April Globe 2014

THE

Volume 85 April, 2014

Clayton High School. Clayton, MO.

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CE ON NT TS

UPFRONT percussion passion 11 ARYA YADAMA

FEATURES CHS COMPLIMENTS 12 GRACE HARRISON

COVER NICKEL AND DIMED 22 PETER BAUGH, PETER SCHMIDT, KEVIN ROSENTHAL

SPORTS ATHLETE PROFILE 28 NEIL DOCHERTY

REVIEW SPRING IN ST. LOUIS 33 BRIDGET BOEGER

COMMENTARY STAFF ED PETER SHUMWAY

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THE

GLOBE ISSUE #sEVEN

THE

GLOBE NEWSMAGAZINE

Nickel and dimed

Volume 85 April, 2014

Clayton High School. Clayton, MO.

Cover Design: Katherine Ren editor-in-chief

christopher sleckman

katherine ren

zach bayly

alessandra silva

sierra hieronymus

rebecca stiffelman

parker schultz

sophie allen

bebe engel

aishwarya yadama

claire lisker

jolena pang

shiori tomatsu

rebecca polinsky

attiya charrington

phoebe yao

ryan fletcher

eunnuri yi

ava hoffman

audrey holds

lauren indovino

jeffrey friedman gwyneth henke peter schmidt jessica jancose

linda kim

reporters

sophie barnes

makenna martin

rebecca bloom

mary mcguire

jeffrey cheng

lawrence hu

monye pitt

yossi katz

jihyun kim

leah shaffer

bridget boeger

maddy vaughn

peter baugh

copy editors webmaster

addison leong

web editor

lemuel lan

camille respess

distribution editor

steven zou

zachary sorensen

gabby boeger kevin rosenthal max steinbaum

business managers ben diamond richard simon

photo editors

olivia macdougal noah engel

editors

UPFRONT

graphic artists

cherry tomatsu victoria yi

rebecca stiffelman

stephanie langendoerfer

micaela stoner

andrew erblich

ashleigh williams tara williams elise yang

abraham bluestone

alex bernard

rachel bluestone

grace harrison

neil docherty

marina henke

emma ehll-welply

albert wang

peter shumway

karena tse tessa o’bryan

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patrick butler alexis schwartz

senior managing editors

section editors

photographers

sophie allen

ellie tomasson

graphics editor

audrey palmer

adviser

erin castellano

FROM THE EDITOR

You’ve seen them everywhere: standing in line for coffee, scanning the headlines in grocery aisles and tuning into NPR from their cars. They are informed citizens, the readers of news and consumers of media. They have ink-stained thumbs and a desire to be conscious of the issues around them.

Today, as Russia stands on the verge of a Ukrainian invasion and Venezuela edges closer to a civil war, it’s vital to be an informed citizen. With a world as interconnected as ours, the excuse of old, “How should I know about that?” is no longer valid. Issues no longer only affect single nations, but the entire world.

Important events are unfolding in Clayton as well. The District is reevaluating its goals and priorities in providing education. Economic pressures are changing the way CHS operates. Teachers are no longer able to count on the economic independence they once yielded in the classroom.

The Globe staff encourages everyone to seek out and understand the complex issues both abroad and at home.

We put together this publication you are holding, not for our own amusement, but so that people in the Clayton community can be informed about the changes around them. We implore you to become involved, so that with inky thumb in hand, you can help bring about the changes in Clayton and the world that you wish to see.

Lastly, this issue of the Globe has a special April fools section, the Gloob, our satire magazine. It’s full of stories poking fun at the quirks that give Clayton its identity. With the serious weight of our real news, we hope the Gloob is a fun break from the difficult issues facing our community. 

Parker Schultz, Senior Managing Editor

The Globe Newsmagazine exists to inform, entertain, persuade and represent the student voice at CHS. All content decisions are made by the student editorial staff and the Globe is an entirely self-funded publication. Not every story that our reporters write is published in the print newsmagazine. Visit www.chsglobe.com for additional stories and photos and for more information about the Globe itself. We reserve the right to refuse any advertisement - for more information about advertising and subscriptions, please contact our office: Clayton High School Globe 1 Mark Twain Circle Clayton, MO 63105 (314) 854-6668 Fax: 854-6734 globe@claytonschools.net Professional Affiliations: Sponsors of School Publications . Missouri Interscholastic Press Association . National Scholastic Press Association . Columbia Scholastic Press Association

Robohounds The Robohounds are headed to the World Championships with the help of the Clayton Educational Foundation. The foundation surprised club sponsor Steve Beauchamp and the Clayton Robotics team with a $5000 grant to attend the competition April 24-26 at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis. The team has won two regional competitions - one in St. Louis and one in Arkansas. ďƒź Photo by Robin Fultz

March 12, 2014, Clayton High School

Proposition A

Election Rundown

by EMMA EHLL

On the April 8 General Municipal Election ballot, four new propositions will be voted on to increase the quality of the City of Clayton. These proposals are fueled by the movement to eliminate the city’s deficit, increase foot traffic in downtown Clayton and ultimately better the quality of the city.

This quarter cent additional sales tax would be put towards maintaining the cities current emergency services. The cost of $8.15 per resident of Clayton every year that Prop A is in effect will be put towards continuing the minimum level of staffing required by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. This minimum requirement includes two paramedics, six firefighter/ paramedics and one command officer, or nine people on each shift. The job of the emergency services of Clayton is to respond to fire suppression calls and emergency medical situations. In addition to emergency response, they conduct fire safety inspections and injury prevention classes. Even if Prop A is not passed, this minimum level of staffing must continue to be met. However the money to do so must be taken away from something else, or the deficit will not be completely eliminated.

Proposition B

Proposition D The goal of Shaw Park Square, a $12.6 million dollar bond issue, is to completely replace the current outdated ice rink with a new venue that could be used year-round. This renovation would include a pavilion to protect the new regulation size ice rink (in the winter) and field (in the summer) from snow and rain. The current Shaw Park Ice Rink facilities are outdated and are becoming increasingly difficult and costly to replace. If the proposition is not passed, the rink may be forced to close in the upcoming years. If passed, the updated rink would allow for a longer skating season. This renovation would include a new field house that would serve the rink, tennis court and any field sports the venue is used for other times.

(All photos by Noah Engel)

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UPFRONT

In 1993 a bond issue was passed by voters to fund a plan that would maintain Clayton’s roads. This 20-year plan has ended and many of the roads of Clayton are in need of repaving. Prop B proposes to repave over half of the mileage roadways in Clayton. This 15 million bond proposal would add an additional 12 cent property tax investment and would break down to approximately $114 dollars a year for households valued at $500,000.

Proposition C The purpose of Prop C is to strengthen Clayton’s economy by attracting businesses in order to promote foot traffic to downtown Clayton. This additional quarter cent sales tax will be used to market businesses, assist developers with site improvements and continue events and programs such as Farmers markets.

Overall, this will begin the process of making Clayton into a city based less around the business day and more vibrant at all times. 

The Works

Towards the end of each school year, 200 copies of The Works are printed and sold at CHS. Full color and bound, this compact literary art magazine contains a unique glimpse into student life through written and visual art.

by PHOEBE YAO

T

here’s been some form of literary magazine at Clayton High School for decades,” CHS English teacher John Ryan said. “The Works goes back, I would say, to more than 20 years ago.”

Ryan is the advisor to the student-run magazine. In addition to setting deadlines for submissions and magazine design, he also receives nominations for student pieces from their teachers.

“We publish written works like short stories, poems and personal essays, we publish visual artwork that includes photography, paintings, other media and then we also publish music from student musicians,” Ryan said.

The music section of The Works can be found on the popular audio uploading website SoundCloud.

For the past two years, The Works has won the National Scholastic Press Association’s Pacemaker Magazine Award. The magazine also recently became a finalist for the 2013 Pacemaker Award. Ryan is proud of the accomplishmets of the publication.

“It’s gratifying that we get recognition outside of school that we’re doing something of quality, but honestly what’s more important to me is that a lot of students who get published in The Works didn’t realize that they have that talent,” Ryan said. “So it’s a chance to recognize students who don’t always get recognition.”

CHS senior Ketan Jain-Poster has been a part of The Works staff since sophomore year. As the oldest member on the magazine, Jain-Poster has a lot of experience.

“We all kind of do a little bit of everything,” Jain-Poster said. “One week I’ll be working with papers, artwork and literature, and the next week I’ll be coordinating what we’ll be doing and how to get more submissions.”

Jain-Poster agrees with Ryan’s message of student recognition. “[Working on The Works], you get to review such incredible artwork, and a lot of times you don’t really realize how much talent some of the kids in the school have,” Jain-Poster said.

One of the concerns associated with the magazine is its date of publishing and later distribution to the community. Due to the magazine’s limited funding, few people in the community have access to copies. Ryan hopes that technology will be help solve the problem.

“I’d like to have more of an online presence,” Ryan said. “I hope we get more funding and a bigger audience. In contrast to Globe and CLAMO [The Works] is not a class, so everything happens outside the school day and that’s an issue. We don’t have a big budget to publish the magazine.”

Trying to address the problem, Jain-Poster has been kept busy by a project for the distribution of the magazine.

“We actually have this new thing this year that I set up last semester where we’ll sell The Works at the Art Museum gift shop,” Jain-Poster said.

Senior Ketan Jain-Poster reviews the 2013 edition of the CHS literary magazine, The Works. The Works is nominated for the Pacemaker Award. Photo by Rebecca Stiffelman.

New Works staff members are always welcome by Ryan. Submission deadline for this year’s Works magazine is March 13th but submissions after this deadline are accepted as well.

The insight The Works magazine provides into students and their personal expression is truly unique from all other CHS publications. “[The Works] just shows the community that, frankly, there’s more to life than tests and everything else we stress here [at CHS],” Ryan said.

“There’s an appreciation of beauty and feeling, it’s kind of a justification for artists.” 

UPFRONT

9

Crescent Coast New resort-wear shop opens in downtown clayton on the boulevard

by GABBY BOEGER

T

hey call themselves “sophisticated surf.” Crescent Coast is a new surf apparel store that just opened in downtown Clayton on the Boulevard. The concept of the store is inspired by the vibes of southern Florida and coastal communities alike.

Founder and owner of Crescent Coast Terry Warner loves surf style and wanted to share it with the Clayton community.

“I wanted to be able to bring that back to St. Louis,” she said.

After traveling to Florida, California and Europe for inspiration, Warner felt that Clayton was the perfect place for this store.

“I love this area of Clayton, it’s absolutely gorgeous,” she said. “I love being right down the street from the Ritz and the Kaldi’s coffee shop.”

Warner knew that St. Louis needed a store like this one.

“I felt like we really could use a nice store that had beautiful clothing that was reasonably priced, that could completely outfit a person from head to toe,” she said. “I saw a huge need for men’s clothing and young men’s clothing, especially starting at middle school age.”

However, accomplishing the sophisticated surf design took a long time and lots of work.

Terry and her husband, Paul Warner, both have business backgrounds, which helped when trying to get certain brands and lines in the store.

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UPFRONT

“Johnnie-O [a coastal clothing line] was great; they listened to me many, many times and kind of helped me evolve my idea,” Warner said. “I also spoke with Southern Tide [apparel company], and both lines were a little bit cautious, but they could tell that I had a lot of conviction about my idea.”

Crescent Coast is distinct to Clayton with the products they sell along with the actual design of the store.

“I feel like we’re pretty unique in our store and our design,” Warner said.

Additionally, Crescent Coast plans to attract CHS students and other teenagers alike.

“We’re trying to encourage special shopping events for high schoolers and their families,” Warner said.

According to Warner, the business has been going well so far, and they are looking forward to upcoming events.

“We have a lot of people that have popped in that are traveling, even before spring break, and we are completely ready to go for spring break and beyond,” she said. “We have everything in the store that you could possibly need before you head out of town.”

Cresecent Coast is located at 169 Carondelet Plaza. 

Inside of Crescent Coast. (Beatrice Engel)

PASSION FOr percussion

by AISHWARYA YADAMA Photo from Jeremy Glik

I

n 7th Grade, he was one of eight kids out of 60 who qualified to “MMPAT is the only high school percussion competition dedicated to perform in the District band. As a sophomore, he was accepted a 1st, 2nd, 3rd place rating system,” Shelley said. “The competition has into the highly competitive All-State Band. Junior year he re- both a high school and a college division, and it has grown to a huge event ceived third place in Marimba at the Mid-Missouri Percussion for Missouri percussionists. They bring in nationally renowned percusArts (MMPA) competition. And this year was his crown jewel: sion artists to be judges culminating in a final performance at the end of first place in Snare Drum at MMPA. the competition.”

