The Harbinger Issue 12

the harbinger.

SHAWNEE MISSION EAST 7500 MISSION ROAD PRAIRIE VILLAGE, KS 66208 MARCH 8, 2019 VOLUME LXI ISSUE 12

meet the T E A M The five-person Categories team, one of the most competitive teams at East, has been working hard in preparation for this year’s championship

02 I N S I DE COVER

cover design by lila tulp photo by luke hoffman

ONLINE

What’s coming up this week on smeharbinger.net

ONLINE W H AT ’S N E W W I T H L I N K C R E W ?

by Megan Funkey

Link Crew Applications are out for incoming juniors and seniors.

E A S T B A N D S I N KC VA R I E T Y S H OW

by Rose Kanaley

The KC Variety Show benefit concert will feature two East bands — the Whips and Orlo.

GA L L E R Y T R A C K A N D F I E L D VA R S I T Y Q U A D

by Luke Hoffman

G I R L S VA R S I T Y S O C C E R GA M E

by Grace Goldman TRIVIA NIGHT

by Lucy Morantz

VIDEO FAC E - O F F : S E A S O N T H R E E

by Dalton Reck May 19, 2018 — The Shawnee Mission East boys lacrosse team finds redemption after beating Pembroke Hill to win another LAKC Championship. Follow the Lancers as they look to win back-to-back titles and make a name for themselves nationally.

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S TA F F L I S T P R I N T E D I TO R S E m i l y Fey L i z z i e Ka h l e O N L I N E E D I TO R S Anna belle Cook W i l l Tu l p D E S I G N E D I TO R S L i l a Tu l p Grace Padon A S S T . P R I N T E D I TO R S Caroline Chisholm Carolyn Popper A S S T . O N L I N E E D I TO R S Jackie Cameron Ben Henschel H E A D C O P Y E D I TO R S E l i za b et h B a l l ew A l ex Fre e m a n P H OTO E D I TO R S Grace Goldman L u ke H o f f m a n Lucy Morantz M O B I L E M E D I A E D I TO R B r o o k y l n Te r r i l l A S S T. M O B I L E M E D I A E D I TO R L a u r e n We s t V I D E O E D I TO R D a lto n Re c k A S S T . P H OTO E D I TO R S Ka t e N i x o n A i s l i n n M e n ke Ty B r o w n i n g M O B I L E M E D I A P H OTO E D I TO R Re i l l y M o re l a n d P H OTO M E N TO R S Ally Griffth Ka t h e r i n e M c G i n n e s s E D I TO R I A L B OA R D Caroline Chisholm L i z z i e Ka h l e E m i l y Fey Carolyn Popper L i l a Tu l p

E l i za b et h B a l l ew Anna belle Cook W i l l Tu l p Jackie Cameron Ben Henschel M a ya St ra t m a n G r a c i e Ko s t A l ex Fre e m a n Lucy Patterson Av a J o h n s o n Grace Padon B r o o k l y n Te r r i l l A & E E D I TO R S P r i n t Av a J o h n s o n O n l i n e R i l e y At k i n s o n O P I N I O N E D I TO R P r i n t G r a c i e Ko s t L u c y Ke n d a l l O n l i n e L i l y B i l l i n g s l ey M a d d ox M o g e n s o n N E W S E D I TO R S Print Catherine Erickson O n l i n e R o s e Ka n a l e y S P O RT S E D I TO R S Print Lucy Patterson Online Miranda Hack E D I TO R I A L E D I TO R L i l a h Pow l a s F E AT U R E S E D I TO R S Print Meg Thoma O n l i n e A l l i s o n Wi l cox WEBMASTER Julie Fromm M U LT I M E D I A S TA F F A l ex D i nye r Eve l yn Ro es n e r L a u r e n We s t Lucia Barraza Max Patterson M e g a n F u n ke y Natalie Scholtz Noah Manalo Olivia Olson Syd n ey Wi l l i a m s Ra c h e l C u r r i e

PA G E D E S I G N E R S Brynn Winkler J i l l i Fo l ey Lauren Dierks Natasha Thomas To m m y P a u l u s S TA F F A RT I S T S L i l a h Pow l a s R i ve r H e n n i c k Lauren Dierks S TA F F W R I T E R S C a m p b e l l Wo o d Ca t h e r i n e E s rey Chase Conderman Ga b by Ca p o n e cc h i Ke l l y M u r p h y Liddy Sta llard S y d n e y D e c ke r W i n n i e Wo l f C O P Y E D I TO R S Anna belle Cook W i l l Tu l p Caroline Chisholm Lucy Patterson A l ex Fre e m a n E m i l y Fey L i z z i e Ka h l e L i l a Tu l p Meg Thoma G r a c i e Ko s t M a ya St ra t m a n E l i za b et h B a l l ew Jackie Cameron Ben Henschel Natasha Thomas Carolyn Popper B r o o k l y n Te r r i l l Catherine Erickson Miranda Hack Scout Rice A D S M A N AG E R Catherine Erickson SUBSCRIPTION M A N AG E R G r a c i e Ko s t

M O B I L E M E D I A S TA F F Ca t h e r i n e E s rey Chase Conderman Julia Percy Liddy Sta llard R i l e y At k i n s o n R o s e Ka n a l e y S M E P H OTO S E D I TO R Ka t h e r i n e M c G i n n e s s P H OTO G R A P H E R S A n n a ka t e D i l k s Au st i n H o u s l ey D a ko t a Z u g l e d e r E l l e Ka r r a s Eve l yn Ro es n e r Julia Percy Megan Biles Megan Stopperan Noelle Griffin Sara h Golder Ta y l o r Ke a l Tr e v o r P a u l u s AS ST. V I D EO E D I TO R Maggie Schutt VIDEO TRAINING E D I TO R Rya n Gos s i c k AS ST. V I D EO T R A I N I N G E D I TO R La wd e r D es a nt i s P O D C A S T E D I TO R Syd n ey Wi l l i a m s L I V E B ROA D CAST E D I TO R S Ben Henschel Ly d i a U n d e r w o o d M e g a n F u n ke y A l ex D i nye r AS ST. B ROA D CAST E D I TO R S Ra c h e l C u r r i e Lucia Barraza

EDITORIAL

design by lilah faye

for: 13 against: 4 The individuals on the editorial board who disagree with the viewpoint of the editorial are represented by against, and those who agree with the viewpoint of the editorial are represented by for.

editorial policy The Harbinger is a student-run publication.

Published editorials express the views of the Harbinger staff. Signed columns published in the Harbinger express the writer’s personal opinion. The contents and views of the

THE LAST STRAW:

03

THE ENVIRONMENT DOESN’T CARE THAT YOU USE A METAL STRAW

Participating in Eco-Friendly fads doesn’t address the aching dangers of polluting our environment

Harbinger do not represent the student body, faculty, administration or Shawnee Mission School District. The Harbinger will not share any unpublished content, but quoted material may be confirmed with sources. The Harbinger encourages letters to the editors, but reserves the right to reject them for reasons including but not limited to lack of space, multiple letters of the same topic and personal attacks contained in the letter. The Harbinger will not edit content though letters may be edited for clarity, length, libel or mechanics. Letters should be sent to room 521 or emailed to smeharbinger@gmail.com

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very current “environmentalist” believes that they are saving the turtles one trendy metal straw at a time. Maybe after seeing a few too many Facebook ads or feeling the pressure from friends, you own one too and buy into the anti-straw movement. With anti-straw policies popping up in Seattle and most recently in Colorado, the straw campaign has become the latest impulse buy of environmentalism — feel good in the movement and move on without making an impact.

Metal straws and straw bans may make the user feel like an eco-warrior, but it’s not what we use that makes us eco friendly. The straws are the product of the larger problem of eco-fads and trendy environmentalism, and we don’t actually want to help the environment, we just want to appear green to make ourselves feel like we made a difference.

With 250,000 people projected to die between 2030 to 2050 due to climate change according to World Health Organization, plastic straws are a first world environmental problem. Plastic straws only make up .03 percent of the plastic in the ocean, and for .03 percent, plastic straws seem like they

are on par with with an oil spillage.

The entire anti-straw movement is based off the unverified statistic that Americans use 500 million straws a day — a stat that comes from a 9-year-old who surveyed straw manufacturers according to the New York Times — but market research puts American straw usage at 170 million per day.

Obviously this is still an obscene number, but this inflated statistic is everywhere making it appear to be a larger problem than it is, leading to straw shaming and a false sense of being green when whipping out a metal straw at BRGR. While the eco-faddie’s inflated sense of self importance isn’t hurting anyone, they certainly aren’t helping anyone (or the Earth for that matter). Emotionally satisfying decisions aren’t going to purify the air or limit the size of the garbage island floating in the Pacific Ocean that is twice the size of France, and they can even distract from the cause because they create a sense of false complacency.

They even occasionally hurt the cause and place fixation on issues that .03 percent matter (tackle the fishing industry if you really want to save marine life). People use their metal straw five times, but really it would

take thousands of uses to for it to even out the environmental toll of manufacturing the metal straw. But due to the internalized idea that the individual is directly saving turtles by using a reusable straw, the industry continues.

Because of a singular viral video of one turtle with a straw stuck up their nose, turtles have become the face of the antistraw movement. While 52 percent of turtles have swallowed plastic debris according to an international study by the University of Queensland, it’s not straws but fishing gear, plastic bags and balloons that are most harmful to marine life. Turtles consume plastic bags thinking they are jellyfish, so eco warriors: don’t act like you care about the turtles if you bought your metal straw at Target and put it in a plastic bag at check out.

Eighty percent of environmental damage is caused by 100 companies, so don’t blame the individuals for their straw usage, or feel too good about yourself, metal straw users.

However, the real good that has come out of the anti-straw movement is awareness of throw-away culture, but that goes beyond reusable straws.

Only giving out straws when asked is a reasonable way to try phase out wasteful straw usage, but there is a false sense of accomplishment that comes with these bans.

Protecting the environment isn’t about one fell good action, it’s about focusing on being sustainable.

If you want to do a little action that actually has more impact than the metal straw, try something as small as having the correct tire pressure or carpooling, which can reduce your fuel consumption dramatically. As for purchases, buy less, reduce waste, save money — it’s a win all around. The food system is the largest consumer of natural resources and emitter of greenhouse gases, and a third of all food is thrown out, so buy ugly fruit — the food that’s thrown out the most.

The anti-straw movement does highlight the impact little everyday actions have on the environment, but it’s not an excuse to put ourselves on an environmental moral high ground. Not using balloons and ugly fruit isn’t as glamorous as posting a selfie with your silver straw captioned #lovemyearth and don’t have the same feel good moment as some eco-trends, but they are just as important or even more.

04 NEWS

design by jilli foley

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS by ava johnson

Six shawnee mission east students named National Merit finalists

SMSD TWEETED ON FEB. 26 THAT 12 SMSD tweeted on Feb. 26 that 12 SMSD students have qualified as National Merit Finalists, and among the finalists are six SM East students: Grant Goode, Allyson Griffith, Miranda Hack, Thomas Joyce, Sabrina Lin and Scout Rice.

The National Merit Scholarship is “an academic competition for recognition and scholarships,” according to the National Merit website based around test scores on the Preliminary SAT. According to the National Merit website, approximately 1.6 million students take the PSAT, or NMSQT, each year.

Of the 1.6 million test-takers,16,000 advance to the semifinalist stage and then around 15,000 of the semi-finalists are named finalists.

Senior Tom Joyce discovered he was a finalist a couple of weeks ago when the program sent him a letter in the mail. Joyce is undecided on where he plans to attend college next year, but being named a finalist might impact his decision.

“[Being a finalist] opens a couple more doors, because I have gotten a couple of letters in the mail from different colleges saying they’ll pay my full tuition,” Joyce said.

Around 7,500 finalists will receive Merit Scholarships, which will be announced starting in March, and continued through mid-June. The National Merit Scholarship Program offers three different types of scholarships: the $2,500 National Merit, the Corporatesponsored Merit and the College-sponsored Merit. The Corporate-sponsored Merit and the College-sponsored Merit scholarships vary in amount depending on how much the corporate or college choose to donate.

Principal Dr. Sherman is proud to have six finalists in the building, compared to two finalists last year. “[Having six finalists] shows how good the academics are here at the school,” Sherman said. “Having all six of them making it from semifinalists to finalists is a pretty sweet deal.”

LOCAL A shooting occured March 1 at 62nd and Roe by Highlands elementary HIGHLANDS ELEMENTARY WAS IN THE process of dismissal on March 1 when students and staff were asked to return the building due to an active police scene across the street.

According to Fox 4 News, shots were fired at 1:30 p.m. at 62nd Street and Roe Avenue — yards from the elementary school. According to SMSD Chief Communications Officer David Smith. Students and teachers on the playground heard the sound of what they thought was gun fire, so they followed procedure: take students inside, inform administration and call the police.

Students and staff remained in the building for 5 or 10 minutes until the suspected shooter was under arrest, according to David Smith.

Police received a call from the mother of the active

shooter and rushed to the shooter’s house, according to Fox 4 News. There, the suspect and officers shot at each other until the shooter was shot in the leg by an officer and taken to a nearby hospital.

Senior and Highland Elementary alum Quin Napier was one of many affected by the shootout due to his house being on the street of the crime scene. Napier had to drive to the bottom of his street and speak with policemen before being allowed to drive up to his house.

Counselors and social workers are available to support staff and students, according to Smith.

“What we have learned is that kids, especially at that age, are concerned about themselves, more than anything else” Smith said. “And one of the ways to reassure them that their lives will continue as they were before, is to get back to routine.”

NATIONAL Michael Cohen testifies against President Donald J. Trump MICHAEL D. COHEN, THE FORMER LAWYER for Michael D. Cohen, the former lawyer for President Donald J. Trump, testified publicly on Feb. 27 against President Trump in regards to his work for Trump.

