Log Issue 4 may 2017

TNL

The Northmen’s Log

Issue 4. Vol. 52

KC, MO

Top Stories Life in a different home For a suit cause Screaming from the stands

May 2017

L

etters from the Editors

Hello Oak Park! I’m Dakota, co-editor-in-chief of “The Northmen’s Log” and this is our fourth and final issue for the school year. I want to start this letter off with a correction to our previous issue and an apology. Last issue we used a picture for the story “Spring into Spring Sports” that belonged to a James Shultz, professional photographer without realizing it. We didn’t

get his permission, nor did we credit him. We are very sorry this got past the staff. We here at The Northmen’s Log thrive to make sure everyone is credited as they should be and will try our best in the future to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

This issue we tried to wrap up the school year with stories highlighting the good in this year and the things coming in the future.

One of the stories is “Screaming from the stands” and is about the fan section. If one thing stood out this year it was the exceptional job they did supporting the teams. It strengthened the Oak Park family and created more unity altogether.

We hope you enjoy this final edition and have an exceptional summer, Oak Park!

Hey Oak Park! I’m Bailee Treat, the other co-editor-inchief of “The Northmen’s Log.” I’m excited to provide you with this year’s fourth and last issue. We wanted to end this year with the best issue yet.

This month of May is the month of foster care. Our feature page shows many aspects of the system. Also, we have a student talking about her life in

foster care and all of the events that happened. Jackie Gosney, an English language arts teacher, is a foster parent. She talks about how her life is with the kids and how it impacts her family. School resource and community specialist Heather Brennan talks about the legal aspects of foster care and why kids are moved or transferred from home to home.

Junior Lily Jackson wrote a play for her high school career.

It’s about the life of foster children in the system learning what it’s like to have a family.

I hope everyone has a wonderful summer and we’re excited to provide with more great issues next year!!

If you have any questions, feel free to stop by E132.

Dakota Ake Editor-in-Chief, People Editor, News Editor Bailee Treat Editor-in-Chief, Feature Editor, Contents Editor, People Editor Sarah White Photography Editor Mina Buchholz Opinion Editor, Aurora Riley Sports Editor Remy Tran Cover Editor Courtney Calhoon Writer Skylar Perry Photographer Kelly Galindo Photographer Chris Winegarner Photographer Schooner Winegarner Staff Luci Conkling Writer Katherine Reyes Writer Grace Burns Writer Malea Biswell Writer Christina Geabhart Adviser

Publication Information “The Northmen’s Log” will publish four times during the school year.

“Log” staff strongly supports the First Amendment and opposes censorship. Freedom of expression and press are fundamental values in a democratic society.

Therefore, “Log” encourages readers to participate in the discussion by submitting Letters to the Editor in room E134, by email to christina. geabhart@nkcschools.org.

Letters cannot exceed 350 words and must be signed.

“Log” will not run letters that are libelous, obscene or that may cause a verifiable disruption to the education process of Oak Park.

Advertisers may contact the teacher at christina. geabhart@nkcschools.org.

Subscriptions are available, $20 for a mailed copy, $10 for an emailed PDF version, or $25 for both.

Opinions expressed in “Log” do not reflect student, staff or school district endorsements of that opinion, product, or service.

“Log” is a member of NSPA, MIPA and Quill and Scroll. “Log” is affiliated with JEA, MJEA and JEMKC.

Featuring this May 4-5: News

For a suit cause Everything changes

6-9: People

Lighting the way to thespian Bread winning All i do is pen

10-11: Feature

Life in a different home

12-13: Opinion President vs. press Distracting light

14-15: Sports Screaming from the stands Leading to glory

16: Back Cover Jump through time

On the Cover: Senior class poses in a 17 to signify their graduation year.

4 News

For a suit cause Junior Lily Jackson wrote this year’s Theatre for a Cause show Malea Biswell Wrtier

Junior Lily Jackson has worked extremely hard all year on writing and producing her own full-length play titled “Suitcase.” “Suitcase” is a powerful drama about a teenage girl in the foster system learning what it means to be in a family again.

