Articles by Audrey Blinman

As Thanksgiving approaches, Friends’ Central is having a celebration of our own. The long awaited 28th anniversary of Friendsgiving, started in 1989 by Friends’ Central’s very own Chris Rosenbaum, has finally arrived! The name “Friendsgiving” was not something that Chris thought deeply about. It seemed natural to him that the celebration should remind people of not only the name of our school, but the fact that we at Friends’ Central are all friends. Thanksgiving is the country’s holiday; Friendsgiving belongs to our community. It’s a personal way for us to connect with the students and with the faculty in a casual location, where we can all feel like we belong. The name is just yet another way to communicate that. Friendsgiving was created so that everyone can be a part of something and for us as a school to feel like a family. The lunch staff and administrators who serve…

  This is a satirical article. All persons mentioned, aside from Danica Roem, are fictional. All quotes and situations have been made up. The election of Danica Roem is the only true event that has actually occurred. In a once-peaceful state, there is a commotion brewing. A new state legislator for Virginia has been elected. Danica Roem, a transgender woman was running and won the election. Now, what do we see? People, running through the streets. Zombies have begun roaming the Virginian counties. Aliens, abducting people’s dogs and stealing all the plastic scissors, so that everyone has to use those annoying metal ones. Why? Danica Roem is transgender. It’s simple. She was born male, and now that she has transitioned and taken a government position, everything is wrong. Water has become solid! Dryers are becoming sentient and shrinking everyone’s clothing! We took to the streets and found some local Virginians…

This past weekend, the Upper school performed Thornton Wilder’s Our Town. The show illustrates the lives of the people of Grover’s Corners, a small and rather unremarkable town giving home to many rather unremarkable people. The stage manager, played by Karishma Singh, is a character who moves the audience through the plot, guiding us through significant moments and small details that help clarify the overall ideas of the show. I was fortunate enough to view this show, and while I can’t say I was incredibly excited by the prospect of a play about very ordinary people’s ordinary lives, I was met with what was a very pleasant surprise. Our Town was, in fact, incredibly thought provoking, and carried a very beautiful message. Terry Guerin, the director of the show, was met with a rather large predicament at the beginning of the year. A bout of controversy drove her to select…

The new school year brought many new faces to the middle school, including some new staff! Ms. Tisdale, Ms. Esformes, and Coach B. are all wonderful teachers who are joining us this year. In order to better introduce them to our community, I asked them a few questions. Coach B. Do you feel as though you have been thoroughly welcomed into this community? Yes, it’s a very welcoming community. I feel like especially when you have a small community like this, it’s easy to get to know everybody. Here, I feel like I know all my students and many of their parents, and I know the teachers well already even though it’s just a month in. What do you feel you add to this community? Well, I am the only openly LGBT staff member in the middle school, and I feel like that’s a need that needs to be filled,…

We have entered into the month of October, bringing with it a new season, cooler weather, and, above all, the only day where it’s acceptable to dress up as a giant frog or a Pokémon and take people’s food. Halloween is a holiday that is generally highly anticipated, as children await the day that is sure to bring sugary treats. But with this holiday comes a true tragedy, in the form of the iconic black cat. As many people know, black cats have come to represent witchcraft, night and, in most cases, evil of some sort. Because of this, they are often associated with Halloween, and many people try to adopt black cats around the time of this holiday. Afterwards, they find themselves with a cat that they can’t or do not want to care for, and oftentimes abandon or return them. Not only that, but these animals are also…