Culture Shifts Affect Community College Stigma pg. 05
Troupe 888 was nominated for Five Blue Star Awards pg. 07
Freshman English Curriculum Shifts pg. 07
OPINION
It Gets Better pg. 08
Foot on the Gas pg. 09
20 Tips to Survive High School pg. 09
NEWS FEATURE
Singing Her Way to College Softball pg. 11
In Her Veins pg. 13
If Anyone Could Do It pg. 18
Unapologetically Himself pg. 19
Nostalgia pg. 20
PHOTO OF THE ISSUE
Freshman Max Neiman performs the high-jump event April 16 at SM South. Neiman is on the varsity field team.
Photo by Cooper Evans
Despite Everything pg. 21
Fully Committed pg. 22
There’s Always Next Year pg. 23
Bleed Orange and Blackfpg. 25
Remember When... pg. 26
Make The Best Of It pg. 29
MONTH IN PHOTOS
This issue’s month in photos features the highlights of the entire year, from the sidelines of a football game to school musicals and dances. pg. 31
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STAFF
PUBLICATION OVERSIGHT
Editor-In-Chief Grace Rau
Managing Editor Bella Alvarado
Copy Editor Sofia Ball
Design Editor Greta Grist
Photo Editor Addison Griswold
Photo Editor Kara Simpson
Online Manager Bella Alvarado
WRITERS DESIGNERS
Grace Rau Bella Alvarado
Emma Wyckoff
Kennedy Woolf
Jesus Lara Rivera Greta Grist
Hope Hunt Grace Amador
Sage McCarthy
Sofia Ball ADVISER
Sophia Ragan Chris Heady
Harper Ward
Brynna Emler
Annabel Hall
Cover by Kara Simpson
Shawnee Mission Northwest
Highschool, 12701 W 67th St, Shawnee, KS, 66216
THE COST OF THE HIGH SCHOOLEXPERIENCE
Seniors weigh between the price of senior year, working and their future plans.
Senior Naman Saini runs the price through her head.
It’s half my shi . It’s four hours that could’ve been spent studying for the AP exam.
It’s my senior year. It’s my last chance to buy them.
It could go to textbooks in 3 months, or gas for a weekend trip home.
It could go to a celebratory dinner with my friends, before we all leave.
She’s looking at the Northwest track sweatpants, priced at $40. She’s gotten well acquainted with the translation: it’s not just a cost. It’s the hours she worked, and either an experience for senior year, or support for college in just a couple months.
“You’re working so you can pay for extracurriculars, so it looks good for colleges, but then the working [takes] away from time for
extracurriculars.
- Senior Naman Saini
“
She thinks it through her head again as her thumb hesitates above the purchase button. She thinks about the late night closing shi!s on weekdays, mopping in a quiet Chipotle and thinking about what tests she still needed to study for. She thinks about being at UMKC in six months, and how much coffee $40 could buy for late night studying.
But it’s her senior year. It was worth it.
“I’m paying for all of this stuff,” Saini said. “ I work, and I don’t want my parents to, because they’re already paying for my education, to have to pay for all of this as well.”
Saini runs mid distance in track, is in Sources of Strength, YES! club and usually works around twenty hours a week at Chipotle. Her senior year has been a work of translation between working to pay for her extracurriculars, calling off work to go to her extracurriculars, indulging in her senior year and saving for med school.
“You’re working so you can pay for extracurriculars, so it looks good for
colleges, but then the working [takes] away from time for extracurriculars,”
Saini said. “There’s kind of an expectation of, like, ‘Oh, you’re a senior, you’re out with your friends all night, you’re doing all this stuff.’ And people don’t really factor working into it.”
Trying to save for next year while indulging in the full senior year experience hit Saini harder than she was expecting. Her graduation dress was two shi!s, time that she weighed between spending time with her friends or studying. She called off work to go to her final track meet, weighing that between money to pay for her grad party or textbooks next year.
It all came back to the same equation: it cost the hours she spent working over studying or being with friends before graduation, and the money was for either this year or the next.
Her cap and gown cost $125.
“Paying for that hurt,” Saini said. “Because that’s, like, five days of my work, gone in seconds.”
Saini isn’t alone in this translation. Senior Brynn Emery is going to Northeastern University in London next year, and saves all the cash she’s accumulated this year in a tiny plastic coconut.
“I’ve just been piling it in there. I’m trying not to spend any, because I know I’m going to need stuff when I get over there.”
Emery is the oldest in her family, and didn’t know what to expect for how much senior year and preparing for college would cost. Between $75-85 college applications, Sweetheart court dresses, six IB exams, cap and gown and grad parties and preparing to pay for London rent, Emery was also in constant translation. She saves all that she can for next year, and plans on working lots of hours over the summer.
Still, she finds herself weighing between indulging in this year, or saving for the next.
“I still treat myself a!er hard days,” Emery said. “And anytime I’m in the drive through, I’m like, ‘Do you wanna eat dinner in six months?’”
DESIGN BY BELLA ALVARADO STORY BY ANNABEL HALL
Photo by Kara Simpson
CULTURE SHIFTS AFFECT COMMUNITYSTIGMACOLLEGE
JCCC is the most popular college among Northwest graduates
The average cost of a four-year college has risen by 141% in the last 20 years, according to the National Center of Education Statistics (NCES). At the same time, community college, which costs 10% of the average in-state tuition, has become increasingly popular for Shawnee Mission Northwest graduates.
In the Northwest class of 2025, 34% of graduates are going to a community college, the most popular post-grad college being Johnson County Community College (JCCC). The second most popular choice is the University of Kansas.
“I wanted to do community college first because I heard it’s better to start that way and it’s cheaper,” senior Jacy Duran said, who is going to JCCC next year. “That way, I’m not in debt in a few years.”
Community college is widely known for its lower prices compared to a four-year university. For example, in-state tuition at KU is roughly $30,000, while JCCC’s tuition is roughly $3,000.
Community colleges are considered less
prestigious compared to 4-year colleges, which o!en attaches a stigma to students going the community college route.
“I do believe there’s a stigma around community colleges, and I wish that would change,” Maliyah Williams, a freshman at Washburn University, said. “People o!en see it as a ‘lesser’ choice, but community colleges offer affordable, flexible, and valuable education.”
“I think that the stigma against community colleges connects with a cultural shi! towards more people pursuing education, and the recession,” JCCC admissions and recruiter Rhiannon Minster said. “Community colleges experience larger enrollment during times of recession because [they] are more affordable and offer flexibility so people can work and go to school.”
Since most students who are going to community colleges go because they can’t afford a 4-year college, they work at least 30 hours a week, according to Martha D. Lamin in an article written
141%
in Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning. Students o!en pay for their schooling and housing, or live with their parents.
“The main weaknesses [of community college] are, in my opinion, cultural,” Minster said. “Community college is a great option, but if a student wants to live on campus or participate in Greek life, they might be better suited to a university.”
Duran, who plans to study psychology, said she was influenced by TikTok, which for her, normalized community college as a great way to get a degree quickly.
