A BERLIN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT OPEN FORUM SINCE 1924
The
Red ‘n’ Green
222 Memorial Drive Berlin, WI 54923
VOLUME 49, ISSUE 2
MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2016
Expensive items stolen in locker rooms by
Officer Trochinski fills out a report on items stolen in the varsity locker rooms. Among the possessions that were stolen were two pairs of shoes, which were returned to their owner. Photo: M. Kurczek “I had $47 and makeup stolen from me,” Krentz said. The students that had items stolen around the same time got together and made a list of what was taken from them. They then took the list and reported it to Officer Christensen. After reporting the issue, there could be major consequences for
the students who stole, if caught. “If caught stealing they could be cited. It all depends on the item or items they stole and how much it was worth. School consequences are that you could be suspended or all the way up to expulsion,” Trochinski said. A few students did however receive their possessions back.
“It is usually a hit or miss situation. Kids wear it to school, which then it is very easy to catch them,” Trochinski said. Students are still worried and want their possessions back. “I got absolutely nothing back yet. I hope to get at least something back but I feel I won’t,” Krause said.
New guidance letter on transgender students influences changes around school by
Signs outside of the single-unit bathrooms mean that the bathrooms are open to anybody who wishes to use them. Photo: B. Meyer
Issue
- Timeline of a student athlete pg. 5 - “The Sword of Summer” review pg. 6
Newsbriefs FFA members travel to national convention
Mackenzie Kurczek
Stealing in the locker rooms is never a new topic. In the varsity locker rooms many girls had items stolen from them. Only a couple items were recovered. “This is always an ongoing issue. You have a locker so lock it up,” Officer Georgia Trochinski said. For many people it might come as a surprise that most of the stealing takes place during the school day and not after. “It mostly happens during school time. It does not happen too often where you find something stolen after school, but it could happen during practices,” Trochinski said. Clothes, phones, ipods, money and other electronic devices happen to be the most commonly stolen items. “I had a pair of shoes stolen and $18 of cash,” sophomore Sarah Fleegal said. “My shoes were in my bag that was in my locker that wasn’t locked and my cash was on the top shelf of my locker.” Fleegal was not the only person that had items stolen. Sophomores Paige Krause, Kristen Krentz and Clair Werch also had possessions stolen from them in the girl’s varsity locker room.
in This
Brittney Meyer
A recent guidence letter has been sent out to schools throughout Wisconsin from the departments of education and justice. The guidance letter made an impact on transgender students at BHS. “I like that they have access for anybody now,” junior Parker Brasch said. “Any gender can use
Custodian Jeremie Schmidt changes the signs for the bathrooms located by Student Services. The signs were changed Sept. 27, and the bathrooms are now available to anybody. Photo: S. Kuehmichel
these bathrooms and it’s nice for people who are not yet comfortable using a regular one.” The letter was printed out May 23 during the last school year, and the intendents are now making changes to correspond with the law. “The law goes with title IX, and says that we should be treating students as they choose their gender identity,” Principal Lynn Mork said. “We may not be able to change their name legally on our forms, but we still treat them as the gender they choose and call them by the name they choose.” Within the letter, it states that schools cannot force a transgender student to use one bathroom or the other. It also states that they cannot force them to use single-user facilities, but says that the school may make them available for students. “We have changed the bathrooms downstairs to neutral bathrooms,” Mork said. “There are no names on the signs, meaning that they are available to anybody. We can’t force somebody to use one bath-
room or the other, and that is a big reason these became available.” There was no set time-frame of when changes had to be made, but Mork says the sooner, the better. “It was brought to our attention by students that they had this right, so we wanted to get it done for them as soon as possible,” Mork said. Mork has not recieved any complaints from students so far, and says that students are considerate of the situation. “Students are aware and understanding, and respect other students’ wishes,” Mork said. Even students who may not be using the bathrooms are standing up against people who may complain. “I think that if it has nothing to do with them, then they shouldn’t be upset over the bathrooms changing,” senior Nicole Kopitzke said. Brasch has a thought for students who may be upset with the change. “They have to suck it up. It is not their body or their right,” Brasch said. “They have to suck it up. It is not their body or their right.”
Three Berlin High School FFA members traveled to Indianapolis on Oct. 18-22 for the National FFA Convention. This is the first year the convention is back in Indianapolis after being in Louisville the past few years. “While we were there, we went on tours and did tourist things in the city,” senior Clinton Ottman said. “We also went to general sessions and went around the exhibit hall and shopping center.” Ottman goes to experience FFA at a national level, to have new experiences and to meet new people. “I think everyone should experience it,” Ottman said. “It’s nice to realize FFA is for our whole generation and not just Berlin.”
Musical tries new techniques
Cast members have been spending a lot of time at school working on the musical which will run Nov. 10, 11 and 12. Among these students are leads senior Samantha Hill, who is playing Mary Poppins, and junior Joey Schmidt, playing Bert. There will also be new things happening with the musical this year, like Hill and Schmidt getting the chance to fly. “We’ve incorporated more fantastical things,” Hill said. “But I’m most excited about all the dancing this year.” Among all the new staging techniques, Utecht also enrolled the cast in a competition with other musicals “A judge will come watch one of our productions, but we don’t know which one,” Hill said. “I think it will make us more motivated to do better.” They will find out how they did in the competition in March.
Marching band heads to competition The Crimson Tide marching band went to a competition in Ripon on Monday, Oct. 10. There was not an official ranking, but it was still very competitive. This is the fourth year the band has attended the competition, and they were judged on music, formations and the general effect of the performance. “The group did very well,” band director Ben Ruetten said. “This was only the second time we’ve done it as a full group and this is one of the biggest groups I’ve ever worked with, but the judges were very pleased.”