WG ECHO March 2015

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ECHO We ECHO the news

Celebrating 100 years

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wgecho.org

March 2015 Volume 100 Issue 7 Photo by Cal Lanouette

100 Selma Ave st. Louis MO 63119

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Opinion

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Editorial

Movie confuses ECHO staff on issues “Fifty Shades of Grey” is perhaps one of the most controversial books of the past few years since it came out in 2011, and its movie that came out Feb. 13, just leads to even more.

The most controversial issue of the book is perhaps the fact that it has multiple mentions of a contract dealing with sexual agreements which is ignored several times and the way it deals with the women’s issues of consent and respect.

After one of the ECHO writers saw the movie (which she regrets), she is unsure as to whether the movie really is the huge problem feminists make it out to be.

In the movie, the main characters Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) and Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) are in a relationship which deals with the bondage and discipline, dominance and submission and sadism and masochism (BDSM), and they use a contract to state the terms, which Christian allows Anastasia to negotiate.

2014-15 ECHO STAFF

She is even told she can leave at any time, which she eventually does.

Anastasia does negotiate with several of the terms in the contract and treats it like a business meeting, refusing to give Christian any of the power he seems to want to hold over her. She leaves the meeting feeling satisfied with the changes made to the contract.

The other matter pushed into the fray, is feminism. Christian is seen by several feminists as a man who feels the need to dominate every woman he sees and has no respect for them. Though he does want to dominate and is a dominant in his relationship with Anastasia, Christian admits that in his first BDSM relationship, he was a submissive.

There is only one reason that a person should not see this movie; it’s simply a terribly written movie. There seems to be no plot or subtext for anything going on, and it gets really boring, really quickly.

Perhaps if the writing were better, then the staff would have a better understanding of what people are taking offense at.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Aerin Johnson JUNIOR EDITOR: Jack Killeen BUSINESS/ADS MANAGER: Alex Ring OPINION EDITOR: Andy Kimball NEWS EDITOR: Bennett Durando FEATURE EDITOR: Willie Zempel SPORTS EDITOR: Cal Lanouette ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR: Irene Ryan GRAPHICS/VIDEO EDITOR: Bret Waelterman WEB EDITOR: Phoebe Mussman PUBLIC RELATIONS: Brittany Patton CIRCULATION EDITOR: Andre Scott ADVISOR: Donald Johnson

SOME MATERIAL COURTESY OF AMERICAN SOCIETY OF NEWSPAPER EDITORS/MCT CAMPUS HIGH SCHOOL NEWSPAPER SERVICE The ECHO is a monthly publication of the newspaper staff of Webster Groves High School, 100 Selma Avenue, Webster Groves, MO. To contact staff members, call 314-963-6400 ex. 11157 or write wgecho@wgmail.org.

Unsigned editorials are the opinion of a majority of staff members; signed articles are the opinion of the writer.

Letters to the editor of 300 words or less are welcome; submit letters by the 10th of the month to wgecho@ wgmail.org, or room 155. All letters must be signed, although the name may be withheld from publication if requested. The ECHO has the right to edit letters for publication as long as intent remains unchanged.

The ECHO is a member of SSP, Quill and Scroll, MJEA, JEA, MIPA and CSPA.

March 2015

Photo from Fiftyshadesmovie.com “Fifty Shades of Grey” has made $163.8 million in the box office and 1 hour and 50 minutes. It is rated R for strong sexual content, graphic nudity, unusual behavior and language.

Proposed abortion law should be stopped Sydni Copeland Contributing Writer

an abortion is available if the woman is raped or involved in incest without needed consent, she can not get an abortion under the circumstances of an abuMissouri state legislators proposed sive relationship. If she is impregnated House Bill No. 131 in mid-December by her abusive partner and wants an requiring women seeking abortions abortion, clinics will still require notato have written consent from the ferized consent to it. tus’ father.

Under the circumstances of rape, she This violates a woman’s right to cannot just go to an abortion clinic and make her own health and reproducsay, “I was raped. I’d like an abortion,” tive health care choices. It needs to There has to be a police report on file to be stopped. provide proof of it.

The bill states: “No abortion shall “It has to be a legitimate rape,” Rick be performed or induced unless and Brattin, Missouri state representative until the father of the unborn child and the bill’s sponsor, said. provides written, notarized consent to A petition on Change.org against this the abortion, except in cases in which bill has been signed by 2,147 supportthe woman upon whom the abortion is to be performed or induced was the Photo from www.house. ers, needing 353 more people to get the victim of rape or incest and the pregmo.gov attention of the State. Once it reaches nancy resulted from the rape or in- State Representative Rick Brat- 2,500 signatures, that’s when the state cest. If the father of the unborn child tin proposed House Bill No. 131 of Missouri will have the question put on the ballot, taking it out of the hands is deceased, the woman upon whom that would violate a woman’s of State officials and leaving it up to the the abortion is to be performed or in- right to make decisions about people. duced shall sign a notarized affidavit her reproductive health care.

