In the back of Topher Leonard’s bedroom, the echoes of Fall Out Boy pour out of an old radio. The then nine-year-old Leonard sits hunched over at his desk, fixated on his iPad. He’s playing Minecraft,…

After moving to Bethesda, seniors Esther Ferrero and Lucia Kaiser were often showered in compliments from peers on their style.

“Esther had an elegant and unique style which definitely caught my eye,”…

After struggling to find a way to take the SAT during the coronavirus pandemic, senior Claire Sorkin drives for 90 minutes to an unfamiliar location in Virginia in order to take the test. Upon arrival,…

Dubbed the “frying pan incident,” students and staff likely remember the event that occurred September of last year. A plethora of memes and jokes circulated around the school and on social media,…

The Association for Education Fairness, a Montgomery County parent coalition, filed a lawsuit against MCPS on September 1, claiming that recent changes to the admissions process for the county’s middle…

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died at her home in Washington D.C. Friday night due to complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer, according to a Supreme Court press release.

While technical…

When brought up in conversation, my ethnic background usually gets two different reactions: “Wait, you’re Hispanic? But you look white,” or  “You’re so lucky; it’ll be so easy for you to get…

Sophomore Yuxi Apel caught a glimpse of the UPS worker walking by her window and wandered downstairs to check what had arrived at her front porch. When she opened the front door, she found a small package…

Graduated senior Lucas Arulpragasm sits in front of his computer, attentively staring at the screen and waiting for an announcement from his dream school, Cornell University. He committed to Cornell earlier…

Six years ago at Pyle Middle School, head basketball coach Bobby Polley called over senior Josh Weinberg, then in seventh grade, to talk to him at the end of his second day of basketball tryouts. When…

To a passerby, Rick Berke (‘76) and Michael Gill (‘76) would have looked like any other Whitman seniors going out for a quick meal at a diner in Bethesda in 1976. But they weren’t just any old high…

In 2012, a couple of months after Jennie Yu (‘18) and her family moved from upstate New York to Bethesda, her parents bought Firehouse Deli, which Yu describes as being between a convenience store and…

During junior Stella Hamman’s first day at the Montgomery County Fire Rescue Service Training Academy, she lined up military-style with other teenage cadets in the engine bay, the section of the station…

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Larry Hogan ordered all restaurants, bars, gyms, spas and theatres to close March 16. Additionally, Hogan has postponed the April 28 Maryland Primary date…

After State Superintendent of Schools Karen Salmon announced yesterday that all Maryland public schools will close for the next two weeks due to COVID-19, Montgomery County officials stated today that…

All Maryland public schools, including MCPS, will be closed for two weeks March 16 through March 27 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

State Superintendent of Schools Karen Salmon announced the closures…

Today, our newspaper’s adviser pulled us aside. He said he understands that we have a magazine coming out soon. He said he’s aware of our commitment to student journalism. But he also said that, with…

When I asked my parents if I could watch “The Bachelor” during my freshman year, their answer was an immediate and definitive no. They believed the show promoted promiscuity and toxic masculinity;…

Senior Ben Lesser runs cross country and track at Whitman; this season, he placed 119th in the Great American Cross Country Festival and 79th in the Montgomery County Cross Country Championship in the…

Racist graffiti was spray painted on Whitman school grounds over the weekend, including the n-word and a depiction of a noose, according to sources familiar with the matter. A building service member painted…

A few days before the Chinese Spring Festival, a holiday signifying family reunion, junior Baichuan Wang’s father was planning to fly back to the United States after a business trip to China. But he…

Junior Nicky Deeds — better known by his YouTube username “HamesAlwaysWins” — has his eyes locked on his 16 by 9 inch computer monitor, with his right hand firmly gripping a colorful mouse and…

At first sight, the girls hard at work in a church basement on a Monday night look like they’re preparing for a zombie apocalypse. Scattered on the floor are mess kits, hundreds of feet of rope, first-aid…

On a freezing Saturday afternoon in the middle of December, I’m bundled up in the middle of the woods, trying to stay warm. Next to me, junior Nicholas Pyle is standing with his completely blank masonite…

Nearly every actor, professional or amateur, will tell you that theatre is a cutthroat environment. Every acting choice is subject to scrutiny, and the competition is fierce. Despite the challenges and…

At the sound of the bell, all the students in room A303 burst into the halls. But while senior Lucas Folio’s classmates shuffle to their second period, he takes a detour to the main office. 