“I really want a job that’s a career that I’ll enjoy and I’ll make easy money and then not have to be in debt, ya know?” Duran said.
2023 Northwest graduate Sophia McCraney went to JCCC out of college. Now she’s headed to UMKC.
“It’s a great stepping stone,” McCraney.
Average cost of a 4 year college has gone up by of NW class of 2025 is attending a community college percent in the last 20 years 34%
According to data taken from the National Center of Education Statistics
Photo by Colin Cummings
Freshman English Curriculum SHIFTS
Beginning next school year, all incoming freshman classes will have an English curriculum that requires two novels — “The Secret Life of Bees” by Sue Monk Kidd, and “Night” by Elie Wiesel. Honors teachers may assign more books to their respective classes, but all will read at least those two books.
Along with this, the district is placing more emphasis on the use of novels chosen by individuals or small groups of students. Independent reading leads to an increased volume of reading, according to The National Council of English Teachers, and can help students “spend time authentically practicing a wide variety of skills within their self-selected books.”
But, for English teachers, this can make testing comprehension on a multitude of books difficult, and lead to a greater struggle trying to ensure students stay on-task.
Next year’s freshman class will
While the district is leaning away from making whole-class novels the main focus of English classes, novels are not being entirely cut from the curriculum.
“Teachers will always want to teach through novels, and they can continue to do so as long as they are also using the myPerspectives textbook as a starting place for their planning,” Coordinator of Curriculum & Instruction Kristin Ridgway said in an email response.
She notes that textbooks contain additional material that novels do not, like questions, writing prompts, vocabulary and more. While teachers can search for that material on their own or produce their own questions,
THE SHAWNEE MISSION SCHOOL DISTRICT SPENT ON “TEXTBOOK AND STUDENT MATERIALS.”
$3,643,258
Five Stars
STORY BY GRACE RAU
Following the adjudication of their winter musical “Chicago,” Thespian Troupe 888 was nominated for five Blue Star Awards: outstanding costume design, outstanding hair and makeup, best orchestra and both ceremony ensemble and Sophomore Rising Star scholarship nominations for sophomore Louisa Bartlett. The Blue Star Awards are an awards program modeled after Broadway’s Tonys, and are hosted by Starlight Theater.
School District high schools earned 11 awards — with Northwest having the vast majority of five.
Shawnee Mission Northwest’s theater department is returning to the Blue Star Awards after winning best orchestra last year for their musical, “The Addams Family.”
“Last year, my attitude with “The Addams Family” was, ‘if we’re going to [apply,] let’s give it our best ever, and let’s try to get some,’” theater director Shawnasea Holst said. “Now that I know we can, I’m going to just do what I think is best
“I’m extremely proud of my kids and I look forward to continuing to challenge them,” Holst said. “I know they’re going to rise to the occasion for this one too, so let’s do it again next year.”
Troupe 888 will find out if they have won in the categories they were nominated for on Thursday, May 15, at the Blue Star Awards ceremony.
STORY BY GRACE RAU
Photo by Raegan Irwin
IT GETS BETTER
From starting alone, to ending in a place that felt like home
It’s 3:00 a.m. as I sit in my room lit by Christmas lights. My eyes are burning, holding my tears back as I look at my grades, and my college admission letters.
A tear drops from my eyes: “What am I gonna do with my life?”
The same question I asked myself the first day of my freshman year when I had to start from zero in a school where I didn’t know anyone.
In Jan. of 2020, a couple months before COVID-19 started, my mom and I decided to move out from our country due to economic reasons. At first, living here felt like a bittersweet hell. I had to learn a new language that I had never spoken before in
“
After stepping in room 151 I knew my life was going to change for the better. “
- Grace Amador
six months. I had to learn the culture and adapt myself to it. Everything was new and different.
Coming into my freshman year, I thought to myself, “maybe this won’t be that bad.” But I was wrong, it was worse than I expected. Within my first months in high school people made fun of my accent, which made me more quiet. I was afraid to talk to other people because I didn’t want them to hear my accent. Lunch time usually felt like hell, since I had no one to sit with, so I would hide in the library so I could have a peaceful lunch. Freshman year was full of loneliness, my only friend was my mom.
I didn’t enjoy assemblies, maybe because I had no one to enjoy them with, but I did enjoy seeing all the pretty dresses from the girls who were in court, (something that I thought would never happen to me).
Sophomore year was slightly better. I was
at the point where I didn’t care about being alone. I just wish my time in high school would go faster so my misery could end.
Within time I started making friendships, I started to talk more and being more open.
I was finally included in a friend group and somehow felt accepted. I got to experience the excitement of someone asking me to a dance, although it didn’t turn out as I expected. Assemblies started to be more fun now. Even though I felt less alone, there was something that felt missing.
But high school is about changes, right? Junior year was the breaking point, it was the switch up of my life. The misery of my life. I felt caged and unhappy, I experienced heartbreak and betrayal by the people I trusted the most. I started to worry about things I never worried about before, I began to worry about the future, my grades, and college. I began to worry about life. It felt like everything was changing, my friends were changing, school was changing, my life was changing. But changes can be good sometimes.
One day as I was filling out my classes for my senior schedule, I decided to make the best decision of my life, join yearbook. A er sitting in my math class with my friend Jose Duran, he convinced me to join yearbook because he said “it’d be fun” and “lifechanging”, and for the first time I can say that he was not wrong.
At the beginning of the year, every Northwest media publication takes part of this workshop event called “Kickoff.” Every publication melts together in groups to
perform different activities and learn new stuff such as design, writing, photography, and broadcasting. This event was that “something” that I needed. This event was the key that was missing throughout all of my high school years. I felt included, I didn’t feel judged, I felt accepted. Thanks to Kickoff I had a family, and I can proudly say that this event saved my life.
A er stepping in room 151 I knew my life was going to change for the better. School didn’t feel miserable anymore, instead it started to feel more welcoming. All that stabbing pain I went through my 3 years of high school were gone in 5 minutes as soon as I stepped in room 151. I went from being alone, to having the most pure friendships inside and outside of yearbook. I went from watching the girls walk with their pretty dresses in the assemblies, to being the girl who got the opportunity to walk in a pretty dress at an assembly. I went from being heartbroken, to loving with my whole heart. I went from having no one, to having an entire family.
Because the truth is, changes are good, the truth is patience is important, and the truth is, it always gets better.
Photo by Cooper Evans
FOOT ON THE
GAS
12 hour shifts, sleepless nights, and a movie collide on highway
Istopped feeling my feet a long time ago. Somewhere between all the orders and all the chaos of the Wendy’s kitchen, my feet felt like I’d been standing on two bricks.
The clock hits 4 p.m. and I clock out. Forty four hours in four days. I’m tired. With a click of my keys, my car awakens, its dim yellow lights lighting up with life.
I didn’t wanna go home, I don’t know why, I just can’t. So I drive without a destination.
