Suspicious portfolios spawn investigation

IB students should be able to skip class to study for exams.— See page 3

EDITORIALSRead a previewof the movie “The Avengers.”— See page 11

ENTERTAINMENTGo behind the scenes of the drama department’s newest production. — See pages 8-9

FOCUSRead an update on the boys’ soccer team’s progress.— See page 15

SPORTSRead about the set-up process of this year’s Art Show.— See page 5

FEATURES

Volume 41 Issue 9Monday, May 7, 2012 Bravely speaking to the Robinson community

James W. Robinson secondaRy school5035 sidebuRn Road, FaiRFax, Va 22032

valor-dictus.com

V Dalor ictus

Changes the State Legislature approved:1. Incomingfreshman for the 2012-2013 school year will be required to take one online class.

2. Standard diploma candidates will be required to earn a credential in career and technical education.

3. Six new private online education providers will provide online access to classes.

BY MICHAELA WRIGHTStaff Writer

New law draws support from some, others worry for teachers and students

The Virginia state governor passed a law Thursday, April 12 requiring all high school students to take one online course

in order to receive a high school diploma. The changes go into effect for all incoming freshmen during the 2012-2013 school year, and all subse-quent incoming grades.

State Governor Bob McDonnell pushed the law as a part of his emphasis on virtual education since he took office in 2010. McDonnell said in a state-ment that integrating online technology into edu-cation and making students more comfortable with gaining information online is important to prepare students for the twenty-first century job market. Similar requirements were first passed in Idaho, and similar requirements have been passed since in several other states, including Alabama, Florida

State Legislature passes new online graduation requirements

and Michigan under great controversy. Opponents claim the online classes will decrease teacher inter-action with students and worry taxpayer dollars are shifted away from teacher salaries to outside private companies pro-viding the online cours-es. Teacher unions es-pecially have spoken out about the threat the on-line classes pose to their job security. Still, pro-ponents argue it could save money in schools, and will give students crucial online skills for both college and the current job market.

“Certain content cannot be delivered over the internet, you can give quizzes and drill material but it is hard to develop high level topics” said government and psychology teacher Will Crawford. “I have a hard enough time keeping some of the kids in my class focused, for those who aren’t motivated it’s going to be even hard without a teacher present.”

“It’s not an easy style of learning, it’s much harder to focus and learn certain topics without a teacher face to face,” said Anna Otto, a sophomore

who took geometry online last summer. Still other students disagree, “The classes go at your speed, I learned more in my online classes than I did in some of my live classes,” said Junior Nick

Western who has tak-en four online classes, including an AP class.

Just a few days earlier, the Virginia Department of Edu-cation approved six new online education providers, all private companies. Patricia Wright, Virginia Su-perintendant of Public Instruction, in a state-ment to the Richmond Times-Dispatch said, “By contracting with virtual schools or on-line providers, Vir-ginia’s school divisions

can broaden the array of courses they offer, reach out to more nontraditional students and provide more educational options for families.”

The new law also contained a clause re-quiring standard diploma candidates to earn a credential in career and technical educa-tion, including credentials such as a state li-cense or an industry certification.

”WillCrawford

“Certain content cannot be delivered over the internet, you can give quizzes and drill material but it is hard to develop high level topics.

Government and Psychology teacher

T he Internet can be a valuable tool for IB Math SL I students in need of a lesson review. However, for the dozens of students caught

copying an incorrect answer into their Internal Assessment, it may have been more of a temp-tation.

Associate principal Michael Mukai said the math department began investigating stu-dents’ IA portfolios when they noticed an odd-ity: on a single answer, multiple students made the same error using an unorthodox formula. Following this, the IB Math teachers held a meeting with the accused students to discuss their suspicion.

“We’re at a strange time in the age of infor-mation, because there’s a difference in how each generation finds and uses data,” Mukai said. “The sharing of information is online is new, but this isn’t the first time it’s been brought up. For example, we know students use Facebook groups to share answers for some classes, and

“It’s a gray area, because there’s no yardstick for gauging students’ integrity in using the Inter-net to solve a problem, and it’s our job to ensure each student comprehends the material,” Mukai said. “This event is a great opportunity for the staff to meet and agree on a project philosophy. As problems become more complicated, at what point should you solve them yourself?”

A second anonymous junior accused of cheating on the IA said he believes his classmates knew they were not supposed to copy down the online answer, but chose to do so regardless be-cause of their stress level.

“There is so much stress as an IB stu-dent, and I think this IA pushed a lot of stu-dents over the top,” the junior said. “They might have felt what they did was justified because of their heavy workload.”

Principal Dan Meier said, despite the pressure to succeed in IB classes, he be-lieves receiving a ‘C’ honestly is preferable to an undeserved ‘A’.

“Our approach at Robinson is that we’re a learning instituion, and that we under-stand everyone makes mistakes, so we’re using this as a teaching moment,” Meier said.

IB coordinator Wendy Vu said she be-lieves teachers can address the issue of pla-giarism at each school year’s beginning to avoid it in the future.

“As teachers, we need to do a better job of articulating what plagiarism is in each

subject,” Vu said. “There is going to come an end point in your education when Google searches aren’t good enough.”

Despite the complications this occur-rence created, IB Math teacher Judith Cos-griff said it is not a sensational issue, and may have a positive impact on the program.

Cosgriff said, “We will continue to work with students until this issue is resolved.”

Students cheating on IB Math IA prompt teachers to examine policies regarding Internet information

BY IAN CRIMAN AND THOMAS FRIESTADStaff Writer and Editor-In-Chief

others can be seen copying down answers in the locker bays every day.”

An anonymous junior said he felt his fellow IB Math students resorted to copying down an online answer because they were unprepared for difficulty of the IA.“Teachers were adamant that we had to complete the portfolio without any help from them or other students, so they felt they had nowhere else to go but online,” the junior said. “It’s my theory that students felt there was a choice between failing a ma-jor part of their IB Math grade and cheating.”

Although students found guilty of copying did

not receive the standard punishment for cheating, which Mukai described as a 0 on the assignment and a note on the violator’s permanent record, IB Math teacher Judith Cosgriff said they would still receive a different consequence. Guilty students received a 64 on their portfolio and were barred from progressing to IB Math SL II.

Mukai said determining innocence and guilt in scenarios involving alleged Internet plagiarism are difficult to handle because the school administration has not yet established a policy on how to handle the use of online information.

Photo Illustration by Hailey Metzger

News2 Valor Dictus

May 7, 2012

In BriefFilm Students create their own films

— SHELBY GEE

World Oceans Day brings awareness

BY BAILEY HAASEStaff Writer

Military students to receive honor cords

— IAN CRIMAN

SGA supports the troops

CAPTIONNNNNNNNNNNNN

On Friday, April 27, the SGA held a military assembly to honor military members and their families for their services in the armed forces. The organization also held a Support the Troops carnival after school on the same day until 6 p.m.1. Mark Little talks to students and faculty about how he had lost his legs while serving in a tour in Iraq. He also discussed how he survived and the support he received from loved ones when he returned home. 2. Little jumps around on his prosthetic legs after telling students about how his daily life is similar to that of a normal person, despite his handicap. 3. Eric Norland, twelfth grade subschool principal, is dunked during the Support the Troops carnival after school April 27.4. Little talks with students in Davala Hall during school before the Support the Troops assembly.The SGA raised $2,100 during the Support the Troops carnival. All of the proceeds are going towards Operation Homefront, which provides financial aid to wounded warriors and families of service members, as well as other assistances.

Hailey Metzger Hailey Metzger

Hailey Metzger

Hailey Metzger

Hailey Metzger

1

2

3

The Fairfax County School Board voted March 8 to allow for students attending a military school to receive a special cord at graduation.

According to a Washington Post article published March 8, there was a clause in the decision stating students could decide wheth-er or not they want to receive the cord.

While many schools have had their own traditions for commencement ceremonies, principal Dan Meier said receiving recogni-tion for this has not been a staple of the cer-emonies before this year.

“In the past, each school has been permit-ted to conduct their commencement ceremo-nies within their traditions,” Meier said. “Last year, parents asked if schools were honoring students who were enlisting in the military.”

Meier said the idea came up in the eleventh hour when preparations for the ceremonies were already set, so there was not time to have the cords last year.

“We did not really have much time to think about it, because the ceremonies had already been planned,” Meier said.

Junior Chad Susanke said he appreci-ates the cord given, because he believes it is a meaningful reward for showing patriotism and the sacrifices he is about to make.

“It symbolizes a commitment that cannot be broken,” Susanke said. “I had to pledge in front of an airforce officer that I would do ev-erything in my power to protect this country and our freedom, so I see this as a symbolic gesture to keep that commitment.”

Susanke said most of his family is in the military, so he views it almost as a rite of pas-sage.

“My family believes strongly in giving back to our country, and this is the best way that I can do it,” Susanke said.

Meier said the distribution of cords is something the school should have done ear-lier.

Meier said, “We’re named after a Medal Of Honor recipient, so we should honor students who are making the commitment to enlist in the Military.”

Students show off their knowledge of the oceans through projects

Lights, camera, action!For their end of year project, film studies students

are taking on the roles of directors, producers, actors and screenwriters as they go from watching the movies to mak-ing them.

