Griffin Rites STUDENT PUBLICATION
Winnetonka High School 5815 NE 48 Street Kansas City North, MO. 64119
VOLUME 52, ISSUE 3
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On the Cover
The cover of Griffin Rites features seniors Makiyla White and Ambrose Grey in the short Puzzle Pieces written by Courtney Ferro. Photo by Cheyenne Brown.
Our Purpose
Griffin Rites strongly supports the first amendment and opposes censorship. Freedom of expression and press are fundamental values in a democratic society. The mission of institutions committed to preparing productive citizens must include teaching these values, both by example and lesson. We welcome letters to our staff and reserve the right to edit them for length and clarity, but not to change ideas. Letters may be opinionated and argumentative but not hostile. They must be signed and submitted to Tech 10 or mailed to "Griffin Rites Editor" at 5815 NE 48th St. Kansas City, MO 64119. Advertising space is available. Please contact Griffin Rites' editor at winnetonkanews@gmail.com for more information. Our student news program is a member of JEMKC, MIPA, and NSPA.
Guest Writers Zion Holmes Rahand Omer
Cheyenne Brown
Staff
Editor in Chief, Writer
Cruz Thapa Writer
Molly Bryant
Macy Goetz
Co-Editor Writer
Co-Copy-Editor, Writer
Derikka McClain
Gracie Hicks
Writer
Writer
Dr. Shannon Le Grand Adviser
GRIFFIN RITES
Table of Contents
Sophomore Katelyn Nicoski inflates a duck as a prop for the photo-booth while setting up the winter dance on Feb. 4 2022. Photo by Cheyenne Brown.
Entertainment Wages up, Employment Down
... 4
Charitable pastries
... 6
Substituting Substitutes
... 8
Academics Significant Trivia
... 9
Feature Taking Initiative
... 10
Sports Diving Through the Season
... 12
Opinion/News The Mask Debate
... 14
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Wages up, Employment Down Unexpected drop of teen workers despite the minimum wage increase in January. By Derikka McClain-Small
Multiple studies have found that the increase in minimum wage leads to higher unemployment for teens. Due to older workers' lack of income or not, wanting to hire teens with a lack of education in the workplace causes them to not be eligible for the job. Recently, an increase of $10.30 an hour to $11.15 an hour, effective Jan. 1, brings the goal of increasing the minimum wage by 85 cents to $12.00 an hour by Jan. 2023, a step closer. “This is currently my third job. I was unemployed for about three months trying to get this job because the paperwork and processing took a very long time period." Sophomore Makhia Jones said. "I did not change jobs due to any personal reasons, I just wanted a higher pay.
Senior Lliani Cassiraghi works at Red Racks Thrift Store on Mar. 28. Photo by Derikka McClain-Small.
I don’t think pay has changed me, but I think I’m more motivated to go to work knowing I am getting paid well for what I do.” Increasing the minimum wage has caused some businesses to lay off employees and, as a result, raised unemployment levels. Increasing the minimum wage does not only affect those earning it, it also affects those who were already earning more than the minimum.
With higher minimum wages comes a reduction in employee income costs and a decrease in worker capacity. Low-wage employers, particularly in the restaurant
industry, also have minimum wage costs through small price increases in restaurants. “When looking for jobs, I found it hard to find one with the ability to work around my personal life, like school and multiple after school activities. Still, having to work those days felt like forever. Then when getting my check, seeing I worked 9 hours and am not feeling like I’m getting paid what I feel I should, getting paid almost 150 weekly. After changing my jobs, I see my new jobs pay $15.30 an hour, which helps me with my busy schedule so I can pick and choose what days’ work best for me.” Senior Daeriashia Mercer said.
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Some businesses cannot afford to pay their workers the increased minimum wage and will be forced to close, lay off staff, or reduce hiring. The wage increases have been shown to make it more difficult for low-skilled workers with little or no work experience to find jobs like teen workers. “The work wasn’t hard at all; it was a first good job to have. But not getting paid as much anymore is really starting to affect me financially because of paying the things such as gas, car insurance and other needed necessities. Which is why I started looking for other jobs with higher pay so that issue can be resolved,” junior Nataly Barraza said.
