Southwest Standard Issue 1

Southwest

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Vol. 3 Issue 1 August 2012 Overland Park, Kansas

Teen-created concert raises money for American Red Cross Pg. 4

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ThisMonth: August

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first day of school

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5 p.m. debate parent meeting 7 p.m. fall sport’s meet the coach night

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6:30 p.m. back-to-school night

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7 a.m. & 3 p.m. KAY meeting

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7 a.m. SNHS meeting

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4:30 p.m. debate late night 7 p.m. varsity football game vs Washington

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Editor’sNote:

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by meg huwe editor-in-chief

urn to the front cover of this newspaper right now and scan for a significant change. Did you look? Did you look closely?

If you noticed something was off about the cover page — kudos to you. If you didn’t notice, you’re either unobservant or you didn’t know what it was you needed to look for.

For the past two years, our school paper has been called The Frontier, but as seen on the front cover, we now have decided to take on its new and improved name as the Southwest Standard.

I will admit, it’s not technically protocol for a newspaper to go change its name after two years of existence. However, the original name has never represented who our staff is as a whole.

Yes, when our school opened it was a frontier of sorts. We had to learn how to adjust to a new setting with new people. In Room 118 we had to create a newspaper with no precedent.

Our creation began the summer before Southwest’s opening when our staff met to vote on the paper. Those persons voting on our name just happened to chose The Frontier. Many of them also happened to leave within the first semester.

As a result we were stuck with a name that didn’t even represent the staff who actually remained. After two years of tolerating it (barely), an executive decision was made that we didn’t need to uphold such an ill-fitting name.

It was with our standards that we were able to produce a newspaper each month with such a small staff, and in turn it was our standards that achieved an All Kansas 2012 newspaper title. (Not an easy feat I might add).

So with the frontier behind us, we will move forward and continue to deliver you a strong and informative newspaper both online and in print.

*Cover photo: Rapper Chase Compton performs at RedRock KC. Photo submitted

by Adrienne Taylor.

OnlineEdition: Summer Debate

Learn about the camp that educates incoming and returning debaters about the upcoming year.

Movie Impacts Violence Read one writer’s take on the debate over whether or not movies really impact violence.

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Look At Journalism One Check out some of the stories written by Southwest’s own journalism students.

Take a Poll Vote online for what the best movie was that came out this summer.

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#PrayforKelsey

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Following surgery a student receives support from friends and family

Following Kelsey Worley’s surgery her swim team created swim caps in her honor. Her teammates wore the caps at meets to show support for her while she recovered. Photo submitted by Cindy Worley.

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by anna welch special sections editor

lmost a month into the summer before her senior year, Kelsey Worley started to complain of an earache. She was treated for an ear infection and given antibiotics and proceeded with her carefree summer.

However as this infection worsened, Worley requested to visit several more doctors. All of them agreed it was only an ear infection and sent her home.

While others were fretting about getting senior pictures taken and trying to decide what college to go to, Worley’s utmost concern became the infection that had spread into her brain from these ear infections.

She underwent two surgeries to drain the fluid in her brain, and now has a long road ahead for recovery. She is quickly moving along and will still be able to graduate in the spring with the rest of her class.

While Worley became stronger each day, she also has the support of her friends, family and a whole school both on Facebook and a Twitter account called @PrayforKelsey.

“A few days after Kelsey had been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit, I was on Twitter and noticed people hash tagging PrayforKelsey,” Southwest graduate Danielle Chadbourne said. “I decided to create a Twitter called PrayforKelsey and instantly got over 200 followers.

The Twitter account is meant for people to be updated on how Kelsey is doing and get her story out there. I have even had some famous country singers retweet me.”

Not only has a Twitter account been made for Worley, but a neighbor decided she deserved a new iPad and practically raised the money overnight.

“When I heard what had happened to Kelsey I felt terrible knowing such a amazing person had to go through something like this,” Southwest graduate Wyatt Brown said.

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“I thought it would be awesome if we could all donate and get Kelsey something she would never expect. It felt awesome knowing we were able to all donate and bring a smile to her face after all she had been through.”

The support from Worley’s friends has showed through her improvement everyday.

Worley isn’t the only one who needs the support. Her family has been by her side every minute and love when they see a friend stop by or to see their neighbor give Kelsey an iPad. “The doctors, nurses and therapists were all amazed at the speed of Kelsey’s progress.

Everyone who has helped her at St. Luke’s has been incredible,” Worley’s mother Cindy said.

“Kelsey gets really thrilled seeing friends more than anything. She’s one tough cookie.”

On Aug. 3, Worley was released from the hospital. She will be on antibiotics for about three months and will be doing therapy until she has fully recovered.

A former swimmer, a best friend, someone they knew since kindergarten was in pain.