Ten, 20, 30 minutes pass. By then I was parked in front of the cinema, looking at the showtimes. None of the movies looked good, but I didn’t care. I was ready to do anything but go home.
I sat in the empty theatre, my bucket of popcorn and my cup of soda by my sides. I wasn’t hungry or thirsty. The room was dark as can be and a little chilly, but most of all lonely. No one was there.
I walk back to the car filled with thoughts of what I was missing. The dozen assignments
that piled up in my to-do list. The book I hadn’t finished or the test I hadn’t studied for. They were all going to collide in one place, tomorrow, without fail I had to have them all finished.
I wasn’t ready to go home, but I needed to, it was already 9:47. I was on the highway, a drive that would’ve been calm if it wasn’t for the thumping of my heart. If it wasn’t for the slight instinct to push my foot down on the gas or for the natural readjusting of my grip.
The engine roared. The speedometer read 70, 80, 90 and, before I knew it ,100. But I kept pushing, cars whooshed by, their lights nothing but red phantoms upon a dark canvas.
For those few miles that flew by, the world felt at peace, like there was nothing to worry about. No schedule that I need to follow, no work that needs to be finished, no home to go to, just me and the road.
I went home and stayed up until three in the morning working on everything. On the
25 TIPS TO SURVIVE HIGH SCHOOL
Things I’ve learned from being in high school
Ididn’t know what to write for my senior column for my last year in this program. My advisor recommended that I talk about the things I learned in four years of covering Shawnee Mission Northwest through photography, design and writing. Here are 20 valuable things I took away from my high school journalism experience.
1. Know where to stand at any event you’re covering. Be prepared.
2. Competition judges make you realize how subjective photography is. Sometimes you just gotta be proud of your own work.
3. Play around with the fisheye lens. In other words, try something new.
4. Make weird things in Photoshop. Don’t take yourself too seriously.
5. Asking questions is better than looking stupid.
6. You’ll create core memories at bonding events with your peers, but hate the dirt covering your body a er visiting Louisburg Cider Mill.
7. Being involved in your community will
get you far.
8. Always strive for improvement.
9. Don’t be a people pleaser. The best people I know are the people confidently themselves.
10. Don’t stay at school past 8 p.m., but work nights hold some of my favorite memories.
11. You’re always gonna feel like you’re not doing enough, but the fact you’re feeling like that means you care about doing things.
12. You don’t have to like everyone you work with. What’s important is that you’re mature about it.
13. Communication is key.
14. Don’t be mean. Just don’t. When you catch yourself being mean, apologize.
15. It’s okay to fail, but take failure as an opportunity to grow.
16. Getting an award is the best feeling, but seeing the underclassman you adore win one is even better.
17. You’ll get mad your sophomore year at the underclassmen for wanting to leave the program, but you become a senior and get where they came from.
essay, on the math reviews and on the Canvas assignments. I sat back and closed my eyes. I had finished everything.
The thought that this would all be over in a month, just a month and everything would be done, the thought of it brought a smile to my face. I wish I could say that this won’t be repeated, that I won’t stay up till three in the morning because I take work too seriously or because I don’t know how to manage my time. In August I’ll be starting college, I’ll be in the same cycle again, I’ll be stuck working till late at night for another four years.
I don’t hate it or love it, I just live with it.
18. The person you least expect to become your friend will be the person you’ll invite to your wedding one day.
19. You’ll give a speech at your senior banquet, realizing that time flew by.
20. You’ll be sad that your time in high school is over, but so excited for college to be a new chapter in your life.
Photo by Vivienne Wheeler
STORY BY KARA SIMPSON
STORY BY JESUS LARA RIVERA
Ser
H a v e a g r e a t s u m m e r
C o u g a r s !
a t s u m m e r
g a r s !
w e a r e s o
o f y o u !
a t t h i n g s ! !
o r g m a n
GRIST STORY BY BRYNNA EMLER
HER WAY TO SINGIN COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Senior
If you had asked senior Aubri Croom during her freshman year if she would be good enough to go to college for softball, she would have said no. She constantly felt as though she wasn’t good enough and like she didn’t know how to play properly. Her coaches would put her in at random times, like championship games, and then pull her for little mistakes. For Croom, her freshman and sophomore years of softball were detrimental to her confidence. Her junior year, however, would lower her confidence even more.
In August of her junior year, she had shoulder surgery that prevented her from playing for months.
She returned to playing high school ball, though due to the previous injury, she only played around three
“
“
“It didn’t matter if I was playing short or second, or if I was playing center or left. I was always singing,”
- Senior Aubri Croom
games. She cried at all three of these games and she was constantly doubting herself. Croom felt behind, and she was terrified of further injury. Coming back to the sport was difficult.
“I was scared of hurting my shoulder, and I was scared I wasn’t doing good enough,” Croom said. The summer before her senior year, Croom returned to her competitive team. She had a severe mental block, and she felt as though she didn’t know how to play her sport.
However, at her first tournament that summer, she hit a homerun, her first since the injury. While this helped her remember that she could hit, fielding was a whole different story.
Suddenly, she felt as though she didn’t know how to throw. Croom had developed the yips. The yips, in sports, are when an athlete thinks too much about waht they know how to do, so suddenly, they can’t do it. In Croom’s case, it affected how she threw.
Aubri Croom finds confidence on the field after years of not having any
a decrease in her confidence once again. As Croom’s last tournament approached, she knew she needed to calm down. Confidence was key, but she needed to find some.
“It was kind of like, okay, this is our last tournament. I just need to relax and calm down,” Croom said. This was easier said than done. Croom needed to find a way to make herself relax, or at least distract herself. She started singing while played. She would sing when she fielded. She would sing while she hit. The song she chose was “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield.
“It didn’t matter if I was playing short or second, or if I was playing center or left,” Croom said. “I was always singing,” Croom said.
She still remembers how this helped her in the last game of her last tournament of the summer season. She had struck out almost every single atbat. She hadn’t been singing like she usually did. There were two outs and a runner on second. All Croom had to do was score the runner.
That’s what she told herself. She just needed to hit the ball.
So she started singing. The other team’s catcher started laughing but she didn’t care. The pitch came and she drove the ball to deep right field. The runner scored.
“Singing just kind of helped me hit the ball. Even though that may not have been true, it could have just been me hitting the ball,” Croom said. “But like, in my head, it was like, okay, well, I sang,”
Now Croom walks onto the field with the confidence of someone who trusts herself to play.
“I started getting the yips like, ‘Oh, I can’t throw. I don’t remember how to throw the ball,’” Croom said.
She stays positive and lifts her team up, even when losing games. She is proud to say she is going to Baker University as a utility player and she’s excited to see where this adventure will take her. feature DESIGN BY GRETA
This affected her throw for most of the season, causing
Photo by Tiffany Croom
BY SOPHIA RAGAN
In Her
How senior Gillian Shockley learned she wanted to become a nurse practitioner
After gulping down cup and cup and cup of water, then-junior Gillian Shockley couldn’t hold it back anymore.
