The County Chronicle

The online newspaper of Loudoun County High School

May
7

By

Restaurants of downtown Leesburg surmount challenges posed by COVID-19

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Liberty Harrison | Staff Writer

1. An iced coffee, as well as a coffee recipe unique to King Street Coffee known as the “Butter Together” and a jelly donut from their small bakery are pictured on a set in a small outdoor eating area in the space behind the shop. Photo by Liberty Harrison.

Just as our school community and individuals of Loudoun County have been affected by COVID, so have the many restaurants and cafes that inhabit our historic downtown Leesburg. They have had to face a set of unique challenges posed by COVID regulations but many have found new and innovative ways to overcome these challenges.

Fireworks Pizza is a restaurant on the southside of Leesburg known for, as Jennifer Miller, General Manager at the restaurant wrote, “Amazing pizza and craft beer. We also have sandwiches, salads, pasta, homemade desserts, and wine.”

Fireworks has been a part of the Leesburg restaurant scene since 2006. Its mission statement is: “To serve quality food made with the best ingredients, to have a very diverse craft beer selection, and to treat our guests like family!”

Like many of Leesburg’s restaurants, Fireworks is unique in several ways.

“We have been a staple in Leesburg for almost 15 years, operating out of a historic train depot that used to be located right next to the W&OD Trail,” Miller wrote. “Everything we cook gets cooked in our wood fired oven. We don’t have a frier, stove top, or a conventional oven. We have a menu specifically for dogs serving unseasoned meatballs, chicken and homemade dog biscuits. Finally, we have one of the largest and most diverse beer selections in all of downtown Leesburg!”

Although a standout in Leesburg’s casual dining scene, Fireworks is also integrated into the community, collaborating with several other restaurants in Leesburg.

“We work with Tuscarora Mill and South Street Under (we are all part of the Tuskies Restaurant Group) to make our dough and the cake for our tiramisu,” Miller wrote, “We only have a wood fired oven and very limited kitchen space so we rely on their kitchens for the things we can’t do in our own!”

Another food service establishment, one housed in a building that has existed in downtown Leesburg for 40 years and has been operated by the current owner for five years is King Street Coffee.

King Street Coffee is known for its variety of coffees, coffee drinks and also offering bakery pastries, such as croissants, muffins, donuts and empanadas.

Describing  their mission statement, Vanessa Borg, the PR correspondent for KIng Street Coffee, said, “We really just think that we’re part of this historic community of downtown Leesburg. It’s been a hub of coffee and people coming together and conversation for a long time now, decades, so we’re just happy to be continuing that tradition and giving people a place to get really good coffee.”

It seems they have achieved the goals of their mission, considering the niche they have found in the downtown community.

“I think [King Street Coffee] is unique in that there’s a really great community that has formed up around it, the people who work here and who own it and want to keep us running,” Borg said. “It’s really nice to have seen how many people came out to support us through all of this year, so I think that kind of being that hub of community is really special.”

Through Fireworks’ 14 years of operation and King Street Coffee’s 5 year, neither had experienced a challenge comparable to pandemic as COVID swept through the nation last year.

“COVID has posed some unprecedented business challenges,” Miller wrote, “We had to reinvent our business model several times to accommodate our guests and also to be profitable during the different levels of restriction. “

Nonetheless, after trial and error Fireworks was able to come up with several ways to mitigate COVID while still servicing the community.

“We do have different seating arrangements now as tables are required to be 6′ apart,” Miller wrote. “We have had to reduce our seating capacity by 33% and are offering patio seating year-round. We no longer have salt and pepper, crushed red pepper, or sweetener on the tables but instead are offering single use packets. This assists us in keeping tables sanitized. We are also using QR codes and single use menus.”

Fireworks has also increased the frequency of already existing services to more effectively operate under COVID.

“We have always offered carry out but we certainly do a lot more of it now. We also started to offer contactless curbside delivery as well,” Miller wrote.

King Street Coffee also evolved the way it conducted business to best work with attention to COVID safety concerns.

“The inside of our shop is a really small to really close space, so we quickly started realizing that we weren’t going to be able to safely keep the inside open and distance people,” Borg said. “There just isn’t enough space to distance. So we closed the entire shop entirely inside and we’ve just switched to a walk-up window.”

Some of the mitigation procedures themselves have posed challenges to Fireworks, particularly because of their added costs, which can be detrimental to smaller businesses when already dealing with COVID.

“Since so much more of our food is being packaged to-go now rather than for dine-in we have had to purchase a lot more packaging,” Miller wrote. “We are not using our regular menus right now but rather printing single use menus everyday causing our usage of paper and ink to increase dramatically. Normally, this time of year we would not be using the patio but due to COVID we are. In order to keep it warm enough we have been using a lot of propane to heat it.”

King Street Coffee as well has faced several challenges created by their mitigation procedures.

“In summer people can still come by, but this winter and on rainy days like today, it’s been a little bit more difficult for people to feel super comfortable coming up to the window, but overall I think that, you know switching to walk up only has been really great in terms of keeping people feeling safe and keeping all of our staff safe as well as healthy,” Borg said.

King Street Coffee has also had to deal with added costs from their new methods.

“We have to print new outdoor menus fairly often as we kind of experimented with trying to figure out how to run that,” said Borg. “For a while we were doing deliveries of cold brew and iced coffee in half gallons.” Borg explained that they had to invest in new materials to support the service, and added that the service might be brought back for the summer months. Borg continued, describing the financial challenges they’ve faced, “But just different stuff like that where we were trying to get creative trying to find ways to bring coffee to people’s homes instead.”

At times difficulties arose on exactly what mitigation procedures should be taken as the government guidelines and restrictions evolved, however appreciation for the government’s effort seems to be the consensus.

“I think that it’s been a little bit confusing sometimes in terms of getting conflicting information from different levels of government, but overall I think they’re doing a really great job giving us guidelines that help keep everyone safe and contribute to public health,” Borg said.

COVID has also affected many of the individuals working within these companies in a significant way.

