LH
The Little Hawk Feature Magazine February 14, 2014
FEATURE
UNDER THE KNIFE 4 STUDENTS’ STORIES OF OVERCOMING SURGERY
*see pages 10-11
The Little Hawk Feature Magazine
February 14, 2014
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PUTTING IT OFF
FIRST LOVE, SAME LOVE
ON THE COVER: UNDER THE KNIFE
By Caroline Brown
By Daniela Perret
Some call it laziness, others call it a busy schedule – but practically everybody suffers from procrastination. Students and staff weigh in on class workload.
Sophomore Devin Ganka and senior Lauren Johnson open up about coming out as (and being) gay in high school.
By Daniela Perret Profiles on Eve Small, Gabe Caballero, Ana Clemons, and Kelly Sabers: their injury, illness, and experiences undergoing surgery.
Italian exchange student Marco Barenghi and Iowa’s own Dominic Balestrieri-Fox whip up a pasta recipe.
WWW.THELITTLEHAWK.COM
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IN DEPTH: AUTHENTIC ITALIAN
photos by Kierra Zapf/THELITTLEHAWK
A Teacher Profile:
BETH FETWEISS
“
I said to myself I would like to teach all day, and then I realized there is a job called that. I went to my adviser in the program and she slammed her door shut and said ‘hallelujah!’
Beth Fettweis didn’t grow up dreaming of becoming a teacher. As an undergraduate, she wanted to be a classical saxophonist and later she went into an English PhD program at the University of Iowa and still hadn’t considered teaching. It wasn’t until she was teaching Rhetoric and Interpretive Literature to first year college students that Fettweis realized her future as a high school English teacher. At that point, she had only had three days of education training. “I felt so grossly unprepared and so guilty,” Fettweis said. “Because I thought maybe with training I would have something to offer.” Now Fettweis has an array of teaching awards. She had been the recipient of the Teacher of the Year Award in 2010, A University of Iowa Commitment to Diversity Award, and a finalist for the Excellence in Education Award in 2013. Fellow English teacher and friend, Colleen Davis, nominated Fettweis for her most recent honor. She credits Davis’s recommendation writing mastery for her accolades.
Currently, Fettweis teaches US Literature Honors and is co-teaching an English 9 class with Heidi Schmidt. Students in her English 9 class are recommended by their eighth grade teachers. “We have this tremendous opportunity to get the most bang for our buck. Putting two of us in there with kids who are excited to learn and want to grow has been so phenomenal,” Fettweis said. “It has just been incredibly rewarding.” On the other hand Fettweis says that keeping up with the demands of high achieving students in her honors class who write and submit multiple drafts of essays can be difficult. However, the minute Fettweis made the decision to teach, she knew it was the right choice. “I said to myself I would like to teach all day and then I realized there is a job called that,” she said. “I went to my adviser in the program and she slammed her door shut and said ‘Hallelujah! Good for you.’” Her decision to teach high school students was easy. “I figure if I loved working with rhetoric stu-
“
By Ellen Carman
dents who had to take the class, had no interest in English and were first year college students,” she said “I would probably like high school.” Fettweis never thought that she would stay in Iowa City either. She had always planned to move closer to her family in New Jersey, her hometown. She hoped to work in an urban and diverse environment where she could make a difference. In the end, however, she found everything she wanted in the ICCSD and was able raise her family in a community she loves. Currently Fettweis spends half her day at school and the other half with her five and six year old sons and three year old daughter. Her kids, she says, are “zaney” and often the topic of stories she tells in class. They love spending time with each other and Fettweis loves being able to “play basketball, make puzzles and feed babies.” “I don’t know that I could do it all day but I have a great gig right now,” she said. “Everybody who works and has kids feels like there isn’t enough time for everything but I think I have the best of all worlds.” February 14, 2014 LH FEATURE MAGAZINE
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ost people in Southern Europe, in countries such as Italy, Spain, and France, follow a common Mediterranean diet. It’s based mostly on carbohydrates, and a plentiful lunch and dinner. Eggs and white meat are eaten less frequently than in the US, and red meat and fast food rarely enter the diet – as little as a couple times a month. It can be said that the people In Italy live on pasta and bread. Lunch and dinner, pasta is eaten by Italians. Soaked in tomato sauce, with eggs, cheese or pesto; pasta is cheap, delicious and very easy to cook. Here, we show you one recipe that includes bacon and a delicious sauce!
AMETRICIANA PASTA
> WHAT NEXT?fs
No. 1 > INGREDIENTS 1 lb of pasta 1 lb of tomato sauce Salt Half a pound of bacon Parmesan cheese Extra Virgin Olive Oil
No. 1 > Ingredients
No. 2 > STEPS
• Cook the pasta in a pan until it gets brown and a bit crispy.
