Vanguard
The
Humans of Gretna
Volume 4
FEATURES
FEATURES
SPRING 2020 | THE VANGUARD VOLUME 4: HUMANS OF GRETNA ON THE COVER
Photo by Peyton Rewczuk In Photo- Jayden Day (left) Sarah Rector (right)
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Juliana Stuhr
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Girls Got Talent
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Baylen Graham
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Olivia Nelson
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Introduction
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Daniel Freitas
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Jeremiah Daily
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Lissette, Lizbette and Gerardo Vallin
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Fashion Icons
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Trey Leasure
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Anna Real
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Cameron Ellis and Ross Thompson
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Javion Causey
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Alice Mcqueney
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Matthew McKinney
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Pets of Gretna
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Abby Turpen
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Cassandra Grundmayer
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Riley Swinton
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Vandan Nguyen
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Elizabeth Ryan
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Izzie Driewer
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Morgan Secora
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Jacob Cover
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Mr. Jon Swanson
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Chloe Crowell
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Ms. Shea Granger & Ms. Melissa Ryan
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The Vanguard Staff
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e wanted to make this the best volume yet. In this Humans of Gretna, we tried to feature as many of the people who make this school run. Working diligently on design and strong story telling, we are trying to make sure every student gets the spotlight they deserve. The Vanguard staff hopes you enjoy Volume 4: Humans of Gretna.
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Spring Spring2020 2020| |The TheVanguard Vanguard
Three’s A Crowd No, We’re Not Identical
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haring things with siblings can be hard, but sharing everything with a triplet can be worse. Things like birthdays, classes at school even friends would be shared. Sophomores Lissette, Lizbette and Gerardo Vallin all know what that is like. Lissette Vallin was born first, then Lizbette, and lastly Gerardo. In addition to each other, they also have an older sister and two younger brothers. According to the triplets, being a triplet is no different from having another brother or sister, but they also have to share a lot more with each other than with their other siblings. While they do have different classes, they are in the same grade and they can help each other on assignments that they do not understand. “I like having classes with my siblings,” Lissette Vallin said. “I guess it’s kinda nice to have somebody with you on the high school adventure.” Even though they help each other, they do not normally get along outside of school. The triplets are very different from each other. Lissette is the bold one
of the siblings and enjoys cooking and baking. Lizbette is the mature one and likes to watch movies. Lastly, Gerardo is the silent one who likes to fish and play video games. The triplets also do not like it when they want to hang out with a friend but one of the others also wants to hang out because then they do not get time away from the others. There are also many stereotypes that the siblings do not like. Some of them being that they were all born identical, that they are all the same gender, or that they have supernatural powers, like reading each other’s mind or feeling each other’s pain. “It makes me feel sad because I really wish we could do that,” Lissette Vallin said. “And also I wish we all looked the same so we can go to each other’s classes.” With all that they go through together, they still have a great relationship with each other. While they do fight sometimes, all siblings have their differences. The important thing is that they are always there for each other no matter what.
Lissette Vallin
Lizbette Vallin
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“
We’re different people, we just share the same birthday.
Born: 9:04 AM
Gerardo Vallin
Tapping Into Culture Dancing From Her Roots
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allet, tap, jazz, and hip-hop are all different forms of dance. But a lesser-known and more intricate form of dance is Irish dancing. Coming from Ireland in the 1600s, Irish dancing is shown mostly at important family events or hooleys, which are Irish parties. Junior Anna Real is an Irish dancer and has been since she was seven or eight. Real began dancing ever since her grandfather, Charlie Wear, got her signed up. When she was younger, he would take her and her cousins to see the Order of Hibernians, which is an Irish organization, and Hooleys. They would see the Irish dancers and Real wanted to be one. Eventually, her mom signed her up and she has been an Irish dancer since then. “I got into Irish dancing because my grandpa is really Irish,” Real said. “We would go there and we would see other Irish dancers and my grandpa would always tell my mom to sign me up and finally my mom caved in.” Real dances with the company Craoi Na Tire. She does individual and group performances. The individual performances are normally for competitions and the group ones are for local events. She likes performing with the group because she likes the people in her company. She has also made friends all over the country from competitions, which she says is her favorite part of dancing. Real has also competed in many dancing competitions in America, and has won a few of them. To keep competing, dancers must place first, second or third in order to “level up”. Throughout the competition, the dancers can only use the same dance for the duration of the event. Real, being the only Irish dancer in her family, wants to keep dancing for as long as she can. She will dance at least until college, but after that, she does not know whether she will be able to keep up with it.
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My favorite part of dancing is the people I dance with, for sure.
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Views of the World Venture Crew Travels the World
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or teenagers looking for excitement, Venture Crew is available for them to join and find a new adventure. Senior, Alice McQueney has had her fair share of adventure while being a member of this thrill-seeking group. Her first location on the crew was New Zealand. McQueney packed her things in a single suitcase and set off for the airport. They flew from Omaha to Houston, and then from Houston to New Zealand on a gruesome 14 hour flight. The flight took a toll on McQueney, but landing in New Zealand made the flight worth it. She and the Crew spent a week in this exotic place, visiting the beautiful cities close by. McQueney found a whole new perspective of living in a place far from home. “New Zealand is a breathtaking country.” McQueney said. “The only thing I would change was how it rained every single day. It wouldn’t have bothered me so much if we weren’t living in tents.” The next stop was Germany. McQueney and the rest of the crew toured the city of Berlin for a month. She lived with a host family and made a friend named Inken Beier. The last two weeks of the trip, McQueney attended school with Beier. And at night, Beier brought McQueney to break dances,
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also known as street dances. “I only took German I and II, so I just sat in class next to Inken and I didn’t understand anything,” said McQueney. “The break dancing was interesting; they just spun around on their heads.” A final destination for McQueney was Alaska. Besides the cold weather, Alaska has many exciting things to take part in. McQueney’s first mission was to go dog sledding. The sledding place was located on a glacier, so she flew in a helicopter to the arena. Ice climbing was another thrilling experience for McQueney, and also the most difficult. “You have one ice pick in each hand and one on each shoe,” said McQueney. “It’s so hard. I smashed my knees on the ice and they turned purple.” It is easy to join the Venture Crew. The only requirement is an age minimum of 14. The crew can have anywhere from 5-25 boys and girls. In order to pay for the trip, Venture Crew sets up a fundraiser and collects money until the end of the year. McQueney was inspired to join by her older sister and her love for being outdoors. If students are looking for more adventure, the Venture Crew is an easy and exciting way to see the world.
