The Harbinger 18-19: Issue 15

the harbinger.

SHAWNEE MISSION EAST 7500 MISSION ROAD PRAIRIE VILLAGE, KS 66208 APRIL 29, 2019 VOLUME LXI ISSUE 15

R(EVOLVE) Students, parents and teachers alike have had problems with the district’s special education for years, but a new director sparks hope for the future of the programs READ MORE 16-17

02 I N S I DE COVER

cover design by grace padon

ONLINE

What’s coming up this week on smeharbinger.net

ONLINE NEW SHARE EXECUTIVES Q&A

by Annabelle Cook

A Q&A of the new SHARE executives and their plans for next year

G I R L S S O C C E R S E A S O N U P DAT E

by Lily Billingsley

An update on the girls varsity soccer season this year as they continue their undefeated record and road to state

T R U E F O O D K I TC H E N R E V I E W

by Winnie Wolf

A review of the new restaurant True Food Kitchen that opened on the Country Club Plaza this month

GA L L E RY

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G I R L S VA R S I T Y S O C C E R GA M E

by Luke Hoffman L I F T U P T H E M U S I KC

by Grace Goldman B OY S VA R S I T Y B A S E B A L L G A M E

by Lucy Morantz

VIDEO FA C E - O F F S 3 : E P I S O D E 3 | S T. LO U I S

by Dalton Reck After their losses in Memphis, the team has begun to enter their mid-season form. Among the many games is Blue Valley Southwest, the only team to hand the Lancers a loss last year. Will the Lancers prevail against their past? Find out on this episode of Face-Off: A Shawnee Mission East Lacrosse Story.

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S TA F F L I S T P R I N T E D I TO R S E m i l y Fey L i z z i e Ka h l e O N L I N E E D I TO R S Anna belle Cook W i l l Tu l p D E S I G N E D I TO R S L i l a Tu l p Grace Padon A S S T. P R I N T E D I TO R S Caroline Chisholm Carolyn Popper A S S T. O N L I N E E D I TO R S Jackie Cameron Ben Henschel H E A D C O P Y E D I TO R S E l i za b et h B a l l ew A l ex Fre e m a n P H OTO E D I TO R S Grace Goldman L u ke H o f f m a n Lucy Morantz M O B I L E M E D I A E D I TO R B r o o k y l n Te r r i l l A S S T. M O B I L E M E D I A E D I TO R L a u r e n We s t V I D E O E D I TO R D a lto n Re c k A S S T. P H OTO E D I TO R S Ka t e N i x o n A i s l i n n M e n ke Ty B r o w n i n g M O B I L E M E D I A P H OTO E D I TO R Re i l l y M o re l a n d P H OTO M E N TO R S Ally Griffth Ka t h e r i n e M c G i n n e s s E D I TO R I A L B OA R D Caroline Chisholm L i z z i e Ka h l e E m i l y Fey Carolyn Popper L i l a Tu l p

E l i za b et h B a l l ew Anna belle Cook W i l l Tu l p Jackie Cameron Ben Henschel M a ya St ra t m a n G r a c i e Ko s t A l ex Fre e m a n Lucy Patterson Av a J o h n s o n Grace Padon B r o o k l y n Te r r i l l A & E E D I TO R S P r i n t Av a J o h n s o n O n l i n e R i l e y At k i n s o n O P I N I O N E D I TO R P r i n t G r a c i e Ko s t L u c y Ke n d a l l O n l i n e L i l y B i l l i n g s l ey M a d d ox M o g e n s o n N E W S E D I TO R S Print Catherine Erickson O n l i n e R o s e Ka n a l e y S P O RT S E D I TO R S Print Lucy Patterson Online Miranda Hack E D I TO R I A L E D I TO R L i l a h Pow l a s F E AT U R E S E D I TO R S Print Meg Thoma O n l i n e A l l i s o n Wi l cox WEBMASTER Julie Fromm M U LT I M E D I A S TA F F A l ex D i nye r Eve l yn Ro es n e r L a u r e n We s t Lucia Barraza Max Patterson M e g a n Fu n key Natalie Scholtz Noah Manalo Olivia Olson Syd n ey Wi l l i a m s Ra c h e l C u r r i e

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EDITORIAL

design by lilah faye

for: 14 By initiating a lunch plan other schools have put into practice, we can allow more access to teachers, healthy eating habits and more

S

LUNCH NEEDS TO

P OWE R U P

hoot — they forgot your bread. Your online Panera order was the only thing getting you through Ultimate Frisbee in team games. But you don’t have enough time to go back in and demand your coveted gluten because it’s a six minute drive back down Mission to East and there’s only eight minutes left of first lunch. Not to mention some teachers hate it when people eat their lunch during class, so steering while eating your grilled cheese seems like the only option. Twenty-five minutes for lunch is just not cutting it.

The Olathe and Blue Valley school districts have 50 to 60 minutes for lunch. Every. Single. Day. Ranging in names from “Timber Time” to “Power 50,” students have time to eat, meet with teachers and attend club meetings.

It’s time that East follows suit — these districts decide snow days together, so why not lunch, too? SMSD should implement their own hour-long break for the next school year.

Students would have the freedom to choose what they want to during this extended time — there’s the threesport athlete who has been wanting to go to Chinese Club but hasn’t made it because of tennis practice after school.

Think of the freshman who has been meaning to make up the English unit seven test from two months ago, but their ride doesn’t drop them off until 7:30 — definitely not enough time to define 50 vocab words. And don’t forget the chemistry lab partners who gave each other the flu and have to make up their distillation lab.

Teachers would also have additional time to administer tests or catch students up on lessons. Some teachers coach a sport after school and thus aren’t available — and no student (or teacher) wants to chop an hour off their already-too-short night’s sleep to make up a stoichiometry quiz at 7 a.m..

Think of power hour as a recess — it’s an intermission from classes, just without the monkey bars or kickball.

Recess in elementary schools is a time for a kid’s brain to mentally decompress and process what it has just learned, according to Contra Costa Health Services. A student’s need for a break doesn’t disappear just because they’re older, especially when they’re trying to cram seven classes worth of information between their eyeballs.

According to a 2012 study by University of Southern California and MIT professionals, when the brain is in its “default mode,” or resting, it continues to work. It consolidates memories, reflects on experiences (or in this case the previous lesson you just learned in calc) and plans.

Without an organized watch on every student’s whereabouts, an hour of free time and students spreading out all over the school to eat lunch and meet up may seem like the perfect time for a student to earn a Friday school. But the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. An hour used wisely would give

students enough time to complete their would’ve-beenlate Conjuguemos or microwave their leftover mac and cheese without having to scarf it down in seconds. If given the time, students would rather finish their homework in school where they have additional learning resources, so they can still fit in a power nap that night after practice.

Student engagement might actually increase — think of all the students missing SHARE opportunities or Junior Board meetings that are typically after school, but now they could meet during their break. Students scrambling for NHS hours would sacrifice what could be a wasted hour of scrolling through Instagram if it meant getting their hours finished in school.

Implementing our own break system would require adding time to lunch by taking those minutes from other parts of the day. A small portion of that time could come

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against: 1 The individuals on the editorial board who agree with the viewpoint of the editorial are represented by for. The individuals on the editorial board who disagree with the viewpoint of the editorial are represented by against.

from advisory and seminar — 25 and 50 minutes of Xello careers telling you that you’re meant to be a chimney sweep or martial arts instructor just because you mentioned you sometimes like to be active.

Rather than answering questions in an attempt to get to know your St-Tu advisory and seminar classmates (most likely who have been in the same grade as you for the past six years), this time should go towards a free period with more possibilities. Advisory doesn’t allow students to travel and seminar travel time is heavily dictated by yellow passes that teachers forget to give out half the time.

Blue Valley and Olathe have maintained seminar and advisory on even block days, they’re just five minutes shorter (less Xello time, thank god). Their normal bell schedule hasn’t had to be altered significantly either — their classes are only two minutes shorter, and Blue Valley only adds an additional five minutes to their total school day.

Plus lunch lovers would benefit — this prolonged break would be enough time to drive to Einstein or Caffetteria, order, eat and make it back with time to spare (sans eating while driving). No more eating your #5 order while trying to conjugate future tense Spanish verbs at the same time.

It’s obvious that seniors won’t let anything stop them from leaving for lunch — when the roads were icy and temps low, many still made the trek to their car in the front lot to try and pick up their Goodcents. There were fender benders this winter, just because someone had a hankering for a footlong and because they were rushed — there’s no time to look for black ice when you have to be back in your assigned class in 25 minutes. If we had a full hour, then maybe we’d have more cars intact or students could have gotten a headstart on scraping the ice off of their car.

We shouldn’t be forced to choose between making up a test and musical rehearsals. We shouldn’t have to go 10 over to pick up our Spin order. We should give our brains a break.

Lancer lunch, anyone?

editorial policy The Harbinger is a student-run publication. Published editorials express the views of the Harbinger staff. Signed columns published in the Harbinger express the writer’s personal opinion.

The contents and views of the Harbinger do not represent the student body, faculty, administration or Shawnee Mission School District. The Harbinger will not share any unpublished content, but quoted material may be confirmed with sources. The Harbinger encourages letters to the editors, but reserves the right to reject them for reasons including but not limited to lack of space, multiple letters of the same topic and personal attacks contained in the letter. The Harbinger will not edit content though letters may be edited for clarity, length, libel or mechanics. Letters should be sent to room 521 or emailed to smeharbinger@gmail.com

04 NEWS

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N E WS H I G H L I G H TS EAST

The annual SME Poetry Slam is set for May 1 at 3 p.m. in the library THE ANNUAL EAST Poetry Slam will be held on Wednesday at 3 p.m. in the library.

The slam is a chance for students to feature their original poems in a relaxed style, and according to sponsor and English teacher Amy Andersen, they are expecting a good turnout of kids competing this year.

“We are expecting fierce performances and even fiercer competition this time around,” sponsor Andersen said.

So far, there are 13 students signed up including last year’s winner, Aakriti Chaturvedi, who won for her three-page slam piece “I wish I Could Understand.”

The poets will be judged by various teachers, on three main categories: content (message), artistry (how well it’s written) and performance, on a scale from 1-10. The poem topics can range from surrealistic to political, usually with some sort of hidden or blatant message.

Chaturvedi and her competitors have participated in Andersen’s creative writing workshops during her class, in anticipation of the slam.

“I’ve had the chance to meet lots of wonderful poets competing and I am very excited to show my new piece,” Chaturvedi said.

The winners of the slam will receive gift cards along with poetry slam bragging rights.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR Important events coming up in the SM East community MAY

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by tommy paulus

LOCAL

INTERNATIONAL

A doggie day care service, On the Ball, will open in the Village on May 8

Terrorist attack killed around 300 people in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday

ON THE BALL, a new locally-owned doggy daycare, will be opening in the Village Shopping Center on May 8. The shop has been undergoing a soft launch since March 17.

On the Ball is a premier dog day care shop with amenities such as warm dog beds with Casper mattress cushioning, a well trained staff to keep the dogs involved in human contact and excellent grooming, according to founder Meagan Dowell.

The shop has opened job opportunities to East students because of its location and willingness to hire teens.

“I love playing with the dogs and getting to see the different personalities of the different pets,” employee Megan Sandstrom said.

Animals, especially dogs, have always been something founder Meagan Dowell cares about, from working at various animals shelters across the metropolitan area, to caring for her two rescue dogs Bizie and Mitchell.

However, she could never find a place for her dogs to stay and be comfortable, so she decided to make one that she and many other pet owners could use.

“It was really challenging to find a place for my dogs to stay at,” Dowell said. “I could never find the right spot that fit my dogs needs, so I created my own.”

The shop has opened job opportunities to East students because of its location and willingness to hire teens.

“I love playing with the dogs and getting to see the different personalities of the different pets,” employee Megan Sandstrom said.

THREE CHRISTIAN SRI LANKAN churches erupted in flames due to three staged terrorist attacks on the morning of Easter Sunday.

The attacks were carried out by terrorists in the National Thoeheeth Jama’th — a small Islamic extremist group .

This is the biggest attack to happen in Sri Lanka since the end of the Sri Lankan Civil War in 2009.

The attacks were also alerted by the police to be planned 10 days in advance, but did not act upon the claims.

According to the April 11 alert in Sri Lanka, “A foreign intelligence agency has reported that the NTJ is planning to carry out suicide attacks targeting prominent churches as well as the Indian high commission in Colombo.”

There have been 300 confirmed deaths and over 450 injuries, and the response from the public has been worldwide and somber.

To keep their citizens from further attacks, the government decided to begin blocking various social media platforms, like Instagram and Snapchat.

They have also issued a country-wide curfew, to make sure they can guarantee safety to their citizens “I have family in Sri Lanka and it is so sad to see that such a depraved country would be targeted like this” Sophomore Ishara Depaepe said.

Choir Concert @ 7 p.m. in SME Auditorium

WHERE IT HAPPENED Dehiwala-Mount Levinia Batticaloa Colombo Negombo

MAY

No School: Grades Pre-K through 12

At least 321 people killed in total.

Dehiwala-Mount Levinia

MAY

MAY

A hotel in front of the Dehiwala Zoo attacked

Prom @ 8:30 p.m.

Board of Education Meeting @ 6 p.m.

Colombo

Explosions at the Shangri-La, Cinnamon Grand and Kingsbury hotels, St. Antony’s shrine church and a home

Negombo St. Sebastian’s Church targeted and destroyed

ABOVE | The construction for On the Ball at 3909 Prairie Ln, Prairie Village, Kan. that will open on May 8.

Batticaloa

Bomb destroyed the Zion Church *information courtesy of Southfront.org

NEWS

design by lilah powlas

M OV I N G

R E P ORT OUT:

While the full report is 448 pages, here are the key takeaways, as well as insight into what this means for Trump moving forward.

Since the Justice Department has traditionally held that a sitting president cannot be indicted, Mueller decided it was not his place to judge whether or not Trump committed a crime through his obstruction of justice — and conducted his research with the knowledge that he would not be able to indict the president while in office.

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1

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Although the report did not find Trump guilty of criminal wrongdoing, Mueller has left open the possibility for Congress to continue to investigate Trump for obstruction of justice, using his team’s findings as a road map. This would theoretically allow Congress to determine whether or not Trump’s obstruction is worthy of impeachment proceedings.

