Volume 102 Edition 15

The mentor Vol. 102 Issue 15 | Manhattan High School | Jan. 27, 2015

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Obama excites audience in Lawrence Madeline Marshall News Editor

President Obama looks out to the crowd as he recounts the story of audience member Steve Ozark. “So, last year, Steve wrote me a letter about his vision for this country -- a place where every American, he said, has ‘a place at the table,’” Obama said. “The point is, is that we’re going to disagree on politics sometimes, but we don’t have to be so viciously divided as a people. We all know what God and Grandma taught us to do. Whoever we are -- Republican, Democrat, male, female, young, old, black, white, gay, straight -– we all share a common vision for our future. We want a better country for your generation, and for your kids’ generation -- a place where, as Steve wrote, everybody has ‘a place at the table.’”

PHOTO BY MADELINE MARSHALL

Debate takes first at state Angie Moss Business Manager

After a lot of research and several intense rounds, Manhattan High’s debate team won the State competition.

Four Speaker Policy Debate consists of two people constantly on the affirmative side and two people on the negative side. Senior Angel Zelazney and senior Niroop Rajeshekar went affirmative and finished 6-1 while junior Nathan McClendon and senior Peter Sang went negative and were undefeated. The four-person team did a round robin with other 6A schools and won 13 out of 14 rounds.

"I think it was fairly intense. Every round seemed fairly close and we were left wondering if we won or lost, but it turned out we won all of our debate rounds except one,” Zelazney said. “We viewed Blue Valley as our biggest competition, as they won the division last year" There was also another divi-

sion called two speaker that seniors Reid Erdwien, Reid Beer, junior Cathy Lei and junior Arnav Das competed in. Beer and Erdwien placed in the top 16 of the state out of 72 teams in two speaker.

To qualify for State, MHS had to compete against seven other teams at regionals in December. There are four regional competitions throughout the state and only two teams from each competition continue on to compete against seven other teams at State.

The team practiced during and after school for weekly competitions throughout the first semester. In the weeks leading up to State, the team thought of arguments that could be used against them at the competition and wrote out the answers in advance.

“We worked all semester, put in a lot of time after school.

It wasn’t just that we practiced for State, we go to competitions every week so we started all the way back in August,” debate coach Shawn Rafferty

said. “Last weekend was our last tournament for debate so it’s been a combination of all that time.”

Although writing out possible answers for arguments in advance can help, sometimes arguments come up that have not been used before in competition.

"Teams often come up with new strategies at State. So you can be surprised because you might have to counter arguments you haven't heard all year,” Erdwien said.

One of the teams that MHS competed against ran an argument concerning the topicality of their affirmative case that had not been run against them all year.

"They were more prepared than we were on that argument and we lost that round -- that's how we dropped out of the tournament,” Erdwien said. "If we had gone against that argument more earlier in the year we might have been more prepared to handle it."

With more than 1,000 people buzzing with excitement, the University of Kansas’ Anschutz Sports Pavilion was a crowded and emotion-filled place this past Thursday when President Barack Obama arrived to speak about Middle Class Economics.

Coming into his seventh year in office, Obama was glad to be in Kansas to address his and his administration’s goals for the next two years.

The pavilion had been packed to the brim hours before Obama arrived with people who had spent the day outside earlier in the week waiting for the chance to receive tickets to the event. The entire University of Kansas campus seemed to be waiting for the event; after all, the last sitting president to visit KU was Taft.

“It means everything to me, it’s history happening before my very eyes,” audience member Kay Kitner said while waiting for the president to arrive.

“I’ve never seen a sitting president before so this is very cool.

I’m mostly looking for clarification on how he’s going to help the middle class and I’m also just glad to be in the same room with him.”

After hours of waiting in the frigid sports pavilion, the crowd erupted. Hail to the Chief was blasting and the president was grinning as he reached the podium.

“Hello Kansas,” Obama said to greet the audience. “And it’s good to be back in Kansas. I’ve got deep roots in Kansas. As you know, my mom was born in Wichita. Her mom grew up in Augusta. Her father was from El Dorado. So I’m a Kansas guy. I’m a Kansas guy.”

After warming up the audience, he addressed the topics at hand; issues that would directly affect the students (and everyone else) in the room.

In what could be considered a condensed, yet far more personal, version of the State of the Union, Obama addressed the goals of “Middle Class Economics,” namely, making sure “that everybody not only shares in success but also is able to contribute to the success of the United States of America.”

He discussed his hopes for pushing past the boundaries of political parties to ensure things such as equal pay for women, affordable childcare, affordable college, high quality 21st century infrastructure and more. In doing so, Obama wowed the crowd.

“I feel excited that he’s bringing out topics and issues that need to be addressed and I’m hoping they’ll stay and the limelight and they’ll get some momentum behind them, especially affordable college and affordable childcare,” audience member Roxanne Rachlin said.

The speech left many auSee Obama on page 3

Scholars Bowl finishes second at league competition at Seaman High School

Key club successful in first semes-

The MHS Scholars Bowl team competed at Seaman last Thursday for their league tournament. The team finished in a 3 way tie for second place.

Since a prize is only awarded to the first place finisher, the winner of the tie was not determined. The team consisted of juniors Ben Stonebraker, Joshua Schwartz, Spencer Parish and seniors Ben Lindsey and Kyle Weston.

The team competed against the likes of Highland Park, Washburn Rural, Hayden, Seaman and Junction City. The adversaries put up quite a fight.

“It was steep. The questions were hard and the competition was quick to answer them.

Washburn Rural, for example, has always been good,” Parish said. “During the match we lost, a lot of our good players sat out.”

So far this year, the team has been very successful in

The MHS Key Club has had a busy semester, focusing on several service projects designed to benefit the community. Senior Baili Rowe, club president, is proud of the work the group has accomplished so far.

“We are community service organization and we build a strong foundation in character,” Rowe said. “As a club, we meet every Wednesday to do either a service project or to recycle.”

This last semester, Key Club took part in two major projects. Together, they turned old T-shirts into dog toys and donated them to the local animal shelter. The club also wrote holiday letters to the assisted living home.

“I’ll say our dog toy project was a success. That’s been our strongest and most hands on project,” Rowe said. “It was

Alan Brown Feature Editor

their meets. Not only have they placed either first or second in each of their competitions, but have also noticed vast improvement as well. The chemistry between members of the team has improved, and as a result the scores are also improving.

“Practice makes perfect,” Stonebraker said. “We are able to answer a lot more questions correctly, and we’ve eliminated technical mistakes. For example, two people never answer the questions at the same time.”

The team expects to finish out the year on a high note.

While there might not be many meets left on the schedule, there is one date circled, the state competition. To the team, qualifying for state would be a major achievement.

“It would mean a lot, since the team didn’t make it last year,” said Parish. “I’m sure that the entire team would be excited about that.”

