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VOLUME 33, ISSUE 3

Center-Spread Look into climate trends, school weather policies, and tips for surviving Minn. winters in this issue’s C-spread, pages 6-7.

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

‘Hands up, don’t shoot’

www.hopkinsrp.org SPORTS, page 10

New coach for girls hockey

New coach Chris Erickson brings change in leadership but not in philosophy On Nov. 25, HHS students protested the decision to not indict Officer Darren Wilson

in

Ferguson.

NEWS, page 2

His ‘One Reason’

Bianca Williams, senior, and Namir Fearce, junior, pictured at left, were two leaders of the peaceful protest. Read more on hopkinsrp.org and see our Staff Ed, page 5.

photos by Isaac Teplinsky

Student posts broadcast more, faster than District

by Brit Stein News Editor On Friday, Oct. 24, the last thing Abdoulaye Soumare, senior, expected to see during second block was a fellow student being taken into police custody.

“Hopkins was having a soft lockdown [at the time of the arrest]. The block ended, but we weren’t allowed to leave the classroom because the school was still in lockdown, so the entire class just sat there looking out the window at the cops,” Soumare said.

Soumare explained that from his classroom, he and his fellow classmates could clearly see the arrest taking place outside on the north side of the building. “[Students from the Outdoor Adventures class] were getting their phones checked, and another student was getting his jacket checked. [The stu-

dent getting his jacket checked] dumped his stuff out of his bag and everything stopped for a minute. Another squad car pulled up, and they threw the cuffs on him,” Soumare said.

Not only was Soumare able to witness the arrest firsthand, he also managed to capture the whole incident on Vine, a short-form video-sharing social media network. The Vine was then posted to Soumare’s Twit-

ter account, which received 53 retweets and 152 favorites as of Dec. 5. On Vine, the video itself received 4,032 loops as of Dec. 5.

“When I tweeted the Vine, within five minutes I already had about 30 favorites and 14 retweets. It was really cool and totally crazy to [break the media] to the entire school, but I kept sitting there thinking wow, there’s a student getting ar-

95% of teens use the Internet

81% of teens 78% of teens 74% of teens use social have cell phones access Internet networks 47% of which are on mobile Infographic by Randy Marchione smartphones devices source: Pew Research Center

rested. For the rest of the day, people kept coming up to me, asking me what happened,” Soumare said.

Mr. Jeff Sebenaler, Minnetonka Police Department’s Chief of Police, described an official account of the incident that occurred on the morning of Friday, Oct. 24. “[The Minnetonka Police Department] responded to a bomb threat at the high school while we were there doing a parking lot search for narcotics with our dogs. During [the search,] we followed up on the bomb threat, and a student was identified and taken into custody,” Sebenaler said.

A few hours after the soft lockdown occurred, the administrative staff released a statement to HHS parents regarding the day’s events. The email that was sent to parents did not mention the arrest or the bomb threat.

Ms. Jolene Goldade, district communications and PR coordinator, explained that when the district sends out emails to students and their families, they have to be aware of the Student Data Privacy Act. The act provides restrictions on what data contained in a student’s educational record can be disclosed and to whom it may be disclosed. “[The school district] cannot provide any information that could identify a student, so if a bunch of students were to see an arrest, post it, or tweet it, we could not communicate it because that would implicate the student,” Goldade said.

“When students [post on social media] about a sensitive topic, it actually limits our ability to communicate.”

STUDENT POSTS cont. on page 2

The school wants to keep their image, but students should have the right to know what’s going on. The students have to get the news out; the students have to be their own news community. -Abdoulaye Soumare, senior

Erik Jansa, senior, helped organize the One Reason campaign at HHS.

FEATURE, page 8

Hearing on a new level

Olivia Lorentz, sophomore, has learned to live without fully-functioning ears.

Web story: Concert Choir

A recent performance combined the voices of Concert Choir and young Royals.

See more photos on

hopkinsrp.org

Remembering, honoring life of classmate Mark Bremer

by Andrew Zhou Feature Editor Mark Bremer lived his life as a student, a trumpet player, a cross country runner, a friend, a brother, a confidante, a hummer of Stevie Wonder, an actor who made up knock-knock jokes onstage, and as a beloved son who knew how to make people laugh.

After battling with depres-

sion and mental illness for far too long, Mark took his own life on Oct. 29. He was 16 years old.

“He was probably the funniest guy anyone would ever meet. He could always crack a joke, and it was always at the right time, too.

He would have this really loud laugh, and you could hear it from halfway across the school,” said Jessica Rusciano, sophomore.

Mark spent his life in Hopkins

and became musically inclined early, learning to play the trumpet in fifth grade at Glen Lake Elementary School. In seventh grade at West Junior High, he joined the jazz band, and in his sophomore year, he joined Lean Mean Performing Machine (LMPM).

“Everyone knew him and knew that he was a friendly, happy-go-lucky guy,” said Cole Polyak, sophomore. “To this day

in band class, if I am offbeat in a measure of rest, I turn to Mark and go, ‘Where are we?’ and he’s not there anymore.”

He was a constant presence in band, always showing up on time to morning rehearsals whenever he was needed.

“There was no person in the school who didn’t like him.

If someone was being mean to him, he would retaliate by being

nice. He was nice to everyone,” Rusciano said.

Beginning in ninth grade, he also acted and joined the tech crew for theater, working closely with Holly Anderson and Natalie Foster, the technical director and director for the HHS Theater Program, respectively.

“I really miss having his hands in the [prop] shop,” Anderson said. “He was the guy I

could count on to get something done.”

In conjunction with Mark’s parents, the HHS Theater Program is planning to create a permanent tribute in Mark’s memory.

“He said [to me], ‘I feel like everyone’s against me,’ but it was the complete opposite. He was so smart, and he was loved by everyone,” Rusciano said.

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RPWednesday, December 10, 2014

One Reason: students promote sobriety

by Ellie Fromstein Staff Reporter

Erik Jansa, senior, is one of 13 students that is motivated to make a change at HHS. He helped develop the One Reason campaign, an anti-alcohol initiative.

“I hate alcohol. I’ve seen [the presence of alcohol] in my family and I’ve seen it with some of my closer friends,” Jansa said.

Last spring, DECA advisor Mr. Jesse Theirl, business education and ProPEL, sent an email to HHS DECA participants. The email stated that the students had an opportunity to work with the Hopkins My Voice Foundation and develop an anti-alcohol campaign.

The Hopkins My Voice Foundation created One Reason along with HHS students.

Jansa’s passionate voice for the effects of alcohol encouraged him to lead the One Reason campaign and to focus on antialcohol in a positive manner.

“You see a lot of anti-alcohol campaigns out there where it’s about the consequences of

drinking. We decided to focus [the campaign] on the positives of not drinking,” Jansa said. “My one reason is my future. I would not want to cripple or destroy 17 years of hard work for one night of what someone might call fun.”

Jansa helped organize was a teaser video, which played during advisory on Monday Nov. 10. The video was filmed at The Depot coffee shop in Hopkins over the summer.

“I helped recruit people who might be interested in the video and worked with Community Blueprint [a social marketing agency] to market the video,” Jansa said.

However, One Reason’s marketing efforts did not stop there.

One Reason implemented an in-school campaign on Thursday, Nov. 13 and Friday Nov 14. In the hallway that leads to the cafeteria, a white booth with draping white fabric enclosed a photographer taking pictures on his camera, along with a woman editing and printing the photos.

The photographer took pictures of students and then asked

them their one reason for not using alcohol. Minutes later, students were given a printed version of their photograph captioned with their one reason.

The reason for printing each student’s photo was because One Reason wanted to personalize the campaign. They wanted students to see the photos and recognize their peers.

“The efforts at lunch today were to expand the website from 10 faces to 200-300 faces, so

that when a student is scrolling through the website they can click on any of the faces [and see their friend’s one reason],” Jansa said.

In addition to the video, flyers were put up around the school, primarily in the student bathrooms. The flyers focus on the facts related to drinking alcohol. Also, the flyers remind students that fewer students drink than is perceived.

One Reason takes a posi-

tive twist on the reasons for not using alcohol in the video.

In contrast, the black, yellow, and white flyers provide hard facts about alcohol’s dangers.

The flyers explain that alcohol is the most commonly used substance in America. “You never hear people say, ‘Oh I didn’t drink this weekend. I had such a fun time not drinking this weekend.’ So, it feels like more people drink than actually do.

You only hear about the stories

where people drink,” Jansa said.

The same information is displayed on the One Reason website, along with photos taken of HHS students from their lunches and from the teaser video. One Reason encourages that all students who are interested in learning more should visit their website, myonereason.com and follow them on Twitter @myonereason or like them on Facebook.

What is your One Reason?

Infographic depicts 30 HHS students’ reasons for not drinking alcohol

Infographic by Isabella Weisman

HHS students develop Student posts broadcast Ebola containment plan Continued from page 1

by Randy Marchione Staff Reporter As the Ebola Virus entered the US and spread through the media, the HHS Anatomy and Physiology class created a learning opportunity from the current events.

“The Ebola Project gave [our class] a connection to the real world,” said Jack Madden, senior, student in Anatomy and Physiology. “In a usual project, you never really know when you are going to use the information you’re taught. This was something to anchor [what we’re taught] into the real world and give it meaning.”

