December issue

Blue Valley North High School

12200 Lamar Ave, Overland Park, KS 66209

December 2017 | Volume 32 | Issue 3

The North Star History Made.

2 | The North Star | December 2017

The North Star Staff Editors-in-chief Connor Clary Nicole Dolan Laura Evans

Staff Writers

Briley Everhart Katie George Angie Giglione Lyndsey Henkel

Copy Editors

Merall Janjua

Kristen Xu

Caroline Koenig

Lauren Graham Shantha Burt

Social Media Editor Lexie Herman

Photographers

Grace E. Rudman Katie George

Design Editor Taylor Mills

Sooim Kang Anna Martin Mathew Cotton Brooke Werp

The North Star is the official high school news publication of Blue Valley North High School, an open forum distributed to all students six times a year. This is the September issue of volume 32. The North Star is printed by the Sedalia Democrat. This is a student publication and may contain controversial material. Kansas law prohibits the suppression of a student publication solely because it may contain controversial matter. Blue Valley School District No. 229 and its board members, officers and employees disclaim any responsibility for the content of this student publication; it is not an expression of School District Policy. Students and editors are solely responsible for the content of this student publication.

December 2017 | The North Star | 3

Table of Contents

Social Issues

School Happenings

4 Homelessness in BV

18 Social Media Effects

6 Slurs: an Insulting Remark

19 Rule 22: KSHSAA Sports

8 Varying Viewpoints

20 Football State Championship

10 #Metoo

24 Graduating at Semester

Technology

26 Heated About Climate

12 Finsta-Finatics

Lifestyle

14 WiFi Privacy

28 Vegan

16 Dual Immersion Program

30 The Truth About the Flu

Change?

31 Home for the Holidays

ON THE COVER: Coach Andy Sims raises the state championship trophy surrounded by the varsity football team.

Photo by Connor Clary.

IN THE TABLE OF CONTENTS: The social media movement #Metoo has recently brought attention to sexual assault and harassment. Photo by Grace E. Rudman.

4 | The North Star | December 2017

homelessness in

blue valley A picture of homelessness in Johnson County, and how the Blue Valley School District helps those in need.

By Merall Janjua and Taylor Mills

N

umber one — that is what Blue Valley is in the state of Kansas for public school district rankings, according to U.S. News. The best, the leading and the most outperforming are common descriptions of this district, with programs, faculty and scores earning national recognition as well as numerous grants and awards.

An educational system rooted in the most populous and wealthiest zip codes in the state has a broad spectrum of students with different talents, learning abilities and backgrounds to cater to. However, the broad range of socioeconomic situations of Blue Valley students can sometimes be overlooked, especially in Blue Valley where the fast-paced academics and activities are the center of attention.

The truth is that while the district boundaries consist of majority middle- to- upper- class neighborhoods and suburbs, it is far from the perfect “bubble” from the world.

Paid lunch programs, counseling and social services are needed by a lesser known population of students, many of whom are considered to be in poverty or “high risk.” There are currently 96 cases of homelessness known in the Blue Valley School District.

The federal government defines homelessness as a state of not having a permanent residence. Doubling-up with friends

or family, couch-surfing, living out of a car or living in a homeless shelter all qualify in this definition.

“You know a lot of people think being homeless is that guy lurking at the intersection downtown,” Blue Valley Communications Director district homeless liaison Lane Green said. “That’s not necessarily the case.”

Green is the designated person in the district ensuring students and their families are being provided the services outlined in the McKinney-Vento Act. This legislation ensures that students whose families experience homelessness can be successful in their school environment.

These services include paid lunches, free transportation, and the backpack program that provides food over weekends and vacations.

“We receive some federal funds that help pay for some of these things like transportation, but the bottom line is most of the services we have, we just write off,” Green said.

While Blue Valley doesn’t have any programs aimed at decreasing the risks of homelessness, they do connect reported cases of homelessness to local agencies that can further help them, such as United Community Services of Johnson County.

This organization serves what are known as “vulnerable

populations,” including those in poverty, suffering from mental illness or in need of health services. Additionally, United Community Services provides emergency assistance to any household in Johnson County that is at risk of becoming or is currently homeless.

“It’s a long bus ride from having a housing crisis to actually being homeless,” community director at United Community Services Valorie Carson said. “But if the right intervention is put in place, you can get off the bus.”

Carson acts as lead of staff for the Johnson County Continuum of Care on Homelessness, a collaboration of private and public services that work to reduce homelessness among local residents. These local organizations assist households in regaining and maintaining housing through improvement of employment and connection to services for ongoing stability.

“You need to have a variety of organizations,” Carson said. “You need workforce partnerships, and if people are having a hard time maintaining their housing stability because their income is fluctuating extremely, then you have connections from training opportunities to job interviewing skills that will help you obtain a stable income source.”

While job loss or instability is one of the main contributors in homelessness, there are other key factors that boil down to money as well.

“People will always have housing crises because they lose jobs, get divorced, are widowed, [or] they have a catastrophic medical diagnosis that wipes them out. The fact is, this can happen to anyone at any income level,” Carson said.

The number of homeless students in Kansas City, Kan., reflects this fact.

According to a report by the Johnson County Continuum of Care, in the 2014-2015 school year there were 1,109 identified cases in the Olathe, Shawnee Mission, Spring Hill, DeSoto, Gardner Edgerton and Blue Valley school districts. At a point-in-time count in 2015, a total of 174 persons were identified as homeless — 54 percent of

that number were under the age of 18.

For Johnson County alone, the median age of a person experiencing homelessness is 15 years of age, meaning a majority of those without permanent housing are students.

“I don’t think we have a true grasp on the reality of the situation,” director of the Street Outreach Program at KidsTLC Britanie Ramirez said.

Ramirez and the Street Outreach Program, like Continuum of Care, provide services for the homeless population — more specifically adolescents 16 to 24 years old. This program is a branch off of KidsTLC, a service that provides care for families such as therapy and behavioral health programs.

“We get a lot of our kids through school counselors and homeless liaisons. Blue Valley, as a district itself, likes to handle those situations on their own, so we do not see very many kids from Blue Valley on their own,” Ramirez said.

The number of reported cases in Blue Valley greatly differs from other local districts, as a combined 830 students from the number reported from 2014-2015 were from Shawnee Mission and Olathe. Ramirez thinks this gap is due to underreporting, while Green credits the difference to varying socioeconomic factors.

“Shawnee Mission and Olathe Districts have three to four times more number of homeless students, and the reason is they have more of a range of socioeconomic people living in their districts,” Green said.

“Blue Valley is the newer edge of town and doesn’t have old housing. I think that’s the reason we have less.”

Regardless of the school district a student may come from, the effects of having an unstable living condition can be detrimental to his or her education.

According to a study by the University of Pennsylvania, high residential mobile (HRM) or homeless students are more

“This can happen to anyone at any income level.”

- Valorie Carson

December 2017 | The North Star | 5

at risk in falling behind in curriculum or even dropping out of school.

“If you don’t know where you’re going to sleep tonight, school is the last thing on your mind,” Ramirez said.

“You’re not worried about that test on Friday if you don’t know the next time you’re going to eat.”

This is why legislation such as the Mckinney-Vento Act is important in ensuring that all students have the same opportunities for success. With education as one of the few stabilities in an HRM or homeless student’s life, Carson believes having the right to stay at the same school no matter their housing situation is crucial.

“Those students see school as the most stable environment because they have the greatest sense of continuity as they know their teachers and have their friends. They shouldn’t be jumping between new schools because you lose a significant amount of progress,” Carson said.

