Issue 5

the

reporter

March 2014

Paola High School • 401 N. Angela • Paola, KS 66071

Unusual pets

5 (features) Bucket list

8-9 (features) Living with diseases

11 (features) State basketball

14 (sports)

Paola confesses Feb. 7

By the #s

Twitter page for posting anonymous tweets whitney mcdaniel online editor

brooke prothe sports editor

850

93

589

TWEETS

FOLLOWING

FOLLOWERS

Created on Feb. 7, the Paola Confessions Twitter page already has more than 500 followers and more than 700 posts.

Senior Alexandria McCoy and freshman Kiara Cotton said the Paola Confessions Twitter page is similar to the Paola Secret Admirer page by its content, not real confessions. Some of the tweets are offensive to a group or a specific person. Even if the tweets are offensive, the post isn’t taken off the page.

The Paola Confessions Twitter page allows for anonymous tweets to be sent in and posted. The owner of the page is unknown.

“They have some rude things about people in Paola on the Twitter page,” McCoy said.

Cotton said the posts are opinionated comments on people or things happening in Paola, most of them offensive.

“I don’t like [all of the posts],” Cotton said. “But some of them are funny.”

Sophomore Ryan Gleghorn said he started following the page because he heard a few friends talking about it.

“I like to see what people say [about others],” Gleghorn said. “Some of the posts are amusing.”

Gleghorn said he thought most of the tweets are real confessions posted about themselves.

Junior Derek Weaver agreed. Weaver said the page has real confessions from people in Paola, but there have been some tweets that can be taken the wrong way and considered offensive.

Weaver said there haven’t been any hurtful tweets toward him, but he said he believes there might be a few about someone else.

“I believe that if [the page] does become hurtful,” Weaver said. “[Paola High School administration] will try to take it down, but who’s to say the creator is actually a high school student? It could just be a bored college student.”

Principal Phil Bressler said the gist of the page was supposed to be humorous, whether or not it’s looked at that way.

Bressler said he thought it was also supposed to be a form of cheap entertainment for Paola and its high school students.

“I think it was something a bored student decided to make on a snow day,” Bressler said.

Bressler said if it gets to a point where the page interrupts school, then the administration will try to shut it down. If the page shows signs of harassment, it’ll become a legal issue. “[The school and it’s administration doesn’t] run Twitter so there’s not much we can do,” Bressler said.

McCoy said the page is inappropriate because it talks about parties, sex and other things that don’t need to be on social media.

“I don’t know if there’s a way administration can take it down,” McCoy said. “But there must be a reason why it has lasted as long as it has.”

Day the first tweet was made

Tweets naming another person

163

77

Tweets with profanity

Tweets involving illegal activity

146 Tweets about a PHS staff member

37

Tweets with sexual content

21

Compiled from Paola Confession page by Whitney McDaniel as of March 24

2 (briefs) FFA gears up to compete More than 100 students from the high school will compete in spring FFA Contests.

Sophomore Meghan Schasteen said she will compete in farm management and food science. Schasteen said farm management is mostly memorization and math to deal with a farm from the business perspective. Food science is about food safety.

“Most of the preparation is in class,” Schasteen said.

“We just use the resources [the teachers] give us to study.”

Ag teacher John Menefee said a lot of work goes into preparing for contest.

“Students study in class, on their own, and in practices held before or after school,” Menefee said. “Most students spend at least 50 hours of study time.”

Freshman Blaine Hanf said he will compete in the livestock competition. To prepare, Hanf said he studies a lot and practices online.

“This is my first competition,” Hanf said. “I expect to do pretty well, but not great.”

Menefee said at the last FFA competition, the teams finished in the top five in every competition, and at least 20 finished in the top 10 individually.

“The big contest left is state [the last weekend in May],” Menefee said. “And we’ve won farm and business management eight years in a row.”

-Brooke Prothe

The Reporter • March 2014

An elegant surprise Twenty sophomores and juniors working on a top-secret project.

When asked to reveal their secrets, they relinquished only that The Great Gatsby is their inspiration.

“We want everybody to be surprised when they walk in [to prom],” junior prom committee member Jared Grieve said.

The team will work during seminar and through spring break to get everything done by April 12.

“I can’t say enough about them,” prom sponsor Tresa Brandt said.

“They are amazing.”

Brandt said that prom committee members are required to raise money for prom, build sets for the event and train the prom servers.

“It’s fun getting to plan out the whole prom,” junior Jessica Wright said. “You get to plan what prom looks like and you get to morph each other’s ideas until you get one really good one.”

Grieve said enjoys working on prom builds and often works at the concession stands on game nights.

“I wanted to get more involved in the school and try to help out,” Grieve said.

Brandt said students are working on prom

preparations every day during seminar.

“We have to make a lot of the sets,” Wright said. “We have quite a few big projects that we are trying to get right and lots of surprises.

“Brandt said work began on this year’s prom last April with the selection of committee members and this year’s theme. “[The theme] was mostly because of the senior class,” Wright said.

“They went and saw the [Great Gatsby] last year and they were really excited about it so we decided we might as well please them.”

Throughout the year, committee members raised the $5,000-$10,000 needed for the event by working at the concessions stand and they sponsored three middle school dances.

Grieve said cardboard, paper mache, plastics and wood are all being used in the projects.

“There is a lot of hard work,” prom server Derek Robison said.

“But it’s fun to build stuff every day.”

“There is a lot of stuff to do, but not a lot of time to do it,” Grieve said.

-Natalie Eppler

Photo by Megan Stover

Senior Chase Jorgensen fights for a rebound against El Dorado at the state tournament battle for third place. The Panther won the game 72-56. See page 14 for a brief account of the boys’and girls’substate and state tournaments.

Students pitch in to help find cure for SIDS Students in Media and Technology (MIT) and Developmental Leadership classes have been preparing for the Strides For A Find 5K run/walk at 8 a.m. April 26 at Lake Miola. “ We ’ r e c o n t a c t i n g businesses for donations and things to raffle off and we put posters all over town,” said senior Developmental Leadership student Allie Ozier.

Ozier said she likes planning events like this and hopes to do something like

it again.

Strides For A Find raises money for First Candle, an organization that researches causes for and the prevention of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) through an annual 5k run/walk and auction, according to the Strides For A Find website.

Junior Sydney Prothe, also in Dev. Lead. said they will help set up for the 5k run/ walk.

Prothe said she enjoys community work and has been involved since seventh-

grade KAYs. “I like it because we’re helping out the community, and helping find a cure for SIDS,” said Prothe.

