The North Star April 2019

North Star blue valley north high school

the

12200 Lamar Ave, Overland Park, KS 66209

April 2019 • Volume 33 • Issue 6

Moving Forward After the caps fall and the school doors close for summer, what will happen at Blue Valley North in the future?

Read more starting on page 20

2| The North Star | April 2019

Editor in Chiefs Shantha Burt Sooim Kang Taylor Mills

Copy Editors

Anna Martin Lyndsey Henkel Megan McConnell Ramya Chilappa

Online Editor Briley Everhart

Social Media Editors Chris Lucas Genevieve Hulshof

Staff Writers

Alice Wu Angelica Henson Angelica Lidzy Charitha Lakkireddy Daniel Park Delaina Sanden Emma Brunner Genevieve Hulshof

The North Star is the official high school news publication of Blue Valley North High School, an open forum distributed to all students six times a year. This is the April issue of volume 33. The North Star is printed by the Sedalia Democrat. This is a student publication and may contain controversial material. Kansas law prohibits the suppression of a student publication solely because it may contain controversial matter. Blue Valley School District No. 229 and its board members, officers and employees disclaim any responsibility for the content of this student publication; it is not an expression of School District Policy. Students and editors are solely responsible for the content of this student publication.

Building a Better Future

When you roam the halls of BVN next fall, things may look a little different. Major renovations are being implemented this summer, including new concrete floors and a replacement “work space” in what’s currently the main locker area. Find out more about what the school will look like next year on page 20.

Mr. Phalp’s Finale

After being a staple staff member and award-winning conductor for 18 years, orchestra teacher Stephen Phalp is putting the baton down and retiring. Read more about his legacy and orchestra’s future on page 10.

Almost Gentlemen

This four-man show may be new to BVN, but they’ve already gained recognition among the school. With the help of choir teacher Jason Sickle, four senior boys have started their own barber shop quartet. Read more about the musical group, “Almost Gentlemen,” on page 8.

April 2019 | The North Star | 3

A

Letter

FROM THE

Editors

We move forward. The school moves with us. Here’s how BVN survives.

T

his is our last issue as the Editors-in-Chief of The North Star. At the point of looking back and remembering our time here at North, we decided to center this issue on what lies ahead.

The reality is that our work on this paper and in high school will become a thing of the past. The countless hours editing stories, clicking through Google and resource drives and having to crunch out entire spreads in 24 hours all end here in the paper you hold.

Ironically, the text you will read discussing hypotheticals and future plans is here because of past work by staffers.

Although we know our time here is fleeting, the work we have done was not without a purpose. Our journalistic efforts prompted important discussion and shed light on the diverse niches present at our school. Likewise, the effort put forth by the BVN community this past year will have a lasting impact even as our student body changes and moves forward into a new year.

That is what it means to leave a legacy. The voice you raise, light you shed or actions you do will inevitably becoming something of memory. The school days will keep coming, new assignments and plans will be made and you will keep moving forward.

Although this makes our actions sound trivial, it’s not all for nothing.

Whether it was in the shows you performed, teams you brought together, clubs you led, service you did, or championships you won, each and every one of you contributed to the BVN community this past year. Among many achievements, the football team was the state runner-up, debate qualified two teams to the Tournament of Champions, cheer qualified for nationals, dance team placed fifth at nationals, Science Olympiad got first at state and spoken word received high praise at the Louder than a Bomb poetry competition.

Along with these achievements, the 2018-2019 school year was one of change.

We started in August with a new principal, new locker system, new teachers, and — freshmen. As the year progressed, the change continued as staff members were replaced, a new buzz-in system was initiated, and new mental health clubs emerged.

All of these things are legacies that this past school year has left behind. The accomplishments we had and change we normalized will be ingrained in BVN history and tradition for years to come.

The reason we work the way we do is based on the example set by past editors. The reason for joining newspaper in the first place was pushed by the reading of issues published by past staffs. How we act and what we deem valuable is all set by the legacy of others. As we continue moving forward, it’s important to keep in mind the legacy that we will leave behind.

It’s crazy— and perhaps a little scary— to think that four years from now, the BVN student body will be made up of four completely different classes. No one will have lived through the 2018-19 school year at BVN, and some of us may not even recognize the faces that walk the halls. However, even though the people of BVN are just passing through, the legacy we have left will remain.

As a student body, we don’t know what BVN will be like in four years. We can only hope to walk back in and see our tiles on the walls, trophies in the cases, yearbooks on the shelf, and efforts in action. What legacy will you leave?

— Shantha Burt, Sooim Kang and Taylor Mills Editors-in-Chief

This Year’s Legacy 2,800 pounds

of food donated to Harvesters in the homecoming food drive

7 days

without school due to severe winter weather

2 Irish dancers

stole the show at the diversity assembly

1200

approximately how many laptops were distributed

FACING the Future 4 | The North Star | April 2019

With one year down, freshman predict how the next three will go.

By Delaina Sanden

G

oing into high school, Kirbi Kingsley felt as if she were in the dark. With no insight into what life after middle school would be like, Kingsley didn’t know exactly what to expect, other than an increased workload. Despite her situation, she managed to push through the challenge.

“I think it’s gone better than expected,” Kingsley said.

“Sometimes, people kind of have trouble Kirbi Kingsley keeping up with things because it’s an increase in the amount of stuff you actually do, and I thought I would kind of struggle a lot more than I actually did.”

Kingsley has begun looking towards her future in high school. She plans to stay on the AP and honors track she was on throughout her freshman year into her sophomore year.

Kingsley also looks forward to continuing her time on the swim team and joining Student Council.

M

Ryan Parisi

“I’m taking two AP classes,” Kingsley said. “In English, I’m ahead by a grade, so I’m doing the AP English class. And then I’m doing AP European history, and then, I want to do Student Council. And I’m going to keep doing swim.”

As far as the rest of her high school career, Kingsley will stay within her limits, coursework-wise. She also wants to focus her schedule on subjects that she finds interesting.

“I’m going to keep taking two AP classes and kind of still know my limits with it,” Kingsley said. “And I also want to take classes that I think are interesting, kind of dig into them a little bit more. I want to do more bio classes. I think biology is really interesting.”

After high school, Kingsley hopes to be able to implement her biological interest in a career as a homicide detective. She noted that her interest in this field comes from a history of examining certain situations from a different perspective.

“I want to be like a homicide detective, actually,” Kingsley said. “I mean, I’ve always kind of liked going through situations, trying to imagine what happened and who to talk to and stuff like that. So that’s kind of what I want to do.”

Before she can move on to this chapter of her life, Kingsley wants to enjoy high school for as long as she can.

She is realizing that high school goes by faster than she had imagined, so she wants to enjoy it before she embarks on the rest of her life.

“I’m kind of anxious about it because it’s gone by really fast already,” Kingsley said. “It’s coming up fast, so I’m trying to enjoy it as much as I can.”

aking new friends, playing new sports and becoming more academically advanced is how Ryan Parisi spent his freshman year. He found his first year to be a success.

“It went pretty well,” Parisi said. “I did make a lot of new friends starting high school, I got into sports that I didn’t think I’d be into. I moved up to an honors class, so I think things went pretty well academically, socially.”

Ready to continue his high school career, Parisi has already lined up his schedules for the next three years. He plans to stick with an AP and honors schedule, his language of choice and the same sports he played freshman year.

“I’m probably going to stay in honors AP and then I’m going to try and keep up the language I’m doing, which is Latin,” Parisi said.

“And then sports-wise, I plan to do all the same sports, cross country, swim and track.”

After completing his next three school

years, Parisi plans to follow in his family’s footsteps and go to the University of Kansas. After that, he hopes to find a career in accounting.

“I’m planning on going to KU, that’s where most of my family’s gone,” Parisi said. “And then, I’ll probably go into accounting or something along those lines.”

Before embarking on this journey, Parisi is looking forward to enjoying more athletic opportunities the next three years of high school will offer him. On the other hand, he is anxious to encounter increasingly challenging courses as he makes his way through the rest of high school.

“I’m excited more for the things not having to do with academics, like sports and stuff,” Parisi said. “But academics, I am nervous because as the years go on, my classes get harder and more AP and honors.

So I’m excited and nervous.”

April 2019 | The North Star | 5

A

fter being exposed to some of the challenges of high school, Victor De Vera has begun to get an idea of how he wants to continue his experience. Looking to challenge himself, De Vera enrolled in all honors and AP courses his freshman year. Through this experience, he has figured out what kind of academic track to be on throughout the next three years.

“I feel like I would take it easier because, this year, I just really wanted to take everything that was hard so I Victor De Vera could know if it was the right fit for me,” De Vera said.

While De Vera now has an outline for the rest of his high school career, he is envious of those who have had their minds made up about high school since middle school. Nonetheless, De Vera is prepared to move forward with high school with a positive mindset.

“I’m kind of jealous of those people who already planned ahead, but I feel like I’m just going to take it step by step,” De Vera said.

F

or Mayah Haug, the transition from middle to high school was harder than expected.

Haug feels that her middle school experience didn’t fully prepare her for the challenges of high school.

“It was a big jump because middle school doesn’t prepare you for anything,” Haug said. “I know it’s mean to say, but it doesn’t, really. I had learned stuff on my own that I found useful in high school.”

Mayah Haug While feeling this way, she did feel that certain family traditions did. As the youngest of seven siblings, Haug has seen the competitive nature her older siblings took on upon entering high school, and she has no intention of letting this tradition end.

“Funny thing about my family is that there’s a lot of us, so whenever someone got to high school, we’d try to outdo the one before us,” Haug said. “My last sibling that came here got National Merit, so I’m striving to beat her.”

As well as expecting her to continue with friendly, inter-sibling competition, Haug’s family puts pressure on her to be successful.

“My family says that I’m my mom’s last chance to get into a

“When it gets there, I’ll do it, but I am kind of planning ahead since I really just want to take all the classes I need to take and then do the things that I don’t really need to and like, just have fun the last few years.”

After finishing out the last years of high school, De Vera is unsure of his plans. He doesn’t know what university he wants to attend or what kind of career path he will go down, but he has an idea of what kind of school he wants to attend.

“I’m not sure about what type of college I want to go to yet because I don’t really know what type of job I want to do,” De Vera said.

As well as dealing with the stresses of academics, De Vera experienced some of the social challenges that can be associated with the high school experience. While these challenges were difficult for him to deal with, De Vera understood them to be a natural part of high school.

“I just don’t talk to [old friends] anymore because we don’t have any classes together,” De Vera said. “It’s kind of sad, but I get it. It’s all part of the high school experience.”

In the future, De Vera hopes to overcome some of these social issues. He hopes to reconnect with some friends he has lost contact with over the course of his freshman year and make new friends at the same time.

“I’d like to talk to my old friends some more, but I’m really looking forward to meeting new people and finding their perspectives and just having a lot of friends,” De Vera said.

[prestigious university], so I’m kind of going for that,” Haug said.

In regards to her future in high school, Haug has a general idea of how her schedules will look. Along with continuing advanced coursework, she hopes to place into an advanced math program.

