Harbinger Issue 9 2021

the harbinger.

SHAWNEE MISSION EAST 7500 MISSION ROAD PRAIRIE VILL AGE, KS 66208 FEBRUARY 08, 2021 VOLUME LXIII ISSUE 9

PR ACT ICE Colleges shift away from requiring standardized test scores because of the socioeconomic inequalities they present

A LOOK

INSIDE

5

NEWS

Some students and teachers are receiving the COVID vaccine

(AND PAYMENTS)

MAKE PERFECT

30 SPORTS

Winter sports prepare for playoffs season

“[Coach Hair] really emphasizes that [boxing out is key] because we give up a lot of offensive rebounds during games.”

emmett hill | junior

Staffer tests essential oils and their effectiveness

22 A&E

02 | INSIDE COVER

THE HARBINGER | FEBRUARY 08, 2021

ONLINE

STA F F L IST

PREVIEW

@smeharbinger

@smeharbinger

@smeharbie

STORIE S HUMANS OF E AST

FLOATING KC REVIEW Scan to read staffer Emma Brown’s review of float therapy

Scan to read a Q&A with junior Kay Kay Winn about Chem Club

GA L L E R I E S JV AND VARSITY BOWLING

WRESTLING QUAD

Scan to view Taylor Keal’s gallery of the bowling meet against Olathe North and Shawnee Mission West

Scan to view Rachel Bingham’s gallery of the wrestling team’s senior night

ST UDENT L I FE L E F T | Sophomore Ryan Grinstead folds a piece of yarn in half after completing the Measuring Distance and Displacement Lab during Ms. Hallstrom’s fourth hour Physical Science class. photo by annakate dilks BELOW | During gym class, senior Lars Schnetzler gets ready to serve the volleyball while his teacher helps him photo by elise madden

ABOVE | The sixth hour gym class plays basketball, practicing shooting and dribbling. photo by rachel bingham

cover design by catherine erickson cover photo by photo editors

PRINT EDITORS Catherine Erickson Rose Kanaley ONLINE EDITORS Riley Atkinson Lauren West ASST. PRINT EDITORS Celia Condon Annabelle Moore Sydney Newton ASST. ONLINE EDITORS Sophie Henschel Campbell Wood HEAD COPY EDITORS Phoebe Hendon Allison Wilcox PHOTO EDITORS Sarah Golder Trevor Paulus Julia Percy ASST. PHOTO EDITORS Noelle Griffin Elise Madden Megan Stopperan MOBILE MEDIA PHOTO EDITOR Megan Biles VIDEO EDITOR Lawder DeSantis Sydney Williams VIDEO TRAINING EDITOR Roberto Galicia BROADCAST EDITORS Megan Stopperan ASST. BROADCAST EDITOR Liv Olson Natalie Scholz PHOTO MENTORS Taylor Keal Megan Biles Annakate Dilks MJ Wolf Emma Kate Squires STAFF WRITERS Sophie Lindberg Madeline Funkey Elizabeth Mikkelson Lauren Dierks Cesca Stamati Lily Billingsley Caroline Gould Peyton Moore Mia Vogel Lyda Cosgrove Kelly Murphy Anna Mitchell Grace Allen Kate Heitmann Caroline Wood Ethan Enderle Ben Bradley Paige Zadoo Tommy Paulus Emma Brown Nora Lynn Greyson Imm August Hyde Christian Gooley Liv Olson Winnie Wolf

COPY EDITORS Catherine Erickson Rose Kanaley Lauren West Riley Atkinson Phoebe Hendon Allison Wilcox Celia Condon Annabelle Moore Sydney Newton Sophie Henschel Campbell Wood Winnie Wolf Kelly Murphy Caroline Wood Lyda Cosgrove Kate Heitmann Caroline Gould Lily Billingsley EDITORIAL BOARD Catherine Erickson Rose Kanaley Lauren West Riley Atkinson Phoebe Hendon Allison Wilcox Celia Condon Annabelle Moore Sydney Newton Sophie Henschel Campbell Wood Lily Billingsley Lauren Dierks SECTION EDITORS EDITORIAL PRINT Lauren Dierks NEWS PRINT Caroline Wood ONLINE Lyda Cosgrove OPINION PRINT Lily Billingsley ONLINE Grace Allen FEATURE PRINT Peyton Moore ONLINE Caroline Gould A&E PRINT Tommy Paulus ONLINE Kate Heitmann SPORTS PRINT Cesca Stamati ONLINE Anna Mitchell DESIGNER EDITORS Tommy Paulus Elizabeth Mikkelson PAGE DESIGNERS Annakate Dilks Maggie Merckens Cesca Stamati Lily Billingsley Caroline Gould Peyton Moore Mia Vogel Lyda Cosgrove

Anna Mitchell Madeline Funkey Grace Allen Kate Heitmann Caroline Wood Nora Lynn Sophie Lindberg August Hyde Christian Gooley ART EDITOR Celia Condon ASS. ART EDITOR Sophie Henschel Natalie Scholz STAFF ARTISTS Sophie Lindberg Lauren Dierks Nora Lynn Christian Gooley STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS Ella Hans Emily Pollock Hadley Chapman Jill Rice Lily Mantel Maggie Merckens Molly Schumm Rachel Bingham Sabrina Dean Tristen Porter Macy Crosser Maggie Klump Charlotte Emely Kate Beaulieu Amina Sankpill VIDEO STAFF Lawder DeSantis Sydney Williams Liv Olson Roberto Galicia Marin Bryant SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR Annabelle Moore ASST. SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR Sophie Henschel Celia Condon Liv Olson SOCIAL MEDIA STAFF Lauren Dierks Mia Vogel Kelly Murphy Grace Allen Ethan Enderlie Paige Zadoo Lauren West Riley Atkinson Rose Kanaley Lyda Cosgrove Maggie Merckens Nora Lynn Sophie Lindberg Madeline Funkey ADS MANAGER Caroline Wood CIRCULATION MANAGER Lyda Cosgrove COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER Anna Mitchell CONTEST COORDINATOR Celia Condon

design by lauren dierks illustration by natalie scholz

THE HARBINGER | FEBRUARY 08, 2021

EDITORIAL | 03

GA M E STO P M A R K E T The recent stock boom in GameStop has highlighted wealth injustices and powers, causing a political movement for change

F O R : 1 3 AGA I N ST: 0 The members of the editorial board who agree with the viewpoint of the editorial are represented by for, and those who disagree with the viewpoint are represented by against.

EDITO RIAL 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 content and opinions 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 quotes material may be

I

t’s safe to say that no one ever thought GameStop would be the focus of current news stories considering no one has bought a physical video game in over five years — but the power of the average American and a social media movement has changed that notion because of one reason: stocks.

The stock market is a complex ideology that many dedicate their lives to understanding.

These past few weeks have upended the system as a whole, providing a sense of skepticism and conjecture involving not only Wall Street, but also the government itself and the varying national wealth distribution — oh, and we can’t forget about GameStop.

The commercial frenzy began with a simple subreddit entitled WallStreetBets that formed in 2012. Instead of the home page filled with typical Reddit content, such as sharing pop culture rumors or opinions on the latest fan-favorite movie hit, it’s now flooded with stock market memes and discussions of taking down Wall Street.

When sharing trading ideas and strategies in the WallStreetBets subreddit, someone noticed that one broker on Wall Street had short selled — meaning they sold the stock, planning to buy in at a lower price and profit — a sizeable amount of stocks for GameStop.

The group banded their money together in GameStop holdings, causing the stock price

of GameStop to increase from a mere $19 to $483 in the month of January, sending brokers into bankruptcy and causing an uproar in the financial sector.

While this monetary value uprooted the financial trading system, the most important takeaway was highlighting the wealth inequality and overbearing power of Wall Street.

In short, the small investors’ goal was to punish Wall Street for betting their money against GameStop, while attempting to make a profit themselves — a smart and necessary approach in order to break up systematic wealth inequality.

This revolution led to the stock exponentially increasing, causing some small investors and day traders to be able to make more in a day than they had over years of trading — demonstrating the impact that average Americans were able to acquire even in a short period over big Wall Street banks.

While a majority of American billionaires’ wealth increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of these lower and middle class average Americans faced unemployment concerns, rising debt and more financial uncertainty than ever according to Business Insider.

Back in January 2020, already wealthy senators were briefed on the pandemic before the public — giving them time to sell stocks

for Personal Protective Equipment before the public was aware of the virus’ gravity. When bigger businesses and powerful people are made aware of issues first, it gives them an advantage in the stocks, hurting the smaller businesses and individual traders’ chances of gaining large profits.

While this monetary value uprooted the financial trading system, the most important takeaway was highlighting the wealth inequality and overbearing power of Wall Street.

With this system, Wall Street methods have made it so that the rich get richer and the wealth gap only increases between them and the average lower to middle class American. Most of the small investors are young men, looking for the equal opportunity of fair investments, an idea almost impossible in today’s society, going up against the wealthier generation consisting of big banks and business executives.

These tactics are used to lure in small investors at the peak of a high market and leads to a sneaky escape route for the Wall Street big banks. This makes it harder for

confirmed with the 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 thought letters may be edited for clarity, length or mechanics.

Letters should be sent to room 413B or emailed to smeharbinger@gmail. com.

everyday individuals to gain substantial market share with the structured inequalities and injustices of the market dominators — known to be present but hidden throughout the years.

Through the past few weeks, however, tactics such as insider trading or shorting that Wall Street individuals have been using for years is finally being pitted against them.

Although the recent events have presented major downfalls within the American financial sector as a whole, this issue was able to unite political parties for systematic change. Because let’s face it: when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ted Cruz agree on an issue, you know it’s a big deal.

Both the Republican and Democratic parties called for immediate action from the government, aligning with the initial Reddit community’s goal. Rightfully so, these political figures called for the Securities and Exchange Commission to intervene with the main stock trading platform, Robinhood, which recently blocked all trading from GameStop allowed on the app.

Although GameStop’s sudden traction will inevitably fade with time in the coming weeks, the repercussions must still be taken into account along with the outlined flaws of the corrupt and unjust system.

04 | NEWS

THE HARBINGER | FEBRUARY 08, 2021

NEWS

LOCAL by caro l i ne g o ul d

HIGHLIGHTS

Catch up on school, local and national news

Prairie Village updated their 20-year plan

PRAIRIE VILLAGE RELEASED their 20-year future plan for the city on Jan. 19, coining it as the “Village Vision 2.0.”

According to the Prairie Village website, the comprehensive plan for the city’s future was laid out in fall of 2018, but this year the city council authorized the city staff and the planning commission to begin updating the Village Vision.

The original vision was developed in 2007, and since many of the goals and plans outlined in that version have been accomplished or are no longer relevant to today’s issues, the city felt it was time to start from a blank slate, according to Deputy City Administrator Jamie Robichaud.

“So after several conversations with our planning commission and our city council, they directed our staff to facilitate an update to that plan to make it more relevant to today’s challenges and issues,” Robichaud said.

The city council held a public hearing on Jan. 5 to receive the input of the

N AT I O N A L

A B OV E | Senior Kelly Murphy hits the ball back to her opponent while playing pickleball at Pickleball Club.

EAST

East Booster Club hosts a pickleball tournament fundraiser

THE “LANCER SPRING Smash,” a pickleball tournament fundraiser for the All Sports Booster Club, will take place on March 20 at Homestead Country Club and is now open for anyone to register.

With this being the All Sports Booster Club’s only fundraising event of the year, there’s a $50 entrance fee for a two-person team under the age of 19 and $200 for a team of two adults to enter, and teams can register via EventBrite.

The entrance fee includes admission, a T-shirt for each player on the team, food, drinks and free admission to the post-party for the adult teams. The Booster Club is also accepting general donations via their registration link.

The adult-only post-tournament party will cost $50 for any adult wanting to attend who is not already participating in the tournament.

To stay within the COVID-19 safety guidelines,

the tournament will be consciously social distanced requiring masks on during games and the post-party will take place outdoors.

The tournament is open to both recreational and competitive players of all ages. As far as recreational players come, the East Pickleball Club plans on coaching some of the more inexperienced players who are signed up.

Senior Sienna Sun is one of the students who founded Pickleball Club at the beginning of this school year, which now has around 30 members. She is looking forward to hitting balls back and forth, going over the sport’s basic rules with the new players and possibly helping out by volunteering at the tournament.

“It seems like [pickleball] is a sport that’s made for all ages, so I’m not too concerned about how [hard it will be for] people to pick it up, and I think it’s a good fundraising idea to bring in all ages,” Sun said.

M A R K YO U R C A L E N DA R

design by caroline wood photo by jill rice

community before they proceeded with voting on the final adoption of the plan on Jan. 19. The plan was broken down into five different categories — strong neighborhoods, sustainability, productivity, quality public spaces and viable commercial centers.

Even though the plan doesn’t technically create laws or official regulations within the city, the plan largely focuses on preserving where Prairie Village is today, along with outlining how the city can improve in these categories, which is why Robichaud believes the plan is crucial for the city to have.

“It also outlines the public parts of the city, so our streets and our sidewalks and all of those that are part of what we call the ‘public realm,’ and it outlines what our goals are for that to make sure our city continues to be walkable and easily accessible to different commercial centers, schools and all of those things,” Robichaud said.

Health experts recommend double-masking

AFTER THE DISCOVERY that highly transmissible COVID-19 variants have spread to the United States, public health experts are suggesting that Americans begin to double mask.

Doubling up on masks could be as easy as strapping on one mask over another, or could include pinning or sewing a fabric mask onto a surgical mask. This could also include everyday Americans wearing KN95s or other higher-quality surgical masks that experts have previously urged saving for hospital workers.

According to the Washington Post, the United States is continuing to fall behind other countries when it comes to mask mandates, as several Asian countries — such as South Korea and Singapore — have had high-quality masks made to be sent out to their citizens.

Within the past few weeks, countries in Europe have started to require medicalgrade masks to be worn out in public because the virus strain that originated in the United Kingdom is continuing to spread

at a rapid pace. This new virus strain is estimated by British scientists to be around 70% more likely to spread than the original strain, according to The Washington Post.

Senior Paige Good has recently started wearing a surgical mask under her cloth one to school, as she thinks it’s important to listen to public health experts’ recommendations. According to Good, wearing two masks isn’t uncomfortable during the school day and she feels as though two masks are needed for the congested hallways at school.

“I definitely think filtration-wise [wearing two masks will] be a lot better,” Good said. “I know a lot of people wear cloth masks — which are great, cute and fashionable — but they don’t necessarily filtrate as well as surgical masks.”

While the Biden Administration has not yet made double-masking mandatory nor called for the mass production or distribution of higher-quality masks, public health experts still encourage Americans to double-up on masks.

