TALON - APRIL GOODBYE MR. KANDRA - The Talon

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TALON - APRIL GOODBYE MR. KANDRA - The Talon
TALON
                     THE

                                                                            APRIL
                                                                            GOODBYE MR. KANDRA
                                                                            Get your tissues ready.
                                                                            PHOTOMATH BANNED
                                                                            No more cheating on tests.
                                                                            SPHS BEES
                                                                            New mascot check.

Volume 61 | Issue 1 | Severna Park High School | 60 Robinson Road | Severna Park, Maryland | SPTALON.COM
TALON - APRIL GOODBYE MR. KANDRA - The Talon
STAFF
EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Nick Carparelli, Sydney                                         PAGE 3 - Staff Editorial and
Herz, Sophie Krejci                                                              		                 News in Brief
VIDEOGRAPHER Flynn Prengaman                                                     PAGE 4 - Goodbye Mr. Kandra
GRAPHICS CONTRIBUTER Maya Jones
                                                                                 PAGE 5 - An Undercover Genius
STAFF WRITERS Isabella Boettinger, Mike
Gaver, Rachel Ghahhari, Anastasia Gobot, Graham                                  PAGE 6 - Photomath Banned
Haynie, Zach McGrath, Zoey Nichols, Julia Owens
ADVISER Valerie Earhart
                                                                                 PAGE 7 - Reception Issue Solved
                                                                                 PAGE 8 - Band is Banished
                                                                                 PAGE 9 - Six-Day School Week
WHO WE ARE The Talon is the principle news publication and public
forum of Severna Park High School, which is located on 60 Robinson Road,
Severna Park, Maryland 21146. Phone: 410-544-0900 ASSOCIATIONS
The Talon is a member of the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and
Quill & Scroll International Journalism Association. It has won Gold and
                                                                                 PAGE 10 - RicKeyboards
Silver Medals from CSPA. DISTRIBUTION Staff members typically dis-
tribute 400 papers to the student body. Magazines are available to pick up       PAGE 11 - New Mascot
in the hallways, the main office and throughout the English department.
Subscribers may pay $50 to have the publication mailed to their home. PDF
copies of The Talon are found under Past Print at www.sptalon.com. OPIN-
                                                                                 PAGE 12 - Why Be in Person
IONS Views expressed in The Talon do not reflect those of the Severna
Park High School administration or the Anne Arundel County Public School         PAGE 13 - Fall Sports Schedule
Board of Education. Signed columns or reviews represent only the opinion
of the author. EDITORIALS The Talon’s editorials will reflect a consensus
of the members of the student editorial board. The subjects of the editori-
als will be determined by the editorial board. The editorial board, which
consists of the staff’s student editors, will determine the content, including
all unsigned editorials. Editorial ideas may be submitted to the editorial
board by all members of the staff. Editorials should be sent to thesptalon@
gmail.com or dropped off in the publication lab, 245, during school hours.       TALK TO US
No material will be published for which there is evidence that the author is
using the paper for inappropriate personal gain. ADVERTISING Any stu-                 Severna Park Talon            Severna Park Talon
dent, parent, staff member or organization will be allowed to purchase ads.
Non-students, businesses or any person not currently attending or related to          @thesptalon                  @thesptalon
an attending student may purchase ads, but the publication asks that those
ads be business-related ads or be used to congratulate student or school               www.sptalon.com
successes. No ads will be placed in any publication until payment is made.
Any business wishing to advertise in The Talon must meet district guide-

                                                                                 COVER PHOTO
lines for obscene or offensive material. All copy or art will be judged by
these standards. Any ad found to be in violation must be changed or it will
not be published. The publication reserves the right to refuse any ad that is
libelous, illegal, obscene, irresponsible, inappropriate or in poor taste. The   Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a
publication also reserves the right to edit any ad before publication to en-     lot on students minds about how the rest of the school
sure the standards and quality of the product. The publication may limit the     year is going to go and countless unknowns as the new
number of type styles offered to ad customers and set guidelines for format      way of learning approaches quickly, especially for ju-
and style. The publication reserves the right to edit all submitted copy or
photographs. BYLINES All articles, graphics, photos, art, columns, pages,
                                                                                 nior Paul Isenburg. Now that high schools has shifted to
reviews, and other material creatively conceived, with the exception of staff    hybrid, life has become even crazier than before. Photo
editorials, mug shots and cut-outs will be bylined with the producer’s name.     by Flynn Prengaman, Graphics by Maya Jones
All bylined writers will be held accountable for their work. When more than
one person has contributed creatively to a piece of work, any person who
has contributed to the work must be bylined as a producer.

