The Tiger Print — October 2010

the

print TIGER BLUE VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL

Vol. 41 Issue 3

October 2010

Stilwell, KS

I WANT

YOU TO GO TO

COLLEGE pages 12-13

inside Band booster

Directing with character

Meet me halfway

page 2

page 10

page 22

Pianist David Nevue to perform at BV to benefit music program

Reperatory theater cast appreciates new teacher’s style

Football team ranked 3rd in KC metro, faces challenges ahead

inthenews

in the halls...

Pianist scheduled to perform at BV

1. RFL captain meeting planned Anyone interested in becoming a Relay for Life team captain should attend the first meeting at 3 p.m. on Oct. 20 in the Fixed Forum.

Relay for Life co-chair, senior Jenny Yu, said attendants will receive important information about paperwork and get the necessary materials to start a team. Robeks smoothies will also be provided.

Yu said details about the Relay merge with Blue Valley West will also be discussed. This year’s Relay will take place at West, and the schools will compete to see who can raise more money to fight cancer.

“We’re so fiercely competitive in everything in general,” Yu said. “More competition means more drive to raise money.”

By Caitlin Holland.

2. Colleges to visit BV The following colleges are visiting BV this month: Creighton University - Oct. 19 Stephens College - Oct. 20 Missouri Western State University- Oct. 20 University of Tulsa - Oct. 20 Washburn University - Oct. 21 Truman State University - Oct. 25 University of Missouri - Oct. 26 Washington University - Oct. 26 Northwest Missouri State University - Oct. 27 Central Methodist University - Oct. 28 For more information, visit the counseling office and sign up with counseling secretary Cindy Snell.

By Emily Brown.

this month...

Oct. 15 End of first quarter, no school Varsity football game home against St. Thomas Aquinas

Oct. 19

Fall choir concert at 7:30 p.m. in the PAC

Oct. 21/28

Ring deliveries and senior announcements

Oct. 27/28

Parent-teacher conferences

Oct. 29 No school

Nov. 3

Four Year Planning Evening

Nov. 4

Marching and jazz band concert at 7 p.m.

on the cover...

A major focus point for Principal Scott Bacon is preparing students for college. Interventions such as Takin’ Care of Business and Overtime are a part of his plan for academic success. BV consistently sends 95 percent or higher of each graduating class to a university, college or two-year institution. Photo illustration by Maegan Kabel.

0 2 OCTOBER 2010

Pianist David Nevue preforms at one of his shows. Nevue will begin his Midwest tour on Nov. 6 at Blue Valley. His music can be purchaced on iTunes or off of his website, www.davidnevue.com. Photo courtesy of David Nevue.

odiopole staff writer Pianist David Nevue will play in the Performing Arts Center on Saturday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. to raise money for the Stridin’ Tigers Band and Drill Team.

Nevue plans to tour the Midwest in October and the PAC will be his first stop.

Band members are selling tickets for $15, but they can also be purchased at the door the night of the performance.

After the first two tickets sold, 100 percent of the proceeds will go towards maintaining the music program at BV. That includes paying for the marching band’s travel expenses.

Sophomore Morgan Lee said the event should be a fun night out for students and adults.

“It’s supposed to provide a sort of date night for students and members of the community,” she said.

Band Director Avian Bear said most students probably aren’t familiar with Nevue.

“He’s big in the piano world,” Bear said.

“If you’re into piano, you know him.”

Nevue is a solo pianist, and according to his website, his style is somewhere between Frédéric Chopin and George Winston.

Since his first album came out in 1992, Nevue produced 11 others.

His most recent work, Revelation: Prayer and Worship, was released last year.

His music can be found in the “New Age” section of iTunes, or on his website, www. davidnevue.com.

Because Nevue promotes his music primarily through performances and record sales, he will also benefit from the concert.

“We got him through one of the band parents,” Bear said. “They knew him, and they just contacted him and said, ‘Hey, can you come help support our school?’”

Junior Alex Schoenberg met Nevue at a workshop he hosted. She said this isn’t the first time the band tried to get Nevue to perform.

“We thought about it last year, but the timing was not workable,” Schoenberg said. “We just wanted to do something good to benefit the band program this year because music is really important.”

Nevue said he does benefit concerts for colleges and high schools often because he remembers how important his school’s music program was to him.

“I grew up in music and there’s too many schools who are dropping their music programs,” Nevue said. “If it weren’t for the program at my high school, I don’t think I’d be doing this for a living.”

Last year, the BV School District proposed cutting band and strings program from elementary and middle schools due to a budget shortfall.

Nevue said school districts should realize music programs are vital to their schools.

“It’s the exposure to music and being

a part of that community of musicians and artists, and being together with people who love music,” he said. “When you’re in choir or band it becomes a shared experience that you all value.”

Nevue said his style of performing will appeal to high school kids — it’s not the usual ‘Pianist sits up there playing and you fall asleep’ type of concert he said students typically expect.

“It’s just so much fun,” he said. “I tell stories and talk about the music. It’s very engaging. We talk to each other and I play the song, and you get the background and the story and can imagine it.”

Concert

information

$15 per ticket purchase from any band member Tickets will also be sold at the door Nevue’s Midwest tour kicks off on Saturday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. in the PAC

inthenews

After budget cuts force closing, club reopens Jungle courtneywoodworth circulation manager For the first time this year, the student-run store, The Jungle, opened for business.

At the end of last year, the in-house marketing class shut down The Jungle due to budget cuts and not enough students enrolling.

However, business teacher Cindy Brown created a club for those who were interested in it.

“I wanted to start the club for the students and faculty to enjoy,” she said. “That way it could be offered.”

Only two students showed up at the first meeting, junior Cari McCabe and sophomore Blake Thorne.

“I didn’t have any expectations as to how many people would show up,” Brown said.

Since The Jungle is now a club and not a class, there are some restrictions.

“We’re only open on Tuesdays and late starts,” Thorne said. “But we’re doing pretty good.”

They offer specialty coffees, cookies, turnovers, cinnamon rolls, smoothies, apple cider and Kool-Aid. “Our goal is to provide the school with quality service and food,” he said. “Cari makes the smoothies and Kool-Aid while I make coffee, teas, hot chocolate and manage the register.”

The Jungle originally opened because the district wanted the business department to open up a school store. Each school wrote a

plan, presented it and got it approved.

“We’ve been successful hitting it during the coffee phase,” Brown said.

The club is funded through the profits that they make. This profit is used to buy inventory.

The profit changes week to week because the number of customers changes as well.

“We’re feeling our way because with no class there are limitations,” Brown said. “If it expands, it does.”

In the upcoming weeks, The Jungle will accept applications for those who are interested in earning community service hours.

The Jungle will also be teaming up with Project Playground to sell wristbands.

The Jungle: by the numbers Open 5 hours per week: Tuesdays and late-start Thursdays The Jungle employees spend 2.5 hours each week preparing the store At least 10 customers are served each morning Weekly supplies cost $25-50 Information provided by sophomore Blake Thorne.

Sophomore Blake Thorne works on squeezing the filling for a cherry turnover onto the dough.

The Jungle offers various food and drink items, available to all students. “Our goal is to provide the school with quality service and food,” Thorne said.

Photo by Courtney Woodworth.

OCTOBER 2010 0 3

inthenews

Online opportunities available at CAPS not offered at BV anniematheis news editor The new CAPS center is equipped with exclusive social networking capabilities not available at district high schools.

The social media options for CAPS students include Facebook and YouTube access.

The CAPS Center is unblocked from these websites to create a realistic business environment.

“We are mocking, or mirroring, an industry or business environment,” executive CAPS director Donna Deeds said.

“What we do is we transform you as a high school kid into the world of work. We treat CAPS students like employees.”

Deeds said she believes it is necessary for the CAPS students to have access to sites like Facebook and YouTube so they can perform at the business level.

“That is why it is so different from high school,” Deeds said.

“Because of the types of products and the people they are working for, they have to have those types of tools.”

Junior Beth Houghton, a Civil Engineering and Architecture CAPS student, said she had to use YouTube in her class to look up how to use a software system.

If it is found that a student in the CAPS program is using YouTube or Facebook for personal use, they are immediately dismissed from the program.

“They told us at the beginning of the school year it was a privilege to be able to use this stuff,” Houghton said. “If we misuse it, they will take it away.”

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Broadcasting teacher Denny Brand said he believes that at the very minimum, websites like Facebook and YouTube should be unblocked for teachers and librarians that want to use them as a resource.

“I think, in the issue of fairness, the faculty at all the high schools should be able to use it as well as the students,” Brand said. “As a broadcasting teacher and a guardian of the First Amendment, I don’t agree with anything being censored by anyone.”

Brand said that he thinks his Tiger TV students could utilize YouTube to become more equipped for the broadcast world.

He said professional journalists now use YouTube to reach a greater audience.

“What we do in [Tiger TV] is make videos,” Brand said. “It would be nice to be able to get on the Internet and look at the videos that are being made, not only by other students in other schools, but by professionals. In the interest of news, newsmakers are putting stuff on YouTube now where they didn’t before.”