As the population of Johnson County increases and the school districts expand, the movement to lessen the risk of homelessness has picked up recognition. Nonprofit Organizations such as United Community Services and KidsTLC have discussed pulling resources together to create more opportunities for at-risk and homeless families.

“There’s been a collaborative movement in this non-for-profit homeless work where we all know that our purpose is kind of the same. So we’re trying to work more effectively and efficiently together,” Ramirez said.

Blue Valley itself has considered the possibility of teaming with various school districts with similar resources to help local families learn, but nothing has been implemented yet. The main priority of Green and the district is to continue the education of those at risk.

“What we do as a district is make sure our students get a good education, because a good education will decrease homelessness in the future for sure,” Green said. “We try to do everything we can to keep things as normal as we can for the students and their families.”

“If you don’t know where you’re going to sleep tonight, school is the last thing on your mind.”

- Britanie Ramirez

6 | The North Star | December 2017

slur: an insulting or belittling remark, a shaming or degrading effect

By Lexie Herman

December 2017 | The North Star | 7

E

The BVN community responds to cultural slurs and biases.

very year, the ethnic diversity of the four feeder elementary schools of BVN increases, according to head of staff diversity training and math teacher Sheryl Stein. Based on the current statistics, it is possible that BVN will be close to or above 50 percent non-caucasian by the time the current elementary school students are in high school. While BVN is already diverse, it may be necessary for the community to be more conscious of stereotypes and slurs that are often heard around the school before it affects an even greater number of people.

“People [can be] ignorant about other religions, other cultures, [and] other races and use that ignorance to create comments and stereotypes about them,” Stein said. “You might be saying something derogatory without thinking about it.”

This ignorance affects students of all backgrounds regardless of race, religion or ethnicity.

“I’ve had a lot of minority students tell me that they hear [derogatory slurs] in the hall,” Stein said.

There have been situations where she has had to deal with inappropriate comments in the classroom, as well as train other teachers on how to deal with such instances. “[The teachers] have talked about biases and what biases we have,” Stein said. “The sad reality is that everybody has a bias, so we’ve talked about how that affects your

relationships with others.” but choose not to say anything However, the teachers are not about it. the only ones in the school who “I had a friend freshman have noticed the cultural biases. year who started calling me the Some students, such as junior ‘N-word’ every time I walked up Grace A. to my locker,” Rudman, senior Rachel who is Jewish, “Stick to what Anderson have been said. “It really you know is right made me mad, personally targeted by I didn’t or don’t say but derogatory say anything anything” because we rhetoric.

“Freshman friends...

-Rachel Anderson were year, I was and he ... just performing didn’t know at a school that ... it was assembly, really rude.” and someone took a picture of me According to Stein, the main and put it on their Snapchat story problem with derogatory slurs saying, ‘The Holocaust is a hoax,’” around school is that people Rudman said. make comments without realizing Rudman said she was upset their offense and that those that anyone would deny that the affected don’t always stand up for death of her ancestors happened so themselves. that they could get a few laughs on “[Lack of standing up to social media. offensive comments] is making “Yes, the Holocaust happened it seem like it’s okay for others a while ago, but ... It’s affected so to make fun of you, and it’s not,” many people’s lives, and I think it’s Stein said. “It makes it seem like very important not to deny it, even it’s acceptable for others to make if it is as a joke,” those remarks.”

Rudman said.

Rudman agrees, believing On the other that it is the job of those affected hand, some by cultural bias to educate those students believe around them to ensure that that comments offensive comments are not that are often repeated. It only takes one person heard around to make a derogatory slur seem BVN are casual acceptable to say, but it only takes and funny rather one person to begin spreading the than offensive. message to stop it as well.

“If the other “Anything that you think could person is okay be a derogatory term, just don’t with the joke, say it. It’s likely to offend someone then have a good time,” freshman out there, so just stick to what Aidan Sears said. “Sometimes you know is right, or don’t say people are okay with it, and it’s anything,” Anderson said. really funny. It lightens the mood.”

However, some students may find these comments offensive,

“The sad reality is that everybody has a bias” -Sheryl Stein

8 | The North Star | December 2017

What is Antifa?

Antifa, or anti-fascist, is a leftist group that emerged in the United States in the late 1980s. Rather than promoting an agenda, it focuses on keeping white supremacists and neo-Nazis from a platform to promote their agenda. An example of antifa action would be counter protesting at rallies of groups they oppose, such as the alt-right, and physically confronting other protesters when it’s deemed necessary. The group has been responsible for damaging public property and setting fires in public streets, and according to USA Today, antifa claims to be unapologetic about the fact that fighting fascism requires physical militancy.

North students discuss their views on emerging radical groups.

By Mathew Cotton

T

he alt-right and antifa are radical political groups that exist in the United States today, and recently, there has been an emergence of media attention directed toward both groups.

It is evident that the United States is undergoing a state of political polarization.

Some would argue more severe than it has been in recent history, and because of this, there are increasingly accessible platforms for rising groups like these two.

“I think groups like antifa and the alt-right contributed to polarization because people incorrectly view those groups as representative of the entire right or left, which makes them more adamantly opposed than they would

be otherwise,” senior Eleanor Mendelson said.

On the other hand, senior Suhaib Ansari sees the political polarization of the nation to be the result of past presidencies.

“I think the political polarization is a result of the last few presidencies and how we’ve handled economic situations,” Suhaib Ansari said “I think it’s also a result of terrorism and how the left has tried to defend Islam that people on the right didn’t appreciate.”

Although Ansari does assign some of the responsibility of the current polarization to these issues, he also believes that the presidential election played a part.

“Hillary Clinton’s whole campaign was kind of flat, while Trump seemed to be

Varying

December 2017 | The North Star | 9

promising hope, and at the same time Trump had this kind of racist rhetoric that was getting people riled up, and because of that the alt-right rose,” Ansari said. “In response to the alt-right and all the right movement, antifa came back.”

Junior Vaughn McMahon has a different take on the issue.

“I think it’s just young people feeling alienated from the current system that we have in place, looking for a new way to express their beliefs,” McMahon said. “They see this kind of political hellscape in front of them, and they don’t want to get involved in that, so they’re making their own path.”

Although the emergence of these two groups can be unsettling, many would argue that

there is not much of an approach to dealing with them directly.

“I really don’t think there’s too much of an approach to dealing with radical groups,” McMahon said. “In terms of actually censoring beliefs, I don’t think that’s something that could be done, and I don’t think they should have platforms taken away from them.”

However, some see the best way to deal with radical groups is to emphasize the apparent issues.

“The alt-right should be dealt with by continually discrediting them.”

Mendelson said. “Antifa mostly arose as a response to the alt-right, so dealing with the alt-right probably also deals with antifa.”

What is the Alt-Right?

The alt-right, or alternative right, is a far right political movement that counters traditional conservatism.

According to USAToday.com, generally, this loosely defined group opposes the ideas of immigration, political correctness and multiculturalism, among others. Some describe the ideology of the Alt-right to be a mixture of white nationalism, populism and preserving Western European culture, according to USAToday.com; however, others would describe the ideology to be more of a traditionalist movement — to uphold ‘traditional’ values of the United States.

Viewpoints

10 | The North Star | December 2017

#metoo

By Lauren Graham

Students and staff at BVN share their opinions regarding the #metoo movement.

M

e, too. It is a simple, unwanted touching.” yet powerful According to the United statement that has States Department of Justice, taken the country by storm. sexual assault is any type of It is a phrase that has given sexual contact or behavior that millions of men and women occurs without the explicit comfort, has given them hope consent of the recipient. and has given them power. It has also shocked and surprised “...what made me many people. stronger was her The #metoo movement, strength, her telling me found on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, is a hashtag ‘it’s not your fault, you that represents much more did nothing wrong.’” than just five letters. By using the hashtag, people across the an anonymous teacher country have come forward to said. say that they have either been sexually assaulted or harassed.

