October 2018 Booster Redux

SPORTS Seal of excellence: PAGE 8 Coach secures 700 wins OPINION Bayliss addresses admin PAGE 3 decision to remove lockers

IN-DEPTH PAGE 4 & 5

@phsboosterredux

Bressler family copes with the hardship of cancer

@phsstudentpub @pittpublication @phsboosterredux www.boosterredux.com

The

Booster Redux Pittsburg High School

Pittsburg, KS 66762

1978 E. 4th Street

October 2018

Vol. 101 Issue 1

Purple Power Hour suspended “Power Hour was really important to me because you got to choose how to utilize your time,” On Sept. 6, administration Laidler said. “If you wanted to eat decided to halt Purple Power Hour lunch and do your work as well, (PPH) and implement a revised you had that option and you didn’t lunch schedule. After seeking have to [just do one or the other].” input from students and staff, PPH Due to the construction, will be continued in the spring students will continue staying in semester. their fourth hour period for study “We have decided that until we hall and eating the specified get the additional space of the blocked lunch. new cafeteria, we don’t want to According to Bressler, the new open it back up and set kids up for cafeteria works toward the school’s failure. We think the extra space advantage. is the issue and we want to set “Our kitchen staff really has kids up for success,” principal Phil a hard time managing with just Bressler said. “It’s probably going two serving lines. We will have to be the end of January or the more serving lines [in the new first part of February before that cafeteria],” Bressler said. “It’s not so facility opens”. much the staff, it’s the layout of the PPH is a 50-minute lunch period kitchen. The new kitchen will have to give students time to eat and four lines instead of two so things work one-on-one with teachers. will go a little faster.”

For sophomore DesiRay Laidler, Another reason to discontinue the time was beneficial to the was the inability for all students be student body. seated during PPH.

WORDS BY Cassidy Bayliss

“[Teachers and admin] liked power hour, too. I think most people were in favor of it,” Bressler said. “All of the juniors and seniors are telling the freshmen how great it was and that they want it back, so we would like to do it right now but the people walking in the halls became a distraction to those who wanted to work.”

Administration will be meeting with students before power hour is reinstated to discuss guidelines.

“Once we get a firm date of when [construction is] over, we are going to have conversations with the student body about keeping the cafeteria clean, making sure they are sitting down without having to be asked and making sure the food gets back into the commons instead of dumped in classrooms,” Bressler said. “There’s just some little things that I feel like kids know but they’ve got to be reinforced. We are planning to do that before Christmas.”

BY THE NUMBERS Every week, principal Phil Bressler totals the number of students called in by teachers each day of the week. We averaged the numbers of the past four weeks. represents 25 students

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W Th F

188

291

275

247

233

Thriving Weidert remains driven despite cancer roadblock in middle school they first told me, both of my parents were there and they started breaking down and crying. I was just kind of looking around, waiting very morning at 5:00, junior for something to be done.”

Having already missed a week of Ethan Weidert climbs out school and sports practices, Ethan of his bed, makes his prewas ready to get back to his daily workout shake and heads routine. out the door to work out.

“At no point was I thinking, ‘Oh Ethan starts as an inside my god. I might die,’” Ethan said. “It linebacker on the varsity football was just kind of like, ‘I’ve got to do team. He powerlifts. He throws what I’ve got to do and let’s get it discus and javelin on the track over with.’” team.

Ethan’s treatment consisted of Just last year, as a sophomore, four cycles of chemotherapy. he held up a silver medal at the At the beginning of his third state powerlifting tournament, cycle of chemo, Ethan hit another finishing as state runner up in the roadblock. Ethan’s IV was 173-pound weight class. administered incorrectly when a But Ethan’s journey to athletic nurse missed his vein. The saline success wasn’t clear of roadblocks. fluid, meant to keep him hydrated, He hit his first one in January seeped into his muscles. of 2016 in eighth grade, when For the first time, Ethan he was diagnosed with Hodgkin was forced to stay overnight lymphoma — a cancer of the at Children’s Mercy, while he immune system.

Though he was only 14 years old, recovered.

“There’s always that one kid that Hodgkin lymphoma is the most you look at and it’s the situation common cancer in teenagers 15where you’re like, ‘I’m glad that’s 19 years of age, according to the not me,’” Ethan said. “I was that kid.”

American Cancer Society.

But chemo didn’t stop Ethan But the diagnosis didn’t start from doing what he loved — staying off that way. With a cough and a active, spending time with friends lump on his neck, Ethan’s family and attending sports events. physician diagnosed him with “I’ve always had the attitude of ‘I mononucleosis. can change After no what I can improvement, change, if Ethan returned not, I’m not and his going to physician worry about ordered a CAT it too much,’” scan. He was Ethan said. immediately Ethan Weidert “Worrying referred to about it isn’t Children’s going to change anything.”

Mercy Hospital in Kansas City.

Head football coach Tom After a biopsy, the Weiderts Nickelson invited Ethan to attend were sent home for the weekend weights training with the other without answers. incoming freshmen.

They returned Tuesday and During chemo, Nickelson Ethan was diagnosed with Hodgkin modified a workout based on lymphoma.

“I was numb,” Ethan said. “I guess Ethan’s condition. At one point, while his freshmen teammates the reality hadn’t really hit me. I lifted weights, Nickelson set a goal remember pretty vividly when I for Ethan of 50 push-ups and 50 was in the doctor’s office. When WORDS BY Ximena Ibarra & Matthew Moore

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“I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do and get it over with.”

Junior Ethan Weidert sits in the weight room, his tattoo, which covers a port scar, exposed.

Weidert was tattooed over the summer and selected a violet ribbon to represent Hodgkin lymphoma. PHOTO BY Aubrey Bolinger

sit-ups.

“At the time, it was devastating knowing I couldn’t do any of it with my teammates,” Ethan said.

After his fourth round of chemo, Ethan was in remission, but he was not in the clear.

He still has a chance of the cancer returning. For the next three years, Ethan has yearly checkups.