“I feel like I’m going to vomit,” Shockley tells her mother in the waiting room at Children’s Mercy Overland Park Hospital.
Doctors rush Shockley down the hall to her own room – but she doesn’t make it, vomiting water all over the vinyl-tiled hallway. Shockley coughs up water, and water, and more water. She couldn’t keep it down.
The doctors were worried about her uterus –they needed to do another ultrasound.
After calming down, Shockely sits, another cup of water in hand, and drinks 32 more ounces.
But, on the ultrasound screen, doctors and Shockley look to see that her bladder is still empty.
Seven years earlier, at ten years old, Shockley was bleeding through pad after pad.
Her mom immediately thought something was wrong and took her to her primary care physician.
“Her doctor told me, ‘No, this is normal, it’ll just take a couple of years to calm down,’ and I said, ‘Well, I am a female, and I have a bunch of sisters, and this is not normal,’” said Jamie Garrett, Shockley’s mother.
No way she was bleeding through six overnight pads in two hours and it was normal, Shockley thought.
After waiting six months, Shockley got into the Children’s Mercy hematology clinic. She was told her eighth blood factor — the Von Willebrand factor — was lower than normal.
EINS
She was stuck in a state of paralysis.
Her head rolled back, and her body shook violently.
With few ambulances available that night, Shockley was rushed, at 12 a.m., to the Emergency Room by her mother to get a CT scan.
Maybe she had fluid build-up in her brain — it would explain why she couldn’t walk or talk. But it wasn’t fluid build-up causing her body to stop functioning; it was very low sodium and potassium.
Because she couldn’t walk or move, Shockley was wheeled into the ER, bypassing the 20 to 30 other people in the waiting room.
She ended up getting transferred from the Children’s Mercy in Overland Park to the Children’s Mercy clinic in downtown Kansas City, since the Overland Park location only has a gynecology team, and Shockley needed to see a hematology team, where she got a scan of her uterus that, again, showed nothing wrong.
The hospital put Shockley on a new medication to help with pain during her period. After the hospital had Shockley ingest so much water when she shouldn’t have been and many other problems throughout her experience in the hospital, they waived the almost $30,000 fee Shockley would’ve had to pay, and any other outstanding fees she had.
of the population is diagnosed with Von Willebrand’s disease
Data from hemophiliafed.org
“I have type one Von Willebrand disease, which means that I can’t scab very well, and it causes excessive bleeding,” Shockley said. ***
She knew that her mom had asked the doctors and nurses if that much water consumption would be ok for her, considering she was taking desmopressin, similar to an antidiuretic, which works to hinder your ability to urinate.
But at this point, Shockley couldn’t walk.
She couldn’t form full sentences.
Shockley knew, after seeing the people in the waiting room, after the nurses and doctors who told her nothing was wrong, and after they kept giving her ounce after ounce of water, she knew what she wanted to do.
She knew after she was ten and was told her bleeding was normal.
She knew after she was told, at thirteen, that she would probably never have children, she wanted to get a hysterectomy, but was told she would regret it, and the nurses around her kept persuading her to change her mind.
She knew when she learned that going into the FBI or joining the military to help women in sex trafficking wasn’t an option for her because of her disease.
She knew at seventeen, when she was forcing
down ounce and ounce of water given to her by nurses and doctors she had trusted. And when she saw all those people she bypassed in the waiting room.
After everything Shockley’s gone through in her life, she knew she wanted to help other patients like her who were treated without care — nursing was the way to do that.
Shockley has been working toward her associate’s degree at JCCC while finishing high school. After graduation, she plans to go to Rockhurst to get both a Bachelor of Science and Nursing and, after that, a Master’s in Nurse Practitioning.
She knows she wants to be a nurse practitioner, she just doesn’t know where yet.
Shockley’s main goal, though, is to stop the problems in the medical field and save people in positions similar to her own, because no one should be told how they’re feeling.
Where they are GOING
A map of where the 2025 graduates plan to go after high school.
ALABAMA
University of Alabama
Mia Deeble
University of North Alabama
Gabriella Jackson
ARIZONA
Grand Canyon University
Adalyn Moore
ARKANSAS
University of Arkansas
Braden Bazzel Landon Reading
CALIFORNIA
California Polytechnic State University
Jackson Weems
San Diego State University
Cyprian Guglielmi
COLORADO
Colorado State University
Eli Marvine
University of Northern Colorado
Andrew Bouffard
ILLINOIS
DePaul University
Sophie Delaney
University of Illinois
Keaton Wagler
University of Illinois Chicago
Cecilia Chen
INDIANA
University of Evansville
Brenden Lee
IOWA
Iowa Western Community College
Julian Shepard
Grand View University
Adam Hageman
LOUISIANA
Tulane University
MASSACHUSETTS
Elise Russel Berklee College of Music
Liam Bennett
Salem State University
Madelena Comtois
MICHIGAN
Michigan State University
Katherine Chapin Brianna Deeble
University of Michigan
Judah Nicholasa
MINNESOTA
University of Minnesota Duluth
Joshua MacKiewicz
TENNESSEE
Univeristy of Tennessee
Elizabeth Lockett Sebastion Reyes
TEXAS
University of Texas at Tyler
Tyler West
UTAH
Brigham Young University
William Larsen
Southern Utah University
Stephanie Benitez
WORKFORCE
Ethan Brake
Carlos Cardona
Inestroza
Raul Carrillo
Martinez
Mario Exposito
Medina
Violet Franklin
NEBRASKA
Creighton University
Ryland Prosser Isabella Young
NEW MEXICO
Eastern New Mexico University
Logan Morley
NORTH CAROLINA
Appalachian State University
Kaden Weinbrenner
OKLAHOMA
Southern Nazarene University
Owen Barth
OREGON
University of Oregon
Sahira Bhakta
SOUTH CAROLINA
Clemson University
