Common Sense

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Opinion
Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency put national parks under pressure
Maria Daraselia, editor in chief | March 20, 2025
Opinion
Third quarter is worst of school year
Eric Mehler, opinion editor | March 20, 2025
Features
Sula sparks debate with AP Lit students
Lea Weinstein, managing editor | March 20, 2025
Sports
Boys’, co-ed volleyball focus on big goals for season
Avni Koenig, staff writer | March 20, 2025
News
National Honors Society prepares for Sam Williams 5K
Natalie Pak, arts editor | March 18, 2025
News
Thousands voice concerns of Trump administration on Presidents’ Day
Evan Halpern, staff writer | March 18, 2025
Features
Wootton graduates find success after college decision setbacks
Marley Hoffman, back page editor | March 18, 2025
Sports
Varsity baseball team looks to have challenging season
Jack Sullivan, staff writer | March 18, 2025
Profiles
Junior Zaara Burnett commits to Ohio State University
Helen Manolis, features editor | March 18, 2025
Sports
Tennis looks for another successful season
AJ Shiflett, sports editor | March 17, 2025

Common Sense Print Edition

Poll

Best second semester event?

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Spring break

AP exams

Spring sports

Graduation

Thomas S. Wootton

0

North Hagerstown

3

Nov 16 / Girls Volleyball
Thomas S. Wootton

20

Magruder

7

Nov 14 / Football
Thomas S. Wootton

3

Howard

0

Nov 12 / Girls Volleyball
Thomas S. Wootton

35

Thomas Johnson

21

Nov 8 / Football
Thomas S. Wootton

3

Dulaney

0

Nov 8 / Girls Volleyball
Thomas S. Wootton

3

Magruder

0

Nov 6 / Girls Volleyball
Thomas S. Wootton

13

Damascus

53

Nov 1 / Football
Thomas S. Wootton

3

Watkins Mill

0

Nov 1 / Girls Volleyball
Thomas S. Wootton

15

Magruder

20

Oct 24 / Football
Thomas S. Wootton

14

Churchill

0

Oct 23 / Varsity Girls Flag Football

News

The graph shows the difference between total student enrollment for all the Montgomery County high schools between the 2022-2023 school year and the 2023-2024 school year.

On the decline: Enrollment decreases at this school

Inayat Thukral, managing editor • March 17, 2025

SMOB candidates Anuva Maloo and Peter Boyko learn about election procedures from current SMOB Praneel Suvarna.

48th SMOB candidates finalized

Sofia Sklias, staff writer • March 16, 2025

African American and Latinx honor society members and officers speak on a panel during the honor society fair. Restorative Approaches Lead Lindsey Vance was one of the staff members in charge of organizing the fair. “A lot of factors contribute to the ‘achievement gap’ between historically marginalized racial groups and their peers, including access and awareness. This fair provides information that students otherwise may not have. We will identify more ways to ensure all students know about the wide array of opportunities available at school,” Vance said.

Honor society fair encourages minorities, promotes diversity

Diya Khetan, news editor • March 14, 2025

Junior Kevin Sun observes Chinese culture around school, "Me and a bunch of my friends are Chinese and celebrated the recent New Year and it is nice to see our culture represented in school," Sun said.

Students celebrate Lunar New Year

Siena McCarthy, staff writer • February 28, 2025

Profiles

Junior Urielle Ngako shows her short film "#StudentsInYourFields" to junior Anna Nishnianidze on Mar. 14 in the back of the TV production room. While Nishnianidze watches the film, Ngako explains the creation process. "Urielle is extremely hardworking and perseverant, and she expresses these qualities on a day-to-day basis," Nishnianidze said.

#StudentsInYourFields: Urielle Ngako refuses to back down

Ahmed Ibrahim, opinion editor • March 16, 2025

Liv Resnick began riding horses at age five (left). Today, Resnick plans on furthering her education in equine management (right). "I completely fell in love with the animal and the sport and the type of people who are in that environment and that field, and I knew that this is something that I wanted to keep doing," Resnick said.

