the ROCKET PRESS
Volume 2, Issue 2 November 4, 2019
A D O P T I O N
A D O P T E D
M I L I T A R Y
F I N A N C E S
T R A D I T I O N A L
M E N T A L I L L N E S S
D E A T H
D I V O R C E
J O B R E L O C A T I O N
Rose Hill High School 1
Family Issue 03-Traditional 04-DIVORCE 05-DEATH 06-ADOPTION 07-ADOPTED
RocketPd17 Rocket Productions 2 The Rocket Press
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08-MENTAL ILLNESS 09-FINANances 10-MILITARY 11-JOB RELOCATION
TRADITIONAL
by lydia kimble, editor-in-chief
Family is defined by Merriam-Webster as ” a group consisting of parents and children living together in a household.” (According to Lexico powered by Oxford) But sadly in the world we live in that is not always the case, because in an imperfect world there are imperfect families. But sometimes through all the chaos there are these families that somehow they make it work. Sometimes it is hard to be that friend who has a so-called perfect life. Now what does a perfect family look like to you? There are several versions of this kind of family to many people. Sometimes you have two parents; a mom and a dad. I do not come from a traditional family by any means. My parents are divorced, and my mom has lived in another state since I graduated eighth grade. My aunt and cousin live with me and sometimes even though my family is not traditional, some kids can have it much harder. It is never easy to say a person in this world has a perfect life, because you do not know his or her story. You are just someone peeking through one version of what is happening in there life. Most people can take great offense to what other people may say about them. Aislin Burnison, a junior at Rose Hill High School, comes from a home with both mom and dad living under the same roof. Also she has a younger brother, in seventh grade attending Rose Hill. “No matter what is going on, we always come back together, and I feel very fortunate to have them both,” said Burnison. “My life like most has had some tough moments as well.”
“Even though my parents argue, I know it is okay, because we come out on the other side stronger.” I don’t feel like I’ve missed out on anything (like two Christmases or birthdays), it is definitely different than what some of my friends have experienced. But I think it has helped me become the person I am today, and I know I am lucky enough to go home to two parents at night.” -Aislin Burnison, Junior family and their experiences. “Even though my parents argue, I know it is okay, because we come out on the other side stronger,” Burnison said. “I don’t feel like I’ve missed out on anything (like two Christmases or birthdays), it is definitely different than what some of my friends have experienced.” “But I think it has helped me become the person I am today, and I know I am lucky enough to go home to two parents at night.”
She talks about how she is grateful for her whole Rose Hill High School 3
DIVORCE
by sydney lakous, staff reporter
When I was about three years old, my mom and dad decided to get divorced. I would say that it changed my life dramatically, but since I was young, my life as I remember has generally been the same.
Although, my eldest siblings probably would not say the same. When my parents divorced, my oldest sister and brother were teenagers. Of course, they knew more about what was going on than my other sister (who is one year older) and I did. In June of 2011, my mom remarried, and all of a sudden, I had a step-dad, three step-siblings, two twin sisters, and their older brother. Eventually, all of my step-siblings and my step dad moved in with us. This adjustment was only temporary. They lived with us for around three months before my mom and him divorced they were only married for a year.
“All families have a certain way they function, and when something like a divorce occurs, the way they work can be disrupted. Although sometimes change is for the best in the long run.” percent of the time and my dad 40. I think my life has changed for the better because they’re better apart. I like it and I’m fine with it.”
Some families who have divorced parents have shared custody, meaning both parents get to see the children part of the time. Some parents have full custody of the child or children, so only one parent will have the children full time. There are endless possibilities with family situations, so custody will vary between each family.
According to the American Psychological Association, 40-50 percent of married couples in the United States end up getting a divorce. Unfortunately, having parents that are married is just as common as having parents that divorce. About half of those couples will most likely remarry and divorce a second time.
“I was probably about six or seven [when my parents got divorced],” said Grace Main, a junior at Rose Hill High School. “My parents have met new people, so I have two different families.”
Sophomore Kennedy Olson was only six years old when her parents got divorced.
Main switches between parents every Friday, so it’s 50/50 split time, she said. Sometimes, divorces benefit the family in the long run, although it may be difficult for the time being. “I was in fourth grade,” said junior, Haley Thrush. “I live with both parents; I’m with my mom 60 4 The Rocket Press
“I live with my mom, and I don’t see my dad anymore. I wouldn’t say my life has changed at all because I didn’t really know my dad at all,” said Olson. “I have three step sisters and a stepdad.” All families have a certain way they function, and when something like a divorce occurs, the way they work can be disrupted. Although sometimes change is for the best in the long run.