• Cut the bacon into little pieces until it gets
•Slice the hot dog into little pieces and add.
crispy, the crispier the better. • Put the tomato sauce in the pan with the bacon for about 20 minutes under low heat. • Add salt and oil to taste. • Cook the pasta, with 3 palmfuls of salt. • Combine pasta with sauce, serve!
Left over pasta • Cheese • 3-4 Eggs • Hot dogs f
No. 2 > Steps
• Break the eggs and put in with the pasta. • Wait till the eggs are done and put some cheese on if you want
Visit tinyurl.com/ littlehawk italian to watch Marco and Dominic cook, read more thoughts from your chefs, and post your
School Life
Putting It Off Some call it laziness, others call it a busy schedule – but practically everybody suffers from procrastination. Students and staff weigh in on the struggle to manage class workload.
By Caroline Brown
I
’ll start tomorrow. As January rolls around and new goals are set, you hear this phrase everywhere. From students talking about homework, to adults talking about their jobs, New Year’s Resolutions are prolonging the inevitable...procrastination. Procrastinating on anything from school work, to exercise, to getting to sleep on time has become a very common trend in the lives of high schoolers. City sophomore Nate Danielson sits down in his fourth avenue jacket, after a long day at school, and reflects on how long it’s been since he actually sat down to do homework. “It started in high school,” Danielson said. “Junior high was fine, but freshman and sophomore year it got bad.” Students find that as they move up to high school, classes, sports, music, and clubs all start demanding more, making time harder to manage. “I’ll always say, ‘Yeah I’m gonna do homework tonight’ and then I get home and I just don’t do it. Last night I got home from show choir at 11:30, and I still had all of my homework to do. I just can’t always get it done,” Danielson said. The National Sleep Foundation states that during adolescence it is natural to sleep and wake at later times. Not being able to sleep before eleven is normal. Due to full schedules as well as hormones, the question is often raised, sleep or grades? “I think the idea of getting a healthy balance in the lives of everybody, and certainly the students, is very very important,” Principal John Bacon said. “I think we have to listen to our hearts and our minds and our bodies when answering that question.” City High student Sonali Durham 16’ is very involved in sports, music
Procrastination (continued) and academics, and is still able to manage her time. Although she has a very full schedule, she tries to get at least seven hours of sleep each night in order to stay focused. “I usually try and prioritize when I know I need a certain amount of time to get something done. Occasionally I put things off a little too long, but if I have something that’s due the next day I try to do that first,” Durham said. The problem with procrastination is that while taking a break from the task at hand seems easy at first, many people find it is not worth the stress. “I cannot stand the thought of something pressing on me that I have to get done. So the way that I do things is I knock things out,” Bacon said. While Durham explains her efficiency as just a habit, Bacon has a different story. During his time in college he decided that being unorganized was no longer something he could handle. “If you had seen my apartment in college, it was disgraceful, an abomination to mankind,” he said. “And then the switch just flipped for me, I don’t know exactly when or why it changed. But now I’ve probably gone too far in the other direction, I can’t stand any type of clutter or mess.” A messy apartment is only the beginning of a hard time staying focused. The technology that has surfaced in the past decade, including smart phones, makes staying on task even harder. “If I have my phone or anything in front of me I’m just not gonna do homework,” Danielson said. “It’s mostly my own fault, I have a really hard time doing school work at home.” Even students who are very focused and dedicated often have trouble. “I’ll be sitting trying to do my homework but there are so many more fun things I could be doing,” Durham said. “When I have my phone there it’s a lot harder. I could be watching Netflix or talking with my friends.” Being off task and on her phone is not an option with the number and level of classes Durham is taking, and she’s not the only one. The number of AP classes being taken by City High kids has risen dramatically, from 550 three years ago to 980 this year.
“To me that indicates that more and more kids are putting more on their plates,” Bacon said. “In the last three years the number of AP classes students are taking has nearly doubled.” Many of the AP teachers have been promoting their classes and recruiting students for the next year, in attempt to increase numbers and get them excited to learn. “I think that by nature of the fact that we have been a little more aggressive in encouraging students to accept the challenge of an AP class, higher numbers have resulted. The average ACT score in Iowa is 22.1 and we are tied for the second highest state average in the country. City’s average is 24.6,” Bacon said. City’s students have a lot going on from an academic standpoint, and adding these AP classes as well as studying for tests like the ACT can increase stress even more. Bacon stresses that students should be working with counselors and administrators in these situations. “If you know that you are getting rundown, if you’re exhausted or feel like you can’t keep up, if it’s emotionally draining on you, that’s where I want City High students to know that there are caring people here who wanna help them make these decisions.” High school is a time to try new things, and students are encouraged to make the most of it by being involved. But somewhere a line needs to be drawn to avoid feeling overloaded. “I think there is definitely the option to do a lot of things and it’s easy to get over involved,” Durham said. “When you are doing too many things procrastination is a problem. If you put things off then you end up with too much to do all at once. Which can make for a miserable couple of days.” Bacon stresses that the key is balance. High school is a special time in a young person’s life. Though it can be intimidating, students’ participation is what makes our school unique. “It is very inspiring when you look at the schedules of some of our students,” he said. “Whether it being our show choirs being as amazing as possible, or our basketball team winning games, or our student newspaper being one of the best in the country, these things don’t happen without our awesome kids saying “We’re gonna get involved and do this.”’
