikes will be
located beside the Olney Bagel
Bakery, while Cava Mezze will
be in the space previously occupied by the Olney Toy Store.
Chick-Fil-A is expected to open
within the next year behind Five
Guys.
New businesses still see attractive opportunities despite
the fact that Olney is filled with
countless food options. Olney
is an attractive place for many

businesses to invest because we

are a solid community with great
demographics, said John Webster, President of the Greater Olney Civic Association. GOCA
wishes success to each of the new
business owners and welcomes
them to our community.
Jersey Mikes, which is now
hiring, sells a variety of hot and
cold sandwiches, wraps and the
unique sub in a tub, which is an
alternative option to the classic
subs because its contents are put
into a salad. Jersey Mikes also
has a secret menu found online
consisting of subs that have been
removed from the regular menu.

Meals can be ordered online for

ease, as well. Even for big events,
Jersey Mikes offers catering.
Cava Mezze is a sit-down
restaurant specializing in Greek
dishes. The already popular Cava
Grill, located in Montgomery
Mall, Bethesda Row, Kentlands
and Silver Spring, is the sister
restaurant to Cava Mezze. The
restaurant will serve brunch,
lunch and dinner. Offerings will
include the classics such as spanakopita, dips, flaming cheese and
chicken skewers. A four-course
prix fixe menu, Mezze Mania,
will be available every Monday
night for $25.

Maya Koeppen 17

The sign for Jersey Mikes Subs has been up for about a month. The sub shop is put in So Originals previous
location and will open in the upcoming months. Similarily, the sign for Cava Mezze is now up at its location.

The WarriorNews
October 15, 2015

The WarriorFootball
6

October 15, 2015

Concussions Raise Concerns on Multiple Levels

Serious Injuries Put NFL
Players at Increased Risk
by Kira Yates 16
Football has an ongoing reputation as being a violent sport
in which players risk their safety
each game. While many injuries
are serious, the most dangerous
and prevalent injuries are concussions, or any trauma to the head.
On the opening Sunday of the
2015 season, almost every game
had at least one player out with
a concussion by halftime, with
a total of nine concussions before the Monday game was even
played. In the 2014 season alone,
112 professional football players
in the NFL suffered concussions.
Although the NFL claims that the
number of concussions in each
season had decreased by 35 percent, the number of concussions
that occurred on opening weekend this year was double the
number of those that occurred
on the opening weekend in 2010,
and these numbers could continue
to rise as the season progresses.
While a concussion may
force a player to sit out a week of
practice and a game or two, multiple concussions, or even one major concussion, can cause many
serious long-term issues. Traumatic head injury in professional football players has been correlated with the disease chronic
traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
CTE, a progressive, degenerative
brain disease caused by hard and/
or repetitive hits to the head, has
been studied extensively at the
CTE Center at Boston University.
The Center thoroughly examined
the brains of 91 former NFL players, and found CTE in 87 of those
brains. Combined with studies
from the Department of Veterans
Affairs, CTE was found in nearly
80 percent of 165 former football players from all levels of the
game. Some former NFL players
such as Dave Duerson, Ray East-

erling and Andre Waters, who

are now known to have suffered
from CTE, suffered a very painful
decline and are believed to have
committed suicide after suffering from the symptoms of CTE.
Besides concussions, the
sport of football presents the
constant threat of mild to severe
injuries, ranging from broken
fingers to torn ACLs. In order to
keep up with all of the injuries in
the NFL and to ensure that members of fantasy football leagues
choose the right players for the
week, many websites including
ESPN, NFL, CBS, Fox Sports
and Yahoo keep a running list of
all of the injured players in the
NFL. According to these lists,
almost every single team in the
NFL has at least five injured players who are unable to play. For
example, the Pittsburgh Steelers
had eight players injured in the
last weekend of September with
injuries including a broken hand,
a shoulder injury, a thumb injury,
a chest injury and a knee injury
that will cause starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to miss
four to six weeks of the season.
Such injuries, as well as
mounting evidence of long term
brain trauma caused by playing
football, is leading some to question the very safety of the game
itself. Steve Almond, author of
Against Football: One Fans Reluctant Manifesto, writes an exasperated, frustrated, wide-ranging argument that the time has
come to abandon football as a
sport built on a willingness
to find it entertaining to watch
people suffer brain damage. A
sport in which dozens of players
suffer severe injuries week after week calls into question the
general safety of the game, and
whether or not the regulations
being made to improve the safety
of the game are actually working.

whiteknollyouthfootball.com

Most coaches of youth football orgainzations are not required to have qualifications or even be licensed.

Youth Football Results in Long-term Effects

by Ashley Nnabue 16
The Hall of Fame Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman
said, I think that were at a
real crossroads, as it relates to
the grassroots of our sport, because if I had a 10-year-boy, I
dont know that Id be real inclined to encourage him to go
play football, in light of what we
are learning from head injury.
According to the New York
Times youth football is the most
dangerous stage of football because it produces higher risks of
memory and thinking problems
later in life. Players that begin
playing between the ages of 5
and 14 tend to accumulate more
drastic injuries than players that
start later in life. By playing a
contact sport at such a young age,
children can disrupt proper development. However, the symptoms
of brain injuries might not appear
until later in the players life.
Many youth football organizations have earned a lot
of attention after studies highlighted the dangers of allowing
young children to partake in an
extensive form of aggression at

such a young age. According to

Boston University, former NFL
players that played tackle football when they were younger
were more likely to experience
thinking and memory problems
as adults. Depending on the severity, the damage can be fatal.
Responding to complaints of
violent, physical contact, Pop
Warner, a prominent youth football program across the country,
created new rules to limit contact during practices in 2012.
Players are no longer allowed
to engage in full speed head-on
blocking or tackling drills or intentional head-to-head contact.
Also, each practice may only
contain 40 minutes of contact.
Yet according to USA Today, the University of Pittsburgh
conducted a study that found that
players were 26 times more likely
to be concussed in games than in
practices. The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center suggested,
youth football leagues should
focus on awareness and education
about concussions practice is
when tackling technique can be
taught and reinforced in a much
safer environment than in games.

Julian Bailes, chair of Pop

Warner youth footballs medical
advisory board, responded by
questioning the size of the study
sample (of 20 diagnosed concussions, 18 happened during
games), but did not disagree that
more concussions occur in games.
Furthermore, youth football
organizations have minimal requirements in place for coach
qualifications. Pee-wee football
has proven to be the most critical stage for children because
their brains are still developing,
yet that is where the worst coaches are found. Coaches for Pop
Warner only have to complete an
online course every three years
to become eligible. This process
neglects to assess an individuals
ability to instruct young children
on proper tackling techniques.
Ultimately, it is up to parents to decide whether or not
they will allow their child to participate in a high-contact sport
during their youth. Although
precautions are being taken to
improve safety tactics, there are
still many parents, including
NFL players, that refuse to allow their sons to play the sport.

The Redskins Past Comes Back To Haunt Them

by Danielle Tobb 17

Fans of the Washington Redskins

are a long-suffering bunch and they have
reached the point where they expect this
season to be the worst for their team. At
the beginning of the season, the team demoted Robert Griffin III who went from
hero to zero since being the Redskins second draft pick overall in 2012. On the last
day of August, Jay Gruden pulled RGIII as
the starting quarterback and named Kurt
Cousins as his replacement. Since then, the
team has experienced new lows with a 2-3
losing record.
During another season of suffering for
the Redskins, many have temporarily forgotten the controversy over whether or not
the team should keep its name. The conflict
reignited most recently in October, 2013
when President Obama spoke out about
how he had legitimate concerns about the
racist connotation that the name may hold.
On November 2, 2014, thousands of Native

www.washingtonpost.com

The Washington Warriors is one of the more popular suggestions for a redesigned logo.
Americans in Minnesota outside the stadium where the Redskins game was about
to take place, Vikings chanted, Who are
wenot your mascots! The courts re-

visited the issue on July 8, 2015; the US

District Court upheld the Trademark Trial
and Appeal Boards decision to cancel the
Redskins federal trademark registration.

The team is still permitted to use the name

but without federal trademark protection.
In response to criticism over the team
name, Redskins owner Dan Snyder said, A
Redskin is a football player. A Redskin is
our fans, the Washington Redskin fan base.
It represents honor, represents respect, represents pride, hopefully winning.
While Snyder remains unmoved by the
growing calls for a new team name, others began to rename and redesign a logo
on their own. The Washington Post opened
a competition to the public to create a new
name. The top suggested names in their
contest include the Washington Warriors,
Washington Americans and Washington
Blue Crabs.
Whether or not the Redskins make the
playoffs this season, the controversy over
the team name is not going anywhere soon.
Snyder is insistent that the name and logo
is not offensive to Native Americans, but
future legislation or public opinion might
force the change upon the team.

The WarriorFootball
October 15, 2015

Goodell Losing His Grip on Legal Power in NFL Maryland in the Midwest?
UMD followed the money from TV contracts in its risky
decision to leave the ACC and instead join the Big Ten.

by Ben Cooper 16

Over the past few years, the

NFL has been in the news for
what has happened off the field
almost as much as for what has
happened on it. Former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray
Rice was suspended for domestic
violence. Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was
suspended for child abuse. Most
recently, Tom Brady, quarterback
of the New England Patriots, was
suspended for supposedly deflating footballs to his advantage.
These events all have one thing
in common; the suspensions were
all overturned in the court of law
after a supposed error in the NFL
process.
NFL Commissioner Roger
Goodell imposed each of these
suspensions, but they were all
reversed because courts ruled
that he overstepped the boundaries outlined in the agreement
between the NFL and its players
known as the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
Specifically in the Brady
case, Goodell stated that because
Brady was probably involved
in the deflation of footballs, he
deserved a four-game suspension.
When Brady and his team of lawyers took the case to court, the
ruling was overturned because
Goodell had never suspended
anyone on those terms and he
didnt adhere to the boundaries
stated in the CBA. In the CBA,
Goodell is given the right to fairly
hand out suspensions as well as
preside neutrally over any appeal
of those suspensions, therefore
making him in charge of nearly

by Will Van Gelder 16

scoreboardtx.com

After Goodell attempts multiple suspensions, the NFLPA seek changes.

the entire process. The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) argued
that Goodell did not fairly hand
out the suspension. This isnt the
first time an error has been made
in the NFLs legal process, and
its clear that the NFLPA will seek
changes to the powers that Goodell currently holds.
A wrongdoing does not normally define ones career, but in
Goodells case there have been
four major suspensions of his
overturned in court. Most experts

agree that there are glaring issues

with how he is involved in every
phase of the NFLs legal process,
and therefore the NFLPA is looking to agree to a new CBA that
would reduce his involvement
in situations that require fines,
suspensions or appeals. Goodell
wouldnt be completely removed
from the process, but certainly after so many mishaps there would
be someone else to help out in
order to avoid even more embarrassment for the NFL.

Many high school students

imagining the college life, envision dorm rooms, new friends,
and professors in large auditoriums. But for other students, the
first image that might come to
mind when thinking of college is
football on Saturday afternoons.
College football is a tremendously popular sport that, in some
parts of the country, is watched
even more than the NFL.
The affinity for sports that
these students feel often translates into giant TV contracts for
some independent schools such
as Notre Dame, but more often
for collegiate sports conferences.
The money these contracts rake
in often helps to determine major
decisions by university leaders
about their athletic programs.
Take the University of Maryland, for example.

Sports are deeply ingrained in
the culture at Marylands College
Park campus. The schools athletics have collected 41 national
championship titles, with the
boys and girls lacrosse teams together combining for 23 of those
titles. Given this sports legacy,
it was big news when the school
officially changed conferences in
July of 2014. Maryland ended its
61-year membership in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) to
join the much more profitable Big
10, which actually now consists
of 14 teams. The Big 10 primarily is known for its powerhouse
football programs. Maryland has

won one national football championshipin 1953.

