Valentines newspaper issue

The 1

Optimist

February 13, 2014 Issue #4

Valentine’s Day:

Joyous Holiday or Cult Ritual?

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Contact The Optimist staff at ahsjournalism1@usd409.net.

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Committed to Success

Written by Laura Whitmer For most students, extra curricular activities are equally as important as school work. Sports and clubs fill up adolescents’ schedules quickly, bringing them into school earlier than the first tardy bell and keeping them inside these walls long after class has been dismissed. Saturdays become an extension of the school week, and homework assignments often have to be completed late at night or even the morning before their due date.

Editorial Extra curricular activities clearly require a great deal of commitment, and participation can come with great cost. Strenuous practices or rehearsals leave students fatigued, and less sleep may lead to lower grades.

But when the intensity of a club or team’s requirements becomes too great, does the participant have a right to give up?

Recently a number of winter athletes were reported to have quit their teams mere games into the season, leaving the remaining players with too few participants no idea where to find them. Perhaps this contributes to the fact that so many of the students here at A-high are currently eating for two.

Sex Ed-itorial

Written by Connor Wheatley Do you know where to find free condoms or birth control in Atchison, KS? What about at Atchison High School?

Although these resources are available, many students had

It seems as if the number of pregnant students at this school is increasing at an alarming rate as the year goes on. I do not remember ever having this many classmates carrying children in past years, although it might be my memory is just dying early.

Over a decade ago, the high school offered a free daycare service to students who had already had their children. When this became too expensive, however, the school had no way to pay for it and decided to drop

A Ride Down Diversity Street

The school gained partial occupation (the ability to move furniture) of the new classrooms on the 16th and full occupation (the ability to fully move in) on the 18th. With the completion of classes on the 19th, teachers

Now, these students are forced to play benchwarmer for the higher level competitons instead of getting the court time they work hard in practice for. They can only improve so much without real-game experience, but due to the abandonment of their teammates, such exposure is not attainable.

If a student makes a commitment to a team or club, to their peers and instructors, it is important to honor that dedication.

Quitting not only affects the individual, it inhibits the group as

a whole. Before trying out for an athletic team or signing up for an after school club, students should consider the obligation they are agreeing to.

What’s more, I don’t remember anyone telling the student body Most counties offer free con- about the resources available to doms or birth control. Some them. schools will even supply them as a method to cut down on teen The Health Department takes an oath of secrecy, meaning that pregnancy they are not legally able to report Since I, too, had no idea where anyone who enters the building. to find free contraceptives, I Nobody, not even parents, are decided to contact the school allowed to know whether you nurse. I was directed towards have visited. the Atchison County Health Department, which is located be- With the amount of pregnant tween the Royal Theatre and students at this school, I think it Pete’s Steak House in an unas- is time students know about this.

Atchison High School does not suming building. hand out free contraceptives, Despite the amount of time I but the Health Department will used to spend in that area of gladly give them out to anyone town, I never once noticed this in need. building or knew what it was. the service.

In The District

Written by Connor Wheatley

After eight months of construction, teachers are finally moving into the new addition of the high school. Named the 400 hall, this addition replaced the old math annex and features more square footage and an improved art room.

Just Lounging Around

to put on the court.

have now fully moved into their new classrooms.

Just Another Song and Dance

Lee Supple, the Algebra and Calculus teacher at Atchison High, was excited to move into a Adrenaline show choir has been rehearsing their songs and permanent space. dances since August, and this When interviewed about the season they will exhibit their temporary rooms used during hard work in competitions like the first semester of this school the one they attended at Rockyear, Supple stated “It served its bridge High School in Columbia purpose. It provided a space. I Missouri last Saturday. was a little worried about the walls and the sound, but it end- They performed six songs, including an all male song, an all ed up being alright.” female song, and a ballad.

