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

Rachel Lewis, Online Editor-in-Chief

All content by Rachel Lewis
Honoring the victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting, senior Jay Abraham and junior Hannah Frieden sing "Amazing Grace";

[Photo] Jefferson students hold walkout to protest gun violence

Annika Duneja and Grace Sharma
May 27, 2022
The Thomas Jefferson Parent Teacher Student Association will hold a special election on Nov. 11 to vote in a new President after the former officeholder, Harry Jackson, resigned on Oct. 27. Jackson cited opposition to his political advocacy in the media as a reason for his departure.

PTSA will hold general election to replace former President Harry Jackson

Rachel Lewis, Online Editor-in-Chief
November 8, 2021
Free lunches mixed with the return of students to in person learning produce a lunch line with wait times as long as 15 minutes. “It can get really bad at times. If you aren’t quick enough, you’ll be stuck behind easily 100 students,” sophomore Pishoy Elias said. Photo by Robert Stotz.

[Photo] Lunches and seating: free, for now

Robert Stotz, Staff Writer
September 13, 2021
Senior Oliver Tu and the rest of Jefferson's defensive line face off against the FCA Bucks early in the game.

Colonials stake out early victory against FCA Bucks

Rachel Lewis, Online Editor-in-Chief
September 13, 2021
On Aug. 29, the day before the start of her cookie distribution, sophomore Ellen Zeng posted a picture of her recent bakes in Jefferson Chefs. She included a description of how anyone could get a cookie from her over the next few days — and people listened. Photos by Ellen Zeng/Facebook.

[Photo] Complimentary cookies

Chris Yoo, Staff Writer
September 11, 2021
PTSA conflict timeline

PTSA conflict timeline

Rachel Lewis, Aafreen Ali, and Christina Lu
August 9, 2021
The TJHSST Admissions Office offered spots to 550 students to start ninth grade in Fall 2021. Parents, students, alumni, and FCPS officials have been discussing possible changes to the admissions process to make the demographic makeup of Jefferson’s student body closer to that of FCPS since the summer of 2020.

Class of 2025 will be most diverse class at Jefferson

Rachel Lewis, Online Editor-in-Chief
June 29, 2021
Junior Annika Topchy leaps over a hurdle in the 100 meter hurdles event, far ahead of two runners from Justice High School on the evening of May 5. “[This year], you can only do [meets] with two other schools, so it’s a lot less people which means less competition. There's just not a lot of hurdlers in the area, so it's hard to push myself,” Topchy, a captain of Jefferson’s outdoor track and field team, said.

Jefferson track and field competes against Justice and Edison

Rachel Lewis, Team Leader
May 12, 2021
Jefferson varsity team members work together to get the ball over the net onto the other side during their Mon., Mar. 9 home game against Falls Church High School.

Jefferson volleyball starts season hopeful despite condensed schedule

Rachel Lewis, Team Leader
March 16, 2021
The Equity Team seeks to promote and discuss the cultural, religious, gender, and other identities of the 1,809 students at Jefferson.

An education in equity

Aafreen Ali and Rachel Lewis
February 28, 2021
There are millions of apps available on the App Store and Google Play, but some were more instrumental in our lives in 2020 than others.

Top 10 of 2020: Apps

Connie Ryu and Rachel Lewis
January 22, 2021
Most Jefferson students have a rigorous course load and multiple extracurriculars, in addition to college applications during senior year. Skip days provide a respite for exhausted seniors from school-related obligations. “Today was just a chill day, [we didn’t] go to class,” senior Ananya Bagai said.

Class council coordinates senior skip day

Rachel Lewis, Team Leader
November 24, 2020
Superintendent Brabrand and his team developed the “concurrent instruction” model to accommodate students learning at school and at home. The system is in the pilot stage at multiple schools across Fairfax County. Photo courtesy of fcps.edu.

Updated “Return to School” plan by FCPS brings high schoolers back in Jan.

Rachel Lewis, Team Leader
October 26, 2020
Two of the SGA’s currently active programs center on students’ mental health, which is a much-discussed issue during the beginning of the 2020-21 school year, in which all classes are taking place online. Image by Rachel Lewis.

SGA refocuses on mental health programs during virtual learning

Rachel Lewis, Team Leader
October 20, 2020
Different pie flavors from Two Fat Cats Bakery. Photo courtesy of bakingdom.com.