Gretchen and Matt Wolfe started the organization after their 3-and-a-half month old son Bode died of SIDs Aug. 26, 2010, according to the Strides For A Find website.

Pam Fette, Web and Digital Communications teacher, is a friend of the Wolfe family. Together they created the Strides For A Find organization.

“I enjoy the community support, and I really respect the student involvement,” Fette said.

SIDS is the No. 1 cause of death in infants 1 month to 1 year of age. It claims about 2,300 lives each year in the United States alone, according to the Strides For A Find website.

To contribute to the cause, you can register online for the 5k walk/run or be a part of the silent auction.

- Audrey Brodie

Logo by Noah Franz

(news)

3

Working for a better community The Reporter • March 2014

Developmental Leadership students have a hand in various projects mariona olasz reporter

Developmental Leadership teacher Cristie Sims said that after a semester of working on leadership skills and positive attitudes, the Developmental Leadership class is using the skills learned through different projects.

“The second semester we focus on reaching out and using these skills through a whole bunch of projects that students before them have done and they want to do again or they come up with new ideas,” Sims said. “They are all community service projects.”

Senior Christian Kneibler said Developmental Leadership is about improving the community and assisting them with whatever they may need.

“It’s about bettering yourself, taking more risks and being grateful for what’s happening right now,” Kneibler said. “It’s about having hope and forgiveness for the past and the future.”

Senior Ben Abel and junior Sydney Prothe agreed.

“We do a lot of community service,” Abel said. “We recycle, do fundraisers for nonprofitable charities like My Father’s House, and we learn how to be leaders and to help better the school.”

Prothe said Dev. Lead. is about making yourself better and proving to yourself what you can do for others.

“It’s about really finding out how much you care and how much you are willing to do for the community and for other people,” Prothe said.

The class is working on different projects to collect money for different organizations.

One of these projects is the Senior Prom, scheduled for April 13, the day after the high school prom.

“We invite senior citizens from the community to come in [and see] the decorations of our prom and we do music and drinks.”

Another upcoming project is “Fasting for Food,” March 29 which gathers food for My Father’s House, a local nonprofit dedicated to

homeless people.

“We try to simulate hunger by not eating,” Sims said. “We try to eat lunch, then go collect food, not eat supper, not eat anything all night, we stay locked in the school...and then leave at 6 o’clock in the morning.”

The students are also started a snow shoveling project.

“When it snows and we have a school day we get outside at 9 a.m., and we meet at the parking lot and go shovel driveways,” Prothe said.

Abel said a big project the Dev. Lead. class just completed was the Pink-Out game Feb. 28.

“We are raising funds for the breast cancer society,” Abel said. “We are doing several raffles, selling baked goods and doing a half time raffle just to help raise money. And everything, all of it, goes to the breast cancer society.”

The class raised $400 for the cause, Sims said.

Once a month, Prothe said the Dev. Lead. students also read and play with the children living at My Father’s House.

“We do activities with them for St. Patrick’s Day, Christmas or Valentine’s Day,” Prothe said.

Abel said all these projects are run by students who volunteer and run the projects by themselves.

“You have several students that sign up to be the manager of the project, and then they organize things and it’s all students,” Abel said. “Mrs. Sims helps us when we ask for it, but she doesn’t run anything, it’s all students.”

Prothe said Developmental Leadership is a class in which students will have to use part of their free time to do things and that takes dedication.

“If you are not willing to put in the work, then you’re not going to take much out of it.

If you are not willing to go out, then it’s not the class for you,” Prothe said. “But if you are

Photo by Audrey Brodie

Senior Trey Taylor takes recycling boxes to Cottonwood and Sunflower elementary schools for their March Madness recycling contest. This was one of the many Devleopmental Leadership projects this spring.

willing and you actually want to, then it’s a really good class.”

Dev. Lead. projects do not only involve the high school, but also involve the middle school, and elementary schools.

Sims said they are working on a project to end bullying at the middle school. ”We are getting some kind of project together for the eighth graders at the middle school to try and end bullying, especially cyber bullying,” Sims said. “We are going to go over there on the last week of school and give a program to them.”

To add another project involving the el-

Fasting for Food March 29 Paola’s Got Talent April 13 Strides 4 A Find 5K April 9 ementary schools, Abel said Developmental Leadership students are also working on the “March Madness” project.

“We are also working on “March Madness”, where we are recycling at the elementary school and Sunflower; it’s going to be a big project,” Abel said.

4(ads)

The Reporter •March 2014

(features)

The Reporter • March 2014

Furry pets defy the norm

5

Douglas, Johnston have raccoon, flying squirrel as companions ashley everhart reporter When the average person thinks of pets they think of the dog constantly barking at its own tail, the cat that creeps up out of nowhere, or a fish that does nothing but swim in a circle, but somehow ends up dying within the week.

This is not the case for freshman Alex Johnston who is raising three sugargliders, or tropical flying squirrels. He got two of them, Taz and Mikey, from a friend of his aunt’s, and the other, Tina, from a lady online.

“At first I thought it was weird and didn’t know why we got them, now they are fun just like any other pet,” Johnston said.

In order to care for his unique animals, he takes about 20-30 minutes out of his day to care for them.

He feeds them fruits, vegetables, chicken, or beef….almost anything except for processed foods.

In short, the flying squirrels won’t get any Twinkies. Despite all his efforts, Tina has escaped her cage once.

“Tina got loose in the house for three or four days, I found her in the bathtub when I was about to take a shower. I was really relieved,” Johnston said.

Johnston said his worst memory with his pets is when he was holding one that peed down his arm. Tropical flying squirrel poop is not quite as bothersome to Johnston.

“It’s very small, not hard to clean up, and therefore it doesn’t really matter,” Johnston said.

While he does think of them as a pet, Johnston said he considers squirrel ownership unusual because it is uncommon to most other people.

“People don’t really see them anywhere else, most people you talk

Photo courtesy of Alex Johnston

Freshman Alex Johnston holds his pet flying squirrel, Taz. The flying squirrel in the picture is one of three that Johnston cares for.

Photo courtesy of Adrianna Douglas

Sophomore Adrianna Douglas holds her pet raccoon, Clyde. At the time of the picture the raccon was 8 months old and getting ready to be released into the wild at Hillsdale Lake.

to have never even heard of them,” Johnston said.

While Johnston’s flying squirrels haven’t ever caught a i r, s o p h o m o r e Adrianna Douglas first encounter with her pet raccoons was when they came flying superman-style from the ceiling.

“My dad was at work when two baby raccoons fell out of the ceiling because

their mom made a nest in the electrical unit,” Douglas said.