In the Ebola Containment Plan, students discussed a plan to contain Ebola if it ever came to Minnesota. Afterwards, they would find a correct way to facilitate a cure. “[In my plan] I made sure people took the initial measures for if they experienced any of the symptoms like pain and nausea, and possibly quarantine if the virus was to spread widely,” Madden said.

The students doing the project learn the typical measures taken for Ebola containment.

Patients check in with a doctor at a hospital until symptoms start to vanish, then wait in a 21-day quarantine period until the virus is cleared of all symptoms.

In her Ebola Project, Margarita Lyadova, senior and Anatomy and Physiology stu-

dent, included measures to stop the source of Ebola, cutting of all air travel to the infected countries.

“The reason for the cases in America was because of somebody’s travels. I don’t think it’s fair that somebody’s travels [to infected African countries] cause harm, so I said that all this travel should be stopped,” Lyadova said.

Thomas Eric Duncan, the first man to die on US soil of Ebola, was a partial inspiration for the Ebola Project.

According to Topsy, a Twitter analytics search, between Oct 3 and the Oct 8, Duncan’s story had been covered by 10,750 different American news outlets.

The word “Ebola” appeared in 16,013,573 different tweets, and “#Ebola” appeared in 2,870,670 tweets. “[Ebola] is a terrifying thing.

It’s reasonable how much coverage it gets,” said Emma Conrad, junior. “But it’s also being exploited by a lot of people inside and outside of media.”

Madden agreed with this statement. “[Ebola] is a fear being blown out of proportion, and it is a very manageable thing,” said

Madden. “The biggest way to fix this is to have awareness on the subject. That’s a way to stop the panic and exploitation.”

Before March 23, the day the initial Ebola outbreak happened in West Africa, Ebola didn’t appeared in a newspaper for a year.

The peak of news concerning Ebola didn’t appear in America until 3,000 people had already died and Thomas Eric Duncan contracted the disease. According to TIME magazine, Ebola rose to the top three health concerns for Americans.

Studies at Harvard University by Marge Dwyer, media relations manager at Harvard’s public health department, show that 26 percent of people are afraid that an immediate relative will catch this disease, and 37 percent of those percents are admittedly uneducated on the subject and did not graduate from high school.

“Stories that appear in America provide a personal connection,” said Conrad. “Instead of saying ‘this person had Ebola and died,’ say, ‘this person was a father and they died’.

Make it more personal to the victims and don’t just cover it, and people will listen.”

The Ebola Project gave [our class] a connection to the real world. - Jack Madden, senior

Some students and parents expressed their frustration at the lack of details included in the email. Troy Bassett, senior, who witnessed the incident taking place, believes that the school should provide more details to the HHS community regarding police matters.

“Most kids at school already knew about [the student] being arrested because of Twitter and Snapchat. Their parents and friends knew because that media [is public],” Bassett said. “I think that [students] should be informed about what happens, even if it’s [someone’s] personal business.”

Ms. Patty Johnson, principal, and Goldade both explain that the school’s responsibility to adhere to the Student Data Privacy Law, along with varying situations that occur on school grounds, sometimes limit the amount of information that is communicated.

“Sometimes it may seem that [Hopkins] is more conservative in the information it puts out than at other times. That’s because its really very situational. In every situation it depends on how we need to follow the law, and it also depends on the wishes of those involved,” Johnson said.

“It’s frustrating for us and it’s frustrating for parents because [the intricacies of the law] really limit our ability to communicate as transparently as some people hope we might be able to. Our hands are tied, which is sometimes perceived

as a lack of communication, but those are the rules we have to adhere by,” Goldade said.

In some classes, students who saw Soumare’s Vine were informed of the arrest before some teachers and school administrators. Goldade describes that Hopkins, along with other school districts, actually uses social media sites as a resource.

“In the past, we used to clip all the news stories that any [Hopkins schools] were involved in. Now, it’s gotten to a point where we have to monitor Twitter and Facebook to see what is being posted about us,” Goldade said.

Edgard Konde, senior, was also in Soumare’s classroom during the soft lockdown and arrest. Konde added a photo of the arrest to his Snapchat.

Konde describes that the response to his photo was a social media explosion.

“When I put [the photo] on my story, in the first two minutes I probably had 20 people snapping me back asking what happened,” Konde said. “It got really out of hand really quickly.”

While Mr. Trenton Lawson, assistant principal, believes that students today live in a different society than the one he grew up in, he cautions students from excessive reliance on social media as a source of information.

“When people put information on social media, it goes from one person to another.

When that happens, I think that the wording changes and the severity changes. I ask every student to be careful about what they hear third person [on social

media] because it may not be true,” Lawson said.

Johnson admits that when it comes to social media, the school does not have a ton of control over what students post.

However, she believes that it is important to keep in mind the consequences of posting certain information online.

“I want to advise students that they are making a digital footprint with what they choose to put [online] and what they choose to get themselves involved with on social media,” Johnson said. “There are always consequences, positive or negative, and [as a school] our goal is keep educating students that their choices on social media will follow them for the rest of their life.”

Still, some students and parents, including Basset, believe that detailed information regarding specific incidents must be communicated.

“Students might not feel secure in this school if they’re not aware of their surroundings and fellow students. We should have the right to know what’s going on in this community and this high school,” Bassett said.

In response to this most recent incident, Lawson stated that the emails sent out on behalf of the administrative staff regarding official matters included all pertinent information.

“When a stituation becomes a police matter, then it becomes a police matter. We attempt to keep student privacy to the best of our ability,” Lawson said.

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RPWednesday, December 10, 2014

ProPEL raises funds through Halloween party

by Morgan Downing Staff Reporter This year, ProPEL students raised $1100 by throwing a Halloween party. In past years, students would spend weeks fundraising for the same amount of money going towards their yearly community service project. While the party was successful, the amount of planning took a substantial amount of work.

“The students are told that they have to complete a project that includes raising money for an organization. The students are completely on their own because they’re the ones coming up with an idea and completing it. The project really teaches them how to be independent, something we’re looking for [in our applicants],” said Ms. Kirsten Slinde, ProPEL and Health.

ProPEL accepts 20 to 25 seniors per year, providing them with experience in career paths that they are interested in.

Students learn about possible careers by mentoring under professionals who work in the field of the student’s interests.

According to Slinde, ProPEL students have good work ethic in order to execute projects like

the community service project.

This year, ProPEL raised money for the Simpson Housing Services, an organization dedicated to housing and supporting the homeless. Amy Scherer, senior, said that coming up with an idea on how to raise money was not easy.

“When we were given the project, we realized that we had to get money together that none of us had. We decided to have a brainstorming session and, eventually, one of the ideas that came up was to have a Halloween Party,” Scherer said.

Additionally, Mosey Krelitz, senior, stated that it was challenging trying to find a location and advertise.

“To advertise the party [at school] we set up booths by the lunchroom and handed out flyers. As for the location [of the party], we were going to have it at Alice Smith Elementary School, but we didn’t get the correct forms in, so at the last minute the party ended up being at the restaurant my family owns,” Krelitz said.

Krelitz noted that while preparing for the party was stressful, it ended up as a success.

“In the end, we raised $1500 and about 250 people showed

up, which was better than we expected it to be,” Krelitz said.

Scherer added that while the party was a success, she believes the class could have better prepared themselves.

“Though the party was successful, we know that [next time] we do a project, we need to plan ahead since planning for the party was a lot harder than we expected it to be,” Scherer said.

Krelitz said that by being in ProPEL and working on projects like the Halloween party, he’s learned more about the career world than he had anticipated.

“Since being in ProPEL, I’ve learned that staying focused is very important. If we didn’t [stay focused] while working on the party, it wouldn’t have been the success that it was,” Krelitz said.

Krelitz hopes to take the skills he’s learned from planning the party and ProPEL into his mentorship that he found through the class.

“I’ll be working with my mentor who is a commodities dealer and investment strategist. I’m really excited to see if my mentorship is everything I thought it would be. By the end

of my mentorship, I want figure out if [the job] is something that I will or will not want to do [in the future],” Krelitz said.

As for Scherer, she believes the party and the class as a whole, have given her a better idea of what she wants to do in the future.

“I knew when I was younger that I wanted to give back. I loved working on the party be-

cause we were helping people while having fun. Through ProPEL, I started looking into veterinary science, a job where I can give back and help people and animals,” Scherer said.

With the money that was raised, ProPEL created 28 starter kits filled with educational books, toys and games for children in the Simpson Housing Service. Scherer found this part

of part of the project the most rewarding.

“Even though the party was tons of fun, for me, the best part [of the project] was knowing that we were giving back.

While it was hard to plan for the party when everything was going wrong, the reason for it was what was truly important,” Scherer said.

ProPEL students dress up and pose for a photo at the Halloween party. ProPEL raised over $1100 at the party alone, and $400 more through additional donations.

Photo provided by Amy Scherer

Introducing new AP classes

by Justice Feldman Staff Reporter

AP Goverment students Lulu Johnson and Will Cohen, seniors, register students and hand out ballets. Only 17 percent of the HHS student body voted in the mock election.

