Spartan Torch

22

3

WHAT’S INSIDE?

8 Wichita Collegiate Middle School 9115 E. 13th St. N Wichita, KS 67206

September 2021 * Issue 1

Above: Fifth grader Ally Kotkin gets inducted into the House of Delphi.

Left: Grace Teal, Campbell Arneson, Queen Chalmers, Sophia Santo, and Sadie McNulty show their support for their House.

Upper School Students, Faculty Join MS “Houses”

By Khloie Villagomez

This year, the upper school students and faculty joined in on the new middle school Houses tradition.

The day began with the traditional all-school assembly where the seniors

introduced themselves and each graduating class. A rotation of activities followed, where the new students, high schoolers, and faculty got sorted into their houses.

The rest of the day was filled with relays, BINGO, basketball knock-

out, team-building exercises, sweet treats, and even throwing cheeseballs at each other’s faces! House points were earned at each activity and at the end of the day Corinth was in the lead, Delphi was close behind, and Ithaca was in last!

Senior Ellie Munds said, “I liked it because it involved most of the student body, especially as a senior, and I got to see students from fifth grade to the seniors I’m graduating with all enjoying the time they had. It was really cool to have!” (CONT’D ON PAGE 2)

2 NEWS/FEATURE

Left: Seventh grader Reese Wilbourn plays with her buddy on the playground during pIcnic Buddy Day.

TRADITIONS

NEW & OLD

Below: Seventh grader Landon Langston gets his face painted by his little buddy.

Picnic Buddy Day a Favorite Since 1974

By Reghan Eck

Above: Middle school and upper school students alike participated in House games on Aug. 20. Fifth graders, new students, and upper school faculty and students were sorted in one of three Houses - Delphi, Ithaca, or Corinth.

(CONT’D FROM PAGE 1)

You may be wondering how this tradition started. Well, about two years ago this idea was brought to Mrs. Dokken by a couple of teachers.

“I brought together a committee of teachers and we came up with the house names Corinth, Ithaca, and Delphi,” Dokken said. “All of these names are included in either Latin or Greek Mythology, which is a part of our curriculum.”

Not only does the committee come up with ideas, Mrs. Dokken welcomes any suggestions that you have involving the houses! This tradition is all about having fun and a way of connection throughout our school!

“I hope it will become really big and we will have these really fun competitions where people will go crazy for their house,” Dokken said.

Picnic Buddy Day. One of the oldest and most loved Collegiate traditions. This day is not only memorable for students, but equally so for teachers.

There are so many things to do such as get a snowcone, go on a hayride, win a dessert at the cupcake walk, jump in the bounce houses, play bottle toss, do musical chairs, or even just hang out on the playground. These are memories that one always remembers, whether a little or big buddy.

However, most agree that the most important thing about Picnic Buddy Day is that it connects the whole school and reminds us that even though we are in different buildings, we are all a part of the Collegiate family.

“It is one of our best traditions here at WCS,” said Mr. Joe Gehrer. “It brings all the buildings together and it is an event that we remember forever.”

The tradition started in 1974.

It was started by the headmaster at the time, Randall Storms.

Mrs. Bunny Hill, former Head of Middle School, remembers the first Picnic Buddy Day. There were no inflatables or pumpkin decorating, but there was spirit.

“We are a family,” Hill said.

On Picnic Buddy Day, the campus is transformed. One hears laughing

corresponding with the excitement of students winning a cupcake. One sees races between the two buddies in the bounce houses, and across from them there is the long line for snow cones. Nearby, people are writing in the parking lot with chalk and seeing a line waiting for the hayride.

Then, walking into the quad, there are kids swinging on the swing set, students trying to win a soda at bottle toss, pumpkin painting, and the little buddies writing on the big buddy’s faces with markers. These are not even all the activities!

Now, many things have changed, but there is one thing that has been around for the longest time: the theme. This year’s theme was “A Night in New York.” Whenyou were walking around Campus, you could see most people wearing their homecoming shirts and showing their WCS pride!

Even though there are still many activities from the first years, some have been discarded.