MAY 17, 2017 Mueller is appointed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein as special counsel, a lawyer responsible for investigating and potentially prosecuting the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

JUNE 14, 2017 The investigation expands to investigate Trump for obstruction of justice relating to the Russian investigation.

JULY 2017 Former Trump campaign foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos becomes the first person to be indicted for charges relating to the Russia investigation, specifically for making false statements to the FBI. Since then, 37 people have been indicted as a result of the investigation.

MARCH 22, 2019 Mueller hands over the full report to Attorney General Bill Barr, signifying the end of the Russia investigation. Two days later, Barr released his four-page summary to Congress.

APRIL 8, 2019 The full, redacted report is released to the public.

NO CRIMINAL COLLUSION While the Trump campaign expected to benefit from the Russian evidence, Mueller did not find enough evidence to establish that the Trump campaign actually participated or conspired with the Russian government in their election interference efforts.

CONTINUE TO INVESTIGATE?

TIMELINE

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE The Russian government absolutely interfered in the 2016 election in a “sweeping and systematic fashion.”

Attempts were made to undermine presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and support Trump, largely involving social media, hacking and leaking that hacked information.

IS

TO INDICT OR NOT?

1

TAKEAWAYS

THE

FO RWA RD

05

3

H ER E ’S

W H AT Y O U S H O U L D

K N OW

A breakdown of Mueller’s 448 redacted report that outlines how the report was formed, conclusions it made, and what its findings mean for Trump, moving forward

NOT EXONERATED Although the report details various attempts made by President Trump to potentially impede the investigation, including directing various members of his staff to fire Mueller multiple times, the report does not prove that these actions were taken in an attempt to undermine the investigation. This, the report is unable make a judgement about whether Trump criminally obstructed justice. However, Mueller notes that if he had evidence to clearly suggest Trump did not obstruct justice, he would have come to that conclusion. For that reason, “while the report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presedential Election Volume I of II Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, III Submited Pursuant to 28 C.F.R. + 600 8(c)

Washington D.C. March 2019

by alex freeman

B R E A K D OW N

After a two-year investigation, the Mueller Report — the culmination of special counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 election and potential obstruction of justice — was released to the public on April 22. Heavily redacted due to information relating to separate ongoing cases, the report is separated into two volumes. The first focuses on the extent of Russian interference in the election and the ties to President Donald Trump’s campaign, and the second focuses on whether or not Trump is guilty of obstructing justice in regards to this investigation.

READ: MUELLER REPORT Scan this QR code to see the full redacted Mueller Report.

06 NEWS

design by maddox mogenson photo by sarah golder

PA R K I N G P RO B L E M S

Limited student parking options have led to an increase in parking tickets

S

by catherine esrey ophomores have been receiving more parking tickets than usual since returning from spring break. While the reason for the increase in ticketing is unclear, there are many contributing factors.

Sophomores typically park in the Prairie Village Pool parking lot, and, as it is not considered school property, tickets are being issued by the Prairie Village Police Department.

The tickets have an average fine of $45, however they can get up to $55 according to school Officer Seth Meyers the ticketing come without warning.

According to Officer Meyers, traffic cops patrol the sophomore lot more during the school day. They ticket cars who are parked illegally — outside of a designated parking spot according to Meyers.

The ticketing came without warning, according to Meyers. Mosher received a ticket for illegal parking in April, however, he had parked in that same spot many times before.

Sophomore Ashton Emley feels that the tickets are unnecessary and unfair to the sophomores.

“We drive to school and when we can’t find a spot we have no choice but to make do,” Emley said. “It’s not like we can just drive back home. Of course, the police are going [to] ticket us because they know we are easy targets.”

According to assistant principal Britton Haney, this problem has happened every year after spring break for the past six years.

“After spring break we have an influx of freshman drivers and sophomores who get their cars [and] that makes for more people in the public parking areas,”

Haney said. “And then the sophomores who are used to getting here at 7:25 and finding a spot are now finding that those spots aren’t there.”

When students can’t find a spot, they look to park on Delmar, however, the parking is limited there too, according to Emley.

While there are no lined parking spots on Delmar, students are still receiving tickets. Emley received a ticket for parking in a no parking zone on Delmar.

Emley was unaware of the no parking because it wasn’t clearly marked.

We drive to school and when we can’t find a spot we have no choice but to make do.

ashton emley sophomore There are signs marked “no parking” in certain areas of Delmar, with times on the signs lining up with school hours, making it an illegal parking spot to Shawnee Mission East students. So for those who want to find a spot, they have to get to the lot before 7:15 a.m because the 91 spots in the sophomore lot tend to fill up by then, according to sophomore Zoe Hartman.

Those who can’t find a spot in the sophomore lot or on Delmar have been turning to the open staff and visitor parking spots, close to the entrance of the school. However, teachers who normally park there have school-issued parking stickers on their back

PARKING BY THE NUMBERS

windshield which make it easy for Haney to spot the imposters.

During the day Haney surveys the parking lot looking for the cars without stickers. He takes pictures of all the cars that are parked illegally. Currently, Haney’s camera roll is dominated by photos of those cars.

According to sophomore Gabby Caponecchi, Haney uses the photos he takes when giving tickets as proof that students were parked illegally Since Haney cannot ticket cars off school property, he has a special, East-made ticket for the certain cars on school property.

The average cost of one of his tickets is $25, which is cheaper compared to the $45 average of the Prairie Village police parking ticket.

However, if a student who parked in staff receives 40 SME staff signatures, Haney will waive the ticket and fine.

Caponecchi currently has 13 out of the 40 signatures needed. Caponecchi was parked in visitor parking for half a school day.

“I was sick and wanted to come to school but there were no spots, so I parked in visiting cause technically I was visiting,” Caponecchi said.

Haney’s tickets also have a fine which varies based on the inconvenience of the parking. According to Haney, he has administered about 70 tickets this year, bringing in around $1750.

According to Haney, the money that East compiles from the parking tickets is currently going toward maintaining the parking lot. Maintenance includes resurfacing, painting lines and numbers.

A GUIDE TO PARKING LEGALLY EAST PARKING TICKETS ISSUED

DOLLARS PAID IN FINES FROM TICKETS

do’s

Park in legal parking spots Get to school early to secure a spot

don’ts

Create a parking spot Park in a staff spot or reserved spot

PHYSICAL THERAPY PERFORMANCE & PHYSICAL TRAINING SPORTSMETRIC™ TRAINING SWINGFIT (program focused on bettering your golf game) RUNFIT (program for runners to optimize efficiency and physical performance)

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08 OPINION

design by lila tulp photo by luke hoffman

An over-apologizer elaborates on why over-apologizing shouldn’t be considered a character flaw

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IT HAPPENS MORE OFTEN THAN YOU WOULD THINK Quotes and stories from Elizabeth’s friends about her over-apologizing habits

She probably apologizes at least three times a week whenever we hangout, it’s very ingrained into her vocabulary so she says it without even thinking — even if what she’s apologizing for has nothing to do with her. lauren terry senior

It’s pretty common that when we’re making plans, she’ll volunteer to drive.

She’ll always say ‘I can drive since I live far away... sorry!’ And it’s funny because no one really minds driving to her and it’s not like she lives far away on purpose, it’s actually kind of sweet! lucy hoffman senior

by elizabeth ballew guess it’s time to admit it. I need to go to AA — Apologizers Anonymous. I’m Elizabeth, and I’m addicted to saying sorry. (Insert a half-hearted choir of “Hi Elizabeth”s here).

Leading up to dances, I flood my groupchat with “I feel so bad he has to go with me” texts, and while I avoid apologizing to my date for my presence (because that would be super freaking weird) the words “I’m sorry” are at the tip of my tongue at all times.

If I make a mess when babysitting, I feel awful for being bad at my job and apologize to the toddlers who only know about apologies from Sesame Street.

When I used to ask people to sign up for a Visa in my cashier days, I would feel so badly because of the 19% interest on the card. I was required to ask, but that wouldn’t ease the guilt of being a pawn in accumulating the American debt crisis.

Maybe my apologetic nature stems from my childhood days of being bullied by my imaginary friend OkeyDokey-O to the point where I would give a meek apology to my imagination (I wish I was lying about this). But here I am, 18 years old, and still unable to end a sentence or start a conversation without adding a quick “sorry.”

To me, sorry is empathetic and helps resolve the burning guilt I feel when I knock over lifeless backpacks, mouth breathe or even just for daring to be in the same vicinity as someone. Everyone from my friends to the Hen House cashier just wants to shake my shoulders and scream, “Stop saying sorry!!” But if a little over apologizing helps me clear my conscience, then what’s the big deal?

I’m a somewhat rational gal (except for my dramatically high squealing when encountering bugs) and I see the point of view that my incessant “sorrys” come off as me being anxious and awkward. But the “sorrys” are an extension of my slightly (or overtly depending on who you ask) anxious and awkward personality.

I’m fighting a losing battle defending my over apologizing habit, but I feel massive amounts of misplaced guilt — let’s blame that guilt on Catholic school, my go-to scapegoat.

Here’s my confession: I’m not that sorry for saying “I’m sorry.”

It’s annoying — my friends have

made that quite clear — but it’s a reflex. Sorry I’m empathetic, do you want me to be a psychopath?

(Sorry that was sassy, you didn’t do anything to me, you’re the reader.)

While I may have apologized to

Here’s my confession: I’m not that sorry for saying “I’m sorry.”

elizabeth ballew senior my dance date for having accidently messed up my nail polish because I thought he would be embarrassed of me, I have never apologized for who I am and my opinions. Almost every opinion I have is an unpopular opinion — I hate Pam failed-art-school-for-areason Beasley from “the Office” and think Seth Rogen is hot — and I’ll happily shout my ramblings across the room in English. Even for less trivial opinions, like sanctuary cities and the PayDay Loans scandal, I’ll stand firmly and give my take without even considering dropping a “sorry.”

My apology habit may make me come off as a wishy-washy person, but I’m not ashamed of who I am — I just don’t want a micro action of mine to damper someone’s day. Maybe I’m just rationalizing my actions to feel less low-self esteem-y. I get the constant “I’m sorrys” make me seem guilty to others and creates an unexplainable internal guilt complex, but when I say I’m sorry, I mean it, even if it’s for something as small as dropping my own phone and instinctively saying sorry.

The meaning is what makes the apology, and if you look into my perpetual-pre-panic attackmode eyes, you’ll know that I’m sorry. As a compassionate person who can even scrounge up some pity “awhs” for the murderers on “Law and Order,” apologizing is something everyone should do more often. Dodging responsibility and adding a huffy “but” after sorry happens all too often. Give into the guilt, say you’re sorry, and mean it.

I’ve gone through the 12 steps and I this will be my last meeting at Apologizers Anonymous — something I’m not sorry about (no promises on relapsing though).

OPINION

design by gracie kost photos courtesy of brooklyn terrill

FRIENDSHIP I FAMILY FAITH Youth group becomes a happy place after crisis

TOP | Brooklyn and fellow youth group member Willa Wildman stand by Lake Itasca during a mission trip to Leech Lake, MN. BOTTOM | Brooklyn and sophomore brother Price Terrill hug by Lake Itasca during a mission trip to Leech Lake, MN in the summer of 2018.

by brooklyn terrill ntensely playing “Minute to Win It” games and devouring too many pieces of cheese pizza in the basement of Christ Church Anglican has been my Wednesday night routine since the summer of 2012 — the summer that my grandfather died suddenly.

From the perspective of an 11-year-old girl whose main concern at the time was who I was going to have as my sixth grade teacher, my grandpa’s death brought in a combination of confusion and heartbreak that I had never dealt with that before.

The timing for when I began attending youth group at Christ Church Anglican (CCA) and when my grandpa died was coincidental, but the many changes occuring in my life pushed me to rely on the consistency I could only find on Wednesday nights.

I had been to funerals, so death was not a foreign concept. However, he had seemed untouchable. Death had never felt so personal.I didn’t know how to talk through the new realization that a person who was so loud, so brutally funny and so present was no longer there.

Church was the place where I learned how to live without him. There were snacks, games and people available to listen and talk and be present for me — they met me where I was.

Now the church, less than a minute drive from my house — and the community of people that come with it — will be over 200 miles away from me.

That summer, Wednesday nights became the time for me to process not only my grandpa’s death, but the drama surrounding sixth grade graduation dresses and where my assigned seat was on the bus to Indian Hills.

I showed them pictures of potential dress options for cotillion in eighth grade and homecoming freshman year. They listened to me panic about moving my ACT score one point and laughed at me when I failed miserably at knock-out. They’ve complained about the cost of college with me and hashed out every pro and con of every single potential major (there were a lot) before I ever made a firm decision. From every meaningless detail of my life to where I will spend the next four years, they’ve listened to it all.

I am not ready to give that up in the fall when I leave for college. CCA was my happy place — I ran in the hallways barefoot here, I was baptized

CAIRO, IL painted houses

Location of mission trips and events

ran vacation bible schools

MARVELL, AR

09

here, I even shared the juicy details behind my accidental drug deal sophomore year here. I am not ready to give up summer mission trips and winter retreats because these are my people — and in less than six months I will be in another state.

While there are plenty of church groups at the University of Nebraska, I have spent most of my life building trust and camaraderie with this particular group of people, and I will have to start over completely.

What am I going to do without the people who are OK with me showing up at their house, sometimes unannounced and in my pajamas, to watch “The Office” or pick apart what a particular verse means?

Church transitioned from a place I went on Sunday to stand and sit and sing, to a place I looked forward to going to and made an effort to attend every Wednesday.

brooklyn terrill senior I have been mentally preparing myself for this transition for the past several months — thinking about what has made my youth group so impactful to me, how I am going to make friends when I have been with the same people for the past six years, and what I am going to say to a group of complete strangers who don’t already understand my sense of humor.

I am not inclined to strike up a conversation with a random stranger at Starbucks, but I won’t have an alternative in the fall. Having a group of people I can speed dial when I‘m in tears about a test is more important to me than my discomfort during an awkward handshake to a potential new youth group leader.

