Globe Newsmagazine November 2014, Issue 3, Vol. 86

CLAYTON HIGH SCHOOL, CLAYTON, MO.

NOVEMBER, 2014

ESMT

fERGUSON

table of contents November 2014

News

SeeDZ Cafe

Athlete

Ice Machine 250 Year Cakes

8 8

features ESMT Cortex Innovation Peter Shumway ALS

12 14 16 18

Class Sizes

24

Cover

Sports

Q&A

Profile

Anniversary Championships

32

Athlete Profile

35

United Provisions

38

House of Cards

39

Review

Commentary

Class sizes

Pro/Con: Concussions Healthy Eating Protests in Clayton Q&A

40 41 46 47 contents

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THE

GLOBE CLAYTON HIGH SCHOOL, CLAYTON, MO.

editors-in-chief

NOVEMBER, 2014

GLOBE Issue 2, Volume 86

neel vallurupalli ashleigh williams

emily braverman

jeffrey friedman peter schmidt

elise levy

ashley chung

alex bernard marina henke rebecca polinsky kevin rosenthal max steinbaum

webmaster

elise yang

EYES nicole beliz photographers ON mariclare gatter FERGUSON sophie berstein

zach bayly

copy editors

THE

phoebe yao

peter baugh gwyneth henke

senior managing editors

section editors

Cover Design By: Lawrence Hu

rachel bluestone jeffrey cheng lemuel lan

distribution editor lawrence hu business manager richard simon

reporters

sophia barnes

dima baldauf

neil docherty

charles brennan

beatrice engel SEPTEMBER 2014

noah engel

daniel cho

andrew erblich

lucy cohen

felix evans

emma ebeling

anna pakrasi

brian gatter

alexis schwartz

peter indovino

leah shaffer

joan kim

katherine sleckman

nisha klein

katharina spear

nicholas lee

photo editor

benjamin litteken

editors

sophie allen

elizabeth ngyen

grace harrison

olivia reuter

sierra hieronymus

harry rubin

audrey holds

nikki seraji

camille respess

mitali sharma

zachary sorensen

micaela stoner

helen tomasson

amy tishler

albert wang

karena tse

patrick butler

alaina curran

gabrielle boeger

noah engel

lily brown

matthew coco

bridget boeger

noah brownCLAYTON HIGH SCHOOL, CLAYTON, MO.

tara williams

benjamin tamsky cosima thomas

natalie miller

katie warnusz-steckel

graphics editor

audrey palmer

graphic artists

cherry tomatsu victoria yi

foreign correspondent

peter shumway

adviser

erin castellano

FROM THE EDITOR

I have this habit of writing down things that my teachers say during class on the edges of my papers. At the end of the year, when I’m flipping through my notes to study for finals or look back on everything I’ve learned, I find scraps of advice and observations scribbled in the margins beside equations and dates. Months later, when the facts themselves have faded, the words of my teachers never do.

“Life is a process of becoming disoriented and reoriented. It doesn’t stop.”

As I experience my last year of high school, I’ve been thinking a lot about what defines me. I’ve been thinking about how I got to where I am today—about where my passions, my loves, my joys came from. I’ve been thinking about who I am and why I am.

“Ultimately, we study history to become better people.”

No matter how many ways I approach the source of myself, though, I keep coming back to one group of people to whom I owe my complete gratitude: my teachers.

“We are all just conduits for language.”

I think a part of me has always believed that I would be a teacher when I grew up. When I imagined my future, schoolrooms appeared whether I was 7 or 17. This wasn’t due to a lack of creativity; instead, it’s because I couldn’t go to school every day and interact with such a brave, hardworking group of people without fiercely wanting to become one of them myself.

It’s as I prepare to leave them that I’ve realized this fully—how important my high school teachers are to me.

“It’s only the mind which imposes order on reality, which is artificial.”

My teachers have been my greatest role models. They’ve seen me struggle, fail, and become frustrated. They’ve seen me at my worst, and they’ve shown me that I have the strength to transcend that. They’ve revealed to me how my own mind works; they’ve made me familiar with the beauty of its operation.

“Your body has to remind your brain that it isn’t a body.”

My teachers have told me not what to dream but how to dream. They’ve shown me—by example—what it means to be passionate about something.

“Imagination is the most important thing when it comes to history because it allows you to feel it.”

When I think back to the many school communities of which I’ve been a member, I realize that within them it was always my teachers who were my constant warriors. They offered me a home—in books, in conversation, in learning. They gave me a place to rest and to grow. They revealed to me wonder, every day and in every class.

“I love that about history--it’s all ‘allegedly.’”

It’s for this that I say teaching is the noblest career—because, for me, it has meant being willing every day to create love and safety and warmth. My teachers have sculpted a place for me—and for so many students—to become our greatest selves in, and I can’t express how thankful I am to all of them for that tremendous kindness.

“The stories you tell yourself about yourself are part of what makes your identity.”

Flipping through my notebooks for the last time this year, I’ve found the words of my teachers past and present to be inked into my skin. They surface at unexpected moments, giving me strength, hope and comfort for the years to come.

Gwyneth Henke, editor-in-chief

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

September 27, 2014: Clayton, Missouri

Seniors celebrate after winning the Golden Greyhound at the Homecoming game against Ladue.

Photo by Leah Shaffer

NEWS

WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

Koleten Wong smashes a walk-off homerun in the 9th Inning to beat the Giants in game two of the NLCS. (J.B. Forbes/St.Louis Post Dispatch/ MCT)

Ebola

news and

A man equipped in protective gear in an attempt to avoid the spreading Ebola virus. (Jim Tuttle/The Dallas Morning News/MCT)

notes

by NOAH BROWN

Cardinals

Emerson Award

The Cardinals fell in five games to the San Francisco Giants in the National League Championship Series. The Giants also beat the Cardinals in the NLCS in 2012 and went on to win the World Series that year. The World Series trophy could still be coming back to Missouri, though. The Kansas City Royals swept the Baltimore Orioles in the ALCS and will face the Giants in the World Series.

Barbara Dobbert, a CHS math teacher, was awarded with the 2014 Emerson Excellence in Teaching Award. The annual award honors one teacher across the entire district for their prowess in teaching and the positive impact they have on their students. Her students feed off of the positive energy Dobbert brings to the classroom and her general passion for what she does. She is not only known as one of the best teachers around the District, but also as a leader in the community.

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A devastating infectious disease, Ebola, spread into the United States and has developed into a major global crisis. A few diagnosed cases in the States have triggered major, national attention. A worsening crisis has people wondering what the deadly virus, Ebola, actually is.

The virus is most common in Western parts of Africa, with thousands of cases documented across the continent. Most recently, Thomas Duncan died of the virus in Dallas, Texas. Urgent, cautionary steps will hopefully secure the US as the country looks to do their part in preventing the spread of the virus. The task will require much attention to detail, proper medical application, and cooperation with protocols, as one inadvertent miscue can have serious consequences.

Uber The wait is over. Uber has officially launched in the City of St. Louis. The much-awaited premium sedan service hit the streets in the Gateway City as of October 9. As a promotion, they are giving away one free ride for all St. Louisians.

After the free ride, the company gives a ballpark estimate that the cost of a ride will be in between the typical cost of a taxicab service and a black car service. For instance, they estimate that a ride from the Chesterfield area to Downtown St. Louis would take around $100. ďƒź

#fergusonoctober

photos by GWYNETH HENKE Protestors took to the streets from Oct. 10-13 to demand change on the issues surrounding race and inequality that the Ferguson shooting has brought to light.

People travelled from across the nation to converge at meeting sites including Downtown (pictured), Cahokia, Chaifetz Arena, Ferguson and Clayton. Protestors shouted chants such as, “This is what democracy looks like,” and what has become the anthem of the movement, “Hands up, don’t shoot.”

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Clayton Takes the Cake

The CHS Cake was on display outside of the main entrance for nearly a week. (James Gladstone)

by JOANNE KIM

D

uring Homecoming week, the front of CHS was home to one of the stl250 cakes. The four-foot, two-tier birthday cake featured cartoon characters including Scooby-doo, Snoopy, Tweety bird, Odie and many more.

As many St. Louisians know, the cake is part of an incredible art exhibit called “Cakeway to the West.” According to the stl250.org website, the cakes are “one part scavenger hunt and one part history lesson - all adding up to a year’s worth of fun exploring St. Louis!”

The purpose of Cakeway to the West is to bring attention to interesting places throughout the St. Louis area. The locations of the cake provide residents and visitors with an interactive way to tell the story of St. Louis’ past, present and future.

Activities Director James Gladstone was behind this confectionery visit. “It was just something I’ve seen around [St. Louis] and through social media,” he said. “I did my research and I contacted the people at the stl250 committee to get a traveling cake.”

There are two ”traveling cakes” that stay temporarily at a certain location determined by the stl250 committee,which decides whether the event “reflects consistency with stl250’s mission, vision and values.”

CHS’s Homecoming week was worth their values. The Clayton Home-

C

layton High School has created the opportunity for stronger parent-teacher relationships with the addition of parentteacher conferences at the end of first quarter this year.

These meetings were optional for parents, and they had the choice of what teachers they wanted to meet with, if any at all.

CHS teacher Justin Seiwell enjoyed parent-teacher conferences.

“The parents are very friendly. Everyone seems so thrilled to be meeting the teacher and I’m thrilled to meet the parents,” Seiwell said.

Similarly, CHS parent Lori Elliott found meeting with some of her childrens’ teachers to be beneficial.

“It’s nice to put a face with a teacher’s name because I don’t know every teacher at the high school,” Elliott said. “It was good to meet the teachers and get to know them a little better.”

Parents were able to sign up for conferences online which made the process convenient for Elliott, as well as for other parents. Each conference was 10 minutes long, including the time it takes for the parent to get to the room they are meeting the teacher in.

Originally Seiwell thought that the conference time would be plenty long. “It seems to cut off just when we get to the really deep stuff about how I can best educate your child, how I can best work with you to make this a great experience for your child,” Seiwell said.

Although Seiwell found value in the interactions he had with the par-

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coming theme of celebrating all things St. Louis was enough to draw their attention.

“I submitted our event on their website three weeks prior to our Homecoming week and they [responded] back,” Gladstone said.

The cake caught the eye of many students, parents and staff members. However, by the end of the week, the cake had vanished from the main entrance. “[The cake] was at the main entrance to start the week. I thought it was appropriate because quite a few parents drop off our students there,” Gladstone said. “At the end of the week, it was moved to the Greyhound entrance because that was going to be the entrance for Homecoming.”

The cake was a genius addition to the elements for the CHS Homecoming parade.

“Not only did [the cake] spark attention within our high school, it also sparked some attention outside our normal reach,” Gladstone said. Though the attention was brief, this giant inedible treat brought the Clayton community a memorable experience. 

ParentTeacher Conferences

ents he talked to, he does

by CAMILLE not believe that parentRESPESS teacher conferences are needed at CHS. “I don’t think that they are necessary. By the time students have reached the high school level they should have ownership over their performance in school, but they are a nice addition. I like to get to know parents,” Seiwell said.

Sophomore Tamar Sher thinks that high school is the time for students to practice having responsible independence.

“After high school, we don’t get to have our parents check up on us with stuff like this,” Sher said. “So now we have to be independent with our grades and make sure that we are on top of everything.”

Seiwell does believe that the addition of parent-teacher conferences has benefited him, and will also cause him to make some changes while teaching. He also believes that the relationships he has with his students plays a larger role in his approach in the classroom.

“I am learning more and more about my students which will help me in the classroom and it will change the way I teach certain units or the way I approach them,” Seiwell said. “The reality is, I try to get to know my students from their perspectives opposed to the perspectives about them.” 

CHS GOES ICE COLD

CHS Green Club has partnered with school nurse, Dena Bashiti, to bring ice machines to the commons and encourage hydration among students.

by GRACE HARRISON

To help fund the water attachments, the CHS Green Club is selling water-bottles. (Katie Spear)

L

ast year, Dena Bashiti spent her first year as a Clayton High School nurse. As the year progressed, Bashiti began to notice that students were coming to her with complaints of headaches, stomach aches, constipation, fatigue and stress. These symptoms, Bashiti found, were all a result of the same problem: dehydration.

With this pattern in her mind, Bashiti made it a goal to find a solution that would encourage CHS students to stay hydrated throughout the day.

“I looked around the building and noticed that kids aren’t really carrying water bottles,” Bashiti said. “And if they did, they really can’t fill them up at the water fountains.”

Bashiti continued to ponder ideas throughout the year until she came up with what she believed to be an effective idea to encourage hydration.

She wanted to invest in a water and ice machine that would be installed in the commons of CHS. The idea was approved enthusiastically by the Board, but the project was only beginning.

“Over the summer I talked about it with the wellness committee, and

they asked how I would fund it,” Bashiti said. “And that was the part that I didn’t know.”

At somewhat of a standstill without having a way to fund the project, CHS principal Dan Gutchewsky gave Bashiti the idea to present her plan to the CHS Green Club.

“I talked to Mr. Peck and the Green Team, and they immediately wanted to jump on board,” Bashiti said. “There wasn’t even any hesitation, they were like, ‘oh my God, that would be awesome.’”

“There’s a lot of factors that would make the school more green by adding a water and ice machine in the commons,” Hadley Alter, co-president of the Green Club, said. “For example, it would reduce the use of plastic water bottles.”

With a water and ice machine in the commons where plastic water bottles are sold, Bashiti and the Green Club believed that students would be more motivated to bring a water bottle for free instead of purchasing the plastic ones.

“Not everyone is going to bring a water bottle, but I definitely think the water and ice machine would decrease the amount of people buying them,” Bry Rechan, co-president of the Green Club, said.