After that, Douglas’ father brought the two week-old raccoons home, they were given the names Bonnie and Clyde and fed kitten replacement milk.

Douglas said her favorite memory from the raccoon’s eight-month stay at her house was the

chance to be exposed to such wildlife. “[My favorite memory was] the experience from it,” Douglas said.

After eight months, it was time for the Douglas family to let the raccoons back into the wild at Hillsdale Lake. Since it is illegal to keep raccoons as pets.

While most would consider having an

illegal pet unusual, Douglas said she doesn’t.

“I wouldn’t [consider it unusual], others might, but I have lived it, experienced it and I don’t,” Douglas said.

Karl Schmidt, biology teacher is also familiar with unusual pets.

Owning a rosehair tarantula for 16 years, crawdads, a turtle, three giant hissing

cockroaches-which recently spawned off about 15 to 20 baby hissing cockroachesflour beetles, and a fish which recently passed away. Unlike Douglas, Schmidt considers having these animals as unusual.

“For a regular person, it’s very unusual. For a biology teacher, not at all. It’s nice to have something the kids can look at,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt said he gets the best reaction out of students when they take the tarantula out of its cage and

pull the silk out of it, going clear across the classroom. He said that he uses this, among his other pets, as an icebreaker when he gets a new class.

“Kids would ask certain things [about the animals], or they wouldn’t ask anything at all, so this kind of broke the ice,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt said he thinks one of the benefits of owning a strange pet is that they are a lot easier to care for, but a disadvantage is that pets like these aren’t going to be the type to snuggle up by the fire.

(opinion)

The Reporter • March 2014

Fashionablevs.

practical

Girl pockets vs. boy pockets—it’s a conspiracy

Break the mold Cartoon by Katie Biggs

Stop worrying about fitting in and just be yourself

A b o u t three months ago, college students came back to the high school give katie biggs managing editor advice to us.

Almost every one of them mentioned they regretted not being themselves and doing what they wanted in high school.

This is important for students to do, but I know how hard that can be sometimes.

As a Jehovah’s Witness, I am basically separated from everyone in this school because of how different my beliefs are.

I have found that at times it can be hard to maintain the standards of my religion because I am so different.

This can apply to anyone really. We all have to find out where we fit in. You can see the groups that have formed based on personal interests: the jocks, the preppy kids, drama people, band geeks, the journalism nerds and the hipsters. Which, oddly enough, being somewhat hipster is becoming the norm for high school students. Some groups have formed out of people who have been outcast because they dress or act differently. Our job is

finding a group into which we fit.

Even though it is important to have a group of friends with similar interests and goals, that doesn’t mean we should change ourselves to be part of something we don’t truly fit.

Trying to fit in and be part of the crowd can virtually control-and quite possibly ruin-your high school career.

If you are following the crowd to be liked by everyone, the “friends” you find won’t be true. They won’t even know who you really are. If you keep acting fake around them to fit in, you won’t be happy. I guess if that’s what you are seeking in life, then by all means go for it. But if not, stop it and just be yourself.

You will find that no matter how weird or different you may be, you will always find someone who is just like you. By being yourself, you will find friends who know you just as well as you know yourself.

Being with and following the crowd may be fun and great at first but in the long run you are going to wish that you just did whatever you wanted to.

So stop trying to fit into the mold of common high school students. Do what you want and don’t let anyone influence your choices.

I t ’ s q u i t e unfair that boys are given the ability to carry brooke prothe sports editor whatever they want in their pockets. Boys can carry their phone, wallet, keys, pocket knives, pens, markers, crayons, pliers, candy, work gloves, gum, water bottles, a Spanish-to-English dictionary and a bag of Skittles all at the same time.

My best guess on why girls’ pockets are small and boys’ pockets aren’t is because girls tend to care more about the way their outfit looks, as opposed to boys, who prefer something to be practical as opposed to fashionable.

Boys never care about if their rear end looks “super cute” in their jeans.

However a girl usually can’t fit anything bigger than a cricket in her pocket (not that we carry crickets around), she puts everything in her purse.

Tiny pockets were probably designed by the phone companies so girls accidentally drop their phones, thinking they have a pocket. Their phones break and then to buy a new phone.

Girl pockets are also too small for girls to carry a phone with a protective case on it. This is also probably designed by the phone companies.

This idea of no phone cases due to tiny little girl pockets makes women choose between the safety of their phone, or the leisure of carrying it in their pocket.

Look at it this way, if girls could carry as much as boys can in their pockets, we wouldn’t need purses.

What would girls want to put in a purse that they couldn’t fit in their pockets?

Nothing. So the phone, jean and purse manufacturers are all working together

to make sure girls keep buying their products.

If girls could fit a lot in their jean pockets, they probably wouldn’t carry as much stuff. Girls carry a lot of things they don’t need in their purses, like makeup, hair brushes, deodorant, perfume, a spare change of clothes (in case their outfit goes out of style after lunch, which would be an absolute crisis), nail polish and receipts from when they were 8 years old.

But on the other hand, if boys wore skinny jeans with tiny little pockets and carried around man bags, the girls would think they were crazy for carrying purses when they could just get bigger pockets.

Maybe this is all a metaphor for the bigger picture. Maybe pockets represent fashion. Boys don’t seem to care about fashion, they prefer leisure and practicality. Girls care about fashion and ignore all practical thoughts. But maybe I’m crazy. Maybe pockets are just pockets and I’m overthinking it.

Moral(s) of the story: 1. Don’t trust jean, purse or phone manufacturers, they work together to keep you spending money.

2. If a girl says she doesn’t have room in her purse for something else, she’s either lying or she used her last bit of space to hold on to something useless she doesn’t need.

3. When girls are given a little bit of freedom, like going from no room in their pocket to having a purse, they get carried away.

4. Boys have room in their pocket for anything, so ladies, if it doesn’t fit in your purse, make a guy hold it.

He’ll end up putting it in his pocket so neither one of you technically has to hold it.

(opinion)

The Reporter • March 2014

7

A word to the wise Snap out of Zombieland

the

reporter Volume 90 Issue 5

be sooo ignorant.

You are no better than anyone else just because you’re smart. There is no need to put yourself on a pedestal or treat other people like they’re stupid just because they don’t walk around with a flashing sign above their head that says “I am smarter than you” like you do.

You are not that smart.

Lastly, please don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying it’s a sin to be smart or that you need to stifle your intelligence. What I’m saying is that instead of using your intelligence to make other people feel inferior, you should use it to make something of yourself instead.