“I started writing ‘Suitcase’ in September for my theatre class, Theatre Special Projects,” said Jackson.

The play features a teenage girl in the foster system whose parents passed away in a car accident when she was little. She goes to a new house to be fostered by a loving couple and learns how to trust and learns not everything is the way it seems.

“I got the idea [for the plot] from a commercial. It’s the animated one with the foster girl meeting her new forever home and her new parents giving her a new reason to use her suitcase- for a cat. I saw the commercial for brainstorming ideas, and came up with foster care,” said Jackson.

The play has a really important overall lesson about acceptance and trust and letting down your walls.

“I think learning that you can come to be accepted by a family that isn’t your blood relation is a really powerful message and it’s one that Student actors are rehearsing for “Suitcase.” Malea Biswell plays the foster child. Photo by Sarah White Student actors rehearse the scene where the foster child is about to leave the adoption center. Photo by Sarah White

a lot of kids nowadays can relate to as they’re trying to find their place. It’s really strong and it’s really good and I identify with it a lot,” said senior Wyatt Cooper, who plays the foster dad in the play.

“Suitcase” is also Oak Park’s Theatre for a Cause show.

“Theatre for a Cause is a show we do every year. Each year, we do a play and try to find a good charity to donate all the proceeds of the show to. So, our theatre department doesn’t really get any money from this show, because were giving it all to charity,” said Jackson.

The proceeds of the show will be donated to a charity called “Together We Rise,” which is dedicated to helping foster children.

“Our vision is to improve the lives of foster children in America, who often find themselves forgotten and neglected by the public,”says togetherwerise.org Writing and producing a full-length play can be daunting.

“It’s really challenging trying to figure out the characters. I spent about a solid month just developing four characters before even writing page one of my script,” said Jackson.

“I’m very sad that this is my last show at Oak Park, but it will be nice to go out with a bang with a great show like this,” said Cooper.

Pack your facts “Suitcase” wasn’t just written overnight. It went through many changes. Below are just a few fun facts about “Suitcase” and it’s evolutions from a thought to a full production.

-Lily has written seven drafts for “Suitcase.”

-Lily has worked for more than 5,000 hours on her play.

-Originally, “Suitcase” had eight characters. It now has four.

-The script has 57 pages.

News

Everything changes

There are a few major changes coming next year Dakota Ake editor in chief

Oak Park staff try their best to improve the school in order to make it a nice experience the four years students are here and to ensure students are prepared for their futures. Whenever there is a way things could run smoother solutions are thought up and put to the test. For the 2017-2018 school year, there are going to be a few major changes.

One of the first major changes coming next year is how advisory is going to work.

“AR is going to four days a week, every day except for Thursday because of early release so the calendar then will be the same. So first block will end the same time everyday versus right now it ends three different times during a week,” assistant principal Mike Dial said.

Advisory is changing because right now it looks more like a study hall than a true advisory time. Mondays will be a devoted work time to work on assignments and keep up to date with work. Tuesdays and Wednesdays will be days to make up tests, get help and study in groups. Fridays will be lesson days for everyone based on a theme decided each month. For juniors and seniors this will serve more as preparation for college and careers while underclassmen will learn more about being successful in high school.

“Junior and seniors who want to be mentors will be able to, on Fridays, get out of their AR and they’ll go work with freshmen and sophomores in their AR on teaching them some of those skills and making them successful in high school,” Dial said. “It’ll only be maybe once or twice a month. It won’t be every Friday.”

The change in the advisory schedule was accepted by some people.

“I think it’s a really good idea,” junior Tori Tamayo said.

“For me, from my experience, I am a procrastinator. When I

have extra AR time I get my assignments done and I get more thought of what I am going to do next.”

There is also negative reception for the changes.

