The Student News Site of McLean High School

The Highlander
The Student News Site of McLean High School

The Highlander
The Student News Site of McLean High School

The Highlander
Zakareya Hamed

Zakareya Hamed, Editor-in-Chief

Zakareya Hamed serves as Editor-in-Chief at McLean’s The Highlander. When he’s not editing articles and leading the journalism staff, Hamed enjoys reading up on the latest in education policy, learning about new things and occasional photography.

All content by Zakareya Hamed
Papal betting has taken the center stage as betters worldwide take to Polymarket and Kalshi and cast their predictions.

Scandal rocks Vatican’s papal race

Aileen Wu and Zakareya Hamed
May 8, 2025
The incident generated extensive backlash as ICE celebrated its successful apprehension. Note: Children illustration courtesy of Irusatoya and used within licensing restrictions.

ICE agents raid kindergarten, deport undocumented toddler for ‘jumping the birth canal’

Aileen Wu and Zakareya Hamed
March 27, 2025
Columbia University lost $400 million in funding from the federal government on March 7 due to their pro-Palestine protest. The Trump Administration has signaled plans to continue defunding universities and punishing student protesters.

Trump must reverse university funding cuts

Allison Deutsch and Zakareya Hamed
March 26, 2025
Sharbaji and her mom shortly after moving to the United States.

Syrian dictator’s fall hits close to home

Zakareya Hamed, Caroline Su and Alan Tang
March 3, 2025
Right to work is wrong for Virginia

Right to work is wrong for Virginia

Zakareya Hamed, Editor-in-Chief
January 28, 2025
Campaign signs on the side of Haycock Elementary school, a polling station.

Trump wins presidency, sparking mixed feelings among McLean students

Zakareya Hamed, Editor-in-Chief
November 6, 2024
The main page of the Virginia Department of Elections, where Virgnia voters access information about registration, results and election dates. The Department has been tasked with carrying out Youngkin's August executive order to remove 1,600 voters from state voter rolls in advance of the election.

Youngkin voter purge is a violation of democracy

Zakareya Hamed, Editor-in-Chief
October 30, 2024
The Harris campaign's hit account on TikTok, X and Instagram, "KamalaHQ," has been integral to Harris' digital strategy and its efforts to raise Gen-Z turnout.

Digital Democracy

Zakareya Hamed, Ela Patel-Euler, Addie Harris and Julia Schildkraut
October 20, 2024
The chicken shop's signature red hot chicken sandwich helped propel the store to fame and brought it over 10,000 followers in the DC area.

The Red Bird spreads its wings to Virginia

Zakareya Hamed and Bayann Hamed
October 12, 2024
A section of the school roof above a segment of the blue hallway.

McLean, Kent Gardens set to receive roof renovations

Zakareya Hamed, Editor-in-Chief
October 10, 2024
Newly elected Sully District school board representative Seema Dixit speaks during the May 23 school board meeting. Multiple renovations from the elementary to high school level were on covered during the meeting.

FCPS approves suite of upgrades for schools countywide

Zakareya Hamed, Editor-in-Chief
June 4, 2024
The Washington Monument appears in the horizon as students march towards the White House in solidarity with Gaza.

[Photo] DMV students strike against U.S. support for Israel

Aaron Stark, Minsong Ha and Alan Tang
May 25, 2024
Pro-Palestine student protesters at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), including McLean alums, sit in on a campus lawn hours before a violent police attack on the UCLA encampment.

Campus crackdowns must cease

Zakareya Hamed and Sabrina Boughanem
May 19, 2024
‘Virginia is for unions’ — Virginia Education Association, the parent organization of the FEA union, held a large rally in support of education sector labor organizing at the State Capitol in Richmond in Feb. 2024.

Collective bargaining on the horizon

Zakareya Hamed, Editor-in-Chief
May 15, 2024
The rise of AI tools including ChatGPT has raised questions about the future of AI in education.

The A.I. Generation

Ryan Kang, Andrew Lohman, Zakareya Hamed and Aaron Stark
May 15, 2024
Lightspeed gives a teacher access to all information present on a student's laptop display. The program violates student privacy and has no place at McLean High School.