Alan Brown Features Editor

See Key on page 3

Science Olympiad takes gold at regional competition Tracy Le Trending Editor For over a decade, Manhattan High’s Science Olympiad team has seized the gold medal at the regional competition.

And this year, they’ve done it again.

“The students’ performance was excellent,” Nelson said.

“The kids walked up front to get their medals...17 out of the 23 named, we were the ones who went up to get the gold medal. That’s pretty impressive. When you’re sitting there watching it, it’s really thrilling.

It’s hard to score much bet-

Global News Madeline Marshall News Editor Global news is a vital part of news today and can directly affect MHS students.

In order to inform our readers, The Mentor has compiled small summaries describing some of the largest happenings in the world today. We encourage the reader to read about these topics, and others, in greater depth.

ter than we did. Our performance wasn’t perfect and we have room to improve but to score as well as we did is just an outstanding effort by the students.”

Leaving the school for Salina the morning of Jan. 13, the students placed first in 17 out of the 23 events.

“We felt prepared in most of the areas but a little shaky in terms of our preparation in other areas,” Nelson said. “You don’t really know for sure how you’ll do until you get there and actually do the competition.”

By the end of the day, stu-

dents were pleased with how they performed.

“We did very well,” senior Danny Aramouni said. “We did the second best we’ve ever done.”

The best the team has ever scored was last year.

“A couple of last year’s team alumni happened to be at the competition and although we did very, very well, they were quick to point out that actually last year’s team were a couple points better than this year’s team,” Nelson said. “But truth be known, if our airplane hadn’t been damaged during the trip between Manhattan

and Salina, it would, more than likely, have been our best finish.”

Students were forced to patch up the tail section of an airplane they had created for one of the events.

“It was really disappointing,” junior Rebekah Hennesy said. “They had a repair attempt on the way down and they were really ingenious with it and it got it to where it would fly but it wasn’t anything like it used to be. It flew for about eight seconds when it had been getting two minutes.”

For three years, Hennesy

has been on the Science Olympiad team. This year, she and her partners took two gold medals.

The Honors Science Investigations class, a class that was started this year, has proved beneficial.

“We just want to thank our administration and our school board for their support with allowing us to have the class.

That’s been great,” Nelson said.

“About half of the team is in the class and have that opportunity to prepare and I think those students were definitely more prepared than in the past.”

Though Aramouni is not enrolled in the class, he often goes in after school and on Saturdays to study and work on his events. Out of his events -Air Trajectory, Anatomy and Physiology, Chemistry Lab, and Forensics -- Aramouni walked onstage with his partners to claim the gold medal for all four.

“We’re a very un-confident team,” Aramouni said. “I feel like we have really low self esteem. Afterwards, we always think we did terrible and then we find out we swept the floor.

Boko Haram kills thousands in Nigeria

cording to the human rights group Amnesty International, hundreds of thousands of civilians are now “at grave risk.”

There are currently 12 cities in northeastern Nigeria that are either under Boko Haram attack or control.

journalist Kenji Goto holds a photo that allegedly shows the dead body of the second hostage, Haruna Yukawa.

“Fully aware of unbearable pain and sorrow that his family must be feeling, I am simply left speechless,” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said. “Such act of terrorism is outrageous and impermissible, which causes me nothing but strong indignation. Thus I express resolute condemnation.”

ISIL had demanded a $200 million ransom for the release of the two men. The 72-hour deadline passed last Friday.

Abe refused to pay a ransom.

In the video Saturday, Goto said the Islamic State had changed its ransom demand

and no longer wanted money, but instead the release of of their imprisoned sister Sajida al-Rishawi.

the city”). Mariupol has a population of 500,000 and is in a highly strategic position, sitting between rebel-held eastern areas and Crimea, which was annexed by Russia last March. The city saw heavy fighting in August.

Currently in Ukraine, more than 5,000 people have been killed in the fighting and more than 10,300 injured 1.4 million people in Ukraine are currently considered “highly vulnerable and in need of assistance.” Likewise, more than a million people have fled their homes with 633,523 living as displaced persons within Ukraine and 593,622 living outside Ukraine, mainly in Russia.

Terrorist group Boko Haram, who have already killed more than 2,000 civilians in northeastern Nigeria, have launched an attack on the city of Maiduguri in northeastern Nigeria. Maiduguri is home to tens of thousands of people who have fled previous Boko Haram attacks. Yet another Boko Haram attack was reported in Monguno, a city north of Maiduguri. Boko Haram, which means “Western education is forbidden” in the Hausa language, started guerrilla operations in 2009 and since has killed thousands. Ac-

ISIL beheads Japanese Hostage The Islamic State released a new video last Saturday that claimed that one of the two current Japanese captives had been beheaded. It also addressed new demands for the other hostage’s release. In the video, Japanese freelance

Rockets kill 30 in Ukraine A series of rocket attacks has left 30 dead and many more injured in the city of Mariupol, Ukraine. While Ukraine blamed pro-Russia rebels, separatists said Ukrainian forces were behind the attacks. However, East Ukraine’s main rebel leader stated that he had,in fact, begun an offensive against Mariupol (he later said he “will not storm

See Science on page 3

Opinions

The Mentor • Jan. 27, 2015

Students have right to challenge poor conditions THIS EDITORIAL IS A COMPILATION FROM A DISCUSSION HELD BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD. TO LISTEN TO THE CONVERSATION THAT LED TO THIS PIECE, VISIT WWW.MHSMENTOR.COM In a public school system students have certain rights they’re all entitled to. Among these is the right to a safe environment when at school.

When they’re denied of these rights they should be able to demand change without facing repercussions.

Recently a Miami high school principal was accused of abridging her students’ freedom of speech when she made threats to cancel school events after students complained about unsanitary school conditions via Twitter.

The Mentor editorial board held a discussion to determine whether students were in the

wrong and what should have been done better/differently by all parties involved.

The complaints made were roaches, overflowing trash bins, expired foods and soap dispensers remaining empty for weeks at a time. One girl even claimed to have been hospitalized from food poisoning after drinking expired juice the cafeteria served.

After the principal made threats to cancel events there were more angry tweets from enraged students who felt their rights(free speech) were being denied.

Our editorial board agreed that the students should be allowed to voice any concerns they may have and while the argument can be made they can do this somewhere other than social media, we felt that this is one of the strongest mediums our generation has to be heard. No administrator wants their school being criticized

so this can be a very effective method to bring light on situations they’d rather others not know of, forcing them to correct their faults.

As for the principal retiring, that also seems appropriate. An administrator should feel responsible for protecting and advocating for the students who otherwise may not be heard. She clearly no longer, assuming she ever did, protects her students rights and abuses her power.

For many, especially in big cities like Miami, school may be an escape from poor home conditions. Their school lunch may be the only substantial meal they receive all day.

They shouldn’t have to worry about the food their consuming making them ill. Lucia Cox was right to step down from her position as principal to give someone else a shot at doing what she could not.

