The Standard Vol. 4 Issue 6

S the standard blue valley southwest volume 4 | issue 6

CONTENTS april 2014 vol. 4 | issue 6 overland park, ks

04

Music In Our Schools Month

06

breaking stereotypes

10

a life of learning

12

Relay For Life

16

tanning troubles

19

minimum wage: maximum conflict

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coming out

30

hanging by a thread

36

student musicians

41

robotics team

editor’s note

Front cover: Lucia Aerial Performance Company performers Kate Munchoff and Eva Tucker practice for their upcoming performance, “Aria Coda.” cover photo by Izabella Borowiak-Miller graphic by Sam Billman.

W

ith only 43 days left until graduation, seniors gain more and more symptoms to the common illness known as senioritis. Seniors slowly throw themselves

out of bed with no motivation to do anything school related because why would they if they are already accepted to college, right? Wrong.

Senior year is a milestone, and an exciting but stressful time, in a young person’s life. Naturally, students’ minds are focused on the future, and it is easy to neglect the present. We spend our time thinking of what we could be doing later than what we should be doing now with the short amount of time that we do have left. Yet, students can take this restlessness and channel it into something positive and not destructive.

This last month of your senior year should be the best time of your high school career. No matter what you’ve heard, senior year still matters and shouldn’t be stressful. This final stretch should be all about taking chances. Take chances on getting to know people with whom you have never talked, but slightly smirk at in the hallway during third hour passing period. Take chances on trying something that is out of the norm. Learn more about yourself and how you present yourself.

Make the best of the short amount of time you have left. And remember, don’t

|managingeditor

count the days; make every day count.

m

music

is for

march

is for

|ciaramurphy

4 | www.bvswnews.com | southwest | april 2014 | Music In Our Schools Month

Left Page-Top Right: Senior Lauren Henke concentrates on her difficult German lyrics. Bottom Adjacent: Senior Suraj Shankar performs with the Orchestra. Top Left: Junior Ellen Long plays her violin. Bottom Adjacent: Junior Emma Lucas practices her saxophone sextet. Bottom Left: The BVSW Orchestra is conducted by teacher Adam Keda. Middle: Junior Brooke Tilley reads from her sheet music of “Confitebor Tibi”. Middle Right: Junior Sean Bennett and the rest of his trumpet section practice their music. Bottom Right: Junior Kyle Mersch plays with the pep band. Top Adjacent: The fifth hour chorale class sightreads its German music.

Right Page-Top Left: Sophomore AnnMarie Riley practices flute for the upcoming music festival. Bottom Left: Senior Roman Brown plays his rolls during a basketball game. Bottom Right: Teacher Susan Scheibler conducts the chorale in its Latin song. Middle Bottom: A fifth grader looks on as the BVSW Orchestra plays “Psalms and Jubilation”. Middle Top: Sophomore Michael Shao focuses on his music at the Orchestra concert. Top Right: Junior Kat Weiner and her classmates prepare their music for Contest.

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photo illustrations by Sam Billman.

6 | april 2014 | southwest | www.bvswnews.com | opinion

cheerleaders are dumb. cheerleaders are conceited. cheerleaders are loud. cheerleaders are blonde. cheerleaders are airheads. cheerleaders are cliquey.

I

want to be a lawyer when I grow up; I have since I was six years old. I have also been a cheerleader for as long as I can remember; it is something I have always enjoyed. Since I was young, I have had the cheerleading stereotype attached to me.

When I am in my uniform, at first glance, people assume I’m dumb and self-centered. They think I don’t care about school work and that I am more concerned with what I look like and how I am perceived by others. Whenever I get asked what I want to be when I grow up, and I say ‘lawyer,’ I constantly get the same blank stare and half-smile that says, ‘well i hope that works out for you.’ Nobody has ever had full confidence in my dreams. I think nobody believes I’m smart enough because of the bow and the uniform I wear. | lexitarter

Cheerleaders are eye candy.

breaking stereotypes Cheerleaders break the stereotypes. Cheerleaders are smart. Cheerleaders care about good grades. Cheerleaders want bright futures. Cheerleaders are dependable.

Cheerleaders are role models.

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define yourself I

t’s hard to face society when you have a stereotype attached to you.

When people think of cheerleaders, most of the thoughts that come to mind include unathletic girls with pom-poms who are more concerned with the latest gossip and drama than maintaining all A’s and setting high goals.

“When I think of a cheerleader I tend to think of the movies like ‘Bring it On’.” senior Jordan Alberino said. “I feel like our cheerleaders are much more advanced than the girls on the movies, not only in athleticism but also in intelligence. I have a lot of cheerleaders in my hard classes, and they seem to do just fine.”

According to varsity cheerleaders sophomores Hannah Harrick, Blake Gustafson and senior Megan Miller, most people tend to believe that cheerleaders are blonde, dumb, rude and shallow. They think they aren’t athletic and that what they do is easy.

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People think cheerleaders are in their own clique and don’t interact with others that aren’t involved in cheerleading.

Miller has broken the stereotype of a typical cheerleader. She will be attending Kansas State University next year to receive her undergraduate degree, and then she will go on to become a pediatric surgeon. She is in Exploring Health Professions, where she shadows doctors and nurses and watches procedures.

“I’ve always wanted to be a doctor for as long as I can remember,” Miller said. “I want to be a pediatric surgeon, because I love the hands-on work on the human body; it’s fascinating. Kids are so resilient, and I love seeing them get better and happier as they get healthier.

It’s something I love, and the human body amazes me everyday by the things it’s capable of.”

Miller is very strong in academics, she has all A’s during senior year

and throughout her high school career has maintained a 3.75 GPA. She wants to pursue a career in the medical field, but she also wants to be involved in her school and have a normal high school experience, which is why she’s a cheerleader.

“Being a cheerleader and wanting to be a doctor has been hard because people tell me I’m not ‘smart enough’ or I’m ‘too dumb’ to reach my dream,” she said. “Just because I’m a cheerleader doesn’t make me dumb in any way. It’s upsetting to me because I know what I’m capable of and there are a lot of cheerleaders that go on to do big things.”

Having a stereotype attached to you can make it hard to be different and stand out in school settings, and many cheerleaders face the judging stares that come with walking into AP and honors classes and getting stared at like ‘you don’t belong here.’

“Since I shadow doctors and nurses at hospitals, they often ask me about what other activities I’m involved in, so I say I’m a cheerleader,” Miller said. “They automati-

cally go ‘oh, okay’ in that kind of tone that people give you when they think you’re stupid. Then they ask if I’m studying to become a nurse. When I tell them no, I want to be a pediatric surgeon, they say, ‘Oh, well if that doesn’t work out ...’ or, ‘Well that’s a long, hard road to go down’ or ‘you should look into nursing it’s a lot easier’ all because I’m a cheerleader, I’m a girl and I’m blonde.”

There are more to people than the stereotypes that are attached to them.

Intelligence is not measured by the activity we participate in. We’ve been taught to not judge a book by its cover since we were in elementary school; but it seems like we forget what that expression really means.

“People don’t expect cheerleaders to be smart, but most of us are in harder classes and we still maintain really good grades,” Harrick said. “What activity you participate in has nothing to do with how smart you are. There are lots of cheerleaders like myself who are in honors and AP classes, maintaining a 4.0 GPA and plan on going to prestigious colleges.”

On the first day of school when I walked into newspaper with my cheer uniform on, I could feel eyes on me as the other staffers were judging me.

I knew that they were questioning why I chose newspaper. I sat down at my computer and kept to myself. Even though we all shared the same love of journalism, I still felt like I didn’t belong. People restrained from having conversations with me because of my cheerleading background.

Now, a semester later, I finally feel like I belong.

I can honestly say I have changed the newspaper staff’s opinion on me and I’ve broken their thoughts of being a stereotypical cheerleader. They know me for who I am not just by the uniform I wear.

“Cheerleaders have one of the worst reputations in high school,” senior varsity captain Deavyn Carey said.

“People act as if we are the same people shown in the movies; we’re nothing like that. We’re just like everyone else trying to find our place in this world.”

q&a:

stereotypes I am intelligent.

What are cheerleader stereotypes?

The stereotypes seem to be blonde, dumb, slutty, rude, stuck up, skinny and pretty.

How does this affect you?

It affects me because people look at me differently.

They think I’m stupid and that I’m rude just because of the uniform I wear when in reality, it’s actually the complete opposite. People can think what they want, but it tends to get annoying when people talk to me like I’m unintelligent.

What do you hope to prove?