When friends came to visit, tears welled up in their eyes. But to Worley it was just thrilling to know that all these people care about her.

“When I first saw Kelsey, I was crying because she didn’t look anything like herself.

She had tubes all over the place and she wasn’t responding,” Chadbourne said. “It’s hard to see your best friend go through something like that.”

Worley’s recovery has impacted not only her life, but the lives surrounding her. Through Twitter and Facebook, friends and family members have remembered to take a little time out of their busy lives to say a little prayer for this tough cookie.

“Kelsey’s accident has impacted me in so many ways,” senior Allie Wernicke said. “If I had to pick one I would say that it has taught me how fast your life can change and to be grateful for every moment I am alive and healthy.”

Through physical, occupational, and speech therapy, Kelsey Worley re-learned basic skills. Since the surgery was on the left side of her brain, she can barely use her right hand and has trouble performing basic tasks such as cooking and doing laundry. She is required to wear a helmet at all times because part of her skull is missing from the surgery. Photo submitted by Cindy Worley.

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RedRock KC

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Teen-created concert successfully raises money for American Red Cross to purchase a new emergency response vehicle

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Above: Brett Young with assistance from senior Nick Leiker perform first at RedRock KC. Young goes by ‘Donnie’ when performing in honor of his grandfather. “I just thought I’d do something different,” he said.

Below: DJs work to keep the music rolling throughout the concert. A total of eight artists: three rappers and five bands performed before an excited crowd. Photos submitted by Adrienne Taylor.

RedRock KC

meg huwe editor-in-chief

riven by a desire to impact the community and pursued by a group of teens, RedRock KC took the stage with an overwhelming success.

After an internship at the American Red Cross in the summer of 2011, senior Max McCalister from Pembroke Hill decided he wanted to help the organization in some way.

He collaborated with his friends Pembroke senior Talia Hubble and Southwest senior Adrienne Taylor. Together they came up with the idea of RedRock KC. In order for RedRock to happen preparations began at the beginning of the year. Before getting too involved they tried to fundraise to ensure they would have enough money to put on the event. Then they formed a committee and broke into subcommittees for certain responsibilities.

Taylor was Executive VicePresident of Operations. She confirmed bands were booked and was in charge of making sure everything the day of was successful. This included lighting, sound, and security.

“There was a lot of planning involved,” Taylor said. “There are so many details people don’t think about when you’re putting on a concert.”

Taylor also brought in some friends to help including senior Anna Hickok. Hickok helped with marketing for the event.

She sold tickets and put together

fundraisers, including a few at Waterway.

Aside from ticket sales, another major part of planning included finding musicians for the event. Musicians were found in a variety of ways. The committee had promoter Bill Rush helping and he got one of the main bands, She’s a Keeper, involved.

Another committee member had a connection to the event’s other main band, The Lonely Biscuits.

“We talked with people who we knew had an interested in doing something good and performing for us,” Taylor said.

“One band even asked to play and eventually seven or eight bands emailed us hoping to be a part of it.”

Among these performers was senior Brett Young.

“At first I was a part of the planning committee, finding artists, selling tickets, and just getting the whole concert together,” Young said. “As it progressed, I became one of the artists.”

Taylor had asked Young if he wanted to be involved and he more than willing to help.

“It was something that I supported and believed in and thought was a good cause and good way to help the community and Red Cross,” Young said.

Not only did Young have to prepare for the event, but he began to have to prepare for his first performance.

“I was a little nervous,” he said. “I made sure I went over my songs, made sure I knew all my lyrics. I had to go back over them and make sure I didn’t curse or make any drug or sex references.

That wasn’t really a problem anyway.”

In the months of June and July, Taylor’s regular three hours of preparation a week rose to seven.

“As RedRock got closer I felt a great deal of excitement but I was still very anxious,” Taylor said. “We’d spent months laying the groundwork and seeing it all come together was both stressful and a very proud moment.”

On Friday, July 13, at Crossroads the day of the event arrived.

Tickets had been sold for $15 as presale and $20 at the door. Five hundred presale tickets were sold and an additional 200-300 tickets at the door. In total 700-800 people showed up for the event.

Young started off the concert and felt his first performance went very well.

“My favorite part honestly was in the middle of the concert when my DJ put on a random instrumental and I asked the crowd to give me one word to rap,” he said. “I freestyled with that one word. That was really cool and I got to show something different.”

His one word was ‘biscuit.’

“I like when people give me goofy words so I can do fun stuff,” he said. “Now swag or something like it is just dumb.”

After the success of Young’s performance he was even invited to perform later in Westport with a Reggae band.

Young hopes to create a career in music.

“Right now it’s somewhat of a hobby, and I’m making it more serious as I progress,” he said.

“Music is one of the most impor-

tant things I have in my life. It’s a great outlet and way to express my feelings.”

