Volume 4, Issue 3 March 9, 2022
The
ROCKET PRESS Your School. Your Magazine.
ON THE SHELF High school athletes and the increase in injuries
PAGE 9 - How have Rose Hill athletes coped with their injuries? PAGE 10 Coaches offer their opinions on the increase in injuries PAGE 11 - How does offseason training effect inseason injuries? PAGE 12 - The growing concern on CTE and longterm brain injuries
CONTENTS NEWS COVER
PAGE 4 - CROFT AND PARADES WIN PAGE 8 - HOW ROSE HILL ATHLETES HOMECOMING QUEEN AND KING DEAL WITH SIGNIFICANT INJURIES PAGE 6 - DISTRICT CHANGES TESTING POLICIES PAGE 7 - BROOKS SAYS GOODBYE
PAGE 10 - COACHES CONCERNS GROW OVER INJURIES
PAGE 11 - IS IT TOO MUCH? TRAINERS WEIGH IN ON PAGE 7 - DISTRICT CHOOSES 2022- OFFSEASON PROGRAMS 2023 CALENDAR PAGE 12 - CTE AND ITS LASTING IMPACT LINGERS OVER SPORTS
2 - CONTENTS
YOUR SCHOOL. YOUR MAGAZINE.
FEATURES
PAGE 17 - NEW SPIDERMAN A MUST-SEE
PAGE 16 - TRAN RECEIVES WSU SCHOLARSHIP
PHOTOS
PAGE 16 - BOND ISSUE APPROVED BY STATE
PAGE 20 - BLAST OFF
PAGE 14 - FEELING RIGHT AT HOME
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
STAFF
SYDNEY LAKOUS
REPORTERS
BEN WALKER JESSA LEE SAM LARSON KIRSTEN SMITH ETHAN POTTER
PAGE 18 - ROCKET LIFE
Rocket Productions
rocketpd17
RocketPd17
The Rocket Press is the official news magazine of Rose Hill High School that is published four to six times a year. The Rocket Press is a student LINDSEY publication, written and produced ESSLINGER HAYDEN SWOPE by students. Opinions expressed in The Rocket Press are of the writers COVER DESIGN and do not necessarily reflect the SAM LARSON opinions of the USD 394 Board of Education, the administration, the faculty or the adviser.
SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS
CONTENTS - 3
Croft and Paredes take home Winter Homecoming crowns by lindsey esslinger, special contributor
This semester’s Winter Homecoming was on January 4. The freshmen candidates were Adam Bilby and Lila Wheeler, the sophomore candidates were Scotty Carr and Dakota Bryer, the juniors were Andruw Weeks and Magnolia Munn. Finally the queen candidates were Adrianna Green, Jordyn Croft and Jessica Wilson, while the king candidates were Kevin Ledezma, Noah Paredes and Ben Walker. This season's Homecoming Prince was Evan Browning and the Princess was Ellis Lovell. The 2022 Winter Homecoming winners were Croft and Paredes. “Being crowned as homecoming queen was an absolute honor,” said Croft. “I was super excited when I found out that I got nominated with such an amazing group.” This honor has become a staple in Parades’ high school career. “It felt amazing,” Paredes said. “My family and friends cheering me on for winning was definitely one of my favorite memories in high school right now.”
4 - NEWS
Homecoming King and Queen, Noah Parades and Jordyn Croft
Senior candidates Jessica Wilson and Ben Walker
Homecoming King, Noah Paredes
Senior candidates Adrianna Green and Kevin Ledezma
Homecoming Queen, Jordyn Croft
NEWS - 5
District changes testing policies by sydney lakous, editor-in-chief
USD 394 will be suspending the test to stay practices due to the advice of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Kansas Department of Education and also due to the lack of available test kits in the area.
well-fitted mask daily, indoors and outdoors when around others. At this time, masks are highly recommended, but not mandated in the district, except for those who have tested positive for COVID-19. Those individuals will be required to wear a mask through day 10.
“At this point in time, there is little we can do to stop it (Omicron),” Rose Hill High School Nurse Teri Koester said. “Our new policy encourages students to stay home if sick and test if possible with a home test. We are no longer contract tracing. “
As COVID-19 guidelines continue to change, KDHE will reassess the current plan in 30 days, and any changes to these current guidelines will be communicated with families.
