Globe Newsmagazine, April 2022, Issue 7, Vol. 93

globe.

The Cut Policy

VOLUME 94 . ISSUE 7 CLAYTON HIGH SCHOOL. CLAYTON, MO. APRIL 2022.

Contents

NEWS War in Ukraine

FEATURES

Clayton’s Unsolved Murder Kleptomania Thrifting Pruitt-Igoe Millenials and the Age Gap Christine Win AP African American Studies

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12 14 15 18 21 24 25

REVIEW Spoonful

27

OPINION The Love Column: Fashion COVID Policies

36 37

PRO/CON

38

STAFF EDITORIAL

40

ON THE COVER: The Future of No Cut at Clayton

APRIL 2022 VOLUME 94, ISSUE 7

29

He

G EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

Ella Cuneo Shane LaGesse Ivy Reed CHIEF DIGITAL EDITOR

Kaitlyn Tran SENIOR MANAGING EDITORS

Owen Auston-Babcock Vivian Chen Seraphina Corbo Kate Freedman Alexandra Hagemeister Kaia Mills-Lee Ana Mitreva FEATURE SECTION EDITORS

Emma Baum Daphne Kraushaar NEWS SECTION EDITORS

Dheera Rathikindi Alex Slen REVIEW SECTION EDITORS

Rachel Chung Moriah Lotsoff Henry Upshaw makes a throw at the varsity boys’ baseball game against Fort Zumwalt South on March 14.

PHOTO BY AVA MARSDEN

SPORTS SECTION EDITOR

Alex Cohen OPINION SECTION EDITOR

Enoch Lai Sophie Yoshino

Isaac Millians Naveed Naemi Iris Park Sophie Srenco Sofia Mutis COPY EDITOR

Ruby Nadin ART EDITOR

Sonali Dayal STAFF REPORTERS

Stella Bishop Alison Booth Samantha Braidwood Zoe Daniels-Sankey JiaLi Deck Kenneth Gould Norah Gross Riley Kerley Charlotte Meyers Caitlin Kuhlmann Micah Lotsoff Sidra Major Sam McDonough Omeed Naemi Poppy Orchard Caleb Park Ezri Perrin Spencer Pompian Abby Rosenfeld Ivy Slen Samuel Smith Samuel Sun Leo Taghert Charlie Thompson Kipp Vitsky Chloe Wolfe Santi Vaqueiro-Espinosa

PRO/CON SECTION EDITOR

Sasha Keller

PHOTO EDITOR

Lily Kleinhenz

PUZZLE MASTER

Thomas Gustafson STORY IDEAS SECTION EDITOR

Max Hagemeister PAGE EDITORS

Isabella Bamnolker Chloe Creighton Izzy Erdmann Maya Goldwasser Sahi Gokaraju Isra Kayani Sophia Lu Charlie Miller Kirby Miller

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Angela Wirthin Ava Marsden Esther Wang Gabrielle Thomas Kendall Turner Maci Klaus Maya Richter Sofia Klein Owen Wohl Paige Conrad Sophie Matiszik FACULTY ADVISER

Erin Sucher-O’Grady

Thank you to our sponsors!

The Globe is an entirely self-funded publication. We receive no funding from the school district for printing. Each issue of the Globe costs approximately $2,000 to print.

We are deeply grateful to our sponsors for their support of our publication. They make our work possible. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, please email us at globe@claytonschools.net.

Issue level sponsors ($2,000+ level) Gail Workman Clayton Education Foundation Dr. and Mrs. Barry Berlin

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Dayal Family The Jewish Federation of St. Louis The Sucher Family The Bassnet Family The Baum Family The Gross Family The Cuneo Family The Berlins

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The Bassnett Family Laura Pierson Alicia Espe Allison Creighton Bill Dupor Jennifer Baer Michael Reed and Julie Layton Marci Boland The Cuneo Family Jill Moran Emily Rosenfeld Jo Flannery Linda Pieczynski Pat Clenderny

Abby Rosenfeld The Major Family Stephanie Gross The Chung Family Selina Yah Marie McLaughlin Susan Goldwasser Andrew Millians The Mills-Lee Family Kyra Moore The Cohen Family The Slen Family

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EDITORS LETTER

From the editor

Alex Cohen reflects on her past two years on the Globe and its effects on her time at CHS.

ALEX COHEN | SPORTS SECTION EDITOR

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s is described in the article on the CHS sports participation policy on page 29, extracurricular activities connect students to their school, and give them a sense of belonging. Globe has certainly fulfilled this promise for me.

I started high school sitting at my kitchen table, my dog poking his head into my lap on my Zoom calls, hoping for attention or food. I spent 3 months staring at a computer screen, no connection to the people represented by a sea of black boxes. This was the antithesis of high school; it wasn’t education, it was isolation.

I only looked forward to two Zoom classes, my Newspaper Writing meetings and the full Globe staff meetings. The energy, enthusiasm and passion of Mrs. Sucher-O’Grady, Ella, Shane and Angela, with occasional cameos from then three month old Elaine, filled my screen and put a smile on my face. Their hard work and skill inspired me to try journalism, to seek connection and learn to tell stories in the face of a dark and hopeless pandemic world.

I spent hours on FaceTime with Angela through these months, as she coached me to write my first story, a section of that issue’s politics cover story. She patiently taught me how to reach out to sources, conduct interviews and add quotes to my writing. All the while giving me a new friend and role model.

On Nov. 9, 2020, I set foot in CHS for the first time as a student. My four classes that day were all finished by 11:25 a.m., classrooms were filled to less than half capacity with masked students and teachers. The next day was my very first in-person Globe meeting, with many faces projected via Zoom while others sat masked, separated from one another in the dark auditorium.

And yet the magic had begun.

Mrs. Sucher-O’Grady paced excitedly in front of the stage, showing us articles from the New York Times and helping us to hammer out the Pro/Con for the December issue. Ella and Shane joked with each other, feet hanging off the stage.

Throughout the winter, I flitted between online and in-person school, hoping to stay out of quarantine. I craved the social connection that I got from being a journalist, whether that was interviewing an interesting professor, collabo-

rating on an article or competing for the high score on our weekly news quiz.

I completed my other schoolwork as quickly as possible so I could brainstorm story ideas or fix an errant sentence in my draft. I began to spend my study periods in the Globe room, discussing current events with Ivy and Angela, though Mrs. Sucher-O’Grady frequently had to send emails to remedy my absences from study hall.

I fell in love with the physical space that the room provided, a place that seemed to embody everything that the Globe was. Brightly lit photos lined the walls, and a growing pile of snacks and tea adorned one corner of the room.

A set of shelves was filled with old issues of the magazine and a stack of old yearbooks sat on a chipped black coffee table.

This school year, as full school days and open campus were reinstated, the Globe room once again attained its full glory. Fairy lights are strung across the ceiling of the computer lab and white boards are updated with the contact information of the new Editors in Chief. The pile of snacks in the corner grows, replenished monthly, and the dry-erase calendar reflects upcoming sports games and obscure national holidays.

Yet most importantly, the people and the light have returned to this space. Newspaper Writing classes are held in here, with freshman and sophomores arrayed in the many seating options. Editors and staff members spend their lunches and free time here, discussing politics,

current issues or even lamenting the difficulties of chemistry class. Ideas for articles and page designs are born here.

I spend most of my free time at school in here, talking to Mrs. Sucher-O’Grady and my friends, helping me learn to navigate my own little world as well as the larger one. Some days I sit and listen, taking in the flow of conversation and the wonderful people that make up what is much greater than just a high school newspaper.

Slowly through the last one and three quarter years of high school, Globe became my place in the chaotic halls of CHS. I have spent countless hours “doing Globe work,” but it is the people around me that have given me a home.

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PANO

Rally for Ukraine LILY KLEINHENZ | PHOTO EDITOR

On March 5th 2022, Missourians gathered at Frontier Park in St. Charles Missouri to show their support and solidarity for Ukraine. Many of the attendees were Ukranian themselves, having immigrated to the United States before the war with Russia broke out. Many shared stories of their family members and loved ones, still inside Ukraine struggling to decide to exacuate somewhere safer or stay to fight. Pictured is Sophie Yereschenko, both her mother and father immigrated from Ukraine. Yereschenko and her sister have been raising money and sending supplies to their close friends and family in Ukraine to give them basic necessities.

8 NEWS

A new normal for Ukrainians A look into how Ukrainians living in the United States are adjusting to the realities of war in their home country.

RUBY NADIN | COPY EDITOR SERAPHINA CORBO | SENIOR MANAGING EDITOR

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levtina Guseva wakes up and reaches for her phone, heart pounding. She scrolls through Facebook posts and messages from her friends and family in Ukraine, looking for anything that might confirm that they are alive. As of March 14, at least 636 civilians have been killed and 1,000 have been wounded, most of which have been caused by the use of explosive weapons.

Guseva was born in Kharkiv at the time when Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union. She left the country for the United States in 1993 on a one-year exchange program in California and applied to a Ph.D. program the same year. Now a professor of sociology at the University of Boston, Guseva has been experiencing the effects of the war since Russia first invaded Ukraine.

“I haven’t been able to maintain much of a normal schedule in my own life for the past two weeks or so,” said Guseva, whose elderly father is still stuck in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city and one of the most devastated by the conflict. Although many of her other family members have already fled, Guseva’s father refuses to leave.

For many elderly people still in Ukraine, leaving is much more of a challenge. Without any close friends or family that live in safe areas, leaving their homes and traveling somewhere safer is a risk. “It’s not easy to kind of uproot yourself at this age, younger people can do that,” Guseva said. Many of her friends’ parents are in the same boat. Not only is traveling difficult but, for many, it is still unclear what to do and how to organize life around the violence and destruction that is being inflicted upon Ukraine.

For Guseva, each day brings more news of death and destruction. “I just found out today that a classmate of mine, his building was hit,” said Guseva. “Half of the building was hit and their neighbors across the street were all killed.

My friends are no longer able to stay in their

home, so they’ve picked up and left.”

For many Ukrainians, the implications of Russia’s threats did not sink in until the initial attack.

Most people made no preparations for any possible violence and continued on with their lives. One of Guseva’s friends went on vacation to Turkey just days before Russia invaded.

She is now stuck there, with no way of getting back to Guseva with her daughter and father in Ukraine. her family. Many Ukrainians did not PHOTO FROM ALEVTINA GUSEVA believe that this would be possible. even some of his family members have chosen “This is something that is really out of science to ignore the facts of the war. “His father, unforfiction,” said Guseva, “It’s unbelievable. There is tunately, has fallen prey to Russian propaganstill a lot of disbelief.” da. And my husband is shocked by this, really The violence and bombing are now affectshocked. Several of his childhood friends have ing thousands of people in Ukraine, but for gone down the same route,” Guseva said. some people, the damage just doesn’t seem real.

This issue is not just isolated to Russia. For Many people living in Russia do not believe that CHS student Anton Kyrychenko, Russian proUkraine is being bombed, even when their own paganda has even affected his family in Ukraine. families are the targets. “Younger people who are “My grandmother is a closeted Russian supportliving in Ukraine whose parents live in Russia are er essentially,” said Kyrychenko. As someone calling and telling them that the Russian army is who grew up during the height of the Soviet bombing the cities, but they just don’t believe Union, Kyrychenko’s grandmother remembers them. Their loved ones are not believing what a time of stability before Ukraine gained its inthey are saying and instead believing propagandependence. “She remembers a better time and da,” said Guseva. she thinks that if Putin can restore that, well then These viewpoints are not uncommon. For she’s on board,” said Kyrychenko.