“I feel like the babies should be able to figure things out themselves,” junior Emma Durrant said. “{Having advisory every day and no unassigned time] is awful. I’m glad I’m graduating early.”

This isn’t the only change coming next year. There is going to be another major change to class organization that will only affect freshmen.

“On the freshmen level there won’t be any technically an honors class vs a regular class,” Dial said. ““If [freshmen] want to get an honors credit they will do what is called contract into honors. That will involve doing a mini Gold Medallion like presentation.”

This presentation will be a student-choice research presentation on the side during one semester. If they complete this assignment to a satisfactory level, they will get the course counted with an honors credit.

There is one more major change coming next year.

“We are working on getting lights for the football field so that we can play night games and we can play home games and not have to go up to Staley. The hope is that next year we are able to play some Friday night games here,” Dial said.

According to kshb.com, the estimated cost will be $667,500 and the work will be completed by the fall.

Other changes include an increase in the size to the freshmen class due to the new feeder system, bringing the Military Wall and Hall of Fame to the front of the building, adding more TVs, and modernizing the building’s interior overall.

“AR is going to four days a week, every day except for Thursday because of early release so the calendar then will be the same.” -assistant principal Mike Dial

Students are talking with friends in the hall. Next year the hallways will be more crowded as a result to the new direct feeder system. Photo by Chris Winegarner

Students are having lunch in the hallway. Next year lunches are going to be larger in population. Photo by Chris Winegarner

5

6 People

Lighting the way to thespian Luci Conkling and Bailee Treat Writer and Editor in Chief

This time of year a lot of school clubs take trips and go to competitions. These trips aren’t always free as senior Maddie Kuykendall found out back in February. Kuykendall is in theater and raised money to go to the International Thespian Conference. “[The Thespian Conference] is a week-long excursion in Nebraska at a college in the month of June. It’s a conference where it’s all about technical aspects of theater. You get in-depth with writing, acting and taking workshops. It’s really immersive and amazing.

It’s going to be my senior trip,” said Kuykendall.

Kuykendall wants to further her studies in theater as she graduates and believes this trip would be an amazing way to do it. The only problem? This thespian trip is more than $700. So Kuykendall started brain storming with her friends to see what she could do to raise money. That’s when she was introduced to candle making.

“I decided to start making candles as a fund raiser because a friend of mine gave me the idea. I figured that I would start selling product instead of crowd funding. I was just thinking that I can actually make a business out of this,” said Kuykendall.

At first, Kuykendall struggled with the idea thinking the profit wouldn’t be worth it, but soon the candles she made started flying off the shelves and everyone wanted to buy her homemade, scented money-makers.

“It’s a bomb candle that lasted me three months. It was $10 and it was totally worth it. It’s a really nice candle. The scent I got was vanilla. I think [the flower] was a cute little touch,” said senior Olivia Wright.

Several other students loved the idea and helped pitch in knowing the cost of such festivities.

“I really enjoy what [Maddie] is selling the candles for. It can be expensive to go to theater festivals. I really think it’s going towards a good cause. I got lavender, I love that smell. It relaxes me,” said junior Lily Jackson.

But students weren’t the only ones enjoying this fund raiser.

Kuykendall sold several candles to staff all around the school. College algebra and geometry teacher James Dye was amazed by her attitude and work ethic to raise the money.

“I think it’s pretty cool that Maddie’s trying to raise money. To

me, it’s huge that she’s self-motivated and putting herself out there trying to do something to help her in her theater career. I think they are a good price, $10 is a pretty fair price. They are handmade, made by her which is even cooler. They smell nice and I’m pretty excited to see that she gets all the money she can to be able to go on her trip,” said Dye. The candles come in flavors of cupcake, snickerdoodle, coffee cake, pumpkin pie, lavender, ginger bread and unscented.

“Coffee cake is probably our best seller. People also really like the lavender and snickerdoodle,” said Kuykendall.

Making the candles was the easy part for Kuykendall as she showed how each candle was made.