Spying doesn’t belong in schools

Andrew Lohman, Zakareya Hamed and Aaron Stark
May 8, 2024
Alongside an array of interior cameras, FCPS schools are equipped with a call-in mechanism and default lock on all schools.

FCPS considers piloting security scanning tech

Zakareya Hamed, Online Editor-in-Chief
March 21, 2024
The JLARC study found that Virginia schools are widely underfunded, alongside uncovering issues with the funding formula's calculation methods.

Education funding is due for a change

Zakareya Hamed, Online Editor-in-Chief
March 15, 2024
Students gather for Friday Prayer in the final Friday Prayer before Ramadan began, on March 8th. Muslim students gather weekly in the wrestling room for the prayer, which is obligatory for males and optional for females.

Ramadan fasting commences, students join in

Zakareya Hamed, Managing Editor & Online Editor-in-Chief
March 11, 2024
FCPS division superintendent Michelle Reid addresses the school board at its Feb. 22 meeting. The meeting largely centered the budget for fiscal year 2025.

FCPS adopts new budget to assist in post-pandemic rebound

Zakareya Hamed, Online Editor-in-Chief
March 6, 2024
The teacher shortage is taking a toll on McLean High School, even two years after schools returned from the virtual format.

The Educator Exodus

Minsong Ha, Zakareya Hamed, Nimera Shanil, Allie Deutsch and Sakura Mogami
February 7, 2024

Backroom Banter Episode 7: Eleanor Ague interview

Aaron Stark and Zakareya Hamed
January 24, 2024
A student walks over a crack in the current tiles in the blue hallway.

First floor hallways to be retiled

Zakareya Hamed, Online Editor-in-Chief
January 23, 2024
Current senior Aidan Shaughnessy, along with a number of other McLean students, visited the State Capitol during session last year. "While this was my first time visiting Richmond, it was more importantly my first experience lobbying... being able to walk into the Pocahontas building and see delegates that make up the body of Virginian politics face-to-face was truly remarkable," Shaughnessy said.

2024 Virginia General Assembly session commences

Zakareya Hamed, Online Editor-in-Chief
January 21, 2024
The new bathrooms feature brighter lighting and replaced ceiling tiling, along with more sinks than before.

Bathrooms reopened following renovation completion

Zakareya Hamed and Aaron Stark
January 18, 2024
A woman approaches the podium for public comment during one of the last public school board meetings of 2023, on Dec. 4.

FCPS school board to convene for first meeting Jan. 11

Zakareya Hamed, Online Editor-in-Chief
January 3, 2024
Fairfax County has identified a number of 'assets' that reduce individual chances of falling into county-identified risk behaviors.

FCPS Youth Survey shows improvement in student mental health

Zakareya Hamed, Allie Deutsch and Alan Tang
November 1, 2023
Fairfax County Public Schools' Gatehouse Administration Building, where the administrative leadership and Superintendent's office of the school system is housed.

FCPS introduces collective bargaining

Zakareya Hamed, Online Editor-in-Chief
June 9, 2023
Haze surrounds the school amid large Canadian wildfires. Regional air quality has been severly impacted as a result and outdoor functions have been prohibited on Fairfax County Public Schools campuses.

Air quality disrupts McLean activities, affects students

Zakareya Hamed and Madeleine Stigall
June 8, 2023
An Arab American Heritage Month display set up in the Blue hall in advance of April.

FCPS declares April as Arab American Heritage Month

Zakareya Hamed, Opinions Editor
April 12, 2023
Public school students in Fairfax County's unified school district are often subjected to higher quality rigorous education with more course options than in other areas where charter and voucher funding has decimated public schools.

Charter schools don’t belong in Virginia

Zakareya Hamed, Opinions Editor
March 20, 2023
Tysons' Capital One Tower and the Watermark Hotel, some of the most prominent buildings of the Tysons skyline

Tysons growth contributes to continued McLean overcrowding

Zakareya Hamed, Opinions Editor
October 26, 2022
FCPS Superintendent Michelle Reid speaks with parents and community members, during McLean's Community Conversations event on Sept. 8

FCPS Superintendent visits McLean High School

Zakareya Hamed, Minsong Ha, Nyla Marcott and Saehee Perez
September 12, 2022
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