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SMACKDOWN: Hand poised in the air, Brandon Carrey ‘26 prepares to block a layup attempt, made by Jase Rhodes ‘26. The basketball tournament was held on Feb. 21, after school in an epic matchup of eight teams of four. Two short 5-minute matches were held on each half of the court, with four teams playing at once. When asked about his feelings during the game, Carey stated, “I was pretty confident in my team’s skill before the game, but we got put up against the top team so I was a little nervous during the game.” This basketball tournament was hosted by Mr. Odem’s class, in order to raise money for breast cancer awareness. The winning team of the tournament consisted of George Lugar ‘28, Jacob Johnson ‘25, Josh Miao ‘25, and Thomas Greer ‘25. However, the second-place team, consisting of Rhodes, Tinaishe Chikwata ‘26, Nate Hayes ‘26, and Brock Miles ‘25 put up a good fight, losing only by three points. 
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Rearing back, a wild-eyed buffalo headbutted his brother towards his sister, making him clumsily stumble into her. These buffalo siblings' names were Coco, Van, and Nila. Although they were all born one after the other, something about Coco was different. From the moment he was born, he had been brown. So, while his brother and sister were cream-colored and looked almost exactly like their mother and father, Coco looked nothing like them, leading to him usually being outcasted by not only his community, but his family as well. So, the siblings grew up, excelling in their scavenging skills and constantly play-fighting, as siblings do. But somehow, Coco was always left out, even though Nila would try to include him in activities, Van, being strong-headed and stubborn, would always purposely leave his brother out. Nila, because she was so soft-spoken and kind-hearted, would never go against her brother, always obeying him. However, one day, Van went too far. They had a regular scavenge scheduled, the goal being to find three berry bushes ready for harvest. As they travelled, Van suddenly spoke, “Coco, since you don’t look similar to us anyway, maybe you should run away and go join another pack.” “Van!” Nila exclaimed, horrified that her brother would even suggest that. “I’m just being honest, Ni. You know too that we would be better off without an… outsider.” Van retaliated. A moment of silence passed as the two siblings looked at each other, then to Coco, who was mournfully standing aside. Quietly, Coco started walking away to their usual berry-bush spot, head drooping. Nila, flashing a dirty look to Van, quickly followed behind. Heaving an audible sigh, Van rolled his eyes and trotted after his two siblings. Not paying attention while trotting, Van smashed into his brother’s back, startled by the sudden stop. “Why’d you stop walking Coco?! God you’re so laz-” Van said, but suddenly stopped, realizing why his siblings had stopped moving. Ahead, where the berry bushes usually sat, was instead a large crevice, enough to swallow all of them whole. They all took a step back in unison, shocked at the sight before them. “I-I-I’ll go get mom and dad… You two stay safe and watch to make sure nothing happens.” Nila stuttered, immediately turning and galloping away. As soon as she was out of their sights, Van’s head snapped towards his brother. “God, you probably caused the ground to crack with your weight.” he snorted, stomping his hoof on the ground. Coco turned away, shifting his gaze to the canyon. “Ignoring me now I see. You know what? We would be better off if you just disappeared!” Van huffed. Before Coco had time to react, Van was galloping full speed towards him, running into him and pushing him off the cliff. As the figure of his brother disappeared, Van fully realized what he had done and backed away, just as Nila came running back with her parents. “Where’d Coco go?” she asked, not seeing her brother. “I-he-we-” Van stuttered, nervously looking around when suddenly, “He pushed me, he betrayed me, he KILLED me” boomed a voice, echoing from within the canyon. To be continued…  1000: Standing with his team, Antonio Mack ‘27 holds his plaque proclaiming his 1000-pt career milestone for varsity basketball. The Raiders played Fishburne Military on Jan. 28, dominating the team with a final score of 76-37. With an average of 24.8 points per game, Mack scored his 1000th point of his basketball career before the halftime mark. At one point, as the second leading scorer, intercepted a pass and ended the play with a dunk for two of his 18 points. “I really liked seeing my brother win, and it was a great, energetic moment; to see him grow over the years, to see him get that, it was really a great moment,” said Jesiah Hines ‘27, proudly talking about Mack’s accomplishments. When asked about his feelings at that moment, Mack said, “Obviously it was a great feeling hitting that landmark, but it’s not my end goal,” showing his optimistic view towards his career’s bright future.  