Volume 56, Issue I

The Torch

The Student News Source of Kennedy High School

Anabel Bradley

Merideth Langton

Molly Martin

Sonja Woerner

Letter From the Editors

The 2022-2023 school year marks the 55th year since Kennedy opened its doors and welcomed students into its classrooms. Since 1967, our school has gone through many changes—former students are now teachers and the building has expanded. Coming out of a pandemic, derecho and the loss of students and staff, we continued to persevere.

As we began work on this newspaper, we discovered clubs, sports and traditions no longer exist such as gymnastics and Issues Week. However, some things have never changed like football, Happiness Inc. and our rivalry with the other inner-city Cedar Rapids schools.

The green and gold never gets old. Students today still have the same enthusiasm and school spirit as the first group of Cougars. Even as trends, gas prices and slang change, Kennedy’s core values have stayed the same—treating each other with kindness and respect. Kennedy will continue to slay the day for many years to come.

Molly Barr

Lara Secl

Ayrianna Sherwood

As three of us editors move on from Kennedy, we will pass The Torch onto the next generation, keeping the soul of Kennedy alive for another 55 years to come. Good luck and Roll Cougs!

Joshua Barker

Emma Beachner

Jersey Bilyeu

Kaitlyn Dolphin

Claire Frank

Alyx Goldensoph

Rowan Hesford

Jordan Horne

Tori Paga

Ella Smith

Isaac White

Kiera Zwack

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Wcomes win the what contests past years, thing from Christmas tions and gymnasium cannons. forward bly, but what they and how have been. Back dy’s gymnasium banner The pep this would Randy Krejci, Athletic at Kennedy win. He terday.

“It someone er it be a When we Basketball that was celebrated,” While blies were support

welcomed changes—former derecho exist such Happiness Inc. spirit as have the day

The Torch 3 JANUARY 2023

Pep Assemblies of the Past

When students think of pep assemblies at Kennedy, what comes to mind is who will win the spirit stick next or what contests will be held. In past years, there has been anything from beat boxing battles, Christmas caroling competitions and toilets rolled onto the gymnasium floor with confetti cannons. Students tend to look forward to the next pep assembly, but never stop to consider what they were like years ago and how different things may have been.

Back in 1972, Kennedy’s gymnasium had only one banner for the basketball team. The pep assembly that followed this would be one to remember. Randy Krejci, former Kennedy Athletic Director, was a senior at Kennedy during the first win. He recalls it like it was yesterday.

“It was really neat to see someone get rewarded, whether it be a team or an individual.

When we won the…1972 Boys’ Basketball state championship, that was a big deal. It was really celebrated,” said Krejci.

While these pep assemblies were full of cheer and support for the school’s sports,

there wasn’t the typical confetti, chants or games. Competing for the spirit stick was unheard of and pie-ing the principal was a mere dream. Most of these traditions we know today wouldn’t exist for another 30 years.

day. Dr. Mary Wilcynski, Kennedy’s principal from 1997-2013, remembers the impact Tafoya left on the school years ago.

“His crazy contests brought students from all corners of the building into the spirit of

pep assemblies at the school he previously worked at, but none would compare to what he was going to see at Kennedy. When Activities Director Aaron Stecker took over the coordination of the pep assemblies, they only went uphill. They transformed into confetti filled rallies filled with costumes and contests.

“Mr. Stecker has really ramped them up, he’s the mastermind, he puts all the stuff together. People don’t realize he’s the man behind the script,” said Kline.

The most recent pep assemblies from the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school year were some of the most celebrated Kline can recall. With the added class of ‘26 and the long awaited return of pep assemblies after COVID-19, students were thrilled to be united and celebrate each other’s accomplishments.

Thanks to Kennedy’s assistant principal in the early 2000’s, Dr. Corey Tafoya, we were introduced to not only the spirit stick, but many other games and contests. His ideas would bring students together from all around the school, as well as shape pep assemblies into what they are to-

the school,” said Dr. Wilcynski. “It’s wonderful to have so many people feel that they belong to something bigger than themselves.”