Check out the NEW & IMPROVED
February 14, 2014 LH FEATURE MAGAZINE
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BREAKING OUT OF THE MOLD: Transgender and Proud By Emma McNutt Dressed in distressed jeans, a vest, heels, and his hair tied in a neat bun, Victor Pascal ‘14 walks down the hall with friends. He notices a few people staring but he doesn’t mind, it reminds him that he is who he is. Pascal is a transgender student here at City High. The stereotypical High School life is seen as hard and complicated. Having to deal with grades and the average high school drama is always a part of a teenager’s life, but all of this is added to Pascal’s sexuality. He stands in the shoes of somebody who stands out from “the social norm”. “The truth is,” Pascal said. “You are who you are and you have the choice to become who ever you want to be.” Life in a transgender student’s eyes is much different than most think it is. Bullying by other students is common, but each student takes it differently. Although students deal with different things and being different from others the students are able to get school work done and pass classes. “A lot of our students may have difficulty occasionally,” Mrs. Hill, advisor of GLOW Club, said. “But its not on the level where they aren’t wanting to go to school or grades dropping.” Some students don’t encounter bullying, or when its there they choose to disregard it. “I tend to ignore everybody,” Pascal said. “And I’ve never had any experience with bullying or anything.” Although he usually dresses in a more feminine way, he is undecided on what gender he considers himself. Pascal has known all his life that he was the way he is. “I always knew I was this way,” Pascal said. “Since I was little I was playing with dolls and doing those sorts of things.” Pascal is able to push people out who don’t accept him for who he is. He is not afraid to answer questions about who he is. Pascal has enjoyed his time in high school and is glad he has experienced it all. Kyla Paterson ‘14 is also someone who’s known they were who they are at a young age. “I can remember back to when I was five,” Paterson said. “I always did things with girls. All my friends were girls back in elementary school. I had no guy friends.” To make her appearance more feminine, Paterson takes hormone pills and dresses like any
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other girl. She looks at herself as more feminine, and also believes she was born in the wrong body. Unlike Pascal, Paterson has experienced bullying because of her sexuality in high school. She chose to share a story; before coming to City High, Paterson attended Lone Tree. “In 2010, I came out to the school or they found out that I was and outed me,” Paterson said. “But then I didn’t exactly know or realize what the words “gay” or “transgender” exactly meant.” She was made fun of everyday and hurtful comments were made towards her to the point where she felt suicidal. “I was one of the first people at that school to come out as transgender,” Paterson said. “It was a much smaller school so it was so new and different to them.” Paterson had tried going to the principal and speaking out about what she was going through, but it didn’t go down as well as she had hoped. After she had faced three boys in the locker room and was assaulted and harassed Paterson took matters into her own hands, she left Lone Tree and came to City High. With the support of other students and teachers, Paterson and Pascal have been able to make it through bullying. Glow has also come to help students know that they are well accepted by many. “Students usually help out each other more
than they come to me,” Mrs. Hill said. “And as a group we have sat in a circle and talked about what bullying experiences we’ve had and how we’ve dealt with it, and their techniques and strategies. We just help each other out and let them know that they have support in coming up with ways to help each other.” Pascal is able to cope with people judging and excluding him, with his friends by his side and support from others. “Everyone has their opinion and I have mine,” Pascal said. “I will always go with my opinion over anyone else’s.”
PHOTOS? true.