Although many say that the English and Literature curriculum is thoroughly educational, several students also find it dull and unexciting. Literature should be a subject where students can cultivate their artistic interests and emotional expressions. Numerous students enjoy the subject because it can encourage open-mindedness and provide new and diverse ways of thinking. However, many do not enjoy the class and required curriculum for each grade. The English curriculum should be modified to better suit student interests. Throughout the course of high school, the number of students who want to major in English decreased by 10.6%, as claimed by the National Center for Education Services. According to a study conducted by Literacy Inc., 33% of U.S. high school graduates never read a book after high school. To many students, English is not the most enjoyable class not because of the workload or the reading and writing, but the content that is being assigned to them. While interviewing multiple ninth graders at North Cross school, many agreed that the essay writing was one of the worst aspects of English. Eve Heletz ‘28 said, “Writing essays is time consuming and tedious, and it’s one of my least favorite activities that we do in English.” Other ninth graders said the same, additionally mentioning how they would have preferred writing essays about a book or a topic they enjoyed instead of a school-required book. “Mandatory assignments feel like a heavier weight,” Micah Evans ‘28 said, and many students agree. As stated by Eagle Angle Opinions, “Students may much rather prefer writing an essay over what they want, opposed to receiving a specific writing prompt where the creativity is limited.” This is because as teenagers and young adults, our minds despise limitations and restrictions that feel pressuring and stressing to finish our work by a deadline. Teachers and other authoritative figures may not understand how a student may feel because the curriculum is what has been set by The Virginia Board of Education or by the Board of Directors or even by the teacher themselves, but students agree that the English program could be improved through multiple measures. Firstly, an opinionated essay on a book of choice for each student would be an optimal replacement for analytical essays on required books, as well as the freedom to express themselves with no criticism, compared to unoriginal, regulated essays. Secondly, several people have stated that reading in class is a prolonged activity that many do not benefit from. Individual reading times may be more helpful to the understanding of a student. Thirdly, although this may not apply to North Cross School, the use of mandatory rubrics, the grading of essays, or other things may be subjective to the opinion of the teacher. If the essay does not coincide with the teacher's opinion, the grade, the critique, and the feedback may be affected for personal reasons. Therefore, if a student feels impacted by the teacher's personal remarks and opinions, the teacher should reflect and attempt to be unbiased with a student's work. Although all of these “improvements” may not be realistic and also may not apply to all, they are formulated from the feedback of students and alumni in the United States, as well as students here, at North Cross. English and literature is an amazing subject that should be enjoyed by all, while also having the benefits of a true educational experience. “I love memorization because it is easy and simple, and I also like how the curriculum lets us read a variety of books, " Eve Heletz ‘28 said. “For example The Book Thief, I never would have read it if it wasn’t required, and I actually enjoyed it.” The opinion of international students is important as well, due to our schools' inclusive and diverse community. “As an international student, I like how the teacher is always there to help the students if they don’t understand, and how helpful they are during class and give good advice to improve our English,” said Kevin Tran ‘26, “but, I think English class could be improved by watching more document movies and have some vocabulary.” When Head of English Department Polly Jones was asked about the current curriculum, she responded by saying that the students' education was prioritized first over what the students preferred. “A lot of the curriculum is based on the development of the student. For example, about ten years ago, we created a document called the writing initiative, where each grade level educator from kindergarten through 12th said “this is what kind of essays they need to write and the kind of grammar they need to study.” Overall, although students may not be able to modify the definite curriculum, students can object to unfair treatment of students due to biased opinions, and can also protest against unfair grading and scoring. Additionally, students can ask or suggest an additional assignment that could be added for extra credit, or a modification to a certain assignment that would allow more freedom within the assignment.  As the Christmas season approaches, so does the company’s annual Secret Santa that Ms. Evelynn Palmer has been dreading for so long. With her lack of connection to most of her colleagues, she has never been the best gift giver. However, because Secret Santa is anonymous, this gives her space to breathe as she ponders who will be her next horrid gift recipient. Last year it was her worst enemy, Amanda Sawyers, which worked out perfectly as Amanda ended up receiving a holiday candle and a few pencils from “yours truly.”
