The Owl Post - Volume I, Issue 1 - October 2022

WHAT’S INSIDE OUR FIRST ISSUE

PAGE 6-7 | Chess Club

PAGE 8-11 | Homecoming

PAGE 14-16 | Fall Favorites

Welcome to the first-ever print edition of the Owl Post print paper. This paper was born out of creativity and a desire to serve the student population by sharing students’ achievements, featuring events and organizations at Olathe West.

As you explore the paper, I hope you find that the stories bring back fond memories of our year so far and it gets you excited for the upcoming months of school. In this paper you will find content covering homecoming, fall festivities, and chess club. This will not be our only paper of the year. We will have two more editions coming out this year, so make sure you look out for those in the winter and spring.

I want to give a special thank you to all of the staff members who worked so hard to make this paper possible. Since this is the first edition, we had a lot of new learning opportunities, but everyone on staff worked so hard to bring this paper to life. I am so thankful for them and their amazing work ethic and perseverance. Helping me and the staff all along the way was Mrs. Walker. She is truly the reason this paper was created and she worked so hard to help us, inspire us and advocate for us. She helped us with anything we need and I am so appreciative of the guidance she gives. One last thank you goes out to the Manhattan Mercury who are the ones who printed off the paper you are reading now. They are amazing and we appreciate them supporting our school.

We are thrilled to share these stories with all of you because we have put lots of thought and work into the stories in this paper. If you enjoy what you read, be sure to check out our online stories which you can find at owowlpost.com. Thank you so much for reading and we hope you enjoy the stories.

Sincerely,

Owl Post Editor-in-Chief

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Riley Cornell

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Olivia Johann

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Stella Brown

Logan Kraft

WRITERS

Gracie Brown

Caleb Chacon

Zach Darby

Miranda Elgin

Bryce Mallory

Annie Self

Addison Smith

Corinne Zieg

ADVISER

Julia Walker

COVER PHOTO Seniors Zeke Brewer and Keely Barnard smile for the cameras after being crowned Homecoming King and Queen.

Photo by: Riley Cornell

NEWS BRIEFS

Reporting by: Zach Darby & Miranda Elgin

Olathe West National International

Two former West teachers return as

a

new administrator and teacher

Two teachers that have previously left, Dr. Anna-Lynn Morris and Sarah Talcott have returned as the freshman administrator school and a FACS teacher, respectively.

Previously teaching English for Olathe West, Dr. Morris became an Assistant Principal at Oregon Trail for three years and then at Lee’s Summit for a year. She returns to West as an Assistant Administrator and Activities Director.

“It is probably the best school around,” Morris said. “I totally believe in the way we learn here. The quality of staff we hire. I really like the administration. I think collectively they are some of the best people I have ever worked with.”

On the other hand, Talcott planned on taking a break from teaching to be home more for her family. She ended up working with Blue Valley for three years before her previous job opened back up.

“I wanted to get back into Olathe specifically and then when I saw my old job come back up, I was super excited,” Talcott said. “I called Mr. Novacek up, so he brought me in and here I am. So it was kinda fun to come back to my old job again.”

Biden announces student loan forgiveness plan

Since 1980, the cost for college has tripled, causing many people to have to borrow money, whether it be loans or using financial aid for tuition. Due to the pandemic, the financial strain was worse than ever. The government temporarily paused these payments while workers were at home.

With student loan payments starting back up on January 1, Biden proposed a new plan. For those making less than $125,000 a year, they are eligible for up to $10,000 in student loan forgiveness, and $20,000 to Pell Grant recipients, a federal program for student financial aid.

This will positively affect many teachers who make around $48,000 a year, and many parents of students by eliminating some college debt.

“I went to Kansas State, but I’m originally from Texas, so I paid out-of-state tuition, but I’m also a Pell Grant receiver,” horticulture teacher and Green Tech Academy Assistant Facilitator Matthew Milholm said. “That means I’m eligible for up to $20,000 to be forgiven, which is a huge thing because teachers don’t make that much money, and I am in a lot of debt. I’m in a lot more debt than probably your average day teacher, so it helps me quite a bit.”

