“How do two poets greet each other?”
According to Brian Hernandez, they say, “Hey haven’t we metaphor?”
If you have ever visited Brian Hernandez’s Twitter or Facebook profile they are littered with similar puns that one can’t help but chuckle over. Hernandez is a current junior and an IB diploma candidate and is known for his carefully worded puns that receive a multitude of likes, favorites and re-tweets and have even given him the unofficial title of “class clown.”
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Entertainment is one of the toughest industries to break into: the uncertainty, the competition and the pressure make show business an intimidating career path for prospective stars. But despite the obstacles, aspiring stars Lily Roth, Sara Chapin and Samantha Hakim have already made their start.
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In light of the recent efforts by a local high school mother to ban Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved from Fairfax County Schools after her son experienced nightmares while studying the novel, a discussion here at Marshall began because the IB English HL 2 classes recently read the novel. Beloved depicts events containing a slew of sensitive and offensive topics such as infanticide, bestiality, and rape; it’s understandable why some people object to the text being taught.
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The Madman’s Daughter, by author Megan Shepherd and published at the end of January, is a science-fiction book about a surgeon pushing the boundaries of nature and science. Taking place in urban London in the late 1800s, it is Shepherd’s first novel.

The book contains vivid settings of bustling lower-class London and a deserted tropical island off the coast of Australia. Shepherd describes the settings in a very detailed and believable way, using lifelike language. She uses imagery to set an eerie tone that is present throughout the novel.

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Since France has invaded Mali, they have won praise from numerous NATO nations, including Great Britain and the United States for its contribution to the war on terrorism. Within the first week of their intervention, French-led forces captured key locations along the border with the al Qaeda-controlled north and began critical bombing operations which crushed the enemy forces.
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The number of illegal immigrants in Virginia rose to 210,000 this year, making the state home to the 12th largest population of illegal immigrants nationwide.
While counties such as Loudoun and Prince William have created measures to deny illegal immigrants services and allow police to ask the legal status of individuals, Fairfax has not followed suit. In fact, the policies towards illegal immigrants in Fairfax County are so lenient that the area appears at the top of several online lists of “sanctuary communities.”
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On Feb. 7, 2013, the assessment of the FCPS school lunch program started, an assessment that will lay out a plan for FCPS to transition to a healthier school food program that features more fresh foods.

“They’re not giving us a report card,” Real Food for Kids co-founder and Marshall parent JoAnne Hammermaster said. “What they’re going to do is give us a road map, for probably 3-5 years. How do you transition from heat-and-serve to hopefully phasing in fresh food?”

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Fairfax County will be getting a new superintendent at the end of the school year in response to the retirement of current superintendent Jack Dale.
The search firm Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates was commissioned by the School Board to search for a new superintendent by collecting input from employees, parents, and the Fairfax County community.
Principal Jay Pearson, along with other high school and middle school principals, collectively provided feedback for the qualities the school board wants in a superintendent.
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Irish dancing, ballet, tap, jazz, and hip-hop, are some of the various types dances that students do as extra-curricular activities. There are also a wide range of reasons for those students who take dance classes.

Sophomore Rachel Hong Fong takes ballet classes twice a week to help her improve at her ice skating. Senior Jackie O’Neil does ballet as well but for different and more holistic reasons.

“[Ballet] is a way of expressing myself. I have also made a lot of friends and it’s a great form of exercise,” said O’Neil.

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