Photo by Anna Helseth

Mock Election

by Isabel Hall Staff Reporter

Even though only a small portion of the HHS senior class is 18, all students were able to “vote” for elected representatives on Nov. 4; Election Day. The students in Mr. John Unruh-Friesen’s, Social Studies, AP U.S Government class held a mock election during lunch.

Student voters filled out ballots similar to the Minnesota ballots they would be filling out when they turned 18.

“What we tried to do was get a sense of how people at HHS felt about different candidates. My part in it was to try to get more and more students involved and to get more voters,” said Gregg Warshaw, senior.

The AP U.S. Government students have been studying and learning about different candidates, viewpoints, and party affiliations.

The election results were

consistent with Minnesota’s actual election results. The students chose to re-elect Governor Dayton and Senator Franken.

In the HHS election, Dayton had 57 percent of the vote and Franken earned 60 percent.

“I was not surprised by the results in the election, and I think the results accurately reflect how young people today are viewing politics,” Warshaw said.

In the upcoming 2016 Presidential elections, it is predicted that voters will be younger and more diverse, according to the New York Times.

Only 17 percent of the student body voted in the mock election.

“I think our youth should vote more because it is our voices being heard. People who don’t vote but complain [shouldn’t] because they aren’t voting on the issues or [those] who represent them,” said Lulu Johnson, senior.

Advanced Placement (AP) Literature is being offered to HHS students next school year, and AP Spanish Literature will be offered in two years. These classes will increase the number of AP courses offered at HHS to 16 in total.

“It can take months or years for a course to graduate from an idea to an approved course,” said Mr. Adam McDonald, Assistant Principal.

The courses work their way up from a teacher, student or parent-driven idea through the different levels of approval from the school and ultimately district.

One of the reasons that HHS decided to add additional AP courses is because of the benefits that AP courses provide. HHS was the last school in the Lake Conference to decide to offer AP Literature.

According to the College Board, the number of students taking AP exams and scoring a three, four and five nationwide has increased by 6.3 percent from 2013. Having AP credit allows students to explore different courses in college because they bypass some required core classes in high school. AP is one of several ways that Minnesota high school students can earn college credit.

AP Literature is one of few classes at HHS that will focus

on exploring literary elements such as a work’s structure, style and themes, as well as the use of figurative language and imagery. The College Board states that students should be able to develop writing skills as they express their ideas and analyze in expository, analytical, and argumentative essays, applying all of these skills for the final test.

“AP Literature is very skill based, you will be able to apply close reading skills and analysis in literature,” said Ms.Bethany Ocar, Language Arts.

Mr. Dain Liepa, Language Arts, and Ocar took courses at Carleton College over the summer to learn how to teach AP Literature.

Another course, AP Spanish Literature, also will be offered at HHS starting the 2016-2017 school year. Students who take this course will be able to develop interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational modes of communication.

“In the final exam, students must be able to write presentations of information, opinions, and ideas in Spanish,” said Ms. Kimberly Rodrigues, World Language.

Nationally, according to the College Board Communications Office, about 57 percent of exams taken by public school students earn a 3 or higher.

The College Board says that students taking AP courses help themselves by saving on college costs, increasing the likelihood

that they will be well-prepared for college, and increasing their chances of entering and also graduating from a four-year college or university.

"AP classes can benefit students when they apply to college. If a student scores well on the final exam, that student can earn college credit in some cases, and a lot of what we teach is to prepare for the final exam," Ocar said.

For some HHS students, whether or not to take an AP course is a decision that does not rest solely on their shoulders. Instead, this choice may be hindered or encouraged by school counselors, teachers, or administrative staff.

"We have a lot of smart students at this school, but they are either afraid or they think that the work will be too overwhelming. My response to that is any student with drive and perseverance will succeed and leave the classroom much better prepared for college. Wouldn't you rather learn those skills at Hopkins where you have the opportunity to practice and grow than spend money on a college course only to realize you're not ready?"

Ocar said.

Some researchers from the Minn. Education Association have criticized the AP program for focusing too much on the final test, leading to courses that don’t go into enough depth.

Since AP Literature meets the school's global literature

requirement for juniors, if a student decides to take AP literature and AP Language and Composition, they will fulfil the current global literature course required by the high school.

"Junior year is so loaded with challenging core classes and it's such an important year. Students talk about "senior slide" and the lack of challenge right before college,” Ocar said. “The English department decided to spread the love, so to speak. If a junior takes AP Language and Composition, he or she doesn't have to take Writers' Workshop, and senior year if a student takes AP Literature that student meets the Global Literature requirement usually met junior year.”

Within the last school year, HHS has made significant improvements in the number of high school students taking advanced placement (AP) courses.

An estimate of 1,305 tests were taken by HHS students last year.

“Parents and students usually come to us and request an AP course,’” said Ocar.

Any student at HHS can take an AP course regardless of GPA, ACT or SAT. “All students technically have access to AP courses, but one of the things that we continue to strive for is to look for students that have the ability to challenge themselves and also to encourage students at all levels to move toward AP courses,” McDonald said.

RPWednesday, December 10, 2014

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4opinion

Price of parking:

by Madeline Martodam Opinion Editor 48 Chipotle burritos, a 64GB iPhone 6, a flight to Florida. Take your pick. These are all items you could have purchased with the $275-$300 you chose to spend on your parking space in the school lot.

Students choose to drive for many reasons. It tends to be the most convenient for those who have to be to school early for clubs, stay late for sports, or have equipment and gear to transport.

Personally, driving to school gives me an extra 30 minutes to sleep in, which doesn’t sound like much, but is invaluable at this age.

My original intent in writing this story was to tell you what the money you pay for parking gets spent on, however, I have found this information difficult to acquire. Traci Meyer, Dean of students, collects the money from parking permits and enforces parking rules, but does not control how the money is spent or where it goes and could not tell us what happens.

“It’s used for the resurfacing of the lot, snow removal, and painting the spaces, stalls, and numbers,” Ms. Meyer said.

At the district level, I emailed Mr. John Toop, the Director of Business Services, and Mr. Patrick Poquette, Supervisor of Buildings and Grounds but did

not get a response from either. I was able to get in contact with Ms. Jolene Goldade, District Communications and PR Coordinator, however, she did not assist me in finding the proper data.

If you drive to school throughout your three years at HHS, you will have spent $825 or $900 on parking by the time you graduate (not including the fees you receive for not having your pass visible).

There could be alternative solutions to establish a lower cost. Many high school athletes park in the lot as they have earlymorning and after-school practice as well as gear to transport.

There could be an athletic package that includes a parking pass sold at a reduced rate for high school athletes as they are already paying for sports and equipment.

For such a hefty price, I don’t think it’s an unreasonable expectation to get in and out of the lot without four-wheel drive in the winter time. It’s disappointing to pull into the lot after a snowy night and struggle not only to drive through the vicious white flakes, but to find the general area in which you park.

With 465 parking spaces for sale and loyal daily parkers, one would think the prices could be reduced. If our neighbors in Armstrong pay $170, and friends in Wayzata pay $175 for a year, why can’t we?

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Students frustrated with lofty cost of parking, desire greater return for the amount they pay to use lot

There are schools near HHS that pay just as much as us.

Students at Eden Prairie High School pay either $200 or $350 depending on which lot a student chooses to reside in for the year.

A reduced fee could be put into place for those who choose to carpool as it is environmentally friendly and allows the school to have more spots available.

Schools such as Minnetonka and Edina have implemented this idea and have reduced the amount of cars parking in their lot.

We have a safe parking lot and, for the most part, students are respectful and responsible.

“I find it very respectable and admire the fact that students are so mindful of each other in the parking lot. I’ve seen them wait and let a car in,” Meyer said.

Trying to uncover this information has been a disappointing endeavor, but I am not going to give up. I will continue the search as I hope to be able to diclose where all of the money goes by the end of the school year.

If circumstances were different in the lot, I may not question the amount we pay as much as I do. But to me, an eight foot wide strip of concrete separated by lines that are nowhere to be found, six out of the nine months we park, can not possibly be worth 48 trips to Chip.

Gifts to give yourself

Portrait of your favorite selfie Get BOGO at Bou, take both Hogwarts acceptance letter Dinner for one at McDonald’s A partridge in a pear tree Athletic talent Another cat...

Netflix subscription Red Rider BB Gun Thank you letter for all the gifts

What does it cost to park?

infographic by Molly Abbott Ladner

We’re a part of it

Royal Page makes inroads into constant digital content

by Bradley Kaplan and Ellie Maag Multimedia Editors Media, and the way we get news, is constantly changing.

Five years ago, one would get the news from watching television at 6 p.m. and reading the morning paper.

Today, news is far more accessible to the public. From trending tweets to CNN mobile updates, news spreads faster than ever.

Jeff Kocur, our adviser, has always preached the importance of an online presence in an increasingly technologicallybased industry. Looking at other newspapers, it’s easy to see why.

Newspapers such as the Star Tribune get more traffic online than paper subscriptions.

To keep up with the evolving media industry, the Royal Page is putting more effort into our online edition.

While we have had a website since 2008, we have taken huge strides in hopes of fulfilling our policy of being “Online First.”