World-famous K-pop group BTS will take a break from music to serve in the South Korean miltary

According to South Korean law, all able-bodied men are required to serve at least 18 months in the Korean military before the age of 28, due to the increased threats from North Korea.

Popular K-pop boy band, BTS, does not get exemption privileges which is resulting in them taking a two year hiatus in order to fulfill their duty for the country.

Earlier this year, the band had announced their plans to temportaily separate in order to better take care of themselves as well as focus on their solo careers.

Fans all across the world have voiced their devestation through various social media sites. Many of them, however, are excited for the band to come back and announce their plans for the future.

“It’s a very sad thing for many people, especially their fans,” junior Michelle Madrigal Lara said. “I know they’ve had a lot of impact on people. It’s definitely interesting to see how much support they have.”

Olathe West Repertory Theater Performs Hamlet

Advanced repertory theater produced their first show of the year

“Hamlet” was performed on Thursday, Oct. 19, running through Saturday by the Olathe West repertory theater class, the most advanced theater class available for students. “Hamlet”, written over 400 years ago, is being brought to the stage.

This production is about the ghost of Hamlet’s father telling Hamlet to avenge his murder by killing his uncle, the new king. In this show, a plethora of emotions are displayed by the main character, shifting from one emotion to the next. Senior Jordan Cabuay stars in this production, taking on the role of Hamlet.

“I got interested in acting last year when I did ‘Addams Family’ the musical and ever since, I’ve been excited,” Cabuay said. “I’ve just liked acting and I really liked ‘Hamlet’ and Shakespeare so I wanted to try it out.”

For his role, Cabuay was tasked to memorize 217 lines, along with choreography. Still, Hamlet is a once in a lifetime role, and Cabuay has taken that challenge head on.

“He goes from one emotion to the other,” Cabuay said. “I mean, I can kind of connect with his friendship status and just the relationships he has with other people, and his trustworthiness of others also.”

Theater teacher Alisha Morris has been guiding her students through the show process to make the production as successful as possible.

“We rehearse during the class time, during sixth hour, and during that time we will have actor rehearsals on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, but on Thursdays we have tech days where we…work on the tech elements,” Morris said. “The last two weeks of the show... kids will have to come after school and do rehearsals until 7 or 9 p.m. depending on the day.”

This show could not come together without the help and support of the crew members. Some positions in the crew are props crew, costume crew, set designers and

more. All of these teams have to have good communication and work together to bring the show together. Junior Natalia Smith works on prop crew and is ready for the show.

“We are finishing up stuff this week so we’re finishing the last finishing touches on painting,” Smith said. “Most of the crews are done. Actors should most definitely be memorized by this point.”

Designing the sets exclusive to crew members. Cabuay has recalled one of his favorite memories from producing the show as designing the set all in one day.

“I’m Hamlet, but then also the scenic designer for the show and me and my scenic mentor, Emily Heflin, came up with the entire set in one day and I really like how it turned out,” Cabuay said.

Excitement flurried through all members of Repertory Theater that have been a part of the show as they experienced their curtain call.

“I really like Hamlet,” Smith said. “I think it’s funny. It’s a little bit hard to understand sometimes... but I would not change it.”

I mean, I can kind of connect with [Hamlet’s] friendship status and... relationships.

-Jordan Cabuay

“ ”

Story by: Bryce Mallory

TOP RIGHT Senior Jordan Cabuay performs as Hamlet. MIDDLE RIGHT Junior Evan McCoy and senior Raven Stiede acting in “Hamlet.”

BOTTOM RIGHT Juniors Natalie Meier and Natalia Smith perform scene from “Hamlet.” RIGHT “Hamlet” cast and crew poses for a combined picture.

Photos by: Bryce Mallory

Staying in Sports?

Today is the last day you’ll be at practice. You wake up, get ready for school and afterwards you spend your night at the sport that once made you so excited to show up for and be around the people that made you feel welcomed.

