The Budget

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the

Budget

Lawrence High School lhsbudget.com

Est. 1897

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Snowpocalypse causes problems: The soccer team, along with other LHS teams, got in trouble for clearing the snow off their fields and courts after it piled on for days. Features pg 6-7

Not your average teen moms Students experience fake pregnancy in class By Yu Kyung Lee Coming back from the Feb. 28 snow day, sophomore Kelsey Guthrie was quick to part ways with Taylor, her infant daughter. Even though Guthrie had been waiting since last semester to have a chance at taking care of Taylor, a couple days was enough to change her mind. Frankly, teacher of human growth and development Kristi Henderson was used to it. Worn out and done: That was how most students were after taking

1901 Louisiana St., Lawrence, KS 66046

care of a Baby Think It Over — a computer baby — over the weekend. “Usually when they come in on Monday mornings, they are dying to get rid of it, saying, ‘Cut this thing off of me. I’m done. I don’t want it anymore,’ ” Henderson said. Taking care of the Baby Think It Over simulator is part of the curriculum for the human growth and development class and what convinced Guthrie to take the class. “The purpose is for them to have a simulative experience of what it’s like to care for a child on their own,” Henderson said. Naturally, the process began with pregnancy. Students had to wear a 25-pound water-filled empathy belly around their waists for a day that let

them experience what a pregnant woman feels on any given day of her third trimester. “The fake pregnancy was pretty much to see how it felt to walk around with that much extra weight and see what people’s reactions were to it,” Guthrie said. “I gained 30 pounds in two minutes. It was really heavy. I didn’t wear it all day.” It’s an exhausting task, Henderson said. “They get overheated, tired, cranky, difficult to go to the bathroom — all the enjoyable things you have to do when you are really pregnant.” The empathy belly’s design included two balls that press against the lungs, causing pain, shortness of breath and even bruises in some. For senior Aleigha Green, with a petite frame of 4-foot, 10 inches, the 25 pounds Photo Illustration by Abby Gillamof added weight

made for a particularly difficult workout in her aerobics class. “My legs went numb and my back hurt,” Green said. “It really felt like I was pregnant.” Green also noted a peculiar side-effect of the empathy belly. “I ate a lot,” Green said. “I know I wasn’t really pregnant but I did — I ate a lot of food.” Continued on page 2

After a day with the empathy belly, freshman Asia Williams relieves herself of the strenuous toll of carrying the 25 pound weight meant to simulate pregnancy with the help of teacher Jennifer Hare. Photo by Gracie Rinke

Vol. 123, Issue 8, March 13, 2013


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