Chin Up, Churchill
January 4, 2016
Filed under Observer Opinion
Chin up, Churchill. Recently, there’s been a case of negativity going around, whether it be because of acts of violence or accumulation of academic stress. But even in the face of it, it’s important to stay positive, to find those cliched silver linings in storm clouds wherever we can. Ordinarily,...
CHS Rises UP as a Strong Community
December 22, 2015
Filed under Observer Opinion
On Nov. 10, CHS stepped UP. The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) came to CHS Nov. 10 to protest the CHS Gay-Straight Alliance club and our general acceptance of diversity. Though the general feelings of disapproval towards the WBC are widespread, it was clear through the student-created Facebook group...
Wellness Weekends Not Done So Well
October 29, 2015
Filed under Observer Opinion
Wellness Weekend at CHS doesn’t work so well. Every so often, CHS has a Wellness Weekend, where teachers are instructed not to assign homework on Friday to be done over the weekend and turned in on Monday. It’s supposed to allow students a little time to destress, focus on extracurriculars or...
Quarter Exams Only Add More Stress
September 29, 2015
Filed under Observer Opinion, Opinions
Those two weeks in January and June that you have reserved for stress, tears, and nights of poring over notes? Go ahead and schedule two more. Every nine weeks, to be exact. MCPS has decided to replace two-hour semester exams twice a year with 45-minute quarter exams four times a year, starting as...
New SMOB needs to make role relevant
April 29, 2015
Filed under Observer Opinion, Opinions
With the way SMOB works right now, we see the candidates everywhere we look in the month before the election. We watch the “Meet the Candidates” video in a darkened classroom and try to ignore the sleeping student next to us, then vote for the student we think wore the better outfit. And then we...
Shame on you, parents. Where’s the integrity?
By Fiona Asbury, Opinions Editor
February 24, 2015
Filed under Observer Opinion
Dear Dr. Benz, My child has been dealing with high levels of stress and anxiety brought about by this time of year. He has worked long and hard this past semester, copying his classmates’ homework, finding answers online, and begging his teachers for 10 percent grade bumps. Please consider this request...
Chromebooks cause more harm than good
By Fiona Ashury, Opinions Editor
December 23, 2014
Filed under Observer Opinion, Opinions
The typical school day includes going to class, listening to lectures and taking notes. But what if that giant backpack full of papers and notes disappeared and was replaced with one computer? This is a reality, CHS, and it’s called a “Chromebook.” Chromebooks, Google drive accounts, and Google...
Clubs not always started for wrong reason
By Fiona Asbury, Opinions Editor
November 20, 2014
Filed under Observer Opinion, Opinions
Seventy-five SSL hours is a burdensome requirement for many MCPS students, but an easy enough feat to accomplish. Although nowhere in the graduation requirements does it call for a student to start his own club, volunteer regularly at a retirement home and protest for equal pay, more and more CHS students...
Social media new medium for censorship
By Fiona Ashbury, Opinions Editor
October 27, 2014
Filed under Observer Opinion, Opinions
Twitter. It’s a quick, easy way for news to spread and ideas to be shared. At the Observer we use our @CHS_Observer account as one more way to communicate with the CHS community in an informative and relatively light-hearted way. However, on Sept. 29, this social network became a way for our rights...
School rankings neglect true performance
By Fiona Ashbury, Opinions Editor
June 5, 2014
Filed under Observer Opinion, Opinions
According to the U.S. News Best High Schools list, 95 percent of CHS students scored at the proficient level in English, 97 percent of students scored proficient in Algebra and CHS received a score of 85.2 in college readiness. As for our overall ranking, zero. Unranked and unrecognized, CHS is...
College admissions shouldn’t favor race
By Katie Clem, Production Manager
June 3, 2014
Filed under Observer Opinion, Opinions
Fifty years ago on July 2, the iconic Civil Rights Act was passed. This act was the first and most well-known attempt at creating equality among people of different races. However, three years before that, the first mention of affirmative action was in John Kennedy’s Executive Order 10925. Affirmative...
Test change will not live up to expectations
By Fiona Asbury, Opinions Editor
April 21, 2014
Filed under Observer Opinion, Opinions
The HSA, the MSA, the SAT, the ACT and now the PARCC. The lives of students at CHS are cluttered with the acronyms of standardized testing. With the alphabet soup comes the inevitable doubt: How much is too much? Test after test, students’ patience is wearing thin. In a generation obsessed with gat...