According to the Equal Some students and staff Employment Opportunity members participated in the Commission, sexual #metoo movement and were harassment includes willing to speak about their unwelcome sexual advances, experiences. requests for sexual favors “When I was in college, I and other types of verbal or was a junior, and something physical harassment. happened,” an anonymous “Harassment would be teacher said. “I had been out verbal,” U.S. history teacher with friends, and we had Erica Benson said. “There gone back to the dorm, and are instances where it could I was assaulted in the dorm involve some physical by someone I did not know. eyeballing, and somebody I was randomly pulled into making weird gestures at a bathroom, and it was not you and making you feel rape, but it was sexual assault. uncomfortable. Sexual assault Things happened that I did is probably anything to do with not want to happen, and I said

‘no’ the whole time, and it was really uncomfortable, and I struggled with that for a long time after.”

Like staff members, students were willing to speak about the experiences that they had and how it made them feel.

“Just at school alone, I have had a lot of experiences,” freshman Blair Munoz* said.

“I have been groped in the classroom, slapped on parts of my body, and I have been violently thrusted into in the hallways, and it’s really gross.”

According to students and staff at BVN, it is important for people who have experienced this kind of trauma to know that they are not alone.

“I think that going through something [like this] makes them feel violated, or they feel guilty,” sophomore Olivia Humphrey said. “It’s important to know that they are not alone because they need a sense of support and love whenever they feel like the whole world is against them.”

It is important for students to know that when they feel alone, there is someone who will be there for them to let them know that they are not

the only one going through this.

“When it happens, you just feel so powerless, and [you feel like] you’re the only one it’s ever happened to, but knowing that there’s millions of other people that have experienced what you have [is] reassuring,” sophomore Callum Smith* said.

A traumatic event such as sexual assault or harassment can affect the victims daily life for weeks, months and even years afterwards. But people can find strength from their experiences and find a voice that they never knew they had.

“I think the incidents have made me stronger in that, I guess I feel like I have more of a voice in that I feel like I’ve experienced things that a lot of people go through but try not to speak up about, because I’m pretty vocal about this kind of thing, and I try to let people know that they’re not alone,” Munoz* said.

Like students, staff members at BVN believe that it is important to find strength when feeling lonely and guilty for things that you had no control over.

“Something happened at

December 2017 | The North Star | 11

*names changed for privacy

Responses and Reactions to the #metoo movement.

10

What is your gender?

Males

Females

Yes

others, the more others will be willing to report it, and the more people will be punished.

“I think that there are a lot of [people] that don’t really realize that it’s real and that it happens on a regular basis to a lot of people, but it makes it more of a problem that needs to be addressed,” Benson said.

Sometimes, it can be difficult for victims to feel comfortable sharing their experiences with others.

“I think that it’s personal, for one,” English teacher Shelley Moran said. “And two it can be difficult. I think that that [is] a very sensitive issue, and for someone that has been through an experience like that, it’s very traumatic.”

Nonetheless, it is important for people to know that sexual assault and harassment is not being stood for any more.

“It’s a human condition that we don’t want to feel like our experience is different than everyone else, and also it doesn’t make us feel like we are isolated,” AP English teacher Shelley Weir said. “When it happens to you, you feel shame, you feel awful, you feel very, very alone and knowing that this is something that is not uncommon and it’s not being stood for anymore [is] really, really important to hear.”

No

work, and I went home horribly upset,” a second anonymous teacher said. “My daughter was home and she asked, ‘Mom, what’s wrong?’ And I told her about it, and what made me stronger was her strength, her telling me, ‘it’s not your fault, you did nothing wrong.’ It made me feel powerful, and it made me stand up, and it made me decide I don’t need to be around this person. I don’t need to listen to this because it isn’t my fault.”

At times, it can be hard to recover from such a traumatic experience, but it is important to remember that this experience does not define who someone is.

“Initially, it was really hard to deal with, and I went through some depression over it, and I thought that it was my fault, that I had done something wrong, and it took a long time for me to realize that that was not the case,” the first anonymous teacher said. “But it’s made me a stronger person in the fact that everyone has an obstacle to overcome in their life, and that was just one of my bumps in the road that made me grow as a person and be more aware of things that happen in the world.”

Some students and staff at BVN believe sharing their experiences with sexual assault or harassment will bring more awareness. Benson said that the more people know it happens to

Have you ever been sexually assaulted?

No

No

Yes

Have you ever been sexually harassed?

I don't know

8 No

6 4

Yes

2 0

Surprised

Not Surprised

Upset

Angry

Confused

Didn't See It

Other

It's weird

The Noun Project Chat by mc andi

Yes

12 | The North Star | December 2017

Fanatics

Users share the pros and cons of having a Finsta.

I

By Shantha Burt

n 2004, Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook. In 2006, Jack Dorsey created Twitter. In 2010, Kevin Systrom created Instagram, and in 2013, Generation Z created Finsta. The birth of Finsta has divided Instagram accounts into two types: real and fake. Real Instagram accounts, or “Rinstas,” are generally used for self promotion, sharing captioned photos and connecting with individuals around the globe; fake instas, or “Finstas,” serve a different purpose. Some Finsta users fill their account with personal rants and political beliefs, some use it to publicize illegal activities and some merely use their Finstas to share memes. The origin and original intent of Finstas is unclear, but most can agree that this social media enigma has raised some questions, especially among older generations. For one thing, many question its benefit.

While some argue that Finstas are an escape from stress and a form of self expression, others raise concerns about the impression they may give off. Overall, the controversy can be summed up in one question: To Finsta or not to Finsta?

mckennaand cheesee

mckenna’s finstaaaaaa

193 193 177 followers following posts Follow

S

ophomore Mckenna Lewis believes that ironically, Rinstas can show the fake side of people, while people are more real on their Finstas. “[On Finsta} you get to see the goofy side of people. On people’s real Instagrams, people won’t post the real stuff. They’ll edit it and make it look fake.

But when you think [of] finstas, it’s just people sitting in their pajamas on their couch. It’s more relaxed.”

Lewis’s main purpose for getting a Finsta is simply to have fun.

“I think about what I post, but I don’t think it’s for a certain reason. It’s just for fun and talking with people.”

Lewis recognizes that some may use their Finsta negatively, but personally believes her finsta has had a positive impact on her. “[My Finsta] personally hasn’t [had a negative impact]but I’ve seen ones that have. People [can] say too much or call people out or post inappropriate pictures because they think it’s so relaxed.”

December 2017 | The North Star | 13

F

or junior Sneha Kannan, Finsta is a way to show appreciation for her friends and to spread positivity.

“I use [my Finsta] as an appreciation post kind of thing,” Kannan said. “It’s a way to make people feel good about themselves.”

Simmilar to Lewis, Kannan also believes that individuals reveal more about their true self through Finstas, while Rinstas can be superficial.

“Rinstas use fake captions, and they don’t tell anything about you,” Kannan said. “Your Finsta is more about you.”

Kannan also believes the impact of a Finsta relies largely on how it’s used.

“I think [the impact of a Finsta] depends

khris_tmas

Asain qt3.14

33 93 79 posts followers following Follow

J

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on the kind of Finsta it is,” Kannan said.

“Recently this girl deleted her Finsta because of the drama it created because she called out people. So sometimes Finstas can be good, [but] sometimes they’re really negative.”

Aside from a Rinsta and Finsta, Kannan also has a “Vinsta”.

“A Vinsta is a VIP insta,” Kannan said. “It’s only for those who are legit homies and would tolerate your rants. It’s very exclusive.”

