SPOTLIGHT Volume 23, Issue 2
November 14th, 2023
WHAT’S INSIDE... Fall Recipes (Pages 4/5) Haunted Places (Pages 18/19) Spirit Week Photo Dump (Pages 24/25) PHOTOGRAPHED BY: LAMYA ALAM
LETTER FROM THE EDITORS With fall coming in, the Newspaper to all of us. We hope you enjoy the staff is very excited to announce our second edition of the 20232024 season, all about Fall! All of the students involved in newspaper put in so much of their care, time, and effort into their pages. It has been amazing watching them grow into the reporters they are and become more comfortable writing stories and designing throughout the year. Your decision to read the second edition of “Spotlight” means a lot
vast variety of articles, editorials, and photo galleries in this edition, Including the new addition of Student Spotlight on the back. We also hope you continue to read future editions. So sit back, relax, and begin to explore what we have to offer. Your Editors in Chief,
Rebeca Flores Luna and Laney Bossi
Policy Statement Spotlight is printed at least six times per school year for BV West students and the
community. It’s goals are to inform, entertain, and interpret through bylined articles, opinions, and editorials, while providing an open forum of communication for the diverse student population. Spotlight aims to be fair, accurate, and impartial. The content of the print publication, online news sitem and social media account is determined by its student editors as determined by the Kansas Scholastic Press Act and may contain controversial subject matter as the staff exercises their First Amendment rights. (Spotlight does not necesarily reflect the opinions of the faculty advisor, the administration of BV West or USD 229.)
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STAFF
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FALL ACTIVITIES Page 4: Fall Recipes Page 6: Pumpkin Carving Page 8: Fall Places Page 10: Haunted Houses Page 12: Fall Vibes Page 14: Halloween Costumes
GAMES
Page 30: Fall Word search
FINAL
Page 31: Staff Page 32: Student Spotlight
OPINION
Page 16: Scary Movies Page 18: 1989 Taylor’s Version
FEATURE Page 20: Renaissance Festival Page 22: Beyoncé
STUDENT LIFE Page 24: Spirit Week Photos Page 26: Pink Out Page 28: Jag Life
ON THE COVER Seniors Lydia Ungashick (Left) and Gavin Harvey (Right) smile big as they are crowned 2023 Homecoming King and Queen.
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Rebeca Flores Luna
RECIPES Apple Dumplings:
Carrot Cake:
Pumpkin Muffins:
Pumpkin Scones:
4 Mady Starkey + Lexi Reeder
“PUMPKIN MUFFINS ARE SUCH A BASIC, BUT THE STRUDEL AND GLAZE ON TOP OF THE MUFFINS MADE THEM TASTE EVEN BETTER AND MORE UNIQUE. DEFINITELY WILL BE MAKING THESE AGAIN SOON“ LEXI REEDER “I SPENT TOO MUCH MONEY ON STARBUCKS SCONES LAST YEAR AND THESE TASTE THE EXACT SAME, MAYBE BETTER“ MADYSON STARKEY
FALL RECIPES
Spotlight ‘23-’24
W ith the Fall season already here, we put together
a few recipes to capture all the warm feelings of Fall! Pumpkin muffins are always a must, but this recipe elevates them even more. Starbuck’s pumpkin scones are also a staple and with this copy cat you cannot tell the difference. Apple dumplings are an amazing mix of sour granny smith apples and a sweet nutmeg coat and pie crust. Finally there is carrot cake which creates an amazing taste with the blend of the cream cheese frosting and a moist cake. The leaves represent our ratings.
MS+LR
Carrot Cake Pumpkin Muffins Pumpkin Scones Apple Dumplings
PHOTOGRAPHED BY MADYSON STARKEY
5 Mady Starkey + Lexi Reeder
PUMPKIN CARVING How to create a Jack o’lantern 1. Pick out pumpkin that is in good
5. Find a good design that you want to do
condition and dosnt have much rot or
on the pumpkin and then draw it onto the
soft spots
pumpkin with a sharpie or something similar.
2. Find a tool to cut your pump-
6. Then you can start cutting out
kin, something that is sharp and wont break. 3. Cut a hole either into the top of the pumpkin around the stim or cut into the pumpkin on the bottom of it. You want to make sure the hole is big enough for your hand to go through.
your design on the pumpkin make sure if you are doing teeth to make the cuts smaller so they wont fall out. 7. When you finish cutting out your design you will want to wipe off all the extra marker on the pumpkin and you can use borax or a
4. After you finish cutting the whole
household cleaner.
you will want to take all of the guts
8. The last step is to find a light to
and seeds out of the inisde.
stick into your pumpkin so you are able to see your design better and then you can put the top of your
6 Allie Friesz
pumpkin back on or the bottom.
