2020-2021, April Issue

TRIPODIUM

Volume 51, Issue 2•Salina High School South•730 E. Magnolia, Salina,Kan. 67401•04.01.21

2 Page 4

Table of Contents

Contents

Tripodium Staff 2020-2021

Editor Lizzy Franco Copy Editor

See Yourself in Government

Page 5

04.01.21

Hannah Kipp

Page 6

Design Editor Autumn Dunshie Staff Members

Page 7

Cartoonist

5 Ways to Prepare for the ACT

Kamryn Kulas Zaida Segura Jorge Navarro

Teen Mental Health

6 Ways to Help Insomnia

Page 8-9

Humans of South High

Page 10

Things to do in Salina

Page 11

Local Businesses

Page 12-13

The Last Four Months

Page 14-15

Virtual Competitons

Shawna Rohrig

Editorial Policy Letters to the Editor

The staff encourages letters to the editor from its readers.

Letter should be taken to room 2117 or mailed to the Tripodium, 730 E. Magnolia, Salina, Kan. 67401 The following guidelines will be used in consideration of printing letters to the editor.

Letters should be no longer than 200 words.

Letters should be signed and must be signed and must include the address and telephone number of the author. No anonymous letters will be published.

If it is the wish of the author and editor is in agreement, the author’s name by be withheld.

The letter must not be libelous, obscene, profane and it must not infringe upon copyright. The letter must not be an invasion of privacy or disruptive of the school process.

Tripodium

The Tripodium is dedicated to publishing news, features, columns and sports in an unbiased and professional manner.

All new, feature and opinion stories are determined by the staff and they invite readers to contribute ideas to them. The publication is a forum for student expression and will not be subject to prior review by the USD 305 administration.

Notice of Nondiscrimination

Unified School District #305 does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability in admission or access to, or treatment or employment in, its program and activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. Any person having inquiries concerning Unified School District #305 compliance with the regulations implementing Title VI, ADA, Title IX, or Section 504 is directed to contact the Unified School District #305 Executive Director of Human Resources, P.O. Box 797, Salina, Kansas, 67402, 785309-4726.

Page 16

Prom

Cover: Senior Jovan Suarez works on painting a sculpture in Art 1. Due to the shortened days and schedule, students and teachers work to finish a semesters worth of work into a quarter. photo by lizzy franco

04.01.21

3

Opinion South Speaks

How do you feel about the new schedule?

“I do not like the new schedule. I think it is going to be too long, tiring, and stressful.”

-Elyve Keam

by shawna rohrig

New Schedule Again

By Autumn Dunshie

Just when the school schedule for the last two quarters began to work smoothly, a new one is set to begin April 1.

This change has brought differing opinions through students and community members.

Some argue that the current schedule is working well, so why should it be changed? Others think that going to school, double the amount of time, will either make teachers feel driven to give out more busy work or will provide students with too much work time in class. Even though everyone is not 100 percent in agreement with the new schedule, it should bring a sense of normalcy back to students.

To address some student concerns about teachers overloading the amount of homework given, ELO is coming back. This will give students an extra 45 minutes at the end of every day for work time. Students will also be given the ability to receive extra help from their teachers during this time if it is needed.

Another positive about going to school full time is that students are finally getting a chance to be around their friends again. Some students have not seen some of their friends since last school year. Having classes all day, with both cohorts, allows for multiple opportunities for students to reunite. The increased student interaction could have a positive impact on students, as the isolation from pandemic has had a negative impact on many individual’s mental health.

Since classes are going back to full time, this means all students will be eating lunch at school again. Whereas, students had an option on whether they wanted to eat lunch at school or at home. For some, the change may be a disadvantage because not all students eat school lunches and the option to eat lunch at home was more convenient for them. On a positive note, school lunches will continue to be free through the rest of the school year.

The classes are going to have double the amount of students, leaving a possibility for more students to have to quarantine in the future. It is hard for social distancing to take place in a large number of classrooms because of the space. Students and teachers should continue to follow health and safety protocols to keep the chances of having to quarantine low.