Here is the link: https://www.change. attesting to the fact.” org/p/missouri-state-house-stop-moIf this bill is enforced, it will revoke a woman’s rights to her own body. The freedom representative-rick-brattin-s-abortion-bill.

Only a woman should have the rights to her body. No to make this decision should be left in the hands of the woman and the woman only, as she’ll be the one who one else should have any say. carries the fetus. This bill also mentions that even though

Correction: In the page 12 story in the February issue about the wrestling team, our headline and lead mistakenly reads that the wrestling team placed “25th” overall at the State tournament. This is an error. The wrestling team placed “13th” overall at the Class 3 State tournament Feb. 1921, in Columbia. Our error resulted from looking at an

outdated MSHAA webpage. Other errors were Dakota Brunson’s name was written as “Dakota Brunto” and “Plack County” should have been written as “Platte County.”

Our sincere apologies to Coach James LeMay and the wrestling team.

Editor’s Note: Readers may have noticed that this month’s issue of the ECHO is different from others. This is to celebrate the newspaper’s 100th anniversary. The staff hopes that students and staff will enjoy this issue.

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Schools should allow students right to peacefully protest

Andy Kimball Opinion Columnist Freedom of speech is a very controversial issue in schools today. This issue has seen many cases, for example Hazelwood vs. Kulmeier in 1988 and Tinker vs.

Des Moines in 1969.

On Dec. 3, Hixson Middle School students planned to protest the events in Ferguson.

Teachers and administrators got word of the possible protest and called an assembly.

Eighth grade student Emma Binder said, “When the teachers got word of the protest, they called an assembly.

We were told that if this is what we believe, we should do it, but there could be consequences. Many teachers told us they wish they could take part in the protest.”

Over 40 students participated in a walk-out protest similar to the one at the high school on Dec. 4.

Those students were originally assigned In-School suspension for their actions but were instead set to serve a “20-30 minute restitution period at their lunch to make up their work,” according to Hixson principal Dr. Stacie Smith.

Dr. Smith said that students were originally set to be given In-School suspension for leaving school and not coming back in a timely manner. “The punishment was changed because the students represented good behavior and follower all of (the teachers and administrators) directions while they were protesting,” she said.

A case similar to this one was Tinker vs. Des Moines in 1969. Students planned to promote truce in the Vietnam War by wearing black armbands. When the principals of the Des Moines school learned this, the school put a policy in place banning the armband and giving suspensions to students who refused to remove them.

Students in the Tinker vs. Des Moines case sued the school district through their parents for violating the students’ right of expression.

In the final decision the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that students don’t “shed their Constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate,” but students can’t “disrupt the educational process.”

This means that students should have been able to protest freely if they were protesting in a peaceful manner if and not disturbing the educational process.

When asked if students were disruptive during their protest, Smith said, “No, they were awesome their behavior was excellent. (The protest) was very well contained”.

When talking about the punishment Smith added “(students) should also learn that actions have consequences, Like, I could be at a job and if I choose to protest, I can totally do that, and I should if that’s what I want for my cause, at the same time if I just get up and walk out of my job and do something then I have to know that it might be fine, it might not be fine, it just depends, so the idea is great but we wanted to help (students) think through all of their choices.”

If Smith thinks that someone at their job should protest if it’s what they want for their cause, what makes school different from someone’s job?

Employees can be punished by getting fired, and students can be punished by being suspended or given another disciplinary action.

Teaching students that some actions have consequences is a good thing, but in this instance students protested peacefully and were not disruptive, so they had the right to protest.

The students were treated unfairly and situations like these could make students afraid to voice their opinions in the future because of fear of being punished.

Willie’s Comic

by Willie Zempel

Letters to the Editor:

Yankees show World Series Dominance It has recently come to my attention that the Yankees have won a mind-numbing number of World Series championships. The number of championships is very large indeed, and for you to understand it, I’ll have to compare it to a few things. For instance, the Yankees have won more World Series than all the other baseball teams put together, but, there’s more.

Take a look at this ECHO. If they were as many words in this ECHO as Yankees’ championships, it would be over 40 pages long! I still think you haven’t quite grasped this number. Why, it’s so unbelievably large, that if you laid all of the Yankees’ championships end-to-end, it would reach to the moon and back! If you had as much food as the Yankees have championships, you could feed

all of Africa five times! If something was moving as fast as the Yankees’ championships, they could go from New York to Mars in just a few minutes! Now do you truly comprehend?

No, no you don’t. Look, it’s really simple. If I had as much money as the Yankees have World Series wins, and if bricks cost a million dollars, I could buy enough bricks to lay a wall 9 ft. high and 8 ft. thick around Texas, sell the bricks back at a penny each, and then have enough left over to buy everyone reading this a car and a refrigerator.

