The Eyrie - Issue 2 - November 2022

THE EYRIE

V O L U M E 42, I S S U E 2

Autumn leaves and pumpkin please!

It’s fall, and time to celebrate

By: Makenna Aiello

Put yourself in this situation. It’s Tues day, during Advisory. You’ve just finished a thoroughly exhausting hour, whether that be chemistry, pre-calculus or Spanish, and you walk into your Advisory classroom ready to buckle down on homework. You see the teacher’s projector on, broadcasting upon it the weekly Social Emotional Learning lesson. What goes through your mind?

Annoyance? Irritation? Excitement? Dread? While the purpose of S.E.L lessons is to connect with students and get them to connect with each other, many high school students find themselves dreading Tuesday advisories, in which these lessons are carried out.

S.E.L. lessons were established to help improve student mind sets and facilitate connection between peers, and they include lessons on kindness, teamwork, problem solving, perseverance, community building, friendship, future planning, and careers.

While the purpose of these lessons seems positive and engaging, many students do not look forward to their Tuesday Advisories, in which these lessons are taught. Junior Afomia Mezgebu believes that the S.E.L. Lessons aren’t beneficial to Olathe South.

“It feels artificial because the teachers are just reading us slide after slide, and nobody is paying attention,” Mezgebu said. “I think it would be nice for us to just be able to relax and talk about our lives, especially since we are upperclassmen. It can get really stressful, and it’s nice to be able to talk to our teachers and our peers.”

Sophomore Lexi Ngo agrees with Mezgebu.

“I think they’re a waste of time because nobody actually pays attention, and the way they teach it is boring.” Ngo said. “It’s

On Advisory S.E.L. Lessons

just a slideshow, and even the teachers aren’t interested in it. They just talk about it and don’t really engage us. The way the lessons are taught are not helpful at all.”

She also explains how S.E.L. lessons could be changed for the better.

“I feel like just the simple act of open ing up to each other and being real and vulnerable would help us. We should be able to bond with our advisory teacher and with each other, and it’s hard to do that when nobody’s willing to talk or when nobody is inter ested in what we’re talking about.”

Freshman Ani Allen, sharing a similar viewpoint, discusses how the lessons should be common sense, and there’s no sense in trying to teach students skills they should already have. “It’s just common sense. I already know all the things that they’re talking about.” Allen said. “Honestly, I’d rather be doing my homework than learning things I already know.”

While Allen isn’t particularly in favor of S.E.L. lessons, she does believe that steps can be taken to change them. “I think a lesson that should be incorporated should be suicide prevention because they haven’t even talked about those things. But, I would opt to keep S.E.L. lessons if they changed them to be more in-depth and beneficial to us instead of just telling us to be nice.”

Freshman Julia Almeida also expresses that while the S.E.L. lessons are thought of as boring to some groups, they can also be helpful to other people.

“I think they’re helpful to some people, but others don’t really need them.” Almeida said. “Some things we learn are useless, but others actually help us. I don’t

necessarily need the presentation lessons, because I already have those talks with my parents and my friends.” However, there are certain lessons that Almeida thinks will help her in the future.

“I like the Xello lessons where we plan our future and our future courses. Those are very helpful for me. But I don’t like when we’re all forced to talk to each other, because nobody talks, and it’s really awkward.”

Freshman Kiera Spence believes that while S.E.L. Lessons can be boring, they can also be fun and helpful.

“There was this one lesson where we all made a slideshow as a class and worked together, and it was actually fun. Other than that, only specific lessons actually help, and only a few students benefit from them.” Spence said. Others don’t mind the lessons too much, but they dislike how it takes away their time to complete homework. Junior Ella Anderson relates to this issue.

“I just really don’t enjoy them. I always have homework on Tuesdays, and when you walk in knowing you have homework, it’s hard to get through the rest of the day. And I really dislike the videos, and having to fill out something with them but I still want to keep them if we can make improvements.” Anderson said. “Maybe a good idea would be to move them to Thursdays and have them be taught in one half of the advisory so that students still have time to do homework.”

Junior Adriana Tetley shares that while the lessons are helpful, they don’t stimulate connection between classmates.

“I want it to be more interactive.” Tetley said. “I wish people would talk, rather than the teacher just lecturing us

and us having to fill out a questionnaire on what we’re talking about. They should consider incorporating activities and games that make it more intriguing.”

S.E.L. lessons are important, and were established to help us as young people in a struggling world, but the execution of these lessons should be reevaluated. Rather than presentations, slideshows and questionnaires, I’m in favor of simple in-depth conversations with each other, or games that bring classes together. Talking about real, present issues is also important; things that are happening, real struggles that all students deal with and can help each other with.

There is no presentation that can address struggling students without making them feel as though they need to do homework on moral lessons. How many students listen, and then walk away remembering nothing? We have to work together, people. We have to share our feelings and talk to each other. We have to form friendships, and we have to learn that these people that surround us, are those who will be with you for all four years of high school. But that isn’t accomplished through a Power Point. So, for every teacher, staff member and student reading this - think about how you can change your Tuesday Advisory for the better. Reach out to someone who sits alone. Start a conversation that includes everyone. Speak up. Ask a question. Do something, anything, that will give your peers and students what they need: connection. Because like it or not, we need each other. We are the next generation, and we have to learn how to support and connect with each other. Maybe changing the S.E.L. lessons, and turning them into in-depth conversations and interaction, will be the first step.

“I wish people would just talk to each other. I want it to be more Interactive, rather than the teacher just giving us a questionnaire on what we are talking about.”Adriana Tetley

Art by Kai Magana

Does Academic Intervention Deserve More Praise?

By Mildred Garza

Two years ago the beloved Fal con 50 was replaced with a 45 minute class called academic intervention, also known as advisory. This change was not received with open arms, and to this day there are still students, and teachers, who wish it were possible to bring Falcon 50 back.

Advisory class was created among other things, so that students could have time to complete their assignments and receive mental health help during the S.E.L. (social emotional learning) regu lar Tuesday lessons. The question is, has advisory been successful for students? Let’s see what some students and teachers have to say.

“[I like advisory because] I get my work done for classes without having the pressure to do it at home,” sophomore Avina Wolterman said.

Advisory can also be used to “travel” to classes that students need help in or have missed important work on a day that they were gone.

“I find it very helpful for myself and for the kids that miss assessments, they can come in and make that time up with me or if they need some extra help they can come in and get it then,” teacher Elizabeth McClain said.

Students can also use this time to visit the writing center and get feedback on their writing assignments.

“I definitely think that people improve after visiting the writing center as often times, we will have repeat visitors who request for certain tutors as they have received their help before and viewed their comments beneficial to their writing,” junior Esther Lee said Clubs like STUCO, Women’s Empowerment, and others have recently started meeting during advisory, this gives students that aren’t available afterschool an opportunity to be a part of a club. “I find it helpful because it would be hard to fit my club into my outside of school activities without it interfering with important things like my job,” freshman Rebeca Ibarra said.

If you were to walk into an advisory class you’d find students laugh ing, talking, listening to music, doing their homework and participating during the Tuesday lessons.

“[Advisory is] helpful because it gives me a brain break in between classes. I

know I don’t have to do any mental work. If I don’t want to I can just sit and talk to my friends,” sophomore Kennedy Derks said. More specifically the SEL lessons teach students how to detect for example the signs of suicide and how to reach out to a trusted adult when someone needs help. They also highlight the importance of com munication. SEL lessons encourage students to speak up and share the sad, angry and even happy moments we go through in life. It normalizes feeling sad, leaving students with the reassuring feeling that being sad and tired are acceptable feelings because we carry a lot of weight on our backs balanc ing school, work and a social life.