With the increase in minimum wage comes both positives and negatives. Teen workers could be pushed out of jobs and businesses could face cuts due to low staff or no staff. Because of business cuts leaving out jobs, not just teens, but older workers looking for a place to get extra money would also not have those chances. Having a job in high school can be hard for young workers. The working field brings many complications into teens' lives, such as balancing time, relationships, and schoolwork. Prices for necessities increase as well. While an increased paycheck is good, the other financial
increases that come along can be straining on some. "Minimum wage increasing effects those who have little job experience by increasing the appeal to certain jobs, and hopefully increasing applications for jobs. the downside of that could result in under-qualified people applying for jobs, leaving experienced workers to pick up their slack. Along with that, it's frustrating for workers who already know what they are doing and have exelled at their positions to see people getting hired in for more than they did or even more than they get paid right now." said junior Alex Beynon. Red Racks worker senior Enrique Miranda checks out items for a customer on Mar. 28. Photo by Derikka McClain-Small.
6 Charitable Pastries
Staff members Luke Young, Dr. Edward Tate, Dr, Rebecca Callaway, and Dr. Jason Callaway accept the results of the fundraiser after seniors Gianna Rizzo and Macy Goetz pie the winner and loser on Feb. 4. Photo by Kahlil Mudd.
To raise money for the Special Olympics, two groups banded together to organize a competition between staff. By Cruz Thapa During the Adam Sandler themed spirit week Mar. 31 through Feb. 4, the Booster club proposed partnering with Leadership to create a fundraiser for the Special Olympics. “Booster club was personally in charge of the Special Olympics. When they came to us, our job was to create and host the fundraiser." Junior Leadership member Lan-Linh Tran said. "The partnership worked well since as Leadership alone, we aren’t allowed to raise money, but the booster club didn’t have the publicity or power to host something schoolwide as we did.” After a brief planning period, Leadership had agreed to do a competition to pie staff in the face. Tran began searching for candidates for the competition.
"I started asking a selective group of freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors [which] teachers they wanted to see get pied in the face. Then I created a list out of the most popular picks and emailed those teachers asking if they would like to participate. Nine teachers responded positively. I could only choose six out of the nine contestants to compete, however." Tran said."We also ended up having Dr. Tate participate too. When I was talking to him face-to-face and asked if he would like to compete, he gave a confident ‘Yes…Even though I’m gonna win. Do you think there’ll even be a competition,’ so we had to have him in." The process of asking staff had to be carefully laid out. During the last pie-in-the-face event, the participants were all pied rather than just a few.
“There were a lot of teachers who wanted to be involved with the fundraiser, but were also afraid of being pied in the face. I was told that a while ago we had like three contestants with one winner, but all three of them got pied instead of just the one. Staff didn’t forget that experience. I had to promise most of the teachers that not all of them would get pied,” Tran Said. With all of the candidates gathered, the competition finally began during the first lunch of spirit week. Some students coordinated their donations as a group to get their preferred staff member pied. “On one shift, five to six boys from the football team and N2Sports came up to us. They were talking about how they wanted Dr. Mr. Callaway to get pied in the face and
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Dr. Edward Tate and Dr. Jason Callaway pose together after being pied during the winter sports assembly on Feb. 4. Photo by Aunna Davis.
