features


Hope blooms in a Hispanic neighborhood

By Meaghan Mallari | Oct. 12, 2005, midnight | In Features »

The coconut chips, mango slices and cucumber slices are all in plastic Ziploc bags. Umbrellas cover the stands and shopping carts hold the fruit that gets periodically peeled and sliced. Here is a group of women holding on to the culture of their native country while trying to make a living everyday on the four corners of Merrimac Drive and 14th Avenue.


Celebrating Ramadan

By Hokuma Karimova | Oct. 11, 2005, midnight | In Features »

Ramadan, a time when Muslims celebrate Allah's revelation of the first verses of the Koran, began Wednesday, Oct. 5. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, but because Islam uses the lunar calendar, the holiday begins on a different day each year. This year, Ramadan will last until Nov. 4.


Weathering the storm

By Eve Gleichman | Oct. 6, 2005, midnight | In Features »

"New Orleans is no more." Senior Carl Fortenberry recalls the words his mother spoke the morning of Aug. 28 when Hurricane Katrina, a category four storm, hit Algiers Point, New Orleans, washing away the only home he had known for the past 18 years. By the time Katrina struck, Fortenberry had already left behind his extended family, his friends and his life to drive with his mother to Little Rock, Arkansas. Now, he is a student at Blair struggling to begin a new life.


Horne, Michael

By Devon Madison | Oct. 3, 2005, midnight | In Teacher Feature »

English teacher Michael Horne grew up a well-rounded child in Connecticut. He had one sister and played a little of every sport and played the accordion. Since then, his interests have changed, but his well-roundedness has remained as one of his best qualities.


Charles, Emanuel

By Zoe Norvell | Oct. 3, 2005, midnight | In Teacher Feature »

At first glance, the guy leaning against the gym's wall, exchanging daps and a quick "What's up?" with the tall basketball players that walk by him, looks like a fellow student, ready to follow them on the court and "play some ball" with them. But in fact he's there to supervise the boys during open gym. The guy is Emanuel Charles, a second year Physical Education teacher at Blair.


Playing ball for a good cause

By Hokuma Karimova | Oct. 1, 2005, midnight | In Features »

Blair staff members faced off against Montgomery County Police officers in a basketball game to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, on Thursday, Sept. 29.


Making it as a male cheerleader

By Natasha Prados | Sept. 30, 2005, midnight | In Features »

Twenty-eight pairs of hands clap. Twenty-eight mouths shout in unison. Twenty-eight bodies move rhythmically in perfect formation on the field. Twenty-eight bodies are wearing 28 white t-shirts and 28 black skirts that read "Cheer" in italics. Wait, make that twenty-five skirts.


Translating from German to English

By Lois Bangiolo | Sept. 29, 2005, midnight | In Features »

On junior Lotte Giza's first day of school, she was like many Blazers who might have been asking themselves, "Why am I here? I should be at home!" What separated Giza from the others was the fact that Giza's home is across an ocean, thousands of miles away in Hamburg, Germany.


Stuck in time

By Alexis Egan | Sept. 26, 2005, midnight | In Features »

Car radios blast loudly, immersing the expansive grounds in the soundtrack of "Charlie and Chocolate Factory" with literal surround sound. The aroma of popcorn fills the air, as tots are herded back to cars by weary traffic directors, who are glad that the film is finally starting. Viewers sit in cars, on lawn chairs and atop picnic blankets, attentively watching the main attraction. Stuck in time, guests have no idea that they are living history, enjoying an evening in Maryland's last drive-in, Bengies – an artifact from a bygone era. One of only 402 drive-in theaters left in the United States, Bengies draws viewers from all over the East Coast.


Hurricane Katrina evacuees find hospitality at D.C. Armory

By Mary Donahue | Sept. 25, 2005, midnight | In Features »

As the sun rises above the D.C. Armory on Sept. 10, Billy Allen sits on the concrete steps reading his Bible. "God makes things happen for a reason," he sighs, closing the book and turning to look reflectively at the people beginning to gather at a Red Cross booth across the street.


Seeing through the storm

By Cole Brown | Sept. 17, 2005, midnight | In Features »

Until Aug. 27, things seemed to be going great for Zachary Brown. He had just moved into Loyola University in New Orleans where he planned to study music performance and industry in Loyola's highly praised music program. At the time, no one at Loyola knew that Hurricane Katrina was poised to strike the Gulf Coast. Brown is one of thousands of students forced to evacuate New Orleans because of the hurricane.


Collins and Squeeze Bayou bring stylish Cajun to sweltering Silver Spring

By Merlyn Deng | Aug. 4, 2005, midnight | In Features »

Swimsuit clad toddlers and children prance about in the bubbling water fountain in Downtown Silver Spring as Blair computer science teacher Karen Collins and her Cajun & Zydeco band, Squeeze Bayou, tune up and play a few measures before the beginning of another Silver Spring Swings Summer Concert Series performance, on Thursday, July 28.


Blair grads focus of Washington Post Magazine cover story

By Alex Hyder | July 31, 2005, midnight | In Features »

The Washington Post Magazine featured Abby Fraeman and Sherri Geng, both 2005 Blair graduates, in its cover story, "Aptitude Aplenty," by Kathy Lally, on July 31, 2005.