I hope to prove that I’m not like the cheerleading stereotype. I want to prove to everyone that you can be smart and have big dreams and also be a cheerleader at the same time.

I am a role model.

| meganmiller

outside opinion T

he stereotypes for cheerleaders consist of being cliquey, meaning sticking with their fellow cheerleaders; they tend to not reach out to a variety of people. Some other stereotypes for cheerleaders are being pretty, ditsy and are viewed by many to not be a ‘true athlete’ due to the fact that cheering is very subjective.

From a spectator’s point of view they aren’t sprinting, scoring points, or doing anything with a ball or object. I believe that the stereotypical cheerleader originated mainly through TV shows and movies.

These televised programs portray

cheerleaders in these certain ways which then reflects and turns into public opinions. Personally, I don’t agree with a majority of these stereotypes; I’ve been around a variety of cheerleaders and know that not all cheerleaders are created equal and not all cheerleaders relate to these stereotypes.

Cheerleading, though it isn’t promoted well, I believe is a sport.

There have been many times where I have walked into school early or stayed late and have seen these cheerleaders sprinting, tumbling and working harder than half the sports teams in the building.

I think a way cheerleaders can break these stereotypes is by having more people attend their competitions and watch their practices. It won’t take you a long time to realize that only a ‘true athlete’ could accomplish the things that they can do.

| jordanalberino

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a lifetime of learning Richard Bechard plans to retire at the end of the school year

Photos by Ciar

a Murphy.

1979

1980

1990

2001

Worked as a teacher and coach for basketball, football and track and field in Stockton, Kan. for ten years.

Graduated from Fort Hays State University with a Bachelors degree in Biology, Physical Education and Health.

Began working in an administrative position at Holton High School as an athletic director.

Was at Holton for 16 years.

10 | april 2014 | southwest | www.bvswnews.com | feature

Timeline photos

2006

Elected president of the KIAAA (Kansas Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association).

Came to work in Blue Valley.

courtesy of Rich

ard Bechard.

2012 Elected president of the NIAAA (National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association).

Retired from Blue Valley.

2014

W

hen Richard Bechard was pulled to the side by his coach during basketball Rules practice in college, he didn’t know it of the would change his pump life. Bechard was taking classes to be a fish and game biologist, but his coach suggested he consider teaching or coaching.

Bechard has been the district activities and athletics director in Blue Valley for eight years. When Southwest opened, he took on the position of school activities director as well. He is also an assistant principal at the school.

Bechard didn’t expect to be a teacher or administrator. He loved the outdoors and wanted to pursue that passion. However, his basketball coach suggested otherwise.

“I admired him and changed my career,” Bechard said. “It’s funny how things like that happen but feel like exactly what you want to be doing.”

Bechard recently returned to his job after a seven-week absence in which he finished a kidney transplant. Two years ago he received a new kidney from his son because his two weren’t working well due to Polycystic kidney disease (PKD).

According to the Mayo Clinic, PKD occurs when cysts grow on the kidneys.

“My old kidneys were literally as large as footballs,” Bechard said.

“One weighed four pounds and one three pounds.”

The While he best water was gone, is the deepest Steve McIland coldest but vain, a substithe hardest to tute adminisget to. trator, filled in for Bechard. He had also substituted for Bechard two years ago when Bechard was having his first surgery.

“I think Southwest is a great high school,” McIlvain said.

Bechard is planning to retire in Kansas and spend a few years working in Missouri. He is going to be the district Athletic Director for Lee’s Summit School District.

Bechard said Lee’s Summit is a

good fit for him. It is a good school district academically and is only 22 miles from his house. He also wants Southwest to have its own athletic director, not one split between the district and the school.

“Anytime you leave someplace like I did at Blue Valley, it comes with mixed emotions.” he said.

Bechard said the change of schools was a good opportunity for him professionally. He wants to stay ‘green’ and keep growing in his career.

“I guess I’ll be leaving when the first class is leaving; I’m leaving with a good group,” Bechard said, smiling.

Bechard impacts students involved in their school.

He facilitates all If clubs and you start the performpumping water ing arts, as and never get there, well as a few never quit and keep other activpumping every ities, at the day. school.

“I really enjoyed working with Mr. Bechard,” band director Ed Protzman said. “He has an excellent way of communicating his knowledge in a way that makes people very comfortable.”

Coworkers enjoy working with Bechard.

“He adds a lot of happiness to the office, and a KU theme,” administrator assistant of activities Kathy Nichols said.

Bechard wants education to be applicable in the real world.

“We have to prepare kids with a skill set for college, but also with a skill set to be a You good person,” Behave to put chard said.

Making the something in to most of ones life is get something out. very important to Bechard.

“Everyone has the same number of minutes in a day,” he said. “It is up to them to determine how they use those minutes. Think of great leaders – they had the same amount of minutes we had. The difference is attitude. If we have a positive

attitude, most days will be extraordinary.”

Bechard keeps a water pump in his office to remind him

Once the water flows, you don’t have to pump that hard to keep it going.

of important life values.

He had a plaque made with the “Rules of the Pump” on it. These rules stress the importance of working hard and not giving up. Once something is accomplished it can be used to help others in the future.

After he retires, Bechard hopes to still stay involved in Kansas activities and athletics. He likes to travel and will hunt, fish and golf.

“I have a lot of hobbies; I will stay busy,” he said.

Bechard will continue to impact staff and students as he transitions to a career in Missouri.

“I have done in the past 34 years what I love,” Bechard said. “More important than money is doing what you love. I can’t thank that coach [enough] for steering me in the right direction. Set your goals on doing what you think you really love.”

The water pump Bechard keeps in his office reminds him of important life values.

He had a plaque made with four important rules that apply both to the pump and to life.

|lilliehoffart

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1. A Blue Valley High student directs the measurement of campsites. 2. Junior Kristin Wyatt explains the layout of the Johnson County Community College gym to sophomores Sydney Swyers and Brooke Egan. 3. As campsites come to life, junior Lainey Schrag looks on to see her teammates erecting a tent. 4. The Blue Valley High drumline leads the first lap around the track. 5. Balloons float away as Relay gets into full swing; the event moved to a neutral location to hold a record number of participants.

6. Freshman Uma Desai faces into the circle as she plays with a parachute.

7. Schrag and senior Ian Dennin play “Just Dance” on a television that Dennin brought. 8. Senior Johnny Tapp puts his arm around Jake Louis to console him after the Luminaria Ceremony. 9.

Sophomore Nick Schrag competes in the Mister Relay contest by dancing to “Gangnam Style”. 10. Junior Tyler Farrell dribbles in the key in a game of pickup basketball. 11. Blue Valley High improv comedy troupe Fifth Wall performs to keep energy up at Relay. 12. Sophomore Shelby Hardison plays Twister with her friend. 13. Sophomores Lexi Tarter and Joann Armstrong fight through drowsiness.

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FIGHT BACK Blue Valley Youth Relay shatters monetary goal, raises over $150,000

Relay For Life | www.bvswnews.com | southwest | april 2014 | 15

T

anning roubles

new tanning law requires parent signature for students under the age of 18

creative commons photo courtesy of jessica14.

16 |

Information from Committee of Health and Human Services

Indoor tanning beds form the same dependencies as drugs and alcohol

Tanning beds were ranked in the top 25 worst inventions by TIME

Nearly 30 million people tan indoors in the US every year

Ten minutes in a sun bed is the same as ten minutes in the Mediterranean summer sun

People who use tanning beds are 2.5 times more likely to get cancer

6. Wear long sleeves and broad-brimmed hats

5. Wear sunscreen year round (at least SPF 15)

4. Keep your lips sealed and wipe them off

3. Hold your breath while spray tanning

2. Apply sunscreen 30 minutes before going outside

.1 . Avoid sun exposure between 10 a.m. and 3p.m.

Tips for tanning illustration by sam billman

feature | www.bvswnews.com | southwest | april 2014 | 17

T

risha Paytas has spent 66 days of her life in a tanning bed. The 24-year-old, who was recently featured on TLC’s, ‘My Strange Addiction,’ has spent over $52,000 on keeping her skin tone dark and risking her health.

Although girls in high school are not nearly as preoccupied as Paytas is, Paytas began tanning when she was 17 and out of the 66 days spent in a tanning bed, 34 of them occurred before she turned 18.

Roughly 2.3 million teens participate in tanning, and recently the Committee on Health and Human Services introduced HB 2435 which bans people under the age of 18 from tanning without a parent signature.