It’s times like these that serve to remind us of our own human nature. Whenever things seems down, just recall that we are but men, and the realm of Yankees’ wins is

just far, far out of our reach. Ancient philosophers gazed at the stars and thought, “Will we ever truly understand this number, this concept?” Even today, with all our advances in every field, we seem no closer. When we get there (if we get there), will all our problems be solved, or will our world be no different? Such are these great mysteries. The team with the second most World Series wins, the Saint Louis Cardinals, has 12.

(The writer of this letter of prefer that his name remain unmentioned in the ECHO, lest it dilute the grandeur of the Yankees and their many championships.)

Editor’s note: Yankees have won 27 championships, and the Cardinals have won 11.

Extra! Extra-Terrestrials Read All About It! I have recently come to the realization that Dr. Clark, our principal, is an alien. If you think about it all signs point to him being an extraterrestrial. Think about it. I bet Dr. Clark’s middle name is “Kent,” making his full name “Jon Kent Clark.” That sounds like a pretty shabby alibi for Clark Kent if you ask me. Recently, I was called down to the office of this “Dr. Clark,” and I am 100 percent sure

that he switched me out with an alien clone of myself during this visit. Ever since I went down to his “office,” I have started to notice alien tendencies within myself. I have a strong urge to abduct and also to probe. Yesterday, I was editing a picture on paint, and I could only crop in circles. Coincidence? I am worried that before we know it, Dr. Clark will replace all of the school with these alien

clones. If we do not stop him this could turn out like the first Pokemon movie, and we do not have heroes like Ash Ketchum and Pikachu to save us. I urge you all to take action against this supposed Dr. Clark and save WGHS from his diabolical plot to start an alien uprising.

Brian Duggan

March 2015

Opinion

Kimball Konception

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‘W’ inspires female students, draws attention to issues Irene Ryan Entertainment Editor WGHS’s first Women’s History Month Showcase, nicknamed “W,” took place in the Jerry R. Knight auditorium on Wednesday, March 10. Female students were invited to perform their songs, poetry and monologues.

Senior Emily Jackoway directed the showcase along with Mary Kurtz and junior Kate Arendes.

Jackoway said about the performance, “Mr. Schaefer suggested that I direct it. He gave me some materials and I looked into some history and literature and plays. I think it told a really beautiful story. It ended up being really powerful and awesome.”

Artists also showed their pieces outside in the lobby. A variety of paintings were displayed, as well as a per-

formance art piece by junior Micah Wilson (performed by senior Courtney DeGroot), and photographs of girls without makeup by sophomore Kelly Komotos.

“I created my photo collage to give the girls who viewed it and the ones in the photos a real look at natural beauty. Not only without makeup, but being silly and in the moment. I really wanted to capture what I feel the definition of beauty is. No matter the age, race or size, we are all magnificent,” Komotos said.

Junior Claire Gilb said, “It was refreshing to see an all-female cast. As a woman, I felt empowered by the end of the performance.”

Schaefer and Jackoway hope to create a blog page so W can continue inspiring in the years to come.

Photo by Bret Waelterman Junior Annelise Kerr-Grant performs in the Women’s History Month Showcase in the Jerry R. Knight Auditorium on March 10.

No charges filed in car crash that injured student Alex Ring Business Manager With dry roads and clear weather, 26-year-old Willie Green, driving his father’s silver 2002 Mercedes-Benz C240 without a license or proof of insurance, crashed into the car of Xander Wohlstadter and fled the scene the night of New Year’s Eve. Wolhstadter died on the scene, and junior Emma Casey, who was in the passenger seat of Wohlstadter’s car, was seriously injured in the crash.

On the official Metropolitan Police Incident Report, the offense is labeled as a “non-criminal incident,” but that is only referring to the initial car accident. The events following are still under open investigation.

No charges have been filed, and police would not com-

ment about the incident, saying the investigation is ongoing.

The circuit attorney’s office said via email, “These types of accident reconstruction investigations can take anywhere from three to 18 months to conclude, based upon available evidence, lab analysis reports, reconstructions reports and witness identification.”

According to the incident report, the front of Green’s car hit the driver side of Wohlstadter’s car that then spun and hit two southbound vehicles sitting at the light. This occurred in the Lafayette Square neighborhood at the four-way intersection of Chouteau and South Jefferson Avenues.

The responding officer listed in the report was Officer Eric S. Moran, and the reviewing officer was Frederick M. Lathan. Officer Moran answered the call about the accident at 9:32 p.m.

Photo by Alex Ring According to the police incident report, Willie Green’s car hit Xander Wohlstader’s at the intersection of Chouteau and Jefferson Avenues.