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New Zealand is a beautiful country.
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Producing the Play Turpens Take on the Theater
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Producing the Play Turpens Take on the Theater
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Keeping Culture Close Vandan Nguyen
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he foreign language curriculum is a far stretch from where it needs to be, as the majority of high schoolers focus on passing two years of Spanish and dropping the courses to increase their odds of ending up in a good college. Junior Vandan Nguyen, however, is one of the few students who truly has passion for the art of knowing several languages. Nguyen’s parents and grandparents came from Vietnam. “Well, my parents and grandparents came over because of the Vietnam War,” Nguyen said. “It was a lot better over here than over there.” With them they brought the language and culture Nguyen shares today. Nguyen has spoken Vietnamese as long as he could remember. As an American citizen, English could still be considered his second language. “I wasn’t really taught it,” Nguyen said. “How regular caucasian kids learn English is how I learned it.” Nguyen had to learn English in order to attend English schooling, but foreign to America, Nguyen’s family continues to speak their native language around the house. “They just used Vietnamese and I learned English from school, I can’t really remember but in preschool I don’t think I knew a single word of english” Nyguen said. As a young boy, Nguyen’s talent came easy to him, yet as common knowledge, we know as the brain gets older it becomes much more difficult to become bi or trilingual, yet Nguyen enjoys the challenge and does not plan to stop learning new languages anytime soon. There are many oppurtunities as Nyguyen sees it.
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“I’m taking Spanish to prepare for college but also because it’s a free class.” Nguyen said. “That way I can learn three languages which would make me trilingual and that would be pretty cool. It’s pretty cool being able to speak languages fluently; I speak Vietnamese everyday.” Nguyen enjoys his culture and knowing his family’s language, however, he has taken quite the interest in Korea as well. On his journey to learn new languages, Korean is at the forefront. “I’m also a quarter Korean,” Nguyen said. “I think the culture is pretty cool, I like the language, the people, Korean food, I like how they live and the cities are so cool to me and they live so different from us.” Nguyen began studying Korean the summer of 2019, and he is currently enrolled in Spanish. Although he is branching out into other languages, he still uses Vietnamese at home and occasionally when he is out and about. “There are plenty of Asian markets and restaurants,” Nguyen said. “Most of the time you can tell if they don’t speak good English, and so I just speak Vietnamese and it makes it a lot easier for them. I also use it all the time with my Vietnamese friends. The Vietnamese community is pretty close, everyone seems to know each other.” Nguyen thinks that what he has is important and rightfully so. Whatever Nguyen pursues in the future, he plans to keep his Vietnamese language sharp and the culture close to his heart. “If I had kids a little later on, I would want them to know and learn about my culture,” Nyguyen said. “I wouldn’t want it to disappear.”
Genuinely Goofy Morgan Secora
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ophomore, Morgan Secora manages to pursue her interest and does a darn good job doing it too. She participates in speech, show choir, one act, and softball, all at this moment through GHS. Her career in show choir and softball extend, far beyond her high school career though. “For softball, I started with club.” Secora said. “I’ve been doing it for 11 years, I was on varsity this year, I got to go to state. I was also in show choir in middle school, I actually went to competitions!” A budding interest to dance and sing was nurtured through middle school
before blossoming into her passion. Secora performs and is a dance captain for Evolution, Gretna’s junior varsity show choir. “I don’t know one time I went up and asked, ‘Are we doing dance captain?’” Secora said. “And he was like ‘Yeah you wanna be dance captain?’ If they have questions about dancing they ask me.” Secora is not only a woman of business though. She makes sure that she finds time to do the things that make her smile. “I’m so entertained by little kid games.” Secora said. “Subway Surfer, I like this woodshop game where you
QA &
carve wood, I liked that one tattoo game that always shows up in ads, Zappado is dope, I have the pottery game, I have the magic piano game, I have a game where you just cut soap, and I make friendship bracelets every once in awhile.” For her future career, she plans to attend school to become a therapist. A very admirable profession for an admirable member of our community. “Well, I want to be a therapist” Secora said. “I like helping people and I don’t want to be a doctor or a police officer.” Secora said. “Plus, I feel like I’m a compassionate person.” Secora said.
If you could live anywhere, where?
What would you be reincarnated as?
“I feel like I would live in Minnesota because I really like the lakes.” Secora said. “I would like to live on a lake. I’ve been to Lake Pokegama; my great grandma used to have a lake house up there and we would go there every summer, we spread my great grandpa’s ashes in there.”
“I think it would be pretty dope to get reincarnated as a pug because they have such character and they are so freaking weird.” Secora said. “I wanna know what house dogs do during the day, I have two. Pugs were bred to look like human babies; my facts are from Animal Planet and Pewdiepie.”
Are there any dreams that stick out in your mind? “This was the scariest dream of my childhood.” Secora said. “So I don’t know how, but I think I had seen a trailer for a new chucky movie, and so in my dream I was a little kid and it was a big city at night and I was going through apartment to apartment, running from the chucky doll it was so scary it killed me in the end.”
What would you be reincarnated as? (Part II) “I think that a capybara would be so dope, or one of those robo dogs.” Secora said. “Have you seen that one Tik Tok where they guy is recording his girlfriend and he’s like ‘Hey babe look under the blanket, you know how we’ve been talking about getting a puppy?’ and she starts freaking out and she looks under and it’s a robo dog and it starts doing the dance, it’s sooo funny!”
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Born To Ride A Journey in Equine Sports I
n most sports, conditioning is done to get an athlete’s body ready for the season. While some people do not expect horseback riding to be a sport, sophomore Chloe Crowell say it is actually a very time consuming, labor intensive activity. For Crowell, she has to condition both her and her horses for a year-round horse show season. “We have to put in just as much work as other people, if not more,” Crowell said. “We are at the stables every single day of every week working with our horses to get them ready for show season.” Her love of horse riding first started when she was very young. From the age of six months, Crowell rode her first horse with her grandmother. Her grandma is a very important person in her riding journey. She is the one who fed Crowell’s passion for equine sports. “It’s just me and my grandma who got into it,” Crowell said. “Not a lot of my other family have really gotten into it. She was actually the person that I bought my horse Husker from.