“It’s a harsh topic to talk about but it’s helped me build the confidence that I will need if I ever need to talk about mental health and suicide. It also makes you think more about who you could talk to and realize that there are people who are willing to listen,” senior Jamileth Martinez said.

Although the idea behind advi sory is for students to take advantage of the time to improve academically, for most students, advisory is also a comfortable environment because they have built or are building connections.

Advisory has helped a lot of stu dents mentally and academically. Teachers have the opportunity to help their students during this time to get them caught up with homework or assignments they miss.

“I know of people that have improved because they use the time to get help from their teachers when they need it,” sophomore Zoe Juarez said.

Just like with regular classes, advi sory class does not change unless a teacher leaves their position at South or the student consults with their counselor and gives a valid reason as to why there should be a change with their advisory class. This small detail is loved by

teachers and students because it helps them build wholesome relationships with each other and be the supportive, caring adults many students need, especially during high school.

“I’m very impressed with their growth over the last three years, I’ve seen them through a lot of different stages of their lives, they have turned into really incredible people,” teacher Melissa Campos said.

Advisory has proven to succeed in multiple ways, unfortunately it also has its disadvantages. Among other things, something that has caused discomfort is during block days when it expands into a 95 minute class.

“I think the idea of advisory is good, I think students deserve a break and a time to complete and catch up with as signments. I’m just not sure if the way we’re doing it right now is the best way to do it,” said Juarez.

These 95 minute classes are won derful if you miss a big test or a chemistry lab but not so much if you don’t have any missing work or anything to do. Students often find themselves bored when they don’t have things to complete.

These students take this opportu nity to take naps or play video games, this is wasted educational time that could be used for better things.

Although advisory is not as beloved as Falcon 50 and it has things that could be improved, in general advisory has helped students academically and emotion ally.

“My grades have improved be cause of me having time to visit my teach ers. I wish we did the advisory lessons every other week instead of every week because there are times when I wish I could go to advisory on Tuesdays,” junior Afomia Mez said.

photo by Mildred Garza

Fall Favorites

Students talk about their favorite things about fall

By MJ Garcia

Autumn is here and students are feeling gratefall for this season! A hand ful of students shared their favorite things about fall, what are your favorites?

Junior Sara Allmon loves all of the fall essentials.

“I love the weather and the trees and the colors. I love Halloween too, cause it’s a fun time of the year. I also love going to pump kin patches and cinnamon is my favorite thing.” Allmon said.

Allmon also shared that one of her favorite fall treats are cider donuts. Despite this, she has “actually never been to the cider mill” but has made it a goal to go this year. Allmon shared her favorite fall traditions outside of school, but what traditions does she have within these walls?

Team building, of course! Allmon shared her anticipation for the upcoming Falcon Flight Crew pumpkin carving. Spending time with friends is an excellent way to celebrate the fall season.

Sara Allmon may be well on her way to becoming a senior cinnamon but even the elderly can enjoy the finer things

in leaf. Take Senior Maia Grimsley for example, whose favorite thing about fall is the weather.

“It’s not warm, it’s not hot. It’s cold! Not like freezing cold weather, but high sixties. Anything above is gross.” Grimsley said.

Grimsley said she “likes Hal loween” and that it’s “definitely up there” but what really makes Halloween special for her is the cold weather. What a surprise! Grimsley’s passion for autumn weather was enough to convince anyone of the wonders of the season.

Although Maia Grimsley’s grim preferences of a cold Halloween night are enough to send shivers down your spine, others prefer to spend the season curled up inside. Junior Kate Addleman shared her long standing tradition of watching “Gilm ore Girls’’ when fall rolls around.

“I would say my favorite thing is just watching Gilmore Girls because I do every fall. It’s just a fall show vibe. I love all the characters and the plot is really fun.” Addleman said.

Dean Forester fell for Rory Gilm

ore like the leaves fall from a forest in au tumn, what a sweet tradition to rewatch this classic drama. While some people prefer to spend their autumn up inside like Kate Addleman, others prefer to stay inside and connect with their friends via the internet like Junior Cole Adams.

“My favorite holiday is definitely Halloween, so it’s kind of fun to see every one get all dressed up and ready. It’s just fun to get out, and if you go with friends it’s really fun because you’re just hanging out for a night and walking around,” Adams said. “Now my parents don’t really want me doing that anymore. I’m probably just go ing to see if my friends want to play a game online or something.”

Although Cole Adams may not be creepy or kooky this Halloween, he’s al together spooky when Thanksgiving comes around. Adams shares his love for spending time with his family, no matter how mysteri ous and spooky the Thanksgiving feast can be at times.

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons

You Define: Olathe South

Are you okay with being alone?

By: Hudson Marmon Editor-in-Chief

Gen Z has been the target of copious amounts of criticism regarding their inability to sit still, stay off their phone for more than a minute, or as my middle school band director put it, “do nothing.”

Now, I’m not complaining, this criticism is most definitely justified, in fact one question I had for myself and other members of my generation is: are you okay with being alone?

While everyone I asked answered “yes,” the degree of isolation and rationale varied from person to person. Senior Luke Geier, explained how, with age, he has grown more comfortable with spending time alone.

comfortable being alone and you don’t need someone else to have fun.”

Geier explained some of the ben efits he has experienced from taking some alone time.

“You’re able to think by yourself and establish your own thoughts, and your opinions are formed by yourself instead of other people,” Geier said. “You’re influenced by your own thinking, which is healthy.”

Despite being comfortable spend ing time by yourself, Geier believes that socializing regularly is important.

“I think you definitely need to talk to people on a regular basis,” Geier said. “ It’s different for everybody, but you still need to have friends who you can count on if you need something; just to check in on you day to day, make sure you’re doing good,” he said. “You kind of lose touch with people the more alone you are for longer, so it’s still important to see people.”

Junior Joseph Kuehnen, agreed that it’s important to find a balance, reaping the benefits of alone time, but also making time to carouse.

Kuehnen gave recognition to the fact that you can’t always handle problems alone.

“Sometimes it’s hard to be isolated, just with yourself, and you need some outside input to kind of help you with a difficult situation or whatnot,” Kuehnen said.

Junior Faith Balda believes that being alone gives you a chance to unwind. “It’s less energy I have to put out because I don’t have to think about hanging out with another person,” Balda said. “And then it’s kind of just relaxing time, it gives you a break.”

Geier said. “I think it’s important to estab lish a good sense of self so that you feel

“I don’t seek to be alone 100% of the time, but I definitely do see the ben efits of having some time to be with your thoughts.” Kuehnen said.

On the downside Balda believes without people around it’s hard to find things to do.

“You’re alone: you’re bored,” Balda said. “There’s not much to do; you miss human contact.”

“I feel like the older I’ve gotten, the more okay I’ve become with being alone, by myself and in my own thought,”

“You get to know yourself better in a way that you don’t really get to when you’re just completely extroverted and talking to other people.”

Photo by Heathe Springer

Thanksgiving Football: An NFL Tradition Does there need to be change in the teams that play?