“The first thing you need to make a candle is wax. I make them with soy wax which is good because some paraffin waxes can make you pet act weird,” said Kuykendall.

Kuykendall makes sure she prepares everything while melting the wax down so that she gets the best results before the wax starts to turn harden.

“While all of that is going on, you prepare the mason jars. You have to cut the wick. We use double sided tape and we thread the wick through a metal wick holder. You stick the flat bottom of the end of the wick to the double sided tape into the center of the mason jar.”

Kuykendall buys the wick from Amazon so she gets more wick for a cheaper price. The wick comes in a big roll that she cuts the 6-inch pieces from.

“Finally we add our signature flowers on the top of the mason jar.”

Kuykendall puts all she has into making these candles and makes time to be sure every candle is made to perfection with the perfect amount of scent and color.

“I’m not just selling the bare minimum; I’m trying to let people enjoy them. I’ve been selling them for a few weeks and people seem to really like them.”

Kuykendall has raised more than $500 in the last few weeks towards her conference. She will continue to sell candles until she reaches her goal which she is just $250 short of. So if you want to help a good cause and see what all the commotion is about find her and order yours today.

People

7

In the process: The wax is being melted down so Kuykendall can pour it into the mason jars. “You melt the wax down and put the scent in the pot. While the wax is melting, we put the color and the scent in there. We just use white coloring so it makes the candles opaque.”

After the wax is melted it is poured into the jars and a straw is placed to hold the wick in place while the candles cool. “Then I wrap a toothpick or a straw around the wick and I let it dry that way so the wick doesn’t fall back into the candle. It takes about an hour for them to kind of dry enough so that you can move them.”

Once the process is finished and the candles are cooled the lids are placed on the jars and put in a safe place until delivery.

8

People

Bread winning

Dakota Ake Editor in Chief

You open your eyes and rub the sleep out of them. You happen to glance towards your window and notice no signs of light other than the subtle glow of the moon. You pick up your phone and notice it reads 4 a.m. Laying your head back on the pillow, relief washes over you. There are still a few more hours of sleep ahead of you before you have to get up.

For sophomore Clara Hommon, that isn’t always the case.

Hommon’s family owns The Laughing Place Bakery, a place that was only a cake decorating shop until two years ago. Now they also make anything from cinnamon rolls to bread to cookies. Hommon usually works there anywhere from two to three times a week, but sometimes she works more depending on how busy it is.

“We have to get up early to make sure that the bread and the cinnamon rolls get in the oven on time,” Hommon said. “It’s usually a lot of grumbling about not wanting to get up.”

Working at The Laughing Place Bakery was more than getting up early, however.

“I have been doing baking my whole life, so I do everything from cash register to working with customers to decorating cakes.” Hommon said.

It’s even a great place to learn new life skills. Sophomore Jaeza Robertson has been working there since summer and has already acquired new skills.

“The best [thing about working at The Laughing Place Bak-

ery] is I get to grow all my knowledge about baking,” Robertson said. “I know how to frost and make a cake now.”

Robertson got offered the job after becoming close friends with Hommon in math class last year.

“I had to go interview and everything, but because I knew the family and Clara, that’s how I got the job,” said Robertson.

Robertson recommends applying to family-owned businesses before applying to chain restaurants.

“It’s actually so much better than anything I hear from my friends who work at McDonald’s or something because you get to have a lot more control over your schedule,” Robertson said. “I feel like my boss really cares about me and who I am and what I’m doing.”

Like with any other job, there are the ups and downs.

“The worst can be dealing with gluten-free customers,” Robertson said. “They’re really uppity about it and I don’t like dealing with them, but you know, just put a big smile on your face and get through it.”

Overall, it is still a very enjoyable experience. Part of that is due to the direct relationship The Laughing Place Bakery has with the community.

“We get to talk to a lot of people and we really helped grow the community and make a lot of friends with the people in the community,” said Hommon.

Hommon thinks that the bakery will continue onto the next generation.

