The Standard Volume 8 Issue 1

every body swimsuit-ready fad should include appreciation for all bodies

feature pages 8-9

SWIMSUIT-READY

SWIMSUIT-READY

SWIMSUIT-READY

SWIMSUIT-READY

SWIMSUIT-READY

standard the

blue valley southwest | volume 8 | issue 1

2 | contents / the standard / aug. 2017

contents features 04 | a second chance 08 | the quest for healthy food 15 | running for a cause

sports 06 | on the team online exclusive

news

10 | continued commitment

opinion 12 | every body

online exclusive 08

on the cover

| students share experience volunteering | wolf springs elementary opens

students face pressure to appear “swimsuit-ready� graphic design by jonah mccormick

volume 8 / issue 1 www.bvswnews.com

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editor’s note At times it seems as though everything that surrounds us provides an opportunity to avoid our responsibilities — to escape our fear of failure. Thoughts of giving up and simply walking away from these responsibilities frequently enter the minds of anyone who has been faced with a difficult task or quickly approaching deadlines. This issue, both new and returning staff members have been confronted with these challenges as the distractions of summer seemed to draw our attention away from sharing the stories of the Southwest community and as we faced the fear of publishing stories to be seen by students and staff alike.

This summer, we were able to overcome these difficulties and work together as a staff to bring you the stories of Southwest and our surrounding community, tackling a diverse selection of issues, ranging from pet adoption to the unfair standards of society, to the recovery of one of our school counselors following a stroke. Despite all of these difficulties, we were able to fight our fear of failure. We were able to once again find our passion for journalism and use that to bring you our first issue.

Entering my senior year, I’ve realized that this is my last chance to truly make a difference at Southwest, and that my passion for both writing and journalism provide me with an opportunity to do just that. No matter what you find to be your own passion, don’t let your fears prevent you from working toward whatever you want to achieve. Leave your comfort zone. For us, this means not only continuing to share the stories of our community, but to push ourselves to improve the Standard for our readers, and this year, that is what we hope to do.

| editor-in-chief

the standard editor-in-chief arielle singer online editor emma olinger writing coaches megan flood summer lyon social media manager elianna oliver staff writers samrina acharya helene bechtel aubrey birk brooklyn macdonald victoria palmer isha patel lauren urschel justin wingerter graphic designers jonah mccormick isaiah tarwater adviser rachel chushuk

The Southwest Standard is published seven times a year for students, faculty and surrounding community of Blue Valley Southwest. It is an open forum for student expression. Therefore, the opinions expressed within this paper do not necessarily reflect the views of the administration of Blue Valley Unified School District #229.

Letters to the editor and reader responses are encouraged for publication. The Southwest Standard reserves the right to edit all submissions for both language and content and encourages letters to be no more than 350 words. All letters must be signed and names will be published.

The Standard 17600 Quivira Road Overland Park, KS 66221 Website: bvswnews.com Email: bvswnews@gmail.com

4 | feature / the standard / aug. 2017

A

Second Chance community debates adopting versus buying pets

S

ix and a half million. Abandoned.

Neglected. Hoarded. Abused.

Mistreated. Six and a half million searching for a second chance.

Every year, approximately 6.5 million animals nationwide enter shelters in the U.S. Approximately 3.3 million are dogs and 3.2 million are cats, according to aspca.org, a site dedicated to awareness of animal cruelty. Organizations such

as the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and the Humane Society of the United States provide rescue teams for animals in hoarding situations, dogfighting rings and other potentially dangerous environments. With no physical location, these organizations rely on animal shelters to provide a platform for rehabilitating and,

eventually, adopting out the rescued animals.

As one of these shelters, Wayside Waifs “is committed to finding homes for all adoptable pets,� according to their website.

Casey Waugh, communications and annual giving manager at Wayside Waifs, is one of the many people who choose to dedicate their time to completing this mission.

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“The most random things can happen as to why animals come in,” Waugh said. “We will take animals that are just dumped on our property.”

Waugh said people will drop animals off on Wayside property during the night, and the workers will find them the next morning.

“There’s no way for us to know who it was, where they came from, what their history is, but we just like to focus on the future. They’re here.

They’re going to have a good life from here on out, so that’s really what we focus on here at Wayside.”

As an owner of two dogs from Wayside, as well as two other dogs bought from breeders, senior Hailey Jacobson said she prefers adopting or rescuing animals over buying them.

