BVSW - The Standard - Volume 10 - Issue 2 by The Standard

The Standard blue valley southwest | volume 10 | issue 2

Literature lowdown

students and staff discuss assigned ELA novels and their review process pages 15-17

2 | contents / the standard / oct. 2019

sports

10 | Blood, sweat and chalk 20 | Repercussions of concussions

30 00-FC-5257

opinion

22 | College crisis

news

5 | Standardized stats 26 | A fresh change 32 | Homecoming proposals

volume 10 / issue 2 www.bvswnews.com

on the cover

A stack of books on the district approved 4600 list sit in the library. These books are typically assigned to all students in their ELA classes. pages 15-17

photo illustration by siri chevuru & isha patel

4 | editor’s note / the standard / oct. 2019

editor’s note I

n the midst of applying to college right now, it seems like every application asks the same question: “Tell me about yourself.” The answer to a question like this can mean lots of things. I could list my likes, dislikes, hobbies, extracurricular activities and more. This all came easy to me when listing my skills. I have participated in multiple things throughout the past few years, but I can’t forget how these interests branch out from the activities I had already been enjoying. I believe everyone participates in something that makes them unique or stand out in comparison to others. In this issue of the newspaper, we explore the lives of four students who have found their special passion for something that makes them unique. From competing in men’s gymnastics, to the practice of a traditional Indian dance, to becoming an entrepreneur and even starting a Dungeons and Dragons game for teachers at school. These students found their passion to carry on for a while. After countless Naviance lessons during advisory every year, college seems like the normal route to take after graduation. However, there are a few that disagree. Our issue this month also reveals some questions raised around the topic of college and shares the story of one student who is taking a different route after high school. We shed light on the “underrated” art classes, filled with eight or fewer students. Also, we dive deeper into the district’s 4600 policy to understand why we read specific books in our English classes. This issue is filled with fun, creative and interesting stories for you to enjoy.

the standard editor-in-chief isha patel staff writers luke hottovy karley kent sydney wilson siri chevuru sahar baha rebecca suku maddie sack keithan sharp jamie malmkar ellie phillips josiah davis adviser rachel chushuk

The Southwest Standard is published seven times a year for students, faculty and surrounding community of Blue Valley Southwest. It is an open forum for student expression. Therefore, the opinions expressed within this paper do not necessarily reflect the views of the administration of Blue Valley Unified School District #229. Letters to the editor and reader responses are encouraged for publication. The Southwest Standard reserves the right to edit all submissions for both language and content and encourages letters to be no more than 350 words. All letters must be signed and names will be published.

| editor-in-chief

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

news / the standard / oct. 2019 |5

Standardized Stats

Best way of studying according to the students

“One thing may not work well for another student, so you just have to find what works best for you and just stay consistent with it, and follow through with it.” —senior Jordan Roland

96 students surveyed about testing.

5% Joining study sessions

44.7%

Only of students were happy with the score they got on the ACT/SAT.

22.5% Getting a tutor

"I think keeping it in perspective is really important and knowing that it is a test that you take, perhaps just one time, and that your score does not truly indicate whether or not you're going to be successful at the collegiate level or even successful in life." —gifted education teacher Jana Tobin

66.25% Taking practice tests 6.25% Reviewing with flashcards

Number of times juniors and seniors have taken the ACT

33.7%

of juniors and seniors will take the SAT.

“It’s one test; you can retake it. Getting a bad score on one test isn’t going to ruin all your future, so don’t think of it that way.” —junior Kate Tucker

+ Average 2018 ACT scores

“Blue Valley, as a whole district, is doing a good job of preparing our students, not just for the test, but academically in critical thinking and mathematically, making sure our students are on par and prepared.” —gifted education teacher Julie Hess National: 20.8 Kansas: 21.6

Blue Valley School District: 25.5

How many hours do students study each week?

“I think if you study and actually prepare a lot, you can figure it out to get strategies about how the test is structured.” — junior Egan Li

34.4% 43.75% 17.71% 4.2%

Hours

1-4 Hours

5-8 Hours

Hours

BVSW: 24.8

Information according to act.org and bluevalleyk12.org

88.5%

of students believe that standardized tests are not a good measure of intelligence.

17.7% think everyone should be require to take these tests.

| jamiemalmkar

6 | feature / the standard / oct. 2019

Money Grows on Grass senior Trevor Schwartz runs successful lawn mowing business

hile average high school students are busy balancing their school work, attending social events or working their jobs, senior Trever Schwartz is also tasked with organizing his own business. Five days a week, he works on lawns after school until dark. He said he takes care of more than a 100 lawns per week and does a range of jobs from irrigation, mowing, patios, fertilization and clean ups to mulching trees. However, the success is not easily gained. Trevor began mowing in fifth grade. “I was kind of the neighborhood lawn guy,” Trevor said. “I just had to push mower and was only mowing maybe five yards a week.” Craig Schwartz, Trevor’s dad, said Trevor started mowing for enjoyment. “When [Trevor] was 12, he was really was just trying to do something because he liked it. He’s always been mechanically inclined,” Craig said. Trevor has been working on growing his business for seven years. Trevor said the most significant point for his growth is when he purchased his first truck for $30 thousand during his freshman year. Trevor said the moment was “pretty cool.” From the beginning, his parents have always been supportive of him. “My mom is like, the cheerleader,” Trevor said. “And then my dad’s the brain.” Craig, a fellow businessman, has given Trevor advice on what steps to take and taught Trevor how to do all the paperwork, billing, payroll and everything else needed to run a business. “We frequently sit down and talk about business,” Craig said. Craig said they talk about advertising and advice on equipment and investment.