Kannan explains that the content on her Vinsta is showcased to a selected group of followers only.

“My Vinsta has one-eighth of the people [who follow] my finsta,” Kannan said. “It’s like the ten people you’re friends with.”

unior Chris Lucas joined the Finsta bandwagon to see others’ posts and to keep in touch with the day-to-day lives of his friends.

“It’s pretty funny to look at other people’s Finstas,” Lucas said. “It’s funny for me because I can post stuff and not be judged for it because it’s not showcased to hundreds of people, but rather just like 80.”

Most of his time spent on Finsta is used up looking at other’s posts. However, Lucas tries to post frequently.

“I use it a lot because I follow other people’s finsta on my Finsta, and that’s why I see their stuff,” Lucas said. “I post on it whenever I get good pictures to use. Every two weeks I try [to post].”

Lucas explained that because he doesn’t

unior Madelyn Kingsley believes that Finstas serve as a means for people to express their feelings and laugh their troubles away.

“It really gives me an outlet, and my closest friends can see what’s going on,” Kingsley said.

“I like looking at other people’s Finsta posts. It’s fun to see what’s going on [and] what they’re thinking about.”

She explained that Rinstas don’t give people the ability to share their feelings and show off their personality as much as Finstas do. “[People are] probably more real on their Finstas, because Rinstas are just your best pictures and what you want everyone to see you as,” Kingsley said. “Your Finsta is just fun and whatever you think is funny.”

Kingsley explained that Vinstas especially serve as an outlet for people to share their feelings with their friends.

“It [can be] kind of personal,” Kingsley said, “especially with your VIP one, [because] you’re getting everything off your mind, and your

nonsnense

sneha kant

24 138 133 posts followers following Follow

make his Finsta controversial, he isn’t very selective about his followers.

“I’m not super exclusive about [followers] because I don’t post anything deep on it or call people out,” Lucas said. “I just post funny pictures with funny comments. I wouldn’t be opposed to lots of people following it. If they were total strangers, then probably [I’d be opposed].”

Lucas believes that while some people use Finsta for the wrong reasons, others have good intensions.

“A lot of people use them to call other people out or do other things they don’t want people to see,” Lucas said. “I try not to do that.

I just use mine purely for entertainment, and I think a lot of people try to do that [also].”

friends can look at it and comment, especially your closest friends.”

Kingsley admitted that she has seen people use Finstas to promote and share illegal activities. However, most people she knows keep their Finsta pg-13.

“A lot of people are really stupid, and they use them to post pictures of them doing drugs and alcohol and stuff, which I think is a bad idea,” Kingsley said. “Some people just use it to post funny stuff, or pictures they think are funny, or bad things that happened to them or weird selfies.”

Kingsley uses her Finsta to post funny pictures and share snippets of her daily life with her friends.

“I usually just take reaction photos of people and put something under them that has happened to me,” Kingsley said. “On my VIP Insta, I like to post pictures of exclusively the top of my head.”

king_sley_ ofthekingdom

madelyn

69 176 167 posts followers following Follow

14 | The North Star | December 2017

Can the School Track Your Online Activity?

The Chief Administrator of Blue Valley clarifies the boundaries of student privacy on school computers.

By Sooim Kang

December 2017 | The North Star | 15 applicable disciplinary measures.”

However, just as the students are accountable to regulations, the district is also held accountable under federal law in properly regulating and censoring the use of technology for public school students.

“We have to adhere to Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA),” Daley said.

“It’s a federal regulation; there’s also state regulations that say we have to filter your content based on several different categories to protect you, the student, who’s under the age of 18 in our classrooms.”

Daley explained how CIPA regulates the majority of student censorship, and its main purpose is to protect students from obscene and harmful content on the Internet. Nonetheless, the district is still able to choose the scope at which they censor and regulate Internet access, which Daley argued is his main challenge.

“

I don’t think that the district tracks our behavior online because they’re evil; there’s no nefarious intent.

They do it for our own protection and for theirs.

“

W

hile many students rush to try to grab an early spot in the “Hot Spot” line at the start of every North Time, sophomore Reid Spachman rushes to grab the fastest computer in room 307 to ensure the best playing time in the video game Roblox.

Spachman and his group of friends meet to play Roblox on the school’s desktops, taking advantage of the school’s quick WiFi speed and strong computer connection.

“I play games in Mr. Wassinger’s room because there is a ton of computers, and all my friends go there,” Spachman said. “I like to relax and just play games.”

While Spachman has learned to take advantage of the school computers, junior Genevieve Hulshof makes sure to always use her laptop instead of the school’s computers to ensure the least amount of school monitoring possible.

Hulshof is among the majority of students who prefer to use their laptops over the school computers.

“In general, [laptops] feel more private just because it’s your own device, and you’re the main person who can control what you search and do,” Hulshof said.

However, when this argument was brought up to Brian Daley, the Chief Administrator of Blue Valley, he clarified that student privacy may not exist in the way that most students suspect it does.

“Whether it’s a desktop, a staff computer, your iPhone, an Android phone [or] an iPad, it all comes back to here through a content filter,” Daley said.

Daley explained that any and all devices connected to the school WiFi will experience the same web filters and censoring that the school desktops experience. This is due to the behavioral guidelines of the Blue Valley District User Agreement that every student must agree to before logging on to any school device or before connecting to the school WiFi. The Blue Valley District User Agreement states the rights and responsibilities of the students and clarifies any inappropriate use of technology. Since the agreement also states that all devices are officially owned by the district, Daley explained that all forms of communication on them directly reflect the district.

When the agreement is violated, consequences may vary depending on the misbehavior, but it generally states that students will be subject to “any and all

-Charles Huette

“There are a lot of gray areas about what to let kids get to; it’s very difficult because we don’t want to be the Internet police and just lock everything down and not let you have access to content,” Daley said.

For some students, the flexibility of the school filters has become more noticeable, as Hulshof realized she is now able to access Snapchat and Netflix when connected to the school WiFi. Daley explained how this was no accident, and that he purposely tried to implement less restrictions this year when it came to student internet access.

“We’ve leveraged CIPA and state laws to the max where we’re giving our students now, as you saw this semester, probably the most freedom you’ve ever had,” Daley said.

“I’m like riding the line on CIPA, which

is OK because we open up more devices per student with things like Canvas, and we want to get more digital tools and instruction, and I got to allow [students] to access more content.”

Even though the district has the ability to control and monitor the students’ online activity, this does not guarantee that they are actively tracking them. Daley revealed the magnitude of power and energy which must be exerted in order to actively monitor the online activity of every individual student and explained the impossibility of this task.

“There are millions and millions of URLs that go through our web filters every day,” Daley said. “I don’t have the staff nor the horsepower to sit there and look at every single string of website that goes through. What we do have the capacity to do is if you attempt to go to a site, is have the automation of the system block you from getting there for us.”

The majority of Internet “monitoring” comes from an automation that Daley explained helps to judge which websites are appropriate and inappropriate for student access. Human intervention is limited when it comes to tracking student activity; however, in extreme instances it is necessary.

Although the automation is able to monitor and control the computers connected to the network, Daley and his team of engineers are still able to manually control the system and specifically target any malicious website.

“So you’ll see maybe in the past you weren’t allowed to get to YouTube, but now you are,” Daley said. “Or you couldn’t get to Facebook, but now you are. So we control that. We can either loosen the strings or we can tighten them up depending on the feedback we get from teachers or administrators. If there’s a site that is invented that causes a lot of havoc, we can clamp that down.”

Although this may cause students to worry over their online privacy at school, Daley explained that Internet censoring and monitoring is not implemented to specifically target or intimidate the students. Teachers, staff and any guests are also all subjected to the same expectations.