And, in the meantime, take your arrogant, selfrighteous attitude and ship it to Guam, because no one wants it here.

Until the day you get your acceptance letter to Harvard or Albert Einstein comes back from the grave and invites you over for a cordial cup of tea, just know one thing: You are not that smart.

So stop acting like it.

Don’t say you’re depressed just because you’re sad

As I walk down the halls glancing around, I can’t help but notice how many people look like total zombies. No, they aren’t doing the slow zombie-walk thing and repeatedly saying “brains…brains” in that weird, long dragged out way zombies do. Well, most of the time they aren’t.

It’s the look of emptiness and depression that make them look like fashionable versions of zombies. Then to hear a huge number of people talk about how depressed they are…. some who seem to be leading perfect lives. It’s mind-blowing.

I don’t understand what such a large number of high school students have to be depressed about. Although, lots of other people do.

For example, Health magazine cites three causes to make people believe they are suffering from depression.

No. 1: An overload on Facebook may lead to feelings of depression, because Internet addicts can struggle with actual human companionship as opposed to virtual companionship offered by Facebook. Big surprise there.

No. 2: Another potential cause of nonclinical depression is access to too many choices. Yep, that’s right folks, people are claiming they are depressed over making the decision between a red or a green apple.

No. 3: One of the most surprising causes that people claim as a reason for their depression is the end of a show or a movie. In 2009, fans of the film Avatar reported becoming depressed, even suicidal, when they discovered the movie’s fictional world wasn’t (gasp!}…….. actually

staff editorial

Editor-in-Chief: Aly Johnson Managing Editor: Katie Biggs Online Editor: Whitney McDaniel Sports Editor: Brooke Prothe Reporters: Audrey Brodie, Katharina Dietz, Natalie Eppler, Ashley Everhart, Eric Haefele, Mariona Olasz, Megan Stover Ad Manager: Lauren Wood Adviser: BriAnne Chayer

The Reporter is for the students, by the students. The goal of the Reporter is to give the students a voice, and provide an open forum of ideas while maintaining an ethical publication with unbiased coverage.

editorial policy

You are not that smart.

Yeah, you.

The pretentious knowit-all in the corner of the room whispering snarky comments under your breath.

The one cramming your entire vocabulary into each sentence in an effort to talk over everyone’s heads.

The one trying to outsmart the teacher.

You, sir (or ma’am), are literally the most obnoxious type of human being on the planet.

Let me get a few things straight: First of all, just because you talk smart doesn’t mean you are smart.

There is no need to shove every big word you know into each sentence to create an illusion of superior intellect, because newsflash: no one is going to listen to a word you’re saying.

We mere mortals don’t

the staff

aly johnson editor-in-chief

have time to whip out our pocket dictionaries to try to translate the pointless vocabulary you’re using, so we will check out the second you start speaking your language of pretention.

And no, that doesn’t mean you have to talk down to everyone either.

JUST USE NORMAL LANGUAGE. No one is impressed by the thesaurus words you’re using, and most of the time using big words just makes it seem like you’re trying to camouflage the fact that you’re literally not even saying anything important.

You are not that smart.

Second, hop off your high horse. Good for you, being smart or whatever, but just because you’re intelligent doesn’t mean you have to make an arrogant display of that intelligence.

Don’t smirk, roll your eyes or snicker when someone else in the class asks a question or makes a comment that you find to be so below your level of “vast intelligence” that you can’t fathom how someone could possibly

mission statement

You aren’t as smart as you think you are—shut up

real! Fans of the Harry Potter films reported similar feelings of despair as the series came to a close.

The thing about all of the above “causes” is that you can easily change them all. Delete your Facebook page. Choose the red apple instead of the green one -- everyone knows red apples taste better anyway.

As for depression caused by the end of a show or movie -- if you are depressed over the fact that you suddenly discovered that we are not, in fact, living in world filled with blue avatars or wizards with British accents, then you probably have bigger problems than depression.

It’s kind of like the patient who complains to his physician, “Doctor, my head hurts when I hit myself in the head with a hammer. How can I make the pain stop?” and the doctor says, “Don’t hit yourself in the head with a hammer anymore.”

This isn’t always the case for everyone, though, not everybody can just make their depression disappear with the click of a button.

Not everybody gets to choose if they want to be depressed; they don’t choose to be raped, to feel neglected and alone, or to have someone close to them ripped from their lives within a blink of an eye, causing them to fall into a pit of despair.

While people suffering from clinical depression have no control over their situation, you do. You make the choice to waste time complaining about how ‘depressed’ you are over mundane things like the weather, a bad hair day, or the latest breakup with your significant other.

So the next time you are about to complain about your depression, think twice. Instead of clinging on to that sadness, let it go. Life is all about how you respond to what it has to throw at you.

It is the policy of the Paola Reporter to provide a forum for student expression, voices in the uninhibited, robust, free and open discussion of issues.

The Reporter encourages students to write letters to the editor or submit articles for the editorial page.

We reserve the right to edit content. Material that contains libelous or obscene information will not be published. Material that will cause a disruption of school activities is also prohibited. Authors must provide their full name. No articles will be published with an alias.

(features)

The Reporter • March 2014

Giovanni Carrete, senior Before he dies, senior Giovanni Carrete wants to design and create an entire city.

“Ever since I was a little kid I have wanted to be an architect,” Carrete said. “I would make my own buildings out of anything and everything, I played with Legos for a longer time than most kids, and I used to want to make giant mansions for my family so I would design them. It has just always been something I’ve liked to do.”

In addition to creating this city, Carrete wants to form an ideal society to match it.

“I would want to make it so the society of the city would be really

The Reporter • March 2014

Alaina Weidman, senior

different—I want to make almost like a utopia,” Carrete said.

Carrete is still uncertain about how to go about it creating this city and its society.

“I don’t know how I would do it, but I just want the people there to get along and I want everything there to be more efficient and green and natural, but still look amazing and practical,” Carrete said. “I wouldn’t want to demolish a big field of already growing animals and trees and stuff, so I would probably take an old city and renovate it. And I feel like if I really really tried and wanted to do it, I could make it happen.”

Before she dies, senior Alaina Weidman wants to go to La Tomatina in Italy.

“It’s a big Italian festival and everyone gets naked and you just throw tomatoes at each other,” Weidman said. “It’s a big fun thing and you get tomato sauce everywhere and it’s a good time.”

Weidman first heard about La Tomatina through Tumblr.

“Ever since I read about it I’ve wanted to go,” Weidman said. “It sounds really fantastic and it’s an Italian festival so it would be cool.”

