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Preston Hooker
Addy Newman
Mya Smith
Sloane Henderson
Alex Harden
Reese Dunham
SOCIAL MEDIA EDITORS
Bella Broce
Lucy Stephens
Evelyn Bagley Ashtyn Ingram
SOCIAL MEDIA STAFF
Abigail Baltzell
Allie Beaulieu
Emily Enger
Libby Fitzpatrick
Evie Lewis
Rowan McGill
Adyson Cooper
Madeline Glasier
Devon McFadden
Sydney Eck
Lyla Weeks
Lucy Swope
ADS MANAGERS
Preston Hooker
Molly McDermed
CIRCULATION MANAGER
Bridget Dean
CONTEST COORDINATORS
Christopher Long
Tyler Russell COPY EDITORS
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editorial policy
The Harbinger is a student run publication. Published editorials express the views of the Harbinger staff. Signed columns published in the Harbinger express the writer’s personal opinion. The 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 The Harbinger will not share any unpublished content, but quotes material may be confirmed with the sources.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 though letters may be edited for clarity, length or mechanics. Letters should be sent to room 400 or emailed to
SCAN
DEAR SM EAST COMMUNITY,
There’s a seemingly endless supply of activities that Lancers can choose from. Band or track? Tennis or DECA? SHARE or student council? But, we’re Lancers. We don’t choose one or the other.
We’re athletes and mathematicians. Musicians and artists. Writers and chemists.
SM East students aren’t just students. We’re a group of 1,700 people who’ve
managed to win 113 state championships, plan walkouts protesting the government, perform on state-wide stages and compete in international competitions.
SM East faculty members aren’t just faculty members. They’re a group of 200 dedicated staff members who have photography businesses on the side, create a volleyball team to foster teambonding, sit in a makeshift office in the
hallway during passing periods and tutor students for countless hours after school.
The SM East community embodies values that aren’t written on a resume — empathetic, understanding, dedicated, overwhelmed and excited.
The common theme throughout the extensive list of activities, sports and extracurriculars? The word “and.”
What ties us together — students,
faculty and community members alike — is one simple, three-letter word, or a twisted symbol no one remembers the name of.
And. &.
Although we don’t exactly know what titles and responsibilities we’ll hold next, we will always be Lancers and ...
HARBINGER THE 2026 CLASS OF
Harbinger taught me that I didn’t have to quit one passion to pursue another
DEAR HARBINGER,
Here’s a little recap of my high school relationships: married at 11 years young, divorced by 16 and remarried at 17.
And who was the lucky groom? None other than Mr. Clarinet, the dashing flute and charming oboe — a.k.a. music
I’ve had quite the love life. And yes, I know it might not sound like a Hollywood romance to you, but to me, it was unforgettable.
In fifth grade, I said “I do” (rented a beginner clarinet from the school), and by sophomore year, I filed the divorce papers (dropped band). The reason for this messy breakup? None other than a 32-page homewrecker that kept me up constantly — The Harbinger.
We didn’t take it slow.
After savoring every moment of the notoriously hard Intro to News Media class (sorry, not sorry), I launched myself into Adobe InDesign, Google Docs drafts and meticulously crafted highlights
pages. Quickly, I tried to patch up the music note-shaped hole in my heart with the Harbinger’s deadline dinners and late-night snack runs. But something was missing from my writing. It was flat.
Then, in my darkest time with The Harbinger — a junior-year week full of three AP tests, an ACT, my birthday and a 1,400-word story — I discovered something: writing, and Harbinger, are musical .
Our student teacher at the time, Bill Bell, taught me that good journalists don’t look at their article as a vomit of words on a page but as sounds, rhythm and melodies all working together to shape a story.
And that’s when my words started to sing.
The flow of my articles changed when I learned to write as John Williams conducts.
Short. Phrases. Are. Powerful.
But long sentences can be poetic and can flow as they flesh out a story.
Harbinger made me realize that risks and improvement are more valuable than perfection
WALKING INTO THE backroom of the journalism room is like walking into a tornado. Dozens of designers, writers and photographers whirl around amid marked up issues and food scraps that probably should have been thrown away days ago.
Writers shout out desperate pleas for edits and designers wait patiently for someone to finish editing their page and let them package already.
The clock is spinning just as fast as the tornado of 75 staffers. Just like that, deadline is over. It moved too fast, my story isn’t done, my page isn’t done. Two weeks worth of work later and I need more time.
But none of my stories or designs have ever truly been done.
I’ve been thinking about this column since the senior issue my freshman year — four years and 56 issues ago.
And I could think about it for another four years, trying to find the perfect focus to sum up Harbinger’s impact on me in
450 words. I could spend months writing and rewriting this story only to scrap the whole thing and restart.
But the truth is, Harbinger moved too fast for me to sum it up into one perfect column. Too fast for me to edit every story I wrote until I was content or restart each design until I didn’t look at it sideways with scrunched eyebrows.
The second I became acquainted with a story, felt comfortable with its players and plot and pacing — I was thrown into the next issue.
The second I got the hang of one position, News Section Editor or Circulation Manager, I was thrown into a new role — Assistant Print and now Head Print Editor.
I could spend the next four years as Head Print Editor and still mess it up.
But the point of Harbinger isn’t to put out a perfectly polished issue every two weeks — Tate’s 40-pagelong critiques have proven that.
The point is to push myself and
make mistakes (Libby put ad here). Harbinger wasn’t meant to lead me to perfecting my craft, but rather, to growing my passion.
And those who are right by me in this whirlwind of a “class” are the ones who have helped me to slow down. My co-editor Sophia Brockmeier’s calm response of “it’s OK,” when I’ve convinced myself the world is falling apart, has pulled me through excruciating deadlines.
After interviews falling through, bad photos and last-minute page switches, I’ve learned to adapt. Harbinger doesn’t leave room for perfectionism. I’ve learned that it doesn’t mean I’m falling behind or failing if my work isn’t perfect.
My version of a compliment has molded into “I don’t hate it.”
So, I don’t hate this column. But I don’t like it. The lede is weak, the focus could be more creative, the wording in the second paragraph is clunky.
But it’s 3 a.m. on a Thursday, and it’s time to go to print.
Just like that, I remarried music, but this time as a “jerd” — a self-proclaimed abbreviation for a journalism nerd.
And my year as a head print editor, along with Libby, has been nothing short of a symphony as we’ve learned to orchestrate an ensemble of 77 budding journalists.
I harnessed each staccato (getting canceled by a group of 30 angry, teenage boys in the fall) and major chord (Tate finally called a spread I wrote “solid” in the spring).
With 16 choruses (each issue of The Harbinger) and a steady rhythm (support from the best editor team a journalist could ask for), we made it through the publicity crises, lack of a printer and 5 a.m. deadlines.
So thank you, Harbinger, for showing me that I didn’t have to give up on one passion to pursue the other.
Love, Sophia
LIBBY
LIBBY
MARSH
BELLA
I was meant to pursue journalism, even if I didn’t realize it until high school
THERE I WAS. Ten years old and a hot glue gun in hand, meticulously placing cotton clumps onto a plastic bucket. My work had to be surgically precise. With my best friend at my side, we were pouring our blood, sweat and tears into this project.
We were going to do it.
For Halloween, we would be cupcakes.
I’ve always needed to occupy my brain with a task and my hands would follow. One might blame it on my left-handed, artistic genes, but I know it’s more than that. When people think of Bella Broce, they think of two phrases — outgoing and out-of-the-box.
As a child, I was always dancing to a self-made beat, recording my own video show on a digital camera or ruining my family’s dining room table with Sharpie doodles. My
I only joined Harbinger because of my sister, but I found something I can call my own
AS HARBINGER ADVISOR
Dow Tate began announcing the Excellence Awards at the end of the year journalism banquet, I never expected to hear my name — well, my last name that is.
“Riley Eck!”
When the words first left Tate’s mouth, I thought he was talking about someone else, so I didn’t think anything of it. When no one stood up to receive the award, I realized what happened — what always happens. I got called my sister’s name.
Even though she was a three hour drive away at college, my teachers still used the wrong name weekly. I wondered how my sister, a former staff photographer, would feel about having just won the Design Excellence award.
I walked up to the front in disbelief to receive the certificate. I didn’t feel like I deserved it, since I was just a sophomore.
Before I joined staff, all I knew about The Harbinger was that
my sister was on staff. I applied reluctantly, not wanting to follow in my sister’s footsteps again , just like when I’d joined tennis and basketball.
So, as I walked into room 400 for the first time, I was terrified to define myself on my sister’s publication. My first semester on staff was spent fluctuating between telling my parents I wanted to quit and working up the courage to get help from editors.
Slowly, I learned the tricks, and my designs were improving little by little. I still remember when I got my first compliment from Tate. I had just finished my first-ever alt-copy, an infographic about the latest Frequent Fridays, and he came up to me in class to tell me my design was good . My doubts began to fade, and realized that I had my own identity on staff then just being Riley’s sister.
Not only did my designs begin to improve — I started loving the process, brainstorming photos,
hands couldn’t sit still.
I’ve always had an itch to create. But I was unaware that all of these seemingly insignificant moments had led up to my purpose — journalism.
I didn’t join the newspaper staff until the second semester of my sophomore year. However, journalism has always been in my life, just waiting for me to discover it.
Growing up, I displayed the attributes of a future journalist — talkative, inquisitive, innovative and assertive.
But my younger self wouldn’t have guessed that I would eat, sleep and breathe journalism in high school. She wouldn’t have thought that I would be driving home at 2:30 a.m. from a latenight deadline, still smiling ear to ear, despite converting countless
coming up with headlines and trying to keep up with the unrelenting environment on the Harbinger.
Now, after three years on staff, I’ve formed memories in the J-room that will last me for life. The cops showing up at my house at 1 a.m. during late night. Riding on the bus to Dallas for eight hours to sit in a freezing cold hotel conference hall. Attending the J-trip to Philadelphia just to see Hamilton the musical.
The thing I’ll miss most of all are the amazing friends I’ve met on staff. Whether it was at early morning brainstorms or exhausting late night packaging sessions, they made every minute of my time on Harbinger worth it.
Even though I followed my sister onto staff, which I used to detest, joining the Harbinger has been the best decision I made in high school. Even when I still mistakenly get called my sister’s name every now and then, I know that I’ve found my own Harbinger identity.
And that I will always cherish.
photos to CMYK. And she definitely wouldn’t have assumed that I would wake up in the middle of the night from journalism epiphanies or nightmares that something wasn’t completed.
But fourth-grade Bella with burnt hot glue hands would be immensely proud of the path she paved to be head design and social media editor of her high school newspaper staff and pursue a career in journalism.
To this day, my hands can’t sit still. And even though newspaper spreads aren’t equivalent to cupcake costumes, both have led me to what I consider — as cliché as it sounds — my journalistic destiny.
I don’t know what’s ahead, but I’m thrilled for what I can get my hands on next.
SYDNEY ECK SYDNEY
LUCIANA LUCIANA
MENDY
Harbinger taught me that sometimes it’s better to take risks instead of playing it safe
I STARTED PLANNING my high school schedule in sixth grade. With a Google Sheets spreadsheet and course guide in hand. I needed everything to go according to plan.
My freshman year was going to be packed with crucial electives like computer science classes and Intro to Business to set me up for the best colleges and give me the skills to become a data analyst — a role filled with logic and order, zeros and ones. My future was predictable. Safe.
But Harbinger was a plot twist.
I hadn’t even thought about journalism until my mom mentioned in middle school that being a part of the newspaper might look “attractive” on a college application. So, when I became a freshman, I took the journalism introduction class and applied for The Harbinger — thinking it would be an easy elective I’d coast through.