                                                                           2
TALON - APRIL GOODBYE MR. KANDRA - The Talon
NEWS IN BRIEF
                   STAFF EDITORIAL

A
                s the school    ship and In-                                                Graphic by Maya Jones
                year, offi-     novation,
                cially be-      states,”
                gins hybrid     Students
                learning,       develop a
it’s time for the county,       sense of in-
and more specifically our       dividual re-
school, to consider allow-      sponsibility,
ing outside vendors deliv-      learn life and
ery opportunities for stu-      career skills,
dents and faculty/staff.        gain business
    The economy has taken       knowledge, cre-
a hit over the last year, and   ativity and the
as a community who be-          critical thinking skills
lieves in small businesses      required to achieve the
-- and corporate business-      highest levels of personal,
es, we can do our part by       academic and career suc-
allowing local establish-       cess.” What better way        Starbucks delivered to fac-   The benefits to the stu-
ments, like Chick-fil-A,        can we learn life and ca-     ulty/staff will encourage     dent’s grades, are incalcu-
McDonald’s, Starbucks           reer skills, then by order-   them to be more enthusi-      lable. Not to mention the
and Chipotle an oppor-          ing food from our phones      astic as they teach through   money our school patrons
tunity to see a take out        and having it delivered?      their masks. Or how a         would then be pumping
surge over the next three       An expertise everyone         delicious Chipotle burri-     into our local community.
months.                         needs to be able to per-      to bowl could encourage       We’d be doing our part to
 As our Signature pro-          form at optimum levels.       a student to stay awake       help Severna Park recover
gram Business, Leader-           Imagine how having           through their last period.    during this downturn.

NEWS IN BRIEF                              So not only was the use of cats
                                          in the school on purpose, but the
                                                                                  threat to other students attending
                                                                                  school; these potential openings
  CATS HELP OUT // Cats have              animals now have it for the time        act to create a cesspool of germs
  been roaming the hallways, in           being as a place to call home.          from middle schools, elementary
  order to help decrease the mice                                                 schools and high schools, making
  population.                             LARGE FAMILIES ARE OUT //               these students particularly dan-
   “I oversaw the cats being let          For all students who have a family      gerous to other students. A final
  into the building, to help with         of four or more, the school board       decision will be made in April.
  the pest control earlier in the         has started hearings on whether
  year during quarantine, since           you will be able to continue to at-     CHICKEN NUGGIES // With
  it would be harder for staff to         tend hybrid learning. Despite the       a huge demand for free meals at
  work,” School Business Man-             arguments of parents, the school        AACPS buildings, the Food Ser-
  ager Heather DeMaria said. “It          board believes that this is a neces-    vice has decided to replace all
  really helps having both a pest         sary precaution, arguing that due       nutritious food with “chicken
  problem taken care of, and a            to the extensive number of open-        nuggies” and a knock off version
  large amount of adorable cats in        ings for the COVID-19 virus,            of Chick-fil-A sauce. And the stu-
  the building are uplifting too.”        these families pose a significant       dents rejoiced.

                                                     3
TALON - APRIL GOODBYE MR. KANDRA - The Talon
NEWS
GOODBYE MR. KANDRA
 Michael Kandra leaves SPHS after 29 years of teaching
     to become President Joe Biden’s dog walker.
                                          Sydney Herz | Editor-In-Chief
                                                             Virtual learning has not been easy for teachers and students alike
                                                             and one teacher, Michael Kandra is ready to branch out and leave
                                                             the virtual classroom. A day in the life of an online teacher doesn’t
                                                             consist of much, but a day in the life of the Presidential Dog Walk-
                                                             er, now that consists of so much more. “I’m there, live [with] my
                                                             mask. I come to the gate, they usher me in [and I] get the pups,”
                                                             Kandra said. “[I then] pop in, give Joe some advice and then I’m
                                                             off walking, a 30 minute walk. Then lunch and a nap in the oval
                                                             office; there’s two couches, Joe’s 78 so he naps on one, I the other.
                                                             [Finally I] get up, take the pups for another walk, then I commute
                                                             home.” Photo by Natalie Castillo

                                                             has been devoted to educating kids Kandra would be
                                                             torn between deciding whether to remain a teacher or
                                                             not. But for him, the decision was simple.
                                                              “I get 25 dollars a day and a free lunch everyday, so