In previous years, we would post videos and briefs on occasion.

With a brand-new class cycle that puts the website equal to the print, we have upped our game.

On average, we post to the website two to three times per day, and post daily to Twitter and Facebook to let people know

about our new content.

From the beginning of the school year through Dec. 2, hopkinsrp.org has seen 15,113 pageviews by 3,618 users. On Twitter, we have gained 293 followers in the past year. While these are great statistics, we aspire to achieve more.

The Hopkins Royal Page is an award-winning newspaper.

We consistently win All-State Gold Awards at the Minnesota State High School Journalism Convention.

Last year, the Royal Page won the Pacemaker award for the first time in 30 years. The Pacemaker recognizes the top 25 high school newspapers in the country. We hope to one day be awarded a Pacemaker for our online edition.

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opinion5

the

RPWednesday, December 10, 2014

Editorial

The staff editorial represents the viewpoint of the Royal Page

Ferguson protest illustrates need to make voices heard The right to peaceably assemble is one of our most important, historic, and protected rights. It is stated in the First Amendment and is sacred to millions of activists and concerned citizens across the country.

This Constitutional right is especially important in times like these, when one contentious issue has captured the nation’s attention: the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 9, 2014.

A few minutes after stealing a box of cigarillos from a convenience store, Brown and a friend, Dorian Johnson, were confronted by Wilson while walking down the middle of the street. An altercation soon ensued between Brown and Wilson through the window of Wilson’s police vehicle until Wilson’s gun was fired. After the first two shots, one of which grazed Brown’s hand, Brown and Johnson fled in different directions. Wilson pursued Brown and fired a total of 12 shots. Eight hit Brown.

The racially-charged aftershocks of the

shooting resonated across the country and were expressed through both peaceful and violent protests. Many in the HHS community were deeply affected by the events in Ferguson and anxiously waited for the county grand jury to decide whether Wilson acted in lawful self-defense or would be indicted on criminal charges.

On Nov. 24, St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch announced that the grand jury had decided not to indict Wilson on any of the possible charges.

The initial feelings of many HHS students after the events of Aug. 9 - either sympathy for Brown and disgust towards Wilson’s actions or the belief that Wilson acted within his rights as a police officer - were heightened by the grand jury’s decision. These feelings were shared by students at other schools in our area, including Southwest High School and South High School, both in Minneapolis. Student-led protests at both schools received local and national media attention.

Southwest students staged a silent sit-in in the school’s hallways for four and a half hours

Lists make life easier

by Danielle Fogelson Feature Editor At the end of every school day, I begin to think about the various tasks I have to complete that night. Some cause me little stress, while others seem so mountainous they consume all of my energy.

No matter the amount of stress I’m feeling, I do not begin working immediately after getting home. Rather, I sit down for a snack with a notepad and pen and write a to-do list for the day.

Now, the scattered thoughts that floated around in my head during my morning routine are organized in a tangible, concrete list.

This process offers clarity and motivation, for every time I check off a box on the list, I can see progress. I get satisfaction

upon completing something large, like finishing an essay, but I also get satisfaction upon completing something small, like starting a load of laundry.

Relying on a list of tasks is the way I add structure to my life that, at the moment, is filled with ambiguity and large amounts of pressure.

We, as high school students, juggle many deadlines, assignments, expectations, and activities, both inside and outside of school. On any day, at any moment, I may have 10 or 20 homework assignments and other various tasks in mind that require my attention.

Because some of the tasks may be overwhelming and time consuming, it is a natural inclination to push them aside in the midst of stress. However, in the

long term, this habit is harmful and is only a temporary solution.

Stressors, while hidden for a time, eventually come to haunt you.

No matter the magnitude of a task that lies ahead, there is always a place to begin.

Any project, regardless of its complexity, can be broken down into comprehensible, individual steps. Each step can be written on a list next to an empty box waiting to be checked off. While each step may seem innocuous when it is isolated from the rest, there is no way to achieve the end goal without completing each one separately.

“Most goals obviously take planning to happen and typically, if you don’t break down the steps, you can miss out on some of the really important pieces,” said Mr. David Braaten, Busi-

to mirror the amount of time Brown’s body laid in the Ferguson street after he was killed.

About 400 South students staged a sit-in in the school’s common area before leaving to protest in front of their local police precinct.

HHS students were also motivated to organize a peaceful protest, which was performed during passing time on Nov. 25.

About 40 protesters gathered in the mall area between first and second block and chanted statements including ‘No justice, no peace!’ and ‘Hands up, don’t shoot!’, a refrain referring to Brown’s attempt to surrender to Wilson as shots were being fired. Many held hand-written signs or pictures of Brown. The protesters were orderly and organized and not destructive in the least a sharp contrast to the many violent protests around the country.

This protest was a fantastic example of the inclusiveness of our school community. Though a variety of students held differing opinions on the shooting and the grand jury decision, interaction between viewpoints and conversation

about the issues, occurring on Twitter and in school the next day, was largely respectful and considerate.

It speaks volumes about our school’s incredibly open and safe environment that our peers feel comfortable enough with the administration and with the rest of the student body to join together in support of a common belief.

This is especially valuable at HHS, where we have such a valuable diversity of ethnicities and cultures.

We at The Royal Page would like to express our admiration for the protesters, the students who hold a different opinion of the issue but did not interfere with the protesters’ right to demonstrate, and an administration that respects our need to voice opinions about issues that are relevant to our lives. It is a privilege to cover such a passionate and accepting student body, faculty, and administration.

Royal Inquisition: Organization

Sydney Eckberg Junior How do you stay organized? I stay up to date with everything and I turn everything in on time.

Kevin Dorsey Sophomore

Casidy Coats Senior

How do you stay organized? I just do me and it just flows.

How do you stay organized? I have no idea, I don’t really. I just go with the flow, that’s how I do it.

Do you make lists to keep yourself organized? I make lists on my phone in my Notes app of what I have to do.

Do you make lists to keep yourself organized? Sometimes if I have a lot of homework I do. It helps me get things done.

Main source of stress? My homework.

Main source of stress? Irritating people.

Do you make lists to keep yourself organized? Sometimes if I’m going to have a really busy week, I will.

Main source of stress? School in general.

interviews by Madison Petty and Mariah Byron

ness Education. “I really feel that things start making more sense when you realize the small things fit into the big picture.

Even if something is a long term, far off goal, what we do

right now affects whether or not it will happen.”

I recognize that the thought of making a to-do list is not enticing to everybody. However, I encourage everyone to to experi-

ment with them. For if we avoid the unnecessary stress that accompanies procrastination by attacking our responsibilities head on and one-by-one, we will live much simpler and happier lives.

Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down If food could fly: Let’s not In this space, Royal Page staffers share positive and negative facets of their lives and the world around us.

“For having a lot of apples and a jar of peanut butter at my house. Apples + peanut butter = double thumbs up.” -Molly Abbott Ladner, senior “I am not going to see a lot of the people I see everyday now next year.” -Nick Mandler, senior “Students at HHS have the opportunity to express themselves peacefully to protest social issues.” -Brian Yu, senior “Pumpkin pie and pumpkin-flavored drinks being seasonal.”

-Bradley Kaplan, senior “It’s cold so I have a reason to stay indoors and be lazy.”

-Trianna Downing, junior “It’s so cold outside that car locks, doors, and windows freeze.” -Ellie Fromstein, junior infographic by Nate Pasko

by Gannon Youakim Opinion Editor

As of late, I find myself needing to keep my eyes peeled for projectiles launched by those who find using their peers for target practice entertaining.

Dodging flying fruit is not how I want to spend my lunch.

It seems, however, that this is what I have to do. I notice that some students are taking pleasure in throwing food items at each other, especially oranges and apples, during the waiting period between eating lunch and going to class.

This shouldn’t be a problem during the 40 minutes we are allotted to eat our food during school. Students should be able to sit down, eat, and converse. When they are finished with this process, they should feel secure as they wait for passing time to begin.

Students shouldn’t have

to worry about being spattered with leftover lunch.

Why is it fun to torment those you go to school with?

What is so rebellious about throwing food at unsuspecting individuals? What are you seeking from this act?

If it is admiration for the ‘bravery’ of doing something that can result in punishment, you are receiving it from scant few.

I would like to stand proudly beside my companions in learning. However, respect given is respect earned. Because students decide to abuse their classmates by pelting them with food, I am losing respect for them.

While walking through the halls, I also notice that food has been discarded and often crushed into the tile or carpet. This is repulsive.

The lack of maturity and responsibility displayed by this tendency is appalling. Students can complain about their lack of

freedoms, but if you cannot be held accountable to walk over to a trash bin and dispose of your garbage, it isn’t reasonable to let you off campus to go eat food.

Once again, I find myself thinking of respect. If students don’t respect the building in which they have to spend five days of the week enough to keep at least a semblance of cleanliness, why should their desires be respected in return?

The sad thing is, those who pursue these pathetic pastimes are a minority. The majority of students do have respect for the school, and each other.

They are the ones who have to suffer these indecencies.

Aim to be like these students. Learn to respect and, in turn, earn respect from your peers. Do not throw food during lunch and pick up after yourself.