Following Young was a Battle of the Bands. Two rappers competed against one another and two bands. After the performances audience members were able to vote on Facebook for who they believed should win.

“It was just something we thought would be fun and interactive for the crowd,” Taylor said.

As the evening progressed, more people began to pile up closer to the stage.

“The best part of actually being there was toward the end when the Lonely Biscuits were playing and we looked backstage and there were so many people and they were going crazy,” Hickok said. “It was awesome to think that we made that happen.”

At the end of the night, RedRock raised $35,405.72 for American Red Cross. This was enough for Red Cross to buy its new emergency response vehicle.

“Overall I thought that the event was amazing,” senior Madison Hisle said. “It was really inspiring and awesome that everyone who organized the event was a teenager and I feel like it made a difference in the community. It showed that teens can hold events like this and contribute to a charitable cause.”

Due to the successes of this year’s event, the committee members plan to host it annually and continue to help Red Cross. Currently there is a Facebook page for RedRock KC 2013. Planning has, of course, already begun for the following year.

Photo submitted by Adrienne Taylor.

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Too ‘SWAG’ for school

Top four reasons why summer assignments aren’t completed jordon fields staff writer

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t’s the end of the year; finals are about to start, but even with that impending darkness there is a light at the end of the tunnel: summer.

Whatever your summer plans consist of it’s more than likely they have little to nothing to do with school. However, with just weeks away from a wellearned vacation, the bomb gets dropped that your teacher wants you to do some form of work. Not really having a choice you accept the assignment, but why is it that several students come back to school empty handed? Here are some reasons as to why those assignments don’t get done:

“I had to do the suburban hustle”

During the summer, students who don’t already have jobs don’t want to waste their time looking for one. But it’s summertime and when you’re strapped for cash, hustling can be one of the quickest ways to get some money. The suburban hustle differs from the more common street hustle. It consists of selling

things that you no longer need or things that hold less value than whatever it is you’re trying to buy.

For men it’s pretty easy to get sucked into the suburban hustle; it’s summer and the females are about, unfortunately no matter how much “game” you have (unless your ideal date is gazing at the sunset) you’re going to need some money to get the honey.

The suburban hustle is moderately effective, but it requires having good contacts and a charismatic personality. This doesn’t really leave a lot of time for summer assignments, especially when done correctly.

“I was too busy getting big”

More common than the suburban hustle is when the students decide to ‘get big.’ This means they devote themselves to becoming more fit or muscular than the year before. Summer is almost three months of pure off-time, and even if you do hang out with friends, the majority of the students at school won’t see you for the duration of this time.

For those seeking to ‘get big’ this means staying active and working out on the regular. Getting homework done is good and all, but when compared to doing the ‘pec dance’ for your peers, well it’s no contest.

“I was on a conquest”

There are millions of games in the world and with those games come millions more players. It’s summer and when it’s late at night and the partiers

The Southwest Standard editor-in-chief meg huwe

features editor ananda bhatia

managing editor maddi parr

opinion editor mark maas

staff writers eric gunnarson ryann horton mackenzie kivett jordon fields

web editor royan black

sports editor mariem towakoli

adviser heather lawrenz

news editor jessica skaggs

special sections editor anna welch

photo editor anna glennon

photographers matt forster morgan vietti

opinion

have stopped partying, the hustlers are done hustling, and the athletes are resting they’re overworked bodies; the gamers are wide awake, wide-eyed, and electrified. Their only source of energy being the snack of their choice and the sheer intensity of the game they’re playing. The nature of the conquest varies from each game, but the goal is mainly the same; be the best. The conquest is a difficult venture.

There are always people looking to beat you at your own game. If you’re not playing, you’re sleeping. If you’re not sleeping, you’re playing. You don’t have time for the world and the world doesn’t have time for you. Most who have accepted the conquest don’t even remember the assignment let alone the day before.

“I have too much swag”

Now ‘swag’ comes in many styles, and for the leaders in this world it can be a pain to get your swag to the next level. Raising your swag involves a great deal of things: changing your clothes, catch phrases, getting followers to adopt your trends, and much more. Now most seekers of the swag know that in order to eventually become swag-masters they don’t have to look for it, it’ll come to them in due time. In a world full of things to discover a swag-master can’t be bothered to deal with homework of any kind.

photo illustration by Anna Welch, Mariem Towakoli, and Jessica Skaggs,

The Southwest Standard is published ten 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 administrations 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,

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emailed to bvswnews@gmail.com or mailed to: The Southwest Standard c/o Blue Valley Southwest High School 17600 Quivira Overland Park, KS 66085

The Southwest Standard also encourages guest photography. Photos should be submitted to room 118 with information pertaining to the photos.

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Heat is a common enemy for fall athletes High temperatures affect outdoor athletes’ performances regardless of sport

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Photo illustration by Anna Glennon.

