pawPRINT
VOLUME III ISSUE III
KANSAS CITY CHRISTIAN SCHOOL | PRAIRIE VILLAGE, KAN. | FEB. 28
“Off Broadway” with teacher Brian Miller
Senior Nate Starcev gets the strike
How teachers popped the question
table of contents 3 Bucket list 4 Opinion 6 The Modern Day Newspaper 8 Sochi stars 10 Teacher proposals 12 Off broadway 15 Striking a record
staff co-editors
Maddy Hardt Kayley Forshey
staff writers
Olivia Madderom Grayson Bohlender Alyssa Elliott Turner Jones Josh Willis Ashley Moore MaryEileen Kucera
16 Valentine’s day The Paw Print is the high school newspaper of Kansas City Christian School. It is an open forum and is distributed to all students. This is a student publication and may contain controversial matter. Kansas City Christian School and its board members and employees are not responsible for the content of this student publication. Students and editors are solely responsible for the content.
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adviser
Kylie Briggs
_Whats_on_your_bucket list?_ Start a Glee Club “I’m going to start it when I’m a teacher here [at KCC] even
Go Sky Diving
though I have no singing or dancing
“...with Logan Lerman over Dubai. According to Will Smith, they have the best sky diving there.” -senior Anna Rackley “...because it would be super sweet to see the world that way.” -sophomore Blase Pivovar
abilities.” -senior Libby Fields
Publish a Book “I want to publish a book because I want a challenge and to -high school principal Ben Williams
“...because he has the greatest voice ever and is in the greatest band ever.” -senior Rachel Rietveld
1. Finish Ironman. (Swim 2.4 miles, bike 112, and then run a marathon) 2. Tour Scotland. 3. Be an extra in a movie.
improve my writing.”
Meet Marcus Mumford
Science teacher Brad Belden’s Bucket List
“...because I love to write and it would be awesome to get published.” -junior Caleb Busch
4. Be the main role in a play or a musical. 5. Learn another language fluently. 6. Live in a city in another country for a month. 7. Live out of an RV. 8. Climb all the 14ers in Colorado. (14,000 foot mountains) 9. Own a boathouse. 10. Build a presentable piece of furniture.
Travel The World
11. Restore an old car.
“...because it seems like a fun adventure.” -junior Jack Stradinger “I think it would be fun to see all the different cultures and landscapes.” -junior Morgan Balentine “...I find the animals in the Savannah interesting.” -sophomore Lucas Ford “I want to go to Australia for six months and be a zookeeper. I’m going to be friends with a kangaroo.” -junior Carson Gunnigle.
12. Restore a house. 13. Win a beard growing contest.
Drive a Semi-Truck “...only because I love stick shifts, and they have a ton of gears. My dad used to tell me [about them], and it was fascinating! I think my dad told me there could be up to 27 of them!” -administrative assistant Nancy Payne
14. Play in a band that plays a show. 15. Go to a full season of Royals home games. 16. Watch the Royals in every MLB stadium. 17. Go to a World Series game at Kauffman.
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Red, white and better than you an opinion by JOSH
WILLIS
Is there anything more American, than America? The answer is no. It’s a fact, America is the best country in the world. Hands down, no questions asked. We are number one. Why are we so great you might ask? Well, you see, there are a lot of reasons. I won’t bore you with the details of every reason, even though that wouldn’t be boring at all. But, here are a few of the main reasons. For starters, we were founded by great men. Great men who knew that the way to rule is not through absolutism, but through choice. When the founders were creating the framework for our country, they had the people in mind, not the government. America is great because we give people freedom, and we let them have a say in the way they are governed. And more importantly, we were created as one nation under God.
Tea. Earl Grey. Hot. an opinion by ALYSSA
ELLIOTT
Tea is the most popular drink in the world, except for water. According to TeaUSA, about 80 percent of American households have tea in their homes. However, this tea is most likely prepared by boiling water, then pouring it over the tea bag until the forgotten tea is remembered then doused with sugar. When I see people make tea like this, I cringe. I will admit, before I was enlightened of the ways of properly brewed loose leaf tea, I was one of these poor, ill-informed souls. There is far more to tea than just a premade bag and some hot water. I intend to teach you the art of making the perfect cup of tea A little story: tea is a central part of many cultures, not just Great Britain. In ancient China, tea was used as medicine and currency in some parts of the nation. In Japan, tea ceremonies were a large part of society and took years to master. Great Britain introduced tea to India during the 1800s as a way of competing with China and generating more money for the East India Co., becoming one of its well-known exports. Now, the first step is to determine what kind of tea you are making. If you purchase your tea from a store specializing in tea, you will be given the proper information. A good rule of thumb is with that black tea and herbal tea you, boil the water; if you are making green or white tea, which are more delicate teas, do not boil the water.
