Shawnee Mission South Patriot January 2013

the

PATRIOT SHAWNEE MISSION SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL • JANUARY 2013 • VOLUME 47 •ISSUE 05

special editi

on:

E U S S I R E D I A R E H T

04

south history

06

guns in school

07

rules of the game PHOTO BY JULIA LARBERG

JCCC Honors: Dig deeper. Aim higher.

Mike and Randy love

Shawnee Mission South!

“Where the customer’s always wrong!”

“As an Honors student, I am able to enroll in classes early and have extra one-on-one time with my Honors professors.”

Brandon, JCCC Honors student and Shawnee Mission North graduate

Johnson County Community College’s Honors Program stimulates and challenges academically talented students. An Honors application is required for admission. For more information, call Pat Decker at 913-469-8500, ext. 2512, or visit www.jccc.edu/honors

10362 Mastin Overland Park, KS 66212

BY KAYLIE STABLER

T

he local police in Newton, Connecticut were relayed this message Dec. 14 by dispatch and arrived on the scene 20 minutes later: “Sandy Hook school: caller is indicating she thinks someone is shooting in the building.”

Breathing in the odor of gunpowder, law enforcers walked into what was left of a massacre: 20 children and six adults found dead. As students listened to the usual morning announcements around 9:30 a.m. gunshots were heard throughout the school.

In the first assault of the mass shooting, 14 children were shot as well as a substitute teacher. Fifteen children were in the class, and one little girl was able to escape the room.

During the last part of the shooting, the gunman charged

WPA

into another classroom, shooting the teacher and six more children in the same style. The shooter, Adam Lanza, pulled the trigger on himself shortly thereafter.

After this story demanded the attention of all Americans, school boards began amending their own safety procedures, as well as readying themselves to help ease young and troubled minds.

Principal Joe Gilhaus is among administrators who has began to take actions to keep students safe.

“My first thought is of my kids and my staff. I met with the school SROs and associate principals.

We’ve reviewed procedures, discussed ways to continually improve our buildings safety, and walked through several different

scenarios,” Gilhaus said.

Gilhaus discussed some of these potential changes with teachers in a recent faculty meeting. Teachers have been encouraged to keep doors locked at all times, when closed or propped open. Other possible procedures are currently being reviewed and contemplated by the administration. These include giving teachers swipe cards to open the doors of the building, having them otherwise always locked, and moving the school resource officers to a more visible and accessible location to provide increased reassurance to students.

All in all however, students are reminded to be safe and remain calm if such an event were to ever take place at South.

in three steps

STEP ONE: plan for the dance tickets

Tickets cost $10 and will be sold in the back of the cafeteria the week prior to the dance. Tickets will also be for sale at the door the night of the dance. Make sure you have your school ID or you will not be admitted.

when & where

This year’s dance will be Saturday, Feb. 9 from 8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. It will most likely be held in the cafeteria. The music will be provided by a D.J. hired by STUCO, and STUCO is in charge of decorating the venue.

who

Also called “Sweetheart” or “The Sadie Hawkin’s Dance,” “WPA” stands for “Women-Pay-All.” In tradition, the girls ask another student to be her date for the evening.

STEP TWO: find a picture location indoor The Sheraton Hotel

outdoor Loose Park

103rd St. and College Blvd.

51st St. and Wornall Road

a-Loft Hotel

Plaza Fountains

in the home

Corporate Woods

117th St. and Nall Ave.

4750 Broadway St.

a well-lit area with a non-distracting background

11th St. and Antioch Road

STEP THREE: pick a restaurant italian

Cinzetti’s Italian Market 91st St. and Metcalf Ave.

Carrabba’s Italian Grill 106th St. and Metcalf Ave.

japanese

Gojo Japanese Steakhouse 4163 Broadway St.

RA Sushi Bar

117th St. and Nall Ave.

american

J. Gilbert’s

89th St. and Metcalf Ave.