In September, Bashiti, Alter and Rechan presented their idea to the PTO. The PTO was excited about the idea, but they had one main concern. “[The PTO] didn’t think that every kid would come down to the commons to refill their water bottle,” Bashiti said.

The PTO then came up with the idea to convert existing water fountains in the school into water fountains similar to those in the Center of Clayton - fountains with a water-bottle-friendly fountain attachment.

The goal of these attachments is to not only make it easier for students to fill up their water bottles at the drinking fountains, but also to give students multiple locations around the school to use for refilling water bottles.

As far as funding is concerned, Bashiti and the Green Club were excited to hear that the District would be paying for the water and ice machine in the commons. To fund the new water attachments, the Green Club is currently selling CHS Tumbler cups in order to raise their share of the funding to be added to the PTO’s contribution of money.

With the funding on track, it seems as though the water and ice machine and the water bottle attachments will soon become a reality in the halls of CHS. The goal date for installment is ideally November of 2014.

“Maintenance is checking to make sure that the dispensers are compatible with the fountains we have now,” Alter said. “And that’s the only barrier that would be in our way of pursuing the project.”

Seniors Alter and Rechan also hope to accomplish a little more with the project than only encouraging hydration and staying green.

“I feel like this project, it’s not just for the high school,” Alter said.

“Parents are interested, people outside of the school have approached us about getting involved with the project. So we are just trying to do something big that will make a difference and will be, I guess, our senior legacy.” 

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ESMT

Wydown Middle School is using the unique grading systems of Standard Based Assessment.

by CHARLES BRENNAN, DANIEL CHO and NEEL VALLURUPALLI

Freshman Fiona McCarthy distinctly remembers getting a specific test back in seventh grade. She remembers looking down at her grade: a B. “What did I get wrong?” she thought. Scouring her test and looking for her errors she was puzzled to find none. “How can this be? It doesn’t make any sense.”

Should a student get a 89 percent if he or she achieves total accuracy on a test? And to get a 100 percent score, should students be required to know more information than the teacher taught?

McCarthy recalls feeling confused and annoyed. Since then, she learned why she got the grade she received. “To get a 100 percent you need to go above and beyond, pretty much ‘Exceeds Expectations’,” she said. “How are you suppose to ‘Exceed Expectations’ when the teacher doesn’t clearly define what exceeding expectations is?”

Teachers at Wydown Middle School (WMS) began utilizing a new grading system called Standard Based Assessment (SBA) almost a decade

ago. However, in recent years, the number of teachers using this grading system has grown.

SBA has sparked controversy and discussion throughout WMS. The system is designed to give more descriptive means of communicating a student’s grades. Rather than telling the student that they had a 90 percent on an assignment, it clarifies what exactly was missed.

As a result, grades are now broken up into different categories. For example, instead of having one grade for a grammar test, that test would now be divided into categories such as nouns, verbs and adjectives. The standards that are commonly used are E, S, M and T or B. E stands for Exceeds Expectations (99 percent), S for Standards Met (89 percent) and M for Making Progress (79 percent), T for Target for Improvement or B which means Basic Understanding (69 percent). For some students and parents, the concept is hard to grasp. So instead of receiving a S on a grammar test, you would get a different grade for each category.

Pros

Photos by Katie Warnusz Steckel

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“Part of it is that we’ve grown up in a grade driven society and that is something that I accept that is reality,” Wydown Middle School Principal Mary Ann Goldberg said. “But I understand that kids are driven by that so we have to help them get past it.”

Goldberg believes that teachers should be using the system and policy that is best for the teachers. Each teacher is different and teaches best using a certain grading scale, just like students express themselves in different ways.

She says that in real life, people aren’t evaluated by As and Bs, but by standards that are set out by the evaluator. In this way, Goldberg believes that the SBA system prepares students for later life.

“I think my approach is that whatever way that a teacher feels is the best way to convey to a student whether they are learning or not is the system that they should choose,” Goldberg said.

Terri Sheldon is a retired history teacher from the Normandy and St. Charles School District. Throughout her teaching experience, she used the SBA system.

“This also helps prepare you for college when the professors don’t use the same rubric,” she said. “It is the teacher’s job to create the best learning environment for their course. That might be different if you are a band teacher or if you are a science teacher. The curriculum are so different it is obvious that they would be scored differently.”

Joshua Wilmsmeyer, science teacher for team ⅞ at WMS is a proponent of the Standards Based grading system. In his class, a student mastering the material taught would get an S grade, but would need to go beyond the instructed course work to get an E. “Why would a student ever want to excel if they get the A+ with just the basic knowledge?”

Wilmsmeyer said.

Furthermore, some feel traditional grades like A, B, C and D are arbi-

trary. An A in one class could be very different than an A in another class.

Some teachers grade more harshly than others. Some teachers say an A would mean a student knows the standard amount of information and in another class a B would mean the same thing.

One reason the staff implemented this new grading scale was to clear up the confusion for parents who questioned the teachers on the normal letter grade system. Improved communication is a key objective with the SBA. Wilmsmeyer says that since the elementary schools have been utilizing SBA for a while, to implement this in the middle school would not be a difficult task.

Some students find this system helpful. David Yeom, a current 8th grader at WMS said, “I would rather get an S than a B on an assignment.”

Yeom feels that since these grades are more subjective they allow for better evaluation.

Cons “It sounds great but there are several problems,” Martin Rochester said. Rochester is a professor of Political Science at University of Missouri-St. Louis and author of the book, “Class Warfare: Besieged Schools,

Bewildered Parents, Betrayed Kids and the Attack on Excellence.”

A Clayton resident and frequent attendee of board meetings, Rochester also feels that there are hidden reasons why the SBA system is being implemented. “I think that there is hidden agenda in SBA … that it is to downplay grades, grading, ranking and competition.”

Rochester realizes the ideals of the system but does not think it can be carried out. “I understand the logic behind SBA, it sounds great in theory,” he said. “But I also think that practice can cause a potential disaster.”

Heather Puerto is a longtime Spanish teacher at Wydown. She plans on implementing the system in her classes at the beginning of next school year, but sees it as a potential challenge for colleges viewing grades.

“It might be a little bit difficult if universities are looking for the traditional letter grades and numerical percentages and all they see is this SBA,” she said.

In a school board meeting on March 6th, 2013, former board member Omri Praiss said, “‘What worries me is that we’re changing something and it’s a cultural shift that takes a life of it’s own … it’s just a fad.”

Praiss’ perspective was that this is an unnecessary change to an already well-working system. When students complete an assignment and do everything that was needed and have full understanding, but they still receive an S, they react much like McCarthy did. 

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nspiring nnovation

by NICK LEE

“I had no idea what’s going on here.” That’s the most common quote that Donn Rubin, President and CEO of BioSTL and Clayton High School parent, hears when he meets with visiting investors and entrepreneurs from other cities.

Rubin’s company, BioSTL, is attempting to transform the St. Louis economy into a hub for innovative startup businesses centered around the biotech industry. BioSTL has been working to create communities conducive to the growth of startups and Rubin has been involved in developing the Central West End and Forest Park Southeast residential neighborhoods, a region known as the Cortex Innovation District.

Rubin describes the Cortex Innovation District as a collaboration between Washington University, St. Louis University, BJC Healthcare, Missouri Botanical Gardens and the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

The organizations are all working towards a common vision of “transforming a neighborhood from a decaying, old industrial neighborhood into a strong, vibrant, multi-faceted biotech -Donn and innovation district.”

As part of their efforts to create a community with the infrastructure necessary to support the growth of startups, Rubin and BioSTL have been trying to attract investors, bioscience

experts and new companies to the St. Louis region.

“A lot of high-tech companies would look into St. Louis if they understood [what was] going on here,” Rubin said. “We’re trying to do a better job of telling St. Louis’s story.”

Rubin believes that St. Louis has certain qualities that will allow it to compete with leading cities like San Francisco or Boston.

One of these qualities is St. Louis’s high capital efficiency, meaning that because things cost less in St. Louis than in big cities, investment dollars go a lot further.

“It might take half a million dollars in St. Louis to advance a company to the point where it might take $5 million to do the same thing in California,” Rubin said.

Additionally, St. Louis has developed a collaborative, trustful and supportive environment for startups. The people of St. Louis have something Rubin calls an “unpretentious professionalism,” or a straightforward competence and professionalism that makes them easier to work with. The helpful environment of St. Louis is appealing to startups which might get lost in the competitiveness of other big cities.

Rubin Part of the supportive environment is a direct result of the enormous amount of people with expertise in the biotech industry.

“We have more plant scientists in St. Louis than anywhere else in the world,” Rubin said.

The attitude and cost efficiency in St. Louis sets the city apart from others.

“We find that if we get on people’s list at all, then we are very competitive against other parts of the country in recruiting companies, top people or investors,” Rubin said.

Peter Finley, Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship at Washington University explained the importance of BioSTL’s recruiting efforts.

“To pull together all the resources to make a business, you need a variety of skills that are beyond the ability of any one person or even a small

“We’re trying to do a better job of telling St. Louis’s story.”

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group of people,” Finley said.

Finley described how a startup might create a new way of treating stroke. Even if a company had a new method that was already developed and more effective than anything else available, they would still have to pull together investment capital, the expertise of numerous physicians, lawyers, accountants and business mentors.

Together, all of these professionals create an ecosystem for startups.

During the past 12 years, Rubin has served on a board of directors working to create a thriving ecosystem in the Cortex Innovation District.

Since it’s founding, the board of directors behind Cortex has worked to develop over 200 acres of land. However, they found very early on that there are challenges associated with redeveloping urban land versus developing in rural areas. Many of the different plots Cortex acquired were owned by different individuals, and many had environmental hazards.

“There’s lots of challenges and barriers with developing something meaningful in an urban neighborhood like that,” Rubin said. “So it was important for all those institutions to come together, helping to make it easier.”

Since its founding, Cortex has had -Peter enormous success. The district now consists of several buildings, including the @4240 building, a newly renovated and almost fully leased old electric factory.

“You’ve got corporate, university and startup companies all mixing together in that building,” Rubin said. “It’s barely been open and it’s already almost full.”

For the future, Rubin says that Cortex is planning on expanding to include several additional buildings. Already, the board of directors has begun plans for a new city park in the Cortex Innovation District, and they have convinced IKEA to open their first store in Missouri there. Recently, the board received $10 million in government funding to create a metrolink stop in the district, facilitating transportation of individuals from outside the district.

Despite the success of both Cortex and BioSTL, Rubin says that there are still barriers to transforming St. Louis into a hub for innovation.

Currently, St. Louis does not have many investors willing to risk the large scale financial capital necessary for the development of later stage companies and as a result, St. Louis risks losing these companies.

In addition to capital, Rubin explained the lack of “serial entrepre-

n e u rs ,” or experienced businessmen who have built many companies, and can act as mentors towards newer companies.

Finley, who has worked as a mentor to startups before, described a major factor in the success of a company.

“The most important thing is to find a unique solution to a big customer problem,” Finley said. The rule of thumb is your solution has to be about ten times better than the solution currently being used.”

Like Rubin, Finley believes that St. Louis lacks investment capital for later Finley stage companies.

“There is actually a fair amount of latent and inactive investment capital in St. Louis sort of waiting to see if St. Louis based startups can be successful,” Finley said.

Finley believes that with enough success stories, the latent capital will begin to pursue investments in startups.

However, with the current investors, Finley said that, “we’re not where we need to be if we really want to have a very active startup scene.”

Nonetheless, Finley believes that with more success stories will come more investors.

“We will keep a whole lot of people here that might otherwise leave for someplace else where they can assemble resources more easily,” he said.

Like Finley, Rubin expressed the importance of addressing the barriers prohibiting the growth of startups.

“Basically all of the net new jobs in the United States have been created by companies that are five years old or less,” Rubin said. “Big, old companies are shrinking. Factories are closing and the new jobs are being created by entrepreneurs and startup companies.” 

“The most important thing is to find a unique solution to a big customer problem,”

Photos by Noah Engel

Shumwhere New

by JEFFREY FRIEDMAN

A

lthough Doha, Qatar couldn’t be further from home for Peter Shumway, sometimes the Ford F-150’s make him feel as though he never really left the United States.

Then again, his experience over the past few months at his new home in the Middle East has already changed him significantly and will surely continue to alter his outlook on life for the better.

Shumway was ecstatic when he heard the news about his family’s move during his junior year at CHS. “I would definitely say that I was the most excited member in my family,” Shumway said. “My dad and I were probably a lot more excited than my mom because obviously, when you think of a Persian gulf state, you’re not exactly sure how women are treated.”

One thing that Shumway knew for sure before his family’s move was that, in many respects, Qatar is a wealthy country.

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“About a mile away from my house there is a Bugatti dealership, a Ferrari dealership and a Lamborghini dealership,” Shumway said. “There’s a lot of wealth around Qatar, and you definitely see that, especially at the school that I go to.”

Although he isn’t surprised by the display of wealth in the country’s capital, Shumway is in fact astounded by the overwhelming amount of poverty that exists in conjunction with the wealth, particularly among immigrants to the country.

However, what has been more foreign than anything to Shumway and his family is the censorship issue in the country. By law, no one is allowed to talk about religion in public.

Shumway described Doha as being a “transient, open place,” transient because not many foreigners have been there for more than three or four years and open because people seem very willing to make new friends and to expose themselves to new ideas.

Shumway’s family lives in a compound with other American families.

The compound is protected by six guards. Every day, Shumway’s bus ride to school is monitored by the compound guards in order to watch over the students of the foreign families.

