Makayla Tabron ‘18 | Staff Writer

Piercings, phones, and promposals. What do they all have in common? They’re all illegal here, at Bishop McNamara High School.

The juries opinion on the legality of promposals – particularly among senior girls – is, “they’re just cute, we should be allowed to do them. It’s a good way to show affection.” Cheyenne Taylor ‘15 said.

At this point, prom isn’t that far away and peoples excitement is only growing. When asked to rate their excitement on a scale from 1 – 10, most girls chose 7. And a big promposal would only make that number even higher.

So why then, is it illegal? It’s a good way for a guy to show affection for a girl, and most girls would prefer to have a big promposal than something small and private.

“With big promposals, you tend to break rules. Like the one in the lunch room the other day, people had their phones out and thats obviously not allowed.” Imani Yorker ‘15 explained her opinion on why administration doesn’t allow prom proposals on school property.

Another point is that it may leave people out, or make people feel bad. “Administration doesn’t want anyone feeling left out, just because they don’t get a big promposal.” Imani added.

“There is a lot of chaos involved, administration probably just doesn’t like it,” Simone Murphy ‘15 said.

Mrs.Hayes agreed to most of these allegations and more, “While they are fun and exciting, they are disruptive. You have to remember that not everyone receives one, and we want to make sure that everyone feels involved and no one feels excluded.”

Another reason that Mrs.Hayes included is, non-Bishop McNamara students, coming onto campus. “We want to make sure all our students are safe, and we can’t do that with visitors coming onto our campus without signing in. They should be in school anyway.”

So according to Mrs.Hayes, the charges for promposals include: excluding people, unsafe circumstances, and disrupting the order.

Based on these charges, it’s safe to say promposals will be spending their life in a cold hard jail cell, far, far away from BMHS.

by Amber Smith ‘15 | Editor

The new man who holds the title dean of programs is making a name for himself. He’s often seen overlooking the hallways, lunchroom, and various other parts of the school. The Stampede caught up with him sitting in his office to take time out of his busy day in order to get to know more about the man in the mirror, Brian Brower.

Mr. Brower comes to us from upstate New York, Albany to be exact. Growing up around dairy farms and attending a small, Catholic boys military school, Mr. Brower had big dreams that would lead him elsewhere. He attended the University of Richmond where he studied history, and later received his master’s degree from Notre Dame in Catholic education.

Before embarking on his journey here at McNamara, Mr. Brower was a social studies teacher at Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School in Takoma Park, Maryland. Although Mr. Brower enjoyed teaching, he had his eyes set on another goal: administration.

Mr. Brower had vocalized his ambitions before, so it came as no surprise when a fellow colleague of his sent him the information about the position here, and he jumped at the opportunity. Mr.Brower had always admired the McNamara community and fell in love even more when he had the opportunity to come and really get to know the school on a more personal level.

“The interactions with the students and teachers were warm and welcoming,” Mr. Brower said.

Students are also in agreement that the interactions they have with him are very warm and friendly. “He always has a smile on his face and greets me when I walk past him” said Riley Holbert ‘15. Another student, Morgan Anderson said “He’s a very nice guy and I really like his laidback personality.”

Students and teachers alike can both agree that he has been a great edition to the BMHS family. Mr. Brower also appreciates the fact that there is a wide range of diversity in the Mustang community.

Mr. Brower is currently very happy with his job and credits one of his proudest moments as an educator as never being more excited to start the school year than he was coming into McNamara this past summer.

by Tenia Jordan’16 | Staff Writer

While most seniors are ready to leave, but will miss their friends at McNamara, some students have other fears.

Getting a date. Writing a senior thesis. Buying a suit or dress. Preparing for graduation.

This is an exciting but stressful time for seniors. How does it feel to almost graduate?

“I am ready to leave, but scared for college,” Taylor Singleton’15 said. “Prom is also stressful because of getting ready, hair and makeup, finding a dress, and organizing graduation cookouts.”

Not everyone is dreading the day.

“It feels great to finally leave the school,” Kennie May’15 said. “The most stressful things are expenses, getting through school finals, and senior thesis.”

Not everyone is ready to leave just yet.

However when speaking to Charles Willis Jr.’15 he had a sadder approach to graduation. He said “It’s bittersweet getting ready to leave but I will miss the people here.” For stresses he said “prom, suit, shoes, finding the money, graduation and finishing my senior thesis.”

Some students are ready to get a fresh start.

However there are some students who are just ready to start a new life.

Mckenzie Clinkscale’15 said “Graduating feels amazing, I am just ready to start a new life style. Also ready to see what it is like to do something different.”

Although senior year is a stressful year, it can be a very exciting year filled with memories that  will last a lifetime.

by Makayla Tabron ‘18 | Staff Writer

The Black History Month Assembly was inspiring and eventful, but was it relevant? After a series of delays that moved it into March, “It’s not even black history month,” students commented as they walked down the hallway. Guest speaker Dr. Marcia Chatelain jokingly called it “black history month part two.”

But after a program that included student performances, profiles of notable history-makers, and a riveting question and answer with a Georgetown professor, the answer was yes. An assembly on black history is still relevant, even if it’s not held during black history month.

But after a program that included student performances, profiles of notable history-makers, and a riveting question and answer with a Georgetown professor, the answer was clear: an assembly on black history is still relevant, even if it’s not held during black history month.

“It [black history month] is part of an effort to make sure that the past is not lost on us,” Dr. Chatelain said. The history of African Americans does not cease to be important just because it is no longer February.

Many students showed this to be true with their enthusiasm during the assembly. Both those who performed, and those who watched showed great passion in participating.

When the floor was open for students to ask questions of Dr. Chatelain, they weren’t shy. They offered questions about Ferguson, racism, black history month as a whole, and Dr. Chatelain’s personal experiences. “What ways can communities build trust after Ferguson?” a student asked. Another questioned, “Why do you think when we think about black history, we think about slavery and not other things?”

Both African Dance IV and Tap I performed, showing their passion in different and unique ways.

Dana McCoy ‘16 and Ceandria Mars ’15 sung a breathtaking song from the movie Dreamgirls, ‘And I Am Telling You,’ to show the influence African Americans have had on music over the years.

Another duo, Dana Hentz ‘17 and Jaia Gillette ‘17, performed their original, sensational spoken word piece, entitled ‘Scandal.’ The resounding applause of the students were enough to show how much they truly enjoyed this performance.

Eric Powell ‘15 rapped his clean version of a Kanye West song, to show his view on the history of African Americans.

With such amazing performances, it’s clear how much passion the students have. This passion had to have grown from the first Black History assembly here, to what we have now.

This year’s celebration was the 36th annual Black History Month assembly. Black history month as a whole and in school, has progressed a lot over the years.

The first recorded Black History Assembly at Bishop McNamara happened on February 17, 1980. It was undertaken by the Black Student Union, and the ceremony involved Children of the Father Interdenominational, Robert’s Revival, Gospel Choir of Christ United Methodist Church, and the Tabernacle Echoes. Holy Cross Brother Walter Kramar spoke, and the B.S.U. had readings.

Although it was only their first black history month assembly, black history itself didn’t go unnoticed. In the same year another article was written about the role of African American students here at school.

Although Black History month has progressed in many ways since the beginning, the student passion and participation has always been the same.