National Gallery of Art

Written by Vu Tran

On Monday 11/15/2015, Oak Hill Christian School took a field trip to the National Gallery of Art. The trip was focused on Renaissance art. We took the metro train to Archives station, then walked to the gallery. When we arrived, we divided into two groups according to the two classes : art class and literature class; we each followed our own tour guide. I’m writing this as a student of the literature class.

Rembrandt's Lucretia

We sought, we hunted and we went after a lot of gems in the gallery. The most significant painting we saw was Alba Madonna by Raphael, painted in 1510. Our tour guide explained why it is a gem of the gallery : John the Baptist, Jesus and Mary were all looking at the cross, that’s first. Second, the pose of  Mary was unrealistic but she appeared to naturally cover both Jesus and John. Third, the painting was a circle, so we could focus more on the event happening in the picture. Finally, we couldn’t find any sharp lines sketched in the painting on any details such as the chin, the elbow… All of the features softly combined to create a masterpiece. We found another gem which the Omnibus class studied previously in the year: Rembrandt’s Lucretia. 

But the gems in the gallery were not only paintings, but also sculptures. Even though it wasn’t part of the trip, we managed to observe one sculpture : Little Dancer Aged Fourteen by Edgar Degas, made in 1878 and originally formed in wax. At this point, our tour guide had done her job but luckily there was a college art student over there who explained the statue to us: he said that this sculpture is famous because this is the only sculpture Degas ever exhibited publicly and it was through wax. Degas dressed her image with much detail from the hair, and the pose, to the cloth garments. And it was so real that people cast her in bronze after his death just in case the original statue became damaged. Through his sculpture, he portrayed a poor girl who danced for the Paris Opera, Marie van Goethem. Just in case you don’t know how big it is, here are some pictures we have (Asian for scale.)

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Shoe Box of Love

Shoe Box of Love

Written by Karis Kim and Calvin Tran

Christmas is coming closer! But before Christmas day comes and goes, don’t you want to do something meaningful? Why don’t you send your love to adorable children in a shoe box? It will forever be a valuable memory. Oak Hill organized a competition in which they collected these boxes that will soon be sent to needy children all over the world. Many in Oak Hill joined in this wonderful event.

Oak Hill Student Council collected the gifts into shoe boxes to help children at orphan asylums. We are hoping they will have a blissful time this Christmas with our gifts. Our Student Council prepared the main collection boxes for each grade, and these are the principal students who helped and decorated these boxes: Aleon Niu, Cris Cheng, Cindy He, Hannah Tran, Karis Kim, Zoe Lee, Mata Bai, and Whitney Yang.

The Main Collection Boxes for Each Grade

4-5 Grade and 11 Grade Collection Boxes

Collection Boxes

Thank you to all who helped this project, by bringing boxes and gifts. And a big thank you to Miss Fluegge for helping manage this event and for organizing the packing party.

On November 12  we had received 67 boxes from the students of Oak Hill Christian School. Our community hosted a contest to see which class brought in the most boxes from November 2nd to 13th. Although the 6-8 grade class appeared to be ahead from the beginning, K4 pulled ahead the last day, winning the competition. 

In the past, the school has donated about 40 boxes a year, but this year the total has reached 145 boxes! We hope this project makes the children and the students happy!

Oak Hill Christian School Shoeboxes of Love 2015

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A Day at the Science Fair

Written by Vu Tran

On November 4, 2015 at OHCS we witnessed a great event in the school created by Mrs. Door, the science teacher; it was the Science Fair. Believe it or not, she managed to do the whole thing within one day: morning plan, to noon preparation, then evening demonstration. Approximately fifty posters were shown, four live experiments were performed, and three projects won. My favorite experiment was Michael Lizarazu's Dry Ice Bubble. Roughly ninety attendees came from all grades as well as some parents. The atmosphere was absolutely wonderful; it was merely a convention in a small space. All the applause, the stares, the amazing faces...I must say I haven't experienced that much interest in a long time now. All the credit for an amazing science fair to the staff, mostly Mrs. Door. In brief, if there are any science fairs coming again, you better join them.

Mata demonstrates an experiment for some younger students.

Students browse the science fair projects.

A warm welcome to students and teachers as well as an invitation to judge the projects.

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Great Coffee Without the Wait

Written by Seth Thoburn

Looking for good coffee? Tired of Starbucks? The solution to your dilemma is right around the corner in a local bike shop. The first thing you notice when you walk into Green Lizard Cycling and Coffee is the smell of bikes, not coffee... One of the Oak Hill Quill team members asked, "Is it really going to be a good coffee place? There are bikes all over and everybody is a serious biker. Do they really know how to make coffee?" Hannah actually loved the smell of the bikes: "Even while drinking coffee?" we asked. "Mmhmm" she assured us, sipping her mocha.

Some got sodas and some got smoothies. After getting a raspberry Italian soda, Zoe remarked, "My tongue is confused. It looks like raspberry soda from 7-11, but it tastes like cream-water." Some found the soda refreshing but bland. However Bobby, a faithful lover of the drink, thoroughly enjoyed his cream soda. In the end, all of the team members agreed that if you are familiar with such drinks, then go for it. Karis tried a pineapple smoothie that turned out tasting more like banana but wasn't too bad.

Green Lizard features tasty pastries from a local bakery.

And of course we ordered some coffee drinks. One favorite was an Americano with Irish cream that Hannah called "perfect." Abigail commented that "it sits on your tongue after just one sip." The flavor was deep according to Zoe, unlike Starbucks. Everyone loved the coffee.

When we all walked in, the baristas looked a bit worried, but they had eight drinks ready in under three minutes. We all had time to think about what we wanted, and the staff was very friendly.

So in the end, if you want a cold drink, just run by 7-11 and grab a slurpee. But if you're looking for great coffee without the wait, stop by Green Lizard. Some people might prefer not to sit right outside (or inside) the shop, but there's plenty of seating right across the road. For anyone who wants to try it out, the address is 718 Lynn St, Herndon, VA 20170, right off the bike trail in Old Town Herndon.

Green Lizard Cycling and Coffee.

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Chistians and Forgiveness

Written by Bobby Thoburn

“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”

C. S. Lewis was a profoundly influential writer among Christians. His sayings are always well-worded and full of insight, and this proverb is no exception. Here Lewis tells Christians how they ought to go about imitating Christ by forgiving others as he forgave us. C. S. Lewis wrote these words to remind us what it means to be a Christian. And what would happen were we to ignore these words? C. S. Lewis tells us that if we were unwilling to forgive others then neither would Christ forgive us. In his essay “On Forgiveness” C. S. Lewis tells us that “We believe that God forgives us our sins, but also that He will not do so unless we forgive other people their sins against us.” Christ himself gives us a perfect example of this. Matthew 18: 21 - 35 tells the story of a man who owes his master an enormous debt and is forgiven, only to then require a fellow servant to pay up a debt owed to him without any mercy. It comes as no surprise that when the master hears of this he is angry and throws the servant into prison. On the other side of this we have extraordinary examples of the forgiveness that C. S. Lewis encourages us towards. Earlier in Charleston, South Carolina, a young man walked into Emmanuel African Methodist Church and shot nine people dead. The family of the slain nevertheless acted with amazing forgiveness. A mother of one dead is reported to have said “May God have mercy on your soul.” That is amazing. However It should not be surprising to us when we realize that this command is found in the Lord’s prayer itself. Christians are to ask God to forgive them as they forgive their debtors. The fact of the matter is that God requires something of Christians. Faith in Jesus Christ, true faith, will lead to a forgiving of all sins just as Christ forgave us.

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