“All we’re trying to do is keep you safe on the Internet so we don’t have parents busting down the doors saying, ‘you’re allowing my kid to get to this or exposing him to this,’” Daley said. “We’re adhering to federal and state regulations; so it’s purely a safety and security thing.”

Immersion School

16 | The North Star | December 2017

Ecole d’Immersion

沉浸式学校

An alternative to traditonal schooling and second language education.

by Brooke Werp

L

anguage immersion is a nontraditional approach to learning a second language where core content is taught in a language other than English.

Depending on the model of the immersion school, students will spend half or more of their day in the language they are learning.

This target language is used for instruction and communication in the classroom, which will enable students to learn their second language like they learned their first.

This year at Wolf Springs Elementary School, the Blue Valley district has introduced the first kindergarten classroom to adopt a 50/50 Chinese immersion model. The 42 children in the program will spend half of the day in a Chinese immersion classroom and the other half in an English classroom, studying all subjects in both. The objective of the program is to acquire cultural competence and proficiency in the Chinese language equal to the native level.

Chinese instructor Claire Pan has seen exponential growth in her kindergarteners

since the beginning of the school year despite certain challenges they have faced. “[The students] are 5 and 6 years old, so their attention span is really short,” Pan said. “The English instruction is easier. It’s easier for them to understand. But in my classroom, it has been [only] 50 days, so for the first couple weeks we worked on directions, procedures [and] very simple classroom language like sit up, sit down, line up, wash hands and let’s go to the bathroom.”

According to the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition, since bilinguals are able to learn and remember two ways of saying the same word, they can see the relationship of a word and its meaning. This is where metalinguistic awareness comes in; they are able to focus on the meaning of words and significant changes in speech.

In addition to this mental flexibility, researchers from York University have seen cognitive advantages linked with early bilingualism in immersion students.

Students had heightened abilities to plan,

multitask, remember instructions and manage themselves and their resources to achieve a goal. However, the students showed a lack of practice at focusing on relevant information in the presence of unnecessary information, but improved after a few more years in the program.

“They are not self conscious, they just [talk in Chinese freely.] I taught high school and the high schoolers are different, they don’t want to make mistakes.

That’s why [my students] learn so fast actually.”

-Claire Pan Pan finds that these benefits are long term and present themselves later on in the immersion program journey. However, a benefit Pan is seeing currently is a sense of confidence and maturity within her students due to their early start in immersion.

“They are not self conscious, they

December 2017 | The North Star | 17

just [talk in Chinese freely],” Pan said. “I taught high school and the high schoolers are different. They don’t want to make mistakes. That’s why [my students] learn so fast, actually. They have learned a lot of songs and counting, [and] they do that at home [too]. The parents are so surprised to see how much they talk [in Chinese].”

The program is designed around the idea that parents will not be able to speak the target language. So far, the response from homes have been positive.

“The parents are very supportive. We have weekly newsletters, and we share what we have learned,” Pan said. “The parents are updated, and the parents can help them with English and social sciences.”

Leslie Kohlmeyer, the admissions

and outreach coordinator for Académie Lafayette, a French immersion charter school in Kansas City, Mo., finds that her students have superior behavioral standards as well.

“My office has been here in the principal’s office for four years now, and I think maybe a total of three times have I seen someone be sent to the principal’s office because there’s just not the time for it,” Kohlmeyer said. “The kids are just so focused on that language acquisition.”

Académie Lafayette follows a 90/10 model where 90 percent of the instruction in class is in French. Despite the lack of English in their curriculum, students graduate in the eighth grade either at or above their grade level on Missouri Aptitude Placement tests. However, she advises parents of students in second through fourth to not compare their children to other students in the same grade level in an English-speaking school.

“There is kind of a sweet spot between second and fourth grade, especially for boys, where their English suffers just a tiny bit, but then it catches back up in the upper grades,” Kohlmeyer said.

Eventually, eighth grade graduates will score at a D1 level for French on the European Foreign Language Proficiency scale (CERF), which places them at the same level as their peers in France. CERF determines the ability of students to use their second language in a professional setting with specific vocabulary, grammar, business-specific writing and speaking.

On average, graduates place at levels French five and six on placements tests for Rockhurst University and UMKC. Former student of Académie Lafayette and sophomore at BVN Delaina Sanden is pleased with her experience at the academy and is an advocate for immersion. Sanden transferred to Overland Trail Middle School after eight years in the immersion program, which gave her insight into the transition process from immersion to an English speaking school. “[The switch] wasn’t that difficult,” Sanden said. “[For example], writing [in English] was good for me because I love to write. But I still write a couple words sometimes in the French spelling. But now that I have lost some of [my French], and I am in a totally different language education setting, it doesn’t flow, and I just have to think about it more.”

Even though Sanden feels that her fluency level in French has declined, she

still feels that she has gained a higher appreciation for the French language and understanding for its cultures. As she does not see her future or career aspirations directly involving the French language, she hopes to use it in some way down the line.

“Right now, I am focusing on journalism and photojournalism, so I don’t know how much I would use my French, but it’s definitely something that I would love to [see] come into play because I love French culture. I love the art, I love the fashion, I love the language,” Sanden said.

According to the Department of Labor, two of the fastest growing occupations in the U.S. are translators and interpreters.

By 2024, 17,500 jobs are expected to open

“I love French culture, I love the art, I love the fashion, I love the language.”-Delaina Sanden

up in the translating and interpreting field, an industry that reaches the government, military, schools, hospitals and Fortune 500 companies.

Considering that China became the world’s largest economy by purchasing power in 2014, cultural compatibility has become even more important to Chinese firms according to Brian Renwick, a managing partner at an executive recruiting firm in China. While knowing Chinese can help an individual stand out in the job market, it cannot guarantee employment. Chinese companies and their business expertise are becoming more homegrown, as most firms prefer their senior executive to be from the mainland of China.

Babbel, a language learning app and e-platform, reports that French falls as the third most widely spoken language by country, while English reaches at number one with 101 countries. As well, French, along with English, is the official language of many international organizations like Doctors without Borders, Amnesty International, United Nations and the African Union.

Language immersion is an alternative to the average school experience and a more dense way of learning a second language. With the higher proficiency immersion schools promote, there is a potential for extra benefits that could not be as easily obtained otherwise.

18 | The North Star | December 2017

f

Positive and Negative Effects of Social Media

I

n today’s society, social media has begun to play a large role in our lives.

According to The Washington Post, teenagers on average spend nine hours a day on their phones, mainly on social media accounts. As teenagers start to spend more amounts of time on their social media accounts, they may encounter different effects.

Although junior Grace Cote has never created any social media accounts, Cote does see the benefit to having one.

“I have never had social media,” Cote said. “There is no reason [that I’ve never downloaded a social media app] because I definitely think that, for people who do use them, they can be fun or maybe even useful. I just have never felt the need for that.”

According to a website called TeenShield, social media can be useful for a lot of things such as helping teenagers gain skills like communication, confidence and independence.

TeenShield also mentions how social websites such as YouTube gives tutorial videos

By Anna Martin

and helps sharpen up skills.

Social Media has also become an outlet for creativity and a resource for inspiration.

While Cote has never downloaded a social media app, junior Gage Banks has had an Instagram account for multiple years. Students, such as Banks, can also use social media for humor.

“I post real dank memes [on Instagram] and real lit videos, and it’s a very positive vibe,” Banks said.

Although there are many positive effects from social media, it also has become a negative influence for some students. According to Forbes, social media can affect mental health from being addictive to provoking sadness.

“It think more bad comes from social media than good,” senior Avery Hoffpauir said.

Forbes additionally said looking at other people’s social media accounts can create feelings of jealousy when comparing oneself to others.