Cohen began his opening statement by recognizing that he lacks credibility due to his past of lying under oath, but stated that the information he gave would be “accurate and truthful.”

Cohen claimed he is ashamed of his past and of his continual support for Mr. Trump.

“I am ashamed because I know what Mr. Trump is,” Cohen said in his testimony. “He is a racist. He is a conman. He is a cheat.”

Cohen used his past experiences with President Trump and documents in order to strengthen his claim that Trump directed and lied about the TrumpMoscow negotiations — a deal between Trump and Russia to

build a Trump Tower in Moscow.

Multiple documents were presented to the committee: a copy of a check Trump wrote from his personal bank account, copies of financial statements for 2011-2012, a copy of an article with Trump’s handwriting on it and copies of letters written by Cohen himself.

Senior and Young Democrats Club President Stuart Hanson watched the testimony and feels Cohen was telling the truth about Mr. Trump.

“I have no way to prove [he’s telling the truth],” Hanson said. “But the documents he brought, the checks, really makes me think he’s being truthful.”

Cohen acknowledges his flawed past as he closes his opening statement by saying that he has made bad decisions, but that he will forever deal with the consequences.

ABOVE | Local workers fix the broken window that was hit by a bullet at Highlands Elementary. photo courtesy of kansas city star

ABOVE | Police investigate the area around the school to protect the neighborhood from any incoming danger. photo courtesy of fox4kc

WHERE IS EVERYONE GOING?

Popular travel destinations for spring break amoung East students

SPRING BREAK 2019

EAST

puerto vallarta mexico sea side florida maui hawaii punta cana dominican republic pheonix arizona gulf shores alabama grand cayman cayman islands

NEWS

design by tommy paulus

05

HELPING THE HOMELESS

To help alleviate the lives of the homeless during the winter, different homeless shelters across Kansas City are opening their doors

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by maya stratman ue to the severe winter weather in the Kansas City, metro. area, not-for-profit organizations who support the homeless community, are not able to provide for or reach as many people as needed.

The severe weather started in January with a low of -11 degrees fahrenheit on Jan. 1, and most recently reached a low of two degrees on March 3. In between, there have been power outages, 7 inches of snow and lows of below zero degrees, according to the Kansas City Star.

ReStart homeless shelter, located in downtown Kansas City, Mo., is not able to accommodate all those requiring bed space and shelter according to ReStart employee Tommie Brown.

“I would definitely say we have more people coming in inquiring, trying to come in to seek emergency shelter,” Brown said. “It’s always an issue. We always have to turn away people because we don’t have beds available. There definitely is more demand for bed spaces this time of year.”

Brown attributes this to the fact that those who usually would stay out in tents are forced to seek indoor shelter due to temperatures dipping below zero on some days.

Seniors Hannah Phillips and Riley Kimmel, two SHARE chairs and volunteers for the ReStart project, can understand the stress ReStart is currently under due to their experiences last year.

“They would tell us stories from last

year about turning [the] conference room that we would interview in [into bed spaces],” Kimmel said. “They would put beds anywhere they could be.”

But ReStart is not the only place working to help out the homeless community in these colder months. Both Phillips and Kimmel have been going out on UpLift trucks, designed to deliver basic necessities such as food and clothing to the homeless in the KC area. One of the first items on their website is a list of items labeled “Urgent Winter Needs.”

However, at Kansas City Community Kitchen, people’s ability to get to the meals has been the issue, according to Senior Programs Director Christina Esteban. This kitchen, which provides hot meals for anyone in need, only served 200 hot lunches instead of their typical 400 on Wednesday, Feb 27, when streets were unusually icy. This, according to Esteban, was due to the fact that many of their clients could not get there safety.

“If you’re already cold and perhaps your immune system has a lower capacity than someone who is able to have three healthy meals a day, then your chances of becoming ill or having long term chronic illness is definitely at a higher risk,” Esteban said. “Not having access to that one more meal a day or three hours of warmth can definitely affect not only someone’s health and wellness, but also their outlook.”

Esteban also said that the main issue in this weather is not that those without shelter are in severe weather — because they live under extreme conditions constantly

— but instead the fact that volunteers are not able to make it into work to provide and serve these lunches. Typically 20 to 24 volunteers come in, but on the last ice day, only one came in. In order to not close, office workers come down to help serve the food line, according to Esteban.

“I wish I could say this has been worse than other winters,” Esteban said.

“I think we’ve had more no school days, but when talking about individuals who are already living in the elements — rain, snow, sleet — I don’t know that

“I just don’t think a lot of people realize it and are worried about their power going out or worrying about what they are going to do on their snow day or when they are going to go sledding,” Kimmel said. “But there are people who are trying to stay alive and keep above the awful weather.”

ReStart’s Amenities* ReStart is one of the few shelters in Kansas City to offer services free of charge

I wish I could say this has been worse than other winters.

christina esteban senior programs director

ReStart is the only homeless shelter to offer service free of discrimination

it’s a whole lot different than just more cold. They don’t have the option of a no school day. They are outside irregardless.”

In order to help out, ReStart created their own Amazon wish list in order to get needed donations such as towels, pillows and clothing. Brown also suggests that people in the community get connected with different homeless agencies, not just ReStart, to figure out what they are in need of. Kimmel believes even donating the littlest things, like a tarp to separate people from the snow, would be of great benefit.

In 2017, ReStart served a total of 190,530 meals to the homeless

ReStart offers 21 permanent housing buildings for adults with mental illnesses *Information courtesy of ReStart Inc.

WINTER STATS* 18

There are 18 housing shelters open during the winter in the metropolitan area

*Information courtesy of The Weather Channel and Kansascity.com

This winter it has snowed eight more inches than the Kansas City average of 18” per year

13%

13 percent of the homless population in Wyandotte and Johnson County are unsheltered this winter

06 NEWS

photo by dakota zugelder design by lauren west

HERE COMES THE “Y” Prarie Village City Council explores the idea to update local YMCA

ABOVE | The exterior of the YMCA on Delmar.

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by lydia underwood fter a survey was sent out to Prairie Village citizens last year, the city council found that residents wanted a community center, so the Council decided to reintroduce a proposal from six years ago to build a new community center on Feb. 19.

The new center will be built within the next three to nine years and will most likely replace the Paul Henson Family YMCA located at 79th and Delmar.

However, the city will partner with the YMCA to reduce the cost for both parties.

According to City Administrator Wes Jordan, Prairie Village will also

This is something that could certainly potentially gain momentum within the next three to five years.

jordan wes president of prarie village city council collaborate with Platte County and Bonner Springs for advice on the new center as those cities partnered with the YMCA to build their community centers. Jordan said the YMCA leaders recognize that partnering with the city to build a new community center would be the most advantageous, considering the need for repairs in the current YMCA. Since the new community center will be partnered with the YMCA, the approximately 1500 families that belong there will be able to keep their

memberships. The new community center will replace the YMCA, but the Associate Vice President of Communications and Public Relations for the YMCA, Paula Oxler, said that there will be a plan in place to help out the members of the YMCA such as their memberships transfering over to another YMCA or possibly going to another community center.

However, it depends on the community and what each city decides to do, according to Oxler. In other cities, the community centers built have included all of the same amenities a normal YMCA has including fitness centers, pools, party rooms and a kid zone — the main difference is that you don’t need a membership to go to the community center. According to Oxler, since it would be in partnership with the YMCA, the new center could model the Platte County community center, which is run by the YMCA. The city is also willing to look for a second partner, but timing is important for the project.

“The dialogue needs to begin now, it could certainly happen prior to the timeline if we have a partner and the council agrees,” Jordan said. “This is something that could certainly potentially gain momentum within the next three to five years, but could take as long as nine, it all depends on who steps forward as a partner with the city and if the finance model is approved.”

According to Oxler, the design for the community center is still undecided since the project is in its early stages and every community that has gone through a similar process has had a different timeline and final product. As long as

the partnership is financially feasible, Oxler said, the company is open to it considering the project is in its first stages.

I think in theory it would be a good idea for the district to support a community pool but I think it would be better to put more work into our pool, and make [it] better for the students.

hazel eastlack senior The replacement of the YMCA could have its drawbacks, according to Jordan.

It provides a sense of community and family in Prairie Village, and the city would not want to ruin that. Another drawback, he said, is analyzing the fiscal impact of the community center even with a formal partnership.

According to Jordan, the two funding options for the city are either a sales tax or assessing each homeowner. The community center will be a significant cost, so a sales tax increase is the more likely option. They know from the other cities who have built community centers that member fees will not cover the costs of construction and the operation.

During the preliminary discussions, the city reached out to SMSD to inquire their interest in a partnership, specifically for the use of the pool facility.

The district declined on account of the new aquatic center in Lenexa. Jordan said that although they knew about the new aquatic center, they still wanted to

explore having the district as a partner — it would not require a commute for the swimmers, like the other facility would.

“I think in theory it would be a good idea for the district to support a community pool but I think it would be better to put more work into our pool, and make [it] better for the students,” senior swimmer Hazel Eastlack said. “It would be hard to coordinate with them and rent for pool time. It’s easy for us to access our pool and do what we want with it.”

According to Jordan, although the project is in developmental stages, the council wants to move forward with it to provide all of Prairie Village with a renovated multi-purpose community center that would have the “same sense of community” the YMCA currently provides.

POTENTIAL UPDATES

The upcoming YMCA could potentionally hold updated or new ammentities

FITNESS CENTER INDOOR POOL KID ZONE

design by brynn winkler photo by megan biles

PLANNING Superintendent and selected committee work toward implementing new Strategic Plan

FOR THE

by sydney decker uperintendent Michael Fulton is in the process of trying to implement a recently developed strategic plan in hopes to accomplish academic success as well as a comfortable environment for all of the students in SMSD. The District’s strategic plan is based around the goal of preparing every student for their future by making sure every student gets the help they need and ensuring they feel included.

The plan is developed and devised through a steering committee. 30 members from all throughout the community make up that committee. In order to represent diversity within the community and hear different viewpoints, the committee is made up of teachers, students and parents from different schools throughout the district.

Junior and steering committee member Sarah Bledsoe said acceptance for all of the diverse students within SMSD is vital to the plan.

“We are trying to come up with ways so that we would never fail a student, no matter their race, gender, sexuality, or mental capabilities — no matter what we would never leave a student behind,” Bledsoe said.

“That’s what we were all thinking about as a committee.”

The main goals of the plan include honoring student diversity, keeping a strong comittment to ensure all students excel academically and creating a better environment for the students. In an attempt to achieve those goals, the committee spent three days trying to refine the mission and goals for the plan.

“The three-day session was 23 hours,” Bledsoe said. “We dedicated that to perfecting the mission statement and our beliefs to make sure they were well articulated, included everything we wanted to happen and had no grammatical errors.”

Those 23 hours were meant to make sure there were developed, well-spoken beliefs, a clear mission to carry out those beliefs and certain objectives of ensuring every student thrives academically while also becoming an empathetic member of society. Before the committee met, the plan was a blank slate. But by the end of the three days, they had established who they are as a community by showing the different members that make up the community, and as that community what they want to represent for their students.

To implement the plan, there will be multiple action committees. These action committees will use strategies to carry out the objectives of accomplishing academic success throughout the district, creating an inclusive culture, qualifying educators in the district’s schools and fabricating systems that support the beliefs of the steering committee.

The action committees will include the same diversity of members as the steering committee. These strategies include guaranteed one-on-one learning for students, creating a unified culture within the schools and communities and creating a climate with qualified educators. They plan on achieving this by hiring well-certified teachers and training counselors to make sure they know how to help every student succeed.

Committee member and teacher Samantha Feinberg strongly believes in the importance of ensuring schools are in a position to offer students the best inclusion possible

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FUTURE NEWS

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by not only offering personalized learning to students but creating an equitable and unified culture. She wanted to join the committee to help make sure this became possible.

“I was really enthusiastic about it,” Feinberg said. “I really care about our school district because I work here, but my kids are also students here, and I was a student here too, in the district. I want our school district to be the best it can be.”

The motivation is to work with our community and to develop a shared vision of where we want to go as a district — who we are, where we want to go, and what we want to achieve.

michael fulton superintendent According to Chief Communications Officer David Smith, for the plan to be successful, the diversity of the students must to be taken into consideration: how all students experience different upbringings, have different learning styles and overall different personalities.

Smith expressed how the district serves over 27,000 students in 46 buildings and how, even though it may be difficult, there is no reason for a student get left behind whether it be failing a class or not graduating.

“When I was in school, we were taught in one way,” Smith said. “And it worked well for some kids and I was fortunate enough to be one of those kids. But for other kids, it didn’t work as well. Now we are talking about needing personalized learning — so that it meets the need of each kid.”

In order to get good feedback about the schools within the district, it is important to have certain representatives present at the committee meetings.

It is necessary to show a true microcosm of district stakeholders in order to get an accurate response to deal with any possible student issues, according to Feinberg.

Although Fulton wasn’t the only one to strive for the plan, he was the first to suggest it to the board.

“The motivation is to work with our community and to develop a shared vision of where we want to go as a district — who we are, where we want to go, and what we want to achieve,” Fulton said.

The strategic plan is a way to reach the goals SMSD is aspiring to achieve. The committee wants the district to break away from current teaching methods, according to Fulton. The District must be progressive in the long term to improve graduation rates and better prepare students for their future.

“Planning should be an inclusive process and I think anything that we can do to get in as many voices as possible is really important,” Fulton said. “The school district belongs to everyone and we need to make sure we represent our community well. You just have to make sure a lot of voices are involved, especially student voices. At the end of the day, you are the reason that schools exist.”