Guseva’s husband, who was born in Russia, Not only is a desire for stability a factor, but

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also a lack of understanding. “[His grandmother] is also very confused and doesn’t understand why there is fighting,” said Kyrychenko. “She’s definitely buying into Russian propaganda. It’s easier to believe a lie for some people because it’s better than being invaded by our neighbors who we trusted for a long time.”

Although believing a lie may be easier, Kyrychenko and his father, who was born in Ukraine, have been spending most days tuned into news stations.

“Whenever he’s not doing something that requires his full attention my dad will have his laptop open and have the Ukrainian news playing,” said Kyrychenko. Most of Kyrychenko’s family remains in Ukraine, next to the Russian border.

faster compared to the first world war.”

This surge of footage from Ukrainians has helped show the world the true nature of the violence that they are experiencing and is combating false news about the conflict.

As we enter into the fifth week of the Ukrainian war, many people are continuing to speculate when these attacks will end.

“Obviously I want the fighting to end, but many people are saying that Ukraine should just concede to everything that Russia demands,” said Guseva. “You can imagine what that means when a bully demands something from you and you concede. They will probably continue to take.”

For Ukraine, conceding is not an option and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky con-

NEWS

tinues to fight against the Russian invasion.

His leadership has struck a chord with people all over the world; “He’s become a nationalist symbol who embodies what a bunch of Ukrainians are currently feeling,” said Kyrychenko.

As of March 20th, 816 civilian deaths and 1,666 civilian casualties have been recorded by U.N. Human Rights Office. Until the violence in Ukraine ends, hundreds of Ukrainian families in St. Louis will continue to be affected. There have already been protests and rallies in St. Louis city and county to show support for the scarred country. But for many people, the most that they can do is sit by the phone or turn on the news, waiting to learn the fate of their families and friends.

“This is something that is really out of science fiction. It’s unbelievable.”

- Alevtina Gusteva Although many of his family friends have been able to escape, his aunts, uncles, and cousins remain trapped.

For Kyrychenko, having an easy line of communication with his family has been a relief as well as a cause for anxiety; “It makes it scary, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Because it’s nice to know every now and then how everyone is doing.”

Social media has also helped Kyrychenko stay connected to his family, as well as follow the violence as it develops. “Now that you can just go out and take a video of a destroyed tank or a bunch of bodies and really tell the world ‘this sucks,’ I think it is actually good,” said Kyrychenko. “You’re de-glorifying the war way

Kyrychenko and his family (left) with his aunt, cousin, and family friends (right) in Ukraine. His family friends have now fled to Germany.

PHOTO FROM ANTON KYRYCHENKO

KLEP TOMANIA The Globe examines the influence of social media on shoplifting among teens.

POPPY ORCHARD | REPORTER

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CHS sophomore makes a monthly trip to Sephora. Each time, she leaves with a new mini Radiant Creamy Concealer by NARS, a Benefit Roller Lash mascara, and a tube of Too Faced Lip Injection Extreme Lip Plumper. Her total should amount to $63; she spends nothing.

It may come as a shock, but shoplifting is an increasingly rampant practice among even ‘good’ teens in Clayton and is fueled even more through social media. The majority of this is done not out of necessity, but a simple desire for more.

Parents often ascribe more value to behaviors that can be classified as acts of rebellion (i.e. as a cry for help), but with widespread access to social media, teens are driven to consume more than ever; their primary source of entertainment is consumption itself. Targeted social media advertisements.

With over 40% of its users being under the age of 22, Facebook and its subsidiaries spend the majority of its marketing budget advertising to teens.

Why advertise to a largely unemployed population, though?

It’s simple: teens set trends. With this mar-

keting tactic, though, not only is the teen pushed toward products catered to their demographic but the inclination to appeal to trends fuels the desire to consume. Social media is infamous for its impact on the psyches of young people; teens associate happiness with commodity and, thus, value it to be more than a material good.

However, without disposable income, the teen is prevented from consuming; ergo, one option is left: shoplifting.

Its chemical effects make it all the more tantalizing, “[shoplifting] is just so invigorating.

Like, it’s an adrenaline rush with the added dopamine hit of something new,” said a CHS sophomore.

When asked how she hasn’t gotten caught, the teen said, “There’s a whole subsection of Tiktok called Borrowing-Tok. There are a ton of tips on how to avoid security cameras, take of tags, and where to go.”

This information could have been found under the tag, #borrowingtips, which accumulated over 100 million views before it was taken down for violating community guidelines. Much of the accounts and videos that shared similar content

have been removed for the same offense. Now, Borrowing-Tok regularly changes its primary tag (often using typos or misspellings of the initial tag) in order to persevere in spite of the app’s crackdown on the distribution of borrowing tips.

The culture of borrowing, however, is guided by one primary principle: if it’s a chain it’s free reign.

“I would never steal from a local business,” the sophomore said, “I tend to go for larger companies with controversial backgrounds, like H&M or Victoria’s Secret.”

These virtues have provided justification for shoplifting in the eyes of these students, even causing shoplifting to become an act of social justice itself. While this sentiment exists in retaliation to consumerist culture and the abuse of power by corporations, the driving force behind it is a desire to obtain material goods, thus further contributing to consumerism itself.

PHOTOS FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

THE UNSOLVED MURDER OF ERNIE BRASIER LILY KLEINHENZ | PHOTO EDITOR

13 FEATURE

Ernie Braiser was murdered at his office in downtown Clayton in 2006. His murder remains the only unsolved murder in Clayton in recent history.

I

t was just six short days away from Christmas in 2006 when Kelly Meixler was out shopping for ingredients to bake Christmas cookies with her friend. In the middle of the baking aisle, she received a call on her cell phone from Beth Boggs, managing partner of Boggs, Boggs, and Bates, a law firm in downtown Clayton. Over the phone, Beth broke the news to Kelly that her Dad had just died of a heart attack.

Ernie Brasier, Kelly’s father, was working late that night. He worked at the then Guild Building, now where the 212 building and Peel Wood Fired Pizza are located in downtown Clayton.

It wasn’t until later in the evening that Brasier’s death would be ruled a homicide, not a heart attack. After Ernie’s body had been taken to the Medical Examiner’s office, a bullet wound measuring 3mm was discovered behind Brasier’s left ear.

As a father of three, Ernie was dedicated to his family, “He really was an amazing father, he took such an active interest in our lives as kids.

He made us feel important with how much love and attention he gave us. He was just gentle to be around,” said Meixler.

Ernie worked at Boggs, Boggs, and Bates, dealing with workers’ compensation claims for insurance companies.

“There was no obvious motive to kill Mr. Brasier. There was no one really mad at him and he wasn’t doing anything too controversial. We really didn’t have anything to go off of initially,” said Clayton Police Chief, Mark Smith.

While working at Boggs, Boggs, and Bates, Ernie worked as an attorney under Beth Boggs.

“She ruled that place. She was dealing with attorneys, but treated them like children,” said Pat Holtmeier, Ernie’s wife.

Meixler also worked at Boggs, Boggs, and Bates now known as Boggs, Avellino, Bach, and Bates for a short period of time along with her Dad. She worked exclusively in billing.

“I would come in on Fridays and go to an office where I would set up their online billing systems and went through each of their invoices to make sure that they were all submitted to these online portals that their company Boggs, Boggs and Bates had not yet set up,” she said, “It was kind of that time, in 2006 where people were still figuring out the transition to digital and their company hadn’t. I believe some of those bills I was filling were a couple of years old.”

After finding these old bills, Miexler went to her dad to tell him about her findings.

“I just asked him ‘how can they miss out on this much money and run a firm this large?’

Because it was quite a lot of money I was billing each week. I always thought it was weird,” said Meixler.

It wasn’t only Meixler who found billing practices suspicious.

In 2008, complaints made about Beth’s billing practices were investigated by the Chief Disciplinary Counsel. In a letter of admonition dated March 17th, 2008 addressed to Beth Boggs, managing partner of then Boggs, Boggs and Bates, it states that the Regional Disciplinary Committee met to consider the complaint.

“After reviewing all of the available evidence and carefully reviewing the Rules of Professional Conduct, the Committee determined that there is reasonable cause to believe that a violation of a portion of the Rules of Professional Conduct occurred with regard to your billing practices. In particular, the Committee found that you violated Rule 4-8.4 (c) as a result of your billing clients under your name for work done by other attorneys in your office,” stated the letter.

Meixler always suspected it was her father who sent the anonymous complaints.

Shortly after his death, Holtmeier went back to Ernie’s office.

“I just wandered in, it’s funny when you lose someone you love you just want to get close to them.”

However, it wasn’t how Ernie left it and the office was all changed. Pat discovered her husband’s office had been converted into storing shoes for a

charity Beth Boggs was involved in.

According to Pat, Ernie’s mood changed over the time he worked at Boggs, Boggs, and Bates.

“Towards the end of his life he was very quiet. I regret it every day, why didn’t I ask him more? But Ernie kind of kept things close to his chest, he didn’t share everything. Maybe he just didn’t want to bring the bad stuff home,” said Pat Holtmeier, “I look back now and think God he was under so much stress, at that crazy office.”

Both Meixler and her mom, Pat, believe that Ernie’s murderer is already dead. They believe his murderer to be Vince Venker.

Venker was a co-worker of Ernie’s, and according to Holtmeier’s findings in the Police report, he was the last person to see Ernie alive at the office on the night of Dec. 19.

Venker died in August of 2008 from a heart attack.

According to the documents relating to the Retention of Household and Other Goods after his divorce, Venker kept possession of a .22 caliber Buffalo gun. A gun small enough to have made the bullet wound behind Brasier’s left ear.

“He justified that he had this gun because he and his neighbor

Ernie Braiser and his wife Pat Holtmeier.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY PAT HOLTMEIER

and

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liked to go out into the backyard and shoot it.

The police went to the neighbor he was talking about and the neighbor said they never shot guns off together,” said Holtmeier.

Ballistics testing was done on Venker’s gun according to Chief Smith, but the results were inconclusive.

Before Ernie was murdered, he confronted Venker about his noticeable issues with alcohol, telling him that the secretaries could smell alcohol on him in the morning and then again in the afternoon.

“I think drinking at that level, drinking can really do something to you,” said Pat Holtmeier.

Ernie had also walked in on Venker shaving his face in the bathroom sink at work. Meixler remembers him shaking his head in bewilderment at the exchange.

“He (Ernie) told me he was surprised at how unprofessional Vince was behaving,” said Meixler.

Holtmeier is confident it was Vince who killed her husband.

“My attorney feels that he killed Ernie because he was afraid he was going to lose his job again. His wife was divorcing him after Christmas. Everything was coming down on him. He is the assumed one, but they’re always going to call the case unsolved,” said Holtmeier.

In the police report, Holtmeier also learned Venker took a Computer Voice Stress Analyzer test while in police custody and refused to take another one.

“They found a notebook where he was writing ‘I said this…’ and ‘the Clayton Police said that…’. It was like he was trying the case in his mind. He was an attorney after all, and he knew how to get out of things,” said Holtmeier.

Before his murder, Ernie told Holtmeier that he or Venker were going to be awarded the Fireman’s Fund account which meant that the person awarded with this new account was going to get a raise and it would have been less work. Holtmeier believes that this was Venker’s final straw.

“One day I came home from work and there were 12 long stem red roses, meaning he (Ernie) got it. I think putting all this together maybe he (Vince) did get in a rage and between his wife leaving him and thinking Ernie was going to make him lose his job,” said Holtmeier.