Liv Resnick pursues equine management after life-long passion for horses

Heerah Jayakumar, online editor in chief • March 13, 2025

Junior Olivia O’Connor represents DC Edge Junior Team USA as a synchronized skater. She is heading to Budapest during the middle of March to compete against other major synchronized skating teams. “The teams are judged and scored by the IS international judging system,” O’Connor said.

Oliva O’Connor glides to greatness

Becca Hwang, staff writer • March 11, 2025

Senior Ryan Gerstenzang prepares a segment for Wootton Weather by going out in the field.

New weather segment brings sunshine to morning announcements

Micah Felman, staff writer • February 28, 2025

The boys' lacrosse team warms up before their Mar. 6 practice session. "We always stress that our athletes should stay active and try to play as much summer and fall ball as possible. Work-out routines include gym and track time. Coaches want to kids to come in shape for the season instead of using the season to get into shape," Phillips said.

Sports

Coach Danny Phillips ushers in new era for lacrosse

Joshua Oluwaboro, staff writer

March 16, 2025

Senior ice hockey goalie Connor Jackson posts his commitment to Concordia University Wisconsin on Instagram.

Sports

Seniors take their talents to next level

Cyrus Kaz, staff writer

March 13, 2025

Junior Bryson Filbert sets up at the starting line for his event at the Gator Invitational in March 2024. "I'm hoping to improve my times and height for high jump this season," Filbert said.

Sports

Speed, agility, flexibility: Track prepares for spring season

Veronika Khrimian, staff writer

March 13, 2025

@tswathletics posts a job application for prospective coaches on Instagram. They can apply on the MCPS careers website.

Sports

Behind the whistle: how are coaches hired?

Alex Balian, editor in chief

March 11, 2025

LeBron James dribbles the ball up the court during the All-Star game in 2022 in Cleveland, OH.

Sports

NBA All-Star game changes spark backlash from fans

Zorawar Sodhi, staff writer

March 10, 2025

Sophomore Ace Kippola performs in "Gallows Humor," an original play from Round House Theatre. The play follows an unsupervised classroom of students as they bond and fight during a lockdown. "It meant a lot to me, especially since the show was covering an issue that relates to teenagers. Getting to tell the story to so many people over the course of a weekend was one of the best experiences of my life," Kippola said.

Arts

Students by day, artists by night

Liam Sloan, staff writer

March 14, 2025

Junior Zion Allen, under the stage name Laida, performs in front of the WGT crowd alongside his mom.

Arts

Performers show off expertise in WGT

Jack Weinstein, staff writer

March 12, 2025

Past editions of the Literary Magazine line the shelves in room 253. The 2025 print publication of the Literary Magazine, or Lit Mag, will be published by the end of May. "Lit Mag displays artworks for people and artists alike to appreciate the skill of their classmates at Wootton, and connects more people to one another,” junior and shadow Editor-in-Chief Crystal Teng said.

Arts

Literary magazine prepares for print issue

Pragna Pothakamuri, features editor, race and equity editor

February 26, 2025

Senior planning performed at last year's event, when it was called TNL. Performers have prepared extensively for this year. "We have had to prepare a lot but it will be worth it and I am very excited," Santos said

Arts

Upcoming Wootton’s Got Talent event excites students

Eric Mehler, opinion editor

February 25, 2025

Senior Kian Hamidzadeh tells the History Society what they will be going through at that day’s meeting in mid-February. They started with presentations about historic events or ideas on the board in room 180 and continued discussing plans and the script for the musical. This is how every meeting has started for the previous two months.

Arts

History Society musical revised into stage reading of first act

Aleksander Weiner, Staff Writer

February 19, 2025

Opinion

The University of South Carolina's marching band practice field (left) and Harvard University's campus (right).

