MIRROR
De Smet Jesuit High School / 233 N. New Ballas Rd. / St. Louis, MO 63141
THE
Volume 49 / Number 2 / October 2018
pg.8-9
Fighting for Life
Special Editon: Breast Cancer Awareness Month
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STAFF
THE
Letter from the editor’s desk
MIRROR
Our staff this year has spent countless hours working on this issue making sure we can give our Fighting readers a great paper. As we open for Life our second issue we want to focus on Breast Cancer Awareness month. SPECIAL EDITON: BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH Max and I’s swim coach had breast cancer. She had quite the story to tell. After talking to her about her experince, the staff got word on a few students who’s mom has breast cancer. In this issue we wanted to tell the stories of our students. The staff editorial focuses on restructuring the ACT; we believe the ACT needs to reform to optimize the success of the modern student. In the news section, we highlighted a senior who is fundraising money for a child with Cerebral Palsy. This story came after an article we did on our web page on the football team raising awareness for cerebral palsy. We felt this was a very important and heart warming story to add. On page 11 we highlighted a freshman who traveled Europe playing the violin. We showcased some seniors who started a clothing apparel company called Backdrop STL. I as well as some staff members have bought some of their products. We encourage everyone to share their stories. Everyone has a story to tell, so do not be afraid to tell us yours. De Smet Jesuit High School / 233 N. New Ballas Rd. / St. Louis, MO 63141
pg.8-9
THE
Volume 49 / Number 2 / October 2018
- Jay Dolan, Editor-in-Chief
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Kevin Berns / Advisor Jay Dolan / Editor-in-Chief Brennan Dolnick / Editor-in-Chief Nick Einig / Web Editor Grant Stegman / Design Editor Jack Windler / Multi-Media Specialist Jacob Deighton / Multi-Media Specialist Cameron Range / Staff Writer Max Conway / Staff Writer Jon Carani / Staff Writer Spencer Caldwell / Staff Writer Camden Brazile / Staff Writer Gave Helm / Staff Writer Chris Bateman / Staff Writer Ben Lightner / Staff Artist
Our Mission
The goals of The Mirror, as De Smet Jesuit’s official student newspaper, are to provide accurate information in the spirit of responsible journalism, to entertain and to offer a forum for the ideas of students, parents, graduates, faculty and administrators. By-lined commentaries represent the opinions of their writers; they do not necessarily express the views of the administration, faculty, student body, or The Mirror staff and its adviser. Editorials without bylines represent the opinions of the editors and the staff. At least a three-fourths majority of the staff is needed for an article to be considered an opinion of the paper. The Mirror welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be limited to 500 words and should be submitted to the publications office in Room 212 or emailed to desmetpress@gmail.com. All letters must be signed, but names will be withheld upon request.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Opinions
Features
4 / Social media is making us more antisocial
10 / From AP to RPG
Social media is a great way to connect with people everywhere, but can it also hurt us?
5 / Should the ACT matter? The ACT should not be weighted as highly in college admissions.
Photo by Brian Grassi
4 / Opinion 6 / News 8 / Category
10 / Features / Feature 12 12 / Sports 14 14 / Entertainment / Sports
#4
English Teacher Nicholas Dressler incorporates games into class to help students learn.
11 / Spartan Violinist Freshman Emmet Concanon travels Europe playing the violin.
News
Entertainment
6 / Senior raises money for Cerebral Palsy
15 / Fortnite vs COD Blackout
Senior Max Conway helps raise money for a kid with cerebral palsy.
Fortnite has reigned king over battle royales for the past year. Will COD Blackout change that?
“We knew this would be life changing for pretty much all of us.�
SW #26 XC
- Philip Lasek , Fighting for Life , Page 9
Photos by Jack Windler
13 / All Spartan Team
15 / Best Facial Hair in the School
These Spartans have truly excelled at their sport.
Many students have good facial hair, but who has the best in the school?