“I have to walk through a metal detector every day to get to school, and I’m not allowed to leave my backpack unattended because it’s a safety hazard,” Shumway said.

The school is on a block schedule. Each day, Shumway has four blocks of classes. In between the first and second classes, there is a thirty-minute prayer break. No teaching occurs during this time period, and there are designated prayer rooms to which many of the students migrate in order to say their prayers before the start of the second block.

Shumway’s lunch meal usually consists of curry, falafel and chicken biryani. “The food is actually really, really good,” Shumway said.

The compound provides the families that occupy it with most all of their basic needs, so there is not much of a need to leave the vicinity.

The compound is either a current or soon-to-be home to a grocery store, a barber shop, a dry cleaner, a swimming pool, a squash court, a tennis court and a basketball court.

However, over the weekend, the Shumways go to the beach and local markets fairly frequently. In addition, because the weather is so hot, they go to the swimming pool as often as possible.

First and foremost, Clayton has provided Shumway with the opportunity to compete at an international school like the one that he currently attends in Doha.

However, Clayton has also helped in many other senses to prepare him for his time spent in a place that, until his move in late August, was completely foreign to him.

“I think that Clayton has prepared me really well to be able to approach different people with different backgrounds and have an educated conversation with them and just really learn from them,” Shumway said.

According to Shumway, although the people at Clayton don’t come from nearly as many different countries as do the people that attend his international school, he feels as though Clayton students offer a range of viewpoints just as wide as the range he finds among students in Doha.

Like Clayton, Doha is a very metropolitan area.

“There are 75 nationalities at my high school,” Shumway said. “It’s really diverse.”

In actuality, “really” is undoubtedly an understatement.

Shumway attends the American School of Doha. Although, as the name implies, it was created primarily for young adults of American families living in Qatar’s capital, Shumway finds himself interacting with Qataris as well as people from all over the world throughout the typical school day.

Shumway’s interactions with people of all different backgrounds have already had an enormous impact on his over arching life perspective.

“Something I’m going to take back with me,” Shumway said, “is the idea that I’m of a more optimistic attitude regarding people just because it seems like everybody here comes from very different places, very different backgrounds, but despite that, everybody here, all the people in my school, I’ve just really noticed that whether they’re Qatari, Indian, Indonesian or Korean, they’re all working really hard to figure out who they are.”

Not only that, but Shumway said that the words of many of his schoolmates have had a tremendous amount of influence on his outlook on life.

Such words are priceless, and it would have been unlikely for Shumway to hear similar sentiments expressed in any setting other than this one.

“I was in a speech class and I heard a lot of different people talk about how they balance their religious traditions and the conservatism in their family with a more ‘Westernized’ education,” Shumway said.

According to Shumway, one of the ideas that will likely stick with him the most after his time spent in Qatar is an appreciation for all of the valuable things that an exposure to foreign cultures has to offer.

“I’m mostly looking forward to the opportunity to travel more,” Shum-

way said. “Having greater access to different international cultures and being able to learn from them, I’ve had some really good conversations with people at school, and I just hope to be able to have those same kinds of conversations and I hope that I’ll be able to learn and just continue to learn about the world around me. If I can continue to do that, I think that my move here will be successful for me.” 

(Left) Shumway and his family at the Roman Amphitheater in Alexandria, Egypt. (Top right) Shumway in front of the Red Sea. (Bottom right) The local mosque just outside of the Shumway family’s compound. (Photos by Peter Shumway.) feature

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Transcending Tragedy For CHS teacher Craig Sucher, ALS hits close to home.

by NATALIE MILLER

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It was 4 o’clock on a cold January afternoon. CHS science teacher Craig Sucher was sitting in a faculty meeting when he heard the familiar buzzing of his phone. He had just received a text from his mother, but this message was out of the ordinary. It contained life-altering news: Sucher’s mother had just been diagnosed with ALS. In past weeks, videos of ordinary people, celebrities and public figures completing the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge have exploded across social media feeds around the world. However, some people argue that participants are losing sight of the meaning behind the challenge.

Sucher’s mother is among the 30,000 currently battling this disease.

ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, stands for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. A neurodegenerative disease, ALS affects the spinal cord and brain. The degeneration and eventual death of the body’s motor neurons leads to an initial loss of voluntary muscle movement.

As the disease progresses, often complete paralysis and even death occur. Similar to cancer, ALS is caused by a mutation of cells. It remains unknown why this mutation occurs, which makes it impossible to prediagnose this disease. It is especially devastating to be diagnosed with ALS, for a person never really knows that it is coming.

Social media has played a major role in spreading news of the Ice Bucket Challenge and as a result, raising awareness of ALS. Apps such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have all contributed to the cause as a forum for people to share their Ice Bucket Challenge videos with others.

Senior Andrew Erblich participated in the challenge and believes that social media has brought so much attention to ALS because it increases the relevance of the issue, while providing easy access to information.

“Because people’s friends were completing the challenge, others felt more obligated to learn about ALS,” Erblich said.

There have been recent developments in the steps toward finding a cure, but the question of what is causing the actual death of the body’s motor neurons still remains unanswered.

As a biology teacher, Sucher has a good understanding of the nervous system. However, due to the mysterious nature and rarity of this disease, he initially didn’t know much more about it than the average person.

He described his feelings upon receiving the news as overwhelming.

“It was a flood of everything, you’re talking disbelief and distraught,” Sucher said.

The recent outpouring of donations due to the Ice Bucket Challenge has hit close to home for Sucher and his family. He believes that raising awareness is necessary to push the importance of more research about the disease and to find a cure.

Since July, a total of $115 million dollars has been donated to the ALS Association as a result of the Ice Bucket Challenge.

Barb Newhouse, President and CEO of the Association, explained the impact that these donations have made.

“The money raised will definitely benefit research and help us move along many initiatives that we have been holding because of the resources needed,” Newhouse said. “Keep in mind, though, that in terms of drug development, even $100 million is not nearly enough. To take a drug from research to market costs roughly $1 billion. Technology is a part of the research that we will be seeking to fund as we know that advances in as-

sistive technology can make a huge difference in the quality of life of an individual living with ALS.” According to Sucher, “orphan diseases” such as ALS, only affect a very small portion of the population. Therefore, efforts to combat these diseases are focused on simply raising awareness more than anything else.

The Ice Bucket Challenge has been a momentous stride in the movement toward finding a cure for ALS, not only because of the money that’s been donated but because it is now a cause of which most Americans are aware.

Newhouse believes that these donations are a sort of call to action for the Association.

“My hope is that we put ourselves out of business by finding a cure,” Newhouse said. “This disease is devastating and we need to continue to push forward for more effective treatments until we can find the cause and the cure.”

Despite the devastation and heartbreak that Sucher and his family have endured in past months, he remains not only positive but hopeful.

His mother has lost the ability to talk and has difficulty swallowing, because the disease is beginning to affect the muscles in her throat, but his family feels fortunate that her arms and legs have not been affected, unlike those of many ALS patients.

One thing that Sucher has taken away from his mother’s diagnosis is that it is extremely important to accept others’ differences and to remain aware of the struggles that others are facing.

ALS is a terrible disease, and in order to find a cure, it is important that the support for the cause remains constant and that Americans stay educated about the issue.

Sucher’s story is a reminder that tragedy can be turned into hope with the right mindset and determination to make a difference. “Pay it forward, and when it becomes about you, it’s just a way to help other people,” he said. 

Photos from Craig Sucher feature

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S

Stevie and his parents, Jennifer and Steve Landau.

Stevie’s Story

The Clayton community recently lost a special member. On August 16, 2014, Henry Stephen “Stevie” Landau IV passed away from complications resulting from a battle with leukemia at the age of 12.

Stevie has been part of the Clayton community since 2009, and attended Glenridge Elementary School starting in second grade.

“He was a genuine friend to literally everyone he ever met,” Steve Landau, Stevie’s father, said.

Stevie was first diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) in 2008 when he was six-years-old. He began his first round of treatment immediately. Cancer treatment, which kills the malignant white blood cells, also kills normal, healthy, dividing cells in the bone marrow. Stevie was hospitalized for treatment at Cardinal Glennon for three years, three months and 21 days. After this brave fight, he was cancer-free for a year and seven months. However, when Stevie was 10-years-old and in fifth grade, the leukemia returned.

Leukemia, which means “white blood,” is a type of blood cancer that begins in the bone marrow, the soft tissue located in the bones where blood cells are produced. White blood cells, known as leukocytes, are used by the body to fight infections and other foreign substances.

After his relapse, Stevie struggled through another two-and-a-half years of chemotherapy. During this tough second round of treatment, Stevie was also diagnosed with a blood infection which was caused by his lack of healthy white blood cells to fight infection. Despite the efforts of antibiotics, Stevie passed away shortly after his diagnosis because of this infection.

“While Stevie was getting treatment for chemotherapy, he was tired and weak and experienced a great deal of nausea and vomiting. These symptoms are common while undergoing chemotherapy,” Dr. Keiko Hirose, a doctor at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and a friend of the Landau

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by SOPHIE BARNES

family said. “Despite all of these hardships, Stevie acted as if everything was normal.”

However, for such a young boy, things were far from normal. The fact that treatment compromised Stevie’s immune system meant that he had to go into isolation. As a result, Stevie and his family decided to move to Mercy Hospital instead. There, isolation was not required as part of the treatment.

“To Stevie, that was like jail,” Jennifer Landau, Stevie’s mother, said.

“He’s not one that you can keep still. He wants to be involved, he wants to visit other children.”

Jennifer herself is a Clayton alum. She attended Meramec Elementary and Wydown Middle School, and she graduated from Clayton High School.

Stevie had something to teach everyone that he met.

He was a kind, generous brother to Jimmy, 11 and Matt, six. He also had a positive influence on other children, especially at the hospital. He made a point of helping any new kids at the hospital by talking to them and spending time with them. He was great at relating with other kids about any aspect of cancer treatment - hair loss, feelings of illness, various chemotherapy drug treatments and loss of appetite.

“Children were drawn to him. His natural calmness, maturity, intellect, humor and contagious smile were some of his best traits. His positivity and love would be shared with anyone nearby,” his mother said.

Stevie’s battle with cancer was not something that made him shy.

His good friend, Lila Taylor, remembers Stevie’s being asked by some Wydown students why he didn’t have hair. “He simply answered, ‘Because I have cancer,’” Taylor said.

“That sent the eighth graders into one of those, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry, you’re so brave’ moments. Then Stevie started to explain his cancer

to them, how he had the same cancer in third grade and how this was now a recurrence. That is how Stevie was with all he met. His wonderful attitude made this terrible situation bearable for his family and friends.”

“He was a positive influence to everyone, at anytime. He was really a friend to anyone,” his mother said. “He wanted to attend Washington University and become a physician.”

Stevie’s dream was to become a pediatric oncologist. Since his original cancer diagnosis, he had always wanted to work in a medical field with kids. He even wrote about a paper about his condition in third grade.

“Stevie would have been a wonderful and caring physician,” his mother said.

Stevie’s friends were always important to him, and provided him comfort throughout his battle with cancer. They still continue to support Stevie through selling #NeverForgetStevie t-shirts to donate to the leukemia cause. Right after Stevie’s passing, a group of his friends set up this project because they wanted the memory of Stevie to continue endlessly. So far, their t-shirt sales have raised over $600. The money raised will go to the Landau family to help cover the costs of the medical bills.

The t-shirt sales were not the first charitable effort to help Stevie. Last year, the Wydown community wanted to contribute and help Stevie in his fight with cancer. Rachel Gasawski, a health teacher at Wydown, got her advisory involved. It was the middle of winter, and they thought selling hot chocolate would be a smart idea. They decided to title the project “Kids with Cancer.”

“My advisory combined with Mr. Meier’s advisory to sell hot chocolate before school one morning to raise money,” Gasawski said. “If I remember correctly, we sold each cup for $1 and raised almost $400.”

The theme of charity at Wydown will continue. “I sat down with Stevie’s parents and shared this info with them and encouraged them to think about where they would want the money to go in memory of Stevie,” Liz Tucker, a counselor at Wydown, said. “We plan to do our ‘Give Back Night’ this year around the charity that they choose.”

Shawnna Hoffman, a close family friend of the Landaus, created a website dedicated to Stevie, his family and his cause. “The reason I thought about doing the website was because my family has been through the same sad process of a child with cancer,” Hoffman said. “The food, flowers and company are great but when the burial service is over, the reality of life sets in.”

All of the money raised through the website is also for Stevie’s family to pay the medical expenses from Stevie’s treatment. “I knew if I could even raise $500 it would be $500 they did not have before to use,” Hoffman said. Old pictures, entertaining videos and information about Stevie and his cause are all over the website.

“No matter how he was, he always looked out for his little brothers.

He chose to be happy and accept things he could not change. Stevie’s inspiration will live through many for a lifetime,” Hoffman said.

Positivity, personality and bravery are some of the traits often used to describe Stevie Landau. Though Stevie fought a long and tough battle, he enjoyed the little things in life - relationships, laughter and joy. Both the Wydown community and the Clayton community as a whole can learn from the beliefs that directed Stevie’s life until the end. Stevie’s devastatingly young death shows the preciousness of life. It is up to the Clayton community to learn from his experience. 

Stevie with his family. (Photos courtesy of the Landau family)

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The

Balancing In a whirlwind of sports, clubs, and mounting school work, how should students be expected to budget their time?

Act

by RACHEL BLUESTONE

24.

That’s the number of hours in a day as well as the minimum number of credits required to graduate from Clayton High School. That’s three credits per semester, or six classes, each one assigning a seemingly endless amount of work to do each night.