Deputy Superintendent of Education Services Sue Dole said it is possible for teachers to request for certain videos and websites to be unblocked. Teachers must fill out a heat sheet, which is sent to Information Technology Services and routed to the appropriate people in educational services.

Dole said they usually try to keep this process in under 24 hours, but that is not always possible depending on the technical work involved.

“We are required by law to provide that kind of filtering,”

Dole said.

Journalism adviser Jill Chittum said social media sites could be used in newspaper and yearbook.

“Here in the high schools, especially in classes like yearbook and newspaper, where social media is a big part of where the industry is heading, our students need to have access to those types of websites and be taught how to use them responsibly,” Chittum said.

She said the newspaper even has a Facebook profile to contact sources and know their readership. She said it is important for her students to learn how to do this at a young age because media outlets all over the world are using Facebook in this manner.

“It is like any sort of tool,” Chittum said. “It is out there, you learn how to use it, what works and what doesn’t.”

Teacher opinions

on social media

These are the results from a poll completed by BV teachers about the integration of media websites in the classroom. it is unfair students at the CAPS 87%believe center have access to social media sites while students at BV don’t.

social media websites could serve an 93% think educational purpose 32 teachers polled.

payin’thebills

OCTOBER 2010 0 5

outloud

The Tiger Print editor-in-chief Caitlin Holland

ads manager Sam Brennan

managing editor Sara Naatz

circulations Courtney Woodworth

news/web editor Annie Matheis opinion editor Jacob Pruitt features editor Jordan Huesers sports editor Chris Roche copy editor Emily Brown

Cartoon by Evelyn Davis.

BV academic opportunities ignored by student body staff editorial 19

agreed

4

disagreed

Options.

Every day BV students choose between seemingly easy options.

Take the AP course and try hard? No thanks, we’d rather cruise through the

normal class.

Do your homework? Nah, we can just do it in Overtime after going over it in class.

Stay home and study this weekend? Don’t make us laugh.

But where are these choices to our options getting us?

They sure aren’t showing us every thing we can do with our chosen major after college.

Tougher AP classes are there for a reason.

They give us in-depth insight to the course. We are given the chance to see what that course is all about.

Take a moment to think of all the things you could do if you chose to follow that AP course’s subject as a future career.

The professional possibilities with a major in biology, physics, or history, etc., are endless.

The Center for Advanced Professional Studies is an amazing op-

raise your voice

Freshman Emily Todd Coming into Blue Valley, I expected it to be more mature, but it still seems like I’m in middle school

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portunity that few at BV are taking advantage of.

So take that AP class.

Dive into the CAPS program you know little about.

You shouldn’t be afraid to open your mind about what you could be doing later on.

Real life experiences in a potential profession are given to us at high school, something that is rarely heard of elsewhere.

We need to face the facts and realize that our easy ride is ending.

Soon.

Why not take advantage of what is being presented to us now?

If you ignore options now, you close doors that would lead you somewhere else in the future. Don’t just settle for the easy class.

Don’t just settle for the in-state college.

Don’t just settle for the run-of-the-mill job.

You’ll regret it and your choices.

For the people who do take their time to consider options: congratulations.

You are the lucky ones.

You know what you want to do with yourselves, both in college and in life, not because you were better prepared.

But because you know what everything offers.

Being knowledgeable about what lies ahead goes a long way in your future happiness.

Keep your options open.

design editor Jordan McEntee photo editor Maegan Kabel

staff writers Jaida Anderlik Kelly Cordingley Clay Cosby Ben Grove Stephen Karst Ryan O’Toole Odi Opole photographers Maria Fournier Juliana Himmel Olivia Roudebush Conor Storm cartoonist Evelyn Davis adviser Jill Chittum

The Tiger Print is published nine times a year for the students, faculty and the surrounding community of Blue Valley High School. 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 Tiger Print reserves the right to edit all submissions for both language and content and encourages letters to be no more than 350 words. Letters should be submitted to room 450, e-mailed to thetigerprint@yahoo.com or mailed to: The Tiger Print c/o Blue Valley High School 6001 W. 159th St. Stilwell, KS 66085 phone: 913-239-4800 Pacemaker finalist, 2009 and 2010 Member, Kansas Scholastic Press Association, National Scholastic Press Association and Columbia Scholastic Press Association

How do you think BV could better prepare you for college?

Freshman Jeremy Clark They could probably talk more about college and go more in-depth about what we need for college.

SEPTEMBER 2010 0 5

Senior Rebecca Richardson Stop holding our hands so much.

They baby us.

outloud

Suicide issilent

Depression victims rarely show signs indicating struggle

He enters an empty house.

He’s angry. Frustrated.

His family is away.

Alone.

The silence amplifies his loneliness. He curses at the ceiling just to hear something.

Twenty-four hours.

Twenty-four hours ago he was fine. Twenty-four hours to move to a place too dark for definition.

Fist meets drywall. The pain feels good. Mattress kicked onto the floor, desk chair thrown down.

Tears push the corners of his eyes.

God, when was the last time he cried?

Blood trickles from his knuckles.

Alone.

A tidal wave of misery builds to its natural crest.

A noose tossed over the banister.

The end.

Two belts away.

The end of misery. Self-loathing. Three years of suffering in secret.

Ashamed of his own shortcomings.

Embarrassed of his weakness.

He collapses, too scared to support his own weight.

Labored breathing. Elevated heart-rate.

In a last desperate act, I make the phone call that saves my life. **** My life’s not so bad. My family is great. Parents who love me. Never had to want for anything. I consider myself an OK looking guy and I have enough friends. That doesn’t change anything. Misery is my mistress.

The first inklings came before freshman year. I knew I was

suicidal by the first snowfall. It took over a year to tell my parents, and almost four to write this.

There are people out there, like me. Alone, scared and ashamed for the way they feel.

Anyone can feel this way. Depression makes no allowances for who you are or how successful you are.

In my life, I’ve had two close friends attempt to take their own lives through overdoses, and even I didn’t notice anything was wrong until they told me after the fact.

My mom at first told me I couldn’t be depressed because I seemed so happy.

Just last month, Denver Broncos wide receiver Kenny McKinley was discovered dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

At 23, this man with a college degree, a young child and a promising NFL career felt hopeless enough to take his own life.

Everyone close to him said there were no signs he was feeling this way — that he was depressed. He even seemed happy.

While prevailing knowledge is that most people contemplating suicide show signs, these signs are often too subtle to be noticed until it’s too late.

The only way for suicide to be helped is for people experiencing it to be comfortable telling other people.

If you’re going through this, you need to understand that you’re not alone. No matter who you are, you have someone who cares and will support you.

You need to tell someone. Tell your parents, your best friend. How the conversation goes is different for everyone, because the circumstances are different for everyone.

But the one thing we have in common is no one is strong enough to handle it on his or her own.

Unfortunately, when many people are told someone they care for tried to kill themselves they don’t know how to respond.

If someone trusts you enough to confide in you, above all, do not try to discredit their feelings.

It doesn’t matter how many times you tell them their life is worth it. They won’t believe you; they won’t see it that way.

The best thing you can do is to continue to support them as best you can.

They need your help and your push to get more help.

You need to push them to seek therapy or call a hotline. You need to try to understand them.

It can be the difference between life and death.

Several suicides made national headlines this year.

These three highly-covered events suprised the nation: Phoebe Prince, 15

what happened: Bullied repetitively on Facebook. Nine teens were charged in relation to her death.

Jan. 15, 2010

Kenny McKinley, 23

Sept. 20, 2010

what happened: A wide receiver for the Denver Broncos shocked the sports world after his suicide.

Tyler Clementi, 18

what happened: The teen’s roommate set up a video camera in his dorm to broadcast Clementi’s romantic encounter with another male.

Sept. 22, 2010

Where to go for help:

National Suicide Hotlines 1-800-273-TALK 1-800-SUICIDE N

The Mental Health Association of the Heartland (913) 281-1234

OCTOBER 2010 0 7

outloud

CAPS allowed access to online sites restricted at BV “Content blocked by your organization.”

The dreaded page that appears whenever you type in the URL for Facebook or YouTube.

For a newspaper staff member like me, those five little words are infuriating.

I don’t care about liking my friend’s status, I don’t watch inappropriate videos on YouTube and I don’t Facebook chat with my friends during class.

I know, shocking.

I can promise you that the rest of the journalism students at BV don’t do any of those things either.

They aren’t stupid enough to risk the wrath of the editors and they are too busy actually doing work. Believe it or not people, we do have a deadline.

If we want to have any hope of getting into the real world of journalism, we need to know how to be able to promote our website to young readers.

Facebook is the best tool to keep bvtigernews.com from becoming a rarely visited wasteland of journalism.

When I need to find sources for my stories, Facebook is my best friend. I can send messages to the sources that I need to contact and set up interviews.

I know what you are thinking. Why don’t you pick a phone book and call them?

But that takes time. And in today’s speedy world of journalism, every second counts.

I can type up that message in less than a minute and I can

start working on the other billion things I have to do.

I can find sources that I wouldn’t have found through a measly phone book and I don’t have to play phone tag.

