Common Sense Volume 22 Issue 3 November 29, 2021

Common Sense Millard South High School • 14905 Q St. • Omaha, Neb., 68137

November 29

Volume 22 Issue 3

Singing with the Symphony

Millard South choir performs at the Holland Haley Johnson Business Manager

Millard South Varsity Choir, Singers, returns to the stage by invitation to perform at the Holland with the Omaha Symphony.

Choir director Jason Stevens first got word of this opportunity in late May of last school year. Five schools around the area were chosen to perform Mozart’s Requiem with the Symphony as part of their choral collaborative program.

Stevens said he was excited to reward his students with this opportunity for all the hard work they put in last year with the restrictions of the pandemic. He committed the choir to the collaboration by mid-summer. As the school year started the choir anticipated a busy and exciting semester with three concerts, the All-Millard choir festival, and the Requiem collaboration. By late September, new guidelines came out about the Collaboration. All singers would have to mask at all times, and the performance would not be in front of a live audience. Instead, they would record it and send it out online.

This was devastating news to directors and students. Not being able to line the halls of the Holland and sing with a live audience took away the sparkle of the event. With this new information brought forth, Stevens worried that the choir would no longer want to be a part of it.

“At that point,” Stevens said, “it was taking on more work. If the students were not willing to take on the work, there was no point in doing it,” he said.

Stevens sent out an anonymous survey to students asking if they still wanted to participate. If the choir voted 50/50 on it, he wouldn’t let them participate, because he wanted this to feel like a reward, not a burden. The choir overwhelmingly voted yes to stay in it, this prompted Stevens to be on board with it as well.

“If they’re on board, then I will get on board,” Stevens said.

Millard South was the last choir to rejoin the group because Stevens wasn’t sure how it would work. Although confident in the choir’s ability to prepare the music, Stevens worried it would be too much work combined with the other music they had to prepare.

Singers started learning the music in late September with just three rehearsals before the maestro and choirmaster came to visit. “I was nervous when he (maestro) walked in the room, and we weren’t quite where we needed to be,” Stevens said. After the first initial run-throughs maestro rolled up his sleeves, and the choir got to work. The choir wasn’t used to his high level of detail and pickiness, but they adapted quickly to his conducting. A few more rehearsals followed before the next visit.

“Since that first rehearsal didn’t go as well as I think everybody wanted it to, all of the sudden everyone worked really really hard,” Stevens said. With more drive than ever, Singer’s got to work and hammered their way through all four movements of the piece.

The day before the performance, Maestro returned to Millard South to work with the choir one final time.

“The second time he came back, I think we were more prepared than he expected us to be,” Stevens said.

With a successful rehearsal, the choir was ready to perform. Entering the Holland, Singers Junior Abby Burton rehearses Mozart’s “Requium” with five other high schools and the Omaha Symwas joined with the other phony orchestra. Photo by Jason Stevens four schools scattered that this one, everything worked out better than we expected it to,” around the concert haul. As the schools entered the auditorium, the Stevens said. symphony musicians came in one by one to set up and tune.

The hard work and dedication to the piece showed off. The high “I love having students experience what professional musicians’ school choirs got to experience working with professional musicians lives are like when they’re up there practicing and performing bein a prestigious atmosphere. The success of the performance and the forehand and even interacting with the maestro,” Stevens said. valuable experience these students received makes these things pos The clock hit seven, and it was time to perform. sible for years to come.

“I was skeptical at that point,” Stevens said. “I knew we were “My master plan would be that we could do this every other prepared, I knew it was gonna be good, but I was also worried about year,” Stevens said. Although grateful to be able to be a part of these how far apart we were from the other groups, and how far away we things, he said, they are a lot of work, and it prevents Singers from were from the orchestra,” he said. doing other things that are also really enriching.

Stevens said these worries were shared by his colleagues as well.

“My hope with the symphony always, was that were good enough He said the directors were a little bit pessimistic at the beginning they want us back and they’re willing to let us back every other thinking it wasn’t going to work and be a disaster. year,” Stevens said.

“I think we’re so used to experiencing the worst-case scenario

Corgi crew visits the kids Maddy Leland Editor-in-Chief

Muffin, the corgi on the far left, plays with companions during the StuCo-sponsored Motivational Monday meetup in the courtyard. Photo by Keely King

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Veteran’s Day Ceremony. Photo by Bergan Simmonds

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Students got to meet with some special visitors from the Omaha Corgi crew the Monday before Thanksgiving break as part of Millard South Stuco’s Motivational Mondays.

The idea is that every Monday for the next semester, we’re going to try to do like a motivational thing to get people going for the week, something fun, something exciting,” says Phoenix Nehls, the coordinator of Corgi Monday.

“When I went to Pride this summer, [I] found their booth . . . I was like, here’s my one in a million chance to see if they email me back . . .and they did.” Nehls got the go-ahead from administration easily, though not without a little confusion. “I told him [Throne] what it was, and I think he was so flabbergasted that we have the possibility to do it . . . but he said ‘yes.’”

Nehls said she was scared about the turnout seeing as school starts at 8:45 a.m. on Mondays. Students arrived as

Staff Editorial on FERPA changes needed. Art by Keely King

Pages 4-5

early as 8 a.m. to meet the pooches and by 8:15 there was a crowd in the courtyard. Upwards of 50 students sat in the cold just to meet and love on the dogs.

“They were a good way to start off a Monday morning,” senior Amanda Riedl said.

Emily Vereen, one of the corgi owners, says this isn’t her first time bringing her dog for meetups.

“We’ve gone to Comic-Con, Harry Potter festivals, and even restaurants,” Vereen said. Vereen joined this group around 2016 when it was just a Facebook for corgi owners.

“Over the course of years, we started to grow and have meetups . . . we just thought ‘how about we take this group that we love and adore and kind of just show them’?”