The work adds up, accumulating throughout the day, and when a student is finally able to start his or her homework, it sometimes seems as if there’s no end in sight.

Some students, such as senior Stefanie Getz, spend as many as 17 hours a day on the move, going from classes and extracurricular activities and sacrificing sleep for letters on a piece of paper that help to determine future opportunities.

With the number of classes, regular and advanced, that CHS students take, it’s inevitable that there will be a large workload. However, it’s hard not to become even a little bit stressed with multiple extracurriculars on top of the already immense workload. This busy schedule and lack of sleep is part of a bigger problem, a problem that many people - students and adults alike - face across the country.

The problem is time management. These words immediately conjure to-do lists and planners, desks in quiet places and long nights spent in the library. For many CHS students, successful time management is the only thing that allows them to have the schedule that they do - without it, they’d burn out before they even began. Yet many students are still trying to find a way to manage their time successfully. However, for something so necessary, time management is rather difficult to achieve.

But what is time management, exactly? How do we tackle a problem that exists in so many different forms?

“I think it is creating a plan and showing up to it,” Tobie Smith, a CHS school counselor, said. “Kind of persistence to keep up with what you have set and planned to do.”

Smith emphasized the fact that it takes 21 days to make a habit - for 21 days, it’s essential to keep a strict schedule and not to slack off. Nevertheless, for many, sometimes the hardest part of time management is making a

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schedu l e .

While extracurriculars remain relatively constant, the amount Photo by Alexis Schwartz of homework students receive varies day-to-day.

On one day a student could receive three hours of homework, but the very next night they could have eight.

Keeping a consistent schedule is nearly impossible. Carolyn Blair, the director of counseling services at CHS, recommends that instead of focusing on how much time you need to get everything done, it’s sometimes better to focus on how you get the best work done.

“Some people work really well under pressure,” Blair said. “They’re able to be more productive and do better work, so knowing yourself and how you get your best work done [is important].”

Blair highlighted the individuality that time management entails.

“If you’re heavily distracted,” Blair said, “it probably isn’t a good idea to be at Starbucks, because every time the door opens you’re going to look.”

However, for some students, the background noise helps focus. The individualized nature of time management is one of the reasons that it’s so hard to teach and to tackle.

Teachers, counselors and parents give students the best advice they can when it comes to time management, but, according to Smith, it’s taught very generally and won’t necessarily work for every student.

Time management is, in many regards, similar to picking a course load.

“It doesn’t have anything to do with what the person next to me or my neighbor or my best friend from Glenridge is doing,” Blair said. “It’s about what I can handle.”

Blair went on to address something that many students choose to ignore. “At some point, you have to decide to make some choices, because one of the choices you need to make, particularly as an adolescent whose brains are still developing, [is that] you have to get sleep,” she said.

But how much sleep are students really getting?

“I don’t do things [other than extracurriculars] after school, I don’t watch TV or anything,” Getz said. “If I’m up until midnight, it’s just because I’ve been doing homework straight since I got home.”

On average, Getz receives about four or five hours of homework a night.

“I think [CHS students] do put too much on their plates, and try to figure out how to make that work, and that kind of gets in the way,” Smith said.

And yet, CHS students insist on participating many extracurriculars and advanced classes.

“I think that, particularly from my perspective on the college process, we expect kids to do lots of things really well,” Blair said. “I think there’s a lot of pressure to take AP classes and to do all of these things and to be the best and to show some leadership.”

“I think that faculty say, ‘oh, yeah, students need to slow down and need to not do this or this or that’ right up until the point that those students are going to quit their thing,” Blair added. “Like, ‘oh, no! Don’t drop my class, don’t quit my thing.’”

When students feel overwhelmed, it’s the natural reaction to see if there’s something that can be dropped. But when faculty encourage students not to drop their classes or activities, the overwhelming feeling doesn’t go away. CHS students are struggling to meet others’ expectations, as opposed to their own. It’s hard to manage a schedule full of things that you don’t like.

Blair encourages students to do the work that they don’t want to do first. Whether that be math or history, having that out of the way will make the amount of remaining work seem a little bit more manageable.

But sometimes there aren’t enough hours in the day, and right when CHS students finish all of their work for the night, it’s time to sleep.

“We have a world where there are so many opportunities,” Smith said.

“We’re in a country where there are so many things to do, and everything sounds so great, so I’m going to do a little bit of it all. I think the problem with CHS students, where I see them struggling the most, is that they don’t take any time out for themselves.” 

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23

A CLASSY

BY MARINA HENKE and PHOEBE YAO

Taking a look into the effects of class size at CHS.

DILEMMA with reporting by Alex Bernard photos by noah engel

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mong the 872 students hurrying through the C her way to a 24 student honors precalculus cl first floor. As Boeger descends a flight of stai Hadjri took to his advanced placement Fre different. As he unpacked his books and b

The issue of class size disparity has risen to the forefront of students’ attention as more and more classes bear the evidence of its effects.

Initially brought about by rising student enrollment, shifting student interests, scheduling conflicts and limited resources, CHS class sizes pull against the boundaries of the reported mean class size of 20 students.

According to enrollment and class size reports presented to the Clayton Board of Education, CHS building enrollment has steadily increased over the past three years, from 844 students during the 2012-2013 school year, to 870 students the next year. This year, there are 872 students enrolled at the high school.

Clayton BOE Vice President Kristen Redington offered her explanation for the increase in enrollment.

“We have a great reputation worldwide. When you have people coming from other countries that are coming to work at Wash-U, they know about Clayton,” Redington said. “They know our reputation and they want their kids to come here.”

Along with increases in Clayton’s residential population, the Clayton School District provides additional enrollment for statutory tuition, board grants and Voluntary Transfer Students. Increasing grade sizes, although not the sole driving force of class size increase, can significantly change classroom environments.

As the influx of students increases, the amount of resources available does not necessarily change to accommodate the heightened need. Thus, one result is increasing class sizes.

In addition to rising enrollment, Counseling Services Director Carolyn Blair believes that rigidity in scheduling has also affected the widening disparity and increase in class size.

“Class size have changed based on the fact that our schedule is tighter. Fewer teachers means fewer classes, fewer classes overall creates less give in the schedule. We notice this in the counseling office because it has become more difficult to change students’ schedules,” Blair said. “When classes are set right at our cap, it creates imbalance when there is movement.”

The class size cap is currently loosely set at 24 students. Although there are not many classes that go over the School Board’s suggested cap, many are set right at 24.

By far the largest classes are the P.E. and health classes. During the 2013 to 2014 school year, health and P.E. teacher Darby Hogan had 33 students in one classroom.

“Class sizes were supposed to be capped last year at 30 students; however, in order to meet the graduation requirements, additional students

were added, resulting in a class size of 33,” Hogan said. “[The counselors and administration] are working hard to schedule students in the classes they need in order to graduate, and it is sometimes difficult when there is limited space. This year has been great with no classes over 29 students.”

Despite the necessity for some large classes, spacing issues have occurred. Department Chair of Physical Education Barry Ford has felt the effects of these decisions.

“Classes like racquet and net sports get really overrun because we can only hold so many students per court. I think about 24 is probably the max, but we have 29, 30, sometimes 31 [students]. I then have to create other activities for the overflow of students. Otherwise, they would be standing around, waiting for the opportunity to participate,” Ford said.

P.E. and health classes are not the only ones being affected by the class size increase. According to enrollment and class size reports from 2013, approximately 57 percent of core classes had 20 to 25 students. Social studies courses rank the highest for number of students, with about 78 percent of social studies classes containing 20 to 25 students.

Student Effects The consequences of such large class sizes are not limited to the need for more physical space. Class sizes influence the comfort and security students feel in their classrooms.

Director of Learning Center and Academic Support Carroll LehnhoffBell believes that smaller class sizes can promote positive student teacher connections.

“There is a great deal of research around the benefit of having a relationship with a teacher,” Lehnhoff-Bell said. “A student is much more likely to ask a question if said student has some sort of relationship with that teacher. If you have a class size of 30 or 40, can that happen? That relationship either takes twice, three or even four times longer to develop, or it never does because a student is just a number.”

Larger class sizes can affect the quality of student-teacher relationships. In contrast, a comfortable classroom environment where the teacher recognizes the student as an individual may give students the confidence to take more risks. Junior Sonya Liu believes that her learning is affected by the amount of attention she receives from her teacher.

“I’ve found that in classes where there are a lot of people, if the teacher doesn’t pay attention to me that much, I care less. So, I will sometimes doze off during class,” Liu said. “I consider myself a pretty good student, but sometimes, when you’re surrounded by that many people, you just want to sleep.”

Although unique for every individual, many students believe that smaller class sizes promote better learning.

he Clayton High School campus is junior Gabby Boeger, on us class situated in a tight, windowless corner of the school’s stairs to the math wing, she traces the path senior Malik French class last year. However, his destination was a little nd began class, he was one of only five students in the room.

Having been in a five student AP French class his junior year, senior Malik Hadjri is familiar with the intimate atmosphere common to smaller classrooms. “[AP French] was the smallest class I have ever had at Clayton,” Hadjri said. “You can be really involved in the class and you can learn a lot really quickly. But, if you are having an off day and don’t really want to talk to anybody, well, you are one-fifth of the class, so you can’t just put your head down if you’re tired.”

In addition to his enhanced motivation and attentiveness during class, Hadiri believes that he developed a closer relationship with his AP French teacher due to the reduced class size.

“I feel like I got to know my teacher way better. With Madame Hartmann, half the class was a conversation,” Hadjri said.

Hadjri is not alone in appreciating the efficiency and productivity of smaller classes.

“I think a smaller class means […] a better chance of being involved and engaged,” Boeger said.

“It’s really different being in a large math class. I sit in the front so I have a better chance of retaining the information. It’s challenging to focus because I can hear lots of conversations going on in the background.”

However, there are benefits to larger classes. Although sometimes distracting, Boeger recognizes the diversity of her math class.

“I like that there are lots of different people because it helps the morale of the classroom. People are excited about math, which helps the energy of the classroom,” Boeger said.

“We are all focused on smaller class sizes. It is important to the community and we are the voice of the community.”

However, determining policy is not entirely based on the board members’ educational desires. Sometimes administrators must make decisions in response to the growing trends and numbers of the school.

“You can’t control our residential population,” Redington said. “If our residential population goes up for any reason, then you may have more kids in a grade than you had before.”

Three years ago the board shifted from using target class sizes to a standard figure. Originally, class sizes were supposed to be between 2025. Classes typically fell on the low end of this scale.

As of October 2011, the number shifted to a standard class size of 22 for the high-school. Although not treated as a hard cap, 24 students became the desired maximum.

Principal Dr. Dan Gutchewsky and Assistant Principal Ryan Luhning work together to determine yearly class sizes.

They keep the 22 standard in mind, yet sometimes the complex process yields varying outcomes. Certain classes that used to split at around 24 now might not split.

Tobie Smith, 12th grade level counselor, works closely with other administrators to handle student-desired changes in schedules.

“Whether it was Dr. Gutchewsky or Mr. Luhning, we have conversations pretty much daily,” Smith said. “They might have already thought through it, but I just give them other things to think about.”

Smith and the other counselors do not have an easy job. Clayton aims to be extremely open to schedule changes. In some cases, this can be to a fault. Often times, a student unprecedentedly moving into different classes creates visible size disparities. If the number of students falls below 10, administrators are less likely to keep the class around.

“Financially, it doesn’t always make sense,” Smith said. “When you run that many classes of 10, that one teacher can only teach that class, they can’t teach another.”

Nonetheless, as of 2013, around 10 percent of special area classes were under 10. Many of these numbers are unavoidable, yet they make the dilemma of class size disparity all the more difficult to approach.

From an outsider’s perspective, the addition of one or two students does not seem like a problem.

There is a great deal of research around the benefit of having a relationship with a teacher.

-Lehnhoff-Bell

Administrative Decisions The size of a class involves numerous administrative decisions.

The BOE is responsible for outlining and voting on the policy that dictates class size. Members of the board are largely in support of maintaining Clayton’s renowned small class sizes.

“When you go off to college and you are in a classroom of 50 or 100 or 200, you are not going to have the same experience or learning opportunity as you did your senior year in Clayton High School,” Redington said.

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THE FACTS: 56.56% of core classes are 2025 students.

16.1% of special area courses are over 25 students. * numbers include both first and second semester classes from 2013

Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Sean Doherty said, “Class sizes will always fluctuate a little bit from year to year, most of which is caused by increases or decreases in enrollment as opposed to reducing the number of teachers in the District. If you look at class sizes over an extended period of time, they are fairly consistent with the guidelines we had in place at the time.”

Teacher Strategies “I think anybody in the building sees the class size difference,” Elizabeth Caspari, French teacher and Foreign Language Department Chair, said.

As class sizes fluctuate, teachers must also adapt to varying classroom environments. Sometimes these adaptations can be detrimental to student-teacher relationships.

Changing class sizes mean different things for each department.

The CHS English department is well known for its unique and individualized conference system. However, with large class sizes, teachers are strained in the height of a full conference cycle.

“I’ll have at least one conference nearly every hour that I’m not teaching. I may have one period off, but generally I’ll have seven a day, eight sometimes,” English teacher John Ryan said.

Often times, teachers must conference before and after school to fit in planning periods during the day. Occasionally, conferences can bleed into the weekend. When the conference program was created nearly 40 years ago, Clayton had a much smaller enrollment and thus smaller class sizes.

“As a model, it was designed around 16 students in a class. So now with classes of 22, 23, that’s easily an extra day’s worth of conferencing,” Ryan said.