You played in several sports over the span of elementary school and fell in love with one, you played through middle school, and were super excited to be moving up on the team. As you grew up, that excitement faded when you realized that in that sport came with more pressure, competitiveness and overspoken coaches that wanted nothing but perfection.

A student athlete shouldn’t want to quit their sport for these reasons, they should be able to enjoy it just as much as they did when they were younger.

Whether you are involved in football, soccer, volleyball, or basketball, and many more sports, have they ever made you think: “I don’t want to play anymore. What will my coach say to me today? I’m not happy here. I don’t want to go today. This practice has to go perfect for my coaches to be happy with me”?

High school students constantly fall out of joy with their sport because of the pressure, surroundings and competition. Why can’t the joy stay the same for high schoolers as it is for elementary and middle schoolers? What’s the change?

Elyse Pistole, a former gymnast who started at the age of 7, has recently experienced all of these factors which made up her mind to quit this past July.

“I feel like, as I got older and better, I definitely got really good at one point,” Pistole said. “And so I think with that, comes a lot of pressure to continue to be good and be really consistent. And so with that, as you get better, there’s a lot more pressure on it.”

Playing a sport during the school year, whether it’s for school or out of school, it can make it hard to stay on top of everything that needs to be done, going straight to practice from the long seven hour day at school, taking AP classes, college classes, others that are more advanced and that require a lot of projects and work to keep up with. Where’s the time for everything to get stuff done?

STOPPING SPORTS STATS

High school already is stressful especially during Junior and Senior year, being able to balance out stressful and pressured times is hard and makes you lose focus on what needs to be done and ready for the following days.

“I would say my past season was the most stressful time because junior year is hard in itself, and there was a lot of pressure for me to do the biggest skills on the team and stuff, so there was a lot of pressure from both school and gymnastics on me.” Pistole said.

Growing up in a sport causes many different changes and aspects of how you plan out your life. Trying to create a version of yourself in a sport that you are not enjoying or interested in pursuing, it creates stress and pressure which declines your wants of participation in that sport. Not only does pressure affect an athlete and make them want to quit, the coaches also play a big role in the act as well by how an athlete feels about themselves, and how critical they can be.

The most apparent action taken upon student athletes is the treatment from coaches. Coaches can be outspoken and not make it a fun environment. When this happens it increases the percent of student athletes that want to quit their sport. The amount of athletes that have dropped their sport starting at age 13 is 70%. That number is really high considering the number of athletes that would love to continue out their sport. Bad coaching and behavior is the main reason that students gain a feeling of pressure.

“I would say the last year was probably the most toxic environment I have ever been involved in,” Pistole said. “There’s a lot of very negative things and people, specifically coaches, were very rude and immature. They were treating me how a student or a younger kid should never be treated.”

Making a coach happy is an essential thing when being on a team. But, feeling like you need to be perfect in order to make your coach happy is the worst feeling to have. Showing up to practice or games needing to impress your coach to feel good at the end of the day isn’t what a student athlete should need to do. Athletes have a certain point where they reach their goal that’s good for them.

Story by: Corinne Zieg

When a coach tells you that you need to improve or get better still, that’s when the feeling of needing to be perfect comes in, and increases more pressure. Now, you might say that a coach is just trying to help, but their attitude and presence of help shows how it can have a bad effect on the athlete.

Sports aren’t always supposed to be fun and games, they’re for improving skills and getting better. With coaches that don’t help and just assume you have to be perfect in order to win doesn’t help the athlete prepare for games or competitions. It’s not only about coaches expecting perfection, it’s about how they are bringing up that athlete in a team.

If an athlete isn’t getting help in their sport and their coach is consistently playing or putting in the same people, where is the room for improvement? And why would an athlete still want to play when they show up to practice, practice on their own time, get better and not even get played? Coaches gain more focus on certain players more than others. This is also another reason that decreases their wants to play.