To us newspaper staffers, the ability to use these websites means the world. They allow us to get our stories done a little bit faster. They let us know the biz a little bit better. They help our stories sound just a little bit more coherent.

As cliché as it sounds, that little bit can go far.

“This category is filtered: CAPS allowed.”

Crazily enough, not everyone in the district is forced to adhere to these same restrictions.

The Center for Advanced Professional Studies is a special exception. Because it is a business environment, they are allowed to access YouTube and Facebook.

They get to be treated like adults.

But the people who spend hours and hours working on the newspaper? Nah, we are just kids.

As long as students in the CAPS program don’t use it for personal use, they are free to work on their projects.

Why are we any different?

The CAPS students work with real businesses.

Well, so do we. Every single one of our staffers has to sell an advertisement each quarter. That is what keeps our paper coming out every month.

If a student is seen using social media for personal use in the CAPS program, they are immediately dismissed. Why don’t we get the same chance in newspaper?

I honestly don’t know.

Students want to have the right to surf the web without

any district censorship.

We strive to be the best school in the country but the district can’t even trust some of its students enough to use popular social media sites.

It is sad, really.

The district is so intent on blocking us from one meager distraction that they can’t even see the amazing possibilities.

Instead of fighting against the inevitable, why don’t you try to work with these sites?

Instead of writing a essay, why not have students make a short video and upload it to YouTube?

In between the monotonous lectures, why not show us an educational video from YouTube with amazing graphics that will keep even the most distracted of our ADD generation interested?

If you can’t beat us, join us. It is a famous saying for a reason.

“Access to this site is blocked.”

We are journalists.

And as such, we need to realize that everything is going online. The newspaper business is evolving.

According to the Pew Research Center for People and the Press, nearly six in 10 Americans younger than 30 say they get most of their national and international news online.

Simply put, we need social media. News is created, posted and found on these sites. And the news is our business.

But our district must disagree (or refuse to see) these obvious facts. Otherwise, they would be allowing their journalism students to work with online resources that represent the future.

Speaker promotes respect in nation’s schools

You don’t know my life.

Most of my grade and a lot of the school knows who I am.

I’ve had classes with hundreds of different students, and my name has even been mentioned on the announcements a few times over the years.

If you’ve seen me, you could probably give an accurate description of my appearance: brown hair, blue eyes, skin that looks as if it hasn’t seen the light of day for a while.

That’s me.

But it definitely isn’t all of me.

In fact, there are a few things you wouldn’t know about me just by passing by in the hallway, having

a 15-minute conversation with me or even being a close friend of mine.

Truth is, no one is really who they appear to be.

When guest speaker Ed Gerety came to our school a few weeks ago, that message stayed with me.

Gerety told a touching story about a group of students in school making fun of a boy at lunch.

They thought the boy couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he could.

Gerety pulled the tormentors into a hallway and explained the challenging situation the boy was dealing with at home.

His brother was in the hospital receiving a bone marrow transplant.

He spent all of his nights at his brother’s bedside.

Most people don’t go around telling everyone they see intimate details about their life.

While not every student in our school is going

0 8 OCTOBER 2010

through a difficult time at home, we shouldn’t assume they aren’t.

A rumor or snide comment about something superficial like someone’s appearance hurts, especially when the person already has a mountain of issues to deal with.

MTV aired a show this summer called If You Really Knew Me that coincides with Gerety’s message.

The show features two speakers who travel to schools across the country.

The schools they go to typically have a lot of gossip and bullying problems.

In each episode, teens in different social groups sit together and share details about their lives.

Many of the students are shocked to hear their peers have problems at home ranging from depression to parents with drug addictions.

We have to respect each others’ boundaries.

We need to understand that a side comment we don’t think twice about can actually ruin someone’s day.

Blue Valley is a great school, Gerety said it himself.

We are fortunate to have a lot of students who care about academics and extra-curricular success.

But we aren’t perfect. While bullying instances are few and far between inside school walls, it shouldn’t exist at all.

Before you make a comment about how ridiculous so-and-so’s hair looks to a friend, think about the story Gerety shared.

Think about how your life isn’t easy and the challenges you face.

If someone said those words about you, how would it feel?

Life is going to suck for each of us at some point.

Let’s not make things any harder for each other.

Motivational speaker Ed Gerety talks to students about respecting one another and enjoying life. Gerety said he saw a strong sense of pride and community when entering BV. Photo by Maegan Kabel.

outloud

NCLB goal of 100 percent proficiency unattainable by 2014 The name reminds me of a child running to catch up to a school bus.

The No Child Left Behind Act. For the eighth consecutive year, the Blue Valley School District made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).

But what happens when the district stops making AYP? In 2014 all the nation’s schools must be at 100 percent proficiency.

Is it possible?

BV participates in the 12 Under 12 Program aimed to get 12 schools across the country at 100 percent proficiency by 2012.

Is this goal attainable?

Of course not. I would love to be proved wrong.

The problem is that everyone has a different way of taking on standardized testing.

The basic problem is that students don’t all achieve at the same time or in the same way. Susy loves reading while Johnny dominates in math.

How can we punish students who don’t have the same talents in certain subject areas?

That’s where a change of curriculum came in.

Math and reading teachers became focused on teaching students what is on the test. And how to conquer it. Critics call it teaching to a test. Supporters call it streamlining the curriculum.

Regardless of how you view it, when teachers are forced to ‘streamline their curriculum’ it is impossible to get the entire scope of education that students need.

The basic argument with NCLB is federalism.

Does the federal government have a constitutional right to enforce education?

No, there is nothing in the Constitution that allows it.

Traditionally, education was an issue handled strictly by the states, until this program came along.

Congress continues to argue if they overstepped their bounds with the program. Nebraska even refused the NCLB Act and immediately lost federal funding for the state.

Horror stories of No Child Left Behind fill the websitewww.nea.org.

Two Stories that stood out were that of Brenda L. Bandy and Stephanee Jordan.

Special needs kids are some of the most effected by NCLB Brenda L. Bandy, a special needs teacher in Illinois, reported that her students where reading on a second and third grade level, and yet they were expected to be on a sixth

or eighth grade level along with the rest of their grade.

Punishing students because of inherited gene deficiencies is absolutely unacceptable. , Jordan, a teacher from Illinois, has been forced to teach using work heets and standardized testing. Jordan used to be able to teach To Kill a Mockingbird differently. She set up a mock trial similar to the book, and had students write papers on racism. Students used to come to her and say their lives where changed.

This no longer happens. Because instead of learning new ideas, students are taught to a test.

One of the leading historians in education, Diane Ravitch, who originally backed the NCLB Act recently changed her opinion on NCLB. She expresses it in the book The Life and Death of the American School System.

She noticed now that states were lowering their standards. Ravitch noticed states had declared 80-90 percent of students were proficient, but only one-third of that actually were proficient based on federal testing.

Ravitch’s column in the March issue of The Wall Street Journal expressed her distaste with what education has become.

She notes that education has been dumbed down and the school system is producing a generation of students not ready for the responsibilities of citizenship.

Administration should not censor student cheering at sporting events You just let your whole.

Team.

Down.

Whether being chanted prematurely in a playoff game after a botched kick or at the end of a blowout football game, this is the unofficial staple chant for

any BV crowd.

But every time it gets started in the stands, our administration does its best to keep us from shouting.

While, at the same time, we are allowed to shout for all to hear about how ‘good’ we feel.

Pelvic thrust and grunt included.

Students get to jump around or, for some of the more aggressive seniors, start a mosh pit on wobbly metal stands with next-to-no traction.

Sure, a sexual innuendo and hazardous shoving matches are allowed.

But the second we try and show true school spirit by screaming about how much better our fellow students are than our opponents, a furious administrator will shut our spirit down.

The whole point of the Eastern Kansas League is to show which school is the best in each sport.

On the field, it is OK for a student to bruise another student, break another student’s bone or give another student a concussion.

Off the field, we are unable to shout out our opinion of another player’s ability on the field.

That is what happens when you sign up for a team and try to play a popular sport.

There will be spectators.

You will be judged.

If you can not compete with the BV team, we reserve the right to make you regret your years of weight lifting, prac-

Students participate in the traditional feel-good chant during the Homecoming assembly. Students are allowed to cheer school-approved cheers, but administrators stop any shouts that express the idea that BV players are better than their rivals, even though BV prides itself on being a strong-spirited school. Photo by Conor Storm.

tices and running all those miles.

Thanks to the Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School, student expression may not be censored merely because the school officials dislike its content.

They may not be confined to the expression of those sentiments that are officially approved.

You can not dictate what we say.

If we choose to show our pride in our team in this way,

that is our choice.

Some people might say it is trashy or make us look egotistical.

I say it makes us the most devoted fan base in the EKL. So, to the administrators: lighten up.

If the opposing side can even hear our mismatched, tone-deaf shouting over the coaches, parents, PA system and referees then I think we deserve to be thanked for our excessive school spirit.

OCTOBER 2010 0 9

upclose

Theater director’s style benefits actors jaidaanderlik staff writer He’s seen people who abuse drugs.

He’s seen when they become completely brain-dead. He knows it happens in high school. His objective is to prevent it in his students.

