Globe Newsmagazine, February 2022, Issue 5, Vol. 93

globe.

1474 1995 VOLUME 94 . ISSUE 5 CLAYTON HIGH SCHOOL. CLAYTON, MO. FEBRUARY 2022.

Contents

NEWS Missouri Senate Race 8 Explainer: COVID vs. the Flu 9 The Works Returns 10

FEATURES

Untold History of St. Louis Monuments 12 A Pre-K Perspective 15 Denim Through the Decades 16 The History Behind the Arch 19 The History of Black Golfers 22 COVID Testing at CHS 31 The Role of Race in Theatre 32

OPINION January 6th in Depth

36

SPORTS CHS Wrestling 41

REVIEW Encanto 43 Don’t Look Up 44 Beets and Bones 45

STAFF EDITORIAL 46

ON THE COVER: 23 HOUSE BILLS 1474 & 1995

JANUARY 2022 VOLUME 94, ISSUE 5

G EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

Ella Cuneo Shane LaGesse Ivy Reed CHIEF DIGITAL EDITOR

Kaitlyn Tran SENIOR MANAGING EDITORS

Pictured: Sophomore Ella McAuley suspended mid-dive at the girls swim and dive meet on Tuesday, Jan. 26.

PHOTO BY LILY KLEINHENZ

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

Emma Baum Daphne Kraushaar NEWS SECTION EDITORS

Dheera Rathikindi Alex Slen REVIEW SECTION EDITORS

Rachel Chung Moriah Lotsoff SPORTS SECTION EDITOR

Alex Cohen OPINION SECTION EDITOR

Enoch Lai Sophie Yoshino

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

Ruby Nadin ART EDITOR

Sonali Dayal STAFF REPORTERS

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

PRO/CON SECTION EDITOR

Sasha Keller

PHOTO EDITOR

Lily Kleinhenz

PUZZLE MASTER

Thomas Gustafson STORY IDEAS SECTION EDITOR

Max Hagemeister PAGE EDITORS

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

PHOTOGRAPHERS

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

Erin Sucher-O’Grady

Thank you to our sponsors!

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

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

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

Golden Greyhound sponsors ($200+ level) St. Louis Suit Company All In Clayton Coalition Dave Stine Woodworking Carlie Chiou Mark Hagemeister Naomi Erdmann David Auston Deck Commerce

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

Gregory Booth The Baer Family The Lotsoff Family Jason Braidwood Melissa Baum Lan Yang The Cohen Family Christy Auston

World Traveler sponsors ($100+ level) The LaGesse Stanton Family Bob and Betsy Cuneo Peter and Sheila Nadin The Chung Family Gita Krisnaswamy Angela and Troy Quinn The Erlin Family The Family of Lary Baker Kay Quinn Malone Marica and Josip Kos The Slen Family Lan Yang Enoch Lai Bill Moore The Bassnett Family

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

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

From the Editor

Ivy Reed reflects on this issue’s cover story and witnessing the democratic process in action.

IVY REED | EDITOR IN CHIEF

W

hen my co-editor, Shane LaGesse, and I heard about a group of CHS parents traveling to Jefferson City for a legislative hearing, we didn’t think it would become the cover story for this issue. Not sure what we were committing to, we left St. Louis at 5:30 that morning and came back having rethought the entire upcoming issue.

Over the course of that day, I began to rethink a lot more than the cover story. I had never witnessed a hearing at the Capitol before, and I honestly didn’t expect much.

After years of reporting on legislation rolled out of Jeff City to restrict abortion and limit transgender participation in sports, I’ve always thought of Missouri politics as dominated by conservatives with little room for negotiation or bipartisan cooperation. I saw Missouri lawmaking as inaccessible and mostly unrepresentative of my values and my community, and expected that this hearing on two bills proposing to ban critical race theory in schools would be no different.

But once we arrived at the Capitol and circled down into the depths of the building to find hearing room 7, we were met with a surprising overflow of people crowded into the basement hallway. After the hearing started, we learned that many of those people were there to testify— in fact, so many that the system used to process electronically submitted testimony was temporarily broken by the end of the day.

It wasn’t just the diversity of the group that surprised me—it was the conversations we had that day. It was the openness of almost everyone to talk to us, whether they were a Clayton parent, an educational equity advocate, or the president of a right-wing organization seeking to ban books that promote “indoctrination.”

In an increasingly polarized society, sometimes it feels impossible to have a civil conversation with someone you disagree with. My problem is always that I get too frustrated too quickly, and my first instinct is either to engage confrontationally or walk away from the situation. And although I avoid getting into politics with my extended family for that very reason, avoiding the contentious topics is the last thing to do in an interview.

That’s one of the hardest and also the most rewarding things about journalism for me; to fully engage in it, you have to resist those human urges to shy away from discomfort or to argue.

If I hadn’t been at the Capitol as a student

PHOTO BY LILY KLEINHENZ

journalist that day, I would have stayed in a place of comfortable cynicism and watched the hearing without really trying to process and hear the things I disagreed with.

Instead, journalism forced me to engage in dialogue with people whose points of views I wouldn’t normally put much effort into going out of my comfort zone to understand.

And although my personal stance on the bills only strengthened after that day, listening and giving real thought to people on both sides of the debate gave me a much more complex and nuanced understanding of the debate.

Driving back to Clayton, I felt a sense of hope that I did not expect to feel after witnessing my state government in action for the first time.

Looking back, it was the state representative

who we watched eat pizza in his office while he talked to us about the challenges of cooperation on the education committee, it was the Vietnamese immigrant who testified so passionately at the end of the hearing about the America her parents hoped for when they arrived here, it was the people who crowded around the microphone in the hearing room, hoping to get their testimony in before they were cut off, those were the people who were keeping democracy alive in that basement hearing room.

If not for journalism, I wouldn’t have understood the complexities of their converging stories and the diversity of their lived experiences, and I wouldn’t have left with the same renewed determination to understand and be a part of what was going on in that hearing room.

6 PANO 36 OPINION

37

OPINION

Clayton dominates Ladue On Dec. 10, 2021 Clayton High School’s varsity boys’ and girls’ basketball teams took on Ladue, in the annual Coaches vs. Cancer game.

Clayton raised over $750, while Ladue raised $500. All the money fundraised was donated to cancer research.

The girls’ team scored a substantial win over Ladue, ending the game 60 to 39.

This win was personal to the team since coach Brittany Willis currently teaches physical education at Ladue Middle School and knew some of the Ladue girls playing.

The Clayton boys’ basketball team also had a victorious win over Ladue, winning the game 49 to 48 with a last minute save from junior Ethan Fauss.

When severe weather and tornado warnings put the boys’ game to a hault, Clayton’s police department was there to help safely evacuate everyone from the gym. Students took cover in the fine arts wing until the game resumed.

Photo by Lily Kleinhenz

8

NEWS

Missouri Senate Race: A Prelude With an upcoming August primary, some high-profile candidates seek a U.S. Senate seat in Missouri.

CALEB PARK | REPORTER

I

n March 2021, U.S. Senator Roy Blunt announced his plans to not seek re-election in the 2022 midterms and retire from politics, ending his time representing Missouri on a national level for over a decade. In explaining his departure, Blunt told reporters, “I think the country in the last decade or so has sort of fallen off the edge with too many politicians saying ‘If you vote for me I’ll never compromise on anything.’”

Blunt’s unexpected retirement initiated a scramble among Missouri Republicans to take his seat. Six candidates have registered to run in the Republican primary. Meanwhile, Missouri Democrats are drawing up plans to win despite facing electoral defeats in 2016 and 2018.

The six candidates in the Republican primary include figures such as former Governor Eric Greitens, Representatives Billy Long and Vicky Hartzler who both have experience serving in Washington and current Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt. Meanwhile, Lucas Kunce has emerged in prominence in

the Democratic primary as a viable candidate to handle the task of capturing a seat that the GOP has held since 1987.

Former Navy SEAL Eric Greitens was Governor of Missouri until he resigned in 2020 due to a scandal where he was accused of sexual assault and blackmail. Many senior Republicans are fearful of a Greitens nomination. CNN editor Simone Pathe wrote, “The fear is that an increasingly splintered field will only mean more votes for Greitens, who could jeopardize what should be a safe Republican seat much the same way Todd Akin did in 2012.” Todd Akin was the Republican candidate in the 2012 Senate race in Missouri who lost after controversially claiming the existence of “legitimate rape” where the bodies of its victims can terminate pregnancies. Greitens has positioned himself as a Trump loyalist who, according to St. Louis Public Radio, recorded himself visiting a controversial audit in Maricopa County, Arizona, to discredit President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.

Representative Billy Long

of Missouri’s 7th district has been courting endorsements from former President Donald Trump to secure votes from more Republican voters. With this, Long has positioned himself as an ardent Trump supporter like Greitens, attending Trump’s fundraising events at Mar-aLago. According to NBC, Long has even hired former White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway as a campaign advisor, who served under the Trump administration.

Representative Vicky Hartzler of Missouri’s 4th district has also been appealing to Trump supporters, emphasizing her Trump-aligned political career. “I am one of only two members of Congress from Missouri to have voted for and supported the efforts of President Trump over 95 percent of the time,” Hartzler said to The Missouri Independent. In an opinion piece on Fox News condemning critical race theory, she wrote, “No parent should feel that their child’s edu-

Five Republican politicians (from bottom left: Greitens, Schmitt, Long, Hartzler) bid to face off with Democratic frontrunner Kunce

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY LILY KLEINHENZ / PORTRAITS FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

9 cation will be poisoned and America’s history rewritten away from our nation’s founding principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt made headlines after suing China for the coronavirus and later signing on to a failed lawsuit to overturn the 2020 election results. The Senate aspirant banned mask mandates, resulting in Schmitt filing several lawsuits against school districts across Missouri. With his rejection of public health guidelines amid increased polarization around COVID-19 health measures, Schmitt is determined to secure Missouri’s

conservative, anti-vaccine constituents; he said in an interview with St. Louis Public Radio, “I think if you look and see who’s taking action, that’s certainly a strong suit for [the campaign].”

Despite his defeat in a 2006 State House race, Marine veteran Lucas Kunce hopes to win over mostly-Republican Missourians as an economic populist. On his campaign website, Kunce writes, “The same companies that Washington helped ship jobs and opportunities out of our state for decades are thriving, while neighborhoods and towns are being left to rust.”

Kunce has also shown to be willing to break from the Democratic party line. He criticized

NEWS

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s rejection of a ban to prevent members of Congress from trading stocks in an appearance on MSNBC. Kunce has framed himself as a political firebrand, telling Politico in November 2021 that he has the hope of “fundamentally changing who has power in this country.”

The upcoming Senate race in Missouri will be one of ten competitive midterm Senate races nationwide that could have their incumbent parties flipped. After Missourians vote for their preferred candidates for the Senate this year on Aug. 2, voters will elect one of Missouri’s Senators on Nov. 8.

Explainer: COVID vs. the Flu Both illnesses carry similar symptoms and characteristics, so what are the differences between the two?

RILEY KERLEY | REPORTER

B

oth illnesses can cause fever, cough, body aches and sometimes vomiting and diarrhea. Both can result in pneumonia. Both the flu and COVID-19 can be asymptomatic, mild, severe or even fatal. Both spread in similar ways. But despite their shared characteristics, COVID-19 and the flu are not the same.

For both COVID and the flu, droplets or smaller virus particulates from a sick person can transmit the virus to other people nearby.

The smallest particles may linger in the air, and another person can inhale them and become infected. For the flu, people can touch a surface with the virus on it, and then transfer the germs to themselves by touching their face. People infected with the coronavirus or the flu may not even realize they are sick for several days, and during that time can unknowingly spread the disease to others before they even feel sick.

With that information, there are ways to prevent these illnesses.

In most cases, serious cases of COVID can result in death. Both the flu and COVID can be prevented by vaccines. In addition, mask-wearing, thorough hand washing, coughing into the crook of the elbow, staying home when sick and limiting contact with people who are infected are effective and efficient safety precautions.

Keeping a physical distance of 6 feet or more limits the spread of COVID-19 and the flu in

communities and large group gatherings.

COVID-19 was caused by the 2019 coronavirus, also known as SARS-CoV-2. There are different SARS-CoV-2 variants that have some differences in how severe or transmissible they are. Many people infected with the coronavirus have only mild symptoms or do not feel sick at all, but they can still infect other people with the coronavirus.

The flu is caused by the influenza virus.

There are two main types of influenza virus called influenza A and influenza B. Different strains of influenza A and B emerge and circulate each year. The flu does not typically affect a person’s sense of smell or taste like COVID does, although it has many symptoms similar to COVID-19. However, during the 1918 influenza pandemic, a certain influenza strain caused many people to lose their sense of taste or smell.

Both illnesses have a vaccine that you can receive to help, prevent and lessen your symptoms of the two viruses. The flu vaccine is effective in preventing some of the most dangerous types or to reduce the severity or duration of the flu. The flu vaccine is reformulated every year in anticipation of the influenza strains that are expected to circulate. It is very important to get vaccinated for the flu this year.

The development of complications for COVID induce long-term damage to the lungs,

heart, kidneys, brain and other organs and a variety of long-lasting symptoms. Influenza complications can include inflammation of the heart (myocarditis), brain (encephalitis) or muscles (myositis, rhabdomyolysis), and multi-organ failure. Secondary bacterial infections, particularly pneumonia, can occur following a bout of influenza infection.

During the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, there were 50 million deaths and around 500 million cases. To date we have had over 330 million cases and 5.5 million deaths of COVID-19. The numbers of COVID deaths and cases continue to go up every day. The newest strain of Omicron began on Nov. 24, 2021, a new variant of SARS-CoV-2, B.1.1.529, was reported to the World Health Organization.

The new variant was first detected in specimens collected on Nov. 11, 2021, in Botswana and on Nov. 14, 2021, in South Africa.

The world enters its third year in the COVID-19 pandemic. The Spanish flu pandemic, however, lasted only two years, and came in three different waves.

The year of 2022 is unknown as of yet.