“I probably won’t take it over, but I think my brother will.”

Customers wait for their food to be prepared and then can eat here or elsewhere. Photo by Kelly Galindo

The Laughing Place Bakery’s exterior. The buidling can be found at 504 NE 70th St b. Photo by Kelly Galindo

People

All I do is pen

Senior Joey Anello shows how his pens write. Photo by Mina Buchholz

Mina Buchholz Opinion Editor

For many students, an easy way to make money is seeking employment at a local store. For a high schooler, walking into a McDonald’s, Sonic, or Hy-Vee guarantees you’ll see a familiar face. But how many of us make money by running our own businesses?

Senior Joey Anello was one of those rare few. He makes custom pens and sells them for a profit, advertising, producing and selling entirely by himself.

“I joined Woodworking 1 freshman year… then by Woods 2 I was making pens and I just loved it,” said Anello. He was taught by woods teacher Michael Chrane, and “two seniors… both named Chris… I just saw them making pens and I was like…

‘Can you teach me?’”

Every year, Anello shows up in person with his products at craft fairs to get customers. He typically finds about 20 customers per fair.

“I have a Facebook page… I have business cards too that I’ll hand out and stuff. And my mom is a big factor. She’s telling everybody about it,” Anello said. “Whenever people come by and see it I give them a business card, and sometimes they come back.”

Typically outside of craft fairs, Anello also collects some new customers, though many of those are family or friends.

The process of making the pens is not complicated for those that know what they’re doing, but it can be time-consuming. “[To make a pen] you select the wood you want, you drill a hole

down the center of it, and you glue in a small brass bushing, wait for the glue to dry. Then you put that on the lathe which rotates the wood towards you and you take basically carving chisels and carve the shape that you want, sand it, finish it and then assemble it,” said Chrane. “The whole process takes about an hour to an hour and a half.”

The pens are made from wood or from acrylic, a type of plastic. They come in ordinary or ‘exotic’ form, the exotic form being much more expensive both to make and to buy.

“It costs about four bucks a pen for the regular pens. But there are very exotic pens that you can spend 10 or 15 bucks on a pen kit,” Anello said. “For the ones that are four or five to make I sell them for $15 and for the more exotic ones it goes from $20 to $25 to $30.”

Anello also can write names or anything else into the pens, though he admits he isn’t an expert.

I’m not really good at it. I’ve done it once,” Anello said. “With wood burn [the method for writing into the wood] it’s all free hand because it’s like a tool that you burn… so if you mess up, you have to… re-churn and sand it down.”

Though Anello learned to make the pens in class, he began selling them because he was given the idea by school resource officer Scott Archer. Archer also runs a small business selling pens, and inspired Anello to do the same.

“I just loved it [when I was first learning]. I loved how I was by myself so I could just make whatever I wanted,” Anello said. “[I’ve learned] money management for sure, and being nice in front of the customers. It’s an independent thing, learning how to be independent by myself.”

9

10 Feature

Life in a different

Dakota Ake and Bailee Treat Editors in chief May is National Foster Care Month. The process foster children go through is different for every child involved. Depending on the needs of the child and their individual life situation the process can end up differently. The foster care system affects an array of people from the child themselves to social workers to foster parents.

In Missouri the foster care system is operated by The Children’s Division. Foster care is the last step in a long process operating under the child abuse and neglect hotline.

“The first step of foster care system is that a hotline is called by someone and then if they decide that there is enough, the hotline decides that if there is enough call in to go investigate or if they just need to go do an assessment,” said resource specialist Heather Brennan. “Investigate means that maybe a law was broken, an assessment means that maybe the family needs some help. And so they go and they do either one of those and a lot of times they just offer resources and then its closed and that’s the end of that. If they find out that there really is child abuse and neglect, depending on the severity, then two things happen there. One is they provide services and the kids stay in the home and the other is that the kids are removed from the home and that doesn’t happen

a lot, but those have to be really severe.”

