The Royal Page Print Edition: Volume 37 Issue 1 by Royal Page

HOPKINS HIGH SCHOOL 2400 LINDBERGH DRIVE MINNETONKA, MN 55305

OCTOBER 10, 2018 VOLUME 37, ISSUE 1 hopkinsrp.org

RP. the royal page

HHS attempts to bridge gap among teachers Following this year's new hires at HHS, the district is working towards creating a faculty with more diversity that accurately represents the student body. page 2

INSIDE NEWS 2 OPINION 3 IN-DEPTH 4 FEATURE 6 SPORTS 8

Girls tennis eyes state tournament Despite losing against crucial Lake Conference teams, girls tennis believes that state is still in the picture. page 8

Homecoming Highlights Photos by Julia Fromstein and Isaac Richert

Top left: Football players hype up the senior student section at Friday's homecoming game. Top right: Anthony Jennings and Dlayla Chakolis, seniors, are crowned homecoming king and queen. Bottom left: Sophomore girls dress up in class color on Friday. Bottom middle: Jadon Washington, senior, runs the ball for Hopkins. Bottom right: The HHS Pride Poms perform at homecoming game.

Williams’ controversy sparks HHS community deals with talk about equality in sports grief over student death

Mary Murphy Staff Reporter

uring a controversial US Open final between Serena Williams of the USA and Naomi Osaka of Japan, Williams called chair umpire Carlos Ramos “a thief ” and was penalized a whole game for verbal abuse. She received a point violation and a 4,000 dollar fine because Ramos accused her of receiving coaching, which is not allowed in tennis. She received a second violation and was fined 3,000 dollars for slamming her racket on the ground. Lastly, she received the final penalty for verbal abuse against Ramos. She also accused Ramos of sexism because he treated her differently then he would if he was umping a men’s match. This past week attention has been drawn to the question whether women are treated differently in professional sports than men. In women's tennis, for a long time, there have been times when questions arise about

double standards that could be present. The movie “Battle of the Sexes” tells the story of the 1973 match between one of the best women's professional tennis players at the time, Billie Jean King, and male tennis player, Bobby Riggs. This movie highlights the difference in pay for men’s and women's tennis. King said after winning the match, “Sports are a microcosm of society and women have so far to go.” Considering this was said in 1973, why 45 years later is this conflict still coming up? This conversation does not just surround professional tennis, it follows all women's sports at all levels. Here student athletes are speaking out about this. “People comment on my highlights saying this sport is for men, go back to the kitchen,” said Paige Bueckers, junior. The WNBA is another professional women's league that has received criticism over the years. People argue that WNBA is not as entertaining as the NBA and should not get as much coverage as the NBA.

The minimum pay for NBA is five times the maximum salary for WNBA according to Stanford Daily. Bueckers also addressed her opinion on the treatment at a professional level. “Professional players are the best at what they do for a reason. I hope that people can find respect more for women athletes soon because it’s something that needs to change,” Bueckers said. "Pay should be evened.” Evan Komschlies, junior, plays for the boys varsity soccer team and has noticed a difference in how women's sports are treated. “With high school sports, especially in alpine skiing and track and field, I think that girls are given the same respect and recognition as boys. However, in professional sports, I think there is definitely some differences in respect,” Komschlies said. “You may have heard people ask, would you rather have your local WNBA team win a championship, or find 5 bucks?”

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Sam Leervig & Josh Friedman Staff Reporters

his past year has been hard on the Hopkins community. Hearing about any death, especially in high school, can cause students to take a look around at their peers and realize how precious life is. Two weeks ago, Sebastian Harris, junior, died in his

Time for Tech Josh Friedman Staff Reporter

s the age of innovation chugs into the future, HHS is getting onboard with new technology for students and staff. Funded by the 2017 Hopkins Referendum, these new pieces of technology are learning devices bought to benefit the HHS community. Students will immediately

home, and the Hopkins community is again confronted with the grief and the questions surrounding the loss of a classmate. “It’s crazy just last Friday I walked out of school and there was Sebastian calling, 'What's up Baker' with a smile on his face. This was the last thing that I ever thought would happen,” said Ryan Baker, junior. The Crisis Team at Hopkins deals with students and staff after something upsetting has ocnotice a change in their personal technology as they were given Chromebooks fresh off the assembly line. Less obvious are the new Smart Boards that fill the classrooms in the HHS south wing. Some students will remember last year, when two classrooms were outfitted with the new boards. The rooms were used as test to see if the boards and new room layouts were a viable option in the teaching and learning process of the school, and they were. The

curred in the community. The school has a partnership with a grief counselor at Park Nicollet who was present for the days after the incident. The team is available for anyone and all to use, either in person or via email. HHS encourages students to seek help anytime they might be feeling pain or suffering from any tragedy.

new boards allowed for brand new opportunities that the rest of the boards in the school couldn’t compete with. Instead of having to use the pens from the old boards, students and teachers can now use their fingers to write and draw. A teacher can now access any part of their laptop directly from the board. The new boards can now support multiple users at once, tracking every finger on the board separately.