Private lessons and CHS band class were not enough for senior Jeremy This year, Glik was ranked first among 12 of the best percussionists Glik. Once he found his passion for percussion, he ran with it. in the state.

“In 7th Grade, when I auditioned for the District Band, I didn’t think Glik’s preparation for these kinds of competitions is extensive. He I was good enough to make it; but when I did, I spends much of his time practicing in whatever realized, ‘Oh, well I actually have potential,’” Glik way he can. said.

“I give four middle school kids music lessons, Percussion is a unique part of band because, I’ve got private lessons on Mondays and on SunI’m really proud of the more than anything, a good percussionist must days I get to work with a percussion ensemble. clayton arts department, not be versatile.

My teacher assembles her best players and “You have a whole family of instruments to we’re all in an ensemble so we get to play only in the quality but in the learn, so you have to be willing to put the some post college level music, for examhours in on each percussion instrument ple what St. Louis Symphony percussionamount that they pushed me (keyboard mallets, snare, timpani, ethnic ists would play,” Glik said. in percussion especially.” percussion, drum set, etc) just to have a basic It goes without saying that Glik has gone knowledge of them all,” band teacher Kim Shelout of his way to seek opportunities that make ley said. “Jeremy also has the motivation along him a better percussionist. His dedication and -jeremy glik with a keen sense of musicality and coordinawork ethic should serve as an example to us all. tion skills that is necessary to develop into a fine Clearly, his hard work and dedication have percussionist.” paid off.

Despite the difficulty of the instruments, “Jeremy’s snare drum skills are astronomiGlik has had a number of successes. He performed in cal,” Shelley said. “He can go from super soft to super many of the District and State Solo and Ensemble fesloud with an incredible technical speed that you don’t tivals before realizing that he wanted something more. hear from students his age.”

The MSHSAA sponsored Solo and Ensemble compeHowever, Glik believes that much of his support tition ranks students individually from 1 (highest) to 5 comes from CHS performing arts department. (lowest). At this point, Glik has received 30 ratings of “They’re all really supportive ... I’m really proud of “1”. the Clayton arts department, not only in the quality but in the amount That’s when he decided to start competing in the MMPAT competi- that they pushed me - in percussion especially.”  tions.

UPFRONT

11

ANONYMOUSLY ADMIRED

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Feature

* Indicates names have been changed

D

by GRACE HARRISON “Jane Smith* is an all around awesome person!”

As crazy as it may seem, all it took was this anonymous compliment from behind the screen of her computer to put a smile on CHS sophomore Jane Smith’s face. And Jane is not the only CHS student smiling.

In the spring of 2013, a Facebook page called “CHS Admirers” was created by two CHS students. The page encourages students to message a compliment about someone who they admire to be posted anonymously for the CHS student body to see. The identities of the creators of the page, Sam Johnson* and Alex Jones,* are unknown to the followers of the page.

The idea for the page came to Johnson and Jones one lazy day after school. “I was on Facebook and I saw a page similar to it from one of my friends from another school,” Sam said. “And I thought ‘Oh, why not make one for our school?’”

After a year receiving hundreds of messages from CHS students, Johnson and Jones are impressed with the success of the page. “I think we are kind of surprised how long it’s been going on,” Johnson said.

But the longevity of the page is not the only thing that surprised Johnson and Jones.

“I’ve been pretty impressed with the variety of kids that have gotten compliments,” Jones said.

“It’s not just ‘the popular kids,’ you know?”

Overall, it appears as if the CHS student body supports the page and its purpose. “I think it’s a really positive way to spread the love in CHS,” sophomore Sophie Krehmeyer said.

And, the students who receive a compliment from CHS Admirers are feeling the love.

Even Johnson and Jones feel touched when they are messaged a compliment about themselves. “When people post things about me, I react just like anyone else would,” Johnson said. “It’s exciting, you know?”

For the past year the page has been putting smiles on the faces of CHS students, flaunting the kindness found in the Clayton community. But what about the many CHS students who have never seen their name tagged in a CHS Admirers post?

Many CHS students, including the creators of the page, believe that students who have not yet been complimented shouldn’t take it the wrong way.

“Everyone has a chance of getting a CHS Admirer,” Jones said.

“And so I feel like people can feel left out, but I think you’ve got to give some to get some. So if they want a CHS Admirers post, then maybe

they should start submitting some love.”

Senior Aaron Argyres agreed that not getting a compliment shouldn’t be taken personally. “Not that many people get compliments, so someone shouldn’t be offended just because they’re not getting a compliment,” Argyres said.

Senior Sri Panth also agreed with Argyres, but he believed that not receiving a compliment seemed to be just one of the many problems the page has.

“I disagree with what they are doing,” Panth said. What worried him was the anonymity of the page.

“It’s cool to receive compliments,” Panth said, “but when you don’t know who it’s from it’s kind of wasted.”

Despite these concerns, Jones and Johnson believe that the mystery behind the posts is what makes the page attractive to CHS students.

“People wouldn’t want to tell their secrets if they knew that people would find out they said it,” Jones said. “The part that makes it so unique is that nobody knows who it is.”

Beyond just making people feel good, the two creators also admitted there are other benefits of being the masterminds behind the anonymous system.

“We get to walk down the hall and see people and know that they have a crush on this person. And I could tell them if I wanted to, you know? It’s like you’ve got all of the power,” Jones said. “But of course we would never tell.”

In order to give every student a fair chance at giving a compliment, Jones and Johnson post almost every message sent to them, replying with a response similar to “Thank you! We will keep it confidential and post it soon!”

Johnson said that they even post the compliments CHS students send about themselves. “I think that like one in 20 people write a post about themselves,” Johnson said. “And I don’t want to post it, but I do.”

The only time when a compliment sent is not posted is when it is inappropriate or harmful to someone.

“We just say something like ‘Sorry, we can’t post this,’” Johnson said.

Putting the rare occasions of inappropriate messaging aside, CHS Admirers, in general, has had a positive impact on CHS students and is seen by many as a nice change of pace from the cyber bullying that often exists on social networking sites.

“Even though at times high schoolers aren’t brave enough to say a compliment to someone’s face,” Jones said, “I think that it is still really nice that we are spreading the love; even if it’s from behind the screen of a computer.” 

Even though at times high schoolers aren’t brave enough to say a compliment to someone’s face, I think that it is still really nice that we are spreading the love; even if it’s FROM behind the screen of a computer.

PAGES BY

OF

HISTORY

GWYNETH

HENKE

o

n the corner of Locust and Olive Street, the old and the new converge.

The medium of this phenomenon is the St. Louis Central Library, a towering building that rises from the main street in two sweeping sets of white stone stairs.

The library has always been a key fixture in St. Louis’s historical and architectural world. However, after renovations completed in December 2012, Central Library has emerged as one of the city’s crowning glories.

Central Library’s multi-million dollar renovations were designed by the firm Cannon Design and architect George Z. Nikolajevich.

The restorations are a mix of sweeping, conspicuous changes and behind-the-scenes alterations.

One of the largest changes to the building was the removal of the seven stories of glass-floored stacks containing part of the library’s collections. The collections were dispersed into compact shelving throughout the facilities in order to make space for the granite atrium.

The library’s historic ceilings, which are unique from room to room, underwent careful restoration by artists and craftsmen.

Central Library’s renovations also sought to add environmentallyfriendly changes to the facilities.

“We took out fluorescent lighting that had been added in the 1950s and put in LED lights, energy efficient lights and new chandeliers,” Brenda McDonald, the Director of Central Services, said.

The library also saw the arrival of several new rooms designed around further opening the library to public use and enjoyment. An auditorium with a capacity of 250 people was built in the basement, and an extensive children’s library emerged on the second floor. This room features enormous, colorful panels with scenes from well-known children’s books such as “The Giving Tree” and “Madeline.”

A teen room sits on the same floor as the children’s room, with the words “Dream” and “Be” written across the walls in large block letters.

The Center for the Reader rests nearby, one of the library’s most impressive rooms. Hundreds of books cover the red and white stacks, brown cushioned benches with frosted barriers provide seats for readers and quotes from books such as Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse Five” and Joseph Heller’s “Catch-22” are embossed in white lettering on the ceiling.

Central Library’s historical significance commanded much of the attention of the architectural team throughout the remodelling process.

The main goal of the renovations, McDonald said, was “bringing the

Y

library up to the twenty-first century but not harming the historical integrity of the building.”

Remaining true to the original architecture proved to be an enormous task in itself, for the library was created by one of the nation’s then most prominent architects: Cass Gilbert.

Gilbert is most famous for his design of the New York Woolworth building and the United States Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. He designed the Central Library as a building nested within a building. An oval building containing the Great Hall sits within a hollow rectangular building which makes up the outside facade of the library.

The architects and library staff’s first goal in the renovations was seamlessly blending the contemporary with the historical. Black and white photographs from the library’s early days reveal this vision; while the interior of many rooms has progressed and evolved, much of the basic structure remains the same.

The enormous amount of work that went into the design, construction, and maintenance of the Central Library has been recognized, however, in appreciation that flowed in from across the globe.

“We get a lot of people who come here on vacation in St. Louis, and they make sure they see the library just like they see the History Museum and the zoo,” McDonald said. “This summer we noted that we have people from other countries that have come through because they heard about it.”

Although there wasn’t a huge flux of visitors after the library reopened, McDonald has noted a steady increase in attendance, a promising fact.

“Some places see a huge increase at first, and then it drops and drops and drops,” McDonald said. “Ours is steadily increasing, which is very reassuring … because it means people are coming back.”

The library has won several prestigious awards and recognitions from national organizations, the most recent being the 2014 Institute Honor Award for Architecture from the American Institute of Architects.

One of the greatest achievements of the renovations was its success in ensuring that the library is, above all things, a place for the citizens of St. Louis to convene, to connect and to learn. This objective appears throughout the new building.

First, much of the library that was once closed to the public has been refitted in order to increase access and usability, thus expanding the available space without moving beyond the library’s original walls.

“We took out office areas on the third floor and added that all into public service areas,” McDonald said.

The library has also instituted several programs and events within its walls that further establish Central as a home for St. Louisans themselves, as well as for their literature. One such program that the library hosted was Launch Code, a non-profit organization which teaches participants basic computer programming code, a skill which then allows them to get jobs in computer technology.

“They were looking for a place where they could offer this 12 week course, so we set them up in our auditorium ... we had about 3000 people in the library that day [of the program],” McDonald said.

Although not all of the visitors were attending for Launch Code, the number reflects the vast quantity of St. Louis citizens who have embraced the manifest opportunities offered to them by the new library.

Libraries play a unique role in communities across the world. They surpass the invocations merely to be sources of knowledge and information from which they were first born. Instead, libraries offer a blend of the cultural and the intellectual, the national and the local. It is this spirit of diverse nurturing that is embodied within the walls of the new Central Library and which makes it a beacon for the entire community of St. Louis.

At the bend in the granite staircases between the second and third floors, a brilliant stained glass tree stretches across the almost floor-toceiling window.

“Pax artes litterae,” it reads.

Peace, arts, literature. 

clockwise from left: the teen room in central library, a set of bookshelves, the children’s room, THE ceiling in the grand hall, visitors at the atrium entrance (olivia macdougal) feature

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A

star

child

Santa Purze began her acting career at the age of six and was a professional by the age of nine. Though Purze remembers her acting days fondly, she had to sacrifice many aspects of a “normal” childhood in order to pursue a career in show business.

by ALEX BERNARD To the mother of CHS graduates Sydney and Joey Purze, her days of young fame seem far behind her. Santa Purze was once a sought-after child actress in Chicago, and her childhood was filled with lessons, auditions and expectations.

“I turned professional at nine,” Purze said. “I had to practice a half an hour every day while all the kids were outside playing.”

It is no wonder Purze, then known as Santa Tenuta, was such a successful actress. Her talents mainly consisted of singing, dancing and acting, although she also took piano lessons. “I guess they call it a triple threat,” Purze said.