Marylands choice to leave
the ACC baffled many fans and
outside observers. But the main
reason was actually quite easy to
ascertain. Being a member of the
Big 10 is very profitable, with 12
of their 14 schools expected to
take in $45 million in television
revenue in 2017-18, compared to
the ACCs average of $21 million per school. Maryland is also
now guaranteed more national
TV coverage on networks such as
ESPN.
Maryland students and other
supporters will have to see if the
money and additional TV coverage is worth it. The Maryland
football team is currently in the
midst of a terrible season, while
its basketball team is a pre-season
favorite to win a national championship. Yet, basketball fans
no longer will get to see another chapter in a Maryland-Duke
basketball rivalry that goes back
decades. Its also highly unlikely that Maryland fans will find it
easier to travel to Wisconsin as
opposed to Virgina to see their
Terps play a conference away
game.
College sports originally
were intended to be for students
entertainment. With the TV deals
that are now being offered, however, collegiate athletics have
become a business similar to the
NFL or NBA. While the students
in College Park may not like it,
the people in charge cant say no
to more money.

The WarriorFeatures
8

October 15, 2015

Behind Warrior Wakeup Live Show Students Prepare for

by Milan Polk 16

Warrior Wakeup Live, Sherwoods morning show, went live

in late September. It is mainly run
by students, who are trained to do
everything from recording audio
to filming the show.
The school year begins with
a small group of students working on the show. It is instructed by
John Williams, the schools media services technician, and Jason
Daigle, the technology education
resource teacher. Most students
will work behind the scenes, with
only a few chosen to be hosts.
Giving each students position is
the first step to production. We
try to gauge interest and see what
students are interested in, said
Williams.
Williams supervises the students in the studio and Daigle
handles the students that film the
recorded material. Both of these
aspects come together to form the
daily live show, with live hosts,
but also previously recorded segments such as cooking and SAT
questions. Once the students learn
the basics, they practice continually before they go live. We do
two or three weeks worth of dry
runs, Williams said.
One of the most important
factors to the morning show is
timing. The production is only
allotted five minutes and thirty

Homecoming Halls
by Maya Koeppen 17

Kayla Cohen 17

Cameraman junior Jean Didier Yemba videotapes the morning show.

seconds to air, and cannot go on
past the bell. This problem is a
job for the assistant director, who
uses a stopwatch to keep the show
on time. If the show seems to be
running too long, the director,
who this year is senior Jennifer
Jung, tells the hosts to skip an
announcement or to immediately
end the show to stay on schedule.
The students do not work in
the same position all year, however. Those that film recorded material will eventually have a chance
to work in the studio, and vice
versa. The show has about four

hosts who periodically switch

out. Jobs are not permanent, and
if one finds that they would work
better somewhere else in the production, the instructors will accommodate.
Williams and Daigle like to
start the show each school year
as soon as the students are ready.
However, if they are not ready,
then they will simply keep practicing until they are down to minimal issues and can work out any
major problems. It takes a lot
of trial and error, Williams explained.

Each year students and teachers crowd the halls in awe at the
extensively decorated and highly
anticipated hallways, while those
who worked on them nervously
await the results. This year will
prove to be no exception. Next
Friday, students will leave the
real world and enter into the sets
of some of the most crowd-pleasing, top-grossing films of all time.
Featuring the themes of The
Dark Knight by the seniors, Toy
Story by the juniors, Frozen
by the sophomores, and Star
Wars by the freshmen, the halls
are sure to bring out the movie
junkie in everyone. But what goes
into this tradition weve come to
know and love? How is it judged,
and how can one get involved?
School-wide Student Government Association (SGA) President, senior Zoe Sweeney, has
been involved with the halls since
her freshman year. So theres
the artistic people, theres the
band people they help out a
lot, Sweeny said in regard to this
years senior hall.
Homecoming halls require a
lot of long hours and teamwork
in order have a successful final
product. As a result, many classes

spend time together after school

and on weekends in order to complete the halls in time. During
these meetings, backgrounds
and props are designed, characters are assigned, music is chosen and snacks are prepared, all
in preparation for the big reveal.
In addition, every class spends
many long hours the night before
setting up the hall and finalizing
last-minute details.
After weeks of hard work,
the halls are ready for students
and judges. Its always new staff
[who judge], and we like them to
see what Sherwood is all about,
said SGA co-sponsor Catina Wist.
Each hall is judged by a set
rubric and scoring system based
on different components of the
hall. During the judging, staff
take into account the overall presentation and student participation in the hall, as well as food,
spirit and music. These results are
then presented to the classes at the
homecoming pep rally later in the
school day.

Any student who still wants to
get involved with the halls should
attend class meetings and should
stay updated through social media. Ask your class sponsor; it is
a great way to get involved in the
school community.

Talented Artist Begins Business

by Alliegh Keyes 16
Inspired by her late grandmother who shared a similar passion for art, senior Kelly Billig
started her artistic journey at the
tender age of 8. With exposure to
acrylics early on under her grandmothers guidance, Billig discovered an outlet for self-expression.
Now, she is sharing her talents
with peers and the community.
What started out as an artsy
and colorful design on her calculator case became a thriving
business after being noticed by
friends. Since last year, Billig
has been painting away, and her
friends are donning her newly
decorated calculator cases.
I started my business to
make a little extra money and it
just kept growing. I expected to
make a couple calculators, but orders continued to come in, said
Billig.
One of Billigs clients, senior
Fikir Ejigineh, loves her calculator because Billig customizes the
design to ones liking. Whether
an animal, scenery, sport or Lilly
Pulitzer-esque design, Billig can
paint it.
Although calculators are
Billigs traditional canvas, she
is expanding her work to weddings, dorm rooms and nurseries.
I have expanded to bigger and
more professional projects such
as canvases and murals, noted
Billig.
In addition to her professional projects, Billig continues
to pursue various side projects

Chase Wilson 17

Senior Kelly Billigs painting is hanging in Laura Dinermans classroom.

for the community. She painted
artwork to benefit senior Alex
Greenbaums Relay for Life
team. Billig is an amazing artist [who] wanted to make a tree
of life with hands of hope on it
[to demonstrate] everyones role
in the fight to cure cancer, said
Greenbaum.
Furthermore, Billig helped
create a mural at Sherwood Elementary School. The mural consists of trees with ornaments,
a picket fence and starry background. Last spring, she designed
artwork for health teacher Matt
Parsons Becoming a Warrior
youth sport summer camp. Using
Photoshop, she created logos to
serve as visual aids. One of them
contains the image of an athlete
holding a football and volleyball

above lettering.
Recently, Billig entered the
Weather & Climate Contest,
sponsored by the National Aquarium. Her work, which depicts
a polar bear on melting ice with
factories in the background, received an honorable mention.
Currently, the beautiful artwork
is hanging up in the executives
headquarters of Climate Central
in Princeton, New Jersey.

Being so passionate about art,
Billig shows no signs of slowing
down. Art is something I have
been interested in all my life and
Im so lucky to be able to share it
with others, she said.
With the future in mind, Billig plans to pursue business and
marketing, fields where her talents will likely come in handy.

The WarriorFeatures

October 15, 2015

Forensics Club Speaks Out

by Lexi Paidas 17

that personality
can reveal a lot?

What Makes You, You:

the Myers Briggs Test

by Madison Dymond 16
Near the end of every school
year, Sherwood sophomores take
a personality test that leaves
them with four basic letters and
a description of themselves. If
taken correctly, the description
will be terrifyingly accurate and
make students marvel at how
a computer can know so much
about a person from many seemingly simple questions. They do
not understand the genius behind
the test, so they merely forget the
letters and move on with their
lives. What few people realize
is that this test may hold the key
to understanding ourselves and
each other.
This test is the Myers Briggs
Type Indicator (MBTI). MBTI
is based off of psychologist Carl
Jungs psychological types and
his study of personality. The test
was developed in the 1920s by
Katherine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers. They studied
Jungs theories and created a theory of their own.
Myers Briggs is comprised
of 16 personality types. An individuals type is determined
by how one answers a series of
questions. The first letter comes
from where one gets energy. If
he or she gets energy from other people, then he or she is extroverted (E). If one gets energy
from being alone, he or she is
introverted (I). The next letter
determines how one perceives
the world. Those who take information in via their intuition
are intuitive (N), and those who
take it in via their senses are
sensing (S). The third letter represents how one makes judge-

ments and decisions. If someone

judges based on emotion, he or
she is feeling (F). If someone
judges based on logic, he or she
is thinking (T). The final letter
is based off of how one views
and perceives the world. People
who are spontaneous and prefer
to have unplanned lives are perceiving (P), while those who see
structure, organization and prefer
plans are judging (J). These letters make up ones Myers Briggs
type. If someone is, for example,
extroverted, sensing, thinking
and perceiving, they would be an
ESTP. A sample description of
this type would be, ESTPs are
the likeliest personality type to
make a lifestyle of risky behavior. They live in the moment and
dive into the action they are the
eye of the storm.
There is a lot more to MBTI
than just the four letters. For example, each type has a different
set of cognitive functions that
basically show how individuals classified as that type think.
Information on the functions is
available on The Myers Briggs
Foundation website.
Since its creation, MBTI has
increased in popularity. The test
is beginning to be used for school
and career chloices. It can help
people choose a college major
or occupation. Some of the types
are naturally more qualified for
specific occupations than other
types. The test is also widely
seen on the Internet. Having a
basic grasp on these types helps
people understand themselves
and each other. A free version
of the test is available at: www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test.

The Forensics Clubsounds

like a science club, right? Not a
bad guess, but it turns out that
the forensics club members pick
a piece of literature and perform
it for individual and team points
at a qualifying, semi-final or final competition. Forensics means
pertaining to public discussion,
based off the word Forum, which
is a root of Forensics.
Junior Catherine White is the
clubs president and a first place
winner last year at the county
wide competition. The rest of
the kids in the club are incredibly
cool, and have become some of
my best friends, said White. I
cant wait to see what the newbies
in the club are going to bring to
the table, and Im eager to get to
witness them find themselves as
performers.
The members pick a piece
from either a speechmakers category (extemporaneous, informative or persuasive), interpretation
category (serious poetry, serious
prose, humorous literature, serious drama, or children lit) or the
group category (readers theatre
and ensemble acting). Members
are allowed to perform multiple
pieces in multiple categories.

Club sponsor, English teacher
Christopher Goodrich, has been
involved in Forensics at the high
school level for five years and has
been Sherwoods Forensics Club
sponsor for one. He also competed when he was in high school.
[Forensics] allows students
to perfect something they need to
be successful: talking in front of
people. If you are good at that, or
can fake being good at that, then
in all likelihood, you will make
your way to the top of the human
food chain pretty quickly, said
Goodrich.
Last year the club sent five

For An Interactive Experience, Download Aurasma

In the App Store. follow thewarrioronline and scan this photo

Kayla Cohen 17

Forensics president, junior Catherine White, performs one of her pieces.

students to quarter-finals, four to
semi-finals, and three to the final
competition. The club won 5th
place overall.

Last year was my first year
ever competing, and so I was
pretty thrilled to even make it to
finals [top 6 competitors in each
category make it to the finals].
When they called my name for
first place I was ecstatic, and
getting to perform the pieces in

front of my biggest supporters,

Mr. Goodrich and my mom, at the
awards ceremony was the best
feeling, said White.
The club members have their
first competition October 24 at
Blake High School. The club also
has future plans to open a clinic
for public speaking for students
who have a speech or piece of
writing that they need to perform
at school, or anywhere else.

10

The WarriorHumor
October 15, 2015

Vote

for President in 2020

I, Kanye West, will be the Kanye Best

president this country has ever seen!
Core Beliefs:

Presidential Staff:

-Im not no politicianbut

- Listen to the kids, bruh.
- Bruh, its about ideas.
- Art aint always polite.
- Its time for the millennials, bruh.
- No brands.
- Dont teach hate.
- Freedom to roll up a little somen.
- I am a god.