S
                                                             it pays more than teaching,” Kandra said. “[There are]
              ay your final goodbyes because the rumors      no cons, just pros [and there’s] no hybrid or virtual dog
              are true; beloved history teacher, Michael     walking.”
              Kandra is leaving SPHS at the end of the        This might not sound like the ideal way to spend your
              2020-2021 school year to further his pas-      day, but to Kandra it’s a dream come true. He gets to
              sion for walking dogs.                         work alongside one of the most influential men in the
               After 29 years of tiring work as a teacher,   country and will have his voice heard in some of the
Kandra has decided to say his goodbyes to the Severna        congregations in the Oval Office.
Park community and move into the White House as an            “Sometimes when the White House is holding a meet-
employee (and friend) to President Joe Biden. Wonder-        ing on education, Joe lets me pop my head in,” Kandra
ing where it all started? Kandra’s business started out      said. “I have taught for 29 years so they of course ask
small, walking a few friends’ dogs a week, and turned        for my opinion, but I’ve got nothing.”
his canine calling into a booming organization. Kandra        Nevertheless, leaving SPHS and the wonderful com-
is now drowning in money, dog hair, and an overused          munity has not been as easy as one would think. Addi-
FitBit telling him he’s gotten in more than enough steps     tionally, since Biden is the president and has a limited
everyday.                                                    number of years in office, Kandra’s business and em-
 “I started out walking Steve Bisciotti’s dog, the Ra-       ployment as the Presidential Dog Walker is also lim-
vens owner,” Kandra said. “Since then my dog walking         ited. Every day he remembers how amazing his job at
empire has expanded.”                                        SPHS was and the fun times he had there with all of his
 Word got around that Kandra’s business was afford-          students and fellow staff members.
able, local, and left the dogs and their owners happy.        “[I’m] not sure how long I will last as the Biden dog
In fact, the hot gossip was heard by so many that Kan-       walker,” Kandra said. “I miss SPHS; once you have
dra was approached by a family friend and Joe Biden’s        been to the mountaintop (SPHS) it’s hard to appreciate
personal doctor, Kevin O’Connor about the presidential       anything else.”
pets not getting enough attention from their busy owner.      Luckily, Kandra is planning to stick around until the
 “I told him I could do it - I can leave teaching and        end of the third marking period in order to say goodbye
work at the White House,” Kandra said. “Twenty-nine          to all of his students and coworkers and give one last
years of teaching has beaten me down and dogs are            farewell to his time as a teacher.
more likely to listen to me than my students.”
 You’re probably thinking that as a majority of his life

                                                     4
TALON - APRIL GOODBYE MR. KANDRA - The Talon
AN UNDERCOVER GENIUS
  The vaccine found through innovation and hard work
      by a teacher in the SPHS science department.
                                           Sophie Krejci | Editor in Chief
 Everyone who has had         some of her students be-
Ms. Mossa for biology         gan to notice her secretive
knows the vast span of        plans and were astonished.
her intelligence. However     “I always knew she was too
with school being online,     smart to be a teacher, but
her students don’t know       this was something else,”
how she spent the majori-     senior Ethan Kent said.
ty of her 2020. Frantically    Not only was Mossa a
moving between science        driving force behind the
labs, finding wifi spots      promptness of the vaccine,
around the school for calls   but she utilized her AP
and experimenting day         Bio students for some help
and night, Mossa was re-      along the way. “There are
cruited by Pfizer-BioN-       several types of vaccines,
Tech to help create the       I wanted to see which type
COVID-19 vaccine at           my students thought would
warp speed.                   work best with this new vi-
 Before being a teacher,      rus,” Mossa said. With sev-
Mossa worked in a lab and     eral classwork assignments
when the COVID-19 cri-        and labs, her AP Bio stu-
sis broke out, she was im-    dents, unbeknown to them,
mediately contacted again     helped with data and con-
for assistance due to the     firming Mossa’s ideas. Lat-
pandemic. Knowing the         er she started reaching out
urgency of the situation,     to some of the students she     Ms. Mossa has been relaxing in 2021 now that the vaccine she
Mossa took on changing        felt she could trust. “Ms.      created is being distributed across the world. Relieved, Ms.
                                                              Mossa has returned to teaching at SPHS. “I hope my creation
needs of finding a vac-       Mossa asked me to be a part     is helping everyone” Mossa said. Photo courtesy of Ms. Mossa,
cine while continuing her     of the phase one trial group.   Graphics by Maya Jones
teacher duties. Between       I said no, but now that she
grading papers and creat-     has had so much success, I      fatigue but has not had         Fortunately, Mossa has
ing an mRNA vaccine, my       wish I had said yes,” senior    COVID-19 since the shot.        had some time to destress
2020 was very stressful. I    Kate Stefancik said. Anoth-      Now, Mossa’s contri-           and focus solely on her
had no time- for exercise     er senior Grace Ferguson,       bution to the vaccine ef-       students and teaching.
I walked on the treadmill     took a different path. “Ms.     forts has been noticed.         “I’m glad the vaccine was
while grading labs,” Mos-     Mossa encouraged me to          Pfizer-BioNTech’s was           approved because I need-
sa said. During the days,     take her vaccine, and be-       approved for Emergency          ed to start sleeping again.
she was let back into the     cause she has a degree from     Use Authorization from          Hopefully, the vaccine
empty school to manu-         John Hopkins University, I      the Food and Drug Ad-           will continue to make stu-
facture prototypes of the     said yes,” Ferguson said.       ministration (FDA) on           dents more comfortable
vaccine and send them         Ferguson continued to ex-       Dec. 11, 2020. Now the          coming back to school,”
back Pfizer headquarters      plain that she experienced      first dose of the vaccine       Mossa said.
in New York. While Mos-       some of the explained side      has been distributed to
sa was working diligently,    effects, such as a fever and    millions of Americans.