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OCTOBER 10, 2018

02 news

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the royal page I believe that diversity among teachers is good, especially for such a diverse, multicultural student body we have. It shows that role models come in all shapes and forms. It’s not even about black or white; it’s about all cultures. Faith Agboola, junior

HHS attempts to bridge diversity gap New hires in Language Arts attest to district’s commitment to diversify staff Nafi Soumare Staff Reporter Throughout the typical school day, students are surrounded by faces of white. The teaching staff is no exception. According to the Minnesota Report Card, HHS is the most diverse school in the Lake Conference schools, with a 41 percent minority enrollment rate, a stark contrast to Minnetonka High School’s 12 percent minority enrollment rate. However, the teaching staff does not reflect these numbers. While HHS doesn’t report the demographics of staff, no statistics are needed to recognize the lack of diversity of teachers within the building. “This is my sixth year at HHS,” said Ms. Kimberly Foster, Spanish. “Up until this year, I was one of maybe three people of color in the teaching staff.” Stanford professor Thomas Dee has done research that supports the idea that students

benefit from their teacher sharing their gender or race, and that it can even have an impact on curving the education gap. This education gap refers to how the inequalities between races and genders can impact a student’s education. The Stanford Center for Education echoes this and states that the various social and economic disparities that present themselves in American culture have proven themselves to have a negative impact on a student’s intellectual development. Suzanne Paterson, senior, has never had a teacher of color throughout her whole high school career. “I think that there are certain experiences that race can bring and can make one teacher stand out from another. A new perspective is always good,” Paterson said. This school year, Ms. Holiday Sambalay and Ms. Fatuma Ali, English, started teaching at HHS. They also happen to be

among the only black females in the teaching staff. Ms. Samabalay taught at South High School in Minneapolis for multiple years before her transition to HHS. “At South, I really liked the diversity, and there was a social justice culture that I enjoyed as well,” Ms. Samabalay said. South High School was ranked by Niche.com as the fifth most diverse high school in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area. While HHS is the most diverse of the suburban Lake Conference schools, it still has a long way to go. “I do not believe that our teaching staff reflects the diversity at our school. Not at all. When it comes to teaching, students need to see people that look like them in those positions,” Ms. Foster said. The Learning Policy Institute, reports that while there is still a large disparity between white teachers and teachers of color in American schools,

teacher diversity has grown slowly from 12 percent in 2014 to 17 percent in 2017. Samabalay, in her introduction to HHS, is thrilled to be a part of the school’s community and aid in whatever way she can to curve the diversity gap. Alyia Brown, sophomore, is a student in Samabalay’s Honors Perspectives in American Literature class. “Ms. Samabalay is very down to earth and very entertaining. She makes the class enjoyable for everyone. It’s definitely not like the boring, average class,” Brown said. “The achievement gap is definitely something that keeps me up at night. I know that it’s something that’s so much bigger than me. If [a student] feels like they belong in a community, their performance definitely mirrors it,” Ms. Samabalay said. “I’m excited to get to know my students, their needs, and really start to become more comfortable in the HHS community.”

Dean Phillips welcomed to HHS during TASC Josh Friedman Staff Reporter This political campaign season in Minn.’s third congressional district has two nominees, Dean Phillips and Erik Paulsen competing for a representative spot. While the race has been catching media attention over the TV, Phillips visited HHS on Thursday, Sept. 28, and spoke on current issues and his plans to fix them. He emphasized that the current congress has been plagued by money going into campaigns and that it’s affecting views on controversial topics. While Phillips just visited HHS for the first time, Paulsen has visited for the past two years and was invited to come again.

With the recent technological advancements at HHS, such as the new chromebooks and flexible learning spaces, it seems as though the administration is using technology to promote student wellness. The implementation of a new tipline to the HHS website was introduced at the beginning of this school year in an attempt

continued from 1 The south wing was the only area outfitted with the boards because of the ventilation work that was being done over the summer. It was easier to put in the wires for the renovations and install the boards at the same time. Presumably, as more ventilation is redone, the rest of the school will be able to get the new boards too. “I’m so jealous I don’t have one of the new smart boards, because they’re so big and so bright,” said Mr. John UnruhFriesen, social studies. Along with his excitement for the boards, Unruh-Friesen also has extensive knowledge on the brand new chromebooks. He is a self proclaimed chrome corner guru and spent hours testing all of the options for this year’s chromebooks. The corner folks had many chromebooks to play with in order to decide which was best for HHS and its students. “We chose these chromebooks specifically because they met all of our specifications and were one of the best deals based on the money we had. They also were in our top two of all the chromebooks we tested,” said Mr. UnruhFriesen. The brand new chromebooks will allow students to pursue academic success in

and out of school. The laptops are outfitted with technology that allows them to flip over and be used as a touchscreen tablet. Students also have the opportunity to use a stylus for no extra charge, as long as they don’t lose it. In order for the tablet to work, students can’t put a case on their chromebooks because they won’t be able to flip around. “The backs scratch really easily so I would like to have a case, but I guess it’s worth it for the better cameras and the fact that they flip around which is cool,” said Ethan Nielson, senior. The chromebooks also have cameras on both the top of the screen and the keyboard. This allows them to film like an iPad when flipped around, which makes creating movies much easier for students during class. Additionally, both cameras have microphones, increasing the quality of the chromebooks. “There are really cool applications with the camera and stylus, you can film and then annotate at the same time. While a student is dissecting a pig, they can film it and annotate simultaneously,” said Unruh-Friesen. The school can expect to see the continuation of chromebooks and the new boards covering the rest of the school in the near future.

Royal Corner moves, consolidates shops Sam Leervig Staff Reporter

Photos by Isaac Richert

Dean Phillips speaks to a group of HHS students during TASC, about his stance in politics and the upcoming election.

Student Wellness tipline alerts school of concerns Nafi Soumare Staff Reporter

Time for tech

to promote student safety and well-being. During past school years, to submit a report of assault or bullying, students had to make a face-to-face meeting with a trusted staff member. With the new tipline, students can simply fill out a Google Form on their own time. According to Ms. Kelly Tennison, associate principal, and Mr. Trent Lawson, assistant principal, this new development was strongly encouraged by stu-

dent suggestion. “Our goal was to establish trusting relationships between students and staff members by helping students feel comfortable bringing something up,” Ms. Tennison said. HHS is the first of the Lake Conference Schools to implement a tipline to their school website, following in the steps of Osseo Public Schools, who implemented their own tipline in the spring of 2018. Although HHS is among

the first of the surrounding school districts to implement a tipline, Mr. Lawson hopes that others follow in accordance. “We created this tipline out of necessity. We hope that every student who feels the need to report an incident has a comfortable and accessible way to do so,” Mr. Lawson said. The new tipline can be found on the HHS web page, under the sidebar entitled “For Students.”

