Varsity coach Earl Brewer, is held over the head of his players after a 12-5 victory over Loudoun ValleyPhoto courtesy of Clark Anderson

          Last Saturday, June 12^th was a time to celebrate as the Langley boys lacrosse team finished their season as state champions… again. It was a blowout with a score of 12-5.

There was little suspense, with Langley taking a strong lead within the first five minutes of the game. Loudoun Valley did not even stand a chance against the reigning champions and their spirited Saxon fans, almost universally clad in black.

 Well done Langley Lacrosse and well done Saxons for making all the way out to Westfield to support our team. Let’s do it again next year.

Photo courtesy of Clark Anderson

“What were we thinking?” It’s a question administrators and prom planners

Despite a promise made to school administrators, rapper Shwayze failed to keep his performance "PG-13".

must be asking themselves after Shwayze delivered an explicit – but not completely unexpected – performance at this year’s prom. 

Almost everyone appreciates the prom committee’s move to hire a live performer. But Shwayze? One visit to iTunes – not to mention the Internet – and you’d have to think twice before booking him for a high school dance.

On paper, it wasn’t supposed to go like this. Shwayze’s contract said he would keep all songs at a ‘PG-13’ rating. Prom planners would not release the contract but said that this meant “no sexual, drug or alcohol references.” Shwayze broke his contract right after the first song. Not surprising when you look at his song collection. Shwayze’s songs titled “High Together” and “Mary Jane,” (code for marijuana), are just two of Shwayze’s numerous songs that refer to drug and alcohol use countless times.

Sex is far from off-limits as well. Consider “My Girl,” a “tear jerking” ballad that describes what it feels like for a guy to find out his girlfriend likes girls … a lot. The song proceeds to offer some “interesting” ways to remedy a situation like this.

Need more evidence that Shwayze won’t hold back on sexually-explicit lyrics? Visit his “official” Web site, and you’ll see a flickering neon sign advertising “Hot Oral Sex.” In fact, Shwayze sidekick Cisco Adler even stated “I’m definitely endorsing that kind of behavior” when asked about sexual references in his songs.

How could the prom committee not realize that Shwayze was going to breech his contract? It was a disaster waiting to happen. You could argue that it was a really fun disaster, but that’s about it. Hiring a performer with a reputation like Shwayze’s was not the best move, but students did really enjoy the dance. Let’s hope that next year’s prom committee takes both of those facts into account.

Shwayze’s performance caught, not only Langley administrators and teachers, but also parent volunteers and some students, off-guard.

“I was surprised that he broke his contract. The show was popular. Students enjoyed it and stayed, which was good. But I have mixed feelings about it,” says Ms. Lynette Planto, a parent volunteer at prom.

Students who played a big role in organizing prom said they were pleased with the way things turned out. “I think it went well. Our goal of keeping everyone there from 11 to 12 was accomplished. Kids usually get in trouble during those hours, but they stayed and had fun. And we sold more tickets than ever,” said junior Dani Lee, head of the prom committee.

Principal Ragone made it very clear that he did not hold prom planners responsible for the outcome of the event. “Everyone associated with Langley worked very hard and had great intentions. The only people I am upset with about this are Shwayze and his people,” he said.

Some students, however, disagree with Principal Ragone’s on this point. “Shwayze shouldn’t have to change his music just because he’s playing at a high school,” said senior Joey Byrne.

Junior Nick Amano-Dolan agreed with Byrne and suggested that Langley officials didn’t do their homework. “The administration should have listened to his music and made their decision based on that,” he said.

Ultimately, Ms. Bonafide and others declared the event a success. “It was really nice to hear that this was the best prom ever and that prom was even better than the after parties,” she said.

After two weeks of major drug and alcohol crack downs prior to prom,

Rapper Shwayze's performance at Prom was highly uncensored despite efforts from the Langley administration to make it "PG-13." Shwayze breached his contract and used expletives, sexual references and drug references that are trademark to many of his songs.

celebrity performer Shwayze promoted drugs, alcohol and sex at the school-sponsored event.

The rapper — whose songs contain sexual or drug- related references – promised the prom committee and administration he would keep it clean and signed a contract specifically stating that his performance would be “PG- 13,” sources confirmed.