Through these meetups, the Omaha Corgi Crew has been able to raise funds for small-town shelters, rescues for dogs, and corgi-specific health issues. Now with over 2,300 members, they’re in the process of gaining non-profit status.

Focus on internships, apprenticeships and career-centered jobs. Photo by Vivian Kaldahl

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Disney’s Genie Service unbottled. Art by Lexie Smith

News 11 • 29 • 2021

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AFJROTC honors veterans on Nov. 11 Keely King Staff Reporter The Millard South AFJROTC Corps paid tribute to veterans in a morning ceremony that was held in the main gym on Nov. 11.

Teachers and staff who are veterans were in attendance “Veterans Day is important to me because I have served and retired from the service,” Sargent Matthew Schnabel said. “It’s important that we honor all of the other services and all of the people,” he said.

Cadet Colonel Kylynn Schiermeyer opened the ceremony with a speech.

“We can never fully repay our debt of gratitude to the more than 650,000 American service members who died in battle or the 1.4 million who were wounded,” Schiermeyer said. Thus stating the importance of the ceremony not only for veterans but for all the people who are a part of the United States.

First called Armistice Day, this is a day to pay respects to our fallen veterans. It fell on Nov. 11 for that was when the signing of Armistice that ended WWI. Although later it Cadets from the Corp stand at attention during the was renamed Veterans Day to honor service Veteran’s Day program. Photo by Bergan Simmonds members from all wars.

After Schiermeyer’s speech, the Millard South Band played the national anthem. family members who served in the military,” Castro Then Cadet Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel Castro said. announced the 12 veterans of Millard South, what “All in all the Veterans Day ceremony was a branch they were a part of and how long they success in honoring those who have served and served. fallen,” Colonel Russell Ball said.

“Veterans Day means a lot to me because I had

The JFROTC Color Guard Team presents the flags at the Veteran’s Day ceremony on Nov. 11. Photo by Bergan Simmonds

Teachers meet with author of bestseller on diversity Vivian Kaldahl Staff Reporter New York Times Best Selling Author and Columbia University Professor Dr. Christopher Emdin zoomed into Millard South’s staff diversity book club earlier this month.

His book, “Ratchetdemic,” is about recognizing cultural brilliance in students.

“A lot of the time in education, we have a hard time recognizing the cultural brilliance and the academic brilliance of our students.

Especially how their culture plays into their academic performance in the classroom,” history teacher John McDonald said. The book “helps teachers recognize some of those cultural norms, and having them become more aware of diversity issues in the classroom is ultimately going to help our students.”

McDonald is leading the staff diversity book club. He was first introduced to Dr. Emdin through a video

by Eric Thomas, a motivational speaker.

“He (Dr. Emdin) was talking about education issues that had to do with diversity and urban education. And it really piqued my interest because I knew we were doing diversity council here at Millard South.” McDonald suggested the book to diversity council sponsor, Sarah Martin, and Martin asked if he would like to lead the staff diversity book council.

“I’m not great with Twitter,” McDonald laughed, “but I was looking at Dr. Emdin’s Twitter page, and I recognized that he was interacting with fans on Twitter. I tweeted at him asking if he would like to come to

our staff book club. Two hours later, he messaged me back and said he’d love to come and join us.” Emdin did a Q&A with the book club staff for about 45 minutes and recorded a message for the student diversity council members.

McDonald said one of his biggest takeaways was “recognizing and knowing who you are as a person. Recognizing that we as staff members maybe didn’t grow up in places that had a lot of diversity. The journey of self-discovery and learning not only who you are but who the students you’re teaching are, where they come from, what their values are, and what they hold dear.”

Some goals that McDonald said he has for Millard South include “students getting involved at every level and really encouraging teachers in the classroom to involve diversity. It can be scary if you’re not aware of some of these different perspectives that are coming in that are different from yours,” he said.

McDonald explained that “In Ratchetdemic, Emdin talks about identity development and how when you understand yourself better, you will understand diverse perspectives and people from different backgrounds better. But it’s not something that is going to happen overnight, it is a lifelong process.”

“The more we bridge the gap, the better off we’ll be as a school,” McDonald said.

“People from all backgrounds can come around this issue of diversity and agree that people have a right to feel cared for and loved in their school and that their views are valued.”

Darin Amick Lt. Col. Russell Ball Randy Cramer SFC Mike Edmundson

Lisa Holifield Craig Holz Brett Kelly Grace Kubik

Lula McCaskill Kyle Parkhill John Perez MSgt. Matt Schnabel

ADL workshop encourages teens to speak up on important topics Josh Andrews News Editor

discrimination going from simple prejudice to genocide; and a discussion of relevant issues like vaccines and equality.

Sophomore Alexa Leiting said she be Everyone can acknowledge hatred in the lieves the ideas discussed in the workshop are world, but most don’t look for a deeper unincredibly important and hopes they can be derstanding. Fourteen sophomores took that discussed more openly. Her main takeaway extra step by attending the Anti-Defamation was that hate can grow from the smallest League’s annual workshop on identity and thoughts, gradually becoming more intense, discrimination, hosted at the Tri-Faith initiabut so can tolerance. tive off of 132nd Street.

“Issues in our society need to be talked

The ADL is an organization originally about more freely and more frequently,” meant to exclusively combat antisemitism, Leiting said. “The process of change can only but over the past decades it has transformed start once the problems have been recognized to a general anti-hate organization, and the and discussed,” she said. workshop, which has been taking place for Social Studies teacher Kristie McGuire over 30 years, has naturally changed its focus agrees, and recommends that any freshmen as well. attend next-year’s workshop.

“The workshop was about diversity and

“I think it’s a good opportunity for kids people in general,” sophomore Ayden Truong to realize the issues facing Millard South stusaid. “The biggest thing I took away was that dents exist everywhere,” McGuire said. “The there is a lot more to people than meets the workshop is to meant to challenge the biases eye and everything involved with hate stems of students and the biases that others present from biased attitudes,” he said.

