Payne arrived at CHS in 1967, three years after the school opened. He has worked for every principal the school has ever had, and has experienced six decades of different students.

“Students haven’t changed since I was kid,” Payne said. “In a lot of ways it is the same. Students are unarmed for the circumstances of growing up. Those who can adapt, begin to.”

But it is not just the students who have changed. For the first half of his career, he worked in the social studies department, teaching U.S. History, Philosophy and Comparative Religions before switching over to become the primary Latin teacher at CHS.

Immediately following graduate school, Payne began to work at a bank, however he switched to teaching because of the admiration he had for his teachers while in school. Growing up, he never pictured himself as a teacher, but realized that he was suited for the job.

“I ended up with qualities I never thought I would have,” he said. “I have patience and was able to adapt. I have enjoyed the camaraderie among the teachers.”

Along with teaching current teachers at CHS while they were students such as English teacher Carol Zepp, Payne has taught some CHS alumni and their kids.

“On parent’s night, some parents will come up to me and tell me I had them,” he said.
Sophomore Jalal Batem is one of those kids. His mom had Payne for World History when she attended CHS, and now he has him for Latin.

“He is really laid back,” Batem said. “He makes class fun and is really funny, but we still learn.”
Some students are wondering if Payne will ever come back to teaching or to CHS.
“I don’t think [I’ll miss teaching],” he said. “I have a new lease on life. I don’t think I will [come back and sub]. I’ll leave it open but am not committed.”

According to Kraus, retirement will provide her with more time to spend with family and friends, especially those who live far away.

“I plan to visit my daughter, Allison, in Miami and my son, David, in Baltimore more regularly,” Kraus said.

Kraus will also miss the relationships she has established as a guidance counselor.

“I am sad to leave the enthusiastic [and] adorable students and close friends among the staff,” Kraus said. “I will miss the special conversations with students.”

Most importantly though, Kraus will miss the people who make CHS what it is.

“Since the day I began as a CHS counselor, I have been enormously proud of the counseling department staff, the administrators, the deeply committed teachers and all of [the] amazing students destined for bright, fulfilling futures,” Kraus said.

Suter has already begun her new endeavor and will move to Lewes, Deleware to be closer to her daughter.

“I am going to be transitioning to an online environment,” Suter said.  “I’ll be teaching online college courses.  I’m teaching a psychology course called Inter-Personal effectiveness, and I’ll also be teaching English.”

In her time here, Suter has seen CHS undergo many changes.

“Technology has been a huge change,” Suter said.  “I think the academic program has gotten a lot more rigorous.  The AP program has become really explosive, and I think students are a lot more socially and academically pressured.”

Suter has very much enjoyed her time at CHS.

“I’ll be missing the students, they keep me young,” Suter said.  “At least young at heart.”
Other members of the CHS community will miss Suter.

“We are so sad to see her go,” counselor Mary Lou Galpin said.  “She’s an incredible member of the counseling department who does a lot of computer projections and presentations for us.  If you need to know the answer for something, we can get it from Ms. Suter.  We love her and will miss her.”

McDonald has taught nearly every science class that MCPS offers and has also been assistant principal at Poolesville, Sherwood, Redland Middle School and CHS.

“It doesn’t seem real that it has been [this] long that I’ve been doing this,” McDonald said.

McDonald will miss the people he worked with at CHS as well as the students.

“[I will miss] doing different things with everybody, like homecoming and sports games,” McDonald said.

However, he looks forward to spending more time with his grandchildren after he retires.\

“I’m curious about what it will be like seeing everyone going to school when I’m not,” McDonald said.

With his free time, McDonald plans to further develop his photography business.

“I would like to do something to help animals,” Frederick said.

Frederick’s students have said they will miss her style of teaching when she leaves CHS. 

“Ms. Frederick is a really good teacher,” sophomore Harriyah Narnor said. “She really made me interested in government.”

Students will also miss the engaging way she taught the class.

“She has great conversations in class,” sophomore Ariane Sedghi said. “She makes it fun.”

According to an April 23 New York Times article, one issue with the bill is the placement of dispensaries. The number of dispensaries and locations could increase illegal drug dealing.

“Even though the illegal dealing of the drug will most likely rise from the dispensaries, I think it’s important that patients are able to get the treatments that their doctors recommend for their illness,” junior Alex Haffner said.

The D.C. legislation also created other restrictions.

According to an April 21 Washington Post article, the bill bans the use of prescribed marijuana outside of the patient’s residence or hospice—restrictions that most other prescribed medications don’t have.

Some students believe that marijuana should not be on the list of illegal substances, and consider the new bill a step towards complete marijuana legalization.

The new bill also attempts to end discrimination against people who use the drug for medical purposes. Cases have been brought up in the past where patients with prescribed marijuana were charged with possession.