There have been a large amount of schools who have been in session full time, and have done so with little to no COVID outbreaks. Hopefully this can be achieved throughout USD 305. As long as people continue to use precaution when it comes to the places they go and the people they are around, there should not be any problems.

FRESHMAN “I am not prepared to go back to school full time. My sleep schedule is not ready for it either.” -Makenzie Packard

SOPHOMORE “I think we should have stayed with the current schedule, because there are only two months of school left.” -Aleah Shaw

JUNIOR “I feel like it’s the right thing to do even though all of us like getting out early. I feel like the people that have been struggling with their grades this year will be able to get them up.” -Ellie Haines

SENIOR “I feel like the new schedule can bring new opportunities to get work completed in class, rather than have a lot of homework to do outside of class time.” -Ryan Schafer

STAFF

4

Feature

04.01.21

See yourself In Government

By Hannah Kipp

Joeseph Biden, recently elected President of the United States,

First of a Kind

New leaders make history

Lloyd Austin

First African-American Secretary of Defense

Sarah McBride First openly transgender senator in the United States

Cori Bush

First African-American congresswoman in the state of Missouri

Ritchie Torres

First openly gay African-American congressman

began making serious changes since his inaguaration on Jan. 20.

Before starting in office, the Biden administration promised a 100 day mask wearing protocol in regards to the pandemic. Following that promise came the “American Rescue Plan” which works to improve the economic and health crisis the American people are facing during the pandemic. This plan will create a national vaccine program in hopes to reopen schools; send stimulus checks to every qualifying household in the United States for economic relief; and work with communities that are struggling the most.

On Feb. 21, President Biden tweeted, “Overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic needs to be our top priority as a nation. I joined members of my team to talk about our plan to get it done.”

On Feb. 22, in a similar tweet President Biden urged American citizens to take the vaccine despite public controversy, “For yourself, your family, your community, our country — take the vaccine when it’s your turn and available. That’s how we’ll beat this pandemic.”

Kamala Harris, newly elected Vice President of the United States,

is the epitome of American firsts. Not only is she the first woman ever to be elected into the position of Vice President, Harris is also the first black and Asian-American individual to be in her position. Her husband, Doug Emhoff, officially became the first ‘Second Gentleman’ of the United States as another addition to her list of firsts.

After her inauguration alongside President Biden, Harris began her many duties by swearing in individuals to government positions.

On her personal twitter page, Harris posted various pictures of the swearing in of different candidates for the entire month of February. One picture in particular was given the caption “Congratulations, Mr. Secretary” in regards to newly appointed Secretary of Education, Pete Buttigieg.

Although Harris has been busy working on her individual projects, she continues to support President Biden in his work on the new ‘American Rescue Plan’ against the spread of COVID-19. Her online presence and sway with the younger demographic has allowed her twitter platform to be a source of campaigning.

“About 2.5 million women have been forced out of the workforce during the pandemic,” Harris tweeted on March 2. “It’s time for the Senate to act.”

Moving forward, Harris will continue to create opportunities for minorities and support the Biden administration in full.

What Has Changed?

1 Reversal of the 2 unconstitutional Muslim ban

Rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement

of 3 Repealed the law 4 Instatement the American against transgender individuals joining the military

Rescue Plan against COVID

04.01.21

1

Feature

START EARLY

3

take a 2 practice test

maintain self-care

ACT Prep class available through summer school

4 Set a

5 have a

5

study Schedule

Reasonable Goal

5 ways to prepare for the ACT

By Kamryn Kulas

ACT math tips

#1

Pay Attention to Diagrams

The ACT math section will often provide you with diagrams of figures that describe the problem you’re trying to answer. It’s important to pay attention to these figures, as they will give you clues about which answer choices are the most logical.

#2 Plug In Answers and Numbers

Two of the most important strategies to help you confirm you’ve got the correct answer on a math problem are to plug in answers and plug in numbers.

ACT english tips

ACT reading tips

Concise Answer

#1 Start With Your

#1 Choose the Most

ACT English questions look for answers that result in straightforward, logical sentence structure, so try to find the choice that provides the necessary information for the sentence to make grammatical sense.