P R E S I D E N T I A L AC C O M P L I S H M E N TS What President Joe Biden has done since entering office

JAN. 20

REJOINED PARIS CLIMATE AGREEMENT

FEB. 8

BOARD MEETING

JAN. 20

REVERSED MUSLIM BAN

FEB. 15

PRESIDENT’S DAY - NO SCHOOL

JAN. 25

REPEALED MILITARY TRANSGENDER BAN

MAR. 20

L ANCER SPRING SMASH

JAN. 28

STRENGTHENED MEDICAID AND THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

design by august hyde photo illustration by sarah golder & kate beaulieu

THE HARBINGER | FEBRUARY 08,

VACCI N AT I O N F R U S T R AT I O N

NEWS | 05

While some students have recieved the COVID-19 Vaccine, many teachers await their first dose

E

by nora l ynn ast students who work or volunteer in the

medical field have already qualified to receive the COVID-19 vaccine through Phase 1a of the distribution phases recommended by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), and teachers follow closely with eligibility for vaccination in Phase 1b.

Though the COVID-19 vaccine supply across the country is increasing, doses are still limited. The designated vaccine distribution phases are strictly enforced to ensure the most vulnerable of the population is safe first.

The CDC’s Phase 1a dedicated to vaccinating all healthcare workers is almost complete, while Phase 1b is starting, which gives vaccines to people aged 75 and older and essential workers such as firefighters, police, grocery store workers, teachers and others.

50.59%

OF VACCINES ADMINISTERED IN KANSAS ARE MODERNA

Senior Lilli Smith qualified for Phase 1a of the vaccine distribution as an intern at Mission MedVet, an emergency veterinary hospital, through the medical science program at the Center of Academic Achievement. After getting the first dose on Jan. 21 and being scheduled for her second dose on Feb. 12, Smith now feels less anxious working in a close and enclosed environment with her co-workers.

“One of the main things that I do there is help just like hold animals for ultrasounds or things like that,” Smith said. “So you can imagine two people holding one dog, there’s not enough room to socially distance really.”

Because Mission MedVet is an emergency hospital, they have to remain open through COVID-19 outbreaks within the clinic, leaving employees, including Smith, at higher risk of contracting the virus.

“My family was pretty worried,” Smith said. “But I have the whole upstairs in my house, basically, [and] try and stay up there as much as possible. And we would even try and social distance inside of our house, but it was still nerve racking.”

1

*information from kansasvaccine.gov

Similar to Smith, senior Ellie Peters volunteers in the gift shop at Children’s Mercy Hospital, bringing giant balloon bouquets to sick patients and giving directions to family members looking for the cafeteria.

Since she’s often exposed to patients, Peters was eligible for the vaccine and received her second dose on Jan. 27.

“I didn’t think twice about it when I was asked to come back [to Children’s Mercy in the fall after summer volunteering was canceled],” Peters said. “I knew I needed [to come back] and I wanted really bad to get back to helping people, especially in this time, but it definitely did cross my mind that when I’m walking and delivering a gift on the respiratory unit that any of these people could have COVID in their room.”

The Pfizer-Biontech COVID-19 vaccine is approved by the FDA for ages 16 and older. However, teenagers without previous medical risks in Kansas are not scheduled to receive the vaccine until Phase 5, which is anticipated to start in June.

According to the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment (JCDHE), PK-12 staff members of Johnson County School Districts are scheduled to get their vaccines starting in waves on Feb. 4-5, beginning with the highest-risk employees.

The county has received 6,000 vaccinations, 1,800 of which will be devoted to the first week of school staff appointments.

“I really feel for the teachers right now,” East school nurse Stephanie Ptacek said. “I’m really hoping that they all get vaccinated, because they get a lot of potential exposures with being in class with so many kids. There’s a lot of unknowns with the virus, especially with the new, potentially more contagious version.”

Private school St. Paul’s Episcopal Day School in the Kansas City area has already started signing their teachers up for vaccination appointments at Truman Medical Center, due to a misperception of the Truman Medical Center’s Phase 1b tiers, which differ slightly from the CDC’s recommendations. Truman won’t distribute vaccines to teachers until after all 65-yearolds and up have received them.

There was also misunderstanding between healthcare workers at Truman. Third grade St. Paul’s

2

3

teacher Melissa Harper was one of few teachers that was able to get her vaccine on the appointment day, Jan. 26.

“Honestly, I think that there was a lack of communication between some nurses and some people letting you in [at Truman], and so I think it was just like a luck of the draw,” Harper said. “One of our teachers who did get the vaccine was turned away originally, came back and then he was let in by another nurse.”

Harper explains that of the ten school employees that were scheduled to receive their vaccines that Tuesday, only three left with Band-Aids on their arms, getting in and out of the building in half an hour tops. The others were told it wasn’t their turn.

“It was just frustrating, obviously, because you get substitutes to cover your class, and you kind of make plans to go and do this, and when it doesn’t happen, it’s frustrating,” Harper said.

The next CDC distribution phase — Phase 1c — is designated for people ages 65-74, ages 16-64 with medical risks and essential workers, including public safety, food service and transportation workers.

“We’re trying to get to herd immunity so that we can get back to the things that we all all want to do, which is hang out without wearing masks and go to concerts and eat out,” Ptacek said.

On Jan. 20, President Biden announced the American Rescue Plan, which was created with the purpose of getting back to “normal life,” with the hope of K-8 schools safely reopening in his first 100 days of office and helping small businesses struggling after the hit of COVID-19.

“The vaccine is the biggest step to getting back to normal life,” Peters said. “And so I think what’s most important is that people realize vaccination is what’s going to get us there.”

198,350

KANSAS VACCINATION PHASES

4

5

*subject to further research on safety and effectiveness of Vaccine for children

06 I NEWS

THE HARBINGER | FEBRUARY 08, 2021

design by allison wilcox photo by adley chapman

M ASCOT

MODIFICATION

SMSD’s new policy will retire offensive mascots such as the Belinder Braves and SM North Indians

by mia vogel

T

he The Shawnee Mission Board of Education voted 7-0 on Jan. 25 to implement a new districtwide mascot policy that will change all insensitive school mascots by the end of the 2020-21 school year, including the Shawnee Mission North Indians and the Belinder Braves.

SM North sophomore Olivia Torline feels the removal of the mascot is a good thing for the new, socially conscious age, but she knows a lot of people who are nervous about what it’ll mean for the school overall.

“I know some upperclassmen who support the mascot change, but are nervous because there are a lot of gifts from previous classes that are related to the Indian mascot such as a Native American mural and feathers that are all around the school,” Torline said. “[The upperclassmen] say that just to throw it all away would be a slap in the face to previous generations, and want us to put it somewhere to show that this was our tradition, but we’ve changed.”

North has a lot of pride and spirit, and I don’t think just by changing your name it’s going to stop that. Especially being in the band, everybody loves screaming and playing super loud. I don’t really think it’s going to be any different.”

olivia torline | sm north sophomore The policy gained momentum after a group of SM North alumni started a petition calling for the district to change SMSD mascots referencing Native Americans, but the board has stressed that this policy will be executed in an organized fashion.

“I just want our community to understand that the purpose of this [new policy] is to make changes based on our strategic plan and the public outcry,” SM Northwest area board member Jamie Borgman said during the policy committee meeting.

According to SM North area member and policy committee chairperson, Sara Goodburn, the new plan regarding mascots will be listed directly after the current policy which prohibits discrimination, harassment and retaliation.

The policy includes a list of five requirements that all school mascots must meet: mascots won’t be derogatory or offensive to a person or class of persons, mascots won’t make reference toward a person or class of persons, mascots will be culturally and racially sensitive and appropriate,

mascots will depict individuals with fairness, dignity and respect and mascots won’t run counter to the district’s mission of creating a fully unified, equitable and inclusive culture.

If the board determines that a mascot fails to comply with these guidelines, then the mascot will be retired and a new mascot for the school will be selected through a process approved by the superintendent.

Following the policy’s adoption, the board will enact a resolution stating which mascots fail to comply, which will then be reviewed by legal counsel. However, it has already been decided that any Native American mascot is not in compliance under the new policy.

SMSD Superintendent Mike Fulton plans to work with individual principals to identify a transitional process that works for each school’s community. The process is anticipated to differ from elementary schools to secondary schools.

Students will have a role in helping choose their school’s new mascot by voting on it. According to Torline, there haven’t been any official mascot options proposed to students, but the voting will likely be conducted via Google Form.

Once a new mascot is decided, it will go through the school administration and community, with Fulton having the final approval.

SM North is encouraging students to stop dressing up as Native Americans for sports games and has stopped producing merchandise with the name “Indians” on it.

According to Fulton, changes in schools’ signage, team uniforms and other logistical factors won’t happen overnight. Although the full implementation of new mascots might take time, the decision on a new mascot will be made during the spring semester.

“It’s not unreasonable to think it can be done by the end of the school year, [or] by the following school year,” Fulton said in an interview with the Shawnee Mission Post. “There are considerations to make sure the process really has time to vet itself out.”

Two opposing groups, led by SM North alums, have remained active in promoting their differing opinions on the issue through online petitions and Facebook groups.

One petition “Change the SMN Mascot by the School’s 100th Anniversary” gained more than 4,800 signatures and the counter-petition, urging the mascot to remain, reached over 3,350 signatures as of Feb. 2.

“North has a lot of pride and spirit, and I don’t think just by changing your name it’s going to stop that,” Torline said.

“Especially being in the band, everybody loves screaming and playing super loud. I don’t really think it’s going to be any different.”

A B O V E | An Indigenous sculpture on display at Shawnee Mission North represents their previous

MASCOT REQUIREMENTS SMSD requirements for future school mascots

1 2 3 4 5

MASCOTS WON’T BE DEROGATORY OR OFFENSIVE TO A PERSON OR CLASS OF PERSONS

MASCOTS WON’T MAKE REFERENCE TOWARD A PERSON OR CLASS OF PERSONS

MASCOTS WILL BE CULTURALLY AND RACIALLY SENSITIVE AND APPROPRIATE

MASCOTS WILL DEPICT INDIVIDUALS WITH FAIRNESS, DIGNITY AND RESPECT

MASCOTS WON’T COUNTER THE DISTRICT’S MISSION OF CREATING A FULLY UNIFIED, EQUITABLE AND INCLUSIVE CULTURE

THE HARBINGER | FEBUARY 08, 2021

design by kate heitmann photos by taylor keal

NEWS | 07

SPRING POINT T

by sydney newton

he CDC released new international travel guidelines that require a negative COVID-19 test before and a week-long quarantine when coming back to the U.S., causing many East seniors to alter their senior spring break plans.

Following the guidelines, anyone entering the U.S. aged two years or older must personally obtain a negative COVID-19 test within three days of their flight or offer proof of recovering from the virus in the past three months. Anyone who does not follow these guidelines will be denied entry on their flight.

According to USA Today, there is already evidence that the testing requirement is having an effect, since United Airlines said that it has also seen a has seen an increase in cancellations and a decrease in bookings

Senior year has honestly been a series of disappointments. That’s what was so hard. When everyone was so [upset] in our grade, we had something to look forward to. It was pretty disappointing.

zoey lovern | senior to beach resorts since the guidelines were announced. According to senior Zoey Lovern, many seniors have had to cancel flights because of the guidelines.

Lovern and her group of friends canceled their flights to the Bahamas and decided to to rent a house in Seaside, Fla. instead after hearing about the required negative COVID-19 test.

“Those guidelines scared us a lot,” Lovern said. “We were scared that if one of us got sick, we would all be stuck down there for a while, and we would end up spending so much money.”

Due to new travel restrictions, seniors are reconsidering their senior spring break plans

SPRING BREAK ESSENTIALS

Lovern, along with the rest of her Perkins Rock feels traveling is unsafe of club volleyball practice for the trip, so the group, had been looking forward to finally despite the guidelines because of busy chance of missing two, or even three, weeks participating in the traditional Bahamas airports and the possibility of spreading the of practice is something she doesn’t feel she, senior spring break and even more to spending virus to another country, or bringing it back. or other members of her group, can afford. time with classmates in their last big group She believes that traveling for spring break “A lot of us play sports,” Bingham said. event of high school since planning the trip will only make the pandemic worse, so “There’s soccer players and in June. But with the change of location, her Perkins Rock doesn’t believe the risk baseball guys. Our parents original group was split up. After looking is worth it. have work too. A lot of at the pictures of the senior groups in the “You’re surrounded by news people are hesitant of Bahamas from previous years, senior spring headlines of people dying and having to miss that break gave Lovern hope for normalcy in her the virus spreading,” Perkins much of our lives at senior year, until the new guidelines altered Rock said. “I think it’s such home.” her plans. a selfish thought process to Although the of students are planning on “Senior year has honestly been a series of put those things to the back CDC guidelines are disappointments,” Lovern said. “That’s what of your head and plan a traveling out of the country in place to provide was so hard. When everyone was so [upset] in vacation. This year has been safety precautions, our grade, we had something to look forward hard for us but it’s going to many seniors are for spring break to. It was pretty disappointing.” keep being hard until we’re all disappointed in yet Senior Claire Baker’s group may also putting in the effort and taking another canceled plan, change plans of going to the Bahamas due to time to do what’s right, not what’s according to Lovern. parents’ concerns about the quarantine when best in the moment.”

“Senior spring break is kind returning to the U.S. Since Baker has had The test required to come back to the U.S. of a last hoorah for the seniors,” Lovern said. a countdown to senior spring break on her is up to the traveler to obtain before boarding “That’s one thing I’ve always liked about phone since October, she is hopeful that her the plane. Senior Josh Tilton, who is still senior year too. It’s a chance to hang out with plans won’t change. going to Mexico despite the guidelines, will people you don’t normally because everyone “The one thing that I’ve been looking get his COVID test at his resort, which also is leaving soon. But we don’t really get a forward to all year is just a fun senior spring requires a negative test to enter and leave. If chance to do that.” break with all of my friends,” Baker said. “It’s anyone in Tilton’s group tests positive, they been a light at the end of the tunnel when will have to stay at the resort for an extra PO P U L A R SP R I N G so many things were canceled already two weeks.

B R E A K D ESTI N ATI O NS senior year. If we can’t really With the testing at the resort and have a senior spring break, the mask-mandate in airports, I’ll be pretty upset.”

Tilton feels that the resort itself The negative test is safe, and that the riskiest MEXICO requirement already part will be getting there existed in other and back. countries such as “I think we’re lucky that Seniors have had their senior the resort we’re staying Canada and the United Kingdom at is testing us before we spring break plans change get there and before we’re and was formalized TH E BA H A MAS in President Joe allowed to leave,” Tilton due to COVID-19 Biden’s executive order said. “Not all places are doing on COVID-19 safety in that. That makes me feel more domestic and international comfortable about it.” travel. Senior Claire Perkins Originally considering going F LORI DA Rock thinks that the guidelines with Tilton’s group, senior Sarah Bingham should have been made awhile ago, but will is concerned about the required week also create an excuse for students to travel. quarantine. She already has to miss a week

16%

73%

08 | OPINION

THE HARBINGER | FEBRUARY 08, 2021

OPINION

HIGHLIGHTS

design by lily billingsley

TA K E O U R P O L LS @smeharbinger

Follow us on social media to participate in the polls

@smeharbinger

@smeharbie

A look into student opinions and the opinion section

DO YOU THINK THAT TIKTOK INFLUENCERS SHOULD BE EXPECTED TO SPEAK OUT ON SOCIAL ISSUES?