By Quinton Coats

American Football has been around since the late 19th century, and it has been played on Thanksgiving since 1920. This tradition dates back more than 100 years. Fans all over the nation enjoy their turkey and mashed potatoes with a battle on the gridiron. Annually, two teams in particular have the opportunity to display their abilities on the sacred turkey day, and that is the Dallas Cowboys and the Detroit Lions. The Cowboys have been playing on the last Thursday of November since 1966, while the Lions have played since the NFL’s first Thanksgiving game: way back in 1920. This year will showcase teams such as the Buffalo Bills, New York Giants, New Eng land Patriots, and The Minnesota Vikings.

The Buffalo Bills and The New York Giants have been two really solid teams. Bills and Giants fans are excited that their teams are playing prime time on the autumn holiday.

“Absolutely, I love that we’re playing on thanksgiving, unfortunately they picked us against a very mid opponent, but other than that, win a football game by like 30, eat some turkey legs, it’ll be a good one,” junior Gavin Blachowicz said.

The Bills will play the regular

Lions in Detroit this Thanksgiving, which could be a blowout in the Bills favor.

Some fans don’t like that the NFL always showcases the Cowboys and Lions. There has been a recent push to get more teams showcased on Thanksgiving.

“Yes, there needs to be a different variety because it gets boring seeing the same teams playing over and over again,” sophomore Camden Sander said.

This year’s schedule allows for new teams such as the Vikings and Patriots to get into the spotlight. Fans all over the nation have the opportunity to watch differ ent styles of football.

Fans of the teams that always play on thanksgiving generally like that their team plays on the holiday.

“I like that they play on thanks giving because it makes it easy. My family, we’re all big cowboys fans…after we have our thanksgiving lunch/dinner we go and we all watch the thanksgiving cowboys game together,” senior Megan Proberts said.

Each family has their own holiday traditions but for the Proberts family, watch ing football is a part of their traditions.

“We try to make it a tradition.

After we eat, we go and watch the game, and we all kind of celebrate or we all kind of cry,” Proberts said.

The Cowboys face off against their divisional rival, The New York Giants in a highly anticipated game. This game could have NFC East title and playoff impli cations down the road.

The NFL looks to expand the Thanksgiving slate in the years to come by adding different teams playing against different opponents. With the addition of 3 games in recent years, more teams are entering the spotlight. Additions with the Vikings and the Patriots helps the NFL cre ate more revenue and allows the fans to see there team play on the National Holiday. Two things are for sure, the top perform ers from each game will be presented with massive turkey legs along with an interview with Erin Andrews, and the Cowboys and Lions will always play on Thanksgiving, it is just tradition. Thanksgiving Football, a tradition that will live on for centuries to come, enjoyed by fans all across The United States and the World.

Thanksgiving Traditions

From our houses straight to you

By, Brooke Burbidge

Thanksgiving is a time of year full of family and recognizing what you are thank ful for, the students at South have a week long break to spend at home not worrying about school. Let’s take an inside look at how two students celebrate the day.

Junior Maddie Day hung out with her family all day.

“My sister, my parents, we also spend it with my cousins, uncles and aunts and grandparents,” Day said.

A typical Thanksgiving revolves around the food that is being cooked. Sophomore Avina Wolterman shares her favorite dish mash potatoes on the table.

“Mash potatoes are my favorite but the other dishes on the table are usually green beans, turkey roast, and cheesy corn stuffing,” Wolterman said.

Day goes to both or her parents’ sides of the family Thanksgivings, her moms side in the family in the afternoon then wrapping up the night her immediate family drive over to her grandma’s house on her dad’s side.

“We go to my mom’s aunt’s house in Missouri and for my dad’s side we go to my grandparents house which is close,” Day said.

How does your day go?

“Wake up we start the cook ing prep for what we are making get ready and then by 11:30 we leave our house to get to my aunts house then at 12:30 and we eat and talk for hours and then we do the same for my dads side but just dinner,” Day said,

“Wake up, get ready for pictures. We then go to the pumpkin patch and have a chill thanksgiving with just my immediate family, I chill for a long time, then go over to my uncle's house to eat, then wrap up the night watching movies,” Wolterman said.

So much time is spent on cooking and preparing the meal. In Woltermans house hold they have a potluck and sign up to bring different things but everyone who attends chips in a dish of food.

“We have a team effort. One year we will do something and my uncle will then the next year we will switch it up,” Wolterman said.

Family traditions that you have been doing since you were a kid are very mean ingful for some. Day spends the next day with her family as well continuing on traditions from years ago.

“The day after Thanksgiving we have a girls brunch and every year you bring one item and last year it was ornaments then you pick a random bag and it’s like a gift exchange at the brunch,” Day said.

Having a family competition is a fun way to spend the day and have game time with the family, in the Wolterman house this is exactly what they do.

“Yeah, carving pumpkins with parents and brother and it’s a competition because my family is extremely competitive,” Wolterman said.

Pecan Pie

Apple Pie

Pumpkin Pie

Caffeine Use on the Rise

Though caffeine has its benefits, most people think being addicted is bad, but some students think otherwise.

*The Eyrie does not encourage the consumption of unhealthy amounts of caffeine

By: Timothy Wood Managing Editor

Many people use caffeine for lots of things. Junior Kyle Christensen uses caffeine in the form of pre-workout for the gym.

“I am an athlete, it’s just a lot bet ter for lifting for athletes. Lifting with some sort of stimulant is much easier than lifting without it,” Christensen said.

Junior Andrew Hitchcock takes Transparent Labs’ BULK BLACK preworkout.

“It’s a lower [stimulant]so it’s only got 275mg of caffeine, but the other ingredients are higher dosages so it is more potent.”

Junior Even Beaman describes why he uses pre-workout and how much he uses for a workout.

“I usually use Ryse or Total War, and it is the powder and not the energy drink. On heavy lifting days I only try to take one to 1 1/2 scoops, which is about 300 to 450mg of caffeine, and on light days I try to not take anything unless I really need it,” Beaman said.

Christensen says it depends on what type of workout he is doing, for how much he takes a workout.

“I take pre-workout [and] energy drinks. Depends on if I am playing a game or just lifting. I usually take about one scoop of pre-workout a day, it’s 200 to 400mg a

day. I take it for either playing baseball or lifting,” Christensen said.

Hitchcock says pre-workout gets him going. It makes him feel more ener gized and enables him to lift more weight. “It gets me going, it makes me feel spry, more focused, and more locked in. I take just one scoop of pre. One has enough stuff in it to be a clinical dosage. It’s dosed high enough that I don’t need more than one,” Hitchcock said. ”It would be pointless.”

Due to his extreme amount of caffeine consumption, R, wishes to stay anonymous.

“I use it to get a huge pump, and it wakes me up before my workout. I use Woke AF. It works the best for me. Preworkout is very individual; what works for me, won’t work for anyone else,” R said. R says it depends on the day for the amount of pre-workout they take in their workout session.

“Leg days I can take upwards from 900mg of caffeine, and normal chest days 600 to 800mg of caffeine,” R said. R talked about the most amount of pre-workout they have taken in a day. “1,700mg, because it was a leg day. And I hit two different leg days in a day, so I took the same dose twice. I do just the scoops no energy drinks. I am aware of the risks, but I am absolutely not condoning this to other people,” R said.

The Start of BasketballBoys

The start of the boys basketball season is coming up soon. Players and fans are excited for and hopeful for a winning sea son

By: Abby Wallace

The start of the boys basketball season is coming soon. After last year when the team lost the first round of the postsea son, a lot of the starters graduated. This year eyes are on new seniors and juniors to take over the team.