Meixler felt that Boggs made investigating Ernie’s murder more difficult, “She made sure everything was locked tight, hiring Scott

Rosenblum, a criminal defense attorney, so none of the firm’s attorneys would speak to the Police without her representation. Beth Boggs avoided a PR nightmare, but is she guilty? Only her, God, and Vince know what’s up,” Meixler said.

Frustrated with the lack of justice being served to her father, Meixler wonders why Venker was never charged.

“If you read the police files, the police had a thick stack on him (Venker) but nobody else. Was there damage to evidence? Was the crime scene contaminated? How did a bullet to the head get missed and confused as a heart attack? There is a reason they never indicted,” said Meixler.

Brasier’s death was pronounced a heart attack at the scene and there were roughly two and a half hours before it was ruled a homicide according to Chief Smith.

The Clayton Police Department is unaware of any damages to the crime scene or any evidence.

“I checked with other investigators who worked on this case and they were also unaware of damages to any evidence,” Chief Smith said.

However, Meixler still believes the police department could have done more.

The murder of Ernie Braiser is now considered a cold case. However, according to Chief Smith the case, as well as other cold cases in Clayton are looked at on an annual basis to determine if there are any new leads or evidence that can be submitted for DNA testing.

Smith also points out that retired detectives have looked at the case but also came back with no new leads. Over 25 investigators from the Major Case Squad worked on the investigation for two weeks following Ernie’s murder.

“A lot of time and effort was put into following leads and interviewing people associated with Ernie and the law firm. We were all disappointed that we could not bring closure to this case. There just wasn’t any direct evidence to

FEATURE

Ernie Braiser and his daughter Kelly Meixler.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY PAT HOLTMEIER

obtain an indictment on anyone,” said Chief Smith.

“He was a wonderful father and a wonderful husband. He always put us above himself,” Holtmeier said. “Other lawyers in the area called me after this happened and told me he was just a true gentleman and he was always respectful.”

It’s been 16 years since Ernie’s murder and Ernie’s family is still waiting for justice to be served. “I have turned my grief at his loss into gratitude for his presence,” said Meixler.

Responsible thrifting

With the newly explosive popularity of thrifting in the media, questions have arisen regarding how to do so responsibly.

CHARLIE MEYERS | REPORTER IVY SLEN | REPORTER

were originally kind of meant to be affordable clothing for people who actually need it.”

P

iles upon piles of donated clothes lay in disarray on top of cobalt blue bins, while an overflow of toddlers’ t-shirts and women’s dresses fall onto the floor, waiting to be picked up by one of the many eager shoppers waiting outside the warehouse of the Goodwill Bins, anticipating for the doors to open.

The final stop before being taken to the landfills, this Goodwill non-profit organization, among many others, gives these clothes a second chance for reusing and repurposing until they become a part of the 16 million tons of textile waste that Americans generate every year.

Thrifting has gained much more popularity from becoming a social media trend of recent generations, and though it encourages sustainability and recycling donated clothes, there can be controversy regarding the right and wrong ways of doing it. Overconsumption, reselling clothes and the idea of gentrification surrounding thrifting showcase a different perspective of what responsible thrifting really means.

Thrifting Stigma Despite recent social media trends and the influence of the pandemic sparking a popular interest in thrifting, secondhand shopping wasn’t always as accepted as it is today. Historically, there used to be a stigma attached to wearing used clothes that had been owned and worn by a stranger. Not only were the items themselves viewed as a sign of low status, but there was also bias against the people selling them. Website: Imperfect Idealist stated that, “People who grew up low-income often mention how they used to be ashamed to thrift.

People have mentioned they used to feel the need to hide in stores when they saw people they knew, and their parents would make them call Goodwill ‘the boutique,’ so that other kids wouldn’t know they shopped second hand.

Though, now that thrifting is normalized, people tend to feel less ashamed about it.”

Calvin, an employee at Avalon Exchange, a thrift store in The Loop grew up lower middle class and was always thrifting, even as a kid. “[Thrifting is] where most of my clothes came from, so I feel like it’s kinda unfair to people who can’t afford new clothes every season or whenever,” he said.

Ivy Reed, a CHS junior and the vice president of the Clayton Thrift Club said, “Thrift stores

What is responsible thrifting?

“ I feel like society is so caught up in the accessibility of cheap clothing from websites like SHEIN, and forget that we already have an abundance of quality clothing to go around. ” - Sophia Lail

While looking at the stigma, and problems that come from thrifting, the idea of thrifting responsibly comes up and it begs the question: what is responsible thrifting?

“I think responsible thrifting is avoiding overconsumption,” said college student Sophia Lail, a passionate thrifter and depop reseller. Her experience with thrifting is greatly influenced by her financial situation while in college in Kansas City.

She said, “I have noticed that sometimes I get giddy with all of the awesome finds, but I think it’s important to be realistic and consider if you’re really going to wear it. If it will fit into your current wardrobe, then buy it! But I would definitely avoid just buying things in excess because they’re cool, because that’s when you tread [into] not being responsible. It’s also important to remember the area you’re in, and keep in mind people in need when it comes to winter clothes and such. Also keep in mind plus size people, and avoid taking items that don’t fit you properly” “I started thrifting when I was in fifth or sixth grade, when I learned how to sew and wanted to upcycle garments,” said CHS senior and avid thrifter Abby Sucher. “[When thrifting] I look for clothes I could see myself wearing ten times.

If I can’t imagine that, then I know it will sit in my closet unworn.”

Alice Wang, a CHS junior and the president of the Thrift Club, thinks there are some things responsible thrifters should steer clear of, “When you’re thrifting I think there are certain things that you shouldn’t necessarily be taking, like winter coats; I think you should be leaving things like that because that’s something that we can afford to buy new but something that lower income people can’t necessarily access new.”

Responsible thrifting doesn’t just mean avoiding overconsumption or choosing where to thrift. Lail said, “Thrifting for me is a great way to give a second life to an item of clothing.”

Knowing where to thrift and how to do it is important, however as Wang said, “anyone thrifting is still a benefit,” no matter the location or time of year.

16

FEATURE

The

thrifting boom

Why has thrifting become so popular, and what are its effects?

Thrifting is more popular than it’s ever been, and it’s not something associated with shame anymore. Gen Z culture has made secondhand shopping a new normal in today’s society. Videos of thrift hauls on platforms like Instagram and Tiktok have blown up.

Teenage Goodwill shoppers Helen and Evelyn said, “I think [thrifting is] better because instead of making more clothes it’s better to get old clothes, so it doesn’t waste so much product.” Being environmentally conscious is one of Gen Z’s big concerns and it’s partly responsible for the recent boom in thrifting. Social media trends have blown up the consumption of second hand goods.

Helen said, “I was thrifting before [TikTok trends and influence] but I think because of it, I have really been getting more into it.”

On TikTok, Lail has gotten over 4.5 million views on her video for showing her shopping at the St. Louis Goodwill bins, shows that there is a clear social media influence on Gen Z. The

boom of thrifting is great for the environment, according to The New York Times fashion is the second most polluting industry in the world and reusing clothes helps to move clothing into closets rather than into the landfills. But the recent boom of thrift shopping has its downsides.

Overconsumption of clothing from thrift store resellers and other people taking racks of clothing at a time has caused Goodwill and other thrift stores to hike up their prices, making clothing less accessible for people of the lower class. According to Imperfect Idealist, in 2010, buying a shirt or blouse from Goodwill would cost $4. However, now in 2022 one shirt could cost you all the way up to $12, which is a 33% price increase.

Calvin said, “Some people will come in and buy things to resell them if they notice it’s marked cheaply. I feel like it’s kind of unfair to people who have lower budgets because I feel like they deserve nice clothes too.”

“I would say [responsible thrifting means]

The Goodwill outlet, located near downtown St. Louis.

PHOTO BY CHARLIE MEYERS

being aware that thrifting doesn’t magically mean you don’t have to worry about the amount of waste you’re creating,” said Sucher.

“It’s important to still not just buy excessively at thrift stores just because of the price, because A: you probably will end up sending a lot of those pieces back to thrift stores, and B: If people continue to shop excessively, then thrift stores will have to drive their prices up, which takes an affordable option away from people who really need it.”

Websites such as Poshmark and Depop have become extremely popular in the last few years and according to Time Magazine the demographic of who uses it is 90% all under the age of 26, which is mostly Gen Z. Depop, owned by Etsy, is a big platform for reselling thrifted and upcycled clothing and accessories, which can be an easy way for young entrepreneurs to start a business, or showcase their passion for clothes and reusing materials.

37

17

OPINION

FEATURE

Why do you thrift?

The

Clayton

thrift club

Clayton’s take on thrifting and sustainability As thrifting has gained more popularity in recent years through the effects of the pandemic, social media, and trending topics, Clayton High school has created its own club, with refreshing incentives.

The thrift club at Clayton High School was recently founded by CHS juniors Alice Wang and Ivy Reed.

The club has taken a few trips to thrift stores to find clothes for their own closets and to source clothes for their pop up shop that will happen near the end of the school year. All proceeds from the pop up will go to a charity. “[W]e have been collecting clothes … We want to have a popup and we have a lot of ideas for how we want to set it up. But we are not totally sure where we want to raise the money; we want to do some sort of sustainability charity,” explained Reed.

“So far I have sourced everything from the bins because that is the cheapest, most cost effective way to raise money… And in general the bins is the last stop for all these Goodwill clothes before they just get thrown away. It’s crazy how many clothes there are in the bins,” said Wang, “... I just generally want to spread more awareness.”

This new addition to Clayton is a way to help encourage sustainability, and raise awareness to students about how they can thrift and help the environment around them.

“I really think we need more people thrifting and more people thinking of it as a normal part of consumption, and an alternative to what we normally think of as consumption, which is buying new things,” said Reed.

Abby Suche r “Thrifting hel ps me think creativ ely and experiment w ith my style without contr ibuting to th e waste that is created by fa st fashion.”

Alice Wang of people at “I knew a lot nd my friends a Clayton like riftth who liked other people ught it would ing and I tho ple to bring peo be a fun way together.”

Ivy Reed “Yo uniqu u can find e m eryon stuff that n ore e is go ot eving to You fe h buyin el better ab ave. gt ou becau hrifted clo t thes se it’s bet the en vironm ter for ent.”

d Evelyn Lun ble and “It’s sustaina ding older I just like fin ecause I like clothes too b better.” older clothes

Carol from Go

odwill

“I can find bargains on designer items.

It saves money as well.”

A

ALEX SLEN | NEWS SECTION EDITOR IVY REED | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF March 16 2022 marks the 50th anniverserty of the demolition of the infamous public housing project.

I G O E PRUITT

E

19

FEATURE

A

t the corner of Jefferson Ave. and Cass Ave., you’ll find an empty field littered with debris. On a sunny afternoon in March, the gray outlines of downtown buildings can be seen lining the edges of the field. Across Cass is a chain-link fence guarding a vast construction site. Aside from the occasional car crossing the wide streets of St. Louis’ north side, it’s quiet.

50 years ago, this corner was home to 33 11-story buildings. These steel and concrete towers made up the Pruitt-Igoe public housing complex, a sprawling feat of modernist architecture that stretched across 57 acres and was lauded as revolutionary when the first tenant arrived in 1954.

Pruitt-Igoe is perhaps the most infamous housing project in American history. The complex was designed as the new model of post-war public housing; however, it was its dramatic fail-

“Any kind of honest assessment of the history of America, of American planning, American architecture has to come to grips with this failure.”