Elephant Bar

119th St. and Metcalf Ave.

mark your

CALENDAR

[1/30]

L

K

come

SOUTH REFLECTS ON SANDY HOOK

at south

Mw Ao Sr Tk Es R

orchestra

band [jan. choir 31] conferences

[open] 2/7; 5:00-8:00 [by appt.] 2/8; 8:00-3:00

FEBRUARY ACT February 9 upload a photo bring an ID

little shop of

HORRORS

winter play- feb. 14 &15 7:00 pm

NEWS

03

editor’s note

T

here are only a handful of 1967 Heritage yearbooks left around South, and they are all ensconced in various well-protected cabinets that students have to ask to be given access to. The first time I held one in my hands was sophomore year, and it was the closest thing I’ve ever done to going back in time. We see pictures from the ’60s all the time, whether from family members or in history books. But to us, they are simply amusing illustrations of a different time period. It’s hard to picture it as a reality, picture those you know clad in the fashions, haircuts, and mentalities of another era. But the black and white photos in South’s first yearbook are different: these people, who are from a different planet for all intents and purposes, were photographed in settings that I see around me on a daily basis. The overhang in front of the building, the round exterior of the library, the same rounded benches around the courtyard, and the raised rings of the orchestra room all look virtually unchanged—making them more real than any other old photographs I’ve ever seen.

This was strange for me. I’m the kind of person who hates the fact that the windows don’t open, that our walls are painted in gaudy colors, and that our school sometimes feels, well, outdated. But when I hold one of those tattered yearbooks and realize so many students before me have walked these halls, and had a high school experience altogether exactly the same and impossibly different to mine, I feel a pride in my school that few other things stir in me. In addition, the fact that one day students to come could examine records of the 2012-2013 school year and imagine South as we know it, makes me feel part of a continuity that defines our school.

These encounters happen naturally in the journalism program: writers are constantly digging through old yearbooks and newspapers to research something for a story, editors are always nostalgic for the work of this yearbook or that newspaper volume. But I believe all students should be somewhat curious about their school’s history, and they should all experience that same delight in being part of tradition that I feel every time I look at one of these old paper time capsules. For your enjoyment, we have compiled some of the best photos and milestones from South history, and gathered information from faculty members who have spent nearly a lifetime at Shawnee Mission South. But we also hope to give you a sense of permanence as a Raider. Though our four years here may be fleeting in the grand scheme of life, it should be meaningful to us to attend a school that has been around for over four decades, and to know our actions and achievements will be recorded as part of the school’s history, just as they have been before us.

BY ALMA VELAZQUEZ

04 FEATURES

South

THROUGH THE AGES IN THE BEGINNING

T

oday students have the luxury of an upbeat pop song to warn them they have a minute to get to class. But when now-retired English teacher Jane Long began teaching at South, there weren’t even bells to signal the start and end of class.

“We just watched the clock and when it came time to be in classes then—you left to get to class on time,” Long said. “The clocks weren’t perfectly synchronized, but they were maybe 30 seconds within each other. Every now and then there would be a spate of tardiness, especially in the spring.”

Long, currently a long term substitute for English teacher Natalie Cobb, began teaching at South in 1970, four years after the school opened. She taught for 35 years, retiring in 2005.

Long recalls teaching for nearly a decade before a bell system was implemented.

The lack of bells is only one striking difference. The first 10 years of Shawnee Mission South’s existence took place in a region vastly different from the one surrounding it today. An aerial shot featured in the opening pages of the ’67 yearbook depicts vast, empty stretches of land — a sharp contrast to the convention center, retirement community, and interstate highway now bounding the school.

The rest of that yearbook tells a tale of girls in long socks and oxford shoes and boys in high-waisted trousers. It tells of a South that offered driver’s ed, with cars housed in what is today art teacher Fritz Buster’s classroom. The baseball diamond was merely a ravine to drain water, and the football field did not have any bleachers. But perhaps one of the most notable differences was the lack of freshmen.