Fast forward to 2013, principal Jason Kline would experience his first ever pep assembly at Kennedy. He brought back

At Kennedy, the hope is pep assemblies will continue to grow and bring us closer together for years to come. While the faces at Kennedy may have changed over the years, the pride, spirit and loyalty has maintained stronger than ever.

- Rowan Hesford

Football Goes 3-6 For Their 1967 Season

It’s Friday night. People are cheering, the band is playing the fight song, and the cheerleaders and dance team are performing. It’s a football game and the Kennedy Cougars just scored a touchdown. Football has been a Kennedy tradition since the school first opened in 1967. Have you ever wondered what it was like when the school first opened?

The Kennedy football program began in 1967 with Dale

more of an elite program in terms of wins and losses and success,” current head coach, Brian White, said.

Kennedy’s first football season the record was 3-9, with wins against Davenport West, East Moline Ill. and Cedar Rapids LaSalle. In the 2021 season the Cougars went undefeated in the regular season. Finishing as quarter finalists in the state playoffs following a loss to Iowa City High in the quarterfinals which gave us an overall record of 11-1 for the season.

As time has progressed more, and more emphasis has been placed on the fundamentals of football. Teams watch opponents’ reels to create and memorize different plays rather than simply throwing the ball to your team members and tackling your opponents.

The

AKenny we really of why Kennedy? student designated symbolize lots were agreed the Cougars, match.

Tyron as head coach. The first game Kennedy played was against Cedar Rapids LaSalle. LaSalle has since changed into a middle school and Xavier is the private high school because the Cedar Rapids area has grown. Following LaSalle the Cougars went on to play Dubuque Senior, CR Washington, CR Regis, Iowa City High, CR Jefferson, Davenport West and East Moline High School in Illinois.

“Over the years we’ve become

“Football has become a much more technical sport. When I say technical, I mean technology,” said White. ‘We watch a lot of game film on the computer when it used to be a reel to reel film. We use technology on the side of the field where we can watch replays.”

The team has a plan in place so they know exactly what they’re doing everyday. Everyday they start off in the team room watching game film from 3:20 - 4:00 p.m. They start the week off with “Mental” Monday’s—this is when their hardest conditioning

happens. Tuesday is the day they train offense, whereas Wednesday is a defensive day. The team splits off into their individual groups to practice their specific skills. On Thursday, they have a run through where they run through all the plays they’ve created for the game on Friday

“The speed, everyones playing faster. The knowledge of the game you can get the kids to play with is greater, just access to workshops, clinics and stuff to get better,” said football alum Patrick Cory

Not only has our program improved, the technology used has continuously improved. Now with new technology, coaches and players are able to watch replays of games on the sideline. Using this new technology, the Cougars watch previous games to study their opponents tactics and prepare for them.

“I think it was easier to play football when I played. It was simple. It was maybe one defensive scheme and five or six running plays, five or six pass plays,” said Cory.

Coaches now also have better access to the tools needed to be able to help their players. Football now not only focuses on the team’s record, but the safety of the players. If a player

is suspected to have a concussion, the Iowa Concussion Law requires the player to leave the field and they must be cleared before returning to play. This law came into effect April 11, 2011.

“I feel like the coaching is a little bit smarter about the fundamentals of blocking and tackling instead of just relying on the standard, be tough, be physical, run through a guy. We know think more about the fundamental ways to bring a guy down successfully, with safety in mind,” said Kyle Clark

Football at Kennedy has changed over the years and will continue to change in the future.

Kennedy and a member 1972, tunity think mascot.

dent input, done by the principals, had a chance Krejci.

larity, he ances until Sarah dent of reminded son was to purchase cot costume,” “It got the Cougar I was I had of having Rochleau tivities er to ask could bility With his brought nedy alumni ber witnessing expansion cougar

- Tori Paga

- Tori Paga

concusConcussion Law leave the cleared play. This April 11, coaching is a about the blocking and relying tough, be a guy. about to bring successfully, with Kyle Clark Kennedy has years and in the

The Return of Kenny

Almost everyone at Kennedy knows who our beloved mascot Kenny the Cougar is, but do we really know the backstory of why Kenny was brought to Kennedy?

