silverchips A public forum for student expression since 1937 Montgomery Blair High School, MD
June 15, 2026
subscribe online bit.ly/subscribechips VOL. 89 NO. 4
SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND
An icy tale comes to Blair
County council adopts $3.7B budget By ASHER LIPCZENKO At a contentious meeting on June 4, 2026, the Montgomery County Public Schools Board of Education (BOE) voted to formally adopt a $3.72 billion operating budget for the 2026–2027 fiscal year. The MCPS fiscal year begins on July 1, and the process of drafting the next year’s budget begins soon afterward. Usually, the Superintendent, Chief of Finance, and Chief of Staff provide the BOE with recommendations based on data from the previous year. This year, however, Superintendent Thomas Taylor opted to provide recommendations using a “zero-based budget,” wherein the previous year’s spending is assumed to be zero. “A zero-based budget looks something like this,” explained Blair principal Damon Monteleone, who formerly worked on budgeting in Central Office. “What’s a must-have? What’s a should-have? And then what’s a would-like-to-have? ” The budget the County Council adopted included a $36 million cut to MCPS funding. “After receiving disappointing news last month about our funding level from the County Council, we have been working to refine our budget recommendations to the Board of Education to make the most of the funding that we actually did receive,” Taylor wrote in a letter sent to MCPS staff on June 2. Once the County Council decides the budget, it is up to the BOE to determine funding
insidechips News.......................................... A2 Opinions.................................... B1 Culture....................................... C1 Features..................................... D1 La Esquina Latina................... E1 Sports ....................................... F1
allocation. Taylor recommended cutting 435 fulltime positions. Some of these positions were restored, including 15 high school staff development teachers, 18 school psychologists, and 26 college and career navigators. Ulti-
OPINION
mately, 415 positions were cut, though many were already vacant, including 12 empty secondary literacy specialist positions and 28 empty security assistant positions that MCPS had planned to fill. Additional funding for the dual-enrollment program and some con-
CULTURE
The importance of The Silver Chips editorial board’s books Bring it on
message to Peter Moran. B2
A local bookstore aims to form warmhearted connections with members of the Silver Spring
tractual services was also cut. “None of this is a reflection of the hard-working teammates who perform these critical functions,” Taylor wrote in his letter, reassuring staff that their work is still appreciated. “Our teammates … are amazing and have positively impacted our students and the system and deserve every respect that accompanies their service.” Blair can expect to feel the impact of these cuts. Sandie Angulo Chen is a Media Assistant in Blair’s Media Center, but her position may be cut. “I’m now on the chopping block, and they can involuntarily transfer me to any school they want to do pretty much anything that is around the level of what I do,” she said. “I’m not even guaranteed another job in a library.” Chen is not alone. “We lost staffing, which is why we’re not offering as many electives [next year],” Monteleone said. Blair will also be losing a social worker who works one-onone with students. “There are students right now that are successful, engaged, coming to school, staying out of trouble, getting a path forward with their lives because of our social worker, and that social worker will no longer be here for them,” Monteleone said.
FEATURES
LA ESQUINA LATINA
Q&A with Emmy winning co-producer for hit TV show “The Pitt” D5
Artistas alzan la voz respecto a la importancia de la representación latina y la diversidad en los Grammy 2026. E1
Chips Chats
Grammy Awards
A2 News June 15, 2026
NEWS BRIEFS Compiled by Hope Faye Dowd
Clean energy push sends $50 million of solar panels to Maryland state land As part of the state’s clean energy and climate goals, Maryland has invested $50 million in solar panel installations on state transportation property like highways, parking areas, and any other underused public land. The funding for this project will come through the Strategic Energy Investment Fund, which aims to minimize energy waste, reduce energy bills, and address climate change concerns. These solar panels are not meant exclusively for energy generation; they also aim to raise public awareness and education about clean energy. The solar panels will be spread across multiple sites, which private contractors will likely be involved in building and installing. The long-term goals of the project are to increase renewable energy production, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and ultimately lower long-term energy costs for the state.
Silver Spring experiences eight percent drop in crime rate
In my math class, there’s a little wall behind our classroom, and one day there were birds in the wall, and they were so loud... It was really hard to focus on what I was learning in math.
Many students who would have gone to Wootton are now zoned for Crown under Option H, easing the relocation. “Many of the elementary schools in the current Wootton boundary would have gone to the new Crown site,” MCPS Deputy Chief of Facility Management Andrea Swiatocha said. “It is one of the closest high schools to the Crown site, so looking at all of the factors [including] the condition of the [Wootton] facility, the ultimate recommendation was to relocate Wootton.” The decision to turn Wootton into a holding school was made with the consideration of a variety of quantitative and qualitative factors. These include an expected enrollment drop of 15,000 students across MCPS over the next 10 years. Accord-
JOSEPHINE BRUNN LAKE AND LARK JEFFERS
ing to MCPS’ growth and infrastructure policy of 2025, only two high schools are predicted to be over capacity in the 20282029 school year. This marks a significant dip compared to the 2025 school year, during which 52 percent of high schools were at over 105 percent capacity. Comparatively, as of 2025, Blair is at around 130 percent capacity with 3,400 students. Wootton is currently at around 105 percent capacity with 2,100 students in 2025. This led to the county’s decision to simply move Wootton instead of constructing a twenty-seventh high school. Once Wootton students move to Crown, the Wootton building may be used as a holding school. Many schools around the county have long needed repairs—including Damascus, which has been approved for a full renovation. During renovation, Damascus will require a holding school for students to use. However, MCPS’ current holding school, Woodward, which housed Northwood students during Northwood’s renovation, will officially open as a high school in 2027. Multiple school populations could be moved to Wootton, but details are not set until further funding is secured. “Ultimately, it depends on available funding,” Swiatocha said. “We need funding for other construction projects to take place.” There are also several other maintenance projects within MCPS scheduled, such as roof and Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system replacements, increasing demand for holding schools. According to Swiatocha, HVAC projects in high schools can take up to four summers to complete, but would be accelerated if students were temporarily moved out of the building. “That is not work that we can do during the school year in an occupied building, and because they are so big, we cannot do that [during] summer,” Swiatocha said. “The advantage of having a holding school is that we could move out of the school for half a semester or the year.” This relocation decision has faced substantial pushback from the school and wider Rockville community—including a letter from the Rockville city council
and mayor against the proposal posted on social media on February 17. “We request that you take more time to review the issues and look into the concerns raised before making a decision that has such a major impact on the stability and future of the school communities, municipalities, and County,” Rockville Mayor and City Council said in the letter addressed to MCPS. “Once the school is closed, the consequences will be difficult to reverse.”
The advantage of having a holding school is that we could move out of the school for half a semester or the year.
Under redistricting, Wootton’s feeder school Cold Spring Elementary will be moved to Winston Churchill, breaking the current Wootton cluster. “Being further away is going to be more difficult for some of our families that live really close to Woodland in terms of being able to participate in activities,” Wootton PTSA President Brian Rabin said. “The middle schools that are going to be feeding into Crown are pretty far away.” According to Rabin, the community is concerned that moving the school out of the Wootton community may decrease walkability for students; 551 students currently walk to Wootton, and that number will increase to 718 at Crown. Students walking to Crown will also have to cross Great Seneca Highway, a six lane road with speed limits of over 50 miles an hour. “We don’t want any students crossing major highway exits,” Rabin said. “[It’s an] accident waiting to happen.” Swiatocha said that Wootton’s proximity to Crown makes major changes in transportation unlikely, explaining that the number of Wootton and Crown students walking and busing to Crown should ultimately balance. “There are certain [students] that currently walk to Wootton. Yes, they will become bus [riders], but essentially you’re flipping who is
currently a walker and who is a bus [rider],” she said. “We’ve actually identified more resident students in the current [Crown] site location than there are in the Wootton site.” This issue has raised tensions between community members and the board. “There have been some really ugly words spoken in really ugly ways throughout this process,” At-large-board member Rita Montoya said in her testimony at the March 26 board meeting. “It is not okay to speak to me and my colleagues or any of my future colleagues in disrespectful ways, in threatening ways, and it is absolutely not okay to yell at me while my children are standing next to me.” Despite controversy, some Wootton students are hopeful about the change. “I think a lot of students are just looking forward to a new environment where we can [be] more productive because it’s a cleaner environment—safer [and] more structured,” Wootton sophomore Violet Sky Tu said. Members shared statements explaining their reasoning ahead of the vote. Grace Rivera-Oven, President of the Board, emphasized the need to equalize opportunities now. “There is no map that will make everyone happy. If we wait for a total consensus we will never move,” Rivera-Oven said. “Our job is not to make everyone happy; it’s to make decisions that make sense for the system and for every child.”
There is no map that will make everyone happy. If we wait for a total consensus we will never move. Our job is not to make everyone happy; it’s to make decisions that make sense for the system and for every child.
GRACE RIVERA-OWEN
On February 27, Montgomery County raised the minimum wage to $18 per hour, a 35 cent increase. The change, effective July 1, is the result of mandated inflation adjustments based on a two percent rise in the consumer price index for the Washington, D.C. region. The new rates depend on employer size—large employers with 51 employees or more will see their minimum wage go up by 35 cents per hour to $18 per hour, whereas small employers with 10 or fewer employees will increase their minimum wages by 45 cents to $15.95 per hour. Between these two designations are “midsize” employers with 11-50 employees that will see their minimum wage increased by 50 cents, to $16.50 per hour. According to County officials, this raise will help workers keep up with increases in the cost of living. Lawmakers will continue to keep minimum wages aligned with inflation.
On March 26, the MCPS Board of Education approved Superintendent Thomas Taylor’s redistricting and regional programming plan in a seven-toone vote. With the plan’s passing, Taylor’s Option H proposal will come to pass—along with other changes. Under this plan, students at Thomas S. Wootton will be moved to the upcoming Crown High School starting in the 2027-2028 school year, and MCPS will turn Wootton into a holding school during renovations. Crown’s site was secured in August 2006. The redistricting plan has been in the works for many years, with community meetings starting back in 2025. In June 2025, MCPS proposed four original options for the new Crown and Wootton districts— none of which involved relocating all of Wootton. In December, after rounds of meetings with the Board and constituents, the district presented multiple proposals for redistricting, including Option H. On February 5, Taylor made his formal recommendation endorsing Option H. Wootton students were selected for relocation in part due to its deteriorated facility condition. The building is currently dealing with many infrastructure issues, including mold and a gas leak back in December. “In my math class, there’s a little wall behind our classroom, and one day there were birds in the wall, and they were so loud,” Wootton junior Laya Kudaravalli said. “It was really hard to focus on what I was learning in math.” Wootton has been on the renovation list for many years, but has never been approved for renovation funding due to other projects being deemed higher priority.
ANDREA SWIATOCHA
County raises minimum wage effective July 1
By ADA SCHWARTZ and LARK JEFFERS
LAYA KUDARAVALLI
The crime rate in Silver Spring dropped eight percent in 2025, according to the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD). Montgomery County Police Chief Marc Yamada explained that the crime rate decrease can be attributed to the MCDP’s expansion of proactive policing strategies and new partnerships with local businesses and community organizations. Yamada said that the MCPD had focused on connecting members of the unhoused community to resources through the County’s Department of Health and Human Services. MCPD also strengthened their collaboration with the Metro Transit Police Department, which helped decrease crime for commuters who use the Metrorail and Metrobus system. In the same press release, MCPD announced that assaults involving guns were down 53 percent, carjackings were down 35 percent, theft of auto parts dropped by 34 percent, auto theft was down 16 percent, robberies were down 9.6 percent, and weapons discharges were down by 18 percent. According to MCPD Third District Commander Jason Cokinos who launched the force, while crime in the Silver Spring cannot be completely prevented, it can be reduced through collaboration within the community.
Wootton relocation passes Board vote
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June 15, 2026 News A3
MCPS shakes up 2026-27 calendar instructional days, with multiple built-in makeup options. Spring make-up days include April 22 and May 17, which are aligned with existing non-instructional days, and the make-up window at the end of the year is June 14–16.
By DERMOTT FOLEY
Winter weather and emergency planning, as well as our state Board of Education, have thrown some curve balls at us this year.
ZOE GORBACHEV
THOMAS TAYLOR
On April 30, the Montgomery County Board of Education voted 7-1 to reject a proposed calendar change that would have moved the first day of school to Aug. 20 for the 2026– 2027 school year. Instead, the Board approved adding makeup days throughout the year. These changes will not affect the length of winter or spring break. MCPS had previously struggled to allot enough make-up days for inclement weather in the 2025–2026 school year following a string of snow-related closures, including a prolonged flash freeze during which many roads remained icy for over a week. According to the school district, the decision was made while accounting for feedback from over 30,000 MCPS students, staff members, and parents. Proposals included starting the year earlier in August, shortening winter/spring breaks, or using religious observance days (such as Rosh Hashanah, Eid, and Lunar New Year) as potential make-up days. MCPS faced significant community backlash in early 2026 over school calendar proposals that, in an effort to meet state-mandated instructional days, would have required using cultural and religious holidays as makeup days. Earlier this year, the Maryland State Board of Education (MSBE) approved Resolution 26-01, granting MCPS’ request for a three-day waiver of the state-mandated 180-day school year requirement, allowing the final day for students to be moved to Thursday, June 18. Resolution 26-01 also mandated that Maryland public schools end the academic year before June 19, in alignment with the state and former federal holiday Juneteenth. Based on these changes, the school year will now start on Aug. 24, with the first full day of school on Aug. 25, and no changes to pre-service days. The calendar includes 181
INTERNATIONAL NEWS BRIEFS
The mandate also required that schools add a number of inclement weather make-up days. The MSBE specifically required MCPS to implement three new make-up days. MCPS struggled to allot enough make-up days for inclement weather this year, following a string of snow-related closures. This included a prolonged flash freeze that left roads icy for over a week, forcing last-minute calendar changes. MCPS Superintendent Thomas Taylor described the school year as turbulent. “Winter weather and emergency planning, as well as our state Board of Education, have thrown some curve balls at us this year,” he said during an April 16 Board meeting. The MSBE’s decision reflects growing pressures on MCPS to shape the school calendar, including academic demands, calls for broader holiday recognition, and more frequent weather disruptions tied to climate change.
Compiled by Marcela Mason-Rodriguez
U.S.-Iranian War On Feb. 28, the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran after decades of hostility, launching extensive airstrikes that targeted military sites, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Trump administration claimed this action was taken out of fear that Iran was developing nuclear weapons, while Iran maintained that these sites were for civilian energy use only. Iran retaliated with missile strikes targeting U.S. military bases in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, and Iraq. Iran soon closed the airspace in these regions. Spain also closed its airspace, but only to military aircraft, refusing to allow the use of its airspace and military bases in the conflict. On March 2, Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, causing significant disruption to global oil distribution. On April 13, the U.S. reacted by imposing a blockade on Iranian ports. Iran announced it would reopen the strait on April 17, but the U.S. did not lift the blockade, stating it would remain in full force until a formal peace deal was reached. The following day, Iran responded by closing the strait again until the U.S. lifts the blockade. Two ceasefires have been declared: one on April 8 between the U.S. and Iran and another on April 16 between Israel and Lebanon. Both ceasefires are ongoing; however, the latter has been violated by both sides, and the U.S. and Iran continue to accuse each other of violations. As of late May, the conflict has resulted in over 3,400 Iranian deaths, over 3,000 Lebanese deaths, and 13 U.S. service member deaths. Several deaths have also been reported in Iraq, Israel, and the Gulf states.
Sudanese Refugees
William Jelen Architect Silver Spring, Maryland
williamjelenarchitect.com
The conflict in Sudan, which began in April 2023, has created the world’s largest displacement crisis, with over 14 million people forced to flee their homes. Around a third of these people have crossed into neighboring countries seeking safety, but now face additional obstacles, including severe humanitarian needs, famine, and limited resources in host communities. Due to funding shortages and a growing number of refugees, Sudanese refugees in Egypt are being forced to choose between basic necessities. Many families receiving aid are headed by single mothers with school-age children, and these mothers are facing the difficult choice of putting food on the table or sending their children to school. Many older children are dropping out of school to care for younger siblings while their mothers work.
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A4 News June 15, 2026
Deluge of sewage pollutes Potomac River By KIRAN DURVASULA On the night of Jan. 19, security cameras at a DC Water facility near the Maryland-Virginia border captured unusual movement surrounding one of the region’s critical wastewater pipes. By the time the crews arrived, the Potomac Interceptor had collapsed. Over the days that followed, more than 243 million gallons of raw sewage poured into the Potomac River. The Potomac Interceptor is a 72-inch-diameter underground pipeline built in the ‘60s that carries wastewater from suburban Maryland and Virginia into DC Water’s treatment facility. According to DC Water spokesperson Sherri Lewis, during original construction, excavated rocks and boulders were backfilled on top of the pipe, which put excess pressure onto the system, building up over the years and ultimately contributing to the collapse in January. “Those rocks and boulders amplified both the magnitude and scale of what happened beyond what you would normally see when a sewer line fails,” Lewis said, adding that seven years of inspection records showed no warning signs before the collapse. Of the 243.5 million gallons that ultimately spilled, nearly 80 percent—194 million gallons—escaped in the first five days of the collapse alone. Over the course of those five days, DC Water scientists and engineers rushed to create a system that routed wastewater through the then-dry C&O Canal and back into the Interceptor downstream. “It really was a herculean effort to get these pumps from all over the country and create that system to contain the overflows,” Lewis said. Remediation efforts involved multiple agencies: DC Water, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Park Service, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The USACE managed stormwater at the collapse site due to its authority over the Washington Aqueduct, which supplies drinking water to the D.C., Arlington, and Fairfax areas, and the risk of contamination at that site. The USACE conducted water testing in response to ensure contamination did not reach the aqueduct. Separately, the EPA assigned the USCADE remediation responsibilities in other affected areas.Cynthia Mitchell, the
had visible solid contamination,” Mitchell in the public health sector,” Wu said. “We said. “We removed about three inches worth were discussing a lot about the health issues of contaminated soil and disposed of it off- that the sewage league imposes on our comsite, at an approved disposal location, and munity.” Claire Shen, a resident near the rivthen replaced it with all new soil.” After this er and the environmental educational direcprocess was complete, the USACE continued tor at Eco MoCo, who often hikes and walks its restoration by seeding the new, uncontam- her dogs near the Potomac, shared similar inated soil and putting erosion blankets over concerns. “This health warning has really the entire area. impacted the community because they’re unThe USACE also erected a stormwater di- able to [walk their pets or hike],” she said. version system to prevent runoff from reach- “It’s not really safe, at least as of right now.” ing the rest of the Potomac. “It has 12 differAlthough restrictions have now been lifted, ent points, each one looking a little different. have warned against parSome of them are sandbag structures, others health advisories along the river. Shen activities in ticipating are pumping into existing stormwater infraE. coli levels, spiked elevated that confirmed structure,” Mitchell said. “Essentially, what we’re doing is catching runoff that is coming by the spill, still remain a concern within her naturally down … and ensuring that it does community. Eco MoCo has continued to advocate for not trickle into the site area.” This process allowed the DC Water crews to work without and raise awareness of the damage done to interruption and prevented additional con- the Potomac River through social media. They have also taken their advocacy to Antamination of the Potomac River. Although the remediation of the areas as- napolis, where they lobby for legislation to signed to the USACE has been completed, protect the region’s waterways. Wu emphadrinking water is still being monitored for sized that a stronger infrastructure policy is contamination. “We did increase how fre- essential going forward. “The state needs to quently we were testing following the spill,” introduce legislation and such efforts to propMitchell said. “We went from five days a erly address these water safety concerns,” she week to seven days a week, [and] that will said. Over the months, there has been a rise continue on.” DC Water has continued to test the river daily at multiple locations and in community and government complaints posts the results on its website. Lewis noted regarding the spill. On April 21, the Departthat the Potomac is an urban river, where E. ment of Justice filed a federal lawsuit against coli levels fluctuate naturally with rain and DC Water seeking fines, sewer line assesssnowmelt, so the E. coli concentration cannot ments, and increased rehabilitation projects be fully attributed to the leak. to correct DC Water’s alleged violations of After emergency pipe repair was complet- the Clean Water Act. Maryland Attorney ed on March 14, DC Water restored flow to General Anthony Brown also filed a separate the Interceptor and began a larger rehabilita- suit, but in the Montgomery County Circuit tion process that includes a procedure called Court. Both allege the collapse resulted from sliplining: adding new pipe linings to existing years of inaction. The federal suit claims pipes. In areas where the pipe is not straight that DC Water knew for at least eight years enough to slipline, they will be reinforced about “severe corrosion requiring immediate with geopolymer, a substance that hardens to repair” and that the 2024 inspections also become as tough as concrete. This phase is found deterioration in the pipe. expected to take nine to ten months as part of The Potomac River has been named the a broader $625 million 10-year investment in most endangered river in the country by the Interceptor. Rivers, a nonprofit that protects GRAPHIC BY KIRAN DURVASULA While agencies are working to complete American rivers across the U.S. They conserves and Chief of Public Affairs for the USACE Bal- the remaining rehabilitation to restore the riv- cited the sewage spill alongside the rapidly er, the impacts of the spill were felt throughtimore District, described the extensive soil out the community. Lorena Wu, a co-presi- expanding footprint of water-intensive data cleanup effort, which required replacing con- dent of student-led environmental nonprofit centers across the watershed as a combined taminated soil over many weeks. “We took Eco MoCo, said health concerns arose in her threat to the river’s water quality and availeverything out of that entire area there that family after the spill. “Both my parents are ability.