“I would much rather adopt a pet knowing that I’m rescuing them from a bad path and giving them a warm, welcoming home,” Jacobson said.

In relation to the topic of adopting versus buying pets, Jacobson said her primary opposition to buying animals from a pet store is where the animals may be sourced, an example being puppy mills.

“I feel like a lot of people that buy from pet stores don’t really understand what puppy mills are, especially around here,” Jacobson said. “You can go into [pet stores] and they’ll tell you that the dogs aren’t from puppy mills, but I still believe that they are just because of everything that I’ve heard from people that work there. I just don’t think people truly understand what they put the dogs through and that they’re just trying to sell the dogs for as much as they can.”

According to the ASPCA website, a puppy mill is a “large-scale commercial dog breeding facility where profit is given priority over the well-being of the dogs.” These facilities have been proven to be prevalent in the Midwest,

according to humanesociety.org, with the majority of puppy mill cases concentrated in Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.

“I think puppy mills are not a good thing because most people are trying to get as many dogs as they can and push the dogs past their limit,” Jacobson said. “The puppy mills that I’ve seen are very filthy and they treat the dogs awfully. They’re only doing it for the money.”

Although buying from pet stores seems to be popular, approximately 1.6 million dogs get adopted from U.S. shelters each year, according to the ASPCA. Sophomore Jenna Brewster recently adopted her six month old dog, Chance, from Great Plains SPCA, a no-kill shelter based in the Kansas City area.

"I would much rather adopt a pet knowing that I'm rescuing them from a bad path and giving them a warm welcoming home."” | seniorhaileyjacobson “For the first few days, he wouldn’t even let us touch him and now he’s all over the place,” Brewster said. “He was really shy at first and scared of everyone. The first day we got him, he would go hide under our pantry shelf for three hours, but he’s getting used to everything now.”

Although shelter animals may come with a complicated past, Waugh said that doesn’t mean they are any less adoptable than any other animal. Moving past that stigma, Wayside Waifs provides programs for dogs, such as Peace Academy and Confidence College, to help them transform their personalities.

“A lot of times when dogs have been rescued or if they’ve been

strays, sometimes they’re scared of people,” Waugh said. “They may have been abused or, sometimes, they are aggressive and very protective of food because they had to fight to get food when living in the street. We work [with] animals to teach them how to trust again to know everything’s going to be OK. Sometimes you do have those dogs that cower down in the back and we teach them to build their confidence up … I’m sure everybody thinks shelter animals are crazy and that’s not true.”

Other than behavioral rehabilitation, Wayside Waifs provides its shelter animals with necessary medical needs, such as spaying, neutering and vaccinations, with the veterinary clinic that was added on in 2012.

“A lot of times, if you go buy an animal, you’re paying $500 or $1,000, and that doesn’t include to spay and neuter and those vaccinations,” Waugh said. “Then, you’re paying several hundred on top of that, so it doesn’t even make sense to not adopt.”

Similar to Waugh, Jacobson said she feels as if pet stores overprice their animals. As a result, Jacobson said she would always pick adopting from a shelter over buying from a store.

“I support adopting animals because I feel like everyone should be able to get that opportunity to see the change in a dog’s personality from when they first got them to about a month after, because they become really great dogs,” Jacobson said.

“They’re just the same as dogs you would buy from a pet store and you know that you helped change or even saved their life.”

| summerlyon | victoriapalmer | samrinaacharya

6 | sports / the standard / aug. 2017

on the F

rom the basketball courts to the softball fields, the swimming pool to the baseball fields, many students are involved in the offered sports programs in school along with their competitive club team outside of school.

Sophomore Casey Mills is entering her second year playing softball in school and said she considers the sport something to look forward to. Mills said she loves how she has created new friendships with her teammates and how she has been given an opportunity to play with girls she normally does not play with. “[I like playing for] Southwest because it is just so much more fun; you have a better connection as girls,” Mills said. “Coach Schaake and coach Stelter, they are so much fun, and the whole game experience is just unbelievable.”

Mills said she got into the sport at a very young age, starting out with T-ball, then moved on to play competitively for her club, KCSA Dwight Mayhugh. There, Mills said she has been able to meet new people and improve her softball skills throughout the fall and summer seasons. While Mills said club team is more intense, she is more aware of her audience when playing for school than playing club because of the amount of people watching her.