Photo by Jack Windler
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Opinion
Art by: Ben Lightner
Eliminate political parties by Grant Stegman, Design Editor
S
ince 1850, Democrats and Republicans have ruled the political system. We hear conversations like “Oh they are a liberal” or “They are a conservative”, etc. Some people think, “Why do we label people based on political parties?” Others think, “political parties exist because of democracy”. Since 1994, the proportion of Americans with “a highly negative view” of the opposing party has doubled according to the Hill.com. What needs to happen is the government should turn into a
non-partisan democracy. A non-partisan democracy is a systematic government where periodic elections take place without reference to political parties. George Washington’s farewell address warned America of political parties and how it would divide the country. Not just Washington but according to the Atlantic, most of the founding fathers wanted a nonpartisan democracy. The parties we have now are tearing people apart because of a label. This division is obvious; so many times today (and
Social media is isolating teens by Brennan Dolnick, Editor-in-Chief
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ocial media was first created in 1997 with the goal of letting users create a profile and friend other users. Since then, it is exploded in popularity especially among members of generation z (people born from 19952005). The purpose behind it is good, but unfortunately social media has actually had a reverse effect on many teens. Face-to-face social interaction is strongly connected with humans well-being, while it’s not as clear what happens when interactions occur virtually. Brian Primack, director of the Center for Research On Media, Technology and Health at the University of Pittsburgh conducted a study on social media’s connection to social isolation. He found that people who spend more than two hours a day on social media have twice the odds of social isolation than those desmetmirror.com
Photo by: Jack Windler
ho spent a half hour or less on social media. Teens don’t need to disband their social media accounts, but it is extremely important to be careful when monitoring how much time one spend on it. Social media can be very superficial. It can almost be a popularity contest between teens. Teens nowadays get so wrapped in how many followers they have or how
again not everyone) people don’t even compromise with the other parties ideas and shut them down right away because they are the opposing party’s ideas. In today’s world, negative opinion is not what makes the country stronger. Voting for someone based on their personality would be way more productive versus voting based on parties. In an election, every candidate should be independent, and are free to speak their mind. Voters should choose the candidate they feel best represents them. As stated before, since 1850, only the two major parties have won elections, making it almost impossible for the independent parties to win. This goes with the idea that every candidate should be independent and people vote on who represents them well enough. In today’s political world, parties don’t even compromise with each other. Here is modern thinking: Party A’s ideas are party A’s ideas. Party B’s ideas can’t be considered if one belongs to party A. This type of conversation is not what the country needs. At a time where division is almost inevitable, why create more division? Instead, people should be open to other people’s beliefs, not so against to them. Politics are a huge deal in America, and in every country. People have a lot of problems with our government. Some have ideas to make it better. This is just that. Eliminating political parties would eliminate yet another reason for the country to be divided. many likes or views they get. And if their expectations for their accounts are not satisfied they feel sad and depressed. Real happiness isn’t going to come from having the most followers on instagram, it’s going to come from the interactions you have in person with the ones you love most. It’s not trying to emulate other peoples lives that you see online. The more time teens spend on the weekends looking at the fun others are having the less time they have to go out and have fun themselves. And if this pattern continues for a teen, weekend by weekend, the odds for them to develop isolation or depression skyrockets.Try and go on a social media detox for a week or so and see how it feels. Taking a break from constantly viewing social media isn’t the end of the world. In doing this, teens will have more time to socialize and less time to look what they believe their missing out on. Which in the long run will help improve your social skills. Improving your social skills will help you meet more people and develop better relationships that can help remove you from isolation.
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Opinion STAFF EDITORIAL
Tough Testing A call for change in the ACT and the college admissions process.
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olleges and universities base most of their admission qualifications on scores from a standardized test, the ACT. Juniors and seniors take the ACT countless times, striving to optimize their scores. Students even start to wonder if the ACT should matter. The ACT must reform to optimize the success of the modern student. Standardized testing is becoming less dependable for measuring intelligence and future success. The ACT is antiquated. The roots of college admittance based upon standardized testing trace back to 1890, when Harvard President Charles William Eliot proposed eliminating universities’ conduction of individual testing. Due to a new culture of self-expression, modern students learn differently than students in the 1890’s. Schools are beginning to understand that their curriculums are not effective for all students, thus the reason for Montessori schools and websites such as Kahn Academy which tailor to students as individuals as all schools ought to.132Ifresponses the ACT wishes to optimize the success of the modern student, it must conform to the culture of self-expression, ultimately bringing individuality into the assessment process. HOW DO YOU Standardized tests do not fully prepare students forFOR THE PREPARE future careers or assess a student’s potential future success. ACT? The ACT claims that it is dedicated to helping people achieve educational and workplace success, yet it does not assess social intelligence, a huge factor in the success of an individual. A student’s ability to engage in social interactions is often times what allows them to obtain and retain jobs. These social interactions, ranging from the job interview to interacting with coworkers, determine an individual’s success within a company. Modern technology has no limits, and with proper research the ACT will be able to devise a manner of assessing social intelligence. The ACT does not reflect the character of a student. GPAs are how colleges ought to see the compatibility of a student to their institution. The development of a GPA over four years shows a student’s work ethic, ambition, and ability to balance their time and classes. Though the academic rigor of high schools differ, colleges are already learning as much as possible about individual schools, ranking them and applying their own weight to schools’ curriculums. As long as universities accept the ACT, the educational system will continue to teach the cookie cutter student. Therefore, universities must begin to utilize and value GPAs at a greater level. If this becomes common practice and the ACT reforms, universities will utilize ACT scores and GPAs with equality. Though the ACT is appealing to colleges in many ways, a call for reform from students is inevitable. The ACT must allow for self-expression, assess social intelligence, and join together with GPAs in order to maximize the educational and workplace success of the modern student.