It’s unclear if the pandemic will last for a third full year, how many more lives will be lost, how many more patients will be admitted to the ICU and how many more people will lose their loved ones.

10

NEWS

Re-WORKS

The WORKS, CHS’s literary and arts magazine, returns after a yearlong haitus.

OWEN AUSTON-BABCOCK | SENIOR MANAGING EDITOR SASHA KELLER | SECTION EDITOR

U

ntil 2020, Clayton High School’s student literary and arts magazine, The WORKS, had published an issue every year since at least 1997. The magazine showcases visual art, photography, poetry and short prose, fiction and nonfiction, submitted by CHS students. Each issue varies in size and design, but maintains a theme based off of each year’s submissions.

English teacher Darcy Cearley, the newest faculty advisor for The WORKS, took on the position in 2020. But before the team could put together an issue, COVID-19 forced CHS to shut down and go virtual for the remainder of

the year. Zoom meetings made communication extremely difficult, and as a result, The WORKS could not produce its yearly magazine in 2020.

The problem continued into the fall of 2021, classes were still virtual and club meetings were hard to organize.

Cearley said she anticipates publishing at least one issue of The WORKS before the end of the year, and possibly a smaller magazine to showcase student work from the 2020 - 2021 school year. But her vision for the magazine is more long-term: she hopes that this school year will serve as a way to drive student interest in

Darcy Cearley, pictured above, serves as the faculty advisor for The WORKS.

PHOTO BY MAYA RICHTER

and awareness of the magazine. Cearley said, “[It] would be really cool eventually to make it [...] biyearly, maybe [publishing] at the end of the first semester and the end of second semester.”

Before the first meeting in January, Cearley said she had heard from three students who were interested in joining the editorial team. Students are responsible entirely for the layout and content of the magazine, Cearley’s role is to make sure the content is appropriate and to manage the budget, she explained. Since it’s a small publication that doesn’t have to create much of its own content, Cearley said they could manage with just three people. “I just don’t want to,” she said, “because the idea is to get as many voices in that space as we can.”

After that meeting, which was attended by six students, Cearley re-started The WORKS’s Instagram account with a message announcing its return and its meeting dates (Thursday mornings in room 10). The account will continue to publish student work featured in and out of the magazine. She also created a new email account for the magazine, so students can speak directly to the editorial team (theworks@claytonschools. net) that will include students as well as Cearley.

Cearley aspires to rebuild The WORKS back to what it was prior to the pandemic. “The point is not for me to choose everything and make a magazine, the point is for students to choose and make a magazine. And now [we are] feeling good about going,” she said. This year, Cearley hopes to get CHS more interested and involved in The WORKS to basically reintroduce the magazine to the school. In doing so, she hopes to see the publication develop even more at the school and hopefully produce multiple issues each year.

“I like the possibility of things at this stage.

Because it kind of doesn’t really exist, you know.

But the way it exists in my mind is really fun and exciting” Cearley said, “Growing it is my favorite game right now; growing it again because it had a really strong presence. It just got lost in the shuffle, like so many things have.”

7

This puzzle pays tribute to the greatest sport in existence!

When solved, unscramble the circled letters to find a common phrase answering what 12-, 51-, and 87-Across have in common. Submit your answer using the QR code below to enter a drawing for a $15 gift card to Clementine’s Creamery.

T.G. 80. Declare confidently 81. “CHS ___ Club” (where you can learn some needlework) 83. Articles of clothing sported by 5-Down 85. Fence alternative 86. Baby kangaroos 87. Reheated fare on a New York food themed flight, maybe 93. Carry on 94. “Love & Hip Hop: ___” (VH1 show) 1.

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DOWN Six, in Santiago de Compostela Family members Messenger of God, according to Latter-day Saints What Old McDonald had Character who said “I fly to the moon. I shrink the moon. I grab the moon. I sit on the toilet.”

Tic __ (mints) “Forget the ___” (book that critiques a myth of Texan independence) Power-mongers Godly drinks Zagreb native Physicist Enrico What the lunar mare was once thought to be Malian city mystified in Western culture Bo or baobab Longest living land animal They’re avoided in an Atkins diet Tea biscuit A large shell is this for 57-Down Product of losing or gaining an electron Product of pile-weaving, maybe Scuttle along Sets of most spider legs Not near Google Maps approximation, briefly Putrid castle fortifications Vaults for the dead Apt anagram for the main character’s name in “The Matrix”

4

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10 11

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6

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12

(HARD)

ACROSS 1. Jamaican genre 4. Acronym for a TV show with a golden buzzer 7. Ordered doordash, maybe 9. Swiss currency 12. Vehicle often used for cartoon abductions 14. Product of a diced 43-Across, perhaps 15. Always, poetically 16. Travis whose apology is oft-memed 19. Extreme 2017 hurricane 20. Certain bivalve mollusks 22. Southeast Asian yam with a light-purple inside 23. Pungent, colorless gas (NH3) 25. Divots in the lunar maria, maybe 28. Diamond stat?

29. Sashimi cut or “bull” in Spanish 31. IIII 32. ... : abbr.

33. Liberty Mutual bird 34. Rachel Maddow’s network 35. Emo emotion 37. XXX counterpart 39. 2020 Olympics city 41. What you probably can’t do dicing a 43-Across, or an anagram of 14-Across 43. Certain vegetable 45. Gallery event 48. Green prefix 49. Yoga greeting 51. Sports object that somewhat resembles this puzzle’s grid 54. Canine-powered Iditarod vehicles 55. End in France?

56. Buddy 59. Bernie Sander’s party, for short 60. Size above sm.

61. “Brain” for 56-down, for short 64. Clutched 67. La Paz’s nation, for short 70. Win back 73. Sweating rooms 74. Eccentric 76. Where 20-Across can live 77. Minor setback 78. Sliding car part

2

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79 84

83

82

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88 89 90 91 92 93 94

Idiom for an unlikely hope, or a possible common descriptor of 12-, 51-, and 87-Across. (4 words) 40. French fashion designer’s monogram 42. Place with helpful hardware folks 44. When repeated, 2010’s dance fad 46. Water ___ (plants that grow exponentially in a math problem) 47. Correct text 49. Jimmy G, for one 50. Thoughts spoken to the audience 52. Tack on 53. Edge 56. Some computers 57. Weary word 58. Cape Canaveral Space Force Station event 61. Rub tenderly 62. Floating dock, maybe 63. Hesitant words 65. Trap 66. Asian tiered tower 67. Certain sac hit 68. “___ the ramparts...”

69. Maned zodiac signs

71.

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74.

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88.

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Labor activist Cesar “Smooches!”

What is in Spanish!

Mythological MiddleEastern bird One of Eastern Tibetan ethnicity Tex-Mex dish Movie f/x She’s “always watching” Wazowski Tennis re-do How Mr. Beast did Squid Game: abbr.

US government org. that’s always watching German ”A” Winter Seattle hrs.

(Scan to win!)

SAM MCDONOUGH, REPORTER THOMAS GUSTAFSON, PUZZLE SECTION EDITOR PUZZLES 11

2/2022

DISCSPACE

1

Part Two:

The History of St. Louis M M

any who call St. Louis home have experienced the thrill of sledding down Art Hill in Forest Park on a snowy winter day, or admiring the sights of the Botanical Gardens on a refreshing spring afternoon.

However, few of the sledders on Art Hill would guess that the statue above them represents white supremacy to some, or that the flourishing grounds of the Botanical Gardens were paved by slaves.

In our last chapter (featured in the January edition of the Globe) we looked at the basic facts of a few famous monuments in St. Louis. Now, we dig a little deeper into the untold history of St. Louis monuments, we can examine the prosperity and growth of our city, as well as its faults and immorality in the past, by finding out the often untold truth.

Apotheosis of St. Louis The Apotheosis of St. Louis is a pinnacle monument of our city, and portrays a symbol of our community in a prominent and well known location in front of the Art Museum in Forest Park.

Despite the fact that King Louis IX is a key figure in the portrayal of our city, the history behind his powerful position is different than what first meets the eye. King Louis IX was known as a just and intelligent ruler, though according to journalist Mic Anderson, “His sincere piety did not prevent him from curbing the abuses of the clergy, sometimes brutally.”

In the summer months of 2020, there were protests in Forest Park in front of the statue, protesting for it to be taken down, and CHS junior Ruby Nadin witnessed it.

“I was on art hill with my friends, and we were looking over at the Art Museum, and there were a bunch of people standing around the statue,” said Nadin. “Some of them had signs, and there was one guy who was the main speaker.”

Some of the protesters believed that this statue symbolizes white supremacy.

The St. Louis Post Dispatch who reported on the issue the summer that it happened interviewed a protester. The protestor Umar Lee stated, “He’s gonna come down… This guy right here represents hate and we’re trying to create a city of love. We’re trying to create a city where Black lives matter. We’re trying to create a city where there is no antisemitism or

FEATURE 12

Islamophobia … this is not a symbol of our city in 2020.”

The opposing groups protesting for the statue to stay had more religiously based reasoning. Maria Miloscia of Jefferson County, protested to keep the statue upright, saying to The St. Louis Post Dispatch, “I think he symbolizes deep faith and convictions. I stand for him. And I stand for those Catholic virtues and those Catholic values that I think are important, like courage, faith and love. But ultimately, I’m here for Christ the king.’ ” While Nadin saw the protest happening, she and her friends didn’t entirely know what was going on.

According to Nadin, “I only knew it was even a protest because some woman told [me and my friends] that it was a protest. The woman who I talked to said it should stay, because it was religiously important.”

The woman involved told Ruby and her friends that removing the statue went against the ideals of the religion connected to Louis IX. According to Dr. Daniel Glossenger, economics and history teacher at CHS, “I think that both sides of the protest at that statue don’t want us to ignore the past, and they don’t want us to just tell one story. I think both sides would agree that the past is complex.”

This statue, though sparking conflict, is not as controversial as others, such as the Columbus statue that was taken down in Tower Grove in 2020 after protests.

s Monuments Botanical Garden

& Henry Shaw House Henry Shaw’s house, examined in the previous chapter, is a landmark of St. Louis. It’s architecture from the time period makes it a beautiful place to visit at the Botanical Gardens. However, some people don’t know that from 1826 to 1860, Henry Shaw, the park’s founder, acquired around 8-11 slaves and domestic servants in his time working at the Botanical Gardens.

In June 2020, the Missouri Botanical Garden shared a Facebook post with a few of the names of Shaw’s slaves: Juliette, Peach, Jim, Sarah, Bridgette, Joseph, Tabitha and her daughter Sarah, Ester and her children, among others.

Missouri Botanical Garden stated that, “In 1855, four of Shaw’s slaves escaped but were caught as they crossed the Mississippi River. Esther and her children were trying to get to the

free state of Illinois where they hoped to connect with helpers to travel further north on the Underground Railroad. Shaw consequently sold Esther south to Vicksburg, Mississippi, separating her from her children.”

By the 1850s, when Shaw was building his house in Tower Grove and buying farm land slavery was on its way out of the city. Slavery wasn’t unsuual, but it wasn’t the norm.

There was also an increasing population of free black people in St. Louis. Shaw also practiced leasing out his slaves by hiring out certain slaves and hiring in domestic servants.

Though Shaw was known to botanists, businessmen, and the people of St. Louis as a brilliant creator, there is untold history behind the walls of the statues, plants and architecture of his gar-

The Naked Truth

The Naked truth statue, located in The Compton Hill Reservoir Park, is inevitably controversial, in not just the message behind the statue, but also how it’s viewed. As a German-American memorial, celebrating the alliance of the Germans and the Americans during the Civil War, and an 8’x 20’x 15’ depiction of a naked woman: this statue has a long history of controversy.

“One of the reasons that it was controversial when it was unveiled is that it’s a naked female form, and that was offensive to the Victorian era of cultural norms in the United States about policing women’s bodies, and I think that statue garnered a lot of attention for that reason,” said Glossenger, “It was also controversial due to the fact that it celebrated Germans in America, and their contributions to the United States at the very time when the U.S. started to go to war with Germany.”

Less than two months after The Naked Truth was put up, World War 1 began and

Germany became an enemy to the U.S. According to The Landmarks Association of St. Louis, in 2012, “The nearly century-old monument was defaced with blue spray paint reading, ‘Class War.’ The vandalism was not contained to only the statue. Spray painted messages also appeared on the west wall of the reservoir and the adjacent comfort station.”

During an anti-police protest in November, 2014, the statue was vandalized once again with the spray painted letters of “FTP”, regarding the anti-police protests happening all around the city, state and country at the time.

This statue is no stranger to controversial opinions and offenses of vandalism.

Through its more than 106 years of existence, this monument has undergone many restorations, and may continue to in the future.

The German-American history in St. Louis is complicated, but through the hardships this city has had to face in the past, St. Louis has learned to live through it, and move forward into the future.

Image from Wikipedia Commons

FEATURE 13

MLK

Statue

The Martin Luther King Jr. statue located in Fountain park is a great symbol of racial equality progression in St. Louis.

In the mid 1800s, Fountain Park was developed as a middle-class suburb, on the edge of Central West End. As a largely black populated neighborhood, racially restrictive housing was a very common thing in St. Louis at the time. Despite the fact that the Supreme Court ruling of Shelly vs Kraemer struck down racially restrictive housing covenants in 1948, housing segregation still exists today in the neighborhoods of St. Louis.

“Racial violence has been something that’s been a part of the history of St. Louis since the very beginning, and so understanding the legacy of that and how much it affects us today is something where we still have room to grow,” said Glossenger.

The legal sense of the “structural barriers” that have been taken down regarding the racism in Black neighborhoods in St. Louis is what is most commonly looked at when examining the status we’re at now in history. But, racism never left the Black neighborhoods of St. Louis after the ruling of Shelly v Kraemer.

Looking into the impact on the history of the statue in the neighborhood today, Glossenger stated, “[The Martin Luther King statue] also shows the progress that we still need to make, because if you visit that statue, and you visit Fountain park, you’ll see the disinvestment in that community. That there aren’t the jobs available for people, to pay good middle class wages, and the movement of jobs out of our city centers, along with the discrimination that people that live in that neighborhood face, I think is another exhibit of the progress that we still need to make, in terms of economic justice.”

