Many students in the Winchester Thurston community will easily recognize the name Dr. Andy. They could know him as their history teacher, or they could recognize him as the teacher who always seems to be sporting plaid and a sweater vest. However, it is only to those in Dr. Andy’s classes–be it AP European History, Genocide Studies, or Multicultural America–that know his name to be synonymous with Russia. No matter what was being taught, even if right in the middle of a class on the Protestant Reformation, Dr. Andy would always find time to discuss the great nation of Russia with his students.

Always, it seemed, until this year.

Students who had only heard the legends of Dr. Andy’s affinity with Russia became confused when they entered his class for the first time, only to hear no mention of the Motherland Russia. The surprise felt by the student body turned rapidly to concern after veterans of Dr. Andy’s classes were introduced to this absence of Russia on the history teacher’s part. Junior student Ross Tedder shares thoughts on these unusual occurrences: “It’s like the world is coming to an end. We need to do something about this.” The ripple effect of Dr. Andy neglecting to mention Russia can be felt around the school, especially to those in his classes.

We don’t yet know the cause of why Dr. Andy has said nothing about Russia in any of his classes. Our sources are looking into it, believing the cause to be related to the current 2016 election and one candidate’s supposed romance with the Russian President. However, we at Voices would like to remind everyone to stay calm, and that while we are all confused and concerned for our teacher, we must remind each other of the fact that Russia does, in fact, exist, regardless of how some of us think it to be absent.