Often times, the effects of large class sizes result in significant problems. The foreign language department is home to many larger classes, primarily in introductory language levels The department, which had five classes outside of the desired class-size range last year, has been unable to use school resources because of their class sizes.

Foreign language teachers use the high school’s language lab nearly once a week. Although administrators have made plans to replace the lab in upcoming years, current usage can be difficult. As few as 20 computer stations work, and with classes sizes of 25, select groups can no longer utilize this learning resource.

However, in response to changing class sizes, teachers have adapted. Caspari has noted these subtle changes.

“Somebody who used to give a test back in one day and give immediate feedback, now it’s almost immediately, and back in two days,” Caspari said. “The average student won’t notice. The teacher might notice, though.”

However, students do notice their relationship with their teacher.

Smaller class sizes mean more one-on-one time with students. These valuable relationships, a guiding point in Clayton’s educational mission, are harder to create in classes nearing 25 students.

Caspari noted ways in which she works to create relationships with her students in larger classes.

“For these I’ve got them [students] writing about themselves. I try and go and sit with them, and I still feel a little behind,” Caspari said.

“It might be that our box of tricks needs updating because we haven’t done this as much.”

In larger classes, teachers may need to compensate for an overwhelming number of bodies. And while adaptations are good, at what point does the strain on teachers become overwhelming?

The language teachers are determined not to falter in their excellence, but the effort can be taxing. “[The language teachers] still feel the Clayton commitment to individualization, but they find it incredibly hard to do,” Caspari said.

“There hasn’t been a shift in our expectations. We don’t say, ‘Oh, let’s skip the research project.’ They are as driven as the students are. They

Martin Sharpe and Ella Engel are two-thirds of the three person Chinese I class at Clayton High School. The three person class is held concurrently with an 11 person Chinese II class. (Photo by Noah Engel).

are trying, and sometimes they are trying too much.”

Some teachers do not note a difference in their teaching styles when classrooms fill to the brim. History teacher Samuel Harned characteristically has large AP U.S. and European history classes. His classes are generally lecture-style, and a few more students do not change the quality of his teaching.

“Last year I had a 28 [student] AP US class. That’s not anything the administration forced me into, I freely allowed people to come in because they wanted to take the course and I had a hard time saying, ‘No, you can’t take it,’” Harned said.

While Harned’s teaching style might not be greatly affected by a larger number of students, many teachers have needed to change their approach.

Director of Teacher Education and Academic Services at Washington University Professor Ron Banfield commented on why a teacher’s style might change.

“Every additional individual in that classroom is an additional individual that I, as a teacher, need to think about. I need to measure their progress and, as best as I can, individualize some instruction for them,” Banfield said.

There are different ways for teachers to tackle growing class sizes. Sometimes these strategies come at a cost of a student’s educational experience.

“You teach a small class one way, and you teach a large class another way,” Caspari said.

I think, every subject area has some component of that ... There’s a level that might be lacking from a public school if we’re not taking on the big questions of what it is to live as a human being,” Ryan said.

Teachers from all departments at CHS echo Ryan’s sentiments. Unlike many surrounding public schools, the District has the resources and academic commitment from parents to pursue such ambitious educational goals.

However, the nature of the school’s educational philosophy does not change the nature of the school. Clayton is a public institution, and comparing the school’s profile to surrounding schools, especially concerning class size, can put administrators in a tricky situation.

“We’re in public education,” Smith said. “If a kid shows up, we’re going to educate them.”

Neighboring private schools do not deal with such concerns; however, it is to these schools that CHS is often compared with.

“The expectation is private school service in a public school setting,” Blair said.

Compared with other public schools, Clayton does quite well.

“At Kirkwood they have hard class caps at 28 or 29. My wife teaches at Ladue. She’s an English teacher and she regularly has class sizes in her core classes that approach 30,” Gutchewsky said. “We are very fortunate to have the class sizes that we do, particularly in our core classes.”

As reported by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, standard class sizes in Missouri are 33 students. The department also cites 24 students as being the desirable class size, a size that is common throughout CHS. However, despite the facts, Clayton is not the typical public school.

When concerned with academic performance, CHS is often likened to neighboring private schools. Once again, comparisons between schools are not easy.

Blair noted the discrepancies in Clayton’s choices of competition.

You teach a small class one way, and you teach a large class another way.

- Elizabeth Caspari

Standard of Education Clayton is known nationally for its academic excellence, and such recognition comes from more than simply test scores. “‘Think deeply and carefully.’ That’s my philosophy of education, and,

cover

29

“The schools that we are being compared to change based on what the conversation is. Usually in terms of college we are being compared to Burroughs, and MICDS, but when it comes to class size or case load, we’re being compared to Lindbergh and Kirkwood,” Blair said.

Ultimately, CHS must focus on carving out a unique niche amidst competing schools. Instead of focusing on the schools that may not be receiving stellar reviews, or even schools struggling with accreditation, many teachers suggested that Clayton continues to look for competition.

“When comparing Clayton to other schools, I like to look at other high performing schools where kids are doing great things and achieving great things,” Lehnhoff-Bell said. “That is who I want to compare us to. If their class sizes are big that is one thing, but if their class sizes run on the smaller side than that’s another thing.”

Conclusion “Depending on class size, a teacher might be operating on one of three different levels,” Lehnhoff-Bell said. “At one level it can be about the learning, at another level it is about the teaching, and at another level you are managing the class. For maximum student learning, I’d like to be able to operate as a facilitator, rather than a manager.”

There may not be one perfect class size to guarantee the optimal classroom environment. Determining the right amount of students

for one class depends on a variety of factors, including the quality of the teacher, the teaching style, surrounding support structures in place for students, and the academic ability of each student.

However, most teachers have an idea of what works for them. Unfortunately, at Clayton and at a national-level, teachers get very little say in the number of students in their classrooms.

While there is no one solution to the dilemma, Blair shared one idea to decrease the disparities between class sizes.

“Teachers should set the ideal class size,” Blair said. “It may be different for one discipline, or for one particular class than another, but I wouldn’t presume to tell them how many students they should be able to teach. I think that teachers should be able to say, ‘This is what’s ideal for what you’re expecting of me out of this class.’”

Ultimately, the conversation concerning class sizes may never reach an end. As the district’s goals develop, differing opinions concerning class sizes will arise. One can only hope that new developments always have both the students’ and teachers’ educational experience in mind.

The students in these classes are the ones directly impacted by the decisions of the district. Boeger will still have to struggle to concentrate in a class at its full capacity, while Hadjri can fondly look back upon his tiny French course.

Hopefully, all students get a chance to experience joyful learning, in whatever form it comes in. The district must keep the conversation about class sizes a priority.

Redington may have said it best: “If you are staying the same then that is not world-class. World-class means that you are always evolving and that you are always trying to reach that next target.” 

CHS CORE COURSE DISTRIBUTION COURSES

UNDER 10

%

11-15

%

16 - 19

%

20-25

%

OVER 25

%

English

3

6.25%

9

18.75%

10

20.83%

26

54.17%

0

0.00%

Math

3.75

7.81%

10.25

21.35%

10

20.83%

24

50.00%

0

0.00%

Science

3

6.38%

8

17.02%

13.5

28.72%

22.5

47.87%

0

0.00%

Social Studies

0

0.00%

2.5

6.25%

5.5

13.75%

31

77.50%

1

2.50%

Total Core

9.75*

5.33%

29.75

16.26%

39

21.31%

103.5

56.56%

1

0.55%

*Courses under 10 are due to scheduling imbalances, capstone classes, advanced classes,

*Courses under or 10 single are due to scheduling advanced classes, support classes course offeringsimbalances, (Chart fromcapstone Board ofclasses, Education Documents). support classes or single course offerings.

3

THE

CRAZY SPORTS MOMENT OF THE MONTH

by KEVIN ROSENTHAL

(Photo by Bebe Engel)

The thrill of victory is like no other feeling, and after Connor Cassity hit the overhead winner to become State Champion, she was flying. Literally. Cassity jumped into her partner Cameron Freeman’s arms, as the two girls had finally accomplished what they had strived to achieve for years. Connor Cassity and Cameron Freeman had become State Champions.

After dropping the first set, 4-6, Cassity and Freeman were determined to rally for a victory. The duo, who finished second in state the last two seasons, came from behind this year, winning the second set 7-5, and the third set 6-4.

“I am so proud of Cameron and I,” Cassity said. “To finally get first with such an incredible partner is so fulfilling to me. We worked so hard this year to play tough and achieve our goal to win State.

The match had a perfect ending, with Cassity hitting a winner to secure the Championship. “Hitting that winning overhead was emotional for me,” Cassity said. “The finals match was such a close, tough, stressful match, and once I hit that shot, everything Cameron and I had worked so hard for was right in front of us. Cameron picked me up and twirled me around. It was such a happy moment.”

Going into the season, the girls’ varsity tennis team had high expectations. After being District Champions in 2013, and falling

just short of a State Championship, the Girls’ team seemed poised to contend for a State this year. Unfortunately, however, the team lost in the District round 5-2, and did not qualify for sectionals. “Losing in the finals of Districts was definitely disappointing,” Cassity said.

“We had such a good chance, but I will always be proud of my team. I know everyone did their best and that’s all that matters.”

Although the team was unable to have a deep run in the State bracket, Cassity, the captain of the team still has a positive outlook on the season. “We always focused on cheering each other on,” Cassity said. “I think the positive energy from the team helped each player be pumped up for all our matches.”

Cassity credits her success to her coaches, Susie Luten and Rich Chappuis. “Susie and Rich always push me to be better. They encourage the team to work hard at practices and it pays off in matches. Their dedication to the team and love of the game is a huge factor of why the girls are so motivated.” Luten and Chappuis are some of the most successful coaches in the history of Clayton High School, guiding multiple teams and individuals to major achievements.

The Cassity/Freeman era of Clayton Girls’ tennis has come to an end, but there is no better way the duo’s journey could have ended than to go out on top.

State Championship 2004

A SEASON TO REMEMBER Ten years have passed since Clayton’s journey to become football state champions. The Globe looks back at that season and the team’s accomplishments.

I.

by PETER BAUGH and GWYNETH HENKE

Jeff Waldman knew that this would be the last play in his high school football career.

Overhead, the fluorescent lights of the Edward Jones Dome glared down on an audience packed with screaming fans. It was the 2004 state championship game, and Clayton was clinging to a one point overtime lead against football powerhouse Webb City High School.

Clayton had taken a seven point lead during overtime after quarterback Jairus Byrd found wide receiver Torrey Tate on fourth down for the go ahead touchdown. In response, Webb City also scored on fourth down, but to Clayton’s shock elected to go for a two point conversion rather than kick the game-tying extra point.

“They could tell that we were still playing at 100 percent and they were pretty tired, so they wanted that to be the last play,” Michael Goldsticker, a senior running back and lineman at the time, said.

Waldman, who was a senior lineman, remembers his thoughts the moment Webb City lined up for the play. “[It was] the realization that it was going to end no matter what,” Waldman said.

The Greyhounds, however, were ready. Throughout their dominant season, the Webb City Cardinals had relied on a short yardage running play called the Counter. In the defensive huddle, Clayton planned for the play. Sure enough, Webb City handed the ball off to their all-state running back Andrew Stanley who was stopped just short of the goal line by sophomore Ben Williams.

When Stanley realized he was not going to score, he tried to fumble the ball forward in hopes that a fellow Cardinal would pick it up in the endzone. The ball was loose until Goldsticker rushed forward and fell on it, ending the game.

Final score: Clayton 27, Webb City 26.

“Helmets went flying and the fun began,” Sam Horrell, offensive coordinator at the time, said.

II. For the 2004 team, the victory was even sweeter because of the previous year’s turmoil. “[In] the prior season ... we definitely had a state championship game caliber team and we had a fantastic season,” chemistry teacher Nathan Peck, whose son was on the 2003 and 2004 team, said.

The Greyhound season, however, came to an abrupt end when Clayton was forced to forfeit all nine of their varsity wins after star player Jairus Byrd, a junior at the time, was ruled ineligible due to a residency conflict.

Ladue High School questioned Byrd’s eligibility after losing to Clayton for the second time in that season. Clayton’s victory over Ladue would have given the Greyhounds a state playoff berth had they not had to give up their wins.

The forfeiture was a major disappointment for the team, especially the graduating seniors.

However, the remaining players quickly looked towards the next year for a chance at redemption.

“We had a goal our freshman year of getting Clayton the first state championship by our senior year,” Waldman said. “So when our junior year occurred when we had to forfeit nine games and were not going to go to the playoffs, we knew our senior year was going to have to be the year we got it done.”

III. After the 2003 season, longtime head coach Larry Frost took the head coaching job at Kirkwood High School. Assistant principal Mike Musick was named interim head coach.

“There was a lot of turmoil in the program, there was a lot of frustration. Then obviously Coach Frost left and it was quite a challenging time for our program,” Musick said. “But we had wonderful, wonderful, wonderful seniors and a great junior class as well. We went into the season with high expectations but a lot of frustration from the previous year.”

The team responded to this frustration with an overwhelming mentality of hard work, determination and dedication. A number of the seniors worked out at P.E. teacher Barry Ford’s summer strength and conditioning class.

“We pushed each other, and we went to those [classes] religiously. It was a group that did not want to see each other fail,” Waldman said.

Led by senior captains Waldman, Byrd and Goldsticker, they came into the season ready to win.

“It was a great bunch of kids to work with; they were outstanding. I’d have to say they were one of the best groups I’ve ever worked around as far as a football team,” assistant coach Mick Picataggio said.

Picataggio is the only coach from the 2004 squad still with the Greyhounds.