                                                      5
TALON - APRIL GOODBYE MR. KANDRA - The Talon
NEWS
 PHOTOMATH BANNED
     The math app, PhotoMath is being banned on all
    devices in AACPS due to a new county wide policy.
                                     Nick Carparelli | Editor-In-Chief
                                                                              With PhotoMath being banned, it will
                                                                              no longer be available in the app store
                                                                              for all students in Anne Arundel County.
                                                                              This decision becomes effective on April
                                                                              1. “From this day on, math scores may go
                                                                              down,” Lowman said. “But it will show
                                                                              who is wanting to learn.” Photo by Nick
                                                                              Carparelli

                                                                               “I use PhotoMath for practice
                                                                              problems and to get a better un-
                                                                              derstanding when I am doing work
                                                                              outside of school and when teachers
                                                                              are not available,” senior Evan Ste-
                                                                              fanovich said.
                                                                               By making this choice, the BOE
                                                                              hopes students will feel more prop-
                                                                              erly educated and will legitimately
                                                                              raise their test scores when they re-
                                                                              turn to the building as a whole
                                                                               “I don’t think it is a surprising
                                                                              move at all,” math teacher Angela
                                                                              Sasse said. “Our main goal is for
                                                                              students to learn, and they are not
                                                                              learning if they have access to Pho-
                                                                              toMath.”
                                                                               The biggest concern from the BOE
                                                                              and teachers is how students will
                                                                              adapt when we return to full in-per-

M
                                                                              son learning again.
                    ath grades and    decision follows the Board of Edu-       “I think that students are really
                    test    scores    cation’s, most recent meeting.          going to struggle when they come
                    have been at       “The math department is glad that      back for hybrid. We all know that
                    a record high     the county took this initiative,”       math builds on prior knowledge,
                    this first se-    SPHS Math Department chair Julie        and if they were using PhotoMath,
                    mester     and    Lowman said.“It will help students      they don’t have any of those skills
the math department knows that        do their own work and make it more      to apply to new problems,” Sasse
there is a specific reason.. After    fair for hybrid students doing work     said.
a long investigation on the mat-      in the classroom versus students do-     “My hope is that with this change
ter, Anne Arundel County Public       ing work at home.”                      students can find a new passion for
Schools has decided to ban the app     Now that hybrid learning has start-    math that maybe they would not
PhotoMath as it has become the        ed, the disparity of in school teach-   have been able to find earlier now
main factor behind increasing test    ing rather than being at home can       with the app banned,” Lowman
scores and assessment grades. This    affect students more than we realize.   said.

                                                   6
TALON - APRIL GOODBYE MR. KANDRA - The Talon
SCHOOL RESOLVES CELLULAR
     RECEPTION ISSUE
 The rising use of smoke signals in cellular dead-zones
                    across the nation.
                                       Zachary McGrath | Staff Writer