“They’re brief outlines that are missing stuff, but I know I’m going to stay with my honors and AP classes,” Haug said. “For math, we have a program here that if you get straight A’s in Honors Algebra II, they can put you into a higher math, and that’s what I’m trying to do.”

After finishing her high school career, Haug hopes to attend Stanford University. She plans on entering a STEM career field.

“I know I want to go to Stanford,” Haug said. “That’s the school that I’m striving for, and then I guess go into some engineering or science thing.”

Although Haug’s main focus is on academics, she still enjoys the social aspects. Throughout her freshman year, Haug has made many new friends after going to school with the same group of people for nine years.

“I made a lot of new friends because I went to school with the same people for elementary school through middle school, and it got a little boring, but I made some friends that are good, and then I lost some, which is sad, but other than that, it’s pretty good,” Haug said.

In the future, Haug hopes to make even more friends. She enjoys growing her social circle and getting to know new people, “I hope I make even more friends,” Haug said. “I like to think of myself as of a social butterfly willing to jump in and talk to anybody.”

While Haug is looking forward to her academic and social futures, she is still excited to see her graduation day.

“I’m super excited to continue, but also I want it to already be senior year so it’s over with,” Haug said.

Lasting the Distance

6 | The North Star | April 2017

By Anna Martin

Even thousands of miles apart, these couples have managed to stick together.

A

s high school comes to an end and students start new chapters of their lives, some have to decide whether or not they should keep their relationship alive.

According to the Penn State Behrend, almost half of college students are in a long distance relationship at any given time, and 75 percent of college students have been in a long distance relationship at some point.

“I would just say that you need to keep an open mind and you need to take some time for yourself to think if this is something that you really want and if this is something that you think is going to ultimately make you happy,” said Northwest Missouri State freshman Lauren Graham.

Graham graduated in 2018 while dating 2018 graduate Ernie Pereira. Upon entering college, they decided to take a break from dating, but they recently rekindled their relationship and are now back together.

Arizona State University junior Bentley Hulshof said the first year is difficult due to having different schedules and finding time to communicate.

“I’d say that it’s hard at first,” Hulshof said. “The first year is kinda rough because you’re still figuring out how to communicate when you’re on different schedules, but it’s totally doable, and if you want to make it work, it’s possible.

It gets better every year the more comfortable you are. Also establish trust.”

Hulshof and her boyfriend graduated together in 2016 and have been dating for three and a half years.

University of Tamps freshman Faith Kopecky and her boyfriend, Jacob Petree, graduated in 2018 and have been officially dating for about a year.

“It can be hard at first, but it gets better if you stay with it,” Kopecky said. “You will miss them a lot, and that doesn’t go away, but it makes it even more special when you see each other again.”

Hulshof said though the distance is hard, being involved in athletics and clubs at college helps keeps her busy and enjoy her college experience.

While having a long distance relationship

with someone can be difficult, there are ways to help reduce the challenge. According to the Penn State Behrend, some ‘tips for success’ in a long distance relationship are: Set up phone dates and take them as serious as physical dates. Call randomly, even if it’s only for two minutes, to see how your partner is doing.

Surprise your partner with small, personal, and loving gifts. Share your plans for the upcoming week. Mail a note or stuffed animal sprayed with your cologne or perfume. Send each other a plant to take care of.

“We definitely text every day, and if not I understand he’s really busy, and I’m busy. I always try to say good morning to him and good night and just see how he’s doing,” Graham said. “And sometimes we’ll call or FaceTime. We just try to talk as much as we can without it being annoying.”

Similar to Graham, Hulshof and her boyfriend communicate a lot.

Since Hulshof is on the Arizona State swim team, she does not get to come home and see her boyfriend often.

Kopecky uses communication to help feel more connected with her boyfriend.

“Staying on the same page in your relationship and keeping the other person in your relationship up to date with things that are happening in school and life every day [is key],” Kopecky said. “This may seem like a ‘duh statement’ but knowing what each other is doing daily makes you feel more so a part of their life.”

Although communication is important for the couples in a long distance relationships, trust is also important.

Hulshof said you have to trust each other, but throughout the time they have been separated, the trust within their relationship has grown.

“I think you definitely need to have trust in the other person because it can be so easy for them to be with someone else, and you never know,” Graham said. “But I mean, you kind of just have to be mature enough to know that you can’t do that to another person. Especially If you put in that commitment, you can’t just go around hurting someone that you care about over and over again.”

While the couples have been spending their time apart working on communication and trust, they have all felt their relationships grow.

“I’d like to think our relationship is so

much stronger than it was when we dated in high school,” Hulshof said. “I feel like I got to know him as a friend which is great because when you see each other every day sometimes it gets to be just boyfriend and girlfriend relationship.”

After working on communication and trust Kopecky can see the many benefits of communicating.

“I love Jacob so much that the distance aspect doesn’t matter to me very much,” Kopecky said. “It is going very well, and our bond has grown even stronger through our long talks over the phone.”

Although these relationships can find positives to having a long distance relationship, there are also negatives.

“You want that feeling of someone holding your hand and being with you and making you laugh in person, and you don’t get that all the time in long distance,” Graham said.

“But I mean, long distance is not long distance forever.”

Because long distance does eventually come to end the couples must be prepared to make new plans to adjust to their futures after college.

“He’s really supportive, and I haven’t really pictured a future without him,” Graham said.

“Even when we did take time apart, I never really stopped caring for him. This sounds so stupid, but we are so young that we don’t really know what we’re doing yet, but we also kind of do because we’re getting towards the point where we can make our own decisions about what we want our future to look like so we’ve definitely talked about a future together.”

Even though the long distance relationship is challenging for these couples, they have proved to themselves how strong their relationship can be and how it has potential to last into the future.

“If anything, I’m happy we are going through distance because it proves that love can overcome all odds, even if people have doubts,” Kopecky said. “It truly taught me that you don’t have to worry about what others think, it is up to the two of us, and that’s all that matters with love.”

While the couples never know where these relationships will end up, they are thankful from what they have learned.

“Nobody can predict the future, but everything really does work out how it’s supposed to,” Hulshof said.

“It truly taught me that you don’t have to worry about what others think. It is up to the two of us, and that’s all that matters with love.”

-Faith Kopecky

Left: Bentley Hulshof hugs her boyfriend after a football game.

Right Icons: from The Noun Project

April 2017 | The North Star | 7

Tips for Success

According to the Penn State Behrend

Surprise your partner with small, personal, and loving gifts.

Mail a note or stuffed animal sprayed with your cologne or perfume.

Call randomly, even if it’s only for two minutes, to see how your partner is doing.

Send each other a plant to take care of.

Share your plans for the upcoming week.

Set up phone dates and take them as serious as physical dates.

8 | The North Star | April 2019

A L M O S T E T N G E N M L E

By Angelica Henson

With the help of choir teacher Jason Sickle, four choralists have started a new barbershop quartet at BVN with the aim to get others more involved in music.

Shahab Tirandazian(far left), Gus Sippel (middle left), Will Hancock, a fill in for lead Josh Piper, (middle right) and Tyler Shaw sing at Pilgrim Coffee.

A

crescendo of tones fills the air as crisp, melodic notes are sung by Almost Gentlemen, a newly founded barbershop quartet at BVN. From low to high, a chorus of four voices belt a melody they have recreated to inspire and entertain both staff and students throughout the gymnasium. Seniors Josh Piper, Gus Sippel, Tyler Shaw and Shahab Tirandazian started Almost Gentlemen during winter break.

The four boys were all in choir singing together in small groups and duets when they decided to officially form a quartet.

Tirandazian explained what sparked their decision after listening to tags, the ending of barbershop style songs.

“We were looking at tags, and we were like, ‘we have Josh with us, he should be the lead,” Tirandazian said. “We have a baritone, which would be me, and we have a tenor, which is Tyler. We were like, ‘so we just need to find a bass … Gus is a good bass!’

And then we just started practicing songs.”

Sippel said that finding new songs to perform was difficult, but it didn’t hold the group back from having fun.

“Barbershop is different from strictly choral music because you have the melody, which is the lead, then you have the tenor, which is above the lead, and the baritone which is going below the lead, which makes it crunchy, and the bass is given the root,” Sippel said. “We need to pick songs that Josh sounds good in because people typically listen for the melody.”

Sippel continued with the involvement of Jason Sickel, their choir teacher. Sickel assisted in starting off the quartet and entering them into Harmony Explosion, a school competition for varieties of quartets and groups run by KC Heart of America Chorus.

“We’ve had rehearsals where he’s helped us with our harmonies but barbershop is not his speciality. He’s strictly more choral.

He’s helped us out with finding voice recordings of different barbershop songs we can do,” Sippel said. “Like ‘Java Jive’ is a classic, so there are voice parts that you can listen to online, and he’s looked for that. He helped find information about Harmony

Explosion, but we basically teach ourselves.”

The group members have all had experience in singing, three of which have taken private voice lessons, so starting a quartet on their own has given them chances to learn separately from North.

Typically at North, choir students learn from sight-reading and scale singing their do-re-mi’s, a process called solfege.

“We all learn music differently. Gus is very solfege, and I just learn it by ear, I hate solfege,” Piper said. “It’s very interesting because in Sickel’s class we learn it one way, and that’s it. But when we do it, it’s all very clashing.”

Sippel agreed, claiming that although they work together, figuring out each of their parts individually is an experience separate from normal choir in school.One of the first songs they worked on was “Java Jive.” “[Starting the quartet], they showed me ‘Java Jive’ and it looked pretty interesting, it sounded pretty crunchy. That was the first song that I was introduced to,” Sippel said.

“I was pretty excited because it sounded classically barbershop and everything. It sounded really bright and we were gonna have a good time.”

However, there’s more to just singing a melody in the quartet. They have to ensure everything is correctly balanced for the audience to connect and enjoy while listening to the song.

When they started practicing their first songs together, the boys had their own strategies to become confident in singing their separate parts. As a bass, Sippel has learned to take turns with each member to lock in their parts together. Meanwhile Tirandazian may struggle to feel confident enough with his part by himself at the start of practicing new songs while Shaw and Piper can easily sing their parts.

“People’s ears are tuned to the highest frequency, the lowest frequency and the melody because obviously that’s going to stick out,” Sippel said. “Baritone has a really hard part because if they’re doing it right, they should be the loudest singing, but no one can hear them.

Almost Gentlemen has been practicing

April 2019 | The North Star | 9

for months while searching for public places to perform outside of school.

“We have a couple of concerts we’re doing outside of school. We’re going to a coffee shop, and we’re also going to go to Oak Park Mall and singing a flash barbershop,” Sippel said. “We’ll be doing a 30-minute concert of all the songs we’ve learned. We’ll also teach the audience a tag.”

Besides performing for outside school events, the quartet is set up to be performing during the upcoming Mustang Showtime. “[For the Mustang Showtime] we’re singing ‘Go the Distance’ from Hercules.

We got that pretty down. We sang that for K-State, and we’re pretty excited about that.