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Secondly, America is a land of opportunity. In America, there’s the opportunity for you start a business from your basement, and turn it into a billion dollar company. It takes is a lot of hard work, but it can happen. We aren’t restricted to how much we can make or how far we can climb the corporate ladder by the government. Capitalism, baby. Lastly, America is a military powerhouse. Yes, we are back to back World War champs. Yes, we are undefeated. And yes, we still do strike fear into the hearts of our enemies. We make terrorists shake in their boots when we come after them. Yes, this does come with a cost. President John F. Kennedy explained it best; “The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission.” Here are three simple reasons as to why you should be an avid patriot like me: 1) It’s the American thing to do. 2) You owe it to your country to support it. You cheer for and support your favorite sports teams, so why not support your favorite country? And it’s more fun to cheer for the winning team (America). Besides, it’s the right thing to do. If you don’t love this country, then feel free to leave it. Go to France, they like wimps over there. Like Oscar Wilde said, “When good Americans die, they go to Paris.” 3) Everybody loves someone who loves America. Or at least they’ll have some respect for you. If they don’t, then that’s their problem. They might be terrorists. All I’m trying to tell you is that you shouldn’t bag on the best country in the world. Cause we’ve been running the world since 1776.
Next, make sure that you steep, or infuse, the tea for the given time. Too long, and your tea will become bitter. To make stronger tea do not steep it longer. Tea is made stronger by adding more tea leaves, not by keeping it in the water for a longer period of time. Once you have put the correct amount of tea into your infuser, you can buy a tea ball for $2 at the store. For hot tea, usually use one teaspoon for every cup of water, and for cold tea, use two teaspoons per cup. Steep the leaves for the allotted time. Set a timer; do not just wing it or you will risk ruining the tea. After the tea has steeped, remove the leaves from the water. Now that your tea is done, enjoy! You can add milk or cream and sugar; I recommend rock sugar as it does not overpower the tea flavor but it can be pricey, or if you are like me, enjoy your tea as is. It may seem like a lot of work, and it can be, which is why I always am sure to keep a bottle of sweet tea in the fridge in case I don’t feel like going through this process. However, once you have tasted a perfectly brewed cup of tea, you will never be able to enjoy tea like you did before again.
What tea do they drink? Japan
Matcha green tea: a powdered green tea
United States Southern sweet tea: a black tea sweetened with sugar
Great Britain Earl Grey tea: a blend of black teas
China
White tea: made from the Camellia sinensis plant
India Masala Chai: a black tea mixed with Indian herbs and spices
Hard things and hindsight an opinion by GRAY
BOHLENDER
Hindsight is an inconvenient monster. It is one of the scariest things because it tells you how strong you are, what you can do. Sometimes you don’t want to know what you can do, because that implies an obligation. Doing what you’re strong enough to do is scary. But, hindsight is a wonderfully giving mystery. It is empowering. When you see what you’ve done and where you’ve been, you are given a little bit more ability to do it the next time. I see the burn scars and chicken pecks and snowy days I spent at a log splitter wondering when the bigger picture will fall into place from hindsight now, and it since has taught me a lot about going forward. I’ve been looking at the past couple years as we head into this next one, and I’m realizing the vitality that the last couple are going to have to my very-long-term, to my very-big-picture. 2012 was a bit of a heartbreaker. I spent the majority of the year wandering. That’s not even an allegory for wandering psychologically, but a literal statement; hardly a street in Kansas City has yet to meet the wobbly wheels of my penny board. I explored more of my hometown than I ever had until then. In a way, I grew up in the brutality of 2012’s summer heat and under the middling skyline of which I am proud. In more ways, though, my maturity took several steps backwards. My doctrine of #YOLO soon collapsed on top of me, and on October 7, 2012, I was introduced to my very first Michigan winter. I was put in a program in Northern Michigan’s Traverse City and put to work on a farm there. I was away from family and friends and comfort. Even when it felt like I was a bit trapped, though, God used it. That’s what hindsight has taught me, anyway. 