Jeff Yarnell, the new repertory theater teacher, said he has a goal beyond simply putting on a passable show.

He said he wants to influence students to make good life choices.

“As a teacher, the kids you teach sort of end up seeming like they’re your kids too,” he said. “I know these aren’t my babies, but I still treat them like my kids. You still want to instill your values, and impart wisdom that you hope they will take with them.”

Yarnell said he used to watch Rrated movies, but one day realized he had a responsibility to monitor how much unnecessary sex, drugs and violence he saw.

“It’s not like you can watch those things and then say ‘Oh, it’s over, it didn’t affect me,’ because it affects all of

1 0 OCTOBER 2010

us,” he said.

Yarnell’s teaching method reflects his own beliefs. He said he teaches his actors to think of the character instead of their own memories.

“I’m not looking for people to relive negative moments in their lives,” Yarnell said. “I want them to do character work, to learn to empathize with their character and think about ‘What if I was in this situation’ rather than ‘Oh, remember when that happened to me,’ which I think is healthier emotionally.”

The upcoming repertory show “Addict” is about teenagers with drug addictions, what happens to them and how it affects their lives.

Yarnell said shows with serious themes can still have a positive impact on students.

“Bad things happen, and that has relevance to our lives, but that doesn’t mean that it needs to have a negative influence,” he said. “I believe that shows can be about things like [drug addiction] and have a message, and still not have things like bad language.”

Junior repertory theater member Alex Petersen said Yarnell influences

his class and classmates positively.

“There is a very fun, family atmosphere that I really like,” Petersen said.

Senior repertory theater member Hannah Stone said Yarnell’s perception of life affects the classroom environment. She said it is easy to talk to Yarnell to improve her acting skills.

“He doesn’t ever want people to be left out, so it feels like we are all part of a family,” she said.

“He is energized and enthused and very funny.”

Stone said Yarnell changes from funny to serious quickly.

“He can switch gears really fast,” she said. “It usually takes normal people a few moments to change to work-mode, but he does it immediately.”

Yarnell said he thinks changing attitudes quickly is important for teaching.

“There’s sort of a dichotomy between two mindsets,” he said. “You want to have that mindset which is very serious and gets the work done, but if it’s all work, work, work then there’s no fun, and I feel you need that.

You need a good balance between the two.”

Junior Joe Rolleston is assisted by Jeff Yarnell in the building of a set for the upcoming fall play. The stagecraft class, of which Yarnell is the teacher, has the opportunity to practice building sets and panels in real situations. Photo by Evelyn Davis.

Enduring thepain upclose

Tigerette continues dancing despite relentless knee injury anniematheis news editor

Pain plagued junior Cari McCabe’s life for the past year. It is likely that knee pain will be with her for the rest of her life.

Her injury prevents her from doing daily activities that she is passionate about.

She can no longer do the same dances she was once able to do as a Tigerette.

After visiting two different orthopedic doctors and receiving several diagnoses, Cari was informed she had Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome.

“It is just a big fancy word for your knee hurts all the time, all over,” Cari said. “They said I might grow out of it, but it has been over a year and it hasn’t gotten better.”

Trouble with Cari’s knee began when she broke her growth plate in kindergarten.

The growth plate is developing tissue that is located at the end of long bones and helps to regulate the length and shape of the fully grown bone.

Since then, Cari has participated in soccer and dance.

While active, she experienced occasional pain, but nothing out of the normal.

Cari’s knee started to bother her at her first Thursday night Drill Team practice sophomore year.

“I went inside and I thought ‘OK, I will just throw a brace on it and it’ll be fine,’” she said. “The next day comes around and it still hurts. It just never really stopped hurting.”

Cari said she was relieved to find out the name of her condition because she could tell people what she had.

“It was bittersweet, because I finally knew what I have, but there is nothing I can do about it,” she said. “It is not curable. You can’t fix it. You have to learn to adapt.”

Cari said she experiences knee pain about 75 percent of the time.

“The hurting is on a scale,” Cari said. “It can hurt from a dull ache, which is not as annoying, to excruciating pain.

Most of the time, it is in the middle to upper range.

“I’ve had aching. I’ve had throbbing. I’ve had burning. I have had it where is it like someone is stabbing me. Pretty much any forms of pain you can think of, I have experienced it at least once.”

Cari said her knee can hurt when she is doing a variety of activities, such as going up or down stairs and walking for long periods of time.

She is also unable to perform some dance moves.

Cari doesn’t have to be physically active at the time for her knee to be in pain, though.

“If my knee is in a position for too long, it will start hurting,” she said. “I am constantly moving my knees so that they don’t hurt.”

Waiting on the sideline, Cari McCabe watches her fellow Tigerettes run their flag show. McCabe is unable to perform because of her bad knee. “Sometimes I just sit there doing nothing, but other times my instructor, Tess, will have me run little errands,” she said. “It’s not completely unproductive.” Photo by Maria Fournier.

Cari’s mother Susan McCabe said the condition is the biggest puzzle she has ever faced as a parent.

“She can forgo all physical activity, and it would still hurt because of the way she has to sit at a desk,” Susan said.

Tigerettes coach Tess PattisonWade said she thinks it is unfortuMcCabe nate Cari doesn’t get to take part in all the things the other dancers do.

“I think it is sad for her to watch everybody else get to participate in everything,” Pattison-Wade said. “It is something she really enjoys, but she is unable to do because her body won’t let her do it.”

Cari said she opts out of some Tigerettes activities like the football half-time field show, where there is a lot of lunging, kneeling, crouching and running.

“I can do everything,” Cari said. “Physically, I am capable of doing everything she wants me to do. It is just when one person jumps and lands perfectly, they are fine, and for me, it would hurt more than it should.”

Despite the challenging condition, her mother said Cari stays optimistic.

“She has such a positive attitude and such a positive outlook,” Susan said. “She doesn’t complain about her knee.

She always says she is fine.”

Pain relief medication has no effect on Cari’s knee and she said she knows there is nothing she can do about it.

“My motto for all of this is: pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional,” Cari said.

She said she realizes this pain might be with her for the rest of her life.

“It is a constant reminder that life isn’t perfect, but you have got to deal with it,” Cari said.

“You can choose to let it bother you or you can ignore it and accept it.”

OCTOBER 2010 1 1

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A lifetime of Blue Valley Teacher’s experience in district benefits students today caitlinholland editor-in-chief Social Studies teacher Jessica Janish knows the Blue Valley School District.

She sat in a Blue Valley classroom from her first day of kindergarten until her final day as a senior at Blue Valley North.

She hung out with her friends at Town Center.

She went to the movies at AMC 20.

She relates to her students because she grew up in Overland Park, too. She experienced the same high school drama, homework loads and responsibilities.

Janish said she enjoys being able to connect with her students, but even in the few years time from when she was at North until now, many aspects of being a teenager have changed.

“The culture is totally different, but I mean a lot of that is just technology,” she said. “I had one of the first cell phones that ever came out, before that it was just pagers. Socially, you made plans during the week for your weekend, and your plans were definite. You looked up where the movie

was and you knew where you were going to be.”

Janish said she faced some challenges as a student in the district a few years ago that she doesn’t really see in her students today.

Part of her biggest struggle was fitting in. She said, in her high school experience, her peers placed a lot more emphasis on money than she sees now.

“There seemed to be a socioeconomic status at each of the schools then and it was felt among the student body,” she said. “I felt when I was there it was much more difficult to fit in than I feel like here. Or, what was ‘in’ had a lot to do with materialistic things, and I don’t feel that as much here. I’m sure it depends on the person. I’m sure there is someone who went to North at the same time I did, loved it and never felt that way.”

Sophomore Meggie Hadley said Janish usually relates stories from her time in high school to her students.

She said Janish talks a lot in class about time management and heavy homework loads.

“We can understand her more and relate to her more as a person than just a teacher,” Hadley said. “She definitely is understanding of the work we have in that class and she doesn’t put

that much on us.”

Hadley said her class has a lot of respect for Janish because of her personality and her ability to relate to her students.

“She’s easy-going and relaxed,” Hadley said. “She’s a good teacher but can also do her work. She takes her time when she teaches us.”

Janish said part of the challenge when she was in high school was dealing with some peers who placed a heavier emphasis on what someone had rather than who they were.

She said one of her peers even judged her based off of where she lived in the area.

“With the girl who said I lived on the ‘wrong side of Metcalf,’ I did feel like an outcast,” she said.

Janish said today what she sees in her classes are a lot of very accepting students who care about academics and value tradition in their community.

“I find it fun and exciting to be here, and you just didn’t get that vibe at Blue Valley North,” she said. “More than tradition, it was a community feel. At

Blue Valley, the parent community, the student community, all the people who donate stuff to sports teams — everyone is all on the same page.”

She said, in general, she loves Blue Valley schools because the attitude toward challenging academics matched her parent’s expectation for a quality education.

“Education is something that was really valued in my family, so I’ve always been told that it is important to get an education,” she said. “My parents and I were pleased with the fact that everybody around in the district felt the same way, and helped achieve that high standard as well. It was kind of nice to be taught that education is valued at home and continue that at school.”