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OPINION

design by jackie cameron photo by ty browning and austin housley

09

BOY BEAUTY Makeup is a way to express oneself and is meant to be used by everyone — regardless of gender

E

by maddox mogenson very day for 12 years, I dressed head-to-toe in the “masculine” combination of Oakland Raiders jerseys, clashing athletic shorts and electric blue Nike sneakers to fit in with my other male classmates. Around two years ago, I realized I’d much rather be covered in Fenty Beauty highlighter.

Most beauty products, including Fenty highlighter, are obviously advertised to women — pink packaging, female models and feminine pronouns all accompany them. But it doesn’t have to just be for girls — makeup can be, and is, for everyone.

For me, makeup is a form of art. I practically sang and danced my way out of the womb, and to this day, I haven’t stopped. It’s safe to say I’m a person of the

I wholeheartedly believe that makeup is for all people, no matter your gender, sexual orientation, age or race.

maddox mogenson junior

arts. But in the past two years, I’ve started to pick up makeup brushes along with new dance routines.

My new admiration stemmed from the videos of YouTubers like James Charles and Jeffree Star, two male makeup artists that have no shame in doing what they love. Men shouldn’t have to be afraid to wear makeup, but the world’s norms and connotations on what each gender “should be” pressure people to hide their true personalities. These two influencers luckily have the platform to tell people to love who they are. It was from this reassurance that I decided to dive into the world of beauty.

I purchased some simple products — eyeshadow, highlighter and bronzer. I spent money I earned from my job, and let me tell you, makeup is not a cheap commodity. It’s worth the expense.

After a few months of constant and intense practice, I started to pick up on some techniques that I saw in the YouTube beauty videos. Thanks to daily viewings, I learned tricks like how to detect cool, neutral and warm skin undertones without even thinking about it.

But the new confidence I gained completely outweighed the sum I payed for it. I had never felt stronger than when I was doing something that would typically be considered weak for men. I was finally letting myself be who I wanted to be, not what other people wanted. Every time I put on makeup, I would stare into the mirror. I finally loved what I saw in it.

My makeup is still confined to my home, though. I don’t feel like I need to wear makeup in public. My looks are for me to enjoy, not for the validation of others.

Makeup doesn’t have to be a bold statement with flashy eyes and glowing lips — it can be as simple as covering a pimple. Makeup is supposed to make the wearer feel better about themself, and let the wearer be creative by doing it.

I wholeheartedly believe that makeup is for all people, no matter your gender, sexual orientation, age or race.

Makeup is more than just a way to make yourself look more beautiful — it’s a way to make yourself feel more beautiful. Creativity is the perfect outlet for emotions, and this way of being creative was made to make you feel like you. When you’re doing your makeup, you’re putting your personality on your face.

But girls — I now have so much more respect for you. How much time it takes each day to create a whole masterpiece is insane. Keep doing what you’re doing because you look amazing doing it.

And boys — don’t be afraid to get in touch with your creative side. Sure, your more “masculine” friends may make fun of you for it, but you may end up learning things about yourself you thought you already knew.

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MAKEUP MEN

Popular makeup collaborations made by men The James Charles palette

brush set James Charles

Jeffree Star Cosmetics Jeffree Star

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Maddox’s top five makeup items Fenty Gloss Bomb

Fenty primer

Fenty highlighter

Jeffree Star Thirsty palette

Kylie Cosmetics concealer

Jeffree Star velour liquid lip

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10 O PI N I O N

?

“ Is this official?”

? ? ”

“ We hookup sometimes

?

‘S

by julie fromm o, are you guys a thing now?’ *** The texts began to roll in from my friends the morning after I hung out with my now-boyfriend for the first time. Suddenly, the thing I was so excited about turned into something stressful — I didn’t know what to call our relationship. What does he think we are? Does he want commitment, and do I? What is a “thing” anyway? And how am I supposed to know after one date?

We have created too many terms for

Sticking a casual label onto something gives people a free pass out of a relationship when things get too serious for them.

julie fromm sophomore such a common occurance — two people getting to know each other and figuring out if it’s worth building a relationship. The most common of these unnecessary labels is a “thing,” which can range from being an exclusive couple or two people who are casually talking. Having so many different titles can cause an immense amount of unnecessary pressure on people to figure out what their relationship is with someone.

There’s no reason to have an array of labels to pick from when you’re in a relationship.

The labels we use like “having a thing” or “talking” make things more casual. If someone wants to drop off the map or ghost someone, having these labels makes it so much easier.

I’ve heard the same excuse from guys I’ve talked to over and over: “We weren’t serious.”

Sticking a casual label onto something gives people a free pass out of a relationship when things get too serious for them.

The first to blame for the confusion and lack of commitment is Snapchat. Pictures disappear after a certain amount of time unlike texting, so people feel a certain amount of confidence to say whatever they want. For someone who’s shy like me, texting someone over Snapchat and admitting my feelings, knowing it will go away once the

what are w e?

Teenagers put too stress on relationship labels

time runs out, is easier than knowing they can keep a hard copy. While the app is a great way to connect with people, the lack of in-person communication between two people can lead to extreme confusion, and hiding behind the screen gives people an easy chance to have no strings attached.

Having interchangeable titles not only confuses people that are asking about a relationship, but it can also cause confusion between the couple themselves. Casually hooking up with someone at a party can cause a spiral of confusion and questions from people you’re friends with, but mostly with yourself and the other person. Will a relationship come from it, or will it just end up being yet another hook up at another basement party? Having social media and not being forced to discuss these things in person can cause them to go unresolved, leaving both people wondering what is going on.

There can also be a certain amount of insecurity when it comes to the titles people put on their relationships. We’ve all been there — you like someone but can’t get the nerve to ask them if they like you back because you don’t want to come off as clingy.

Or someone Snapchats you a picture of their face instead of the usual picture of the ceiling and you think maybe they want to marry you. Because the titles that we’ve created can mean so many different things, it’s almost as if you need an instruction manual to interpret what kind of relationship you’re in.

From what I’ve seen at school and among my friends, over time, commitment has become more and more scarce in high school.

Although there’s nothing wrong with having no commitment, it can become confusing with the lingo we have created. Not knowing if you are a thing, casually hooking up or in an exclusive relationship can cause more stress than my chemistry tests. This could be completely avoided if our generation just discussed these things upfront.

What two people are to each other is up to them to decide, and creating an agenda with multiple titles and levels of seriousness is completely unnecessary.

Labeling a relationship has morphed into something thought-consuming, when in reality, having a relationship with someone should be easy going and care free.

design by gracie kost

?

?

“ Are you guys dating?”

“ Do you guys have a thing?”

?

?”

“ I thought we were just hooking up...

what’s the verdict?

We asked a series of polls to our Instagram followers to see how they feel about “having a thing”.

what is a “thing” when it comes to relationships?

“The step before dating.”

“When two people talk for at least a week and hanging out and starting to like each other.”

“A thing is mutual feelings with no commitment to dating.”

“Both people want a relationship but neither will commit.”

“I think it means something different to everyone and it’s very confusing.”

what is the difference between dating and a “thing”?

“A thing is usually not as public as dating.”

“A thing is typically intimate physically in comparison to the committment of being loyal.”

“You can do whatever you want when you have a thing, when you’re dating you have to pay attention.”

“When you’re dating you do things other than hookup, like go to each other’s games or out for dinner.”

breaking it down Have you ever been confused on your relationship and classified it as a “thing”?

YES NO 22%

78%

*155 people were surveyed

Do you think dating and “being a thing” have the same level of commitment?

YES 12% NO

*170 people were surveyed

88%

OPINION

design by lila tulp photo by sarah golder

11

Movies struggle to find a middle ground between being extremely light-hearted and dark while maintaining quality by chase conderman

movie; “The Mummy (1999)”. I’ll save you the trouble of watching both to spot the differences don’t consider myself to be a picky guy but between those films and just tell you what they when it comes to movies I know exactly what are. One, Tom Cruise plays the hero instead of I want. If I’m taking the time out of my day to Brendan Fraser and two, CGI in 2017 has improved sit down and watch a movie, I want it to make from 1999. That’s basically it. Oh, one last tiny me feel some sort of emotion. This might not sound change from 1999 to 2017 is all of the scenes that like a high standard, but when you consider how included some kind of character development I didn’t even cry at the end of “Marley and Me” (I have been replaced with know, I’m a monster) it becomes monotonous action sequences. a much more daunting task.

Now Dwayne Johnson’s I enjoy movies at two ends Skyscraper is an even worse of a very large spectrum — All of these movies are offender of the rinse and repeat light and kiddish to as dark emotionless junk and the only ideology for starring in films — and forbidding as possible. I thing that impresses me about he only succeeds in ripping off love Disney’s film trilogy “Toy them is when they don’t put his own movies. Skyscraper, Story” for it’s bright, animated me to sleep.

San Andreas, and Fast & color palette and light tones that Furious. What do these have chase conderman dissolve into deeper meanings in common? They’re the same. senior when you look for them. But The Rock must save his family on the other end Kathryn from some kind of disaster and after an hour and Bigelow’s movie “Detroit” is beyond grim with its a half of “nail biting” action, he achieves his goal portrayal of violent racism and human connection and Johnson learns the importance of keeping that had me hooked after the first scene. your loved ones close. If this sounds like something Because of how critics and other film fanatics you’ve seen/heard before, it’s because you have. review movies of the last five or so years on All of these movies are emotionless junk websites like rotten tomatoes or metacritic, and the only thing that impresses me about I think a lot of people feel the same about them is when they don’t put me to sleep. how important emotion is in film. While I Now it’s not Cruise’s or Johnson’s fault. personally see the tides of taste in entertainment Cruise’s recent film “American Made” about changing, I don’t think Hollywood does. an average commercial pilot who decides to The issue is that directors simply recycle chase the American dream but smuggling drugs mid-level action movies and instead of writing for various cartels is genius, and Johnson’s a script that is in any way intriguing, they performance in Disney’s “Moana” certainly blow the budget on getting one to three name had me invested in the story as it continuously recognizable actors so the story ends up being tugged on my heartstrings, refusing to let go. worse than my fourth grade book report.

It’s to a point where I am completely Hollywood has something that I like to call PGdisinterested in anything with a PG-13 rating. I 13 purgatory. The majority of movies that receive a can’t wait for the newly announced “Toy Story PG-13 rating just don’t have what it takes to really 4”, rated G, or “Stephen King’s IT: Chapter II”, keep the viewer invested in what’s happening rated R, but the chance of you spotting me in on screen — they only exist to be a cash grab. line for the next Godzilla are slim to none.

Two prime examples of this are “The Mummy” This is because I know Disney will deliver from director Alex Kurtzman and “Skyscraper” some family friendly light hearted fun that’ll which was produced in part by Dwayne Johnson. fill me with enough nostalgia to make me On paper these are two very different movies: believe I’m back in the second grade, while one bing about an archeological horror escaping Stephen King is going to give me a story so from an ancient prison to wreak havoc on the dark it’ll make the color jet black look white. modern world. The other is about a man trying There are however exceptions to my PG-13 to save his family from a burning building. purgatory theory. The biggest one is something I Somehow, these two films ended up call the superhero clause. Avengers: Infinity War being exactly the same. They both feature and Wonder Woman are both PG-13 and did at least one prominent celebrity actor, Tom incredibly well in the box office. Marvel just has Cruise and Dwayne Johnson. They both the balance between quality and quantity figured try to reach a more mature audience, hence out. Of the 20 movies released by the studio in the the PG-13 rating, but fall flat because the last 10 years, I’d say only “The Incredible Hulk” movie still holds back to be family friendly. isn’t worth watching. Seriously save yourself and This ends up just screwing over older pretend that movie doesn’t exist. It’s just bad. audiences because any content they might be If you take anything away from my cinematic interested in isn’t there. Instead, viewers are analysis of movies in the middle, avoid PG-13 left watching a story they’ve already heard that action movies that have a generic name brand actor is completely devoid of any unique qualities. slapped on the cover. Your time is better spent being “The Mummy (2017)” with Tom Cruise has petrified by clowns in sewer drains or watching nearly the exact same premise Brendan Fraser’s animated toys learn the value of friendship.

NO NO MIDDLE MIDDLE GROUND GROUND

I

12 OPINION

photo by noelle griffin design by kelly murphy

CHEAT DAY LIFE

Trendy Instagram diets shouldn’t promote dangerous lifestyle changes, they should show how to live a sustainable and healthy life

INSTEAD OF DIETING...

Skip fad dieting and use these tips to lose weight in a healthier way make a plan lose weight gradually have a positive attitude limit added sugars find out why you eat when you’re not hungry eat “mini meals” throughout the day to keep you full hold yourself accountable be choosy about which carbs you eat get plenty of protein from lean sources fill up with good fats try to avoid sugary drinks eat lots of fiber

by riley atkinson

I

t’s day three of the new diet and that strawberry glazed cupcake in the display case looks incredible — it feels like a sin to walk past it without dropping $5 to take just a few bites.

Later that day I inhale a bag of buttery popcorn while watching a movie. A couple Trader Joe’s dark chocolate peanut butter cups turns into half the box. The record of three days with no sugar or carbs or, well, most things, crumbles to pieces for the sixth time this month — another diet failed.

Then the guilt kicks in.

“Well I guess I’ll start again next week.”

Diets fall off track. It happens.

According to The Council on Size and Weight Discrimination, 95 percent of

yo-yo di·et·ing noun the practice of repeatedly losing weight by dieting and subsequently regaining it diets fail. But the guilt of falling off another diet isn’t the only problem — the intense changes your body makes while dieting can be brutal to your physical health. Trendy Instagram fad diets, like Atkins or Keto, shouldn’t be promoting the removal of entire food groups or

putting our bodies in starvation mode.

We should be shown how to live a sustainable healthy life, so we can feel the best possible without guilt.