Question of the Week: “The spotlight during rehearsal.... @jschnow,” senior Justin Gittle, @Stop_Justin_

“Let It Go with the beauties Rachel and Kristyn!” senior Sammi Adams, @SamAdams

What was your favorite act from America’s Got Special Talent?

“Get your head in the game. it’s my life by: Molly Fiser and Karl Drown. The MC’s telling jokes and being goofy.

The dance with the girls from the k-state women’s basketball team. Group dance happy. And the Cupid shuffle at the end of the talent show,” senior Jordan Hatley

“The ballroom dance,” senior, Alyssa Frey @Lyssa_baby96

“The finale! The techies were all dancing backstage and it was fun,” junior Emma Galitzer, @em_galaxy

Free community college not solution; lower tuition cost President Obama proposed making the first two years of community college free for students in his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Jan. 20. If passed, Obama’s plan may give students a free associates degree Does this plan sound almost too good to be true?

That’s because it is.

Though the plan would give students some motivation to continue their education and present them with a two-year degree, there are some major setbacks with the plan.

On one side of the spectrum, community college is not always the best post secondary option when pursuing a degree higher than an associates.

According to Fortune.com, only 20 percent of students who pursue an associates degree graduate within three years and 60 percent will return after those three years to continue pursuing an associates degree.

If students who attend community college plan to pursue bachelors degrees some credits from a two-year college may not transfer to a four-year college. Colleges can be picky,

especially when it comes to specialized classes. You could take a class at one college and have to retake the same class when transferring to a fouryear university. This could mean that a student would not receive a bachelors degree after two years in community college and another two years at a four-year university. In fact, only 15 percent who enroll into community college graduate with a bachelor’s within six years. This creates more debt for students and also takes up the time students could have used in a career.

Community colleges also fail to give the academic preparation that is necessary at fouryear university. It is typically easier to get higher grades in community college compared to four-year universities. Potentially, students who transfer from a two-year institute to a university may find it difficult to keep up with the curriculum.

Also, there is a higher percent of instructors with doctorates degrees at public universities than at community colleges, where instructors’ highest level of education is sometimes only masters degree.

For Obama’s plan to actually work, reformation of community colleges is essential for “high quality academics.”

But, how are colleges going to pay for improvement when

Obama’s plan will only cover the tuition that students are already paying? The President’s plan will not increase the money that colleges already receive; therefore, colleges will lack the extra funding need for improvements.

Though Obama’s plan would make tuition at these colleges free, there are other expenses that can become challenging for students. The cost of community college tuition can range from $2,500 to $3,300; however, when you factor in the cost of other expenses (books, class fees, etc.) the price of community college can become just as pricey as a four-year university.

So, is Obama’s plan really going to boost students’ success when obstacles such as academic quality and affordability are still in the way?

A better option is to increase income-based Pell Grant funding to help cover some tuition cost for students who are pursuing higher degrees in education. Although, Obama’s plan will make community college more affordable for students, it steers students to lower quality education options. An even better long term solution to the college problem is to altogether take steps in lowering the cost of tuition for all types of institutions.

Positive mindset increases happiness

Everyone’s a cynic these days, it seems. I talk to a lot of people in one of my days, and the more people I talk to, the sorrier I feel for those who are plagued by a negative mindset toward society and the things that make it the way that it is.

Given, there are plenty of bad things about our society today, most of them prejudices of various types, but the fact that we, as a whole, tend to focus mainly on those bad things can only make matters worse

as we dwell on the systematic flaws that we have developed.

Not that we should ignore the major negative issues -- we should always work for positive changes that will result in a more equal and peaceful existence -- but focusing on the positive things we’ve accomplished as well could be beneficial to us as individuals, which in turn, could be beneficial to us a society and as a world.

Browsing back through history, it’s obvious that we’ve come a long way as far as concepts of peace and equality, even within the last 50 years.

Adopting a more positive attitude toward people -- believing in the good of humanity -could help make real changes

happen in society.

Humans aren’t cruel creatures by default. Humans are made into everything that they are through experiences and through influence by those around them, so though humanity has built up a harsh rap, it’s time to change the way we view other people and the way we view our society because the way we think of people and think of our society -- positively or negatively -can make all the difference in our mindsets. When we strive to think positively, we can act positively. Mass change of societal wrongs is made through the change of mindset and the change of heart of individuals.

Would you like to see your words in print? Share them with The Mentor for a chance to have your story in the publication.

“When the ISA’s randomly rode the bike around the stage,” senior Isaiah Koppes, @RuninFrmDaKopps

What’s the best way to ask/get asked to Sub Deb? Tweet your answer @mhsmentoronline or answer at our website, mhsmentor.com for a chance to be featured in the next edition.

The Mentor is an open forum and accepts signed letters and guest columns from students, faculty members and parents. Letters and columns are distinct from each other.

• Letters are in response to content in this publication and are recommended to be no longer than 350 words.

• Columns are a new topic, a call to action or a clear statement of an opinion regarding a school or national issue and are required to be within 300-600 words in length. Anyone interested in contributing a guest column is advised to clear the topic with the editorial staff prior to writing it in order to save time and effort.

The editorial staff reserved the right to edit for length, grammar and clarity while preserving the original intent. All letters, columns and other guest content must be signed and must be free of copyright violations.

E-mail ideas and submissions to Editor-in-Chief Kristen Batson at mhsmentor@gmail.com. Staff meetings take place every five-day school week on Tuesdays during fifth hour and editorial discussions are Wednesdays during second lunch.

Anyone is invited to come pitch ideas.

Race through the eyes of jazz: how a culture changed a life Three years ago, I cautiously opened the door to the Mutual Musician’s Foundation in Kansas City, Mo. As I stepped through, the pink stucco exterior was traded for rooms covered in pictures of great black musicians who had played there over the years.

As I stared at the hundreds of pictures on the walls with awe and wonder, I would be lying if I said I didn’t notice the lack of four-foot-eight white girls.

But, with my saxophone case in one hand and music in the other, I was warmly greeted by new faces that would one day become familiar.

I now travel to inner-city Kansas City, more specifically the famous 18th and Vine jazz district, almost every Saturday to play with the Young Jazz Masters. With this group, whom I now consider family, I have played 23 charity gigs

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for community, education and veterans events. In telling people this, I often receive responses dealing with how “amazing it is” that I am “reaching out and helping people in the inner city.” Of course, “inner city” is used as code for “black people,” with the implication being that black communities some how need help from white people.

Well, they don’t.

In fact, the person who has been helped is me. The person who has learned is me. I have not been an educator or even a volunteer, but a student of a culture far richer than most “outsiders” could imagine.

In my three years, I have been immersed in the culture that Jazz was born in. I have learned to feel the beat bone deep, to let the music say what it wants to say, to let it be, to explore new realms without forgetting where it began, to listen to the masters and to play until there’s nothing left in your soul.

But, more importantly, I have learned of kindness.