Within minutes of the start of his performance, however, Shwayze breeched that PG-13 contract – which called for no drug, alcohol or sexual references during his performance. Definitely rated R, Shwayze’s inappropriate comments brought about loud cheers from the crowd and created a fun mood at prom.

However, not everyone was excited about Shwazye’s remarks and the versions of his music that he and co-performer Cisco Adler chose to play at the event, held at the Westwood Country Club in Vienna.

“I think what people need to know is that we don’t condone that,” said Principal Matthew Ragone of the performance. “It doesn’t represent Langley High School. I think students had fun, but it was like going to a club and that’s not how prom is supposed to be,” he said. “We’ll have to really look carefully at future live acts,” he said.

This year’s prom committee sponsor – 10^th Grade English teacher Ms. Jennifer Bonafide – said that, overall, she was happy with the performance, since students clearly enjoyed the event. At the same time, Ms. Bonafide said she felt it was wrong of Shwayze to breech his contract.

“Prom was hugely successful and students enjoyed it, but we will be following up with his management,” said Ms. Bonafide, who didn’t wait until the performance ended to contact Shwayze’s managers. As Shwayze and Cisco shouted comments such as “get drunk and (expletive) all night,” Ms. Bonafide was texting Shwayze’s agent about the vulgarities.

A Smokin’ Surprise

When off-color jokes — such as “Smoke weed every day! ” — flew from the stage, administrators said they were caught off-guard, especially since Shwayze had just delivered a clean performance to another school.

“A few weeks before our show, they had a show for a high school of autistic kids and kept it completely clean. They had done it before, so we were confident they could do the same for us,” said Ms. Bonafide.

That confidence was blown almost immediately, said Principal Ragone, who said he realized  Shwayze was not going to be putting on a PG-13 show “within the first 30 seconds.” Ultimately, Principal Ragone said he decided to walk outside briefly after hearing Shwayze make direct sexual references with lines like this: “It’s prom tonight, so ya’ll are going to go out and get laid!”

Even though he said he was quickly convinced that the show would not go as planned, Principal Ragone decided not to stop things once they got started. “The thought did occur to me to end the show, but I didn’t want to draw a lot of attention to it.”

Among the other twenty-three Fairfax County Public Schools that made the cut for the 2010 Newsweek-Washington Post list of 1,622 top U.S. high schools, Langley fell short in earning the number one spot to our rival Mclean Highlanders. The 1,622 schools compose the top six percent of high schools all over the nation—and Langley was ranked 117 on the prestigious list.

Based on a formula created by Washington Post education reporter Jay Mathews, the schools were judged and ranked according to each public high schools’ effort to challenge their students. According to www.newsweek.com, “A school’s ranking is determined by dividing the number of Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), or Cambridge tests given by a school to all its students by the number of seniors who graduated in May or June. The index is designed to identify schools that challenge average students.”

Although the majority of the neighboring Fairfax Public School Schools ranked lower than Langley High School, Woodson High school held tight to its 91^st spot on the list, making the top 100, while McLean High School claimed spot 101. Other Fairfax schools that were mentioned include Centreville High School, 140, Madison High School, 143, Herndon High School, 152, Oakton High School, 157, Lake Braddock Secondary School, 172, Fairfax High School, 179, Marshall High School, 200, South Lakes High School, 216, Chantilly High School, 219, West Springfield High School, 274, South County Secondary School, 303, Robinson Secondary School, 325, Westfield High School, 346, Stuart High School, 432, Falls Church High School, 466, West Potomac High School, 523, Hayfield Secondary School, 539, Lee High School, 1,141, Annandale High School, 1,200, and Mount Vernon High School, 1,424.

Hundreds of people walk with determination, footballs and frisbees whiz  through the air and stands sell a wide variety of food. It’s organized chaos, it’s Relay for Life. With around 3.5 million people participating annually, it’s one of the most prominent cancer awareness program, and all proceeds go to the American Cancer Society.

Relay For Life is focused on three main principles: celebrating survivors, remembering those who have lost their battle, and fighting back to prevent cancer.