Today was the day of the fretted name drawing, and as she and her colleagues crowded around the hat of names, Evelynn closed her eyes and hoped for someone she truly knew, like her best friend Marcy. However, as she grabbed a piece of paper from the hat, she instantly felt that something was wrong. As she slowly opened the fate-determining scrap, her eyes widened. It read, “Jackson,” as in, her ex-best friend, Jackson Graves, who Evelynn has known since her childhood and long ago had stopped being friends. As she pondered ideas, she silently groaned at the notion of having to choose a thoughtful gift for him. After consulting Marcy about her dilemma, she finally decided on a snowglobe based on his favorite movie and a box of Rolos, which she remembered he liked when they were kids. Putting the presents into a bag and signing it, “from your secret Santa,” Evelynn sighed, reminiscing about their childhood memories before life had become complicated. She and Jackson had been like two peas in a pod, always sticking together from the moment they met at the beach. As they grew older, Evelynn even started to catch feelings for him. However, as they entered high school, Jackson slowly started to drift apart from her and became the quarterback for their football team, skyrocketing his popularity and leaving her in the dust. As heartbroken as she was, she accepted that she would have to move on. After high school, they went to separate colleges and hadn’t contacted each other for years when they ended up joining the same corporation. The day of the gift exchange came by quickly, and Evelynn was trembling with anticipation. She arrived at work extra early, looked to make sure there was no one around, and slipped the gift onto Jackson’s desk. Exhaling a deep breath, she went to the bathroom to refresh her mind. When she came back, she was surprised to see a package on her desk, signed, “anonymously yours.” Feeling her face flushing, she gently picked up the package and slowly unwrapped it. Inside lay a CD of “The Polar Express,” her favorite Christmas movie when she was a child, and a scarf in her favorite color, lavender. She glanced around and saw Jackson staring right at her. He quickly blushed and looked away, and although she wasn’t sure, Evelynn had a gut feeling that he had given her the gift. Knowing that this was a chance for reconciliation, she put her pride aside and walked up to him, tapping on his shoulder. Handing him the CD, she nervously said, “If I’m right, you’re my secret santa. So I’m hoping I’m right when I ask you if you maybe want to watch this with me this weekend?” Closing her eyes and bracing herself for the worst, she was surprised when she felt a hand on her shoulder and a voice that she had grown to deeply miss. “You are right, Evelynn, and I would love to. I’m so glad you asked. You were my secret santa too, weren’t you? Only you would know to get me a Paddington themed snow globe.” Jackson joked. Evelynn laughed softly, a faint blush tainting her cheeks. As they finalized their plans together, their coworkers watched from around the corner, silently applauding themselves on the success of their scheme to unite the two lovers together at last.  SAY CHEESE: Posing on a table adorned with gorgeous flora, I prepared for my stay in a hotel during my annual trip to Japan. In the beginning of June, my family and I traveled to Japan to see family and friends. We took a train to Kobe, Japan, and stayed overnight in a lavish establishment. “Stand there, a little to the left,” my mother told me as she waited to take a picture of the beautiful greenery. The entryway in the background was the entrance for the luxurious breakfast buffet, which we had eaten only moments before. The hotel itself had ornate decorations, these flowers only being one of many. We later found out that the plant was indeed alive, and not an imitation as we assumed because of its grand magnitude. “We must come here again, it’s amazing!” my mother said as we left, and my father and I heartily agreed.
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I am akaliI am a staff writer for the Geoprism and the customary newspaper, as well as the assistant editor for the Caliope literary arts magazine. Archives
March 2025
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the Willis Hall HeraldContact: [email protected]
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The StaffCo-Editors-in-Chief .............................................................Aadeetri Pandey ‘26 and Mason Bibby '27
Asst. Editor-in-Chief........................................................................................................Kaitlyn Perkins ‘28 Senior Editor of Page Design.....................................................................................Anderson Ratliff '26 Digital Publishing Editor .................................................................................................Anna Ciccozzi ‘26 Photography Editor ....................................................................................................... Andrew Weng '28 Staff Writers..........................................................................................Jax Bentley '29, Piper Malloch '29 Advisor......................................................................................Robert Robillard P’35 |
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