Since journalism was originally just a side quest, I stayed in my comfort zone. I dutifully covered
Though the haters on social media may think they’re talking to an adviser or principal, they’re actually just messaging me
I’VE POSTED 15 times on my personal Instagram account. An account I’ve cherished since sixth grade, evolving from oversaturated photos of my two dogs to a carefully curated senior spring break post.
Sifting through the comments, you’ll see phrases like “cutie” or “slay.” All things that are guaranteed to make my face melt into a smile.
But, two clicks away and I’m portraying my alter ego — @ smeharbinger account manager.
For two years, I’ve held the title of Head Social Media Editor, which comes with the cryptic Instagram account password, passed down from social editors. What the ghost of Harbinger past failed to mention, however, was the hateful comments and direct messages that would flood once receiving this title.
In seconds, I go from a “baddie” with Pinterest-worthy posts to a “straight liberal” who runs a “sh*t account” — yes, those are real comments from the past.
Random users have said they “didn’t understand how uneducated
Kansas was,” referring to the publication. Not to mention that we’re “pathetic children [who] have no clue what [we’re] talking about.”
Even links to a petition with hundreds of signatures threatening to end the Harbinger have been spammed in our comment sections, which, truthfully, makes me laugh at my screen. You can’t end the Harbinger — the school doesn’t even fund us.
I don’t personally know many who choose to spend their free time spreading hate to a studentrun newspaper, but there are thousands.
And what these people probably don’t understand is who they’re talking to. Hiding behind the glass screens of their iPhones and burner accounts with ridiculous usernames, they might think they’re messaging a principal or adviser.
But it’s just me. An 18-yearold high school senior who is trying to find the right response to a DM saying, “The Harbinger is ineffective, mismanaged and
school events, feature stories — the kind of pieces that didn’t ruffle feathers. But at some point, I got bored. I felt like every story I was writing was meaningless.
So during a sophomore year brainstorm, instead of just pitching a movie review, I raised my hand and asked, “Um, can I write an opinion about microaggressions and the subtle prejudice in the SM East community?”
For the next two weeks, I lived in a cycle of drafting and deleting, hoping that I wasn’t making a fool of myself by trying to cover a harder topic.
I was nauseous on the publishing date, and had convinced myself that I fumbled the story. But as students began approaching me, telling me that my story made them finally feel seen, I realized that by straying away from the “safe” stories, I actually made a difference.
So I stopped playing it safe. I worked hard to tackle stories like ICE involvement in schools and
constantly underdelivers on everything it promises.”
And while looking through these various messages, chances are I’m in my comfy matching pajama set, drinking water from a purple Stanley. Probably the least threatening person you can picture.
Beyond managing the Instagram, I somehow find time to write. And even then, I can’t catch a break from the people’s First Amendment rights.
Have I been called a “dumb author” for a review of Olipop? Yes. But have I been recognized nationally for my writing? Also, yes.
The most unexpected lesson I’ve learned from my time on staff was how some people will find any way to hate the thing you love most — and for me, that’s The Harbinger. Personally, I’d never spend my energy spreading absolute lunacy to a group of teenagers, but for those who feel the need to do so, you might just be talking to me.
local political protests. I covered a story about unprotected sex, asking intimate questions and addressing fears adults don’t typically confront. I don’t think I could’ve pushed my limits more.
Once I traded the easy path for the grit of more in-depth stories, I realized the amount of effort it would take: pulling all-nighters, frantically chasing down sources, getting the dreaded comment during deadline: “You need to rework the focus.” But, it was incredibly fulfilling to see my work become more and more impactful. My time on staff didn’t just teach me how to interview or navigate the Adobe tools (which I still haven’t mastered). It taught me that life can’t be planned in a spreadsheet, and you can’t make an impact by staying within the margins. I started high school wanting a career of predictable outcomes. I’m leaving it knowing that the real power lies in the
PAIGE PAIGE
Joining staff together allowed us to grow creatively and closer together
THEIR FIRST ARGUMENT was about cameras.
Before Paige or Will had stepped foot in the journalism room, they met in Will’s front yard on Lancer Day back in eighth grade, because his family hosted an annual watch party.
She picked on him for the Nikon D800 around his neck because of her dad’s loyalty to Canon. He was surprised to meet someone who knew as much about cameras as he did.
Paige brought her dad’s Pentax 35-millimeter film camera to an outdoor Halloween party Will was at a few months later. Will commented on the low lighting and confidently said Paige wouldn’t be able to get a well-lit picture, completely forgetting that he had met her earlier.
Somehow, she got the shot and made it her mission to get the photo back to Will...
And maybe his number.
A year later, they both enrolled
Harbinger gave me the ability to work harder than I ever thought was possible
IF I WERE going to be head video editor as a senior, I wouldn’t have any other official positions on staff.
At least, that’s what I was told by my Head Video Editors last year. At the time, I was an Assistant Video Editor, Copy Editor and Staff Artist. My other positions had already taken my focus away from my favorite medium of journalism: videography. That was supposed to change with seniority.
I still planned to keep writing, copyediting and drawing for Harbinger. My focus would just be concentrated on video: maximizing the number and quality of videos we make.
Yet, when senior-year staff positions were announced at last year’s banquet, my positions were called out as...
“Video Editor, Copy Editor, Staff Artist...”
“and Ads Manager.”
Awesome.
Not only did I keep the other positions I was supposed to officially drop, but I had a new position that I didn’t even apply for, with new obligations of managing the funding for the paper, which would overshadow my work with video.
Additionally, the position of ads manager is notoriously dreaded among harbinger staffers for its long list of responsibilities and neverending spreadsheets. A few people even told me to drop it before the next school year started.
Except I hated the idea of dropping positions. I’d already quit plenty of extracurriculars in high school: football for a summer job, track for nannying and policy debate for Harbinger.
I couldn’t back down on the one thing I’d stuck with throughout high school — the most fulfilling thing I’d done at SM East.
In the fall, I was still lifeguarding until Labor Day, so my schedule consisted of Harbinger for the majority of the school day, picking up and dropping off my nannying kids, then booking it back to the pool to lifeguard. There, I would work on Harbinger, SAT prep, college applications and AP or IB homework between shifts on the stand. And if it was a Friday, I’d host at a restaurant right after lifeguarding — and then over the weekend as well.
This kind of around-the-clock work was daunting. But after two years on Harbinger, nothing in
in 21st Century Journalism, where together they learned AP style and how to interview their peers. The pair has spent four years straight in Room 400, which may explain why they know nearly everything about each other — from possible dating prospects to their shared, sickly sleep schedules. Odds are, if one is awake at 2 a.m., the other is too.
Over time, their styles split in the best way.
Will has become synonymous with sports photography. Growing up playing soccer and baseball and watching every other sport on TV, Will can identify the turning point of a game before it happens.
And sure enough, when Paige meets students from other schools and mentions being a photographer at SM East, the first question is almost always, “Do you know Will Griffith?”
Oh, does she.
After nearly five years together, they understand each other in the strangest ways. Will’s texts remain incoherent to most, but Paige has become fluent in “Will Griffith” and can translate almost any message into English. He makes it up to her with Chick-fil-A runs on Thursday mornings.
Will plans to study advertising this fall at the University of Oregon, and Paige is pursuing film production at the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts at Chapman University. And though the two will be hundreds of miles apart, Paige will always be fluent in “Will Griffith” and Will will keep DoorDashing Paige’s lunch.
Not half bad for two kids who met arguing over Nikon and Canon.
While Paige didn’t have an infatuation for basketball reruns or minor-league baseball, her photography style gravitated towards student life and the quieter moments of human connection, which later sparked an interest in filmmaking.
PRESTON pRESTON
my schedule could intimidate me more than the rapid-fire two-week deadlines which had become very manageable over time.
When I started as a sophomore, I was still participating in football and debate. It was hard, and I wasn’t there for every game or tournament, but my Harbinger editors helped me grow into my responsibilities, making them manageable with other extracurriculars.
Without the early support from Harbinger leadership and my exposure to harsh deadlines and increased accountability, I wouldn’t have been able to take on much more as an upperclassman.
Did I really want to be emailing businesses and cashing checks instead of always filming and editing? No. But the exposure and fulfillment I got from persevering through new responsibilities was invaluable for a soon-to-be college student.
I can’t say I did all the work on video I wanted to, but I’m incredibly confident in the staffers rising into leadership: they’ll do much greater things than I did for our video program.
And, honestly? That’s growth.
Why
I STUMBLED INTO the auditorium trying to escape the freezing midDecember night. I was there to accompany then-sophomore and Harbinger photographer Lili Vottero at SM East’s annual holiday choir concert.
After discussing with Lili what being on staff looked like, I immediately wanted to apply to this program, where I could exhibit my passion for design.
As a freshman in high school, I wasn’t super involved. I was on the dance team and competed at a dance studio, but I wanted to do more. So, I hopped onto my computer and filled out my first-ever Harbinger application. Lili had described the rigorous production process, the main reason why I was so motivated to be on the Harbinger staff, which was unlike the yearlong Hauberk process.
Little did I know that semester would be my first of my six on staff.
I was quickly hooked. I found a place where I could express my love for design, my obsession with deadlines and staying on top of my work. Something I love so dearly about our process is how it restarts
After many failed extracurriculars, Harbinger stuck due to its interdisciplinary nature
BALLET, THEATRE, basketball, soccer, volleyball, gymnastics and even cooking class. My dad insisted on my being involved in something, anything, throughout childhood.
Each time I’d quit an extracurricular, I’d hear the same dreaded sentence my dad hammered into my brain: “You have to do something, Mya.”
I lost my passion for ballet, even though I loved the stage, I was too scared of improv in acting class and all of my basketball teammates rolled their eyes at me every time I’d attempt to pick and roll.
Everyone around me had their thing. The soccer girls wore their Nike headbands in elementary school, the singers sang badly off tune in the after-school choir and the gymnasts of fourth grade would flex their handstands at any opportunity.
I burned with envy as I watched my peers excel in their activities, while every extracurricular my parents forced me to do left me feeling like an incompetent baby.
The only thing motivating 11-year-old me was my squishy and
after two weeks, meaning I could be generating new designs weekly and learning so much about creative freedom — something I couldn’t achieve on the Hauberk staff.
As I grew older, more and more of my friends joined journalism, but on the yearbook side. Four out of nine of the girls in my friend group joined the Hauberk staff, and they constantly pestered me with — “Why aren’t you on Hauberk?”
After six hard and rewarding semesters, I have my answer to that persistent question.
Harbinger gave me the ability to be a part of every area of SM East, and be able to visualize designs based on hearing in-depth interviews.
Harbinger gave me creative freedom, the ability to design over anything, not directly SM East-related.
I was able to branch off and be surrounded by people other than my direct friend group. I also got to learn so much about communications and reaching various audiences through running our Instagram — something a yearbook doesn’t dive as deep with.
Harbinger gave me the chance to maximize my passion for design and communication, which is something
slime reviewing YouTube channel, “squishypoodlepuff.” It involved designing, video editing, a little bit of writing and finding ways to interact with media and my peers.
My squishy haul videos may have only had ten viewers and some atrocious editing, but consequently, it manifested my love for communicating stories through media that joining The Harbinger cultivated.
When I first followed The Harbinger freshman year on Instagram, I was fascinated. They had unique visuals and social media, stories from opinions to features.
It was perfect for me. For every extracurricular I participated in, the main problem was each one had an expiration date. After 2-3 months of interest, they’d become boring. But Harbinger was different in the way that there was always something new to try. It was interdisciplinary.
Even though writing stories and designing became easier after some time, writing still required a new angle with each story, and every page design was unique to its own story.
I can’t say that I never got
that I’m eternally grateful for.