#2

Read the Paragraph First

Read the whole paragraph that has the sentence you must revise before you look at the answer choices. This will give you context for your choices and a better grasp on the structure of the sentence.

#3

Be Careful With “No Change” Answers

On ACT English questions that ask you to choose the answer that makes a sentence grammatically correct, you’ll have the option to pick “No Change.”

Strengths

The ACT reading section is always structured the same way with four topic areas in the same order. Each topic corresponds to a passage or pair of passages. These topics are: Prose fiction/literary narrative Social science Humanities Natural science

#2 Skim Passages There’s a lot of time pressure on the ACT reading section, so try to read the passages as efficiently as possible. For some students, it might be okay to read passages normally and still have enough time to finish the section, but they have to be a really quick and thorough reader in order to do this.

6

Teen Mental Health

Feature

04.01.21

By Hannah Kipp

Jim Allen

Freshman Counselor Jim.Allen@usd305.com illustrated by shawna rohrig

Between schoolwork, outside of school responsibilities, social relationships and the stress that comes with the pandemic, students are seeing an increase in mental health issues. Mental health is usually forgotten about when other responsibilities take priority, such as keeping a grade up, taking extra shifts at work or even struggling to turn in an assignment online.

“We are getting to a point in our life where things are, for a lot of students, more overwhelming. I hear that word a lot, ‘I’m overwhelmed.’ Which likely relates to an increase in depression, anxiety or however that might present itself,” senior counselor Melanie Goodrich said.

Given the current circumstances with

the pandemic, these priorities have students feeling like they are drowning in stressful situations. Students have less social interaction among their peers due to the current schedule and overall distancing from one another.

“Students are used to having a full seven and a half hour day where they get that full socioemotional interaction with their friends,” freashman counselor Jim Allen said. “The way that we’re doing things right now, in the hybrid, they don’t get as much interaction, and when they go home a lot of times they are by themselves.”

There are a considerable number of resources available for students in need of help through the district. Students can e-mail their counselor for more information.

“

Amy Wagner

Sophomore

Counselor

Amy.Wagner@usd305.com

Heather Smith

Junior Counselor

Heather.Smith@usd305.com

Melanie Goodrich

Senior Counselor

Melanie.Goodrich@usd305.com

Not knowing when I was going to see people Lindsey Sellers was really stressful; not knowing if they were Counseling Dept. Chair okay or how it would affect my family.

Junior Jadyn McLaughlin

”

Lindsey.Sellers@usd305.com

04.01.21

Feature

6 ways to help insomnia

7

By Kamryn Kulas

What are the 1 Apps to help you sleep Stay active Causes for & MEDITATE Insomnia in Teens?

Insomnia has been estimated to affect up to 23.8% of teens. Biological changes push teens toward a later, “night owl” sleep schedule, but they usually can’t sleep as long as they would like in the morning because of school start times.

Teens may be especially susceptible to overscheduling and stress from school, work and social obligations. Teens also have high rates of using electronic devices in their bedroom. Each of these factors contributes to a high rate of insomnia during adolescence.

Insomnia is a sleep disorder that affects as many as 35% of adults. It is marked by problems getting to sleep, staying asleep through the night and sleeping as long as you would like into the morning. It can have serious effects, leading to excessive daytime sleepiness, a higher risk of auto accidents and widespread health effects from sleep deprivation.

Common causes of insomnia include stress, an irregular sleep schedule, poor sleeping habits, mental health disorders like anxiety and depression, physical illnesses and pain, medications, neurological problems and specific sleep disorders.

What If I Still Can’t Fall Asleep?

If you get into bed and cannot fall asleep after 20 minutes, get up, go to another part of your house, and do something soothing, such as reading or listening to quiet music.

Lying awake in bed for too long can create an unhealthy mental connection between your sleeping environment and wakefulness. Instead, you want your bed to conjure thoughts and feelings conducive to sleep.