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LH FEATURE MAGAZINE November 2, 2012
Taking the stage two seniors joined beauty pageants in search of scholarships and new friends. now they share their jouney. BY LILLY REITZ PHOTOS COURTESY OF BLANCA APOLONIO
As she nervously waits behind the curtain, Blanca Apolonio ‘14 is one of 40 teenage girls about to present herself to an audience in the Miss Teen Iowa pageant. She hears her name called and, for what feels like an eternity, walks across the stage wearing only a one piece bathing suit and high heels. Last October, Apolonio participated in one of the Donald Trumpsponsored pageants, being judged on an interview, talent, fitness and fashion. This was her first time doing a pageant. “I never had put myself out there, but I didn’t really mind doing it at the pageant,” said Apolonio. Since Apolonio never put herself out into the public eye, when her dentist recommended this pageant for Apolonio last spring she was surprised. But Apolonio decided to apply, just like 500 other girls in the state of Iowa. “I was one of 40 girls who was picked for the pageant out of the 500 who applied,” said Apolonio. The first step in the process of getting to the pageant was finding sponsors to help pay her way to the pageant. Apolonio went around to local restaurants and businesses asking for help. “I went to companies and asked them to sponsor me, like Cactus Mexican Restaurant and the Children’s Place,” said Apolonio. A few months later, Apolonio found herself on stage at the pageant, being interviewed by six judges and wearing the perfect evening gown. “Basically, it was a prom dress,” said Apolonio.
Apolonio had a great experience although she is not planning to atwith the Miss Teen Iowa pageant, de- tend. Instead, Apolonio plans on spite the bad reputation beauty pag- staying in Iowa City and attending eants have obtained in recent years. Kirkwood Community College for “Pageants are nothing like what two years before transferring to the people say,” said Apolonio. Pageants University of Iowa to study nursing. can have a bad reputation, based on TV Similar to her classmate, shows like Toddlers and Tiaras. How- Elena Foster ‘14 is also going ever, Apolonio disagrees with the way to be participating in a scholarpageants are displayed in shows like ship pageant this coming March. this. For Apolonio, The Distinthe pageant was a guished Young great environment. Women pageant is “Everyone a scholarship prowas really nice,” gram for young Some girls mom’s said Apolonio. women like Foster. didn’t let them talk to Apolonio After being told anyone. It was intense. placed 6th out of she was perfect for 50 in the pageant, such a program and her great exby a family friend – Elena Foster perience with who also particiMiss Teen Iowa pated, Foster put inspired her to do the pageant into more beauty pagthe back of her eants. Apolonio already has plans to mind. It wasn’t until she was researchparticipate in another pageant at the ing scholarships later that she found end of the year called “Nuestra Belle- the Distinguished Young Women za Latina” (Our Beautiful Latina). program and changed her mind. Most pageants, including Miss After being accepted for Teen Iowa, offer scholarships. Apo- a preliminary pageant to deterlonio received a $29,000 scholarship mine if she would go to the state to Lindenwood College in New York, pageant, Foster took the trip
to Ottumwa for a preliminary competition. “We drove a few hours to this really inconspicuous church where there were about 30 other girls in the same position as me,” said Foster. Foster was initially nervous about the whole situation. “I had never done this before. I asked some of the other girls, and they hadn’t either,” said Foster. Although many girls were also new to the pageant life, some of the girls were very intense about their beauty pageant careers. “Some girls mom’s didn’t let them talk to anyone. It was really intense,” said Foster. Foster, however, was not as in-
tense at these girls, and was just trying to have a good time and earn scholarships. Foster then was interviewed by judges, did a fitness test, and a talent portion, where she sang ‘Feeling Good’ from the 2012-13 jazz ensemble show. Out of the 30 girls, 15 were selected to go onto the state competition in March. Foster was one of those selected girls. Foster was initially interested in the program for the scholarship opportunities, but is now looking forward to working with the other ladies in the pageant and making friends as well. “I’ll make a whole new group of friends,” said Foster. “I’m really look-
ing forward to working with these girls, but it’ll also be weird knowing they’re your competition.” If Foster does well at the state competition in March, not only will she receive a minimum of a $200 scholarship, but has the chance to win scholarships based on talent, fitness, fashion and other competitions within the pageant. Foster has the opportunity to go to the national competition if she places highly in the pageant, which will hold even more scholarship opportunities for her academic endeavors in college in the fall of 2014.
. 4 2 0 2 S I R A THE YE . L A P I C N I R P YOU ARE ? T N E R E F F I D H G I H Y T I C HOW IS
interviews conduc ted and condensed
by JACOB POTASH
A lot of what we do now in the classroom will seem very outdated and very useless to the student. The question is – and I'm sure we’ve been asking this forever – “Why do I need to learn this? How is this relevant to my life?” But I think we’ve been able to ignore that question for a very long time in education. Just “because it’s good for you” or “because I said” or “because you need to.” And I don't think that's gonna last much longer. It’s going to have to seem more relevant to get more kids checked in. There’s this sense of, “I don't need to know that because I can just push a button right here and then I have that information.” For me what I do in my classroom is more about thinking. It’s teaching you to think, because we can find things quickly, and we have access to lots of information, but I think that’s very different from being able to think critically about the information that you're accessing. And so I think convincing younger generations that are coming up with information literally at their fingertips, to invest in something more than just the surface level of information is going to prompt us to change our teaching.
