Issue 3 Dec. 19, 2016

John F. Kennedy High School

the torch Real

Volume 50, Issue 3

?

Buckle Up Pg. 5

Can You?

Dec. 19, 2016

Fake 20 Minutes: The effects of an extra period Pg. 6

Holidays in the Halls Pg.12

Mallicoat Steps Up Pg. 15

Real vs.

Artifical Pg. 18

News Quiz Pg. 10

Contents John F. Kennedy High School 4545 Wenig Rd. NE Cedar Rapids, IA, 52402 Volume 50, Issue 3

Opinion 4 Staff Editoral 4 Political Ignorance Jenna Anderson 5 Buckle Up Anafer Milsap News 6 Twenty Hours Donovan Screws and Brooke McNeal 7 SMART Time Introduced to Students Anna Reinhart

Mission Statement The student staff and adviser are committed to producing top quality student publications, applying high standards of writing, editing, and production. These media seek to fairly serve the Kennedy High School faculty, students, and staff showing no favoritism to any particular interest, individual, or group. Final decisions about content are the responsibility of the individual editors, and the Editorial Board.

Non-Discrimination Policy It is the Torch’s policy not to illegally discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, disability, religion, creed, age (employment only), marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and socioeconomic status (students/program only) in its educational programs and its employment practices.

7 The Debate: Early Out Fridays Tasha Gilikison Feature 9 Advent to Epiphany Olivia Haefner 10 Real vs. Fake News Jake Corkery and Olivia Haefner Culture 12 Holidays In the Halls Afnan Elsheikh 13 Leave the Belly to Santa Brooke McNeal Sports 14 Cougars In College Claire Fluent 14 Stecker Takes Honors Jake Corkery 15 Mallicoat Steps Up Tyler Blattner Profile

Ownership

16 Exchange Student: Ana Villanova Kylee McGovern

The Torch publication, website, official social media, and broadcasts serve as a public forum produced by the students in Journalism-Newspaper. Student editors make content decisions consistent with the Torch Editorial Policy, Iowa Law, and ethics of journalism.

17 An Award For Excellance: Lesley Fleer Darby Herridge Photo 18 Real Vs. Artificial Madeline Jamrok 19 Students Are Ready For The Holidays Madeline Jamrok

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Letter from the Editor ‘Tis the season. As 2016 comes to a close in a turbulent year that has seen conflict spread, a nation stands divided. The Land of Opportunity stands at a crossroads between unity and discord, law and anarchy, order and chaos. In the season of giving, the shining city on a hill is infested with discontent, poisoned with violence, and overwhelmed with dissension. It’s the most wonderful time of the year in a country struggling to accept the realities of alteration to a broken system, struggling to mend the wounds of division and vexation.

At the pinnacle of this tension is the illusion of privilege to whites. The term ‘white privilege’ is an expression used to silence the contentious and controversial views of white conservatives who supposedly exemplify racism, bigotry, sexism, misogyny, and every other –ist and – phobe you can think of. White privilege is nonexistent and is an inherently racist phrase employed to muffle conservative ideology and traditional Republican principles, not to mention an attempt to strip away the first amendment rights of millions.

religion, or gender.

White privilege is not millions of Americans below the poverty line, struggling to put food on the table. White privilege is not being rejected for a scholarship as a result of affirmative action. White privilege is not being labelled simply because of your political beliefs. This is not privilege.

White privilege doesn’t help to solve the growing chasm of racial division, but rather accelerates it. The term is a blanket statement used to discriminate or discredit based on the skin color of an individual which is, by definition, racist.

Although I realize that I am blessed with the material possessions I own, I am not privileged because I am white. I am driven to succeed not because of my skin color, nor because of what I have, but because of what my parents instilled in me. White privilege is a racist, offensive term used as an excuse to suffocate the single-greatest right of all, the freedom of speech. So next time you think of labelling an entire race of people, make sure to check your racism. Happy Holidays.

Whites are not inherently privileged, and minorities are not inherently disadvantaged. I firmly believe that one reaps what they sow, and that work ethic and commitment plays a much bigger role in the outcome of one’s life and their socioeconomic state than do ethnicity, race,

The Kennedy Torch is a public forum servicing the students, staff, and community of Kennedy High School.

We are open to recieve submissions for “Letter to the Editor” as well as other writing pieces. We are the voice of the Kennedy community, and want to ensure that everyone is represented equally.

Submissions to JFKCougarMedia@gmail.com

Torch Staff Nathan Sheeley Editor-in Chief

Brooke McNeal News Editor

Jake Corkery Sports Editor

Taylor Weiss Culture Editor

Olivia Haefner Feature Editor

Jenna Anderson Opinion Editor

Anna Reinhart Profile Editor

Madeline Jamrok Photo Editor

Elizabeth Barrett Media Manager

Donovan Screws Writer Afnan Elsheikh Writer Darby Herridge Writer Anafer Millsap Writer

Tyler Blattner Writer

Dr. Stacy Haynes-Moore Adviser

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Opinion

Staff Editorial Two and a half years ago our school got an announcement.

The following school year we would comply to the peculiar idea of SMART lunch. SMART lunch enabled us 80 minutes to do anything from getting help from teachers to going out to eat with our friends. Next we found out that for the 2015-2016 school year, the time would drop to 60 minutes. And this year, SMART lunch was replaced with a lame imposter- SMART time.

This recent change takes valuable time away from students who previously saw the time as a precious opportunity to get their homework done before a full night of activities, make up tests or quizzes, or just take a break throughout the day. There are students who play intramural sports, attend meetings for Iowa BIG and Kirkwood classes, and have many other priorities that get done due to the extra time.