Although she doesn’t want to go to La Tomatina until she’s in her 20s, Weidman has been mushing around in tomatoes since she was a child.

“My neighbor had a tomato garden when I was a kid, so I would always sneak over to her garden at night and eat the tomatoes,” Weidman said. “And then one time all the rotten tomatoes were out, so I started squishing them in between my toes and it was just a really good time, so doing that with 20,000 people at La Tomatina would be a blast.”

Conner Maynard, senior Morgan Laudan, sophomore Before she dies, sophomore Morgan Laudan wants to win a Nathan’s Hotdog Eating Contest.

“Every time I watch the famous Hotdog Eating Contest on Coney Island, it fills me with an extreme desire to show everyone that I could not only do that, but win the whole thing,” Laudan said.

Laudan has participated in smallscale eating contests such as chicken nugget, pizza and bacon eating contests, but never anything as big as the Nathan’s Hotdog Eating Contest.

However, Laudan said if she trained really hard she could probably eat about 20 hotdogs per minute.

“I would definitely eat the hotdogs first then dip the buns in lemonade,” Laudan said. “It would be soggy and weird, but it’s a winning strategy so

you just have to go for it.”

Laudan said her biggest threat in the competition would probably be the little Chinese guys.

“Those guys go crazy,” Laudan said. “I would kind of like to be like them because they are all really tiny but they get after it and win.”

Laudan said she eats so much food every day already that she wouldn’t be concerned about the health risks that would come along with training for and entering a hotdog eating contest. The only thing on her mind would be the glory of victory.

“I love eating, so winning the Nathan’s Hotdog Eating Contest would be like the highest honor to me,” Laudan said. “I would like to break the record for the most hotdogs anyone has ever eaten in the contest and I would like to be the first female to win the guys’ division.”

aly johnson editor-in-chief

Students share goals, dreams they hope to accomplish someday Left: Senior Lauren Frederick signs the poster. Before she dies, she wants to dance and sing with John Travolta on his private jet.

Center: Senior Alaina Weidman writes down what she wants to do before she dies.

Right: Students crowd around to sign the schoolwide bucket list poster. The poster was available to be signed in the commons by all students from Thursday, Feb. 27- Monday, March 3.

Before he dies, senior Conner Maynard wants to discover either Nessie or Bigfoot.

“Whichever one seems a bit more adventurous, challenging and dangerous is the one I’ll choose,” Maynard said. “I just feel like I am the only one who is capable and dedicated enough to capture a creature of this size.”

Maynard said he isn’t afraid of this challenge.

“I have no fear. I want to take them out,” Maynard said. “I want to be in the Mythological Hall of Fame.”

To capture Nessie, Maynard said he would get a big anchor, put a cow on it, drop it in Loch Ness, wait for Nessie to attack the cow (because Nessie feeds on cows and sheep), then capture her from there.

To capture Bigfoot, Maynard said he would go to the Appala-

chian Mountains during Bigfoot Tracking Season when Bigfoot is most vulnerable to be seen, set a trap, trap Bigfoot in it, then shoot him in the head multiple times and sell his body for millions of dollars.

“I’ve spent many hours researching this,” Maynard said. “And I believe that with the knowledge I’ve acquired, I have everything it takes to be able to successfully capture Nessie or Bigfoot.”

Maynard said despite the fact that not many people believe these creatures exist, he is certain they do and is determined to prove their existence.

“I have always been a big believer in mythological creatures because no one can prove if they’re real or not,” Maynard said. “I am going to be the one to find proof and discover that they’re real. I will find Bigfoot or Nessie.”

10 (academics)

The Reporter • March 2014

Senioritis not confined to seniors megan stover reporter Some seniors and underclassmen are claiming to be plagued by senioritis.

Senior Jessica Schasteen said senioritis is when seniors get tired of being at school.

“I procrastinate a lot more than I normally do, so it’s really bad,” she said.

“I just don’t care if I get something done.”

Schasteen said another symptom of senioritis is when you get sick of the school, classes and people.

“I have been particularly annoyed with underclassmen recently,” she said. “I don’t know why--probably because I have senioritis.”

Schasteen said underclassmen use “senioritis” as an excuse to be lazy.

“They haven’t been through school all four years to understand exactly what senioritis is,” she said.

Sophomore Meghan Smith said she also has senioritis.

“It happened around the beginning of second semester,” she said. “I don’t have the motivation to do anything.”

Smith said not all students suffer from senioritis.

“There are those kids that say ‘I want to get my work done so I won’t be anxious’, and there are the kids that just don’t care,”

she said.

Smith said it all starts with the amount of homework we are given.

If [the teachers] wants us to do well, don’t give us so much homework,” she said.

Senior Nick Arganbright said he has been suffering from senioritis since his freshman year. “[Senioritis is] not wanting to be here more than I haven’t wanted to be here the last three years,” he said.

A rg a n b r i g h t s a i d underclassmen could have senioritis, but it mostly pertains to seniors.

“We are the ones that are actually about to get out of here,” he said. “We’ve done this for three years, why do we have to do this for one more year?”

Math teacher Lisa Collier said her definition of senioritis is lack of motivation the second semester of your senior year of high school.

“It’s a name for the seniors trying to get through their last few months of high school,” she said.

Collier said senioritis is just a kind of excuse.

“Any student can have trouble staying motivated,” she said. “But there are still grades to be given, scholarship applications to be filled out, there is still a

Photo by Katharina Dietz

Senior Ping Zheng works on a computer in business teacher Monty Chayer’s Accounting class.

Proposal could have computers for all Admin says devices would prepare students for real world katharina dietz reporter When walking through the high school, you can see paper, pencils and textbooks on almost every student’s desk. But soon there might be computers on each desk instead. District administrators are proposing an option to provide a laptop for every student.

Phil Bressler, principal, said it would prepare students for a job or college.

“I know I could not do what I do every day without a computer,” Bressler said.

“Most of the people I work with are in the same boat. We need to be preparing our students for that environment because that’s the world that they’re going to walk into. They are not going to go into the job and say by the way you can’t use your tablet right now. You have to put it down and handwrite it. Those days are gone.”

The students would be able to take the computer home. They would have an online textbook version instead of real

textbooks, Bressler said.

At first, the one computer to one student ratio would make it harder for teachers, because students are usually ahead of them in technology, Bressler said. But he said it would also give teachers more options.

Instead of assigning the students an essay of an aggregation of facts, the students could go out and create their own knowledge.

