Booster Redux November 2019

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The Booster Redux Pittsburg High School

Pittsburg, KS

1978 E. 4th Street

Vol. 103 Issue 2

November, 2019

A class for every student Words By | McKenna Hodges

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efore class starts, freshman Logan Johnson and senior Jorden Johnson start off their day by playing football together with a group of friends. Running to both sides of the gym, Logan and Jorden laugh as they try to see who can catch the ball first.

“It shocks me how the other boys involve him because he can be hard to understand sometimes,” Jorden said.

“But they treat him the same and they just include him in everything.”

Logan is a student in Amber Kloster’s special education class, who also is enrolled in elective classes such as lifetime fitness, food basics and adaptive art. Logan’s older, brother Jorden, says that Logan is always trying to make everyone around him smile.

“He’s really sweet, he tries to do goofy things to make people laugh,” Jorden said. “I include him in everything I do, that’s why he’s so ornery, he’s always around me.”

The special education program is managed by the SEK interlocal, an education cooperative consisting of 13 districts. All special education teachers, such as Amber Kloster, and paraeducators who work throughout the district, are SEK interlocal employees.

Through the co-op, Kloster has students who travel from surrounding areas to attend her program.

“I recently got a student who is from Uniontown,” Kloster said. “So I have a kid that comes 55 minutes every morning because I’m the closest low-incidence program.”

A low-incidence program is for students with a documented disability, whether physical or mental, that rarely occurs. Kloster currently has 10 students with various disabilities.

Jill Kangas teaches Life and Career Skills, where she prepares students for the workforce. Both programs participate in activities such as the Special Olympics.

Special Olympics is one way where students from the general education population to work with Kloster and Kangas’s students.

Last year, Kloster’s students paired with Pittsburg State University on a project called TR-iffic Field Day. College students majoring in recreation plan activities for students with varying levels of disabilities.

“There’s a lot that goes into our programs and our students are very capable of learning, we find those needs and try to meet them so that they can be more independent,” Kloster said.

“My kids are always going out into the community, so there’s a ton that goes into our day.”

According to Jorden, PHS has become a more inclusive place for students similar to his brother.

“It’s a lot more common for kids to meet people with disabilities and people now are just accepting,” Jorden said.

“I just treat him as I would do with one of my friends because he doesn’t seem different to me.”

Kloster says that over the five years she’s taught, PHS has improved.

“I think that from my first year to now, it’s more inclusive,” Kloster said. “I put a lot of my students in elective classes and those elective teachers are awesome.”

Some of these elective classes include physical education classes with Bridgett Lancaster and food basics with family consumer science teacher Krystal Henderson. Art teacher Monica Collins has created lesson plans catered to the individual needs of each student in her adaptive art class.

“The students have such a great sense of humor, we have such a good time in here,” Collins said. “Whenever they come in, there are no mistakes, it’s their product and it’s perfect.”

According to Logan, adaptive art is one of his favorite classes.

“I like that class, we make projects, we’re making a dragonfly today,” Logan said. “We get to make a lot of stuff.”

According to Kloster, exposure is important.

“There are some that aren’t as inclusive as others, but they just haven’t been as exposed but I think they are all willing to be,” Kloster said. “But all four of our admin here are so positive and they want to include my students in everything and that makes a big difference.”

While Kloster says she feels included by staff and students, she hopes for more improvement for the future.

“We really feel included, even though my classroom doesn’t seem included, we are,” Kloster said. “With my next three years here, we’re going to get more and more included, every year I feel like it’s been better.”

On Oct. 28, teacher Amber Kloster organized a field trip to Ol’ Yale Pumpkin Patch for students k-12 who have documented disabilities.

Freshman Logan Johnson pumps water for the rubber duck race. According to Logan’s brother, senior Jorden Johnson, Logan likes to make people laugh. “Logan is a one-of-a-kind kid,” Jorden said. “He’s really funny and tries to help anyone he can.” Photo By | Beth Blessent

The nurse is in

Full-time nurse practitioner now available in clinic

Checking on a student, Amber Hunziker, the school’s nurse practitioner, listens to the breathing using her stethoscope.

Photo By | Hannah Abarca

Words By | Mattie Vacca As of Oct. 1, PHS now has a full-time nurse practitioner through a partnership with the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas.

Amber Hunziker transferred to Community Health from Mercy Hospital-Fort Scott in February.

“I have always been really interested in adolescent health and wellness and just high school kids in general,” Hunziker said. “It is just a whole different type of health care, and I have always been really interested in that.”

According to Hunziker, she is doing what she loves.

“It is a neat opportunity really that you can do health care while actually keeping kids in school,” Hunziker said. “Keeping everyone healthy is a big priority for school health.”

According to Hunziker, an advantage of

having a full-time nurse practitioner is the a student has to have parental consent. The amount of class time students don’t miss due to consent form is accessible in the clinic and once doctor visits. the form has been filled out, students have “Say you have an earache, you have to miss access to free healthcare. an entire morning just to get it checked out…

“One big thing is that if parents are interested [You can get a check up] to just stop by here and without ever having to grab the consent, you leave school, meaning can take it home with you there are fewer and drop it back off here absences and you can and the parents never It is a neat opportunity really that also not miss practice, actually have to come you can do health care while club activities, tests, to school and do any of actually keeping kids in school.” or study hall, which is it,” Hunziker said. “That Amber Hunziker really important to a lot way any time you have an of students,” Hunziker upset stomach or anything said. “This way you can like that that is more than actually stay in school all day and still get the what the school nurse can do, and they want health care you need.” you to be seen, you can be seen and have your To receive care from the nurse practitioner, medicine [delivered here].”

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NEWS

November 2019

Fighting the flu Words By | Ian Sullivan

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s the 2019 flu-season approaches, nursing staff prepares for the annual sickness.

Advanced practice registered nurse Amber Hunziker, who is in her first year of practice at the high school, has witnessed firsthand the signs of flu-season.

