The Northmen's Log, Vol. 58, Issue 2, December 2022

Northmen’s Log The

December 2022, Kansas City, Missouri

Welcome To The

Winter Season

Winter Sports

As the winter sports season begins, OP gains a new girls basketball coach and a previous wrestling coach returns.

Read more on page 10.

Holiday Season

Students participate in more festivities as the weather becomes colder and people step into holiday season.

Read more on page 12.

2022 3

‘That’s My Sister’s Name!’

Siblings share their experiences with attending the same school.

4

There’s Help Available

Social worker speaks on how she helps homeless students.

6 Clemens Plans Forward

The process of finding a new superintedent for the district as Dan Clemens, Ed.D., steps down.

8Body Builders

Students find stress relief through fitness.

10 Start of a New Season

A new girls basketball coach joins the OP family, while a wrestling coach comes back temporarily.

Publication

Staff

Ben Dunaway, Photo Editor

Veronica Mourwel, Design Editor

Tatem Petet, Copy Editor

Jacob Eischen, staffer

Lilian Everley, staffer

Lily House,staffer

Mia Ivan, staffer

Loran Loew, staffer

Julie McPhail, staffer

Bela Parrett, staffer

Ben Place, staffer

Alicia Porraz,staffer

Rachel Prate, staffer

Brynlee Tucker, staffer

Winter and the holiday season gives students lots of activities to do.

12 Freeze into Winter 14

Not So Quiet Anymore

New activities, competitions and additions hope to bring students to the library.

About the Cover

Freshman Jayla Murphy in-bounds the ball during a JV basketball game against Winneton ka High School on Monday Dec. 5. Oak Park defeated Winnetonka 45-32. photo by Brynlee Tucker

“The Northmen’s Log” will publish four times during the school year. “Log” staff strongly supports the First Amend ment and opposes censorship. Freedom of expression and press are fundamen tal values in a democratic society. Therefore, “Log” encourages readers to participate in discussion by submitting Letters to the Editor in Room E134 or by email to christina.geabhart@nkc schools.org. Letters cannot exceed 350 words and must be signed. “Log”will not run letters that are libelous, ob scene, or that may cause a verifiable disruption to the education process at Oak Park.

Advertisers may contact the adviser at christina.geabhart@nkcschools.org for more information.

Opinions expressed in “Log” do not reflect student, staff, or district endorsements of that opinion, product, or service.

“Log” is a member of MIJA, NSPA, and Quill and Scroll. “Log” is affiliated with JEA and JEMKC.

‘That’s My Sister’s Name!’

Can’t Live With You, Can’t Live Without You

by staffer Brynlee Tucker

When siblings go to school together, it can be a rough adjustment, espe cially as the younger sibling to a well-known older sibling. If a last name is familiar it could raise flags for some teachers.

“Jones, I had a Jones once. Is Gariella Jones your older sister?”

Year after year, younger siblings face not only high school, but the burden of following behind their elder siblings.

“[2022 graduate Lamis] did so well here in her classes,” said ju nior Ali Habila. “Teachers are like ‘oh, that’s just her? I expect good stuff out of you.’”

Many sibling pairs are in school at the same time, commonly two to three grade levels apart.

Following siblings through school when they’ve had some of the same teachers can cause pres sure on the younger siblings to live up to the same standards.

“With some teachers I would say, yeah,” junior Ben Schliesman said. “Mr. D [choir director Chris Droegemueller], He knows me pretty well, and I would say I left a good legacy with him.”

Sometimes the younger sibling agrees their big brother or sister left a good example.

“I would say so, yeah,” freshman Julia Schliesman said. “No one’s ever said anything bad.”

Even if older siblings don’t in tentionally leave a path for their younger sibling, they still do.

“To be honest I skipped a lot of school and never really interacted with my teachers that year so I wouldn’t say I really left a legacy in general,” said junior Colton Sanford. “But I’m sure if you were to ask, they wouldn’t have any thing bad to say.”

Sometimes just having a famil iar face in the hallway helps.

“I would say it’s nice, other than the fact that I’m an unpaid taxi before and after school, but it’s fun having someone at home to talk to about school,” Sanford said.

Many siblings end up on the same sports team and it comes with some undeniable perks.

“She’s probably the best teamate I’ll ever have because I spend 24/7 with her so when you think alike you’re gonna play pretty well together,” junior Allie Vanderbeek said.

With every perk comes some downfalls.

“I love her, but it is 24/7 and you know you drive her to school, you see her at school, you drive her home from school, you have din ner with her,” Allie Vanderbeek said. “A few bickering fights have come just from sheer exposure to each other but at the end of the day I still love her, so it’s not too bad.”