“There’s a lot more pressure on the high school team because your

peers are watching you, your grade and you have really good players that depend on you to help out the team, defensively and offensively, and so there’s a lot of people watching you, so there’s a lot of pressure.”

Other than the amount of pressure from her audience, Mills said she has added stress from the expectations of her performance she places on herself.

“Sometimes the sport can be really stressful because it can play mind games on yourself,” Mills said. “Your mind connects with you especially when you’re hitting. And I also don’t like the days when I’m doing bad, [having] bad days, it all just [adds] more mind games.”

Similar to Mills, senior Meagan Walker said the sport of swimming is all about self-focus and consists of a lot of hard, mental work that helps make her a stronger swimmer.

Before high school, other outlets offer athletes the opportunity to build their athletic skills. Walker said has been swimming since the age of 12. After swimming for a few summers with her neighborhood team, Walker decided to start competitively with COOL, a local yearround swim team in Olathe. “[With] club swim, the focus is on yourself, but it’s still a team sport,” Walker said. “It’s way more competitive and there’s more competition.”

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team

athletes compare club to school sports

Walker said she joined the school team to see what it would be like and if it was easier than club. She said she found the school team to be competitive, but not quite to the level that her club team was. Walker said the experience of both teams has positively impacted other aspects of her life.

“It’s just a lot of mental work, in my opinion, and it makes you a stronger person,” Walker said. “You build more character and I think that it [makes] me more committed to other things in life. I’m more committed to homework, staying on task and doing good in school so I can better improve myself when I’m in the water. It’s such a stress reliever.”

Walker said she plans to continue swimming after high school, and that she wants to go to a Division 1 college. Similarly, sophomore John Harrick’s goal is to someday play baseball at the collegiate level, which he said he is certain his club team training will help him achieve in the future. Harrick also participates in baseball at school, however he said he enjoys playing more for his club team, Prodigy Baseball Academy, where Harrick said they offer a different level of coaching and training.

“The high school team [has a] more laid-back attitude; [you’re] just kind of there to have fun,” Harrick said. “[With] club, you’re actually there to compete, win and show yourself off.”

While playing for the school, Harrick said he likes being able to play with his friends, and the break it gives him from playing on a club team. He said the difference between his two teams is the level of competition and slightly different etiquette depending on who they play against. A similarity between school and club teams are sportsmanship and team dynamic, which junior Cassie Forcellini said she has noticed through her involvement in both basketball and soccer.

“With basketball you really need to have a good team chemistry, because there are only five of you on the court so you really need to know everyone, and play as a team,” Forcellini said. “And soccer [is] the same way, but you’re a bigger team so you really need to just know everyone and how they play.”

Forcellini said the key to success as a team is working together, because no matter how strong an individual player is, the game is a team effort. “[My] goals for my school team and club team would be getting to know everyone, working together and just trying to make everyone better,” Forcellini said. “Not just yourself, but your team and recruiting players to not just look [out] for themselves, but look out for the team and create a family environment for everyone.”

| ishapatel | justinwingerter

8 | feature / the standard / aug. 2017

The

for healthy

uest food

W

ith new health food restaurants popping up all over Johnson County, students have hopped on a new trend: healthy eating. Students shared their opinions regarding healthy restaurants including The Mixx, Dean & Deluca, Twisted Fresh and Unforked. | eliannaoliver | brooklynmacdonald

UNFORKED

DEAN & DELUCA THE

MIXX

Junior Hannah St. Clair said eating healthy makes her feel better about herself.

“I’ve noticed if I start eating better in the morning, then I’ll end up eating better throughout the day. It keeps me more accountable to myself,” St. Clair said.

She said she has seen an up-tick in the number of students frequenting restaurants with healthier options.

“I think [Dean & Deluca] is becoming more popular because I’ve seen just on people’s Snapchat stories — if they’re out to lunch with someone, then you can see the little location, and it’s normally a little cafe. I’ve [also] seen The Mixx quite a few times. I feel like it’s more unique than going to Panera or fast food.”

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Senior Taylor Birnbaum finds herself eating at Unforked “at least twice a week.” ”I played tennis for [Blue Valley Northwest] and Overland Park Racquet Club and now that I am at BVSW, I like to make sure I am in shape for the upcoming tennis season, so I eat healthy,” Birnbaum said.

As junior Jacob Boone prepares for the wrestling season, a healthy alternative he found has became one of his most visited cafes. “[Twisted Fresh is] a healthy alternative to fast food,” Boone said.