Several trial-and-error methods have been used in states including California and Michigan, but D.C. could be the first place to regulate medical marijuana legally.

These comments do not come from a Republican Party website, nor do they have any relation to the Democratic Party. The organization associated with these remarks is newer and closer to home. These comments come from a forum on the website of the Tea Party Patriot movement, a grass roots organization with the goals of fiscal responsibility, a Constitutionally limited government and free markets.

“These three principles encapsulate the entire purpose of the movement and are the limits of its influence,” founding member of the National Capital Tea Party Patriots and CHS parent Doug Mainwaring said.  “Social issues are completely inconsequential to the movement—there are plenty of other groups and organizations that exist to deal with those.”

The National Capital Tea Party Patriots are currently working to elect candidates who will advocate for their core values in the upcoming November congressional elections.

“We are very much focused on all local and national elections to be held this year,” Mainwaring said. “Because of our close proximity to Washington, D.C., we feel we bear an extra responsibility to reach out to all members of the House of Representatives and Senate in any way we can.”

In addition to the National Capital Tea Party Patriots, there are many Maryland branches of the movement; the closest to Potomac are Help Save Maryland and Americans for Prosperity. Help Save Maryland opposes the use of tax dollars for programs and services to attract and sustain illegal aliens, while Americans for Prosperity works to change health care, reduce local taxes, reform pension and advocate for state government to embrace free market principles.
Thousands of Tea Party activists protested April 15 about the Obama administration and what they feel to be excessive taxation and government spending. In addition, according to Tea Party organizers, another 1,500 protests were staged around the same time.
While many have accused the Tea Party movement of being racist and violent, some studies have shown that the Tea Party has more support than has often been presented by the media.
According to a May 6 poll conducted by the Wall Street Journal and NBC, the Tea Party is viewed 30 percent negatively, whereas the Republican and Democratic parties are both viewed 42 percent negatively.

“This scientific approach has yielded a more reliable snapshot of Tea Party participants,” Mainwaring wrote in a May 3 Washington Post commentary. “The initial picture departs considerably from the long-held assertions [about the movement].”

According to an April 14 New York Times article, the average Tea Party member tended to be white, male and over the age of 45. Twenty-five percent of supporters feel that the government favors blacks over whites in comparison with the 11 percent of the general public. However, social issues are not among the goals stated specifically by the Tea Party movement.
While the Tea Party movement has recently received some negative media attention, Tea Party members stand by their mission statement to attract, educate, organize and mobilize fellow citizens to secure public policy consistent with their three core values (see below).

“One question that keeps getting raised is whether the Tea Party movement is more of a conservative phenomenon or a libertarian one,” Mainwaring wrote in his Washington Post commentary.  “The Tea Party movement forms a realm in which the two easily can converge. Libertarians and conservatives have found wholehearted agreement and have formed a powerful coalition to bring about change in Washington—change our Founding Fathers would have believed in.”

The next meetings of the National Capital Tea Party are scheduled for May 26 in McLean, VA, and June 6 in Bethesda, MD. The organization is also planning a march on Washington, D.C., tentatively scheduled for Sept. 12.

The 3 Core Values:

Fiscal Responsibility: The Tea Party movement supports the people’s right to spend the money they have earned, and feels that taxes have risen too high. The movement is concerned that government spending is a threat to the personal and economic liberty of future generations.

Constitutionally Limited Government: The Tea Party supports states rights for the powers not specifically listed in the Constitution as said in the 10th amendment and supports the personal liberty of individual within the confines of the law.

Free Markets: The Tea Party holds that personal and economic freedom cannot be separated, and that government interference in the market is inhibiting progress of the individual. The Tea Party would like a return to the principles of a free market.

She will be survived by her husband and her three sons and two stepsons.

“Mrs. Becky Gerlowski was a role model for each of us,” Principal Joan Benz said.  “She lived each day to the fullest as she devoted herself to her family and her CHS students.  What an honor it has been for me to see the courage Mrs. Gerlowski exhibited each day.”

According to administrator Edward Reed, Gerlowski was a strong asset to the CHS community.

“She was a delightful lady who was always willing to help out in any way she could,” Reed said.
Software Applications teacher James Collins worked in the computer science department with Gerlowski.

“She was great to work with,” Collins said.  “She was very knowledgeable, and she had done some really great things here.”

Senior Alex Leventer had a close relationship with Gerloswki, and worked with her to revamp and improve the CHS website.

“She was a loving and caring woman who was passionate about what she taught,” Leventer said. 

“She loved her students and took care of all of us. She really loved teaching and you could tell because she came to class as often as possible even when you could tell she was hurting.”

According to Leventer, Gerlowski tried to make every student feel welcome in her classroom.

“She always had a smile on her face despite having cancer for 22 years,” Leventer said.  “For every single one of our birthdays she would go out and buy a big birthday cake for the class.”

