There are many challenges faced when moving from a place where someone is
surrounded by people who look like them, to a place where there are significantly less people who resemble them. Even if a minority grew up in a predominantly white institution (PWI), many challenges can still be faced. “I think it’s depending on the point of view, because like some people that like aren’t able to fit in as easily will have a more hard time
since like there’s not a lot of people who look like us, you know,” Rabia Ferron ‘25 said, “so I feel like it can be a struggle, but also on the bright side, if you can fit in, it’s not really that much of a problem.” Coming from a PWI, Rabia is very knowledgeable about growing up not seeing many people who look like her. Although she may not have grown up in the NCS PWI, she still has plenty of experience with the subject. “At my old school I was in first grade and my brother was in preschool,” Ferron said, “and me and him were the only black kids in the
whole school.” There are a few minorities who grew up in the PWI we call home. Although they grew up through this circuit it still has to be difficult. “It was not easy growing up [at NCS] especially through my third through eighth grade years,” Maggie Bibby said, “I was the only black kid in my class, so it felt very isolated up until I got into the high school and saw the different walks of life because I really didn’t experience that through most of my elementary and middle school years.” As the only Brazilian student and one of two Brazilian people on campus, Pietra Adelino Fischer definitely has the title and space to say minority.
“My other school like it was way bigger, like a big big school. It was like more than 1,200 students, like in the whole school and a lot of people are like the same thing, and do the same thing.” Fischer said. “So here I’m like the only Brazilian I can show my friends what we do in Brazil, like parties, the customs, and what we do.” Fischer said, “It was a change for me to have to speak in a different language and to learn new things in that different language.”
As someone who grew up surrounded by a large amount of just about every culture, it was very different to make that change to NCS. While NCS does have a wide variety of cultures, it is still a PWI. Some argue since there are many different countries involved in the
community, it can’t be a PWI. This is a misconception because there can be many cultures but if there is still a dominant culture, then there are still minorities. Many people who are the majority in the PWI don’t realize an issue, and may be blind to the inequality they have unknowingly witnessed everyday. “Despite being in the same school, our experiences aren’t really the same. It’s easier to get along in school when you feel like you share a lot of common ground with people,” Bibby said, “It can be hard when you feel like you don’t match with any of your classmates.”

HAPPY FAMILY: Multiple sets of siblings run cross country as well as the entire team celebrate the success of the girls first state championship.
 Kerrigan ‘25 and Finton ‘27 Chaney, Josh ‘25 and Caleb ‘28 Miao, Harry ‘25 and Peter ‘27 Anderson, twins Madison and Olivia Ball ‘29, all ran for the varsity this year. The Ball’s ran with younger brother Gavin ‘30 on the Middle School team. Last year Alex ‘24 and Gabe Dickenson ‘29 shared workouts on the cross country team spanning seven years, the boys and girls team. 
Not many people were aware of the coincidence of the amount of siblings that inhabit the team. Kerrigan and Finn’s mom, Darcy McGrath, suggested that someone in the newspaper should talk about the amount of siblings on the team. This opened not only my and the team's eyes but fellow journalist and cross country teammate, Kaitlyn Perkins ‘28. 
“I don’t really notice because on the team like siblings would,” Perkins said. “We push each other and compete to get better.”
The wave of eighth graders got to shine on the varsity and assisted on the first ever win for girls cross country in the history of NCS.”It was a team effort from beginning to end,”  Head Coach Ed Dickenson said, “reflecting the character and heart that our girls' team has shown all season. Amazing performance!” 
Twin troubles: Olivia Ball ran a 21:51, the fourth fastest time among the Raider girls and cementing the championship with her 24th-place finish. In only her second varsity race, her sister Madison came in at 23:33, putting her at 63rd overall. More than 150 girls ran in the Div. II race.
Another sibling duo that seems to fly under the radar is Josh ‘25 and Caleb ‘28 Miao. 
“It’s been pretty fun to be able to run with Caleb this year because even though we’ve been on the same team before . . . we haven’t, you know, both like been varsity, like running together, so that’s been a pretty cool thing,” Josh said. “It’s also been cool to see how much progress he's made, because the last couple of years he’s been in middle school, and I’ve been in high school, so we’ve been running together in practices but never in a race.” 
Caleb finished his season at Panorama Farms in Earlysville, running a very solid 21:27. Running a sub-20 minute top-five time for the team, Josh has not finished his season and high school  career yet. He and his teammates are eager to go out with a bang at the Foot Locker meet, Nov. 30th in Charlotte, North Carolina, with the majority of his fellow senior runners.
Finishing third overall in the race, the boys were paced by Spencer Britton ‘27, who placed second overall, and Finn Chaney, who placed 10th overall. Meanwhile, Justus Horner ‘28, whose sister Lydia ‘24 ran with the team for many years, placed 20th. Those three Raiders earned all-state honors. Five seconds after Justus, Harry placed 21st.

