Issue 1: The Budget 2016-17

BUDGET

Lawrence High School

08 Teachers ask for preferred pronouns

15 Students get

involved in Black Lives Matter

20 Travis Barfield honored by teammates

Volume 124, Issue 1 — Sept. 22, 2016

2 • THE BUDGET

IN THIS ISSUE 05

06

09

Students play Pokemon GO Students build school in Haiti Preferred pronouns used

16

18

20

Racial disparities shown in numbers

BUDGET

Lawrence High School

Volume 124, Issue 1 — Sept. 22, 2016

BY EMILY GORDON-ROSS

Fall sports kick off their seasons

STAFF WRITER 08 Teachers ask

Team honors Travis Barfield

for preferred pronouns

15 Students get

involved in Black Lives Matter

20 Travis Barfield honored by teammates

10

22

Parade route changed

12

24

Band puts on two shows

Students active in Teacher grows Black Lives Matter apples

ON THE COVER — Junior Avery Mulally holds a candle during a Black Lives Matter vigil July 10 in South Park. Mulally spoke at the event. Photo by Ian Jones

lhsbudget.com STORIES

+Fall assembly +Sunflower League map

VIDEOS Coach faces cancer

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+ @lhsbudget on Instagram and Twitter +lhsbudget on YouTube

TEACHERS JOIN LHS

Black Lives Matter vigil Gymnastics team grows

This year, LHS has gained at least eight new staff members, including counselor Kimberly Wright, math teachers Wayne Rush and Gary Graves, and media and video production teacher Zach Saltz.

Scott Lane, the new civics and modern world history teacher, came to LHS to work closer to home and spend more time with his family. He has been teaching for 13 years. The last school Lane taught at had only 190 students. “[My plans are] just trying to get to know the kids and trying to figure out, you know… where to go in the school.

It’s like a maze,” Lane said.

Zachary Puckett, the new Latin teacher, spends mornings here, then teaches at Free State in the afternoon.

Puckett has taught for 11 years, and is a Firebird alumnus.

“I graduated from Free State in 2003, but I think this school might be better,” Puckett said. “The spirit here [demonstrated] by faculty and students makes Free State pale in comparison.”

LAUXMAN TAKES ON STUCO

BY EMILY GORDON-ROSS

STAFF WRITER

English teacher Keri Lauxman is taking over as Student Council sponsor this year after six years during which the program was led by Jason Lichte.

When students heard the news that Lichte was leaving last year, the question of who would be the new StuCo sponsor remained unanswered.

“When we found out Mr. Lichte was leaving, we were all pretty much in shock for most

of the day,” StuCo president Apramay Mishra said. “When you think of Student Council, you think of Lichte as sort of being a central figure.”

Mishra said Lauxman was the first choice of executive board members, and they asked her in May if she would take it on.

“I thought about it and recognized it would be a great fit for me, and that I wanted to be a part of their team, so I accepted their invitation,” she said.

One of Lauxman’s goals this year is to have a larger voice from the student population.

SEPT. 22, 2016 • PAGE DESIGN BY ALICIA RUDER

“What I really want to bring to the table is including more voices from the student body in our activities and in our meetings,” she said. “[Another goal is] really pumping up the advisory board that hears from other members of the student body, getting more student involvement across diverse student groups.”

SPONSOR — English teacher Keri Lauxman teaches her fourth-hour class on Sept. 16. She has added Student Council to the list of courses she teaches this year. Photo by Abby English

THE BUDGET • 3

POSITIVE OUTLOOK

“I’VE ALWAYS EMBRACED THE OPPORTUNITIES AND HOW LUCKY I AM. I HAVE A FANTASTIC FAMILY. I WORK WITH KIDS,

Teacher and coach faces AND THE TEACHERS I WORK WITH ARE AMAZING. SO I CAN’T breast cancer diagnosis.

Learn more about the story GET MUCH BETTER.” at lhsbudget.com.

—STEPHANIE MAGNUSON, MATH TEACHER & VOLLEYBALL COACH

STUDENTS TEST LAPTOPS, IPADS

BY NIKKI AQUI

STAFF WRITER

Students are testing laptops and iPads this semester as the district moves closer to putting a device in the hands of every student.

Already, blended classes use technology like computers and iPads in class, but an initiative has begun to have students use these devices all the time.

“The middle schools went oneto-one with the iPads this school year,” assistant principal Mike Norris said. “So every middle schooler has an iPad. When that decision was made, it became debated whether or not we wanted to have iPads or MacBooks for the high school level, and which would be more beneficial for the high schoolers.”

Students in classes such as Spanish 4 and AP Environmental Science have been issued MacBooks for this quarter. Free State students testing the devices were issued iPad. After nine weeks, the schools will trade devices.

“The teachers who are piloting are the teachers who volunteered to be on the district technology task force committee just to look at this stuff first-hand,” Norris said.

Photo by Cooper Avery

SAVE THE DATE: 5 EVENTS YOU SHOULDN’T MISS

By Nikki Aqui

1

SEPT. 23 Homecoming Game versus Shawnee Mission West •7 p.m.

•Football field •Crowning at halftime

2

SEPT. 24 Homecoming Dance •8 p.m.

•Rotunda

3

SEPT. 24 5K in memorial of graduate Reese Wright-Conklin •8 a.m.

•South Lawrence •Trafficway Trail •rwc5k.eventbrite.com

4

OCT. 12 College Fair •6:30 p.m.

•College and Career Center •Colleges from Kansas and other states will be there

5

OCT. 14-15 Fall Play “Almost Maine” •7:30 p.m.

•Auditorium •Features stories about relationships

PAGE DESIGN BY ALICIA RUDER • SEPT. 22, 2016

THE BUDGET • 5

Features

STUDENTS POKÉMON GO Nostalgia evoked this summer by the popular iPhone/Android app

BY CONNOR SCHMAUS

STAFF WRITER

T

his summer, Pokémon GO was draining students’ phone batteries as they trekked up and down Mass Street and other densely populated sections of town.

Developed by software company Niantic, Pokémon GO brings the whimsical world of Pokémon to life, at-

tracting old fans and newcomers alike. With more than 100 million downloads, the game is the most downloaded application in history, with more than twice as many downloads as Facebook.

Students were no strangers to this, as the app took the United States by storm. After 20 years of games, the goal remained the same: You gotta catch ‘em all.

Students explained how they nabbed their best Pokémon while playing the game.

Gracynn Scott Junior

Izzy Christiansen Junior

Samuel Greene Junior

Jade Zimmerli Senior

Elliot Bradley Freshman

Akia Miles Sophomore

Best Pokemon Eevee

Best Pokemon Flareon

Best Pokemon Gastly

Best Pokemon Pikachu

Best Pokemon Vaporeon

Team "Valor, but I wish I was Instinct."

Team Mystic

Best Pokemon "Pidgey. I didn’t play the game for very long."

Team Valor

Team Valor

Team Mystic

Memorable experience "I witnessed an actual fight at Holcom. People were literally fighting over a gym."

Memorable experience “Well, catching this Pikachu. It kind of surprised me because I was just walking downtown with my friends.”

Memorable experience "I think it’s cool how it’s gotten me and everyone else to actually walk around and meet people."

Memorable experience "I scared a kid when I yelled, 'Gotta catch ‘em all!' He almost fell off his bike."

Memorable experience "My parents and I caught Snorlaxes at the exact same time on Mass Street."

Team "I didn’t get far enough to be on a team, but I would be on Mystic."

Memorable experience "I was 'jumped' by a bunch of Slowbros. It was really quite terrifying."

PAGE DESIGN BY CADE BURGHART • SEPT. 22, 2016

6 • THE BUDGET Features

QUICK TAKE How much money was raised?

$38,000

How many students went on the trip?

9

2 How many weeks were they gone?

2

How many people worked on the school?

300

What village were they in?

Abraham

Population of Haiti

10.32 million

WORKING FOR A CAUSE Students go to Haiti, during the summer to build school for the village of Abraham through BuildOn

BY IZZY HEDGES

STAFF WRITER

W

hile most students were happy to have a couple months away from school, three students spent their summer

building one.

June 23 through July 1, juniors Claire Walther, Tia Herrman and Quentin Harrington went to Haiti to help build a school in the village of Abraham through the program BuildOn. “My favorite part was definitely the first day we got into the village,” Walther said. “They had this amazing welcoming ceremony for us, and they were all singing songs and all of the school kids had come and made us signs.”