Following in the footsteps of an older sibling can be intimidating but eventually younger siblings will learn to leave their own mark.

“I’m trying to be the polar op posite of my sister in a good way,” freshman Grace Vanderbeek said. “But also building off of what she’s already done makes me feel like a better person.”

2022 graduate Lamis Habila and her little brother, junior Ali Habila. photos by Reed Portrait Gallery and Ben Dun away.

Junior Ben Schliesman and freshman Julia Schliesman. photo by Ben Dun away.

Freshman Grace Vanderbeek and ju nior Allie Vanderbeek. photo by Katie Vanderbeek.

Donate to the Winter Food Drive

Who:

The Oak Park Deck the Halls committee.

What:

This winter, the Oak Park Deck the Halls committee organized a drive for food, clothes and hygiene supplies to be donated to A Turn ing Point, a non-profit that sup ports families by providing basic needs.

When:

This drive runs from Monday, Dec. 5 to Thursday Dec. 15.

Where:

Turn in your donations to your advisory teacher.

Why:

The aim of this year’s winter drive is to foster a stronger con nection with the Gladstone com munity.

by staffer Ben Place

Homeless Don’t Have to be

Hopeless, There’s Help Available

by staffer Tatem Petet

he said she’d found the courage to move out of her home after years of an extremely difficult relationship with her parents. She decided it was in the best interest of her mental health to move out. That day she came home with every intention of peacefully packing her things and leaving. However, when she arrived, “I was de clared kicked out of my house.”

“I was very over whelmed and scared, but at the same time, I felt the biggest weight lifted off my shoulders,” a stu dent said.

As of two months ago, this student became homeless.

This is not an uncom mon situation, according to Aisha Shaw, school community resource spe cialist. At the beginning of the school year, there were 26 students who were considered home less and the number has increased since then.

Homelessness is not always the stereotyp ical image of someone sleeping on a park bench or the street. In reality, homelessness is an large

um brella that covers many situations. “Under homeless ness there are a number of sub-categories, such as fami lies that are living in the home of someone else. Students that are couch surfing. Students that live in a homeless shelter. And unac companied youth,” Shaw said.

SJust as there are many ways to define “homeless,” there are many reasons why students may become or choose to become homeless.

“My mental health was getting really bad and something had to budge because I was noticing a pretty significant decrease in my appetite,” the student said.

Once someone is homeless, it can be challenging.

“When your basic needs ar en’t met, you tend not to be able to regulate emotion. It actually affects the way your brain func tions, which is going to affect behavior, affect your ability aca demically and it’s going to affect your focus,” Shaw said. “If you’re trying to figure out from one day to the next what you’re going to eat, algebra is probably not your priority.”

Because the instability of home lessness has such an effect on students’ ability to succeed, the district and school have several programs to help.

One of the school resources includes HOP, Helping Oak Park, closet located in room W207A.

“[The HOP] is a place where we have all kinds of items that help students meet all their needs,” behavioral interventionist Sissy Becvar said.

The HOP includes items such as clothing, food and personal hy giene products.

“If there ever is a need here for

our stu dents that can’t provide those things for themselves, we have the means to provide that for them,” Becvar said.

The district also partners with outside services to help students meet their basic needs. Students can access a list of partners using the QR code on this page.

Students can be a resource for their peers.

“So in a school as large as ours, as hard as it is to believe, more than likely one of your friends is homeless,” Shaw said. “But people don’t always make that assumption because they think that they are all doing as well as they are.”

* The student’s name was withheld by the editorial board to protect the source.

Clemens Plans Forward

by staffer Jacob Eischen

At district Convocation in Au gust of 2022, Dan Clemens, Ed.D., announced his retirement from his position as superintendent after the 2023 to 2024 school year. Now the hunt is on for a new su perintendent, a tall task.

Clemens began working as principal in the St. Joseph School District in two differ ent elementary schools, before transferring to NKC Schools in 2000. He climbed the ladder in the NKC school district. He worked as principal in two elementary schools, two middle schools, and then found himself acting as the director of human resources for the school district before becoming superin tendent after a national search in 2016.

Now, Clemens looks to the fu ture where he chose to step down from his role as superintendent. A plan has been put in place for this transfer of power.

“I think the board’s put togeth

er a really nice process,” Clemens said.

This process includes:

Town halls and focus groups.

The district held these meetings in November. Parents, staff, and members of the community at tended these events, shared their thoughts and opinions and offered input on a new superintendent. The focus groups included stu dents, staff, parents and commu nity leaders.

“All of that information will be collected, presented as an exec utive summary to the board so

they’ll know the characteristics and competencies for looking for the next superintendent,” Clem ens said.

