The Harbinger Issue 2 2025-2026

THE HARBINGER

SEPTEMBER 15, 2025

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Sophia Brockmeier

Libby Marsh

ONLINE EDITORS

Luciana Mendy

Lucy Stephens

ASST. PRINT EDITORS

Avni Bansal

Michael Yi

ASST. ONLINE EDITOR

Christopher Long

HEAD COPY EDITORS

Libby Marsh

Luciana Mendy

ASST. HEAD COPY

EDITOR

Grace Pei

PRINT PHOTO EDITOR

Paige Bean

ONLINE PHOTO EDITOR

Will Griffith

ASST. PHOTO EDITORS

Addie Clark

DESIGN EDITORS

Bella Broce

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STAFF ARTISTS

Annie Trenkle

ASST. DESIGN EDITORS

Evelyn Bagley

Lucy Swope

DESIGN MENTORS

Lyla Weeks

Miranda Liberda

Julia Campbell

Tillie Paisner

PAGE DESIGNERS

Madeline Glasier

Devon McFadden

Ella Slicker

Kennedy Moore

Eisley Foster

SECTION EDITORS EDITORIAL

Ashtyn Ingram NEWS

Addy Newman OPINION

Adyson Cooper

FEATURE

Julia Campbell

Molly Scott

Ava Towner

Tyler Russell

PHOTO MENTORS

Addie Clark

Katie Cook

Molly Scott

Zac Russell

VIDEO EDITORS

Preston Hooker

Emma Weidman

A&E

Preston Hooker

Adyson Cooper

Tillie Paisner

Ella Slicker

Simon Shawver

Evelyn Geheb

Emma Weidman

Vivien Glenski

Lexi Madden

Tillie Paisner

SPORTS Miranda Liberda

ART

ART EDITOR

Francesca Lorusso

ASST. ART EDITOR

Julia Campbell

Molly McDermed

Anastasia Flower

Maggie Rogers

Layla Love

Sophia Cicero

Avra Welling

Darcy Kroening

RJ Kordalski

EDITORS DESIGN WRITING PHOTO

Sydney Eck STAFF WRITERS

Eisley Foster

COPY EDITORS

Preston Hooker

Caroline Beal

Addy Newman

Mya Smith

SOCIAL MEDIA

SOCIAL MEDIA EDITORS

Bella Broce

Lucy Stephens

ASST. SOCIAL MEDIA EDITORS

Charlotte Walton

MULTIMEDIA STAFF

Lexi Madden

Evelyn Gehab

Alex Harden

Avra Welling

EQUIPMENT MANAGER

Will Griffith

Reese Dunham

Alex Harden

Sloane Henderson

Sienna Williams

Anya Hudson

Bridget Dean

Hannah Rosemann

Effie Roper

Evelyn Bagley

Ashtyn Ingram

SOCIAL MEDIA STAFF

Ashtyn Ingram

Evelyn Bagley

Adyson Cooper

Madeline Glasier

Devon McFadden

Sydney Eck

Lyla Weeks

Lucy Swope

BUSINESS

ADS MANAGERS

Preston Hooker

Molly McDermed

CIRCULATION MANAGER

Zac Russell

CONTEST COORDINATORS

Christopher Long

Tyler Russell

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 smeharbinger@gmail.com.

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BROCE

graphic by SYDNEY ECK

story by GRACE PEI

cartoon by ELLA SLICKER

stories by BRIDGET DEAN

SHARE RENOVATION SENSTATION

SHARE’s highly anticipated Renovation Sensation fundraiser is happening Wednesday, Sept. 17

RENOVATION SENSATION, SHARE’s only fundraiser throughout the entire year, is happening on Wednesday, Sept. 17. The event has been going on for nearly 20 years, and features four newly renovated homes in the Prairie Village area. They are open for people to tour and learn about the family’s renovation process.

Since SHARE is a privately funded program, it holds one fundraiser a year to help cover administrative costs, such as t-shirts and other merchandise and other expenses to keep SHARE running.

planning the event for the past 10 months.

“[The committees] talk to the homeowners and ask if they would be willing to put their houses on the tour,” Kaplan said.

ERIN AND I always go and see all the houses, and we just really enjoy doing that and our [SHARE] execs.

SHERYL KAPLAN SHARE CORDINATOR

Sheryl Kaplan and Erin Billingsley are the co-coordinators of the SHARE program. They have been working with Renovation Sensation since they took the roles as cocoordinators together 4 years ago. Kaplan and Billingsley have been behind the scenes

JAZZ FEST

“Then there are committees for everything, such as someone goes and interviews the homeowner to say, ‘Hey, tell us about this house. What interesting things can we tell people on the tour?’”

Students also help on the day of the event and volunteer to set up some of the houses with floral arrangements and decorations. Other parent volunteers are part of committees that will be in attendance at the event to stand in certain rooms and tell people about the different features the house has.

“Erin and I always go and see all the houses, and we just really enjoy doing that and our [SHARE] execs [do too],” Kaplan said.

WORLDS OF

FUN’S HALLOWEEN HAUNT

Worlds of Fun’s Halloween Haunt opened this past Saturday, Sept 13, for the start of its 2025 season

KANSAS CITY’S AMUSEMENT park

Worlds of Fun opened its Halloween Haunt on Saturday, Sept. 13. The Halloween Haunt is one of many events to start KC’s spooky season.

The Haunt, as it’s better known, is open on weekends from Sept. 13 to Nov. 1 this year. The theme park lights up with fog machines and dimmed lighting at night to create a Halloween-like atmosphere.

There are shows, haunted houses, themed food and drinks and scare zones, areas with designated actors and shows that are meant to jump scare people. The regular rides are also open to ride during the Haunt at night.

Sophomore Lyla Rozen has had a season pass to the Halloween Haunt for the previous three years, making it her fourth this season. Rozen goes to the Haunt four to five times a season to get her money’s worth of the pass.

“My favorite part is the haunted houses,”

Rozen said. “There’s a bunch of different ones, and they all have different themes.”

Worlds of Fun does advertise that the haunt may not be appropriate for young children, as the scare zones and haunted houses can be too frightening. They offer “No Boo” necklaces for young children and people who don’t wish to be jump scared by the actors.

Senior Jordan O’Brien also enjoys going to the Halloween Haunt every year. O’Brien has gone since she was young and at age 8, wore a “No Boo” necklace while walking through the park.

“I’m not a huge fan of haunted houses, so I just like riding all the rides at night,” O’Brien said.

BELOW

SM East students performed at the Prairie Village Jazz Festival on Sept. 6

A GROUP OF SM East students played and spoke at the annual Prairie Village Jazz Festival on Sept. 6 in Harmon Park. Among the festival’s lineup was The Blue Knights — SM East’s top jazz band.

The Blue Knights is one of two jazz bands at SM East. It’s the elite jazz ensemble composed of primarily upperclassmen, according to seniors Eli Moon and Jack Stratemeier, two members of the Blue Knights jazz ensemble.

“We’ve been rehearsing the songs, and we’ve already established what order we’re going to do them,” Moon said. “We get a sound check, make sure all our mics and technology work, get warmed up and then we open the festival and people start to pour in.”

Kansas pageant queen and sophomore Libby Morris spoke at the jazz festival for the third time this year. Morris was first

asked to speak at the festival to promote her pageant platform,after winning her first pageant title as Miss Prairie Village in 2022. Since then she has used her platform while working with the Johnson County food, job and housing insecurity efforts.

“I was really eager to talk to [the attendees of the festival] about what my cause was at the time, The Unhoused Crisis,” Morris said. “But I have since then shifted gears to talk more about heart health, and I’m really excited to speak again.”

Morris not only spoke before one of the festival’s biggest acts, but she also ran a booth for her pageant platform. Part of her heart health platform is to train people in CPR, which was available at her booth.

ABOVE Senior Eli Moon plays his saxophone next to his fellow bandmates during the annual Jazz Fest

ABOVE Spectators sit on the grass or in lawn chairs in awe as the band performes

The saxophone players are in a line are they perform

ENVIRONMENT THE ON AI

IMPACT OF AI

• A single AI generated picture can use as much energy as half a smartphone charge

• Carbon generated images generate as much carbon as driving 4.1 miles

• In 2023, Microsoft used as much data usage to fill 3,120 Olympic sized swimming pools

• 20-50 questions and answers with Chat GPT costs half a liter of fresh water

*data found by The Sustainable Agency

The increasing use of AI by students, and the environmental troubles it poses

A PRICEY UPGRADE

The date and outcome of the reconstruction of the Prairie Village City Hall and Police Department is unknown due to backlash from community members

Information Officer, Ashley Freburg.

story by MYA SMITH

THE PRARIE Village “Municipal Campus Project,” a project renovation and expansion of the Municipal Complex, has been estimated to cost up to $30 million over the past few months, according to the Johnson County Post.

The project has been on pause since it received a lawsuit in June from Prairie Village resident Marc Vianello. The lawsuit is a petition to stop the release of bonds for the city to continue on with the renovation, according to the Johnson County Post.

The project cannot proceed until the case is settled, according to Prairie Village City Council member Ian Graves.

THE

“During this process, the city learned that the owners of 7820 Mission Road [Mission Bible Church] were interested in selling the property,” Freburg said. “After conducting a third-party appraisal, the City Council entered into a contract to purchase the property late last year.”

COUNCIL at that time decided to scale back the project to not accommodate future programming needs. We hit that point where we got to go and actually finish the job.

JOHN GAGEN SENIOR

“The project is halted right now,because a resident has filed a lawsuit to block the issuance of general obligation bonds that the city would be issuing to fund the project,” Graves said. “What that means is that in Kansas, there

The project has been delayed for almost five years as the city prioritizes other community issues, including the remodeling of other local buildings. They’re just recently finalizing the logistics and cost to make their decision about the location and cost of City Hall, according to Graves.

“We had just rebuilt our Public Works facility [when the decision was made],” Graves said. “[It] was our oldest facility that needed updating, so next up on ‘What do we do with this?’ kind of question was ‘City Hall.’”