Craig also played a major part in purchasing equipment. He said because Trevor’s a minor, his name needed to be on the contracts and insurance papers. “He provides money that pays [the costs] off, and as his father I have to help him and I have to be able to put my name on the contracts,” Craig said. From a child just wanting some pocket money, Trevor said his business is now making into the six figures. “I’m proud of the fact that I can pay for my own stuff and have nice things,” Trevor said. Trevor said he enjoys having “more than enough money” at the age of 18 to buy anything he wants. In the end, Trevor said he earns a profit of 54-55%. Craig said Trevor’s success is accounted to Trevor’s work ethic. “He would be able to succeed at whatever business he puts his mind to,” Craig said. Trevor has grown, not only in the size of his business, but also as a businessman. In an incident nearly two years ago, something went wrong when working on a lawn. Craig said Trevor did not run away from the problem. “He stepped right up and took responsibility for it,” Craig said. “It was very impressive for a teenager at that time.” Trevor said he reinvests a lot of his profits back into the company. He purchases new machines, some as expensive as a car, and also uses the money to buy gas, insurance and everything related to maintenance: oil, tires, spark plugs, etc. He said he is required to be extra prepared because that’s “just the nature of the beast.” Trevor said his business has became so big that he uses the help of fellow students in school to assist him on lawns. Trevor said he enjoys working with his friends. “We’re working, but still get to hang out,” Trevor said. Usually, Trevor said he works with one to two other people, but for large landscaping jobs, he takes multiple people with him. Right now, he has one full-time employee and five parttime employees. His full time employee is paid $15 an hour and

Trevor Schwartz poses with his tractors for a photo shoot in Mills Farm. Photo courtesy of Trevor Schwartz

his part time employees are paid $10 an hour. Trevor’s employee and manager, senior Alex Adler, said he loves the job because of the flexible hours along with multiple other factors. “I can have fun at my job [and] work hours I want,” Adler said. Even though he works repeatedly on lawns, Adler said mowing lawns is fun because there’s something new every time. “It’s always a different challenge because of the things that are affected,’’ Adler said. Maintaining a business is not so easy when trying to balance it with school. Trevor said it’s stressful because along with his school work, he has to work on lawns, landscaping, paperwork, make bids and schedule all his clients. Adler aids Trevor in dealing with his busy life by helping Trevor plan his schedule and decide the best routes that have the shortest travel time. “Sometimes some sacrifices get made. Sometimes homework [is] late, sometimes stuff just doesn’t happen because I just ultimately don’t have the time,” Trevor said. “That’s just...the harsh reality of it.” Trevor said his business is always on his mind. “There’s always something going on, you know, you lose sleep,” Trevor said. “I’ll wake up in the middle of the night and be like, ‘Crap, I forgot to do this. I forgot to do that.’” Sometimes, Trevor said he wakes up at 3 or 4 a.m. to start homework he forgot. “I love [what I’m doing now], but I don’t think it’s something I would necessarily want to do for the rest of my life because it’s just a hard business to be in,” Trevor said. “It’s stressful.” In the future, Trevor plans on graduating from Johnson County Community College and then plans to work with his godfather afterward. He said he plans on

taking over his godfather’s business of selling and leasing semi-trucks and semi-trailers to people who cannot take out a loan. “I find it interesting and I think that’s a good source of revenue and [it’s] something I like to do,” Trevor said. Trevor said he already knows a lot about that area and he thinks that it’d be easier than owning a landscaping business. He said the one main stressor that’ll be lost is paying overhead — which is an ongoing expense of operating a business — Because he’d be doing the business on his own. There won’t be anyone above him and he’ll have the freedom to do what he wants. “I just enjoy having mostly the freedom...to make my own decisions and say, ‘Hey, I want to do this, then do this tomorrow. Yeah, I want to start doing this. I don’t want to do this. I want to work with these clients. I don’t want to take these clients on,’” Trevor said. “In a nutshell, [I] just like the freedom to make [my] own decisions and do what [I] want.”

| sirichevuru

8 | feature / the standard / oct. 2019

Hands On Art

A look inside some of the unique art classes the school offers Sitting in ceramics class, senior Ashlei Lovell molds clay using the pottery wheel. Lovell said Ceramics II is a class that many people are afraid to take because they are not willing to go past what is required for the art credit. “Well, you can take this class from two different perspectives: If you take it like you want to be here and you want to learn, you will grow a lot,” Lovell said. “I feel like if more people try, they’ll come to like it a lot more.”

Using a file, senior Quynh Trang-Nguyen smooths the edges of her jewelry piece. Trang-Nguyen said she decided to take jewelry because she knew it was unique and not as commonly known as the other art classes. “I think art is very underrated and I think it’s a great way to express how you are feeling,” Trang-Nguyen said. “Art classes are really chill because you don’t have to think about your other classes and you just get to be creative.”

| 9| 9 Using a paper cutter, junior Nathan Kaiser cuts a paper plate for his Sculpture II project. Kaiser said he would definitely consider his class underrated, but he enjoys the small number of people in his class because they can bond over their common interest in sculpture. “There are definitely the more out-there art classes like design fundamentals, but this is for the people that really want to go for it,” Kaiser said. ”For me, art is a way to express myself and to be creative and I like it because there are no rules.”

Carving a design in her clay, art teacher Michele Foster-Lowman works on a project in Sculpture. Foster-Lowman said she finds balance in her life through art and that through making art, students can learn patience, perseverance, trust and how to come up with original ideas. “I encourage all students to take that leap of faith and try taking an art class; fear is a crazy beast that can really stop you from exploring your full potential,” Foster-Lowman said. “In the art department, we really do want to help students learn to do these things.” | rebeccasuku

10 | feature / the standard / oct. 2019

BL D SWEAT CHALK AND

senior Chance Brogan competes as level 10 gymnast

enior Chance Brogan has competed in male gymnastics since third grade, when his mom decided to enroll him and his three sisters. Since then, he has put forward his best work to achieve the highest possible skill level — level 10. His parents Aaron and Lindsey Brogan said they knew it would be a perfect sport for Chance to continue from a young age because of his personality and body type. “Chance’s dad was a former gymnast, so we knew with Chance’s built, constant high energy, flipping all over the furniture and lack of interest in other sports when he was young, that gymnastics would probably be a great fit for him,” Lindsey said. “We tried it when he was about 7 years old and he has excelled at it ever since.” Since age 7, Chance has been pushed to become the best he can be at gymnastics. After great coaching and a lot of practice, he has achieved his goal. “It will be my third year of being level 10,” Chance said. “It goes from level four to 10. Ten is the last level and after that, I guess you could say the next level would be collegiate gymnastics.” When it comes to balancing gymnastics with the rest of his life, Chance said it gets a little more tricky, especially as the year progresses and schoolwork gets more difficult. But for Aaron and Lindsey, there

are other stressful aspects. “Gymnastics is definitely a financial and timely commitment, but of course, the sacrifice is always worth the reward of getting to be a part of your child doing something they love and have a true gift and passion for,” Lindsey said. In gymnastics, men compete in six events and women compete in four. Women do vault, bars, beam and floor, while men do vault, floor, pommel horse, parallel bars and high bar. “I’d say that is the main difference are the events, but really I think of them as almost two completely different sports,” Chance said. Before understanding Chance’s love of the sport, Chance said his peers reacted in shock because there are not many male gymnasts in the Kansas City area. “Most people respond with a bit of a surprise because it really isn’t a popular sport for males these days,” Aaron said. “ Most people seem to have an awe and respect for the unique qualities that Chance possesses as an athlete if they get to see any of his event performances.” Despite women’s gymnastics being more popular, watching men compete can be just as excited for viewers. “Gymnastics competitions are exhilarating as a spectator, more so the higher level meet your attending,” Lindsey said.