Purze’s career began at the age of six. Her mother, Rose, put Purze in ballet and tap classes, and soon after enrolled Purze in a children’s theatre troupe called the Jack and Jill Players. Purze particularly enjoyed acting onstage, performing in shows such as “Oliver” and the “Sound of Music,” as well as appearing in the “Wizard of Oz” as Dorothy a few years later.

Also at the young age of 6, Purze began taking voice lessons.

Her career path, however, had been predetermined even before her birth. According to an article about Purze in the Chicago Sun Times, she

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Feature

said, “when I was born, my father decided [the name Santa] would look good in print.”

Before Purze even reached her teenage years, her father’s prenatal dreams had become a reality. Once her many talents had been refined with dedicated practice and lessons each day, Rose registered Purze with talent agencies in order to find acting work for her daughter.

Purze’s success as a child was in part accomplished by her parents’ commitment. Purze’s parents were the first people to encourage Purze to get involved in show business as a young girl. Rose would drive Purze across town for her lessons and auditions every day, as well as accompany her for weeks at a time when Purze had to do long-term work in other cities.

“I had agents, and she was my manager,” Purze said. “It creates a different kind of relationship ... because she becomes your boss and your mother.”

Soon after signing with talent agents, Purze began auditioning for commercials. She did a variety of both national and local commercials, namely for Kelloggs and McDonalds. Purze also took advantage of the

advertising agencies in Chicago and did radio voiceovers for various companies.

Purze recalled one radio commercial particularly fondly. “I did the voiceover for a doll,” she said.

Although Purze did not have much free time as a child, she had a few hobbies that really interested her. “With riding horses and ice skating, I had an outlet there,” Purze said. “Those were things that I really loved to do, but I didn’t have the opportunity to find out if that was what I wanted to do.”

Often, Purze would look upon the other kids her age with envy. Her minimal social life was centered around her career. Although she longed to interact with kids her own age, “most of the time, I was scheduled,” Purze said.

The varying schedules common to show business complicated many aspects of Purze’s adolescence. Not only was much of her after-school time forfeited to lessons, but occasionally Purze would also have to miss school for a job. In addition, because her lessons were 15 miles across town, “I would get to leave school early, but I would have to keep up with my work,” Purze said.

Being a child actress took an emotional toll on Purze as well. Early on, she had to understand that something as material as a few pounds or braces could cost her a job. “It can be very high pressure because you have to learn to accept rejection at a very young age for no rhyme or reason,” Purze said.

One of the toughest parts for Purze was not taking every rejection personally. As a young girl who was bound to encounter self-image issues at some point in her adolescence, Purze tried not to let the commercial industries and agents hurt her self esteem.

“You go into an audition and you’re standing there with ten people that look exactly like you, and you have one line to say,” Purze said. “I was sitting there looking at all of us and realized, ‘It’s a crapshoot who they’re going to pick.’”

Purze continued acting until the age of 18. She credits her mother as the reason she remained an actress for so long. “[Rose] was definitely the main pushing force,” Purze said.

As Purze grew older, she became unable to see acting as a fun hobby. “If something at that age becomes a ‘have to,’ that’s when you rebel,” Purze said. “It doesn’t become enjoyable anymore.”

At 18, Purze went to school at Triton College in Illinois, later attending the University of Illinois to study English. She believed she had left her commercial days behind her with her mother in Chicago.

Several years later, Purze, then 23, was accidentally reunited with one of her former agents at the hairdresser. The agent encouraged Purze to consider acting again. Purze took her agent’s advice, got new headshots taken and began auditioning for local commercials.

Purze did not remain in the business for long before deciding that she was tired of show business - this time, for good. “I realized that my heart wasn’t into it,” Purze said. “I was burnt out. I couldn’t go back and do it.”

Purze remained inactive in her commercial talents until recently. When invited by a friend, Purze decided to renew her vocal chords and join a neighborhood charity singing group, the Love Notes.

“I missed it,” Purze said about singing, the only talent that she wanted to pick up again as an adult. Purze still enjoys ice skating and horseback riding, two hobbies that remained happily untouched by her ambition.

Though Purze lived a very unconventional lifestyle as a child, she does not regret the way her parents raised her. “I don’t feel like I missed a childhood,” Purze said, “but there were blocks of it that were gone.”

Although her years as an actress did not always seem ideal at the time, today Purze looks back fondly on her fame. “I think when you’re younger, and you’re pushed into it, you don’t really appreciate it,” Purze said. “But then, once you get away from it, you look back and say, ‘Those were really great times.’” 

“When I was born, my father decided [the name Santa] would look good in print.”

-Santa purze

Photos of Santa Purze performing in Meet Me in St. Louis as Tootie.

Purze is the young girl in the photos.

Photos from Santa Purze feature

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SWEETOLOGY

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by CAMILLE RESPESS

hat really makes me happy is sitting in my kitchen, baking and decorating cookies with my kids,” Clayton parent and co-owner of Sweetology, Kara Newmark said.

“Licking fingers, giving something to a friend that I have baked.” And this is the basis of Sweetology, a do-it-yourself bakery located at 9214 Clayton Road set to open in mid-April.

Newmark partnered up with another Clayton parent, DeAnn Bingaman a year and a half ago to open Sweetology, a bakery with a very interesting twist.

The concept is described as Build-a-Bear for cake, cookies and cupcakes that will be supplied by The Cup, a local bakery that has partnered with Sweetology.

The women want to offer something for sweet teeth of all ages at Sweetology. “I think it’s important to know that it’s about the experience: ecorating cakes, cookies and cupcakes,” Bingaman said. “It’s about creating something special, so that’s really the core of the concept.”

Patrons of Sweetology will have an array of options when they come in to the store. “There will be a wide range of tools and accessories available for customers to personalize their creations while working in the Makery (the decorating studio),” Bingaman said.

The baked goods can be canvassed with buttercream or fondant. This choice is made by the decorator.

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“Decorative accessories include over 100 varieties of sprinkles, candies and toppings as well as hundreds of pieces of edible sugar art decorations, such as race cars or flowers,” Bingaman said.

In addition to the decorative accessories, Sweetology will provide the necessities to create an edible masterpiece.

“Basic decorating tools such as turntables, spatulas, piping bags, decorating tips, fondant tools and cutters will also be readily available,” Bingaman said.

A lounging area will also be featured in Sweetology which will be called The Drinkery. “The Drinkery will feature cozy seating to relax and enjoy a cupcake and beverage,” Bingaman said.

The Drinkery will offer a unique menu item, liquid chocolate.

“Unlike hot cocoa made from a combination of hot milk and cocoa powder, liquid chocolate is made from pure chocolate combined with a small amount of milk or cream for a thick, rich creamy chocolate drink,” Bingaman said.

For customers who would prefer to decorate their baked goods outside of the store, take home kits will be provided. Additionally, Sweetology plans to make take home kits available to people all over the country.

Customers will soon have the option to order customized kits from the Sweetology website.

Although Sweetology has yet to officially open, Newmark and Bingaman have been working to spread the word about their new business. A year ago they had a concept party to make sure that their idea could be brought to fruition.

“I knew that I didn’t just want to build a bakery. I wanted it to be something that I could build and grow and actually create something real and build a business,” Newmark said. “So, I knew that I needed to come

up with something new and novel.”

More recently, Sweetology sponsored the STL 250 Celebration in Forest Park. The business was also supposed to sell cupcakes at the Burnin’ Love event on Valentine’s Day, which was postponed due to inclement weather. “Ultimately we ended up donating the cupcakes to some local charities when the event was canceled,” Newmark said.

On April 10th, Sweetology is set to do an event called ‘Cakes for a Cause.’ “It is a charity event and we are bringing in local celebrities to compete, kind of like a Cake Boss competition,” Newmark said. “With the proceeds going to the charity of the competitors choice.”

Sweetology has also gained attention from many different types of customers.

“We’ve had Ameren hire us and some off site birthday parties hire us,” Newmark said. “It’s quite amazing, we have a Bat Mitzvah that we are doing. We went out to the St. Louis Opportunities Fair and we’ve already had people start registering for camps and we have parties booked through the summer. So we’re off; we’re running.”

Newmark and Bingaman are both committed to the success of the business.

“It is like birthing a baby. Our identities are in this and it’s part of who we are,” Newmark said.

The dedication to a new business venture does not come without sacrifices.

“Sometimes it’s not easy to be a full-time working mom and have kids in school,” Newmark said.

But there have been many benefits to having children while working.

“They have been fantastic and they love the idea and the process and participating.”

Additionally, Newmark and Bingaman pass many ideas by their children because they are Sweetology’s core market.

Izzy Newmark, daughter of Kara Newmark and freshman at CHS is anticipating the opening of the store. “I’m so excited,” Izzy Newmark said. “I can’t wait to actually be able go in and decorate a cake with all my friends.”

Even though the main focus is currently on the Sweetology set to open on April 12th, Bingaman and Newmark are looking ahead to the future of their business.

“The hope is to create something meaningful, unique and novel and spread it across the country,” Newmark said. “We will quickly after this store is open and the revenue model is proven, open two additional stores. Testing two other markets, probably one of those will be a large city. Then the idea would be to try to get a Sweetology in every city.” 

(Left page) The two co-fouders of Sweetology stand with their decorated cakes. (Left) The location of Sweetology at 9214 Clayton Road. (Above) Sweetology co-founder ices cupcakes. Photos by Beatrice Engel.

Feature

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SIRENS AND SILENCE Dan Pellegrini has quite a lot to think about at night.

As a firefighter paramedic of the Clayton Fire Department, Pellegrini, along with Clayton’s 32 other firefighters, has a wide range of responsibilities that extend beyond the raging sirens we hear all too often.

“We’re involved with the community, we train constantly and we inspect the city to make sure the fire systems are safe,” he said.

In other words, despite the fire department’s often grueling 48-hour shifts, they are constantly training.

One of the most important duties of the fire department is to inspect Clayton’s many high-rises and businesses to preemptively reduce the risks of fire.

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by Peter Schmidt

“Between the three crews we get inspections done through most of the town,” he said, “All the businesses, all the high-rises ... We inspect all those to make sure that their fire alarm system is working properly, their sprinklers are working. We make sure all the exit lighting is working.”

A Clayton firefighter’s day starts at 8 o’clock.

“We figure out what we’re going to do that day, talk about inspections and things like that. At 10 o’clock we have mandatory workout. We’ve got an aerobic room and a weight room downstairs and we work out for an hour and a half,” he said.

Also: training.

“Every [48 hour] cycle on, we’ll do some kind of training,” he said, “Whether it’s something we want to come up with and do here in house.

We can do rope training here, we have a tower out back, we can do repelling, we can do hose training, we can do medical training. Either that or we’ll go and train with other fire departments.”

As he walks through the fire house, Pellegrini gestures towards the fire house tower. Spiraling up for seven stories, the tower is full of massive hoses hanging to dry from the top floor to the basement. One of Pellegrini’s most common workouts involves strapping on all of his fire fighting gear and hustling up and down these stairs for 25 minutes or more.

And, of course, when the firefighters are not training or making routine inspections, they are saving lives and extinguishing fires.

The Clayton Firehouse contains a massive garage with two ambulances, a hydraulic truck called a “pumper” and the ladder truck, a gleaming red behemoth with a 100-meter ladder. This equipment constitutes the heart and soul of the fire department’s operations.

Clockwise from top: Clayton Fire Department’s two trucks, The Fire Department crest, typical fire fighting gear and Dan Pellegrini in one of Clayton’s two ambulances. (Noah Engel)

The ambulances are fitted for nearly every type of emergency. “We could do just about anything in the back of one of these, short of, you know, surgery,” he said. The interior is packed but methodically organized: from the oxygen and suction gaskets to the CPR machine strapped to the bone marrow drill, everything has its place.

Surprisingly enough, Clayton’s first ambulance does not spend all of its time in Clayton. Clayton and the surrounding areas - Brentwood, University City and Ladue - are involved in a system of mutual assistance. When an emergency occurs in University City and no ambulances are available, the Clayton firefighter paramedics will don their black and yellow gear to help out.

In this manner, each department helps the departments in surrounding cities, offering ambulances, firetrucks and paramedics to fill the deficit of their immediate neighbor.

Next, Pellegrini comes to “the pumper.”