The main reason for the renovation is the need for more space for the city’s staff,

Municipal Complex was initially designed to have more space to accommodate its workers, and it has recently been back on the city’s radar, according to Graves.

“The police department was originally designed with space to grow into, but it’s sort of the 11th hour in the process,” Graves said. “The council at that time decided to scale back the project to not accommodate future programming needs. We hit that point where we got to go and actually finish the job.”

Members of the Prairie Village community have expressed their dislike of the $30 million cost and think it’s an unnecessary amount of money to spend, according to senior John Gagen. Although Gagen is not a taxpayer, he believes the project is too costly.

Gagen was also a part of the Prairie Village Teen Council from 2022-23, where he got to experience the city council meetings firsthand and develop his opinion on the topic.

“I believe that the government’s job is to listen and to provide for its constituents,” Gagen said. “When there hasn’t been a single person who has said, ‘Hey, this is a good idea, we want our money to go to this.’ I think it’s pretty

THE LONG PROCESS

A timeline of the ideas for the renovation

2020

Renovation ideas were proposed

2021

Different options for renovations were explored

2025

The project is officially approved and will go into action soon

OPINION

hot take

Mizzou is the better team in the Border War

story by ADYSON COOPER

JAYHWAKS MAY FLY, but Tigers eat birds for breakfast.

The rivalry between University of Missouri and Kansas University is one of the oldest in the country, dating back to over 160 years. It’s about more than just a football game; it’s a legacy that dates back to the Civil War when the Bushwackers and Jayhawkers would attack each other and William Quantrill led a raid to burn down Lawrence.

The history runs deep, long before the first time the teams first met on the football field on Oct. 31, 1891. The animosity has remained and it has been a part of the culture of both schools ever since.

If we’re picking sides (and that is a must), Mizzou is the superior school to root for in the border war.

They are innovators. In 1911, MU’s Athletic Director Chester Brewer wrote handwritten notes to alumni asking them to “come home” for the big game against Kansas. That started the tradition we know as Homecoming today. So anytime KU fans get excited for a Homecoming event, they are celebrating a tradition MU invented.

Mizzou fans also know how to show up for games and get the crowd buzzing with excitement. They have been playing the song Mr. Brightside in Faurot Field since 2007. Fans scream an anti-KU chant at the top of their lungs after the chorus.

That is dedication to the rivalry against KU and tops the slow and boring Rock Chalk Jayhawk chant.

Kansas fans’ entire personality is their basketball team, since the team has won multiple basketball championships. Mizzou is in the SEC conference, which means they’re playing against the very best teams in the country, while KU fans show up to football games in their basketball jerseys.

The record currently sits at 5854-9, with Mizzou in the lead. The best part about this rivalry is that at the end of the day, when these two teams meet, it’s anyone’s game. See you on the field next time, KU. Go MIZ!

Viewers responded recent Instagram polls reflecting this issue’s opinion stories we asked you...

An opinionated tweet from this week

“THE DEMOCRATS DON’T care about Epstein. They don’t even care about his victims. That’s why they were silent about it for years. The only thing they care about is concocting another fake scandal like Russiagate to smear President Trump with lies.”

strip

NOLAN

MURRAY SOPHOMORE

MIZZOU IS IN the SEC confrence and KU is in the big 12 confrence which is not as good.”

THINK KU is just better in sports in general and I also think KU is more welcoming in general.”

JD Vance Sept. 8

design by ADYSON COOPER art by ADYSON COOPER

comic strip by EISLEY FOSTER

MIZZOU

CLARA RIBERIO SOPHOMORE

photos by AVRA WELLING

LINES of POWER

Mid-decade redistricting and gerrymandering are unethical, and encourage dangerous political power grabs

LAW BREAKDOWN

WHAT IS IT?

Manipulating the boundaries of an electoral constituency, to favor one party or class.

WHEN PLAYING A game of football with friends, the rules are simple and have already been agreed upon: whoever ends with the highest score wins. But what if halfway through the game, one team decides to change the rules to favor themselves? Whether it’s moving their goalposts closer to them or playing with an extra player, these changes may allow them to win — but at the cost of a fair game.

America has been the first on the field in the game of politics for the past 249 years. But Republicans are currently changing the rules not just in Missouri, but across the country — through mid-decade redistricting of congressional districts. Instead of making extra touchdowns, they’re giving themselves extra members in Congress.

Redistricting is supposed to happen every 10 years when the decennial census is released. The whole point of redistricting is to reflect population changes. Mid-decade redistricting acts upon no population changes and is merely a way to create gerrymandered district lines to favor one political party. In this case, it’s for the Republican Party.

Gerrymandering mid-decade is unethical because it disrupts voter representation and encourages a trend of political power grabs in the future.

The Missouri House of Representatives just passed a redistricted congressional map on Sept. 9. This will be the first time Missouri has done mid-decade redistricting in over 60 years. Isn’t it just so coincidental that this is happening just one year before the midterm elections?

Missouri has eight congressional districts. Under the current map, Republicans hold six of the districts, while Democrats hold the other two — Kansas City and St. Louis. But Missouri Republicans are trying to split Kansas City and dilute 5th district voters — who lean towards Democrat — into the surrounding 4th and 6th districts, creating a 7 to 1

Gerrymandering explained in simple terms

WHO DOES IT?

Both Republicans and Democrats are able to participate in gerrymandering, however Republicans engage in it more often.

Republican-leaning map.

Since it is mid-decade, the decennial census hasn’t come out yet, so the lawmakers don’t have the credible data on population changes that would make redrawing the lines necessary. Republican lawmakers are simply disregarding citizens’ wants and manipulating their votes in a way that results in more power for their party.

It’s an obvious and wrongful overreach that does nothing but hurt voter representation. If the redrawn map gets passed, then one of the new congressional districts would combine parts of the Kansas City metro voters with farmers who live more than 250 miles away, according to NPR.

Those two groups have very different needs and concerns. Farmers have concerns about things like crop prices, while city voters worry about public transportation. Their congressional representatives certainly cannot advocate for both.

This mid-decade redistricting abuse is hurting voters across the country as well. In Texas, Republicans are attempting to draw a new map that flips five democratic seats to favor Republicans. However, in doing so, they are weakening the electoral influence of minority groups to the extent that the NAACP has filed a lawsuit against the state, according to ABC News.

The worst part is that all of this gerrymandering action isn’t something voters asked for; it’s not even the state’s politicians’ idea.

Instead, the backing for the gerrymandering is coming from one man — President Donald J. Trump.

Republican lawmakers are only pushing these redistricting efforts because it’s part of Trump’s plan to bolster Republicans’ chances of retaining control of Congress in next year’s elections, according to NPR.

This sets a dangerous precedent that could lead to a cycle in which presidents just demand that states slice up and

FOR: 9 AGAINST: 0

HOW OFTEN?

Usually occurs every ten years, but can happen at different times every once and a while.

*according to

rearrange their district lines favorably every time an election comes around. Next time, it may not be Republicans, it could be Democrats instead. Either way, it’s not the party that matters, it’s the lack of respect for the voters.

Already, states like California and New York are threatening retaliatory redistricting in their own districts to balance out the congressional seats gained by the Republicans’ gerrymandering. Lawmakers are trying to fight fire with fire, and in the end, it’s only the voters who get burned.

A citizen’s vote matters, and to manipulate the boundary lines of congressional districts to allow for a Republican seat is simply manipulative and undemocratic. It defeats the purpose of voting for accurate representation and could discourage people from voting, since they know politicians don’t respect them.

There will be more than eight million

newly eligible voters in 2026 for midterms, according to the Civics Center. The majority of current SM East seniors will be a part of that group. How can they be expected to participate in voting when they see the politicians around them skirting the rules? It could lead to a severe decline in democracy, which is much more pressing than winning the midterms.

Instead of relying on shady strategies and cutting corners with mid-decade gerrymandering, politicians should be out campaigning in the districts they are struggling in. Breaking news: politicians should actually do their job and earn people’s votes.

Democrats and Republicans may have the biggest rivalry in the game of politics. But if the game is tough and the competition is fierce, the solution is to compete, not to cheat.

Especially when such cheating comes at the cost of democracy.

LAYING OUT

story by CHRISTOPHER LONG

NIGHT-VISION CARROTS,

stunted growth from coffee and alcohol being healthy in moderation are rumors I’ve heard from my parents, teachers and friends growing up.

But most of these were based on data from studies conducted in the 1960s.

Yes, the 1960s. The same decade that Americans believed they had to wait an hour after eating

Before believing any health-related research, students should understand its credibility

THE FACTS

what to believe about health.

And the sweeping waves of health fads that will “magically” keep you in shape haven’t provided clarity in the murky pond of misinformation.

Within the past year, a new trend has emerged as the leading solution to eating “healthy.”

The high-protein diet.

But the idea of munching down protein bars and slurping shakes with questionable powders and supplements is not a new discovery nor an effective way to lead a healthy lifestyle. It’s just an unproven concept from shoddy 60’s research.

IF A STUDY doesn’t have reliable results or hasn’t been peer reviewed, it simply isn’t the five seconds it takes to read the abstract.

diet produced the same painfully average results as any other weight loss diet.

But with far greater consequences.

The Atkins diet was one example of faulty research in an era almost 20 years before the concept of peer review was a widely accepted practice.

PEER REVIEW

When research is read thoroughly, checked by fellow experts and the experiment is repeated before deciding the results are accurate.

In the late 1960s, a renowned heart specialist, Robert Atkins, claimed to have uncovered a clinically proven weight loss diet.

He claimed that with commitment to eating maximum protein and minimal carbohydrates, his Atkins Diet was the way to stay healthy.

Or so it seemed.

In 2001, the American Heart Association AHA published its findings on the longterm effects of the Atkins diet. They found increased risk of severe heart problems, colon cancer and kidney problems that came hand-in-hand with the diet’s allure of “weight-loss.”