“COVID has been the biggest challenge I have faced in my 20 year restaurant career,” Miller wrote. “We had to completely change the way we handled business, staffing, food preparation, purchasing and more while still maintaining our high standards. We had to learn what hospitality looked like in a mask, figure out how to keep morale up with our staff, keep everyone safe, and always be ready for more change. It was stressful but also taught me so much about the dedication of my amazing staff and my own strengths and weaknesses.”

During these hard times many residents of Leesburg have looked for ways to support small businesses, and Fireworks and KIng Street Coffee both agreed on the best way to do it.

“Come eat our food!” Miller wrote. “We are offering inside socially distanced dining as well as patio seating with heaters. We can prepare anything to go as well and are offering no contact curbside delivery.”

King Street Coffee held the same sentiment.

“I think just like coming out and enjoying what we’re offering, you know, if you like coffee then come by and grab a coffee and you’ll probably love it because our roaster is great and the people who make it love making it, so you know that there’s a lot of love that has gone into the product,” Borg said, continuing “If you have a dog come by and bring them! We love seeing all the dogs, puppuccinos and dog treats are always free!”

Both companies also agreed on the gratitude they feel towards the support they have already received.

“Our loyal guests supported us and cheered us on through it all and we couldn’t be more grateful,” Miller wrote.

 

May
5

By

Digital Struggles: Virtual learning challenges students and teachers

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Daniel Delargy | Guest Writer

English teacher Shawn Simms teaches to both her in person and online third block class. Photo by Valerie Egger.

COVID has changed the landscape of education that LCPS provides to its students. Ever since March 13, 2020, school has primarily been online, only opening in March 2021 using hybrid models.

This has provided a challenge for students and educators. During an informal poll, we asked students to rate their online learning experience 1-10. The average of the poll was 4.6.

Many teachers agree that distance learning is not ideal. English teacher Shawn Simms has a similar view to the student body. “Overall, I’d rate it two or three, because really being with the kids is my dream job,” Simms said. Like many, Simms became a teacher because she enjoys the face-to-face interaction with students. “ I really miss reading the room and helping students hands on.”

Students also expressed frustration with the current state of their education.

A distance learning student who voted online school a 4 said, “Don’t ignore us. Ever since hybrid started I feel like the teachers kind of forget we are there,” referring to the fact that teachers now teach students in person at the same time as they teach their remote learnings, a model known as the concurrent teaching model.

An online student who ranked online learning as a 6 said, “I don’t think that there is anything you can change to make it better, but it just doesn’t work for me. I haven’t been able to focus, and I don’t think I have actually learned anything all year.”

Lucia Kennedy, hybrid student, attends class two days a week in person, attending through the computer on the other half of the week. Like many students, she prefers in-person learning.

“I honestly find it so much easier to feel motivated and pay attention when I am actually there in class looking at my teacher and feeling included in the conversation,” she said.

A student who voted hybrid a 7 said, “I was surprised that so few people decided to come back in hybrid; I enjoy seeing and being able to interact with my teachers and the other students.”

Many are expressing a growing concern on what the lack of in person instruction will mean for students. “Kids of all ages that are struggling learners or linguistically challenged or have special needs, those kids are separating so the kids that have are going to be fine will rise up but there will be a gap to the kids who struggle,” Simms said.

This paired with the fact that 28% of U.S students are in person, according to Eduactionnext.org and evidence to suggest that number is larger in other countries. Some teachers and parents are concerned about the education that students are receiving during this COVID era.

“American kids are not in a place of being job competitive, international job competitive,” Simms said. “As we become a more global culture, local society, and multi linguistics we need to prepare you guys for the world’s market, not just the American market.”

Part of this struggle to pay attention and interaction during online classes is due to the lack of cameras being on during classes, says Simms. “I find a very strong correlation between kids who keep their screens on and their engagement and their submission of work,” Simms said. “One day we’re going to look back on this and think, and say it was a big mistake to let kids choose whether to put their screens on or not.”

The idea of having students be required to have their cameras on during class has been proposed. Although this begs the question on if this is an invasion of students’ privacy given that they would have to show their home.

Junior Matthew Siltra said, “I don’t want to show my face. It makes me uncomfortable because of my surroundings.”

Junior Coen Leonard said, “The main reason I dont have my camera on is because I don’t want to forget I have it on.”

There are many challenges with this school year and many are not satisfied with this year’s learning experience. Although there is hope for the future, students are really enjoying hybrid and teachers are finding it effective. COVID cases are dropping and the vaccine rollout has been mostly successful. This was uncharted waters for everyone, and it hasn’t been easy, but, the school board is leaning to have a normal school year next year and are currently planning for a five-day school week with 100% attendance. Our informal poll shows that a majority of the students prefer in person school to online this year.

May
5

By

Expectation vs. Reality: students weigh in on the hybrid learning model

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Chris Mejia | Guest Writer

Eman Mazhar shares his online learning set up. With much of the school year taking place via distance learning, students had time to set up their own personalized learning spaces.

Ever since COVID came into existence a lot of things have changed. From sanitizing everything to wearing masks, our lives have changed dramatically. One of those changes has been online school. This new way of learning took a toll on a lot of students, while others thrived in this new learning environment.

Madi Robb decided she wanted to do hybrid learning. She said online learning wasn’t working for her as she is a very extroverted person. “I like the socialization aspect of hybrid,” she said, of her favorite part of hybrid learning was, “It’s more engaging.” Robb’s expectations for hybrid learning were met, as she prepared herself for an empty and quiet classroom.

Students have had the option to revise their choice of online or hybrid learning. “Being able to actually be physically in class is really good for me,” Robb said, “So I would definitely not switch back to online.” In a survey of 88 students, 79.5% agreed with Robb; they would not change their choice of hybrid or online learning.

Keilly Hernandez is an online student. Regarding her reason for remaining in distance learning, she said, “everything is still fuzzy on how things are gonna work out.” She said that she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself if the people she loved contracted COVID because she would be exposed to it. “The idea of covid hurting me or the people I love is so painful.” This is something a lot of people can relate to, as COVID can be very scary and dangerous, depending on other factors like previous health problems and age. Students must weigh physical safety with learning. Many have had trouble with online school because they are visual learners who need one-on-one explanation and help. “Online school has really pulled back the opportunity to do so,” Hernandez said.