Social Studies teacher Jessica Janish talks to junior Helena Bertels during a sixth hour class. Janish relates to her students because she attended Blue Valley schools growing up. Photo by Juliana Himmel.

1 4 SEPTEMBER 2010

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Conservation

donation

Local bakeries donate to charities ryano’toole staff writer Every day, thousands of people go hungry in the Kansas City Area while tens of thousands pounds of food go to waste in restaurants and commercial bakeries.

But several area bakeries bag up the day’s leftovers and donate them to charities throughout Kansas City.

Baker Andrea Bastian said employees at Blue Chip Cookies and Ice Cream arrive at 7:30 a.m. each day to start baking cookies for the day. They always plan to have about 100 cookies left over to donate to Harvesters.

“It’s a good cause,” she said. “So many people just throw away their leftovers, so they might as well go to charity.”

Harvesters youth ambassador Samantha Nichols said the food bank is always in need of non-perishable food.

“Harvesters does receive perishable items [from bakeries] but there are some different

steps to that process,” she said. “Harvesters does offer a food rescue program that goes around the area to places that serve food to take and deliver prepared food that has yet to be served to agencies.”

Although most shops don’t plan for donations the way Blue Chip does, Harvesters is not the only local organization receiving sugary donations from area shops.

“We almost always sell out,” Sara Baum, assistant manager at Smallcakes Cupcakery, said. “But on days that we don’t, we donate to the Ronald McDonald House. We’re just a community cupcakery so we try to give back when we can.”

TCBY owner Mary McMinn said she is willing to donate her store’s goods. She said few organizations have approached her to collect donations.

“We would embrace anybody coming forward to collect them,” she said. “But it’s very difficult to get someone to do so.”

Maddie Gaughan, Blue Chip employee, cleans up after a day’s work by packaging the leftover cookies.

“We donate all of our extra cookies to Harvesters once a month,” Gaughan said. Photo by Olivia Roudebush.

District considers additions to student reading list odiopole staff writer The Scarlet Letter. The Hot Zone. Whirligig. Julius Caesar.

Nathaniel Hawthorne. Richard Preston. Paul Fleischman. William Shakespeare.

These are all books that are on the approved reading list for the Blue Valley School District. But that could change in the future.

Teachers in the district are now making changes to the approved in-class reading list.

A committee is meeting to discuss which books to keep or add to the list.

No books will be removed, but they may not be used in curriculum.

Teacher and Head of the CA Department Teresa Schulte said the committee hopes to broaden the curriculum by using a mixture of contemporary and classic literature.

“We want female authors, female protagonists and multi-cultural literature,” she said. “It’s about getting the kids exposed to more styles and experiences.”

The process of choosing which books to add to the curriculum is a long, careful process.

“We have a very fine line to walk,” Schulte said. “Our goal is to get students college-ready, and we need challenging literature to do that. It’s about the skills we’re trying to teach the kids, and that’s where the rigor comes in.”

The committee to choose new books is made up of representatives from each of the five high schools in the district.

There are four representatives from each — one from each grade level.

The committee will submit and choose titles, and then work towards a concrete list of suggestions. Each book submitted must be read and supported by four out of the five representatives for the grade level in question before it can

book shelf

the

Students throughout the school participate in districtapproved reading.

Topic: Ruler in Ancient Rome Assignment: Experience Shakespeare

Topic: Virus in Africa

Topic: Sin in New England

Assignment: Research local issues

Assignment: Annotate

move to the next level.

Students cite difficulty, content and interest levels as reasons they do or do not like a book.

“I don’t like it because there’s a lot of new terms,” freshman Alyssa Elliot said. “They’re hard to learn all at once because we didn’t do that stuff in middle school.”

Sophomore Katie Wells said she thinks that the inappropriate content of some books is a problem.

“I thought Hiroshima was informative, but it was [also] really violent and it freaked me out a little bit,” Wells said.

“There are so many other books we could read, and I think we should replace them with other stuff that wouldn’t be iffy on anything. If we could avoid language and sexual stuff, so that no one would get offended, it would be so much better.”

Schulte said choosing which books make it to the classroom is not significantly affected by student opinion.

“It’s a team decision on a school-by-school level, but we basically look for the same things,” she said. “We try to choose books to match the skills we are trying to teach.”

Schulte also said that student interest can affect what students learn from a book, but that she see why the book is important.

“Students think they will always like everything they read, and when they don’t they get kind of turned off from it,” she said. “They just need to give it a chance. I don’t necessarily like everything in the curriculum either, but I can see the value of it.”

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Once a Tiger, always a Tiger Junior T.J. Earnshaw Last year students seemed to be in awe of Blue Valley Southwest.

Some transferred there by choice and some were forced to go. So far, some Blue Valley Southwest students are less than thrilled with their new school. Some are so disappointed with it that they are transferring back. Not all students will be able to transfer back; however, some will get to be a Tiger once again.

transferring

back to BV

Students who chose to go: Can transfer back at any time during the school year.

Students who had to go: Have to apply to transfer back, and only can at semester.

Most applications will be accepted.

Junior T.J. Earnshaw chose to transfer to BVSW for his junior year to get a fresh start and play varsity football.

“I missed BV and my friends a lot and I wasn’t getting much playing time,” he said.

His other complaint was the massive size of the school. At first he was thrilled to be in a bigger and better school, but he said long walks to classes became tiresome after a while.

“It was so hard to get to every class, the halls and classes were so far away,” Earnshaw said.

He transferred back to BV early in the first semester and is glad he did. “[Southwest] wasn’t what I expected,” he said.

Junior Jenna Drake

Jenna Drake is a junior at BVSW but she said her heart is still at BV. “I was forced to go to Southwest because of where I live, but I still miss my friends and everything about BV,” Drake said. “It’s a nice building and the people are OK, it just isn’t BV.” Drake said the seniors tried to pump up the student body by bringing boom boxes to their classes, but she still doesn’t feel the same atmosphere she did at BV. Drake submitted a request to transfer back to BV, but it has not been approved yet.

“Trying to come up with tradition is hard,” Drake said. “You can’t be like ‘Oh, this is going to be a tradition.’ You can’t just set it.”

Senior James Vaughn

Senior James Vaughn decided to transfer to BVSW for his senior year because he was interested in playing football and joining Student Council.

“There were opportunities,” Vaughn said.

Vaughn was only there four days before he decided to switch back to BV. “My classes weren’t fun and there were no senior privileges,” he said.

Vaughn said during study halls, students have to be escorted to the bathroom and lockers. However, during regular classes, there are no escorts.

“It was so structured,” Vaughn said.

“They expected all grades to be equal too, and they just aren’t.”

Foreign exchange students note culture differences odiopole staff writer Senior Shemi Millet knows what she wants to say.

But she struggles to find the words.

She uses a variety of ways to get the point across: pictures, writing — anything to aid in the translation from French to English.

Millet, along with three other students from across the globe, call Blue Valley their host school this year.

Millet said conversations she could handle easily in French are challenging in English.

“When people talk all at the same time, it stresses me out,” she said. “It’s difficult to understand the teachers and what is happening in school.”

French teacher Carol Bar said Millet will improve her English with time.

“I know she struggles a bit because she just got here, but she’s here for a whole school year, so she should get much better,” she said.

Bar said Millet has adjusted well, and is a pleasure to have in her AP French 5 Class.

“I’m very pleased with how she integrated herself with other students,” Bar said. “She offers such wonderful commentaries in class about her culture. It’s nice because it exposes students to French culture from a first-hand source.”

Millet said there are a lot of differences between our school and schools in France.

“The university here is more like high school in France,” Millet said. “We must stay in class here; we don’t have the right to leave campus.”

1 6 OCTOBER 2010

Bar said having a connection to Senior Anthony Orwick has helped Millet practice her English and gain confidence.

“I know her and Anthony like to speak French together, which is great practice for Anthony,” Bar said. “But I also encourage him to speak English to help her learn and practice.”

Millet said that lunch time is the most frustrating part of school here.

“I like the food, especially donuts,” Millet said. “[But] you don’t have the same manners when eating, especially [with only] 26 minutes to eat.”

Senior Hei Ma, from Hong Kong, said it can be frustrating, and it makes class harder. “[English is frustrating] because everyone speaks English, and if you don’t know how, you feel upset with yourself,” he said. “Some classes like CA and history are hard. They have their own terms, and it’s hard to understand. It makes homework harder.”

Ma said so far making friends has been easy for him.

“The people here are friendly, and they’re always saying ‘Hi, how are you?’” Ma said.

Senior Andreina Thoma from Switzerland said she noticed many social differences.

“In Switzerland, school life and social life are mostly separated,” she said. “When you come home after 5 or 6 o’clock, you go to your sport, club, or orchestra which is organized by the town or village. That’s why I think the team spirit of schools here is bigger than of a school in Switzerland.”

Thoma said most of her friends’ ideas about American high schools turned out to be true. “[We thought] America is big, there are a lot of fast food restaurants and there are cool high schools with football

teams and cheerleaders,” she said. “When they see pictures on Facebook they are always like ‘Oh, it really looks like the American movies.’”

Millet said she also noticed a difference in the length of the school day.