Through these past two issues, we’ve learned that the darker and unexpected history of St. Louis can’t be changed, but it can be understood and acknowledged. In the past few decades, we’ve done a more progressive job as a city in recognizing our past faults. And as for the future–not everything can be predicted or assumed, but with progress and growth comes change.

Image from the City of St. Louis

CHARLIE MEYERS, REPORTER ELLA CUNEO, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

FEATURE 14

15

FEATURE

A Pre-k Perspective DAPHNE KRAUSHARR AND MAYA GOLDWASSER | FEATURE SECTION EDITOR AND PAGE EDITOR

Photos of Enclusive Books and Puzzles from a Clayton Family Center Classroom.

PHOTOS BY KATIE GRAHAM AND EMILY ANDES

W

hen you think back to the kinds of books you read in preschool, you probably remember stories about little girls who were princesses and fairies, or boys who were strong knights and superheroes.

Unless your family searched incredibly hard to put diverse books into your hands, most of these characters were probably also white. This is a challenge that early childhood educators across the country are combatting in their classrooms on a daily basis.

Over the course of the past few years the School District of Clayton’s Family Center has participated in this process of diversifying ma-

terials, curriculum, books and play. In the Clayton High School Family Center classroom, right down the hall, they echo the complex conversations about these topics happening amongst

“Just like we don’t tell people what to wear, we don’t tell people who they have to be, or how to speak.”

- Katie Graham and Emily Andes high school students.

Katie Graham and Emily Andes, two family center teachers, have enlisted the help of Katie Storm’s CHS English class to audit their personal class library.

While scanning the shelves, students searched for literature that includes protagonists of all races, genders, and cultures. They discovered that a majority of the library had books filled with characters that all looked alike.

Graham and Andes said, “we are recognizing that we can and will do better.”

This change is also evident in the use of classroom materials. These Pre-K teachers decided to not add a gender to items during play.

For example, “when we hear or see children referring to items in a stereotypical gendered way or saying things like, ‘those are boy colors’, ‘those are girl colors’, we turn it into a teachable moment or a time to see multiple perspectives.”

Living in a society that consistently perpetuates gender roles, it’s important to recognize how those stereotypes enter the classroom and the effect they have on students.

Children start understanding and reiterating the things they are taught from a young age. So, demystifying these rigid ideas is a crucial part of the early childhood curriculum.

The Family Center allows the freedom for children to be who they are and explore their interests through play in the classroom.

Graham and Andes explain, “Just like we don’t tell people what to wear, we don’t tell people who they have to be, or how to speak.”

These simply put lessons embody an anti-biased approach to understanding others. The goal is to help students form an appreciation of people’s differences and a more diverse perspective overall. Hopefully, opening the eyes of the youngest generation will prompt students to engage in deeper conversations in their futures at Clayton and beyond.

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Denim through the Decades Fashion trends come and go, but denim is eternal.

IVY SLEN | REPORTER

Fashion comes and goes but blue jeans are forever. From flair to wide, to skinny and everything in between, denim is a constant.

Denim was first manufactured in the French town Nimes. The origin of the word denim comes from a french Phrase “Serge de Nimes”, which means serge from Nimes. During the 19th century, denim started to gain momentum in the United States. Jacob W. Davis, a Russian- American tailor in Nevada, designed and constructed the first pair of modern denim pants. As the pants started to gain popularity, his small storefront in Nevada was not enough to meet the demand he was receiving.

He moved to his suppliers, Levi Strauss and Co’s facilities to continue manufacturing his jeans.

1950s In the 1950s jeans were mainly reserved for the working class and men. Towards the end of the decade, they were more widespread among the rising counter-culture.

1960s By the early 1960s both men and women were wearing jeans, some as a fashion statement and some as a political statement against middle-class values and bourgeois. The styles in the ’60s were wide, bell-bottoms, and low-waisted. Wearing Denim jackets with jeans became a trendy style for the first time as well. Totally groovy.

During the 1970s, the denim trends from the ’60s are still going strong with flares, double denim looks with jackets and pants, but now the newly popularized denim skirt quickly became a fashion staple as new different styles were created. Jeans were so fashionable that they were seen paired with sequin tops and highheeled platform shoes in New York City nightclubs.

1970s

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FEATURE

1980s In the 1980s, denim became tapered in the legs and even skin tight. Women wore their jeans with leg warmers, doc martens, oversized sweaters, and blazers and the preppy kids paired their denim with oxford cloths and polos, boat shoes, and pearls. Denim was starting to get purposely distressed with different types of washes like acid wash, stone wash, and deliberate holes. It is also worth noting that jeans in the ’80s on women were high rise compared to the low rise of the 1960s and 1970s.

2010s In the 2010s, the silhouette of jeans became slimmer and skin tight. Skinny jeans were worn everywhere, they could be dressed up for a night out and dressed down for school or work. We also saw more playful designs come back in style like overalls and rompers. Right now trendy jeans are high rise and ultra- wide-legged. Brands like Zara, Levis, and higher-end brands like Rag and Bone, and Mother are all honoring this style.

But as trends from the 90s are coming back, the low-rise jeans are back in. Supermodels and style icons Bella Hadid, and Hailey Bieber have been seen wearing these styles encouraging the style to come back strong. As we enter 2022 expect low-rise styles and flared jeans to replace or co-exist with high-rise wide-legged jeans.

In the 90’s, denim was mid-rise, relaxed fit, and styles like mom jeans were in style. For some denim lovers, they took the grunge aesthetic and they wore their jeans with oversized t-shirts and flannels. And as the ’90s continued on the relaxed denim was paired with more stylish and polished tops. Denim overalls and shortalls were also popular during the ’90s. As the ’90s ended and the 2000s began the midrise became ultra low rise popularized by celebrities like Brittany Spears, Paris Hilton, and the cast of the OC. Upscale boutiques started selling designer denim that was no longer just 100% cotton; this denim was premium and had just the right amount of stretch so that they could comfortably rest on people’s hips. Creating that iconic 90’s low rise look.

‘90s - ‘00s

Now

Still denim appears so often in our everyday wear, with all the versatility that it has it can be paired with so much to fit everyone’s personal style. But during the pandemic when people have been staying at home comfier styles are Madeline Akins board of directions on the St. Louis Fashion Fund and Divisional VP of retail development at Michael Kors says “It [denim] is a staple in the American women’s closet. More recently, however, denim may be replaced by sweatpants.”

ALWAYS A GREYHOUND: ALIX HENRY Class of

1990

Clayton Alumni accomplish interesting and incredible things in every industry, all across the country and even around the world! Each month, we’ll profile a different Greyhound graduate.

If you know a Clayton Alum who should be recognized, we want to tell their story!

Contact us at globe@claytonschools.net.

CHS alumna Alix Henry performing ceiling maintenance.

“I

think the crazy architecture of the Ralph M. Captain elementary school and the open classrooms made me understand architecture earlier in my life than had I been in a normal building,” said Clayton High School alumna, Alix Henry.

Henry currently works on sustainable and off-the-grid buildings made from tires, cans and dirt in the New Mexican desert.

Henry graduated from Clayton High School in 1990 before attending Washington University in St. Louis as an architecture major. After earning her degree and working in St. Louis for a year, Henry found that the area lacked interest in green architecture.

After seeking out opportunities to work in sustainable development, Henry discovered a firm in New Mexico and secured a job. In 1995, along with her husband, Henry moved to New Mexico to design, build and live in a unique method of biotecture: an Earthship.

An Earthship is a completely off-the-grid building, which means it doesn’t depend on outside resources for energy or other necessities. Henry’s firm has designed several methods of construction, so no fossil fuels are used for heating or cooling.

“We use a combination of thermal mass, and in an Earthship’s case, that’s tires rammed with earth and then insulated. It acts as a battery so when the sun shines through the windows and hits, it heats up the walls. In the winters we don’t need any heating system to keep the building warm,” said Henry.

Earthships are also off the grid in electrical supply.

“In the case of my house and many oth-

er ships out here, it is 100% photovoltaic-solar panels.”

Wind power can also be used and harnessed through small propellers, although they tend to break due to the several moving parts.

To maintain the sustainable and environmentally friendly goal of an Earthship, they are typically made of recycled or natural supplies.

“We use a lot of cardboard and aluminum cans and bottles for some of the walls in the building,” she said. “We also use a lot of natural materials. For example, the walls in my house are adobe plaster which is basically dirt from the site that we sift down to be very fine, then add sand, chopped straw, and water.”

This combination of materials serves as the traditional plaster for the inside of the building.

Additionally, tires packed with dirt are used as “bricks” for load-bearing walls and insulation.

Despite her strong educational background

and vast work experience in architecture, Henry continues to find her male-dominated field challenging; she often needs to combat ‘mansplainers.’

“Oftentimes I’m the only woman on the job site. The contractors are often all men, same with the engineers,” Henry said.

Despite frustrating conversations, Henry always ensures the job is done correctly and carried out in accordance with her design.

During her time at Clayton High School, Henry was involved in student government as well as other activities that allowed her to take leadership roles and fostered teamwork. She is thankful for her education from the district, “At CHS, I was really lucky that the math and science departments were pretty strong. Part of the reason I ended up in architecture is because I had skills in math and art.”

Additionally, due to her strong English foundation, she was successful while studying at WashU, and after, when writing and communicating as an architect.

“I think Clayton High School just really gave me a strong foundation for being able to do many things.”

When asked for advice to give to the current students of Clayton High School, Henry said, “Take advantage of everything CHS has to offer. One of the nice things about the community of Clayton that I didn’t realize until recently is that it is a pretty diverse community. There are a lot of people from all over different parts of the world and a lot of differently educated people… in a lot of different careers within the community of Clayton. That makes for an interesting background.”

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

The History Behind the Arch Why the Arch is not just a regular monument, but a symbol of activism.

ISABELLA BAMNOLKER | PAGE EDITOR CHARLIE MILLER | PAGE EDITOR

The last piece of the Gateway Arch being put in October 28, 1965.

POST DISPATCH ARCHIVES | PHOTO BY LESTER LINCK

P

ercy Green dangled from the Gateway Arch to protest the exclusion of black workers from the construction, a policeman attempted to talk him down.

Green, a St. Louis raised social worker and black activist, protested the exclusion of black workers from federal contracts and jobs related to the construction of the Arch. President Lyndon B Johnson had just signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law, the Arch protest was led from a similar picketing of The Jefferson Bank and Trust in 1963, to convince the bank to hire black people for white-collar jobs.

To understand Green’s protest, one must understand the history behind the construction of the Arch: how did the Arch come to be? Why is it important for us to understand the history of it?

The arch was designed by Eero Saarinen in 1947 for a nationwide competition in 1948.

Saarinen is also well known for designing the Washington Dulles International Airport outside of Washington D.C., and the TWA Flight

Center in New York City. “He was born in 1910 and died in 1961 before the Arch was completed” said park ranger Jenny Burney.

In terms of shape, most people had designs similar to the Washington Monument, but Saarinen’s stood out. “His was so unique and different from anybody else’s design,” said Burney.

“It makes a shape of a gateway and [St. Louis] is the gateway to the west,” she added.

“All the pioneers came through here, and Lewis and Clark started their core of discovery through here.” “The Louisiana Purchase was [also] made here,” said Burney.

“The area that is now the Arch was the world’s largest public parking lot for about 25 years, and before that it was a 30-block mixeduse district with commercial, industrial, and a smaller proportion of apartments” said Clayton High School history teacher Daniel Glossenger.

“The residential displacement for the Arch was relatively small compared to other larger renewal efforts in the 20th century. The majority of people in the area were renters, and absen-

tee landlords and low quality apartments were a problem in the area in the 1920s and 1930s”.

On October 9, 1939, mayor Bernard F. Dickmann ordered demolition of the district, eventually creating the largest public parking lot, and later transformed into the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, now called Gateway Arch National Park. This $7.5 million land clearance project needed six years of negotiations and agreements for the mayor to have a crowbar in his hands. It wasn’t until 26 years later, after the demolition, when the last piece of the arch was installed. The demolition of the commercial, industrial town was somewhat minuscule in comparison to the problems of economic justice.

“The building of the Arch-- separate from the demolitions, which happened 25 years earlier-- didn’t dramatically change race relations in the area. There were some protests by ACTION and Percy Green that related to economic justice, and in particular, getting Black men jobs on the site. But aside from raising the profile of economic justice, there weren’t major shifts that

20 FEATURE

can be attributed to the construction itself,” said Glossenger.

In an interview with St. Louis Public Radio, Green said that, “MacDonald (president of MacDonald Construction Company), seemed to feel there weren’t any qualified blacks to be employed. We felt that was the typical mindset of most of the businesses when we began to talk to them about jobs. And, mind you, the military was full of blacks, and blacks were operating all types of equipment, including construction equipment.”

Green, accompanied by Dick Daly, a white college student, decided to climb the Arch in protest, climbing up to 125 feet.

“They sent a policeman up. There was an elevator up the side of the Arch. They had a policeman try to talk us down. He said, ‘You all have made your point, now it’s time to end this demonstration.’ We didn’t listen to him,” said Green. After being arrested for climbing the Arch, Green stressed that he was not just going to walk to jail.

“I didn’t feel that the crime I committed was a greater crime than was committed by builders of the Arch in that they were discriminating against blacks in terms of employment and doing contractual work. The moment they said, ‘You’re under arrest,’ I went limp,” said Green.

“We wanted to show that black males were being discriminated against. The system was destroying the family fabric. If the companies were going to discriminate against black males, eliminating them from the possibility of making decent salaries, then they were destroying the family unit,” said Green. There was a whole community in the 47 blocks demolished.

There is always a story behind a demolition, and when we begin to pay attention to those stories, we can find truth in how people were really treated. Percy Green’s story not only highlights the discrimination of black workers in the construction of the Arch, but also the tokenization of black people in higher paying jobs.