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When she comes to Nebraska, we go on a ride together. She likes riding Husker, because he is her little baby.” Mostly in the summer, Crowell goes to ride and train her horses everyday. They work on riding in both English and Western styles, halter training, and other ground rules. For horse shows, she does everything she can. From English and Western pleasure events, to speed events, she does it all. Crowell only goes to the 4-H equine shows at the Sarpy County Fair, the Nebraska State Fair and open events in Lincoln. “In 2016, I brought Husker along and he won Walk-Trot Grand Champion, and Grand Champion in the trail class,” Crowell said. “I won with my other horses at the state fair. He got sixth place in Showmanship. This was big for us because this was the first time in a really big show. We also got ninth place in the two year old Western Pleasure. This was a big deal to me, because I have been working with him so hard.” Even though she really enjoys her time at the stables,
riding horses is not always an easy feat. While a trusting horse is easy to control, they still have a mind of their own, so incidents can occur. “George and I were in the back arena at the 4-H horse show when he got spooked at something, and he started to act like a rodeo horse,” Crowell said. “He kicked me off and I hit my back right into the fence. I couldn’t walk so they had to bring a golf cart to me, and we went to the urgent care in Gretna. Even though it was scary at the time, I got back to riding a week later.” Injuries are something that will not hold Crowell back; horseback riding is something she will enjoy forever. While practices may be long and difficult, the process of training her horse is very rewarding. “Riding is something I’m super passionate about,” Crowell said. “I kinda see my horses as my best friends. I feel like I can always rely on my horse, and it’s super fun for me to work on something, and then go compete and show people my work. I think it’s really rewarding, and I like to watch the process.”
Chloe’s grandma congradulates her on her Walk-Trot Crand Chanpion win and gives her adivce for next event. Chloe ended up winning Trail Class as well.
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Living With a
Secret H
The Hardest Thing to Tell My Parents igh School is the time teenagers find out who they are and it is not easy. Senior, Juliana Stuhr overcame the pressure and fear and showed the world who she really is. Middle school was a difficult time for Stuhr. She realized she did not dress like all the other girls. She spent most of her time with guys, enjoying the things they did more than what other girls were doing. Despite her differences, she never doubted herself as a person.a “I felt good about myself,” said Stuhr. “I finally figured out who I really am, and I never once tried to cover it up.”It was not all easy for Stuhr though. As high school rolled around, she was all but prepared for the things people had to say about her. Other people’s opinions hurt us whether we say they do or not. Stuhr struggled during the beginning when she first came out, but now she pays no attention to it. A good group of friends can make difficult times much easier. Stuhr had found herself a good group of friends who supported her and had no opinion on her decision. “A whole group of girls would make fun of me,” said Stuhr. “Rumors would go around about things I didn’t even do, and people would ask me uncomfortably personal questions.” The scary part for Stuhr was how her parents would react to her coming out.
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“I did not get the chance to tell my parents,” said Stuhr. “I was with my girlfriend and her parents at a fish fry restaurant. One of my dad’s coworkers was there and told my dad that I was acting weird with my girlfriend. A couple days later, I arrived home from school and both my parents sat me down and we had a talk.” Stuhr’s father was raised by a catholic family, which was why Stuhr hesitated to tell her parents. She did not want to put a strain on her relationship with her parents; she lives with them and sees them every day. “They both told me they still love me, and my mom said she suspected it,” said Stuhr. “Since I was little, I’ve always worn long shorts and dressed like how boys do. My mom tried everything to get me to dress girly, but I refused. She even threw some of my clothes away.” Stuhr was much happier when she came out. She wanted to be herself and stay true to herself. Now, she has no reason to keep secrets and she continues her life knowing she conquered her fear. “If I could tell someone in the closet one thing, it is to not be scared,” said Stuhr “People think they are alone but that is not true. I was terrified when my parents found out, but they still look at me as their little girl.” All high school students are finding out who they are. Society makes it challenging for these people to be honest with themselves about these things. Stuhr shows how it is better to face your fear and be true to yourself, rather than stay in the closet and forever wonder what it would be like to show the world who you truly are.
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I felt good about myself, I finally figured out who I really am, and I never once tried to cover it up.
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Like Father Aaron Graham
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aylen’s dad, Mr. Aaron Graham, went to Denton High School in Denton, Texas. His position on multiple teams was playing center. After high school Graham then went to college to play at Nebraska until 1996. During his years at the Nebraska Husker football program, Aaron Graham won two national championships in 1994 and 1995 with his team. After playing for the huskers, a couple years later he was drafted to the Cardinals and played for this team until 1999. After a couple years of playing in Arizona he became a free agent in all of 2000, moving further he played for the Oakland Raiders in 2001 and the Tennessee Titans in 2002. Although Aaron Graham played for many NFL teams he is most recognizable for being a part of the team in Nebraska because of living here now. After Aaron seetled down and had a family.
Aaron Graham Atteded Denton High School in Texas
1994 won National Championship
Went to college and played at Nebraska
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1996 finished playing for Nebraska
1995 won National Championship
2000 Became a Free Agent
1999 Drafted to the Cardinals
2002 Played for Tennessee Titams
2001 Played for Oakland Raiders
Like Son
Baylen Graham
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ollowing in his fathers footsteps, senior, Baylen Graham plays football for GHS. Baylen says that his dad has influenced his game quite a bit, but he has always had a love for the game since he was a kid. Leading up to Baylen’s career his father helped coach him from 3rd grade up to 7th grade helping with his strategies and game plans. After getting more into school football instead of club, Baylen was able to grow and take what his dad has taught him into his own game. Now playing football for the Gretna Dragons all four years of his high school career. Overall the Dragons football team went 3-6 with a challenging competition change from Class B to Class A. Baylen Graham has loved the sport and spent most of his time practicing and improving his game. This year was senior Baylen’s last year playing.