Vice President: Taylor Swift

Presidential Cabinet:

JAY-Z (Department of the Holy Grail)

Beyonc (Department of being Flawless)

Kris Jenner (Department of Cool Moms)

Rihanna (Department of Money)

Justin Timberlake (Department of Early

2000s Boy Bands)

Anyone with over 30 million Twitter followers

As President I Promise to:

- Make America an all the better, faster, stronger
country.
- Formally address my fellow Americans as: Bruh.
- Establish a New National Religion: All Hail
Yeezus.
- Hold freestyle rap battles between countries to
settle disagreements. The first country to get their
feelings hurt loses.

- Make Keeping Up With The Kardashians a

heartwarming documentary about the first lady
and the real life events of her family.
- Run This Town.
- Print more money; If they hate, then let them
hate, and watch the money pile up.
- Make this country great in less than
FourFiveSeconds.
compiled by Bryse Thornwell 16

by Sydney Brown 17

The WarriorHumor
October 15, 2015

11

What Did You Just Say?

Teachers are put to the test to see if they understand students slang.

Grind:

Booty shakin on someones body

~Mr. Goodrich
Making salad ~Mr. Silverbook

Roast:

To burn ~Ms. Bonita

I prefer Joanin what we said back in the
80s. Bring back Joanin!!! ~Mrs. Jasnow

Siced It:

Someone cannot spell (should be sliced it)

~Mrs. Orange
What you do to a tomato before you put it
on your sammich ~Mr. Maddox

On Fleek:

A person with a bad case of dandruff

~Mrs. Orange
On point ~Mrs. Bloom

Swerve:

What I do to miss kids in the parking lot

~Mrs. McKeldin
Move; get out of the way ~Mr. Goodrich

Bae:

MA BOO Mr. Kinnetz ~Mrs. McKeldin

Sound made by goats ~Mrs. Orange

Finna:

Swag:

Ms. Jaffes shoe collection ~Mrs. McKeldin

When you walk like an idiot ~Mrs. Orange

I Stamp:

That guy from the Hunger Games with the

sparkly eyes ~Mr. Maddox
Im more for the traditional contractions
~Mrs. Jasnow

Chase Wilson 17

Historic Pool
Moved to
New Location
by Steven Witkin 16

Something you do when you mail stuff

~Mrs. Orange
To co-sign or agree ~ Mr. Bennett

Fam:

Peeps, not the marshmallow chickens

~Mrs. Jasnow
I swear~Mrs. Aguilar

Slay:

Flick Up:

Give someone the finger ~Mr. Soso

Pick your nose and flick the booger
~Mr. Bennett

Squad:

The police ~Mr. Silverbook

Your peeps/group ~Mrs. Aguilar

Ratchet:

What Buffy does to the vampires

~Mr. Maddox
Killin dragons ~Mrs. McKeldin

Tool Box ~Mr. Silverbook

Unappealing in both dress and behavior
~Mr. Bennett

WCW:

TBT:

World Championship Wrestling ~Mr. Soso

Wacky Child Wednesday ~Mrs. Bloom

Taco Bell Tacos ~Mr. Maddox

To Be Told ~Mrs. Lock

Killin It:

Doe:

What I do on the mic ~Mrs. McKeldin

A felony in all 50 states ~Mr. Maddox

A deer, a female deer ~Mrs. McKeldin

Homer Simpson? ~Mrs. Jasnow

Answer Key

Grind: When an individual pushes themselves Siced it: When something is exaggerated
extremely
to achieve a goal
On fleek: Quality of being perfect
Roast: Humiliate someone with a joke,
Bae: Before Anyone Else Baby/Sweetie
comeback, or diss
Finna: Going to
Swerve: Dodging someone
Flick up: Take a picture
Swag: Cool
Squad: Group of friends; crew, posse
I Stamp: I agree
Ratchet: Ugly, gross
Fam: Family; ones you consider family
TBT: Throwback Thursday
Slay: Did something amazing
Doe: Alternative word for though
WCW: Woman Crush Wednesday
by Nicole Reich 17, Tate Harrop 17, and Amanda Allen 17
Killin it: To do something very good

Being over 100 years old, this school

faces a common dilemma with each construction project and renovation. How
can the building be upgraded without destroying its historic aspects? Compromises
have been made in the past, but when this
summers project of covering the roof with
solar panels threatened the existence of
the third-floor pool, the teachers made one
thing very clear: save the pool.
With rumors floating around, the truth
about the Sherwood pool is a bit murky.
However, the discovery of long-submerged
MCPS records filtered out the fact from the
fiction. The pool was installed above what
is now the dance studio in the summer of
1959 with leftover funds from building
the fallout shelter under the F hall. As it is
strictly off limits to students, even members of the swim team, only teachers have
gotten a glimpse at the pool.
It is round, fairly small, and concrete, said social studies teacher Nicole
Glover, adding, Its really an integral part
of Sherwoods culture. The last time I saw
it was when . . . lets just say that the teachers here like to use it for certaintraditions.
It is obvious that the pool has sentimental value, but is it enough to justify
preserving it? Apparently so, because the
project of finding it a new home was one
of the most complex ever carried out on a
school building. Engineering teacher Tom
Sparacino participated in the undertaking.
After several rejected proposals, it was
decided that the pool would be placed under the gymnasium, he explained. How it
got there in just one summer is a true marvel of engineering. The former pool area
had to be demolished and flattened to make
space for the solar panels. The pool then
had to be lowered by crane into a specially
designed cavity under the gym. Although
the gym floor and pads were just redone a
few years ago, they were redone again to
incorporate access points to the pools new
location.
As the waters of time flow on, it is important that history is preserved. For now,
Sherwoods aquatic tradition will live on
underneath the gym, just a few feet deep.

l
a
i
a
c
i
o
S ed
M

Snapchat Raises
Privacy Concerns
by Bryse Thornwell 16

Instagram
to VSCO
by Sara Casareto 16
Social media is a given part of life. The app thats trending
differs, as shown by the hops from Facebook to Instagram to
now, VSCO. This photo editing app also allows people to share
their photos to a grid where anyone can see them, but theres a
twist: no like option and it is completely anonymous in terms
of followers.
I use VSCO to post more of the pictures I take on a daily
basis, said senior Julia Horwitz. Its cool to be able to post a
lot of pictures at once and not be judged for it. My favorite thing
about VSCO is being able to follow whoever I want and them
not knowing.
Visual Supply and Co. was founded in 2011, but only recently created its app, VSCO cam, enabling users to access VSCO
from anywhere. The companys message and goal is to promote
the sharing and formation of creativity and artistic expression.
VSCO was inspired by the look of Hollywood films, giving
photos a quality of professional movies. As an online writer for
The Verge said, Whereas Instagram set out to make your mobile
photos look good, VSCO hopes to make them look real. The
variety of filters and the added editing tools makes VSCO cam a
popular editing app, not just a social media, if in truth it can even
be dubbed a social site with VSCOs anonymity of followers.
The app allows people to edit their pictures and either post it
to the online grid or save it to their phones to post on other social
media sites. The Grid is open for all to see and for anyone to
follow; however, the person posting the picture has absolutely no
idea who is following them. The lack of followers lets me feel
more comfortable with posting whatever I want, said freshman
Maureen Fisher.
The apps latest update had over a million downloads within
the first week of its release this June. The new popularity of this
app and all its different features encompass the argument teens
often use to justify their use of social media. Its all about personal expression.

By now, most students are aware of the mobile messaging app, Snapchat, that
allows both Android and iPhone users to send pictures or videos to their friends on a
contact list. Snapchat Inc. promises to delete those photos or videos after a designated
amount of time set by the sender. The company also promises to do its best to notify the
sender if the receiver took a screenshot or saved whatever content the sender sent to them.
However, recently Snapchats privacy concerns have attracted the attention of the Federal
Trade Commission. The FTC charges that it deceived consumers with promises about the disappearing nature of the messages sent through the service. Multiple third party apps, found for
free on both iPhones and Androids, can save the content sent by Snapchat users without notifying
the sender. While Snapchats small disclaimer states that Snaps deleted from the servers could
possibly still be recovered, the FTC maintains that Snapchat continues to advertise the shortlived nature for messages.
In addition to falsely advertising the nature of the Snaps, the FTC also alleges that Snapchat not only deceived customers over how much personal data it collected, it also failed to
secure its Find Friends feature which led to a security breach in 4.6 million accounts.
The users who were hacked found themselves sending photos and videos to complete
strangers while they were under the impression they were chatting with a friend.
Although the developer of Snapchat has agreed to settle the charges, and the
app will be subject to monitoring by an independent privacy professional
for the next 20 years, Snapchat users should still be mindful about
the content they send while using the app.

The Evolution of YouTube

by Steven Witkin 16

Think back to YouTube, circa 2008. You probably used the

growing video-sharing website to stream pre-VEVO pirated music
videos, watch viral dance routines gone bad or learn how to be a
ninja. Long before anybody called anyone a youtuber or content
creator, when there were no ads before videos, YouTube was just
another social media site, a platform for normal people to share
their creations with a normal audience.
Now 10 years old, YouTube has retained its intimate personality. However, the people talking through the screens have turned
into celebrities. Once YouTube started paying ad-supported content creators by the view in 2008, the most popular vloggers could
call themselves professional youtubers. These self-produced entertainers, many with millions of subscribers, are now able to devote
their full time to content production. This puts them on the level of
traditional celebrities, except that they have full control over their
videos. In several cases, a homemade comedy idea has turned into
a franchise. For example, Hannah Harts 2011 My Drunk Kitchen skit, in which she cooked grilled cheese while smashed,
grew into a weekly web series with 2.2 million subscribers and a
published cookbook.
In this way, YouTube has risen to the level of television with
its highly viewed weekly series. Some series even have turned into
television shows. Broad City, a YouTube series made by two

friends from 2009-2011, was picked up by Comedy Central and debuted as a sitcom in 2014.
Other youtubers have become more popular than television. The
most viewed show on television is The Big Bang Theory with 21.3
million viewers. Swedish gamer Felix Kjellberg, a.k.a PewDiePie,
outdoes all of television with 39.5 million subscribers. His vulgar
reactions to video games, nonexistent outside of the internet, have a
combined 10 billion views and earn him $7 million a year. YouTube
still lacks the professional resources that television shows have, but
it wins in convenience. A poll showed that young adults get an overwhelming percent of their video content from mobile devices. The
problem with television is that it is grounded, while YouTube can be
accessed anywhere.
YouTube is also important to the democratic process. Not only
does it act as a vehicle for political ideas and discussions, it has become a center for free education. Thousands of free videos from
Khan Academy, Crash Course, and MIT OpenCourseWare are available to teach college-level subjects to anybody. In this way, YouTube
may revolutionized how people receive their news and education.
As YouTube develops, a duality is forming. The upper crust
of celebrities is appearing, but the masses still use the platform for
their personal creations. As it seems now, YouTube is part of a larger
movement to move away from traditional television and form a society where anyone, anywhere can be entertained for free.