Jairus Byrd, a senior at the time, celebrates after the win. Byrd now plays for the New Orleans Saints (Photo by Karen Elshout). sports

33

State Championship 2004 “He was the stabilizing factor in our program, and he was a great support for me during the whole season,” Musick said.

Byrd also remembers the strength of the entire coaching staff that year.

“I really believed that while we had a great and talented team, we had an equally talented coaching staff,” he said.

Clayton started the season with three straight wins, outscoring their opponents 110-21. Then, the Greyhounds took on the MICDS team that would go on to win the state championship in class three, the class below Clayton.

Clayton lost to MICDS in a heartbreaking 24-21 game. Horrell believes, however, that this was an essential moment in the team’s development.

“I think that really hit the guys in the heart and gave them a wake up call to say, ‘You know what, we are beatable.’ I think they thought they were invincible because we were coming off the 2003 season where nobody had scored more points than us and we had won a lot of games in a row,” Horrell said. “They didn’t think that they could be beat, and them getting beat ... is what helped us win that state championship. It was a growing pain, so to speak.”

Clayton did not lose for the rest of the season. Their team was led by Byrd, who is now playing in the NFL for the New Orleans Saints. For the Greyhounds, Byrd played quarterback, special teams, safety and punter.

Horrell even implemented a set of plays called the Carter Package in which they brought backup quarterback Carter Sapp into the game and used Byrd either as a receiver or blocker.

“There’s usually only a handful of players that you can say are the very best players you’ve ever seen. But Jairus was even better than those players. Every time he either touched the ball or he was around the ball, something great happened,” Musick said. “And he caused all the other players on the team to be even better.”

Several other players also had impressive post-high school careers.

Waldman joined the University of Missouri’s team, Goldsticker played at Amherst College and senior lineman Chidi Oteh played at both Tennessee-Martin and Lindenwood University. A number of other players also continued their careers after high school.

“We knew that we had futures in football, some of us, and we wanted

34

sports

to make sure that high school was the stamp,” Waldman said.

The combination of this talent and coaching with the extra motivation from the 2003 disappointment meant that, from the start, the Greyhounds knew the year would be special.

“We had a lot of depth and a lot of talent, and we knew we were going to be good--we just didn’t know how good,” Musick said.

IV. When Goldsticker came up with the ball, he was faced with a rush of bodies swarming the field.

“At that point I had the ball and I wasn’t really sure what to do ... It definitely took a good ten seconds of looking around to realize that we had just won and that it was over,” Goldsticker said.

Social studies teacher David Aiello was at the game and remembers the reaction of the Clayton players.

“I remember watching a couple of the guys … just running around trying to figure out, ‘What am I supposed to do? Who am I supposed to hug?

Who am I supposed to high five?’” Aiello said.

Waldman remembers the mix of joy and exhaustion that overwhelmed the team immediately after their victory. Waldman and Goldsticker both still have scars from the astroturf of the field, and Waldman almost had to go the hospital to get an IV after the game. Several players were also dehydrated by the end of the day.

“It was an exhausting night, it was a battle,” Waldman said. “But we ended up winning, so it was worth it.”

Byrd also remembers the effort that it took to pull out the victory.

“I had left everything out there,” Byrd said. “I spent all my energy, but I was so happy to work that hard for something.”

The experience of winning the state championship has stayed with the members of the 2004 CHS football team. A close group of friends at the time, the emotional bonds formed by the grueling journey to victory have persisted, and many of the players have remained important people in each other’s lives to this day.

“It doesn’t seem like ten years have gone by,” Goldsticker said. “It’s fresh in my mind, it’s one of the highlights of my life. I’m sure it’s something I will remember forever.” 

Left: Jeff Waldman sacks the Ladue quarterback. Right: Torrey Tate celebrates with Cameron Hicks after Tate scored the game-winning touchdown (All photos by Karen Elshout).

AT H

PROF

LETE

ILE

CHILE ALL THE WAY

by MAX STEINBAUM

Pauli Tapia, an exchange student from Chile attending CHS this year, has been playing field hockey since she was eight years old. In South America, she says, the sport is even more popular than it is here, and because there are no seasons for sports in Chile, field hockey is played year-round.

“Everyone plays it in South America,” she said.

While soccer, cheerleading and volleyball are also major girls’ high school sports in Chile, Tapia chose to focus on field hockey years ago and has stuck with it ever since. That’s why, when she came to Clayton, joining the field hockey squad was a no-brainer.

After becoming a member of her new team, a challenge Tapia faced was having to change positions on the field. While she used to be an offensive player at home, for Clayton, Tapia plays defense.

Despite this significant change on the turf, Tapia adjusted well to her new environment, made friends with many of the members of her new team and has greatly enjoyed her time playing for Clayton’s field hockey team.

“My favorite part about field hockey in Clayton is the relationship between the girls on the team,” Tapia said. “When we are in practice, you can’t tell if someone is a freshman, sophomore, junior or senior, because we are all friends.”

RIVALRY RECORD

by PETER BAUGH

Tapia’s friend and teammate, senior Emily Braverman, can attest to the companionship of the girls on the team, and believes that Tapia has greatly contributed to the club’s overall camaraderie.

“Everyone was really excited for her to be on the team,” Braverman said. “She has a really positive attitude all of the time, and she’s always smiling and laughing. We all just loved having her.”

Along with her invaluable positivity, Tapia’s performance on the field has also not gone unnoticed by Braverman and the rest of the team.

“She’s great on defense, her stick skills are really well developed, and she has really good command of the ball,” Braverman said. “She’s really just been a great addition to our team.”

Darby Hogan, the girls’ field hockey coach, holds similarly high regard for Tapia. “[Tapia]’s mixed in with the girls really well, especially coming from another country and not knowing anyone on the team,” Hogan said. “I think she [also] brings a lot of field hockey knowledge and a love for the sport.”

Tapia also feels that playing field hockey this season was a positive experience.

“It was super fun. I got to meet and spend time with some great girls and coaches,” Tapia said. “I loved playing with the CHS team.” 

How Clayton has faired against the rival to the West.

Boys’ Swimming (Loss, 93-90) - In a meet that came down to the last event, the Rams edged out Clayton. Senior Andrew Litteken and sophomore Tiger Chen both won two individual events for the Greyhounds.

Football (Loss, 4214) - After taking a commanding 14-0 lead into the middle of the second quarter, the Greyhounds struggled the rest of the game. The Rams took a 21-14 lead into the fourth quarter and then exploded for 21 points in the fourth quarter.

Boys’ Soccer (Loss, 1-0) - Despite a strong effort, CHS fell short to Ladue in a game that went to penalty kicks.

Boys’ Cross Country (Win) - Senior Volleyball (Loss, Ben Tamsky and 2-0) - Ladue won sophomore Tom the two games by Cormier both mescores of 25-14 and 25-19, respectively. daled in the Conference meet, leading Hunter Byrne led the Greyhounds to the Rams with 14 serves, 13 points a finish ahead of the Rams. and 12 assists.

Overall Record:

4-6 All scores as of Oct. 22

Girls’ Cross Country (Win) - In the conference race the Greyhounds were led by junior Gabby Boeger, freshman Gracie Morris and sophomore Mary Kate Gelzer, who all medaled, to a finish ahead of Ladue.

o

ec

m Ho

4 0 1 2 14 20 14 20 4 01 4 2 01 2 20 14 20 14 201 4 2 01 4 2 014 14 20 14 20 4 01 4 2 01 2 20 14 20 14 201 4 2 01 4 2 014 14 20 14 20 4 01 4 2 01 2 20 14 20 14 201 4 2 01 4 2 014 14 20 14 20 4 01 4 2 01 2 20 14 20 14 201 4 2 01 4 2 014 14 20 14 20 4 01 4 2 01 2 20 14 20 14 201 4 2 01 4 2 014 14 20 14 20 4 01 4 2 01 2 20 14 20 14 201 4 2 01 4 2 014 14 20 14 20 4 01 4 2 01 2 20 14 20 14 201 4 2 01 4 2 014 14 20 14 20 4 01 4 2 01 2 20 14 20 14 201 4 2 01 4 2 014 14 20 14 20 4 01 4 2 01 2 20 14 20 14 201 4 2 01 4 2 014 14 20 14 20 14 201 4 2 01 4 2 14 20 14 20 4 01 4 2 01 20 14 20 14 201 4 2 01 4 2 20 4 0 4 01 2 1 4 01 4 2 01 2 14 20 01 2 1 2 14 20 4 14 20 14 20 4 01 20 4 0 4 01 2 4 201 4 2 01 4 2 014 4 01 4 2 01 2 01 4 2 01 4 2 014 1 2 1 2 20 4 0 4 4 201 4 2 01 1 2 14 20 14 20 14 20 20 14 14 20 14 20

Photos by Alaina Curran

4

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2 14 20 1 14 20 20 14 2 14 20 14 20 14 20 1 14 20 14 20 20 14 20 14 14 20 14 20 4 20 14 20 14 201 14 20 14 20 4 0 20 14 20 14 201 4 2 14 20 14 20 4 01 4 20 14 20 14 201 4 2 01 14 20 14 20 4 01 4 2 0 20 14 20 14 201 4 2 01 4 2 14 20 14 20 4 01 4 2 01 20 14 20 14 201 4 2 01 4 2 014 14 20 14 20 4 01 4 2 01 2 20 14 20 14 201 4 2 01 4 2 014 14 20 14 20 4 01 4 2 01 2 20 14 20 14 201 4 2 01 4 2 014 14 20 14 20 4 01 4 2 01 2 20 14 20 14 201 4 2 01 4 2 014 14 20 14 20 4 01 4 2 01 2 20 14 20 14 201 4 2 01 4 2 014 14 20 14 20 4 01 4 2 01 2 20 14 20 14 201 4 2 01 4 2 014 14 20 14 20 4 01 4 2 01 2 20 14 20 14 201 4 2 01 4 2 014 14 20 14 20 4 01 4 2 01 2 20 14 20 14 201 4 2 01 4 2 014 14 20 14 20 4 01 4 2 01 2 20 14 20 14 201 14 2 201 4 2 014 0

i om

REVIEW

38

review

by KEVIN ROSENTHAL

Since the invention of television over 75 years ago, people have enjoyed programs brought to them solely from channels on the tv. Now, a new era of television watching has begun, as people can “binge-watch” shows produced by Netflix.

Among these shows is the streaming service’s latest installment, “House of Cards”.

“House of Cards” is loosely based upon a British television show from the 1990s, but the American version of the show is more dramatic and enticing, and better portrays the cold-heartedness of politicians.

The show’s main character is Frank Underwood, played by Academy Award winning actor Kevin Spacey. Frank is a ruthless U.S. Congressman from South Carolina whose main goal is to gain power through working his way up the political hierarchy of the U.S. government. Frank’s partner in crime is his wife, Claire Underwood, played brilliantly by Robin Wright. Claire is as cunning as Frank, and both will stop at nothing to advance their agendas.

Spacey and Wright are a superb duo, and their magnificent acting makes viewers root for them to succeed in their missions, in spite of their constantly cold-hearted actions.

Another phenomenal actress is Kate Mara, who plays Zoe Barnes. Barnes is a 27-year-old upand-coming journalist in Washington D.C. whose life becomes intertwined with Frank’s. Mara does an excellent job of portraying the 21st century woman, and has become a fan favorite.

Along with the incredible acting, the storyline of “House of Cards” is always compelling.

The show delves into the complex political infrastructure of the U.S. and makes viewers contemplate if the actual U.S. government is as corrupt as the show makes it out to be.

Frank, as the show’s lead, is captivating and keeps viewers curious about his next move.

Frank’s power-hungry behavior controls him, and although Frank’s hubris can get in his way at times, he is a man who will not be deterred when he has a goal in mind.

The writers of the show certainly deserve commemoration for the amount of research that had to be done to ensure the show’s accurate portrayal of the political world. The creator of the show, Beau Willimon, has said that he spends hours every day thinking about different aspects of the show.

“House of Cards” received fifteen Emmy nominations this year, and is commonly thought of by critics, and average viewers, as one of the best shows on television.

Because the show is produced by Netflix, all episodes of one season are released on the same day, allowing viewers to watch as many episodes as they wish in whatever time frame they please. Some people watch the show in a matter of days, and others take much longer. The show was so fantastic that I only allowed myself a few episodes a week, so that I could really appreciate each individual episode. I can easily understand, however, how a viewer could polish off a whole season in a couple days.

As a whole, “House of Cards” is remarkable because of the phenomenal acting, the fascinating depiction of the U.S. government, and the constantly gripping storyline. Netflix could certainly be changing how television is viewed forever. There is no better show to represent this change than “House of Cards.” 

K

K

House of Cards

United Provisions Photo by Lily Brown If you’re looking for a new place to pick up some food, a new grocery store on Delmar may be just the place. If candy’s what you’re craving, you’ll find it on the same rack as the dried squid.

United Provisions, owned by the Prapaisilp family, owners of Global Foods in Kirkwood, opened on Aug. 11 in a newly completed Washington University housing complex that also includes Joe Edwards’ Peacock Diner.

Not only a grocery store, United Provisions includes a restaurant called the Dining District, serving what general manager Shayn Prapaisilp describes as “comfort food with an international twist.” The restaurant serves everything from sushi to fried chicken.

Prapaisilp describes the store as an, “urban international grocer.”

What makes the store an “urban” grocery store is its 15,000 square foot size. For comparison, the average Schnucks is 57,000 square feet. The building also boasts LEED Platinum certification, meaning it meets the

Seedz Cafe

by HARRY RUBIN

highest standards of environmental sustainability.