Two juniors debate the impact of society’s perception vs. location of schools in college applications

Emory Scofield and Hayley Gottesman • March 17, 2025

Junior Ellen Ming eats lunch in the hallway between rooms 149 and 151 on Mar. 7. Ming chooses to eat lunch with her friends due to the convenience it offers combined with a lack of disturbances.

School must address hygiene concerns regarding lunch policy

March 16, 2025

Junior Owen Goozh makes a Fliff parlay during advisory on Mar.5, as sports were being discussed by his friend group.

Easy access to Fliff sparks concerns about underage gambling

March 16, 2025

Junior Liana Usman finishes her classwork. "I've had a lot of work to complete recently so a February break would be nice since spring break is so far away," Usman said.

February break could benefit MCPS students

March 13, 2025

Reviews

As I begin my 14th and final required reading book (pictured) of high school, I ranked a complete list of all my prior readings.

4 years, 11 books: the best and worst of required reading

Claire Lenkin, editor in chief • March 16, 2025

Unlike an average Chick-fil-a, there is no red to be seen inside of the College Park location. The menu is much larger than the regular, highlighting test kitchen items such as pizza, burgers and wings.

Chick-fil-A’s “Little Blue Menu”: the College Park dining attraction

March 12, 2025

"Captain America: Brave New World" hit theatres on Feb. 14. "The movie was alright, but I expect more from Marvel," junior Varun Rajesh said.

Marvel continues to underperform with ‘Captain America: Brave New World‘

March 10, 2025

Tous les Jours Cafe: an every-day restaurant

March 10, 2025

Features

AP Statistics teacher Michelle George shows off her leftover Chipotle bowl that she packed for lunch and warmed in her crockpot on Mar. 14. "I use little crock pots to heat stuff at my desk without having to go find a microwave, or wait in line for a microwave because we only have a couple in the math office," George said.

Students, staff struggle to balance meal packing, eating lunch

Naina Giare, managing editor • March 17, 2025

Junior Abby Goozh does the Daily Wordle during her eighth period AP World History class.

Chromebook game playing reaches epidemic level

March 17, 2025

Data from the Jay Mathews Index shows the ranking of MCPS high schools. Each index score is calculated by dividing the total number of AP, IB and Cambridge tests by the number of graduating seniors, and can offer insight into course difficulty. “I think because a lot of the students here are very ambitious, I think a lot of times the teachers are reacting to student engagement because students are producing high-quality work and demanding in-depth feedback,” English teacher Danny Pecoraro said.

Beyond the classroom: a look into this school’s class rigor

March 16, 2025

Senior Sydney Chaikin (this writer) opens her UMD acceptance letter on Jan. 31, as did the other 122 accepted students from this school.

UMD solidifies reputation as public ivy

March 16, 2025

Columns

Senior Rayna Panikulam sits with her friends, seniors Leah Antony, Serena John and Ruthiga Veerasingham, at lunch on Monday, Feb. 24. Antony and John banter over what day graduation is while Panikulam and Veerasingham reminisce over senior sunrise. "I'm so grateful to have spent the last three and a half years surrounded by such beautiful and kind people and I'll cherish these moments for the rest of my life," Panikulam said.

Does romanticizing high school make senior year more painful?

Ahmed Ibrahim, opinion editor • February 27, 2025

Sophomore Amen Tekleab shows off her Valentine's Day gift from her friend during advisory Friday, Feb. 14.

What the world is reading: Romcoms for the season of love

Emma Karcz, managing editor • February 14, 2025

Junior Ahmed Ibrahim posts to his Instagram story on June 26, eating a Pop-Tart at the exact moment the third season of FX's "The Bear" dropped on Hulu and Disney+.

The three best TV shows of 2024

Ahmed Ibrahim, opinion editor • December 16, 2024

Perfect gifts to give to book-loving friends include a Kindle and bookmarks.

What the world is reading: Holiday gift guide for book lovers

Emma Karcz, managing editor • December 12, 2024

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