The pumper contains 750 gallons of water, a variety of hoses and enough heavy duty power tools to demolish an 18-wheeler. In the event of a fire, firefighters can attach the pumper to a series of pipes inside most of Clayton’s high-rises in order to distribute water to floors otherwise inaccessible using a hose.

In addition, the firefighters use the pumper to dismantle or bypass just about anything that stands in their way. As he passes, Pellegrini habitually straps a diamond tipped saw to the truck’s interior. “I can take a brick wall and make a door for myself with one of these,” he says.

Finally, Pellegrini arrives at the ladder truck. The ladder truck is outfitted with a movable platform (dubbed the “bucket”) used for high angle rescues, like “people hanging out of windows,” he said.

Overall, the Clayton firefighters have access to a plethora of life-saving tools - from jacks that can pry apart cars to shoring columns that keep a building from collapsing - but their most important asset is each other.

“If you’re running into something that’s pretty ugly, not everybody

just rushes into something,” he said. “A captain or chief will make a good estimation of what we need to do and so it’s not really scary ... Everybody knows what to do. You know that the guy next to you knows what to do and he’s gonna look out for you.”

Surprisingly, not one of Clayton’s firefighters live within Clayton. Many hail from as far as Illinois or, in Pellegrini’s case, Wentzville. Because their shifts are so long, with two days on duty and four days off, this long distance commute remains very manageable.

However, even though these firefighters come from far away, they still have a close relationship with the Clayton community.

“We have the memorial stair climb for 9/11 which we do next door,” Pellegrini said.

“We invite the community and invite neighboring departments. It started out with mostly firefighters, this year we had a lot of people walking up their with us. This year I went up with the city manager and a couple other people who had just signed up to do it with us. We wear our equipment and ... do 110 flights of stairs.”

In fact, it was this sense of community that attracted Pellegrini to Clayton in the first place.

“This seemed like a great place to work. We have nice equipment, the area is fun, we do have a different place here in Clayton with all the highrises,” he said.

The Clayton Fire Department is one of our city’s most important assets, yet it consists of residents from all over St. Louis and Illinois. They work and train over 48 hour shifts hoping to ensure the security of a community that they don’t even inhabit. But it is complete dedication to their job that keeps them focused and determined.

So while firefighters like Pellegrini may be training and saving lives and answering calls late into the night, Clayton residents can rest easy. It is because of these men and women that we can sleep at night. 

Nickel Dimed and

As the Clayton School District faces another year of budget reductions, the Globe asks: is the District’s shrinking budget impacting the quality of the “Clayton” education?

by Peter Baugh, Peter Schmidt and Kevin Rosenthal

UPFRONT photos by katherine ren, zach bayly and jeffrey friedman

It was very elite. It was ‘what did you want to try?’

They only wanted the best of the best.

Health teacher Heath Kent is not happy. When he heard that the District was beginning a new branding and identity strategy for an estimated cost of $94,000 to $100,000, the first thing he felt was a sense of disrespect.

In the midst of the District’s budget cuts, Kent, a CHS health teacher and head girls’ basketball coach, has witnessed the painful consequences of the District’s financial transformation from a variety of vantage points.

He has watched health class sizes swell to 30 plus students and born the brunt of the District’s insufficient assessment of the basketball season.

According to the District, the basketball season lasted only 65 days, meaning that it ended officially on Feb. 10. However, the team still had 12 practices and seven games after that date.

The team continued to play. The District, however, did not continue to pay.

In other words, Kent was paid for significantly fewer days than he actually spent coaching. And in light of his funding being cut and his class sizes growing, Kent feels frustrated that the District is spending large sums of money on marketing projects instead of items that would have a direct impact on kids.

Of course, it’s not the lack of payment that bothers him. “None of the coaches are in this to make money ... you’re an idiot if you’re coaching at a high school and your goal is to make money,” he said. “But we put in a lot of time … you would expect a little bit of respect from the people above you.”

Kent is not alone in his sentiments. Teachers and staff around the building have expressed doubts concerning the District’s new financial procedures - including a new budgeting protocol called “zero-based budgeting”.

The District is hoping to implement this system in order to increase economic transparency and accountability, as well as maximize the impact of every dollar spent in Clayton’s classrooms.

However, organization requires centralization, and so a great deal of the District’s spending power has moved from the teachers to the schools’ principals. While this allows the District to keep better track of its funds, it also takes some of the classroom spending decisions out of the classroom.

This is just another step in the District’s mission to maintain a fiscally

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responsible budget while ensuring the educational excellency that is Clayton’s trademark. However, bearing in mind Kent’s predicament and the numerous stories shared by teachers around the school, we must consider the delicacy of this financial balancing act.

At what point does fiscal responsibility interfere with the responsibility to maintain an excellent education? How can the District know when they have crossed the line between accountability and parsimony?

Some think we already have.

Approaching the Levy In 2003, the City of Clayton passed a tax levy for the District that was intended to last only three years. Now, after 10 years of careful spending and monitoring finances, Clayton has still not approached the community for another tax levy.

The question now is not whether the District will go for a tax levy: the question is when.

“The District will need an increase in the tax levy at some point in the next few years … that’s the nature of school funding,” School Board Vice President Susan Buse said. “Our work as a district has been good … the economy, of course, is not always cooperative and expenses do continue to rise, so a tax levy is inevitable and it probably will happen in the foreseeable future. It’s hard to predict quite when.”

The District’s Chief Financial Officer, Mary Jo Gruber, projects that the District will go out for its next tax levy in the 2016-17 school year. In the meantime, however, the District is implementing the new zero-based budgeting system to add yet another degree of economic accountability.

“The big difference is that we’re deciding how to allocate money based on how it will be specifically spent instead of deciding how to spend the money after it’s been allocated,” Gruber said.

Longtime AP chemistry teacher Nathan Peck believes that this public accountability is also intended to strengthen Clayton voters’ conviction that the District truly needs a tax levy when they eventually ask for one.

“I guess there are rules of engagement for doing tax levies,” he said.

“You’ve got to show first that we need more money and where we’re spending everything now.”

As a Clayton resident, Peck would be in favor of paying more to maintain the high educational standard the District has set.

“I would rather pass the tax increase and keep our programs at a stellar level than become mediocre,” Peck said. “I think the vast majority will agree with me on that.”

CHS history teacher Sam Harned believes that the recent bond issues passed by the District to renovate CHS and Wydown have impacted public opinion.

“In the voter’s mind, they’re saying ‘You built the Versailles of schools, yet now you’re asking for more money?’ There’s going to be a linkage in the voter’s mind,” Harned said. “Nonetheless, what they might want to keep in mind is the separation of capital improvements from operating budgets in the District’s finances.”

Peck believes that educational excellence is directly correlated to the amount of funding the District receives from the city.

“In terms of the tax levy, if people are copacetic with having an average school, then we’ll have an average tax levy and pay average teacher salaries. We will then attract average teachers,” Peck said.

Ultimately, the administration and teachers are working towards the same objective: maintaining Clayton’s reputation of excellence with a responsible and sustainable budget.

Buse said that no matter when a tax levy comes, she wants to see Clayton use their tax revenues in a responsible fashion.

“Whatever our tax levy, we all want the District to use tax dollars as effectively and efficiently as possible,” Buse said, “to support our small classes, rich opportunities and overall District Mission, and to keep the District responsive and strong well into the future.”

The Administrative Process Gruber’s responsibilities focus on the numbers. Her job is to look at the overall picture of the District’s budget. She does not create budgets for each department, and she is not involved in the educational process.

Specifics of those allocations fall on the shoulders of the school principals.

“The principal is the person in charge of their entire building. This increases their opportunity to better understand what’s going on in their building,” Gruber said.

Assistant Principal Marci Pieper has been in the District on and off for 20 years - first as a long-time teacher and then as an administrator.

Pieper currently plays a major role in managing the high school’s budget.

She feels that before people begin demanding a tax levy, the District must see how effective the zero-based budgeting procedures are.

These new procedures require teachers to make decisions in March about what their classroom needs will be the coming school year, create a list of those items and submit the list to their building administration.

During the following school year, if the teacher needs something they did not allocate for during the budgeting phase, they will either have to go without it or make a special request and get approval to purchase that item.

Zero-based budgeting is taking the place of the previous system where each department received a pool of money from which they could make purchases during the course of the school year as their needs arose.

Pieper feels that, for the first time, zero-based budgeting is allowing everyone to see how each department is spending their money.

“It’s a very open and transparent process,” she said.

Buse feels that the new process and reductions will help Clayton.

She feels educators will still have the same opportunities to provide the unique Clayton experience as before.

“We continue to evolve educationally. The flip side of moving forward is the need to scale back where feasible and appropriate,” Buse said.

“We’ve got amazing people in all our different departments, and with that comes a lot of passion, a lot of great ideas and opportunities and, not only are things being cut … but people are using energies in different ways and they’re being allowed to still do that.”

Gruber explained that zero-based budgeting is being implemented for the entire District.

“It’s not anything specific to any department or any building, it’s just District-wide,” she said. “We’re just trying to tighten down our purchasing procedures to ensure that all purchases are approved prior to being made. It helps with budgeting as well as overall fiscal responsibility.”

Buse ultimately sees the new systems as a positive for the District. If anything, she says, they will make for a stronger educational experience.

She feels that the steps Clayton is taking are essential for a sturdy school district.

“We are financially healthy,” Buse said. “We are making cuts, we are realigning some of our expenditures as we care how the District is going to look today, as well as five to 10 years from now. And that’s what any healthy entity needs to do.”

Teacher Reactions “It’s generally a tough pill for teachers to swallow when outside people

The CHS theater department has been hit with a 57 percent budget reduction (Jeffrey Friedman).

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Like many other programs, Clayton DECA, has turned to fundraising to provide educational opportunities for students (Jeffrey Friedman). are telling them what they can or can’t teach in their classroom. I believe that teachers, as the professionals, should be making most of those decisions on behalf of their students,” Peck said.

Indeed, the District’s zero-based budgeting system has already begun to elicit reactions from CHS teachers of various disciplines. At this preliminary stage, the fine details of the system are still somewhat ambiguous.

“If it’s a matter of ‘I need to list the identity and amount of chemicals I’ll use seven to 14 months before I’ll use them’ ... that would significantly limit the innovation and flexibility that I think I’ve grown accustomed to in my 30 years of teaching,” Peck said.

According to Peck, the District plans to “dry-run” the system next year. Currently, it is unclear whether this rigid method of ordering necessary supplies will become a reality.

The consequences of the new budget plan (as well as recent budget cuts) have tangibly impacted decisions made across the school - from the chemistry wing to the theater department.

Theater director Kelley Weber has been in the Clayton School District for 15 years as a director of the theater program as well as a drama teacher. Weber is currently having to rethink how her department will plan and execute their future productions.

“There’s one show I’d really, really like to do next year as the fall play, but I don’t know if we can afford it just because the production value ... you need to have certain costumes which make it more expensive,” Weber said.

This year only two of the five theater productions were funded. The three remaining productions required the department to fundraise to afford their execution.

In addition to limiting the scope of Clayton’s artistic endeavours, budget issues, such as last year’s layoff of two building departmental assistants, have also shifted different responsibilities to the teachers’ shoulders.

“We’re spending a lot more time that we could have been doing lesson planning and prepping class and helping students, doing clerical work,”

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Peck said. “We saved money cutting departmental assistants, but since that work has to be done, we teachers are doing it. Teacher salaries comprise the bulk of our District budget, and I think we’re at a point where any further budgetary contraction will impact the work of teachers in the District.”

In the face of this economic makeover, Weber and other teachers are increasingly motivated and inspired by the elements of Clayton that haven’t been downsized or rearranged: the students themselves.

“The fact that the quality of the work that we do is as high as it is I think is a testament to the quality of the talent that we have in the kids,” Weber said.

The Show Must Go On “When I first came here 15 years ago this was a district that if you dreamt it you could do it,” Weber said. “It used to be, ‘this is the Clayton way. Period.’ And that seems to be changing.”

The theater program is one of many departments that has been affected by recent budget reductions - suffering a cut of around 70 percent. “I don’t think there are as many opportunities professionally for the teachers as there used to be,” Weber said. “And I’d say it has affected morale.”

The business program at CHS has also felt the strain of the tightening budget.

Over the course of the past few years, the DECA program, which operates as co-curricular to the business courses at the high school, has experienced an 80 percent reduction in funding. As a result, the organization, like many others at CHS, has turned to fundraising efforts to allow students the opportunity to compete at the state, national and international levels.