Fall quiz: which pie flavor matches your personality?

Rachel Lewis and Aafreen Ali
October 7, 2020
Senior Jenalyn Dizon and Class of 2020 alumnus Andra Velea take a stand in the TJTA’s spring 2020 performance of Disney’s Newsies. Photo courtesy of tjtheaterarts.com.

TJ Theater Arts adapts to a virtual production medium: the podcast

Rachel Lewis, Team Leader
October 5, 2020
Members of the Jefferson community hold up signs criticizing the merit lottery admissions proposal during a protest on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2020.

Students divided on proposed changes to admissions process

Rachel Lewis, Team Leader
September 27, 2020
Teach to Care’s logo demonstrates its aim to continue person-to-person learning for students whose parents still work in essential occupations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jefferson juniors create organization to mentor children in need

Rachel Lewis, Staff Writer
May 6, 2020
The FCPS website set up a page to host superintendent Dr. Scott Brabrand’s announcements early on in the coronavirus outbreak. It includes messages from January 28 and March 2 forward.

FCPS closure announcements bring grading uncertainties

Rachel Lewis, Staff Writer
March 26, 2020
Students can write a note to the recipient of their rose or roses for Valentine’s Day

2021 Class Council sells Valentine’s Day grams

Rachel Lewis, Staff Writer
February 6, 2020
The investment club members pose in front of the "Charging Bull" statue near Wall Street. "The bull has captured tourists’ imagination," Business Insider said. The 7100-pound statue is said to symbolize brazen optimism among investors.

Investment club members take a field trip to New York

Eric Feng, Raed Mirza, and Rachel Lewis
January 31, 2020
Students at the Challenge Success Fall 2019 conference

Challenge Success committee creates student discussion opportunities

Rachel Lewis, Staff Writer
December 25, 2019
Partaking in a cheer during the 2019 VJCL convention, junior Kelly Mao claps with other Jefferson Latin students

Latin students participate in annual VJCL convention

Rachel Lewis, Staff Writer
December 5, 2019
Freshman Ellie Rowland attempts to take the ball from Wakefield. The first goal has been scored by Wakefield, but Jefferson was confident they could catch up. “We weren’t losing by that much so I thought we had it down, like we had an opportunity to win. So I think we were kind of optimistic,” junior Arisa Chue said.

Varsity Field Hockey team loses Play4theCure game to Wakefield 0 – 3

Megan Zhang and Rachel Lewis
October 24, 2019
Junior Anthony Wong looks at his AP Classroom assignments in AP Classroom’s new section of the AP website.

AP Classroom: A New Resource for AP Classes

Rachel Lewis, Staff Writer
October 1, 2019
In Commas Club, Jefferson students will create a startup that could potentially earn enough money that the number of dollars it earns has a comma or two in it.

Commas Club: An Organization for Student Entrepreneurs

Rachel Lewis, Staff Writer
April 18, 2019
Image courtesy of www.NASA.gov. Astronomers take the first picture of a black hole - although since even light escapes a black hole, the image depicts its shadow.

NASA’s Event Horizon Telescope Captures the First Image of a Black Hole

Hasita Nalluri and Rachel Lewis
April 13, 2019
Freshman Allison Seo jumps in the air to hit the ball during a game against Wakefield High School on March 13.

The Competitiveness of Girls Tennis Tryouts

Rachel Lewis, Staff Writer
March 15, 2019
Photo courtesy of ModelUN.com

Model United Nations (MUN) Conferences StoryMap

Rachel Lewis, Staff Writer
February 12, 2019
Bioinformatics is a recently approved class that will be taught by Dr. Morrow. It will focus on biological data analysis, using recent research as part of the curriculum. Any student who has taken a biology course may enroll. Photo courtesy of www.justscience.in.

New Class: Microbial Genomics and Bioinformatics

Rachel Lewis, Staff Writer
December 11, 2018
Photo courtesy of burst.shopify.com. Students eat a variety of foods for breakfast. However, they aren’t always healthy, unlike the ones pictured above.

Got Breakfast?

Rachel Lewis, Staff Writer
November 4, 2018
Photo courtesy of dogonews.com

What is the Significance of Columbus Day?

Rhea Premanand and Rachel Lewis
October 8, 2018
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