There,…

Senior Hannah Donner began diving when she was nine for her summer team. Senior Liam Gilbert-Lawrence took a similar path, starting when he was 12, also for his summer team. Since then, both Donner and…

For most of my life, I saw my Armenian background as a trivial part of my family history. My family and I often joked about how our very white family technically originated from Asia, and we loosely connected…

Students’ names have been changed to protect privacy.

Content warning: This story contains language that pertains to sexual harassment.

Being a high school girl, Anna is used to using social media…

Just like they do dozens of other times every day, people around the world checked their phones Jan. 26 at 2:32 pm. But what they saw this time was different: a notification from TMZ with the headline,…

“Your glass is half full.”

The message is inscribed on a glass of water that sits on College and Career Information Coordinator Anne Hutchens’ desk everyday. It’s Hutchens’ personal mantra…

Whitman parent Chris White zips on his white, full-body bee suit and matching white gloves as he heads out to his backyard. There’s a low buzzing hum coming from his five hives, each with four wooden…

Whitman parent veterans have completed years of rigorous training, been stationed across the world and formed lifelong relationships with fellow servicemen. When three veterans reflected on their time…

People who text while driving have a lot to worry about: fines, striking other vehicles and being unaware of their surroundings. But all of those worries seem to fly out the window when they hear their…

Jeni Britton Bauer was halfway through college at Ohio State University when she realized that she should incorporate her passion for art history into something bigger — she loved learning, but she thought…

Junior Abbie Hall has been moving her whole life. When she was only three months old, her family moved from the U.S. to Sweden for her father’s job. But her Scandanavian adventure proved short-lived;…

If you walked by a teacher’s classroom, you’d see nothing but the standard — a teacher standing at the front, lecturing from the Promethean board or a teacher grading quizzes. But, inside the classroom,…

Ben Higgins placed third on season 11 of ABC’s “The Bachelorette” in 2015 and then starred as the lead on season 20 of  “The Bachelor” in 2016. Higgins grew up in Warsaw, Indiana, attended the…

Mike Manatos (‘86) goes to work every day wearing the same pin on his lapel. Every morning, he fastens it on his suit jacket or sports coat in the hopes that people will ask about what that little gold…

The 2010s has been a decade of change.

It’s impossible to narrow down all of that change — all of those moments, people and things — to a short list.

But there have been a few universal changes…

Can you name five female artists?

As an aspiring female artist myself, answering this question seemed like it would be a breeze. I timed myself, expecting to take no longer than 30 seconds. But it took…

As the Air King fans whir in the background of the weight room, junior Jordan Maggin holds a 90-pound dumbbell in his hand. Curling the weight with ease, Maggin sets the scene dramatically: “Welcome…

Some names have been changed for anonymity. 

After the Friday-night, varsity football game at Bethesda Chevy Chase High School Oct. 11, senior Drew and his friends flocked to the nearby Chipotle —…

The College Board will now administer all Advanced Placement exams planned for May 13, 2021 again on May 18, 2021 to accommodate Muslim students celebrating the holiday Eid al-Fitr, which falls on May…

When he first found out in February that Lamelo Ball, the rising basketball star of the Ball Family, was playing in a high school game for Spire Academy at Towson University, Montgomery County, local Remi…

Before recording his podcast, Principal Robert Dodd does his homework — something you might not expect from a high school principal. He types up notes, article links and research on a Google Document…

Stepping off the escalator at Metro Center, a tall, bright red sculpture is one of the first things that pedestrians see. These structures, called call boxes, are scattered throughout D.C. and have existed…

As part of Montgomery County’s ongoing efforts to curb teen use of electronic cigarettes and vaping, the Montgomery County Council authorized a lawsuit Oct. 16 against Juul Labs and Altria Group, a company…

On a warm August afternoon, while many students are out at the pool enjoying their last days of summer, seniors Henry Haddon and Joe Ku are in their own home gardens, harvesting microgreens, tomatoes,…

My home life revolves around the news: my family’s radio is always on, we still receive print newspapers daily and our dinners are stuffed to the brim with discussions about current issues. So when Thanksgiving…