Technology teacher John Holt idly twirls a file in his hands as he sits on a mini-stool in a third-floor tech lab on the third floor overlooking the courtyard on a bright blue-skied afternoon in May, as he recalled how he had made his career choice and ended up at Blair. Having grown up right down the street from Blair, Holt is accustomed to such afternoons.
Wearing a black headscarf and clutching a rolling backpack that follows the short steps of her petite frame, language teacher Sawsan Darwish stands out at Blair. But in just a year, Darwish has managed to merge into the Blair community with her charismatic personality.
The foreign language academic support classroom is perpetually jam-packed during lunch as students filter in and out, looking for a teacher to help them. The environment seems chaotic – that is, until the commanding presence of Spanish teacher Dora Gonzalez enters the room. She hands each student the material that they need in a businesslike fashion. Then, noticing a former student complaining about his work, she addresses the classroom jocularly as her smile belies her seriousness. "If he had taken a class with me, he would have experienced a lot of fun," she says.
The lights are dimmed as social studies teacher David Swaney sits among teenage students, below a stage decked with flashy costumes and dramatic actors. He sits as those around him do: with their violins propped steadily on their shoulders and their right arms flying wildly to create an energetic stream of music, as background for the torrent of song coming from the stage. Swaney plays with his fellow pit members, delighted to be engaging in one of his favorite pastimes while supporting his students' extracurricular interests.
Swiveling in his chair and contemplating his typical weekend plans, Franklin Stallings chuckles and says, "Work." Since he was 16 years old, Stallings says, he can't remember a period in his life when he was not working.
After a long school day, a voice over the intercom announced a long-distance phone call for Joseph Bellino, a bewildered new English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teacher. The caller was a teacher in Arizona, who had subscribed to Silver International, Blair's international newspaper that Bellino created. She needed to share with Bellino an "amazing thing that had just happened."
Knock, knock – the sound resonates throughout the house. A bewildered student picks up his crutches and hobbles out of bed to his front door. Cracking it open, he gazes out and turns pale. Seeing his killer before him, he quickly tries to slam the door, but is pushed to the ground. His attacker moves in and utters a single phrase. Junior Eliot Gold has just been killed.
It is safe to predict the eventual fate of the 2008 Silverlogue yearbook, soon to be delivered to Blair students. It will end up a collector's item. One of those collectors is likely to be 1970 Blair graduate Donna Guiffre, who has three rooms brimming with high school yearbooks inside her antique-filled Germantown home. Her collection now amounts to more than 2,000 yearbooks from 48 states, including Silverlogues covering 50 of Blair's 79 years as a school.
A guitar "shredder" meets a programming girl who's got it together. Will Carr hand over the keys to her heart? Or will Hans fly solo?
Everyone has five questions that loom in the back of their head, swirling around in an abyss of wonder and confusion that they wish could just be answered. Five personalized interrogative phrases that end with a curly flip of the pen above a fat dot. Imagine for a moment that high school students could form an education around an attempt to wrap their minds around these conundrums, ultimately bringing more meaning to their education and lives outside of the classroom. This dream of seemingly utopian education is steadily becoming a reality for students who plan to attend the Ideal School next fall.
Históricamente, el 5 de mayo del 1862, el general mexicano Ignacio Zaragoze derramó su corazón y aseguró una victoria para los mexicanos en la guerra francesa. No hay mejor manera de celebrar el logro del general (mientras satisfacer a la barriga vacÃa) que con comida auténtica mexicana. Entonces coge una tortilla, queso, salsa y verduras y ¡prepárate para cocinar un plato con los sabores de la victoria!
Now that the sun has decided to come out and play, there is no excuse to get dressed in the dark anymore. Spring is here, giving life to new styles and trends that will be sure to brighten up a muted winter wardrobe.
The girls stand primly, watching the rowdy boys run up and down the stage stairs, hollering incessantly. Suddenly as if on cue, the girls form into two straight lines as the boys shuffle with less energy on stage right next door. Teacher Maya Maldonado-Weinstein brings back the boys' attention as she claps and hums a catchy melody, leading them in quick-paced, disciplined dance routine that sharply contrasts with the energy the 10 and 11-year-olds were previously exhibiting. With zeal, the young dance students start practice, preparing for two performances they will be putting on for their peers at Rolling Terrace Elementary School on May 2 and May 21.