From the moment I stepped

into the home of Kansas City’s Local Black Musician’s Union, I have been welcomed with open arms. At every gig I’ve played throughout Kansas City, I’ve been greeted happily. I am never more at home than when I’m up on stage with Zenovia, Caliyah, Ethan, Dominique, Terrell, Jahleel, Alex, Mackenzie and Jacob. I never feel more appreciated than when I’m discussing music with the band directors Mr. and Mrs. Fisher. I rarely feel happier than when I’m laughing with my band mates between sets about how that last song lasted “at least 20 minutes.”

My experiences with this group and the deep cultural roots of jazz in Kansas City have reinforced the idea that we all should gain perspective on each other’s culture.

People like to think that there’s a difference between “us” and “them,” that we’re aiming for different goals, and doing different things. In reality, however, we’re all just working to find what we love and who we love and to make sure we stay

close to those things. But the differences in our social starting points and cultural backgrounds, more often than not, distort this commonality into racial divides.

And lack of cultural perspective has real world consequences for many of my band mates. Ethan, for example, who’s at the top of his class, a five-star athlete and a oneof-a-kind musician, has to be careful if he’s wearing a hoodie. It also comes when people assume that I am the one “giving back.”

At the end of every Saturday night, as I wave goodnight and walk outside into the buzzing night scene, I am a little sad that not everyone has the same opportunity to immerse themselves in a different culture. There are amazing people everywhere. There is kindness, genius, artistry and talent of every kind around every corner. We just need to be willing to look with an empathetic eye.

EDITORS: Kristen Batson -- Print Editor-In-Chief/Opinions Joseph Sell -- Online Editor -In-Chief Danielle Cook -- Entertainment/Content Editor Madeline Marshall -- News Editor Alan Brown -- Features Editor Greg Woods -- Sports Editor Tracy Le -- Trending Editor Anna Hupp -- Photo Editor Senior Staff Writers/Photographers -- Madison Newman, John Rockey Staff Writers/Photographers -- Elassia CunninghamYounger, Darian Foga-Frehn, Ale Flores-Moreno, Brent Morrill OTHER: Angie Moss -- Business Manager Kristy Nyp -- Adviser Circulation -- Kristyn Baker, David Clinkinbeard, Charlie Dickey, Karl Drown, Rachel Efken, Jordan Hatley, Colten Kirk, Joshua Kohls, Kendall Oatney, Megan Ritthisorn, Zane Smith, Darnel Stewart, Austin Tatum The Mentor is published each Tuesday that school is in session at Manhattan High School, 2100 Poyntz Ave. Manhattan, Kan. Telephone (785) 587-2114. More than 1,500 Mentors are printed each week and distributed free of charge to all faculty members and students. MHS journalists are members of the Kansas Scholastic Press Association. The Mentor is an open forum that accepts contributions from the public. E-mail us at mhsmentor@ gmail.com.

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The Mentor • Jan. 27 2015

Features

MHS Students selected for KMEA conference Madison Newman Senior Photographer

Members of the MHS choir peform during an event. Eight orchestra members and nine choir members qualified for the KMEA conference.

PHOTOS BY ANGIE MOSS

NHS awaits new applicants Madeline Marshall News Editor This week more than 100 sophomores and juniors with at least a 3.5 GPA have received application packets to join Manhattan High’s chapter of National Honors Society.

Of those who receive applications, NHS looks for applicants who are involved and will bring positive attributes to the organization.

“We love having members who want to be involved in the community and in our school,” Communications Officer Abby Githens said. “Also we look for kids who care about their academics and who would be good role models to everyone else at Manhattan High.”

These are the attributes that are focused on in the application. “[We look for] people that have participated in a variety of extracurricular activities,” NHS sponsor Robin Smith said. “First would be scholar-

ship and then second would be involvement in the community, extracurricular activities, activities that are associated with school and in the community. We also base it on what attributes that student feels that they have to contribute to National Honors Society.”

Once all packets are in, they will be reviewed and scored.

“The packet is reviewed by some of my faculty peers and its scored on a point system and then if you have greater than a certain number of points then you get invited to be in National Honors Society,” Smith said.

As this is only Smith’s second year as sponsor, the new goals of NHS are still in the initial stages.

“This is my second year to do this and I feel like obviously the second year always goes better than the first year because you don’t have quite such a learning curve,” Smith said. “So I feel like its going

well. We are trying to build up a financial base so that we can offer scholarships to members and also benefit students and families who are members here at Manhattan High School to fulfill unexpected student needs, students helping students basically.”

NHS plans to become more active in the school and community in the following years.

“We want to gradually get more involved in the community and find more service projects and fundraisers people can get involved in,” Githens said.

Manhattan’s chapter of NHS plans to visit Junction City’s chapter in the near future.

“There are still things that could be improved and our goal is to go over to Junction City and spend some time with them and see what kinds of things that they do,” Smith said.

Thespians hold lighting workshop Alejandra Flores Staff Writer Thespians had a lighting and sound workshop event with great results on Friday, Jan. 16. Thespians members or any student that felt interested to learn something new were welcome to go. The purpose of the event was to train students so they can develop their lighting and sound skills in Rezac Auditorium.

Seniors Lauren Fischer and Damian Gerace taught stuObama from page 1 dience members surprised, including KU student Trey Vanahaly.

“I hadn’t seen a president before in person and I didn’t really expect him to talk for long or really about much but I was excited,” Vanahaly said. “I was pleasantly surprised with the duration of the speech and it was a little more exciting than I thought it was going to be. I expected it to be fun but once he was here everybody went crazy. I just think it’s really cool to see somebody like Obama in a place like Lawrence.”

Vanahaly was also happy to see the president try to eliminate the gap between different Science from page 1 It was like that at State last year...then we realized we did the best we’ve ever done.”

The weeks leading up to the competition were incredibly busy for the team as they met more frequently on the weekends.

“The night before the competition, we were texting each other furiously, making sure we had everything,” Hennessy said.

With Regionals over, the team is hoping to go to a prac-

dents things about sound, like how to set up microphones, turn on sound board and signal to different monitors.

“It was really fun. More people learned the basics. They can run it now,” Fischer said.

Students who attended to the workshop are now going to be able to help and practice what they learned.

“We learned the basics. We are ready to work,” sophomore Samantha Hall said.

Senior Dart Hall in the other hand taught students about

lighting as different types of instruments, safety precautions with electrical tools, how to turn the light on and off and how to focus light.

“The more that you do it, the easier it gets,” theatre teacher Linda Uthoff said. All the students that went to the workshop are now ready to use their skills and help in whatever they can.

“Great turnout. There were at least 20 students in both part of the workshop,” Uthoff said.

groups in America.

“I think he did a good job of trying to not have a division between republicans and democrats or any other factions and to try to make it about the American people as a whole and I appreciated that,” Vanahaly said.

Others are hopeful that the change Obama spoke of will occur.

“I just hope the middle class is helped,” Kitner said.

Rachlin agreed with the sentiment.