Kaylen Pitsenberger
Jayden Jetter
Shane Kirk
Morgan Martin
Holly Potter
Jasmine Riley
Daniel Sanchez
Jesus Talamantes
Mijares
MILITARY
Rodrigo Delgado Martinez
Raymundo Gomez Regalado
Sa’Mya Barker
Sally Batrez
Rylea Burrows
Jerri Comstock
Gentry Fox
Melidy Gurrola
Savanna Hauber
Jake Mauna
Colton Thomas Zinia Thow
Westin Vargas
Piper Whitcomb
Lucas Wolfe
Logan Wood
Maurico Martinez
Travis Meats
GAP YEAR TRADE SCHOOL
Gary Castle
Delaney Claycamp
Bostyn Cowan
Blake Fulkerson
Jonathan Horel
Landen Horn
Kelby Ireland
Lukas Neselroad
UNDECIDED
Gabriel Benavides
Bradley Elpern
Jefry Granados Hernandez
Yaquelin Lopez Martinez
Enrique Reyes Nava
Jacob Rigsby
Ava Mercado Kippion Morales
Luke Soetaert
Terrance Tevis
Paul Ulmer
Maria Rodriguez Lopez
Christopher Tatum
Josue Ulloa Martinez
Kenneth Ulloa Martinez
Dominy Woodruff
ABROAD
Zander Bramon
Megan Chidlow
Brynn Emery
Kai Jeffery
Kim Mpeck
Jonathan Rothfuchs
Staying Close
KANSAS
Baker University
Mia Butler Lila Montor
Aubri Croom
Bethany College
Briana Uhde
Butler Community College
Sienna Lewis Aiven Riley
Donnelly College
Miguel Garcia
Emporia State University
Luke Dent
Friends University
John Whitener
Johnson County Community College
Isabella Alonzo
Liliana Abarca
Kooper Bright
Otto Brynds
Wyatt Brown
Jaden Butler
Pierre Cadena
Kalen Carter
Ramah Carter
Ixel Castillo
Nathan Clinkenbeard
Gavin Coates
Josselin Comtois
Laniyah Dodds
Derek Dougan
Abram Drake
Jose Duran Aguilar
Elaina Erickson
Logan Evers
Chasitee Foster
Benjamin Foust
Calvin Fowler
Gabriel Gast
Isabella Ghilino
Maddison Goldsmith
Tate Gonterman
Karla Guzman Osorio
Chloe Hanshew
Sophia Hanshew
Mauricio Hernandez
Delgado
Jacy Hernandez Duran
Josemi Hernandez Cardoza
Jeremiah Hickerson
Sofia Holguin
Daniel Hrenchir
Taylor Hurla
Ty Jackson
Ali Jalali
Lizeth Jaracuaro-Ruiz
Robert Jones
Kyle Lannon
Miguel Lara
Emily Larsen
Dominic Latta
Willie Lin
Brooklyn Lindberg
Cynthia Lopez-Mendez
Elizabeth Lugo
Braydon Loudon
Ruth Martinez Munoz
Aiden Mateljan
Abigail McAllister
Naomi McDonald
Paige Me ger
Anson Pierce
Benicio Ochoa
George Opoku
Luvon Peterson
Caitlyn Pflumn
Ramos Poncio
Olivia Rau
Joseline Reyes
Hernandez
Trinity Ridley
Sophia Rine
Amelia Roberts
Annabelle Roberts
Natalie Romero
Joselin Ruiz Moguel
Danny Rutherford
Eva Scruton
Alexander Sharp
Rory Smith
Alexia Teran Contreas
Ruth Teran Contreas
Zion Trexler-Nieves
Molly VanHorn
Katie Villalobos-Montes
Nathan Versluys
Jazmyne Wattree
Mariyah Williams
Brooke Willis
John Wycoff
Elisabeth Zeller
Kansas State University
Aidan Adkins
Joey Anderson
Elizabeth Armenta
Madison Borders
Dylan Estes
Jason Eyler
Luke Gregory
Ella Groeneweegen
Alondra Haack Zapata
Macallister Herbst
Henry Hoge
Stefan Jovanovic
Brayden Klahn
Ian Kruckenberg
Abigail Livingston
Liam Lucas
Micah Miller
Natalie Miller
Maxwell Newlin
Jack Rieke
Jaelynn Rodriguez
Benjamin Scheffler
Allison Schrag
Kristopher Shull
Alyssa Vanderbilt
Wrigley Vandemark
Maddie
Vanlandingham
Easton Voos
Gabriella Watson
Sadie West
Kendyl Zimmerman
Manhattan Area Technical College
Ayden Snyder-Barnett
MidAmerica Nazarene University
Amare Williams
Ottawa University
Brooklyn Peck Daniel Raja
Pittsburg State University
Cameron Dickerson
Brogan Hessler
Mathew Mar
Lily Meylan
Emma Sanders
Shawnee Mission Post-High
Madison Ray Kaylee Sickels
Univeristy of Kansas
Rosetta Albright
Grace Amador
Avery Anderson
Patyn Ashford
Michael Avalos
Delaney Benlon
Tatum Bills
Mackenzie Boyd
Javier Cruz
Kyndall Cunningham
Rodney Ferguson
Henry Fields
Caden Figgins
Missael Garcia Avalos
Ray Garry
Lily Graham
Jonty Harris-Webster
Taytum Hollingsworth
Kansas City Kansas Community College
Elissa Green Collier Rule
Mateo Jurani
Maya Kuffour
Jesus Lara Rivera
Emily Little
Jack Makkyla
Patrick Marx
Andrew Mitchell
Brayden Moore
Wyatt Nickoley
Taylor Patel
Addison Pruente
Isabel Ray
Brooklyn Ruble
Divija Saini
Stella Salzer
Axel Sanchez-Contreras
Faith Saunders
Kara Simpson
Washburn University
Nina Grunza
Lily Klein
Tyler Salmon
Wichita State University
Connor Kessinger
Joshua Hogya
Tanner Meyer
Nathaniel Shelley
Erica Thompson
Calista Wilcoxon
Harnaik Singh
Joel Suh
Dylan Swords
Elijah Taylor
Gustin Teschendorf
Hallan Tupas
Owen Unruh
Jack Vanblarcom
Easton Volk
Jonah Volovongsa
Anson Wang
Julie Wheatcro
Claire Woods
Elliot Yeoman
MISSOURI
Avila University
Kennadi Byrd Colten Lilly
Kansas City Artist Institute
Audrey Montgomery
Kansas City Community College
Zareah Stiles-Steele
Lindenwood University
Jacob O’Donnell
Rockhurst University
Jadyn Contreas
Maximiliano Hughes
Julia Jaurez Nava
Isaac Ndubuisi
Gillian Shockley Carter Tomac
Metropolitan Community College
Alex Navarro
Missouri Southern State University
Van Collins
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Venti Neaderhiser
Saint Louis University
Lacey Lawrence
THE STATS
63.63% of seniors are staying close 195 in Kansas 30 in Missouri
5.11% of seniors are entering the workforce
University of Central Missouri
Addison Baker
Emily Clark
Harper Engel
Mackenzie Farkes
Alex Houghtlin
Anthony Maslovaric
Cash Woods
University of Missouri
Cooper Evans Reese Iriwin
Sophia Jackson
University of Missouri-Kansas City
Nina Hussaini
Tomas Martinez-Frias
Joel Perez Naman Saini
Victor Arita Bueso
Fortunate Bahati
Evelyn Barham
Isabelle Boshart
Gabriel Cavin
Maxwell Cavin
Danne Cook
Jeremy Darrough
Edgar Escalona Saldeno
Shay Hayes
Gabriella Heflin
Angel Hernandez Contreras
William Housel
Carly Hudson
Nathan Johnson
William Leon Fuenmayor
Chelsea Linares Ochoa
Francisco Lopez Jimenez
Audrey Lorhan
Apiu Lual
Daniel Martinez Lopez
Jose Mata Martinez
Kadin Milton
Adrian Mora-McMurtrey
Viona Morina
Angelo Pacheco
Benjamin Page
Tyler Parker
Aja Richard
Gavin Rigdon
Nataly Rodriguez
Henry Sher
Malik Taylor-Green
Lilia Tiger
Mia Torres
Isaac Velasquez Espin
Jackson Vessey
23.57% of seniors are attending Johnson County Community College
14.2% of seniors are attending the University of Kansas
IF ANYONE COULD
DO IT DO IT
Senior Luke Dent wants to come back and teach math at Northwest after graduating from college
Luke Dent might be one of the only people who wouldn’t change a single thing about his high school experience.