“Every time he gets sick or I hear him coughing, it’s [cancer] in the back of my head,” Lynn Weidert, Ethan’s mother, said. “I’d like to say, ‘Yeah, he’s cured: it’s gone.’ But it’s still in the back of our heads.”

After a year in remission, Ethan encountered yet another roadblock.

Over Labor Day weekend, he discovered another lump. Due to a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday, Ethan missed school and was unable to play in the freshmen football game that night.

The only difference was the outcome of the visit — Ethan remained in remission.

“There are some people who can play the victim,” Lynn said. “He could be that kid that lays around and does nothing but video games, but he doesn’t. Seeing him play football and enjoy his life inspires me in so many ways, and that’s how I get through to the next visit.”

Though a fear of cancer lingers, the experience has made them a stronger family.

“We can rely on each other for emotional support,” Heath Weidert, Ethan’s father, said. “I’m not sure we knew we had that before and we know we have that now.”

Ethan’s success, however, didn’t end his sophomore year.

“He had a goal to kick cancer’s ass and he did,” Nickelson said.

“He had a goal to start defense at linebacker and he did. He’s worked his tail off the last 18 months.

He’s pound-for-pound one of our strongest kids on the team.

Whatever he sets his mind to, that’s what he does.“

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October 2018 www.boosterredux.com

NEWS

From classroom to stage Theater department performs ‘The Crucible’ WORDS BY Violet Norman

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very year juniors in English 11 study “The Crucible”.

This year, however, their class aligned with the theater department’s performance of the play.

On Oct. 18, the classes attended the performance of “The Crucible” at the Memorial Auditorium after reading the play in class.

“They’ll come in with a pretty established knowledge of the play and then they’ll get to see our version of it,” theater teacher Greg Shaw said. “It should just give them a deeper understanding of art and how it can bring things to life.”

Along with PHS, four other schools brought their students to the Memorial Auditorium to see the play. There were about 600 students total.

“I [was] excited to have other schools come to our shows and to be able to give them that experience too, so it’s not just something happening in Pittsburg,” sophomore Emma Noonoo said.

“When you’re actually able to see the play and hear the exact same words you’re reading in class and see how [the characters] act, it really helps you to see the story.”

Shaw put his own spin on “The Crucible” by not providing an exact timeline.

The costumes and set was modern-day themed instead of Puritan, like portrayed in the original

play.

“What we [were] doing is trying to allow an audience to look at the piece for what it is,” Shaw said. “The interesting tie into “The Crucible” is all of the similarities that happen in several different situations throughout our history.”

The cast modernized some of the characters so the audience would view them and the play as more modern, and the characters were portrayed without exact ages.

“You don’t know if that [character] right there is 20 or 83. We’re doing it as an eye-opener for the [audience],” said Franchesca Brownhanney, who plays Mary Warren, said.

Noonoo played the role of Deputy Governor Danforth. This role was originally meant to be male, but the gender was changed for this production.

“When you see the character on stage as a black female instead of a white 60 year-old man, it changes the perspective of the audience on the character and it shows them in a different light,” Noonoo said.

Shaw said the cast of “The Crucible” had many discussions during practice about how the play relates to today.

“This is a relevant piece. It’s impressive to me that a piece that’s closing in on 100 years old is still relevant today,” Shaw said. “History repeats itself in different forms.”

Senior Julian Archuleta portrays Reverend Hale in front of the crowd during “The Crucible,” directed

by Greg Shaw.

Freshman Sophie Casper, sophomore Sarah Stebbins and junior Alexa Fletcher were cast under a spell during a court-room scene.

PHOTOS BY Aubrey Bolinger

Administrating for change

Johnson runs for county commissioner WORDS BY Joy Lee At day, Jeremy Johnson is a Jobs for American Graduates teacher and mentor to his students. At night, he’s a candidate campaigning for the Crawford County Commission.

Teaching JAG for the past two years and Pittsburg’s mayor since January, has provided Johnson “first-hand experience” on what makes a community successful.

“Politics, civic engagement and community engagement are passions of mine,” Johnson said. “My motivation has always been [how] I care very much about the community. I love Pittsburg and southeast Kansas and I want to see it do well. If you want to see a place made better, you have to step up and do it.”

Running for County Commissioner, he hopes to expand his accomplishments with Pittsburg to the county level.

“How do we make those good things, that honestly, not just people in Pittsburg deserve, but people everywhere?” Johnson said. “That’s where my big picture thinking comes in, I want to see that replicated for as many people possible.”

Johnson also wants to implement a housing department in Crawford County.

“The county does not have a housing department.

The city of Pittsburg does. Homelessness doesn’t simply affect people in Pittsburg,” Johnson said. “My thinking is how do we leverage existing resources, whether in creating a separate body or expanding

of concerns and a lot of them are not necessarily on what the city of Pittsburg is able to address issues the radar of your typical constituents,” Johnson said. everywhere, in the county and not just here in our little The PHS Equality Club sponsored a candidate corner of it.” forum at Root Coffeehouse with Johnson on Oct. 16.

Another goal of Johnson’s is to make internet more Johnson discussed his plans for office and answered accessible to county residents. questions from local students. Equality Club officers “[Internet access] has implications beyond [the] Ximena Ibarra, Haylee Valley and Elle Burgess ability to check email, that limits people to not be organized the event. able to work at home,” Johnson said. “If you have “I’ve been wanting to do something like this for a a business or are interested in opening a business, while, since last year,” Ibarra said. “But we’ve never you’re going to need access to internet. That poses a really had anyone, any candidate serious problem both reach out to us until Jeremy personally, but also Johnson and I started talking with economically.” him because he would come to our Another reason meetings too and he would help Johnson decided to run host them when sponsors couldn’t was because he wants come.” to give a voice to the Johnson’s students are proud people.

Jeremy Johnson of his decision to run for County “One of the things Commissioner. Senior Brianne I like about being a Norman, a student of Johnson’s, supports him. politician is I’m good at interacting with people, I’m a “I feel like the students, not just in JAG, but students good listener,” Johnson said. “I want to hear people’s in general, should put as much effort into our teachers concerns and I want to make sure people have a voice. as they put into us,” Norman said.