Senior Tucker Armstrong was a team leader last season. He was one of very few juniors that played varsity last year and is returning this year as the most experienced in what it takes to play varsity. Armstrong will continue to perform a major leadership role in this team throughout the season.

“I’m the only returner, so I’ll definitely have a big leadership role this year. We’re really talented, but we’re young so we’re going to have to buy in early and I think I’ll play a big part in that and lead our younger kids,” Armstrong said.

Armstrong is a point guard and shooting guard. He has many game high light videos of him making three pointers throughout last season. Last season against Olathe East on Jan. 14, Armstrong was seen silencing the East student section after they had chanted at him repeatedly before he made another three pointer.

“I fuel off of it [opposing fans

shouting]. I like when people try to start talking, it allows me to play a bit better and I play better with emotions too. That game was a lot of fun, that’s why this year will be pretty fun,” Armstrong said.

There are high hopes for this season. With a talented but young team there’s not much to know about the season leading up to the start. Players are hopeful for a successful season and to play the best they can against tough schools.

“I just hope we are more bought in than we are right now and I think if we’re bought in we can be a very good team,” senior shooting guard Brayden Sill said.

Last season, the team beat Olathe West in a shooting battle where they ended up winning with a buzzer beater. Unfortu nately, when they played again in the first round of playoffs, West ended up winning, ending the teams season with a 12-11 record. Last year didn’t end the way many had hoped, so this year they are looking for redemption.

“I want West again and I want to beat them and then I want to beat them in sub state,” Sill said.

Senior Brayden Sill shoots a basket on 11/30 at late night last season.

Junior Will Allen goes in for a dunk on 11/30 during late night last season.

Senior Tucker Armstrong quiets the Olathe East student section after making another three-point er on 1/14 last season.

photo by Coral Netten

photo by Coral Netten

photo by John Hendrickson

Meet the Student Nat. Animals!

Read about these five animals and find out what is so

unique about them

By Sydney Slaton Editor-in-Chief

Student Naturalist, a class where you study and take care of different animals, is bound to be excited, but let’s look at five of the many animals housed in room 1012.

Hashbrown was actually donated, as opposed to being adopted or bought, a few years ago by a former student. Without taking the class, she bought a ferret and only had it a few weeks before she learned that “ferrets have a bit of a smell to them, even though they’ve been descented,” ac cording to Student Nat. teacher Joan. So, having found out about South’s program, she called and offered to donate our friend Hashbrown. And he’s been roaming the halls in his little harness ever since!

Petey was also donated to the school by a family member of her owner after they visited the school for an open house. Her original owner, Loretta, had moved away to an assisted living home and Radakovich told us “her family, no one really, they didn’t know what to do with Petey.” So she came to live here at the school! When she first arrived, Radakov ich said everyone thought she was a male parrot named Pete, “because Loretta called her Pete, and would call him ‘him.’” It’s not Loretta’s fault however, as “the only way to tell on an Amazon parrot if it’s a male or female is to do genetic test ing,” Radakovich said. But one year, a parent heard that Radakovich wanted to know if Petey was a boy or girl and do nated a test for the class to do at the vet. Everyone was so excited, Ra dakovich said, that they “had a whole reveal party,” where she revealed “that Pete was re ally Petey, a girl.”

Unlike the other animals so far, Shagwood wasn’t nec essarily donated direct ly to South. Radakovich told us that someone called to let the district know about their python that they wanted to donate, she said the “other Student Nat. teachers were like ‘uh-uh’” as “jungle carpet pythons are known to be bitey and aggressive.” But she went and stopped by to check it out and Shagwood turned out to be completely fine and he’s now been a part of the program for around six years.

photo by Sylvia Grimsley

photo by Sylvia Grimsley

photo by Sylvia Grimsley

The first three geckos were donated by a student who simply said, “these are so cool, you need to have them,” according to Radakovich, a pretty good reason to donate some animals if you ask me. Two of them, Pascal and Flynn, are a mating pair, but the third she says “did not make it, it ate dirt and it didn’t do well.” Since the other two of the original geckos are a mating pair, the class regularly gets new crested geckos added to their collection. The oldest offspring is named Finnegan, and they have four younger babies in a separate cage and two eggs in the enclosure with the parents right now. What’s interesting about the eggs and the babies is that “the sex of a crested gecko is dependent on the temperature in which the eggs are kept,” Radakovich said, and since it is so warm in her room, all the eggs will likely continue to be males like Finnegan and his four brothers.

Mosher actually has a pretty sweet story behind his arrival to the school.

In May of 2020, officer Mike Mosher was killed in a shoot out at a traffic stop. Officer Mosher went to Olathe South and taken Student Nat., so Radakovich said his friends “said ‘you know what, we want to give a memorial, a gift to Olathe South in memory of our friend Mike.’” Radakovich asked them for a black and white Argentine tegu, and “because he’s in memory of Mike Mosher, his name is Mosher,” Radakovich said. Not only did Mosher the human’s friends so generously donate Mosher the

lizard, they also donated a tarantula named Mike, as a funny nod to his fear of spiders. Unfortunately, Mike the spider has died due to not molting, but Mosher is healthy and loves playing with his tennis ball.

As you can see, the Student Naturalist class has a wide variety of animals to see and care for, and these are only five of them! These animals all come with unique personalities and stories.

photo by Sylvia Grimsley

photo by Sylvia Grimsley

H.E.L..P. Clinic

Olathe School District Mental Health Building

By: Peyton Walls

TheOlathe Public Schools have opened a clinic to support student’s struggles with mental health.

The clinic has resources and support that the schools may not have, but that also means this clinic is a non-school environment where things are public and seen by other students.

“If I’m a student, I may not want to talk to someone with the stigma of being in school,” assistant principal Sean DeMaree said. “I also may not want to go during class and miss assignments.”

Students need comfortable spaces when opening up; this facility will allow that to happen, and help students get the resources they need and deserve.

The website for the “H.E.L.P. Clinic’’ can be reached by going to the Olathe Public Schools website.

Go to the Olathe Public Schools website then find the counseling tab and under the mental health resources you will find a link leading you to the clinics website.

Once on the website, there is a brochure in English and Spanish for people to look at.

The brochure gives you all the information you need. Hours of operation, what the clinic offers, the location, contact information, a Q.R. code to sign up for sessions.

The brochure even tells you that each family gets six free sessions per year.

There is individual and family counseling, behavior consultation for parents, and group sessions when they are available.

Each family gets six free sessions and if the family needs more than that, then they are referred to another place where their needs can be met.

Students seem to not know a ton about this clinic. However, if they knew more, they would be more likely to go to this building to get help and refer people who also need help.

“I think that it would be very helpful because you’re surrounded by people going through similar things,” sophomore Addison Cardwell said. “I think it would be very beneficial to many people, including myself.”

Providing mental health resources for students is what the district is pushing for by making this clinic.

If students know that they can get more resources for coping, then they may

This clinic offers support for students and their families.

The clinic’s hours of operation are Tuesdays and Thursdays 4pm-6pm.

If you or anyone you know needs support and don’t want to go through your school, scan the Q.R. code on the website or call to make an appointment today.

be more inclined to go and get the help they need.

Getting the word out about the clinic is important to the administrators.

For students that come to them needing help with mental health, they recommend going to this building.

“Our counselors do a great job when students come in to get help, then helping them by reaching out to learn about [the clinic],” DeMaree said. “But if you haven’t been to a counselor or reached out for support, then it may not be something you know about.”