FRESH ATTACK

I

t was believed ninth grade was too young to be lumped into high school. South was only attended by sophomores through seniors. These students came from two feeder junior high schools: Indian Creek and Nallwood.

But in 1986, the fate of all South area freshmen was forever changed. Indian Creek became a technical center, Nallwood, combining both names became Indian Woods Middle School.

Ninth graders would now come directly to South.

“They had people who came up and gave little talks to us about what ninth graders were like, as if they were creatures from another planet,” Long said.

However, the new students did not significantly increase South’s population.

“When I first came here, this was the largest school populationwise in the state of Kansas. There were something like 2,800

students here in just three grades,” sh years had passed, and our enrollmen that they were able to accommodate a Around this time former PE teach South. Teegarden had been the drill Junior High. When she came to S Southlanders.

In fact, Teegarden says comedian R helped her originate the name.

“It was my baby,” she said. That ye a number unheard of for nearly anyth Because most of the ninth grade the freshmen, the faculty did not have the district required all teachers to r choice.

“We had several teachers who had were then assigned to other buildings of people happy,” Long said. “But tha because South was a popular school t In fact, by the late ’80s South glamorous reputation.

END OF THE ‘GOLDEN G

S

hawnee Mission East. The me Village counterpart conjures ima expensive cars and typical ric Whether this perception is true or no a reputation precedes that school sitt East is judged and mocked by So basis for their rich white kid stereot point, the same jokes could have been “This used to be considered the w “I had a student years ago who, whe something, told me to check on the m kinds of trouble with our maids,’ and I He was astounded, he said, ‘Well then While this may sound like a ver former students themselves acknowle with going to South.

Even well into the ’90s, South alum English teacher Drew Baranowski no “When I was at South I felt like, ju stereotypes, we were along the lines o Long reflects on how a shift in this “I think teachers with extracu noticed. [There is] kind of a lack of these activities require. I think the fina apparent,” she said.

Not only did South lack diversity

he said. “Something like 17 nt had declined, so much all the ninth graders.” her Pat Teegarden came to l team coach at Nallwood South, she founded the

Rob Riggle’s mother Sandy

ear over 200 girls tried out, hing these days. teachers moved up with e to adapt much. However, re-apply to their school of

d been teaching here, [who] s, which didn’t make a lot at’s what the way it was, to apply to.” had established quite a

GHETTO’

ention of South’s Prairie ages of polos, name brands, ch white kid stereotypes. ot, there is no doubt that ting on 75th and Mission. outh students on a daily types. But perhaps at one n made about South. wealthy school,” Long said. en I told him I misplaced maids. He said, ‘We have all I said, ‘I don’t have a maid.’ n who cleans your house?’” ry “smeast” thing to say, edge this stigma that came

m and current sophomore oticed this. ust because of the district of an ‘East,’” he said. s area affects South today. urricular activities have money to do things that ancial part of that is more

y economically, but it was

also significantly Caucasian.

“Out of those 2,800 students there probably weren’t over 10 African Americans. There were perhaps a few Asians,” Long said.

1995 alum and current junior English teacher Travis Gatewood has seen this shift as well. He believes it’s been only 10-15 years since the demographic shift started to become apparent.

“Over the years, one of the biggest differences that I like about South is it’s become more diverse of a place. That makes it a healthier and better place in a lot of ways,” he said. “It creates a better worldview. As you graduate you work with students from all different backgrounds and life experiences, and I think to be in that environment, there’s a lot of value in that.”

Long also appreciates this change, and believes it marks a milestone in South history.

“This used to be referred to as the ‘Golden Ghetto.’ People grew up with a very skewed vision of what society was like,” she said. “Society isn’t all white Anglo-Saxons. I think now students have a much clearer view of society with all [these] different kinds of people working together, in the same boat.”

Perhaps this togetherness is what makes some South students come back even after they graduate.

WAIT... YOU WENT HERE?

W

ake up, go to school, do homework, sleep. Repeat. High school can quickly become repetitive for the average teen. Some love the routine, others despair in it. Still others manage to keep themselves busy enough to break through the monotony and form what is known as a good high school experience.