“I feel like we’ve had more confirmed cases sooner than we’ve ever had. Or at least in my experience, I’ve never seen [confirmed cases] come back positive this quickly,” Hunziker said. “I know Crawford County and Bourbon County have both had confirmed cases of flu now for the last several weeks.”

According to Hunziker, the flu has hit earlier this year.

“Usually it kind of starts really hard about November and we see kind of starting to wane around February. I think it was two years ago we had flu season wind into May, which is generally not the case,” Hunziker said.

Although there are different types of flu viruses, they typically come with similar symptoms.

“There’s two types of flu, Flu A and Flu B. They do present with a little bit of different symptoms, but the main thing that is almost always present are high fevers, like 100-103 degrees,” Hunziker said. ”Another example is feeling fine one minute and then an hour later having body aches, chills and upset stomach.”

In order to prevent the spread of flu, Hunziker encourages good hygiene.

“Lots of good handwashing, I think would be number one thing. Not sharing drinks, making sure covering your mouth when you’re coughing and getting the

Cover your sneeze/cough

Avoid touching eyes, nose, mouth

flu vaccine.

Hunziker stressed the importance of the flu-shot.

“It’s the only way to protect yourself essentially against the flu.

Does it always work 100%? No. But if you don’t get it, you have 0% chance of protecting yourself against the flu,” Hunziker said. “Generally, even if you do get influenza after the flu shot, it will be much less severe with less side effects.

You’re also less likely to end up in the hospital or even die.”

According to Hunziker, it is not always beneficial to get the shot early.

“You don’t want to get [the flu shot] too early because it is only effective for approximately six months,” Hunziker said. “At the same time, it does take about two weeks to actually take effect, so we’d want you to get the flu shot [as soon as possible].”

Flu shots were given Hunziker, along with all other PHS health clinic staff, in the nurses clinic welcomes anyone to fill out a form to get their flu shot.

“We’re doing them in here at the [school] clinic. We are happy to take any walk-ins,” Hunziker said. “ You can take [a form] home to your mom or dad and we’ll do your flu shot right here. You won’t even have to leave school.”

The flu is most commonly spread through coughing

Germs are transferred most through these areas

Hunziker stresses the importance of flu shots

9/30/19 - 11/01/19

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Avoid contact with sick people

Wash your hands

20% of people get the flu every year

97% of people do not wash their hands

Stay home if you are sick 72% of people go to work sick

2016 social issues play published Words By | Abby Painter The 2016 social issues play “Drowning in Quicksand” was published and is now available for other schools to perform. The Repertory Theatre class at that time was the premiere cast to perform the show, which was written by Debbie Lamedman.

Senior McKenna Shaw was an original cast member as a freshman.

“It’s something that I’ll only get to do here and not many people get the experience as a high schooler,” McKenna said. “You may, as a professional actor, get to be a part of an original thing, but not many 15, 16 or 17 year olds get to experience being the original cast of something.”

Every year, Lamedman writes a script tackling an issue facing students specifically at PHS. “Drowning In Quicksand” addresses topics such as mental health, depression, self-harm and suicide.

Past performances & topics discussed

“Of all the plays I’ve written for PHS, ‘Drowning In Quicksand’ is the most personal to me,” Lamedman said. “In having [it] published,

School Violence 2008

Basic ACT

$52.00

Categories

Reading Math Writing ACT + writing portion English Science

$68.00 Test dates

December 14, 2019 February 8, 2020 April 4, 2020 June 13, 2020 July 18, 2020

Prescription drug abuse 2012

Climate change 2010

2009 Eating disorders

Average score in Kansas

21.6

I hope more and more audiences will be enlightened to the issue, and those suffering will know they are no longer alone.”

Senior Griffin Cooper, who was also in the original cast, didn’t find it difficult dealing with the subject matter as a freshman.

“Things happen,” Cooper said. “It’s reality so it shouldn’t be something we shy away from as a topic.”

However, the many in-class discussions did have an affect on McKenna.

“It’s a safe space and we all know that but it’s still always difficult to have those talks and listen to everyone,” McKenna said. “You always leave with kind of a heavy heart and you’re always kind of changed after every class period.”

Despite the sensitive topic, when she found out that the play had been published, McKenna says she was astonished.

2011 Bullying

“We always thought that this would be a possibility, but I don’t think I ever really thought that it would make it this far,” McKenna said. “We received two free copies of the play. I opened the front cover and there is the original cast and to see my name in there was really exciting.”

Play director Greg Shaw says that the objective of the social issues play is to start a conversation about difficult topics. “[The play getting published] was a confirmation that this stuff is important and this actually puts it in the hands much more quickly to other schools and other students who can deal with these same things that we’ve been dealing with for many years,” Greg said.

“The hope is that several of these over the years will become a published piece. It’s just kind of cool for our kids to know that that’s all really possible.“

Autism and differences 2014

2013 Dating violence

2015 Socio-economic diversity

Technology addiction 2016

2017 Mental illness suicide, anxiety, depression

Bias, hate, discrimination 2018

2019 Party culture

ACT adopts new testing policies Words By | Ashlan Brooks ACT Inc. plans to adopt a new policy change in September 2020, allowing single-section scores to be improved without the risk of lowering other subsection scores on a retake. In addition to individual subsection testing, the policy will also allow for students to take the test online, which will yield faster results. Students can also send a superscore of their test to any college as long as its accompanied by a composite score.

“Once students take a full ACT test, they can choose to retake the full test or retake one or more single-section subject tests to improve their scores,” counselor Jessica Stegman said. “Section retesting allows students a greater level of focus while more closely aligning to typical college exams.”

This new retake policy may have a large impact on the way students prepare for the test and how fast students get results depending on if they take the test online or on paper.

“Students who choose to take the ACT online will receive their scores in as few as two business days. Currently, students have to wait six-eight weeks for scores,” Stegman said. “The new policy allows for almost immediate scoring if the test is taken online and gives students more time to complete scholarship paperwork, apply for schools, or

decide to sign up for a future exam.”

Another part of the policy to take effect will give schools the ability to superscore the composite scores of all the students that took the test and get an average of how well their students performed.