The juvenile court work with the DFS to remove the child from their home.

“If Division of Family Services was really concerned then they would go to court and ask that the children be removed, they can’t remove them, the court has to remove them sometimes it’s an emergency removal like if the kid is dying or you know something super bad then they can call the court and they’ll give them permission to pick them up,” Brennan said.

For senior Malaisia Durrant, she was taken out of her home and put into foster care.

“Let’s say you have something happening in your home that you need to get out of, they will get the police involved.” Durrant said. “For me, that’s what it was. We also got a case worker involved. The case worker usually takes you to a different home.

You go to a new home and either stay in that home for a while or you get adopted. If your foster parent wants to adopt you, there’s a process you will have to go to. I know you have to be in that foster home for at least six months before you can be adopted.”

The foster care system is a very diverse system however. Foster children can end up back with their parents, in a relative’s care, or in the care of an adoptive family.

“Just because they are put in foster care doesn’t mean they don’t have parents, like their parents are still their parents and their parents can work on trying to get their kids back to them.” Brennan said. “So that’s kind of the broad system, how it works and the foster is kind of two different things too. There’s what we call relative care which means that you can go and live with relatives but you’re still in custody of the children’s division and sometimes you go live with relatives and they’re still watching you, but you’re not in the custody of the children’s division.”

Since each child is different they can end up switching foster homes in order to suit their needs.

“Going foster home to foster home, each situation is going to be different. There are reasons that you go from home to home whether it’s you’re not fit for that family, behavioral problems or maybe you just don’t like them.” Durrant said. “Usually when you get out of that foster home, it’s really quick. You can always talk to your case worker and they can get you out of there and on to a new home.”

Malaisia Durrant and her younger brother were adopted Dec. 31, 2014. “This family saw us on an adoption page and they said, ‘We want them, let’s take them in.’”

h o m e

Feature

English language arts teacher Jackie Gosney and her family including three children smile at her son’s football game. She also gets foster children periodically, but they are not pictured due to legal and privacy reasons.

Durrant went through a few different foster homes herself.

“When I was 10, I went to my first official foster care home where I knew no one,” Durrant said. “I didn’t really have to deal with any other children because they were all grown up. A couple years later, my little brother was born so I moved in with him.

The home he was in, they already had two other children. Having to deal with kids, it was really difficult to deal with them without getting angry. Going into a new home, you know it’s going to be different and not something that you’ll be used to. You don’t really know what to expect even if they have kids. Once you get into the home, you learn how to adapt to things.”

Foster parents have to obtain a license through attending a 30hour training session called Stars.

“You go in and they teach you how to deal with grief and loss,” English language arts teacher Jackie Gosney said. “All the kids in foster care have endured some kind of loss. They’re leaving their house and people that they love and know. They teach you how to deal with that. They teach you how to coping mechanisms. They also go over the legality issues of foster care. Once you go through the training, you then have a licensing worker who does a home study.”

Gosney is a foster parent. She was motivated to become one because her church was doing a campaign to support orphans overseas and decided she wanted to help kids in need in her own community as well.

“For my very first placement, there was a boy and two sisters,” Gosney said. “The sisters were going to my friend’s house and I

was going to get the oldest boy. They at the time were living in a homeless shelter. In that case, they wanted to give the kids time to say goodbye to the friends they had made and those types of things. We had like a two-day warning. They brought them to our house, met us and saw where they were going to sleep. They introduced themselves and they came back another day. Other times like with the last two that we’ve taken in, we’ve gotten a phone call saying “I need placement today. Can you pick them up?” One I had to pick up from Synergy houses, which is like a place where if woman are being abused, they can go there and stay and take their kids. That kiddo we had to pick up from that shelter. Another one, she got removed from custody at a court hearing and then the case worker brought her from court. It just depends on their location.”

Durrant and her brother were eventually adopted by a family with four other kids. Adjusting to this change was difficult for Durrant initially.

