The Standard - Volume 8 Issue 3

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blue valley southwest | volume 8 | issue 3

2 | contents / the standard / oct. 2017

contents features

06 | 15 | 20 | 26 | 32 |

fur-ever friends downtown kc fear factor through the eyes of an artist the end as we know it

sports 04 | on the fence 12 | saucing it up

news 10 | 22 | 24 | 28 |

system of support making music history the dreamer’s nightmare antigone takes on chicago

opinion

on the cover students explore local landmarks and share experiences graphic design by jonah mccormick

08 | a community effort 18 | (not) asking for it

review

30 | i swear i’m not a yelper volume 8 / issue 3 www.bvswnews.com

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editor’s note Change is honestly one of the most terrifying things to approach our everyday lives. We might not think about it, but change follows events that scare us to the point of constant exhaustion. Change follows death, it follows divorce, it follows the end of friendships. I think constantly of how many times I’ve had to change my life, and what that really means about me. Moving from the urban setting of Portland, Oregon, to the farmlands of Olathe, Kansas, made me change my perspective and find an entire new group of people to learn and understand. But I wasn’t scared of actually moving, per se. No one is. I was scared of who I was leaving behind, and who I would meet in the next chapter of my life. When my parents got divorced, I wasn’t afraid of the actual divorce — the time, the money, the paperwork — I was afraid of my dad’s new apartment, the sticky notes that covered his face in all of our family pictures.

Change isn’t always scary, though. Change causes hard work. In this issue of the Standard, we explored the new music honor society, and found the distinct work it took leaders and sponsors to create. In the end, change pays off. Change in the way we study our environment has potential to save the earth we inhabit. Change in the places we eat, in the ways we interpret relationships, in the way we deal with fear; all of these things eventually lead to a difference in character.

Change worries us, change takes our realities and breaks them, causing new obstacles that we often find a way out of before we face them. As we go through and file each occurrence in our meandering experiences, we tend to note these changes later in life as just that: experiences. Moments that have caused our lives to swerve in a new direction, and though these moments can be tough, we still end up changing.

We change because it is in our human nature to change. Though routine becomes comfortable, it soon becomes boring, uninteresting, and yearning for difference causes that difference to come hurdling toward our routine. We note these as problems. We do, which in itself is another thing that we can change. Offer new ideas, find things that are different, accept change. Because, in the end, we do change.

| online editor

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 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 | sports / the standard / oct. 2017

on the fence junior Shayen Patel explains his fencing journey

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orty minutes until practice ends and junior Shayen Patel already feels a bead of sweat trailing down his face. Quickly, he covers it with his fencing mask and prepares himself for a match. His left hand rests perfectly still beside his head as he extends the foil sword in his right hand out to his opponent. The mind game has begun.

Patel has been fencing since sixth grade and started in St. Louis after being drawn in by a school presentation. He said he was enthused due to being much better than the other students, and decided to continue. Modern fencing is based on the art of swordsmanship and became a sport in the mid-18th century, according to olympic.com.

“It’s pretty much when two opponents go to each other with a type of sword, there are three: foil, sabre and epee,” Patel said. “I do foil — that’s when the target area is your torso and the bottom half of the neck. You get points by stabbing the other person before they stab you.”

At Heartland Fencing Academy, Patel attends classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays where he said he has improved over the last few years.

However, he does not spend the entirety of practice with the swords.

“It’s about 30 to 45 minutes of stretching and running, and then another 30 to 45 minutes where we practice footwork, going back and forth

— we have to sync with each other,” Patel said. “If someone’s in front of you, you have to pace with them back and forth, especially with lunges. Then there’s another 40 minutes of fencing other people.”

Patel studies under coach Emilia Ivanova, who, after learning to fence during her youth in Bulgaria and being on a national fencing team, said her journey has left her happy and excited to learn more.

“By accident, I started coaching to substitute someone, I [found] out that I really like that,” Ivanova said. “I really like teaching now, I really like even more coaching to be the fencer because I have huge pleasure in teaching the

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kids to outsmart their opponent — giving them the right tactic ... I enjoy making it happen. I have a big passion for the sport, I’m a lifelong fan of fencing, but I like the teaching part a lot. I like to see my students growing. Even though I became a national champion, I love to watch them learn the sport and teach me so many other life lessons too.”

After spending a few years getting to know Patel, Ivanova said she is enthralled by his personality and understands that he is “one-of-a-kind.”

“Shayen is a very interesting kid; I really like him,” Ivanova said. “He’s a smart kid who is always in a good mood, who is always friendly, who likes to talk with everyone in the class and work with them; but he also has a very good work ethic. Which, for teenagers, is not something you see every day.”

Patel said he has grown thanks to his time at Heartland, having had many opportunities to expand his skill. He has not had a shortage of interesting experiences, he said.

“You’re in a very close distance with the other person, so when you stab, the bend is pretty significant,” Patel said.

“Sometimes, it breaks. I’ve broken three or four blades in the past two years. It doesn’t happen often, but it depends on how close you are to your opponent.”

For those who might consider fencing, Patel said he would advise them to understand the commitment that is necessary.

“Just go to the HFA website, look up introductory courses, try it out, see if you like it and continue if you do,” Patel said.

“But try it out first, for sure, because the equipment is pretty expensive when you start off because you have to get all the pieces.”

In the end, Patel said he is happy to be a part of Heartland’s fencing program, and Ivanova said she is proud to have been able to watch him grow in the time they’ve known each other. She

said she was especially impressed with his accomplishments in the more recent years.

“He came with a different club, he came from a club in St. Louis,” Ivanova said. “Before he started to fence with us, when he [moved] from St. Louis, I believe he did not fence for quite a long time; maybe more than a year, maybe even two years. So this obviously put him a little bit behind compared with the kids who are his age or those who were a little younger.

He managed to shorten the gap and fences in the adult class now.”

| emmaolinger

6 | feature / the standard / oct. 2017

Fur-ever Friends students explore their relationship with their pets

Madeline & Vega

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nly 3.1 percent of households in the United States have birds as a pet, according to avma.org, a veterinary organization.

Senior Madeline Conigliaro is in that 3.1 percent, owning two birds, Vega and Mozart. Conigliaro said her favorite bird is her green-cheeked conure, Vega.

“It was really important to me, going into getting all my animals, to do my best to find rescues,” Conigliaro said. “We think of dog and cat rescues so easily, they’re there, but a lot of people don’t think about all the birds and the reptiles that have been neglected and abandoned.”

Conigliaro said she was originally planning on getting another reptile instead of Vega, but “at the last minute,” she decided she would get a bird instead. She said this spur of the moment decision isn’t one she regrets.

“I think it was the first time I really connected with an animal on an emotional level, because as much as I love my dogs, they love my mom more,” Conigliaro said.

Since Vega has open access to Conigliaro’s room, they spend a lot of time together. However, Conigliaro said the times they spend together aren’t always happy, because Vega is full of anxiety and often needs comforting.

“I think with a bird especially you have to be able to have a calm demeanor working with them and little frustration, because they are just as emotional and intelligent as toddlers, so yelling at them can really make their trust for you break down,” Conigliaro said.

Although Vega has a tendency to be anxious, Conigliaro said she has been compared to him because of their relationship to color. Conigliaro said green-cheeked conures are very colorful, and she said her own hair “constantly changes” colors. In addition to appearance, Conigliaro said her and Vega share similar aspects of personality.

“I’m crazy, eccentric and loud, so I felt like that went pretty hand-in-hand with the bird,” Conigliaro said.

meritt & Zeus

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Bethie & Button

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ixty-eight percent of households in the U.S. have pets, according to iii.org, an insurance information institute.

Among those 68 percent, dogs are the most common pets people own. Although junior Bethie Gregory has three dogs, she said her favorite pet is her goat, Button.

“We have three dogs, two other goats and five chickens,” Gregory said. “But, even [after] having the dogs longer, I think Button [and] her personality just come out so much more than all our other animals, so I think she’s the one I’ve grown closest to.”

Gregory said Button has a tendency to be spastic and will not “stand still for more than five seconds.” However, Gregory said she would consider her and Button to be similar because of their shared high energy.

“We’re both very energetic, crazy, always happy people — well people and goat — and we both love being around people all the time,” Gregory said.