“I think they’d have more resources than the school,” Cardwell said.

“You won’t have to worry about the stress of telling your school principals and teachers about what’s going on.”

Addison Cardwell Sophomore at Olathe South

Sean DeMaree Assistant Principal at Olathe South

Change in policy was executed terribly

By Dalton Roberts

To crack down on students being tardy, the school has opted to implement a consequence system. The system has a good concept but the execution was poor. The tardies reset each quarter and the policy is also super confusing for students and teachers alike.

Teachers enter tardies electroni cally and they are rarely excused. This is due to the fact that administrators say the passing period gives students enough time to get to class. Tardies are not accumulated class to class, which means that if a student is tardy to 5 different classes, they don’t get the consequence.

According to the policy, after a student gets three tardies, then teachers will conference with the student and might involve the parents in problem-solving if tardies are habitual. This sounds like a good idea, but this does not happen. Teachers have over a hundred students and can’t keep count of each one, so students get to five tardies without a talk.

For tardies 1-5 the student is given an admit to class and teachers are instructed not to allow students into class without the admission from the attendance office. If the student goes into class and they are tardy then they have to leave the class to go to the attendance office. So, for being late, but still getting there, they have to leave and come back.

For tardies 6-10, the student will be assigned a lunch detention for each tardy and be put on an attendance contract. This consequence makes no sense because you only get the lunch detentions on the 10 tar dy. It will let students know that something can happen if they get more tardies, so as a start it works well. On the other hand, the attendance contract can easily be broken.

There are 39 days in the first quarter, of these, 25 were regular days and 14 were block days. That adds up to 256 school hours, excluding half days. This means a student would get lunch detention

if they made it to 251 classes on time but are tardy for a class 5 times you get a lunch detention.

For 11 tardies and up, students can get ISS, OSS and/or other interven tions determined by the administrator. Failure to serve the detention will result in further action. This seems like a good idea until you realize that for missing class, students have to miss class on the school’s terms.

In-school suspensions are trickier to make a consequence for tardies. This is due to there being a max limit of five people per day. Because of this, during most of the first quarter people couldn’t make up their ISS because there were so many. The other issue with ISS is that it goes on your record; this means that you could have a perfect record, then you are late to 10 classes and that’s gone.

Having ISS for tardies won’t help

The new tardy system has to make sense for teachers and students.

Photos by Dalton Roberts

because research has shown that not only is removing students from classes not effective, but could cause bigger problems for stu dents, the school and the community. This is due to the fact that it affects students’ behavior skills.

There are many problems with this; the student hand book says a com pletely different thing than the administra

tors. For example the hand book goes from 3 gets a meeting with a teacher to 1-5 is admission, 6-10 gets a lunch detention for each tardy then 11+ students may be assigned the following: ISS, OSS, and/or other consequences. The administration says 5 tardy students get lunch detention 10 tardies get 5 lunch detentions 12 gets ISS and 15+ get OSS.

The school needs to follow one or the other and not get students confused be cause they have 2 different rules. The worst part is that the handbook isn’t even clear on what actually happens. Confusing students and teachers on rule won’t help solve any problems this school has on tardies. Where are the updates on the rules that students can go to?

Photo by Dalton Roberts

Photo by Dalton Roberts

Is Daylight Savings really saving daylight?

By: Riley Story

Daylight Savings time (DST) was first practiced in 1908 in Thunder Bay, Canada. It was used to save energy and make more use of sunlight.

History:

On July 1, 1908, the residents of Port Arthur, Ontario, which is now Thun der Bay, turned their clocks forward by one hour, which had then started the first ever DST. Other places in Canada then started to follow. However, the idea of Daylight saving wasn’t popularized until 1916 by the German Empire. Within weeks, the United Kingdom and France started to notice and follow, which led to many other countries catching on.

Who Invented it?

In 1895, a New Zealand scien tist, George Hudson, and British builder William Willett, presented a paper to the Wellington Philosophical Society, propos ing a 2-hour shift forward in October and a 2-hour shift back in March. They were interested, but never followed through. Then, in 1905 apart from Hudson, Willett proposed another idea, considering we set our clocks back 20 minutes on each of the four Sundays in April, and switching

them back by the same amount on each of the four Sundays in September, a total of eight time switches every year. Finally after ten years of attention seeking, Robert Pearce, a member of Parliament introduced a bill to the House of Commons in February of 1908. The first DST bill was drafted in 1909 and took a while for them to examine it; it wasn’t made official law until 1916.

Does DST really save energy?:

Daylight savings time has been around for over 100 years, but is it really that life changing? According to many sources, only 30-35% think DST is effective, the other 65-70% do not. According to an article by Entergy, “DST reduced electric ity use by 1 percent but had no impact on home heating.”

energy per day.” If you think about it, it’s not that much. An average American uses about 1,250 watts of electricity a day, .5 percent of that is 6.25 watts.

Well, an ar ticle by Save on Energy states, “In 2008, the Department of Energy released a report stating that due to Daylight Saving Time the average American home uses about .5 percent less

So what would happen if we got rid of it?:

On the shortest day of the year, Decem ber 21st, we would experience an almost 9am sunrise and the sun would set around 5:20pm. On the longest day of the year, we would experience a 4am sunrise and an 8pm sunset. 8pm is pretty late, but I prefer the 8:30-9:30pm sunsets. According to Reader’s Digest, there would be fewer fatal car accidents, “It’s theorized that these auto accidents occur because of drivers who are tired from losing the hour of sleep after the spring change. If ending DST could reduce the number of fatal accidents taking place, that’s certainly more beneficial than ending Leap Day would be.”

Photo by: Creative Commons

Photo by: Riley Story

So what is it really there for?

How much Energy is really saved during DST?

Paper v. Plastic; is there a difference

The ecological tax of single use bags.

By: Xander Cha

You may think using your chique brown paper bag at Whole Foods is saving the environment, but you would be quite wrong. Both plastic and paper bags are extremely environmentally intensive as they produce a large amount of carbon, harmful chemicals, damage local ecosystems, produce intensive amounts of waste, and in general are simply inefficient and wasteful.

3.49 times, that’s how much more carbon it takes to produce a paper bag compared to a plastic bag. Paper bags are much more carbon intensive than plastic,their production also requires the use of various chemicals known for their ability to make acid rain. Sulfite salts with an excess of sulfur dioxide are used, ac cording to Britannica. An interesting thing about sulfur dioxide is that once it mixes with water and air it makes sulfuric acid. These statistics came from the Queensland Govt. and the US EPA.

Additionally paper bags are very tree intensive and therefore carbon intensive. The average tree consumes 20 - 40 pounds of Carbon Dioxide per year, so basically for every bag you can just add the 20 pounds of Carbon from a tree to it, though that’s terribly skewed. One tree makes roughly 700 - 1000 bags (ForestEcologyNetwork) so in reality it isn’t terrible, but it ain’t good. But it’s renewable, you’re probably saying, you’re wrong, half of the forest industry doesn’t replant trees at all, it’s just illegal deforestation. The other half harvests planted trees that take up 2.5 million acres of natural habitat and convert it into fast

wood forests, fast wood being trees that quickly grow but aren’t very good for their local habitat. Which has the effect of dis rupting or destroying entire ecosystems. In places where fast wood is coveted, such as in Brazil, the habitats of orangutans, chim panzees, and tigers all have been damaged or destroyed by the plant ing of fast wood forests However, the one benefit of paper is its biodegradability. This however is counter acted by their wasteful ness. As a cashier, I understand that if you put more than 8 pounds in a paper bag the handles will tear off, and you have to throw out the bag making paper bags extremely annoy ing, nonsensical, and wasteful to use for the majority of cashiers. Now to the controver sial plastic bags, they are equally harmful for the environment.