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Brazil to America
Daniel Freitas Throughout GHS, there have been numerous students who have transferred from foreign countries to the United States. One of these students, in particular, is sophomore, Daniel Freitas. Freitas decided to come to America after living in Brasilia, Brazil for eleven years. His father was from this country and wanted to move back to be with his family and go back to where he grew up. Once he came to America, he had to give up his hometown family and friends and adapt to a country with extreme cultural differences. One of these differences includes economic change. Since Brazil is a third world country, its civilians were forced to live in extreme and dangerous conditions. According to an article by Safe Around, Brazil is one of the countries with the highest crime rates in the world. This is mainly because Brazil is a third world country and is still in early development; criminal activity is more active in the Favelas (poor suburbs). On the flip side, the culture of this country is what made it really special. Freitas moved to Brazil when he was very young and has known it as his home for his whole life. He was neighbors with his grandparents for ten years of his life while in Brazil, living only a few houses down in a suburban neighborhood.
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“The food is very different, here we eat a lot of meat but in Brazil, we eat meat in almost every meal,” Freitas said. Unlike American food and having extremely varied meals in America, in Brazil meat is featured in a good majority of them. School for Freitas was a lot different than our school here. His mother taught at a K-12 school with classes like Brazillian social studies and Portuguese as a language class. Along with the different classes, there were about 53 people with different ethnicities attending here. When 7th grade came around it became harder for him because he started to attend an international school where he didn’t know anyone for a year, but things got easier as time went on and he made more friends. For the most part, they all had one thing in common, soccer. “The culture difference is very big, everyone plays soccer there and they all have a love for soccer,” Freitas said. Soccer for the people in this country is a big deal. Everyone participates in the sport and it’s fun for everybody. Brazilians are known for soccer and their nickname is “O País do Futebol” which means “state of football.” Moving from a very culture-filled country with soccer, family, and tasty foods to one with not as much culture is difficult, especially if it’s what someone has grown up knowing.
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Everybody plays soccer there, everyone just has a love for it.
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F
S H I ON A
ICONS
Hailey Wojtas
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Cade Suing
Ally Heisler & Morgan Elhert
Grace Kienow
Roan Brandon
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Ross Thompson Turning a Blind Eye
“W
Th e
Ti
m
e
I..
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hen I was just 15 years old, I was working with construction at a friend’s house when a nail broke in half and shot back into my right eye. I was took straight home and soon after my arrival, my dad drove me to the Emergency Room. I had surgery the day after my night in the Emergancy Room to remove any metal and to clean my eye so that the infection did not spread. The main thing I struggle with now is things not being as clear sometimes, and I cannot see alot of things to the side of me because I lost peripheral vision. It doesn’t affect me much anymore except sometimes when I have something in my peripheral vision I cannot see it so I have to turn my head more to see it with my other eye. I don’t notice it personally. Some people say they can because my right eye looks like it is closed all the time, and if they look close my pupil is not around anymore. Many other people say that my eyes are different color blues now.”
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“I
went on a road trip to Burwell Nebraska with some friends. We went to the rodeo and were headed back to our Airbnb around midnight. Central nebraska late at night is pitch black and when I got out of the passenger seat and ran around the back of the car, I hit my knee on a hitch and went face first into the metal edge of the trailer. Immediately, I felt my tongue go straight through my new gap and I had lost 2 of my front teeth. When it first happened, in the begining of August, I got alot of questions about it from my friends and from people who don’t know me. The worst part about loosing my two front teeth is the cost of everything and the time it takes. It is a very long process to get new teeth. So far I have had 2 surgerys each requiring about 2-4 months to heal. I just got my second surgery January 5th, so I have about 2-4 months of healing before I can get my implants. Also, eating and having to take out my teeth any time that I drink something colored is a pain. Along with having to take out my retainer in public places everytime people look at me funny.”
All I Want for Christmas
Cameron Ellis
Modern Mogul Matthew
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J
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I think it was mostly my understanding of an egg-based economy.
unior Matthew McKinney, does not let his last name define him. The name McKinney is well known all throughout Gretna, as the McKinney’s grocery store has been a cornerstone of convenience and good service in Gretna for over two decades, however McKinney attaches more to the name during his time here at Gretna High. McKinney is a part of Student Council, National Honor Society, and German National Honor Society, which all require high GPA and strict discipline, but he is not all business. McKinney has played hockey outside of the school ever since he was a boy of four or five. However, for the school he participates in intramural basketball where he is claimed to make multiple nice three-pointers. Needless to say McKinney is a common name around the school, and when it is spoken it is not in reference to the store. McKinney attributes his involvement in highschool to himself, he states that he has sought out all he has accomplished on his own volition without the influence of his family. “I think I joined them to make myself a better person and help improve my
resume.” McKinney said. “Be a hard worker, stay disciplined, and think before you act.” Originally a connection between McKinney, and McKinney’s seemed obvious however besides the fact that McKinney is currently employed at McKinney’s there does not seem like much of a correlation between the man and the store. Bob McKinney, owner of McKinney’s sees his grandson at hockey games and occasionally family dinners, However, McKinney is not very present when it comes to financial dealings within the store. McKinney’s offered movie rentals in the past but McKinney was quite dismayed when his free movie rental pass was revoked. “I was broken hearted from this because I got to rent movies for free. This was probably six or seven years ago. My guess is it wasn’t profitable to keep buying new releases.” Mathew said. “On long road trips I got a dvd player, watch a couple movies, so that was pretty upsetting.” McKinney is glad to have the job he does, and most of his groceries do come from McKinney’s, for convenience and to support the family business, but that is where the connections end.
“Id say when I was younger, it was a bigger deal.” McKinney said. “I’d say most people would put two and two together, I wouldn’t say I enjoy the attention because it doesn’t really make a difference to me. Maybe if it was someone cool like Brett Favre.” Even so, McKinney does have future careers in mind such as dentistry or psychology, and he has thought about trying to own his own practice. Seeing the accomplishments of his grandfather and mother has caused the thought to pass through is mind more than once. He does think that if he chooses to pursue his own practice he would have a slight advantage over possible competition. In fact his family business is not the only experience he has under his belt, In the sixth grade, McKinney ran an extremely successful pet shop during his time in Eggopolis; however, he does not attribute this feat to anyone but his own genius. “I think it was mostly my understanding of an egg-based economy.” McKinney said. Reserved and professional McKinney only left with this, “I love my dogs, Maggie and Ace, I love Maggie more than Ace though.”