For many alumni currently teaching at South, this was very much the case. A nostalgic Gatewood fondly recalls his extracurricular activities.

“I played soccer, did lit mag, did yearbook, did peer tutoring.

I was a part of some of those things like Heritage Royalty and the Sweetheart court. I think the core of them are still kind of the same,” he said.

Gatewood, as the varsity head soccer coach for boys and girls, has a particular soft spot for the South soccer program. “[It’s] kind of cool that I’ve been affiliated with the program for basically 20 years, as a player and a coach,” he said.

Baranowski also played soccer at South.

“I still enjoy walking past the soccer trophy case. My junior year we played in the state finals. We lost, we got robbed on a goal that should’ve been counted but wasn’t,” he said. “But, I’m not bitter. I take pride in knowing that my picture is gonna be in that case as long as South is here.”

He admits wishing he had participated in other

PHOTOS FROM PREVIOUS HERITAGE YEARBOOKS

2013 80’S

Girls of the 90’s show off their passion for fashion.

These stylish chicks were featured in the ‘92 Heritage

Some “chill” students show off their bikes in South’s newly paved front parking lot in ‘79.

00’S

90’S

OVER time

70’S

SM SOUTH

These guys in 2002 show off their dance moves at a summer party before returning to South.

The infamous Rocky The Raider mascot once rode a real horse during the South football games in ‘81.

Today, Raiders show their pride with events such as Green Friday and other student planned activities to keep South intresting.

extracurriculars too.

“This is something I look back on and kind of regret a little bit. I think I put way too much emphasis on athletics back in high school, and I think I short-changed myself academically,” he said. “One of the things I would’ve liked to do is find something else to kind of balance things out, be in a club or an organization, or even like an elective, like a journalism, or art, or photography.”

However, Baranowski found other ways to fashion himself a well-rounded experience.

“We played intramural basketball and a friend of mine and I published an independent ‘Intramural Weekly,’ just a goofy little one-page newsletter where we wrote silly stories like player profiles,” he said.

As a South student in the ’80s, history teacher Joe Laurenzo participated in The Patriot newspaper both as a writer and sports editor.

“The newspaper is now entirely computerized. When I did it everything went to the printer and was screened before we could send it back,” he said.

Band director Steve Adams remembers one prominent moment in band.

“When my marching band pants split wide open at the state band competition, I still marched on,” he said.

All men have noticed marked differences since being students. For Gatewood, new technological advancements reveal a change in student life.

“I think the advent of technology’s reshaped the way students experience high school life. My generation was the last crew before the Internet, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, all the social media sort of went online. I think [we were] a little more innocent in some ways,” he said.

Through all the population shifts and decreased enrollment, Laurenzo believes nothing has changed South’s high academic reputation.

“The school is just as good,” he said. “A diverse school teaches us things we wouldn’t learn if we were all the same.”

While South has become a different place for these alums, they accept its everchanging nature and simply try to adapt to the mindset of each new generation. Gatewood uses a metaphor by a comedian to describe what it’s like.

“I think the audience makes the show. A comedian can bring all the jokes, but if the audience isn’t participating, the whole experience can fall flat. The students factor into the atmosphere—the structure of the school, the students themselves, and then the faculty and the curriculum that you impose—all three of those things work together to create that vibe for that class of students.”

FEATURES

05

New Years, new Goals

BY ROLA ALASMAR

A

s we counted down the last few seconds of 2012, many of us began the new year by making resolutions. While in some cases this motivates people to strive towards their goals, most of the time people tend to make resolutions that they can’t seem to keep.

As we leave another year behind, we begin to think about the parts of our lives that need a change. We all want to work harder, relax more, change habits, get in shape, or fix whatever else we see in our lives that needs adjusting. As we see a new year approaching we plan to reach our goals by making resolutions.