To sum things up, don’t be an idiot. Stay classy, HHS.

DECEMBER

MINN.

SNOWFALL 20.9 33.6 7.3 What Does A 15 VORTEX 15.9 POLAR Mean?

INCHES

: : : : :

AVERAGE

MINN.

TEMPERATURE

DECEMBER

: : : : :

12 11.5 22.7 22.7 5

The ominous phrase “polar vortex” was drilled into Minnesotan brains last winter.

However, Kristen Clark, Certified Broadcast Meteorologist at Media Logic Group believes that it is not worth the hype.

“The polar vortex is not some kind of scary storm system nor is it anything new,” Clark said.

In fact, the polar vortex has always been on earth.

“The polar vortex is simply a large region of low pressure that continuously sits near the North Pole during the winter. It is caused by the pool of cold air around the arctic. The term ‘vortex’ simply refers to the counterclockwise flow of air that flows around this area of low pressure,” Clark said.

According to Mr. John Sammler, science, the extremely cold temperatures seen in Minn. last winter were unique to the world.

“That polar vortex hit the whole country last winter and everyone is going to remember that as a cold year, but, ironically, when you look at the whole year of data globally, 2014 is one of the hottest years on record,” Sammler said. “It is all about the average, not necessarily what the most extremes are doing.”

Furthermore, Clark ensures that one cold winter doesn’t guarantee a trend of the same.

“Last year’s winter was exceptionally cold and snowy across Minnesota. Luckily, a repeat of this extreme pattern is unlikely this year. Slightly warmer than average conditions are expected across northern Minnesota,” Clark said.

AVERAGE

U.S.

TEMPERATURE DECEMBER

: : : : :

29.64 32.47 35.4 35.92 31.06

Source: National Climatic Data Center *All degrees measured in Fahrenheit

W

he

s It I n

thinks nity to bui The pot drive to sc ses, and stu dressed are o ing through h “As Superi mation, watch Weather Serv email. So, I w over a couple o Last year, the Jan. 6, 2014 whe schools to close.

“The one day that wind chills were in the made the decision to clo said.”

Dayton’s reasoning wa Public Radio, Dayton sta must be our first priority Due to the excess snow 6, Schultz oversaw the mainder of the 2013“It is my role to for that school Board,” Sch It was made

What Should We Know About

CLIMATE CHANGE? o T o o Co

l ForSCHO

During the climate change unit in AP Environmental Science, Mr. John Sammler, science, asks his students to repeat after him: “Ozone and climate change are not related.”

The thought that the two are related is one of the most common misconceptions about climate change that Sammler sees.

“A lot of people think that there is an ozone hole which is opening up, letting the sunlight into the earth more. That is crapola,” Sammler said.

Sammler believes that people often sensationalize weather trends after the fact.

“Memories are designed to remember things that stand out, so what do we remember over tens of years of weather? We remember when it was super cold, when it snowed a lot, when it was super crazy hot,” Sammler said. “We don’t remember the inbetweens.”

Despite the misconceptions, according to Sammler our generation is already seeing effects of climate change around the world, specifically through a friend who was house-hunting on the Pacific coast of Vancouver. “[His] realtor, who has no science background, said ‘Well, do you wanna own this house in your family for a long time, potentially 100 year or more, or is it a 10-20 year thing?’ When he asked why, the realtor said, ‘Well that’s gonna determine [if we look on the water or not.]

What was good property [20 years ago] is not good property anymore, it is actually flooded,’” Sammler said.

However, not all examples will be this obvious.

“It is kinda like the idea of if you put a frog into pot of water and you slowly put the water up, do you know if you’re feeling anything? Do you know if you’re boiling if you just keep turning it up, or do you just get used to the temperature,” Sammler said.

O

L?

When Dr. John Schultz, Superintendent, decides to cancel school, he s about more than the opportuild a great snowman. tential dangers to students who chool, students waiting for busudents who may be improperly only some of the many things gohis head. intendent, I receive winter inforhes, and warnings from the National vice instantaneously through text and watch the development of the winter weather of days,” Schultz said. e decision was taken out of Schultz’s hands on en Minn. Governor Mark Dayton mandated all

t the Governor closed I believe was wise, as the e -40’s. That is cold and dangerous. The day after, I ose because the wind chills were even lower,” Schultz

as in line with Schultz’s. As reported on Minnesota ated that “The safety of Minnesota’s schoolchildren y.” w and cold-weather cancellations starting on Jan. decision to cancel district late starts for the re-14 school year to make up for lost time. o ensure that school stays open on all the days l year that have been established by the School hultz said. s the first time in 17 years that a state had e the decision to close schools.

GLOVES

TIRE CHAINS

ICE SCRAPER

SALT

SHOVEL

SNACKS

Minn. winters can be cold and dangerous, stay prepared.

By Callan Showers, Hillary Donovan and Alex Felemovicius, Editor in Chief, Sports Editor, and C-Spread Editor of the Royal Page

The Royal Page 2014-2015

Editors in Chief Nate Pasko Callan Showers

Front Page Editor Claire Benton

Design Editor in Chief Alex Felemovicius

News Editor Brit Stein

Opinion Editors

RPWednesday, December 10, 2014

the

8 feature

Lorentz hears on a whole new level

by Madison Petty Staff Reporter Olivia Lorentz, sophomore, can always be found in the front of a classroom.

“Sometimes, if [my friends] are talking too fast or there’s background noise, it’s hard to have conversations with them,” Lorentz said.

When Lorentz was only seven months old, she suffered from bacterial meningitis, a potentially

deadly disease that inflames the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord.

“We were told that one of the possible side effects of [bacterial meningitis] is permanent hearing loss, but of course we were just praying she would survive the illness,” said Eileen Lorentz, Olivia’s mother. “It wasn’t until her last night in the hospital that we noticed she wasn’t responding to our voices.”

From that point on, Olivia

Madeline Martodam Gannon Youakim

Feature Editors Danielle Fogelson Andrew Zhou

Sports Editor Hillary Donovan

Photo Editor Sam Ostenso

Infographic Editor

Isabella Weisman

Business Editors

Jacob Ungerman Brian Yu

Web Editors in Chief

Olivia Lorentz, sophomore, as a toddler with her new cochlear implant.

Lorentz received the cochlear implant in Dec. 2000 at the age of two.

Bradley Kaplan Ellie Maag

Sports Blogger Ben Segelbaum

Staff Reporters

Molly Abbott Ladner Imran Baksh Liam Bronstein Mariah Byron Will Cohen Morgan Downing Trianna Downing Justice Feldman Andrew Fern Ellie Fromstein Lauren Goodman Anne Goodroad Isabel Hall Rachel Hall Ely Harel Croix JoliCoeur Nick Mandler Randy Marchione Madison Petty Lucy Pierro Ian Tennant Isaac Teplinsky

Adviser

Mr. Kocur The editorial represents the opinion of the newspaper staff. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the administration, the student body or the advisor. Signed viewpoints represent the view of the writer.

The Royal Page operates as an open forum student publication, and student editors make editorial decisions regarding content.

Advertising information available by mail, fax and phone.

Annual Subscriptions are available for $20.

The Royal Page encourages letters to the editor. Letters are not guaranteed publication, are subject to editing for content and length, must be signed and meet deadlines. Compliments and suggestions are also welcome.

photo provided by Olivia Lorentz

was deaf.

She wore hearing aids for the next 18 months until her parents realized they weren’t helping. At that point, the Lorentz’s decided to explore an alternative option for their daughter. The alternative option was a cochlear implant, a device that provides electrical stimulation to the auditory nerve in the ear, allowing most sounds to be heard by those who are deaf or severely hardof-hearing. It’s composed of an external piece, which closely resembles a hearing aid, and an internal piece, which is surgically placed behind the ear.

“When something tragic like this happens to your child, you pray for a miracle cure.

But sometimes the miracle is not a cure at all, but the gift of technology,” Eileen said. “If the technology is there, why not take advantage of it?”

Olivia received a cochlear implant in her left ear at the age of two. She is one of 38,000 children who have received a cochlear implant as of 2012, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“We started thinking about the dangers associated with being deaf,” Eileen said. “Imagine you are in the path of a falling object and someone shouts, ‘Look out!’, but you can’t hear them; or the smoke alarm or

carbon monoxide detector goes off in your home; or a tornado siren goes off in your neighborhood. If you can’t hear any of those things, you are at risk of being injured or killed.”

Fourteen years later, Olivia and her family still consider her cochlear implant a gift.

“Without a cochlear implant, I would probably have a difficult time speaking because I wouldn’t be able to hear my own voice,” Olivia said.

Since 2000, cochlear implants have been FDA-approved for children who are deaf or severely hard-of-hearing beginning at 12 months old.

Although the cochlear implant helps Olivia hear better than before, she admits it isn’t a perfect alternative to hearing.

“I can’t hear every pitch,” Olivia said. “I can’t hear where the sound is coming from, whether it’s from behind me or in front of me or on the side.

When Olivia takes off the external part of her cochlear implant, which she has to do when she sleeps or showers, she can’t hear anything. In those instances, Olivia relies on her ability to read lips and sign.