Students in attendance did several activi- to them,” she said.

McGuire said she believes it can be ties, including the “identity iceberg” where difficult for young people to speak up on one illustrates both the surface level and these kind of issues and hopes the workshop deeper parts of their identity; the “pyramid of encourages them to do so. Part of the goal of hate”, which is a chart showing the levels of the workshop is to get young people involved in the age-old battle against hate. McGuire said she hopes that people become less afraid of discussing these uncomfortable topics, and that this workshop is a small but nonetheless important step in Sophomores attending the Anti-Defamation League’s annual workshop called that direction.

Promoting Empowerment in Our World. Alexa Leiting, Shay Leeper-Martinez, Ayden Truong, Bella Lechtenberger, Zoie Wessling, Olivia Ellision, Social Studies teacher Kristy McGuire

Opinion 11• 29 • 2021

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Staff Editorial FERPA amendment needed to better serve LGBT+ youth the state department of education on how to treat transgender students. These guidelines state that “a school district shall accept a student’s asserted gender identity; parental consent is not required.” The guidelines also say that “School district personnel should have an open, but confidential discussion with the student to ascertain the student’s preference on matters such as chosen name, chosen pronoun to use, and parental communications.”

The New Jersey guidelines do not actually prevent schools from notifying parents but say they are not obligated to do so. The opposition still believes that parents have the right to be immediately notified. The debate at this point is one on morals rather than one on legality.

This is why it is about time that we consider a radi-

art by Keely King

As a society, we have become increasingly accepting of people’s gender identities and expressions. Despite this, some minors are still at risk of victimization from their families if they come out as anything other than the gender that they were assigned at birth.

For many students, school can act as a safe space that they can use to be themselves amongst their peers.

A 2020 survey of over 40,000 LGBT+ youth by The Trevor Project, a partner organization of the Jason Foundation, found that suicide rates drop by 9% if the student attends a school that affirms their identity. As that safe space, schools need to be bound to protect student privacy when it comes to potentially outing a student.

The ACLU defines the concept of “outing” as “disclosing a student’s sexual orientation or gender identity to parents or other school staff, even if the student is open about their sexual orientation or gender identity with friends at school.”

But while respecting that student’s privacy, teachers and staff should be able to address students in the way that best validates their identity. And while it would seem easy to simply call students by the names and pronouns that they prefer, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) interferes with that in its current state. FERPA protects the parents’ right to access and know all stored information about their child and to prevent that information from being released to 3rd parties.

What isn’t as clear is whether schools are violating FERPA by using a student’s preferred name and pronoun at school when the student’s parents are not aware.

There are some cases across the country where schools are being sued by parents over county or state department of education guidelines that encourage staff to protect students who wish to keep their gender identity a secret. The parents claim that the guidelines are in violation of FERPA. An example would be in Maryland, where Montgomery County Public Schools are being sued by two local families after implementing a set of guidelines in 2019, which state that “The fact that students choose to disclose their status to staff members or other students does not authorize school staff members to disclose students’ status to others, including parents/guardians and other school staff members, unless legally required to do so or unless students have authorized such disclosure.” The guidelines also state that “Students should be addressed by school staff members by the name and pronoun corresponding to the gender identity that is consistently asserted at school” and that “asking about a person’s pronouns makes spaces more inclusive and welcoming of transgender, gender nonconforming, and non-binary people.” School personnel are directed to discuss with the student how comfortable they are with their guardians knowing their identity and taking appropriate steps to minimize harm while also encouraging staff to address students by preferred name and pronouns.

Similar guidance was issued on the state level in New Jersey, where in 2017 guidelines were set forth by

cal amendment to FERPA to make room for laws that expand the confidentiality rights of minors to prioritize their safety and privacy over their parents’ rights to know, especially when student mental health and safety are at greatest risk. These laws would need to be direct and leave nothing up for interpretation as FERPA currently does. The goal should be to allow students to be as open as they want to be at school without that information reaching home until they are ready. Schools should be directed to counsel students to aid them in achieving the best outcomes. It would be an exercise in risk assessment. After counseling, the best outcome is that some students may be ready to come out at home.

The Trevor Project survey also found that suicide rates drop by 11% if they have a family that strongly affirms their identity. Those are the benefits to being out to parents that do accept them. The survey also found that “Transgender and nonbinary youth who reported having prounouns respected by all or most people in their lives attempted suicide at half the rate of those who did not have their pronouns respected.” Unfortunately, not all minors have that luxury. In those instances, the student’s right to life and school affirmation should take prece-

dence over their parents’ right to know.

FERPA was passed in 1974, so the law wasn’t written with our current views on gender in mind. There is legitimacy to interpretations of the law that make any changes in a student’s identity the right for their parents to know.

But when we analyze the situation consequentially, we have to ask if there is harm created by giving parents complete control. And there are risks to outing a student to their families without their consent. Discrimination against trans and gender non-conforming people is widespread, so if the student’s family has these prejudices, it puts the student at risk of victimization when outed.

What we are advocating for is not impossible or otherworldly. Colleges already handle this very well. Many universities make it as simple as the student filling out a Google form with their preferred name and pronouns, and the system makes a note of it across the board. All University of Nebraska schools and Creighton University have digital systems in place that students can use to change their preferred name to differ from their legal name as well as their gender identity.

It is as simple as the student accessing their university account information and making the desired changes.

The changes appear on their ID cards, professors rosters, official university email, and any place where “legal name is not required.” This system is much better than what students have access to in secondary school. Unfortunately, colleges are not completely exempt from the problems with FERPA. If a college student is still filed on their parents’ taxes as a dependent, then the university can, but is not obligated to, disclose their personal information to the parents. That makes the chance of them being outed lower than that of a high school student but is still based on luck and interpretation. That being said, for an independent student, FERPA does protect their private records in its current state. The difference between a high school student and a college student is only one of up to a few years. And the difference between a dependent and independent college student is arbitrary. It begs the question of why the systems that young people are subject to are so different.