PHOTOGRAPHED BY STEPHANIE SNIDER
INSPO! PHOTOGRAPHED BY RACHEL RINGER
PHOTOGRAPHED BY TAYLOR ANDERSON
PHOTOGRAPHED BY DEBORAH WILLIAMS
PHOTOGRAPHED BY DEBBIE CRISPI
7 Allie Friesz
FALL PLACES Lousiburg Cider Mill is one of the most popular pumpkin patches that teens visit in the fall. The reason most teens go here during fall is to take pictures and for the Cider and donuts.
Louisiburg cider mill includes abunch of different things to do inside of it. They have a corn maze with different themes each year, live music, different trails to go on, and live animals that you can see and possibly feed. PHOTOGRAPHED BY LOUISBURG CIDER MILL
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Allie Friesz
PHOTOGRAPHED BY LOUISBURG CIDER MILL
“Louisburg Cider Mill has grown beyond just the manufacture of apple cider and donuts. The Cider Mill continues traditions of Cider Mill Swap Meets, Ciderfest, Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch, and many more events and activities that align with the mission of the business.” Says Lousiburg Cider Mill.
Cider Hill is located in Kansas City Kansas, this Cider farm is one of the more populars ones in Kansas City. They have hayrides to go and pick apples or even pick pumpkins. They have amazing places to take photos with friends and family and they also have apple cider slushies and donuts.
PHOTOGRAPHED BY CIDER HILL FAMILY ORCHARD
Cider Hill is 38 acres with over 6000 apple trees and many different kinds of apples are grown and able to be picked here.
PHOTOGRAPHED BY MARKUS SPISKE ON UNSPLASH
PHOTOGRAPHED BY CIDER HILL FAMILY ORCHARD
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Allie Friesz
HAUNTED PLACES
Destinations in the KC Area As fall approaches and it starts to get
experienced while at the house. dark out earlier, people start to get in the Random dimming of the lights, attacks on Tony, their dog, barking and growling Halloween spirit. Places rumored to be at what seemed to be nothing, and haunted become more popular. About an hour fifteen minutes away from hearing screams and thuds made it clear BV West is the Sallie House in Atchison, to the young couple that their house was haunted. Kansas. Said to be the most haunted It is said that the spirit named “Sallie” is house in Kansas, the Sallie House a demon disguising itself as a little girl. has been home to many paranormal People who visit it today are met with happenings. cold spots, being touched, scratches and bruises, seeing things move, and previously functional equipment and batteries stop working. Fifty-seven minutes away from BV West is Fort Leavenworth; another supposedly haunted destination. Tickets for their annual tours can be bought at the Frontier Army Museum gift shop online PHOTO PROVIDED BY VISIT ATCHISON or in-person at Zais Park before the tour begins. Tony and Debra Pickman bought the The military post is rumored to be house in 1993 and led Debra haunted by many spirits, including to write a book about all of the things she and her husband
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Mallory Love
Father Fred, General Armstrong, Catherine Rich, soldiers, and past residents of the houses. Farther from the school, in Boston, Senior Carson Flake went on a Ghosts & Gravestones Tour. “Basically what they would do is we’d get to the place and then they’d explain, ‘oh this happened and this happened and this is what’s extremely scary about it,’” Flake said. “It was a pretty cool experience,” Flake continued. “It definitely made me realize that there’s a lot more than what we see every single day with our eyes that might be underneath, literally, underneath the surface.” Senior Quintin Mauler also enjoyed visiting paranormal locations. “I went to a place called the Alexander Majors house, it’s kind of more in theATCHISON state line PHOTO PROVIDED BY VISIT area. And I’ve also been to a psych museum that was once a hospital in St. Joe Missouri,” Mauler said. “The Civil War home was the first place I visited, [it] had this spirit, like the family spirit...and my entire right arm was ice
cold. Like, solid, it was a completely different temperature than anything else in the entire house,” Mauler added. Both students had chilling experiences and would recommend a haunted tour totheir peers. “I would definitely say if someone is halfway like ‘should I do this, should I not?’ They definitely should, as long as they go in with an open mind,” Flake said. “Just give it a shot...if you don’t believe it, go to a place that’s talked about being haunted and see if you have stuff happen to you that’s unexplanatory,” Mauler said.
ML
PHOTOGRAPHED BY CRYSTAL SINCLAIR-KING
SPOOK-TACULAR EVENTS WORLDS OF FUN For the Halloween Haunt, the typical rides are accompanied by scary features and monsters.