“I think it is okay to tan every once in a while because, like many other things, that’s their choice to whether they do it or not,” junior Paige Donovan said. “I don’t think it’s okay to go all the time and completely fry your skin.

I tan because it is competition season and the lights on the stage really wash people out and our new uniforms are white and it makes them look so much better.”

The new law, which does not come into effect until August 2014, may seem just like a safety precaution but it could change someones

lifestyle.

“I think some girls are so obsessed because people just get higher self esteem when they’re tan, but some take it too far and they look way too dark,” Donovan said. “I know that it’s really dangerous and unhealthy … and when you tan people always call you fake.”

Although Donovan and many competitive cheerleaders like her tan because of cheer, others don’t agree with the lifestyle it promotes.

“I don’t tan because it is unhealthy, expensive, and greatly increases your risk of getting skin cancer in the future,” senior Rachel Rutledge said. “Everyone is pale this time of the year, and making yourself stand out just looks stupid because everyone knows that it’s a fake tan.”

Even though shows like ‘Toddlers and Tiaras’ try to push off spray tanning as being the safest of all the options, recently Carolina’s Medical Center found that spray tanning has a chemical called Dihydroxyacetonem, also known as DHA, which, if inhaled in high amounts, can be carried into one’s bloodstream and cause asthma.

“While I understand that all types of tanning are dangerous, including tanning outside,

the long term risks of suntanning are lower,” Rutledge said. “I like to be tan in the summer, but during the winter I prefer to embrace my paleness.”

Tanning outside, also known as the “sunshine vitamin,” is often believed to be a healthier option for getting that glow on a persons skin, however, The Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine only recommends a viatmin D intake of 200 IU (UV rays) for kids under the age of 19 per day.

“I’ve been hearing people say I look like an Oompa Loompa, and they give me dirty looks when I’m cheering at games, but it doesn’t bother me too much,” Donovan said.

Just like every other issue, tanning has both a black and white side, and finding the grey can often times be hard because of people’s strong opinions for both. While this law is hindering some minors chances of getting tan whenever they feel like it, as long as everyone is aware of the side effects of tanning and one’s parents are OK, whether inside or outside, it’s simply just a personal choice.

| carolinefronczak

After Prom April 12, 2014 11:00 PM to 2:00 AM

INCREDIBOWL at 151st and Antioch still looking for vendor donations Any questions, contact Lisa by text 660-2776 or by email lisa58@abcglobal.net. I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Reminder: Juniors and Seniors check your email for an email regarding signing up for after-prom. You must register to attend. |18

Minimum Wage: Maximum Conflict creative commons photo courtesy of 401(K)

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r.

wiak-Mille

bella Boro

n by Iza illustratio

a change in the minimum wage could affect teens

T

he American workforce is extremely diverse. Different types of people making different incomes. Fast-food workers making the current minimum wage of $7.25 are pushing to raise it; however, raising it could have some negative impacts, especially for teenagers.

According to a study done in 2012 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1.3 million people earn minimum wage. More than half of those workers were between the ages of 16-24.

Teenagers and young people make up the majority of those earning minimum wage. They, however, are not raising their voices on the topic even though they could be severely affected if it is raised.

“If the minimum wage was raised we would definitely not have as many people in the workforce, especially the fast food industry,” sophomore Erica Good said. “Some businesses, like smaller family owned businesses especial-

ly, won’t be able to afford to pay as many employee as they have now.”

Good works two jobs, one paying minimum-wage and the other paying right above it.

“My employment would probably get terminated because I’m decently new to my jobs, and I have people that I work with who have gained enough respect from the boss that if it got to the point where the business had to let people go, they would be the last to leave,” Good said.

The U.S minimum wage has been raised 29 separate times, with the most recent increase happening in 2009, when it was raised to $7.25. The minimum wage was first instituted in 1938, when it was set at $0.25 by President Franklin Roosevelt.

The people against raising the minimum wage claim that a rise would force some employers to raise their product cost, and be much more selective when hiring. Teens could have a

20 | april 2014 | southwest | www.bvswnews.com | feature

tougher time finding work because of this.

“If the minimum wage is increased, a major downside is that this would discourage hiring of additional workers, especially younger and less-qualified workers,” Texas A&M University professor of economics Jeremy West said. “In my research study, I find that a higher minimum wage substantially reduces the number of workers that companies hire.”

The biggest thing pushing the argument for a raised minimum wage is that those currently making $7.25 an hour say they aren't making enough to live off of.

Forbes Magazine interviewed Karman Iverson, a 28-year-old women working in Kansas City, Missouri. Iverson works in the fast food industry in and makes Missouri’s minimum wage of $7.35 an hour, just over the federal wage.

Iverson explained to the magazine how it’s nearly impossible for her to survive and to feed her four kids. The only way to provide her children with food is $543 of food stamps.

However, teenagers looking for jobs to help out the family or to pay for college won’t have to worry about not making enough to live off of.

Other issues however could arise for teens if the minimum wage is raised.

“Increasing the minimum wage would likely make it harder for an individual student to get a job, both because of reductions in hiring and because there will be more applicants competing for each job opening,” West said.

Some people, however, will argue that raising the minimum wage would not affect employment at all. A study done by The Center For American Progress, claims that raising the minimum wage up from what it currently is

likely won't have an impact on employment at all. Its studies show that in the past, a raise in the minimum wage hasn't impacted the numbers of the unemployed.

The majority of students going through college face seemingly never-ending debt when they get their diploma. According to a study done by Project on Student Debt, 71 percent of college seniors were in debt when they graduated. A raised minimum wage could be helpful for students that are paying for the costs of a college tuition.

“I think the minimum wage should be raised, because although I don’t have bills and expenses to pay at the moment, I will when I go to college,”senior Mckenna Oldson said.

“With prices of restaurant food going up and gas, it’s using the minimal pay in my paychecks which doesn’t allow me to save much.”

Another argument by those opposed to raising the minimum wage is that jobs that pay minimum wage are entry-level positions and are not meant to make a living off of.

“Fast food jobs and jobs that pay minimum wage are not supposed to be made a career out of,” sophomore Corbett Oliver said. “The people currently making what the proposed minimum wage is would make as much as someone would make working at a fast food restaurant.”

Teens trying to save up for their future and single mothers trying to feed their kids. Both could be affected by a decision that may soon be made by those in charge in Washington. |michaelmagyar

Current Minimum Wage by State

photo by michael magyar information from The National Conference of State Legislatures

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22 | april 2014 | southwest | www.bvswnews.com | ads

OUT Photo by ananda bhatia.

I

f senior Alex Peuser walked through the halls and saw something he disagreed with, he would not be the person to just stand there and watch. He would be the person to change what was happening. And he attributes this fact to being comfortable with who he is.

“I look at what people do to themselves to try to fit in because that’s what they think they should do ... it’s hard to watch sometimes,” he said. “I’m happier than I’ve probably ever been, because I know what I want and I know how I’m going to get that and I know who I am.”

Alex believes “knowing who you are and knowing what you want will make you happiest.” For him, this involved becoming open in his sexuality, first with himself and then with the rest of the world.

students share their stories of coming out Freshman year is really interesting for everyone, Alex said, because that’s when “you learn what you want from life – the route that you’re going.” When his friends started what he called their “awkward freshman relationships,” Alex would give advice, but he was never in a relationship himself because he never wanted one. It was then that he started to question himself.

I’m not gay, he would tell himself. There will be a girl, and I will really like that girl.

I just haven’t found that girl that I really like.

But eventually, he realized this wasn’t the case.

“For me, coming out meant coming out to myself,” Alex said. “I had to accept it first.

Anyone who knows me well would say that I am very comfortable in my own skin, which is very

true. But at the same time, being gay was something I was not comfortable with for a long time.

[The] reassurance [from my support system] allowed me to really question whether or not I wanted to continue hating myself for something I could not change, or if I was willing accept me for me. I did choose to accept myself on the principle that it was society who shaped me to hate myself, because being gay is something that is different and misrepresented.”

According to pewsocialtrends.org, a majority of the members of the LGBT population says most of the people who are important to them know about this part of their life.

cont. to page 24. | 23

cont. from page 23.

LGBTQA Lesbian A homosexual woman.

Gay A homosexual person, usually used to describe men but may be used to describe women as well.

Bisexual A person who is emotionally, physically, and/or sexually attracted to more than one gender. Also called “bi.”

Transsexual A person who has undergone a sex change from male to female or from female to male.

Queer

An umbrella identity term encompassing anyone who does not strictly identify as heterosexual.