Even though it may seem like a violation of parental rights to keep information about their kids from them, there comes a point where a school may need to do so if there is going to be harm caused otherwise.

What we should push for to solve this is direct and universal federal policy that goes beyond guidance from state departments of education and expands upon the right to privacy for minors. This would allow them to keep certain parts of their school life under wraps until they’re ready, whilst still allowing teachers/schools to begin to use the student’s preferred name and pronouns.

Common Sense Common Sense is the official publication of Millard South High School 14905 Q Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68137. School district guidelines determine the suitability of advertising content. To place an ad or inquire about rates, call (402)-715-8363.

Common Sense is a monthly publication produced in Room 130. Common Sense uses desktop publishing hardware and software: Apple computers, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, and Google word processing software. Printing by White Wolf Web in Sheldon, Iowa.

Letters to the editor are encouraged. All letters must be signed with the student’s first and last name, grade, then submitted to Mrs. Kaldahl. Unsigned letters will not be published. The staff reserves the right to edit letters for grammar, length, and clarity. Letters of profane nature or other infractions of school or district policy will not be published.

Editor-in-Chief Madeline Leland

Features Editor Sydney Mejia

Photo Chief Bergan Simmonds

Opinions Editor Joni Beauchamp

Chief Graphic Designer Sam Tews

Entertainment Editor Lauren Rayner

Online Editor Darian Pierre

InDepth Editor Joseph Kaipust

Social Event Coordinator Brianna Strudthoff

News Editor Josh Andrews

Social Media Editor Lexie Smith

Business Manager Haley Johnson

Sports Editor Ally Seevers

Staff Illustrators Keely King Lexie Smith Joni Beauchamp Staff Secretary Turner Wittstruck

Distribution Manager Vivian Kaldahl

Staff Reporters Laddie Wilken Gabe Medina Haley Johnson Faith Wehrspann Vivian Kaldahl Brianna Strudthoff Darian Pierre Turner Wittstruck Adviser Christine Kaldahl

Focus 11 • 29 • 2021

Movin

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Apprenticeships lead to high demand careers

“I’m working two full time jobs to start my career as a mechanic and get some extra cash,” Pyle said. He said he isn’t planning on going as far as Chicago though.

Graduating early is an opportunity to get “I’m staying here in Omaha and I’m worka head start on your future, and while many seing as a detailer at Baxter of Volkswagen in La niors simply take time off to find work and preVista,” Pyle said. pare for future expenses, other options, such as

Currently, trade positions are in high deapprenticeships and other work opportunities are mand as a worker shortage plagues the industry. also available. These options can prepare you for More than 10 million jobs are currently availyour future career or even prepare you to start able in the United States, including those in that career almost immediately after whatever the trade industry, but with a amount of time lower enrollment rate in two you spend learncolleges and universities, I just had all of these priori- year ing or gaining there just haven’t been enough experience in ties and I wanted to get a job people to fill those spaces. your preferred More than 40 percent and money and so I wanted of high school field. graduates apply

One senior to go to trade school opfor immediate enrollment in a getting a head four year college as opposed posed to college. start on his to a two year, which includes future career is trade or vocational school, Tony Danigole.

–Senior Tony Danigole which is at about 20 percent.

After graduating

Every new worker in December, counts, and as the enrollment rate of vocational Danigole plans on heading to trade school to schools recovers from the hit it took in the ‘90s, learn about plumbing. many are able to find jobs in these skilled trades

I was just looking for trades and I was like, easier than ever.

I kind of like plumbing stuff the most out of Choosing your future career path can be very everything else, so it was just why not and it was daunting, but these seniors have made sure to in Chicago, where I wanted to go too,” Danigole think it through and carefully make these imporsaid. tant decisions for themselves, especially when

Plumbing is currently an extremely in they initially decided to graduate in December in demand field, and the benefits are endless. Along the first place. with this long term decision comes job security,

“I just had all of these priorities and since it’s incredibly difficult to replace someone I wanted to get a job and money and so I in such a specialized field. The averwanted to go to trade school opposed to age hourly wage upon entry is about college and have some free time with that,” $15 per hour, but with a shortage Danigole said. of workers and the right skills,

“Honestly I was just ready to that $15 can easily turn into an move on and be done with hourly wage of about $26 or high school,” more.

Pyle Another example of a long term career path that instead promises an entry hourly wage of about $20 an hour is the path that senior Gary Pyle intends to take.

Joni Beauchamp Opinions Editor

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said. “It depends on your mindset to be honest. This works for some people and doesn’t for others, so it depends on what you want to do with your life and where you’re going,” he said.

Available for many different fields, apprenticeships are paid work experiences that tend to lead to a full time job in a variety of fields. While apprenticeships are usually for things such as carpentry or plumbing, there are also apprenticeships for things such as healthcare, food preparation, or even hairdressing.

While each opportunity leads you down a different path, they’re all able to set you up for, and can lead to solid work opportunities in the future.

Foot in the door

Specialized summer jobs help with career choice

types of businesses. Hauptman Chiropractic is owned by one

chiropractor and Performance there are four different chiroprac tors there.

“Hauptman chiropractic was a lot slower and laid back,” Although internships are a great way to immerse yourself in Bauer said. She got to know her coworkers very well. At Perfora specific career field, there are other options when it comes to mance, working with several different doctors it was constantly gaining experience. Over the summoving and rushing between things. She mer, junior Sydney Bauer worked was always on her feet. as a receptionist and assistant at Being so young compared to her My greatest takeaway is all the coworkers was an evident factor. Patients two chiropractic clinics. Bauer says she has always had an interpersonal skills that I’ve gotten. were shocked to find out she wasn’t in est in chiropractic care. When she college and was only 16. The biggest was looking for a job, her parents thing she got out of this experience is that –Junior Sydney Bauer encouraged her to look into jobs she definitely wants to be in this type of in the medical field. career field.

