The County Chronicle

The online newspaper of Loudoun County High School

Apr
22

By

Carr signs book contract

Category: Arts and Entertainment Tags: , ,

Jevote Herron | Staff Writer

A headshot photo of Karen Carr that was taken February 2020 at Clear Brook Park in Winchester, Virginia.

Algebra teacher Karen Carr is publishing a book called “Allegheny Front” on July 6.

Carr has been writing her whole life but started taking it seriously not so long ago. She didn’t plan on creating a novel, but the idea seemed to take on a life of its own.

“I was intrigued by the idea of, how well could you really get to know somebody if you knew they were hiding their identity?,” Carr said. Her question turned into is a contemporary romance where two people fall in love while one is trying to hide their true identity.

According to Carr, it was a six-year process of writing this book and finally getting it to the stage to publish, and one of the most challenging parts about being a writer is finding time.

“Between being a full-time teacher and a full-time mom, time is a precious commodity,” Carr said.

“From when I started to the date of publication, it will be a little over six years,” said Carr. For the math teacher, it was a learn-as-you-go situation as she navigated through writing, editing, rewriting, and publishing. It took four years to polish the piece until it was ready to query publishers. Finding a publisher took an additional six months.

As for her interest in writing and her choice to teach math, Carr says she could have taught English instead.

“I actually scored higher in English on my ACT then I did in math, however in late 1990s I was told I would have a much easier time finding a job teaching math,” said Carr, who credits her math background with helping her grammar in English.

“Diagramming sentences is a lot like doing mathematical proofs, so it made the grammatical part of writing very easy for me,” said Carr.

Some advice she gives to people that might want to publish a book: don’t ever fear writing a book because it is something she did and wasted time. “Don’t let fear stand in your way,” Carr said. “I wasted a good year just sitting on the project thinking it would never be good enough.”

Apr
15

By

Chris Colston on how he became an author

Category: Arts and Entertainment Tags: ,

Karen Cortes | Managing Editor

Colston poses for his author photo. Part of being an author is self-promotion. Photo courtesy of Chris Colston.

Most people know that Chris Colston is the yearbook adviser and a 9th grade honors teacher for LCHS. What many may not know is that he is an author and has several published sports-related books. He takes pride in them because he worked hard on those books.

Colston started writing when he was 11 years old. “I would write stories about my friends and I in the neighborhood, and our various adventures. I wrote them in longhand and drew pictures to accompany the stories and stapled the pages together. I did it just to make myself laugh,” he said. “And then in junior high school I teamed up with a neighbor to write a teenage mystery book. It was based on the old “Three Investigators” books. We sold them in the cafeteria for whatever money our classmates had on them: A nickel, a dime, fifteen cents, whatever. We printed them on an old-fashioned mimeograph machine. I think we sold about 30 of them.”

He says his goal is just to entertain the reader, and he explained his process before he started writing books. “What I really want to start doing is re-reading what I wrote the day before out loud,” he said. “That will help me find errors and verify the flow of the narrative. That will get me going so I can write the next 500 words.”

Colston said it took him about twenty years to write his first book. “What I really want to start doing is re-reading what I wrote the day before out loud. That will help me find errors and verify the flow of the narrative. That will get me going so I can write the next 500 words.”

As for deadlines, Colston said he sets goals for when he wants something completed. “But if I miss it, I don’t beat myself up about it,” he said. “As long as I do something productive every day, I’m happy.”

Colston has written about five books in his American Sportswriter series, with two published and the other rolling out by June. He has also written a psychological horror/thriller called I Am the Wolfman. It takes place here in Loudoun County, but the book is written for a mature audience. He has also written eight non-fiction books about Virginia Tech football titled “Go Tech Go: The Inside Story Behind Virginia Tech Football.”

Colston shared a word of advice for people who want to become authors. “If you want to be a good writer, you must do two things: Read great writers every day, and write every day. That’s it. It’s that simple. Even if you read for just 15 minutes, do it. And then try to emulate what you read by writing something. Eventually your own voice will emerge.”

Feb
26

By

Over the MOON about teaching: Moon’s passion for business inspires his students

Category: End Zone Tags: , ,

Maggie Sheridan | Editor-in-Chief

Moon spends time on vacation at the beach with his daughter before the start of the school year. He enjoys spending some quality time with his family and taking a break from work when necessary.

