The student news site of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology

tjTODAY
The student news site of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology

tjTODAY
The student news site of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology

tjTODAY
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Laura Zhang, Editor in Chief
March 9, 2024
The SpongeBob characters blast into music at the conclusion of the show, rejoicing in overcoming a life-threatening crisis and celebrating in their new-found unity. “Everything is very big and bright. The message is very positive, but without being too syrupy-sweet,” theater director Kylie Murray said. “I think this show brings pure joy. The music is so catchy. It's upbeat. It's energizing. But then it's peppered with these moments of real humanity.”

Live from Bikini Bottom

Hannah Liu and Cece Benz
March 8, 2024
Kai Wang conducts Symphonic Orchestra as the first Jefferson orchestra performance composed and conducted by a student. Everyone in the ensemble dressed in red to symbolize good fortune and joy for the Lunar New Year. “I was just proud of him, because [the piece] was such quality,” orchestra director Allison Bailey said.

Composer and conductor, ‘Yours Truly’

Sebastian Garcia Gaytan, Staff Writer
February 26, 2024
After decades of relying on Facebook as a means for communicating news and important events, Jefferson might be moving away from the social media platform. “Facebook was popular pre-COVID but now people are using Instagram or other platforms to advertise information about their clubs or events,” senior Ellen Zeng said.

tl;dr facebook is dying

Grace Sharma, Online Editor-in-Chief
February 20, 2024
Physics teacher Elissa Levy helps sophomore Maria Yayloyan with her homework during advisory. Students should always feel free to reach out to other teachers if theirs is not available. “Reaching out to teachers is important because teachers don’t always understand the point of view of students, and by communicating with them, you can help them know the best way they can help you,” Yayloyan said.

Balancing act: navigating student advocacy

Sophia Guo, Staff Writer
February 18, 2024
Sophomore Holly Huang twirls a ribbon as she performs her dance, “Joy of the Dragon.” Chinese ribbon dance is a traditional art form originating in ancient China. Her ribbon dance was inspired by the revered mythical creature and this year’s Chinese zodiac sign, the dragon. “My ribbon symbolized a dragon flying in the air. My outfit was [also] inspired by the dragon, the color was the same color as my ribbon, but on the shoulder there were some details like dragon scales,” Huang said. “I liked how there were a lot of people in the audience and it was just really fun to perform.”

Soaring into Lunar New Year

Alice Nguyen, Staff Writer
February 14, 2024
Students work together with their IBESTs as they complete problems during the Countdown Competition on Wednesday, Jan. 31. “For our academic event, we decided on the popular math game, '24,' because the majority of people have played it before. People really got into it and enjoyed it, even if it was stressful at moments,” Class of 2027 historian Maya Umerov-Todoroki said. “There was a lot of participation between the IBESTs, and the Countdown Competition turned out really good.”

Photo Gallery: IBEST Olympics 2024

Alice Nguyen, Staff Writer
February 9, 2024
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) announced 11 designated snow days for the school year, with no plans to hold asynchronous learning sessions for students. "In my DNA class, we were doing a lab," junior Aayusha Sapkota said. "Due to the snow day, we couldn't do the lab exactly as planned."

Fun-filled snow days and their dreary consequences

Aryaa Sharma, Staff Writer
February 5, 2024
Tesla, a popular electric vehicle company, provides charging stations for their cars. “The biggest issue out of all of the ones presented here isn’t administration; that will be solved with time. It’s money. The grant is amazing and a great step forward, but, unfortunately, it costs a lot more than $3,000 to install chargers,” sophomore Kyungsup Hwang said.

Driving to the future

Ananya Bhatt, Staff Writer
January 31, 2024
In biology labs, students Dominic Heywood, Elliot Oh, Ellie Wen, and Sudar Nachiappan test the absorbance of light from various algae bead solutions. "First, we made algae into beads, and once they were fully solid, we could move them around. We placed them in little culture tubes where we added some water," freshman Dilo Hakimi said.

Bridging biostatistics

Sami Nukta, Staff Writer
January 26, 2024
During an optional RS1 tutoring session during 8th period, students complete their assignments. Many RS1 teachers are available during this time to help students in their work. Usually, there is help available for students, they just need to reach out.

Mixed thoughts about statistics

Tuan Dang, Staff Writer
January 24, 2024
Jefferson orchestra performs with director Allison Bailey at their annual Viennese Ball. “My favorite part about doing the Viennese ball is getting to play the live music for everyone,” sophomore Valerie Lai said. “The dance is really fun because it’s different from the other school dances, especially since it’s a ball and live music is provided by orchestra.”

Photo Gallery: Sound Cue

Grace Sharma, Editor in Chief
January 14, 2024
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