Even though iii.org doesn’t quantify goat as a common pet for most people, Gregory said she has become “pretty attached” to Button as Button has taken the role as her mood-booster.

“She makes my day no matter what,” Gregory said. “I’ll come home after school, after having a bad day, and she’ll jump into my lap and nibble on my ear, and it just makes me feel better.”

hroughout her time as a pet owner, freshman Merritt Ellis said she has never had a dog like her current labradoodle Zeus.

“I wasn’t as close with my old dog because I was born after he was like 4 or 5, so I’m more close with my dog now because I’ve had him since he was a little puppy,” Ellis said.

Ellis said she enjoys spending time with her dog and that she would consider herself or her mom to be Zeus’s favorite.

“I love him a lot and we are always are together, for the most part,” Ellis said. “I like to take him on walks, and he usually comes with us wherever we go.”

Ellis said she would describe herself as “nice and kind,” qualities she said she sees Zeus portray.

“I think we’re both pretty similar because we both kind of feel for other people, but we’re both a little bit funny too, so I think we’re both similar in that way,” Ellis said.

Despite the fact that Ellis has only had Zeus for five years, she said she loves him and he is very prominent in her life.

“He’s important to me because he’s always been there and he’s just someone you can go to if you’re having a down day,” Ellis said. “He’s just always there and I love spending time with him.”

| eliannaoliver

8 | opinion / the standard / oct. 2017

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inety-seven percent. According to a 2013 National Geographic review of over 4,000 research papers, 97 percent had found climate change to be both real, and caused by humans. Despite this, Americans continue to cause irreparable damage to the environment, and argue over the need to take any action at all. Senior Quinlyn Lafon said she believes it is irresponsible to continue to harm the environment.

“I definitely believe climate change is real because there is undeniable evidence that supports it,” LaFon said.

The review by National Geographic evaluated papers written by environmental scientists who study the impacts of human activity on the earth, and even though this evidence exists, not enough is being done to stop or slow the effects of climate change.

“I am hoping to study conservation methods to help preserve the environment and wildlife, more specifically,” LaFon said.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) offers research grants to universities and research teams to study various aspects of the environment, from water quality to minimizing air pollution, and universities play a large role in these research projects. However, despite the findings of such studies, not enough action is being taken to reverse or slow climate change.

“There are obvious steps that need to be taken for us to drastically improve, but realistically, not everyone’s going to cut beef out of their diet and buy hybrid cars,” LaFon said. “Something even as simple as turning off the faucet — everyone thinks ‘oh, one more minute with the faucet won’t actually change anything that much,’ but all the little things do add up and make climate change what it is.”

Doing the “little things” does add up. According to livestrong.com, recycling paper not only minimizes the number of trees being cut down to produce new paper products, but helps prevent water and air pollution.

Junior Rachel Lovell said there are other steps students

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a community effort community awareness of climate change is necessary

can take.

“You can turn things in online,” Lovell said. “You don’t have to print out everything.

Now with technology advancing, there’s that benefit. Conserving paper and taking the effort to make sure we are recycling instead of throwing things in the trash will help.”

Small things, such as paper, are often overlooked, but taking the time to recycle or reuse everyday items has a much larger impact than many students realize.

According to a study conducted by BYU, the United States recycles only about 32 percent of its total waste.

“We need to start taking care of our environment because this is where we live and if we keep polluting the earth, it’s only going to get worse,” Lovell said.

Though Lovell said she “wants to say it isn’t a big deal,” she is a part of the environmental club and works to help reduce the environmental damage caused by the school. Lovell also said she believes minimizing pollution. Science teacher Deborah Cash said she has contributed to environmental efforts at the school.

“I help the environmental club,” Cash said. “I work with them. We’ve coordinated – they have, they put it together – a recycling after school rotation. I have a community garden out back by the loading dock. I and keep up with that and do what I can to chip, chip, chip away.”

If all students would take part, whether

by joining the club, or opting to simply recycle paper rather than throw it away, the negative environmental impact of the school would be largely reduced, and with recycling bins in every room, it’s not a difficult step to take.

“I think we need to pick up with the recycling,” Cash said. “We need to get the styrofoam trays out of the cafeteria. We need to just ban styrofoam from this whole building. But I just think that the kids could

“I definitely believe climate change is real because there is undeniable evidence that supports it” | seniorquinlynlafon do a lot more to get things recycled.”

According to Kansas Green Schools, the Blue Valley district is a part of a joint study by the United States Department of Energy to study the effect of indoor air quality and energy performance on the learning environment. Additionally, all Blue Valley school sites have paper recycling bins on the school’s’ campuses, and with the easy access to recycling bins and the involvement in environmental efforts, students should be more aware of the increasing need to take

care of the planet.

“I’ve always believed that the climate is changing,” Cash said. “It’s just speeding up so quickly now. It wasn’t quite as obvious in the 20th century as it is now.”

Despite how obvious the effects of climate change seem to some, it is crucial that more people are aware of other negative impacts of pollution and habitat destruction.

“Whether people realize it or not, there are actually lots of species of animals that are going extinct. Even though people realize carbon emissions are important, another thing about the environment, too, is just its impact on animals, and animals are also necessary for a biologically-sound earth.”

Climate change does not affect only humans, but has impacted other species.

With so much technology available and the ability to help the environment within our own community, students need to realize that the “little things” matter and take action to reverse the damage humans have caused.

“We can’t keep on planning what we’re going to do for the future,” said LaFon. “We need to take action now, because if we haven’t already, everything we’re doing is adding up to cause irreversible damage to the planet and that’s if we haven’t already.”

| ariellesinger

10 | news / the standard / oct. 2017

System of support district partners with Children’s Mercy to bring social workers into schools Editor’s note: due to the privacy of a student’s frequent visits with the social worker, they will be referred to as Jane Nelson. conversation between principals, social workers and the student services board comes up, as they listen to the feedback given about the new services Children’s Mercy social workers are providing to students around the district. Mark Schmidt, assistant superintendent of well-being and student services of the district said earlier in the year, Children’s Mercy and the district partnered to bring in more social work services offered to students in elementary, middle and high school.

“We had a task force that was looking at mental health within our community and we started to look at the various needs that our students were demonstrating, so we studied that and came up with a number of recommendations,” Schmidt said. “At the same time, Children’s Mercy approached our superintendent Dr. Todd White and said that they were looking for an opportunity to provide services within the community. So we talked about a number of different things and, finally, we landed on ‘well, we have this need for social workers and you provide social work services’ and it was just a natural fit.”

Schmidt said the agreement between Children’s Mercy and the district is only for one year, but he said he hopes, as the school year moves forward, both partners will find it beneficial and will want to continue.

“When we first started this program, there [were] some questions of ‘why Blue Valley,’” Schmidt said. “Blue Valley has some kids that are kind of well-off – their families are welloff — and my response always is, ‘if a family

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has good-paying jobs, does that mean they’ll never get sick?’ The answer to that is ‘no.’ Just because a family might have financial means, doesn’t mean they’re going to not need mental health services, just as anybody else would need mental health services. In Blue Valley, we provide a school nurse in every building and that’s true in other districts as well. Just like we provide a school nurse, we want to have access to school social workers and other mental health professionals that provide support needed for kids to be successful.”

Schmidt said in the first two weeks of the school year, the social workers had conversations with over 260 students and staff members. He said he was glad the school counselors and psychologists had been able to keep up with the problems students had for a long time before the social workers came in to provide additional support.

One such example is social worker Amber Wesley who is the assigned social worker to the school and also devotes some her time working with students at Aubry Bend. Wesley has been working with Children’s Mercy for around 12 years and has just started working in a school setting this year.

“I work with the students’service department to determine what level of intervention a student needs and that’s kind of where I come into work with students who really need some intensive support,” Wesley said.

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“[A] large part of what I do, as well, connects students and families to therapists, financial assistance, those types of things. It’s not just giving them a phone number, it’s giving them a phone number and then following up and making sure that it’s working and, if not, then how can I help them find the next resource.”

Wesley said her goal this first year is to continue building relationships with students and staff and provide community resources along with support to whom may need it.