“I read people’s lips a lot. I picked up on it quickly when I was younger,” Olivia said. “It’s really important for me to see the person’s face [I’m talking to]

and they can’t cover their lips.”

Although there are schools in Minn. that specialize in teaching deaf children, Olivia has attended Hopkins schools since preschool.

“There is a school for the deaf in Faribault, but we wanted her to be able to attend the local school that is part of our community. We wanted her to attend school with her brother and the kids in our neighborhood,” Eileen said.

As a public school, HHS isn’t necessarily catered to Lorentz’s needs, so she receives two important accommodations.

“The biggest accommodation is me, as an interpreter, because I go to every class with her, except lunch,” said Lisa Donley, Olivia’s interpreter.

“The other is an FM system, where her teachers have a microphone that’s connected to Olivia’s [cochlear implant] to amplify their voices. It’s not for the whole class, but it makes it [easier] for her to hear them.”

Olivia’s parents are grateful to all the teachers and staff that have helped Olivia over the years and are proud of how she has overcome the obstacles she’s faced.

“She does not let her deafness define who she is,” Eileen said.

“Yes, it is part of who she is, but it does not define who she is.”

Cochran enters Marine Corps

by Rachel Hall Staff Reporter After Elliot Cochran, senior, graduates this spring, he will immediately abandon the identity of a high school student and adopt his next one as a Marine.

“It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I was little,” Cochran said. “I’ve always respected people in uniform, and being part of something elite has always had my attention.”

Cochran will be joining the U.S. Marine Corps, leaving less than a month after graduation for basic training in San Diego, Calif.

To stay in shape for the Marine Corps and pass the required physical tests, Cochran joined the HHS cross country team for the 2014 season.

“I have to run and lift everyday; that’s your entrance into the military. You have to be able to run three miles in 18 minutes, do 20 pull-ups, just a bunch of physical tests,” Cochran said.

In preparation for his journey, Cochran has formed relationships with other Minnesotans associated with the Marine Corps.

“I work with four other people; they’re sergeants down at the recruiting station in Bloomington. They tell you things like what to bring and how to prepare mentally,” Cochran said.

On July 6, Cochran will begin a 12-week basic training

program. He will then complete another 12 weeks of infantry training.

“Once I reach the rank of corporal, I will switch to explosive ordnance disposal,” Cochran said.

This past Sept., Cochran signed his enlistment papers, stating that he will serve four years of active duty. In those years, he will be deployed overseas. His last four years will be reserve duty.

“If there is a World War III and they need more people [to serve], they would ask me to come back to active duty,” Cochran said.

The help of family and friends has been important in Cochran’s decision to join the Marine Corps.

“My father has been very supportive since day one,” Cochran said. “When I signed my enlistment papers, my mom cried.”

Since he will not be attending college right out of high school, Cochran will be using alternative resources to further his education.

“I will be taking classes online while I’m stationed. That way, I can get my Associate’s Degree. And then when I know what I want to do with the rest of my life, I will go to college, which will be paid for by the United States Military,” Cochran said.

Cochran keeps his head up

and is willing to overcome any obstacles that may come his way in the next eight years of his life. “[The Marine Corps] will definitely teach me a lot of leadership skills and teamwork skills. It will prepare me for life in general and how to be disciplined,” Cochran said. “I know it will be difficult, and there will be times where I want to quit, but I’m looking forward to the experience. I think it will be great for me.”

Royal of the Month

Every month, Mr. Tyson Crockett, Academic Dean, chooses one student to be recognized for his or her outstanding academic achievements.

Marines must have an ACT composite score of 22 or higher.

Since 2010, 29 HHS graduates have joined the Marine Corps.

Initial enlistment in the U.S. Marine Corps is for a term of four years. infographic by Rachel Hall source: marines.mil

Hannah Peterson, senior

How does it feel to be the November Royal of the Month?

It’s an honor. It’s really cool that I’m recognized among everyone in the school.

Which class pushed you the hardest?

I found AP Euro pretty difficult, but I was still able to do well.

I also really like AP Environmental Sciences even though it’s really hard.

What does your education mean to you?

It means a lot that I can get an education and do something that I want with my life.

feature9

the

RPWednesday, December 10, 2014

A message of empoWErment

by Anne Goodroad Staff Reporter The HHS Minnesota Nice Club joined 18,000 other students and educators from across Minn. in celebration at the Xcel Energy Center.

Julia Laden, senior and CoPresident of the Minnesota Nice Club, and eleven students from the club attended We Day Minnesota on Nov. 12.

“The most inspiring part [of We Day] was how every individual came together to be a part of such a big change. You go into the Xcel Center, and every seat is full; you aren’t just one person,” Laden said.

We Day is an event held by Free The Children, an organization that celebrates the empowerment of young global citizens, striving to make them locally active and globally aware, according to their website.

We Day invites school clubs to join the event based on how many volunteer hours each club has completed. Each club is re-

quired to have participated in one local service act and one global service act.

The theme of the 2014 We Day was empowerment. Celebrities such as Magic Johnson and The Band Perry attended to speak about the importance of volunteering at both the local and global levels.

In order for the Minnesota Nice Club to go to this event, they wrote cards for the local children’s hospital and made tie blankets for local nursing homes.

“When everyone comes together, the numbers are endless and the things you can do are too,” Laden said.

Julie Ward, senior, attended We Day and was amazed by how many people were there.

“I learned that a lot more people do community service than I thought. I didn’t realize how many people actually take their time and do things to help others around them,” Ward said.

The Minnesota Nice Club plans to hold a bake sale to raise

Dakota Schlaeger, senior, skates through the pain.

“I quit for a while because I fell and chipped my tooth when I was younger,” Schlaeger said.

“I recently fell and got a small fracture in my arm. I was going over a rail and I stopped, so my momentum went forward, and I hit the ground and landed on my arm.”

Schlaeger and Alex Goldberg, senior, are only two of many HHS skateboarders.

“Skateboarding is tight. I always thought [skateboarding] was interesting, and it is extremely fun. It is something you can do with your buddies,” Goldberg said.

Goldberg inspired Saharud Chanthavong, senior, to start skating.

“I started skateboarding in

ninth grade. Goldberg introduced it to me. He threw me a board and was like ‘Dude, you have to learn how to ollie.’ Now skating is the coolest thing to me,” said Saharud Chanthavong, senior.

Chanthavong enjoys skating urban areas around the city.

“I go to this abandoned KFC over in Golden Valley to skate,”

Rob Zeaske, a graduate of Stanford and Harvard Business School, is the CEO of the Upper Midwest’s largest hunger relief organization, Second Harvest Heartland. Second Harvest is a nonprofit headquartered in Golden Valley. Zeaske says, “I have a philosophy of removing barriers. So rather than restricting, overseeing and limiting, I hire smart people and remove barriers for them. I don’t want to micromanage, and I hope people would say I laugh a lot with the people I manage.”

Above: Students from Minnesota Nice Club attend We Day. The event celebrated the volunteer services of high schoolers around Minn.

Right: An audience crowds around the front of the stage at the Xcel Energy Center. Over 18,000 people were in attendance.

Q: As a kid, were you active in leadership roles or entrepreneurial activities?

photos provided by Isabella Weisman

money for Free The Children, who provides goats for families in developing countries. “[We Day] motivated me to volunteer more. We are all re-

ally busy, but it is so important to take time out of your day to serve. Just a couple of hours makes such a difference to other people,” Ward said.

Chanthavong said. “I always go with a group. Sometimes I’ll go with my little brother.”

Beyond the community and social aspect of skating, Chanthavong appreciates the goals he has met and personal strides he has made through skating.

“You just have to be confident and commit,” Chanthavong said. “I’ve overcome a lot

of things with skateboarding. I used to be scared of skating off of stair sets but now I’m not.”

For Goldberg, the fear that comes with skating is just another thing to love.

“I get a thrill out of riding,” Goldberg said. “You just get this feeling. You feel your adrenaline go up. It’s a rush.”

Video games like The Evil Within and Alien: Isolation revolve around dark themes and for the most part, death. Some HHS students, however, have used those video games to help save lives.

“Everyone involved was basically up for a 24 hour live stream, playing video games,” said Edwing Hernandez-Perez, junior.

A live stream is when a screenplay of video game play is shared on the internet while it is happening. Randy Marchione, junior, set up the live stream on twitch.com so people could tune in and watch online.

From a leadership standpoint, I was doing a lot of different things. I was class president for several years in high school. I also started a lawn mowing service with my best friend in high school.

We created our own business cards and walked around our community to draw business. That was about as entrepreneurial as I got, but I really enjoyed doing that.

Q: When did you decide you wanted to work in the nonprofit sector of business?

I made the decision after business school. While I was at Harvard Business School, they brought in experienced business leaders to share their knowledge. One speaker was particularly popular because of his recipe. His recipe was spend the first third of your career learning, spend the second third of your career accumulating wealth and spend the last third giving back. I thought that was really fascinating, but my thought was: what if I never make it to my final third. I wanted to make it to my final third, so in business school, I made the decision to focus on organizations that had a mission.

Q: How do you manage your employees?