Kim Truong is a student at the Academies of Loudoun. School has been different for students there because they have been exercising the hybrid method for the entire school year. Truong is a prime example that not everyone had such a rough experience with this different school year. “Hybrid learning at the Academies of Loudoun has been fun so far,” she said. “It’s a nice balance between school and real life.”
Even though hybrid learning has been a lot of fun, Truong wishes things could go back to normal, pre-COVID normal. Hybrid learning has not met Truong’s expectations, as she had high standards for it.

Teachers instruct the same material for students online and in-person, so Truong believes there’s no difference between staying home and doing in-person, other than putting yourself at risk. “School lunch really isn’t that safe,” Truong said. “Students can sit less than six feet apart, without masks on and mingle.” For Truong, stricter regulations would make hybrid school more enjoyable. •

May
5

By

Mid-Year Bell Schedule Adjustment Agitates Students Who Are Still Adapting To The Distance/Hybrid School Year

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Michaela Scott | Editor in Chief

Junior Sophie Hylton quickly cleans the dishes after her rushed lunch break. The shortened lunch periods are preventing students from having the time to clean up after themselves, or even give them time to finish eating their whole meal.

Over the course of the distance learning school year, students have been constantly adjusting to many sorts of changes, such as working from home, preparing each lunch on their own, and balancing their screen time. As of January 21, Principal Michelle Luttrell announced that the second semester of school will follow a brand new bell schedule.

The new bell schedule was established to give distance/hybrid students the flexibility to quickly pivot back and forth between stages without having to change schedules or transportation; additionally, this eliminated the learning lab time. Prior to this decision, learning lab time was held for the last twenty minutes of class as a time where students could seek needed help or work asynchronously. Teachers were not allowed to assign extra work during the learning lab, however, teachers now have the option of teaching throughout the end of class. Not all students appreciate the change, and many teens expressed their concerns.

“I understand where administrators are coming from, but I will never understand why the school board let us get used to the schedule in the fall, if they knew they would have to change it mid-year for hybrid,” sophomore Genesis Chhour said. “There should have been one definite schedule that would benefit students regardless of distance or hybrid; yet the school seems to wonder why kids don’t have the motivation to do school anymore.”

Out of an informal survey of seventy LCHS students, 98% had negative opinions about why they strongly oppose the changes brought about by the mid-year bell change. The vast majority of students’ responses in the survey believe that the asynchronous learning lab for each class was essential for a variety of reasons.

“The schools board’s decision to take away the learning lab was terrible,” junior Mairenn Blest said. “To have students stare at a computer screen for an hour straight was already bad enough and strained our eyes; now the new schedule makes it even harder to pay attention.”

Additionally, senior Bess Fields is apprehensive about the normality of learning through a black mirror, and the effects of having zero breaks throughout the day. “Administrators cannot expect us to be glued to a computer for seven hours with a thirty minute lunch break and pretend like that is appropriate for this adjusted school year,” Fields said. “Mainly, I am really concerned about the younger students in elementary school, they are going to be so messed up from this.”

According to the survey, many students have a dislike for the immediate block changes between each class. “The alteration does not give students the proper breaks and time to complete in class assignments,” junior Charlotte Penberthy said. “I hate it.”

The other main concern many students became vocal about was the dramatic change in lunch schedules. Junior Sophie Hylton stressed how inconvenient the bell switch has been for managing to eat during the online school day. “I have to cook all my food, eat my lunch, all while cleaning up after myself in less than thirty minutes,” Hylton said. “I seriously prefer having the longer lunch time.”

Despite the unamused student responses, the Captains are slowly adjusting to the unwanted change brought by LCHS administration. “Teachers lecturing for a whole hour and thirty minutes through a screen just gives me a headache,” junior Chris Mejia said. “We seriously needed those mental breaks in between classes.”

Apr
23

By

Library Remains Open to Students During Hybrid and Distance Learning

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Emily Banner | Staff Writer

Freshman Alex Eurek checks out a book from the library. Photo by Valerie Egger.

Before March 2020, the library was often overflowing with students in the mornings, and students visited regularly during lunch and study hall. This year however, the library is a much quieter place. The main visitors now are teachers, seated at socially-distanced desks during their planning periods. But through distance and hybrid learning, the school library remains open for students to check out books. Safety precautions are being taken to ensure that this remains safe for all involved.

Students are able to request books through a book request form. Books are delivered to English or study hall for hybrid students, and the librarians are still delivering books to virtual students as needed, or students can pick them up in the front office. Students can view the catalog to see what books are available and submit a book request form from the library Schoology page (access code FT6Q-SRDD-J9N54).

Currently, hybrid students are allowed to come to the library to browse books in 15-minute increments. Students are asked to touch as few books as possible and use hand sanitizer when entering the library.

When books are returned, they are quarantined for three days in keeping with the American Library Association’s protocol.

“We want kids reading paper books and taking screen breaks,” Librarian Christina Burge said. “We will do whatever we can to get books in students’ hands.”

Apr
22

By

Coronavirus vaccine provides hope for the community

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Liberty Harrison | Staff Writer

The front entrance to Brambleton Middle School, with coronavirus mitigation procedures posted in the window on the left. Photo by Liberty Harrison.

The coronavirus vaccine has brought with it many emotions, including relief and hope but has also once again highlighted the tribulations caused by the pandemic. The experiences of both nurses and those who have been vaccinated are not only impacting those individuals but are also shaping the history of the coronavirus pandemic.

Almost all people throughout the process have had the same reaction to receiving their shots.

Kathie Miller is usually Harmony Middle School’s nurse, but she also works as a vaccinator at the Brambleton POD. Miller said, “Most people are very excited to be there. There’ve been a few people who’ve been a little anxious just because you’re getting a shot, but for the most part people are just so excited and they just roll up their sleeves, they just can’t wait to get it, because everybody wants to get back to some sense of normal.”