Selfies
Correlated With
Narcissism

by Emily Gilburt 16

When Android collected data on its phone users, the statistical results that got the most publicity are the 93 million selfies that are taken every day, with 4 million of them being duck faces.
The astonishing number of selfies led to many studies regarding such photos and their potential
link to addiction, narcissism and psychopathy. Among these studies was one conducted at the University of Birmingham in England, showing that those who post selfies often have shallower and considerably
less intimate relationships with their friends on social-media.
According to another study led by Ohio State University, men who post more photos of themselves online
score much higher on scales of narcissism and psychopathy. Since psychopathic personalities are more likely
to behave impulsively and irrationally, those who scored highest on the psychopathy scales were more likely to
immediately upload their photos to social media before thinking their decision through.
However, those subjects in the study with narcissistic personalities took the time and effort to photoshop and
edit their photos to perfection before posting them. Selfies, defined by researchers, are basically self-portraits,
and a narcissist aims to attain perfection in their self-portraits. Editing photos is linked with higher self-objectification-- a prominent narcissistic trait. All types of the defining diagnostic characteristics of narcissism (with
the one exception of the characteristic of self-sufficiency) were positively correlated with selfie-posting.
In addition to these studies indicating a correlation between psychopathy/narcissism and selfies, problems
caused by cases of selfie addiction have started to arise. In the UK, 19-year-old Danny Bowman became
so obsessed with taking the perfect selfie that his mental health condition began to rapidly deteriorate,
causing him to drop out of school, become a recluse and lose roughly 30 pounds. On average, Bowman spent 10 hours every day taking about 200 selfies. However, these selfies were never good
enough in his eyes, and he attempted suicide through overdose.

Bowman is now in intensive therapy and has not taken a selfie in over seven
months. In an interview with ITVs Daybreak, Bowman said, This would not have
happened if it was not in the media age. Bowman continued to discuss that
perfection is unattainable and it is a lesson everyone must learn. I
think this kind of thing can happen to anyone, for me it
manifested itself in selfies.

The WarriorOpinions
14

October 15, 2015

Staff Editorial:

In Our Opinion

Ending Final Exams Is For The Best

Will learned material be
more easily forgotten?

sts
Are projects and te
s?
effective substitute
In early September, the MCPS Board of Educations Management Committee accepted the proposal to eliminate two-hour final exams for high
school students starting in the 2016-2017 school
year. MCPS students primarily reacted to the news
with an outpouring of excitement. After all, who
likes taking tests anyways? However, some students admit that final exams are necessary in order
to help them become fully prepared for college.
Every school year when final exams approach,
most teachers take two to three weeks to prepare
and review for the cumulative test. This means that
students lose time that could be dedicated to class
instruction. Also, when final exams approach,
teachers typically rush to get through the rest of
the curriculum, due to time constraints at the end
of the school year.
Additionally, final exams are unbelievably
stressful, as students have to not only prepare for
a vigorous test on its own, but also remember material from the beginning of the semester. Final
exams count for 25 percent of the final semester
grade, yet does a single test truly demonstrate if
students understand everything they have learned
in such an extended period of time? The final exam
system is inherently flawed in its structure.
According to MCPS Memorandum, marking
period assignments such as unit tests and projects
will take the place of final exams. MCPS stated
that its main goal is to provide students with more
frequent means of measuring their learning. By incorporating the material into manageable assign-

Warrior
P

the

Will students be at
a
disadvantage in co
llege

ments, students will have an approachable way to

grasp the abundance of knowledge they are presented with in each class. At least, that is the intention. Already, some have raised concerns that
such assessments will be graded too subjectively
to truly evaluate students mastery of the material.
The Washington Post recently came out with
an unsigned editorial that called MCPS out on
trying to take the easy way out of the larger
problem of MCPS students generally performing
poorly on semester finals. For example, 65 percent of students failed the Algebra 1 exam this past
year. These statistics obviously show the extreme
difficulty surrounding the final exams that students encounter. Many parents who posted on the
MCPS website comments section generally seem
to disagree with the countys decision, explaining
how abolishing final exams will hinder students
performances when they get into college. These
parents concerns seem overblown, given that college-bound students regularly take three-hour AP
exams, not to mention the SAT or ACT. These students graduate high school with plenty of experience taking high stakes exams.
By getting rid of final exams, MCPS students
are one step closer to fully comprehending subjects rather than simply learning information for
a test at the end of the year. Alternatives such as
projects and portfolios, if well designed by MCPS,
will make the high school experience more geared
towards real-world work situations such as presentations, thus preparing students for the future.

ublished six times a year, The Warrior serves
as Sherwood High Schools premier news source.
Over the years, it has received numerous state and
national honors. With a staff of 35
students and one advisor, The Warrior keeps
the Sherwood community
apprised of local and national events.
All opinion articles represent the
viewpoint of the writer. The unsigned staff
editorials solely represent the opinions of the
newspaper staff. These articles do not necessarily
represent the views of
Sherwood High School.
The Warrior welcomes Letters to the
Editor of 250 words or less. They may be
submitted to room C268 or emailed to
thewarrioronline.shs@gmail.com. Letters must be
signed, and all content received by the newspaper
is subject to editing.
The Warrior staff invites feedback and
corrections to printed inaccuracies.
The Warrior reserves the right to
refuse advertisements.

Staff
Print
Layout and Production Directors ..................Steven Witkin 16
Kira Yates 16

News Editors .................................................. Ketki Chauhan 16

Samantha Schwartz 16

Specials Editors ............................................ Meghan Proctor 16

Megan Werden 17

Features Editors ..............................................

Sara Casareto 16

Lauren MacFadden 17

Humor Editors .............................................Noah Rosendorf 17

John Sutherland 16

Spotlight Editor .............................................. Amanda Allen 17

Opinions Editors ................................................ Ben Cooper 16
Chris Sung 17


Wondering Warrior Editor.................................Lexi Paidas 17
Deal 16
Entertainment Editors .........................................Ryan

Tate Harrop 17

Sports Editors ................................................... Nicole Reich 17

Sammie Spillman 16

Online
Online Managing Editors .............................Ashley Nnabue 16

Milan Polk 16

Content and Copy

Content and Copy Editors ....................... Madison Dymond 16

Morgan Hill 16
Maddie Peloff 16

Managing Photo Editor ................................ Maya Koeppen 17

Photographers .................................................. Kayla Cohen 17
Chase Wilson 17

Cartoonist......................................................... Sidney Brown 17

Pollster ............................................................. Emily Gilburt 16
Staff Reporters ............................................... Jacob Golomb 16

Alleigh Keyes 16
Elizabeth Kronlage 18
Tyler Ruth 16
Bryse Thornwell 16

Business and Publicity Directors.................... Danielle Tobb 17

Will Van Gelder 16

cartoon by Sidney Brown 17

Advisor........................................................................... Peter Huck

The WarriorOpinions
October 15, 2015

15

PRO V. CON

CHROMEBOOKS
Last year, MCPS distributed 40,000 Chromebooks to schools as part of a longterm program to integrate modern technology platforms into education. MCPS has
purchased more Chromebooks this year despite delays from budget cuts. Is the
instructional value of these devices worth the price?

Chromebooks Provide Benefits

Chromebooks Have Limited Use

by Meghan Proctor 16

by Christopher Sung 17

With the rise of technology

in everyday lives, there comes a
growing demand for use of that
technology to better benefit students. Chromebooks help satisfy
that demand by providing more
options for both teachers and students while taking very few expenses out of MCPSs budget.
Especially in high schools,
Chromebooks act as extra computers for when teachers set aside
time during class for students
to work on projects. With the
Chromebooks, teachers do not
have to worry as much about reserving a computer lab. Students
also have more time to work on
the projects, as students can start
working in the classroom right as
the bell rings, rather than having
to start class in a different room.
Even if MCPS allows students to
bring their own devices in the future to work on projects in class,
some students may not want to
bring a $700 laptop to school
with them, where it could get lost
or stolen.
All students have methods of
studying that works best for them.
While some prefer printed work,
others may find it easier to type
on a computer than to write on
paper. Through the use of Google
Drive, students can use Chromebooks in class to work on activ-

ities or worksheets online if they

wish. Using Chromebooks in the
classroom gives students different options for working on the activity. Not only will students have
the option to work in a way that
they are more used to, but students who are more accustomed
to working on paper can experiment with different methods.
At first glance, having more
Chromebooks in schools across
the county appears expensive.
This year, it costs MCPS $3 million to provide middle and high
schools across the entire county
with these devices. However, given MCPSs budget of $2.39 billion, Chromebooks are relatively
cheap, taking only a small chunk
out of the budget. With only a
tenth of a percent of the budget
going to Chromebooks, MCPS
can easily afford them with other
goals in mind.
Chromebooks provide more
options for student work in the
classroom without taking a toll
on the budget. By adding more of
them into high schools, students
can only benefit from the use of
this technology and its expansion.
Teachers and students will have
easier access to these miniature
laptops, and classes of all subjects
will be able to take advantage of
technology and the services it can
provide to better students education.

40,000

40,000

Number of
Chromebooks and
tabletsNumber
boughtofby the
Chromebooks
and
County
in 2014.

tablets bought by the

County in 2014.

15.03

Million dollars.
The original cost for the
Countys first phase
Chromebook
Acquisition.
Million dollars.

15.03

The original cost for the

Countys first phase
Chromebook Acquisition.

Throughout the country, the

current trend in education has
seen school districts investing
millions of dollars on the latest
new devices seen on advertisements and tech magazines. In
Montgomery County, the Board
of Education spent $15 million
last year to fund the first phase of
a massive three-part Chromebook
Acquisition.
Despite logical opposition
to the program, many supporters of the initiative defended the
Boards decision, arguing that
Chromebooks would modernize
the classroom and become an
added benefit for both teachers
and students. Yet, nearly a year
into the program, many at Sherwood are casting doubts over the
supposed educational benefits of
Chromebooks.
When Chromebooks were
first introduced to Sherwood,
many students eagerly waited
to use the new devices for their
first time. However, after just
two months, students realized
that many teachers had little idea
of how to creatively incorporate
Chromebooks into lessons. This
is not the fault of the teachers.
Rather, the Chromebooks were
hard to integrate into the classroom because they were simply
what teachers already had access

to: computers.
When Chromebooks were
used in class, teachers often used
them as options for students to
take notes with, but even then,
most students opted to use pen
and paper over the complicated
Google Drive programs.
It came as no surprise that all
the excitement for Chromebooks
among students soon died out and
the only place where Chromebooks were seen again was at the
library during student government elections. For a purportedly
innovative technology platform,
Chromebooks failed to impress
many students and teachers, as it
did almost nothing to change the
classroom environment in any
substantial way.
This should be troubling
news for the County as it struggles to find funding for needed
school modernization such as
construction programs and teachers salaries380 of whom were
laid off last spring.
Although the County purchased Chromebooks to help
students, the technology hasnt
lived up to its promises. Instead
of further pursing this acquisition, MCPS should now focus
on funding necessary projects for
education and halting its purchase
of Chromebooks for schools.
This will hopefully fund valuable
school programs.

Food Waste Has Many Unintended Consequences

by Kira Yates 16
Food waste in the United
States is an increasingly serious
problem. Each year, 40 percent
of the food produced in the United States is never consumed, but
rather thrown away by grocery
stores and restaurants. This converts to wasting about $165 billion every year, from resources
used to grow the food, to the manual labor, to the money spent on
the food. One factor in this food
waste epidemic is that grocery
stores constantly overstock their
products to appeal to the majority
of impulse shoppers, who tend
to buy from displays with a lot of
options, fearing that a display of
only a few products demonstrates
a flaw with those goods.
This wasting of food, which
may seem insignificant, actually
has many negative consequences. First of all, when produce decomposes in a landfill, it does not
have access to fresh air and therefore emits methane, a gas which
trap heat and contributes greatly

to global warming.
Along with environmental
implications, food waste also
has social consequences. In a
country where approximately
50 million people live in foodinsecure households, statistics
show that the average American
throws away 20 pounds of food
per month. An easy solution to fix
both of these problems simultaneously would be for restaurants,
businesses like grocery stores
and farmers to donate any leftover food. Unfortunately, many
companies are reluctant to donate food because they are afraid
of any legal problems they may
face. Unbeknownst to them, the
Bill Emerson Good Samaritan
Donation Act prevents companies from being sued for donating
food that may cause health problems, but because not many people are aware of it, the legislation
has had little effect on the amount
of food donated to the hungry.
Also, donating extra food to
the hungry is very expensive, due
to packing, shipping and distri-

bution costs and undermines the

whole goal of a company. For
many, it is easier and less costly
to simply throw away extra food.
For this reason, there should be
economic incentives, specifically
tax breaks, for companies who
donate leftover food. While a
system like this does exist, the
legislation is temporary and must
be renewed every six months, so
because companies are unsure if
they will receive a tax break at the
end of the year, they are understandably hesitant to donate food.
Recently, the Fighting Hunger Incentive Act was passed
in the House to make these economic incentives permanent, only
to be renamed and filled with
completely different content in
the Senate for no apparent reason. Wasting unnecessarily large
amounts of food is a very serious
environmental and social problem
in the U.S., which could easily be
reduced by legislation creating
economic incentives such as tax
breaks for companies who donate
food to the hungry.