|11

“These athletes come in with their warm-ups, looking just like typical teens, but then amaze you with their physical strength and abilities once the competition starts.” Next year, Chance said he hopes to compete in the National Championships for all-round finals. Not only is it his goal to compete, but his parents enjoy watching him compete as well. “Chance qualifying for the National meet at Regionals in Texas was already a major feat, so we really did not expect him to make finals at nationals, but he proved us wrong,” Aaron said. “After having the meet of his career, he continued to compete in the finals among the top 32 gymnasts in the nation his age.” In order to get to the National Championship again this year, Chance has to push through the most difficult parts of being a gymnast. “The hardest part of being a gymnast is working at the things that you’re not as good at because there’s a lot of things that I do like to work at,” Chance said. “Sometimes I’ll find myself just working on the things I like the entirety of practice, but there’s also a bunch of things that you might not like as much, and it’s about working at your weaknesses.” As for other boys who are working to succeed in the gym and become the best gymnast they can be, Chance has different advice. “Never give up. Stick with it,” Chance said. “There are definitely going to be challenges and adversity, but I

think you just got to stay focused on working through the hard parts.” Aaron said his entire family, including Chance, loves watching gymnastics because both he, his daughter, and Chance have competed in the sport. “We have a deep respect for all gymnastics because of their sacrifice to do what they love,” Aaron said. “We love the power, strength, and overall athleticism that both male and female gymnasts possess. Their mental toughness and resilience are beyond compare.” Overall his peers, family, and teammates appreciate his hard work and believe he will continue to have great potential as a male gymnast. “Chance is and will always be a very consistent and dependable athlete that you can count on to almost always perform at the necessary level of excellence to continue growing as an athlete,” said Lindsey.

| sydneywilson

12 | news / the standard / oct. 2019

Becoming A Master student leads group of teachers in a game of Dungeons and Dragons

armless entertainment or witchcraft? The game of Dungeons and Dragons has captivated many people with its mysterious nature and creative aspects. Many appreciate the opportunity to be a part of a fantasy world and indulge in the opportunity to create their very own realities during game-play. Some feel deterred by the complexity, however the game is not as difficult as it seems. Junior Reid McCants has done this in his own way by starting a game of Dungeons and Dragons, or D&D, for a group of teachers. “Dungeons and Dragons is a tabletop role playing game about story combat and exploration through the cooperation of the players and the...dungeon master who basically controls the world, while the players control the characters,” McCants said. D&D is no ordinary game. McCants said the game does not have a definitive end or winner; the dungeon master decides when to start a new “campaign.” Success in the game is measured in a variety of trials and tribulations. “Obviously, there’s intervals in the game that you either succeed or lose, but it’s really up to...the actual context of what’s going on in the game,” McCants said.“I guess basic rewards would be in game currency, gold, silver, maybe magical items, weapons and experience points, obviously, to level up characters.” He said his interest began around four years ago. Since then, he has run many games with multiple different groups and his enjoyment of the game has only grown. McCants said he began playing D&D in seventh grade when he lived in Washington. “My youth group minister at my church played D&D, and he told us a story about it. And after a while, I was like, you know, I’m really interested in this,” McCants said. He then found out as much as he could about the game

and started a game with his friends. “I made my own game,” McCants said. “I spent $40 on Craigslist to get the books [for] the rules, and some of the...stats and how [to] make characters and basically the contents and how you play the game.” McCants is currently the Dungeon Master of a teacher game at school. The first teacher he approached with this idea was science teacher Neal Doolin. Doolin jumped at the opportunity to involve D&D in the school and helped McCants find others that would have an interest in it as well. Math teacher Hannah Skidmore, theatre director Dan Schmidt and English teachers Storm Shaw, Sarah Huppert and Michael Watson are all players in the game. “I kind of like how it’s just teachers and Reid, because it kind of lets us teachers unwind at the end of the day a little bit,” Doolin said. “But, you know, when you’re a teacher, it’s kind of like, when you show up in school, you’re in character. Well, it’s like, I’m Mr. Doolin from 7:30 until 3:15, and then afterward, I get to go back to being Neal Doolin again.”

|13| 13

Each character that is created is entirely up to the player. If they enjoy playing with this character, they can continue with it for however long, or until it is killed. The character can make up anything the player wants them to be which leaves room for many silly, interesting results. Doolin created a unique creature for this game. “I can tell you right now, I’m playing a character that is a lizard-person-monk, which basically is — just imagine a six foot tall lizard that walks on two feet and fights in unarmed combat with his fists, and his teeth and his feet,” Doolin said. “But in the past, like with my friends, I’ve played wizards and sorcerers. So, I wanted to shake it up for this game and learn to play someone hands-on.” McCants described his favorite character as “an old guy that started the tavern and hired bird people as the waiters and waitresses.” “So far, my favorite character out of all the times I’ve played, as well as all the campaigns that I’ve been in, is a man, an old guy named Odel Murphy,” McCants said. “I created and played in my friend’s ‘City of Water,’ the dragon heist game. That was a lot of fun.” Shaw said he enjoys watching a character that Watson recently created. Watson’s character makes everybody laugh through constantly winking at people and doing cartwheels. Shaw thinks every action he does is ridiculous and funny. However, playing D&D is not all fun and games, it takes quite a bit of commitment. Doolin said the Dungeon Master spends around two to three times as long preparing the game as they do playing it. With so many opportunities for moves, the Dungeon Master must be quick on their feet and determine how one action will affect the rest of the storyline. Doolin described one scenario where if McCants decided to incorporate a storyline where they go to a store, he must design how the character acts, his mannerisms and his motives. The amount of behind-the-scenes work that each Dungeon Master must do beforehand is a large undertaking. “I made a game that I ran two summers ago and I felt like I spent twice as much time preparing the game as we did actually playing it,” Doolin said. “And I was like, well, that’s fun for the summer, but I’m a teacher. There’s no way I can spend that much time during the school year preparing to play a game.” When Dungeons and Dragons first was created in the 70s or 80s, the stigma with it was often negative. It was a taboo game that was thought of as strange. The new idea of

it all was frightening to many people. “I went to a 2,000-person High School, there wasn’t a D&D Club, people didn’t play. It was still like, you know, almost thought of as witchcraft or something,” Doolin says. “You’re pretending to be a fantasy character in a fantasy world, where you can cast magic, or there’s little goblins that run around ... some of those ideas have scared more traditional people.” Shaw said D&D has also been stereotyped as a “nerdy” pastime. “It is inherently a little bit nerdy, I can admit that,” Shaw said. “But if anyone that likes storytelling or just wants to try something new, it’s a really creative outlet like you can pretty much make any decision you want in the game, and then you roll some dice to determine if you’re successful or not.” Despite the stigma, many believe that D&D can be an interesting outlet with many opportunities and many good qualities. McCants will continue to play Dungeon Master to the group of teachers, offering a chance for the group to escape the real world. “There’s an escapism to it,” Shaw said. “You get to kind of live a different life and not have to deal with the difficulties of real life, but deal with some difficulties that are fictional that you can tackle and solve. And you can see real progress.”