District pilots new AI security system By ALICE LEVINGS and ASHER LIPCZENKO In light of increased weapon-related incidents in MCPS over the past several years, the district launched a pilot of AI-powered weapon detection systems at Colonel Zadok Magruder, Seneca Valley, and Bethesda-Chevy Chase high schools on April 8. The initiative was delayed from its original start and end dates of March 2 and April 2, respectively, and will now conclude on May 18. This program is part of MCPS’ recent initiative to increase school safety. In 2025, 163 incidents of gunfire occurred on school grounds nationwide, a 300 percent increase since 2013. These incidents resulted in 54 deaths and 149 injuries. In MCPS, The Sentinel reported that a student at Northwood was arrested on Dec. 5, 2025, for possessing a 3D-printed ghost gun. Nine days later, on Dec. 14, a stabbing occurred at Wheaton High School. The issue became especially visible locally on Feb. 9, when a 16-year-old at Thomas S. Wootton shot a fellow student. Marcus Jones, the Chief Safety Officer of MCPS, explained that the decision to move forward with the pilot program was not made in response to that specific incident, but rather to the broader increase in weapons-related offenses. “The pilot program was already scheduled to be started at the same time [as the shooting],” he said.
The AI software implemented in these schools was provided by Bethesda-based company VOLT AI (Violence Observation and Lead Tracking), which was founded in 2019 by Dmitri Sokolowski and Egor Olteanu. The software was integrated in MCPS at no cost to the district. The system builds on existing school surveillance systems and flags footage in which a potential weapon is detected for human review. Sokolowski told WTOP that most cameras installed within the last decade are advanced enough for the software to identify weapons. “The system picks that up in real time and notifies an administrator or a nurse or whoever is the right person for the right job to be notified and triage the situation,” he said. However, the system cannot see inside backpacks or any other bags. MCPS has also been clear about the system’s guardrails. According to the school district, the technology does not monitor individual student devices, private messages or social media, use facial recognition or identify people by name, track students from camera to camera, record or monitor audio, or operate in private spaces, including classrooms. Jones added that the technology can also detect medical emergencies. “Let’s say you have a student who is not feeling well … They may collapse in the hallway, during a class period, and nobody sees them,” he said. “The technology would be able to send staff to
PHOTO BY IAN WOODWORTH
that particular location and render first aid and provide necessary help as soon as possible.” Similar AI-powered systems have faced criticism in the past. In October 2025, a student at Kenwood in Baltimore County was handcuffed and searched by armed police officers when a similar AI-powered weapon detection system submitted a false alarm, mistaking a bag of chips the student was holding for a gun. When asked about that event, Sokolowski said the AI involved was “antiquated” compared to the technology VOLT AI provides for MCPS. MCPS emphasized that all
flagged footage is always reviewed by trained staff before any action is taken. “VOLT-AI does not make decisions or take action on its own,” the district wrote in its press release. “When something is flagged, trained school staff review the information immediately and decide whether a response is needed.” In addition to implementing AI-powered weapon detection systems, Jones said that MCPS is also exploring other means of improving security. “We’ve looked at other resources that we think … we might want to take a harder look at,” he said. “For example, mag-
netometers that are placed [at entrances].” In its February press release, MCPS stated that “no decisions about broader use in the system will be made without community input, careful review, and privacy protections.” Jones said that district officials are still waiting to see the pilot’s results. “We’re looking forward to the outcomes [of the pilot] that [will] help us to understand whether or not this is something that works, [and] would be something that could work for Montgomery County,” he said.
B1
OPINIONS
Reinstate in-state
silverchips
June 15, 2026
UMD should prioritize in-state students By JAMIE LOVE AN OPINION There is a fundamental contract between a state and its citizens: citizens pay the taxes, and the state provides opportunity. But at the University of Maryland (UMD), that contract is fading. For many Marylanders, UMD is a dream school. “I’ve never seen so many kids and their families be persistent in trying to get into [UMD],” Blair College and Career Coordinator Hassanatou Barry said. “That’s the star school that everyone wants to get into.” Unfortunately for local applicants, that dream is becoming increasingly difficult to reach. While UMD’s overall admissions rate appears to be steady, the reality for Montgomery County residents tells a much different story. Between 2023 and 2025, the acceptance rate for students from eight Montgomery County high schools plummeted by 20 percentage points. At Blair, only 28 percent of students were accepted to College Park in 2025, marking a sharp 15 percentage point drop from the previous year. The most concerning trend, however, is not simply the local drop in admissions. In 2025, the 45.5 percent acceptance rate for non-residents actually surpassed that of those living in Maryland by almost two percent. In other words, out-of-state students now face an easier path into Maryland’s flagship public university than the students whose families fund it.
The reason for this shift is as simple as it is frustrating. “It’s a money thing,” Barry said. “Profit plays a big hand in college admissions.” This year, out-of-state students paid an estimated four times the tuition as in-state students; their total cost of attendance was roughly $30,000 more per year. When you multiply that by thousands of students, the revenue is staggering. Without any obligation to cater to in-state students, UMD has shown that it will follow the money. This cannot continue. UMD’s primary purpose should be to serve Marylanders no matter the financial losses it incurs as a result. In fact, its own mission statement makes this clear, explicitly committing to provide “exceptional and affordable instruction for Maryland’s most promising students, regardless of income.” Beyond the university’s written mission, UMD also owes a major debt to the people of Maryland. This year, the state is pouring $868 million of their tax money into the institution, which makes up the majority of its funding. For each and every one of these taxpayers, this should be an investment. By consistently providing money to keep the school afloat, they shouldn’t have to wonder whether there’s a place for their children on campus. To protect Marylanders, a change in policy is needed. In 2024, State Senator Malcom Augustine proposed a way to help UMD return to its leading mission. His bill, which was modeled after a similar piece of legislation passed by Texas in 1997, would require
GRAPHIC BY KIRAN DURVASULA | DATA COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND
the university to guarantee admission to freshmen applicants in the top 10 percent of their high school class. If implemented, this policy would finally put Maryland students first. Not only would it guarantee education for taxpayers who fund the university, but it would also ensure that out-of-state revenue can no longer be favored over “Maryland’s most promising students.” In addition, there would be a strategic benefit for UMD. Research by Jason Fletcher at Yale University and Adalbert Mayer at Washington College shows that students who are guaranteed admission to a public university of their choice are less likely to apply
to competing private institutions. At the bill’s hearing, opponents of the 10 percent rule argued that a “promising” student cannot be reduced to a single metric. “[The plan] would … limit our efforts to enroll students who have exceptional talent that is defined more broadly than simple grade point average,” UMD Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management Shannon Gundy said in an interview with UMD’s student newspaper, The Diamondback. The university’s undergraduate admissions director, James B. Massey Jr., shared a similar sentiment in the article, claiming that “merit is not a singularly defined measure.” However, a holistic definition of merit that includes everything in
This is where we draw a line
Second deck second deck second deck second deck By LILA SHAW AN OPINION In 1812, when Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry approved a salamander-shaped electoral district, the public mocked him mercilessly. Yet, the district successfully gave Gerry’s Democratic-Republican party an edge in state and national affairs. While Gerry’s district was repealed in 1813 by the Federalist party, two centuries later, gerrymanderring—the redrawing of congressional districts to skew the state’s congressional majority—lives on. And now, as Republican states redraw their maps mid-decade to tilt the U.S. House of Representatives in their favor, it is necessary for Democrats to fight fire with fire. In most states, the state legislature controls congressional maps. In others, maps are controlled by commissions that may include citizens, elected officials, or a combination. A handful of states aim to remove partisan influence entirely through independent commissions, composed by citizens who draw electoral maps that cannot be challenged by the legislature. Typically, congressional maps are redrawn every decade following the decennial census to better represent population growth and the overall diversity of political beliefs within a state. This July, however, President Donald Trump ordered Texas to revise their legislative districts mid-decade—an unprecedented, partisan move. The resulting map proposed by Texas lawmakers would create up to five additional
Republican seats in the 2026 midterms. Only racial, not partisan, gerrymandering, can be challenged in federal court, and while a lower court claimed that the Texas map was racially gerrymandered, the Supreme Court ruled in December that the map was legal. However, by redrawing the map mid-decade, Texas Republicans further undermined diverse voices, creating their own Catch-22. They are abusing the legal protections in place specifically for minority congressional representation f o r the very purpose of dismantling those predominantly Black and Latino coalition districts. In April, the Supreme Court effectively gutted the Voting Rights Act, striking down a section that guaranteed fair representation for communities of color, specifically in the way maps are drawn.Democrats want t o play fair, yet the Supreme Court’s partisan tolerance for blatant gerrymandering leaves them with few choices. Gerrymandering is at odds with fair democratic representation. Yet, as Republican states break rules left and right, cheating the system, Democrats can no longer abide by the rules. Following Trump’s order in Texas, over a fifth of states, including historically blue ones, have either implement-
ed new maps, proposed redrawn maps, or taken steps indicating they will redraw maps if allowed. Each of the attempts in Democratic-learning states should not be viewed as endorsements of gerrymandering itself but rather as attempts to neutralize Republican advantages and discourage further escalation in redistricting. In California, Governor Gavin Newsom succeeded in
TANE PARK
passing a map that would give Democrats five seats to balance out those in Texas. In Virginia, Democrat Governor Abigail Spanberger proposed an amendment that would allow legislators, instead of the state’s typical independent commissions, to draw the state map, aiming for up to four additional Democratic seats.
In a video shared to X before the election, Spanberger explained the contrast between her policy and general gerrymandering. “Virginia has the opportunity to take action in response and [their] approach is different. First, it’s temporary. Second, it’s directly in response to what other states decide to do. Third, and most importantly … it preserves Virginia’s fair redistricting process into the future,” she said. The only way to fight fire is with fire. Maryland Democrats have made a strategic mistake by failing to act decisively. While Governor Wes Moore proposed a redrawn map to turn all congressional seats blue, his efforts collapsed when the legislative session ended on April 13. The failure of this plan may prove costly, as the playing field for Congressional representation will only become less level. The problem with gerrymandering is that each party only supports it when it is in their favor. In Virginia, Republican anti-gerrymandering advocates made the process of voting for the referendum purposefully confusing, disseminating older videos of Spanberger and Barack Obama speaking out against gerrymandering, although both politicians have voiced their support for the redrawn maps in this specific context. However, on April 21, Virginia
reality defines nothing. By looking beyond quantitative requirements, the university establishes a level of subjectivity that allows it to prioritize its own preferences over the objective merit of its applicants. Instead of creating a fairer system, this effectively returns the problem to square one. Ultimately, GPA-based guaranteed admissions is not perfect, but a public university sustained by millions of dollars in taxpayer money must be held to some form of accountability. Without a clear law like the 10 percent rule, UMD’s trail of money will only extend farther out of state, forcing high-achieving Marylanders out of the spots that they deserve.
residents still voted in favor of the state’s referendum. This is the action Democrats need to maintain solid congressional representation, even though it feels morally compromising. But it hasn’t been smooth sailing. Later the same day, a Republican-appointed Virginia circuit court judge blocked maps. On April 23, Georgia Republican Representative Rich McCormick introduced the Make DC Square Again Act, which proposes giving a blue-leaning part of Virginia back to Washington, D.C. This is the hypocrisy of gerrymandering and congressional representation: parties can support the act when it benefits them and speak of democracy when it does not. If Texas’ red gerrymandered map is considered legal at the federal level, there is no grounds for Virginia’s blue map, decided by the people, to be illegal. The cycle of partisan legislators drawing maps and partisan judges striking maps down is not sustainable for democracy. During this election cycle, Democrats must pass gerrymandered maps in order to gain fair representation in the House for the time being. But long term, neither party should have this power. The only way to make unbiased maps is a nationwide system of independent commissions responsible for drawing congressional districts free from partisan control. Two centuries after Elbridge Gerry’s misshapen district, the salamander must finally die.
silverchips
B2 Opinions June 15, 2026
Bring it on dent journalism is one of the few avenues for student expression. Silver Chips is, as every copy of our paper declares, an independent forum for student expression, as we have “Were it left to me to decide whether we been for almost 90 years. Though we have should have a government without newspa- made some mistakes over the years, we do pers, or newspapers without a government, not refrain from revealing the truth wherevI should not hesitate a moment to prefer the er we find it, whether those in authority like latter.” - Thomas Jefferson it or not. The hypocrisy is stifling. Our county condemns ICE’s violation of civil rights one day, and with this memo, tramples on stuWere it left to me to dedent rights the next. MCPS cannot champicide whether we should on fairness only when convenient. Peter Moran, here is some constructive have a government criticism. It was student journalists in your school district who reported on corruption without newspapers, in bus contracts. It was student journalists or newspapers without who reported on the unlawful publication of students’ personal data. It was student joura government, I should nalists who reported that the superintendent not hesitate a moment protected abusive employees. Ultimately, public schools, as with all governments, anto prefer the latter. swer to the people, and it is the job of the press to hold them accountable. If not us, then who? On April 26, 2016, then-Governor Larry On March 10, MCPS Chief of Schools Hogan signed Maryland’s New Voices bill Peter Moran sent a memo to all school prin- into law. This bill guarantees student jourcipals informing them that, starting April nalists the right to determine the content 10, “a school administrator must review the of their media without prior review. Makfinal draft of any printed items (publications, ing school administrators “review the final clothing, etc.) prior to printing or publica- draft of printed items prior to printing” tion” (emphasis in original). This restricts sounds awfully similar to the actions the bill student self-expression and infringes upon condemns, Mr. Moran. Maryland is one of their right to a free press. At a time when only 18 states that have these protections, the Trump Administration is cracking down largely because of the unrelenting efforts of on individual liberty nationwide, MCPS’ de- supporters of free student press such as the scent into petty regulation is unwarranted, Student Press Law Center. unacceptable, and decidedly un-American. In those states that don’t protect stuWe did not provoke these actions by MCPS, dent freedoms, we have seen administranor do we desire conflict, but we will cer- tors abuse their powers again and again. In tainly fight this decision. 2025, at Alexandria City High School, staff Students are largely without power in our at Theogony faced aggressive prior review by society. Every aspect of our lives is under the administrators seeking to restrict sensitive control of our parents and our teachers. Stu- investigative pieces. In February, student By THE EDITORIAL BOARD AN OPINION
THOMAS JEFFEFRSON
journalists at the Pine View School in Florida faced sudden censorship by their administration, which cited “bias” as the reason for axing certain controversial articles within two days of their print date. Without explicit state protections like Maryland’s New Voices law, these student journalists were forced to launch massive advocacy campaigns just to fight back against blatant attempts to muzzle their reporting. Silver Chips plans to maintain its mission and continue to report on both the achievements and shortcomings of our district. We have been fortunate that, both today and over the past 89 years, under numerous principals and superintendents, Silver Chips has had a productive and cooperative relationship with the community. Not only have we been recognized by national scholastic organizations such as NSPA and CSPA, we have
also produced journalists of the highest caliber, anchoring a legacy of investigative excellence that stretches from the paper you are reading right now to Carl Bernstein’s coverage of the Watergate Scandal in 1972. Mr. Moran, we suggest you consider your students—who you ostensibly serve— and their rights as protected by statute and precedent before you take drastic steps to restrict our freedom. You can impose real consequences on us. You can take away our classes, make it difficult to access our funds, and discipline our staff—but we will not give in. We hope that our community will stand with us as we fight to maintain our independence. If you want to challenge student press freedom, we say bring it on.
Editorial Cartoon
JOSEPHINE BRUNN LAKE
Someone has to pay
The failures of MoCo governance By JUSTIN ROSENTOVER Ombudsman
PHOTO BY KENEAN BIZUWORK
To contact Justin email him at scombud@gmail.com
“one-time transfers,” which now leave a $293 million structural deficit for next school year. The school system isn’t helping matters by massively increasing the capital budget and failing to spread out its construction costs. Over the last 20 years, federal government employment has been the only area where Montgomery County has kept pace with its neighbors. This includes smaller increases in the tax base relative to Northern Virginia and Prince George’s County. With less business and fewer jobs, there is just not as much to tax. Alongside the Trump Administration cuts, the county’s reliance on the federal government to prop up its economy is unraveling.
We should be focusing on making the pie as big as possible so that we can satisfy all the needs that the county has.
DAVID STEIN
AN OPINION Marc Elrich, our mercifully term-limited county executive, failed to pass his Fiscal Year 2027 budget last month. The budget, which represented a 5.3 percent increase over last year, was driven primarily by an additional $189 million for the school district in order to fully fund the proposed budget and $157 million for housing and rental assistance. Since, as I’ve written in previous editions of the paper, Montgomery County’s housing shortage has been largely caused by poor policy choices, this would be a fiscally questionable use of funds in the best of times. However, this budget proposal faces a more pressing problem: we don’t have the money.