“For me, I have two children that are 14 and nine so college is on the horizon for us and also we were a two working parent family and the cost of childcare was absolutely outrageous and I see my whole

peer group going through that. The point he made about childcare, in some cases, costing more than a college degree is absolutely crazy. I really hope he makes these things happen.”

Leaving an audience hopeful and, in many cases, tearyeyed, President Obama closed his speech by expressing the importance of the young people of America.

“So we’ve made it through some hard times, but we’ve laid a new foundation,” Obama said. “We’ve got a new future to write. The young people here are going to write a new future for America. Let’s get started right now.”

tice competition on Jan. 31.

After that, their next competition will be the state competition in April.

“I have real high hopes for the state competition,” Nelson said. “We learned a lot this year.”

The state competition will be a last chance for all the seniors of the team, including Aramouni.

“I want to win. I really want to,” Aramouni. “I want to go to Nationals in Lincoln. I want to win.”

Key from page 1 a group effort and we all contributed.”

Currently, the club is preparing themselves for district convention in Wichita this March.

“We have a lot of workshops that teach you about leadership skills and things to know later in life,” Rowe said. “You meet so many new people. In a lot of group organizations, you don’t really get into it. [But here], just by helping others, the joy you get from other people, it’s all self rewarding to you, the community, and the world.”

The Kansas Music Educators Association selected eight individuals from Manhattan High School’s orchestra and nine individuals from the choir to participate at the statewide conference.

MHS Pops choir will be showing their talent at the conference.

“We are seen as an elite choir,” senior Madison Bishop said. “Manhattan has a reputation of having a really good choir. Last year a different school bought our audio CD to be like ‘hey be like them.’”

Last year the singers were faced with the last minute challenge of singing in a nonacoustic area, but now they know ahead this year. Both music programs have already begun preparing, but the event details are still a little unclear.

“You can never practice for the way you’re going to feel, what you’re going go through, especially being in front of a big audience -- we kind of have a prime time spot,” senior Willie Michaels said.

“People think 'Manhattan High School -- I’ve got to go see that,'” Bishop said. “I feel like since we are already a little family, it’s just fun and we don’t

perform for the audience, we perform for ourselves. When it’s all done we care about how we liked it, not about how other people thought we did.”

While agreeing with Bishop, Michaels sees other benefits from the experience.

“It’s also a good validation for the program, and helps get the word out for what we do,” Michaels said.

This will be Michaels’ third and final year attending the conference. Reflecting on his first year ,he wishes he had been less stressed out about the whole thing.

“My first year I wasn’t even thinking of making it as far as I did, I was thinking about just going in, doing what everyone else does. And then I made it, I was so surprised -- I didn’t even think it was possible,” Michaels said.

Compared to that first audition, this year was much easier for Michaels.

“I was definitely not as nervous as my first time,” he said, “but I was more nervous than my second time because going three years is a really big deal considering not very many people do that, and you get recognized.”

Junior Kyle Thompson was one of the all state KMEA qualifiers, auditioning for

the all-state orchestra his first time, after practicing for around two months.

"I was really nervous at auditions," Thompson said.

"Fortunately I did not drop my bow. It felt amazing to know that I got in, but I was even more excited when I learned that I made it into the first violin section."

Thompson has been one of the several successful violinists at MHS, and like any musician he had his challenges.

"My biggest challenge was not knowing what to expect when it came to the actual audition," Thompson said.

Choir administrator Chad Pape expected his students to do well.

“They always do a great job.

I have nothing but high expectations that they will be prepared, do their jobs and have a great time,” Pape said.

Nate McClendon will lead his students through KMEA but also expects them to learn their roles.

“Having eight students make it, that is just a phenomenal number, that itself is like a goal achieved,” McClendon said. “The orchestra will have a second audition based off of seating, so we’ll see about that when we get there.”

New Biotechnology class makes debut Darian Foga-Frehn Staff Writer This semester during second hour, select students are participating in a new Agriculture Education class. Biotechnology in Agriculture focuses on biotechnological advances and inventions over history.

“Biotechnology is changing living things for the better to make every living creature better around the world,” Rachael Green, Biotechnology teacher, said. “It’s interesting to see all of the Biotechnological breakthroughs that have happened throughout history, and seeing how it has affected things such as what we eat, and where our clothes come from.”

Green’s pleasant yet informative teaching style throughout the first semester has

drawn some students to take more of her classes this semester.

“I had Botany last semester with a few people, and the group of us decided to take another one of Mrs. Green’s classes again because she’s such a fun teacher to be around,” junior Israel Wheatley said.

Some students signed up for the class out of pure interest for the subject. “[Biotechnology] sounded interesting because I did not know what Biotechnology in Agriculture was and I wanted to learn more,” junior Kylee Gullion said. “I’ve found it really interesting. Before the semester ends, I want to learn about how animals affect Biotechnology,” The class is lecture and lab based, with students making

various foods with the purpose of teaching students about early biotechnological advances throughout history.

“I really like doing handson labs, like making buttermilk, yogurt, and cheese," Wheatley said.

Students can take procedures from labs to make products at home as well.

“It was fun making the cheese and the buttermilk because now I know how to make it at home,” Gullion said.

Green is looking forward to the new semester.

“We’ll be working with DNA, cross-breeding plants, and talking about embryo transfer and genetics among other topics.” Green said.

Sports

The Mentor • Jan. 27, 2015

Page 4

Ballard, girls hold off Emporia for seventh win of season Greg Woods Sports Editor

Senior Caroline Ballard dribbles around an Emporia defender Friday night in Manhattan in the Lady Indians’ 53-44 win over the Spartans. Ballard finished with 15 points, six rebounds and five assists.

PHOTO BY GREG WOODS

Behind a 15-point, sixrebound and five-assist effort from senior Caroline Ballard, the Manhattan High girls basketball held off Emporia for a 53-44 win Friday night in Manhattan. Head coach Scott Mall was pleased with Ballard’s performance in the Lady Indians’ seventh win of the season.

“Caroline played really well,” Mall said. “She took what was given to her on offense; worked really hard. I felt bad [because] we probably played her too long of stretches in the first half. It’s hard to take her out when she does so many good things.”

With the win, Manhattan improved to 7-2 on the year and has now won four out of its last five games. Overall, Mall was content with how his team defended Emporia’s offense.

“Defensively, I thought we did a good job for the most part,” Mall said. “[Emporia is] really good against a man [defense] and I thought our girls did a pretty good job through the first half when we played a man [defense]. We had a plan to go zone because they have a real trouble with zone defense teams.”

In a low-scoring first quarter, Manhattan headed into the second period tied with Emporia at eight points apiece.

Mall said that after the first period, he was able to tell the game would be a grind-it-out one.

“We knew it was going to be that kind of a game,” Mall said.

“I thought it was good to get ahead, then when [Emporia] would make a run, we would come right back with one.”

The Lady Indians more than doubled its first-quarter score in the second period, tallying 22 points. Sophomore Kennedy Wilson and junior Madison Mittie each chipped in six points in the frame to help MHS take a 30-22 advantage into the break.