THIS WEEK IN TWEETS

Instagram poll of 335 votes

I A S K E D W H P R E S S S EC R E TA RY J E N P S A K I

KEVIN

I F T H E B I D E N A D M I N I ST R AT I O N H A S D EC I D E D W H E T H E R I T W I L L C O N T I N U E TO EX T E N D T H E P R I V I L EG E O F I N T E L L I G E N C E B R I E F I N GS TO T R U M P, G I V E N C O N C E R N S T H AT H E ’ L L M I S U S E T H E I N F O R M AT I O N O R L E V E R AG E I T TO E N R I C H H I M S E L F. “ N O D E T E R M I N AT I O N Y E T , ” P S A K I S AYS .

MINORITY LEADER, HAS AN O P P O RT U N I T Y TO M A K E C L E A R T H AT THERE ARE STA N DA R D S O F D EC E N CY A N D D U T Y T H AT TRANSCEND PA RT I S A N S H I P. OT H E RS A R E WATC H I N G, W I T H I N HIS CO N F E R E N C E AND B E YO N D

M CC A RT H Y,

THE

HOUSE

N B C P O L I T I C S | 2 /01 / 2 0

N Y T O P I N I O N | 2 /01 / 2 1

41% YES 59% NO DO YOU OFTEN FEEL THAT YOU’RE STEREOTYPED BY THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU? Instagram poll of 311 votes

75% YES

B I D E N ’S A P P ROVA L R AT I N G

5 4% APPROVE

3 4% DISAPPROVE

25% NO

12% UNDECIDED

DO YOU THINK THAT SEXUAL ASSAULT HAS BEEN NORMALIZED DUE TO MEN PEOPLE PRAISED FOR DOING THE BARE MINIMUM? Instagram poll of 261 votes

61% YES *information from fivethirtyeight.com

39% NO

BEGINNING OF BIDEN I think [Biden’s presidency] is going great and he’s fulfilling promises that he has made. I like the Transgender Military Act, because I think it has allowed a vast majority of people who are interested in being in the military to actually do it instead of being restricted.

[Biden] has essentially voided any checks and balances through the use of executive orders and niche procedures that he’s exploited. I think it’s very detrimental for the democratic process.

Sending executive orders is not the solution to a highly divided country.

libby mcshane | sophomore

charlie birt | senior

So far the only thing I support that he’s done is rejoining the Paris Climate Accord. I do have an issue with how many executive orders he’s signed.

He preached unity during the campaign and now he’s unilaterally making these big decisions.

I think Biden has been doing a good job dealing with things like COVID, climate change and racial equality. In my opinion the best thing he’s done so far signing an executive order to kill the Keystone Pipeline.

nick hoffman | senior

meg gunderman | junior

A N S W E R S F R O M PA G E 1 0

1 : T AY L O R S W I F T

2:BEYONCE

3: ADDISON RAE

design by annabelle moore cartoon by natalie scholz

THE HARBINGER I FEBRUARY 08, 2021

OPINION I 09

E SCAPI NG B L A ME F O R

EXP LO I TAT I O N

Staffer wants the bar of respect and treatment for women to be raised and rape to be stigmatized

SCAN ME | WEBSITE Scan here to view the #MeToo movement website where resources and help can be found

I

by p ai ge zado o

t’s a Sunday morning and my friends and I are lightheartedly rehashing the details of the previous night over pancakes and bacon — until one of my best friends clears her throat and says she couldn’t get away from a boy who wouldn’t take “no” for an answer.

When you grow up surrounded by boys who can just be, simply put, lazy when it comes to respecting women, you begin to get used to the mistreatment and heartbreaking stories. You don’t expect to get asked on dates, or be someone’s girlfriend and talking is only through Snapchats of ceilings and foreheads like you don’t deserve a simple inperson conversation.

I don’t want the future generations of girls to witness what I heard and to continue to grow up with the understanding that rape and sexual assault result in little punishment. That right there is how thousands of girls have grown to be so unphased by sexual assault, and it’s grossly wrong.

My first exposure to a rape story was the Brock Turner case in 2015. I was 10-years old when I heard of Turner’s sexual assault on an unconscious victim in an alleyway. As a little girl, I couldn’t understand why people chose to hurt others, and my mom simply explained to me that he was a boy who never grew up with consequences.

Turner stripped his victim of her dignity and sense of safety for the price of only three months in jail — although the recommended time was six years — and an additional three months of community service. He committed a disgusting crime, but what disturbed me the most was how little a consequence he faced from it.

It’s terrifying to think that future generations of girls could witness, or be a victim, of what I only heard about.

I don’t want myself and those girls to continue to grow

up with the understanding that rape and sexual assault result in little punishment. That understanding is how thousands of girls have grown up to be women who have to prepare for sexual assault, and it’s grossly wrong. I’m sick of being told the dozens of ways I can protect myself against sexual assault, but never see men being taught how to respect women.

According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, incidents of rape and sexual assault have doubled from one victim per 1,000 people in 2017 to 2.7 victims in 2018 within ages 12 and older. In the era of the #MeToo movement, daughters, sisters and mothers should be able to know their voice is heard and respected when it comes to sexual assault and rape stories. Yet, now more than ever with rape and sexual assault cases rising, men are overly praised for doing the bare minimum.

When I say the bare minimum, I mean the fact that my cousin in college walks into a bar, hands her drink to her guy friend to protect it from being roofied, and he’s applauded when the cup is returned safely to her. I mean it should be expected for a girl to be taken home safely after a night of drinking, instead of being violated — unresponsive or not. I mean when women are asked for consent. I mean when women are shown basic respect by being taken out for a date, getting asked how their day was and being complimented rather than used for their body and degraded as a human being. Not a single of those notions should be “special” — they should be baseline expectations.

The bar of respect for women is at an all-time low, according to countless women’s experiences, including myself and my own friends. Our status as women who’ve never been sexual assault or rape victims feels like one with an expiration date when every party, social gathering or relationship results in some sort of unwanted and uncalled for sexual encounter.

The simple idea of a woman’s boundaries being respected needs to be expected. Otherwise, we’ll never find peace, we’ll always be worried about our safety and always on edge. So change the expectations and raise the bar for the treatment of women — not just for your, sisters, mothers, future wives and daughters, but for all women.

THE NUMBERS *Information from rainn.org, weaveinc.org and nsvrc.org

1 in 9

g i r l s u n d er t h e a g e of 1 8 exp er i en ce sexu a l a b u se o r a ssa u l t

25%

of h ig h sc h ool g irls h a ve ex p erien ced p hysica l a b u se, sex u a l a b u se, or d a te ra p e

1 in 10 of h ig h sc h ool st u d en ts ex p erien ce p hysica l violen ce in a d a t in g rela t ion sh ip

42.2%

of fema le vic t ims of ra p e ex p erien ced t h eir f irst comp leted ra p e b efore t h e a g e of 18

#METOO *Information from learningtogive.com and rainn.org

T HE “ M E TOO M OVE M E NT ” no un T he #MeToo Movement can be defined as a social movement that is against sex ual violence and sexual assault. It advocates for females who survived sexual violence to speak out about their experience.

CALL 1 - 8 0 0 - 656- 4 67 3 to be connected with a trained staf f member from a sex ual assault service provider in your area

10 | OPINION

THE HARBINGER | FEBUARY 08, 2021

design by madeline funkey graphics by sophie lindberg

C EL EBS SPE AK OUT

Social media users shouldn’t expect influencers to post about social issues when they are uneducated

G

by b en b ra dl ey

oing straight to the comment section on Addison Rae’s latest TikTok dance video, I see an abundance of random users comment, “why aren’t you talking about the Arctic?” yet again. Addison isn’t an activist by any means, but that doesn’t stop TikTok users from expecting more from her.

Addison Rae is the prime example of what an influencer looks like on TikTok — a privileged teenager. While most of these influencers are either known for dancing, being attractive or their love lives, they still somehow have massive platforms, with Addison herself toting 75.8 million followers.

Now, I do think that TikTokers should use their platform for good, but they aren’t necessarily the right people to spearhead crucial social justice movements. Addison rose to fame by making dancing and comedy videos. Just because she has a large platform doesn’t qualify her to speak on nuanced issues, and to be honest, it’s probably the last thing she’s thinking about.

Based on conversations with friends, I know that many teens don’t really understand the issues that surround our world today.

Learning the teenage-year lessons and figuring out who you are is hard enough as it is. Throw in being an influencer for millions of followers— that’s a ton of pressure.

Personally, I don’t want fake advocacy from an uneducated teenager. Instead of an insensitive or non-endearing tweet, I’d rather someone on the app, like a Sway House member, admit that they aren’t fully aware of what heated issues like the refugee crisis or the ethics of fracking fully entail, but they are trying to educate themselves.

The Sway House, one of many influencer

WHO SAID WHAT?

collaboration houses, is a home full of white men who live in an endless cycle of partying, working out and dancing. It wouldn’t seem very genuine if, after constantly being silent about social issues and receiving hate for it, they suddenly repost about BLM on their Instagram story. If anything, the posts come off as fan-service or covering their reputation — especially when their actions don’t reflect their “advocacy.”

Many influencers preach to their followers to “stay home and be safe <3,” during the pandemic, yet publicly post pictures every weekend with large groups of influencers or at a party. When they try to be positive influences and use their platform for good, they end up sounding like hypocrites.

Tana Mongeau is an influencer who has a reputation for being a wild party girl and has been caught in a list of racial scandals, the most recent being in June of last year.

She has been silent about everything going on in the country right now with the exception of a few BLM posts and her advocacy for Joe Biden.

It baffles me that people on social media still give her hate for not doing more with her platform. Her YouTube videos and other posts have been about drinking and ongoing relations with guys for as long as she’s had a platform, making her not the best person to be speaking up about racism. These influencers clearly don’t wholeheartedly care about these issues, and that ingenuity will come across to their followers — they’re not the ones who can make real changes.

While most TikTokers are a little behind with their support, some have done a good job of being genuine. When I see a Linktree in an influencer’s bio providing links to important charities and facts about movements, I can be confident that they truly care.

Obviously, TikTok fame is a different level than fame acquired from being a renowned

Addison Rae

1. “Racial injustice

has been ingrained deeply into local & sate governments, & changes MUST be made there.” *find answers on pg. 8

Taylor Swift 2. “No more seeing

people of colour as less than human.”

singer or actor. I think that most actors and singers who have their name in the actual industry often have more of a purpose to use their platform.

More mainstream celebrities like Jimmy Fallon and Ariana Grande reach larger audiences and have larger voices when showing their support as allies. When a talk show host like Jimmy speaks out against social issues in the country right now, his millions of viewers are likely to follow after him.

When big celebrities who have large fan bases show their activism, their fans will most likely do the same. When Ariana Grande posts on Instagram of her being at a BLM protest actively making a change in the community, her fans will learn from her. But when 18-yearolds on TikTok with sexual assault allegations decide to start posing as saints for some good PR, they reduce social issues to marketing tactics instead of genuine problems.

There is a big difference in the impact of celebrities like Ariana Grande being active in her community and posting about it compared to Bryce Hall putting #BLM in his bio for a month that most TikTokers don’t see. They make a short impact just for the public image while other celebrities are doing more to leave a long-lasting impression.

At the end of the day, it’s important for everyone, whether they have a platform or not, to voice their opinions on social issues.

People have to do a better job of educating themselves and reading their audience.

But it’s time to stop treating Addison Rae and other influencers like Gandhi and start thinking realistically.

Beyoncé 3.“...If you haven’t done so

already, please join me in supporting & learning more about the global Black Lives Matter movement.”

FIRE AWAY What characteristics qualify certain celebrities to speak up or not speak up on political issues

SHOULD RIHANNA

big platform that reaches larger audiences more benficial to talk about social injustices

JIMMY FALLON big platform to educate about big issues going on in our country people would be more inclinde to listen

SHOULDN’T CHARLI D’AMELIO lacks education on political topics

CHASE HUDSON lacks education on political topics

design by maggie merckens sidebar information from metroparent.com

THE HARBINGER | FEBRUARY 08, 2021

OPINION | 11

PARADOX OF PERCEPTION

Teen girls can’t do anything without being stereotyped which leads to doubt in how they present themselves or what hobbies they’re into

by sop hi e l i ndbe rg

W

earing my hair in a low ponytail and dressing in a graphic T-shirt from my childhood swim team left me isolated with a tiny friend group for my elementary years. But as I finish up my sophomore year of high school, I’m no longer just criticized for what I wear to school, I’m criticized for every decision I make.

You like Billie Eilish? Well, you’re sad.

You wear baggy clothing? Take off some of those layers, you’re not feminine enough. You play video games? Get up off your butt and do something productive.

I could make a change to myself every day of my life and I would never escape the paradox of stereotypes projected onto me. Nobody my age can — especially not a teenage girl such as myself. Teen girls can’t escape the internalized misogyny and ageism of society, making it difficult for us to be free from pressure, social norms and stereotypes. Bringing attention to how confining these judgments are is an integral part when it comes to diminishing the levels of hate on teen girls.

Simple actions like greeting someone can be written off as “desperate,” but saying nothing makes you rude and distant. Having confidence in yourself makes you self-absorbed, but being the opposite makes you unattractive and closed off. Every one of our characteristics can be twisted around to suppress and label us in order to prove we’re not good enough for the “standard.”

In an article by writer Jessica Pishko called, “Why Teenage Girls Are Everything That We Love To Hate,” she describes the teenage girl as someone who is “penetrated on all sides by consumerist culture and patriarchy.”

With the constant influence of that consumerist culture, it reaches the people that are most connected to it — those people generally being teenagers. Pair that with misogyny and you get a storm of hate along with a negative perception that is equally as damaging as the ever-growing problem of beauty standards.

I can vouch for the legitimacy of these judgments — I’ve been told I look “gay” more times than I can remember. At first it really didn’t bother me, but when my friends started saying it, this forced perception by society left me believing it too. Soon enough I thought everyone believed it.

Did they say it because of the clothes I chose to wear? How I did my hair? How I presented myself? The only reason I could think of as to why I cared so much was because this separated myself from other girls my age.

I don’t want to be like everyone else, but I couldn’t help but wonder if I would be happier being like the “other girls.”

The problem with that mindset is there are no “other girls.” Most all of them feel the same way as I do. No one can avoid the crippling critiques of society’s norms and standards.

The concept of “other girls” ingrains in people’s minds that there is only one way to be an “average” girl. Wear makeup, dress feminine, have long hair and be into reality T V shows and pop artists. Over the years, trend after trend has created this idea of an

“average teen girl.