I have never been more miserable while painting a old woman’s house an odd shade of pink during a summer mission trip, but because of the people I was with, I have also never been happier. I am not ready to move on from the group of people whose constant singing made the hundred degree heat bearable.

No one will be able to replace the group of people that have been my family since middle school, but I guess it’s time to try.

LEACH LAKE, MN

scraped paint off of houses

ran kids club

ran kid’s club

worked in a food pantry/farm

10 OPINION

photo by reilly moreland design by caroline chisholm

RATE MY DAD Having a positive influence as a teacher and dad has fostered comfort in high school

Ken Foley 5-star

4-star 3-star 2-star 1-star

Comments

user1: “So positive!” anon: “Best teacher ever!” user4: “So cool”

E

by jilli foley very school morning, I get up, throw on some sweatpants, and head downstairs to find my parents sitting at the kitchen counter. As my dad belts a Beatles song in the background, I grab a Clif bar and tie my shoes. Rather than telling my parents “see you at dinner,” my usual morning routine ends with my dad saying, “see you third hour!”

A normal kid’s high school experience is usually a place to gain independence and a time away from your immediate family members. But for me, my dad doubles as my parent and teacher, sometimes both at the same time.

I’ve been acknowledged as “Foley’s kid” since the men’s choir visited Corinth Elementary to perform the astounding “Spongebob Squarepants.” He’s very famous throughout the community at school because of his love for students during Freshman Orientation or bawling his eyes out at the spring concert when the seniors leave. I still have remnants of snot on my choir shirt from last year, dad.

It’s cool watching my dad affect East in a positive and loving manner while doing the same towards me at home.

My dad’s appreciation for the East community is expressed in every second of his job, even if it seems like he wants to kill everyone in the bass section.

He strives to make sure people don’t see him as an ordinary teacher at East, but rather as an older friend. Buying yearbooks for kids who can’t afford it or simply saying hi to everyone he passes in the hall are two simple things that my dad does to show his love for his work.

People often ask if it’s annoying that everyone

associates the name Foley with the man that leads the school song instead of a sophmore girl who’s in your 6th hour. Classmates always tell me that “Your dad is the best”. And yeah he’s a pretty cool guy, but it gets annoying when my legacy falls behind the man himself, Ken Foley. The most hair pulling part is when people meet me for the first time and the conversation starts out as, “Oh you’re Mr. Foley’s daughter, right?”

It’s cool watching my dad affect East in a positive and loving manner while doing the same towards me at home.

jilli foley sophomore But sometimes, it’s hard to be collective when walking into the choir room and hearing my dad’s rendition of “Despacito: Taco Bell Style” or putting my third grade photo on every kahoot (not my best years by the way). I tried to play it cool by avoiding the parent side of my dad freshman year, but calling your own parent “Mr. Foley” didn’t quite roll off the tongue. Sophomore year came around and my dad at school started to become part of the ordinary schedule.

Having him at school comes with judgements.

People treat me in all different ways from being scared to say something wrong or just not talk to me to avoid getting on my dad’s “bad” side. At school

people assume I get a ton of advantages from having him in the building. The paparazzi was good in the elementary years, but now since we are practically always in the same place, I’m getting pretty tired of the flashing lights.

Since my dad’s fan base is obnoxiously big, choir booster parents and students struggling on their high C in voice lessons crowd my house throughout the week. There’s nothing like walking downstairs in my fish pajama pants while brushing my teeth to find the whole Chamber Choir “team bonding” in my living room. Thanks for the notice, dad.

A lot of times I envision him not being my teacher.

That would definitely decrease the shared stories about me pooping in the pool, but if he wasn’t such an idol at East, things like link crew and choir would never feel as comfortable as they are and there would be no one to make fun of for the iconic all-beige outfits.

After all the day dreaming, I couldn’t see myself at school without my dad. Though sometimes I wish he wasn’t there like when he announces he “loves his daughter Jilli” to the whole cafeteria on the microphone, I could never handle seeing someone else conducting the school song or taking my dad’s place.

Even with all the embarrassing attempts of the dab or dancing to “In My Feelings,” having the opportunity to have him at school is worth it to see how much he has impacted my life and a lot of other students lives.

I now try my best to say hi to everyone I past on the ramps or at least a smile. Even if I try to sneak pass him in the halls, he’s always on the second floor waiting to say “Hi lovie!” as I walk in for third hour.

OPINION

photo by katherine mcginness design by lily billingsley

Deleting the Instagram app has a positive impact on a student’s life

I

by megan funkey unlocked my phone, swiped to home page, swiped again. I couldn’t find what I was looking for after going through the same four pages over and over. Frustrated, I dragged down the search pad and type Inst... Oh yeah, no wonder I couldn’t find what I had been looking for, I deleted it!

Deleting the app Instagram — it could be just for a break, a vacation or putting an end to the habit that leaves you scrolling through spring break post after spring break post when you should be studying. You don’t have to delete it forever, it could just mean for sometime. But it’s a start to taking a break. I deleted the Instagram app from my phone a few weeks ago to put an end to the distractions, anxiety and FOMO (fear of missing out) that came with scrolling through the app every day. And I have never felt better.

Of course the first few days I felt like I was quitting an old habit (because I kind of was.) I experienced withdrawals from the tiny kitchen videos that popped onto my explore page and instinctively reached for the front pocket of my backpack, ready to unlock my phone to check my follower requests and who posted another mountain picture for Earth Day. Only to find that the only choice would be to re-download the app I deleted.

But I wouldn’t give in after a week. Not yet.

Instagram has been controlling my life since 6th grade to be exact. Maybe it doesn’t control everything but it does control what I wear, how I present myself and what I say.

Wearing the same outfit to different photo-worthy events? I couldn’t — because that would be awful if I posted in the same outfit! I have to go through a few VSCO filters and friends opinions on what I post because I have to make sure I look good enough for 500 plus likes and the caption has to be clever and fitting to the picture. This could take hours or even days.

So maybe saying Instagram controls my life isn’t that much of an exaggeration.

There can be a few drawbacks to taking a break from the ‘gram with all the hype around clothing accounts, the funny videos that always popped up in my feed and having access to anyone, anytime, whether it’s Kim K, my cousin who just had a new baby boy or the new kid in my second hour I swear I’ve seen before.

A report called #StatusOfMind, published by the Royal Society for Public Health in the UK studied the effects of social media on young people’s mental health. In the study, Instagram was found to have the most negative effect on young people’s mental health with negative factors affecting FOMO, bullying, body image, lack of sleep, anxiety and depression.

After reading this the results of my own experiment made sense. Depression stemming from the pressure of trying to keep up with the unrealistic expectations of a fake reality. Along with people constantly comparing their negative moments to only the positive moments they are seeing on social

I N STAG RAM

media and that’s not realistic. Seeing a posts of a picture perfect model after eating a 4 course meal can make someone second guess every bite they took.

There are still some positive outcomes of the app, like self expression, self identity, community building and emotional support. At this point, I think the negatives outway the positives. I did enjoy seeing artsy pictures, but I can still see the artsy pics that may not have made it all the way to Instagram on VSCO. I don’t want to grow up and be that one mom that posts a picture of every crayon drawing her kid scribbles and is too focused on getting the perfect lighting rather than noticing the addicted-to-social-media example she is setting.

Instead of enjoying the clear blue Turks and Caicos water this spring break, I was focused on capturing every droplet of it when I could have been enjoying the waves with my family.

Although Instagram may seem like the ideal way to stay up to date with your family in Colorado, there are other options. FaceTime and iMessage work just as well and they don’t require the stress of having a “perfect” profile picture or maintaining a strong like-to-minute ratio.

I found that going to CAT and getting a 20/20 on my homework quiz is much more rewarding when I’m not checking my feed in the middle of notes every 30 minutes. Mrs. Kossen would be trying to explain the Unit Circle, and instead of listening to her I had my eyes glued to my phone watching satisfying videos.

After understanding what paying attention in class can do to my grades, I keep my phone zipped in my backpack during the whole hour, wondering how the other kids scrolling through their Instagram feeds while Mrs. Kossen is explaining right triangles are going to do on the homework quiz on Friday.

I recognized that one of the reasons I was struggling to focus is because my brain has been trained to refer to the app when it’s in need of a distraction or something to do.

I realized I need to break these habits to retrain my brain to avoid the urge to go on the app every hour.

I used to check my feed right when I woke up and before I went to sleep. Google’s former Design Ethicist, Tristan Harris, says that waking up in the morning and checking your phone right away is like waking up to a menu of all the things the reader has missed since yesterday, fueling major FOMO. Staying in sick on a weekend night can make you feel even more sick after waking up the next morning to the plans you couldn’t attend posted all over the internet.

It’s hard not to redownload the app to find out which celeb announced their engagement or which high school had their prom last weekend. But it’s posts like these that made me realize that I was wasting a lot of time and energy on things I didn’t even care about.

I am not encouraging everyone to delete their Instagrams all of the sudden and ghost the app forever.

I am just suggesting a small break — a simple hiatus — to help you realize how much that app really controls you.

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IS IT WORTH IT? Megan’s pros and cons of deleting the Instagram app

P R O S

Less distractions Less caring about other people A weight lifted off of shoulder Freeing

Can’t see posts from school accounts Harder to get in contact with others Can be used as an outlet to express creativity

C O N S

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FEATURES

design by meg thoma

FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS

13

UP IN THE CLUB

S T U D E N T S S AY : As a senior, do you find it hard to stay motivated this time of year?

TOP LEFT | Senior Nicki Shuck-Sparks helps a Tiffany Ridge Elementary school student hold a hedgehog during an Environmental Education nature tour. photo by kate nixon

Yes, it’s so hard to stay motivated because as a senior there are so many fun things you get to do and because it’s the year of lasts you don’t want to miss out on and the last moments of being a Lancer.

TOP RIGHT | During a study hall in girls weights, sophomore Sydney Bounds looks away from her homework to watch three upperclassmen do pull-ups. photo by taylor keal

riley kimmel senior

MIDDLE LEFT | Junior Ava Sudermann expresses how distraught she is while acting as a mother who just had her child kidnapped. She was rehearsing for the original one act shows by the Repertory Theatre Class. photo by annakate dilks

Yes, it’s extremely hard because it seems like there is no point in trying and there is a lot to look forward to. I ’ve already been accepted into college and don’t see much of a reason to grind out the rest of the year.

BOTTOM LEFT | Senior Carson Jones helps junior Aggie Williams sign in to vote for student council representatives. photo by ty browning

henry mahaffy senior

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14 FEATURES

photos by megan stopperan design by will tulp

MAGAZINE MISCHIEF Students highlight artists, writers in award-winnning magazine, Freelancer

by campbell wood

P

ride. Envy. Gluttony. Lust. Wrath. Sloth. Greed.

Freelancer staff members are turning to the dark side for this year’s magazine theme: the seven deadly sins.

“Maleficia,” Latin for “mischievous,” is the title of this year’s Freelancer magazine and strays from past themes such as Language of Flowers, Lunar and Elemental, according to Freelancer secretary and senior Jessica Moore.

Freelancer, East’s art and literary magazine, is composed of all forms of artwork made by East students.

The Freelancer staff meets every Thursday after school until 3:45 p.m. throughout the year to work on putting together the magazine, set to come out in early May. Each year, the National Council of Teachers of English gives out awards to school magazines, the top award being the Highest Award. In 2017 only 7 percent of entries nationwide earned this title, one of which being the Freelancer. Additionally, in 2018, they also were the only school in Kansas to earn a superior rating.

The staff announces the theme after the submissions deadline so that the whole book isn’t full of work relating solely to the theme. Their goal with the magazine is to encourage people to submit their best work that they would like to share — not something that they made out of relevance. According to Moore, this tactic allows for more diversity — ranging in form from poems about sacrifice to paintings of abstract flowers.

Seven deadly sins may grace the pages through an envious snake and a lion of wrath, but Freelancer sponsor Amy Andersen tries to keep the environment upbeat and positive.

Back in August, the club tried to think of fun ways

definitely going in the book.

The average of their scores determines if it goes in the book.

Seniors and co-editors Jia Self and Nat Nitsch share how being a part of the Freelancer has helped them grow to become more comfortable sharing their opinion with a group. According to them, the staff values everyone’s opinion and what they have to say through listening when others are speaking or starting up conversations with those who don’t give ABOVE | Seniors Jia Self, Jessica Moore and Alex Nedblake talk as much input. Group as they work together at an after-school meeting. contribution also becomes relevant when they sort the artwork into categories LEFT | Seniors Nat Nitsch and Jessica Moore look through under the umbrella of the Freelancer pages and files on Nitsch’s computer. theme, this year’s categories being the individual sins.

Each staff member must to get students to join the staff, ending up with about review certain pieces and place it into a section they 25 members. A strategy they used this year was have a belong in, creating a small outline for the book. While blackout poetry day where students could create their some connections are more obvious than others, they own blackout poetry — a page from a book where all try to find a deeper presence of the theme. words are marked out except for those used to form a One piece in particular this year is a collage called poem.

“Bohemian Rhapsody” by junior Chloe Sowden. It features Freddie Mercury in his iconic stance with his fist in the air. The bright colors and heavy focus on the subject made the staff categorize it into the “pride” section.

We have super talented people at our school who The final step is designing all 129 pages and making are really talented artists and incredibly creative sure all members know how to use Adobe InDesign writers. I think it’s important that we highlight them to make the spreads under the supervision of design just as much as our athletes. editor and junior Lilah Powlas. jessica moore senior The yearlong efforts are evident when you see the details that go into the magazine to put it together. All On top of this, they also put up posters and made of the late nights at school until eight spent checking announcements to get kids involved and also to submissions and designing spreads feel worth it when start collecting submissions for the magazine. With they get to see it finished according to members of the submissions, all forms of art are accepted and are usually Freelancer staff. photos of the piece, providing a visual and allowing for “Seeing it there in front of you for real, even though more variety among what can be accepted. you’ve seen all the spreads and you know exactly what “Part of putting out the Freelancer is acknowledging it’s going to look like — it’s still amazing,” Self said. “It that we have super talented people at our school who are commemorates all the time we’ve spent together and all really talented artists and incredibly creative writers,” the artists we’ve put into it.”