asked me how the whole thing works." Junior Leadership member Kylia Valenti said. "After telling them that having either the most and least money in your bucket gets you pied, they started dumping money into every bucket that they thought had more than Dr. Mr. Callaway.” Once the winter sports assembly came around, precautions had to be taken before the results were announced. "We were setting up during the assembly since other activities needed a lot of space. We had chairs lined up for the contestants and then we had parchment paper lined on the floor." Valenti said. "We wanted to leave as little of a mark as possible so the custodians
wouldn't have a workload. We had also bought bonnets, goggles, and trash bags for the competitors to stay clean and safe." When Dr. Tate and Dr. Jason Callaway were announced as the winner and the loser, respectively, the student section had gone wild with excitement, according to Valenti. "It took forever to get the freshmen to quiet down after the hype of pieing Dr. Tate and Dr. Callaway in the face. I think that's a good thing though." Valenti said. "It just seemed like the underclassmen were the ones that were amused the most. I heard students talking about wanting to do another pie-in-theface next year as well."
Tran and Valenti also recognize that underclassmen donated the most money. "Not only were they the most amused from the event, they were also the ones that donated the most money," Tran said. With all of the fundraiser’s successes, Leadership still feels that improvements are to be made in the next rendition. “We didn’t have time to print colorful pictures of the teachers’ faces on the donation buckets. I remember some students coming up not knowing who some of the staff was by name. If we had pictures of their faces, students could very easily imagine donating to someone they haven't had in class." Tran said.
8 Math teacher Luke Young covers for English teacher Melissa Camarda's English class on Mar. 8. Photo by Grace Hicks.
Substituting
Substitutes Due to the pandemic, schools across the state face staff shortages. By Grace Hicks Eighty-six districts across Missouri closed their schools in January due to the staff shortages, including nearby Park Hill South High School. Several state education departments across the nation, including Missouri and Kansas, have lowered the qualifications to be a substitute. At Winnetonka, substitutes no longer need a teaching certificate- they are only required to have graduated high school and have passed a background check. Even with the benefits of allowing more people to substitute, schools continue to run short on substitutes, so teachers are still
substituting for other teachers. When teachers first started subbing for each other, they were giving up their planning time with little to no pay in return. Though the teachers substituting now get paid for their time, it was something that they had to bring up to higher-ups. "We are now paid more to fill in during our planning period than we used to be," Said English teacher Melissa Camarda, "But we did have to push for it." Some students believe one issue has come with a reliance on substitutes; their teachers will find substitutes only for them to show up late, if at all. However, some students also say they are not heavily
affected by the teachers' absences. This mindset is a result of Covid19 and having been in full or partial quarantine for the past school year; they learned to be responsible and caught up with their work by themselves. The virus has desensitized students to the lack of a physically present teacher in their classrooms. Despite this, students feel frustrated that substitutes cannot continue the class' curriculum by themselves. When the teacher returns, they have to catch their students up on the work they did not understand while the teacher was away. This delay can cause students to fall behind the curriculum and cause more stress for both the student and the teacher. "I don't like how [the substitutes] can't teach...they aren't familiar with the subject that they're teaching," junior Sarah Mohamed said. The working environment for staff seems to only get more difficult, yet the pay stays stagnant. "I think that [the staff shortage will] continue post Covid," said Camarda, "I also do think that if school districts haven't upped the pay for subs, they need to."
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Significant
Trivia
As a result of the pandemic, Scholar Bowl is facing a player shortage. By Cruz Thapa
Scholar bowl is a competitive game where two teams of four go head-to-head, answering multidisciplinary trivia questions. During their recent games, however, the scholar bowl team has faced an issue with filling team slots so that they could compete in the first place. "There’s like eight of us and although that just enough to fill up two teams, it isn’t an even split between varsity and JV. Once the seniors are gone, it’ll only be like four or five players left. [Scholar Bowl] is going to get smaller and smaller every year unless people join,” senior Mirrac Roeum said. Roeum believes that the small number of students is attributed to a primarily virtual year. "I think we were just missing more on like, a strive for academic pursuit and knowledge overall. This is like what I’ve noticed as a senior; they had to implement the 20-20 rule because kids don’t like to be in the class. That’s because they’re bored with everything. This mindset would carry over into other extracurriculars as well, like when I was a senior for swim trying to get
new recruits, people were so reluctant to try something new.” Another member feels that the small quantity of members does not properly represent the quality experiences offered by being a part of the team. “Students are really missing out by not joining a team like this,” senior varsity captain Madison Maucelli said. “But because of the how few of us there are, we usually feel too drained to bond well. We still find ways to have fun, This one time, we hit a bump while [Cruz] was in the middle of a sentence and he screamed so loud; but he continued talking.” Due to the team's small size, the budget available for the team reached an all-time low. “We need to talk about the budget that we have this year. It is not cash money. I have no [documentation] On Feb 9th, competitors Danny Stukes, Mirrac Roeum, and Madison Maucelli take their seats in preparation for the next round. In the back, Coach White and Coach Camarda sit with substitutes Julien Harrison and Sheyenne Herrera on Feb. 9. Photo by Cruz Thapa.