“I remember starting off it was a little rough because if you have known your parents before getting into foster care, it’s always going to be kind of weird calling them mom and dad,” Durrant said.

“Once you’re adopted, it’s like you have to start calling them mom and dad. You have to try and take it at your own pace. For me, it was really difficult because I knew my mom before I got into foster care. I’m still working on [calling them mom and dad.] If I get mad, i’ll call them by their first name but usually I’m just like madre and padre because it’s not just like mom and dad. For my little brother, it was easier because he was little.”

11

12 Opinion

President versus press Mina Buchholz and Aurora Riley Opinion Editor and Photographer

From the 1900s muckrakers who revealed dismal working conditions, unsafe foods and demeaning asylum conditions, to the 2013 “Post” and “Guardian” reveals of NSA surveillance, journalists have traditionally been the reporters of truth, bringing into the light things that might have otherwise gone overlooked, dismissed, or hidden.

Journalism also holds an important role as the one objective force that keeps our government in check. Journalists tell us the truth about what our representatives, Congressmen and Presidents are doing, giving us the information without the bias those politicians have, so that we can form

our own opinions.

But recently, there has been a trend of distrusting journalists. This is in some ways understandable - after all, we’ve been flooded with fake news. Historically, poor journalism has been so influential as to start unnecessary wars.

But that attitude isn’t uncommon. Especially since President Donald Trump first became popular as a nominee, people have trusted the media less and less.

In Oak Park alone, our poll has shown that 23 percent of students may distrust printed or broadcast outlets like “CNN,” the “New York Times,” or “TIME” magazine. Many more - almost 60 percent of students- professed distrust of online sources.

This is certainly justified.

Many of us can remember a time when we were tricked or misled by fake news - be that political clickbait on Facebook, or a misleading story from a more traditional outlet.

But does that really mean that we should distrust all news?

In the era of “alternative facts,” it is important not to wholeheartedly trust any single news source. However, it is equally important not to distrust a news source simply because someone told you it’s misleading or “fake news.”

For example, Trump has accused the news sources “NBC,” “ABC,” “CNN,” and the “New York Times” of being fake news or “failing.” The truth is that these news sources, though they probably carry some bias, are well-known to be credible and certainly never make up stories, sourc-

Photo Illustration: A student finds the truth from a reliable source.

es, and events like true fake news.

It is especially telling that the president often seems to try to discredit news sources that report facts he would rather not be true. For example, accusing various news sources who reported on the size of his inauguration crowd of playing down the size significantly, despite photo evidence to the contrary.

By creating fear and distrust of credible news sources in the general public, Trump is going down a dangerous path, whether he knows it or not.

The media has never been the enemy of the people. Journalists have always been a friend of the civilian, providing them with truths that would otherwise be hidden or dismissed. By telling America that journalists are their enemy, President Trump seems to be waging a war against truth.

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13

S

14 Sports

creaming from the stands

Bailee Treat, Luci Conking and Katherine Reyes Editor in Chief and Writers No one has ever doubted Oak Park’s pride. Known for being the most spirited teams according to senior Logan Favreau, OP comes into a game with a loud supportive fan section. This year the fan section was not only bigger, but also more organized and inclusive.

The OP fan section helps players and spectators get hyped for the games but also allows upperclassmen to bond with underclassmen and earn a sense of belonging with the family-like feel. “[The fan section] is the best, not everyone was into it last year but because people are now and most of us are upperclassmen, we bring everyone together as a family,” said junior Melanie Maros, a member of the fan section.

Favreau was the leader of this self-motivated group creating and choosing themes for the games and organizing times to meet. Not

only did Favreau lead the group but he also ran all the social media accounts that enabled the large turnouts to all OP games.

“Now that we use twitter and social media it helped out expanding OP,” said Favreau.

With the fan section bigger and louder, some seniors fear that without the large group of upperclassmen next year’s fan section will struggle. Maros hopes the underclassmen next year get as pumped for games as this year so the seniors have a proper legacy.