Big ACT questions
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Art by Ben Lightner
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News
Scheming in Italy The fall play is around the corner and follows the story of a con man by Gave Helm, Staff Writer
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he DeSmet Dionysian Players will perform their first play, Scapino!, Oct. 18-20 and tickets are $5. Seniors Camden Brazile and Jack Laurie will be the leads. The play will stretch about two hours. “Jack Laurie is really fun to work with cause he and I get along a lot and were really close friends,” Brazil said. “We have a lot of onstage chemistry.” Theater director, Kurt Knoedelseder, chose a comedic play because he believes the theater team has a strong slapstick comedic talent. “It’s one of the funniest plays I’ve ever been a part of and that’s one of the reasons I’m doing it now,” Knoedelseder said. “It’s because it’s a whole lot of fun, the actors have a great time, and the audience should really like it.” The really broad, physical comedy comes from a French playwright, Moliere, who wrote the play in the 1700’s. “This play was rewritten in the 1970’s and was adapted from that one to modernize it and make it more accessible to today’s audience,” Knoedelseder said. “In a roundabout way it’s a story of two young couples that want to be together.” Laurie said that the chemistry between Camden and him is familiar to last year’s musical. “It’s sort of like Peter and the Starcatcher,” Laurie said. “Where he is the smart clever one and I’m the not so smart but loyal sidekick sort of.” Knoedelseder performed the play almost 40 years ago in college. “I thought this would be a great show for the guys we have here right now,” Knoedelseder said. “It’s something they are really good at so why not let them show off their slapstick comedy chops.”
desmetmirror.com
Photo by: Gave Helm Senior Max Conway will be looking for donations from any member of the DeSmet community.
Senior raises money for Cerebral Palsy
by Gave Helm, Staff Writer
I
n a country where traffic does not respect ambulances, Hibah Alkufouf, from Jordan, would have to drive her son Nabeel, who lives with cerebral palsy to the hospital monthly. Anything that Nabeel ate or drank went to his lungs. The doctors in Jordan could not access the resources to properly care for him. Nabeel could not attend school and his family had no money for a wheelchair. Hibah’s mother, Badiah, met a man named Bernie. Bernie told his parish priest about Hibah’s situation. The priest then connected her to Cardinal Glennon Hospital, who gave them full coverage for health care. Hibah came to St. Louis in 2015 hopeful for her children. “If we still lived in Jordan, I promise you, Nabeel would have died,” Hibah said. “We don’t have big roads and google maps is non-existent in Jordan. People would die simply because the ambulance couldn’t get the correct directions.” Senior Max Conway met Hibah and her family through Incarnate Word Parish’s Life Teen program in 2016. He decided to raise money for them with a dress down day, raising almost $2,000.
“I wanted to do whatever I could to help,” Conway said. “Cerebral palsy itself is a great cause to raise money for, but this family needed extra help with two kids living with cerebral palsy and for traveling expenses, especially being from Jordan.” Hibah struggles every time she travels with Nabeel and her daughter Carole also living with cerebral palsy. Nabeel weighs 80 pounds, and his wheelchair weighs the same. “Nabeel loves going outside and seeing the lights and people moving around him,” Hibah said. “Nabeel is getting too heavy to put into his car seat, it is hurting my back.” Hibah and her family need $30,000 to purchase a handicap van. Conway is working to spread the word about the Alkufouf’s situation. Conway started a GoFundMe page. The school will allow him to make a difference through it’salumni network. “As DeSmet students we are taught to be men for and with others,” Conway said. “I need the support of as many people as possible so I can help the Alkufouf family more than I did before. DeSmet will allow me to do that.”
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News
Upcoming Service Trips by Nick Einig, Web Editor Photo by DeSmet Students help out the community in Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico Belize
Border Trip
Puerto Rico is a mission exchange trip that will take place November 24th December 1st. The group will go down to San Juan Puerto Rico and integrate themselves with the jesuit school San Juan. Being an exchange trip, the guys will live with the students in San Juan, go to school with them, and do service work in the mornings and afternoons. In March, the students in San Juan will come up to De Smet and do the same thing. The goal of the trip is to open students eyes to Jesuit education and philosophy. The group going will also learn the idea of service and why it is important. Lastly, if not anything else they will form strong relationships with the San Juan students. Belize is one of De Smet’s oldest service trips, but was stopped for a few years and now it is back. Over the summer the Nicaragua service trip was canceled due to the civil unrest there. Belize is a trip meant to replace Nicaragua. The details are still being finalized, but as for right now the group plans to leave the 1st or 2nd week of January or during spring break. The group will head to the Jesuit parish, Saint Claver, and live in a home next to the church. The service work will either be working in a school with kids or building houses. The group will also learn about how to help people through different programs. The border trip is a new idea that teacher Madeline Powers came up with over the summer. The group will head down to El Paso and link up with the Jesuit school there and work with immigrants. Through the work the group will experience and learn new things with the immigrants. The trip would be March 18th - 24th, with most of the other details being figured out. Being a new idea, it has to gain interest or else it will be discontinued.