Moore said. “I think it’s important that we highlight Moore, Nitsch and Self have found their time with them just as much as our athletes.” the magazine to be a place of comfort where they can Voice, message and composition are key components be themselves and strengthen their personalities. that are considered when deciding what will make it “The Freelancer is a wonderful way for people [to] into the magazine. The staff spends the whole first express their voices and celebrate the diversity and semester reviewing the 200 submissions they received, uniqueness of all those different voices,” Andersen said. using about half for the book. They rank the different submissions on a scale of one to five, five being it’s

FEATURES

design by natasha thomas

FINE-TUNING Hard work and determination helped five students get into the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Kansas City

T

by kelly murphy hen fifth grader and beginner cellist Julia Stevermer watched in awe as the musicians of the symphony orchestra skillfully swept their bows across their strings under the spotlights in Helzberg Hall at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Stevermer and her mom were entranced by the group’s rendition of Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet”.

“I thought to myself, ‘Someday, I want that to be me,’” Stevermer said. “‘I want to be up on that stage playing and I want to make beautiful music like that.’”

In November 2018, now junior Stevermer got the chance to make her childhood dreams come true and play that same piece on that same stage with the rest of the symphony orchestra. Stevermer, seniors Blake and Britain Modean, sophomore Mazey Heim and junior Vincent Hsiung are all a part of the symphony orchestra — the flagship orchestra of the Youth Symphony of Kansas City (YSKC). In addition, they’re each a part of East’s orchestra, directed by Adam Keda.

The YSKC is comprised of four orchestras: symphony, academy, philharmonic and debut. In total, over 450 students from around the Kansas City area participate in the YSKC’s orchestras, and around 110 of those are in the symphony orchestra.

The symphony orchestra plays professional orchestra level music and consists of the most talented musicians from grades 9-12, according to Heim. The symphony orchestra rehearses each Sunday from 1 p.m. to 3:45 p.m., 45 minutes longer than the other three orchestras, in East’s band room.

“Since you have to re-audition every year, you have to make sure that you keep up on your practicing because otherwise someone else is going to take your spot,” Blake Modean said. “It’s really helpful for making sure that you are progressing as a musician and you’re not just stagnating.”

Hsiung’s favorite part about the symphony orchestra is that everyone chooses to audition for it and wants to be there. Stevermer agreed, it was the dedication and talent that she saw in the musicians of the YSKC as a fifth grader that drew her to audition during her freshman year.

“The caliber of the musicians are a lot different, and so we get a lot more opportunity to work on musicality, phrasing and the message we want to say with the music,” Stevermer said. “Also, the coolest part is that we get to work with woodwinds, brass and percussion [instruments], which we don’t get to in school. Like, you know, how often do you get to play with an oboe?”

Now that she’s a part of the prestigious symphony

group, Stevermer doesn’t take her position lightly.

She practices for around four hours a day before the symphony orchestra’s chair auditions and listens to at least four different recordings of each piece that they play.

Stevermer’s commitment to the symphony orchestra caught the eye of current conductor Steven Davis. Davis gave her the special opportunity to write the program notes (a section in the program which describes the pieces and their backgrounds) for last year’s fall concert.

“They were apparently really impressed by how much I knew about the composers and the pieces,” Stevermer said.

In addition, Stevermer shared her knowledge of composers by talking about Brahms and Mozart at the House of Music in June 2018 when the YSKC traveled to Austria in celebration of the YSKC’s 60th anniversary. Heim and Hsiung were also among those lucky enough to perform at MuTh, a concert hall for the Vienna Boys’ Choir, and other wellknown concert halls around Vienna and Salzburg.

“It has been really cool to perform in places that I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise, like the Folly Theatre and now the Kauffman Center [for the Performing Arts],” Heim said. “[Having] the ability to go on the trips and work with different directors has made it into something that I would never really consider stopping.”

Keda notices the extra effort that each of the five put into orchestra at East. For example, Hsiung voluntarily private tutors sixth grade honor orchestra students after school on Thursdays. Heim also helps younger students by occasionally taking freshman orchestra members into the hall one by one during class to offer them advice on how to improve their songs.

“I trust them because they’ve demonstrated their skills and dedication to the group,” Keda said. “I know that I can give them responsibilities in the group.”

The symphony orchestra is currently practicing Ingrid Stölzel’s “City Beautiful”, a piece commissioned by the YSKC, and Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3 in C minor. Their 60th Anniversary Finale Concert will be on Sunday, May 5 in the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts and the symphony orchestra will perform at 7 p.m.

“It’s like a sport: practice makes perfect,” Britain Modean said. “You can hear your mistakes, but you can also hear what you do right. If you put the effort in, there’s not much like standing there and accepting applause for a concert you know you did well in.”

MAZEY HEIM

grade: sophomore instrument: cello years playing: six

BLAKE MODEAN

grade: senior instrument: viola years playing: eight

JULIA STEVERMER grade: junior instrument: cello years playing: six

BRITAIN MODEAN

grade: senior instrument: viola years playing: seven

VINCENT HSIUNG grade: junior instrument: cello years playing: seven

15

IN TRANSITION 16 NEWS design by lila tulp

by ben henschel additional research by alex freeman & jackie cameron

INTRODUCTION

*names have been changed to protect identity T H E SYST E M I C ISSUES were a causal chain for the special education program in the Shawnee Mission School District.

Relationships between administration and families, according to former SMSD employees and affiliated parents, aren’t valued like they were a decade ago throughout the program, leading to employees feeling undervalued and underappreciated. Those feelings fed into the job turnover the district has faced, according to the former employees — 11 appointments opposed to 11 resignations, five retirements and two leaves of absence since January this year, per SMSD Board documents.

Classes associated with Special Education have swelled to sizes teachers cannot control, according to East students who participate in SPED-oriented courses — and with the turnover, students feel it could get worse. Then come issues of policy within individual buildings, causing students to question the logic of order.

Students, families and teachers have been let down by the district, at times — some prompted to leave their jobs, retire or move.

But after a range of difficulties faced by teachers, students and their families, concerned parties are tasking the district with implementing changes to their current SPED system — and with new administration set to take the helm later this year, the district has spent the last year focusing on completing specific, forward goals and setting the table for new ones to turn the page.

“The kids are what matter to us the most,” former SMSD SPED administrator and coordinator Debbie Lair said. “And right now, it’s about moving forward for the district. March on. I’d say they should get it back together, and get it back together fast.”

R E VO LV I N G D O O RS

T H E I M P O RTA N C E O F properly staffing the district’s special education program is clear to student and teacher advocate Liz Meitl — who works to support families who have had problems with the district. Meitl filed a formal complaint citing problems like a lack of staffing against the district in 2017, after talking to over 35 families

NEWS

and hundreds of teachers. Improvement, she said, can’t begin until jobs are filled with certified and experienced applicants.

The job turnover at the district has long been a problem, according to Meitl. But Dr. Christy Ziegler, ever since her appointment as Interim Director of SPED on July 23 of last year, has prioritized sufficient staffing of the department.

The issue transcends the district alone, she said — conversations about the widespread lack of potential applicants between other directors of special education are actively occurring, and teacher license requirements are continuously discussed between the district and the Kansas State Department of Education.

The shortage extends nationwide, even, according to Dr. Joan Robbins, former Director of Special Education at Blue Valley Schools. NPR reports show 49 states claiming to have a “shortage of special education teachers/related service personnel,” and according to findings in 2016 by the Education Week Research Center, there were nearly 348,000 special educators for 5.9 million special education students ages 6-21.

To proactively locate and fill open positions with certified special educators, Ziegler and the SMSD have scanned colleges and universities — recruiting at schools like the University of Kansas, Kansas State University and Pittsburg State University as well as moving to schools outside the state in order to find qualified, potential applicants.

“Now is the time where you’ll see more hiring start to happen,” Ziegler said. “We’ve gone through reference checks, and it’s a matter of then matching up people with open positions in buildings and making sure everybody is a good fit together.”

Special educators, Ziegler said, have an added responsibility which “comes with the requirements for IEP documentation due to federal and state laws that govern special education,” which can sway potential educators from entering the field.

Additional job rotation and turnover can, and have, stemmed from the reorganization of employees, according to former SMSD behavior specialist Sharon Klose.

Klose taught at the district for 29 years as a behavior specialist to all of East’s subsequent feeder schools, working in specific locations with students that “had behavior concerns” and setting up programs and assistance for them and their families.

Behavior specialists were there for kids who needed help, Klose said — and she had a specific, substantial

caseload for special education students. She would see individual students two to three times a week, some from kindergarten until their freshman year.

Three years ago, the district decided to “do away” with their behavior specialists, transferring some to jobs that required a different form of specific training, which the specialists did not have, Klose said — such as working with high-needs students with severe handicaps.

She still has no clue as to why. These were some of the most experienced teachers the SPED program had to offer, according to Klose — “Master’s degrees plus.”

Restructuring efforts like these brought in new and largely inexperienced workers to fill the gaps in the interest of money, as well as prompting dissatisfied workers to leave the district, according to previous SMSD employees.

“Every time they lose [an employee], they’ve lost all of that person’s expertise and knowledge about how the system works,” Meitl said. “Stemming the bloodletting that is the loss of SPED teachers right now would be a huge first step [for the district].”

After a semester that saw 11 total special education job appointments, six were reported Human Resource documents from the April 22 Board Meeting. Ziegler is confident that the department will have filled enough SPED positions to open the coming school year fully staffed.

HAND IN HAND

D E B B I E L A I R ’S TA K E AWAY from her five years in the district came in the form of relationships — both in the way that there was a lack of them while she was there, and how she came to realize their importance.

The SMSD, Meitl said, hasn’t covered the bases required — she found that families were being “lied to, mistreated [and] misled” in their encounters with district administration. According to Meitl, teachers tend to have the best intentions and do their best, but are ultimately restricted by administration and policy.

Relationships should be built, Lair said, between all sections of the special education program: administrators to teachers, administrators to families and students, teachers to families and students, etc.

Without them, she said, success isn’t viable for any party.

“You have to invite dialogue, and an open dialogue with people on the front line, especially, is critical,”

Lair said. “You have to be out on school campuses every day in case you’re needed. It doesn’t do you any good to be sitting in the central office. There’s nothing to do but paperwork, and you can do that later.”

For Ziegler, relationships are of the highest interest.

“It’s about getting to really know as many of our staff as possible, so that number one, I can understand what the concerns are that they may have,” Ziegler said. “And I can also ask questions and hear directly from them in a setting that’s comfortable and where we can grow, and see what our needs are for the future.”

Included in these efforts is Sherry Dumolien, who is set to take over as Director of Special Education in July. According to Ziegler, Dumolien has been meeting with teachers, collecting input and building close relationships in preparation for the job.

The connection of students to outside resources and teachers are also elemental to Ziegler, who has worked on furthering initiatives to support and connect SPED students to both teachers and job opportunities with the district’s post-high school program, for students aged 18-21. In the program, students who have not yet reached their graduation goals are allowed to receive additional services for an additional three years — furthering their vocational and work skills, and how to enter specific businesses and jobs.

The next level, Ziegler said, is Project SEARCH, which the district will be entering its second year of partnership with this Fall. The program allows SMSD students with developmental disabilities to intern full-time at the AdventHealth Shawnee Mission hospital. The seven current interns in the program learn and improve their vocational and work skills, as well as how to go into business or industry, Ziegler said.

Beyond the district, the importance of relationships and connection is notably felt — specifically in the Blue Valley School District. Enid Dodson has a daughter with Down syndrome named Emma. Dodson has raised Emma through Blue Valley’s special education program. Starting at the district’s early childhood special education program — comprised of six special education students, six general education and peer model students — Emma went through an elementary school that tailored to her needs, a middle school with a “magnificent” team and eventually to Blue Valley West High School, where Emma attends as a sophomore.

The process was mostly advantageous, Dodson said, and many lasting relationships were formed.

But like virtually any school district, Dodson said, Blue Valley had its problems for Emma.

One such problem came her fifth-grade year due to speech path difficulties and responsibilities “that weren’t happening.” As the Dodsons considered taking the district to due process, Enid spoke with Robbins.

“She’s the one I told that she needed to talk to the district’s attorney’s, because I would be talking to my own,” Dodson said. “I didn’t end up pursuing it, and she and I grew to develop a very positive and healthy relationship over the years. And we didn’t always agree. But I always knew she had Emma’s best interest in mind, and that I was always heard.

That’s a pretty stark contrast to what I’ve seen in Shawnee Mission.”

D I S CO N N EC T E D

K LO S E , L A I R , M E I T L , Ziegler, Dodson and Robbins all emphasize and celebrate the importance of special educators throughout the district. It takes “an incredibly special human being,” one with “patience and love and compassion” to be one, according to Dodson. As directors, Robbins and Ziegler prioritized the support and wellbeing of who they considered to be the most integral aspect of their departments, they said.

But individual buildings in the SMSD, Ziegler said, have their own rules and policies pertaining to classes associated with special education that vary. With the more specific policies and guidelines left to buildings, some students in classes at East involving special education feel a strong disconnect, undervalued and sense a lack of management.

In the fifth hour social skills class — where general education students serve as peer mentors to special education students in order to develop sociability — the lack of communication proves detrimental to productivity, according to two-year leadership student and senior Katie Garverick.

“They’ve tried to have a lot of teachers in there, but if one of them is gone, the other ones just don’t know what to do,” Garverick said. “It’s repetitive, and it’s not beneficial.”

The class doesn’t have the dedication that it did last year, according to leadership student and junior Charlotte Wayne.* Even though the teachers mean well, she said, there is “no curriculum” and no set goals that are discussed routinely — the students

“show up to class, and then just do whatever.”

East fits all qualifications and has each required special education job staffed, according to East principal Dr. Scott Sherman. But despite the met requirements, students in the class see the with student-teacher ratio as problematic, given the class size of 46.

“This is one of the biggest classes they’ve had, this year,” leadership student and junior Sarah Lewis* said. “If you only have four teachers and that many students, it’s hard to get everyone on the same page and focused in on lessons.”

Potential problems also arise when attention is not brought to personal issues expressed by students.

This is due to the high number of students the four teachers are assigned to handle, according to Lewis.

She insists the issue is “obviously not their fault,” attributing it to what she sees as low requirements.