but it's like $20 per student. All the snacks we have in our cabinet are supposed to rationed for the entire year." Roeum said. The latest team member has given Scholar Bowl a chance this year and believes that there are many incentives to join Scholar Bowl this upcoming year.
“Despite the name, scholar bowl is open to anyone. You don’t have to be insanely smart, just knowing something about anything is enough. [The sport] is a really good opportunity to try something that’s out of the ordinary,” freshman JV player Dominic Gonzalez said.
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Taking
Initiative Students take the initiative and leadership roles in projects and in planning for their clubs, committees and teams. By Cheyenne Brown Students collaborate using their problem-solving, creative, and planning skills to host, create, and execute activities and events for the student body to enjoy and make memories while in high school. Numerous groups, such as the student council, yearbook staff, and the theatre department have established themselves as independent and student-produced,
Senior Giannaa Rizzo blows up an inflatable palm tree and beach balls on Feb. 4 for the Adam Sandler themed winter dance. Photo by Cheyenne Brown.
with little to no dependence on adults. Student Council leads countless events for the rest of the student body to enjoy. They meticulously plan assemblies, spirit weeks, school dances, and more. For spirit week, each day is assigned a theme, and students dress up in accordance. The students planned and set up a winter dance by hanging lights, blowing up inflatables, and putting out games. They are also responsible for representing the school. Student body president senior Gianna Rizzo oversees it all. "Student-led means that students lead. We don't really have a teacher directing us, it's run by students. Being student-led means it's actually us, it's not something we were told to do. I've gained a lot of gray hairs
but I also gained this feeling of independence where it's like I'm not being told what to do," Rizzo said. Student-crafted tales come to life in the little theater when the seniors write, produce, and direct miniature productions called Shorts. They plan, script, and cast independently. It is truly the students’ pieces. They use shorts to demonstrate all the skills and tricks they have learned and gathered through their time in class and on stage. Seniors have the opportunity to produce them, but they are not the only students involved. They cast peers from all grade levels at auditions and guide them through rehearsals. These students lead by example and use their skills to guide and help cultivate the talent of others.
Junior Sam Littlecreek reads from a diary as the character Averielle in the short, Dear Lilia, on Jan. 27 in the little theater. Photo by Cheyenne Brown.
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“It's nice to be involved in something my fellow peers have worked on for almost a year. It’s really different compared to performing in an actual play with an actual director because these are students I’ve been in theatre with since I was a freshman and all I wanted was to make them proud of what they had written,” junior Sam Littlecreek said, “It’s not every day that you see a whole production be mainly student-led and it was really rewarding to see them become leaders and organize such an amazing production while also allowing underclassmen to explore theatre.” Every year, many students order a yearbook to commemorate their time at Tonka. The yearbook is typically around 200 pages worth of students’ documented memories and achievements. The Odyssey yearbook staff of 21 spend the year covering students' lives and activities through writing, photography, and interviews. Each photo, word, and quote was documented by students for students. It is a year-long project that gives students something to look at to commemorate the school year. Many of these student activities display the integrity and hard work students put in to give the best product. Yearbook Editor-inChief, senior Macy Goetz, keeps everything in order to reach that goal.