Of course teens are most connected to those trends, making them main targets of stereotyping, and when they resembled this idea of an “average girl,” they were named as “basic.” As the stereotype “basic girl” began growing, women and girls who didn’t “fit” this category felt like outsiders compared to the rest.

If you were identified as a “basic girl,” wearing leggings and sweatshirts and spending your time glued to your phone, then you’d be judged for your lack of individuality. If you weren’t a “basic girl,” then you would be judged for being weird or different. There is simply no escape from the paradox of judgment.

Adults are also guilty of unknowingly reinforcing this concept of “other girls.” In my early teen years, the adults in my life made me believe I needed to be as different from my peers as possible to stand out and be my own person. When adults would compliment my “uniqueness” from other girls my age, I would take that as a sign I was doing the right thing with anything from academics to humor.

In reality, nobody truly fits that category because boxing someone into a type means they can’t have qualities outside the fixed set that they’ve been given. But it’s not as simple as choosing to not judge someone based on their appearances.

Judgment at first glance is the most basic form of first impressions, even if it’s not a conscious feeling. Of course, it can be a helpful tool in potentially threatening situations, but using it on a non-threatening teenage girl is the first step of stereotyping and quick judgment.

Most often, that method is unsuccessful in decoding a true reflection of character. Why should we continue to use it if it only spreads unjustified hate and discernment? Not only does this prolong the criticism of teen girls, but actively influences the girl to question and change herself for other people.

After some time, I started to change myself by habit to fit in with the people around me. I actively questioned whether I should be doing something different, even if nothing hinted toward them not liking me. Eventually, I stopped talking to new people and stuck with the ones I knew I didn’t need to change for, reinforcing a flight response for something that sometimes wasn’t even there.

Many teen girls have developed awful selfimage from all of this judgment. We try to change to fit into what is deemed “perfect,” but that only leads to more severe problems of mental health anxiety, depression and eating disorders.

Society doesn’t have to rely on these outdated categories that are used to limit people’s abilities and qualities. There’s no reason to suppress young women, who are fully capable of being individual and characteristic in their own exceptional ways.

Once I questioned if I was part of the problem, I was able to make a change with how I approach stereotyping and judgment.

Asking yourself that same question is a great start, as well as being able to notice when someone else is doing it. Being open-minded and nice sounds basic, but makes a world of a difference for someone struggling with the effects of this overused and unnecessary thought process.

STUDENT STEREOTYPES Some students that often get falsely stereotyped

ATHLETE

GAMER

LGBTQ+

CHEERLEADER

ARTIST

WE HELP YOU: - Invest your retirement accounts - Build your estate & long-term care - Manage your Medicare & HSA plans www.threestreamsfinancial.com (913)274-9020

The Plaid Pen Personalized stationery www.theplaidpen.com

THE HARBINGER | FEBRUARY 08, 2021

design by peyton moore

FEATURE

HIGHLIGHTS

FEATURES | 13

HYBRID POLLING Students’ opinions on popular hybrid debates DO YOU ENJOY THE REMOTE SCHEDULE OR HYBRID SCHEDULE BETTER? Instagram poll of 250 votes

45% R E M OT E

T H E H Y B R I D WO R L D

55% H Y B R I D

Students experience second semester classes in person and remote R I G H T | Honors Chemistry student Caled Gilmore demonstrates a chemical reaction lab for virtual students. He postions the camera towards the reaction so students can see. photo by macy crosser

DO YOU THINK IT SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO WEBEX-IN ON REMOTE DAYS? Instagram poll of 242 votes

23% YES 77% NO

TE ACHERS MASKED UP

photos by emily pollock

HA

Teachers share their favorite masks for hybrid learning

IR I wear this mask because I am smiling underneath and am so excited to be able to be able to see my students in person!

mrs. hair | business

RIGHT | S ophom ore Juliette Sanders serves the volleyball in her gym foundations class. photo by megan stopperan

JA

ABOVE | While teaching choir, Mr. Foley leads students who are learning in person and students who are learning at home. photo by elise madden

ME

S

V I D E O F E AT U R E S SCAN ME | STAFFERS SWITCH MORNING ROUTINES

señorita james | spanish

After years of debate on the future of Harmon Park Skate Park, the final design for the Harmon Skate Park renovation was released in January 2021. Construction will start in March and last until the end of August with the O’Donnel and Sons construction company being hired by the city to work on it. by roberto galicia

HA

Staffers Sophie Henschel and Sydney Newton are polar opposites when it comes to the morning. Sophie is a morning person, and Sydney is not. Follow along as they switch morning routines for a day. by liv olson

SCAN ME | THE HARMON SK ATE PARK FINAL PL ANNING

I have always loved animals and started loving sharks after visiting the shark lab in the Bahamas when I was little. My mask was from a fundraiser for shark research and conservation called “Saving The Blue.”

WORTH S LK

My daughter experimented towards the middle of quarantine making masks. This was her first one she made out of a paper material covering the cloth. I love it because I am a total Back to the Future junkie!

mrs. halksworth | french

14 | FEATURES

THE HARBINGER | FEBRUARY 08, 2021

design by christian gooley photo by charlotte emley & noelle griffin

PASSING THE TIME Wolfe found creative ways to spend time while quarantined

Dyes her own hair Makes lots of chocolate chip banana bread

ENDLESS S O L AT O N

Redid her attic into a hangout space Makes no-sew blankets for foster kids

Due to an autoimmune condition, junior Bella Wolfe has been quarantined for the past 11 months by sophie henschel

L

eaving her vacation in Seaside Fla., excited about her new tan lines and freckles, junior Bella Wolfe was skeptical about the dangers of the recent COVID-19 outbreak and post-spring break quarantine. She prayed it would blow over in a month or so — little did she know this would be the last time she would come in direct contact with non-family members or see the inside of any establishment for the majority of the next eleven months.

Wolfe was diagnosed at age eight with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis, an autoimmune condition that causes her joints to swell when she contracts any sort of virus.

Starting at her ankles and moving up towards her hip bones, the disease often immobilized her as a child.

After the first month of lockdown, Wolfe and her family got a call from her doctor informing them that if she were to contract the virus, there would be a possibility of her internal organs swelling just as her joints do, potentially causing a heart attack. Since this placed her in the high-risk category, she was left in full isolation until further notice, which proved to be more taxing than Wolfe could have ever imagined.

“We got the call, and that’s when I was like, ‘Oh, this is real life, this is actually happening,’ and I definitely wish I would’ve realized it sooner,” Wolfe said. “I needed to start doing what I could not only [to] protect myself and my family, but other people too.”

When the Kansas City weather got warmer, lockdown let up and Wolfe’s peers began resuming normal activities like dining in restaurants, going on vacations and hanging out with a small bubble of friends.

But Wolfe stayed in lockdown. Aside from her family and the masked-up-20-feet-apart driveway chats with friends that occurred twice a month, she was on her own — leaving her with nothing but her own thoughts.

Still stuck in the evening family walks, whipped coffee, “Tiger King” phase of lockdown, it was hard for Wolfe to watch all of her friends out and about with little regard to what was happening in the world around them.

“I said to my sister so many nights in a row, ‘I just don’t get why people don’t care,’” Wolfe said. “Seeing people’s Instagrams, seeing people go out, seeing people’s stories, seeing all the vacations, it was hard because I was thinking, ‘I am sitting here because of these people.’”

As a 16-year-old girl with this looming cloud of disappointment, sadness and confusion leering over her shoulders, she decided it was time to talk to a professional.

Wolfe began virtually meeting with a therapist who is also in full isolation. According to Wolfe, it’s extremely reassuring to talk her emotions out to someone. Even if it’s not a deep talk, ranting about her day can relieve stress.

On top of meeting with a therapist, she and her family knew she needed a friend. A real, in-person friend. That’s where senior Lily Utt came along.

Diagnosed with common variable immunodeficiency and severe asthma, Utt and Wolfe were living in very similar situations.

Having been friends for three years now through East theater, the two realized on FaceTime one day that they could probably be able to see each other safely considering they were both in full isolation.

“Initially I was uncomfortable, but then

[Wolfe’s dad] and I discussed it, and frankly, the benefits of the mental and emotional support for the two of them outweighed any risk,” Wolfe’s mom Cati Wolfe said. “It was a calculated risk we had to take, and we knew at that point that they both needed friends.”

The two became closer than ever since they began hanging out late in the summer.

Wolfe claims that the two rely on each other for a sense of normalcy and relation to another teenager.

“I don’t think that I’d be able to do this if I didn’t have her as a friend,” Utt said.

“It sounds horrible, but sometimes I think I’m lucky that she is as vulnerable as I am because that lets us be able to be there for each other and have a support system because obviously everyone’s been impacted by this situation in one way or another, but there are not a lot of other people our age that are in the same boat as we are.”

Wolfe relies on Utt to keep her in check when she starts to spiral with anxiety and frustration in regards to all the hangouts and brunches she hears her friends talk about on FaceTime, or seeing all of the notorious vacation posts on Instagram.

While Utt has been a huge help for Wolfe living her day-to-day life locked in her house, the confusion regarding why the world around her was not taking this as seriously as she was got to be too difficult for her to bear.

Spending countless nights sitting in bed on the phone with her sister Haley, now back at college, she couldn’t wrap her mind around why her peers weren’t making the sacrifices she was.

Day after day she felt further and further from society, wishing she could be screaming East chants at pep rallies, shopping with her friends, just sitting in a restaurant booth, but

she knew that she wanted to protect people.

She knew that there were more important things.

She believes that Zoom calls with her therapist, seeing Utt in person and the return of Haley from college are the things that pulled her out of the lowest mental health spot she’s been in since the start of the pandemic.

“The biggest thing I worry about now is transitioning back to normal when that happens,” Wolfe said. “I haven’t been inside a restaurant in a year, I haven’t been to a party in a year, just the things that I would normally do every single weekend, I think it’s those things that it’s going to be weird conditioning back to.”

Even in isolation, Wolfe knows her supportive friends will welcome her with open arms once things are back to normal. Before that can happen, the vaccine must roll out to the majority of the population. According to Cati, the family has gotten conflicting reports on when Wolfe is to receive the vaccine “Sitting at home watching [the development of the vaccine] every day took a long time, but for a vaccine to be rolled out this fast is just so awesome,” Wolfe said. “When I started to see people I know and people’s parents I know getting it, it was really cool. It just felt like it was moving a little closer to home.”

Although Wolfe and her family have had many highs and lows this year with their isolation, at the end of the day, they recognize that they do not have it as bad as some. The family strongly emphasizes that they are fully aware that while they have hardships, and they are isolating more than most, others have it far worse, and that is what keeps them going.

THE HARBINGER | FEBRUARY 08, 2021

design by lily billingsley

FEATURES | 15

MEE THE PRESS Obama’s press secretary explains how journalism plays a role in conveying the truth and strengthening democracy

THE G O O D

Palmers’s tips to good media

has no b ias and cove rs ever y side of the sto r y

is well researched and fully t r uthf ul

P

by peyton moore

hysically slowing his walk. Paying attention to the length of his strides.

Calming his mind to prepare to answer questions about how the president was dealing with the Ebola outbreak. Josh Earnest, President Obama’s press secretary who conveyed information to the news media, went through these steps before entering the briefing room calm and controlled, giving his mind a chance to refresh and restart.

Earnest stands in front of the presidential seal on a lifted podium with the U.S. government supporting him as 70 reporters and 10 different cameras surround him, taking every word he says to the extreme. Answering the sometimes rude, flippant questions that reporters shouted out him, Earnest never got flustered — that was his job.

Earnest’s job was to communicate what the government was doing in any circumstance to the media in the most truthful way possible — using a combination of his knowledge, what was happening in the United States and the president’s motives. Earnest believes that a journalist’s job is to tell the truth, and people in the U.S. need to acknowledge the truths in journalism to better our country.

“In order to do my job well, it required a commitment to telling the truth,” Earnest said. “It requires doing a lot of homework in terms of being knowledgeable and equipped and prepared. It requires being in the loop because you must have the trust of the people inside of the White House to tell you what is going on so you can effectively tell everyone else what is going on.”

East alum and Overland Park City Council representative Logan Heley thinks the media has the responsibility to speak up when people in powerful government roles

THE BAD

Traits of bad media coverage

exp resses m isl ea d i n g i n fo r m a ti o n o r o n l y b i ts a n d p i eces of a sto r y

SCAN ME | TRANSCRIPT Scan to read the transcripts of Josh Earnest’s White House press conferences

are misleading the public, which is vital to keeping transparency throughout our democracy.

“More recently, journalists will expose [misleading facts said by officials] as a lie where as just a few years ago [journalists] wouldn’t have [needed to] provided that context,” Heley said. “It is increasingly the responsibility of the news media to provide a journalistic filter because when you have an audience or a following you also have a responsibility.”

According to Earnest, a journalist’s main responsibility is reporting on events occurring in the community and keeping the public informed about what is going on inside and outside of our nation. This means a journalist holds people in power — politically or economically — accountable without letting bias intrude.

“In order to do it well, there is an expression about doing that job without fear or favor,” Earnest said. “I think that makes a lot of sense in the current environment because you have to be able to hold people in power accountable without being scared of them but also without doing them any favors.”

Heley explains that journalism and the news media in general is surrounded by the struggle of constant neutrality — trying to find the balance between coverage of different political parties, social groups, public matters and elections. The media is almost always performing a balancing act between finding ‘both sides’ of a story. Heley has seen how much interaction there is with the media, and how important it is to tell the truth in journalism.

“If one side is lying or misleading or inciting violence like we saw recently [with the invasion on the capitol], then I believe

o n l y fo c uses o n a s p eci f i c si d e

it is the news media’s responsibility not to lend that side legitimacy or a platform by providing them coverage,” Heley said.

With the riots and propaganda that have occurred this past year, Earnest believes that the media is not to blame for the recent crack in our democracy — but it’s the citizens of the United States that don’t fully trust the media and aren’t willing to acknowledge the truth in every instance. If everyone was openminded to other opinions, Earnest thinks that we would be a stronger, more united nation.

We all have to invest in the collective success of the country.

Otherwise it’s really hard to design a system of government that doesn’t keep us all together if we are not willing to make some sacrifices for each other.

josh earnest | obama’s press secretary “We all have to invest in the collective success of the country,” Earnest said.

“Otherwise it’s really hard to design a system of government that doesn’t keep us all together if we are not willing to make some sacrifices for each other.”

Local journalist Kyle Palmer from the Shawnee Mission Post explains that having former-President Donald Trump express the media as the enemy of the people has created divided interests. He feels half the country now looks towards the media as liars with a skewed agenda while others adore every journalist speaking for the people.

“I don’t really want either,” Palmer said.

“I don’t want people to hate me for what I report but at the same time I don’t want people to think I am a hero. In both cases it is dangerous for journalists because on one hand, there is the physical and emotional threat of being called the enemy of the people. On the other hand, there is a real self aggrandizing danger to thinking you are the knight in shining armor to save democracy when all you’re really trying to do is do your job.”

