Con

Jessica Gallo, Opinion Editor

May 14, 2020

To the average teenager, hearing that they don’t need perfect grades to pass a class decreases their motivation to work as hard as they would to get an A. If you only have to do the bare minimum, and no one would ever know, why would you put in the extra time and effort? And if you choose to go above a...

Pro/Con: Should CESJDS adopt a pass or fail grading system?

May 14, 2020

Pro

Mark Polin, Reporter

May 14, 2020

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CESJDS has resorted to online learning for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year.  Schools across the country have been using remote learning for multiple weeks, and upon the beginning of quarter four, Montgomery County Public Schools have switched to a system that ...

Opinion: Why I choose to stay home during the COVID-19 quarantine

Daniela Abrams, Guest Writer

May 4, 2020

Being stuck at home all day with six siblings can often be tiring. Whether my brother is yelling at me to get him something or my sister needs me to be her source of entertainment, it doesn’t take much for me to get annoyed with them. But as much as I would like to leave my house and bike to my friend�...

Opinion: Commemorating journalist Daniel Pearl at the Seder table

Alex Landy, Editor-in-Chief

April 8, 2020

This past week, a Pakistani court overturned the death sentences of four men associated with the 2002 kidnapping and murder of former Jewish Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. The next day, a higher court rearrested those men for detainment until their convictions were either reinstated or perma...

Managing stress during the Coronavirus pandemic

Maiyan Lyani, Reporter

April 7, 2020

These past few weeks I have found myself sitting at my computer for four to five hours a day doing online school work. This can be stressful and tiring which is why I have some tips and tricks on how to manage the workload while operating from home.  Organization is a very important part of successfully managing y...

Opinion: Bernie Sanders must end his presidential campaign

Gabe Siegel, Reporter

April 2, 2020

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has decided to stay in the race for the Democratic nomination process for president of the United States despite three consecutive Tuesday night losses. However, he might bring down the Democratic party as a whole when they are trying to win the election in November. ...

What the Middle School Capstone Project means to us

Alec Silberg and Darya Dayanim

March 9, 2020

If you were at CESJDS in middle school, then you probably remember your capstone project at the end of eighth grade. However, what may have seemed like just another project to finish in another humanities class can actually be meaningful if you cared about the cause that you supported. Capstone is a...

Don’t eat at restaurants that donate to discriminatory organizations

Jessica Gallo, Opinion Editor

March 2, 2020

They say if your actions don’t support your words, then change cannot occur. This fall, due to consumer pressure, Chick-Fil-A, the third most popular fast food chain in the country, announced a plan to stop its donations to organizations with anti-LGBTQ policies. As of this year, the chain will no...

Instagram should remove likes and followers altogether

Eva Bard, Style Editor

February 24, 2020

In late November, Instagram updated its app to hide the total number of likes on a post from one’s followers but left users with the ability to see the number of likes on one’s own posts. The whole concept of having “hidden likes” has changed the Instagram environment to be more care-free and has en...

Are “Snapmaps” good for the world?

Matan Silverberg, Reporter

February 10, 2020

In the summer of 2017, Snapchat introduced a new feature called Snapmaps that allows users to share their location and follow the location of others. This might seem like just another fun social feature on the popular app, but it has many possible downsides including addiction, exclusion, stalking and even te...

The Iowa Caucuses should be replaced with a normal primary system

Mischa Trainor, In-Depth and Design Editor

February 7, 2020

The Iowa Democratic Caucus system should be replaced with a normal primary in order to simplify the process and prevent errors. The Iowa Democratic Caucus, which took place on Monday, is the first contest of the presidential nomination process. The way it is conducted differs from the majority of the cont...