The interview process.

The NKC Schools board mem bers and superintendent are on the hunt for a qualified candi date. Ideally, this is a person who already works for the district in some capaci ty. The hunt will only be taken externally if a can didate cannot be found internally.

The chief of staff is an open position as of Mon day, Nov. 28.

When looking for a can didate, Clemens said he’s looking for, “someone that loves the district as much as I do.”

He continued, “I think that’s exactly what the board is look ing for, someone that has a lot of passion for our kids that will appreciate our kids’ voice and also try to make our staff members as successful as possible.”

“I’m going to miss this place. A lot.”

- Dan Clemens, Ed.D.

Dan Clemens, Ed.D., speaks to an audience. file photo from Rochel Daniels, assistant superintendent.

Selection.

The person selected in the interview process will become the chief of staff with the start of the new contract year on July 1. The chief of staff will shadow Clemens for the entirety of the next school year. According to Clemens, during the chief of staff’s shadow ing, they will be intro duced to the key players in the community but also begin to understand the plans and goals of the school district.

The chief of staff becomes the new super intendent in the 2024 to

2025 school year.

This is as far as the plan goes.

Clemens is unsure of his next steps after his retirement, he hopes to still be engaged with kids but isn’t sure what that will look like.

“I’ve already started to have some feelings of ‘I’m going to miss this place. A lot,’” Clemens said. “But I also know it’s critically important. About every eight years or so statistics say that it’s time for a leadership change and I also know it’s time for North Kan sas City.”

Town Hall Meetings

On Wednesday Nov. 16, a town hall meeting was held at Oak Park, where parents, board members and community members could discuss what they were looking for in a new superintendent.

Carl Harshman, Ph.D., a Carl L. Harshman & Associates consultant helping to lead the search for the new superintendent, has heard several common

A community member gives her input to the board and at tendees of the town hall meet ing. photo by Ben Place.

ideas across these town hall meetings.

Harshman said parents look for three key things in a new superintendent: the continuation in the support of diversity and equity, continuation and growth of the engagement of parents in the district and more attention on the special needs students.

“What’s important to me is continued high-quality education,” parent Jason Swanson said.

infographic by Lili Everley

BUILDERS BODY

Monday Nov. 28, freshman Zak Davis deadlifts 315 pounds. Davis has been lifting for two years, since he was in seventh grade. All photos and info graphic by Alicia Porraz.

Lifting the weight off their shoulders

by staffer Lili Everley

Teenagers have a plethora of activities to choose from to stay active and live a healthy lifestyle. From joining one of the school’s sports like football or soccer to the dance team or one of the schools’ many physical educa tion courses. However, sprinkled into the student body there is an activity people overlook, the bodybuilders and powerlifters of Oak Park.

Bodybuilding is the practice of strengthening and enlarging spe cific muscles of the body for the purpose of aesthetics. Powerlift ing is a sport that attempts maxi mum weight for three lifts, dead lift, back squat, and benchpress. Both sports are a very competitive environment for people who enjoy lifting weights and growing their strength. It is also a great option for people who enjoy discipline and hard work, like athletes of other sports.

“For those that have been in the class [strength and conditioning], and those athletes who compete on a regular basis, it’s a great off season way to compete and stay in shape,” strength and conditioning coach Charles Pugh said.

However, the strength training for athletes of other sports and that of those who participate in bodybuilding and powerlifting are extremely different. For a body builder, the main concern is max strength with a focus on aesthet ics. This means they lift weight for maximum strength, which hits only one point on the force veloci ty curve. For an athlete of another sport, the focus is on being able to move, so other athletes train to hit the full onset of the curve with the speed of strength, power, and functional movements dependent

on their sport of choice.

While these sports may be trained differently, there are ath letes who train in both worlds.

Freshman Zak Davis is not only a triple-sport athlete, but also a competitive powerlifter. For Davis, powerlifting has become a healthy outlet.

“It’s just something that I’ve always found helps a lot, getting a lot of stress out and emotions that I need to get out instead of bot tling them up,” Davis said.

But Davis isn’t the only one to call lifting therapeutic, junior Billy Dreier, a bodybuilder of two years, said, “Weightlifting is my own personal form of meditation, a lot of teenagers struggle with getting time to themselves or to have control over their personal life, and weightlifting helps with both tremendously.”

If a student were interested in beginning to train to become a powerlifter, they can take a strength and conditioning class while at school. The course gives

a foundation in the main lifts (squat, bench, and hang clean), which teaches the rules and tech nique of how to properly and safely perform the lifts. Then the individual would have the correct knowledge before venturing out into getting a membership at a lo cal gym or other places to train. A class like strength and condition ing can ease an individual into the world of powerlifting.