Being a local journalist, Palmer finds an extra level of accountability in reporting as his readers are community members, friends and neighbors.

The Shawnee Mission Post and every news organization are journalists first. But closely behind is every business’s main goal — profit.

Finding a balance between reporting on what his community wants and hopes to read and reporting on the news that their city needs to know is one of the many balancing acts of being a reporter.

Palmer explains that each journalist has a perspective. This does not mean they are biased towards one side of the story versus another, this means they have a certain way on reporting. Journalists and reporters find an angle, or perspective, on the best way to view a story.

“Journalism is like the scientific method in that you have to constantly acknowledge that you don’t know what you don’t know and be constantly interrogating yourself and your biases on what you are reporting on,” Palmer said. “A lot of people don’t realize that about true journalists. They think we have some preconceived plan about what conclusions we want to reach, who we want to win or what we want to get across. But all we are trying to do is do our job.”

16/17 | NEWS

THE NEW

Colleges are beginning to move away from standardized testing in the midst of recognizing the roles wealth and privilege play into scores received on the tests

STANDARD

STUDENT STATS

Students thoughts on how standardized test scores should be used

SCORE BIAS

Following the racial bias in standardized testing

81%

22 /36

1 1 1 4/16 00

average ACT score of white students

average SAT score of white students

56%

17 /36

933 /16 0 0

of students think all schools should be test-optional

of students applying to colleges submitted a test score

20%

of studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s believed their parents would be willing to spend over $2,000 on tutoring

22%

of students think there is gender bias in standardized testing

* in fo r m a t io n f ro m h a r b i ng e r instag ram polls

average ACT score of Black students

average SAT score of Black students * inform a tion from fa ir test.org

THE CHANGE

Schools across the country are moving to test-optional policies

over

1,685

colleges are test optional for 2021 admissions

700 colleges have pledged to remain test optional indefinitely * inform a tion from fa ir test.org

design by rose kanaley

by et han enderle

I

n an effort to make the SAT more accessible, the College Board announced on Jan. 19 that it has removed the optional essay and section tests from the exam.

Though the removal of the essay portion has streamlined the test, the lack of accessibility to the test and resources for preparation, as well as bias within the world of standardized testing, still exists.

ACT Inc. and the College Board say that their tests are a predictor of how students will perform in college. A growing number of students feel these tests fail to do this due to a gap in scores between those from different socioeconomic groups.

I was in a preparation course, and everyone around me was white and privileged. Since tutoring can run at around $2,000 in some cases, it’s tailored to people who are privileged and willing to spend the money

caroline kuhlman | senior The trend of universities switching to test optional applications has been very slow and gradual — Although COVID-19 has caused a large number of schools to fully embrace the test optional application process.

One school — Bowdoin University in Maine — Has led the charge in the test optional application process. Infact, it has been test optional since 1969 and was the first university in the nation to do so.

According to the admissions page on their website, they believe this policy allows the student to decide what best represents their academic abilities.

Since a shrinking majority of universities still require a test score in order to apply, many states have taken it upon themselves to even the playing field among different demographic groups by providing resources and programs for these students.

Though many states offer the first ACT to students for free, some are limited to taking the test one time. Kansas is among a few states that offer at least one ACT for free, but don’t require students to take it. Students who take the test once may not get the score they want — or need — for college admissions.

Though this allows students to take the test who otherwise wouldn’t be able to, it’s free only once. The cost of the ACT is $46 — plus an extra $29 if a student registers late.

This, plus the cost of test preparation, but for other families, it can be out of reach.

For some students retesting improves a student’s score. Senior Emmett Liljegren took the ACT for the first time his freshman year and scored a 32. After spending two years doing self test prep, he was able to score a perfect 36. Liljegren achieved this without professional tutoring since he and his family could not afford it.

To help other students in similar situations as himself, Liljegren led a book drive for test preparation books last year, which are now available for free in the East library for students to study with on their own time.

East also provides programs for students to get additional assistance. In 2018, the East Fund provided a one-time donation of $15,000 to the Love Fund earmarked for “educational purposes,” according to East Fund president Lindsay Sowden. This allowed students to get ACT or SAT preparation and general tutoring for free through programs such as East for Excellence.

Though East students are privileged in the fact that there are programs available to them in the community and at school, other communities don’t have these resources.

According to FairTest.org — a group that studies analytics and wrongdoings of the College Board and ACT Inc. — minority groups consistently score lower than other demographic groups.

In 2019, the average SAT score for Black students was 933, while the average score for white students was 1114.

FairTest.org also found that students with parents who have college degrees tend to score higher on standardized tests. Students whose parents had at most a high school diploma scored an average of 926 on the SAT. However, students whose parents had at most a graduate degree scored an average of 1194 on the SAT. Test scores tied to demographics and family education can put students at a disadvantage for college admissions for generations.

According to FairTest.org, a large reason for this disparity in test scores is access to tutoring.

At Get Smarter Prep — a popular test preparation company in the East community — the cheapest tier of tutoring costs $150 an hour. With an average of nine, one-anda-half-hour sessions, the total bill for the cheapest tier of tutoring is $2,025 — which in a survey of 281 East students, only 20% said they would be willing to pay that amount.

This is where the success of a student’s test scores begins to rely on family income.

Senior Caroline Kuhlman — who applied

test optional to nine schools and was accepted into eight — said that she was able to improve her ACT score by four points through tutoring. However, while taking the preparation course, she was able to see the privilege in tutoring.

“I was in a preparation course, and everyone around me was white and privileged,” Kuhlman said. “Since tutoring can run at around $2,000 in some cases, it’s tailored to people who are privileged and willing to spend the money.”

A 2015 analysis showed that families who have an income of less than $20,000 scored the lowest on these tests, while families with an income of over $200,000 had the highest scores.

According to Niche.com, Shawnee Mission West — with a median household income of $58,000 — has an average SAT and ACT score of 1210 and 26 respectively.

In contrast, Shawnee Mission East — with a median household income of $84,000 — has an average SAT and ACT score of 1320 and 28 respectively.

Senior Sophie Rice believes standardized tests shouldn’t be weighted as heavily in college admissions because of the disadvantage it puts middle and lower class families at.

Standardized testing has never really accurately shown how I can perform in school. You can’t base how a student will perform in college based off of how a student does on a test where the sat in the same room for five hours.

austin housley | senior “I think it’s a really good predictor of future college success, but I think it’s only a good predictor when it’s put in combination with other factors,” Rice said. “Obviously, standardized testing really benefits the rich and the wealthy, but if you have two students who have equal grades and equal socioeconomic status, these scores are a pretty good deciding factor.”

Studies have also shown that some sort of gender bias is present in standardized tests.

Despite that fact, in 2019, girls received an average score of 519, while boys received an average of 537 in the math section of the SAT. Though not as large of a margin compared to racial and economic bias, it’s still notable.

Explanations for this disparity on the basis

of gender range from the amount of male to female characters in a question to the design of the test. Researchers discovered that one long test — as opposed to one that is split into sections — may help even the playing field for women. This is because females have a better long term attention span, where males have a better short term attention span.

With all of this evidence to support the claim that standardized tests aren’t accurate or fair, many schools are diving headfirst into test optional policies. As of September 2020, 1,600 universities are test optional.

These test optional schools are more focused on students’ academic history, because they’ve realized strong students can have great academic track records and perfect GPAs, yet at the same time have low test scores.

The University of Kansas and Kansas State University are now both test optional for admissions, as well as scholarships. These universities fully implemented this policy when COVID-19 first hit, but they plan on keeping it, according to the admissions pages on their websites.

Senior Austin Housley applied to twelve colleges and didn’t submit a single test score.

He believes that he’s a strong student, but not a good test taker.

“Standardized testing has never really accurately shown how I can perform in school,” Housley said. “You can’t base how a student will perform in college based off of how a student does on a test where they sat in a room for five hours.”

In a similar situation, Kuhlman believes submitting a test score would have actually hurt her.

“My GPA was so high, and I am such a poor test taker, that submitting a test score could have hurt me more than it would have helped me,” Kuhlman said.

One study shows “non-submitters” — what the study dubs students who opt to not submit a test score — were slightly less likely to be admitted, but the yield — percentage of accepted students who actually enroll — was much higher than those who chose to submit a score.

Liljegren — who has taken the ACT twice and the SAT once — agrees with this change in the college admissions process, and believes it will provide more reliable information about students. “[These] tests are not accessible,” Liljegren said. “Colleges should be focusing on grades, extracurriculars and achievements instead of a score that only truly measures performance on the test.”

18 | FEATURES

THE HARBINGER | FEBRUARY 08, 2021

design by sydney newton photos from mitch benjamin

EVERYONE,

MEAT MITCH East father and daughter use lock-down to create a side hustle while he shares his passion for BBQ through a new restaurant and cookbook

FA R R I G H T | Benjamin competes in a world championship BBQ competition in Memphis, Tenn.

R I G H T | Benjamin cooks his famous barbeque on KC Live.

T HE TOP

P I C KS

Mitch’s favorite dishes

SMOKED PORK RIBS

CHAMPAGNE CLAMS CASINO

PIMENTO CHEESE

WHOOPIE PIES

W

by anna m i tche l l

hile everyone was cooped up in their houses during the spring lockdown, East parent Mitch Benjamin used this time to expand his love for BBQ alongside his daughter, sophomore Piper Benjamin.

With little to do, the Benjamins began making BBQ and desserts in the comfort of their own home to serve to families locally. Dividing the work, Mitch prepared the BBQ — from smoked burnt ends to pecan wings — while Piper whipped up desserts to then deliver to around 200 doorsteps that ordered online, a majority being East families.

“During the pandemic there was a lot of fear, unknown and anxiety,” Mitch said. “I think it brought [my family] together and brightened people’s days.”

While most families were going stir crazy due to being cooped up, Mitch and his family turned this weird and unique time into an opportunity to pursue his passion for BBQ and continue working on his upcoming projects — his personal branded restaurant and BBQ cookbook.

While Piper mostly worked to perfect the desserts she was making, she learned how to properly smoke BBQ and spice up any meal — which only strengthened her and Mitch’s fatherdaughter bond bond.

When they began making meals together, it created a common spark they never had before, whether that meant pulling all-nighters to finish up their orders or laughing as they poured spices into a new recipe.

“It for sure brought us closer, no doubt,” Piper said. “There were a lot of nights where we were up until two a.m. prepping together, which was a lot of fun and gave us something to do.”

While their deliveries have slowed, the two still whip up meals together whenever they can.

Over the past nine months, Piper has been able to expand her cooking and baking skillset by finding the perfect sauce for the perfect rib and just the right balance between sweet and tart in her strawberry pop tarts.

“I definitely enjoy it and have gotten a lot better,” Piper said. “My dad is the best cook, but I’m getting there.”

Pursuing his passion for the past 20 years from different spots all over the world, Mitch was able to continue during quarantine, building on his smoking and grilling skills.

During the pandemic there was a lot of fear, unknown and anxiety. I think it brought [my family] together and brightened people’s days.

mitch benjamin | east parents Mitch has traveled to New York and Paris to make BBQ and won countless awards, but never imagined he’d now be concocting his own BBQ sauces and rubs, creating a cookbook and establishing two restaurants. Sharing his barbecuing passion was always Mitch’s dream, but he never knew it would become his reality.

His new restaurant, Meat Mitch, will be located at Mission and 95th in Ranchmart Shopping Center. The construction and pandemic put a pause on the grand opening, but Mitch is willing to wait to keep everyone safe and continue expanding on his passion.

“We are hoping for that to open in June with hopes everyone is more healthy and wanting to

venture out a little more,” Mitch said. “There will be tons of games, T Vs and a huge outside area, so I am really excited for this opportunity.”

The idea for the new restaurant came after Mitch opened Char Bar in Westport with one of his partners James Westphal, who he met through a mutual friend in 2013.

Working with Char Bar taught him what it was like to manage a business, helping him to move forward with his next project, Meat Mitch.

When Mitch began brainstorming for his own restaurant, it was obvious to him and his partners that they would continue their journey together.

“When Mitch wanted to open something with his own personal branding it just made sense we would be his partners,” Westphal said.

“We’ve known each other for years and work well together.”

Along with progressing with his restaurant plan and creating a side hustle with his daughter, the coronavirus lockdown gave Mitch the opportunity to continue writing and working on his own cookbook.

Mitch’s 207-page cookbook, “BBQ Revolution,” won’t be released until May, but it’s available for preorder on Amazon. Over the past year, Mitch has been working on bringing together his favorite recipes to share with those all over the world — including all kinds of BBQ, seafood, vegetables, sides and even desserts, ranging from Smoked Chicken Nuggets to Strawberry Pop Tarts.

Throughout his BBQ career, Mitch has been able to share his passion and experiences with people all over the world from experiences with his own kids all the way to world chefs in Paris.

People tend to come back for things they enjoy and love, and he made sure that his BBQ was exactly that.

A LOOK BACK The timeline of Mitch’s career 2000

2010

IN AMERICAN

BBQ SAUCES

ROYAL CONTEST

AND RUBS

-STAR GAME

COMPETED

MADE LINE OF

2012

2014

2021

MADE BBQ

OPENED CHAR

FOR MLB ALL

CREATED MEAT

BAR IN WESTPORT

MITCH BBQ

THE HARBINGER | FEBRUARY 08, 2021

design by cesca stamati photos by macy crosser

E H T

P U N E A CL E CR W

by allison wi l cox

H

ow can 200 desks be cleaned in five minutes between lunch periods? How can every class be arranged so students sit six feet apart? Where can East store the hundreds of extra desks not being used?

While most students never considered these scenarios, these are the daunting questions East Building Manager Dale Clark has been tasked with answering.

Since East has the most hybrid students out of all the high schools in the district, Clark was faced with the challenge of organizing the cafeteria in order to maintain social distancing and effective cleaning measures, while still providing a chance for students to socialize during their lunches.

Clark has become an unspoken hero in the East community. His job of overseeing building maintenance has been heavily influenced by the increased need for updated cleaning protocol. Whether it’s disinfecting door handles or reorganizing furniture for social distancing, Clark has remained committed to executing his responsibilities and solving any challenge that comes along.

“With COVID [my job has] changed tremendously,” Clark said. “It’s a little more sanitizing, disinfecting and setting things up for social distancing. As you look around the school there’s dots and signs — I put all those things up to make sure everybody’s aware and doing things safely. It’s changed a lot.”

In preparation for hybrid learning, Clark arranged desks in each classroom to isolate students — moving surplus desks from the fifth floor to the basement.

After mastering the ideal classroom setup, Clark still had to solve his biggest challenge: the cafeteria, where hundreds of students would congregate together.

According to East Associate Principal Susan Leonard, while Clark was calculating the best way to arrange seating in the cafeteria, he wanted to keep in mind the social aspect that comes with

lunch so allow students to still have conversations with each other while eating. Prioritizing what he knew the students would value, Clark intentionally created four-person quads so students could see their friends during lunch.

