The Lake - April 2014

the lake

One person

can make a

world

of

difference GET READY FOR DWOH 2014 9300 W 104th Avenue // Westminster, CO // 80021 // USA // Planet Earth // Milky Way Volume 25 // Issue 5 April 2014



Like us on Facebook

   



Enjoy the 100 Greatest Books of All Time and Never Have to Read a Word! �

FOR LESS THAN $1 A BOOK, you’ll be captivated by the stories from the 100 greatest literary classics of all time… without ever having to read a word.

Listen to them in audio book format , preloaded on the included personal MP3 player.

Your collection includes: 100 greatest books in audio format Adapter for listening in the car Personal headphones Bonus Gift: The 50 most beloved classical music performances Just $99!

So simple to use…

Just push ‘play’ and enjoy!

You Are 100% Protected If you’re not completely satisfied, you are fully protected by our no-questions-asked, LIFETIME

Moby Dick • Tom Sawyer

Little Women • A Tale of Two Cities

Romeo and Juliet • Gulliver’s Travels Pride and Prejudice • Scarlet Letter Sherlock Holmes • Treasure Island

Plus 90 More!

FREE GIFT for Acting Now Order now, and you’ll receive a special FREE gift: 50 of the most enchanting classical music works (a $50 value) by the world’s great composers: Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky… all your favorites!

Call now for limited time special price and free gift!

The whiskey tango hotel

the long stuff

4 // the goods

20 // Making a difference

Our custodians talk about the struggles of cleaning up after students. We taste test everyone’s favorite chocolates, we help you out on the ACT, and much more.

8 // 30-second sports update

Your quick fix on the sports of the Swamp.

Table of contents

For Day Without Hate 2014, we found three students at Standley Lake and explored what has made their lives exceptional.

26 // we can dance Rachel Luebbert ‘14 and Makenna Dowling ‘14 are longtime dancers and friends. We go in-depth to see what it’s like for committed dancers.

18 // let’s make a date!

The Lake played cupid and set up six students on blind dates.

how cool is this photo?

Table of contents photo credit to Austin Skrdlant ‘14, whose photo won 2nd place in the congressional district. The award was given by Congressman Ed Perlmutter, and the photo will be displayed in the State Capitol for a year.

well, well, well. it’s you again.

April 2014 // 3

H T W

p w it h “

u Wonder ing what’s

a bet, whic

the phonet ic a lph

confu sion people a nd avoid ke. on at Sta nd ley La

o Hotel

hiskey Ta ng W e th to e m o lc e W

Student Council

Next year’s stuco president Hannah Belich, speaks her mind The Lake: What are your plans for next year?

Hannah Belich: I want to change how other people see our school, and get some pride of students back in our school to feel confident of where we are going The Lake: How are you going to achieve this?

HB: By getting out there, and getting involved, whether it is volunteering or helping out with the feeder middle schools, just having a pres-

ence in the community for good things.

The Lake: How did you get involved in Student Council?

HB: My best friend, Alie [Settje], was in Student Council freshman year, and I was not. She was telling me about all the different events that she planned, and all of the really cool things that you don’t really see or know about. From an outsider you get an experience of, ‘Wow, I didn’t know Student Council VP Vice-President

2014-2015 Student Council Student Body Hannah Belich, P Alie Settje, VP

Class of 2016

Chantell George, VP

Rachael Willihnganz, VP

The smartest kids you know The World Affairs Council heads to nationals in D.C. After an eight hour school day, we have about three more hours of homework, work, sports, and clubs. When we’re done with that, the last thing our minds is studying more.

Unless of course you’re in the Academic World Quest club, then that’s exactly what you do.

And when you do it well enough, like our Standley Lake club did, you’ll qualify for Nationals and all expense paid trip to Washington D.C. and $200 in cash.

The Academic World Quest club, consisting of Cassie Gardner ‘16, Emma Astaloz ‘16, Garret

4 //April 2014

P President

Class of 2017

Esteban Arellano, P

did that’. I wanted to be a part of making the school a better place.

The Lake: Why do you want to be President?

HB: I have strong feelings about the school and I am invested in it, so I want to be in the leadership role because hopefully my positive attitude, and how much I care about our school and Student Council, will be contagious to everyone in it. //estaban arellano

Caleb Wynne, P

Class of 2015 Michael Huss, P

Devito ‘14, and Jessica Yan ‘15, will be heading to Washington D.C. for Nationals on April 26.

Preparing for regional qualifiers, which then advances to nationals, consisted of studying a PDF file of all the current world affairs. The members must diligently study the files, picking out what they think are the most important facts. At nationals, they are then tested on all the topics in a multiple choice test.

“They just give you the articles and you don’t know what the question are going to be, so you just have to know them all,” Gardner said.

The challenge the team is faced with is having to be able to pull the most important information from the large file they receive.

“The documents they give you aren’t just straight facts. They’re articles, so you need to interpert the information,” Astaloz said.

The hours spent studing was worth it in the end, when the team was rewarded with the trip

to Washington D.C. after qualifying in regionals for nationals. //sabrina pacha Standing: Cassie Gardner ‘16 and Garret Devito ‘14 Sitting: Emma Astaloz ‘16 and Jessica Yan ‘15

es Ta ngo Hotel”? T h th “T he W hiskey

m

e word s come fro

municate w it h it s m co to ry ta ili m e th which is u sed by ng hat the heck is goi w is is th d n A . le p eo sion. You’re ou r p

gh?

Just ca n’t get enou Like us.

Follow us.

Share with us.

A college“state”ment

Your key to deciding what tests to take depending on your college plans

How to not have Senioritis (or not)

1.

2.

SAT required

ACT required

ACT or SAT required

“//kelsey paquet

When your grades start to slip, you should attempt to care even though you don’t..

Working the whoopie pie 3.

FCCLA members put a patent on their own recipe

The Lake: What made you choose this product to patent?

Lauren Bethel: Well it started out with a project we created and we wanted to see how far we could take it.

Ashlyn Bleimeyer:: We didn’t want people to steal our idea.

LB: Yeah people said it was a good idea and it was an amazing recipe that we came up with on our own.

The Lake: Why do you think this product is worthy of a patent?

AB: Cause everyone who’s tried them loves them.

LB: Whoopie pies aren’t in stores, they just aren’t a big thing.

The Lake: How is it more

healthy than regular whoopie pies?

AB: They’re gluten free. It fits everybody’s dietary needs because a lot of people are going gluten free.

LB: They’re not healthy obviously because they’re a dessert but they’re healthier because they’re gluten-free.

The Lake: Why did you want to take this product this far?

LB:Because people really like them and we thought it was a good idea. We had to share with so many people for competition so that they could decide if it was good or bad so we decided to patent it. //emma marlow

This severe condition is inevitable.

Don’t lay in bed for those extra twenty minutes in the morning, or do. You’re going to be late anyway, right? (Just find out when there’s gonna be a “tardy sweep”)

4.

Lauren Bethel ‘15 and Ashlyn Bleimeye ‘15 pull some of their soon-to-be famous whoopie pies out of the oven.

When you get cut off in the parking lot, keep it cool, or don’t. You’ll never see any of these people in two months anyway.

5.

Refer back to number one. And good luck. // kylynn delohery

April 2014 // 5

3

Things You Didn’t Know About

1.

Sunil Clark ‘14

Sunil has moved around since he was 6 years old.

2.

3.

I moved to Guam when I was pretty young, around 6 years old. I lived there for 5 years until I moved back to the states. Half of my childhood was spent in other countries. I have lived in San Diego (CA), Chicago (IL), Guam, Oxnard (CA), Japan, and then I moved here. Its kinda hard but at the same time its fun because you’re there but you know you’re not gonna be there forever. So you try to make it last as long as you can and have fun with it.

Sunil has lived in 2 foreign countries Other countries have different rules, different people, I would say it was a new experience. My first two years of high school were in Japan so I took Japanese as my foreign language, I learned it just in case and it helped a lot.

Sunil wants to join the military like his father I would like to become an officer. I’ll probably join ROTC in college, either the NAV Y or Airforce. My dad was an E6 Petty Officer. He was a paralegal. // cassidy conlon, kelsey paquet

Origin of Easter

Chocolate Study

It is believed that Easter is originally a Christian holiday, however this is a misconception. This is a list of the origins of the widely commercialized holiday of Easter

21 students gathered to test their palettes on some of the finest chocolate. Only 14% of students chose Ghirardelli as the highest quality of chocolate.