2

Avoid naps 3

Avoid caffeine

Headspace has made a name for itself as a meditation app, but it's also great for sleep.

The free version has "sleepcasts," which are 45-55 minute-long audio experiences that help you visualize calming experiences, like a slow moving train or a walk through a garden.

There are new stories every night, so you you'll never get bored.

4 Avoid large meals

5get plenty sunlight exposure

6

Avoid nicotine

This super simple app lets you choose from a bunch of different sounds (like thunder, wind, white noise, and even the buzz of a coffee shop) to create your ideal sleep soundtrack. Pro tip: If you’re using it overnight, keep your phone plugged in-otherwise, you may wake up to a dead battery.

With Pzizz, you can set a timer for the length of a sleep session so it plays a soothing dreamscape (read: combo of music, voiceovers, and sound effects) while you snooze; then, you can wake up to the built-in alarm.

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Feature

04.01.21

Humans Of

By Autumn Dunshie

Sophomore

Vincent Nouanlasy

“Med invest has taught me a lot. It has taught me to do something you love, not only something that will make you a lot of money. I have learned that I am interested in going into something with pharmaceuticals.

My parents make me want to do better in school. I want to use my education so that I am not constantly working.

Advice that I would give my younger self would be to do what you want to because you will not have another chance.”

Freshman “This year I have gotten out of my comfort zone a lot. I really think this is because of the coronavirus. I have talked to and met a lot of new people.

The way I have met these people is through my classes and sports. I am in volleyball, band and STUCO. People around me have made it really easy to break out my shell and be more social.

My favorite thing that I have been involved in this year is volleyball. It has gotten me to be a lot more physically active. I have learned how to set goals and achieve them, which I have not been able to do before. This year has been different. I feel that we had stronger communication skills with my coaches and teammates.”

Kinsley Windhorst

Freshman “My English teacher, Mr. (Juan) Maldonado, has motivated me to try my hardest in school. This is because he tells us how little he tried in school and his consequences. He made me realize that I do not want to be like that. I have tried really hard this year and have gotten straight A’s; I hope to be able to keep straight A’s.

Another reason that I am motivated to try hard is because my sister dropped out of school. I see where she is living and how her life is going; I do not want to have to live like that.

This year I have surprised myself. I never saw myself getting straight A’s. I did not see myself living in the same house. I am improving my life and doing it for myself to have a better future.”

Junior

04.01.21

Feature

South High 7.0

Nicole Medley

Junior

9

Justice Martinson

“High school has opened my eyes because it has given me many opportunities in the sense of meeting new people and having new experiences. In my opinion, this is a good thing because it teaches you how to process and react in the right way.

I would tell my younger self that it will be okay. It gets really hard, but there are ways to get through it. Even if you feel you are at rock bottom, you will get through it.”

Senior Aidan Heusman “Theater is definitely my favorite thing that I have been in during high school. I like acting and building sets at set crew.

Theater and drama club are like a home away from home. They are both full of amazing people who feel like a second family to me. I go to nearly every event we have, and dedicate a large amount of time to the department. My favorite musical I was in was called, Musical Comedy Murders of 1940. I played the murderer and I used a German accent.

Throughout high school so far, I have learned a lot about myself. I am not at all the person I thought I was. Personally, this is not a bad thing. I am a lot more open as a person than I realized. I am also very humble.”

“After high school I am planning to get a degree in social work. At K.U. this is a five year masters degree. I want to guide people to be their best selves and help heal the broken. I am wanting to take this degree to work in either victim advocacy or juvenile court liaison.

My favorite thing that I have been involved in throughout high school has been theater. I have helped in nearly every show since I have been in high school. I have done everything in shows from being an extra to stage managing.

I began doing the shows marketing and I really like it. I have helped design the posters and helped spread the word about the shows. Theater has taught me many things; one thing is to not judge a book by its cover. Also that actions have consequences. A final thing is that corporations need to take responsibility for what they do.”

Andrew Lagerman

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Things to do in Salina

Feature

04.01.21

By Jorge Navarro

The Alley 115 E Ash St

The Alley is a popular attraction for Salina locals. Things to do there include bowling, an arcade, laser tag and a sports grill. This is a great place to go to have a good time with friends or family.