- Robert Fishman ure that has ingrained Pruitt-Igoe into the hearts and minds of St. Louisans for over 50 years.

Pruitt-Igoe was built to serve a need. In 1900, St. Louis City was home to a population of more than 500,000. By 1950, the population had grown to more than 850,000 people. This rapid growth can be attributed to the Great Migration.

The site of Pruitt-Igoe’s demolition is now being used to constuct the Natinal Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s new campus.

PHOTO BY IVY REED Beginning in the early 20th century, millions of Black migrants moved from the deep south to northern industrial cities.

In St. Louis, city planners began to raise concerns that the city would not have enough room to accommodate the growing migrant population. Many cities were also experiencing the effects of the Great Migration, including urban congestion and growth of slums. As a response, “urban renewal” policies began to take shape across the country.

“Urban renewal means the concept that the built environment of the American city is essentially obsolete,” explained Robert Fishman, professor of architecture and urban planning at University of Michigan.

“And what we call urban problems can only be solved by starting fresh with massive demolitions of the old urban fabric and rebuilding in a modern way.”

Fishman is a featured historian in the 2011 documentary The Pruitt-Igoe Myth, which explores why Pruitt-Igoe eventually failed.

“Many of us would like to just forget about that whole public housing, urban renewal era because to my mind, it represents an unmitigated failure on the part of American planning

and urban design and architecture,” he said. “But any kind of honest assessment of the history of America, of American planning, American architecture has to come to grips I think, with this failure.”

As post-World War II America began to develop, the future of public housing looked promising. Politicians were eager to clear slums and make way for new development, and this was made possible by the Housing Act of 1949. The act was part of President Harry Truman’s Fair Deal, which included provisions to provide federal funds to pay for slum clearance and the development of public housing. With federal funding secured, the St. Louis Housing Authority began construction in 1951 on a public housing project unlike most that had been seen before.

Pruitt-Igoe was one of many “towers in the park,” an architectural trend that emerged as part of the modernist movement.

The idea, which organized buildings around a common green space, was first proposed by Swiss architect Le Corbusier in 1923 as a way to maximize space in crowded cities. However, it did not gain considerable attention until after World War II. The buildings were simple rectangular high rises, set apart from streets by

20

FEATURE

Blueprints of the original Pruitt-Igoe project.

PHOTO FROM FLICKR

landscaping. This style was widely adopted in affordable housing projects from the 1950s to the 1970s, when it began to fall out of favor. Critics pointed out that towers in the park felt sterile and imposing.

Diane Davis, who teaches regional planning and urbanism at Harvard Graduate School of Design, explained that the style was originally meant to improve quality of life for residents of these buildings.

Davis said, “There was an entire theory behind this agenda that these buildings would concentrate apartments, and they would leave more space because having the density of superblock towers would leave more space for park space and transport mobility and then people would both have green spaces outside their apartments, but also be in in a more dense environment.”

And in the beginning, the theory worked. Pruitt-Igoe was a hit, with many residents calling it a “poor man’s penthouse.” Many residents who came from slums found it remarkable that they could get some of the best views in the city from the 11th floor. A steady stream of rent money early on kept elevators in working order and maintenance functional. Many residents saw Pruitt-Igoe as home, and one of the best places for affordable housing in the city. On one famous occasion, Santa Claus even visited Pruitt-Igoe on a helicopter.

Originally planned as segregated housing, Pruitt-Igoe was desegregated by a 1954 Supreme Court decision. However, it had become exclusively African American by the mid-1960s. By then, flaws in the project’s design and management had started to reveal themselves.

Famous incidents such as the bursting of water pipes in the winter marked the impending failure of the project. Poor design also led to problems in the buildings.

For instance, there was only one small elevator for the entirety of each building and the site was far away from economic activity, jobs and any form of public transportation.

As time went on, residents started to move out, which began a vicious cycle of poor maintenance and crime. By the time of the eventual planned demolition by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, nearly ⅔ of the buildings sat vacant. Crime was also common as Pruitt-Igoe became somewhat of an urban legend in the St. Louis area. Famously, residents Kim ​​ Gaines and Kathy McClellan were murdered at the complex, cementing its reputation among many locals.

In the post-Pruitt-Igoe world, public housing has transformed from the towers in the park built after World War II. Today, Section 8 housing vouchers allow low-income households to afford privately owned and often rent controlled properties. Nearly two million people rely on Section 8 vouchers, Chad Freidrichs, director of The Pruitt-Igoe Myth, commented on how public housing has changed since Pruitt-Igoe’s demolition.

“There are big Section 8 projects still, where they are constructed and administered with the idea of bringing in Section 8 tenants,” he said. “But that is all administered by the private market. The federal funds are still coming through the vouchers, but the federal programs are not building these large buildings anymore.” Now the former Pruitt-Igoe site is surrounded by a neighborhood of mostly Section 8 housing.

Ultimately, the story of Pruitt-Igoe encapsulates the story of St. Louis, a city whose history has been defined by economic decline, racially restrictive housing covenants, white flight and suburbanization. The demise of Pruitt-Igoe mirrors the demise of St. Louis, and the demise of St. Louis mirrors the demise of inner cities across the country.

Many factors have been blamed for the failure of Pruitt-Igoe, from the modernist architecture to public housing as a concept. Although the reason why those 33 towers no longer stand is disputed, the story of Pruitt-Igoe has held lasting significance to the city.

In recent years, the former site has seen increasing development and investment. Future plans by construction company Clayco are also in the works. Along with the new National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency campus currently in construction, development company NorthSide Regeneration is nearing completion of a $20 million micro-hospital.

But for now, the corner of Jefferson and Cass stands mostly quiet, capturing the past and the future of a stagnant city.

Millenials and the Age Gap

the Human Race

The Future of

22

FEATURE

SIDRA MAJOR | OPINION SECTION EDITOR PHOTO BY “ArtsyBee” | CREATIVE COMMONS

M

illennials trail furthest behind in terms of having spouses and children.

The desire to marry early and start a big family is on the decline, which projects grave consequences for future generations.

“That’s a pretty big thing; most of the world is transitioning into natural population decline,” said researcher Professor Christopher Murray to BBC news. “I think it’s incredibly hard to think this through and recognise how big a thing this is; it’s extraordinary, we’ll have to reorganize societies.”

With fluctuations due to race, ethnicity and education attainment, falling fertility rates across the globe are prevalent.

People today fear overpopulation and global overcrowding. As technology innovates and lifespans increase, humans don’t seem to be struggling. Thinning out the population may seem like a solution to many of the world’s problems: fewer carbon emissions, resource shortages, less deforestation. However, as true as this may be, the effects of this topic are webbed with complexities that stand to damage the wellbeing of future society.

As Millennials approach their adult years, prioritization of careers and economic growth

dominate the desire for lifelong relationships and parenthood. The creation of online dating apps such as Tinder, for example, support short-term relationships, and discourage longterm ones.

“While there are some shifts culturally around becoming a parent, for example, the country seems less religious now than it was in the 50s-70s, I think the larger reason is economic,” said Spencer Hollenbach, CHS math teacher, millennial. “Our country has dismal parental leave and child-rearing support in place compared to other countries.”

Pew Research Center collected data on individuals across the world, ranging from age 23-38, noting whether or not they lived with a family of their own (defined as living with a spouse and or child). The research showed: 15% of individuals in 1968 (Silent Generation), 31% in 1987 (Baby Boomers), 34% in 2003 (Generation X) and 45% in 2019 (Millennials).

The Gen Z era follows the era of millennials (1997-2012), consisting mostly of teenagers and young adults. And although most Gen Z’ers would claim they are years away from having children, their perspective on having children at all, parallels that of most millennials.

“I never plan on having kids. Other than the fact that they’re gross, I’d prefer to enjoy my life instead of throwing it away for some weird idea that it’s a contribution to society. Frankly, I don’t think having kids is good for society; I think it’s a selfish decision to force someone to endure the agony that is life, not to mention the fact that it’s a waste of resources,” said Poppy Orchard, Gen Z, CHS sophomore. “I’m not saying people who have kids are bad, but at best, the action itself is neutral.”

With the thriving population numbers today, young individuals see no problem with ending their own bloodline. The trust of surrounding peers to carry the weight of human reproduction overtakes any worry of a scarce future population.

Of course, being a parent does not necessarily mean giving birth, or being biologically related, rather is the commitment to care for and look after an entire human being for their developing years; and this decision of becoming a parent, in any manner, is decreasing over the past decades.

According to the US Bureau of Consular Affairs, adoption rates internationally have decreased by 92.9% percent since 2004. In

23 FEATURE contrast, adoption rates in the US alone went from 146,172 adoptions in 2005 to 116,814 in 2015, more than a 20% decrease, according to statistics compiled by Wm. Robert Johnston.

Whilst decreasing fertility and adoption rates, the standard of housing demographics in regards to Millennials in particular, look less and less populous, thus conveying that people just aren’t as interested in having children these days. But for the slim that do, it is often postponed to later years of more economic stability, if not put off entirely.

The role socioeconomic status and race play into the statistics of marriage and family sizes are crucial to understanding the fluctuations that arise.

The New York Times collected data on the age that women have their first baby across the United States. Focusing on two factors: attainment of a college degree, and marital status.

According to these statisics, the average age for a woman to give birth (nationally) without a college degree is 23.8 years, and with a college degree or higher was 30.8. In comparison, the age for unmarried women is 23.1 and 28.8 years for married women (on average).

Clearly, married women and those with college degrees tend to hold off on having children to a later age, but it is also shown these same women have less children than those without spouses and college diplomas.

According to a study conducted by Statista, in 2019, 35.1% of women with only up to a high school diploma were childless, whereas 47.7% of women with some college, no degree were childless, and 43.1% of women with a bachelor’s degree, and 37% of women with a graduate degree or higher were childless.

These trends show that women are less likely to become mothers as they attain higher education, thus inferring that the longer one waits to have children (or adopt), the less likely they are to become a mother at all.

So, what does that say about the way our society organizes itself? If income increases as education attainment does, and educational attainment is becoming more popular, then the falling birth and adoption rates may continue to fall for the years to come. Those in the highest tax brackets, paying the highest amounts,

having less children, are most supporting those in the lowest tax brackets, they pay very little taxes (if not any at all), who tend to have the most children.

“In 2016, poverty among all single mothers would have declined by more than three times the rate seen over the last decade if just one in four single mothers with a high school education or some college had earned a college degree,” according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

If this lopsided structure continues to polarize itself, people of low socioeconomic status will continue to have many children and big families, possibly leaving the weight of the taxpayers’ dollars to those of higher education, who typically have smaller families.

As said, thinning out the human population may seem like a solution to many of the world’s problems; less carbon emissions, less resource shortages, less deforestation. But in reality, such a drastic population drop will cause detrimental effects to the entire human race.

“That would be true except for all the uniformly negative consequences of an inverted age structure,” said Murray. An inverted age structure, being a society with more older generations than young ones, is a dynamic the world has yet to see, but is projected to reveal itself soon.

Imagine a society with 80% more elderly persons than young to middle-aged adults.

Implications with social security, the medical field, housing surpluses, would all be dramatically prevalent when the generations exist unbalanced. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, elderly persons have been most at-risk. This combined with the physician shortage across the US has caused great panic and mayhem across society.

In the following years to come, there is hope for this imbalance to resolve itself, and become neutralized and functional, but as seen, this global age-gap is continuing to create complications.