Not just someone who is going to listen to you, but According to Norman, Johnson is different from someone who is going to make decisions based on other elected officials in office. information, facts and data.”

“I feel like Mr. Johnson cares about people’s Specifically, Johnson wants to focus on younger opinions,” Norman said. “He cares about how people people. feel. He knows what it’s like to be the smaller man, and “I want to talk to students about their concerns also be the bigger one.” because, very clearly, I think young people have a lot

“If you want to see a place made better, you have to step up and do it,”

Earning high merit: WORDS BY Cassidy Bayliss On Sept. 12, principal Phil Bressler announced senior Andrew Riachi is a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist.

Riachi is one of four students in the last ten years to qualify for this scholarship.

“Having the opportunity to do that is pretty cool,” Riachi said.“I am very happy with this recognition.”

Although the first step in qualifying for the scholarship is scoring in the top percent of the state on the PSAT, there are also other factors in earning the scholarship, such as the PSAT & SAT score and student’s essay and the high school’s

Riachi recognized as National Merit Scholarship semifinalist

recommendation.

Former PHS math teacher Rhonda Willis thinks highly of Riachi, whom she had as a student for honors geometry, honors algebra II and precalculus.

Willis looks forward to watching Riachi after high school.

“He’s not satisfied with just being smart,” Willis said. “He’s willing to work hard to educate himself and make sure that he puts a lot of information into that highly intelligent brain of his.”

Although Riachi is academically driven, he puts a lot of pressure on himself.

“Honestly, [the thing that motivates me] might be [my] passion for learning,” Riachi said. “I’ve

had some points where I put a lot of pressure on myself. When I do that, I don’t enjoy learning as much.”

Riachi has already taken the SAT for the final round of scoring to receive the scholarship.

He is also involved in FIRST Robotics, Technology Student Association (TSA) and the Kansas State Honor Choir.

“I take more pride in what I figure out on my own,” Riachi said. “When I solve a certain problem or when I learn [about] new technology.”

Building principals will be notified of the qualifying finalists on Feb. 4, but are not allowed to tell finalists until Feb. 11, in which Riachi and other semi finalists will be notified by letter.

OPINION

October 2018 www.boosterredux.com

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Booster Redux Staff & Policy Editor-in-Chief Nicole Konopelko

Managing Editors Ximena Ibarra Matthew Moore Online Editors McKenna Hodges Natalie Talent Photo Editors Aubrey Bolinger Morgan Noe Print Editor Joseph Lee Social Media Editor Maddy Robison Visual Content Editors Amanda Bourbina Elle Burgess Staff Cassidy Bayliss Emma Fischer Joy Lee Jorge Leyva Violet Norman Katie Painter Adviser Emily Smith The PHS Student Publications Department and newspaper class produce The Booster Redux. Please call us with comments at 620-235-3200.

The Booster Redux's purpose is to inform, educate, enlighten and entertain readers fairly and accurately in an open forum.

Opinions expressed in editorials or opinion columns do not necessarily reflect views of all members on the Booster staff.

Digital photos have not been altered to manipulate reality.

Photo illustrations are labeled to reflect any technical alternations.

Anonymity may be given in the following cases: the information is unable to be presented another way, the information warrants anonymity, the source's privacy and/or reputation requires protection and the source must be protected from damages.

A student or faculty member death during the coverage period will be covered with a short obituary.

The Booster Redux is a member of Journalism Education Association, National Scholastic Press Association, Kansas Scholastic Press and International Quill and Scroll. The Booster Redux encourages letters from students, teachers and community members under 300 words and signed with a valid signature only.

The Booster Redux reserves the right to edit contributions if they are libelous, obscene and for length. Any grammatical errors at the fault of the writer will be printed.

Corrections of errors printed at the fault of the Booster staff will appear in the appropriate section of the next issue.

The Booster Redux Pittsburg High School Student Publications 1978 E. 4th St. Pittsburg, KS 66762

Cleaning up Purple Power Hour Hodges expects students to accept accountability WORDS BY McKenna Hodges Did you actually use Purple Power Hour?

I don’t know about you, but Purple Power Hour (PPH) gave me a chance to finish homework and catch up on work I didn’t have time to do otherwise.

Between writing stories for The Booster Redux and working after school 20 hours a week, those 50 minutes were precious to me.

Last April, administration implemented a new schedule with a new lunch structure. It lasted 50 minutes and was originally intended to give students an opportunity to catch up on school work, meet with teachers or just relax.

But a few weeks into the new school year, PPH was suspended until further notice due to student misconduct and concerns for safety.

Sitting in the lunchroom, you’d see chaos. Students were walking around, some even arguing with each other and many were leaving behind trash all around the lunch tables.

Administration’s solution to the problem was dividing PPH into two periods of 25 minute lunch blocks. The other 25 minutes is a required study hall session.

The suspension was a necessary consequence. However, there was zero warning before taking away our hour to work.

Rearranging our work time and taking away the opportunity to manage that time interrupted our school day and confused us. Having an hour to work on homework, see teachers for extra tutoring and having time to talk to my friends really helped me deal with the difficulty of the school day.

Not having that extra hour might not seem like it would make a difference,

but it definitely did.

But there are two sides to every conflict.

While it seems unjust to take away our time, students need to accept responsibility and acknowledge that it was their bad behavior that got it taken away in the first place.

Teachers and administration make decisions with our best interest in mind. Teaching us accountability and keeping us safe is their job and enforcing rules is a way of guiding us in the right direction. Whether or not you agree with the change that they implemented, it’s their way of teaching us responsibility.

If you want your hour of freedom back, then we all have to do our part to clean up after ourselves and give our teachers and peers respect.

After all, how hard is it to follow simple rules and pick up after ourselves?