Individual students can also choose subsectional scores from each of their retakes and combine those into one superscored test.

“ACT will calculate superscores for all students.” Stegman said.

“Students will be able to show their proficiency in each level.”

This new change will have a larger impact on current sophomores and freshmen, planning to take the exam in 2020.

“I’ll definitely focus more on the sections I struggle with,” sophomore Corin Cooper said. “Right now, you can’t pick and choose which scores you want from each section and I feel this will definitely improve my [overall] score.”

Although most of the subject matter and material will remain the same, the way it’s given and scored are going in an entirely new direction.

“I mean, there’s flaws with anything that’s new unless it’s been tested,” Cooper said. “We’re the guinea pigs. If it works, it works.”

OPINION

November 2019

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Booster Redux Staff & Policy Editors-in-Chief Joseph Lee McKenna Hodges Elle Burgess

Online Editors Sarah Alcantar Ashlan Brooks

Social Media Manager Abigail Painter

Art By | Lane Phifer

Multimedia Editor Lane Phifer

Business Manager Braden Benson

Strategic Communications Chair Joy Lee

Staff

Hannah Gray Kaley Mussa A.J. Ortiz Keith Perkins Ian Sullivan Mattie Vacca

Adviser

Emily Smith The PHS Student Publications Department and newspaper class produce The Booster Redux. Please call us with comments at 620-2353200. The Booster Redux's purpose is to inform, educate, enlighten and entertain readers fairly and accurately in an open forum. Opinions expressed in editorials or opinion columns do not necessarily reflect views of all members on the Booster staff. Digital photos have not been altered to manipulate reality. Photo illustrations are labeled to reflect any technical alternations.

Anonymity may be given in the following cases: the information is unable to be presented another way, the information warrants anonymity, the source's privacy and/or reputation requires protection and the source must be protected from damages.

A student or faculty member death during the coverage period will be covered with a short obituary. The Booster Redux is a member of Journalism Education Association, National Scholastic Press Association, Kansas Scholastic Press and International Quill and Scroll. The Booster Redux encourages letters from students, teachers and community members under 300 words and signed with a valid signature only.

The Booster Redux reserves the right to edit contributions if they are libelous, obscene and for length. Any grammatical errors at the fault of the writer will be printed. Corrections of errors printed at the fault of the Booster staff will appear in the appropriate section of the next issue.

The Booster Redux Pittsburg High School Student Publications 1978 E. 4th St. Pittsburg, KS 66762

Bathrooms for all: equal access for every student Words by | Lane Phifer ike many transgender people, determining which public restroom to use is a battle I face every day.

I question my safety and how others will perceive me depending on which restroom I choose, not to mention the state laws.

In 2016, the Trump administration created the “Bathroom Bill,” which restricts transgender citizens from using the restroom that applies to their gender identity.

Although 18 out of the 50 states go against this bill, Kansas isn’t one of them.

An article by KWCH News reported how Winfield High School added two single-stall all-gender restrooms to increase inclusiveness.

As a transgender student, seeing other schools have these restrooms available caused me to wonder why my school doesn’t. I analyzed the PHS handbook, which doesn’t have a restroom or overnight policy for LGBTQ+ youth.

In the three years, I have attended PHS, I’ve always used the nurse’s restroom in order to avoid awkward

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conversations or interactions with my peers. However, this restroom isn’t the one I believe transgender students like myself should have to use. Instead, I ask that we install an all-gender restroom in the building as a way to ensure the safety of queer students.

According to Dr. Edith Bracho-Sanchez’s CNN news article, “transgender teens in schools with bathroom restrictions are at higher risk of sexual assault.” In a recent web-based study conducted by CNN researchers that involved over 3,000 adolescents between the ages of 13 and 17 in the LGBT community, 25.9% of students reported being a victim of sexual assault in the last 12 month and that increased to 36% for students who were affected by restroom or locker room restrictions.

Restricting restroom access to transgender students harms them in more ways than one. One way, in particular, is that some will not use restrooms altogether for the duration of the day.

However, this could be avoided at PHS by having safe restroom access for everyone. Having single-stall restrooms will benefit more than just trans teens by

providing all students a more private restroom.

Another solution is allowing transgender students to use their preferred restroom. By doing this, cis-gendered students are given a chance to normalize trans people using the restroom alongside them. It also encourages our queer students to be comfortable because they wouldn’t have to deal with the constant battle of deciding which restroom to go in at school.

As a member of the LGBT+ community, I take pride in advocating for my community and standing up for what I believe in—one of which is equal bathroom privileges.

Every student should receive equal privileges, treatment, and opportunities, just like how every student should also have a secure environment to use the restroom without the fear of being verbally, physically or sexually attacked. There have been many transgender students before me at PHS. However, no matter the number of trans individuals who walk through these halls not once has there been a change in our restroom and overnight policy.

I hope that this article will bring us one step closer to transgender students feeling safe and included at PHS.

Students overcommit to academics, extracurriculars

Art By | Lane Phifer

Words by | Braden Benson About an hour after arriving home, I finally sit down at the table to start doing homework.

I reach into my backpack and pull out all the papers I just crammed in. Geometry, Biology and Spanish, all laid out in front of me.

My stomach dropped as I realized that I haven’t even started on a project for Spanish. I totally forget about my homework because I’m too busy worrying about football while in season.

Recently, I had two friends tell me that they stayed up until 4 A.M. doing homework for the same class.

According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, teens should sleep eight to 10 hours a night. But studies have shown that seven out of 10 high school students are falling short of this recommendation on school nights.

When students don’t get enough sleep the previous day, it affects their learning the next day.

Sleep is a necessity, and it’s underrated when it comes to how serious it is.

To me, it looks like a pattern. The pattern is this, a student stays up doing homework every night, and during the next day, they don’t do as well in school because they’re exhausted. Students are doing the homework to get a good grade when in reality it’s just setting them up for failure the next day. Students need sleep to be able to function.