| elliephillips

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Literature Lowdown

feature / the standard / oct 2019 | 15

students and staff discuss assigned ELA novels

16 | feature / the standard / oct 2019

mong the superfluous complaints of students which litter the hallways of high schools across the country, books and excerpts which must be read for English and reading classes are among the most notorious. What follows is a host of papers that have to be written over the book, in addition to Socratic seminars, projects, worksheets and other assignments related to the assigned reading. For some students, these assignments are like clockwork, whereas for others, they are torture. English Language Arts department chair Shauna Rinearson said there is a system in place to help choose the titles students read. “We have a lot of people who teach the same class and so for quality control purposes, this district has a much more regimented approach to the long works that we read, or are allowed to read in our classes,” Rinearson said. “Each grade level has a list of approved books. That means approved by the school board — the school district — those are the only long works, so book length works, that we are allowed to teach at a given grade level.” However, teachers are not only restricted by the district’s 4600 policy, but by limited amount of copies that each school has in stock. “We have to have copies here in our building to supply to the students. We don’t have 300 copies of every book on the list,” Rinearson said. “We are restricted by the approved book list, and then we are also restricted by available resources.” In relation to the actual content of the books that are readily supplied, sophomore and senior English teacher Michael Watson said the book “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury, is important for students in his sophomore English class to read in connection to understanding the books that are assigned in ELA and why. “Even though the books that we have in our classes have been there a long time, there’s something valuable in books like ‘Fahrenheit 451,’ that will always be relevant, because people are always wanting to take shortcuts with the way they consume information,” Watson said. “You’d rather just read a headline than read a whole article, and that’s something that was happening in the 1950s, and that’s something that’s still happening today.” Watson said he thinks his students understand, for the most part, why indulging

in the literature that is taught in class is important. “I think students realize that there’s probably value in the morals of the story or the themes of what we can learn from the book,” Watson said. “Also, I hope that we do a good job of telling them that if it looks kind of controversial, that means it’s probably engaging.” Controversial books are read throughout all four years of high school. However, books with heavier content such as “The Things They Carried,” “Slaughterhouse-Five,” “The Lords of Discipline” and others, are reserved for junior- and senior-level students and sometimes exclusively Advanced Placement students.

“There’s something valuable in books like ‘Fahrenheit 451,’ that will always be relevant, because people are always wanting to take shortcuts with the way they consume information ... that’s something that was happening in the 1950s, and that’s something that’s still happening today.”

| englishteachermichaelwatson

Senior AJ Lenartowicz read “The Things They Carried,” a book focusing on the lives of multiple soldiers in a platoon in Vietnam, with his AP English Language & Composition class last year. “They had a certain kind of viewpoint on the war in Vietnam, but it’s important to hear that and also, it’s OK to disagree with it,” Lenartowicz said. “But there’s no problem in reading it so you’re just more educated and can make a better opinion.” Originally, “The Things They Carried” wasn’t on the district’s approved book list, until Rinearson got it approved at the district level. “I had difficulty getting ‘The Things They Carried approved,’” Rinearson said. “It took me three years to get the approval at the district level and the books purchased here. Not because the content in the book is so controversial or sensitive, but because the people that I needed help from at the districtlevel office felt like the board would not be willing to approve new books to add to our approved list.” Most students like Lenartowicz have their various critical opinions about the books,

| 17

despite comprehending the main themes behind them. “I have not enjoyed most of the books. I find them boring to be honest. Except for ‘The Lords of Discipline,’ which I think has been the most interesting book,” Lenartowicz said. “Some books like ‘Catcher in the Rye’ weren’t horrible, I thought, but there was nothing exciting, which I kind of look for. In ‘Lords of Discipline,’ there are definitely exciting parts.” Some students enjoy reading of the allotted material in class, and many, like Lenartowicz, have a favorite book they have had to read for a class in high school, such as sophomore Logan Garber who took Honors English 9 last year. “‘House on Mango Street’ was pretty good; I thought it was interesting. ‘Anthem’ was interesting and weird because Ayn Rand, her philosophy is really different,” Garber said. “We read ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ as well and I loved it.” However, some books may be deemed too inappropriate for a student to read by his or her parents or guardian even after it has been approved by the district and at the school level. Therefore, the BV 4600 policy is in place to let parents know that they can request an alternative reading option for their child and eventually the teacher and parent can find a comparable replacement to fit the main theme of the unit or lesson being taught in the class. “For AP English, Language & Composition, I sent home the 4600 letter that says, ‘We will read ‘The Great Gatsby,’ ‘The Things They Carried,’ and — time permitting — ‘The Glass Castle’ in this course,” Rinearson said. “This is to let you know that every book on our approved district list has a rationale that is kept by the district, as a consumer of our education you’re welcome to read the rationale for yourself.” Exciting or boring, controversial or tame, a quick read or a long one, reading is a fundamental part of school and one that ELA instructs students to better comprehend as well as elaborate on with composition. “I hope that somewhere, kind of deep in the back of their mind, [stuents] recognize the value in reading about something that they can relate to,” Rinearson said. “I hope that they can value learning about something they otherwise wouldn’t know anything about.”

| lukehottovy

18 | feature / the standard / oct. 2019

And I oop... students share their thoughts about the VSCO girl trend

crunchies, Hydro Flasks, baggy T-shirts and shell necklaces are some of the common known qualities that make-up a VSCO girl image. The recent VSCO girl trend has been popularized all over the internet influencing girls to fall under a certain stereotype. VSCO was first created in 2012 as a photo editing app for other social media platforms. However, in 2016 the company added a social feature to the app allowing people to create profiles, post pictures as well as republish them. From then on, the app’s reputation grew bigger and bigger creating the VSCO girl trend. Senior Gracie Rodlund said she first downloaded the app in eighth grade to use as an editing app for her photos until she saw her friends posting pictures and republishing others and started doing the same. “Now I use it [to] edit all my pictures on it, and then I’ll like post the ones that I like, and it’s almost like Instagram in a way because you can favorite people’s pictures and republish them,” Rodlund said. “I feel people post like it’s a second Instagram, almost [all] people post pictures that they want to post, but they don’t post on Instagram ... I just think it’s a cool way to keep up with people.” Similar to Rodlund, freshman Sophia Keyser said she came across the app while browsing through the app store one day and decided to download it for fun. She said she now uses the app for relationship goals, quotes and posting pictures of her and her friends. “I really like how it doesn’t show your followers or how many likes you get on something, because