In the late 1960’s, the student body had voted on the designated mascot that would symbolize Kennedy. After ballots were collected, students agreed they would become the Cougars, with a mascot to match.

Randy Krejci, former Kennedy Athletic Director and a member of the class of 1972, supported the opportunity students were given to think of their own school’s mascot.

“There was tons of student input, so this was not done by the school district or the principals, definitely kids had a chance to choose,” said Krejci.

Despite Kenny’s popularity, he made fewer appearances as the years went on until Sarah Rochleau, president of the booster club, was reminded of the Cougar.

“[Last year], Viola Gibson was holding a fundraiser to purchase a new gator mascot costume,” said Rochleau. “It got me wondering where the Cougar mascot was. When I was a student at Kennedy, I had very fond memories of having Kenny at games,” Rochleau said.

Rochleau went to Activities Director Aaron Stecker to ask if the Booster Club could take on the responsibility of reinstating Kenny. With his approval, Kenny was brought back to life.

If you talk to any Kennedy alumni they will remember witnessing the growth and expansion of Kenny and the cougar costume. Christina

Langton, language arts teacher at Kennedy, played the mascot as a student in the late 90’s.

“It’s a lot of excitement, it’s fun to see peoples’ reaction and all the little kids at the games want to be your best friend, so you feel like you’re fulfilling a purpose,” said Langton.

Kenny the Cougar is now managed by Rochleau. Since he’s a symbol for all students and staff at Kennedy, it’s hoped he could become the responsibility of a student club.

“I hope that Kenny’s calendar will fill up with requests from different students that can show…their own flair to Kenny’s spirit…[and that he] will bring excitement and energy not just to football games but to all sporting events and even other Kennedy events too,” Rochleau said.

He can typically be found at football, volleyball and basketball games. More recently, Kenny was spotted at cross country meets.

Kenny brought the crowd no matter the time or place. Now that he’s back, it’s likely more spectators will attend events to support their classmates. Ever since Kenny was introduced to our school, he has not only cheered us on to victory, but has brought us closer together as a student body since we opened.

The Torch 5

JANUARY 2023

- Claire Frank and Rowan Hesford

School-Oriented Clubs

ennedy has always had a reputation of having a welcoming, enthusiastic student body with school spirit to spare. Since its opening, Ken nedy has left a lasting positive impression on the Cedar Rap ids community with clubs that worked to make others feel excit

While today we know about Key Club and Kinder Ken nedy, we used to have a different set of groups. The Community Action Club was responsible for community volunteering, assist ing with anything from Cedar Rapids businesses in need of manual labor to raking the lawns

Welcoming students to

for different events, come up with spirit days and cheer with the early Kennedy Pom Poms. Kennedy has made an ef fort throughout its years to make others feel welcome, old clubs evolving into what the student body knows today. Kennedy’s positive reputation is not new, es tablished in 1967 along with the school itself.

- Sonja Woerner

Kennedy fell to the Courtesy Club. The goal of the Courtesy Club was to make all feel included in Kennedy culture. The Courtesy Club organized a student welcome day at the beginning of the year and met after school with the special needs students during

The final school oriented club was Pep Club. The Pep

Clubs

Experience-Based Clubs

PRICES IN 1967 VS. 2021

1967

$0.33 gallon of gas in Iowa

$1.40 federal minimum wage

$0.05 first class stamp

$1.25 movie ticket

$7,143 median household income

$2,750 new car

$1.03 gallon of milk

$1,378 college tuition per year

2021

$3.51 gallon of gas in Iowa

$7.25 federal minimum wage

$0.60 first class stamp

$13.00-16.50 adult movie ticket age 11 and up

$67,521 median household income

2020

$48,043 average new car in June 2022

$4.38 gallon of milk

$21,035 per year for a public 4-year college, for an in-state student in 20192020 school year

come up cheer with Poms. made an ef to make old clubs student Kennedy’s new, es with the

1967 Names

1. Lisa, Michael

2. Kimberly, David

3. Michelle, James

4. Mary, John

5. Susan, Robert

2021 Names:

1. Olivia, Liam

2. Emma, Noah

3. Charlotte, Oliver

4. Amelia, Elijah

5. Ava, James

Flipping Back to the Past

Agymnast swings her body forward and asshe releases the bar, she flies through the air. The crowd holds their breath. With a soft thud, she lands with both feet planted on the mat. The Kennedy student section erupts.