Subtracting storage: Students need locker access WORDS BY Cassidy Bayliss During the first week of school I acquired three textbooks, was required to make two binders for classes and carry all of my school essentials. Needless to say, having a locker was important to me.

At first, lockers were not available to students. After students approached administration, it was decided to assign lockers after the first couple of weeks of school had passed. It was exciting for me, as well as my fellow classmates who also wanted a locker.

While waiting for a locker, I carried a backpack, lunch box and another tote bag with all of my textbooks.

I believe having lockers is not only convenient but important for those with so many books and involved with multiple activities. When students are assigned a locker at the beginning of the year, the expectation is that they will get to keep it for the entire year and use it at their leisure.

According to principal Phil Bressler, a vast majority of lockers in the building are projected to be removed by the end of the year.

“We are going to have a bank on the west cross hall, half of the bank on the east cross hall and some lockers in the north vestibule,” Bressler said. “We’re going to go from well over 600 lockers to about 190 lockers.”

The main hall has already had a majority of the lockers removed and during winter break the remaining senior lockers will also be removed. “[The senior lockers] will be going away because they will begin the demolition of that

section and that wall is coming out,” Bressler said. “What we will do is call those kids in and say ‘okay you are going to lose your locker, do you want a locker in another area?’”

Seniors wait three years to get a locker in the senior section. Some lockers are even decorated with pictures and is considered a tradition. In addition, all lockers will be in the cross halls not conveniently accessible.

Taking away lockers will have a significant impact on students, considering that each student usually has multiple textbooks in their possession.

To me personally, carrying a heavy backpack full of books that may not even be used that day is useless. Even if the backpack is comfortably made, that doesn’t mean that after a few weeks of hauling it around, it will still be comfortable.

According to Kidshealth.org, over time [carrying a backpack] can cause the shoulders to become rounded and the upper back to become curved. Because of the heavy weight, there’s a chance of developing shoulder, neck and back pain.

Teachers should tell students the day before if their textbooks are going to be needed, rather than making them carry them around all day.

“There were elimination of lockers in the plan and there are no new lockers being added. So at this point, unless something changes, we will only have 180-190 lockers left,” Bressler said. “If we have to add more lockers at some point, we will have to figure out where they will fit.”

A course of action that could be taken is transitioning to online textbooks and incorporating a technology-based learning system, sooner rather than later.

Photo illustration by Aubrey Bolinger & Jorge Leyva

Most students have access to a computer or a smartphone, so by moving the focus from textbooks to technology, it would eliminate the need for lockers and would also be environmentally friendly.

“Paperless school?” More like, “paperless is cool.”

Letter from the Editor’s desk At the end of last year, we packed up our computers and AP style books and moved to a beautifully renovated Room 314.

Moving to a new location was the kickoff to a whole new set of changes to the way we tell our stories.

Traditionally, our newspapers were an insert in The Morning Sun and we printed at the end of each month. But this year, the Morning Sun’s printing press moved from Neosho to Columbia, Missouri, and we had to part ways.

The Booster Redux will now be

printing with Osage Graphics in Burlingame, Kan. In addition to a fresh, new style for our newspaper, we’ve decided to cut down the number of our print issues from 10 to five.

Fewer print issues will allow us time to craft higher quality issues and allow our staff to focus on our website, boosterredux.com, where we’ll be posting event recaps, breaking news, sports, features and videos.

Our strongest features and storytelling pieces, however, will be in our print issues — print will be an extension of our website.

In the meantime, make sure to follow us on all of our social media, for photos, videos and announcements. We’re on Instagram and Twitter as @ PHSBoosterRedux and on Snapchat as @PittPublication.

Also, make sure to like our Facebook page, Pittsburg High School Student Publications.

This year in particular, our staff was interested in more ways of telling the stories of the people of PHS using social media.

So after multiple discussions in class, we decided to start a new Instagram page — @

HumansOfPittHigh. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, we’ll feature a student or teacher on the page, modelling Humans of New York, which was originally started by Brandon Stanton.

We hope that you continue supporting our program through these changes. If you have any feedback, questions or concerns, feel free to email us at studentpub@usd250.org Thank you, Nicole Konopelko The Booster Redux Editor-in-Chief

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October 2018 www.boosterredux.com

Surviving the battle Bressler family overcomes cancer diagnosis

Sitting on the soccer blea soccer and Trasie is a me

PHOTO BY Aubrey Boling

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WORDS BY Nicole Konopelko

unior Caden Bressler spends most of his waking hours on the practice field.

Starting his second year after moving from Paola, he’s earned varsity positions on the football, soccer, baseball and basketball teams. His name is chanted in the student section on Friday night during football games.

He’s used to pressure on the field.

During the homecoming football game against Fort Scott, he kicked a 30-yard field goal with 1:19 left ticking on the scoreboard, giving the Dragons the lead late in the game and securing a 17-14 victory.

But at home, he deals with a different type of pressure. It doesn’t have to do with the minutes left on the scoreboard, the number of goals he’s kicked or the upcoming games he has to play.

It has to do with his mom.

He’s watched her laying on the couch, hooked to drain tubes — battling Stage 2 breast cancer. And every day, he wondered if she was going to survive.

“When something happens to your family member, especially your mom, it just takes a toll on you,” Caden said. “Your whole body doesn’t function right, and that’s what mine did.”

Trasie Bressler is principal Phil Bressler’s wife and a mom to four kids. She has two sons: freshman Reece Bressler and Caden. She also has two daughters — Ellee, who’s currently in elementary school, and Cynthia, a Kansas State University graduate.

Caden, her oldest son, was preparing to leave for his regional baseball game last spring on the day Trasie got a call about her diagnosis.

“My body just drained,” Caden said. “Mom was not Mom at that moment. Knowing what cancer can do to people really took an effect on me that day — knowing that I could lose my mom, or that my mom’s going to beat cancer and get through it... just having the unknown.”

According to the American Institute for Cancer Research, breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer in the world. It formulates when breast cells begin to grow uncontrollably and

create a tumor.

To get the cancer out of her body, Trasie had one option — a double mastectomy, a surgery in which doctors would surgically remove both breasts.