To combat this dilemma, Elrich proposed increasing property taxes by 6.3 percent and increasing income taxes to the maximum amount allowed by the state of Maryland. These deeply unpopular property tax hikes were then soundly rejected by county council members, who realized they had to run for reelection someday. In the budget the council actually approved on May 21, the county closed the budget gap by diverting $25 million from retiree health care funding and transferring money from the MCPS capital budget to the operating budget. This will allow the council to fund 80% of the desired increase in funding for MCPS, though Superintendent Thomas Taylor says it will still require staffing cuts. The worst part of the whole saga is that we will most likely face the same issue next year, since none of the underlying problems have been addressed. For a decade now, Montgomery County has failed to consider budgetary issues on anything other than a one-year timescale. As Adam Pagnucco, an expert in Montgomery County politics and author of the blog Montgomery Perspective, explained in an email: “Compensation increases are relevant because, for a number of years, they significantly exceeded county revenue growth.” For every year since 2022, Montgomery County employee compensation growth has exceeded general expected income growth. In the 2025 budget, the county raised employee compensation by almost 10 percent, despite revenues increasing by less than four percent. This covered inflation, but exceeded what the district could reasonably pay. Essentially, the county has effectively been spending $10 more on its four-buck raise. Compensating county employees more is great, but the money to do so simply won’t exist without tax increases or economic growth. Tax increases are incredibly unpopular, and for good reason, since they suppress the growth that could really make a difference. The County has made all sorts of
MCEA President David Stein said that he would prefer to fund all of the demands on the county government. “We should be focusing on making the pie as big as possible so that we can satisfy all the needs that the county has,” Stein said. Growing the pie, however, isn’t so easy when a constant demand for more spending and a pathological opposition to increasing the housing supply have suppressed growth. Montgomery County’s imprudence is
not unique among American municipalities, though. In high-profile examples, New York City is facing a budget shortfall of over $2 billion, and Chicago is closing in on bankruptcy after vastly overspending on its employee pensions. This is a national problem, with only three states having fully funded pension programs and 54 of the 75 largest cities in America running budget deficits. In 2024, the Maryland Teachers’ Retirement System, which oversees pensions across all Maryland school districts, had the highest debt growth of any pension system in the country. These are all problems caused by overreliance on the federal government and continually kicking the proverbial can down the road. June 23 will be my first election. It might be yours too. In Maryland and Montgomery County, which are effectively governed by a single party, the primaries that day will determine who wins in November. In a time when many are despairing over the future of the federal government, we should recognize that our local government’s inability to manage a budget is just as harmful. We have forgotten how to elect capable leaders on a national level and how to govern ourselves without pettiness. When Alexis de Tocqueville visited America in 1831, he wrote that “Town-meetings are to liberty what primary schools are to science; they bring it within the people’s reach, they teach men how to use and how to enjoy it.” Given that our federal government is $39 trillion in debt, we clearly need some teaching. All the problems I’ve covered over the past year in this column are contributing to this crisis. But no amount of lobbying, complaining, or column-writing is a substitute for better leaders. So, when I vote next month, I’ll be voting for people who are planning for a better tomorrow, not just the same-old sorry today.
silverchips
June 15, 2026 Opinions B3
Should the president and other government officials be regulated on social media?
NO
YES
“Social media has outpaced traditional media for importance and in campaigns,” Tyler Evans, the creative director for New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, said. Politicians today use social media in a variety of ways, and modern civic engagement is heavily encouraged and influenced by these platforms. One of social media’s most significant benefits is its ability to help politicians build direct connections with younger voters—a strategy that has rapidly expanded in recent years. Social media offers the chance for simple but effective connection that grabs attention
TYLER EVANS
Social media has outpaced traditional media for importance and in campaigns.
and quickly engages younger voters. “It’s always been an issue for politicians to connect to the younger generations,” Blair senior Sofiya Moore, a member of Blair’s Young Democratic Socialists chapter, said. “When you get on social media and politicians are making memes, TikTok videos, or they’re on their Instagram story with a popular song, it gets younger people [to] pay more attention.” These online platforms also allow politicians to bypass the traditional media outlets, eliminating an extra layer between elected officials and the public. While social media is by no means a replacement for newspapers, it is important for individuals to get political rhetoric directly from candidates. “[Alexandria Ocasio Cortez] is a perfect case in that she understands that you can speak directly to voters,” Evans says. “[Politicians] can drop the jargon and you can drop the political speech so [they] can just talk to people like people.” For politicians, social media is a crucial means of communicating with constitu-
Social media is a force for good in politics as it allows politicians to speak directly to voters, particularly younger voters, bypassing traditional media and improving voter outreach and education.
Social media fans the flames of political polarization, the main force eroding American democracy, with serious consequences. Such power cannot continue to run unchecked.
By LARK JEFFERS
By ASHER LIPCZENKO
ents, even after they are elected as social media keeps voters informed while allowing the politicians to continue campaigning. “When they’re in office, [politicians] should still be talking to their constituents as if they need their votes because they still do,” Evans said. “[T]hey should actively be … talking about their work in the way that they do on campaign accounts.” Additionally, social media can improve voting accessibility by spreading information about the voting process. Voters can easily access information on polling locations, registration processes, and mail-in voting procedures. Frequent posts online are especially helpful in reminding citizens of deadlines and steps that they must take. Admittedly, clips on social media can offer an oversimplified version of policies and information. However, while social media does not provide its users with a comprehensive understanding of every issue, it promotes a basic level of general awareness and connection with politicians that might not be available otherwise. The United States’ 65.3 percent voter turnout rate for the 2024 elections is concerning, but the absence of young adults at the polls—with the majority of young citizens not voting—is particularly grim. Tufts University found that only 47 percent of individuals 18-29 years old actually cast their ballots in the 2024 presidential election. Social media has the chance to bridge this statistical gap. Its positive power within our political culture has the ability to connect voters to politicians and to be a tool to educate citizens about politics and voting rights. The elimination of social media would end an essential aspect of political communication and education.
In Myanmar, in the 2010s, Facebook was synonymous with the internet. It was also a haven for false narratives about the country’s Muslim Rohingya population. They were labeled dangerous, violent, and a threat that only the military could eliminate—and that’s exactly what they did. The genocide of the Rohingya killed 10,000 people, displaced ten times that many people, burned down whole villages, and was coupled with widespread, systematic rape. Such a horrific sequence of events is almost unbelievable—just like the President openly threatening genocide. On April 6, Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” referring to the US war against Iran. Such a statement is startlingly reminiscent of the events in Myanmar, especially in a country that is also no stranger to Islamophobia. Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles posted on X that “Muslims don’t belong in American society,” even though an estimated 30,000 Muslims live in the district he represents. At the same time, Florida Rep. Randy Fine posted on X a call for “more Islamaphobia, not less.” Take a moment to consider how social media made it easy for these politicians to share such hateful messages with a large audience. Facebook itself has long disavowed any connection between its platform and polarization, but many social scientists have E N LAK concluded the opN U R HINE B posite. Matthew GentzJOSEP kow, a Stanford University economist, told Brookings, “people are seeing political content on social media that does tend to make them more upset, more angry at the other side [and more likely] to have stronger views on specific issues.” A study Gentzkow co-authored found that participants who took a one-month break from so-
cial media experienced “significantly reduced polarization of views on policy issues.” But doesn’t a healthy democracy benefit from people having conflicting opinions? Aren’t people entitled to their own opinions? The answer is yes to both questions, unless it gets out of hand. For example, the events of Jan. 6, 2021. On that day, rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol building with one goal: overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Many rioters were drawn to Washington, D.C. by then outgoing President Trump’s invitation on Twitter, asking his supporters to join him at the Capitol in protest, writing “Be there, will be wild!” He wasn’t wrong. A single, ambiguous post seems unlikely to incite an insurrection, but in this case, it set off a chain reaction. Court documents from over 800 criminal cases revealed that Trump’s “wild” message was spread by other social media users, who passed it along, sometimes urging supporters to bring weapons and body armor with them. This chain reaction also highlighted the fact that on social media, unlike traditional forms of media, the audience members are more than just passive observers. They are active participants in the exchange of information. Some proponents of social media’s role in politics might argue that that is not necessarily a bad thing, since it makes it easy for representatives to communicate with their constituents, and vice versa. But it becomes almost too easy. With no way of knowing what a politician will post next, and whether or not it will set off its own chain reaction, it is just not worth the risk. Of course, other proponents might argue that restrictions on social media content violate the First Amendment. However, even the right to free speech has some exceptions. The landmark 1919 Supreme Court case, Schenck v. United States, established one of the most famous. “Words which, ordinarily and in many places, would be within the freedom of speech protected by the First Amendment may become subject to prohibition when of such a nature and used in such circumstances [as] to create a clear and present danger,” Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. wrote in the majority opinion. The evidence suggests that social media does create a “clear and present danger,” and if that standard applies elsewhere, it should certainly apply in this case.
voicebox All photos by Sadiq Abdillahi “You’re just absorbing this stuff for like hours upon hours”
“It is easy to spin the truth in the narrative via social media.”
“I’m kind of on the fence when it comes to social media.”
JACOB SIDEN sophomore
TAL PEARLMAN senior
MULBAH KOLLIE senior
“It can really depend on your media literacy because misinformation is everywhere.” ELI SULIVAN senior
B4 Opinions June 15, 2026
silverchips
C1
CULTU R E
silverchips
June 15, 2026
The stories that make us
Maz’s music
How reading shapes our lives from childhood to adulthood By SONYA DEL POZO and LEYA FEKADU
Your fingers brush against the paper-thin pages of the book in your hand. Teleported into an otherworldly dimension, hours seem to dissolve as your eyes dart from line to line, your heartbeat quickening with anticipation. Through the eyes of its characters, you see and feel with an intense clarity, experiencing every laugh and heartache as though it were your own. Literature possesses the power to engage readers with every page they turn, leaving their mark
Michelle Elie, Blair English teacher and recent MCPS Teacher of the Year, feels that the discussions following the reading are the most enjoyable part. “The best part of literature is the discourse—that’s why I’m an English teacher,” she says. “I love when people talk about the same thing differently.” Even before participating in discussions, children feel the impact of books, gaining new perspectives on experiences and emotions that they have yet to live through. From the outlandish worlds in “Land of Stories” to the fast-paced humor of “Percy Jackson,” children
By MAZ OLSON The first concert I went to was held in a massive baseball stadium, thousands of people packed into navy folding sets that stretched endlessly in every direction. Looking down from the nosebleeds, I saw a spectacle of a performance, most of which was watched from the jumbotrons rather than the stage itself. In a stadium, I often feel like I’m watching myself watch the artist. There’s a large distance, physical and emotional, that separates the audience from the performance.
VEE DIM
YAN
KIRAN ALMAZOR
that reading is a way to help them understand the world, and 53 percent of kids have used a book to get through hardships. “I like to read “Dog Man” when I’m sad because … it makes me laugh and … feel better,” nineyear-old Vanya Daniels says. “He does really silly things and also has the flip-o-rama, which is my favorite part.” However, reading has become a dying pastime. According to the National Endowment for the Arts, only 48.5 percent of adults reported having read at least one book in 2024, a decrease from the reported 52.7 percent in 2019. Today, 52 percent of children own either a tablet or a cell phone, both of which distract from reading. Blair junior Kiran Almazor says his phone has increasingly pulled him away from reading as he craves the instant dopamine rush he gets from scrolling on social media. “When I was younger, I used to spend a lot of time reading, especially at night,” he says. “Now that I have my phone it kind of just sucks me in and I end up scrolling on reels instead.” Still, the quick satisfaction of social media cannot compare to the value and power of reading. Whether through lounging all day on the beach with your favorite romance PHOTOS BY ELEANOR OLSON novel or flipping through stories for only 30 PAGES THAT STAY Rows of books line shelves, each holding stories and ideas that can shape minutes on your commute to school, reada reader’s perspective throughout their literary journey. ing should play an integral role in everyone’s life. Beyond the knowledge one gains, the expand their worldviews through the stories by expanding readers’ emotional landscape and exchange of ideas and perspectives is an inthey read throughout their youth. By reading shaping lives through sharing perspectives. tegral aspect of reading that everyone could about these characters’ lives, children have the Blair junior Alexis Taylor describes reading benefit from. “That’s the excitement of literas an experience—one in which scenes come ature to me, one of the most valuable things: alive. “When I read something, I have a picture we all take something away that’s so different in my mind of what things look like … I imagine because we’re all coming to it so differently,” the feel of [things] to be manifested in a physiElie says. “So we take those things away from cal way,” she says. the literature, and we share it with each othTaylor reads not only for entertainment but er, and we’re growing.” for insight into other perspectives that prompt her to think deeper about her environment. “Whenever I read a book, it takes me through When I was younger, I the eyes of somebody else,” she says, adding that reading “The Hunger Games” in middle used to spend a lot of school helped her attain valuable critical thinktime reading, especially ing skills. “[The book] kind of formed my worldview, and it kind of made me think about what at night. Now that I have our government is doing,” Taylor says. my phone it kind of just Esther Goldenberg, a local historical fic- chance to develop empathy for others. According to the Book Love Foundation, tion author, also feels that books are a source sucks me in and I end up of inspiration for perspectives and input to her books play an important role in many people’s scrolling on reels instead. work. She described the most impactful book childhoods—74 percent of surveyed kids say she’s read as “Everything is Illuminated,” a novel by Jonathan Safran Foer that resonated with her due to the complexity in its characters. This nuance—prevalent in many of the books she admires—has largely influenced her personal approach to writing historical fiction. “Things were so different [in ancient history] that we kind of think that people were different, but people were still people,” Goldenberg says. “And so they still dealt with things that we deal with to this day.”
ALEXIS TAYLOR
Whenever I read a book, it takes me through the eyes of somebody else. [The Hunger Games] kind of formed my worldview, and it kind of made me think about what our government is doing.
CHEV ORBA
ZOE G
As I got older, I discovered more of what shows had to offer at local venues like Songbryd or Comet Ping Pong, where I could watch smaller touring bands and DMV native artists. Small venues are a different experience to what music is. There’s less people watching and it all feels personalized. The music is more intimate and immediate. You can look the band in their eyes and see the emotion in their music up front. There’s less of a gap emotionally between the crowd and performer when the stage is smaller. But even the smallest of places don’t compare to my favorite venues: people’s homes. Cramped in between strangers and couches, or leaned against someone’s fridge with the unmistakable feedback that comes with a small room, house shows exist in a category of their own. You’re not a ticket holder like you are at an established venue; you’re a guest. There’s no backstage and no VIP section. A living room or backyard becomes the stage, and there’s no real separation between performers and the audience. The person dancing with you could be the drummer for the band next on the lineup. House shows are powerful because they erase the boundaries that are built by a stage, there is a physical, and therefore emotional, barrier. A friend of mine, Tontio, plays with his punk band at house shows pretty often. His band headlines most of the time, and at every show, before he plays, he’s in the crowd, moshing and hyping up the other bands. He’ll shout the words to a song he knows, then on stage, shout out the band that played the song. You can’t get that when there’s a greenroom to retreat to. At a house show you are forced to be involved with the experience of live music. Tonito is always part of the same energy he creates on the “stage.” That energy is special to house shows. Even small venues can’t fully replicate it. And stadiums certainly can’t. House shows demand participation, to be part of the music instead of just observing it. Of course, stadium concerts have their place. Some artists’ scale demands massive spaces, and it can be inspiring to see music being performed on that level. But music is about connection, not scale. That connection is strongest when nothing is standing between the artist and the audience. No screens, no stage, no distance.
silverchips
C2 Culture June 15, 2026
Even a small elephant leaves big footprints By ADA SCHWARTZ and HOPE FAYE DOWD
RIA VICTO LO
CHUE REGA
for a vote on one of the four names: Thảo Nhi, Tú Anh, Tuyết, and Linh Mai. In total, the fundraiser raised over $58,800 in 10 days. In the end, Linh Mai, meaning spirit blossom, won with 39 percent of the vote, raising $22,885. All proceeds from the fundraiser went to the Asian elephant conservation program, which investigates elephant diseases, tracks elephants in the wild, and runs programs rewilding captive elephants. The zoo initially planned for Linh Mai to feed from her mother, Nhi Linh, but when her mother and grandmother displayed early aggression towards the baby elephant, Linh Mai was separated from the herd. As a result of this isolation, zoo staff had to quickly pivot to bottle feeding. “We had every expectation and hope that her mom would take care of her,” National Zoo nutritionist Michael Maslanka says. “That said, our job … is to be prepared for anything to happen. So, while we had hopes and expectations, we were ready to assist the calf in any way needed.” Linh Mai initially struggled with some slow weight gain and loose stool. This required quick adjustments to her formula to ensure her health and well-being. The ele p h a n t team worked around the clock, and in the end, were able to create a formula that worked. “Initially, t h e formula was not performing the way we expected … we assessed, discussed, and adjusted the plan
daily,” Maslanka says. “We decided to change the formula entirely. This different formula … started to perform the way we expected and the calf responded well to it.” Smithsonian scientists have been working toward elephant care and conservation for over 50 years. In 2026, the zoo launched a campaign seeking $23 million in public and corporate donations to support Asian elephant conservation, including research, habitat protection, and health studies.
[Her birth] is so exciting. I feel like it’s a testament to the work that the Smithsonian Institution does for animals and for the zoo.
SURUPA GUPTA
Fewer than 52,000 Asian elephants remain in the wild—a small enough number to place them on the endangered species list. According to the World Wildlife Fund, the Asian elephant population has dropped by at least 50 percent since 1945. These cerebral mammals now only occupy 15 percent of their past geographical range in Asia, and face habitat loss and destruction due to human activity.
It may seem bleak, but there is some still hope. It arrived at the Smithsonian National Zoo 14 weeks ago, for the first time in 25 years. In April 2024, two Smithsonian Zoo Asian elephants, 12-year-old Nhi Linh and 44-yearold Spike were bred following a recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan. After a 21-month pregnancy, on Feb. 2, 2026, at 1:15 a.m., Linh Mai was born. Linh Mai’s official public debut was on April 22 as part of the zoo’s Earth Day celebration. To choose Linh Mai’s name, the zoo held a fundraiser where participants donated $5 in exchange
The elephants at the National Zoo, including Linh Mai, play a major role in their efforts. Zoos serve as a crucial resource for the public to learn about endangered species and raise money for conservation efforts. Linh Mai’s birth is especially significant as she helps increase the genetic diversity of the Asian elephants in captivity. Surupa Gupta, a visitor of the Smithsonian National Zoo on the day of Linh Mai’s debut, believes her birth is an example of the important work being done by the National Zoo. “[Her birth is] so exciting,” visitor Surupa Gupta says. “I feel like it’s a testament to the work that the Smithsonian Institution does for animals and for the zoo.” Genetic diversity is important for the health of the species because homogenous populations lead to
the accumulation of negative genes. “Gene diversity … basically prevents the endangered species from going extinct due to the accumulation of harmful alleles. So if you add more diversity in there, you’re less likely to end up with those bad [genes],” Blair junior and Bioteam member Edward Zhu says. Since Linh Mai’s birth, the Elephant Community Center and its camera in the elephant habitat have been off-limits to prevent her from becoming overwhelmed and to give her time to bond with the herd and her elephant care team. Over the last three months, Linh Mai has been slowly introduced to the herd through a fence, mostly with her Aunt Swarna who is an experienced parent. From April 15-19, the zoo began slowly introducing her to visitors by holding exclusive member viewings of her. On April 22, she was finally introduced to the public both in person and on the elephant cam. Visitors were excited to see the young elephant for the first time, with lines stretching outside the habitat for most of the day. Veronica Zuccarello, a visitor of the exhibit, was excited to learn more about the young elephant. “I just read that she’s 450 pounds already, and she just looks so tiny,” Zuccarello exclaims. “I think I’m just shocked at how little she looks and how much she actually weighs. And, she’s really cute.” Linh Mai may be small, but she represents a big step forward for the National Zoo and their endangered species conservation efforts. By visiting her, learning more about Asian elephants or purchasing a National Zoo membership you can help ensure that she makes an elephant-sized impact.
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C3 Culture June 15, 2026
Chips Clips Crossword from June 2023 Sudoku from April 2023
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Center Spread
DEMOCRACY DIES IN DARKNESS
June 15, 2026 Features D1/D2
Changes at The Post
STORY BY LILA GROSKO AND SAHANA PARIKH • DESIGN BY KIYA TIRUNEH newspaper and taking jobs elsewhere,” Quinn says. In 1965, Quinn’s husband Ben Bradlee rejoined the Post as managing editor—he had previously worked as a reporter, then as a foreign correspondant—and kickstarted a major workforce transformation. “When Ben took over, Washington was a sleepy town, and he wanted people to notice the Post,” Quinn says. “So he hired a lot of very controversial reporters—top reporters who reported but could also write. He loved good writing.” Bradlee’s 23-year tenure as executive editor, from 1968 to 1991, was marked by a variety of scandals and institutional mistrust in the U.S. In response, Bradlee pushed for aggressive investigative journalism, encouraging reporters to challenge the federal government. “The culture was very much anti-establishment,” Quinn says. “[Post reporters] were covering the hippie movement, the anti-war sentiment, the protests in the streets, the Chicago Convention [on Civil Aviation], and the Vietnam War.” In 1972, the Post had a breakthrough. The skillful investigative reporting of the Watergate Scandal by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein—a Silver Chips alumnus— earned the Post a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, and the
time … Everybody loved their jobs. Everybody was so happy to work there. Every day you came into the office and you didn’t know what to expect.” Founded in 1877, the Washington Post served as a pillar of American journalism for nearly 150 years. As the most circulated newspaper in the Washington metropolitan area, the publication is well known for its staunch coverage of U.S. politics. Following former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’s acquisition of the paper and rising pressure on the journalism industry over the last century, the paper has undergone various changes to administration, operations, and coverage. In the last year, the financial situation at the Post has worsened significantly, leading to mass layoffs and cuts to major sections.