The structure of our issues was something I quickly adapted to and thrived under. The Harbinger gave me the opportunity to stay organized and learn new creative techniques. Although I had to leave one semester due to my commitment to medical science at the CAA, and not enough time in my schedule for both, rejoining the second semester of junior year is a decision I’m so happy I made.
Don’t get me wrong, I love all of journalism. We have a cozy little corner on the fourth floor that radiates happiness and creativity. Whenever I walk into fourth hour, I can always feel the dedication of both staff working to meet their deadlines.
Everyone deserves to be a part of something they truly have passion for during high school.
Everyone deserves to find ways to be successful in trying new things.
Most importantly, everyone deserves to work under the authority of Dow Tate (even if he gets angry at you for not knowing how to align text).
annoyed or bored with having to write or design sometimes, but The Harbinger always gave me something new. It became my outlet.
Whether it was writing opinions on beauty standards, reviewing a bagel shop or telling the interesting stories of my peers, The Harbinger always challenged me by throwing new tasks my way.
I learned how to write anything from features to editorials, created social media videos, designed pages and infographics, copyedited my peers and even learned a small amount of photography junior year for Photo Face Off — a photo competition that all staffers can participate in.
My peers around me were constantly brainstorming new ideas, and the way that The Harbinger operates has ebbed and flowed throughout my three years on staff.
The multifaceted nature of Harbinger has come to be everything I could want in an extracurricular, and 11-year-old me would certainly be happy I carried on with my squishy channel in one way or the other.
I chose Harbinger over Hauberk and the happiness being on staff gave me
design by SYDNEY ECK
photos by WILL GRIFFITH
art by BELLA BROCE
Harbinger was the best experience, but it almost didn’t happen
IN OCTOBER 2022, my Mom and I struck a deal: I had to join a club at SM East before I got a car. I thought about what I could join, but I was stuck.
Then, two months later, I was sitting in the back of Lucy Stephens’ mom’s minivan when I told her about my deal. She immediately told me to join her on The Harbinger staff and even used her classic catchphrase, “It’ll be easy!”
So, when I got home, I sat down on my pink duvet and started snooping around. I scrolled through The Harbinger’s TikTok and Instagram, read their stories and looked through the position’s packet.
Then I typed up my application essay, put together my beginner portfolio and hit submit.
I decided to apply as a Staff Photographer because I loved being creative with my digital camera and wanted to try something new.
Looking back, hitting submit on that application was the best decision I could’ve ever made,
became the place in high school I thought I’d never find
TOWARDS THE END of sophomore year, I was sitting on senior Harper Beck’s couch, halflistening as everyone around me talked about their extracurriculars. One of my friends played tennis and soccer, the other was in yearbook and another was a state champion in debate, but they all treated it like nothing .
The conversation bounced around the room, filled with accomplishments and purpose.
I nodded and pretended to relate, but in reality, I wasn’t a part of anything
High school, and ultra qualified friends makes you feel like you’re supposed to know exactly what you like by freshman year. Just like everyone else, just figure it out, and if you don’t, you’re already behind.
Before I joined Harbinger, I was on the debate team. On paper it sounded perfect . It was competitive, academic and something that looked impressive to brag about and put on college applications. I wanted it to work so badly, I wanted to feel like I deserved to be there.
But it never felt right. It felt like everyone already knew each other and understood how everything worked, and I was just there taking up space.
And honestly, it made me feel dumb, like I was just the bottom of the barrel.
I started second-guessing everything . I would sit and listen to other people speak so confidently, so quickly and wonder why I couldn’t do the same. It stopped feeling like a place to learn and started feeling like a place where I was constantly trying to prove my intelligence.
Eventually, I dreaded doing anything related to debate, not because I didn’t care, but because I cared too much about something that made me feel so small.
Then I learned about The Harbinger.
My friend Mya Smith joined during her sophomore year. Before that, we would bond over the fact that we didn’t feel like we had a place at SM East. I never considered joining Harbinger before because journalism didn’t
because even through the ups and downs, Harbinger is my home at SM East.
When I joined with the title of “new staffer” second semester of sophomore year, I was intent on advancing in my Harbinger position.
I wanted to be a Head Photo Editor senior year.
I worked my entire junior year towards Assistant Photo Editor with the hopes of making it to head editor.
However, this dream didn’t come true for reasons I still don’t quite understand.
After I found out, I was truly crushed — something I’d worked towards for 182 days was gone, and at that point, quitting seemed like the most appealing option.
When I returned to class after finding out, I was divided. If I stayed on staff, that meant returning to my basic position at the bottom of the food chain that I held as an underclassman, while my fellow seniors, who had been on staff just as long as I, would be head editors — the top Harbinger predators.
seem like a career I wanted to be in. It seemed like just another thing that I would be bad at. But when Mya had nothing but good things to say about the paper and the group of people, I decided to apply, and there has never been a time where I’ve never felt like enough or not good enough.
From the very first time meeting the staff in Dallas for the journalism conference, I already felt welcomed with open arms. And that was enough.
The Harbinger became the one place in high school where I felt like I actually had a purpose. I had something to contribute. My voice and my ideas mattered in a way I hadn’t felt before, and people listened.
Looking back at that night on Harper’s couch, I wish I could tell myself that it’s okay to not have it all figured out right away. Sometimes you have to try the wrong things before you find the right ones, and I hope that is a trait I can hold onto while going into college.
And, if I quit staff, that meant missing out on what’s now my favorite year on the publication. But I chose to stay.
And I can’t say how glad I did. The Harbinger has become my second family — a group of people I can always rely on.
Everyone in the J-room has different backgrounds, friend groups and activities, but when it comes to a Wednesday deadline night, we unite to work as one team.
The people on staff have inspired me to push myself and try new things. They’ve edited my poor attempts at writing, helped me navigate deadlines and encouraged me when I was at my lowest to keep going. I realized that just because my photographer journey didn’t turn out the way I wanted, my Harbinger journey didn’t have to meet the same fate.
I’ve learned how to take criticism, how to design a page, how to write a story, how to interview people and most of all, how to persevere
Harbinger
FuturES ABROAD
stories by HANNAH ROSEMANN
CALLIOPE
Senior Calliope Lynch is studing linguistics in Seoul, South Korea
AS ACCEPTANCE LETTER after acceptance letter rolled in this fall, senior Calliope Lynch patiently awaited a slower, on-paper, international letter from Seoul University in South Korea.
Three seniors break apart from their peers to go to college in a new country
sister and freshman Persephone Lynch, said. “She wanted to do it for a very long time.”
The double minor coursework will be rigorous, but Lynch is confident in her academic abilities, with no roommate to distract her and only her cat for company in the apartment she plans to live in instead of a dorm.
“I’m going to do housing myself because I’m bringing my cat with me,” Lynch said. “So like, it’s a different situation where I’ll be living by myself in my own little apartment kind of deal.”
Living by yourself in a new country is a lot for anyone, but completely worth it, according to Lynch.
“I knew I wanted to go abroad because I’m not a huge fan of all the dynamics that come with American colleges, and I wanted
OLIVER
Senior Oliver Sanders will study architecture in London
WALKING THROUGH MISSION
Hills, senior Oliver Sanders points out a small detail in one of the sprawling houses to his friend, senior Carson
Sanders has always been attentive to details and enjoyed looking at buildings, but this passion grew when he decided to make architecture his major, according to
“I think [Sanders] always had an
appreciation for architecture and the arts,” Hull said. “He’s kind of a detailed guy. Especially now that he’s going to go into architecture.”
Westminster University in London. multiple times and has traveled internationally with his family. His love for travel and historical architecture in London make it the perfect fit, according to Sanders.
“My family travels a lot, so I’ve been there a lot, and it’s very familiar, and I feel surrounded by architecture when I’m there,” Sanders said.
Sanders applied to multiple
consideration, she feels confident in her decision to go north.
McGill offers her in-state tuition because she has a dual citizenship in France, and the university also gives her an outlet to the international community when she begins looking for jobs and internships in a few years.
“It was sleeting the whole time [I toured] and I didn’t think the campus was cute,” Chabanis said. “But then, I took a step back and was like, ‘Let’s think about this. It’s super cheap. It’s an incredible school. I still get that international experience.’
And the people there! I saw those people, and I was like, ‘Oh, they looked like people I’d want to be friends with.’ I feel like I didn’t get [this] with other schools.”
The choice might have surprised Chabanis, but her friends knew she’d go out of the
“I knew she could thrive in an international setting,” Chabanis’ friend, senior Claire Langford, said. “And I think I can really see her at McGill.”
Chabanis has enjoyed traveling since she was a kid and has experience going abroad. Her dad has lived in Asia and in France, so she spent lots of time traveling back and forth from where her dad was to America.
“[My brother and I have] traveled all over Asia, all over Europe,” Chabanis said. “So I love travel, and I think that’s also why I wanted to go to McGill.”
ROOMmATES ROOMMATES IB IB TO
Seniors Sage Lickteig and Claire Polanco have developed a friendship made for rooming together in college next year
SAGE AND CLAIRE’S DORM ESSENTIALS
DIfferent things Sage and Claire want in their dorm
potted plant
separate interests and responsibilities.
“We don’t have expectations that we have to be hanging out all the time,” Claire said. “We can live harmoniously even if we’re not always doing the same thing.”
Claire and Sage are in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program and share four classes this year, and six last year.
They weren’t close friends before their junior year, but sharing almost half of their classes led Claire and Sage to become “school friends” — they rarely hang out together outside of school.
“I can’t imagine being roommates with my best friend,” Sage said. “I would be scared to tell [them] that I need space because you don’t want to hurt their feelings. But with our relationship, we aren’t scared to say anything to each other. I’ll fully [say] ‘You’re pissing me off right now, you need to walk away.’”
Even when Claire and Sage were applying for schools abroad at the beginning of the school year, both were considering rooming together, according to Polanco. They applied to various universities in London on their own, but after seeing dorm prices, Sage’s grandma was willing to buy or rent an apartment in London for both to share.
“We were like, ‘We’ll just room together if we both go to London,” Claire said. “But we both decided not to go.”
Whether it was cost, rejection or preference, both decided to attend
conversation in class, both decided to room together.
“It was fine because we were going to room with each other in London,” Claire said. “All the roommates were going to be gone because most people already [knew] they were going to KU, so it wasn’t even really a conversation.”
Claire’s mom, Katie Keene, says the process was “automatic.”
“It will be nice for Claire to have some familiarity and someone [who] feels like home, even though they’re not that far,” Katie said.
And although Katie has yet to meet Sage, she says both girls will get to know each other better as next year goes on.
Even with their differences, both Sage and Claire say that’s exactly why they will make good roommates.
“Sage doesn’t set alarms, she just [naturally] wakes up early,” Claire said. “It works out really well because I like to sleep in, so she can just get up and won’t wake [me] up.”
Housing contracts for next school year are released in June, and both girls want to live in Corbin — a dorm on campus — so they can be close to sorority houses and rush in the fall.
“We don’t have to compromise,” Sage said. “We’re just going to keep doing our own thing, and we are both okay with that.”
BUCKET LIST BUCKET LIST
A senior’s guide to make their last week at SM East memorable
1. 1. ATTEND GRADUATION PAR TIES
Attending graduation parties allows for lasting memories with your friends.
2. 2. MAKE HOMEMADE CARDS FOR YOUR FRIENDS
Nothing leaves an impression like the thoughtfulness of a handwritten note.
3. 3. ATTEND SENIOR SUNSET
9. 9. SLEEPOVER NIGHT BEFORE LAST DAY
Rows of pillows and PJ’s, enjoy your final “school night” reminiscing on high school
10. 10. GO TO BANQUETS
Every senior activity is one more opportunity to remember your four years at SM East.