“The Test to Stay policy worked extremely well for us during the first semester,” Koester With the lessened monitoring of symptoms said. “It kept many students in school that from the district, parents are being asked to otherwise would have been quarantined at look for ‘signs of illness and keep those chilhome. The old policy identified positive cases dren who are showing symptoms home.’ and teachers reported close contacts and we tested them during their time in quarantine If students are symptomatic, they’re expected allowing them to stay in school. We only had to get tested with a diagnostic test. Students two cases in the first semester that probably who test positive for COVID-19 should stay came from in class contact. However the new home for at least five days and be fever-free Omicron variant circulating through Kansas for 24 hours before returning to school. Once is extremely contagious and 90 percent of returned to school, those students are expect- the cases identified through lab work are now ed to wear a mask for an additional five days. the Omicron. This variant exploded everywhere across Kansas. In just 4 days the state If students are exposed to people who test of Kansas had 22,240 positive cases. Here at positive for COVID-19, they are encouraged to the high school, six students tested positive stay home for five days and to keep track of for me the first week back and last week I had symptoms. While staying home from school 51 test positive and another 24 test positive and as they return to school, these students outside of school. As you can see, 75 positives should wear a mask for 10 full days after the at a minimum of having four close contacts exposure. would mean testing an unsustainable amount of students.” KDHE recommends that everyone wear a
6 - NEWS
USD 394 votes on 2022-2023 calendar by ben walker, staff reporter
The USD 394 district leadership team put the two 2022-2023 calendar options to a vote in January. The results were tabulated and Calendar B was chosen. Here are some important dates to remember: - First Day of School: August 17 - Fall Conferences: October 28 - Thanksgiving Break: November 23-35 - Christmas Break: December 22 - January 3 - February Conferences: February 17 - Spring Break: March 13-17 - Graduation: May 21 - Last Day of School: May 23 “The school has to have a certain amount of student contact days and teacher training days, so basically we need to work to find a solution to have equal number of days between first and second semester,” said Ryan Hill, who is on the District Leadership Team. “Staff members vote and the school board approves the vote and calendar.”
Brooks says goodbye by sydney lakous, editor-in-chief
Brooks started teaching at RHHS right out of college, and her experience has been a positive one.
Ashley Brooks has been teaching math at Rose Hill High School for four years, but after receiving another job opportunity, Brooks will “I'm so thankful for all the great students I've be leaving the district. had over the years,” said Brooks. “My time at Rose Hill has flown by. I've loved the variety Her last day is Friday, February 24. of classes I've been able to teach.” Many students said she is the best teacher they have had at RHHS. “I’m taking AP Calculus, which is a hard class, but when she teaches it to us she doesn’t make it seem like it's that difficult,” said senior Jillian Rockley. “She breaks it down so we can all understand it and she’s very uplifting. I’ve never had a teacher that is so patient.”
From developing as a teacher, to developing relationships with the staff, Brooks has many fond memories of Rose Hill High School to take with her. “I've loved how much I've learned here,” said Brooks. ‘The staff has been so supportive and taught me a ton about what it means to be a teacher. I couldn't ask for a better group of people to work with.”
NEWS - 7
Barbora Davidova dislocated her right knee against Mulvane on Dec 14. She tried to return but re-aggravated her injury against Collegiate on Jan 22.
Noah Parades tore his right ACL during football season in 2019. The injury cost him the basketball season.
Athletes deal with variety of injuries by sydney lakous, editor-in-chief
While sports are a big focus of the life of a student athlete, they’re also a huge risk. According to atyourownrisk.com, 90 percent of student athletes report some kind of sports-related injury, anything from concussions to minor sprains. Many athletes at Rose Hill High School experience these same injuries. Noah Paredes, a senior who’s involved in football and basketball, tore his ACL, a ligament in the knee joint, while playing football. He says his injury affected his involvement in sports dramatically.