I feel like right now it’s just a really big problem when you have a number of followers or a Snap score or something,” Keyser said. “And on VSCO, it’s just a way to share pictures you like without that number.” Junior Ella Wallace said she also likes the way the app hides the number of followers and people you are following to others. She said she posted pictures on the app mainly in the summer around the same time she heard of the VSCO girl trend. “I heard about it over the summer seeing it on Tik Tok ...all the girls making the weird ... point of view videos of each other, that’s when I started realizing it was a trend,” Wallace said. “And then when I got back to school, it just got worse because I started making friendship bracelets like two years ago, and I would make them on my water bottle, and I was like ‘oh no, I don’t want to get made fun of.’” According to dictionary.com, VSCO girl is “a term generally used as an insult for a young, usually white woman, who posts trendy pictures of herself edited on the VSCO app.” Sophomore Kendyl Cook said she describes herself as “kind of a VSCO girl” because she has some of the qualities that fit the stereotype such as owning Hydro Flask. She said she believes there are a lot of girls out there who fit the VSCO girl personality but deny that they do. “I would call myself a VSCO girl, but I really don’t,” Keyser said. “I’ve had to hide my Hydro Flask and get a new water bottle, and I stopped typing ‘sksksksk’ when I text because I don’t want to get bullied.”

| 19

Rodlund said she doesn’t intentionally try to be VSCO and that it was something that just happened because she owned a Hydro Flask, wore baggy T-shirts and Birkenstocks. She said she doesn’t act like one, but has the qualities of becoming a VSCO girl. “When I think of a VSCO girl, I think of middle schoolers,” Rodlund said. “They...want to be... just someone that thinks they’re older than they are. I just remember [in] middle school wanting to be a high schooler and that’s what VSCO reminds me of, or wanting to show that you have this perfect life.” Unlike Rodlund, Wallace said her definition of a VSCO girl was someone who had all of the qualities of a “basic white girl,” thinking the trend was just renamed to VSCO girl trend. “I see a ton of people with Hydro Flasks [at school] plus, I have a Hydro Flask even though I don’t use it,” Wallace said. “I’ve had a Hydro Flask longer than before it became a thing, but I feel like everyone is kind of a VSCO girl in their own way, because we all have friendship bracelets, we all have Hydro Flasks and everybody makes fun of each other. But it’s like we’re all VSCO girls in a way.” Keyser said she thinks others are jealous of the way girls are choosing to express themselves when they haven’t figured out how to show off their own style yet, so they take it out on others. The style has key traits of a VSCO girl and has brought a lot of new things to fantasize over. “I feel like the trend brought a lot of the relationship stuff to VSCO, and like all the cute pictures of ...couples, which it made me feel left out, but I also really liked it because I’m like, ‘oh, I want a VSCO boyfriend,’” Keyser said. In addition to the VSCO girl image, new slang terms: “sksksksk” and “and I oop” were adopted as part of the trend. “‘And I oop’ is like if you drop your Hydro Flask, it’s like ‘and I oop sksksksk,’ and

‘sksksk’ is also my initials. It’s just like when people spam the keyboard but, it’s just, ‘sksksksk’ you know, it’s just like a more put together way,” Keyser said. Wallace said she remembered hearing “and I oop” in a video of a person with a wig on. She said “and I oop” is another meaning for “oh no” and “whoa that just happened” often said when people are in shock. Rodlund said the sayings are sometimes used to make fun of the VSCO girl trend. “I always... hear someone, drop their Hydro Flask in the hall and I’m just like, in my head, ‘and I oop’ and I’m just making fun of like, the whole VSCO girl thing,” Rodlund said. However, Rodlund said people should feel free to do whatever they want. “If you like the whole big T-shirts, Hydro Flasks, like, do what you want to do, because there’s always going to be people out there that are going to hate what you do,” Rodlund said. “But it’s like, [as] long as you’re confident in yourself I think you [can] do whatever.” Cook said she thinks the VSCO girl trend will last until the end of the school year. However, Rodlund said she disagrees and thinks it will last longer than that, for a couple more years to come. “I don’t think it’ll be necessarily called ‘VSCO girl trend,’ I just think it’ll be like what teenage girls are their whole [life]” Rodlund said. “I feel as the years have gone on, girls have gotten more confident in themselves and they feel confident enough to wear baggy T-shirts, no makeup and messy buns to school, which is awesome. So, I think that’s just something that will be a new normal.”

|ishapatel

10 | sports / the standard / oct. 2019 20 type / the standard / oct. 2019

s n o i s s u c Reper s n o i s s u c of Con Number of reported concussions continues to increase, affecting students across all sports

n oncussions have become a major issue in high school sports, with football and girls soccer leading the way, according to the Kansas State High School Activities Association. But even with increased attention around concussions, athletic trainer Chris Poskey said many students still don’t understand the implications brain damage can have. “If your brain is not functioning at the level it needs to be functioning at, then you need to take some breaks, take some rest and let that heal properly,” Poskey said. Senior Andrew Skouse, who has experienced four concussions (three in football and one in baseball), said he cannot remember one of his concussions, but on the other three occasions, he had a minor headache that continued to worsen. “I didn’t think it was that bad,” Skouse said. “You know, it’s football, you get banged up, but eventually as it went on, I told the coaches my head was hurting.” Poskey said there is a multi-step process that every athlete must complete if concussion symptoms are present. “Do they have a headache? Do they have dizziness? Do they have nausea? Ringing of the ears? Any vision problems? Different things like that,” Poskey said. “And then on top of that you’re looking to see [if there] is a memory issue that might be affected, is there a balance issue that might be affected — we’re looking at all of these things in combination.” Junior Katie Charest, who has had three concussions in dance, said she immediately knew she had a concussion when she hit her head on the floor. “All of a sudden the world just started spinning and I had no idea where I was,” Charest said. “I immediately knew I had another concussion, there was no doubt about it.” After it is determined that the athlete does indeed have a concussion, Poskey said a return to play program is initiated. “[The] first couple of days are easy cardio, maybe a little bit of lifting weights and by the fourth or fifth step, it’s returning to a full practice, full contact practice and a full game from there,” Poskey said. Concussions are often associated with sports, but the effects of a concussion reach far into the classroom, as well.