“The reason I haven’t specifically [seen anyone not wanting to get the vaccine] I think is because everyone who is coming in is very excited about it,” said Jamie Klucken, a clinical pharmacist who volunteers with the Loudoun Medical Reserve Corps, run by the Loudoun County Health Department. Dr. Klucken works as a Safety Evaluator for the FDA, but any views expressed are her own.  “I think people that are more concerned about the vaccine have not signed up for it. But the people that are coming in for the vaccine are just very excited about the possibility of some semblance of normalcy after they’ve got their second shot. However, we still advise everyone to still mask up and socially distance, especially with others around them that aren’t vaccinated, until we have herd immunity. Most people are just very grateful that we are there and are just excited to get it.”

However there are still many people who have shown suspicion in the vaccine, and have expressed an anxiousness or even outright refusal towards getting the vaccine.

“I have run into a lot of friends and family on Facebook that have reached out to me and expressed concern about the vaccine, given the rapid development,” Klucken said. “So it’s been very helpful knowing, because of my job, how the drug approval process works and knowing that steps regarding the evaluation of safety and efficacy were not skipped. The one thing that really sped up the process was manufacturing the vaccine prior to approval, which is not normally done. The government paid for the vaccines in advance, in case it worked, so companies could have vaccines ready to go upon approval. We’ve lucked out that so far all these vaccines presented to the FDA have actually worked. So they already had it manufactured and have been able to push it out more rapidly than normal. So there’s some hesitancy out there because people are concerned about that.”

Shannon Nerantzis,  a Loudoun County High School nurse, has worked as both a vaccinator, a floating nurse (those positioned around the POD to transport materials and information to the vaccinating nurses), and as a nurse monitoring those waiting to be cleared after their injection. She said regarding those who have doubts about the safety and viability of the vaccine, “Basically the science behind this for a mRNA vaccine has been around for over 10 years. It was developed around the time of the H1N1 flu vaccine so, when they were able to get the genetic code for this virus, literally back in January, they were able to have the components to start, producing vaccines even last January. It took time to figure out  what solutions and that type of thing would be needed but, honestly science is pretty amazing these days.”

Inside the vaccination PODS, however, there are still some problems.

“It’s been a very positive environment, I think for pretty much everybody as far as vaccinators, as far as people receiving vaccines. It’s a little overwhelming sometimes for people to see the first time, because it is a gym, it’s loud and it’s not the private area that they’re used to when they get vaccines, even a flu vaccine. For that usually they take you to your private room,” Nerantzis said.” So everybody’s in this big room so for some people that… took some time to get used to, but now that we’re pretty much only doing second vaccines people just kind of take the energy that’s in the room and are really positive.”

Instead of being apprehensive about getting the vaccine some people appear to be overzealous.

“I think what I’ve seen more [than people not showing up]  is people trying to show up with maybe their spouse or their partner who doesn’t qualify and see if they can get a dose. Of course we can’t do that because we have it set up for so many per day and we only have so much supply,” Klucken said.

There have also been some problems at the various vaccination PODs, but these have been e resolved as time has gone on.

“As far as timing, I know I was there at the very beginning when we first started doing this. It was a little bit more difficult for us to get people through just because we were all new at this, trying to vaccinate so many people in a short period of time,” Klucken said. “But right now what I’ve seen recently is… it’s a very smooth process, people get in and get out.” Adding that her husband was vaccinated at a Fairfax vaccinating center where they too have created a smooth, efficient system, Klucken said, “So I think everyone has a set up now that it’s not a problem.”

Booking for the Brambleton POD in particular, teachers experienced some technical difficulties that were later resolved.

“So initially the County rolled out an email that was in essence, a free for all, for all teachers or staff to try and load the page up and get in and book an appointment as quickly as possible,” said Caitlin McAteer, an English and Advisory teacher at Loudoun County High School. “That was the first way that they approached getting people the vaccine. I am not sure whether they had planned to do it that way the entire time, and then realized that was a bad idea, or if that was just a, ‘let’s get people the vaccine as quickly as possible however we can and then start setting up the protocol.’” She explained that by protocol she meant the system they put in place to let teachers book appointments for the vaccine, then continued, ”I, as a teacher, received an email midway through January that said, ‘this is your personalized link to create an appointment for your COVID vaccine’ and I clicked on that. The first time I clicked on it, I opened it up and there was nothing there…it didn’t even have the dates listed that I could have picked an appointment. It just was straight up like there’s nothing there?”

After a few days however, the system was fixed and McAteer was able to book her appointment.

“Then the second or third time that I refreshed and went back, I think a day or two later, the appointment times had filled in and at that point I was able to get a slot that worked for me,” McAteer said. “So they went from having it be wide open and crashing the site actually several times, it was kind of a mess, shifting over to doing it on a personalized level, which still had some glitches, but it was a lot simpler because at least that way I knew what options I had. I wasn’t desperate to grab any of them. I knew that there were available mobile spots that I could manage.”

Dealing with these bumps in the road are the many nurses working in the PODs, many of whom have felt a great impact from their work.

“I can tell you the first day, besides being completely exhausted,” Miller said. “I literally, I cried. I called my brothers and I said, ‘Mom and Dad would have been so proud of me because of it.’ You know, this is part of history. I said, ‘I’m going to someday if I have grandkids, someday tell my grandkids about this.’ Because we are part of history. We are part of you know, this worldwide pandemic and this is this one step in getting everything back to normal or somewhat normal. So it was a very emotional and exhausting experience.”

Nerantzis said what she took away from her experience working in the POD was, “Just that people really appreciate all the efforts that we’ve gone to to make sure that they’re vaccinated, that the system has gone smoothly, that they don’t have, for the most part, they don’t have to wait a long time.” She added, ‘I think one of the lessons is that if you  take time to orchestrate something thoughtfully and make sure that everyone’s taken care of it really shows.”

Not only have nurses been affected by working at the POD but by getting the vaccine themselves.