 Before students left the      materials and perform the      alphabet, writing an essay      they can potentially learn.
school building in March a     necessary actions to make      and translating it into the     While many students are
common issue for students      smoke signals. A faculty       smoke alphabet as a final       returning to school at dif-
was the lack of reliable       member will be outside         project. “Honors Intro          ferent times during the
cellular reception within      the school writing down        to Fire Signals will chal-      year, they need to make
Severna Park High School.      the messages and posting       lenge the students to tell      sure to take advantage of
Almost everywhere inside       them on the SPHS parent        the difference between or-      the wonderful smoke sig-
the school is a dead zone      Facebook page to relay         dinary smoke signals and        nal program when they
and many students have         the information. Through       the ones that matter,” Seg-     re-enter the building.
made suggestions on how        many hours of staff devel-     natelli said.
to solve it. On Feb. 22, the   opment, it is estimated the     There is even talk that the
school administration was      entire process will take       signature program should
proud to announce they         around half an hour. With      adopt parts of smoke sig-
had found a solution just      this new resource, the         nals into its curriculum
in time for hybrid learn-      school will take full ad-      to reflect the rapidly
ing: smoke signals. This       vantage of the opportunity     evolving world we
solution has been in devel-    and a semester-long class      live in. Based upon
opment since the start of      named Honors Intro to          how the class is re-
the school year. “It took      Fire Signals will be taught    ceived by SPHS students
a lot of brainstorming, but    by Dr. Barbara Segnatelli.     and staff, it is possible
we think we came up with       It will be offered next year   that it may become a class
a safe and fun solution        and will teach students        offered all across Anne
for students and parents       how to effectively use         Arundel County Public
alike,” school computer        smoke signals and prepare      Schools.
specialist Mrs. Knell said.    them for a job in the grow-     Faculty and students are
 The system will be both       ing smoke signal industry.     ecstatic about the news.
safe and effective. First,      The class will teach the      Sophomore James Fallon
a student who wishes to        history of smoke signals       is especially excited about
send a message must ask        from its first use in an-      the new class, “I’m so
for a pass during lunch        cient China during the         excited to start learning
from a teacher. During         construction of the Great      about smoke signals,
their lunch period Officer     Wall to its revolutionary      like I’ve always want-
Swartz will guide the stu-     use by startup companies       ed to learn,” Fallon
dent to the roof of SPHS       in Silicon Valley in an at-    said. He is not alone.
where six fire pits will be    tempt to reinvent commu-       Many of his peers,
located. The student will      nication. Students will be     are excited about
be expected to build the       tasked with learning the       this new class and
fire, bring fire making        Heinz-Ferdman        smoke     the important skills
                                                                                             Graphic courtesy Vecteezy

                                                     7
TALON - APRIL GOODBYE MR. KANDRA - The Talon
NEWS
 SCHOOL BAND BANISHED
    TO THE BASEMENT
           SPHS has cut the band’s funding so that it can
               use the extra money towards sports.
                                          Bella Boettinger | Staff Writer

T
                  he 2020-2021 has       thought why not sell it,” senior             senior Jack Peterson said. The new
                  been different than    Evan Molavi said. The basement               workout room will be used for af-
                  any other year in      classroom will be directly under the         ter school sports only reserved for
                  history; school has    men’s bathroom near the cafeteria,           the athletes, the regular gymnasium
                  been out for almost    that is the largest area of the base-        will remain for P.E. classes.
                  a year and the last-   ment, so in a way it is a luxury.             The SPHS band will try as hard as
                  ing effects are yet     The sports fields will also be ren-         they can to raise money to get their
to be seen. Many programs have           ovated and sponsored by Gatorade.            old classroom back, so buy their
been cut and clubs can’t perform         “I’m really excited about the new            lemonade and get them out of the
to their full potential. However, it     fields and gym, but I feel bad for the       basement-- they’ll always be more
is the school’s top priority to make     band. It’s also really cool that we          than a band.
sure that the sports teams return to     are getting sponsored by Gatorade,”
normal, then to shift their focus on
                                         In the past few months, SPHS decided
the clubs and arts programs.             that sports hold more value than band, so,
 The faculty of SPHS have decided        band’s funding was cut and class will now
to cut all funding for the band, and     be held in the school basement. “With de-
move their practices to the base-        termination the band will try to make a
                                         comeback to show the school we need to
ment, as the band room will be now       be heard,” senior Evan Molavi said. Graph-
be used as a new workout room,           ic by Bella Boettinger
sponsored by Gatorade. “Band has
been such a big experience of my
time in high school, I’m flabber-
gasted that the administration isn’t
able to see that we have a huge role
in school spirit,” senior Lauren
Hong said.
 The band will be performing at
multiple events in order to raise
awareness and money so they can
move back upstairs. In addition,
during the performances they will
be selling lemonade to those who
attend. “One of our favorite things
to do in a band during breaks was
to drink lemonade together, so we

                                                       8
TALON - APRIL GOODBYE MR. KANDRA - The Talon
SIX-DAY SCHOOL WEEK
  Starting in April with the new hybrid learning plan,
there will be mandatory weekend virtual classes for all
                     SPHS students.
                                           Sydney Herz | Editor-In-Chief