Asexual A person who has no sexual feelings or desires.

statistics courtesy of www.wcadv.org and pewsocialtrends.org.

24 | april 2014 | southwest | www.bvswnews.com | feature

The day Alex decided to tell someone, he asked for an acquaintance’s phone number and texted the same day “what is your opinion on [being gay in general]?” He said the friend responded with something along the lines of “it’s okay, you don’t have to tell me now ... I know.”

But while it went well for him, Alex said he is grateful that he wasn’t turned away from his friends like so many other people.

“That’s the biggest thing people don’t understand,” he said. “Yes, this person is gay, but they’re still the same person they’ve always been. They just told you something that you didn’t always know.”

Junior Molly Sharp was not as lucky at first.

Her best friend was completely fine with finding out Molly was pansexual in seventh grade — when it was private. But as soon as Sharp became more open, the friendship crumbled.

“She stopped talking to me because she didn’t want people to think that we were together,” Sharp said. “Do you like every guy you see?

No. I’m not going to like every girl I see.”

Instead, Sharp said that if somebody just comes out, don’t attack him or her with questions, because that’s a little intrusive, and don’t act different around him or her.

“It’s nice to know that there are people who are open,” she said. “I know that a lot of people struggle with coming out because people are so judgmental, and to know that there are people out is nice — that people aren’t scared to come out.”

In September 2010, journalist Dan Savage and his husband Terry Miller made a YouTube video in response to the number of kids taking their own lives after bullying at school. The video sparked a worldwide movement known as the It Gets Better project, where over 50,000 videos of students, friends and celebrities were created, telling LGBT youth that it does get better. Alex used to spend hours at night watching them.

“I try to be a very put together person, and showing emotion is something I don’t do often, but I remember watching those videos and just crying,” Alex said. “And it wasn’t because it was of sad things. There were people out there who were just like me, and they still ended up being

great human beings, and they still are, and that was probably the biggest reassuring thing — that it wasn’t just me.”

Senior Emmalee Herrick also shared her story online. One night while she was on Facebook, Herrick scrolled through her news feed to see extended family members creating anti-gay posts.

“My mom, my dad and I are kind of like the blue dot in our big red family,” Herrick said.

“And so I see all this stuff on Facebook, and I was just done with it. And so I just went on this huge Facebook rant about people who were just bashing on the LGBT community.”

In response, Emmalee decided to make her own Facebook post. The last line was “You know what, I’m gay, and I am certainly going to stick up for MY RIGHTS, not matter what you think.”

Herrick said she “didn’t grow two feet taller” and her hair didn’t “suddenly turn rainbow color.” Instead, she woke up the next morning and nothing had changed.

“People will judge you no matter what you do,” Herrick said. “They’ll judge you on the clothes you wear; they’ll judge on what you say, how you look. And as long as you don’t let them affect you and let them get inside your head, you just kind of have to be strong in who you are.

Because I know it’s hard to figure out who you are in high school and that’s the most difficult thing. High school’s pretty mean if you let it get the best of you.”

During Alex’s sophomore year, the theatre department performed the Laramie Project, a play based on the true story of college student Matthew Shepard who was brutally murdered for being gay. Alex played Jonas Slonaker, a middle-aged man who was outspoken about the tragedy and called for change, and Harry Woods, just slightly older, who was very surprised with the community and its ability to come together.

Both men were gay.

“The entire cast knew [I was gay] — whether they were okay with it or not, it didn’t matter,” Alex said. “[When performing I thought], ‘I can say this as a character and I can be fine.’

And when I saw the feedback people got from the school, it was just eye-opening to see that it didn’t matter that much. It was just easier to come out to the rest of the school.”

75

percent of LGBT young people say that most of their peers do not have a problem with their identity as LGBT

Spring semester. Alex sat with his mom, Elizabeth Peuser, in the car after a three hour play rehearsal. He began to tell her about his friend who had left home and was now missing.

She recently told her parents she was a lesbian, he said, and they basically disowned her as their child.

“I can’t even imagine how a parent can love their child for 17 years, and then just because their child is gay they no longer love her,” Elizabeth responded.

She asked if he knew any other students who were gay. Alex listed off a few names, one by one. “And me of course. I think you knew that already.”

“I think the hardest [part] would have been coming out to my family,” Alex said. “It was only hard because these are the people who are supposed to love you no matter what; these are the people who gave you the life you have, and want to see all of the milestones you hit along the way — coming out or being gay generally isn’t a milestone that most parents sketch into this plan. However, I can say that for as scary as it was, I always knew that my family would be supportive. In fact, if you asked my parents, they would say they knew the entire time; they were just letting me figure this one out on my own.”

Pewsocialtrends.org says that 59 percent of people who have told their mother about their sexual orientation or gender identity say it was difficult to share this information. However, of this group, the vast majority say it either made the relationship stronger (39 percent) or didn’t change the relationship (46 percent). Elizabeth wouldn’t say she was surprised to find out.

“I think I was a little sad knowing that he had lots of challenges ahead of him in life, as our society is not all acceptant of individuals that are gay,” Elizabeth said. “No parent wants to see their child face the evils of the world. [But] I am no longer sad for Alex. He is so strong and independent. He knows what he wants in life, and he will not let anything get in his way.”

Back in first grade, Alex once chose to work in a group with three girls, which caused some boys to walk over and make some comments, “basically [calling] him a girl.”

percent of LGBT young people say they are out to their close friends

77

percent of LGBT young people say they know things will get better

percent of LGBT young people say they are out to their classmates

16

90

64

the average age for gay or lesbian youth to come out

cont. to page 26.

percent of young people supported expanding hate crimes to cover gender identity and sexual orientation

95 | 25

cont. from page 25.

what to do if you want to help National Coming Out Day

Oct. 11

Celebrating coming out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or as an ally.

Day of Silence

April 11

Stay silent the entire day to call attention to the silencing effect of anti-LGBT bullying and harassment in schools.

Join GSA

Room 703

The Gay-Straight Alliance meets Thursday mornings at 8:15.

where to go if you need help It Gets Better Project

itgetsbetter.org

Mission: to communicate to LGBT youth around the world that it gets better, and to create and inspire the changes needed to make it better for them.

The Trevor Project

866-477-7386

Crisis intervention and suicide prevention for LGBTQ youth through call, chat, or text.

Online at thetrevorproject.org.

LGBT National Help Center Hotline

888-843-4464

Free and confidential telephone and internet peer-counseling, information and local resources for LGBTQ callers throughout the United States.

26 |

But in the parent-teacher conference later, Alex’s teacher told Elizabeth that she was so proud of him for saying he didn’t care what they thought and that the girls were his friends.

Alex said he always knew he was different, but he didn’t have a word to describe it. He “was not exposed to gay and what gay meant as a child, and therefore [he] did not fully understand it.”

When guidance counselor and Gay-Straight Alliance sponsor Kevin Halfmann was in high school, nobody talked about being gay.

Yet he later found out that several of his classmates were gay — including a good friend.

“Society kind of says that you’re not supposed to be different,” Halfmann said. “You’re not supposed to be different in all sorts of ways.

We’re all supposed to dress a certain way, act a certain way … so whenever we’re divergent from the group, it’s a little bit of a challenge.”

Halfmann says that humans respond to things on both an intellectual and emotional level. This means that even if a person has always been supportive of gay rights, he or she could still be taken back to find out a friend or family member is gay — he or she might just need time.

“I think ultimately, it comes down to this — that whether it’s right or wrong or you’re born that way or not born that way, whatever you believe — it’s still not okay to hurt other people,” he said.

Words from others can hurt, but Alex also said it’s hard to watch people hurt themselves.

He wishes he could tell people “you should stop getting in your head about what everyone thinks about you, because everyone’s thinking the same thing: they’re thinking about what other people are thinking of them.”

“As high schoolers, we get so caught up with what others think of us,” he said. “If we would just get out of our heads for a second and stop analyzing what people thought of us, we could all be so happy. We need to remember that what happens in high school and the perceptions that may follow us are not the end of the world.”

Looking back, Alex wishes he had realized a year sooner that being comfortable with yourself is the easiest way to make it through high school. Maybe now he’ll make his own videos for the It Gets Better Project, because he wants people to know that it does get better, and that they’re not alone.

