SHS_Warrior_May

The Warrior • Senior Columns
May 14, 2026
13
Dear Central Office: Do Better
by Evelyn San Miguel
I’ve spent a lot of time investigating
the behind-the-scenes of
this county. Before I ever began
writing for The Warrior my sophomore
year, I’d already heard and
witnessed more than most of my
peers. From shoddy buildings to
nightmare administrators, I noticed
a disturbing trend within
MCPS that I owed my education
to. My first article was no walkin-the-park.
Covering Farquhar’s
sexual harassment scandal of
monumental proportions — one
that illuminated MCPS’ long history
of systematic failures that
protected its central office and let
students and teachers drown beneath
the weight — I would come
to realize that I could not trust
this school system to hold itself
accountable.
From then on, I dedicated
myself to investigating and reporting
on MCPS and Sherwood,
and the stories and human beings
that lay dormant beneath a stifling
system. I would cross paths
with incredible people, people
who’ve dedicated their lives to
the difficult task of being a public
school teacher. They will forever
Say Yes More
be some of the best people I’ve
ever met, and I owe everything
I’ve learned to each of them. I
heard the stories of unfairness,
injustice, incompetence that was
pervasive throughout the county,
and The Warrior finally gave me
something to do about it. I knew
as soon as I wrote my first piece,
that this is what I would be dedicating
my career to: exposing
our flaws, so that we may strive
toward progress.
Our teachers are bearing a
burden heavier than the world,
balancing a student body that
is increasingly encumbered by
sociopolitical pressures and the
learning loss of the pandemic
alongside a county that hardly
pretends to listen to them. Over
the years, support from the county
for educators has rotted beyond
recognition, and inconsistent policies
have brought this once dignified
county to disrepair.
Our leaders in the ivory tower
are scared. Too scared to make
policy where it matters, too scared
to have hard conversations about
what’s important — whether it’s a
solidified policy on AI or protecting
sexual abusers over their own
staff — leaving our teachers and
students flailing to define what
their classrooms should look like
in this modern age. I can’t count
the amount of times over my
twelve years here that I heard my
teachers discussing the lack of
support they felt from our county.
The success of our staff reflects
the success of our students, and
what the county fails to recognize
is their precious test scores
and statistics will never improve
if our teachers are suffocating in a
system that fails to stand by them.
Coming out of each tragedy,
each failure, each stumble, MCPS
must recognize that communication
is key. More often than
not, central office continuously
demonstrated inconsistency in
communication, offering placating
measures and gestures that
frequently ended up hurting or
burdening others in the process,
serving as a bandaid over a bullet
wound. While the sentiment
might have been correct in its intention,
the county chose instead
to move forward with policies
that prioritized censorship and
bulldozing staff instead of promoting
effective communication.
No matter the intent behind
it, the most recent demand by
central office that a school-level
administrator must review the
newspaper prior to print is egregious
and equates to censorship.
Enacted by our Chief of Schools,
this policy not only deliberately
stifles student voices but is a
poorly disguised strong-armed
attempt to bulldoze over staff
and student opinion. If the county
would like to claim they want
to support the community, make
amends for past mistakes and
failed apologies, they should be
making legitimate steps to do so
that go beyond shielding themselves
from parents and the press.
I would like to make it abundantly
clear that I am forever
grateful for the education I’ve
received here in MCPS. I appreciate
the efforts made in pursuit
of positive change, but as is often
the case, I’ve found myself
longing for much more. As a student,
I should have always been
the priority of this county, but I
consistently didn’t feel that way.
Above all, I deeply care for the
students and staff that have built a
legacy of excellence and passion
for education that I got to witness
every day here at Sherwood,
despite the obstacles they faced
along the way. I’ve interviewed
dozens of teachers and staff as a
writer at The Warrior, and I can’t
express enough gratitude for
the precious conversations that
shaped my worldview. I’ve not
only become a better writer, but
more importantly a better listener.
As I prepare to forge a path beyond
Sherwood, I hope MCPS
keeps progressing — and strives
for something better than this.
For What It’s Worth
by Nisha Khatri
So much of the past four
years of high school have felt like
a series of convoluted questions
being hurled at me. Which classes
will you take, how many APs?
Who will your friends be, how
will you spend your summers?
What do you want to do after high
school, where do you want to go
to college?