“Some of the things students would be referred to me for are that some students may be struggling with an eating disorder and need some support and intervention here at school to work through that,” Wesley said. “Or maybe a student is struggling with thoughts that they may want to hurt themselves, whether that be thoughts of suicide or thoughts of selfharm. Maybe they’ve had a hospitalization and they’re kind of trying to reintegrate back into the school. I can help with those things and provide support, and a plan for them to be successful when they come back to school, so they feel like they have a lot of support.”

Wesley said common problems high school students deal with are anxiety and depression, because of stress and pressure, along with family history.

“So, here in this setting, I would meet with a student and it kind of varies,” Wesley said when talking about the treatment process. “It can be individual work that we can do together and identify a goal, or it may be [a] referral to the community for some type of outpatient treatment …

It’s a lot of providing support, individual meetings and, hopefully, we can start groups soon so we will be doing some of that group work to address depression and anxiety, and then also meeting with families to provide emotional and social support.”

Wesley said a student’s issues or problems do not define them and, with

the right treatments, they can get better.

Furthermore, Wesley said the school does a good job of breaking the stigma of denying the need to get help, but it’s still there and that students should support one another, along with speaking out and talking about these issues.

“Not only do we here at the school focus on academics — which is huge and so important — but another important piece is focusing on our students’ social and emotional well-being,” Wesley said. “I think in this environment, ranging from administration to teachers to counselors, school psychologists to myself, everyone

“Not only do we here at the

school focus on academics which is huge and so important but another important piece is focusing on our students social and emotional well-being.” | socialworkeramberwesley cares about students and their emotional well-being. You see that whether it’s posters hung up in the hallways, to also caring about one another when displaying that empathy and the importance of we are here to learn, but were also here to support each other.”

Wesley said, as part of her job working alongside counselors, school psychologists and administrators, she is there as an additional level of support to kids struggling with different issues.

Student Jane Nelson meets with Wesley about once a week to talk about the problems she is facing in regards to family and school issues.

“It’s a lot of things, honestly,” Nelson said. “I talk to her about my friends, my

family. It won’t even be negative, it will be positive and we would still talk. So we work on problems of taking their perspective in and that really is the most I get out of this, is looking at other people’s perspectives, putting myself in their shoes and saying ‘you know what, I was wrong.’”

Nelson said having social workers is a benefit because it gives students more options, along with someone to go to if they are not comfortable talking with their counselor. She said she feels like she could talk to Wesley about anything because she is really inviting and she looks to her as more of a friend than a social worker. In addition to that, Wesley said they have been able to talk about setting goals for what happens after high school and looking more into the future.

“High school’s just a speed bump,” Nelson said. “I think [social workers] have a big role in life personally, because once you learn the stuff that Mrs. Wesley is teaching you, [to] understand life more, you put yourself in other people’s shoes.

You think about how it’s going to affect [you] later than just being impulsive and going in that direction because we’re kids. So, since we’re younger [and have] a person like Mrs. Wesley, it’d be great for us to just sit down, talk to [someone] and just say, ‘This is what I’m feeling. I don’t know what to do with it, but this is what I’m doing.’”

| ishapatel

12 | sports / the standard / oct. 2017

Saucing it up

boys soccer aims to bring home their first state title

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title soccer teams across the state strive to have: 2017 Boys Soccer 5A State Champions. As the state runner-up in 2016, the varsity soccer team is in a position to try and win this season’s title. Junior Matthew Ricci, the starting goalkeeper for the team, said he and his teammates are prepared to do almost anything to start a legacy.

“I think we can go as far as we can really go,” Ricci said. “If we think we can make it to the state championship and if we put the work in and work as a team and keep winning games, I think we can really make it far and maybe even win state.”

The soccer team is 12-0-1 as of Oct. 18.

Ricci said there is no one single reason why the boys soccer team has been so successful.

He said it comes down to a multitude of factors that allow the players to dominate with such ease.

Head coach Jason Pendleton, who has been coaching soccer for 25 years, said he has seen a difference in players’ efforts and work ethics on this year’s team compared to previous ones.

“So far we have played with such energy and passion in every match, and last year that wasn’t always the case,” Pendleton said.

“So, hopefully, we can keep that expectation rolling and [hope] that the players will keep fighting and grinding every second that they are out there so that we can continue to have success.”

With an undefeated regular season record, Pendleton said the team’s ability to work with each other has also had a tremendous impact on their play on and off the field.

“Everyone works together really well and I think it’s just a good chemistry,” Ricci said. “As well as off the field, we have good relationships … of course, we have a few arguments here and there, but we always get them settled and we get back on the field and do what we need to do.”

These close relationships with one another is why freshman and junior varsity midfielder Jake Rafanan said he believes players are more able to create plays on the field during games.

“Since we all go to school together and we see each other every day and know each other very well and all get along well, once we see each other on the field, we know how their personality is and how they play best and we try to incorporate that,” Rafanan said. “It really helps us on the field create plays and win games.”

Sophomore and junior varsity defender Michael King said he has experienced this first-hand from upperclassmen helping him improve and teaching him lessons so he won’t have to learn them the hard way on the field.

“Some of the juniors and seniors have helped me [too] because a lot of them last year or the year before were in the same position that I am in,” King said. “They know what to do and how to handle it and they have helped me with things like how to become a better player or how to make a more positive impact on the team as well.”

Varsity captain and defender, senior Ethan Diedel, has been one of the leaders on and off the field, but he said he’s not the only leader on the team.

“I try to be the best leader I can be,” Diedel said. “We have a few seniors that are positive influences on the team, so we collectively as a group try and be the best leaders that we can for the underclassmen and the juniors as well.”

With an influx of new talent from all grades, Ricci said Diedel and other veteran leaders like Jake Glass have been very welcoming to the new players joining the team and include them as much as possible in everything they do.

“They are willing to help [the team] through anything and I felt very welcomed when I first came here,” Ricci said. “They knew that all had special talents and they knew they could build off of those and make [us] become better players and, also, a better team.”

Not only do Diedel and Glass welcome new players to the team, but Ricci said they also lead by example with their unprecedented work ethics and their unique abilities to push players to get better.

“I definitely think Ethan Diedel is a very good leader to the whole team,” Ricci said.

“He always helps me and, even if I make a mistake, they motivate me. That’s what I like about them the most and that’s why I think Jake Glass and Ethan Diedel are the two biggest leaders on the team.”

But Ricci said that these two leaders are not the only reason why this group of players is special. He said the team is too fast and too well-rounded to be contained on the field.

“I think speed is our biggest strength,” Ricci said. “In our front three [forwards], we have Aidan Bates, Andrew Lawrence and Luke Rafanan who are all very strong up top, very quick and, of course, they are all very different in their own ways. For example, Bates is a finisher. Rafanan is more of a complete player: he has the speed, he has the touches and he has all the moves. But, I also think that our defense is pretty solid as well, of course, having Ethan Diedel and Dawson Borninkhof back there with me.

They always do their best to not let anything go against me and, so far, they have not let anything go against me and so far they have done a really good job.”

King said what helps the team the most is that everyone has an “attacking mindset,” setting them up for the advantage on offensive plays as one of their strengths.

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Sophomore Maclain Petri takes a touch into space as he looks for an open teammate to pass the ball in a 1-1 tie against nationally ranked Bishop Miege High School.

Juniors Andrew Lawrence and Aiden Lopez warm up by executing passing drills before their 11-1 mercy rule victory over De Soto High School.

This playing style has led to wins like the 11-1 win against De Soto High School after being down 0-1.

However, Diedel said he believes that both the team’s midfield and defense are much better than people give them credit for.

“People tend to look past the midfield and the defense,” Diedel said. “We are solid as a whole team. We do have some key players up top, but as a whole team we work hard for each other, and that’s something teams think they can get by if they can stop our offense. But they don’t realize that we also have a good defense and a good midfield to try and stop them as well.”

Diedel said the team has been so successful this year because of the influx of new talent.

“There’s been some really good additions to the team this year, [and] I definitely think before we knew all of these guys were going to join, we still thought we had a chance at winning state, but now it puts us in a better position, and since we have had a lot of good performances from the new guys, it’s really nice to say some more guys want to join in and play high school soccer,” Diedel said.

King and Ricci both said that coaching has also positively impacted the team.