Lakewood Park 1323 E. Iron

Lakewood park has many things you can do while being there. People can go on a bike ride, go on a walk, disc golf, playgrounds or even go fishing.

The Salina Fieldhouse 115 E Ash St

The Salina Fieldhouse has great programs for many different sports.

People can go in and play indoor soccer, basketball, volleyball and even baseball. It is open to the public with anyone being able to reserve it when available.

04.01.21

Feature

Local Businesses

11 Ad Astra

141 N Santa Fe Ave

Ad Astra is a great place to study where it’s quiet. People can go sit down and drink coffee while reading a book available there. There is a vinyl night every week on Wednesdays.

Cozy Inn Hamburgers 108 N Seventh St

Cozy Inn in Salina has was opened in 1922. It is a classic burger place in Salina, and is very loved by many Salina locals. All of their burgers are made with onions. All of their burgers are also made on the same grill since 1922.

On The Pot

111 N Santa Fe Ave

On The Pot is a place where people can make plates, cups, and pots. As of right now, they have special hours because of COVID. They are open Tuesday-Friday 12-6 p.m for pick ups.

The Scheme 123 N Seventh St

The Scheme is a classic pizzeria. They serve pizza with fresh ingredients.

They pride themselves on offering a unique and affordable dining experience.

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Sports

04.01.21

The Last Four Months

By Lizzy Franco

Boys Bowling

State qualifiers - senior Griffin Peterson and freshman Campbell Peterson

photo by brooklyne baird

Girls Bowling

Senior Stella Gestl - 18th at state Team finished 6th at state

photo by brooklyne baird

Wrestling

Senior Brandon Jeffries - 5th at state Junior Kayson Dietz - 6th at state photo by denalyn vasquez

04.01.21

13

Sports

Boys Basketball 15 - 4 overall record

All- AVCTL Div 1 League honors: First team - senior Josh Jordan Second team - senior Devon Junghans Honorable Mentions - seniors Colin Schreiber and AJ Johnson

photo by lexi doherty

Girls Basketball

10 - 11 overall record

All-AVCTL Div 1 League honors: Second team - sophomore Acacia Weis Honorable Mentions - juniors Kylie Arnold and Sydney Peterson and senior Lizzy Franco photo by lexi doherty

Boys Swimming

Senior Kyle Iselin - 4th in 100 yd back and 12th in 50 yd free at state Senior Keegan Exline - 12th in 100 yd back and 17th in 100 yd fly at state Sophomore Haden Smith - 13th in one meter diving at state Exline, Iselin, junior Trey Berland and senior Miles Hammond - 14th in 400 yd free relay and 15th in 200 yd medley relay at state photo by evie barth

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Feature

04.01.21

journalists compete Virtually Leadership team Takes First

By Zaida Segura

Senior Hannah Kipp

regional Participants • Lizzy Franco • Hannah Kipp • Autumn Dunshie • Jorge Navarro • Zaida Segura • Lexi Doherty • Nathan Mcconell • Evie Barth

This was senior Hannah Kipp’s first year participating in the Kansas Scholastic Press Associations regional contest which was held virtually in the months of Jan. and Feb. She competed in the copy editing, student life photography and news writing competitions. However, she placed first in the copy editing competition and will compete in the state contest in April, which will also be a virtual contest.

“Tripodium staff has allowed me to be more aware of current events, but I also have improved in my writing skills and my understanding of the Associated Press style, said Kipp who is the Tripodium copy editor.

“For the most part, I enjoy journalism because of the expression that writing allows; even though the stories have very specific information, a writer can bring the story to life in their own way,” Kipp said.

This year was the first year Kipp has participated in the KSPA regionals, so working online wasn’t anything strange to her.

“I was surprised to know I placed first in the copyrighting competition, Kipp said.

Some word of advice Kipp wants to leave next year’s staff is that writing stories can be fun, but only if they make it fun.

The Regional Placers will compete in the virtual state competition in April.