S    ince COVID-19 be-
     gan a little over a year
ago, Anne Arundel Coun-
                                more difficult.
                                 “Having school on Sat-
                                urday is going to make
                                                                schedule change because
                                                                now I won’t be able to
                                                                hang out with friends on
                                                                                                 and decreased school spir-
                                                                                                 it.
                                                                                                  “Honestly, I’m not sure
ty Board of Education           weekends a lot less relax-      the weekends,” sopho-            if I’ll continue with my
has been working hard to        ing,” junior Jimmy Miller       more Cooper Powell said.         sports,” junior Lily Beck-
figure out the best way         said. “Now instead of just      “I also might have to drop       er said. “The long school
to keep students engaged        having a practice, school       a few clubs or even Rock         weeks will come with
while teaching virtual-         is going to make every-         ‘N’ Roll because rehears-        even more work to do and
ly. As many know, a new         thing and get pushed back       als and meetings will take       even less free time.”
plan has been implement-        and Sunday is going to be       up too much time that             Now that this new sched-
ed that allows students to      filled with doing home-         could be spent working on        ule has finally surfaced
go back to school partially     work.”                          school work.”                    and informed the SPHS
in person. However, what         As if students didn’t have      Sadly, what the Board           community, it is recom-
they have not disclosed         enough homework al-             doesn’t realize is that          mended that students and
is that this new hybrid         ready, with a lack of time      many students will have          faculty enjoy all of their
learning plan will include      to complete it, this new        to discontinue their sports,     weekend activities and
a mandatory full day of         mandatory class schedule        which will lead to less          free time now before it is
classes on Saturdays to         on the weekend will most        scholarship opportunities        taken away.
make up for the lost in-        likely increase stress lev-
structional time during the     els of students who won’t       Virtual learning has transitioned from only assignments back
past school year. Wednes-       have more than a day to         in March of 2020, to face-to-face meetings beginning with the
days will obviously still       get their work done.            2020-2021 school year, to partial in-person learning starting in
                                                                March of 2021. However, the new addition to the hybrid learning
be a professional devel-         “I think the county im-        plan of Saturday school does not have positive responses from
opment day for teachers         plementing this plan is         the SPHS student body. “Now students will only have one free
and students, but virtual       ridiculous,” Miller said.       day to do anything and they’ll probably spend most of Sunday
                                                                doing homework,” sophomore Cooper Powell said. Photo by
classes will commence           “Most students and par-         Sydney Herz
Saturday morning for the        ents barely heard anything
rest of the year beginning      about it and we’ve already
in April after hybrid learn-    had an abnormal year, so
ing has begun.                  this is just adding onto the
 As you can imagine, this       stress of our lives.”
has not gone over well           Not only will students
with the student body and       not have time to get their
has many negative conse-        schoolwork done, but with
quences besides just sim-       half their weekend carved
ply the extra class time.       out for more online learn-
These problems make             ing, there is little time for
valuable weekend activ-         friends, family, extracur-
ities such as jobs, sports,     riculars and relaxation
extracurriculars, home-         from the busy work week.
work and traveling much          “I strongly dislike this

                                                       9
TALON - APRIL GOODBYE MR. KANDRA - The Talon
FEATURES
   RICKEYBOARDS
These piano keyboards
from the school are never
gonna give you up, let you
down, run around or
desert you.
Anastasia Gobot | Staff Writer

T
              he music de-    though I knew it would
              partment at     be a hot mess due to Goo-
              Severna Park    gle Meet lag. We all went
              High School     to play our first note and
              was surprised   then … a cacophonous
in the first semester when    chorus of Rick Astley’s
the pianos distributed by     “Never Gonna Give You
the county for the Piano 1    Up” blasted out from ev-
and Piano 2-4 classes were    eryone’s unmuted mic. I
found to be defective.        was flabbergasted,” mu-
 The pianos taken home        sic teacher Mr. Brisentine
by students who didn’t        said. “Was this some cru-
own one for their class,      el pandemic joke being
found that when pressed,      made by the county? Had
the keys on the piano         I broken them when deliv-
would play a very familiar    ering them? Pretty trau-
song released in the 80’s.    matizing, if you ask me.”      Piano keyboards given out to students during virtual learning
 “Everything was fine, it      While this meme contin-       were manufactured by a company that wanted to prank its
was a really neat keyboard    ues to torment its victims,    customers. As a result, Rick Astley’s music continues to startle
… until it ruined my life,”   some actually find that        students and teachers in the music department. They may be
                                                             returned soon. Photo by Anastasia Gobot
sophomore and former pi-      these keyboards are hilar-
ano student Ella Graves       ious. They seem to do a        making plans to call back         their instrument along
said.                         great job of causing more      the keyboards and replace         with the music teachers;
 These keyboards are          laughter than any serious      them with ones that don’t         perhaps a little too at-
found to play “Never          trouble – almost like a lit-   promise to never make             tached for their own good.
Gonna Give You Up” by         tle source of light during     you cry or say goodbye.            “When I tried to play
Rick Astley, a song used      these difficult times.         However, Severna Park             “Hot Cross Buns,” I ac-
as a trolling weapon since     “I love it, it’s absolutely   High School is hesitant to        cidentally Rickrolled my
2007. This meme, called       amazing, but I do need to      return them, for one rea-         parents. I realized my
“Rickrolling,” seems to       sleep sometimes so that’s      son or another.                   power and have no plans
now have sneakily made        an issue,” Graves said.         “They have been deemed           in returning my magical
its way into students’         The county learned of         as ‘educationally, mental-        keyboard,”      sophomore
homes and virtual learn-      what these keyboards did       ly, and culturally stimu-         Nia Slade said.
ing environments.             from several parents that      lating,’” Brisentine said.
 “On our first day of us-     grew tired of hearing that     “I must admit … I do like
ing the pianos as a class,    they weren’t going to be       them now. The song is
I thought it might be fun     given up, let down or          definitely catchy.”
to unmute and just play       deserted. The county is         Many students have
a song together, even         rumored to have started        grown very attached to

