The Student Newspaper of Jackson-Reed High School

The Beacon

The Student Newspaper of Jackson-Reed High School

The Beacon

The Student Newspaper of Jackson-Reed High School

The Beacon

Chloe Fatsis

Chloe Fatsis, Editor-in-Chief

Chloe Fatsis is the newest Beacon contributor! Jk ahahaha. Chloe is an only child, but spends her nights solemnly looking out her window begging the heavens for a fat sister. She will anagram the HECK out of you, so beware. But don’t ask her to pronounce finagle.

All content by Chloe Fatsis
DCPS to remain remote for rest of year

DCPS to remain remote for rest of year

Chloe Fatsis, Editor-in-Chief April 17, 2020

Distance learning will continue through the rest of the school year, which will now end on May 29 instead of June 19. DCPS is also considering starting the 2020-21 school year earlier. “In closing...

DCPS schools closed until April 27

Chloe Fatsis and Max Karp March 20, 2020

DCPS delayed the return to school to Monday, April 27, according to a DCPS announcement today. In the meantime, students will participate in distance learning. Teachers have been creating lesson plans...

Photo courtesy of DCPS

DCPS cancels school through March

Chloe Fatsis and Max Karp March 13, 2020

DCPS is closing schools for the rest of March to help slow the spread of COVID-19, or coronavirus. Spring break will now take place from March 17 to 23 instead of its original April date. During the following...

DC public schools to close Monday, March 16

Chloe Fatsis, Editor-in-Chief March 11, 2020

DCPS moved a Professional Development Day to Monday March 16 to advance preparation for the possibility of schools closing due to COVID-19. “DCPS is accelerating our planning timeline with teachers...

Why, Wilson?

Why, Wilson?

Shaina Adams and Chloe Fatsis March 7, 2020

The pool entrance, reserved for juniors and seniors, seems at first to be a convenient option for those looking to bypass the longer lines at Wilson’s main entrance. But if you’ve ever had the experience...

Eight period schedule unlikely to change

Chloe Fatsis, Editor-in-Chief February 5, 2020

Wilson is pushing for a switch to a seven-period day. DCPS is unlikely to approve the change, but they have not made an official decision. The Wilson Teachers’ Union and Local School Advisory Team...

Student bands embrace love of music

Student bands embrace love of music

Chloe Fatsis, Editor-in-Chief November 23, 2019

After school one day in October, juniors Vincent Kamani and Nadeem Elamine decided to head to the Tenley music store Middle C. They invited their friend, junior Jack Davis. In the atrium, they ran into...

Fundraising efforts robust following funding loss

Chloe Fatsis, Editor-in-Chief October 14, 2019

The wrestling team needs new mats. The price tag? $8,000 The new volleyball net cranks? $14,000. Football uniforms, not including pads and helmets? $18,000.  Wilson used to be able to afford things...

Wilson loses over $170,000

Chloe Fatsis and Max Karp September 8, 2019

Wilson is scrambling to make up for more than $170,000 in funding after losing access to an account that for years collected money from renting out the school’s field, gymnasiums, and auditorium. The...

CHAMPS: Boys crew wins national title

CHAMPS: Boys crew wins national title

Chloe Fatsis and Elie Salem June 8, 2019

Senior Seb Murrell’s heart was pounding and his body ached, but all he could think about was the next stroke. It was the biggest regatta of the year, and everything was on the line. Pausing between breaths,...

Teachers confront cheating at Wilson

Teachers confront cheating at Wilson

Chloe Fatsis and Ethan Fingerhut March 31, 2019

Everyone knows that cheating happens at Wilson. It can be sliding a paper over so the person next to you can copy, mouthing an answer from across the room, or telling the kids in seventh period about the...

Why, Wilson?

Why, Wilson?

Chloe Fatsis and Julia Weinrod March 3, 2019

You get down to the atrium hungry and lunch-less. Searching through your backpack, you manage to find $4—just enough money for a slice of pizza at Angelico. You ask your friend to go get it with you,...

Beyond the Board: My Life as a Competitive Scrabble Player

Beyond the Board: My Life as a Competitive Scrabble Player

Chloe Fatsis, Editor-in-Chief February 8, 2019

It’s round six of the 2018 North American Scrabble Championship. I’m sitting in a huge convention center surrounded by 400 other word fanatics. Across from me sits a middle-aged man from Pennsylvania....

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Levenson

Wilson mourns beloved custodian Byron Kelly

Custodian Byron Kelly, who had been working at Wilson for three years, died Saturday, January 5. He was the night foreman of the custodial staff, but he went beyond his role as a supervisor and co-worker—for...

Woodrow Wilson’s legacy under debate, community considers new school name

Woodrow Wilson’s legacy under debate, community considers new school name

Chloe Fatsis, Editor-in-Chief January 26, 2019

A new force is working to change Wilson’s name: the DC History and Justice Collective. They planned a forum, which will take place on February 12 at Wilson, to discuss the legacy of President Woodrow...

Today Show visits Wilson to film vaping segment

Today Show visits Wilson to film vaping segment

Chloe Fatsis, Editor-in-Chief January 18, 2019

Principal Kimberly Martin and three Wilson students recently went on the Today Show to discuss vaping at Wilson. The interviews were part of a segment on juuling and a organization’s efforts to combat...