Overall, the AHA found that the Atkins

But how can we know that something is considered credible? Does validity come with prestige or just information from a supposed expert?

In the case of the Low-Fat diet, there was a horrible lack of both.

Originally “discovered” by Ancel Keys in 1953, the diet centered around the idea of avoiding these “nasty” fats that caused serious health issues.

And since the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sanctioned the research, they outlined a specific “low-fat diet” goal in their “Dietary Goals for the United States” report by the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs.

But since the standard for quality research was low compared to the current requirements of peer review for credibility, Keys’ research was simply accepted.

If you can even call it research. His

Potential effects of popular diets

results and basis for the experiment came from paid surveys — any scientist would rightfully question the credibility of his research if the participants are being bribed.

These findings opened the door to aggressive “low-fat” marketing from major food corporations to feed the fear of consuming fats, which sparked an outbreak of eating, mental health and other nutrition-related disorders.

Both the Atkins Diet disaster and the Keys catastrophe serve as case-in-point

15, 2025

UNLOCKING AP’S

the door to

Freshmen should have the option to take Advanced Placement classes to better prepare them for future courses

story by SLOANE HENDERSON

THEY’RE BACK.

After a long weekend of actually getting a healthy amount of sleep, I thought I’d gotten rid of my eye bags from staying up late doing homework. But they’ve already returned, and it’s only Wednesday.

I definitely stayed up too late studying last night. And the night before that.

As a sophomore, I’m already overwhelmed with chemistry, Advanced Placement European History and two other honors classes. I’m terrified for next year when I’ll be taking three or four AP classes, studying for the ACT and touring colleges.

Currently, almost every night, I’m awake until 11 p.m. trying to remember what the symbol for the element Antimony is, or about falling asleep while

finishing my reading chart with my textbook.

I wish I could go back and take an AP class freshman year to prepare me for this load now, but I can’t.

Freshmen should have the option to take an AP class to help better prepare them for future advanced courses in high school and college.

Taking an AP class is hard, and taking one freshman year would’ve allowed me to have more success now and in future years.

There’s a strategy to taking these advanced classes, and it takes time to learn how. How to study for the AP exam, how to apply the content, how to write a document-based question, short-answer question, long-answer question or other skills the class requires, which take practice.

An extra year to take AP classes allows students an additional year to harness those skills.

I can’t compare last year to now because my most challenging classes then were Honors English and Honors Biology, which were as difficult as sophomore-level electives. Most of the time, I only had homework three days a week.

No part of last year prepared me for staying up late, cramming for tests and trying to keep up with all the content that teachers throw at me.

People might say an honors class prepares students for APs, but it’s not the same. It’s not the same coursework, exam, or even effort. AP classes have college-level content, and honors classes are still based on high school content. There’s a big difference.

SLOANE’S OPINION

How sophomore Sloane Henderson feels about AP Human Geography

“Human Geography should be offered to freshmen because it’s a freshmen level recommended course on the AP website. It’s offered at other high schools and will better prepare students for other AP classes.”

Like I said, not even close to freshman year.

Taking an AP class freshman year gives you more time to learn, practice and figure out what works for you in these types of classes. This approach better prepares students for junior year, when grades and building resumes matter most for college applications.

If SM East prides itself on the rigor of our coursework here, then why aren’t we challenging the freshmen, too?

Other schools in the Kansas City metro area allow freshmen to take AP Human Geography, including Mill Valley and the Blue Valley district. And, Blue Valley set a record for their 2023-2024 school year with an 84% AP-test passing rate — a three or higher — according to Blue Valley Today. Clearly, freshmen are doing well in AP classes.

The College Board advertises Human Geography as a course suited for freshmen and that it leads well into classes like AP European History and AP Microeconomics for sophomores.

Taking one AP class sophomore year isn’t enough to properly prepare students who will be taking multiple classes during their junior year, which is arguably the most important year due to college. I want to be prepared and set up to succeed, as I want to attend a top-25 college, but I won’t be able to do that if I’m not set up to do well in classes.

Not to mention taking more AP classes and doing well in those classes gives students more chances to earn college credit, which, for some, means less of a financial burden in the long run.

Many colleges accept credit from fours or fives on the end-of-year AP exam; some take a three, depending on the class. Earning college credit through doing well on the exam means students don’t need to take as many classes in college, or can double major. Taking fewer classes can lead to graduating early, and for some students, can make a substantial difference financially.

According to Urban Institute, 30-40 percent of undergraduate students take on student debt, and although it seems like allowing freshmen in high school to take an AP class is irrelevant, there’s a domino effect that makes it matter.

So, to make school easier for students in the long run, freshmen should have the option to take an AP class. They can handle it.

SUNRISE

The Class of 2026 gathered on Sept. 4 at 6:15 a.m. to watch the sunrise and celebrate their senior year

BOTTOM RIGHT

for a picture wearing custom class jeans. “It was a tradition that Paige and I had when we lived in the south,” Augustine said. “It was so much fun so we tried to bring it here.” The four girls all made their custom

ABOVE Seniors Kara Parrett, Jareld Daniels, Maddie Nee and Arianna Kennedy pose with two of their friends behind their picture frame. photo by ANNIE TRENKLE

ABOVE Seniors Sophie Danker and Jane Rasmussen pose for a picture on the track at the end of senior sunrise.

photo by DARCY KROENING

BOTTOM LEFT Senior Carson Gilmore throws a bag during a game of bean bag toss while senior Julian Van Doren attempts to block his toss.

photo by ZAC RUSSELL

Seniors Emma Price, Talia Augustine, Paige Stanfield and Kate Jones pose

jeans together.

photo by ANNIE TRENKLE

FEATURE

this week in

PHOTOS

A look inside student life

CAPTURING SENIORS

ME

For Josie’s photo account

JOSIE MANGINE SENIOR

I TAKE SENIOR pictures of my friends, but also other people. Honestly, I just start a conversation about school, sports or friends and it normally gets a conversation going. I have never really had an awkward shoot.

LEFT

THE HEN HOUSE MEET

WORKERS

Get to know students’ experience working at the popular grocery store, Hen House

Arri Janzen plays the saxophone at the annual Prairie Village Jazz Festival.

photo by VIVIEN GLENSKI Sophomore

LEFT

Works as a courtesy clerk and cashier

Has had rewarding experiences with customers

Zoology class, junior Esmae Bond is in awe when she picks up the tarantula Curly for the first time.

photo by MOLLY SCOTT In her

Works as bagger and re-stocker

Has gained improved time management skills

ELLIE MOILANEN SENIOR

WHAT FIRST HELPED me to pose people was going through Pinterest and looking through other people’s Instagrams. But most importantly, I would think of what I would want while getting my own senior photos taken. That kind of walked me through the process. Having my own session definitely helped.

ME For Ellie’s photo account

design by JULIA CAMPBELL

NICO HENRY

BEN LEWIS

Two seniors and head photo editors of the yearbook staff shoot senior pictures

SCAN

SCAN

SOPHOMORE

JUNIOR

CAMELOT SHOPPING CENTER

CORINTH SQUARE

photos

15, 2025

WITH

Spanish teacher and East alumna Leigh Rysko found professional and personal love traveling abroad in her early career and finds ways to learn more every day

SPANISH TEACHER LEIGH

Rysko was screaming her lesson for the day.

This was a daily occurrence at the all-girls Catholic school in the middle of the Peruvian Amazon rainforest, where Rysko taught English for a year.

With the roar of motorcycles coming from just outside the school, she had no option but to speak as loudly as possible in the humid classroom with no air conditioning.

“I had students for whom what I was teaching was their way to success, or their way to get out of the economic situation in which they found themselves,” Rysko said. “[There were] all these challenges, and yet students were like ‘No, we need English,’ and they were highly motivated.”

With narrow, cobblestone roads and Gothic architecture, Toledo was Rysko’s first experience in an historic international city. She studied at a small local university with other American and Japanese students.

“I actually arrived a week late, and so everyone else had already had the first week of icebreakers,” Rysko said. “I just remember tears rolling down my face.”

After finishing her senior year of college, Rysko moved to San Diego, California and began teaching high school Spanish.

I HAD STUDENTS

for whom what I was teaching was their way to success, or their way to get out of the economic situation in which they found themselves.”

LEIGH RYSKO SPANISH TEACHER

Ever since her time as a high school student at SM East in room 516, the room she teaches in now, Rysko felt confident in her Spanish-speaking abilities.

However, Rysko’s true passion for Spanish started after spending two months of her high school junior year volunteering in the luscious forests of Costa Rica with the Amigos de las Americas volunteer program.

“It was clear I wanted to teach,” Rysko said. “And my time in Costa Rica made it clear what subject.”

While pursuing her teaching degree at Denison University, Rysko decided to study abroad in Toledo, Spain, during the fall semester of her senior year.

Three years into the job, she decided to pursue her master’s degree and spent two consecutive summers in Madrid to complete her coursework.

One week before her program was set to end, Rysko met her now wife, Isabel Betancur, who only spoke Spanish.

“[We] have a long history,” Betancur said. “We met in 2003, then met up again…[and began] long distance.”

After Rysko had finished her time in Spain, she continued to work in San Diego and applied for a teacher exchange, hoping to be placed back in Spain with Betancur.

However, with Rysko’s already extensive list of experience in Spain on her resumé, she was sent to the all-girls Catholic school in Peru.

“I was disappointed for about five minutes,” Rysko said. “[But] who’s going to say no to that?”

For a year, Rysko spent time teaching English to girls in a city in the middle of a rainforest, with the only form of

transportation being planes or boats.

While teaching, she began to stand up for the affordability of girls’ schooling and even joined a committee to encourage local motorcyclists to install mufflers on their engines, helping to quiet the roads.

“I was frustrated to tears,” Rysko said. “I know my students want what I have to give them, and [I wasn’t] able to do it, so I reached out to a bunch of people who helped me advocate for my students.”

After returning from Peru, Rysko decided to move back to Kansas City and taught at SM South for 13 years.