Of course, the world isn’t doomed for the rest of time, and our shrinking population poses many genuine benefits for the future world.

But assuming this topic will carry no complications would be unrealistic.

“I can’t speak for a generation but I do feel like there are elements of liberal open-ness to a new normal. However, I also feel that there is a bit of a conservative push in that there is something fundamental and important to the idea of life-long monogamous commitment and family values,” said Hollenbach. “My hope is that the millennial generation finds ways to bridge the best of both ideologies rather than just isolate and ridicule the worst parts of both.

% of children living with...

73% 61% 46%

1980

2014

14% 16%

15%

1960

9% 4%

19%

% of 23-38-year-olds living...

Not in a family

45%

Millennial (2019) Gen X (2003) Boomer (1987) Silent (1968)

31% 15%

4%

In a family

Two parents in first marriage

7%

Two parents in remarriage Cohabiting

26% Single parent

55%

34% 85%

69%

Data provided by Pew Research Center

66%

5%

No parent

24

FEATURE

Christine Win The Globe talks with new school board member Christine Win about her passion for mental health education.

SOFIA MUTIS | PAGE EDITOR

C

hristine Win, a newly elected Clayton School District Board Member, has a passion for mental health education and advocacy.

“When I was an undergrad at WashU, there was still a lot of stigma around mental health,” Win said. “I went through my own depression and didn’t feel like I had access to the types of resources I needed. There just wasn’t as much of an awareness of how prevalent mental illnesses are like there is today.”

Win explained how once she finally told her friends she was depressed and about what she was going through, they only understood to a certain extent. They had heard of what depression was, but there was not a complete understanding of what it fully entailed. Win said, “Mental illnesses were at their infancy of sort of becoming more of an awareness among the community.”

The Clayton High School academic environment creates high levels of stress and anxiety for its students and faculty due to the communities’ expectations to constantly excel. Win believes in placing an equal importance on maintaining positive mental health and striving to be the best academically.

“I want to provide students today with resources I did not have back then,” Win said.

“Health education is my big interest because my passion is prevention. Preventing illness rather than treating the illness.”

After her tenure at Washington University, Win went on to earn a MA in Public Health and a MA in Social Work at Saint Louis University. “I want to be part of the change,” Win said.

She has been involved with the Clayton District in many different ways since her kids entered the school system.

“I’ve had such a good experience being part of the district and believe in the goal for students to not only have great academics and work ethic, but also have access to the most passionate knowledgeable teaching staff possible,” Win said.

“I think we wouldn’t be able to do any of the amazing things in [the Clayton District’s] strategic plan without the incredible teachers that we hire in this district,” she said. “They are our core, they are our foundation.”

In the past years, teachers have started to focus much more on the emotional education of a child.

The Clayton School District has gravitated to an approach of educating the “whole child”. This

method emphasizes providing social and emotional learning alongside the traditional principles of education.

Win said, “That really resonated because of my background in health and wellness. Now that we have so much more of a focus on social and emotional learning, and with the place I’m at now in my life, I think this is the perfect time to become a Board Member and help out with my background.”

Win made it a point that she doesn’t come to the Board with an agenda of any kind. She said, “I don’t have X, Y, or Z to get done, but I do have an idea of the effective member I want to be.”

A major step to accomplishing her vision is maintaining relationships with teachers, students, and the community.

“Proactively listening to community mem-

“

I want to be part of the change.

- Christine Win

bers, listening to students, listening to board members, are what will make me a really good communicator,” she said. “Being a listener the majority of the time, and only talking when I need to.”

Throughout the interview Win’s facial expressions exhibited her ability to listen closely to details. Her intermittent nods and cheerful eyes will make every speaker feel heard.

With her strive to make the Clayton schooling environment more accommodating to all students and qualities as a leader, Win will easily be able to make her mark on the Clayton community.

“I’m a team player,” she said, “and I hope that as a board we continue to impact the community by not only providing academic resources, but emotional resources as well.”

Christine Win’s official School Board Campaign headshot.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY CHRISTINE WIN

25

FEATURE

AP African American studies A look at the new AP African American studies course offered by College Board being piloted at CHS in the 2022-2023 school year.

SERAPHINA CORBO | SENIOR MANAGING EDITOR

“I believe an honest and factual approach is the best way to teach the course regardless of recent events” - La Shauna Aningo

I

n the United States, African Americans make up 15% of the total student population, and yet their representation in AP and dual enrollment classes still remains low. Nationwide, 6% of all high school students were enrolled in AP classes in the 2017-2018 school year, with only 3.7% of all Black students enrolled compared with 12.9% of Asian American students and 6.6% of white students.

College Board, the nonprofit organization that administers the SAT and provides college-level courses to millions of students, is officially expanding their AP offerings. Starting next school year, high schools across the country will pilot a new AP African American studies course that will cover topics such as the African Diaspora, slavery, the Abolitionist Movement, and the intersections between race, gender, and class as they relate to Black communities. While under-representation of minorities is a pervasive problem across the U.S., one aim of the course is to encourage diverse participation and prepare a greater number of disadvantaged students for college-level coursework.

The course was first piloted for several years to collect data and check for feasibility. In addition, the organization has worked closely with Historically Black Colleges and Universities to ensure that potential students would gain a thorough understanding of the depth and nuance of Black history. Clayton High School was chosen as one of the schools to participate in the next pilot round.

According to La Shauna Aningo, Clayton High School U.S. and World History teacher, “College Board identified schools throughout the U.S. that were already providing courses on African American studies, and Dr. Gutchewsky was contacted with a request for Clayton to participate in the pilot, and then that information was forwarded to other administrators.”

In addition to providing students a more in-depth understanding of the myriad artistic, scientific, and political achievements of African Americans, many of which have historically been ignored or devalued, Aningo believes the course represents a step in the right direction for promoting general education and awareness.

“As far as I am aware, students are not taught about African history before the transatlantic slave trade. This could be addressed so that students learn about the existence of African civilizations before they learn about imperialism, which would create a different narrative,” Aningo said.

Instead of learning about African Americans just in terms of the oppression and violence they have endured for centuries, students will also have the opportunity to learn about the life and culture of African peoples before European interference.

The long-overdue inclusion of a college-level African American studies course in high schools across the country has been received with applause, especially in the light of the 2020 George Floyd protests and the heated contro-

versy surrounding critical race theory.

The inclusion of diverse perspectives in education is imperative for the preservation of democracy. However, ignorance and racism remain potent forces in American society, and while significant progress still needs to be made in the development of history curricula, change will not happen overnight.

“Teachers have to gain more education, because the assumption is that people have been educated through a diverse lens and the reality is that a lot of people did not grow up learning through a diverse lens. I believe an honest and factual approach is the best way to teach the course regardless of recent events. Teachers are teaching history and the way they do so will vary, but using documents, discussion, and including the voices of those that lived through the history is essential,” says Aningo.

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ALWAYS A GREYHOUND: RYAN NEELY Class of

2004

Clayton Alumni accomplish interesting and incredible things in every industry, all across the country and even around the world! Each month, we’ll profile a different Greyhound graduate. If you know a Clayton Alum who should be recognized, we want to tell their story!

Contact us at globe@claytonschools.net.

CHS alum Ryan Neely. Neely now contributes Photo from Neely.

A

s a Clayton graduate in 2004, Ryan Neely recalls his time at CHS as priceless. During his time, he wanted to become a clothing designer for his profession.

“I was nominated in our yearbook as [someone] who’s likely to become a clothing designer,” said Neely, who studied abroad during his junior year of college.

He took a fashion design class at Lorenzo de Medici School of Art in Florence, Italy. Now working as an interior designer for a home staging company, Neely carries pride of being a Clayton alum.

“Clayton prepared me for college just by giving me the necessary tools of light time and learning how to interact and communicate with people of different nationalities and races,”

said Neely.

He joined three clubs at CHS including the photography club, and the art club, where he derived his passion for fashion and art.

Outside of these clubs, Neely played basketball and competed in track.

“All the clubs and activities that I took advantage of while I was there really helped me gain my leadership skills and my ability to work well with others,” said Neely.

Neely took an African-American history class taught by Dr. Barnard, who he believes was his most influential teacher. “[She] knew a lot about the African-American history of blacks in Clayton at the time,” said Neely. “She had a very vast knowledge of information that I always felt could help me not only at Clayton but down the line as well,” he added.

After graduation, Neely attended Tennessee State University (TSU) in Nashville, and earned an undergraduate degree in art history. He described this experience as something more different than at Clayton.

“It was a historically black university which I really wanted that experience [after] coming from Clayton,” said Neely.

CHS helped Neely to experience new things and to learn about different cultures and expe-

rience a new world.

“I thought I would be seeking out a career as a curator,” said Neely, who got a part-time position at the Saint Louis Art Museum after getting his degree at TSU. He soon realized that this job wasn’t for him, so he wanted to focus on his first love for fashion.

For a number of years, Neely lived in Los Angeles, CA and worked at Neiman Marcus, an American chain of luxury department stores, before he would pursue an interest in home interior design.

“We had a home section in our store and I had several clients who purchased items for their homes,” said Neely.

After six years, Neely put his skills to the test in the real estate market, either staging homes for friends in real estate, or to those who needed help brightening their first homes.

Today, Neely lives in Washington D.C. and works as the sales manager for textile company Holland & Sherry in the Washington Design Center, having a background in client services.

Not only does he work for this company, but he also does some personal styling and home staging on the side.

Over his time at CHS, Neely always worked his hardest in pursuing his passion of art.

“I do hope to come back to CHS and give back in a way that will hopefully encourage the students of today to not only enjoy the time there while they have it being that it does fly by,” said Neely, “but also always strive for excellence and no never let their voices go unheard.”

Always a Greyhound Alumni Profiles are sponsored by the Clayton Education Foundation: Funding classroom innovations, providing educational opportunities and promoting lifelong connections for alumni. www.ClaytonEducationFoundation.org

spoonful

27

REVIEW

SPOONFUL The Globe takes a look at the new Korean-inspired cafe in St. Louis.

S

poonful, a Korean dessert cafe, opened up on February 17th in 12973 Olive Arcade Blvd, right next to Joo Joo, another Korean restaurant, in Olive Arcade Plaza.

The cafe sells bubble teas (Strawberry, Mango, Green Apple, Milk Tea, and Taro Milk Tea), Sweet Red Bean (pat, in Korean) or Nutella filled Taiyaki (bungeo-ppang, in Korean), as well as Americano, Latte, Vanilla Latte, and Matcha Latte (with a choice of 2% or whole milk.) Their specialty, the bingsu, which is a Korean shaved ice dessert, comes with flavors of Strawberry, Mango, Blueberry, Cookies ‘n Cream, Fruity Pebbles, Matcha, or Injeolmi (Korean rice cake with powdered soybean topping). When we went, we got the Strawberry Bingsu and the Red Bean Taiyaki.

The cafe was cute: from the music (a nice mix of DPR Live, IU, GSoul, and other K-Pop artists), to the wood paneling detail on the sidewall, to the neon sign of a hand in a heart shape (perfect for Instagram photos with your new snack!).

When my family and I went there, the shop (and parking lot) was very busy, even 10 minutes before closing on a Saturday night.

The Strawberry Bingsu comes with frozen strawberries (cut into slices), thinly powdered snow, strawberry syrup, whipped cream, and an option of condensed milk on the side.