The project began the year before when Maddy Johnson, a Free State junior, mentioned BuildOn to Barbara Nitz, who was a sixth-grade teacher at Southwest Middle School for the six students who needed a sponsor for the Haiti trip.

“I was quick to say that I would do it,” Nitz said. “Working with these young people was a delight. It was hard work leading up to the trip with fundraising, but the kids made it fun.”

The group — made up of Free State and LHS students — raised $40,000 during the year. They held bake sales, garage sales and sold coffee provided by BuildOn. Once in Haiti, students got to help build the school they had raised money for.

“When we got there, we started

SEPT. 22, 2016 • PAGE DESIGN BY KYLE BREY

digging holes for foundational things, and we started shifting rocks from a big pile of rocks that they got shipped there and stacked them along and created the wall,” Walther said. “We made some rebar for the sides of it and then started cementing in the foundation.”

Students were separated into groups staying with Haitian families. Most villagers didn’t speak English, creating communication challenges.

“Some other people in the village spoke a little English, but our family completely didn’t, so there was a lot of laughing, a lot of trial and error,” Walther said. “A lot of charades and acting out what we needed to do.”

Students who took part in this trip said they were eager to take another trip through BuildOn. “It was a pretty life-changing trip, you know, to see what kind of poverty they had there and to know that I helped,” Harrington said.

A few weeks after returning from Haiti, Nitz received a picture of the finished school. It’s white with red trim, saying “Ecole Nationale D’Abraham, Aout 2016” in French, meaning “The School of Abraham, August 2016.”

“I certainly came away with a sense of gratefulness for all I have been blessed with, but the villagers felt blessed as well,” Nitz said. “The most profound effect of the trip is that a group of 10 people from Lawrence, Kan., was able to raise enough money to provide an impoverished village with a beautiful brand new school. It is a legacy to leave in this world.”

Features THE BUDGET • 7

“THEY HAD THIS AMAZING WELCOMING CEREMONY FOR US, AND THEY WERE ALL SINGING SONGS AND ALL OF THE SCHOOL KIDS HAD COME AND MADE US SIGNS.” ­—CLAIRE WALTHER, JUNIOR

TO THE BEAT — A Haitian child drums while villagers and students work on constructing a new school in the village of Abraham.

“They would play and occasionally dance along while we were working,” junior Quentin Harrington said. Photo courtesy of Claire Walther ON THE LINE — Volunteers work at a rock line to help create the foundation for the school in Haiti. “It was really fun because as we were passing the rocks they taught us different words in Creole,” Harrington said. Photo courtesy of Claire Walther COMING TOGETHER — Junior Claire Walther poses with her and junior Tia Herrman’s family in Haiti. “We had just finished doing a dance circle and it got really dark,” Walther said.

“We got the camera out and did a little night photo shoot, which the kids really enjoyed.”

Photo courtesy of Claire Walther

PAGE DESIGN BY KYLE BREY • SEPT. 22, 2016

8 • THE BUDGET Features

“I THINK IT’S IMPORTANT TO RESPECT SOMEONE’S WISHES ABOUT WHAT PRONOUNS THEY WANT TO HAVE USED. AND I RESPECT EVERYONE’S IDENTITY, AND THAT’S HOW I WANT TO SHOW IT.” —ANDREW BRICKER, SCIENCE TEACHER SEPT. 22, 2016 • PAGE DESIGN BY HARRY EASLEY

Features THE BUDGET • 9

INCLUSIVE INTROS

Teachers reach out to students to learn the pronouns they prefer to use

BY ADDISSON THORNSBURY

STAFF WRITER

I

t’s the first day of school. Most teachers commerce their classes lightly with the typical getting-toknow-you activities that have been used for decades. But this year, some teachers chose a different route.

At the beginning of class, a few teachers handed out notecards that asked students for their preferred names and pronouns. Whether a student uses she/her, he/him or they/them pronouns, these cards are intended to make transgender students more comfortable at school.

Science teacher Andrew Bricker decided to go even further, writing his pronouns on the whiteboard: he, him, his. Bricker hopes the effort will normalize the usage of pronouns preferred by students.

“In general, I think everybody should be included and appreciated in their wholeness,” Bricker said. “I think it’s important to respect someone’s wishes about what pronouns they want to have used. And I respect everyone’s identity, and that’s how I want to show it. It’s so fundamental to what I think is right.”

Before school started, teachers had the option to attend a panel created REACHING OUT — Science teacher Andrew Bricker opened the school year by writing his preferred gender pronouns on the board and then asking his students what they preferred to be called. Photo illustration by Hannah Gaines

by special education teacher and Total Equality Alliance sponsor Lindsay Buck which discussed LGBTQ+ issues, focusing on transgender students.

“At the end of last year, our department took a first look at gender-neutral pronoun systems,” French teacher Megan Hurt said. “And at this year’s back-to-school professional development day for all teachers and staff, there was a panel discussion that was very informative. Although well attended, it was not, however, required.”

Last school year, the district began taking a broader look at how it meets the needs of LGBTQ+ students.

Former superintendent Rick Doll created a task force for addressing LGBTQ+ needs throughout the district, including education on pronouns. Some other issues included gender neutral restrooms. This comes on the backdrop of the U.S. Department of Education also issuing guidelines to schools throughout the country — guidelines that many states, including lawmakers in Kansas, are objecting to.

Eight months of meetings and data collection later, the LGBTQ+ Task Force presented a report to the school board in May. Also this summer, Doll shared a list of items to be addressed with school board members. However, Doll retired, and some staff and students worry that because of this switch, not all planned items may be executed, but the school board may push for change. “...The school board members are the ones with the power to create posi-

tive change for our LGBTQ+ students,” Buck said.

Teachers who have adopted pronoun cards said they really won’t affect the way they address their classes.

“If a student has indicated a preference for a certain pronoun, it’ll be used,” Hurt said.

Latin teacher Zachary Puckett had some extra information to offer.

“I have been trying for the last year or two to stop using pronouns altogether in favor of the students’ names,” he said. “Also, when it comes to class competitions, I have tried to stop doing boys vs. girls.”

Sophomore Etana Parks said it hurts when teachers refuse to use correct pronouns.

“I don’t want to sound rude when I say this, but there is no other way to explain it,” said Parks, who is transgender. “They are closed-minded, and that’s really what it really comes down to. If you are not willing to respect a trans student’s name and their pronouns, you are working against it. You’re basically saying, ‘Hey, I don’t respect you…’ They are like, ‘What you are born as, is what you are born as.’ And that’s kind of a slap in the face.”

Teachers using the cards say they hope they will increase their students’ comfort at school.

“I think that adding a pronouns section to the intro cards is one of our first baby steps toward creating an even more inclusive environment at LHS and in the district,” Puckett said.

IDENTITY PRONOUNS SUBJECT PRONOUNS He She They

OBJECT PRONOUNS Him Her Them

POSSESSIVE DETERMINER His Her Their

POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS His Hers Theirs

REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS Himself Herself Themself

PAGE DESIGN BY HARRY EASLEY • SEPT. 22, 2016

10 • THE BUDGET Features

MEET THE CANDIDATES

Homecoming candidates share what their ideal dates would include

BY EMILY GORDON-ROSS

STAFF WRITER

CADE BURGHART

“Watching repeats of ‘Wrestlemania’ while having intense conversations about politics or something like that.”

ALEXIS KRIEGH

“Going on a date to the dog park, then ditching my date to hang with the dogs.”

TREY MOORE

DJ DAVIS

“Definitely just playing FIFA with a girl all night long. That’d be awesome.”

NOAH KUCZA

“Taking multiple trips to the ice cream shop, then ditching my date.”

JACOB UNRUH

“Just going out anywhere in nature “A candlelit dinner, with rose and just enjoying the outdoors petals around while eating Pizza with tea or something to drink and Shuttle.” just sitting out and enjoying a nice view. Just talking.”

SEPT. 22, 2016 • PAGE DESIGN BY EMMA HOWARD

AMELIA DUNLAP

“Get dressed up really fancy, and go to a nice dinner in a limousine — not in a limousine — but take the limousine to dinner and go scuba diving after.”

APRAMAY MISHRA

“My ideal date would be… I can’t answer this question.”