Pagan Origin:

Trial

Votes

- Pagan holiday

1: Lindt Truffle

1: 8..............................38%

- Adopted by christians

2: Dove

2: 3..............................14%

- Goddess of fertility, Ostara

3: Coin

3: 1................................5%

- Originally symbolized by a swan but later a rabbit

4: Ghirardelli

4: 3..............................14%

- In one legend she was tricked into turning into a rabbit not knowing she can’t change back

5: Hershey’s Bliss

5: 6..............................29%

- She retained her powers of fertility (represented by eggs)

Actual

- This developed egg-laying rabbits

1. Ghirardelli

- Maidens were dressed in more elegant clothing than normal and roamed the forests waiting to be discovered by men (represented by egg painting and hunting)

2. Lindt 3. Dove 4. Bliss

// cassidy conlon

6 // April 2014

5. Coins // emma marlow, tina muscarelli

Custodian Horror Stories Custodians of the lake anonymously testify about the horrors of cleaning up after high school students

REACH Q&A Standley Lake’s new alumni group, REACH, was formed in January to support students through their challenging high school years and to prove the immense power behind being Gator Strong. The Lake sat down with three REACH alumni, Adam Baca, Jami Delmonico, and Bailey Stang, to find out a little more.

The Lake: What is REACH? Jami: REACH is just the alumni reaching out to the students

and showing our support that we never forget what it’s like to be a Gator. We want to show them a fun year like we had. So if there’s anything we can do, we want to do it.

Adam: An alumni support system, basically.

Bailey: I would say after all the bad stuff that has happened,

in some way or another, a lot of kids felt maybe alone. They can go talk to the counselors, but the counselors can’t really relate to them. We want to have kids that are close, that have graduated recently and be like, “hey, you know I was just here, this is what happened when I was here, this is what I went through.”

“The teacher that used to be in Mr. Dinzes’s classroom would push the overhead into the corner so it was out of the way. I came into his classroom once, and something smelled super bad, but he didn’t say anything. He just looked at me weird, so I started looking around the room. I looked down underneath the overhead and saw a pile of something. I was thinking it might be an old lunch or something, so I moved the overhead, and it was a pile of poop! Human poop. Not dog poop, it was human.”

The Lake: What’s the best part about being REACH mem-

bers?

Jami: I think reconnecting and really getting to see things from a different perspective

Adam: Yeah, to come back and to help out in any way.

Bailey: It’s good to see how much we’re actually wanted and how much people do appreciate it. Even doing just the coffee, people say “Thank you so much for being here.” I’d say that’s pretty good. And reconnecting with people that you went to school with.

The Lake: What are REACH’s goals?

Jami: Just to have the kids know who we are, know that they

can depend on us to be here throughout the entire school year.

We want to be dependent on coffee every morning for resource, we just want things like that to have them look forward to.

“When I first started with the district, I was working at Jefferson High school. They sent me to clean the women’s restrooms, and one time there was lipstick kisses all over the mirror. I made the girls stop kissing the mirrors by telling them that I cleaned the mirrors with toilet water. Another bad experience was when I walked into the middle stall of the girls bathroom, and it was covered in used feminine products. It grossed me out a lot.”

Adam: I think the biggest things are yet to come. Probably for the end of the year and next year, once we get everything kind of tapped down and once we figure out how it works, we’re going to be back. It’s about the connection.

Bailey: And we want to get peer counseling back, with a volunteer-type peer counseling thing.

The Lake: What can students expect to see from REACH in

the future?

Jami: I think some really fun things at assemblies, after prom coming up - we’re going to have a lot of fun there.

Adam: We have hopes for a scholarship fund, and also next

year with tie-ins with the classrooms, with the different clubs and things like that.

The Lake: Anything else we should know?

Jami: Don’t be afraid to come up and talk to us. If anybody “After a sporting event, the bathroom in the lower lobby had throwup in one of the urinals. Urinals have plugs, so everything was flooding over the sides of it, proceeding to go all over the bathroom floor. To paint you a picture, it was a ramen noodle soup with cheese and something else. I cleaned it and felt like I was going throw up myself.” // jamey burky, brendan roby

wants just to get to know us or has something they really need to talk about, we’re always here to listen. // chaye gutierrez

April 2014 // 7

Time is Ticking It’s now or never

// Jeremy Minnick That last buzzer. That last horn. That last shot.

It’s over. College? Maybe, but maybe not. How many high school students really take advantage of the opportunity to participate in high school sports? When it’s gone, it’s gone. There is nothing you can do other than look back and say, “what if?”

What’s the point of this you ask? To make you feel bad? No, but to change the way and views that you look at you and your high school team.

Why would any of you waste a year? You have these four years and then it’s gone and it’s gone for good.

“Freshman year—I wasted that. Junior year— that was definitely a waste. Senior year, too.

Basically every year of golf, I wasted it. If I could start it over? Heck yeah I would.” Caleb Ott ‘14 said.

30-Second Sports Update

Now look back. Back on all four years and all the different regrets that you’ve faced. What do you do about it, in order to make everything all better again? You sit there and soak yourself in a cold bath of bad memories.

“Not going to state—that’s a regret. Not making first team all conference—that too. Letting Andrew Hewitt ‘15 beat me in golf. That’s a big regret.” Ott said.

And once again here you are. You’ve reflected about how terrible you’ve treated your career, and what you have to show for it.

As Irish singer and DJ John O’ Callaghan once said, “The ‘what ifs’ and the ‘should haves’ will eat your brain.”

Let that sink in for a little bit. Let it eat your brain to the point where you realize you’ve messed up and have regrets. You didn’t reach your goal.

The goal for every athlete is to leave a mark at their school and to go down in history as one of the greats. Making a mark? You’ve barely made a scratch.

G i rl s S o c c e r Girls soccer starts the season off with a bang with a record of 5-1 bringing them to first in league. They are now 2-0 in league beating Pomona and Arvada West. The girls have fought hard to be the top in the league and continue to push to get a home field advantage for playoffs if they qualify by the end of the season.

G i rl s G ol f

But it’s okay, you know now. You might still have a few years left of high school so instead of living the rest of your life full of regrets, go and be a part of something special. Something you’ll never have the opportunity to be a part of again.

Despite not having any seniors, nothing can break the spirits of lady gators golf team.Girls Golf opened their season with a low appearance placing 13th out of 13 teams. They look to increase their league standing at Broadlands Golf Course on Apr. 15 led by Jacqui Dunnigan ‘15, Laci Williams ‘16, and Courtney Kauffman ‘16.

“If there was one thing I could change it would be playing golf smarter. It would have helped me make my mark,” Ott said.

B a s eb a l l

Time is ticking. Every hour. Every minute. Every second. You regret not making a decision in high school and just expect to fix it in a week or however long it takes you to feel responsible. Who knows, maybe that week turns into a month, and that month into a year, and as soon as you know it you’re sitting on your couch thinking back—what if?

8 // April 2014

With a record of 3-6, the baseball team is looking to continuously improve this season.

Currently being eighth in the league, Michael Maher ‘14, one of the captains, says, “We’ve been struggling with pitching after losing our three starting senior pitchers last year.” Despite this, the team sees their strength in hitting, and hopes to use that as they continue with the season.

B oys Tra c k

Alvin Ameyaw jumps off the blocks at the start of the 400 M dash.

Breaking a personal record each meet Jordan Kramer ‘15 has a time of 43.8 seconds in the 300 meter hurdles and 16.8 seconds in the 110 hurdles. Mike Mayer ‘14 is 7 feet 2 inches from beating the discus schools record with his 140 feet throw. The 4x400 meter team, Alvin Ameyaw ‘14, Jordan Kramer ‘15, Lukas Gaudermann ‘15, and Ryan Seberg ‘15, has a new personal record of 3 minutes 36 seconds.

B oys S wi m m i n g

G i rl s Tra c k

G i rl s Te n n i s

At a statewide meet, the boys swim team placed 19th overall. Trent Kindvall ‘14 placed 3rd overall in diving with a score of 485.85.

Staton placed 11th in the 200 free and 8th in the 500 free. Their next meet is scheduled for Saturday April 12th against Conifer at Carmody Rec Center at 5:00pm.