The cutoff is also felt by students seeking to join the program — such is the case for Wayne’s sister, Amanda.* Amanda was told after her interview that she’d secured a spot in the social skills class. She went home happy. The next day, she was told she couldn’t be in, anymore.

After conversations between Amanda’s mother and social skills teacher Emily MacNaughton, the family was told it was policy for “family members [not to be] in the class with other family members.”

This was confusing to her — she assumed policy like that would be listed in the application or discussed in the interview, but it was not brought up by MacNaughton until the meeting. MacNaughton declined to comment for this story.

Even more confusing to her was what the policy was preventing. Amanda was one of the only people that her cousin, Olive,* was comfortable around.

Olive has down syndrome, and after experiences at Indian Hills Middle School in seventh grade that caused her to feel isolated and alienated, her family decided to homeschool her the next year.

Olive’s family enrolled her at East as a freshman, and she was accepted into the social skills class. The Wayne’s and Olive’s family felt confident that she could be integrated into the schooling system again.

Now, their vision is clouded. “[Olive]’s family had comfort in knowing that I’d at least be in one of her classes, and that it would at least help her feel comfortable in a completely new environment,” Amanda said. “Me not being in that class is creating a lot more anxiety and fear than there needs to be.”

17

After previous problems withing the SMSD SPED, a new director adds hope to future changes in the program

S P ED J O B C HAN G ES SINCE JAN UA RY 2 01 9

HIRINGS AND/OR APPOINTMENTS

RESIGNATIONS

OF WHICH BEING LEAVES OF ABSENSE

ANNOUNCED RETIREMENTS

ADDITIONAL LEAVES OF ABSENSE * i nfo r m a t i o n cour tesy of S M S D h um a n resource d oc um e nts

IN TRANSITION 16 NEWS design by lila tulp

by ben henschel additional research by alex freeman & jackie cameron

INTRODUCTION

*names have been changed to protect identity T H E SYST E M I C ISSUES were a causal chain for the special education program in the Shawnee Mission School District.

Relationships between administration and families, according to former SMSD employees and affiliated parents, aren’t valued like they were a decade ago throughout the program, leading to employees feeling undervalued and underappreciated. Those feelings fed into the job turnover the district has faced, according to the former employees — 11 appointments opposed to 11 resignations, five retirements and two leaves of absence since January this year, per SMSD Board documents.

Classes associated with Special Education have swelled to sizes teachers cannot control, according to East students who participate in SPED-oriented courses — and with the turnover, students feel it could get worse. Then come issues of policy within individual buildings, causing students to question the logic of order.

Students, families and teachers have been let down by the district, at times — some prompted to leave their jobs, retire or move.

But after a range of difficulties faced by teachers, students and their families, concerned parties are tasking the district with implementing changes to their current SPED system — and with new administration set to take the helm later this year, the district has spent the last year focusing on completing specific, forward goals and setting the table for new ones to turn the page.

“The kids are what matter to us the most,” former SMSD SPED administrator and coordinator Debbie Lair said. “And right now, it’s about moving forward for the district. March on. I’d say they should get it back together, and get it back together fast.”

R E VO LV I N G D O O RS

T H E I M P O RTA N C E O F properly staffing the district’s special education program is clear to student and teacher advocate Liz Meitl — who works to support families who have had problems with the district. Meitl filed a formal complaint citing problems like a lack of staffing against the district in 2017, after talking to over 35 families

NEWS

and hundreds of teachers. Improvement, she said, can’t begin until jobs are filled with certified and experienced applicants.

The job turnover at the district has long been a problem, according to Meitl. But Dr. Christy Ziegler, ever since her appointment as Interim Director of SPED on July 23 of last year, has prioritized sufficient staffing of the department.

The issue transcends the district alone, she said — conversations about the widespread lack of potential applicants between other directors of special education are actively occurring, and teacher license requirements are continuously discussed between the district and the Kansas State Department of Education.

The shortage extends nationwide, even, according to Dr. Joan Robbins, former Director of Special Education at Blue Valley Schools. NPR reports show 49 states claiming to have a “shortage of special education teachers/related service personnel,” and according to findings in 2016 by the Education Week Research Center, there were nearly 348,000 special educators for 5.9 million special education students ages 6-21.

To proactively locate and fill open positions with certified special educators, Ziegler and the SMSD have scanned colleges and universities — recruiting at schools like the University of Kansas, Kansas State University and Pittsburg State University as well as moving to schools outside the state in order to find qualified, potential applicants.

“Now is the time where you’ll see more hiring start to happen,” Ziegler said. “We’ve gone through reference checks, and it’s a matter of then matching up people with open positions in buildings and making sure everybody is a good fit together.”

Special educators, Ziegler said, have an added responsibility which “comes with the requirements for IEP documentation due to federal and state laws that govern special education,” which can sway potential educators from entering the field.

Additional job rotation and turnover can, and have, stemmed from the reorganization of employees, according to former SMSD behavior specialist Sharon Klose.

Klose taught at the district for 29 years as a behavior specialist to all of East’s subsequent feeder schools, working in specific locations with students that “had behavior concerns” and setting up programs and assistance for them and their families.

Behavior specialists were there for kids who needed help, Klose said — and she had a specific, substantial

caseload for special education students. She would see individual students two to three times a week, some from kindergarten until their freshman year.

Three years ago, the district decided to “do away” with their behavior specialists, transferring some to jobs that required a different form of specific training, which the specialists did not have, Klose said — such as working with high-needs students with severe handicaps.

She still has no clue as to why. These were some of the most experienced teachers the SPED program had to offer, according to Klose — “Master’s degrees plus.”

Restructuring efforts like these brought in new and largely inexperienced workers to fill the gaps in the interest of money, as well as prompting dissatisfied workers to leave the district, according to previous SMSD employees.

“Every time they lose [an employee], they’ve lost all of that person’s expertise and knowledge about how the system works,” Meitl said. “Stemming the bloodletting that is the loss of SPED teachers right now would be a huge first step [for the district].”

After a semester that saw 11 total special education job appointments, six were reported Human Resource documents from the April 22 Board Meeting. Ziegler is confident that the department will have filled enough SPED positions to open the coming school year fully staffed.

HAND IN HAND

D E B B I E L A I R ’S TA K E AWAY from her five years in the district came in the form of relationships — both in the way that there was a lack of them while she was there, and how she came to realize their importance.

The SMSD, Meitl said, hasn’t covered the bases required — she found that families were being “lied to, mistreated [and] misled” in their encounters with district administration. According to Meitl, teachers tend to have the best intentions and do their best, but are ultimately restricted by administration and policy.

Relationships should be built, Lair said, between all sections of the special education program: administrators to teachers, administrators to families and students, teachers to families and students, etc.

Without them, she said, success isn’t viable for any party.

“You have to invite dialogue, and an open dialogue with people on the front line, especially, is critical,”

Lair said. “You have to be out on school campuses every day in case you’re needed. It doesn’t do you any good to be sitting in the central office. There’s nothing to do but paperwork, and you can do that later.”

For Ziegler, relationships are of the highest interest.

“It’s about getting to really know as many of our staff as possible, so that number one, I can understand what the concerns are that they may have,” Ziegler said. “And I can also ask questions and hear directly from them in a setting that’s comfortable and where we can grow, and see what our needs are for the future.”

Included in these efforts is Sherry Dumolien, who is set to take over as Director of Special Education in July. According to Ziegler, Dumolien has been meeting with teachers, collecting input and building close relationships in preparation for the job.

The connection of students to outside resources and teachers are also elemental to Ziegler, who has worked on furthering initiatives to support and connect SPED students to both teachers and job opportunities with the district’s post-high school program, for students aged 18-21. In the program, students who have not yet reached their graduation goals are allowed to receive additional services for an additional three years — furthering their vocational and work skills, and how to enter specific businesses and jobs.

The next level, Ziegler said, is Project SEARCH, which the district will be entering its second year of partnership with this Fall. The program allows SMSD students with developmental disabilities to intern full-time at the AdventHealth Shawnee Mission hospital. The seven current interns in the program learn and improve their vocational and work skills, as well as how to go into business or industry, Ziegler said.

Beyond the district, the importance of relationships and connection is notably felt — specifically in the Blue Valley School District. Enid Dodson has a daughter with Down syndrome named Emma. Dodson has raised Emma through Blue Valley’s special education program. Starting at the district’s early childhood special education program — comprised of six special education students, six general education and peer model students — Emma went through an elementary school that tailored to her needs, a middle school with a “magnificent” team and eventually to Blue Valley West High School, where Emma attends as a sophomore.

The process was mostly advantageous, Dodson said, and many lasting relationships were formed.

But like virtually any school district, Dodson said, Blue Valley had its problems for Emma.

One such problem came her fifth-grade year due to speech path difficulties and responsibilities “that weren’t happening.” As the Dodsons considered taking the district to due process, Enid spoke with Robbins.

“She’s the one I told that she needed to talk to the district’s attorney’s, because I would be talking to my own,” Dodson said. “I didn’t end up pursuing it, and she and I grew to develop a very positive and healthy relationship over the years. And we didn’t always agree. But I always knew she had Emma’s best interest in mind, and that I was always heard.

That’s a pretty stark contrast to what I’ve seen in Shawnee Mission.”

D I S CO N N EC T E D

K LO S E , L A I R , M E I T L , Ziegler, Dodson and Robbins all emphasize and celebrate the importance of special educators throughout the district. It takes “an incredibly special human being,” one with “patience and love and compassion” to be one, according to Dodson. As directors, Robbins and Ziegler prioritized the support and wellbeing of who they considered to be the most integral aspect of their departments, they said.

But individual buildings in the SMSD, Ziegler said, have their own rules and policies pertaining to classes associated with special education that vary. With the more specific policies and guidelines left to buildings, some students in classes at East involving special education feel a strong disconnect, undervalued and sense a lack of management.

In the fifth hour social skills class — where general education students serve as peer mentors to special education students in order to develop sociability — the lack of communication proves detrimental to productivity, according to two-year leadership student and senior Katie Garverick.

“They’ve tried to have a lot of teachers in there, but if one of them is gone, the other ones just don’t know what to do,” Garverick said. “It’s repetitive, and it’s not beneficial.”

The class doesn’t have the dedication that it did last year, according to leadership student and junior Charlotte Wayne.* Even though the teachers mean well, she said, there is “no curriculum” and no set goals that are discussed routinely — the students

“show up to class, and then just do whatever.”

East fits all qualifications and has each required special education job staffed, according to East principal Dr. Scott Sherman. But despite the met requirements, students in the class see the with student-teacher ratio as problematic, given the class size of 46.

“This is one of the biggest classes they’ve had, this year,” leadership student and junior Sarah Lewis* said. “If you only have four teachers and that many students, it’s hard to get everyone on the same page and focused in on lessons.”

Potential problems also arise when attention is not brought to personal issues expressed by students.

This is due to the high number of students the four teachers are assigned to handle, according to Lewis.

She insists the issue is “obviously not their fault,” attributing it to what she sees as low requirements.

The cutoff is also felt by students seeking to join the program — such is the case for Wayne’s sister, Amanda.* Amanda was told after her interview that she’d secured a spot in the social skills class. She went home happy. The next day, she was told she couldn’t be in, anymore.

After conversations between Amanda’s mother and social skills teacher Emily MacNaughton, the family was told it was policy for “family members [not to be] in the class with other family members.”

This was confusing to her — she assumed policy like that would be listed in the application or discussed in the interview, but it was not brought up by MacNaughton until the meeting. MacNaughton declined to comment for this story.

Even more confusing to her was what the policy was preventing. Amanda was one of the only people that her cousin, Olive,* was comfortable around.

Olive has down syndrome, and after experiences at Indian Hills Middle School in seventh grade that caused her to feel isolated and alienated, her family decided to homeschool her the next year.

Olive’s family enrolled her at East as a freshman, and she was accepted into the social skills class. The Wayne’s and Olive’s family felt confident that she could be integrated into the schooling system again.

Now, their vision is clouded. “[Olive]’s family had comfort in knowing that I’d at least be in one of her classes, and that it would at least help her feel comfortable in a completely new environment,” Amanda said. “Me not being in that class is creating a lot more anxiety and fear than there needs to be.”

17

After previous problems withing the SMSD SPED, a new director adds hope to future changes in the program

S P ED J O B C HAN G ES SINCE JAN UA RY 2 01 9

HIRINGS AND/OR APPOINTMENTS

RESIGNATIONS

OF WHICH BEING LEAVES OF ABSENSE

ANNOUNCED RETIREMENTS

ADDITIONAL LEAVES OF ABSENSE * i nfo r m a t i o n cour tesy of S M S D h um a n resource d oc um e nts

18 FEATURES

photos courtesy of annakate dilks design by elizabeth ballew

MEET THE EXECS

Meet the juniors who are the new SHARE and Pep Club executives for the upcoming school year by lucy patterson

ADAM JOLLES Q Why do you want to be SHARE chair? love the idea of giving back to my A Icommunity and it felt like a good thing I could do during my senior year.

Q What is your favorite SHARE project you have done?

A Safe Home or the Ronald McDonald goodie bags.

LILY OGG Q Why do you want to be SHARE chair? have been doing SHARE for a long time A Iand I think leading a group of people will

be really fun. I love volunteering and I [have volunteered] throughout school, so having people come along with me would be really great.

Q What is your favorite SHARE project you have done? did a project at Safe Home where we had a little Halloween A We party for the little kids that live there. We made them food, played games with them and made them little baskets.

ELLA HIGGINS Q Why do you want to be SHARE chair?

am pretty excited to be a SHARE chair A Ibecause I’ve been involved in SHARE since

freshman year, and I think it’s really cool that I have the opportunity to take my involvement and leadership in the program one step further by being an Exec. I’m also excited because I’ll have the opportunity to make a lot of connections with organizations, some of which I’ve never volunteered for before, and I’ll also be able to meet a lot of new people at East through overlooking and participating in projects. I’m also excited to become really close with the other SHARE execs and Krissie and Sheryl.

Q What is your favorite SHARE project you have done? favorite SHARE project I have ever done is probably the American A My Royal project. I actually chaired it this year, and I had a lot of fun with

it because I compete at the American Royal complex with my horse each year, so it was fun for me being able to volunteer there. During the project we led student tours during the rodeo in the fall and during the tours we got to see a bunch of farm animals and a lot of agricultural activities and displays. The most fun part about it for me was probably getting to watch the rodeo with all of the kids after we led the tours. Overall we got the whole American Royal experience and got a lot of volunteer hours too.