After a summer full of renovations and construction at HHS, the spirit shop located in the mall has seemingly disappeared. The Royal Corner is run by students and sells a variety of HHS gear and apparel. The former location of the shop will soon be a new meeting room for the front office. The Royal Corner will be moved to the space that currently encompaces the Spirit Shop, combining the two similar stores. “The store relocation won’t affect the shop itself. [The Royal Corner] will continue to do custom orders and carry the typical items seen last year,” said Mr. Jesse Theirl, business education. “The plan will be for it to continue as a student ran business.” The Royal Corner deals

more in the individual as well as customized apparel. “The Spirit Shop will still deal with the letter jackets,” Mr. Theirl said. “Those can often be very detailed, and running the whole process with the school and the vendors can be complicated.” Students involved in entrepreneurship classes have the opportunity to run this shop in order to experience what running a real company might look like. “I really love working in the [Royal Corner] because it lets me work with problems and solve issues that I might have to do in the future, if I were to run a business,” said Alek Wormuth, senior. Students at HHS will be able to find all their apparel needs near the Lindbergh Center when the store opens up later this school year.

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the royal page

A positive attitude can give yourself, and others, hope. If they appear to be having a bad day, and you see them, there’s nothing wrong with sitting with them and talking, or just saying hi. Something as simple as that may have a bigger effect than you might think.

We have hit our stride. Many things were different last year. We moved into our new home in W125 and we updated our logo, made major renovations to the website, and now print all 12 pages in color. After a transition year, we have now hit our stride. Our goal is to have our revolutionary design and content appeal to our modernized audience. Hopkinsrp.org has been worked on continuously throughout the summer in order to make it user-friendly for you guys. As you walk into W125, you’ll see a devoted group of young journalists hard at work getting content for all HHS audiences. We have two classes of students totaling over 45 students who all have the desire to write stories and learn the ins and outs to creating a publication. We would like to ensure that we, The Royal Page, cover all stories with with ut-

Maya Kupritz

Editor-in-Chief

opinion

AJ Bozeman, senior

LETTER FROM THE EDITORS ter honesty and respect. That is our most important value. Whatever situation The Royal Page is in, the student and their opinions come first. We plan to make The Royal Page the go-to news outlet for all members in the Hopkins community. Nobody covers athletics, news, or feature coverage like us. You can expect to see a reporter and a photographer at every single HHS sporting event. We encourage you to include your voice in our paper. Send us emails with story ideas, questions, comments, or concerns at royalpage@gmail.com. Please also follow us on twitter @theRoyalPage for daily updates on student life and activities around the HHS community. As your Editors-inChief, we could not be more proud to continue to share the stories of HHS.

Luis Felemovicius Editor-in-Chief

(Pack)tivism in the social media generation Sam Buttress Opinion Editor

olitical expression is on the rise. A couple decades ago you would have had to join an interest group or write a physical letter before a politician could ignore you. Now, with social media, you can get ignored by politicians instantly and rack up likes at the same time. “Slacktivism” is the practice of supporting a political or social cause through mostly “feel-good” actions that require very little effort, like signing an online petition or sharing a link on Facebook. While that is very common in our current society, there’s another form of activism that is just as prevalent. I’m talking about when an individual is politically active only when it is popular or in self-interest, when someone is active in the political process, but only to, say, pad a college application or spice up their Instagram feed. I would like to propose that this form of activism henceforth be known as whacktivism, pig-

AP classes lack diversity; can it be fixed? Nafi Soumare Staff Reporter

OCTOBER 10, 2018

ver since I stepped foot in my AP US History classroom as a sophomore, it became very clear I would be a minority in AP classes for the rest of my high school career considering I could easily count the number of people of color on one hand. AP European History, which I took my junior year, was no exception. However, this year, my senior year, it seems as though the HHS administration is attempting to do something about it. The student success coaches, a support group that has, according to Principal Doug Bullinger, been around for a couple of years, has been approaching students over the past few months and suggesting that they enroll in AP classes. “The bottom line is, when a student takes an AP class, they’re inevitably more prepared for college. We want to give as many Hopkins students that opportunity while we can,” said Mr. Kevin Kos, Language Arts & success coach. Additionally, these coaches are simultaneously attempting to curve the diversity gap. It’s no question that AP classes are

especially homogenous when it comes to race, and administration sees these student success coaches as the ideal bridge to the wide disparity. These are all good things. Increasing diversity in AP classes, ensuring that all students are prepared for college to the highest extent, there’s nothing wrong with that. The real issue lies in the negative racial implications that come from pulling a student of color aside and encouraging them to join a challenging class, thus singling them out from the rest of the AP crowd. Earlier this term, I was pulled out of class by a success coach. I have taken four AP classes in the past and intend on taking more. Intention aside, the implication was essentially, “You’re black, thus you must need my help.” “We are specifically targeting students of color, because what we see a lot of the time, at schools like ours, you can tell what kind of class it is just by looking through the glass, at the race of the students sitting inside. I believe every classroom should reflect the diversity of our school,“ Bullinger said. Is this really the way to solve the lack of participation in AP classes? The fact of the matter is, it doesn’t matter because this is an issue that cannot be solved by

any coach. This is bigger than an AP class, bigger than one school. This is a larger, institutional problem, the achievement gap. From a young age, black children are slated against in the educational, economic and social systems of America. All the underhanded comments from elementary school teachers, the bigoted remarks of classmates, the poor representation in media, ruin any sense of worth from a very young age for many. None of this can be reversed with a simple initiative implemented the year before they graduate. This isn’t to say that I do not appreciate the efforts of administration and all they’re doing to attempt to combat this phenomenon. I’m saying that I think it may be ineffective and possibly counterproductive. If we want to solve this issue, we need to start earlier. Encourage black kids to enroll in challenging classes from junior high. Foster their sense of self-worth. Teach them that they can be successful. I had an alienating experience. I felt, for a brief moment, that I was unworthy, unwelcome, and foreign in my AP classes. I can’t ensure that experiences like I had never happen to another student again, but I can promise that I’ll never stop talking about it.