“The students are putting about two months of class time and several weekends of work into their films,” film said studies teacher Jody McCabe. “It is probably about twenty hours of work total.”

Each of McCabe’s classes, as well as film studies teach-er Lindsay Burgess’s classes are creating a film for a festival, which will be held June 4 from 6 to 9 p.m. All seven films will be shown, and there will be an Oscars-style award show, renamed the Oscar Meier’s, where awards will be given out in categories such as best director, best cinema-tography and best picture. There will be different catego-ries for the IB students and the regular students.

McCabe said she thinks the project is a positive experi-ence for the students because it shows them all of the work that must have gone into the movies they watched all year.

“An appreciation for the art of filmmaking only comes from actually making a film,” McCabe said. “You can’t re-ally understand how hard it is and the work that goes into it just from watching it.”

For the festival, there will be several genres of films. The two classes of IB film studies students are required to make horror films as part of what McCabe calls the Scare Your Pants Off contest, which will be shown at the festival.

Juniors Mitch Hartigan and Bernice Go are both direc-tors of horror films for the contest and said, so far, directing has taken a lot of hard work but has been a great experi-ence.

“When it comes to directing, you have to make a sto-ryboard and you have to stay within the screenwriters’ directions,” Go said. “As a director, you have to make all of the executive decisions on the camera directions and the actors’ actions.”

Hartigan, Go and McCabe said they all have high ex-pectations for the finished films and look forward to the screenings.

“I’m hoping everyone gets scared at the end,” Hartigan said of his film.

McCabe said she is excited not only for the audience reactions, but for her students’.

McCabe said, “I’m just excited about seeing the stu-dents’ reactions to their films on the big screen.”

Oceanography students showcase their projects about different conflicts going on with the oceans to fellow students to bring awareness about these issues, which range from troubles with the penguins to trouble with coral reefs. The awareness day was held in Davala Hall throught the school day.

As a new addition to the Oceanography class this year, a display of projects students in the class completed was held Tuesday, April 24 in Davala Hall. The event displayed various Ocean-ography-related subjects students chose to do a project on. This project is new to the class and is a way to display students knowledge of Oceanog-raphy, as well as their creative skills.

“The show was really fun to do,” senior Jessica Smith said. “I actually think it was really helpful and educational, because when I was doing the research, I was learning all about how Louisi-ana is disappearing, which was my topic for the show.”

Oceanography students were required to pick a topic relating to Oceanography, and create an interesting, eye-catching project to put on display to exhibit their knowledge of their chosen topic.

“My project was called ‘Losing Louisiana’, and it was about how Louisiana is slowing disappear-

ing because of erosion,” Smith said. “I feel like my experience with World Oceans Day was very positive; it gave me a chance to interact with the school on a personal level about a topic that I was passionate about.”

Oceanography teacher Kristen Marker said, in previous years, there have been no major projects given to students in Oceanography, as there are in

other science classes.“Science is all about doing, and I wanted to

give my oceanography students something to do,” Marker said. “The World Oceans Day display was a tremendous success; many students and faculty came up to me afterwards and told me how great they thought it was, so I’m really glad with the way it turned out.”

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Lindsay Webb

Hailey Metzger

Valor Dictus May 7, 2012 Volume 41 Issue 9 Bravely speaking to the Robinson Community 3

Editorials

staff editorial

How do you feel about skipping school for academic purposes? photos and interviews by Stephanie Chae

what theare saying

“It sounds great as long as I’m missing classes I

don’t like.” —AJ Turner, 10

“In class, we might not focus on areas that

would help me, but if I skipped to study, I

would be able to address my own needs.”

—Emilia Otero, 11

kids in the hall

“If I could skip school to study and catch up

on sleep, I would. I’d be well-rested and

prepared for the test.”—Meaghan Manley,10

“I don’t think it’s a good idea because people

tend to get distracted at home and won’t

actually study. They will also miss information.”

—Abe Lee, 11

“I would be okay with it because it’s still

academic and you would get a break from

school.”—Riley Mahan, 9

“If you skip school, you might miss something that will be useful later

or that you’ll have to make up, which only

adds to the pressure.“—Robin Gruendl, 9

Sukriti Adhikari - Editorials Editor Hannah Bunting - Editorials Editor

ABOUT USValor Dictus is a student-run newspaper that serves the Robinson community. All bylined articles, editorials, columns and letters are the expression of the writer and not necessarily that of the staff or the adviser. Unsigned edito-rials represent the majority opinion of the staff.

ADVERTISEMENT POLICYEmail letters to Valor_dictus@yahoo.com. Acceptance of an ad is not an endorsement of the product or services of the advertisers. Information concerning policies and advertising can be obtained by calling (703) 426-2285 or emailing Valor_dictus@yahoo.com

EDITORIAL POLICYValor Dictus welcomes student opinion as an open forum. All opinion pieces must be e-mailed to valor_dictus@yahoo.com. Letters or columns must be signed. That is, they must contain a name, and a title All content received by the paper is subject to editing.Letters must be around 100-200 words. Guest columns must be 500 words or less.Valor Dictus reserves the right to withold the publication of letters and guest submissions.

ValorDictus

EntErtainmEnt Editors:Sharon Corish

Danielle Nelson

nEws Editors:Nikki Robinson

Tim White

sports Editors: Lindsay WebbChase Bailey

onlinE Editor:Megan Lin

staff writErs:Hiba Ahmad

Roz AllenSimran Badwal

Jack ConnorsIan Criman

Bailey HaaseOwen JoyceMK Koszycki

Mary McGrathReem Nadeem

Nick RunkelJoe White

Michaela Wright

advisEr: Laura Brockman

2011-2012 staff: Editor-in-ChiEf:Thomas Friestad

produCtion Editor:Shelby Gee

BusinEss managErs:Kate MonickJason Focarino

Copy Editor:Faith Schweikert

Kid-in-thE-hall Editor:Stefanie Chae

photography Editor:Hailey Metzger

Editorials Editors:Sukriti AdhikariHannah Bunting

foCus Editors:Betsy Berenback-GoldJenny Shin

fEaturEs Editors:Christine Yumping Anagha Srikanth

CORRECTIONS:From April 26 issue:

- Courtney Hafner’s name was misspelled, page 4

- Teachers had up to three days to vote on Spirit Days, page 4

- Spirit Day voting was to take place in every third period class, unless the class rep-

resentative did not carry it out, page 4- Leo Herrera’s name was misspelled, page

5- Cameron Plunkett was accepted into the University of Southern California, page 5

- Peter Kownacki is the SGA sponsor, page 8- Dillon Lopynski’s name was misspelled,

page 9- Lauren Stapleton’s name was misspelled,

page 16

To submit a letter to the editor, e-mail a signed, 100-200 word letter to valor_dictus@yahoo.

com or drop it off in room 503.

Check us out online at www.valor-dictus.com

In this section:

On page 4 read what onewriter wishes she knew before applying to colleges.

On page 4 read why a required online class caters to all learners.

On page 4 read why Beach Week is time for celebration, not worry.

May brings more than warm weather to IB students: multiple exams become the subject of much dread and discussion.

Some of this discussion stems from dis-gruntled teachers of regular classes upset that their students are missing their class to pre-pare for IB exams.

However, it is smart for IB students to pri-oritize this studying over class attendance, and teachers ought to support them in mak-ing this choice.

Although the idea of missing class may be considered inherently bad, it is a necessary evil for IB students because their IB exam scores will have a much larger impact on their future than their presence in a regular class.

The concept of IB students missing school to study is not an obscure one, either. Annan-

dale High School has recently released a pol-icy allowing IB Diploma Candidates to take two days off for study time.

Students who toil through two years of the IB program are able to include their hard-earned diploma on applications for graduate school or real world jobs.

As utterly thrilling as an additional peri-od of learning logarithms may be, it does not compare the importance of an IB exam.

Although keeping track of absentees may create additional work for teachers, they ought to understand how much effort IB stu-dents have put in to reach this point.

They should accept that IB students are missing their class for a worthy cause, rather than mere senioritis.

Of course, IB students must communicate with their teachers frequently, so the teacher is aware of their necessity to take an occasion-al day off to study.

If a student comes up to a teacher at ran-dom, claiming to be missing their class to study for an exam, the teacher might assume the student is actually missing class to study the menu at McDonald’s instead.

A strong bond between each teacher and student can let the former know when the latter’s absence should be excused.

Because the alternative may involve the student receiving a failing grade for multiple unexcused absences, creating this relation-ship should be even more of a priority.

Each IB exam is much like a journey to Is-engard: time for preparation is necessary, and the process can make a student feel nearly as small as a Hobbit.

By ensuring each teacher is more of a help than a hindrance to their priorities, students can push through their exams and enjoy ex-ploring the incomparable opportunities May has to offer.

Taking time to studyStudents should be allowed peaceful time out of school to study for the rigorous IB exams

Cartoon by Jack Connors

“It’s reasonable. You have to study, so you should be able to in-

stead of being distract-ed by other classes.” —Cori Frigault, 12

“I think it’s necessary, because being in a class

isn’t always beneficial; you know your own

academic needs better than anyone.”