                                                     10
OPINIONS
 COULD WE BECOME THE
  SEVERNA PARK BEES?
                         Anne Arundel County Public
                        Schools wants to change high
                       school mascots to even the play-
                         ing field, and it’s about time.
                                      Zoey Nichols | Staff Writer

A
                ttention    many sports -- and it’s       never be able to outper-       Graphics by Maya Jones
                Falcons,    partly because of our fear-   form a bear in nature.
                and per-    less mascot, the falcon, a     “It was just unfair to     attention to the protec-
                h a p s     bird of prey -- how could     have a Falcon as the SPHS   tion and conservation of
                not for     a gopher, patriot, knight,    mascot. Falcons have re-    local bee colonies, one of
                m u c h     etc, really compete against   ally good eyesight, and     the proposed mascots is a
longer. Anne Arundel        that?                         could totally take out a    Worker Bee. The Worker
County Public Schools        Because some school          cardinal, the new Crof-     Bee is explained as a de-
(AACPS) wants to change     mascots were seen as          ton High School mascot.     termined and hardwork-
mascots in the county, to   more powerful than oth-       We had to be fair. If we    ing insect to represent the
provide equity among the    ers, school officials were    are all the same mascot,    student population, while
high schools, and it’s an   concerned that it provided    then everyone is equal,”    the Queen Bee is to repre-
excellent idea.             an unfair advantage for       department chair Nadine     sent the career and future
 For too long, Severna      some school mascots, for      Hendler said.               aspirations the AACPS
Park has dominated so       example, a gopher would        As a way to also bring     students work hard to
                                                                                      achieve.
                                                                                       “I think bees are a great
                                                                                      idea,” Hendler said, “It
                                                                                      is a way to showcase the
                                                                                      importance of bees and
                                                                                      the idea that we should all
                                                                                      help each other, just like
                                                                                      they do in a hive.”
                                                                                       It’s time to make it an
                                                                                      even playing field, even if
                                                                                      not everyone is on board.
                                                                                       “The Falcon has been our
                                                                                      mascot forever,” sopho-
                                                                                      more Elliot Newton said,
                                                                                      “Why would we change
                                                                                      it now? I get that maybe
                                                                                      our mascots aren’t equal,
                                                                                      but when you think about
                                                                                      SPHS, you also think
                                                                                      about the Falcon, you
                                                                                      know?”

                                                 11
SPORTS
  WHY BE IN PERSON
   WHEN YOU CAN
    BE VIRTUAL?
       SPHS sports move to Google Meets instead of live play.
                                                   Julia Owens |Staff Writer

T
             he football season has begun and because             gear up in pads, helmet and mouth guards, with the
             of the rise in cases in the county, the Ath-         only difference being the players are in their living
             letic Directors have amended how football            rooms.
             will be played in the coming weeks: instead           Not everyone is excited about this new way to play
             of in-person, it will be a Google Meet.              football, including the Falcon, the SPHS mascot (for
 Senior Fatorma Bolay III, a varsity football player              the time being). They said, “How in the world is this a
said ¨The games will be in person, but pretty much ev-            good idea? The only reason anyone goes to a football
erything else would be virtual.¨                                  game is to see actual players - on the field. How will I
 How will the game be played in a Google Meet and                 get the crowd excited if no one is on the field?”
not in person? As a contact sport, and the close prox-             The varsity cheerleaders disagreed, “We typically
imity that players are to each other, everyone involved           have fans that don’t really get into the game, they are
felt it would be safer to do the plays online. Athletes           too busy looking at their phones or taking selfies of
will “huddle” up -- in a break out room -- and then               themselves in the stands. Now at least -- they will be
reconvene in the main meet, where both teams will                 focused.”
“play” football. The referees will be on the field, and            The football team is also not convinced the county’s
will move the ball in the “theoretical” place the ball            decision is the best interest of the team. A source wish-
would have landed. The benefit of this type of football           ing to be anonymous, because of fear of being benched
beyond staying healthy? The receiver will never miss              (virtually) said, “Look -- we’ve waited almost a year
a ball.                                                           to get back on the field. It just seems like a slap in the
 In order to make the game seem authentic, each player            face to take that away.”
(who joins the Google Meet) will be required to fully