While most of the other students in Blair's graduating class of 2008 spent their Septembers fretting about test scores and the perfect extracurricular recipe to secure admission at a top-tier four-year college, senior Sebastian Falcon kept his cool. More interesting to him than the "typical college" appeal of fraternities, quads or the nerve-wracking major-choosing process was the call of the kitchen.
The thundering cheers of a thousand high school students electrify a packed stadium as six robots zip around a track in the center of a scene described by junior participant Karen Luk as "hell in a stadium." The timer ticks down to zero, and the stadium explodes into an even louder uproar as the robots make their final lap and cross the finish line.
Junior Maya Baum is on the verge of insanity. She is a mother, grieving over the loss of her child–in iambic pentameter. In front of a panel of judges, other contestants and an audience, Baum takes the stage of the New Shakespeare Theater in Washington, D.C. to reveal the tragic tale of Constance from Shakespeare's "King John" in a heartfelt monologue. After months of rehearsal and preparation, she is among 30 other talented high school students from Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. competing in the District's National Shakespeare Competition.
At 7:20 – 10 minutes before the advertised show time – the auditorium is filled with chaos as sponsor Danyel Hartfield and students scramble around the dimly lit hall to ensure the night goes off without a hitch. Snippets of music emerge from the speakers and disappear a few seconds later. The spotlights sweep across the stage and illuminate the students frantically running from both sides of the curtain. Twenty-five minutes later, their efforts are rewarded as senior emcees Claire Kalala and Claudia Rivas walk across the stage to commence the 2008 Mr. and Ms. Blazer competition.
On top of a black and white vertically striped background that resembles prison bars, someone wrote in thick black marker: "He's been in PRISON for two years because of what I did. Nine more to go." Next to a picture of a dog, another person scribbled, "If I had to save ONE person in the world, I would ALWAYS choose HER."
Calling all Blair bachelor(ette)s! Are you on the lookout for love? Praying for the perfect prom date? Searching for that special someone to make your spring spectacular?
It's an epidemic that sweeps the nation's high school seniors, devastating teachers everywhere in its wake. Very few are immune to its powerful charm. This imaginary virus infects its hosts in varying ways, and symptoms can range from the occasional neglect of homework and an excessive need to party to a half-day schedule and three classes with precarious 69.5 percent 'C' grades - including gym.
Since he started at Blair, senior Willy Marte has worked hard to maintain an above-average GPA and an excellent attitude. His teachers can only sing his praises. But Marte is 19 years old and while he intends to stand proud in a cap and gown this May, for many in his situation, age is more than just a number - it is the deciding factor in the fate of their education.
Atravesando las veredas resbaladizas del parque de Takoma el martes por la mañana, estudiante del duodécimo grado Breton Sheridan trabaja con la misión de comunicar su mensaje simple y amable: "votar."
In a cluttered teenage girl's bedroom, posters of punk rock bands like Television and The Stooges pepper the walls. Oddball trinkets and doodads line a dresser, clothes spilling from the drawers. In the center of the scene, a timid looking brunette sits on a bed, clutching what appears to be a sandwich: "Hello," a rosy-faced Juno MacGuff mutters into her novelty hamburger phone, "I need to procure a hasty abortion."
Standing on the steps of the Scottish Rite Freemasonry, the Blair uniform-clad marching band plays their fight song while flag-bearing Players from "Beauty and the Beast" march energetically to the beat. Other Players join students from Paint Branch High School as majorettes in orange and cream uniforms, maintaining huge smiles as they perform a complex choreography with rifles. An entertained audience dances with the music. But the focus - of both the arbitrary bystander and the camera - is not on this grand spectacle but on a conversation between two seemingly inconspicuous people walking along the sidewalk - Russell Crowe and Rachel McAdams, two of Hollywood's biggest names.
"So this blind guy asked for my number. I gave it to him because I consider myself an equal opportunity dater," senior Molly Martinez says as her audience bursts into laughter. Martinez, standing firm, confident and self-assured, delivers her jokes as if she were talking to a crowd of friends. But the 18-year-old comedian is performing in a dimly lit room in Chief Ike's Mambo Room bar in Adams Morgan amongst a crowd of patrons and seasoned comedians.
We found 895 results.