“Finishing school at 2:50, I love that,” Millet said. “Usually we would have gotten out at 6pm.”

Experiencing

America

Two exchange students share their take on U.S. culture so far.

Homeland: Hong Kong “The people here are friendly, and they’re always saying ‘Hi, how are you?” senior Hei Ma

senior Andreina Thoma

Homeland: Switzerland “[We thought] America is big, there are a lot of fast food restaurants and there are cool high schools with football teams and cheerleaders.”’

centerstage

Taliban too soon?

photo courtesy of Electronic Arts

EA pulls Taliban from Medal of Honor: Tier 1 saranaatz managing editor Medal of Honor, scheduled for release Oct. 12, originally sparked controversy by including a feature in which gamers could play as the Taliban.

After much controversy over the use of this terrorist organization, EA, Medal of Honor creator, announced the Taliban would not be present in the final product of the game.

“We do stop and take measure of people who are offended,” EA spokesman Jeff Brown said to CNN. “People say it is difficult actually seeing

the Taliban when we’ve lost someone to the war.”

The controversy surfaced when U.S. soldiers and their families found the game to be insensitive to the reality of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Executive producer Greg Goodrich told CNN the development team made the decision to remove the controversial party after listening to feedback from friends and family of fallen soldiers.

“This is a voice that has earned the right to be listened to,” Goodrich said in a written statement.

“It is a voice that we care deeply about.

Because of this, and because the heartbeat

of Medal of Honor has always resided in the reverence for American and Allied soldiers, we have decided to rename the opposing team.”

Brian Mowry, who previously taught Middle Eastern studies, said he believes it’s too early to release a game that parallels the war in Iraq.

He said in older versions of Medal of Honor that correspond with World War II, there was enough time between the war and the game that it was not controversial.

“Maybe it’s just a product of how quickly the media picks things up,” he said. “But it’s too early to be making money off of it. It’s too real, too soon.”

Junior Luke McElwain said he plays Medal of Honor on occasion.

He said including the Taliban in the game could send dangerous messages to children and young adults who play it.

“It gives kids the wrong impression of what the military is trying to accomplish,” he said.

Mowry said the biggest problem with including the Taliban in the game would have been the unrealistic portrayal of military action and its consequences.

“I think with any war-type game, it’s easy to forget that war kills people,” he said. “It’s really dehumanizing. It takes the morality out of it.”

Fans anticipate the November release of Call of Duty: Black Ops bengrove staff writer The highly-anticipated seventh generation Call of Duty: Black Ops is scheduled for release Nov. 9.

The game promises to bring new online features such as character customization and a new currency system for players.

This edition, designed by Treyarch for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, is expected to be similar to previous versions, with a twist.

“Call of Duty is one my all-time favorites. I like how you get to use different equipment and guns to accomplish goals and challenges,” sophomore Cody Gadberry said. “I am excited to see some of the new elements in Black Ops.” Treyarch and Activision alternate back and forth in production of the game. Each time, the companies try to

improve from previous versions.

In previous games, as players reached higher levels, they unlocked new guns and perks.

The new currency in Black Ops (COD points) allows players to buy guns and attachments. This differs from the previous XP system, because players no longer level up from the points they earn.

“I can’t stand it when I go to a friend’s house and they have a gun that I haven’t unlocked yet and so when I get home to use it I can’t,” sophomore Garrett Mann said. “But in the new game I can get the guns that I want sooner because of the COD Points system.”

Another new feature is advanced customization for online play.

In past versions, your personalization options were limited to camoflague for the guns.

But in Black Ops the options are anywhere from putting

writing on your weapon to face paint. As you change your perks, the appearance changes.

For example, when the lightweight perk is on, your player will have less equipment so that you can run faster than the other teams.

Kill streak rewards, determined by the number of players killed between deaths, play a big role in online play as well as guns and grenades.

“I am hoping to see some new interesting kill streak rewards in Black Ops,” Mann said.

One of the new kill streak rewards is the Napalm strike. It’s a fleet of planes comes and drops Napalm onto enemies. This is achieved after getting five kills without dying.

Gadberry said that when the game is released on Nov. 9, he expects it to be the best Call of Duty yet.

“I can’t wait for Black Ops to come out,” Gadberry said. “It’s gonna be the best game ever.”

OCTOBER 2010 1 7

centerstage

Fallin’couch on the

it: Wednesdays Modern Family watch at 8 p.m. on ABC

Fall TV line-up packed with variety of options in all genres

No Ordinary Family

watch it: Tuesday at 8 p.m. on ABC

This show surprised me. My expectations were low and the show exceeded them by far. No Ordinary Family is about a family (duh) that faces problems any other American family might face in our world today. The mom and dad are growing apart; the teenage girl is tragically misunderstood; the adolescent boy has a learning disability.

And then they get super powers.

The way these powers came about was a little forced, I’ll grant you, but definitely unique.

With Heroes cancelled, television needed a new show about normal, yet, extraordinary people. No Ordinary Family fulfills the needs of any quality television show. There is good acting, funny lines and a good plot line. This show is worth watching.

The Event

watch it: Monday at 8 p.m. on NBC

There is so much mystery surrounding this show.

All the trailers I’ve seen gave me no concrete information. What is The Event? Even after watching the first episode, I am still not positive.

The bad guys turned out to be good. A seemingly unimportant character was revealed to play a much larger role.

It was only the first episode and people were already not who they seemed to be.

The sequence of time was a little odd with the various flashbacks.

It can be confusing but it doesn’t take long to catch on again.

It is a thinking show. There will be perplexities and contradictions galore in this season, I’m sure, but it appears to be well-thought out.

If you enjoy mystery and intrigue, this is the show for you.

Glee Photo courtesy of ABC.

I’ve never followed Modern Family, and now I’m wondering why. A friend of mine forced me to watch the season premiere and I will be eternally grateful.

The show is absolutely hilarious. the characters delivered funny line after funny line. My sides started hurting because I laughed so much.

I fully understand why Modern Family is so highly rated and has such a following. The characters perfectly portray the variety of families in America, except funnier.

This is the best break from tedious reality shows on television today.

Review by Jaida Anderlik

watch it: Tuesday at 7 p.m. on FOX

If you’ve never tuned into Glee before, the show is about singing, dancing and high school drama.

All of it is well-scripted and well-choreographed, making it one of the highest rated shows on television today.

They use a variety of genres that really showcase their voices.

Sam, the new guy, made the football team and showed off his voice in the locker room when he thought it was empty. Viewers eagerly await the inevitable—that he will join the Glee Club.

Another addition to the Glee cast is a football coach who actually knows what she’s doing. Yes, she. Coach Beiste, or “Beast,” actually shows enough initiative to improve the football team, which will undoubtedly affect the Glee Club in unexpected ways.

Rachel and Sue’s antics were funnier than ever. If there are viewers expecting shenanigans, they will get them.

Shuester, head of Glee Club, is portrayed as more human and less perfect this season.

His drama with his old flame, Emma, serves to show that he has a life outside of Glee Club.

Overall, Glee remains its old, viewer-friendly self.

Location of new haunted house provides safer Halloween fun The major problem with the haunted houses The Beast and The Edge of Hell is their terrible location.

The West Bottoms?

Maybe I am the typical Johnson County brat, but I don’t think anyone feels comfortable leaving their shiny car in a dark, downtown alley.

Just barely out of the safety of Johnson County, is a new haunted house named Benjamin’s Ranch. The location is a short trip up I-435, and would have been easier to find if I had the correct directions. One wrong turn can take you en route to the Paseo.

After driving up a hill, you enter a well-lit open area, with a good number of police officers around. It actually seemed

1 8 OCTOBER 2010

safe.

This well-lit area is called the Zombie Corral of Doom. Actors dressed like zombies wander around the Corral.

The Haunted House is made up of three different places, a dark walk-through, a stable and a maze.

The Haunted Stable contains a twisting path that is pitch black and filled with undead cowboys. The zombie cowboys stalk you through the whole area.

Finally coming to the end of the stable, you find a path leading into a new stable.

The stable smells like horse dung. Glancing down the aisle, I noticed a goat-like animal with glow-in-the-dark horns illuminating the room.

Don’t underestimate this part. While I was walking around, the dead cowboys suddenly charged at me from inside the stalls.

Next, you take a journey across the field to the Stockpen Cage Maze.

The maze is filled with creepy clowns changing the maze around as you walk through it. The Cage Maze presents a fresh take on the typical haunted house.

The Ranch is definitely a fun place to go; it’s a refreshing view on the haunted houses.

My regret is not being able to go on the Haunted Hayride, which wasn’t running when I was there.

The Ranch is still new and trying to find a place in KC. There are a few problems with the Ranch. The major issue is the first barn uses mostly sheets to guide visitors along a path.

Although the Ranch hasn’t worked out all the kinks yet, it was a fun environment to be a part of. For only $10, it’s worth a short trip up I-435.

centerstage

Hear it here!

Maroon 5

Hands All Over

jordanhuesers feature editor I will admit I am not a huge music whiz, but I am capable of deciphering a good album from a great one.

Unlike some of their previous music, Maroon 5‘s latest album Hands All Over falls flat.