THE BASEMENT Immersive horror themed escape rooms with spooky challenges and interactive
EXILED TRAIL OF TERRORS A thrilling hike through a dark forrest wih scare actors.
11 Mallory Love
FALL VIBES
Students share things that remind them of Fall. TV SHOWS
MOVIES
12 Laney Bossi + Olivia Snyder
S
MUSIC
m
RED (TAYLOR’S VERSION) taylor swift
SLING clairo
EVERMORE taylor swift
FOR EMMA, FOREVER AGO bon iver
PUNISHER phoebe bridgers
HOZIER hozier
KID KROW conan gray
STICK SEASON noah kahan
PARACHUTES coldplay Laney Bossi + Olivia Snyder
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HALLOWEEN ORIGIN Around 2,000 years ago, the iconic holiday, Halloween, was created. It began with a popular festival known as Samhain, used as a religious celebration to honor the beginning of the harvest at the end of the summer. People would have bonfires and wear costumes to scare off the “ghosts”. The concept of “scary costumes” began as a way to essentially blend in with the evil spirits during Samhain and
PHOTO PROVIDED BY JOSIE PETERS
14 Mady Starkey + Olivia Snyder
avoid being tormented by them. It definitely has shifted since 2,000 years ago. Today children and teenagers all over the world use this holiday to dress up with friends and celebrate the beginning of fall.
MS+ OS PHOTO PROVIDED BY ANNA SCHRADER
FLASHBACK...
PHOTO PROVIDED BY KAILEY DEWITT
PHOTO PROVIDED BY KAYLAN CORNELIUS
NAUGHTY AND NICE... Junior Hanna Lee Willeford and twin brother Joe Willeford pose for a childhood Halloween photo. PHOTO PROVIDED BY HANNA LEE WILLEFORD
PHOTO PROVIDED BY KAVYA PARIKH
GIRL POWER... Sophmore Ella Brown and sister Ava Brown strike a pose in their costumes as they prepare to go trick or treating. PHOTO PROVIDED BY ELLA BROWN
15 Mady Starkey + Olivia Snyder
Suggestions for your next horror binge Scream (7.4 IMDb) “IT’S AN OLDER ORIGINAL MOVIE! IT’S ALSO NOT TOO SCARY, WHICH MAKES IT MORE ENJOYABLE FOR ME“ Elle Wysong (Freshman) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (5.8 IMDb) “IT’S PRETTY SUSPENSEFUL AND THE OVERALL STORY IS PRETTY GOOD” Kale Diezman (Junior)
Mallory Love
e
Hereditary (7.3 IMDb) “THERE ARE NO OTHER MOVIES SIMILAR TO IT AND IT DIDN’T FOLLOW A FORMULA“ Gabby De Lima (Senior)
Get Out (7.8 IMDb) “IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT KILLING PEOPLE AND THERE’S MORE STORY AND AN ACTUAL MEANING“ Katie Gillian (Junior)
Psycho (8.5 IMDb) “I THINK IT’S A VERY THRILLING MOVIE WITH A LOT OF SUSPENSE BUILT INTO IT” Mr. Uthe (Theatre)
Silence of the Lambs (8.6 IMDb) “THOUGH IT IS NOT A TRADITIONAL HORROR MOVIE, IT HAS PLENTY OF TENSION AND SCARES. THE PRODUCTION VALUES ARE UNPARALLELED” Mr. Gall (ELA) Mallory Love
1989 (TAYL VERSION) Album Review Taylor Swift never goes out of
artist. Additionally, Billboard
style. She proved that once again predicts that 1989 (Taylor’s Version) will outsell the original. following the re-release of her 2014 pop hit entitled “1989”. Swift
Each track echoes the
announced that she would be
sounds of the original album.
re-recording her first six albums
Swift brought back the original
in 2019 following her masters
producers Jack Antonoff and
being sold to Scooter Braun.
Ryan Tedder to help with the new
1989 (Taylor’s Version) is
production. Antonoff also helped
her forth re-record with Speak
with the new vault tracks. Vault
Now (Taylor’s Version), Red
tracks are tracks Swift originally
(Taylor’s Version), and Fearless
had to cut when creating the
(Taylor’s Version) proceeding it.
album.