We just got to work on the ending,” Sippel said. “We’re also doing an arrangement for the National Anthem.”

Since the small group has started, a number of goals and achievements have been the main drive for the boys to continue singing through the end of their senior year. They said they have so much passion for this quartet that they see it continuing even after they graduate and move onto college.

“We need to work on teamwork, we’ve actually done better. Every time one of us says something bad about one of the other members, we have to give them a compliment as well, because especially in barbershop you have to be confident in your own part,” Sippel said.

Piper also said that not only must one be confident singing, but to also work toward new opportunities. His personal goal for the quartet is fame and, like the other members, to inspire others.

“I want this quartet to get big,” Piper said. “This sounds weird but the quartet started at the beginning of this year as Shahab and I remaking One Direction.

It turned into a barbershop after the One Direction thing didn’t turn out so well.

The reason why we’re singing the National Anthem at the assembly is because we went and sang for Mrs. Chugg, Salimbene and Mr. Breedlove. In order to get the experience we need, we need to take opportunities. We can’t have handouts.”

MEET THE QUARTET

BASS

BARITONE

TENOR

Gus Sippel

Shahab Tirandazian

Tyler Shaw

LEAD

Josh Piper

10 | The North Star | April 2019

Mr. Phalp’s Finale

By Daniel Park

After 18 years of shaping Orchestra, a staple BVN staff member is retiring.

E

very fourth and fifth hour, the man makes his grand entrance into the room. Wearing khaki slacks and uniform polo shirts, with a wire glasses frame propped loosely on his eyes, he guides students, watching in anticipation for their cue to enter. He is the center of orchestra, guiding students with a baton in his hand — flicking up, down, left and right. He has been selected into the Kansas Music Educators Hall of Fame, won numerous 1 ratings at music festivals and created outstanding individual musicians that score well in competitions.

He is orchestra conductor Stephen Phalp.

While these are just some of his significant achievements, at the end of the year, he will retire from the 18-year role he has had in shaping BVN’s orchestra — a role that, almost entirely, has built the orchestra into one of the best in Kansas.

From a young age, Phalp said he was surrounded by music. He said he owed a majority of his interest in music to his mother, who played violin for 35 years in the Kansas City Symphony and raised Phalp to play the piano. When Phalp was in elementary school, he got involved in music and played the trumpet in the school band.

However, it wasn’t until high school that he realized he wanted to teach music.

Eventually he found himself teaching students, seeing how music could change their lives. After retiring from teaching in Park Hill High School in Missouri, he had the opportunity to continue teaching orchestra in Kansas while still receiving

his retirement benefits. As he decided to students have. However, students, such move, Phalp said he wished to find an as junior Emma Schinstock, said Phalp’s orchestra with great potential and is glad unique character is a major reason he found that at BVN. students are so willing to be dedicated.

Phalp still remembers his first couple of “I’d say he’s very emotionally invested years at the school. He said teaching them in his students and his work,” Schinstock to become what the orchestra is today said. “He knows how to have a good time, was his biggest and he knows how to give "[Phalp] just shows that you challenge. and take jokes.” don’t have to be serious all “When I first Students describe him as the time and be completely came, the students old yet passionate, brutally thought they were a focused on music and feel like honest yet encouraging and lot more proficient competitive yet considerate. music is your whole life to than they actually still be good at music. You can These characteristics have were, and so it not only helped to establish have fun with it." took awhile for the -Emma Schinstock a notable reputation, but students to come more importantly have given to grips with the fact that they had to go a students an attachment to orchestra. different direction of teaching if they were Freshman Isabella Noll said Phalp going to really be successful,” Phalp said. channeled that teaching style and character.

Within two or three years, Phalps said For example, during class if Phalp caught the orchestra started becoming one of the anything wrong with what the students were more outstanding orchestras in the state playing, he often stopped them, but then of Kansas, and he’s even dedicated his he openly criticized himself more than the time teacher younger students at OTMS orchestra. Noll said this helped with the and OTE. mental attitude of the orchestra and lowered Phalp attributed this change to the pressure of upcoming festivals, concerts rigorously teaching fundamentals, such and contests. as how to hold a bow or how to produce Senior concertmaster William Wei good tones on an instrument. He said that said the teaching style showed Phalp’s if students embrace the basics of learning dedication. Every day, Phalp goes an instrument, they’ll usually end up being through pieces to familiarise students successful by the time they reach high with the music rather than searching for school, where they can focus more on corrections when they first play music. expressing emotion through music.

Then he stops and starts to focus on the Phalp said the orchestra has been able smallest details to ensure the students can to grow successfully due to the dedication play their best.

April 2019 | The North Star | 11 “I think he’s kind of knowledgeable in confident in performing in front of other music and of how other people think our people until Phalp pushed him to practice orchestra sounds, so he likes to cover the playing in front of an audience. things that he knows that they’re going to “I had a solo in the ‘Pink Panther’ song,” criticize us for,” Wei said. “I’d still describe Wei said, “and someone got these pink boas him as a very humble person. I don’t think for the bass players and for Mr. Phalp. And he likes to have a lot of attention, but he then they eventually forced me into wearing does make his intentions clear, cares about it. So in the middle of a concert, I stood up the students, and wants them to get better and I was wearing a pink boa. Mr. Phalp at playing.” was also wearing a pink boa, so it made According to Phalp, his character me feel a little bit better. And he was such was simply a reflection of his teaching a good sport about it and made it a good philosophy. There’s a focus on students, laugh for everyone.” not only as a group As for Phalp, his favorite “If every student doesn’t but as individuals, memories at BVN were buy into trying to be a so there’s a need for receiving notes from his significant part of the him to make sure students on how he has been team and feel important, able to impact their lives. He every student felt like an important part of then we cannot achieve the said he was grateful to have the team, or else the students learn to appreciate success that we would if team can’t achieve music and contribute to a everybody does.” success.

-Stephen Phalp successful group.

“The students “I’ll miss watching the know that I am going to accept them for students be successful,” Phalp said. “I who they are, regardless of their skill level,” think that’s the greatest joy for any teacher: Phalp said. “And since they feel like they’re watching the students succeed because welcome and included in the success that of something that you’ve given them, an the orchestra has, they can feel connected opportunity to do great. Next year, I won’t in a more significant way than if they were have a chance to see that anymore. So I’ll taking a class where they’re just working miss the students very much, but I also individually because either we’re successful wish them the best of luck for the future.” together, or we’re not successful at all.”

Despite receiving numerous awards, Freshman Stephania Alonzo said Phalp said none of those accolades, scores or Phalp is the face of the orchestra. There’s awards exemplified his defining moments in a student-created Instagram dedicated to his career, rather it was the orchestras.

Phalp’s funny mottos. The group chat for “I’ve had many, many outstanding the Symphonic and Concert orchestras was orchestras over the years.” Phalp said. “I at one point named “Phalp Family”. The suppose every time I created an experience orchestra is tied together into a family — with one of those orchestras it was a defining because of Phalp. moment because I knew that was something “There’s no other orchestra like ours that I was successful at. It’s all primarily because of him,” Alonzo said. “It’s not because of good students. Whenever I’ve totally because of the people playing in it. had good students I’ve had good orchestras They come and go. It’s also not because of as well. That’s made a really enjoyable and the music we play or they styles we have. impactful time at BVN for me.”

It’s because of the teacher we have.”

According to Wei, it might be hard to As students prepared for Phalp to keep up the reputation of the orchestra retire, they remembered favorite memories after Phalp retires. As of publication, the of him. For Noll that memory was when orchestra position was still open. Phalp she was going to play her instrument at said he gave his full confidence in the her aunt’s wedding, and Phalp stayed after students and their ability to adjust to the school to teach her. new teacher. “[My aunt] wanted me to play the “I think if the orchestra can just violin, but I was not very good,” Noll said. “I maintain the quality that we have achieved would stay after school, and without paying during the time that I’ve been here, that anything, [Phalp] would actually stay after would be success in itself,” Phalp said. “And school to teach me. Sometimes I had guided then if someone is able to take them to study then I could go to his class and he an even higher level of success, then that would stay and teach me for an hour.” would be fantastic. I would love to see that, For Wei, his favorite moment was in a because if you pour your life into something concert his freshman year, where he was for a period of time, then you’ll want to see forced out of his comfort zone alongside it last long after you’re gone. That’s my hope, Phalp. At that time, Wei wasn’t too that that will actually occur.”

Phalp Facts

Q: What’s your favorite piece of music?

A: I would say all the music that we’ve played for music contests over the years, I’ve done them more than once. I come back to them for a reason, and that is because they’re great music and very enjoyable to play.

Q: How did you get your head so shiny?

A: Well, I think it just comes naturally. I think that I’ve had no hair on the top of my head since my 20s. It’s really made me look like I don’t age very much because everyone has known me looking this way since I was young.

I take it to be another blessing in my life.

Q: What’s your favorite instrument?

A: Violin. Most of my life as a teacher has been teaching stringed instruments. Even though I started out playing the trumpet, I learned how to play violin when I was older.

I think that it’s the most beautiful out of all instruments.

12 | The North Star | April 2019

Mental Health @ BVN

Eighteen clubs in total were formed this year and three of them relate to mental health. Some served the purpose to start a conversation about it, while others were a vehicle for offering support or spreading happiness. Despite the differences, all the club founders agreed they had one common goal: make BVN a safer and healthier environment.

By Charitha Lakkireddy

IOW

W

hen students and staff walk into school and are surprised by sticky notes on their lockers and doors, they’re seeing the work of the Impact of Words (IOW) club. Although the club is relatively young, it’s already making waves of change, according to president Jackson Donaldson.

“We started Impact of Words this year,” Donaldson said. “It hasn’t been that long since it got going, but I can already see the difference we’re making in the culture of BVN.” Donaldson believes that the biggest changes can come from the simplest actions. He said that he isn’t aiming to solve all the problems in someone’s life, but wants to offer students reminders that there are people who care. Even if the effect is short-lived, he said that it’s a start.

“Even on the smallest level of one person receiving one sticky note, it’s still going to have an impact,” Donaldson said. “And even if that is small, those small impacts come together and turn into something big in brightening their day and someone else’s day. It creates a domino effect.”

IOW is hoping to change BVN as a whole, but the club is also looking to make positive changes within their club meetings.

Icebreakers and group activities are a big part of the meetings, according to Donaldson. The club’s main goal is to offer support for the BVN community, but also to have a space where all students feel they can go.

“We want to change the culture at North as a school, but we also want to change it between the club members,” Donaldson said.

“We’re making it a friendly environment, so that everyone feels welcome and it’s a space where anyone can come in do a good thing or a meet a new friend.”

Donaldson hopes the club continues having the same effect next school year, although there will be one change: a new president.

Because Donaldson is moving to a new school, junior Caroline Turk will be taking over his position in IOW. “Caroline Turk will be taking over the club,” Donaldson said.

“What’s great is that we have a bunch of eighth graders coming in and a lot of them are excited to be in the club and we can continue this as a long term project.”