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Family By Love
Cassandra Grundmeyer’s Family Grows Through Adoption
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onating and volunteering is the norm for sophomore Cassandra Grundmeyer’s family. They have always been ones to help others, but the charity they were doing then did not feel like enough. After doing some research, they found fostering, and decided this was the perfect thing for their family. While Grundmeyer’s family enjoys fostering, their journey helping foster children has not always been a smooth ride. Attachments to kids and babies are hard when it is time for them to leave. Also, welcoming strangers of all different ages into your home is not easy. Living with people of different lifestyles can be hard to used to. “The oldest we had was 17, and she was the first one in our house,” Grundmeyer said. “It was scary because she smoked in the house, so we had to help her stop that. We’ve had 15 in total. It was hard because for some we did short term care for and others were here for a year.” In most cases in adoption, the process lasts about six months. For the Grundmeyer family, however, the adoption process was very difficult. Nettie and Dori were two sisters that lived in the Grundmeyer’s house since they were babies. They had another sister who lived in a different home; this made it hard to complete the who adoption process because of the separated family. For the Grundmeyer’s, it took two to three years for them to offically call Nettie and Dori apart of the family For a family going from six to eight people, a lot of
accommodations were involved. For the Grundmeyer’s, they had to move to a different house just to make enough room. Not only did the family have to endure the struggles of moving, they also have the struggles of people’s stares. For being a mixed family, they get stares and remarks everytime they go out. “It’s kind of annoying when people look at us and think foster care isn’t a thing,” Grundmeyer said. “They seem to judge us for being a mixed family. They don’t understand that we are saving them from a rough life.” Even though the family has difficulties fostering sometimes, the outcome is very rewarding. Not only do Grundmeyer’s see the children grow into a new person, they also see how their efforts positivity influence the child’s life. “It was hard with some kids because they were used to being more physical and using strong words; it was an adjustment,” Grundmeyer said. “Although, I could see how my parents helped them change so it’s really rewarding. I really enjoy hearing people’s stories and seeing them
Nettie Grundmeyer
Dori Grundmeyer
“
People seem to judge us for being a mixed family.
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Going The Distance Senior Elizabeth Ryan lived in Austria
S
ervus is a common and causal greeting in Austria. Senior Elizabeth Ryan, had to learn this when she lived in Austria during her Sophomore year. Ryan did a foriegn exchange through Youth for understanding, or YFU, and ended up getting to live in Austria for a year. This gave her an opportunity to explore another culture.
“It feels like living in Austria was a different life,” Ryan said. “My friends, my family, and the language were all different. It was kinda funny to see their characteristics and compare them to home.” The towns there are significantly different than the ones in America. The roads are not straight, and most are made up of cobblestone. There are mountains surrounding the villages, and wildflowers everywhere. “There were wooden houses with flowers, they loved flowers,” Ryan said. “There were bakeries on every corner, and huge churches that were so beautiful.” Ryan participates in many activities that include tennis, girl scouts, NHS, and the honor council at UNMC. She also played piano for seven years and was on varsity band her freshman year. In Austria, Ryan would bike, hike, sing in a choir and even go skiing. “My host family took me to the Alps to teach me how to ski,” Ryan said. “I love it now.” Along with the looks of the roads and the buildings, personal roles and what is considered polite is different there. For example, Ryan had to greet each of her classmates and then at the end of the day and say goodbye to each of them before
she could leave. She was also expected to greet anyone she saw on the streets, stranger or not. Ryan was also not allowed to help around the house as much as she would have liked to because her host family said that was more of a job for a boy. Gender specific roles are more prominent there, and it was difficult for her to become accustomed to that. “One time I was out in the garden with my host dad and I picked up a worm,” Ryan said. “He looks at me with big eyes and said, ‘I have never seen a girl touch a worm before!’, and that is all he talked about that day.” Ryan was able to make many friends there, most of them being other forigen exchange students. As mentioned before, Ryan sang in a choir, which was only because her friends had encouraged her to do so. She had to alter her humor, as they are not as sarcastic as Americans, and she did not want to hurt her friend’s feelings. Along with her change in humor, Ryan had to change her laguage. The year in Austria lead to her development in her language skills.. “They have a different dialect there, it is very significant,” Ryan said. “ About six months into the year, I got on a bus by myself, and an old woman came and began talking to me. She had a strong accent and I was able to have a whole conversation with her in the dialect.” Ryan continued to tell her freinds stories of the good times she had in the country she called home for a while. She was able to make many memories during her time in Austria.
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Musical Athlete
Hanging Up the Cleats Picking Up the Guitar
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any student athletes have a hard time balancing their activities. For senior, Jake Cover, soccer and music collide. Cover is a talented athlete as well as an exceptional musician. He finds a way to make time to work on his foot skills and his musical skills. His interest in soccer began when he first started walking. Freshman year of high school, Cover became an important asset to the team. Scoring an outstanding amount of goals for the team, he stood out as a playmaker. As a result of all this work, Cover is eight goals away from beating the record of goals scored in a high school career. In 2002, Brock Karloff set the record of 55 goals scored in his 4 years of high school. It should be no problem for Cover, having scored 14 goals his junior year. “My biggest concern of this upcoming season is not being able to play with my older brother, John. He was the best competitor and my motivation to push harder, and not playing with him will be difficult to adjust to,” Cover said. “That being said, my goal is to score the most goals. I’ll really work to put myself in a Spring 2020 | The Vanguard 30
position to score, and hopefully when I shoot, I’ll make it.” Unfortunately, Cover acquired a sports hernia causing him to experience pain when he runs. He recently went through a surgery, and is in the process of recovery. Cover will be healthy by the time his senior season kicks off. Soccer was not keeping Cover busy enough, so he picked up a new interest. Two years ago, he started playing instruments. He took a liking to the piano and the guitar, but his favorite is the guitar. He does not participate in any bands or groups; he plays solely for fun. His inspiration to play came from Youtube and one of his best friends. “One day, my friend, Andrew, and I were looking up videos on how to play the guitar. We could not stop searching for new songs and learning how to play. After mastering the piano, we went out and bought our own guitars and learned how to play those,” Cover said. “Chewie and I have had a competitive friendship for years. It started with soccer and now playing the guitar is our newest competition. He has great parents and sets steady expectations for himself,
and I’m proud to call my best friend my inspiration to do great.” A motivating
brother, an inspiring friend, and steady expectations have helped Cover become an excellent athlete and
guitar player. Many athletes endure surgeries, and Cover shows no fear during his recovery process. During this time, Cover mentions how he has more free time to practice playing the guitar. “I’m almost at the end of my recovery, and it’s unfortunate that I can’t play soccer to my full ability, but I’ve been playing the guitar a ton,” Cover said. “Playing calms me down when I am frustrated about my surgery.” Cover continues to work hard in hopes to get back to his full potential on the soccer field. He also continues to improve his skills with the guitar as well as the piano. Cover is ready to kick off the soccer season with motivation to set a new record high in goals for Gretna High School, and in his down time, learn how to play some new songs.