Strawberries were either in season or frozen when they were, but they were very sweet strawberries in general. The snow is nice and thin,

One of the best parts of the bingsu was that they added another layer of strawberries and syrup halfway through the bowl.

The Strawberry Bingsu from spoonful.

PHOTO BY RACHEL CHUNG thankfully not too chunky (think snow cones).

In my family’s opinion, the quality of ice was better than Corner 17, or the late Ice Factory in the Loop.

One of the best parts of the bingsu was that they added another layer of strawberries and syrup halfway through the bowl. Usually, you get to the middle/bottom, and the only thing left is bland snow(thus the optional condensed milk, to add some sweetness). Instead, however, the strawberries in the middle were a very welcome surprise.

Also, despite the strawberry syrup, strawberries, and condensed milk, it was not overwhelmingly sweet, which was another welcome surprise.

A little pricey– $14.95 for a Regular Strawberry Station.

However, the quality is, in my opinion, the

best you can get around St. Louis, so overall, it’s worth it.

The taiyaki was roughly hand-sized, with a nice crunchy shell, a pancake-like inside, and a decent amount of filling. We got the 2 for $6.95 deal, which, again, was a little pricey, but it was not bad and considerably better than our own past attempts at making it at home.

The red bean pat was a good balance between chunky and smooth, and the ratio between crunchy and soft for the dough was great.

Overall, it was pretty decent, and if we have a craving for some fish-shaped bread, Spoonful is probably the best place to go in St. Louis.

RACHEL CHUNG | REVIEW SECTION EDITOR

Changing the Policy

Participation Policy O

f all the public schools in the St. Louis area, Clayton is the only one with a no-cut policy in athletics.

Implemented nearly 40 years ago, CHS’s no-cut policy was intended to increase student connectedness to the school.

The district’s athletic director Steve Hutson said, “[The policy] was making sure students were connected to the school outside academics because during that time, we didn’t have all these club offerings and all these other ways to stay connected.”

However, knowing that they were certain to make a team, student athletes lacked the drive for “excellence” that Clayton has recently aimed to achieve athletic success in the same way it has been able to on the academic side. Hence, the introduction of CHS’s current participation policy which states that should a student have three unexcused absences from practice, they will be cut from the team. While the current participation policy hasn’t pushed Clayton over the top in pursuit of athletic excellence, it has helped guide our programs in that direction from the original intent of the no-cut policy.

But what will be that final push toward achieving Clayton’s value of excellence in athletics? As Hutson and many other members of the

Sophomore and varsity soccer player Beacan Mottl striking the ball.

PHOTOGRAPHER | AVA MARSDEN

30

Clayton community have proposed, this would be moving toward a cut policy. Contrary to the initial reservations of many, this policy would truly only impact a handful of sports each season.

Only the most popular sports with limited resources—coaching, equipment and space—will experience cuts.

“So if we are going to set roster limits at the freshman level with only one freshmen team, only one JV team and one Varsity team with a roster limit, and the population exceeds those numbers, then we would have to cut,” Hutson said.

Based on an analysis of space and participation numbers in previous seasons, the most affected sports would be volleyball, girls’ tennis, boys’ soccer and both boys’ and girls’ basketball.

However, should students be cut from these more popular and crowded sports, they would still have the opportunity to participate in sports like cross country or wrestling, that will remain no-cut to maintain participation in athletics and allow all students to experience that sense of camaraderie that so many long for within their extracurriculars.

With this new policy, Hutson and many others aim to manage resources more effectively, push numbers toward the sports that need them most and achieve both academic and athletic excellence.

Hutson said, “Based on my conversations with almost 100 people, they’re ready to get there.

They’re ready to go in that direction and start taking kids that have an ability level and talent, and taking that group and growing them over a four-year time.”

Behind the Change A

s Clayton looks to the removal of the participation policy, members of the community have had questions and concerns regarding the change. Conversations about the removal began this past summer between Hutson and a group of Clayton parents.

Hutson then met with various groups of parents from Wydown and CHS, as well as the Captain’s Council, a group of student-athletes who have shown leadership in their sports. A major point of discussion was the lack of playing space for teams like girls’ tennis and volleyball.

This fall, when Clayton lost to Westminster in the volleyball district final, it was only by three points.

“After Westminster beat us, they walked through the state tournament. Our volleyball team practices on half a court when [Westminster] trains on full-court, it’s not equitable to the teams we play against,” said Hutson. “If we only had three teams and not four, because we have two JV teams, they would have a better training experience. One could argue we might have beat them in that fifth set, and won a state title.”

The tennis team also experiences a lack of court space, with their roster rounding out to fifty-five girls this past season, with only eight courts to train on. Without sufficient court space, girls are offered little opportunity to practice properly.

Large team size also could be a deterrent for coaches seeking to work at Clayton. To some, coaching at a school that offers them a smaller and more dedicated team is a more attractive option than coaching many athletes, some of whom have never played the sport before.

“I think that’s a very practical, real-world pragmatic concern. When you’re dealing with the lower levels, the amount of instruction that may have to go into, we talk often in a classroom about teacher-student ratios, right? In some

“

There’s now this sense of competition. What does that feel like?

It’s going to continue to drive me to succeed.”

- Steve Hutson, Athletic Director

cases, I think it would make a coach’s job a lot easier, just having fewer athletes,” said Paul Hoelscher, Clayton’s Social Studies Coordinator and former girls’ and boys’ soccer coach.

Another concern about having no limit on team size is the dedication of the athletes.

“You have to assess where everybody is, how serious are they about their soccer career? Are they someone who is athletic enough that you think they could pan out as an athlete and contribute? Or are they just kind of doing it to do it with their friends?” said Brendan Taylor, head coach of the boy’s soccer team.

Even though some teams may be overflowing with players, Clayton still experiences a low turn-out of fans to games and minimal school spirit. The only games that receive a large showing of fans are the homecoming football game or rivalry games against Ladue.

This year, the Instagram account @claytonspirit began promoting events, but there was little to no change in student attendance at games.

Because Clayton is an academically focused school, many students skip events because of homework. However, the current participation policy may also play a role in the lack of attendance at athletic events as competition feels absent in many sports.

“There’s now this sense of competition that now this kid is performing better than me, or I’m performing better than this person. What does that feel like? It’s going to continue to drive me to succeed,” said Hutson when asked about how a cut policy would increase Clayton’s athletic competitiveness, therefore resulting in stronger teams. Students would be more willing to spend their evening watching a game if our teams were more likely to win, ensuing more school pride.

Many desire athletics to play a role in the lives of Clayton students in the same way academics have, whether it be school spirit or winning games. A cut policy is what many see as the solution.

31

Student Clayton Connection Health “A

thletics provide a non-traditional opportunity for a rich academic experience,” said Dr. Cameron Poole, the district’s Chief Officer of Equity and Inclusion. Consistent with Clayton’s whole child philosophy, athletics can be used to supplement and complete an academic-focused school experience.

The school district’s 2020-2023 strategic plan states about the whole child philosophy, “We will be dedicated to the personal growth of our learners in their social, emotional and physical well-being.” Schools are tasked with turning children into productive adults, and athletics are an integral part of the school experience for many students, helping to tie them to a community.

Sports create an essential sense of belonging in the school community, increasing school spirit and giving diverse groups of people a common goal.

“It is my child’s responsibility to participate in athletics at their high school as a way to contribute and support their school, to promote school pride and increase community support of our sports programs,” said Alison Hoette, CHS parent.

For many students who struggle with the academic portion of the school day, sports can be a lifeline, giving them motivation to persevere in their studies. During his time coaching, prior to coming to Clayton, Poole noticed that sports “create a certain level of accountability, and when we weren’t in season, we would see a dip in grades and behavior.”

At CHS, the athletic department, learning center and coaches collaborate to monitor student-athlete grades and provide support if needed. This is yet another safety net that the school provides to athletes.

Athletics also allow students a plethora of real-life experiences that may be difficult to find in the traditional classroom. Student-athletes meet new people and build relationships outside of their usual social circle. They also learn to work hard and how to handle the emotions and experiences of winning and losing. Sports can be a more realistic reflection of the adult world, as relationships and competition are emphasized, and resources and rewards are limited.

The new policy would also place a greater emphasis on prior experience through club sports, especially in sports such as soccer, baseball, basketball and volleyball. As spots on these teams become more competitive, athletes are essentially “required” to have prior experience with the sport at a club level. These club sports are expensive, often thousands of dollars per season, a burden that not all families are able or willing to shoulder.

Yet, access to sports is a community issue, one that a no-cut policy eases but does not eliminate.

“Regardless if students are cut or not, access is still an issue,” said Poole.

Students with less access to sports may be less likely to try sports at the high school level, or may end up on lower teams.

Clayton sponsors some seasonal sports teams at the middle school level, and the Clayton Parks and Recreation offers low cost sports for elementary and middle school students seasonally.

Additionally, under the current policy, students with and without disabilities are able to participate together in the sports of their choosing, forming bonds and connections within the community. These opportunities are valuable to students’ overall development.

Participation in athletics gives students a vital opportunity to connect with their peers, teachers, coaches and the school community at large.

32

A

ccording to the Aspen Institute Sports and Society Program, “Many appreciate that sports, broadly defined to include all forms of physical activity, can help students grow academically, socially, physically and mentally in ways that will benefit them throughout their lives.”

Poole supports this statement with data he collected within the district for athletic participation across a variety of different categories. Poole said, “Across every category I’ve looked at, whether it be socioeconomic status, whether it be race or gender or anything else, the more activities a student was in, on average, the higher their GPA and ACT scores were.”

A cut policy might decrease participation in athletics, but not necessarily. By increasing athletic exposure at a younger age, emphasizing communication between various sports and departments within the district, and valuing the real-world preparation the new policy could have, Clayton athletics could still maintain the overall physical health of its students.

Truly, academic exposure to clubs and rigorous courses begins at the elementary level within the Clayton School District.

However, the same exposure to sports and value they hold doesn’t occur until the high school level. By instilling the same value in athletics at the elementary and middle school level as academics, Clayton students could be more prepared to achieve excellence in whatever sport they should choose once reaching high school.

It’s important to note that the athletic participation level at CHS is currently at 85% of students, well exceeding Missouri’s recommended rate of 55%.

Understanding that these rates could change, Poole intends to address this potential decline in participation. “[A solution] would be to look at the numbers. We have a good set of data in terms of what things look

like before cutting, so to look at those numbers and compare… And I think the big thing is, out of those who are cut, where are they going?

What is the next activity they’re doing, whether it’s athletics or not athletics, and how is that impacting their overall experience?” Poole said.

Once students are cut from a sport, coaches need to communicate in order to find the best athletic activity for that student.

“It’s as a collective, being creative, especially depending on the sport.

What are some other interest areas of that student? If they can’t do x,

then y can be an option. It’s a matter of our coaching units being intentional and knowing the individual skills of each kid. So if I’m cutting you, what’s something that you can still get that sense of belonging and camaraderie,” Poole said.

Ultimately, Hutson said, “We can’t think of this so cookie-cutter. There are situations that are going to come up with kids that we as educators and professionals, we are going to take care of that kid.”

The Right Decision?

C

layton’s no-cut sports policy is unique in the St. Louis region and sometimes raises concerns about the school’s ability to compete against other schools in the area and be successful in larger tournaments like conference and state championships. Alternatively, a no-cut policy proves beneficial in allowing students of all backgrounds, means and abilities to participate in interscholastic competition. The current, more inclusive, policy can help to reflect a community’s values, bringing people together to support a common goal or idea.