Social media also can become distracting from school and real life.

“Personally, I have benefited from not having social media, because I’m already distracted from different things, even in just trying to get homework done,” Cote said. “I just have enough things I’m using to procrastinate.”

As much fun as Hoffpauir has with social media it does consume a lot of her day.

“It’s fun but it takes up a lot of time. I spend a few hours on it a day,” Hoffpauir said.

Banks agrees with Cote and Hoffpauir that social media can become distracting.

“Every 20 minutes or something, I [am] just always on my phone and on social media,” Banks said.

Even though Cote has not downloaded social media, she does not believe it is necessarily a bad thing.

“It depends on how much you use it and how you use it,” Cote said. “It could either be a really good thing or a really bad thing. I think I will get social media at some point, even though I haven’t yet, because I think it is a good thing to have in some situations.”

RULE 22

December 2017 | The North Star | 19

By Kristen Xu

Student atheletes and a KSHSAA director discuss the rule not allowing students to play on their school team and a competitive team at the same time.

A

ccording to Rule 22 of the Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA), “A student who is a member of a school athletic, scholars bowl or debate squad may not participate as a member of an outside team or as an independent competitor in the same sport, scholars bowl or debate activity.” This begs the question — why not?

“I don’t really know [why this rule is in place],” junior varsity Lady Mustang Grace Keirn said. “I guess they want the kids to not have too many activities, or not to get injured so they won’t have to play in something.”

Junior Corbin Sorensen said that the boys swim coaches will encourage the extra training outside the two hour practices members already have.

“People do it... to get better, to get faster and also [to] get different styles of coaching,” Sorenson said.

However, assistant executive director of KSHSAA Jeremy Holaday said that differing teaching styles are a major reason for the rule.

“You have the school coach who is trying to instruct the kid on how to shoot the basketball, or how to play this certain offense,” Holaday said. “They could be getting completely opposite instructions. It convolutes the coaching system, so that’s another reason why the rule is in place. To protect that.”

Another important factor is time.

According to Holaday, this rule “helps protect the student athlete — to let them be a student, and ... a kid.”

“Most practices go about two

hours,” Sorensen said. “It becomes more difficult [to manage your time] during the swim season because there are six days that have practice.”

The added lessons come with a cost—literally. Some competitive swim teams, such as the Kansas City Blazers, charge over $100, but BVN coaches tend to advise the added practice time. “[My coaches] definitely would recommend [going competitive], because it definitely gets you faster, gets you better time, gets you prepared for the swim season, so you don’t have to start out basically out of shape and not having swam for a year,” Sorensen said.

Because of the benefits of practicing, the rule has been broken a number of times.

People do it to train more – to get better, to get faster.

– Corbin Sorensen “It just depends on the situation,” Holaday said. “There’s no set penalty for the rule... We contact their school, talk about what’s going on at their school, and make sure we can get it corrected with minimal violations or anything like that, so we can move on and do what we believe is the right thing to do.”

Although Sorenson’s coaches often recommend the added practice time, other sports don’t support pursuing club teams — during the

season or otherwise.

“A lot of the club coaches are trying to get them a college scholarship,” basketball coach Anne Fritz said. “That doesn’t always prove true. [But] sometimes I think it’s good to just get in the gym and work on fundamentals as it is to play club.”

Competitive teams recognize the difficulty of maintaining two teams at once, so some of them, like Keirn’s, choose to be inactive during the school season.

“I know other competitive teams aren’t as good as [my club], but [they] don’t have anything during the time of the school season,” Keirn said. “They really just work around it. So even if I wanted to play for my competitive team during the season, I really wouldn’t have the opportunity because they don’t have anything going on during that time.”

Holaday agrees that plenty of students don’t need to spend the extra practice time and money for competitive teams.

“We have multiple examples of kids that have followed these same rules and have become stars in the NFL, in the NBA, you name it,” Holaday said. “They were under the same rules and were just fine.”

Both Keirn and Sorensen have been playing their sports for so long that they feel they must continue, competitive or not.

“I just have so much fun, and I love the people that I meet from it,” Keirn said. “Honestly I can’t imagine my life without it; it’s just been a part of my life for so long. It’s a part of me.”

20 | The North Star | December 2017

Month 2017 | The North Star | 21

“I believe that we will win” The crowd at the Kansas Class 6A Finals against Derby cheers in response to a successful play that made BVN’s victory apparent.

MAKING HISTORY BVN scores first football title in the school’s history.

Photos by Connor Clary

O

n Saturday, Nov. 24, the BVN football team played Derby in the Kansas Class 6A Finals at Emporia State University. The cheerleaders, dance team and a pep band arrived along with parents, fans and students to support the team. BVN scored a 49-42 victory over Derby, marking the first state football title in BVN’s history.

1

Miles Emery defends against opposing players from Derby.

2

Meredith Rosenberg dances with the North Star dance team during halftime.

3

After BVN’s victory became clear, Eric Baston embraces teammate Jordan Mayfield.

4

Quarterback Graham Mertz dodges a tackle from Derby.

5

The drum line performs as part of the pep band for the game.

6

North Star dance team member Paige Smith cheers in front of the crowd.

7

BVN students wiggle their spirited fingers as part of a cheer before a kickoff.

Month 2017 | The North Star | 23

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24 | The North Star | December 2017

Graduating

at Semester

By Caroline Koenig

December 2017 | The North Star | 25

A

Several seniors decided to graduate at semester.

n option available to nearly all BVN students that is not often considered is graduating early.

Graduating a semester early is an opportunity for students who want to work or attend college during the spring semester, or who just want to leave BVN a few months early.

This year, several seniors have chosen this option for themselves.

Graduating in December, senior Madeline Boeck only comes to BVN for two hours each day because she is taking classes at Johnson County Community College (JCCC) this semester, an option offered

by BVN called college release. After this semester, she will be attending K-State University to study horticulture.

Boeck believes that the advantages of graduating early outweigh the disadvantages.

“The pros are that you get to have a life, and your work load is decreased,” Boeck said. “I also am attending actual classes at JCCC, so I can receive the prerequisites for my major before I go to K-State.”

Senior Carson DeFoor is also graduating at semester to take classes at JCCC to work toward her major.

“I’m graduating a semester early, so I can take JCCC classes all second semester. This is

so I can be considered a transfer student and get instate [tuition] at Arkansas,” DeFoor said.

Sophie Roldan chose to graduate early so she can move to Chile with her family. To make this

people who don’t like difficult to decide to do it school.” because you’re missing out Senior year at BVN on your last year, which comes with thirty years of is an exciting time for tradition, and graduating everyone,” said DeFoor. early could mean missing Emerson says that the out some some of them. counselors at BVN make Despite this, senior Grace the process of graduating Emerson believes early easy for those who the freedom that are considering that as an “I also am attending comes with leaving option. high school a “I had no problems actual classes semester early will with the school,” said at JCCC, so I be worth it.

Emerson. “I think can receive the “The pros are [graduating early] is for sure being done a really good option, prerequisites for my with high school and if you have enough major before I go to and having more credits, you can do it. freedom the second If it’s something you’re a university.” half of senior year,” interested in, for sure look -Madeline Boeck Emerson said. “A into it,” con is missing out Graduating early also because senior does not mean that after decision, she met with her year is really fun, and December they can’t come counselor to consider her you might not be able to back to the school. The options. participate in some things” administration emails “The school was totally Although DeFoor those who are graduated open and supportive,” agrees that graduating early and want to continue Roldan said. “At first, I to be asked about if I could do involved in I don’t think I’m my senior year in Chile, the school. but [the school] said “I don’t missing out because none of the credits would think I’m I can come back and transfer. So they helped missing out me come up with other Mr. Wessel keeps us in because I options, like graduating can come on the things that are early” back, and Mr. Although this was going on in the school Wessel keeps a difficult decision for us in on the so we can come Roldan to make, she things that suggests others to look into are going on back.” this option for themselves. in the school, -Carson DeFoor “If I wasn’t moving, so we can I wouldn’t be doing it. I come back would’ve stayed for the early will give her freedom and see everyone,” DeFoor entire year like most as well as opportunities, it said. “Also, we have the people, so it really depends was hard for her to make opportunity to walk at on your situation,” Roldan the decision to graduate graduation, which I am said. “I think it’s a good early. going to do.” idea, especially for the “Personally it was

26 | The North Star | December 2017

Heated over

Climate

Change?

