"We break it down like -" senior KJ Bonhomme's voice booms as the members of the boys' step team begin to pound out a rhythm at their March 17 practice. There is a flurry of movement as hands slap on thighs and feet stomp on the floor. "'Sup y'all? I just wanna know one thing," Bonhomme continues. "Can you step like -" The rest of the team interrupts their captain, starting with one stepper and continuing until they are all stepping in unison. Suddenly, the team stops and Bonhomme speaks with confidence: "You can't step like us."
On a Saturday afternoon in February junior Clare Marshall and her family sit in her living room watching a film that Marshall is an avid fan of: "Napoleon Dynamite." Marshall and her family say quotes along with the movie and laugh aloud at the hilarious parts. "Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills," Clare says, imitating Napoleon's trademark throaty drawl. "You know, like nun chuck skills, bow hunting skills...computer hacking skills."
Remember back in the day when Will Smith used to make us bust a gut laughing at the jokes he made on "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air?” Well, he's still got it.
English and Connections teacher Carole Tomayko has been nominated for the seventeenth annual Marian Greenblatt award, given to veteran teachers in Montgomery County who do an excellent job of motivating students to achieve.
English and Connections teacher Carole Tomayko stops her sixth-period Connections class midway through presenting posters and tells them to all stand up. The ninth graders listen carefully as Tomayko instructs them to turn around twice and close their eyes, keeping their hands on their hips. The classroom is a sea of moving bodies as the kids bend left, then right, then stand up straight a welcome respite after sitting still for the past half hour. "We're all teapots!” Tomayko exclaims, as her students chuckle.
Near the door of junior Sonia Giron's home, a pile of coats are heaped over a coat rack. A small jacket, pink, shiny and puffy, lies near a stained work coat. Several sports jackets—Georgetown Hoyas, Duke Blue Devils, Washington Redskins—are near a feminine snowflake covered, navy blue coat. Across the room from the coat rack a large bookcase holds a variety of books. Encyclopedias and high school textbooks mix with Winnie the Pooh, and other children's titles. For Giron, these are telltale signs that she has a large family.