| 21 “The nurse was very willing to work with me; she’d let me come into her office and just lay down in the dark, and a lot of my teachers worked with me to make everything up,” Charest said. Even years after suffering concussions, students still deal with the long-lasting damage to the brain. “My memory’s pretty bad now. It’s hard for me to remember short-term stuff on my own,” Skouse said. “If someone reminds me then I’m alright, and if I run it through my brain a lot then I’m alright, but if it’s something that just happens and I need to know it, I sometimes forget.” Along with memory loss, other less obvious symptoms may linger well beyond the actual time-frame of the concussion. “I experience lots of symptoms of dizziness randomly,” Charest said. “It will just come out of nowhere or I’ll just be sensitive to light one day. Or I’ll start seeing spots — it just comes out of nowhere.” One of the most important things to remember is that brain injuries should take priority over the current sport season, and there are many steps medical professionals can take to help the brain. “If you’re sustaining repeated concussions — four, five, six, somewhere along those lines —you’re going to have a conversation with your doctor, with your athletic trainer, whomever it might be, and we are going to discuss probably getting you out of some sports and getting you away from those situations where you might be hit in the head,” Poskey said. Charest said she is much more cautious and aware of her surroundings when she dances now. “I know my brain will never be 100%,” Charest said. “I was told that if I get another concussion, my brain will be permanently affected, so I have a big fear of getting another one because that’s scary.” Poskey said it is important to understand that reporting concussion symptoms, while allowing time to heal, is critical. “You only have one brain,” Poskey said. “I tell people when they get a concussion you’ve got two arms, you can write left handed if you break your right arm, but if you continue to injure your brain, there’s only so much we can do for you.”

| keithansharp

Know Your Symptoms Headache or “pressure” in head double or blurry vision

nausea or vomiting balance problems or dizziness

bothered by light or noise

confusion, concentration or memory problems About 70% of all high school concussions occur in football, girls soccer, wrestling and cheer

Information according to Kansas State High School Activities Association.

22 | opinion / the standard / oct. 2019

attending a four-year university should

n our affluent Johnson County public school community, the average expectation after high school is to attend a four-year university then proceed into the workforce. However, for many students, college is not the most convenient option to support the plans they have for their futures. There are so many alternate opportunities that are often ignored, saving so many people from years of student loan debt, and other risk factors such as becoming a college dropout or on longterm unemployment. The goal of the Blue Valley School District is that every student feels as though they have the tools to do what they need in order to be successful. Contrary to popular belief, that does not have to be college. One staff member at school who strongly supports this is counselor Kelli Baucom. “Matching students with the right post-secondary [education] option for them is very important,” Baucom said. “I think sometimes students just don’t know that there is another option. If they don’t like school, then the last thing you want to do is more of it someplace else.” Along with trade schools, technician degrees and real estate licenses, enlisting in the military is a great option for students to pursue after they graduate. Senior Nicolas Moore is one who does not plan on attending a university after he receives his diploma, and has rather chosen to explore joining the Air Force. “A lot of [my peers] are always talking about what college they’re going to go to, what their major is going to be and if they need to work on their grades so they can get into the college they want to get in to,” Moore said. “It’s nice because I don’t really have to worry about it too much.”

Testing and college application processes are notorious for giving high school students tremendous amounts of test anxiety, and can greatly affect their final scores. The amount of pressure put on students to get perfect grades, take AP classes and maintain a perfect attendance record just solely for the purpose of impressing colleges, is not something everybody is willing to go through. “It’s a lot of anxiety and a lot of stress to achieve a number and a score and to compare yourselves to other students on a test,” Baucom said. “We have plenty of really bright students who achieve and do wonderful things at school here on a daily basis, but that doesn’t always come across on a standardized test.”

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not be the expectation for all students The inclination to go to a specific college, or just go to a university, in general, can also be strongly influenced by someone’s parents. If one or both parents went to college, there will most likely be an expectation for that student to attend a college, too. Perhaps even the same one their parents attended. There is also a large concern with scholarships by the result of parents not wanting to pay or not being able to pay for their children’s entire tuition. This is entirely understandable because college debt can sometimes be paid off over the span of 10-20 years after graduation, depending on the degree. “My parents actually wanted me to [go to college] initially because they at one point wanted to be in the military themselves, but instead went to college,” Moore said. “They told me that I would have a better life if I went to college, but I just didn’t want to.” Not only does the Blue Valley School District strongly encourage attendance to college fairs, and taking the ACT or SAT prep courses, but it has an entire class time built-in every even block day to do college and career planning lessons on a website called Naviance. District Administrator David Stubblefield works very closely with outside sources in order to provide students with a way to explore alternate career options. He said he believes it is very important for students of all ages to have a tool to help plan out their time during and after high school. “We know that college is not for every single student,” Stubblefield said. “Over the last few years as a district, we have worked really hard on personalizing new experiences for our kids; such as our partnership with Johnson County [Community College] that we established this year. Students who are interested in a variety of different careers will be able to register and have a more focused curriculum on whatever job they choose.”

Naviance, along with College Now courses and collaboration with Johnson County Community College can definitely be helpful to students who know they will be attending a university. However, when a student who is not planning on going to college has to sit through an entire class revolving around college preparation, it can make them feel as though their school is not supporting their ideas for an alternative career path. “The whole Naviance thing is weird to

“We know that college is not for every single student. Over the last few years as a district, we have worked really hard on personalizing new experiences for our kids.” | executivedirectorofschool administrationdavidstubblefield me,” Moore said. “The [counselors] forced me to sign up for all of the stuff and go in to choose a specific college but I’m not even going so I don’t really know why they make me do it.” There should be a purpose to Naviance even if a student doesn’t plan on attending college. There is a career path exploration option on the application itself, but it seems to be more focused on the college research aspect of it. “College can [turn you into] your income potential,” Baucom said. “That doesn’t necessarily mean success. It definitely has an impact on your long term earning potential, however, there are careers like welding for instance where you can go to school for two years to receive your certificate and immediately be making around 40,000 dollars a year. This compared to your counterpart who could still be in a four-year college and

paying for college, that over time you kind of have to look at how that income adds up.” Welding, along with countless other careers including the military can provide those students who don’t want to continue with a school for an extended period of time beyond what they are required to, with an income large enough to support themselves. The district is still currently searching for new ways that they can implement these programs into more high schools and begin to normalize post-high school opportunities that don’t include college. “Our counselors are beginning to redirect some of those Naviance conversations because there is a career piece to it that often gets overlooked,” Stubblefield said. “They are trying to develop opportunities for students that fit their specific career profile.” Aside from all of the seemingly useless Naviance lessons and worn out talk about our futures, the only thing that the staff at school truly wants is for every student to have the opportunity to achieve whatever they want. The goal of life is not to work a painful nine to five job just to pay the bills, but rather doing something that brings you joy and also supports your lifestyle along with it. For so many students it does not require a college degree, and I believe this should be more socially accepted and encouraged. “You barely get any attention for joining the military or going straight into an outside job,” Moore said. “College has a lot more opportunities for better jobs in the future. It takes more time and it’s a lot of money, but that investment usually ends up in something pretty good. I just don’t feel like that is the right path for me.”