The band previously released two multi-platinum albums, Songs About Jane and It Won’t Be Soon Before Long.

Scoring many hit singles with those albums, including my personal favorite “She Will Be Loved,” the band won three Grammy Awards and a place in my heart.

However, this new, average pop album deviates from their tried and true roots.

I’ve always been somewhat of a fan, mainly because of the unique, high-

pitched vocals of singer Adam Levine, but this album was truly a disappointment.

The band definitely experimented with their sound, especially noticeable in the song “Out of Goodbyes.” In this song, featuring Lady Antebellum, the band ventured into the country genre.

The lyrics were so-so, the beat was not catchy and the combination of the two singers was hard on the ears.

In “Give a Little More” Maroon 5 attempted to create a funky beat. The entire song sounded the same and the lyrics were very repetitive. Levine ends the song with a “woo,” and I am left with one question: How does he get his voice that high?

The only thing to say about the radio hit “Misery” is I completely agree with Levine when he sings, “I am in misery.”

Especially while listening to this album.

The Social Network

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures.

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rlake

Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timbe

jordanhuesers feature editor

The Social Network follows the story of Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook, played to perfection by Jesse Eisenberg.

This is the first movie to capture the true meaning of the Internet in our daily lives as it explains the beginnings of social networking via the Internet.

It follows the story of how Zuckerberg created Facebook while at Harvard, the enemies he made and the legal issues he encountered.

The movie plays off the irony that Zuckerberg, a visionary tyrant, alienates everyone around him while creating a social media network based on the sole idea of connecting friends. All 500 million of them.

Justin Timberlake makes a special appearance as Sean Parker, the “bad” influence” for Zuckerberg. Timberlake nailed the performance and deserves a best supporting actor nomination.

The movie is fascinating throughout and you will find yourself drawn into the story of genius, betrayal and friendship.

Trust me, this is a movie people will actually be talking about a week after seeing it.

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OCTOBER 2010 1 9

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Misuse of ibuprofen, aspirin linked to health risks saranaatz managing editor Before the big race, before the big game, many high school athletes nonchalantly pop a few ibuprofen or aspirin to ease pain or prevent pain onset.

These two pills, both non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, are capable of alleviating many types of pain in the body.

However, the misuse of these drugs among athletes for casual purposes, has become an epidemic at BV. According to Time magazine, about $103 million in aspirin is consumed each year by Americans.

Too much of either of these drugs can put athletes at risk for health issues, both temporary and long-term. They thin blood and tamper with the body’s healing process as well, according to MayoClinic.com.

An anti-inflammatory drug is used to reduce pain and swelling in the body when there is some sort of minor injury.

“Your body has a natural response to injury,” athletic trainer Roberta Kuechler said. “Inflammation is part of that. It is good

and necessary and a large part of the healing process. Taking an anti-inflammatory too much is actually preventing some of the good stuff and eliminating a necessary step in healing correctly.”

Junior Kacy Neinstedt takes four aspirin each day before cross country practice to lessen any potential pain.

“I have a lot of joint issues and knee issues from dieting,” she said. “When I take aspirin that all goes away.”

Kuechler said excessive use of any overthe-counter (OTC) drug is dangerous, and ibuprofen and aspirin are no exception.

MayoClinic said both may have shortterm side effects such as vomiting and nausea, but can also have more serious, long-term effects such as ulcers and gastrointestinal problems.

Ibuprofen has also been known to impair kidney function.

Ibuprofen and aspirin are also antiplatelet drugs, also known as blood thinners.

This causes a decrease in blood clotting and puts athletes at risk for excessive or internal bleeding.

“What’s the purpose?”

Kuechler said. “It doesn’t create energy; it’s not a performance-enhancing drug. You’re actually crippling your body from doing its processes.”

Taking either ibuprofen or aspirin when it is not needed can cause withdrawal if used for a long period of time.

For example, it is common for athletes who have used the drugs continuously to experience rebound headaches, which may occur because of withdrawal.

“I think anything you take that you don’t need to take is a bad idea,” Kuechler said. “I’m a firm believer in that you need to understand what you’re doing to your body and why you’re doing it.”

Kuechler said it is possible that the increased use of anti-inflammatory OTC drugs is a result of the standards of everyday living set by society.

“In my opinion, our culture is leaning so heavily on pain-free living,” she said. “You have anything wrong with you and people run to the doctor or the medicine cabinet to make it go away.”

Kuechler said the problem may be that student athletes are largely uninformed of the dangers, side effects and risks of the drugs.

“Our society thinks it’s pretty normal,” Neinstedt said. “It stops pain and that’s all I really know about it.”

The body of knowledge about these drugs is ever-growing and increasing. Many concerns have been fairly recent discoveries, though anti-inflammatory drugs have been around a long time.

“We know a lot more than we did ten years ago,” Kuechler said. “But who knows?

Ten years from now we could find out that it has a terrible effect and you’re stuck with that. You have one body and you have to take care of it.”

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C-team runner remains dedicated for 4 years stephenkarst staff writer Senior Julia Sickle is a four-year C-team cross country runner.

“I really love cross country, even though I’m not as good as some people,” Sickle said. “It’s great being able to go have fun with the team. It’s not a bad way to stay active either.”

Sickle said cross country runners form a tight-knit team, despite the idea that the sport is largely individual.

“My teammates are the best,” Sickle said. “I definitely could not run without them. Practice is a lot easier when you have people encouraging you and running beside you.

I have gotten to make so many awesome friends. They’re really incredible.”

Coach Diana Huber said Sickle’s attitude benefits the entire team.

“Julia is a great person to have on the team,” Huber said.

“She’s always in a good mood and trains hard. As a coach, I really appreciate the work she puts into this because not everyone can do this sport.”

Sickle said it is important to keep a competitive attitude no matter the skill level, otherwise the work can become tiring, tedious and boring.

“It doesn’t always seem like cross country is very intense and I’m not super aggressive, but when it comes to meets I’m really fired up,” she said. “I don’t want to let my teammates down and I want to push myself to get good times. One of the best feelings is after you run a good race.”

Huber said she encourages each runner to compete at their highest level to benefit themselves and the rest of the team.

“I tell the team a lot that, I can give you the tools, workouts and suggestions, but it is up to you to do your best every day - not just on the hard ones,” Huber said. “You must help push your teammates and be pushed on the days where you might have slacked in the past. Julia does a good

Senior Julia Sickle and junior Madison Outlaw stretch out before running. Sickle has been on the BV cross country team all four years. “I like the way I feel after I’m done with practice” Julia said. “You almost feel a sense of comfort.” Photo by Conor Storm.

job of that.”

Senior captain Ben Gaede said he, as well as the rest of the team, can see the hard work Sickle puts in every day at practice and meets.

“One of the things I like most about Julia is that she works really hard at practice,” he said. “It helps the rest of the team because when we see one person giving it their all like that it

makes you want to, too.”

Sickle said she takes pride in being on the team. She said she loves knowing she did well once her race is over.

“It feels good after the season’s over because you know you worked hard for what you earned,” she said. “I think I’ll probably miss running someday after the season’s over.”

Extra running helps volleyball team play to full potential jordanmcentee design editor It’s late at night and the varsity volleyball team just lost their match.

While the opposing team packs up and heads home, the Tigers hop on a bus back to BV. The bus pulls up in front of the auxiliary gym doors and instead of walking to their cars, the girls walk inside toward the gym to run sprints.

When the volleyball team doesn’t play its best, the players pay for it by running for their mistakes.

“They don’t always run when we lose,” head coach Jessica Palmer said. “Just when we feel like they haven’t played to their potential or worked as hard as we know they can.”

Palmer said she thinks the team should always put forth maximum effort during matches.

“If they’re not going to work hard during the match, they’ll do it after and at practice,” she said. “We have high expectations for them and they’ll work until they do it.”

Varsity volleyball player freshman Chloe Rogers said the team doesn’t look at the running in a negative way because they know it is benefiting them in the end.

“No one really complains because we all know it’s for the

better and it makes us stronger as a team,” she said. “The bus ride back is usually pretty quiet, but we come back from the game and finish the day on a good note.”

The team’s outlook is based on the fact that they’re all truly dedicated to the sport, Palmer said.

“They understand why they do it,” she said. “All of them have a real passion for the sport, so they don’t complain.

They work hard and we come up with goals for next time.”

During the running, the girls are supposed to think about the game in their heads.

“While we’re running, we’re supposed to think about our mistakes, how we can fix them, and how we can better ourselves for the next game,” varsity player junior Mackenzie Johnson said.

Johnson said that some players don’t have such a positive attitude, but know the running is for their benefit.

“I think while were running a lot of people aren’t happy,” she said. “But we all know it’s really a good thing.”

After completing the sprints, the team talks for a while about how to improve for the next game.

“We talk for a long time after the running,” Johnson said.

“It’s mostly about what we need to work on from that night and about our goals.”

Palmer said the players would rather play well in the game than have to pay the consequence of running after-

ward.

“One of the girls commented once during the game, ‘If you feel tired now, you’re not. The running is way worse,’” she said.