The cycle of dieting, then falling off, dieting again and falling off is called yo-yo dieting — something many teenagers struggle with without even realizing it. When your body goes on a diet and you lose weight, your appetite increases and your body is trained to survive in strict circumstances.

Because of this, weight can be gained back faster once you drop the diet.

When I hear teenagers say things like “ugh spring break is next week I can’t have that ice cream,” the intentions are unhealthy to begin with because healthy eating shouldn’t be super restricting or only to lose weight. It may be to look good in a single vacation post and get those 30 extra likes or maybe it’s to squeeze the zipper closed on a little black dress.

When there are unhealthy intentions, the most common diets defaulted to are unhealthy quick fixes — fad diets.

Fad diets advertise benefits like glowing skin or dropping two jean sizes in a few weeks. While I’m sure many people wouldn’t mind looking like Gigi Hadid, these diets often don’t promote the most healthy and sustainable eating habits for teenagers.

For example, a major part of our

body’s energy source is carbs. With a majority of diets knocking out even healthy carbs like quinoa, dieting can hit you with exhaustion because your body

We should be shown how to live a sustainable healthy life, so we can feel the best possible without guilt.

riley atkinson sophomore isn’t getting the nutrients it needs. When I tried Whole 30, there were days when the ground looked way too comfortable — I was ready to take a nap any chance I got.

The psychology behind strict diets puts cravings at the center of your life and thoughts, making it easy to slip up.

When you’re dieting to look good for things like prom, the unhealthy eating you go back to when you’re done can gain all the weight back and contribute to even further unhealthy eating habits.

Instead of getting trapped in a cycle of intense diets for short periods of time, a balanced and maintainable diet should be promoted in the media and more common in teenagers’ lives. In no way is a healthy lifestyle something easy and perfect, but it’s much more healthful than yo-yo dieting.

“As a dietitian I just always encourage people to eat as much real, natural food as you can,” certified dietitian Tara Flint said. “You’re going to be way better off than with something that seems like a quick fix or an easy way out.”

The best way to ease yourself into healthy eating patterns is to start small. Whether that’s asking for no whip on your frappe in the morning or replacing dinner dessert with a bowl of strawberries — anywhere is a good (and much more sustainable) place to start.

Work to make healthy eating your normal lifestyle. You will always be welcome to treat yourself every once in a while as long as you know that won’t spiral you out of control. If you go out for dinner with your family on Friday night, order that burger — but maybe get a side salad instead of fries. Not feeling completely restricted is key to getting to a point where healthy eating is a normal thing.

The most important thing about living a healthy lifestyle is to not worry if you slip up. So when you eat that cupcake or down that popcorn, don’t let it control you or be an excuse for a whole entire cheat day (or life). When you eat healthy all year long, you won’t have to worry about going on an intense diet a month before vacations — you’ll feel good all the time.

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14 FEATURES

design by meg thoma

FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS

UP IN THE CLUB

S T U D E N T S S AY

How do you spend your snow days?

Well Jack McElroy and I like to drive [our Jeeps] out past 180th Street and drive around on the unplowed raods and fields. It was all fun until I locked my keys in my car one time.

ABOVE | Seniors Will Stapp, Jack Gilman and Griffin Fries perform their dance in the Mr. Cansas Pageant hosted by SHARE. photo by aislinn menke

cooper holmes senior

LEFT | Freshman Evelyn Haulmark laughs as she plays with Mrs. Feinberg’s son during SME camp. photo by megan stopperan

I typically online shop, read, organize my room and online shop some more...I bake with my sister. We love coming up with new creations and this snow day, we made a killer chocolate, vanilla, mint and buttercream cupca ke.

LEFT | Senior Aakriti Chaturvedi plays her guitar while singing “Tu Jaane Na” by Atif Aslam. The performance was held at the InterUrban ArtHouse. photo by annakate dilks

lillian williams sophomore

A RT I S T O F T H E W E E K Junior Chloe Sowden expresses her creative nature through digital collages involving pictures and graphics.

C H LO E S OW D E N , J U N I O R Q:

WHAT STYLE OF A RT DO YOU DO?

A: “I do mostly digital collages, so I take a lot of other people’s work, like photographhy, artwork and drawings, and I sort of cut them and paste them into my own digital collage; and I have [the artist’s] permission. ” Q: WHO HAS INSPIRED YOU AS A G U I TA R I ST? A: “I started that I think in December, like right before winter break. The reason I started it was because I was inspired by a different Instagram account, a random girl I don’t know, but she’s a college student and she had an account for all of her artwork. She did some collages, some paintings, some drawing.

And that was my original plan, but now it’s kind of turned into mostly digital collages.

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FEATURE

photos by aislin menke design by lauren dierks

15

WORKING WITH NOODLES

Owner of Lulu’s noodles, Melissa Monyakula, opens noodle shop bringing authentic food from Thailand to Kansas

ABOVE| This Pad Thai is one of Monyakula’s fathers’ recipes from Thailand. photo by aislinn menke

T

by miranda hack he air in the kitchen of Lulu’s Thai Noodle Shop always smells a little bit like homegrown lemongrass, Thai chili and their secret 15-spice recipe for masala curry.

To the restaurant’s owner and founder, Malisa Monyakula, parent to freshman Ben Baughman, it smells like home — Bangkok, Thailand, to be exact.

Monyakula — known to family and friends as “Lulu” — was born in Bangkok to a Thai father and an American mother, and her family moved to Kansas when she was around 3. In 1997, using her father’s and grandfather’s recipes, Monyakula opened the first Lulu’s in Lawrence as a way to share a part of herself and her culture with her community. Today, the menu still holds those original dishes from her father and grandfather.

“I grew up with my dad cooking this amazing food, food that brought people together,” Monyakula said. “I decided that I wanted to try to do that for other people.”

Monyakula decided to open the first Kansas City Lulu’s in the early 2000s, after moving to the Crossroads and closing the Lawrence location. Since, she’s been responsible for the growth of the restaurant, which now has two locations. In the past five years, Lulu’s has been voted “Best Asian,” “Best Thai” and “Best Carry Out” in The Pitch’s yearly Best of KC. It’s a place where every smell and every dish brings back Monyakula’s memories of nightly family dinners growing up, usually eating the same curries and pad thais that she now serves. When she started Lulu’s, she knew she wanted the atmosphere to embody that.

“I wanted it to have a relaxed atmosphere, what you have when you go to someone’s house for dinner,” Monyakula said. “I didn’t want it to be a 12-course-menu where you

LEFT| The popular restaurant Lulu’s was brought to KC by parent of Ben Baughman, Malisa Monyakula. photo by aislinn menke have to dress up. I want people to come as they are.”

Her restaurant model, she says, is to make every meal at Lulu’s feel a little bit like home. And to Monyakula’s son, the restaurant serves a similar purpose.

As a 7-year-old, his family didn’t have a babysitter, so after he left Westwood View Elementary School at 3:10 p.m., he went to the second ever Lulu’s location at 333 Southwest Blvd. He hung from the metal railings situated at the back of the restaurant while his mother worked. He pretended to be a waiter and took customers’ menus off of the wooden tables.

But now, Lulu’s isn’t just a place where he grew up: in

I wanted it to have a relaxed atmosphere, what you have when you go to someone’s house for dinner. I didn’t want it to be a 12-course-menu where you have to dress up. I want people to come as they are.”

melissa monyakula lulu’s owner January of 2019, Baughman started working as a greeter at the restaurant’s Westwood location. While Baughman spends up to 12 hours a week at the Westwood location, his mother works daily at the Lulu’s off of Southwest Boulevard. Once a week, the two work a shift together at the Westwood location.

“She’s worked incredibly hard to have everything that she does,” Baughman said. “It’s rare for her not to be [at the restaurant] every day.”

Monyakula prides herself on the fact that Lulu’s has an entirely from-scratch kitchen, uses no MSGs and

offers a gluten-free menu — all fairly rare for Thai restaurants in Kansas City, according to her. Lulu’s also has an intentionally small menu in order to maximize the freshness of the ingredients and the quality of the dishes, according to Baughman. Even Monyakula’s favorite order, a Thai-style omelette over rice, isn’t offered on the menu — the chefs make it specially for her.

Additionally, though she supervises an 85-person staff, she still feels personally responsible for the service to each of her customers. Her philosophy is that every guest who walks through her door is her boss — meaning she is trying to make up to 1,000 people happy every day. Even so, she knows the work of her staff has been essential to the growth of the restaurant.

“I am fortunate that, throughout the over 20 years of Lulu’s, I’ve been able to attract and find really great people to help me run [Lulu’s],” Monyakula said.

Both Lulu’s locations have become popular destinations for East students: on an Instagram poll, 99 out of 294 responded that they eat at Lulu’s frequently. The restaurant is a favorite among junior Olive Henry and her friends.

“It’s really good food and also a fun atmosphere,” Henry said. “I feel like every time time I go to eat there, it’s more special.”

In the last year, the property managers at Park Place and Ward Parkway have reached out to Monyakula about opening a new restaurant in their developments. No plans have been made yet, but as the restaurant grows — both in number of locations and in popularity — Monyakula hopes to continue their success.

More than anything, though, Monyakula believes Lulu’s success comes from the unifying experience that eating together brings — one that she, especially, values.

16 FEATURES

photos by luke hoffman

T” A N “G SCH T NI

STUART “THE MAN” HANSON

C “T H HA R L I E E CRO PHENO NEN M WE ” TT

R

T I I

IAN “FIVE TEDDY” GOULD

BRIAN “MARIO” BERNHARDT

V A !

LET’S PLAY

FEATURES

design by lizzie kahle

East’s Categories Team is headed back to the championship, following in the successful footsteps of previous teams by caroline chisholm

S

enior Stuart Hanson envisions March 7, imagining the TV screen illuminating Channel 2.

Hi, welcome to Categories! I’m your host John Bartel. Today we are bringing you a great matchup between Shawnee Mission East and Blue Valley High School competing for the championship title this season. Let’s go meet our contestants! First, from East.....

Hi I am Stuart “the man” Hanson and I’m a senior.

I’m Ian “Five Teddy” Gould. I’m a junior.

I’m “Gnat” Nitsch and I’m a senior.

I’m Brian “Mario” Bernhardt and I’m a senior.

I’m Charlie “The Phenom” Cronenwett and I’m a freshman. *** Three days before the championship episode, Hanson sat in Room 402. He imagined this scene in his head: John Bartel’s booming voice through the microphone, how he and his teammates will introduce themselves and how accomplished they would feel, celebrating together on set, if they were to win the championship episode of Categories, an academic quiz bowl competition — for the second time in a row.

During the team’s last practice — in the midst of anxious preparation — all five team members began brainstorming. They had agreed that if they earned a spot in the championship at the beginning of the year, which they did through a one point win against Blue Valley West, they would introduce themselves using made up nicknames given to them by their teammates — a true testament to their joking ways and camaraderie.

But the team only spent a few minutes joking. It was three days before the final game of the season, and this practice was for preparing.

“The seven years’ war was lost by what French king who was the lover of Madame Pompadour?”

Buzz.

“Who was Louis XV?” “Correct.”

Buzzer drills were their main focus. If the team is even a split second late, it could cost them the game or send them into a five-question tiebreaker like in the semifinal Feb. 28. With a final score of 26-25, the team realized that reaction time can make the difference between losing and winning.

The East Categories team can be considered one of the most successful teams at East, beating out football and soccer for total number of championships.

And with a current 60 percent accuracy rate — the highest of all categories teams in a league of Shawnee Mission and Blue Valley schools — they believe they have a chance at winning yet another championship.

The members of the Categories team began hourlong practices in teacher sponsor Nathan Southwick’s room at the beginning of the school year. Every

Monday, all students were welcome to practice trivia questions and compete in buzzer drills in order to earn a spot on the five-person team.

According to Southwick, typically around 10 students attend these practices each week in order to compete for a spot on the televised team. The five students chosen for the televised competitions are based upon seniority, academic expertise and quick reaction times to questions and can be rechoosen before every match.

“We have to pick the best of the best,” Southwick said. “It’s really based on the students performance and attendance at practice. We start counting how many [questions] each student gets right during practice.”

After being the team’s coach for nine years and a former contestant in high school trivia, Southwick has learned that choosing the team members is not solely based off of who knows the most.

It’s who has the best guesses, who has the fastest reaction time, who can be composed and be willing to take risks when answering questions. Through stacks of trivia question books and weekly practices, Southwick has worked to develop each team member’s individual skills, as well as the group as

Through observation, Gould picked up on the fact that Hanson spends almost every waking minute listening to NPR and reading up on the New York Times, while other teammates, like Nitsch, specialize in topics like music history due to her extensive participation in band. Having a team with wideranging knowledge allows them to be more accurate and obtain a more fluid team dynamic according to Southwick.

“Nat, Stuart, Myself, Brian and Charlie have a great dynamic,” Gould said. “Although I really love trivia and all of the random knowledge and interesting pieces of it, I really do enjoy this group of kids. When we meet on Mondays or at games, the whole team is very enthusiastic about working hard and winning.”

Another championship trophy for the school would give these students the opportunity to add their names to the list of winning East Categories teams. Before Southwick took on the role as trivia coach, social studies teacher Nick Paris led the teams to 22 victories in his 25 years as coach from 1989 to 2014.

In the Air Force, Paris was known as ‘Mr. Walking Encyclopedia’ because of the way he retained

Although I really love trivia and all of the random knowledge and interesting pieces of it, I really do enjoy this group of kids. ian gould senior a whole.

According to Hanson, Southwick quizzes their knowledge and works to improve the team’s strategies such as buzzing in at specific times or the best ways to approach Team Huddle questions — the only questions permitted to have discussion between teammates when in search of an answer. One of the most important strategies to both Southwick and Hanson is knowing your teammates’ areas of knowledge.