1989 has already broken tons
The vault tracks carry the
of Spotify records. Some of
80s synth pop vibe Swift created
those records include biggest
in the original album. These vault
album debut of 2023 and largest
tracks have been a huge success,
18 streaming day for any Laney Bossi
with “Is it Over Now” peaking at
PHOTO FROM ON INSTAGRA
LOR’S
1989 Deluxe - 2015 1989 (Taylor’s Version) - 2023
M @TAYLORSWIFT AM
LB
1989 Standard - 2014
number 2 on the global chart on Spotify. “Now that we Don’t Talk” follows quickly after at number 7. My personal favorite track is “Clean”. It has consistently been one of my favorite Taylor Swift songs since its original release in 2014. Swift uses rain and water as imagery to explain getting over an ex. She compares her longing for her former lover to one of an addict. I personally think it’s a very powerful track. My favorite vault track without a doubt is “Say Don’t Go”. Swift writes about the pain of loving someone who doesn’t even like you back. I’m drawn to this song because of how vulnerable she is. Her songwriting is so heartfelt. Overall, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is a smashing hit and will continue to grow on the charts until her next release.
ALBUM COVER EVOLUTION
19 Laney Bossi
REN FEST Choir Performs
Laikyn Large, a member of the Chamber Singers said. The Chamber Singers perform and sing madrigals throughout Every year during September and the day. It is an experience that never October festival grounds in Bonner grows old because of the variety of Springs, Kansas host the Renaissance activities, shops, and shows. Each year Festival. Ren Fest celebrates the there is always something new to see Renaissance in Europe during the and experience. “I got to see and do a lot 14th-17th centuries. The Renaissance of different things, like holding a ferret was a time of rebirth in Europe where and watching a one-person circus,” there was an explosion in cultural and junior Laikyn Large said. Reese O’Neil, a technological advancements. During this senior member of the Chamber Singers period exploration was huge and was a talked about some of her favorite parts revival of ancient classical Roman ideas. of Ren Fest: “ I like watching the sword This festival essentially recreates the fighting shows. Like there’s one where it Renaissance era with accurate era-style takes place on a pirate ship.” clothing, art, architecture, and language. Performing at the Ren Fest is a very Renaissance fairs started appearing special experience for people in choir. in the 1960s and spread all around the “Honestly, that’s the reason I joined country. Eventually, in 1977 Ren Fest came Chamber was so that I could perform to Kansas as a benefit for the Kansas at the Ren Fest because that’s just City Art Institute. Since its start forty-six totally my jam,” O’Neil said. “It was years ago, the Kansas City Ren Fest has really nice outside and then the people grown and developed and has an annual were really cool, we got asked to take attendance of 200,000 people, making it photos individually.” Part of the Chamber one of the largest Renaissance Festivals Singer’s performance is to wear in the country. costumes accurate to the Renaissance Many people have had the opportunity to era. Costumes are a huge part of the attend the Renaissance Festival, including illusion of Ren Fest. “That was so fun our very own Blue Valley West Choir. because all the goats try to eat your The Blue Valley West Chamber Singers school-issued dress,” O’Neil said about perform annually at the Renaissance the costumes the members of the Festival. “We got to perform in a bunch Chamber Singers wore. of different places, ranging from a AB little stage to an open forest area,”
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Aubree Bowsher
PHOTOGRAPHS PROVIDED BY KIMBERLY MODELSKI AND MALLORY LOVE
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Aubree Bowsher
Beyoncé Brings Record Breaking Tour To KC elcome to the final show.
generated by Olympic host
Beyoncé concluded her record-
countries; even surpassing
breaking “RENAISSANCE” World
the 2008 Olympics held in
Tour Sunday, October 1st at GEHA Beijing, China by a whopping $900,000,000. stadium in Kansas City. Beyoncé has been a key player
Beyoncè inspires women all over
in the music industry ever since
the world. She is comfortable and
her former girl group “Destiny’s
confident in her own skin, sending
Child” took the world by storm in
a message to young girls that
the late 90s, however, this past
they are beautiful the way they
tour has cemented her status as a
are.
global icon both in and out of the
HAVING A WOMAN WHO LOOKS LIKE ME WHO IS CONFIDENT IN HERSELF AND DOES GREAT THINGS FOR THE COMMUNITY IS REALLY INSPIRING
recording studio. Surpassing Madonna’s “Sticky & Sweet Tour”, the Renaissance World Tour is now the highestgrossing tour from a solo female artist. Beyoncé’s tour is predicted to generate $4.5 billion
Senior Kendal Ford has looked
for the economy. The predicted
up to Beyoncé throughout her life
revenue is parallel to the revenue
and is so grateful to have had a chance to see her live.