The choir, directed by Samuel

Senior Lounge provides an area to hang out for seniors who are caught up on their work and Written by Riley Aversman looking for a fun way to spend Atchison High School has an their time. An air hockey table, exciting new incentive for good TV, gaming system, and a ping grades and attendance available pong table entertain seniors in to seniors this semester. Along the lounge, and there is even a with other goodies, like tickets vending machine for snacking. to go to lunch early and GOOSE (Get Out Of School Early) pass- If you are a senior and you did es, the seniors’ coupon book in- not meet the requirements this cludes a once a week ticket to quarter, don’t despair. As long visit the Senior Lounge. as you meet the requirements The Senior Lounge is open during Redmen Time to any senior who has not been requested by a teacher and has a valid coupon. Located in Room 121, formerly Mr. Ettleman’s room, the

for a coupon book this quarter, you will be allowed in the lounge during fourth quarter, and juniors will get their chance to venture into the lounge next year.

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What are your thoughts on the Senior Lounge?

Joseph Butner: It’s a nice spot to relax and get work done.

Jacob Gerardy: I think it’s nice, but there could be some improvements made.

The Optimist Staff

Laura Whitmer Editor-in-Chief 2014laura.whitmer@usd409.net Connor Wheatley Editor 2015connor.wheatley@usd409. net Riley Aversman Graphics Designer/Reporter Tommaso Coratella Reporter and Photographer Brett Spilman Graphics Designer Lauren Kiehl Reporter Alexis Smith Photographer Taylor Foster Photographer

Written by Tommasso Coratella

On January 18th, the AHS Adrenaline show choir performed at the Show Choir Festival in Columbia, Missouri.

In School

Dollins, left in the early morning to compete against fifteen other schools from three different divisions. The first schools in each division and the top three choirs of the schools remaining competed against each other in finals to win the competition.

The Adrenaline show choir performed first in their division, receiving high marks from both judges. The choir then placed sixth in finals and took home three trophies: best opener (Small School Division), 1st place (Small School Division), and 6th in finals.

Above: Abbi Enzbrenner, Allysen Owens, and Bree Garrison relax in the Senior Lounge.

What are your plans for Valentine’s Day?

Ben Horvatic: Probably hanging out with my girlfriend.

Taylor Funk: Watching my girlfriend cheer at a basketball game.

Anthony Mendoza: Trying to give my girlfriend the best Valentine’s Day she has ever had.

Leah Lane Photographer Matt Renk Advisor matt.renk@usd409.net

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Featured

4 Shedding Light: The Lighter History of Valentine’s Day Written by Lauren Kiehl

For some, Valentine’s Day is a celebration of love, life, and romance, but for others, the holiday is just another day on the calendar. Everyone remembers having Valentine’s Day parties in elementary school where shoe boxes were filled with candy and cards, and each student hoped to get a “Be mine, Valentine” card from the cutest boy or girl in class. But where do these traditions originate from?

Valentine’s Day commemorates Saint Valentine, who has virtually nothing to do with the

hearts, hugs, and happiness.

Valentine’s Day adapted from a Pagan holiday called Lupercalia in celebration of Juno.

Juno is a Roman queen who was also believed to be the goddess of women and marriage. Lupercalia is an accent pre-Roman festival celebrated from February 13th to 15th.

The purpose of the celebration was to honor Juno in hopes that she would cleanse the city and send out evil spirits. People believed this brought good health and enhanced fertility in

women. One festivity required men to pick a woman’s name at random out of a box, and the couple would be paired together until the following year’s celebration. These name cards became the first valentines.

Venus is the goddess of love.

Cupid, the flying baby with magical arrows that make people fall in love, happens to be Venus’s son. But what does that have to do with Lupercalia? Almost nothing. The only connection is that February 14, which happens to be midLupercalia festival, is believed

to mark the beginning of birds’ mating season.

Chocolate seems like the major staple for Valentine’s Day. Casanova, known as “the world’s greatest lover,” ate chocolate, and doctors in the 1800s recommended that their patients ate chocolate to ease their pain when pining after a lost lover.

Over one billion dollars in chocolate is sold on Valentine’s Day. Giving flowers is also very common because the red rose was thought to be Venus’s favorite flower.

Average cost of common Valentine’s Day Gifts

Featured

In the Dark: The Darker History of Valentine’s Day

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Written by Connor Wheatley

Valentine’s Day, a holiday usually associated with romance and chocolate, possesses a history rooted in strange mating rituals, decapitations, and massacres.