Innovation Center utilization How have students been using the Innovation Center? by Jonathan Carani, Staff Writer
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eachers have been using the Innovation Center in different ways to better the learning experience for their students. Math Teacher Pat Littleton uses the white boards for collaborative work during class time, his students help each other work out equations. “It is a challenge to get teenage boys to work out math problems for 80 minutes of a block period,” Littleton said. “The students enjoy working in there, they stay focused and work hard.” From solving math equations to studying and working silently, Director of the Innovation Center Nancy Sokolik watches students and teachers use the space in new ways each week. “Foreign language teachers have said things and have the students draw pictures of it,” Sokolik said. “They have infiltrated the spaces so that they can work in unique ways.” Students have a lot of positive feedback about the innovation center. They use the new space to study, learn, and innovate with each other. “The innovation center has turned into a reliable work space,” senior Josh Abel said. “When I am looking for a space to complete assignments and other work, I can rely on the caves to be a good quiet work place.” Sokolik said she has high expectations for the future of the Innovation Center. “I think that once we get used to the way that the space can get used by us as a school internally we will have the opportunity to reach out into the community and see how we can partner with the community,” Sokolik said. “We can have students become partners with the community in terms of being entrepreneurs, in terms of independent studies, and community partnerships that we have not begun to think of yet.” desmetmirror.com
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Fighting for Life De Smet swim coach shares her struggle with Breast Cancer. by Max Conway, Staff Writer
S “It’s scary. You just pray that you are going to make it through.” -Head swim coach Autumn Cortivo
1 in 8 women will have breast cancer in their lifetime
he did everything right to make herself not at risk. She had normal mammogram results two months prior. She never expected to go through exhausting treatment. Yet, as she was working the soreness out of her shoulder after a surgery, head swim coach Autumn Cortivo discovered what would change her life forever. Cortivo found a large lump in her breast on October 7, 2013. Two days later, doctors diagnosed her with stage two breast cancer. “You cry a lot, hoping you won’t have to go through one treatment or the other,” Cortivo said. “It’s scary. You just pray that you are going to make it through.” After battling breast cancer for six months, Cortivo was officially considered cured after doctors performed a double mastectomy.
“I don’t feel like a survivor,” Cortivo said. “I feel more like a warrior as every day I have to struggle with the effects of chemo and will for the rest of my life.” As someone who experienced the horrific ways cancer affects day-to-day life, Cortivo is adamant about sharing her advice with those recently diagnosed. “Stop and pause,” Cortivo said. “It is a whirlwind. You have time to stop and step back to look at it. Don’t let them [the doctors] rush you through it.” Cortivo knows the importance of educating people about different types of cancer, the more people know about it, the earlier it can be detected and treated. “Be informed about the signs and symptoms of things that can be any form of cancer,” Cortivo said. “Whether it be colon cancer, breast cancer, skin cancer, all those kinds things.”
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Fighting for Life Twins share their experience dealing with a family member affected by Breast Cancer. by Jay Dolan, Editor-in-Chief
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heir Mom approached the family slowly but confidently. She had something serious to say. She told her four kids something they would never forget, “I have breast cancer.” “It seemed unreal. Breast cancer always seemed like something we did not think could happen to us,” senior Philip Lasek said. “We knew this would be life changing for pretty much all of us.” Emily Lasek had surgery to remove the breast cancer tumor on Aug. 15. She is going through chemotherapy to help prevent it’s recurrence. After being previously diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2006 Lasek said their family is prepared for the road ahead. “It is not a pleasant trip, but the surgery went well and I have every reason to believe chemo and radiation will as well,” Lasek said. “I am confident [going into chemo].” It is that confidence that Lasek hopes to keep throughout her whole process of chemotherapy. She knows through her past trials and tribulations that cancer is a battle but it is a very winnable one. “Every time you hear cancer, people automatically go to the worst,” Lasek said. “Because I have done this before, and it hasn’t been the worst. It is now more of an ‘okay, what’s next?’” In fact, Lasek is so confident, the only thing she is worried about is losing her hair. “Being bald at Mom Prom bothers me,” Lasek said. “I asked [Aaron and Philip] if it was going to be a problem with me being bald [at Mom Prom], and they ‘no.’” With the matriarch of the family out, the family will have many responsibilities to live up to. Senior Aaron Lasek knows that his normal flow of school then practice then homework will radically change when chemo starts. “I will have to drive my siblings places, go to the grocery store, do the chores at the house,” Aaron said. “Usually I go home do homework and chill out after practice, that is it. But now i have new responsibilities.” Aaron wants to do whatever he can to help this process go as smooth as possible. With the help of Philip and younger brother freshman Gabe, they hope to step up. “I am looking forward to the responsibilities that I have to take upon myself to keep the family together and keep the house running,” Aaron said. “I have to make sure the house does not fall apart.”
“We knew this would be life changing for pretty much all of us” -senior Philip Lasek
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Features
Photo Jack Windler Photo by:by Camden Brazile Nicholas Dressler prepares for the days activity that willl improve the students knowledge on the reading.