She then took a sabbatical to decide whether she and Beancur would live in Spain or Kansas City. To be near Rysko’s family, they both decided on Kansas City.

This is now Rysko’s second year teaching Spanish at SM East, the same place where she learned the language.

“I remember being in [room] 516, and I remember my classmates talking about [Amigos de las Americas] for the first time,” Rysko said. “To be in that classroom where I heard about my first life-changing program is really special.”

She teaches Spanish 2, 4 and the highest level offered at SM East — Spanish 6.

Rysko teaches the only Spanish 6 class that has just nine students, including senior Norah Anderson.

“We do a lot of class discussions,” Anderson said. “[Rysko is] really open to our point of view on things.”

Rysko often gives her students real-world news articles from Spanish-speaking countries and a “hotseat” activity where a student faces away from the board with a set of English words written on it. At the same time, their peers explain what’s on the board in Spanish, according to senior

PROFE RYSKO’S BUCKET L ST

FROM SPAIN L VE

Katherine Piraquive.

“We started off with Gen-Z slang, so like rizz was one of [the words to guess],” Piraquive said. “But [Rysko] makes it really like [a] sort of family environment.”

Rysko continues to create engaging classroom activities and is still learning new terms to expand her own Spanish abilities.

With the help of Betancur, who is now taking English classes at Johnson County Community College, Rysko is continuing to learn new terms.

“Every day I’m learning new words,” Rysko said. “It’s been full circle [because] first she was my Spanish teacher and now I’m kind of her English teacher.”

EDITOR

EXPLORING Q&A

Discover more about the student-run publication, the Freelancer

FREELANCER

WHAT IS FREELANCER?

Co-Editor and junior Ella Bruce answers common questions about the Freelancer and their submissions

WHAT ARE THE POSITIVES OF BEING ON FREELANCER?

“First of all, it’s amazing to see other people’s artwork. Also the community is so welcoming. Obviously we get things done in meetings, but it’s also chill. We have a really good time and we’re all friends. It’s really awesome.”

WHAT ARE YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SOMEONE WANTING TO GET THEIR PIECE ON THE MAGAZINE?

“I mean, just submit your art. There’s no downside to it. If you don’t get into the magazine, you can resubmit again the next year and just see if it’s reconsidered.”

CAN YOU SUBMIT AS MANY PIECES AS YOU WANT?

“Yeah, absolutely. We take all sorts of medias too. I think this is sort of like misconception that we’re only like poetry and drawing, but, we take literally anything if it’s made with artistic intent.”

HOW DO YOU PICK WHAT PIECES MAKE IT INTO THE

MAGAZINE?

“At the meetings, everybody rates the piece from a scale of one to five. Five is ‘I really want this in the magazine’ and one is ‘I don’t really want this in the magazine.’ And we basically take a vote and then the highest rated pieces at the end of the year get into the magazine.”

The Freelancer is a student-run organization, that produces an annual magazine. It features student-made work in any forms. They hold weekly meetings to review submissions, and also put together their publication in the spring. Anybody is able to participate by either submitting their work or join a meeting.

MEETING INFO:

WHEN: WHERE: EVERY WEDNESDAY ROOM 507

EDITORS:

CO-EDITORS: ELLA BRUCE & ELLA SIENGSUKON

DESIGN EDITOR: AVA WINFIELD

Create an original piece of work

Send an email to smefreelancer@gmail.com

Provide a title and the medium Make sure all submissions are on individual files

The Freelancer members will then review your work

FREELANCER ACCEPTS: TRADITIONAL ART, DIGITAL ART, PHOTOGRAPHY, 3D ART, JEWELRY, TEXTILE, MUSIC, POETRY, VIDEO AND MORE...

*SUBMISSIONS FROM PAST MAGAZINES

AI,

story by SOPHIA BROCKMEIER

*names changed to protect identity

how do I think?

TAll she could see were artificial intelligence search engines pulled up on her peers’ phone screens.

“I was just sitting next to people in class using AI,” Wood said. “Everyone did it. Even the smartest kids. I’m like, ‘Am I missing out here?’ It’s just a cheat code. It really is.”

So, Wood used ChatGPT to finish up her review packet. Then a math problem set. Then an essay outline.

High school students are turning to AI to complete academic assignments and exams, overlooking the negative consequences of their actions — including diminished critical thinking and fewer job opportunities.

Now-senior Wood will turn to

She just doesn’t have time to dig out dusty old notes.

And Wood isn’t alone — a 2025 Massachusetts Institute of Technology study claims that ChatGPT users grow less motivated to complete work on their own. The MIT researchers charged three different groups of individuals to complete essays three different ways: one group using solely ChatGPT, another with access to Google and the last with no outside resources.

Over the course of the study, the individuals using ChatGPT to complete their essays became less determined with each additional essay, even turning to copy-and-pasting their answers directly from the chatbot by the end of the four-month period.

I WAS JUST sitting next to people in class using AI. Everyone did it. Even the smartest kids. I’m like, ‘Am I missing out here?’ It’s just a cheat code. It really is.”

MALLORY WOOD* SENIOR

Marketability in an AI dominated job market

How students can make themselves marketable in a soon-to-be AI dominated job market, according to ChatGPT

In an Instagram poll of 220 students, 75% reported that they’ve used AI on an assignment. Nationally, 72% of teens aged 13-17 have used AI, including ChatGPT, according to a 2025 Common Sense Media study.

The usage is higher at SM East and is influenced by the rise of small assignments rather than long-term

The dark frames robotically responded to Lee, but he was careful to turn down the volume to avoid detection in the quiet classroom. Earlier, Lee’s seminar teacher spotted the frames with small cameras on the edges and questioned their legitimacy.

“I said, ‘They’re prescription. You can’t tell me to take them off,’” Lee said.

Although students are cheating in high school with devices such as Meta Smart Glasses and ChatGPT, this behavior won’t go without consequences at the collegiate level, according to East alumni and University of Kansas freshman Avery Anderson.

CHATGPT

Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer: an advanced artificial intelligence chatbot created by OpenAI.

Anderson’s required Greek Life class syllabus, for example, includes policies on AI at the collegiate level.

“The use of artificial intelligence is not allowed in this course,” the syllabus stated. “The use of artificial intelligence to create responses for submitted work would be plagiarism as it is still the use of someone else’s words as your own.”

Anderson said she didn’t use AI during high school. However, her now-college peers have continued to utilize programs such as ChatGPT during lectures and assignments. The most common of which, according to Anderson, are

These college students are leaning on AI to complete their assignments, but it all starts in

It’s 9 p.m. on Sunday, and sophomore Chase Smith* has four assignments due at 11:59 p.m.

Assignments that were given weeks ago. Ones that should’ve been completed part-by-part so they didn’t pile up like this. Essays, projects and worksheets that would normally take two hours

Develop “AI-Resistant” skills: Creativity, emotional intelligence, complex thinking

Learn to use AI as a tool

Gain Real-World Experience: Internships, portfolios, side hustles

Build a personal brand: Have a LinkedIn profile and network

With three hours remaining, Smith doesn’t see any other option — he’ll have to use AI to finish

“There’s way less on you when you’re able to use AI instead of doing literally two weeks of work,” Smith said. “It just takes a lot off. The thrill of completing [an assignment] doesn’t really matter [on] how much work is put in.”

Smith’s reliance on AI is called “off-loading,” according to University of Kansas Law School Professor Laura Fey. Allowing AI to complete an assignment keeps students from using their cognitive abilities. Fey says this intellectual

High school students’ critical thinking is decreasing as they use artificial intelligence to complete

Relying on AI during high students lack creativity, according students don’t develop critical because they don’t do their without these skills, it’s would hire this individual,

“If I, as an employer, can that can do what [an employee] have to do is prompt it or do the things you can do, and more than the tool provides, paying you a salary?” Fey said.

According to the World the most affected jobs development, customer support Many aspects of these jobs, programming and algorithms, be easily completed with of AI.

Not all jobs, however, will due to AI. Traits such as creativity and analysis will still be in the workplace, according IB Philosophy teacher Sternberg.

“AI companies are looking humanity,” Sternberg said. aren’t dead because of AI.”

However, Fey believes marketability — how many one has — of an individual be dependent on whether schoolers are using their thinking to grow by completing homework assignments honestly.

When students use AI assignments, they’re less motivated a similar assignment the next the cycle of leaning on AI, like Wood.

East teachers are educating the effects of AI utilization produce the same quality They hope to discourage AI, students’ future jobs.

English teacher Amy Andersen seen an increasing number for essays, turning in a final intelligence program.

“Things that I tend to formulaic sentence structures,” see uniform paragraph length, of a giveaway. Also, to me, the voice that doesn’t sound Andersen said she tries to better themselves against their skill sets.

During the first month introduced assignments

complete assignments

high school means that according to Fey. These critical reasoning skills own schoolwork. And, unlikely an employer Fey said. can purchase an AI tool employee] can do, and all I input code, and it will and you’re not offering provides, why would I be said.

World Economic Forum, by AI are software support and finance. jobs, such as algorithms, can the help

will be lost creativity be valued according to Meredith looking for said. “People that the many traits individual can whether high their own completing honestly. dishonestly on school motivated to complete next time — beginning according to students

educating their students on utilization and how it doesn’t quality as authentic work. AI, therefore protecting

Andersen said she has number of students use AI final draft crafted by an see in AI writing are structures,” Andersen said. “I length, it’s actually kind it’s just something in sound human or warm.”

to teach students how against AI and differentiate

month of school, Andersen to show students

JOBS THAT WILL BE AFFECTED BY AI:

- customer support

- software development

- customer finance

*According to the World Economic Forum

JODIE 18 LOCAL LANCER

schnaks

Jodie Schnakenberg is a SM East art teacher and the Lancer Dancer teacher of record and goes to nationals with the team

How did you become the teacher of record for the dance team?