Mrs Fiegel said, “The activity selections have changed over the years but the level of commitment by the entire school from staff to teachers to students has never let up.”

Like Mr. Hawley said, “This is Collegiate!”

It truly does prove that we are one family here at WCS.

Science Ex Class to Build Telescope

NEWS/FEATURE 3

STUDENT ST UDENT IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Annie Sharp

By Delilah Banuelos

In his class Science Explorations, Mr. Scott Hawley is planning to build a telescope for the younger students on the edge of the early childhood playground.

“It is being made from leftover parts of projectors so nothing is going to waste and it can be reused,” Hawley said.

The bottom of the telescope will be made out of the dead tree that the Science Explorations class cut down, and the rest of the telescope will be made out of leftover projector parts.

“I was looking for a project that was about science and could also be made into a lasting project so when the Science Explorations class goes around when they’re older they can see that was something they built in seventh and eighth grade,” Hawley said. “This project involves history and changes the world.”

The reason why Hawley picked building a telescope was because he wanted a project that involved science and could also be made into a lasting project.

“They [the kids] can pretend to be pirates, and what little kids don’t like to be pirates? We also interviewed the

little kids and they liked the telescope the most,” Hawley said.

The telescope was the idea that made the kids excited when the Science Explorations students asked them what they wanted on the edge of the playground.

A problem that occurred when thinking about designing the telescope was that the little kids could point it at the sun. There will be a holder or something so the kids can’t look too far up. The image could be upside down because of the lens.

“We have to design it so it’s safe for the little kids-so they can’t look at the sun and the telescope image could possibly be upside down,” Hawley said.

“It will be on the edge of the early childhood playground,” Hawley said.

The telescope will be put on the edge of the early childhood playground.

Hawley picked that spot because there was a dying tree that was just going to be cut down.

The telescope should be done by mid-October.

What would Mr. Hawley like everyone to take away from the new

By Avery Compton

Top: Mr. Hawley shows his Science Explorations class how a telescope works.

Above: Science X students roast S’mores around a fire as they prepare to look at Saturn and Jupiter through a telescope on Friday, Sept. 10. Students studied Galileo and the history of astronomy before embarking on telescope?

“Science is fun and it’s cool,” he said.

Sixth Grader Annie Sharp has been an Irish dancer for nearly seven years. Her history as a dancer started when she saw one of her neighbors doing the dance. She was amazed.

“I thought it was very cool!” she said.

Sharp has had many great accomplishments, including getting into Agrad, the fourth level of dance. She loves competitions the most!

“My favorite part of dance is probably the competitions because I get to see all my friends that I have made,” she said.

While Sharp herself is not Irish, her ancestors were. Her parents are very involved with her dancing career, and even partake in it sometimes.

“I did a two-hand dance with my mom once; a two hand is a two-person dance.” she said.

Annie hopes to reach “Worlds,” where dancers from all over come together and compete!

4 OPINION

We Need to Act on Climate Change Now

By Max Timsah

There is a new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report hot off the press that is acting as a wake-up call for millions around the globe. With less than four months left until COP 26, a consequential summit where the United Nations organize new climate legislation, the IPCC published their sixth assessment of the world’s climate.

The report states that humans have warmed the global surface temperature .8 to 1.3 degrees Celsius with a best guess of 1.07 degrees, greenhouse gas emissions being the overwhelmingly majority cause. The impacts of these actions are already being felt as the report claims that climate change is transforming every inhabited region across the globe, giving us unstable, unequally distributed, extreme conditions. These range from heavy precipitation, to scathing droughts.