Depending on the grade levels that would get devices and the price of each device, the computers could cost about $100,000. The money would come from district funds, but the school might have to cut back in other areas, Bressler said.

He said he was not sure if or when the laptops would be purchased.

Junior Andrew Leach said the school should invest the money in something else. “ I think it’s kind of a waste of money, because we have a mobile lab already,” Leach said.

Leach, who is taking a computer class, said he doesn’t learn as much when he is working on computers.

“I kind of like the one-to-one experience with the teacher. I feel like I

learn better,” he said.

Freshman Rheanna Leckner and sophmore Jacob Henry said they would like a computer for every student.

Leckner said she would have all resources in one place and wouldn’t have to run to the computer lab.

“It would be good because it would be lighter, we wouldn’t have a lot of stuff to carry home,” Leckner said.

Henry said he would like it because it would be easier to keep track of his homework.

“We wouldn’t have to worry about losing our papers anymore,” he said.

Math teacher Darrah Batcheler visited another school to see how the 1:1 ratio would work. In science, the students were taking quizzes online and starting group projects.

“I thought it was really nice that they all got to go at their own pace,” Batcheler said.

She also liked how the class was more interactive with all of the students instead of just calling on one student.

“I definitely think it would be a great investment. I just want to know if we’re going to do it or not,” Batcheler said.

(features)

The Reporter • March 2014

Living life Bastarache overcomes physical limitations

natalie eppler reporter For junior William Bastarache, climbing stairs is merely a dream. Bastarache is confined to a wheelchair.

“I was born with a mix between Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease [a form of muscular dystrophy] and another disease called scoliosis,” Bastarache said.

Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease causes muscles to weaken and waste away, the loss of some, but not all feeling in the legs and arms, the formation of stiffened joints and scoliosis, or curvature of the spine according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke website.

Bastarache first noticed symptoms of the disease in the first grade, although his mom thought he had the disease soon after birth.

“My handwriting was terrible,” Bastarache said. “I can’t really write for too long because my hands get tired.”

Bastarache also struggles with transportation.

“It’s hard to get in and out of cars,” Bastarache said.

“Usually my mom just picks me up and puts me in [the car].”

To deal with the symptoms of the disease, Bastarache does physical therapy exercises during second hour every black day

11

in room 114. He also meets with physical therapist Marilyn Friesen once a week.

“I work out,” Bastarache said. “I lift weights and do other exercises.”

School nurse Glenda Kinaman sees students living with chronic illnesses every day. “[Individuals with Muscular Dystrophy] commonly have regularly structured physical therapy and occupational therapy,” Kinaman said.

To keep a positive attitude, Bastarache makes jokes about himself.

“Other people don’t like it, but I do,” Bastarache said.

Treatment of muscular dystrophy has improved throughout Bastarache’s life with better technology, better surgical procedures and better physical treatment.

“It’s getting a lot better because now people actually know what it is,” Bastarache said.

Bastarache enjoys attending the yearly Muscular Dystrophy Association Camp at Tall Oaks Conference Center in Linwood.

“Other than the camp,” Bastarache said. “Muscular Dystrophy sucks.”

Muscular dystrophy is a degenerative disease, meaning Bastrache’s muscles will always be weakening.

Kinaman said, “People who deal with [chronic illness] can learn to live within their restrictions. It doesn’t have to stop them from living life.”

photo by Natalie Eppler

Making adjustments

Junior William Bastarache works with physical therapist Marilyn Friesen on standing with a walker. Although Bastarache is often in his wheel chair, he can move in and out of the chair by himself.

Bastarache stood for one minute, 20 seconds.

natalie eppler reporter One morning, a 10 year old girl did not wake up. She was rushed to the hospital where she would spend the next twothree weeks. She weighed only 50 pounds and drank almost constantly to flush the toxins from her body. She recovered and was released from the hospital but, her life would be forever changed.

“It was kind of a shocker,” junior Taylor D’Urso said. “I lived 10 years of my life without having [diabetes] and it’s still taking a lot of time to get used to it.”

School nurse Glenda Kinaman said there are two types of diabetes: type one and type two diabetes. In type one diabetes, the pancreas or the organ that produces insulin completely stops working. In type two diabetes, the pancreas still produces some insulin, a protein used to regulate carbohydrates and fats, but not enough to meet the demands of the body.

“There is nothing you can do to avoid getting type one diabetes,” Kinaman said. “It is commonly hereditary.”

D’Urso has type one diabetes. 4-5 times a day, she pricks

Both Sloan and D’Urso must be prepared.

“I always have stuff in my backpack just in case,” Sloan said. “Mostly, I have juice boxes, granola bars [and] dried fruit, anything with a lot of carbs in it.”

Kinaman said it is important for diabetics to have a supply of snacks in case their blood sugar falls below the normal level.

“When my blood sugar gets to low I get really pale and my vision is blurred,” D’Urso said. “I start shaking a lot and I don’t focus on stuff.”

D’Urso has been hospitalized twice since her diagnosis 10 years ago.

“I wasn’t taking care of myself,” D’Urso said. “They told me while I was in the hospital that if I hadn’t gone to the hospital at the time that I did I probably wouldn’t be here.”

Although life with diabetes is not easy, D’Urso is hopeful that her faulty pancreas will be replaced by an artificial pancreas in 2015.

“That would completely take care of the problem,” D’Urso said. “That would be awesome.”

Juniors learn to live life with diabetes

her finger to check her blood sugar level. To maintain a good blood sugar level she gives herself insulin before eating. For D’Urso, a good blood sugar level is between 70 and 140 mg/ dL. “It’s really difficult to keep it in that range,” D’Urso said.

“Most of the time the blood sugar is out of that range.”

Junior Nick Sloan also depends on insulin injections to maintain his blood sugar level.

“It’s just kind of part of my life now,” Sloan said. “I don’t really think twice about it.”

Diabetes has changed a lot of things in both Sloan and D’Urso’s lives.

“I can’t go in a hot tub, I can’t swim for too long at a time, and I can’t just eat anything I want,” D’Urso said.

To stay healthy, Sloan also closely monitors the food he eats and does not drink pop.

“It’s not like I can’t drink it, but it’s just not really good for me because it [makes] my blood sugar go up really fast and then drop,” Sloan said.

12 (entertainment)

The Reporter • March 2014

Still dreaming of Disney in movies Thomas, Wood still love their childhood movies megan stover reporter Ever since he was little, sophomore Tanner Thomas’ favorite Disney movie has been Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl.

“It came out when I was 5-years-old and as soon as I saw it I instantly loved it,” he said. “I loved the action-adventure side of it and it has some comedy too.”