—Brian Kropaczek, 12

“Skipping school for academic purposes is great because you’re

being studious and you get to skip class.”

—Reem Rana, 11

Editorials4 May 7, 2012Valor Dictus

Take online class to pass

MICHAELA WRIGHT

For many graduating seniors, Beach Week has been as much a cornerstone of year-end celebrations as prom, graduation, and the par-ties that accompany both.

However, recent worries about petty crime and substance abuse have put the damper on school-end festivities, forcing close parental supervision into a former celebration of new-found maturity.

“My parents were fine with [me going to Beach Week], mostly because they know who I am,” 2011 graduate Meghan Smith said. Smith

decided to forgo the most popular destination among graduating seniors, Myrtle Beach, and instead went to Duck, South Carolina to avoid the trouble and rowdiness Myrtle is popular-ly opined to be host to, due to the excessive drinking and partying that occurs.

“I didn’t want to participate in illicit activities, I just wanted a week at the beach with my friends,” Smith said.

Smith said she was able to reach a com-fortable median with her parents, staying at a house far away from her home, while also be-ing safe and responsible in her parents’ eyes.

Parents’ fears of petty crime occurrences are not entirely unfounded. According to a report published by City-Data.com, crime in Myrtle Beach is higher than most other coun-ties in South Carolina, particularly during the summer tourist season, possibly due to the in-flux of out-of-towners.

In 2010, the Myrtle Beach Police depart-ment reported an average 684 offenses per 1,000 people, well above the national average of 300 offenses per 1,000 people. The vast ma-jority of the crimes committed in Myrtle are

non-violent, with the highest being burglaries and theft.

However, the incidences of rape and mur-der are still above the state average, but have dropped significantly in recent years, due to ongoing efforts by the Myrtle Beach Police Department.

However, the number of violent crimes committed pale in comparison to nearby cit-ies, such as D.C. and Baltimore, both with murder, rape, and assault rates well above Myrtle’s.

Despite the possibilities of crime and may-hem, Beach Week remains an essential chance for teens to prove their maturity, as well as their ability to look after themselves.

Parents who are unable to trust their chil-dren for a single week away from home are not prepared to allow them to live on their own at college for much longer periods.

While the differences between a college campus and a resort town are notable, the idea remains the same, namely that young adults must be given opportunities to prove their maturity.

The Virginia state governor Bob McDonald passed a law on Thursday, April 12 which will re-quire freshmen during the 2013-2014 school year to take one online course to receive a high school diploma. Similar requirement have been passed in several other states, including Alabama, Flor-ida and Michigan. McDonald claims that inte-grating online technology into education and making students more comfortable with gaining information online is important to prepare stu-dents for the “twenty-first century job market.”

The reasoning behind the law is admirable. Online learning will help to prepare kids for an increasingly online world and a technology cen-tered job market in the future. Furthermore, it offers low-income students who may not have

online access on a regular basis the ability to develop the skills they will need, helping to de-crease economic disadvantages.

However, the state will have to be careful how it conducts the requirement. The course should not replace a teacher as the main object educating students in the core subjects; reading, writing and math skills are too crucial to be sac-rificed to an experimental new kind of learning. A physical presence with one on one time is cru-cial to answering student questions effectively and building student knowledge in core subjects. The new courses should be elective subjects, per-haps which focus on computer skills.

No student learns the same, just like each student is unique. In the state of Virginia, there are very diverse methods of going through high school, from “honors,” Advanced Placement (AP), and International Baccalaureate programs (IB) to students with disabilities taking special-ized classes. The law is going to cause significant problems if it is not flexible enough to match the diversity of the students. Mandating the class as a graduation requirement fails to consider the online classes will not be helpful or beneficial to all students. Students with learning disabilities, attention disorders or those who just need closer observation will likely not be gaining a lot from

taking an online course not carefully tailored to their circumstances. IB students also stand to be negatively affected. With all the IB requirements to receive an IB diploma, candidates have packed schedules with limited room for electives if at all. Certainly these hard working students do not need additional requirements hindering their ability to succeed and graduate as they want.

As most political issues do, there is also an economic aspect to the issue. In Utah, where a similar law was first implemented, teacher salaries were decreased and the funding went to pay for online courses. Offering more online classes will save Virginia public schools money, but at the cost of cutting salaries and jobs. The economic climate of today means sacrifices must be made. However, adding online classes does not seem to be the most efficient and beneficial way of saving money because of the scheduling, student behavior problems and questionable suc-cess it will result in.

In conclusion, the state government and Fair-fax County schools must be careful how they integrate the new requirement and must plan meticulously. They must take into account the various circumstances students live in, and do their best to prevent rendering incoming fresh-men unfortunate guinea pigs.

JACK CONNORS

Senior Beach Week 2012

1. Getting accepted is the easy part. Not to sound negative, but after acceptance, there are still quite a fewthings to sort out: tuition, FAFSA, scholarships from the university and outside organizations and travel. Scholarship applications tend to be lengthy and in-depth, and may take a while to get back to you. While getting accepted is arguably the most exciting part of senior year, do not check out as soon as an acceptance letter arrives in the mailbox. You still have an exciting but long process ahead of you.

2. File the FAFSA form as soon as you apply. Nothing is worse than knowing you are in but not knowing ifyou can afford the school. FAFSA, or the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, can tell you what loans you areeligible for and help colleges in awarding institutional scholarships. Even though most schools ask that you fill outthe forms by a certain date, it is advantageous to submit them as soon as you can. That way, you can have all the informationregarding the cost of the school earlier and make your final decision a lot sooner.

3. Schedule visits on regular school days instead of special event days the colleges set up. Watch out for anything specificallydedicated to prospective or accepted students. These tours are often held on weekends and attract hundreds if not thousands of kids. You are usually herded into huge information sessions and tours, and you spend more time with high school students visiting than with the college studentsgiving the tour. It is worth it to take a day off of school to visit a campus on a weekday to see college students in action and maybe even sit in on a class or meet a professor.

4. Do not be afraid to apply to schools that seem out of reach. On paper, you may not have the grades or extracurricular activities a certain schoolwants, but do not let it stop you from trying. While it is important to be realistic about the likelihood of getting in, remember colleges just need to give the average SAT or GPA of admitted students as a frame of reference. Reach schools are a great way to challenge yourself, and you may be surprised at the outcome of your effort.

5. Narrow down your list of possibilities by tuition first. Sit down with parents, guardians or whoever is helping pay for college and tell themwhat your top schools charge. Make sure to factor in travel costs, room and board, books and miscellaneous costs as well. Eliminating schoolsthat are going to be financially impossible can help you focus in on what schools you really want to spend time applying for. This strategy willalso eliminate having to give up a spot at a school because of a pricey tuition when you are making the final decision of where to attend.

Required online classes have potential, but require careful planning from schools

“I would feel more pressured only be-

cause I would have to learn the material on

my own. “—Tatiana

Gonzales, 10

“I wouldn’t mind as long as it benefits me academically.”

— Hannah Nathanson, 9

“I guess it would be pretty annoying. I think

you should learn from a teacher instead of a

computer so that they can help you learn the

subject.” — Chris Stevens, 9

“I would be really mad because I don’t have time to do any

homework outside of school, let alone take

an online class.”—John Griffin,11

what theare saying

How would you feel if you had to take an online class to graduate?

kids in the hall

“No, because there aren’t really any parents

and it’s unsafe. Everyone knows that there’s alcohol there

and I think it’s a waste of time. “

—Claire Grinstead, 12

“Yes, because it’s a week at the beach with your friends,

away from your parents.”

— Jinny Yang, 12

“Yes, it’s right after the exams, so you can

relax and hang out with friends.”

— Javier Perez, 12

“Yeah, it’s nice because you get to get away

from school and chill with friends.”

—Jesus Herrera,12

what theare saying

Should parents allow their kids to attend seniors’ Beach Week?

Seniors

parents should allow their kids to attend it

5 Things I Wish I Knew About Getting Into College

Valor Dictus May 7, 2012 Volume 41 Issue 9 Bravely speaking to the Robinson Community 5

FeaturesAnagha Srikanth - Features Editor Christine Yumping - Features Editor

”Emma

Angove

“I was excited because it was an opportunity to let other people know what I’ve been working on

Sophomore

BY SIMRAN BADWAL & ROZ ALLENStaff Writers

In this section:

On page 5 read about which classes and clubs fit certain personalities.

On page 6 read reviews on various coffee shops for studying.

On page 6 read about how to do the best on the SAT test.

Students display talents with art

An array of artists flooded the Field House April 26, when the school’s annual Art Show captivated students with a whirlwind of color-ful projects.

“I was excited because it was an opportunity to let other people know what I’ve been work-ing on and also for me to get my own booth,” sophomore Emma Angove said.

Although the effort re-quired to set up each booth was apparent to viewers, few realize how extensive the set-up process was for the art department prior to this single, day-long event.

In January, the art teach-ers gave the art students a pamphlet, and by Feb. 8, re-quired them to have a maxi-mum of twenty pictures to submit to the Art Show. On Feb. 29, the students put their artwork in the Gold cafeteria and art teachers judged the work to see which projects would be featured. Around March, the art teachers re-viewed the portfolios of the students who sub-mit their work to be displayed at the Show.