As someone who tends

to stay updated on climate news, report emphasizes the secured seat I didn’t know why this all was so that climate change holds for itself at enthralling and captivating as none the table of global problems and sits of this is new information. I can in as you read this article. The most only describe it striking sector of this as the incessant assessment is the noise of an alarm The facts are nothing revealing of correlagoing off outside tions between climate new, but the new and although you change and weather know that someevents. wording is definitive thing’s wrong

Many have you get so used speculated the reato the noise that and deeply troubling. soning why storms you hardly notice and weather events it. Then reading have become more the report opens potent than ever in the window for you and the sound the past decades, and this report smacks you in the face as you realize links them directly to human caused how disruptive the noise is. The facts climate change: “Human influence are nothing new, but the new wordhas likely increased the chance of ing is definitive and deeply troucompound extreme events, It is bling. likely that the global proportion of

“It is unequivocal that humajor (Category 3–5) tropical cyman influence has warmed the clone occurrence has increased over atmosphere, ocean and land. Widethe last four decades” spread and rapid changes in the

Think of all of the extreme atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere, events that have happened in the and biosphere have occurred.” This four decades mentioned in this quote from the very beginning of the report. Hurricane Katrina, category

“

”

5, Hurricane Harvey, category 4, Hurricane Irma, category 5, etc.

Although the general tone of this assessment is dismal, there are many upcoming opportunities for climate action. As I mentioned before, the COP 26 conference in Glasgow, Scotland is scheduled for Nov. 1-12. COP 26 will be a very important conference in which many international parties will come “together to discuss and accelerate the Paris Climate Agreement.” The Paris Agreement is a set of laws used to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius; however, it is preferable that the agreement keeps us below one and five tenths degrees Celsius.

Furthermore, as the climate rapidly changes and we see hotter years than ever, we all need to begin doing our part for the greater good of the world. Educate yourself and others, contact your local representatives, and do not dump 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

Collegiate Middle School Needs a Student Council

By Campbell Arneson

Do you ever wonder why our middle school doesn’t have a student council? Well, I do.

A StuCo would help with so many things including leadership, responsibility, and running a campaign for your peers to vote. Student council also helps develop positive attitudes, strengthen relationships between students and faculty, and plan special events. Therefore, adding a student council to our school would be very beneficial. Why don’t we join many other local middle schools and make the student council a part of Wichita Collegiate Middle School?

Our school is always finding different ways to prepare our middle schoolers, and that is what the student council is all about. It both benefits and enhances our society

as a school. The high school has a student council and I think that our 5th-8th graders need to experience what a student council is like.

Eighth grader and House Captain Elizabeth Timsah said she thinks that the student council would be a connection between the teachers and the students so the teachers know what the students want.

She also thinks it will prepare middle schoolers for future leadership roles.

“The student council has a huge leadership role and that can help them with high school leadership roles. Many students would jump for any leadership roles. ”

Some people disagree and say that middle schoolers are not responsible enough for the student council. They also say it is a lot like house captains and that middle

schoolers do not deserve that much power.

Another reason why people disagree is because it would take too long for elections and that it is too much work.

Well, middle schoolers need to work on their leadership skills by the end of middle school. House captains are individual people and the student council is a group of people. Also, house captains don’t have as much power as the student council would. They take opinions from other students and talk to the Head of Middle School. Also, the elections do not take long; people run and then everyone votes and the winners are announced.

Clearly, our middle school needs a StuCo.

“A StuCo would help with so many things, including leadership, responsibility, and practice running a campaign...”

Letters to the Editor OPINION 5

Collegiate Should Add More After-School Activities Dear Editor,

As a returning student to Collegiate, I find that the only after-school activities that Collegiate provides are sports. I, as a student, think there should be more diverse after-school clubs.

I think these clubs would be very beneficial and would help students spend time together. I heard about a chess club that Collegiate had last year, and everyone whom I’ve spoken to who participated in it said they look back at it fondly.

I also think that these clubs

could help us learn new skills. Based on what I heard about the old Robotics team, students would get to learn building, coding, and teamwork.

Some might say that we can learn these skills during school, but even so, we can expand our horizons on these skills during these clubs.

I think that Collegiate should consider adding new clubs that aren’t sports so everyone can participate.

Sincerely, Olivier Chocron

Students Should Design Shirts for the Shirt Shack Dear Editor,

As a lifelong student at Collegiate, I have recently thought about having a class or something like that for designing Shirt Shack’s clothes.

That way you could put your ideas to life and have other people see it.