Junior Ronke Obayomi had Gerlowski for programming.

“She was such a nice person,” Obayomi said.  “She knew what she was doing when she taught me programming, and she always helped me a lot.  [When I needed help], she stood over me for about 10 minutes to help me with just one thing.”

Gerlowski’s presence and passion will be deeply missed by the CHS community.

“It’s sad to lose a teacher who was so passionate about what she taught,” Leventer said.  “She will be missed by all of her students.”

Although the school system already outlined budget cuts totaling $137.7 million for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, the county needs to cut an additional $24.4 million. According to a May 19 joint union press release, the cuts will come from the operating budget and from funds for construction and technology.  The press release also stated that MCPS employees will not be furloughed.

Furloughing MCPS employees could have caused major problems, according to Principal Joan Benz.

“Basically, the furloughs [would not have solved] the problem,” Benz said. “The problem is that the money has been spent and [the superintendent of MCPS, Jerry Weast] does not want the Council to come back and say that the school system will get less money.”

Though mandatory furloughs for 5-10 days for the entire school system could have saved an estimated 33.7 million dollars, requiring furloughs within the system could create transportation, food service and teaching problems.

“If a bus driver has to take a day off, would there be no transportation?” Benz asked. “We’re not trying to be different from firefighters and policeman; we have different jobs.”
If employees had been required to take time off, it would most likely not have been cost efficient to hire substitutes, and for some positions, substitutes are hard to find.

According to Benz, mandating employee furloughs would have shortened the school year because the school simply cannot function with so many people not working. However, closing schools could create further problems for the children of poor families, who rely on the school for their main meals everyday.

The county has until May 27 to determine the budget for next year, and according to the May 19 press release, the unions are “confident that the additional cut can be absorbed without resorting to furloughs.”

Despite the upcoming budget cuts, the county will take on an additional fee–the salaries of 17 Educational Facilities Officers (EFO). The current 33 EFOs are on the police payroll, though that number will be reduced to 17, and the county will now assume responsibility for their pay

“It is wonderful that MCPS is going to pick up the expenses because they have added greatly to the school environment,” Benz said.

Within the past 10 years, the number of students taking honors and AP classes has significantly increased, as has the number of students taking on harder courses at younger ages. The total percentage of juniors and seniors taking APs has gone up from 73 percent in 2006 to 81 percent in 2009.

“Thirteen years ago [when I first started teaching], students came here [from middle school] to take Algebra 1 or Geometry,” Principal Joan Benz said. “[Now] it’s expected that they’ve completed and passed [the course before they come here].”

Montgomery County has set seven standards for students that deem them “college prepared.” They include a 1650 SAT score and at least one AP course before graduation with an exam score of at least three. However, more students are going above and beyond, taking multiple APs and at younger ages.

According to AP NSL teacher Matthew Schilling, in his first year teaching, there were 95 students taking AP NSL whereas this year, 216 students enrolled in 2009, most of them sophomores.

“I don’t think we’re that far away from AP being the new honors and honors being the new regular,” AP US History (AP USH) teacher Rodney Van Tassell said. “Some schools in the county don’t even offer regular classes anymore.”

One reason underclassmen are taking higher classes is because they are now being offered to more people. This year was the first year that AP USH was offered to freshmen, and some students feel that opening up APs to freshmen can be harmful.

“They’re taking it so fast, they need to slow down,” senior Perle N’kumu said. “When AP testing comes around they’re going to be exhausted.”

Some freshmen feel, however, that taking multiple APs doesn’t necessarily mean they will be overstressed and do poorly. According to Van Tassell, his AP USH freshmen are as good as the upperclassmen.

“[CHS] has gotten more rigorous,” Benz said. “[But] the rigor is excellent if kept in perspective. [Now] more students have the opportunities to enroll in AP and honors classes.”

According to freshman Colin Kincaid, who will take four APs as a sophomore, there’s no harm in taking it if the student knows he or she can handle it.

“I do it to challenge myself,” Kincaid said.

Another reason students do it is to improve their transcripts for college.

“Colleges are getting [more] selective and, from middle school, students have to seem as if they’ve challenged themselves and been well-rounded,” Benz said. “It’s important to have college-level skills and the AP classes challenge people to stretch their minds and be ready for life [after high school].”

Pressure from parents and students to do too much too well can lead students to feel overworked.

“It’s important for students to challenge themselves, but not to the point where they’re so frustrated they do something detrimental,” Benz said.

To many students, it now seems that the focus has shifted from learning to simply preparation. With MCPS setting certain standards for high schools with the High School Assessments, quarterly formative assessments, and other standardized tests, many feel that retaining knowledge is no longer as important as just getting a high GPA for college.

“In elementary school we did stuff to prepare for high school, and now [we’re preparing] for college,” Kincaid said. “It seems like we’re always preparing for ‘the next level.’”