She first started at Perfor “My greatest takeaway is all the mance Chiropractic, which she personal skills that I’ve gotten,” she has been going to since she was younger so she already knew the said. Bauer said she gained a lot of “grown-up skills” working place and some of the staff. She said she was really nervous start- with colleagues in the medical field in a professional setting and ing out. working with insurance companies. She plans on returning to her

“All the adults you have to interact with were really stressjob next summer because she enjoyed the experience of working ful at first. Then you get to know the people and get to know in the chiropractic field. their lives,” Bauer said. At Performance Chiropractic, she

“It was really fun, and a good-paying job,” she said. hooked patients up to machines, gave out ice packs, and assisted

Just remember when you’re looking to get into a certain patients and co-workers. She developed relationships with her career path you don’t always have to look for internships. In patients.

Bauer’s case, just immersing herself in the practice gave her lots

“Some of the patients you saw once a month and others you of skills and grew her interest in the chiropractic field. You can saw up to three times a week,” Bauer said. also look at these types of jobs as a stepping-off point. Bauer said

After Performance, she moved to Hauptman Chiropractic. she’s open to internships farther down the line.

There she did similar jobs like hooking up patients to machines

“I haven’t looked into any internships, but it’s soon to be in and assisting them. She also contacted insurance companies deal- my future,” Bauer said. ing with policies and payments.

Although similar in practice, they were two very different Haley Johnson Business Manager

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The Benternshi

Intern Omaha lands a fa Turner Wittstruck Staff Secretary

By their senior year, most students have at leas tertained the idea of finding a job. Whether in fast f retail, or anything of the sort, the opportunities for h schoolers tend to be menial-- and often contribute n ing to their futures. Senior Ben Thomas is breaking trend, though.

Last year, he was in the process of looking for when he heard abou internship over the announcements. It w through Intern Oma program offered to school juniors look at specific career pa Looking further int program, Thomas le that he could work technology under th ternship and still ge for his time. Unlike of his peers, he had an opportunity to fu his knowledge and Intern Omaha senior Ben up his resume; he w Thomas troubleshoots a looking into compu student laptop. Photo by science, after all. E Maddy Leland

Focus 11 • 29 • 2021

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Exploring internships, on campus college, and apprenticeships

UNMC provides vital education Vivian Kaldahl Staff Reporter

Going from high school to the hospital is now part of senior Jayden Smith’s daily schedule. Smith is a part of the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s High School Alliance program. The program is for high school juniors and seniors who are interested in a career in health care. He, along with 70 other Omaha students, is taking the normal high school classes while also attending classes at the Med Center. There are 20 “stellar seniors” who started in the program as juniors, continued as seniors, and now get to spend time in the research labs.

“I decided to join because I’ve always had an interest in medicine,” Smith explained. “I haven’t been able to explore that interest because I’ve had such a tight schedule the past few years,” he said. The UNMC classes run on a Monday/Wednesday and Tuesday/Thursday schedule. A typical day for Smith consists of coming

to Millard South for the first two blocks of the day and then ending his day at the Med Center for his last two classes. The two classes he is taking this semester are the Study of Patient Care and Infectious Diseases.

Smith reflected Senior Jayden Smith takes senior Kyle Rix’s blood pressure. Smith was on his first day of preparing for a check off on this skill in his UNMC class, and he wanted to classes at the Med practice on as many classmates as possible. Photo by Vivian Kaldahl center. His teacher ing with an ambu bag, and takeaways from the year so took them on a tour intubating. We practiced far is that “it’s important to and showed them one of the putting the scope down the have support and lean on underground tunnels, he said manaquine’s throat, trying to others in medicine,” Smith he had the realization that find the airway, pushing the explained. “We’ve had a lot of “oh I’m like actually taking tube down, and then testing speakers this year and they’ve classes at the Med Center.” if you put it in correctly by all talked about how medicine

“My favorite part of the seeing if the lungs expanded is difficult and medicine is program has definitely been when you connected the ambu straining on you mentally and the hands-on activities we bag.” Smith also recalled physically, so it’s important to have been able to do,” Smith when speakers from Stop The have a support system.” said.

The pro“All of the things I am gram has speakers come pres- Bleed came to speak. “We did learning I can take with me ent to the high school alliance triage care and used tourniquets on our classmates and to future classes. When I do and then the students head to mannequins. We also learned certain things down the road a skills lab for practice. how to pack wounds with I will have a better grasp on “After speakers from the them since I’ve already had pulmonology clinic presented gauze and various items you can find around your house.” exposure to them.” they set up three stations:

One of Smith’s biggest compressions, rescue breath-

art by Lexie Smith

ip

amiliar face in the tech-center

st enfood, high nothg this

a job ut an school was aha, a high king aths. to the earned with his inet paid e many d found urther build was uter Encour-

aged by his mom, he applied for the position and was promptly accepted, landing himself a job in a particularly convenient location-- South’s own tech center.

This was no problem for the eager techie, saying when interviewed, “that was definitely one of the things that attracted me the most, that I’m gonna be in my own school.” He went on to mention how he can work on his off blocks without having to leave the building, which most seniors could only dream of.

Starting in early June, Thomas kicked off the summer with 40 hour work weeks. He spent a lot of that time installing new projectors throughout the building’s classrooms, having worked more on student laptops since the school year began.

Seeing as the program is still structured around learning about the specified field of work, Thomas has made sure to prioritize his education, stating how he’s learned a lot more about how everything “applies to the building”, allowing him to transfer the skills he’s been building to an environment he’s already familiar with.

It wouldn’t be an internship without his ‘mentor’ of sorts, that being Jay Hutfles. While he’s officially called the ‘Technology Facilitator,’ he’s better known as the tech guy that had to help your English teacher when she just couldn’t seem to get that video to play. Hutfles has plenty of experience under his belt and is no doubt an important aide in the course of the Intern Omaha program.