You could choose the best or class favorite design to make and put up for sale.The Shirt Shack would sell more if the customers knew they were student-made. Most of all, it would be cool to see your design in the shirt shack.

“Basketball Club” -Corban Wiley, 7th

“Art Club” -Grace Voloch, 6th

Even if your design did not get picked, it would be a cool process making it. You could choose the type of shirt, sweatshirt, and more.

It would be the most fun choosing what to put on it. It could also be good to find out the way of design and the making of clothes.

That’s why I think Collegiate should make a Shirt Shack design class.

Sincerely, Paige Hart

“IF...” you could start a new club for Zero Hour, what would it be?

by Eloise King

(“IF” is a monthly feature inspired by the famous laconic answer by the ancient Spartans to an invading foe. Look it up! Spartans were known for their verbal austerity and pithy remarks.)

More Recess for Middle School?

Dear Editor,

As a student at Collegiate for 10 years, I think that all middle school students need another recess earlier in the day, or a longer recess after lunch. Recess helps me clear my mind and having another recess earlier would help have my mind refreshed going into two more classes.

This could make a dramatic change in focus and concentration.

For example, most school days before recess, I still feel kind of drowsy, but if we had another recess, earlier in the day, we could be more awake and prepared for class.

It’s always good to have some social time and get fresh air, but it always seems to get cut short by

the whistle. Having a bit of a longer recess would give time to finish what we’re doing and not take away too much time from other classes.

Some might say that recess is a waste of time, but it is scientifically proven that it is healthy for kids to go outside, in nature, and get fresh air. I think the middle school should find a way to change our recess time from 25 minutes to 35 minutes or give us another recess at 9:45. This would not take too much time away from class and would appeal to most students. There is no reason lower school students should have more recess than us.

Sincerely, James Nolan

If you would like to send a letter to the editor, please write to abowers@wcsks.com

“Cooking Club” -Grace Teal, 7th “Outdoor Activities” -Michael Nabbout, 6th

Editorial Cartoon

by Sadhakshi Sivaraman

6 ENTERTAINMENT

Movie Review: Shang-Chi Legend of the Ten Rings

By Sadhakshi Sivaraman

Recently, Marvel released a new movie called Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

This movie was utterly extraordinary, and I feel that it is unlike any other Marvel movie yet.

The plot and the characters were so incredibly well-written, and it really met my expectations and more. Simu Liu absolutely nailed his role as Shang-Chi, as did Meng’er Zhang as Xialing.

In this movie, Shang-Chi has to confront his past once more and he faces dangers along the way.

Katy, Shang-Chi’s best friend (played by Akwafina), carried the humor of the movie; she always had the entire theater in fits of laughter. This

movie constantly kept me on my toes and never failed to entertain. At some points you believe that you can predict what's, but you’ll be pleasantly

surprised. The battle scenes can be intense, and you must have your eyes everywhere at once just to keep up!

This movie was very refreshing -not simply

The ORACLE

By Max Timsah

As fall begins, so does Libra season and Mercury’s retrograde.

For the month of October, here is what to expect:

because it is the first Marvel movie to feature an Asian lead, but also because there aren’t any love interests for the main character as there usually is. It was pretty nice being able to focus on the plot. Going back to the representation of Asian portrayal, Marvel doesn’t have any large movies in which a POC is the main character.

This changed with Shang-Chi; not only did we get representation, we got good representation.

As the movie continues, we see familiar faces, not just from the recognizable actors, but from character crossovers. That instigated excitement and I remember hearing murmurs throughout the audience when they were introduced.

This was easily one of Marvel’s best projects and I can’t wait to unravel the rest of Shang-Chi’s story!

Don’t forget to watch the end credits scenes -there are two!

Pisces: Smoke will clear from your view as you leave a hectic August behind; keep a good attitude, but do not be overly optimistic. Organize your binder, practice your handwriting, or start a planner.

You will begin to make important decisions about relationships with others and your true friendships will grow in strength. This month will be a month of organization and focus for Pisces.