“We really needed to keep our focus up at halftime,” Mall said. “We gave up a basket right at the end of the [second] quarter, and then didn’t come out strong in the third quarter offensively.”

Emporia got within two points late in the third quarter, but a 7-2 run from the Lady Indians kept Emporia at bay.

However, due in large part to five turnovers in the third, Manhattan led 39-36 heading into the final frame. Mall attributed MHS’ offensive struggles to the Spartans’ defensive

schemes. “[Emporia] played an aggressive man early, then the second half, they went to a zone,” Mall said. “We didn’t anticipate them playing zone and it was a different type of zone that they were playing.

It was hard for us to get the ball in the positions we want it. Then when we got a look, we threw some bad passes; we threw some passes we weren’t able to make catches on that really hurt us.”

The Lady Indians turned around and coughed up the ball just twice in the fourth, and 7-for-10 free throw shooting in the final period alone helped Manhattan seal the deal.

MHS will take part in the McPherson Invitational Tournament beginning Thursday against Valley Center. Mall explained that his team will need to improve in order to find success.

“We have got to keep getting better,” Mall said. “Hopefully we can get through Valley Center. They gave us problems a few years ago when we played them. We have to get ready for those three days; get ourselves ready so we get some rotations in and get prepared for all three teams that we’re going to play.”

Swimming and diving takes second behind at Washburn at meet Angie Moss Business Manager Losing to Washburn Rural by only three points, Manhattan High’s swimming and diving team took second place at the home meet last Wednesday.

Washburn has been a rival

team for awhile and MHS had high hopes of beating them at the meet this year. Washburn took first in every event except for the 200 meter free relay, which Manhattan won.

“We knew it was going to be close, so we knew we would have to show up ready to perform,” senior Nicholas

N. Clark said. “We were really hoping to get a win out of it, but unfortunately it didn’t happen.”

Points from the diving portion of the meet provide extra points and can be the difference between first and second place. In the beginning of the season, Manhattan lost its first

meet by 17 points with no divers, and now MHS is closing the gap with one diver. When two divers compete at League, the point difference will be reduced even more.

“The main thing I’d say that made us struggle was the lack of our diver Carter [Nelson, junior]. He’s been really help-

ing us out this year,” sophomore Nate Clark said. “He missed some practices and wasn’t able to compete, which is a real bummer.”

Although MHS was hoping for a win, the team is pleased with the end result considering Manhattan only had one diver while Washburn had two.

“We are definitely not disappointed. We haven’t beaten Washburn in something like five years so we were really excited to lose by just three points,” senior Derrek Williams said. “That just gives us more motivation for League when we have our three best going against theirs. ”

Boys bring home second-place finish from 51st McPherson Invitational Tournament Greg Woods Sports Editor The third time wasn’t the charm this go around.

Last Thursday, Friday and Saturday, the Manhattan High boys basketball team participated in the 51st annual McPherson Invitational Tournament. The Indians took down Shawnee Mill Valley on Thursday, Shawnee Mission East on Saturday, but fell to McPherson, 81-58, in the title game on Saturday en route to a second-place finish.

In Thursday’s win over Mill Valley, junior Gabe Awbrey and senior Pierson McAtee each posted game-highs of 17 points in a 63-53 win over the Jaguars to advance to the semifinals.

The following day, the Indians trailed 43-36 to Shawnee Mission East heading into the fourth, but used a 13-0 run to take the lead and hold on for a 52-50 win.

Manhattan-McPhers on was the title game’s matchup, but the contest featured a subplot. McPherson senior Payton Stephens transferred from Manhattan to McPherson at the beginning of the 2014-15 school year. Manhattan senior and friend of Stephens’ Pierson McAtee explained that playing

against the former teammate wasn’t a problem. “[Playing against Stephens] wasn’t too difficult,” McAtee said. “I’ve played him a thousand times so we knew tendencies and we knew things like that.”

Manhattan did not open the first quarter of the title game well. McPherson raced out to a 23-7 lead after one, and McPherson’s Drew Pyle tallied 11 points in the first, including three three-pointers.

Manhattan head coach Benji George said that he began to feel the game slipping away after the first frame.

“One thing that we haven’t been very good at, especially in this tournament, is playing well in the first four minutes,” George said. “We talked about it a lot, and it’s apparent we need to change some things with what we do in pregame or something, because the first four minutes, we were bad.

And [McPherson] made us pay big-time for it.”

The Indians held the Bullpups to eight less points in the second, but another threepointer from Pyle and three Manhattan turnovers helped McPherson take a 38-19 advantage into intermission.

The teams traded baskets to begin the third period, but

a 7-0 McPherson run early in the quarter stretched the Bullpups’ advantage to 51-25.

McPherson outscored the Indians 20-15 in the frame and took a 58-34 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Indians showed signs of life in the final period with 10 points from senior Garrett Francis and an and-one from McAtee. However, a 6-0 spurt from Manhattan was answered by the Bullpups with an andone from McPherson’s Avery Gabel and multiple layups from McPherson’s Kyler Kinnamon, preventing the Indians from making significant cuts in the deficit. “[Kinnamon] is very quick,” McAtee said. “Kyler is a very good player. We didn’t stop him enough in transition, and [he] showed he can dish the ball too.”

McAtee and Awbrey were named to the McPherson Invitational All-Tournament team.

Manhattan returns to action Thursday to host Emporia, an opponent George explained will prove a challenge.

“Emporia is greatly improved and well-coached,” George said. “We’re going to have to change our focus back to league now and start focusing on trying to win a league title.”

Wrestlers bring new lineup, take third at Blue Valley Northwest meet on Friday and Saturday John Rockey Senior Staff Writer Two-day tournaments are as close as they get to the State championship.

In the two days at Blue Valley Northwest last week, the Manhattan High wrestling team went in with new people in weight classes to take third overall against a multitude of teams from eastern Kansas.

“That tournament allows us to see many of the Kansas City schools that we’ll see at state,” coach Mike Miller said.

“In our regional, it’s mostly Topeka schools, Junction City and a couple Wichita schools.

So it allows us to see them before state.”

Like the other wrestlers, senior Darrion Taylor said there was difficulty in starting the tournament later in the day than normal.

“I like getting started immediately,” Taylor said. “I’m not much of a waiter for a tournament. The setup of the tournament frustrated me but you’ve just got to deal with how everything is set up.”

While missing three weight

classes and leaving their heavyweight open, the team still managed to pull people together to travel to Overland Park. The team finished the first day in second, wrestling up to the semifinals and several wrestlers wrestling in the back brackets for third place.

It was the second day that they were able to hit their stride.

Given more time in the morning to prepare themselves, the team was able to advance Taylor and sophomores Gary Joint and Mason Wallace into the finals, and freshman Jalin Harper, sophomore Devin Norris and senior Kendrick Rivera into the third place match.