“Instead, they tokenize the effort. We never had black phone installers or meter readers.

Now, you see some. But not to the extent that there should be,” said Green.

The Arch is a very recognizable monument for Saint Louisans, but not many people know the true history behind the arch. It’s recognized as a symbol for the City of St. Louis, the history, and its people as well. Think about how many monuments or places you know that have been demolished for a “bigger” and “better” facility.

Some of those projects may work to help the community, but some do an immense amount of damage to existing families and communities.

As the monument’s 56th anniversary has passed, we must continue to apply the same lens of curiosity to other monuments around us and remember-every building has a story.

(Above) Activist Percy Green poses in front of the completed Gateway Arch.

(Left) Green is arrested after climbing the Gateway Arch in protest for Black inclusion of labor during the construction of the monument.

PHOTO FROM THE DRED SCOTT FOUNDATION

21 FEATURE

The History of Black Golf in Forest Park The nostalgia and legacy of Saint Louis’s greatest natural gem: the effects of “Separate but Equal” and the history of Black golfers.

BY ZOE DANIELS-SANKEY | REPORTER

The golf course in Forest Park placed restrictions on the participation of Black athletes until after World War II.

T

hough Forest Park is known for its well established urban park and outdoor recreation, there is surprisingly a lot to be said about its sports history, particularly the story behind its golfing history.

The park is massive, covering 1,326 acres of land which opened in 1876. The park hosted several historical events such as the 1904 Summer Olympics and the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904. The park received its name because the majority of the land was considered to be virgin forest until around 1875 when the park became a part of the city.

In 1887, the Amateur Athletic Association was formed. The formation of this association led to several extra additions to the park including a nine-hole golf course.

Something to keep in mind is that the parks

themselves were not officially legally segregated but functioned with a type of social segregation.

In 1922, there were a total of four African-American golfers in St. Louis, including Floyd Hall Jr. who wrote, “The Boys in the Park: A History of Black Golf in Forest Park and Across the Metropolitan Region.”

In the hopes of satisfying the “separate but equal” politics while also paying attention to the Black golfers, Circuit Judge Moses Hartmann established rules stating that the Black golfers could have access to the course but only on Monday mornings.

It wasn’t until after World War II that segregation of the Park’s facilities ended, including the tennis courts and golf courses.

Imagine living in a time where you were

only allowed to have access to the recreational sport that you love by decree of a judge.

In his book, Hall mentions that for the first couple of years, none of the Black golfers even came to play, and they protested to have the chance to play on different days with extended time.

However, with the realization that nothing was going to change any time soon, they accepted their fate and soon enough there were players who would come to the course every Monday morning to play with the time they had been given.

Luckily enough for them, their patience benefited them in the long run.

In 1931, the Paramount Golf Club became an organization and was one of the very first Black golf clubs west of the Mississippi.

22

FEATURE

(Below) Floyd Hall Jr., author of “The Boys In the Park.”

“

This club symbolized a chance and hope for Black golfers during this time to be able to surpass the standards the whites had set for them.

“

The club’s success increased greatly during this time in spite of The Great Depression’s expanding bubble of misfortune which was growing over the country.

Hall also spoke about how the Paramount Club not only accommodated the goals set by the original golfers but additionally the goal of being able to actually play for something. The goal to go above and beyond despite their current situation.

The goal of playing for real opportunities, championships, and most importantly exposure. This club symbolized a chance for Black golfers during this time to surpass the standards the whites had set for them.

In addition to the racialized golf history of Forest Park, a similar legacy transpired on the tennis courts.

Arthur Ashe, an American professional tennis player who won three Grand Slam singles, was among one of the tennis players who lived during this time.

During Ashe’s time people of color found that while they could technically go into the park, it was not always safe for them.

Much like the golfers, the tennis players also had certain times where they could play and use the facilities the park had to offer.

History teacher Dr. Daniel Glossenger said, “There were also other facilities that were always fully segregated. That often had more to do with the public’s perception of blackness and how it was associated with this notion of cleanliness or uncleanliness.”

The rules that were applied to the golf courses were the same for the tennis players which is what created the demand for change, and this demand for change was one of the leading reasons that helped with desegregating the park in the long run.

Next time you take a trip to the park to simply go for a run or play golf, you should remember that it is a privilege. A privilege that was not always available to everyone.

1474 1995

The HEARING B

y 8:00 AM on Tuesday, January 11, Missouri House hearing room seven was packed full of Missourians waiting to testify in the coming Joint Education Committee hearing. Among them were parents, teachers, students and members of advocacy organizations. Outside, dozens gathered to watch through the glass doors as even more filed into hearing room six, which had been opened to hold the overflow.

Just past the hour, inside hearing room seven, Representatives Doug Richey (R-38) and Nick Schroer (R-107) took their seats in front of the Missouri House Elementary and Secondary Education committee. The topic of the hearing: house bills 1474 and 1995.

House bills 1995 and 1474 – backed by Reps.

Richey and Schroer respectively – were set to be combined into a single bill. The bills establish similar requirements for public schools meant to increase transparency between teachers and parents.

“We acknowledge what we have historically

acknowledged as a people, as a culture, as a society,” said Rep. Richey in his opening statement, “that parents have a fundamental right, responsibility and authority when it comes to their children, and we appreciate that. That’s what this bill communicates.”

However, the motivating factor for many of the attendees was not the bills’ protection of parental rights, but their provisions concerning the ban of “critical race theory,” or CRT, in public school curricula.

The discussion initially centered on the parental rights outlined by the bills, but began to shift towards the section regarding critical race theory as the representatives fielded questions from the committee members. As Reps. Richey and Schroer left the stand at 9:25 a.m. to allow for witness testimony, the conversation veered almost entirely in the direction of CRT. Witness testimony allowed attendees two minutes to deliver a spoken statement before the committee, and to answer any subsequent questions from the committee. The witnesses alter-

nated between those in support and opposition of the bill.

Supporters of the bill argued that the provisions banning CRT in public schools were necessary, and that parents should be given more direct control over public school curricula.

“I’ve been trying to work with legislators on good legislation that will have a positive effect on our education system,” said Andrew Wells, the Missouri chapter president of No Left Turn in Education, who testified in support of the bills. “[The system] is supposed to be those core principle concepts of reading, writing, math, history, science, all that base stuff that we seem to be losing in our education system because we are becoming more and more concerned with social issues.”

Witnesses opposing the bill felt that the bills’ presentation as protecting the rights of parents were a means of slipping into law legislation regarding critical race theory. Many entirely disagreed with the validity of CRT as an ideology or legitimate concern.

Committee member Rep. Maggie Nurrenbern (D-15) called bill 1474 “a Trojan Horse to destroy quality education,” and a “smokescreen to harm [Missouri] children and their ability to receive a quality education.”

In addition to presenting strict but elastic preventions to the teaching of CRT in Missouri classrooms, the bills banned by name specific class resources such as We Stories, Teaching Tolerance, and “The 1619 Project” of the New York Times.

Dr. Mary Byrne, a co-founding member of Missouri Coalition Against Common Core, argued that The 1619 Project allowed teachers to develop lesson plans on “what is basically a belief system, not history.”

“You want to teach it as creative literature?

I’m fine with that. You want to teach it as a point of view from a Black writer who wants to promote her worldview? But it’s not history,” said Byrne.

Laura Horwitz, co-founder of We Stories, testified against the bills.

“The purpose of We Stories is to equip and build community among parents who want to start conversations with their young children about race,” said Horwitz. “While I strongly oppose this bill, I can see how it taps into something very real that many white parents are worried about. Too many of us have had experiences with conversations about race that have gone poorly.”

Horwitz emphasized the importance she felt of literary organizations like We Stories promote, which the bills would ban.

“Before you legislate anything, step away from the talking points, pick up a book with a character of color as the protagonist, have your own experience and do not take away that opportunity from Missouri students,” said Horwitz.

Testimonies continued until just before 10:00 a.m., when the representatives had to return to

“

Are we so petrified of losing power that we are willing to strip our students – our future – of the right to think freely?

- Penelope Orchard

the House chambers. They resumed at 11:45, where the conversation continued to focus on the parts of the bills mentioning CRT. Just before noon, Mr. Wells gave the final testimony in support of the bills. In it, he argued that CRT was being taught in Missouri schools, and expressed fears that curricula were shifting away from fact and towards politically motivated content.

“If it is being taught as a piece of literature, that’s one thing. If it’s being taught as historically factual, when it is not historically factual, that’s another thing,” said Wells. Wells later said that he felt that much of the history taught in schools today lacked objectivity, and that Missouri teachers were injecting their opinions into their curriculum.

“Truth is subjective,” said Wells. “Your truth and my truth are two different things. Your truth is based on your opinions and what you think is right and wrong, and your history and your life experiences […] my truth is different. History should be based on facts and proof.”

Following Wells’ statement, oppositional testimonies continued until the conclusion of the hearing. Penelope Orchard, a CHS sophomore, testified against the bills.

“As members of a nation that prides itself on freedom of speech and competition of ideas through good-faith discourse, we should find the propositions of these bills defective, and we are hypocrites for even considering them,” Orchard said in her statement. “What are we afraid of? Are we so petrified of losing power that we are willing to strip our students – our future – of the right to think freely?”

Witness testimony continued until just past 12:30 p.m., when the committee adjourned, and written testimony was accepted through an online portal until 12:00 a.m. January 12.

Witnesses who appeared to testify at the hearing on January 11.

PHOTOS BY SHANE LAGESSE AND IVY REED

“curriculum implementing critical race theory” includes, but is not limited to, any curriculum that: (1) Identifies people or groups of people, entities, or institutions in the United States as inherently, immutably, or systemically sexist, racist, biased, privileged, or oppressed; and (2) Employs immutable, inherited, or objective characteristics such as race, income, appearance, family of origin, or sexual orientation to: (a) Define a person’s identity; (b) Classify persons into groups for any purpose including, but not limited to, the targeting of only certain groups for education, formation, indoctrination, viewpoint, or transformation; (c) Perpetuate stereotypes; or (d) Assign blame to categories of persons regardless of the actions of particular individuals.

- HB 1474

The

LEGISLATION

H

ouse Bill 1474 contains a section called the “Parents’ Bill of Rights Act of 2022,” which proposes codifying parents’ ability to make copies of curriculum documents and review curricula without a requirement of nondisclosure agreements.

Bill 1995, in its section cited as “The Parents’ Bill of Rights for Student Well-Being,” requires public schools to develop “procedures for a parent to object to instructional materials and other materials used in the classroom based on such parent’s beliefs regarding morality, sexuality, religion, or other issues related to the well-being, education, and upbringing of such parent’s child.”

Reps. Richey and Schroer presented this assurance of parental control over education as being the main purpose of the combined legislation.

If the legislation were to pass in its current form, school districts in the state would be required to send a form to every parent at the beginning of the year that would allow parents to request notification in advance of “divisive or controversial” topics being taught in the classroom.

At face value, legislators and witnesses across the aisle felt as though the wording was overbearing and impractical, if not dangerous, for school districts across the state.

“Our world is constantly changing, evolving, things are constantly happening, and questions are always being asked in classrooms,” said Catherine Devany, a junior at Clay County High School, who testified against the bills.

“It’s just not realistic for teachers to know every single thing they’ll talk about in a classroom before the year even starts.”

Many in opposition said that the provisions either already existed in Missouri schools, while supporters argued that they did not in some districts, and that the concept - if not the exact wording - behind these inclusions would reinforce parents’ say over their child’s education.

“I’ve heard, you know, that we don’t need a bill because [parents] already have these rights,” said Rep. Richey. “Well, these rights are not being honored in certain areas within our state. Is it a Trojan Horse? Absolutely not. It’s to clarify for the superintendent, the school districts and also the parents to know that there is a minimal starting point.”

Representative Ian Mackey (D-87) - alongside a majority of the opposition - believed that the bills were indeed a “Trojan Horse” designed

“

Who doesn’t agree that parents have rights and that they should be able to access them when it comes to their children’s education?

-Rep. Ian Mackey

to instead facilitate legislation around CRT. “It’s a gimmick. Calling it the Parent’s Bill of Rights implies that there’s no legitimate criticism to be had, right?” said Mackey. “Who doesn’t agree that parents have rights and that they should be able to access them when it comes to their children’s education?”

Those legitimate concerns - and the main topic of witness testimony on both sides - were the sections regarding the place of critical race theory in the classroom.

House Bill 1474 defines the implementation of CRT in schools as “any curriculum that: identifies people or groups of peoples, entities, or institutions in the United States as inherently, immutable, or systematically racist, biased, privileged, or oppressed”, or “employs immutable, inherited, or objective characteristics such as race, income, appearance, family of origin, or sexual orientation” “to define a person’s identity,” “classify persons into groups,” “perpetuate stereotypes” or “assign blame to categories of persons.”

The bill’s specific banning of the 1619 Project, Teaching Tolerance or “other similar predecessor or successor curriculum” was controversial for attendees of the hearing, many of them former or current educators who came to express concerns about the potential impact of these bills in the classroom.

“I’m an English teacher, and I taught the 1619 Project,” said Piper. “[...] I used it for its poems, its poetry, that sort of thing. So I understand the 1619 Project and Representative Schroer’s bill bans things that are way out of the spectrum of the 1619 Project. So in American Lit, I wouldn’t be able to teach about civil rights, I wouldn’t be able to teach about the Harlem Renaissance, colonial literature, that sort of thing.”

Heather Fleming, now the founder and director of In Purpose Educational Services, is also a former teacher who is concerned about how these bills would force her to rethink her curriculum if she was still working in the classroom.

“The first thing it does is it takes my energy and focus off the things I need to be focusing on,” said Fleming.

Piper is worried about the long-term effects these bills could have on the current national teacher shortage.

“If people are under the impression that there are thousands of [certified] teachers waiting in the wings for this very moment to jump into education, they’re sadly mistaken.”

Th

U

RE

e

S I G L A E T L \

A

fter the testimony ended, Rep. Paula Brown (D-70) debriefed on a bench outside the hearing room. Brown, a former teacher, serves as the ranking member of the Joint Committee on Education and felt positive after the hearing.