“This was the smoothest set up that I have ever experienced since I have been working here,” ceramics teacher Joseph Dailey said.

He said the Art Show took a lot of work to set up, but there were a lot of parents to help out with the setup, so the process was manageable. Because of this support, he said he believes the Art Show was a big success.

The students who went to the Art Show thought it was well planned out and also set up in an organized manner.

“I think that the Art Show was really good and there were a lot of interesting pieces of art work,”

s o p h o m o r e Iman Rehm-atullah said.

The Art Show was a beneficial op-portunity for students to get the taste of what real artists do by representing t h e m s e l v e s and their school. They were able to sell their

works of art, and some students had made a lot of money by doing this.

Freshman Nick Seymour said, “The Art Show was really orga-nized. Everyone got to see what you do and it was a nice display.” 1. Junior Jon Marksteiner demonstrates his photo gallery in his red, white and blue booth to sophomore Ariana Missar.

2. Junior Emily Jaumillot explains her photography display to a teacher. 3. Senior art student Kelly Guin draws a tattoo using sharpie on senior Jimmy Miao in her booth studio.

Photos by Hailey Metzger

Throw a punch, thrown out of schoolAdministrators share their duties when handling fights at schoolBY STEFANIE CHAE & MARY MCGRATHKid-In-The-Hall Editor and Staff Writer

When a fight breaks out in the hallways, a student’s first instinct is either to watch or use social media to inform their peers about what is happening. On the other hand, an administrator’s first thought is to break up the fight.

Most students are not in-formed of what happens directly after a fight is broken up.

“There are different levels of consequences and methods administrators use to resolve a fight,” security guard Sandra Corbin said.

Subschool principal Scot Turner said, when an adminis-trator witnesses a fight, the first thing they do is try to get the at-tention of both sides.

Security guard James Harrison said administrators avoid using physical force when breaking up a fight, instead resorting to verbally splitting up the two parties.

Some security guards, such as Corbin and Harrison, said the first thing they do when a fight breaks out is call for assistance from other administrators before separating the two com-batants.

However, Turner said the first thing he thinks of is student safety. Breaking up a fight is first on his list; he also said he is willing break a fight up alone, if necessary. Then, his second thought is

to get the attention of other administrators.Corbin said the crowd of spectators is one of

the main obstacles the administrators face when trying to break up a fight.

Turner said most administrators will say, ‘Get out of the way, administrator.’ “It’s very un-likely the fighters will keep fighting after admin-istration arrives,” he said.

After the crowd has split and the fighters are restrained, they are put into different conference rooms to discuss the situation separately and keep the two combatants apart.

A few months ago, a fight broke out in the junior locker bay. Turner said he witnessed the fight and to stop the fight, he had to put the two

kids into a headlock. After they were re-strained, they were put into separate rooms to resolve the situation.

“I think fights are pretty interesting,” sophomore Sahar Lutfi said. “When someone gets into a fight, they get the whole school talking. The fights are some of the most memorable moments of high school.”

A fight can lead up to either three to five days of suspension,

recommendation for expulsion, a police charge from the school as a misdemeanor, offence for disrupting the educational environment or charges from the opponent’s parents for assault.

Corbin said usually only five percent of stu-dents who get into fights press charges on one another.

“I don’t like fights,” Turner said. “Fighting isn’t a way to solve a problem. Period. It’s a safety issue and we want students to know we take it seriously.”

”Scot

Turner

“I don’t like fights. Fighting isn’t a way to solve a problem. Period. It’s a safety issue and we want students to know we take it seriously.

Subschool 11 principal

Which club is for you:

What best describes your personality at school?

In the summer, you will most likely be at...

What would you do for community service?

Where do you see yourself in 15 years?

If you answered mostly (shape) , you should try...

Focusing by yourself

Working with a small group of friends

Talking to multiple

groups of people

Bonfireson thebeach

SAT prep classes

Sports camp with the team

Working long hours at local coffee shop

Helpingout at local

animal shelter

Being a counselor at a children’s summer camp

Photographer for TIMES magazine Doctor Member

of thePeace Corps

Information compiled by Hiba AhmadInfographic by Christine Yumping

Photos courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons

- SGA, Key Club,Partner’s Club,

Young Life- Speech and Debate, Theatre Sports, Art Honor Society, Yearbook

- It’s Academic, Science Olympiad, Honor Societies

Take this quiz to see where you should try to be involved in the school community next fall

Getting involved: Creativity: Academics:

1. 2.

3.

Features6 May 7, 2012Valor Dictus

”

“The popularity of the show among teenage boys can come from its idea of recap-turing their youth.

Film Studies Teacher

JodyMcCabe

1) Breathe. This may be the only test students will take in their educational career that actually matters, but they are not going to get through it by seeing how long they can hold their breath while solving a quadratic equation.

2) Unfortunately, students do not get enough time to spend with their beloved friend, sleep. However, the night before the big test should be one of the rare occasions students should see the back of their eyelids for the appropriate eight hours.

3) Students should study with a group of friends rather than shutting themselves in their bedroom. Play a game of charades with vocab words. It will take the edge off the looming test, and everyone will be studying without even noticing it.

4) If a student needs to munch on something while aimlessly flipping through vocab flashcards, they can try snacking on 100 calorie packs of their favorite snacks rather than a box of Thin Mints those pesky Girl Scouts sold to their parents. Remember, swimsuit season follows close behind SAT testing.

5) Anxiety and stress revolve around the dreadful SAT test date. Students should stand in front of their mirrors and remind themselves of how awesome they are. Try making plans with friends for after the test so students have something to look forward to.

Directions: With SAT season in full swing, students are mentally and physically preparing themselves for their test dates. With the late night cramming comes stress, the sudden craving for Girl Scout cookies and an obnoxious amount of caffeinated drinks for those dreaded all-nighters. Here are a few tips students can follow to conquer the SATs:

Write answer in boxes

Grid in results

Conquer the SATs

SweetLeafLocation: Town of Vienna (17 minutes)Rating:

Description: Starting with the basics, their regular coffee blend has the perfect consistency, however, the coffee here is not freshly brewed so the coffee lacks that quality. One downside is there are not a lot of varieties of coffee blends beyond the regular espresso, cappuccino and latte. With the wide variety of flavorful options, a sandwich here is perfect for lunch. It is wonderful environment with a friendly ambience. There is a bar facing the win-dows with a view of the day. The place seems to be environmentally friendly with its wooden benches and is ecologically decorated.

Coffee Shops to Study in

Graphic by Anagha SrikanthPhotos and information compiled by Megan Lin and Faith Schweikert

As the end of the school year approaches, students look for new places to study for finals. We visited numer-ous small local coffee shops around the area which serve as alternatives to major national brand names. We assessed the environment, coffee and menu at each shop in a short profile. Next to the location of the shop is the approximate driving time to the shop from the school.

Bernie’s Delicatessen Location: Fairfax (7 minutes)Rating:

Bernie’s Delicatessen is the perfect combination of bakery, sandwich shop and convenient store. Whether one orders beforehand or on the spot, the meal is sure to be good and fresh. The coffee, though a tad too strong, still accompanies the meal nicely. The sandwiches, though delicious, are trumped by the desserts; both the carrot cake and Oreo cheesecake are winners. It is not worth the visit for the coffee but with the nice, quiet atmosphere and friendly staff, the experience is sure to be enjoyable.

Clifton CafeLocation: Town of Clifton (17 minutes)Rating:

Though we were very excited to find a crepery coffee shop in Northern Virginia, Clifton Cafe fell short of our expectations. The cafe gives a stuffy feel with its small tables and chairs. The crepery has ten options for both sweet and savory crepes in the price range of almost any customer. One of the cheapest was the $5.99 Jenna’s Joy, a plain tasting crepe filled with fruit and topped with powdered sugar and whipped cream. The coffee is better than the coffee at Sweetleaf as it is freshly brewed and there is more of a variety of blends to choose from. Overall, however, if one has to go out of their way, it is not worth the pricey coffee unless they are desperately craving some crepes.

Get it again!

Average Trash itRam Rating:

‘My Little Pony‘ develops a fan following among an older male crowd, calling themselves ‘bronies’

BY THOMAS FRIESTADEditor-In-Chief

While a large number of male students pride themselves on their ability to nuke op-ponents in “Call of Duty,” a more vibrant mi-nority prefers to study the “magic of friend-ship.”

‘Bronies,’ a combination of the words ‘bro’ and ‘pony’, is a term for diehard fans of the tele-vision series, “My Little Pony: Friendship is Mag-ic.” Although outsiders may not understand the obsession over the show, bronies are adamant in their support.

“The show’s characters are well-developed, and there are themes in each episode that give them depth,” junior Nelson Lam said. “The stories also have twists that viewers don’t expect; these always lure them back for more.”

Film studies teacher Jody McCabe said an-other draw of the series may be its exploration of more mature themes from the viewpoint of cartoon ponies.

“The popularity of the show among teen-age boys can come from its idea of recaptur-ing their youth,” McCabe said. “It’s the same reason why students revisit Disney movies, or adults purchase toys for their children that they used to play with themselves.”

