The Pitch Online

LEADing the Way: WJ Starts New Language Program

February 1, 2012 • Claudia Nguyen

This school year witnessed the debut of a new foreign language program, called Linguistic Excellence and Discovery, or LEAD!. The program was designed to recognize and support students who are interested in pursuing a rigorous foreign language course schedule. “Several years ago, our colleagues...

MCPS’s Counter-Strike to Halo: Halo, Counter-Strike Blocked from School Computers

February 1, 2012 • Girard Bucello

Call it an early Christmas present to students – or a nuisance to administration. From early to mid-December, two students added Halo and Counter-Strike to school computers. In the short time that students had access to the games, they became wildly popular, especially during classes that frequently...

WJ Students Lend a Helping Hand in Haiti

February 1, 2012 • Jenny Deutsch, Print Feature Editor

While some WJ students were tanning on faraway beaches or lounging at home, Emily and Charlotte Fallick spent winter break in Haiti, helping rebuild houses and offering support to displaced victims after the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake on January 12, 2010. “The devastation is very prominent,”...

Gender Equity: Women’s Plight in Politics

January 30, 2012 • Ali Jawetz, Online Editor-in-Chief

WJ has never had a female SGA president in the past eight years. In addition, out of the three females who have been on the SGA in the past eight years, all three have held the position of secretary. Still, WJ at least has had female presidents of individual grades, and certainly has had female presidents...

A Day in the Life of Principal Jennifer Baker

January 27, 2012 • Megan Chun, Online Feature Editor

It is 7 a.m. on a weekday and Principal Jennifer Baker arrives at school. After checking her email and responding to urgent matters, such as malfunctioning equipment, in the building, she goes into the halls and greets students. For most of her day, Baker conducts meetings with staff, members of her...

The Environmental Effort at WJ

January 27, 2012 • Sari Amiel, Print Feature Editor

Although our individual school’s ecological footprint is only a fraction of the nation’s, WJ staff and students are contributing to environmental health by making efforts to save energy and mitigate pollution. Perhaps there are inefficient aspects of WJ’s energy use, such as the hundreds of papers...

60 Minutes: An Inside Look with Producer Shari Finkelstein

January 17, 2012 • Taliah Dommerholt, Arts and Entertainment Editor

When Shari Finkelstein graduated from Walt Whitman HS, she did not imagine she would one day enter the field of broadcast journalism, working as a producer for “60 Minutes.” In fact she had no idea what she wanted to do, although she toyed with the idea of going into public policy and pursuing...

A Future in the Arts

January 17, 2012 • Emily Cosentino, Assistant Arts and Entertainment Editor

The Man of Many Characters: Eddie Simon Growing up in a musical family, senior Eddie Simon was destined to be in the spotlight. He has now been a part of 10 plays, six of which were WJ productions. Out of those 10 plays, he has been the lead in five. “It started out with choir [and] then...

The Toms Sensation

January 17, 2012 • Taliah Dommerholt, Arts and Entertainment Editor

n some getting used to, it’s not uncommon to enter a classroom and see one or two pairs of this common fashion feature. But this trend is more than just a fad—it’s a movement to sell fashion that benefits the world. TOMS owner, Blake Mycoskie, started the line when he took a trip to Argentina and...

Wildcat Book and Movie Reviews

January 17, 2012 • Ali Jawetz, Online Editor in Chief

Book: The Hunger Games Though the first book in the Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins was published in 2008, the upcoming movie, to be released March 23, 2012, necessitates a book review. The novel follows the life of Katniss Everdeen, a 16-year-old girl living in a futuristic dystopia called Panem,...