• 2022-2023 CSPA Crown Award Finalist
The Student News Site of Thomas S. Wootton High School

Common Sense
The Student News Site of Thomas S. Wootton High School

Common Sense
The Student News Site of Thomas S. Wootton High School

Common Sense

Natalie Pak, arts editor

Junior Natalie Pak is a managing in her second year on the Common Sense staff. In her free time, she enjoys listening to music and hanging out with friends. You can find her on IG @_natalie.pak_

All content by Natalie Pak
Senior Rebecca Gao presents her AP Research project at the AP Research Symposium on Apr. 24. "Finding a topic for my project was pretty easy for me. I had done some previous work with microbiology over the summer and wanted to continue with something similar in my project, so I decided on stem cells pretty quickly," Gao said.

AP Research results show student success

Natalie Pak, managing editor
May 24, 2025
"The Bluest Eye," by Toni Morrison is one of the banned books that highlights the devastating effects of racism. This story emphasizes the role that racism plays in societal beauty standards and self-worth, as the main character wishes to have blue eyes.

Read what they don’t want you to read: dissections of prejudice in American history

Natalie Pak, arts editor
April 8, 2025
NHS junior board members Vikram Reddy and Ryan Shin discuss volunteer opportunities for the Sam Williams 5K at the monthly NHS meeting. "The event is an opportunity for the community to come together for a morning of wellness and fun," NHS co-sponsor Anne-Marie Steppling said.

National Honors Society prepares for Sam Williams 5K

Natalie Pak, arts editor
March 18, 2025
The featured novels are some of the most challenged and banned books in the United States. They have been banned due to complaints about their inclusion of profanity, violence and blasphemy, though these books are also considered literary classics.

Read what they don’t want you to read: Three books to explore in wake of imminent ban

Natalie Pak, arts editor
February 19, 2025
The band performs at the arts assembly on Dec. 13. "I love that my students get the opportunity to perform for their peers and that the student body can experience the excellence that occurs in the arts department," band and orchestra co-director Carolyn Herman said.

Annual Celebrate the Arts assemblies showcase talents of arts department

Natalie Pak, arts editor
January 15, 2025
The indoor color guard rehearses in the lower gym on Monday, Dec. 9. "I feel like the guard, as a whole, is improving significantly in their fundamental technique, especially on flag. I'm excited to see our training and hard work pay off," color guard co-captain Summer Yao said.

Indoor color guard springs into winter season; indoor percussion begins weekly lessons

Natalie Pak, arts editor
December 17, 2024
Senior Sana Majmudar walks for senior night with her parents and brother. This year concludes her third year of marching band as a color guard member. "I'm so grateful to everyone for such an amazing season," Majmudar said.

Seniors recognized at final home football game

Natalie Pak, arts editor
November 23, 2024
Bus 5311 fills with students every day after the school day ends. Due to the number of people on the bus, students are forced to stand or sit in the aisle if they are unable to squeeze into already occupied seats. “It’s especially annoying if I ever need to take home my instrument or an extra bag or literally anything that takes up extra space because of how squished together everyone is,” junior Mia Yang said.

Overwhelmingly overcrowded: consequences of new bus distributions

Natalie Pak, arts editor
October 25, 2024
This year's homecoming will continue with last year's glow-in-the-dark theme. SGA and Splanning have been working hard to prepare for homecoming, as well as for the rest of the week's events. "After the first week of school to Oct. 18, we don’t get a break. We’re constantly planning homecoming and we have separate committees all doing a separate section of the event, so it’s a whole collaborative effort. It’s amazing being in such a great group of kids who are actively working to make this happen," senior SGA member Maddy Matthew said.

SGA, Splanning navigate hectic homecoming week schedule

Natalie Pak, arts editor
October 9, 2024
Patriot Ambassadors hold their first meeting of the year in the recently renovated auditorium. Along with ramps and wheelchair-accessible seating for ADA accommodations, the auditorium has had new carpet installed. "Overall, the auditorium has been painted just like the rest of the building as well, but the bathrooms really look nice, so hopefully everyone will appreciate the work that went into all this," school Business Administrator Arlin De La Rosa said.

Two theater shows will debut in newly revamped auditorium

Natalie Pak, arts editor
September 13, 2024
The marching band celebrates at their show reveal on Apr. 26. "I'm really excited to get to know everyone and make new friends," junior Collin Berman said.

Marching band announces electrifying new show

Natalie Pak, arts editor
May 29, 2024
Harry Harlow's experiments caused the suffering of hundreds of baby monkeys. In his study, he placed the monkeys in cages with a stand-in mother made of metal wire and another made of soft cloth. The wire mother had an attached baby bottle for food while the cloth mother had nothing, but it was found that the newborn monkeys would consistently choose the cloth mother over the wire mother.

Unethical psychological studies impact participants, society

Natalie Pak, staff writer
May 10, 2024
Several bookstores across the country, such as Barnes & Noble, have recently introduced stands designated for books that have gone viral on TikTok. A large percentage of these displayed books are dark romance novels by popular authors such as Colleen Hoover.

Dark romance: The romanticization of trauma

Natalie Pak, staff writer
April 19, 2024
A key factor in the societal "beauty standard" is a person's weight, which the body positivity movement attempts to reject. However, the idea of body positivity itself is superficial as it relies on a person's physical appearance as a determinant of their self-worth.

Harmful effects of body positivity: the correlation between beauty and self worth

Natalie Pak, staff writer
March 30, 2024
The North Potomac Area Color Guard takes a group picture after winning first place in the Scholastic Regional AA division at their first competition of the winter season. "Guard helped me create so many great memories with my teammates," sophomore Summer Yao said.

Color guard: The sport of the arts

Natalie Pak, staff writer
March 12, 2024
A group of protestors rally to prevent gun violence.

America’s new normal: Becoming desensitized to gun violence in media

Natalie Pak, staff writer
February 13, 2024
Senior Ksenia Shabardina (left) prepares for a wrestling match against Blair on Dec. 13. Shabardina is the only girl on the co-ed varsity wrestling team.

Wrestling with gender: the struggles of females both on, off the mat

Natalie Pak, staff writer
December 20, 2023
ChatGPT creeps into users' daily lives.

Creativity’s bleak future: dire consequences of the writers strike, ramifications of AI

Natalie Pak, staff writer
December 12, 2023
Art teacher Unsil Kim oversees freshman Bereket Kebede on his painting during class and provides helpful advice.

Ceramics teacher Unsil Kim impacts students through art

Natalie Pak, staff writer
November 28, 2023
Express Club's brass ensemble prepares to perform last year. They include sophomore Mia Yang, junior Collin Berman, junior Dhyan Sesha, junior Daksh Badri, senior Waverly Nakashima and senior Naveen Ramamurthy.

Express Music Club anticipates coming performances

Natalie Pak, staff writer
October 30, 2023
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