As of fall 2018, the population of T.C. Williams High School has reached 3,959 students. It is the largest four-grade high school in Virginia, and ACPS is bracing for an additional 1,200 more students to enroll along with the 860 current students at Minnie Howard.

This year, senior Monica Funes took first place in the Skills USA District 5 Cosmetology Fantasy Competition. Funes moved to the United States two years ago from El Salvador. She has had an interest in hair and makeup since she was 14, but she did not know about the competition until cosmetology teacher Nicki Dowdell recommended that she compete.

March 6 marked the 10th anniversary of Spread the Word to End the Word, a nationwide campaign to eliminate the use of the R-word because of its dehumanizing and derogatory connotation. However, this campaign is about more than pledging to stop the use of a single phrase or just one isolated day where you sign a banner and possibly sport a flimsy rubber bracelet. It is about striving for inclusion and equality for people with disabilities, and making sure that everyone is respected both in actions and in speech. Here is how TC can help achieve that mission and ensure that all people are respected at TC and in Alexandria…

“It was one of our strongest finishes in a few years,” said Government teacher Ra Alim Shabazz, who coaches the T.C. seniors on the team. “It is an intense competition and I am immensely proud of what the students did. I believe that they all walked away from this feeling different.”

Freshman Jonathan Flores can play anything from Chopin to Mozart as if he were trained by the musicians themselves. Flores practiced eight hours a day in his native country of Honduras, but he stopped when he moved to the United States.

Juniors Brianna Lacayo, Matthew Kiernan and Townson Cocke collected $500, $300 and $200, respectively, for winning the essay contest jointly sponsored by the Optimist Club of Alexandria and the English Department.

Administrative Assistant to the Principal Patty Moran was named an Honorary Sheriff on Tuesday, February 19. Moran was given this honor because of her extensive volunteer work within the community. “I do a lot of work with the deputies … Meals on Wheels, any events in Del Ray” said Moran. The sheriff threw her a surprise event in order to give her this honor, “I didn’t have a clue. I saw my daughter and said ‘What are you doing here?'” “Sheriffs that have had cancer are allowed to wear this [pink] badge in October,” said Moran. When Moran saw the pink badges she knew that she wanted one. Moran is…

Jared Bernstein, the former chief economist to Vice President Joe Biden during the Obama administration, will give a series of talks on public policy, the national economy, and data analysis at T.C. in February and March. The lectures are open to all interested students.

There are about 16,306 endangered and threatened species in the world. 1,300 in the United States, and as of July 2016, 69 species in Virginia were in danger of going extinct or close. Now the numbers have risen