From AP to RPG
English teacher Nick Dressler has modified his classroom by adding video games to English. by Camden Brazile, Staff Writer
I
n classroom 218, A.P. English students are all playing a newly released role playing game. They team up, converse, argue, and debate over ways to advance in the game. They are all working on various different side-quests and games. One student is creating a board game, another is recording a podcast, and a third is writing a paragraph in order to advance further in the game. By collecting experience points (XP) the class excitedly hurries to finish quests in the game in order to gain levels and gold. While it seems like the students appear to be slacking off, pushing aside their English work in favor of the latest video game, they actually are completing their assigned classwork. The side quests are papers and projects on reading skill and themes, and leveling up actually means writing an essay. Nicholas Dressler, the Senior A.P. English teacher, has modified his class to be centered around a role playing game, and has rebuilt the stereotypical classroom setting to appeal to student’s interest and engagement. “I don’t think that the way we were doing it before is necessarily preparing the student to do well after high school as much as it’s getting him good at THIS school.” Dressler said “I think the system encourages failure as a way to get better, I do not think school in general encourages failure I think desmetmirror.com
they encourage you to make sure you get everything right all the time.” Dressler has students pick from a litany of “Side-Quests,” different homework assignments appealing to all different preferences and skills of students. He tailors his classwork and assignments to give students options while completing their work. “The side-quests add an element of choice so that the students can work on projects or assignments if they feel at least some connection to and can skip ones that they don’t.” Dressler said “Also it gives the guys an opportunity to learn what they want to learn and achieve the grade they want in the class.” Dressler has categorized all classwork into different topics all pertaining to skills needed for A.P. curriculum. Listed under every essay, project, and presentation is the A.P. skill that particular assignment will improve, such as Author’s Intention, Opposing Viewpoint, or Symbolism. “The basis for it is first and foremost to give the student a better idea of what he needs to work on in order to get a better grade or become a better student in this subject.” Dressler said “Also to give the student the most specific feedback possible.” Although the class is technically considered a game, this hardly means that
the class is just a walk in the park. Dressler believes though his class may be lighter in tangible busy work, it more than makes up for it in critical thinking, analytical, and abstract work. Dressler intentionally leaves a lot of assignments up to student’s creativity and hopes to break the mold of students relying too much on rubrics to guide their work, often resulting in hackneyed and uninspired projects. “There is a deliberate vagueness of some of the projects, which actually fosters intrinsic motivation because you don’t have these little ‘monkey-bars’ that you can rely on” Dressler said “What you’re doing is showing me what you know or how you do something, and I think the process of learning is what is accentuated in this model.” So far, the class has definitely yielded results. Dressler says that this new model has improved the way students think and work in class, and he has seen a direct improvement. Dressler has confidence in his new class, and his students feel the same way. “I think the class is wonderful,” Senior Ethan Aronson said “Good teaching skills with a great teacher. I think [The new class] shows that Mr. Dressler is willing to think outside the box to engage his students.”
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Features
Spartan Violinist Freshman traveled Europe playing the violin. by Jay Dolan, Editor-in-Chief
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s he strikes the first chord, the crowd quickly quiets down in the old church resting in the snowcapped Swiss Alps. Eyes open wide and smiles begin to grow on the bystander’s faces as he starts playing his first song of the night. This past summer, freshman Emmet Concanon traveled Europe playing the violin with a orchestra. He visited the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. Concanon said he hopes his orchestra performances helped improve people’s opinion of the United States. “They hardly knew how to speak English, but they were so happy with smiles on their faces,” Concanon said. “That was our main goal, to play for them. We could tell that they enjoyed it.” Concanon started playing the violin in second grade. At first, Concanon was unsure whether he wanted to do it or not. “My mom was kind of forcing me at first but I thought it would be cool
Photo by: Brian Grassi Freshman Emmet Cancannon plays his violin. Cancannon began playing when he was six years old.
because I did not play an instrument back then,” Concanon said. “I wanted to try something new.” After a few private lessons, Concanon said he began to pick up on this new instrument. “I started getting the hang of it, I [realized that] I do not want to be just an okay violin player,” Concanon said. “I wanted to go above and beyond.” After a small $100 gig in the history museum in downtown St. Louis, Concanon came to a realization. “At first I was nervous to play, so I kept telling myself I could do it,” Concanon said. “Then I thought I should keep
going because maybe I could make this a career.” According to Concanon playing the violin is not easy. “It takes hard work and dedication,” Concanon said. “Dedication is the most important thing because you need to practice if you want to be good at it.” At the end of the day, playing the violin is just another hobby of Concanon’s, but he hopes people come to realize that the violin is a fun instrument to play. “Not a lot of people play it but I think it is cool,” Concanon said. “It would be cool if more people try it out. I feel very lucky to have played the violin.”
Seniors start clothing apparel company called Backdrop STL by Ethan Heady, Staff Writer
I
t was a Sunday night and they had racquetball practice at 7. It was there that seniors Thomas Hubeli, Tommy Robinson, and Jake Angus decided to launch their company called BackdropSTL, which sells St. Louis themed apparel such as t-shirts and hoodies. “We waited until one of us was 18 because we were going to start a certain type of bank account and one of us needed to be 18,” Hubeli said. “ It felt like the right time because we were at a point where we had everything prepared.” BackdropSTL focuses around giving back to the community that the owners love. “Charity was the first priority,” Hubeli said. “We wanted to make something that revolved around charity and clothing came as a second idea.”
