Did Social Media Rig the Presidential Election?

by Alex Nnabue ‘18 Harambe, the gorilla who was shot by a zoo ofcial, earned over 11,000 of the popular vote for U.S. president. Denzel Washington and the Pope endorsed Donald Trump. The top result on a Google search for “ national election count” declared that Trump led in the popular vote. There is only one problem with these stories: … Read More

New Digital Citizenship Program Launched

by Danielle Tobb ‘17 MCPS announced on October 19 that all middle schools in the county have of cially started to incorporate digital citizenship edu- cation into the curriculum, which provides the guidelines for using responsible behavior when using technology. By 2018, MCPS plans to expand the program to students in all grade levels. With the increasing use of technology … Read More

MCPS Struggles with Overcrowding

by Jonathan Chang ‘17 This school year, MCPS has enrolled a record number of more than 159,000 students, which lines up with the county’s forecast. However, fears remain regarding schools’ capacities to house the growing number of students coming into the county. MCPS has been struggling to handle school overcrowding as projections from the 2016 MCPS Student Enrollment and Facilities … Read More

Start Time Debate Settled

by Mallory Carlson ’19 After much deliberation, the Montgomery County School Board came to a nal decision regarding the executive order issued by Gov- ernor Hogan in August: MCPS will comply with the order and school will start after Labor Day in 2017. The board reached this decision on Tuesday, November 15, at a meeting. It had at one point … Read More

Impact of Trump Presidency On Public Education Unclear

by Josh Averbach ‘18 As president-elect, some of Donald Trump’s most attention-grabbing ideas have included his hardline immigration and trade policies. What have gathered less attention, however, are his education policies. Indeed, Trump could change American education in several significant ways. It should be noted that any predictions about Trump’s policy will be highly speculative, given the often vague nature … Read More

Brookeville Home’s ‘Winter Wonderland’ Closes to Public

by Amanda Allen ‘17 During the holidays many people look to visit places that offer extravagant displays to help get into the Christmas spirit. In recent years, one of these popular local displays has been a house in Brookeville. Beginning each October, Chrysa Thear and her team of landscapers and friends would decorate her “Winter Wonder- land.” The display includes … Read More

Teachers Alarmed by Students Walking Around the Hallways after the Late Bell

by Isabella Pilot ‘18 During the first quarter, various staff members expressed frustration over the number of students wandering the hallways during class. “It was brought to my attention that there’s an issue in the hallways, particularly the amount of students in the hallway during class, not only at the beginning or end, but also in the middle when there … Read More

As Students Protested, MCPS Struggled To Balance Rights and Safety

by Jonathan Chang ‘17 Students in MCPS, angered by the results of a contentious presidential election, protest- ed and engaged in walkouts in mid-November. MCPS Superintendent Jack Smith initially framed students’ rights to assemble and speak, but after a student was assaulted at a protest at Richard Montgomery on November 16, Smith reversed his statement and asked students to not … Read More

Heroin Overdoses Affect Montgomery County Residents

by Leah Peloff ‘18 For decades, heroin was pre- dominantly found on the streets of urban, poor neighborhoods all around the country. Recent- ly, however, this deadly drug has spread to a wide variety of people from all different walks of life. Montgomery County has unfortunately been hit hard with this epidemic, leading to a total of 33 tragic deaths … Read More

Marijuana

Compiled by Naomi Lawrence ‘17 Today’s teens are grow- ing up in a potentially trans- formative time in regard to changing attitudes toward drugs, particularly marijua- na. This new landscape of drug legalization towards the use of drugs has sent mixed messages to teenag- ers across the nation who are warned or taught about the danger of marijuana being a … Read More