Food Waste Facts

Less than 3 percent of food waste is composted

Food waste costs a family of four approximately
$590 annually
Food waste has increased by 10 percent since 1974
33.79 million tons of food were wasted in the U.S.
in 2010
One quarter of the food we waste would provide
enough food for 43 million people to have three
meals a day
Every ton of food wasted results in 3.8 tons of green
house gas emissions
A typical chain restaurant in the U.S. wastes
about 25,000 to 75,000 pounds of food per year
More than 6 billion pounds of fresh produce go un-
harvested or unsold each year
The average diner leaves 17 percent of a meal un-
eaten and 55 percent of diners do not take home po-
tential leftovers.
Municipal solid food waste accounts for 30 percent
of the total wasted food energy
Source: www.endfoodwastenow.org

The WarriorOpinions
16

October 15, 2015

This Type of Conservatism Is Nativist Recalling the Grand Old Party

With the role of Speaker in limbo, the Republican
Party faces the loss of its old, center-right identity.

by Will Van Gelder 16

As this country slowly gears

up for the long 2016 Presidential
election, Republican voters have
a plethora of candidates to choose
from. There are too many governors, former governors and senators to count and the number of
candidates had ballooned to seventeen before Wisconsin governor Scott Walker and former Texas governor Rick Perry dropped
out. Surprisingly, business magnate Donald Trump, who is best
known for his real estate company and his television show,
The Apprentice, has gained an
incredible number of supporters
and has been leading in the polls
for nearly three months.
Trump uses fiery rhetoric
and over the top rallies to gain
support, and he is relying on the
idea that his business expertise
will translate over to running
the country. Trump is adamantly
anti-immigrant, and he claimed
in his now infamous campaign
announcement speech that many
of the Mexican immigrants that
have illegally crossed the border
are criminals and rapists. While
this blatant show of racism disgusted a wide number of people,
many of his supporters embrace
this logic and his idea that the
country must deport all 11 million undocumented immigrants
who have made their way to this
country.
The ideas Trump is spouting
sound eerily similar to many racist ideals of past eras. He seems
to believe that South and Central
Americans as a whole are an inferior race and that if they live in
the United States they need to be
thrown out immediately. A law
like this would, of course, not
work if actually put into place,

by Christopher Sung 17

www.wach.com

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has risen to the top

of the Republican Presidential pack by demonizing illegal immigrants.
but the fact that a candidate with
views this extreme and this racist is leading the polls shows a
lot about this country and how
a large percentage of Americans
see themselves as being somehow
exceptional.
Not only is this plan blatantly racist but it also isnt feasible.
A wall along the border would
cost billions of dollars, and the
American taxpayer would bear
the brunt of that cost. The deportation of 11 million immigrants
would also take years and years
and cost trillions of dollars and
require the hiring or reassigning
of millions of border patrol and
military members throughout the

nation who would become a sort

of Gestapo-like force.
This country was founded on
the concrete bedrock of democracy and freedom for all. It has
become known as a melting pot
of cultures and languages for centuries; however, if Donald Trump
is elected president and forcibly removes millions of people
who moved to this great nation
to attempt to gain better opportunities for themselves and their
families, we will be looked upon
with disgust and hatred throughout the world. Our European allies will no longer respect us and
our country will be seen in a very
negative light.

We believe in America,
but now the American public
doesnt believe in them. In the
latest fiasco that has plagued
the Republican Party, the unruly
House Freedom Caucusthe Tea
Party radicalshave somehow
managed to plunge the Republican Party back into turmoil, as a
series of selfless acts to unite the
embattled faction by both former
Speaker John Boehner and House
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy
have left the Republican Party
without a leader and source of
unity within the influential House
of Representatives.
Just how much longer will
we allow these radicals to destroy
the efforts of all moderate Republicans to champion the cause of
fiscal integrity?
It is an outrage that the
self-proclaimed House Freedom Caucus purports to advance
the cause of Conservatism by
sharp-shooting and eliminating
the moderate elements that give
the center-right party its ability to
have standing with the voters, the
American people who believe in a
country that works for the American people, not against it by formulating an inexcusable plot to
shut down the government.
This is not the Republican
Party that I learned about and
that, as many sensible Republicans will allude to, Ronald Reagan knew.
Reagan knew a party of unity and strength that championed
the middle class by promoting
free-market enterprise and conducting thoughtful foreign diplomacy with nations throughout

the entire world. Even on immigration, a controversial topic in

society today, Reagan championed a party that wanted to help
illegal immigrants and control our
borders rather than simply building a great wall, to deter them
from this countryas stated by
the pinup boy for radical-right extremism, Donald Trump.

For example, in 1986, Reagan
and his Republican colleagues
passed the Immigration Reform
and Control Act, which legalized
three million undocumented illegal immigrants. In addition, when
Reagan announced his presidential candidacy in 1979, Reagan
had proposed a North American
Accord in which commerce and
people would move freely across
the borders of Canada and Mexico. Although this idea was largely overlooked or dismissed as a
campaign gimmick in the United
States, Reagan was serious in his
proposal.
A dreamer and visionary,
what Reagan saw and hoped for
was not the dysfunctional Republican Party of today. Likewise,
Reagan did not envision the nation to become gridlocked by partisanshippartisanship caused
by radical members of Congress
of both the Republicans and Democrats.
In a true Conservative fashion, what I long for is a return to
the past: a time in politics that was
marked by understanding across
the aisle and a Republican Party filled with great minds rather
than impulsive reactionaries who
destroy the Republican Party in
the false belief that they are successors to Reagans conservative
principles.

To The Point
The Fees Cost Too Much

Saving Lives With Organs

Zero-Tolerance Is Unfair

by Meghan Proctor 16

by Kayla Cohen 17

by Jacob Golomb 16

By now, many seniors have applied to some colleges.

Some may have already finished the process. Whether
someone has applied to one college or 10, that student
likely had to pay an application fee, usually around $40 $50. This payment may not seem like much individually,
but they can add up to become a problem, especially for
students applying to many colleges.
College is expensive, and there is no way around that.
However, students should not be punished for wanting to
apply to many different schools. The application fees can
discourage some students from applying to colleges that
they would at least like a small chance to get accepted to,
even if those schools will likely reject them.
There is a long process between receiving a potential students application and making a final decision, and
those who review the hundreds of applications received
each year need to be paid. However, with the thousands
of dollars in tuition each enrolled student pays per year, it
should not be too difficult to find a way to pay them with
a reduced or eliminated application fee.

Many teens are in the process of getting their drivers

licenses, and they will be asked whether or not they would
like to be an organ or tissue donor. Most young people
likely have not given the issue much thought and might
say no to being a donor.
Each day, 79 people get an organ transplant, but 22
people die waiting for a transplant that cannot take place
because of the shortage of donor organs. Although there
is much grief that results from someone dying, if the deceased person is a donor, families can be consoled by
knowing that a piece of someone they love will prolong
another persons life. With many people being diagnosed
with life-threatening illnesses, donating organs will ensure
that at least one or more people will continue their life.
If one does not have a drivers license or wants to
change his or her status to be an organ donor, he or she
can sign up on the website www.organdonor.gov. It might
seem like a small thing, but becoming a donor is one of the
bigger decisions for students to think about while earning
their licenses.

A Texas teenager named Ahmed Mohamed made

headlines last month when, in an effort to impress his
teachers, he rebuilt a clock inside a pencil case. One of
Mohameds teachers, because she thought it looked like a
bomb (and maybe also because Mohamed is Muslim), sent
the student to the principal. Even though Mohamed had
explained that the device was a clock, the principal, pursuant to zero-tolerance policies, contacted the police who
arrested and booked him.
Although Mohameds unfortunate punishment was a
result of jumping to conclusions and possibly Islamophobia, the main culprit was the schools zero-tolerance policy. Zero-tolerance policies set strict, automatic punishments for breaking specific rules. The school decided that
its policies called for having him arrested for bringing in a
fake bomb even after it was clear that it was a clock.
Mohamed is a victim of policies eager to punish students on suspicion of rule-breaking. Instead of setting
these strict rules for automatic penalties, schools should
have incidents reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

The WarriorOpinions

17

October 15, 2015

The Pulse
R-rated Movies

What should be the main reason a

movie receives an R-rating?

How often do you watch

R-rated movies?

Language

Sexual Content

Violence

Other

Should movie ratings be enforced for

teenagers?
see
agers would
n
e
te
r
e
g
n
u
o
g
YES, y
ldnt be seein
u
o
sh
y
e
th
s
thing
-senior

NO, if it wasnt enforced

, teens
wouldnt be so tempted to
sneak in
-sophomore

NO, censorship does no

thing. Most teenagers are already exposed
to things that are
included in R-rated mov
ies
-junior
es encourage
vi
o
m
ed
at
-r
R
,
YES
n be harmful to
ca
at
th
r
io
av
beh
d happiness
their health an
-sophomore

t
ers have differen
YES, all teenag
tent
, and some con
maturity levels
es
ate for some ag
is not appropri
-senior

NO, parents shou

ld regulate what th
eir
kids can watch, no
t movie ratings
-junior

Have YOU ever snuck into

an R-rated movie?

Yes

No

38%

62%

How often do you think

OTHER teenagers sneak into
R-rated movies?

Often

50%

Sometimes

43%

Never

7%

*147 students surveyed

compiled by Ben Cooper 16

Sending Students from Middle School to Prison

by Ryan Deal 16

A sickening story emerging from a Minnesota forest last

year grabbed headlines across the
globe. Two twelve-year old girls,
in an attempt to impress Slender
Man, a fictional character created
on the website Creepypasta, led
their friend into the woods and
stabbed her 17 times in an attempt
to kill her. The two girls, who are
just now standing trial in an adult
court for attempted murder (the
victim miraculously survived),
are well within the age limit to be
tried in a juvenile court, so why

are they not?

Adolescence is a time when
one experiences loads of pressure
and anxiety, often making missteps, some worse than others.
However, regardless of whether
the action was disturbing (murder) or fairly mundane (underage
drinking), teenagers commonly
have believed that they cannot
experience a penalty equivalent
to that of an adults. This law
has been seemingly entrenched
in the justice system for years,
as evidenced by the presence of
a juvenile court. However, its a
law that is fading more and more

into irrelevance. According to the

International Journal of Forensic
Mental Health, roughly 250,000
youth are tried, sentenced or incarcerated as adults annually in
the United States.
The juvenile court system
exists to take severely troubled
minors and place them in rehabilitation institutions so that they
can eventually live functional
and law-abiding lives. By ignoring this process for minors and
thrusting them right into adult
court, the focus shifts from helping the minor sort through their
issues to punishing them for what

they have done. Punishment is for

adults who should know better,
not for minors who desperately
need specialized, professional
treatment.