Junior Wesley Hunt said, although he ini-

tially wrote off the series, he gave it a chance and was pleasantly surprised. “My life was forever changed,” Hunt said. “I even used a pony profile picture on Facebook for a month to celebrate my enjoyment.”

Lam said he believes bronies rarely discuss their fandom except with fellow fans due to the taunting they may receive for their interest in what others may dismiss as a ‘girly’ show. However, he said he could not care less about any jeers, and has gone so far as to choose “My Little Pony” for his IB Extended Essay topic.

“People often expect ‘My Little Pony’ is a show for girls, and that you should only watch

shows adjusted for your gender,” Lam said. “They just can’t accept a change in taste, which bronies are in favor of.”

The bronies do not re-strict their following of “Friendship is Magic” to the show itself. In actual-ity, many continue their involvement in the fan-dom on Equestria Daily, an extensive fansite fea-turing a plethora of pony-related media.

Junior Tommy Jun said he started watching “Friendship is Magic” af-

ter Internet-based pony material piqued his interest.

“A lot of the creativity of the series can be seen online,” Jun said. “Fans put together compositions with music from the show, as well as pony music videos and fanfiction, which can expand on the backstories of un-derdeveloped characters.”

With the show’s third season in the pipe-line, bronies are unlikely to ride off into the sunset anytime soon.

HIBA AHMAD

C H I L L O U T

Our Pick: SweetLeaf, Bernie’s Delicates-sen and Clifton Café all will not disappoint, but one reigns supreme: Sweetleaf. It has all the comfort and charm of a small town café; one would never know it is really in the heart of Vienna, VA from the inside. In addition to the friendly staff and great atmosphere, the food is deli-cious. The coffee is well-priced and still has an appeasing taste. All around, the prices are reason-able and has the potential to become a regular hangout for teens at our school. There are many places to sit down, possibly to spread out work and get something done while enjoy-ing your meal. The bar facing the window offers customers a chance to witness the weather outside while still protected from the elements. Clifton Café with its hotel restau-rant-like feel and overpriced coffee which just is not worth the time and effort it takes to get out to Clifton, cannot outshine Sweetleaf. Visitors should go for the crepes and the calm atmosphere but not unless they are already in the area. Like Bernie’s, Clifton Café has many “regulars” who visit almost daily so the Café has a following which keeps it running. Bernies, comparatively, is bet-ter than Clifton Café but not close to Sweetleaf. Though it has a relaxing atmosphere to it, it is not all that comfortable. Again, like Clifton Café, Bernie’s is a tad on the overpriced side but after tasting one of the sandwichs or desserts, the cost will soon be forgotten about.

V

oted

201

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Features 7May 7, 2012Valor Dictus

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Focus8 May 7, 2012Valor Dictus 9May 7, 2012

Valor Dictus

BY STEFANIE CHAEKids-In-The-Hall Editor

‘HOWTOSUCCEED’ONSTAGE

Page created by Betsy Berenback-Gold and Jenny Shin

CHRIS MOALLI, 10

What do you do as a student director?During rehearsal, I am either backstage helping with tech or helping Mr. Rome direct.How were you picked for this position?I volunteered for it. What is your favorite part of being assistant director?When the show comes together and seeing the process from when the show first started to when it ends. I like the progression. What were your hopes?That we sell out and everyone will like it. I hope that everyone finds it funny. What is the worst part of your job?When people don’t listen to me, like when actors or techies just are disrespectful and don’t want to do anything. What was the hardest thing you had to do?Control the actors when they are in a big group, because there are 56 of them. Also, keeping Mr. Rome calm throughout the process. So have you been in other school productions?Yes, I helped with set construction and design in “Midsummer Jersey”.Do you like being behind scenes or being an actor?Behind the scenes, because I prefer doing a bunch of different things and help different people then just being onstage.

CAST & CREW Q&As

What did you do?I was costume crew chief. I basically designed, put together and made all of the costumes people see on the stage in the show. What were some difficulties you had?There’s one scene where all of the girls are supposed to come out in 15 of the exact same dress. We had some trouble, because we weren’t going to buy all of the dresses so the director wanted me to make them with the help of some parent volunteers. They were awful; they were the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen. They were like potato sacks and they didn’t fit anyone, they just did not look good at all. We ended up just scrapping all of them.What was a good moment?I thinks it’s always a good moment when the director or someone says, “Yeah, that costume is gonna work,” or you see it on stage and it fits together the way you want it to. What did you think of it?It was a lot of fun, it was a lot of work, don’t misunderstand me. You’re there all the time and you see people all the time and you learn to love them all the time. Any hopes for the show?I hope everything goes well and that it looks okay. I hope that people feel like it looks like the 60s.

KAYSE MCGOUGH, 10

KYLE LYNCH, 12

HILLARY HOLLOWAY, 10

What do you do to help the show?I’m set deco-crew chief and I’m also in the ensemble so I play all the secretary roles. But, as set deco-crew chief we decorate the set. So once the set is built, we add the desks and chairs to make it look like it is an actual place, not just a set. What are some difficulties about being a set deco-crew chief?With set deco, getting the stuff was hard. Like we had to get eight matching chairs that looked nice and we had to get a big desk and all this office supplies. What was the best moment?The best moment was when we finally finished Mr. Bigley’s desk. And when we put it up there Mr. Rome said, “I couldn’t tell I thought that you had put the real desk up there.” Because that was a flat that we had to build to make it look just like his actual desk and that was great knowing that all of our hard work actually paid off. What was the worst moment?The worst moment was when we were trying to get all of the furniture from the office to the school because we had to get three pickup trucks and it was hectic and it was raining and there was water on the furniture. It was crazy but it got done. In comparison to the last two, how does it measure up?I really liked “Midsummer Jersey” because it was fun. This show is a lot more organized than the “Wizard of Oz” was. I feel like this show is my baby because, since I’ve actually had a tech role as a crew chief, I’ve actually been able to work on the set and so everything I’ve done I get to see how it looks so not only am I just dancing and singing, I’m also building stuff.

MARY TURGEON, 10

What is your role?I am the props co-crew chief along with Jamie Green and I’m in the ensemble.What are some difficulties you have with your job?I like to put challenges on myself as a props person, so one of the things we did this year since it’s a time period piece, we had to have a television camera, but it’s really hard to find a television camera from the 1960s nowadays. So what we had to do is to recreate one from various stuff we had backstage and we had to do detailing with paint and whatnot, and it lights up and it moves and does all kinds of stuff. We also had to make an elevator dial that would move as the floors.Best moment?The best moments are when we get everything done and we get to see it on stage. Especially if it moves or does something you don’t expect. That’s my favorite part.Compare your past experiences to this show.Well, last year was my first show as props crew chief, so this year I felt like I had a lot more understanding and knowledge to back myself up with. I also feel like it is more difficult because I knew what I had to do for the basics so it’s like we all want to go one step further and make it the best it could be, and I’m a perfectionist so I wanted to one up myself from last year was different, plus it’s a time period show. What were your hopes for the show? For this show, I want it to go off without any problems because we’ve worked really hard. There’s a lot of expectations for it because it has been on Broadway and so many people have seen it. Also, there’s a couple other schools doing it right now. I also want to have fun with it and not be stressed out about it. Anything to add?There’s a lot of misconceptions that to get into the show, you have to be a part of drama or the arts department, but we have so many people that this is their first show, so come out and audition and be a part of tech.

STUDENT DIRECTOR

COSTUME CREW CHIEF

PROPS CREW CHIEF/ENSEMBLE

SET CREW CHIEF /ENSEMBLE

Photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons

Photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons

Photo courtesy of robinsondrama.org

ACTORHow did this play compare to others? I think we put on better plays but I think this is definitely one of the strongest ones we’ve done. I think this is one of my favorite ones we’ve done alongside “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Rumors.”What is your least favorite part?In one scene, I sing a song in my office clothes and then 30 seconds later I come on stage in golf clothes and I have to do a quick change and that’s a pain because I have to change my pants and my shirt and my hat and my shoesWere you satisfied about opening night? I was pretty satisfied with it and I think most people were satisfied with it, and the show has come a long way since we’ve started and it’s been a long ride.How was Mr. Rome as a director? He’s a very effective director and he has a very clear vision of what he wants and he knows how to get itHe did made the version of the play not anything too crazy or too boring, but it was solid in its traditional formDid you get along with the cast? I got along pretty well with the cast, I’ve made some new friends just around the dressing rooms. We actually have a prank war going on between two of the dress-ing rooms right now, so we like to have fun with each other at times.

What do you do for the show?I’m the stage manager. I stepped up from assistant manager and it has been very fun. During the beginning of rehearsals you just run them. When people don’t know their lines you call them out to them and you move around the set before there is a run crew and you have to know a little bit about all the tech. During the actual show and tech day, I have to call the cues for changes in lights, sounds, run crew to go, [etc.], that’s all me. It is a lot of responsibility, but you just have to learn to balance it. Have you had any difficulties this year?It’s always a learning curve with figuring how to do it. And then there are always issues in timing. It is also hardest for me to miss rehearsals because I run it, not to be egotistical. So when I have appointments I feel like I’m leaving my newborn. What is your favorite aspect about being stage manager?I really like knowing about everything. I’m very interested in all the different aspects of theater and I find it all very interesting. Also being in this leadership position is very interesting. Will you stage manage again?Absolutely, I really liked doing it this year and will probably be it again next year. Last thoughts?I would not be anywhere in stage managing without the people I work with because they are such excellent workers and people. I wouldn’t be any good without my support system.