DEATH
by charlee conroy, staff reporter
The imagination can be far and wide, but is there an actual way to escape the harsh reality through a beautiful fantasy? The loss of a loved one can be detrimental to an individual or a whole family. Even though we as humans try to sometimes avoid the truths, it is reality and we have to break through.
When I was younger, my family would celebrate every holiday together and would always be there for each other. I now think back and see how ungrateful I was for not holding each of these cherished moments in my memory. These treasured moments have slowly faded in my memory to where all I can remember is my selfishness. My great-grandfather died when I was thirteen and this was a traumatic time for my family. Though instead of gathering together like a family we divided because of our greed for his wealth. All I really remember is that most of my family arguing over his money and accusing the will of being influenced with lies. After this event, my family became permanently separated to where some of my family members refused to be in the same room with each other. My family has somewhat recovered from this but nothing will ever be the same. Emma Geer, a junior at Rose Hill High School, lost her dad, Terrance, when she was six years old. Her dad was on a training mission overseas and a malfunction happened in the helicopter and it went down. “Before my dad died we were planning on moving to Wyoming,” Geer said. “I was probably going to be homeschooled for the rest of my life and
Terrance Geer, the father of junior Emma, passed away in a military helicopter accident 11 years ago. Photo courtesy of Emma Geer. I would have probably picked a different career choice (Criminal Profiling).” Geer expressed that her whole life would have been different and also her brother’s life, as well. “We moved to Kansas to be closer to family and in that respect my brother decided to go to college in Kansas,” Geer said. “Because we moved to Kansas, we have limited a lot of things we wanted to do.” Junior Audrey Stanton had to deal with the deaths of classmates Reese Naylor and Charlie Futhey, both of which were like family. “It was hard for my whole family including myself to get through their passing,” Stanton said. Stanton had been friends with Naylor and Futhey for years, and when they passed away Stanton set out on a goal to help find a cure for cancer. “I really wanted to find a cure for cancer after Reese was diagnosed and Charlie was diagnosed when they were really young,” Stanton said. “I really wanted to find a cure after they passed away, because I just felt like I needed to.” Rose Hill High School 5
ADOPTION
by taegan belcher, staff reporter
Over the past two years, my family has continued to grow by adopting, though I thought that it was not possible. My first sibling, Kohen, was born eight years after I was, and he is my biological brother. For a long time it was just Kohen, my parents, and myself. We had our routine. We had figured out a way to function well together as a family. Then in late May of 2017 my parents received a phone call that changed all of our lives and made a huge impact on our family. I remember it was just a typical Thursday night, my family and I were all hanging out around the house. I remember my mom receiving a phone call and calling my dad into their room. He shut the door though I could hear them talking about something. An hour or so went by when my parents quickly opened my bedroom door, dropped a suitcase on my floor, and said: “Pack all the things you need for the weekend.” I was scared and caught off guard; I had no idea what was going on. After we had all packed our parents explained to us what was happening. The phone call my mom received was from one of her friends telling us that a little girl had three days to find someone to go live with or she would be placed into foster care. My family and I had met this little girl once, a couple of years before this. We drove down to Oklahoma, and we returned with a little girl named Lanah, who has been a part of our family for about two years now. As a family we have had to figure out a new routine and find a new way for all of us to function well together. We still have not legally adopted Lanah, 6 The Rocket Press
so the journey is not over.
We are currently still facing some struggles. My family and I have a Go Fund Me page called, “The Belcher Family Adoption,” to help us raise money so we can finalize the adoption, because without help from others, we would not be able to continue this adoption journey. My family also just recently adopted a young boy named Matthew on August 21, 2019. Before we adopted Matthew, he had been technically my second cousin. My mom started doing respite care for Matthew when he was six months old. My family saw Matthew a lot, even before he was officially placed with us in April of this year. We all grew very close with him and we all knew that we wanted him to be an official part of our family. He grew very close to us too, and he actually called my parents mom and dad way before we officially adopted him. Dan Cole, a math teacher at Rose Hill High School, never planned on adopting, but he and his family ended up adopting three boys into their family roughly five years ago. “We’d help out doing respite which is providing them with some rest on the weekends, so we started doing respite helping out little boys and girls, and their parents getting rest,” said Cole. “And then we went from there to getting our foster license. We started fostering kids that came up for adoption. But that whole process took about two year. Then when the boys came up for adoption we only wanted to adopt two of the boys but the state said you had to take all three. The third boy we had never ever seen before so we had to decide to take them or not; all three or none. So we chose to take all three.”