Not only does an injury affect an athlete's physical health, but it also affects their mental health. The severity of these emotions arising can range from pure sadness from not being able to do something you enjoy to more severe mental issues. According to the NCAA, ‘for some student-athletes, the psychological response to injury can trigger or unmask serious mental health issues’. For Barbora Davidova, a senior exchange student from Czech Republic, her repeat injury has stopped her from being able to participate in her favorite sport. Unlike in America, where athletes tend to play a few different sports, young athletes in Czech Republic typically focus on one sport all year around and dedicate much of their time to that sport, which is what Davidova has done for most of her life. “I dislocated my knee during a basketball game,” said Davidova. “The first time when it happened I focused on my come back to basketball. I wanted to play as soon as possible and I was excited to play again, however I wasn’t lucky.”
“Even going through all of therapy, playing sports just isn’t the same,” said Paredes. “It definitely does affect my abilities today and reminds me every time I do anything physical.”
After Davidova got injured, she was out for a long period of time.
The injury occurred while the team was playing at Independence during Paredes’ junior year.
After all seemed well and she had healed, the same injury followed after getting back in the game.
“We were up by 50 and there was about 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter. I was on defense and I went to tackle the quarterback and planted my left leg wrong,” said Parades. “First, I didn’t think I tore anything, in fact I walked off the field. Later, sitting in the locker room, I was in the worst pain in my life.”
“My injury was gone, I started practicing for one week and I came back for one game on Saturday 22nd and I injured again,” said Davidova.
For many athletes, their injuries can lead to having surgery. Paredes had to have surgery on his ACL in November of 2020.
“I couldn’t play for a month. I had to focus on the recovery process,” said Davidova.
Now, she is waiting to see a doctor and have an MRI done on her knee to figure out exactly what she injured and how to heal it in the best way possible.
COVER - 9
Rose Hill High School coaches speak out on injuries by hayden swope, special contributor
Millions of high school students participate in school sports every year and at Rose Hill High School avoiding injuries of athletes are a top priority for coaches. “Since I’ve started coaching, I would say there’s been a little bit of a decrease, in some regards. We see a lot more overuse injuries than we see, maybe normal injuries,” head football coach Lee Weber said. “Stress fractures are up, and tendinitis, and things like that are up. Soft tissue injuries aren’t as prevalent as they used to be but we see a lot more structural injuries.” Physicals, concussion forms, safety videos, and on-site trainers are just a few of the precautions that high schools take to help inform and prevent athletic injuries. “A lot of athletes are maybe playing one or two sports even at a time during a season, and fatigue is beginning to play a factor and when we’re fatigued we are more susceptible to injury,” Weber says. “I think the solution is that the kids really focus on one thing at a time and take appropriate rest breaks between seasons.” Boys basketball coach Josh Shirley also said that rest is an important role in how injuries affect the numbers.
10 - COVER
“I think high school athletes do not fully understand the role of rest in their athletic performance,” Shirley said. The need for sleep is vitally important for athletes and it is something that is often overlooked for high schoolers.” Nearly two million injuries are accounted for through high school sports, but club sports also play a role during the season. Many athletes train for their high school and club teams for multiple hours a week, leading to a nagging factor of injuries. But Shirley said athletes navigating multiple sports is not necessarily a bad thing. “I am always a proponent of multi-sport athletes going out and learning how to compete,” Shirley said. “I do think it is important for athletes to play other sports than their main sport because of overuse of muscle groups if they are always using the same muscles.”
“A lot of athletes are maybe playing one or two sports even at a time during a season, and fatigue is beginning to play a factor and when we’re fatigued we are more susceptible to injury.” - Rose Hill football coach Lee Weber
CTE and its lasting impact lingers over sports by jessa lee, staff reporter
Since sports were first created, injuries have been an inevitable outcome for many athletes. In the more physical or contact sports, athletes are more prone to concussions specifically. They can also occur in non-sport situations like a car accident, a hard fall, or an injury that’s work related. They are a pretty common injury. There have already been several Rose Hill athletes just in this school year who have gotten concussions. Concussions are a type of traumatic brain injury that are a result of some sort of bump or blow to the head. The impact of sudden bumps can cause the brain to jolt and move around inside the skull. There are several things that can get damaged with traumatic brain injuries like this, which causes your brain to not function normally. Concussion symptoms usually start to show quickly, but it can sometimes take hours or days to see the full effect. Depending on how serious the concussion is, the symptoms can vary. You might experience confusion, clumsiness, slurred speech, a headache, nausea, light or noise sensitivity, or even loss of consciousness. There are three different grades of concussions by which doctors rank the severity of the brain injury based on the symptoms. Grade one is mild, and the symptoms go one for no longer than 15 minutes and with no loss of consciousness. Grade two is moderate, with symptoms lasting over 15 minutes and no loss of consciousness. Grade three is severe, and happens when a person loses consciousness, even if not for very long.