“Insufficient sleep among adolescents may not only contribute to lower grades and a lack

of motivation but may also increase the odds of serious levels of emotional and behavioral disturbances, including ADHD,” reported by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Now I can also see the teacher side of all of this. We chose the classes, didn’t we? We knew what we were getting ourselves into when chose honors classes, sports, extracurricular classes.

A lot of high school students have this idea in their heads that they need to do everything they can in high school, so it looks good on college applications. When in reality, it’s all about quality, not quantity.

For all students struggling with time management, take a look at your schedule and ask yourself, “Do I need this?”

Back in elementary and middle school, coasting was what everyone did. Nobody had to study, take harder classes, or put actual work into school. The solution to my problems was a wakeup call. I hit the realization that if I want good grades, I had to put in the time for it or make time for it. Things that could help is a routine. For example, set aside a certain time to do the work that needs to get done. Plan ahead and allocate time to work. When we don’t dedicate a certain time for work, and we tell ourselves “I’ll just do it later,” something almost always comes up during that time we’re supposed to be working and later never happens. Solution, set aside time for work.

Staff Editorial:

ACT change: what is it good for? Staff concerned about financial barriers The pressure to score well on the ACT has always been a burden on students. With the new test changes covered on page two, achieving a high score may become more stressful.

In September, new policies were proposed for the fall of 2020, allowing students to take and retake individual subsections of the ACT without having to take the entire exam. “Superscoring” will allow students to compile their best subsection scores from individual tests to boost their composite score.

Currently, only some universities accept super scored composites for college applications.

We believe these new changes will affect students in two drastic ways.

For students with adequate monetary resources, super scoring will be a viable option in addition to the alreadyexisting test preparation materials, options for tutoring and a multitude of preparation courses.

ACT Inc. has not released the cost to take each subsection, but students who cannot afford to pay for

multiple tests may be at a disadvantage without retesting.

Although our school provides funds for students who qualify for financial support, to test, school funds may not allow for students relying on these funds to test as many times as their peers.

In addition, competitiveness for high scores may even foster an unhealthy environment.

Because the test is most critical for juniors and seniors, the increased pressure to score may have a toll on mental and physical health. Many students who are driven to test multiple times are often enrolled in honors and AP courses and are involved in a multitude of school activities. Students hold jobs and are heavily involved in activities outside of school. This may lead to a lack of sleep or suffering grades.

Because allocating funds for every student’s desired number of tests will be nearly improbable, to avoid these issues, we propose the following solution.

We believe the school should be more proactive to inform and prepare students about the test by utilizing

already-established resources—freshmen and sophomore advocates, counselors and the general classroom can put more of an emphasis in teaching the structure and basics of the test. Directly informing freshmen that a free exam is available their junior year may plant a seed of preparation.

Because students traditionally take the test more seriously as juniors, preparing students as underclassmen provide two potential years of additional preparation.

In addition to preparing students for the actual exam, we believe it is vital to inform students about the importance of the test. It seems that, in the minds of upperclassmen, the ACT has become a rite of passage, rather than a crucial component in college applications.

The weight the test has on college applications and scholarship opportunities should be clearly communicated with students.

Being proactive may decrease the need to retest altogether, lessening the strain on students during their busy junior and senior years.

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IN DE

November 2019

When the brave r

The aftermath of active service Veterans Day: what it means to PHS

Rose Scott, daughter of veterans and serv “My great grandfather served in World War II. My dad was in the Army and he was deployed to Germany for six years and he lived in Germany with my brothers for a while. They moved back to the US, [my dad] ended up meeting my mom and then [my parents] eventually had me. My mom started off in Minnesota and she was in the Air Force National Guard. And I think my dad just really honestly wanted a way out [of poverty]. He grew up in western Kansas and his family was really poor and he had six brothers and sisters. He was the first and only one in his family to graduate high school and needed a way to pay for college. The military gave him a way to pay for college, which is why I’m going into the military. We live in a country where the only way you can really get through school without having debt is if either your family is a decent amount wealthy where they can pay in full for your tuition or if you take out student loans, which follow people for years. It’s just kind of messed up because the only way a lot of people can [avoid debt] is by putting their life on the line. I think it’s really important to serve if [the military] is going to cover the costs of college for me.

In the Air Force, my mom organized loads on planes to

Words by | Joseph Lee n American flag drapes over a wall. A mannequin is dressed in fatigues and battlefield gear while the corner of his office is decorated with pictures of comrades and memories from his time of service in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Chuck Boyles, teacher and technical theatre director, sees the 22 years he served as a civil duty.

“We actually have people who have served in the military here in the school who might want a little less notoriety because they felt that they were just doing their jobs,” Boyles said. “I know it’s sometimes difficult, it’s difficult for me to be the center of attention on [Veterans Day]. You kind of feel like a lot of eyes are upon you.”

Gary Wolgamott, social science teacher and army officer of 12 years, says Veterans Day has been depreciated. “[Students] have grown up in an environment in which we have been at war somewhere continuously. And so therefore, it has become a routine part of our society,” Wolgamott said.

“Second thing is that I think we tend to like to be positive. And to think of fighting and people dying, we tend to like to kind of compartmentalize that off to the side.”

In 1938, Armistice Day was passed as a national holiday to commemorate the anniversary of World War I’s conclusion.

Armistice Day would eventually be labeled as Veterans Day to honor all veterans, living and dead, who served during peace or war time.

National Honors Society (NHS) and Wolgamott, organization sponsor, organized this year’s Veterans Day assembly to honor local veterans.

In preparation for the assembly, NHS reached out to veterans in the community in addition to veterans in the school. Each veteran had a student escort for the assembly, was recognized by name and was invited to attend a reception after the assembly.

“The purpose [of Veterans Day] is to recognize those individuals who have served above and beyond their normal duties as a citizen to defend, or to protect our freedoms and civil liberties,” Wolgamott said. “It’s just like Fourth of July. How many kids grew up thinking it’s firecracker day with no true understanding of what the Fourth of July really stands for? We see a parades and we see all sorts of stuff and the TV channels show all kinds of movies, but we really don’t address the true meaning of Veterans Day.” Junior Blake Harrison says his father’s time of service in the National Guard has taught him to respect the holiday.