2013 was a year of redemption. It’s when I finally told myself to embrace Michigan because it was my only way out. What started out as an obligated “yes,” turned into one of my biggest adventures yet. I realized my opportunity, and how rare it was to be a 21st-century teenager milking goats, without a cell phone, just being able to talk to God. My prison became one of my highest privileges, and I absolutely fell in love with it. Coming home from Traverse City, although it’ll always have a special place in my heart as “the Place Where God Caught Me,” was an easy decision. Immediately, I was introduced to a family dynamic that I wasn’t used to – one where we listened to each other and were able to offer constructive criticism. It was the easiest environment to grow in that I had ever been a part of, and it remains that way. Michigan was a catalyst to the single best habitat for communal maturing that I could ever ask for, and I’m so thankful for that. To tell you the truth, I don’t really want to do that all again. While the good stuff was really, really good, the bad stuff really sucked. Seeing the dots connected, though, shows me how able I am to walk through some pretty rocky terrain, and equips me to do it better the next time. I know this next season in my life is going to be just as vital as 2012 and 2013 have been, and I’m looking forward to analyzing it in hindsight, however tough that may be.
staff editorial Drowning in homework WHAT STUDENTS AND TEACHERS CAN DO TO HELP
It’s 3 p.m. on Friday and students are rushing down the halls, anxious to leave for the weekend. “Man, all this homework sucks, can school just not” can be heard by students of all grades as they pack their bags. It’s been a long week, and homework is the last thing they want to do. Students are quick to blame teachers and administration when overloaded with homework. While the administration does have some authority over the homework assigned, the students actually also have control over how much homework they get. We, The Paw Print staff, push for more productive class hours and, therefore, less homework. Based on a survey of 120 students, the majority of students said they have generally have two to three hours of homework and the subject with the most homework was English. We believe through some simple adjustments that the amount of homework could be minimized. High school principal Ben Williams said, “There is no set requirement [amount of homework]. We [the school] seek to assign appropriate amounts of homework to accomplish our goals. Homework should be either what couldn’t get done in class or what was necessary for review or introduction to make class time more profitable.” He used the example of his own class. The Advanced Worldview class, consisting of only seniors, will have packets to read before class time almost four days of the five, with some exceptions. Williams explained that the reason he gives homework is so there can be meaningful discussion during class time, and this usually cannot be done if the entire hour is spent reading. However, not all classes allow for the same productivity. Instead of most classes, in an ideal scenario, few classes are using class time wisely, resulting in more homework to fulfill the requirements for the year. This lack of productivity can be attributed to teachers going off on tangents, unpreparedness by teachers and students, and student behavior. When teachers are unprepared for class or use class time to tell stories instead of teach, with exceptions, students have to finish their work at home instead of in class. Or if students are texting and talking during class, teachers are forced to explain the same lesson over and over again. The time wasted in class could be minimized by the cooperation of everyone, students and teachers alike. While the school is doing everything it can to limit the amount of homework, including charting out homework, test days, and quizzes during teacher meetings, students and teachers should work together to get things done in class. This means, less time goofing off (students) and making sure class time is completely utilized (teachers). So, the next time you are tempted to goof off or cause a distraction in class, just ask yourself, “Do I really want more homework?” The answer will most likely be “no”, unless you’re one of those rare ones who enjoys spending his evening listening to Bach and broadening his mind for hours. Let’s all make life a little bit easier on each other and spend school time actually doing school. Letters to the editor are encouraged. Letters must be signed by the author to be considered for the publication. The Paw Print encourages letters to be no longer than 500 words. Letters should be submitted to room 311 or mailed to: The Paw Print c/o Kansas City Christian School, 4801 W. 79th St., Prairie Village, KS 66208.
