When science teacher Aaron Williams strolled through the halls of Blair as a student in 1996, he was taken aback by the many "pockets of racism" he saw in a school famed for its diversity. The disparity was clear from a quick glance: One hall was filled with blacks, while others were occupied mostly by white students. Despite promising racial statistics, self-segregation loomed in every corner.
For many students, the arrival of autumn marks the simultaneous end to summer vacation and the return to school. For junior Jocelyn Dowling, however, autumn means more than just a surplus of homework. Beginning this season, she feels an increasing depression settle into her mood. The diminished sunlight in the fall and winter months robs her of her normal ambition, replacing it with a sense of apathy and lethargy.
Sitting bow-legged with glazed eyes, she slips into a subconscious state. Her breathing calms; her hands rest lightly on her thighs. There is commotion in the background. Running water trickles down the sink. The soles of rubber shoes can be heard squeaking against the tiled floor, but the girl does not flinch. Meditating atop a table, in a trance-like stupor, she begins her search for mental peace.
Delia Segovia lives on Lockwood Drive. Every weekday morning she wakes up at around 6:00 a.m. to drop off her daughter at Blair. The shortest and quickest route leads her to University Boulevard and then into the student parking lot, where she stops briefly to let her daughter off. A few good-byes and familiar gestures are exchanged before Segovia leaves for work.
Three, he begins, fading into a trance, eyes squinting in intense concentration as he chants in a heavy, steady rhythm. Three point one four one five. He stands in front of an awestruck audience in room 365 while the numbers roll off his tongue effortlessly and quickly, nine two six five three five eight. They build into a steady, continuous stream, nine seven nine three two three… In less than five minutes, he has recited the first 800 digits of pi from memory.
Former Blair student Amos Antonio Morel-Ruiz, 20, was shot and killed during a dispute on March 20 in the McKenney Hills community of Silver Spring. Another former Blair student and one current Blair student were also injured in the shooting but sustained non-life-threatening wounds.
In the recent Board of Education election, Valerie Ervin won the District Four seat by 12,260 votes. There are roughly 148,000 non-citizens in Montgomery County, enough to have changed the results. Under most U.S. laws, legal non-citizens, or documented immigrants with permanent residence in the U.S., are not allowed to vote. Some want to extend suffrage to resident aliens, while others still believe that only citizens should have the right to vote.
Senior Brittany Parker's parents first got divorced when she was two. Sixteen years later, Parker experienced the painful breakup between her mother and stepfather. When she thought another divorce could not possibly happen again, in March of 2003, her father and stepmother split up.
The prince meets the princess. They fall desperately in love. Then there's the kiss – and now you have the Disney version of any fairy tale love story. The end.
The age-old battle between sexes rages on in Intolerable Cruelty. Bombshell actress Catherine Zeta-Jones teams up with charismatic and equally attractive George Clooney in one of the most enjoyable and silliest romantic comedies to hit theaters this year.
High school volleyball rules were greatly modified this year in order to meet international standards. The change will include Blair's girls', boys' and co-ed teams.