“It’s a journey you don’t want to take and you think you’ll never take,” Trasie said. “When you’re 43 years old, you think you’re healthy, life is good and everything’s the way it should be.”

Fifteen days after she got the call, Trasie had surgery at a hospital at Overland Park Regional Medical Center.

“Before my mom had to leave for surgery, I sat in my room for two hours,” Caden said. “I sat there thinking and I cried a little bit because I knew she was worried about it more than I was, which is something I never have to think about because I know my mom is always going to worry about me before herself.”

During the three-hour procedure, Caden went with his cousin to watch a movie as a distraction.

He was back in time to hear the good news. “‘I did it. I beat it,’” Caden recalls Trasie saying, before she went back to sleep.

The surgery may have removed her cancer, but the journey to healing had just begun.

Trasie’s surgery came with a six-month recovery period, and that meant saying goodbye to her normal routine — attending her kids’ activities, cleaning the house and running her home decor sign business.

“All she could do was just sit in a chair and sleep,” Caden said. “When she got up, she would have these drain tubes that were draining out the bad fluids. I know she was in pain… That was something I never saw my mom go through [before]. It was hard on me and took a toll on me.”

Trasie places her family first. She’s involved in all of Caden’s sports booster clubs.

This year, she made banners of all of the senior soccer players. She also makes and sells Power P signs through her own business, PaddyWhacks.

She donates a percentage of the proceeds to the soccer team.

After her diagnosis, Trasie’s kids and husband stepped up to the plate and started doing the “little things” around the house — vacuuming, sweeping, cooking and running her business.

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October 2018 www.boosterredux.com

achers, junior Caden Bressler embraces his mom, Trasie, who was diagnosed with breast cancer last spring. Caden plays varsity ember of the soccer booster club. “Having my mom in the stands makes me play better,” Caden said. “I want to make her proud.”

nger

“There are times where she wanted to quit,” Phil said. “I talk to [students] all the time when they want to quit something, and [I say] there’s nobody that pulls themselves up by their bootstraps all the time. There’s times where we’ve had to hold our hand out and grab a hold of somebody else to pull on us. I think for her, that’s been one of the hardest things — to accept help from others because she is so strong.”

Four weeks after her surgery, Trasie got back up on her feet, and went back to her normal routine of helping with her kids’ activities, house duties and job. Staying busy was her coping method.

“Those kids of ours, they have a way of not letting us be down for too terribly long,” Trasie said.

“Sometimes I complain about how busy we are, but I’ve been so thankful for the fact that we are a busy family because it doesn’t leave us too long to dwell on the bad.”

Caden’s coping method was also staying busy, but with sports. When he was on the field, he didn’t see his mom in pain. When he was on the field, he could play every point for her.

“My heart was with my mom, but my body was somewhere else,” Caden said. “I played baseball all summer long, every single weekend. Having those things around kept me from having to worry about my mom constantly. I would call her and check on her of course, but that’s how I got through it.”

The Bresslers were overwhelmed with community support, never knowing when someone would knock on the door to offer food or moral support.

After Friday night football games, junior class students and parents pick up trash at the stands at Hutchison Field as a prom fundraiser.

Trasie participates in this Pittsburg tradition.

One night after her diagnosis, someone anonymously picked up all of her shifts for trash pickup.

“I believe [God] moved us to the perfect place so we could be taken care of,” Trasie said. “People have come out of the woodworks to help us, and it’s crazy.”

PHS sports teams offered their support, too.

The soccer booster club organized a pink-out theme for the soccer game on Sept. 11. The club members bought pink shoelaces for the players

to wear during the game, and some of the players wore pink wrist tape.

“We kind of wanted to do something quiet, but honoring her in a way that we can,” said Ashlei Bockover, president of the soccer booster club.

“We were doing it to show our support for her.”

The booster club bought shoelaces for the varsity players, but Trasie wanted the junior varsity players to be included. She bought extra laces with money from her own pocket.

“Even in the situation where the team is trying to support her, she’s still trying to play the role of soccer mom,” head soccer coach Kyle Bockover said. “It was nice to give our teammate and his family that support too.”

The team dedicated and played the game for her, walking off the field with a 3-0 victory against Chanute. Then, each player hugged Trasie.

“I just remember her tearing up and me tearing up,” Caden said. “It just meant a lot to me because I know we were playing that game for my mom.

Just to come out with a victory was something that made me really happy and made my mom really happy.”

On Sept. 20, Trasie found out she had another battle to fight.

She was diagnosed with endometrial cancer. She had another surgery, and it was scheduled on Sept.

29 — the same day as Caden’s football game in Ulysses.

On the six-hour drive to the game, Phil kept Caden informed about his mom via text.

Her surgery ultimately removed the cancer a second time.

“It was a good feeling because I knew my mom was good,” Caden said. “I was upset that she wasn’t there to watch me and I knew she was too.

That game just meant more for me: to play for my mom.”

On Oct. 22, Trasie received more good news — she was officially cancer-free.

Even after the end of her battle, Caden strives to make his mom proud with every game he plays.

“Playing with emotions makes you a better athlete,” Caden said. “I think that’s what’s going to make me a stronger person in the long run, because I’ve dealt with [hardships].”

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Constructing a class Boyles teaches crafting, life skills

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WORDS BY Maddy Robison

s they walk into class, students set down their backpacks, pick up a blueprint and trade in their textbooks for safety goggles.

This is a normal day for students in Chuck Boyles’s stagecraft class.

This year, Boyles teaches two new classes — stagecraft in the fall, and theater design in the spring. Boyles has been employed by the USD 250 school district for four years, directing the stagecraft and management for the theater program, but this is his first year teaching an accredited class.

Inspired by his father, who taught him basic skills and problem solving, Boyles wanted to share his knowledge with students.

“I was technical director for Memorial Auditorium [before] I was deployed to Iraq. When I was there, I lost some of my hearing, so doing tasks like sound tuning became more difficult,” Boyles said. “The Veterans Administration (VA) came to me and offered to sponsor me for vocational

rehabilitation.”

