Features - Page 33

In light of the recent teen suicides in the DC area, students all over the city posted a heart emoji on their Snapchat story to stand in solidarity with the friends and family of the lost loved ones in our community. Although not everyone that posted the heart knew these students personally, the sudden loss affected students in many different ways and sparked conversations about mental health, a topic that is widely ignored in schools. This lack of the previous conversation prompted the start of the new school club LOVE (Listen Observe Value Educate), whose goal is to have candid

Living in one place or community your whole life can mean you get to know the world around you: the culture, traditions, and habits that influence your beliefs and perspectives. Living abroad exposes you to a variety of different viewpoints and interpretations of life, which helps you understand a new perspective, and perhaps even question your own pre-existing ideas. As an American living abroad, it can feel like you are an outsider looking into what is happening in America. History teacher Marjorie Brimley lived in Japan during events that were critical to the U.S. “Living abroad showed me that the

Richard Avidon, a long-time and much-beloved History teacher at Georgetown Day School, stepped down last year from his role as Faculty Advisor to The Augur Bit. In total, Avidon spent nearly a decade on the job—and, over the course of his tenure, mentored more than 22 editors-in-chief of the paper, some of whom have gone on to pursue journalism at prestigious national outlets like The New York Times and The Washington Post.  To celebrate Avidon’s career across the last almost quarter-century, The Bit tracked down and asked old editors of the paper to recount their favorite memories of Avidon. The

“How many APs are you taking?” As course selection comes to a close at Georgetown Day School, students are often asking this question around the halls of school. According to the College Board, 2.5 million United States students took Advanced Placement exams in 2015. Advanced Placement (AP) is a program run by the College Board that allows students to take courses in high school that can earn them college credit and qualify them for more advanced classes when they begin college. Each AP course culminates in a standardized exam. But, why exactly are APs a controversial topic within the GDS

Only a week into his presidency, Donald Trump signed an executive order administering a more rigorous screening of refugees and visitors from certain countries he claimed would help to prevent terrorist attacks. Trump’s executive order, which he calls “extreme vetting,” stated that, for 90 days, travelers from seven majority Muslim countries are banned from entering the United States. These countries are Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, Yemen and Iraq. Trump has said that this ban is temporarily necessary to guard against terror attacks. However, a researcher at the CATO Institute stated that since 1975 there has not been a person

Even if you’ve never been taught by Topher Dunne, you’ve seen him around. Maybe it was in the hallway, or maybe it was through a window into one of his history classes. And when you saw him, you saw his outfits. He sports the most unique look at GDS– among both students and teachers. Topher’s wardrobe is an institution at this school. Sophomore Zach Blank enthused: “Topher’s sense of fashion is really unique. When I had seminar with him last year, some of the first things I noticed were [the] plumed hats and colorful ties.” The history teacher primarily dabbles

If you are interested in the brain and how it works, then listen up! Next year, Neuroscience will be one of the new courses offered at GDS. Taught by Bobby Asher and Bill Wallace, this new science course will be a whole year and will include things like field trips, projects, labs, and tests.  Asher, who has taught AP Psychology for twenty years, says he is passionate about picking things kids enjoy and digging a little deeper. He wants the class’s structure to allow for off-topic and in-depth discussions relating to neurology. “If a kid comes into class with a

GDS alumna Sarah Stillman ‘02 is a genius. That is what her teachers thought years ago when she was a student at GDS. Now it is official: the MacArthur Foundation awarded Stillman a “Genius” grant this year, recognizing her writing on social justice issues in The New Yorker and elsewhere. This grant is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to 20 to 30 individuals, working in any field, who have shown “extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction,” as described on the MacArthur Foundation’s website. Fellows

If you are living in the 21st century United States, knowing how to use technology and how to operate computers is essential to becoming successful. Students will never learn these important, technological skills without being given the opportunities to take classes taught specifically to learn about computers and coding. There are hundreds of programming languages used today around the world. But before this year, there were only three classes offered at Georgetown Day High School for specific programming languages: C++, Java, and R Programming. As well as the already mentioned courses, a class based on Python and a new, more