“It’s not just you,” Alex said. “I think that needs to be more of a global statement, because not everyone can relate to being gay, but everyone can relate to being different.”

| anandabhatia

Freshman Aron begins journey to add Mandarin to Blue Valley curriculum

S

| bythenumbers

70 20 10

percent of students believe a Chinese class would be helpful percent of students think it could be useful percent of students think it wouldn’t be helpful

Stats from Rachel Aaron’s poll.

panish. French. Latin. These are the current language classes that are available in the Blue Valley School District, but freshman Rachel Aron hopes to change this by adding Chinese to the mix.

Since Aron was 5-years-old she has been learning to speak the Chinese language and believes it should be offered everywhere.

“Chinese is the most spoken language in the world,” Aron said. “We can’t stand by and ignore those people. It’s a beautiful language, besides that, and it’s a great thing to have in a workplace.”

Aron plans to present her idea of adding a Chinese language class by talking to Superintendent Dr. Tom Trigg by the time the year 2014 comes to an end. Topics that will be discussed at the meeting consist of why we need a Chinese speaking class, the curriculum that should be taught and potential teacher candidates for the job.

To Aron, being able to learn the Chinese language is an opportunity that every student should get the chance to speak.

“I wish that kids in Blue Valley could have the opportunity,” Aron said. “It’s not fair that we only have Spanish and French. I love Chinese and take it outside of school, but I think other students should be privileged enough to take it at their school.”

Aron hopes that whatever she decides to pursue in her life has

something to do with the Chinese language.

“I know whatever I do I will use it,” Aron said. “I might be a teacher in China or be a missionary. I was even thinking about writing Christian music in Chinese.”

Aron now takes classes at the KU Edwards Campus, instructed by Chang Liu. Aron hopes that if Chinese is added to the language department that Liu could be a teacher in the Blue Valley School District.

“Part of the reason I want to have a Chinese class is so that my teacher can work in Blue Valley and not have to move back to China,” Aron said.

Aron believes Liu is the best candidate for the job.

“She really works with you until you can get the accents and the tones right in the language,” Aron said.

“She has a great energy about her, and you can really tell she enjoys teaching her culture to others.”

Liu has lived in Kansas teaching, Mandarin Chinese for about three years. She has a bachelor’s degree in Mandarin Chinese as a second language. If Chinese is added, Liu hopes to support Aron’s plan by becoming a teacher in the district. No matter what the decision may be, Liu will continue teaching Mandarin Chinese.

“Teaching is very exciting to me,” Liu said. cont. to page 28.

| thesouthweststandard editor-in-chief grant laster

photo editor sam billman

adviser heather lawrenz

managing editor mariem towakoli

features editor ananda bhatia

photographers ciara murphy izabella borowiak-miller

web editor caroline fronzcak news editor caroline fronzcak

opinion editor nicole becker special sections editor lauren stone

staff writers margo johnson michael magyar lexi tarter lillie hoffart

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

Letters should be submitted to room 118 emailed to bvswnews@gmail.com or mailed: The Southwest Standard c/o Blue Valley Southwest High School 17600 Quivira Overland Park, KS 66085 The Southwest Standard also encourages guest photography.

news | www.bvswnews.com | southwest | april 2014 | 27

cont. from page 27.

“I like interacting with my students and seeing my students have an interest in exploring the Chinese culture.”

Liu says that teaching Chinese can sometimes become very challenging.

“It’s hard sometimes to differentiate in the classroom with my students,” Liu said. “Some students have more experience than others, and it’s hard to make different levels of the teaching with the same content.”

Liu also hopes to gain more students like Aron who are so enthusiastic about the culture.

“I love teaching Rachel and watching her progress so quickly,” Liu said. “She is really good at initiating the tones of the language. She is always very creative of using the language.”

Learning Chinese can be very difficult because there are four tones. The first tone is flat, the second is rising, the third is down and up and the fourth is falling.

Each line in the writing of the

28 |

language is called a stroke and each one has a name. Mandarin can be very difficult to learn because of all of the rules of the language as well.

Aron believes no matter how difficult it may be, the culture and the language should be available for Blue Valley students to learn about.

“I’ve wanted to add Chinese to the schools for a long time now, but just recently had the idea to do something about it,” Aron said. “I love the language and the culture, and I want to share it with people that haven’t experienced it.”

| mariemtowakoli

Should Blue Valley have a Chinese language class?

Scan the QR code to vote.

ads | www.bvswnews.com | southwest | april 2014 | 29

Senior Andrew Woods has been practicing various trapeze positions and moves since he started five months ago. “When I [first] got on [the trapeze], it was weird, but you can get the hang of it pretty quick,� he said.

Photos by Ciara Murphy

H

anging by a thread

senior Andrew Woods performs tricks on the trapeze 30 | april 2014 | southwest | www.bvswnews.com | feature

Don’t fall, senior Andrew Woods thinks to himself. With his hands and feet firmly situated on the metal bar suspended ten feet above the ground, this thought preoccupies Andrew’s mind as he prepares himself to perform his next trick.

Using the support of only two ropes hanging from the ceiling, he crosses his leg over a rope and uses the strength of his abdomen to hoist himself up and over the bar. As he stares down at the ground, his brain flickers with thoughts of an agonizing fall that would result in him meeting the mat with a hard smack. However, Andrew’s nervousness is overshadowed by his confidence, and he successfully flips himself up, extending his legs vertically, adjacent to the rope. Satisfied with his performance, a sigh of relief overcomes him.

EARLY BEGINNINGS

Woods has become accustomed to heights and the possibility of hard falls since he has been performing tricks on the trapeze for five months now. Woods began attending classes at Lucia Aerial Performing Arts at Town Center Plaza in the fall after being introduced to it through his mother, Wendy Woods, and his sister, Blue Valley High freshman Brookelle Thomas. Both of them perform on the trapeze and on other aerial apparatuses.

“At first I thought [trapeze] was going to be stupid (because I don’t really want to say that it’s for girls) but it’s not,” Andrew said. “Guys can do it, too. [Brookelle and Wendy] kept asking me to do it, and I was like, ‘No.’ But then I ended up going, and it was actually really fun.”

After two months of learning tricks and perfecting his technique on the trapeze, Andrew was approached with the opportunity to perform doubles trapeze, meaning he would be working with another trapeze student. While he enjoyed singles trapeze, he found that it wasn’t something he was too committed to, and he would sporadically attend classes on and off. However, after he started practicing doubles trapeze with his new partner, Liberty High senior Madi Mathews, he discovered that he really loved the activity.

“When my mom came to me, and I hadn’t been going to classes for a while, she was like, ‘Madi needs partner,’ and I was like, ‘Who’s Madi, and what are you talking about?” Andrew said. “She told me about partnering for trapeze, so I decided to give it a try and ended up liking it. [Doubles is] a lot more fun because it’s more interactive with people instead of just doing tricks up in the air.”

do something, it doesn’t take any time at all for him to pick it up. I think the thing that I was worried about more than anything with Andrew was the fact that he was going to have another person he was going to have to not drop. His biggest concern was that he was going to drop Madi. Thankfully he didn’t, and I don’t think he will. He is very cautious.”

Andrew said that one of his favorite components of trapeze is that he gets to work a different group of muscles than a typical athlete regularly uses. Along with attending trapeze class once a week, twice a month he takes a two hour aerial conditioning class, where he does circuit training strength exercises to build the immense abdominal and arm strength that is needed to perform on the trapeze.

“It’s all really difficult,” Andrew said. “Some of the guys will be like, ‘Yeah, I can do [trapeze] easily; it’s just like doing pull-ups.’ But if you go to a conditioning class, I bet you it’s harder than your weights class. It takes a whole other group of muscles that you’ll use.”

FAMILY AFFAIR

Participating in trapeze is a unique activity for Andrew, as it is an interest he shares with his family. After seeing a trapeze show during a family vacation in Branson, the whole Woods family sparked an interest in aerial performing. Wendy and Brookelle both perform on the trapeze and silks, and Brookelle also has experience in lyra, which involves performing tricks on a large hoop. Wendy’s oldest children, twins Chris and Leah Woods, 19, also occasionally perform on the trapeze and lyra, respectively.

cont. on to page 32.

Woods hangs from the trapeze bar using only the strength in his toes. “You need a lot of strength,” he said. “It does take some endurance because you have to hold yourself on the bar with your legs for most of the time, and then you have to hold your partner in the air for the rest of the time.”

Photo by Ciara Murphy

LEARNING THE TECHNIQUE

Andrew assumes the catcher position when performing with Madi.

As a catcher, Andrew switches into different positions in order to hold Madi while she is performing tricks. While Andrew said that Madi now trusts him not to drop her, the trust had to be built over the course of their practices.