CARYS MEYER, 11

Sound Check-

What did you choose to do sound?Sound is really fun because if you click on a little button, it fills up the stage and that makes you feel important. And working with mics and ev-erything makes you feel important becasuse it is such a basic important part of the play. Have there been any diffuculties?Yes, sometimes the hard drive gets messed up so the sound won’t play or it repeats itself. Then you have to quickly problem-solve to fix it. Is there any problems diong book voice?Not really, but they are long sound effects, so they are usually the ones that end up repeating themselves. So, we have to run them before we play them to make sure it won’t repeat. But, most of the time, it is really cool becasue you get to record someone using a high tech microphone. Would you do suond again for another show?Yes, I’m planning to do sound for the middle school musical.

1. Give out mics and test all the equipment to make sure it is working. Check all the batteries and make sure the volume is right for each person.

2.Open up programs that play all the sound effects.

3. Test every sound effect to make sure they are all working and adjust the volumes for the computer.

4. The curtains rise, beginning the show.

5. Clean up and collect all the mics and make sure all the equipment is fine for next time.

Andie Matten 9-

For the spring drama production, our school repro-duced the popular Broadway musical “How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying” with a cast of 55 members and a company of 100 people.

The storyline follows J. Pierrepont Finch on his jour-ney from a window washer to top of the corporate lad-der, relying on the advice given from the book “How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying.” Alongside his journey to success, the storyline also follows the love story between Secretary Rosemary and Finch.

“Our J. Pierrepont Finch, Josh Israel, is a perfect match for this part and I’ll put him toe to toe with anyone who has played the part, including Daniel Radcliffe,” director Douglas Rome said.

Both Rome and senior Kyle Lynch, who plays JB Biggley, said opening night did not meet their expecta-tions, but the second night made up for it.

Rome said there was nothing wrong with the perfor-mance of opening night, but the audience’s reaction was the only part that did not satisfy him.

“We really had a warm audience and that brings up the actors as well,” Rome said. “The audience defi-nitely makes the best show, a best show.”

Even though the audience did not react the way the crew was hoping for the first night, both Lynch and Rome said the following nights brought better performances.

Due to the first act lasting an hour and forty five minutes and the second act taking an hour and ten minutes, the play had many orchestra, band and choreography production numbers.

Freshman Tami White attended the April 28

showing of the play and said, “It was kind of long, but it was good, and I liked the whole comedy and ro-mance behind it.”

The cast and crew rehearsed for four months after school and on their own time. The spring music trip to Orlando was the only interference with rehearsals since the ensemble was performing in the play.

“I was pretty satisfied with [opening night] and I think most people were satisfied with [the play],” Lynch said. “The show has come a long way since we’ve started and it’s been a long ride.” ANNA BARR, 10

Bright lights, big musical numbers and great acting define “How To Succeed”

How do you feel about playing her?It’s a lot of fun. There’s a lot of singing and dancing, which is fun. And her emotions of sort of up and down so it’s cool because I get to play a lot of different emotions, cause she switches emotions a lot.What is your favorite part about acting?Probably because you get to be someone who you aren’t in everyday life, so you get to experience new situations you wouldn’t normally experience.How was opening night?It was really fun.We didn’t get the audience we wanted until Saturday night, when the audience was a lot better. So I would say Saturday night was probably the more fun but opening night went really well, good show.What is the hardest part of acting?Just having to think about all the different aspects, the song, the music and the notes and the lyrics and the entrances and the props. There’s just lots of things to think about. There’s a lot of people watching you and judging you.What was your favorite part?Just finally doing it for an audience was just exicitng because we’ve been re-hearsing it for a long time so having an audience was a lot of fun to see how they reacted.

10 May 7, 2012Valor Dictus

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Valor Dictus May 7, 2012 Volume 41 Issue 9 Bravely speaking to the Robinson Community 11

EntertainmentDanielle Nelson - Entertainment Editor Sharon Corish - Entertainment Editor

In this section:

On page 11 read a review and survey results for ‘Bully’.

On page 12 read a review of the new PBS show ‘Dowton Abbey’.

98 minutes

PG-13 for intense thematic material, disturbing content and some strong language, all involving kids.

Run-Time:

MPAA Rating:

There is a certain epidemic circulating throughout this country, far from the typical problem. This one is larger and more uncontrolla-ble, as kids faced with this problem have to come to terms with it every day. This is, of course, the “bullying epidemic.”

“Bully,” a documentary directed by Sundance and Emmy award winner Lee Hirsch, focuses on the current problems bullying incites. The story follows five families in their quest to overcome their children’s bullying problems. The movie does an adequate and thorough job of putting a face on the problem of bullying.

The film opens with a homemade video of a little boy staring into the camera. The little boy smiles and giggles as he explores his home. The camera then switches to a father talking about his child, Tyler. He describes how Tyler used to play and laugh with his family, all while a tear is rolling up in his eye. The father describes how the bully-ing became so bad, Tyler decided to take action. The father then solemnly says his son committed suicide at the age of seventeen.

After drawing in the film audience with this horrific, heartbreaking story, Hirsch then takes viewers on a tour of the country and the bullying problems children face today. We meet a young 12-year-old boy living in Iowa, made fun of be-cause the way he looks. The boy, Alex, is victim-ized almost daily on the school bus. Not only is he abused verbally, but items are thrown at him, he is sat on and he is constantly punched and hit.

‘Bully’ provokes thought through documenting the sto-ries of five victimsBY TIM WHITENews Editor

‘Bully’ steals emotion

Viewers are then taken into Oklahoma, where a 16-year-old girl takes verbal abuse daily be-

cause she is attracted to members of the same sex. The audience is then flown to Missis-sippi, where a young girl felt so threatened by bullying, she felt the necessity to bring a gun to school. And finally, viewers are shown to Oklahoma once more. Here, a thirteen year old boy committed suicide

because his bullying problem was so extreme. Hirsch’s technique in showing the audience

these stories is almost perfect. The camera focus-es upon the faces of each interviewee to capture each of their emotions. The interviewees speak in such a soft, sentimental way, it is almost im-possible to not have a sense of empathy for these people.

Hirsch also does a tremendous job in bringing to life not only the children’s struggles, but the parents’ struggles as well. We see parents try and fight for their kids in school, in the courtroom and at town meetings.

However, Hirsch does not perform a perfect job in bringing bullying to life. Despite his fol-lowing of five children and families across the country, “Bully” only focuses on families living in the South and Midwest. Bullying is a nationwide problem and not just found in certain regions across the country.

“Bully” also tends to focus on just the prob-lems of bullying, and not the actions people can take to stop it. All citizens have heard the terrors that bullying causes, but viewers have not heard much about what the possible solutions may be. “Bully” adds to the terrors we hear, but contrib-utes zero to the possible solutions.

“Bully” is not a movie for the faint of heart. There are many scenes depicting the extremely harsh reality kids face today. It may not be part of a solution for bullying, but these stories are worth hearing.

By the numbers... Bully Movie Survey

142 minutes

PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence, action through-out and a mild drug reference.

Run-Time:

MPAA Rating:

This highly anticipated film hit the big screen last Friday.BY SHARON CORISH AND DANIELLE NELSONEntertainment Editors

‘Avengers’ brings expectations

Photos courtesy of allmoviephoto.com and imdb.

• Respect the opening acts. They work just as hard as the headliners and have a great deal of cour-age to get up in front of large groups of people who do not even know who they are. Arriving early and sticking it out through the first band or two can also result in getting really great seats. And who knows, maybe the opening act will blow everyone away. Just because they are not headlining does not mean they are bad.

• At general admission shows, do not mo-sey on in to the venue five minutes before the head-liners go on and expect to make it way up in the front. Hardcore fans will arrive early and stick it out through the openers, even if they are not into it. The rules of elementary school apply here: no one likes a line cutter. If standing five feet from the frontman of the band is so important, arrive before the first act to stake out the perfect view.

• Do not get in people’s personal space. It is hard to do when everyone is packed like sardines into a small, dimly lit room, but it is possible. Do not breathe down the neck of other concertgoers or headbang so hard, long hair hits the people nearby. Gigs are also not the time to show off flashy dance moves. There is a greater chance audience members will be annoyed with those flailing everywhere than they will be impressed. It is equally as bad to stand completely still and cross-armed throughout the whole gig. Even if a friend dragged the grumpy view-er along to a show and they are not even sure who is performing, or it turns out they are just not that into it, they should try to look like they are having fun. Be-ing aware of the surroundings is key.

concert courtesy

Do you think this movie is a good idea? Why or why not?

Yes

No

Good, but ineffective

Would you go to see this movie?