“It’s kind of funny because I knew, the student health services staff, we knew prior to going on Christmas Break that we would potentially get it [the coronavirus vaccine] over break so we were told to make sure you’re checking your emails and so I was checking my email every day over break,” Miller said. “New Year’s Eve I looked at the email in the morning there was nothing there, so I went out and walked my dog and came home and I was like oh, I’ll look one more time and then lo and behold there’s this email. I filled it out and then literally I got my shot like an hour later, it all happened really, really fast. And when I got mine it was at the initial vaccine clinic …in this warehouse in Sterling and it was bizarre because it was this big empty warehouse that was freezing cold and everybody’s just standing in line, following the dots on the floor that are six feet apart. I kind of pulled my camera out on my phone and I was being all stealth to get a picture to send it to my husband and the girl behind me goes, ‘I just did the same thing, do you feel like you’re in a weird sci-fi movie?’ and I said, ‘I do.’ It was funny because last year for New Years I was on a cruise and I’m saying to her, ‘It’s just so bizarre because last year I was in the Bahamas and this year I’m in this weird warehouse getting a vaccine.’ Then the second one I actually got at the Loudoun County School POD, all the nurses were working the pod so we just got our vaccines there. Then it wasn’t as strange but the first time, like I said, from the time I got the email I literally was rolling up my sleeve like an hour later and it just happened so fast and I kind of didn’t ask a lot of questions I just  kind of went with it and then thought, ‘Wow, this is strange.’”

The nurses who have stepped into the front line of vaccine distribution want to share the knowledge and insights that they have gained from their profession and their experiences.

“I would feel like whether you’re talking about COVID or you’re talking about, like, a tornado that happens or anything,” Miller said, “I think until it affects you personally or your family or your friends, I don’t think people really take things seriously.

Miller explained that she had a close family friend who lost his leg because of blood clotting issues related to COVID-19.

“He [Miller’s family friend] was one of those people who basically had every possible bad thing related to COVID happen, and he survived it but his life will never be the same,” Miller said. “I think my message I would want to get across to the people is, maybe it hasn’t affected you or your family, or maybe it did and it was very mild, but this is serious. This is not a fake virus. I think we all need to do our part to move past this whether it’s wearing your mask, or doing your social distancing or getting your vaccine.  We all have a social responsibility, because not everybody is lucky enough either not to be affected or to get by with minimal symptoms.”

Nerantzis has a similar message to Loudoun County High School, “Just continue to be careful with [your] social distancing. I know it’s hard and I applaud all of you who’ve done such a great job, but just keep carrying on and hopefully we’ll get back together soon. So I guess sort of keep doing what you’re doing because it’s working.”

Multiple teachers from LCHS who have also gone through the experience of getting the coronavirus vaccine agree that it was an easy decision to get it done.

“It was easy and it was made easier for me to prioritize because the County, the admin gave us the go ahead, that … teachers [and] staff have the option to create asynchronous learning day that you go get your vaccine,” McAteer said. “I was able to choose that in order to drive to Brambelton, and then stand in line. So knowing that I had been given the permission, that we had permission from the administration to give the students something, without feeling like I was cheating or without feeling like, you know, taking care of myself, came at the cost of doing my job. It was much better that way, and knowing that with the vaccine, if I’m vaccinated, I’m going to be that much more prepared to get back into the classroom. It was always easy enough to just say yes, I’m going to go get it.”

“The school system allowed us to take the time  during the school day, if we needed to, to get our vaccination,” said Eleanor McKenzie, an APWH teacher at Loudoun County High School. She explained that in fact the day she scheduled it for was a snow day and said, “So I didn’t have to miss school, but if I had to, they made the process easy for us. I could find someone to cover for me or I could do an asynchronous class.”

After making the decision to get the vaccine the process for teachers was fairly easy.

McAteer made her appointment on the 18th and got the vaccine ten days later, on the 28th.

“I was concerned because I was prepared for it to be booked out solid, but it worked out pretty well,” McAteer said.

Arriving for her 3:30 appointment at 3:45 McAteer stood in line for 20 to 30 minutes, got her vaccine, and waited for 15 minutes to make sure she did not have an adverse reaction.

“So all told …it probably was just about an hour.” said McAteer. “So it was, it was really not bad”

McAteer got the Pfizer vaccine.

“It didn’t hurt,” McAteer said. “I have a lot of experience getting blood drawn and that’s always where my head goes when I think of needles. So this was actually a lot easier than getting blood drawn and it was just right into the muscle of my left arm. The vaccine itself didn’t hurt, I would say for probably two or three days afterward, my arm was sore. So I tried to be more careful about not jostling it, but, that was really the only adverse experience. Maybe my health dipped a little bit. I might’ve got the sniffles, but I don’t think … anything major happened.”

She might not have had much of a physical reaction, but McAteer admits she was emotionally affected.

“I will say that I felt kind of emotional,” McAteer said. “I have been feeling a pretty great sense of relief over having gotten the vaccination process started. I am aware that there are, you know, questions about whether they’re effective against the newer variants of COVID  and that does make me a little bit uneasy. But I spoke to the nurses who were in charge of all the stations and they expressed a sense of being part of history and I felt the same way. I feel an extreme relief, the kind of thing where something really intense has been hanging over you and then all of a sudden it’s taken care of. It’s over. It’s done. And you’re just like, whew, you feel kind of giddy almost…it’s still just a big sense of, of happiness and of release.”

McAteer was scheduled for her second shot on the 28th of February, meaning she is now fully vaccinated.

Now that she had been through the process, like the nurses, McAteer also wants to share her experiences with the community.

“I know there’s a lot of fear and that different people think different things about the vaccine,” McAteer said. “I’ve put a lot of faith in history, looking at the history of vaccinations in the United States and looking too at the people…on the ground. Like, do I trust the nurse at school? Do I trust Shannon Nerantzis ? Yes, I do. Do I trust nurses in general? Yes I do. So if these are people who have worked quote unquote on the front lines of healthcare, their entire life, and they are excited and they are feeling positive about it, then I think that that gives me more confidence to trust them and to believe what they see over any conspiracy theories or fears that other people have. That’s what I would share most and foremost is yes, remain informed, but I mean really remain informed by talking to people who actually know, who have had the real experience.”

McKenzie also described the ease of the vaccination process and how it affected her personally.

Referring to the interim period between booking and getting a shot McKenzie said, “It was only a couple of days because I opened up the link randomly on a Saturday morning and I got the appointment on Monday, but that was the Monday that school was closed, so they moved it to a different day.”