“I am hopeful that we can work together to create a bill that might be a good bill for both parents and kids and educators,” she said.

Democrats have historically faced an uphill battle in the Missouri state legislature, where Republicans held a supermajority until six recent vacancies left them one seat short of a two-thirds majority. The shifted dynamics of the current session prevent Republicans from overriding vetoes or passing emergency clauses without bipartisan support, and have allowed Democrats to exert more influence over Republican-backed legislation.

The last controversial education bill to pass the Missouri legislature, HB 349, established an education savings account program to promote school choice. Although the bill was approved

by Governor Parson last summer, Brown said Democratic opposition was strong and hundreds of witnesses testified against it.

She is hopeful that similar legislation in the future will not have uniform Republican support.

Rep. Ian Mackey (D) also commented on the partisan nature of the bills and their surrounding conversations.

“I think today is kind of an anomaly in that regard. Most of our conversations, and even the one today, to some extent, especially in the private conversations I had after the public testimony don’t always cut along partisan lines,” said Rep. Mackey.

However, the Missouri legislature has followed the national trend of increasing polarization. Mackey described cooperation within the education committee as “growing increasingly difficult, and not just on the topic of education.”

“A lot of the bills we talk about want to address grievances with school boards and school districts and a lot of times we agree that a grievance exists and we sometimes disagree as to the methods or approach for how to address it,” said Mackey. “Something like today is completely different. It is so difficult to begin the conversation because we can’t agree on basic facts. And if you can’t agree on the difference between a fact and an opinion, and you can’t agree on what the facts of a particular situation are, you can’t be-

No school district, charter school, or personnel or agent of such school district or charter school shall: (1) Teach, use, or provide for use by any pupil any curriculum implementing critical race theory as part of any curriculum, course materials, or instruction in any course given in such school district or charter school - HB 1474

gin to respectfully and civilly discuss divergent viewpoints.”

Many members of the legislature agree that house bills 1474 and 1995 will certainly not be the last of their kind.

“We’re not anywhere close to being done with the conversation,” said Mackey. Similar legislation concerning CRT’s place in the classroom has come before education committees across the country in recent years.

The phrase “critical race theory” originated in the late 1970s as a framework for legal analysis, but has become a common phrase used to denote the teaching of history through a lens of systemic racial oppression and historical power dynamics.

An analysis by Education Week found that since January 2021, 33 states have introduced bills or other restrictions that would limit critical race theory and how teachers can present issues of racism and sexism. In 14 of these states, these measures have passed through legislation or been otherwise implemented.

In terms of next steps in Jefferson City, Mackey has plans to continue trying to reach a bipartisan agreement.

“What I’m doing is talking to every single member of the committee, asking them their

“

Who doesn’t agree that parents have rights and that they should be able to access them when it comes to their children’s education?

-Rep. Ian Mackey

thoughts on the testimony they heard, and trying to connect folks who are skeptical of what they heard today, or who might be thinking of supporting the bill, connecting them with folks who testified or were going to testify, continuing to try to persuade colleagues who may be malleable because there are some who are malleable,” he said. “And then also talking to folks who may even be hostile about the situation and trying as best we can to figure out what the facts of the situation are, and how we might potentially, at some point, agree on one of them.”

Mackey predicted that the bill would eventually be voted out of the Elementary and Secondary Education Committee and taken up by the Rules Committee, but as of this issue’s publication it has not moved committees. If the bill eventually makes it out of the Rules Committee, it would go to the House floor for a vote. However, Mackey and his fellow minority party members hope to use stalled time for leverage, as is often their strategy in the Missouri House.

As the debate over CRT continues across the country, the future of the legislation in Missouri remains unclear. However, is unlikely the debate or legislative attempts regarding CRT will cease.

As Rep. Brown pointed out, “Sometimes, we can’t always stop the boulder from rolling down the hill.”

Co

(From left to right) Andrew Wells, Heather Fleming, Rep. Mackey and Rep. Brown.

31 FEATURE

COVID testing at Clayton

The Globe interviews CHS biology teacher Adam Bergeron on how he and his team could facilitate COVID-19 testing at CHS. SOFIA MUTIS | PAGE EDITOR & HANNAH TEAGAN | REPORTER

A

dam Bergeron, a science teacher at Clayton High School, says he has the answer to the COVID-19 test shortage Clayton is experiencing.

With the recent spike in COVID-19 cases, many students and staff members are in need of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, a biochemical process that allows one to amplify millions of copies of a specific strand of DNA and see if they test positive for coronavirus. Due to CDC guidelines as well as CHS COVID-19 policies, many students and staff are missing school for long periods of time as they are unable to get a negative test result due to the testing shortage.

Bergeron explained how these individuals would not have to quarantine as long if CHS had a system in place that was able to test individuals for COVID-19.

Past students of Bergeron’s Biomedical Innovations class, now seniors at CHS, successfully helped brainstorm ways to establish a testing procedure. “We could take a sample in 30 seconds and have the results for you in less than 90 minutes. Nothing has to be sent out. The samples can be collected here in the building, they could be analyzed here, and we could get you your results by lunchtime,” said Bergeron.

CHS has the equipment necessary for PCR testing.

“What coronavirus testing does is isolate individuals’ genetic material of that virus and use it as source material to amplify through PCR bits and pieces of that virus’s genetic material,” said Bergeron. “Through the amplification one can literally see whether or not that sample has been amplified or not. That is really what these tests give us.

“What we need are reagents or chemicals,” he explained. As soon as the sample goes into the collection tube these chemicals would immediately inactivate the virus making it 100% non-infectious.

In Bergeron’s immediate search he found that the prices for these chemicals are higher at

PHOTO BY ESTHER WANG

the moment due to the demand for them. But he believes they are all within the range where we could certainly do small group testing and even whole school testing every couple of weeks.

“Honestly, I look at this as a worthwhile investment regardless of the cost. If the trade off is children being able to attend school or not due to isolation or quarantine, the cost is fully worth it,” said Bergeron. “[The school district] shouldn’t have to arbitrarily say, ‘If you are vaccinated you are out for 5 days, and if you aren’t you are out for 10 days.’ We want to be able to bring students into a safe school setting. The Clayton School District should be able to determine when a student is safe to return to the classroom as soon as possible.”

Beregeron assures there are no risks, only benefits. By having timely and accurate information, CHS would have a clear snapshot of who really has the virus, who doesn’t have the virus and how widespread infections are.

Right now, the belief is that in-school transmission is low. However, no one is testing asymptomatic people, so no one really knows where the transmission is taking place.

“It is hard to come to terms with it because we have been living with this pandemic for almost 2 years, this is not over,” Bergeron said. “We are going to be dealing with this for a long time. And as long as the majority of planet Earth remains unvaccinated, there are going to be new variants.”

Bergeron described how the skepticism over vaccination brings him great sadness.

“The fact that we are defaulting to a complete lack of science understanding as a means to make a decision, which not only affects personal health but public

health, is a failure of life science education in general. Understanding a virus is difficult, but understanding how your immune system responds to vaccination is even more challenging.

These topics should be integrated into future versions of our curriculum in meaningful ways,” he said.

He explained that the best thing one can do is get vaccinated and receive a booster shot if they want life to return to normalcy. Otherwise, the next variant could be even more transmissible than those so far. “That could be a travesty,” Bergeron said, “but a preventable one.”

Adam Bergeron holds up one of the school’s PCR machines that he hopes will be incorporated into the science curriculum at the high school.

32

FEATURE

The Role of Race in Theater The Globe covers the recent racial conversations occurring in the world of theater.

JIALI DECK | REPORTER

I. issues arise

W

hen students auditioned for Clayton High School’s 2022 mainstage musical, they didn’t expect any curveballs.

The theater department set out to perform “The Drowsy Chaperone,” a show parodying an early 1920’s musical comedy. The show wasn’t perfect to begin with; the act two opener features a song overtly making fun of Chinese culture called “Message from a Nightingale” and the show also includes other “tongue-and-cheek moments,” as described by Kelly Weber, the show’s director.

The theater department had no question they were to cut these elements, as they offer no real development to the plot, however they missed a key step: telling people.

Charlie Rubin, a student performing in the show said at the beginning of the rehearsal process, “The department states that they have known that they were going to cut ‘Nightingale’ for months but didn’t inform any students.”

In future shows, Weber wants to prevent this issue by being more transparent with students about script changes prior to auditions. She also said, “We’ll have opportunities for students to ask questions about the script along with an audition workshop.”

Soon after this issue arose, another surfaced regarding the show’s casting.

Trix the Aviatrix, the brave and sassy character has featured moments at the beginning and end of the show. The character was not written with a specified race in mind; however, the role was originated by Kecia Lewis-Evans, a Black woman. Weber, unaware of the original casting for the show, cast Claudia Taylor, a white student, to play the role.

Taylor turned down the role. “My personal belief is once a role has been originated by a person of color it should stay that way since there’s so few roles that are created for people of color,” said Taylor. “Even if it’s possible for a white actor to play that character, I think that those roles should stay reserved for actors of color.”

Weber supported Taylor’s choice and told the cast, “I will also admit that prior to Claudia telling me, I did not know that the role of Trix originated from a Black woman. I had seen productions where she was Black and where she was white. So though I can’t tell you what I don’t

know, I should have researched more thoroughly.”

As a result of these issues, along with circulating rumors about how the department would deal with them, Weber decided to change the show entirely. The new show will feature songs from “The Drowsy Chaperone” and other 1920’s musicals.

In addition to songs, Weber said the show includes, “a bit of a narrative and also some teaching elements about the history and the context of the time in which the shows were created.”

The title of this unique show is “A Deconstructed Melody.”

This is not the first time the department had to deal with problematic racial elements within a show.

The company’s fall play was “The Miracle Worker”. The show was chosen to feature a blind student. Adapted by William Gibson, the play follows the story of Helen Keller’s governess, Annie Sullivan, as she teaches Helen discipline and how to speak for herself. The touching story features a maid named Viney.

Elleanor Schwetye, the director of “The Miracle Worker,” explained the character’s problematic aspects, “Her dialogue follows a patois that is offensive [to Black people]. Viney is written with very little agency and no character development.”

The character was not cast in Clayton’s production, but was voiced by Kendall Turner, the only Black actress in the show.

The conversation around modernly unacceptable depictions of race in media have been brought under intense public scrutiny in recent months. When examining art of the past, modern viewers are faced with a tricky balance between recognizing the reality of the past, and respecting the current culture and live s of those who have been oppressed.

Nate Slaughter, a former member of the CHS theater department, believes racist elements in shows should be left as they were written, “I don’t see a problem with art being racist,” he said. “[...] If it were up to me I don’t think those elements should be reworked or taken out. They provide a platform for discussion and learning.”

Schwetye disagreed with this sentiment for “The Miracle Worker”, and decided it would be wrong to not change anything about the character.

“We can’t just say, ‘Well, that’s the way things were back then,’ and just ignore what’s not right,” she said. “We have a responsibility to point out why they’re not right, and work to reflect on how we are changing the narrative.”

With this in mind, Schwetye, Weber and David Blake, the scenic director, discussed how to deal with the issue. As a part of this process,

33 the group consulted Cameron Poole, the school district’s chief equity and inclusion officer about the character.

Poole didn’t give the department a concrete solution, but used his perspective to ask questions and allow the directors to come to their own conclusion about the issue. The group diologued about the intention and importance of the character, as well as the vital role Black slaves had in caretaking of white children at the time.

Poole pointed out, “Even though Viney was not a major role in the play, realistically she was the one who essentially raised Helen Keller.”

The department ultimately decided not to cut the character entirely.

“To whitewash it, or to cut it out, was not what we wanted to do,” Weber said. “It was more about finding the humanity in the character, and letting it be interpreted by the actor, as opposed to the playwright, a white man from 1957.”

Instead of traditionally casting the role, they created a narrator to voice Viney, read stage directions, and play additional smaller parts.

“The narrator can voice several roles, including Viney. And then to put a Black actor in that role doesn’t diminish them by placing them in that kind of stereotyped position, but empowers them to play all kinds of roles,” said Weber.

When Turner was approached about the character she remembers being told that “you would know [Viney] was serving people and you could sense she was Black.”

II. diversity This year, students and teachers within the department have taken note of the significant lack of diversity.

“This year, the majority of the people participating in theater, especially upperclassmen, are white. We have more diversity when it comes to gender and sexuality [...] but we don’t have a lot of racial diversity,” said Kathryn Davis, a senior in the department.

Among smaller groups, racial diversity matches that of the greater school population. In Miracle Worker, three out of the seven students cast were people of color and three out of eight on the production team were people of color for the fall plays. Within larger groups, diversity is much more lacking. The department’s second fall play, Our Town, had a predominately white cast. Out of the 38 students who auditioned for “Drowsy Chaperone,” only four of them were people of color. Two were in the original cast,

Turner said she didn’t fully grasp the importance of the situation until after having a conversation with her parents. After talking with them, Turner realized that in some situations she needed to advocate for change about the role.

“There were moments where I had to speak up because I was the only African American in the cast and the only one who knew the effect of [the racism in the show],” said Turner.

Schwetye listened to Turner when thinking about how to rework the character and worked to neutralize Viney’s stereotypical language; however, a southern Black accent was still used in the final production as a personal choice by Turner.

To some, the department had done a good job dealing with the issue. Taylor said, “My perspective was that it was handled beautifully with the editing of the racist material and the highlighting of people of color in that show.”

but after reworking the show two additional students of color were added to the cast.

The lack in racial diversity this year is not a recurring trend. In past years, the theater department has been one of the most diverse extracurriculars at Clayton. Based on data collected by the department, in 2017-2018, 29 roles were played by students of color. Recently, when the department performed Chicago, white students actually made up a minority of the cast.

Kamal Lado, the thespian troupe’s former vice president, noticed fluctuations in department diversity. “There were shows where I was the only person of color in the entire cast,” said Lado. “Other times, shows seemingly were chosen to highlight and grow the diversity in the department.”