“I know almost all of our American History, Government and Economics and our Politics questions, but I don’t know our mythology questions like Ian [Gould] does or the science questions or the music questions,” Hanson said. “Other people on the team know all of that really well so I don’t buzz in first on those questions unless I am positive of the answer.”

This season, the Categories team is paying close attention to the areas their teammates do best.

According to Gould, who specializes in history, geography and mythology questions, this tactic is what has contributed to their past success when jumping to hit the buzzer in previous games.

knowledge on topics like sports history and philosophy.

When he was first approached to be the coach he jumped at the opportunity because he always had a love for trivia. The dominance of East’s program in the game, having won previous championships, enticed his competitive spirit even more.

“I have just been blessed to have really good students at this school who love knowledge for knowledge’s sakes,” Paris said. “They have curiosity and are intelligent. Essentially, most of the time East has had the best team.”

While being involved in Categories is fun for these students because of their love for random facts and knowledge according to the Hanson, it’s also true competition — they attend practice like any other athlete, compete in competitions and fill the display cases with championship trophies.

“I think these kids get really serious about [trivia],” Southwick said. “It is a lot of fun for them, but they also want to win which is why they do so well and pick themselves up after their losses.”

17

18 FEATURES

design by lucy patterson

WHAT REALLY IS BULLYING? Since the implementation of the Bully Referral website, East has seen an increase in “joke” reports on the site which leaves students and administrators questioning bullying reports

bullying breakdown

#1

most common types of bullying are verbal bullying and social bullying

approximately 30 percent of young people admitted to bullying others in a survey

1 in 3 students in the U.S. say that they have been bullied in school

23 percent of females reported bullying at school while only 19 percent of males reported any bullying

School-based bullying prevention programs can decrease bullying by up to 25 percent

*information courtesy of stopbullying.gov and pacer.org

by natasha thomas hen-senior Molly Blake definitely messed up.

Her classmates were playing the Assassins game — a tradition where seniors are assigned other seniors to shoot with water guns to get them out of the game — and she did the one thing you don’t do during that sacred high school tradition.

Blake told a fellow assassin where she thought their target might be hiding, and she was right.

Blake messed up, but she didn’t think she deserved what followed.

The girl who Blake got “murdered” created a group chat with some of Blake’s friends and other seniors — named the “F*** Blake Club”. And this was just the first “retaliation”.

One morning Blake walked outside to see what someone had come to her house and done in the night. Swastikas, racist comments and inappropriate pictures were scrawled on her car.

That was 3 years ago, and Blake still feels that the administration never did anything about the situation.

When the administration receives a report of bullying, the report is sent to a team of administration that decides if the referral warrants action. Each referral is reviewed and a plan of action is created

T

I didn’t use bully referral because when I was at East people treated bully referral as a joke. They’d report made up stuff just for fun so I assumed whoever got the referrals would think mine was a joke too.

molly blake to combat the issue presented.

However, ‘Report Bullying’, the system installed in SMSD student’s MacBooks that allows anonymous bully reports, is frequently misused. Bully reports that are clearly fake and jokes on the site give the system a bad image, leaving it underutilized and bullying incidents left unresolved.

Blake told her teachers and counselors about what happened, but she didn’t report it as bullying.

“I didn’t use bully referral because when I was at East people treated bully referral as a joke.” Blake said. “They’d report made up stuff just for fun so I assumed whoever got the referrals would think mine was a joke too.”

Despite views like Blake’s, Assistant Principal Britton Haney says ‘Report Bullying’ has resolved many cases of bullying or conflict among East kids.

But the system has also given Blake a reason to doubt it’s authority.

When the system was first introduced to SMSD five years ago, it was joked about or used to make a fake referral 90 percent of the time, according to sophomore Phoebe Hendon.

“It’s good that teachers and administration want to help give kids a way to report any incidents, but somewhere along the line the site just became inane,” Hendon said.

Assistant Principal Britton Haney acknowledges the stigma around ‘Report Bullying’, and realizes

bully referral noun The pre-installed application on student computers that allow them to anonymously report bullying. they may get only one serious situation for every 20 reported. But he hopes the students that actually get bullied look to the administration for help — the administration still follows up on every single report.

In a poll taken of 162 East students, 105 have seen someone bully or be bullied. Less than 15 percent of those 105 have reported a bullying incident to the administration.

Some students, like senior Lydia Arnold, reported incidents in the past but stopped when nothing changed after filing a report.

When Arnold was riding the bus, she was told by a peer that she needed to wear a binder because of her bra size. Arnold reported it, but felt that the incident warranted more than the small talk the administration had with her bully.

“I think she just got a slap on the wrist,” said Arnold, “Nothing really happened because it was basically someone saying ‘this person’s making me uncomfortable, please talk to her.’”

Arnold doesn’t ride the bus anymore, and she doesn’t use the ‘Report Bullying’ system, either.

Haney says there are times when the administration can’t intervene.

“If a group of people are Instagramming something bad outside of school, there isn’t a whole lot we can do” said Haney.

Sometimes the administration’s only option is to notify the families of those involved in a conflict and hope it is resolved amongst themselves.

And if the report is fake? The bully report system gets wasted on interviewing people that were never involved in bullying.

“Some students don’t think it’s a serious tool,” said Haney, “But hopefully those students will use it if they find themselves in need of some support in the future.”

FEATURES

design by emily fey photos by grace goldman by will tulp eniors Henry Diehl and Michael Perry spend most of their weekends in Diehl’s backyard around an old electric pottery kiln filled with fire bricks and propane, propelling flames around a melting crucible with thrift store hairdryers and turning soda cans into aluminum ingots — you know, because it’s fun.

This is their “metal foundry,” where the two have built their own metal furnace after months of runs to Strasser Hardware for parts and QuikTrip for food, of course.

Diehl’s interest in creating the foundry was sparked by a love for chemistry and a craving for handson experience testing methods he learned in his AP Chemistry class, like electrolysis. And it doesn’t get much more hands-on than this — just one look at the burn marks and melted fingertips of their cowhide gloves is enough to show it.

Diehl and Perry spent the first semester of senior year in the Engineering Development and Design class at the Center for Academic Achievement (CAA) where the two designed a digitally-measured graduated cylinder using code, cameras and “computer vision,” impressing teacher Greg Thiel with their ambition and work. As a result, the teachers offered to have them drop their second course at the CAA and take up internships in the University of Kansas’ research labs.

“Anybody who, you know, works in their backyard to make a metal foundry is somebody who is very innovative in and of themselves,” Thiel said. “When they pushed that they love chemistry, we thought, ‘Well, we can do something. Whatever it is, we’ll find something that you can work on that involves your passion.’”

Now, Diehl and Perry leave East after fourth hour every day — save for Thursdays — and carpool 45 minutes up to KU’s research labs in Lawrence to work on projects in two different biochemistry labs. As a result, the two have been able to experience the world of research, focusing on their passions for both chemistry and engineering.

While Diehl and Perry had been through East’s engineering classes, the AP Chemistry course and even a semester of Engineering Design and Development at the CAA prior to their new internships, they were working in biochemistry labs — and knew no biochemistry. But as Diehl says about all his new challenges, when he realizes he wants to do something, he does it.

“It [is] cool as heck, would you not

take the opportunity to go work at KU in a research lab for a semester?”

Diehl said.

With college textbooks and graduates by their side, the two have been simultaneously teaching themselves biochemistry and working on their own projects within their respective labs. As Diehl is reading up on the intestinal villi and crypts, he’s writing — yes, writing — a chapter for a “drug carrying” textbook about the two parts of the intestine, as well as the safety and toxicity of different drug carriers, which help control the release of a drug into the body.

Additionally, he is following a graduate student in the pharmaceutical lab through their research into the blood-brain barrier, searching for a process to administer medicines directly into the brain without being stopped by the enzyme protecting it to treat health issues such as Parkinson’s disease.

Over in the computational biology lab, Perry is working with research related to protein-protein docking, the interaction in which two proteins combine to form a single bonded group, or complex. His job is to take the lab’s “GRAMM function,” a computer application that determines the structures of these protein-protein complexes based off of specific files, and turn it into a user-friendly desktop app — the “grunt work” of the lab, according to Perry.

To do this, Perry is creating a userinterface for the app and creating visualizations of the protein-protein complexes combined in the GRAMM function so that even a high schooler — like himself — could easily utilize the tool.

Often the twos’ work days at the labs last until 5 o’clock. With homework and studying for their four East classes awaiting them back at home, leaving Lawrence hardly marks the “end” of their day — even conversations in the car on the drive home aren’t always relaxing.

“There’s some days we talk about just what’s going on at school, and there’s other days where we have long discussions about like time relativity,” Perry said. “Sometimes by the time we come back from KU, we’re both just so brain dead because we have these complex conversations.”

Both Perry and Diehl hope to better prepare themselves for college and get a better sense of what type of research they would like to pursue through, well, their current college-level projects. Diehl wants to major in chemical engineering in college and then spend four years in nuclear engineering for the Navy, and

Perry is planning to study computer science at KU and focus on either chemistry or biology.

But right now, their immediate goal is to get their work officially published by the end of the semester.

If Perry completes his application, he will get to write about and publish his product in a scientific journal.

And if Diehl finishes his biochemistry chapter, his name and work will be featured in an textbook published

by Elsevier, the world’s leader in science and health publishing.

While the two have the opportunity to publish official scientific works before graduating, Diehl and Perry are still limited in the work they can do within the labs since they’re pretty much the textbook definition of a liability: untrained, unpaid high schoolers. They still get their desired hands-on engineering and research experience through all of their other projects, though, whether it be at the foundry or the CAA. On their free Thursdays, they still fill time at the CAA working on their own personal project, building a wood and resin river table. Then, they come back to East to lead their Chem Club and work on their yearlong task of creating an electrolytic cell to convert CO2 into CO. They’re also running this year’s “Assassins,” a senior class tradition and water gun game, and Perry plans to essentially automate the entire process. He’s creating a database of participating seniors and coding processes to randomly select each seniors’ “target,” manage who is still in the game and more — all just to circumvent the inconvenience of individually texting every senior.

Aside from their separate internships and college plans, the two are not only constantly together, but working together. Sure there are times when they can “hate each other’s guts” during stressful deadlines, according to Perry, or when Diehl is making fun of Perry for struggling to get work done and Perry is jokingly punching Diehl out of annoyance. But through the past year of sharing their passions and projects everywhere from Diehl’s backyard to the CAA to KU’s research labs, Diehl and Perry have become “the best duo.”

“They probably work as well together as any team I’ve seen because they have a mutual appreciation for each other as well as the fact that... they’re not critical of each other, they accept each other and they respect each other,” Thiel said. “All of those come together to make a very dynamic team.”

Seniors fuel passion for science with chemistry and engineering projects while spending a semester in a research lab

ABOVE | Diehl and Perry show the steps they take to melt soda cans to form aluminum ingots in Diehl’s backyard metal foundry.

19

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AST AK F e E R B bl

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A mostly Jewish Deli for a mostly not Jewish city.

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7:30 PM 6:00 PM 7:30 PM 7:30 PM 7:30 PM 3:00 PM 12:00 PM 6:00 PM 6:00 PM 2:30 PM 6:00 PM 7:30 PM 6:00 PM TBD 7:30 PM

DATE TIME 6:00 PM 6:00 PM 1:00 PM 3:30 PM 7:30 PM 5:45 PM TBD

LOCATION SM District Soccer Compl Rockhurst HS St. Louis DeSmet SLUH SM District Soccer Compl Shawnee Mission East Rockhurst HS

OPPONENT BV West Rockhurst JV 2 DeSmet JV 2 SLUH Freshmen BVSW Rockhurst JV 2 JV Tournament

LANCER LACROSSE lancerlacrosse.org *paid advertising

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3/21/19 3/28/19 3/30/19 3/30/19 4/3/19 4/25/19 5/4/19

Northland SM District Soccer Compl Lawrence SM District Soccer Compl LS West SM District Soccer Compl SM District Soccer Compl Blue Valley Eastside Mill Valley SM District Soccer Compl DeSmet St. Louis DeSmet SLUH SLUH Olathe Club CBAC Rockhurst HS Rockhurst HS Wichita Vipers Shawnee Mission East LS North Lee’s Summit North HS SM South SM District Soccer Compl St. Thomas Aquinas St. Thomas Aquinas JV Tournament Rockhurst HS BV West SM District Soccer Compl

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3/6/19 3/19/19 3/21/19 3/27/19 3/29/19 4/6/19 4/7/19 4/10/19 4/11/19 4/13/19 4/15/19 4/22/19 4/24/19 5/4/19 5/8/19

OPPONENT

1

7:00 PM 7:00 PM TBD TBD

Northland

LOCATION

JUNIOR VARSITY

6:00 PM 6:00 PM 11:00 AM 6:00 PM 1:00 PM 2:00 PM 8:00 PM 7:30 PM 7:30 PM 5:45 PM 6:00 PM 7:30 PM 7:30 PM

SM District Soccer Compl Memphis, TN Memphis, TN SM District Soccer Compl SM District Soccer Compl Shawnee Mission East SM District Soccer Compl St. Louis DeSmet SLUH CBAC Rockhurst HS Lee’s Summit North HS Shawnee Mission East SM District Soccer Compl St. Thomas Aquinas Kettle Moraine HS Kettle Moraine HS Kettle Moraine HS Pembroke SM District Soccer Compl UMKC Durwood Stadium UMKC Durwood Stadium

DATE TIME

VARSITY

3/6/19 3/22/19 3/23/19 3/27/19 3/29/19 3/31/19 4/3/19 4/6/19 4/7/19 4/10/19 4/11/19 4/15/19 4/18/19 4/22/19 4/24/19 4/25/19 4/26/19 4/27/19 5/3/19 5/8/19 5/22/19 5/24/19

OPPONENT

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TRENDING TV T V S H OW : T H E U M B R E L L A ACA D E M Y

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A round-up of all things arts and entertainment

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A disbanded group of superheroes reunite after their adoptive father, who trained them to save the world, dies.