I have a philosophy of removing barriers. So rather than restricting, overseeing and limiting, I hire smart people and remove barriers for them. I don’t want to micromanage, and I hope people would say I laugh a lot with the people I manage. We have to keep a sense of humor in our work. We try to make sure we are candid, honest, and mission focused.

Q: When you are hiring new employees, what qualities do you look for and what questions do you ask?

Dakota Schlaeger, senior, performs a boardslide at a local skatepark. Schlaeger has been skateboarding since he was five. photo provided by Dakota Schlaeger

Video gamers set up live stream for a cause

by Liam Bronstein Staff Reporter

by Brian Yu Buisiness Editor The Royal Page periodically interviews successful business men and women working in the Minneapolis metropolitan area.

We hope to provide influential first-hand sources of success in business for HHS students interested in the business field.

Students hit ramps, rails after school

by Molly Abbott Ladner Staff Reporter

Leaders in Business

“It was surprising how easy it was to set [the live stream] up,” Marchione said. “I just made an account with twitch.com to put up the live stream and then an account with extra-life.org to set up the donations.”

Extra-life.org is a website devoted to using video games to save lives. “[Extra-life.org] is great at getting people to donate towards great causes. It blends the love for gaming and the desire to help kids in need,” Marchione said.

All donations are going to Gillette Children’s Miracle Network Hospital, specifically to help young children with cancer, cystic fibrosis, and injuries from accidents.

“We tried to show [people who were watching the live stream] that we were just having fun. Some donated just because they thought we were funny,” Hernandez-Perez said.

Donations were done through an online funds transfer on extra-life.org. A “Donate Here” link is set up on Marchione’s profile on the website.

At first, the total donations only totaled only $48. Many of the players thought it seemed as though their goal of $1,000 would be impossible.

“Then we started receiving pledges from people who weren’t able to donate to our cause right away,” Marchione said. “We received $488 in pledges that have all now been

fully paid as promised.”

Marchione has high expectations for his charity live streams in the future.

“Another one will be coming soon, so I really need to get the HHS community involved,” Marchione said.

Many wouldn’t immediately think video games are a way to help sick and injured children, but Marchione, HernandezPerez, and other HHS students have made it possible.

“If people like [video games], or even if they don’t, they should donate because this money is going toward helping kids who have cancer and other illnesses,” Hernandez-Perez said. “A great cause is a great cause no matter how it’s carried out.”

I always like to know how someone would fit into our organization. I love hearing about a culture or environment in which you thrive. I am always interested in how people act as a manager, so a question I like to ask is: “Tell about a time when you had to lead a change.” Another one of my other favorite questions is: “Tell me about someone who you would want to work for.” I like to hear who they look up to and what kind of skills they like to see in their manager and team.

Q: What are some of the goals you have for yourself and Second Harvest?

Second Harvest Heartland’s mission is to end hunger through community partnerships. We are one of the largest food banks in the country. We have two facilities, with about 175 employees, and a fleet of around 30 trucks. We are about a 120 million dollar company. Most of the food and money we receive is donated by corporations, individuals and foundations. Last year we received about 35 million pounds of fresh food ranging from produce to meat.

Q: What career advice would you give to High School Seniors?

I think the piece of advice that I liked from business school is to invest in learning. There is so much to know. You are going to have years to produce, provide, and contribute, so it is important to make sure you are seeking people and opportunities that will help you grow and learn. You need to be patient. If you want to be a CEO or CFO of a company, there is time to achieve that. It is important to surround yourself with people who can teach and provide you with opportunities to grow and evolve.

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hockey gets new head coach. Paolucci resigns End of an era: Girls after 15 years of coaching hockey at HHS

by Croix JoliCoeur Staff Reporter Until this season, the girls hockey team has had the same coach for the last 15 years.

“It’s different for everyone, and we have to get used to his new coaching style, and [the new coach] has to get used to us, and how we play,” said Corbin Boyd, senior captain.

The new coach, Chris Erickson, is entering the program with a history of coaching experience.

“I’ve been coaching for over 30 years. I’ve been coaching high school girls for 15-16 years, and I love it,” Erickson said.

The previous coach, Vin Paolucci, Physical education, has been coaching for a long time.

“I’ve coached for about 24 years, and I’ve been coaching here with the girls for about 15 years,” Mr. Paolucci said.

Mr. Paolucci feels that the Hopkins girls hockey program is a great program, and the players in the program are even bet-

ter.

“The program is left with a lot of really good kids who work hard and care about the sport.

Their leadership is outstanding, so i’m very comfortable in the team I left, and I think they will do wonderful things,” Mr. Paolucci said.

As a captain, Boyd knows that she will share responsibility and power with the new coach, and must devote the time necessary to make that relationship work.

“Coming into the season, the new coach didn’t know who the captains were, so we introduced ourselves. After a short amount of time we were, and are working and communicating with him really well,” Boyd said.

Mr. Paolucci believes that your record doesn’t matter, what matters is what you are coaching for.

“If you coach for the right reasons, you don’t need to worry about your record,” Mr. Paolucci said.

With a new coach comes new plays and new strategies.

“There are different plays and drills, so it was different in the first couple weeks, but we have the same core girls, so it’s

been a really easy adjustment.

We all want to win and do the best we can,” said Stephanie Sween, senior.

Erickson believes in his new team and their dedication.

“We have a lot of talent and ability. The girls work really

Annika Patterson, freshman, getting ready to pass the puck around a Shakopee skater. The girls varsity team won 5-2 against Shakopee on Nov. 13

photo by Isabel Hall

Korhonen brothers in blood, belt

by Trianna Downing Staff Reporter

Before earning their black belt, a karate student must earn 14 belts and pass a series of tests consisting of moves, kicks, and defense stances that are associated with each belt.

Brothers Bryan and Robb Korhonen, juniors, have participated in martial arts for over seven years, Bryan beginning his training late 2007 and Robb late 2008. “[Karate] keeps me entertained,” Robb said. “Bryan started fighting first and after watching him fight I started to do it too. It kind of stuck since then. It just became a normal routine.”

In 2012, Bryan earned his black belt from the National Karate Academy of Martial Arts. Robb followed in 2013.

“Getting my black belt was a great experience, but I don’t have plans of stopping. I want to get my second degree in the next six months. Right now I’m keeping focused on continuing,” Bryan said.

The Korhonens are coached by senseis Hamed Firouzi and Adam Jensen. Firouzi holds the rank of fourth degree black belt and is a member of Wasuru, the number one ranked fighting team in the nation.

Jensen believes there is a deeper meaning to a student earning their black belt.

“The black belt is a symbol

hard to be as good as they are,” said Erickson.

Like many of the athletes, Erickson has his own goal for the team his first year as the coach.

“My goal is to make it to the state tournament and do the best we can. I think that's what everybody's goal is, and we have been working hard to get there,” Erickson said.

Boyd shares the same goal as Erickson, and believes that she and her team can meet their goal.

“We want to make it to the section finals and hopefully make it to state, and overall just do really well in our conference,” said Boyd.

Sween wants to do her best and come out of each game a winner.

“We want to go out every night and be the better team and do the best we can. We don’t want to give up any easy games or hard games, and never back down,” Sween said.

of dedication and consistency,” Jensen said. “You have to put in a lot of time. You need to be persistent. Bryan and Robb have all the common denominators that earned them the black belt.”

The brothers have brought what they’ve learned from their teachers to their practices and matches.

“Whenever I’m fighting, I tell myself to stay focused on my opponent and not overthink my movement. It’s important that I’m the most disciplined fighter on the mat,” Bryan said.

Jensen said he’s seen growth and maturity in the brothers since their first lesson five years ago.

“There’s a lot of dedication I see them give to the sport.

Any athlete can do that, but

it’s the discipline that they put on themselves that make them consistent, skilled fighters,” Jensen said.

For Millie Wiesner, junior, karate is a sport that brings out the individuality in a martial artist.

“I like being part of a team, but it’s more competition against yourself rather than others,” Wiesner said. “When you compete it’s about proving yourself.”

Wiesner has participated in karate for nine years. She currently has a brown belt with a black stripe, one belt away from earning her black belt.

She hopes to have her black belt next November.

“To earn a black belt you

have to want it. You need to be persistent,” Wiesner said. “You can go at your own pace, but remember you have all the time in the world to earn it.”

Besides competing in events, Bryan and Robb Korhonen both participate as teachers at the National Karate Academy for younger students throughout the week.

“The academy is most proud of our teaching methods,” Jensen said.

“Putting yourself out there shows how much you can represent yourself. Both brothers have set a good example of this. It puts them in the spotlight.”

For the Korhonens, the hard work is worth it in order to reach

their goals.

“As an athlete, you

have to be stubborn,” Bryan said. “I get hit once or twice, but I don’t give up. If you work hard enough, you will eventually get there.”

Rob Korhonen, junior

sports 11

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RPWednesday, December 10, 2014

Boys cross country sprints to second place finish

by Will Cohen Staff Reporter

Joe Klecker, senior, sprinting to the finish in the state race. The boys cross country team placed second in the race.

photo provided by Lisa Pavelka

Everyday leading up to state, the boys cross country team would go to the Lindbergh fields and run from the Tanglen tennis courts to the pine tree at the fence. For most that’s a workout, but for them, it’s a warm up.