“I think people don’t realize the kind of math and geometry a facilities manager has to deal with because when you’re moving items and dealing with furniture arrangements it’s just a lot of real-life geometry,” Leonard said. “He somehow figured out how to get desks in rows, and what I really love, is not only did he do that as he’s figuring out this crazy math problem of surface area and tables and putting in protocol, he’s also worried about [what students want].”

I’d do anything he told me because he just has a natural gift for that, you just want to follow him. He’s a great leader.

susan leonard | assistant principal Clark’s focus on giving students something to look forward to worked.

Freshman Gregor Wiedeman agrees that being in pods for lunch helps him interact with his friends he isn’t able to talk to during classes.

“Coming to school and being able to see my friends and talk to them is one of the best things I get to do during the day, even if we’re separated,” Wiedeman said. “I like the idea of doing quads for seating because while we’re still distanced, I can still enjoy lunch [and] seeing my friends.”

Another one of Clark’s accomplishments was his plan of action for cleaning the cafeteria between lunch periods. Clark took the creative route

and instead of using paper towels to individually wipe each table, he shortened the handles of mops to make them “hand-held” and divided the eight helpers into four teams as a “sprayer” and “wiper.” According to Leonard, Clark is committed to exceeding the expectations of each task he deals with — from hauling desks from English classrooms to the basement to fixing plumbing. “[Clark]’s able to see this big daunting task, break it into parts and calmly move forward,” Leonard said. “He was such a leader and innovator in figuring out how to do this, all the while how to keep [students] safe, but also to salvage any parts that we could of the social hour because lunch is so important.”

While Clark’s cafeteria cleaning technique has impressed all other SMSD schools causing them to implement the system in their own building according to Leonard, his position and character reach far beyond his innovative system.

Clark prioritizes the building. When there’s a sewage problem at 8 p.m. at a boy’s basketball game, he’s already on the phone — even though it’s the nighttime janitor’s responsibility.

Working with Clark, Leonard said she’s seen his nonstop work behind the scenes most people don’t realize, and believes he’s not only successful in maintaining the building, but also in creating a positive work environment for his team.

“He’s just a tremendous leader, so I think he’s excelled in creating a positive culture that has helped him get the very most out of his crew and the very most out of people like me who are not technically a part of his crew, but have to pitch in this year of course in ways we haven’t before to make sure things get done,” Leonard said. “I’d do anything he told me because he just has a natural gift for that, you just want to follow him.

He’s a great leader.”

FEATURES | 19

Updated school cleaning protocols have changed the job of faculties manager Dale Clark

FIVE MINUTES

TO CLEAN

200 TABLES The teams that help Dale clean at lunch

TEAM ONE s prayer : seth m eyer cl eaner: b r itton ha ney

T E A M T WO

s prayer : kr istof fer b a r ikm o cl eaner : susa n leona rd

TEAM THREE

s prayer : lily d om inguez cl eaner: p r ice w r ight

20 | A&E

THE HARBINGER | FEBRUARY 08, 2021

A&E

design by tommy paulus photos and information from spotif y, amazon, apple and IMDb

HIGHLIGHTS Catch up on what’s trending in the arts and entertainment world

TO P O F T H E CH A RTS MUSIC

RECENT RELEASES MOVIES

PODCASTS

MOVIE: A L B U M | N OT YO U R M U S E

P O D C A ST | S M A R T L E SS

A R T I ST | C E L E ST E

RUN TIME | ~45 MIN

R E L E A S E DAT E | JA N 2 9

This podcast is a light and fun interview style show where one of the 3 cohosts reveals a surprise guest every episode.

This album has a fun upbeat anthem about Celeste’s confidence in herself. It is reminiscent of Adele’s older tracks.

THE DIG

GENRE: DRAMA/HISTORY

RUN TIME: 1 HR 52 MIN

SUMMARY: This movie follows a family on a farm that recently dug up an ancient ship on an old woman’s burial ground and follows the details that unravel.

SINGLE | DON’T JUDGE ME

P O D C A ST | YO U ’ R E W R O N G ABOUT

MOVIE:

A R T I ST | F K A T W I GS RUN TIME | ~50MIN

THE LITTLE THINGS

In this show, two journalists focus on past stories that took America by storm and try to reconsider an event that was misconstrued by the public.

THRILLER/CRIME

GENRE:

R E L E A S E DAT E | JA N 1 6

“Don’t Judge Me” is a classic FKA Twigs song, but this time with the help of Headie One and Fred.

This song is a mashup of balanced, disturbing and alluring sound.

RUN TIME: 2 HR 7 MIN

SUMMARY: “The Little Things” is a very modern take on the “catching-a-serial-killer” trope everyone is accustomed too.

A&E GAMES Different games based off this issue’s A&E stories

OIL MATCH (PG. 22)

DISNEY JUMBLE (PG. 23)

Match the essential oil to its effect

Unscramble these Disney-themed words

ROSE

RELIEVES INSOMNIA

ESHERCI

Alice in Wonderland

BOOKS AUTHOR: LYNN STEGER STRONG

GENRE: NON-FICTION

PAGE COUNT: 169

L AV E N D E R

ANTIINFLAMMATORY

YHCRRAE

Brave

SUMMARY: This book is a very personal and touching book about the authors “wants,” such as money and stability.

GARDENIA

TREATS ANXIETY

AY U B O

The Princess and the Frog

THE HARBINGER | FEBRUARY 08, 2021

design by rose kanaley photos by emma kate squires

THE PERFECT BLEN

TWO LOCATIONS 7036 niem an rd.

SHAW NEE 8 424 farely st.

OVERL AND PARK L E F T | Moore orders three drinks at the counter of Cafe Equinox inside Family Tree in Overland Park.

Staffer tries Cafe Equinox, a coffee shop within Family Tree Nursery

by anna belle moore

G

rowing up, my favorite Saturday activity was picking out a mini cactus and feeding the fish in the koi pond at Family Tree Nursery with my mom.

When I saw my Instagram feed flooded with pictures from the semi-new coffee shop and cafe inside of Family Tree, I immediately grabbed a few friends to try it out.

Walking into the plant-filled greenhouse struck a sense of nostalgia within me. I scanned the scene for the little wooden popup cafe — Cafe Equinox — that lies just steps from the greenhouse entrance.

Cafe Equinox, a “botanically inspired cafe” according to their website, was started in Kansas City inside of Family Tree Nursery in mid-February of 2019. In the past few weeks via Instagram, it seems as though Equinox’s popularity has blown up — especially within the East community.

According to an article written in the Shawnee Mission Post, brothers Bo and Jesse Nelson — previous owners of Thou Mayest coffee shop in the Crossroads District which closed in December 2018 — started Cafe Equinox, inspired by their love for nature. They wanted it to be a calming and enjoyable environment inside the nursery where people could relax and sip on a delicious drink.

Going in, I was expecting to be able to sit down and munch on a homemade scone or muffin and enjoy some yummy coffee. Unfortunately, upon my arrival, I was informed that Equinox was out of food from the busy weekend prior. According to the barista, they get shipments of a few different baked goods from Heirloom bakery and other local vendors on Tuesdays and Thursdays — I was unlucky to try it out on a Monday.

So, I proceeded to try three different coffees due to the scarcity of food on that Monday afternoon. Overwhelmed by the

large array of drink options, the barista was extremely helpful by asking me what types of coffee and drinks I prefer and helped me order from there. The first drink I tried was a Batch Brew Caramel Cafe Au Lait with what the barista called Wild Child (Ethiopia Guji or coffee supplement) and caramel.

The Cafe Au Lait was light and airy — if you will — and not overbearing or dark by any means. It had little flavor, but if you’re in it for the caffeine like I am, this drink is definitely for you. I couldn’t taste the caramel as much as I’d been hoping, and I’m one to rave over a sweet drink, which it lacked as well. However, I was able to finish the whole thing feeling somewhat satisfied.

While sitting and sipping my drinks, I was surrounded by beautiful greenery and tropical plants. Not to mention, The Sill Blog says that plants are shown to boost your mood, reduce stress and eliminate air pollutants — making for a healthier, happier you.

The second drink I tried — a warm Chai Latte with two espresso shots — tasted exactly as I had expected. It was truly the perfect mix of sweet and spicy, including ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom and black pepper. To me, it felt like I was drinking a warm and soothing coffee and tea all in one.

If you’re someone who strays away from the deep and bitter taste that regular coffee has to offer, or if you just love a good Chai tea latte, this drink has it all. It was flavorful and fresh, and you could taste the cinnamon and tang.

The last drink I tried was a seasonal beverage, the Harvest Moon. This drink

A&E | 21

B E L O W | Cafe Equinox is located inside Family Tree which sells a mix of plants, including Bonsai trees.

contained pumpkin, maple, black walnut, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, milk and espresso.

The beverage had another strong sense of flavor, like the Chai, and also a tea-like taste. I could distinctly recognize the flavors of pumpkin and cinnamon, although I will say it wasn’t for me. For a person who likes to venture out of their coffee comfort zone, the Harvest Moon won’t let you down. But if you’re like me and your niche is a warm mocha or Au Lait, maybe consider skipping this purchase.

Aside from the products themselves, I thoroughly enjoyed the earthy and freshfeeling environment that Cafe Equinox and Family Tree have to offer. Despite it being 30 degrees Fahrenheit outside when I visited, it was warm and cozy in the greenhouse, giving you the feeling that you’re sitting outside on a nice spring day.

While sitting and sipping my drinks, I was surrounded by beautiful greenery and tropical plants. Not to mention, The Sill Blog says that plants are shown to boost your mood, reduce stress and eliminate air pollutants — making for a healthier, happier you.

This environment was definitely peaceful — with the exception of the little kids running around everywhere — which was expected with the koi carp pond and fish food dispenser across from the pickup bar.

I would categorize Family Tree and Cafe Equinox as a family-friendly atmosphere, whichever way that may sway your opinion, I’d still give it a try.

Despite not getting to try their baked goods, I was pleasantly surprised with my experience at Cafe Equinox and now have an excuse to return. And for the record, I’m sure my parents would have appreciated a quick cup of coffee while chasing me around Family Tree Nursery back in the day.

RATING THE DRINKS b a tch a b rew ca ra me l ca fe a u la it LIKE IT A L ATTE 4 / 5 STA R S |

ch a i la tte LIKE IT A L ATTE 3 / 5 STA R S |

h a rvest moon LIKE IT A L ATTE 1 / 5 STA R |

22 | A&E

THE HARBINGER | FEBRUARY 08, 2021

design by celia condon photos by sabrina dean

ARE T HE Essential?

Y Staffer tries multiple different essential oils to see if they’re effective

by l auren d i erks

ESSENTIAL OILS ARE far from essential in my opinion. When I have a headache, I take an Advil and when I’m stressed, I take a walk. But when my sister bought a set of eight different scented oils, she swore they were her saving grace for not only

headaches, but for indigestion, sore muscles and stress-relief. So I’ve decided to put my Advil back in the medicine cabinet and save my stress walks for another time and instead put these essential oils to the test.

lavender I’M NOT ONE to struggle with sleeping — I even consider it one of my strong suits — but I needed to know if a drop of lavender oil could take my ultimate state of relaxation one step further. I heeded Google’s advice and dabbed the oil behind my ears before my nightly social media scrolling. The earthy, soft smell was enjoyable, but I didn’t notice any difference in my sleep, which it claimed to help, nor did I feel any more relaxed than usual.

However, after night three of using the oil before bed, I woke up feeling more rested and motivated to start my day. After my sister realized that her lavender vial was missing and took it back, I began to notice that it took me longer to fall asleep. I will definitely be taking advantage of Amazon’s oneday-shipping and treat myself to this oil.

patcho u li

I HAD HIGH hopes for this oil with its fancy name and bright blue colored liquid, but I was immediately disappointed upon unscrewing the cap. The oil, extracted from the patchouli herb, immediately put a sour look on my face. I had initially chosen this oil to try because of its balancing properties — whatever that means — but the plywood smell did not balance me in the slightest and instead gave me a headache.

peppe r m in t I’VE FOUND IT increasingly hard to stay focused during online school with my phone constantly by my side and my family running in and out of the house. When I read peppermint essential oils improve concentration and increase mental clarity, I immediately swiped the small bottle from my sister’s collection just in time for AP Statistics.

Not yet willing to splurge on an oil diffuser, I stuck to dabbing a drop on each of my wrists and behind my ears. The sharp smell immediately made me sit up straighter and seemed to wipe away my morning grogginess within seconds.

Although this peppermint oil didn’t help me decipher the difference between parameter and population, it kept me focused long enough to get through all of my statistics notes and even finish the homework I usually blow off.

euca lyptus

A LONG WITH INCREASING concentration, eucalyptus oil is known to help relieve sore muscles. My cycling class from the day before certainly left me feeling stiff, so I mixed a few drops with warm water and rubbed it into my abs and quads. There was a nice cooling sensation for about three minutes, but it wore off and left me feeling just as stiff as before.

But similar to the peppermint oil, the eucalyptus smell quickly cleared away my drowsiness. Although I would stick to IcyHot and stretching to soothe soreness, if I ever run out of peppermint oil I’ll be reaching for the eucalyptus next to give me that extra pep.

A NSWE RS F RO M PAG E 20 ROSE

L AV E N D E R

GARDENIA

T R E ATS ANXIETY

RELIEVES I NS O M N I A

ANTI I N F L A M M ATO RY

THE HARBINGER | FEBRUARY 08, 2020

design by elizabeth mikkelson photos by rachel bingham

Disne y

A TA S T E O F

SCAN ME | RECIPES Scan here to read and follow each of the recipes below to try for yourself at home by lyda cosgrove

MY RECENT NOSTALGIC Disney movie marathon left my stomach growling at the sight of the delicious desserts featured throughout the magic-filled films.

Hungry and inspired, I was desperate to try these classic Disney sweets in real life, so I took on the challenge of recreating a few.

P R IN C E S S A N D THE F R O G B E IG N E TS

E AND TH BEAUTY STUFF E GREY H T : T S BEA “Try the grey stuff, it’s delicious// Don’t believe me? Ask the dishes,” Lumiere sings in his iconic musical number “Be Our Guest.” But what actually is the grey stuff? It turns out the official Disney Parks website released the mysterious recipe, which is a combination of crushed Oreos, pudding and whipped topping, frosted in a heap onto an Oreo or shortbread cookie and sprinkled with edible white pearls.

Realistically, the “grey stuff” was likely meant to be pâté — a creamy hors d’oeuvre made of animal liver, crackers and brandy. But when it comes down to choosing between chopped liver paste and creamy whipped sugar, I think the answer is obvious.

This recipe was the simplest to make, as I combined all the ingredients in under 10 minutes to then refrigerate until it was stiff enough to pipe onto the Oreo. Pro tip: Unless you’re bringing snacks for a party of 50, I’d recommend halving or even quartering the recipe, as I had over half of the unused cream left after frosting my remaining Oreos.