“I really like the chicken tacos and avocado burrito because they are very nutrient-giving.

Eating healthy prepares me for wrestling and staying in shape.”

d r

r g s .

n g

s e t h e e a e

Sitting at a table in The Mixx, senior Matt Stack reveals his secret to eating healthy.

“I surf Pinterest 24/7, every chance I get for new restaurants. I love eating food in general, so Pinterest is my main plug,” Stack said.

When he goes out to eat, he said he prefers restaurants like The Mixx over fast food.

“I just like to try foods. [At The Mixx,] I always know I’m going to feel pretty good and replenished; I love the food.”

10 | news / the standard / aug. 2017

Continued commitment community supports counselor after stroke

A

s the last seconds tick off the clock and the buzzer goes off, the basketball teams exit the court, but the crowd remains seated, waiting patiently for the special event of the night. Wearing T-shirts adorned with hula dancers, the crowd stands and cheers as counselor Tom Hult enters in a wheelchair with his family.

On Feb. 10, the school came together to support Hult, who suffered a stroke last October. The night was devoted to raising money for him and his family while also increasing awareness about the signs of a stroke. The idea was pitched by junior Bailey Rindlisbacher, whose father works for a company that organizes similar events to educate people on the symptoms of strokes.

“I just thought it would be really cool to help our school cope, to understand stroke a little better,” Rindlisbacher said. “And take that program they had already started — my dad’s company — but adapt it more for our school and make it more personal. I think it was a super fun night that was also informative.”

Rindlisbacher said the goal of the night was education, using the acronym FAST — face, arms, speech, time — to help people remember the signs of a stroke and the importance of acting quickly. Betsy Bartlett, a basketball PTO member and longtime friend of Hult, helped organize the night and spread awareness. She said her hope was that through what happened

to Hult, students and staff could understand the possibility of a stroke happening to “someone [they] know and love.”

“We were telling some of the kids, when we were giving them the cards, ‘This can happen to anybody, this can happen to your parents, these are signs to look for,’” Bartlett said. “If [Karen Hult] hadn’t acted so quick, he wouldn’t be here. So I hope Mr. Hult being there hit home a little bit.”

Counselor Shari Schaake said that before the stroke, Hult “didn’t know a stranger” and was always spreading positivity through his vibrant, upbeat personality and colorful Hawaiian shirts.

Then, when the news of Hult’s stroke spread, she said it was devastating.

“The whole building was reeling, matter of fact, the whole district, he has so many friends,” Schaake said. “We were all very fearful that he wasn’t going to make it. It was really scary there for a while, and I’m just so thankful that right now he is still with us, and he’s on his road to recovery.”

Schaake said Hult’s recovery is a long, ongoing process, and that he’s come a lot further than anyone expected at this point.

“As far as I’m concerned, the fact that he’s up and walking around on his own is a miracle in itself,” Schaake said. “He’s still just as much fun to talk to; he’s still 100 percent Mr. Hult. It’s just he’s got some physical stuff he has to work through to be able to get back.”

Hult has been putting in a lot of hard

| 11 Source: StrokeCall911.com

Face

Look for an uneven smile

work, Schaake said, to recover the abilities he lost due to the stroke. Currently, Hult said he is working on recovering his speech, strength and mobility, as well as improve cognitive reasoning, in order to return to work.

“Recovery is going slow but steady,” Hult said. “It’s like the tortoise and the hare. I’m the tortoise. I go down to a place called Sylvester Powell Jr. Community Center down in Mission, and I do some exercise down there. I’m able to interact with other stroke survivors and get some positive feedback and see where I can be.”

While Hult will not be able to return to his counseling position this year, he said the support he received from the Southwest community has been incredible and unfaltering, from hospital visits to fundraising to bringing him and his family dinners. “[Southwest is] a great family atmosphere,” Hult said. “I mean, a lot of people say that — now I can look back and go, ‘Oh my gosh, yes, indeed.’”

Hult said he is very thankful for all of the support the Blue Valley community has provided, and the energy from the students is one of the things that helps keep him going and keep his spirits up throughout the long recovery. However, some aspects of his recuperation are more difficult than others.

“I have trouble seeing things in the left, and that’s frustrating because I miss a lot

Arm

Check if one arm is weak

Speech

Listen for slurred speech

of information when I look at the left side, and there’s nothing that can be done about that,” Hult said. “I just have to learn to cope.