Jaqua Moon has always been a business teacher. He has taught several classes such as accounting, computer classes, and personal finance in Fairfax County. This will be his second year working at Loudoun County. He enjoys teaching finance because it teaches students how to prepare for life and managing money.

Personal finance is one of several classes students will take in school that really helps them understand what they will be expected to do in the future and how to properly handle their money. Moon hopes to help his students realize that they are talking about life-changing topics that will directly affect them.

“You need this information in order to be prepared in the future,” Moon said. “If not, you will have to learn the hard way what life is like and it will have really big repercussions down the road.”.

Moon’s students also appear to be understanding these life lessons from his class. “Mr. Moon is such a great teacher,” junior Jessica Booker said. “His class has really helped me understand how important it is to manage my money wisely and I really enjoy his lessons.”

Moon expresses frustration when students fail to pay attention and understand the importance of his lessons. “It ends up costing you when you make poor decisions with your money,” Moon said. “That cost can really add up over the span of your life.”

Moon was completely lost about the basics of handling his money after graduating from college. “I personally made so many financial mistakes because my parents never talked to me about money,” Moon said. “It was a topic that they just didn’t teach me about.”

One issue Moon brought to light was how the school system impacts work. “I feel like we are lowering the ball for high school students and I think it’s hurting their motivation,” Moon said, “They will only receive a fifty percent for not doing assignments and will check in and out with their focus.”

He believes school is getting easier and easier for them and they won’t realize what life will be like. “They know they can cruise through and instead of raising the bar, which just ends up hurting them,” Moon said.

Moon also argues that schools should work on teaching more applicable content that will teach student’s lessons they will use as adults. “Whether we like it or not, each and every student is going to have the courses that they love and they don’t love,” Moon said. “I would like for students to have more options into structuring their schedule and how they spend their time in high school.”

Moon believes that if students have more choices in their courses, it could positively affect them as well as their futures. “Would having the power to decide (free of requirements, other than taking a full schedule) change how a student approaches their education, could it lead to more engagement and learning?” Moon asked. “The sooner we start making decisions that have real impact in our lives the sooner we start maturing into young adults from the trials and tribulations of those decisions.”

He stresses these important issues because he hopes his students do not make the same mistakes he did. “I was very lost and disengaged as a high school student,” Moon said. “A lightbulb eventually went off and I realized how much I could help students and hopefully make their lives better.”

Moon enjoys distance learning because he believes it is more straight to the point and a student’s grade will reflect how much work they put into it. “I think some students are getting more out of this because of the focus I have with them,” Moon said. “It feels like we’ve been more efficient with tackling everything in the curriculum.”

Although students appear to be benefitting more learning-wise, Moon believes they are negatively impacted socially. “For students to not be able to interact with each other is definitely a drawback and different from what they’re used to,” Moon said.

Right out of college, Moon tried substitute teaching before becoming a teacher full-time. It helped him work in different areas of teaching and figure out which one he wanted to focus on as a job.

His goal was to positively impact their lives in whatever way he could, and he did this through subbing, coaching baseball and softball for a short period of timing, and eventually starting to teach. He also hoped his students would learn from his mistakes and know how to manage their money more wisely.

“When you look back on your life, you will want to know you made a difference and to me, teaching was one of the few professions that I looked at and thought I would be happy knowing I helped other people and had a purpose,” Moon said.

Moon is very proud to have continued to teach and help more students. “One of the best moments in my life is when a student is truly loving what we are doing in class and wants to know more and do more.  It makes me feel like everything I am doing is worth it, because I have just opened a new door for this student that could take them somewhere good,” Moon said.

One of the most important things Moon has learned from teaching relates to patience and understanding. “Teachers will make assumptions about students based on their work ethic, Moon said. “I have learned not to do this and to patiently observe without judging others.”

He has also learned how to persevere through challenging situations. Even when students are disrespectful towards him, he knows to ignore it and not let it bother him.

“As a person, I am now more patient than I have been before and I have found ways to build important bonds and relationships with students,” Moon said.