Girls track is off to a good start. The team has already had season PR (personal records) for many athletes. Caitlin Torgerson beat the school record in triple jump, jumping 33 feet 4 inches.

Casey Torbet ‘15, Ala Schuetz‘15, Hanna Davis ‘17 and Sadie Heffelman ‘17 won the 4x1600 M relay at the Jeffco 5A Invitational at the beginning of the season.

Led by senior Betsy Hanson ‘14, the tennis team looks to make a new mark in the swamp.

However the girls tennis team has started off to a little bit of a rocky start starting the season with a current 1-4 record and are as of now ranked 7th in league. Their next step is big league matchups against Columbine on Apr. 15 and Lakewood on Apr. 17.

April 2014 // 9

Call-Only Savings Just For You!

10% OFF A Single Item $99+*

Call 1-888-927-9480 And Say SAVEMORE10 *Some Exclusions Apply Offer Ends December 31st, 2012

Over 55,000 products from the industry’s top brands for musicians at every skill level —only at Musician’s Friend!

cheater, cheater

In today’s society, grades seem to be more important than actually learning the material

T

ake a look at the average high school student: sweatpants, messy hair, stressed out faces, chased by their report cards and their need to graduate successfully. We come to school for one thing, and that’s for the classes that will prepare us for the real world--for college and beyond. The five letters that come at the end of each semester decide our future. Those letters declare whether we become a bum on the street or a Harvard extraordinaire.

So here, in these halls, lies the question we all secretly want to know.

Have our grades become more important to us than actually knowing the material?

Has cheating in order to get good grades become our last resort to stay on top?

Bottom line, students will do whatever is necessary to get the grade.

No one is denying the Statistics Class catastrophe that shut down the entire mathematics department. For those who haven’t heard (and the stories have varied), it was presumed that some of the students in the class found the test online and sent a picture to every other student in the Statistics Classes. However, it was found that only a few students actually cheated on the test. The ordeal may have been over-exaggerated, but in the end, everyone had to retake the test nonetheless.

So if far less people cheated than originally thought, who really cheats?

The average student isn’t held to the same standards as those in Advanced Placement classes or the International Baccalaureate Programme, but they haven’t lost all motivation like some “slackers.” Do they still cheat?

“The grade is more important than actually knowing [the material], and as long as I actually know the material for the test, it shouldn’t matter,” said Alex Brown ‘15. He and many of his peers agree that cheating occurs because receiving a good grade dominates understand-

the facts 1 3

ing the curriculum in importance. And some of those peers, despite popular belief, are those enrolled in the IB Programme or AP classes.

assignment.

These kids are considered to be at the top of the school--the ‘smarty-pants’. They’re in IB or AP classes for a reason, right? We are led on to believe that they are model children, that they wouldn’t dream of cheating on anything. When really, it’s the opposite.

“Personally, I think cheating is a way for students to say ‘I don’t get what’s going on,’ without actually having to ask for help,” IB student Brindan Adhikari ‘15 said. “Colleges look at report cards, so students wanting to go to amazing schools focus on their grades, not necessarily what they know.”

With the advanced and average students on the same page, all that’s left is the teachers.

Teachers see cheating from a different perspective: the grading point of view. “[Cheating] can be telling someone ‘the answer to number six is 52,’ but is that cheating?

It probably is considered to be, or you might just be confirming the answer,” Science teacher Mr. Rob Cassady said. “But, certainly, you get kids who copy homework; you’ll see that labs are copied. It happens a lot more than it’s reported.”

IB/AP and average students alike agree cheating has become the norm because grades top the list of priorities. The teachers aren’t oblivious either; they see it more than you think.

So, has cheating to get good grades become our last resort to stay on top? The answer lies in personal opinion, so we all have to ask ourselves, “Is this worth cheating on?” Eventually, we all become in charge of our own education, so it’s all a matter of whether the grade is more important to you or the knowledge.

// nicole heetland, brittany marks, meg metzger-seymour, ty milliken, maddy newlon, emma staton

students admit

to using the out of internet to plagiarize an

4 5 out of

high-achieving students admit to having cheated.

85% of Freshman college students believe cheating is necessary to get ahead in high school.

58%

85%

58% of students lied when asked if they’ve ever cheated face-to-face.

Courtesy of: Plagiarism, Glass Castle, Caveon, and US News & World Report

at standley Out of all students surveyed, 91% said they’ve witnessed Only 7% said they told the teacher. cheating.

91%

3 4 out

of Approximately students admitted to cheating.

58%

58% of students say they think that cheating is wrong.

April 2014 // 11

comic books: panel by panel

12 // April 2014

what superhero are

you?

Have you been bitten by a radioactive spider?

NO

YES

That stinks! Do you have cool cars?

YES

NO

Do you feel stronger than normal?

Do you like the night?

NO

NO

Can you climb buildings?

YES

YES

NO

NO

YES

Are you capable of building your own armor suit?

Do you have a secret tunnel?

YES

Do you like girls in leather?

NO YES

YES

NO

Lucky you!

You’re Iron Man!

Good for you! You’re Spiderman!

behind the cover Three junior comic book fanatics tell why comics aren’t just for nerds and how there’s more than just silly superheros behind that cover.

Hey, what’s up Batman!

Upcoming comic book movies

Clint Desmarais The Lake:

Describe what you feel when you’re reading comics.

Clint: I feel like I am a part of the action and a part of their world. I feel what they’re feeling, if someone dies I feel sad. If someone comes back to life I’m all like ‘Yay! they’re back.’ I guess you could say I feel connected with the characters.

Matt Colson The Lake: What do you like about comics?

Matt: I like the art styles, there are many different artists, and I like the writing styles too. I like how there can be many different artists writing on the same one (story) and it still flows.

Shae-Lynn Fritzer The Lake: What do you want to say to people who laugh at comic book fanatics?

Shae-Lynn: They should read a few comics before judging who enjoys them. There are so many diferent kinds of comics so chances are that would like one. // jordan gray, jamey burky, brendan roby, ripley ricketts

April 2014 // 13

Social

Network

New social media app causes trouble in high school 14 // April 2014

Above Shelby Carter ‘15 reads anonymous messages from her phone.

It begins with a notification on a tiny screen.

It may be small, yet it brings such emotion.

Emily Chhay ‘16 knows this emotion. As she looked down at her phone, she said, “With this new site, Ask. fm, there is negativity everywhere, and it separates people.”

This site is a new hidden playground for teens to ask questions of their friends.

The app, rising in popularity, allows users to create a public profile, and then their friends, family, and even strangers can follow them.

From there, anyone can send the user a private question. If the student chooses to answer it, their response will be published on the profile to all of their followers.

Teenagers have used this opportunity to target Chhay. Rather than asking questions, her followers post hurtful comments to her. Her profile is filled with comments like: “You’ve turned into one of the biggest bitches I’ve ever met” or “You’re a psycho bitch.”

Chhay’s story is not uncommon.

Counselor Mr. Matt Schacht knows this all too well. “At least a few times a month I am dealing with somebody who has some type of cyberbullying issue that wouldn’t have occurred in the hallways,” he said.

Over the past few years, the percent of wired American teens has risen from 55% in 2006 to 90% in 2013, according to Common Sense Media. Students say with a rise in usage of websites like Facebook, or the newer, Ask.fm, there has been an increase in cyber bullying attacks. “It is more accessible for students to [cyberbully],” Chhay said.

A new feature is at the heart of the cyberbul-

lying problem: anonymity. Promised the opportunity to privately post, teens have dashed to apps like Ask.fm to “handle” their problems with peers. And conflicts that would have once been dealt with face to face in the hallways are now an online matter. “Ask.fm allows people to say something that they really wouldn’t say in person,” Shelby Carter ‘15 said. “They feel stronger in a way.”

With this newly found strength and confidence, other students turn to victims as personal conflicts are projected to the masses of students who follow them. “Ask.fm is just a place for cyberbullying,” Chhay said, “there are so

"Anonymous is the worst way to insult someone because you can do it in your own voice."

-Shelby Carter '15 many negative comments, and you can’t do anything about it.”

This growing problem amongst teens has earned attention in Colorado Legislature.

Recently proposed House Bill 1131 would make causing “serious emotional distress on a minor” a misdemeanor, according to the bill.