SAA talent show provide stage for student performers Bret Waelterman Graphics Editor Students for Awareness and Action talent show was on March 25, giving students the opportunity to express their talents with the rest of the school.

Auditions were on March 10 and 12, after school.

About 25 students attended the auditions, performing talents like singing, dancing, rapping and acting.

Junior Aubry Rodriguez played her original song, entitled “Hey Boy.” “I wanted to write a upbeat catchy song because I write a lot of slow songs, so I wanted to change it up,” Rodriguez said.

“It only took me about 45 minutes to create it, and I think everyone will enjoy it.”

Rodriguez has played guitar for 11 years, and her father, Johnny Rodriguez, got her involved in the art.

He was a music artist in the late 1970s and early 80s.

“I played for the preschool, and I do gigs in Kirkwood and Maplewood. Mr. (Todd) Schaefer asked me to perform, so I told him I would.” said Rodriguez.

Senior Nia Walker danced in the show to “Warm Waters Snakehits Remix” by Banks: a contemporary dance mixed with jazz. She danced in the talent show last year as well.

“It is my last year, and I wanted to do something fun,” Walker said. “I am looking forward to everyone having fun and dancing for WGHS.” Walker has been dancing for 10 years and plans to attend SeMo or South University for dancing.

Ticket were $7 for adults and $5 for students. All proceeds will help the drama department.

Your Times. facebook.com/WebsterKirkwoodTimes twitter.com/WKTimes websterkirkwoodtimes.com

March 2015

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Phoebe Mussman Web Editor Students participating in WGHS clubs and sports represented their organizations at the Hixson Activities Fair on March 11, in the Hixson Gym. Assistant Activities Director Cliff Ice organized the activities fair to help inform and inspire middle schoolers about extracurricular activities they could get involved in at WGHS. “The activities fair has been going on for probably 12 years, maybe more. Every kid gets to come through and visit to see all the activities we have to offer. They discover what they can get involved in, whether or not they already know about them… We have 20 sports and over 40 clubs at Webster,” Ice said.

Tables were set up around the gym with signs, calendars, flyers, slideshows, student presenters and clipboards where interested Hixson students left their names and email Photo by Gina Cherain. addresses.

A middle school student signs his name and email to receive Secretary Kim Edwards accepted all per- information from the high school’s men’s basketball team at the mission slips for the fair because it qualified Activities Fair on March 11, in the Hixson Gym. as a field trip for the students. Student representatives arrived at Hixson at our normal school time for the fair and were let out at 11:30 a.m.

5, 6 and 7 and were dismissed at 11:59 a.m. Parent-teach“We typically try to get [the Activities Fair] on a half er conferences took place throughout the entire building day with parent-teacher conferences so it works out well,” from 12:50- 2:45 p.m.

Ice explained. At WGHS, students only went to periods 4,

News in brief...

ECHO staff earns SSP honors

News

Activities fair showcases student organizations

ECHO staffers received nine individual awards including one best of show at the Sponsors of School Publications Spring Conference at Webster University on March 10.

ECHO received an excellent ratings for newspaper overall and the ECHO’s Online presence.

Individually, junior Irene Ryan won best of show in commentary for her op-ed piece “Nobel Prize winner brings attention to apathy towards women’s studies, feminisim.”

Superior ratings were earned by senior Aerin Johnson for her news photo of the high school’s Ferguson protest and by sophomore Andy Kimball for his commentary about credit for after school activities.

Earning excellent ratings were junior Jack Killeen for his news feature “Community dedicates game to cancer victim,” senior Alex Ring for his news feature “Heroin use spreads to suburbs” and sophomore Bennett Durando for his commentary “Soccer team immortalizes itself in WGHS history.”

Two honorable mentions were awarded to Johnson for two other news photos of protestors and one honorable mention was awarded to senior Cal Lanouette for his sports story “Athletes share superstitions, rituals.”

Psychology club raises funds Psychology Club sponsored the Pennies for Patients charity last week, which ended on March 9, and raised nearly $1,500.

Sponsor Jon Petter organized the event, and all third hour classes participated by donating daily.

Teachers Cindy Sittmann, who teaches German, and Petter’s classes turned out to be the co-champions, with math teacher Eric Dunn’s class in a close second place.

March 2015

6 ECHO

In-Depth

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ECHO celebrates its 10

Willie Zempel Feature Editor

Jack Killeen Junior Editor

Perrin Habecker Contributing Writer

Since 1915, the ECHO has been a part of Webster Groves High School, making this year the ECHO’s 100th birthday. As stated by its first staff, the ECHO strives “to present the thoughts, ideas and feelings of the pupils.”

The first ECHO newspaper was published by an eight-student sophomore staff on Dec. 20, 1915. The original staff not only lacked an advisor, but also a class period to work during.