“Andrew is a quick learner,” Wendy said. “When he’s taught how to

| 31

cont. from page 31.

“When [the activity is] something that everyone enjoys and everyone is into, then it’s just something that’s easy to do,” Wendy said. “With my kids, with anything they do, I ask that they give it a try and stick with it as long as they’re enjoying it. The key to fitness and staying healthy is to find activities you enjoy doing, so we like trapeze and some of the other aerial apparatuses. If you enjoy doing it, you should keep doing it, and that’s what I ask my kids to do.”

While Wendy and Brookelle have more experience in aerial apparatuses, as they have been performing on them for around two years, Andrew has enjoyed growing his skills alongside his family. Their shared interest in aerial apparatuses has allowed to them to bond.

“I usually don’t [perform] with him, but I love being able to talk to him about [it] now because he always used to be like, ‘Oh no, that’s for girls,’ and I’d be like, ‘It’s not; you can do it,’” Brookelle said. “But now that he’s doing it, it’s really fun to see him grow and see him learn with me and my mom.”

PROSPECTIVE PERFORMANCES

Brookelle’s longtime involvements in aerial apparatuses lead her to joining the Lucia Aerial Performance Company, which consists of 18 students and professionals who perform at events such as charities and the Crossroads District’s First Fridays. While Andrew hasn’t had quite the experience to join the performance company yet, he said that that is a goal of his in the future.

“One of the things about being in the Lucia Aerial Performance Company that is unique is that their membership in the company is not based on skill alone,” Andrew’s trapeze instructor and Lucia Aerial Performing Arts founder and owner Jenny Prohaska said. “They also must show strong character and support others in being better artists. They must also maintain a positive and healthy attitude toward each other.”

On March 7-8, the Lucia Aerial Performance Company put on a performance called ‘Aria Coda’ at the Kansas City Ballet Bolender Center. The show included acts of all apparatuses, including both singles and doubles trapeze, silks, contortion, rope, handloop, lyra and dance pieces. The show focused on the transitions as the day progresses, beginning with a frozen morning and ending with dusk and then nightfall. Brookelle and two other performers opened the show with a routine on the trapeze. cont. to www.bvswnews.com.

| margojohnson

32 |

Top: Senior Andrew Woods pushes his foot off the bar and flips himself, while he grips onto the ropes to hold himself up.

Bottom: Woods situates his right leg in a rope for support and drapes his back over the bar.

Photos by Ciara Murphy

Aria coda

Top: A silks performer wraps her legs around the silks and does the splits, while she bends her head to touch her leg and holds onto the silk to support herself in midair. Middle left: A contortionist stretches her legs outwards as two other contortionists each rest one leg on her and extend the other vertically. Middle: Brookelle Thomas looks down at the stage and elongates her leg adjacent to the trapeze rope. Middle right: Two lyra performers display a duet, as one performer sits on the top of the lyra and the other performer drapes her back over the lyra and bends one leg upwards.

Bottom left: A silks performer wraps her left leg in the silk for support as she grabs on to her foot. Bottom right: A contortionist bends her leg over her head and presses her nose to her right ankle, as she extends her left leg diagonally.

Photos by Izabella Borowiak-Miller

| 33

Intelligence: more than just a letter H

unched over a textbook, caffeine in hand, the student glances up from his or her frantic writing to read the clock: 12:30 a.m. Sleep threatens to take over.

The choices are clear: suffer the loss of sleep temporarily or sacrifice the grade for the semester.

All the stress lies in these collections of tests and assignments. All the pressure determines the student’s future and value. All the frustration, just for the reward of a single letter, which symbolizes all of one’s intelligence.

Society is endlessly evolving into a competitive environment in which a student’s future depends on the type of grades he or she gets and the activities in which he or she is involved.

Colleges are constantly searching for the well rounded student with the “it” factors. This includes maintaining straight A’s, holding a leadership position in school, being involved in activities and scoring highly on standardized tests. If lacking those specific characteristic, brilliant and fully capable students don’t receive the recognition that they deserve.

“Now a days, if you don’t have a 4.0 [GPA] or score a 32 on your ACT, you’re not gonna get any scholarship money,” senior Lauren Zahner said. “You might get into the college that you want to get into, but the scholarship money is really where it counts, because that’s what allows you to be able to go to school because college is really expensive. So, people will work their butts off and they might not be capable of quite getting the scores and grades they need, which leaves them ‘high and dry’ even though they are good students.”

In reality, the grading system doesn’t eliminate all of variables to solely be measuring one’s intelligence.

It also measures the work ethic of the person, quality of the teacher, amount of free time and financial situation.

However, college admission boards may fail to recognize those variables when all they see is a piece of paper with a class list and corresponding letter grade in front of them.

Grades do not accurately represent one’s intelligence. Intelligence is too complex of a characteristic to be accurately represented by a single letter.

“Grades represent how much you participate in class and how much effort you give,” freshman Mckenzie Weber said. “A lot of times smart people don’t turn in their work and not so smart people ­– not being mean here – will turn in their work and get the better grade.”

the current grading system fails to exhibit the full intelligence of students

34 | april 2014 | southwest | www.bvswnews.com | opinion

photo by Nicole Becker.

staff vote Does the current grading system accurately represent intelligence?

yes - 2 no - 8 your vote Go online to bvswnews. com to cast your vote for this month’s editorial question. Read other student responses and comment on the editorial.

Make your voice heard at www. bvswnews. com. or mention us on twitter @bvswnews

According to the Oxford Dictionary, intelligence is the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills. However, the focus of school is not about gaining knowledge and skills, but about regurgitating information.

Students may obtain skills to study and take tests, but that doesn’t help them outside of school and in the real world.

Students are not learning for the sake of learning, but rather are learning to receive a grade that determines their future.

Students may spend hours learning information and then forget it as soon as the grade is given. That is time wasted. Learning information needs to be replaced by the gaining knowledge.

“In some classes I love learning about the subject, but others I just do it [the work] for a grade,” freshman Reese Crawford said. “It’s not that I don’t understand what we’re learning, it’s just that it won’t stick. I like classes where there’s a lot more hands on activities and less of just checking to see if you did the work. I would rather have things that show you know the information instead of just checking for points in the grade book.”

School should be a place that students love going to and exploring new subjects.

Instead, students cheer at every snow day or break that they can get from school.

The pressure from grades is often mistaken for a dislike of learning. The sole purpose of school is so that people may be educated, which is a prized opportunity not to be wasted.

However, many people don’t appreciate the opportunity that they’re given because of the stress that is incorporated in it.

“When I get stressed, it really makes me dislike school because I put more focus in the grades than actually about what I learn,” Zahner said.

Some people may argue that the characteristics needed in a student to get good grades are also desirable characteristics for an employee. Organization, ability to communicate, motivation and curiosity are traits that fit a quality employee and also often fit a “straight A” student.

Other people may argue that this is the only system that can measure students’ capability and motivate them to learn.

“I feel like it [the current grading system] is the only way to keep track of progress in a class, but I think focusing on the why someone earned a certain grade is important,” sophomore Swetha Jasti said.

“The numbers give us a chart and way to see if as a student we understand what we’re being given in the class.”

However, other countries have measured more success without the use of a grading system similar to the United States. Finland ranks first in education around the world.

According to Smithsonian Magazine, “There are no mandated standardized tests in Finland, apart from one exam at the end of students’ senior year in high school.

There are no rankings, no comparisons or competition between students, schools or regions.”

Finland offers smaller schools and more personal interaction between students and teachers. Rather than focusing on a competitive drive among students, Finnish education systems focus on the equality of students and ensuring that every child has equal opportunity to a quality education.

Recently, the College Board decided to reconsider the approach in creating the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). Previously, people have argued that SAT scores don’t measure aptitude, but measure how well a person can study for aptitude tests.

College Board president David Cole-

man believes the SAT needs reformation.

By cutting redundant vocabulary words, stopping the penalty for incorrect guesses and making the essay optional, Coleman hopes to make the test centered more around applying skills and evidence-based thinking.

The College Board is realizing changes that need to be made within its program.

Likewise, the rest of the United States’ grading systems should look for similar changes.

The United States should adjust its education to a system with less comparison between students. Similar to the SAT’s path, students need to be measured for how they apply knowledge and skills instead of how well they can take tests and study.

Smaller classes should be offered at school. Teachers need to interact with each student as an individual. The teacher should know the student’s strengths and weaknesses and adjust his or her teaching to assist in his or her needs. Students need to be given more hands-on activities and assignments that show they know the information rather than just doing the work.