4. 4. ATTEND A SPORTING EVENT
With loud cheers and intense energy, you’ll remember the final glimpse of the sidelines before high school is over.
5. 5. GET A YEARBOOK
Show appreciation for 500 pages of hard work and have the memories of high school stay with you forever.
6. 6. HAVE A FRIEND GROUP PHOTO SHOOT
Pictures last longer than memories so preserve your friend group’s history through a lens.
7. 7. REVISIT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Slideshows, awards and speeches are what you’ll remember about your Lancer extracurriculars.
11. 11. MAKE A SENIOR YEAR RECAP VIDEO
Whether its a ‘60s Canon you salvaged from Goodwill or just your iPhone, capture those fleeting moments of high school.
The halls where it all began. Take a walk down memory lane and remember how fast time goes by.
8. 8.MAKE A SCRAPBOOK
12. 12. GO TO SENIOR NIGHTS
Celebrate your friends and peers in their final hoorah of their high school activities.
13. 13. DECORATE SENIOR BOXES
Collections of tickets, Polaroids and greeting cards will remind you of your days as a Lancer.
A place for all your Lancer mementos, a senior box is a great way to encapsulate your Lancer journey.
14. 14. WRITE THANK YOU NOTES TO TEACHERS
Appreciate your mentors as they guide you across the stage at graduation.
15. 15. WALK ACROSS THE LANCER
Now that you’ve graduated, walk across the Lancer tile that you’ve been wary of since freshman year one last time.
FINDING
Brock Rider has a close relationship with choir teacher Ken Foley through similar interests in sports and music
story by EFFIE ROPER
SEEING SENIOR BROCK Rider on the stage in the Dan Zollars Auditorium doesn’t make a lot of sense. He’s a big, bulky football player, labeled All-State Defensive Lineman in Kansas last year.
Since Rider’s first steps, he’s been playing football. Whether it’s running touchdown passes or lifting weights during the off-season, he’s always doing something revolving around a small leather football.
His dad, Derrick Rider, who coached Rider at multiple levels, including elementary into high school, has seen it firsthand.
“From an early age, Brock loved sports,” Derrick said. “He was a ball boy for the team at East [SM East] starting in second grade and was around practices and games all the time.”
He’s someone you’d expect to spend most of his time on the football field wearing a Columbia Blue jersey and tackling every person in sight, not in an auditorium where the goal is blending in
THEIR THEIR BEAT BEAT
And while stepping into something completely different and new seemed terrifying, according to Rider, there was one person who changed that — choir teacher Ken Foley.
Similar to Rider, Foley was involved in music and sports. Throughout his childhood, Foley played soccer from the age of six and became the goalie and team captain for the Cincinnati University soccer team in college.
Foley played the trumpet throughout high school and later joined choir in college while studying music education. He then attended the University of MissouriKansas City to receive his master’s in choir conducting.
As Rider became more involved in choir, he grew a strong connection with Foley. After the bell, Rider would stay after class and talk with Foley over their shared interests.
But that’s exactly why he fits,
During his junior year, Rider decided to join a new extracurricular on top of
really bonded over everything, including music.”
As they grew closer, they’ve created memories that neither will forget.
Standing alone at the Rockefeller Center fountain and ice skating rink while on the choir’s spring break trip, Foley came over and gave Rider a hug and told him how thankful he was for him out of appreciation for Rider.
I FEEL LIKE
MOLLY
MINOR SENIOR
Even students began to notice their close relationship and how similar they are: Rider’s choir co-president, senior Choralist and Chamber Choir member Molly Minor, has noticed their friendship grow constantly.
Although it was a small gesture, Rider will never forget that moment of kindness from Foley.
“He’s the greatest teacher that you could possibly imagine,” Rider said. “The thing that makes Mr. Foley the most special is how much he truly cares about his students and the love he shows us every single day.”
Foley has inspired Rider to pursue his music career and become a teacher. He’d had conversations with Foley about teaching and has received invaluable advice from him on working as a team and being an overall good teacher.
choir president and as a choir member among his peers.
“I relate sports to choir all the time, and I’m all about the team, and he seems to be the same,” Foley said. “He’s a team player in all the things he does in sports, but he’s also very much a team player in music.”
Seeing how similar Foley is to Rider gives Rider a hopeful glance at what he could become one day. Without Foley teaching at SM East, Rider’s journey would’ve been completely different.
After high school, Rider’s goal is to publish and perform his music in concerts, as well as major in music and secondary education at Pittsburg State University.
He also hopes to continue playing football at Pitt State; however, due to a knee injury that benched him nearly the whole football season, his decisions aren’t final.
“The really cool thing is that I get to learn from Mr. Foley as a choir student, but every day I am also learning from him as a future teacher and how I want to be just like him,” Rider said. season, his decisions aren’t final.
“I feel like they’re both really optimistic and empathetic towards anyone and everything,” Minor said. “They have
Foley describes Rider as a team player, and he’s created a motto that has stuck with Rider every day: “Many singers, one voice.” Rider attributes that to his role as
“The really cool thing is that I get to learn from Mr. Foley as a choir student, but every day I am also learning from him as a future teacher and how I want
INTERTWINING INTERESTS INTERESTS
COLLEGE
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
HARBINGER STAFF,
After reading Harbinger’s softball article, “Beyond Losses,” it needs to be made clear how one-sided and inaccurate this journalism is.
Coach Jadeyn Wyrick and I were both interviewed and told that the article was about “team bonding,” which is clearly not the topic of the article. Neither of us were quoted in the article. Coach Lucas Allen was not contacted by Harbinger at all and did not have the opportunity to provide any insight about his time in our program, despite being mentioned in a negative light.
An anonymous source came into my classroom the morning after the article was published, in tears, claiming that much of what they were quoted for in the article was never said, and those words were “put in their mouth.” I know that you record all interviews, and you have proof of what was said, so I acknowledge that this very well might be a student regretting what they said and trying to do damage control.
Regardless of if their quote is accurate or not, it’s disappointing that our school paper is using its platform to degrade programs
and coaches. I am so proud of the strides that the softball program has made over the last four years, and we have so many celebrations that could have been highlighted (for example, three seniors committed to play in college, JV having multiple wins on the season) rather than creating a negative narrative about our team and coaches. Beyond Wins, what our program prides itself on the most is our character and integrity.
My entire coaching staff exhibits those qualities to the highest degree. Jadeyn and Lucas are two of the most positive and understanding people that I have ever had the pleasure of working with. We are so fortunate that they choose to show up to teach and coach our community every day. Education is a hard field with few perks, and hateful words like this certainly will not keep people teaching and coaching. While articles like this are just a grade for you, this directly impacts the career, livelihood and reputation of both Jadeyn and Lucas. Writers and editors need to understand that your words have weight; once an article with defamation of character is published, there is
no taking it back.
Why anyone on the Harbinger staff felt that it would be beneficial to belittle a program and coaches, let alone make it to press, will always be Beyond Me.
Moving forward, my softball staff and athletes will no longer be participating in any Harbinger interviews. I want to be supportive of our school paper, but I have to protect the athletes and teachers in my program. Jadeyn and Lucas work too hard and care about our kids too much to be put down on a public platform, especially one written by their own students.
Dow Tate and Bill Bell, I appreciate the hard work and time commitment that you dedicate to Harbinger. I know that you would never let an article go to press with malicious intent, and I look forward to reading future articles that highlight all of the positive aspects about Shawnee Mission East and the students and staff within it. This really is a special place to be, and I hope that people get to see that.
Sincerely,
Mallory Dittemore SME Business Teacher Head Cross Country & Softball Coach
EDITOR’S NOTE
DEAR SM EAST students, faculty and community,
In Issue 15 of The Harbinger, an article concerning the softball team was published in our sports section. As a staff, we aim to be a voice for student concerns in our community. However, we recognize that the article did not represent the full, in-depth reporting that The Harbinger prides itself on.
As an editorial staff we apologize to those that have
been adversely affected by the article, namely Coaches Mallory Dittemore, Lucas Allen and Jadeyn Wyrick, and whose public image was altered by the publication.
As a student publication we recognize that mistakes are made in the process of learning and we regret our error in publishing the article.
Sincerely, Sophia Brockmeier and Libby Marsh
CONGRATULATIONS CLASS OF 2026
THE NEXT THE NEXT
Alabama
AUBURN UNIVERSITY
Achatz, Hannah Mayfield, Gage
UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA
Stanfield, Paige
Arizona
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
Konold, Pearson
Zugelder, Niabella
UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
Heinen, Mirabelle
Weaver, Hudson
Arkansas
UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS
Anderson, Tatum
Cherra, Tony
Green, Mary
Hoover, Maebel
Myers, Amelia
Parisi, Lydia
Rasmussen, Jane
Sederquist, Megan
Sharkey, Grace
California
CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY
Bean, Paige
Rook, Ben Smith, Mya
MILLS COLLEGE
(NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY)
Hooker, Preston
SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY
Carolan, Emma
SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY
Carroll, Ava Kessler, Fina
Colorado
COLORADO MESA UNIVERSITY
Swan, Chloe
COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY
Benditt, Alex
Bennett, Andrew
Slicker, Ella
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADOBOULDER
Barcus, William Meredith, Maxwell
O’Brien, Jordan Winfield, Reed
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADOCOLORADO SPRINGS
Simmons, Annabelle
Florida
FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY
King, Eliza
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
Clifford, Adeline
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI
Sinatra, Luke
Georgia
AUGUSTA UNIVERSITY
McDonald, Molly EMORY UNIVERSITY
Hlobik, Stephen Mendy, Luciana
SAVANNAH COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN
Jones, Natalie
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA Conrad, Cate Stein, Sarah
Hawaii
HAWAII PACIFIC UNIVERSITY Higgins, Gabrielle
Illinois
DEPAUL UNIVERSITY
Ferkenhoff, Oli
Lynn, Lola
Ohlund, Nash
LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO
Liberda, Miranda
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
Marsh, Libby
Indiana
INDIANA UNIVERSITY
Meredith, Kirsten
INDIANA UNIVERSITYINDIANAPOLIS
Stover, Addison
PURDUE UNIVERSITY Doyle, Wesley
Iowa
DRAKE UNIVERSITY
Beltrame, Catherine Hudon, Madie
IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY Beaver, Stella Campbell, Kai Luther College Hunter, Izzy
UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA Hartley, Greta
Kansas
BAKER UNIVERSITY
Bohannon, Gavin Lowry, Eva
BENEDICTINE COLLEGE
Augustine, Talia
COFFEYVILLE COMMUNITY
COLLEGE
Mooney, Ayden
ENTOURAGE INSTITUTE OF BEAUTY AND ESTHETICS
Garcia Oliva, Jelcy
Martinez, Amber
FORT HAYS STATE UNIVERSITY
Griffin, Ilse
JOHNSON COUNTY COMMUNITY
COLLEGE
Abraham, Alina
Acton, Charlie Andrews, Zane Bryant, George Campbell, Violet Chapman, Asher Cobb, Veda Compton, Miles DeMarco, Roman Doran, Connor Everhart, Lucas Garcia Valerio, Evan Goodin, Carson Gul Mohammad, Hanifa Hoskins, Janie Juarez, Penelope Lamothe, Kaden Miranda Mota, Salvador Morales, Kimberly Newell, Jordin Panis, Sonny Pillatzke, Parker Pitnick, Kailyn Rayfield, Grace Reda, Lucy Rickey, Kaleb Rogers, Jonah Sanchez, Isaiah Scott, Maria Spence, Logan Stedry, Ben Wilson, Elijah Young, Aiden
JOHNSON COUNTY REGIONAL POLICE ACADEMY McNally, Collin KANSAS CITY KANSAS COMMUNITY College Perez, Gavin KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Acton, Mitchell Alldredge, Campbell Bersenev, Aleksei Boxberger, Brady Bruner, Mason Bryant, Jacobi Crutchfield, Reed Devenny, Wyeth Eck, Sydney Fix, Ashton Felkner, Brett Fowler, Jackson Franklin, Maggie Fraser, Angus Fredrickson, Ava Gattorna, Danica Glasier, Ben Gonzalez, Adrian Hanner, Clayton Hoskins, Charlie Hunt, Kasper Hunter, Hank Le Riche, Julian Madsen, Graham Magruder, Miles McKee, Finn Meyer, Sloan
Minor, Molly Morehead, Celeste Ochs, Paxton Ochs, Quentin Poague, Hailey Sartain, Ryan Schutzler, Vicki Selvy, Dasani Shroyer, Rollie Stidham, Ben Sullivan, Addy Vallejo, Remy Walls, Cora Waters, Matthew Wilson, Gillian
MIDAMERICA NAZARENE UNIVERSITY
Almoney, Militza Pulgarin Rendon, Felipe OTTAWA UNIVERSITY
Savich, Kingston PITTSBURG STATE UNIVERSITY
Austin, Willow Marlin, Jordan Rider, Brock PREMIER ACADEMY OF COSMETOLOGY AND ESTHETICS Willard, Sylvie UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Aiken, Adrien Allen, Grady Allen, Marshall Bettenhausen, Brynn Bolanos-Carias, Melany Boyd, Georgia Bright, Owen Brooks, Lucy Buenneke, Abriale Campbell, Sophia Castillo, Keilani Corey, Joshua Dippel, Logan Douglass, Fletcher Dukes, Julian Dunham, Quinlan Durgavathi, Shubra English, Michael Erickson, Reese Fernandes Senkowski, Felipe Fore, Macy Frey, Kinzley Galloway, Will Gibbs, Sammy Hall, Addi Hardinger, Jack Hartis, Allie Hendon, Hank Hodges, Charlotte Home, Ishaan Jamison, Juliana Jiang, Joyce Kaneda, Phoebe Kangethe, Lex Kennedy, Arianna Kopp, Vince Kounkel, Carly
Kratky, Owen Levitan, Ava Lickteig, Sage Little, Gavin Lowrance, Tilman Martini, Gabby McFadden, Brody Millett, Declan Montgomery, Bo Orangifard, Zahra Ovitt, Ruby Oyetunji, Tobi Pendleton, Trey Perez, Ava Perry, Briggs Pipia, Jack Polanco, Claire Prendiville, Andi Pruitt, Makena Reardon, Sarah Reed, Gavon Reeves, Jack Reid, Hudson Rhodes, Andrew Saylor, Henry Scarcello-Thedinger, Elise Schlote, Eric Scott, Sage Shelton, Will Niang-Trost, Skyler Sosland, Rosa Stamos, Scarlett Stiglic, Henry Stratemeier, Jack Sullivan, Wheeler Taylor, Ben Taylor, Luke Tegtmeier, Barrett Thibault, Gracen Tompkins, Charlie Tyler, Ella Wallace, Henry Walpitage, Nithmi Wasserman, Ruby Wetzel, Woodsie Wiklund, Bo Willemsen, Jacob Willey, Elton Windholz, Ava Wonderly, Alex Washburn University Daniels, Jerald, JR WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY Dodge, Zella Gray, Charles O’Donnell, Grace Seesing, Lily
Kentucky
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY Cook, Katie Louisiana NICHOLLS STATE UNIVERSITY Sims, Macy TULANE UNIVERSITY
design by AVNI BANSAL
copy by MICHAEL YI & LUCY STEPHENS
art by BELLA BROCE
THE HARBINGER 17
NEXT GEN NEXT GEN
Davis, Rachel
LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY
Adams, Brooklyn
Maine
BOWDOIN COLLEGE
Piraquive, Katherine
COLBY COLLEGE
Gibson, Miles
Maryland
COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF BALTIMORE COUNTY
Beveridge-Calvin, Tyler
Michigan
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
Desai, Chander
Minnesota
HAMLINE UNIVERSITY
Hastert, Andrew
MACALESTER COLLEGE
Ozkan, Mete
Mississippi
UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI
Euston Lewis, Julian Hazen, Ethen
Missouri
AVIATION INSTITUTE OF MAINTENANCE
Wagner, Beckett
Avila University
Maggard, Sophia
DRURY UNIVERSITY
Jewell, Noah
METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY
COLLEGE-KANSAS CITY
Diez, Oscar
MISSOURI BAPTIST UNIVERSITY
Norris, Campbell
MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY
Thuenemann, Ellie
NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY
Beck, Harper
Cowell, Maci
Croker, Charlie
ROCKHURST UNIVERSITY
Allen Williams, La’Dre
Ceron Madrigal, Alejandra
SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY
Yanics, Sophia
STEPHENS COLLEGE
Alber, Mazie
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL MISSOURI
Argie, Aidric
Hendrickson, Lucinda
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURICOLUMBIA
Anderson, Norah
Beedle, Morgan
Broce, Bella Craven, Millie
Where the class of 2026 is planning on going next fall
Hagedorn, Brooks Koeneman, Avie
Lindberg, Emerson Lindberg, Stella Mahurin, Parker Seibert, Grant Taylor, Jack Zaman, Dashiell Zwillenberg, Henry UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-KANSAS CITY
Harbert, Audrey Longoria, Laura Madden, Fiona Moon, Elijah Morgan, Teddy Nee, Maddie Oza, Deven Santa, Carter
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS Borthwick, Jay
Montana
MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY
Gilliam, Kaylee Pastine, Ezra
Nebraska
CREIGHTON UNIVERSITY Mai, Linus Martinek, Tom Stinson, Lola Wening, Jackson MIDLAND UNIVERSITY Meyer, Mason
UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-OMAHA Lucas, Kate UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKALINCOLN
Harding, Charlotte Manteufel, Ella McShane, Emily Smith, Jake
New Jersey
STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Quance, James
New Mexico
UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO Byerley, Millie
New York
NYC SCHOLARS (NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY)
Devkota, Sarah
SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS
Winfield, Ava
North Carolina
HIGH POINT UNIVERSITY
Myers, Hannah
NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY
Winfield, Jacob
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL
Harmon, Chloe Shaw, Christian Wissel, Charlotte
Ohio
DENISON UNIVERSITY
Howard, Porter
MIAMI UNIVERSITY
Brinton, Campbell
Oklahoma
UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA Anderson, Quinlyn
Bennish, Hudson Cicero, Anna Coffman, Hayden Holzbeierlein, Louisa
Freeman, Peyton Johnson, Salem Wallace, Gabe Whittacre, Joseph
Work Force
Barlaan, Wyatt Gilmore, Carson Herzog, Benjamin Ketcham, Benjamin Poe, Kellen Ritter, Baylor Thomas, Cora Waterman, Max Wood, Cole
Unknown/ Undecided
Ashford, Otto Becker, Kyle Bird, Nathan Brunkow, Mason Buck, Jadden Canales Amaya, Alberto Chapman, August Chavez Cabello, David Cooper, Joshua Devine, Roxas Diaz-Gonzalez, Diego Dorton-Hugunin, Nora Fairchild, William Frandsen, Cabot Gentry, Ricardo Gochenour, Julian Higgins, Campbell Lee, Roman Moshier, Keagin Navarro, Gianni Nelson, Maggie Newton, Maddux O’Neill, Carter Pelkey, Keegan Ribeiro, Alice Schmitz, Jillian Simek, Luke Van Doren, Julian Ward, Tucker Wittmer, Hunter Youngers, Max
AND WE’RE OUT! AND WE’RE OUT!
Three seniors share lessons learned and advice for their freshman selves
stories
by
MEREDITH WACHA
SHUBRA DURGAVATHI
As head drum major, senior Shubra Durgavathi has learned confidence and leadership
AS HEAD DRUM major, senior Shubra Durgavathi has been repeatedly dropped on her face during a band camp demonstration. At a leadership camp, she was once asked to lift a 200-pound man on her own, which didn’t go as planned.
Durgavathi has had her share of awkward moments.
Other band camp members quickly came to her aid, and she still has a photo of 30 other campers helping lift him overhead.
Moments like that taught her that some of high school’s biggest lessons come from the smallest, and sometimes the most embarrassing experiences.
If she could whisper one thing to
her freshman self it would be to stop taking everything so seriously and don’t be afraid of embarrassment. Put yourself out there, laugh at mistakes, and you’ll live a lot more.
And that has been her motto this year.
“As a head drum major, you’re in front of a lot of people all the time, and there’s no way to do that without messing up at least a couple times,” Durgavathi said.
A casual shrug and a quick recovery can turn mistakes into memories, instead of embarrassing mess-ups.
Durgavathi’s biggest regret in high school is being too quiet as an underclassman, a choice that left her feeling isolated. Midway through junior year, she decided to try being
more outgoing and discovered she was, in fact, energized by connecting with people.
That shift carried her into college preparation. She attended University of Kansas orientation events on her own, struck up conversations and gained a valuable life mentor, who happens to be the head of the honors college.
“I would’ve never gotten a mentor like that if I hadn’t put myself out there and talked to her,” Durgavathi said.
FELIPE FERNANDES-SENKOWSKI
Senior Felipe Fernandes-Senkowski regrets not getting a job earlier because of the character-building experiences he’s had as an employee
THE LINE OF customers stretches out the door, and the register beeps steadily as senior Felipe Fernandes-Senkowski scans gas station snacks and counts quarters. Working the register is fastpaced and leaves little room to hesitate.
had been missing.
ON THE FIRST day of freshman year, the orchestra room was alive with quiet conversations and the squeaking of chairs moving into place. One blonde curly-haired student, however, remained silent, sticking close to familiar faces from middle school.
Four years later, that same student walks into rehearsal surrounded by laughter and a sense of belonging.
For senior Stella Lindberg, that change didn’t happen overnight, and she wishes it had started sooner.
“If I could advise my freshman self,
For Fernandes-Senkowski, standing behind the counter at QuikTrip is an experience he wishes he’d started earlier. After starting the job a few weeks ago, he quickly realized what he
“Getting a job teaches you more time management than sitting in a classroom,” Fernandes-Senkowski said.
Balancing shifts with the pressures of senior year has forced him to plan his time more carefully, a lesson he wishes he had learned earlier in high school. Along the way, he’s also gained a new understanding of money: how quickly it is earned, how easily it is spent and how
STELLA LINDBERG
Senior Stella Lindberg encourages underclassmen to reach out and meet new people
I’d say to reach out more,” Lindberg said. “I stayed in the same friend group from middle school and didn’t branch out much because I was shy.”
This hesitance extended beyond the classroom. As a member of the soccer team, Lindberg often kept to herself and struggled to feel like a part of the team. It wasn’t until she joined the orchestra and later track that she started forming stronger connections.
By her sophomore and junior years, she noticed a change. Conversations flowed more easily, friendships deepened
and the anxiety of meeting new people began to fade. Now, as a senior, she feels a genuine connection with friends from orchestra and track.
“It’s not as hard to make friends as I thought,” Lindberg said. “I just had to move past that anxiety.”
As she prepares to attend the University of Missouri for prenursing, Lindberg plans to carry these lessons with her. Above all, her advice remains straightforward: start earlier.
to invest it.
Working in a fast-paced environment means speaking up, staying composed under pressure and handling unpredictable situations.
“Don’t be afraid to look like a fool or be different,” Fernandes-Senkowski said. “Nobody really cares.”
2026 2026
MEET THE SENIORS
BAYLOR BAYLOR
RITTER
Baylor Ritter plans to work on ranches across the country
story by MICHAEL YI
SENIOR BAYLOR RITTER had never used a chainsaw before.