“I think maybe even Bubba asked me if I wanted to do it, to be down [in the dance studio] with them and I, of course, agreed to it because she’s awesome. And so then, ever since, they try to make it work, whether it’s JV or varsity, depends on what hours work with my schedule or when they need me to teach what hours, they usually try to make it work so that I can be down there.”

What has it been like being both the teacher of record and an art teacher at SM East?

“I have some Lancer Dancers that take art every now and again, so it’s good to see them in a classroom setting too. They usually always work just as hard on everything they’re doing outside of the dance room. […] I think it’s great to just get to know kids through, a different avenue [and] aspect of them being a Lancer than just being an artist. I think that’s always interesting for a teacher to see them outside of the classroom.”

ART OF TRADITIONS

Traditions that Schnacks has brought to the dance team breadsticks hip-hop speech a word she uses to compliment dancers for their hard work means they’re “doing awesome”

if the dancers make nationals for hip-hop she makes a speech or rap

she delivers her rap backstage before the dancers perform

MARSH photo by CHARLOTTE WALTON

love it.”

Jaime arrived to the United States

2021

JAIME’S FAMILY BEGINS HOSTING COLLEGE STUDENTS FROM THE U.S.

2023

JAIME’S FAMILY HOSTS

AVA STECHSHULTE

THE STECHSHULTE FAMILY VISTS AVA IN SPAIN AND MEETS

JAIME’S FAMILY

2024

THE STECHSHULTE FAMILY INVITES JAIME TO STAY WITH THEM

2025

JAIME JOINS THE STECHSHULTES IN KANSAS

BORDERS CROSSING NEW

The same willingness to learn helped Jaime complete his goal of playing American football after playing rugby in Madrid; he purposefully arrived two weeks before school started to join the JV football team as a punter and

He used to punt and kick for Arquitectura, a Madrid rugby team composed of the city’s best youth players. Even though American football evolved from rugby, there are differences for kickers; Jaime learned to kick with the ball held in place rather than simultaneously kicking while running.

Spanish. In the middle of a conversation, Steve will ask, “How do you say this in Spanish?” Often a long phrase, the two spend around 10 minutes until Steve pronounces the sentence correctly and understands it.

Jaime had never been fruit picking before. In Spain, first-grade field trips to the orchard aren’t as common as they are in the United States.

Eager to absorb American life, Jaime, an exchange student from Madrid, Spain, has developed new routines and started unfamiliar activities — all to figure out what it’s like living in the U.S. as a sophomore in high school.

His host family for the school year is the Stechschultes — Steve, his wife Hannah, their kids, junior Nell and East alumni Peter, Henry and Ava.

Even though this is Jaime’s first time living in Kansas, it isn’t his first time living with a Stechschulte. Jaime’s family hosted Ava for a spring semester in 2023, during her junior year of college.

“I hadn’t seen him since he was like 12 or 13, so I was really excited to see how he had grown up,” Ava said. “He would talk so much about wanting to come to the U.S. when I was there, and how much he wanted to spend time [in the U.S.].”

Ava remembers hearing Jaime’s English for the first time while living in Madrid. She was recording a Snapchat video to send to her friend back home when Jaime said a few words in English. When Ava told him his English was as good as her Spanish, he replied: “I can’t speak English, it’s terrible.”

“Now that he’s had to speak English more, he doesn’t get embarrassed,” Ava said. “Breaking down that initial barrier, you have to embarrass yourself a little bit.”

“It’s been hard for me to adapt to football,” Jaime said. “People think that [football and rugby] are very similar, but they’re like so, so different. But I mean, people are helping me, and they’re very patient with me. And [the] coaches are so patient, so I’m grateful.”

In Kansas, Jaime wakes up at 6:40 a.m., goes to school from 7:40 a.m. to 2:40 p.m., has a football team video session from 3 to 4 p.m. and then practice from 4 to 7 p.m. After that, it’s dinner, homework and sleep. In Madrid, his schedule started later — school from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., rugby until 6 p.m. and then nearly five hours of free time before bed.

“It’s good because I felt that [arriving] from school at 3 [p.m.] and being in my house from 3-11 will be so boring,” Jaime said. “So I have the day busy [in Kansas] because I’m doing [a] sport and socializing with people, so I’m grateful.”

On weekends, Jaime has been exploring Kansas City with the Stechschultes, going to a Royals game and visiting the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

“Jaime is shy, but he’s very, very nice,” Nell said. “He’s very funny. I would even love to do an exchange year with his family.”

Along with visiting a medical library and going on spontaneous bike rides with Steve, Jaime has also been teaching him

From sprinting up a hill to prepare for football to pointing out yellow school buses and cul-de-sacs, Jaime’s infectious enthusiasm rubs off on the Stechschultes.

“I don’t know how to express with words, but people here are so good,” Jaime said. “I can see in small things like gratitude, respect. [In Kansas], people are so

Spanish exchange student Jaime de Sandoval de la Cruz’s appreciative nature has led him to new experiences in the U.S.

Junior Shannon Enslow is creating a comic book adaptation of

“The Hobbit”

ADVENTURES painting

BREAKDOWN

Supplies Shannon is using to create her comic MATERIAL

UNIOR Enslow walks the halls cradling a dark red notebook close to her chest. Inside her notebook lies a myriad of illustrations, lush hills of green, vibrant blue skies, ornate feasts and a bustling village. What started as an English assignment last year swiftly blossomed into a long term passion project to Enslow: the notebook holds together a comic book adaptation of “The Hobbit.”

“We had to read a book [of our choice], and then one of the project options was to make a comic book based on that [book],” Enslow said.

After Enslow’s father recommended she read “The Hobbit” for her English assignment last year, she quickly fell in love with the story.

After Enslow finished the assignment, she decided to continue working on it since she already had the supplies and had a portion of the work done.

With a lot of the work on the comic book being done at school, Enslow often turns the classroom she’s in into her personal workshop, painting away with her art supplies in hand.

“She has her little water color container and she carries around the actual Hobbit book with her,” junior Saffron Hansen said.

Hansen was in the English class with Enslow when she started the comic book, and has seen it evolve ever since it was only a couple of sketches.

Enslow’s creative process consists of figuring out what information is relevant to the story, how to draw the scene and deciding what dialogue to use.

Although it might seem like her teachers would find this to be a distraction, they usually pay little mind to it.

“Teachers are just kind of like, what is this?” Enslow said. “As long as I do the work, nobody seems to mind.”

The comic book is currently growing. Enslow gets one full page finished every week. Right now, 15 pages of the novel have been illustrated and written into the comic book.

“It takes a long time to get anything done,” Enslow said.

Although Enslow isn’t sure as to why she’s devoted so much of her time to the project, she just felt like it was a good idea.

“It’s just one of those things where it’s like, ‘Oh that sounds like a good idea, let’s do it,’” Enslow said.

To Enslow, the comic book isn’t just an art project, it’s her hobby.

films.

“The character designs from the movies are really complex and won’t work for a [comic] book,” Enslow said.

“So I’ve had to go in and simplify them a lot. And so the hardest part was probably finding designs I was happy with for all of them.”

With “The Hobbit” being around 300 pages long, it’s difficult for Enslow to showcase every detail. So she made the decision to not incorporate every last detail from the novel in her comic book.

“There’s some stuff that I don’t include because it’s just like, ‘Why would you need to know that?’” Enslow said.

IT’S KIND OF a distraction, while most people would be on their phones or something, [the comic] is what I do instead.

SHANNON ENSLOW JUNIOR

“It’s kind of a distraction, while most people would be on their phones or something, [the comic] is what I do instead,” Enslow said. “It’s more of just entertainment.”

Since the comic book is a long-term project, she hasn’t decided what she’ll do with it once she finishes.

Enslow has been doing art for her entire life. She began to paint when she was going into middle school. She is using her painting skills for the comic book, with all the coloring work done using water color paint.

A lot of the designs in the comic book are based off of “The Hobbit” films, with some artistic liberty being taken.

But those designs were the biggest challenge for Enslow. It’s oftentimes difficult for her to draw the intricate character designs from “The Hobbit”

English teacher Jordan Dombrowski, the teacher that gave Enslow the assignment, has been supportive of her journey.

Even though Enslow is no longer in her class, Dombrowski routinely checks up on her progress.

“She transformed [the assignment] beyond my expectation,” Dombrowski said.

Dombrowski has seen the comic book grow from the very first page.

“I think the progress is incredible.” Dombrowski said. “It’s just really cool to see her grow as an artist and see her do something that she can show to people and it has that purpose and it makes people really happy, especially people who are fans of ‘The Hobbit.’”

Dombrowski gets to see the lively world that lives inside her notebook grow, and it was all sprouted from a regular assignment.

“So even now, I’ll see her in the halls and she’ll be like, ‘Wait,’ and then she’ll open up a page and show me what she’s worked on,” Dombrowski said. “It’s so awesome. She’s incredibly talented.” Dombrowski said. “It’s so awesome. She’s incredibly talented.”

story by ALEX HARDEN

design by MADELINE GLASIER photos by ADDIE CLARK

design by MOLLY SCOTT

HARMONY HARMONY BUBBLING

SM East Choir held their annual car wash event to raise money

BOTTOM LEFT Sophomore Oliver Jones uses two sponges and soap to clean the car with his choir group.

for a photo with a pressure washer which he uses to spray cars down before and after using soap.

Scan here to view and purchase photos from this event

TOP RIGHT Choir teacher Ken Folley poses

photo by MOLLY MCDERMED

photo by MOLLY MCDERMED

BOTTOM RIGHT

SM East Choir has an array of sponges to choose from to wash incoming cars.

photo by MOLLY MCDERMED

TOP LEFT

Sophomore Ben Wilson uses a rag to dry off the car after it gets washed down by the other choir students.

photo by MOLLY MCDERMED

art by FRANCESCA LORUSSO

SHARE-D

SHARE coordinators Sheryl Kaplan and Erin Billingsley encourage SM East students to volunteer

story by SIENNA WILLIAMS

EVERY MORNING, TO the right of the fourth-floor staircase, SHARE coordinators Sheyl Kaplan and Erin Billingsley are found either deep in a conversation discussing the next service project, organizing volunteers or brainstorming new ideas to get more students involved.