“It’s a good feeling going into the home stretch of the season,” Miller said. “Because when we get [the starters] back into those weights, it adds even more depth to our team.”

The coming week will have no Varsity matches. Leaving the wrestlers to prepare themselves for the upcoming League meet on Feb. 7 with a week of conditioning. The entire team will be involved in helping with the Manhattan J.V. invitational this Friday.

MEET RESULTS First-place finishers 126 - Gary Joint (29.00 team points) 132 - Mason Wallace (34.00 team points) Second-place finishers

Senior Pierson McAtee tips Saturday night’s game off against former teammate Payton Stephens.

PHOTO BY GREG WOODS

Bowlers host inaugural tournaments of new season; girls take first, boys finish third Joseph Sell Online Editor-in-Chief The Manhattan High girls bowling team hosted their first home tournament of the season Monday and finished with a strong win, while the guys took third overall in the tournament.

“The girls were very well, bowled as a team which is most important to me,” assistant coach Tim Gromlovits said. “They all tried their very best every frame. That’s the

second time they got first.”

Freshman Taylor Smith took first as an individual after shooting a 616. “[I feel] pretty proud, shooting that high is hard for me sometimes,” Smith said.

Despite her strong finish she said she still could improve.

“Mostly picking up spares is what I could improve most,” Smith said. “My spares are what kept me from shooting a 700 series but I bowled that 616 because of my spares.”

Senior Shon Eakes, who was the top finisher for the boys team with 615, faced similar issues.

“I think I could’ve bowled better, I left some opens and there’s things I could’ve improved on,” Eakes said. “Really I could’ve improved on my sparing because I left some opens and I wasn’t hitting my mark sometimes.”

The team will next compete on Thursday versus Sacred Heart and Junction City.

113 - Darrion Taylor Third-place finishers 120 - Jalin Harper 138 - Devin Norris (19.00 team points) 145 - Kendrick Rivera Strike. Senior Gerad Vanhoosier rolls a shot down the lane Monday afternoon. Vanhoosier shot a 609.

PHOTO BY JOSEPH SELL

Features The Mentor www.mhsmentor.com The Mentor • Jan. 27, 2015

Page 5

Entertainment

MHS chamber orchestra hosts concert with Lawrence High School’s symphonic orchestra Greg Woods Sports Editor Under the brightly-lit lights of Rezac Auditorium Tuesday night, the Manhattan High chamber orchestra did something it had never done before. The orchestra combined with the Lawrence High School symphonic orchestra and performed six total pieces, including three combined.

MHS orchestra director Nate McClendon explained that the combination provided a new experience for his students. “[Playing with Lawrence] was really exciting because there was a different energy,” McClendon said. “There was a certain lack of familiarity so everyone was a little bit onedge. You’re playing next to someone who’s different; you’re not used to them; you of course don’t want to embarrass yourself in front of them.”

The night’s events began with Lawrence director Rachel Dirks leading her group in a piece by Corelli, followed by St. Paul’s Suite

by Holst. McClendon said there are a few aspects of

Lawrence’s performance he would like his group to learn from. “[Lawrence plays] very cleanly. It was the first thing I noticed in listening to them,” McClendon said. “This was educational for me as well to watch how another conductor works their orchestra and the kind of product they get. They are very precise with what they did. What I really took from them is really the cleanliness; how they all move together so well.”

Following the two pieces from Lawrence, Manhattan’s orchestra performed two of its own pieces: Symphony No. 13 by Haydn arr. and LaJoie, and Serenade in C by Tchaikovsky. McClendon explained that he wasn’t particular in how he decided which pieces to perform.

“We kind of got together and started throwing out titles and whatever stuck, stuck,” McClendon said. “[Dirks] actually selected that last piece that we did together. That was her choice. I ended up conducting it, but it was

her choice.”

As a nightcap, the two orchestras combined to perform three pieces: Suite for Strings by Rutter, Concerto Grosso by Vaughan Williams and Skylife by Balakrishnan. Dirks directed one of the three, and McClendon thought his group handled the transition to a new conductor well.

“I think they enjoy [playing under a new director],” McClendon said. “Any musician enjoys having different people lead them because directors bring different personalities, different strengths and weaknesses and different ways of interpreting the music.”

McClendon hopes to continue to combine with other schools around Kansas and continue what his group started Tuesday.

“I would like to do this with lots of other schools all around [Kansas], whether we go there or they come here,” McClendon said. “I definitely would like to continue this trend or this idea of having orchestras get together and do concerts together and play some music.”

Manhattan High and Lawrence High orchestras perform in Rezac Auditorium.

Photo by Greg Woods

“American Sniper” depicts heroism of Navy Seal Joseph Sell Online Editorin-Chief

photo courtesy of americansnipermovie.com

Through the scope of a sniper you see a woman and child walk out of a building into the path of a tank and soldiers. You breathing is slow and controlled as you have to make the decision to shoot or not. This is the opening scene of American Sniper -- the one shown in the trailer. It immediately cuts to a flashback moving forward until you return to that moment.

The movie is a remembrance to the life of Navy Seal Chris Kyle. It features a few flashbacks to his childhood but then jumps forward to when he decides to join the Navy Seals and moves through

his life to the day of his death.

This worked great to develop the type of person Kyle was raised as.

If you don’t know the story of Kyle this movie will get you thoroughly intrigued to the factuality of his life, which is depicted in the movie. You will find while cutting out parts of his life for the sake of making it fit into a movie time frame; it matches the information about Kyle’s life.

Following his life when he joins the Navy Seals, you see the basic training that Kyle went through. After this you see how he meets his wife and then his sniper training.

It finally goes to his wedding scene, which after the scene of Kyle and his wife watching the 9/11 terrorists attacks leads to the anticipation of him being called to serve his first tour.

The call to serve his first tour leads to the action filled part of the movie. After about

an hour of slow developmental scenes it is well worth the wait. It would have been nice to move through the events a little faster but worked well to lead in to his tour.

The movie returns to the first scene except now it completes the action of what happened and begins a montage of Kyle’s first tour of service. The montage ends with an important scene for the development of the rest of the movie.

After this it goes from him being at home to the next tour and will have singular scenes from him at home to develop his home life during his service between each tour. This continues on until his fourth tour where it shows him going on one last mission depicting Kyle making the legendary 2000+ yards shot. This scene could have been better because it felt super dramatized even though it was a legitimate event. In addition to that af-

terwards a sandstorm hits the location so that it is impossible to see what is happening while they escape and it’s all audio for that point.

This would have been a good place to end the movie but it would not have done justice to Kyle’s life. He returns home and leaves the military to spend more time with his family. Then Kyle helps disabled veterans recoup from their service.

The entire movie leads to the first scene in the movie with a specific date set on it instead of just what tour number he was on.

The date was the day he died. Videos and photos of his funeral with the credits follow this scene. There is no better way to end this ode to Kyle’s life. The entire theatre -- and it was packed -- was silent throughout the entire movie.