Hubeli came up with the idea during the summer to create an apparel company. They use Instagram to promote their company, and their last ad had 2,000 people see it. “The profit we make from the company is going to a good cause,” Hubeli said. “15% of profits go to the charity of the month.” Each month, a different charity is chosen for the proceeds to go to. The charity is voted on by their Instagram followers. “The first month, we chose Special Olympics because it is their 50th year of Operations,” Hubeli said. “But eventually we will do a poll on Instagram, so our followers will get a vote to see which St. Louis based charity they want the profit go to.”
For the month of October, the charity of the month was the Stray Rescue of Saint Louis, the organization rescues stray animals in need of medical attention. “The application that we use, Give n’ Grow, gives us a list of St. Louis charities that we are allowed to do,” Robinson said. “Obviously animals play a large role in everyone’s life.” The company is working to make their apparel affordable for students who might have to pay for the shirts and other apparel by themselves. “We are working really hard to meet the consumer’s needs and to meet our own moral needs,” Hubeli said. “We’re really pushing charity on it and hope to expand the amount we give to charity in the future.” desmetmirror.com
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Sports
Spartan Features These Spartans have passion for their sports. by Brennan Dolnick Editor-in-Chief
Leadership and Hardwork
Running Cross Country
He gets up, wipes off his sweat, and readies himself for another tough drill. Senior Jack Combs has no intentions of playing football in college, but that doesn’t stop him from giving his all Photo by: Brian Grassi in every workout, practice, and game. Senior Jack hypes up the crowd at the “It’s day in day out, it’s spartan fest assembly. leading by example. It’s making sure that your studying your playbook, and it’s putting in full effort on every play,” Combs said. “If you set an aggressive pace then people are going to have to keep up and match your effort.” Combs is a four year member of the football team and was given a position on the leadership council this year. He believes the M.A.A.D. Men mentality is extremely important facet to the team’s identity. “M.A.A.D. Men is a family, almost even a lifestyle,” Combs said. “The brotherhood holds us accountable for each other.”
He lines up with other runners, he goes over the route one last time in his head. Bang! The gun fires and he steps into his stride. Senior Teddy Weishaar started running cross Photo by: Mike Donnovan country freshman year because he wanted to be Senior Teddy Weishaar approaches the like his brothers, but since 3 mile marker at he Fetus meet. then he has fallen in love with he sport. “I love running because it gives me a time after school to reflect on my day,” Weishaar said. “It’s also great because running is a challenge that not all people like to do.” Weishaar believes that meets are the hardest part of running cross country. “Meets are tough because you run 40 miles a week in preparation for one race,” Weishaar said. “And if that race goes downhill, you got to shake it off and do it all over again the next week.”
Passion for the Game
Conquering the 500 Meter Freestyle
His name is called as he steps on the field. The crowd is buzzing with noise, but all he can think about is playing the game he loves. Ever since he could walk, Senior Brendan Miller, has Photo by: Jason Schoenig had a passion for soccer. “Soccer is great because Senior Brendan Miller celebrates his it makes you forget about goal versus Vianney. everything whether that’s school work, or any other stress in your life,” Miller said. “It sets it all aside and helps you just focus on playing soccer.” Miller loves playing in high school because of the amazing support from the student section. “When your on the side where the crowd is and they’re screaming and chanting your name it’s like nothing else,” Miller said. “I can’t thank our fans enough for their support.” Miller has netted five goals and assisted three, but he believes his first goal of his varsity career was the best of them all. “When I scored my first it was so surreal,” Miller said. “Right after it went in off the post I just remember losing feeling in my legs due to overwhelming excitement.” desmetmirror.com
He steps up onto the block, takes a deep breath, and dives into the pool. Senior Aaron Lasek is the only spartan swimmer who swims the 500 meter every meet. Photo by: Max Conway “The 500 meter is one of those things you just gotta Senior Aaron Lasek prepares to swim bear through,” Lasek said. the 500 meter freestyle. “After I’m done my legs and arms get so sore that I can barely stand up.” The 500 meter race consist of 20 laps. Aaron originally started swimming the 500 meter because his coaches made him, but since then he has taken it on and learned to embrace it. “You’re swimming 20 laps in a pool,” Lasek said. “Traditionally you want to sprint them all, but I’ve learned to effectively pace myself so I can keep myself going through all 20 laps.” Lasek has been swimming for seven years. He has played other sports since then, but swimming has always been the most important to him. “It’s different than any other sport I have played,” Lasek said. “Not only is it special to me because I’m good at it, but it’s also just different from any other sport I’ve ever played.”
13
Sports
All Spartan Team These Spartan athletes have exceled in their sports this season by, Brennan Dolnick, Editor-in-Chief
Darez Snider-RB #4
Thomas Redman-ST #26
Aidan King-Swimmer
Alex Volker-XC
Sophomore running back Darez Snider has rushed for 586 yards and a team leading 10 touchdowns this season. Darez has also been the leading special teams players for the team. He has returned seven punts for 186 yards and three kickoffs for 150 yards. One of those kickoffs was ran back for a career long 99 yard touchdown.