HANNAH REED

“April 24, like in ‘Miss Congeniality.’ Probably a rainy day, going to Encore, getting bubble tea and sesame chicken, and then going back and watching a fun movie.”

JA’MYA DYE

“Going to the Cheesecake Factory and eating some cheesecake.”

EMMA POSLER

“It starts out with breakfast food with pancakes and blueberries, and then we will go on a hike and it’s really beautiful and it’s fall... After that we watch ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ at my house.”

KARA SMITH

“The perfect date is McDonalds then home. Some unsweetened ice tea then some Rom Com.” Photos by Cooper Avery

News THE BUDGET • 11

News

PARADE REROUTED

BY MACY LANDES

NEWS EDITOR

For a school like Lawrence High that relies so heavily on tradition, it’s unusual to see changes being made to past customs.

This year, that’s exactly what’s happening to the Homecoming parade route.

Historically, the parade has started at South Park, run down Massachusetts Street, then ended at LHS. This year, it plans called for it to start near 21st and Stewart Avenue and end, again, at Lawrence High.

“The concern on the part of the city was having Mass. Street and 19th Street not closed off to traffic and cars, and it just became a concern for them for student safety,” assistant principal Mark Preut said. “So the decision was to move the parade route off of Mass., off of 19th Street.”

The decision to move the parade from Friday directly after school to 6:30

Years of tradition will come to an end with this year’s parade

p.m. Wednesday was also new.

“The change to move it to Wednesday night was in part to better facilitate safety, [there is] less traffic on that street at that time,” Preut said. “Plus it’s a good thing that students don’t have to miss class time to prepare for getting the floats and stuff all set up.”

There have been mixed reactions from the student body. Some are glad that the parade might be safer for spectators.

“If it helps, I mean, it doesn’t really matter where we do it, but if it changes... and makes it safer for kids and parents then I think it’s good,” sophomore Maria Godinez said.

Other students, like junior and FYI club board member Chisato Kimura, are concerned about the parade being held in a less community-centered place than downtown.

“I think it might be just a lot of parents, and that’s what the parade’s going to be about this year,” Kimura said. “And I’m not sure I really like that

because I think the parade should be for the whole community of Lawrence.

Mass Street is much more accessible, I feel like, to most of the community.”

Though it may not be as centralized as some would like, Preut said he is confident the parade will be just as exciting as past years. “[The parade will] march into the parking lot,” Preut said. “One of the things we wanted to do too was increase the excitement around Rally Around the Lion and the bonfire, so we’re making that a much bigger event.”

Preut also said having it in the evening will allow for more people to attend. “[Last year] it was great for students at Central and kids at Cordley because we marched by those two schools, but kids at South, kids at Schwegler, kids at all the other elementary and middle schools that feed into Lawrence High had no chance to see the parade,” he said. “Now it’s open for everybody to be able to see the parade.”

19th St. 19th St.

PARADE CHANGES

Parade Route - 21st St. Parade Route - 21st St. Lousiana Lousiana St.St.

Naismith Naismith Dr.Dr.

Ousdahl Ousdahl Rd.Rd.

In previous years, the Homecoming Parade took place on the Friday afternoon of the Homecoming game and went down Massachusetts Street.

This year, the parade route was ordered changed to 21st Street and the date was changed to Wednesday.

Graphic by Emma Howard

23rd St. 23rd St. ROAD CLOSINGS ROAD CLOSINGS

PAGE DESIGN BY KANSAS GIBLER • SEPT. 22, 2016

PLAN NOW FOR

YEARBOOK

FOLLOW US @lhsbudget

SENIOR ADS The final deadline to guarantee your spot in the yearbook is Jan. 11, but you will save significantly by turning in and paying for your ad by our first deadline: Sept. 29.

Make sure your parents get all the details online at lhsbudget.com/about/advertise/yearbook-senior-ads/.

We’ll even help them design the ad. We’ll send proofs for ads submitted to the staff, or parents can join us for our special Parent Design Events: 2-6 p.m. Sunday 9/25 5-8 p.m. Wednesday 9/28

Tell me what you’ll remember from this year. Will it be first

butterflies? That club you finally got the nerve to join? The job that kept you busy?

Whatever it is, the Red & Black yearbook staff is making it their job to tell your stories. Order now for the best price! day of school

d 2017 Re

year k c a l B &

book

HOW TO BUY YOUR YEARBOOK

1. Purchases with credit card or check

Go to www.yearbookordercenter.com. Select our book order number 3076 or school name and location to place your order.

2. Cash-only purchases or installments

These purchases may be made in the school finance office.

PRICING SCHEDULE Through Sept. 30 $55 Through Jan. 20 $60 Through handout $65

THE BUDGET • 16

Students take part in group’s first local event

BY MACY LANDES

NEWS EDITOR

On an emotional evening, Lawrence High students and staff attended a candlelight vigil organized by Lawrence’s Black Lives Matter chapter held in response to the slayings of Louisiana resident Alton Sterling and Minnesota resident Philando Castile.

Both black men were shot and killed by police officers.

Among the hundreds who gathered that night in South Park, junior Avery Mulally could feel his anger and sadness rising. During the past few years, the deaths of black men and women by police had resonated with him and the others who gathered July 10.

“The thing about the black community, which I feel like translates to a lot of cultures is, when someone in your culture is hurt, even when

you don’t know them, you still feel it,” especially for me, being a person that Mulally said. “Because you know that hasn’t really been immersed in people that could be you. Like when a black like me and my culture for much of my person dies, it doesn’t matter if it’s on young life,” senior Jazmyne McNair said. the west coast or however many states “It [childhood] was very kind of, for lack away, it still worries you… That could be of a better term, whitewashed. But to someone you love one day.” know that there are people thinking the Organizers of the vigil had all of same things as you and going through the white people in attendance form the same experiences as you was very a barrier around those members of emotional. And I had all of these things marginalized groups who chose to that I wanted to say when I got up to attend. speak and then I kind of just said words “The reality is that people that that were things I was feeling and what are racist don’t shoot white people,” I was thinking about, and it was a really co-founder of Lawrence’s Black Lives good experience and I’m glad that I Matter group Caleb Stephens said. went.”

“So that’s why we built the white wall Continued on page 15 around there, [to be] super symbolic of safety.”

SOMBER — Senior Janada Birdling, junior The people on the inside of the ring Avery Mulally and Mulally’s younger were invited to address the crowd with a brother, Damon Perico, stand in South Park microphone. during the vigil. Mulally spoke about his “It [the vigil] was veryPAGE powerful DESIGN BY brother ALICIAat RUDER SEPT. 15, 2016 the event.•Photo

by Ian Jones

14 • THE BUDGET News

WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND

“Do you think there’s a difference between saying ‘All Lives Matter’ and ‘Black Lives Matter’?”

By Zoie German-Martinez

“Yes, there is actually a big difference. It just depends on what situation you’re talking about because ‘Black Lives Matter’ right now is very big compared to ‘All Lives Matter…’

White lives do matter, I’m not racist, but [the] white people taking these black lives do deserve punishment, and I don’t feel like they’re getting fully punished.”

—Jakobi Johnson, junior

“I feel like you can [say both], but at some point you have to focus on the bigger picture of who really needs the help right now, but I feel like you can say it and mean all well.”

—Paislea Murphy, sophomore

“With ‘Black Lives Matter,’ they’re referring to the police brutality…

That’s all you hear on the news, about a cop going after someone who’s black and they’re trying to raise awareness, but I think ‘All Lives Matter’ can still get the same point across, just in a broader aspect.”

—Carli Stellwagon, senior

SHOWING SUPPORT— Junior Avery Mulally and senior Janada Birdling spread the message of Black Lives Matter at the candlelit vigil held at South Park on July 10.

LISTENING — Juniors Max McGraw, Patrick Silva and Jakobi Johnson attend the candlelit vigil.

SYMPATHIZING — English and theater teacher Jamie Johnson holds a candle while showing support at the vigil. Photos by Ian Jones

SEPT. 22, 2016 • PAGE DESIGN BY HARRY EASLEY

News THE BUDGET • 15

BLACK LIVES MATTER

Continued from page 13

People on the outside were encouraged to listen.

“Being a white woman, it was more, for me, about witnessing and receiving the message and hearing what other people’s experiences are,” English and theater teacher Jamie Johnson said.