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​Ambassadors of DEI and GSA clubs host a LGBTQ+ table celebrating important events and people in history.

On Oct. 25 the DEI club and GSA had many tables outside of Willis Hall. These tables were not open to the whole school rather just the Upper school. 
A question wheel with historical questions about LQBTQ+ was run by me, Jacob Johnson ‘25, Kayleigh Johnson ‘26, Caroline Welfare ‘27 and Abby Landry ‘26. After answering a question correctly, students won a pack of Skittles. 
 
Many people praised the cake pops from History teacher Hannah Ewing, who worked at the table with GSA Club members asking students to answer trivia questions in order to win a cake pop. 

The majority of the DEI crew contributed to the success of the tables. 
“The LGBTQ+ table was successful,” DEI coordinator Debbie Taylor said.
 “We had students playing games and taking an active interest in learning. One ninth-grade student playing trivia said, ‘I am learning,’ and students with whom I had a very in-depth conversation about acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community two years ago, came over and played trivia. That makes me happy. Those are highlights for me. Some of our football players stopped by to play the game. Our students are becoming more accepting and willing to learn.”

For the prize of a shirt supporting the LGBTQ+ community, there was a choice between two questions: 1) Q: The Stonewall riots took place in which New York City neighborhood?” The second asking,Which contemporary TV show features the longest running queer character in TV history? (Dr. Callie Torres Grey’s Anatomy) Even teachers felt stumped. 
One person on the table and walls of the Upper School took most students  by surprise. Many people didn’t realize that the famous singer songwriter who produced masterpieces such as “Blond(e)” and “Channel Orange",” Frank Ocean, identifies as bi-sexual. 

“I really didn’t know about Frank,” Chris Carter ‘25 said. “I never really got into his music, but I definitely know his work.”

“We are in the business of teaching here at North Cross and in the DEI program about acceptance and kindness towards everyone”, Taylor said. “We are a community that has space for everyone regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, or religion.”

New student, Kaleb Robinson ‘26, drives to the basket against Patrick Henry High School.                 Kaleb Robinson is a new addition to the NCS community bringing his astounding height standing at 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds. Robinson was previously a student at      Christiansburg, where he played basketball. First getting involved with the NCS summer league Robinson began building chemistry with his future teammates.  Coming in and putting in hard work and efforts to get ready to have a promising season with other  NCS basketball players Jaziel Hart ‘26, Siah Haynes ‘27, and fellow new student Daven Reed ‘28.  Kaleb claims to being confident in the potential they hold for a great season “It’s hard to describe, he’s good at everything. He has a center size but can handle like a point guard, and I’m excited for his first season.” JV basketball player, Hanchen Ou claims.
   “Really it was for basketball and also a better opportunity to go to college because Christiansburg, my previous school, wasn’t really great at that,” Robinson said when asked about the reason for his transfer. As it did with many students who transfer into NCS, it was a big change for him. Most students, especially ones who transfer after going to another highschool, show signs of not so smooth adjustments.“It [the transfer] was very tough for me, especially with the 45-minute drive from Christiansburg to here,” Robinson said. “Also just the expectations that are way higher. Everyone here is on another level from public school. Definitely the drive is the toughest.” A s school is only a few weeks in, Robinson has already immersed himself into a handful of activities. Robinson has begun attending many meetings with the African-American and Latin X affinity group. Also he has been doing offseason training with head boys’ basketball coach, Jamiel Allen. “My previous coach was not reaching out to coaches for me,” Robinson said, “and it’s better for other coaches to reach out. And Coach Allen would have done that. With him doing that, it would give me a better college opportunity,” Kaleb said when asked about expectations from the basketball team. Many have different opinions about NCS and the way the community is run. “The people have been very welcoming, the environment, and the teachers are very personal,” he said. “I like how teachers give you breaks because they know you have vigorous work and they’ll work with you.” Another controversial topic is the phone policy. “It’s not a problem for me because my mom makes me keep my phone at home and gave me a flip phone for emergencies,” Kaleb said. Meanwhile, Robinson has high hopes for the athletic teams. “Im expecting NCS to go far in the playoffs for all sports,” Robinson said with confidence.

Attempting to overlook the fact that this is our last time together, this picture across the street from the NCS dorm collects a sentimental last moment between separating friends (Aren Barranco ‘26 on the left and former NCS Gabo Ramirez-Lugo on the right). This was the night I stayed at the NCS dorm before they closed for the summer. This experience was needed because Gabo had told us just weeks earlier that he was transferring to a school in Connecticut for a better chance and getting far with soccer. “It’ll be okay, this isn’t goodbye but just see you later,” Gabo told me before he got on the bus the morning of the dorm closing. That night we did everything together, making sure we wouldn’t be able to say we wish we would have done this or that. As I watched that bus take the best friend I’ve ever met, my brother, drive off to start a new separate life, I tried to fight the feeling of sadness as I realized he’s gone.