All the same, he highlighted just how useful it’s been to have a student coworker who knows his way around

Senior Ben Thomas works alongside Tech Facilitator Jay Hutfles opening up student devices to check the motherboard.

Thomas works part time in the tech office when he’s not in class. Photo by Maddy Leland

the building. He also mentioned how having Thomas’s positive attitude in the tech center is a welcomed addition to the large workload they often have in front of them.

Hutfles elaborated, “it’s nice to have Ben give a different perspective.”

Whether he’s tightening screws in the back of a laptop or troubleshooting some wi-fi issues, Thomas has made it evident he intends to soak up every second of the

opportunity he earned himself.

Juniors looking to have a paid internship like Thomas should visit internomaha.org and apply for positions all over the city. Applications opened Nov. 22 and close Jan. 21, 2022.

The program starts in the summer with 40 hour a week and continues into senior year at 20 hours a week.

Entertainment 11 • 29 • 2021

6

Ed’s newest record ‘equals’ another chart-topper Ed Sheeran supplies some chill tunes for the masses

Joni Beauchamp Opinions Editor

Seemingly hated online for no apparent reason, Ed Sheeran has been an oddity in the industry since he first began in 2011. Despite his unique looks and unusual rise to fame he has achieved great success over the last decade, and will likely continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

His last project, released in 2019, was somewhat dismissed unlike his 2017 release ‘Divide’ which he, possibly undeservedly, won awards against big names such as Kesha, and other female artists. While it’s not entirely up to Ed Sheeran whether or not he wins a Grammy or not, he did cause an uproar on twitter when he received the award over Kesha’s ‘Praying’ which many believed should’ve won during the era of #MeToo, as it addressed

her sexual abuse when under producer Dr. Luke.

Sheeran has come under fire for many other, smaller things in the past few years, like your average celebrity, but despite that he’s achieved huge commercial success.

Performing on SNL or playing every two seconds on the radio, it’s impossible to escape the red headed Englishman.

Released in late October, his newest release ‘Equals’ already has achieved crazy numbers on the charts, earning Sheeran some massive radio hits, such as ‘Shivers’ and ‘Bad Habits,’ which have both placed, separately, number one on the Billboard top 100.

Sheeran’s radio success, while impressive, has also added to the fire of his strange relationship with many potential fans, as his songs play excessively. Although his most massive hits would lead you to believe that the rest of his discography would be just as repetitive, or one of those songs or artists that you just switch off when he or it comes on the radio, that’s just not accurate.

Many would assume that his album is much more bland, which would make sense when compared to his hits, but the songs that never reach the radio were certainly the highlight on this record. Listening to it all at once, the urge to skip past ‘Bad Habits’ and ‘Shivers’ were immense, but the rest of the record was enjoyable and even replayable.

Overall, according to Ed Sheeran, ‘Equals’ is about the change in his life since turning 30 and what has gone on over the past two years in general, such as getting married to his long time partner, Cherry Seaborn, and having his first child and daughter, Lyra Seaborn Sheeran. Featuring heartfelt songs about his wife and child, such as ‘First Times’ or ‘Overpass Graffiti,’ which include topics such

as meeting the love of your life, and spending the rest of your life making new memories together, especially with their new addition.

Unlike many other records this year, ‘Equals’ doesn’t explore anything new, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth a listen. While somewhat shallow lyrically, Sheeran is still quite talented and a good source of easy listening when you’re not in the mood for thinking about anything deeper than a plastic childrens pool.

He will obviously be nominated for more awards this season, but whether or not he wins undeservedly or not is totally up to fate. This record is seemingly much more deserving of a Grammy or other awards than most of his past records that felt more like a compilation of cheesy love songs than an actual album. While certainly not the best album to come out of 2021, it’s definitely worth a listen and one of Ed Sheeran’s best.

Wes Anderson dispatches his newest collection of inspiring stories Lauren Rayner Entertainment Editor

If there’s a single film that absolutely no one should not miss this year, it would have to be 2021’s longawaited “The French Dispatch.” Wes Anderson’s latest is completely in the realm of what you would expect but so much more, and I am still swept off my feet days after watching it. If you are looking to get lost in the trance of a visually exciting and completely entertaining movie, I, for the record, finished “The French Dispatch” feeling completely full of inspiration and joy: that specific warm and fuzzy feeling of seeing a good, impactful movie walking down the dark steps of the theater.

The plot of the movie tracks three separate stories from three separate writers of The French Dispatch newspaper, taking place in mid-20th century France.

Those three stories told in the movie are the ones published in the farewell issue of the paper after the main editor of the paper passes away. The French Dispatch has been described as a “love letter to journalism” and understandably so. It celebrates story-telling, individuals’ lives, and their histories, and it is all wrapped up gracefully in a Wes Anderson bow.

As a fan of Anderson’s entire filmography, there admittedly is a bias and ton of excitement upon every release of his, but I can still vouch for its universal enjoyability. The argument can definitely be made that it is “Wes Anderson’s most Wes Anderson movie” to date, which people might see as a good or bad thing depending on if you are a fan of his work. The common “tropes” of his films like a consistent color palette, recognizable costumes, and camera symmetry are all present here. Including all of those things in this film, it is his most ambitious and stylish film yet.

“The French Dispatch” builds a captivating and beautiful world you are sucked into. Rather than focusing on a specific set of characters for the entire runtime, you have a stacked cast and multiple plots to pay attention to in 108 minutes. This makes it dense and overwhelming at times, as you also witness the style of the film change often. Jumps between bits of animation to black and white

to color again are scattered within the movie, all completely eye-catching.

That stacked cast includes captivating performances from Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Adrien Brody, and more. You could hardly catch your breath

following the movie, but an addition of new actors appearing and only in short amounts of time only added to that fast pace. The production design was insane and theatrical. Anderson’s style still evolved, with 4th wall breaks that really worked and added to how funny the film was. Dispatch is, in my opinion, maybe his funniest yet, as I laughed countless times throughout the whole thing, even around some of the more heartwrenching scenes.