The holiday obtained its name from two different Roman saints, both of which were decapitated on February 14, although in different years.

Saint Valentine of Rome, a priest, was sentenced to death in 269 A.D. after he was found marrying couples following the abolition of marriage by Claudius the Cruel. Claudius believed that marriage deterred young men from joining the military and abolished it in an attempt to recruit more men into the army.

The other saint from whom Valentine’s day’s name originates, Valentine of Terni, strongly believed in Christianity, a religion that was illegal to practice in Rome. Claudius eventually arrested him for spreading Christianity but later took a liking to the man. When Valentine tried to convert Claudius to Christi-

anity, however, Claudius sentenced him to death in 273 A.D. But before either of these Saints gained notoriety, the Roman feast of Lupercalia took romance to a new level. Full of strange rituals and traditions, a feast lasted from February 13th to February 15th.

To begin, Romans sacrificed two male goats and a dog, skinned them, and wore the skins as thongs. The men then ran through the streets and hit women with sacks full of herbs.

They believed this promoted fertility in females.

The feast also featured a sort of lottery in which men would randomly draw the name of a woman from a jar and then be sexual partners with her for the duration of the festival.

Valentine’s Day’s dark past extends into recent times, too.

On February 14th, 1929, four members of Al Capone North Side gang shot and killed seven unsuspecting members of Bugs Moran’s South Side gang in

downtown Chicago.

Known as the Valentine’s Day Massacre, the shooting occurred when four members of Al Capone’s mob, two dressed as policemen and two in suits and trench coats, walked into a warehouse and ‘arrested’ seven members of Moran’s.

The ‘policemen’ then gestured to the mobsters in trench coats, who opened fire on the seven victims and continued to shoot long after all seven had hit the floor.

In order to maintain a clean getaway, the gangsters disguised as policemen then led the shooters out of the warehouse at gunpoint.

Many other tragedies have occurred on February 14th, including the Stardust Disaster in 1981 and Indian Flight 605 in 1990.

Occurring at the Stardust nightclub in Dublin, Ireland, the Stardust Disaster was a fire that took the lives of 48 people

and injured four times as many.

The cause of the fire is widely disputed, but many patrons of the club were not informed, and alarms did not sound. Other patrons and employees found the fire exits to be inexplicably padlocked or chained, and mass trampling occurred at the main entrance as people scrambled to escape.

Flight 605, which resulted in the death of 92 people, flew from the Bombay (now called Mumbai) Airport to the BangaloreHindustan Airport. The plane crashed when the pilots failed to recognize radio warnings of an accelerated landing. It smashed into Runway 9 and temporarily regained altitude before finally coming to rest in front of the airport gate.

Despite the common association with romance, Valentine’s Day originated in strange rituals and risqué festivals. From decapitations to night club infernos, many lives have ended on the official day of love.

Movies for Valentine’s Day The Best and Worst Romantic Films

5. Wall-E 4. When Harry Met Sally 3. The Proposal 2. Roman Holiday 1. 500 Days of Summer

5. Twilight 4. Rock of Ages 3. Because I Said So 2. Over Her Dead Body 1. Grease

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Photos

Tanner Huntington slams the ball in against Jeff West.

The Redmen beat Jeff West 63-51. “It got the crowd hyped and felt like a big momentum swing.”

Coach Ettleman talks to the Lady Red players during their exciting finish against Jeff West. The Lady Red won 37-35. Mady Shipley said, “I think we really worked together to get this win.”

Weston Wood proudly shows off his Royal Courts gear.

Wood said the best part of the night was “when they called my name, put the crown on and threw the cap on me.”

Arika Smith celebrates her Royal Courts crowning. “I was just like this was cool and it was a cool experience, but at the same time was I was worried about the game.”

Charlie Phillips pins an opponent. “It was exciting and I just wanted win. I almost cried, I was so proud. Everyone was screaming my name. I was so proud.”

The AHS Cheerleaders perform their Black Light dance.

Tayler Hinton “We were really excited about it. We did a glow in the dark dance last year and this was something we had never done before.”