DECA sponsor and business teacher Marci Boland has been in the District for 26 years. When she arrived at Clayton, she says the Clayton Schools were “cutting edge” and “elite.” Though she feels Clayton is still certainly the top public district in the area, she also believes other neighboring schools are becoming more competitive with Clayton.

“The pack is closer to us than they’ve ever been, I would say,” Boland said.

As a former Clayton educator, CHS Assistant Principal Pieper had a similar view of CHS during her time as a teacher.

“It was very elite, it was ‘what did you want to try? Think outside the box,’” Pieper said. “They didn’t want me to come in here or other teachers to just do what everybody else was doing, what other schools were doing, they wanted you to think outside the box, do something different … they only wanted the best of the best.”

Despite some financial changes since her time as a CHS teacher, Pieper also believes that Clayton is still at the forefront of learning and providing a top-notch education.

“I still think that we have the reputation that we’re really good. For example, I think that our speech and debate team is still as good as they’ve ever been. Is it because of money or because of technology? No, I think it’s because of passion of teachers,” Pieper said. “Come in here on Saturday and the robotics club is working non-stop, but I think that at other schools the same thing is happening.”

On a different front, Peck has seen clear changes in the District’s approach towards teacher development.

“In the past, I think the District really encouraged teachers to be innovative and to try new things and be pioneers in their discipline,” he said.

“Clayton would have a lot of people here who would go to conferences and present the cutting edge stuff that they were doing ... it’s harder to get professional development now than it used to be.”

Pieper feels that Clayton teachers are as good as ever, but admits that the budget cuts have had a tangible effect on Clayton’s educational experience.

“Could we afford some of the cutting edge stuff that some of the other schools are? Probably not right now. So, in that aspect, we’d love to have more money,” Pieper said. “But can we do what we need to do with the money we have in place? Yeah.”

Though she anticipates struggles, Pieper feels as though Clayton can still maintain a strong educational system.

WHEN I FIRST CAME HERE 15 YEARS AGO, THIS WAS A DISTRICT THAT IF YOU DREAMT IT YOU COULD DO IT...

AND THAT SEEMS TO BE CHANGING. “It was always nice to be able to just say, ‘I want to try this,’ so I don’t know in that aspect that tightening budgets is ever a good thing,” Pieper said. “The one good thing that’s come out of it is that we really have more of a very solid idea of how we spend our money and I think it causes people to stop and say, ‘how can I do this differently?’”

As the District moves forward, Weber hopes that Clayton will become more economically comfortable. Ideally, she would like the changes to lead to programs being supported financially, as they have in the past.

“My hope is that as the District does become more solvent and more comfortable financially, my hope is that the curve starts moving upward and that we can start supporting more of the programs,” Weber said. “I know theater is not the only program that has gone through this ... but teachers at Clayton are so committed that we’re going to do things even if we have to scrape by, but hopefully as things get better a lot of the programming will get more support.”

In Conclusion Careful spending and budget reductions are healthy until they interfere with the fundamental mission of the Clayton School District. The issue of the budget revolves around one idea - will financial changes have an impact on the quality of education that Clayton prides itself on?

Currently, the District’s tagline is, “The School District of Clayton ...

Setting the standard for a world-class education.” With not only the rebranding strategy, but also the District’s new budget transformations, that could be changing. 

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AT H L

PROF

ETE

ILE

JOHN HOWARD AS Chs baseball begins their season, the team is looking to junior john howard to lead from the mound

by NEIL DOCHERTY

Photo of John Howard by Noah Engel

J

unior John Howard lives to play on the field. He lives for the moment when he throws a perfect pitch and the sweet satisfaction of a strikeout. He lives for the atmosphere and thrill of the sport.

Ever since the age of four Howard has dedicated a large sum of his time to succeeding in baseball.

“I love it, I enjoy playing. I enjoy the camaraderie of the team,” Howard said. “I love the coaches I play with, they’ve really helped push me along, and I like it because I’m good at it as well.”

The description of good is certainly an understatement for Howard.

Pitching 69 innings and throwing 103 strikeouts last season on the varsity team, Howard was second in strikeouts in the metro area, and was in the top five for number of innings pitched.

Last year, the squad also won districts for the first time in 13 years, and the outlook is positive for improvement this year.

“We are coming back with a team that is probably better than the one we had last year,” Howard said. “So far our team is getting along really, really well and so I think we could make a pretty good run through our district and hopefully get through sectionals this year and we’ll just see where it goes from there.”

Junior Chris Longman, one of Howard’s teammates, recognizes the talent and drive Howard has in the game.

“He’s one of those guys who obviously leads on the field, he’s one of the most gifted athletes in the school and he knows how to set goals and show other people how to meet their goals by meeting his,” Long-

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man said. “He really devotes a lot of time and energy to it, not because it’s gonna get him into college, he does it because he loves it and I really admire that.”

Howard hopes to play Division One ball in college. He has garnered some interest from colleges and his family and coaches have high hopes for his future in the sport.

Varsity coach Craig Sucher has seen Howard on the field and recognizes his talent.

“He has a passion for the game that is infectious, and it sets a tone that I think others are eager to get behind and follow through on,” Sucher said.

“In the second half of last season he got himself right and was a really important part in the top of our line up.”

Howard’s love for the game and the intensity he puts out on the field has radiated to the rest of the team. He leads by example, and has really shown how to stay strong, persevere and come out on top.

Howard has advice for any upcoming players who are looking to follow their baseball career past high school. He feels that if one dedicates his or her time and energy to the sport they can succeed.

“If you’re looking to play in college, you need to get yourself out on the market early,” he said. “In the recruiting market, you really want to start going to show cases as early as your freshman and sophomore years.

And you want to find a position you can play but not stick yourself to that position. You really want to get good at a couple positions. When you are given the opportunity to play, play wherever you can.” 

Clayton Athletes in College every year a number of clayton athletes take their athletic careers to the next level. The Globe’s Peter baugh takes a look at three chs alums.

Jeremy Phillips SLU baseball Jeremy Phillips makes things happen. When the SLU Billikens need a spark plug on the basepaths, he often gets the call.

Phillips is a sophomore at SLU and graduated from CHS in the class of 2012. In his two seasons with the Billikens, he has served primarily as a pinch runner and defensive replacement, appearing in over 30 games.

He has only made one error in his SLU career and gives the Billikens needed speed running bases. He was on the 2013 team that won 41 games and the Atlantic 10 Conference. Going forward, he hopes to start and wants to get drafted by a Major League team.

Phillips credits Clayton for helping him prepare for balancing athletics and academics.

“I’m amazed every day how well prepared I was for SLU,” he said.

“While some of my teammates who didn’t go to Clayton, they’ve struggled and I’ve succeeded in the classroom and it’s really helped me. I appreciate what I got [from] my education.” 

Photo from SLU Athletics

Elizabeth Krane SMU swimming

Photo by Peter Baugh

Christian Thomas Loyola-Chicago basketball

Christian Thomas has scored the most points in Clayton basketball history. As a Greyhound he scored 1,687 points and also accounted for over 1,000 rebounds. After graduating in the class of 2011, Thomas has been playing for the Loyola Ramblers and recently finished his junior season.

As a junior at Loyola, Thomas scored 425 points and averaged over 13 points per game. He started all 32 games and led the team with 198 rebounds. He scored 20 points in an overtime win over Northern Iowa.

At Loyola, Thomas has enjoyed traveling. He has played against top teams including Michigan State, Illinois and Kansas State. He has considered playing professionally, whether in the United States or overseas.

Like Phillips, he feels that Clayton prepared him greatly in terms of education. He also credits the Clayton coaching for helping him improve as a player.

“Coach Luhning and coach Nelke, they were really supportive the whole time at Clayton,” he said. “They were there if I needed advice on how to improve as a player and also as a person. That really helped me out a lot and gave me a lot of confidence.” 

Though she did not swim with the Clayton swim team, Krane certainly made an impact in the pool. With her club team CSP, Krane was one of the top swimmers and qualified for Junior Nationals. She graduated in the class of 2012.

At SMU, Krane has continued to develop as a swimmer. As a sophomore, Krane was second on the team in the 1000-yard freestyle and third in the 200-yard butterfly.

In her freshman year, Krane finished 15th in the 1650-yard freestyle at the Conference USA Championships. As a sophomore, she was seventh in the 200-yard butterfly consolation final at the American Athletic Conference Championships.

According to the SMU website, Krane “chose SMU for the school spirit, and the balance between athletics and academics”. 

Photo from Christian Thomas sports

29

RAY ARMSTEAD, “ricky”

I

“

30

A seemingly regular Clayton dad with an extraordinary background as an Olympic track and field athlete gives a recount of his Olympic dream.

by Lawrence Hu and Max Steinbaum

DID IT,”

Ray “Ricky” Armstead said, laughing. “I did it.” On the world’s biggest stage, Ray Armstead, parent of CHS freshman Ray Armstead Jr., along with three other track and field teammates accomplished what is often considered the greatest feat of any athlete’s career: representing the United States of America. Armstead competed in the 1984 summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

But Armstead didn’t always want to compete in track and field. In fact, he played basketball throughout most of his high school career and only decided that he wanted to become a runner during his senior year.

“Actually, I didn’t want to run track at all,” Armstead said.

“Back then, running was a figure of punishment for any sport ... [in] soccer, if you do bad, they make you run. [In] basketball, if you do bad, they make you run. And for some reason, when I was playing basketball, when they would make us run lines or [do] suicides, I [thought], ‘I like this.’”

In 1984, the Summer Olympics were held in Los Angeles, and Armstead said he was fated to become an Olympic runner.

“All of the chips fell in the right place,” he said. “Everything fell just right.”

But the road to the Olympics was definitely not paved in gold. According to Armstead, training to become an Olympic athlete was extremely difficult.

“Oh my goodness,” he said. “Unbelievable. Weight training, swimming, a lot of running, cross training. Six to eight hours a day. A lot of training, a lot of training. While you were sleeping, I was training,” Armstead said.

Just as things seemed to be going well for Armstead, an illtimed injury one year prior to the trials to become an Olympic runner staggered his chances of earning a trip to the Games the following summer.

“I got hurt,” Armstead said. “So I got redshirted. [But] when ‘84 came it was just right, I was old enough, and the trials came at the right time,” he continued. “Everything just worked out.”

Sports

While Armstead was pushing his way onto the American team, political strife stifled relations between several Eastern BLOC countries (USSR, Poland, East Germany and Hungary) with the West. This resulted in a boycott of the L.A. 1984 Olympics, a result similar to the United States response to the 1980 Games in Moscow.

But Armstead was essentially unaffected by the international turmoil, although the pressure of the competition was an entirely separate issue.

“I was cool as a cucumber, during the race,” Armstead remembered. “You know, during the preliminaries. But I remember seeing this one guy [chanting], ‘Go United States! Go United States!’ And at that particular time, I looked around [the stadium], and there were 100,000 people … and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe this.’”

Despite the pressure, Armstead’s hard work paid off in the end.

“We beat them,” Armstead said, “In [the 1984 Olympics], I beat them.”

In the 4 x 400 relay, Armstead and his teammates, Alonzo Babers, Antonio McKay and Sunder Nix succeeding in taking gold. They finished with an incredible time of 2:57.91, a four second improvement, missing the world record by only a few ticks. The British and Nigerian squads earned silver and bronze, respectively.

Remembering what it took to get to this point, Armstead said, “You know, I was different from a lot of other people at that time because I came from a Division II school ... when you think about making the Olympics or making the NBA, you look at Division I guys.”

With years of experience as a successful runner under his belt, Armstead also wanted to extend a bit of expert advice to high school students aspiring to possibly become world-class athletes.

“You know, you have to be very dedicated, committed, that’s the thing,” Armstead said. “You have to do what you need to do, [and] you have to pay attention to detail.”

Through his dedication, commitment and attention to detail, Armstead was able to go from high school basketball player to an Olympic Gold medalist runner, evidence that dedication truly does yield success. 

]

OLYMPIC CLAYTON DAD GOLD MEDALIST

(Aug., 14 1984) Ray Armstead (back) completes the baton pass to Second Lieutenant Alonzo Babers (with baton), during a leg of the 4x400 meter relay at the 1984 Summer Olympics.