Currently, the ECHO has a 12-person staff, meets during fifth hour and is advised by Donald Johnson. The ECHO now uses Adobe InDesign to layout its pages.

Looking back at old ECHO’s, it’s amazing to see what has changed. The earliest ECHO in the WGHS archives is from 1915-16, a tattered piece of parchment about ready to fall in on itself. It’s about the same size as the ECHO is now, albeit somewhat thinner and smaller. It is almost completely covered in vertical columns of text, like any old newspaper.

From short stories to local news, information about the school seems to focus on sports and upcoming dances, not unlike today. The incredible part of old papers like this one is not so much what has changed, but what has remained constant.

A student poll from 1948 details the “ideal partner” of male and female WGHS seniors. By listing the parts of fellow students they would put together to create the ideal partners. The selection included the walk of John Ritzen, and the smile of “Moozy” Owen, for the ideal boy, as well as the brain of Skippy Slade and the clothes of Gail Grone for the ideal girl. The full list of attributes polled was “brain, hair, eyes, smile, nose, clothes, legs, personality, wit, dancing ability, attractiveness and walk,” all accompanied by the name of a student.

The ECHO’s first editor-in-chief was George Massengale, who led the staff until 1918. Alumni director Pat Voss added Massengale was a participant on the Olympic track team for the 200-yard dash in 1924 in Belgium, the same year as the story portrayed in the classic movie “Chariots of Fire.”

A few times through the years of the ECHO, some staffers got the volume numbers wrong. In an issue in January 1994, a librarian noticed ECHO was 79 years old rather than 75. Kirkwood has claimed ECHO came after them from the mishap, but ECHO actually came three years before “The Call.”

The ECHO also switches off every other year with “The Call” to publish a Turkey Day issue. It features all the festivities of Turkey Day Week, like the Chilifests, the Pep Assemblies, the rosters for the game, and of course, the Turkey Day Game.

In the 1997-1998 school year, the ECHO advanced technologically and worked to add a website. Dev Bala, who now works at Google, was the first webmaster. Webster’s very own current physics teacher Dr. David Schuster was a part of this team who created the website.

“The most exciting part of the ECHO for me was the debates we had while trying to get an editorial position on issues,” Schuster, said. Schuster was one of 25 other staff members when he joined in the 1997-1998 school year.

One of the more successful former members of the ECHO is Roy Harris, who graduated in 1964. According to his website, pulitzersgold.com, from 1971 to 1994, Harris served as a reporter and editor for the Wall Street Journal, including six years as deputy chief of its 14-member Los Angeles bureau. His next 13 years were spent as a senior editor for The Economist Group’s Boston-based CFO magazine Recently, he has traced the history of the Pulitzer Prize in his book, “Pulitzer’s Gold.”

Harris said his classmate Ellen Pfeifer recently organized a luncheon of Webster ECHO staffers from the Class of ’64, where lots of memories were discussed.

Russ Mitchell, former anchor of the CBS Evening News weekend editions, The Early Show on Saturday and currently the lead anchor of WKYC, was a former member of the ECHO. “I look back at my time with the ECHO as so important in making me realize that I wanted to become a professional journalist. I remember the rush we all had when would get on publication day. Seeing our stories in print and hopefully making a difference in the school community. I have fond memories of being an ECHO staffer,” Mitchell said.

ECHO would like to thank all of its staffers, advisors and supporters who helped contribute to its success through the past 100 years.

Here’s to 100 more!

March 2015

Smoking“Webster Groves High School is more lenient on smoking than people realize. Until last year, WGHS was one of the only schools that still allowed smoking. Students at other schools were complaining about not being able to smoke at school while Webster Groves students were puffing away outside of Robert’s gym.”

ECHO, 1996

ECHO is celebrating its 100th year anniversary. Archives of the ECHO can be found in th ECHO has changed looks, styles and types, but it has always stayed consistent to bring W

Construction“One project nearing completion is the foreign language department, which was carpeted to improve acoustics, and equipped with ceiling fans.”

ECHO, 1985

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Girls’ Tennis“Although girls’ Varsity and JV tennis teams lost their first eight matches, they jumped back to win three of their last six, ending the regular season with a record of 3-11. “In a nutshell, my team started out slow, but in the last two weeks, they played like a team and worked together,” said Terry Verstraete, Varsity and JV coach.

ECHO, 1995

Parking“Because of the delay in solving the problem, there will be a period when students will be forced to find a space on their own. Until the dilemma is resolved, the closest spot may be in their own driveways.”

ECHO, 1985

Studying“And if the family remembers your lazy and almost parasitic existence during the major part of the term, think how the faculty will remember, especially with those little brown grade books to refresh their memory.”

ECHO, 1935

Photo by Willie Zempel he library, and lots of old ECHOs have been stored in room 155. Throughout its years, the Webster Groves High School the news.