Jan
4

By

Hong joins counselling team

Category: End Zone Tags: ,

Olivia Zavadil | Managing Editor

Counselor Heather Hong enjoys her vacation to Spain. Hong is new to the LCHS counselling staff this year.

“My favorite part of counseling is the people and relationships I develop. I’ve cherished all the relationships I have developed thus far!” says counselor Heather Hong. Hong, who previously worked at Rock Ridge High School, is a new addition to the counseling staff this year. A VCU graduate, she has been counseling with LCPS for four years.

“I always knew I wanted to work with students, but I specifically wanted to work at the high school level, because I have a passion for supporting students to prepare for their life after high school,” says Hong. This passion stems from Hong’s own life experiences as a second-generation Korean-American.

“The college process was completely new to my parents and I had to teach myself. Going to college was also a given, rather than a decision or discussion. I feel like it is important to have conversations about post-secondary plans. These days, there are so many options including college, community college, gap-year, work, military, etc.,” she says.

While distance learning is already a difficult adjustment on its own, Hong has an especially unique situation with being new to the school this year. When asked why she made the switch, Hong notes that the transition was a great opportunity to gain more experience in the field and learn from different student bodies.

“So far, it has been great! All the students, families, and staff have been so welcoming. It is a bummer to begin at a new school virtually, but I am excited for when I get to meet everyone in person.” says Hong.

As for the obstacle of connecting with students virtually, she notes, “At first, it was really difficult getting used to relying on Google Hangouts to meet with students face to face. Now that we’ve been in distance learning for several months now, I’ve become used to the whole thing. It is pretty awesome how quickly we adapt and adjust to our environment. I am proud of how far everyone has come with remote learning.”

Hong emphasized the importance of rewarding yourself for hard work. “Work hard, but don’t forget to reward yourself! Personally, I find I work more efficiently when I give myself short breaks or reward my milestones. For example, I’ll read emails or write recommendations letters for an hour or so, then take a quick five-minute break to play with my puppy and cuddle him for a little bit. Doing that both energizes and refreshes me for my next tasks.”

“I’d have to say my favorite moments as a counselor are when I see my students overcome challenges and achieve their goals. Whatever their goals are, being there to support them through the process and watching them cross the finish line is so rewarding.”

Dec
15

By

Meet English teacher Jason Bryant: a new Captain

Category: End Zone Tags:

Olivia DeWan | staff writer

Jason Bryant poses as a Renaissance man named Nathaniel Butler. Bryant worked at the Renaissance Festival in Maryland in 2010. Photo courtesy of Jason Bryant.

Jason Bryant, a new English teacher at LCHS, recently joined the County community, but his path to teaching is different than most.

Bryant grew up in Minnesota and was raised by his grandparents. Later on, he graduated from high school and went into college.

“I did my undergraduate work as the University of Wisconsin-Superior and my grad work at American College of Education,” said Bryant. “I loved the freedom with time and the chances to become part of my campus community.”

Bryant has worked as a LPCS teacher for 15 years. He taught at Riverside High School, Freedom High School, and Broad Run High School.

Bryant loves teaching, even though it wasn’t his original plan of action.

“I actually went into my undergraduate coursework declared as a major in political science,” said Bryant. “I wanted to either become a lawyer or a politician.”

Many students today become teachers because they had one teacher or professor that inspired them to do so. Bryant was the exact opposite.

“I didn’t really have a teacher as inspiration in my choosing to become a teacher,” he said. “I have always wanted to serve and help people.”

Though Bryant is now a teacher rather than a politician or a lawyer, he is able to sympathize with students who have a harder time, or even struggle through school.

“I had a tough time during my high school career personally and academically and I really identify with the struggles of young adults,” said Bryant. “I therefore committed my life as a person and teacher to serve families and young adults, working to help them become better people and stronger academically.”

Bryant taught for a number of years before he decided to take some time off. Bryant decided to become a professional actor.

“I was a stand-in and body double for Hollywood actor Billy Crudup during the film Thin Ice,” said Bryant. “It was awesome being a part of building a movie.”

Billy Crudup is an American actor and four-time Tony Award winner nominee. He’s starred in movies such as “Almost Famous” and “Watchmen.”

In addition to being a stand-in for a big time movie production, Bryant starred in a few theatrical productions.