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Experience of a Lifetime Culture filled, fun times
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very year, the students at GHS get the amazing opportunity to travel to different countries. When they travel, they get to learn about and experience the cultures of these foreign places. However, not only is it an excellent opportunity for the students at the school, but the Spanish teachers are given this chance as well. “It’s super fun to see students perspective change on the world,” Senorita Granger said. “We get used to our normal everyday life in Gretna and then when we are able to take kids out of that and see how somebody else lives I think it brings what I teach in the classroom to real life.” Senorita Granger has been teaching at Gretna High for five years and she teaches Spanish one and three. Her first trip was two years ago and she went to Ecuador with her students and some of the other Spanish teachers in the school. One of these teachers is Señorita Ryan who has been teaching at the school for 15 years. She has gone on multiple trips with the students at GHS and has been going on them since 2011. “My first trip was to Spain and I really love Barcelona, It’s probably the most interesting part of Spain,” Ryan said. “It’s just such an international city and there’s such a mix of cultures. You could never tell based on what a person appears like what language will come out of their mouth.” The diversity in the cities is what makes them so culture-filled and that’s
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why the school sends the students there. It’s a great learning opportunity for them and the teachers get to take part in the experience as well. “I really like when we get to spend time with indigenous cultures, there’s so much you can learn from indigenous cultures and native people to the land and there’s so much underappreciation of those cultures,” says Ryan. “When you really take time to look and to listen and to experience their way of life I have definitely learned a lot from those experiences.” Indigenous people are people who are most early known to a certain area. When they travel to these parts of the world they get to spend time learning how to live like them. Some of these cultures keep to themselves and it’s scary for them when people try to approach them because they are easily frightened by us. Especially when people go in with phones and are taking pictures or recording them because it makes them look war-like because of how scared they are. “It’s just very fascinating to walk around there, it’s on top of a mountain and to imagine how hundreds and hundreds of years ago how people were able to build this civilization, it’s pretty incredible.” This is another highlight that can be experienced. Machu Pichu is one of the 12 wonders of the world. It is located in the mountains of Peru and can be visited on one of the many Spanish trips taken here at GHS.
Senorita Granger
Senora Ryan
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Girls Got Talent
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mpressions, Tik-Tok dancing, and singing your ABC’s backward are some of the weird but impressive talents students have here at GHS. Some people have found they could perform them messing around with friends, and some have known about their talents for a long time. These students have been working hard to perfect them and will continue to do so for a long time.
Rylie Kahla
Avery Edwards
Peyton Secora
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Sophomore, Avery Edwards has a very special talent. She is a dancer on a social media platform called Tik-Tok. “I found I could do this when I was filming a Tik-Tok one day and I realized I was just a natural,” says Edwards. She is 16 years old and has been dancing for about a year now and her inspiration to dance is famous TikTok dancer Charli D’Amelio. As a kid, Edwards took dance classes but when it comes to Tik-Toking, she is all selftaught.
Callie Kutz
Freshmen Rylie Kahla is 14 years old and her secret talent is drawing. She found out she could draw three years ago and is inspired by things like nature and being outside. “I haven’t been taught by a specific person individually but I’ve watched videos online of people drawing and I’ve kind of learned from their techniques,” says Kahla.
Callie Kutz is a sophomore at GHS and her secret talent is doing impressions on other people. “I don’t know when I realized I could do this, I just goof around with my friends and make funny noises, sometimes I’ll be like oh my gosh that’s such a funny voice I’m going to do it,” says Kutz. She can usually perfect her voices fairly quickly. Her inspiration for the impressions is whoever she thinks is interesting. She is self-taught and says that she will continue to do impressions.
Cora Rodgers
Peyton Secora is a sophomore at the school and she learned her secret talent in 7th grade in a choir class. Secora can sing her ABC’s backward at rapid speed. She is inspired by her love of the alphabet to sing her ABC’s backward. “I will continue to do every day of my life for as long as I live,” said Secora.
Cora Rodgers is a freshmen and her favorite thing about the school is the choir and One Act programs, this relates a lot to her secret talent, acting. She has been acting since the 6th grade and has taken some classes to help her skills grow. “Right now my inspiration is probably Chloe Irwin,” says Rodgers. She wants to continue to act for the high school and hopes to be an amazing actor someday.
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Hustle, Hit, Never Quit
Nelson Finds Herself Through Tennis
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E
30%
of althletes struggle with anxiety
90%
of performance is mental
very tennis player has a reason to play. For some players it is just a fun past time, others play to help find an escape; everyone’s story and reason is different. For sophomore Olivia Nelson, however, tennis was the missing puzzle piece in her life. “I feel like tennis is part of my identity because it is something that has always come pretty easy to me,” Nelson said. “I didn’t have to try as hard as others and people have always told me that I have a natural talent for it.” Even though Nelson’s dad played tennis once and a while, she was never forced onto the court. Her journey simply started when her mom enrolled her in a tennis camp to help pass the long summer days. Little did her mom know, this was going to be the start of her tennis career. After six years of playing tennis, Nelson knows practice makes perfect. When she lived in North Carolina and Georgia, she used to head down to the courts everyday. Now she tries to practice twice a week at the Maple Complex with her personal trainer, Mr. Tom Kozial, the tennis coach at Millard West. “Sometimes a break makes me better, but being consistent in practice is important,” Nelson said. “If I take too much time off it can be hard to get back into it. Agility training and muscle memory are a big part of tennis and stamina is very important.” All this practice really helped her during tournaments. When living in
The Mental Game
Georgia, she would travel to different tournaments every weekend. She went to almost every town in Georgia and all over Alabama and Florida. Nowadays, she competes in Omaha, Fremont, Lincoln, Des Moines, Kansas City, and Grand Island. “I don’t usually win the tournaments, but I have won a few, and those have been some of the highlights of my tennis career,” Nelson said. “At one point while living in Georgia, I was ranked thirteenth in the state. I recently won a clay tournament in Iowa and got second in the one before.” Even though Nelson is very talented and loves what she does, her journey has not always been easy. Just like any sport, it is a mental game. An athlete must be mentally fit to perform at their highest potential. “Not too long ago, I really struggled mentally,” Nelson said. “I lost confidence and began losing matches that I, arguably on paper, should have won. At that time, it felt like I had forgotten how to play tennis. Then, I recovered and rebuilt my confidence. The mental game has made me a better player.” Every tennis player has a reason to play, for Nelson tennis is something that completes her. From her simple beginnings at a summer camp, to being ranked thirteenth in Georgia, tennis will forever be something she enjoys and will always have a special place in her heart.