The fact that this year only two students of color were originally cast in the mainstage musical is a dramatic low for the department. The reasons for such a decrease are complicated, but can be attributed to a general decline of diversity within the school population as a whole. As the district phases out the Volunteer Student Transfer program, fewer Black students are able to enter Clayton schools.

The Volunteer Student Transfer program was designed to increase opportunity for students living in lower income areas. Through the program, students living in the city are bussed to and from Clayton so they can attend school.

Poole explained the impact of rolling back this program will be dramatic in affecting diversity.

“Our district is about 14% Black. A little

FEATURE

To others, the role made them uncomfortable. The use of the stereotypical accent as well as the fact that Turner was the only Black student in the cast left a few students uneasy about the situation. In retrospect, Turner said she wishes the character would have been cut entirely, “Some scenes with Keller, when he’d yell at Viney or do something like that, and even for me, as a personal choice, doing the stereotypical voice… she just should have been cut.”

over 7% of our Black students of the district come from the Voluntary Transfer Program. So you’re talking about cutting our Black population in half when the program is removed.”

As a result, almost every extracurricular program will struggle with diversity; however, the lack of diversity in this year’s shows is striking and suggests that there may be other factors at work.

Weber expressed that student social dynamics are key, “In the past what has made the most difference in the diverse makeup of the theater department is when there is more diversity in student friendships and relationships in the school population in general.”

Students, on the other hand, aren’t as convinced by this idea. “I don’t think the diversity of friend groups is necessarily the issue, but rather the lack of information about what the department is going to do about the blatantly racist elements of the show,” said sophomore Angela Chen.

One thing that’s agreed upon is the importance of show choices when it comes to diversity.

Weber said, “I think the shows we choose definitely have, probably, the most influence on how diverse our cast is.”

In the past, when the department chooses shows that offer roles written for multi-racial casts, there is a greater number of diverse students interested in participating. For example, in 2017 when the theater department performed Hairspray, there were more Black students interested in being a part of the production. However, this year, when shows containing racist undertones were selected, some believe it made non-white students less eager to audition.

The process of choosing a show is not an easy task. The directing team has numerous conversations about the topic and they take many factors into consideration, including abilities of current theater members and the variety of roles available. Weber expressed a wish to do more shows that include diverse characters but is lim-

34

FEATURE

ited by the need for full orchestration.

“The shows most likely to be written specifically for multiracial casts tend to be modern, and modern shows often have small cast size and very limited orchestration,” she said. “These shows work for the Student Run Musical but don’t fit the needs of the mainstage musical.”

Moving forward, Schwetye said the department also hopes to get feedback from the student body when choosing a show to ensure students of color get a voice in the selection process.

Ultimately, creating a continuously diverse theater department goes beyond just choosing the right shows.

“If you’re new this year and have no experience, or just don’t know how to communicate to who’s in charge, it makes it harder to get involved,” Turner said. “It kind of feels like a closed community.”

According to Rubin, even if a new student had an interest in theater this year, many were discouraged by the abundance of racist elements in the show, “Those who are new to the district and want to join theater would be turned off the moment they decided to put the show’s name in Google and looked at the plot synopsis,” he said.

Moreover, being a cast member requires vast time commitments that many less privileged students are unable to fulfill. Poole explained that this can be a key factor in maintaining diversity, “A lot of it comes down to access; what does it mean to be a part of a club? What are the gatekeepers in terms of requirements and expec-

Students perform in “Our Town.”

tations that need to be met?”

While CHS does not require students to pay any fees to participate in theater, the expected commitments for students can be intense.

“It takes a lot of money to get really into theater,” said Davis. “Between pressure to take dance, voice, or acting lessons and the large time commitment which makes getting a job nearly impossible, theater is fairly inaccessible for those without privilege.”

Poole, who wrote his doctoral dissertation on participation in extracurricular activities in high school, recognizes the importance of involvement in clubs and activities like theater.

“The more activities a kid is involved in, the more they achieve, academically, attendance wise, socially and so on,” he said. “[...] When kids see a club or an organization, and they see someone who shares a common experience, they’re more likely to be a part of that.”

When a student doesn’t see others who share their experiences, it can make them feel out of place. Lado remembers struggling with their identity as a Black person in an overwhelmingly white school.

“I felt I had to assimilate— erase a part of myself to find ‘success.’ Be it in the classroom, on stage, or with my friends, I put myself and my identities second,” Lado said.

In the department today, the few faces of color within overwhelmingly white casts agree that race can unintentionally play a large part in feeling comfortable within the community.

“

The theater department is a place that is near and dear to my heart. It deserves to be a more diverse community with people who get to share that experience.

- Claudia Taylor

“When I’m in a cast and I’m standing next to everyone that is white, it makes me think more about my race than I’d like to,” said Turner.

Chen wishes casts had more racial diversity.

“I really love theater, and I also feel proud to be Asian,” she said. “I wish [the department] was a lot more diverse, and I know it could be, but it just isn’t.”

Sometimes, she feels being a person of color would inhibit her from having success on Broadway or pursuing theater professionally.

“There are so many white people in theatre, especially at Clayton,” she said. “It gets me in my head a little bit about what I’d be able to do in the acting world.”

Teachers are aware of the problems caused by lack of diversity and are doing what they can to make change. “We know we need to be better and are working to rebuild the department,’’ said Schwetye.

In addition, student officers are also initiating plans to improve diversity. While students don’t have control over show choices, Taylor is using her power as head of social media and public relations to increase diversity.

“The theater department is a place that is near and dear to my heart,” she said. “It deserves to be a more diverse community with people who get to share that experience.”

35

FEATURE

III. conversations “[The department has] not had a big discussion [about racism], not one where everyone who is a person of color is included,” said Turner. “I think that’s something that needs to happen.”

In the past, discussions about racism were brief. In Lado’s experience, “Hairspray [...] was one of the first true encounters with race in the theater department. Beyond that it really never came up.”

Based on her time in the department, Davis said, “From what I’ve seen, there haven’t really been conversations about anything other than the fact that a show has some racist things in it.”

During the Miracle Worker Schwetye said, “Even before casting and throughout the rehearsal process, as an ensemble, we had discussions about not only the racist aspects of the show, but also misogyny, socio-economic bias, Nativism, ageism and ableism.”

Despite this, Turner and Chen felt the conversations around race were not discussed in depth enough. “There are always tiny little conversations, but they’re always glossed over very quickly,” said Chen.

Chen thinks the lack of thorough discussion is because directors and students have a fear of offending people or feel too awkward about the

When we think about equity and growing from a culturally competent mindset, every part of the educational system must be able to work together and grow.

“

- Claudia Taylor

topic.

“Whenever I bring up subjects of race, people always get uncomfortable because it’s not something they’re particularly used to talking about,” said Chen.

Poole said having open-minded conversations about racism is key to finding solutions to difficult problems when they arise, “When we think about equity and growing from a culturally competent mindset, every part of the educational system must be able to work together and grow.”

Beyond the Clayton theater department, our country as a whole is just beginning to realize the importance of conversations around racism.

On Broadway, many classic shows are being reworked to portray people of color for more than their traditional stereotypes and some have been closed entirely.

As a professional actor, Lado says they have experienced the discussions that are taking place first hand, “Like all industries, in the past year there has been a major reckoning. [...] I have found that in professional theater, at least as I have gone back to work, identity is at the forefront of every conversation.”

Actors and theatre-goers are calling on the industry to do better in their depictions of race discussions about race are just beginning to bubble to the surface.

Clayton’s reckoning with race reflects a much broader conversation happening in the industry and the country. By using theater as an inlet for discussions about race, the theater department has an opportunity to inform and have important conversations with students.

The theater department has scratched the surface in initiating these difficult discussions. On Nov. 16th, prior to the show change and after the circulating rumors, the cast members of A Deconstructed Melody had an almost hour-long conversation about diversity and inclusion. Students felt glad that their voices were being heard but still felt discontent with the way the discussion was approached.

“It felt a bit like damage control,” said Rubin, “I feel like what they should have done was have a discussion like this well before auditions hap-

pened and the show began.”

Turner and Chen, who were also a part of the conversation, agreed many seemed a bit defensive and there was a disconnect between the teachers and cast members about intentions and approaches to dealing with racism.

Nevertheless, directors in the department are glad the conversation has started.

“As teachers, we are grateful to our students for starting the dialogue around difficult topics, and putting in the work to make the department a place for everyone” said Schwetye.

Ultimately, while difficult, this conversation was productive and offered hope for the direction the department is going in.

“While I wish these conversations had occurred before auditions or even before the show was announced, I appreciate that the directing team is taking our feedback” said Davis, “I am confident that they will take more proactive approaches when they plan to do controversial shows in the future.”

The theater department has, and will continue to be, a loving place for people to come together and share the joy of art. Although imperfect, the department is doing its best to listen and learn from students about these issues.

“Every conversation I go into, I know I bring with me my own biases [...]” said Schwetye. “I have to check my ego, check my privilege, and come into conversations ready to listen to the students more than anything.”

The first performance of A Deconstructed Melody is Feb. 2, 2022. The journey to reach this point was difficult for many, but after long nights of script writing and whispered conversations about what comes next, the department has finally created a show ready to be performed.

The work left to be done in reckoning with the racism of our past and improving diversity is far from complete in the department, our school and the country. These issues are rooted deep in American society, and it will be an ongoing battle to make things better. However, this isn’t to say there is no hope.

Poole said, “Usually, when you’re open and you share perspectives, you’re closer to solving the problem.”

36

OPINION

Where were you on

January 6?

“I was at school in my office (Superintendent at Fox C-6) when I heard of what was happening.

At first I didn’t believe what I heard and when I got a moment, I turned on the tv in my office to watch the news channel with some of the leadership in our Central Office. My first reaction was one of sadness, then followed by disappointment.

I recalled how my parents wanted us to move to this country because of what it stands for and the opportunities it gives to everyone to truly make the world a better place. I recall feeling this was indeed an attack on what this country stands for and believes in. Having said that, I will never lose hope because the United States of America is filled with amazing individuals who choose to believe in good rather than step back in fear.”

- NISHA PATEL “I was sitting in my living room with my family and we started seeing tweets and news notifications that there was a protest going on at the capital- we turned on the news and proceeded to watch everything unravel from the beginning to when it ended.

Right after everything happened, my family and I processed it for a long time. My dad, as a history teacher, was very embarrassed for our country, and very upset after everything was brought up on the news. Since there was a lot of tears and confusion and fear, he had my family just sit down and talk about what just happened and the importance of it. It was a really scary night.”

- CHARLIE MEYERS “On Jan 6., I was teaching at home. I was actually showing the certification of the electoral votes live on CSPAN for the first 15 minutes of each class to allow students to see one of the largely ceremonial aspects of our democracy in action. At the start of 8th hour, CSPAN cut their live feed from the chamber floor because unbeknownst to me at the time, the attack on the Capitol had just started. I really struggled to come to terms with what happened because the very foundations of our democracy were being threatened in an unprecedented manner.”

- AMY DOYLE PHOTOS BY AVA MARSDEN

“On the afternoon of Jan 6, I was sitting at home dressed in a full suit for a Speech and Debate competition. Ironically, I had to give two speeches about global affairs.

It was just starting then and I didn’t really think anything of it until the people started piling on each other and Savannah Guthrie came on the screen in a full blazer. I got much more annoyed than angry. I never at any point felt like Jan 6 came out of nowhere. Gradually, people went home, and I went back to my room to give my second speech about international affairs. The discussions we had in our classes were very revealing, the bogus claims heard in classes were forthcoming of the blatant lies about Jan 6 that I knew would come for the inclement months, or even years. I was a bit surprised that the incident didn’t generate more conflict at school, but I guess those who felt different than the majority about Jan 6 kind of quieted down after seeing everyone in such firm opposition.”

- CHARLIE RUBIN

the state of

American democracy V

iolence is social and political breakdown,” said Randall Calvert, professor of political science at Washington University.

This breakdown is coming for American society.

On Jan 6., 2021, a mob of individuals, some part of far-right groups, some new to politics, all encouraged by then-President Donald Trump’s false claims of a stolen election, attacked the U.S. Capitol as Congress attempted to certify electoral votes. This was akin to a pot that had been stirred one too many times.

The Clayton community, like communities across the nation, has to grapple with this event and the underlying issues of polarization and election subversion, perhaps even more in 2022.

occurred.

While it is normally the job of a history teacher to introduce students to various perspectives on history, with regards to the current decay in democracy and rampant misinformation, it is imperative to present factually accurate information.

In the immediate aftermath of the insurrection last year, Clayton teachers in a variety of subjects revised their plans for the remainder of that week’s virtual learning. History teachers, in particular, utilized resources provided by Hoelscher as well as simply allowing students a space to process what had occurred.

The violence of Jan 6. was neither a beginning nor an end, but merely a symptom of the underlying diseases effecting American society.

How do we teach and talk about Jan 6 as a community? Polarization: American Poison On Jan 6, Randall Calvert was sitting in his home, watching the “boring, ministerial”, counting of the electoral votes, preparing for the upcoming semester of classes. His eyes were glued to the television as he watched the violence unfold right in front of him. He was shocked. “It looked like real civil violence,” said Calvert. Yet this reaction was not shared by all Americans.

“I think a lot of Clayton students need to get out of their bubble, and see that people in rural Missouri think about issues differently and have different priorities,” said Paul Hoelscher, CHS social studies teacher and district curriculum coordinator. The CHS social studies curriculum underlines the importance of multiple perspectives through the use of various primary and secondary sources.

Yet, the current polarization and politicization of American life has seeped into the understanding of truth. Those with opposing political views cannot seem to agree on a set of basic facts.

“We have to draw a line, so that we’re dealing with a common understanding of factual information,” said Hoelscher.

The rise of conspiracy theories and misinformation through social media has led to a dearth of factual information among Americans, particularly with regards to politics. It is impossible to teach or productively discuss current events or history with students if they do not have the same foundational understanding of what has

“Polarization cuts down on communication, and when communication is cut off, a community becomes more polarized,” said Calvert.