opinion 5
The ern|
|mod
| y a d |
newspaper
Gray Bohlender
staff writer
Ink newspapers have long been a staple of American culture. They are a physical representation of our freedom of speech. They are an ingenious spectacle of product distribution and a truly unmatched conglomerate of international news and localized content. Holding a newspaper, with both hands just barely grasping the edges, is more than holding an antiquated medium of what was once news. It represents an incredibly fast-paced industry and the cutting edge of social communication. It represents a golden era of reporting, and it represents ability to report even still. In the last couple decades, though, ink-and-paper publications have changed entirely. They have taken to Twitter and Facebook to save their relevance. Browser versions and e-periodicals have become especially prevalent in the last few years, with the dawn of tablets and larger-screened smartphones increasing web traffic to these sites exponentially. “[Print media] is evolving, and it is changing,” said Sheila Davis, executive editor for the Examiner. She explained the evolution of the paper as less of a fight for its relevance, and more of what will necessarily will happen to any medium of communication over time. Newspapers establish a given ratio of news to classified advertisements, and they hold to it. If classifieds are on the low, that number directly affects how much news a publication is able to report. Davis said that in 2009, nine pages of classifieds was average for an issue. Now, if the Examiner gets three pages, that is considered a lot. That is not just six pages of lost revenue, but also a number that takes away from however much news they would’ve reported that week. She did seem to stress, though, that small papers like the Examiner don’t feel like a dying
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People changing habits means the media fights to keep up. breed. Instead of losing to social networks and the Internet in a war of news distribution, Davis said that the Examiner incorporates them into their own model. “We have a multi-platform model,” she explained, “We have a paper product, our online newspaper, our Twitter page and a Facebook page.” If you look on any of their pages, you’ll see how well they are integrated. They have their Twitter feed and Facebook profile in sync, with links going to and from their browser-based paper. The only way an established news outlet will gain a strong web presence is if they do it well, and that is certainly true on this account. While numbers are certainly lower than they were in the 80s and 90s, Pew’s Research Center reported almost 11 billion dollars in worldwide newspaper circulation in 2012. They also reported that 85 percent of news circulations is distributed via print publications. That is a strong majority of publishing outlets, and an astonishing figure when you think of price and ease of use that the Internet offers. It proves, though, that some sort of loyalty to the known, and to something we can hold, is an active factor when it comes to how we decide to get our news. “Everybody is changing,” Davis said. Things have been changing in the newspaper industry for years. It’s is an industry fueled by change, fueled by design and content innovation, fueled by people with ideas aggregating into a force of pens that’ll change the world. A certain amount of that innovation, though, can’t be portrayed through cluster of pixels or backlit slates. It’s culturally woven into the paper, the ink and the typeface that you can’t resize by pinching. The numbers are preaching just as loud as the people are, and the newspaper is not dead.
feature 7
A look at USA’s top athletes in the 2014 Winter Olympic games Turner Jones
staff writer
This year’s Winter Olympics was one of the best assemblages of worldclass athletes, particularly the combination of the athletes on the U.S. team. This year the U.S. brought 230 Olympic athletes, which was a record amount for the U.S., beating the 2010 Winter Olympic team by 20. Although The U.S. team had many athletes, there were a few that caught the nation’s attention. SAGE KOTSENBURG One snowboard slopestyle star, Sage Kotsenburg, was the first athlete of the 2014 Winter Olympics to stand on the podium clutching gold. His best score of 93.50 was due to an impressive run filled with his own distinguishable style, and a trick that not only had never been done before, but one that he had never practiced. Kotsenburg called it the ‘Holy Crail’, but technically it is called a 1620 Japan air mute grab. Because of his trick, the judges made Kotsenburg a household name. JAMIE ANDERSON Also in the snowboarding category, the 23 year old four time X-Games and Dew Tour champ snowboarder Jamie Anderson lived up to the hype she had created in years past and grabbed the gold. Qualifying
for the X-Games at age 13, her reputation quickly spread. Anderson reached Olympic royalty Feb. 9 on her final snowboard slopestyle run with a score of 95.25, not only because of the tricks she was able to pull off, but the immense amount of air she got on her jumps. MERYL DAVIS & CHARLIE WHITE At the time of Meryl Davis and Charlie White’s performance, Russia was dominating the ice dancing arena, but that didn’t keep Davis and White from becoming the first U.S. Olympic duo to win gold in this event. The pair achieved a combined score of 195.52. They have danced together for 17 years, going through countless demanding practices, but have never chosen to go separate ways. All of their work paid off with an almost flawless routine. They managed to beat their Canadian rivals and training partners Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, who won the gold in the last Winter Olympics in front of Davis and White TED LIGETY Alpine skier phenomenon Ted Ligety was a big medal hope that didn’t disappoint. Ligety delivered one of his best performances Feb. 19 with a first run of 1:24.21, a whole .91 seconds ahead of the field, pushing him ahead of the competition on the slopes and the podium. Earning the gold made him only the second U.S. alpine skier to win two Olympic golds. With Bode Miller pulling out early and this most likely being his last Olympic appearance, Ligety will possibly take over Miller’s spot of most famous U.S. skier.
