2
THE
e n i l i h tiger
VOLUME 51 ISSUE 19 1015 Division St. Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613
New resource officer replaces officer Burkhardt Aaron Parsons Staff Writer
Cedar Falls High School, as well as all other Cedar Falls School District buildings, have acquired a new school resource officer. Former CF resource officer Katie Burkhardt’s three-year rotation has come to an end. When the resource officer’s three years are up, they fade back into the regular police force. “The patrol schedule also works better for my family,” Burkhardt said. “Even during my time as the school resource officer, I still had regular duties with the regular force. You are always a police officer, and when they need extra man power, I’m there. I was also on the investigative unit in the summer,” Burkhardt said. Duties for school resource officers are also wide-ranging. Burkhardt said, “I am the go-between for the Cedar
Allyson Vuong Photo
CFPD Photo
Cedar Falls Officer Mark Abernathy (top left) has recently taken over the Cedar Falls School Resource Officer Position. Officer Katie Burkhardt’s (top right) three year rotation has come to an end. She will rotate back into the regular police force. Falls School District and the Cedar Falls Police Department. Any cases that include kids, I am the officer that deals with it. I also patrol Division Street and hand out a lot of parking tickets. I also help teachers out and go into classes when needed for presentations and such.”
Regarding what she will miss most, Burkhardt said, “Students could always come talk to me with questions. I will really miss interacting with students and meeting all the new faces.” With Burkhardt’s exit, the new resource officer is Mark Abernathy, who has been a
police officer since 2003, an investigator for four years and has been on basic patrol all three shifts. “I applied for the school resource officer job, and then I went through the process of getting interviewed by faculty, staff and students,” Abernathy said.
Approaching the new job, Abernathy was somewhat nostalgic about his previous regular duties as a police officer. “I’m going to miss some of the excitement of being on the streets and the adrenaline rush that comes with that.” Abernathy will work for the six area elementaries, two junior highs, the high school and the alternative school for a grand total of ten schools. “I go wherever there’s a problem, and I deal with anything crime related, including theft, and truancy issues.” Overall, Abernathy hopes students will be able to put the negative “cop” stigma behind them and see him as a regular person. “I’ve always enjoyed working with the youth. I want to get to know the students. If they’re having an issue, I want students to be able to come to me for help.”
CFHS Girls, Boys State participants selected Sandra Omari-Boateng Staff Writer
This year, juniors Sara Gabriele and Alexandra Stewart have been chosen to represent Cedar Falls High School at the American Legion Auxiliary Girls State this summer. Juniors Ryan Giarusso and Nate Hua have been chosen to attend the American Legion Boys State. They are both a week-long event that students attend to replicate what the government process is like. Both Boys State and Girls State programs are parallel in what they do, but are held in different locations. The Girls State is held in Ames at the Iowa State University campus, and Boys State is at Camp Dodge. Boys and Girls
State are similar to a weeklong camp where the students experience the operation of the democratic government and the organization of political parties where they learn about city, county and state government. They hold mock elections, form their own political parties and participate in other political exercises. After the week is over, there are opportunities to be chosen to go to nationals and do the same thing, but on a larger scale with students around the United States. “I think it’s a beneficial experience that leads to many opportunities in the future and is also eye-opening and allows you to get a broader view,” junior Alexandra Stewart said. The students chosen are nominated by teachers, and
all final decisions are made by teacher recommendations. Each year, all the social studies teachers pay attention to the juniors in their classes and see which ones have upstanding character and leadership skills. They look for those who are well rounded and who are most involved in class and in school activities, such as student government, Model U.N. extra curriculars, in addition to good grades, balanced lifestyles, good personality and community involvement. The teachers also look for students that would be a good fit for the program and have shown potential in their social studies classes. When the teachers come together and discuss who they all feel will fit the criteria, they nominate eight boys
and eight girls that they all feel would succeed with the program. The next step in the process is to interview all 16 of the candidates and choose which two boys and two girls will go on to State. In the interview process in each group (boys and girls), student candidates are all seated in a room, and are given an opportunity to explain why they feel they should be chosen for Girls or Boys State.The boys are interviewed by social studies teachers Charles BlairBroeker, Jeremiah Longnecker and Bob Schmidt. The girls are interviewed by Louise McGinnis, who is from the American Legion Auxiliary. After the four are chosen, they all go to State with all expenses paid. “At first, all the teachers
would nominate the students, but then we thought [social studies teachers] were more qualified to do it, and we started looking out for the students during second semester. The program is a great opportunity for these students to learn about our government we have today”, Blair-Broeker said. Even being nominated is an honor, and the 12 other finalists that were nominated include Lauren Bannon, Taylor Roberts, Megan Hahn, Rhydian Talbot, Elizabeth Kosmicki, Kaitlyn Trampel, Matthew Adrian, Ben Challgren, Karl Sadkowski, Adam Streicher, Nick Heth and Jesse Streicher. Last year, current seniors Austin Javallana, Sam Orvis, Tori Hurst and Sophie Lilja.