“The question would be, does inclusiveness perhaps limit competitiveness?” said Hoelscher.

Currently, most CHS sports have a tryout process, sorting athletes into at least JV and Varsity teams, with some programs having freshman or C teams as well. A cut policy would mostly affect athletes on lower teams, particularly in sports where there are multiple JV or freshman teams, such as girls volleyball, which had two JV teams in the 2021 season.

“Even if it’s not cut, you still have to work to get playing time,” said Anthony Stamillo, CHS senior and captain of the 2021 JV boys soccer team. Grade level is no guarantee of varsity placement in many sports, especially soccer and basketball, as many underclassmen arrive with prior experience, often from club teams.

The highest ability athletes receive the most playing time on these varsity teams, and it’s these varsity teams whose results most reflect the ability of Clayton athletics as a whole.

“High school is still young, and everyone is still trying to figure out their passions and interests, and schools that have a cut policy don’t allow kids to have new experiences as much,” said CHS ju-

nior Hannah Teagan.

Teagan first began playing field hockey as a sophomore at CHS with no prior experience. Despite her initial lack of experience, Teagan has begun exploring options to play in college after two successful seasons and immense development as a goalie.

The no-cut policy also “allows sports to be more fun, rather than cutthroat,” said Teagan. With the current participation policy, students compete with their peers for playing time and coveted varsity spots, but still feel comforted knowing they’re guaranteed the opportunity to practice and be a part of a team.

The 2018 update to the participation policy required student-athletes be removed from a team if they acquired more than three unexcused absences from practice during a season. Despite its intended push toward athletic excellence, this change was not well communicated, and not enforced evenly across all teams.

Communication between coaches, the athletic department, parents, community members and athletes is always critical, but particularly when an athlete is cut. As part of the new policy, the CHS athletic department plans to encourage students cut from teams to participate in other sports with more space that will not experience cuts, such as cross country, wrestling and track. This will require smooth communication between all parties involved.

If students are cut from one sport, “the numbers will move,” said Hutson. The athletic department believes that overall participation numbers for sports will remain similar with the new policy, but will be distributed slightly differently across various activities.

It is important to collect data on sports participation with attention to race, gender and socioeconomic status in order to “have the flexibility to pivot if a larger problem is created as a result,” said Poole.

“The community is ready to go to the next level,” said Hutson. Though Hutson has conducted meetings with various stakeholders and focus groups to discuss the new policy, there has been no data collection from the community at large, therefore he cannot truly predict the response of the Clayton community as a whole.

Freshman and varsity basketball player Lauren Young PHOTOGRAPHER | MAYA RICHTER

33

From the Board A

t the monthly Board of Education meeting on March 30, Hutson presented information about the changes to the participation policy for the board members to review. In addition, several student-athletes in attendance were given the opportunity to voice their support for the policy changes. They described how the policy changes would give more prestige to spots in sports teams and help foster greater team chemistry.

The majority of board members supported the policy changes.

Board member Stacy Siwak said the new policy would “make games more fun to attend” and that Clayton should “value academics and athletics.” Board members Kim Hurst, Jason Wilson and Amy Rubin also verbalized their support of the proposed changes.

Additionally, CHS principal Dr. Dan Gutchewsky said, “the true meaning of the no-cut sports policy has been lost, some coaches and players believe that no cut means no rules and no expectations.”

However, board members Steve Singer and Joe Miller expressed

concerns about lower participation numbers due to the implementation of cuts, as well as the tension between winning and allowing students ample opportunities for physical activity. To describe his opinion on the tension, Miller said, “there must be participation with expectations.”

Singer mentioned that it might not be a bad thing to value academics over sports in a country that places undue emphasis on athletics.

Both board member Joe Miller and student representative to the Board, Aitana Rosas-Linhard mentioned the possibility of creating intramurals for students cut from popular sports such as volleyball and basketball. This idea received positive but lukewarm reception from Hutson.

Hutson added that the athletic department will “continue to monitor data and that there is always an opportunity for students to participate.”

Many student-athletes shared how much happiness sports bring them, in and out of season. Rubin said, “athletics keep kids engaged and inspired.”

For the Future

T

he removal of the cut policy will have both positive and negative implications for Clayton’s culture surrounding athletics.

Athletes are going to become more aware of where they sit on the team and if they will still have a spot the following season.

The potential of being cut may hang over people’s heads, and may result in higher show-out to offseason practices as athletes aim to bond with coaches and improve their skills. Teammates may begin pushing each other to be their best as they fend for the last spot on varsity rosters.

This could lead to a decrease in team camaraderie, as teammates begin to compete against one another as well as other teams, potentially leading to competition within teams. Being more competitive doesn’t necessarily mean winning more.

However, more space on fields and courts for varsity level teams in soccer, tennis, basketball and volleyball is a huge opportunity and hopefully more wins will proceed. Clayton volleyball can use full court training to their advantage and have a better chance at dominating the district tournament, preventing a loss like this past fall against Westminster from happening again.

As many athletes and parents want, a greater sense of competition

34

in athletics at Clayton could begin as soon as the removal is enacted.

For future breakout athletes like Hannah Teagan, the possibilities may now be limited. By opening the door to a possible increase in athletic success, Clayton may be closing the door on those who haven’t had the opportunity to try a new sport and could have potential.

In addition, participation numbers may decrease, as students without prior experience or of lower socioeconomic status may struggle to access sports and other forms of physical activity.

In the limited capacity that student athletes and parents have been able to voice their opinions regarding the change, support is mostly in favor of it.

“I believe in it. I think it will be good. I don’t think it’s a conversation that’s one and done. I feel like we have to continue to look at what does this look like after year-one of implementation? What was the impact?

Just because we do this doesn’t mean we can’t modify it, just because I’ve stated it this way doesn’t mean this can’t be modified,” said Hutson.

The removal isn’t final and policies can still be updated if issues arise as athletes are cut. As Clayton’s athletes grow and improve so will the policy.

Greyhound fans cheering during the homecoming game.

PHOTOGRAPHER | SOPHIE MATTISAAC

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120 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

36 LOVE COLUMN

Love, the Globe:

Yes, it is a big deal Editor Isabella Bamnolker reflects upon their longtime love for fashion and the comfort and community fashion offers.

ISABELLA BAMNOLKER | PAGE EDITOR

T

here is something about fashion that captivates me. Ever since I was a child, I loved to arrange clothes together that mismatched and contradicted each other. To me, fashion is the blueprint for the highest points in my life. When I pick out an outfit to wear, my body is a canvas, each fabric and stitching is a brushstroke. I could talk about how freeing it is, to wear something you could never see yourself wearing the night before, but walk down the hallway as if you had full confidence the morning of.

To me, clothes are a transcending experience, they become the framework of my creativity.

Clothes bring comfort. A stormy day is otherwise intimidating and tumultuous, but with the heather gray sweatshirt that I wore during those cold nights, the feeling of warmth and familiarity engulfs me back home.

It was those times of invisible suffering, that a slightly frayed hand-me-down worked as crutches, reminding me that the people who had it before, had grown too. I grew an appreciation for my loved ones because their clothes represented their own individuality and strength.

When I got to middle school, I had an idea about how people wanted me to dress, and what the “trendy” clothes were. For me, fashion was a way to get back at the tiny little annoyances that made me feel insecure. In a world ubiquitous of pretentious fashion snobbery, I broke through the windowpane with a sewing machine, stitching together an outfit that would ignite a domino effect of gasps.

I fondly look back on my different phases; my artist phase, my tree-hugger phase, dress over jeans phase, and most lovingly my longsleeved over short-sleeved tee phase. Growing up, I remember the trips to Goodwill with my mother and the window shopping in the Central West End. I remember the first time I came to Clayton, and suddenly questioned my family’s socioeconomic status.

I never paid attention to what brands I wore before. If I liked the color and style, then what was there to lose?

I wish I could go back to the past and tell my younger self that my zest for fashion shouldn’t have been destructed by so-called fashion constructs. When I look back at pictures of my middle school days, I regress back into the line between shying away from or being my true self through fashion. I wish I could go back to middle school and try again. Because my child’s creativity or passion for fashion shouldn’t have been hidden so secretly.

Now, I am a junior in high school, and I am embracing the vitality of my youth. Dressing up in bright colors and eccentric patterns gives me an outlet to channel whatever emotion I feel. If it wasn’t for fashion, life would be mundane. Now, I want to give younger people the inspiration to channel their inner artists. Everyone has an inner spark, our environments are the key players that can decide if we express it or not.

My love for fashion and art stems from the luminescence of perspective it gifts me. Everyone expresses their individuality differently, and when we open our eyes to new ways of expressing ourselves, we can seek greater community.

Art has given me the opportunity to redefine what it means to wear something. Whether in a small moment or a momentous event, my confidence shines better when I take advantage of something I am passionate about. Fashion has brought me closer to friends with who I lost contact. Take social media, for instance, having a medium to show my zany fashion pathways, is better than any love story I ever dreamt about.

My greater message to you amazing readers is to not lose passion for something that is marked as insignificant in your environment. If you truly are passionate about something that brings you utmost joy, trust your gut. When I discovered that art made me happy, I subconsciously loved myself a little bit more.

PHOTOS BY ISABELLA BAMNOLKER | PAGE EDITOR

37

OPINION

New COVID-19 policies

The Globe looks at the CHS’ new COVID-19 policies coming into effect early April.

VICTORIA FAN | REPORTER

CHS Students engaging in academic activities while masked.

PHOTO BY AVA MARSDEN

B

eginning on Monday, April 4, 2022, the Clayton School District will lift its mask mandate and enact the mask-recommended policy.

Masking, particularly in schools, remains an issue of much confusion due to the unpredictability of the pandemic and the further politicization of the topic. In mid-February, the CDC stated that lifting mask regulations in schools were premature. Then, in late February, CDC lowered its masking guidelines in public spaces and schools based on a new county-level risk assessment. “Last summer, we were talking about dropping the mask mandate… Then there was delta and omicron… We’re just not sure of what will happen.” Lisa McDade, the school nurse, said.

With the removal of the mask mandate policy, some worry that this could potentially result in another surge. “I understand that cases are dropping pretty low again… but I don’t feel that we have a grasp enough on [COVID] quite yet to drop the ball on masking, ” Junior Andrea Nutt said.

“As we have learned from the pandemic, the role of the maks is huge,” said McDade. Along with social distancing, masking is believed to have lowered the flu rates in 2020 and 2021.

With this line of reasoning, not wearing a mask could increase risk.

Cases in Cheyenne, Wyoming’s Laramie County School District 1 spiked within two weeks after the Board decided to remove its mask mandate; in the eleven-day span, from January 24th to February 4th, almost 500 students and staff tested positive, compared to previous less-than-five cases per day.

Nevertheless, other factors, such as the large gatherings from Christmas, vaccination rates, and the general sentiment around mask-wearing, may have also played a role in this surge.

The data from Wyoming may not be representative of the possible outcomes ensuing the mask-recommended policy in Clayton. “The advantage of us waiting to drop the mask mandate is that we get to observe what is happening in other school districts [like Ladue, Lindbergh, and Parkway] who have already dropped their mask mandate… And they have not experienced [a surge].” McDade said.

Though it’s apparent that wearing a mask reduces the danger of transmitting COVID-19, the question is how much, taking into account the social and economic inconvenience it brings. Since the start of the pandemic, the sentiment of returning to normalcy has been accumulating.