Whatever the outcome of next year’s OP pride section, Favreau and Maros have some advice for new fan section members.

“Get there early to get good seats and dress goofy! If you go all out it shows support, always have a big smile and come to every one’s[game] to support the school,” said Maros.

“Always let the loudest, spirited students be up front but also you can’t tell people what to do so just let it be,” said Favreau.

Be Loud. Be Proud. Be OP.

Leading

Sports

to

Glory

-Favorite memory?

“Rachel getting ran over in throwers’ relay.”

-How do you help motivate team members?

“Compliment everyone, no negativity, having an uplift spirt like myself and be really happy and try your best.”

-Did you ever see yourself as a team captain?

“No, I always thought I’d be that one dude we would be that one happy team member.”

senior Jenna Zackert, girls soccer captain

Courtney Calhoun and Remy Tran Writers

Spring sports are here. After several games, players are in shape and ready for the season to wrap up.

senior Joey Anello, tennis captain

-What is your favorite part about the sport?

“Hanging with friends and hitting the ball around. It really relieves stress.”

-What are your responsibilities as a team captain?

“Showing them what to do and to teach underclassmen.”

-Favorite memory?

“Coach [Philip] Gegen and [Joel] Pabon patronizing me.”

senior Hunter Lampkin, golf

-What is your favorite part about the sport?

“Hitting the good shots.”

-What are your responsibilities as the team captain?

“Making sure everyone follows the rules.”

-What is something you will miss?

“Being in school in general.”

senior TeVon Taylor, track

-What is your favorite part about the sport?

“Meets and social gatherings with other schools.”

-What are your responsibilities as the team captain?

“Making sure everyone is in shape and practicing, and to practice on time.”

-What is something you will miss?

“Meeting new people at meets, and bonds between team members.”

-What is your favorite part about the sport?

“I just love everything about soccer. But high school season especially, I just love the bond I have with my teammates, I’d run through a brick wall for any of them. But the main thing I like about it is the sheer competitiveness of the game.”

-What are your responsibilities as the team captain?

“As a captain I just try to make sure the team is confident and ready for all of the games. I also try to just get everyone hyped up and keep a positive attitude, they feed off of positive vibes and everyone plays better.”

-What is something that you will miss?

“I will just miss all the games and just being on the field with all of my best friends. I will also miss Coach Howard yelling at me to “get involved.”

-Favorite memory?

“My favorite memory would have to be beating Staley my freshman year in double overtime, just one of those things you never forget.”

-How do you help/motivate team members?

“I just try to sound confident and tell them that no matter what happens we are still a team and we are going to support each other.”

-Did you ever see yourself being team captain?

“I had always looked up to the captains in my past years, always was something I had wanted to do. So in a way it was more of a goal of mine.”

15

Jump through time

Ashlyn Penland

“I’ve become more mature and more

“Even though high school was a good four years,

“Don’t give up because it’s hard, that’s how

“From kindergarten to senior year, I’ve grown a

Malaisia Durrant

“My eyebrows finally came through.”

life is going to be. Nothing comes easy.”

Julie Walker

“You have to work hard to get what you want.”

I’m glad it’s finally over.”

Anna Merkel

From growing excitement on the first day of kindergarten to the growing dread of senior year. The seniors of 2017 gave us a peek into their youth as they are about to step into the next part of their lives.

Michael Roman

determined to achive my goals.”

Ibtisam Jaylani

Remy Tran and Courtney Calhoon Cover Editor and Writer

Jamien Bartlow

“Today you are you, that is truer than

Asia Hooper

“I’ve always been the shy, sweet girl who is best expressive in her writing instead of talking.”

Chloe Strong

“All the drama that you think is

lot, both in stature and as a person. I still enjoy

true. There is no one alive who is youer

important now will mean nothing

many of the same things, but now

than you.” -Dr.Seuss

after graduation, so just have fun

I feel prepared to face the world.”

while you can.”