The vigil was a reminder to the community that Lawrence isn’t immune to racism.

“Sometimes I think some community members think that we’re special in Lawrence, and that racism doesn’t exist here, and it does,” science teacher Andrew Bricker said. “Sometimes we just don’t hear the voices saying that it does, and that was a chance to listen to those voices and people spoke their honest truth, and I was there to hear it.

And I was really grateful that I was.”

Also in attendance that night was Natasha Neal, founder of community organization Sisters With a Purpose (SWAP). SWAP’s primary goals are “bringing people of all backgrounds together, supporting education of the youth, and fostering positive relationships between the community and local law enforcement,” their website states.

“Our goal, when I formed Sisters With A Purpose, was just to unite everybody and for us to stand and fight the injustice and the systematic oppression that we all… have been experiencing all our lives,” Neal said.

Since its founding in July, SWAP has hosted a back-to-school event for families of color in Lawrence. Things like school supplies, clothing, and food provided by Food Not Bombs were available to those in attendance.

Face-painting, bouncy houses, and snow cones were other staples of

the event. SWAP members have also organized a march for justice that went down Massachusetts Street and visited North Dakota to protest and halt the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

As far as future plans go, Neal has expressed interest in meeting with Lawrence’s youth to discuss their concerns.

“What we’d like to do, we want to get with the youth so that you guys can tell us what you guys want, what you guys think can help you...to stay positive,” she said. “It’s all about the kids really, to be honest.”

Neal said one of her favorite parts of the vigil was the fact that multiple students addressed the crowd.

“The part I loved the most about the vigil was the fact that so many kids spoke out and it really touched my heart,” she said. “It made me know that I was going down the right path, and, you know, I was doing, I was fulfilling my purpose here on this earth.”

At the vigil, McNair touched on how students of color are treated in schools. “...Something that I brought up was how kids of color are treated in schools and how I think that that’s a problem that needs to be addressed as well,” she said. “It’s equally as important.”

KU, Stephens said, has room for improvement as well. He attended the Advanced-Standing Masters of Social Welfare program there but said he didn’t learn about activism.

“They teach a specific brand of social work at KU, and it’s white social work,” he said. “And in white social work you don’t have anything to fight for. You’re not fighting, and so the piece that that leaves out is exactly why we need intersectional feminism and not white feminism because you leave out all the

things that need to be fought for.”

Lawrence, like its schools, isn’t immune to racism.

“Lawrence just has a lot of compassionate bigotry, as in like people smile and say they support things and then never show up to stuff,” Stephens said. “Or they show up once and then their white guilt has been appeased and they move on.”

Bricker stated that when he speaks about these issues, he’s not trying to be negative. He’s stating facts.

“Sometimes I bring these things up and I’m seen as being negative about this school, and I’m not, I love this school,” Bricker said. “I just think we can actually make a dent in these problems.”

Stephens believes that high schoolers could make a dent in these problems as well.

“High school students now are the wokest people in the country, like [there are] revolutionaries that are in high school,” Stephens said. “I went and spoke at ‘Can We Talk?’ over at Free State like four times, and those kiddos know more about the stuff that’s going on than the college students that I speak with, that I worked with, at KU.” McNair believes that if students at Lawrence High speak out about injustice and inequality and are willing to be uncomfortable, they have the potential to make a difference.

“I think that overall there needs to be good communication and discussion so we can identify the specific problems that we have and come up with better solutions,” McNair said. “I think part of the problem is that people aren’t really talking….You have to be uncomfortable before you can be comfortable again, so I think that’s the main thing that we need to do is just have more open conversation.”

SIGNIFICANT DATES IN BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT JULY 13, 2013

George Zimmerman is found not guilty in the shooting death of 17-yearold Trayvon Martin, who was unarmed.

JULY 13, 2013

Alicia Garza hears about the verdict and turns to Facebook to share her sadness, ending with, “Black people. I love you. I love us. Our lives matter.” Black Lives Matter is born.

AUG. 9, 2014

The death of Michael Brown sparks protests in Ferguson, Mo.

APRIL 19, 2015

Freddie Gray dies while in custody of the Baltimore Police Department, leading to protests and riots.

PAGE DESIGN BY HARRY EASLEY • SEPT. 22, 2016

16 • THE BUDGET News

Graphic by Harry Easley

DISPROPORTIONATE DISCIPLINE SHOWN

School, national data show students of color more often subject to discipline

BY ABBY PERCICH

MANAGING EDITOR

S

enior Jazmyne McNair has long noticed how her race can affect the way she’s treated in school.

Nationally, students of color are disproportionately suspended or expelled. McNair said she experienced it firsthand when she was wrongly accused of bullying in middle school.

“For some reason, they thought it was me, even though me and this other black girl look completely different, and she was way taller than me,” McNair said. “It took another person being involved, who was not black, to vouch for me rather than me vocalizing that I wasn’t involved with it myself.”

Nationally, 18 percent of black males

and 10 percent of black females have been given one or more out-of school suspensions — a rate that far exceeds the 5 percent of white males and 2 percent of white females who face the same punishment, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

At LHS, the disparities aren’t as significant, but they are still present.

While black students represent 7.2 percent of the student body, they make up 20.9 percent of students who are reported and disciplined.

On some days, the ISS room is a representation of the disparities between students..

“There have been times — and certainly not every time or even most times — that I am struck by the number of students of color that are already in the ISS room,” assistant principal Mike Norris

SEPT. 22, 2016 • PAGE DESIGN BY PAIGE BELLMYER

said. “Students identifying as something other than white, non-Hispanic make up about a third of our student body, but there have certainly been days in which it seemed like students of color were overrepresented in the room.”

Despite the disparity, Norris tries to set the aspect of race aside when it comes to speaking with students.

“I just want to emphasize that when I’m in a discipline situation with a student, I try my best to see the whole student,” Norris said. “There are so many reasons that a student might actually be sitting in my office — mom and dad are fighting, depression, anger, etc.

Sometimes these things are reflected in classroom behavior.”

McNair has had similar experiences with her younger brother who is on the spectrum for autism. Not everyone

News THE BUDGET • 17

understands his situation and that he is commonly agitated. “[Because of] the stigma that, black kids act up and they’re always looking for a fight and that type of thing, I think people are quicker to try to jump on any little sign of him getting upset or angry and that only upsets him even more,” McNair said.

To avoid punishment, some black students say they must be continuously aware of their actions. “...Amongst friends and with teachers I’m always thinking about the way that I’m saying what I’m saying, so that people are understanding exactly what I mean,” McNair said.

The acceptance of reality — that black students carry the stigma of acting out in class — is often harsh.

“I’d like to believe that that’s not the stigma,” social worker Lynisha Thomas said. “I’d like to that believe people don’t think certain races are lazy, that they just don’t want to learn, I wish those things didn’t happen but I know they do.”

Principals, who are responsible for disciplinary action, get a limited view of what leads to each referral.

“If I go back to my ISS example, I truly believe that every student to which I assign ISS warrants it,” Norris said.

“But I wonder if they got to me fairly.

Are some kids sent down on the first offense while others get two or three shots before being sent down?”

Thomas, the Can We Talk sponsor, said the punishment students receive may be strongly dependent on the teacher and classroom situation.

“There are some teachers I know that never send a kid out of their room because they can manage their classroom,” Thomas said. “I know there are some teachers that have a significant amount of students that have behaviors that make it very difficult, so I think it really depends on the teacher.”

To curb any racism — overt or subconscious — that exists in school

“...AMONGST FRIENDS AND WITH

TEACHERS I’M ALWAYS THINKING ABOUT THE WAY THAT I’M SAYING WHAT I’M SAYING, SO THAT PEOPLE ARE UNDERSTANDING EXACTLY WHAT I MEAN.”

—JAZMYNE MCNAIR, SENIOR and to promote equality, staff members undergo training. Each Lawrence school has an equity team “that engage in significant professional learning focused on deepening understanding of race and equity,” Norris said.

Regardless of equity training, Norris believes that racism exists in our school

in an unintentional manner.

“I don’t want to send the message that I think your teachers are a bunch of racists or anything,” Norris said.

“Quite the contrary. LHS has the best staff with which I’ve ever had the privilege to work. My concerns are those subconscious and unintentional things.”

MEASURE UP Students of color face in and out of school suspensions at a higher rate than their peers who are white, according to district data. This graph shows the percent of students of different ethnicities who faced discipline at LHS.