People make a variety of resolutions, ranging from trying to attain a healthier lifestyle, to mastering a new skill such as learning to play an instrument or trying a new sport. Sophomore Regina Yan, says she has never been successful in accomplishing a New Year’s resolution in the past; however, she made several new resolutions this year. A few of the things on her list include learning to ride a unicycle and becoming ambidextrous.

Yan says that making resolutions motivates her because, “normal goals are just goals, but resolutions, there’s something symbolic about them.”

Even though most people tend to fail on their resolutions, if you really strive towards achieving your goals you will be able to make them happen.

Many of us just make resolutions in the spirit of the new year and don’t work hard enough to reach them.

According to the Journal of Clinical Psychology at the University of Scranton, only eight percent of people are successful in meeting their resolutions.

Achieving your New Year’s resolutions should really not be as hard as it seems. The problem we have is that we make resolutions and expect them to just happen. Of course it doesn’t actually work like that. If you actually want to reach your goals you’re going to have to put in a little effort. If you want to lose weight, eat healthier and exercise. If you want to learn an instrument, practice. If you want it enough you’ll be able to do it. Reaching your resolutions is just an issue of mind over matter.

Resolutions are just like any other goals you set for yourself. If making New Year’s resolutions gives you the motivation you need, then it’s a great way to help yourself be successful while enjoying the start of a new year.

Whatever your reason for making a resolution, whether it motivates you or is just a way of celebrating the holiday, it’s a tradition that we all seem to enjoy. Regardless of the fact that most of us do not achieve our resolutions, we continue to make new ones as we approach the end of each year with high hopes that maybe this time things will be different.

Top Ten New Year’s Resolutions for teens 1. exercise more 2. eat healthier 3. get a job 4. better grades 5. save money 6. take more risks 7. more family time 8. volunteer 9. learn something new 10. be more timely

STAFF EDITORIAL:

Should teachers carry firearms?

S

andy Hook Elementary, Columbine High School and Virginia Tech University: all places of education that used to be innocent institutions of learning, but now their mere mention reminds people of tragedies — reminds them of deaths that occurred as a result of someone with a gun in his hand and no way to stop him.

Most people tend to disagree about what can be done to make school safer for students and teachers. People disagree about what needs to change, not only politically, but also in school security, in order for these shootings to be prevented.

Some believe that arming our teachers is the best way to keep a school safe. If teachers had their own guns then they would have an opportunity to stop a shooter who walks into the classroom before things get out of hand. These people think that by having more adults carrying a weapon it would not only make it easier to stop a shooter, but it could discourage someone from even attempting a shooting at all.

06:10

06 OPINIONS

But let’s think about this for a second. While there is a process someone must go through to purchase a gun, it really isn’t as hard as one might think. It may not be easy, but it certainly isn’t impossible. But if we start keeping guns in classrooms, if we bring these weapons into the school rather than try harder to keep them out, how much easier are we making it for a student or visitor entering the school to get his or her hands on one. Schools are where we are trying to keep guns away most and for some reason people believe the answer is to bring more in.

On top of that, when teachers went to college they were taught how to teach, not how to operate a weapon or how to protect people. Why should a student be forced to trust a teacher, who he or she may know nothing about, to have access to a gun around while they are forced to sit there, defenseless? By letting teachers carry these guns, what is stopping a student from feeling like they need a gun themselves?

The sheer knowledge that arms are hidden somewhere in the school would create an

unnecessarily tense environment. School is stressful and anxiety-inducing enough, we do not need the added paranoia that these guns might be needed at some point. Though many believe this could make us feel safer, it could have an adverse effect by keeping the possibility of a shooting constantly in the back of our minds.

Letting teachers carry a gun is not the answer.

It’s easy to look back and say that if the teachers had their own guns during a school shooting then lives could be saved. With that being said, by having more guns in the school, who’s to say these massacres won’t become a more common occurrence? Someone, who before needed the planning to carry the gun in the school, now has the chance to pick one up in a moment of anger and start shooting.

By bringing more weapons into the school would we really be making it any safer? Would people really feel better walking into a building knowing that there are guns everywhere or knowing that the only guns there are being held by trained officers?