Rogers said she believes the team can accomplish a lot if they all put forth the effort and play as hard as they can. “[Coach] knows what we can do and sometimes we don’t show it when we play,” she said. “She knows we have more potential than we show on the court.”

Along with motivating the players to work harder in the next game, Rogers also said the running helps the teammates grow closer.

“When we’re running, we really encourage each other,” she said. “The upperclassmen are a great example for us.

They make us want to be like them and work harder.”

Johnson said she also thinks the running heps the team bond.

“If somebody is really lagging we all try to encourage them,” she said. “It really helps us come together.”

While the team has to run for losses, they sometimes have positive incentives for working hard and playing to their potential.

“Whenever we win a big game or are successful at a tournament, they’ll have practice off,” Palmer said. “It’s kind of like a reward for their good behavior.”

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Tackling the top 10

Blue Valley varsity football players push back Blue Valley North players on Oct. 1. The game ended with BV toppling North, 39-7. Currently BV remains undefeated, but two teams, Saint Thomas Aquinass and Gardner-Edgerton, promise to be BV’s toughest match-ups to date. Winning or losing these games detrmine if BV will go to the 5A state championship. Photo by Courtney Woodworth.

Top 15 Teams

BV prepares for tough district competition

Kansas Division 5A rankings by MaxPreps as of Oct. 10

After beginning the season unranked, Blue Valley is more than halfway through the season and is still undefeated at 6-0.

BV has climbed the rankings up to ninth as they head into the district schedule.

“We need to come out and prove that we are the best team in the state,” senior Jacob McDermott said.

BV faces all three teams from the district in successive weeks to end the regular season and must win at least two games to have a shot at the playoffs.

BV will play Saint Thomas Aquinas (STA), Pittsburgh and Gardner-Edgerton.

Two teams from the district will advance

1. Hutchinson (5-1) 2. Gardner-Edgerton (6-0) 3. St. Thomas Aquinas (5-1) 4. Blue Valley (6-0) 5. Carroll (5-1) 6. McPherseon (5-1) 7. Emporia (4-2) 8. Bishop Miege (3-3) 9. Hays (5-1) 10. Great Bend (2-3) 11. Kapaun Mt. Carmel (5-1) 12. Andover Central (5-1) 13. Salina Central (4-2) 14. Topeka Seaman (1-5) 15. Salina South (3-3)

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claycosby staff writer

Eerily Similiar BV and GardnerEdgerton have played a lot of the same teams, and they have had a lot of the same results

into the post-season, and those teams will be determined entirely by record within district play.

With three teams ranked in the top 10, this is the state’s toughest district competition. BV may need to defeat two teams ranked inside the top four.

“We’ve talked about making a stride every week, so we need to do that,” senior Hayden Murray said.

The Tigers will face the STA Saints to begin district play for their last home game of the regular season.

The Saints, 5-1, are ranked third in 5A by MaxPreps of CBS Sports.

However, two consecutive away games against top 10 teams BV and Gardner-Edgerton could eliminate the Saints from playoff

contention.

In the last game of the season, BV will play at Gardner-Edgerton, the secondranked team by MaxPreps.

The team’s senior quarterback, Bubba Starling, is ranked fifth nationally among dual-threat quarterbacks by Rivals.com.

“If we keep playing the way we are, we can have a very successful season,” Murray said.

In order to emerge from the state’s toughest district competition, BV will have to beat out at least one top-five team.

Despite beginning the season unranked and under the radar, the Tigers still have the opportunity to become the favorite heading into the playoffs.

Opponent

Blue Valley

Gardner-Edgerton

BV Southwest

56 point win

56 point win

BV West

41 point win

42 point win

Bishop Miege

15 point win

14 point win

BV North

32 point win

34 point win

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Team leaders prepare to play at college level Tom Adams,12

Ian Allen, 12 Top 3 college picks: Kansas State University, University of Missouri, University of Arkansas Position: Linebacker Experience: 11 years of football

Top 3 college picks: Georgetown University, United States Military Academy at Westpoint,

Marquette University Position: Forward Experience: 11 years of soccer

How did you reach this level of play?

“Playing since 2nd grade has contributed to a lot of the practice and just hitting the weight room hard during high school has helped a lot, also getting better everyday when I practice.”

How did you reach this level of play?

“My club practices 4 times a week and high school everyday, not counting practicing on my own which includes getting stronger and faster mostly”

What did it feel like being recruited?

“When I started to get contacted by recruiters I got pretty excited knowing the feeling that division 1 schools are actually interested in me”

What did it feel like being recruited?

“It makes you feel pretty good having coaches go out of their way to get you to play for them but at times its frustrating with having to decide between them ”

What do scouts say they like about you?

“Most scouts tell me I have quick feet, explosive feet, good tackling form, and am super physical.”

What do scouts say they like about you?

“They mostly say they like my athleticism and ability to score goals out of nothing”

Justin Fulks

Kirk Harris, 12

Top 3 college picks: University of Oregon, Kansas State University, University of Arkansas Position: Running back Experience: 7 years of football

Commited to: Indiana University Position: Offensive lineman Experience: 10 years of football How did you reach this level of play?

“Working hard on the field and off the field helped me reach this level of play” What did it feel like being recruited?

“It was very stressful having all the scouts interested in me, I am glad that its all over now” What do scouts say they like about you?

“Most scouts say I have great feet, I stay low, and that I am very agrresive on the field.”

How did you reach this level of play?

“I worked very hard on my strengths to make them better, and even harder on my weaknesses to make them my strengths” What did it feel like being recruited?

“I had butterflies in my stomach, it felt great to know that people were interested in getting me to go to their college” What do scouts say they like about you?

They say I am really versatile, that I could play a slot reciever or running back, also that I make really good cuts.”

Sports In Brief Football

Previous Action: 9/24 vs Miege W 28-13, 10/1 vs BV North W 39-7 Record: 5-0 Key Athletes: Seniors Kirk Harris, and Hayden Murray, Junior Justin Fulks Upcoming Action: 10/15 vs St. Thomas Aquinas, 10/22 @ Pittsburg

Cross Country

Previous Action: Metro 10/2 Boys 9th place, Girls 16th Key Athletes: Senior Ben Gaede, Junior Baily Swimmer and Brain Witt Upcoming Action: Regionals 10/23, State 10/30

Volleyball

Previous Action: 10/7 vs. Olathe North W 2-0, vs. Shawnee Mission East W 2-1, Lawrence W 2-0 Record: 17-13-2 Key Athletes: Senior Taylor Popp, junior Meghan Mahoney, freshman Chloe Rogers Upcoming Action: 10/15 @ Shawnee Mission West

Girls Golf

Previous Action: EKL Tournament at Memorial Golf Course Key Athletes: Sophomore Megan Richards Upcoming Action: State 10/18

Boys Soccer

Previous Action: 9/30 vs. Turner W 5-0, 9/29 @ BV west L 2-1 Record: 7-3 Key Athletes: Senior Tom Adams and Tyler Dixon, junior Cole McCubbin Upcoming Action: 10/16 vs. St. Thomas Aquinas, 10/19 vs BV North

Girls Tennis

Previous Action: 9/30 vs. St. James Academy W 7-2 Record: 9-0 Key Athletes: Seniors Ashley Tiefel and Isabella Brooks Upcoming Action: 10/15-16 State @ Emporia

OCTOBER 2010 2 3

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Flying

With 1st quarter coming to a close, students fired themselves up for Homecoming week

through the year

Homecoming queen senior Shelby Wallace recieves hugs from other queen nominees, including seniors Ali Hadley and Maddy Fowler, after Wallace’s name was announced.

2009 Homecoming queen Kaitlin Long crowned Wallace during halftime at the Homecoming game. Wallace was joined by Homecoming king Jon Stabenow during the dance on Oct. 2.

Photo by Maegan Kabel.

Seniors Cole Foss and Danish Zaidi work on homework during geek day. Spirit week themes included Greek day, character day and the staple black and gold day. “I dress up for spirit days and compete in the class competitions to show my school spirit,” Foss said. StuCo adopted a new tradition for spirit week: the class winning the cumulative competition won a party during Tiger Time.

Photo by Evelyn Davis.

Laughing, sophomore Makenzie Bexton turns back to the game after cheering at the Homecoming game against BVN. “It was really fun because there were a lot of fans,” Bexton said. “I love getting everyone pumped up and getting fans involved in cheers.” Cheerleaders kept the crowd active and loud throughout the whole game, while supporting the varsity team. Photo by Evelyn Davis.

During the Homecoming parade, senior Sherry Farrahi high-fives students at Stanley Elementary. The parade, featuring class floats, Homecoming royalty and the marching band, started at Wal-Mart and continued past Stanley, finishing at BVHS. Farrahi walked with the senior float, which won first in the class competition. Photo

by Maegan Kabel.

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Senior Trent Sullivan surfs the crowd during the bonfire on the soccer field on Sept. 29. Free Chick-Fil-A sandwiches were offered to students. A papier mâché mustang mascot, constructed by NAHS members, was burned to symbolize BV’s domination over the team at the Homecoming game.

After it burned, students danced to music played by a DJ. Photo by Conor Storm.