“To me, [the most important thing] is appreciation. All of the modern things that we have, we probably wouldn’t have right now if we didn’t have people fighting for us,” Harrison said. “It’s just crazy that people were dying every day for people like us, everyday people, who don’t really acknowledge the fact that there are wars going on.”

Every year, junior Rose Scott observes Veterans Day alongside her parents, who are both veterans.

“Patriotism isn’t just agreeing with everything that’s happening in the United States,” Scott said. “It’s fighting for a better United States. It’s fighting for democracy and fighting for freedoms and fighting for equality, and not just equality in the sense of equality in the government, but also just disagreeing with the government when something is wrong.”

Wolgamott encourages people to remember the purpose of the holiday.

“I probably hear it probably 50 times a week or so, I’ll have somebody say ‘Thank you for your service’ and I think that has become a catchphrase. We don’t know how to express ourselves to veterans,” Wolgamott said. “The big thing is, be sincere. Most veterans that I’ve talked with aren’t expecting to receive a lot of recognition. So we need to step forward and we need to develop a better understanding of Veterans Day and what it means.”

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make sure they’re balanced.. She was part of opera things go so that a plane doesn’t topside. She woul two weekends a month and then whenever else the I would go up and I would stay with a babysitter for at night I would stay with her. So I grew up like goin the military base because they have like giant milita Ever since I can probably remember, around Christm the weekends to the Saint Joe Air Force Base. They w families and extensive family of the military who wo would be a Santa Claus who would sit and there wo usually military kids with their dads or moms in unifo go meet Santa and then take a photo. There’d be ta their kids. And they were making crafts, and then yo still had a sense of community, which I think was mo than just a job. Despite the fact that they were in som serious and really tough, and most people think of [ is so structured and scary, it really shows another sid take to make [service] more family friendly and more I think Veterans Day should be celebrated because lives. I don’t think the government should be celeb people should celebrate veterans instead because a celebration of Veterans Day to be celebrating war a whether or not you agree with it. [Veterans] end up or even being scarred. My brother has severe PTSD anybody about it. If there are people dying for your advantage of those freedoms and you should be ab see something that’s going wrong in your country. P with everything that’s happening in the United State United States. It’s fighting for democracy and fightin for equality, and not just equality in the sense of equ also just standing up when something is wrong.”

Blake Harrison, son of veteran “My dad was in the National Guard. It was a little bit before I was born and he didn’t go to college. His job was to find bombs, so like IEDs and all of that kind of stuff. He’d be a spotter and got to sit sometimes days out in the field waiting for a bomb squad to come out to diffuse it. When I was two was about when I saw him. And it wasn’t like he was just an absent father, he was just deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was mad a lot. He was a good fighter and he had a lot of anger from his dad leaving when he was young.

[Serving] just helped him to get a grip on stuff. He wanted to and he felt like he should serve his country. To me, [the most important thing] is appreciation. And it’s just crazy that people were dying every day for people like us, everyday people, who don’t really acknowledge the fact that there are wars going on.

I was always taught to stand for the Pledge because my dad [served] and his friends have died in the Army. He’s watched some of them die. I don’t want to see people not stand for the Pledge and the Anthem. It’s disrespectful, but it’s also not our place to tell who’s right and who’s wrong. That is their liberty and that’s what the soldiers are fighting for. [For Veterans Day], sometimes we go and visit my great grandfather’s grave. He was a tank operator.

But [for the] Fourth of July, we always go out to Home Depot and we just sit out in the parking lot with family and light fireworks

off and listen to like patriotic music. [But I’ve seen] PTSD in my dad’s dad. He looks a lot like my dad, maybe a little bit shorter. He’s a really nice dude, he’s funny and he’s got a super deep voice, but those explosions that get set off, if you look into his eyes, it’s like he’s not there. He looks like he’s in a distant place and he doesn’t know what’s going on. He blacks out basically and thinks he’s still at war. He’ll just start swinging because he thinks he’s cornered or something. It’s scary and it’s a reality that people don’t face because they think [veterans] are just crazy. And they kind of are, [bad experiences] just take something away from you. This has happened twice and since then, we haven’t lit off fireworks around him.

We just don’t want to test it again.”

What PHS students know about veterans 100 students surveyed Do you value Veterans Day?

Does PHS celebrate Veterans Day enough?

19%

Yes

No

Undecided

83%

11%

6%

20%

61%

Yes - 20% No - 61% Undecided - 19%

Do you stand for the Pledge of Allegiance?

Yes - 85% No - 8% Sometimes - 7%

Have you been taught the significance of Veterans Day?

Why do you stand?

Because you personally value the Pledge Because your teacher highly encourages you to stand Because peers stand

Yes - 52% No - 20% Other - 28%

57 7 9

1 1 5

ALL NONE

7 13

EPTH

November 2019

return home and those left behind Gary Wolgamott,

vice bound

“I served as an army officer for 12 years in the infantry. It would have been starting in 1977 through 87 and I’m still in the inactive reserve today.

I volunteered through the ROTC program at Pittsburg State University and received a commission as a second lieutenant. I think I served because it was an opportunity for me not only to give back to the country that’s given me so much, but more importantly than that, I think it’s an

Photos by | Hannah Abarca and Beth Blessent All words by | Joseph Lee

Homer O’Ferrell, service bound

former Army officer

ations [that decided] where ld go up [to a base] one or ey wanted her to be there. most of the days and then ng to holiday functions at ary parties in the hangers. mas, we would go up on would usually have military ould go to the hangar. There ould be just like a line of kids, orm, waiting with them to ables of military parents with ou got hot chocolate. They ore important to make it more mething that is considered [service] as something that de of the efforts that people e people-oriented. a lot of people do lose their brated on Veterans Day. I think a lot of people consider and the United States dying or losing their lives D and he still has not seen r freedoms, you should take ble to stand up when you Patriotism isn’t just agreeing tes, it’s fighting for a better ng for freedoms and fighting uality in the government, but

opportunity for you to see and experience things that shape who you are.