Freshman year came with
a quick sense of disorientation
and panic as the questions came
at me faster and faster. Opportunities
slipped by me as these
questions cluttered my head and
left no space for original, creative
thinking. Confused, I threw all
my energy into school. If anyone
wanted to hang out or invite me
to something, I turned it down,
instead opting to stay home and
focus.
I held onto the same friends,
joined a few clubs, and worked
hard to get through freshman
year but did not go much beyond
that. My motivation and excitement
for trying new things that
had been a constant presence my
whole life was buried underneath
the stress and anxiety of not having
it all figured out. For the first
time in my life, I had to force myself
to learn, and by the end of the
year, I knew I had to put an end to
the rut, get outside of my comfort
zone, and actually start saying yes
to new things.
Saying yes at the start of
sophomore year, even and especially
when it made me uncomfortable,
helped me grow immensely.
I started feeling more
interest and excitement as I spent
more time with people and went
out more. I attended dozens of
different club meetings with a
friend, from service clubs to honor
societies. And, the ones that
had the most profound impact on
me were ones that I didn’t think I
would love.
When I first joined newspaper
my junior year for one semester,
I didn’t imagine I would continue
it through to senior year, but
newspaper quickly became a constant
that I loved having; aside
from bringing back my passion
for writing, it truly allowed me
the creative freedom to learn and
delve into topics of interest to me,
from music to current events. Student
Ambassadors and Leo Club
additionally helped me give back
and find connections in places I
wouldn’t have expected them.
Even though committing
myself to a variety of activities
was time-consuming, they felt so
worth it in the end because there
was value to be gained from each
and every experience. If I could
give my freshmen-year-self advice,
I would say to constantly
challenge yourself out of your
comfort zone and say yes to everything
because you’re only in
high school once and you won’t
get another chance!
by Chase Sondike
Looking back at my time
here at Sherwood, it has been
characterized by some extremely
happy times as well as times
when I thought I couldn’t wait for
it all to be over. As I write this,
however, I look back on the past
four years with acceptance. Acknowledging
that it’s over, but
also looking forward to what is
next in college.
Although I will definitely
miss high school, I’ll still be able
to enjoy the best parts during
breaks in college. The thing
that made high school great was
the continuation of long-lasting
friendships, along with many
new relationships being built. As
someone who didn’t do a lot of
extracurriculars throughout high
school, I do certainly have some
regrets. But I can proudly say that
I’ve built strong companionship
Be in the Moment
by Ryan Green
with those that I have surrounded
myself with over the last four
years, and that is worth more than
anything to me.
Sometimes I do think back
and wish I continued playing
sports in high school, but my free
time allowed me to really focus
on school and ultimately get into
the college I have wanted to attend
ever since I can remember.
With extended free time also
I tend to think the year before
was the best. I missed the feeling
of freshman year--that feeling of
something new--during my sophomore
year. I missed the people I
met for the first time during my
sophomore year, who I would
barely see again. And so on and
so forth. Not until my final high
school hockey season ended did
I really understand that I should
cherish the moments as they are
happening rather than constantly
looking back on what was over.
All throughout my life, I
have always been overly nostalgic
about the past. Who doesn’t
miss childhood hangouts or
the funny moments with your
friends? My friends told me I had
to stop yearning for the past, and I
didn’t really realize this until this
year when my youth hockey career
came to an end.
I still love the past and its
memories but to create them,
I have to make the most of the
present. This lesson will continue
with me to college as it is a big
check point in my life. Life will
only get harder from now on,
and I need to take every experience--both
the good and bad--and
came more opportunities to build
relationships with my friends and
family. I also wanted to make
sure in my senior year to create
good memories to last for years
to come. People might look back
at high school for them and regret
something, but I don’t think that’s
fair to being you. I say you look
back at your time at high school
with no wishes for anything to be
different. If you did, the whole
chain might fall differently, in a
good way or a bad way. Better to
live with the decisions that you
made. Even things I wish I handled
better did something for me.
They taught me, changed me, or
led me to something I needed
more. The fact is, there are people
I wouldn’t know, memories
I wouldn’t have, and parts of
myself I wouldn’t understand.
I choose to live with that. High
school didn’t go perfectly, but it
went the way it needed.
learn from them but not dwell on
them. Take nothing for granted
and move onto what’s next.