A

newcomer to BVN this year was Sources of Strength (SOS). Although the club is run by the BVN social worker and different students, they weren’t the ones who brought the idea of the club to the table. The credit for the creation of the BVN chapter of SOS is owed to the Blue Valley Ed foundation and the Keep The Spark Alive (KTSA) foundation.

SOS is a nation-wide organization that originated in North Dakota in 1998 by founder Mark LoMurray. It was created in an attempt to reduce the suicide rates in ND and their efforts were applauded by the Suicide Prevention Resource Center and The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. It isn’t the first mental health club at BVN, but it is the first of its kind to be established here, due to its emphasis on students relying on one another, which is what makes it unique to Summers.

“It’s very uplifting,” Summers said. “Another message that I got, which I thought was very unique, was that it was very positive. It doesn’t ignore that there’s bad things and trauma and depression, it doesn’t ignore any of that. But it does go through and tell kids to not go in depth with someone, because they aren’t therapists, but ask them what they’ve done before, to get past that hill, to get up that mountain. It stays very, very positive.”

SOS is made up of 50 students, all of whom were recommended

by BVN staff members and who go through required training that equips them with the tools necessary to talk to a friend who is struggling with mental health. That training is what Summers felt set the club apart from others because it encourages conversation between students rather than solely students turning to teachers. “[The training] opened my eyes to the fact that kids can open up, and possibly they’re opening up to their friend group, but also that they don’t feel comfortable opening up to their friend group and would rather open up to someone else,” Summers said. “The kids went through the training, and they know they’re not therapists, but they were also taught the skills needed when a student approached them for help. I’ve been a social worker for more years than I’d like to count, I’ve been through so much training, and I actually thought this was one of the best trainings I’ve been to.”

April 2019 | The North Star | 13

T

he work of the ASAP club can be seen on the walk to BVN’s front entrance and on posters hanging around the school. Their signs that read “#ZeroReasonsWhy” decorate the path leading to the school and the hallways inside.

The signs encourage students to write positive messages on them and join the club in their efforts to better the mental health of the community.

Junior Rory Swenson partnered with local mental health organization Zero Reasons Why to bring ASAP to BVN. He described the effort as an interface between Blue Valley administration and students who were members of ASAP. Although the club originates from Zero Reasons Why, which is a community suicide prevention campaign local to Johnson County, it operates and works hand in hand with BVN staff, junior Vik Nandigama said because of the club being student-led, it has had a greater effect on students.

“If it’s a teacher-led club, it’s more like just another thing teachers are going to do to make us feel better,” Nandigama said.

“But if it’s a student-led club, it’s kids like us, around us, that have experienced it and get it.”

Nandigama said he valued mental health clubs like ASAP because they offered healthy outlets for students, which is something he felt was necessary in high school.

“You can see a lot of anxiety here, especially in highschool with the homework and all the tests piling up,” Nandigama said. “Being a part of clubs like this is important because you kind of just want to relieve the stress and clubs like this are really helpful.”

Swenson hopes to take another step forward by creating an opportunity for students from different Blue Valley schools to communicate and share their ideas about mental health efforts at their respective schools.

“I want to create a Blue Valley mental health board that has representatives from every single school in the district,” Swenson said. “That way, there’s always communication between schools.”

Although Swenson said that he’s happy with the strides mental health clubs at BVN have taken towards improving the culture of mental health, he believes that the efforts need to begin earlier.

“There needs to be education from elementary school on how to deal with emotions and in middle school, talking to friends who have mental health problems and in high school, go to suicide prevention,” Swenson said. “It needs to scale from a young age so that kids are equipped to deal with the tools to deal with it. There needs to be more widespread understanding of the resources available, so in maybe in two years, or maybe when they’re 40, when they’re having a bad day, they know what resources they can go to and how to get them.”

O

n a rainy Saturday morning, the energy inside the BVN gym was the opposite of the weather outside. Members of the community made an appearance at school on March 30 for the Good Vibes fundraiser.

The fundraiser was hosted by the Hacky Sack Club in partnership with the Graphic Design II to raise money for the Keep the Spark Alive (KTSA) foundation, which was formed in memory of Chad Harrell. Junior Campbell Collins cited a personal connection to Harrell as part of the motivation for the hacky sack club to take on the task of organizing the event.

“A couple of the [Hacky] Sack club members played lacrosse with Chad,” Collins said. “So we all had a personal connection to it and we were all motivated.”

The event’s purpose was to raise mental health awareness and money for KTSA raised awareness and money for KTSA through sponsors and donations for the silent auction through sponsors and donations for the silent auction. Starbucks, Walmart and other businesses sponsored the event or donated products such as KC Royals’ merchandise, McClain’s cookies, tapestry and clothes.

“It’s very hard getting sponsors, which is something we realized,” Brockman said. “We were kind of learning how you even approach putting on an event because none of us have ever done something like this before. It was kind of hard at first, but after we began understanding how to do everything, that was when things started going quick.”

The idea was brought to the group by BVN art teacher Alison Crane, but the group of organizers were quick to take the lead on the project. Taking advantage of the resources available to them during school hours in the Beta room, a makerspace in the 500 hall, Collins said they were able to have the fundraiser prepared for a crowd in three weeks.

“The ability for us to meet in the Beta whenever we felt like working on it,” Collins said. “Or whenever we thought we could get work done was really helpful and productive in getting the whole thing together.”

Hacky Sack club founder and junior Carter Smith described the fundraiser as a series of trial and error, crediting that to the fact that this was the first time an event like this had been held. He feels confident that if the fundraiser is held again, it will be much smoother sailing.

“Next year, if we do the event again, we got this,” Smith said.

“It will be a lot better because this year was trial and error definitely and we have learned a lot throughout this process about marketing and entrepreneurship. Next year, with a little more preparation now that we know what we’re supposed to do, it’ll be even better.”

14 | The North Star | April 2019 | Opinion

Happily Healthy As diet plans and weight loss programs are shoved down the throats of high school students, it’s important to take a step back and learn about the right way to nourish our bodies

By Briley Everhart

“Go on a diet.”

“Run a mile a day.”

“Stop eating carbs.”

The media floods our minds with constant reminders that we aren’t doing everything we can to stay in shape.

Weight loss recommendations pile up on our Pinterest boards next to the kale salad recipe that we know we’ll never use.

But why is today’s society so obsessed with being “fit?”

Are the Kardashians and their diet supplements to blame?

Or is it that bodies are warped to achieve perfection in every photo on Instagram? When every health and wellness blog is telling us something different, it’s not easy to find a place to start.

Remember MyPlate, formally known as the food pyramid? The “five main food groups” that were burned into our brains as children are constantly being discredited and

replaced with the Keto diet.

The goal of our elementary school nutritionists was to make sure we knew how to eat “right” when the time came to plan our own meals.

According to the Office of Adolescent Health, only 15 percent of children under the age of 18 are eating at least two vegetables a day.

But most news articles and documentaries just state facts and don’t address the issue.

So how can we really become healthy? Jumping into a health trend for a couple of weeks and then falling out of it isn’t good for you, especially if it drastically changes your normal routine.

When it comes to dieting and eating healthier, low fat diets are considered more dangerous because our bodies need fat. If you decide to focus upon healthier eating styles, try not to completely eliminate a food group. Even

Only 15% of adolescents in the United States are eating two servings of vegetables a day

if it leads to initial weight loss, it may have detrimental effects in the long run. With the pressures of social life in high school, unhealthy dieting habits often lead to eating disorders, but the whole purpose behind dieting and exercise is finding a balance, even though it’s hard to know where to start.

When building healthy habits, don’t immediately turn towards the extremes, but focus on including more fruits and vegetables in your everyday diet. Though there’s nothing wrong with treating yourself to fast foods and desserts every now and then, it’s important to remember that a diet coming from a drive-thru window isn’t substantial.

People also commonly use diet supplements or pills to stimulate weight loss. However, the best way to promote a healthy living style is by allowing the body to lose weight

49% of high school students in America report that they are physically active for 60 minutes a day

naturally through exercise and an appropriate diet.

Attempting to pave her own fitness journey, senior Maddie Smith recently started a fitness account on instagram titled maddies_fitstagram where she posts workout videos, meal suggestions and daily motivation.

Smith initially started the account after friends started asking about her new workout routines. She now uses it as an outlet to share workout videos, meals that others can utilize, and a source of motivation.

Finding motivation from within can be difficult. The path to such a life is simply crafted through focus and dedication. Even with impending pressure, utilizing proper exercise, motivation and the inclusion of all the food groups can develop healthy eating and living habits to stick with students throughout their lives.

42% of high school students claim to use computers/screens for 3 or more hours a day

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16 | The North Star | April 2019

The

They’re all over the news, but who are the 2020 presidential hopefuls?

By Ramya Chilappa

Donald Trump (R) President Donald Trump has served as the President of the United States since 2017. He is a member of the Republican Party, and a former member of the Democratic Party. He is a former real-estate developer and businessman with several properties and assets licensed to his name globally, and was involved in several media and television ventures, including “The Apprentice.”

Gun control: His stance on gun control is unclear – he has said that he supports background checks, but said he would veto certain bills containing it. He has directed the Justice Department to ban bump stocks, and supports arming teachers and enhanced “mental health programs.”

Climate change: President Trump has pulled the United States out of the Paris climate agreement, and signed executive orders attempting to repeal the Clean Power Plan and other EPA measures.

He generally doesn’t believe in governmental regulation of corporations.

Healthcare: One of his major stated goals has been to repeal the ACA, but later has supported modifying sections of it. While his administration has modified parts of it to privatize more sections, he has not yet presented his alternative plan.

Immigration: Trump is credited with the popularization of the border wall construction, and has demanded federal funding for it. He has repeatedly called for increases in border

security, and criticized “sanctuary cities.” He has also criticized DACA and United States asylum policy.

Education: He is a very high proponent of federalism in education, criticizing and rescinding federal regulations that would exert control over state and local education policy. He supports increase in private and charter school education.

Economy: Trump’s administration is responsible for the recent tax cuts passed by Congress, which expanded tax cuts for several corporations, changed the tax percentage for some income brackets and expanded the estate tax. He is a champion of protectionism, and wants to cut “wasteful government spending.”

William Weld (R) William Weld is the former governor of Massachusetts, from 1991 to 1997. He is also the former US Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, and the former US Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. He identifies himself as a moderate, centrist Republican. In 2016, he was the running mate of Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson.

Gun control: His stance is somewhat unclear – while he has supported gun control legislation

in the past, he has also publicly stated that he opposes gun control measures.

Climate change: Weld supports rejoining the Paris climate accords.

Healthcare: He supports repealing the ACA, and wants to expand access to Medicaid.

Immigration: Weld has expressed support for some form of legal status for undocumented immigrants already in the United States. He wants to issue more H1-B visas, and opposes

what he views as harsh deportation policies from the Trump administration.

Education: Weld supports federalism, and is ardently opposed to federal government intervention in education, which he views as a state policy.

Economy: He supports cutting taxes and reducing wasteful spending. He opposes the protectionist tariffs instituted by the Trump administration.