Armstead and Barbers won gold medals in the event. Photo from the Department of Defense (DOD) Photo by Ken Hackman.

sports

31

Things to do in saint louis this spring

by BRIDGET BOEGER and art by STEPHANIE LANGENDORFER

Monuments Men

by GWYNETH HENKE

What is culture?

Is it language? History? Geography? Is culture something that is finite, that can be destroyed with enough incinerators and enough hatred?

Or is it something more untouchable than that--is culture a force, a state of mind?

In “The Monuments Men,” written, directed, and produced by George Clooney, a platoon of eight men attempts to answer this question while in pursuit of Europe’s stolen art.

The film, based on Robert M. Edsel’s book of the same title, follows the true story of an American unit charged with defending Europe’s art from destruction as collateral damage at the hands of Allied and Axis powers and recovering pieces already looted by the Nazis in an attempt to create a Fuhrer Museum.

Two [pieces] become central to the unit’s mission and the plot: Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child and the Ghent cathedral’s famous altarpiece.

At the beginning of the film, the leader of the endeavor, Frank Stokes, played by George Clooney, sends his men out with the imperative to remember that no piece of art is worth a human life.

However, as an increasing number of Monuments Men fall in their pursuit of these masterpieces, the unit must question the validity of the

32

Reveiw

Spend Time in the Loop

The Delmar Loop is home to a wide variety of shops and restaurants, as well as a wide variety of patrons. Here you can find people from all walks of life and a street brimming with St. Louis culture. Drop by St. Louis’ best street this spring to catch a flick at the Tivoli, browse a book at Subterranean or enjoy some fresh guac at Mission Taco.

Go to a Concert

St. Louis attracts some of the best acts in the entertainment biz. Hit up The Pageant, Duck Room, Cicero’s or Verizon Amphitheater to catch some of the freshest beats in town. Lorde is coming to the Peabody Opera House on Market Street in March, check it out!

Spend a Day in Forest Park

Forest Park is a magnificent sprawling space in the middle of our great city, and has a multitude of things to do. You could spend a day, or many in Forest Park. Try renting a boat from the Boathouse, seeing the animals at the Zoo or getting some culture at the Art Museum for a fun filled day in our most famous park.

Do a Scavenger Hunt

A scavenger hunt can be fun way to see the city. Get together a group of friends and divide up into teams. Then, give each team a list of either tasks or places to go. Each group has to complete everything on the list.

You can photograph and share or document on social media your journey around the city.

statement.

In a beautiful monologue, Stokes voices that realization that art is not a side effect or a casualty of culture. Instead, art is culture. Art, as Stokes says, embodies the entire history of a people. Art reveals the innermost depths of desire, belief, and spirituality of a community. Most of all, art--or the collection of human creations--is the heart of any group of people.

The Monuments Men discover in their mission that what they are fighting to defend is the ember that will reignite the flame of civilization so nearly destroyed by World War Two. However, while the heart of the film--its story--is a powerful look into hope and redemption during a period of unthinkable violence, The Monuments Men unfortunately does fall short in some essential aspects.

The cast is made up of eight core characters split up into pairs and sent on four different missions across Europe. While this allows for a greater number of storylines, the plot is ultimately stretched thin until it’s difficult for the audience to distinguish the true climax or mission of the film. Some of the characters, again due to the large cast size, are underdeveloped, only expressing a few disjointed monologues paired with a handful of anecdotes.

Clooney’s dialogue also encounters a few jagged moments, especially at the film’s opening, sometimes resembling superb one-liners hooked together with weak conversation.

Ultimately, however, while “The Monuments Men” certainly encounters a few technical failures, it succeeds at delivering a stunning por-

Go to the Mall

During one of those “April showers” days, hit up the old stand by. St. Louis has a some great malls - the Galleria, West County and Frontenac are great close by options. If it’s a warm spring day trekking out to the new outlet malls could be a worthwhile way to spend the afternoon.

Go Bowling

If you haven’t hit the lanes in awhile, it’s time to lace up those attractive shoes. Tropicana Lanes is right around the corner or Pin Up Bowl in the Loop can serve the more artsy crowd.

Go to Six Flags

Six flags is a nice spot for a young crowd during the summer. Ride the Mr. Freeze, the Batman or Superman, grab a funnel cake and take an instagram pic with Bugs Bunny. And on those stifling hot days hit the waterpark.

Indoor NASCAR at the Mills Mall

Race your friends and family to see who’s the best NASCAR driver.

Tracks here range from an indoor figure-8 to an outdoor.

Go to Museums

The St. Louis area is rich with museum culture and most of these spots feature free admission. With options like the City Museum, Art Museum, and History Museum, there is something for everyone to enjoy. 

trayal of the fight to preserve a culture’s artistic and emotional masterpieces, and it asks its audience to redefine the relationship between art and humanity itself. 

Official Movie Poster/ Public Domain

Review

33

PRO/CON: New tax levy?

should the school district of clayton continue to cut spending or go out for a tax levy?

the sooner the better

by ZACH BAYLY Before break, the Clayton High School Drama Guild had a bake sale.

Cast and crew members of this year’s student run musical, Bat Boy, sold cupcakes, cake pops and other baked goods with the hopes of raising enough money to buy costumes in time for opening night.

They are working to fill the gaping void left by budget cuts for the 2013-2014 school year: budget cuts that resulted in a 57 percent decrease in funding for drama supplies, according to the School District of Clayton 2013-2014 Budget. As of this year, only two out of five Clayton High School theater productions have financial support from the District.

And yet, even when faced with a deficit and the difficult decisions of budget cuts, we refuse to propose a tax levy even though past voting records show that a majority of Clayton residents tend to support higher taxes in exchange for better educational opportunities and a better quality of life.

And therein lies the problem.

When considering the timeline of the School District’s financial strife, it’s remarkable that one only has to look back about five years to recall Prop S, the School District’s proposal to destroy completely and rebuild Wydown Middle School and refurbish Clayton High School, all three elementary schools and the Family Center.

Although this bond issue was voted on at the beginning of the great economic recession, it still managed to pass by a narrow margin of two votes. Apart from this bond issue, the last time the District passed a tax levy was in 2003. This tax levy was projected to last for three years; however, it has already lasted for nearly 10 years.

Now, the District has four years of deficit spending behind it, and

34

COMMENTARY

while we are willing to make $1-2 million of permanent budget reductions, we lack the urgency and initiative to take similar measures in order to prevent further cuts. If the Clayton community supported such an extensive project during one of the worst periods of the recession, why should we let the economy deter us from trying to advance the financial state of our school district now?

Rather than throwing impersonal numbers and figures at the Clayton community and informing them about the most recent reductions, the School Board needs to have open discussions about the possibility of a tax levy with parents and residents starting now. From these discussions, a fiscally feasible plan might very well emerge.

This cannot be a detached and strictly bureaucratic process; this is about so much more than just a few figures on a page. These numbers represent the health benefits of teachers, forms of expression for students and the foundations of lives and futures.

When so much is at stake, complete transparency and honest conversation are absolutely necessary.

The word ‘theater’ comes from the Greeks, and it means “seeing place.” Indeed, Clayton High School is beginning to see more and more of the devastatingly tangible effects of the District’s deficit: but we have yet to see concrete evidence of a tangible solution.

Even after the School District has put a difficult year of cuts and reductions behind it, the fine print of the District’s budget continues to bleed through pages and administrative walls and to permeate students’ lives.

For now, our optimism should lie in the possibility of a tax levy in the near future. Until then, I hope you bought a cake pop. 

The CHS Performing Arts Department had a bake sale on March 11 and 12 to help fund the upcoming student run musical.

(Photos by Jeffrey Friedman)

not necessarily

by MICAELA STONER

Every program or business needs to keep a budget to make sure that the amount of money that they bring in is equal to or greater than the amount of money that they spend. The Clayton School District is no different.

At CHS, students and teachers alike have become accustomed to having top of the line resources; and sometimes, we forget how much these resources can cost.

The budget reduction plan that the District has constructed to streamline expenses and meet our current economic realities is not only necessary for the District’s financial health but is also an important step in identifying what we, as a District, value the most.

CHS staff and students have become accustomed to luxury. The solution that the District should go out for a tax levy in order to retain the expensive educational experience is a mistake.

A new tax levy would cost a $500,000 house $428-$618 a year.

We currently spend $16,329 per district student throughout the District. Clayton pays more per student than do any of our neighboring districts such as Ladue ($13,000), Kirkwood ($12,200), Parkway ($11,929) and Rockwood ($9,378).

If these districts can operate on a smaller per student budget and still be very successful, we should be able to do the same with an equal budget or even one that is just little above. ​Instead of proposing to raise taxes, the District should continue to find ways to increase productivity with the resources we currently have

and find additional ways to reduce the budget.

Currently, Clayton has one of the lowest student to teacher ratios in the state as well as the local area - there are 11 students for every teacher.

If we were to increase the number of students for every teacher in this ratio, we would see a reduction in district expenses; however, Clayton would still be able to stay in line with our neighboring districts [Kirkwood, 16:1; Parkway, 16:1; Rockwood 22:1; Ladue 25:1]. By only slightly increasing class sizes, or increasing the number of classes a teacher teaches in a day Clayton could still provide a first-class education.

Ultimately, this solution would result in a reduction of faculty, the most expensive part of any District’s budget. Although these reductions would be painful, as they were during last year’s round of layoffs, this move is absolutely necessary if substantially decreasing district costs is the goal.

It is also important to keep in mind that a​ new tax levy could lead to a culture of constantly increasing taxes. Taxes rarely decrease. And once the District is accustomed to this newly increased budget, they will never go back.

A tax levy is not what the District needs; what the District needs is to cut spending and figure out a way to do it that also maintains the same educational standards. 

The District should continue to find ways to increase productivity with the resources we currently have

COMMENTARY

35

staff ed Photo taken on September 11, 2011 at the tenth anniversary Forest Park memorial of the terrorist attacks. (Paul Lisker)

R

‘Murica the Beautiful

ecent headlines such as “Protesters Killed” and “Prime Minister Exiled” that regard the countries of Ukraine and Thailand are emotionally charring. Happenings such as these instances force us to realize, if we haven’t already, that the stability of our political institution is remarkable in contrast to the many unstable areas found all over the rest of the world.

A recent study conducted by Transparency International ranked 176 countries from the least politically corrupt to the most politically corrupt.

In this study, the United States was one of the top-rated countries. In other words, we are one of the least crooked.

However, it is too often that we take the basic freedoms present in the United States for granted. Among many freedoms, our country protects and defends the ability to speak our minds without fear and allows us the privilege to elect the people that represent us in our government.

Students’ lack of appreciation for the country in which they live is exemplified in the manner in which students often mock the United States by shouting America’s newest cultural slang identifier, “‘Murica,” This subtle phrase seems harmless; however, the slogan is representative of the broader issue that people see patriotism as a sign of ignorance.

CHS students associate the name of their country with stupidity as they refer to America with the improper utterance.

36

commentary

Although the United States has major issues that need to be solved, we also believe that people often forget to be thankful for past generations that have toiled, fought and even died for their country.

Similar to a lack of appreciation for the United States, the lack of education on political issues is also disrespectful to the country in which we live. In this way, people display that neither the state nor the nation in which they live matter to them.

Very few people can actually claim to understand the complicated politics that surround the largest governmental democracy in the entire world. However, many adults and students alike use the excuse that the stressful and perplexing issues found in politics are “too difficult” to figure out.

But for those students who are of voting age, failure to understand political issues will leave this country unable to solve the difficult pressing issues our country currently faces. These include immigration, abortion and balancing the budget. We must have an educated community on which policy makers can depend.

And for students that will be able to cast a ballot soon (the right to vote is another privilege that we often take for granted), these people will inherit our nation’s complicated issues. It is our duty to take the time to understand the decisions that will shape our country. 

Olympic Patriotism

by BECCA POLINSKY

T

here are so many things that segregate us in this country – politics, religion, gender, ethnicity and wealth. Think about it; we are split up or divided into categories in nearly everything that we do and support. Take sports, for example. Some of us support one football team in the National Football League, some of us support another and some of us don’t support any at all.

But the Olympic Games are a unique instance – they are special in their ability to overlook the ever-so-present forces of division within our country. Although the following may seem simple, perhaps the Olympic Games have more of a positive influence than we may know.