Fifty-five years after the school’s opening, the Kennedy gym is no longer filled with the mats, beams and bars for high school gymnastics meets. After starting in 1969, the girls’ program was shut down in 1988 while 1976 marked the final year for the boys’ team. However, this short-lived sport still let Kennedy shine. The boys’ team made an appearance at state every season from 1968 until 1976 and the girls’ went from 1969 through 1973.

Athletes Chuck Graham and Juli Schupbach helped lead their respective teams to success and experienced personal success as well. Schupbach launched Kennedy’s gymnastics team to success with a first-place finish in beam, vault and all-around performance at state in 1970, only the second year of the sport. Graham ended the Kennedy boys’ team on a strong note, winning first place in floor exercise, high bar, vault, parallel bars and allaround performance. Both teams experienced success, though often in different ways.

“The boys were probably better as a whole team, the girls usually had one or two individuals that were good but not quite as good as a team,” said former Kennedy athletic director Randy Krejci.

While Kennedy experi-

enced success with their team, gymnastics was not available everywhere. A lack of athletes and accessibility to necessary equipment made gymnastics a privilege for larger schools. Storing equipment could be an inconvenience and require excessive storage. Permanent vaults and uneven bars set up in a school gym were not feasible so Kennedy found a different approach.

“It was a lot like wrestling, they had [their equipment] in that equipment room by the gyms. A lot of stuff had to be stored down there,” Krejci said.

For meets and practice, the equipment would be moved into the Main Gym from the equipment room. Mats, bars and trampolines were dragged up the stairs to prepare for the competitions.

Multiple events made setup difficult but the variety makes the sport more appealing for some athletes, including sophomore Maggie Goldberg.

“I like that there are multiple parts to it… some sports like volleyball you [only] play volleyball but with gymnastics, you have four different events, at least with women’s gymnastics, so you kind of get almost four different sports,” said Goldberg.

High school girls could compete in beam, floor, vault and parallel bars and boys participated in floor, high bar, pom-

and rings. Both teams had a trampoline event until it ended in 1975 for boys and 1976 for girls, despite its popularity among students.

“I can remember we all… came to gymnastics just to watch trampoline,” said Krejci.

The popularity did not outweigh the dangers. Injuries’ prevalence in gymnastics can be harmful to high school athletes. Gymnasts are prone to injuries to their lower back, knees, ankles, wrists and Achilles tendon.

“A lot of my [gymnast] friends have had back injuries and knee problems because it is pretty hard on your knees and wrists,” said Goldberg.

An average of 4.8 injuries per 1000 gymnasts occur each year. However, this number is comparable to contact sports such as football with 4.36 injuries per 1000 athletes, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The risk of injury and cost that came along with a gymnastics team led the Iowa High School Athletics Association to decide to no longer sanction gymnastics.

The Kennedy student section no longer gathers in the gym to watch their peers swing through the air, but they

- Anabel Bradley

Fift age very dy High in Cedar crowning “Cougars,” thought cougar Th gars” have since the use the How much take this locally remember from. To I searched Kennedy taught when

had a it endand 1976 popularity remember we gymnastics just trampoline,” said did not Injugymnasto high Gymnasts are their lower wrists and [gymnast] injuries because it knees Goldberg. 4.8 injuoccur this numcontact football with athletes, Center for Preveninjury and with a the Iowa Assolonger student gathers in their peers but they on the still have. may be Kennedy, school spirit Bradley

Bring Back the Cougar!

Fifty-five years ago, in the age of the dinosaurs, the very first John F. Kennedy High School was opened in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. After crowning themselves as the “Cougars,” administration thought bringing in a real life cougar would raise school spirit. So they did.