THE VOTE IS IN:

WE VALUE YOUR VIEWS.

SIX OUT OF TEN EDITORS AGREE WITH THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS EDITORIAL.

if you wish to respond to this editorial, please submit it in the form of a letter to the editor. These may be submitted in person to Room 195 or e-mailed to almaighty@gmail.com. Responses may or may not be printed in the next issue.

changing the game administration getting stricter on crowd behavior

BY RACHEL ROSENSTOCK

T

he blare of the horn, skid of shoes, thud of a ball and roar of the crowd are all part of the game: basketball. Raiders pack the stands every game to cheer on the varsity boys and shout their enthusiasm at the team with an 8-0 record. But fans are now faced with the difficulty of becoming a little less spirited, as ordered by Kansas State High School Activities Association rules.

“All actions are to be for, not against; positive, not negative or disrespectful!” reads Rule 52 of the KSHSAA Handbook.

South is required to follow these guidelines, or be put on notice by KSHSAA to improve the atmosphere.

Reprimands for unsportsmanlike conduct can be as severe as suspension or probation of the school or individual.

“The concept of the environment should be that it’s a friendly, non-hostile environment, where kids cheer like crazy to benefit their team,” Athletic Director John Johnson said, “and refrain from doing anything that’s derogatory towards the other team.”

Some of the chants noticeably gone from games this year are “Air ball” and “You let the whole team down.” The reasoning behind banning these chants is that they single out specific players negatively.

Varsity boys basketball coach, Brett McFall, believes the bans are unnecessary.

“It’s part of the game. You put thousands of people together, of course there’s going to be some negative things being said,” McFall said.

McFall said that aside from deliberate personal attacks on players and profanity, there’s no need to ban negative chants.

“If you’re going to let the crowd affect you in a negative way, then you’re not a basketball player,” McFall said.

Varsity basketball player Jake Caldwell believes

the crowd brings an uparalled atmosphere to the game, and hearing negative chants can’t outweigh the hype of a crowd cheering for you.

“It’s more of a reflection of the school I think, it’s also that Gilhaus and Johnson get calls from other administrators and parents of other teams and say it wasn’t necessary,” Caldwell said of the negative chants.

Crowd Control is a crucial part of the cheers at games, as they call them out during the game and inform students of the theme of the night. Johnson had a personal talk with the members of Crowd Control to ensure the proper chants were being used.

“I think the administrators, their lenience has been at the right level and they’re letting us do things and not some others, and its fine,” senior Curtis Cline said.

Senior Evan O’Brien and member of Crowd Control, disagrees with some of the decisions made this year.

“I don’t think the players on the court are getting upset by it,”O’Brien said. “I don’t think we should ban chants just because other people’s parents are getting upset.”

Despite the opinions of parents, students and teachers, the administrators want to uphold the reputation of South.

“We just want it to be classy....I understand now we’ve been winning a lot and it gets boring. But we don’t want to rub it in,” Johnson said.

Despite all recent controversies concerning the student body at games, McFall continually appreciates the support they show.

“I would just reiterate the fact of how awesome our crowd is,” McFall said. “I don’t really hear the chants, but you can feel the energy and it’s neat.”

A A S H KS

rules unacceptable behavior

01

chants including “you let the whole team down,” “airball,” “goodbye,” “scoreboard,” “this is our house,” and other such expressions

02

reading newspapers or turning their backs during introduction of opponents

03

VYWLMRK XLI GSYVX ÁIPH

04

booing or heckling an SJÁGMEP¸W HIGMWMSR

SPORTS

07

College Tuition Assistance $4500.00 a year Student Loan Repayment up to $50,000 Montgomery GI Bill -­ $345/month MGIB Kicker -­ $200 to $350/month

To find out how to qualify, contact: SFC Steve Griffin Office: (913) 621-4251 Cell: (785) 213-2049 Email: steve.t.griffin4.mil@mail.mil