M the MENTOR
Dec. 4, 2012
After hours of discussion and months of consideration, the school board decided to continue to offer early release as an option for second semester seniors. The decision was made at the Nov. 28 Board of Education meeting on a five to one margin, with Pete Paukstelis voting against the motion. Discussion over senior early release began with a recommendation from superintendent Bob Shannon. According to Shannon, principal Terry McCarty and the administrators at Manhattan High School strongly recommended keeping the option of early release. Shannon also brought up the results from the community poll, which, according to Shannon, leaned heavily in favor of keeping early release open. Based on the evidence and recommendation from the administrators, Shannon developed a recommendation for the school board. “Essentially, I agree with the recommendation,” Shannon said. “It’s true that ultimately, the time that a student uses in the hours is their choice. They’ve met the requirements for graduation.” Shannon suggested that in order to improve education, the board should develop a definition for ‘career and college readiness.’ “If you look at the ACT reports and look at the new standards, everyone is moving towards developing definitions of what is ‘college ready,’” Shannon said. “Times are changing.” Shannon suggested that creating a definition would help solve the proposed problems with early release and help move our district in the right
Volume 100 issue 12
Manhattan High School, Manhattan, Kan.
BOE says ‘yes’ to the continuation of senior early release Naomi McClendon Entertainment Editor
News
direction. “I’m not saying we make a definition and it must be the deciding factor for students to take early release, but it could certainly be a prompt for early release decisions.” Shannon said. “It would be more than just a slogan.” Shannon’s final recommendation to the board was “to continue early release as it is, but move towards developing a definition for ‘college ready.’” School board member Pete Paukstelis began the discussion, questioning why policy developed by the school board in the 1990s was being ignored. According to Paukstelis, the school board had previously disagreed with early release. No current school board members could recall a previous decision to eliminate early release. “I’m just shocked and disappointed that we’re ignoring a decision that we may not have known about,” Paukstelis said. Principal Terry McCarty responded to Paukstelis’s question. “I recall when there was a policy to eliminate early release, but I could never find a re-policy discussion on whether we moved to officially have a seven-hour day,” McCarty said. School board president Dave Colburn suggested that the school board hadn’t discussed the issue for years. “I’ve been following the board very carefully since 2001, and there has been no mention of early release since,” Colburn said. Board member Beth Tatarko changed the subject and spoke from personal experience. “My children all took advantage of early release,” Tatarko said. “They took classes at K-State, got jobs and volunteered in the community. It’s only rare cases in which kids aren’t using it wisely.”
Tatarko suggested that the structure of early release was “consecutive and made sense,” and then made a motion to vote on the recommendation to keep senior early release. The motion was seconded by board member Leah Fliter, but the school board continued to discuss the issue. Colburn spoke on behalf of board member Walt Pesaresi, who was not present at the meeting. “Walt’s not here, but I feel some obligation to voice his concern,” Colburn said. “Walt was concerned that taxpayers weren’t getting what they paid for.” Vice president Curt Herrman responded by saying that early release was not being misused. “It’s a good program, and I don’t think kids are misusing it,” Herrman said. “We don’t track early release, though, and I think we should.” School board member Darell Edie agreed that early release was a good option. “The school’s an education facility, not a prison,” Edie said. “I do like the idea of defining ‘college and career ready.’” In a final attempt to convince the board against the decision, Paukstelis brought up the point that the district doesn’t reduce the number of teachers or classes available despite the lessened number of students. “I’m disappointed that we have teachers and classes available and there are students, frankly, who need them, and we’re not making them take the classes,” Paukstelis said. Paukstelis was concerned that Manhattan High sets the bar too low for students.