The HHS boys cross country team finished this year’s season on a high note, placing second in state.

“We had the best team ever in Hopkins history,” said Owen Hoeft, junior.

The Royals placed behind the Wayzata Trojans who had two runners placing in the top five in state. The Royals' points total tied Stillwater’s, but the times of each team's sixth runner determined who took second place.

“It was really nerve-wracking. Our sixth runner, Hunter Staack, beat out the Stillwater sixth runner by four seconds.

It was really exciting and really close,” Hoeft said.

State was the ultimate showcase race for the HHS team.

“This year we were super motivated, because the last four years we have been close to making it to state but not able to ultimately get there,” Hoeft said.

The Royals had two finishers in the top 10: Joe Klecker, senior, finished third (15:26), and Hoeft finished eighth (15:46). The team hadn’t made it to the state tournament for 11 years prior to this season.

“Everybody did their part and ran solid times at the state meet. I was really proud of the guys for going all out and performing so well when we needed them the most,” Hoeft said.

The team ran an average of 50 miles per week all season. On Tuesday and Thursday mornings the boys would meet before school and run three to four miles.

Brett Nelson, senior captain, strongly believes the trainings and workouts are the reason HHS made a name for themselves this year.

“We started at the bottom at

the beginning of the season and we really worked our way up,” said Nelson.

In the middle of July, the varsity team took a trip to Buffalo, Wyoming to train in the thin air and high altitude. Each day, the team woke up at 8 a.m. for long training runs.

“It was a great trip because the altitude is much higher so it’s harder to catch your breath,” Hoeft said.

The trip was also a bonding experience for the team.

“Waking up and running in the mountains each day made us a really tight group. It really just a huge bonding experience for

Joe Klecker, senior, placed first in 3 races in the 2014 season.

the team as a whole,” said Sam Branson, junior.

The Royals were not projected nor favored to be one of the top teams in the state at the beginning of the season.

“We had a fantastic season.

This was the fastest team Hopkins has ever had. It was one of the best performances I have ever witnessed in Minnesota state history and it’s a privilege to be a part of that,” said Mr. Mike Harris, head coach, Science.

The team’s legacy will live on as the fifth-fastest average team time in Minn. history.

Klecker broke his own school record in the 5k with a time of 15 minutes and 12 seconds.

Boys varisty team placed top 3 in 8 of their races this season

Seliger-Swenson pursues college career

by Ely Harel Staff Reporter For the first time in the 27-year history of the award, a HHS student has been chosen as the Star Tribune Volleyball Metro Player of the Year.

Samantha Seliger-Swenson, senior, is coming off season in which she was awarded top honors such as Minnesota Miss Volleyball, Metro Player of the Year, All-State and All-America. Throughout her six year varsity career, Seliger-Swenson has been named to seven AllAmerican teams from various media outlets.

“It’s mainly a team award because if my team wouldn’t have done well this season, no one would have seen me play,

but it’s still an honor. It’s really cool that hard work has paid off,” said Seliger-Swenson.

With Seliger-Swenson’s help, the Royals finished the season with a record of 22-5 and were ranked as the best team in state for portions of the season. Seeded as the number two seed in the section tournament, the team made it to the section semi-finals before losing to Wayzata.

“Most of the time in those situations when you have a player like that, the other players tend to rise up as well,” said Dan Johnson, athletic director.

Johnson has spent seven of his 16 years as athletic director watching Seliger-Swenson play varsity volleyball.

“She literally grew up right

out here on the court,” Johnson said. “The older she got, she started developing as a player and was able to be part of the whole landscape of it, and she has just been really invested in this for her whole life.”

Seliger-Swenson’s dedication and improvement has earned her the recognition as the top high school volleyball player in the state of Minnesota, Twin Cities and the eighthranked prospect coming out of high school in the nation.

After verbally committing to the University of Minnesota during her sophomore year, Swenson signed her official letter of intent on Nov. 12 and will graduate early from HHS after this semester to get a head start on her college volleyball career.

“I’m going to get there for off-season, which is where you get better so I think that [graduating early] was the right decision for me because I want to go in and start right away,” said Seliger-Swenson.

Joining a Minnesota Gopher team that is coming off a Sweet 16 loss to Stanford in last year’s NCAA volleyball tournament, Swenson is joining fellow Minnesotan and nationally ranked recruit Taylor Morgan in the hope that she can find more future success.

“I think Sam decided when she was ten years old that she wanted to play volleyball at Minnesota, so I think she’s got the best of all worlds because Gopher volleyball is strong,” Johnson said.

“ “ ____” ____” Recruits commit on national signing day in front of friends and family She literally grew up right out here on the court. The older she got, she started developing as a player and was able to be part of the whole landscape of it. -Dan Johnson, Athletic Director

by Nick Mandler Staff Reporter Robbie Palkert, senior, has a had the dream of playing baseball on the collegiate level since he was a kid. Palkert is playing baseball at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln next year.

“I chose Nebraska because it was all around amazing. It has great academic options along with top notch athletic facilities.

Their college sold itself. I looked at it and felt like it gave me the best opportunity for continuing both my baseball and academic career. I also loved the college atmosphere they had. In Nebraska there isn’t a professional

sports team, so the whole state is basically behind the Nebraska athletics,” Palkert said.

For many high school athletes, their athletic careers end in high school, but a very select few continue to play in college. It is a dream of many high school athletes to be a college athlete and on Nov. 19, our very own here at Hopkins made their dream come true.

11 HHS seniors signed to play college sports on the 19th: Grace Bizal, Corbin Boyd, Ari Brace, Audrey Erickson, Carissa Hilgers, Tommy Gleason, Joe Klecker, Robbie Palkert, Samantha Swenson, TeeTee Starks, and Shawn Williams.

High schools around the lake conference also had signing day. Minnetonka and Edina had the same amount of signings. Both schools had 11 kids sign to colleges.

For HHS, 11 people signing on the fall signing day is not an unusual amount. According to Dan Johnson, athletic director, we normally have 20 people sign over the year including the fall signing day and the spring signing day.

Audrey Erickson, senior, who is playing volleyball for the University of St. Thomas next year, has her specific reasons for choosing her future school.

“I loved the look of the cam-

Samantha Seliger-Swenson, senior, serving the ball. Seliger-Swenson is going to graduate early to start practicing volleyball with the University of Minn., Twin Cities. photo provided by Allison Erickson

pus and how everything felt like self from the pack around you. to be motivated,” Palkert said. one big community. Everyone I But in the end you are just doing met was very nice to me and it what you love so it is pretty easy just felt like the right fit for me.”

Where they will play next: Erickson said.

Becoming a college athSamantha Seliger-Swenson, University of Minnesotalete is not for the average high TC, Audrey Erickson, University of St. Thomas, Carissa Hilgers, University of Wisconsin-Stout school student. It is a completely different atmosphere Tommy Gleason, Luther College, Shawn Williams, than high school sports.

Southwest Minnesota State University “I never thought my goal Robbie Palkert, University of Nebraska-Lincoln was achievable until freshman Corbin Boyd, year of high school. That is Minnesota StateAri Brace, when I really started to work Mankato, Grace University of hard and put in the extra hours Bizal, Boston North Dakota College to make myself better. It definitely is a lot of work. There Joe Klecker, TeeTee Starks, comes a point where you cannot University of Iowa State ColoradoUniversity rely on natural ability anymore Boulder and you need to separate your-

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

FAST FACTS When?

Weekends between Nov. 28-Dec. 24

Where?

Nicollet Mall between 10th and 12th Street

Hours?

Village- 3- 8 pm Market- 9 am to 11 pm

RP Wednesday, December 10, 2014

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12 backpage

Dede DeFreese, senior, remembers bundling up in the cold with her family, each member picking their favorite float in the Holidazzle Parade.

“We always dreamed of being a part of the parade someday,” DeFreese said.

She got her chance when she joined the Lean Mean Performance Machine (LMPM), the HHS pep band. LMPM had a long-standing tradition of performing in the parade, walking up and down Nicollet Mall in light-up costumes.

The Holidazzle parade was a tradition for 22 years, but according to members of the Downtown Council, they decided to create a Holiday Market to make the event more experiential, rather than a show.

The first annual Holiday Market opened for business on Friday, Nov. 28.

Landmarked by a carousel on the corner of Peavey Plaza, a one-time $6 admission fee grants visitors a season-long pass to the market filled with smells of cedar, apple cider, and evergreen.

The Holiday Market encompasses the European Market look and feel. European markets have been a tradition, specifically in Germany, for 700 years.

A german shop sells steamy apple cider in a take-home mug. Minnesotan merchants offer bratwursts, pretzels, soup, and caramel apple squares. Jewelry, home accessories, winter gear, and other holiday gifts from local and international sellers are also for sale. Local choirs, bands, and a cappella groups will perform holiday songs within the market.

DeFreese believes the market will be a great replacement, but she is disappointed LMPM will not be performing.

“The cold weather has made the Holidazzle parade too cold for performers,” DeFreese said. “The Holiday Market seems like a safer alternative. It’s just not the same as watching the lights march down Nicollet.”

Backpage by: Callan Showers, Editor-in-Chief and Isabella Weisman, Infographic Editor