Sophomore Thomas Redman started the season coming on only as sub. His good form has now earned him a spot as a starting forward. He has scored a team leading six goals and has also assisted four goals. The most important two of those six goals came in a 2-1 victory over Chaminade who was ranked number one in the state at the time.
Although the team has had it’s struggles this year sophomore Aidan King has had his best year swimming. He has set personal records this year in the 50, 100, and 200 meter freestyle. His 24.04 50 meter freestyle time in just a second off of getting a chance to swim at the state championship this year. Aidan hopes to get his time down so he can qualify.
Senior Alex Volker has led the pack for Spartan runners this year with his rather impressive race times. He set a personal record with a 17 minute, 15 second 5k at the Fox Invite. His team best time earned him a 2nd place finish at the event.
Winter Sports Previews by, Chris Bateman, Cameron Range, and Spencer Caldwell , Staff Writers
Wrestling
Basketball
Hockey
Bowling
The Wrestling Team are in a rebuilding phase this season because of multiple state qualifiers leaving the team from last year. The returners have been working hard in the preseason to get themselves ready for the season and have been looking to qualify for state. There has been a lot of interest in wrestling this year so there will be a lot of newcomers on the mat this season. Coach Aedryan Cox is looking to involve everyone who wants to be involved because they are looking to have a lot of fun this season.
The team is very similar to last year, with only two lost seniors. Senior guard Evan Asleson will be making a comeback after only playing three games last year because of a torn patella. 6’10 Sophomore Sekou Gassama joined the team after transfering last season and will be partnering with fellow sophomore 6’9 Yaya Keita, who averaged 10.5 points, 10.1 rebounds and 2.54 blocks a game in his first varsity season. Sophomore point guard Jeremiah Walker will return this year after averaging the third most points on varsity as a freshman.
After losing at the Enterprise Center and losing nine seniors, the hockey team hopes to take revenge and win the state championship. Finishing 3rd in their conference last year, their mindset is to improve upon their 19-74 season. The team will heavily rely on their nine returning seniors to lead the underclassmen by example. Senior Justin Reynolds said the team’s relationship with each other is the closest he has experienced in his past four years. Senior captains Ryan Brickhaus and Justin Reynolds hope to lead the team to a state championship.
The bowling team are looking to build off last year’s success and be able to compete in the league championship. With the loss of the seniors from last year, they hope to make up for that with the returning junior and sophomores. They will also be adding a student from Nerinx Hall and a student from Ritenour on the team with the addition of 8th graders committing to De Smet. Coach Melvin Kennedy and Brian Fenili are looking to grow more interest in bowling and get more students to attend matches.
Racquetball After coming off a tough season, the racquetball team is looking to come back and get better. They went 2-7 last year, but are looking to improve this year. Thomas Hubeli, a senior cocaptain, has a lot of faith in his team that they will turn it around this year. He knows they have a good group of guys who put in a lot of work over the summer to get better. They are even starting their practices a month earlier. the team, is excited for this year. He has a good feeling that something special can happen. desmetmirror.com
14
Modern Music Legends
Entertainment What Artist has the best chance to make the Rock N Roll Hall 0f Fame?
Spartans chose: 10
What modern musicians will make the Rock The earliest known New and Roll Hall of Fame? Year’s celebrations were in
The early Rom Mesopotamia, dating back celebrated Ne 9 to 2000 B.C. Day on March The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was gering 220 million records worldwide, making him one of hip-hop’s best-sellfounded in Cleveland, Ohio in 1983 ing artists of all time. by Atlantic Records chairman Ahmet Ancient Persians gave Eminem’s latest album Kamikaze, Ertergun. His mission was to archive eggs as New Year’s 8 became his ninth consecutive number the history of the most influential one album in the United States. gifts, With symbolizing artists and producers in the music Eminem’s unique rapping style andproductiveness. reindustry. So far the hall has inducted cord shattering sales, there is no reason 324 musicians. Some of these artist January is nam he shouldn’t have a spot in the hall. include legends like Elvis Presley, The Is 8usic An Important Pop: Since the dawn of pop music Beatles, Aretha Franklin, and Chuck the god Janus Part of Your Life? Berry. So far the 21st century has seen with Elvis Presley in the 1950s it has two faces, one 7 many new talented artist in all genres. developed throughout the years with forward and o Obviously, there are many new talent- many great artists like Michael Jackbackward. ����� ����� ed artist that will have a chance at the son, Prince, and Madonna. Pop in the NO YES hall, but here are a few that undoubt21st century has seen manyThe passing Gregorian calendar, edly need to make it in. flings and many artists with one hit which marks January 1st Hip Hop: The Rock and Roll Hall of wonders, but these artist are as here NewtoYear’s Day, was 6 Fame has inducted only six hip hop stay. adopted by the Roman artists/groups. These being RunThe first artist is Rihanna.Catholic RihannaChurch in 1582. D.M.C., Public Enemy, Grandmaster has 14 number one hits on Billboard’s Flash and The Furious Five, Beastie “Top 100”, ranking her 10th all-time The first ball Boys, N.W.A, and Tupac