Sage Kostenburg’s never before attempted trick
1620 Japan Air Mute Grab INFOGRAPHIC BY TURNER JONES
3.
- Where the rider places his hand.
Nose
2.
Tail
1.
Japan Air Mute Grab Four full 360-degree spins and one 180-degree spin. 360 x 4 + 180 = 1620
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The next part, the Japan Air, is when the rider grabs the front edge of his board and pulls the board behind his back.
Original Japan Air
The final part is the Mute Grab. This aspect of the trick only changes where the rider grabs the board.
DAVID WISE Freestyle skier David Wise had the eyes of America glued to the TV during his first run down the slushy halfpipe, pulling off two double corks, a corkscrew flip, including his signature trick, the right side double cork 1260. The wet thick snow on the halfpipe caused most skiers to dramatically slow down, which makes what Wise did all the more incredible. But, there’s more to Wise than that. He leads a somewhat different lifestyle than many of his fellow athletes. While they’re on the party scene, he’s trying to be home with his wife and 2-year-old daughter. Wise attends church every Sunday in his home town of Reno and has said that he could see himself becoming a pastor in the future. KAITLYN FARRINGTON It was no surprise to find an American woman atop the podium for the snowboard halfpipe event. But, it was a shock to see it was Kaitlyn Farrington and not her fellow teammate Kelly Clark, who was the big medal hope. Farrington had been the very last athlete to be named to the U.S. snowboarding team after the final qualifying event at Mammoth Mountain in California. Getting the gold, or even ending up on that podium, was something that was originally thought to be left for her teammates like Clark or Hannah Teter. But having one of the smoothest runs of your life and tossing up tricks like a backside 900, which is 2.5 rotations with her back facing toward the outside of the spin, will get you there.
What was your favorite Olympic event? “My favorite event was men’s slopestyle skiing because it’s amazing how easy they make the tricks they are performing look.” -senior Mitchell Pivovar “Curling because they yell all of the time and it’s really funny to watch.” -junior Luke Streeter
“Downhill Alpine skiing, because it’s fast and dangerous and sometimes people wipe out.” -English teacher Rachel Schulte
USA’s history at the Winter Olympics (Only showing the 10 most recent Winter Olympic games)
Location of Games
Gold Silver Bronze
Rank
1980 Lake Placid
6
4
2
3
1984 Sarajevo
4
4
0
3
1988 Calgary
2
1
3
9
1992 Albertville
5
4
2
5
1994 Lillehammer
6
5
2
5
1998 Nagano
6
3
4
5
10
13
11
3
2006 Turig
9
9
7
2
2010 Vancouver
9
15
13
3
2014 Sochi
7
5
11
4
2002 Salt Lake City
feature 9
t e s e t SwHear
Q: How did you propose to your spouse and how did she respond? mr. arnold:
PHOTO COURTESY OF ERIC ARNOLD
Computer teacher Eric Arnold and wife, Tracy, on their wedding day.
I proposed to my wife Tracy along Split Rock Creek in Palisades State Park in South Dakota in August 1999. We love to hike and spend time in the outdoors, so I wanted to propose to her in an outdoorsy location. Tracy grew up in the area and wanted to take me to Palisades, so I took the ring along to propose to her there. There happened to be a trail named the King and Queen Trail—I thought, “Hey, this will be perfect.” The trail meanders along the creek and ends at the king and queen rock formations, which are towering and rather magnificent pink quartzite spires. I had an amazing, incredibly smart dog, Cody, that we took nearly everywhere we went. The dog’s tail was the perfect diameter for the ring, so I slipped the ring on Cody’s tail, in the hopes that she would see it. However, instead of looking at Cody’s sparkling tail, she was looking at the sparking quartzite, as well as where she was stepping. Not only was I now anxious about proposing marriage, but now I was anxious about having the ring fall off of Cody’s tail and into a rocky crevice, a creek, etc. Finally, we made it to the end of the trail, and I knelt down beside Cody. I think I even had to say something like, “Wow, now look at the rock Cody is sitting on”—something like that. The rest is history.