Currently, cyberbullying charges lie between felony stalking or misdemeanor harassment.

The bill, winning a 54-10 vote, will now advance to the Senate.

counselors have encouraged students to avoid the conflict. “You always have the option to block that person, you don’t have to subject yourself to that kind of commentary,” Schacht said.

This type of online bullying leads to severe effects. According to a BuzzFeed news article, there have been nine suicides linked to the use of Ask.fm: all teenagers.

In a response to the most recent suicide in 2013, the company promised to help alleviate the problem. The changes would help make reporting bullying easier. But critics of the changes, such as Claire Lilley, a technology expert, said that “children and young people are likely to continue to suffer.”

But in a social network-gone astray, Chhay has found strength in herself. “I deleted [my account], and that shows that I am weak,” she says, “I want to prove to myself that I am better than them.”

Her own moving forward is what counselors also encourage. “If you don’t know what they’re saying about you, it is not going to impact you,” Copley says, “That you can control, you can’t control what people are going to put on.”

Although the social media app has promised reform, there has been little to happen. In the coming months, Colorado’s legislation will determine the future of this unpunished problem.

But as cyberbullying attacks increase, students must rely on their own strength, like Chhay has, until a more social option can come about. // esteban arellano, alie settje

In the meantime, school administration and

42% of teens with tech access report being cyberbullied over the past year That number grows as more kids gain access to technology

Statistics courtesy of PEW Internet Project

You a r stupid e so , do yo why u go to even th schoo is l?

OF THOSE TEENS 80% are active on one or more social media sites

April 2014 // 15

baseball Headline

digging deeper

There’s more to baseball than just homeruns, strikeouts, and hot dogs. Between the athletes’ dugout necessities, teaching the fans how to read a scoreboard, and exposing their pitches for the perfect strikeout, The Lake went beyond the the foul poles to learn the in’s and out’s of the varsity baseball team.

the boys

Hot shots Jake Giron ‘14 Matt Fujinami ’14, and Grant Gladstone ‘15 tell us their must-haves for every game

Jake Giron

Class: 2014 Position: Catcher Favorite gum: Big League Chew Green Apple Favorite Gatorade: Glacier Freeze Favorite seed: Dill pickel or BBQ

16 // April 2014

Matt fujinami

Class: 2014 Position: Center field Favorite gum: Original Big League Chew Favorite Gatorade: Frost Riptide Rush Favorite seed: Half BBQ and half cracked pepper

Grant Gladstone

Class: 2015 Position: 1st base, pitcher Favorite gum: Big League Chew Favorite Gatorade: Glacier Freeze Favorite seed: Dill pickel

the scoreboard Don’t know a lot about baseball? Can’t follow along with the game? Don’t worry, we gotcha!

ball

The pitch called by the umpire on the batter thats out of the strike zone. Typically a wild or bad pitch. 4 total balls in an at bat.

runs

The total number of runs or points scored by each team. Runs are counted that are both walked in and brought in by a batter.

h/e

Determines whether the play was counted as a hit or an error.

strike

The pitch called by the umpire on the batter thats in the zone.

Typically a good, hittable pitch.

3 total strikes in an at bat.

hits

A total number of hits from the team that allowed the batter to get on base.

innings

When one team attempts to score (offense) while the other team tries to prevent them from scoring (defense). 9 total innings.

outs

The number of plays made defensively, with out any errors in order to complete the half inning.

3 out each half inning.

E

A routine play that isnt executed correctly, therefore, allowing the batter to get on base.

AT bat

The player who is in the box in the current at bat. The player’s number is displayed to identify him.

the strikeout Connor Williams ‘14 grips three different pitches to demostrate how to get the K

the curveball

The index and middle finger wrap around the “C” on the seams and after the snap of the wrist, the ball moves up and breaks low in the strike zone.

the two-seamer

By placing fingers across the stitches of the ball, the key of the pitch is to come in fast and sink down in the strike zone.

the circle change

The OK hand-gesture grip makes the pitch look like a fastball but comes out much slower and lower in the strike zone.

// marcus asmus, chaye gutierrez, laurel nordquist-zukin April 2014 // 17

the art of

blind dating

You’re walking down the hall in a hurry to get to class, and the 1400 faces of Standley Lake merge into one big blur of chaos. None of the faces register and you pass them by every day without thinking twice. But what if one of those faces is the one? You would never know until someone makes you stop and realize what’s right infront of your face. So that’s what we did - we’re here to take the blindfold off your eyes, and help you see the face that you let pass by all this time. The Lake set up three lucky pairs of Gators to venture out on a blind date. And we were there to document all of it. // chaye gutierrez, brittany marks, emma marlow, tina muscarelli, shylah ogle

tara nelson ‘14

kota young ‘14

he said: “I’m kinda mellow. I’m more of an introvert,” Kota Young ‘14 said before the date. So how does an introvert make a blind date successful? “By talking about family and where you’re from. You’d have no idea if you never talked to them,” Young said.

she said:

18 // April 2014

After a smooth date with easy conversation, Nelson advises her fellow Gators to “definitely be yourself and talk about your interests. Even though the person isn’t interested in the same things, it’s interesting to learn about different stuff about each other.”

gabe garcia ‘14

taylor mcrae ‘15

he said: “Be brave,” taylor mcRae ‘15 Nam nobitas a voluptas eos doluptaquis rehendam quamenimpori sedi aut dolorep ratur?

Udantemquam, qui sinctur, corerchil is re suntur modi autectatur, essitat ecatur, coresti onsequam que plia

“just go on the fly.”

-gabe garcia ‘14

As an already outgoing guy, Garcia was “not really” nervous from the beginning. His plan for the date? “We’ll see how it goes and we’ll work from there. Just go on the fly,” he said.

Sometimes, it’s best not to complicate the date with expectations.

she said: McRae found a way to have fun with the awkwardness of a blind date.

“We kind of stared at our menus for a while. In silence. It got better as the date went on,” she said through giggles. “It was fun talking to someone new.

he said: Energetic Mistrot was “a little bit surprised” when he was paired with Lutton. So how does he channel his energy into a blind date? “Talk about anything and everything” he said. It definitely was not the worst experience of his life.

she said: becca lutton ‘17

henry mistrot ‘15

Lutton’s nerves dissappeared when she met her blind date She wanted to “try something new” and that’s what we provided her with. The thing that worked for her was that they “just talked,” Lutton said. You just have to keep the conversation going.

April 2014 // 19

their w

of diffe

20 // April 2014

world

an exploration of this year’s day without hate theme, “one person makes a world of difference”

erence

April 2014 // 21

behind the

scars

dom hill ‘14 lives with positivity despite past struggles He sits down in the hot car and is sweaty from track practice. The AC is blasting and he looks out the window thinking back to the past 18 years.

He plays with his hands and as he takes a deep breath, Dom Hill ‘14 begins to tell the story that changed the way he lives his life forever.

“It was a rainy night, and my mom decided to pack all of us in her van and drive 100 miles per hour on the wrong side of Highway 34. She hit a semi truck,” Hill said. “The car caught on fire.

My mom died immediately. I was on my sister’s lap in the front and my brother was in the back.

[My sister] broke her arm and neck protecting me.”

He looks straight ahead and without hesitation continues the story, like he’s told it a thousand times.

“I rolled under the dash board. Then, the good samaritans driving the semi truck came to pull all of us out,” Hill said. “Flight for Life came and took me and my sister to Children’s Hospital.

We were in the same hospital room. She died the next day, but I survived. My older brother also survived with only a scar.”

A scar is a mark left by a healed wound. A blemish that remains on the skin to remind us that eventually, cells will regenerate. But the pain beneath the skin takes much more than a bandage to heal. And leaves much more than a blemish behind.

Hill suffered from 3rd degree burns on 80% of his body, “My scars have motivated me to be a better person,” he said. “I could have been dead easily, and I just try to make the most of life. I try to be the person I would be without them.”

He smiles a little after telling the tragic story.

Hill sees past his scars and series of unfortunate events. “I want to be more than the kid that just got burnt,” he said.

Hill’s family has had many struggles and obstacles before Hill was even born.

“My mom had been in two past relationships and had my two sisters. And [my mom] was abused and got really messed up,” Hill said.

“Then, she met my dad and [he] used to beat her really bad. That’s kind of what led up to the accident.”