A common hitch people have with Anderson’s movies and specifically, “The French Dispatch” is that it is more “style over substance,” but it is in my belief that Dispatch completely proves that opinion wrong. The film not only manages to look visually stunning but excites with multiple stories rather than one concise story that would span the entire runtime. The style doesn’t distract from the story, it only enhances the humorous and interesting dialogue already given.

This movie felt like an accumulation of Wes Anderson’s career that highlighted his passion and joy as well as artistry as a filmmaker. The appreciation of sharing stories and writing is prevalent throughout the whole movie, and it is simply never boring. His biggest creative outlet allowed for every performance to be transfixing and caused me to smile ear to ear from start to finish. It may be one of those movies you have to watch multiple times to try to make sense of everything, because you often feel like you can’t absorb what is happening, but it isn’t even a drag to do so because it is so entertaining. It is a film I want to watch over and over again to pick up more jokes and details from.

Allowing the viewer to understand what the movie is trying to say in retrospect is the mark of something riveting. “The French Dispatch” is full to the brim of joy and life, and it is exactly what I wanted it to be and more.

Entertainment 11 • 29 • 2021

7

Disney’s greed is anything but magical Laddie Wilken Staff Reporter

Disney is a place of magic, wonder, and, like Scrooge McDuck, immense amounts of money. It is important to remember that while Disney World is a place of wonder and fun it is also a place of business and money making. And like a business, increasing profit is always a goal. Disney has shed new light on its Genie service, named for the popular character from the film Aladdin. Unfortunately for us, this particular friend has a price.

Disney first announced the Genie service as an extension of their My Disney Experience app - whose purpose was to help plan and make Disney World theme parks less stressful. Genie was first announced at D23, the comicon of Disney, in 2019, but little information was available at the time. That was our first glimpse of Genie, it seemed like it would be a fun addition to their planning page that would help with line wait time estimation and make personalized suggestions. As of August 18th of this year we can see that this will not be the case.

Cool Beans

Disney started their blog post like this: “Coming this fall to Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort, Disney Genie is a complimentary and convenient new digital service designed to create your

art by Lexie Smith

that can help you reduce time in lines, discover magic around every corner and take the guesswork out of “what’s next.”

(Avery Maehrer, Manager of Communications, Walt Disney World Resort). They then went on to announce Genie Plus and Lightning Lane, which would be taking the place of FastPass+.

FastPass+ was a free service that allowed you to book passes that would help you skip lines at three rides each day along with your park tickets. It’s replacement, Lightning Lane is a paid experience that does the exact same thing, except you book it on the day at 7 am and you pay for it based on how busy the park is that day. This is the latest in a long line of free perks disappearing from the Disney parks experience, from them beginning to charge for parking in 2018, to taking away extra hours of the park being open for hotel guests, to taking away their free bus line from the Orlando airport.

Fans of the Disney parks seem to be absolutely outraged by the Genie plus developments. In the post where Disney announced the development there were 201 comments, every one of them negative or confused.

Even the YouTube video detailing the announcement has a 1:12 like to dislike ratio. All we can do is wait and see if Disney will have any reaction to the well of disapproval that has sprung up in response to their recent actions.

Hardy’s Coffee drinks tasty but pricey Brianna Strudthoff Staff Reporter

art by Keely King

best Disney day. We’ve been listening to your feedback – you want planning to be easier, you want more flexibility and you want better tools to help you make the most of your visit – and that’s exactly what Disney Genie is here to do. We’ve made significant investments in this cool new technology, which guides you through our theme parks with tips

Bean water is magical, but the quality and craft are not always equal. About a mile south on 144th a new coffee shop opened its window for business.

Hardy’s coffee is a small chain that has opened up its fourth location here in Millard. If you drive towards I-80 you are sure to see the stacked shipping container with white, grey, and yellow graphics on it.

This local business roasts their own coffee, and makes all of their bakery items at one of their larger location. Although the bakery items are not made in the 144th location, you still get the classic

coffee and baked goods smell as you pull up to the window.

I ordered my staple iced caramel latte with almond milk to make the best comparison. On the espresso level it was fantastic. It gave the strong flavor without it being overpowering and bitter. I will say it is not for the people who don’t like strong espresso. With the colder weather here I was also compelled to order an apple chai latte with almond milk. It smelled amazing and the first sip was amazing, but the more I drank it the more it burned.

The chai’s spices were very overpowering and burned my throat as I drank it. When I got home I watered it down and it made it so much better. Lastly I got a pumpkin

muffin, and being served a hot muffin made my day. It was a great muffin that had melted chocolate chips in it that lit up my soul.

All in all it is a good little coffee shop. My main problem I had was the high prices. For the three items, with both drinks being a small, came up to $17 dollars. I also found it crazy that dairy substitutes were a dollar upcharge, I have never been to a coffee shop were it was over fifty cents. Although I enjoyed the coffee, I do not see many teens choosing this as their go to.

Adele breaks through the darkness with latest album Faith Wehrspann Staff Reporter

Hello, it’s Adele again with her latest album 30. It takes a deeper look at her divorce from Simon Konecki, challenges of being a single mother, and insecurity of fame. The new album was released on November 19, 2021, it is estimated that it will sell over 500,000 copies.

The new album has the song “Easy On Me” that has been at number 1 for the last 3 weeks on the Top Billboard 100 hits.

Adele is an awarding winning artist with 15 Grammys that her the fourth highest Grammy won by a female. Her last album 25 came out on November 20, 2015. This album sold over 3.38 million copies in the first week; it is the first in music history to do this. The album won six awards in one night; she is the second female artist do this, it also won album of the year.