She got the Pfizer shot as well, spending about 20 minutes going through the process. Afterwards she reported having a sore arm for around 3 days and fatigue, but no other symptoms.  She was scheduled to get her second shot on March 1st, meaning she as well is now fully vaccinated.

After getting the shot she too felt a sense of relief.

“You know that George Michael song, ‘Freedom’? That was going through my head,” McKenzie said.

Apr
15

By

Cheer team perseveres through COVID

Category: Sports Tags: ,

Olivia DeWan and Liberty Harrison | Staff Writers

In this photo from the team’s Instagram page, the Captain’s cheer team practices a routine in the school hallway. For a few months, COVID prevented the girls from practicing in the gym.

As school opened back up one of the extracurricular activities most affected nationally by COVID has been sports, including cheerleading, posing unique challenges to coaches and participants as seasons have begun. Loudoun County High School’s Cheer team in particular has also had to adjust to the change in mascot from Raider to Captain that took place over the summer.

“We are really excited to use Captains as the team mascot this year,” varsity head coach Samantha Mancini said. “So we are hoping that the new mascot and new uniform will really give us a good vibe.”

These concurrent events have resulted in a distinctive year for the team, as they navigated new rules and regulations and found ways to continue supporting the other sports teams also affected by COVID.

Changes have contributed to both physical differences and the psyche of the team.

“We had to push back our season to the spring,” said sophomore Mia Rodgers. “We didn’t even know if we were going to have a season.”

Much to the relief of the girls on the team, they did have a season. However, there were significant changes that caught the girls off-guard.

“It’s disappointing and not the same without the fans rooting us on during our competitions,” sophomore Riley Fox said. “It’s very quiet and we have to be more creative to keep the team spirit going for the players and cheerleaders.”

The new adjustments were especially difficult for the freshmen.

“Because a lot of our team is freshmen, it’s very hard [for them] to understand what the other girls have already experienced in regards to like school spirit,” Mancini said. “It’s really hard for the freshmen to grasp what it feels like to be out of football game on a Friday night and a competition full of fans in the crowd because they’re only allowed to have one parent per athlete so in that regard.”

The team had also experienced changes caused by the reduced number of students that tried out this year, affecting both JV and varsity teams, but having the most impact on varsity. This was both due to the fact that the high school had to change its cheer season from fall to winter, making it coincide with a different cheerleading program’s All Star Cheer season and the general apprehension around participating in team sports during COVID.

“I know this is a countywide issue, a lot of schools have lost like some of their girls because All Star Cheerleading is too big of a conflict for them, so a lot of girls had to choose, which really stinks,” Mancini said, noting that the number of students trying out dropped from around 42 last year to 22 this year, leaving 17 on varsity and five on JV.

“The ones who came out,  they’re making the best of it so we’re going to make it the best we can this season,” Mancini said. Tryouts were also changed for COVID regulations, which caused some difficulties. Whereas usually during tryouts groups were able to be rearranged to see who worked best together, due to COVID regulations cross-contaminating groups was not allowed.

“That was really tough trying to figure out based on size and all of that,” wrote Mancini. “Then making the competition routine has been really difficult because of that as well but I think we’re finally at a good spot now.”

Less time during the season has also affected the procedures usually followed, especially in regards to choreography.

“Usually the seniors, it’s their role to teach the younger girls, but we didn’t really have that much time this year so we had to upload all the cheers to our Instagram account so the new girls had to learn it off of that,” said Mancini. “But we have had some practices to learn it.”

Choreography, as well as chants, have also been directly affected by both COVID and the mascot change.

“For the cheers for football games, the motions are all the same from what they used to be, we just kind of changed the word from the old mascot to captains,” Mancini said. For games, the team has no trouble following guidelines. On the sidelines, there is more than enough space to be 10 feet apart, especially with fewer participants this year. “Luckily that all is working in our favor,” Mancini said.

Competitions have been more challenging. As in previous years an independent choreographer does the more complicated choreography for competitions and there are more regulations for competitions, many of which have been changed by the Virginia High School League because of COVID.

Some of these changes include the banning of pyramids and basket tosses. Prop regulations have also been tightened, meaning items such as signs and pompoms are not allowed to be exchanged between two girls, which has greatly affected the crowd involvement portion of the cheerleading route.

“We are not able to stunt,” Rodgers said. “Stunting is very important to cheerleading and we have to work with what we are allowed to do. For competitions we are allowed to stunt, but it’s very limited.”

Participants in competitions are given the choice whether or not to use a mask, although according to Mancini most of Loudoun County High School’s cheerleaders have chosen to wear them throughout their competitions.

“We’ve been having to do more dancy sections and a lot more jump sections,” Mancini said. “That’s actually good for us I would say because we’re strong and those areas”

Still, coming up with routines that followed COVID regulations has been a challenge. “That was really interesting and tricky trying to make sure that each girl only holds their sign,” Mancini said. “So we have three different sign sections this year, so we had to switch a lot of stuff around for that.”

The mascot change, which affected chants, didn’t pose as large of a challenge, although it did add another layer of change to be adjusted to.

“We didn’t have to come up with new cheers,” said Rodgers. “We just changed Raiders to Captains. There are some cheers that we can’t flip over to Captains because it doesn’t sound right or it has too many letters.”

Even Mancini noticed the girls struggling to accommodate for the rapid change.

“The girls were at first still saying Raiders,” Mancini said. “Mentioning how old the school was, and subsequently how many years of cheers they had to change, she continued. “It really wasn’t that hard. Once we changed the new mascot to Captain, especially for the girls that did winter cheer, it just became a habit.”

Funding has not been a problem, particularly because they were already granted money to buy new uniforms because of the mascot change. Along with this the team also purchased two different sets of team masks, one for practice and a tighter one for competitions. The school has also been providing supplies related to COVID such as hand sanitizer and specific shoes to be sanitized and used when on the mat.

Regulations for transportation to away games have also stayed fairly similar to other seasons.

The rules limit how many athletes can travel on a bus, but that has not impacted the team. “I know our athletic directors have been dealing with this all winter season, so luckily they have a hold of all that,” said Mancini.