Although Hill and his family have suffered losses and faced struggles many can’t begin to comprehend, Hill acknowledges the positive

22 // April 2014

people in his life.

“My aunt Tina has been the most amazing woman in my life. She is the most caring, loving person ever,” Hill said. “I would not be anywhere near the person I am without her.”

Hill’s brother, Antonio Hill, was also a passenger in the accident in 1997. Throughout their childhood and today, their friendship continues to grow. “Dom is the most solid thing I have ever had in my life,” Antonio said.

“When I’m having a bad day or a hard time, I always sit and ask myself, ‘What would Dom say?’ and I think if Dom wouldn’t give up, I can’t give up either,” Antonio said. “Everything I do for myself I want to do for Dom, too. I want him to look up to me, to guide him and be in the best position possible to help him.”

A sparkle comes to Hill’s eyes when he talks about his relationship with his brother. They even have matching tattoos. “Me and my brother are really close now. I was mad that he left me when he went to college, but now I get it.

He had to go to college and get an education.

We’re really close now,” Hill said.

Despite his scars, his friends and loved ones have always been supportive and bring him.

“The people I have gone to school with are pretty amazing. I’m lucky,” Hill said.

He believes that it’s not about him--it’s about everybody surrounding him. Without a doubt, he influences lives of others and gives hope that anybody can fight through anything if they stay strong enough.

One of Hill’s good friends, Georgi Carter ‘15 is inspired by his outlook on life, despite his struggles. “I know he has been through more than anyone should ever have to go through,” Carter said, “If Dom can get through something like that with a positive outlook on it, I can too.”

No matter the past and no matter the struggle, Hill still finds a way to put a smile on his face and inspire one person, one heart at a time.

Hill still tackles struggles every day. Whether it be things like chemistry homework, football practice or remembering the rainy day in 1997, he stays positive and continues to live his life by inspiring others.

SOFT EYES

STRONG HEART

lacking a stable home, jessica olmstead ‘14 takes control She would run away from her dad’s house for miles in the dark to a quiet house full of empty bottles, and a woman full of alcohol. To go the one person she was denied to see, the one person who was always supposed to be there to take care of her.

She would run to her mom.

Nights spent watching Nicholas Spark films, tears shed over boy problems, homemade pedicures, those are the times when a mom becomes a best friend.

Alcohol can take that friend away with one sip of a bottle, they become a stranger and a child left to wonder, “why?”.

This is Jessica Olmstead’s ‘14 story, a story of growing up without that ideal, perfect American family. “When I was old enough to realize what was really going on, it hit me that alcohol can really affect people badly, depending on who you are and how much you drink.”

For Jessica, the perfect American family was only a dream. A happily married mom and dad, with middle class jobs, and a family wall full of smiling portraits to recollect all the life already lived.

“My parents got divorced when I was one years old because my dad couldn’t handle her alcoholism,” Olmstead said. “It just got really bad to the point where no one wanted to be around her. It was just hard to love her.”

The addiction became a part of her, and alcohol was something she needed for daily life.

“When I was going into the 4th grade, my sister and I got taken away from her and we were forced to live with my dad. That was the hardest time in my life because I’ve always been a momma’s girl.”

Currently, my mom is sober and she is doing well,” Olmstead said.

Jessica chooses not to be a victim of the environment she was forced to grow up in. But she couldn’t have done it without help from someone she looked up to as a role model, the person who really raised her. Someone who acted like her mom, when her mom was absent.

Her sister.

“Growing up, my sister was my mom and we’ve been so close ever since. Having her there with me, teaching me, showing me how to grow up definitely made me stronger.”

Not only did she have an older sister to look up to, she had another family waiting for her here at Standley.

“Freshman year, when I moved back in with my mom full time, I tried out for Poms, because I’ve always been a dancer. My coach, Tabitha, was there for me 24/7 and the team as a whole.”

Jessica couldn’t choose her childhood, but she does get to choose how it affects who she is and who she wants to become. Even with the memories etched in her mind of growing up with an alcoholic mother tugging at her every day, she never lost her smile. Bright eyes and a wide grin, Jessica continued to stay positive.

“I wouldn’t change my childhood because it has made me who I am today, and its made me into the strong individual that I have become,” Olmstead said.

Jessica knows first hand what it’s like to live with someone fighting an addiction and not having the most stable family life, but her story is similar to many.

With the consequences that came with her mother’s addiction, Jessica and her sister tried to change their mom’s choices.

Not everyone has the “perfect” family. Jessica has learned from her past and has had to grow up the hard way through her struggles. But her message can be an inspiration to others.

“We used to sit down and talk with her and I would say, ‘Mom please just be sober for me’ and she would say, ‘I can’t be sober for you until I want to be sober for myself,”’ Olmstead said.

“My best advice would be to not let it get to you as much as you can, because it’s their problem, not yours. As much as you would like to help, they can’t be helped unless they help themselves first.”

She needed to hit rock bottom before being able to work on getting over her addiction.

Years of alcoholism dissolved all stability from her mother’s life.

Life has a funny way of teaching us lessons-good and bad. The past doesn’t have to decide what the future holds, with some inspiring role models we can choose what life has to offer.

When all was lost, her mother finally decided to choose to become sober.

“She was sober for 5 years, and my sister and I moved back in full time. She went back out and started drinking and it got bad again.

Jessica chooses to not live by what she has endured, but what she has learned, “I will never ever ever develop alcoholism. I am choosing now-to not let that rule my life.”

April 2014 // 23

making the

change

Never feeling comfortable in her own skin, eLLIOT cahalan ‘15 decides to change from a boy to a girl

Y

ou don’t choose how you are born. You just are.

All your little genes get together to make one big DNA sequence, and then you become you.

But when who you are and what your DNA tells you to be don’t match up, you become trapped in a body that doesn’t serve you and a world that tells you the body you were given should not vary in the slightest to who you are.

Elliot Cahalan ‘15 found herself struggling against these so called norms. Cahalan found herself uncomfortable in the body of a male.

Cahalan found herself realizing she was in the wrong body-- instead, she was really a girl, not the boy she was born as.

“I’m not a boy, I am a girl. That’s just who I am.

There’s really nothing that caused it to happen, there’s really nothing that could change it for me,” Cahalan said.

Fifth grade--a time when, for many of us, the biggest worry was what mom or dad was going to pack in our lunch, or if your crush will ever look your way and crack a smile. Cahalan had a much bigger worry--the slow realization that her body and the gender roles that surrounded her did not fit with what she felt was right.

“It started at home. I was trying on different styles of clothes. It started privately, I was kind of embarrassed because it didn’t seem normal, but I still wanted to do it,” Cahalan said. “It took a while. Just last year was when I started cross dressing and figuring out how I’m more comfortable with myself.”

A quiet child, Cahalan observed those around her, learning that maybe being different wasn’t all that strange. In fact, she learned that society is one big mixture of different.

“I just watched people. I looked at other people and there are some people who dress like this

24 // April 2014

and others who dress like that. There’s a bunch of mixing, it’s just this weird mess,” Cahalan said.

After six years of self discovery, Cahalan was convinced there was no other option. So she became a she. She was a girl, despite her biological body. She came out as Elliot to her friends, family, and teachers. “What is it like being trans[gender]? It’s like being in straight jacket. I was forced into ‘boy’, and I felt really restrained and I felt really uncomfortable with myself. Coming out is like, ‘I now know who I am, I’m finally getting out of this thing and I’m finally comfortable and free’,” Cahalan said.

Although liberating, coming out was not easy for Cahalan to do. After a lifetime of believing their son was a boy, Cahalan was faced with the task of telling them that’s not true. The hardest part was for her to gather all the courage and bravery she had to type up one letter to her parents that told them their son was no longer going to be in confinement as a boy, but was making the transition into what she had always been--a girl.

“The hardest part was being brave enough to come out about it. I wrote a letter to my parents, but I spent an hour crying while trying to type it. It’s so hard but it’s something I felt I needed to do,” Cahalan said.

With a supportive family, Cahalan is awaiting to be approved by a specialized therapists to hopefully begin hormone treatments that will begin the process of a biological transition from male to female. Currently, Cahalan is transgender, not having undergone any biological changes, while the term transexual can be used once a biological change has been made.