BRIGID WENTZ

Q What are you excited for next year? excited to be able to plan all A Iofamthereally pep assemblies, because I love pep

assemblies and being able to pick all of the activities and who is doing what and being in charge of all of that. Then I am also really excited for the stuff that comes with being a pep exec at games — like being in the front row and getting everyone hyped up, and being there early to give everyone Chick-Fil-A and be really involved at all of the sporting and school events.

Q What would you like to see at pep assemblies next year? one thing that was actually a possibility this year. It was A There’s an inflatable rock climbing thing. But I think it would be really

fun if we made it a challenge, like ‘who could get to the mountain first?’ and balls would be thrown at everyone except the senior, so that the senior would win. And I know that [now] they have Haney do everything, but it would be fun if we got really liked teachers to participate in the games.

WILL MOHR

Q What are you excited for next year? am just happy to promote school events A Iand sporting events. I think that the more

people that show up, the better everything is no matter what event it is...Just getting people out and attending all the things that we have at school.

Q What would you like to see at pep assemblies next year? just think for class competitions finding unique things to do A Iwith all of the different sports. We have a lot of time to plan and think of ideas. I haven’t really looked at anything yet.

do you want to be SHARE chair?

Q IWhy just think the opportunity to do community service and lead a A group of people [sounds] fun to me. And just getting out and doing something for more than yourself.

Q What is your favorite SHARE project you have done? liked Breakfast at Saint Paul’s because a whole group of my A Ifriends went so it was pretty fun to all go there together and help serve breakfast to people that need it.

LIST OF SHARE EXECS Sydney Crane Adam Jolles Lily Ogg Anna Parker Will Wagstaff Will Harding Will Mohr Ella Higgins

LIST OF PEP EXECS Wesley Costello Reilly Moreland Walter Honnold Maggie Schutt Will Mohr Brigid Wentz

9421MissionRd (913)383-3667 @foosfabulous Plan, Eat & Enjoy Life

$

#livenaismith

20 PHOTOSTORY

design by aislinn menke, ty browning and kate nixon

PUT SOME PEP IN YOUR STEP The Lancers had their last pep assembly to bring awareness to various spring sports and activities

ABOVE | Flour gets poured on junior Addison Carroll after answering a trivia question. “I was excited to be part of the pep assembly but I only thought it was gonna be whipped cream,” Carroll said. “At the end of the day if I say I’m going to do something, then I’ll do it.” photo by trevor paulus

ABOVE |

Senior Hallie Higgason cleans up the gym floor from the previous activity where students had eggs, flour, milk and shaving cream poured on them. “We didn’t really do that good of a job of making sure it didn’t get on the ground,” Higgason said.

“I was trying to clean up as much of the mess as I could so we didn’t get in trouble.” photo by julia percy

RIGHT ABOVE|

While being pushed by senior Hazel Eastlack, senior Lauren Terry rolls toward the bowling pins. “[The hamster ball] was kind of hard to control because I kind of got in it wrong,” Terry said.

“When I would spin, the hole would come under my feet so I would have to dodge the hole every time I took a step.” photo by lucy morantz

ABOVE | The senior yell leaders run the East flags around the perimeter of the gym for the last time. photo by grace goldman

ABOVE | After recreating a dance from MORP for the “Year in Review,” junior Reilly Moreland celebrates with junior Maggie Schutt.

“I have wanted to dance in front of the school since freshman year, it’s always been a dream of mine,” Moreland said. photo by julia percy

A&E

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A round-up of all things arts and entertainment

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22 A&E

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GAM E OF T H EORI E S A summary of the first two episodes of the eighth season of “Game of Thrones,” along with theories for how the rest of the show will go by scout rice

WRAP-UP

I

will be the first to admit I am psycho for HBO’s “Game of Thrones” series. I’m a part of the fan base that is nearly a cult, with 17.4 million viewers of the premiere of season eight, according to CNN. I watched the first seven seasons near the end of second semester last year — what better way to procrastinate studying for finals and IB exams, right?

To fully prepare myself for the release of the highly anticipated and final season which premiered April 14, I rewatched the entire show — all 67 hourlong episodes. The first seven seasons are filled with gory beheadings, backstabbing, family separations, war and, of course, many romantic storylines — and I am sure the rest of season eight will be no different.

The intricate storylines for each of the Stark children, the main characters, keep the show fastpaced and engage the viewers. When you finally think that Arya Stark is going home or Jon Snow

is safe at the wall or Sansa Stark will not be forced into yet another marriage, think again. Because nine times out of 10 you’re wrong.

At the conclusion of season seven, Cersei Lannister, a true tyrant, sat on the throne. As new characters are introduced and rise to power, the question of who will overthrow Cersei and end up on the Iron Throne as the leader of the fictional Seven Kingdoms grows. That’s why the eighth season has been so hyped up and anticipated with posters plastered on billboards and advertisements on TV. Much to the disappointment of action-loving fans, episode one of season eight is anticlimactic at best. For those that didn’t rewatch the entire show, this episode serves as a recap of what happened in season seven and sets up the remainder of season eight. For the die-hard fans like me, staying up past 2 a.m. to watch the premiere after a long flight, the

T H E FA N AT I C S ’ T H O U G H TS

T H RO N E T H EO R I E S

C

ersei Lannister clearly needs to be knocked off of her high horse, or in this case the Iron Throne. In my perfect world, the power couple Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen would be leading together.

Even though in season seven it was revealed that Daenerys is actually Jon’s aunt, incest is not unheard of in “Game of Thrones,” and the two make a perfect match — just hear me out. Jon Snow is driven by principle and morals, and Daenerys is equally compassionate, but short-tempered and will make the hard choices that Jon would otherwise struggle with. She’s not

afraid to use her dragons to burn traitors alive, and Jon will go to war to protect his family and the North.

Ruling together, the Seven Kingdoms can kiss the Lannister dynasty goodbye and be ruled by two compassionate people striving for peace.

As indecisive as I am, I can’t count Sansa Stark,out just yet in the fight for who will end up on the throne.

She went from an innocent, snobby child to the smartest female in the show — I wouldn’t be too upset if she ended up on the Iron Throne.

She’s manipulative to protect herself and her home, the North, but her temper is controlled.

WHO WILL SIT ON THE IRON THRONE? JON SNOW

NO 53%

predicted by

WILL THE NIGHT KING BE DEFEATED?

sydni william junior

YES 47% *Out of 246 respondents

episode answered none of the questions that season seven left us with. How will Daenerys Targaryen react to the news about Jon’s true parents and what is Sansa going to do about Daenerys taking over?

HBO, I’m still waiting for answers.

Episode two was an emotional whirlwind as everyone at Winterfell, the home of the Starks in the North, prepares for an inevitable battle. Secrets are revealed, but like episode one, there was limited action.

The second episode captured more of the character’s emotions as they sat around a fire and talked about how they were all going to die in battle in the morning, however the plot did not advance — much to my disappointment. This episode sets the foundation for the longest continuous battle in television history in episode three airing on April 28*.

WHO WILL DIE FIRST? DAENERYS TARGARYEN predicted by

alex frigerio senior

I think that Jon should get the throne because if he doesn’t have any role in leading, the North is for sure going to secede and that would be a problem because then the Seven Kingdoms wouldn’t have as many kingdoms or land.

ava stechschulte junior

I want Daenerys because she has been such a strong leader throughout all eight seasons. She’s also my favorite character, and it also reflects real feminism and female power if she wins over the other males.

lydia seymour sophomore

So I think it would be really cool if Arya won it because when she hooks up Gendry, who’s the Baratheon bastard… he’s like the only heir to the Baratheons, and it makes sense to join the South and the North. Then the North wouldn’t have to bend the knee because Gendry wouldn’t make [Arya] do that.

meredith sternberg teacher

*THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED BEFORE SEASON 8 EPISODE 3 WAS AIRED

A&E

design by emily fey photos by lucy morantz

3.

I DIDN’T KNOW I was an “angry” person until I was unanimously voted to take on this story. Stressed? Maybe. Angry? I didn’t think so. But no matter what I think, here I am now writing about the best places to have some fun while releasing all the pent up frustration I’ve accumulated over the past few months. So whether you feel like swinging a bat at the barista who gave you a fat-full iced coffee instead of fat-free or you’re wanting to launch an axe at the slow driver in front of you who made you hit that red light, I’ve got some recommendations that’ll do the same trick — you know, without earning you a criminal record.

TING CAG T BA

2.

Immediately after placing my token in the machine and choosing my 40-50 mph speed, 14 continuous pitches were being hurled my way per round. Swing after swing I realized I wasn’t as rusty as I thought. And as I kept hitting, the better I felt and I could feel my anger at the white SUV that conveniently parks behind my driveway every day fade away — mostly because that car had just earned me three would’ve-been homers.

As the cheapest and quickest fix to my so-called anger, after about 42 hits later the only thing I was mad about was running out of tokens — leading me to my next activity.

ES

BASEBALL PLAYERS MUST be the happiest people alive. I mean there’s something about swinging a metal bat at a 50 mph baseball that really puts your mind at ease. For $5 at the Kansas City Sports Club batting cages, I got to live that dream through 70 automated pitches.

Walking into the dark space on the backside of the Ranchmart Shopping Center surrounded by peewee little league studs while in my lululemon pleated tennis skirt, I just about walked right out the front doors and back to my car. But with a push from my friends and the six open cages in front of me, I decided I might as well give it a whirl — oh and for all you baseball-amateurs like me out there: don’t worry, it’s not BYOB (bring your own bat).

AXE THROWING BLADE AND TIMBER

KICK BOXING INTEGRITY MARTIAL ARTS THINK ABOUT HOW MANY times a day you’re in a situation where all you want to do is punch someone. Whether you just find out “Keeping Up with the Kardashian’s” will not be playing this Sunday, or the cafeteria is serving waffles instead of french toast on Tuesdays, everyone has been there.

So for my final attempt to knock out all the stress and anger second semester has oh-so-politely presented me with, I met up with a familiar face whose second job is to let me kick and punch them for fun — and for a total body workout.

Putting on my purple boxing gloves I suited up to kickbox with history teacher Mr. Muhammad about 20 minutes away in Red Bridge at Integrity Martial Arts. Before my private lesson, the extent of my prior

knowledge of kickboxing came from Kung Fu Panda — a credible source if you ask me — but by the end of it, I knew nine new moves I could whip out next time my brother’s asking for it.

Circling around the mat and simultaneously panting as I tried to keep up with Mu, I got to show off my uppercut and hook punches I just learned. At first, releasing my anger on one of East’s teachers seemed a little weird to me, but as I kept going, I pictured his gloves as my brother’s face and went HAM — sorry Will.

By the end of my lesson, I think I’d sweat out all of my accumulated anger and realized that even the people who don’t think they’re angry — i.e. me — can benefit from a good punch, bat swing or axe launch every once and a while.

1

.

K BOXI C I N K

LOW

on awkward-small talk and worsened the anger I came here to get rid of — way to go Heather. But aside from my unwanted guests, it wasn’t all that bad. When that 10 pound axe spiraled and actually stuck on the target, I felt a like a badass lumberjack with nothing holding me back, but that feeling only lasted until my next near miss — and I never got any better.

Maybe I would’ve been a little less angry if I didn’t feel judged when my axe fell a little short of the target, and maybe next time my best bet would be to empty $120 out of my pocket and opt for a private lane — and privacy is just what made my final activity so oddly-relaxing.

G

I HAD HIGH HOPES for this one. Launching an axe at a target seemed like the perfect stress reliever after an impossible AP Biology test, and for a pricey $20 I signed up for a Share-A-Lane spot at Blade and Timber Axe Throwing — giving me an hour and a half to test my theory.

But as soon as I met the other ten of my over-30 hillbilly lane-mates, the forced mingling didn’t relieve my stress and worsened it. Not to mention, it took 22 lessons from the micromanaging worker to actually get the axe to land on the wooden target in front of me.

Missing shot after shot while southern belle “Heather” hit first-try bullseyes only furthered my preconceptions

POST ANGER LEVEL

BATTING CAGES KANSAS CITY SPORTS CLUB

H IGH

by lila tulp

THROW E I AX

NG

SHE MAD BRO

When AP practice tests and parking tickets make steam come out of your ears, try these three locations to release your anger

23

BLOW SOME STEAM

The order in which the activities helped bring down Lila’s anger and stress

1

5/5

2

4.5/5

3

2.5/5

24 A&E

photos courtesy of imdb design by ava johnson

THE BEST OF MOVIES New film “Best of Enemies” offers outstanding acting, while also providing a stylized, yet realistic, portayal of a true story regarding civil rights rights movements. This movie was easy to stomach for those who struggle to watch the graphic truths of the past, yet the unnerving combination of charming music set to portending scenes of Klansmen wielding shotguns always had me preparing myself for the worst.

This movie was easy to stomach for those who struggle to watch the graphic truths of the past.

carolyn popper junior

southern persona of the true Ann Atwater. While the ending credits revealed that the actress and the activist didn’t look much alike facially, the costume department and Henson’s acting put on an intense performance.

Sam Rockwell, who played C.P. Ellis, portrayed the man who began as a white supremacist and ended as someone who gave up his KKK presidency to advocate for integration. His acting was genuine and not overplayed, like this character type so often is (i.e. ridiculous southern accent, clad head to toe in confederate flags and spits on every sidewalk tread upon). When he turned away black customers from his gas station, I could hear the preconditioned prejudice in his voice. I could sense his fear of the KKK’s retribution after he left the organization. I was able to pick up on

CLICK TO BUY: TICKETS Two scenes would reach a point where I was sure they’d end horribly, but I was rewarded with an outcome not nearly as bad as I imagined — no blood, no murder. If this sounds too vague, it’s because I really do advise anyone reading this to go see the movie — I’m avoiding all the spoilers I can. But for the most part, this movie wasn’t about scaring the audience, it was about educating it. “Best of Enemies” is a well-paced telling of a true event, portrayed by two incredible actors.