mr. loney: I went down to see Kristen at K-2 (Kanakuk camp). She was down there for the summer, and I just got done doing some basketball stuff. She had never been on a Kanakuk walk in her whole career there of like three or four years. I took her on a walk and we walked around and I had different things that reminded me of her and I pointed them out to her and qualities that were great about her. And there’s this rule at Kanakuk that spouses and couples had to be kind of in the public eye. She was kind of freaked out about going off the beach and so we were in the wooded area. She was a little freaked out because she didn’t want to get fired even though I had permission. There was a little ‘X’ [drawn on the ground] and it was how she was going to be an excellent wife. I talked about the characteristics and the qualities about how she would be an excellent wife and she kind of freaked out. And I quoted Proverbs 31 and how she is a Proverb 31 woman. I then proposed and we got engaged and then we ended up hanging out in Branson with our families. She didn’t know, but our families came down. She had the weekend off, so we were hanging out, and we had dinner reservations at Landry’s. So then we went into Landry’s and there was my mom and dad and her mom and dad. We all had fun that night.
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PHOTO COURTESY OF KRISTEN LONEY
Bible teacher Michael Loney surprises his then future wife, Kristen.
the EDGE Junior Olivia Madderom’s cheap (not free) date ideas
PHOTO COURTESY OF KATI ORWIG
PHOTO COURTESY OF NATE WRIGHT
Math teacher Josh Orwig poses with his wife, Kati, on their wedding day. Bible teacher Nate Wright and then fiance, Stacy, take their engagement pictures.
mr. orwig: Katie and I were dating for some time, five months exactly. I had met with her parents and I asked them for her hand in marriage and they said “absolutely,” and they were excited. It was a fantastic and wonderful moment. Then I said that I wanted to propose, but I want to be crafty and tricky, maybe slightly ornery. I decided I could trick Katie into planning her own proposal. So I asked her parents if they would be in on the deal and the deal was this: we would have Katie plan a Christmas break getaway for her and I to go see a band that we both mutually liked. It turns out that she was really nervous about this because she hadn’t gone on a trip with a boy. It was fine because what we ended up doing was I had my parents join in on the fun and plan the whole thing so we could have our own rooms and be able to fly up to Chicago. Katie made the plans and thought she was being really crafty and clever to plan a secret surprise getaway the whole time. Of course, I knew everything. So we flew to Chicago and that night we went and saw the Black Keys, and afterwards it was really funny because she was tired and I was trying to get her to say, “Hey, we’re in Chicago and let’s hang out and see the town.” I ended up conning her into walking through Millennium Park with me and walking through the park I started getting really serious because I never said “I love you,” and we never talked about marriage; we never talked about anything future-wise. So, for me to be really vulnerable and telling her all these really nice things was really a surprise. Right when I’m at the climax of my monologue, I get down on one knee and Katie starts crying and puts her hands to her face in total shock and literally backs up, and I pulled the ring out of my sock and said, “Will you marry me?” She kept backing up to the point where I had to get up walk towards her and get down on a knee again. She screamed and freaked out and it was funny. I knew because of the plan that I could fly her parents up, my parents up, and her best friend. So we hung out for like 20 minutes after I proposed and we talked through all these things that we had yet to talk about: future, marriage, if we loved each other, and all those things. As we were going through, she wanted to call everyone and I was like, “Let’s just go and spend one hour, just the two of us and then we’ll call everyone,” I took her to the restaurant where her family, my family and her friends were. Right before we walked in I was like, “Listen; there’s something I got to tell you. I got everybody up here.” And she freaked out and ran inside. That was almost exactly seven months after we started dating. Then six months later we had our wedding.
mr. wright: A family at Kansas City Christian, their name is the Powells, live in a beautiful house in Mission Hills. They have a beautiful butterfly garden and my sister-in-law Janelle had done some dog sitting/house sitting for them in the past. So, I thought it would be cool to propose to my wife in the garden with her thinking that she was just going to be at the house to check on the dog. Janelle took her out for dinner, and I lied and said I was going fishing with my brother. And while Janelle and my wife were at dinner, I set up candles and rose petals in the garden leading up to underneath the archway which had Christmas lights. And so when Janelle and Stacy finished eating, Janelle said, “Hey, I’m house sitting at the Powell’s and we have to go and let the dog out before we go home.” So, Janelle and Stacy went over there, and Janelle led her back around the garden, and when she got to the garden, she saw the gate was open and started walking and saw the rose petals and candles and saw me at the end. So I did it. And while I was kneeling down on one knee my pants caught on fire because of one of the candles. I still have those jeans with a burnt hole in them. It was pretty simple. She was really surprised, slightly shocked I think. She had no idea because I didn’t hint to anything; she was not expecting it at all.