While the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) community has become increasingly common, only 3.8% of the American population is a part of the community, and an even

DWOH behind the scenes a look into the backstage works of the day without hate club

q &a RALLY THE INS and outs of the

While most people identify with the gender and and body they’re born into, some feel it’s exactly what Cahalan said--a straight jacket.

Gender defines who you become and how you can act--if you are born with the wrong gender, are you supposed to accept that and defy who you are?

“Do you ever choose to be a girl or a boy? Do you ever choose what you are born like? Do you ever choose what your DNA is? Because it is a genetic thing. It’s not something you can change or choose,” Cahalan said.

Being confined in a body that doesn’t suit your needs will begin to feel like a never ending cycle of being locked up in a prison cell.

Day after day of waking up in a body you had no choice in creating and in a gender you had no say in receiving.

And then one day, you can break free of that jacket--of that suffocating confinement--and become the person you were meant to be. // j a m ey b u rk y, n at a s h a m c c o n e, a l i e s e t t j e, s ab r i n a p a c h a

WHERE WHEN

“It’s harder for people to wrap their heads around [transgender] than it is for two of the same sex people being together. Especially when it comes to understanding why,” Cahalan said. “Well if you’re not okay with it [being transgender], that’s fine. But don’t dehumanize me, show respect. I’ll respect you even if I hate you. I won’t dehumanize you, so don’t dehumanize me.”

The Lake: How would you describe the people in PeaceJam? C: I would say in PeaceJam we have someone from literally every corner of the school, and that’s the coolest part about it. We have jocks and nerds and every part of the stereotypical clique.

The Lake: What do you guys do to prepare for the big day? How long does it take?

R: The planning on a district, state, and national level starts really in September, and we meet once or twice a month, all the way through-it’s a ton and ton and ton of work. At the school things really kick off in January. It’s once a week, coming up with ideas and brainstorming as far reaching ideas as we can possibly come up with.

The Lake: What does it take to put on a successful event?

R: I think you’ve got to dream big, I think you’ve got to go big or go home. And I think that you have to work hard, to make that dream a reality.

Skies the limit for everything you do and know “ya, we can reach the sky, but it’s going to take a lot of effort... Why not? Why not us?”

The Lake: How has the visit of Betty Williams affected the way your group works?

R: During that assembly she looked me in the eye, and she talked about the kids at Columbine and she said “you owe it to them to do what you’re doing” and that’s what carried me on. That, with Day Without Hate we owe it to the kids, that aren’t here anymore.

C: A lot of days and a lot of things that we do I think “oh Mrs. Williams would like this and “oh she would love if she heard about this.” The things that she taught us and the things that she said to us when she came here, have really driven us to work hard this year.

Friday April 25th doors open at five show at six fireworks at 9

jeffco stadium 500 Kipling St, Lakewood, CO 80226

FLOBOTS WHO

The smaller population may contribute to why transgender seems to be harder for acceptance to Cahalan.

WITH THE PRESIDENT CHAYE GUTIERREZ ‘15 AND THE TEACHER, MR. BEN REED

to write love on her arms Satellite

to celebrate

WHY

smaller amount, 0.3%, identify with being transgender.

LOVE AND PEACE

April 2014 // 25

Taking a leap outside the box Long-time friends show a glimpse of their hidden side

Makenna Dowling ‘14 with her pointe shoes on mentally prepares for her rehearsal after school.

26 //April 2014

T

ake a look in Makenna Dowling ‘14’s philosophy notes, and you’ll find the margins full of words sparking her inspiration.

Spot Rachel Luebbert ‘14 hurrying to class, and you may see her deep in thought and maybe humming under her breath as creativity connects her ideas.

They’ve been friends for nine years, dancers for seven, and choreographers for five/six.

Leaping across the stage for them reflects the many barriers they’ve crossed: from pulled muscles to painstaking exercises, to rebounding from setbacks--something that all athletes experience, but that has surrounded their dance lives in particular.

The starting “pointe” They began dance at their local rec center in sixth grade, and after moving through all the levels available, both wanted more of a challenge, so they transferred together to the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities where they’ve since danced, performed, and now choreographed.

While their classmates might’ve been thrown into dance or sports as clumsy five-year-olds, Luebbert and Dowling started dance later and in doing so, felt like it was more of a personal calling. “I knew that once you get into dance, it’s kind of all or nothing kind of thing,” Dowling said. “If you want to be good, you have to be really committed. It wasn’t even a year, I think it was about six months that I took to discover that this was what I wanted to do.”

Due to their late start in dance, both Dowling and Luebbert felt as though it was a constant race to gain the expertise of their fellow dancers.

“I’ve really wanted to do something with dance. It wasn’t just like, ‘Oh, this is something fun I do after school,’ so it was always pressurized like ‘I’ve got to catch up, I’ve got to...’ I guess that’s good though, because it gives you the drive to get better,” Luebbert said.

with that. The judges like you or they don’t like you, so I just took it really personally,” Luebbert said.

The following year, when they both were sophomores, Luebbert joined Dowling in the junior company, but there were more challenges to come.

During that year, both suffered ankle injuries and were limited to sitting in the back of the studio for weeks. Dowling’s were more serious and sudden, while Luebbert’s injury built up over time and required rest.

Hobbling around in two walking boots, Dowling remembered when the doctor told her the bad news, how she didn’t believe it at first.

“When your life is built around your ability to move, then that takes away a part of who you are, and watching it, it was really eye opening to see how people act in class, and how people react to teachers, and it made me a lot more conscious of how I was.” Dowling said.

The harder part for her, though, wasn’t the sitting...it was the return back to dance that brought waves of frustration and inner turmoil to her.

“When you show a painting or drawing, you can set it up there and walk away...But with dance you have to be there with your art, and you are the art.”

- Rachel Luebbert ‘14

In retrospect, Dowling saw how her motivation to improve seemed to turn into an extreme consuming force. “I’ve come up to the same level of where other people my age are, and I think that I owe that to how I used to just drive myself into the ground and Tess, [one of Dowling’s teachers] told me when I was in that stage, ‘You’re just like throwing yourself into the ground and you’re not watering your seed or anything, you’re just yelling at it to grow, and getting mad when you don’t.’“ “I think there’s only so much growth that can come out of thinking and in dance, you can try really hard technically and everything, but until you just let yourself emotionally release and don’t focus on the competitive nature, that’s when you get your real growth and satisfaction from whatever you’re doing. That’s a big thing, just letting go and being more accepting, and just allowing room for yourself to be you,” Dowling said.

Putting on the audition face As Dowling strove to improve in her dancing abilities, Luebbert was trying just as hard, but was disheartened when their dance journeys changed routes.

Both her and Dowling auditioned for the Arvada Center Dance Theater Company, which has both a junior and senior division. Luebbert auditioned merely for experience the first year, but was disheartened when Dowling made it in and she didn’t.

She took it hard, wondering if she hadn’t been working hard enough, since they both had started at the same time. “It wasn’t anything to do

“Coming back is so hard because you’re used to doing anything and being unstoppable... it’s just the simplest movement and it makes you realize you aren’t bulletproof. It sounds unoriginal, but it’s just one of those things that really hits you when it actually happens,” Dowling said.

Blood, sweat...and tears The following year, last year, both of these girls walked into the audition for the top company “1” of the Arvada Center Dance Program with a little more familiarity, but anxiety just the same.

Luebbert and a few others who had only been in the junior company for a year were under extreme pressure to do well in the audition, as their hard work all year trying to catch up was on the line.

Perhaps it was an “off” day for Luebbert. Or the judges were especially critical that year.

Either way, while she still made it into the junior company, seeing Dowling’s name in the upper slots was another disappointment.

“When they make that divide, it changes everyone’s perception, and it changes your perception of yourself, and I think that’s just hard, but it’s been a really good experience,” Luebbert said.

Through their separate struggles they’ve encountered through dance, they’ve also found dance as an outlet to release tension, with both of them turning to not only doing the stress-relieving movement, but creating it too.

Choreography: an art and outlet First performing their own pieces of choreography in their middle school talent show, the pair has continued to create their own dances, with Luebbert entering solos in the PTA Reflections Contest and Dowling recently choreographing an ensemble piece performed in the company show last November.

Like any artists, the major items they require are inspiration and finding their personal style.

For many, starting out with a blank sheet of paper is the hardest part of the creation process, but for these two, the ideas never really stop.