“Selma” proves to be powerful emotional statement

Walking into a the theatre to see a film I already knew had four Golden Globe Award nominations, I had high expectations. Funnily enough, when I have high standards for something, I do not expect them to be fully met, but “Selma” actually hit the mark, dead-on.

Directed by Sundance Film Festival prize-winner Ava DuVernay, the historical drama displayed a multitude of creative style choices both in technical aspects, such as lighting, camera angles and soundtrack, and in story-telling aspects,

such as costume design, set choices, casting and scripting.

Based on events from the Civil Rights Movement, centered particularly around events shortly leading up to and resulting from the Selma Voting Rights Movement led

by Martin Luther King Jr. (played by David Oyelowo in the film) and some of his his companions in 1965, “Selma” was emotionally charged and action-filled, through and through.

The historical accuracy was impressive, and the use of clips from real footage of the real marches from Selma to Montgomery placed strategically at a point of high emotion and action in the film, made the film all the more impactful, as, while watching the film, it was easy to feel, especially for those of us who didn’t live during the

time of the Civil Rights Movement, as though the story portrayed was simply legend -only a dramatized screenplay -- until the real footage from the marches appeared onscreen to really pull you back into a moment in the mid ‘60s.

The performances by the actors in the film were also impressive in that they were understated, clearly trying to portray only the realest of individuals and were highly, but very purely emotional. While watching the film, I wanted to believe that some of the more despicably racist characters, as they were obviously based very closely on real people, and most horrifying scenes, based very closely on real events, couldn’t really have been as dramatic as they were shown to be in the film because they were so vivid. It’s frighten-

ing to think that something that someone that really lived or something that really happened could be that terrible.

However, those things in the film were matched nearly perfectly to any photograph or video clip I’ve ever seen in books and documentaries about the time, and I think that’s what made “Selma” so emotionally powerful, along with the way the actors portrayed the relationships that existed between King and his companions in the movement, friends and family.

“Selma” proved worthy of the nominations and awards it has already received, and in my opinion, any that it may receive in the future for its emotional-provoking and powerful restatement of the message King and many courageous others fought and died for.

Choirs prepare for annual Serenade concert Elassia Cunningham Staff Writer Independent choir groups will perform at their annual “Serenade” concert tonight at 7 pm.

The concert is the biggest fundraising opportunity for the choir program and brings in money that the choir will use to fund various expenses.

“It is the only fundraiser that our choir does,” senior Rose Gruenbacher said, “It helps us go to competitions and basically anywhere at all, for district competitions and KMEA”.

The choir program is very important to some students, so it is important to some members that the concert is a success.

“It’s a great program,” senior Marisa Lang said. “The

choir program has influenced me so much. I’ve always really loved to sing and choir has just given me an avenue to express that musical creativity. The music department is kind of overlooked when it comes to funding, so we really need this, we really need this fundraising.”

The concert is unique from any other concert that the choirs put on during the year because the entire program is student lead. The students work hard not only on their performances, but also on putting the program together.

“It is completely driven by students,” choir director Chad Pape said. “The program, the posters are all student’s design, all of the fundraising letters, all of the fundraising thank you’s are all done by students, all of the acts on the show are

all student rehearsed and then they audition to get to be in the program.”

The students have split into four different groups to contribute to the concert. Lang, who was in the design group, has enjoyed the work.

“I was super excited because I got to design the poster again this year,” Lang said.

Students have taken time outside of school to form small groups to learn and practice independent acts for the concert.

Lang has joined an acapella group that is performing during the concert.

“I’m looking forward to both of the performance,” Lang said. “I’m going to be in two performances; I’m going to be performing with the varsity choir and then another acapella choir that we put to-

gether after school.”

Because the musical groups are student lead, the music is differs from what is usually performed at the concerts.

“I always look forward to just letting students show off with music that they like personally,” Pape said. “I just like seeing what they do when their not influenced by me . . .

It’s a fun concert. It’s barely an hour long. Because it’s student lead, it’s all pop, musical theater, radio music.There’s nothing archaic about it; it’s just all fun music.”

For Gruenbacher, the performances are always exciting.

“I’ve known half these people for four years now and I’m still shocked at how great their songs come out,” Gruenbacher said.

photo courtesy of SELMAMOVIE.com

If you want a yearbook for the 2014-2015 school year, send in your pre-order (and personalizations) by

THIS FRIDAY.

There will be a very limited supply of extra books available to those who do not order by the deadline so

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Trending

The Mentor • Jan. 27, 2015

“Sports? I think that’s what homecoming is? What is homecoming? Homecoming’s pretty important.

It rallies the school and gets students together and gives us a sense of community.”

R e b e k a h Hennesy, junior

Page 6

“I didn’t think homecoming was a whole week thing at our school.

Homecoming’s a tradition to uphold for many schools so I like that, but I don’t think it’s that important.

We have the pep rally, which is “I think most fun and gets people consider everyone excited. it just something I’m excited for the to do before club decorations p r o m .”J o s e p h and the door Vipond, senior decorations because I’m the “The pep rally vice president of should be fun.

SADD so we get I think the spirit part of homecoming is important but I to do all that. don’t think the idea of homecoming dances and stuff is too I’m actually very important, like it is in other schools.” Jessica Phillips, junior confused [about being nominated “I’m excited for the pep rally because “It’s my first for homecoming my club [GSA] is making a cart...We have year at this queen]. I don’t know a really cool idea and I’m really excited school but spirit how it happened.” about it. I love the theme. I love Disney. week was a lot Katie Dixon, senior And since Disney bought Marvel there of fun at my old school and I think it’ll be fun here. are a lot of choices.” Anna Alanazi, junior I am definitely participating in dress up days. They’re what I live for. I “I don’t like school dances. I usually actually have an Ariel dress so just find the food table and that’s I’m ready.” Olivia Groninger, junior where I stay.” Bailey London, junior

Dress Up Days Feb. 2-6 Monday Sleeping Beauty Tuesday Tourist Tuesday Wednesday Wood Wear Wednesday Thursday Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum Friday Class Colors Friday seniors: red Friday juniors: navy Friday sophomores: white Friday freshman: red, navy & white

This contest is open to all students at East and West Campus. Girls are to design their feet and boys are to design their legs. Be creative and include the “Disney” theme. Send photos to randyn@usd383.org.

2015

HOME COMING

Held Thursday, Jan. 29 during boy’s home basketball game. Freshman v. Juniors, Sophomores v. Seniors. Winners will move on to finals.

Decorate classroom doors including the “Disney” theme.

The Pep Rally will be Friday, Feb. 6, in the north gym.

Clubs can participate in the cart parade. Grand Marshall will be social studies teacher Ed Chandler.

Held Wednesday, Feb. 4. Clubs are to sign up with science teacher Leslie Campbell.

King and Queen are announced between games.

Tug-of-war finals are during halftime of boys’ basketball game Fun Night will be held after the games. Make sure to stay for karaoke, refreshments and cake walk.