Pendleton said that he feels his 25 years of coaching have taught him valuable lessons that have made him the coach he is now.

“Having done it for so long, I think I have a depth of understanding on things

that I have made mistakes on in the past and things that have gone well,” Pendleton said.

“So I can draw upon all of those experiences to try and make an environment that is more conducive to success.”

Diedel said he has also drawn upon his past experiences from the last few years to help him become a better leader on and off the field.

“I’ve experienced a lot of tough matches throughout my last three years” Diedel said.

“I’ve had some great leaders in the process, and I’ve had people pave the way for me and I hope to pave the way for others on the team this year.”

King said he and his teammates do not want to just settle for one state championship and be done, they want to set a legacy and win next year’s state championship as well as the following ones, too.

“I feel like a lot of the juniors right now are also really good leaders and I think that will allow a lot of the juniors to take the seniors spots next year,” King said. “We also have a lot of good sophomores that will be able to take some of those spots as well and hopefully be able to continue to win.”

King said he believes that this year’s freshman class will be able to develop into solid players by next year because there were not as many freshmen that tried out.

He said the small class size allows them to be “more well-rounded players” that are able to improve quicker and fill much larger roles than they would have been able to.

“The freshmen this year are solid and, since it’s a smaller class, it will help the freshmen that are playing learn more because they will get more attention and, in turn, be able to create better plays and become more dynamic as a player,” King said.

Pendleton said the team should only improve over the offseason as well. The leadership of this year’s junior class and a “talented group of soccer players” in the sophomore class should lead to a smooth transition into next season.

“We have a talented group of players on both JV and varsity and there are a ton of underclassmen and a ton of juniors on this team,” Pendleton said. “Hopefully, the senior class can lead us to a state championship this year and then I would expect next year’s seniors — and those rising juniors — to step up and fill that void and create an environment that will hopefully put us on another pathway to potential success.”

As the state championships are approaching for boys soccer, many players are faced with the anticipation of the title they have practiced and worked so much for.

“This is a talented group of people and in order to be successful it has got to be about the group and not about any individual,” Pendleton said. “If they play to the best of their abilities they should be in a position to potentially win it all.”

| justinwingerter

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14 | ads / the standard / oct. 2017

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"senior Houston Gonzales

I like to go to the city when there’s not a ton of people there, because in Kansas City, we don’t have a huge population here, it’s not like New York where there [are] cars everywhere. It’s really nice on a good day, you can walk in Kansas City and there’ll be no one on the streets. I like to enjoy the cityscape, so it’s like walking around with the seclusion of walking in the country, but you have the city background all around you.

| meganflood

students explore Kansas City and share their favorite spots

Downtown KC

15 | feature / the standard / oct. 2017

"

"

I think what makes it special is it’s not somewhere that people think of as a big, important city but there’s a lot that goes on that people don’t think about. There’s a big art scene, and the food is really good, the barbecue and everything. I think it’s interesting because there’s a lot of different types of people blended into one city, and different areas are so different. You have River Market and Crossroads and everything combines into the one city. There’s something for everyone.

" Phillips junior Abby

" sophomore Sarah Graven

The market is just a place where a bunch of people come and they set up fruit or stuff that they’ve grown and they sell it, and you just go around and look at all the pretty colors and the foods. There [are] dresses and restaurants, and it’s really cool to go down and look at everything. Do it on like a Sunday morning and then go to lunch, that’s the way to do it.

"

River Market 16 |

"

junior Abby Phillips

It’s nice to get out of the little JoCo bubble, you know? Here, everyone gets so used to being with one type of person, one group of people ... and going downtown, you already start to see a new dynamic, more different types of people, there’s different types of music and it’s interesting. There’s always something going on.

West Bottoms

"

One of sophomore Sarah Graven’s favorite places to go is West Bottoms, where she said her and her friends, including sophomore Faith Henzlik, go for the pictures, something she recommends to those who might find themselves bored on a weekend. Three of Graven’s photos can be seen here.

sophomore Faith Henzlik

The Plaza

senior Houston" Gonzales

"

18th & Vine

I just think there are so many places to explore ... there’s so many hidden treasures that not a lot of people know about.

"

"

I like to go to 18th and Vine. Kansas City is a large jazz junction in America — it’s one of the biggest jazz cities in the country. We have a lot of history here because one of the greatest saxophones ever born, or ever to play the saxophone was born here, Charlie Parker. 18th and Vine is one of the areas where jazz was played a lot, because when there was prohibition, there were a lot of speak-easies here — which are hidden bars — jazz was played a lot there for entertainment. Our jazz band goes and competes there in a competition every year; it’s a lot of fun. Also part of the museum, there’s this bar/club called the Blue Room. The cool thing about the Blue Room is they have these jam sessions every Monday night, and it’s open to all ages.

" Phillips junior Abby

| 17

18 | opinion / the standard / oct. 2017

(not) asking for it

rape culture should be replaced with proper education

editor’s note: this article contains mention of sexual assault, harassment and rape.

T

hroughout the majority of people’s lives, they are taught and conditioned to different aspects in life that contribute to rape culture, whether they realize it or not. As defined by oxforddictionaries.com, rape culture is a society/environment whose prevailing social attitudes have the effect of normalizing or trivializing sexual assault and abuse.

With things like dress codes, catcalling and teaching girls to “not get raped,” rape culture is prevalent in all aspects of life.

Senior Claire Boomer said she is very aware of the stigmas related to the topic.

“Rape is something that ruins people,” Boomer said. “It’s something that’s hard to recover from. We don’t take sexual assault, in general, seriously enough.”

There are some who think that rape has minor repercussions when compared to other types of reported crime.

However, according to rainn.org, an antisexual violence organization, 94 percent of women report some form of post traumatic stress disorder in the two weeks following the rape, with 33 percent of women reporting contemplating suicide after their rape, making it something

“hard to recover from,” according to Boomer.

Though things like catcalling and rape don’t seem connected from a distance,

“We should not have to teach girls to hold their keys in their fists and have pepper spray on their keychains, we should teach people not to rape.” | seniorclaireboomer

they end up going hand in hand. Both are a form of street harassment, though with drastically varying aftereffects.

Most people, especially girls, have been catcalled or have experienced some form of street harassment at some point in their lives. According to stopstreetharrasement.org, 99 percent

of interviewed women reported that they were harassed at least once in their lives. These forms of harassment include leering, whistling, sexist comments, vulgar gestures, following or even blocking paths. However, minor forms of street harassment, like catcalling, go relatively unnoticed to many.

Recently, actress Alyssa Milano tweeted a picture of writing that said “If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote ‘Me too’ as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem.” This got thousands of responses, ranging from the simple “Me too” to personal experiences of other victims. The sheer amount of response to the hashtag was eyeopening, and allowed many to see how many were actually affected.

One of the reasons this caught some people off guard is due to the normalization of sexual harassment, like catcalling, in our society. Freshman Mira Hentschel said catcalling is so normalized because we “just let it happen”, while junior Connor Price argues that it is because of the media.

“You see it so often in the media and movies and stuff like that,” Price said. “It causes it to seem like less of a big deal than it actually is. It makes it seem more common; it makes it seem less offensive.”

| 19

According to telegraph.co.uk, 84 percent of the interviewed women said that they were under the age of 17 when they were first catcalled. The most common age range happened between ages 11 and 17.

“The earliest time I can remember [being catcalled] was when I was 11,” Boomer said. “My mom and I were walking down the street, and I don’t think she realized it either, because it wasn’t very aggressive, but he was like ‘How are you pretty ladies doing?’ and my mom held me a little closer and we walked quickly to our car.”

Throughout the majority of girls’ lives, they are told that they should view the sexualization of their bodies as a good thing. During the spring of the 20162017 school year, a collection of people made the Southwest Brackets, where people would vote on which girl out of a select 64 was the most attractive. This gross oversexualization of girls ended up creating problems between friends and people in different grade levels, and was ultimately shut down before it got too out of hand.

These school situations are not just limited to things like brackets. Many people argue that things like dress codes add into rape culture. Girls are told not to dress in a way that is seen as “provocative,” similarly to how they are told not show too much skin when going out in public. This adds to the notion that only those who dress promiscuously are the ones who get raped. A girl wearing a short skirt isn’t going to be raped because she’s wearing a skirt, she’s going to be

raped because of a rapist.