| karleykent

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24 | feature / the standard / oct. 2019

Spooky Season Stats

The Nighmare Before Christmas Coraline Halloweentown Casper The Addams Family Hocus Pocus

“I just love [Hocus Pocus] because it’s not scary. But it really gets you in the Halloween theme and I just I have lots of memories of watching it with my cousins.” | librariankristanbowlin

KitKat

Hershey's

Halloween Candy Snickers

Reese's

100 students surveyed about Halloween

Be sure to check out WolfByte’s Halloween show on YouTube and subscribe to BVSW Broadcast

When are you TOO old to trick-or-treat? 50 40 30 20 10 0

neverSchool After Elementary After Middle School high After Highmiddle School NEVER elementary

| 25| 13

Halloween Movies

The Nightmare Coraline Before Christmas Halloweentown Casper

The Addams Hocus Family Pocus

Favorite Halloween Themed Activity scary movie marathon

31% M&M's

17%

“Well, I’ve just always grown up loving peanut butter and chocolate together. Like it’s just a match made in heaven. And [Reese’s] is my favorite candy.” | freshmanjackhanahan

“Withsolo solocostumes, costumes you have your own identity.” identity” “With juniorfarisabouodah | |juniorfarisabouodah

20%

haunted houses

“The cider mill has really good donuts and cider, and I really love donuts. It’s just a fun experience.” Group | sophomoresophiarose Solo

Group Costume

Solo Costume

32%

cider mill

Solo vs. Group Costume

pumpkin carving

KitKat Hershey’s Snickers Reese’s‘ M&M’s

| saharbaha

26 | news / the standard / oct. 2019

a fresh change district allows freshmen options to fulfill physical education credit

fitness foundations Fitness Foundation is a course that provides the opportunity for students to participate in a broad variety of physical activities.

group exercise Group Exercise is designed around exercise in group setting. Some possible activities including yoga and kickboxing.

strength & conditioning I Strength and Conditioning is designed to enhance the student’s academic and practical application of physical conditioning, such as strength, endurance, etc.

what you think:

“I think it is good that they give freshmen options of what PE they’d like to take just in case they don’t want to take regular PE.” —senior Talia Epps

“Well I’m in Strength and Conditioning II, and all you do is just work out. General PE is more fun because you have free days.” —sophomore Anay Patel

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2 4 1. Jumping rope, freshman Haley Loritz participates in Strength and Conditioning I on Oct. 9. Photo by Josiah Davis. 2. Completing an ab workout, freshman Reese Bates uses a weighted ball in her physical education class. Photo by Karley Kent. 3. Using free weights, freshman Caleb Borden completes a circuit workout in Strength and Conditioning I on Oct. 9. Photo by Josiah Davis. 4. To warm up, freshman Isaac LaCroix stretches in the gym on Aug. 28. Photo by Josiah Davis.

| josiahdavis | ishapatel

“I wish we got to choose what we got to do [instead] of “I chose [Strength and Conditioning] because I figured while I doing normal PE because normal PE is annoying.” was in school, I could get stronger and [it] would help me out — junior Kelliann Kerringer with a couple of my sports.” — freshman Collin Berge

28 | feature / the standard / oct. 2019

Hidden gems of

Kansas City students share their favorite off-the-beaten-path spots

ansas City is a great place with so many opportunities for a fun time. From the Nelson-Atkins museum to Union Station, the Arboretum to the stadiums, the beloved city has a little something for everyone. With so many great places to spend a day, the little places with just as much charm are overlooked.

It’s A Beautiful Day

unior Julia Haney said her favorite shop is It’s A Beautiful Day. This store is located on Broadway Boulevard in Kansas City, Missouri. The surrounding area has many restaurants, a theater, a cathedral — not to mention the murals that make for a photo op. When patrons walk into the shop, they see a display of a variety of items. “This is a store that a lot of people hand make and sell their items,” Haney said. “It’s just a store full of different things; there’s records, posters, tapestries, clothing, pens, bracelets. There’s a bunch of things for people to buy and I love it because it’s all handmade.” The eclectic nature of this store ensures that nearly everyone can find something that perks their interest. “I would honestly tell people to really look at everything, like everything,” Haney said. “There’s so many things there, it’s super clustered with a bunch of things anyone can get and honestly I would tell anyone to just stop, take your time, look at everything and realize that a lot of people put effort into these handmade products and it’s super cool.”

Some people think the best parts about having such a wide variety of choices is exploring them. By adventuring and finding new places, students could just stumble upon something that could be a new favorite. Below, students their favorite hidden gems so that others could enjoy them as much as they have.

| 29 | 13

The Green Door

he Green Door bookstore is tucked away in Morris Village behind a home on Quivira. Sophomore Veronica Fuendling’s curiosity got the better of her when she decided to see what the tiny shop was all about. She had stumbled upon a cutesy shop in one of the original buildings of Overland Park. “This bookstore carries tons of trinkets and treasures. It’s a really cool boutique that’s in Morris Village,” Fuendling said. “It’s a bookstore and they sell little necklaces and candles and random, cute little things that would be perfect for gifts.” If in need of a quick gift for anyone that is sure to put a smile on their face, The Green Door offers a quick place to pick up a gift. Fuendling said this place has a special history. “I think others will enjoy kind [of] the backstory of it,” Fuendling said. “It used to be this old, little house, but the girl who bought it redid it on the inside so now it’s a bookstore. It’s a shop now, instead of a house. So I think that’s really cool.” The old house brings an element of charm that most places do not have. “I would definitely have to say look at the magnets and at the mugs because they are really unique and they all have different, fun little sayings on them,” Fuendling said.