American communities have come to be defined by shared political beliefs. These communities are often gerrymandered into districts

to group people with similar political opinions, voting patterns, races and socio-economic statuses, often to make the votes of certain people more or less powerful. These gerrymandered districts create an echo chamber, where people only receive information that supports their worldview and politics from those around them.

This phenomenon is exacerbated by social media platforms, particularly Twitter and Facebook. Their algorithms present a user with content that is similar to what they have previously expressed interest in, creating the same echo chamber effect, where users only see posts or tweets that reinforce their previously held beliefs. The platforms also promote content that elicits strong emotional reactions from users, particularly anger, which contributes to the rapid spread of misinformation, as sensational headlines spread.

This echo chamber effect can be plainly seen within the School District of Clayton and the Clayton community at large. Clayton is an unusually liberal community within the conservative state of Missouri. The city has voted decisively for the democratic presidential candidate in the last four election cycles.

“This place crushes conservative students,” said Hoelscher. “I think we have some adults in the building who don’t create space for that per-

PHOTO BY BLINK O’FANAYE/FLICKR, CREATIVE COMMONS

spective.”

A 2018 Globe survey of CHS students found that only 15 percent of Clayton students described themselves as holding moderately conservative or conservative political views.

Conservative CHS students feel the effects of polarization acutely, as their political views are in opposition to most of the people around them, making it difficult for them to express their views and feel they are a valued member of the community.

Extreme and even violent polarization in the United States is not a new phenomenon. The tensions in the United States in the late 1850s boiled over into a full scale, four year long civil war due to extreme polarization between Northern and Southern states over the issue of enslavement. This is a dire example of the violence that can ensue when people living under the same government cannot agree on enough aspects of their reality.

During the Vietnam War Era, there was also a great deal of polarization in the US, with people who supported or opposed the war believing that the other side was vehemently wrong and had to be opposed in every possible way. There were even some acts of domestic terrorism including bombings during this time period. Yet eventually, the political temperature of the nation cooled without a real resolution to the issues surrounding the war.

“It could be that the whole angry, polarized atmosphere goes away on its own, with no real political action,” said Calvert, “it has happened before. But it’s no way to plan for the future of our country.”

According to The Atlantic magazine, the only clear demographic trend identified among those arrested is that they are much more likely to be from counties where the white percentage of the population is in decline. Many Jan. 6 insurrectionists also expressed beliefs consistent with a theory known as the Great Replacement.

They fear being “replaced” in their status of social, political and economic privilege by growing populations of minorities. These beliefs can contribute to violence. Politicians can prey on these fears and beliefs to encourage allegiance to their party. “These are beliefs of a traditional, white, ethnonationalist culture,” said Calvert.

Two key beliefs unite 21 million Americans

The Slow Death of Democracy

into a category named by The Atlantic as having beliefs consistent with committed insurrectionists. Those beliefs: that Donald Trump won the 2020 election, and that violence is justified to restore him to the presidency. These are dangerous, anti-democratic beliefs that show an overall loss of faith in American democracy. Donald Trump himself described the election as the insurrection, and Jan. 6 as an act of protest against the perceived wrong of his election loss.

It was not only the events on the day of Jan. 6 that threatened the sanctity of our election system, but the events in the days and weeks leading up to the certification and the events in the year since. “We had an election in which there really couldn’t be any serious allegation of voter

While extreme polarization and threats to our democracy have surfaced in prior eras, the current democratic emergency will not go away on its own.

As of the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection, nearly 700 people have been arrested by the FBI and charged with crimes such as conspiracy, assaulting law enforcement, obstruction, aiding and abetting and trespassing.

The search continues, especially for the individual who planned bombs near the DNC and RNC buildings.

38 OPINION

“Democracy is the antidote to violence — if democracy is dying, violence will prevail, and our nation will be overtaken by autocracy. ”

fraud,” said Calvert. “It was thoroughly adjudicated. Every single state certified its election results.”

In addition, Trump and his lawyers filed nearly 60 allegations of voter fraud in various states and nearly all were dismissed due to a lack of evidence. This was accompanied by a push to persuade Trump’s base that the election was stolen. “People believe the leaders that they’ve come to trust,” said Calvert.

Not only did Trump and his allies attempt to prove dozens of baseless allegations of voter fraud, they also attempted to intimidate secretaries of state and members of state election boards into decertifying electors or replacing Biden electors with Trump electors. Many of these actions are illegal, and all of them are far outside the norms of American politics.

“It was an attempt to cheat, pure and simple,” said Calvert.

In the months since the insurrection, Republican majorities in state legislatures around the country have passed laws consolidating power over elections into the hands of state legislatures, as opposed to individual judges, counties and secretaries of state. These laws will give Republican majorities a greater ability to influence how elections are conducted, ending measures that increase access to the ballot box such as early voting and mail-in ballots.

Another possible implication of these laws is that in the event of perceived or actual voter fraud, a legislature could choose to submit their own electors, in lieu of those chosen by the people. This would be an alarming breakdown in our democracy. Finally, many of the people who stood up to Trump’s calls to replace electors have found their authority reduced by new laws, been besieged by threats of violence, or have been otherwise removed from office and replaced by people who are sympathetic to Trump’s cause.

This bodes ill for the 2024 election, at least for those who value democracy over authoritarianism.

Potential Futures Without action to stop the slow death of American democracy, several disturbing potential futures lie ahead.

“If trust in the system erodes, we’re going to see a decay in democracy, which is already relatively fragile at this point,” said Hoelscher.

According to a PBS News poll, 80 percent of

American adults believe our democracy is in peril. And nearly equal shares of those adults blame each of the major political parties for the demise of democracy. This is a toxic mix of extreme polarization and loss of legitimacy for the government.

Representative democracies derive their power from the people, but if the people have no will, or do not give legitimacy to the government, then it will fail.

America could be overcome by widespread cynicism, as people lose interest in a government that does not serve their interests. Politicians stop serving the will of the people. Families and groups become isolated as polarization drives further wedges, thwarting all attempts at communication and reconciliation. The concepts of shared identity and collective good will fade from consciousness. America as we know it will disappear; slowly and quietly, our democratic experiment will fail.

“I fear that you are going to have a party that entrenches itself in power. And can engage in corruption and oppression the way that out of control political movements do,” said Calvert.

Voter suppression has now become central to the platform of the Republican party. As America becomes more diverse, their demographic base shrinks. The last time a Republican was elected to the presidency by popular vote was George H.W. Bush in 1988. Yet as of a Gallup poll in November 2016, only 19 percent of Republicans support Electoral College reform.

If the popular vote was used to determine the presidency, the last Republican president’s term would have ended in Jan. 1993.

Additionally, Republicans have engaged in other voter suppression tactics for years, including restrictions on early voting and mailin voting, voter ID laws, regulations opposing automatic voter registration and other methods that make it more difficult for people of color, disabled and lower-income people to vote.

Many people in these groups tend to vote for Democrats.

While in many ways repulsive, many of these techniques are legal or at least quasi-legal, if not in poor taste. The main consequence of Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election were the flaws that it revealed in the American electoral system.

The Electoral Count Act of 1887 is the main piece of legislation that attempts to clarify the

Constitution’s instructions on how presidential elections should be conducted. Yet it allows for only two legislators to create an objection to a state’s slate of electors. Additionally, only a majority vote in both the House and the Senate is required to allow a state legislature to submit their preferred slate of electors.

It was only the courageous efforts and votes of various secretaries of state and election board members, as well as votes by legislators, who prevented this from happening in 2020. Trump also ran out of time. It is supposed to be impossible to change the certificates of electors after the Electoral College has already voted on Dec. 14.

Through the new laws to strengthen the power of state legislatures over elections passed by 19 states, the Republican party is on their way to a stranglehold over American elections.

The Republican party has become the party of minority rule. And minority rule is the gateway to authoritarianism, where the will and wishes of the few become the law of the land with no checks and balances or pathways to remove those few from their absolute power.

“We are a democratic republic. Republicanism is the rule of law. If the officials in power can violate the rules and entrench themselves in office, it’s not a democracy, it’s not a republic,” said Calvert.

The Antidote The violence on Jan. 6th was simply an outward expression of ideas and tensions that simmer just underneath the surface of America’s democratic institutions. These poisons have infected every part of the complex systems that govern America.

The antidote is simple: participation.

“Active political participation that values democratic values, republican values, constitutional values, is what’s important,” said Calvert The single most potent form of political participation is voting. Voting for those who will fight the authoritarian poisons in our democracy, on the state, local and national levels. This will require a unity of many diverse factions of ideology. From the Never Trump Republicans, to the most radical progressives.

This antidote requires agreement on a fundamental principle. Everyone who lives in our

country is an American. Every American is worthy of representation. This is the modern form of ‘all men are created equal.’

The movement toward understanding and uniting around this principle can come to CHS. American government is a required credit to graduate in the state of Missouri. Every student who walks across the stage at graduation is an opportunity to instill the values of inclusivity, agency and civic engagement into the next generation.

“Social studies teachers in particular have a responsibility to try to get students to see that their voice matters and that they can participate in the system,” said Hoelscher.

This embrace of agency and participation will solve the problem of apathy, but not the one of polarization. Polarization is softened through communication and community.

“If we’re truly going to embody the idea of combating polarization, then we ourselves need to create a space for discussion,” said Hoelscher.

In the wake of the 2016 election, Hoelscher and former CHS English teacher John Ryan created that space, an issues-based forum where students could discuss their thoughts and feelings about the outcome of the election and the incoming administration.

CHS also offers a current issues class, a social studies elective for juniors and seniors. This class provides a space for students to learn about and discuss current events with the support of a teacher to address misconceptions and teach media literacy skills.

Trump’s Stop the Steal lies have coalesced into a volatile, violent political movement, supporting a Republican Party that is working to undermine the fundamental understandings and systems of American political institutions.

It will take all of us to unite to save democracy and the rule of law.

“All the individuals have to be the ones who act, but it all has to add up to a successful countervailing political movement,” said Calvert.

Democracy is the antidote to violence — if democracy is dying, violence will prevail, and our nation will be overtaken by autocracy.

ALEX COHEN | SECTION EDITOR ANA MITREVA | SENIOR MANAGING EDITOR 39 OPINION

MYAC Little Free Libraries

The Clayton Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council is installing two Little Free Libraries for the Clayton community, and is seeking sponsorships and donations to fund the project.

Contact MYAC at claytonmyac@gmailcom.

To contribute,

Contact MYAC at:

claytonmyac@gmail.com

41

SPORTS

Winter Wrestling W’s The Globe takes a look at the CHS wrestling team.

LILY KLEINHENZ | PHOTO EDITOR

Junior Dempsey Brinkman (right) competes in a wrestling match, Brinkman is one of the 18 members of the growing wrestling team.

PHOTO BY LILY KLEINHENZ | PHOTO EDITOR

“G

rowing up, I didn’t really enjoy the actual sport itself ”, said Clayton High School’s Wrestling coach Adrian Kuehn.

Being influenced by his father who coached wrestling, Kuehn joined little league wrestling teams and wrestled in high school.

“Most of my experience and my desire to be a coach came from my dad who taught me about a lot of what I know about wrestling. Now I love coaching and watching the sport’, said Kuehn.

Over the past year, the CHS wrestling team went from a team of 6, to a team of 18 and growing. Kuehn points out that some of that change is due to people coming out to play because of fewer COVID-19 restrictions, but he also mentions a big part of the increase of players is due to the football coach motivating football players to try out wrestling.

“The football coach has really helped, because knowing that wrestling is going to help them reach their dreams of playing football professionally and making it a career, he has made a huge effort to push the football players to sign up for wrestling just so they can keep building their strength. Many professional players in the NFL today even say that the reason they are so good is because they played wrestling in high

“

It is really just you against yourself.

- Lucia Puerto

school and used wrestling as a way to build their skill in football.”

As other teams in the area are declining, Clayton’s team is more determined than ever.

With an increase of female wrestlers, more girls are finding their place on the team.

“There’s a lot of girls who are wrestling in tournaments now and it’s much easier to make friends”, said Lucia Puerto, CHS freshman, who decided to join wrestling this year.

Unlike other sports, wrestling is unique in the way that it is an individual sport.

“To be a wrestler, you have to be mentally tough to do it, because at the end of the day you can’t blame something on someone else because no one is there to pick up the slack, so it is really just you against yourself ”.

Puerto’s biggest challenge this season has been accepting her losses, “It’s really hard to lose when you are brand new to the sport and don’t understand much about why you lost.”

The future of CHS wrestling is looking bright. Kuehn’s biggest goals for the team next season is to have more state qualifiers and to hopefully have the first girl state qualifier.s for Puerto, she is looking forward to winning her first match and getting more of her friends to join her.

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120 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Disney’s Encanto

43

REVIEW

From animation to music to story, Disney’s most recent film breaks boundaries and warms hearts.

ISABELLA BAMNOLKER & CHLOE CREIGHTON | PAGE EDITORS

PHOTO FROM WALT DISNEY ANIMATION STUDIOS

H

ave you ever watched a movie and felt so connected to the main character that you could feel the emotion transcend through the screen? That you could understand what they were going through because it was so real to your own life?

Disney’s Encanto will capture your attention (and your heart) from beginning to end. Encanto breaks barriers in multiple categories; music, storytelling, animation, and especially the intersection of generational trauma and family values.

As a young mother, Alma Madrigal (Abuela) was forced to flee her home. Her husband died, but she and her three children were saved by a miracle—the Encanto. The Encanto protects the Madrigals, enchants their “Casita,” and blesses each of them with a power.

Mirabel is the only Madrigal to not receive a power from The Encanto. But when cracks form in Casita and the Encanto dwindles, Mirabel is the one who embarks on a journey to save it.

To save the Encanto, Mirabel must repair the broken relationships within her family. She faces her Tio Bruno, who was ostracized for his premonition of Casita’s destruction. She helps her older sister Isabela break free from the image of perfection that her family has enforced.

When Abuela sees the sisters growing to imperfection, she confronts Mirabel for destroying the family power. As Mirabel and Abuela argue, the Casita begins to fall apart and the candle burns out, leaving the Madrigal family power-

less.