“Girls should be allowed to dress how they want,” Boomer said. “The way that we express ourselves through clothing shouldn’t affect the environment at all.”

Hentschel said dress codes “don’t really have anything to do with it.”

“I think it has to do with how well, or poorly, we teach everybody on how to not oversexualize,” Hentschel said. “We shouldn’t teach how to cover up.”

Dress codes also play into the notion that “boys will be boys.” Girls are told to put up with harassment and being treated as objects because boys can’t control themselves, and this is something that girls often deal with for their entire lives.

Girls are constantly taught how to avoid getting raped, instead of others being told not to rape.

“We should not have to teach girls to hold their keys in their fists and have pepper spray on their keychains,” Boomer said. “We should teach people not to rape.”

Frequently, when a girl comes out and says that she was sexually assaulted or abused, she is the one that is blamed, or even shamed, for it. With questions like ‘What were you wearing?’ and ‘How were you acting?’ being the first things that people ask, it’s no wonder that only 30 percent of rapes are reported, according to nsopw.gov, a site that provides information about sex offenders to the public.

“Even if the woman does come forward, she is shamed and blamed for it,” Boomer said. “Why is it always our fault for something we have no control over?”

However, it’s not just girls that have to deal with sexual assault and abuse.

With one out of every 10 victims of rape being male, according to rainn.org, the problem is much bigger than many think it is. A large portion of society is under the impression that only “weak” men get raped, or that men don’t get raped at all.

The whole idea that a woman being raped by a man is the only situation possible in a sexual assault case is absurd; men can be raped by men, men can be raped by women, and women can be raped by women.

“Men have this idea of hypermasculinity,” Boomer said. “They rarely, if ever, come out and say if they were raped by either a man or a woman. Society has this idea that they’re so strong and nothing like that could ever happen to them.”

Rape culture is something that is present in almost every aspect of a person’s life. Between the tolerance of sexual assault, street harassment and victim blaming, there doesn’t seem to be an escape from all of these different factors. Rather than condoning these sorts of behavior, people should focus more on teaching people to not rape and to not blame the victims of these horrible crimes.

| victoriapalmer

20 | feature / the standard / oct. 2017

F A C R TO A E F R

co m

m

un

ity d

esc

ribes

the psycholo

hin e b gy

r ea f d

| 21

F

or centuries, feeling fear was strictly to avoid life threatening situations and ensure the survival of the human species, according to psychologytoday.com. However, as proven by the abundance of horror movie trailers and haunted attractions around the Halloween season, fear is beginning to hold an entirely different purpose within society.

The reason for this shift remains widely speculated.

Psychology teacher Dustin Leochner said the primary reason people enjoy scaring themselves comes from their sheltered lifestyles.

“We don’t have many things in our daily lives that give us that rush anymore because we live pretty safe lives in an industrialized country,” Leochner said. “Therefore, we go and [look for] opportunities to get that adrenaline and dopamine, that endocrine system spike.

It’s kind of this ironic thing where we have thrill seeking now because 200 years ago you didn’t have to seek it — your natural environment gave you those instances.”

Psychology also suggests that horror movies are appealing to viewers due to the disconnect from reality, according to healthline.com. Although the human body might go into fight or flight mode, the frontal lobe of the brain, which gives the ability to think critically and make decisions, still knows it is physically safe. This allows the situation to be more pleasurable rather than horrifying.

“They’ve done studies where they’ll have students watch what they perceive to be fake carnage and what they perceive to be real carnage and the kids have a very negative response to the real movie but they don’t have the same negative response to the [other],” Leochner said. “We disassociate ourselves from it when we know it’s not real so people are more willing to watch it. We have that urge to watch it, but in real life we draw away from that.”

For senior Helene Bechtel, scary depictions in horror movies are not appealing in the slightest because of the reality of the situation.

“I don’t enjoy it because I think I’m invested too much,” Bechtel said. “I have a very big imagination, so I think I’m just more involved. I feel what the characters are feeling and can’t separate the character from real life.”

While Leochner said viewers tend to feel relief or satisfaction at the conclusion of a horror film due to a moral resolution of the evil being overcome, Bechtel said she finds herself unable to shake the movie and replays scenes in her mind.

“I think about it over and over again and my mind wanders to ‘could this happen in real

life?’ and I imagine myself in that situation,” Bechtel said.

However, for junior Marie Oddo, the experience can be described as exhilarating.

“They are addictive because of the chemicals your brain releases. You want more of that thrill,” Oddo said. “I feel like I probably shouldn’t and I don’t know how else to explain it.”

Around Halloween time, like many others, Oddo frequents haunted houses to get a more intense adrenaline rush. She has been to the haunted houses at Worlds of Fun and West Bottoms multiple times.

“I like haunted houses just because I’m actually there and living it; it’s more of an interactive scare,” Oddo said.

"WE DISASSOCIATE OURSELVES FROM IT WHEN WE KNOW ITS NOT REAL SO PEOPLE ARE MORE WILLING TO WATCH IT." | psychologyteacher dustinleochner

Some of the most popular haunted attractions for members of the community around Halloween time are The Edge of Hell, The Beast and Macabre Cinema in West Bottoms that bring in more than 100,000 people per year according to the current owner of the haunted houses in West Bottoms, Amber Arnett Bequeaith. Bequeaith said the business has been a large part of her life since the age of 5, started by her grandmother and was passed down through her family.

“The thing most people don’t realize is that The Edge of Hell is the oldest commercial haunted attraction in the United States that originated a whole industry,” Bequeaith said.

“Now, there’s lots of haunted attractions across the country and I’m the national spokesperson for them.”

Although currently haunted houses exist nationwide, Bequeaith said the Beast is unlike any other due to its imaginative sets and themes. She said stepping into the attraction sends people into another world filled with uniquely terrifying characters and immersive stories that can’t be found in any horror movies.

“A lot of times when I go and see other haunted attractions a lot of them don’t have a lot of original ideas,” Bequeaith said. “They’re more of a Hollywood copycat of the horror movies and we just think all that is really silly.”

Bequeaith said there is a science behind how the house is set up in order to achieve the most terrifying results rather than just the physical element of costumed people jumping

out at you. A lot of planning is involved behind the scenes.

“With the psychology, in order to really scare someone you have to be able to move their mind into another place through the attention to detail inside the scenes, and the touching of all your senses,” Bequeaith said. “We sometimes even infuse smells into the rooms.

I’m always chuckling [when] people come out of Hell and they’re like ‘It was so hot in there.’ Yeah, we heat it. It’s called Hell, it’s hot.”

Bequeaith said by simply invoking these mechanisms in the body, even without people realizing it, the situation becomes even more real and terrifying.

“You bring your own adrenaline and reactions whether it’s sweating or heart pounding or breathing or not being able to breathe,” Bequeaith said.

Although these haunted attractions are traditional for many, the growing horror movie industry has impacted the way Bequeaith said she and others run their businesses.

“Our job has become much harder because of movie special effects and so [the younger generation] becomes a little bit desensitized,” Bequeaith said. “We definitely have had to completely get on the bandwagon of the technology element in order to compete.”

Bequeaith said they use computerprogrammed animatronics timed to the last millisecond by people breaking a laser, in addition to the live actors that roam the floors to scare guests. She said she still believes that the horror movies are dull in comparison to the effect of a haunted attraction such as her own.

“For instance, Macabre Cinema is a haunted 1930s movie theater where you are watching the horror movie on the screen but then you pass through a slit and you’re trapped inside the movie sets, so it’s kind of like you become the victim,” Bequeaith said. “You’re living that movie set. That’s what makes it more terrifying, that you’re inside there rather than just sitting at home on your couch with your popcorn.”

| samrinaacharya

22 | news / the standard / oct. 2017

Making music history musicians create new honor society

President Mackenzie Beeton

Vice president Claire Rips-Goodwin

Senior Mackenzie Beeton has been in choir since fifth grade. She said she enjoys music because it is an escape from the real world.

Junior Claire Rips-Goodwin said she began her music career in fifth grade with the clarinet. In sixth grade, she decided to switch to the oboe which she still plays today.

