M
ENTOR
The
Manhattan High School Volume 101 Issue 10 Nov. 12, 2013
page 3
page 6
page 4
Science Olympiad competes in first meet of the season Tracy Le Graphic Designer Last Friday, Manhattan High’s Science Olympiad team drove to Shawnee Mission South for their first competition of the year. The 11 members that went were up against 21 other teams and results will be delivered later this week.
“I would like to see us do well, but ultimately, it’s for the kids to really enjoy themselves, learn a bunch, and be excited about the whole process,” Science Olympiad sponsor Dick Nelson said. “Our goal for this was to have the younger members have a chance to see what it’s all about, have a chance to compete and hopefully motivate
them in terms of getting even more excited about science olympiad.” Sophomore Morgan Martin competed in the Rocks and Minerals, Experimental Design and Entomology events. “I was kind of nervous but it was fine because it’s only a practice meet and all the other teams are kind of in the
same boat,” Martin said. Though this was only a practice competition, members agree that it was very helpful. “Without these you just have the PowerPoints and stuff and you aren’t really sure what you need to know for competition. [The practice competition] gave you an idea about what compe-
tition was going to be like, what questions were going to be like,” junior Danny Aramouni said. This is Martin’s first year on the team so she appreciated the practice. “I like the idea of going in there and being able to prepare before we actually have to do the real one,” Martin said.
Unless they decide to go on more practice competitions, the team’s next competition is the regional competition in Salina in February. “I’m really looking forward to regionals,” Martin said. “I think our team is really good.”
Dissecting Season Anatomy students gain hands-on experience
Sophomores Andrea Lu and Amanda Mack work on skinning their cat during Accelerated Anatomy and Physiology class. The classes have been dissecting cats for the past month.
Alan Brown Multimedia Editor It’s dissecting season. Since last month, the Accelerated Anatomy and Physiology classes have been dissecting cats as a part of their muscle unit. The Marine Science class also took part in a dissection while studying sharks. “It is really interesting because you get to see what is inside and how
things work,” sophomore Krista Burton said. Led by teachers Craig Ackerman and Pat Lamb, the anatomy students have seen and memorized over eighty cat muscles. A cat’s muscle anatomy is very similar to a human’s, which makes it ideal to study for students preparing for a career in the medical field. Senior Liz Lo finds the class to be very useful in preparing for her future. “I want to go into nurs-
ing school and knowing the body is helpful,” Lo said. Unlike previous years, the cats were delivered to the school with their skin still attached. A large group of students volunteered to skin the cats by hand during their Friday off from school. True to the popular idiom, students discovered there is certainly more than one way to skin a cat. “It was fun,” Lo said. “I thought it was weird how
Business class opens online store Kennedy Felice Copy Editor Guided by their knowledge of business principles and understanding of marketing, the Applied Business Development Class at Manhattan High has taken on the challenge of creating an online store. After establishing a plan business teacher Paige McCarthy, alongside her students, sought venues to turn their idea into something tangible. “Mr. [Mike] Marsh was the one who got me going with this, because I had approached him saying that this class was thinking that they wanted to start an online store or some sort of school store,” McCarthy said. “And he said a good place to begin might be this GTM site because he had been approached by a retailer here in Manhattan about ordering their products online.” Students involved are being tasked with creating a business that is both functional and profitable. “We work on it basically
everyday, just the everyday operations. We practically do everything involved. We set up the store, all the products that go along with it, the pricing, the distribution and the marketing of it all,” senior Jake Carlson said. The steps needed to successfully create this store have required the continued effort and commitment from those involved. “This process is a lot slower than we had been anticipating. We started working on this in August and we thought that we would have something going in just a few weeks, but now we’re finally ready,” McCarthy said. With each item sold, a small profit is earned which will be returned to Business Professionals of America club. “We have to take about 1020 people every year to state in Wichita, where we have to pay for traveling expenses and hotel rooms,” senior Jerry Sextro said. “There is a little bit of expense and that is what we are trying to make up for.”
Though the store is only currently available to teachers and other faculty members, expansion is a likely possibility in the future. “Right now we are having a staff store, that is the one we have running right now. And then we are partnering with wrestling, for a wrestling team spirit store,” Sextro said. “Then we want to establish a store for just regular MHS apparel available to students and the community and find other clubs and organizations interested in working with us as well. “ With the establishment of a school store students involved are now being presented with the opportunity to explore the business field beyond the traditional classroom setting. “These kids are learning how important planning is and how long it really takes to really get an idea off of the ground. They are able to analyze financial records because on the site we can see how many people have been See Business page 3
the skin just peeled right off.” At first, being in contact with dead animals was a very awkward situation for many students, especially for those who were dissecting for the first time. Burton presented a colorful description of the scene. “It smelled like death and formaldehyde,” Burton said. “I felt like a serial killer.” Sophomore Maddie Taylor also felt a bit un-
comfortable with the dead cats at first, but she has come to enjoy the process. “I like getting my fingers under their skin,” Taylor said. “It was gross at first, but now I am used to it.” The anatomy class has a pin test over the cat muscles scheduled this week. The test will consist of several timed stations where students will need to be able to name particular muscles on the body of the
Alan Brown, Photographer
cats and be able to spell them correctly in order to receive full points. The test setup is very similar to the bone pin test that the students took in early October. With study time available after school and throughout the weekend, there are several students that feel confident about the upcoming test. “Life in this class is much easier if you study,” senior Amanda Buckwalter said.
GSA starts up again Tracy Le Graphic Designer After not having a chapter for two years, students at Manhattan High have decided to reorganize Gay Straight Alliance. The club is being sponsored by MHS art teacher Sara Remple. “Right now we’re just setting the club up again so we really haven’t had time to do anything yet,” Remple said. Junior Rebekah Carter joined GSA her freshman
year. "I was really glad [the club is active again]," Carter said. "It's the only club I'm really in and I love it so much." Carter is the vice president of the club, junior Mary Romig is president, senior Akira Porter is secretary and senior Caleb Deines is treasurer. So far GSA has held a couple of meetings where members have been filling out paperwork, picking officers and planning out what they
want to do this year. They are thinking about holding multiple fundraisers and having speakers come in to talk to them. "I feel like the school definitely needs a GSA club," Porter said. Remple agreed. “Because it helps people feel like they're accepted," she said. “It’s a safe place for different people to meet and talk with each other and just be able to relate to people without feeling different.”
Foreign language clubs available Adelle Sloan Guest Writer Students join clubs because they want to get involved. If they want to learn about the culture of another country, there are three clubs available to join -- the German, French and Spanish Clubs. German Club celebrates
the German culture. Each year, they celebrate Oktober Fest with a Bratwurst Fest fundraiser. Three of the German Club officers are seniors -- vice president Chasity Smith, secretary Joe Haug and treasurer Taylor Smith. “Right now, we’re helping with parking at one of the K-State games, and we’ll be going to Eisenhower, Lucky
and Anthony to recruit for next year,” German Club president junior Reshan Fadul said. Anybody can join the Spanish Club even if they don’t speak the language or attend the class. Spanish Club is one of the largest clubs at Manhattan High, See Foreign Language page 3