Kaplan and Billingsley have been working together as SHARE coordinators for four years now. They encourage students to get involved in SHARE, a volunteer nonprofit organization.

“SHARE is fun,” Billingsley said. “It’s low stakes and a way of getting out and doing something for other people, which I think is important.”

The two graduated from SM East and sent their kids to the school too. Both of them were familiar with the SHARE program for years before being coordinators. They enjoy working with an organization they’re passionate about.

Kaplan worked in special education for the district 30 years ago and now uses her teaching background to lead and co-direct SHARE. Billingsley returned to the school to work for SHARE simply because she was interested and wanted to get involved.

Both Kaplan and Billingsley contribute to SHARE by

A VISION EXEC

distributing tasks evenly. Kaplan can be found focusing more on the freshman connection projects at times, helping the five freshmen leaders come up with volunteer opportunities. Ideas for setting a date for the freshmen pickleball tournament. On the other hand, Billingsley often discusses the next SHARE organization with the eight senior executives.

Although both of them have their own tasks they need to meet, Kaplan and Billingsley

always make sure to put comments, questions and concerns from SHARE students as their top priority.

“Kids are coming in and out of our offices, bringing forms, asking questions and wanting to start new projects,” Kaplan said. “Erin and I are always willing to help.”

While Kaplan and Billingsley guide their students to success, they say it’s the students who bring SHARE to life.

With over 600 students involved each year, students’ roles in SHARE can range from freshman leaders and SHARE chairs to a senior executive.

Both Kaplan and Billingsley are also involved with the SHARE executive interview process.

“They apply in March, and they fill out an application,” Billingsley said. “They interview with the current execs, and then Sheryl and I

are in there too.”

Kaplan and Billingsley have a strong relationship with their senior execs.

Vivian Frayley, Senior exec, shares a strong relationship with both Kaplan and Billingsley. Frayley says both are well organized and professional.

“Since I began being a part of SHARE, they’ve helped me expand my leadership, they also helped me gain more knowledge of the different issues that our community faces daily,” Frayley said.

One of Fraley’s favorite memories with Kaplan and Billingsley was during her SHARE exec interview.

When Fraley was interviewing for next year’s SHARE exec, she told a story about when she was a freshman, Kaplan was not happy with her due to a situation. Little did Fraley know, Kaplan and Billingsley were in the corner listening to her. Frayle said she was shocked to see her, but it ended up being a funny memory between the two.

One thing Kaplan and Billingsley do is take SHARE execs on monthly field trips to visit various local non-profit locations.

“The goal of these field trips is to see different local organizations and how they get started,” Kaplan said. “Also, to see what they do and see all the different sides of philanthropy and non-profit organizations.”

Although Kaplan and Billingsley collaborate on almost every aspect of SHARE, such as elaborating thoughts and ideas, their week is structured so they can assist the students together and individually.

On Mondays, both Kaplan and Billingsley lead the second hour SHARE executive class by brainstorming ideas, coming up with organization plans and supporting the eight

senior execs.

Kaplan teaches the class on Tuesday, while Billingsley teaches the class on Thursday. On odd days, they come to the school to answer questions, handle tasks and support all SHARE members.

Since Kaplan and Billingsley only work together in the building on Mondays, they have a system of using a Google document to record notes and keep each other updated on the latest information.

“When I’m there and she’s not, or she’s there and I’m not, we write to each other,” Kaplan said. “We have an ongoing Google Doc that we call our ‘SHAREnt’ note.”

With many moving parts and busy plans, Kaplan and Billingsley’s guidance is what keeps SHARE running smoothly. Both coordinators have made sure to take responsibility and take time out of their day to set up the students for success.

Sophomore Ana Pyakural is a first-time SHARE chair this year. SHARE chairs help non-profit organizations find fun ways for people to sign up, such as designing posters for the SHARE Care Fair.

“I think they’re very nice,” Pyakural said. “It’s my first year being a SHARE chair, so I don’t know them super well, but at the meetings, they are very helpful and willing to contribute to us.”

Kaplan and Billingsley both have a strong motivation to pursue their interest in SHARE.

They enjoy seeing each student’s different ideas. They especially love seeing students expand on thoughts on what to do for SHARE projects/organizations.

“I love getting to see the variety of students that come in and the variety of interests that they have. I really like that we provide so many different opportunities,” Billingsley said.

FROM AN

Senior Charlotte Wissel’s experiences with Sheryl and Erin

As a SHARE executive, Wissel’s second hour is just seven other seniors along with Sheryl and Erin

Wissel enjoys the freedom of being released from class to film videos

Sheryl and Erin’s relaxed and funny personalities make them easy to work with and talk to about personal life

A&E

local spotlight

urbAna is a versatile and cheerful boutique and a muststop shop for all your hosting and gift needs

story by TILLIE PAISNER

NEXT TIME I need a lastminute gift for a friend or a quick Mothers Day present, l know exactly where to go — urbAna, a boutique in The Shops of Prairie Village

After opening in June of 2024, I heard about the boutique from a friend and knew I had to stop by. From bar accessories to an adorable toy section, this boutique truly has it all.

As I explored the large store, admiring its rustic and boho aesthetic, I noticed the most dynamic blend of items — whimsical cookbooks, playful decor and any hosting need you could imagine. Every detail, from the well-thought-out displays and welcoming atmosphere, gives the space a warm homey

vibe. This store is a must for a present or a fun knick-knack.

The sweet employee shared the story behind the store. The owners Ana and Brian Wells with three locations in total the other two being in Arizona, They both left their high-level retail jobs to try something new. After Brian’s grandmother passed away they opened up in KC to honor her memory. She lived in Leawood near SM East and was known as the best host. Discovering her hosting books was what inspired this adorable boutique.

You definitely want to stop by, whether it’s to browse the home decor with family or the playful toy section with a younger sibling. The store is versatile and pleasant — it’s an engaging experience going in.

radio? what’s on the

ABOVE They have a collection of gluten free cook books and kitchen essentials photos by EMMA WEIDMAN

we asked people’s opinions on the new Sabriana Carpenter album

DELILAH BALES SOPHOMORE

I HEARD A lot of bad stuff about it.

I don’t know

why she would make it that — I don’t fully think it’s bad towards women, I just think it’s kinda weird.

GRACE DESCHAINE JUNIOR

I LOVE IT , I love how her songs are just very happy. They give me energy and put me into a good mood — I’ve loved her for a while now. I was waiting at my phone when it came out.

BELOW they have on display useful hosting guides photos by EMMA WEIDMAN

ABOVE a display desk of products from urbAna is seen at the front of the store photos by EMMA WEIDMAN

photos by EMMA WEIDMAN

design by TILLIE PAISNER

A Man’s Bestfriend

Sabrina Carpenter

ARMCHAIR ANONYMOUS

DATED A CRIMINAL:” A man stole his girlfriend’s car and her dad’s emergency credit card, teaming up with his mom to buy thousands of dollars in electronics. Then they were both caught by the police.

“Subway:” A girl rented a pair of $200 jeans and then sat in a pile of poop on the New York City subway, then ran into a Lululemon she used to work at and yelled at the employees that she needed a new pair of pants.

“Housesitting:” A man was staying at someone else’s house while they were out of town, and a random car drove into the kitchen, destroying the entire room.

“Dated a Criminal,” “Subway” and “Housesitting” are just a few of the insane episodes in the podcast “Armchair Anonymous.”

Hosted by Dax Shepard and Monica Padman, “Armchair Anonymous” started releasing episodes in 2022. They release a few prompts on their website monthly, asking for stories on a topic like camping. Listeners write in their stories. If they’re selected, they tell their story to Shepard and Padman on a video call, and the stories are recorded. Episodes with four to five

stories are then released on Spotify every Friday.

It’s the most worthwhile podcast I’ve ever listened to — and I’ve given a lot of podcasts a chance. Hour-long podcasts discussing the effects of creatine and social media make me want to fall asleep.

What makes “Armchair Anonymous” different is the chatty style, comments from the hosts while the caller tells the story and the multimedia elements like cover art and cartoons.

The pictures behind the text on the cover correlate to the story told in that episode, making the covers an alluring sneak peek. The “Armchair Anonymous” group also has an Instagram account where a cartoon video showing snippets of the stories is released alongside a new episode. After seeing these posts, I immediately rush to Spotify and start the episode.

“Armchair Anonymous” is just one of the many podcasts the hosts have under the “Armchair” umbrella, with their most popular being “Armchair Expert,” where they interview celebrities like Kristen Bell as well as other notable people.

One thing that’s attractive about the podcast is its lighthearted purpose. It’s meant for interesting stories and laughs — not a mental chore or a solely educational podcast. As I’m putting away my laundry or cleaning the bathroom, I can still

follow the storyline of “Armchair Anonymous” even if I don’t catch a few minutes.

“Substitute Teachers,” one of my favorite episodes, tells the story of a kid who jumps up on his table in elementary school and staples everything in sight. He stapled his shirt to his pants and another classmate’s shirt, so one of the pictures on the cover was on a stapler.

The podcast is conversational, and when listening to the stories, you can hear Shepard and Padman’s comments and reactions, making it even more amusing. Even with these comments, it doesn’t interrupt the story too much, which I appreciate. It feels like listening to someone react to an episode of the reality TV show Love Island, where the comments about the events make it so much funnier.

I also appreciate its once-a-week release schedule, so I’m not overwhelmed with content. I typically find that podcasts with multiple episodes per week, like Emma Chamberlain’s “Anything Goes,” I can end up falling behind on. Especially because Chamberlain sometimes references her other episodes, making me feel lost.

These episodes are also short, only lasting about 45 minutes. This makes them less of a time commitment compared to 75-minute podcasts like “Hot Mess,” by Alix Earle. This makes it much more digestible than podcasts that take over an hour, typically with the host continuing to drone on and on, getting

off topic.