3.5 pounds, that is how much carbon diox ide is released in order to make one plastic bag, from CO2 Everything, a website which shows the carbon dioxide produced by certain materials. The average family takes home 1,500 plastic bags per year according to PSU. That’s 5,250 nonbiodegradablepounds of carbon dioxide per year, which tend to make their way to the ocean caus ing many adverse effects such as disrupting marine ecosystems. However, plastic bags do take significantly less carbon to produce.

Although we do consume oil like a Capri Sun on a hot summer afternoon and the oil industry is well known for its negative environmental impact. Just in 2021, around the globe, 97 million barrels of oil were produced daily. That doesn’t mean we are going to be running out of oil anytime soon. We have about 1.4 trillion barrels of oil left so you do that math.

As a cashier, which would I prefer out of the two? As I said, cashiers dislike paper, therefore I choose plastic, it is 100% more efficient than paper. Paper bags have the tendency to just fold and close so you have to spend 5 extra seconds opening the bag to get some eggs into a bag, compared to the quarter second it takes to open and put an item into a plastic bag. In an industry where time is quite literally money this 4.75 second difference is a big deal.

As a human being that breathes air and drinks water, I would much prefer someone bring in their own bags, not cotton ones, and use plastic reusable bags. They only produce 11 times more CO2 than plastic bags, can last for hundreds of uses, and they are recyclable when they do break.

In short, if you use paper you’re killing the environment just as much as you would if you use plastic. Use! Reusable! Bags!

WorldOMeters.com Stanfordmag.org scientificamerican.com Brittanica.com QueenslandGovernment.com PSU.edu CO2Everything.com ForestecologyNetwork.org

photo by S M R

photo by IndoMet

photo by flickr; arm exposed to concen trated sulfuric acid

Top 5 Thanksgiving foods to have on your dinner table

this year

Take a look at these top 5 Thanksgiving foods to help you decide what to put on your table this season.

By Mya Roberts

Photo by v Roberts

Why are we sleepy after eating a Thanksgiving meal?

The science behind you get sleepy after eating a thanksgiving meal.

By Serinity Bishop

Although thanksgiving is a time for family, feasting, and football. Have you ever wondered why after you eat your thanksgiving meal, you start to feel sleepy? Well, scientists have narrowed down the reasons why you feel tired after eating your thanksgiving meal.

One, turkey, allegedly causes drowsiness because it is packed with a nutrient called tryptophan. Tryptophan is used by the human body to make serotonin, which is a neurotransmitter. After eating a turkey meal, blood levels of tryptophan rise, which may increase the pineal, which is a pea-sized conical mass of tissue behind the third ventricle of the brain. Causing the production of serotonin, but not melatonin. Serotonin is a compound present in blood platelets and also located in serum. Melato nin is a hormone that tells your body when it is time to go to sleep it usually begins telling the brain to pump melatonin after sundown.

When we eat foods that contain L-tryptophan, this amino acid travels in the blood from the digestive system and later enters the brain. The brain then changes the L-tryptophan into another chemical called serotonin. Serotonin calms us down and helps us to sleep. When we eat our thanksgiving meal we consume a lot of food. Humans during thanksgiving con sume three thousand calories in food. Many scientists also say that eating a big Thanks giving dinner causes increased blood flow to the stomach and less blood flow to the brain. Having less blood flow to the brain causes us to get tired.

Also, scientists say that after eating a turkey dinner, several other amino acids circulate through the bloodstream. To get into the brain they must be shuttled across the blood-brain barrier by special ized transport proteins. Just like passengers trying to board a crowded bus, these amino acids compete for rides on these transport

ers. Not only does tryptophan have a small chance of riding alongside the passengers; but it also has to compete with five other amino acids for the same transporter. Being aced out by other amino acids, tryptophan thereby has a tough time hitching a ride to the brain. Without a place for this amino acid to go to the brain, humans feel sleepy. As you can see there are many reasons why humans feel sleepy after eating a thanksgiving meal. The main culprit be ing an amino acid called tryptophan, along with many other factors, make’s us tired.

Photo courtesy of Silvia Grimsley

What are Seniors doing after highschool?

scholarship doing the criminal justice program,” Sobelman said.

By: Reese Bratkovic

It is almost a semester into the seniors’ last year of high school. Which leaves the big, stress inducing question, what seniors are doing after highschool and what their feelings are about this chapter of their lives com ing to an end.

“Having a fun last summer and then I will be attending Pitt State University in the fall to double major in management and marketing,”senior Jillian Barrett said.

Some of our seniors have gotten amazing opportunities to continue not only their academic education but their athletic career. Senior Maddie Bell, will be attending Ottawa University where she will play volleyball and study Exercise Science. “I plan on getting my R.N. and going into either Labor and Delivery or N.I.C.U. nursing,” Bell said. Many seniors are planning on continuing their education at a college or university. Juco is a great option for getting pre-requisites out of the way, while saving money. Senior Liz Bonham is planning to take that route.

“I plan to attend J.C.C.C. to do all of my pre-requisites then carry on my education at Kansas University to become a travel labor and delivery nurse. I’ll live at home for another year then move out and get my own place while I’m at K.U.,” Bonham said.

Another senior who plans on attending J.C.C.C. is Alyssa Sobel man.

“After high school I plan to go to JCCC for 2ish years on the CTE

With adulthood being near, positive emotions and excitement about graduating is in the air. “Now that we are almost a semes ter into senior year I’ve become anxious about college and all the new changes but I’m also excited to feel a new sense of freedom that comes with being an adult,” Barrett said. The freedom that graduat ing highschool will bring is a popular exicitement.

“I’m ready to move on with my life and start a new chapter where I can balance my own life and have more freedom as an adult,” Sobelman said.

But this year doesn’t only just bring excitement but stress and anxiety.

Sobelman says she is deal ing with “stress from the classes I’m taking, this year I’ve definitely chal lenged myself the most to prepare for college.”

Even though senior year can be stressful, most of the feelings about moving on from highschool are optimistic and enlightening. “High school is fun and exciting but I am ready to start my next chapter. I want to take on the responsibilities of being an adult and I want to go to college and make my parents, as well as myself, proud,” Bonham said.

Not only are seniors leaving behind school, teachers and activities, they are leaving a lot of their childhood friends.

“I’ll miss my friends and the memories I’ve made during high school,” Barrett said.

Whether people’s journeys after highschool will continue at college, trade schools or working, the class of 2023 has a bright future and will make Olathe South proud.

Art By: Ashley Rottinghaus

Photo curtisy of creative commons

Photo curtisy of creative commons

Photo curtisy of creative commons

What Makes a Relationship Healthy?

By Kailey Donnell

Relationships are a common thing in life that almost everyone has experienced. But half of the time they aren’t as happy as books and movies make it out to be. How do you avoid this negative outcome, and how do you try to improve it?

“Communication is one of the most important things in any relationship,” Kyla Fitterling said.

To have a stable and healthy relationship you must be on the same page with your partner.

“You won’t get anywhere if you don’t communicate with each other. Even if you are scared to tell them how you feel,” Fitterling states.