12 - COVER
Most of the time people with concussions will recover completely. For a while, they might have to put a limit on physical activities or things that take a lot of focus or concentration. If they go back to a physical activity too soon, they have more of a chance of getting another concussion with greater damage. With concussions being a fairly common injury, especially in sports, there is a concern for long-term effects like CTE. CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) is a degenerative disease that affects people who have had repetitive concussions or traumatic brain injuries. It has been discovered in retired and current athletes like boxers, hockey and football players. It has even been found in athletes who only played through high school or college. CTE is caused by recurring brain trauma, which results in brain tissue progressively degenerating, and creates a build-up of an unusual protein called tau. Symptoms of CTE can be confusion, memory loss, depression, suicidal, aggression, and impaired judgment. The brain changes and these symptoms can start months or many years from the last trauma to the brain. As of right now, there is not a cure for CTE. Although, researchers like the CTE Center are studying how it develops, the progression, and risk factors. They are also working on diagnosing the disease in living people, since right now it is only finally diagnosed after death when the brain tissue can be studied. There is a long way to go to fully understanding this disease, but right now athletes can continue to treat their brain trauma with the methods that are already proven to be helpful.
“With concussions being a fairly common injury, especially in sports, there is a concern for longterm effects like CTE. CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) is a degenerative disease that affects people who have had repetitive concussions or traumatic brain injuries.”
“America is different, but we do have a lot in common,” Davidova said. “The big difference is the school system, my school back home is strict and stressful. Going to an American school is more fun.”
David GalaLopez is from Spain.
Foreign exchange students adjusting to life in America by ben walker, staff reporter
This year at RHHS, there are four exchange students from three different countries. The exchange students this year are all seniors and their names are Noor Westra, Barbora Davidova, David Gala Lopez, and Jaime Garcia Gil. Westra is from the Netherlands, Davidova is from the Czech Republic, and Gala Lopez and Garcia Gil are both from Spain. They have been going to RHHS for a little more than a semester now. They’ve all had unique experiences living in the United States so far. Davidova said that it was difficult having to leave her family and come to a new country. She has also had to change host families after having only moved here two weeks earlier.
14 - FEATURES
When asked about the biggest difference between the U.S. and the Czech Republic, Davidova said that people are not as used to walking and using public transportation to get where they are going here in the US. Garcia Gil said that the most complicated part of living in the U.S. has been trying to learn English. He mentioned that life has been very different since moving here, most notably the school system. Gala Lopez was surprised that people are interested in watching high school sports. He said he never imagined that so many people would show up to watch students play even though they were not professional athletes. “We do everything two or three hours later,” said Gala Lopez. “We go to school at nine, we eat at three, we finish school at five, practices are at seven and we have
Barbora Davidova is from the Czech Republic.
dinner about 10.” Gala Lopez said that the food here is different, too. “In America they cook less and the products are different,” said Gala Lopez. Westra thought that the school schedule was challenging to get accustomed to because in the Netherlands, school starts later at about 8:20 or later. She also was surprised to find out how important it is to have a car in America. “People look at you when you ride a bike or walk,” Westra said. “If you don't have a car you almost always have to ask people for a ride, or you can not get anywhere.” “The biggest difference is probably the water,” said Westra. “In the Netherlands we have a lot of rivers and canals. If you have a little boat you can probably travel through all of the Netherlands by water. We even have to build dikes, big sand hills, to keep the Netherlands from flooding.”
Jamie Garcia-Gil is from Spain.
Noor Westra is from the Netherlands.