D

ecorated in paintings, drawings and photos, the art hallway sparkles in the light of the sun. Not far from the displays, music can be heard. A soft hum of voices and various instruments drifts from an appendage of the art hallway that many rarely visit unless they’re enrolled in choir, orchestra, band or debate.

This lack of awareness for the music hall is something that Tri-M, the new music honor society, hopes to change, said junior and vice president Claire Rips-Goodwin.

“Hopefully people in the music department will interact more with one another and hopefully it will foster more involvement with these people in the greater Southwest community,” RipsGoodwin said. “A lot of band, choir and orchestra kids are exclusive to the music department, so hopefully we’ll get them to branch out.”

Choir director Taryn Gervais said the unawareness of what goes on within the music departments exists even among the students within those departments.

“I see [Tri-M] as a real benefit of connecting all three of our programs at Southwest, just erasing the walls between the orchestra, band and choir room,” Gervais said. “There’s this lack of awareness of what’s going on in the room next door, so our goal today is to make that seamless.”

Senior and president Mackenzie Beeton said she also hopes that Tri-M will strengthen the bond between the three music departments. “[Tri-M is] technically community service-based, but it’s especially about making sure everyone is involved within the music department and shattering those walls,” Beeton said.

Along with strengthening the bond between the music departments, Gervais said community service is another big goal for Tri-M. “We have our Southwest service projects, what we are going to do within our department, and then there’s our feeder areas — so what we can do for our elementary and middle school — then there’s the bigger picture with the Overland Park community and beyond,” Gervais said.

| 23 Some of the community service projects Rips-Goodwin said Tri-M would participate in were helping out other departments after their concerts, helping elementary and middle school musicians and even assisting in the creation of Tri-M on the middle school level.

"It's a medium for them to be able to interact more with other people who are super passionate about music and help them do things with music that they don't necessarily get the chance to otherwise."

| junior clairerips-goodwin

“[Aubry Bend is] recruiting right now and they asked us to come down and explain what Tri-M means to us at the high school level and what it’s about,” Gervais said.

As far as the meaning of Tri-M, both Rips-Goodwin and Beeton said members of Tri-M benefit from the society in different ways.

“It’s changed some of the ways I see band,” Rips-Goodwin said. “It’s given me a reason to try to be more of a leader.”

Similar to Rips-Goodwin, Beeton said this experience has helped her gain confidence to lead a group of people with similar end goals or “people that really enjoy music and maybe don’t have time for NHS or NAHS but they still want to have that society for music.”

“Tri-M is really for people who want to go that extra mile with music,” RipsGoodwin said. “A lot of people in Tri-M are wanting to do music as a major or a minor, or join orchestras or be in ensembles professionally; it’s a medium for them to be able to interact more with other people who are super passionate about music and help them do things with music that

they don’t necessarily get the chance to do otherwise.”

Not only does Tri-M benefit its members, but Gervais said she hopes it will allow the rest of the school to understand how much work the music department puts into their performances.

“I think Tri-M is going to benefit Southwest with the general advocacy for the performing arts,” Gervais said. “Positive advocating is becoming more visual for the school itself, so having Tri-M sponsored events and just being present, it’s going to affect the performing arts positively.”

In addition to positively advocating for the arts, Beeton said she hopes to use Tri-M as a platform to get good news out about the music department.

“Our arts programs are absolutely stunning and beautiful and really good at what they do,” Beeton said. “And, with this honor society, we can strive to put ourselves in the spotlight to be recognized for all of these achievements throughout the year.”

| aubreybirk

24 | news / the standard / oct. 2017

the dreamer’s nightmare

President Trump moves to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals

w

ith news that was followed with controversy from every corner of the United States and beyond, president Donald Trump and his administration announced their plan to slowly dismantle the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, on Sept. 5.

The current plan to end the policy on March 6, 2018, has impacted both immigrants and citizens born in the United States. Junior Rand Alazzeh said it’s caused a lot of anxiety among her family and the immigrant community.

“It’s just a little stressful,” Alazzeh said. “Putting that fear in other people, by getting rid of it and all that, it caused a lot of stress in people.”

According to The New York Times, DACA is a program that began in 2012, and protects child immigrants who were 15 or younger when they arrived in America. Vox.com, a news website, noted that the current average age of those in the DACA program is 6-and-ahalf years old, highlighting how young members may be.

“I was the first generation born in America; my parents both immigrated over,” Alazzeh said. “It’s just crazy to think if I had been born just a couple months earlier, or anything like that, either I wouldn’t

be living here, I wouldn’t have citizenship, or I would be in the DACA program, which is now ending.”

According to CNN, many “DREAMers” — as the members of DACA call themselves — gathered to protest following Trump’s announcement out of fear they’d be deported. In addition, many were angered by the decision due to the effect it would have on DREAMers. Senior Raaham Sheikh said he felt the movement to end DACA is “unfair.”

“My biggest concern is that those around me have to go back,” Sheikh said. “And also for people that aren’t able to speak their native language who have to go back to a country where they have never been able to [go back to before].”

With around 800,000 members at risk of being sent back to their home country according to CNN, Alazzeh said the deportations are what worry her the most.

“If this actually goes through and we do have to deport all these people, how are these people going to adjust and contribute to society in a place that they’ve never been before?” Alazzeh said. “Most of them have never been there, and they’re just being thrust into an unknown world. How are they going to adjust?”

An estimated 433 billion dollars is expected to be lost over the next 10 years due to the deportations of those without citizenship caused by DACA’s shutdown, according to CNBC.com. Junior Drew Thomas said that legal immigration is important to the economy and should be continued in a safe manner.

“Many people have created their lives there and had startups and successful, enjoyable lives, and lived the American dream because of this organization,” Thomas said.

In addition to this, Thomas said Trump was currently doing what he’d always planned to do once he was elected.

The Encyclopedia of American Politics reports that Donald Trump’s original plan for immigration during the election was to deport all illegal immigrants.

“I feel like if we just look at raw numbers, illegal immigration has gone down 75 percent,” Thomas said. “I think that’s great. I felt like the way he went about it was

| 25 strong-fisted and with an iron hand, you could say.”

According to The Denver Post, many reacted in a positive manner regarding the program’s end. After being debated among government officials for nearly 15 years, many members of Congress had longawaited DACA’s end. Sheikh said there have been mixed reactions and it was a little weird to see students react.

“It’s been overall a more positive than negative impact,” Sheikh said. “People have been more supportive of the law and those around me were more considerate. Our community just tends to stay inside their bubble, and not really react to these kinds of issues in the way that other communities are able to or adept to.”

According to the Migration Policy Institute, the state of Kansas holds a minuscule one percent of the United States population of DREAMers, while places like California and Texas hold 14 percent and above. Thomas said if one went outside of Johnson County, a larger impact would be seen.

“I’d say in my surrounding community, many people don’t know what DACA is or what it stands for, don’t know the current things that have been passed for it and do not understand the significance because of [Trump] trying to end it,” Thomas said.

According to vox.com, many people have had questions following the logistics of DACA, as well as its phaseout. While there is still

information to be released from the Trump administration, United States citizens await answers.

“I felt like yes, there was a need for it to be more reformed, more checked,” Thomas said. “I felt like they took just a very quick stance, a quick shutdown of the organization.”

The Denver Post reports that many DREAMers have begun preparing out of concern that they’ll be kicked out of the country. Alazzeh said that DACA’s end felt too fast, and the fear Trump’s announcement put in people was not worth DACA’s cutoff.

“I think that he could — instead of eliminating the whole thing — he could’ve just tweaked it in a way that could have probably helped the country a little better, rather than just completely eliminating the whole thing,” Alazzeh said.

The six months the organization has left are intended to be a period of time for Congress to legalize

DACA, enabling it to continue, according to migrationpolicy.org. Alazzeh said the issue isn’t done with, and more decisions would be made. She also said more and more “negativity” and panic would follow the uncertainty of the situation.