In World War II, we were attacked literally on American soil. The wars that we have fought since then have not really touched us here in America.

[World War II] affected us at every aspect. We rationed and all sorts of things to share in the burden of winning the war. We don’t see any of that anymore, so I think that helps isolate that away from us too, because we don’t really feel the effects unless we have a loved one who is in that kind of a situation.

Even though I served in peacetime, there were things that I was a part of.

We still lost people. So there are times I still have dreams about those kinds of things, even after all these years. But I did have an opportunity to meet people and see a lot of things that I never would have been able to see before. I’ve had an opportunity to visit other countries in the world and to work with their military and to get to know their customs. I think understanding is the step that we have to take in order to prevent future conflicts. We have to take the time to understand each other around the world, and [serving] gave me an opportunity to meet a lot of different people that I would never have met.”

“My dad was in the Army for 15 years and so was his dad and [my grandpa’s dad] also. I’ve wanted to be in the Army for a long time because when I came here, [my dad] had been in the Army. I wanted to be more like him. I just grew up knowing and thinking that Veterans Day was very important. A lot of people sacrificed their lives when they didn’t have to and they did it for us. Personally, I think it’s important to me because [veterans] did give up their lives when they didn’t have to and I see that. I think that they are very brave and I look up to them for that. From what I’ve seen last year in the school when we had the Veterans Day assembly, a lot of people didn’t really care for it. A lot of them were saying ‘This is dumb’ or ‘We don’t really want to go to this’ and a lot of people didn’t even show up for it. So I think now [people’s value for Veterans Day] is not as big as it was during maybe World War II. It obviously was very important when we were at war. I think now that the wars are a little bit more low profile and people don’t know much about them and they aren’t on the news as much, that is probably why.

We aren’t exposed to it anymore.

A lot of people don’t stand up for [National Anthem and the Pledge].

I think the reason behind that is because they just have the wrong idea of it and the wrong meaning.

They think that we are standing up for the president and all of that, but they don’t understand that we really aren’t standing for the president. We are standing for the people that gave up their lives for the flag, all of those people, not the president.”

Chuck Boyles, former Army National Guard “I served in Kansas Army National Guard for 21 years and 11 months to be exact. I started here in Pittsburg, just with the unit, which was Alpha company of 891st.

Result, I served two tours in Iraq when our unit was activated, and then [was] called up for a separate unit to go over as a police advisor to Afghanistan. Retired in 2010. I think [students] are very well informed [about the importance of Veterans Day]. I think that sometimes there are veterans who are very quiet and modest. I think that there should be a teachers’ day, really. Teachers do amazing things day in and day out.

And we could probably say the same thing for law enforcement, first responders, firemen. There are a lot of people who I think don’t get the appreciation that they deserve. [On Veterans Day], I try to spend time with my fellow veterans here in Pittsburg at the American Legion. Sometimes, though, we just may wish each other happy Veterans Day on social media.

If at all possible, we’ll meet each other in person.

[Throughout my time of service] I’ve had very, very fond memories, but I’ve also had some frightening memories. The fond memories mostly come from spending my second tour with [my team]. Really, really good friends, close like brothers. That particular tour, our job was to look for roadside bombs. And we found a lot but a few of them found us. But other wonderful memories were traveling to countries like Armenia, and helping the Armenians remove land mines from their borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan, so they can return them back to farmlands. There are scary memories and it’s all kind of a big mixture of things over those years. Happy Veterans Day and let people know that sometimes the best Veterans Day we can have is just a one-onone thank you by handshake.”

PTSD quick facts How do you define a veteran?

48% Other

13%

39%

Has fought in a war

Has served in a branch of the military

5

Info compiled from CohenVeteransBioscience.com

ely ximat o r p p A 00 q 300,0 erved in Ira s w t o a n are ns th vetera fghanistan PTSD h A t i and nosed w diag

1/3

veterans with a Traumatic Brain Injury also suffer from PTSD

Every day in the United States 20 veterans commit suicide

71%

of female veterans who served in combat develop PTSD from sexual assault

6

FEATURE

November 2019

Popular Door Dash options:

$$$

4.8 stars

$

$

4.7 stars

274 ratings

242 ratings

179 ratings

$$

$

$$

4.6 stars

128 ratings

4.8 stars

48 ratings

$

4.7 stars

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172 ratings

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4.6 stars

32 ratings

4.7 stars

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Dashing to your door

Food delivery service now available in Pittsburg N Words By | AJ Ortiz

ow available in Pittsburg is the food delivery service known as DoorDash.

Started in 2013, DoorDash has grown in popularity, with over 800,000 deliveries made in over 3,000 cities across the United States in a single day.

Since having arrived in Pittsburg, Doordash has been catering to anyone and everyone for any reason. Doordash is similar to a pizza delivery. The difference is the customer chooses the restaurant to order from, picks the food they want delivered and a DoorDash employee will deliver the food to the customer for a delivery fee.

Tipping is encouraged.

Some people believe the service is convenient, as it offers a way to have their restaurants delivered to them.

“I believe the service is very convenient, and it’s people volunteering their time,” senior Ainsley Balthazor said. “If you’re working on a big assignment and you’re hungry, but you’ve got to stay home, then you can open up DoorDash; order food and you can keep

working.”

Prices vary depending on what is ordered and the distance from the establishment. However, DoorDash offers different deals and rewards that will decrease the cost of an order or delivery fee. A DashPass is a subscription that allows a customer to have a free delivery on orders $10 or more, and for the first month after a customer has signed up for DoorDash, the delivery fee is waived entirely. “[The service] was pretty good if you need food and are willing to pay an extra $5 for it, which, I think a pizza delivery fee is like $3, so it’s not insanely overpriced,” school psychologist Kenda Fischer said.

“It doesn’t bother me to pay the delivery fee, but I think that’s kind of a personal thing. If I’m going to have the convenience of ordering food and it shows up at my house 30 minutes later, I’m not going to be bothered by paying a little more.”