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ALBUM:

Ten strangers are lured to a private island, and one by one the strangers mysteriously disappear.

In this humorous story of first love and senior-year angst, Leah Burke deals with various personal issues as high school comes to end.

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In the small hours of the morning, Abi Knight is startled awake by the phone call no mother ever wants to get: her teenage daughter Olivia has fallen off a bridge.

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“ I CAN ’ T WAI T TO G E T O U T O N TO U R AN D MAK E AL L T H E S O N GS CO M E TO L I F E . AN D TO EVE RY B O DY WH O ’S B E E N A PA RT O F MAK I N G T H I S R ECO R D HAP P E N , T HAN K YO U FO R B E I N G T H E B E ST AN D FO R B EI NG APA RT O F I T.” léon

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A young woman becomes a celebrity overnight, but later realizes she’s part of something bigger, and stranger, than anyone could have possibly imagined.

21

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Lifelong fans of true crime stories Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark tell each other their favorite tales of murder and hear hometown crime stories from friends and fans.

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LAMARS DONUTS

27%

FOOD

TV

90210

61%

VS

FLUFFY FRESH 39%

77%

VS

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*Instagram poll results of 298 followers

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T H E N OT E B O O K

M OV I E S

73%

VS

Results from our movie, TV, food and music face-offs from Instagram

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FAV O R I T E S FAC E O F F

74 %

VS

GUNNA 26%

22 A&E

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FROM TV TO KC I TV-star Guy Fieri’s new taco restaurant doesn’t live up to expectations

by meg thoma f I see Guy Fieri in a news article headline, chances are I’m going to read it. And if I see tacos making headlines? Also, probably going to read it.

So as you might imagine, when these two key words made a conjoined debut within the same Kansas City Star headline, it was a monumental day on my scale. I’ll book this one-way ticket to Flavortown, or shall I say Guy Fieri’s new restaurant, Guy Fieri’s Dive & Taco Joint.

AT A GLANCE: GUY FIERI’S DIVE & TACO JOINT what: lunch and dinner where: 1333 Grand Blvd.

3/5 Knowing that the restaurant would be filled with dozens more Fieri fanatics like myself, I decided to venture out to the Power & Light District mid-day, for a hopefully less crowded lunch. But apparently about every other taco connoisseur had the same idea, and I found myself in a line that snaked around the bar, with not much to do to pass time other than question why a magnetic wall covered in fidget spinners was on display.

I had already mentally prepared myself for the madness by reading online reviews — and they made my stomach churn with awkward confrontation. The owner had responded to comments with sassy quips like “Karen, we’re sorry to hear you weren’t pleased with the portions. Our service process is slightly unconventional but we’re confident KC will get used it.”

Well sorry, Guy, it makes me uncomfortable that you are getting in a brawl via Google reviews comment section with people who have a problem with the style of your restaurant. And I feel like your restaurant should probably be adapting to the KC lifestyle, not trying to force people into your try hard approach towards a dive joint — known by Urban Dictionary as a “well-worn, unglamorous bar, often serving a cheap, simple selection of drinks to a regular clientele.”

After the confusion of figuring out whether the servers brought the food to us when our buzzer went off or if we were supposed to get it ourselves (my food was brought to me, but my friend had to go get hers, so I’m still confused?), I sat down to a trio of tacos that I truly could’ve made myself.

Sure, I finished them. But these Cheeseburger Tacos I ordered could not have been any more similar to something I would try to chef up on my own; It was your typical hard corn shell filled with ground beef, shredded sharp cheddar, lettuce, cabbage, tomato and onion mixed with their specialty Donkey sauce.

Deciding that maybe my order was too basic, I also decided to indulge in some of my friend’s Fajita Raja tacos. I was faced with a soft shell taco filled with grilled chicken, crispy poblano rajas, jack cheese, pico de gallo, crispy onions and salsa roja. Though I appreciated the true Mexican authenticity of flavors, these tacos were clearly created for a more mature palette than my own.

The atmosphere didn’t do this place any favors either. After ordering, my friend and I nervously scanned the room looking for a place that we could squeeze in and finally found a table tucked away in the corner — I would call it a “seat yourself” approach without the guarantee of actually getting that seat.

When we got to the seats, the dive aspect of the joint really shined through. I had to use the leftover menu on the table to flick off the chopped onions left there too.

Before I even got to eat, I started to agree with the reviews I read about the not-soattentive wait staff, the music being too loud or the small portions. And when I said nervously, I meant it. I felt like a burden asking the waiter to grab me a napkin and I was the one to say sorry when the bartender so rudely bumped into me as I was ordering.

Each order was $10, which, in my opinion is a hefty price to pay for three small tacos if they aren’t accompanied by beans or rice. You can go to many other incredibly authentic taco shops around KC and not only experience a wider variety of tacos, but get beans and rice for under $7.

Maybe my problem is simply my inability to comprehend the concept of a “trendy” dive bar, but I somehow felt overwhelmed and underwhelmed all at the same time. So Guy, I hate to say it, but this experience was in fact not money. And the train to Flavortown that I thought I was boarding never really left the station.

PRICING 2/5

ATMOSPHERE 2/5

TASTE 3.5/5

ABOVE | The fajita rajas taco, made with grilled chicken, poblano rajas, jack cheese, pico de gallo, crispy onions and salsa rojo.

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design by allison wilcox photos by trevor paulus

SUSHI STOP

23

A sushi lover and first-timer review sushi restaurants around Kansas City

HEN HOUSE $

ABOVE | Hen House’s 12-piece fresh Philadelphia roll. This roll has cucumber, salmon and cream cheese. photo by trevor paulus

BLUE SUSHI $$

ABOVE | Blue Sushi’s shrimp tempura and godzilla bomb with blue kani, tuna, yellowtail and Japanese spices. photo by trevor paulus

JUN’S $$$

ABOVE | Jun’s shrimp tempura with mayo and the rainbow roll with six types of fish over california roll. photo by trevor paulus

from the eyes of a

SUSHI FANATIC

HEN HOUSE TRIES. They really try. Their Wednesday “five-for-one” deal on 12-piece rolls drive in the locals even on ice days. While Hen House sous chefs claim to prepare “fresh” sushi daily, fresh to me doesn’t mean sitting in a fridge for seven hours. With all of that in mind, we decided to see what $7 could get us. Popping off the plastic lid to the Philadelphia roll, it seemed like I was looking at a Topsy’s popcorn tin. Every bite I took left me with one chunk of cream cheese, avocado or salmon — nothing was evenly distributed. Plus the rice and seaweed were dry. The globs of fish were chewy and stringy like a banana. It’s too bad there weren’t toothpicks.

by lauren west WE DECIDED TO order the eight piece Shrimp Tempura Maki roll at just $5, luckily for us, it was happy hour. Blue Sushi prepares rice the correct way — the white grains were warm and easy to transport with chopsticks. The seaweed hugged the center tightly, securing the fried shrimp in place. The shrimp itself was buttery and heavily seasoned, lacking any natural shrimp taste — and that’s the whole point of sushi.

The second roll was the eight-piece Godzilla Bomb at $12.

This roll had a mind of her own. The center was filled with a crunchy blue kani tempura — again, hard to taste — coated in various japanese spices. On top of the seaweed and rice laid a perfectly thin sliced piece of raw tuna and yellowtail fish. The fish was seared to perfection, not too slimy and not too chewy.

Unfortunately, the sriracha and jalapeños on top of the fish absorbed that fresh flavor from the rest of the roll and had me reaching for my water instead of another bite.

WE STARTED WITH an eight piece rainbow roll — a california roll with salmon, tuna and yellowtail layered on top. I found the rice to be a tad sticky, but once dipped in soy sauce, it formed the perfect consistency. While the center was well mixed with crab, avocado and cucumber, the fish was sliced too thick — meaning I could feel the large chunks glide down my throat. Ew. The second roll we got was an eight piece shrimp tempura, it was a much better surprise. I usually find shrimp tempura to be too jazzed up with excessive garnishes, but Jun’s fried shrimp was heavily buttered with minimal spices, resulting in a natural fish taste. The touch of sesame seeds dotting the outside rice added some extra texture to the roll.

from the eyes of a

SUSHI FIRST-TIMER

by winnie wolf I’VE BEEN GOING to Hen House for ages — what I didn’t know was they had a refrigerator in a corner with a variety of fresh sushi inside. The practically empty shelves proved that the Wednesday $5 sushi is a popular item. We went with the Philadelphia Roll — 12 for $7. Inside were chunks of crab, cucumber and cream cheese. Unfortunately, the package contained no chopsticks for me to butcher the sushi with. The inside of the rolls weren’t mixed evenly, resulting in each bite tasting differently because the contents inside fell apart after one bite. Maybe it was all I needed though because somehow I tasted an overwhelming amount of cream cheese every time — an unsettlingly strong flavor. I don’t think even the hidden soy sauce packet under the rolls I discovered after we were done could’ve made the experience better.

MY FIRST IMPRESSION walking in was that I felt underdressed in my sweats. Even though it wasn’t a fancy restaurant, the modern design, Japanese paintings and tables of young couples made me wish I had dressed up. We lucked out and came in during happy hour a little after 5 p.m., so our eightpiece order of Shrimp Tempura cost only $5.50. The mature atmosphere within the restaurant made me worried the sushi would be beyond my comfort zone. However this somewhat plain tempura had subtle seasoning that made sure the other ingredients didn’t overpower the shrimp, the star of the roll.

Next on our plate was the Godzilla Bomb. Like the name, this eight-piece, $12 sushi roll looked intimidating. Inside was a blue kani tempura between rice, with a thin slice of raw tuna and yellowtail on top. This was the picture perfect sushi I’d imagined trying one day. The roll was packed with unique flavors and the garnish was a little spicy, but not unmanageable. If only I had figured out to use the chopsticks at this point, I would’ve looked like a pro.

WE SETTLED ON the eight-piece shrimp tempura (cooked roll with shrimp tempura, mayo with masago) and the eight-piece rainbow (salmon, tuna and yellowtail over a California roll), for a total of $20.

After struggling to operate the chopsticks, the shrimp tempura was the first one I tried. For someone who has never had a desire to eat sushi, I was surprised I actually enjoyed it. The fried shrimp’s crunch added a nice texture differentiation from smooth rice. The Kikkoman soy sauce I dipped it in also gave me the comfort of a familiar flavor. Next was the rainbow roll. At first glance, the overwhelming amount of raw fish variations on the top had me thinking it couldn’t be safe to eat. Regardless, I tried the salmon first, assuming I would like it the most. The amount of food crammed into the roll made it hard to tell what I was consuming. I think there was crab? And supposedly avocado and cucumber. Being a newbie, I might opt for the traditional California or veggie roll next time.

M

by grace padon ost teenagers asked for the latest Apple gadget or James Charles’ eyeshadow palette for Christmas, but not me — the first item on my Christmas list was a DNA kit.

Before I even finished opening up my other gifts on Christmas morning, I found my inner nerd reading the instructions on my Vitagene Ancestry

AT A GLANCE: VITAGENE what: dna testing kit price: $79+

5/5 and Health DNA kit.

Three minutes worth of swabbing my cheek and packaging up my DNA into a biohazard bag (I never thought I’d ever type those words) later, and my DNA samples were mailed off to the Vitagene testing center in San Francisco. Four weeks later I was able to access my results, and I even have a PDF file of my raw DNA sequence on my laptop.

The three main results you get back are the ancestry and health reports, but Vitagene also gives you the 411 of your body with exercise, diet and genetic trait reports. Not only did Vitagene give me an inside look to where my roots are, but it helped me positively change my lifestyle with vitamins and supplements — not to mention the kit only cost $79, whereas 23andMe’s ancestry and health kit is $199.

Along with the DNA test, you also have to complete five short surveys about your eating habits and lifestyle in order to make sure your results accurately reflect your current state of health. The surveys ask you everything from your height and weight to any genetic diseases that might run in your family to the physical activities you do — unfortunately for me that survey was minimal, I retired from sports in middle school.

The results from my ancestry report did not surprise me in the slightest — I’m 99.97 percent European.

Afterall, my great-great-great-greatgreat-grandfather William Bradford sailed over on the Mayflower in 1620 and eventually became the first governor of Jamestown. How’s that for a history lesson! And the other .03 percent? Who’s to say, maybe I have a teeny amount of Pacific Islander Princess DNA in my system.

The most interesting of my results was from my supplemental report.

I found I was beyond insufficient

design by grace padon

in eight vitamins, the top three being Vitamin B12, Magnesium and Vitamin D3 — which explains why I am walking around half asleep like a zombie and am stressed out to the max 80 percent of the time.

Vitagene conveniently offers individual prepackaged supplements, but for a hefty price. The four supplement pack comes in a one month supply for $50, while the one-month eight supplement pack is $80 — all while my Amazon cart totaled a mere $30 for three months worth of the same supplements.

Based on these results, I AmazonPrimed Vitamin B12, Magnesium and Vitamin D3 supplements and within a month I was back on my A-game, ready to take on the world one Harbinger deadline and shift at Bijin at a time, without dozing off in English class.

For the skeptics out there, to verify my Vitagene results my parents dropped a few hundred dollars on a doctor who told me I was lacking in the same vitamin categories as my Vitagene results told me. Why pay hundreds of dollars to see a nutritionist if you can find out the same results from the comfort of your home for $79? I took one for the team and learned that lesson the hard way.