Thomas said Disney movies give a false perception of life because not everything in life turns out perfectly.

“Since [Disney movies] are marketed toward kids,” he said. “It doesn’t bother me at all.”

Thomas said the positives of the movies are the reasons they are appealing.

“They are entertaining, encouraging, and have happy endings,” he said.

Senior Lauren Wood said her favorite Disney movie is Tangled.

“I like that it has music in it, and it has some realistic touches,” she said. “[Rapunzel] is not given everything she wants and she is constantly working for it.”

Wood said Disney animations are similar to other films because they always follow a similar plot.

“They always have a hero and a bad guy, and they always have happy endings,” she

said.

Wood said Disney movies give a false perception of life, but not always.

“They are mostly for entertainment and I don’t think they will persuade [kids] any way,” she said.

Wood said the movies also have some negative aspects.

“Some of the songs are annoying, and some of the movies aren’t as well put together as others… such as the Hunchback of Notre Dame,” she said. “I just could never relate to it.”

Cinema Studies teacher Photo by Ashley Blann Stuart Ross said Disney movies don’t always have a Freshmen Samantha Biggs and Katie Oberg, sophomores Shelby Bennet and Maggie Fleming, and seniors Morgan happy ending.

Driskell and Mackenzie Getz dressed up for Disney day during spirit week for winter homecoming .

“Typically they do have some sort of resolution, but a lot of the time imagination,” he said. “It’s about dreaming “[Movies] are supposed to get us out of the they take classic fairytales and work with what big and overcoming obstacles… there is terrible hum-drum of life… teaching reality they have,” he said. an inspiration of making something out of is kind of Mom and Dad’s job,” he said. “The Ross said Disney movies have different nothing.” color, the richness, and the humor are better positive aspects.

Ross said Disney movies give a false than the drab life we have… we like to go to a “[Disney movies] are hoping to spur some perception of life because that is their goal. different world.”

hall talk: Favorite Disney movie

“Fantasia 2000; It’s a very artis- “Lion King; It’s just always been “Aladdin; it shows how no mattic expression of the cinematic my favorite. ter what background you come Sara Miller, freshman

from, you can still have a good life.

“

“

Jamie Silvers, senior

“

qualities of music.

Tommy Waisner, sophomore

“imagination.

Mary Poppins; It uses ” Jordan Menefee, junior

13

(sports)

The Reporter • March 2014

Let the games begin... Spring sports Fans of NCAA hoops mad about March eric haefele reporter Since fifth grade, junior Cace McDowell has been sitting there on the edge of their seat, constantly checking scores and checking her bracket.

These are all things that are done by March Madness fan senior Jace Trumbly as well.

They both said their favorite part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament would be watching the underdogs beat the better teams.

“The best [upsets] are the ones in the first two rounds,” McDowell said. “It freaks everyone out seeing their brackets flop.”

People fill out brackets by predicting who will win each game. McDowell said she fills out a bracket because it’s one of the best feelings when she gets a game right. Some people fill out multiple brackets, but McDowell only fills out one.

“Anyone can do well if they fill out a ton of brackets, you just have to go with your gut feeling,” McDowell said.

Trumbly fills out three brackets to increase his chances of winning money.

Compared to the regular season, McDowell follows the tournament games a lot more.

“I’ll watch most of the games,” McDowell said.

“You get into it a lot more when you watch the games.”

Trumbly said he follows the games more than during the regular season too, because they are more fun to watch.

During the tournament, McDowell will be rooting for the University of Kansas. Even if she doesn’t have them winning, she would gladly be wrong for them to win.

Trumbly said he will also be rooting for the Kansas Jayhawks, because he believes they are better than everybody else.

Sports reporter Sam Mellinger has a close-up on the true atmosphere of the games and how the tournament is set up.

“The format is just perfect. Fans across the country with their own college or rooting interests, watching college kids with finite opportunities succeed and fail in spectacular fashion,” Mellinger said. “The way the tournament is set up, especially the first weekend, you have multiple games going on which means if one

stinks, there's probably a good one somewhere else.”

Mellinger said there is no NCAA Tournament game that can match the intense fan atmosphere Allen Fieldhouse, Rupp Arena or Cameron for intense, fan atmosphere. However, the stakes are so much higher.

Compared to the end of other sports, whether pro or collegiate, Mellinger said March Madness is the absolute best.

“They're fundamentally different, though both are accomplishments they'll remember forever and forever be remembered for,” Mellinger said. “The NBA is a bigger stage, and it's the top of the basketball field. In college, so much of the attention is still on the coaches rather than players.”

Besides skill, there are multiple differences between high school basketball and college basketball.

“Bigger, stronger, faster. You can be All-Sunflower League as a 6-foot-4 post player, but in the Big 12, that's a guard,” Mellinger said. “High school teams are often made up of football or baseball players who happen to be really good athletes, but those guys don't have a chance in college.

March Madness can be followed many different ways, and Trumbly, McDowell and Mellinger each describe it differently.

Sophomore Nick Reeves said his description of March Madness is a fun three weeks. March Madness for Reeves revolves around his favorite team, the Kansas Jayhawks. However, Reeves said Duke will be the team to win the National Championship. “[Duke] is always good and I don’t have faith in Kansas during March,” Reeves said.

Reeves favorite part of the tournament is filling out a bracket and winning money from his mom’s work.

Reeves has been successful once getting third and winning $90. For the most part Reeves checks scores compared to watching the games, but that’s only because he’s not a huge fan of any of the other teams. “[The tournament’s] stakes are much higher and more interesting,” Reeves said.

Trumbly said it’s fun and energetic, McDowell said it’s addictive and Mellinger said it’s America’s greatest sports event.

“You want to get [your brackets] right, but you find yourself over thinking it, then you can’t stop thinking about it,” McDowell said. “It’s fun, things go down, and the underdogs win.”

have high hopes Track, softball look to make their presence felt at state again audrey brodie reporter Softball player Mallory Gilliland has her sights set on becoming a more consistent hitter.

Gilliland expects her team do just as well if not better than last year.

“I think we’ll be pretty good,” Gilliland said. “We’ll be dedicated just like we always are.”

According to Gilliland, the team did poorly at state last year and they lost a lot of seniors.

“It’ll be hard to fill their places,” Gilliland said. “We’ll be a lot more focused [at practice].”

The high school softball team has been to State six of the last seven years, and team members have high expectations to achieve that goal this year as well.

The track team, also regular competitors at state, has high expectations for themselves and the new athletes as well. “[I expect] to get new PR’s in the 4x400 and 4x100 since I’m new to running them,” said junior Carra Mader.