WHITE STUDENTS: Make up 65.7% of overall student body 6.2% of white students had ISS referrals 3.7% of white students had OSS referrals

BLACK STUDENTS: Make up 7.2% of overall student body 12.7% of black students had ISS referrals 10% of black students had OSS referrals

HISPANIC: Make up 10.3% of overall student body 7.6% of Hispanic students had ISS referrals 3.8% of Hispanic students had OSS referrals 0%

25%

50% Graphic By Harry Easley

PAGE DESIGN BY ALICIA RUDER • SEPT. 22, 2016

18 • THE BUDGET

Sports

FALLING

INTO STRIDE Athletes begin the year with high expectations

BY GARY SCHMIDT

SPORTS EDITOR

F

or athletes playing a fall sport, summer looks a lot different: 6 a.m. practices, trips across the state to play in preseason tournaments, and lots and lots of sweat.

LHS boasts seven different fall sports, and each one looks primed to have a fantastic season on virtue of the fact

that their athletes put in the work they needed to during the summer.

From the soccer field to the putting green, hours and hours of hard work during the summer culminate now.

Graduating athletes from a year ago will be difficult to replace, but a strong senior class paired with many outstanding underclassmen should make the 2016 fall sports season one to remember.

ATHLETES TO WATCH For full interviews with these athletes, visit our website, lhsbudget.com

LESLIE OSTRONIC sophomore Cross Country

CHARLIE CARR senior Boys’ Soccer

SEPT. 22, 2016 • PAGE DESIGN BY GARY SCHMIDT

BEATRICE LOPEZ sophomore Girls’ Golf

CHISATO KIMURA junior Girls’ Tennis

THE BUDGET • 19

HOMEFIELD ADVANTAGE There’s no better place than home, and this could prove no truer than for the Lions, who are an unprecedented 9-2 at home this season across all sports (as of Sept. 15).

Let’s break it down:

5-2

VOLLEYBALL

Volleyball is 5-2 at home this year, already totaling three more wins in the Jungle than a year ago.

102

46

FOOTBALL

The football team beat their two first opponents by a combined 102-46 at home this season, and in the two victories, the Lions scored 50 points or more.

0.5 Goals

SOCCER

The boy’s soccer team allowed a single goal in its two home contests this year, allowing a goal every 160 minutes of game play.

GAMES TO CATCH SEPT. 23 Homecoming Football game against Shawnee Mission West SEPT. 24 Cross Country runs at Rim Rock Classic, held at nearby Rim Rock Farm SEPT. 28 Girl’s Golf holds Lawrence Invitational at Eagle Bend Golf Course SEPT. 29 Girl’s Tennis takes on Free State in home dual OCT. 1 Volleyball hosts home tournament OCT. 8 Gymnastics hosts the Sunflower League meet OCT. 13 Boys soccer plays against Olathe East

EARLY WIN —­­ Senior Ebrahim Diagne looks to make a move toward a goal in a 2-0 LHS victory over Manhattan High School at Lawrence High on Aug. 26. Photo by Hannah Gaines

JOSIE HICKERSON sophomore Gymnastics

DARIUS HART senior Cross Country

KEVIN NICHOLS senior Football

AMELIA DUNLAP senior Volleyball

PAGE DESIGN BY GARY SCHMIDT • SEPT. 22, 2016

20 • THE BUDGET Sports

BACK ON THE FIELD Junior works to recover, rejoins teammates as honorary captain Shawnee Mission North on Sept. 9, Barfield’s former teammates reached out to make sure he was still a part of the program.

“It was very emotional,” football coach Dirk Wedd said. “A football game is pretty intense, but I don’t think there was a dry eye amongst the kids, including the coaches, including the head coach especially. I know what Travis means to our football team, and I know what football means to Travis, too.”

It was the players who decided to honor Barfield, team captain Jacob Unruh said.

“It’s a good reminder that he still is a part of this team, that he is going to get better, and he is still the same person even in that wheelchair he’s in right now,” Unruh said.

On Jan. 3, Barfield collapsed during a run, just around the corner from his house. Paramedics made several attempts to revive Barfield, whose heart had stopped when he had a heart attack.

With oxygen cut off from his brain, he suffered a traumatic brain injury and was left in a coma. The doctor told his dad, Wesley Barfield, that he expected total destruction in the brain. But the doctor was shocked there was still activity.

Eight days into his coma, Barfield opened his eyes but couldn’t see. The next few months were, “just highway, going back and forth to the hospital,” Travis’ brother, Isiah Barfield said.

A couple days after coming home, he uttered his first words.

BY TREY HULSE

STAFF WRITER

L

It was a Friday night and junior Travis Barfield was back on the field in his football jersey, the night’s honorary captain headed out for the coin toss.

For Barfield, it was a chance to celebrate a year in which he went from a healthy 15-year-old football player to patient doctors were unsure of his survival.

In between have been big moments of beating the odds — saying his first words and taking steps. And as LHS took on

PREPPING — Travis Barfield is helped by paraprofessional, Amber Raines, before his photo is taken. Photo by Cooper Avery

“I went in his room after I had gotten him down and I was just talking, and I said, ‘Travis, are you still awake?’ and he said ‘Yes,’” Wesley Barfield recalled.

His dad was shocked.

“Then I said ‘Are you OK?’ and he said, ‘Yes daddy, what happened?’ so I said ‘Daddy don’t know what happened.

You may be the only one to ever tell what happened,’ ” his dad recalled.

“After that, Travis said, ‘Where am I?’ and I said, ‘You are at home. Can you see?’ he said ‘No daddy, all I see is darkness.’”

Barfield didn’t start seeing until around May. Throughout, he’s handled the setbacks with grace, his dad said.

“The thing about him telling me that he could not see was just the idea of him telling me that and handling it,” Wesley Barfield said. “If I woke up one morning and couldn’t see, I would cry like a baby.

But that wasn’t his attitude. He accepted not being able to see at that moment.”

Travis isn’t going through tests anymore, but is working on speech and movement.

“His athleticism should help him be able to walk,” Isiah Barfield said.

Travis’ retired father, Wesley Barfield, helps him to travel and navigate daily life. Yet his friendships remains important to him.

“When his friends call him or come by to see him, he just lights up,” Wesley Barfield said. “He is just so happy to see them.”

Senior Trey Moore, who also plays

MAKING PROGRESS Junior Travis Barfield is making progress after his heart stopped in January, leading to a traumatic brain injury

JAN. 3

Travis Barfield suffered a stroke and fell into a coma after his heart stopped.

SEPT. 22, 2016 • PAGE DESIGN BY ALICIA RUDER

APRIL 5

Barfield is released from the hospital.

APRIL 7

Barfield speaks for the first time since his heart stopped.

Sports THE BUDGET • 21

“I KNOW WHAT TRAVIS MEANS TO OUR FOOTBALL TEAM, AND I KNOW WHAT FOOTBALL MEANS TO TRAVIS, TOO.” —DIRK WEDD, FOOTBALL COACH football, said the bond of friendship remains important.

“We’ve known him since we were freshman and sophomores, and we played with him and we connect with him on that level and we also connect with him on a brotherhood level because he is our brother and we treat him like our own,” Moore said. “We’re just very close to him, and we still treat him the same.”

Friends and family are grateful Barfield survived and that he is making

FEB. 13

A bowling fundraiser was held at Royal Crest Lanes

progress.

“Everything he has done has been a miracle and a shock,” Wesley Barfield said.

Celebrating that progress was a key part of making Barfield honorary captain of the football team.

“I just think it was a cool moment where a lot of people were of the opinion that football is all about aggressiveness and physicality and all that, but inside all those kids there’s a heart that beats and they have feelings, and I just

JULY

Barfield walks with help for the first time.

SMILING GLEEFULLY — Junior Travis Barfield sits on the football field for a photo.

Barfield led the varsity football team onto the field Sept. 9 as the game’s honorary captain. Barfield played on the team before his heart stopped in January while he was out for a run. Photo by Cooper Avery

felt like it was one the coolest moments I’ve ever experienced at LHS,” Wedd said.

AUGUST

Barfield begins moving his hands and fingers.

SEPT. 9

Travis took the field with the LHS football team and was the honorary captain.

PAGE DESIGN BY ALICIA RUDER • SEPT. 22, 2016

22 • THE BUDGET Art

WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND

Of the two band shows, which is your favorite?