Yes

No

Not in theaters

Maybe

167 students polled by Journalism 2-4 staff, information compiled and infographic designed by Sharon Corish

—MK KOSZYCKI

Photo courtesy of movieinsider.comThe Bully Project is a campaign to bring awareness about and hopefully end bullying in the United States and the world. This movie was intended to be a step in accomplishing this mission.

Bullying: the act of intimidating a weaker person

The film ‘The Avengers’, directed by Joss Whedon, showcases some of Marvel’s most prominent movie characters, such as Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Iron Man (Rob-ert Downey Jr.), the Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth).

When the world is threatened by the or-phaned Asgardian Loki (Tom Hiddleston), S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) gathers various Marvel superheroes together to fight back against Loki and his army.

S.H.I.E.L.D., or Strategic Hazard Interven-tion Espionage Logistics Directorate, is an international intelligence agency with state-of-the-art technology, courtesy of Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man. Fury’s group of crime-fight-ing superheroes gathers in S.H.I.E.L.D head-quarters for the purpose of defeating Loki’s evil army, which is trying to take over.

This film features action-packed scenes with some favorite heroes which will keep the audience on their seat, along with comic book drama which will intrigue any Marvel aficionado.

This movie has received plenty of hype, from numerous television commercials to the-ater advertisements. It is needless to say this movie has a lot to live up to. The idea of so many different Marvel characters with differ-ent backgrounds all in one movie is an excit-ing concept for Marvel comic lovers.

This is the first major Marvel movie to come out since Disney’s buying of the Marvel com-pany; this film will help to prove if people’s predictions of whether the new Disney-fied Marvel will be accurate, for better or worse.

87%

9%

4%

74%

23%10%

3%

EntErtainmEnt12 May 7, 2012Valor Dictus

BY SHELBY GEEProduction Editor

‘Abbey’ strikes chord with viewers

“Downton Abbey” is, in short, an en-gaging and complex tale which pulls view-ers in to every storyline and character. Unlike many modern programs, each epi-sode seems well thought out, like it must have taken months to write, film and edit. In some ways, it seems more like four-teen little movies than a television series. The BBC show tells the story of a wealthy English family in the early twentieth century. Each character, from the eldest daughter to the chauffeur, is full of personality and strong opinions, and not one of the main characters is flat. Each one develops throughout the series. The downside to such strong characters is viewers will either love them or hate them; there really is no in between. The two most despicable characters on the show would have to be Thomas, a footman in the great estate of Downton Abbey, and the maid, O’Brien. These two are always stirring up trouble in the household, especially for the newcomer Bates. It can be really grating, but even they are shown to have their soft spots. A key aspect of the plot is the time period, which is truly one of the most fascinating as-pects of the tale. In the first episode, the entire lives of the Crawley family are shaken up by the death of their cousin in the infamous sink-

In review

Crossword by Shelby Gee

Across1. The name of the production company that makes Downton Abbey.3. Not mootropics, but ____tropics, the new single by Lower Dens.5. The name of the bad-to-the-bone Marvel characters.7. This is a new single by Jack White.9. This is what characters of Downton Abbey might say when greeting somebody.10.The bad guy the Avengers must defeat.11. The crippled valet of the Abbey

Down2. What you, the reader, are doing right now.4. Paul Bettany’s character is The Avengers (hot stuff).6. A true film, like the new movie ‘Bully’.7. The act of intimidating a weaker person.8. “Find out what it means to me,” and also, do this to other fans and opening acts at concerts.11. Respect people’s personal ____ at concerts. Don’t pop my ____.

In case you missed it, here is a round up of April’s best new releases

Hear Me Out

Information compiled by MK Koszycki, graphic by Danielle Nelson

Photos courtesy of itv.com

1. Spiritualized– Sweet Heart Sweet Light

2. Alabama Shakes– Boys and Girls

3. Jack White– Blunderbuss

4. Lower Dens– Nootropics

5. Marina & The Diamonds– Electra Heart

ing of the Titanic. This leads to one of the main storylines of the show: the introduction of the new heir of Downton Abbey, a middle class cousin named Matthew, who initially has no interest in the wealth or prestige of the estate. The first series of the show features seven episodes, mainly based around the integra-tion of Matthew and his mother, Isobel, into the tightly knit group of Downton: Lord and Lady Grantham, their three daugh-ters, Lord Grantham’s judgmental mother and the ten main staff members of the es-tate. Most episodes also have plots relating to the eldest daughter, Mary. Her parents wish to marry her off to a suitable gentleman. While these storylines are important to the show, they do get a little tedious by epi-sode four. However, the show really picks up in its second series when World War I begins in Europe, forever changing the lives of the characters and leading to a lot more emotion than was ever revealed in the first series. It is in the second series the roman-tic relationships of the characters are devel-oped and sometimes destroyed due to the war, within the staff as well as the family. In its first fourteen episodes, “Downton Ab-bey” has managed to captivate many on both sides of the pond, and with good reason. It is a cleverly written show, with great scenery, a juicy plot and a strong group of characters. It is very similar to films such as “Pride and Prejudice” or “Atonement,” but it strikes more of a chord with some viewers, because of the dynamic characters and depth due to the War and other major events in the characters’ lives. It is not just another “boring old-time British production” as some might speculate. There is scandal and romance as well as some action and tragedy, just like most modern shows, but with a more unique backdrop and more thought put into the writing of each episode.

‘Downton Abbey’ brings cinematic style to the small screen

Walking with purpose — Sir Richard Carlisle and Mary and Matthew Crawley walk around the es-tates of their house, accompanied by some of their many friends.

Staying in step — Thomas and Lady Crawley do the Waltz in their large house.

Grabbing an arm — Sir Richard Carlisle pleas with Mary Crawley in a serious manner.

All lined up — The servents await recieving their orders before beginning their day at Downton Abbey.

13May 7, 2012Valor Dictus

14 May 7, 2012Valor Dictus

Valor Dictus May 7, 2012 Volume 41 Issue 9 Bravely speaking to the Robinson Community 15

Sportssports briefs

Boys’ soccer competes for top spot in the district and regionBY NICK RUNKELStaff Writer

Soccer shoots for victoryPracticing for Senior Night — Senior Kyle Groth moves the ball past junior teammate Michael Kim in preparation for their game against Herndon tonight.

Chase Bailey- Sports Editor Lindsay Webb - Sports Editor

By the numBersBoys’ Soccer

The number of seniors on the team.

Number of goals scored by senior Ryan Harmouche this season. He leads the team in goals.

2 The number of games that have gone into overtime and resulted in a tie.

14

6

In this section:

On page 15 read about the new sports leader-ship class.

On page 15 read about the boys’ tennis team’s season.

On page 15 read about recruiters eye club sports athletes.

The girls’ varsity lacrosse team is 3-8 thus far and is 2-3 in district play, losing their last game to Oakton 22-6.

The team has won three of their last five games, and coach Elizabeth Case believes the team’s record is not indicative of the effort the team has put in.

“Our record doesn’t reflect the way the girls have played and how they have been improving,” Case said.

Case said she believes the team’s rough start to the season is partially because she is new to coach-ing at our school.

“I think the slow start has to do with the fact that it is my first year coaching at Robinson,” Case said.

Case also said she believes the team has im-proved immensely and become a well-rounded group.

“In the beginning, people felt we weren’t as competitive as we are, but we can play anyone and be competitive with them,” Case said. “We have a strong defense and midfield but we are a complete team.”

Sophomore Maggie Hyland said she believes the

Girls’ lacrosse fights uphill battleGirls’ lacrosse struggles despite mentality changesBY JOE WHITEStaff Writer

team has come a long way from the beginning of the season as well.

“We have slowly become a team; at first, we were struggling to find what we were doing wrong,” Hyland said.

Hyland said she feels keeping a positive attitude and being accountable for eah other’s actions, the team will continue to grow and succeed.

“Taking accountability as individuals and as a team has helped us come closer together,” Hyland said.

Hyland also said she thinks the respect the team has for coach Case has been a big part of their suc-cess in their last few games.

“We have a very talented coach; we have gotten used to her and she has helped us get motivated,” Hyland said.

Senior Campbell Collier, one of the four team

captains, attributed the team’s slow start to a change in the team’s mentality from the previous season.

“We had to adjust to each other; there was a dif-ferent mentality last year and different role models to pick up the team’s intensity,” Collier said.

Collier said she believes the team has fought back against the adversity and believes they have become a contender in the district.

“We decided that we weren’t going to be pushed around and overlooked,” Collier said.

Collier said she feels the team has trouble fixing problems on the defensive end of the field.

Collier said, “We have trouble fixing problems on defense; we don’t struggle to find out what we are doing wrong. It just takes time to fix stuff on the field.”

Sixth. The boys’ soccer team is ranked above every team but five in The Washington Post’s Metropolitan Area boys’ soccer rankings.

“I’m excited about our ranking, but we still have a lot of work left to do,” junior Evan Chris-tian said. “We are looking towards the postsea-son.”

Head coach Jac Cicala said the team has relied on their strong core of 14 seniors while amassing a record of eight wins, two losses, and two ties.

The team’s core group of upperclassmen has helped the team achieve a high level of team chemistry.