The VA offered Boyles the opportunity to receive further education after returning to the states.

“I already had a lot of my prerequisites, so I decided to go back to school for my teaching certificate,” Boyles said. “I finished my classes five years ago and did my student teaching under [theater teacher] Greg Shaw.”

Students learn how to use/ about tools and tool safety, as well as when and where to use hardware like screws, bolts and power tools.

“They learn how to work together collectively as a group, as well as individually. They learn to schedule time and how to follow a critical path, how to find a balance between productivity and creativity,” Boyles said. “We do everything from set pieces [for shows] to finding things to recycle to help save money.

Right now, we are gathering set pieces for the fall musical Aida and also for the play The Crucible.”

Junior Meadow Creamer enjoys progressively learning

Chuck Boyles helps sophomore Cole Ingerson create a prop as a class project.

While this is Boyles first year teaching a class, he has been helping behind the stage at PHS for four years. PHOTO BY Maddy Robison

new skills.

“It’s a really great class.

[Boyles] offers a lot of information in this class. We start from the bottom and build up with the different skills. We learn a lot about props, like what kind of screws and wood to use.”

Senior Julian Archuleta recognizes the benefits from

the class both inside and outside the classroom.

“Even if you’re not involved or interested in theater, this class teaches us basic life skills,” Archuleta said. “I recommend this class because it teaches you skills in life that you need to know, skills that you would have to pay money for someone else to do.”

From debater to coach PHS alum Garrett Stalder returns to program WORDS BY Natalie Talent Head debate coach Julie Laflen overheard a PHS graduate express interest in being involved with her program at a home tournament last year.

When an assistant coaching position opened, she contacted Garrett Stalder.

Stalder, a 2013 graduate, was one of Laflen’s first four-year debaters.

“Garrett is one of the kindest and most genuine people I know. After he graduated high school, he continued to be a judge for me at regional, state and national tournaments,” Laflen said. “[In high school,] his hard work paid off in the end

as he was on my first team to ever qualify for the national debate tournament in policy debate.”

For Stalder, debate started out as a required class but became a passion.

“Debate gave me a voice. It made me feel like my opinion actually mattered,” Stalder said.

During high school, Stalder saw debate as an opportunity to be empowered and a distraction from stress of the real world.

Now, he’s sharing his passion for the activity and working with students that were once like him.

“Debate was mostly an empowerer for me. I grew up [with] a very low income, in a place where most people think only bad stuff can come from.

It was everything my mom could do just to make

sure us kids were doing well in school and eating dinner on time. She took the brunt of the stress while teenaged me was angry and frustrated at the world,” Stalder said. “I could channel that frustration and put it to good use in debate.

Stalder also serves as a youth pastor at Pittsburg First Church of the Nazarene, also known as PittNaz. Stalder now spends his days working with students learning the ropes of debate, just like how he once did.

“Without his support I would find it really hard to take debate seriously,” freshman Owen Miller said. “It’s always nice to have a coach in your corner cheering you on.“

Creating new experiences Student volunteers as class aide WORDS BY McKenna Hodges

Every fourth hour, senior Arely Rodriguez heads down to special education teacher Amber Kloster’s classroom to see the kids who are some of her best friends.

Rodriguez is a student aide in Kloster’s class and also helps out with the Special Olympics.

While in Kloster’s class, she plays games with the students in gym, assists the paraprofessionals with lessons.

“I try to be a friend to them,” Rodriguez said. “Whenever they see me, they recognize me and get excited. They don’t get to experience meeting new people often and all they want is someone to show interest in them.”

On Rodriguez’s first day, Kloster was surprised by how well Rodriguez would work with the students.

“She hadn’t made a connection with the students before and I wasn’t sure how she would react,” Kloster said. “She immediately

started interacting with the students and seemed very comfortable.”

While spending time with the students in Kloster’s class, Rodriguez has especially bonded with one of the kids. Rebecca Smith quickly warmed up to Rodriguez after they spent time together talking and playing games. “[Smith] opened up to me faster than I did with her. We were playing tag and she started playing with me,” Rodriguez said.

“I started to get more comfortable and we started playing more and it was just really nice.”

Even though Rodriguez has only spent time with the students since the beginning of the semester, it has changed her.

“I’ve learned to have a lot of patience with the kids and being in Amber’s class has made me a better person,” Rodriguez said.

“It’s made me appreciate more things and I try not to take things for granted now.”

Senior Arely Rodriguez and freshman Rebecca Smith bowl as a class activity in gym. Rodriguez has helped the special education class since August. PHOTO BY Aubrey Bolinger

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Cooking for a bigger crowd M a n d y ’ s P l a c e o p e n s i n d ow nt ow n P i t t s b u rg WORDS BY Emma Fischer

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his October, Mandy Duncan — the mother of senior Keaira and junior Deonte Duncan —turned her dream of opening up a restaurant into a reality.

“I always wanted to open up a restaurant. If you would’ve asked me fifteen years ago what I wanted to do, this is what I would tell you,” Mandy said.

The restaurant is located at 206 S. Broadway and will officially open on Oct. 20. The restaurant serves southern food, specifically from Louisiana, which is where the Duncan family is from.

“I thought raising four kids was hard, but nothing compares to this,” Mandy said.

She bought her restaurant back in November of last year.

She took two months to decide what it would be based on, and in January of this year, she began working on it.

“I spent my whole life going down to New Orleans. I feel like my heart is down there, but my home is in Kansas, so my idea was to bring a love of food that

I have from a different culture back to my hometown,” Mandy said.

Her restaurant serves southern food, and everything that’s made is cooked by Mandy herself.

Ever since starting the restaurant, Mandy said her family’s lives have changed.

“The basic things that used to happen [don’t happen anymore],” Keaira said. “Like my mom being home every night and her being [able] to take me to school.”Being away from her family took a toll on Mandy, and she questioned whether or not she wanted to continue living her dream.