It’s going to have to seem more relevant.
Colleen Da vis teacher
Whoa, there’s a scary thought! Certain core elements of the high school experience, I think and very much hope, will still be the same: when we think about the future it’s easy to get carried away thinking about all this programming where we can do school from the convenience of our tablet at a coffee shop or something like that, but I think that one of the beautiful things about high school is that it’s this coming-together period. It’s one of those rare times in our lives when as an entire community we come together and I think that the bonding and community-building and relationships that develop are very, very important for the sake of a healthy community. I think that the high school as a hub or a gathering place that brings people together – I think that’ll always be the case. I think that in ten years, it’s very likely that programming options and service delivery will continue to expand. You see examples now of Harvard professors lecturing on a topic and that being delivered via webcast, so that you're almost able to get the instruction from someone of that caliber, and I think we’ll see more of that. I think that makes sense.
Certain core elements of the high school experience will still be the same.
rd Eli Shephe 014 Class of 2
John Bacon Principal
I would like to see much less of a move in the direction of AP, more classes that actually focus on what people are able to tangibly take away from it, rather than focusing on teaching to the test. I think there needs to be more of a focus on holistic education. History’s something I’ve become more and more interested in. Now, I’m wishing I had another history class, but at the same time I know how the history classes that I took were set up, because with AP, there was a the timeline you’re on; you’ve gotta get through it; and there’s specific things you’ve gotta do repeatedly, but it doesn’t really matter whether that’s the most effective way to be learning. I feel like the way lots of classes are carried out, especially AP classes, it’s really concerning. You have to be able to fill out a packet and then a multiple choice test. That’s the way that we determine whether or not we know things now.
VISIT TINYURL.COM /LHFUTURE TO READ A BONUS INTERVIEW, HEAR EXTENDED RESPONSES, AND DESCRIBE YOUR OWN VISION
Student Profile
A Labor of Love
Sophomore Alex Murra has discovered an appetite for volunteering, and finds a sense of purpose in helping others.
By Cody Owen
Alex Murra has found her passion in volunteering. KIERRA ZAPF/ THELITTLEHAWK
T
he child’s smile looks strange, almost out of place in the colorful room, full of other children with one thing in common: a cancer growth. When she sees
that smile, Alex Murra ’16 can’t help but smile too. This moment, seeing the difference she’s making spread across another’s face, makes all the hard work worth it. Murra has been volunteering since third grade, and has
been gradually increasing the number of jobs and institutions she works for since then. “Not only is it a way to earn Silver Chord hours, which is something a lot of students are trying to do, it’s a way to meet new people and find new things in the community,” Murra said. “Iowa City, even though we’re a small town, has lots of different opportunities to volunteer and see new things.” As a volunteer, Murra has worked on houses with Habitat for Humanity, worked in various sections at Mercy Hospital doing patient visits, and regularly helps at both the Natural History Museum and the public library during events. “My favorite experience was last summer when I was at the hospital on the cancer patient floor,” Murra said. “I got to go visit from room to room and visit the patients, and they were really grateful for all the volunteers.” Volunteering is more than a pastime for Murra. She has come to take the action of helping another in need to a better life very seriously. “I volunteer because I know that my actions could make someone’s life better, even if it is only for a brief moment,” said Murra. After hundreds of hours of hard work, Murra has come to take a far different view through the lens of someone who gives without expecting when she began volunteering.
“Volunteering has given me new experiences,” Murra said. “ When I started working at the hospital I was afraid to work with some of the patients. But after working with them it really opened my eyes to a career where I could help them all the time.” Murra has greatly enjoyed her experience volunteering, and has plans to continue it into the future. She finds that even though it can be arduous work, it’s still enjoyable, and the knowledge that she’s helped others is very satisfying. “Sometimes it can be tiring, but when I’m finished with my shift I feel good,”Murra said. “I volunteer a lot, and my friends ask me why I don’t just get a job,” Murra said. “But even though I’m not getting paid, I just generally really like it.” All of the time she’s spent volunteering has given Murra more than an impressive resume, it’s given her memories and experiences she’ll always remember. Murra has strong feelings about the importance of volunteering in the community and all within it, and wishes for anyone who has thought about it to do something about it. “Definitely try it. Even if you’re really busy, just try a couple shifts,” Murra said. “You might discover something new about yourself and what you really want to do in the future.”