According to a study published in the journal Law and
Human Behavior, youths aged
15 and younger performed more
poorly [in the study] than young
adults, with a greater proportion
manifesting a level of impairment consistent with those found
incompetent to stand trial. If an
underage minor is not even able
to match the intellect of an adult
who would not be able to stand

trial, then why does the adult

court let them?
The way in which the courts
handle cases involving minors
cannot be mutually exclusive,
they must go all-in on one side.
Either abolish the presence of juvenile courts and create a single
adult court system, thus making all crimes an adult crime, or
start abiding by the age limit set
so many decades ago and actually begin charging all minors
as minors. It is not up to a judge
to decide which juvenile crimes
should or should not be punished
severely.

18

The Warrior Wonders...

?
d
n

od

r
he

s
ti

ha

u
yo

or

fa

S
e
it

tr

Monograms because they

personalize everything. I
have so many monogrammed
things!
-Naomi Lawrence 17
ain

Joggers because theyre

comfortable
-Jada Satchell 18

Vineyard Vines because

Im trying to make it into
Cornell
-Gisele Martin 19

e
gin

m
ui

u
op

p
g
in

o
ec

ar

s
ar

in

e
y
5

ag

High-top Converse
because they go with
everything
-Lucy Lyons 17

Nike mid-calf socks. Who

doesnt love Nike?
-Wilson Vo 17

Rainbows because theyre

o
y
the most convenient shoes
an
c
I have
nd
Have you ever bought
e
-Nadia Sabry 17
r High-top converse becuase something just because
t
t
they will always be in style
ha
its popular?
W
-Moziah Andrews 16

Yes 54% No 46%

What is your least favorite trend?

Bathroom Parties 16%

Do you think a lot of Sherwood

Students follow trends?

Vineyard Vines 13%

Jack Rogers and Kelly Birch Sandals 7.2%

Yes 93%

Rainbow Flip Flops 6.3%

Tumbler Cups 5.4%
Scrunchies 5.4%

No 7%

Do you consider yourself

to be someone who follows
trends?

Shark Watches 5.4%

Nike Mid-calf Socks 4.5%

Lily Pulitzer Agenda Books 4.5%

Monograms 2.7%

49% 51%

Michael Kors Watches 1.8%

High-Top Converse Shoes 1.8%
Pearl Earrings .9%

Jump on the Bandwagon

If you could start any trend, what
would it be?
Spirit week because it brings competitiveness and
fun to an otherwise stressful school life
-Max James 17
Rainbow Loom Club because its awesome
-Ally Phillip 19
Jean shorts because theyre super comfy
-Wilson Vo 17
*110 students surveyed
compiled by Lexi Paidas 17

The WarriorEntertainment
October 15, 2015

19

Other Fall Shows

Blindspot (NBC)
Code Black (CBS)
The Player (NBC)
The Bastard
Executioner (FX)
Quantico
Supergirl

Minority Report
(FOX)

Scream Queens

Heroes Reborn
(NBC)
Dr. Ken (ABC)
Rosewood (FOX)
Truth Be Told
(NBC)
Limitless

Blood and Oil

Grandfathered

The Muppets (ABC)

Stamos and Peck Delight Viewers in Grandfathered

by Alleigh Keyes 16
A fifty-something year-old
who, as his character, Jimmy
Martino, says in the show, dyes
his hair and uses botox, but not
on his face is back on television.
John Stamos (Full House) has
made his long-awaited return to
primetime television.
Stamos co-stars alongside
Josh Peck (Drake and Josh) in
Grandfathered, the FOX com-

edy that premiered on September 29. In the show, a bachelor

discovers that he is a parent and
grandparent in the same conversation. Both of these actors
now play father figures as Peck
plays Gerald Kingsley, a young
dad who happens to be Martinos
newly discovered son. After years
without major projects, this show
has potential to be the comeback
for both Stamos and Peck. The
two actors may be swoon-worthy

as individuals, but together they

have the ability for a bona fide hit.
Last February, the pilot was
picked up by FOX, and based on
the start of this season, Grandfathered was well worth the wait.
By effectively combining humor
with the concepts of family versus socialite living, it lives up to
all of the publicity put into this
show. Notably, the family scenes
are adorable and heartwarming
qualities that are often hard to

find in todays world of tasteless

reality shows and vulgar crime
shows.
Full House and Drake &
Josh fans, prepare to fall in love.
Certainly, Stamos and Peck are
much older and play different
characters from their respective
roles that initially made them famous. However, it is refreshing
to see Stamos and Peck with new
personas, conveying their versatility as actors. Although Peck has

acquired a notable following on

social media, including 8.8 million followers on Vine, Grandfathered proves that he is more
than a child-star turned Vine star.
This dynamic duo combines
on-screen bromance with comedic appeal. If you happen to love
these particular actors or a good
comedy, look no further. Grandfathered has arrived in a big way,
and Peck and Stamos are here to
stay.

Thrills and Chills Abound in Chopra Shines in Suspenful FBI Drama

better get to know one another de- At times, the flashbacks to
Impressive Scream Queens by Ketki Chauhan 16
spite a traumatic start to the train- the training academy has it come
by Lauren MacFadden 17

The series Scream Queens

made its debut on Fox September 21 and is already becoming
this years pop-culture phenomenon. The new hit show is a mix of
comedy and horror all in one; it
takes place on a college campus
and follows a group of sorority
girls who are targeted by a mysterious killer wearing a red devil costume. Much of the shows
buzz has to do with the star-filled
cast including Nick Jonas, Ariana
Grande, Emma Roberts, Keke
Palmer, Jaime Lee Curtis, Lea
Michele and Abigail Breslin.
Roberts has come far from
her roots as the Nickelodeon star
she once was as a teenager in
the show Un-fabulous where
she played an awkward tween
suffering through puberty and
high school. Now, in Scream
Queens, Roberts is the leading
actress in the series and plays
Chanel Oberlin, a chic and egotistical sorority leader who makes
borderline offensive jokes about
race and sexual orientation.
Much of Scream Queens
makes fun of twenty-first-century
social media. Grandes character,
Chanel number two, is the first
victim as shown in the commer-

cials leading up to the premiere.

While being murdered, Grande
communicates with the killer
via text instead of screaming for
help. Like most shows in this decade, Scream Queens has many
pop-culture references made so
the young audience members can
relate. However, some younger audiences may not be able to
grasp the sarcasm that goes along
with the somewhat offensive
jokes.
The first and second episodes
are full of satire and suspense
with the murderer claiming three
victims in gory, blood-filled ways.
One is a decapitation by a lawnmower. Although gruesome, it is
not surprising that Ryan Murphy,
the creator of Glee, and American Horror Story, is one of the
creators of the Scream Queens.
The satirical humor that appears
throughout the first episode is
similar to Glee, an extra bonus
for fans of that other pop-culture
phenomenon from a few years
back.
With four characters already
murdered or missing, the audience members are left trying to
decide who is trustworthy and
who is a suspect. It is evident that
Scream Queens will deservedly
be the new it show this fall.

Liam OConnor (Josh Hopkins), an FBI agent demoted to

work as an instructor at the academy, does not lie when he tells
his newest FBI recruits to trust
their gut as opposed to just blindly following orders. In just the
second episode of ABCs newest
television series Quantico, the
characters on the show and the
viewers alike are told by OConnor to be wary of who they trust
and what they believe.
Quantico provides some
fresh air from the new dramas
and crime-packed action series
out today. The new series focuses on a set of FBI recruits at a
training academy in Quantico,
Virginia. Simultaneously, however, the producers continue with
the shows second major plot: the
nation has just been attacked and
Alex Parrish (Priyanka Chopra),
who has been a recruit for just a
few months, is the prime suspect.
The FBI agents are convinced
one of the trainees is the mastermind for the terror and whoever
he/she may be has had this attack
planned for months, maybe even
years.
Each episode consists of a
task the trainees are expected to
complete. In the meantime, the
trainees use these experiences to

ing with the death of one of their

own. Every episode discloses another piece to the puzzle of who is
behind the terror attack and also
reveals a new piece of information about one of the recruits.
As the viewers, we begin to
trust each of the seven main recruits even as we are exposed to
their dark secrets. However, as
time goes on, the mask each of
them wears to protect their past
wears off, leaving us to suspect
them of being the mastermind
of the attack, assuming Parrish
is honest and was truly drugged
before being found helpless at the
scene of the attack.
Whether or not Parrish is successful in her search for the real
culprit is reason in itself to watch
the series. She is likable from the
start with her calculative mind
that impresses both OConnor
and fellow mentor Miranda Shaw
(Aunjanue Ellis) and her friendly but snappy nature that easily
warms the heart of her fellow recruits. Chopra does a spectacular
job in her American television debut. Previously, she has starred in
major Bollywood films, the Hindi
film industry centralized in India,
and is considered one of the most
versatile Bollywood actresses of
her generation.

across as a high school drama.

With a love triangle and characters like Nathalie Velasquez
(Anabelle Acosta), who appears
to exist solely to be the foil to Parrish, the show becomes slightly
immature. This is more obvious
when compared to the flash-forward scenes where every minute
counts; Parrish is on the run from
the FBI and with OConnor releasing her name to all news stations, she has limited time to find
the answers she (and the viewers)
have for all of their questions.
The series is captivating and
keeps ones interest from the time
it begins until the final credits.
It premiered September 27
and has had two mind-boggling
episodes following it. As the format is similar to another ABC
show (How To Get Away With
Murder), it is possible for the
show to conjoin the two plots as
the viewers get closer and closer
to the day the attack happened.
Till then, Quantico is certainly
one of ABCs stronger and more
interesting shows as the viewer
experiences being a recruit and
solving the same cases as the
characters on screen. Behind a
strong leading woman and a captivating plot, Quantico may just
have what it takes to succeed.

The WarriorEntertainment
20

October 15, 2015

Shows N Shindigs

Movies

Concerts

Brooklyn - November 4
The Peanuts Movie - November 6

9:30 club
Tove Lo - October 19
Garbage - October 28
Cold War Kids - October 25

Spectre - November 6
By the Sea - November 13
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2
- November 20

Fillmore
Aer - October 23

Creed - November 25

Cypress Hill - October 29

The Good Dinosaur - November 25

TIMEFLIES - November
12

graphic by Ryan Deal 16 and Tate Harrop 17

Silverbook Invites Musicians To Inspire Students

by Jacob Golomb 16
As all music students at Sherwood know, Alex Silverbook is a
dedicated and very talented band
teacher. One of the ways he shows
his love for music education is by
inviting well-known musicians to
Sherwood to perform and work
with students.
The workshops that these
guests do include working on musical pieces with students, sharing
what influenced him or her to
become a musician, and talking
about the life of a professional
musician. For example, when Tia
Fuller, a well-known saxophonist, came to Sherwood a few years
ago, she spoke to students about
her experiences being on tour
with Beyonc.
According to Silverbook, it
is rare for high schools to get so
many well-known musicians to
conduct clinics for the students.
Silverbook happens to be friendly
with many of these musicians so
he simply invites them to Sherwood. For other well-known musicians, he checks if they are touring in the D.C. area and contacts
their managers to see if they are
interested.
These connections are a result of Silverbooks lifelong interest in jazz. As a teenager, he
gained exposure to many of the
great jazz musicians of the time

courtesy of Alex Silverbook

Saxophonist Jeff Coffin and drummer Futureman put on an impressive

performance as a part of teacher Alex Silverbooks music workshops.
by going to jazz clubs and con- Sherwood alum Allison Miller.
certs in Philadelphia.
Last year, three-time Grammy
It is important that students Award winning saxophonist Jeff
are exposed to the masters so they Coffin and renowned Bela Fleck
can learn from them and contin- and the Flecktones drummer Fuue the music through their own tureman played for the music
experiences, Silverbook said. I students and discussed everything
take a lot of pride in exposing stu- from jazz music to the importance
dents to musicians. I learn things of music in our lives.
too, not just them.
Jeff Coffin and Futureman
Silverbook tries to get two or took their years of experience and
three musicians in a year to work translated it to a very enjoyable
with the students. Most of the workshop, said senior drummer
time, music students, some par- Tyler Golsen. Futureman taught
ents and interested teachers can me how to have fun on the drums
attend these workshops.
again.
The musicians Silverbook
I dont expect everybody I
has gotten to attend range from teach will become professional
Grammy-Award winners Nich- musicians, but they will go away
olas Payton and David Sanchez with greater inspiration from muto celebrated jazz drummer and sic, said Silverbook.