Science teachers shed light on climate change and how they teach the topic

By Lyndsey Henkel

December 2017 | The North Star | 27

Movies and videos for more information on Climate Change

Chasing Coral Before the Flood An Inconvenient Truth Vice Videos - Greenland Glacier National Park Travel Documentary

C

limate change is an adjustment global warming, which is the heating of environment. Methane gas isn’t terrible in global climate patterns. Due to the Earth by the burning of fossil fuels and itself; however, humans are pushing more fossil fuels, there is a large increase the greenhouse effect. However, Schulte into the atmosphere by driving cars and in carbon dioxide. Over the years, it has does not believe humans have a major burning fossil fuels. It is harmful to the gotten worse, and some teachers try to impact on climate change. climate because every one methane gas shed light on the situation.

“Our impact, I think, is minimal produces 20 carbon dioxides, according Earth science teacher compared to some of the other to Exon.

Erin Morgan’s high things that affect our climate,” Therefore, Exon said sea levels are “You school biology teacher Schulte said. rising, and soon several cities may be could just tell sparked her interest If one looks back on past underwater. in entering the eras, such as the ice ages, According to Morgan, in the future, the environment education field. She climate change has been the Earth’s atmosphere is going to warm looked different than enjoys teaching earth happening for millions of up five or six degrees. Cities around the what it should be.” science because of years, according to Schulte. world, such as New York and Miami, will -Andrea Exon watching the students Global warming, coral be entirely submerged into the ocean. learn new things. bleaching and a variety of other Many science teachers like to stress When it comes to teaching factors are all connected and a part that their classes are fact based. For climate change, Morgan finds it of climate change. Coral bleaching is Morgan, she enjoys teaching climate important for students to understand the when the temperature in the ocean gets change because of the interaction with her effects everyone has on the planet. too hot for the coral to be able to survive, students.

“At this point in time, we are the ones and when coral dies, it becomes a white, “I like teaching them new things, responsible for the health of the earth,” bleached color. something they haven’t learned before,” Morgan said. “If people don’t understand, Earth science teacher Andrea Exon Morgan said. it’s going to lead to higher pollution, explained why coral bleaching means a When a student disagrees with more sicknesses and illnesses in the world lot to her. She recently got certified to Morgan, she responds by telling her population,” scuba dive, and after learning about coral students that what she teaches is solely She believes educating others about bleaching, she noticed a difference in the based on facts, not an opinion, like this topic is key to success. Doing the little coral where she went diving. many other teachers try to explain. things, such as recycling or carpooling, to According to Exon, about However, she has not yet had a help the climate. two billion people rely on student challenge her.

“Knowledge “People being conscious of the fish as a big part of their Schulte expresses her is power. If situation and the impact climate change diet. With no coral, class is about constantly you know what’s has on your everyday life can make a big the fish do not have a searching for the truth. happening, then you difference,” Morgan said. habitat, and without Therefore, she touches can do something about it on the theory of climate One of the main reasons climate fish, many wouldn’t instead of letting the bad change. change is occurring is because of carbon survive. Many people things happen.” emissions, like carbon dioxide. Carbon have started to replant “We have theories -Erin Morgan molecules radiate heat, which forms a coral in the Great that we keep testing and blanket over Earth, according to Morgan.

Barrier Reef. modifying. You can never Chemistry teacher Amy Schulte Also, reducing intake really assume that every theory explains that she briefly talks about of cows can help because the is perfectly correct,” Schulte said. climate change in her classes because of methane gas cows produce is bad for the

December 2017 | The North Star | 28

VEGAN BVN students discuss their commitment to veganism.

T

he appeal and potential for vegan products is expanding — beyond the small group of people who avoid products for ethical reasons to include the much larger base of consumers seeking healthier, cleaner foods. BVN students discuss their journey to making veganism their lifestyle.

Senior Emerson Hamer decided to be a vegetarian back in the eighth grade and made the next step into veganism by watching the documentary “Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret.”

“I went vegan overnight basically because it was about animal cruelty

and the effects of animal farming on the environment, on the planet and on the people, and I was like I can’t keep eating animal products,” Hamer said. “I don’t remember it ever being hard to transition because there’s so many vegan substitute options to transition to veganism. When I was wanting cheese, I didn’t ever like meat, but every time I wanted cheese I would just eat vegan cheese.”

“Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret” documentary also influenced senior AJ Gordon her sophomore year to transition into veganism from vegetarianism.

“I kind of started out vegetarian

and felt a lot better when I didn’t eat dairy. My stomach felt so much better when I didn’t eat it, so I decided to stop altogether,” Gordon said. “I’ve seen those kind of videos before but every time I’d be like ‘Oh, these are over-dramatized,’ but then I realized that there are so many of them and the animal industry is actually so bad to the environment like why would I support that.”

Starting out with vegetarianism then later to veganism is also how senior Zachary Lacy found himself removing unethically prepared food from his diet. Though Lacy questions the validity of conspiracy

December 2017 | The North Star | 29

documentaries, he believes that people that are really expensive or take up your should be aware that animal cruelty is time, are only when you want to get legit inevitably involved when consuming with it and make these crazy recipes meat. from Pinterest; I’ve only done that once,” “I don’t understand how people watch Gordon said. “I got a lot of books from YouTube compilations of animals being my family for vegan recipes, but I never harmed, like that’s scary to me,” Lacy use them and I honestly I don’t cook my said. “Those people are like ‘I watched food that often; I only make pasta with this video, and I realized this epiphany,’ marinara sauce, it’s super easy.” and that’s such a basic thing to do, like According to the Journal of Health obviously it’s happening, whether you and Environmental Nutrition, a meatless are aware of it or not, that obviously diet is cheaper than eating meat, but it they had to kill a chicken for me to eat provided more of the fruits, vegetables, this. Transitioning into being completely and whole grains that are generally vegan was easy because I randomly found considered to be integral to a healthy diet. out that I was lactose intolerant. I was Though not everything that is vegan is already a vegetarian and now I can’t eat necessarily healthy; vegan junk food does dairy, so let’s just do it. Here I am today: exist. you’re culture non“You can still I hated that I was dairy friend.” eat processed food By committing calling myself an and be vegan. Oreos to veganism, are vegan. It’s one environmentalist Hamer has seen a of those things decrease in body fat and continued to where you don’t when eliminating live that consume non-ethically necessarily dairy from her natural lifestyle that slaughtered meat. diet and noticed a people think that significant decrease -Zachary Lacy you do,” Lacy said. in the amount “People also think of money she that we’re birds and spends for her own that we only eat groceries. nuts and seeds and dried fruit. When “When I stopped eating dairy, I lost so they first meet you, they think that belief much weight, and I felt so much better. that you are a Greenpeace activist, and My soy and almond milk are calcium you’re actively throwing pigs’ blood on fortified, and I eat a lot of leafy greens slaughterhouse factories or that someone and green vegetables,” Hamer said. “So is forcing you to do it.” if you stick to like beans, rice, fruits and Hamer also emphasized there are vegetables, it’s going to cost so much less many food choices with a vegan lifestyle, than regular stuff. Soy milk is a dollar for despite what others may think. the same amount of whole milk which is “Being vegan doesn’t have to be like $3. If you’re eating a healthy, simple boring. I don’t only eat salad; there’s so vegan lifestyle and not buying a whole many vegan options like they’re selling bunch of vegan junk food, you’ll be a new beyond burger at BurgerFi that spending a lot less money.” is so good and scarily tastes like actual Gordon stays to a consistent routine meat, but it’s vegan, and it tastes so good,” for her meals, but does acknowledge that Hamer said. “There’s a lot of different not all vegan options are affordable. things you can eat, and it doesn’t have to “Salads are so much cheaper, and be healthier, it just has to be cruelty free.”