first love same love
By Daniela Perret s he walks down the hallway hand in hand with his boyfriend he notices a few glances in his direction that turn to stares. But rather than let these looks get to him, he pushes them aside, because he is not ashamed of who he is. Devin Ganka ‘16 is gay. “I’m not going to hide who I am, so I didn’t really care what anybody said and I still don’t. If they have a problem, bring it up with me,” Ganka said. “That’s what you think, not what I think.” Ganka, member of GLOW (Gay, Lesbian or Whatever) club, came out in the fall of his freshman year. “I just told [my parents] and they said they kind of already knew. My entire family was okay with it,” Ganka said. “Out of everybody that I’ve told and knows that I’m gay, only one person really cared.” Before he came out, Ganka felt like he had to hide who he was and pretended to act differently so he wouldn’t be judged. “Keeping it inside is just like keeping this huge secret, I had to act like I didn’t want to,” he said. “For example I cross my legs when I sit and guys don’t usually do that , the way I walk has been commented on before, just the way I did things and said things, my actions, I had to hide those.” Not crossing his legs or talking a certain way were not the only things Ganka tried doing, he also had relationships with girls. “I’ve dated girls in the past but it never really felt right to me so I don’t know why I didn’t come out earlier,” he said. “I guess I was just a little afraid of what people would think.” Along with Ganka, senior Lauren Johnson, co-president of GLOW club, came out officially while in high school, during her sophomore year. “It was all kind of like a journey, really,” Johnson said. “It wasn’t just a sudden moment where I woke up and realized I was gay, I spent years kind of wondering. Ever since I started liking anyone I noticed I liked girls a little bit more but I also went to a Catholic school at the time and that was kind of frowned upon. It was kind of an interesting journey that I made to finally figure myself out.” In junior high, Johnson attended Iowa City Regina but switched to City her freshman year. Although no one made any visible negative actions towards her, Johnson didn’t know
what people thought. She feels that the town she lives in, however, has made it easier. “It wasn’t that they were visibly shaming, or that sort of thing, they just didn’t say much about it,” she said. “I think this area, the Iowa City area, is really tolerant which is really nice. If I lived in a small, less tolerant town, that would be awful. People here have overall been fairly supportive of me, my family is relatively supportive, no one at the school has said anything negative directly to me.” She also feels that City High has played a part in making her feel supported. “I can’t really think of a time that stuck out to me that didn’t go because I was gay,” Johnson said. “And so I feel very fortunate for that because a lot of people don’t get that sort of thing.” Although neither Johnson or Ganka has ever felt bullied for being gay, there have been cases of students disrespecting others because of their sexuality in the school. “In terms of bullying in that persistent, everyday, going-after-kids manner, there hasn’t been much,” Maureen Hill, GLOW club advisor, said. “But there is some [bullying]. Last year I was told in the second floor hallway that when the kid would go through, some athletes would make a comment everyday. So the kid’s choice was then to use a different hallway.” GLOW club, a gay straight alliance club, has played a part in helping students feel safe and supported at the school. Its purpose is to provide a place for students, gay, lesbian, straight, bisexual, transgender, questioning or ally, to educate and support each other, and to reach out to the community. “I’ve had students that I’ve never seen in my life come here and tell me ‘Hey I’ve got something I gotta tell ya’ and let me know about their situation,” Hill said. “Especially if students have had a problem with their teachers, where they have felt the teacher has been unfair, that’s a tricky thing for students to report. And the administration has been extremely helpful with that.” Ganka gives advice to younger people who might be questioning their sexuality. “If you are gay, come out,” he said. “You might think it might be really hard but you have a lot on your shoulders if you don’t. I know when I came out it just felt like a huge load was lifted off my shoulders. Don’t be afraid of who you really are.”
5% to 6% of American students are LGBT 64.3% felt unsafe in their school because of their sexual orientation Gay youth are 4 times as likely to have attempted suicide. 39.1% had been physically harassed (shoved or pushed) *Human Rights Watch, Hatred in the Hallways, supra note 6 *Gay and lesbian youth in schools. Lambda Legal
*Office of Public Policy of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, (2003)
February 14, 2014 LH FEATURE MAGAZINE
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under Daniela Perret
knife
Gabe Caballero ‘14 LEFT LEG On November 14th, 2013, senior Gabe Caballero was involved in a car accident, leading to him spending 12 days in a hospital and having three surgeries on his left leg and more to come in the future. “The first two days in the hospital I don’t remember anything, there was so much going on,” Caballero said. “I really just sat there and didn’t do much, watched a lot of football, didn’t talk much. I had sleeping issues.There was one point when I was in the hospital that I was in so much pain, it was the most excruciating pain that I’ve ever had in my life for 15 minutes and that’s just something that you don’t want to go back to ever.” Injuries that he sustained included severing his MCL, ACL, PCL and LCL which completely dislocated his knee. This lead to tearing his Popliteal Artery, the main artery in the leg, which lead to poor blood flow to his foot and losing four units of blood, close to the six units a human is capable of losing before dying. “They almost amputated my foot, they were approved to amputate,” Caballero said. “My foot died. When I went into surgery it was white, it was gone. I should’ve had nerve damage but I didn’t. So when my mom got to the hospital the first thing she signed were the amputation forms.” The first thing that was done when Caballero reached the hospital was a bypass surgery on his Popliteal Artery, removing a vein from his right leg and connecting it in his left leg. At this point blood flow had returned to his foot so amputation was not necessary.