Mentally, [the challenge] is just in physical and occupational therapy, there are some things they want me to do, I could do that before my stroke ... I just can’t do it right now; I can’t put it all together.”

With these frustrations, Hult said it is important that people are patient and encouraging toward stroke survivors during a lengthy recovery process. The process is tough on caregivers as well, he said, which is one reason he has even more appreciation for his family.

“Don’t take things for granted,” Hult said. “Don’t take your health for granted because you never know when you’re going to get smacked upside the head. I’d say I appreciate more what I have going for me, and it makes you take a step back and realize what you really have.”

| helenebechtel | meganflood

Time

Call 911 right away

12 | opinion / the standard / aug. 2017

T

hinspiration: a word considered by many to be a helping hand in their journey to a healthy body. Others use it to justify skipping meals. In many ways, “thinspiration” has several positive and negative aspects, especially relating to being “swimsuit-ready.”

Seeing photos of people who are in shape can cause people to be inspired to work out, but it can also cause people to develop eating disorders.

Forty-four percent of people who aren’t at the gym say they feel guilty for not working out, according to refinery29.com. These statistics can have a negative effect on teenagers if trends like the “beach body ready” fad continue. Sophomore Lizzy Reilly said she is familiar with this trend.

“To be swimsuit-ready kind of means that you’re insecure a little bit,” Reilly said. “The ideal body to wear a swimsuit and go to the beach or the pool is kind of unattainable.”

Reilly said there are positive and negative aspects of this trend. On one end, she said there is potential to decrease the national statistics of obese Americans. However, there is also potential for teenagers and other people to put themselves through mental anguish in order to attain the “perfect body.”

“You can look good and people will like that you look good, but the emotional misery you put yourself through to look good isn’t worth it,” Reilly said. “Especially if you’re doing it for other people and not just for yourself.”

With the evolution of social media, trends like “swimsuit readiness” are shared with young people more than ever before. In an internet-centric society, teenagers and even pre-teens are being pressured by companies online that manipulate them to sell their product. Reilly said media promoting a thin lifestyle is constantly surrounding her, from the phone in her pocket to the billboards on the highway.

every body swimsuit-ready fad should include appreciation for all bodie

“You see stories on Snapchat about how to get killer abs, how to get toned legs,” Reilly said. “You see ads for sportswear with really in-shape models with lots of Photoshop, you see magazines in the grocery store aisles — it’s everywhere. It’s hard to ignore if you don’t look like that especially. It’s really tough.”

Freshman Tushar Kotamraju said he believes advertisements like these have influenced students to lose weight. He said media has influenced him and other people to lose weight, and his journey to shed off a couple extra pounds has been challenging.

“I’ve tried to work out and I still haven’t lost much weight,” Kotamraju said. “I checked my weight and found I gained an extra pound, and I was like, ‘I didn’t eat any donuts.’ It’s about working out and getting on a good diet, which can be pretty hard for people.”

Although using the term “swimsuitready” to describe an ideal body has been a relatively recent trend — shooting up to 34 percent in Google trends since 2004 — Kotamraju said unfair clichés have poisoned society for many years.

“I think that people have been pressuring other people to look good for a while,” Kotamraju said. “There are so many stereotypes that are very sexist — like girls should be petite or small and boys should be muscular. It’s been happening for a long time, and it’s not just about swimsuits.”

The other side of sexism in this trend has to do with the lack of attention men

| 13

get when regarding this topic, Reilly said.

“There is definitely pressure on men to look good in swimsuits,” Reilly said. “With stuff like this, especially concerning body issues, people often forget that men also go through this kind of stuff. It’s kind of disrespectful to disregard their issues.”

Men’s body issues aren’t considered as important as female body issues in today’s society because they are not labeled to care about vanity. In all realness, these issues affect everyone, regardless of gender.

“I think both men and women are pressured to look good in swimsuits,” Kotamraju said. “For women, I don’t think they are expected to be muscular, but they are expected to be ‘hot.’”

The swimsuit-ready trend has potential to lead to eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia. According to nationaleatingdisorders.org, several studies have been conducted that prove mass media exposes thin body ideals to consumers and anyone who has a phone and internet access could provide countless examples. Reilly said she has seen advertisements that have caused her to worry for teenagers that struggle with self-esteem issues.