It is always worth giving it a shot. Although, that doesn’t mean telling them in a rude way.

If being blunt about the problems that you want to talk about isn’t your thing, try code words. Talk to your partner about having a word that you both understand that means either one of you needs to talk about something on their mind. Anonymous, would prefer to not have their name in this article and states, “[they] would like to stay quiet, from personal experience.”

“ A toxic relationship can also happen when one person is investing more than the other person into the relationship,” Anonymous said.

Some relationships end up being one sided, a good way to make sure this doesn’t happen is making sure your rela tionship is balanced and equal. Example, if your partner gives you a compliment, go ahead and throw one back at them. If your

partner loves giving you gifts, surprise them and get one for them.

“Embrace your differences and celebrate your commonalities,” Anonymous said.

If you notice that you or your partner is giving more in the relationship then try to step it up, make them feel ap preciated and wanted in the relationship. When being in a relationship it’s always good to spend time with your partner, but sometimes too much time can be too much. You don’t want to have to be reliant on one another. You can still be independent in your relationship. Don’t forget to focus on yourself while your in a relationship.

A toxic relationship can start with small insignificant issues and builds up to larger issues and resentment. The minute someone in a relationship begins to not trust or respect the person they are with, tensions become high and the relationship becomes stressful.

A healthy relationship starts with a solid friendship. This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be friends first before dating as you can grow a friendship while dating.

“Relationships have a bigger chance of succeeding when you are not just dating but also built a great friendship, meaning you have each other’s backs in tougher times, makes each other laugh, and can have fun,” Anonymous said.

“23% of women and 16% of men have experienced partner emotional abuse,” Australian Bureau.

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons

Connections on the Court

By Addison Bell

The Lady Falcon basketball players are preparing for the exciting sea son ahead, starting with building a funda mental foundation of teamwork. With long-time coach Mike Allen retiring last year, Nikki Hoffman is stepping up as the new head coach. Having already estab lished close bonds throughout her seven years of coaching at South, the program is excited and ready to see what's next for the Lady Falcons. Senior Jenna Wiley speaks on how she thinks this coaching change will improve the team.

“I think she is also going to make sure that we are all doing a good thing for each other on and off the court. She will make sure we are strong as one unit,” Wiley said.

Junior Ella Anderson, a four year varsity athlete, is ready to take on the season with Hoffman as her coach.

“I think she's going to make it a team-first atmosphere. We are doing retreats and spending a lot of time to gether. As a team we are making it more, “‘let's improve ourselves”’ and that will lead to improving our game,” Anderson said.

One of Hoffman's first steps as head coach was to get the team in shape. Conditioning started in early October, consisting of lifting, swimming, running and doing just about anything three times a week to try and prepare for the upcom ing season.

“Through conditioning, we are really working on building grit and resilience, and mental toughness. From the get-go, we are building unity through difficulty,” Hoffman said.

The response to this change is overwhelmingly positive. The team is ready to take on the challenge.

“She knows what we are capable of. She has seen us in the classroom and on the court and she knows that we can be pushed to reach our full potential,” Ander son said.

This special player-coach bond is why Hoffman is pushing them this year. She knows each individual player and what they can do.

“She cares about us and knows that we feel good about ourselves during the game when we are conditioned and prepared,” Wiley said.

The team is ready to hit the court in November to get a start on practicing for the challenging competition they are ex pected to face. It looks as though Shawnee Mission South will be the biggest rival this season.

“We had a good game against them last year and so they are going to come out on fire and we're just going to have to match it,” Anderson said.

The competitiveness this team has is certain to come out this season and they are accepting the challenge with open arms.

“We are equal teams and it always comes down to the last couple of minutes and it's just a fun game to play,” Wiley said.

The competition isn't the only thing this team is excited for this year. The friendships and the connections built on and off the court are what players most look forward to.

“It’s the bond we have as a team. We all buy into the program and fight for each other on the court,” Wiley said.

The teamwork, communication, and dedication makes for an unbreakable team atmosphere and the coaches are well aware.

“Their energy and their willing ness to play for each other are what I like the most about this team,” Hoffman said. The Lady Falcons aren't just a basketball team, they are a family and that's what it's all about.

“We are always there for each other, we’ve been there, we’ve done it all, we've gone through pain together as a team, and that's what makes it so special,” Ander son said.

photo by Danielle Desmarteau

photo by Danielle Desmarteau

photo by Danielle Desmarteau

Wakanda Forever

As the sequel to Black Panther soon premiers, many fans anticipate a meaningful concusion to Chadwick Boseman’s role to the Marvel movies

By: Mia Rollins

The legacy of Chadwick Boseman is going to be expressed in the sequel to the Black Panther movie: Wakanda Forever. Ever since Chadwick Boseman passed away after his battle with colon cancer, Marvel has been looking for a way to honor his contributions to the Marvel franchise and his life as a whole. After his passing, many fans of Marvel wondered if the next Black Panther movie was going to continue. Whether or not Marvel was going to recast Boseman was a question that many fans had when the sequel to Black Panther came up.

“Coogler and Marvel have said many times that they never considered recasting T’Challa with another actor,” Devan Cog gan, staff writer at Entertainment Weekly, said. “Instead, Coogler’s hope is that Wakanda Forever will carry on Boseman’s legacy by expanding it with an entirely new

king of the city, Namor (Tenoch Huerta Mejía) is the antagonist of the movie and will provide one of the main conflicts of the story. Another main draw of the movie is Shuri, T’Challa’s sister, dawning the Black Panther suit to continue the fight her brother started.

“It’s emotional, heavy, intense & phenom enal. Namor is an incredible & powerful villain,” Tessa Smith, critic, said. “Wakanda Forever focuses on grief, loss, & vengeance. You aren’t ready for the Marvel logo & mid credit. It honors Chadwick perfectly.” Wakanda Forever is the second-longest Marvel film so far, with a run time of 2 hours and 41 minutes, right after Avengers: Endgame. Disney has already released two full trailers for the movie and many critics have already seen it for themselves. So far, it has received many positive reviews by most critics and many of the critics have stated

had a very emotional experience filming the movie, with Boseman’s absence being felt on the set. Many of them knew Boseman personally, and they found it hard to move on without him. But they’ve stated that they have persevered to give tribute to him through the movie.

“There’s that idea of grief and intense emotion feeling like it comes in waves,” Coogler, director of Wakanda Forever, said. “Sometimes a wave can take you away where you lose control of it. You think you’re in control, but the water can always remind you that you’re not.”

Wakanda Forever also wishes to continue the Marvel franchise in intriguing and exciting new directions, by introducing new characters and locations to the Marvel Cin ematic Universe. But above all, the creators of the movie want to celebrate Boseman’s

story.”

As for the plot of the movie, Wakanda For ever is said to focus on the repercussions of T’Challa’s (Chadwick Boseman’s character) death. The rest of his family like Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) and Shuri (Letitia Wright) have to cope with the loss along with dealing with the dispute with the undersea city off the coast of Africa. The

how emotional and impactful the movie is. “Black Panther Forever prioritizes senti ment over spectacle and for the most part it’s a transporting and engrossing triumph” Drew Taylor, critic, said. “Arguably Marvel Studio’s most deeply felt and emotional resonant extravaganza. Also Ludwig’s score is an all timer.”