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by anna glennon photo editor

layer of sweat covers his skin, dripping off his forehead and stinging his eyes, sliding down his back and soaking his clothes. The sun bakes his skin as he tries to concentrate on the next play, the next goal, the next serve.

The Kansas sun has had it out for athletes this summer, and the blistering fall heat won’t be letting up soon. While each outdoor athlete is battling the sun regardless of the sport, the sun is affecting each player in a different way — making the fight for the big ‘W’ a challenge.

Each sport has taken its own precautions as a cautionary measure to the heat.

As football players march from the locker rooms down to the fields, it’s the football pads that affects gameplay.

Athletic trainer Krista Westerkamp recommends lightening up on the amount of protective gear in such high temperatures since the padding that a football player wears traps heat against the body.

Another helpful tip is to wear light shirts or compression shirts. However padded shirts are also available and those offer extra protection. Under Armour sells these shirts which offer padding around the sternum, rib area, underarm area and shoulders. These shirts are made from the same HeatGear material that compression and performance shirts are made from. Other companies that offer padded undershirts include Champro, Nike, Schutt and McDavid.

The football coaches also have methods in mind to prevent a player from becoming dehydrated or experiencing a heat-related illness.

Throughout the summer, the football players worked out 7 a.m. until 9:30 a.m. Monday - Thursday. These two and a half hour practices helped ensure the team avoided the hot hours of the day.

“We’re fortunate enough we’ve avoided most of the heat in the mornings,” senior Gus Purdum said.

Head coach Bill Lowe will adjust the practice time and allow for more water breaks when necessary. He has high hopes for his team this year.

“This is the first year we’ve had a full senior class for three years,” he said. “They take ownership for our school.”

Aside from football players, runners also face many concerns when it comes to the hot weather. As a result they had summer practices in the mornings at 6:30 a.m.

“Well waking up at six in the summer isn’t fun,” junior Megan Edwards said. “But it’s better than working out in the middle of 110 degree weather.”

Since practices for the cross country team were at such an early hour, runners have been able to avoid the heat.

However, practices will have to be held immediately after school once fall starts. This means water will be detrimental.

“As coaches we have to have the ability to provide water at all times,” assistant cross country coach Aaron Ballew

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said. “It leads to dehydration so quickly, so we have to keep avoiding that as a main focus.”

Safety is the number one concern to the cross country coaches.

“We don’t want to kill anyone ... on purpose,” Ballew said.

The tennis courts are another area of concern because according to isporttennis.com, tennis courts can range anywhere from 10 to 20 degrees hotter than the actual, offcourt temperature. Humidity, clarity, court reflection and court color are all factors affecting the on-court temperature. Team members try to wear sweat bands in an effort to remain cool since the body loses so much sweat. This is especially true when singles matches can last up to an hour and a half or tournaments that last all day.

Overall, each outdoor sport has a different obstacle they have to deal with regarding the hot Autumn weather and each has to take the proper precautions to ensure remaining healthy. There are symptoms coaches and teammates can look out for. Watch out for people who appear fatigued, claim dizziness, seem lethargic, or are very red in the face.”

“Ultimately, athletes, players and parents all work as a team,” Westerkamp said. “They should be able to tell if something is abnormal.”

Checklist to stay cool during fall sports: Drink two bottles of water at least two hours prior to the event Dress accordingly (light clothing)

Wear sunscreen

Take frequent water breaks

Rubbing water on the backs of your knee and elbow joints and the back of your neck to cool down quickly Rest in a shady spot between events

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Southwest athletes use the last week of their summer vacation preparing for the upcoming season.

Top left: Led by senior cheerleaders, the girls of the cheer team practice cheers for the fall sports season. The week long cheer camp that took place Aug. 6-10 was an opportunity for the cheerleaders to prepare for game day by learning chants, cheers and stunts.

Bottom left: Concentrating on her return, sophomore Ale Griffith rallies with senior Anna Hickok during one of the camp days that took place Aug. 6-10. The tennis captains, seniors Anna Hickok and Kelsi Kirwin and junior Anna Glennon organized this tennis camp hoping to give players time to prepare for tryouts and spend time with one another. “It was such a great way to get to know the girls more while doing something we all like to do as a team,” Griffith said. “It was a super great idea to sort of break the ice.”

Top right: Locking her elbow tightly as she thrusts her fist into the air, sophomore Madeline Jacobsen practices one of many chants at one of the daily, four hour cheer camps that took place.

Bottom right: Holding tightly to her racquet, sophomore Hannah Holland returns the ball to a fellow player. “I learned more about my backhand and my serves from some of the other players,” Holland said. “I went to the camp hoping to get to know the players and have fun.” Photo essay by Anna Glennon.

photo essay

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august 2012