The Kennedy “Cougars” have been cougarless since the 70s, yet students still use the term “Roll Cougs.” How much longer can we take this treachery? As a locally famed school we must remember where we come from. To help me understand, I searched far and wide across Kennedy for a teacher who taught when mammoth hunt-

ing was a class at Kennedy. I found our social studies teacher, Joseph Benedict.

We had a deep philosophical dialogue about the effects of bringing a cougar back to Kennedy.

“We could use the cougar as a hallway enforcer,” Benedict said. “He could lead the football team out of the tunnel on the field during home games.”

Any of the hallway goons should keep an eye out. Washing your hands for 15 minutes will no longer be tolerated with a cougar. I asked him what he would think of a cougar on the football field.

“Obviously got some speed going down the sideline,” Benedict proposed. “Not sure

it could catch, but I am sure it could tackle.”

A starting defensive lineman position would work great for the cougar. Heck, it could coach the whole team.

I propose that we bring back a cougar to empower our teams. In the movie “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” Ricky Bobby Sronce put a cougar in his son’s car to get him over his fear of driving because “you gotta learn to drive with the fear.” A Cougar worked for Ricky Bobby Jr., now imagine how it would benefit us—giving a literal meaning to our metaphorical cougar.

As we master the art of survival from the cougar, our sports will drastically improve

due to the cougar replacing Coach White in football and Coach Mckowen in basketball. Our test scores will go up dramatically due to the replacement of “Principal” Jason Kline. Dr. Kenny Cougar will transform John F. Kennedy High School into the greatest high school in America. And as for school spirit, well, that’s already perfect.

- Isaac White

cougar-isaac

The Kennedy Crossword

6. Kennedy's long-lost mens' sport.

8. Which member of the Kennedy family gave a speech during issues week?

1. Who's America's favorite show choir?

2. The name of Kennedy's recently returned mascot.

3. What is the current version of the Letterman club called?

4. Kennedy's most internet-famous staff member

5. The street Kennedy and Xavier battle over

7. How many pep assemblies does Kennedy hold per year?

Issues Week

As Kennedy anniversary, department. Kennedy discussed what its “The just been it has from what ‘90s,” Choir sic Department Ziegler kids, the the difficulty raphy and that’s grown Show 1930s, come popular when hit “I ally there’s ‘we are being viewed program,” [younger these jobs choir. It’s that direction rectors The gram has since its have remained “[Happiness] with the genre, but show and how we

just sad because it was so much

- Sonja Woerner

Music of the Cougars

igh school programs always been part of high school culture. As Kennedy celebrates its 55th anniversary, so does its music department. Directors of the Kennedy Music Department discussed how it’s evolved and what its future may look like.

“The biggest change has just been show choir as a genre, it has changed dramatically from what it was in the late ‘90s,” Choir Director and Music Department Chair Storm Ziegler said. “The number of kids, the scope of productions, the difficulty of the choreography and the whole industry that’s grown up around it.”

Show choir first started 1930s, but didn’t become popular until early 2000s when hit TV series Glee was

“I would say culturally there’s been a shift from ‘we are a chorale program’ to being viewed as a show choir program,” Ziegler said. “Many [younger directors] are doing these jobs because of show choir. It’s kind of moving in that direction as younger directors take over.”

The show choir program has experienced a shift since its start, but aspects of it have remained the same.

“[Happiness] evolved with the whole show choir genre, but how we approach a show and how we perform and how we prepare, there’s sort of

an ethos around that that has not changed,” Ziegler said.

Along with show choir, the band program has seen its fair share of change within Kennedy.

“The first five years when I was here, when I started, we were a grammy school,” Band Director Lesley Fleer said. A grammy school is similar to the class system of 3A, 4A and so on, but as a grammy school Kennedy was able to go up against schools nationwide.”

In the past, the program had upwards of 200 musicians, whereas this year the band is only 130. Since Fleer’s start, the band program has added things like winter guard, started taking trips with the other metro area bands and expanded the jazz program.

Over the years, Fleer said she’s seen an increase in stress among students in the program.