The ancient Olympic Games began their abiding legacy as religious and athletic festivals. They were held every four years at the sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia, Greece. Now, the Olympics are considered the world’s

foremost sports competition: more than 200 nations participate.

This year in particular, during the Sochi Winter Olympics of 2014, I observed an exclusive sense of passionate nationalism. American citizens swarmed televisions to watch an American Olympian compete with a patriotic determination to succeed. There is infinite satisfaction that comes from seeing the small American flag next to a medalist’s name or listening to the melodic sound of the name of our country.

Immediately after T.J. Oshie’s remarkable performance against Russia, his achievement was trending on Twitter. His name was spoken at every street corner, on every TV and on every form of social media. His name was everywhere in America.

As silly or absurd as it may seem, the Olympics, in a peculiar way, unite us. No politics, religion, gender, or economic ranking in society can stop an individual from loving the sight of American success, even in a country that is currently full of so much hatred and fear. In this way, the Olympic games should be treasured. When an American medalist obtains a gold medal, the conservative is now physically and publicly embracing the liberal. Every four years we embrace each other and regain sight of the beauty of this country. 

USA’s Noelle Pikus-Pace on the track for her first qualifying run in the women’s skeleton event in Sochi, Russia. (Mark Reis/Colorado Springs Gazette/MCT)

Grit

by KARENA TSE

O

lympians are super humans. Every four years, we watch as they compete for gold, as they manipulate their bodies in ways we admire and envy and as they perform athletic feats that need to be seen to be believed.

Their athletic strengths are extraordinary. However, the real superpower lies in their weaknesses.

We saw it in 2012 when Kieran Behan became the second ever Irish gymnast to qualify for the Olympics, despite his suffering from recurring injuries that had previously put him in a wheelchair numerous times. We saw it that same year when South Korean archer Im Dong-hyun set a new world record score in the ranking round, despite his being classified as legally blind. We saw it this year when Polish skier Justyna Kowalczyk seized the gold, despite her competing with a fractured foot.

We saw grit.

“Grit is really long-term tenacity, it’s resilience, it’s hanging in, it is not being deterred by failure, it’s persevering, despite the fact that you’re not being successful,” head of New City School Thomas Hoerr explained in a recent interview with Don Marsh on St. Louis Public Radio.

The Clayton School District has worked hard to perpetuate the ideas of Hoerr’s philosophy this school year. Though we, as students, have been exposed to these ideas for quite some time, we tend to view them as something new, even foreign, that don’t connect to our everyday lives.

What we don’t realize is that grit isn’t exclusive to book characters, to superheroes or to Olympic athletes. It’s much simpler than that. In fact, it’s something that has been planted in our minds for much longer than a school year. From the children’s book “The Little Engine That Could” to the idiom “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try, again,” there are countless forms of the lesson of grit that seem to have been present forever.

In reality, we’ve been living with the idea of grit for a significant part of our being. In addition, we’ve exhibited grit: we jam a finger during a basketball game and ignore the pain so that we can keep going; we see that we’ve got a C in math and think, “Oh, crud” and study relentlessly for the next test; we stumble on our violin solo and regain our poise in order to finish the audition.

Our grit is no different from that of an Olympic athlete. To show grit is to overcome failure in order to achieve great success, which is applicable to almost any situation, regardless of the level of competition. However, an important and easily overlooked aspect of grit is that “great success” is not necessarily winning the gold medal or getting the solid A. “Congratulate them on their effort, their tenacity, their hanging in, rather than the product,” Hoerr said when describing how a parent should encourage their children to show the qualities of grit.

This seems rather counter intuitive when applied to the goals of an Olympic athlete. They want to win, right? Isn’t their ultimate purpose to beat the other teams?

Whether it’s used as a method of teaching in high school or as a philosophy of training for the leading international sporting events, the recognition, appreciation and acceptance of grit and all that it entails is something toward which we should aspire, not only in the 2013-14 school year, but also for the rest of our lives. 

commentary

37

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“All the News You’ve Already Read on Your Cellphone” VOL. CLXIVI . . . . No. 34,249

The Gloob

High School Edition

Ridiculously cold for spring, chance of snow; hail a certainty.

You should have moved somewhere tropical if you wanted nice weather.

April, 2014

Gay-Straight-Alliance Plans Trip to Russia.

Students Eager to Meet Pussy Riot, Pending Custody Status

By PARKER SCHULTZ

Clayton’s Gay Straight Alliance will be visiting Russia this spring.

Students in the organization are excited to be traveling to such a removed part of the world, and hope to see how the LGBT community exists in a second world country.

By AUDREY HOLDS

Photo (Linda D. Epstein/MCT) | Red Square, where CHS students will visit.

CHS Student Shunned for Only Taking AP Bio

Continued on Page A2

At CHS, many students take more than one science class, especially among the students taking AP courses. The AP Chemistry and AP Biology combined course has previously been popular among science orien-

Does He Even Want to Go to tated juniors, but with this rigorous College Some Day? Student os- course load comes a ritual of stress and lack of sleep. tracized for his lack of ambition Continued on Page A3

By STEVEN ZOU

Photo By Jim Stevens/MCT Campus

Students running the morning announcements and working on GET were excited to hear that the cable at CHS will function properly from now, until forever. Broadcast students were surprised with the speed and lack of complications in Charter’s fix.

Students are in outrage to discover that “google” has been labeled “adult material” by the school web filter. School officials have yet to respond as to whether the search engine, which powers the majority of student computer use, will be taken off of the banned list.

Charter says Cable is Permanently Fixed

“Google” Blocked by School Web Filter

New Dress Code to be Enforced Girls will now be required to wear leggings and Uggs to school everyday. Students protested against such conformity saying, “It’s terrible that we’re being forced to all wear the same clothing.” Female CHS students claim they no longer feel like individuals.

Cap on Number of APs Students Take The counseling department has released a cap on AP classes due to overburdened students and kids reporting an average of three hours of sleep a night.

Students can now only take five AP courses each year. Students fear not being accepted into ivy league universities.

Globe is Greatest Newsmagazine Ever The CHS Globe has been awarded the “Greatest Newsmagazine of All-Time” Award.

The Globe has been praised for its ground breaking coverage and eye catching design.

A special Globe float has been planed for a celebratory parade.

“The Gloob is purely satirical. The articles that appear in the Gloob are intended to entertain the Clayton community. All stories are FAKE.”

Gloob Newspaper

Student Shunned for Only Taking AP Bio From Page A1 Due to the demanding schedule of Clayton, a lack of sleep and a social life, many juniors are opting out of the Bio-Chem combined course next year and instead are going for just Biology instead - which alone is a very rigorous course.

Chemistry teacher Nathan Peck, who teaches AP Chemistry, was utterly shocked that many juniors are choosing biology over chemistry.

“These juniors are missing out on the most amazing class ever offered at CHS,” Peck said. “Everything associated with life originates from chemistry, from the C, H, N, O and P atoms that make up DNA to the importance of HCl in our stomach that helps in digestion, there's nothing that isn't chemistry in biology.”

Jane, a current CHS sophomore, says that she decided to take only Biology instead of the Bio-Chem combined because she is already feeling the academic heat from sophomore year.

“I am pressured into doing so much in academics by my parents and teachers that I just decided that I need more of a social life,” Jane said. “I already have more than four hours of homework per night as a sophomore. Because I am not taking the Bio-Chem combined course, I can use the little bit of free time that I have to get more sleep and hang out with friends.”

Another CHS sophomore, John, is taking the combined course and said that he is excited to take it.

“I really want my transcript to

stand out during college application time,” John said. “Because my dream school is one of the Ivy Leagues, I have been taking AP courses since my freshman year by getting my parents to override the system. I started with AP English Literature and Composition. Because of the course load, I basically only get two hours of sleep a night.

I also have absolutely no social life at all, but I believe it will be worth it for my future.”

One chemistry teacher said that he has been noticed the pressure among his students.

“I have noticed that over 50 percent of the students I teach fall asleep the second they sit down on their chair,” he said. “This is definitely an indicator that the students are not getting enough sleep and

A3 it is something I am worried about.”

Peck said that another reason for his disappointment in kids not doing the Bio-Chem combined course is that he wants CHS to be in par with all the other great schools in the area academically.

“It is gratifying that CHS students who have had the combined AP Bio-Chem class outperform kids from John Burroughs School and all the other expensive private schools,” Peck said. “Given that fact, it's a wonder that it's not a required course for CHS graduation.

At the very least, Laz and I should get a big fat raise next year.”

Jane suggests other sophomores who wants to do the Bio-Chem combined course to think about the rest of their high school career before signing up for it.

“Sure, it can probably make your transcript look better,” Jane said.

“But think about the cons before doing it.” G

Photo (Anthony Souffle/MCT) | Low Achieving Students Destined for Failure

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A2

Breaking News

John Travolta to Call Names to Office

By PARKER SCHULTZ

Beginning next year, CHS students will have the privilege of being called to the office by John Travolta. The famous actor looks forward to bringing his name pronouncing expertise to Clayton.

Staff members in the attendance office are relieved to be receiving new help.

“Clayton is a very ethnically diverse school, which is a great thing,”

a staff member said, “but it makes pronouncing names a real struggle sometimes. You never know what’s going to come up.

John Travolta is excited to be taking on the new position.

“I’ve done a lot of award ceremonies in my day,” Travolta said.

“The trick is you can’t be worried about what people will think of your pronunciations, just read out what comes to your mind.” G

(Hahn-Khayat-Douliery/Abaca Press/MCT)

Gay-Straight-Alliance Plans Trip to Russia.

From Page A1 “I think this will be a great opportunity for the students,” club advisor, Erin Castellano said.

“We’re excited to talk to the LGBT community there.”

The group’s first stop will be Moscow, where they hope to meet with Pussy Riot, pending on the band’s custody status. Pussy Riot’s progressive message speaks to the interest of the Clayton GSA. “I can’t wait to talk to the Pussy Riot members about their protests,” freshman James Raymond said.

“We might even be allowed to tour their old jail cells.”

From Moscow, the group plans on traveling through the Southern Caucasus, ending in Sochi, the location of the recently held Winter Olympics.

“I can’t wait to tour the abandoned Olympic Village,” sophomore Jayson Lawshee said. “The only downside is we need to pack

our own light bulbs, and I’m not sure how I’m going to get those through customs.”

The GSA is still putting together plans for the trip, and last minute arrangements need to be made. Castellano is considering adding two

GSA has been warned not to bring any “propaganda” which might “influence the proud, hardworking citizens of Russia to make decisions against their state and in the interests of foreign agents”. G

“The only downside is we need to pack our own light bulbs, and I’m not sure how I’m going to get those through customs.”

days in the Ukraine.

“Originally it was going to cost a lot of money to see the Ukraine, so we were going to skip it,” Castellano said. “However, travel into the Ukraine just got really cheap, and that’s an opportunity we can’t skip out on. It’s like a two-for-one trip.”

The group of students have been coordinating with Russian travel officials to set up the trip. The CHS

Photo: (Sergei L. Loiko/Los Angeles Times/MCT)

April, 2014

Gloob Newspaper

B5

Icelandic Water Changes Life Harned Finds New Purpose and Energy

By JEFFREY FRIEDMAN

While many would argue that the only way for a person’s life to change significantly is by means of a dramatic and formative experience, history teacher Samuel Harned would disagree.

“My life has completely changed ever since I stopped drinking regular bottled water and switched to Icelandic Glacial Water,” Harned said. “I’ll tell you, it makes me feel like a new man altogether.”

While the power of a sheer bottle of water that has been implied so far is dubious, the incredibility only increases from here on out.

According to the official Icelandic Glacial Water web site, “The water we collect flows directly into our state-of-the-art bottling plant located right at the source, in Hlidarendi, Iceland at the edge of the Ölfus Spring. During this process, we ensure the water is never exposed to outside air. We also take great pride in running a completely sustainable operation, fueled entirely by geothermal and hydroelectric power.”

If that’s not legitimate, I don’t know what is.

Although it might be expected that Harned’s

life has simply changed in terms of the way he feels on a daily basis as a result of the switch to Icelandic water, it is much more than that: he even recalls specific experiences that he’s had once he’s gotten enough of this wonderful substance into his system.