One telltale sign of an entertaining story is when I remember it for months after hearing or reading it. If I read a book or listen to a podcast and can’t remember the plot or the characters’ names, it means the story was too cliché to stick with me. Essentially, I end up with what I like to call a potato-chip book or podcast — It’s fun while you’re reading or listening, but basic and easily forgettable.

This isn’t the case with Armchair, with some of the best and most memorable episodes that I’ve listened to being “Haven’t Confessed to Parents,” “Children’s Party,” “Housesitting” and “Sleepwalking 2.” I remember almost every detail of each story to this day — even the time a girl joined the cross-country team and ran laps around her kitchen island in her sleep.

“Armchair Anonymous” is the perfect short and engaging podcast to tune into every week — taking a 45-minute break filled with good laughs is a quick mood pick-up for the rest of the week, and I’m

design by HANNAH ROSEMANN

photos

COOK

story by REESE DUNHAM

design by EFFIE ROPER

SYLVIE DEGALAN

HANDEL’S ice cream

The newly opened Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream offers a wide variety of ice cream with flavors for anyone

story by LIBBY MARSH

A COMBINATION OF banana ice cream, blue-dyed vanilla ice cream and caramel dripped onto the ground as I attempted to simultaneously hold three sticky, stacked ice cream cones.

The newly opened Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream in the Oak Park Shopping

Center is a walk-up shop nestled between a Chipotle and BIBIBOP. A blue, red and white overhang sits just below the royal blue “Handel’s” sign.

After making it through the 15-person long line, I stepped up to the window of the shop to place my order of homemade ice cream.

After a less than five-minute wait, my three ice cream cones — each two and a half

Monkey Business: 3/5

I’VE NEVER HAD banana ice cream before, but Monkey Business tasted like it came fresh off a banana tree and straight into the ice cream machine.

For a banana enthusiast, this is the perfect order, but unless you really like bananas, I would recommend choosing a different flavor.

While I’ll gladly grab a banana to pair with my breakfast or as a quick afterschool snack, this ice cream was too sweet and tasted too much like banana.

The creamy, overly sweet taste of the banana was made even sweeter by the

Blue Monster: 4/5

THE NEXT FLAVOR I tried not only added to my sugar rush, but also dyed my mouth and hands entirely royal blue — the usual effect of any brightly colored, kids ice cream.

The Blue Monster ice cream was just as I expected — the typical Sesame Street version of cookies and cream ice cream. The waffle cone was towered high with two scoops of vanilla ice cream injected with loads of blue food dye and mixed with Chips Ahoy and Oreo pieces.

Graham Central Station: 5/5

THE FINAL CONE I tried was by far the most creative and tasty. Graham Central Station had a base flavor of graham cracker ice cream with a salty undertone. Chewy graham cracker pieces and crunchy, chocolate-coated crackers were layered throughout the ice cream.

Outro

EACH OF THESE flavors had its pros and cons and unique flavor profiles, but one thing they all had in common was an incredible ice cream base. The ice cream itself — regardless of flavor — had

scoops high — were handed to me through the window.

I chose to try three out of over 100 flavors of ice cream — Monkey Business, Blue Monster and Graham Central Station.

caramel ribbons swirled throughout. The only relief from the sweetness of the melting, smooth ice cream was the chunks of chewy dark chocolate brownie sprinkled in.

Despite the banana overload, the ice cream itself was smooth and rich but not too heavy. And, I would order Monkey Business purely to pick out the brownie pieces.

The whole pieces of Oreo are far better than the blended pieces of cookie in your typical cookies and cream ice cream. The Chips Ahoy cookies added another chewy texture to the ice cream to contrast the creamy sweetness of the vanilla.

These contrasting textures added an extra level of depth to the sweet ice cream, and the dark chocolate coating of the graham cracker added a much-needed bitterness to combat the sweetness of the ice cream.

While I’ve had s’mores ice cream before, this was more unique than the typical vanilla ice cream mixed with graham cracker, chocolate and marshmallow.

Rather than naming this ice cream

While this wasn’t my favorite scoop of ice cream, it was a unique flavor and one that isn’t found in every ice cream shop or grocery store.

Blue Monster was a quality version of Cookie Monster ice cream, but if you’re going to spend $6 on an ice cream cone, I would recommend trying a flavor that you can’t get at any other ice cream shop.

a bland “Graham Cracker,” they chose a name that made me laugh, much like many of their other flavors — “Chocoholic Peanut Butter Ripple,” “Chocolate Ooohh… Dough!” and “Snappy Turtle” — some of the next on my list.

a creamy texture and the right level of sweetness.

Plain chocolate and vanilla ice cream never miss, but if you’re going to make the trip to the Oak Park Shopping Center for ice cream, make sure to step out-of-thebox and order one of their more unique flavors.

Getting the SCOOP

While in the future I’ll be avoiding any banana-flavored ice cream — and the mess

The history behind Handel’s ice cream shop

In 1945, Alice Handel began a sweet tradition in Youngstown, Ohio.

of attempting to hold three ice cream cones at once — I will surely be making the drive back to Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream.

Today, Handel’s continues Alice’s traditions, making ice cream by hand and serving communities with the old fashioned Handel’s way.

Alice ran Handel’s Ice Cream for four decades.

SPORTS

SEPT. 18 VS. GARDNER EDGERTON

Senior Ezra Pastine shares how his football career started

EZRA PASTINE

LONG SNAPPER, D & O LINE

I GOT INTO football due to many years playing flag football with my brother. I didn’t start tackle until freshman year, but I’d say it was mainly the Chiefs.

BELOW Freshman Olivia Knighton serves herself

design by MIRANDA LIBERDA

BELOW Senior Parker Mahurin steals the ball from his opponent and dribbles down the field photo by MAGGIE ROGERS

design by JULIA CAMPBELL

POWERING THE

SM East’s O-line is tightly knit off the field, giving the offense a critical boost

OFFENSE

story by MICHAEL YI

SET, HIKE!” MOMENTS

after senior Jack Reeves calls the first snap of the Lancer Day game, the offensive line surges into action. Gabe sets the edge on the left. Hank picks up a linebacker. Michael squeezes down as Cannon blocks a safety, allowing Jack to punch through the opening on the quick side.

As Jack barrels down the 50, the 40, the 30-yard line, all five linemen charge down the field, already celebrating. Though Jack scored the touchdown, the offensive line created the opportunity by working perfectly in sync.

“At the end of the day, [offensive line’s] not just one person, it’s five guys that have to act as one,” senior and center Michael English said. “We have to have one heartbeat, one mind.”

To Michael, the four other players on the offensive line mean more than just teammates.

Teammates just practice with each other and play during the season. SM East’s linemen stick together yearround: lifting together in the offseason, analyzing film together over text message, demolishing steaks and a colossal number of rolls together during team dinners at Texas Roadhouse.

The 20+ hours spent with each other every week and shared fire for competition bind the five offensive linemen — seniors Mete Ozkan, Hank Hunter, Michael English, Gabe Wallace and sophomore Cannon Zubeck — as close as family. Their bond improves their ability to act as a single unstoppable force on every snap.

“The love that we feel on this team is special, and it’s probably a feeling that I’ll long for for the rest of my life,

SEARCH FOR THE

LINEMEN

A word search containing the offensive linemen’s names alongside positions

Cannon Zubeck

Gabe Wallace

Hank Hunter

because we have each other’s back through everything,” Michael said.

The strong emphasis on community within the line was kicked off by offensive line coach Jamie Fournier, who joined the program last year after 30 years of coaching experience and three state championship titles with Blue Springs South. Fournier encouraged the senior linemen last year to hold weekly team dinners and make a team T-shirt, dubbing the unit “The Cavalry” — because they bring the support.

“The difference between a great line

QUICK SIDE

The left side of the lineup, where quickness is prioritized over brute strength. Generally, less runs go through the quick side.

and an average line is the camaraderie that they have with each other,” Fournier said. “[These players] are constantly around each other and really care about each other. Not just as football players, but as men.”

This year, the squad’s four senior members are continuing the tradition with team dinners, hangouts and a new T-shirt with the inscription “The Madmen.” Providing mentorship for right tackle Cannon, the seniors have welcomed the Colorado transfer as he learns a new position in a new jersey.

“I barely knew them to start with, and they just openly let me in and started teaching me,” Cannon said. “It felt like I was under their wing, and they were great leaders to help me get to where I am.”

When the line is hanging out together, typically at each other’s houses, the conversation isn’t just about football. Right tackle Mete says that the conversation can range from school subjects to romantic relationships.

“We talk about the kind of stuff you would talk to your best friend about, just because we’re on that level,” Mete said.

Left guard Hank believes that the line’s close bonds allow for friendly competition that pushes him and his teammates to improve. Training as an offensive lineman can be exhausting, whether it’s the sprints in 90-degree weather, 7 a.m. summer lifting sessions

or brutal blows in practice.

But those moments when Hank and Michael are one-upping each other in the weight room with five-pound PR improvements soundtracked by “disgusting, face-shattering” rock music make the crushing lifts a whole lot easier.

Michael says that the hours spent outside of practice have led to a nearpsychic level of coordination on the field. Wordlessly, the five come off the snap knowing what the other four are doing at the same time, precisely controlling leverage and footwork to protect the quarterback.

The result? A lineup Fournier’s more confident in than any he’s ever coached.

Mete recognizes that the offensive line isn’t going to get a lot of credit from fans, even if they take the fall for a bad sack. But he’s learned to move on, because a great block brings the team closer to a win. They’re not in it for their own personal glory.

“That group of guys is really selfless, because they know they’re never going to score a touchdown themselves,” Fournier said. “They’re not going to catch a pass. They’re not going to have people cheering for them individually. So they care about the team’s success more than any individual.”

In the last 10 seconds of the Lancer Day game, on that final, tiebreaking snap, all eyes were on Jack Reeves and his heartpoundingly low kick — sputtering through the air for hours — as it dinked over the crossbar and gave East their first win of the season.