“I also played the lead role in a very reputable, professional dinner theatre production, ‘Over the River and Through the Woods’, turning down a role in a play produced at The Ordway Theatre,” said Bryant. “The role in this very funny play was very near to my heart, being raised by my grandparents.”

Bryant also has an IMDb credit, which is when your name appears in the title’s opening or ending credits.

“Achieving an IMDb credit in only a year’s time of professional acting work was such a wonderful adventure,” he said.

In addition to receiving an IMDb credit, he also attended an after party for a big hit movie.

“Another great experience was being a part of the release party for HBO’s ‘Black List, Volume 3,’ working as talent for their release party in Minneapolis,” he said. “I have many great memories of teaching and performing!”

Jason Bryant poses for a photoshoot based on Mad Men, a popular TV series on the AMC Network from 2007-2015. Photo courtesy by Jeff Edwards.

Through his acting, it gave Bryant more insight on how he wanted to teach.

“The arts allow me to contribute and convey the power of the story to my students,” he said. “The students are an audience, and the arts have influenced me to seek creative ways to present my students with universal themes through stories that nudges them to come face-to-face with themselves and their own constructs about the world, people, and cultures.”

Bryant has a passionate love for the arts, such as movies, music, and acting.

“The arts offer a wondrous way to leave the cares of the world behind and give an audience an experience, transporting them into lives, settings, and situations of others like and unlike themselves,” said Bryant. “The arts reflect soul, and what a privilege and responsibility it is to share that with the world!”

Acting and the arts gave Bryant a unique experience that some can only dream of. In addition to acting, Bryant has had an affinity for a second unique career choice.

“I worked as a sword fighter and street actor for one season with the Maryland Renaissance Festival,” he said.

When in class learning about “Beowulf” or “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, his previous knowledge of sword fighting or wearing heavy chainmail armor helps students understand the difficult writings of the ancient texts.

In addition to being a teacher, actor, and sword fighter, Bryant is also a father. His son is a junior in high school.

“He is about ready to embark on his own life journey,” said Bryant. “He represents the best of me, and I am proud to be his dad.”

Bryant’s students all appreciate their new teacher.

“I think Mr. Bryant is an amazing teacher,” said Sydney Howard, a sophomore in his honor’s English class. “He’s very welcoming to all students. Every day he greats each student as they come in and just talks to us, making it all fun.”

Sophomore Donovan Claybrooks agrees.

“Mr. Bryant is an interesting teacher with a lot of personality,” Claybrooks said. “His lectures are very informative.”

In return, Bryant cares a great deal about his students.

“I am always going to put them first,” said Bryant. “I will be flexible with deadlines, be available for extra help, and provide opportunities for them such as retakes.”

Though he’s willing to give students any help they need, he also expects students to show an equal amount of effort in return.

“However, teaching and learning, if truly an organic process, requires both the student and the teacher to be successful,” he said. “It simply cannot be effective unless students are willing to meet me halfway in the teaching and learning process.”

Like many teachers, the only thing he wants is for his students to succeed.

“My goal is to provide students a place to feel supported, cared for, and understood,” he said. “I want their English class to be an experience where they feel comfortable to take risks and engage in every lesson.”

Like everyone else, Bryant has been challenged during the 2020 school year. Due to the COVID-19, he had to figure out how to best help his students sover distance learning.

“This year has been a challenge given distance learning,” said Bryant. “But as a new teacher at County, I have had to learn the school culture and my fellow colleagues from afar and without meeting students and staff in person!”

In addition, Bryant talks about how distance learning has proved difficult.

“Distance learning feels very impersonal,” said Bryant. “But my goal is to keep things simple, focus on what is best for my students, and work hard to make English class engaging, fun, and challenging!”

Outside of teaching, Bryant enjoys watching sports, meditating, and video gaming.

“I am also a Superman fan,” said Bryant. “Even my license plate on my car is Superman themed!”

In addition to being a Superman fan, he’s also a huge fan of the band “Queen”.

In the future, Bryant hopes to become more involved with Loudoun County and all the things the school has to offer.

“I am not part of any clubs or activities yet,” said Bryant. “But I hope to one day sponsor clubs and possibly coach for LCH.”