“I think all dancers develop this sort [instinct] of whenever a song’s playing, there’s someone dancing in your head to it. It’s just a matter of actually writing that stuff down and turning it into something,” Dowling said.

Even without a song to inspire her, Dowling still sees that figure in her head as she fancies the rare idea to dance to silence. “It’s definitely a col-

April 2014 // 27

Too many steps to count

Different types of dance scream different emotions and portray different meanings

Ballet

The pretty light pink shoes, the tutus, and the shimmery done up hair are the first things that come to mind when you think about ballet, and the beautiful free choreographed dancing that comes along with it.

Hip-hop

(Breaking, Locking, Popping) the most common dance used in todays music videos, with upbeat rhythms and positive vibes tagging along.

laboration of everything to make a piece come together, but for me, I feel like it’s more in the movement. I think it’s just as powerful to dance to silence, because I think that’s what dance is.

I think you have a sort of disastrous piece if you do it without music and it looks bad, you know?

The movement needs to stand alone, and the music accents to it,” she said.

After choreographing several pieces, Dowling now believes she’s discovered her style in choreography. A piece she performed a while ago lead her to discovering what type of movement she prefers.

“I want to highlight more the human, ugly, down-to-earth aspects of movement, especially ballet. Sometimes ballet drives me nuts. It’s so beautiful, but it tries to make it so inhuman...

In my movement, I want everything I do to connect to the nitty-gritty side of human nature, that’s what I try to go for and I think once I embraced that, I’ve been able to embrace more the things that come naturally,” Dowling said.

Dowling faced challenges with putting her movement “on” other dancers. “There’s a look that you go for in your head, and it’s hard to translate because you’re seeing it being performed by a perfect body that doesn’t happen to have any bones or injuries. It just bends to whatever you want,” she said.

Luebbert has choreographed a collection of solos throughout the years for the Reflections contest, and has gone on to the national level for years. Last year, she introduced some of her classmates to this other side of her in a piece for her IB Theory of Knowledge (TOK) class.

The idea behind the assignment, to “create a work of art”, was simple, and indirectly aimed to show the class different sources of inspiration. “When something inspires you, wherever you get it, if you read it in a book or a dream, or in class, that’s the beauty of art. Inspiration can come from everywhere,” TOK teacher Mr. James McAvoy said.

“Seeing Rachel, who is very quiet, [dance], you can see a completely different side of her, which I had seen since I had come to her performances before. She really opens up, and that is her expression,” Mr. McAvoy said.

Tap dance

Black hats, and silver toed tapping shoes are the first thing you notice before the tap dancers take stage with their canes.

Rachel agreed with Mr. McAvoy in that dance is what she’s most comfortable doing, but still found it difficult to share with others. “It’s so easy to judge the quality of the movement or the way your body moves rather than the meaning, or judge the meaning and not really understand the quality and difficulty of the movement, so it’s hard to get people to understand that balance,” Luebbert said.

“When you show a painting or drawing, you can set it up there and walk away. It’s not like they’re judging you, they’re judging the painting,” Luebbert said. “But with dance you have to be there with your art, and you are the art.”

Contemporary

There is nothing simple about contemporary dancing, especially with all of the flexibility and emotion put into it. //sarah bennett

28 //April 2014

Keeping with this active versus passive mindset towards choreography as an art form, Luebbert has chosen to keep the art alive by adapting the piece she performed for her Theory of Knowledge class from a solo to a group piece to be performed by the Company II at the

Arvada Center’s dance concert, “Emotions” June 13-15.

To the song, “Color Blind” by Counting Crows, Luebbert’s piece is about personal readiness and revelations. “A lot people have their own revelations when they’re ready, and it’s either like ready to come forth and be yourself and break down the barriers, or you’re ready to change, because it’s so easy to get into a routine, or even your readiness to put on the mask, to take that sacrifice to hide yourself for some reason. So we all face these pressures at some point, the struggle when you reach that climax to change yourself because of pressures,” Luebbert said.

Similar to any other situation when someone must ‘put themselves out there’, Luebbert feels a little anxious for the ‘reveal’ “I’m trying to make it super powerful, so I’m excited for the audience if I’m trying to evoke an emotion, but also nervous for it, if they don’t understand my idea,” she said.

Final curtain...for now While other seniors prepare for finals and graduation, Dowling and Luebbert are also preparing for their roles in their ballet show this spring, “Babes in Toyland”.

At first hearing the show and casting, their feelings were mixed, but upon enjoying spending their last show together as partnersin-crime (literally, they’re villians in the story) and appreciating the originality of the show in general, they’ve taken to liking their roles.

“Now, looking at it, I like working with Rachel because it’s the two of us, if I can imagine me and any of the other seniors, yeah, I like them alright, but working with Rachel is nice,” Dowling said.

They both reflected that just as they took the

Rachel Luebbert ‘14 remembers her performance in her TOK class last year.

leap to enroll in their first dance class together, they are now ending their time at the Arvada Center together as collaborating roles in their show.

Moving (or dancing) on While their love of choreography and dance itself is apparent, their futures aren’t nearly as transparent. Dowling and Luebbert both expressed the continuance of choreography in their lives, but don’t know where and when their skills will be put back into use.

“Now I have allowed myself the comfort of realizing it’s okay if I don’t dance professionally because the last thing I want is for dance to turn from a passion to a profession, simply a profession, it’d be great if they could coexist, but life doesn’t always work that way all the time.” Dowling said.

“I was considering on top of dance I’d really like to be a neurodevelopmental delay therapist who works with kids who have things happen to them when they’re younger, that change their development, and they just need some exercises or some teaching and they can be fixed.” Luebbert said.

As the rest of the class of 2014 is sending, receiving, or contemplating college applications, Luebbert and Dowling have had to take it one step further and audition for each college’s dance programs. Luebbert did the “audition tour” to many colleges across the U.S., and they both auditioned together for University of Missouri Kansas City (UMKC)’s dance program.

As of press time, Dowling and Luebbert both received acceptance letters to UMKC and are awaiting scholarship packages. Luebbert also was accepted into CSU and the University of Wyomings’ dance programs.

One thing’s for sure though: dance will always hold a place in this friendship and their lives.

Even if the everyday routine of dance classes gets old after a while, “the active dancing and the surrender, it keeps me healthy,” Dowling said.

And just as Dowling and Luebbert began their dance journey together, they will be ending this chapter at the Arvada Center and SLHS, and like all other seniors, starting a new journey. Whatever path they take, dance will be there for these two just as they’re there for each other...every step (or pirouette, or leap) of the way. // olivia koontz //design by shylah ogle and olivia koontz

Top: Makenna Dowling ‘14 performs a hinge, one of the movements that comes most natural to her.

Bottom: Rachel Luebbert ‘14 pulls away from her quiet self at the Arvada Center studio.

April 2014 // 29

heartbreak warfare // chaye gutierrez Teenage girls get a bad rap for being these over-dramatic, hormonal freaks who cry about the most trivial things and exaggerate every event that has ever happened. And while I will admit that we can be a little on the crazy side every once in a while (or for some of us, a little more often than that), it’s not always our fault. It’s science.

As one of those supposedly dramatic teenage girls, I’ve been through my fair share of heartbreak. And every time I find myself in that pathetic situation after a breakup (think pint-size chocolate Haagen Dazs, Gossip Girl marathons, gross mascara mess you—know what I’m talking about), I feel really guilty for being so upset about such a little problem when the world is facing hunger, genocides, and civil wars.

But maybe we, as teenage girls, aren’t so melodramatic. Studies show that a broken heart can actually have physical effects on both the body and the brain.

When humans or animals experience physical pain, like a paper cut, the anterior cingulate cortex in the brain is stimulated—the same area of the brain that is triggered when we feel social exclusion or hurt from the end of a relationship.

And when we talk about the loss of love, we use phrases like “he ripped my heart out,” or we describe a breakup as “a slap in the face.” It’s because the pain we’re feeling from a broken heart is more than mental—it’s physical.

Psychologists have conducted studies asking whether people would rather be physically injured or feel socially excluded. The results show that people would much rather feel the physical pain than the emotional hurt. So, why do such different experiences provoke the same feelings within our bodies?

We use our bodies to protect ourselves from danger; when you grab a hot cup of tea, your hand will feel pain so your brain knows to let go.

This is how our bodies ensure their own survival.