“We have great team chemistry; everyone gets along great with each other, and this has allowed us to be successful so far this season,” senior Ryan

Harmouche said.Through 12 games this season, the team has

allowed 10 goals while scoring 31.“Our trademark has definitely been minimiz-

ing our opponent’s scoring chances,” Cicala said.In addition to their stout defense, the team

has been more effective than last season at capi-talizing on their scoring chances.

“We have had great passing and movement in the offensive third and that has helped us score often,” junior Naveed Freshtvadi said.

Not only has the team’s passing been excep-tional, but their shooting has been accurate.

“Our finishing has been excellent, when we get near the goal, we have a good chance at scor-ing,” junior Baris Safoglu said.

The team has their last regular season Con-corde district game tonight against one of their toughest opponents, the fifth-ranked Herndon Hornets.

“We have to be ready for everyone in our district, but especially Herndon and Oakton be-cause our only two losses this season have come to them,” Cicala said.

Looking forward to the district, regional and state playoffs, the team expects tough competi-tion, but they also have high expectations.

“Our goal from the start of the season was to advance deep into the playoffs and play at a high level in the playoffs,” Harmouche said.

Although the team will have to face many quality teams in the playoffs, they will approach their games the same as always.

Cicala said, “We treat everyone team the same, no matter who they are, no matter what their ranking is. We don’t worry about our op-ponents, we worry about us.”

Moving to block the shot— Junior goalie Lauren Rauch blocks a shot from Chantilly. Although Chan-tilly led the first half, the team was able to close the deficit and beat the Chargers 15 to 11.

Photo by Lindsay Webb

Leadership

Sports Leadership class introduced

Tennis

With six wins and four losses, the varsity girls’ tennis team wrapped up their season April 27 at 3:30 p.m. The last game against Herndon High school was a success, yielding a score of 7-2.

Senior team member Miriam Eackloff said the Support the Troops Carnival, which took place the same day, brought many Ram fans to watch the game, and the team’s senior night.

It was supposed to be held the night be-fore on April 26; however, inclement weather postponed the event to the next day.

“Senior Night was a success; we played Herndon and won,” Eackloff said. “I don’t re-call the exact score but we did pretty well. The juniors did a lot for us that day and night.”

The atmosphere of triumph was also tinged with some emotion for the seniors on the team, as they said goodbye to their high school sport.

Head coach Jeff Jones also had to say good-bye to the first group of seniors he has known for all four years, since he began coaching.

Eackloff said, “The seniors this year are Coach Jones’ first four year seniors on the team to graduate since he’s been coaching so it’s kind of sad.”

– REEM NADEEM

Girls’ tennis falls slightly behind

With their thirteenth district title in a row, the boys’ tennis team continued its dominance of the Concorde district. Coming into the season, the team had never lost a match in the Concorde dis-trict, which it joined in 2005.

At the beginning of the season, not many in the Concorde district expected the team to continue its title streak.

“We exceeded expectations; we lost a lot of se-niors and still we were able to finish with the dis-trict title,” junior Jacob Schreiman said.

The team was able to succeed, in part, because of their strong doubles lineup, which won at least two of the three doubles matches in each team match.

Even though the team was challenged for the first time in the district, the team was able use its smart, fundamentally sound play to come out victo-rious.

“We have worked hard in practice and Coach Paul [Fisher] has helped us tremendously with our fundamentals,” senior David Weinberg said.

Schreiman said, “We were not as physically gifted as we were in years past, but we were able to thrive because of our tough, scrappy play.”

– NICK RUNKEL

Boys’ tennis serves skillful displays

This year, the sports leadership class will be of-fered at our school. Coaches Matt Cross and Bryan Hazard will be teaching the class they described as a cross between SGA and Sports Marketing.

“We’re talking SGA for athletes, something that Coach Hazard and I will do, and we want to have broadcasting and communications aspects in the class,” Cross said.

Hazard has been working with a college profes-sor from the University of North Carolina to estab-lish this class.

He said the class will prepare students later in life for a possible career in sports marketing.

“This is a class for sports marketing majors, where we will be able to offer internships through our program around the country,” Cross said.

The class will not just focus on high school ath-letics; it will also focus on some local club teams.

“We are going to partner up with some of our feeder schools to do some BRYC events, and little mini games,” Cross said.

Hazard said this class will be important for other schools who will introduce this class later.

Hazard said, “This class will be the boiling point for the future of sports leadership.”

– OWEN JOYCE

Photo by Hailey Metzger

SportS16 May 7, 2012Valor Dictus

BY OWEN JOYCEStaff Writer

Playoff picture pans outThe sports editors

analyze sports teams’ chances of making a run

for a championship.

Club sports take recruiting world by storm

Student athletes consistently use club sports to their advantage in recruiting process

In the world of high school sports, there are occasionally players on a team who dedicate their time not only to their high school team, but the club team they belong to as well.

“I play for the Skywalkers; they are a lacrosse team in Maryland,” senior Campbell Collier said.

Collier played club lacrosse for three years with different teams.“I played for Capital lacrosse two years and I played for the Sky-

walkers for one year, and the Skywalkers are definitely the better team,” Collier said.

For Collier, playing lacrosse in the Maryland area is better, because of the community.

While Collier said she thinks the Skywalkers are a better team, it does not mean she did not get any exposure while on the Capital team.

“Before my sophomore year, I was the most valuable player at the Prague Cup, which is a tournament my club team went to held next

to the World Cup of Lacrosse,” Collier said. “Maryland is better for lacrosse because it’s more a competitive place to be, and Baltimore is better lacrosse community.”

Juniors Savannah Miller and Haley Roberson both play for the VSA Heat. Miller said she believes her club league has harder competition.

“The club level of competition is definitely higher because everyone at that level is much better and when you’re in club you want to go farther with your sport,” Miller said.

Some athletes are more dedicated to their club team because they spend more time with them.

“I think that I am definitely more dedicated to my club team be-cause I spend more time with them than my club team,” Roberson said.

However, there are some athletes who are more dedicated to their high school team.

“I think that I am definitely more dedicated to my high school team, because I have worked so long with those girls,” Collier said.

One of the reasons club teams are important to high school athletes is the of the amount of exposure they can get from playing.

“Club at the level I play at is about getting into college, because you can talk to your coach without breaking any rules, and they can talk to other coaches,” Collier said.

While club teams are good for college exposure, some clubs can be better than others.

Collier said, “I was looked at by some good colleges, but I think that if I had been on the Skywalkers then I would have been recruited by some Ivy League schools.” Haley Roberson; Class of 2013

Club Team: VSA HeatTime on Club: One year and a halfTime on varsity: Three years College Decision: Auburn UniversityMore Exposure: On the VSA HeatMore Dedicated Team: VSA HeatAwards: Still to come

Photo courtesy of Haley Roberson

Photo courtesy of Campbell Collier

Campbell Collier; Class of 2012Club Team: SkywalkersTime on Club: Three yearsTime on varsity: Four yearsCollege Decision: William and MaryMore Exposure: On the SkywalkersAwards: MVP Prague Cup, DC Metro Under Armor Team, All-District Team, Second Team Nationals

Baseball hits stride in districts, hope to win out

Boys’ lacrosse hopes to continue district success

The baseball team has posted a 4-2 district record and hold a share of first place, and have

vastly improved following their rough start outside of district play. Given their defensive

woes, they will have to clean it up in the field, yet have received quality run support from the top

of the line-up. If the team’s pitching continues to dominate against district opponents and the de-fense sharpens up play, the team will experience playoff success and could be eyeing a Concorde

District championship in the near future.

Boys’ soccer hopes to hang banners at season’s end

With a district record of 2-0-1 and a stel-lar out of district record, the boys’ soc-

cer team looks to continue their trend of great defense and goalie play, as they have

never given up more than two goals in a game. Their offense has been up and down,

as they tend to be streaky in the scoring department and can accredit both of their

losses to offensive inconsistency. In the district, the team will be solid and will have a solid opportunity to steal away a

district and regional championship.

Girls’ soccer hope to stay steady, pay states a visit

With a 2-1-0 district record and solid overall record, the girls’ soccer team has been set up well going into the playoffs. A team who has

arguably the most talent in the district would like to put last season’s disappointing playoff performance behind them and live up to their promising potential. With a particularly solid offense and knack for scoring, the team hopes to advance far into the playoffs, as the team is currently second in the district they will have

an automatic bid into regional play if they hold that ranking.

The team’s 3-1 district record is indicative of their strong attack and inability to forfeit close

games. The team has had to battle adversity with the loss of their starting goalie to a con-

cussion, yet the defense had stepped up in his absence and have proven the depth of the team is very strong. This being said, the team will have to continue their offensive success and score a decent amount of goals in order to advance far in the post season. If the team continues to score they may win the distict.

Final playoff predictions

Boys Tennis- District Champs, Regional berth

Girls Tennis- fourth in District, Regional berth

Boys Lacrosse- District Runner-ups, Regional Runner-ups, State berth

Girls Lacrosse- fifth in District

Boys Soccer- District Champs, Regional Champs, State berth

Girls Soccer- District Runner-ups, third in region

Baseball- third in District, Regional berth

Softball- fifth in District