“I definitely thought that, if I didn’t win, if I didn’t do this perfectly, if I didn’t make every skill perfectly, she was not going to be happy with me, which honestly was the truth, so it wasn’t even in my head it was actually a real thing,” Pistole said.

Those athletes are the same ones that have always dreamed of playing for as long as they can, even trying to go to college and play their sport, but those factors can ruin sports for any student athlete. Whether it’s a coach, pressure inducing or just causing too much stress between school and your sport, it’s ok to quit. If you feel like you have to do a skill perfectly in order for someone to be happy with you, it’s not worth losing your self esteem. Sports are a huge time commitment which makes it hard to enjoy activities with school, family and friends as a whole. If you’re not content with a sport that you play and constantly feel pressured, having to be perfect or need to make a coach happy, don’t keep playing for them, do what’s best for you.

Percentage of Student Athletes Dropping a Sport

Record-numbers of student athletes are dropping their sport, and it’s OK

MORE THAN JUST A BOARD GAME

Every Monday after school, kings, queens and knights clash against each other. Their armies, however, don’t fight on battle grounds. They fight on boards beneath chess club members. The members play against each other, each move made with layers of planning and thought.

Chess club sponsor and math teacher Jared Bryan has strived to create an environment where students can come together, strategize and concentrate on something they all love. Bryan wants to share his love of chess with other people. He also wants to be able to teach students how to play chess and improve their skills.

“I started the chess club because I know there are a lot of kids here who play chess and I wanted to provide them a place where they could just get together and hangout, play the game because it is a really fun game and it’s a lot of good strategy,” Bryan said.

Chess is a complicated game and comes with a lot of challenges. Every piece has its own rules for moving across the board. Thinking ahead on where to move these pieces is the key challenge of chess. Students have many unique strengths and weaknesses in the way they go about playing the game.

Many chess club members join for the thrill of playing such a challenging game. There are many choices that can be made, all to capture the opponent’s king with 64 squares and a possibility of 4084 legal moves.

“The most challenging part of chess is just seeing it to the very end and waiting until the very end because there could be a lot of things that happen,” Bryan said. “You could be up and have an advantage, but some players can come up with some tricks and trap you right back.”

Students have favorite parts of the game regardless of the challenges and frustrations that could come with playing. Chess is intriguing because there are so many possibilities and outcomes that could come from one single move.

“I like that chess is complex,” senior Cody Slifer said. “I feel like no game is 100% fair except for chess and I’ve always argued that, so I like that the game is 100% fair and if I lose it’s my fault.”

The way the game progresses can get very intense and serious. Every possible move bounces around the heads of players throughout every second of the match. While playing chess you have to be able to stay concentrated and keep your head in the game.

“I like the level of intensity that it can have, I have had games where I’ve just been sweating at the palms trying to figure out the next move I need to make,” senior Christian Pogue said.

With this kind of atmostphere, the challenges of chess can seem hard to learn. With some practice, however, anyone can start playing it.

“It just takes a lot of practice and actually being able to look at the whole board and not just specific pieces,” sophomore Juliet Gowing said.

Getting into the game may still seem troublesome to some. The rules of chess often confuse new players just starting out. In order to help, chess club members also have their own ways to introduce others to the game.

“I would just tell people how the pieces move,” Slifer said. “The most complex piece is the pawn. I would pretty much just tell them how the pawn works and then the rest is just memorization.”

Chess club is not only about chess. It is a friendly place for everybody to have fun and relax after school. Meeting every Monday, the club has become a community where everyone can stop by and participate.

With the attraction of bonding and competition, chess club has been bringing students together

Reporting by: Gracie Brown, Caleb Chacon & Annie Self

ABOVE Senior Aidan MacNaughton and senior Lucas Parker compete during a chess club meeting on Oct. 10. Photo by: Gracie Brown

“I like having to do something after school on Mondays because normally I go places on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, but I don’t have anything Monday, so it’s nice to fit in,” Slifer said.

The social aspects of the club really help bring people together. Unlike the tense aspects the game portrays, the games in chess club offer a more casual experience. Students love to engage with their opponents while they play.