SALLY QUINN
Every day you came into the office and you didn’t know what to expect. There was something new, some new story, something exciting.
Quinn, who joined the Post in 1963, saw firsthand the financial difficulties the paper was experiencing. “When I joined the Post, it was still owned by the Graham family, and the paper was in pretty bad financial straits then. The Post was losing money, and a lot of people were leaving the
Jeff Bezos’ acquisition In 2013, Jeff Bezos purchased the Post from the Graham family for $250 million. This marked the end of the Graham family’s 80 years of ownership. Quinn says that initially, employees at the Post were hesitant about the change in leadership. “We were all crushed when the Grahams sold the paper because it had been a family newspaper and they were fabulous owners, great publishers, and best friends of ours,” she says. But after Bezos met with staff, Quinn says they were pleasantly surprised. “He was smart, funny, and interesting,” Quinn says. “He really wanted to learn about the paper and meet people. He was just fantastic. I came away thinking, ‘Oh my God, are we lucky.’” Bezos assured staff members that the values of the Post would remain the same. “He talked about how it was a sacred trust and that he cared so much about the meaning of the First Amendment, how important journalism was to him, and [how] the Washington Post was this extraordinary iconic newspaper that he was so honored to be [the new owner of],” Quinn explains. “Everybody was knocked out.” Bezos also conveyed his desire to make the paper more profitable. “Bezos talked to us about how … he would provide a lot of financial support to us while the Post figured out a business model,” Quinn says. “He was true to his word. He invested in the paper, and we hired a bunch of reporters.”
It always felt to me like the Washington Post is a small town paper [that is] going to cover the government, [but] the government it happens to cover is the federal government.
The increased accessibility of artificial intelligence only exacerbated the issue of many people transitioning to online news. “People are turning to AI a lot for information, and they’re not clicking on news articles as much,” Quinn says. Print newspapers across the country have had to perform large cuts to the workforce and pivot to digital publication in order to stay afloat. “It’s a really tough time for journalism right now,” Jouvenal says. “You hear about [layoffs] almost every other day.” Former Washington Post editor and Book World writer Nora Krug says that the nature of the writing changed over her 13 years at the Post with the proliferation of the internet. “When I first started, you weren’t thinking too much about the economics of the newsroom,” Krug says. “You were just thinking about your journalism job. [However,] as the internet became bigger, [it] made you think more about what would resonate with people on the internet as opposed to just whatever you wanted to [write about] and what you thought was interesting.”
Changes made by Bezos Though Bezos had slowly assumed a backseat role in the paper’s day-to-day operations, Executive Editor Martin Baron’s departure in 2021 marked the beginning of Bezos’s increased involvement in the Post’s structural and administrative decision-making, including bringing new editors in. In 2024, the Post lost over $100 million, a 30 percent increase in losses from 2023. That year, Bezos hired Matt Murray, a veteran editor at The Wall Street Journal, as exec-
Subscribers Lost
It’s a really tough time for journalism right now. You hear about [layoffs] almost every other day.
body knew what his plans were, but his assignment was to make the Post profitable.” Lewis’ tenure ultimately proved unsuccessful. “The Post kept losing money,” Quinn says. “Meanwhile, Jeff … kept getting more conservative.” In October 2024, Bezos made the decision to block the drafted endorsement of presidential candidate Kamala Harris. The Post had held a 36-year tradition to endorse a candidate in the presidential election before Bezos made this decision in an attempt to reduce people’s perceptions of the Post’s political bias. Within just a few days of the announcement, the Post lost over 250,000 subscribers. “In [blocking the endorsement] he alienated the liberal readers, which was his base,” Cole says. “I think that’s probably why you see the mass exodus of readership.” The losses persisted into 2025, as Bezos continued to make changes to the paper’s ideological framework. “Then Jeff decided to change the direction of the Editorial page. The expression he used was ‘personal liberties and free enterprise or personal liberty,’” Quinn says. David Shipley, the Editorial Page Editor, who Bezos hired in 2022, voiced his opposition to this new restrictive policy and resigned soon after. “Shipley just said ‘I can’t go along with this’ because they … eliminated points of view. [So he] quit,” Quinn says. The ideological switch of the Opinions section led to an additional 75,000 subscription cancellations. Forty year Washington Post subscriber Kathryn Olson recalls her own frustrations with the paper’s transformation. “Before I stopped subscribing, I no longer looked at the Opinion section, because I valued the diversity of Opinions that used to be on the traditional Post Editorial section,” Olson says.
Changes in the last five years Under CEO Will Lewis’ leadership, tensions at the Post continued to rise. In one meeting, Lewis blamed decreases in readership on the writers. “That just got everybody crazed. Everybody turned against Lewis and they all decided they hated him and he disappeared. Nobody ever saw him again,” Quinn explains.
People were flying out the doors. Everybody was quitting, One big star after the other would just walk out.
SALLY QUINN
In June 1933, Eugene Meyer bought the Washington Post at a bankruptcy auction. Meyer established seven core principles of the paper, asserting that the Post’s duty would be to its readers and to the public at large—not the private interests of its owners. One of his seven principles stated that the Post was to be “fair and free and wholesome in its outlook on public affairs and public men.” In 1948, Meyer passed the paper down to his sonin-law, Philip Graham, who modernized the paper by acquiring rivals like the Washington Herald and Newsweek, expanding the staff, and purchasing radio and broadcasting networks such as WTOP. Following Graham’s death in 1963, ownership of the Post was handed to his wife, Katharine Graham, who became the first female CEO of a Fortune 500 company. The Post began to suffer financially as many investors sold their stock, fearing for the company’s administrative stability with a woman in charge. Additionally, the D.C. newspaper market had become especially competitive, and the Post was battling with the dominant Washington Evening Star and the Washington Daily News.
Beginning in 2023, however, the Post began to lose its footing. Gradually, Bezos became less engaged with the reporters, distancing himself from daily operations. Jouvenal, who joined the Post in 2019, corroborates reports of Bezos’ gradual distancing from the paper. “It’s definitely been noticeable in the last four to five years. There hasn’t been as much engagement by Bezos with the Post as there was previously,” he says. During the same period, the Post’s financial situation also worsened. The paper lost nearly half a million subscribers following Trump’s presidential loss in 2020, as many subscribers were primarily interested in staying up to date with the Trump Administration. The Post was not the only paper to experience financial strain. Print newspapers across the globe have taken a hit as readers have shifted to digital news sources. “Things have changed so dramatically in the past few decades: the way we intake news, who’s writing news, who’s sharing news, how we receive our news,” Tang explains.
utive editor and Will Lewis, a British journalist and media executive, as CEO and publisher, hoping they could help lift the Post out of its slump. “[Lewis] said, ‘We’re going to totally redo the Washington Post,” Quinn recounts. “No-
journalism, because at the Miami Herald, there was round after round of layoffs, buyouts, furloughs, and pay cuts. I’ve kind of weathered it all over the decades.” While employee turnover is common in journalism, the Post would soon face an unprecedented wave of layoffs.
makes it more challenging to cover the local area effectively.” Since 2005, more than 3,500 local newspapers have closed across the U.S. “There’s a lot of places [across
The combination of administrative instability, blocking of the presidential endorsement, ideological shift to the Opinions section, and deep budget cuts at the Post led to widespread staff resignation. “People were flying out the doors. Everybody was quitting,” Quinn says. “One big star after the other would just walk out.” By May 2025, the Post was bleeding money and began offering buyouts to veteran reporters and specific departments to reduce costs. These buyouts—which included up to a year and a half of base pay—were enticing for many veteran staff writers. Over 60 staff members—many of whom were well-known writers and editors—eventually ended up taking a buyout. According to Quinn, there was a small silver lining to the high staff turnover—younger reporters suddenly had the chance to step into a variety of newly vacated positions. “I said to Matt [Murray] one day, ‘I don’t recognize any of these bylines. Who are all these people?’” Quinn says, noting that rising reporters are now working extremely hard to make a name for themselves. Former Washington Post health writer David Ovalle explains that these cuts are not necessarily extraordinary as journalism is an industry with a high turnover. “They did buyouts within a year of me being [at the Post]. [With] leadership and publisher changes, it was tumultuous from the get go,” Ovalle says. “But to be honest with you, it’s nothing that I haven’t experienced already in 24 years in
Changes over the last month On the morning of Wednesday, Feb. 4, all Washington Post staff were instructed to stay home from work and log on to a video conference meeting with executive editor Matt Murray. Murray explained that the company had lost too much money and was no longer meeting readers’ needs. He described the paper’s new goal, to shift towards more national news reporting and to break even financially by the end of 2026. It was then announced that employees would be receiving emails later that day informing them whether or not they were being cut from the paper. “I’m just sitting there, [waiting for this] email,” Ovalle recalls. “[I’m wondering,] ‘Will I keep my job? Do I have to change my entire life and trajectory?’ And then, I got it and it said … ‘Your role has been eliminated.’” Over 300 staff members were laid off, accounting for roughly a third of employees. Hundreds of jobs were eliminated—including the Metro section, which was cut by 70 percent. Additionally, foreign desks were reduced from 20 locations to just 12. The Sports and Books departments were cut completely. Staffers were not completely caught off guard by the announcement of mass layoffs. “Toward the tail end of last year, they froze all the [department] budgets. Suddenly, we couldn’t get freelancers anywhere … I was actually shooting my own art for one story that I did manage to travel on,” Ovalle says. “They also were doing little workshops for us on how best to take photos with your iPhone … That’s when I was like, ‘Yeah, things are gonna get bad probably pretty quickly.’”
Impacts of changes and broader implications on journalism The mass cuts directly decrease the Post’s ability to report on a wide variety of stories. “There’s definitely going to be fewer stories written. We’re all going to have to work harder to report on the news and do more work in the long run,” Jouvenal says. “We won’t have the same amount of time to devote to big investigative projects … some of that reporting is going to go away, which is tough, because that’s something that the Post is really known for.” Beyond the decrease in long-term reporting, these cuts will fundamentally alter the paper’s visual components. “We have fewer photographers now, so there’s going to be less photos, less videos, [and] any kind of visual stuff there’s going to be less of,” Jouvenal says. “There’s fewer graphics reporters, so there’s going to be fewer graphics in the newspaper than online.” Tang says that the cuts also had a significant impact on the paper’s local reporting, which encompasses the Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia (DMV) area. “There’s a much smaller staff now on the local desk [and] I would imagine that means fewer local stories,” she says. “Maybe the [remaining reporters] will be pumping out five stories a day. But I would imagine that having a smaller staff
the world] right now that don’t actually have newspapers. Without newspaper coverage, it’s hard to know about what’s going on in your community,” Jouvenal says. “It’s hard to get good information about what the government is up to, what businesses are up to. It’s a major blow to democracy to not have as many newspapers around and as many reporters covering things.” Readers like Olson echo Jouvenal’s fears. “It’s not good to have all of our news come from one or two sources, even if they’re really great alternative sources,” Olson says. “We need a diversity of reporters and editors and producers covering news.” The changes at the Post have repelled lifetime readers like Cole and left them disappointed. “It’s really sad to see just the eradication of this amazing institution,” Cole explains. “I deleted my Washington Post app about a week
We need a diversity of reporters and editors and producers covering news.
KATHRYN OLSON
History of the Post
paper gained national recognition. “I think the Post kind of came to prominence with Woodward and Bernstein. [The Watergate] story made them well known,” Blair English and journalism teacher Danny Cole says. “It also enhanced a reputation around the country, not just as a D.C. local paper. They had so many national [and] international bureaus. They had … investigations, features, different depths of journalism that a lot of the papers couldn’t or didn’t dare to do.” The success of the Watergate reporting was instrumental to the Post’s growing reputation as a government watchdog and reliable news source. “[Ben Bradlee and I], the Grahams, and everybody felt that you can’t have a free society and a democracy without the public being informed,” Quinn says. “I think most subscribers of the Post and The New York Times really respect those papers and … trust that those papers are telling them the truth.” Almost half a century later, former editor of the Post Local, Alisa Tang, echoes the same sense of responsibility for holding the federal government accountable. “When I arrived at the Post [in 2017], it was very much this time of ‘we’re present, we’re here, we’re holding the administration responsible, and we’re holding [the] government accountable,’” Tang says. “It always felt to me like the Washington Post is a small town paper [that is] going to cover the government, [but] the government it happens to cover is the federal government.”
Financial constraints
ALISA TANG
GRAPHICS BY ZOE GORBACHEV & DORIS WANG
Bezos’ enthusiasm and investment in the paper proved successful. Readership surged from 200,000 subscribers in 2017 to over 3 million in 2020. The Post’s adoption of the famous slogan “Democracy Dies in Darkness” and choice to intensify coverage of the Trump Administration helped to increase its subscriber base. “Over the next eight or ten years [after Bezos’ acquisition], our traffic increased … especially during the first Trump administration because people were so interested in reading about what Trump was doing,” Jouvenal explains.
JUSTIN JOUVENAL
The day is March 10, 2026. The Washington Post newsroom is quiet. The desks designated for sports journalists are deserted, as are those of the Metro section and Book World. A little over one month prior, approximately one-third of the Washington Post staff received an email terminating their jobs at the Post. “It’s definitely gotten quieter. You see fewer people around the newsroom. [There are] some empty desks back there. Morale is kind of low right now,” Washington Post Supreme Court reporter Justin Jouvenal says. Flashback to half a century ago, the newsroom is alive and buzzing. Reporters type rapidly at their typewriters. Papers rustle. Light chatter echoes through the room; journalists are conferring about how to best angle their stories. Executive editor Ben Bradlee paces the office, checking in on the reporters: “Are you having fun?” “Are you having fun?” he asks. “We all look back and say those were the golden years,” former Washington Post journalist and editor Sally Quinn says. “Every day you came into the office and you didn’t know what to expect. There was something new, some new story, something exciting. It was just a fabulous
ago … it was my last cutting ties with this institution that I’ve read for my entire life.” Though desks in the Post newsroom remain deserted, Quinn believes there is a way for the Post to rebound. “I would just pour in money, money, money. I’d hire all the people back who left, with huge salaries,” Quinn says. “I’d reinstate Foreign, and Sports, and Metro, and Book World because my point of view is: [if] you want to make money, you have to have good content. And if you want to have good content, you have to have great reporters.” Reporters, both current and former, say that they still appreciate the unique sense of community and dedication that defined their time at the Post. “I’ve worked in a lot of places, but this was, for me, pretty much the ultimate place to work,” Jouvenal says. “And it’s a great place. The people are great. The reporters are great. They work really hard, and there’s a real community of people here that really are what make the Washington Post great.” With increasing domestic and international conflicts and rapid changes to technology, quality journalism is more important than ever. “Right now we feel like it’s a very important time to do journalism,” Jouvenal says. “There’s a lot of important things going on, [from] the war in Iran [to] coverage of the Trump administration, and … it’s much harder for us to do the job when we have fewer people to do it.”
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FEATURES June 15, 2026
A policy of second chances Looking into disciplinary measures at Blair By MURILO DOS SANTOS, KIRAN DURVASULA, and TOMAS MONTICELLI Where only first names appear, names have been changed to protect the identities of the sources.
New Blair principal Damon Monteleone says many of the changes were informed by his previous experience. “I’ve been a principal before, so I have a model. I’ve always wanted ISI staffed with a paraeducator, not security,” he says. “What message does it send when you have security sitting there, versus someone [like Ms. Uzuegbu who] engages students, asks them to reflect, and has a process?” Another reason ISI has seen increased attention this year is because of the implementation and enforcement of In-Class OnTime (ICOT), a policy created by former Principal Kevin Yates. Students who arrive late to class are given a green tardy pass. Once a student receives three of those g r e e n passes, they must serve lunch detention. Missing three lunch detentions leads to ISI. A
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Over 400 times this year, a Blair student has been pulled from class and sent to Room 160, where they are expected to sit, stay silent, and do as they are told. This has been the reality of students serving InSchool Intervention (ISI), a consequence many students find hard to distinguish from suspension. Now, the administration says it is trying to change that perception. At its core, ISI is designed as a restorative alternative to punishment, providing rule-breaking students a period structured to help them reflect and correct their behavior while being able to continue their school work. This shares many parallels with the similarly named InSchool Suspension (ISS), in which a student is removed from class and placed in a separate supervised setting. Like ISI, Maryland requires that students in ISS be given the opportunity to complete work and receive behavior support. However, it carries one very important difference: ISS is marked on a student permanent record, ISI is not. The move from ISS to ISI was the result of a concentrated MCPS effort to reduce total suspensions countywide under Superintendent Jerry Weast (1999-2011). Leading up to the implementation, MCPS conducted pilot programs and cited studies showing that in-school removals were not an effective disciplinary measure and contributed to demographic disparities among affected students.
According to Aaron Bernstein, the tenth grade administrator at Blair, the more flexible nature of ISI has all but replaced the traditional ISS model. ISI is not new to Blair, “ISI has been available at least as long as I’ve been a member of [MCPS], which is 12-ish years now,” Bernstein says. Despite its history at Blair and across MCPS, ISI has been brought into the spotlight this year, partly due to broader changes brought on by the new Blair administration. Among the changes to ISI at Blair this year was the hiring of Jilian Uzuegbu as the school’s ISI Paraeducator, replacing the security guards who previously supervised the room. Uzuegbu previously worked at an alternative school in Washington, D.C. in which she worked with students who had a history of disciplinary problems at traditional schools. “We really wanted to forge a whole new program, a whole new way of looking at ISI rather than just being a punishment,” she says. Instead of leaving students to sit in silence, Uzuegbu says that she works on helping students reflect. “[My work] looks a lot like restorative talks, breathing exercises … pinpointing where we can work, either in personal development and/ or academic development.”
Of the 440 occurrences of ISI so far this year, more than 50 percent have been directly due to tardiness. Some students, like Katie, describe a different experience in ISI. “I was sent to the room for the whole day, and they didn’t ask for much,” she says. “I had to do my homework or whatever, but I didn’t have to do any restorative justice assignments or practices. And other people were there because they were fighting. They didn’t have to do any work or anything like that either.” Questions have also been raised regarding ICOT’s consistency. Some teachers at Blair choose to let students in freely, while others lock the door seconds after the bell rings. Calvin Smith-Ramani, a junior at Blair, says he has received lunch detention three times despite being only seconds late. “Getting the slip takes five to ten minutes, more time than I was late,” he says. Blair junior Lucas Thompson questioned the effectiveness of lunch detention itself. “[During] the sign out process, there’s only one computer in a long line, which made me late to class,” Thompson says. “The whole point of lunch
Winging it
distinction was to stop that, but the process itself made me late to my sixth period class.” Some parents, like Corinne Sauri, mother of a senior at Blair, have been frustrated by the lack of communication from administrators. “We just had an experience where I tried to communicate back to my student’s administrator [regarding her being given ISI] and a day went by, and I didn’t hear back,” she says. “I’m stunned that after four emails, no one has responded.” Principal Monteleone says he wants Blair’s disciplinary system to focus more on restoration and reflection than punishment. “There’s got to be consequences. However, consequences should be part of the learning process, not just punitive in nature,” Montelone says. “It’s not a good thing to make a kid feel excluded from a community. It’s bad for them, and it’s bad for the community.” Despite the administration’s emphasis on restorative practices, some students and parents say their experiences have not always matched that vision. Questions about consistency, communication, and implementation remain points of debate within the Blair community. Whether Blair’s evolving approach to discipline ultimately succeeds may depend not only on the philosophy behind it, but on how consistently students experience those principles in practice.