Elizabeth Warren (D) Sen. Elizabeth Warren is a senior United States Senator, serving for Massachusetts since 2013. She is a member of the Democratic Party. She was a formerly a law professor teaching at Rutgers University, Newark, University of Houston, University of Texas, University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard University, specializing in bankruptcy law.

Gun control: Warren generally supports gun control legislation.

Climate change: She supports reducing greenhouse emissions, and forcing companies to report their greenhouse gas emissions. She has also expressed support for “the idea of the Green New Deal.”

Healthcare: Warren is an outspoken advocate of the Affordable Care Act and wants to ease health care costs. She has also publicly supported Sanders’s “Medicare for All” bill.

Immigration: She opposes the border wall and most deportations, and she supports replacing

ICE and DACA. Education: Warren supports Sanders’s education bill, and supported a bill from Senator Schatz (HI) that would prevent students from having to take out loans.

Economy: Warren supports breaking up monopolies and trusts, and has forwarded several anti-corruption laws. She is publicly a large proponent of capitalism, and has forwarded her model of “accountable capitalism.”

April 2019 | The North Star | 17

Bernie Sanders (D) Sen. Bernie Sanders identifies as independent, but caucuses with the Democratic Party. He has formerly been the mayor of Burlington and served in the House of Representatives from 1990 to 2006.

Gun control: Sanders wants to ban assault weapons, and repeal laws protecting gun manufacturers. He voted for a bill expanding background checks.

Climate change: Sanders supports the Green New Deal measure, drafted by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., to pass sweeping measures to curb climate change by 2030 by eliminating additional emissions of carbon.

Healthcare: He is well known for first drafting

and championing the “Medicare-for-all” bill, and it has become a cornerstone of his campaign. Sanders supports a single-payer health plan in which a single public program pays most of the bills, but care is delivered by private doctors and hospitals.

Immigration: He believes in offering a path to citizenship, and waiving some current deportations. He calls for restructuring ICE. Education: Sanders wants to make public colleges and universities tuition-free, and drastically expand programs aimed at helping with student loans, as well as lowering interest rates.

Economy: Sanders is widely known for his

criticisms of corporate America’s consolidation of wealth and the widening equality gap. He supports increasing the number of wealthy Americans subject to the estate tax, substantially increasing taxes on the higher brackets, raising the national minimum wage to $15, and substantial investments into infrastructure.

Foreign Policy: He is widely famous for being an anti-war activist, and supports the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. He has been critical of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s policies and speeches and supported the Iran Deal.

Kamala Harris (D) Sen. Kamala Harris is a junior United States Senator, serving for California since 2017. She is a member of the Democratic Party. She was previously the Attorney General of California, as well as the District Attorney of San Francisco.

Gun control: Harris wants to ban assault weapons and the sale of high-capacity magazines, and to pass legislation that blocks some gun advertising.

Climate change: Harris supports the Paris climate accord, has opposed Trump administration’s proposal to reverse fuel

efficiency standards, and has voted against repealing methane emission regulations. She believes more action is needed.

Healthcare: She supports Sanders’s “Medicare for All” bill (see above). She has also introduced legislation to increase access to healthcare for black women.

Immigration: Harris supports Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and opposes a border wall. Unlike other Democratic candidates, she hasn’t openly supported the abolishment of ICE, but believes it “should be reexamined.”

Education: Harris supports Sanders’s “College for All Act,” giving free tuition at all public colleges and universities. She also supports creating a “national universal pre-kindergarten” program.

Economy: She believes in reversing some measures in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and creating new tax on some financial institutions.

She also wants to create some tax breaks for certain middle and lower classes.

Beto O’Rourke (D) Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke served in the House from 2013 to 2019, for three terms. He is a member of the Democratic Party. In 2018, he ran for U.S. Senate instead of seeking reelection and narrowly lost to Ted Cruz. He was virtually unknown by mass media until this Senate election, after which he received widespread coverage and celebrity support.

Gun control: O’Rourke supports universal background checks, magazine size limits, restrictions on some semiautomatic weapons.

He opposes concealed carry reciprocity, and supports states with strict licensing requirements to recognize looser concealed carry permits.

Climate change: He supports the Paris climate accords.

Healthcare: He supports universal healthcare, but hasn’t yet specified the details of how.

O’Rourke also wants to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Immigration: O’Rourke wants a path to

citizenship for undocumented immigrants, the closing of private detention centers, and he has publicly decried the violent nature of immigration enforcement.

Education: He wants to make pre-kindergarten education universal, and ensure that the first two years of higher education is debt free.

Economy: O’Rourke wants to keep NAFTA largely untouched, and has denounced President Trump’s trade wars. He has criticized the GOP tax cut package.

18 | The North Star | April 2019

Kirsten Gillibrand (D) Junior United States Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has served for New York since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, she served in the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2009. She was once seen as a fairly centrist member of the Blue Dogs Democratic Caucus, a group known for being “fiscally conservative, socially progressive,” but has since progressed drastically more left since the beginning of her tenure as senator.

Gun control: Gillibrand wants to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and make background checks more universal.

Climate change: She wants to create a cap-and-

trade commodity market for carbon emissions, and ban drilling on federal lands. She believes in drastically curbing emissions.

Healthcare: She supports the Sanders “Medicare for All” bill, and expansion of certain ACA provisions.

Immigration: Gillibrand now champions the abolishment of ICE, and wishes to include a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

Education: Gillibrand supports a “path to college” that would help students graduate debt-free, and wants to make childcare more accessible and affordable.

Economy: She wishes to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. She backs increasing taxes on Wall Street.

Other issues: Gillibrand has been one of the largest political supporters of the #MeToo movement. She has forwarded several pieces of legislation to set national standards for handling and preventing sexual assault.

Foreign Policy: She supports U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, and opposes U.S. support of actions in Yemen.

Cory Booker (D) Sen. Cory Booker is a junior United States Senator serving for New Jersey since 2013, winning a special election and then later winning re-election in 2014. He is a member of the Democratic Party, and the former mayor of Newark, winning in 2006.

Gun control: Booker wants to ban assault weapons and require universal background checks.

Climate change: He supports Representative Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal, and has pushed for investments in clean-energy infrastructure and policies to reduce emissions.

Healthcare: He supports the Sanders “Medicare for All” bill and the importation of prescription drugs.

Immigration: Booker is in favor of DACA, and opposes the border wall and family separation.

He believes in ICE restructuring, but hasn’t publicly supported abolishment.

Education: Unlike many other Democrats, he supports charter schools.

Economy: Booker wants to raise the minimum wage to $15, and supports tax reform that would increase giving tax credits to more families than the wealthy.

Amy Klobuchar (D) Senior United States Sen. Amy Klobuchar has been serving for Minnesota since 2007. She has established herself as liberal known for voting with her party. She is known for being extremely transparent with her campaign operations, and thus easily won re-election in 2012 and 2018.

Gun control: She is generally in line with other candidates.

Climate change: She wants to set goals for

cutting greenhouse gas emissions, and supports rejoining the Paris climate deal.

Healthcare: Klobuchar believes in expanding Medicare for Americans age 55 and older, and has expressed support for the idea of a singlepayer, government health coverage.

Immigration: She supports a path to citizenship for most undocumented immigrants and an increase in temporary work visas. She does not want to abolish ICE, but does support reforms.

Other Candidates

Pete Buttigieg (D) Julian Castro (D) Tulsi Gabbard (D) John Delaney (D) John Hickenlooper (D) Jay Inslee (D)

Wayne Messam (D) Tim Ryan (D) Eric Slalwell (D) Marianne Williamson (D) Andrew Yang (D)

Education: Klobuchar supports increase in states funding to encourage STEM education, and several pieces of legislation to help college students with debt.

Economy: She supports increases in regulations on large corporations.

Foreign Policy: She supports continued presence in Syria.

Undeclared Candidates Joe Biden (D) Steve Bullock (D) Seth Moulton (D) Stacey Abrams (D) Michael Bennet (D)

Bill de Blasio (D) Howard Shultz (I) Larry Hogan (R) John Kasich (R)

April 2019 | The North Star |19

Summer Events

By Angelica Lidzy Find new events to attend during 2019 summer months.

May

JULY, Cont.

Old Shawnee Days May 31-June 3 Shawnee Town 1929 Museum

Shawn Mendes July 19, 7:30 p.m.

Sprint Center

JoJo Siwa June 2, 2019 6:30 p.m.

Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland

Job Fair July 25, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Overland Park Convention Center

JUne

Music in the Park June 3 – 24 Santa Fe Commons Park

Khalid Concert June 21, 7:30 p.m.

Sprint Center

JULY Star Spangled Spectacular July 4, 5-10 p.m.

Corporate Woods North Park

Career Fair July 30, 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Kansas City

Brandi Carlile Aug 2, 6:30 p.m.

Providence Medical Center Amphitheater

India Fest Aug 25, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Overland Park Convention Center

August

20 | The North Star | April 2017

Building A Better Future

BVN and District office are undertaking their largest renovation since 2009.

F

or those planning on roaming the desolate halls of BVN throughout the hot, sticky days of summer, I recommend you revise your plans. Big changes are coming to the 1980s inspired tiled floors and painted walls.

Renovations are reinventing the future of BVN with resemblances to centralized college work areas. However, many of these upcoming renovations remain cosmetic. New concrete floors will replace the old, mismatched tiles; the main locker area outside of the library will be removed; the basketball courts will be refurbished and the library will flow into a new, open area for studying, lunch and classes.

Tyson Ostroski’s first year as principal has been filled with new projects, including the upcoming summer renovations, such as the new flooring project. Teachers and administrators at BVN have collaborated with David Hills, executive director of operations for the Blue Valley District, on the plans for the upcoming projects.

“We are getting all new flooring throughout the entire school, about 95 percent of it,” Ostroski said. “That’s going to cause a shut down all summer because linoleum is going to be ripped up and there’s going to be concrete dust everywhere. It’s a full summer project.”

However, the linoleum flooring is just the beginning of the new changes coming in the 2019-2020 school year. Due to the

By Megan McConnell

extent of the project, the timing coincides perfectly with the removal of lockers in the large locker areas. This new open area will offer a space nearly the size of the current commons. New furniture will be added to give students and teachers places to eat, socialize and learn.

“That is going to be a space that we are going to be working on throughout the year,” Ostroski said. “We’re going to be ordering some tables and chairs and make it a space where classes can go. We will still have lockers in the hallways for people who want to opt in, as well as what was formerly known as our senior locker area ... We think that’s going to be really good during North Time for people to have more space to do work or sit down and eat lunch.”

Money diverted to the district for physical remodels requires extensive planning and years of consideration. The Blue Valley District routinely reviews the conditions of roofing, flooring, doors, windows and mechanical systems at their schools.

“There’s quite a science to it and a bit of planning that goes into it. We do a lot of assessments on the condition of our roof, doors, windows, flooring [and] mechanical systems, and a lot of things that we put into a larger category that we call asset preservation,” Hills said. “So, we look at all our buildings assets that our taxpayers own and we try to make good use of [our] taxpayer dollars by repairing

and replacing them when they need to be.”