“Have you seen that stuff that says, ‘get thin in one week’ and it’s about eating all these odd foods or not eating at all?” Reilly said. “That’s really awful because you need food to live; you need water to live. It’s about how you pick and choose what to eat

— that’s what makes a difference. If you choose not to eat, that’s the worst thing you can do for your body.”

In addition to the promotion of eating disorders, harmful trends like the “swimsuit-ready” fad can cause other people to pressure their peers into looking “thin.” Perseverance has proven to be a great strategy against negative energy in Kotamraju’s life.

He said the best thing he could do for himself was to simply do what his peers thought he couldn’t do because of his size.

“In my fourth grade swimming class, there were a lot of boys there and I was the fattest one in the group,” Kotamraju said. “I was the chubbiest.

Some of the other kids were genuinely built, which was surprising. They made fun of me, ‘Hey tubby, how are you gonna float?’ But I powered through it; I still swim now and I’m pretty good at it.”

Reilly said she hopes her peers understand that no one truly cares how other people look, as long as they are having a good time. Those who do care, Reilly said, are the ones that should be cut out.

“There’s a quote from Tyrion Lannister that says, ‘Once you’ve accepted your flaws, no one can use them against you,’” Reilly said. “I think that statement is really telling.”

| emmaolinger graphics by isaiah tarwater & jonah mccormick

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14 | ads / the standard / aug. 2017 Follow @BVSWNews on Twitter and Instagram

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feature / the standard / aug. 2017 | 15

Running for a Cause

students cross finish lines to support charity

R

unning events have become a common way for organizations to raise money and awareness for various causes. With organizations hosting events across the nation, students have been able to make an impact and participate in charity events over the summer.

Senior Connor Peak said he runs both for the experience and the ability to benefit a charity.

“Normally I run with my family in these charity events just because it brings us together and it feels good to share the experience with them,” Peak said.

Beginning in seventh grade, Peak said he has enjoyed running for a cause as well as participating on the cross country and track teams. Though he hasn’t run in any events this summer, he plans to participate in more events in the future.

“There’s no particular cause that I run for,” Peak said. “I think it’s best not to limit myself to just one because all of the charities could use the money. But I would like to run in more events that help veterans and members of the armed forces because they deserve the appreciation and aid for all they’ve done.”

Junior Olivia Briney said she began running to get in shape for volleyball and has continued to participate in running events.

“I did the Color Run earlier this summer,” Briney said. “I’m [also] doing the Bubble Run and the Blacklight Run.” Briney said she is involved in events that raise

16 | feature / the standard / aug. 2017

money and awareness for various organizations.

“The [runs] from my mom’s work are connected to a charity,” Briney said.

“The other runs are kind of just for fun.

They donate to the inner city.”

Briney said she plans to continue to be involved with charity running events in the future.

Though Briney and Peak both participate in running events for charity outside of school, students are also given opportunities throughout the academic year to participate in events through Southwest. Multiple clubs and teams support Braden’s Hope, an organization that hosts events like a Mile and 5K run to raise money and awareness for childhood cancer.

Deliece Hofen began the organization following her son Braden Hofen’s cancer diagnosis and realization that not enough efforts to benefit children affected by the disease were being made.

“Braden was diagnosed with cancer when he was 3 and he was given a 30 percent chance of five-year survival,” Hofen said. “His cancer came back when he was 5 and there was no known cure.

I was diagnosed with breast cancer and there were all these treatments for me, but there was nothing for Braden.

I started researching why there was such a big discrepancy and that’s when I found out how overlooked and underfunded childhood cancers are.”

This discrepancy not only affects the researching of various treatments, but

the overall lack of understanding how cancer presents itself in children.

“People need to understand that it can happen to kids and catch this diagnosis earlier,” Hofen said. “We’re not catching the diseases at early enough stages.”

Because it is so common that cancer in children is found in later stages, charities and organizations like Braden’s Hope help bring light to the subject and make people aware. Hofen said raising awareness is a major part of finding cures and supporting children who face the disease.

“The way it benefits the kids with cancer is that every time I get to tell the story about one of our kids, it raises awareness,” Hofen said.

Hofen said volunteers are needed to hold these events and there are many ways for students to get involved and help this cause. This involvement may look different for each individual, but Hofen said she urges students to

select organizations that carry personal meaning for them.

“I would say my advice to them is to pick something that’s really meaningful.” Hofen said. “It doesn’t have to be a monetary difference that you make, it can be just a heartfelt difference. Find something important to you that you really have a commitment to.” | ariellesinger | laurenurshel