The survivors take a victory lap together to kick off the Relay. Each team sets up a tent around the track to be able to fundraise on-site. Meanwhile, a single person from each team must always be walking laps, emphasizing the fact that “cancer never sleeps”. When darkness falls the Luminaria Ceremony begins, honoring those lost to cancer.

“Relay For Life is such an amazing way to help the on-going problem of cancer.” freshman Madeline Osburn said. Though this particular Relay for Life was not hosted at Langley, many Langley students still found the spirit to participate. People of all ages came to West Springfield High school, where the event was being held.

Dumbledore’s Army, a team from Langley, raised $2,798! Many generous people donated to the cause and they also raised money by selling baked goods at the event. “Relay for Life was so fun and it raised a ton of cancer awareness!” said Langley junior, Rorie McQuade.

There is another Relay that will take place June 12th at Herndon Middle School. There are two Langley teams preparing for the walk currently, but Langley students continue to sign up as Relay day comes closer.

The Langley teams “Elite Saxon Warriors” and “Maureen’s Relay” have already raised a total of $5,465. “I think that raising money for Relay for Life is much easier than I expected. People like to donate money to such an important cause.” said fundraiser Sophie Viar.

You can join any team, or create your own at www.relayforlife.org. There is a $10 registration fee, but no mandatory amount for fundraising. “I want to help those who lead hard lives fighting cancer.” freshman Lauren Sibley said. Whether it is to honor a loved one, celebrate a survivor, or simply support the cause, every student has their own reason to participate.

            The end of the school year not only marks a time when goodbyes are said to classmates and friends, but also a time to say good-bye to teachers who will not return the following year due to retirement or relocation.             

With few staff members in subjects such as Geosystems, Physics, and Latin, teachers may have the responsibility of widening their schedules to teach more classes. New-coming teachers have not been hired yet for the next school year. However, the vacancies are soon to be filled after distaff, a time when teachers from overcrowded or over-employed schools take part in a mix-up to apply for jobs at new schools.

“At Langley, employees have until June 1 to resign ‘without prejudice,’ which means that if they resign after, the county probably will not ever hire them back,” said Principal Mathew Ragone. Because of this deadline, a full list of leaving teachers will be made official on June 2.

Among the members of Langley’s staff that will not return next year are Mr. Mathew Howard, Ms. Daizha Heberling, and Ms. Cheryl Edwards.

Teachers Ms. Suzanne Schettini and Ms. Jennifer Burns will be in Seoul, South Korea to experience the culture first-hand on a teaching fellowship. Meanwhile, Mr. Ian Gush is the keynote speaker for a teaching conference in Samarinda, Indonesia.

Katie Flessas

– Executive Editor

This summer, as students venture off on vacations, three Langley teachers will expand their student base to children and teachers from around the globe.

This year, history teachers Ms. Jennifer Burns and Ms. Suzanne Schettini and chemistry teacher Mr. Ian Guch will all travel across the globe to teach foreign students.

History teachers Ms. Burns and Ms. Schettini separately applied for and received summer Fellowships for Korean Studies from The Korean Society, after having received letters of recommendation and writing an essay and an East Asia sample lesson.

Ms. Burns explained the fellowship’s goal is “to allow teachers a better understanding of Korea’s history and culture.”

With a website promising a “unique and unparalleled learning experience”, the fellowship is offered to 70 teachers, for a trip taken in two groups of 35. Ms. Schettini will attend in the first group and leave June 24-July 7, while Ms. Burns will accompany the second group from July 7-21.

The Fellows will arrive in Seoul, South Korea and spend several days attending university lectures and exploring historically significant sites in the Seoul metropolitan area, before teaching a brief lesson to a group of Korean students.

Ms. Burns’ lesson is primarily centered on religion. “I want to look at how the traditions of Buddhism, Confucianism and Christianity have shaped Korea and, in turn, been shaped by Korea.” she noted.

Ideally, the teachers would have a resounding impact on the way Korean history is taught in the US. After they’ve encountered the culture first-hand, they will create a lesson to present to Fairfax County teachers, in addition to bringing their expertise to Langley classrooms.