The new study area being developed at BVN has been led by a team of teachers and administrators, with Okstroski leading the headway. Because the area will closely resemble an open extension of the library, it will offer teachers an alternative classroom space. According to Ostroski, the mentality regarding the new area will work to parallel work spaces commonly found in offices and colleges around the country.

“We want it to be a workspace and a congregation space ... our library is not a silent place, and we want to find areas where people can have quiet zones,” Ostroski said. “We want it to be almost like ... a modern office. [Where] there’s just common spaces where people get work done, not cubicle life or anything but what people experience in college.”

Even future renovations have been considered for making more efficient workspaces throughout the library and conference rooms to promote greater functionality. Improvements and replacement of the current furniture is also in the minds of District board members.

The entirety of the funds for projects in schools come from the District. The projects are decided upon a prioritized basis due to a finite amount of money available. The decision for the upcoming renovations was dependent upon the potential flooring and locker projects.

April 2017 | The North Star | 21 “If we didn’t do it now, it would probably be a long, long time in the future because they [have to be done] all together,” Ostroski said. “So the locker decision was impacted on the flooring project that was already set in stone.”

However, the flooring project and refurbishing of the gym floors may have an impact upon student and faculty life in the summer.

“We have a lot of teachers who come in during the summer,” Ostroski said.

“Essentially, we won’t have any access to the academic side of our building ...

So we’re going to have to be mindful of what areas of the building can be accessed, and which ones can’t.”

The district attempts to complete renovations during breaks, but such a large project’s effects on student life cannot be avoided with this project.

“We do a lot of our flooring work in the summer,” Hills said, “although, when it’s possible, we do some of that work during the school year, during spring or winter break, if it’s smaller scope. In the case of North, where we’re doing virtually the entire building ... [we will] basically shut the building down and turn it over to the contractor so that they can get a lot of work done quickly.”

Though nothing is permanently set in stone, the renovations are to be completed by July 27, yet factors are constantly contributing to and impacting renovation plans. With such large-scale changes being led

by Ostroski during his first year as principal, he admitted to the difficulty in wrapping his mind around the full scope of such a project and what it entails.

Both the Blue Valley School District and BVN’s administrative groups have been meeting for several months.

“We’re very used to taking on big projects like this,” Hills said. “We’re used to planning for them and working with groups of people to make sure that everybody knows what we’re doing and when ... We’ve been meeting with the North administration for quite a while and they’re very well prepared for what is going to happen.”

“This [will] be the biggest renovation this building has had since they added the new entrance.”

— Tyson Ostroski Even though similar projects have been undertaken before, things are constantly changing for the BVN team.

“With anything, there’s kind of a blind spot [and] you [think], ‘Oh! We have to think about that,’” Ostroski said.

“Working with the district and thinking about what we have to be mindful of, that’s been the process each day.”

The facilities department at District office has been put in charge of management with a variety of different

people taking part on an operations team: David Hills, executive director; Scott Crane, project manager; and Joe Chick, maintenance and operations, to name a few.

Renovations to BVN have occurred in the past, but this will be the biggest renovation since the new entrance has been added 10 years ago.

“I think people are going to be really amazed [by] our new area, formerly known as our locker area, and what [it] will do for our school,” Ostroski said.

The space being created was crafted by the heads of the very people it will come to benefit. Students, teachers and faculty members included their personal opinions and ideas regarding the best uses and design for this congregated space.

“We’ve had a committee of teachers who have been dreaming what that space can be, and so I know that our teachers are excited, especially the teachers that have been here for a long time,” Ostroski said. “They’re excited about the upgrade. [It’s] just like an addition to your house ... I picked a representative from every department and brought parents in on it as well.

We talked to students [about] what this could be. We had feedback from all stockholders.”

The coming renovations have included commentary from students, teachers, administrators and groups at district to fully develop an area for academic use in a progressive future.

22 | The North Star | April 2019 | Opinion

Fastus NOS et NEGARE KARUS

Every College

Office of Undergraduate Admissions

Dear applicant:

My search for personal acceptance in the face of 10 college rejections.

On March 28, the last of my American college admissions decisions arrived.

Northwestern and the University of Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Brown, Duke, Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, Cornell, Pennsylvania — all said no. exceptional and that I wasn’t the kind of As much as I faked a smile for my parents, my chest tightened. I knew I wasn’t I thought I’d get into at least one. to, applied I person to take the entire Ivy League by storm. But out of all the schools a scholarship that would allow receiving Canada, in ties universi three I’d already gotten into McGill, one of the top of the school. There was no glory in being a me to graduate for less than $20,000. Still, few people at BVN had ever heard .

McGill Martlet. There was only obscurity and half-hearted attempts at humility

When students fail, they blame themselves. They believe that they are too lazy, too stupid or just never good enough.

into elite As a Canadian student, I knew how low my odds were of getting me telling y Januar in email an me sent Duke e, instanc For s.

American school t, for percen 8 to 7 was nts that although the acceptance rate for domestic applica school one is Duke t. percen 4 below d droppe r international applicants, the numbe to pay ability one’s that g meanin nts, applica tic domes for lind that claims to be need-b for But s. proces ions for Duke’s tuition is not supposed to be a factor in the admiss slash our odds in half. international applicants like me, asking for financial aid can to people around me that explain to need the felt I out, came Before decisions even applicants. I needed most schools I applied to weren’t need-blind for international keep these things to should I myself an excuse for my rejections. In my head, I told to others. myself prove to need didn’t I . quietly myself and take my decisions the social sciences study to s intend who ne someo As . myself doubt to Still, I began decent paycheck a earn ever I or the humanities, how would I ever get hired? Would ? without a diploma from a “top” school said we just At home, my parents kept apologizing. In an ideal world, they Yet, with one back. me wouldn’t apply for financial aid. They didn’t want to pull d and still not accepte being etically hypoth of working parent, I didn’t see the point get any didn’t table dinner the of side other the on sighs being able to attend. The quieter though.

as well as I could and tried to move on. Yet, When my first rejection letter came from Northwestern, I shrugged it off my classmates had in fact gotten in, and I during the next school day, my stomach sank when I realized that some of couldn’t help but start to compare myself to them.

Is she better than you?

Wait, he got in, too?

So if you were American, you would’ve gotten in, right?

Ha. As if. t talent and work ethic can overcome The U.S. prides itself as a meritocracy, a country where those with the stronges to pursue their dreams and become fulfilled any obstacles to find success. Children are told that they have the freedom themselves. They believe that they are too blame they individuals. However, because of that same myth, when students fail, lazy, too stupid or just never good enough. reality was often one of long, bleary-eyed Throughout high school, these thoughts frequently flooded my head. My to bed, I had times when I couldn’t fall asleep due nights when I was the only one awake in the house. Even when I did get to stress cramps. someone like Lori Loughlin can seemingly However, when my efforts are juxtaposed against the $500,000 check that if her daughter Olivia Jade doesn’t actually produce straight from her pocket, it’s hard not to grit my teeth. Does it matter schools couldn’t care less. Talent may go elite like care for learning? As long as Loughlin coughs up a large sum, it seems facility. ignored because talent can’t buy a new research

Opinion | April 2019 | The North Star | 23 On a smaller scale. BVN has its own privilege. College consultants and tuto rs are no foreign concepts. Many students have their own cars. Despite the members hip fees for DECA, FBLA or any of the honor socie ties, participation in these activities is high. Many students pay for sports equipment. Mor eover, the teachers care about their stud ents, technology access is guaranteed and students are surrounded by a culture of success.

Yet, according to U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, many minority students across the country are forced to attend scho ol in overcrowded, outdated buildings , sometimes without libraries, gymnasiums, Inter net access, or adequate numbers of textb ooks. What’s more, only 33 percent of high schools with high black or Hispanic enrollme nt offer calculus. In spite of affirmative actio n, students from these schools never stood a chance of having the test scores and extracurr iculars needed to compete in an infla ted pool of college applicants.

At the same time, affirmative action and other similar institutions can over -generalize members of each race and ignore their individual experiences. Some people of Hispanic descent are born wealthy. Not all Asia ns have dedicated parents. Affirmati ve action is well-intentioned but sometimes clum sy, grouping people based on a certa in skin color and making assumptions about their experiences.

Just like how most students only have one shot at college applications, they also only have one shot at living their desired life. There is no time for four years of pretense.

However, what would be the alternativ e to holistic review in college applicati ons? In countries such as China or France, the main goal of a student’s high school career is to excel on a single stan dardized test and attain high college placement. That test is all that matters.

While some may argue that affirmati ve action is unfair and that artistic and achievements do not predict academic athletic potential, the American system attem pts to see applicants as people. It tries cultivate learners, not robots. It’s a valia to nt effort despite its shortcomings.

As reforms are made, the sting of a colle ge rejection for individual students is no less poignant. Hours spent studying performing community service, part , icipating in sports or the arts and craft ing narratives about their identities may blend together in light of a single “no. all ” However, when a college outcome is uncontrollable, students need to expe high school for their own sake’s, cont rience inuing to pursue personal goals even after admissions verdicts are made.

Whenever I ask peers about majors they ’re learning towards, the rationale near ly always revolves around money.

Passion is rarely considered. After all, dreams seem expensive and even fickl e. Yet just like how most students only one shot at college applications, they have also only have one shot at living their desired life. There is no time for four pretense. years of Furthermore, an acceptance letter isn’t an express pass to the finish line: It’s only an invitation to do four more year hard work, and success isn’t linear. Doc s of tors and lawyers can come from any college, even though elite schools do greater concentration of opportunities have a . The work ethic and passions that stud ents hone during high school can follo all their lives. w them So yes, I was rejected by 10 schools, but that is something I can gradually accept. I am not a mere sheet of lette (especially since my rejections were r paper all digital). I am not a test score or any single award. I still have more work to am learning that, yes, I am enough. do, but I

We greatly appreciate your intere st in Every College, and we wish you all the best as you continue your educat ional pursuits.

Sincerely,

Alice Wu

24 | The North Star | April 2019

The Path(s) toward Enlistment

By Chris Lucas

With college becoming more expensive and less accessible, seniors explore the military through direct enlistment or ROTC programs.

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unning across the football field and carrying the North flag after the football team scores, the bare chested senior lifts his captains’ hat towards the stands. During those games, Senior Logan McMonigle often wore his navy captain hat while he hyped up the crowd. McMonigle, however, will be trading his friday night’s sporting navy gear for a committed path of enlistment through the Navy ROTC. ROTC, or the Reserve Officer Training Corps, are college-based programs designed to prepare students for life as an officer in the military, while at the same time letting them pursue a degree in their field of interest.

McMonigle chose ROTC because it helps balance his desire to both serve and have a college experience.

“I was really interested in the Naval Academy, [but]

hit high school and realized that probably was not a viable option, just academically. So I kind of looked into different avenues to go down with on that path and discovered ROTC,” McMonigle said. “I liked the mix, where you get that military aspect.”

McMonigle plans to attend the University of Mississippi majoring in Accounting, and Navy ROTC would complement his educational experience there.