Behind the scenes of Brookside Gardens’ butterfly experience By ZOE GORBACHEV
The South Conservatory at Brookside Gardens is, depending on the day, either a magical rainforest or a pretty sauna. Either way, it is full of butterflies—hundreds of them, from all over the world, moving in every direction at once. Getting them there is a complicated story. “We get butterflies from all over the world,” Amani Gottlieb, Assistant Manager of the Butterfly Exhibit, says. “Central and South America, Asia, and Africa.” Brookside works with two brokers: one in Florida for domestic species and one in Colorado that sources internationally, including from El Bosque Nuevo, a Costa Rican farm
with which Brookside is partnered. The butterflies arrive as chrysalises, the pupal stage for butterflies. “We’re not allowed to have eggs or caterpillars in the house,” Gottlieb explains. Federal permits from the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) regulate what can enter the country and move between state borders. Brookside has three of these permits: one for importing exotic species and two for interstate transit of exotic and domestic animals. Over the course of the season, these permits allow Brookside to host about 275 butterfly species, so the rotation of fluttering critters is constantly changing. Most of these butterflies live only a couple of
PHOTOS BY IAN GLEASON
weeks as adults, so they are shipped in once or twice a week to refresh the display. “[In] the exhibit here, we’re just focusing on the adult stage,” Gottlieb says. “Because they’re from all over the world, it’s too much work to rear them here.” Once they arrive, staff pin the chrysalises into display cases and wait for the butterflies to emerge. A newly emerged butterfly’s wings are wet and crumpled, so it has to break free from its casing and slowly pump fluid from its abdomen to expand them, like unfolding damp origami. The whole process takes a couple of hours on average. When the wings are dry, the butterfly is moved into the exhibit tent, where it is finally ready to appear in visitors’ Instagram stories. To care for the critters, Brookside provides everything the butterflies could possibly need. “Most butterflies drink nectar or … some sort of liquid,” Gottlieb says. “So we have a huge variety of flowers in the exhibit … which is really important for different butterflies.” Each butterfly species has a different proboscis shape, affecting which flowers they can feed from. Additionally, some butterflies from places like Central America and Africa do not eat nectar and instead feed on rotting fruit that has fallen from trees. “They really enjoy the fermented juice,” Gottlieb says. To accommodate this prefer-
ence, the exhibit is strewn with pieces of fruit hanging from strings, making the conservatory smell like a farmer’s market in the sun. That feeling is strengthened by the heat and humidity inside the enclosure. Butterflies tend to prefer temperatures around 80 degrees, so the exhibit uses an aspirator—essentially a thermostat for the enclosure—to maintain that temperature. On sunny days, though, the temperature can far exceed that. “Full disclosure for people planning to visit,” Gottlieb mentions, “On hot, sunny days, it can get really, really warm in there, and there’s not much we can do about it.” Brookside’s efforts do not end with the conservatory, though. “A
big focus of ours this year is trying to educate the public, not just about how beautiful butterflies are, but their importance in the ecosystem,” Gottlieb says. The center urges people to grow native plants for pollen, nectar, or hosting butterflies. It also suggests leaving fall and winter overgrowth until spring to give butterflies a chance to overwinter safely. The butterflies are doing great. They are warm, well-fed, and unbothered. They are unconcerned about Costa Rica, customs, or their place in the ecosystem. They have flowers to investigate.
June 15, 2026 Features D4
silverchips
When snow hits the fan Regrouping after the 2026 snowstorm By CELIA MAX and GABRIELLA MCKENZIE
I am forced to push it faster, because I cannot cut down any material. It’s an AP curriculum, so it’s not up to me.
MANANA O’DONOVAN
The legendary snow week in late January of this year was joyfully welcomed by MCPS students as a break from the monotony of homework, classes, and tests. But the closures had an unexpected consequence—MCPS exhausted its designated days off for the year, and consequently, the school district was forced to extend the school year into late June. According to Julie Palakovich Carr, a Maryland State Delegate, MCPS’ attempt to have the snow days waived was initially denied. “MCPS applied for a waiver from the state to not make up four school days,” Palakovich said. “That waiver was denied, which left the district with no good options for how to comply with state law except to extend the school year significantly at an additional cost of $6 to $8 million.” After pushback from the community, the state granted MCPS the waivers, and the district did not have to extend the school year. But the possibility of such a dilemma was a wake-up call for MCPS to find alternative ways to make up instructional time. One of these new plans—perhaps not so new for some older students—is a freshly updated “Code Purple” virtual learning procedure. The procedure has updated information about the distribution of Wifi devices, which are given to allow students to have a wifi connection if not possible in their homes, and the timeline and struc-
ture for virtual school days. According to the MCPS plan, which was released on March 26, “Code Purple” will only be declared in “severe weather conditions under specific statutory requirements.” The county’s designated snow days must have been used before a virtual day can go into effect. A “Code Purple” school day will begin at 9:45 a.m., with 32 minutes allotted for each class. There will be a 30-minute lunch break from 11:27 a.m. to 11:57 a.m., and the day ends at 2:13 p.m. Teachers at Blair have mixed opinions about the implementation of these virtual days. “If we have a plan in place for extended closures, we can do some virtual learning … to combat this problem of losing all this time,” Blair English teacher Adam Clay says.
Rebecca Stelzner, a social studies teacher at Blair, thinks that the independent nature of virtual learning could make it difficult for students to absorb the content they are supposed to be learning. “I think [virtual learning days] could help, but still, you’re allowing students to learn a whole bunch of stuff that I would normal-
ly help students and guide students through, and asking them to do it independently, which is not ideal,” Stelzner says. Clay says that having a virtual learning system in place might help alleviate some of the pressure now on teachers as a result of the four days of missed school. “We used to have emergency Zoom links that we were supposed to put up on Canvas every year, and we didn’t this year,” Clay says. “I think that it was shortsighted, and now we’re paying the consequences for it.” Manana O’Donovan, a chemistry teacher at Blair, paints a picture of increasingly hectic classes as she tries to make up for the instructional time lost during the snow week. “I am forced to push it faster, because I cannot cut down any material,” O’Donovan says. “It’s an AP curriculum, so it’s not up to me,” she says. O’Donovan does not typically like lecturing her class, but says there is little time for other forms of instruction. She has also had to sacrifice her week of AP review before the May 5 exam to finish covering the course material. “When I plan for my classes in August, I leave one week, plus, for the review in the classroom,” O’Donovan says. “This year, because I cannot do that, all of my review time has been replaced with the material.”
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O’Donovan now offers after-school review sessions—but she worries that these are not as accessible as the previous in-class review. “I stay after school on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, to do the review,” she says. “But I fear that not everybody can come after school.” Other teachers have to cut projects and assignments out of their instruction. “Since we didn’t get that time, it meant that I only got to spend one day on the bureaucracy,” AP Government teacher Rebecca Stelzner says. ”I had to cut out a whole project.” Students have also felt the pressure created by the shortened calendar. Blair junior Clara Faulk, who is enrolled in five AP classes, says many classes were still cramming content long after they were supposed to move into review. “With the pacing, it was definitely supposed to be slowing down,” Faulk says. “We’re supposed to be studying a little bit during class for AP tests, but we didn’t because we hadn’t finished the material.” The effects of a shaky school calendar have affected teachers and students alike. Whether through “Code Purple” or other changes, MCPS faces mounting pressure to ensure this year’s scramble does not repeat itself next winter.
D5 Features June 15, 2026
Chips chats with Cynthia Adarkwa
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Emmy-winning producer for ‘‘The Pitt’’ By VEE DIMYAN and ALICE LEVINGS
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
How did growing up in a diverse environment like Montgomery County shape the way you see storytelling and representation? It definitely shaped my worldview. I thought everywhere was like Montgomery County, a cultural melting pot. I am the child of two Ghanaian immigrants, so I have that background. Of course, at school, I met so many different types of people. Honestly, leaving Blair, I assumed everywhere else was like Montgomery County. So I actually experienced a bit of culture shock when I first went to college and other places because there is not much diversity in some areas.
I thought everywhere was like Montgomery County, a cultural melting pot.
CYNTHIA ADARKWA
Cynthia Adarkwa is a co-executive producer on the Emmy-winning TV show “The Pitt” and a Montgomery Blair High School alumna (Class of 2006). Her parents immigrated to the United States from Ghana, and she grew up in Silver Spring. After high school, she attended Savannah College of Art and Design and received her bachelor’s degree in fine arts. Adarkwa sat down with Silver Chips to discuss her experience working on TV sets and her journey from Montgomery County to Hollywood.
African Americans in the City of Light—that I realized I wanted to explore being a writer. As part of that program, I spent six weeks in Paris. We studied in the cafe where James Baldwin wrote. We studied Black African or African Americans who had left the United States to do art in Paris. We studied James Baldwin, Richard Wright, and Josephine Baker. It wasn’t until that summer that it clicked for me that I could be a writer and make a living.
minds in 2026, and some of them are really, really heavy. On our show, quite a few of our characters are dealing with mental health issues, so we talk a lot about mental health and managing that. Leaning on other writers and my community is important. We do a lot of research because we want to be as accurate as possible. Then, we kind of map out the full season. Once we get assigned our episodes, we beat out the episode beats, and then we write an outline. From that outline, we write the script. Throughout the process, we’re working with the other writers in the room, the producers on the show, and we’re getting notes. It’s a very collaborative process.
Idol.” I got to make a lot of friends that way. Then came figuring out how to meet TV writers and how to get into scripted television. I used Twitter to follow writers I admired, and that’s kind of how I started building community and tiptoeing into the TV writing business.
Many young viewers have said the show makes them feel like medicine is a real possibility for them. What does it mean to you to hear that kind of response? I think that’s wonderful. We work with ER doctors in the room, and they’ve told us that emergency medicine isn’t as popu-
What advice do you have for Blair students who want to break into film or TV writing but don’t know where to start? I feel like the path can be a little murky, but it is really about studying the craft of writing and writing. I took that opportunity. I ended up going to Savannah College of Art and Design. I majored in dramatic writing, so that gave me the opportunity to really study the craft of writing and reading
PHOTO COURTESY OF CYNTHIA ADARKWA
What is the most difficult part lar as it used to be. And now we have this of your job? I think it’s when you’re in a time crunch because there are set dates for when you’re going to shoot your episode. So your script needs to be ready by then. If it’s not, then it can be a little bit stressful. By the time we had to shoot, you never know what’s going to happen on set. Being able to roll with those punches and being flexible is super helpful because ultimately, at the end of the day, we’re all human beings.
That actually came after Blair for me. I did enjoy TV and film in high school. But I remember taking a ceramics class, and it was such an opportunity to explore creativity and art that I hadn’t really had before. I was interested in creativity, but taking that class really opened my mind to exploring different forms of it.
writing, you know? Once you do get the ball rolling, look into competitions and programs and start applying. And at this point in time, I’d say if you want to be a TV or film writer, watch TV and watch films and study it, you know, see what you like about it, how you could be inspired by it, and take those influences and explore that in your writing.
What does your writing process look like when you’re working on How did you find out you wantan intense script for a show? ed to be a TV writer? I initially went to college as a business major and explored creative business because I knew creativity was interesting to me. It wasn’t the right fit. It wasn’t until I did a study abroad program in Paris—Paris Noir:
We’re actually in the writing room right now, working on season three of “The Pitt.” We started a few weeks ago, and we have been doing a lot of research. We talk to a lot of medical experts about the topics on their
CYNTHIA ADARKWA
PHOTO COURTESY OF SILVERLOUGE 2006
Was there any specific teacher, class, or experience at Blair that inspired you to get into writing screenplays. So I think it starts there: to actually write something, finish it, and then keep and producing?
I never dreamed about winning an Emmy, but I did. And it’s f— ing cool.
What are some setbacks you have faced as a writer? My journey wasn’t straightforward. When I first moved to L.A., I didn’t know any TV writers. I didn’t really know people in the entertainment business. My parents are immigrants; they knew nothing about the TV business, so I kind of jumped into this on my own. That was hard: building community, making friends, and finding my first job. After college, I was a production assistant in Baltimore on a show called “Veep.” I worked about one day a week when they were on location. But my first job in L.A., I was a production assistant on “American
show, The Pitt, on this global platform. And young people are realizing, oh, I could take that path. And I think it’s helpful to see what the job is, which The Pitt helps people do. Healthcare workers are amazing, and we need them. So I think it’s wonderful that people are inspired by the show to hopefully go into the medical field.
Since “The Pitt” has become such a big hit, what kinds of stories do you want to tell next? On “The Pitt,” we’re still figuring out what stories we’re going to be telling next season. I am always attracted to stories that center women and women of color. I am attracted to stories that we haven’t really seen. So hopefully I’ll find something cool and interesting like that for the upcoming season. In my personal writing, I love mixing genres. So I love mystery. I love comedy. I love drama. I’m interested in telling fun stories that aren’t extremely heavy—maybe a little bit light.
What does it feel like to win awards? You won an Emmy. How does that feel? It’s crazy. It’s so cool. I mean, the Emmy is the biggest TV award. I’ve been writing professionally for maybe 10 years, and this is rare. This doesn’t happen all the time, so I tried to be in the moment. It is such a privilege to be able to do this work and to receive this response. And to be acknowledged in this way, it’s wild. I never dreamed about winning an Emmy, but I did. And it’s f—ing cool.
la
El quince de Junio de 2026
esquinalatina Representando la comunidad latinx desde el 2003
Volumen 18 Número 2
Conectando culturas a través de la música Revolución latina en los Grammys Por TOKYO HOPKINS y STELLA THEISMAN
MARIA ESPINAL
Muchas personas están creando la misma música. Es un poco aburrido. Pero una vez que exploras fuera de tu país, puedes ver más tipos de géneros y subgéneros que nunca has escuchado.
para expresar una gran variedad de emoción que refleja temas relevantes de hoy. La variedad de la música representa la naturaleza multidimensional de la música latina, dado que cada país tiene su propia cultura distinta. Por sus melodías festivas y animadas, la música latina ha ganado popularidad en el escenario global. Diana Rodríguez, la diretora ejecutiva de Criteria Entertainment, describe la música latina como música que te hace querer moverte. “Sigue sin reglas, tiene un sentido fuerte de sus propias raíces, y desdibuja los límites de la demografía de género”. Los artistas han usado los Latin
Grammys como plataforma para arrojar luz en los géneros menos populares y abogar por el cambio. “En un mundo lleno de guerra, inflación y depresión, la música nos permite escaparnos”, dijo Rodríguez. Durante los Grammys de este año, hubo mucha tensión sobre las acciones recientes de ICE. Muchos asistentes de los Grammys llevaban botones que decían “ICE Out” (Fuera ICE). Además, algunos artistas que recibieron premios usaban sus victorias para criticar las acciones recientes de ICE y exigir el fin de la violencia. Cuando Olivia Dean, una artista pop emergente, ganó el premio de mejor artista nueva, anunció: “Quiero decir que soy una nieta de un inmigrante. Soy un producto de valentía y creo que esas personas merecen ser celebradas. Nunca somos sin los otros”. La defensa pública ha creado un reconocimiento nuevo de las amenazas a los derechos de latinoamericanos en los EE.UU. Gloria Estefan, una artista cubana, ganadora de cinco Grammys, y receptora de la Medalla Presidencial de la Libertad, ganó el mejor álbum tropical para su álbum “Raíces” este año. Después de su victoria, expresó su desaprobación de la separación de familias hispanas a causa de ICE. “...que está ocurriendo no hay criminales en absoluto arrestados”, dijo Estefan. “Estas personas son personas con familias que han contribuido a este país por décadas”. Más aún, Justin Vernon, un miembro de la banda indie Bon Iver, llevó un silbar para honrar a las personas que están combatiendo contra las acciones del gobierno hacia inmigrantes. “Creo que hay una razón en que la música exista, y es para [curar] y [reunir a las personas]”, dijo Vernon. “Pero el trabajo real son esos [observadores] afuera en Minneapolis. Solo queremos gritar [ICE] out”. Algunos estudiantes de Blair también piensan que la diversidad en música es importante. Lorenzo García Flores, un estudiante de Blair en el grado 10, habló sobre los tipos de pop
y las culturas entre este género, específicamente las diferencias entre pop estadounidense convencional y K-Pop. Expresando sus preocupaciones, dijo: “Muchas personas están creando la misma música. Es un poco aburrido. Pero una vez que exploras fuera de tu país, puedes ver más tipos de géneros y subgéneros que nunca has escuchado”.
Quiero decir que soy una nieta de un inmigrante. Soy un producto de valentía y creo que esas personas merecen ser celebradas. Nunca somos sin los otros.
OLIVIA DEAN
nos puede abrir muchas oportunidades de la industria global, incluyendo una mayor promocion y conexiones con sellos discográficos prestigiosos. Lograr un Grammy americano también es algo que une a la comunidad de artistas latinos. Los ganadores suelen reconocer su cultura más que sus logros individuales, resaltando la importancia de compartir la música de LATAM con el mundo. La música de América Latina, que oscila entre música tribal, folklórica y pop moderna, posee una historia rica y arraigada en la cultura latinoamericana. Muchas personas han usado la música para exhibir sus raíces y combatir la colonización. La música también ha sido usada durante movimientos sociales y políticos, y las artistas han usado sus letras
LORENZO GARCÍA FLORES
La entrega de los premios Grammy de 2026 marcó un cambio en el mundo musical al celebrar los logros de artistas de música en español. Con la representación ha sido un tema frecuente este año, el público general ha discutido cómo destacar a otras culturas de manera apropiada. Los Grammys son la ceremonia de entrega de premios musicales más grande de los EE.UU. Esta ceremonia incluye música en vivo, premios esperados, y discursos conmovedores. Hay muchas categorías de premios diferentes, incluyendo el álbum del año, la grabación del año, mejor artista nuevo, y muchos otros. Todos los ganadores tienen que ser nominados por los miembros votantes de la academia de grabación. La academia anuncia las nominaciones unos meses antes de la ceremonia, eligiéndolas de una lista de artistas que desean ser representados. Después, los miembros de la academia de grabación votan por los ganadores, y en la noche de los Grammys, los anuncian. La comunidad latina hizo historia durante los Grammys de este año; el nuevo álbum de estudio de Bad Bunny, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos”, se convirtió en el primer álbum predominantemente en español en ganar el título de álbum del año. Bad Bunny también ganó el álbum del año por el mismo proyecto en los premios Latin Grammys. Además, Las Marías realizaron su canción popular “No One Noticed”, un éxito del Billboard Top 10 que las llevó a recibir una nominación por el premio de mejor artista nueva. Esta banda, conocida por su mezcla de inglés y español en sus canciones, habla sobre temas importantes en la industria musical, incluso las políticas de inmigración. Las Marías trabajaron con Bad Bunny en su álbum “Un Verano Sin Ti” para honrar el origen de la música de Puerto Rico y llevarla a una audiencia estadounidense dominante. Su atención general al detalle refleja cómo honran la cultura latina y el idioma español. Fuera de los Grammys americanos, la celebración principal para artistas latinos toma lugar en los Latin Grammys. La Academia de Grabación de las Artes y las Ciencias fue establecida en el año 1997, y la primera entrega de premios tuvo lugar en Los Ángeles en el año 2000. Artistas que crean música en español o portugués, como Bad Bunny en este caso, son elegibles para recibir un premio Latin Grammy. La academia latina presenta los mismos premios principales que los Grammys de los EE.UU., pero incluye más subgéneros. Estas categorías incluyen música alternativa, tropical, y música en los idiomas de México y Portugal. Esta representación refleja la gran variedad de géneros músicales en la cultura latina. Para muchas personas, esta ceremonia es significativa porque pueden celebrar su cultura en un escenario global y honrar a las artistas que han tenido un impacto en sus vidas. Tener representación en los Latin Grammys y los Grammys de los EE.UU. puede cambiar la trayectoria de la carrera de un músico. Los Latin Grammys están enfocados en la cultura latina, y por eso para estar reconocido en los Grammys america-
Por muchos años, los Grammys han sido objeto de críticas por su exclusión de ciertos géneros musicales, que a su vez excluían a las minorías. Abordando estas preocupaciones, los Grammys han incluido más de 3.000 mujeres en su academia en años recientes. También ha aumentado el número de personas de color involucradas por 63%. Muchos hitos han ocurrido este año en la comunidad latina, y esas victorias son medidas importantes hacia la igualdad— pero necesitamos más defensores. Para ser justos de verdad, los Grammys deben incluir premios y reconocimientos que representen más géneros, a fin de tener una representación mayor de minorías en los años que vienen. Entregas de premios como los Grammys revelan la importancia de la música en nuestras vidas y por qué deberíamos seguir promoviendo la diversidad a gran escala.