FEATURES - 15
Tran receives WSU scholarship by hayden swope, special contributor
On February 21, senior Gary Tran was awarded the Rudd Foundation Scholarship from Wichita State University, which is a full ride scholarship to Wichita State University.
“Just because I’m not the best at bragging about myself on paper and stuff like that and sometimes I don’t think my resume is as impressive as other people’s.”
“I’m speechless,” said Tran. “My four years is like, set now for a while so it’s pretty surreal. I still don’t think I believe it right now. It’s kind of scary that they actually chose me out of all these people.”
There were close to 1,000 applications submitted and Tran was one of the 50 finalists. This is Rose Hill High School’s third consecutive year having a Rudd Scholar, with Sarah Foster accepting in 2020 and Aubrie Thomison accepting in 2021.
The scholarship covers any cost of books or material the student may need for their major. The scholarship also covers expenses to live on campus.
“The hardest part was being a finalist, that was pretty hard to do,” said Tran. “And now we’re here.”
“When I was applying for it, I was most worried about being a finalist,” said Tran
Bond issue approved by state by jessa lee, staff reporter
USD 394’s Bond Issue Proposal was approved by the state board. The proposal will now be put to vote later in March.
focused on adding locker rooms at the multipurpose room, renovating the weight room and LED lighting replacement.
The state will pay 15 percent of the principal and interest of the bond issue totaling $2.7 million dollars and a zero mill rate increase of more than $18 million.
At the primary/intermediate School, there will be a preschool and early childhood addition, a kiln room addition, new 3rd through 5th grade playground surface and also LED lighting replacement.
March 15 is going to be the Voter Registration Deadline, March 21 is when Early Voting begins, and April 5 will be Election Day. The changes regarding the high school will include renovating the auditorium and FACS room, adding a new weight room and wrestling room, flooring upgrades, and LED lighting replacement. The middle school’s improvements will be
16 - FEATURES
As far as district-wide projects, there will be a new Student Support Services Building, track jumping and throwing upgrades, parking lot maintenance and an upgraded building control system.
ROCKET OPINION
New Spiderman Movie a Must-See by sam larson, staff reporter
Spiderman: No Way Home is the final film in the current spiderman trilogy. It is the end of the MCU’s Spiderman and at the same time, the beginning of a future trilogy. It is one of the best movies of 2021, with an excellent story connecting the previous Spider Man movies as far back as 2002. The pace of the movie is very good, without taking too much time setting up one plot to another. No scene or subplot goes on too long, making the film feel like it's dragging. The CGI was also great as usual with Marvel films, making it look as if it was real. The cinematography was also amazing.
As far as the plot goes, it was extremely creative and entertaining. Never have I seen several of the same characters portrayed by other actors meet up in the same universe, at least that I know of. Even with that idea being the flagship idea for the film, the story that is told after they meet up is also amazing and emotional. For some, this film was just another overrated superhero movie. To others, waiting to see some characters return for the first time in 20 years done right was one of the best things to ever happen. I give this movie a 10/10 for everything about it.
The acting in the movie is what really stole the whole show. The interactions between Tom Holland's Peter Parker with older spider-man villains such as Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) and Electro (Jamie Foxx) was outstanding. The Chemistry between the other Peter Parkers from other universes (Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield) was very strong. Watching them talk and fight together was absolutely entertaining, making me want to watch more and more of them working together in the future. The Villains also interacting with each other was very entertaining.
FEATURES - 17
ROCKET Nathan Jones and Adam Bilby were the winners of the King Adriel Smith scored his 1,000th of Hearts on Valentine’s Day. point at Wellington on Feb 15.
18 - PHOTOS
Keegan Beavers wrestles against his opponent from Jayhawk-Linn at the Rose Hill Wrestling Invitational on Feb 4.
LIFE FBLA competed at the District 7 Conference on Jan 26.
Senior Gary Tran was awarded the Rudd Scholarship Dante Robinson swims at the Northwest Invitational on Jan 29. from Wichita State.
Felicity Grzeskiewicz-Roy and Ella Bentley cheer on Rocket basketball.
PHOTOS - 19
BLAST
OFF