“I wanted to give up a million times. It was just hard in a lot of ways, and I didn’t because [of] my kids,” Mandy said. “They were my total supporters. They knew how much it meant, and in my mind, they lost a lot more than I did. I want them to know that even though things get rough sometimes [and] giving up would be the easiest thing to do, they can make it happen no matter how hard it is,” Mandy said.

She said her children have

A server at Mandy’s Place sets down a plate to a group of customers dining during its grand opening. Mandy’s Place is owned by Mandy Duncan and opened Oct. 20 and features Southern cooking. “If it’s not on my menu, I’ll cook it for you if I have to,” Duncan said. “Try and bring me a recipe and I’ll try cookin’ it.” PHOTO BY Morgan Noe

learned this lesson.

“When things get hard, just do not give up,” Keaira said.

“There’s definitely going to be those obstacles, and they’re going to be very hard to overcome, but as long as you know the positive outcomes that could be there, just look

past all the negatives.”

Deonte plans on following his dream of becoming a professional basketball, and Keaira plans on becoming a nurse.

“I’m just living the dream at this point,” Mandy said. “I’m very, very blessed.”

Hitting a milestone Multigenerational choir celebrates 10 years WORDS BY Violet Norman

Every Tuesday and Thursday, 180 community members and students unite in the choir room to sing.

Choir director Susan Laushman formed the Multigenerational Choir, also known as Multigen — a community choir held during school 10 years ago.

The community members sing alongside the encore class during fourth hour.

“I think we brought music to a lot of community members who might not have had that in their life,” Laushman said.

Multigen is open to anyone.

Multigen includes members from high schoolers all the way to community members in their 90s. “[I like] seeing the same people I’ve seen for years now coming back to sing,” Keenan Bishop said. Bishop is a fouryear participant in the choir.

English teacher Emily Rountree is also involved in Multigen.

“It’s so awesome to be able

to interact with my students in a different way than being their teacher,” Rountree said.

“Working with them and getting to know them is a lot of fun.”

This is Rountree’s third year singing with Multigen. She always requests fourth hour plan period so she can attend rehearsals.

“In high school, I never had the opportunity to sing because we didn’t have a choir, so it’s just so much fun that these kids get to have at least an hour during the day where they can just sing,” Rountree said.

When Multigen was first founded, there were about 25 members.

Community member Corene Strout has sang in Multigen since it was first founded 10 years ago.

“I just enjoy it that much that I look forward to it every year,” Strout said.

Strout said she enjoys singing with people younger than her.

“It’s an opportunity to blend with the younger generation and mix well.”

Choir director Susan Laushman leads the last rehearsal before the 10th annual multigenerational choir concert. This year’s theme, U. S. Travel Log, featured song selections from each state. PHOTO BY Hannah Abarca

Stepping into office: WORDS BY Maddy Robison

From building a robot to giving a speech, students involved in Technology Student Association (TSA) find their niche in various ways.

Aiming to develop leadership and business management skills, TSA was created to develop skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)

nationwide.

Senior Madison Nagel was elected vice president over the summer but when the elected president could not fulfill their duties, Nagel stepped up to the position.

“I was not expecting it at all, but I had to fill the role,” Nagel said.

Taking on the position has brought new responsibilities like planning meetings, creating agendas and delegating tasks.

“The previous president has

Nagel elected as state TSA officer

really helped a lot,” Nagel said.

Nagel has stayed in the program since middle school.

“I joined TSA in eighth grade because it was one of the first and only clubs we could join at the middle school, and I wanted to be involved,” Nagel said.

Sponsor Andrew Brennon has recognized Nagel’s progression in TSA. “[Nagel] has gone a long ways [from her freshman

year]. It’s an incredible honor to have a state officer in our program,” Brennon said. “Being president is huge; It’s the largest honor you can have in TSA in the state of Kansas.”

“I fell in love with it in middle school. It’s been really fun to continue it through high school,” Nagel said. “I really like the leadership aspect of TSA. It’s so much more than just something to put on a resume when you get

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SPORTS

Head coach John Seal conferences with junior Sophia Shope after a match. Seal has coached Shope for her sophomore and junior years and also earned over 700 wins in his coaching career. “He’s made me more confident in my ability to play and really encourages me to try my hardest,” Shope said. “[He] reminds me not to be hard on myself when I mess up.” PHOTO BY Nicole Konopelko

Seal of excellence: Coach secures 700 wins WORDS BY Katie Painter

S

ophomore Emily McGown walked off the courts with her doubles partner after a hard fought victory and received some exciting news.

At a home tennis tournament on September 20, head coach John Seal reached the 700th win of his coaching career.

“It was pretty great because it was one of our home tournaments,” Sophomore, Emily McGown said. “I was pretty stressed and I think Coach Seal was too, but everyone did great and was very happy for him.”

McGown said she was proud to be on the team when Seal reached this achievement.

“Not every player can say that they played in the tournament when that milestone was achieved,” McGown said.

According to Seal, few reach this point in their coaching careers.

“To get to that level, you have to have longevity, but you also have to have a program built to where it is going to continually progress,” Seal said. “We happen to have that with our programs here. We always have.”

Senior Carter Uttley, has played with Seal for nearly two years on the boys team.

“It’s awesome to have someone with that [achievement] under their belt as a coach,” Uttley said. “He’s not only [been] a pro player in the past, but now he’s had over 700 wins. To have someone like that mentoring you is a great opportunity.”

Seal has been head coach at PHS for 12 years, and coaching for 30 years. He became a coach because of his previous personal involvement in tennis. “[I decided to become a coach] because it’s the sport that I excel at. I wanted to give back to it and coaching is one way to do that,” Seal said. “I love it and I want to perpetuate it.”

Seal enjoys coaching newbies just as much as experienced players.

“It’s a hands-on thing. I can see myself how they developed,” Seal said. “I see them grow and do what they need to do. Those are things you enjoy when you can see what your work has done.”