The old Casita was a way for Abuela to make sure that the family never went through what she did. But despite Abuela’s intentions, the miracle damaged the family dynamic by making the members feel as if they needed to adhere to everything Abuela said because of how much she went through.

Encanto is about the cycle of generational trauma and how it’s passed down through family members. Even Mirabel’s mom would excuse her daughter’s ostracization because she too had grown up with it. In many families, first-generation children are pushed to give up their own childhood dreams to better the family.

One symbolic moment is when Mirabel opens the door of the new Casita, and how everyone is depicted on the door. The film’s final scene is reminiscent of the healing process that many younger generations go through when confronting family trauma.

Until recently, most Disney movies centered around white characters and cultures. Encanto breaks the mold by authentically portraying Colombian culture.

Representation in films is important. Many Americans have stereotypes of Colombians, believing them to be violent and uncivilized, but Encanto pushes against these ideas. The film focuses on survivors rather than perpetrators of violence. The members of the family Madrigal are empathetic and human.

Encanto breaks the Disney mold in other

ways, too. Unlike the vast majority of Disney films, Encanto has no true villain. Instead, the conflict in the story comes from damaged family relationships. Mirabel’s mission is to heal her house—and the broken family inside it. Unlike most female Disney protagonists, Mirabel has no love interest. Encanto centers around familial love rather than romantic love.

The characters in Encanto are dimensional.

The audience’s initial impressions of characters are turned on their head. Tio Bruno is not malicious, just misunderstood. Luisa is not always strong, she has insecurities. The perfect Isabela wants to release the emotions she has been holding in for so long.

While Encanto does a good job of building complex characters, some interactions in the film feel slightly rushed. Mirabel’s relationship with her sisters could have been explored even further. Tio Bruno’s reunion with his family also could have been more developed, since it was such a key moment. If Encanto were a television series, there may have been time to dive deeper into characters and relationships.

One of Encanto’s triumphs is its soundtrack.

The songs were written by Lin Manuel Miranda, the composer of the hit Broadway musical Hamilton. Songs from Encanto have topped charts, with “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” being especially popular. The music is catchy, clever, and takes inspiration from traditional Colombian music. The soundtrack has been produced in many different languages, including Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Thai, and Portuguese.

Encanto’s animation is impeccable. The characters are all expressive, unique, and have childlike features. Eyes shape how we view the characters. Tio Bruno’s eyes are saggy and tired, yet still hold a little light. Mirabel and Antonio’s eyes exude curiosity and excitement, representing the positivity that they possess.

In addition, many people of color can recognize people that have features like themselves.

Characters have a variety of skin colors and hair textures. It is extremely important for people of color to have multifaceted characters. Encanto empowers people of color, especially Latin youth, to be proud of where they come from.

Growing up, Disney is a pinnacle of many people’s childhood. The way that heroes are presented to us affects how we perceive ourselves.

This is why it is critical that we have movies like Encanto, that broaden what it means to be heroic. Heroes don’t just find magical powers or save crumbling buildings, but they heal wounds and fix what was once broken.

44

REVIEW

Don’t Look Up

The Globe reviews the newest Netflix original with a star-filled cast.

ANA MITREVA | SENIOR MANAGING EDITOR ISRA KAYANI | PAGE EDITOR

W

e all know Hollywood has a pretty big obsession with the idea of “doomsday,” we’ve seen hundreds of flicks entertaining the idea of Earth’s last days, whether it be caused by a zombie apocalypse, alien invasion or natural disaster. So what makes Don’t Look

Up different (other than the ridiculously large number of A-list celebrities). Let’s dive into it!

The movie follows two astronomers, played

by Leonardo DeCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence, who go on a media tour to warn mankind of an approaching comet set to destroy Earth. Very

early on, we find out that earth is not necessarily doomed because of the comet but because of misinformation, politics and corporate greed.

Director Adam McKay heavily uses humor as a way to cushion the films serious and dark themes, using techniques such as satire to poke fun at politicians and more so at society.

McKay uses other metaphors (some more obvious than others) like the movie’s name to represent society being unable to lift their heads up from their phones to see the life-threatening comet. Showing how we’re blinded by social media and political agendas to see what’s right above our head (in the case of the movie the comet quite above their heads). McKay also demonstrates in a comical light how we ignore dangerous situations like COVID-19 and climate change to instead follow pop culture like the fictional celebrity relationship in the film depicted by Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi.

The movie is 2 hours and 25 minutes long.

With celebrity cameos like Timothee Chalamet as a twitch streamer and Chris Evans as a political activist actor, you can definitely start to feel like runtime. Personally, I believe all the people in this movie dancing around near-death adds to the situational irony, but I can understand how it could take away from the plot and make the watching experience overall frustrating.

The movie has a disordered, unsatisfying, and frantic feel mirroring not only the state of politics but how the issues in our lives are unjustly influenced by social media, corporations and politics. This movie was obviously made with a lot of commentary on the state of our nation and finishing it felt like a cathartic release… until you realize that this is the world we all still live in. Without any solutions offered in the movie, viewers are left disappointed and hopeless about our country and human nature.

If you watch this movie expecting situational irony and dark humor you’ll very much enjoy it, but if you expect a feel-good comedy you’ll be left dissatisfied.

The Don’t Look Up movie poster featuring the extensive popular cast.

PHOTO FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

REVIEW

45

Beets & Bones

Beets & Bones, a new restaurant in the former spot of Northwest Coffee offers a variety of health-based items.

BY KATE FREEDMAN and KAIA MILLS-LEE | SENIOR MANAGING EDITORS

View of Beets & Bones from Maryland Avenue.

PHOTO BY MAYA RICHTER

L

ocated in Clayton, Beets & Bones prides itself on its abundance of nourishing and organic foods. The café opened in mid-December in the previous home of Northwest Coffee. Upon entering the restaurant, we immediately noticed its aesthetically pleasing atmosphere and modern design.

The main wall of the restaurant depicts a large mural of “Beets & Bones” surrounded by a black and white pattern which certainly contributes to the modern aesthetic. The café is relatively spacious with ample seating inside, including booths and tables, as well as some seating outdoors. Furthermore, the restaurant houses an organized area which displays several pieces of merchandise for customers to purchase.

Beets & Bones’ signature avacado toast.

PHOTO BY KAIA MILLS-LEE

In addition to decor which creates a pleasing atmosphere, Beets & Bones also offers an extensive menu including smoothies, oats, toasts, bone broths (soup bowls that contain supportive collagen and gelatin), and much more, but specifically focuses on their plethora of juices and wellness shots.

One of these juices, the “Blue Wave” adaptogenic lemonade, typically sold at $10, was offered to us by an employee to sample. Neither of us have had much experience with wellness drinks, so we expected to be disappointed in the flavor, but the “Blue Wave” definitely exceeded our expectations.

After consulting with the employees on the most popular food items, we decided to order the avocado toast and mango & goji oats.

The café offers several flavors of oats for $8 which come pre-made and are enough for two people to split. The mango & goji oats that we ordered came topped with mango, chia seeds, goji berries, and coconut. While we aren’t traditionally people who indulge in oats, this item was certainly something we enjoyed. However, because the oats come premade, you can’t ask for any add-ons or removals of ingredients. Nevertheless, the oats were very refreshing and served as a great appetizer while we waited for our avocado toast.

Beets & Bones offers

Mango & Goji Oats.

PHOTO BY KAIA MILLS-LEE their standard avocado toast for $10 with the option of adding a fried egg for $1.50, however, we decided against the egg. The café also offers bacon avocado toast for a dollar more which we heavily considered but ultimately decided against. The toast came out within minutes of ordering, was toasted to perfection and topped with roasted corn, feta cheese and tomato. It felt very fresh, and the corn, which we usually wouldn’t consider adding to avocado toast, added a unique sweet flavor which was contrasted by the savory feta cheese. Overall, the avocado toast was delicious, and we can see why it is one of the most commonly ordered items.

Because Beets & Bones’ elaborate menu and focus on health and wellness caters to the Clayton community, we believe that it will thrive in this location. While the more popular items may be more costly, we think that the health benefits and flavor certainly outweigh the price.

We certainly encourage taking a visit to Beets & Bones and hope to see the franchise expand in the future.

46 STAFF ED

A threat to Clayton’s quality education How could critical race theory bills affect the Clayton School District?

IZZY ERDMANN | PAGE EDITOR

WITH REPORTING BY NORAH GROSS When you walk into a Clayton school you will find classroom libraries full of books of every topic and posters covering the walls with key historical events, but imagine if those shelves became limited and the walls became sparse because of a new law. House Bill 1474, written to change rules about the teaching of critical race theory and parental rights in education, was brought to a public hearing on Jan. 11 in the Missouri House.

Numerous Clayton students and parents attended the hearing to fight against the bill.

Within Clayton people are asking what this bill could mean for our schools.

“We are really lucky to have a strong base in curriculum but also in educational equity,” said literacy curriculum coordinator Jennifer Sellenriek.

Sellenriek said Clayton is “absolutely” examining the roots of racism in its curriculum.

The bill’s passing would result in numerous educational resources regarding race, gender and reli-

gion being banned from use in public schools, threatening the values of Clayton’s classrooms.

In House Bill 1474, critical race theory is used as a noun, whereas in the original definition it is a verb. Critical race theory, according to the American Bar Association, is interrogating the role of race and racism in society, often intersecting with ideas about gender and religion.

House Bill 1474 states that critical race theory is the use of a curriculum that says that groups, people or entities are inherently racist, sexist, biased, privileged or oppressed. Also the employment of characteristics like race, income and sexual orientation is mentioned as a part of “curriculum implementing critical race theory.”

Assigning blame to a group of people because of an individual’s actions is also a key part of the bill’s definition. Organizations like We Stories, Programs of Educational Equity Consultants and The 1619 Project will be forbidden from use by schools if the bill passes, including their similar predecessors and successors.

Dr. Cameron Poole, the school district’s diversity and inclusion coordinator, has noticed that once he explains what critical race theory is perspective and understanding of it completely changes, “I’ve had a number of conversations with parents who ask about ‘what is critical race theory that I’m seeing?’ and really just wanting clarity. Someone who can have that Literacy conversation

“We are really lucky to have a strong base in curriculum but also educational equity,” - Jennifer

Sellenriek, CHS

Curriculum Coordinator

I think is extremely important to getting people to understand what critical race theory looks like versus teaching about race or teaching about diversity, culture or things like that.”

While Clayton may not use critical race theory in its curriculum, it does use a curriculum that presents facts concerning current or historical groups that may fall under the bill’s definition. The examination of these groups, people and events in American and

world h i stor y is highly important to giving students a well rounded education.

Without it, students all across the state could have a significant piece of their education lost.

“What I fear the most is that, I think public education is guaranteed for all students, all students should be learning, and if we have a small group of parents and politicians saying this

47

is the way it should be taught then there are a whole lot of kids who are not being taught what they need to become productive citizens in the world,” said Sellenriek.

Clayton puts an emphasis on offering diverse perspectives in the classroom. Every freshman reads the play “Raisin in The Sun” and learns the history and laws that affected the family the play follows.

Each year of history class students are taught about the Holocaust,

Pr o

v

e id

d

the preschool you will see the window covered in a rainbow painted in numerous skin tones, displaying the beauty of every kid who walks into a Clayton classroom.

Every book and unit in our schools is selected to teach kids about our past as well as the future they will help make. The passing and policing of a bill like 1474 could change everything.

Poole mentioned how the bill threatens the goal of teaching about diversity and equitability.

“If I can’t compare Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer for two experiences then I the School District of Clayton am limiting my ability to use my critical thinking skills. If I can’t point out societal issues or situations and conflicts and be able to write them down, you’re taking away some about of the most important engines in order history and to build critical thinking and reasoning the world they currently live in. If teachers and perspective and world views.” have to add an extra worry about whether maIt is unfair for a law to take away stu- terial they present is breaking the law, it threatdents’ rights to a full education of his- ens the integrity of equitable teaching in our tory and current events, but how much classrooms. would this bill really affect a district so The divide in our country has become a passionate about teaching diversity? threat to students’ opportunities for a complete Poole’s response was straightforward education. How can the Clayton community and to the point: our district will do every- prevent a loss of our values? Alongside going to thing to continue teaching how it is already. fight against bills like 1474 at the source in Jef“Our board of education has remained ferson City, conversation will be the key. committed to, ‘Hey this is who we are, this is “To me it starts with conversations,” Poole what we are going to teach,’ so I think it’s just said. “Different parents have to have different a matter of doing what we are doing and when conversations with their children based on their those consequences come trying to find the best identity. If you’re raising a boy, girl or someone way to deal with it,” Poole said. trans or whatever that identity is, there are cerThe bill could lead to extra stress for teach- tain conversations about that.” ers even if the school district is doing everything As a journalistic organization, we believe the they can to protect our education. banning of books is antithetical to the fostering “What I am most concerned about actually is of the free exchange of ideas and expression to not how we change as a district because I think the pursuit of truth. our district will support what’s right,” Sellenriek While the fight to maintain equity in our said. “What I am concerned about for our dis- education system continues, do not be afraid to trict is the stress that [legislation] puts on teach- voice your opinion, have conversations and help ers.” every generation of students, present, future and Every piece of information taught by Clayton’s past, have the opportunity to understand the teachers is carefully examined and researched to world around them. ensure that it is beneficial in educating students

“Our district and our board have made it clear that we are committed to doing what we do”

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slavery and the civil rights movement to learn about oppression that groups have faced in history and how these events still affect our world today.

In preschool, kids are taught at the youngest age using books illustrated with characters of all skin colors, gender identities, sexual orientations and religious beliefs. When you walk by

STAFF ED

- Cameron Poole

WHAT’S YOUR

Kindness Creativity Endurance

Humor Coding Art

Thoughtfulness

Empathy Curiosity Dance Leadership Engineering

Academics Music Strength Empathy

Business Sports Resourcefulness

MAKE IT STRONGER. STEER CLEAR OF SUBSTANCE USE.