The task was to chop down trees around the pond dam. Out on the ranch in Leavenworth, Kansas where Baylor works, the growth draws water away from the cattle pens.
At Baylor’s past jobs, like at Chick-fil-A, he hated being constantly managed — even when taking orders. But the ranch owner, Birck Hoagland, didn’t walk him through every step of operating machinery. He just showed Baylor the tool shed and the trees. And he got to work.
“Every day is different,” Baylor said. “It’s not the same thing over and over again, and there’s always new things to do.”
Baylor cut trees several days a week for two months. His chain often got stuck. Poisonous honey locust thorns poked his arms and feet. But it felt good to get that text from Hoagland about a job well done.
“He was very selfsufficient and productive and did a really good job,” Birck said.
Baylor’s been working on the Hoagland family ranch for eight months, herding cattle and
handling handiwork from the end of school to sunset. Out there in work boots and jeans, Baylor sees his future: living and working on ranches across the country. Next year, he plans to move to Colorado or Wyoming.
“I like not having to worry about where [I’m] gonna live,” Baylor said. “Or how you’re gonna pay for that. I just love being out in the open, and [I’m] not gonna worry about anything else.”
Baylor’s mom, Colby, says he’s always been hyperactive. He used to circle the block riding on a miniature John Deere Gator.
ranch because he wanted to try hands-on, outdoors work. He loved working with the cattle, a crossbreed called black herefords. He smiles when he shows videos of them milling around.
EVERY DAY is different. It’s not the same thing over and over again, and there’s always new things to do.
BAYLOR RITTER SENIOR
He never liked school. Sitting around all day, doing what felt like nothing. His Study Skills teacher since sophomore year, Brandi Krahulik, says he’s a hands-on learner and the weirdest, funniest kid she’s ever met.
“I’ve been there to push him when he needed to be pushed,” Brandi said. “He’s one of those kids I’ll remember forever.”
A year ago, Baylor reached out to Birck to work at the
Through email chains, Baylor’s been searching for jobs out west, where he hopes to gain more experience. If he still loves the work, he may go to college to study agriculture. He figures if he learns the money side, he could someday own his own ranch. Though the job can be exhausting, Baylor can’t imagine sitting in an office all day. And the hard work doesn’t feel so bad when he’s outside, listening to country music by Billy Strange on his JBL speaker.
“It just feels free,” Ritter said. “There’s not really businesses on every side and people everywhere. You can kind of just go out there and not feel judged. You can be your own person. You can listen to music however loud you want. You can just sit there and take it all in.”
EVA EVA
LOWRY
quarter-sized hail.
THE CLOUDS WERE dreary and furious. The wind was wailing. Hail began to spill from above. Seniors Julian Le Riche and Cole Woods were already five hours away from home, but instead of turning around, Woods pressed harder on the gas pedal, sending them deeper into the heart of the storm.
After driving 250 miles east in Wood’s pale gray Toyota SUV — packed with laptops, a radar system and complete with an antenna on top — the two had ended up in St. Louis, Missouri. They had come hoping to catch a glimpse of the highly active storm, and most importantly, the possible tornadoes that were brewing in the eastern half of the state.
“I mainly [storm chase] for enjoyment,” Le Riche said. “But it’s also very interesting to me.”
This was April 27, and their second time storm chasing. And although the two never did see a tornado on this trip or the last, they still got caught up in 80-mile-perhour winds, witnessed an impending wall of clouds and drove through
Eva
story by BRIDGET DEAN
WHEN SENIOR EVA Lowry started dancing at three-yearsold, her parents Jeff and Amanda Lowry — Baker University alums — would pick her up from class sporting navy and orange Baker wildcat shirts. Her three older brothers would wait in the car to head to soccer practice after dance pick-up.
Eva’s parents’ alma mater was constantly present throughout her childhood, and even more present after her oldest brother committed to playing soccer at Baker after graduating SM East in 2018.
A few years later, her other two brothers also committed to play soccer in college at Missouri State University and Cowley Community College — schools close enough for Eva and her parents to make weekend road trips to watch them play.
“All three [of Eva’s brothers] are goalkeepers, so Eva watched that recruitment process, and when she decided that she wanted to dance in college, she just knew how to do it [because] she had watched them,” Amanda said.
Eva began dancing competitively at Ovation Dance Academy at the age of ten and began attending college dance clinics towards the end of her sophomore year.
With offers from a few different NAIA schools, Eva weighed their individual pros and cons before ultimately choosing Baker for the small school atmosphere and the academic scholarship she received with her dance recruitment.
The family wasn’t only thrilled for Eva’s commitment to Baker but also for her continued dance career post-high school. Eva’s parents wanted each of their kids to make their own decisions about pursuing their sport in college and didn’t want to put any pressure on
From watching her older brothers go through the collegiate recruitment process, Eva learned how to communicate with collegiate coaches and pursued her dream of joining a college dance team herself.
“It was awesome,” Le Riche said. “It’s something that the photos don’t do justice.”
This was the type of adventure that Le Riche dreamed of after watching the show “Storm Chasers” when he was little.
“I remember with my dad every night after school we would watch an episode or two of [“Storm Chasers”],”
Le Riche said. “I remember being so fascinated by how tornadoes work and how weather works and how it all worked. I would tell my parents, ‘I wanna be a storm chaser when I grow up!’”
From there, Le Riche’s love of how weather works continued to grow stronger, as he continued to research the ins and outs of the weather.
For Woods, he has always had an interest in the weather, especially tornadoes. Eventually, the two began discussing their interest in the weather and storm chasing over the last couple of months. And since Woods has “always been really keen on living life as crazy as possible,” chasing a few storms with Le Riche, his friend since freshman year, seemed like a great idea.
On April 17, they began to devise a plan to see a tornado in person. Two days later, they went on their first storm chasing trip.
Although Le Riche admits that making a living off of storm chasing “won’t exactly get me where I need to be in life,” he’s been considering directing his passion for the weather into something more feasible: meteorology.
“Everything about the weather fascinates me,” Le Riche said. “That’s why I’m considering doing meteorology at K-State,” Le Riche said.
And though Le Riche is majoring in exploratory studies, he’s considering majoring in meteorology as well. If he doesn’t pursue major in it, he’s sure he’ll still take some meteorology classes.
As for Woods, he’ll keep the storm chasing as a hobby, since he plans to take over his family’s wallpaper business in the next decade or two.
But before the two go their own paths in the fall, they still have a few more storms to chase.
And this time, they plan to actually catch a glimpse of a tornado.
Eva to choose Baker because of their family history. However, their excitement didn’t hide when Eva announced that she was ready to sign her contract with Baker.
Eva held a signing party at Ovation with her friends, family and coaches after officially committing to dance at Baker on Feb. 22.
“It was really special to see all those people in the same room there to support me, and it was really cool and surreal,” Eva said. “Baker’s very much in the [family] blood.”
Now, Eva will no longer attend Baker soccer games and alumni events as the Lowry family’s youngest kid, but as a Baker student herself.
“I think she’s been the little sister to three older brothers, and so it’s fun to see her build her own success and leverage the experiences that her older brothers had, but making it her own and choosing her path and direction that she wants to do from a collegiate perspective,” Jeff said.
JULIAN & JULIAN COLE COLE
story by ALEX HARDEN
Seniors Julian Le Riche and Cole Woods storm chase, leading Le Riche to consider meteorology
Lowry’s committed to dance in college at Baker University — her family’s alma mater
BRENEMAN
Senior Clara Breneman will attend the Naval Academy Preparatory School story by AYNSLEE
DOUGLASS
“YOU WILL NOW begin the Cadet Fitness Assessment, starting with the shuttle run.” And so, Cadet and senior Clara Breneman began.
The dealers — students in training at the U.S. Naval Academy who have their first year at the Academy — strictly observed her.
Living in Maryland at Bancroft Hall, where all midshipmen — students at the Academy— live, Breneman attended Summer
Seminar — a highly selective weeklong experience imitating life at the Naval Academy for incoming seniors in high school. The Academy is highly prestigious and the hardest military academy to get into in the U.S.
“After the seminar, I was completely committed to the idea of going to the academy for post-high school,” Breneman said.
The seminar was a final step in her Naval Academy recruitment journey. After completing the essays and rigorous multi-step interviews with senators and congressmen, Breneman was intent on securing her spot as a midshipman.
It’s required by the Academy to obtain a nomination by someone in the Senate or House of Representatives.
Breneman received three: a Principal Nomination — the highest recognition — from Representative Sharice Davids and two primary nominations from Senator Roger Marshall and Senator Jerry Moran.
Breneman has attended summer sessions in Maryland to prepare for the academy since the summer of 2023. After watching her cousin graduate from the Academy, she became obsessed with the prestige of school.
Breneman will attend Naval Academy Preparatory School in Rhode Island for one year; she has a secured spot at the Academy for the fall of 2027.
Everything she has done since the beginning of high school has been to perfect her application for the Academy Breneman says. Her daily training and constant editing of her application made it easy to see the work she put into it.
“She would always [wear] her Navy sweatshirt to school just to get excited about it,” senior Mary
Senior Macy Fore made the Rock Chalk Dance Team after years of overcoming challenges
story by ROWAN MCGILL
WHILE OPENING THE doors of Allen Fieldhouse, senior Macy Fore was shaking from nerves. Just days earlier, she was practicing the five dances she had to learn for the Rock Chalk Dancers auditions around her house.
The only thing in her brain was, “Put your mind to it,” and that’s exactly what she did.
This has been her strategy for every situation. When starting dance and gymnastics at age two, while doing a halftime dance at the homecoming game and while working on any homework or school assignments.
Her head dance coach, Alexis “Bubba” Close says, she “dives in” when she decides on something — and goes for the deep end.
So when Fore decided to try out for cheer on a whim as a freshman, she put her mind to it, practicing toe touches every day and learning to tumble. She had never cheered before, but she ended up making
Green said.
CLARA Clara MACY FORE MACY
the freshman team.
It was a great accomplishment for her, especially since it was her first time ever cheering. She did the same thing she always does — she put her mind to it. But, it was hard for her to get better at cheer when she saw the Lancer Dancers.
“I remember my freshman year, I would watch the dance team so much, and I just wanted to be them so badly,” Fore said.
So she started to pull back from cheer and pushed into dance. Every day for her was a dance.
Finally, the tryouts day came, and it was time. She wasn’t expecting much, but she ended up surprising Bubba.
“I was actually super impressed because I had no idea what to expect,” Bubba said. “She was on my radar because she hadn’t tried out before, and was great.”
In her sophomore year, Fore made the varsity team.
Once Fore found that out, she was ecstatic. She immediately immersed herself in being a
Lancer Dancer, practicing her dances every day and improving her combinations while getting used to new types of dance such as sidelines and hip-hop.
During her junior year, she had to make an important decision: would she continue dancing in college or would she hang up the leotard?
During the summer, going into her senior year, she started going to dance clinics at colleges, hoping to find somewhere that felt like home. At the clinics they teach you the style of dances they do at that college and once Fore started learning the dances for the University of Kansas, it was just right.
Fore says that the moment she went to KU, she knew it was right for her — the community, the faculty and the campus. It was ideal.
“I definitely clicked the most with KU, it was great and I loved the whole energy,” Fore said. “I knew it was right for me.”
Breneman knew there was a chance she wouldn’t be accepted, so she applied to K-State for architecture to ensure she had a back - up option for next year. A few weeks after being admitted at K-State for architecture, she opened the portal to find her acceptance to the Academy for the class of 2031 — meaning she won’t go straight there instead, she will spend a year at NAPS. NAPS is a school to prepare midshipmen for success in the Academy, not her original plan.