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ANCHORS AWAY Student swears into Navy before Graduation
I
“
, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.” This is the statement that senior Jeremiah Daily spoke on December 19. Daily is one of the many students in the nation to swear into the navy at such a young age. His interest in the navy started when he was very young. “I always knew that I wanted to be in the navy,” Daily said. “I would hear stories from my dad who was in the navy and after I watched american sniper, I wanted to be a navy seal.” Because of his age, Daily is unable to be shipped out until late September, he is eighteen years old before leaving basic training. This led him to be entered into the Delayed entry program. This program is set up for those who are in the navy, but are unable to be shipped out yet. Members are able to track their physical health and prepare themselves for basic training. “We do a lot of things,” Daily said. “We work out, we learn rates, we march, and not every meeting is the same.” Every other Tuesday and Thursday is
when Daily and the other participants gather for their bimonthly training. This is held at the Bellevue office. There are people there that have been there for two years, or there are people who are attending their first meeting. Most of them are waiting for a contract like Daily who wants to be contracted into a special operations unit. In order to do this Daily must be in peak physical capability and have a wide knowledge about the workings of the navy. “I am in between two, I want to be in the SEALS. They are the best of the best, they are the best a human can be. My backup is SWCC, step down.” Daily still has a lot of work to do. He needs to learn his rates and ranks, and he needs to keep himself in shape. He continued to be active in the delayed entry program by attending every meeting and meeting his goals. In the future, he wants to be stationed in San Diego and serve his country like he always wanted to. “I plan on serving my 20 years, then retiring with my pension,” Daily said. “ When I turn sixty five I plan on living in California, and I’ll just do odd jobs. I think being a butcher would be interesting.” Daily is one of the few people who were able to reach their dreams at such a young age. It took motivation and determination to get where he was and have his future set right in front of him. Daily was looking forward to what time has in store for him.
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A Splash of Color in Gretna Harry Richard Leasure The Third
Trey’s 10 Year timeline Life university Student
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Culinary arts degree
1000 hour yoga certification
Backaria
Graduate
H
arry Richard Leasure III, can only be described as, Trey. Being the third Harry in his family his mother came up with the nickname Trey, meaning third, and it has stuck ever since. Trey leasure, junior, certainly has earned his unique name as he manages to participate in a majority of events at GHS, do good for his community, and still manage to express himself how he sees fit. Trey was brought up by two military parents who moved constantly due to work. He lived in Louisiana for about seven years before moving to Italy where he lived near, and went to school on base. In his neighborhood, all Italians had white houses and all Americans had yellow houses, they tried to socialize with their white homed neighbors when they could, but their lack of knowledge of the language did not help their efforts. Overall Trey did not care for his time in Italy. He learned a lot about differing cultures but his schooling system on base was poor and that is what consumes most of his time as a full time student. It was not all bad though, it was on that very same base that Trey received his first kiss. “There was a girl, Natali Luna she was my first kiss in the third grade. Over the summer we didn’t hang out and when we came back for fourth grade she ignored me and I got sad.” Trey said. “the only constant in life is change itself.” Trey also received his fair share of miles, during his time in Italy the countries Trey visited that came to mind are as follow: Slovenia, Slovakia, Croatia, France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Rome, Vatican City, and The UK. “Had a three day weekend? Hop on the plane to Austria.” Trey said. He
was able to experience more travel in just his three years in Italy than some people would experience in a lifetime, which he appears to be grateful for. Trey believes that introducing yourself to new ideas and cultures is important. “It’s definitely opened my eyes to different customs and cultures. Even if it’s just watching a documentary about the South.” Trey said. “I’ve been in New Mexico and Arizona, you’ll say salsa and they’ll say what kind, because salsa just means sauce in Spanish, but here in Nebraska we just think chunky or smooth. Even just the architecture in Europe, was so different. I was an exchange student host and in science class for the first hour and announcements came on and they said stand for the pledge and he was like what the heck you guys pledge allegiance to your country every morning, they don’t do anything remotely like that” trey said Trey bounced around the globe but eventually he did land home. Here, he participates in countless activities through the school. “One Act, Musical Show Choir, Modern Acapella, Powerlifting, Speech Team, and The International Thespian Society. The International Thespian Society is this international society of performers. At our troop meetings, we learn a lot about acting and different types of theatre. There are festivals that you go to where you do workshops, there was this super fun class where you learn to eat while reading a monologue without any interruptions. Trey said. I’m also the co-president of The GSA, we are looking to change the name to gender and sexuality alliance to make it more inclusive. We talk about different ways to improve the society at the school, after homecoming we did a fundraiser where you can donate your old formal
where and we donate it to a charity who gives them to the less fortunate. We also do color-cycling, at the teacher’s request we have these boxes and they can put all their old markers in them and then they get recycled properly. Most recycling companies wouldn’t want to take them apart properly so they just throw them away.” Trey participates and does so much throughout the school, he is about as well rounded as you get, while still adding a strong character to Gretna High. Sadly like all students, they must eventually become teachers in their own right, and Trey has his ten year plan mapped out of how to fly the nest. “To start, i’ll get a 26 on act and go to Metro for two years and get a culinary arts degree move to Georgia work in culinary arts, go to Life University get my degree for chiropractics while getting my certification for reiki healing, massage therapy, and my thousand hour yoga certification. I would then move to Germany and for an apprentice for a backaria, they are bakers but they are real boozey” Trey said. “I’ll move to Texas to own my own bakery and get some certificates for computer sciences then I will take a two year hiatus to live in the mountains of Fiji, all natural, no chemicals in my clothing no chemicals in my food, just go and live in a village of ten to fifteen people, all natural, focus on my healing practices and reiki and yoga and my meditaion, and then move back and get a degree in english and become a drama teacher for highschool, and this whole time I would still be a practicing witch and i would want to be an adjunct professor at a college to teach on witchcraft. And I want to retire when im fifty and open a witchy/metaphysical store.” If anyone can do all that in a lifetime, It is Harry Richard-Trey Leasure.