Hannah KipP: First in copy Editing Lizzy Franco: Fourth in sports Writing, fifth in Yearbook Sports Writing, Sixth in Sports Photography, Fourth in Yearbook Theme Development, second in digital illustration Autumn Dunshie: Sixth in Cutline writing, fifth in Theme Development, Fourth in News Page Design Nathan McConNell: fifth in Winter in the Heartland Photography, Third in Video PSA Lexi Doherty: First in Sports Video, First in Sports Photography, fifth in Multimedia storytelling Evie BaRth: Third in Advertising Design, Fifth in Multimedia Storytelling, fourth in Sports Photography

Senior Tiana Marion

Leadership team •Maya Daily •Nathan Streeter •Morgan Fischer •Tiana Marion •Reese Altman

Senior Tiana Marion was a part of the Leadership Team who placed first at the Washburn Leadership Event earlier in March. This competition is one of the few events that was held in person this year.

Members of the team were seniors Maya Daily, Nathan Streeter, Morgan Fischer, Tiana Marion and Reese Altman.

Marion has succeeded both with the Leadership Team and debate where her and senior Maya Daily qualified for State Debate.

She said leadership to her is caring about other people and helping them along the way with their goals.

“It’s more about doing things with them rather than trying to teach them,” Marion said.

Her words of advice for students who take leadership roles is to care and have having fun.

“Care about making sure that people are having fun in the activities and have fun watching people grow and walking along side people rather than trying to put your own goals on them,” Marion said.

Leadership Team placed first in Leadership contest.

04.01.21

Feature

Debate Duo takes state

Junior Seth Carter and sophomore Fransisco Guardado work during the state debate competition.

Seniors Eileen Escobedo and Miriam Benevides work through their final competitions.

Senior Maya Daily focuses on her state debate competition.

Senior Miriam Benevides, senior Eileen Escobedo, junior Seth Carter and sophomore Francisco Guardado all working together to get done with their virtual competitions. photos by to denalyn vasquez

Forensics

15

Senior Maya Daily

Senior Madison Turner

This was Senior Maya Daily last year competing in debate with her time at SouthHigh.

Daily is the 5A state two-speaker debate champion with senior Tiana Marion.

“Being a 5A State Champion was exhilarating I got third place last year so I was aiming to beat that, and it was great knowing I was done,” Daily said.

Daily said that the difference with this year’s competitions was that everything was virtually and the team didn’t get the opportunity to see or compete face to face. One of Mayas biggest challenges with this team was with the technology used in competition “It took a while to get set up and once in a while we would have technology issues. Adapting to the issues was hard,” Daily said.

Daily also shared some words of advice to future debaters “It’s a steep learning curve, but you get a lot of value from what you do with it,” Daily said.

Daily learned a lot of important things her time on the team.

“I learned a lot about current events. The topics are very relevant I will remember the insight I gained and differing perspectives,” she said.

Senior Madison Turner has been part of the forensics team all four years with her time at South High.

One of her biggest challenges of competing virtually was making adjustments during competition.

“Adjusting is everything. You have to make sure your voice is projected and you’re always being seen in the camera,” Turner said.

She has words for advice to those interested in forensics.

“It can be a lot of work but at the end of the day it all pays off tremendously,” Turner said.

While her time on the team she has learned to speak her mind more and to not be scared if her opinion differs from others.

Her favorite memory was when she went to Nationals her sophomore year in Florida “It was a very fun place to go and competition was challenging,” Turner said.

16

Lets

Prom

04.01.21

Glow Crazy Salina South Prom 2021 April 10, 2021 Session 1 (Juniors): 7:30-9:00 Session 2 (Seniors): 9:30-11:00 Crowning at 9:15

The Temple 336 Santa Fe Ave

Masks and Identification are required to enter the dance Prom King Candidates: Joshua Amador, Owen Bulleigh, Dev Patel, Derrick Roberts and Colin Schreiber Prom Queen Candidates: Kassidy Adams, Evie Barth, Maeci Exline, Grace Hilbert and Jaia Varela