“[The portal] said the application is fully accepted to Naval Academy Preparatory School, [I] was in tears and damn it but I’m still going to do it,” Breneman said. “[I’m] mad that I am not going straight there, [I] worked my ass off for years.”
Her drive for the Academy hasn’t faltered, even with the redirection of not going to the Academy straight away.
“[Clara’s] disappointed, but she’s ready to go full force there,” Swim Coach Chris Copeland said. “[But] she knows where she’s headed, and she’s going to get there anyway she can.”
Seniors share their senior quotes and some of the meaning behind them
design & art by SOPHIA BROCKMEIER
photos by WILL GRIFFITH
GABRIELLE GABRIELLE
HIGGINS
story by ADDY NEWMAN
GROWING UP, SENIORS twins
Lila and Grant Kimmel liked all of the same things: gymnastics and tumbling, flag football, swimming and dive — Lila doing butterfly and backstroke and Grant doing breaststroke.
Beyond sports, the two share a love for country music, Taco Naco — carne asada tacos with a shared plate of queso — going to bed early and waking up early. Childhood family road trips consisted of building a giant bed in the backseat just to pass out sleeping and eating donuts the entire car ride.
Even so, the two attending the University of Oklahoma together just happened to be.
“[For me, OU] was always just one of [my top colleges],” Lila said. “But then I didn’t really take it seriously until I went down there, and I got a campus tour, and I got to see the vibe and everything, and I really liked it.”
The nursing program at OU
Senior Gabrielle Higgins will be attending Hawaii Pacific University to major in nursing
story by REESE DUNHAM
SENIOR GABRIELLE HIGGINS
had only three requirements when looking at colleges.
One: somewhere with a beach to tan and go shelling. Two: to be as far away as possible from Kansas City.
So she decided on Hawaii Pacific University after a summer of touring schools in Hawaii, such as the University of Hawaii Manoa — 3,894 miles away from Kansas City.
“I knew I wanted to go really far, and I think I just wanted to be able to do things on my own,” Gabrielle said.
Oh, and the final requirement: a top-tier nursing program where she could use her newly acquired Certified Nursing Assistant certificate.
Gabrielle has been a part of the medical science program at the Center for Academic Achievement since her junior year and received her CNA certificate in December
of 2025. And Gabrielle’s older brother, Finnian, is a nursing major at the University of Kansas. Gabrielle gets to connect and chat with him all about her hospital rotations through the CAA.
Nursing has been part of Gabrielle’s college plan for seven years.
“I think in the beginning she was talking about going to vet school,” her mom, Stacy Higgins, said. “And then I think she probably transitioned into thinking about the fact that she likes kids so much, and she didn’t want to take one of the chemistry classes that was required for vet school.”
Plus, after learning from her mom in fifth grade that pets can’t tell a veterinarian what’s wrong, Gabrielle switched her interest to nursing, where the patients do speak.
“I was set on nursing because if you get a nursing degree, you can do so much with it,” Gabrielle said. “You can always change focus if you don’t like it, which I think is really nice. Hospitals literally
attracted Lila. University of South Carolina was too far away, and University of Iowa required physics to be taken for the nursing program — and Lila didn’t take physics.
At the Sweetheart’s Dance afterparty on Feb. 7, Lila decided on the University of Oklahoma.
Grant was between Indiana University and The University of Kansas. After not getting direct acceptance into the Kelly School of Business at Indiana, and liking the environment and campus at OU, he decided on OU in November after the two visited the campus earlier that month.
“I decided before her,” Grant said.
Around a week after the Sweetheart Dance and letting the choice sink in, Lila told Grant she had decided on OU.
“We each made our own decision, and it just ended up being the same place, which is great,” Lila said. “But also, where he was going wasn’t going to influence my decision at all.”
Their parents loved it.
Their older brother, who will graduate from Ole Miss in the spring, just got a job in Dallas — where their older sister is. So, the twins will only be two and a half hours away from them.
“We’ll have all four kids on the same highway,” Grant said. “That’s what my mom says.”
The two will be able to drive back to Kansas City for breaks together, sometimes alongside other SM East students attending OU, just like how they carpooled throughout high school — Grant being the one to drive most of the time.
“She’s not a good driver,” Grant said.
“Okay, I’m a great driver,” Lila said. “I had a better ACT score.”
“By literally one point better than mine,” Grant said.
But the twins are looking forward to next year.
“It’ll be nice to see him out and be able to meet people and friends through each other,” Lila said. “I promise we love each other.”
always need nurses.”
Labor and delivery is the focus Gabrielle is planning on going into. As a babysitter, Gabrielle knew she would love a nursing focus that let her see newborns.
After living in landlocked Kansas for her whole life, Gabrielle is excited for activities one can only do on the beach.
“I’m really looking forward to going to the beach and tanning, but I love shelling,” Gabrielle said. “I’m excited to make jewelry out of all the shells I find.”
Gabrielle’s whole family visited Hawaii last year for the first time for her college visits, and she immediately could picture herself at Hawaii Pacific University. HPU only has around 5,000 students and she enjoyed the atmosphere of the small school.
“It’ll definitely be different, but I know she’s really excited,” her brother and junior Quinn Higgins said. “She’s always loved beaches. So I mean, I’m happy for her, but it’ll be weird with her so far away.”
THE KIMMELS KIMMELS
Senior twins Grant and Lila Kimmel will be attending the University of Oklahoma by coincidence
SENIOR PROFILES
HANNAH HANNAH MYERS
Junior Hannah Myers is graduating early after getting accepted to High Point University
story by ELIOT HIGGINS
“HOLY MOLY.”
That was junior Hannah Myers’ reaction after opening the envelope that revealed her acceptance into High Point University — along with a full-ride scholarship.
“I immediately just burst into tears,” Hannah said.
Before opening the envelope, Hannah spent the day touring the college and described it as “too good to be true,” due to High Point’s extravagant campus and dorms.
Located in High Point, North Carolina, HPU offers a steakhouse, a hibachi restaurant and a Mediterranean restaurant. According to Hannah, every building “kind of looks like the White House.”
Now, Hannah gets the privilege of living and learning in these White House-esque buildings.
As a junior touring HPU, Hannah stood out in a room filled with
the class of 2026. Myers’s family thought of this as a disadvantage, yet it turned out to make Hannah all the more interesting to colleges.
“I was worried her not having a year’s worth of grades would make it harder for her to get into college,” Hannah’s mother, Nikki Myers, said. “I was surprised when she got into almost every college she applied to.”
Hannah’s decision to graduate early came down to a couple of factors.
Throughout high school, Hannah was constantly in the dance studio. Every night, after dancing for six hours, Hannah would get home and start her homework at 10:30 p.m.
“It was always a struggle to keep up with other things,” Hannah said. “And I didn’t have a social life outside of dance.”
The final factor that pushed Hannah to toss the graduation cap early is when she learned about damaging rumors that were being
spread behind her back.
“I’m just done,” Hannah said. “I don’t want to listen to gossip about myself that isn’t true.”
Even though Hannah is excited to leave behind the people spreading gossip, she is going to have some tough goodbyes to make.
When Hannah told her friend junior Caroline Hoffman she was graduating early, Caroline didn’t believe her.
“At first, I thought she was joking,” Caroline said. “I was so sad because she doesn’t get to have a senior year with me, and we are missing out on so much.”
For Hannah, friends have made leaving hard, but burnout and drama have made it easy to say goodbye. Some would think graduating junior year is difficult — Hannah merely shrugs it off.
“Well,” Hannah said. “Public school isn’t too hard.”
CUE
CUE MEMORIES
THE
A look back at moments and accomplishments from the 2025-26 school year
“I was just overcome with joy and excitement… I had just found out before walking into the pool to swim and my entire team rushed up to me and hugged me, it was the best day ever” Walsh said.
MIDDLE The varsity Lancer Dancers perform their jazz routine during the second half of the Lancer Dancer Spring Show. They also performed the jazz routine at nationals and placed 11th, followed by a first-place overall finish at state for their gameday routine.
RIGHT Seniors Cate Conrad, LJ Morrissey, Lydia Parisi and Macy Fore cheer for senior Andi Prendiville as she walks down the SM Northwest gym floor with her parents for senior night. The girls gymnastics team celebrated its final year as an SM sport with the Lancers placing first at the District Championship meet.
photo by ZAC RUSSELL
RIGHT Senior Hank Hendon holds up the state championship trophy in front of the team and celebrates, shaking it up and down in front of the podium. The boys swim team placed first at state for the first time in four years adding a state title for the team.
RIGHT Junior Vada Walsh cries as she is surrounded by her friends after she was declared student body president.
photo by ADDIE CLARK
photo by ZAC RUSSELL
LEFT In her Environmental Education class, junior Esmae Bond is in awe when she picks up the tarantula, Curly, for the first time. “It was really weird,” Bond said. “You could barely feel the weight of her and she was really fuzzy and kind of pokey.”
photo by MOLLY SCOTT
ABOVE Seniors and SHARE execs Vivian Fraley, Charlotte Wissel and Maile Tormohlen lip sync to “Choosin’ Texas,” by Ella Langley for SHARE’s part of the “Lip Dub,” a quadrennial tradition at SM East. “My favorite part about the Lip Dub was seeing all the different clubs and sports get dressed up, and seeing how much fun everyone was having,” Tormohlen said. “It was fun to have a small group because we all coordinated what we were going to do.”
Officer Tony Woollen holds up a sign reading “Get Loud or Go to Jail” to the student section during their Homecoming football game against Nut Cup rival SM North. After his final week of a 35-year career as the campus police officer, Woollen decided to celebrate his last football game at East.
ABOVE Senior pep executives Hudson Weaver, Grant Kimmel, Andrew Rhodes, Luke Taylor, Campbell Alldredge and Georgia Boyd cheer on the Lancers as they run down the court with a fast break during the last minute of the game. The score was 54-51 with 43 seconds left on the clock.
TYLER RUSSELL
photo by
ABOVE
photo by FRANCESCA LORUSSO
photo by ZAC RUSSELL
Scan this to view and purchase more pictures from the 20252026 school year SCAN ME PHOTO
CLASSOF 2026
PRICE WRIGHT custodian
MERCEDES RASMUSSEN business teacher
BRIAN CAPPELLO
JEFF FINNIE language teacher
faculty
WRIGHT faculty price price
Custodian Price Wright is retiring after 17 years of impacting SM East in unexpected ways
SM EAST CUSTODIAN Price
Wright’s alarm blared, the red lighting read 4 a.m.
In 15 minutes, he would be ready for the day, loading his gear into his 2019 Dodge Journey, just in time to leave for SM East at 4:15 a.m.
This is Wright’s morning routine, he’s perfected after 17 years at SM East.
After two and a half hours of driving through the morning traffic from his house in Gladstone, Wright pulls into the SM East parking lot at exactly 6:45 a.m.
For Wright, though, the drive is worth it for the connections he makes with those at SM East and to have the chance to positively impact his community.
“The work and seeing kids’ faces [make it worth it],” Wright said. “They give me life, man, life to live.”
After working at SM East in various departments ranging from carpentry to maintenance, Wright is retiring to spend more time with
his family and continue smaller carpentry jobs, like building dressers and decks.
At the beginning of his time at SM East, Wright worked the night shift — 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. — mopping floors and cleaning bathrooms.
For three months in 2010, his extra task was building The Columbia Brew — the SM East coffee shop. From 9 to 11 p.m., after he finished his usual duties on the night shift, Wright worked to singlehandedly transform the small broom closet next to room 413 into Columbia Brew.
From planning out a design to building the counters and painting the walls, The Columbia Brew is Wright’s.