This world of bodybuilding and powerlifting is recommended by those looking for an emotional outlet, competitive environment, seeing a growth in strength and visible progress in physique, in addition to the habits it teaches like discipline.

“I strongly recommend you start lifting weights, it’s a big world, but starting small is the first step,” Dreier said. “As Socrates once said, ‘It is a shame for a man (or woman) to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his (or her) body is capa ble.’”

Senior Alexis Platz shoots the basket ball during the girls basketball game against Winnetonka High School on Thursday, Nov. 30.

tart of a

New eason

by Design Editor Veronica

ak Park has two new head coaches for this winter season. Last year’s head coaches, Joseph McKinstry for girls basketball and Gary May abb for boys wrestling, have both moved on in their coaching career, McKinstry to Johnson County Community College and Mayabb to University of Iowa. Activities director Chad Valadez

About Anderson

Head girls basketball coach Delischa Anderson serves as the new head bas ketball coach for this season. Before coming to OP, An derson coached at Pembroke Hill School. She said she was attracted to the positive and

“So coach Anderson, by far, was a slam dunk, no pun

Anderson said a goal she has for this season is to build a cul ture, get the girls to connect to the program and grow a sister hood. Coming here, she said it took a while to get adjusted but she feels like it was the right de cision and plans on staying.

“I feel like I have family here already,” Anderson

Anderson played basket ball throughout high school at Hickman Mills and college at New Mexico Highlands University, Las

said his ideal candidates should have experience in the sport and create a vibe that draws athletes in. Valadez prefers coaches who teach in the building, but its not a requirement. Valadez hires based on who’s the best qualified and leads to success.

“I would hire a more qualified candidate knowing that might happen down the road [coaches leaving], than to hire a less qual ified candidate just to keep them here for longer,” Valadez said.

Vegas. Anderson became a basketball coach because she loves to be a mentor and teach the girls life lessons.

Outside of school she works in physical therapy, teaching doctors the benefits of physical therapy for their patients.

Anderson is the first female head coach for the women’s basketball team.

Senior Amari Harris said when she saw Anderson, she felt like there was a con nection already.

Coach Delischa Anderson yells from the side lines to encourage her players score against Winnetonka High School. photo by Ben Dun away

photo by Ben Dunaway

New but Past Coach

This winter season Jacob Ober foell is the temporary head coach for the wrestling team. He coached with the team for seven years, and will finish this season coaching while they look for a new long-term coach.

It has been hard for Oberfoell to maintain his career as a fire man and being interim coach, but he said he’s able to do it with the help of the other coaches. To make it to meets and duals, Ober foell takes some of his vacation time to be there.

To become a coach, Oberfoell reached out to a former coach, be cause he wanted to help out with the kids. Having a hand in helping young wrestlers reach their full potential motivates Oberfoell to continue coaching.

“I wanted to get back into the room and help kids out and just give back to the sport of wrestling that the sport of wrestling has gave to me,” Oberfoell said.

Goals for the Season

While there are differences in coaching for two sports this win ter, the other sports work toward state.

Girls wrestling head coach Gar rett Williams said this year he’s focusing on keeping athletes in shape. He said he’s trying to build that “gas tank” early on so kids have the energy needed to com pete at state. He also said they’re separating athletes based on what they need to improve.

“What you can do is master and fine tune your own skills and that puts you in the best place to be out on the mat,” Williams said.

In a new conference, the girls swim team adapts new techniques to improve their swimming skills. They’re now exercising in and out the water to build strength and mo bility.

“We’re really just trying to com pete and hopefully, again, win the conference this year,” assistant coach Adam Hall said.

For boys basketball, their main focus this year is to improve their defense. Head coach Brennan Scanlon said developing a better defense will get them to their goals, conference, district and possibly state championships.

“You know it’s not going to happen all at once, we just got to practice it every day and hopefully it gets better throughout the sea son,” Scanlon said.

As of Monday, Dec. 5, the boys basketball team was 3-0 and MetroSports ranked them No. 5 in the city.

Senior Amari Harris shoots from the free throw line against Winnetonka High School on Thursday, Nov. 30.

Sophomore Delaney Harbrucker shoots a free throw against Winneton ka.

Members of the boys wrestling team enhance their skills at practice on Thursday, Nov. 30. photos by Ben Dunaway

For the Season, The Log Suggests:

movie photos courtesy of www.IMDb.com

Freeze Into Winter Students Enjoy the Holidays, Other Winter Activities

by staffer Bela Parret

Snow coats every surface outside, bundling up with a hot choc olate, watching a favorite sea sonal movie without a worry about school work. As winter break draws near, students prepare for rest and relaxation along with the upcoming holidays.