Members of both the crew and the cast

life and legacy through the film while con tinuing the story of Wakanda in Marvel. “I got to have him in my life for the short time that I did,” Kevin Feige, President of Marvel Studios, said. “More importantly, he did it at such a young age, such a body of work, that it will last forever. Generation after generation after generation will get to feel his presence.”

Photo courtesy of Creatvie Commons

Is The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade for Thanksgiving or Christmas

In 1924 the first parade Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade was held, but was it really for bring in Thanksgiving cheer, or for the biggest shopping hoilday?

By Maggie Flannery

Fall is finally here! What makes Thanksgiving better? The Macy’s Thanks giving parade! This parade is the biggest one in the world, it takes over 10 million dollars and 8,000 people to put on each year. Not to mention the millions of people who watch the parade around the country. The Parade starts on West 77th Street and Central Park and ends on Macy’s Herald Square, making it 2.5 miles, and 3 hours long. Starting at 9, going to noon, just in time for turkey.

Ever since the start of the parade in 1924, it has been known as the start of the holi day season but is it really just a cover for a Christmas parade? The old name was even the Macy’s Christmas Parade. So what changed? Why is Thanksgiving the cover for what is supposed to be a Christmas parade?

Macy’s, although popular, is not the first to have a Thanksgiving parade. Philadelphia Gimbel Brothers Department Store was actually the first to have the idea to have a parade around the start of the Christmas season to get more people shopping at

their department store. Their parade consisted of only 50 people, 15 cars, and one fireman dressed up like Santa. No, that means no Tom Turkey!

A few years later, not only did Macy’s decide to have its own parade to celebrate their 1 million square feet of store space. Macy’s also just wanted to bring in new customers for the biggest shopping season which is understand able.

After the parade the first year was such a success, Macy’s decided to have one the following year. That next Thanksgiving, they started to bring animals from the Central Park zoo to march in the parade, but they would get tired quickly. Thus the debut of the first helium balloon to be put in a parade. The first one was none other than Felix the Cat, a very popular character of the time. This particular cat was made during the silent film era, mostly for children but is still the most recognizable cartoon, next to Mickey Mouse.

Now the parade has 16 of the giant

balloons and 28 floats, also has around 40 novelty and heritage inflatables, and many schools marching as well. With this being the 96 annual parade it is bound to have many surprises that we will just have to watch when turkey day arrives. I, for one, can not wait to see it.

Photo by Sylvia Grimsley

By Mia Pham

Christmas Controversy

Christmas decorations and when to put them up has always been a contro versial topic discussed every year.

But when is the appropriate time to put up your festive decorations?

Many people believe that the right time to put them up is after Hallow een or a day after Thanksgiving, some even as late as Christmas eve.

I believe the right time to put up your Christmas decorations is any time after Thanksgiving.

If you put up decorations too early, it makes no sense and doesn’t give off the true Christmas vibe.

When do people put up Christmas Decorations?

Before Thanksgiving After Thanksgiving

If it isn’t freezing cold and winter break isn’t approaching soon, then is it really the time to be celebrating?

As well as that, you’ll most definitely get looks from people driving past your house in Octo ber or early November because it just isn’t the right time. Then again, putting up Christmas decorations too late can also be a bad idea. If you put them up on Christmas, or even a week or less before Christ mas it’s useless.

If you leave up your Christmas decora tions too long, like how some people leave them up as much as all year. You are wrong for that, it’s weird enough seeing decorations still up in February.

photos courtesy of Creative Commons

R.I.P. HBO Max

By: Christian Steger

Warner Bros. was recently bought out by the cable and streaming company Discovery. Extremely massive changes were made to the company very shortly after. CE David Zaslav has ushered in several cancel lations, tax write offs, and soon to be, the death of HBO Max. Why would they take down one of the fastest growing streaming services of all time? Why only two years after the start of the service? Let’s dive in!

Discovery had two major forms of entertainment before buying the com pany. They had the cable channel Discov ery, and Discovery Plus. Both relatively unsuccessful and not high in cable ratings or in subscription purchases. But they then bought Warner Bros. from AT & T. They inherited a lot of previous debt from the company. To broaden both of their companies’ horizons they are now currently looking to combine both of their libraries in a service other than HBO MAX.

To save on money they then decided to make the first series of ques tionable decisions. They wrote off 40+ shows for tax write off that now have no home or location to watch. They canceled an upcoming Batgirl film with Michael

Keaton, Brendan Fraser, JK Simmons, and several other A List actors. They scrapped the development of a Batman adult animated series, a Super man television show, delayed several movies, have yet to green lit a sequel to The Batman, released a $9.99 version of HBO MAX with ads, put several upcoming films and projects at home. This also means a potential end to several HBO shows that will no longer fit the 16-24 brand that CEO David Zaslav wants to entertain. A new service that combines Warner Bros and Discovery is said to be also even more expensive than HBO MAX, which is already $14.99 a month. They have truly said goodbye to what could have been a streaming service juggernaut, which will be put to bed by late 2023. Do You Use HBO MAX? “I borrowed it from a friend.” - Audrey Stover

What is the last thing you watched on the service? “I think Halloween Ends”Brayden Christiansen

Goodbye to the short lived success of a service.

Pictures Courtesey of Creative Commons

ABOVE Cooper Warren, junior, catches the ball at his varsity football game against Shawnee Mission NorthWest High School on Friday October 7th, 2022. Warren says, “It was a good team win, felt pretty good and set us to the playoffs.”

PHOTO BY ALLIE ELTON

LEFT

Color guard dance around the marching band spinning colorful flags in step with the music. On October 22nd, The Olathe South marching band had their final festival of the season. The show was called Firebird, and the colorguard wore corresponding outfits, the band also flew a phoenix in the air. The senior color guard member Andrea Lam said, “ I was really trying my all, and even though we didn’t go to finals. I think we still did really well, and I had a lot of fun.”

PHOTO BY DEVON SCHMIDT

Taylor Nielson blocks the ball during Dig Pink against Olathe North. Nielson has been playing for 7 years as a setter. Nielson was excited for Dig Pink and “feeling good about playing for a good cause.”

PHOTO BY ADALYN SPARKS

ABOVE LEFT

Junior, Ashlyn Eubanks Lines up her put at the Sycamore Ridge putting green.“I like to sit down with the ball to get closer so I can be more accurate with lining up the putt,” Eubanks said. The putt sunk into the hole and gave Eubanks a sign of relief.

PHOTO BY GRACIE AKERS

RIGHT

Players on the varsity football team run out onto the field during the pink out game against SMS on Oct. 14. Students and players look forward to home games because of the perks that come with it: the band, powder, and the tunnel. “Running out of the tunnel with my team gets us all excited and ready for the game” senior Gavin Fellingham said.

PHOTO BY CORAL NETTEN

ABOVE RIGHT

ABOVE

Charlotte Henry, sophomore, prepares her lab in chem istry class on Oct. 6. Henry was learning about ionic and covalent bonds in class and was testing if salt, sugar, baking soda, wax, and sand have a high or low melting point. Henry’s favorite part about chemistry is “doing experiments and testing different chemicals or sub stances and seeing how they react.” Henry is looking forward to future “fire experiments, specifically when we test how certain chemicals change the color of a flame.”

PHOTO BY DANIELLE DESMARTEAU

LEFT

Senior Daniel Palacio celebrates after a big win over Gardner Edgerton on Oct. 21. South scored in the final minute of the game to take the lead and secure the third seed in the playoffs. “I was so excited to beat Gardner at home on senior night,” Palacio said.

PHOTO BY MYLES MORANT