gybacktivism, or positive feedbacktivism. Take your pick and get it trending on Twitter. Packtivism would also be good because it takes place within a herd mentality. Yeah, that’s the one. Social media is an opportunity to influence how others perceive us. Plus it helps that there is enough diversity here that you can comfortably take a political stance in this school without too much fear of backlash. In the wake of Parkland, there were a lot of walkouts, marches and protests. At the same time, there was an uptick of Instagram posts featuring strong anti-NRA sentiments, catchy signs and short, nononsense captions. Weeks later, there were hardly any posts on my Instagram feed taking a political stance. Many of the people supporting Colin Kaepernick on Twitter and agreeing that yes, black lives do matter, are the same people who, when a Twitter account tells them to, will show up to a home football game looking like an American

flag threw up on them and talking about how great it is to drive their pickup truck in the good ol’ US of A. Because everybody is doing it. Because it’s fashionable. Now, with the exception of Russia, no country is ever going to be perfect, and it’s just unreasonable to say that you shouldn’t have pride for your country unless it solves every problem it has. There’s no reason you shouldn’t celebrate the good parts of your nation in a positive way. It’s just undeniable that there are very quick and very radical shifts in many people’s opinions based on what happens and what is popular. The question still remains, is quacktivism (or whatever I called it earlier) a bad thing? If people are advocating for a good cause, do their motives really matter? If someone volunteers at a food shelter, not because they have a yearning to help but because they need volunteer hours for a class, is the end result not the same? Our world is propelled by incentives. Social media has recently shifted incentives by

making it possible to receive immediate attention and immediate validation. This makes attention and popularity a powerful incentive. With our current society being so politically divisive, making a political statement is a surefire way to receive that validation, at least from your side of the aisle. Protesting special interest groups or burning your Nike socks may be the current day equivalent to big hair and leg warmers from the ‘80s. Personally, I see it as an inevitable development that isn’t ultimately harmful. I marched to the Capitol building and didn’t take any pictures. From one perspective, you could see it as more altruistic since I’m getting less out of it, but you could just as easily argue that I had less of an impact by not making record that I was ever there. Ultimately, if you are expressing your political opinions in a way that gets a lot of likes or retweets, that’s absolutely fine. As long as you recognize the irony of kneeling for the anthem while wearing starspangled shades.

Top 10

Ways to stay awake in class Never stop hitting that snooze button Nap during passing time in the new ﬂexible ‘learning’ spaces

Ask a friend to throw a trash can at you if you start nodding off

Tell a vegan how much you love meat and the noise will keep you awake

Use photosynthesis to sustain yourself

7 Jumper cables 6 Bring an IV drip of caffeine 4

Somehow get 9 hours of sleep in the 5 hours you have for sleeping

2 1

Confront Morpheus , the Dream

Lord

Don’t. It’s more important to catch up on Zs than to get all As

the royal page

OCTOBER 10, 2018

04 in-depth

F i G h T i N g

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School, extracurriculars, and appearances band together to form the perfect storm of insecurities. It seems as if teens are in a constant competition to nowhere, nearly always ﬁnding a reason to be unfulﬁlled and insecure. Maya Kupritz, Mia Sparrow, & Ali Winter Editor-In-Chief, Graphic Editor, & Feature Editor obsessive and

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Embodying the perfect student

rom early on, guardians advise students to become worldly, well-rounded individuals, chasing the ideal of success in every endeavor. Once test results are returned, students gather and compare their performances. GPAs and ACT scores are freely shared, and athletes compete to stand out in the public eye. The idea of school induced stress becoming a chronic issue and impacting one’s mental health is prominent. A typical high school is composed of students who are both chronically and mildly stressed. Not to mention students who suffer from anxiety, depression and learning disorders. “My main pressures arise from hard classes, that bring forth a large workload. Additionally, being a senior means perfecting my ACT score, completing college applications and constant thought of my future,” said Carli Wolpert, senior. Nothing seems to be private these days, and as a result, many attempt to build perfect images in both their school and outside life. Certain friend groups hold each other to standards; while some may study together, others may party and uphold a nonchalant attitude towards school. “I would describe my friend group’s standards as high, they all are very into

school and achieving highly, however, they want to do so by doing the least amount of work possible,” said Elyssa Marx, junior. The achievement of perfectionism tends to feel like a race to nowhere, in a competition with peers to be the “winner” in social, academic and athletic aspects. “I feel as though it’s based off who you want to associate yourself with. I would do just fine in school without my friends, but they make school so much easier and push me to do better. I don’t usually compare myself with them or feel like they’re my competition,” said Alesha Myers, junior. Colleges also set a high standard for students, emphasizing involvement in a wide array of activities in addition to high grades and testing. For example, University of Wisconsin Madison, a Big 10 University, denied an HHS student who had a 31 ACT and a 3.82 GPA. These statistics, which are no doubt commendable, prove the level of near perfection that is expected. Aside from the high standards brought on by colleges, parents also play a vital role in the daily pressures students receive. “My parents sometime pressure me because they want me to succeed as well,” Wolpert said. “They push me to do extracurriculars, even though I don’t always want to, because I have a hard time joining. It usually ends up with them making me go.”