The main concern that users have with Doordash is that it is more expensive than dining in, take-out, or traditional restaurant delivery, and isn’t a unique service.

“It doesn’t seem very important, because I can go to a restaurant

instead of getting it delivered, and it’s cheaper,” sophomore Samuel Avalos said. “It does seem pretty convenient, but I could go get the food by myself for cheaper.”

The Dashers are paid in delivery fees and by order and are guaranteed at least $10 per delivery. This $10 sum is comprised of tips and if the order does not pay more than $10, DoorDash pays the difference.

In order to be a Dasher, a driver must be 18 years old, have car insurance, have a smartphone with the Doordash app, a valid driver’s license, have applied online through the website and completed an orientation course. As a bonus, Dashers are allowed to pick days to work, their hours, and the means of delivery.

“I make around 25-30 deliveries a week, depending on how much I work otherwise and how busy I am,” local dasher Payton Whetzell said. “During a typical shift, I generally deliver between 7-10 deliveries, and the restaurants that I deliver from most frequently would probably be Wendy’s, Sonic, or McDonald’s. During my 4-6 hour shift, and make about $70 including tips.”

Evolution of Mario Kart Info compiled from Nintendo.com

Mario Kart 7 was released in 2011 on the Nintendo 3DS platform. This version increased the limit of the number of players in a race to up to eight. It also allowed players to customize karts, view the race in a different perspective and steer by turning their device.

Released in 2001, Mario Kart: Super Circuit had a Game Boy Adcvance platform. Since the first version in 1992, Mario Kart increased its limit of players from two to four, as well as implementing 20 new tracks to the game.

2001

1992

Super Mario Kart for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System was released in 1992. This first version of Mario Kart introduced players to the original racers: Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Toad, Yoshi, Bowser, Donkey Kong Jr., and Koopa Troopa.

In September of this year, Nintendo released a mobile version of Mario Kart 8 called Mario Kart Tour.

Mario Kart Tour supports all iOS and Android phones; it can be purchased in both theApp Store as well as the Google Play Store.

2011 2008 In 2008, Mario Kart Wii presented players with a new platform and way of playing; with Wii wheels.

Along with that, this title allowed players to do tricks with their vehicles as well as race with others around the world. However, the number of players in a race had not changed since 2001.

2019 2014 Released in 2014, on a new Wii U platform, and increasing the limit of players to 12, Mario Kart 8 had many creative additions to the versions previous to it. This title was in highdefinition and allowed players to race off walls, ceilings, and provided anti-gravity vehicles.

FEATURE

November 2019

7

Growing up

Pippin takes the stage

members a challenge.

Words by | Lane Phifer “This show is by far the one that brings the whole cast outside of their comfort zone [out of shows] his year’s fall theatrical production is the musical Pippin, which tells a story we’ve ever done. It’s a very unique production,” senior McKenna Shaw said. “Portraying the leading about a prince who discovers the real meaning of life, love and war with the player has been so much fun. I’m used to portraying sweet and delicate roles, but with this one help of those he meets along the way.

I get to be sassy and weird. [My character is] basically 12 different characters in one and that The character Pippin is played by senior Gabe Anderson, who feels this definitely brings me out of my comfort zone.” year’s musical benefits actors and actresses in a Since Pippin involves a variety of acts that challenges actors multitude of ways. physically, director Greg Shaw believes that the production “Throughout the show, Pippin is trying to find where of this musical will leave the audience on the edge of their he fits in the world and finding his purpose in life seats. throughout his adulthood,” Anderson said. “As “I decided for us to do Pippin to make sure we’re As an actor or actress, you grow from a standpoint of acting, dancing and singing with shows like this one. The an actor or actress, you grow from a standpoint challenged and that we try things that are a step or show itself is magic and there’s not one thing on stage you of acting, dancing and singing with shows like two away from where we would normally be. I’m wouldn’t be in amazement from.” this one. The show itself is magic and there’s very excited about our kids getting to challenge not one thing on stage you wouldn’t be in themselves,” Shaw said. “Since this is a circusGabe Anderson, 12 amazement from.” themed environment, audience members will With Pippin being a show with a be looking around constantly to see what’s variety of circus acts, such as gymnastics, knife throwing, going to happen next in order to not miss a single second, which is magic tricks and more, the musical is known to give cast something I believe the audience will enjoy when they see the show.”

T

“

Perfecting the practice Students accepted into Girard Medical Program Words by | Keith Perkins Seniors Cali Donovan, Megan Loudermilk, Mikayla Kitchen and junior Sofie Cummins were accepted into the Girard Medical Center Youth Leadership program.

“The Girard Youth Leadership Program is a cooperation between Girard Medical Center and greenbush,” said HOSA sponsor Stuart Perez.

The program aims to provide kids with the opportunity for medical exposure, such as job shadowing medical professionals and listening to guest speakers.

Admittance into the program is competitive with only 20 kids throughout Crawford County being accepted. Several factors are taken into consideration when deciding which students will be accepted. Students’ grade point average must be 3.0 or higher and involvement outside of school is taken into account as well.

“They don’t just look at your academic background, said Perez. “They look at how well rounded you are with all the other programs that you’re involved in.”

The program consists of one mandatory monthly meeting and volunteer work facilitated through the program. Students will also be expected to assist the program during special events.

Seniors in the program will also be given scholarship opportunities following their final year of high school. Perez is excited for his students who applied this year.

“This is the most we’ve ever had. I’ve had one or two in the past,” Perez said. “This year, with it being four, that’s an excellent number,.”

Cummins is excited about the opportunity.

“Job shadowing sounds fun, it’s more interesting,” Cummins said. “I get to see different fields, and I can choose whatever I want.”

Loudermilk will be returning to the program for her second year.

“I am really excited to experience the job shadow experience, I was not able to last year because of scheduling conflicts,” Loudermilk said. “This program provides really great information that I believe has helped me understand and pick the profession I am looking to become.”

