Delays in college applications add to the pressure
By Ohio Meshanko, Promotions Manager
June 6, 2019
The college application process is long, complex, and often frustrating for many rising WCHS seniors. It includes asking teachers for recommendations, writing long, personal essays, and taking several state and national tests many times in order to maximize scores. Senior year, much like any other schoo...
Possible changes push to improve mental health at WCHS
By Anna Kronthal, Opinions Editor
June 5, 2019
A high school teacher from San Francisco has gone viral after making a poster that allows students to indicate how they are feeling mentally with colorful post-it notes. This innovative type of mental check-in begs the question: would something like this be beneficial at WCHS? High-school teacher...
Social media becomes a battleground for political views
By Anna Kronthal, Opinions Editor
June 4, 2019
WCHS students have the privilege of being close to Washington D.C., allowing them to attend many political marches. These marches can make for some pretty cool Instagram photo-ops with posters in hand. But this Montgomery County student’s recent post at a local pro-life march just went viral. Holy...
SAT/ACT pushes students past their limits
By Emily Zhang, News Editor
June 4, 2019
Attending countless tutoring sessions, spending a fortune on prep books, taking the SAT/ACT over and over again to get the best score possible—sound familiar? Students, especially at WCHS, put a lot of pressure on themselves to do well on standardized tests such as the SAT or ACT. However, tests s...
Standardized testing may not be the best way for colleges to see who you are
By Emily Zhang, News Editor
May 10, 2019
Attending countless tutoring sessions, spending a fortune on prep books, taking the SAT/ACT over and over again to get the best score possible—sound familiar? Students, especially at WCHS, put a lot of pressure on themselves to do well on standardized tests such as the SAT or ACT. However, tests s...
MCPS monitors students’ wifi usage to help maintain safety
By Austin Vinner, Photo Manager
May 10, 2019
Everyone knows that the type of spies that are in movies are not likely to exist to the same degree that they do in the cinema, but other types of spying do exist and one of them is right under your nose. Your internet usage is being monitored, specifically, when you’re are at school. Students in our ...
I-Illustrate club allows students to express their creativity
By Emily Zhang, Staff Writer
March 11, 2019
Interested in art, but do not know where to start? One of WCHS’ many clubs, i-Illustrate is the right place to express one’s creativity. Every Thursday during lunch in room 276, WCHS students can drop by to enjoy some relaxing art sessions. Juniors Claire Yang and Kristin Zhu run the club as Co-President...
Comfort zones allow WCHS student to shine
By Benjamin Pham, Advertising/Subscriptions Manager
March 11, 2019
Everyone has a comfort zone, an environment where one has a sense of familiarity, safety, and security, and there is something to be said for stepping out of it. When students step out of of their comfort zone, they accomplish things that they aren’t necessarily comfortable doing, with higher levels of st...
Educational Foundation funds school initiatives
By Bryan Fletcher, Production Manager
February 8, 2019
With such a wide array of highly productive and innovative students and staff at WCHS, a source for funding of school projects and events has become quite the necessity. For many years now, funding for some of the school’s largest endeavors has come from the WCHS Educational Foundation. The Educational...
WCHS’ Robotics team makes finals
By Emma Chen, Assistant Observations Editor
January 23, 2019
As part of WCHS’ Advanced Programming class, students are able to opt out of the class’s curriculum and instead participate in the Zero Gravity Robotics competition. Both MIT and NASA sponsor the international competition for high schoolers. WCHS made it to the finals in 2014, before the competition was o...
Kamasine
By Vicky Gunawan, Observations Editor
November 26, 2018
From babysitting to shoveling snow in the winter time, WCHS students have many ways of making their own money. However, senior Maya Hatoum has done something truly exceptional in creating Kamasine, a clothing site run solely by high school students. Kamasine is an online clothing site run by high...
WCHS Students Embody Entrepreneurialism
By Fatima Yazdi, Features Editor
November 26, 2018
For some WCHS students, a typical Sunday evening may consist of a nice stack of homework and family dinner. For others, their Sundays include tutoring, baking a batch of cupcakes or coming up with new choker designs. Whether it be jewelry making, babysitting or tutoring, WCHS students have found easy...