After the seven hour-long bypass surgery, an external fixator was attached to his femur and tibia with metal rods. During this time Caballero’s lower leg and knee had swelled to 17 inches in circumference. To release the pressure doctors performed a Bilateral Fasciotomy on his lower leg that was covered with a skin graft from his upper leg eight days later. Once Caballero woke up from the surgeries, he was told he would no longer be able to walk until his fixator was removed and would not be able to run for at least four months. One month and one week after the accident, the fixator was surgically removed and Caballero was allowed to start physical therapy. He began going twice a week although he was not quite able to walk yet. Due to these injuries, Caballero was out for his senior year of swimming. “I really wanted to be swimming, I look forward to swimming,” he said. “It’s my favorite sport and it was really disappointing that I couldn’t swim anymore” About a month after the fixator was removed, however, Caballero was cleared to get in the pool again. “When I found out I could go back and do swimming as physical therapy I was really happy about it because I could still practice with the team,” Caballero said. “So right now I’m just waiting on a doctor’s note to get me cleared to practice normally with the team because the school has to know that there’s a possibility that I could dislocate my knee.” Although he is now walking with a brace and back to swimming, Caballero will be having reconstructive surgery on his knee at some point within the next six months and will need to have his bypass re-done every eight years in the future.
“Of course it’s changed me, there was a chance that I could’ve died that night and that thought consumed me for a long time,” Caballero said. “I can’t say that it doesn’t still. Being that close definitely changes you and there is a thought inside of you that there’s a reason I’m alive now. That’s the worst part about it.
Kelly Sabers ‘14 KNEE In Kelly Sabers ‘14’s case, doctors do not know the specifics of her injury. Some say it could be hereditary while others say it could have been
February 14, 2012 LH FEATURE MAGAZINE
caused by the medicine she took for her seizures when she was younger. But in the past four years, Sabers has had knee surgery on both legs. This past November, Sabers had an anteromedialization of the tibial tubercle done on her right knee. In this surgery, a piece of her tibia where the patella tendon connects was cut and moved up and over to move her kneecap higher in order to not have as much pressure on it. Her kneecap and tibia are now held in place with three screws. “How [the doctors] put it was, [my cartilage] was like butter and it’s supposed to be like a pillow,” she said. “So it was basically almost down to bone on bone.” After the surgery, Sabers was out of school for a week, upon which she could not put any pressure on her leg. She was told that she would not be able to bear weight for four to six weeks. Three weeks after the surgery however, she began going to physical therapy three times a week. “The worst thing was that after the surgery my quad shut off so I had to basically re-teach it to work,” Sabers said. “And so I’ve been going to physical therapy and doing electric stem cell therapy each time for 15 seconds to wake up the muscle.” Having these surgeries has lead to Sabers having limited participation in sports, mainly track and field. Her freshman year she had her first surgery on her left leg, taking her out for the season. During her junior season she had to have her screws removed and this season Sabers will still be recovering during the beginning of the season. Although Sabers has not been able to fully participate in track, getting these surgeries done will improve her activity in the long run. “They told me that I’m going to have to limit what I do for the rest of my life, you know, not run marathons or long distances, and no squatting just to preserve my knee as much as possible because if I don’t, I’ll have to get a knee replacement,” Sabers said. “It was a bummer but then I tried to think of people with worse situations than me, I just have to think of the bigger picture.”
Ana Clemons ‘14 BOTH FEET Along with Small, Ana Clemons ‘14 has had surgeries on both her feet this past year as well. In her case, running was the cause for the surgery. “I had surgery on both of my feet because of running, they got worn down and basically the pressure on my feet moved my bones over so they had to put screws in them and reposition both feet,” Clemons said. “It was painful running on them, but it was so worth it.” Over the past three years of participating in cross country and track, the pressure of the impact of running began wearing down the bones in Clemons’ feet, her pinky toe bones and her metatarsal on her left foot were being bent inwards. Last winter she went to the doctor and was told she would have to have surgery done so in the beginning of November, 2013, Clemons had her first surgery on her left foot. “It’s been like this for at least three years but I told them that I wanted to finish my last season of cross country so they waited until that
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was over in the fall,” she said. “It got worse as time went on. It got more and more bent, and they told me that would happen but I didn’t really care as long as it could be fixed, I just wanted to run my last year.” After her first surgery Clemons was on crutches for two weeks and a boot for four. Three days later she had her second surgery done on her right foot and was on crutches for a week and a boot for three weeks. When she came out of surgery, Clemons was told she would have a four month-long recovery and might not be able to run track. “It was really hard for me too because I put so much focus and effort into doing cross country,” Clemons said. “And it was really hard to know that I can’t run, that I can’t choose to run. It sucks to not be able to run. So that’s probably what’s been hardest but I’m glad I did it because I hope to eventually be able to run like I used to.”