“I think a lot more people are going to be living in fear of being thrown out of the only home they’ve known their entire lives,” Alazzeh said. “Imagine that suddenly some of your classmates you’ve known since elementary school suddenly disappeared. They are regular people who have developed friends and family as well as lives here. That’s not something you can take away scot-free.”

| laurenurschel

26 | feature / the standard / oct. 2017

through the “Aeyes of an artist artists prepare for a future in the arts

picture is worth a thousand words,” a common Englishlanguage idiom that has been around since the early 1900s according to phrases.org. Within these thousands of words, senior Beau Bezanson said he found himself inspired not only by the potential of a finished product, but what meaning he’s trying to convey in his art.

With multiple art classes under his belt, Bezanson said he focuses his art on graphic design and drawing, taking both drawing classes during his freshman year and continuing on to graphic design his sophomore and senior year.

“Graphic design is kind of more abstract I’d say, so it really pushes me in something I’m not comfortable with,” Bezanson said. “It’s really good. It really makes you think a lot. So, in drawing, it’s really just like you have a picture and you just draw from that. [In] graphic design, you have to come up with everything yourself — maybe taking ideas from here or there — but it’s really all on your own, so it’s nice expanding.”

Similar to Bezanson, senior Darby Rolf focuses her talents within two mediums: ceramics and drawing. Although she concentrates most of her art on those two techniques, Rolf said she wanted to push herself out of that comfort zone and enrolled in a painting class at JCCC over the summer to “get a feel for college art classes.”

“I really enjoyed painting at JCCC,” Rolf said. “I [also] really liked drawing II and ceramics II because there’s a lot more freedom and you really feel like you’re building your skills.”

Although “partial to photo II,” art teacher Sarah McKee said one of her favorite classes to teach was portfolio seminar.

McKee also teaches photo I and II, painting I and II and digital imaging.

“This was the first year I’ve taught portfolio prep and I really like that because they’re all using different media and they’re all exchanging a lot of really cool ideas,” McKee said. “There’s a lot of exchange of ideas and talking amongst the students to come up with cool pieces and cool series and prepare their portfolios and I think a lot of cross collaboration in that class has been really, really good.”

Much like McKee, Bezanson said he enjoyed portfolio seminar when he decided to enroll in it junior year.

“My favorite art class [has been] portfolio, because you put your portfolio together for college,” Bezanson said. “You kind of

| 27 work on whatever you want and you’re surrounded by people psychology, but my main focus is to get a bachelor’s in fine arts.” that are doing the same thing as you.”

Like Rolf, McKee said she denies the stigma behind not Enrolled as a double major in college, McKee said she chose having a future with art school. One way McKee said she to teach in the arts rather than in English because “it’s all about combats this is by providing her students with real life examples, learning a new way of thinking.” During class, McKee said she like speakers that have gone to art school. usually gets the students thinking by creating problems and “That stereotype never seems to go away,” McKee said. “It’s having the students figure out how to find answers to those becoming increasingly important to sort of define your own way problems. of working within a business or within a company, and they’re “I don’t like to tell them what to do because then it isn’t their looking for people who are creative problem-solvers and they’re artwork, it’s my artwork, so I ask them questions,” McKee said. looking for people who can do graphic design and I think design “Basically, it’s a lot of whys. ‘Why did you choose to do this’ and imagery is becoming more and more important, especially and, if they can defend it to me, that usually means they had a as we’re more of a internet culture.” good reason for it, which gives me a good indication that they Within this “internet culture,” McKee said she believes many know what direction they’re headed in … They have to come up people find themselves leaning more toward pictures or artwork with ideas a lot with their peers. They have to run ideas by their for a source of advertising. peers. They have to run ideas by other art teachers. It’s really “People are seeing images quicker and quicker and they’re important to me that I’m not the only voice they are hearing.” always looking at design and they’re always looking for As a result of this type of feedback, Rolf said she is thankful something to catch their eye,” McKee said. “If you have a for the art teachers because they provide her a forum for support background in design and the arts, you’re going to be the most and new ideas relating to her art. valuable asset to a company that’s looking for something like “The art teachers are really amazing,” Rolf said. “They’re very that. So, there are increasing jobs that haven’t even existed in encouraging and they help you to find your best creative self. the last few years. I try to find people who have those jobs or Like how they’ll give you project idea and you say ‘alright, I find the titles of those jobs to make it more relevant to parents know what I’m going to do,’ and then they make you draw ten and students … there’s always jobs out there you just have to more sketches to really stretch your brain. find them.”

Then you might find an idea that’s really By providing examples of real jobs better than that original idea. They’ve to students and parents, McKee said she “My dad loved art his whole helped me to just build my talents and aims to encourage her students to follow life, so when I was little, we would my passion quite a bit because you can their passions, even if they’re faced do art together. He would draw tell they all really love art as well and with limitations or difficulties. In doing something and I would color it. they’re always ready to help you.” so, McKee said she also implements It started progressing to where I Alongside Rolf, Bezanson said he more freedom within the classroom for would follow in his footsteps and relies on his art teachers to “just [be]there students to explore beyond the prompt, draw it. It’s just something I do in to motivate you.” Taking drawing I and II especially in upper-level classes. my free time.” during his freshman year, Bezanson said “We’ve been working the last few it was his father that gave him his love years with students of getting over that of drawing. fear factor of making something they | seniorbeaubezanson “My dad loved art his whole life, weren’t sure was going to be successful,” so when I was little, we would do art McKee said. “So, if they come up with a together,” Bezanson said. “He would draw something and I weird or crazy idea, I love it and I usually push them. I’ll ask would color it. It started progressing to where I would follow a lot of question about it, make sure they know what they’re in his footsteps and draw it. It’s just something I do in my free doing, but that’s my favorite [part]. I love it when they do that time.” ... I encourage [what] I call ‘weirdness in the artwork’ as much Moving from Oklahoma to Kansas at the beginning of as possible, or just new ideas, something that they’ve never seen seventh grade, Bezanson took art for two years in middle school before is always good.” and said it was the first place he could really explore more into During her childhood, Rolf said she was always surrounded the arts. by art. Although she was supported with her artwork, she said “It was the first time I could show off what I was good at and she has a difficult time looking toward the future of her art it was fun doing it” Bezanson said. “I got to help other people career despite the stigmas associated with going to art school. with their stuff and tell them what to do. It felt good.”

“My parents always say, from the time I could hold a crayon, Planning to study either architecture or animation in his I was drawing,” Rolf said. “Art has always been a big part of future, Bezanson said he knows his art skills will help. Like my life. For a while, especially middle school and the beginning Bezanson, Rolf said she plans on continuing with her art after of high school, I figured everyone tells me ‘you can’t go to art high school by going to art school and possibly opening a studio school. You can’t have art as a future’ and so I kind of deviated to teach classes. away from that. But then I realized that I can go to art school “Yeah, I am going to art school,” Rolf said. “I’m planning on and have a future. I can follow my passion and, so, I got back on it, which I know to some people that means you don’t have a that path and it’s been a huge part of my life.” future. But I have a plan. I really think I can find something and succeed in the area ... I might also look into business or | summerlyon

28 | news / the standard / oct. 2017

Ant i gon e takes on Chicago A

theater students prepare for upcoming student-led production

s the spotlights shine and the cue changes, senior Sarah Weiner brings her new theater concepts to the stage.

As the theater department begins its eighth year, Weiner and other students have been given a new opportunity to direct themselves in a student-led production of “Antigone.”

This production will be the first student-led play in Blue Valley history.

Students and drama teacher Dan Schmidt said they look forward to changing theater norms in the district.

Schmidt said his 26 years of teaching theater have helped him formulate new and ongoing ideas that are making his classes more stimulating and fun for the students.

He said the idea of student-run productions have stuck with him since college and he has always wanted to produce one in his career.

“We had all undergraduates do the productions — direct, design, lights, set, costumes, props even,” Schmidt said. “I thought that’d be a great experience for the [students] to do. I just want them to learn by

doing and when they make mistakes, that’s OK. It’s just a learning experience and I want the audience to have a good time.”

Schmidt said the adaptability of “Antigone” to exposition and blocking creates a “really good choice for a high school led production.”

Weiner was selected to be one of the five directors for this production, and is the main stage director. Because the play’s plot involves characters that are mostly young adults, Weiner said her concepts remain similar to the original version, but differ due to the time era. The original version of the play takes place in ancient Greece, but Weiner’s concept moves the characters into modern times.