By Kira Auchenbach

““I like ‘Fortune Teller’ best because it’s interesting, like we do more cool stuff. I’m a flute so we do flags, and there’s a lot of extra stuff that’s not playing [instruments]. We have a routine where we twirl them [the flags].”

—Azucena Melchor, sophomore

“For the halftime show we have some throwback songs that everybody kind of knows, and so everybody can kind of sing along.”

—Jay Cheatham, junior FORTUNE TELLERS — The saxophone section performs at halftime of the Sept. 9 football game. Fortune Teller is one of two shows the band is doing this year. Photo by Hannah Gaines

““I personally like our ‘Fortune Teller’ show more mostly because it’s the one we do for competition.

But I still do appreciate our fun show...It really brings hard music that is challenging and really fun — that’s why we call it the fun show or edgy show.”

—Tanner Treichel, senior

UP FRONT — Senior Michael McFadden plays the marimba during the halftime show. “Pit was really focused on playing and getting the right notes because we have some weird runs that we do just all up and down and the band is just playing their own harmonies back in the back,” McFadden said. “So we just have to focus on ourselves, and focus on the drum majors.” Photo by Hannah Gaines FORMATION — Senior Christa Griffin plays tenor saxophone while preforming in the half time show on Sept. 9. “I love band because music has always been a part of my life, and I can connect through music,” she said. Photo

by Hannah Gaines

SEPT. 22, 2016 • PAGE DESIGN BY ALICIA RUDER

Art THE BUDGET • 23

Art

A SECOND SHOWING

Marching band performs two shows

BY LUNA STEPHENS

STAFF WRITER

Sometimes doing something unexpected pays off, as marching band is discovering this season.

Band is switching things up and preparing two marching shows instead of just one, something that has never been done before by the Lawrence High band.

The competition show “Fortune Teller” incorporates props and visual elements, like previous shows, but more elaborately.

The very involved visual production involves crystal balls, tarot cards, jokers and skeletons, band director Mike Jones said.

The other show, the halftime show, has an 80’s theme, throwing it back with songs like, “You Dropped a Bomb on Me” and “Whip it.” “[We’re] just trying to make it fun, featuring the dance team, featuring the drumline,” Jones said.

The 80’s show also features some opportunities to get the crowd involved.

Preparing both of these shows has forced students to do twice the work, but they have stepped up to the plate.

“Everyone’s been working really

hard,” senior and head drum major Mary Reed-Weston said. “I’m excited for when it all comes together.”

Double the music might seem like double the difficulty and double the time needed, but things are ahead of schedule.

“Even though we have two shows this year, we’ve finished putting them on the field,” senior and trumpet player Megan Towle said. “We are very ahead of schedule. We’ve learned everything a lot quicker, which is surprising.”

Prompting this success might be the contrast between the shows.

One has simpler music and complicated marching, while the other has complicated music and simpler marching.

“It took people a little while to get on board with the idea of doing two shows,” drum major Cameron Stussie said, “[But] two shows prompted people to work a little harder than they usually would have.”

All in all, taking a risk has really paid off for this year’s marching season.

“It’s one of those things where if you decide something you’re just going to go for it,” Jones said, “and the students have responded.”

PAGE DESIGN BY ALICIA RUDER • SEPT. 22, 2016

24 • THE BUDGET Art

QUICK TAKE

Number of acres

4

Number of apple trees

100

Number of peach trees

100

Number of years the orchard has been open

31 MARKING THE WAY — A sign marks the location of the Vertacnik Orchard, where teacher Wendy Vertacnik and her husband, Dave, grow apples and peaches. Photo by Hannah Gaines Varieties of apple trees

10

FOR SALE — A sign marks the hours of the orchard. Pre-picked apples are for sale this year. In better years, customers can pick their own apples.

Photo by Hannah Gaines GROWING — Apples hang from one of the 100 trees in the Vertacnik Orchard. Photo by Hannah Gaines

Varieties of peach trees

4 SEPT. 22, 2016 • PAGE DESIGN BY KANSAS GIBLER

Art THE BUDGET • 25

OUT AT THE ORCHARD

Art teacher lives on apple and peach orchard

BY VANESSA HERNANDEZ

STAFF WRITER

A

fter the back to school buzz is gone, fall fever sets in. Among the many iconic fall activities is apple-picking. American tradition starts and ends with food like apple cider and apple pie.

Art teacher Wendy Vertacnik knows best when it comes to apples, because she and her husband, Dave, own their own orchard just outside of Lawrence.

Vertacnik’s Orchard opened on 1403 E 1850 Road more than 30 years ago, and it’s been growing ever since.

“My husband planted 50 trees when my oldest son was about 4 years old,” Vertacnik said. “His grandmother had an orchard where he grew up, and so he wanted to have one.”

The orchard has expanded.

“He now has over a hundred apple trees and a hundred peach trees,” she said.

During school hours, Vertacnik teaches drawing and painting while her husband works at home on their apple orchard. Apple growing requires money, time and resources.

Students are also given the chance to help out, whether it be as a volunteer or a paid worker. Senior Cyara Le has volunteered and speaks highly of her experience.

“There was a tour of all of the surrounding farms,” Le said. “I would greet people and tell them their options, like how they could go about buying apples and how to pay for their apples. It was really fun and easy to do.”

The farm tour Le mentioned is the Kaw Valley Farm Tour, which encompasses 32 farms local to the Kaw Valley area. The tour allows participants to visit as many farms as they would like with the purchase of an all-access ticket where they can enjoy many family-friendly activities. This year, tours are being held Oct. 1 and 2.

Prime apple-picking starts in September

and runs till October, usually ending with the start of the pumpkin season. Vertacnik Orchard is open on the weekends to the public.

The orchard has a variety of apples, including golden delicious, red delicious, fuji, jonathan and gala.

More fame will soon be coming to the Vertacnik Orchard thanks to one of their apple recipes making an appearance in Jayni Carey’s new Kansas Cookbook.

“Vertacnik is a Slovin name,” Wendy Vertacnik said. “His mother made amazing apple strudel, and she taught us how to make it.”

Orchestra teacher Rachel Dirks is known to be a frequent patron of the orchard, where she adores the fun atmosphere.

“When our kids were slightly younger we would go every weekend and stock up on apples, especially because their apples are just incredible,” she said. “They would also sell cider, which was just absolutely wonderful as well.”

The orchard plays an important role in our community, according to Dirks.

“It’s so special to support someone you know and to have conversations with them,” Dirks said. “And I see friends there and former students, and it’s just so fun.”

Usually this is the best time of year for the Vertacniks, but the weather has not been kind to their trees this season. While pre-picked apples are for sale, customers can’t roam among the trees to pick their own.

The incredible heat was a lot for the trees, and the long rain periods were followed by stretches of dry days. Thirsty birds picked at the apples for water, causing even more apples to suffer an unpicked fate.

This being the second year of imperfect orchard weather, the decision on whether or not they’ll continue with the orchard is up in the air.

“We think that it’s going to be open another year but we don’t know yet,” Vertacnik said.

PAGE DESIGN BY KANSAS GIBLER • SEPT. 22, 2016

26 • THE BUDGET Opinion

Opinion

MY LIFE MATTERS Junior explains what draws him to the Black Lives Matter movement

BY AVERY MULALLY

GUEST EDITORIAL

I

don’t remember exactly when I realized my skin color could dictate how far I would make it in life.

Maybe it was on Thanksgiving when I was 7. My mother’s fatherin-law screamed, “I’m surprised no one has shot you yet. I would if I had a gun.”

Or maybe it was when I posted a picture of $1,700 in cash on Instagram. I had worked almost 40 hours a week on top of being a high school sophomore to save for my first car. I was proud of that money. I was proud of myself. But it didn’t take long for a middle-aged white woman to comment, “You do realize you look like a f-ing goof for posting s**t like this right?!? Lol!! Ppl that come from money, or make their money legit... Would NEVER post dollar bills!!! This post SCREAMS broke ass... Probably a drug dealer.”

Now, I know what you’re thinking: How dare she? She’s an adult.

She didn’t know me. I’m a “good” kid. Chances are, if you know me personally, or even if you don’t, I probably don’t strike you as a drug dealer. To her, though, money plus brown skin automatically equals drug dealer. They equal thug.