Eve Small ‘15 BOTH FEET After spending hours on the court practicing her serve, swing, and form, Eve Small ‘15 grimaces as she glances at her feet, feeling a painful ache slowly spread from her arches to the back of her heels reminding her that in just a few short months she will no longer be playing tennis, but spending her off season wearing a boot on both feet. Eve is one of a handful students that have undergone a surgery at City High. “It drove me crazy not being active, getting back into it a little bit you try to push yourself, forgetting that you’ve had this surgery and it’s terrifying,” she said. “I didn’t know what to do with myself, tennis had kind of been my life since I was four and suddenly stopping was a big change.” This past September and October, Small underwent two kidner procedures, a surgery to remove extra bones in the bottoms of both of her feet, that she
has had since she was born. The extra bones caused her posterior tibial tendons to connect in an incorrect way which caused her pain and became inflamed when she played tennis. In the surgeries, her posterior tibial tendon was disconnected from the extra bone (which was taken out) and re-attached correctly. “It was difficult when I stopped playing, if that makes sense,” Small said. “When you’re playing you kind of forget about the pain and ignore it or choose to ignore it but the once you stop, it hits you. Playing tennis didn’t necessarily make my feet worse, but it irritated them. It would just get inflamed and really achy and sore.” After having the first surgery on her right foot, Small was put in a splint for a few days and later a boot for a month and a half. While recovering from her first surgery, she underwent her second surgery on her other foot and was put in another boot for one month. During her recovery process, Small attended physical therapy sessions three to four times a week. “Having the surgery took me out of tennis for a while,” she said. “But now I think [my playing] is going to be better than it ever was.”
TEXTBOOK E C N A M RO
by Sarah Smith
What happens when two teachers get married? See video footage at tinyurl.com/teacherlove
Lalas Koepnicks
How did you meet? (Mrs.) We met at the University of Iowa in one of our science education classes. So we had known each other about a year before we actually started dating.
Who worked at City High first? (Mr.) I worked at City High first in 2010 and she started in 2011. What were your first impressions of each other? (Mrs.) I thought he was kind of goofy. He was kind of the class clown of the Science Ed cohorts. (Mr.) With Laura speaking Spanish, I thought she was from another country because I thought she always had an accent when I first met her. Now that I’ve known her for a while, the accent’s gone. If you had to describe your partner in 1 word what would it be? (Mr.) I would say caring (Mrs.) That’s mine! I was going to say caring too. He’s got a very good heart.
What was your first impressions of each other? (Mr.) She thought I was really tall (Mrs.) No I didn’t, I thought he was too short (Mr.) She really liked my hair (Mrs.) He had some. I thought he was very nice, after he quit being mean about not giving me a ride. We had a lot of the same experiences growing up and living in an Iowa high school. Even though we went to different schools, there was a lot of similarities. (Mr.) She went to a very large school, I went to a very small school, but after that we had done so many of the same things and had so many of the same experiences we had a lot to talk about. If you had to describe your partner in 1 word what would it be? (Mr.) Same thing I always say, practically perfect. (Mrs.) That’s not one word (Mr.) Yes, that is one word. Mary Poppins says it can be one word. (Mrs.) I don’t think I could use just one word. You would never use just one word to describe something (Mr.) Sometimes I run them together.
DAY l a v nt s Shout e ne OUts i Dacey, On this Valentine’s Day I wanted you to know that people like you are worth melting for. <3 -Your Secret Valentine
Brady Cotton, Why are you so freaking cute and amazing!? Any of us would marry you in a heartbeat. Please just love one of us!!! Love, All the Junior girls
You look like an owl. You sweat a lot too, But for some reason, I love you Q! -Maddie
Happy Valentine’s Day to all my senior “Grapes”. You are the best! -Chip
Bearhawks, We’ve been thinking about you everyday! We love you so much. Our hearts are running to you on Valentine’s Day. <3 Your Captains
Eric M. You’re sucha great friend & I love you so much! -CBK
a Lauryn, I’m not very good at thinking, but you are beautiful and perfect for me. Be my valentine?? -Drew Cornwell
Kole Butler, You are the best thing since sliced bread. Thank you for so many adventures. Emma
Who needs flowers on Valentine’s Day when you have the Blowers?