The store sells food from over 100 different countries, including Lebanon, Bosnia and Japan, as well as locally grown produce.

The store is largely stocked with the bestsellers from Global Foods, but it also includes many items that were put on the shelves as a result of a demographics study of the neighborhood.

Foods in the store are constantly changing. United Provisions receives many requests for items, whether it is something someone misses from home or something that can’t be found anywhere in St. Louis. The store then works with 50 distributors around the country to bring the food to the shelves.

The strangest item currently in stock is natto, a fermented soybean from Japan. Prapaisilp describes it as, “super stinky, sticky and really gooey. People either love it or hate it.” For those who hate it, the store also carries Wonderbread.

This mix of international oddities and everyday foods draws a mix of shoppers to the store. Some adventurous destination shoppers come to find rare foods like natto, while many other shoppers come in to do their everyday shopping. Many of these shoppers are students from Washington University.

Approximately 400 students live directly above the store, and many more students take the ten minute walk to the store to buy their groceries for the week. The large number of student shoppers has greatly influenced the store, evidenced by the large selections of ramen and frozen meals. Many international students also come looking for some food from home.

Prapaisilp said that the store is a great fit, “with Wash U’s international students as well as the cool and weird culture of The Loop.”

United Provisions is open seven days a week from 7AM to 10PM. 

by NICOLE BELIZ

Seedz Cafe opened seven months ago in the Demun area by owners Monty Gralnick and Cara Moon Schloss. The cafe is completely vegan and organic. What sets Seedz apart from other cafes is their mission, which is to provide nutritionally dense food.

“A lot of restaurants create their menu based on food prices,” Monty said. “We made our menu trying to pack in as much nutrients and organic ingredients as possible.”

If you regard restaurant chains with slight disgust, distrust, or both, then Seedz is the place for you. Unlike other restaurants that get their food delivered in frozen bags or nearly mummified in cans, all from unknown origins, the vegetables delivered to Seedz come straight from farm relations the cafe has. In other words no cans and no preservatives.

“Ultimately, we’d like to grow the vegetables ourselves,” Monty said.

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon when I visited the organic cafe with a friend for lunch. The nature-themed furniture, white walls and artistic decorations of the cafe, along with the relaxing mediterranean music playing in the background, created a very peaceful ambiance.

Seedz’ menu includes organic juices, smoothies, drinks such as coffee and teas, a wide variety of vegan meals ranging from salads to vegan pizzas and pastas, and even vegan desserts. The price of a meal ranges from $7.95 to $12.95; the smoothies and juices from $7.75 to $9.95.

My friend and I shared a Mediterranean Wrap and an Incredible Smoothie. I must admit I did not know what to expect of Seedz’ food.

Photo by Cosi Thomas Personally, I enjoy my meats and cheeses, and my past experiences with vegan food have not been particularly peachy.

The Mediterranean Wrap was a little on the small side, but the smoothie was pretty filling. My Incredible Smoothie was composed of bananas, almonds, maca, cacao and dates. As promised by the cafe’s owner, everything was tasty and very healthy. And the smoothie alone could be the nutritional equivalent of a super multi-vitamin!

Although I am not vegan or vegetarian, and the food may be a little pricey, I would definitely return to Seedz Cafe. The restaurant is a nice, peaceful nook where one can enjoy fresh, nutritious food. As Monty pointed out to me, a lot of restaurants today focus on substance only. At Seedz, meals aim not only at the consumer’s stomach and taste buds, but also at their health and wellness. 

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Football’s Fault?

Are we, as a society, putting a disproportionate amount of blame on football for America’s concussion epidemic? As attention on concussions and their consequences grows, the Globe debates whether football poses the worst threat to the brains of adolescent and adult athletes.

Graphic by Audrey Palmer

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by BENJAMIN LITTEKEN

feel concussed.”

This small phrase can get you out of anything from P.E. class to doing your homework. It can even get you out of school.

Everyone associates concussions with football, due to the sport’s number of head-to-head collision.

The truth is that concussions can happen anywhere or at anytime. There is no telling when your head is going to get hit just the right way to give you a concussion. Sometimes your head needs to be hit in a “soft spot” to get a concussion.

Concussions are a frequently talked about topic, but does anyone really know what a concussion really is? A concussion is when the brain crashes into the skull causing swelling. Participants in every sport get concussions, but people always see football as a sport with the most concussions.

I researched the most dangerous sports, excluding the sports that are not commonly played by students in most high schools. The results of this search were surprising.

The number one most dangerous sport is cheerleading.

Yes, the girls with pom poms yelling and getting the crowd excited are the most likely to sustain head injuries. Falling from towers or tumbling accidents lift cheerleading to the most likely sport to sustain a serious head injury.

The next sport that you are most likely to sustain a head injury in is gymnastics. As a former gymnast, I can vouch for this sport to be number two on the list. I have seen countless boys go after a release move on the high bar and hit their head and be knocked out cold for minutes.

They lie there lifeless, as if they are trying to play dead. The only security to them living is their chest rising and falling. I have also seen girls hit

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their head on the beam and come up dizzy, unable to walk a line. Sometimes they just stay down lifeless in an immovable form.

The third most likely sport to sustain a serious head injury is football.

Yes, football is only number three on the list. The girls that cheer them on are more likely to sustain a head injury. Having played both basketball and football, I can tell you that, while playing basketball, I have caught elbows to the head and come up dizzy. I have never had this experience after receiving a collision in football. The truth is, the football helmet goes a long way to protect the head. The inside of the helmet is covered in two inch pads that pad your head and keep it from receiving too much trauma At Clayton High School, we have seen concussions in every sport.

We have seen them from sports like volleyball to swimming. Swimming?

You mean that sport where everyone has their own lane and contact is illegal? Yes, CHS alum Izzy Greenblatt, a former member of the girls’ swim team, slipped on the pool deck and went down. Bang, concussion out for several weeks. Even this year, a junior on the boys’ swim team was hit in the head while a teammate was practicing a backstroke start.

He received a concussion and was not cleared to swim again for about a month.

A concussion can be received anywhere at any time and at any place.

Football is the third most likely sport to get a head injury that could cause serious problems. So how about we all stop blaming football and instead address real problems such as how can we fix concussions faster?

Instead, we could focus on how we are not able to stop concussions that are accidents and can happen anytime you hit your head. Instead of worrying about how to prevent concussions, we should start trying to heal them with more success. 

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by NOAH BROWN

controversy recently surfaced at the University of Michigan when quarterback Shane Morris suffered a severe concussion during a recent game. Fans shouted, “oohed” and “aahed” while the coaching staff did nothing at all. UM’s head coach kept Morris in the game, as if he was unaware of the injury his quarterback had suffered. This has resulted in a discussion about whether coaches and team personnel, in all sports, are even thinking “safety first.” It certainly doesn’t seem like it.

In any sport, concussions are inevitably going to happen. But being a bystander - sitting on the sidelines and watching some of the most gruesome collisions, hits and injuries take place - is the wrong thing to do. Stand up and do what you can do. There are endless sums of possible safety changes and modifications that could be made to save one brain at a time throughout all different sports. Preventing any number of these incidents is saving lives.

Concussions, a severe form of traumatic brain injury, have been a major catalyst for safety gaps in many different sports for a long time. However, they are still not talked about enough.

Do what you can do.

Educate yourself. Whether you’re a player, a coach, a parent, whatever role you take, do what you can do. Do your research. Talk to an expert.

Any person of decency would recognize that someone’s safety, someone’s brain, someone’s body and someone’s life are more important than any sports event. Regardless of the level or the outcomes’ meaning, the result of a “pee-wee” t-ball game or a National Football League Super Bowl game shouldn’t be worth someone’s life. Think about it.

In a recent study done by CNN, breathtaking statistics about concussions came to the forefront, specifically regarding the NFL. In 2013

alone, 228 NFL players were diagnosed with a concussion. That is two commercial jets full of people whose brain was and still is damaged within one year. Think big picture here - year after year, similar statistics appear and hundreds and hundreds of athletes are affected by this awful and insanely severe injury and, of course, the symptoms and longterm effects that come along with it.

PBS did a study recently in which researchers studied the biological makeup of 128 deceased former football players. They found that 101 of the players, or about 80 percent, had some form of brain damage. If it is so common, why don’t we do absolutely everything we can possibly do to prevent as many as we can prevent?

Ironically speaking, the game of football seems to clearly promote violence and aggression between its competitors. Bulk and tough men running full speed into one another in a quest for a brown ball is simply outrageous in its intentions. In football, concussions are not mistakes or accidents, because the game of football and the method by which football is played causes them. The idea of sport and fun competition is totally inapplicable when talking about football. Why are we, as a country, entertained by this gruesome style of warfare? Why is this a form of pure entertainment for society more so than it is for the sport?

However, it is not just the NFL. Think league by league. Researchers say that in the past National Hockey League season, upward of five concussions occurred every 100 days. Moreover, only 28 percent of these brutal injuries were penalized, signifying that the violent attacks that caused these concussions were usually not against the rules. This goes to show that without shutting down a sport entirely, there are ways to prevent these horrific incidents. It is never going to be perfect and, honestly, these sports aren’t going anywhere and likely won’t change very much either. Just remember: Do what you can do.

Make the right decisions if you’re a parent or an athlete. Make yourself aware of the severity and the consequences of these incidents. Don’t turn your head to reality. If you’re willing to take the risk of participating in some of these particularly dangerous sports, at least make smart choices.

For instance, wear proper equipment and play the game the right way.

Don’t sit on the sidelines. Stand up and do your part to make sports what they should be: a fun, safe and competitive experience for people of all ages. 

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(Paul Moseley/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/MCT)

Nonprofit NFL

by ELISE YANG

According to data collected at a brain bank run by Boston University and the Department of Veterans Affairs, 96 percent of deceased National Football League players showed signs of degenerative disease related to head injuries in their brain. It seems ironic that the NFL has a similar non-profit status to that of the Alzheimer’s Association, which seeks to cure the destructive disease.

Recently, the NFL has been facing criticism after multiple players received allegations of child and spousal abuse, as well as the Washington Redskins refusal to change its mascot. Several politicians, including U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Maria Cantwell, have introduced legislation to revoke the NFL’s non-profit status.

The NFL has been considered a nonprofit 501(c)6 organization by Congress since 1942. Many sports leagues including the NCAA, NHL and PGA Tour also hold a non-profit status. However, they do not need nor deserve to have taxpayers pay for their expenses.

Forbes estimates that the NFL is the most valuable sports league in the world, and according to its tax filing for last year, the NFL’s total revenue amounted to $327 million.

Its commissioner, Roger Goodell was paid $40 million last year through bonus compensation. That’s an unusually high salary for a principal executive officer — let alone one working for a “non-profit.”

The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the 10-year cost to taxpayers is approximately $109 million. Other professional sports organizations like the NBA and MLB operate and thrive without the non-profit status. That money could be used to pay for vital programs like cancer research, disaster relief and health care that have seen their funding slashed in recent years.

While the NFL is expected to participate in charitable giving every year, two years ago, they listed $2.3 million in charitable giving. $2.1 million of that went to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Essentially, taxpayers are paying to preserve a building dedicated to football players and do not benefit from it at all.

An overwhelming majority of Americans don’t even know where it is, yet we’re paying for it from our own pockets.

It just doesn’t make sense to continue to give the NFL it’s non-profit status when the country’s debt ceiling is soaring. Taxpayers should not be asked to subsidize the NFL, which is already benefiting widely from willing fans and turning a large profit, while claiming to be a non-profit organization. Continuing to do so is simply unacceptable.

Sports leagues won’t suddenly disappear if we ask them to pay, at most, a few million dollars to the government. The NBA hasn’t gone anywhere. The NFL certainly won’t either. 

A Different Way to Success

by GABRIELLE BOEGER

At Clayton High School, a night without homework is almost unheard of. With lab reports, book problems, worksheets, handouts, readings, notes and studying, some students can have up to six or seven hours of homework a night, depending on their course load.

However, many of those assignments can be avoided without detrimental effects on the students. Homework should be a means of reinforcing what is learned in class, or inquiring about something new.

Much of the work students at CHS get is busy work; work that is meant to keep the students working for a class. However, when a student has six hours of homework a night, the busy work is a distraction from other, more important homework.

Sleep is crucial to success in school. When students are spending more time on their homework then sleeping, it’s time to rethink what we are

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asking our students to do outside of class.

Homework can become detrimental when it causes a student to loose sleep. It is more helpful for the student to get an adequate amount of sleep than to finish a worksheet they just complete for points.

Students don’t have the time or energy to put effort into completion worksheets. Copying homework comes into play when students don’t have enough time to complete the work.

There is a point at which busy work overloads the students, and with extracurriculars that we are encouraged to have if we want to get into the “right college,” not getting enough sleep because we are doing homework is detrimental to the students’ learning, health and lives. It is more important for your brain to rest for another day of learning than to complete mindless tasks when class is over. 

(Erin Richards/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/MCT)

Finnishing First

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by HELEN TOMASSON

horter school days, less homework, more hands-on classes, students being valued as human beings who can contribute, and all while receiving one of the best educations in the world. This sounds pretty nice, but must be impossible. Or is it? If you travel 4,632 miles northeast from Clayton you will find yourself in such a place.

Believe it or not the at-first unassuming country of Finland fulfills these criteria. If this is all true, why has the United States not taken a few pages out of Finland’s book?

The U.S. is ranked consistently around 15th to 18th place in education by a ranking done by education firm Pearson. Finland, however, spends about 30 percent less than the U.S. on education for each student, but is ranked 1st-5th.