Taraji P. Henson, who also has been in “What Men Want” and “Hidden Figures,” starred as Ann Atwater, a passionate, spirited black woman and activist for her southern city. I had last seen her in “What Men Want” as a spunky and vivacious businesswoman, but Henson was able to completely sink into her pantyhose, cotton dress and waddling gait, taking on the animated,

A B R EAK D OWN

Scan this QR code to buy movie tickets for the “Best of Enemies” in theaters.

all the subtle mannerisms of an uneducated, small town father.

In the ending credits, during real footage of the two activists, the audience learned C.P. Ellis and Ann Atwater traveled the country for 30 more years, continuing to advocate. So while C.P. Ellis might be the most dynamic character in all of history, the movie portrays the rare cases of human redemption in a heartwarming, but realistic light.

A glance at ratings from reviewers

52%

ROTTEN TOMATOES

7/ 10

IMDB

W

by carolyn popper hen I initially read the brief summary of the new movie “Best of Enemies,” on Twitter, I thought the friendship between a Ku Klux Klan chapter president and a black rights activist sounded too unrealistic to be a true story.

Based on my knowledge from history class, I thought it would be naïve of me to believe a male white supremacist and a black female activist in the 1970’s could buddy up and overthrow segregation in Durham, NC. And while there was definitely no hand-holding or playdates between the two, I couldn’t help but double check the validity of the “true” story. I mean, what true event involving the KKK has ever had a happy ending?

Yet the story was remarkable, almost unbelievable, and the film was just the same; the way the characters were portrayed and the way that the ‘70s decade wasn’t overplayed are what made the movie realistic.

The film is set in 1971, where a charatte (a meeting which works to resolve conflicts and map solutions) is formed in the southern city of Durham, NC after an elementary school for black students burns down. The town turns to integrated schools, but — you guessed it — not everyone is up for it. To represent all sides of the town effectively, C.P. Ellis, president of Durham’s KKK chapter, and Ann Atwater, President of Operation Breakthrough, are chosen as co-chairs in the charatte.

This story takes place late enough in the civil rights era that I wasn’t seeing bodies hanging from trees or lynchings being performed. I wasn’t crying at the horrific happenings that occurred in the early civil

4.5/5

CA RO LY N’S RATI NG

A&E

design by lauren west photos by elle karras

TOP OF THE LINE A guide to the best rooftops in Kansas City to grab a bite to eat at this spring

WALKING INTO THE WELL I thought my google maps had made a mistake. The lights were dim, the floors were very dark and the crowd was almost entirely middle aged couples day drinking wondering what a group of teenage girls was doing there. I just about turned around before I asked to be seated on the roof.

The host told me it was free seating up there and I was welcome to take a look. Reluctantly I bypassed the questioning crowd and made my way upstairs.

The roof was a whole different restaurant. The bright blue umbrellas and lively music made me feel like it was summertime at the lake. We sat at a short little stone table next to the edge of the roof.

It overlooked shops across the street and brought the direct mid-day sun onto our skin. Again, had me

EL PATRON 4/5

WHEN THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM warning for 6 p.m. got pushed back to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, my mom and I took the potential risk of frizzy, lion’s mane hair and and went to O’Dowd’s Little Dublin, a rooftop restaurant on the Plaza. I can’t say I’ve ever noticed the little pub on the corner of the plaza right off of Ward Parkway — it’s easily overlooked on the way to shop at Lululemon or Urban Outfitters. But nonetheless I made my way in and climbed two flights of stairs to the roof.

My seat at the edge of the rooftop deck offered a nice breeze every now and then, but when I looked to my right, I wasn’t as pleased. The parking garage and Victoria’s Secret weren’t exactly what I wanted to be looking at while enjoying my food.

Although all the underwhelming decor matched

by lauren dierks NOW THAT THE SNOW days have finally been swapped for 70-degree weather and being outside doesn’t require two coats and mittens, it’s time eat food from the comfort of a warm rooftop deck with a view. But in case you’re bored with the classic patio seating, here are three rooftop restaurants nearby.

wishing I was at the lake rather than in the fourth quarter of the school year.

To ease the pain of that harsh reality check, I ordered a side of sweet potato waffle fries and nachos to share. Rustic containers carried my soon to be favorite sweet potato fries to ever reach my mouth — so good I could’ve eaten them from my kitchen floor (gross by the way).

I’m no nacho fanatic but the pile of chips, cheese, chicken, sour cream and pico de gallo that was placed in front of me was amazing not only to look at but also to devour — which. of course, we did.

So the next nice day I need an escape from my constant pile of homework and a taste of summer you can find me at the Well.

WHEN SCANNING GOOGLE FOR rooftop restaurants near me I was surprised to see El Patron on the list. This is my family’s go-to Mexican restaurant downtown ever since I can remember.

How could I not know they had a roof?

I put my name on the 20 to 30 minute waitlist for roof seating. I guess I wasn’t the only one who had the idea to enjoy delicious Mexican food and the 70-degree weather. After about 20 minutes we were led up some narrow stairs and onto a tiny seating area. I understood why the wait was so long when I looked over the place. The patio could only seat around 30 people and even 20 was cramped.

We sat down and scanned our menus even though

the color of the grey sky, the restaurant itself was chic, modern and totally somewhere I would want to “watch” a football game on a Sunday night.

A few raindrops quickly turned into our predicted downpour so we moved under the strategically placed hooded section of the roof to order our food. Looking over the menu I was glad I had come with my mom rather than my thin, weekend chore salary wallet, seeing that I was having a hard time finding an entree under $12. I decided on an order of fish and chips to split with my brother. The parmesan dusted fries were nothing short of fantastic and the crispy cod made me reconsider my distaste for seafood.

Easily a five star for the fish and chips.

25

THE WELL 5/5

we knew exactly what we wanted: chicken fajitas to share.

Waiting for our server there wasn’t much to look at. The view was hardly worth the 20 minute wait: having only a poorly done concrete parking lot and a brick building across the street. The whole venue wasn’t top of the line but the food never disappoints — and you can never go wrong with sitting outside on a nice night.

When my family returns to El Patron on a nice night I’ll be sure to call and reserve an outside seat to avoid the wait. Even though the view is subpar, the good food and open air will always beat a stuffy inside table.

O’DOWDS 5/5

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SPORTS

design by lucy patterson and carolyn popper

27

SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS SW I M S P E A K This dive season has been going amazing.

Everyone has adapted to our new coaches goals and expectations, with everyone workign their hardest, we have all up to our best potential in my opinion.

layla caro senior

The team has accomplished a couple of considered relays and qualifying times for sure and I love swim and how inclusive it is!

caroline kuhlman sophomore

S P R I N G S TAT S Team

Date

Time

Opponent

BOYS BASEBALL

Today April 29

2 pm

Blue Springs

UMKC

BOYS LACROSSE

May 3

TBA

Pembroke Hill

Pembroke Hill School

7 pm

SMNW

SM Soccer Complex

5:30 pm

Gardner Edgerton

Gardner Edgerton High School

Olathe North

Summit Trail Middle School

GIRLS SOCCER

GIRLS SOFTBALL

GIRLS SWIM & DIVE

BOYS TENNIS

April 30 April 30 May 3

5 pm

Today April 29

3:30 pm

Kansas City Christian

Location

SME

TOP | Sophomore Jilli Foley pushes through a group of North soccer players to pass the ball to a teammate. photo by aislinn menke MIDDLE | Senior Peter Grimm scans field for a teammate to pass to during the Lee Summit West Game. East stayed in the lead for the entire game and ended 15-2. photo by lucy morantz BOTTOM | Junior Lucy Smith performs her backstroke in a brief warmup before her 100 backstroke race. photo by lucy morantz

GALLERY: BOYS JV TENNIS VS. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS Scan this QR code to view the gallery of East boys tennis

28 SPORTS

photo by noelle griffin design by meg thoma

I BELIEVE THAT WE

WILL W YN N BEHIND

THE HELMET

A closer look at Wynn’s stats this season WILL’S STATS

FO% SHT%

NATIONAL AVG.

stats courtesty of MaxPreps

.634 1 .500 1

G/G

1

GOALS

on avg.

7

WHAT THIS MEANS...

FO%

G/G

SHT%

GOALS

faceoff percentage shooting percentage

avg. goals per game total goals scored

ABOVE | Sophomore Will Wynn engages in the faceoff against Lee Summit West HS during a regular season game.

Sophomore Will Wynn steps up to replace injured senior in taking the faceoffs for the varsity lacrosse team for the remainder of the season

S

by liddy stallard ophomore Will Wynn paraded to the center of the lacrosse field in his black jersey with the number #33 plastered on the back, knelt down and prepared to faceoff against his opponent.

With an instant scramble following the sharp blow of the whistle, the ball was finally secured in Wynn’s stick and counted as an East win. He quickly surveyed the field for an open player as his team cheered him on from the sidelines.

When Wynn and his family made the two hour move from Springfield, MO to Prairie Village, KS. this fall, he had no idea he would be stepping in to take the faceoffs. The faceoff marks the start of a lacrosse game and after each goal. Two opponents face each other stick to stick trying to gain control of the ball. Previously East’s faceoff competitor was senior Hank Breckenridge. However, after his torn ACL, the varsity team was in desperate need of a new faceoff competitor.

“He literally saved our team this year when [Breckenridge] went down,” coach Dan Leff said. “We were without a face off guy and [Wynn] stepped in and did a fantastic job.”

After the news broke that Breckenridge was out for the remainder of the season, the team spent part of practice doing a faceoff clinic. Wynn, a midfielder, stood out for picking up the needed faceoff skills the fastest. The coaches decided that he was best fit to take over Breckenridge’s job for the remainder of the season because of his quick reactions.

“I did [faceoffs] a little bit in eighth grade,” Wynn said. “[Breckenridge] taught me a lot of stuff over the past couple weeks.”

Wynn started playing lacrosse in fifth grade. After realizing his love for the sport, he started to partake in competitive travel tournaments. Wynn and his

face·off noun A method of beginning play in lacrosse in which two opponents face each other and attempt to gain control of the ball placed between them. family made the decision to move to East knowing the lacrosse potential that Kansas City held for Wynn and his eighth grade brother, who plans to also play for

East next year.

“I wasn’t getting much better [in Springfield], so playing better people now makes me get better,” Wynn said.

Since Breckenridge can’t play he has spent his time passing on all his tips and tricks to Wynn. The second the referee blows the whistle, Wynn starts performing all the steps taught to him. He focuses on clamping the ball under the stick before his opponent does, and then pinches the ball and pops it out. Once he has possession of the ball he immediately takes it to goal or looks for an open teammate so he can make a pass.

He literally saved our team this year when [Breckenridge] went down. We were without a face off guy and [Wynn] stepped in an did a fantastic job.

dan leff boys varsity lacrosse coach “I have just been working with him getting all of his technique down, his naturally a pretty big and physical guy so its been pretty easy,” Breckenridge said. “He’s learning quickly, he needs to work on a few things, but he has gotten all the basics pretty quick which has allowed him to have a lot of success so far this year.”

According to Coach Leff, Wynn is currently ranked second in the LAKC league for faceoffs and wins an average of 70% of all his faceoffs.

“He has improved drastically,” Leff said. “He was good when he got here but playing daily against top competition has really taken his game to a new level.”

Wynn isn’t certain whether he will be the player to take the faceoffs for the Lancers next season, but he plans to continue to work on them for the remainder of the current season and over the summer.

“From this point forward we are just working on solidifying [Wynn’s] fundamentals along with working on more advanced technique to help him against better teams,” Breckenridge said. “Look over some film, just kind of be his brain until he can figure it out for himself.”

28 SPORTS

photo by noelle griffin design by meg thoma

I BELIEVE THAT WE

WILL W YN N BEHIND

THE HELMET

A closer look at Wynn’s stats this season WILL’S STATS

FO% SHT%

NATIONAL AVG.

stats courtesty of MaxPreps

.634 1 .500 1

G/G

1

GOALS

on avg.

7

WHAT THIS MEANS...

FO%

G/G

SHT%

GOALS

faceoff percentage shooting percentage

avg. goals per game total goals scored

ABOVE | Sophomore Will Wynn engages in the faceoff against Lee Summit West HS during a regular season game.

Sophomore Will Wynn steps up to replace injured senior in taking the faceoffs for the varsity lacrosse team for the remainder of the season

S

by liddy stallard ophomore Will Wynn paraded to the center of the lacrosse field in his black jersey with the number #33 plastered on the back, knelt down and prepared to faceoff against his opponent.

With an instant scramble following the sharp blow of the whistle, the ball was finally secured in Wynn’s stick and counted as an East win. He quickly surveyed the field for an open player as his team cheered him on from the sidelines.

When Wynn and his family made the two hour move from Springfield, MO to Prairie Village, KS. this fall, he had no idea he would be stepping in to take the faceoffs. The faceoff marks the start of a lacrosse game and after each goal. Two opponents face each other stick to stick trying to gain control of the ball. Previously East’s faceoff competitor was senior Hank Breckenridge. However, after his torn ACL, the varsity team was in desperate need of a new faceoff competitor.

“He literally saved our team this year when [Breckenridge] went down,” coach Dan Leff said. “We were without a face off guy and [Wynn] stepped in and did a fantastic job.”

After the news broke that Breckenridge was out for the remainder of the season, the team spent part of practice doing a faceoff clinic. Wynn, a midfielder, stood out for picking up the needed faceoff skills the fastest. The coaches decided that he was best fit to take over Breckenridge’s job for the remainder of the season because of his quick reactions.

“I did [faceoffs] a little bit in eighth grade,” Wynn said. “[Breckenridge] taught me a lot of stuff over the past couple weeks.”

Wynn started playing lacrosse in fifth grade. After realizing his love for the sport, he started to partake in competitive travel tournaments. Wynn and his

face·off noun A method of beginning play in lacrosse in which two opponents face each other and attempt to gain control of the ball placed between them. family made the decision to move to East knowing the lacrosse potential that Kansas City held for Wynn and his eighth grade brother, who plans to also play for

East next year.

“I wasn’t getting much better [in Springfield], so playing better people now makes me get better,” Wynn said.