On the bus the biggest change is the seating regulations to be followed, which includes a seating chart where each person sits along and at least one seat away from the bus driver.

Throughout changes and challenges, however, the cheer team has continued to keep a positive attitude both in relations to COVID mitigation procedures and the mascot change.

“I am definitely sad we didn’t get to have a normal season,” Rogers said. “But this new season gives us a chance to bond and better ourselves as a team.”

Regardless of all the challenges the team has faced, they persevered and continued to have an amazing season.

“I’ve really enjoyed watching our teams do so well this year,” said Fox. “But I miss the student section!”

Apr
15

By

Second semester bell schedule easier for teachers

Category: Perspectives Tags: ,

Karen Cortes | Managing Editor

At the start of the school year, Loudoun schools operated on a bell schedule that only required students to connect online with their teachers for an hour. Students were allowed to disconnect from their laptop twenty minutes before their next class, this being called a learning lab. The goal was to offer students a screen break but also a chance to see teachers for extra help. The schedule also gave students longer lunch periods, with approximately 45 minutes for the entire school to eat at the same time. When the new bell schedule was imposed during the second quarter, learning lab was no more and both students and teacher lunches were shortened to 30 minutes, happening at assigned intervals with the goal of preparing students for the return to in-person learning. Some students disliked the idea and even created a petition, but how did teachers feel?

Kathryn Ives an AP teacher who teaches at LCHS said, “The reality is that this year, screen time is the status quo. No matter they schedule, all of the assignments and assessments are on the computer, so getting away from the screen is impossible.”

Nicole Daniel, AP psychology teacher, said, “Personally, I am ambivalent about the change in the bell schedule. I understand why administration made the choice to do it: it’s important that the transition to in-person learning be as seamless as possible when it happens, it mirrors our traditional school day, and it makes sense to set a major change like this at the start of a new semester rather than in the middle of a marking period.”

During the first half of the school year. Classes ran shorter, and the last twenty minutes being “learning lab” where teachers could use this time to provide extra help, answer questions for students who needed it. Most teachers dismissed students at this time, this time was meant for students to complete missing work or take a screen break. But some teachers, especially AP teachers preparing for an end-of-year exam, experienced challenges with the shortened contact time.

“I am happy that Learning Lab is going away,” Daniel said. “Teachers need the flexibility to decide when to plan asynchronous work, rather than being forced to always put it at the end of the block. Learning Lab was a nightmare from a lesson planning perspective, and I (as well as many of my colleagues) felt that its existence was an overreach into what should always have been a decision made by professionals in the classroom,” said Daniel.

Ives said that once students came back to school it made perfect sense, “It is the normal rhythm of the day and teachers can certainly let students have non-screen time at their discretion.

Daniel also understood why students might have been upset, “Students resent the change to their established routines, the shortening of lunch, and what they perceive as an increase in class time. Learning Lab was always meant to be part of the class block, but I know that many students would log off of class and  go do something else during that time, so they see the change in schedule as an “extension.” And, I understand how difficult it is to maintain focus in front of a computer for so long every day. And I too will miss my 45-minute lunches.”

For Ives, the switch in lunch time was the most difficult obstacle. “I loved having the 45 minutes lunch break in the middle of the day. I have never liked having lunch so early in the day.”

Although the bell schedule was changed a while ago, Students have gotten used to this new bell schedule, it was a bit difficult and I can speak for most students, but the teachers tried to make it a smooth transition for us.

Apr
13

By

Dining During COVID: Tuscarora Mill adapts to pandemic

Category: News Tags: ,

Alexis Cuatlacuatl | guest writer

Management at Tuscarora Mill transformed the front parking lot into an outdoor dining tent that allowed outdoor dining during the easier months of the COVID pandemic.

The life that COVID-19 gave us was unexpected. But restaurant manager Colin Malone didn’t give up no matter the circumstances. He has adjusted to this new lifestyle and has helped his restaurant, Tuscarora Mill in Leesburg, adjust as well.

With COVID being with us for about a year now, normal day lives have changed and there was plenty to reflect on. Restaurants like Tuscarora Mill have had to shift their operations in response to frequently-changing CDC guidelines and governor’s orders. In the beginning of the pandemic, the restaurant closed, they lost their revenue and their weddings, banquets, and special events. Then, as it began to slowly reopen, they created a curbside pick-up program and an outdoor seating area. “We are hoping that we are nearing the end of this situation we are in,” Malone said. “It’s been a trying year and very stressful at times and we have learned with our employees because they are very resilient and very adaptable with all that we have asked them to do.”

Adaptations to the COVID lifestyle were needed. Malone’s life quickly changed as the pandemic disrupted everyday operations. “I have to wear a mask and our children aren’t in school anymore,” Malone said. “So our day to day routine has changed a great deal.”

Not only did Malone need to adapt, but his staff needed help too. When the pandemic first hit, a lot of people had to file for unemployment and this caused them to not have a source of income for their necessities, and in the time that they were in, they needed aid with their financial life. Malone wanted to make sure that they would also move smoothly and get help if they needed help. “We’ve set up a GoFundMe page, so any needs they have or financially speaking we’ve been able to assist with that and we’ve helped with health insurance and paying for that, so we’ve done everything we can to help people get through this,” he said.

The restaurant needed to change too. Some things were lost while new things were created to help keep social distancing. “We had to somewhat change our business model and put out a tent on our front parking lot for outdoor seating, of course, to space the tables and adjust our menu,” Malone said. “For a long time during COVID we didn’t have any seating at all so we had to create a curbside program, but we did lose our banquets, weddings, and special events, so that has been a big blow for the business.”

There are some things that the restaurant has lost, but with that loss was an opportunity for new things to be created. “We’ve tried new things that have been successful and therefore will probably stick with,” Malone said. “The curbside program is something that we will continue to do and it has helped us build a brand with the program and has helped us in many ways.”

There have been challenges and obstacles that the restaurant faced. But regardless of those challenges, Malone is happy with how the business still runs. “Everyone has done a great job and has been very adaptable and there have been some people that had to take on different roles that they had not anticipated,” Malone said. “It’s not been ideal but we’ve had to deal with what we’re given but everyone is in the same boat so we are all happy that we are not alone in this.”