Although it turned out to be more of a brownish color, “The Grey Stuff” made for a quick and easy bite-sized treat.

A&E | 23

MPIRE B R AV E E S B IS C U I T

T I A N A’ S B E I G N E T S | 5 S TA R S

Ranking high on the list of my favorite Disney movies, I had to recreate the classic New Orleans cuisine from “The Princess and the Frog.” Princess Tiana is strongwilled and a hard worker, which is certainly needed for these fried pastries that took much more work than I expected.

The process of mixing, kneading, chilling, frying and dusting the beignets took an entire day, leaving me no time to turn into a frog and float down a Louisiana bayou like Tiana did. But the end result was 100% worth it.

This light and airy, honey-drizzled, powdered sugar-dusted fried goodness had me feeling like I was on a Mardi Gras parade This light and airy, honey-drizzled, powdered sugar-dusted fried goodness had me feeling like I was on a Mardi Gras parade float in the middle of New Orleans.

“ T H E G R E Y ST U F F ” | 4 STARS

*answers to page 20: Cheshire, Archery, and Bayou

Staffer recreates Disneyinspired desserts at home

“EAT ME” COO KIES Before Alice is transported into Wonderland, she finds an array of various cookies and drinks with beckoning messages like “Take One” and “Eat Me” that cause her to grow and shrink. For this recreation, I used a simple sugar cookie recipe and whipped up icing, dying each one nearly every shade on the color wheel.

“ E AT M E ” CO O K I E S | 5 STARS

From etching out little phrases using a toothpick to swirling together the vibrant icings, I went all out with my decorating skills. Although my cookies didn’t have the special sprinkle of Disney magic and sadly kept me at my height of only 4-foot-11, they were a colorful and tasty remake of the whimsical confection.

I’ve always wondered what the infamous cake that turns Princess Merida’s mom into a bear in Disney Pixar’s “Brave” would taste like. This Scottish dessert is known as an Empire Biscuit and is more of a flat cookie in real life. However, I found a modified version of the recipe to make them fluffier and more cake-like to better replicate the ones in the movie.

These pastries were a pretty simple combination of flour, sugar, butter, milk, baking powder and eggs that formed a sticky dough to lay out in clumps on a baking sheet. Just make sure your dough is spaced out far enough or they may all bake together into a globby mess — I learned that the hard way with my first batch.

E M P I R E B IS C U I TS | 4 STARS

Topped off with a drizzle of royal icing and a maraschino cherry, this “Brave”-style Empire Biscuit served as a perfect reward for completing my first day back at school.

But don’t worry — I’m still human after chowing down on this delectable biscuit cake.

24 | A&E

THE HARBINGER | FEBRUARY 8, 2021

A TRULY

design by tommy paulus photos by megan biles

CLASS ANGER LEVEL

Different Smash House classes based off of your anger

“I’m Mad” Price: $20 A review of the anger releasing experience “Smash House KC”

TIME

5 minute session that includes 10 small breakable items

“I’m Upset” Price: $35 10 minute session that includes 15 small and 1 medium breakable item

“I’m P’d Off” Price: $50 15 minute session that includes 30 small and 2 medium breakable items

U

“I’m On The Edge” Price: $100

by lauren west

nless you are my older sister who purposefully chases me up the stairs every time I try walking to my bedroom, I’m not one to spur violent interactions with anyone.

As someone who typically deals with anger by crying for five minutes and then shoving it into the depths of my brain, so I don’t have too many healthy ways of letting go.

Considering the chaotic year that was 2020, I have more than enough reasons for wanting to repeatedly punch my pillow after each draining Webex meeting. After dramatically writing down every reason I could be angry at the world for, I opted for a different method to cope with my emotions by booking an appointment at Smash House KC in hopes of releasing all of my pent up anger.

Smash House KC is a rage room facility that allows people to destroy items ranging from small glass bowls to an old washing machine — without suffering the consequences of ruining something like your brothers Xbox.

Located inside the Hyvee Arena in downtown KCMO, the venue is only accessible by entering the main entrance of the arena and walking towards the store’s suite number — 149.

But the friendly workers and helpful signs made it easy to locate.

It’s suggested that you book your appointment in advance through their website and pay a required $10 deposit when doing so. Services range from five

minutes in the rage room for $20 to 30 minutes for $100. There are multiple other large group packages available on their website and even a glow paint fight and food fight package deal. I went with the “I’m Upset” package, allowing me 10 minutes in the rage room for $35.

Upon entering the store, the sound of a bat hitting metal fought for my attention against the blaring speakers that played the Fall Out Boy song, “Centuries.” The amount of energy Smash House KC radiated before even entering my rage room made me thankful I had skipped out on the coffee that morning.

The entryway is filled with different arcade games and candy machines, while the opposing corner has Smash House KC merchandise on display. You must be 18 in order to sign the consent form, so if you’re not, make sure to bring someone who is old enough to sign for you.

Before you’re allowed to smash, an employee walks you through safety precautions and double checks that the clothing you wore is covering all parts of your body. Then, they provide two layers of gloves, a rubber apron, a hard hat and eye protection — and a mask of course.

As I was handed my bat of choice, I could not stop repeating the countless reasons I was mad in my head. The staff member guided me behind the counter, through the floor-to-ceiling-lined black tarps. When I entered my room, I saw glass bottles, plates and bowls,

a washing machine, furnace and old computer sitting on the concrete floor.

The minute I started smashing was when my 10 minutes began. I couldn’t help but take my first swing at the washing machine — something in my gut told me it had to be destroyed.

I felt the vibrations in my hands from swinging hard at the metal and watched the glass scatter across the concrete as I threw plates onto the floor.

I couldn’t think of anything other than hitting each item harder than I did before and was left extremely satisfied.

Five minutes in and I was exhausted.

Covered in full clothing with extra protection left me sweaty and breathing heavy, so I was thankful when the staff member interrupted with my two minute warning.

After being escorted out of my rage room, a staff member was sent to sweep the pieces that were destroyed, while the larger pieces were left for the next person. I was offered a free picture in front of their Smash House KC balloon display and returned my gear to the front counter where they sanitized everything before restocking the smashready items.

What surprised me most about this experience was how great I felt afterwards. Despite my sore shoulders from swinging the bat so much, letting out my pent-up anger felt empowering and rewarding. Now I just have to learn how to unwind without destroying a washing machine.

30 minute session that includes 45 small and 4 medium and 1 Large breakable item

TIPS TO CRUSH IT Lauren’s tips to maximize your experience

Grades Politics People

JOURNAL Write down and organize things that are making you mad

BRING MUSIC Make sure to bring airpods with to listen to music that hypes you up I FEEL...

REFLECT Think about your experience and how releasing your anger felt

SCAN ME | VIDEO Watch to see staffer Lauren West’s experience at Smash House KC

design by julia percy

THE HARBINGER | FEBRUARY 08, 2021

A SLICE OF

PHOTOSTORY | 25

The Anantomy and Physiology class took advantage of the in-person days and dissected a cow eyeball to go along with their unit on eyes and ears

L E F T | Senior Aaron Fischer assists in dissecting a cow eye. Fischer ’s comment on the dissection differed greatly from his partners’: “I thought the dissection was pretty cool, but my partners were very grossed out by it.” photo by noelle griffin A B O V E | Seniors Claire Horton, Henry DeCoursey and Henry Bunte and junior Lindsay Brown work on dissecting the eyeball. DeCoursey looks through the lens of the eye to see if it is cloudy or clear. photo by megan stopperan R I G H T | During the first step of the dissection, senior Sydney Herpich cut off the sclera on the cow eye. photo by annakate dilks

A B O V E | Senior Aaron Fischer gathers gloves, protective glasses, a scapula and scissors. After Fischer collects the supplies, he picks up the cow eyeball from anatomy teacher Mr. Brill. photo by annakate dilks L E F T | Junior Lauren Brock steps away from the dissection and her lab partners, senior Jane Ford and junior Ashley Garverick. “There was some weird liquid coming out of there. I did not like being a part of the situation,” Brock said. photo by sarah golder

Chad Wood Broker Owner

www.WoodRealtyKC.com

WAGSTAFF CARTMELL

&

EXPERTS IN HIGH STAKES LITIGATION CALL: (816) 701-1100 | EMAIL: RECEPTION@WCLLP.COM

design by cesca stamati photos by megan biles

THE HARBINGER | FEBRUARY 08, 2021

SPORTS

HIGHLIGHTS

SPORTS | 27

C H I E F S P O L LS ARE YOU GOING TO A SUPER BOWL WATCH PARTY? Instagram poll of 354 votes

Updates, schedules and quotes about the sports season

51%

COMING UP THIS WEEK FEB. 9 FEB. 11 FEB. 12

M A R K YO U R C A L E N DA R

VARSITY BOWLING MEET

Important sporting events in February

LOCATION: PARK L ANES TIME: 3 P.M.

FEB.

VARSITY BASKETBALL GAME LOCATION: E AST MAIN GYM TIME: 7 P.M.

VARSITY WRESTLING MEET

LOCATION: BLUE VALLEY WEST TIME: 3 P.M.

18

SWI M & D I V E STATE FOR BOYS SWIM & DIVE FROM FEB. 18-20

FEB.

27

WR E ST LING STAT E W R E STL IN G TOU R N A M EN T

VARSITY BASKETBALL: SME V. SMS

YES

49% NO WHO DO YOU THINK WILL WIN? Instagram poll of 473 votes

96% CHIEFS 4% BUCCANEERS

W I N T E R STA RS Coaches’ top picks for the winter season

G I R L S B AS K E T B A L L R E E S E A LT H O U S E Reese has been playing very well leading our team in scoring and assists per game. She has been the one that we rely on in close games to set up our offense as well as be willing to make the right play to help the team be successful.

COACH: DOUGL AS ARCHER POSITION: POINT GUARD T E A M : VA R S I T Y

W R E ST L I N G MAX FRANKLIN

A B OV E | S enior Charlie Su b lette ta kes th e b a ll to the basket on a fast b re a k a f te r ste a lin g th e b a ll f ro m SM S outh. photo by megan biles

FA R A B OV E | S e n i o r Presto n Rey n o l ds br i n gs t h e ball to t h e m i ddl e an d atte m pts to go i n fo r a l ay u p, bu t does n ot su cce e d i n sco r i n g. photo by megan biles A B OV E | Junior Emmett Hill gets boxed out while senior Preston Reynolds takes a free throw. photo by megan biles

I think at this point he’s like 21 [matches won] and six [matches lost], so a lot of improvement over last year. And he’s learning to be a leader, both by modeling what to do in practice and also a vocal leader as well.

COACH: CHIP UFFORD WEIGHT CL ASS: 220 T E A M : VA R S I T Y

28 | SPORTS

THE HARBINGER | FEBRUARY 08, 2021

design by caroline wood photo by ella hans

DISTANCING FOR THE

COMPETITION The Lancer Dancers face extra challenges with their upcoming competition due to strict COVID guidelines by grace al l en

I

n a typical year, the varsity Lancer Dancers compete in two local competitions during the school year, along with a national competition in Orlando, Fla. However, this year, due to COVID-19, they will only be competing in one competition which takes place Feb. 2627 at Olathe Northwest High School.

Masks will be required at all times — even when performing — and only one school is allowed in the building at a time. Due to this rule, each school will have to perform all of their routines back-to-back for the judges, rather than spread throughout the day.

The varsity team is performing a jazz, hip hop and pom dance at competition — with pom being completely new terrain for the team. Each two-minute dance is full of intricate cleaning points and tricks to appeal to the judges.

“With each dance, we try to jam-pack

In my past three years on the team, we were always together and so close knit and even though we are still close, it’s different not seeing each other all the time.

claire baker | senior them with everything we can,” co-captain and senior Katie Reda said. “It’s gonna take a physical toll on us [to perform them backto-back].”

With only one competition opportunity for the year, there’s more stress on the team to perform their best and, compared to last year’s more relaxed atmosphere, there is heightened pressure now. The standard of

having clean dances still remains, but the process of getting there is a challenge the team wasn’t used to facing.

“It’s really hard to do anything when we’re online and make sure everyone is synchronized and when people miss a day or are sick it’s hard for them to get caught up from just videos,” Reda said.

In addition to the virtual class adaptation, the team had to alter their choreography to fit this year’s COVID-19 rules. Dancers are unable to touch each other while performing, restricting them from close formations, lifts and a kick dance.

“We’ve been learning the choreography separately during class with a couple of practices all together during the week to fully do the dances,” varsity dancer and sophomore Kate Cronenwett said.

The dance team has remained socially distant and worn masks during practices, but they’ve had less practice time than a typical season due to the remote schooling schedule, according to Reda, making it even harder to prepare for the competition. What used to be daily 7 a.m. practices, first hour class and a three-hour Thursday night rehearsal, has turned into in-person seventh hour cohorts once a week, two hours on Thursday night and Friday after school.

Most of the girls keep cameras off during class, and record themselves practicing the dances they focused on that day. They can then submit the videos on an app called ‘Band,’ to confirm they understand the cleaning and choreography, so that they will be ready for in-person practices.

“With online, you can practice, but you can’t really effectively practice so it’s hard for the whole team to be on the same page,” Reda said.

Due to the lack of in-person practices, the team’s dynamic has shifted from a family-like feel in previous years to a more disconnected atmosphere.

“In my past three years on the team, we were always together and so close knit and even though we are still close, it’s different not seeing each other all the time,” cocaptain and senior Claire Baker said.

From an occasional dance party during rehearsal to a themed Webex class, the seniors have been looking for ways to keep up the morale of the team. Even with the unconventional year, the team aims to keep a positive mindset in the few normalities, like basketball game performances.

“In the first couple of months of Webex classes, we did costume days on Fridays where we had a theme like old dance costumes and we would dress up that day for the Webex meeting,” Baker said.

For Baker and Reda, the season has been bittersweet with it being their senior year and missing out on some of their favorite parts of being on the team.

“Knowing what I’m missing out on is the hardest part because I’ve been on varsity for the past two years and I’m so familiar with the fun moments,” Baker said. “It’s hard to have the months go by and not have those milestones that we usually have as a team together.”

According to Reda, this year’s goal going into the competition is not a specific place, but just to put their best foot forward and put as much effort as possible into every one of their performances— even if it’s from a distance.

ABOVE | Juniors Finley Condon and Audrey Gaillard and senior Claire Baker rehearse their competition hip hop routine.

C H A N G E S TO T H E

COMPETITION can’t touch each other at all during dances must wear masks while dancing no in-person awards ceremony have to perform their dances back-to-back not allowed to carpool or take the team bus

THE HARBINGER | FEBRUARY 08, 2021

design by lauren west photos by trevor paulus

QUALIFIED

R O F

SPORTS | 29

QUARANTINE

Following a positive COVID test from one of the boys on the team, the boys’ swim and dive team must miss their league meet due to an eight day quarantine

T

by rose kanal ey

he boys swim team missed their Sunflower League tournament after a COVID exposure on the team.

