Club Corner: Young Democrats club discusses current events

Many students watch the news and communicate their ideas about current hot topics with their parents, but sometimes it is hard to talk with peers about these pressing issues. However, CHS’ Young Democrats club has become a forum where students can express their ideas openly without criticism.
Club president senior Amitosh Singh brings the club together every other week during lunch. During the meetings, students are able to express their ideas about current events through open discussions.
“Recent subjects [of discussion] have included threatened violence against Congress, passage of the healthcare legislation and the United States fiscal policy,” sophomore and club member Blake Weil said.
The club strives to teach the importance of expressing ideas and how even though members are in high school, their voices still have meaning.
According to the list of Clubs and Academic teams, members must attend the meetings, be polite, interested in the topics and want to have fun. In addition to the vibrant atmosphere of the club, there are many advantages to being a club member.
“Senior students may be offered political internships,” Singh said.
Due to the fact that this year is not an election year and is therefore considered an off year, students have not shown as much interest in the club. However, Singh still has faith in the club as he has tried to improve attendance by introducing media discussion.
“I have brought in media clips to share with the students and this makes the club more interactive,” Singh said.
Members also participate in volunteer work for local politicians.
“We go door to door and drop off information about the different political candidates running for office,” Singh said.
One thing that Singh hopes students will take away from the time in the club is that they are the future voices of our country and that it is important to be educated in the decisions they make, which involves watching and listening to the news.

Operation Fly club provides aid for DC

Two years ago, current MCPS student member of the board Tim Hwang introduced the Operation Fly club to CHS in an effort to raise money and awareness for the needy in Washington D.C.

“Our money goes to helping the underprivileged, less fortunate, and mainly the homeless population in the Washington D.C. area,” junior club president Joseph Ng said. “Some of the money helps our tutoring programs and some goes to the scholarships that we offer to qualifying candidates to help them afford a higher education.”

Meetings usually consist of members brainstorming additional ways to help the community.

“We have previously done bake sales, pizza sales and car washes,” Ng said. ” Our main activity this past winter was Sheets for Streets which was a clothing drive in which we collected over $80,000 worth of clothes to donate to the population in DC.”

To expand its involvement in the community, Operation Fly is preparing a talent show which will be held at Wootton HS March 21.

“We are working on a talent show where all of the admission and profits from snacks and tickets will go toward a scholarship,” Ng said.

Congrats It’s Academic

Congratulations to the CHS It’s Academic Team for defeating Wheaton HS in an opening round match on Quizmaster Challenge by a score of 580 to155.

The team is coached by AP Statistics teacher Doug Szafran and the team is led by seniors Ben Burke, Peggy Li, Jack Shu and Geoffrey Wang

The team has now placed into the Playoffs and will return to face another first round winner later in the season. Best of luck, Bulldogs!

Club Corner

The Key Club is a global organization that strives to help different aspects of the community and provides its members with the opportunity to build character and develop leadership skills. The CHS chapter meets at least twice a month in room 126.

The club is broken down into five subcommittees: Tutoring, Elderly Care, Cancer Research, Fundraising and the Green Team, which works on environmental issues. Each division concentrates on different community service projects and fundraisers.

“We fundraise, but equally important, we raise awareness through bake sales, local restaurant discount nights, holiday cookie sales [and holiday themed] candy grams,” president Tessa Port said.

The club aides several notable world organizations which raise money to improve education, hunger and living styles for children around the world. The money is then collected from District 7, all the key clubs in the area, and donated to the charities.

“The Churchill Key Club encourages the Churchill community to reach out and support Key Club and the organizations we strive to help, like the Ronald McDonald Foundations and many more by collecting tabs off soda cans,” Port said. “Once [District 7] receives the tabs, they are recycled for a money value. This money is then used by the Charities to benefit the families that rely on the Ronald McDonald Houses.”

According to KeyClub.org, it is the largest club in the world and is available for more than 5,000 high schools.