Senior Gianna Rizzo speaks to the student body at the winter sports assembly on Feb. 4. Photo by Cheyenne Brown.
“We divide our staff into photographers, writers, and designers. We have specific students work on each of those. We also have three people on staff, including myself, who are our editors. Emma Hilt and I are co-editors-in-chief, and Eva Tracy is our photo editor.” Goetz said. “We take on the leadership role to make sure everyone is fulfilling their part on staff. I think that having student-led publications or activities shows other students that they can do what they want to do and achieve their dreams.” These are not the only studentproduced activities and committees at the school. The step team, the
Tonka Steppas, are led by the students on the team, and they plan every performance down to the time, outfit, routine, and music. Many clubs such as the National Honor Society, prom committee, and cornhole club, are led by members of the student body. The family and consumer science classes may be directed by staff, but everything that is sewn, baked, or carved is entirely produced by students. Student involvement strengthens bonds and helps develop essential leadership skills in students. Student-produced performances, activities, and events are just part of the experience at Winnetonka High School.
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Freshman Destiny Turvill looks at the heat sheet for the swim meet on Jan. 28. Photo by Cheyenne Brown.
Diving Through the Season The Girls of Swim and Dive head to state at the end of their winter season. By Molly Bryant This winter season, six swimmers and one diver went to state on Feb. 17 and 18. Rebecca Callaway, math teacher and one of the swim and dive coaches, said that this was one of the best seasons they have had, with many new swimmers and even a new diver going to state, sophomore Caylen Weinzerl.
“Really anything that I do that’s new, I’m very shy. I’m just a shy person in general at first, but with the help from coach Young and luckily I knew some girls on the swim team so it was like a very welcoming environment." Weinzerl said. "All the coaches there are amazing and luckily I had my friend Pinky [sophomore Layla Pina] there to kind of help me open up and be myself.” Even though swimming and diving are two different sports, the two work together by getting to know each other and competing at some of the same meets.
Though swim is mostly an individual sport, the athletes continue to help and encourage one another. Swim is a sport that is recommended by the participating athletes to try. “I learned how to swim at the boys and girls club. We had a coach there that invited me to swim and I just really thought it would be a really good idea, you know? I was a shy kid, I didn’t want to talk to anybody, I was like, 'Why not try something new?' She taught me how to swim when I was like nine or 10, so I’ve been swimming ever since.” sophomore Sania Cay said.
GRIFFIN RITES Cay was one of the swimmers that went to state, placing top eight in one of her events. To qualify for state, the swimmers have to be top 32 in the state of their event. After qualifying for state, Cay and the other state swim and dive qualifiers walked through the hallway as students and teachers cheered for them. Six swimmers, one diver, and three relays made it to state, and Winnetonka placed 24 out of 50. “Honestly, I feel good. I feel strong in the water, I know strength and conditioning is a big thing that helps me stay strong other than just swimming. I’m mentally strong, and so that also helps me in the water.” Cay said. Not only do the swimmers practice in the water, they also do strength and conditioning out of the water. Many of the swimmers have been swimming for years, with some also doing other sports like gymnastics that help with their technique when swimming or diving.
“It’s exhilarating. It helps me drive, it helps me want to do more and just makes me feel really good about myself and just that feeling after you’ve done really well, just that feeling of accomplishment, it’s amazing.” Weinzerl said.
Sophomore Caylen Weinzerl stands on the diving board, getting ready to dive at the district diving meet on Feb. 11. Photo by Emma Mercer.