Bathrooms“As a student gazes at graffiti, he/she quickly exits the stall to find: 1. No soap, but paper towels 2. Soap, but no paper towels 3. Neither 4. Both (on occasion).”

ECHO, 1998

Photo by Alex Ring An excerpt from a 1995 issue of the ECHO tells readers how to send messages through grammatical symbols online.

March 2015

In-Depth

00th year anniversary

Feature

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ECHO

Spanish students travel to Spain, Morocco Andy Kimball Opinion Columnist During spring break 37 Spanish students and five teachers went to Spanish cities Madrid, Granada, Andalucía and Cordoba.

They also made a day trip to Morocco.

This was the department’s first trip to Spain, although a group of students went to the Central-American country Costa Rica in the summer of 2013.

Spanish Teacher Amy Rowland said the Spanish department will try to alternate between trips to Spain and Costa Rica every two years.

According to Rowland, the group visited “interesting cultural places, museums and landmarks to eat authentic food.” The group practiced speaking Spanish and also had a “Flamenco” night of dinner and dance.

“Flamenco” is a form of Spanish folk music that includes singing, guitar playing and dancing. Flamenco uses audience participation in the form of finger clapping and snapping to encourage the performers on stage.

In Morocco, students went to a restaurant and ate Moroccan food. They rode a ferry from Spain to Morocco, and Rowland said a lot of students dealt with being seasick because of the ferry ride.

The group left on March 12, and returned on March 22.

The group was supposed to arrive on March 21, but two flight delays in Madrid and New York were one-and-a-half and

March 2015

Photo by Amy Rowland Students sit in front of the Toledo Cathedral in Toledo, Spain. Over 40 students went on the trip to various cities in Spain and the country of Morocco. seven hours each.

This caused the Saturday flight from New York to Detroit to leave at 11 p.m. and arrive in Detroit at 2 a.m. According to Rowland students spent the night at the Detroit airport, woke up and left Detroit at

8 a.m. on Sunday, arriving in Saint Louis at 9:30 a.m.

The Spanish teachers came up with the idea for the trips. Rowland said, “We want our students to be able to practice Spanish and experience a new culture.

Sophomore Fletcher Daves said about the trip, “I enjoyed seeing the cathedrals and sports venues. [I enjoyed] seeing how different Spain is from the U.S. and speaking Spanish.”

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Abby Botan Contributing Writer “I enjoyed my childhood, but being mixed race in rural Missouri was interesting to say the least,” James LeMay said about his childhood.

James Patrick LeMay, born on July 7, 1977 in Minot, ND, was raised on an Air Force, base. His dad, currently retired, was in the military.

LeMay described Minot as a “cold place, but so much more slow paced and laid back, rather than Webster Groves.”

When LeMay was six four years old, his family, which consisted of his mom, dad, older brother and himself, moved to another Air Force base in Whiteman, MO, where he grew up for the remainder of his childhood. When he was in sixth grade, LeMay moved off of the Air Force base to Knob Noster, MO. As a child, LeMay dreamed of becoming a professional football player in the NFL. “Wrestling and track are my favorite because you succeed and fail on your own.

No one can steal the spotlight or take the blame. It’s very pure when you think about it,” LeMay said.

LeMay started college at Truman State

Photo by Abby Botan Social studies teacher James Lemay teaches the class about vampires from the past and present on Halloween. and finished at the University of Central Missouri, where he got his bachelor’s in history and history education. Also he earned a masters in activities administration from William Woods. Before he be-

came a world civilization/coach teacher, LeMay worked as club security and sold real estate.

LeMay became a coach when he was 24 years old and a world civilization teacher

when he was 28. LeMay realized he wanted to be a coach when he was coaching little league football while he was still working in the real estate business.

“Coaching makes me feel young,” LeMay said.

Hamise Askew-Sunkara, sophomore and previous wrestling student, said LeMay was an amazing teacher at what he does as a wrestling coach.

“I see him as a father figure,” AskewSunkara said. “He pushes you to the best of your ability, and even if he pushes you too far, it’s going to benefit you in the long run. He makes you feel like you’ve known him, and he’s relatable.”

As a world civilization teacher LeMay’s favorite part is when the children come back to visit him.

Brooklyn Childs, sophomore and current world civilization student, enjoys being in his class. “He has a lot of fun, while teaching, but he’s also serious about learning, and overall he’s a very carefree teacher.”

LeMay and his wife Alysha LeMay have two dogs, Endymion, a German shepherd, and Jette, a pomeranian. He’s also traveled to Canada and Mexico, and went on a cruise to the Caribbean.

In 30 years, LeMay sees himself, happily, retired, he said.

Alliance invites community to engage about race

Brittany Patton Public Relations

Alliance for Interracial Dignity sponsored “Living in 63119,” where AfricanAmerican speakers told about being racially profiled in a primarily white community on Jan. 29, at the First Congregational Church.