Many parents and coaches additionally want students to be the best on their sports team. Although physical activity is proven to be good for the brain, outside pressure to be the best and most athletic can diminish the love of the game. “We’ve seen more anxious athletes, whose classroom habits carry over to their sport in terms of the pressures of performance. Your body can’t distinguish the source of your stress; as far as biology goes, there is no difference between stress on a test and stress leading up to a big game or race,” said Mr. Mike Harris, science teacher and cross country coach. Although stress can sometimes take over a student’s life, there are many ways to cope with this mental block. Eating healthy and getting active are some of the many ways to manage stress levels. Exercise releases endorphins that create a feelgood mindset and it can also serve as a valuable distraction from your daily stressors. “People get into ruts, in which their thoughts are obsessive and compulsive, and it is important to interrupt those patterns. They need to accept a poor grade on a test, or turn in assignments that aren’t perfect, all of these contribute to desensitization training,” said Ms. Jane Kleinman, health teacher.

OCTOBER 10, 2018

the royal page

P e R f e C t i o N

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in-depth

There are so many messages out there that say love yourself, but it’s easier said than done. I’ve always been a perfectionist. In junior high, I began to feel like performing well in school wasn’t enough to be socially accepted, so I began looking inward. Lia Harel, Senior

he idea of perfectionism doesn’t stop within the walls of a school; it rather spreads and works its way into the lives of some teenagers. The healthy perception of their body and overall physical appearance is altered and becomes negative in many cases. Social media is a place where selfies and swimsuit pictures are publicly portrayed on the daily. Every spring break or summer vacation one may expect to be bombarded with a multitude of “perfect” bikini photos taken simply from flattering angles or, more discouragingly, they may have been edited on an app. “I compare myself to friends who are ‘more fit’ and

Body image

muscular than I am. However, I don’t feel as though social media has given me a skewed body image” said Jacob Savitz, senior. Boys, who may not be as affected by social media posts, still have friends of different “superior” body types to feel insecure next to. Sports, and the certain weight, height and muscle expectation of certain ones, also create a feeling of inferiority. “When I played basketball, I always struggled to compete with tall, lanky kids who coaches recognized automatically for their growth potential. They had an inherent advantage over me that was hard not to be jealous of,” said Sam Segalbaum, senior. From a very young age, to-

day’s teens have been forced to confront their insecurities due to the pressures they are subjected to thanks to a growing culture that praises perfection. This problem has greatly escalated in recent years due to the surge of social media’s popularity, particularly Instagram. Girls are praised for having thigh gaps, tiny waists with wide hips, big lips, long eyelashes, while boys are praised for height, strength and their interests. All of these ideals have been perpetuated by social media influencers, celebrities and the fashion industry alike. “There are so many messages out there that say love yourself, but it’s easier said than done. I’ve always been a perfectionist. In junior high, I

began to feel like performing well in school wasn’t enough to be socially accepted, so I began looking inward,” said Lia Harel, senior. Although these pressures have added difficulties for teens growing up in our society, all hope may not be lost. Even amongst all of the media’s praise of what “perfectionism” is in our culture, there are movements developing to counter their effects. Brands such as Aerie have teamed up with plus size models to promote body positivity, and models such as Ashley Graham have helped girls all over the world to accept and love themselves. “I believe people don’t have to be a certain way here at Hopkins, there is someone for every-

one. However, I don’t believe this holds truth at our surrounding schools,” Ms. Kleinman said. One of the best ways to stay positive in a world that seems to always only recognize the negative, is to find some time to spend with yourself. “Self talk is a big thing. It’s important to recognize what you are saying to yourself. We create our own stress by believing we are bullied by other people, but the biggest bullies are ourselves and we are horrible to ourselves. And having that awareness and then reframing what you’re saying is huge,” Ms. Kleinman said.

OCTOBER 10, 2018

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feature

the royal page Honestly, I’m still in shock that I won; it’s all been really exciting and the support has been great. Dlayla Chakolis, senior

Royal Page Q&A with HHS Royal Court Michael Adam Staff Reporter

Queen: Dlayla Chakolis

Q: Why did you want to be in the royal court? A: “It was a bet with my friend. My teammate and I made a bet that I couldn’t beat her for homecoming queen, so I decided to do it as a friendly competition.” Q: Does this mean anything to you or are you doing it just for fun? A: “Just for fun, but it was cool to do and I had a lot of fun throughout the process.” Q: How did you campaign? A: “I made a lot of posters, and brought candy and food to give out to people.” Q: Were you surprised? A: “When they said my name I was kind of shook at first. I sort of had a feeling that I had it in the bag though, since a lot of people told me that they were going to vote for me.”

King: Anthony Jennings

Q: Why did you want to be in the royal court? A: “I just thought that it would be cool to be on homecoming court.” Q: Does this mean anything to you or are you doing it just for fun? A: “I did it just for fun; it wasn’t a super serious thing for me.” Q: Have you run for royal court before? A: “No, I haven’t.” Q: How did you campaign? A: “I didn’t really put up any posters, all I did was tell people on Snapchat, as well as told my football team about it.” Q: Were you surprised? A: “Yes, because I didn’t think people would take it very seriously and actually vote.”

Princess: Ta’ Vonyay Cates

Q: Why did you want to be in the royal court? A: “I like attention and I really like winning.” Q: Does this mean anything to you or are you doing it just for fun? A: “It means something to me because I want to make my highschool experience memorable and I don’t want it to be boring.” Q: Have you run for royal court before? A: “No, this was my first time.” Q: How did you campaign? A: “I just told all my friends to vote for me and I gave a speech to my math class saying that if they voted for me then I would give them candy.” Q: Were you surprised? A: “Not really, because I kind of knew I was going to win as a lot of my friends said they were voting for me. ”

Prince: Diego Sojos

Q: Why did you want to be in the royal court? A: “I actually didn’t plan on running; someone just elected me and I ended up goetting a lot of votes.” Q: Does this mean anything to you or are you doing it just for fun? A: “It means so much, it’s life changing, it got my confidence up.” Q: Have you run for royal court before? A: “This was my first time being apart of it.” Q: What response have you gotten? A: “I didn’t really get a negative or positive response.” Q: Were you surprised? A: “Very surprised, because I didn’t even know that I was nominated. It was a really cool surprise, though.”