“My ideal learning environment would probably be where a teacher cares more about what I learn than what type of grade I get,” Zahner said. “Because if I fail a test, it’s not because I didn’t study, it’s because I really didn’t know the material. I want an environment where the people I’m surrounded by want to learn just as much as I do and the teachers care more about what I actually know versus how much I measure up on the grading scale.” | nicolebecker

#BeatFinland Every three years, students internationally take the Program for International Students Assessment (PISA) to measure the educational success of individual nations. Blue Valley continuously encourages students to beat high ranked Finland with its test results. In 2012 PISA testing, Finland ranked sixth in math, second in science and third in reading. However, Blue Valley cannot realistically hope to beat Finland when the educational systems are so contrasting.

In Finland...

75 minutes of recess is standard in elementary schools 93%

7

year olds are the youngest to enroll in school

of students graduate college

16 student

limit in science classrooms

1 standardized test is mandatory throughout school 30 minutes statistics courtesy of www.workinfinland.com.

maximum of nightly homework | 35

Graphic by Ciara Murphy.

36 | april 2014 | southwest | www.bvswnews.com | feature

iMusic

students write and perform their own music

A

walk down the performing arts hall after school will reveal music students taking over nearly all of the practice rooms, the sound of voices and instruments spilling out into the corridor. They sing, strum and study page after page of sheet music in preparation for an upcoming performance or audition. For most, listening to and playing music is merely a pastime, but three students are taking their passion for music up a level by not only appreciating music, but by creating it as well.

cont. to page 38.

| 37

Photos by Ciara Murphy.

S

enior Johnny Tapp’s life has revolved around music for as long as he can remember. He began to sing while still extremely young, took up piano at the age of four and finally began to play the guitar while he was in the fifth grade.

However, it wasn’t until he was an eighth grader that he began to write his own music.

On Jan 1, his years of songwriting paid off when his single “Holding Back” was released onto iTunes.

“It was a goal of mine to just get on iTunes,” Johnny said.“Not even for money or for people to notice me, it was just a goal of mine to have my stuff out there for the first time. I’ve always wanted to have my stuff be heard, so when I finally had the opportunity to record and get something up that was worthwhile I thought that it was a great chance.”

Despite getting recognition for his song now, Johnny hasn’t always had his music on display for his friends and family to hear.

“Well, Jonathan is very private and honestly I did not realize he was actually writing songs,” mother Diana Tapp said. “I would hear him play some songs on the guitar — bits and pieces — but never a complete piece. When he finished up this summer with his song, that was actually the first time I had heard it. Needless to say, I thought it was brilliant, but I am his mother.”

Ratings and reviews online for Johnny’s song have been positive, as has the feedback he has personally received from classmates, but he is still being realistic about the response to his song.

“A lot of people have said really nice things,” Johnny said. “So I’m glad to hear that they’re enjoying it. And if people don’t enjoy it, that’s the business; I can’t expect everyone to like it. I think, from what I can tell, that people are being genuine with me. I haven’t had anyone tell me it was bad yet, but I’m sure it will come.”

Tapp’s Top Ten

38 |

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

“Stop this Train”

by

John Mayer

“Feels Like Rain”

by

Buddy Guy

“I’ve Got a Woman” “She is Love”

by

by

Ray Charles

Parachute

“Drops of Jupiter”

by

Train

Regardless of what people say about his song, Johnny has the support of family to help him continue pursuing music.

“I let him stay in Tennessee with my family so he could work with my brother-in-law to record his current song on iTunes,” Diana said. “He and I realize what a rare and wonderful opportunity it was for him to work alongside some of the best musicians in the music industry. It also gave him insight to see how difficult the music business actually is.”

With this new insight, Johnny has given advice to others who are passionate about music and are thinking about pursuing it.

“If anyone wants to do music, that’s what they should do,” Johnny said. “And if it’s really what they want to do, they won’t care about the money necessarily because there’s not much money in it unless you make it big.

You’ve got to be there for your art. So if that’s what you want to do, I fully support that.”

Johnny’s ten favorite songs for musical inspiration

6. “The Luckiest” by Ben Folds Wrote a Novel” by The Trouble 7. “Iwith Templeton 8. “Run to You” by Pentatonix 9. “Fix You” by Coldplay 10. “I Can Only Imagine” by Mercy Me

Photos by Lauren Stone.

W

hile other musicians spend their free time strumming at a guitar like an up-and-coming Taylor Swift or writing rhyme after rhyme in order to become the newest Kayne West, senior Natalya Vrana expresses her musical ability a bit differently.

Vrana took up playing the clarinet in the fifth grade after she was encouraged by her mother to join band. Two years later, her music teacher then pushed her to begin composing her own pieces.

“In seventh grade I had a clarinet teacher who did a lot of jazz music so he pushed learning to improvise a lot,” Vrana said. “A part of that was he wanted me to compose one piece every week. It didn’t have to be long or anything, so I composed duets and little

F

or most students, playing an originally composed violin piece in front of their school just isn’t in the cards, but for sophomore Jack Conners, this was something that he accomplished when he was only a sixth grader.

When he was in the fifth grade, he took up playing piano and violin. Less than a year later, he began composing his own works to display his love of music.

“I actually wrote a piece for the violin in the summer before sixth grade,” Conners said. “And at that time I had been writing

songs in a certain key. Then I started arranging when I hit high school and then started composing stuff whenever I was bored.”

Just like any other art form out there, composing music comes with a few challenges that the composer must overcome in order to finish his or her piece.

“Just getting started is the hardest part,” Vrana said. “Once I have something started I can usually work on it more. The hard part is just getting everything rolling. And I don’t get inspired by anything in particular. There’s just certain times where I really feel like I want to be doing it, and sometimes something comes out of it, but sometimes there’s nothing at all.”

However, simply because Vrana isn’t writ-

ing songs that are likely to end up on a top 40 radio station, doesn’t mean that she doesn’t have an appreciation for a wide variety of music. “[I’ll listen to] really anything,” Vrana said. “I have just a huge variety of music and it’s hard for me to find something that I don’t particularly like.”

She also sees the significance of music in day to day life, whether it be unwinding at home or helping bring her together with friends in the music department. “[Music is] pretty important in my life,” Vrana said. “It really helps when I’m stressed.

The people in the music groups here are just really great people, and I’ve gotten a lot of friends from it.”

a lot of music and that song was one of my favorites. So in the sixth grade talent show I decided to play it with one of my teachers, which was a really fun experience.”

However, Conners wasn’t able to experience this event without overcoming what he believes to be the biggest obstacle in composing.

“Just getting all of the songs to kind of flow and sound right is the hardest part of composing,” Conners said. “As for the easiest, well, I use computer software while I compose so it’s not like I’m writing out all of

the songs by hand.”

Everyone needs support in his or her hobbies, and Conners says that he receives this support from his closest friends and family, trusting them to give him their opinions on how his music is shaping up.

“Sometimes, while I’m writing my music, I play it for my friends and family and they tell me how it sounds, mostly giving me good feedback about everything,” Conners said.

“They’re very supportive like that.” | laurenstone

Scan to listen to Johnny’s song “Holding Back” on iTunes.

| 39

40 | april 2014 | southwest | www.bvswnews.com | ads

robotics

students design, build and program robots for competitions

W

elcome to the only sport where the players on the field have no control over their actions and display no signs of fear, excitement or interest.

The MCC Business & Technology Campus is filled with hundreds of screaming fans rapidly waving signs for their favorite team. Others navigate through tides of people to grab food from the concessions stand before they miss any of the action. But the players are complete-

ly oblivious to all of the people depending on them, all of those who came to watch them. In fact, they aren’t even human. Welcome to the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC).

Game Overview All over the world, students compete in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition in Science and Technology) robotics program, where

teams have six weeks to design, build and program robots that will compete in a challenge against robots from other teams.

The FRC is trademarked as a “Sport for the Mind;” its founder, Dean Kamen, formed FIRST after “realizing that the way to get kids interested in science and technology would be to give them a sport to succeed in.”

cont. to page 42.

feature | www.bvswnews.com | southwest | april 2014 | 41

cont. from page 41.

“America, and by extension its youth, celebrates popular culture — professional athletes, musicians, and Hollywood celebrities,” Kamen said in the Huffington Post. “As a result, young people aspire to emulate their idols. If kids looked at Nicola Tesla or Bill Gates the way they look at LeBron James and Tom Brady, then I guarantee that our students’ enthusiasm for math and science would match their passion for Little League and Pop Warner.”