Potter party

By Eve Gleichman | July 16, 2005, midnight | In Features »

"Chocolate-covered frogs and Hagrid's Hot Cocoa!" a sign advertised in a very crowded basement. A daunting figure stood behind the counter, dressed in an ominous cloak and a painted white face, serving small children clad as wizards, witches, elves and even…You-Know-Who.


The bleak outlook for summer movies

By Nora Boedecker | June 2, 2005, midnight | In Features »

Whether your summer is characterized by "Romance and Cigarettes" or a trip to a Caribbean "Island," you'll probably find yourself at the movies at least once. But movie watchers beware: This is not a promising season. You may end up being "Bewitched" by these films or you may find yourself caught up in a "War of the Worlds," but it's best to go to the theater knowing what to expect so that you don't find yourself heading out of the movies as fast as your "Traveling Pants" can carry you.


Breaking and entering: the new way to party

By Jody Pollock | Feb. 23, 2005, midnight | In Features »

The front door of a white house in the middle of the block is slightly ajar. Inside, the house looks empty, except for a lonely Christmas tree in the corner. It is 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 23, and the homeowners have gone on vacation with their teenage son. Little do they know that upstairs in their supposedly empty home, smoke swirls in thick clouds and eight friends of their son are lounging on their furniture, snorting OxyContin off of their CD collection.


Housing at high costs

By Kiran Bhat | Feb. 20, 2005, midnight | In Features »

It wasn't much. In one corner of the tiny apartment was a hidden bedroom door; in the other, the open entrance to a bathroom. Surveying her prospective home, English teacher Pam Bryant was not impressed. But when she learned that her prospective apartment was selling for $80,000 more than it had been only one year before, Bryant knew she couldn't afford it, and gave up hope of purchasing a place in Montgomery County.


Student education lost in translation

By Katy Lafen | Feb. 16, 2005, midnight | In Features »

When senior Jose Kafie lived in El Salvador, his parents were actively involved in his education. They hosted a parent reunion, met with his teachers regularly and made time to talk with Kafie about school. However, once his family moved to Silver Spring in search of more opportunities, everything changed.


Leftist teacher meets right-wing club

By Kristi Chakrabarti | Feb. 15, 2005, midnight | In Features »

Members of the Young Republicans Club have finally found a place to voice their political views. At after-school meetings, students discuss tax reform, Social Security, immigration laws and the war in Iraq. They support flat tax policies and believe that the media has a heavy liberal bias. But social studies teacher Kevin Shindel challenges their opinions. "How do you know what you think you know?” he asks at almost every meeting.


First comes marriage then comes love

By Pria Anand | Feb. 13, 2005, midnight | In Features »

Sixteen-year-old junior Kadiatu Kamara wears a white-gold band on the ring finger of her left hand as a constant reminder - since last year, she has been a married woman.


Billie Holiday

By Emma Zachurski | Feb. 5, 2005, midnight | In Features »

There are many reasons to cherish the legacy of Billie Holiday: her raspy one-of-a-kind voice, her unique spirit that propelled her career and the powerful lyrics that only she could sing make up Holiday's significant role in jazz-music history. In addition, Holiday's songs, such as "Strange Fruit," a dark and realistic narrative of the racism she witnessed in her short lifetime, secure her significant role in Black history.


Abeni's Hot Sheet

By | Jan. 10, 2005, midnight | In Features »

Happy New Year Blazers. The theme for this month's Hot Sheet is New Year's Resolutions. I mean, who doesn't make New Year's Resolutions? Well, Blazers, I say we start this new year off with a bang. So, for the Blazers out there who are just starting to read The Hot Sheet this year, I hope you enjoy. A little background info on The Hot Sheet: well, it's all the HOT information on all the HOT things of today, like movies, fashion, advice, celebrity hook-ups and break-ups, T.V., what's in and what's out and a student fashion panel to give its opinion on today's fashion. Also, Blazers, since this is a New Year, I thought, how about change? Change is good, so I decided to bring in a friend of mine to help out on the article: sophomore Dilsia Menjivar. So, my fellow Blazers, it's time to pop open a bottle of Apple Cider because it's almost time. 5,4,3,2,1...Happy New Hot Sheet!


Silver Chips corresponds with an American soldier in Iraq

By Jody Pollock | Jan. 4, 2005, midnight | In Features »

Chief Warrant Officer Richard Mallick, a 1991 Blair graduate, has spent the last 10 months as an Aero Medical Evacuation Pilot with the 498th Medical Company in Iraq. In the heart of the battlefields, Mallick flies unarmed to transport sick and wounded soldiers to the nearest medical care centers, dodging bullets on the way. He is three months from completing his second tour of the war-torn country.


Blazers' New Year's resolutions

By | Dec. 22, 2004, midnight | In Features »

Silver Chips Online has compiled Blair students' New Years resolutions. Enjoy reading other students' and faculties' comments, and feel free to leave us your own in the comment box below.


Abeni's Hot Sheet

By | Dec. 1, 2004, midnight | In Features »

Howdy Blazers!  "What's that in the sky, it's a bird!" "No, it's a plane!" "No, it's the all new Silver Chips Online Hot Sheet, reporting for duty!"  Blazers, if you thought the last Hot Sheet was loaded, well this one's even better. Blazers, better put on your oven mits, because it's hot!  We don't call it the Hot Sheet for nothing!

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