McGown and her tennis partner, senior Kamryn Kelley, competed at regionals and lost in the third

Senior sets the pace

Watson qualifies for state meet also increased his mileage during the summer.

“I set a goal — by the end of Checking behind him, senior the summer, I wanted to [be Reece Watson knew there was running] 14 miles [every day],” Watson said. “I met my goal.” no chance for his competitors According to Ausemus, all of to catch up.

Watson’s success comes from For the third time, Watson his commitment. earned a first-place medal at “He is one of the hardest the Independence invitational Cross Country Meet and set his workers when it comes to new personal record of 17:09. practice and leadership,” This year, Watson won the SEK Ausemus said. “He knows what it takes to get to the level he League title. wants to be at and he just Watson has been running works hard to do it.” since he joined the track and Watson’s role as team field team in seventh grade.

“When I first started running captain this year has given him more responsibility. a mile every night it felt “I should tell them what I awesome,” Watson said. know and have learned from Head cross country coach my years of [experience],” Gary Ausemus has observed Watson said. the amount of work Watson Even as a senior, though, has put into running since his Watson said he still get freshman year. nervous before big races.

“To [watch] him grow from “Every time I finish a freshman year to senior year [has made me] really proud to race, I realize I have so much more left,” Watson be his coach,” Ausemus said.

“Each year, he has grown to get said. “After I end my race to the level he is at now. It has and turn in my tag, I’ll run back and cheer on the other races come from a lot of hard work coming.” on his part.”

Watson placed sixth at Watson practices before regionals qualifying him for the school, after school and at practice with his team. Watson state cross country meet on

WORDS BY Amanda Bourbina

Oct. 27 at Rim Rock Farm at the University of Kansas to finish out his senior year. “[Running] gives me an aspect of what I want to do,” Watson said. “If you work [hard] at [something you want] you will get to where you want to be. You just [have to] keep going for it.”

PHOTO BY Alesha Lawson

show support Playing for a cause: Teams for cancer awareness WORDS BY Elle Burgess The fall sports traded their purple jerseys in for something different in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month.

Seven of the fall sports teams raised awareness and money in different ways throughout the month.

The volleyball team began raising money early in the season. The first fundraiser was a cookie dough sale. According to head coach Megan Mantooth, a third of the profits were donated to Angels Among Us (AAU). In addition, they also donated all of the proceeds from selling T-shirts to AAU. The T-shirts were created with their custom design in different colors to represent all cancers.

AAU attended the team’s pink-out game on Oct. 4, where they received a check for over $2,400.

“It’s another way for the girls to give back to the community. Cancer affects pretty much everyone in some way, shape or form,” Mantooth said. “Whether it’s immediate family, extended

family, or friends. If it hasn’t yet, then it will.”

Golf, cross country and dance purchased T-shirts from volleyball to show support.

The football team, on the other hand, does not host a specific pink-out game, but the boys do voluntarily wear pink accessories.

“I wear one pink shoelace in one cleat then I have a pink arm sleeve and a pink towel. I also have a pink mouthpiece. I wear all the pink for Caden Bressler’s mom,” senior Trenton Austin said.

The cheer team customized their own T-shirts to wear at the Oct. 19 football game.

They also used pink pom poms, along with pink accessories. The team passed out pink bandannas, bracelets, necklaces and brochures regarding breast cancer prevention to the crowd.

The dance team wore shirts they purchased from volleyball and used pink pom poms as well.

Golf also sold their own “Dragons For A Cure” T-shirts and donated the proceeds to AAU. The tennis team hosted a pink-out match on Sept. 20 and honored Trasie Bressler by presenting her with half a dozen pink roses.

match after three sets. Senior Nicole Konopelko also played at regionals and qualified for state.

“I’m really proud of my girls team,” Seal said. “I don’t know why, but the way that they approach things, you can see that they’re getting it. I see that they want it. [Having a hardworking team] is hard to get.”

Each year, there are around 25 players on Seal’s teams. “[Since I was a freshman], the tennis program has really flourished,” Uttley said. “He’s really grown the program.”

But 700 wins is not a stopping point for Seal. “[My 700th win] is a milestone.

It’s something that only one other person I know has done,” Seal said.

“It’s a milestone, but I’m not done. My goal is to reach 1000.”

Season of triumph Golf team maintains undefeated record WORDS BY Emma Fischer Sam Maceli’s father always had the golf channel playing on TV. She watched her older brother play while she was in middle school. She went to golf camps and played with her friends and family.

Maceli is a sophomore and is ranked fifth in the state for golf.

She only has two years of experience playing as a high schooler, but she has worked to get where she is.

“A golfer gets better in the off season,” head coach Mary Packard said.

I would see [Sam and Hannah] during the summer. They were excited, practicing and getting ready for the season.”

Maceli set goals for herself before the season starts. This season, she strived on hitting under 80 consistently, which she did. This enabled her to place first at six of the eight varsity tournaments in which she competed. In the other two, she placed second.

When Maceli didn’t place first, her teammates did. The team was undefeated, placing first as a team at every varsity tournament.

At the regional tournament, the team’s goal was to qualify as a team for state.

However, senior Lauren Valenzuela was unable to compete due to an illness, senior Jazzmin Middleton, sophomore Hannah Holloman and Maceli.

Because only three girls competed at regionals, they were unable to play as a team. However, according to Packard, a missing player did not stop them from playing well.

“Middleton played with us [for regionals]. She had played JV all year and had been working towards playing with us for regionals. She played really well for her [and] over the season [had] dropped her score 40 strokes,” Packard said.

Holloman shot an 85 and tied with another golfer. They played off, and Holloman won, earning her seventh place and a spot at state.

At state, Holloman placed 14th, moving up seven places from last year.

Maceli won first place at regionals, earning the regional champion title.

At state, she tied for third with two others and went to a scorecard playoff.

Coaches looked at the hardest holes and determined placements based on how many strokes it took to win the hole.

“Even though we shot the same score though, [the coaches] just did the hardest hole,” Maceli said. “So I ended up getting fifth, but in my heart, I got third.”