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E2 La Esquina Latina el quince de Junio de 2026
Tradiciones que transcurren
IA ESPINAL MAR
La Semana Santa y sus diferentes aspectos Por SANTIAGO JIMENEZ y ANYELI MUÑOZ-RODRIGUEZ La Semana Santa es una de las celebraciones más importantes del calendario cristiano, en el que conmemoran la pasión, muerte y resurrección de Jesucristo. Durante estos días, que comienzan con el Domingo de Ramos y culminan con el Domingo de Resurrección, millones de fieles alrededor del mundo participan en procesiones, misas y representaciones religiosas que evocan los últimos momentos de su vida. Más allá de su significado espiritual, la Semana Santa también es una manifestación cultural profundamente arraigada en numerosos países, donde la tradición, la música y el arte sacro adquieren un protagonismo especial. La Semana Santa es una de las celebraciones donde muchas familias se reúnen y es una forma de recordar el sacrificio de Jesucristo y su legado. Pero antes de la Semana Santa hay un periodo de reflexión y preparación para la llegada de Jesucristo, la cuaresma, este período es de 40 días y muchas personas toman este tiempo para ofrecer un sacrificio ya que para ellos es una forma de reconocer el sacrificio de Jesucristo hacia la humanidad por lo que hacen una penitencia, lo cual es una forma de representar el agradecimiento de las personas hacia Jesucristo por dar la vida para librarnos del pecado. El significado de estas fechas va más allá del agradecimiento ya que lo toman con algo especial y que reconocen que la vida no sería igual, pero esto no sucede en todas las regiones del mundo porque en más de siete países esta celebración no es una costumbre. Esto se debe a que son pertenecientes a otra religión que no es el catolicismo. Sin embargo, no evita que más de 2.000 millones de personas sean parte de esta celebración. Cada lugar o país puede celebrar de diferente manera con procesiones, comidas, ceremonias y reuniones familiares. Kathryn Zimmerman, profesora de astronomía y física en Blair, vivió durante un tiempo en Chile y comentó que “Es intere-
sante porque aquí (en los Estados Unidos) los católicos son más religiosos a diferencia de Chile que es un poco más relajado” lo cual puede cambiar las distintas actividades que se hacen y la magnitud de personas que se movilizan haciendo estas actividades. Durante la Semana Santa se realizan diferentes actividades, una de ellas son las procesiones, lo cual representa muestra pública de fe, devolución, unidad comunitaria y el cumplimiento de promesas, una de las actividades más importantes es la misa. Silvana Brinkman, profesora de educación física en Blair, menciona que “también [es importante] en familia ir juntos a misa los domingos durante la Cuaresma” m o mentos más con-
KAREN GOMEZ
memorativos e importantes, donde es recordado el sacrificio, resurrección y la última cena de Jesucristo. Por otro lado, en Perú existe una comunidad católica más amplia que en Chile y además se siguen otras costumbres. Una de ellas es recorrer las Siete Iglesias, tal como describió el ciudadano peruano Giacomo Sotelo: “en el Jueves Santo, si no estoy mal, ese es el día en el que se recorren las siete iglesias; al menos en mi familia, el jueves es en donde vamos a recorrerlas”. Durante esta tradición, distintas familias
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Lingüística con Nate
peruanas visitan las Siete Iglesias, que se encuentran usualmente en el centro de Lima ya que están más cercanas unas de otras. Esto se hace como un sacrificio o penitencia, ya que mientras una persona recorra todas las iglesias deberá estar en ayuno. Una vez Por NATE VIECHNICKI completado el recorrido, los fieles pueden En la remota isla de Bougainville, en el comer. Luego, el Viernes Santo la gente no este de Papúa Nueva Guinea, la lengua Torau come carne por lo cual optan a comer pla- enfrenta un futuro incierto. Hablada por una comunidad reducida, este idioma indígena tos con pescado así como volvió a mencioes clave para la identidad cultural local, pero nar Sotelo, “ese día comemos pescado con está en peligro debido al número decreciente cebolla, arroz, papa, lo que se pueda dar”. de hablantes y la influencia de lenguas dominantes. Estas fechas también son un momento Uno de los defensores de esta lengua es Paul para compartir en familia y preparar alimen- Babatambi, un hombre de 24 años que busca tos tradicionales. Sin embargo, las comidas apoyar tanto la preservación cultural como la recuperación emocional de su pueblo. Babatasociades con la Semana Santa varían con el ambi creció en un contexto marcado por las pais y la comunidad. Zimmerman men- secuelas del Bougainville Civil War, conflicto ciona que en Chile “es una parte costal, que dejó profundas heridas sociales. Motivado por esta realidad, planea estudiar psicología en comemos muchos mariscos”. Por Port Moresby, con el objetivo de ayudar a su otro lado, Brinkman comenta: comunidad a enfrentar traumas persistentes. En una región con acceso limitado a servicios “Mi abuela preparaba los siete de salud mental, su meta tiene gran relevancia. potajes”. Como dice, “me gustaría ayudar a mi pueblo Los siete potajes son difer- después de hacerme psicólogo”. Además, Babatambi colabora con ancianos entes platos de comida, esto para documentar el idioma Torau, registrando consiste en servir siete platos historias y vocabulario. Especialistas destacan distintos para conmemorar las que iniciativas comunitarias como esta son esenciales para evitar la desaparición de lenguas “siete palabras” de Jesús en la minoritarias. Al mismo tiempo, subrayan la cruz y su última cena, sim- necesidad de atender la salud mental en sobolizando unión familiar, gen- ciedades afectadas por conflictos. El caso de Babatambi refleja cómo la preservación culturerosidad y abstinencia de carnes al y el bienestar psicológico pueden ser conectrojas, después de un día lleno de ados. La situación de las lenguas indígenas en mucha abundancia de comida llega el Papúa Nueva Guinea es compleja, ya que el tiempo de descansar y asistir a los eventos país posee una de las mayores diversidades lingüísticas del mundo. Muchas comunidades realizados por la iglesia. pequeñas luchan por mantener vivas sus lenLa Semana Santa es mucho más que una guas frente al avance del inglés y del tok pisin, tradición, es un tiempo de reflexión y unión idiomas utilizados en la educación y la comupara millones de personas alrededor del nicación nacional. Aunque el Torau todavía cuenta con aproximadamente 1.200 hablantes mundo. A través de sus celebraciones, pro- distribuidos en las aldeas de Rorovana, Vito y cesiones y símbolos, se recuerda el sacrificio Tarara, los expertos advierten que el número y el mensaje de esperanza que transmite esta podría disminuir si las nuevas generaciones dejan de utilizarlo diariamente. conmemoración. Además, representa una Para Babatambi y otros jóvenes de Bougain oportunidad para fortalecer valores como ville, preservar el Torau significa proteger la memoria colectiva de su pueblo. A través de la la solidaridad, el respeto y la espiritualidad. documentación lingüística y el apoyo emocioSin duda, la Semana Santa continúa siendo nal a las víctimas del conflicto, buscan asegurar una de las celebraciones más significativas que las futuras generaciones mantengan un vínculo con su cultura y su historia. tanto a nivel religioso como cultural.
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Tarjeta roja al racismo
el quince de junio de 2026 La Esquina Latina E3
Como la discriminacion afecta la deportividad tas que generen un cambio real. Con tanto tiempo sin cambio, el racismo es vital no solo para la credibilidad del fútbol y sus jugadores, sino que también genera un impacto severo en el público y las generaciones futuras que ven el racismo ser normalizado.
Esta normalización se debe únicamente a la falta de sanciones, ya que la gente percibe que las consecuencias de sus acciones son sumamente mínimas.
SASHA GLICK
frecuentemente para insultar a Vinícius y muchos otros de color para degenerar su carácter. A menudo, de la investigación de la UEFA, su decisión de expulsar a Prestianni para el partido de vuelta contra Real Madrid creó opiniones dispersas entre espectadores y jugadores que pensaron que Prestianni no merecía ser sancionado, y otros decían lo contrario. Para poner en perspectiva, el famoso delantero del Real Madrid, Kylian Mbappé, dijo en una entrevista que “El Benfica es un club de primer nivel, no tengo nada en su
Entonces, es claro lo tan controversial que es el caso de Vinícius contra Prestianni, El 17 de febrero, el delantero de Benfica, pero para entender cómo FIFA ha maneGianluca Prestianni, supuestamente insultó jado casos como este hoy en día, hay que racialmente al delantero de Real Madrid, analizar cómo los oficiales del fútbol entero Vinícius Jr., tras un altercado por anotar y manejaron la situación cuando pasó primecelebrar un gol. Ahora, la Unión de Asociramente y si fue efectivo. aciones de Fútbol (UEFA) mostrará cómo Según Ángel Javier, un júnior de Montaborda los casos raciales de hoy en comgomery Blair High School, la UEFA gesparación con el pasado. tionó la situación algo bien. “Pienso que la UEFA reaccionó bien en detener el partiEn contexto, Vinícius había marcado do y verificar si era verdad lo que habían un gran gol para dar la ventaja en el partidicho”, dijo Javier. Adicionalmente, otro do. En seguida, Vinícius bailó para celebrar júnior de Blair, Joseph Murillo, opinó lo contrario: “La verdad es que no se puede decir si la UEFA hizo algo… pero de que sí hicieron algo no creo que se hiciera nada, solo se dio una advertencia”, dijo Joseph. Este caso sirve como ejemplo de lo difícil que es determinar si fue lo correcto suspender provisionalmente a un jugador. Por lo tanto, para una organización tan grande como la de la Champions League se puede notar que manejaron la situación mejor que en otros casos. Esto es porque ha habido otros casos raciales en el pasado que no fueron respondidos lo mismo de bueno. Un júnior de Blair, Sasha Glick, informó sobre unos cuantos casos en los que jugadores fueron insultados racialmente o insultaron a otros equipos. Por ejemplo, Glick informó que un año después de haberle ganado a Francia en la final del mundial 2022, “Todos [El equipo nacional de Argentina] estaban cantando canciones racistas sobre la selección francesa”, dijo Glick. También FOTO POR FABRICIO REYES-GONZALEZ informó que hubo una falta de consecuenDEPORTES DE BLAIR Los estudiantes de Blair juegan al fútbol durante el almuerzotion cias: “En esencia, no pasó nada… no hubo ningún castigo ni nada por el estilo”, agregó Glick. Al entender esto, es notable que el y esa fue la provocación pretendida que el contra… pero Prestianni no debería volver a fútbol ha visto numerosos actos raciales y árbitro y los jugadores de Benfica le ren- jugar nunca más en la Champions League”, que muy poco ha cambiado desde entonces egaron. La razón por la que un caso como declaró Mbappé. Es justo que un jugador hasta hoy. Claro, FIFA ha expulsado o suseste fue tan controvertido fue porque Pres- que estuvo en la cancha con Vinícius cuan- pendido a unos cuantos jugadores o especttianni se cubrió la boca con su camiseta y, do pretendidamente fue llamado “mono”, adores, pero, después de todo este tiempo, según Vinícius Jr., fue entonces cuando le diría que él nunca más debería jugar porque todavía no se han adoptado leyes más estricllamó “mono”. Este término ha sido usado lo dijo con una intención clara. Por FABRICIO REYES-GONZALEZ
Por ejemplo, Glick agregó que hay incidentes en los que “Estadios españoles enteros, como el del Valencia, están coreando ‘Mono’a Vini Jr.’”. Realizando que lentamente estas situaciones están siendo normalizadas sin un castigo, “Esta normalización se debe únicamente a la falta de sanciones, ya que la gente percibe que las consecuencias de sus acciones son sumamente mínimas”, dijo Sasha. Esto muestra la severidad del racismo cuando no se controla y desafortunadamente si FIFA sigue sin implementar leyes o castigos más estrictos, entonces el racismo podría seguir siendo normalizado y impactar al público. Al final, Fifa ha tenido muchos casos raciales y controversiales en el mundo del fútbol, pero si ha hecho un cambio profundo, aún no se ha realizado. Sea que Vinícius fue acusado racialmente o no, la manera en que los árbitros y oficiales de UEFA actuaron es justa para actualizar futuros cambios en la actitud de esta sociedad.
Ironman aterriza en El Salvador El primer triatlón salvadoreño Por JOAQUIN CONTRERAS-RUSHING
STUART MALLON
Todos están hablando contigo, hablando de cómo va a ir la carrera y si todo está bien.
en más de 50 países alrededor del mundo. El pasado 22 de febrero tuvo lugar el primer Ironman 70,3 en la historia de El Salvador, que contó con aproximadamente 1.200 participantes y duró un solo día. Este Ironman 70,3 empieza con una sección de natación en el Lago Ilopango, continuando con la sección de bicicleta que lleva a los atletas desde el Lago Ilopango hasta el pueblo de Cojutepeque, y termina de regreso en la capital, San Salvador. La última sección de la carrera es un maratón por las calles de San Salvador que empieza en la Plaza Libertad y termina en la Plaza Gerardo Barrios. La línea de meta está rodeada de un ambiente animado y brillante. Los espectadores llevan banderas de El Salvador y de otros
puede deberse a la influencia d e l presidente Nayib Bukele y a otros factores políticos y sociales. Ahora El Salvador está considerado uno de los países más seguros en Latinoamérica. Esta transición hizo que la organización de Ironman pudiera empezar una carrera en este país maravilloso.
A pesar de que todos los que compiten en carreras de Ironman están haciendo algo difícil e impresionante, solo pueden tener dos ganadores. El ganador del Ironman San Salvador 70,3 de la división de hombres es el triatleta guatemalteco Raúl Tejada, con un tiempo de 4:12:58 horas. Tejada es un triatleta profesional de la serie de T100 (circuito profesional de triatlón de 100 km) y ha quedado en el podio varias veces, pero esta fue la primera vez que ganó un Ironman. Igualmente, la ganadora de la división de mujeres es la triatleta guatemalteca Ana García Rodas, con un tiempo de 4:50:24 horas. Este no fue el primer podio de Ironman para García Rodas; ella también ha ganado el Ironman 70,3 Panamá.
A
P a r a lograr tiempos M competitivos, RO meses de entreA AR namiento duro y KY enfoque son necesarios. Un estudiante y atleta de grado 12 de Blair, Evan Blenkinsop, explica su entrenamiento para triatlones: “Como un corredor, continúo con mi entrenamiento normal, y para natación, O ER
LIR
participo en un equipo de natación durante el verano”. También dice que hacer triatlones significa que “eres alguien muy
El paradigma de resistencia cardiovascular.
STUART MALLON
El triatlón Ironman es uno de los hitos más difíciles del atletismo cardiovascular. La carrera consiste en, primero, nadar 3,8 kilómetros, luego ir en bicicleta por 180 kilómetros y terminar con un maratón (42,2 km). Hay carreras de Ironman y Ironman 70,3 (la mitad de distancia de un Ironman)
países de Centroamérica. Los espectadores dan vivas con entusiasmo mientras los atletas cruzan la línea. La llegada del primer Ironman en El Salvador significa que están tomando una dirección diferente de su pasado, cuando era el país más inseguro en Centroamérica. Según el Banco Mundial, las tasas de crimen violentos en El Salvador han descendido de 108 por 100.000 personas a ocho por 100.000 personas en los últimos ocho años. Parte de esta tendenc i a
que está en forma porque necesitas ser muy bueno en diferentes deportes.” El estudiante argentino de grado 12 de Blair, Stuart Mallon, que participa en triatlones, los describe como “el paradigma de resistencia cardiovascular”. Atletas de todo el mundo compiten para ver quién tiene la mayor resiliencia física y mental. Sin embargo, el Ironman también ha creado una comunidad unida por el esfuerzo y la dedicación. Las carreras incluyen varios eventos sociales en los que los atletas pueden interactuar, aprender y divertirse. Mallon dice que la comunidad de triatlones es muy “inspiradora y alentadora”. También dijo que antes de que la carrera empiece, “todos están hablando contigo, hablando de cómo va a ir la carrera y si todo está bien”, y después de la carrera, “todos están compartiendo sus experiencias y felicitándose”. De acuerdo con esta experiencia, Blenkinsop dice que “el apoyo de los espectadores era genial”. Con la llegada del primer Ironman 70,3 a El Salvador, el país no solo recibió atención global, sino también se incorporó a una comunidad global construida sobre la perseverancia, la disciplina y el apoyo mutuo.
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E4 La Esquina Latina el quince de junio de 2026
En español también se informa Abriéndonos paso en el mundo noticiero Por LIVIA ROSENBERG y CANDELA RUBINI LAFUENTE
DANIELA RENDEROS
En Blair, las publicaciones en español sirven un gran propósito: informar a los hispanohablantes de la escuela y la comunidad. Todos merecen acceso a noticias locales, nacionales e internacionales sin importar su lengua, y estas publicaciones ayudan a cerrar la brecha de inaccesibilidad en el condado. Todos los días,
Hay muchos problemas que están presentando contra la comunidad hispana y en estos momentos creo que la representación entre como espacios que a veces las voces de los hispanos no son escuchadas tanto, es muy importante tener.
El orgullo bilingüe Dos idiomas, un super poder Por JOCELYN NOLASCO FERNANDEZ
CHRISTINA GASKINS
bién permite navegar entre diferentes mundos completamente. Hablar español, inglés, francés y muchos otros idiomas permite que muchos jóvenes naveguen una mente bilingüe que fortalece su cerebro y identidad. Como una estudiante bilingüe en inglés y francés nos comenta, “Yo creo que la mayor ventaja (de ser bilingüe) es que abre más tu mundo, y aunque yo no vivo en Francia,
beneficioso en los espacios académicos. raíces culturales con su vida diaria en inglés. Hasta en largo plazo, el simple hecho de ser Sin embargo, a pesar de todos los benbilingüe puede retrasar la enfermedad del eficios de ser bilingüe, existen desafíos sigAlzheimer a cuatro o cinco años que una nificativos para mucha gente. Por ejemplo, persona monolingüe. estadísticas recientes muestran que más de Muchos estudiantes bilingües escuchan a 63 millones de personas en Estados Unidos veces que mezclar idiomas está “mal” o que se identifican como hispanos o latinos, pero no deberían combinar español e inglés en su aproximadamente el 25% de ellos no habla comunicación. Sin embargo, esta habilidad español con fluidez y enfrenta dificultades
Creo que la mayoría de las noticias no son de la comunidad hispanohablante cuando usamos español para hablar, y podemos hacer más noticias y artículos sobre temas que pertenecen a los hispanohablantes.
para comunicarse en su idioma de herencia. Esta tendencia es muy vista entre las nuevas generaciones nacidas en Estados Unidos y
Cuando yo recién llegué hace 22 años, yo dije: ¡nunca voy a hablar en Spanglish, jamás! Y ahora hablo Spanglish. ¿Y por qué? Cambié mi mentalidad de ser una persona rígid.