See BOE on page 5
IPS shops for Adopt-a-Family
Senior Andrew Schultz picks out gifts for his Adopt A Family at K-Mart Wednesday, Nov. 28. The family included a 5-year-old girl, a 3-year-old girl and an 11-month-old boy. Schultz and his group had $400 to spend on gifts. For more in-depth coverage on Adopt A Family, view page 5. Kayla Dieker, photographer
High school rivalry goes national Julianne Harkness Staff Writer Rivalry. This is what every athlete and sports fan looks forward to every year. There is never a disappointing moment in any rivalry game, with few being the most emotional games. These few rivalries are what “USA Today” director of high school content, Derek Samson, loves about high school sports. Samson started a new tradition on the publication’s website. A contest on the nations best high school rivalry. Samson has seen and read about some interesting high school rivalries, which is how the idea came to him. “I have worked in several places and seen some really good high school rivalries,” Samson said. “I always thought it would be cool to do a package that features the best of these rivalries, with all their traditions and his-
tory. When I was brought on at ‘USA Today,’ I thought that would be the perfect place for it, being that we could make it a national project.” On the “USA Today” website there is a place to vote for which rivalry is best in the eyes of the viewers. Voting for the state round ends at 10 a.m. on Dec. 3. After the viewers voted for their favorite rivalry, one from each state will move on to a regional round. “The winners in each state advance on to a regional round, which is four regions,” Samson said. “Kansas is in the Midwest region. There will be a week of voting on the Midwest Region, and the winner of that is one of four advancing to the national round. The national round ends at 10 a.m. Dec. 19.” Every state has three best rivalries. MHS vs. JC was one of the top three. “The Silver Trophy had a lot to do with
it, and just the history to it,” Samson said. “We asked several people within the state of Kansas that have a history with high school football for their best rivalries, and Manhattan-Junction City came up repeatedly.” “No doubt it is a great rivalry,” football coach Joe Schartz said. “It is a bitter yet friendlyfun rivalry that brings out the best in both teams.” A lot of people inside and out of the city know a great deal about the rivalry between these two teams, and the competition benefits and is a good thing for both of the teams.” Not only will “USA Today” award the winners with $10,000, but they will also send a reporter to cover next fall’s rivalry game. The winner of that game will be presented with a trophy from “USA Today.” See Rivalry on page 5
Debate works hard to qualify for four-speaker State Naomi McClendon Entertainment Editor
Sophomores Angel Zelansky and Lisa Zhu research current events for the upcoming debate tournaments. Naomi McClendon, photographer
Clu b Notes Scholars Bowl
Members of the Manhattan High School Scholars Bowl team could appear on television soon. Along with competing, the team has been preparing to do something familiar to them. On Dec.1, the team traveled to Washburn University to take the qualified test for the QUEST TV show. The team has been on the TV show for the past four years. Around 60 schools took the test and only the top 16 schools were chosen to be on the TV show. Once chosen, the teams are bracketed and go head-to-head. Filming for the show starts in
January and the episodes will begin airing towards the end of March on KTWU. The J.V. Scholars Bowl team competed at Cair Paravel Latin School on Nov.19. The team went 2-5 and did not advance further. The J.V. team will be have two meets this week. Wednesday they compete at Shawnee Heights and Thursday at Salina Central. The JV Scholars Bowl team competed at Cair Paravel Latin School on Nov.19, the team went 2-5 and did not advance further. Along with competing, the team has been preparing to do something familiar to them,
As their regular season comes to a close, debate students have dedicated themselves to preparing for the biggest tournaments of the year. Last weekend, Manhattan High sent four of their best teams to the final invitational tournament of the season. The next four weekends hold the biggest tournaments of the debate year. This weekend, MHS’s four best teams will compete at the NFL tournament, where teams can qualify for Nationals. Next weekend, junior Robert Kobza and sophomores Angel Zelansky, Jina Ok and Lisa Zhu will participate in four-speaker Regionals, where they could qualify for four-speaker State. The following weekend MHS’s top team, which consists of seniors Jake Seaton and Jordan DeLoach, will compete at the Debate Coaches Invitational, which according to coach Shawn Rafferty, is essentially the “all-star game” of debate. “If you’ve done well enough in the season and you’ve earned enough points, you get to go,” Rafferty said. “We might have a few teams qualify, but we’re just taking one.”
