As students chatted away and lunch lines slowly shuffled through the doors, students gathered around one long piece of poster paper, awaiting their turn to congratulate Choir Director Jordan Markwood. The SCA organized a special edition of lunch games and a spirit day and a congratulatory poster to honor Markwood’s accomplishment of being named Washington Post and LCPS Teacher of the Year. 

The award is given annually to encourage excellent school leaders and those who contribute to the improvement of education in the D.C. metropolitan area. Markwood was selected as the 2022 Teacher of the Year for his inspiring love for music, and for creating a classroom environment which is welcoming, supportive, and inclusive. In addition to his contributions in the classroom, he was noticed for sponsoring many extracurricular programs, such as the a capella club and Music Honor Society, as well as volunteering in the community. 

Markwood’s students were happy for him and thought he deserved the recognition for always being patient, encouraging, and understanding with them. “One thing that [Markwood] always tells us  is ‘if you make a mistake, do it loud and proud because then you’ll know what you did and we can fix it together,’ [which is] really encouraging,” sophomore Anisha Rapolu said. 

When Markwood found out about the spirit day and lunch game in celebration of his award, he was appreciative and overwhelmed. “Students who I’ve never had in my classes have been coming up and saying congratulations,” Markwood said. “It’s been really nice of them and the whole school community.”

The spirit day theme was “Rock the Red and Gray,” and students were encouraged to sport school colors to show their school spirit and support for Markwood. SCA facilitated a game during lunch blocks called “Finish the Lyric” where competitors would listen to a five second clip of a song and would be required to sing and recite the next few lines. This would continue for three rounds until only one competitor remained.

In A lunch, the winner of the game was a group of boys including freshmen Aditya Mukkamala and Mihir Peta, as well as five others of their friends. In B lunch, sophomores Sarayu Varanasi and Mariah Waters took the crown. In C lunch, the winners of the game were freshmen Dylan Jenkins and Harmony Dickerson. Finally, during D lunch, the winner was freshman Jiya Chadha. Chadha said she is very familiar with songs and listens to a variety of music. “I was kind of nervous, but I listen to a lot of music, so I was hoping I would win,” Chadha said. “At first, I didn’t want to go [compete], but all my friends encouraged me to, so I was really excited.”

Gallery • 5 Photos

Aarohi Motwani

Freshman Jiya Chadha celebrates as senior Naomi Cho declares her the winner of “Finish the Lyric” during D lunch.