Since Breckenridge can’t play he has spent his time passing on all his tips and tricks to Wynn. The second the referee blows the whistle, Wynn starts performing all the steps taught to him. He focuses on clamping the ball under the stick before his opponent does, and then pinches the ball and pops it out. Once he has possession of the ball he immediately takes it to goal or looks for an open teammate so he can make a pass.

He literally saved our team this year when [Breckenridge] went down. We were without a face off guy and [Wynn] stepped in an did a fantastic job.

dan leff boys varsity lacrosse coach “I have just been working with him getting all of his technique down, his naturally a pretty big and physical guy so its been pretty easy,” Breckenridge said. “He’s learning quickly, he needs to work on a few things, but he has gotten all the basics pretty quick which has allowed him to have a lot of success so far this year.”

According to Coach Leff, Wynn is currently ranked second in the LAKC league for faceoffs and wins an average of 70% of all his faceoffs.

“He has improved drastically,” Leff said. “He was good when he got here but playing daily against top competition has really taken his game to a new level.”

Wynn isn’t certain whether he will be the player to take the faceoffs for the Lancers next season, but he plans to continue to work on them for the remainder of the current season and over the summer.

“From this point forward we are just working on solidifying [Wynn’s] fundamentals along with working on more advanced technique to help him against better teams,” Breckenridge said. “Look over some film, just kind of be his brain until he can figure it out for himself.”

SPORTS

design by annabelle cook

RULES to

T

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An overview of the NCAA’s rules for recruitment

by allison wilcox he National Collegiate Athletic Association — a non-profit organization regulating student-athletes during their experience playing a sport in college — has many specific rules from signing dates to grade requirements.

NCAA recruitment begins during high school, but the starting and committing dates of the process differ depending on the person and the sport. In total 1,117 colleges work with and abide by NCAA rules. Here are some of the rules found on the NCAA website to keep in mind while going through the recruitment process:

#1 NCAA allows potential commits, or recruits, during junior and senior year to take five official visits and unlimited unofficial visits to college campuses. Visits to a school are considered official if the school pays for all of the expenses including food and transportation.

While some students don’t use all of their visits, others wish they could visit more than their top five schools.

#2 Recruits are not allowed to take official or unofficial visits until Sept. 1 of their junior year. However, they are allowed on campus if no contact with a potential coach has been made and the visit doesn’t include touring any of the school’s athletics facilities.

#3 During the recruitment process it’s important to make sure to register through the NCAA website to be eligible to play a sport in college. Registering includes providing information about grades as well as paying an $80 fee. Recruits can register anytime, though it’s not required until junior year.

I never even used all of my [officials] because all you really need is one and the right school, but I think you should get as many officials as you want.

I saw [Pepperdine’s] campus at a soccer camp this summer but I am not allowed to see the facilities and the locker room. Not being able to see that stuff wasn’t a deal breaker for me to commit without seeing it.

If you want to sign you have to be signed up to be eligible. Also when you input your athletics and academics into their center it helps them keep up with your high school status whether academics or athletic and watch your progress.

deonte carroll senior and northwest missouri state commit

caroline coleman sophomore and Pepperdine soccer commit

kathleen stanley junior basketball recruit

#4

#5

#6

If a recruit commits to a school prior to their senior year, they’re only allowed to verbally commit, meaning they haven’t signed their National Letter of Intent and the commitment is non-binding. After Sept. 1 of a student’s senior year athletes can officially sign. This school year, National Signing days were held on Nov. 14 and April 17.

Eligibility for a sport requires students to meet the standard academic requirements. In order to be eligible to compete in a sport at the collegiate level, athletes must graduate high school and meet the specific college’s minimum SAT or ACT requirement.

Before going to visit a school, an athlete must have their high school transcript on hand or have it submitted prior to the visit. Schools use the transcript to make sure a student is a good fit academically and have taken the necessary classes.

It’s good that you don’t sign until your senior year because for the people who commit when they are younger, their commitment isn’t set in stone.

I think it’s fair and makes sense because it doesn’t give the athletes any advantage during the admission process.

[High school transcripts] show your grades. Your scores on ACT or SAT that may be crucial for you to get into that certain college.

sarah bingham sophomore and Illinois volleyball commit

hayden leatherwood senior tennis recruit

destiny ray senior and Pittsburg State track commit

30 SPORTS

photo by aislinn menke

MEET

THE TEAMS

Each track and field team has a different dynamic within them and are different than other East sports

IF A SPECTATOR MAKES their way to the secluded shot put and discus rings during a track meet, chances are they will come across two throwers debating whether someone has truly ever kissed a boy in their heated game of ‘Never Have I Ever’ next to a spinning shot put thrower.

The throwers, known notoriously for skimping out on the warm-up lap, are pinned as the “lazy and weird” group, according to sophomore shot put and discus thrower Lee Marshall.

Whether they’re sporting neon green crop tops on “crop top Wednesday” or making t-shirts with their coaches’ faces on them, throwers are always finding a

THE JUMPERS — LONG, triple and high — are known as the “obsolete” group according to jumpers sophomore Jodie Duncan and junior Olive Henry.

The preconceived notion of this group is that they lack motivation and aren’t known as a tight-knit group.

In reality, according to senior high jumper Carly Hendrickson, what people forget to consider is that the jumpers use an immense amount of effort for only a few seconds, allowing for more rest time.

“For high jump specifically, it’s just

FOR DISTANCE RUNNERS, the end of five hour track meets usually aren’t met with a bowl of ice cream and a recovery Netflix session. Instead, they’re usually met with the infamous Delmar hill — the same hill where underclassmen fight for parking spots at 7:30 in the morning.

The runners aren’t parking — they are running up and down the hill while the rest of the track team makes their way home to their beds.

According to distance coach Rikki Hacker, the extra mileage and strenuous workouts are primary factors that

by brynn winkler ON A TYPICAL Monday track practice, the bleachers are nearly full — not with fans, but with the track team.

With 180 athletes participating in track, the team dynamic is not necessarily the norm compared to the more typical 30-person sports teams at

new way to entertain themselves.

After a brief warm-up, freshman Abigail Patton might be found throwing a fellow teammate’s shoes on the track shed roof, while mid-distance runners practice their interval sprints around the track.

Pattan agrees with the lazy stereotype of the group, adding that often times people will come up to her while she’s in her track uniform, unaware that she participates in the sport.

“And we’ll say, ‘Yes we’re throwers,’” said Pattan.

“And then they’re like ‘Ohh, that makes sense.’”

Though senior thrower Kennedy Krumm agrees that the thrower’s laziness is maybe more evident than

running like ten steps and then you putting all of your momentum and force into the ground to go up, instead of like running [events],” Hendrickson said.

This, along with only having Ron Stallard as the coach for the three separate jumping events, allows jumpers to have more free time than the average track athlete.

To pass the time, a game of four square is a popular choice for the jumpers. They make use of the bungees that are used for high

East. Due to the wide range of events, the team has seven teams within in it, each sector with their own dynamic and personality. Read below to find out more about three of these groups, from throwers to distance runners to jumpers.

the other events’, she believes their shenanigans stem from the closeness of the athletes rather than a lack in drive.

“I think when we don’t do a workout or drill it’s not because we don’t want to, it’s just because we are having such a good time talking and goofing around with each other,” Krumm said.

When it comes down to it, the throwers still spend two hours perfecting their footwork to improve their throwing distance of a 16 pound shot put or heavy javelin — they just might be sporting a crop top while doing it.

jumpers to jump over, forming an “X” with them to make a four square court, and retrieve balls from girls’ soccer practice to use.

As far as the closeness of the group, Henry is quick to denounce the rumor that jumpers don’t associate with each other, citing team pasta nights and “Mama Mia!” dance parties as evidence of their team bonding.

“We’re making a comeback this year,” Henry said. “We’re a family, we’re really tight knit now.”

distinguish the distance group from other track events.

Running hills after meets isn’t the only extra work distance runners put in. Some training days for distance runners consist of two practices, with one occurring at 5 a.m. and the other after school — not to mention Saturday morning practices where the group will run up to 12 miles.

However, according to junior distance runner Jack Fisher, this extra training, along with the small group dynamic, makes distance one of the most tightknit groups in track. While the sprinter

group consists of around 40 people, the distance group may finish their 10 mile runs with only five people left in the group.

“When you are with the same five people everyday you really grow a great friendship with them,” Fisher said.

“They become your friends in school, outside of school, and people you’ll stay in contact with the rest of your life.”

Whether they’re in the cafeteria during first lunch, playing ultimate frisbee in the dark nights of winter or finishing a race — they’re doing it together.

When you are with the same five people everyday you really grow a great friendship with them,” Fisher said. “They become your friends in school, outside of school, and people you’ll stay in contact with the rest of your life.

jack fisher junior

PHOTOSTORY

design by lucy morantz

WELCOME TO THE Seniors participate in the annual Assassins game for the last six weeks of the school year

RIGHT | Senior Destiny Ray, agent 061, turns away from her assassin, senior Luke Hoffman. “I was looking forward to playing and seeing how long I could last,” Ray said. “I thought I could make it to the second round, possibly the third.” photo by kate nixon BOTTOM LEFT |

During a two-and-ahalf-hour stakeout, senior Parker Gordon waits for her target, senior Gretchen Ternus, outside Ternus’s house. “I was excited to go on a stakeout,” Gordon, agent 080, said. “When I was a kid, I used to watch all these true crime shows, so I kind of wanted to live that out a bit.” photo by megan stopperan

COLUMBIA

BUREAU

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BELOW | While out water gun shopping with friends, senior Tera Hawes jokingly shoots water in senior Lucy Dozier’s mouth. “I didn’t expect to win, but I really wanted to at least get a little bit further,” Dozier, also known as Agent 106 said. “But then my friends tricked me. I was told that my target was at Baskin-Robbins, but really my assassin was at Baskin-Robbins.” photo by grace goldman

LEFT | Senior Carson Jones shoots senior Jack Gilman after faking a Prom King nomination wake-up to gain an invitation from Gilman’s parents into the house. photo by ally griffith LEFT | After showing up at senior Alex Como’s house with the intention to assassinate senior Ted Dalton, senior Connor Sawalich gets shot by senior Becca Heinz in a set up. “With senioritis setting in it’s just something to keep you in the spirit and get everyone excited for going to school,” Sawalich, agent 128, said. photo by sarah golder

32 ALT COPY

design by lizzie kahle

If you are looking to get back into reading during your leisure time, here are four different books tailored to fit four different readers by rose kanaley

IT’S NOT EXACTLY A SECRET that we should be reading more and Snapchatting less, so I picked out four books worth getting off the screens and into the pages. I get it — it’s hard to find time to read books outside of school when you’ve already got three hours of logarithms, 75 French conjuguemos problems and a Shakespearean play to analyze. But finding those extra 30 minutes

BOOK BEARTOWN AUTHOR FREDRICK BACKMAN FOR THOSE WHO WANT A LONGER READ RATING 5/5 WHEN

MY

GRANDMA

recommended “Beartown” to me, I ignored her — I had absolutely no interest in reading a book about a junior hockey team in a dinky city called Beartown, W. Va. I thought I would more or less be reading about my cousin’s hockey team and their big win he wouldn’t shut up about for two months, but the book’s theme is something

completely different: covering up dark secrets.

“Beartown” follows a rape by the star player on the hockey team and how his status in the town protects him from the true allegations against him. It isn’t necessarily a light read, but one that’s left me contemplating how we prioritize male star athletes in our society today.

OVER TWO MILLION copies sold and $238 million in movie profits later, I’m sure you’ve heard about the bestselling-book-turned-blockbuster that no rom-com enthusiast would shut up about: “Crazy Rich Asians.” But this is another in the three-book series.

“Rich People Problems” is the third book after “China Rich Girlfriend.” It’s the perfect fun and flashy light read for when you’ve finished all your kinetics worksheets for chem. Reading it lets you experience a lavish lifestyle of billion dollar jewel collections, private

jets with massage clinics inside them and countless designer outfits (one for each vacation home, obviously) you never knew existed — because they only exist if you’re a billionaire.

Focused around the Young family dynasty, the story follows the endless family drama of who-will-get-what in the will of the oldest Young, Su Yi. The surprisingly relatable insanity of the Young family had me wishing I too could jet off to a private island in the Maldives just because I wasn’t in the mood to talk to my family.

BOOK RICH PEOPLE PROBLEMS AUTHOR KEVIN KWAN FOR THOSE WHO WANT LIGHT HEARTED RATING 4.5/5

right before bed to get under the covers and open a good book is SO worth it. Maybe you have to lose that last episode of “The Office” or close out of the Instagram tab, but that’s not exactly a deal breaker. I may not be a novel connoisseur, but trust me when I say that these books will help you see why reading can be fun — contrary to the beliefs of almost any high schooler enrolled in an English class.

UNTIL I READ “I’ll Give You the Sun,” I’d never had any interest in becoming an artist. Following the viewpoints of a set of artistic twins, Jude recounts the later teenage years of their lives and Noah follows the earlier years as they both work to become artists like their mom and get into their dream art school. I can’t help but wish that instead of daydreaming, I could paint in my head the way the characters do. Noah’s chapters are interrupted continuously with ideas for paintings

and sculptures that pop into his head as he goes through life, giving me ideas for everything I’d paint if I had any art talent at all. Their relatable sibling-fights of ignoring each other for over a week, ripping up the other’s picture because it was better than their own and lying about who they had a crush on made me laugh and cry. I still wouldn’t call it a heavy read, rather a fun and fast-paced book you could finish on a day off.

BOOK I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN AUTHOR JANDY NELSON FOR THOSE WHO WANT SUSPENSE & ROMANCE RATING 4.5/5 BOOK EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU AUTHOR CELESTE NG FOR THOSE WHO WANT A MYSTERY RATING 4.5/5 I’VE NEVER BEEN that invested in mysteries — no, not even playing “Clue” — but following the mystery of Lydia Lee’s death in “Everything I Never Told You” made me feel like Watson helping out Sherlock on his latest case.

The book’s a quick read and took me just one plane ride from KCI to JFK to finish.

It’s centered around the

mysterious disappearance of “perfect child” Lydia, whose body is found at the bottom of the lake and thought to be a suicide. When her parents try to understand what could’ve gone wrong, they realize that they may have never really known their daughter (cue me getting sucked further into the mystery).