“I don’t think it will necessarily affect the specific major, but I do have to take additional courses. So, I have an increased load per semester.

I have [physical training] in the mornings a few times a week,” McMonigle said.

McMonigle was a recipient of the ROTC national scholarship, which are, according to Joe Midgley, the Scholarship and Enrollment Officer at the University of

April 2019 | The North Star | 25 Kansas Army ROTC, offered to about 1000 students every year.

“The national ones offer four- andthree-year scholarships. The on-campus ones offer three year, two and a half, and two year,” Midgley said. The scholarships offer full tuition, fees and a monthly living stipend.”

Midgley said typically during freshman and sophomore years, there is basic core, which includes basics about the army and leadership. After their junior year, all ROTC members attend a 37-day camp in Fort Knox, Ky., during the summer.

“What we do there is we treat them just like they would be a lieutenant,” Midgley said. “We stick them into a platoon of 30 people that they’ve never met before from across the country. And we’re like, ‘Hey, you’re in charge this day.’”

Besides leadership training, the program offers a multitude of other summer programs. The KU ROTC program sent several cadets to different countries and universities to learn foreign languages.

“I always joke we don’t want to have them do the American thing of just speak English louder then they’ll understand eventually, because that’s not how it works.

That’s why we want to get them over there to other overseas [programs],” Midgley said.

For McMonigle, a path of enlistment was always his plan.

“I just love America —I love the freedoms and want to protect the freedoms here,” McMonigle said. “I knew when I was younger that I wanted to serve.”

While McMonigle has no regrets about enlistment, he has described the experience as being surreal.

About 1100 colleges Around the country have ROTC Programs.

“When I got my new student letter they gave me like seven or eight files,” McMonigle said. “I’m having to send in all my measurements to get my uniforms [...] it’s kind of surreal, like okay I’m actually doing this, I’m not just talking about it.”

Midgley described ROTC as a leadership development program.

“It’s kind of surreal, like okay I’m actually doing this, I’m not just talking about it.”

—Logan McMonigle “We’re going to teach you how to lead people, because that’s one thing that I think some majors lack,” Midgley said. “We are creating future leaders. So when they get out of ROTC, they’re in charge of a platoon of 15 to 30 people.”

“We don’t tell them how to lead, but we teach them about different leadership styles, different ways to lead different people in life, not just the army,” Midgley said.

For other students, they are forgoing the college experience all together. Senior Chance Craft is enlisting straight out of high school into the Marine Core.

For Craft, the military’s immediate benefits really stood out to him.

The Army, Air Force and Navy are the only branches that have programs.

“They have the G-1 Bill, they pay for your house, your college if I decide to go after and then just have really good benefits after [service],” Craft said.

For Craft, the military is a great option for people not interested in the college route.

“It’s a great opportunity, or if your parents want you do the military,” he said.

“That’s kinda how I see it. My dad was in the Air Force, and he thought the military was great. So I’m like I’ll just do the Marines.”

When explaining the difference between the ROTC route and enlistment, Midgley uses an analogy of the human body.

“The enlisted soldiers, the ones right out of high school are the arms, the feet, the legs, they are the moving parts of everything [...] And then the brain itself, that’s the officers there, the thinkers that are the creators, they’re the ones that pass the message on to everybody else,” Midgley said.

ROTC may also provide students with more of a trial period before making a hard commitment to enlistment in the military.

“You have two years before you have to make a commitment to the army,” Midgley said. “We’re very open. No hard feelings or anything. We would rather you be honest with us and say, ‘This isn’t for me.’”

McMonigle ultimately described ROTC as a stepping stone that will help equip him for his future.

“Giving me that discipline, work ethic, and a lot of very valuable skills that I’ll pick up from [ROTC],” he said, “I think will just help my life.”

The program offers two-, three- and fouryear scholarships.

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NATIONAL CODE 712 EXPIRES 12/31/2019

April 2019 | The North Star | 27

Following

Let’s Ask the Experts

By Lyndsey Henkel

Seniors reflect on their time at BVN, and give their expertise to future and current students.

Tweets

Tweets & Replies

Media

Likes

Christos Davlantes @ctdavlantes

I was a hooligan freshman and sophomore year because I didn’t try as much as I should’ve. I realized junior year every grade in every class counts towards your GPA at the end of senior year. #senioradvice

David Brockman

@david_brockman1

Lily Muehlberger

@lilymuehl

I have been involved with soccer and National Honor Society since freshman year, but I should’ve joined more activities throughout high school. Don’t be lazy like me and get involved in school. #senioradvice

I regret caring too much about what other people thought of me. If you care too much about what other people think you’re going to live your life guarded and not have as much fun as you should. #senioradvice

Emily Meade

@emilymeade_

Trust me, you want to study. I learned the hard way transitioning from middle school to high school because once you hit high school , the tests are harder and longer. #senioradvice

Sam Stowe Eskilson

@Sam_bo22

Take fun classes and not just the difficult ones. I wish I would’ve taken band all four years instead of three because so many of my friends were in the class, and I would’ve had a lot more fun. By senior year you have a lot of free space in your schedule to be in a lot of different classes, don’t flood yourself with a lot of stress. #senioradvice

28 | The North Star | April 2019

From us, to you,

Thank You

Seniors thank staff members for making an impact on their high school

By Genevieve Hulshof

F

our years, more than 1000 days, many sleepless nights and early mornings later, the class of 2019 is ready to march out the doors and start the next chapter of our lives. While at times we have made their job even harder, the staff members at BVN have played instrumental roles in the past four years of our lives. Whether they lent a shoulder to cry on, helped us with a difficult subject after class, let us spend time in their room during North Time or worked tirelessly for our well-being, they have

Jason Sickel

“I want to thank Mr. Sickel for teaching me to love music and using the skills in choir in every aspect of life. I’m so grateful for his love of teaching and music. He devotes his life to improving the lives of his students, and I am forever thankful for his rhythm rounds, weird dances and spontaneous rhyming.”

—Holly Rassette

experiences.

greatly impacted our lives.

We may not say it enough, but we appreciate you. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for pushing beyond what is written in the contract of your jobs and acting as an adviser and friend. Thank you for all that you have done and for all that you will do. We asked seniors to write thank you notes to the teachers who have had a great impact on their lives. Here’s what they wrote.

Jeff Breedlove “Thank you Mr. Breedlove for putting up with me and my friends every day during lunch for two and a half years.”

—Connor Durham

Xenia Masterson

“Thank you, Mrs. Masterson. You’re always there for me when I need a Bandaid or a glue stick or when I lose three pencils in one class period and am in desperate need of a fourth. You’ve been one of my biggest cheerleaders and a great guiding force for me whether you realize it or not. When there are days that are harder to get through than others, you’re there to support me. Your smile and enthusiasm even when we pass each other in the hall, only interacting for a few seconds, always makes my day brighter.”

—Michael Adamson

April 2019 | The North Star | 29

Trent Hedlund

“I have never had him for an actual class, but Mr. Hedlund was my study hall teacher for the first semester of senior year and he is so kind and caring of all of his students. His classroom is right next to my sixth hour and I always stop by to say hi.

Occasionally, I hang out in his room during North Time and there are always kids in there because he is honestly fun to be around and a great person to talk to. If you ever need help with anything, he is always there for all of his students and I can confidently say that all of the students at BVN know they can trust him with anything and that’s something that students don’t normally say teachers. Also, he literally keeps snacks in his classroom and shares them with students if they didn’t eat breakfast or lunch or are just hungry and I think that’s really cool, too.”

—Mara Mueller

Alison Crane

“I want to thank Dr. Crane for being a truly outstanding teacher. She believes in all of her students and gives them the opportunity to shine. She helps her students explore what excites them and is always there for them. She cares so deeply about us individually, and her room is always a safe place I can go. She has been one of my biggest supporters throughout high school, and I am really grateful for her. I needed a letter recommendation for a scholarship the day it was due. Usually, you ask a couple of weeks in advance for a letter of recommendation. But, Dr. Crane understood the trouble I was in and wrote me a letter that day. She is honestly one of the most genuine and nurturing people I have ever met. I really look up to her and strive to be more like her.”

—Eden Brockman

Jon Pittenger

“Mr. Pittenger, thank you for being one of the best math teachers I have ever had in my 13 years as a student in public education. I appreciate how much you love what you teach and how you also love to help people not only learn but to become better at Calculus. Prior to walking into your room as a student of yours this year, I wasn’t a big fan of math.

However, under your tutelage, I’m able to enjoy math a little more. Thank you for that (and for the conversations about the Royals!)”

—Lokesh Valluru

Erica Benson

“I am thankful for Mrs. Benson because she expanded the scope of my senior year beyond homework and art.

History isn’t my niche subject, but I’ve always been interested and aware of its relevance. Benson further ignited my interest in history when she started Project 28, which offered people the chance to make history.

Her resourcefulness, passion to help everyone and openness to ideas helped me value the influence I can have in the world. Thank you for being awesome and onward ERA!” —Arianna Bono

One Last Time...

30 | The North Star | April 2019

Sharing our final thoughts in our final issue as The North Star staff.

Chris Lucas

O

Lyndsey Henkel

S

Anna Martin

H

n a cold, gray January day four years ago, I walked past the Mustang statue into Blue Valley North for the first time. I looked around at the blue lights and the National Merit awards, and as the cafeteria opened up into the locker bay, I thought to myself, “This place feels like a prison.” I came from a small charter school in Arizona without traditional high school cliques or a big stadium for Friday night lights, so a Kansas public school scared me to death.

When I joined the debate team, I both literally and figuratively found my voice. But more importantly than that, I found a home. When I walked in every day, I knew I’d found a place where I belonged. There was always something special about going to room 402 every day and seeing the names of old alumni on the bookshelves and the trophies lining the top of the room.

It was a culture of success and winning, and I was a part of that history. Those experiences of being welcomed and supported my freshman year meant the entire world to me, and every year after that, I made sure every person I met felt the same way about room 402, the debate team and this school.

So now, in my final days of senior year, I walk in to see the blue lights and the awards for teachers I had come to love, and as the school opens up into the locker area, I think, “This place feels like home.”

ince kindergarten, most people have known me as the horse girl. I have lived in Overland Park/Leawood my whole life and grew up with the same people I went to school with. Don’t get me wrong I love it, but I’m ready to start a new chapter in my life. Next fall I will be attending Colorado State University studying equine science (horses). Before I go, I want to give a little advice on what I learned with my time at North.

1. Don’t worry too much about what other people think of you. I know you probably hear this a lot, but it’s so true when it comes to high school. No matter what you do, someone will most likely judge you, and don’t let it impact you.

2. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Meaning, if you get a bad grade on a test, it’s not the end of the world. For me I always said, “If it doesn’t affect my life in five years, is it worth the stress?” I try not to dwell on the past too much because it can’t change. All you can do is learn from it.

3. Be kind to your teachers! Most of them are here for you, and being a pain only makes their job more difficult. Also, don’t be afraid to befriend them. I’ve made great friendships with teachers over my four years. Shout out to Mrs. O’Connell.