Stressed out: survey finds DCPS principals face more pressure than others nationally

Stressed out: survey finds DCPS principals face more pressure than others nationally

Chloe Fatsis and Hannah Masling December 15, 2018

Since Principal Kimberly Martin started at Wilson, she’s become increasingly on edge. Her heart beats quicker and her stress hormone levels are higher. She said some of her principal friends who transitioned...

Enter stage left: Broadway star Idina Menzel surprises Wilson Rent cast

Enter stage left: Broadway star Idina Menzel surprises Wilson ‘Rent’ cast

Chloe Fatsis, Editor-in-Chief November 18, 2018

One day at rehearsal, Karen Harris, the director of Wilson’s production of “Rent,” told the cast that they were going to be filmed for a documentary about the show  day. “The people that were...

Random kid, random game: Washington Wizards

Random kid, random game: Washington Wizards

Chloe Fatsis, Editor-in-Chief November 12, 2018

I’m not what you might call a Wizards fanatic. To tell you the truth, I don’t know much about the Wizards, which is why I jumped at the opportunity to go to a game one Saturday night with fellow Beacon...

PARCC progress eludes Black and Hispanic students

Chloe Fatsis, Editor-in-Chief October 8, 2018

Wilson students are performing better overall on one of DCPS’ most important standardized tests. But Black and Hispanic students’ scores continue to lag behind their white and Asian counterparts. In...

Eight DC private schools to remove AP courses

Chloe Fatsis and Elie Salem September 3, 2018

Eight of DC’s most renowned private schools have committed to ending their Advanced Placement (AP) courses by 2022. The schools stated that AP courses discourage students from taking other classes they...

Teachers and students reflect on how smartphones have changed the classroom

Teachers and students reflect on how smartphones have changed the classroom

Chloe Fatsis and Amelia Bergeron August 31, 2018

“Put your phone away.” These four words have been repeated over and over again in the classroom since the introduction of the iPhone in 2007. For teachers, it can be exasperating to have to repeatedly...

Academy of Hospitality & Tourism Staff, Photo courtesy of wilson.org

Hospitality academy’s funding to decrease

Chloe Fatsis, Zara Hall, and Elie Salem June 10, 2018

Only one Wilson academy goes on college tours, visits local fish wholesalers, and meets executive business owners. Next year, however, it might not be able to due to a decrease in funding. The Academy...

Wilson Dreamer heads to Yale

Wilson Dreamer heads to Yale

Chloe Fatsis, Editor-in-Chief June 9, 2018

Senior Andonny Garcia’s childhood was pretty conventional. He grew up playing with Legos and attended Shepherd Elementary School and Alice Deal Middle School. But, as an undocumented immigrant, it wasn’t...

DCPS Releases 2018-2019 School Calendar

DCPS Releases 2018-2019 School Calendar

Chloe Fatsis and Zara Hall May 9, 2018

Next year, students will only be in school for three weeks in February. The other week they will be on a February break. This is just one of many new additions to the DCPS calendar for 2018-19. The calendar...

Wilson senior emceed the Rally for DC Lives

Wilson senior emceed the Rally for DC Lives

Chloe Fatsis, Editor-in-Chief April 7, 2018

Before hundreds of thousands of people would gather on Pennsylvania Ave. to protest gun violence, a smaller rally took place nearby in a park on Capitol Hill. A 16-year-old girl named Lauren, whose boyfriend,...

Making a machine: an afternoon with the robotics team

Making a machine: an afternoon with the robotics team

Chloe Fatsis, Editor-in-Chief March 12, 2018

  “Intense.” “Busy.” “Fun.” This is how members of the robotics team describe build season, the six weeks they are allotted to build the robot. As I stood in front of the...

Photo courtesy of DCCAP website.

Isaiah’s got talent: Wilson senior advances in DC-CAPital Stars competition

Chloe Fatsis, Editor-in-Chief February 18, 2018

Senior Isaiah Hall has been singing since he was five years old. His love for singing inspired him to enter the DC-CAPital Stars competition this year. Now, he has advanced to the final round of competition....

Wilson robotics hopes to ro ro ro its bot to nationals

Wilson robotics hopes to ro ro ro its bot to nationals

Chloe Fatsis and Madelyn Shapiro January 21, 2018

It’s build season. For the next month, the Wilson robotics team will gather in the engineering lab nearly every day after school and on the weekends to build a robot. The robotics competitions...

Sushi wars: Three new eateries coming to Tenley

Sushi wars: Three new eateries coming to Tenley

Chloe Fatsis, Editor-in-Chief August 31, 2017

When it comes to food trends, DC has them all. The sushi-burrito (which I’ll call a sushi-rito) is one of these trendy dishes that has popped up around the city in establishments like Buredo, Seoulspice,...

Schools should rethink their use of letter grades

Schools should rethink their use of letter grades

Chloe Fatsis, Editor-in-Chief April 24, 2017

Countries all around the world use the letter grade system. Though the letters and the percentages assigned to them slightly vary from country to country, most people are familiar with the system. People...

New computer science club open up  entrepreneurship opportunities

New computer science club open up entrepreneurship opportunities

Chloe Fatsis and Madelyn Shapiro October 2, 2016

Wilson has an extensive number of clubs, but for junior Zola Canady, there were not enough. She took it upon herself to expand the computer science program outside of class, creating the Computer Science,...

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