A small Scandinavian country sandwiched between Sweden and Russia, Finland is home to one of the best schooling systems in the world. It also has some of the reportedly happiest students as well. We spend much more on education, but our schooling system falls short. What is the U.S. doing wrong?

First of all, Finland puts much less emphasis on measuring students than in the U.S. Students are not measured at all during their first six years of schooling and there is only one mandatory standardized test for Finns which they take when they are 16. They rarely take exams or do homework until they are well into their teens. This puts the emphasis of school less on grades and competition and more on actual learning.

At Clayton High School, as well as across the country, school is tightly bound with grades. Most students go through the motions of their education with the goal of getting a good grade point average and getting into college even if it means mindlessly memorizing facts before a test just to forget them the next day.

Teachers need to stop shuffling their students through their rigidly planned curriculum and try to foster a love of knowledge in their pupils.

Cultivating this appreciation will give students an advantage for the rest of their lives to become critical thinkers as opposed to walking encyclopedias.

Another merit of Finland’s educational system is that the job of being a teacher is valued on par with being a doctor or a lawyer and all teachers must obtain a masters degree in their subject. In the U.S., teaching is not the most lucrative or glamourous field. Teachers are underpaid and undervalued. In the U.S., teachers are making a sacrifice of both prestige and income to do what is frankly one of the most important, but under-rated jobs that there are. In Finland, teachers are rewarded and well-regarded for their work.

In Clayton, we are fortunate to have very competent teachers, but other districts in the country are not so lucky. For example, the Normandy School District is in critical need of experienced teachers for their class-

rooms. Teachers are integral to running a successful school. Putting more emphasis on their importance will surely boost American importance in the world arena.

A crucial component of the Finnish method is that all students are educated in the same classrooms regardless of perceived intelligence. In Clayton, children are branded with a “gifted” or “non-gifted” stamp at a very young age.

They are given a series of critical thinking and problem solving tests, evaluated and labeled. If you happen to not be good at arranging blocks, but you are an exquisite writer, artist or musician, you are not considered “gifted.”

The 1-4 scale displays a very closed-minded and one-sided definition of intelligence. Just because one child is a math whiz does not make him any more intelligent than his peer who struggles with long division, but has a passion for reading or art.

The “gifted” stamp gives those who do not achieve the status a mindset that they are not smart. The “smart” kids get taken out of class to do more advanced work, so why should those left behind strive to be anything more than average when they are already classified as such?

They will not realize their full potential in an environment where only the math prodigies are valued.

On the other hand, the “gifted” status may not be doing any favors for those who do rank three or four either.

When a child is told that he is smart and is given special treatment, complacency sets in. They show a bit of potential at a very early age and this is recognized, but they never have to prove their intelligence or overcome anything. Without a constant motivation to continue to improve and grow, their potential will stagnate.

In Finland, all students are educated together which allows all students to be on a level playing field. Everyone has to work to stand out and everyone has the opportunity. No one is made to feel dumb or subordinate and nobody is set up to be cocky and satisfied.

Without a change in the American system of how intelligence is measured, the U.S. will continue to turn out generations of children who do not live up to their full potential because it is branded onto them and others who have never felt that they could succeed so they never even tried.

The U.S. can never hope to catch up to other foreign nations if we keep treating kids like test scores, undervaluing teachers and determining who will be successful and who will be mediocre based on a narrow view of “giftedness” at the age of seven.

Every child has the capability of being successful. It is the environment they grown in that determines depends whether or not this capacity is accessed or if it is left dormant.

We can certainly learn a thing or two from Finland’s happy students and teachers. 

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Students in the Common enjoying a McDonald’s lunch. (Neil Docherty)

Bigger Isn’t Better

Clayton High School students circumvent the national food standard.

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by MAX STEINBAUM and LAWRENCE HU

hen people think of America, they think of freedom. Bald eagles. Red, white and blue. However they also think of fast food, calories and obesity. In recent years, the word “American” has almost become synonymous with the word “big.”

The people, serving sizes and nearly everything existing in our country is larger than the non-US counterpart.

According to an article published by the American Diabetes Association (ADA), the amount of Americans with diabetes will increase by 165% within the next 35 years: an increase of 18 million people, or enough to fill the average professional baseball stadium over 400 times. By 2021, the cost of health care spending in the United States is expected to reach over $4.8 trillion, a $2.2 trillion dollar increase since 2010.

These staggering figures, while seemingly overwhelming and difficult to reverse, are just a small facet of the issues facing American health standards. While Clayton may seem far removed in many respects from being average America, we are not exempt from promoting these poor health and eating habits.

One does not need to look further than our own cafeteria in the CHS Commons to see that we, although unintentionally, promote possibly one of the most pressing issues facing American society today. By examining many of of the food selections in the CHS cafeteria and, while assuming our options are similar to those available in schools across the country, these shocking statistics begin to be a bit easier to grasp. It is more understandable why, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, more than one in three Americans are overweight or obese.

During the lunch periods, the checkout counter is encircled by options of sugary drinks, lined with ice cream bars and draped with bags of chips

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and other à la carte selections. While a scarce number of healthy alternatives are provided by the cafeteria, these are few and rarely selected by students.

What may be even scarier is what our school’s vending machines contain: fruit snacks, sodas and juices, even Pop Tarts. After these are refilled, the snacks and drinks are sometimes emptied within a matter of hours, as the contents of the vending machines are available to students eating lunch in the commons.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture even states that à la carte options do not have to comply with the standards set for foods sold in schools.

According to the USDA website, “any entrée item offered as part of the lunch program or the breakfast program is exempt from all competitive food standards.”

When presented with the selection between a “healthier” school-made meal, an a la carte item and snacks on the shelves, students will often opt for the latter two.

Clayton High is a school that prides itself in being leaders in many aspects of education. We certainly have room to improve, however, when it comes to the health of our students. Fortunately, this is not a difficult fix.

If we elect to eliminate many of the unhealthy options available within our cafeteria, we can continue to be the model for other school districts across the country.

Our District tagline is “Educate. Inspire. Empower.” While we can educate students on making healthy life decisions through our excellent health program, Clayton does very little to act upon these values in this respect. Indeed, we hypocritically further the problem. All of this, however, can change. To do so, it must start in the school cafeteria. 

Poster by Zach Bayly

Staff Editorial

I

thought coming out as gay my junior year at Clayton High School would be a relatively easy feat. Clayton has always been known as a bastion of liberal ideology, social progression, and open-mindedness, and taking into account the unbridled speculation about my sexuality, I decided that I might as well just accept what I hadn’t quite been able to since middle school.

However, I’ll never forget the first day I walked through the doors of Clayton High School as an openly gay man.

A group of seniors with whom I played soccer met me, and all of them congratulated me, patting me on the back, telling me that they supported me no matter what.

These same seniors then went on to say, “Some of us were suspicious because you didn’t try to hook up with girls, but the rest of us thought you were definitely too masculine to be gay.”

And therein lies the great contradiction that is social equality.

Every day, we go to school and are told that we live in a time in which there are no bounds or constraints, that we can take what we learn here and carry it with us wherever we want to go; most importantly, we are taught that we have the ability to define our own identity, and to be assured and comfortable in whatever identity we choose.

And yet, in school, as girls approached me about fashion advice I couldn’t give, and boys questioned my masculinity and athletic ability that I had prided since a very young age, I had never felt more confined.

A group of friends, two enthusiastic faculty members, and I started the “Think Before You Speak” Campaign, not to prove that the student body of Clayton High School is a bigoted, compassionless group of oppressors, but rather to create awareness; our goal was to create an awareness about not only what we say, but about the power of words, the power of inherent and systematic prejudice, and most importantly, the power of having a story to tell.

I was privileged enough to hear the stories of over forty students and faculty members from around the Clayton High School community. As I took each of their pictures and listened to each of their quotes, I would make eye contact, appalled and disconcerted, searching for the right words to express my condolence and somehow take the pain away.

What I found in these people every time, however, was strength.

No one in this campaign was looking for apologies or pity. What these people sought was fortitude in the ability to have their voice be heard and their story told, and resilience in the ability to publicly reject what had constrained and diminished them.

Even after this photo campaign recedes from social media and the halls of CHS, we know these voices and stories never will. This movement gives us strength in knowing that there are always others right beside you even when you didn’t know that they were there, that this is a community, and that there is always a capacity for moving forward. In the end, that is what gives us hope. 

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ferguson meets clayton

by CHARLIE BRENNAN, Photo by Gwyneth Henke

On October 10, after a soggy early release, CHS students went home, dispersed to the local restaurants or participated in after-school activities. However, Clayton’s midday tranquility was broken as hundreds protesting the death of Michael Brown converged on the corner of Bemiston and South Central later in the afternoon. Speakers using megaphones led chants like, “Hands up, don’t shoot.” Shouts of discontent and anger echoed through the streets as police stood vigil outside of the Buzz Westfall Justice Center.

“Hey hey! Ho ho! These killer cops have got to go!” echoed the crowd as they got riled up. Several vile and disturbing comments were uttered from the group.

Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with her fellow officers, a black female officer was ridiculed and singled out by the crowd.

Another voiced, “I wouldn’t want to be a St. Louis Police Officer if I were you. Ya’ll killin’ more people than anyone else in the entire United States! You should join the army because you people are too gun happy!”

Another shouted out, “You should feel ashamed, you really should.”

Even our own Officer Wood, from the middle school, took part in the police barricade. Most students at Wydown and the high school are familiar with the Wydown SRO; he doesn’t exactly fit the newly instated “cold blooded, murdering police” stereotype.

Can one incident with one police officer set the standards by which the entire country views all police officers? Coming in from all over the country, professional protesters, are telling us how to view our community members.

The protesters continued to taunt the barricade, “Don’t make them mad, they’ll shoot!” The police stood rooted to their positions, unresponsive. They calmly and peacefully accepted all the verbal attacks

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made towards them.

Several months ago, the shooting of Michael Brown at the hands of Darren Wilson caused a plethora of marches and protests around the St. Louis area.

More recently, another young man was shot in South St. Louis on October 8. This gathering was to protest the county prosecutor Bob McCulloch, whose father, a police officer, was killed on duty in the 1960’s.

This first protest was not the end of the movement. On October 10 and 11, over 6,000 people planned to protest in downtown St. Louis.

Justin Seiwell, teacher of Speech and Debate, attended part of the protest in front of a Quick Trip on Saturday. “What I saw were two groups of peaceful people standing together; the protesters and the police,” Seiwell said. “I saw about 100 people, [but] I joined late and left early.”

Some protesters say that they plan to continue until “Darren Wilson is brought to justice.”

“The protests are less about Mike Brown specifically -- at this point the protests have evolved into: Why is the average adult life span for a black male statistically shorter than a white male’s? Why do we have systems that prevent a black person from having the same opportunities as a similarly equal white person? Why is it that we have prisons filled with black people and have some very simplistic crimes that can put some people away for a long time, and yet we have this financial crisis not too long ago and no major Wall Street executive ever got incarcerated for it,” Seiwell said.

Seiwell continued, “It is not often that the world’s attention in on St. Louis unless it is for the Cardinals,” he said, “I just wanted to reach out and touch history in the making.” 

Q&A

James Gladstone

by PHOEBE YAO, Photo by Erin Castellano

Q: What do you do as activities director?

Q: What are your goals?

Activities director, essentially in a broad description, is responsible for the clubs, organizations and events that take place at the high school.

There’s a number of things, I think first and foremost being able to spread awareness about the events and activities that we have here is number one in my mind something that we are going to start here, hopefully at homecoming week, is our social media initiative and we are going to use that as a tool to push notifications as far is when events are going to take place and what events are going to be available and upcoming and also then what clubs and activities and organizations people can really get involved with because there are so many here and I think that its something that will be great for our student body to get a chance to do.

Q: What made you interested in Clayton?

There are a number of reasons. Some of the people that influenced me into becoming an educator had come over to Clayton as teachers and are now administrators. My father being here and being able to hear from him what a great place it was and also this position being such a valuable learning experience and entertaining position really excited me and I thought that it would really be something that I could succeed in and also help others feel like they can build off of what I can do.

Q: you’re also a football coach?

Yes, exactly, I’m coaching wide receivers for the football program this year. It’s been a lot of fun, it’s a great way to get out, to get moving and really get to know some people on a personal level other than just the broad spectrum that I’m currently at with bouncing from one club to the next.

Instead of kind of just saying ‘hi’, I really get to develop some of those personal relationships that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.

Q: What’s the best part of your job?

The best part about my job? Probably that I get to be on my feet a lot during the day. I never wanted to be somebody that had to sit in a desk.

I majored in P.E. and health and I really enjoy being able to move around and being able to keep myself energized by that movement. And this is a job where I have plenty of meetings with different people around the school, around the community, that I’m not just sitting at my desk the entire day. And I think that is something that is pretty fun.

Q: WHAT is different about clayton?

Well the biggest change and the biggest difference was that Vianney was an all boys’ private school in Kirkwood. Clayton I think has a private school feel to some extent and it is just in a public school setting. I think that most of the teachers are very close to their students, and there is a sort of family type environment. The thing that I think is the most interesting about Clayton, is the open campus. And it’s something that I think is very positive and puts a lot of responsibility onto the students which I think is a great learning opportunity for all the students because now, you have grown into basically adulthood, and you have the opportunity to show your maturity. I think that it is a very valuable experience for all the students and I think that it’s something that is very cool to watch because there haven’t been any issues that I’ve seen come up since I’ve been here.

Q: Is there anything you’d like to add?

Just that I’m really excited to be here and I think that this is going to be a long run. A run that’s going to be full excitement, full of entertainment and going to be something that I think will ultimately be a very good experience. I’m planning on staying for the rest of my career. 

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