ADOPTED
by faith exley, staff reporter
Being adopted can be one of the biggest blessings, yet it comes with the hardest moments. It is not just that you go from home to home and living with strangers, but it is the feeling of betrayal and rejection from your biological parents.
My sister and I were in foster care for three years, and it was really tough because I did not know if I was ever going to have a family again. All I wanted to do was to be a kid, be loved and cared for.
“The house I lived in was not the best and I have been through a lot during those years, said sophomore Patrick Beckes. “I was put into foster care right away as a baby, and when I turned seven I was adopted.” Never in my life did I imagine that I would have to take care of an infant sister while I was three. I did not have a normal childhood: from two to five years of age, we never celebrated birthdays or Christmas or any holiday in fact. There would be times when my sister and I would be totally alone with little food to last us for weeks on end. Instead of building relationships with us, my parents were addicted to drugs and alcohol. The most heartbreaking moment was the night the police were looking for my mom. My sister and I were spending the night with my grandma (my mom’s mom). When the police officer knocked on her door asking for my mom. She obviously told them no, and so they left.
My dream came true on January 3, 2011, at the age of 8, I was adopted. That was the best moment of my life. I remember sitting on my dads lap with tears in my eyes listening to him tell me I was his daughter. I finally had a family that loved me and fought for me everyday. Since I have been adopted I have lived a very blessed life.
She told us to hurry up and get ready to go back home, so we could tell our mom goodbye. When we made it home I found my mom in the hallway crying. I think it was because she knew this would be the last time she would kiss her babies goodbye. I ran up to her and asked what the police were going to do to her.
My parents now have done so much for me, and I know they love me beyond measure. I know I went through a lot at a young age, but it really allowed me to appreciate what I have now. I went from not having anything at all to having everything and for that I will always be grateful.
I did not realize that, this would be the last time I hugged my mom before we got taken away from her forever. To see your mom being taken away while so young was the most saddest moment of my life.
“It was hard in the past with other foster families because they would hurt me and beat me, but this family was different, they treated me how I want to be treated, said Beckes. “The family that adopted me I really care about them and they treat me better.” Rose Hill High School 7
MENTAL ILLNESS
-19.1% of U.S. adults experience mental illness in 2018, that is 47.6 million people -16.5% of U.S. youth age 6-17 experienced a mental health disorder in 2016, that an equivalent of 7.7 million people -nami.org by sarah kellogg, staff reporter My mom used to always tell me her brain was broken. I did not really understand what she meant by that. How is a four-year-old supposed understand bipolar disorder? Bipolar disorder or manic-depression disorder can be described as mood swings that can be the best of moods or severe depression. I will not lie my life has not been the easiest, but here is my story. I remember when I was little my mom would cry, therefore, make me cry. I would wrap my little body around her and try my best to comfort her. Sometimes I was successful other times not. As I have gotten older it really did take a major toll on me. The manic part of my mom’s disorder is almost always anger. In these times I feel like I am walking on eggshells. When this happens I become very jumpy and anxious, and it is taken in all aspects of my life. In the end, she always apologizes to me. I always feel like maybe if my mom never had me 8 The Rocket Press
she may have a little bit more peace in her life. It is a struggle for the both of us. She would tell me that when she was younger I would have loved her when she was manic. She was happy and carefree. Yes, I wish I could have that now and I bet she does too. In my opinion, the hardest part of her bipolar for me to mentally handle is when the mania sets in. Overall, I have learned how to deal with mania. Moving on to the depression part of bipolar. There is so much crying and it hurts my heart to see my mom so depressed. I feel useless. I cannot help her. I have prayed to God that he would take her pain away and give it to me. I have cried myself to sleep because my mom told she does not know if she can keep going. The terror I feel when she says that--my mom is all I have. It causes me to fall into a deep depression. It is not easy or sometimes tolerable to handle all this. I knock myself down when everything comes together. But in the end I love my mom and I know she will always be in my corner.
POVERTY
by sam larson, staff reporter
Families can be greatly affected as a result of their financial situation. They could have a rough lifestyle, but just because a family is not wealthy does not mean it can not be a happy and healthy family.