The WarriorEntertainment
October 15, 2015

21

Taylor Swifts Superstardom Reaching Historic Levels

by Amanda Allen 17

Global superstar Taylor Swift

is one of the most well-known
singer/songwriters in the world.
With her newest album, 1989,
she is reaching levels that have
rarely been seen before. 1989
became the ninth album to spend
at least 24 weeks in the Billboard 200, along with albums
by artists like Michael Jackson
and the Backstreet Boys. Swifts
third album, Speak Now, is the
only album to have all its songs
on the Hot 100. She will appear
in the Guinness Book of World
Records for having the most million-selling weeks on the U.S.
album charts. Her past three studio albums, which she wrote herself, sold over a million copies in
the first week of being released.
1989 was released almost one
year ago and is still at the top of
the charts. The seven-time Grammy winner deservedly has been
named Biggest Pop Star in the
World by a cover story in New
York Magazine.
Swift has made a full transition from country to pop with
1989. The album is named after
the year she was born and is influenced by late 80s pop. Unlike
other pop singers and songs, she
continues to write meaningful lyrics that reflect her personal experiences through relatable stories.
When asked about songwriting,
Swift explained, When I write
songs, Im not thinking about millions of people. Songs are my diaries; they always have been. You
have to put your trust in everyone

because putting down those real,

personal details and thoughts that
make a song authentic also opens
you up. Honesty is a big part of
my songwriting.
Swift brings these personal
stories alive in her sold-out 1989
World Tour. Swift does more
than most artists including designing tours, choreography, and
costumes. This show is known
for having a new surprise guest
each night ranging from her celebrity friends such as Selena
Gomez and Ed Sheeran to other
hitmakers like Justin Timberlake
and The Weeknd. Other celebrities such as Ellen DeGeneres,
The U.S. Womens Soccer Team
and Kobe Bryant also have made
appearances. On the first night
of many Los Angeles concerts,
Bryant presented Swift with a
permanent banner in the Staples
Center for achieving the most
sold-out shows in that arena. The
set list includes all songs from
her newest album, and some of
her old hits accompanied by various instruments played by Swift.
Never one to do things halfway,
Swift has made this a pop show
or rather the pop show, as far
as 2015 is concerned, according
to Rolling Stone Magazine.
Perhaps most importantly,
Swift is a great role model to fans,
unlike many artists of the generation such as Miley Cyrus and
Justin Bieber. Swift manages to
stay down to earth, even with the
success. She is known to respond
to fans directly on social media,
which explains why she has the
most followers on Instagram. She

billboard.com

has free meet-and-greets before

and after her shows with fans
that are chosen directly from her
social media accounts, or from
who her mom finds during the
show. Fans have also received
Christmas and Valentines Day
gifts from this pop star. Before
1989 was released, she held
1989 Secret Sessions, where
Swift personally previewed her
fifth studio album for 89 fans in
each of her five houses. Swifts
fan base continues to grow along
with her success. Currently, her
only competition is herself, as she
is the most popular pop artist of
this generation.

Awards

American Country Music Awards: 8

American Music Awards: 16

Billboard Mid-Year Music Awards: 6

Country Music Association Awards: 11

CMT Artists of the Year Awards: 4

CMT Music Awards: 6

Grammy Awards: 7

Songwriters Hall Of Fame: 2

MTV Video Music Awards: 6

Nashville Music Awards: 3

Guinness World Records: 6

Peoples Choice Awards: 8

Teen Choice Awards: 25

The Martian Blasts Off to Otherworldly Success

by Megan Werden 17

In the action and sci-fi movie The Martian, Matt Damon
plays Mark Watney, a determined
astronaut who is presumed dead
after a storm hits Mars while he
and his fellow crew are on a mission there. Some debris hits Watney during the storm, and he suffers a gruesome injury. The rest of
crew escapes from the planet and
leaves him behind.

Turns out that Watney is alive
and now has to figure out how to
live on Mars by himself, without
contact with NASA. He learns
how to grow potatoes using his
crews stored waste, and rations
his food day by day to keep him
alive as long as possible. He also
searches the surroundings of his
new home on Mars, and he finds
some very surprising but helpful
technologies that will help him
survive. Using advanced technology, NASA discovers that he
is still on Mars and spends more
than 500 days to find a way to
bring him back home.
The crew, Melissa Lewis
(Jessica Chastain), Rick Martinez
(Michael Pea), Beth Johanssen
(Kate Mara), Chris Beck (Sebastian Stan), and Alex Vogel (Aksel
Hennie), does not know that Wat-

indiewire.com

Mark Watney (Matt Damon) looks on in hopelessness as he discovers that he has been left behind on Mars.
He must suvive alone on the planet for over a year after he was left behind by his crew following a storm.
ney is alive until two months after
NASA first figures out he is still
on Mars. They are at first furious
with NASA, but then they regret
leaving their fellow crew mate
behind. Lewis is especially distraught because she is the commander who ordered her crew

to leave him behind. Once they

find out he is alive and are able to
communicate with him, they are
determined to do anything they
can to help him return home, even
if it means risking their lives. The
movie, directed by Andy Weir
and based on a sci-fi novel with

the same title, soars thanks to its

realistic special effects and an
outstanding performance by Damon.
The special effects make the
movie very realistic, creating an
entire world for Watney on Mars.
Since this movie is sci-fi, the fact

that the special effects are real-looking make the movie stand
out in its genre. Damon had to
go through vigorous training for
the film. This is very evident as
he does many of his own stunts
throughout The Martian, including when he is shaken around
quite a bit in a space-simulated
scene. As Watney is living on
Mars, he has to travel throughout the planet to find different
resources. At one point while
Watney is searching the planet
for resources, a fiery explosion
throws him back. Such scenes are
gripping to watch and utterly believable looking.
The dramatic visuals are
complemented by Damons fantastic acting. He portrays Watney
as brilliantly smart (as one would
expect of a NASA astronaut)
but also smart-mouthed. Damon
adds a lot of comic relief to tense
scenes, as his character is able to
find the humor in the most trying
of circumstances.

The balance of suspense and
comedic levity separates The
Martian from other films about
a lone survivor trying to make
it out alive. Its not too often
that a film successfully provides
much-needed laughs during dire
circumstances.

The WarriorSports
22

October 15, 2015

Girls Cross Country Racing Towards Regional Meet

by Madison Dymond 16
The girls cross country team
placed 12 out of 32 teams at an
October 10 invitational meet
in New York. Seniors Amanda
Hayes-Puttfarcken and Maddie
Peloff came in first and second
place, both receiving medals.
Freshman Alexa Donaldson came
in sixth place and received a medal as well.
Coming into this season, the
team knew that they had the potential to be one of the strongest
groups of runners in the county.
So far, so good. The team also
had an impressive performance
at the DCXC Invite three weeks
ago, with several girls reaching
personal records and a few receiving medals. Hayes-Puttfarcken came in eighth place with a
time of 19:32.

Earlier in the season, the team
beat Northwest on September 29
during their second divisional
meet. The girls also performed
well during their first divisional
meet which took place on September 15, beating Northwest and
Poolesville but losing to Wootton.
The meet took place at Sherwood
and was the first home meet of the
season. The results of the second
meet will go towards the teams
overall scores and ranking. At the
September 29 meet, Sherwood
won with a time of 21:08, run by
Hayes-Puttfarcken, followed by
Northwest runner Sofia Zarate in
second, with a time of 21:57. Peloff came in third with a time of
22:04.
I am very optimistic about
the season, said Hayes-Puttfarcken, one of the teams three
captains. The teams looking

pretty good, and I believe we have

a chance at winning Regionals.
Senior Jacqueline Noland
agrees with that assessment. Its
going pretty well. The girls are
doing well and were all coming
together, and our training over the
summer is starting to really pay
off, she said.
The top runners are generally the same as last year, seeing as
the team did not lose any seniors
to graduation. Hayes-Puttfarcken and Peloff remain the teams
two strongest runners, but there
is definitely some new freshmen
talent as well.
The freshmen are looking
pretty good this year overall.
Alexa Donaldson is improving
greatly, said Hayes-Puttfarcken.
Donaldsons performance at the
October 10 meet backs this up.
Unfortunately, two of the new

top freshmen runners, Megan

Kendall and Charlotte Haughton,
are injured. These runners ran in
the most recent race, but havent
been able to train recently due
to their injuries. Because of this,
they struggled to reach their full
potential after missing out on
practice.
The top seven girls run each
meet. There is no official list of
top runners, as Coach Dan Reeks
changes his rotation every meet
based on each runners performance. There are also no official
rankings at the moment. The second half of the season always sees
great improvement as the runners
increase their training base.
The entire season leads up to
the Countys meet, which will be
held on Saturday October 24, and
Regionals that will take place two
weeks after that. The team gen-

erally is keeping the same training techniques it has always had,

which involves emphasis on even
pace-running, but there is one aspect the runners are doing differently this year. Instead of grouping by gender, were grouping
solely by times run in races, said
Hayes-Puttfarcken. Some of this
years girls are as fast as some of
the boys, so they are now practicing together. This will allow for
the runners to be able to practice
in a way that best fits their talents
as opposed to being grouped by
gender.
The team has overcome
many obstacles so far this year including various injuries, and the
girls have still managed to have
an extremely impressive start to
the season. If this is any indicator
of how well their season will go,
things are looking pretty positive.

Gazettes Closure Leaves

Hole in Sports Coverage
by Ryan Deal 16

Maya Koeppen 17

Junior Megan Wilson jumps up for a defensive block in a tough set while senior Christina Toven covers her.

Varsity Girls Volleyball Quickly Picks

Up Where They Left Off Last Season
by Sammie Spillman 16
Last season, the girls volleyball team made it to Ritchie
Coliseum for the 4A state semi-finals where they were defeated in
three sets by Severna Park. The
2014 playoff run was the latest
for a volleyball program that won
three state championships from
2011-2013. In the wake of all that
success, there were predictions
this year that the Sherwood girls
volleyball program was in decline
and for the first time in years, the
Washington Post did not rank
Sherwood among the top 10
teams in the area. The 2015 team
entered the season with something to prove.
The Warriors began the season by winning three consecutive
non-conference games against
Springbrook (25-10, 25-9, 25-5),
Paint Branch (25-6, 25-18, 2521), and Gaithersburg (25-11, 2520, 23-25, 26-24). After the stern
test against the Trojans, the Warriors opened conference play with

a 26-16, 25-20, 25-19 straight-set

win over Whitman.

The season has been going
great. We have a lot of chemistry
this year that allows us to communicate better on the court, said
junior Megan Wilson. I think
the thing that really sets us apart
from other teams is the fact that
we adapt to each team we play. If
[junior] Kaiya [Heyliger-Powell]
needs to block on the right side,
we are able to make the switch
fast and efficiently, making us an
all-around deceptive team. We are
aggressive offensively and defensively and our mental toughness
also contributes to our success in
difficult situations.
A true test for Sherwood
came when playing Churchill on
September 24, where they were
pushed to their limits before losing in three sets, 25-13, 25-19,
and 25-13. Following this upset,
the girls came back and pushed
through to win four consecutive
games against Walter Johnson
(25-12, 25-18, 25-22), Blair (25-

12, 25-20, 25-17) Northwood

(25-14, 25-19, 25-8), and BCC on
October 10, 25-20, 25-15, and 2517. The 9-1 Warriors have won in
three straight sets in eight of their
nine victories.
Even with this success, the
Warriors are still looking to build
on their skills and make another
trip to Richie Stadium. Were
half way through the season now
and we are still looking to improve, said Coach Ben Sanger.
We continue to get better and
hoping to get healthy for the real
tough part of our schedule.
This past Tuesday, the girls
faced Northwest, a huge competitor and rival, which tested
the team and their ability to face
tough opponents as the season
comes close to an end, and playoffs start up. This is a huge game
for us so we are really working
hard on executing our game plan
and playing as a team, said senior Alex Greenbaum. Every
day we go into practice with the
goal to get better and work hard.