While working on the album “30”, she made headlines for losing weight, over 100 pounds. While hosting SNL on October 24, 2020 she joked about losing the weight in the opening monologue; it was her first time doing anything public since the weight loss. During that time she was going through a divorce with Simon Konecki. They have one son together named Angelo Adkins.

This new album is representing how to overcome

and deal with struggles in our personal lives. She really focuses on becoming happy and getting out of that deep depression and finding positive ways to deal with than drinking and just letting it sit with her. The song “Easy On Me” is saying just let me have some time to get through this and figure out what the meaning of love,life, and happiness.

This new album which I believe will sell a lot of copies, have lot of number 1s on Top Billboard categories, and will win many Grammys.

Adele has already accomplished this once before with the album 25 and she will prob-

ably do it again with this album too. Adele is one of the most popular 20th century artists, an amazing singer and writer that has wrote hit songs that people and fans still listen too this day.

Sports 11 • 29 • 2021

8

Athletes sign to start a new chapter Ally Seevers Sports Editor

As kids grow up, their dreams are filled with flashes of playing in the Rose Bowl, in the Big Apple at Madison Square Garden, or at home, on the plate in TD Ameritrade Park, all hoping that one day, they will play at the collegiate level.

On Nov. 10, dreams became a reality as 9 Patriots signed their National Letter of Intent, marking the start of a new chapter as they travel next fall to play the sport of their dreams on a whole new playing field.

Growing up watching Nebraska baseball, tearing it up at Haymarket Park, #1 pitcher in the state, Nate Moquin, found his forever home.

Announcing his plans to stay home back in 2020, Moquin is now fully committed to play at the University of Nebraska.

“It feels good,” Moquin said. “Feels good to finally sign and fully commit. I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time.”

Also committing - senior Nate Moquin to the University of Nebraska is star running back and world-class wrestler, Antrell Taylor.

Signing on to join the #10 ranked Husker wrestling program, Taylor said, “I decided to stay home because Nebraska has been one of my dream schools for wrestling since I started.

It felt like the best place for me.”

Surrounded by family, teammates, and coaches, these athletes signed knowing they weren’t filling the blank pages alone.

“It was exciting, just knowing I had all this support,” Megan Belt, a Concordia University women’s basketball commit, said as she signed, surrounded by her parents and teammates. “The coaching staff and their values, I really like them. It made my decision a whole lot easier and the idea of moving up less nerveracking.”

While the prospect of heading to a new place next fall, playing against some of the best players out there, can be frightening, having the opportunity to actually play among the top in their field is one like no other.

“I’m excited about the higher competition. Just being able to play baseball at the next level,” Red Devil baseball commit, Ashton Jorges, said, “it’s definitely a dream come true.”

“

I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time.

”

The Signees Emma Madej, soccer Bellevue University

Megan Belt, basketball Concordia University Ashton Jorges, baseball Allen Community College Brayden Smith, baseball Iowa Western Community College Antrell Taylor, wrestling University of Nebraska Paisley Gibson, volleyball South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Nate Moquin, baseball University of Nebraska Logan Anderson, baseball University of Sioux Falls Braden Sweet, baseball Iowa Western Community College

Students fall Staff smacks down the seniors for the fifth year in a row Ally Seevers Sports Editor

The student-staff game: everyone’s favorite day of the year. For the students, it’s a day filled with hopes of taking down their favorite teachers, all of who are a little too excited to crush their dreams.

“Like every year, it’s like Christmas morning,” science teacher and basketball coach, Ben Thorn, said.

“I’ve enjoyed every time, beating them now 5 or 6 years in a row. It’s been really fun.”

Soccer player, Trent Gilbert, takes the ball down the court after a rebound from Laddie Wilken. Photo by Ally Seevers

While the staff kept their 5-year winning streak intact, beating the students 48-44, there was a potential for an upset, as the students led the game for most of the second half.

Going into the second half, the staff led 13-7, but the students came off the half with a new mindset. Putting a stop to the staff offense, combined with huge threes from Sydney Youngclaus and Joe Stratman, the students tied up the game at 22-22 with four minutes left in the third quarter.

Just when the staff thought they had it, with 3-point swishes from Joe Pham and Stratman, along with an “and one” from Avery Laing, the students were up 38-35 with 9:11 left in the fourth quarter.

“I was not going to even try Science teacher, Ben Thorn, finds his way to the hoop. shooting, but when they passed me the Thorn, a boys basketball coach, helped bring the staff back, ball and I was open and I got the layup taking the W for the fifth straight year. Photo by Ally Seevers and the and 1, it was pretty exciting,” Laing said.

For the students, the game went downhill from there, ultimately ending in a W for the staff with a final score of 48 to 44.

“When the students were up, there were no nerves, no nothing,” Thorn said. “I knew we were going to come back and win that game. We just had to get their hopes up a little bit, then crush their dreams at the end.”

“I thought we had the W, but I guess we slacked a little bit and the teachers came back and won,” Owen Herbolshimer said, “but I thought it was a lot of fun, real competitive. Tough that we lost though.”

While the students may have lost, they played a heck of a game. The students, all seniors and most without a background in basketball, came to life on the court, shedding light on some no-longer-hidden talent.

“Respect to the students for making it a game,” history teacher and basketball coach, Trevor Wiegert, said.

“Just coming out, hitting some big shots, and making it a Senior Jake Gassaway goes up for the layup. Gassaway, a top 10 lot more fun to have a game wide receiver and Northern Illinois commit, said the game “was more and compete. I’ve got to give Andrew Martinez props: didn’t fun to have so many students come and support. Their energy was something special, we just wanted to do our best for the crowd.” think he couldn’t shoot it, but Photo by Ally Seevers. he came up, stepped it up, so it was fun going against him.

Same with Jake Gassaway. It never played basketball in their lives,” student was just fun that they were able coach, Cole Renken, said. “It was pretty fun to to do that.” watch. They came with energy and brought fun to

“I thought the students were pretty good the game.” actually, especially considering some of them had