1. Give blood: “I think that giving blood together is a great idea because you are giving back to the community and you are also getting free food.” 2. Geocaching: “It is when you get a map of where a communal geocache is, and you bring something, like a cheap $1 item with you, and when you find it, it will be like in the woods, you take an item out, and then you put in your own item. It’s just awesome.” 3. Play on the jungle gym in the park: “I think if you like dating someone and are really good friends, it will be good to get to know them in a creative sense.” 4. Paint a picture together with assigned colors: “He would have a certain three or four colors and you would have a certain three or four colors, and you would paint pictures together, but you would be able to tell which part of it was each others’ because you used different colors.”
feature 11
OFF BROADWAY Alyssa Elliott
staff writer
It’s seventh hour British Literature. The room is hot, the students are sleepy, and half the class is gone at a bowling match. As the students enter the room, there is yet another substitute teacher, just like there had been for the past weeks. The only difference was that this substitute was here to stay. For a while at least. There was a need for a long term substitute teacher for the British Literature and Play Production classes for the rest of the school year. Chosen for the position was Brian Miller, a former student of Bible teacher Allan Chugg and someone who had come from a farm, to the stage, and then into teaching. Miller grew up in Elbing, Kan., a small town northeast of Wichita. He attended Berean Academy, a K-12 Christian school in Elbing. He and his family lived in many different places but mostly in the middle of Kansas on his grandfather’s farm. It was when he was a kid that Miller grew to love music and performing. “I come from a very musical family,” Miller said. “We toured churches everywhere. My first stage production was as Abraham Lincoln’s dad.” Before he began his career as a performer, Miller attended college at John Brown University for his undergraduate degree. He attended Friends University in Wichita for graduate school. He has a master’s degree in music education and a bachelor’s degree in math. He will be certified to become a full-time teacher within a month. Miller has been performing professionally for 25 years. He has sung backup for Barbara Streisand and Gloria Estefan and has traveled the world, performing in all 50 states and on five of seven continents. “I did mostly off-Broadway and Broadway World Tours,” Miller explained. “I liked doing the small shows. It was never about being rich [...]. I loved touring once I got a taste of it.” Miller’s favorite production was a little known show called “Return to the Forbidden Planet.” “It is Shakespeare’s ‘Tempest’ set on a ‘Star Trek’ bridge with 60s rock ‘n’ roll music,” Miller said laughing. “Our instruments were our weapons.” During such a long career, something is bound to go wrong during productions, especially when they are live. Many of these moments were painful when they happened but in hindsight are something that Miller can laugh at.
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“I was doing ‘The King and I’ and he [the king] is barefoot,” Miller said. “A stagehand had left a 2x4 with a nail in it the wrong way and I ran off stage and the nail went through my foot. The next scene was the death scene and there was blood pouring out of the bed. It was awesome!” Another accident happened to a fellow performer during “Jesus Christ Superstar” where Miller portrayed the man who gave Jesus the 39 lashes. “In one performance my Jesus, Joe Locarro [who was] the original Enjorlas in ‘Les Miserables,’ leaned his head a little too far back and I caught his hair in my whip, actually pulling out a little of his hair,” Miller said. “He stayed true to the show, but he managed to give me a very un-Jesus-like look as I finished whipping him. We laugh about it now, but we were completely freaked out when it happened.” Being a performer, Miller has gone through the phase of the starving artist where he worked any job he could get. He has worked as a janitor, a waiter, a ski instructor and taught scuba diving. He also nearly received his skydiving instructor certification. Of these jobs, there is one in particular that stands out. “This guy had me knock down a whole floor [of a building],” Miller said “He gave me a sledgehammer and I just blasted my music and smashed walls all day.” It was while Miller was performing though, that he met his wife. “We met in a show,” Miller explained, “I actually sang a song asking her to marry me in the first 20 minutes we knew each other. In the play she said ‘no’ but in real life she said ‘yes.’” The two of them now have two kids: Jonah, who is 4, and Brilee, who is 1. It was because of the children that they moved to Kansas City. “My wife and I moved back to KC when we had our first child,” Miller said. “We didn’t want to raise them in NYC, and we didn’t want to move back to any smaller of a city and still be close to the grandparents.” Now that Miller is off the stage, he is helping instruct performers at a high school level here at KCC. So far, students are enjoying having Miller as their director for the spring play “Peter Pan.” “He is a very good director,” junior Thomas Rolston said. “He shoots out thoughts at you and you shoot back. He really gets into it and really understands what you say and what you can do.” For Miller, his faith is a key part about what he does. “So many actors have to find their strength to go on in only themselves,” Miller said. “I had my faith and strength from God as I dealt with rejection and heartache. I don’t know how non-believers do it.”