“I just love playing with others,” Gowing said. “We just have conversations, we just talk about life.”

Chess is a war game. Each team has an army that you’re using of different kinds of pieces. And your goal is to checkmate the opponent’s king, and the way that you do that is by getting them to a place where you are attacking their king and their king has nowhere else to go. - Jared Bryan

Other students agree that chess is a safe place to make friends.

“I enjoy meeting the people,” Pogue said. “Everybody here is very nice, everybody is very competitive. It’s just a really fun time.”

While many enjoy the club for the camaraderie, the competitive aspect is also a draw.

“Chess is a war game,” Bryan said. “Each team has an army that you’re using of different kinds of pieces. And your goal is to checkmate the opponent’s king, and the way that you do that is by getting them to a place where you are attacking their king and their king has nowhere else to go.”

Chess is not just a simple board game. It is a game that tests players with all different sorts of pieces and attack methods, but one overall goal in mind. It can be a balancing act to remember how all the pieces work together and where to go next.

While all the challenges in chess may make it seem intimidating, the game can be enjoyable for anyone.

“It’s a whole process to learn how the pieces work, especially if you are new,” Pogue said. “But overall once you learn it’s a lot of fun.”

Competition? CHECK!

The chess club competed at Washburn Rural Oct. 15 in their first big tournament. A total of six rounds were played, with games lasting as long as an hour each.

JOSEPH PARK (10)

Placed third overall, winning five out of six rounds.

AIDAN

MACNAUGHTON (12)

Placed in top half, winning three out of six rounds.

LUCAS PARKER (12)

Won two out of six rounds.

TOP Junior Ryan Olivares spectates a match between senior Jaiden Watts and sophomore Gage Cheney. ABOVE Chess Club meeting sprawls across the commons with multiple head-to-head games. Photos by: Gracie Brown

BACK TO THE

Behind the Scenes of StuCo’s “Futuristic” Homecoming planning

Olathe West held its homecoming on Oct. 8 opening its doors and showing the final event that had come from weeks of preparation StuCo had done to create the event.

“We really started like months and months ahead of time,” StuCo sponsor Traci Russman said. “We know every year we’ll have buff puff, powder puff, the carnival, and the bonfire.”

The royalty candidates were announced during the pep assemblies, and were shown again at the football game.

“We collaborate with a lot of different committees and classes throughout the school,” Russman said.“We’re pretty lucky, we got a great crew.”

However the dance took more time and effort.

“We spent a lot of time working on it,” junior StuCo member Laci Lister said, “And it was really cool to see all the things we spent several meetings working on. It was really great to see it all and see the drawings we had in front of us. I think it turned out a lot better than we thought in our heads.”

In addition to the success of the decorations and planning, it was also massively attended.

“It was the biggest dance that we have ever had,” Russman said. “I’m going to go out on a limb and say the biggest dance in the district, because we had 12 to 13-hundred students at our dance, at least 200 out of school guests which is record breaking.”

One of the most important parts of planning

homecoming was the theme and decorations for StuCo members.

“The decorations take more time,” Lister said. “Just getting everything ordered and stuff, I would also say buff puff and powder puff because there’s a lot of little things you have to do up until the dance.”

Kolby Brown is also a junior member of StuCo who was in charge of the decorating logistics.

“Overall, the StuCo setup for Hoco took over 10 hours,” Brown said. “It took a little longer than usual, but clean up only took 30 minutes, which is a record.”

StuCo chose an unique theme, bringing some questions and doubt when it came to planning.

“I think when we all heard our theme we were a little apprehensive,” Lister said. “We wouldn’t really expect that, and it was kinda a last minute theme thrown out. A lot of people had the idea of Star Wars, but I think we took a different take on futuristic themes and went with like neon, bright colors, glow in the dark and moon and stars.”

However, the results StuCo saw when the dance concluded met their high hopes.

“I feel like we’ve pretty much set a standard for us,” Lister said. “We set the bar so high that at this point everyone wants to come to our homecoming because it’s going to be so great and I’ve heard we decorate the best in the district because most schools don’t take it to this level.”