Shakur. Hip among all artists. She is the only artist celebration a Hop is a new and upcoming genre now of the modern era (2000-present) to Square was h in the 21st century, especially among rank in the top 10. Rihanna also has 5 December 31 the younger generation. the most digital track sales of all-time Most popular artists on The first artist is Jay-Z. He has 4 with 215 million sold. Rihanna’s song, Spotify number one hits on Billboard’s “Hot “Work” broke the charts, spending an 100”, ranking him second most all time astounding 36 weeks on Billboard’s among hip hop artists. He has sold 100 Top 100. Rihanna has reigned queen The original New Year's Eve million albums ranking him 3rd allover pop singers now for 12weighed years. She700 pounds 4 Ball time, as well as being the only rapper deserves a definite lock in the hall for and was 5 feet in diameter. ever to have more than one debuting her astounding number of hits. albums or songs in Rolling Stones “Top The second artist is Adele. She has 200”. Jay-Z has been involved in the only released 13 songs, but everything In 2008, a new creation of 23 different albums and he she has touched has turned to gold. Eve Ball was was a pinnacle in popularizing a new Adele has released three albums total. geodesic sph generation in hip hop music. Her albums 21 and 25 both became the 3 diameter and The second artist to consider is top selling albums of the year in 2011Eminem. He is the only hip hop artist 2012 and 2015. Her powerful voice and 11,875 pounds besides Diddy and Ludacris to have driving lyrics have propelled her to the reached five number one hits on Billtop of the charts and will give her aSyne," the song "Auld Lang board’s Top 100. He has sold a stagplace in the hall. traditionally sun at midnight on New Year's Eve, was 2 desmetmirror.com written by Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1788. by, Brennan Dolnick, Editor-in-Chief
Post Malone
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15
Entertainment
Some of the best student facial hair in the school As no shave November quickly aproaches, the staff wanted to showcase some great beards
Fortnite vs Blackout
Photo by Nick Einig
Which is better Fortnite or Call of Duty: Blackout? by, Nick Einig, Web Editor
Photo by: Spencer Caldwell
Senior, Sean Lane
Photo by: Spencer Caldwell
Sophomore, Hutson Lillibridge
Photo by: Spencer Caldwell
Senior, Bradley Estrada
T
he two most played games in the video game world are now rivals. Call of Duty (COD) just released their new game Black Ops 4 with a battle royale mode named Blackout. It is similar to Fortnite’s with a few differences. The Call of Duty games have been around for a long time and is a major powerhouse in the gaming world but Fortnite claims the victory royale on the battle royale mode. Even though Fortnite has been out for more than a year, Epic games has been continuously updating, changing, adding, and fixing things regularly which keeps players interested. COD releases a game every year, the game itself isn’t made to last more than 8 months until players get bored of it and wait for the new one. The fact that Fortnite updates regularly keeps players returning to the game and adding new players continuously. This past June, Fortnite had a player base of 125 million. On the other hand, the last Black Ops game, BO3, only had 26.46 million units sold. Players can also do so much more in Fortnite with the use of utility weapons, building, karts, and in-game changes. Whereas in Blackout there’s just vehicles and zombies so far. Fortnite has so much diversity which allows for different play styles in comparison to Blackouts all-around “run and gun” play style. Another thing that makes players come back to fortnite is that it has achieved the holy grail of gaming: cross platform, which allows for Playstation players to play with PC and PC with XBOX. On the other hand, Blackout did add the unique environment change of adding zombies to help players achieve victory or lose. Also, some players might like the real-ness of not being able to build, flying islands, impulse grenades and other things that just wouldn’t happen in real life. However, this allows for less of a learning curve, which gamers appreciate. Players like the challenge of learning how to do things better. Fortnite being way more diversified allows for a learning curve on a lot of things. Fortnite also has some realistic things as well, such as the drop and lead in sniping, as well has the movement of running and jumping. In conclusion, Fortnite was made to last, which led to it being more diversified. The continuous adding and vaulting of new and old weapons keeps players interested as well as the in-game events that happen such as the seasons. Fortnite also has more for the player to learn, simple games make it easy for a player to master it which ends up not being as fun as it sounds. Therefore, Fortnite is the last game standing and takes the victory royale. desmetmirror.com
A Closer Look at
“I don’t feel like a survivor. I feel more like a warrior, as every day I have to struggle with the effects of chemo and will for the rest of my life.” -Head swim coach Autumn Cortivo (page 9)
BREAST CANCER 800,000
600,000
A look into the top 10 deadliest cancers in the USA.
400,000
200,000
0
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1
Colon
in
Breast Pancreatic Prostate Leukemia Lymphoma
8
Liver
Ovarion Esophagel
About 40,920 women are projected to die in 2019 from Breast Cancer
women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime
It is estimated that 480 men will die from Breast Cancer in 2019.
or 12.4%
51.4%
1%
of all breast cancer cases are men.
of De Smet students (who polled) know someone affected by Breast Cancer
What do De Smet students think the odds of men getting Breast Cancer are? ơƞ ƠƠǎƦ
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