Dutchess: Wardlyn Dualu

Q: Why did you want to be in the royal court? A: “First, I thought it would just be cool to be on it, but then I also realized that I could put it on my college application. That changed my attitude towards it being just a silly high school thing.” Q: Does this mean anything to you or are you doing it just for fun? A: “I kind of like it because it was just something that I would remember about high school. It’s also nice that I can use it on college applications.” Q: How did you campaign? A: “I didn’t; I didn’t even know that I was running.” Q: Were you surprised? A: “Yes, it was a pretty big shock to see that I had won.”

Duke: Pablo Castellanos

Q: Why did you want to be in the royal court? A: “I didn’t initially want to do it, but I didn’t get into student council, so I enjoyed being a part of the royal court instead. Being on royal court is more after school programs and not as much work as student council, so it was a better fit anyway.” Q: Does this mean anything to you or are you doing it just for fun? A: “I actually didn’t even run, I was just voted in. I’ll probably run next year, though, because this year was such a fun experience.” Q: Were you surprised? A: “Yes, I was very surprised. I thought that I was in trouble when someone first told me; I was just listening to music when they came up to me and announced that I had won.”

Students sit in to stand up against sexual assault Sit in occurs amidst controversy surrounding Kavanaugh nomination Zoe Roemhildt Staff Reporter n Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018, many HHS students gathered in the mall at approximately ten in the morning to recognize survivors of sexual assault and the issues surrounding it. The inspiration for this sitin was the Believe Survivors movement, first brought to national attention by various women’s rights groups in support of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. Dr. Ford is a psychology professor in California, most commonly known for accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of attempted rape. Since her statement, several other women have come forward with their experiences of Kavanaugh making unwanted sexual advances. “Dr. Ford has bravely come forward and shared her story about her sexual assault at the hands of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh,” says the Facebook event page for the protest. “Even though Dr. Ford has repeatedly stated her desire

to testify and bravely share her story, Senate Republicans are doing everything they can to shame, bully, and force her to testify under their unacceptable, inappropriate conditions.” In solidarity, the HHS sit-in was organized by students and publicized through support on social media over the course of the week. The goal of the sit-in, according to organizer Jessica Melnik, senior, was to have three minutes of silence in solidarity for the victims whose voices have been silenced and for students to see how com-

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important, and that they don’t matter. We need to band together and fight that. If we say nothing about it, or if the school says nothing about it, then that sets a terrible example,” Melnik said. While the Believe Survivors has received acclaim, there has been criticism. Gideon Ross, senior, feels that this message does not promote progress. “The motto ‘Believe Survivors’ is problematic. Americans need to hold strong to the ideal that we are innocent until proven guilty because the alternatives could be extremely dangerous. ‘Believe Survivors’ doesn’t seem

As high school students, we can’t pretend that this has nothing to do with us. Lola Brown, senior

mon assault is, even within our school. By holding the protest inside, she hoped to make the message harder to ignore. “Our nation’s most important leaders tell us that as high schoolers our experiences aren’t

to uphold this principle,” Ross said. The National Sexual Violence Resource Center states that the majority of sexual assaults go unreported and of those that are, false accusations

make up ten percent or less of them. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states, victims of sexual assault suffer from great harm. Survivors are vulnerable to many issues, including PTSD and a higher rate of suicide. While this protest was not officially recognized by the school’s administration in any way, the Royal Page reached out to Mr. Doug Bullinger, principal, who expressed support. “We approve and applaud it. Our job is to make sure everyone is safe and it’s done in a way that is conducive and helpful for their cause,” Mr. Bullinger said. Lola Brown, senior, who participated in the sit-in hopes this protest serves a reminder that teens deserve to have a place in the #metoo movement. “I think the protest is very important because Dr. Ford is being attacked for saying that she was assaulted in high school,” Brown said. “As high school students, we can’t pretend that this has nothing to do with us.”

photo by Isaac Richert

Signs that HHS students made for the sit in. They wrote messages in support of sexual assault victims.

photo by Isaac Richert

Founder of Girls United, Jessica Melnik, senior, speaks at the sit in. She was later joined by Cat Saari, senior, in addressing sexual assault.

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the royal page

OCTOBER 10, 2018

It’s important that students here at HHS feel supported by their peers and faculty.

Lola Brown, senior

feature

“Damn Yankees” Profile: Gabe Kemper Theater student takes us through his journey to the big stage

Max Lacey Staff Reporter

abe Kemper, senior, is a natural born entertainer. Kemper started performing in his church choir at a young age, and has always enjoyed putting on a show for crowds. It wasn’t until fourth grade at Gatewood Elementary, however, that he discovered his passion for theater. “I found my love for acting in my fourth grade rendition of the Revolutionary War. It was the first time I was given a leading role in a performance and it was a lot of fun for me,” Kemper said. “It really opened my eyes to the world of theater.”

In addition to performing in any school play that his elementary school had to offer, he joined band in fifth grade. It was there that he learned to read music and play the tuba. He was in the band program at HHS for five years until moving on to choir class. It was here that Kemper first became interested in the theater program that HHS has to offer. “Since I was in church choir I always wanted to do it in school. I heard about the theater program from friends in classes and it’s been great ever since I started,” Kemper said. He has been in four shows since joining theater in his sophomore year, however, theater is not the only extracurricular he is involved in. He also has

to juggle things such as family, work and sports in addition to participating in the theater program. Since many of these things conflict in his schedule, Kemper has had to make certain sacrifices to give his passion his full attention. “I’m taking a break from working so I have time for my homework, family and other activities such as theater,” Kemper said. His greatest influences are his fellow classmates that convinced him to audition, and keep him motivated throughout the year. They are together for a huge amount of time throughout the year to rehearse, and he has formed strong bonds with his castmates who share an interest in

his passions. Kemper enjoys theater because of the thrill of acting and being with friends, but does note it can be very stressful. “It’s definitely stressful. It’s more stressful the closer you get to the performance, as you never know what could really happen until opening night. You could forget a line or mess up the choreography, but that is what is so much fun about doing it,” Kemper said. Kemper’s role in the Fall musical “Damn Yankees” is Old Joe Boyd. “Damn Yankees” will be performed Nov. 15, 16, and 17. He plans on participating in “One Acts” again in the winter, and hopes to continue acting in his college years and beyond.

photo by Isaac Richert Gabe Kemper, left, shown performing for the one acts production last year. This was Kemper’s third HHS performance.