Chemistry teacher Mr. Guch will travel to Indonesia this summer, where he will be featured as the keynote speaker at a conference for other chemistry teachers. An Indonesian professor contacted Mr. Guch through the latter’s 11 year-old website, chemfiesta.com, and asked him to speak at a conference. The author of An Idiot’s Guide to Chemistry as well as a part-time professor at George Mason University, Mr. Guch tries to make chemistry easy to understand with unusual teaching methods.

For his speech, Mr.Guch plans to highlight ways to make chemistry entertaining, how to make lessons “hands-on” and, more importantly, “brains-on.”  He hopes to stress the need for students to “think it out” instead of having the answers provided to them in order to inspire what he calls, “creative chemistry”.

Lights, Cappies, action!  For the first time in Langley History, a Langley musical production has received 15 nominations at the annual Cappies, or “Critics and Award Programs,” for the production “Times Square 2090” last fall. This is the most nominations that any DC Metropolitan area school has received in the history of the Cappies.

“When we saw the list, the reaction was pure elation.  From before first period through Saxon time, they were rushing in, screaming, and hugging each other.  Fortunately I had a video camera handy,” said theatre director Ms. Jaffe.

“The cast is enjoying and basking in the moment. It’s a huge honor and incredibly exciting to receive so many Cappie nominations,” said freshman Victoria Tovig, who received the nomination for Best Featured A ctress.

 The Cappie program gives high school theatre and journalism students the opportunity to attend shows at other schools and write reviews, some of which are published in newspapers like The Washington Post.

At the Cappies this year, “Times Square 2090” was nominated in several categories, the highlights included Best Actor, Paul Goldberg, Best Actress, Chelsea Raitor, and Best Choreography, for Nicole Kang and Liza Mayman. Senior Wes Brandt, the director, writer, and musical coordinator, was also nominated for Most Creative.

“I am very proud of Wes and the work of the students.  This is what education is all about.  It is about opening up worlds and opportunities to the students.  It is empowering them to take on challenges, to discover talent and abilities within themselves that they may never have known they were capable of,” said Jaffe.

Not only were these the most nominations for any Langley musical, but also for all Cappies’ musicals.  In addition to the choreography and acting being recognized, songs were also nominated, most notably “Stand Up.”  This song was not only nominated for best overall song but also for Best Ensemble in Music.

On June 13, the actors will be able to showcase this musical to more than just Langley’s student body. The full cast will perform “Stand Up” at the Kennedy Center.

“We are all incredibly excited and nervous for the performance.   Wes, our student director and the writer as well as lyricist of Times’ Square 2090, wrote an unforgettable musical. We couldn’t have done it without him,” said Tovig.

Morgan Sasser — Reporter

Fairfax County offers Public Behind the Wheel class. According to Ms. Susan Shifflett, a Driver’s Ed teacher at Langley, this publicly offered class better prepares students for the road.

“The private companies tend not to monitor their instructors and many students that we speak with tell us stories of sleeping instructors, shortened driving times and wasted time.”

Sophomore Grace Shomaker, who took private Behind the Wheel, agrees with the idea that private companies aren’t as focused on producing strong drivers as public companies. “I don’t like private Behind the Wheel because it didn’t prepare me,” she stated.

On the other hand, private programs prove popular because of the convenience they give customers.  In most cases, instructors pick up students at their homes and, after the session is complete, students are again dropped off at home, at a time they choose.

“It was really convenient because my instructor worked to fit my schedule,” said sophomore Jake Robie, who worked with Walter’s Driving School.

However, with some private programs, actually learning how to drive can prove to be a challenge.  Most driving time is spent picking up other students, and therefore technical work Behind the Wheel is sometimes lacking.  No exercises through cones are conducted, nor practice in a parking lot. 

“I didn’t feel like I got that much actual instruction,” said Robie.

Coming next year, teenagers won’t be the only ones struggling with the licensing process.  A new “Parent-Teen Driving Program” will be required for all students who wish to get a license. In addition to the student having to complete classroom driver’s education in P.E., the student’s parent must complete a 90 minute driver’s education class before the teen receives his or her green card, which is a mandatory component in the process of obtaining a driver license.