When we think about evolution, anything that increases the likelihood of survival for a species is going to be kept around for the better of that species. As man has evolved, relationships of lovers and friends alike have become a vital aspect of survival. Simply having someone to look after and someone to look after you was a pillar in the evolutionary process, so just like we don’t want to be burned by that hot cup of tea, we don’t want to be alone. It causes pain.

Since we feel pain from both of these different experiences, the chance of survival increases because we know what to avoid - piping hot tea and ugly breakups.

Animals are much more likely to thrive, survive, and reproduce if they’re not alone. A study was even conducted in which primates were separated from their loved ones, and they underwent an increase in cortisol (the stress hormone) and a decrease in norepinephrine (a hormone that raises blood pressure). The primates cried and showed symptoms of anxiety - physical signs of their broken hearts.

After a breakup or the loss of a loved one, humans go through a similar response to the primates, and we perceive this as physical pain.

So when you find yourself crying into your Haagen Dazs and feeling upset with Nicholas Sparks for setting your standards too high, understand that your body is going through a biological process just like any other. Recognize what you’re feeling and allow that to move through you. But don’t hold onto that hot tea cup for too long—you have to let it go, acknowledge the pain, and allow your mind and body to heal.

life goes on // jordan gray Think of your life as a book. Every sentence, every paragraph, every chapter; a new day, a new month, and a new year. If you think about it, your book really hasn’t even begun yet. You’ve just opened the front cover and you’re in the prologue.

That’s all high school is—the beginning of your book.

High school is only four years out of your entire life. So what are all the petty fights and rumors really going to mean to you five years from now?

The answer: nothing. It’s all just going to become a faint, distant memory that happened back in your prologue.

I, just like you, have been heartbroken. I, just like you, have lost a best friend. And I, just like you, have had a rumor floating around school about

30 // April 2014

me.

One of the biggest problems I’ve faced was junior year; I was losing my best friend. There were no answers to my problems. I was at a roadblock.

I felt like I was losing my sister. I mean, who was I going to go to vent to when my mom was ticking me off? Who was going to be the shoulder I cry on when I was just couldn’t handle the stress from school? Who was going to be there to laugh hysterically over the dumbest things with me? Who was going to be the one I watch scary movies with all night at sleepovers?

If I didn’t have my best friend, who was going to be the person I do everything with?!

We hadn’t talked in months. The only interaction we had was the awkward eye contact as we

passed in the hallways and the fake grins we would give one another. We had no idea how to act around each other anymore; best friends of four years were now complete strangers.

At the time, it honestly felt like that was the worse thing that could ever happen to me. Now, a year later, looking back on the situation, we acted ridiculously. It was your typical, stupid high school fight. Needless to say, we’re best friends again... no...we’re sisters again.

People need to realize that the past is the past and to never hold grudges. As cliche as it sounds, life is really too short. You have a whole life ahead of you; you have a whole book that needs to be written, and how would you finish writing your story when you’re stuck in your prologue?

all hail the selfie

Ask a five-year-old girl to tell you what makes her beautiful. She’ll give you a list including her princess hair, bright blue eyes, candy red lips smothered in her mother’s gloss, and sparkling fashion sense.

Ask a twelve-year-old girl the same question, and she may shyly answer her bleached-blond hair or the new shirt she bought from Hollister.

Ask a high school girl, and she’ll tell you she’s not.

Girls grow up learning a “girl code” - a language of humility, of insecurity. Don’t be full of yourself and don’t be too confident. Tell people you look awful. You’ll get that confidence boost you need in return. When you’re asking questions, don’t raise your hand too high and don’t talk too loud. Walk down the hall with your head down, and don’t make eye contact. It’s a universal code for all girls.

Be humble.

And then they discover the selfie, which was named Oxford Dictionaries’ Word of the Year in 2013. Research says 91% of teens have snapped at least one, and with apps like Instagram constantly gaining users, it appears that the selfie is here to

The Promise

We strive to deliver the latest news in the freshest and most unique way. Our ultimate goal is to allow our community to utilize The Lake for all their news by creating an easy-to-reach outlet that is entertaining to all.

The FORMALITIES

stay.

But with all of the selfie’s popularity comes a fair amount of negative attention. People say it’s a cry for attention or a melodramatic tool to say, “Tell me I’m pretty.”

But the selfie is much more than that. The selfie is a tiny burst of pride for self-conscious teenage girls in a world constantly trying to tear them down with billboards of airbrushed models and a nationwide obsession with labeling any woman over 100 pounds as “plus-sized.”

If you’re thumbing through your Instagram feed and scoffing at these images of so-called complacent egoism, you’re going to miss out on seeing the beauty of young girls believing in their own self worth, despite society’s opposition.

The selfie suggests that you know you look pretty/ feel good/are having the best hair day of the century. And none of these feelings could be outwardly expressed in day-to-day life without some serious judgement and backlash.

But more important than anything, the selfie is revamping the standard of what beauty is. Beauty is

not the face of the six-foot Amazonian goddess on the cover of Vogue magazine. It’s the unbounded confidence coming from endless stream of #SelfieSunday posts full of beaming young women saying to themselves, “Daaaaang, I look good.”

The selfie is not a cry for attention. It’s not an obnoxious outlet for bragging. It’s not a teenage girl begging for affection from her just-as-needy counterparts.

The selfie is a rare moment when we feel good about ourselves - when the beauty on the outside matches the beauty on the inside. It’s a way to control how we are seen by others, and to show that we are proud of that image.

We are all struggling to survive in our own bodies.

We’re trying to learn how to love ourselves while facing who we truly are. So find joy in those bursts of confidence. When you’re feeling good, snap a selfie. And when you’re thumbing through your news feed and come across the countless posts of selfies that are bound to happen, be generous.

Realize that the selfie is more than just a photo it’s an affirmation of individual beauty, and a belief in the worth of oneself.

tHE PEOPLE Chaye Gutierrez // Editor-in-Chief Sabrina Pacha // Editor-in-Chief Ben Reed // Advisor Aina Azlan // Cartoonist

Jamey Burky // Team Editor Cassidy Conlon // Team Editor Kylynn Delohery // Team Editor

Olivia Koontz // Team Editor Alie Settje // Team Editor Emma Staton // Team Editor

Staff Writers // Esteban Arellano Marcus Asmus Sarah Bennett Jorday Gray Nicole Heetland Bethany Keupp Brittany Marks Emma Marlow Natasha McCone Megan Metzger-Seymour

Opinions or expressions made by students in this publication are not expressions of board policy.

The district and its employees are immune from any civil action based on any expression made for or published by students. The Lake is an open forum for and by the students, faculty, and community of Standley Lake High School. The Lake is willing to accept and print any appropriate articles submitted by the students of SLHS and reserves the right to edit any of these articles. We will not print letters sent to us without a name and signature. Submit letters to standleylakenewspaper@gmail.com

Ty Milliken Jeremy Minnick Tina Muscarelli Maddy Newlon Laurel Nordquist-Zukin Shylah Ogle Kelsey Paquet Ripley Ricketts Brendan Roby Morgan Rubendall Morgan Whitley

April 2014 // 31

W A N T A FA ST , E ASY WA Y T O F UND R A I SE FOR YO U R SC H OOL ?

DriversEd.com

Earn a 25% commission and save your friends 15% off drivers ed.

Visit DriversEd.com/ Associate-Programs.

makes earning your license easy.

Powered by Easy Driving School, LLC #4442

DRIVING LESSONS IN YOUR AREA

Fun, flexible lessons help you pass your permit test

Practice driving in brand-new BMW MINI Coopers!

DMV-licensed

Free driving lesson pick-up and drop-off

50 free DMV permit tests

Professional instructors teach you to drive

Get high school credit!

Drivers ed packages available Š2 0 1 1 Dr i v er s Ed . c o m . a l l ri g h ts r e se r v e d . *A p p li e s to o n li n e d r i v e r s e d o n ly.

ONLINE DRIVERS ED

DMV

licensed course

DRIVERSED

NT OU C S DI ODE C

Call us at 1-877-289-0 0 0 6 - OR -

3 S H CA

SIGN UP ONLINE

Get 25% off* when you visit DriversEd.com/CAHS and sign up for online drivers ed.

f a cebo ok . c om /D ri v e r s E d

SCAN ME

t w it t e r. c om / D r iv e r s E d c om