Family Tree Nursery

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nother one of KC’s treasures is the Family Tree Plant Nursery on Nieman Road. Junior Rain Pickering said she loves to go there during her free time. “It’s a nice atmosphere and they also have a little cafe in the middle of the greenhouse where you can eat and just be surrounded by the plants that are there and maybe do some homework,” Pickering said. Pickering said she found out about the nursery because her dad likes to go there and pick out tomatoes for the garden. Her family and the owners are good friends. “I really like plants in general and the people there are really nice. Going there is kind of a different atmosphere from just the normal cafe or library,” Pickering said. In addition to plants and coffee, the nursery offers a retail section with Kansas City made products, T-shirts, fairy garden items, dishes and many more little trinkets. “A good tidbit is probably that you can bring dogs,” Pickering said. “So if you want a good place to bring your dog, it’s really fun.”

Good Juju: personal review

ood Juju is an antique shop in one of Kansas City’s original buildings. Its wonderful display of vignettes has earned it the title of Kansas City’s Best Antique Shop for three years. It is open on the first Friday and Saturday of every month. During this weekend, many artists come together to show their newest items. Because each booth is operated by a different person, there is a wide variety of antiques, paintings, furniture, clothing, signs, etc. Each booth has a distinct style and theme. From old and rustic to 90’s retro, there is something for everybody. Artist Kathy Berke is a vendor at Good Juju who creates signs out of refurbished wood and rustic lettering. Her signs have inspiring messages that are presented in a creative way. The entire warehouse is stuffed with trinkets in every corner. Good Juju is a great place to find a special item to tie a room together.

|elliephillips

30 | feature / the standard / oct. 2019

THE

DANCE www

Experience

students share their insights into a traditional Indian dance

ext year, sophomore Ananya Balakrishnan will be graduating — not from school, but from the Nartan Academy of Dance in July. Since the age of 7, Balakrishnan has been learning Bharatanatyam, the oldest classical dance tradition of India. Bharatanatyam expresses South Indian religious themes. According to CulturalIndia.net, traditionally it is performed as an interpretive narration of mythical legends and spiritual ideas from the Hindu texts. In Bharatanatyam, dancers use distinctive elements that distinguish it from other forms of Indian dance including a fixed upper torso, bent legs, spectacular footwork and sophisticated hand, eye and facial gesturing. It is so sophisticated it takes an enormous amount of dedication in order to become proficient. “I started dancing when I was around 7 years old,” Balakrishnan said. “Dance is a big part of my life because I’ve done it for so long, and it’s a way for me to tie back to my culture.” Balakrishnan said dance has become such a significant part of her life and she has learned to love it. “It’s pretty intense,” Balakrishnan said. “I mean, we’re going to practice six times a week, and we have to eat four meals. It’s a lot both mentally and physically.” She said there were times when she wanted to quit because of the amount of effort required to dance while keeping up with school. “Mainly because of the cost and the amount of effort that needs to be put in, because, of course, school always comes first,” Balakrishnan said. “I dance six times a week for 14 hours in total.”

| 13 For Balakrishnan, all of these years of dedication will culminate in a three-hour performance on July 5, 2020. “Before, it was just something I wanted to do just to meet up with my friends, but over time, it’s grown to be a passion and it’s something that I would really like to continue into the future,” Balakrishnan said. Freshman Kanika Radadiya performed her graduation dance on June 29, a performance she had been preparing for since the age of 5. “To my family, this was something really special because they put my other sisters through it and to be able to see their third daughter go through it was awesome,” Radadiya said. “It is very intense and it takes a lot of courage and strength to go through it. It was 16 hours a week, but in the month of June, it was 10 hours every single day.” This level of dedication comes at a cost to these dancers. “I have tendinitis in both my ankles, I have plantar fasciitis in my feet and my hips are now unaligned,” Kanika said. Dancing also has a monetary cost. Not only do the families of dancers pay for the classes necessary to learn this dance proficiently, but on the big day of the performance, the family must pay for everything from food to special musicians —

which are flown in from India — to costumes. Radadiya said the expenses for such an event are comparable to the cost of a wedding. Sophomore Evanna Dominic preformed her arangetram on June 23. “Overall, the cost itself isn’t bad,” Dominic said. “It’s maybe like $500 per semester, but the event costs $20,000.” Dominic said she was really excited in the days leading up to her performance. “It marked a large part of my life because I spent so much time working on it,” Dominic said. On the day of the event, there is a whole itinerary. “It’s very stressful. Everyone is doing your make up, doing your hair, pulling you in every direction, and then they are feeding you and when you are preforming, they’ll pull you back and be like shoving food in your mouth just to make sure you can actually pull out for the next three hours,” Radadiya said. To all of these ladies, motivation is key, and a key part of that motivation is their families. For Dominic, it was her mom. “She’s an amazing person, and I don’t think I could have done this without her,” Dominic said. “Every time I had a bad day or dance at anything my teacher would yell at me and I mean, yell... she would always be there for me and motivate me to help me keep going.” The performance is an important part of their family traditions and is considered a rite of passage and a dream realized for their families. “Dance means a lot to me and it is a big part of my life,” Balakrishnan said. “It strengthens the bond with my culture, and it is my way of relieving stress and having fun.”

| maddiesack

Photos courtesy of Ananya Balakrishnan, Evanna Dominic and Kanika Radadiya

32 | news / the standard / oct. 2019

students share their homecoming proposals Senior Nicholas Olsen asked senior Ashlei Lovell to Homecoming and she surprised him with her answer one day after band practice. “I loved hearing all the stories about how my parents asked and answered in college so I wanted bring a little bit of that here at Southwest,” Lovell said. “We had Mr. Lesando go on his microphone at the end of practice and say ‘the girl you asked to [Homecoming] said when pigs fly’ as he was given a box full of balloons that had flying pigs on them,” Lovell said. “And of course I had a huge sign to make sure there was no confusion.”

Sophomore Nate Kaestner surprised sophomore Myrna Holman with a sign asking her to Homecoming. “I knew what I wanted to say and because my date is a gymnast, I wanted to do something related to gymnastics” Kaestner said. “Her brother was outside and let me in to surprise her. She was super surprised and had no clue I was going to ask her that night.”

Sophomore Zach Wilcox asked sophomore Sydney Gilman to Homecoming with a creative sign. “I knew he was going to ask me but I didn’t know when or how,” Gilman said. “We were going to the Harvest Festival at Grace Church and my friend told me she would be picking me up but it was actually him who picked me up.”

Sophomore Grant Regier asked junior Kassidy Schultz to Homecoming. “Her friends helped me come up with the idea,” Regier said. “It was a planned thing and she was really happy and surprised by my amazing artwork.” | ishapatel