Homecoming 2022 was a success for StuCo, and the members pooled all their efforts to create a week full of events for students to enjoy.

“It’s a really great team effort,” Russman said. “Sophomore class in particular did a lot, like the bonfire, and Ms. Parker and Mr. Bryan were super helpful. We’re a super good tight knit team and we all really support one another and work well.”

StuCo members spent time working together to create a week full of events for students to enjoy.

“It’s a really great team effort,” Russman said. “Sophomore class in particular did a lot, like the bonfire, and Ms. Parker and Mr. Bryan were super helpful. We’re a super good tight knit team and we all really support one another and work well.”

Story by: Addison Smith

Senior Allana Moore directs StuCo members at set-up.

Photo by: Laci Lister

Senior Sophie Struck hangs lights in the gym.

Photo by: Laci Lister

FUTURE

FRESHMEN

SOPHOMORES

JUNIORS

SENIORS

Sydney All Jacob Ables Caitlin Bangs

Averee Henshaw

Landon McLain

Tate Lillis

Jacob Parks

Josie Zager

Tai Fenton

Ella Resch

Chase Campbell

Rhiannon Warren

Elijah Hakim

Mercy Winchel

Sam Ables Kolby Brown Ty Huber

Gabrielle Clinkinbeard

Taylor Gregg Adam Porter Zoey McBee

Derek Foster Keely Bernard Zeke Brewer

FLASHBACK

Take a look back at some the events that took place during homecoming

TO HOCO WEEK

BELOW Freshmen Micheal Oyler, Julian Kinnie, Harrison Neuschafer and Addy Davis show off several decades for Wednesday’s spirit day, Decade Day on Oct. 5. They ranged from old fashioned western to vintage ‘90s. Photo by Belle Wayman

RIGHT Junior Kolby Brown sings during theatre’s first official preview of “Freaky Friday” at the pep assembly on Oct. 6. Brown performs with Leo Steger to convince the audience to come out to their show. Photo by: Riley Cornell

ABOVE Junior Claire Bishop leads her lip sync battle group with an enthusiastic performance of “Umbrella” by Rihanna. The team won the battle by receiving more applause from the audience. Photo by Belle Wayman

RIGHT Carnival go-ers participate in the annual car bash at the homecoming carnival on Oct. 5. The Public Safety Academy got access to an old car from a local junkyard and set it up for free range destruction.

ABOVE Senior Chandler Long dresses up as musical artist Tyler, the Creator for the Music Monday spirit day. The costume was a hit, even when he was casually doing work.

Photo by: Belle Wayman

Photo by: Deanna Provost

Captions by: Olivia Johann

BELOW The football team clashes against Olathe East with power at the homecoming football game on Oct 8. West won 28-13, leaving the students with good spirits for their homecoming weekend. Photo by: Melayna Murphy

BELOW Senior girls celebrate a victorious powder puff game on Oct. 5. The class of 2023 won for a second year in a row, with a final score of 14-0. Photo by: Soraya Olney

ABOVE Senior Taylor Gregg walks the field with her parents at the homecoming football game on Oct. 8 after being announced for homecoming court. Their faces lit up after hearing their friends and family cheering from the stands. Photo by: Riley Cornell

ABOVE Jenior Jayton Hay gets good air time during the boys buff puff performance. Hay was tossed by his stunt group into a cradle to end their show with a bang.

ABOVE Junior Sam Delong looks for the perfect pass to inch closer to a goal. The soccer game on Oct. 4 against Shawnee Mission East ended with a 2-0 win.

Photo by: Melayna Murphy

Photo by: Soraya Olney

fall sports

RECAP

“We did well on everything. Our girls are really good. My favorite meet was the twilight meet because of the misty weather.” -Lydia

Fink

Cross country started off the season with wins from Girls JV and Girls Varsity. The team has attended Griak in Minessota and Chile Pepper in Arkansas. Both Girls and Boys have been working hard to bring back another State championship for the 3rd year in a row. Boys finished 6th at Sunflower Leauge and Girls finished 1st.