And after he finished the coffee shop, he built the four coffee carts that now roam the halls of SM East, delivering coffee to teachers.
Before the coffee shop, while Wright was on the carpentry team at SM East, his first job was building the doors that are still used to this day. Every single
wood door, from the hinges to the handles, Wright helped make to replace the previous set.
No job is too small, like the metal lancer next to the main staircase that Wright brought home to fix. The painting, former Student Resource Officer Tony Woollen asked him to hang because Woollen knew Wright “hangs things that won’t fall off.”
“He’s definitely a person, I would say, [that] he’s not like a coworker,” lead custodial manager Chris Garrett said.
“I’ll miss the coworker that I had as a friend.”
Wright says people tell him he should’ve retired 10 years ago. But he stayed.
He stayed to keep fixing the place he loves.
And he’ll keep fixing, keep building, keep making connections, until the last hour of his shift on June 1.
After all, there’s always something else to be fixed.
& &
“Your impact through your hard work and dedication is noticed throughout the
JOAN BURNETT bookkeeper
The words of gratitude showcased in each graphic are quotes from colleagues of featured faculty members
story by SLOANE HENDERSON
art by LIBBY MARSH & LUCY STEPHENS
“We were more of a Romy and Michele Thlema and Louise) versus an Oprah and Gayle King kind of friendship.”
- JEN HAIR
IMPORTANCE OFHUMAN CONNECTION
story by CHRISTOPHER LONG
IN 1996, THEN 22-year-old marketing teacher Mercedes Rasmussen walked through SM East’s glass double doors with a
Teach for five years and then find a job in the business sector. But let’s just say Rasmussen’s five-year plan didn’t go how she’d
“I think my students keep me young,” Rasmussen said. “They make me laugh every single day when I come to work and put smiles on my face, and they just give me that little pep in my step that I think I need. I know that that will be a part of my life that
After 30 years of DECA trips, pressing t-shirts for the SM East vs. Rockhurst game and building one of the top business departments in the state, according to marketing teacher
JEFF RASMUSSEN mercedes mercedes
Language teacher, Jeff Finnie is beginning a new chapter in Israel after 34 years of teaching
FOR 34 YEARS “¡Hola, clase!” is how Doctor Jeff Finnie has started his Spanish classes — “Bonjour la classe!” For French. But after this school year, Finnie is immigrating to Israel, trading his French and Spanish for Hebrew.
After visiting Israel and staying in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Finnie made the decision to settle in Jerusalem next year, motivated by his Jewish faith and a desire to live in Earth’s only Jewish state.
A huge factor in his decision to move, according to Finnie, is the number of synagogues available in Israel, along with the community for Jewish people.
Though Finnie announced his retirement this year and is moving across the globe, he is considering continuing teaching. Finnie wants
to teach English to people in Israel to “continue contributing to society.”
Finnie is multilingual — speaking English, French and Spanish and learning Hebrew — and was inspired to learn so many languages by his experience living in the Philippines, a country with over 180 languages, as a child.
Through teaching, Finnie has helped inspire others to pursue language learning, such as Spanish 4 student, sophomore Princess Garcia.
“His classroom has always been a really nice place to end the day,” Garcia said. “When everything else is too stressful, walking into his class is really refreshing. It’s never tense, it just feels really nice to be there.”
Garcia, a current student in Finnie’s Spanish 4, says Finnie’s unique teaching style helped her
Marketing teacher Mercedes Rasmussen is retiring after 30 years at SM East
Amanda Doane, Rasmussen is retiring and pursuing a job outside education.
Doane credits Rasmussen with creating one of the first DECA programs in the state.
“[Rasmussen] started DECA in the state of Kansas,” Doane said, “She was the first one to get it going in this area, and she grew it by herself from having just a handful of students.”
When Rasmussen first arrived at SM East, there was one marketing class with 10 kids, and DECA sounded like a chemistry buzzword, not a program SM East offered. That year, Rasmussen only took six kids to compete in the state tournament and one to internationals.
This year, 150 students flocked in buses to the State Career Development Conference at Kansas State University, Rasmussen’s alma mater. Over 20 of those students qualified for the
JEFF
FINNIE
develop a love for the language and encouraged her to continue taking Spanish classes. Finnie emphasizes the need for his students to think , opting for discussion-based classes rather than lectures and using his catchphrase “to listen is to work.”
“His teaching style is different from other classes,” Garcia said. “I like that it’s super interactive, [we] talk about current events and read books in Spanish.”
Finnie’s impact goes beyond just how well his students know French or Spanish. His classes — and his many jokes — provide students with a place to de-stress and relax in an environment dedicated to thinking, rather than being filled non-stop with tests.
“[SM] East is going to miss him,” Garcia said. “Not just his teaching, but the energy he brings and how he connects with his students.”
International Career Development Conference — more than most schools in Kansas, according to Doane.
Rasmussen is passing down management of DECA and the Student Store to Doane who plans to continue running both programs as they are now, then incorporate “her own flavor” after three to four years. In the meantime, Doane constantly talks with Rasmussen, picking up information she needs for next year and soaking up the “nuggets of wisdom” Rasmussen always has to offer.
“We walk out of school together every single day,” Doane said. “It’s kind of a symbolic thing. She’s mentored me for really intensely, for like, nine years, as we’ve been working closely together. It’s a gigantic, unfillable hole she’s leaving.”
“We’re going to miss Jeff so
“we can’t wait to hear about his life in Israel and all the wonderful things to
story by ELENA HULL
“Teach Your Children” –Crosby, Stills & Nash
“Happy Together” – The Turtles
“With a Little Help From My Friends” –The Beatles
THE BEST WAY to describe bookkeeper Joan Burnett’s office is vibrant
A flower-themed calendar. Plants. Sunlight flowing in through the large window. Burnett’s silver hoops and her pink, purple and green floral hoodie. Fleetwood Mac’s “Silver Springs” playing in the background. And blue and white hydrangeas, courtesy of Student Council, gifted on Administrative Professional Day.
But on July 17, after 25 years working in the district, Burnett will take her hydrangeas home.
“I’ll probably kill them when I take them home because I don’t have the sunlight that I have in here,” Burnett said, laughing.
Throughout her 23 years at SM East, the building has provided her with many fond memories. It’s where she overheard amusing conversations — like students laughing about messy bedrooms — and watched them eat lunch in the office before heading to the Center of Academic Achievement. It’s where the band passes through the hallway and where the choir sings in the stairwell during the holidays. Other memories, like the
“Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” – Elton John
“The Time of My Life” – Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes
BRIAN
CAPPELLO BRIAN
English and theatre teacher Brian Cappello is retiring from SM East and leaving the fun and identity he gave his students story by EVIE LEWIS
“DO YOU WANT a lemon drop?”
The question echoed throughout the room as theatre students participated in an improv drill where the students twisted and repeated a simple phrase into something hilarious, strange and completely their own. On the side of the classroom, Brian Cappello watched with an exaggerated look of horror from the front of the room.
Moments like that define Cappello’s classroom.
After nearly 40 years of teaching, the SM East alum is retiring, leaving behind a program and a group of students — all impacted by his creativity and perspective. Inspired by his own theater teacher, Cappello said he “wanted to do for others what he inspired me to do.”
Before returning to SM East to
teach after his high school years, Cappello taught for 14 years in Ottawa, Kansas. Over time, his approach became less about strict structure and more about helping students understand themselves.
Sophomore Leilani Raber experiences this balanced teaching style in one of the three classes Cappello teaches, Actor’s Studio.
“Our first assignment was really just making a playlist about ourselves,” Raber said. “He mentioned the idea that you can’t understand how to act if you can’t understand yourself, which was fascinating.”
Raber described Capello’s teaching style as “very open,” adding that he focuses more on students as people than just performers.
When Raber was in the hospital and missed school, Capello provided extra time to memorize lines.
After 23 years at SM East, bookkeeper Joan Burnett steps away from the role and the relationships that defined her career
time her skirt slipped due to a loose elastic, leaving the receptionist in uncontrollable laughter, are unforgettable.
Burnett oversees the school’s finances, processing everything from student fees to purchase orders and district invoices. And though she says she “sees names more than students,” Burnett is recognized amongst the student body.
Senior Fina Kessler, who exchanged emails with Burnett every day as Student Council treasurer last year, wanted to hug Burnett as soon as she heard about her retirement, describing her as joyful, nurturing and kind.
“She has this little bowl of Starbursts in the room, and would always let me take a few,” Kessler said.
Coworkers have become her “work family.”
Burnett jokes about her “work husband,” journalism adviser Dow Tate, and works closely with colleagues like science teacher Rusty Debey and business teacher Mercedes Rasmussen, who’s also retiring, along with others in the front office.
Athletic Administration Assistant Jeanne Dusek will be
taking Burnett’s place and has spent the past few months working alongside her to prepare for the upcoming role.
“I know she’s a phone call away — that’s what she said,” Dusek said. “She’s phenomenal, and it’s really big shoes to fill, but she’s been a great teacher and mentor. It’ll take me probably 23 years to get to where she’s at.”
They’re more like sisters than coworkers.
“I can go in there and talk to her about anything,” Dusek said. “My family, my children. She’ll talk about her kids, her husband. She’s my confidant. I just know I can go in that office and just pour it all out to her, or make her laugh, or she makes me laugh. There are no boundaries.”
Here’s what Burnett won’t miss: getting to SM East by 7 a.m. with her makeup on. Instead, she’s looking forward to enjoying cups of coffee in her pajamas — and organizing her house and volunteering part-time.
“Everybody says they’ll miss me,” Burnett said. “They aren’t going to miss me for more than two hours [laughs]. I’ve worked long enough, and they have too. You just move on. They don’t have to think of me often, just once in a while, fondly.”
“He cares about all his students as people, not just academically,” Raber said. “He was so understanding and made sure I was doing well.”
That balance, humor and care is what Raber says they will miss most.
“I think we’ll miss the fun,” Raber said. “He really brings a light to school.”
For Cappello, the feeling is mutual. His favorite parts of SM East are “the kids” and his fellow teachers, along with the productions that brought students together on stage.
As he leaves, his advice is simple: trust yourself, stay flexible and “learn something new every day.”
“After dealing with every crisis imaginable and living to tell about it I don’t get upset too easily about much of anything,” Capello said. “I’ve learned that no matter how much of a big deal something may
JOAN BURNETT JOAN
“Ms. Burnett is an absolute pleasure to work with each day. She brightens interaction and brings a genuine warmth our school community.”
njoy the ride ake time for you magine the ememberpossibilities to enjoy yourself xpect the unexpected ake new plans coworker/friend ap without guilt hank you everythingforyou have done for
story by AVNI BANSAL
CHAMBER CHOIR
seniors receiving this cord 13
the school issues this cord
MOLLY MINOR
I’VE DONE CHOIR for all four years, and I have a choir class every day. We do outside gigs, so it definitely takes up some time.
went on the choir trip to Europe
choir president
CLAIRE LANGFORD
IT’S SO REWARDING. My favorite part is just helping a younger student with like, a stoichiometry problem, and seeing them finally understand. It makes me really happy.
CLAYTON HANNER
I REALLY BELIEVE that over the course of my 450 service hours with scouting, I felt like at the end of it, I learned enough about the things I was doing to earn it. I felt like I deserved [the cord].
the cord is issued by your troop been in his troop for seven years
CORD
14 14
seniors receiving this cord
receiving this cord 13
NORAH ANDERSON
I’M GOING INTO elementary education, so it’d be great if I [can use this] in the classroom with my kids.
enrolled in spanish class for six years
received her Seal of Biliteracy
the cord is self-organized
design & art by LUCY SWOPE
photos by SADIE JOLICOUER, AVA TOWNER, VIVIEN GLENSKI & MOLLY SCOTT