94.5% of the more than 100 stu dents who responded to a poll cele brate Christmas.

“My favorite holiday tradition is opening presents as soon as the clock hits midnight and it’s techni cally Christmas day,” junior Erika Villasenor said.

Students also reported celebrating New Years, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa during the season.

People enjoy their break in many ways. According to the poll, stu dents love to stay inside and bundle up more than anything. Hot drinks

were some of the most well enjoyed parts of the season as well.

“Drinking homemade hot choc olate from Hershey’s chocolate is pretty good,” senior Halle Byers said.

There are many foods and drinks people enjoy during the winter sea son.

“I really like champurrado, orejas pan dulce, rosca bread,” Villasenor said, “and those fruity candy canes.”

Though snow-related activities are less favored than staying warm inside, 78% of students reported they love snowy weather. Students do prefer hot weather to cold by a 7% margin, but a good snowy day is enjoyed by many students, especial ly snow days off of school.

“I do enjoy sledding sometimes,” Villasenor said.

Students also love watching sea sonal movies during the winter to get them in a festive mood.

photo by Julie McPhail

Sophomore Eva Gar cia, senior Kaylee Kimmet, sophomores Troy Whitmore and Kamryn Sneegas com pete against each other in the Connect 4 Tournament on Fri day, Nov. 18. Students were competing in the library to win candy. Sneegas said, “My fa vorite part was getting knocked out in the first round. But it was kind of funny.” photo

by Rachel Prate

Not So Quiet Anymore

Explore the New Activities in the Library

by staffer Lily House

Setting foot into the library, quiet chatter and laughter can be heard. Students can be seen scattered among various comfortable seating arrange ments. Books being read often isn’t the only activity happening; one student expressed their cre ativity through colorful arts and crafts, while a group of students gathered around a nearby table to play games.

“I hope we stand out for our in clusiveness,” librarian Angela Van Batavia said. “I want all students and staff to know they’re welcome and they belong in the Oak Park library.”

Van Batavia said she loves all the different options the library has to offer. This school year, the library contains various new, engaging activities and additions to help gather students of similar interests together.

In November, events such as First Chapter Fridays and a Con nect 4 Tournament were held in the library. During AR on Friday, Nov. 18, students came together on Northmen Hype Day to com pete in an online Connect 4 Tour nament against their classmates.

Alternatively, a calmer en vironment for students can be First Chapter Fridays, held before school once a month from 7:157:35 a.m. in the East Media Center. Students can enjoy an assortment of free breakfast snacks while Van Batavia reads the first chapter of a chosen novel.

“I feel it’s really amazing,” senior Kara Owens said. “It gives kids a chance to hear about new stories that they might not have heard of before, so, this way they can broaden their horizons with reading.”

Alongside these events, other additions are located in the library for student and staff use. Health

and wellness equipment such as desk bikes and steppers, along with coloring books, magnetic sand and meditation chairs are available. Students are also of fered things such as a hydroponic garden with lavender and petu nias, games, Legos, 3D printing, button making and crafts.

An expected addition coming to the library is the installation of an aquaponics system, made possible through the library’s Kahler Grant award.

“It kind of just gave all of us a good space without no work or anything,” sophomore Dari on Dawson said. “It just felt like elementary stuff, like we got to be like kids again.”

All of these options enable stu dents to branch out their creativ ity and into their personal inter ests. Despite having few students involved in these additions and events, the library is often over looked by many students.

“I wish more students took part in our activities and programs,” Van Batavia said. “I am trying to get the word out to students, but I wish there was a better way to share some of our programming.”

The library looks for ways to

spread awareness of their pro grams more effectively. In the meantime, a billboard is outside the library to share ongoing and future events happening.

Emails are also occasionally sent out to students through their Out

look school email by Van Batavia and the OP LMC. Students should check their email or stop by the board to find something new.

Students decorate coloring pages while they listen to librarian Angela Van Bat avia read a book at First Chapter Fridays on Friday, Nov. 18. First Chapter Fridays was created to let students have peace and quiet before school starts. Junior Marisa Heredia said, “I get to do something be fore school starts and I just get to relax before I have to go do stressful work and I get some food.” photo by Rachel Prate

Sophomore Dairion Dawson celebrates his Connect 4 Tournament win against freshman Julijana Soloki. Both students competed for a total of 15 minutes before Dawson got the win. Dawson said, “I felt ok because I knew I was gonna win.” pho to by Rachel Prate