Junior Sophie Cummins studies a model heart for her health science class. Cummins is participating in Girard Youth Leadership through a program for health science at the medical center. Photo by | Rebeccah Jones

HOSA VP travels to Washington Kitchen represents Kansas at leadership conference

Senior Mikayla Kitchen stands in her HOSA uniform in front of the Capitol Building.

Kitchen attended the conference on Sept. 19-24 after being invited because of her position as Vice President of Kansas HOSA. Photo contributed by | Mikayla Kitchen

Words by | Hannah Gray On Sept. 19-24, Senior Mikayla Kitchen attended the Washington Leadership Academy for HOSA Future Health Professionals State Officers. She serves as Vice President of the Kansas HOSA chapter.

Kitchen attended the conference alongside health science teacher and HOSA advisor Stuart Perez.

“It was different than I expected because we got to play a lot of leadership activities where we moved around. We weren’t just sitting down and listening to speakers the whole time,” Kitchen said. “I was thinking about how to not only lead Kansas HOSA but also how to leave an impact when we leave.”

According to Kitchen, she benefited from

the conference. people got to go to the National Institute of “We got to do the kinesiology through Health, some people went to the FDA or the the school public health which was cool Washington’s Children’s Hospital and some because my undergrad will be kinesiology. people went to the University of Maryland So like in my career I’m doing kinesiology School of Medicine,” Kitchen said. “I went with public health and fitness.,” Kitchen to the school of public health.” said. “I think it’s really cool because not only Perez says that Kitchen is really helping have I been branch out the able to bring HOSA program that information at PHS. into HOSA, but “Mikayla I was thinking about not only how to lead Kansas HOSA, myself also.” is that bright but also how to leave an impact when we graduate.”

Along with shining face the leadership that shows Mikayla Kitchen, 12 conference, people what our Kitchen also got organization is to tour the nation’s capital. and what it can do for them,” Perez said.

“We got to see DC and all the monuments “We need people that out our program on itself. They split us into groups and some the map and she definitely does that.”

“

8

SPORTS

November 2019

Synthetic Turf average cost for a 57,600 square foot field:

$345,600 $1,152,000

average annual maintenance cost:

$17,000

Advantages over grass • More durable • Holds up under more practice time • Can be played on in adverse weather

• Less money and time required to maintain • Prevents mud, holes and slickness • More cost effective

Repairing Hutch Field District looks into turf replacement Words By | Ian Sullivan As the 2019 football season comes to a close, the district is currently in the process of working on a plan to replace the turf on Hutchinson Field. The current turf was installed in 2012.

According to athletic director Jeff Staley, the current turf is breaking down.

“It has become worn down and the fibers are starting to break down in the turf,” Staley said. “There are several options being looked at, ranging from trying to rejuvenate the current field, all the way to replacing the old turf

with new turf,” Staley said.

Turf is made up of synthetic fibers that are made to imitate grass. They can be made of either nylon or polypropylene, which are referred to as the monofilament. Infill is the rubber compound or polyester foam that is used to cushion the layer underneath the “grass”.

District Chief Operations Officer Tom Stegman has been tasked with gathering information about different turf products. The district has not yet made a final decision.

“What happens from our standpoint

is, once we have that [budget] information, it will be looked at in a facilities, capital outlay or management plan to determine what needs need to come,” Stegman said. “And that’s that kind of a decision that comes across with the information that Mr. Proffitt, Dr. Hanson, or myself, and then the school board helps make that decision.”

Stegman is currently in the process of contacting different turf companies to collect information about each product.

“When it comes to replacement,

once you have a specific product and an idea of what you want, it is our responsibility to get with that turf company and start making a timeline of when it would be replaced,” Stegman said.

Stegman is not only responsible for considering the needs of the football team, but also many other groups in the community.

“The other thing we need to think about is, it’s not just about football.

This is a multi-purpose field. It’s used by the middle school and special education students. It’s also used

by other schools such as St. Mary’s Colgan. So this field gets a lot of use,” Stegman said. “What we need to do is find a quality monofilament, or turf, that will last the longest.”

According to Stegman, price is not the only factor that must influence the district’s decision.

“When it comes to financing big projects, it’s not always about taking the lesser bid,” Stegman said. “But [if the option] will be the best option for our kids, for our school, for community, but also making sure that it’s a quality product that will last over time.”

Game changer: PHS moves to 5A classification Words By | Kaley Mussa Next year, football will be moving up to the 5A division due to an increase in enrollment. Every year in the state of Kansas, a count is taken on Sept. 20 to determine the official enrollment count.

“Every two years, they do a count of how many kids you have in each grade. For football, you just count the number of freshmen, sophomores, and juniors that you have. For other sports, they do the count every year.” Athletic Director Jeff Staley said.

Football is counted for every other year, allowing there to be a home and away game at each location.

“The reasoning behind it is scheduling. It just takes more to schedule football games, so they do a reclassification every two years instead

New 2020 Football Opponents

KC Wyandotte-6A

of every year,” Staley said. “So, you can set a home and away with a school. We do a two-year contract. One game is away, and the other game is at home.”

For the 2021 school year, football will make the transition from 4A back to 5A. “Two years ago when we did the count, we had an unusually small group at that time, so we dropped to 4A,” Staley said. “So now, when we did our September count just this past September, our classes are large enough again to be moved back over that threshold.”

Despite the division change, the football team will continue to play similar teams as the year before.

“Since we are independent, our schedule is mainly 5A and 6A [schools] anyways. So, the regular season will not change. Postseason

Wichita South-6A

Washburn Rural-6A

we will just be playing schools that we have been playing for the past 10 years. So, there is really not a lot that will change our schedule.”

Head football coach Tom Nickelson said.

With football moving back up to 5A, all sports will now be under the same classification.

“We are currently 5A in everything except football. Starting this next school year, the 2021 year, we will be in 5A in everything.” Staley said.

This will not change how the football team prepares for upcoming seasons.

“Good 4A’s can beat good 5A’s and vice versa. We aren’t going to look at it any differently,” Nickelson said. “You are going to run into good teams eventually at whatever classification you are at. Good football is played at every level.”

Bolivar-MO

Basehor-Linwood-5A