Ridgedale library modernizes Remodel provides 21st century work space Ali Winter Feature Editor

photo by Julia Fromstein

Abbie Ansel, senior, talks with Ms. Kelly Tennison, new associate principal, in the mall between third and fourth block.

Tennison brings fresh perspective Cole Segalbaum & Alexis Horowitz

Staff Reporters

s. Kelly Tennison, associate principal, came into HHS with a big goal: to deliver a world class education to every student. Before getting into the teaching field, Ms. Tennison volunteered in Guatemala and Tokyo. It was a very impactful experience for her, as it brought her the inspiration to work with kids. This is what inspired her to go into teaching. “I didn’t plan on becoming a teacher,” Ms. Tennison said. “Education came to me.” Coming into HHS, Ms. Tennison had ten years of teaching experience at Roseville Area High School. Ms. Tennison has plans on how to improve the school. “World class education to me is all students achieving at high levels,” Ms. Tennison said. One of Ms. Tennison’s biggest hopes for HHS is to change the learning style. She believes that students can work more efficiently when students

are talking with teachers, instead of teachers lecturing students. How does she plan to make this change? “Supporting teachers and interactive learning,” Ms. Tennison said. Another improvement Ms. Tennison would like to see is initiating the multiracial club. After spending ten years at Roseville Area High School, the multiracial club was something she developed there in hopes of strengthening relationships between different racial groups. Ms. Tennison’s work with developing the multiracial club at Roseville won her a Human Rights Commision Award. Ms. Tennison was also nominated for Minnesota Teacher of the Year. Outside of school, Ms. Tennison tries to spend every spare moment with her two kids, aged seven and nine. She reads the Geronimo Stilton with her seven year old, and reads the Harry Potter series to her nine year old, as well as watching the movies. If she had more time, she would also enjoy doing yoga.

idgedale Library in Minnetonka has served this community since 1982, but closed down last year for much needed renovations. Finally, on Monday, Sept. 24, after nearly a year long wait, the library reopened, and was instantly packed with families restless to see the fresh, modern changes. Senior Administrative Manager of capital projects for the library, Ann WoodsonHicks, who was the leader of this project, noted that the a major focuses of this renovation were fixing some mechanical issues within the buildings structure itself, as well as modernizing the space. This included adding more outlets for charging, faster Wifi, and more meeting spaces. “The building hadn’t been updated since 1999, so the finishes, carpeting, and furniture were all worn out and old. The main need for the renovation was for the mechanical systems to be replaced, meaning anything involving heating or cooling,” Woodson-Hicks said. In addition to a lack of updated furnishings, there was no designated teen space, which the library staff felt was essential to creating a welcoming, safe environment. Dana Bjerke, the Youth Services Librarian at Ridgedale Library, provided the vital push behind this effort, providing insight into what teens would want from the remodel by organizing a panel of teens to consult on the matter.

photo by Isaac Richert Library officials cut the ribbon to open the remodeled Ridgedale Library on Sept. 22. The reopening brought back many familiar faces to the library, as well as new demographics drawn to the modernized spaces.

“A big part of my work on the project was thinking of the furniture that was going to go in the kids space and the teen space,” Bjerke said. “I hope that teens will find this new area cozy and relaxing; a sort of place to unwind after getting home from school.” Since this library has turned into a great meeting space for teens, the librarians have also taken steps to make the process of acquiring a library card as simple as possible. It is free to get a card, and the process takes only about five to ten minutes; although most HHS students have already been given theirs. “You need a card to check out books, but as long as you know your name, phone number, and address, we are happy

to get anyone set up with a new card,” Bjerke said. Maria Elena Baca, principal communications specialist for the library and HHS parent, is beyond excited about the renovations regarding the teen space and recommends that any HHS student should utilize the new resources. “Libraries have since changed. They have really become much more of a gathering place,” Elena Baca said. “That’s why the renovations are so great, because they provide much needed spaces for collaborations to happen.” Already the new library has been a hit with students, one being Marcella Reese, senior. “I really liked that they added more rooms for study-

ing and meeting, which have boards to write on and outlets to plug into,” Reese said. “The atmosphere also feels a lot more welcoming.” Since one of the major focuses was creating a new and modern teen space, it pertains to HHS students in a huge way. Since it is only about three miles away from HHS, there is no excuse for failing to make use of these fresh, new spaces. “We hope that teens will come here and be able to collaborate in our new meeting spaces, which can be reserved by anyone, and work on homework here in our new lounge areas,” Bjerke said. “There is a lot of new, modern furniture specifically for teenagers, so we hope that they will utilize it.”

the royal page

OCTOBER 10, 2018

sports

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We’ve learned and grown a lot this season. Mary Murphy, junior

Royal Season Highlights:

Photos provided by Eli Hoeft, Kaija Pratt, Anna Erickson, Rachel Kelly, James Klecker and Abby Anderson.

Get a look at how some of the Royals are doing this fall. Eli Hoeft, senior, want to enjoy his last season. “The season has gone pretty well so far and it’s a fun experience, Hoeft said. The girls cross country team is top 20 in the state.

Photo by Noah Zaroff

Captain Carli Wolpert, senior, rips a backhand in a match against Eastview. Wolpert is a top three singles player on the girls tennis team.