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PHOTO COURTESY OF BRIAN MILLER
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2005 then and now:
PHOTO COURTESY OF BRIAN MILLER
Clockwise from top left: Play director Brian Miller gives a mischievous look as Riff Raff in “Rocky Horror Picture Show.” Miller performs with wife, Leah, in a Kander and Ebb review. While sitting on the floor, Miller directs play practice. Miller plays the character of Conrad Birdie in “Bye Bye Birdie.” PHOTO COURTESY OF BRIAN MILLER
2014 PHOTO BY TURNER JONES
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Striking out a record
PHOTO BY TURNER JONES
Senior Nate Starcev celebrates after bowling a strike. Starcev recently broke the school record.
Senior Nate Starcev leisurely entered the bowling alley, just awaking from his pre-game bus nap. Not expecting anything, he was about to play what he thought would be a normal game. Little did he know that in this game he would break the school record of 665, with a score of 704. Just by eyeing his opponent, Aaron Yuratovic from Olathe East, Starcev knew Yuratovic was a skilled bowler. He had three sets of bowling balls and custom made shoes. Starcev, wearing the shoes provided by the
Ashley Moore
staff writer
bowling alley and carrying his $15 bowling ball he purchased from Savers, was ready to give his best effort, like always. It seemed to be an average game. Starcev and Yuratovic were head and head, that is, until the 10th frame of the final round. Starcev knew he needed to knock down at least six pins in his last shot. By this time, most of the other bowlers had finished their games and crowded around Starcev’s lane. All eyes were on him. “You could hear a penny drop,” Starcev said. Taking his final shot, Starcev gave it his all. Looking up at the screen after, he realized he had won and taken the school record with a score of 704. “I felt really good and accomplished,” Starcev said. “A lot of the time people get their names on the record board for a team effort, but bowling is an individual record.” Yuratovic, who is Croatian by descent, and Starcev, who is Romanian, laughed together after the game. “The Europeans took away the competition!” Starcev joked. Starcev has been on the KCC bowling team for four years. He joined his freshman year because he liked the idea of bowling for free. In the middle of the season during his freshman year, Starcev realized that he had a knack for bowling. “I figured out how to spin the ball,” Starcev said. He kept improving and improving, achieving the number one spot on varsity his sophomore, junior, and senior years. He trains at two to three different practice sessions per week. “I’m thankful that God gave me this fun gift,” Starcev said. Starcev will attend Kansas State University in the fall and hopes to continue bowling for fun. According to Starcev, “it’s a good life long sport!”
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Junior Grayson Bohlender serenades sophomore Kaitlyn Burns. After forgetting to call her name, the junior boys sing to smiling seventh grader Day Newman.
PHOTO BY TURNER JONES
PHOTO BY MARYEILEEN KUCERA
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Valentine’s Day
PHOTO BY MARYEILEEN KUCERA
PHOTO BY MARYEILEEN KUCERA
Showing enthusiasm, the junior girls belt out a love song to the junior boys. With the gifts lined up on the gym floor, the middle school students wait to see what they will receive.
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Juniors Morgan Balentine, Brooke Robertson, and Savannah Ko sing to seventh grader Owen Veer, eighth grader Michael Holst, sixth grader Elijah Wagner, and sixth grader Andrew Brannon. PHOTO BY TURNER JONES