Club Corner

Despite being a first year club at CHS, Habitat for Humanity is certainly not lacking in name recognition.

“Habitat [for Humanity] is the biggest nonprofit international organization that provides housing and shelter for those who are less fortunate,” club president and senior Jack Byrne said. “Branches of the organization stem from across the country and the world.”

The CHS chapter fundraises to support Habitat for Humanity and has been featured in both the Potomac Day parade and the Silver Spring Thanksgiving Day parade.

“Small fundraisers have been held and will be held in the future, such as restaurant percentages and gingerbread house workshops in time for the holiday season,” Byrne said.

However, the club will be doing a lot more than just small fundraisers. According to Byrne, the main focus of the chapter is to build homes for the needy, which it will begin in spring 2010.

Over 100 students have already signed up for the club, though it is always in need of new members who want to help the community.

“[I want to] let Churchill students know that working with [Habitat for Humanity] has been one of the most self-fulfilling parts of my life,” Byrne said. “No matter what level of significance, any person who contributes to Habitat for Humanity still makes a huge impact on the world.”

Club Corner

The Biology club, unlike most CHS clubs, prepares for a specific competition every year.

“The main competition is a national qualifying test, [the] Biology Olympiad,” president Crystal Chiang said. “It takes place every February as a 45-minute multiple choice exam.”

In 2008, two MCPS students, Jonathan Gootenberg from Blair HS and Jonathan Liang from Wootton HS, were accepted to the national team.

“The team was started to offer CHS students a chance to participate in this national examination and qualify for an amazing honor,” Chiang said. “Qualifiers from this exam earn prestigious recognition and move on to Semifinals, USABO National Finals and finally the USA Biology Olympiad Team.”

In order to help prepare them for the exam, members divide into groups to make PowerPoint presentations and a question sheet. As the test date comes nearer, they will review the questions and answers.

“Facts presented in the PowerPoint presentation must be related to the topic that the group has signed up for,” Chiang said. “There must be specific multiple-choice questions to mock the actual Biology Olympiad, but for the purpose of understanding the material, the questions may also include matching terms and/or simple, general questions.”

The Biology club meets every other Thursday at lunch, in room 147.

It’s Academic team earns victory

Congratulations to the It’s Academic Team and its victory over Stonewall Jackson High School of Manassas and Washington-Lee High School of Arlington. The team is comprised of senior captain Geoffrey Wang and seniors Peggy Li and Jack Shu. Paul Kang and Douglas Szafran are the faculty coaches.

The match will be aired on Saturday, Nov. 7 at 11 a.m. on NBC4. The team will also return later in the season for a playoff match.

Club Corner

The CHS Environmental club focuses on creatin g a environmentally friendly school by recycling paper and bottles around the school and promoting the use of more efficient energy.

 

“The new blue and green recycling bins placed around the school and the new energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs that [were] installed were the successes of last year’s Environmental Club,” president Steven Varkiani said.

 

The club hopes to expand its involvement with organizations outside of the school such as the Environmental Protection Agency and work together to spread awareness of ways of eco-friendly ways to live. The Environmental Club received a rating of A last year from MCPS, and so has gained publicity to earn support from the community.  

 

“Dr. Benz suggested that we begin reusing water that is otherwise discarded in half-empty bottles,” Varkiani said. “We plan to associate with a larger organization that will aid in funding for more ‘green’ activities and may also begin planting trees or testing streams later on in the year.”

 

Meetings will be held Tuesdays right after school of every month and for every meeting student attends, he/she will receive 1 SSL hour, as well as extra hours for any additional activities. This club also fulfills the student’s Science National Honors Society requirement.

 

 

“We do hope members of the club will gain awareness about being environmentally friendly, and take that knowledge and implement it in other situations, whether it be at home, work or anywhere else for that matter,” Varkiani said. “We really just want to spread awareness and get more people to make environmentally friendly decisions.”