After a team member tested positive for COVID after coming to practice, the rest of the team had to quarantine starting Feb. 1 and be tested on Feb. 3. With the Varsity Sunflower League Prelims on Feb. 4 and Finals on Feb. 6, the team had to miss the tournament, according to Head Coach Wiley Wright.

According to senior Kaleb Hagg, after receiving a text in the groupchat from a teammate, he and the other swimmer found out of their exposure. All boys swim and dive team members were called out of class by either their parents or the nurse if in class, and were sent home to quarantine.

While members of the swim and dive team aren’t aware of who tested positive, all had to quarantine and received tests on Feb. 4. Without being able to practice or compete for 10 days, swimmers like freshman Reece Baker are concerned for how they’ll be able to prepare for state, and for their final tournament before state.

“When you miss even three days, let alone two weeks of swim, it really gets you out of shape and takes a while to get back to where you were,” Baker said. “So that’s going to be pretty hard for our swimmers at state.”

While most of the swimmers are confident they’ll be able to be prepared for state despite the break in practices according to Hagg, many are still nervous they won’t have the chance to qualify for state.

Unable to compete in the tournament, many swimmers were left without one of their biggest chances to qualify for the state meet, which is already more competitive as only the top 24 times in each event will compete at state due to COVID precautions. With their Last Chance meet now as the only meet before state, many swimmers are worried about meeting their state times, something they’ve been working towards all season.

Baker was looking to cut his 200 IM time down to 2 minutes and 15 seconds in the Sunflower League meet, so he now hopes to break that time in their final meet before

state. Senior Sullivan Goettsch was also hoping to use the league meet to qualify for state, and is now hoping he’ll be able to make it in their Last Chance Meet on Feb. 11. “[Leading up to the league tournament], we take what’s known as tapering for a few days where we don’t go as hard in practice to prepare our bodies for the meet to get better times and get cuts, and we won’t be able to get the opportunity this year at league,” Goettsch said. “We’ll have one last chance next week, which isn’t nearly the same atmosphere. So hopefully, a lot of our swimmers can still get the times to go.”

We’ll have one last chance next week, which isn’t nearly the same atmosphere. So hopefully, a lot of our swimmers can still get the times to go.

sullivan goettsch | senior Hagg, along with most of the senior swimmers, was especially upset to miss this league meet. East held a 16year winning streak up until last year, where they lost to Olathe East, and had been working all season to reclaim that first place status in the league.

“It just, it kills you on a whole other level, just knowing that we were in a position to take back our league run that we had a few years ago,” Hagg said. “It was one of my biggest goals this year as a senior, and to not have the opportunity really does hurt, but I’m just gonna just kind of try and move on from it as well as I can and not let it affect the ultimate goal of winning state.”

The non-seniors know how important it is to the team to reclaim the status of first in the league, and according to Baker, will be even more determined next season to earn it back for the current senior swimmers.

“It’s definitely gonna give us a drive,” Baker said. “We’re losing a lot of really good seniors, so we’re just going to try

QUARANTINE SCHEDULE

to do it for them.”

While the team has had to quarantine after an exposure before, this is the first meet they’ve been left to miss due to COVID. The jv boys swim team faced a COVID exposure at the beginning of the season, but as the meets hadn’t started they only missed practices.

Throughout the season, they’ve had to follow KHSAA guidelines as COVID precautions. These precautions require that the swim and dive teams wear masks anytime outside of the pool and are spread out more than before in their lanes. Some of the biggest changes, according to Hagg, have been the move from their normally three-hour practices to two hours, and not being allowed to practice for the two week period over winter break.

According to Baker and Hagg, the team has felt as safe as possible in practice with their COVID guidelines in place.

Missing one of their last tournaments was not only a problem for those who had still hoped to get a time for state, but also made seniors like senior Sullivan Goettsch sad to be missing one of their last tournaments on the team.

“A few days ago, I was already kind of down because I might have a total of four more swims already, and now that number has been cut in half, essentially,” Goettsch said. “Just knowing that the end is closer than you think it is, it’s hard to imagine.”

While it’s upsetting to the team that they can’t compete in one of their last meets, Hagg is sure that this setback will only fuel their hard work to prepare for state.

“If anything, it’s just a little bit more fuel to fire that we missed out on a good opportunity for us that fast times,” Hagg said. “We still have our Last Chance Meet coming up that’s the week before state, so I think after once we get back in the pool and get practicing at a high level we’ll have a really good last chance meet and we’ll still show that we’re one of the strongest teams in the state even without a swimming at league.”

The boys’ swim and dive team’s schedule for quarantining and competing

FEB. 1

FEB. 3

FEB. 4

FEB. 6

FEB. 9

FEB. 11

quarantine begins

tested for covid

prelims meet

league finals

quarantine ends

last chance meet

30 | SPORTS

THE HARBINGER | FEBRUARY 08, 2021

design by riley atkinson photos by emily pollock and rachel bingham copy by liv olson

ROAD TO STATE G I R LS B -B ALL

the biggest thing that we’re learning is how to play during crunch time and win down the stretch,” Archer said.

“We’re trying to put in a few more offensive plays so that we can look to get our scores open. And then defensively working on our press and maybe throwing in a few more defenses to keep people on their toes.” .

WITH A NEW HEAD varsity coach and a season record of 5-5, the girls’ varsity basketball team is optimistic headed into the playoff season beginning March 3.

“I feel like we’re feeling pretty confident right now,” senior point guard Reese Althouse said. “We’ve won four of our last five [games], so we’re definitely on the right track, but we haven’t really beaten a top team yet this year, so I think [big wins over other good teams are] going to be important for us going forward.”

Varsity Coach Douglas Archer believes that learning to analyze the court and adapt when games are close will be the team’s deciding factor in getting through the playoffs. In addition, Archer feels a stronger offensive presence on the court will find them success during playoffs.

“We’ve had quite a few close games, so I think

B OW LIN G

R I G H T | Senior Preston Reynolds goes for a layup during basketball practice. photo by emily pollock

THIS YEAR THE BOWLING team’s new home alley, Mission Bowl in Olathe, is helping them practice specific techniques needed for state that were not available to them at their previous home alley — AMF College Lanes.

“At Mission Bowl we’re allowed to set up certain pins,” varsity bowler and junior Victoria Leal said.

“Instead of just throwing [the ball] at all 10 of them, we can set up however many pins we want. So it really helps us practice our spares, which I think will really help us prepare for regionals and then state.”

However, due to COVID-19, the Sunflower League is not taking as many individuals and teams to state.

This year, only the four highest girls, the four highest boys and the two highest teams will qualify for state.

Because the varsity girls’ team is currently in fourth place in the Sunflower League and the team’s

scores are only getting higher, Leal is confident that the team will make it to state this year.

“We just have a lot more experience [than other teams] because several of us have been to state before,” Leal said. “We’re always focused on going [to state] as a team — that’s always the goal for us.”

B OYS SWIM & DI VE AFTER WORKING HARD TO get back in shape after their two-week break in January, the boys’ swim and dive team celebrated a major high at their meet on Thursday, Jan. 28 when 13 swimmers individually qualified for state.

“After Thursday, I’m pretty sure a lot of us were really confident in the fact that we almost shocked ourselves with how well we swam,” varsity swimmer and junior Bo Kimmel said.

But the swimmers were also all exposed to COVID-19 at that meet, so the swimmers had to leave school on Monday, Feb. 1 to complete a required two week quarantine until they receive a negative test.

Even without access to a pool, Kimmel is confident

that his team will work hard to stay in shape during this second, unexpected break from swim. When the boys return, they will be only two weeks out from state.

“I bet you that a lot of the guys are going to be running or lifting and trying to stay in shape [during the quarantine],” Kimmel said.

R I G H T | Junior Max Franklin looks at the clock with less than 15 seconds left while having the advantage in the wrestling match. photo by rachel bingham

A look at how each winter sports team is preparing for the end of their seasons

BOYS B- BA LL

AS SUBSTATE NEARS ON Feb. 27, the boys’ varsity basketball team knows they need to work on their defense — specifically boxing out opposing defenders.

“I think the basic for us is to be a consistent team on both ends of the floor,” varsity coach Shawn Hair said.

“Offensively we’re very good.

Defensively, and especially rebounding, we have to improve on.”

With a current record of 8-3, including some big wins

against Rockhurst and Olathe South, junior Emmett Hill attributes their success to their high offensive scoring.

“We’re able to really put the ball in the hoop a lot,” Hill said.

“But I would say we let in a lot of offensive rebounds. [Coach Hair] really emphasizes that [boxing out is key] because we give up a lot of offensive rebounds during games. We’ve got to limit [our opponent’s] points, and we’ll start winning those tough games down the road.”

WR EST LING THIS YEAR THE BOWLING team’s new home alley, Mission Bowl in Olathe, is helping them practice specific techniques needed for state that were not available to them at their previous home alley — AMF College Lanes.

“At Mission Bowl we’re allowed to set up certain pins,” varsity bowler and junior Victoria Leal said. “Instead of just throwing [the ball] at all 10 of them, we can set up however many pins we want. So it really helps us practice our spares, which I think will really help us prepare for regionals and then state.”

However, d u e

to COVID-19, the Sunflower League is not taking as many

individuals and teams to state.

This year, only the four highest girls, the four highest boys and the two highest teams will qualify for state.

Because the varsity girls’ team is currently in fourth place in the Sunflower League and the team’s scores are only getting higher, Leal is confident that the team will make it to state this year.

“We just have a lot more experience [than other teams] because several of us have been to state before,” Leal said.

“We’re always focused on going [to state] as a team — that’s always the goal for us.”

design by photo editors

THE HARBINGER | FEBRUARY 08, 2021

A glimpse into the Lancers settling back into in-person school

PHOTOSTORY | 31

BACK IN

THE SWING OF

SCHOOL A B O V E | Sophomore Kennedy Forsythe reacts to Mrs. Hallstrom during her fourth hour physical science class. The class was working on a distance and displacement lab during the first day back in hybrid. photo by annakate dilks ABOVE RIGHT | Sophomore Robbie Cotton sits outside of Chill in the Village in the rain as a punishment for loosing his fantasy football league. Cotton was tasked to sell lemonade until he raised $100, each cup being sold for two dollars. photo by macy crosser

A B O V E | Senior Louisa Mills measures senior Ellie Freeman for her costume in this years musical, “Godspell.” Mills commented on what theatre is like during COVID: “Rehearsal is different this year beacause for one, the actors have “permanent” spots or “home bases” on that stage that they are on the whole time. It’s also different because for me personally, as co-crew chief on costume, there isn’t too much to do because we have to stay COVID safe.” photo by riley atkinson

L E F T | Seniors Georgia Cook and Julia Percy pick up ChickFil-A from the school after finals week. The PTA sponsored free sandwiches for all students, handed out

by SME Pep Club. photo by taylor keal

L E F T | Senior Sophie Rice staples the STUCO spirit week poster on the main staircase poster board on the fourth floor. “I’m excited to be back in hybrid if not only for the sole reason that I can see people but it also makes It a lot easier to plan events,” Rice said. photo by jill rice

THE HARBINGER | FEBRUARY 08, 2021

design by catherine erickson

s t r a ht e

32 | ALT-COPY

L V E S I CK Although COVID-19 makes some of the more conventional Valentine’s Day celebrations more difficult this year, there are still plenty of untraditional ways to celebrate this Feb. 14 from your home

PUT YOUR MASKS on, because love is in the air! Even though COVID-19 makes Valentine’s Day traditions like passing out candy in the halls or taking your S.O. out to dinner difficult, there are still plenty of

YOU’VE HEARD THE saying that food is the way to the heart, so what better way to spend Valentine’s Day than taking a virtual cooking class?

Truffle Shuffle is a virtual cooking experience that offers a range of dishes to try, from steak bearnaise to wild mushroom fettuccine alfredo — and all the recipes incorporate black truffles. The classes can be purchased on their website

IF YOU’RE NOT particularly interested in digging through a germ-infested fake crime scene at one of Kansas City’s famous escape rooms, “Escape Room: The Game” provides a similar experience from your kitchen table. The board game is $15 for a pack of two rooms and can be found at Walmart, Target or Amazon with an array of choices for different difficulty levels

ways to celebrate. Here are a few ways to safely spend some quality time with your significant other or a small group of friends from the comfort of your own home to make the most out of this holiday.

and range from $65 to $95, which includes a shipment of all the ingredients and a Zoom course led by a chef with experience at a Michelin 3-star restaurant. This activity will provide a muchneeded change of pace from the Postmates-supplied dinner dates you’ve been having.

and themes. The object of the game is to find codes by solving riddles and “escape” within 60 minutes.

It’s a great way to build teamwork and communication between you and your partner or just a group of friends.

L V I RT UA ING CO O K CL ASS

ESCAP E ROOM GA M E

E T DA A IN X BO

TH T IC K E T B O O

SCAN ME | PLAYLIST O p en t h e Spot i f y ca me ra , w h i c h can be accesse d i n t he app’s “search” ta b, an d scan th i s cod e to l i sten to Harbi n ge r ’s Va l en t i n e’s Day pl a ylist to top of f you r date night ex peri en ce.

e e w S

by catherine erickson

G AT $1 7 T$ | STA R TI N PI N K SW EA N G AT $3 0 A N | STA R TI JO SH G R O B 5 RT IN G AT $1 D C IT Y | STA TH E SE C O N B | $1 0 -2 0 O M EDY C LU N OW H ER E C se d n be pu rc ha al l tic ke ts ca ’ rs ne rtai on th e en te eb si tes resp ec tive w

SOMETIMES THE HASSLE of trying to plan the perfect date sucks all the fun and romance out of the night. To solve your indecisiveness, subscribe to Date Night in a Box for either a onetime Valentine’s Day delivery or a monthly subscription.

Each box contains

ALTHOUGH NOTHING CAN quite match the electricity of a live concert crowd, one perk of virtual concerts is you can sing along as loud as you want, judgmentfree. Grab your partner and choose your mood for the night. Want some pop music that you can dance to? Pink Sweat$ will be debuting his new album, “Pink Planet,” during an exclusive Valentine’s Day special on

AL U T VIR ERT C CO N H OW S OR

a complete date night experience that can be done right from your couch, with interactive activities, accessories for ambiance, high-quality snacks and dinner recipes that make for a perfect date, headache-free.

Choose from a selection of themed boxes including the Roaring ‘20s, dance lessons and crafts.

February 12. Prefer a calmer vibe to cuddle up to? Purchase Josh Groban tickets for his livestream concert on Valentine’s Day where he will perform songs from his new album “Harmony.” Or if you’re looking for a laugh this holiday, many comedy clubs are offering live online standup specials. Nowhere Comedy Club is hosting a Valentine’s Day game show and The Second City is livestreaming virtual comedy shows all weekend.