People know him for being involved whether that’s in:
Math National Honor Society.
Student Council — student body parliamentarian.
National Honor Society — president. Choir — chambers. Theater.
Football.
Track and field.
His to-do list is never empty. He’s never fit the mold of any high school stereotype.
““ I think these four years have prepared me for the real world. All the skills I’ve honed; leadership, service and public speaking that I gathered from organizations have paid off.
- Senior Luke Dent
“We just wanted him to try anything he was interested in,” Luke’s mom, Sarah Dent said. “High school is a safe place to fail.”
From a very young age, Luke has been tethered to the Northwest community. Both of his parents are teachers at Northwest; Sarah sponsors student council, and Billy Dent advises video production. In elementary school, Luke would tag along to StuCo events, freshman mixers and carnivals.
He went from tagging along to putting these events together.
And this May, he’s graduating high school.
As a teacher of 21 years Billy has witnessed his students come and go. Once they walk across the stage it’s almost like he’s mentally moved on. But this year is different.
He likes thinking back to when Luke
would jog through the crowd before a football game. How he’d look his son in the eyes and say, “I love you, I’m proud of you.”
Or how during Luke’s freshman year in honors English with Ben Pabst, Mr. Dent marched in infront of all his friends and classmates to “give the birthday boy a big hug.” And Luke looked like he’d just been given seven days to live.
Or how heartbreaking it was to be in Seattle on a journalism field trip while Luke competed in his final state solo performance. And got a perfect score.
me for the real world,” Luke said. “All the skills I’ve honed; leadership, service and public speaking that I gathered from organizations have paid off.”
Ironically, his dream is to come back and teach at Northwest. On the magical off chance that it does happen straight out of college, Luke’s whole family would be there too. Meaning that when his younger brother, Levi’s a fledgling freshman and younger sister, Lilyanne senioritis starts kicking in, Luke will be waving at them in the halls, while his parents watch and smile.
by
Photo
Ali Albertson
UNAPOLOGETICALLY HIMSELF
Sometimes all you need to do is trust your gut
that I feel much better where I’m at now.”
Rule knew he needed a change. He knew he needed to start doing things that made him happy, and nothing else.
So he turned his life upside down.
Rule quit band. He decided to graduate early. “Instantly, it was like a week went by and my self-confidence went up,” Rule said.
Lately, he’s found himself valuing authenticity over anything. English teachers Mr. Pabst and Mr. Mach, history teacher Ms. Delay, zoology teacher Ms. Robins and retired band teacher Mr. Talley have been some of his biggest inspirations at Shawnee Mission Northwest.
“I think of all those people, they just act like themselves and they don’t try and change themselves,” Rule said. “I really want to be unapologetically myself.”
And if it meant graduating early, then so be it. Rule plans to go into the audio engineering program at Kansas City Kansas Community College. He’s working on creating new music with his friends. He’s playing at venues over the summer. He’s going to see Metallica in concert on his birthday, and Queens of the Stone Age the week before.
“I’m really happy with where I’m at.”
Photo by Quinlyn Tosh
NOSTALGIA
Growing up is bittersweet
Lily Klein was always the “art kid.” When she was little, she used to bring around journals and sharpies to doodle. She’d fill up notebooks and decorate her room with her drawings. During COVID, she began selling her paintings for $20 apiece to save up money for an iPad.
Now, her art had been displayed in much more than her bedroom: Klein’s work has been featured in the Topeka State Capitol, in Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art,
collection as of now.
“I put every single part of myself into a piece,” Klein said. “The process is very stressful, but after it’s done, it’s a very awesome feeling of, ‘Wow, that’s off my chest.’”
Painting is therapeutic for Klein. It’s a way that she works through her thoughts and emotions.
“It’s been a lot of nostalgia,” Klein said. “It’s been really hard turning 18 and then growing up.”
Not all of her problems have magically disappeared with her birthday. She didn’t wake up suddenly feeling like an adult. And, in some ways, it’s hard for her to think about leaving childhood behind.
But, on the other hand, the prospects of college and life beyond the walls of Northwest are exciting. She feels it’s time, but it’s bittersweet nonetheless.
“I’m an adult. But truly, I’m still a kid,” Klein said. “The little girl I used to be is totally different from the girl I am now.”
She’s no longer the girl who thinks she’s bad at school, and is critical of her features. She’s growing up and growing into herself, and her art has always been there through
Self-portraits are Klein’s favorite, and painting insecurities helps her overcome them, and realize they were beautiful all
Improvement takes time, and sometimes Klein has to remind herself of that. But after watching her art take off over the last four years, she’s excited to see how it evolves in the future.
“I’m not going to be a Van Gogh — that takes years,” she said. “Van Gogh was middle aged when he was making Starry Night, he wasn’t an 18-year-old. Thinking like that makes me realize like, oh, what would I be able to do in 20 years?”
She’s excited to be growing up. She’s excited to go to attend Washburn University for art history and move on to a new stage of her life. She’s excited to see how her art flourishes right alongside her. Klein is branching out. She’s found new hobbies in nerding out over history and reading fifteen books last month. She’s found she’s not very good at crafting. She’s found that she likes painting with watercolor and gouache, too.
Growing up is a lot. But Klein is more than ready to see where her life takes her.
Photo by Jack Pischke
DESPITEEVERYTHING
Senior Henry Fields’ eye-opening travels impact his perspective, relationships and his new chapters in life.
Senior Henry Fields is the kind of guy who can say he went to Paris in Kindergarten.
The first trip he really remembers was at four years old when his family went on a cruise to Vancouver and Alaska. From what he can recall, it was rainy, cold and wet — also the cruise ship had a ping pong table. At five, he saw the Eiffel Tower. Big Ben. And Stonehenge.
Fields is the kind of guy who thinks out loud, asking questions like, “Did I go anywhere in 1st grade?” and then a few seconds later answers himself ever-so-
“
“ It was the most life-changing trip I’ve been on - Senior Henry Fields
casually — how at some point he went on a cruise to Venice — as if it were CVS or Great Clips.
Some high schoolers never go anywhere — or don’t have the means to — and high school ending means they get to explore the world around them for the first time without parents.
For Fields, he’s kinda already been there and done that. So now what?
He said Venice was “pretty depressing” because it was sort of one vast stretch of bricks, and all the channels smelled bad.
“It’s fun for a day,” Fields said.
He remembers that trip for its emergency plane landing because of a gas leak in their front cabin. That’s how they got to stay in Ireland for the first time — almost worth the near-death experience.