Aquarius: As Autumn begins, use this month as a time of normalcy and self-relaxation. You may be urged to begin new projects and commit to the hard route for certain things. be wary to not set yourself up for a meltdown with your parents over your math homework. Consider that sometimes some things need to be a little bit easier. Do not take this as incentivizing laziness but take it as wisdom. Not everything has to be hard-won. This is a month of self-accomplishment

Book Review: A Little in Love

By Lucy Gehrer

“I’ve done so many bad things in my life, but the stars always forgave me.”

This week I read a book called A Little in Love. It was a very interesting book, with a lot of emotions. It is written by Susan Fletcher with a genre of fiction romance.

I like this book because it is based on the movie called Les Miserables but from a different character’s point of view. Eponine Thenardier is also referred to as “the Jondrette girl.” She for Aquarius.

Capricorn: This month, avoid feelings of contempt towards others. Find happiness in your own ways and see others as peers, not rivals.

See eye to eye with someone with different opinions, or someone in a different house. You will find meaning in many facets of life this month and open up the door to finding joy in ordinary things.

Through this, you will share your newfound outlook on life with others and enlarge your accumulation of friends. This month will be a month of growth for Capricorn.

Sagittarius: During this month, many relationships will form, and some will end. This represents a new beginning and becoming more down to earth. You will reassess yourself and become a more well-rounded person. Longer and more in-depth conversations will become more frequent this month, however, you must allow

grew up learning how to steal and not care about others. Little does she know that the little kitchen maid, who weeps under the stairs at night for her mother, will steal her only love. Eponine is fighting a battle in her head of whether she should help the lone and forgotten kitchen maid or fight for her love. Which side of the battle will she choose?

Something that I didn’t like about the book was that the book left me on a cliffhanger. What happened to Eponine’s lover.

Did he ever find the kitchen maid? Where did Eponine go, is she happy there?

My favorite character in this book is Eponine, not only because she is the main character, but because her view of life changes in almost every chapter. At the beginning of the book, she sees the world through her parents' eyes: a terrible world with no room to love or be kind.

Towards the end, she learns to view the world from her own eyes; she becomes more of her own person. yourself to enjoy them to feel the calming, happy effects of conversation. This month will be a month of change and learning for Sagittarius.

Scorpio: Right now, the best thing to do is reflect. Lay out all your cards on the table and think of all the things that you have been feeling.

Put all your thoughts and feelings into words and let them flow onto a page. What you discover could change the trajectory of your life, or your grade in English. Like Sagittarius, use this time to think and change: what you find may surprise you.

This month will be a month of self-discovery for Scorpio.

Libra: During this month ,Libras should act in pursuing their hopes and dreams. Put in extra effort on homework, trust in your skills, and don’t undermine yourself or overthink your future. All things happen for a reason. Work hard and allow yourself to smoothly

Meet the Teacher: Mrs. Taylor

By Carson Malaise

When Mrs. Koepsel retired from teaching English in the 7th grade, Collegiate was in need of an English teacher, and Mrs.Taylor was also looking for an English job. Previously, she

had taught both English and French.

Out of all the cities and schools in the U.S., Collegiate just happened to be the place Mrs.Taylor decided to settle down.

“I hope to stay in Wichita for a long time. The only time I imagine going elsewhere is if my daughters graduate from Collegiate, and then maybe we’ll follow,” said Mrs. Taylor. She has two daughters of the age of 4 and 7.

While Mrs. Taylor wants to settle down in Wichita, there is always somewhere else that someone would love to live, and for Mrs.Taylor that city is Seattle. She has been a couple of times and she fell in love with the weather, and

Dear Volleyballer, Don’t feel down on yourself.

You’re just starting this new sport. You might not be good at it at first, but as the year goes on, you will progress. Practice makes great progress. Keep going, and don’t quit. You will get better!

Dear Lucy, This year I started playing volleyball, but I’m not very good at it. No one will pass me the ball, and no one wants to be partners with me. There are some days when I feel like a bad ball.