CROSS COUNTRY

GIRLS GOLF

“We were in Salina for State and it was really fun and we placed third as a team. It was really fun getting to know all of the new players and it was really fun winning regionals.”

- Lauren Lueke

Girls golf started off with a succesful first tournament playing best ball format at Sycamore Ridge. The girls were regional champions at a tournament hosted by Lawrence High which then earned them a position at State. They headed to Salina for State and placed 3rd.

“I think our football team in the beginning we started off with a win and a lose and then we kept losing, so then we really got back to our original offense, we started moving the ball and our defense is really starting to get back into it, so were gonna start wining more.” -

Elijah Hawkim

Football currently has a record of 6-2. One of those wins being against our rival school Olathe Northwest with a final score of 31-28. Olathe West is currently 3rd in the Sunflower League.

FOOTBALL

BOYS SOCCER

“So I’d say soccer is going well. We’re 9-2. we started the season off 8-0 and we’ve lost two games, but I think it has been beneficial because it causes us to learn about ourselves and push ourselves father. Its real fun to have a team and all work for the same goal.”

- Braxton Arpachinda

Soccer has a winning record of 10-2. The boys are working very hard to hopefully bring home another State championship. They knocked J.C. Harmon out of the park with a final score of 7-0.

Reporting by: Annie Self, Gracie Brown & Caleb Chacon

Photo by: Laci Lister

Photo by: Elizabeth Taylor

Photo by: Laci Lister

Photo by: Brady Knutson

As most fall sports have come to an end this week, here’s a look back on each of their seasons

GIRLS TENNIS

“Tennis season went pretty good. It was my senior season and I really enjoyed getting to be a captain this season and play with my doubles partner for the second year Kylie Crause. Overall its been a pretty good season.” - Nora Howard

Tennis started off their season with a win. Freshman Lindsay Ruder, pulled off a 6th place medal in a stack tournament and qualified for State in Topeka. Out of 12 teams, Liv Spoonemore finished 4th in #2 singles and Kylie Krause and Nora Howard finished 5th in #1 doubles.

FAVORITE FOOTBALL MEMORIES

VOLLEYBALL

“This year are season is going really well....we’ve all been on varsity for quite a while with all the other girls, so we kinda have a good bond and relationship together. We really set goals this summer and we are striving to hit those which is really helping us in our seasons.” -

Greta Treff

Volleyball has a school record record of 11-2. They attend the Lansing Tournament and went 5-0, taking home the championship. Amber Allen also beat and set a new school record for assists.

GYMNASTICS

“Gymnastics season is going really well. We’ve won a couple of meets. Its gone really well because we have gained new girls and that has helped the team a lot. It has been great seeing everyone improve and get new skills. Everyone has come into the season willing to try new things. It has just been great bonding with all the girls.” - Gabby

Clinkinbeard

Gymnastics started off the season with a win at the Firebird Invite. They also took 2nd place at Newton Invitational where senior Alexis Purdy finished 2nd all around. Olathe West also placed 2nd at the Eagle Invite. Olathe West gymnastics qualifed for State and took home 2nd.

Football Seniors have been a part of the team since their freshman year at West and reflect back on their favorite memories.

“Singing songs on the bus on the way home with Peyton, Reese and Vincent after a win.”

- Jack Scott

“The SMNW game coming back from a deficit at halftime and Elijah Hawkim making that big catch at the end to wim the game.”

- Sam Decker

“My favorite football memory would be when we beat Olathe North my junior Year.”

- Xander Mallory

“Bus rides home after we win, we always have a big sing alone and sing a bunch of songs together, we always sound really good.”

- Marcus Johnson

Photo by: Laci Lister

Photo by: Millie Eisenhauer

Photo by: Brady Knutson

Photo by: Kaitlyn Pyle

Leaves are Falling

&

AUTUMN is calling

While enjoying these final weeks of autumn, enjoy these fall favorites to make the most of the season

Reporting by: Zach Darby, Miranda Elgin & Logan Kraft

With temperatures dropping and leaves falling, the fall atmosphere is settling in and pumpkin spice flavors are appearing on menus all across the country.