Many students from SPHS participated in the flag football season this year. However, social distancing might not be enough to stop
the spread of COVID during the upcoming football season. Photo by Flynn Prengaman

                                                           12
FALL SPORTS SCHEDULE
 The county moved fall sports to the spring, spring sports
    to the late spring and winter sports were canceled.
   CROSS COUNTRY                            GIRLS SOCCER                          JV BOYS SOCCER
3/22    Chesapeake at 4:30 PM (A)    3/23    Southern at 7 PM (H)          3/23     Southern at 5:30 PM (H)
3/24    South River at 4 PM (A)      3/30    Broadneck at 7 PM (A)         3/25     Crofton at 4 PM (A)
3/29    Chesapeake at 4:30 PM (A)    4/6     Arundel at 7 PM (H)           3/30     Broadneck at 5:30 PM (A)
4/1     South River at 4 PM (A)      4/8     Annapolis at 5 PM (H)         4/6      Arundel at 5:30 PM (H)
4/6     South River at 4 PM (A)      4/13    South River at 7 PM (A)       4/8      Annapolis at 4 PM (H)
4/8     Chesapeake at 4:30 PM (A)
4/12    South River at 4 PM (A)             UNIFIED TENNIS                        JV GIRLS SOCCER
4/13    Chesapeake at 4:30 PM (A)    3/25    North County at 3:30 PM (A)
4/14    South River at 4 PM (A)      4/8     Chesapeake at 3:30 PM (A)     3/23     Southern at 4 PM (H)
       FIELD HOCKEY                  4/12    Old Mill at 3:30 PM (H)       3/25
                                                                           3/30
                                                                                    Broadneck at 5:30 PM (A)
                                                                                    Broadneck at 4 PM (A)
3/23
3/30
        Southern at 6:30 PM (A)
        Broadneck at 6:30 PM (H)
                                             VOLLEYBALL                    4/6      Arundel at 4 PM (H)
4/6     Arundel at 5 PM (A)          3/23    Southern at 6:30 PM (A)
                                     3/30    Broadneck at 6 PM (H)
4/8
4/13
        Annapolis at 6:30 PM (A)
        South River at 6:30 PM (H)   4/6     Arundel at 6 PM (A)                   JV FOOTBALL
                                     4/8     Annapolis at 6 PM (A)
                                                                           3/27     North County at 9 AM (A)
         FOOTBALL                    4/13    South River at 6 PM (H)
                                                                           4/2      Northeast at 9 AM (A)
                                                                           4/10     Glen Burnie at 9 AM (H)
3/26
4/1
       North County at 6:30 PM (A)
       Northeast at 6:30 PM (A)         JV FIELD HOCKEY
4/9
4/16
       Glen Burnie at 6:30 PM (H)
       Chesapeake at 6:30 (H)
                                     3/23
                                     3/25
                                             Southern at 5 PM (A)
                                             Crofton at 4:30 PM (H)
                                                                                  JV VOLLEYBALL
                                     3/30    Broadneck at 5 PM (H)         3/23     Southern at 5 PM (A)
       BOYS SOCCER                   4/6     Arundel at 6:30 PM (A)        3/30     Crofton at 5 PM (H)
3/23    Southern at 5 PM (H)         4/8     Annapolis at 5 PM (A)         4/6      Broadneck at 4:30 PM (A)
3/30    Broadneck at 5 PM (A)        3/23    Southern at 5 PM (A)          4/8      Annapolis at 4:30 PM (A)
4/6     Arundel at 5 PM (H)          4/15    Chesapeake at TBD (A)         4/13     South River at 4:30 PM (H)
4/8     Annapolis at 7 PM (H)
4/13    South River at 5 PM (A)

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                                                 13
Students and Staff of SPHS,

The Editors and Staff of the Talon want
to welcome you back into the building
as hybrid learning began roughly one
month ago. Over the course of the
second semester, we have worked long
and hard on making this issue
interesting, entertaining and enjoyable
for students and staff. We greatly
appreciate your continued support
through these challenging times and
through the entire school year.

We hope this issue makes all of our days
just a little bit better and brings joy to
all.

 Nick Carparelli III   Sydney Herz   Sophie Krejci
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