The County Chronicle

The online newspaper of Loudoun County High School

Apr
23

By

Library Remains Open to Students During Hybrid and Distance Learning

Category: News Tags: ,

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.”

Feb
27

By

Sierra captures love of photography at Brambleton Library

Category: Arts and Entertainment Tags: ,

Maggie Sheridan | Editor in Chief

Sierra stands among her work at the gallery. Her collection of black and white pictures, Breathing Fresh Air, are displayed on the wall for all visitors to see. Photo courtesy of Isabella Sierra.

Walking into the Brambleton Library felt like a dream. Right in front of her for all passersby to see was her very own photographs, which she worked tirelessly to capture. Work that she was very proud of and immensely happy to share with others.

Junior Isabella Sierra has recently found a passion with photography. This interest started around two years ago and has only been getting stronger and stronger. “After taking photography and film classes at school I realized how much I truly enjoyed it and wanted to keep doing it,” Sierra said.

These classes have urged her to continue to progress and get better. “I love creating and I love working with others, photography lets me do both and also allows me to capture the tiny moments in life that make it beautiful,” Sierra said.

She enjoys doing things the long way and letting the photos develop. “I like to shoot on my digital Canon, but my real passion is using my Pentax to shoot film and developing the images in my darkroom,” Sierra said.

Sierra recently applied to a photography contest through the Brambleton Library Teen center. “My art teacher Mrs. Woshner made me aware of the contest and I decided to go for it,” Sierra said. The application process was quite simple, she just had to complete a form to show her work and a form to include her artist statement.

Her collection was selected by the Librarians and declared one of the winners and was going to be one of few used in the Micro Gallery. It will be up for the entire month of February for people to go observe.

Sierra’s collection is called “Breathing Fresh Air.” “The grey tones of the sand can feel suffocating, while in contrast, the openness of the sky gives you a sense of effortless peace,” Sierra said.

Her goal with this collection was to create a story, rather than individual black and white pictures that did not go together. Sierra believes this idea was achieved. “My goal when creating art is to capture the tiny moments that make life beautiful and preserve them forever,” Sierra said.

Sierra is very proud of the way it turned out, after all of her hard work. “I feel so much joy. It is a great milestone in my art career and just motivates me to continue to work hard and pursue this interest,” Sierra said.

In the future, Sierra plans to continue to incorporate art into her life. “My dream is to attend the Monroe Advanced Technical Academy, also known as MATA, for TV production and film making next year. I also hope to minor or major in Film during college,” Sierra said.

Nov
5

By

Librarian finds history and connection in County’s archives

Category: News Tags: ,

Emily Banner, staff writer

 

1957 yearbook

The 1957 yearbook featured the theme of foxhunting throughout. It was being used as a metaphor for the school, related to the fact that Middleburg is horse country. Photo courtesy of Tonya Dagstani

Librarian Tonya Dagstani recently made an interesting discovery. “I came across boxes of these really cool articles from the history of Loudoun County High School since 1954,” she said.

“It smells like an antique store because it’s so old,” Dagstani said about one of the volumes.

While students aren’t at school, the librarians are taking the opportunity to clean up the library. One thing found within a scrapbook was a card with the code of conduct for the Quill and Scroll, an honors society for journalism students. “They’ve got all these programs, and a lot of them are hand-done,” Dagstani said.

The scrapbook is also full of old photos of the banquet and induction ceremonies, carefully labeled.

old newspaper article

A page from the 1963 Loudoun Raider about the fashion board. The page also mentions the school football team.
Courtesy of Tonya Dagstani.

What triggered her interest in this was a 1963 edition of The Loudoun Raider, which included an article about the school fashion board. The members would attend “…a weekly modelling class in which they will learn to practice poise and good grooming, and to model various types of clothing,” the article reads.

Dagstani found many parallels between the past and the events occur

ring in the world now. “They’re addressing a lot of the same things that we’re facing now, they talk about social justice and in some of the articles they’re talking about a polio drive,” she said. “A lot of the things that we’re facing now, we kind of feel like this is all brand new, but generations before us have dealt with similar issues and it’s interesting to see those takes on things.”

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