SRA. GARGIULO
¿Alguna vez te has topado con una persona que no habla tu idioma? Lo más común en esta situación es empezar a hablar en señas para atravesar tu mensaje deseado, pero ahora imagínate poder comunicarte con ellos normalmente. Esta es la realidad para miles de bilingües que hablan más de un idioma, lo cual puede ser una ventaja en la vida cotidiana. Momentos así como este, por más insignificantes que parezcan, revelan algo poderoso: hablar dos idiomas tiene sus ventajas y crea oportunidades más allá de una simple conversación. Ser bilingüe no solo permite poder comunicarse con más personas, sino que tam-
creo que cuando veo cosas en francés las demuestra algo poderoso e impactante, que puedo entender y se siente especial poder el cerebro se vuelve más creativo y flexible. entender.” La habilidad de hablar más de Un ejemplo de esta creatividad es el uso de un idioma proviene de muchos beneficios Spanglish, que significa mezclar palabras en cognitivos, oportunidades laborales y preser- español y inglés para hablar de manera únivación de la cultura de uno, lo cual es su- ca, que es muy prominente entre gente de mamente importante en un mundo rico en origen hispanohablante en Estados Unidos. idiomas y culturas. Como nos dice la Sra. Gargiulo, maestra de Según el departamento de educación español, “Cuando yo recién llegué hace 22 de EE.UU., la mente bilingüe consiste en años, yo dije: ¡nunca voy a hablar en Spanmayor densidad gris en el área de corteza glish, jamás! Y ahora hablo Spanglish. ¿Y prefrontal del cerebro, lo cual ofrece ben- por qué? Cambié mi mentalidad de ser una eficios como mejores funciones ejecutivas persona rígida”. Esta forma de hablar refleja en la atención y habilidad de poder tomar la identidad cultural de los estudiantes y su decisiones más rápidas. Para los bilingües, creatividad de poder mezclar dos idiomas a es más fácil adaptarse a nuevas situaciones y la vez para crear una sola forma de hablar. tienen mejor memoria para recordar y pro- Para muchos jóvenes, el Spanglish es una cesar información, lo cual puede ser muy herramienta que les permite combinar sus
provee noticias tanto a nivel local como de la propia universidad. Con todos los recursos en español de Blair, muchos estudiantes coinciden en que la comunidad hispanohablante en la escuela está bien representada. Sin embargo, algunos estudiantes, a pesar de alegrarse de la cantidad de publicaciones, juzgan la calidad. Varios afirman que sienten que la importancia que se le da a las publicaciones en español de Blair es menor a la que se le da a las publicaciones en inglés y que, desde luego, todavía queda mucho para avanzar. Alan Sai, estudiante en grado 11, dice “Creo que la mayoría de las noticias no son de la comunidad hispanohablante cuando usamos español para hablar, y podemos hacer más noticias y artículos sobre temas que pertenecen a los hispanohablantes.” Sin duda, tener un grupo de recursos en español es crucial para representar e informar a la comunidad hispanohablante. Estos representan la diversidad de nuestro entorno y hacen accesibles las noticias a más personas.
ALAN SAI
es a la comunidad latina. Para los estudiantes de Blair que prefieren la lectura a lo audiovisual, está La Esquina Latina, el periodico estudiantil en español de Blair. Desde que se fundó en 2003, La Esquina Latina proporciona a los estudiantes hispanohablantes diversos artículos sobre noticias, comunidad, entretenimiento o deportes. Además, Silverlogue, el anuario de Blair, es el primero en el país que es bilingüe, con una traducción de inglés a español en cada página. Estos recursos dan la oportunidad a los estudiantes hispanohablantes de Blair de FOTO CORTESÍA DE BNC poder informarse y consumir contenido en español, incluyendo a los estudiantes DANIELA RENDEROS Y FLAVIA PERRET presentando un programa de BNC en Español de Blair cuya primera lengua es el español y promoviendo la diversidad a través de la escuela. “Yo creo que se puede crear una durante el primer bloque, los maestros tienen atmósfera mucho más positiva cuando la la oportunidad de reproducir. gente entiende la cultura hispana, entienden Infoflow, donde los alumnos pueden es- nuestra comunidad, entonces es más fácil cuchar noticias de tanto dentro como fuera de tratar a la gente bien.” dice Cecilia Navia, Blair, pero una vez a la semana el contenido una estudiante del décimo grado que forma se emite en español. Durante Infoflow en Es- parte del equipo de BNC en español. Daniepañol, se emiten noticias y reportajes relevant- la Renderos, la estudiante en cargo de BNC
en español afirma, “Hay muchos problemas que están presentando contra la comunidad hispana y en estos momentos creo que la representación entre como espacios que a veces las voces de los hispanos no son escuchadas tanto, es muy importante tener.” Con más de un millón de residentes, el condado de Montgomery es uno de los cincuenta condados más diversos en los Estados Unidos. El 62% se identifica como minoría, y la mayoría de esta población son hispanos. Pero en el condado, hay una escasez de publicaciones que son completamente en español, aunque existe una demanda enorme. Algunos periódicos están comprometidos a cerrar esta brecha, como Hola Montgomery, quien produce noticias audiovisuales para hispanohablantes, y Univision D.C. con noticias locales de forma escrita. La representación de idiomas es tan importante, especialmente para las noticias. Cada día hay docenas de historias; no solo alrededor del mundo y país, sino también en la comunidad local. Aunque hay fuentes nacionales, como La Opinión, e internacionales, como El País y Telemundo, es necesario que también se informe sobre las noticias locales. Todos merecen saber lo que pasa en la comunidad porque es posible que vaya a afectar la vida diaria de una manera directa. Blair no es la única escuela del condado Montgomery que tiene publicaciones hispanohablantes. En la escuela Richard Montgomery en Rockville también existe un periódico como La Esquina Latina que se llama La Marea. Escriben de temas similares como deportes, noticias nacionales y locales, y entretenimiento. A nivel universitario, la Universidad de Maryland tiene varias publicaciones en español. Lo más grande es Diamondback en Español. Esta sección de Diamondback, el periodico de la UMD,
puede generar problemas como la inseguridad al hablar español. Ende, el término “No Sabo” se ha popularizado para describir esta situación, usada de manera humorística o juzgamental. Es sumamente importante que maestros y miembros familiares comprendan estos desafíos y apoyen a los estudiantes que tienen dificultades con su lengua natal, aumentando la educación bilingüe desde temprana edad y creando espacios seguros donde los jóvenes puedan practicar y desarrollar su confianza. Para concluir, la habilidad de ser bilingüe viene con sus beneficios como mejores habilidades cognitivas, pero también el poder hablar con personas de diferentes culturas y poder expresarse abiertamente con las personas sin necesidad de un traductor o dificultades. Al ser bilingüe, uno abre las puertas de sus conexiones y también muchos bilingües activan el poder del Spanglish que usan en su vida cotidiana mostrando la creatividad con la mezcla de idiomas. Aunque muchas personas no hablan fluido otro idioma, todos empiezan en un lugar y nadie nace hablando, así que si tienes inseguridad en hablar, lo más recomendable es seguir hablando a pesar de los errores porque así desarrollas tus habilidades cognitivas, y pronto alcanzarás la fluidez completa.
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Regateando problemas
el quince de de junio de de 2026 La Esquina LatinaE5 E5 el quince junio 2026|La Esquina Latina
Desafíos llegando al mundial Por SARA BELTRAN y SANTIAGO JIMENEZ Tras los diversos conflictos en algunos de los países anfitriones del mundial, México y Estados Unidos, el mundial puede presentar muchos problemas que afectan a los fanáticos del fútbol ya que estas situaciones podrían afectar a la decisión de diversas de personas en viajar al mundial lo cual afectaría a la atmósfera y el ambiente del mundial que últimamente se ha visto afectado por diversas polémicas extra futbolísticas.
STEVE SCHWARZBACH
Ves a los agentes de ICE recorriendo las calles y deteniendo a personas solo porque parecen extranjeras, y no tienes la sensación de que alguien vaya a protegerte.
En Estados Unidos el problema con ICE es una de los principales problemas que preocupa a los diversos fanáticos de diferentes nacionalidades ya que no se sentirían cómodos con la presencia del control migratorio así como mencionó Steve Schwarzbach en una entrevista para CNN dijo “Ves a los agentes de ICE recorriendo las calles y deteniendo a personas solo porque pare-
cen extranjeras, y no tienes la sensación de que alguien vaya a protegerte”. A la vez la crisis migratoria ha generado problemas con el visado para entrar al país lo cual afectaría a aficionados y a jugadores, tal como pasó con la delegación de Irak que tuvo que pedir moverse sus partidos por el repechaje por problemas con el visado lo cual también uade pasar en el mundial. Para los hinchas de Haití, un país que no he calificado para un mundial desde 1974, sería imposible ver los partidos ahora que ellos, con Irán, Senegal, Costa de Marfil, tienen restricción de visado en los Estados Unidos. Asimismo en se han dado quejas por los precios tanto para el transporte y las entradas para el estadio ya que el Boston y Nueva York los pasajes de tren se multiplicaron por siete lo cual afectaría directamente a los bolsillos de los aficionados. Por otro lado, los recientes conflictos en México contra el narcotráfico ha traído otras dudas sobre la seguridad de los fanáticos en el mundial ya que luego de la muerte del “Mencho” un narcotraficante importante, las calles de Guadalajara estallaron en llamas con diversos ataques contra la policía nacional lo cual hicieron saltar las alarmas acerca de la seguridad nacional de México. También ha habido recientes protestas sociales que han registrado manifestaciones contra la desigualdad y acceso a agua, y la gentrificación, lo que de acuerdo a los protestantes se ha agravado con la venida del mundial por lo que 100.000 efectivos de seguridad fueron movilizados, incluyendo fuerzas militares, en las ciudades para controlar las protestas, incluyendo Ciudad de México, Guadalajara y Monterrey.
MARIA ESPINAL HERNANDEZ
A pesar de todos estos problemas el mundial se llevará a cabo como estaba planeado esquivando las polémicas por la mala organización del evento más importante de fútbol que en los últimos años se ha vuelto normal por las distintas decisiones de la FIFA como la indiferencia contra los miles de trabajadores que fallecieron durante las construcción de estadios en Qatar así como se mencionó en un artículo de CNN en español, “la cifra podría ascender a 6.500 trabajadores muertos desde 2010, cuando Qatar fue elegido sede del mundial 2022”. Asimismo los problemas con la decisión de tener el mundial en Qatar por sus políticas en contra de muchos derechos de la mujer y condenas en contra de homosexuales lo cual generó bastantes problemas con los hinchas que viajaron a Qatar el 2022 para atender a la cita mundialista pero que a pesar de estos problemas se pudieron hacer. A pesar de que la FIFA haya esquivado bastantes problemas a lo largo de la historia del mundial, se tendría que tener en cuenta todos estos problemas y encontrar a los responsables de esta pésima organización ya que muchas veces estos problemas se terminaron esfumando con el tiempo sin tener repercusiones en los entes importantes del fútbol mundial.
¿Quiénes serán los elegidos?
Incertidumbre entre los gobiernos latinoamericanos Por MURILO DOS SANTOS y KRISTEN LLERENA
MARIA ESPINAL HERNANDEZ
experiencias, él continúa acompañando las políticas en América Latina. “Sobre tendencias, hay corrupción en algunos gobiernos. Un caso claro es México, donde hay problemas con narcotráfico y falta de control del gobierno. También hay evasión de preguntas por parte de líderes y evidencia de vínculos con criminales”. Además, la violencia y el caos que suceden durante las elecciones no son nada nuevo. El nivel de urgencia durante esta temporada es un reflejo de la importancia de las elecciones en países latinoamericanos. Recientemente, Colombia se ha convertido en un estado de violencia y caos, anticipando sus elecciones en mayo. Colombia esperaba seleccionar a Miguel Uribe Turbay, miembro anterior del Senado colombiano, quien contaba con una ventaja de 13,7% para ganar las elecciones presidenciales, pero este fue disparado en junio de 2025 y luego falleció en agosto. Residentes en Colombia han protestado debido al fallecimiento de Uribe y sobre su actual presidente, Gustavo Petro, quien es parte del partido izquierdista. Protestas en contra de Petro han surgido debido a la opinión de los residentes en Colombia. Una mayoría opinan que Petro tiene falta de interés en los colombianos y que en vez el reserva recursos e interés hacia miembros de pandillas y narcotraficantes. Mayra López, nacida y criada en Ecuador, se preocupa de la prevalencia de asesinatos durante la temporada de elecciones, “En la última elección presidencial (2023, en Ecuador) un candidato fue asesinado quien era competitivo para el equipo de Correa…el hecho de que fue asesinado por Los Lobos después de ser tan vocal de la corrupción en Ecuador aclara la situación totalmente”. Hay mucha decepción de parte de ciudadanos latinoamericanos en la falta de responsabilidad de sus líderes y cómo afecta la seguridad y el futuro de los habitantes. La presencia de pandillas especialmente ha cambiado las vidas cotidianas de los latinoamericanos. Pone uno en duda en su propio hogar y con las autoridades de seguridad. Brasil entra a sus elecciones presidenciales en octubre de este año. La controversia conectada al presidente Lula es notable en las políticas de Brasil. Lula fue presidente de 2003 hasta 2011 y de nuevo en 2016 fue
reelecto. En 2017, Lula fue condenado por lavado de dinero y corrupción. Después de un largo proceso, Lula finalmente ganó su lucha en el tribunal debido a fallas del fiscal. Luego, Lula se presentó como candidato para presidente en 2016 y ganó contra Bolsonaro, el presidente titular. Cuando ganó, los partidarios de Bolsonaro iniciaron una insurrección en Brasilia, en un intento de golpe de Estado. Bolsonaro fue condenado por su participación en el ataque y fue sentenciado a 27 años en prisión.Dr. Danilo Porfirio de Castro Vieira, el profesor titular de relaciones internacionales y derecho en el Centro Universitário de Brasília, “El debate político en Brasil es muy raso. Cuestiones sensibles a la vida del ciudadano no se enfrentan de forma seria y racional”. Este año, Lula anunció que se postulará para su cuarto
Estas elecciones no constituyen una solución completa. Pueden mejorar o empeorar las condiciones.
EVAN ELLIS
La temporada de elecciones en Latinoamérica es un tiempo muy delicado. En cualquier momento puede surgir peligro, corrupción, dictadura y más. Este año se anticipan las elecciones presidenciales en Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Perú, Brasil y Honduras. El 12 de abril, Perú será el primer país en Latinoamérica en participar en las elecciones presidenciales en 2026. Honduras será el único país que usará solamente una ronda de elecciones; los demás tendrán una segunda ronda de elecciones variando entre algunos días o meses después de la primera ronda. Este año se anticipa la tendencia de la decaída del partido izquierdista durante las elecciones presidenciales. El crecimiento de los partidos de derecha es notable en Latinoamérica y
comenzó a surgir aproximadamente en 2010. Políticas comunes de estos partidos son tener un mercado libre, reconstruir la economía debido a la corrupción y derogar la normalización de los crímenes. La decaída de partidos de izquierda es notable, pero no es total. Se espera que los países pertenecientes al Foro de São Paulo (FSP) sean dominados por líderes del partido de derecha. El FSP fue formado por Fidel Castro (Cuba) y Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva (Brasil) en 1990, con la intención de unir a los países partes del movimiento izquierdista. Hoy en día hay 11 países parte del FSP incluyendo a Brasil, Chile, Colombia y más. Un conflicto surgido es la conexión acusatoria entre miembros del FSP y crímenes de corrupción. Las acusaciones son prominentes y una de las razones por las cuales la izquierda está fallando. José Gómez, un estudiante en el grado 12 en Blair, vivió en El Salvador por casi 16 años. Además de sus propias
mandato, contra el hijo de Bolsonaro. Con tantos problemas electorales y penales, los ciudadanos de Brasil están cuestionando la dirección de su gobierno y protestando en contra de lo que parece ser un gobierno autoritario. Dr. Evan Ellis, el profesor de investigación en estudios latinoamericanos en el Colegio de Guerra del Ejército de EE.UU., comentó sobre las elecciones de 2026. “Este patrón de oscilación persiste…Estas elecciones no constituyen una solución completa. Pueden mejorar o empeorar las condiciones, pero los resultados a largo plazo dependen de si los gobiernos logran ofrecer resultados y de cómo respondan los votantes en futuras elecciones”. Dr. Ellis aclara que no va a haber cambios definitivos a lo largo de estas elecciones. Aunque puede ocurrir progresión hacia gobiernos beneficiarios para sus residentes.
silverchips
F1
June 15, 2026
NIL is killing March Madness
“I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team,” President Trump said on the phone to the U.S. men’s ice hockey team after their gold medal win at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Having just invited the men to come visit the White House after their victory, he jokingly admitted that he “probably would be impeached” if he did not invite the U.S. women’s ice hockey team as well. The room erupted in laughter. The women wrapped up a second undefeated season the day before the men’s gold medal win. They had just won their third gold, bringing their total to eight medals. They scored 33 total goals and only allowed two at the Olympics. They donned red, white, and blue and supported the men at their games. But despite their overwhelming success, women’s sports were still the butt of the joke—even to the President of the United States. This blatant misogyny towards women in male-dominated sports is extremely common, even on the high school level. “My sister was going to do the [hockey] team freshman year, but then the coach kind of just told her, ‘We don’t want you,’ so she dropped it,” Blair senior and Blair ice hockey player Benjamin Giblin says. Although the participation rate
the girls’ teams tend to play much more as a team,” Zack Wilson, Blair ice hockey coach and teacher, explains. “They know where one another are on the ice. They make crisp passes, and they use each other, whereas on boys’ teams, the best players tend to want to just carry the puck and shoot.”
[Discouragement towards girls] is not really from the players, but ... from the coaches, where they’d say little offhand things where I’d be like, ‘I don’t think you would say that to one of the guys on the team.’
Blair Junior Taylor Boyce, a player on the varsity co-ed team, says that male players often treat female players differently from male players. She wishes this dynamic were not the case, as she would pre-
I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team.
of girls in high school sports has risen since the implementation of Title IX policies, according to the National Federation of State High School Sports (NFHS), over a million more boys competed in high school sports in the 2024-2025 school year than girls. NFHS explains that one of the reasons behind this massive gap is a general lack of encouragement for girls to play sports that are viewed stereotypically as “aggressive” or “masculine,” like hockey, basketball, or football. Similar to the experience of Giblin’s sister, environments that discourage women’s participation and confidence in sports can also stem from coaches. Blair ice hockey alum Chloe Ciabotti noticed that coaches would sometimes make additional remarks about female athletes. “Interestingly enough, [discouragement towards girls] is not really from the players, but it would always be from the coaches, where they’d say little offhand things where I’d be like, ‘I don’t think you would say that to one of the guys on the team,’” Ciabotti says. Despite claims of a lack of encouragement for girls in male-dominated sports like hockey, female athletes can compete at the same level because of the unique level of teamwork they bring to the game. “It’s not true across the board, but in my experience, because teams that I’ve coached have also played [girls’] teams, they lose because
fer to be seen simply as a hockey player without her gender affecting the game. “I’d rather them play like I’m one of the guys,” Boyce says. “It not only makes me better because you’re putting as much effort against me, but also just because I feel respected in the sport I play.” Giblin feels that the culture permeates because male athletes are hesitant to defy conventions. “It’s a matter of people just not wanting to speak up and go against the grain because half that [national] team has wives that they respect more than anybody else in their life, and they all have moms that would probably beat them if they actually believe that,” Giblin says. “It all just stems from people not wanting to speak up and be that guy.” But without more people being “that guy,” the environment cannot fully change.