“She inspired me to be more confident in myself because going to a school like this, I don’t see many people who look like me. So having a woman who looks like me, who is confident in herself and does great things for the community is inspiring,” said Ford. While Beyoncé’s RENAISSANCE era might be coming to a close, her everlasting impact will withstand the test of time. Beyoncé is more than a singer, she is a global icon.
LB
PHOTOGRAPHED BY J.ébey
THAT GIRL IRREPLACEABLE ... Senior Kendal Ford rocks silver to reflect the vibe of the RENAISSANCE album cover. PHOTO PROVIDED BY KENDAL
ME, MYSELF, AND I ... Senior Jenna Dooley shimmers while celebrating Beyoncé’s RENAISSANCE tour. PHOTO PROVIDED BY JENNA DOOLEY
Jags go all out for...
SPIRIT WEEK
24 Mady Starkey + Lexi Reeder
THEMES MONDAY : -Adam Sandler Day TUESDAY : -Match with Friends WEDNESDAY : -Anything but a Backpack -Homecoming Carnival THURSDAY : -Class Colors FRIDAY : -Pink Out -Homecoming Football Game
25 Mady Starkey +Lexi Reeder
PINK OUT F Homecoming ‘23 It has become a yearly tradition at Blue Valley West to host a pink out football game during the month of October in honor of breast cancer awareness month. This year, the pink out game fell on the same night as the homecoming football game. To prepare for this event, JPCo designed a shirt that was sold through The Spot at West, and the proceeds went toward breast cancer research. At the game, members of JPCo also sold small pink items such as necklaces, towels, and glow sticks, to make extra donations towards the cause. This night is very important to JPCo and West as a whole. It is one of the
26 Lamya Alam
many occasions that unites every student together to do something positive for the community. Every year JPCo works hard to plan pink out in hopes to continue the tradition as it is extremely important to them and the community. At the football game, national merit semifinalists were recognized as well as the homecoming king and queen. This special night will be one to remember in the following years to come as this tradition continues at West.
LA
FOR THE CAUSE “I love seeing how people unite to support a cause that has so much impact! Everyone comes together for one night!“ Lydia Ungashick Photographed by Lamya Alam
“It’s really cool seeing the entire football section at the game light up with the same color “ Joey Veverka
Photographed by Lamya Alam
27 Photographed by Lamya Alam
Lamya Alam
JAG LIFE
28 Mady Starkey + Lexi Reeder
29 Mady Starkey+ Lexi Reeder
HALLOWEEN WORD SEARCH
WORD BANK
TRICK OR TREAT
MASK
SKELETON
COSTUME
HORROR
GHOST
APPLE CIDER
SPOOKY
JUMPSCARE
HAYRIDE
HAUNTED
ZOMBIE
CANDY
AUTUMN
30 JACKOLANTERN
PUMPKIN
CLOWN
Laney Bossi
BVW SPOTLIGHT STAFF REBECA FLORES LUNA EDITOR IN CHIEF SENIOR LANEY BOSSI EDITOR IN CHIEF SENIOR LAMYA ALAM SENIOR REPORTER ALLIE FRIESZ SENIOR REPORTER MADY STARKEY JUNIOR REPORTER OLIVIA SNYDER JUNIOR REPORTER LEXI REEDER JUNIOR REPORTER KELSIE GANA JUNIOR REPORTER
MALLORY LOVE SOPHOMORE REPORTER AUBREE BOWSHER SOPHOMORE REPORTER MRS. SINCLAIR ADVISOR
Interested in joining newspaper? Visit room 233 for information as to how you can help create future editions!!
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Rebeca Flores Luna
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Mia Rodriguez
On October
Brock Olsen
On October 12th,
3rd, Senior Mia Rodriguez won first team at the Girls Golf EKL Tournament.
Senior Brock Olsen won 2 place at cross country State Championship.
“WINNING THE 4TH YEAR IN A ROW WAS IMPORTANT TO ME TO CONTINUE THE TRADITION AND HOLD SUCCESS“ MIA RODRIGUEZ
“THATS WHAT I LOVE ABOUT XC, ITS INDIVIDUAL. NO ONE IS GOING TO DO THE WORK FOR YOU. “
Rebecca Xue
BROCK OLSEN
Sarah Yan
Senior Rebecca
On October 14th,
“IT WAS AN HONOR TO WALK TWICE AT THE GAME IN FRONT OF THE STUDENT BODY“
“IT FELT GREAT TO WIN JUST BECAUSE IT WAS MY FIRST AND LAST YEAR”
REBECCA XUE
SARAH YAN
Xue was named National Merit the same night she walked for homecoming court.
Senior Sarah Yan won first place in singles at state. Overall, the team scored second place.