Girls tennis looks ahead to state tournament Gabriel Herman Sports Reporter The HHS girls tennis team believes that last year’s season ended much too early and that there is much more to come this season. “I think our team has a lot of potential to do a lot the rest of this season, we just need to stay confident and compete every match,” said Mary Murphy, junior. They’re looking to compete for a state title as they continue the season. Although relatively early, the team recognizes what they are facing within the Lake Conference with powerhouses such as 2017 state champion, Edina Hornets. This team is not looking to do just do well throughout the season,

they want to dominate the competition and go far in sections. “We are going to win state this season, I am confident and excited about it,” said Captain Carli Wolpert, senior. “This team not only wants to win it all, but they plan on winning.” Captain Maddie Suk, senior, is currently ranked third in state among class AA individuals. “We are always cheering for each other which helps a ton, because tennis is mainly an individual sport,” Suk said. “I think we are fairly confident in each other.” The Royals had a match against Edina on Wednesday, September 12th. #3 ranked Suk had a highly anticipated matchup against #2 ranked Nicole Copeland, junior. Copeland took the tightly contested

match. Following this match the Royals have posted a winning 4-3 record. During every head to head matchup, there are four singles players and three doubles pairs. There is also an exhibition team in which all their scores have no outcome on the actual match score, and is for players to gain experience playing at a higher level of tennis. The Royals play in a tough conference with Edina being ranked #1 and Minnetonka right behind them at #2. They have lost to Edina and Minnetonka once. However, the team looks to focus in for Thursday, Sept 20 when the Royals take on the Skippers at Minnetonka High School. “Although every win is good, we have not really had any big wins

yet,” said Captain Amaya Wolpert, senior. “We still have to play a lot of the [ranked and conference] teams.” Due to weather, the Royals matchup against Eastview High School was postponed on Monday, Sept 17. This is the second postponed match this season. The team has faced some adversity due to many matches being postponed, and them not being

able to play recently due to weather. However, the team is still excited for everything down the road. “I am excited to play the rest of the section matches and look forward to seeing how the rest of the season goes. We have four challenging matches ahead of us,” Wolpert said.

Kaija Pratt, junior, reflects on the chemistry of the team. “We bonded a lot and the team dynamic has changed for the better,” Pratt said. Anna Erickson, senior, is positive through a tough season. “Our team has a lot of skill and potential even though our record hasn’t showed it,” Erickson said. Rachel Kelly, senior, believes the most important games are still to come.”As a team we have played well in the big moments which we have to do to suceed,” Kelly said. James Klecker, senior, proves last season was just a fluke. “We really put in the work this off-season to make our overall program a better place,” Klecker said. Tyler Elliott, junior, reflects on a year that showed much improvement.“We have better overall soccer and much better chemistry as a team,” Elliott said.

Abby Anderson, junior, looks back on a up and down year. “It has been a really fun season even though the results don’t always end the way we want them,” Anderson said.

Nelson pitches his way to NDSU, hopes to contribute immediately Gianni Tejada Sports Reporter With the signing period starting in the beginning of November, pitcher, Wyatt Nelson, senior, has committed to NDSU to continue his baseball career. Nelson was pursued by seven different Division 1 colleges but only received scholarship offers from North Dakota State University (NDSU), South Dakota State University (SDSU), and

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. “I had the option of playing at some bigger schools but was going to have to wait until my junior year to play and also didn’t receive any athletic aid,” said Nelson. Nelson ultimately decided on NDSU due to the coaching staff and the university’s facilities. “The first reason I chose NDSU is that it is close enough

to home so that my family can come watch my games, which is really important to me,” Nelson said. “They’re my biggest fans and I couldn’t imagine going somewhere they wouldn’t be able to support me.” According to Nelson, when meeting with recruiters from NDSU he felt that he was not being treated as “a tool”, and felt respect from the staff. “I was able to develop a re-

lationship with the coaches during my junior year. When they started recruiting me they had a clear vision for how I was going to come in and play my freshman year,” Nelson said. It is a big decision to commit to a school and Nelson felt that NDSU would be the best place for him to continue his academic and athletic career. “My third reason was a chance to play. At NDSU they

recruited me not only to pitch but to also play outfielder and hit. Playing baseball to me is about playing the whole game not just pitching,” Nelson said. Now that this is Nelson’s last year at HHS, he would like to end his High School career well. “To end my time at Hopkins, I would of course like to play for a state championship with a lot of the guys I grew up with,” Nelson said.

Photo provided by Wyatt Nelson

Williams’ controversy sparks discussion regarding equality in sports After calling out umpire Ramos, nationwide debate ensues Continued from page 1 Our own coaches at HHS have something to say about this conversation. “I have been coaching here for the past 30 years and I think we are in a community that has always supported both girl

and boys athletics equally,” Ms. Kleinman said. However, Ms. Kleinman said the problem lies somewhere else. “I don’t think that is the case within the media and I have made it a practice over the years to monitor our local papers and

how they present males and females engaging in their sports,” Ms. Kleinman said. “You will find male photos shooting the basketball, while female photos are often of the girls scrumming for the ball.” “Last year the Star Tribune’s coverage of the State Alpine Ski Meet had a 1/3 page photo of the male winner in action during the race while the female winner

from Eden Prairie had a 4 inch headshot photo taken from the side,” Ms. Kleinman said. Ms. Erin Brown, assistant to the athletic director, being one of our head women in the athletic department, has opinions on this topic. “This topic hits close to home for me,” Ms. Brown said. “I think that the behaviors and conduct of female athletes

are measured differently, at times,” Ms. Brown said. “I believe we are sometimes held to a higher standard and that minor infractions or even just emotional, gritty, competitive outbursts become reasons to reevaluate female athletes as role models.” Bueckers feels this stigma Ms. Kleinman and Ms. Brown bring up.

“I get put in a box because I’m a girl, people tell me that I can’t do the things that men can do,” Bueckers said. “As a coach, I’ve made a point to try and develop our athletes from all angles- fully knowing that at some point their playing career would come to an end and they would need to prepare for the real world,” Ms. Brown said.