“We have people who are saying… we understood having the masks during Omicron, we understood having the masks when we didn’t

know much about this variant or COVID-19 overall. But now we’re ready to take them off,” Dr. Nisha Patel said, “and I think it is important to respect both points of view.”

Futhermore, no one knew if the low transmission rate was due to masks, vaccines, hand sanitizers, or quarantines. It’s most likely a combination of these.

“What we’re trying to do is change one preventative measure at a time. Right now, we are only [changing] the masking policy, and we’re going to keep everything else, in terms of the vaccination [policy for visitors entering the building], the same.” Patel said.

Finding a balance is not an easy task.The goal of school mask regulations is to keep schools open and to reduce the stress in the community, like the hospitality rates, to a minimum. In addition, these preventive measures would protect students with high risk and their family members who are immunocompromised.

As the weather warms up for people to socialize and the loosened COVID restrictions, wearing a mask becomes less of a compromise for the health of the whole community. “It really is going to depend on personal choice and family decision,” Patel said.

38

PRO

A 4-day school week?

N

ine Missouri school districts have already planned to switch to a four-day week school schedule by next school year. These nine districts are joining the 128 that have already made the switch. With 25% of Missouri school districts having four-day weeks, even more are contemplating the switch.

The wave of school districts making the switch started for financial reasons and many believe that this is the main benefit to this system. Transportation costs would be cut because buses are running only four days instead of five.

Utility costs would also be cut as the school would spend less on lighting, water consumption, etc. Additionally, costs on food and cafeteria programs are reduced by 20%. Because of all these cuts, the Education Commission of the States declares the overall savings to be between .4% and 2.5%.

This may seem small, however, this percentage translates to millions of savings.

In Duval County district in Florida moving to a four-day week caused them to save 7 million dollars which means a lot, especially to rural schools.

These financial benefits were only the beginning of the push. Missouri’s Marshfield district recently had a unanimous board vote to switch to a four-day week to attract teachers. With fewer workdays and higher hourly wages, four-day weeks have become the game-changer many

districts need to stay competitive in keeping and recruiting staff. Once Colorado’s District 27J switched to a four-day week their applicants per position jumped from only a few to over 100; The district’s turnover rate also dropped from 21% to 13%. Missouri is currently experiencing a teacher shortage with 5% of full-time teaching positions vacant or filled by people not qualified.

Switching to a four-day school schedule could be the edge needed to keep our school staffed with the best teachers and staff to ensure high-quality education.

Attendance has also been shown to improve when the four-day school week is implemented.

The Melstone District in Montana has reported having their attendance improve by 20% after moving to a four-day week. Having a day off allows students to schedule important appointments and travels without having to sacrifice their education. This leads to an increase in academic achievement with a switch to a four-day school week. The Oakridge School District along with many others have reported an improvement in test scores after making the switch. Additionally, graduation rates increase in the fourday school week as seen in Peach County.

Not only do teachers prefer a four-day school week but the majority of students and parents do as well. Researchers interviewed parents, teachers, students, and administrators in fourday districts and found that 69% of parents and 85% of students preferred the four-day model.

On the four-day schedule, studies show that students spend more time on chores, hobbies, homework, and at jobs than compared to students on the five-day model causing parents to promote the four-day model instead.

Four-day school weeks have many benefits that go beyond cost-saving measures and might just be what this school needs. This model improves the quality of education for its students with not just the increase in attendance and academic performance but also providing the district with the best teachers possible. The majority of all participants involved from teachers to families prefer the four-day model because of its numerous benefits. It’s time to think about making the switch.

P R O

Hannah and JiaLi weigh the pros and cons of a 4-day school week.

HANNAH TEAGAN | REPORTER

JIA

39

D

C O N

uring the pandemic, schools were among the hundreds of organizations which were forced to pivot and adapt to the new virtual environment. Students took classes from home and teachers reworked their curriculums to be taught asynchronously.

One change initiated by some schools across the nation was a four day school week. With less days at school, administrators hoped to mitigate exposure and lessen the load on students and staff. As schools transition to their pre-pandemic configurations, some are considering keeping the four day schedule instead of returning to normal; however this is not in the best interest of students and families.

One of the main arguments for the four day configuration is that schools could save money. The first time the four day school week was enacted was during the Great Depression as a cost-reduction measure. Despite this, perceived savings for modern-day schools are limited because operational costs would still ensue. Schools would likely still be open for 5 days a week to hold meetings, administrative workshops, and sports practices.

This means schools still would need to pay for lighting, air conditioning, and janitorial staff. While there would be some savings, studies have shown they are not as significant as hoped. Financing data shows schools only save between 0.4% and 2.5% annually. In addition, the economic strain put on the surrounding community would further hurt the district financially.

Working parents would be forced to find child care on days when their kids used to be in school. Especially in low-income areas, this would be difficult and costly. A 2019 study found a significant decrease of women in the workforce in areas where there were four day school weeks. Furthermore, less days in school means stu-

In Missouri, over 400,000 students rely on free school lunches.

JIALI DECK | REPORTER

CON

dents in need would get fewer free meals.

Losing a day of school would mean families would need to find alternatives to feed their kids. These costs add up and would hurt the economy of the surrounding area.

The four day week has also been shown to hurt academic performance. The effects are often more extreme on students with special needs, but all students fall behind academically.

Schools which have a four day school week, regardless of how much they extend the school day, have an average of 40 fewer instructional days than traditional schools. Paul Thompson, an associate professor at Oregon State University found that math scores decreased by 6 percent and reading scores decreased by four percent in schools that switched to the fourday model. Since these changes are mostly initiated in low income schools, these disparities simply further existing academic divides.

The extension of the school day brings a whole array of additional problems. A longer school day leaves less time for extracurricular activities to meet. Extracurriculars are key to student success and kids directly benefit both socially and academically when involved.

Activities like sports and clubs bolster a sense of connection between students and build a greater sense of community in a school. To reduce the times these activities meet would no doubt hurt students.

When students are in school for less days a week and given fewer opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities, they are left with an unruly amount of free time.

A Colorado study found that juvenile crime jumped almost 20 percent and other dangerous behaviors like drug use and bullying increased when schools switched to a four day week.

Unique solutions like the four day school week have helped schools stay afloat during the pandemic, but in the long run, they aren’t beneficial to communities. The benefits of switching to a four day school week are minute and the side effects hurt students and families financially, academically, and socially.

40 OPINION

Staff ed: the implications of word choice

The Globe examines the differences in word choice when describing women’s topics of interest.

ELLA CUNEO | EDITOR IN CHIEF

Southern Methodist University fans cheer at a football game.

PHOTO FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

T

he morning after the Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl in 2018, city workers were left to board up shattered shop windows, sweep broken glass and repair street signs. The night before, the predominantly male crowd flipped cars, destroyed the awning of the Ritz-Carlton hotel and brought traffic lights down in an all-night rally to celebrate the win.

Our cultural ethos determines these men to be passionate. Dedicated. Celebrating.

In the media, while predominantly male fan bases are seen as overly passionate, those that are mostly female are often described as ‘hysterical.’

The term ‘hysteria’ originates from the Greek term ‘hystera,’ meaning uterus. The oldest record of hysteria dates back to 1900 B.C. recorded on an Egyptian medical papyrus. The Egyptians diagnosed women with hysteria when they believed their uterus was no longer in its original position. The ancient Greeks furthered this definition to include anytime a woman could not bear children. Between the fifth and thirteenth centuries, with the increasing influence of Christianity in the Latin West, people began to believe that hysteria was the satanic possession of a woman.

Now, we consider hysterical, or hysteria, to mean being affected by uncontrollable or extreme emotion.

In March, 2011, thousands of fans gathered outside The Hard Days Night Hotel Liverpool to catch a glimpse of pop star Justin Bieber. The article reminiscing on the 10-year anniversary of the incident was titled: “Justin Bieber’s ‘Plea’ to ‘Hysterical’ Fans who Waited Outside Liverpool Hotel in 2011,” reported by ECHO. It describes how police officers were required to keep the crowds of teenage girls “under control” but no damage was caused.

Alternatively, “Eagles Fans Celebrate Super Bowl Victory by Attempting to Destroy the City They Love,” was the title of the article reported by the Daily Beast. They described their fans as “overzealous” and “passionate,” and the title discusses their love for their city.

The media coverage of both incidents paints the fans in very different ways. The younger female fans were reported to be experiencing ‘mania’ and out of their minds with emotions while adult male sports fans, who caused far more destruction, were described as simply being excited. Both fan bases are driven by their excitement and emotions of the situation, yet only the predominantly female group seems to be shamed.

When conducting research for this article, we investigated online the term “passionate fans” and obtained thousands of articles and

images depicting male sports fans screaming and cheering. When searching “hysterical fans,” images and articles of women yelling and crying came up. There was no overlap between the two searches.

Ultimately the perception of the fans comes back to the larger idea of how we value men and women, and the things they tend to favor. There is a double standard about emotional responses to things people like. Women are often viewed as crazy for being passionate about the things they enjoy. Men are thought of as dedicated.

The media’s portrayal of women’s interests tend to give things with large female fan bases a negative connotation. They are thought of to be “uncool,” or too stereotypical to be well-liked.

As the message about female fans continues to be spread, more young people are exposed to this line of thinking and are pushed away from things they may have grown to enjoy.

The description of emotions in relation to gender is frequently how society deems its worth. One particular example of this is in the literary genre of women’s fiction and romance.

Often given a distasteful reputation, romance novels give way to a variety of emotional characters.

Twentieth century author Virginia Woolf

41 said, “[…] the values of women differ very often from the values which have been made by the other sex; […]. Yet it is the masculine values that prevail. […]This is an important book, the critic assumes, because it deals with war. This is an insignificant book because it deals with the feelings of women in a drawing-room.”

Woolf identifies society’s main problem with the romance genre: it deals with women’s feelings.

Lauren Cameron studied the societal impact on the romance genre in her article titled; The Romance Publishing Industry and Its Reputation, in which she examines the justification of the negative reputation of the romance genre.

She conducted interviews with three Facebook romance book club groups, totaling 14,730 members, with 74 members choosing to participate in the interviews. Of the 74 people who responded, only 13% said they received strictly positive reactions when they said they read romance.

Cameron also comments on the comparison of literature genres, she writes: “Crime is a typically male dominated genre and is heralded as one of the best in fiction. However, it follows a formula, it contains adult content, and is a

“Romance is not for everyone, just like any other genre.

However, no other genre is continuously mocked by those that do not read it.”

- Lauren Cameron best-selling genre, just as romance is. The only differences between these genres is that one is targeted towards men, whereas the other is targeted towards women. If crime can be lauded as a highbrow fiction genre, how can we classify all romance as lowbrow?”

The dislike for topics popular with women are not based on anything other than internal-

OPINION

ized misogyny.

The fourth best-selling fiction author of all time is romance author Danielle Steel. She is the best-selling living fiction author and has written 190 books, yet this is still not enough to elevate the genre.

Outside of literature, the popular 2010s boyband One Direction is the only group to have debuted at number one in the United States for its first four albums. They sold out four worldwide tours and, despite the unprecedented success, were never nominated for a Grammy Award.

The similarities between these subjects are slim minus their overwhelmingly female fanbase. There is no reason they shouldn’t be given the credit and praise they deserve.

As a society, we need to begin to recognize the due we give to things people enjoy. While you may not personally like something, there is no reason to discredit or shame the people who do. Additionally, we have to speak carefully and understand the implications of our words. If we continue to label women as “hysterical” when they are having an emotional response over something they enjoy, society will only continue to invalidate those subjects.

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