Fields has seen viking huts in Norway, gazed out at the deep blue Scandinavian sea and eaten half a bag of authentic German gummy bears, which he said tasted like
“dish soap.”
At 12 years old, he went on another cruise, to the Bahamas. He met people from all over the world: Estonia, New York and China.
“We had one long three-hour game of table tennis — this huge tournament,” Fields said. “I played with a bunch of kids who didn’t even know English. It’s crazy. That’s actually how I learned to play.”
Fields said one of the biggest lessons he’s learned through traveling is to put himself out there and meet new people.
“You’re never gonna see them again, so don’t feel pressured by anyone,” Fields said. “Just be yourself. Embrace the culture.”
Fields prefers Italian wine to French.
He goes up to Boston and Maine with his family every summer; strolling through quaint towns, watching sailboats peacefully pass each other and eating lobster rolls.
The summer before junior year, he stayed in Japan for a month.
“It was the most life-changing trip I’ve been on,” Fields said. “There’s nothing like it.”
There, he memorized unspoken social rules like how you raise your umbrella on only one side of the sidewalk, bow under archways as a sign of respect or never talk on metros because it’s considered rude.
“After two weeks, it loses that feeling of a trip,” Fields said. “You’re living there.”
Fields is the kind of guy who also goes to Rome over Thanksgiving break and drinks Aperol spritzes. He took a blurry iPhone photo of the Sistine Chapel ceiling painting where Adam is touching Eve — pictures are strictly prohibited.
Fields understands that he’s led a privileged life being exposed to the things, people and places that he has. His experiences have made him a more considerate, mature and independent person. Fields is mellow. He never comes to
class without an energy drink. He sports CONs skating sneakers, baggy jeans and a modern mullet. He works at the Zumiez in Oak Park Mall. He’s been dating his girlfriend, Lillian, for one year. He buys flowers for her grandma, and souvenir golf balls for her dad when he travels.
He plans on going to KU because it’s where she’ll be one year later.
He’s in the Blue Eagle Program and wants to work in ICU care to “give people a second chance at life.” Or at least try.
He thinks about leaving Kansas.
Photo
MMITTED C FULLY
Senior TJ Meats is fully committed to joining the military after graduation
Five-year-old TJ Meats is at Forbes Golf Course in Topeka, Kansas, watching military officers patrolling.
“I always thought they were so cool,” meats said.
He saw them in movies and places he traveled, like Florida and New Orleans, and wanted to fly planes.
But he realized flying wasn’t for him. He knew only about three percent of the people who go into the air force actually get to fly the big planes.
“I wanna actually be involved,” Meats said. “I want to be useful, doing something beneficial.”
He wanted to join the military.
Now 18, Meats is fully committed to joining the army. He’s gone through the whole screening process. He met with a recruiter in January and told his mom about it.
“They’re offering what I want, I think I’m gonna sign.”
The average army boot camp lasts 8-12 weeks
Data from VeteranAid.org
“Wait, wait. Let’s keep talking. Let’s think this through.”
He paused and said, “Mom… I’m gonna sign.”
And that was that.
He was interviewed in a room with six silent men and one woman who never stopped talking, asking him yes and no questions for three and a half hours, along with weeks of classes to verify everything about himself.
“If I didn’t believe in him, I’d probably be more scared, worried,” Meats’ mom, Helen Meats, said, “But I believe in him.”
To start, he will be working in a secure facility to hone his skills, but he will soon be traveling to any number of countries out in the field.
This July, Meats is going to Missouri for boot camp. Then, he will be in Arizona for the rest of the year before he starts his job in North Carolina
in July of next year.
He will be an intelligence analyst, collecting information and distributing data. “Psychological warfare is a job where I have to be able to infiltrate people’s heads and just communicate with them and become a friend to foreign civilizations and convince them to join the United States.”
Once he hits Psychological Operations (PSYOPS), that’s when the secrets start. He won’t be able to reveal any details of his job to anyone, not even a spouse. But if he doesn’t like intelligence, he can go to the CIA instead of PSYOPS as an alternative.
The reason behind his decision: dad lore. Meats wants his kids to be able to tell all their friends about their dad’s super cool job. The money and benefits that come with it don’t hurt either.
Meats just quit his job. He has enough saved up and didn’t need to work anymore. Now, he’s training.
Getting up at 5:30, running around his neighborhood, working out at Crunch Fitness after school, completing the physical requirement for the job, just like he’s been doing for a couple of years.
If he wanted to, Meats got an uncle he could go work for. He’s got a business, and Meats could go to trade school and take over the business. If he ever gets injured, that’s always a backup for him.
His mom would obviously rather him go into a family business for the safety, but not at the cost of his dreams.
“Like every parent, you want them to follow their dreams because it’s their life,” Helen Meats said. “We’ll stand behind him, support him, and just allow home to be a safe place he can land.”
He’s got two more months to have fun. His mom is counting down the days.
Photo by Landon Horn
THERE’S ALWAYS NEXT YEAR
On March 29, 2024 senior Tatum Bills walks through the shoe aisle in Burlington Coat Factory. She has a lot on her mind. Bills is waiting for the call, the call that determines whether or not she wants to continue choir.
She has been involved with choir for eight years now, since the fourth grade.
Bills isn’t just in choir, she’s in charge of keeping the class organized. She makes pamphlets, designs the choir’s last concert of the year — Final Forte — t-shirt and manages the choir’s social media.
She also works with Shawanoe Elementary School’s choir through CCC. All the way through her junior year of high school, Bills has worked her way up toward being selected for chambers, the highest level of choir at Northwest.
Bills browses the aisle of shoes, looking for slippers for after prom when she gets a call from her friend Kai Grimm. She doesn’t make it into chambers.
“I wanted to quit so badly,” Bills said.
Bills went into the audition fully thinking she already got the position. The first three years of her high school career, she just told herself “there’s always next year”.
After hearing the news she broke down in tears and went straight home to tell her mom that she was going to quit. Her mom tried to convince her otherwise.
“I told her there is room for improvement,” Ashley Moore, Bills’s mother said. “If choir is something she really loved then quitting wasn’t the right thing to do.”
After talking with her mom, she went to Cassie Banion, the choir director for Northwest.
Banion has always been Bills’s shoulder to cry on whenever she needs anything.
Having spent multiple hours a day for years in the choir room, Bills developed a relationship with Banion that’s different from other teachers.
“She’s my happy place because I know I can always go to her,” Bills said. “She always knows how to push me and make me be the best person I can be, in choir and outside of choir.”
Banion has allowed Bills to get an inside look on running a choir, and it’s made her want to pursue choir in the future.
Music makes her feel at home, it’s safe to Bills. No matter what happens throughout her life, music is always there. Now, even though Bills didn’t get into chambers, she just got a solo for the last concert of the year and is conducting a song for the Women’s Select Ensemble.
“I really hope I’ve left my mark in choir,” Bills said. “I’ve always been a choir person” and that’s not going to change just because she’s graduating.