on Dec.1 the team traveled to Washburn University to take the qualified test for the QUEST TV show. The team has been on the TV show for the past four years. Around 60 schools took the test, only the top 16 schools were chosen to be on the TV show, once chosen the teams are bracketed and go head to head. Filming for the show starts in January and the episodes will begin airing towards the end of March on KTWU. The JV team will be have two meets this week, Wednesday they compete at Shawnee Heights and Thursday at Salina Central. - Julith Perry
American Field Service Two students, one from
The season ends at the State tournament, where MHS’s four best teams will compete. To prepare for the upcoming tournaments, debaters have been researching and preparing during school and after school. Manhattan High’s top team, which includes Seaton and DeLoach, is currently ranked first in Kansas and has a winning record of 33-8. DeLoach and Seaton attribute their success so far not only to their research and preparation, but also to their years of experience and tutors. “We’ve had a lot of experience, as we’ve both been debating for four years,” DeLoach said. “We also learned a lot last year from that year’s top teams.” In addition to working to get ready for the upcoming tournaments, the team also has been preparing all year for the post-season tournaments. “We’ve gathered scouting reports throughout the season to see what we need to prepare for,” DeLoach said. “The reports let us create specific strategies against teams from different schools in the league.” According to DeLoach, the next four tournaments will be the most important and most fun of the sea-
Germany and the other from Norway, shared facts about personal lives back home as part of the American Field Service Foreign Exchange Presentations on Nov. 27. Senior Jakob Borgen discussed how the education system in Norway differed from that of America’s, in that high school is optional there, “but preferred if you want to go to college,” Borgen said. “ The different school system was something I wanted to experience as a foreign exchange,” he said. But he realized the U.S. education system was not the only thing that separated his European culture from here. “There are a lot of people who drive here. Back home we use public transportation to get places. Everyone also eats out
son. “We’re definitely excited for the chance to compete, but of course these next few tournaments are nerve-wracking,” DeLoach said. “At NFL, for example, you only get two losses before you’re eliminated, and that’s it.” Despite the difficult work and time commitment, DeLoach is not looking forward to the season’s end. “It sucks that it’s over, but I’m excited for DCI and State. We’re going to have good judges there,” DeLoach said. “I’m not too sad about the season’s end though — debate has taught me not to have any feelings,” he joked. According to Zelansky and Kobza, debate consists of a lot more than what most people think. “When people think of debate, they think of arguing back and forth,” Zelansky said. “But it’s a lot more work than that; there’s a lot more to it than just arguing.” Kobza compared the level of strategy in debate to a game of chess or a basketball play. “The biggest misconception is that debate is just debating,” Kobza explained.
more and gets more fast food in the U.S,” he said. As for his experience collaborating with Germany’s Louisa Friedrich on the presentation, it was like a creative work session. “It was good working with Louisa. We had a lot in common and we came up with some crazy ideas,” Borgen said. “It makes it easy to be an exchange student because we share the same experience of having a new family. We all experience what’s different here and what’s good here.” When deciding what they would put in the presentation, they pulled their information from past presentations as a foundation of what they would include in the AFS presentation. When they first met their
See Debate on page 5 host families, Borgen and Friedrich gave a similar presentation about themselves as well as their home town and country for them. “It wasn’t too bad,” Friedrich, a junior, said. “We do a lot of presentations in Germany for school.” “We just added some more things to it that we thought would be fun and interesting,” Friedrich said of the presentation on Tuesday. “We wanted to let them know more about ourselves and our country. Things that could be more relatable like politics and school stuff. I think it’s easier to know somebody if you know their background and family life. That’s what we tried to show them.” - Sarah Shi