4. Love yourself. I know this sounds cheesy, but it’s so important. Truth is you’re going to live with yourself the rest of your life and if you learn to accept yourself now, you’ll be set. This is my favorite quote: “Someone else’s beauty is not an absence of your own.”

There’s more advice I want to share, but no one has that much time. Enjoy your time in high school because, trust me, it goes by fast, and the next thing you know, you’re writing a senior column. igh School has taught me alot. Everyone at BVN has helped me grow and figure out who I am. Although I think a lot about me has stayed the same throughout the years, I would like to thank some of the people who have helped me. Thank you to Mrs. O’Connell for helping me run faster and always pushing me in a way that no other coach has to do my best. She genuinely cares about everyone and wants everyone to succeed. O’Connell not only helped me with running but has always been there for me, whether I’m having a rough day and need a hug or whether I’m in a good mood and need someone to joke around with. A big thank you to all my track and cross country teammates throughout the years, who have spent countless hours singing on runs with me, listening to me complain about all my random issues, for doing stupid things that would only make sense to us, and for taking detours on runs to Walgreens or Sonic for food, then for becoming my best friends through all this. I would also like to thank my teammates for pushing me to always be my better self on and off the track and for understanding the challenges of being a runner with me.

I also would like to thank all my friends for hanging with me on the weekends and always getting me food or making me food. My friends have also taught me that nothing is too serious, and good friends can make everything and anything fun. We have created so many inside jokes that will forever remind me of them. Thank you for knowing how to make me smile and laugh and for always making me happy. Finally, I would like to thank Ms. Klote and everyone else in newspaper — I will miss our icebreakers next year. I also want to thank Ms. Klote for always being happy, which instantly puts me in a better mood.

Alice Wu

Gena Hulshof

Ramya Chilappa

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or the longest time, I was embarrassed to call myself a singer.

Singing just seemed so vulnerable.

It seemed like it belonged to a class of gifted, artistic people. It was above me.

However, whenever I was alone in the bathroom, all my worries fell away, and I could just sing. I still improvise song numbers in the front of the mirror, all while holding up an imaginary microphone. High notes don’t seem as lofty when I’m not tense, and I can just sing and be free.

At school though, I still walked past the 600 hall, sighing. By April of junior year, I was restless. I kept rereading the course description guide, flipping back to the same performing arts page.

True, I could’ve picked AP Macroeconomics or AP Statistics to bulk up my resumé. I could have picked a study hall to make my senior year easier. However, I still signed up for the musical theater section of Repertory Theater. That wasn’t because I thought I’d become the next Meryl Streep or Judy Garland. I signed up because I didn’t want to leave any regrets. I didn’t want to keep making up excuses. I didn’t want to keep hiding parts of myself.

Singing isn’t that different from speaking. It’s about personal expression and connection. It’s not a privilege of the elite. It’s the transformation of innate emotions and the recognition that pursuing happiness is reason enough to do things. You have something unique to offer that is, in fact, valid.

So sing aloud. Of all people, don’t be the one to quash that rhythm tapping inside you and the melody as familiar as your own name.

nyone who has had the unique experience of riding in a car with me when I’m way too comfortable knows that I am a terrible singer. Can’t-hit-a-note-if-I-tried terrible.

Wouldn’t-even-know-what-note-to-hitif-you-asked-me terrible. When I was in 4th grade, I wanted nothing more than to be as great a singer as Hannah Montana.

I’d sit in my room with “7 Things” and “He Could Be the One” on repeat, trying desperately to sing along. Scared to perform in front of my siblings, I’d try to fold my ears closer to my mouth in order to hear my own voice and gauge my budding skills. With my heart set on getting a solo in the LES 5th grade choir concert, my dreams were crushed when it was kindly revealed to me that I was an absolutely, positively terrible singer.

Yet, despite this unavoidable fact, I still burn the ears of friends by nearly screaming my favorite songs with anyone who will join in. From favorites like “iSpy,” ‘‘Nothing to Regret” and Hannah Montana’s “Rockstar,” I’ve found myself the most comfortable and at ease doing something I’m absolutely terrible at. I’ve found myself the most fulfilled by something I tried so desperately to succeed at, but couldn’t.

As a student at BVN, I often let myself be overcome with an obsession for perfection. Shying away from subjects I struggled in and appearing only in situations I knew I would be relatively successful, I rarely found myself leaving my comfort zone. Growing frustrated by a lack of growth and fulfillment, I found that my fondest memories were those forged out of risk and obnoxious singing.

You will not succeed at everything you do in life, but don’t let that keep you from things that bring you immeasurable joy.

Dance your heart out and sing till your voice cracks. Hold on to the things that make you happy—- just maybe ask your friends before serenading them.

April 2019 | The North Star | 31

s I’m looking at my last three weeks in high school, I’ve come to the jarring realization that I’m a different person now that when I walked in four years ago.

Well, duh. But it’s not as obvious as you think it is – my evolution happened slowly, microscopically, as the accumulation of all the experiences that made up my years in high school.

It happened through debate, when I first grudgingly stepped foot in the small blue classroom that had been my third choice when picking classes. Those subsequent months with my group of friends I traveled with every weekend resulted in me realizing I actually liked it. The fun competition of novice tournaments would later turn into almost 10 weeks of debate camp, long nights of research and work, and the formation of some of my most fundamental beliefs about the world around me.

It happened through my friends, through late night car rides and our collective music taste and unknown amounts of money wasted on food.

Naming my car Big Billy, being recognized by the people at Sweet Caroline’s, studying for the PSAT, getting home at the late hour of 8:20, planning last-minute snow day dynamic duos, surprise birthday parties with Guardians of the Galaxy 2, visiting Aruba… These collections of random events that didn’t mean anything huge in the moment have built together to constitute fleeting timestamps It happened through my teachers, my classmates, the movies and TV shows I watched, the books I did or didn’t read, the assignments and the studying and the underclassmen and every single inconsequential thing that makes up high school.

So as I’m getting ready to leave, feeling unbelievably sentimental about every trivial, stupid thing I’m going to miss about this place and time in my life, I’m surprised to say I don’t have any regrets, because no other experience would have created the person that today has unshakable beliefs, a love of competition and research, and the best friends in the entire world.

32 | The North Star | April 2019

Shantha Burt Sooim Kang Taylor Mills

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ne of my favorite aspects of high school has definitely been going on school trips. In the past three years, my activities and teachers have given me the opportunity to see Seattle, Anaheim, San Francisco, Atlanta, Baltimore, Orlando and even France. However, as amazing as all of these trips were, none of them surpassed the one I took spring break of my sophomore year to Pitcher, Okla.

Of course, if you’ve ever been to Pitcher, you’re probably wondering why I’d even take the time to visit.

The truth is, it was the first day of break, and there’s only so much you can do in Johnson County before you end up aimlessly driving around in boredom.

An hour passed before my friends and I realized how far south we had made it, and naturally, someone made a joke about how we could’ve driven all the way to Oklahoma without noticing.

But then, almost instantly, the car went silent, we all made eye contact, and my friend took a turn onto the highway.

We were going to Oklahoma.

It was completely pointless, but it was also one of my favorite high school memories. It’s the spontaneous, irrational moments like these that have made the past four years so memorable for me. Don’t get me wrong—I’ll miss the planned out, hyped up events too: the games, the dances, the “friendsgivings” and other traditions. But it’s the unexpected things I’ll miss most: the countless drives down winding farm roads, the Chinese fire drills when my friends would stop at an intersection, anonymously decorating Mr. Breedlove’s house on his birthday, making unexplainable group chats, pretty much everything that happens on the roof of the Cinetopia parking garage, and so much more.

I didn’t gain anything from these events other than shared memories and inside jokes. But that’s exactly why these moments were so meaningful.

We sometimes try so hard to enjoy ourselves that we forget how simple it is to have a good time. All you have to do is surround yourself with the right people, be open to new experiences, and appreciate what comes your way.

So thank you to everyone who made these past four years so spontaneous and memorable. It wouldn’t have been the same without you.

A

n empty parking garage, an abandoned golf course, and a closed pool. To most people, this would be the start to a terrible Saturday night. But for me and my friends, this will be the start to a night to remember, or more accurately three nights to remember.

Night one: After aimlessly driving, we decided to park at the roof of an empty parking garage. After 20 minutes of silence, I got out of the car, plugged my phone into the aux cord and turned up the one and only “Hollaback Girl,” to as loud as it could go. In the middle of the night, we danced and sang until our voices came out as nothing but mere, scraggly whispers.

Night two: After a night of tears and heartbreak, I was so beyond frustrated to see my friend distraught that all I wanted to do was scream. Before I could change my mind, I drove her to an abandoned golf course and made her stand on the top of a hill. For 30 seconds straight we screamed at the top of our lungs, letting go of all our frustrations. Before we knew it, we were laughing uncontrollably.

Night three: The night started off simple: we wanted to swim. With the sun long set, we were doubtful any pools would still be open. We drove around neighborhood upon neighborhood, in the hopes we could catch the tail end of any closing pool hours. As we were driving through Hallbrook, we were quick to notice that the large fountain in the middle of the roundabout had turned on with its full lights and waterworks. Without hesitation, we got out of the car and threw ourselves into the fountain.

Fully clothed, with our car parked in the middle of the roundabout, we continued to splash each other with water, until everyone was nothing but soaked.

Nights like these remind me that it doesn’t take much to have fun. It doesn’t take a lot of money, an exciting city, or even a lot of people. All it takes is an open mind, close friends and a willingness to make the small things count.

I

am one of those people who cannot express emotion physically. Real time is too vulnerable, too out of control for me. Here on this paper my words are in my own command, not at the pressure of stares or of presentation. The print you read cannot choke up or flush red. Here, I can be what I want you to hear.

I am grateful for my extraordinary mom. She stays up till 2 a.m. working on Homecoming floats, freaks out party planners with her never-ending ideas, and holds me when the world paralyzes my ability to breathe. She is the reason I am still alive.

I am in remembrance of my grandmothers. I do not know what they would have said to me if they knew of my future, I do not know if they are still watching over me. But, I do know that their legacy perpetuates my unapologetic ambition. They are the reason I keep moving forward.

I am in awe of the beautiful students I went to school with. I see your will to make a place in the world and the struggle in becoming who you are. Patience, your time will come soon enough. Look around you and find the reason you are still here.

I am in debt to the teachers who pushed me. They made me smile, allowed me to cry, maybe induced some of my stress, but in the end built a wide-eyed, resilient woman. They work miracles and are the reason we have a future.

The only downside to this paper is the limited room. I am forgetting so many people and so many moments, but this last one deserves its space, too.

I am proud of who I have become.

I taught myself love, reminded my soul how to laugh and have handled unimaginable pain. I am a force of nature deserving of a life well lived and a dream come true. You may think me selfish for using my senior column for this, but I don’t care. For the first time in my life I look in the mirror and I am not ashamed of what I see. I am the reason I have a voice.

It’s been real North.

Thank U, Next.