As with much of the globe, this pandemic has really affected the Leesburg area and it has made life very difficult and made us all eager for life to go back to the way life was before COVID. “If I had a wand I would make it so that COVID never happened, but there have been some good things to come from it,” Malone said. “As a net it has not been great for the restaurant and of course the public at large, but who could’ve seen this one coming?”

Malone believes we just have to give it time before life can go back to normal. “We do hope that once it gets back to whatever normal is on the other side of this, will be better for it and more successful, but this experience will help us learn,” he said. “We’ll have weddings come back and all of that fun stuff and people will be ready to get out at it again.”

For Malone, if this pandemic has shown us anything, it’s that we have to make adaptations to this lifestyle but it doesn’t mean that we should let it have complete control over us. The community has been understanding with the business and has been donating money to help with their revenue and these donations have been very generous and they wouldn’t be where they are if it weren’t for the community. “Without the community we wouldn’t be in business still, so the greatest appreciation we have is for the community and all the people that have supported us,” he said.

Mar
23

By

How Sports Teams Navigate New Changes During the Season

Category: Sports Tags:

Maggie Sheridan and Michaela Scott | Editors in Chief

Senior Audrey Luhr gets in position to make a pass at the varsity volleyball game vs. Loudoun Valley HS. Luhr explained that athletes are required to wear their mask at all times, on the court and off the court. Photo by Debbie Senchak.

During the school year centered around a pandemic, to say it has been challenging to continue to play sports would be an understatement. Each team has had different struggles they’ve had to deal with and have been forced to find solutions to these problems. One issue in particular includes the suspension of out of season practices.

The deciding factors for this decision include, “Consistency from one season to the next season,” according to athletic director Kate Cassidy. “Staff has shared concerns and that most are overwhelmed at this point, concerns on monitoring the mitigation strategies for out of season teams while we still have in-season competitions nightly, facility space and limitations due to COVID-19 restrictions mitigation, and increasing student attendance on school property with less supervision is a potential recipe for disaster.”

With no preseason, each team has been forced to adapt. Some have chosen to simply practice twice as hard during the actual season, while others have had captains host small practices prior to the season.

“The other captains and I would host unofficial preseason practices on the turf for field hockey,” senior Emily Tyler said. “Around ten people would show up to each, but coaches were not allowed to come due to regulations.”

For volleyball, the Captains also had a bit of prep before the official season, an annual training camp, which is traditionally run by the seniors. “Our preseason consists of a camp that runs a week long to get to know some of the players trying out,” senior Audrey Luhr, a co-captain of the Varsity team, said. “One of the biggest parts of volleyball is the relationship you have with your teammates so it prepares us for that aspect of the game.”

Although they had this small amount of practice, players have had to work incredibly hard to remain in shape and prepare alone. “Our players have been prepping themselves individually by playing club volleyball and working on getting stronger mentally and physically as one person,” Luhr said.

For football, the players had to adapt much differently than in the previous years due to COVID-19 guidelines. “We had such a lack of preparation this year, like no weight room, 7on7s, and scrimmages,” senior co-captain Tariq Sims said. “Some of us either go to a gym or have one; our coach would also post workouts on Schoology for us to do.”

For the different sports there are also different rules regarding a mask mandate according to the Virginia High School League. Some indoor sports are strict about it, while it is not as heavily enforced for the outdoor ones. However, these decisions are different for each sport.

“We are required to wear masks while at practice and on the bus going to the games, but players are not required to wear them during the games,” Tyler said. Although, some players chose to wear their masks during games regardless of this in order to try and be as safe as possible.

Similarly, football and soccer are not required to wear masks during the games, unless they are on the sidelines. “This season is just overall different,” senior co-captain Sam Welstead said. “The scheduling is really unique and wearing masks while playing an endurance game is really an added challenge.”

On the other hand, masks are required for the volleyball players. “We have to wear masks the entire time in the gym during practices as well as during our games,” Luhr said.

The number of spectators for sports has also decreased heavily this year. “Each player is only allowed to have one spectator come and watch them during the game,” Luhr said. This also means that there is no student section, like there is in normal years.

“Us playing without our student section affects us and how loud we have to make the gym ourselves. We are our student section and we are now in control of how loud or quiet the gym is while playing,” Luhr said.

“Not having many fans at the games is the main difference between this year and the previous seasons,” Sims said. “The energy is completely different; it would have played a huge part in this season to have as many fans as possible.”

One factor that has greatly impacted each sports team is the shortened schedule. “The main difference between this season and the previous normal seasons is the shortened schedule,” Tyler said, “We usually have two games during the week but occasionally we will have a third game on the weekend. Which is different from last year where we would play 1-2 games during the week.”

VHSL has also made the decision to change the field hockey games from two thirty minute halves to four periods.

Additionally, football faced many differences this season due to teams contracting COVID-19 and other schools not having enough players for a team. “Only two teams from our division can make playoffs, unfortunately, we weren’t one of them, so we got a bowl game against Riverside,” Sims said

Although football got to practice daily, Welstead explained that soccer players are practicing 2-4 times a week, and also have several games each week; she added how the shortened season can affect athletes much more mentally. “It has made teams focus and get their head in the game sooner as we realize every game counts that much more this year,” Welstead said.

Although the lack of games has been disheartening for many players, it has also pushed many such as Luhr and girls basketball senior co-captain Elayna Whitley to work even harder and focus on doing well.

“As well as the rest of my teammates, I was definitely prepping for the basketball season individually by training and going to strength/conditioning training to get myself in the best position to help my team,” Whitley said.

“This year has introduced us to becoming stronger, faster. Our season has been cut in half and this pushes us to build relationships and bonds faster. Our leadership has to learn how to manage the team in a timely manner due to the shorter season,” Luhr said.

Luhr has emphasized the importance of remaining strong throughout this process and focusing on the things that matter.

“Our main focus is playing together and doing what we need to get done. Another focus for us is building memories we will remember forever. Our relationships with the girls on my team are ones that I will remember forever. These teammates are the nicest, most caring girls I have ever met,” Luhr said.

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