For nearly 60 years, The Gazette, the notable Montgomery

County-specialized publication,
has covered high school sports
with a watchful eye, hiring beat
reporters and columnists to cover games of all sports over the
course of a season. With All-Gazette honors and in-depth articles,
The Gazette provided a venue for
the student athletes to be recognized at the next level. However,
that venue, which had been available for so long was slammed
shut this summer as The Gazette
ceased publication.
The Gazettes final issue ran
in June, thus signaling the end
of the papers presence in Montgomery County. The financial
constraints suffocated the publication in recent years, making it
harder and harder for the publication to continually distribute news
in a cost effective way. One of
the consequences of the ceasing
publication is that the extensive
coverage of high school sports by
local reporters is all but removed,
dimming the spotlight on some of
the countys finest athletes.
I was heartbroken when I
found out [about the cessation],
said the girls lacrosse Coach
Kelly Hughes, We knew the
reporters by name. I was able to
check the local scores that mattered to me. They ran special interest pieces about any athlete, no
matter how their team was doing
that season. I really feel for the
athletes who deserve to be recognized.
Disappointment was a shared
trait among all coaches residents
in Montgomery County. With a
large portion of local sports coverage now going into the hands of
Washington Post reporters, many
coaches who do not lead major,
private-school programs fear that
their team performance may get
lost in the shuffle.

It is very difficult for the

Washington Post to cover so
many MCPS athletic teams and
thus many student athletes and
teams lose the recognition they
deserve, said girls soccer Coach
Danielle Rosanova. Typically,
only the powerhouse programs
receive coverage from the Post
and that leaves out the majority of
schools and players who are performing well, but may not grab
headlines. Such an occurrence
may become a very real situation
for many of the countys top programs, because now they must
compete with players all around
the state for recognition, not just
players from their own county.
Recognition is certainly
something that student-athletes
worry about as they may look
to make a name for themselves
on the field as they graduate and
head to the next level of their careers. For such athletes, the loss
of The Gazette is a massive blow.
However, other resources have
emerged in the past years that may
give such athletes some much
needed exposure. Hudl, an online
video-editing website, has been
launched into the mainstream in
recent years, allowing athletes to
sort through game film uploaded
by coaches and make highlight
tapes from their best plays. The
site has become so popular to
the extent that a high school student may find it difficult to scroll
down their Twitter feed on a given day and not find some sort of
link to a fellow students tape.
Often times, such tapes will catch
the attention of college coaches,
where, as athletes know, opportunities can begin pouring in.
The closing of The Gazette
not only ends an era, but creates a
void in the recruiting game. Tactics used to get recognition will
surely change in the future, but
no longer will a player be able to
put All-Gazette team on their
resume.

The WarriorSports
October 15, 2015

23

Girls Soccer Starts

Season Out Strong
by Elizabeth Kronlage 18
The girls varsity soccer team
stormed out of the gates this season, going undefeated in the first
seven games and outscoring their
opponents by a combined 45
goals to six.
The balanced offense is led
by seniors Ariella Amaguana
(midfielder), and Ashley Webb
and Captain Danielle Rhorman
(forwards). Amaguana leads
the county in number of assists,
while Rhorman and Webb are in
the top five in the county for most
goals scored. Senior Delaney
McMenamin leads the teams
concrete defense from the center
back position.
While facing often inferior
competition thus far throughout
the season, the Warriors have exhibited exceptional communication, positioning and speed on the
field. The team recently defeated
Rockville on October 6 by an astonishing 8-0, and the game clearly demonstrated their ability to
possess the ball, score goals and
outplay their opponents overall.
The season became significantly more challenging beginning this past Tuesday night
against Magruder in the division
championship game. Both teams
entered the match undefeated and
with multiple players who will
play at the collegiate level in the
future.
The Warriors remaining four
regular season games include
Northwest on October 15, Blair
on October 20, Bethesda-Chevy

Chase on October 22 and Churchill on October 26. The Warriors

toughest competition is likely
going to be Churchill and BCC.
Churchill, one of the strongest
teams in the county, has beaten
two opponents by double-digits,
while BCC has won three consecutive 4A state championships
from 2009-2011. As the Warriors
head into the playoffs, the team
should have a good sense of just
how well they stack up against
the other good teams in the state.
Rohrman is looking forward
to the tough games ahead on the
schedule. I trust my team and
I feel we have a lot of chemistry since most of us have been
playing with each other for 3-4
years, she said. I believe we can
go far this year and Im looking
forward to playing more difficult
teams. We have to keep coming
out aggressively and continue to
possess the ball.
The Warriors are brimming
with confidence as they look to
rely on the understanding on the
field that they have developed
from playing together. The team
includes 14 seniors, and such
veteran experience often can be
the difference-maker come playoff time when two evenly match
teams are battling each other.
For the upcoming games, it
is important that we stay strong
the whole game and not give up
any goals, especially in playoffs
when the games will be more difficult, and one goal could decide
if we go home or continue on the
road to the final, said Rohrman.

Chase Wilson 17

Senior Alan Kristall, an integral offensive player, wins a header during a tough match against Watkins Mill.

Boys Soccer Struggles To Find Consistency

by Noah Rosendorf 17
Boys varsity soccers record so far reflects a
season full of many ups and downs. The team stood
at 3-4-1, after losing to Rockville 1-0 on October
6. Although the Warriors have beat conference foes
Blake, Paint Branch and Springbrook, they have
also suffered losses such as a 4-1 defeat to Watkins
Mill in conference play on September 30 and a 3-1
defeat against non-conference foe Northwest in the
first game of the season.
The team has had good communication
throughout the games, which has led to meaningful
possession. However, the possession often has not
resulted in goals. A struggle in a number of games
has been the Warriors inability to play quality balls
to strikers, such as senior Chris Homon and junior
Cheriff Dicko, to create quality chances on goal.
The Warriors had a chance of winning the 4A
North division, but the recent losses to Watkins Mill
and Rockville took them out of the hunt. We can
only focus on winning one game at a time, said
Coach Matt Parsons. We need to stick with what
we have been successful doing all season and con-

tinue on making it better. We need to create more

high-quality opportunities and finish those chances.
Our strikers need to stay wide, and we need to work
on our defensive shape. We also can not give up big
gaps in the fieldthat is what will win us games.
After a crucial game yesterday against arch-rival Magruder, the Warriors need to continue building a positive outlook as they finish the regular season against quality opponents, including a game at
Blair on October 20 and a home game against B-CC
on October 22.
In order to succeed as a team we need to work
as a unit more. A lot of the forwards have had low
confidence so its vital to remain positive and continue to work hard. We need to send the ball to our
strikers more by waiting for the perfect ball to send
them, said senior left forward Alan Kristall.
Parsons is emphasizing patience and hard work
as the foundations for consistently strong performances. We have to be patient as a team. You do
not improve the way you play dramatically everyday. By working hard everyday in training, we will
get a little bit better each day, and that is how we
will become successful, said Parsons.

Senior Lea Owens Steps Up Her Game on the Court

by Kayla Cohen 17

Kayla Cohen 17

Senior Lea Owens serves the ball during the opening set of the match against Wootton on September 26.

The number one girls singles

player, senior Lea Owens, will
compete on the tennis team with
a full scholarship at the University of Richmond starting next fall.
Her full ride is the most recent
milestone in her tennis career,
which began when Owens was
only four years old.
Her freshmen year, she started playing at the Junior Tennis
Championship Center (JTCC) at
University of Maryland, which is
a regional training center where
people from all over the county
come to train. The facility offers
full-time and part-time training.
When the high school tennis season ends this fall, Owens will be
practicing at the JTCC five days a
week, for three hours each day.
Growing up, Owenss older
sister inspired her to play tennis.
She was always better than me,
and I wanted to be as good as
her, said Owens. Playing at the
number one singles spot, Owens
has become an outstanding player. What I love most about tennis
is the intensity of the one-on-one
competition, she said.
During the winter, Owens
practices for about three hours
a day, and in the summer she

practices for about five hours a

day. Her practices consist of both
playing tennis and doing fitness.
The intense training should help
tremendously as she prepares to
play tennis at the college level.

I decided to go to UR because it has really good academics and its small so you can get
a lot of attention. Also, it [is] really pretty and not too far from
home, Owens said. In addition
to Richmonds small park-like
campus, Owens was attracted to
the tennis teams fun attitude.
Girls tennis coach Tom
Maley watched Owens become
a stronger player over her four
years of high school tennis. Our
current roster features many quality young women with very good
tennis skills. However, Owens is
truly one of the two very best female tennis players in our county
and even throughout the entire
state of Maryland, he said. When
Owens first started high school,
her national ranking for her grade
was about 600. Now, she is in the
top 100 for Class of 2016.
Next year, the tennis team
will be different without Owens,
and she will be missed. But her
amazing tennis playing will serve
her well throughout her time in
college and in the future.

The WarriorSports

24

October 15, 2015

Shawn
Bliss

QUarterback

Marcus Travis
Levy
Simms
Running Back
Wide Receiver
Offensive Lineman
Charlie
siarkas

FOotball Eyes revenge

against Paint branch
by John Sutherland 16
Ever since the Warriors lost a crushing
defeat to Paint Branch
26-22 that ended their
playoff chances last
year, the team has
been craving a chance
for a rematch. On October 23, they will finally get their chance
to redeem themselves
and they cannot wait
for the opportunity.
We have to prove
a point this year, said
senior OL Charlie Siarkas. And fight to show
our best potential.
The 5-0 team has
plenty of reasons to
be optimistic about

their chances against

currently undefeated
Paint Branch. The offense has been on fire,
averaging 41.2 points
per game. Between junior RB Travis Levys
863 rushing yards
and senior WR Marcus Simms 584 receiving yards through five
games, the offense has
been nearly impossible
to stop. On top of that,
the team upset 13th
ranked Northwest 1613, which will give
them even more confidence going into the
Paint Branch game.
The defense was very
impressive in the game
limiting a Northwest

offense that was averaging 33.5 points per

game before the game,
to just 13 points. The
Warriors most recently heavily pounded
Northwood 56-6. They
have blown out teams
throughout the year.
Since RB Travis
Levy dominated the
game last year with 194
yards and three touchdowns, expect the team
to have a big emphasis
on the run game. The
passing game seriously struggled against
Paint Branchs defense
last year but with a
new quarterback, senior Shawn Bliss, the
team hopes this year

will be different. In order for the team to win,

Simms must have a
better game as he only
had three receptions
for nine yards last
year.
Similar to Sherwood, Paint Branch
has a very high-powered offense that is led
by a new quarterback,
senior Armani Ceballos, and has a star duo
in WR JD Guerrero
and RB Cedric Content. Sherwoods defense may face their
toughest test yet when
they go up against
Paint Branchs offense.
We plan on stopping the run, said se-

nior DL Rafiq Antoine.

Then well be able to
more easily cover in
the pass game.
If Sherwood wins
this game, they will
most likely go undefeated as they face much
weaker opponents the
rest of the schedule.
There is plenty of optimism about how far
this team could go.
As this is the Homecoming game, the student section should be
electric and will continue to prove that Sherwoods Caruso Memorial Field offers one of
the best atmospheres
for high school football
in the county.