Coach Wilson doesn’t think

comparing two people together is the best way to push someone.

“Different athletes are different. You can’t compare siblings together, and you can’t compare athletes together,” long distance coach Lesley Wilson said. “Everyone has to progress at their own level.”

Mader said the track team will do well based on last years’ results.

“We can only go up from there,” Mader said. “We’re already ranked first in the state this year.”

A high expectation can have a variety of definitions.

Wilson’s definition of a high expectation is going above and beyond.

“A high expectation is doing more than assigned and putting in extra work,” Wilson said.

Madi Gordon, sophomore, said she thinks a high expectation could either be wanting to be more than just great, or when someone is wanting too much out of you.

“A high expectation is allowing yourself to believe in perfection,” Jamie Silvers, senior, said. “You can go beyond the bounds of what is normal and discover what it means to be extraordinary.”

Have an opinion?

Write a letter to the editor. Signed letters accepted for publication until April 30.

14 (sports)

The Reporter • March 2014

Photo by Natalie Eppler

The girls basketball team celebrates after its substate championship win against Louisburg in which they won in a last second shot 43-40. They will play again on March 12 against Andover-Central to compete for the State title.

Fighting to the finish Girls win sub state against Louisburg natalie eppler reporter The game was tied with less than a minute remaining in the second half. Junior Lyndsee Johnson passed the ball to sophomore Taylor Williams who stood just beyond the three-point arch. Williams shot the ball and the ball found the basket.

“It was just a shot like I have taken a hundred times maybe a million times before,” Williams said.

“I didn’t think about it being close to the end, I just shot.”

The shot broke the tie, and the Panthers won the sub-state title game 43-40, defeating the Louisburg Wildcats.

“Right after the shot I knew we could finish strong,” Williams said. “I was at a loss for words.”

Williams does not take credit for the narrow victory, but credits the win to all of the hustle plays and other great plays made by her teammates.

“The adrenaline of our bench was great,” Senior Remick Paulsen said. “The Rat Pack and everyone cheering kept me going during the game.”

As the clock reached zero the sub-state champions cheered, embraced and cried.

“That was probably the most intense game I have ever witnessed,” senior Regan Boyer said. “Our hard work was finally paying off.”

The girls’ varsity basketball team went on to the state tournament in Salina where they played against Andover Central on March 12.

“Knowing that the season wasn’t over overwhelmed me,” junior Lyndsee Johnson said. “Getting a second chance to go to state was so exciting.”

The varsity girls’ basketball team lost to Andover Central 50-58.

“It’s big to make it to the state tournament,” sophomore Morgan Laudan said. “Any team we play is going to be difficult.”

The girls’ varsity basketball team finished the season as sub-state champions with a winning record of 16-3 “We are really close,” Paulsen said. “I love the girls.”

Senior Emilee Johnson said she loved how the team became like a family.

“I love being around the girls,” Johnson said. “I will miss the family atmosphere.”

Sophomore Morgan Laudan looks forward to competing at state again next year.

“We need to focus on how good of a season we had and on getting better for next year,” Laudan said.

Photo by Natalie Eppler

Justin Criddle and Mason McDow celebrate after winning the Sub-State Championships on March 8. They won 57-26 against Spring Hill. They will play again on March 13 against Winfield to compete for the State title.

Invading Salina Boys place third Sophomore Alex Wilson said he was happy with the outcome at state. at state “It could’ve always have been has always been our goal.”

brooke prothe sports editor The boys’ basketball team beat El Dorado 72-56 for third place at the state tournament. They won their first game against Winfield 5748. On March 14, the team lost in overtime 58-56 against McPherson, keeping the score close the entire game.

“Going to state was a dream come true,” senior Andrew Henn said. “We’ve all been playing together since we were kids and this

better, but third place is better than fourth,” Wilson said.

This year was the first time since 1995 that the boys’ basketball team has made it to state.

“We were excited to go to state and proud of our kids,” Cash said.

Wilson said the season went better than he expected.

“At the beginning of the season I didn’t even expect to go to state,” Wilson said. “But we ended up getting third place at state and that’s a great feeling.”

Read about season wraps ups for wrestling and boys swim at www.phsjournalism.com

15

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16 (features)

The Reporter • March 2014

Candy bars relate to life...really katie biggs managing editor

Snickers: Everyone loves the seniors. Most popular candy bar, most popular grade.

NutRageous: The year where you get to have a little fun and be a little “nutty” (first year at prom), but also generally the hardest year.

3 Musketeers: Not much to them, the sophomores are kind of just stuck in the middle of everything.

Students describe the grades During high school we go through different phases and our attitudes and personalities can change a lot.

Each of the four grades has different personalities and different ways to describe the other grades.

Junior Catherine Cannon said her grade is very similar to tenth grade. But she said ninth and twelfth grade are very different.

“I get along with [the sophomores]; I think the sophomores and juniors kind of blend together,” Cannon explained.

“Everyone picks on the freshman and the seniors are kind of idolized when they aren’t actually that great.”

Freshman Joseph Denton agreed that the seniors are admired.

“The freshmen are kind of influenced by the seniors, they try to mimic them,” Denton said.

Denton said he believes there is a distinction between the grades because the older you get, you get to know the people in your grade better, so the students become more and more open with each other.

Brock Huber, senior, said differences exist between the four grades because there are different kinds of people in every grade.

“Freshman class is the annoying class, sophomores are like the freshman but not as bad and the juniors are like the seniors,” Huber said. “They have been here long enough that they just don’t

care anymore.”

Counselor Justin Elliott said there are many differences between grades because of what point they are at in their lives. He explained that freshman year students are finding out where they fit in, sophomores are starting to change groups of friends, junior year there are new cliques forming because of classes and senior year is just a roller coaster. “[The grades] are different because of where they’re at in high school. There are different things on the minds of freshmen and seniors,” Elliott explained.

freshman are kind of [Juniors] are kind of coming “ The “ influenced by the seniors, into their own and figuring they try to mimic them. out who they are. ” -Joseph Denton, freshman -Catherine” Cannon, junior

“We’re pretty close, everybody

“[The senior class] is pretty laidback knows everybody. I like our grade.” but viewed as kind of lazy. ” -Dunkan Watrous, sophomore -Brock Huber, senior

“Between freshman and sophomore years there is a lot of change in social Baby Ruth: They admire the seniors and want be just like them.

groups. Junior year in when you start to see the split in students’ future directions and senior year is just a roller coaster. ”-Justin Elliott, counselor