I’ll just get an avocado roll going out Lacy doesn’t feel that being vegan and to dinner and stuff. The only things necessarily takes a weight off from his

health and admits to having weak days but draws strength from his belief in proper treatment of animals.

“It’s so hard to find stuff to eat. I feel so burdened. I question myself like am I betraying myself? Am I betraying my morals? [At one point] I got tired of being hypocritical. I hated that I was calling myself an environmentalist and continued to consume non-ethically slaughtered meat,” Lacy said. “Even though there’s people that say that we were put on this earth to consume animals, [those animals] should be slaughtered in a humanistic way; not just in a line and then rolled over like tractors.

That’s how dairy cows are treated, and it’s just revolting.”

Gordon doesn’t see the relevance of vegan judgment because her food choice doesn’t affect her at all.

“I feel like people think that vegans judge people who eat meat, and it’s our own choice, like I don’t care what you eat, why do you care what I do? I think they think that we think we’re better, but it’s not like that. We’re just kind of doing our part to what we think is right,” Gordon said. “[People that want to be vegan] have to think about why you want to be vegan in the first place, and let that motivate you when you have those bad days. You can make it work when you remind yourself of why you’re doing it. It’s not as hard as people judge it to be.”

The stigma behind veganism and opinions of others may keep people from sticking with it. Lacy said being vegan is a large commitment, and he has to reaffirm himself daily to continue in his choice.

“It’s a commitment of being real with yourself with this lifestyle that you’ve chosen and you’ll have weak days, but you have to get back on the wagon and know that everything will be okay,” Lacy said. “Just because you fall doesn’t mean you can’t start again. Every day is a new start, every minute is a new start to get back into it.”

By Nicole Dolan

Flu

By Katie George

The Truth Behind the

30 | The North Star | December 2017

What people may not realize about the flu virus and vaccine.

Each year, the vaccine is made to protect from strains of influenza viruses that are predicted to be most common in the upcoming season.

“When you get the flu, your body will try to fight it off, but it can take time for your immune system to develop antibodies specific to that flu strain in order to fight back and kill the virus,” Patterson said. “ The flu shot can

“

The flu shot can help provide your body with an early defense system for the strains of flu present in the vaccine you receive - James Patterson

“

Winter has arrived, and with it comes the influenza virus. Also known as the flu, it is a highly contagious respiratory illness, infecting the nose, lungs and throat.

According to webmd.com doctors, five to 20 percent of the American population will get the flu each year. It is estimated that 3,000 to 49,000 people in America die each year from flu-related illnesses.

BVN school nurse Julia Yano said that the flu can be more dangerous than most people think.

“When [the flu] turns on you, it can cause major organ failure, and you can spend two or three weeks in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) before you die,” Yano said.

The most effective way to protect oneself from getting the flu is the shot vaccination.

As stated by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the flu shot causes antibodies to develop throughout your body around two weeks after the injection. These antibodies provide protection against the infections with the viruses in the vaccine.

University of Kansas Pharmacy student Jason Patterson adds, “That is why it’s always best to get the vaccine earlier in flu season to help develop that protection before the flu is more widespread.”

help provide your body with an early defense system for the strains of flu present in the vaccine you receive. After receiving the flu shot, your body will develop those antibodies in about two weeks.”

In order to keep all schools sanitary and healthy, the company Healthy Solutions travels to schools and gives flu shots to teachers and staff. According to Yano, about half of the staff receives their flu shot through the school system, meaning that the vaccine is more widespread.

Biology teacher Alexandra Bauman believes it is essential for

people to get their flu shot.

“The more people who don’t get the flu shot, the more of a chance there is everyone is going to get the flu,” Bauman said.

If people surround themselves with those who have already been vaccinated, the likeliness of getting the flu is significantly lower.

“When you get a flu vaccine, you are not only helping to protect yourself from getting the flu, but you are helping to prevent the spread of flu viruses to those you care about who might be at higher risk of complications from getting the flu,” Patteson said.

Some of the best ways to protect yourself from the illness besides the flu shot are basic sanitary habits: washing your hands, covering your mouth when you cough, giving sick people space, avoiding touching your eyes, nose and mouth, and frequently cleaning surfaces that could be contaminated are great ways to stay healthy, according to Yano.

Common surface areas such as door knobs, staircase rails and elevator buttons are popular places to pick up the disease.

“Our bodies are miracles,” Yano said.

It is crucial to keep ourselves, our peers and our school safe and healthy.

Home for the

December 2017 | The North Star | 31

Holidays

h

Students who do not travel over winter break share how they spend their vacation.

By Angie Giglione

are not busy studying.

“I don’t mind staying home for winter break because most of my friends tend to stay home, too, and I enjoy spending more time with them,” Dawson said.

Dawson has traditions that she consistently looks forward to.

“My favorite things about winter break are not going to school and the snow.”

-Martha Tryban

h

h

D

uring winter break, some students spend time with their families on tropical vacations, but others know how to enjoy their days off of school without leaving the state.

Senior Sarah Smith’s sister, Hanna Smith, attends college at Colorado Christian University in Denver, Col. For this reason, Sarah Smith likes staying home over winter break to catch up with her sister.

“I enjoy spending time with my sister at home because it’s always a long semester when she’s gone,” Smith said. “We like to make cookies and watch Christmas movies.”

According to Smith, another benefit to staying at home for the holidays is participating in traditions that are specific to Kansas City. She said she would not be able to enjoy the same experiences if she left town for the holidays.

“I always enjoy going to the plaza over winter break because the lights are all up, and I love going to the candlelight services on Christmas Eve with my family,” Smith said.

Junior Jin Dawson likes to take advantage of the time she has with her friends when they

“My favorite part about winter break is definitely the holidays, specifically all the Christmas traditions I have with my friends and family,” Dawson said. “Secret Santa and drinking hot chocolate around the fireplace are some examples.

Some other traditions that I share with my friends and family include going ice skating and making puppy chow and peppermint bark.”

Smith has some traditions that have been a part of her family for many years.

“Making cookies together is a tradition my grandmother started with my sister and I,” Smith said. “On Christmas Eve, my family and I always go to our favorite Mexican restaurant after the church service and then go home and open up one present, which is always pajamas that we sleep in that night.”

Senior Martha Tryban feels that it is easier to get into the holiday spirit when she is at home because of the cooler weather.

“My favorite things about winter break are not going to school and the snow,” Tryban said. “Most of the places people go for winter break are tropical and warm, and I’d rather be here where you can like have a fire and have more of a Christmas-y feel.”

Senior Hunter Woosley has never traveled for winter break, but that doesn’t stop him from enjoying his time off of school.

“I enjoy being able to stay home and relax with the fireplace on, binge watching TV or hanging out with friends on snowy days,” Woosley said.

Whether they stay at home, spend time with friends or go on vacation, students tend to spend their winter breaks doing things that will allow them to have fun during their time off of school.

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