No one was watching the O-line, crashing against the raging current of Olathe Northwest’s defense. Few eyes were tracking the five-man, synchronized storm that gave the kicker his precious few seconds of opportunity.

But that’s okay. The linemen did their job, and they won. And as the crowd rushed the field and clustered beneath the Friday night lights, Cannon felt a surge of elation and pride for his newfound teammates. A feeling every man on the line knows.

“We’re all in it for each other,” Mete said. “We play for the guy next to us.”

Mete Ozkan

Michael English Center Guard Tackle

ABOVE The O- line gets ready for a

drill to hit the sled at their practice.

by

ABOVE Seniors Will Shelton, Mete Ozkan and Michael English line up for a second-and-long play in the final five minutes of the Olathe Northwest varsity football game on Sept. 5.

ABOVE Sophomore Cannon Zubeck and seniors Mete Ozkan, Gabe Wallace, Hank Hunter, Michael English and Ayden

Mooney pose for a picture at their team dinner.

ABOVE Seniors Hank Hunter and Michael English a joke their teammate senior Ayden Mooney told.

LIFTING THE SOUND

The O-line players’ favorite songs to listen to while attempting their personal best lifts in their shared lifting sessions

photo by LAYLA LOVE

photo by AVRA WELLING

photo

AVRA WELLING

NBA Young Boy

Sound Garden

Pantara

SETBACKS & COMEBACKS

Setbacks create love and appreciation for sports

story by LUCY STEPHENS

FOUR YEARS LATER, I can still vividly recall the memory of tearing my patella tendon.

I limped off the Lee’s Summit North gym floor after finishing my dance performance and sank to the ground, cradling my right leg while tears streamed down my face.

Then came the doctor’s visits. The MRI confirmed I would need surgery to replace the tendon with cadaver tissue.

I sat backstage for six months, watching dances I was supposed to perform in.

Tearing the tendon that kept my kneecap in place wasn’t the projected outcome for my freshman year on the JV dance team. I spent many dull months watching dances get reblocked, seeing my teammates learn new choreography to account for my absence and going to physical therapy three times a week. However, during that time I saw dance in a different light, making me long to get back to the sport.

And setbacks in sports — in my case, sitting backstage — give athletes a new perspective and help them appreciate their sport more.

Watching my team perform the routines I once learned, in the same costumes I once tried on, made me crave to be on that stage. I realized how much I wanted to be next to them, doing high kicks and second turns, solely because I couldn’t be doing it with them at that moment.

I felt more passion for my sport

Other student athletes share their experiences with injuries

in the few months I spent on the side rather than I did in the decade

I’d been doing it before. In that moment, it felt like I would’ve given everything to go back to the LSN gym and prevent my injury.

I’m not saying I want all athletes to get an injury requiring months of recovery time, but this setback gave me the ability to see dance in a more longingful way.

A setback can be as little as not making the varsity team or not getting chosen for the starting lineup. But as long as you’re able to see the sport you love from the sidelines, it makes you want to do anything to get back to playing.

I know it hurts in the moment. An athlete never goes into tryouts wanting to make the JV team, much less tear an ACL on the field. However, setbacks inspire athletes to do everything in their power to make the varsity team by the time the next tryouts roll around.

In the months before my injury, I wanted to quit, and I know I’m not the only one who has felt this way. No matter how much drive I had for dance, I was losing it after over 15 weekly hours at the studio and not getting better.

I could hold a passé on my tiptoes for minutes at a time, but I didn’t see my turns improving. I stretched before and after class, but I didn’t seem to be getting any more flexible. It wasn’t until I was placed right back at the beginning, thanks to a ligament reconstruction surgery,

that I saw improvement in myself. I couldn’t leap, jump or turn for months, let alone bend my right knee. But with every physical therapy appointment I went to, I was able to see slight progress — something I hadn’t seen in months. Maybe it was bending my knee just a few more degrees, or perhaps it was full-on jumping, but it was a real improvement.

When I finally returned to the marley dance floors and ballet barres at my dance studio, my intensity and drive skyrocketed as I attempted to get back to where I was before the injury and beyond.

So I encourage all athletes to take advantage of the setbacks they’re given, whether it’s a torn patellar tendon or not getting the team captain spot. Be thankful for the motivation and do something with it.

IT WAS HARD watching my teamates play without me but its fun cheering them on.

Football, Tore Meniscus, Out for three months

IT WAS THE hardest thing I’ve ever been through. I was upset that it happened but it just made me want to work harder for me and my teammates.

Soccer, Tore ACL, Out for one Year

Brock Rider Senior

Addison Stover Senior

RUNNING GRAM

RUNNING THE GRAM

stories by VANESSA BLADES

GIRLS XC

FROM TENNIS TO cross country and golf, most sports have Instagrams to promote their team spirit and show their team’s personality. While students are encouraged to attend games, not everyone can make it to every single game of sports. That’s why teams use social media to keep people updated on scores and post information about games.

Last year, the cross country team started an Instagram account with the username of @VarsityXCchickens. Run by seniors Claire Langford and Chloe Swan. During a run at an after- school practice, East alumni Anna Joyce and Langford came up with the idea of the account, naming it after a popular brand of running shorts worn by the athletes — Chicken Legs.

When they first started the account, they each went and followed 10 of their friends, people they knew would follow them back.

The account has now reached 120 followers.

This year, the team aims to focus on post more frequently than last year keeping up with the latest trends, having previously posted random ideas like “camming” their teammates.

“A lot of our content is me just randomly camming people with a caption,” Langford said. “I think our stories are better than our posts.”

They mainly do “camera roll dumps” and post content of them at meets, having fun and not making the account very serious.

They like to do funny poses in their post; whether that’s holding someone across two people, snapping a picture right after a race while jumping or biting their trophies and medals as a pose. They also have a post with their team dressed from the 1700s at Lancer Day, and another with one of the teammates holding a real chicken, ironically because their name is “varsity XC chickens.”

“You can definitely tell it’s a student-run, but I could talk about [the account] for hours,” Langford said.

GIRLS GOLF

THE GIRLS’ GOLF INSTAGRAM WAS created two years ago. This year, it was passed down to seniors Ella Slicker and Georgia Boyd.

The account is always given to seniors; last year it was run by Ingrid Blacketer, typically the most involved and top-performing girls on the team. Slicker was initially given the account but chose Boyd to help her later on.

“I chose [Boyd] because she’s very involved and a very good leader in everything she does,” Slicker said. “It’s also nice because we can both make posts and every time she [makes a post], I know they’ll be good.”

The girls’ golf team has two accounts—one run by the athletes and one run by the coaches. They keep the athlete’s account professional while still showing personality by posting funny team videos.

“A lot of people think golf is a very quiet sport and you can’t really have fun with it,” Boyd said. “I think we’re going to try and make it fun and be

varsity golf tournaments, as well as team get-togethers.

The process of making a post usually involves finding a team picture, which then put it into the Canva app to add colorful graphics and designs, making the picture more entertaining. At times, they will also post a funny video or photo at the end of their posts.

To grow the account, the girls all repost the posts and stories on their personal Instagram accounts. They now have 231 followers and hope to grow their account.

The account now has 231 followers.

They post for every match, both JV and

“I’m really happy with where the account is at now,” Slicker said. “I hope next year the incoming seniors can keep it up.”

GIRLS TENNIS @smeasttennis

THE TENNIS TEAM’S Instagram was started last year by seniors Catherine Beltrame, Anna Cicero and sophomore Charlotte Walton, called @Smeasttennis. After seeing other sports teams’ Instagram accounts, they were inspired and decided to create one for tennis and even convinced their coach, Andrew Gibbs, to

Unlike most teams, they have 180 girls on the tennis team, competing in multiple matches every day. This can make posting challenging, but they aim to create a single post on game days that covers all locations and various times that the girls play, and at times, will post winning scores. Cicero often pulls pictures from media day and puts them into Photoshop or Canva to add text and graphics for the post on game day.

“The hardest part is finding a picture for sure,” Cicero said. “We want to make sure the same people don’t get posted over and over again so we will take pictures from media day or the Harbinger pictures, but it’s also hard because we have to make sure the people like the pictures that are in it.”

To promote the account, the girls repost the media on their personal Instagrams, they also included the account name at the bottom of a flyer for Lancer Day to help with donations, which attracts many new followers.

The goals for the account this year are to increase the frequency of posts and attract more people to the account.

Although Beltrane, Cicero and Walton try to keep the account more put together, they will also add funny pictures of the girls having fun with their teammates.

OF

EAST

VIKING CHANT BANANAS ECHOS ECHOS ECHOS ECHOS

Breaking down the chants of SM East’s student section

LAN CERS

During the LAN CERS chant, one side of the stands or group of students chants LAN, they are followed by the other group chanting CERS.

WE JUST started doing the LAN CERS chant this year and we took inspiration from Mizzou and KU chants how one side will say one part and the other side will say the other part.

GEORGIA BOYD SENIOR

DO IT

DO IT starts with all Lancers chanting “DO IT”, then after “STOP” the freshman go, followed by the sophomores, juniors, seniors and finally all Lancers.

I WISH the freshman class was more energetic when it is the freshman’s turn to do, do it because I think it’s really fun, but everyone is just too shy.

AVERY INGRAM FRESHMAN

Every Lancer puts their hands in the air, as senior Dexter Stephens drums two beats, and every student claps. Dexter gets faster and the Lancers go crazy.

THE VIKING chant brings a lot of hype for the game. It brings the energy and gets everyone going and is exciting.

DEXTER STEPHENS SENIOR

Every Lancer brings their hands up while chanting “FORM BANANAS”, then you peel the bananas in the air while shouting “PEEL BANANAS”, and then every Lancer goes crazy while they chant “GO BANANAS”.

THE CHANTS

really bring east and the community together, it shows that we have school spirit and we are all one school. We are just there supporting each other and our peers.

GEORGIA BOYD SENIOR