HOROSCOPES, CONT’D) navigate things that happen this month as they will be decisive in the trajectory of your future. This month will be a month of consequential decisions and actions for Libra.

Leo: You will find that many of the relationships that you put in work for have begun to fray this month. You must avoid feeling as though you need to make rapid, sweeping changes to help save your relationships with others.

Let things come naturally and do not force and fake emotions. Your unique personality will attract the attention of others and create

Dear Lucy, I feel as though I’m always in last place. Least liked friend, last liked girl, least best player on sports teams, even least liked child in my family. I’m always everyone’s backup, if someone’s gone that day, you’re new opportunities, hopefully.

There is always someone who can and wants to have a real friendship with you. This month will be a month of receiving for Leo. Cancer: During this month, people will see your quiet side and fall to the misconception of your low confidence and weakness. You, however, do not lack confidence; they are used to confidence being bold, loud, and boisterous, but you provide a different story.

Move through this month quietly and they will see that you can rise in the ranks while not being annoyingly loud. This month will be a month of confidence for

Playlist of the Month: “Bop Yo’ Head”

by Khloie Villagomez

according to Mrs.Taylor, “There is a hipster vibe that you get in Seattle that I fell in love with.”

While Seattle is known for its seafood, that’s not Mrs. Taylor’s favorite food. Her favorite restaurant in Wichita is Vora located downtown, and her favorite meal from Vora is the duck breast. But her go-to is always Asian food.

We are grateful that Mrs.Taylor has joined the 7th grade Wichita Collegiate teaching staff.

Let’s hope the future for both Mrs.Taylor and Collegiate holds prosperity!

JUST A SK LUC Y -Volleyballer

ENTERTAINMENT 7

by Courtlyn Ramsey

justasklucy2008@gmail.com

the “new” best friend, for only a day. I feel like a substitute. Any advice?

-Least Liked

Dear Least Liked, I encourage you to find a new group of friends who will always appreciate you and come to you when you need them.

It might take time, but trust in the process. Making friends takes time. If it helps, try and reconnect with an old friend that makes you feel like you.

Another thing to always remember is don’t pretend to be someone else; find your group that makes you feel like you.

Cancer.

Gemini: Let yourself be free of the burden of other people’s entire happiness this month. Others can be responsible for their own happiness. Take this with a grain of salt though because you can still help others in need. The biggest lesson to learn this month is that it is unfortunate, but sometimes you need to leave a sour taste in someone’s mouth to go on with your own life. This month will be a month of self-priority and efficiency for Gemini.

Taurus: This month, Taurus’s ambitions will be stronger than ever.

Achieving goals, setting them, and striving every day to reach them. The fatal flaw in maintaining this energy is that sometimes we are let down and underwhelmed with our performance, but that is ok. If you study for a test, you may not get a one-hundred percent, but you still will do better than if you didn’t study.

Don’t set yourself up for failure but try your best. This month is a month of ambition for Taurus.

Virgo: This month, try to thin down your focus and take things one at a time. Look at today’s agenda as many singular assignments to complete with ease instead of an overwhelming list of tasks. Avoid

overanalyzing things as it may cause stress and anxiety. This month is a month of simplification for Virgo.

Aries: As the best sign it sometimes may be hard for us Aries to live up to our sky-high standards but that is ok, because our greatness comes naturally. Don’t stress about that test- you’re an Aries, you got this! This month, we can look forward to becoming more self-reliant and that’s pretty cool.

This month is a month of Aries being cool.

Right: Seventh grader Zaria Reagans lets her little buddy paint her face last Friday during the Homecoming Picnic Buddy Day. After a pizza picnic in the quad, midlde schoolers spent two hours having fun with students from Early Childhood.

Lower Right: Sixth graders Kingston Romero and Blake Sprole teach their buddy proper form.

Picnic Buddy Day Right: Sixth grader Lucy Voloch helps her buddy draw a rainbow.

Below: Seventh grader Jena Campbell gives her cheerleader a squeeze.

Left: Eighth graders Maddie Ternes and Charlie Gentile and 7th grader Mason Bond enjoy a hayrack ride with their buddies.