Though Bryant doesn’t sponsor any clubs at the moment, he gave a generous donation to the LCHS UNICEF Club during their Baskets Battling COVID-19 fundraiser. He’s already an active member of the County community regardless that this is his first year at the school.

“This will be my twentieth year as an educator,” said Bryant. “I am proud to be a Captain!”

 

 

Dec
10

By

Robinson takes on challenge of teaching dual enrollment course

Category: End Zone Tags:

Teaching a new course is inherently challenging, especially in the novel environment of distance learning. This is true for even the most adaptable teachers. Jamee Robinson is licensed to teach English-language learners, English, Algebra I, Administration & Supervision, and Social Studies. New to her resumé as of this year is Dual Enrollment US History.

“It has been difficult adapting a college-level course for students whose faces I don’t know,” Robinson said. “I prefer using group work and projects in class, and this has definitely been constrained during the pandemic. It feels like I spend most days lecturing, and this goes against the core of how I want to teach.” She hopes to change this when possible.

Mrs. Robinson’s virtual classroom for her favorite class to teach, AP US & Comparative Government. “I love being able to incorporate current events into classroom discussions and I hope I make the subject relevant and accessible to students,” Robinson said. “[My favorite part of teaching is] engaging students in class discussions. I really love to give students an opportunity to voice their thoughts and opinions. I also like coming up with innovative projects – one of my favorite projects is having my students make Funko Pops out of world leaders.”

Before she became a teacher, Robinson volunteered teaching immigrants through a charity. Her career officially began in 2008 as an Adjunct Professor for Northern Virginia Community College. Later she taught at Park View High SchooI, then Smart’s Mill Middle School. Finally, she transferred to Loudoun County High School and served as the English Language Learners Department chair for two years. For the past three years she has taught Social Science.

Although this unfamiliar situation is onerous to navigate, Robinson’s educational journey has served as a testament to her ability to persevere in the face of adversity. After her parents moved to a different state, she couldn’t afford to buy textbooks or live in a dormitory. As a result, she funded most of her own undergraduate education, working three to four job positions at a time, including a ghost tour conductor and a waitress at Cracker Barrel. She transferred to different colleges five times during her undergraduate education.

Once she progressed to graduate school, she would work various jobs for 40 hours a week before attending classes at night. Despite this toil, she maintained a positive attitude.

“I felt like I had been blessed and wanted to give back to society,” Robinson said. “I funded all of this myself through hard work and persistence.”

“While I adored working at Park View, LCHS has been my hands down favorite school,” Robinson said. “I love the history and aesthetic of the school, the administration here is extremely supportive and understanding, and the students are extremely caring, talented, and fun to work with. It is also far more laidback than some of the other schools where I have worked.”

Robinson lists three reasons behind her decision to begin teaching Dual Enrollment History, a college course at Northern Virginia Community College adapted for high school students. First, a goal “to be a better teacher than I was the previous year… I look for meaningful professional development opportunities.”

Second, she explains, is her interest in history and third is her love of being in a classroom, whether it be as a teacher or as a student.

“A former boss once told me that when someone offers you free education – take it,” Robinson said. “LCPS offered to foot the bill to have more teachers qualified to teach DE History and I always accept free education. The classes I took were an invaluable addition to my knowledge of U.S. History and I had the opportunity to learn from actual historians.”

Outside of the classroom, Robinson cares for her eight chickens, and “will happily spend hours watching them peck and scratch and chase my cats around.”

She enjoys horror and sci-fi films, debating history and politics, and participating in “mini-Iron Chef” cooking competitions with friends. “I try to read, but often fall asleep while doing so. Sleeping is also a good hobby,” she said.

Despite the challenges of distance learning,, Robinson acknowledges the helpful features of Google Meet that she hopes to somehow incorporate into eventual face-to-face classes. “But nothing replaces the value of an in-school education,” she said. “Students aren’t asking questions whose answers would benefit the whole class. Evoking class discussion on current events can be like pulling teeth at times. And assessments in general seem to have lost a great deal of meaning.”

Robinson appreciates the perseverance of her students in these trying times. “[They] have been real troopers – willing to adapt to change, patient with the technology (and the teacher), and weathering this storm far better than I would have in high school if I had faced these same issues.”

 

Skip to toolbar