“I remember it very vaguely,” he said. “Give me a minute, man … okay, now it’s coming back to me. Yes, now I remember. All of a sudden I awoke from sleep at the persistently loud noise of crashing waves and yelling that was going on among some unidentified individuals. I am not really sure how I ended up where I was, but now it is as clear as crystal what was going on: I had woken up from my slumber on an otherwise typical night to find myself among a crew of Viking sailors who were midway through an adventure.

We were in the middle of the ocean, who knows where? It was the most awesome experience of my life.”

Yes, the validity of these statements is somewhat questionable, but like they say, “You never know until you try.” Interestingly enough, when

he first tasted the water, Harned had no idea that his new choice of brand would have an effect nearly as amazing as this.

“My wife brought it home for me one day because they were out of Ice Mountain at the grocery store,” he said. “I didn’t think much of it; I figured I’d drink what she brought home and then I’d switch back to Ice Mountain after the next trip to the grocery store. But then a miracle happened, and my entire world turned upside down. It’s been a magnificent experience, to say the least.”

However, Harned is hesitant to share this overwhelming amount of joy with the rest of his family.

“I don’t know how Bill and Joe would handle something like this,” Harned said. “They seem to be wound up pretty much of the time as it is, and if they got a hold of this stuff, who knows what adventures they’d be going on at 2:00 and 3:00 a.m.” G

Jeep Mounts Snow Pile One Man’s Brave Journey to the Top

By AUDREY HOLDS Spring is coming, the temperatures are rising, snow is melting and junior Luke Voss is panicking.

Every morning Voss looks forward to parking in the CHS parking lot, where he begins the day by driving his Jeep atop the highest possible mountain of snow he can find.

“It’s a challenge to climb those mounds. It starts my day off right, and I also get a fabulous parking spot and public reaction,” Voss said.

The tremendous disruption in Voss’s life due to the warm weather has not gone unnoticed by his peers.

“It’s taken its toll on Luke watching the snow melt,” junior Justin Gellman said. “Along with

the snow goes his daily challenge and excitement. I’ve just been trying to be there for him.”

However, there is still hope.

“I may be importing snow during the spring months,” Voss said. “I’ve been contacting this company who said they could bring snow in. If not, I may just use snow machines of my own.”

Whatever the final outcome is, Voss’s endeavors have brightened the hearts of many observers and inspired many people to take on new challenges. The sight of his Jeep upon a five foot pile of snow is a memory that will live on in the hearts of those who had the privilege to see such a wonder. G

Audrey Holds

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B4

Really Important News

Ritalin Hits CHS Vending

More available to students than ever.

By PARKER SCHULTZ Administrators at CHS have decided to begin stocking Ritalin, and perhaps eventually Adderall, in the school vending machines. The decision came after months of deliberation in school board meetings. Administrators hope that making the drugs more accessible will improve Clayton students’ test scores.

Noah Engel

“We noticed a small drop in some of our standardized test scores last year,” a school official said. “We can’t afford to fall behind other schools, and providing psychostimulants to kids will help ensure that that doesn’t happen.”

Rick Theoniel, a CHS history teacher, is excited for the new changes. He hopes that the new vending machine drugs will improve class performance.

“Kids dozing off in class has become a real problem this year,” Theoniel said. “We’re going over important materials such as midwestern agrarian reform, and I’ve got students falling asleep. I really hope these new vending options perk the kids up a bit.”

A few staff members have voiced concerns.

Tracy Bleck, a school nurse, feels that there

could be repercussions for creating such easy access to potent drugs.

“I’m a bit worried about how many kids will be taking these drugs,” Bleck said. “It’s rare but possible to form powerful addictions to these stimulants, and they certainly won’t help with the amount of sleep these kids are getting today, either.”

Other voices on the staff countered such arguments.

“Most kids have already built up a strong tolerance to these drugs anyway,” James Treterol, a board member, said. “I don’t think that giving students a few more doses during lunch is going to make much of a difference.”

Many students are looking forward to buying their Ritalin through the school vending machines.

“It’s going to be so convenient to have my

Noah Engel

drugs in the cafeteria,” sophomore Evalin Rubarb said. “Like, there are days when I forget to take my meds in the morning and it’s impossible to work. Now I’ll never have to worry about leaving my Ritalin at home.”

The new Ritalin will be available in the regular vending machines. The final price has not yet been set yet.

Students will be dissuaded from taking more than one dose at once, although there will be no official cap on the number of the pills that they’ll be able to purchase.

“We’re a very open school,” Adjunct Principal Leanders Remmington said. “We allow students to make their own decisions so they can grow and foster. Our kids make smart choices, and pick what makes them the most successful.

Ultimately, that’s our mission here at Clayton."

G

April, 2014

Gloob Newspaper

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Chemistry teacher Nathan Peck to teach new AP Alchemy course. (Photo by Alessandra Silva.)

AP ALCH New CHS Class New course hopes to discover elixir of life

By JEFFREY FRIEDMAN

One of the things that makes Clayton High School unique is that not only do we express the ability to offer a wide variety of elective courses, but we also give students so many options when it comes to the core classes that they’re taking,” Principal Dr. Dan Gutchewsky said.

This statement, uttered without the knowledge that excitement for a new Advanced Placement course was brewing rapidly across the nation, rings true: starting in the 2014-2015 school year, AP Alchemy will be offered as a new option when it comes to choosing core science classes.

“I think AP Alchemy is going to be an excellent addition to the list of science courses we offer here at Clayton,” chemistry teacher Nathan Peck said. “Nobody loses. Taking this course is definitely in students’ best interests in science.

Actually, I’m sort of surprised that other curriculum leaders supported it. That said, I’m really looking forward to teaching it.”

Although the course won’t involve quite as much written work or calculation as do science classes such as AP Chemistry and AP Physics, the students will receive plenty of guidance.

“What makes this class such a unique one is the fact that we only have three objectives for the entire year: one, discover new and explore previous methods for transmuting baser metals into gold; two, find a universal solvent; and three, brew an elixir of life, thus finding the fountain of youth. It’s pretty straightforward.”

Peck said that he doesn’t know quite what to expect in terms of the AP Alchemy exam at the end of the class, he said that it doesn’t really matter. “As long as students have been successful in objective three, they can take the exam every year for as long as they like until they score well.”

“The universal appeal of this class is the short list of objectives,” Peck said. “That’s what is so great about it! There’s absolutely no irrelevant curriculum to teach. If the class is on a roll, we can hammer through all of the objectives before spring break. The real problem for CHS is going to be finding someone to teach it next year after I retire to my own sovereign island nation in the Bahamas.”

“The College Board has already released a statement to all of the counseling staff across

the nation,” one counselor said. “The course is going to be extremely rigorous and, therefore, should only be available to juniors and seniors who have completed Geometry. Definitely no freshmen allowed.” Colleges are begging to enroll students who have successfully completed AP Alchemy as they potentially would pay for everyone’s tuition. “The science department can really make our jobs easier,” says a CHS counselor, “successful kids in this course can simply buy the college of their choice and matriculate there.”

With respect to whether or not the course will “last” at CHS, an overwhelming number of people have already signed up to take it.

The counseling office has been as busy as Grand Central Station: students have been checking eagerly again and again to see if they have yet been taken off of the waiting list and allowed to enroll in the class. Interestingly enough, it seems as though some individuals have already begun to satisfy their alchemic desires before the debut of the class; that is, if the blue bags under the eyes and scrawny looking beards are any indication. G

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C6

Sports / Science

AP Calc Kickball Globalizes New Game to Involve Elephants, Bobsleds, Aztec Wonders

By CHRIS SLECKMAN At the end of every school year, the world’s two most dominant forces in the sport of kickball face off to determine who will be crowned world champion for the upcoming year. The AP Calculus AB and AP Calculus BC teams plan to square off again this year, but the stakes have been raised. On top of the kickball game, the two sides have agreed also to duel in three other extravagant sports: elephant polo, bobsledding and the Aztec ball game.

The logistics of this year’s competition are expected to be much more complicated than nor-

mal, according to the coach of the Calculus BC team, Kurt Kleinberg. He said that “our budget this year has increased by approximately 10,000 percent from $5 for just a simple kickball to $50,000.”

For elephant polo, the teams plan to purchase 20 elephants from Tanzania. “I was assigned the task of finding elephants to purchase,” the coach of the Calculus AB team, Michael Rust, said.

“So I went straight to Craigslist where I found a person who was willing to meet me at the Starbucks on the corner of Hanley and Wydown to

exchange the 20 elephants for $20,000 and a pumpkin spice latte.”

For the bobsledding portion of the competition, the teams have come to an agreement with Vladimir Putin to ship the bobsled track that was used in the 2014 Winter Olympics to Clayton.

“Luckily, Vladimir and I are on a first name basis so I was able to give him a call and he is donating the bobsled track to us,” Coach Kleinberg said.

The Aztec ball game consists of two hoops attached to a wall about 20 feet above the ground.

The first team to get the ball into the hoop wins.

The catch? No hands are allowed. For this leg of the competition, the final leg, the teams will travel to Chichen Itza to use an authentic court.

The most interesting part about this leg of the competition is that, according to traditional rules, the winning team is given the honor of sacrificing a player.

“We want this competition to be as authentic as possible,” Coach Kleinberg said, “so we would love to sacrifice a player from the winning team as long as MSHSAA rules allow it.”

According to the MSHSAA rule book, although you cannot play with a concussion or use artificial noisemakers during a sporting event, you can in fact sacrifice team members.

AP Calculus AB team member Jerod Wolfgram was excited by this news.

“I am a very competitive person, so being able to play the game knowing that I may be sacrificed at the end just adds to the intensity and competitiveness, which I love.”

The AP Calculus BC team is excited to defend it’s title and hopes to complete their fourpeat, while the AB team is hoping to capture its first title in four years.

“I think we have a much better chance of winning this year because we are going to integrate some of our bobsledding and polo prospects that we have been breeding for the past few years,” Coach Rust said.

However, Coach Kleinberg was quick to reply.

“As far as I am concerned, the limit for our athletic potential does not exist and that will be on full display come tournament time. Be there or be square.” G

Math teachers (Left) Kurt Kleinberg and (right) Mike Rust. Photo by Regine Rosas.

April, 2014

Community

Starbucks Opens New Store in CHS Another Location Added to Mega-Chain

By AUDREY HOLDS Starting in April, Starbucks will be served in the CHS commons.

“The school board has been debating this issue for several months now, but we finally decided that the addition of Starbucks will benefit the entire community, students and staff included,” a school administrator said.

The school board made the decision after many staff members voiced concerns about students falling asleep in class.

Overworked and sleep deprived students sit in a daze during class, unable to focus on the information that’s being thrown at them. Caffeine, a stimulant, will give students the opportunity to focus in class and, overall, to be more productive and pleasant throughout the day.

D8 addition, there are still some faculty that think that this installation does not address the bigger problem.

“It’s absurd that instead of changing workloads and sleep cycles, our community has to resort to medicating itself with caffeine to function,” a teacher said. “Starbucks drinks also have high caloric intakes and this unhealthy lifestyle is sure to catch up with the population of Clayton.”

Nevertheless, Starbucks will be hitting the halls in April. Whether the addition, in the long run, is for better or worse, we know that CHS students will constantly pump themselves full of caffeine from now on and that the school will be much more alive in a general sense. G

“I waste so much gas every year driving to Starbucks, and then arrive late to class which angers my teachers. I don’t want to anger them; I just cannot function properly without coffee.”

Yet students are not the only ones excited about the addition of the Starbucks–in fact, teachers can hardly wait.

CHS teachers have been seen gazing longingly at the delicacies that students bring into class: caramel macchiatos, white chocolate mochas, chai tea lattes and many more delicious drinks. The teachers, tired of the dull coffee offered currently at the school, are in search of a change: something a little bit more flavorful.

Despite the overwhelming support for the

CHS students are eager for the increased access to Starbucks and it’s overpriced, high calorie coffee drinks.

Another complaint common among the staff was that students, in an attempt to function normally, miss part of class to get their daily dose of caffeine. First hour classes tend to have the most recorded tardies as a result of students attempting to buy Starbucks before class begins.

A teacher in the District proposed that the overall workload ought to be handled better both by students and by staff members so that students don’t need caffeine in order to function; however, this proposition was immediately shut down for fear of jeopardizing the unique academics at Clayton.

The majority of the CHS population seems to be ecstatic about the news.

“I couldn’t be more excited,” a junior said.

Starbucks photos: (Vino Wong/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/MCT)

April, 2014