Bills is getting her bachelors in teaching and is majoring in music, and she’s going to be a choir director.
“Everyone needs music in their life,” Bills said.
Senior Tatum Bills overcomes struggles in choir to discover her passion
Photo by Cooper Evans
COUTURE ALTERATIONS
Formalwear
Alterations By Sharon
This small business is local and Sharon has 15 years of experience in altering.
Couture Alterations has a long history of altering SMNW student and family formalwear and letter jackets.
Contact: 913-634-4996
Location: 11953 Johnson Dr, Shawnee, KS 66216
BLEED ORANGE AND BLACK
Athletic Director Angelo Giacalone reflects on his journey as his final days at Northwest draw closer
Angelo Giacalone knew he wanted to send his kids to Northwest, but didn’t expect it to become the opportunity to join our community for 17 years.
After being on staff at Park Hill High School, Giacalone was offered the position of head football coach and counselor at Northwest.
“I knew that this was the school, that once I got my foot in the door and was blessed enough to be part of this staff, part of this community for my position, I knew this would be my last stop,” Giacalone said
One of Giacalone’s highlights has been experiencing Northwest with his family. Both of his kids graduated from Northwest,
“
” Every day hasn’t been good, but I have found good in every day, and I am truly blessed to be with the people I’ve been with.
- Athletic Director Angelo Giacalone
and his son, Adam Giacalone, was the star pitcher on the baseball team and came back to coach for Northwest.
His grandchildren live right down the street and will eventually go to Northwest.
“I bleed orange and black, and there’s no doubt about it,” Giacalone said. “My family is here. Both my kids graduated from Northwest. I still have the house I moved
into when I got married 36 years ago, that I live in to this day.”
After a couple of years coaching and being a counselor, a new opportunity presented itself. The previous athletic director was moving away, and the school needed a replacement.
“I was approached by our building administration [to see] if I would be interested in the job,” Giacalone said. “I thought about it and prayed about it, and it seemed like another avenue where I could have an impact not only on the kids, but also hopefully adults.”
As athletic director, Giacalone witnesses the hard work student athletes put into their sport, and supports them of the way.
“This is the greatest part about this. I get to see the 6 a.m. weight room workouts when the kids are here in the morning. I get to see after kids school leave at the end of May, all the June open gyms, June open fields,” Giacalone says. “I get to see all the things that go into making something happen.”
After many years of wins, losses, tears and laughter, Giacalone is stepping into retirement. He is ready for a change and wants to pass on the torch to the next athletic director.
During retirement, he plans to go on vacation and see his grandchildren. As Giacalone enters into a new chapter of his
life, Northwest must too.
“I just hope that over my 17 years here as a counselor, coach, and athletic director, I left a positive imprint on the lives of student athletes, students, other educators, coaches, and administrators. If I did, then I have been successful,” Giacalone said.
“Being at Shawnee Mission Northwest, sitting in this chair, every day hasn’t been good, but I have found good in every
- Nintendo Wii - “Hips Don’t Lie” by Shakira - “Cars”
-L.O.L dolls -“Shape of You” Ed Sheeran - “Despicable Me 3”
MAKE THE BEST
OF IT
Attend these summer concerts to make summer 2025 the best it can be
COUNTRY STAMPEDE
The Country Stampede is an annual threeday country music festival in Bonner Springs, Kansas that runs from June 26 to the 28. Some of the artists performing will be Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert and Cole Swindell. Another unique part of the festival is that you can camp on the property between days. Tickets range from $99 to $219 on their website.
THE LUMINEERS
The Lumineers are an alternative folk band whose hits include “Ho Hey,” “Stubborn Love,” “Ophelia” and “Cleopatra.” They are coming to the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City on July 26.
LINKIN PARK
Linkin Park is an American rock band whose most memorable songs include. “Numb,” “In the End” and “Faint.” The concert will be taking place on August 31 at the T-Mobile center in Kansas City.
June 14, 2025 - Boulevardia 10 year anniversary
Soldier field is hours from NW
7.5 St. Louis dome is 3.8 hours from NW
SZA & KENDRICK LAMAR
SZA and Kendrick Lamar are both international superstar artists who are embarking on their “Grand National Tour.” SZA and Lamar performed together in the Super Bowl halftime show, and will be performing some of the same songs. The closest venues to Kansas City are St. Louis’s Dome at America’s Center on June 4, and Chicago’s Soldier Field on June 6. Ticket prices start at around $100 on Ticketmaster.
Boulevardia is an annual music festival at Crown Center; this year’s date is June 14. Boulevardia has many food trucks and vendors throughout the festival grounds that provide a wide variety of foods from ice cream to burgers. They also have a makers market along with other activities. The artists performing this year are TECH N9NE, Honestav, The Greeting Committee and other smaller artists and DJs. General admission tickets are $35.
HOT COUNTRY NIGHTS AT KC LIVE!
Hot Country Nights is a series of concerts of small country artists that takes place at Kansas City Live! at the Power and Light District. This venue has multiple bars, restaurants, pop-ups and food trucks to enjoy during your concert. Some concerts include Chase Matthew on June 5, Joe Nichols on June 12, Billy Currington on June 19 and Bryan Martin on June 26.
OTHER CONCERTS -
Ben Rector - May 17
Alex Warren - May 24
Wallows - May 27
Flatland Cavalry - June 5
The Head and The Heart - June 18
INCUBUS - July 8
Father John Misty - July 19
Modest Mouse - June 24
The Driver Era - June 29
Mumford & Sons - July 24
Cyndi Lauper - August 9
Big Time Rush - August 13
Photo courtesy of @BLVDIA on Instagram
YEAR IN PHOTOS
Right-Senior Avery Anderson dances at prom April 12 at Children’s Mercy Park. Prom is a yearly dance that the school holds for juniors and seniors. “I did enjoy the music the DJ played,” Anderson said. “Some of the songs were a little funny, but with my friends it’s easy to dance to anything.” Photo by Lucy Wilson
Below- Junior Isla Calderon-Rufus watches a football game from the sidelines Oct. 4 at the SM North District Stadium. Calderon-Rufus is a kicker on the Varsity Football team. “It’s cool [being a kicker] because I’m at every practice, so I see how everyone builds their skill,” Calderon-Rufus said. Photo by Claire Reed
Right- Juniors Penelope Alonzo and Wyatt Neis act in the musical “Chicago” on Feb. 13 in the Auditorium. Cell Block Tango is one of the most popular songs from the musical. “My favorite dance in the show is probably Cell Block Tango because it was very cool for me to be able to perform a song I’ve been listening to since I was young,” Alonzo said. Photo by Lucy Wilson
Right- Senior Reece Irwin dances with senior Dylan Swords at the Sweetheart Dance Feb. 15 in the Cafeteria. This was Iriwn’s first time attending the Sweetheart Dance. “Now that all my friends are seniors, it’s fun to be in the middle and to be interactively dancing with the people that I see every day in class,” Irwin said. Photo by Finn