Along with the ancestry and health reports, Vitagene’s exercise report suggests the amounts of calories you consume and burn to either stay your current weight or to lose weight based on the activities you listed in the surveys.

The diet report warned me to stay away from milk and gluten. To combat this, Vitagene provides five days worth of breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack ideas and recipes that fit your body’s needs. For example, a yummy breakfast curated to my body consists of an oatmeal with strawberries and a spinach, mushroom and a Feta cheese scramble.

Thanks to Vitagene’s genetic traits report, I know that I’m at low risk to gluten sensitivity, but I do have a slow carbohydrate metabolism rate — so long, all-you-can-eat breadsticks at Olive Garden!

There’s no time like the present to explore where your ancestors are from and what vitamins you’re lacking. And who knows, maybe the conspiracy theories might be right and it could be helpful to have a copy of your DNA stored somewhere when science advances to the point where you can clone your young self.

V I TA ( G E N E ) Vitagene DNA kits are an inexpensive and user-friendly way to learn about your ancestry and health

how it works UNIQUE LIKE YOU Use the provided instructions to complete the kit

Vitagene’s lab processes your DNA

Wait four to six weeks to receive your results

what’s in the kit?

B12 Supports cognitive health, energy and moods

Swabs to brush against your cheek to collect DNA with

A biohazard bag to put your DNA samples into

Access your results on Vitagene’s website

Vitamin B12

Magnesium

BIOHAZARD

24 A&E

Mg Supports sleep, energy and everyday stress

Vitamin D3 Containers that hold the DNA swabs

what results do you get?

D3 Supports everyday stress, sleep and joint health

A look into an example of what results you could get back from Vitagene

Ancestry Report

Genetic Trait Report

Exercise Report

Europe 99.97% British Isles 50.50% West & Central Europe 28.18% Scandinavia 19.01% Eastern Europe 2.28%

Supplement Report

Health Report

A&E

design by carolyn popper

skip the

TO BE YOUR BEST

SNOOZE

M

by catherine erickson y mom barges into my room screaming, “Do you know what time it is? Your brother’s going to leave for school without you!”

Glancing at my clock, I realize instead of hitting snooze and “resting my eyes,” I fell back asleep for 45 minutes after pausing the Black Eyed Peas singing “Imma Be.” That’s my cue to jolt out of bed and throw on whatever clothes are in reach. By the time I get in the car — which my brother has been impatiently backing out of the driveway for two minutes — I often realize I only packed a granola bar for lunch and my phone is still sitting in the kitchen.

These recurring frantic mornings lead to dozing off in my morning classes and not being able to ask teachers questions before school. So when a YouTube account called Be Inspired and their videos “What Happens to Your Body When You Hit the Snooze Button” and “The ‘1 Billion Dollar Morning Routine’” appeared on my suggested videos, I urged myself to try out their tips for the week. How could I say no to a morning equivalent to a billion dollars?

Following the steps in the video about not hitting snooze gave me more energy throughout the day and allowed my mornings to be more relaxed by having extra time to make breakfast and get ready. However, the unnecessary two-hour time commitment on the “‘1 Billion Dollar Morning Routine’” made it more of a $10,000 morning routine.

The “What Happens to Your Body When You Hit the Snooze Button” video directed me to plug my phone in outside of my room when I go to bed and to not hit snooze. The “‘1 Billion Dollar Morning Routine’” video was more instructional — meditate for 20 minutes, take a cold shower, journal for 20 minutes, read and make a “brain smoothie” consisting of blueberries and avocado. For someone whose full morning routine is usually 10 minutes and a piece of peanut butter toast, these instructions seemed a little excessive.

Both videos were concise, professionally made and used effective visuals of people performing the routines, prompting me to watch other videos by Be Inspired about how procrastinating small deadlines will eventually lead to you putting off self-started projects and careers.

I decided to combine the two morning routines into one schedule on a late start Thursday morning, giving myself some extra time. At 6:30 a.m. the familiar synthesizer beats of “Imma Be” blared while I tried the “Five Second Rule” that the first video suggested, slowly counting to five before forcing myself out of

25

Ways to improve your workdays

Staffer watches two Youtube videos to correct her morning routine and school performance

bed.

Then I attempted to take a cold shower as a form of cold therapy. Cold therapy is supposed to increase alertness, improve circulation and ease stress. Although the cold-enough-to-put-Kansas-winters-to-shame water immediately shocked me awake, the constant shivering and goosebumps inclined me to turn the water back to hot within two minutes.

After getting ready, I went back to my room to meditate, journal and read. While meditating,

I wasn’t as stressed as usual, wasn’t nervously tapping my pencil during my math test and ended up receiving the highest grade on a math test I’ve gotten all year.

catherine erickson junior I constantly checked how much time I had left (definitely not worth signing up for a 7-day trial on the meditation app Calm). I couldn’t fill more than five lines while journaling since nothing significant had happened before 7 a.m. After journaling, it was already 8:20 a.m. and I didn’t have time to read or make a “brain smoothie” so I reverted back to my usual peanut butter toast and left for school.

However, in the car I was much more talkative than usual, humming along to the songs on 101.4 and didn’t take my typical 10-minute car-ride power nap — even without my daily coffee.

After arriving at school I quickly noticed a difference — I wasn’t as stressed as usual, wasn’t nervously tapping my pencil during my math test and ended up receiving the highest grade on a math test that I’ve gotten all year. I also wasn’t dozing off in my morning classes, even though I’d still only gotten my usual five hours of sleep.

By not hitting snooze and avoiding the state of sleep inertia, I was ready to start the day right when I arrived at school.

If you have many frantic slept-through-my-alarm mornings, the tips from the “What Happens to Your Body When You Hit the Snooze Button” video will help you be more productive and focused in the morning.

But, the directions from the “‘1 Billion Dollar Morning Routine’” video seemed long, especially if you have to be at school at 7:30 a.m.

Now when the voices of Fergie and Will.i.am start playing in the morning, “Imma Be” getting out of bed.

wake up and. . .

COLD SHOWER

MEDITATE

JOURNAL

SMOOTHIE

READ

sleep tip!

Your bed is for sleeping. Doing homework in bed can send the wrong message to your brain when it’s time to wind down.

“WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR BODY WHEN YOU HIT THE SNOOZE BUTTON” “THE 1 BILLION DOLLAR MORNING ROUTINE”

sleep facts!

information courtesy of sleepfoundation.org

TEENS NEED ABOUT 8 TO 10 HOURS OF SLEEP EACH NIGHT TO FUNCTION BEST. TEENS STAYING UP LATE ON WEEKENDS AND GOING TO SLEEP EARLY ON WEEK DAYS MESS UP THE BODY’S BIOLOGICAL CLOCK.

SPORTS 26 design by lucy patterson

design by lucy patterson

SPORTS

27

SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS FRESHMANS’ TAKE on their first spring sports season

FROM ONLINE

A

by catherine erickson fter coaching his daughter, senior Kiki Ehrich, for 10 years, girls lacrosse head coach Dennis Ehrich believes she embodies the team slogan — WeB4Me — as a player.

Through spending time together on the lacrosse field during four 2-hour practices a week and multiple games, Dennis has watched Kiki support her team from the sidelines and on the field, all while taking on a leadership role. Dennis began as her coach when Kiki was in third grade on the Prairie Village Outlaws and has followed her all the way up to East’s varsity team.

“She [is a leader] verbally, she’s very supportive on the side-lines,” Dennis said. “A senior wasn’t going to come back but [Kiki] and a few other players encouraged her to and now she’s playing. She also tries to break down cliques, that used to be a problem but there aren’t a lot of cliques any more. It’s ‘no I in team,’ ‘WeB4Me,’ I think she really believes that stuff.”

As a player, Dennis believes Kiki’s field awareness, such as knowing how to move around a defender

and where to shoot, gas grown immensely through field time over the last 10 years.

“She knows where she should be when she has the ball, where she should be when she doesn’t,” Dennis said. “That field awareness is something that’s mostly learned through field time and experience, a little bit of coaching but also just field time and not many people on Prairie Village understand that.”

Dennis believes the coaching position has helped him become more compassionate. In addition to staying at the practice field well past the end of practice at 8:30 p.m. to make sure every girl gets picked up, he has learned to be more thoughtful in his feedback and interact with players based on their own skills and confidence. This deliberation partially sprouted from having to adjust his tone when giving feedback to accomodate for the fact that he was coaching his daughter.

Want to read more? Scan the QR code to read the rest of the story.

INSTAGRAM POLL We asked our Instagram followers if they were planning to watch March Madness, the results are below

YES NO

74% 26%

*Taken from a poll of 731 people

We asked our Instagram followers if they were planning on making an bracket, the results are below

YES NO *Taken from a poll of 691 people

64% 36%

[Lacrosse tryouts] were pretty fun and it was also kinda scary to play with all of the seniors and juniors.

But after the first day it was really fun to see how everyone plays differently and how the team offense works.

george stallard freshman

It was a really welcoming environment. I personally haven’t been playing baseball for super long so it was nice to get in there and play with people who are better than me and learn from them. It’s really gratifying to make the team and see my work pay off.

evan broaddus freshman

THROUGH THE LENS BELOW | Juniors Maggie Schutt and Sydney Daris play rock-paper-scissors before the beginning of soccer tryouts. photo by luke hoffman

BOTTOM LEFT | Junior Andrew Schuetz volleys the tennis ball back to his oponent during a practice that forced the boys indoors due to the cold weather. photo by lucy morantz BELOW | While adjusting her goggles after finishing a lap, senior Riley Kimmel talks to a coach about the schedule for tryouts. photo by megan stopperan

design by lila tulp photos by ally griffith

THE COLD CAN’T STOP US

SPORTS

27

Due to cold winter weather, sports tryouts and practices have begun transitioning to indoor practices when necessary

S

by gabby caponecchi pring sports like baseball, track and golf have had to adjust tryouts and practices due to the low temperatures and harsh wind chills.

Baseball and softball used a roll-up gym divider curtain to make room for both teams, soccer worked to alternate times for practices and tennis used the fifth floor halls to practice rallying the ball, using tape as a makeshift net.

Since Feb. 27, the low temperatures have made it impossible for sports to continue daily practices due to fear of injury. Athletic trainer Dakota Gelsheimer mentioned how athletes risk injury because it’s harder to warm up properly in the freezing weather.

Athletic Director Debbie Katzfey communicates with coaches to schedule different practicing times inside the school. She has yet to work with athletic directors from other schools to reschedule games and tournaments this season.

“When [the Shawnee Mission School District] has a snow day, they determine based on the safety of the students whether or not they can go through with practices,” Katzfey said.

The district has cancelled all activities and practices eight days this season due to a significant amount of snow.

This is baseball coach Will Gorden’s second year coaching at East, but he hasn’t experienced a snow day during tryouts, until this year. Due to this, Gorden was forced to move the second day of tryouts indoors and had to make do by using the hitting room downstairs. According to Gorden, it’s difficult to evaluate players when schedules changes occur, leading to drill changes as well.

Gorden still goes outside if the weather is forty degrees and above. Even though Gorden says that

it takes longer for them to warm up, none of his players have suffered an injury thus far.

According to track coach Ronald Stallard, the cold weather has been an inconvenience for practices, but it also increases the risk of injuries in young student athletes. The wind and cold combined create a wind chill, which can make exercising outdoors unsafe even while wearing

This year it’s affecting us more mentally than anything. Kids just want to get outside and compete, and they can’t do that when it’s this cold, it’s too dangerous when it gets this cold.

ronald stallard coach many layers, due to the fear of frostbite.

Track has also had a difficult time having to practice indoors. Track coach Ronald Stallard talks about how the gyms are being used by other sports, so they are forced to use the hallways.

Since track is a no-cut sport, they have too many kids to try and fit in gyms, so they are being divided throughout the school halls to run sprints. The bigger problem is kids are becoming anxious, which can be seen by their constant questioning of when they can get outside and run.

“This year it’s affecting us more mentally than anything. Kids just want to get outside and compete, and they can’t do that when it’s this cold,” said Stallard. “It’s too dangerous when it gets this cold.”

TOP & BOTTOM | Freshmen Caitlin Harrington, Angelica Martell, Greer Hembree, Kim Schutzler stretch and do drills during soccer practice.

MIDDLE | Senior Destiny Ray does sprint mechanic drills with the JV and varsity track team during practice. photo by luke hoffman

28 SPORTS

photo by evelyn roesner design by annabelle cook

DIVING INTO SEASON T New girls dive coach brings fresh coaching methods to program

ABOVE | Girls dive coach Hannah Bortnick laughs as a dive is completed.

HANNAH’S HISTORY HISTORY HANNAH’S An overview of Bortnick’s past experience in dive

HIGH SCHOOL Dove for Pembroke Hill School Dove for Oakwood Country Club Dove for the Jayhawk Dive Club

COLLEGE Dove for the University of Arkansas Coached at Country Club of Leawood

NOW Coaches at Sion in the winter season Coaches at East in the spring season Coaches at the Kansas Dive Club

by annabelle cook he girls dive team is trading their comfort zones for double back flips as they kick off the season with a new coach, 25-year-old Hannah Bortnick.

With her young age and more strict practices, she is introducing a challenging, yet rewarding new coaching ideology to the team, according to varsity divers senior Lauren Terry and juniors Ellie Phillips and Lena Madden.

Bortnick began diving as a freshman at Pembroke Hill School, going on to dive at the University of Arkansas and coach at Country Club of Leawood during the summers. East was in need of a girls dive coach after former girls dive coach Shelly King retired and has since gone on to coach both boys and girls dive at Blue Valley North.

Having just graduated college, Bortnick says her age is advantageous, as she is familiar with some of the latest dive techniques and drills her coaches taught her.

Some of these include hurdle work without the use of arms, more individualized drills, lineups used to train eyes where to look in the dive and more slow modeling outside of the water.