Lower class families can be affected a lot by their financial status. They could have trouble keeping up with their bills and payments, but most importantly they could spend most of their time working long days. This lets the parents have little time to spend multiple hours with their children that they might have. Kids can slowly grow older and develop bad relationships with their parents, and they could struggle with schoolwork without help from an adult. Without the supervision and guidance of their parents they could start to get into trouble as well, but that is not always the case. Freshman Keyonte Douglass has a sensitive financial situation that has affected him through most of his life. “I guess my family’s financial situation has affected me, because sometimes I get most of my school supplies but sometimes I don’t get important things on time,” said Douglass. “And as a young child I had to move around a lot because we couldn’t afford rent for more than a couple months so I was always switching schools.” From my personal experience, I have lived in both the low class and the high class. About seven years ago, after my parents got divorced, my father fled to a three bedroom house in Augusta, KS. My sisters shared a room, sleeping on a mattress on the poorly built hardwood floor. Me and my
brother had a bunk bed in our room, and both of our rooms were completely empty. At the time, my dad and I had a terrible relationship. We were always fighting and yelling at each other. Now, my father and I have the healthiest relationship ever, and he worked really hard over the last seven years to get us a brand new house. I also have experience on the privileged side of things. A couple years ago my mother and my step father bought their dream house in Sienna Ranch, and they were planning to live there until all the kids move out. Even though I had It all a bedroom with a large TV with RGB Lights and decorations everywhere, I also had relationship issues with my mom, and after months of therapy we stopped fighting. In conclusion, your current financial situation has an effect on your family. You could live in a million dollar house and still have issues with your family, which is not surprising, because money should
“Families can be greatly affected as a result of their financial situation. They could have a rough lifestyle, but just because a family is not wealthy does not mean it can not be a happy and healthy family.” Rose Hill High School 9
MILITARY
by ethan woodrome, staff reporter
I was born right before the War on Terror began. My dad had joined the Air National Guard in March of that year. He was part-time but went full time and would often be gone for months at a time. If we were lucky it would be weeks at a time.
When he deployed we went through a procedure where he went would not be allowed to tell anyone (he was leaving). A few times before he left he would take me aside and talk to me about how I will be the man of the house, and how I will take care of my family and the house. At the start of the war, we did get a call every few weeks or a letter every few months. Then around the age of ten, Skype was created so we could actually see and talk more often. Since he was in The National Guard, he went to natural disasters as well. So a natural disaster would happen, and he would go for a while, come back for a bit, then get deployed to the war.
The Woodrome family embrace their father, Keith, who returned from a tour of duty in 2011. Photo courtesy of the Woodrome family.
He assisted in natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana and the Greensburg tornado in Kansas.
“After that it was like three or four years and you’re out and I was fortunate to finish my schooling in one place.”
The hardest thing would be if he was gone on Veteran’s Day or the 9/11 anniversary, when I was reminded that he was gone.
Lunsford mom was deployed her seventh grade year.
Both of senior Lucy Lunsford’s parents were in the Air Force. One is retired and one is still active today. “I haven’t been outside the country but my dad have told me stories about it and I moved around different places,” Lunsford said. “The longest I’ve been at place was six years in Louisiana where I was born, so they had to stay a while.” 10 The Rocket Press
“She was gone for six months,” Lunsford said. “We never had to deal with her being gone. It was really strange because we had to pick up stuff at home. Lunsford said. “We missed her but we got to talk to her every night because that’s when her morning was. It was tough but you get through it and when she comes back everything is chill.”
RELOCATION
From a last glance of a house and town you love, to a new neighborhood with a since of unfamiliar people, having to move because of a parent’s job relocation is tough.. Photo from unsplash.com by kirsten smith, staff reporter I have changed schools three times in my life and that has been because of my dad’s job. I have been forced to make new friends, get accustomed to new surroundings and try to establish roots. Every school change has been difficult, but I know it is something that a lot of children have to endure. In fact, there have been studies conducted by multiple newspapers and journals about the negative aspects of children being forced to move multiple times early in their life. Most people have experienced moving at least once in their life, which means the loss of friends, because of the move but they also make new friends.
nal of Preventive Medicine says, “Childhood residential mobility is associated with multiple long-term adverse outcomes. Although frequent residential mobility could be a marker for familial psychosocial difficulties, the elevated risks were observed across the socioeconomic spectrum, and mobility may be intrinsically harmful.” Translation: children moving over and over can be harmful to their development. Freshman Mia Baker had experienced this when her family found out her dad got a new job in Kansas. At the time they lived in Nebraska and her family had to pack up their whole lives and move to a town she has never heard of before. “Moving was pleasant and making friends wasn’t hard, but people look at you and it is like your not normal,” Baker said.
A study recently published in the American JourRose Hill High School 11
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