THE
TIGER
Vol • Issue
Blue Valley High School
W th St • Stilwell Kan • Friday March
Attempted robbery in area forces school lockdown lindsaypond
managingeditor
S
pring sports tryouts were halted, coaches ush-ered athletes back into the school, and the cus-todial staff locked the doors. After receiving a call from the Overland Park Police Department, the school’s administration issued an external lockdown on the building just before 4 p.m. Monday. “The police department asked us to secure the building and keep all external doors locked,” associate principal Mark Dalton said. “We didn’t want to take any risks.” School officials asked students to stay indoors, and they could only be released to a parent or guardian. “I was finishing some work after school in Mr. Johnston’s room,” senior Morgan Campbell said. “I thought he was just joking when he said I couldn’t leave the classroom; then he told me that we were under lockdown.” The lockdown ended by 4:20 p.m., after which extracurricular activities resumed. The lockdown itself had a simple explanation; the school administration had complied with the police department. However, the cause of the lockdown was more complex. “There was a situation in the community around the school,” Principal Dennis King said. “An unknown individual tried to run over a police officer and then proceeded to take off on foot.” A suspect was chased by police after breaking into the Overland Park Fraternal Order of Police Lodge located at 7355 W. 162nd Terr., a building that is currently under construction. A female suspect was also taken into custody out-
Blue Valley West
Blue Valley High
Within minutes the police arrived and wrestled the suspect to the ground. “They put him in cuffs and sat him at the end of our driveway,” Bisel said. “It all happened within like five minutes.”
B
ustling down the hallway, pushing through the crowd, sophomore Greg Allen rushed to get to class. Think this is crowded? Just wait. In the next five years, the projected population growth for Blue Valley High School, according to the 2004 District Boundary Report, will be between 1,700 and 2,100 students; nearly 150 percent capacity. To combat this situation, the Blue Valley Board of Education approved a new boundary plan on Feb. 9, which affects not only BVHS, but schools at all levels throughout the district. However, it is only a short-term plan and should not be considered a long-term solution. “We can expect to see more boundary changes in the next few years,” district
planning and demographic research coordinator Robert Schwarz said. “We are starting to plan for where we see enrollment pressures.” With a school that can accommodate only 1,400 students, the growth won’t just affect boundary changes. There is also the potential for more mobiles, and even a new high school six years down the road, he said. It is predicted that it will be placed south of Blue Valley West and Blue Valley High. “It’s kind of a wait and see approach,” Schwarz said, “but we need to have something in mind for enrollment relief. Present enrollment is now 1,167, but by next year, the school’s population will already be closing in on capacity and the projected growth will be at least 100 new students every year. “The numbers help demonstrate the
Traveling Cheap
Seven journalists qualified for the State Journalism contest at Regionals on Feb. 20. They are now eligible to compete at State May 1 at the University of Kansas. Those qualifying were: Kyle Rogers, first editorial writing; Lindsay Pond, third newspaper design; Michael Johnson, third news writing; Maneeze Iqbal, honorable mention news writing ; Katie Abrahamson, honorable mention feature writing; Nicki Kirkton, third yearbook sports writing; and Jessie McCampbell, honorable mentionyearbook layout.
A man who tried to cut his travel costs by shipping himself across the U.S. in a cargo crate has been given one year’s probation. Charles McKinley, 25, shipped himself from Newark, N.J., to Dallas Fort Worth Airport in Texas last September. Judge Charles Bleil told him: “I don’t like what you did. It was wrong and very stupid. But I’m glad you are standing here this morning, rather than having met a fate much worse by the stupidity of your actions.”
weirdnews:
Journalism regionals
courtesy of www.davesdaily.com
need for new facilities,” Schwarz said. But what does this mean for Blue Valley students? For some, who don’t exercise the “grandfather clause” (the grandfather transfer means returning to one’s own school), it means going to Blue Valley North next year. The new boundaries have been moved south in between 135th street and 143rd street, as well as north in between 151st and 143rd street and west to Nall Avenue. District office was busy March 1, with over 1,200 student transfers to handle from elementary and middle schools alone, which, along with high school transfers, were also due the same day. The Board of Education met regularly from September through December to develop a Boundary Master Plan for the district. The plan was first proposed in fall of 2002.
Excuses, Excuses
excusesexcuses:
adamlary
original boundary
The stolen semi veered off Metcalf as police chased the robbery suspects. The police arrested the suspects as they fled on foot. photo by kristen palmer
District moves BV boundary lines staffwriter
Blue Valley North
west
Blue Valley North
side the police lodge. Although the two male suspects attempted to run over a police officer, none were harmed in the chase. “They were what we call dumb criminals,” officer Chris Tegnazian said. “They apparently broke into the wrong place.” According to Tegnazian, the male suspects sped down 162nd Terrace in a stolen semi truck after their attempt to injure the police officer. Another officer opened fire on the suspects. The two suspects proceeded to speed through potential traffic and drive the semi into a field near 162nd Street and Metcalf, just three blocks from the school. The officer’s gunfire did not hit either suspect. “We took the first suspect into custody, but the second fled toward the school,” Tegnazian said. “Our officer notified the school to warn them that he was headed that direction.” The suspect ran across the field toward the Blue Valley Riding subdivision, but police soon caught up, and a Johnson County sheriff’s deputy made the arrest. To students who live in the subdivision, it was a “weird” experience. The suspect allegedly attempted to break into sophomore Justin Bisel’s car. “We heard our dogs barking outside, and me and my mom went out to our front yard to see what was happening,” Bisel said. According to Bisel, the suspect was drunk and appeared to have a small handgun in his pocket. “I had left my keys in the car, but the battery was dead,” Bisel said. “I asked him what he was doing, and he asked to use our phone; we could smell the alcohol on him.”
Senior T.J. Trum planned to read a print out of his sonnet to the class. “I printed a copy of my paper, but I found later in the day that it was gone ,” Trum said. “I burned a copy of it on a CD. The CD works on every computer in the school except [the teacher’s].”So Trum took out his Laptop. “I actually read the sonnet from my computer to the class.”
Senior Count Down: days