But that’s not me. I’m a junior who works 25 hours a week, earns As on my report card, bought my first car, pays my own phone bill and already know what I want to do after I graduate.

Every day I have to prove myself.

God forbid I cause a distraction and live up to the racist stereotypes

awaiting me as soon as I walked through the door. I have to show I’m not what people expect. I’m scared that if I act out they will lose respect — not just for me, but for all of us. I walk on these eggshells until my feet bleed.

The double standard that comes with being a person of color is why I’m drawn to the Black Lives Matter movement.

People of color are held to tougher standards. Second chances are a fairy tale to most of us. So when a 16-yearold black boy makes a mistake and gets caught up with the law, he’s prosecuted as an adult and subjected to maximum sentencing. A 16-year-old white boy making the same mistake is more likely to be seen as a confused young man.

The white kid gets to make mistakes; he doesn’t deserve to have the rest of his life altered because he’s, you know, white.

Maybe you think I’m dramatic. “It’s 2016,” you say. “Racism is dead and gone.”

Maybe for you.

I can’t begin to count how many times I think, “Is it because I’m black?”

It happens at work when a customer ignores my offers to help and turns to my white coworker. It happens at school when a substitute teacher speaks to me with a different tone. It happens when shopkeepers hover when I enter their stores. It’s crazy that I even have to ask that question.

Yet, it’s my reality. I’m scared to walk with a hoodie covering my face.

Why? I have nothing to hide. I’m only black. That’s not a crime.

Oppressors don’t care that I’m on

SEPT. 22, 2016 • PAGE DESIGN BY KANSAS GIBLER

the honor roll every year. They don’t care that my teachers love me. They don’t care that I could probably outspell their children. They don’t take the time to learn my name. To them, my name is black, and black is bad.

Some white people are threatened by the Black Lives Matter movement.

Why? How many white people have we lynched? How many white people have we poured hot tar and feathers on?

Sometimes I feel the need to define the word equality for people — white people specifically. When I’m in the street screaming that my life matters and my arms are aching from holding up a sign, why does that threaten you?

When I say my black life matters, I’m not saying yours doesn’t. It’s simply that our lives haven’t always mattered and still aren’t valued by many people to this day. Can’t you see that saying “All Lives Matter” is a way to muffle the Black Lives Matter movement? White lives have always mattered.

I get it. Everyone struggles. No one wants to hear that their struggle was any less of a struggle compared to the person next to them, but sometimes that’s the case. No one is dismissing those struggles. They are very real. What you need to understand, though, is you’re still white. While you may not have had the easiest life, doors are opened for you that people of color have to kick down.

Black Lives Matter is important because it’s long overdue that we focus on our lives. Let’s say a house is on fire.

The firefighters are called and they start spraying down every house in the neighborhood with water except for

THE BUDGET • 27

the one on fire. Someone asks, “Why are you spraying all of the houses when only this one is on fire?” and the firefighter responds, “All houses matter!” If every house would have been on fire, they would deserve the same treatment and amount of attention as the other houses. It’s important to pay attention to the one that is burning down.

One would assume that because I support Black Lives Matter, I don’t also support Blue Lives Matter. This is the hashtag that surfaced after police officers were killed in Dallas. These movements are more alike than some may think. Both focus on specific groups of people being targeted.

Someone once told me there are two types of bad people. People who do bad things and people who watch bad things happen and do nothing about it.

There’s this misconception that racism and blatant murder by police officers is in some far away land when, in reality, it’s right here. Maybe not here, in your state, or your city, but it’s here. You think that could never happen close to home. But the seeds of racism that can lead to tragedies are in every community.

You have to ask yourself: What do I value? Am I contributing to a cause that will affect future generations in a positive way? Or am I OK with devaluing others because of our differences? Who am I? I am Avery, Trayvon, Sandra, Freddie, Alton, Philando, Mike, London, and my life matters. #BlackLivesMatter.

I HAVE TO SHOW I’M NOT WHAT PEOPLE

EXPECT. I’M SCARED THAT IF I ACT OUT THEY WILL LOSE

RESPECT — NOT JUST

FOR ME, BUT FOR ALL OF US. I WALK ON THESE EGGSHELLS

UNTIL MY FEET BLEED. PAGE DESIGN BY KANSAS GIBLER • SEPT. 22, 2016

28 • THE BUDGET Opinion

COMING OUT AT SCHOOL

As faculty members begin accommodating transgender students by honoring pronoun and name preferences, other factors need to be considered, too

BY ZOIE GERMANMARTINEZ

STAFF OPINION EDITOR

W

hile Lawrence is a hub for acceptance and open-mindedness in Kansas, there are still residents who are less

than liberal.

It’s a low percentage, but still a percentage nonetheless. The minority mixes in with the majority, and transgender students here at Lawrence High could be in a family of people from that minority.

When in a conservative-minded family, coming out is an impossibility.

Parents or guardians may do something as extreme as kick a child out, or they may simply ignore it. There’s a whole spectrum of negative reactions one could be on the receiving end of, and it’s something that’s best to avoid. Yes, it’s important to be who you are and not pretend in front of anyone, but it’s different when one’s safety is in question. So to some students, the opportunity of getting called the right name or pronouns by teachers isn’t one they can take.

In the past two years, Lawrence High has become an accepting environment for LGBTQ+ students. The Total Equality Alliance (TEA) Club makes a noticeable impact, and is respected by students and teachers alike. It’s a safe space for the transgender students to openly be who they want to be. Teachers asking for preferred names and pronouns is a step — however small — in the right direction.

Yet once a student is out, it’s hard to go back. You would think that in this safe environment, students are protected from the risk of their families finding out. School and home are two completely different environments that usually don’t intertwine, but there are two nights in the school year where they do: parent-teacher conferences.

If a transgender student is out to teachers but not to their parents, there’s

a pretty high chance of both parties being confused when talking about that student. Two different names could be used, different pronouns are thrown around, and no one knows what’s happening until the teacher explains.

It’s a golden rule that people should never come out for another person.

They should come out when they’re ready, and their sexuality/gender is their privacy, so unless the person says it’s OK, no one comes out for another person. Which is why a teacher exposing their student’s gender isn’t ideal.

Like I said before, there’s a possibility of transgender students living with family members who won’t accept them.

If these students were outed by their teachers, they’re at a risk. How do we prevent that?

We can’t take a step back and stop asking for pronouns and names, but we do have to protect our students. There’s also the possibility of ridiculous, close-minded students taking it as a joke, so the exchange could happen in private.

Telling every teacher individually gets exhausting, so the guidance counselors would be the ones students talk to.

After all, they can go into Skyward and add pronouns under the individual student’s name. That way the information would reach teacher more quickly

Graphic by Ella Denson-Redding

SEPT. 22, 2016 • PAGE DESIGN BY KYLE BREY

and remains private.

Teachers’ Skywards are different than parent accounts, so the preferred pronouns and name would be available to only faculty at Lawrence High and, while informing counselors, students could request that their pronouns not be used around their parents. It keeps this information between teachers and students, confirming their safety in the school environment when they might not have it at home.

Lawrence High is an extremely open-minded place in a liberal town, always working toward being more accommodating for people of all walks of life.

We’re moving in the right direction and we have more work to do, but these first steps will have positive effects on transgender students.

BLOND T

Opinion THE BUDGET • 29

A review of Frank Ocean’s new album ‘Blond’

BY LORON HAYS

GUEST WRITER

he wait is finally over. After four long years and one really big tease, Frank Ocean’s second album has arrived, and I am simply in awe of its quiet majesty. The many layers of “Blond” defy whatever expectations you might have from this forward-thinking R&B artist. And the real beauty is that he did it on his own terms, without the help of a major label.

Nothing Frank Ocean releases is straightforward and the 17 tracks on “Blond” — the title probably being a comment on the indefiniteness of gender — confirm for me that this is a recording artist who has something of significance to say to the NOW that is our world.

He’s black. He’s bisexual. He’s also an introvert. And he’s not backing away from anything.

The lyrics and production of “Nikes,” the lead song in which both the New York Knicks’ Carmello Anthony and Shakespeare’s Othello are referenced, offers a sample of the sublime that uninterrupted and repeated late night listens bring. The track begins with sped-up vocals and features a challenge to masculinity with one vocal pitched up and the other pitched down, both

competing for the listener’s attention. It is a single song in two parts and — as he laments over the loss of A$AP Rocky, Pimp C and Trayvon Martin and then switches to pleading with a lover — it makes perfect sense as the opening statement to “Blond.”