At the beginning of January, each robotics team across the globe watches a NASA-broadcasted video that explains what the robots will have to be able to do at the competition that year. This year, the challenge was called Aerial Assist. The objective was for the main robot to launch a ball into either low or high goals within a two and a half minute time frame.

Seven students from Southwest help comprise the total team of about 65 people at CAPS known as the Metal Mustangs. At the Greater KC Regional on March 13-15, the team made it to the final elimination round and won the Judges’ Award, which, according to FIRST, is based on a “team’s unique efforts, performance, or dynamics merit recognition” during the competition.

Player Profile: Mickey Van Horn Freshman Mickey Van Horn used to build pretty much everything, from little model cars and spaceships to solar-powered devices sold in kits at a mom and pop coffee shop. He always had containers and containers of Lego’s, so when he saw that his friend’s older brother was using them to build a working machine, he decided to join First Lego League (FLL) himself.

In FLL, students use Lego’s to build robots that compete in small competitions. Van Horn’s team consisted of five people, including freshman Abby Fry. The team built Van Horn’s favorite robot, known as Tank Bot, when he was in fourth grade.

“That was my pride and joy,” Van Horn said. “I was with that robot from start to finish. We’d always used traditional wheels, [but] that year I finally got my wish and got to use treads.”

At FLL competitions, Van Horn remembers him and his teammates leaving with their shirts completely covered with stickers and buttons that other teams would make; at FLL meetings, he recalls working in a teammate’s basement as the mom brought down homemade snacks. But even though FRC involves

Top left: The Metal Mustangs make last-minute adjustments to the robot before the first round begins at the Greater KC Regional. Bottom left: The team starts to enter the ring for the first round. “It’s not that dramatic or anything,” junior Mat Orzechowski said. “It’s just fun.”

designing

building

diagramming the robot on a computer program

assembling the robot using the design templates

42 |

Top: The Metal Mustangs, team 2410, takes the ball as the blue alliance attempts to steal it. Bottom left: Teammates cheer on their robots during the competition. Bottom right: The finished robot, Bullseye, in a photo shoot.

Photos by Izabella Borowiak-Miller and submitted by juniors Mat Orzechowski and Wes Caldwell.

programming coding the robot so it can be given commands to move

over 60 people and provides him with access to loads of heavy machinery, he said the transition from the middle school to the high school program didn’t feel much different.

“It’s different, but yet it’s still the same, because I’m still working on a team,” Van Horn said. “I’m still with people I don’t mind hanging out with; I still am doing the same thing I did with those people in the basement, but on a bigger scale.”

Van Horn said the biggest challenges include when there is a problem with an unknown source, so the team has to change everything else to adhere to the problem. However, at the same time, robotics has taught him how to move past challenges. “[I’ve learned to] accept other people’s ideas if you want to succeed,” Van Horn said. “Robotics is not just about learning about machinery and stuff like that. You learn a lot about how to be a good teammate. I’ve learned a lot of life lessons that you couldn’t really learn anywhere else.”

Van Horn explained that robotics is “the thing for you if you aren’t an athlete” — he said one of the team members is handicapped, but in the sport of robotics, he is at no disadvantage. “[It’s] not just a bunch of nerds sitting in front of computers and building things; it’s not just focused on one type of person,” Van Horn said.

“You’ve got your weirdish people, really outgoing people, people who play lots of sports, book nuts — little bit of everybody in there. Nothing’s weird in robotics; no one’s weird in robotics — we’re all weird in a way, but that’s what keeps us all together.”

Van Horn plans on majoring in mechanical engineering at the University of Kansas and then owning a company that he can apply his degree to. Following the FIRST team spirit, he said his goal for the last competition was to “beat all the other teams with gracious professionalism.”

cont. to page 44.

managing advertising, searching for sponsors and scholarships, making buttons, writing papers to enter competitions (done by a PR, or public relations, team) | 43

competition robots An inside look at some of the robots that competed at the KC Regional

Match 22: Robot 1785 • In the Blue Alliance • Team Members: 2410 & 2353 • Scored 54 points • No Fouls Match 22: Robot 2410 • In the Blue Alliance • Team Members: 1785 & 2353 • Scored 54 Points • No Fouls

Match 22: Robot 3528 • In the Red Alliance • Team Members: 937 & 5126 • Scored 133 points • 70 Foul Points Match 22: Robot 2353

Read coach profile of Dan Ritter and player profile of junior Wes Caldwell at www.bvswnews.com.

44 |

• In the Blue Alliance • Team Members: 2410 &1785 • Scored 54 • No Fouls

Player Profile: Zach Tolar Junior Zach Tolar is just now considering a career in mechanical or nuclear engineering, but he’s always had an interest in the field.

After graduating from FLL with juniors Jacob Hegna and Mat Orzechowski, he knew FRC was the next step. Now, “you can’t make him decide” what his favorite power tool is — “it’s like asking what’s your favorite kid” — and he loves the team mottoes, which are “the beatings will continue until morale improves” and “measure with micrometer, mark with sharpie and cut with axe.”

“We don’t actually beat anyone, obviously — our coach, Mr. Ritter, is known for his very straight-forward coaching and discipline tactics,” he said. “The cut with axe one is pretty true. We spend a lot of time designing, a bit less time setting up our materials, and even less manufacturing. We do end up with a lot of mistakes and parts that were incorrectly made.

But none the less we still get the job done.”

He said he’s learned a lot about CAD software, machines, design process and teamwork, but the team still argues a lot because there are so many different ideas; in the forming stages, if someone thinks he or she has good ideas but everyone votes for a different one, it can be hard to let that idea go.

“I feel like we’re not necessarily one big family, because there are lots of new people that not everyone necessarily knows,” Tolar said. “During lunch we sit in our friend groups, but when we’re together there’s definitely a team pride, especially at competitions.”

Tolar said the competitions are very exciting, with the spectators in the stands cheering on their teams and alliances. There’s lots of noise, and by the end of the day no one can talk.

“It’s very friendly,” Tolar said. “ You can just go up to people you don’t even know and just say ‘hi, I want to start a conga line.’ I’m not even kidding: [one year] they were playing ‘Cotton-Eyed Joe,’ and you know, being in Kansas, we all did the classic Kansas farmer thing [dance], and it turns out everyone else in the stands from other teams, from around the region, that we don’t even know, came down and they start doing it with us. We get a whole line of people doing that dance. It was really fun; it’s just a big robotics family.” |anandabhatia

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G N I R P S eak r B oss el acr v a r t nts stude cation a over v

orld

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SPring BReak Memories Mexico Seniors Jake Reed, Ellen Winkel, Kayla Gruenhaupt, Ryan Price and Connor Phillips traveled to Mexico. photo submitted by Ryan Price

Arizona ADventure

Seniors Amanda Creason, Nikki Lynch and Kate McCrossen spent half of their break exploring Arizona before coming back to participate in varsity soccer practice for the school. photo submitted by Kate McCrossen

St Patricks Day Parade Also staying in Kansas, senior Mckenna Olson went downtown to partake in St. Patrick’s Day festivities and see the annual parade with her family and friends. photo submitted by Mckenna Olson

Gulf Shore

Takeover Heading south, seniors Zach Case, Tristan Locke, Jack Ayres and Andy Lindsey enjoyed their break on the beaches of Alabama. photo submitted by Tristan Locke

Colorado

Staycation

Senior Meagan Barclay and boyfriend Tristan Russell spent three days snowmobiling and tubing in the mountains.

Although seniors Grace Wood and Callie Hoctor stayed in Kansas for spring break they enjoyed the weather and hung out with friends.

photos submitted by Meagan Barclay

photo submitted by Grace Wood

Coolness

Theater and Choir take NYC By Storm Theater director Dan Schmidt took over 50 kids to New York City for five days, seeing multiple Broadway shows including Book of Mormon and Heathers. They also did some sightseeing, while staying at Top of the Rock hotel. photos submitted by Amanda Miller

46 | april 2014 | southwest | www.bvswnews.com | special sections

CUL TURE Fes TIv al |sambillman | 47

Top left: Students help themselves to authentic Chinese rice.

Bottom right: Junior Charlotte Davis tries on a traditional Chinese robe used for dance. Top right: Participants in the culture festival pose for a group photo. Bottom left: Juniors Zobia Morani, Ananda Bhatia, Alyssa Yarbrough and Jamie Rickert pose before performing a Bollywood Dance.

48 | april 2014 | southwest | www.bvswnews.com | news