The next event for Alliance is on April 16, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Hudson Elementary School.

The four members on the panel were Emerson Smith, president of the Webster Groves School District Board of Education, John E. Thomas, assistant principal at the high school, Rock Hill Mayor Edward Mahan and Willa Washington, former member of Webster Groves Planning Commission.

About what he would say to those who racially profile him, Smith said via email, “I would invite them to place themselves

on the other side of those assumptions.

How would they feel if they were assumed guilty or suspicious because of race, the type of clothing worn, or physical appearance? In today’s society individuals express themselves with tattoos, body piercing, unique hair color or hair styles. Just because they are different is not a reason to brand them a certain type of person.”

Smith, who is also vice president of the American Eagle/Anheuser-Busch Employees’ Credit Union, has served as chairman of the Juvenile Conference Committee of St. Louis County, a member of the Board of Adjustment for the city of Webster Groves and a member of the school district’s Finance Advisory Committee, spoke about being racially profiled several times in the Webster Groves community where he has lived for 30 years.

According to talk-heal-change.org, Alliance for Interracial Dignity is an organization committed to bringing communities together by learning from collective past,

challenging the racial status quo and building strong community.

Stereotypes sometimes correlate with prejudice and discrimination. Smith answered the question whether it’s more important to let others know that he isn’t a stereotype or for himself to break stereotypes: “In tense situations like potential profiling, my goal is to help the other person understand that some things they see on television or at movies are not true. It is difficult for individuals to recognize or confront their personal fears. Denial is normally the first response.”

Smith encouraged and invited students and community members to Photo provided by Cathy Vespereny attend the community School Board President Emerson Smith invites students engagement meetings and community members to Alliance for Interracial the Alliance offers.

Dignity community engagement meetings. The next one Smith said, “Change is April 16, from 7 to 9 can only happen when an individual can open their mind and put forth an effort to under- relationships with positive dialogue.” stand. This is the importance of creating

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Coach, teacher brings life experiences to classroom

10 ECHO Golf team looks to repeat last year’s record

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Cal Lanouette Sports Editor

Photo by Cary Morrison Junior Jameson Howard on the green attempts to line up his putt during a practice at Tower Tee.

Men’s golf went undefeated last year with a 10-0 record and won the Conference tournament. It is looking to repeat this success from last year and continue to build the program.

“This is a place we have not been very often in golf, and it is fun,” head coach Cary Morrison said. “Every team we play wants to hand us a loss now, so there are no days, rounds, holes or shots we can take for granted and not give our best efforts to.”

The team features just two seniors this year Charlie DeYoung and Taylor Cox. Also returning this year is junior Carter Doll, who was part of a duo that represented Webster at State last year.

“It was really cool to go to State,” Doll said. “I got to play against a lot of good

players, and it was a good time to spend with [my] teammates.”

“With two seniors and three juniors right now, looking at Varsity matches and tournaments, we have a good veteran group to lead us into the season,” Morrison said.

“My ultimate goal is to win State obviously,” Doll said. “Just to get back to State and do even better would be great too.”

Morrison has been in the game since he was 13 years old. He played at Webster and went on to play in college. Morrison has been with the golf program for 13 years now.

“I hope the guys learn that this is a game you can play for a very long time [both] for fun and competitively,” Morrison said.

“Swing fundamentals and short game execution are such keys to good rounds of golf,” Morrison said. “When you are doing those things with consistency, you enjoy the game a lot more.”

Bennett from the Bleachers

Men’s basketball incredible season comes to heartbreaking end

Bennett Durando Sports Columnist Statesmen men’s basketball lives and plays by a motto, “TTW: Toughest Team Wins.” On Friday, March 6, the team was dealt one of its toughest losses ever.

Webster was beaten 53-51 by SLUH at the buzzer in the District championship game at Robert’s Gym. It was the second time this year the Statesmen were upset by the Junior Billikens, who won at their own place in January to hand a then 17-2 Webster team its first loss versus an in-state opponent.

The first game saw SLUH take control in the final minutes as Webster struggled to find another gear. This time, though, it was an outright battle down to the very last shot, a runner which SLUH guard

March 2015

Brandon McKissic swooshed in as time expired.

This game was gut wrenching. It was tough competitive Webster basketball at its best, but what it produced was the cruelest finish the Statesmen and their six seniors could have possibly faced.

“I thought they were engaged: they were focused. I thought we took charges and made those types of effort plays,” said head coach Jay Blossom. Blossom, who became a 400-game winner this year.

Blossom called the lost his worst ever.

“This one is probably, to be honest, number one. There have been other tough (losses) before, but right now this one’s fresh.”

Despite trailing for the better part of the last two quarters, Webster’s run to end the third had it down just a point with eight minutes to go. Senior Stephen Harris gave Webster the lead back with a three-point play to start the final quarter.