The luscious guitar swirls in “Ivy” and the lone B3 Hammond Organ in “Solo” suggests that Ocean is still deconstructing the genre. The 60 minutes of R&B fusion on his sophomore album mean there is no possible way you can listen without candid reflection. In some aspects, you seriously have to train your brain to even begin to hear the complexity of the arrangements.

There’s “Solo,” a striking song about being alone and misunderstood in a crowd of people, and “Skyline To,” a song that calls out mortality’s blatant disregard for our feelings.

And while no single song blatantly shouts out to the #blacklivesmatter movement, the

album is best understood as a statement on the significance of black America in the wake of all this social upheaval. A song like “Solo” proves it. You have cops, red lights and a feeling of innocence.

You just have to listen closely and feel the album’s intimacy. That specific social movement is ALL OVER this album.

Ocean, as an openly bisexual man, is not carrying a rainbow-themed banner, but he is shining a much-needed light on necessary social changes that must be embraced.

ACCEPTANCE. This seems like Day One stuff to me, but obviously people STILL need to hear it: your sexual orientation — no matter how fluid it is — is NOT a choice. And listening to Frank Ocean does not make you queer. It makes you AWARE. I dare you to NOT be moved by the lyrics of “Seigfried,” a song that references Norse mythology and features Ocean wondering if he can escape the cultural values he disagrees with and fight off the masculine constructs that keep him chained to a life of excess and unhappiness.

Frank Ocean’s “Blond” is pop music for the mind. Include this release alongside Kanye’s “The Life of Pablo,” Beyonce’s “Lemonade,” dvsn’s “Sept. 5th,” Kendrick Lamar’s Untitled Unmastered project, Chance the Rapper’s “Coloring Book” mixtape, Jameszoo’s “Fool,” Maxwell’s “blackSUMMERS’night,” and Drake’s “Views” and, my LHS brothers and sisters, it is a certifiable fact that 2016 is spoiling our ears, our minds, and expanding our horizons toward a culture of inclusivity.

Can we now, as Bob Dylan first sang in 1964, “please heed the call” and CHANGE for the good of our collective future?! With the release of “Blond,” Frank Ocean certainly hopes so.

IN SOME ASPECTS, YOU SERIOUSLY HAVE TO TRAIN YOUR BRAIN TO EVEN BEGIN TO HEAR THE COMPLEXITY OF THE ARRANGEMENTS.

Graphic by Ella Denson-Redding

PAGE DESIGN BY KYLE BREY • SEPT. 22, 2016

30 • THE BUDGET Opinion

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

BY KANSAS GIBLER

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

S

ince the killing of Michael Brown in August 2014 and the protests that ensued as a result in Ferguson, Mo., Black Lives Matter has brought race relations into mainstream social commentary. Police brutality, inequality of opportunities and systemic racism throughout America are and ought to be common subjects of conversation for people of all ages and races.

This issue of the Budget started this summer at the Gloria Shields Journalism Camp in Dallas. News instructors stressed the importance of issue-based, relevant coverage. Black Lives Matter was the clear choice for the main package of this issue, as the movement has come to prominence and established itself in Lawrence.

Students’ involvement allowed the Budget staff to get key interviews, moving photos and a beautifully-written guest editorial.

Beyond discussions of how race affects students, students and faculty have been working on creating a more welcoming environment for transgender students. This has been

a continuing process led by the former and current superintendents, administrators and members of student and faculty advisory boards.

The Budget hopes to hear more voices from students and is ready to assist any interested student in writing a guest editorial to run in future issues of this publication or on our website.

This year, I want this publication to be seen as a platform for positive change and as an opportunity to inform students, teachers, parents and the community as a whole on issues relevant to them.

Though the easy route is to think to oneself, “These are far away issues that don’t affect me or the people around me,” that’s the wrong route.

Equity issues, especially those pertaining to race, affect your school, work and home lives.

Being aware of the issues around and within Lawrence High School is imperative. Accepting that people of color have faced disproportionate amounts of prejudice, discipline and grief due to systemic racism is the first step for students and faculty to begin to understand the way race affects our daily lives. This issue of the Budget seeks to do that.

I WANT THIS PUBLICATION TO BE SEEN AS A PLATFORM FOR POSITIVE CHANGE AND AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO INFORM STUDENTS, TEACHERS, PARENTS AND THE COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE.

SEPT. 22, 2016 • PAGE DESIGN BY KANSAS GIBLER

Photo by Hannah Gaines

Opinion THE BUDGET • 31

COMIC: A DAY IN LHS

Oh...

Maybe two... Three would be cool too.

Alright team, we need to recruit some new freshmen for this year’s comic.

Dan: Okay!

Okie-dokie! How many should we get?

Later...

So, you’re letting the others get freshmen for you?

Yup. And that doesn’t bother you?

Meh.

*sigh* I knew you’ll say that.

EXCUSE ME?!

MISSION STATEMENT The Budget is committed to providing the Lawrence High School community with objective, inclusive news coverage that ensures relevance to its readers. The staff devotes itself to the exercise of First Amendment rights and upholding the highest of journalistic standards. While the paper is a vessel to publish student voice, it conjointly acts as an educational entity holding the intent of bettering student journalistic ability and reader’s access to information.

ABOUT US The Budget is published every four weeks and distributed free of charge to students and faculty at Lawrence High School, 1901 Louisiana, Lawrence, Kan. 66046-2999.

The Budget is produced by students in the Digital Journalism and Digital Design and Production courses with occasional contributions from 21st Century Journalism and guest columnists.

The newspaper’s goals are to inform, entertain, and present a forum of expression for students, faculty, administrators and community members.

The newspaper is financed through advertising and staff fundraising.

The editorial staff is solely responsible for the content of this newspaper, and views expressed in The Budget do not necessarily reflect those of the administration of Lawrence High School or USD 497.

EDITORS Kansas Gibler.......................................... Editor in Chief Alicia Ruder................................................Design Editor Hannah Gaines..........................................Photo Editor Abby Percich.......................................Managing Editor Macy Landes............................................... News Editor Zoie German-Martinez..........................Opinion Editor Gary Schmidt..............................................Sports Editor Trey Hulse..................................Assistant Sports Editor Veda Cobb....................................................Copy Editor Abigail English.................................... Captions Editors Krista Hopkins..................................... Captions Editors Meredith Chapple.................... Online Editor in Chief Kira Auchenbach.................... Online Assistant Editor Griffin Nelson...............................................Video Editor Lourdes Kalusha-Aguirre ��������������������������Video Editor Noah Kucza.....................................Ad Sales Manager Alison O’Trimble.............................Ad Sales Manager

What?

“Meh”.

It’s just so overrated.

THE STAFF

I mean, can you just say something a little more-

LADIES AND GENTS, I PRESENT TO YOU

Dan, why?

BETTY AND THE MEMES! “DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!” –Jacinda Warren (Senior) 9/13/16

READ MORE: Find more of “A Day at LHS” at lhsbudget.com.

STAFF Nicole Aqui, Cooper Avery, Paige Bellmyer, Chloe Board, Kyle Brey, Kylee Broekemeier Cade Burghart, Anna D’Ercole, Ella Denson-Redding, Harrison Easley, Allie Fischer, Emily Gordon-Ross, Isabella Hedges, Vanessa Hernandez, Ian Jones, Lourdes Kalusha-Aguirre, Jazzmin Matchette, Griffin Nelson, Etana Parks, Olivia Percich, Sydney Pritchard, Emma Howard, Kate Rettig, Inez Robinson, Aidan Rothrock, Connor Schmaus, Chandler Sells, Clara Severn, Nolan Smith, Skylar Steichen, Luna Stephens, Addisson Thornsbury, Jacinda Warren, William Yanek.

PAGE DESIGN BY ALICIA RUDER • SEPT. 22, 2016

THE BUDGET • 16

PHOTO OF THE MONTH Quarterback Dante’ Jackson runs through Shawnee Mission North’s defense as he crosses the goal line for a touchdown during the first quarter of the Sept. 9 football game. The Lions won 52-26.

Photo by Hannah Gaines

PAGE DESIGN BY ALICIA RUDER • SEPT. 15, 2016