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The Mask Debate Recent Mask Mandates Bring Potential Lawsuit to NKC School District by Zion Holmes and Rahand Omer Over the past two years, American lives have been affected by COVID19. North Kansas City School District’s students have been required to wear masks daily to go to school, work, or just out and about. In January, the Attorney General of Missouri, Eric Schmitt, sent warnings and the possible consequence of a lawsuit to multiple Missouri school districts if schools kept mask mandates in place. NKC is one of the schools who received a warning of this possible lawsuit. NKC School District Attorney Steve Book said, “The Attorney General has filed a petition against the district, but he has not filed a motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) at this point, although he has done that in cases against four other school districts. Because we have not been the subject of a motion for a TRO, I have not spent much time analyzing those arguments. I believe the district has good factual and legal arguments against the claims in the petition.”
“We will file a response within the time required by law and defend against the claims asserted,” Book said. “It’s possible that the lawsuit would be considered moot if at some point in the future the mask requirement is removed.” Due to recent changes made by the CDC, masks are now recommended by the district rather than required. Students at Winnetonka High School weighed in on the mask mandate and Schmitt’s threat to sue the school district. Sophomore Colleen Cox said, “Why is it that [Schmitt] cares? With the new variants, when masks were down for one week, Covid cases rose significantly within the school. It’s about not being selfish and looking out for our fellow students and in turn ourselves.”
Junior Luiza Wakeman holds her phone as if it is a mask after performing the cheer routine at the winter sports assembly on Fed. 4. Photo by Cheyenne Brown.
Sophomore David Heinrich disagrees. "[Schmitt] has the right to sue. It’ll be like that week of school when we didn’t have masks. That’s how it should be. Masks don’t prevent Covid, it’s just a sheet of paper. We aren’t even following social distancing procedures anymore. What’s the point of masks?” “I was near people with Covid at school and other public places and I didn’t catch it as I was wearing my mask, it also made me feel safer and more protected. It might not completely prevent Covid, but it is a safety measure at the least,” Cox added. “When there was no mask mandate at school, those that didn’t have masks on were made fun of, though not necessarily to their face. Also, usually those that didn’t wear masks were in friend groups and
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those that did wear masks were in their own friend groups.” “[Schmitt’s] response is an overreaction,” physics teacher Elizabeth Roberts said. “Many professions wear masks with no repercussions."
policy that we will adhere to the guidance of state and local health officials when it pertains to communicable diseases. Our current mask protocol is not in violation to the Cole County judgement. The Attorney General suing North Kansas City Schools in unfounded and has no legal basis.”
requiring masks. Following our policy and adhering to local mandates prevents us from making decisions on behalf of this varied group of families we serve.” The Kansas City mask mandate expired on February 17, 2022.
Business teacher Ashley Lee views the masks as something that can bring more than just safety to some students. “In my little town where I live, the students at school have had the option to wear a mask for the last year and a half, so here with the mandate it’s a little, different.“ Lee has also seen positives and negatives for some students. “I can think of a boy who had a face defect and because he was able to wear a mask to cover it, his personality and things came out because they couldn’t see that, they could only see his eyes. For other (students) it shuts people down because they can’t see facial expressions, or they kind of feel like hidden, or masked.” At the beginning of the pandemic, the NKCSD Board of Education decided to follow the advice and recommendations of the county health department and refer to local government decisions. The Attorney General has cited a case from Cole County as grounds for the lawsuits. Superintendent Dan Clemens said, “Our Board of Education has a
Junior Mars Shelton puts their mask back on after playing in the assembly on Feb. 4. Photo by Cheyenne Brown.
Clemens recognizes that decisions during this time is challenging with varying opinions and beliefs. “Partnerships with our parents are critical to our success as a school district. You can imagine the large variety of individuals we have heard from, representing more than 21,000 students. Some are very fervent in their protest of masks, warning of their dangers and failure to protect kids. Others demand that we do more to protect their immunocompromised child and/or a family member living in the home by
While this returned the district to “recommended” masking, the debate may not be over if another variant or wave of cases brings increased risk of illness. "I don’t think the lift on mask mandates has affected our school that much just because a lot of people are aware," Says Lee Patterson, 10. "While it’s good to see what progress has been made and what [the mask lift] will affect, I don’t think it’s a good idea to risk what can happen while you don’t have them."
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