“I wanted to find a time period that mirrors the one we are in now, with a lot of political unrest and social issues that are happening,” Weiner said.

Set in Chicago in the late 1960s-early 1970s, Weiner said she plans on setting the play in this time era to help students and

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“I’ve felt excited the whole process, but when you start adding a cast to it, it [made me] feel the reality that all of our ideas and hard work is actually going to be portrayed.” | juniorhannahst.clair

“I choose blocking, I approve scenic designs, the whole concept of the show is mine, I am sort of the Walt Disney of Disney but for ‘Antigone.’

He’s obviously himself but he created this picture of his own with the help of others.” | seniorsarahweiner

and millennials to have a perspective of our time.

“In Chicago around 1969 to 1970, there was a radical political organization called The Weatherman,” Weiner said. “They were a type of program trying to fight against the Vietnam war, trying to stop it and to stop social injustices.”

With Weiner and Schmidt’s ideas put together for the task, both Weiner said she hopes for the best outcome.

“I plan on putting everything I can into this, but unlike Schmidt, I do not have a degree,” Weiner said. “I am going to take my concept and work hard to make it look and sound successful.”

Weiner said she went through a casting process to find the best person to fill each character’s role. “Antigone” had roughly 15 characters to cast, a task Weiner said she feels comfortable doing with Schmidt’s advice. Other than casting roles, Schmidt said he finds himself being a facilitator more than anything.

“I want the students to come up with their own ideas and do everything for themselves,” Schmidt said. “The only thing other than that [is] I helped cast the roles.”

Schmidt said he wants the students directing to feel comfortable with their actors and actresses during rehearsals as Weiner attempts to perfect

her concepts with the help of the other students.

One of these students is costume designer junior Hannah St. Clair, who said she finds herself looking to visually display Weiner’s concept in the costumes she chooses and creates.

“I am most looking forward to making the decisions for how all of the costumes will come together — seeing how they will look under the lighting and how they display the characters feelings and emotions,” St. Clair said. “I just want to be able to show their [characteristics] through their costumes.”

From picking tops and shoes to selecting colors, St. Clair said she and others are working together to perfect Weiner’s concept.

With the show approaching, Schmidt said he hopes the audience keeps an open mind and realizes that everything set out in front of them originated from the students.

“Without these students, the show would not go on,” Schmidt said.

| brooklynmacdonald

I swear swear I’m I’m not a not a Yelper Yelper

30 | review / the standard / oct. 2017

new area restaurants offer unique dining experiences 2 1

3 (1) The view from inside the front door of Eat Fit Go on 119th street in Olathe. The lack of sit down customers is caused by the restaurant’s buy-and-go philosophy.

(2) The sign from the Chuy’s parking lot, exemplifying Chuy’s throw-back style.

(3) Patrons of Chuy’s enjoy their dinners in a calm setting, contrasting the family style seating in the rest of the restaurant. *Restaurants are scored on an index from 1 to 10, 10 being the loudest or most expensive

| 31

Chuy’s Mexican noise: 7/10* cost: 6/10*

11965 S Strang Line Rd, Olathe, KS 66062

C

huy’s, Olathe’s latest Tex-Mex restaurant, puts a unique spin on Mexican food. They may be in the same location as the Joe’s Crab Shack that was there before, but Chuy’s is a breed all its own.

As you walk to the front door of the restaurant, the first thing you notice, along with the taco-shaped door handles, are the bright colors of the building itself. Instantly creating a feel-good atmosphere, the interior decor is like nothing seen in an eatery before. The longer you look at the walls, the more you start to notice, from an Elvis shrine inside the entryway to the inch-tall angels hidden in each room.

As you enter the dining area, a divide in theme is easily noticed — one area with tall steel palm trees, another decorated head to toe in vintage car parts.

The first Chuy’s opened in Austin, Texas, in 1982, and the decorator, Jose Cuervo, has pledged to make each new branch unique, an idea stemming back to their first restaurant, before they had enough money to traditionally decorate.

According to their website, chuys.com, “If you’ve seen one Chuy’s, you’ve seen one Chuy’s,” a philosophy they live by, swearing to make each of their restaurants special.

Immediately as you look at the menu, you notice it isn’t too bulky or overwhelming, a mistake many restaurants make. Everyone knows that a fresh, hand-made tortilla is the basis to any Tex-Mex meal. Chuy’s takes pride in their handmade tortillas — the first to bring blue corn to Texas, hand-rolled all day, every day, behind glass at the front of the

open kitchen.

In a restaurant based in fresh food, the only freezer you’ll find is smaller than most at home, only holding their kid’s meal ice cream. While there, I had the privilege to taste the chicken enchiladas, made with fresh cheese, hand-pulled chicken, freshsqueezed lime juice and their famous New Mexican green chilies. This was one of the best enchiladas I’ve ever eaten; the fresh tortilla added a smooth baseline for a tender, juicy, shredded chicken breast. The chicken is the perfect pairing for their house pico de gallo, mixed with the tomatillos in the enchilada. Overall, this seemingly ‘mom and pop’ chain is a perfect meal for a Friday night date or a Tuesday night meal with your family.

Eat Fit Go noise: 1/10* cost: 4/10*

E

15153 W. 119th St. #E09, Olathe, KS 66062

at Fit Go is a healthy fast food alternative, new to the Olathe area. It may seem like a regular fresh food option, but Eat Fit Go is a new genus of restaurant.

In the building, there are no ovens, no stove tops — only microwaves and industrial refrigerators. Every morning, a truck brings fresh meats and vegetables from the distribution center downtown. These are packaged and seasoned into individual meals. The meals are then put into the refrigerators, awaiting a purchaser.

Upon entering, you can see four microwaves lining the wall, set with modern stainless steel tables and chairs. They are accompanied by an entire wall of floor-to-ceiling

refrigerators.

The purchase process begins with a trip to the refrigerators, where you choose your meal, drink and side.

Once chosen, you take your food to the counter where you decide to eat in-store with their microwaves or in the comfort of your own home.

While there, I enjoyed consuming the turkey chili, vegetarian mac, the peanut butter protein balls and cheese and zoodles ­­­— zucchini noodles — with turkey meatballs.

Junior Haley Specht said the protein balls “would be a great after school snack or would be good to have at work and throw in the fridge.”

The vegetarian mac was sub-par, lacking the seasonings needed in a meatless dish.

“The veggie mac would be a lot better if it had a butt-load [126 US gallons] of cheese drizzled on top,” Specht said.

The zoodles with turkey meatballs were well-made with a fair amount of flavor, and the tender meatballs were rather good for a microwave meal.

The turkey chili was the pinnacle of my existence; its sauce contained the savory flavors needed but did not suppress the sweetness of the roasted tomatoes. The sauce complements the turkey beautifully.

As a whole, Eat Fit Go is the perfect place to eat for a health-nut with a hectic schedule.

*restuarants are scored on an idex from 1 to 10, 10 being the loudest or most expensive

| isaiahtarwater

32 | feature / the standard / oct. 2017

The end as we know it analyzing theories about the end of the world

The craziness of the 21st century may come with some even crazier ideas: like the apocalypse. Over the years, many different interpretations and theories have been sprouted.

Here are some of the most popular ones.

The film 2012, according to sonypictures.com, attempts to visualize the end of the world in a film. Although not a concrete theory, it does make an effort to depict the apocalypse based off of the Mayan calendar into a film.

The rapture may be happening soon or at least that’s what everyone thought. According to The Washington Post, priest David Meade predicted that a planet named Nibiru would come hurling into the earth on Sept. 23, 2017 because the constellations would line up. He thought this day would be the famed rapture, or second coming of Jesus Christ.

According to nationalgeographic.com, the Mayan calendar was a “so-called long-count calendar” which ended on Dec. 21, 2012. This date was said to be the end of the 13th bak’tun, which equates to 400 years. It was predicted that a god would come down from the sky, the old world would perish and a new one would be reborn.

The Y2K end of the world theory was heavily based on the world’s ever-growing reliance on technology, according to time. com. Many people who were against this new reliance predicted that there would be a massive computer crash on Jan. 1, 2000, leading to chaos.

Social Infrastructure that relied on computers would break down and eventually cause the end of society.