Witch
Adjunct professor
Drama teacher
English degree
All natural haitas
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Making It In Life Houston To Gretna
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iving on the streets is not something many people want to do. Senior Javion Causey was forced to make the decision to live on the streets a year ago. Causey lived with his biological family in Houston, Texas, and dealt with mental and physical abuse from his family. Eventually, he and his little brother, Alex, were kicked out when Causey was 17. He had nowhere to go so he and his little brother were forced to live on the streets. “When I turned 17, my people kicked me out,” Causey said. “Me and my little brother. I was on the streets just trying to make it in life.” A friend of Causey realized what condition he was in and took him in. However, over the summer of 2019, he and his friend had financial issues. His friend’s mom then reached out to people in Lincoln, and Causey and his brother moved to Lincoln. In October 2019, he was placed in the foster care system and sent to Gretna to live with junior Xzavier Horton’s family. He began school at GHS then. Since going to school at Gretna, life has been better for Causey. He joined the wrestling team, does not get into anymore trouble, and he has a safe home. He also met guidance counselor Mrs. Sue Maliszewski and they quickly became friends. On the other hand, he lost contact with his brother after the move. “They took him back to Lincoln,” Causey said. “It’s just me over here. I did this, so I can set a better example for my brother, to get him off the streets.” Causey used his early experiences to make himself ready for his future as an adult. He is taking school seriously and trying to make a future for himself. All of the effort he has put into school is to make himself a good role model for his little brother.
“
When we got here, it was total madness.
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“
That just made me stronger though.
“
It was love at first sight! He brightens my day with his huge smile and kind words. He will always be in my heart. -Mrs. Maliszewski
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Shea Dolezal
Finley
Pets of Gretna Leyton Tuma
Guido
Peyton Rewczuk
Tooty
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Chloe Serfass
Lola
Kailee Klostemeyer
TIlly
Bella Donovan
Cooper
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Go, Figure, Skate Student Spends her time on the Ice
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t is something people see on television every four years during the Olympics. In Nebraska, the most popular sport is football. Other sports are not put in the limelight very often. Figure skating is a sport that many people participate in but, like mentioned before, they are not often set in the spotlight. Sophomore Riley Swinton has been skating since she was eight years old. “It was for my birthday,” Swinton said. “I wanted to do a figure skating lesson, and then it kind of stuck.” Although most people can skate, and it is actually a popular activity during the winter season, figure skating is more complicated. It is made up of precise movements and perfect angles, in order to do a move properly. On top of figure skating, Swinton participates in many other activities, such as soccer and class officers. With all of the other
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activities she is involved in she must find time to practice her skating. “I practice everything,” Swinton said. “You just practice on what you want to work on.” Swintions chosen sport does include competitions. Ice skating can be more individualized because you do not have to worry about the skills of a possible remember when you are going to compete solo. This is one of the many reasons Swintion enjoys this activity. For competition, Swintion competed in multiple different categories. “Most people do multiple,” Swintion said. “I usually do compluzaries, jumps, and free skate.” For the most part Swinton was able to have a claim to this sport in Gretna, with not many people participating. It was just another thing that made the sophomore stand out when she talked about her activities.
“Its a nice little break from school.
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Diving Into New Adventures
Girl Takes On the Deep Blue Sea
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orty-five pounds worth of oxygen tanks, wet suits, regulators and other diving gear. This is how much sophomore Izzie Driewer must wear when she goes on her scuba diving adventures. Driewer’s diving journey recently started a little more when a year ago when she was 14 years old. Her father has been diving since he was a teenager and encouraged his kids to dive too, but Driewer was the only one to pursue this diving legacy. Together, Driewer and her dad had to take classes and do training to be able
to get a diving certification. Without a certification, many diving spots would not be open for exploring. “I had to take a certification class and do two certification dives outside of a pool,” Driewer said. “We took classes at Diventures in Omaha, and we were certified in the Key Largo Dry Rocks.” The certification allowed them to go to the reefs in Key Largo, Florida. They explored the Molasses Reefs and the Key Largo Dry Rocks. Dreiwer hopes she can be able to do more traveling, so she can see more of what the underwater world has to offer. “I want to dive the Great Barrier Reef if I get the chance,” Dreiwer said. “If I travel to some places that have good dive sites, I will dive there. I love seeing sea life.” According to ABC News, fear of deep water is one of the top ten most common fears. For Driewer, however, water is something she does not have to worry about. She says that it is more nerve wracking getting the suits on than getting in the water. Driewer hopes that she can dive for the rest of her life and, in the future she is planning on teaching her kids to not be afraid of the water so they can learn to scuba dive too.
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Izzie Driewer and her father explored the Chirst of the Abyss statue, or as the locals call it, Touchdown Jesus, in Key Largo, FL. They also saw marie animals ranging from large rays to colorful parrotfish.
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THE VANGUARD STAFF
JUNIOR PEYTON REWCZUK
SENIOR ALEXIS SPIER
SENIOR ELIZABETH DAILY
JUNIOR SHAINA RUSSELL
JUNIOR CONNOR BECK
SOPHOMORE ISABEL MUHLECKE
SOPOMORE MARA BOSWORTH
SOPOMORE SKYLAR MOSSER
FRESHMAN AVERY SWANSON
pages: cover, 02-05, 51-52
pages: 18-19, 22-24, 44-45
pages: 14-15, 26-27, 36-37,48-49
pages: 08-09, 16-17, 30-31
pages: 12-13, 25, 40-41
pages: 20-21, 32-35
pages: 28-29, 38-39, 46-47
pages: 06-07, 42,43
pages: 20-21, 32-35
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van•guard (‘væn,gard) NOUN
1. A group of people leading the way in new developments or ideas.
Volume 4 2020