The Statesmen soon stretched their lead to 49-44 with under five minutes left, but after SLUH scored and Webster could only connect for one of two at the line, junior Matt Nester of the Bills made the last of his four threes, this one to pull within 50-49.

Webster again only converted one of two free throws, and SLUH tied it on the

ensuing possession with just under three minutes to go.

Webster got the ball in a tie game with 1:35 left following senior Cam Hilton’s block and intended to run out the clock for a last shot. The Statesmen had stalled as much as 1:09 this year, when junior Leland Bradford’s last second floater beat Hazelwood Central for the Coaches vs.

Cancer Tournament championship.

This time however, Harris was charged with a five second call with eight seconds left. After a SLUH timeout, McKissic was able to complete SLUH’s dramatics.

“We just weren’t planning on that happening,” Blossom said on the late turn of events. “They called Stephen for five; it’s not his fault at all, he played a great game.

Then McKissic makes what was honestly a really tough shot.”

The loss finished an incredible year, which despite the early exit from the playoffs should be seen as a major success.

The Statesmen finished the year 24-6 as a large group of seniors went out with a bang, having considerable success in multiple tournaments.

Along with being champions of the Webster Tournament and Coaches vs.

Cancer Tournament in Meramec, the highlight of the year for Webster may have been its trip to Florida to participate in the City of Palms Tournament. Against some of the best teams in the country, the Statesmen went 2-2 and were given an early advantage in experience over Missouri foes.

Without the helpful experience, the Statesmen probably would not have finished with a record as well as theirs was.

“They won 20 games for the 12th consecutive year, and they won the Conference for the fourth straight year,” Blossom said praisingly of the team’s efforts throughout the year.

The team will graduate seniors Alex Floresca, Sam Craig, Stu Hollansworth and Rob Thompson, along with Harris and Hilton. Floresca and Harris have both signed to play basketball at Division I schools -- Floresca at the University of San Diego and Harris at Austin Peay.

The 2015 Statesmen were a team capable of winning a State championship, and though in the end they didn’t make it

Photo by Bret Waelterman Cam Hilton is one of six seniors on the men’s basketball team, which won its Conference for the fourth straight year but fell to SLUH in the District championship. out of Districts, the excitement this particular team and its seniors brought to the table will be remembered for a long time at Webster Groves High School.

ECHO11 the

Columnist remembers ‘Star Trek’ star’s famous role Aerin Johnson Editor in Chief On Feb. 27, I entered the ECHO newsroom, sat at my seat and went to Yahoo to check my emails like always, never realizing what the lead story was that day.

Leonard Nimoy had died.

Nimoy was a hero to many who watch the television series “Star Trek” and a star in the “Star Trek” movies including the 2009 reboot and “Star Trek: Into Darkness.” He was also a guest in many television shows in the 1950s-1970s, including “Bonanza,” “Columbo” and “Get Smart.”

His greatest role, though, to many (including myself) will always be that of Lt. Spock, the half Vulcan, half-human hybrid, who kept his calm in most situations and was the close friend of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner).

As Spock, he taught the people who watched “Star Trek” that everyone is a little human, no matter how much we avoid it. No episode of Star Trek shows this better than the series’ fourth episode “The Naked Time.”

During the episode, the crew of the Enterprise goes to pick up scientists who were studying a frozen planet. The scientists turn out to have died from a mysterious disease, which carries back aboard the ship and creates havoc among the crew.

Spock, himself, was a part of the landing crew that brought the disease back and we began to see the differences between Vulcans and humans when Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) gives Spock his vitals during a checkup which include a pulse of 242 and nonexistent blood pressure. For Spock, these readings are normal and he is happy for it.

However, later, the crew members’ start to reveal their deepest thoughts after becoming sick with the disease, including Mr. Spock. He begins to cry and show that he not the “logical” being he leads everyone to believe he is.

This has stayed me since the first time I watched the episode. A supposedly calm man breaks away from the control he exercises on a daily basis. It’s something that happens to everyone, and it’s something that we try to ignore.

This is one of those moments that gives me a smile and shows that even when people put up shields eventually they will come down, and it’s one of the things we need to learn to accept and deal with as people, and Nimoy is the person who gave me that realization.

He is the one who gave me that smile, in that moment, because he was the one who showed me that sometimes we just can’t help being human.

Photo Credit: Spencer Weiner/Los Angeles Times/TNS/MCT Leonard Nimoy arrives onstage during the Paramount Pictures panel on the new “Star Trek” film at Comic-Con on July 26, 2007 in San Diego, Calif. Nimoy died Friday, Feb. 27, 2015 at his home in Bel-Air. He was 83. (c) 2007, Los Angeles Times. Distributed by McClatchy/Tribune Information Services.

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