Though you can’t go wrong with popular coffee chains, sometimes it’s rejuvenating to find a cafè that gives off that comforting, cozy feeling. A local option, POUR Coffeehouse, has a wide variety of menu items that range from sweet, soft chocolate croissants to steamy, savory breakfast burritos.

They also have an array of coffee drinks as well as pleasant teas. Some seasonal drinks include the “Great White Pumpkin,” a sweet white chocolate pumpkin spice drink, as well as the “Chumpkin,” a strong chai pumpkin spice drink.

Spicing Up Your Coffee Pumpkin Patch Fun

As the trees begin to change their color, and Halloween inches closer, people begin to seek out the need of an orange, multipurpose, gourd. There are many locations to find these, but if you would like to have fun while shopping for pumpkins, KC Pumpkin Patch is the place to be.

The pumpkin patch has various games and activities for families. For example, there are apple cannons to shoot apples at targets. There also is a goat walk, where you can feed and walk around goats.

For food options there is apple cider, ice cream and various food trucks. At the entrance, the have large boxes of pumpkins, and when you travel towards the back of the farm, you will find pumpkins growing on the vine.

Miranda Elgin orders a coffee and breakfast burrito at POUR Coffeehouse on Sept. 19.

Photo by: Logan Kraft

Photo by: Logan Kraft

Spooky and Seasonal Movies

If you’re looking for a frightening flick to watch this October, we recommend “IT,” based on a novel by Stephen King and adapted into a movie by director Andy Muschietti.

“IT” has a complex story with captivating twists and mysteries. While there are many changes from the book, it keeps the energy and world established by Stephen King.

The movie is full of jumpscares, suspense, and interesting and loveable characters to keep you on the edge of your seat. If you end up liking it, good news: there’s a sequel waiting for you that wraps up this great story. If you like the remake, you may even enjoy watching the original movie as well.

Top 3 Student Favorite Halloween Movies

1 2 3 The Nightmare Before Christmas Hocus Pocus

TIE - It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown & Halloween

Photo by: Logan Kraft

Photo by: Miranda Elgin

TASTES & SOUNDS OF FALL

Grandpa’s Molasses Cookies

Newspaper writer Miranda Elgin’s family friend’s recipe makes for the perfect fall treat

Cookie Ingredients

1-½ cups soft butter

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

½ cup light molasses

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

¾ tsp ginger

½ tsp cloves

Frosting Ingredents

1 ½ cups powdered sugar

3 tbsp soft butter

1 tbsp vanilla

1-2 tbsp milk

Directions:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Cream butter and sugar

Add eggs and molasses

Blend in dry ingredients

Roll into walnut-sized balls

Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees

Mix frosting ingredients, and add to top of cookies after they cool

What is Molasses?

Molasses is a thick syrupy baking ingredient. It is made by crushing suger cane. This process creates a thick syrup byproduct named molasses. It has been used as early as 500 B. C. and a staple in many households. It is typically used to make candy and baked goods.

Fall Music Favorites

“All Too Well” by Taylor Swift

“It is my favorite song becauseit was released last year during fall and that was just a really happy time in my life and it just reminds me of all the good vibes from last year.”

Noah Kahan

“It’s just more soothing. The music is geared toward the season and matches the season.”

“Country Grammar” by Nelly

“I like it because it has a feel good vibe. When you are just cruising down the street and the leaves are orange, the air is crisp, but not too cold it just makes me happy. It is also that time of year when you need to feel that type of vibe before it goes into deathly cold winter.”

“Folklore” by Taylor Swift

“Folklore and Evermore by Taylor Swift are definitely because they are fall albums…they just give fall vibes, if that makes sense.”

- Eldana Kebede

- James Coffman

- Carlton Johnson

- Kaitlyn Pyle