“I don’t think living in their basement for a year and a half helped that at all,” said Fleer, referring to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Right now, all they can see is stress, stress, stress and their ability to deal with that…is harder now for them than I ever remember being in the past.”

Music programs all experience ups and downs in their department. Some years are focused on growth and recruiting students while other years the department experiences great success in their performances. Often, these changes are led by students themselves

“I think with the help of the leadership team this past year, the culture’s starting the shift and I appreciate that so much,” Fleer said. “That’s something that [the students] can do, I can, but it’s better coming from inside.”

The Kennedy Orchestra program has also changed and evolved throughout the years. Orchestra Director John Hall noticed student involvement this year is greater than in the past. He credits this growth to the program’s last director, Elizabeth Driskell. Hall looks to try new things while also including pieces from the past.

“Maybe there’s some new literature I haven’t done yet that we’ll play, but there’s some old favorites I’m wanting to pull back in,” said Hall.

Looking into the future, both band and choir programs are looking into getting more involved with the younger students, getting them more excited about the change from middle to high school.

“We learned some things over COVID-19 about how we operate and how we reach kids and this year that has resulted in more kids in our program,” Ziegler said. “So if we can translate that into our middle schools, I think the future looks bright. I think we’re gonna grow and we’re going to have more interest.”

Fleer is trying to get a mentor program started where the band’s upperclassmen will go to the middle schools to work with

the younger students. Looking into the near future, Fleer has plans to push the band’s Wind Symphony back to IBA, the annual concert band competition. She also wants to start up activities such as winter drumline and indoor winds in the spring.

“I would like to see that band get bigger,” Fleer said. “I think that’s gonna take a little bit, because as much as we struggle with the COVID-19 stuff you gotta think about the beginners in the middle schools. There are kids now in the middle school program who started online. It’s hard to make it productive and fun and rewarding.”

Show choir also has some big changes coming in the next few years as Ziegler plans for retirement.

“I’ll probably only be here between three and seven more years depending when I feel like I’m done but I find myself starting to make sure the program is set up for whoever comes next because they’ll be another 50 years.”

Ziegler hopes to keep the program strong. Happiness has been a part of Kennedy since it’s opening in 1967.

“Happiness isn’t just important to Kennedy, it’s sort of important to the genre nationally, it’s one of the first ones. I’ve enjoyed my time and I’m starting to think about handing it off to the next person.”

The Kennedy Music Department has grown and changed over the 55 years Kennedy has been open. It will continue to evolve for the next 55 years and Kennedy will continue to grow with the coming generations.

“I just think that the performing arts segment of Kennedy is outstanding overall,” Hall said. “Everything with show choir, marching band, jazz band, the drama department, all this stuff we have at this end of the building’s super.”

- Jersey Bilyeu

Fashion Through the Ages

away the need for nice school outfits. As more people learn to be comfortable with themselves you see more gender neutral fashion. People now feel like they have less to prove.

Many of these resurgences

making a comeback with bright, fun patterns.

Fashion was an art mastered by Kennedy’s students back in the day, so why do we no longer see quite the same level of put-togetherness?

“Fashion is just a way to express yourself and people will wear what they are comfortable with,” Marchbanks said. “It changes with the people.”

- Emma Beachner

can be seen outside of the school hallways. Take bell bottoms for example, you wouldn’t expect to find any in the halls of Kennedy but many popular companies have brought similar styles back to their shelves. Entering into any clothing retail store, you’ll see flare jeans, a smaller type of bell bottoms, on display right at the front of the store.

Clothing isn’t the only thing that’s changed in Kennedy student’s looks. Accessories have come and gone and come again.

“With evolution of people comes the evolution of accessories,” junior Lilly Marchbanks said.

Around the time of Kennedy’s opening, chunky necklaces and earrings were a staple in the average teens wardrobe. We’ve seen a return in the form of large, colorful rings often homemade from clay. Homemade accessories were also big in the 60s and 70s. Tinted rhinestone glasses were all the rage. People also used to make their own tie-dyed clothing and bandanas. Today we see bandannas and headscarves

with bright, art masstudents back we no lonlevel of a way to people will comfortsaid. “It people.”

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