I’d rather them play like I’m one of the guys. It not only makes me better because you’re putting as much effort against me, but also just because I feel respected in the sport I play.
TAYLOR BOYCE
assists per game. As a result of his spectacular play, Lee gained interest from many of the country’s top programs, including the University of Kansas and St. John’s University, before ultimately committing to the University of Florida. In an interview with the Daily Princetonian, Lee explained his reason for the move. “Florida just honestly
By LUCY HOLLAND and RUTH WAJDA-GOTWALS
DONALD TRUMP
I consider us North Carolina and Saint Peter’s. I don’t look at seeds. Seeds mean absolutely nothing to me. Saint Peter’s has beaten two opponents in the … tournament—Purdue and Kentucky—that beat us. They have our full attention, and rightfully so.
HUBERT DAVIS
Eight behind little-known sharpshooter Steph Curry. In 2018, Sister Jean became a national superstar as Loyola University Chicago pulled off seemingly miraculous upsets on a run to the Final Four. But these upsets weren’t miraculous. They were proof that the talent gap between the so-called elite and mid-major teams never actually existed. In the 2022 Elite Eight, the University of North Carolina (UNC) was set to face off against 15-seed St. Peters University. Before the tournament began, the Tar Heels had won the big dance six times; the Peacocks, on the other hand, had failed to win a single March Madness game in the program’s history. Still, UNC coach Hubert Davis was quick to downplay his team’s position as favorite. “I don’t consider us Goliath,” he said before the game. “I consider us North Carolina and Saint Peter’s. I don’t look at seeds. Seeds mean absolutely nothing to me. Saint Peter’s has beaten two opponents in the … tournament— Purdue and Kentucky—that beat us. They have our full attention, and rightfully so.” Unfortunately, the disparity Davis tried to downplay is what today’s Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rules have come to actively reinforce. In 2021, the National Collegiate Athletic Association
checked all the boxes. [It] felt like the perfect fit. [The] team has a really good culture and it’s something I want to be a part of and build on,” he said. But it wasn’t just the culture that made the program irresistible; it was the money that was almost impossible to turn down. Lucrative brand deals at mid-majors simply cannot compete with those of elite programs. In the 2025-26 season alone, Lee will earn a projected $6 million at Florida, which includes NIL compensation and an endorsement deal with international sneaker brand Serious Player Only. Lee was also protected by the NCAA’s built-in safety net. Starting in 2021, student-athletes were allowed one immediate transfer without losing eligibility, but any additional transfer would mean sitting out a year. In 2024, however, the NCAA’s Division I council approved a rule change that allowed unlimited transfers without penalty. For Lee, this ensured he could chase the opportunity at Florida without risking a lost season if the move failed. As a whole, Lee’s transfer represents a growing trend throughout collegiate basketball. Thanks to the NCAA’s policy changes, almost 12,000 men’s basketball student-athletes have transferred since the transfer portal opened in 2018. Over 4,000 of those transfers occurred in the last two years. In the women’s game, about 1,500 student-athletes— including stars like Deja Kelly and Hailey Van Lith—transferred in 2025 alone, which accounted for roughly 29 percent of players on rosters. In 2025, this transfer trend finally reshaped the men’s tournament landscape. For the first time in 50 years, every team that advanced to the Sweet 16 hailed from a Power Five conference. For only the second time in two decades, all four one seeds made it to the Final Four. At the heart of this dominance were transfers from mid-majors. Florida’s Walter Clayton, who was voted the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, transferred from Iona in 2023. Johni Broome, who was pivotal in Auburn’s run to the Final Four, started at Morehead State. To the heartbreak of all upset lovers, this is only the beginning. Future tournaments will only become more chalky. There will be no more stories of small programs from Jersey City making an improbable run to the Elite Eight, or of 11-seeds making the Final Four after three straight game-winners, as March Madness is quickly losing what makes it special. With no evidence to suggest a reversal of the NCAA’s NIL rule change, the Cinderella story will be dead in no time.
Prejiudice in womens’ hockey
CHLOE CIABOTTI
AN OPINION The buzzer sounds. Nationwide Arena erupts. “F-D-U believe it!” commentator Andrew Catalon cries. Sixteen-seed Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) has become the second team ever to do the impossible. They have knocked off the No. 1 seed with a win over Purdue. Everyone loves a good upset. And March Madness is a tournament of upsets. Since its expansion to 64 teams in 1985, the tournament has served as a platform for mid-majors (Division I programs outside of the Power Five conferences) to shine on the biggest stage. In 2006, after sneaking into the big dance as an at-large 11 seed, the George Mason Patriots knocked out heavy hitters Michigan State, North Carolina, and Connecticut on their way to the Final Four. In 2008, 10seed Davidson College—who hadn’t won a game in the dance since 1969— reached the E l i t e
(NCAA) announced the end to a long-standing NIL ban, allowing student-athletes to profit from such deals in the future. As the policy took effect, the organization maintained that the change would not give elite teams a competitive advantage. “The new policy preserves the fact college sports are not pay-for-play,” Division II Presidents Council chair Sandra Jordan said. However, while the new NIL policy continues to prevent programs from directly paying their athletes, college basketball now functions as “pay-for-play” in all but name. For two years, Xaivian Lee was the star of the show at Princeton. In his junior season with the Tigers, the two-time unanimous All-Ivy first-team nominee averaged 16.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 5.5 A C I H S SIE ES H
J
By JAMIE LOVE
The off ice fight:
silverchips
June 15, 2026 Sports F2
Beyond the field
How geopolitical tensions affect international sports
There’s no official on the ice to tell you if you’ve done something wrong or call a penalty or anything like that. You have to own up to your own mistakes.
MINDY CARLSON
Fans watch intently as a professional curler crouches into a squat. The silence grows louder as she lowers into a lunge and sets one hand firmly on the rock, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. In one sudden motion, she rushes forward and releases the rock at just the right speed. Her teammates sweep the ice until the rock glides into place in the center of the button. The 2026 Winter Olympics captured the attention of many fans across the world and brought a newfound appreciation for curling. Millions of viewers praised the unique rules and gameplay of curling. This year, curling was propelled into the spotlight when the Canadian men’s team, which later went on to win the gold medal, was accused of illegally pushing the stone farther during an early match against Sweden. The disruption to the typically well-mannered game brought renewed attention to the complex sport. To explore this growing sport, Silver Chips sent us, Celia Max and Rae Foster, to the Potomac Curling Club’s Open House to give it a shot. Located in the middle of Laurel, Maryland, this large industrial
building seems inconspicuous. But inside, there is a flourishing community of passionate curlers. Stepping into the Potomac Curling Club, we were met with a warm welcome from Mindy Carlson, a teacher and parent who is deeply involved with the local curling community. On the ice, there were about 20 other kids who were there for the club’s
“Bring A Friend” day, and we were greeted with inviting faces as we lined up next to four long sheets of slippery ice over bullseye designs. Carlson set us up with a rock, or curling stone—a large grey piece of marble that curlers slide across the ice to score points in the bullseye. We stood on the ice, crouched low, and slid the stone back and forth, releasing it at a slight angle. She also handed us a broom—a long rod with a fabric pad on the end used to heat up the ice and re-
… you’re dealing with a person with thoughts, emotions, [and] feelings.” Despite athletes’ motivations, some still consider competing under another country’s flag to be an act of betrayal. On Feb. 5, Tennessee Representative Andy Ogles introduced the “OLYMPICS Act” in Congress, which would impose a 100 percent tax on U.S. athletes competing for China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea. “Any American who works with a foreign adversary has not only betrayed our country, but must be stripped of all benefits from doing so,” Ogles says. “Being American is a privilege, and anyone who openly mocks that privilege on the world stage must be punished.” This legislation leaves many questions regarding the future of athletes in politics. In the upcoming 2028 Summer Olympics, athletes will be prohibited from political expression during gameplay, the medal ceremonies, and the Olympic village. Despite these strict regulations, athletes can still express political views on social media and during press conferences, leaving open paths for athletes in political discussions. Beissel claims that policies of open expression will be beneficial in the long run. “I think history has kind of proven that … athletes who are heralded as being quite significant are oftentimes the ones who are most outspoken and demand change and justice,” Beissel says. For Lohman, these discussions are simply another aspect of an athlete’s duty to their own values. “It doesn’t just rest on the field. I think it’s something bigger,” Lohman says. “I think when you put that jersey on, you are representing the values of which you want to show the world and of which you want to bring forth.”
athletes, it is meaningful and necessary for them to represent more than their sport.” The debate over athletes’ political involvement includes questions about whether competing for a country constitutes support for its government, with critics pointing to a perceived double standard in how such decisions are viewed depending on whether athletes move to or from a specific location. “We tend to look favorably when an athlete born outside of our country chooses to represent our country,” Beissel says. “But when it works the other way around, if they’re born here and choose to represent a different country, [we] oftentimes vilify them [and] critique them.” During the recent Winter Olympics, controversies arose regarding athletes competing for foreign countries. Once again, Gu, an Olympic freeskier born in the U.S. who opted to compete for
thoritarian regime. But like many other B athletes, Gu chose R G O to compete for China ZOE due to non-political reasons. “[The decision is] incredibly personal, and I think it depends on how you view your heritage,” Lohman says. “For a lot of female soccer players, when an Olympics is in Greece, for instance, if you have Greek heritage and you can’t make the U.S. women’s national team … you may have a better shot of making [the Greek team].” Dominican Olympic gold medalist Thea LaFond-Gadson expresses sympathy for athletes facing similar tensions, offering a perspective on the emotional toll of navigating the international sports world: “Things get very dangerous when you start pushing the narrative of ‘shut up and dribble,’” LaFond-Gadson says. “The [international] athletic world … can be quite harsh sometimes, and navigating some of those fields can be difficult. At the end of the day, you’re not dealing with a machine
duce friction as the rock glides, and a stabilizer—a handle-shaped piece of plastic we placed on the ice to help us balance. Although we were initially intimidated by our lack of familiarity with the sport, after a few minutes of instruction, we were excited to give it a shot. “Curling is one of those sports you can learn in 10 minutes but you spend the rest of your life perfecting,” Carlson explains. She instructs us step-by-step, first focusing on how to throw the stone. We progress to sliding across the ice with the stone, holding onto a plastic handle to stabilize us as we propel forward. Carlson then explains how to throw the stone with the correct form: one leg forward in a crouch and the other leg dragging behind. The dominant hand holds the stone and prepares to push the rock while the other hand holds onto the stabilizer to keep balance. We only had three hours to learn how to curl, but we got a glimpse at the intense work it takes to be a successful curler. Achieving a high level of performance does not come easily, with training taking large amounts of time and dedication both on and off the ice. “You have to be on the ice probably five days a week before school throwing rocks. You have to go to the gym and build up your muscles. You have to work with a coach who’s
FIRST STONES Writers Rae Foster and Celia Max work together to sweep the ice as instructor Mindy Carlson observes from behind going to tell you exactly what you’re about curling called the spirit of doing. You have to have the will curling, where you call your own and the desire to take [criticism] as fouls,” Carlson says. “There’s neutral data and work on it through no official on the ice to tell you if there,” Carlson tells us. you’ve done something wrong or With a general understanding call a penalty or anything like that. of the sport’s basics, we split into You have to own up to your own groups and begin a game. Standing mistakes.” This level of accounton one side of the ice, one member ability is only possible with a strong of our team slides the stone across positive environment—something the ice and the rest of us sweep the ice to get it as close to the bullseye that we experienced firsthand. “It’s as possible. We cycle through dif- really warm and accepting and it ferent roles. After each round, we has a high level of integrity, and count up how many stones we each the people that play are just genget into the bullseye and award erally really nice and hardworking and honest people,” Carlson says. points accordingly. There are no officials watching “You just have to be willing to have over our game, so it is up to us to a good time.” referee the game. “There’s a thing
Chips tries curling By RAE FOSTER and CELIA MAX
China, her mother’s birth country, faced backlash. Gu’s decision was prompted by the desire to honor her Chinese heritage and encourage representation. As the most decorated female freeskier, many fans had wanted her to compete for the U.S., and they made their discontent heard online. Outraged Americans left comments that called Gu a “traitor” and accused her of supporting an au-
V
named Vladyslav Heraskevych wore a helmet during training in remembrance of Ukrainian athletes who have died as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian war. Shortly after, the IOC announced that Heraskevych had been disqualified because of his refusal to comply with Olympic guidelines. This decision has landed the IOC in hot water, raising arguments on the extent to which athletes should be allowed to express themselves politically. Athletes’ political expression has long been debated on the international stage, gaining traction in the 60s and 70s, particularly regarding free speech and personal responsibility. “National sport organizations like the U.S. Soccer [Federation] or the U.S. Olympic Committee … have developed and instituted policies around freedoms of expression, freedoms of speech, [and] the willingness and ability … of athletes to become political and be politically outspoken,”
Beissel says. “I think each athlete has the ability and the privilege to build whatever platform they desire,” Joanna Lohman, a retired Washington Spirit midfielder and defender who competed internationally for RCD Espanyol Femení (Spain), Bälinge IF (Sweden), and the U.S. women’s national team, comments. “[For] some athletes, that is strictly sticking to their sport. For other
HE
“I’ve had death threats … I’ve gone through some things as a 22-year-old that I really think no one should ever have to endure, ever.” These were the words of Olympic gold medalist Eileen Gu in a press conference shortly after her win in the freeski halfpipe event at the 2026 Winter Olympics while competing on behalf of China. Gu’s experience is far from isolated. Throughout her career, she has faced scrutiny and criticism tied to her national representation. Her story reflects a broader pattern of controversy surrounding athletes on the international stage, where sports and politics often become deeply intertwined. In particular, geopolitical tensions play a significant role in shaping how athletes are perceived, treated, and drawn into political discourse. Arguably the largest sporting event in the world, the Olympic Games have a system that allows countries to be banned from competing for violations of the Olympic Truce—a traditional worldwide ceasefire intended to prevent armed conflict and violence during the Games and ensure the safe passage of athletes. Russia is one country that was banned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as a result of its invasion of Ukraine. Previously, Russia had also faced bans related to doping scandals involving several of its athletes and coaches, with over 300 athletes sanctioned. As a result, athletes were barred from competing under their country’s flag. To circumvent this ban, the IOC introduced the position of Individual Neutral Athletes (AINs). AINs are athletes from banned countries such as Russia and Belarus that are authorized to compete in the Olympics under strict conditions, including eliminating allegiance to their respective countries. “[The position] sort of seen as this compromise, where the athletes wouldn’t bear the bur-
den of the political regimes that, in some cases, they may or may not have supported,” Adam Beissel, associate professor of sport leadership and management at Miami University, says. All AINs were ordered to refrain from taking any political stances, a policy adopted for all Olympic athletes. During the 2026 Winter Olympics, a Ukrainian skeleton racer
AC
By MOLLY BREEN and JAMES YI
PHOTO BY IAN GLEASON
F3 Sports June 15, 2026
Blair spring sport roundup By VEE DIMYAN and RUTH WAJDA-GOTWALS As the school year comes to an end, so does the spring season for Blair athletes. Whether composed of returning upperclassmen ready to start strong or younger members strategically working to rebuild, all of Blair’s spring athletic programs were engaged in exciting competition. Track and field Despite looking different after losing last year’s graduates, the team’s success has not faltered. “It’s a rebuilding season because we lost some strong seniors, but this year, we’ve been stronger than ever,” head coach Terry Johnson said. Track and field sophomore captain Claire Saboe said the team is strong in part because of its wide range of athletic skills. “We have a really strong team this year. We have a lot of depth,” Saboe said. “We don’t just have only a few fast people.” To place well in post-season meets, everyone running for the team has to contribute to the team’s overall score. Having many strong athletes led to significant success for the team. Girls won counties and broke the school record in the 4 by 4, and boys placed third at counties and were division champs. Most recently, the girls tied for first place and the boys won second at the MPSSAA 4A South Region Championship on May 14th in Laurel, Maryland.
APRIL 8 Blair track team takes on Kennedy Cavaliers Baseball The raging inclement weather of this year’s early spring led to a rocky start for Blair’s baseball team. “The weather has been historically bad so far this season,” head coach Kyle Wannen said. “Multiple days of snow, multiple days
of wet fields being unplayable … It’s been a tough start to the season.” These obstacles haven’t pushed the boys off the field, though. “Our practices have been going really well,” senior captain Owen Hauser said. “Our team is focused, and we have the right goals for [this] season.” The team ended their season in the state quarterfinals with a 14–8 record and a win in divisions and regionals. Softball Head softball coach Louis Hoelman shared that the softball team’s weather experience has been similar to the baseball team’s. “We’ve only been on our field one time for practice and one time for a game, so it’s been kind of hectic,” Hoelman said, a week and a half into their season. “Having said that, I’m happy with how the team is working and how we’re coming together to get better, but it’s just been an interesting and kind of unpredictable start to the season so far.” Aside from the weather, softball is working to rebuild this season after losing nine seniors last year, eight of whom had been starters. Senior captain Kendra Gray said that the team has been stepping up to the challenge and hopes to secure the regional championship this year. “I think we’re doing a good job of picking things up quickly. Every practice has been a lot of learning, and for the most part, I think everyone is really [open] to the things that we’re learning,” Gray said. The team ended their season in state quarterfinals with a 14–2 loss to Dulaney High School. Tennis The weather didn’t spare any teams, as the start of the girls’ tennis season reflects. However, the team is cohesive and extremely capable, with many new faces complementing the overall skill of the returning team. “We have so many new players, and they’re all totally great,” junior captain Grace Shao said. “[A] lot of players are very similar, which means that especially when our second and third levels are competing against other schools, we have a big advantage.” The team ended the season after state championships, where Shao placed fourth. Boys’ lacrosse Boys’ lacrosse is aiming for some championship plaques this year. “We’re trying to get to our third-in-a-row Regionals. And then Divisionals, because we do have an easier schedule than usual, which is definitely giving us the chance for our second-ever Divisional,” senior attackman Connor Moody said. The season ended on May 16th with a loss at the state semifinals to Broadneck High School. Their final record was 10 wins to 7 losses, but it was the second time in program history that the boys reached the state semifinals, and they ended the season with the most decorated senior class ever. Girls’ lacrosse The members of the girls’ lacrosse team share the boys’ mentality and feel they have the strength, if applied consistently, to secure wins. “We all have a collective goal to win;
silverchips PHOTOS BY SADIQ ABDILLAHI
DESMOND LLANES Blair senior bats against Paint Branch we’re a team where we like to win and know we can. We have good stick skills, we have fast people, we’re an athletic team,” senior defender Lilah Coleman said. The girls made it to the state quarterfinals but ended their season with a 19–3 loss against Leonardtown. Gymnastics Gymnastics is hoping to finish the season strong. Senior captain Allegra Unger has been working to keep motivation high, and she has found the team to have no shortage of talent. “We have a lot of experienced gymnasts on the team, and we work really well together,” Unger said. Although the team didn’t win in their final season, team spirit was still high. “We were easily last in the county, but I don’t think anyone particularly minded. Team spirit among us was amazing— super supportive and happy and always just having a good time,” junior Kalliope Abramson wrote. Boys’ volleyball Boys’ volleyball is working to win Regionals again this year, which would extend their four-year streak. Despite losing many senior starters from last year, senior captain Jason Liang feels they’ve managed to build strong team chemistry on the court. “We’re very well-rounded, so all of us know how to play the sport pretty well. We can depend on every single player on the court to perform their role,” Liang said. Alex Zhao, a senior and outside hitter on the team, agrees that the team’s dynamic, both on and off the court, remains strong. “I would say we’re all very supportive of each other,” Zhao said. “I think we all want each other to do the best. We’re all looking out for each other and looking for ways that we can help each other.”