She hasn’t run into any problems with the small age gap between her and the athletes, which she attributes to learning to assert herself over the years and establishing authority from the first practice. She does this by coming in with set goals and getting to know the athletes as people, which she believes will result in gaining the divers’ respect.

“I think sometimes a lot of people will look at me and be like, ‘Oh you’re so young [so] we’re not going to listen to what you have to say,’” Bortnick said. “So a lot of it for me is just making sure I have a plan and just sticking with my plan.”

But the switch in coaches doesn’t just bring a new, young face to the pool deck — Bortnick is using the techniques and drills she’s learned to bring a new coaching style to the team, which she describes as strict, yet approachable.

For the team so far, this has translated to a 30-minute earlier start time and practices with more dry land conditioning, drills for boardwork and basic fundamentals training built in. “[King] would just have us do our dives and tell us what was wrong with them, but Hannah has us do front jumps, back jumps and lead up dives and make them good so that our harder dives could be better,” Terry said.

Bortnick has focused on a “back to basics” philosophy for her divers, designed to build a solid foundation to safely learn more difficult dives. This includes building specific muscles, using visual cues, learning balance and powering legs, according to Bortnick. Phillips says that this started on the first day of practice when the team learned new drills and reworked their approaches and hurdles, which are the elements leading up to the dive.

“Athletes can’t be expected to get on the board and throw good and hard dives without good basics,” Bortnick said. “When coaches forget to teach basic skills, that’s when diving becomes scary for the athlete.”

Phillips, Madden and Terry agree that compared to King, Bortnick is more precision and technique-focused.

Terry thinks this will be helpful, as the country club dive training she receives in the summer doesn’t include many of the technical elements that Bortnick works to include, such as a straight posture and strong hurdle.

Phillips feels that although Bortnick’s practices are challenging, it’s been refreshing for the team to be pushed, as King’s coaching was more laid-back and involved more “messing around.” As for the new drills, stretches and conditioning, she feels Bortnick’s extensive dive knowledge will add a competitive edge to the team.

According to Terry, at the beginning of the season, Bortnick handed out a list of rules, including “no drama” and the “balk rule.” Balking is when a diver attempts to start and dive and then proceeds to stop, but the rule allows only one balk per practice per diver. If a second balk occurs, the whole team must do a conditioning exercise. This has been one of the techniques used to

I just want to make diving better as a whole, so I feel like if I can work with high school kids and make them better, then that will make diving better.

hannah bortnick dive coach push divers out of their comfort zones.

“Most of the time I can be out there saying, ‘this is what you need to do,’ but a lot of diving is just deciding, ‘OK I’m going to do this,’ and then just doing it,” Bortnick said. “And then from there I can help them improve on what we have.”

Madden believes that the rule pushes her as a diver, like when Bortnick had the whole team try back dives — something Madden usually avoids. While they appreciated King’s nurturing style, they felt they could evade trying new or more difficult dives more easily. “[The rule] makes me go for things,” Madden said.

“When I take a really long time and work my way up to it, I psych myself out and get scared. But with [the rule], I kind of have to go for it.”

Regardless of the extra practice minutes or next-day soreness from planks and other exercises, Bortnick and the girls are excited by the improvements she and the team are already seeing in their dives.

“I just want to make diving better as a whole,” Bortnick said. “So I feel like if I can work with high school kids and make them better, then that will make diving better.”

SPORTS

design by rose kanaley

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SPORTS IN BRIEF by lily billingsley

LOCAL

The boys and girls basketball teams ended their seasons after losing in sub-state

ABOVE | Senior Jordan Yowell dives for the ball at varsity girls basketball sub-state. photo by lucy

morantz

EAST GIRLS AND BOYS BASKETBALL seasons have ended after both teams lost in the sub-state round of the state tournament.

The girls varsity team competed against Olathe Northwest on Feb. 28, falling with a final score of 59-48, completing the season with a record of 12-9.

“We started off the game slow which got us down early, and we dug ourselves in a hole,” Sophomore point guard Reese Althouse said. “We fought until the end and started making a push for a comeback, but it was just too little too late. I was really proud of the way that the team never gave up, even when we were down.”

The boys varsity team fell to JC Harmon High School on March 1, with a final score of 75-55. They ended the season with a record of 11-11.

Harmon was a tough opponent for the team, having gone undefeated at home the entire season. East shot worse than they had all season, making only 36 percent of shots from the field during the game, according to coach Shawn Hair. Even with the loss, Hair is still impressed with the boys’ season.

“We had a great season,” Hair said. “No one thought we would be very good, and we beat three teams that made it to the state tournament: SM South, Olathe North and Lawrence Free State.”

Both boys and girls state games will be held on Saturday, Mar. 9.

EAST

STATE

The Lancer Dancers competed at a national dance competition in Orlando

THE VARSITY DANCE TEAM COMPETED at NDA nationals in Orlando on Feb. 20-25, participating in three categories — jazz, kick and hip hop. The team made it to finals in all three dances, finishing with fifth place in kick, fourth place in jazz, and 13th in hip-hop.

Olathe Northwest High School won the large varsity team performance category, Rock Bridge High School won the medium varsity category, and Sachem North High School won the small varsity category. East was competing in the large varsity category.

Preparing for the national competition was the East’s team’s main goal throughout the year, and this year they put in extra practice, by moving many of their daily 7 a.m. practices up to 6:30 a.m., according to head coach Bubba Close.

“This year in particular, we had extra extra rehearsals and worked on perfecting the dances and conditioning their bodies and minds for the intensity they would experience at nationals,” Close said.

The team was up against tougher competition than in years past, with every team bringing their all, according to Close.

“I’m personally so proud of how hard we have worked this year, being more prepared than we’ve ever been going into nationals,” Senior and captain Olivia Caponecchi said. “The competition was very intense this year, but overall I think we still performed our best.”

The cheer coaches announced their resignation after the season

CHEER COACHES MALLORY GAUNCE, Meg Daughtery and Holly Schoonover have all announced that they will not be returning to coach the team next year due to personal reasons.

After coaching the team for seven years, English teacher Gaunce moved from coaching Varsity to JV to the Freshman team over the last three years in order to smoothly transition out of the role to focus on teaching.

“There is a lot of work that goes into running East’s

program as it currently runs, especially being the only coach in the building,” Gaunce said. “ I love coaching and get so proud watching the girls when they do well, but I do feel as if the year-round schedule and time commitments during the school year take away from my ability to be an effective teacher.”

The school is currently working on hiring new coaches for the upcoming season before tryouts from March 25-28.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR A series of upcoming SMSD sports events

MARCH

boys basketball banquet @ 6:00 p.m.

MARCH

varsity girls soccer game @ 7:00 p.m.

MARCH

varsity track and field meet @ 3:30 p.m.

19 21

22

MARCH cheerleading

27

tryouts @ 5:00 p.m.

30 PHOTOSTORY

S PREADING THE LOVE The SM East Coalition hosted the 10th annual Love Concert at Village Presbyterian Church in support of the Nolan Sprague and Kansas City Instrument Funds

RIGHT | Junior Vincent Lee warms up on his bass prior to the beginning of the Coalition Love Concert. photo by aislinn menke

RIGHT | Sophomore Kayla Andrews helps set up for the Love Concert by blowing up balloons. “We got there at 3 p.m. [and] we really wanted it to be... a fun concert that everyone would like,” Andrews said.

“I really liked how they were playing their music for free... and we raised so much money and it was a super fun gettogether.” photo by luke hoffman FAR RIGHT | Junior Quinn Cosgrove plays Gravity by John Mayer with his band The Whips.

“My favorite part is playing up onstage and making people happy through music,” Cosgrove said. “My favorite memory... is working really hard and loving every... time I see them.” photo by ty browning ABOVE | Notre Dame de Sion sophomore Anna McQueeny, junior Miles Patterson, and junior Vincent Lee talk before the concert begins.

“My favorite part is being in [The Whips] with some of my closest friends... it’s just like hanging out... and making music together so it’s a lot of fun,” Patterson said. photo by aislinn menke RIGHT | Seniors Holly Frigon, Alex Como, Lucy Crum, and Carson Jones sing along and cheer on senior Iris Hyde as she performs a Taylor Swift cover. “[The concert] was so much fun. There’s always so much good energy and it’s always so impressive to see so many people come out for a good cause,” Crum said. photo by grace goldman

PHOTOSTORY

design by luke hoffman

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LEFT | Senior Dalton Mersman performs at the Coalition Love Concert with his band Revelations 13. “I really loved how the crowd reacted. It was amazing to get to see...how they loved it,” Mersman said. “As a performer, that’s really important. I will give a [much] better performance if the crowd is into it, and there I did.” photo by lucy morantz

LEFT | Senior Sadie Osborne and junior Reilly Moreland laugh together as the crowd cheers for senior Katherine McGinness, performing on-stage for the first time.

“I’m so proud that [McGinness] got up there and sang in front of everyone,” Osborne said. “She’s so freaking talented.” photo by dakota zuguelder

ABOVE | Junior Lucy Brock performs one of her original songs at Coalition’s annual Love Concert. Brock is a two-year member of the Coalition Board and was a key part of organizing the event. “I think [the concert] is important because... everyone can come together under the same roof and ignore their different social lines,” said Brock. “I feel like everyone is just together, for the same thing, and that doesn’t happen very often.” photo by luke hoffman

GALLERY: COALITION LOVE CONCERT Scan this QR code to view the online gallery of Coalition’s Love Concert.

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photos by grace goldman design and copy by emily fey

A look into the results of the Kansas State DECA competition juniors and seniors competed for

THE RECAP

S T R I C T LY

BUSINESS

INTERNATIONALS THESE STUDENTS WILL BE COMPETING in International DECA come this spring. Other students who qualified, but will not be attending are not listed here.

name

event

name

event

hannah goettsch liddy stallard meg thoma molly kate ford zach bass maggie gray piper noblit katie garverick quin napier caroline mills gretchen ternus ben jolles henry leopold

BOR

eva hill helen holzberlein anna parker amanda anderson lauren terry gabby leinbach ava stechschulte riley kimmel hannah phillips

PBM ETDM

IMCP

olivia caponecchi lauren fritz meredith norden connor sawalich

IMCS

annabelle cook emily fey grace padon jacob tilton caroline chisholm madisyn wallin addie von drehle

BMOR PRP

EPP SEOR IMCE

RMS FMS

GRETA HORTON SECRETARY & TREASURER

THE KANSAS STATE DECA competition was held from March 3-5 at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan and included over 1000 kids from DECA chapters across the state. Out of the 145 juniors and seniors attending the competition, 33 earned a spot for the International competition this spring.

East juniors and seniors in the DECA program competed in individual series or team decisionmaking events. These events include an exam over different facets of business, such as hospitality, business ethics and marketing, and a role play in which students are given a prompt relating to their specific event and are then given time to brainstorm ideas and prep before explaining their ideas in front of a judge.

Seniors must also compete in a project event, where they create a realistic marketing or business plan and present it in front of a judge. The Marketing Research class is used for these students to spend first through third quarter writing their research papers and preparing visuals for their presentations at State.

“We have been working on our projects since the first day of school so it was a really fun experience presenting our project that we started in August,” senior Henry Mahaffy said. “The project felt really

realistic and like something I could do later in my life for a career.”

Students who place in the top three within their series events or top two within their project events qualify for DECA’S High School International Career Development Conference. The conference, which will be held from April 27-30, will be in Orlando, Fla. “I’m excited to be going back to internationals this year,” senior Katie Garverick said. “I actually [qualified in two events], but I’m going for my project. It’s super rewarding to see all my partner’s and my hard work to create the project paying off.”

East’s two new DECA State Officers, juniors Greta Horton and Ellie Phillips, will be joining the 33 other students competing on the trip and will attend training sessions during the conference.

According to Rasmussen, the Kansas State DECA competition has been held in the Kansas City area for each of the 24 years that she has attended the competition with students. The change in location added extra stress for Rasmussen as bad weather caused the bus to push back their departure time — making the group miss the opening ceremony — as well as having to deal with students needing to leave the competition due to conflicts or stress from missing too much school.

HTDM STDM IMCP

SEM SEM QSRM AAM

ABOVE LEFT| Senior Hannah Phillips presents senior Annabelle Cook with her second place medal for her marketing team decision-making role play.

ABOVE RIGHT | Seniors Elise Baker, Kennedy Krumm and Amanda Anderson applaud for Henry Leopold as he is called up to the stage for a third time.

ELLIE PHILLIPS REPORTER

why did you decide to run for a deca state officer position?

what is your main goal for Kansas DECA next year?

“I really wanted to [run] after I started brainstorming for my campaign because I had to research and learn a lot about DECA. I wanted to be a leader in an organization that had already helped me grow so much in the short time I had been there.”

“I think a lot of juniors at East that are in Marketing 1 are too scared to try DECA because they’re ‘not smart enough’, so my biggest goal next year is to show other students that anyone can do DECA and excel in it no matter their GPA.”

OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW

SENIORS HALLIE HIGGASON AND HANNAH PHILLIPS reminisce on what their last year as a DECA State Officer has meant to them while Juniors Greta Horton and Ellie Phillips, who were voted to the DECA State Officer team at DECA State, look toward the future of Kansas DECA. “Being a state officer was fun while it lasted. Near the end it was quite stressful because I was competing we were planning the ceremonies. When it was all over I was actually pretty sad. I was an officer with some pretty cool girls and I’ll miss having late night board meetings with them.”

hallie higgason senior & 2018 secretary/treasurer We had such a fun weekend I didn’t realize how sad I would be to see it conclude until this weekend. All of the officers have gotten pretty close through conventions and conferences. I’ll miss DECA, but I still have internationals to look forward to.

hannah phillips senior & 2018 reporter