Also, teachers used this time as an opportunity to lend help to students and also grade.

SMART time is a 30 minute period between 2nd and 3rd hour for students to attend a tutorial or study.

This lame replacement ripped away SMART lunch and just doesn’t cut it.

Instead of cutting SMART lunch completely, there should have been options explored that allowed students to keep this time. The SMART time schedule allows a small number of specific rooms each day where students are allowed to work quietly. A proposed alternative to fixing the problem of no space with an overload of students would be to use the specific quiet room schedule for SMART lunch.

Students hover in the cafeteria because there is nowhere to eat while doing homework except for a few rare classrooms. This change would decrease the number of students in the cafeteria while maintaining control.

This loss of 30 minutes is extra homework at night as students get home late from work or activities and therefore lose 30 minutes of sleep. This loss of 30 minutes is a loss of social interaction that is necessary for a student’s social health. This loss of 30 minutes is less help for a student who is struggling. The loss of 30 minutes means so much more than just a change in the schedule.

Political Ignorance Our society today has willingly become ignorant and uneducated when faced with politics. It has come to the point where uninformed people chose to not even vote at all. This is a problem. We need each and every person's vote and opinion.

It's simple, really. We all choose whether or not we want to be educated when it comes to politics. We should be watching the news, watching the debates, and not be scared to actually have our own thoughts and beliefs.

A recent survey from the Annenberg Public Policy Center found only about 36 percent of Americans could list the three branches of government. I mean seriously, I learned the branches of governement in fifth grade.

We cannot expect voters to be knowledgable about the political candidates, if many people don’t know basic information about the government.

Many of us high school students get a fair amount of our presidential election news from social media, such as Twitter. Unfortunately, some media outlets have ways of twisting reality. When we see the people we follow engaging in tweets about politics, it leads us to start agreeing with what they think.

The Millennial Impact Project arranged by the Achieve research agency, 70 percent of the millennials they talked to said they feel more excited about doing things when their friends agree with it. So there's really no question why a lot of us high school students just go along with what our friends or family believe.

Regardless if we are old enough to vote or not, we need everyone to have their own individual opinion and become aware of political news.

Jenna Anderson

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Kale Millsap buckles up.

Photo provided by Anafer Millsap.

Buckle up I have a 9 year old brother who mostly never wears his seat belt in the car. My mom and I cannot stress enough to him how important it is for him to wear a seatbelt in the car. It’s not always about being a careful driver, you’re not the only one on the road, there are other unsafe drivers and that’s when things could go wrong.

I cannot stress enough to him that he always has to wear one. We’ve had some pretty close calls while driving and if it weren’t for great reflexes, then who knows what could have happened to him. Out of 21,022 passenger that have passed away in motor vehicle crashes in 2014, more than half of which were ages that range from 13 to 44. They were also not wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.

My younger brother doesn’t know the Iowa law yet, but he’ll eventually find out.

An Iowa law states that any child under the age of 18 must wear a seat belt in a moving vehicle. That excludes motorcycles, buses such as school buses, vehicles manufactured before 1966, and passen-

gers in a an emergency vehicle during an emergency trip.

Also, my mom and I always tell my little brother that there are cops everywhere and that she’ll go to jail if he doesn’t put it on. Iowa Law also states that if a person is of the age 0 to 13 and is not wearing a seat belt, the driver can receive a ticket.

If the person is 14 to 17 they personally receive the ticket. The fines may be up to $195 and it in includes non-Iowa residents.

Next time you're in a car just think, would you rather wear a seat belt or lose $195?

I want to let everyone know that seat belts are very important and can save your life. They prevent you from flying out of the front of the car on impacts.

If anything were to happen to my little brother (no matter how much he gets on my nerves) I could never forgive myself.

Anafer Millsap Anafer Milsap

Pages by Jenna Anderson | 5

News

Twenty hours: The Effects of an Extra Class Period “Ironically, I didn’t have enough time to do this interview for a story about not having enough time,” Jennifer Neilly,, Spanish teacher, said.

34 minutes a week or a little over 20 hours per school year.

This is the amount of time we are losing per class due the introduction of a seventh hour and the axing of early bird classes, making each class period every day shorter. Last year, every class was 52 minutes long, with this year’s edition of classes being only 48 minutes each and early outs every Friday.

This new approach in class structure has allowed for students to take on more challenging classes or take electives they otherwise wouldn’t have, but after over three months of the schedule, students and teachers are starting to feel its effect.

“The seven period school day makes the school day seem longer even though the class periods are shorter, “ Chandler Poell, sr., said.

When Poell was playing football, he felt stressed out with the homework workload that another class brought that he had to take on after practices.

This change in number of periods was due to budget cuts that the district made to comply with the new state budget.

For some, education has become a race against time.

“I feel like I don’t have enough time to talk to students and get to know them outside of the academic side of things because I’m always running to get copies, grading papers, or deciding lesson plans,” Neilly said.

Advanced Placement students only have until May to prepare for AP exams, and this year’s batch of AP exam taking students will lose over 20 hours of class time. This doesn’t include other lost days such as from the flood in September as well as any snow days that may occur this winter.

The seven period school day caused teacher positions to get cut and as a result their classes were distributed across the other colleagues in their area.

“I have the equivalent of another section of students, so I’ve certainly had more grading, especially as I do assign writing on a regular basis,” Language Arts teacher, Mari Waldschmidt, said.

Noah Foege, sr, takes six classes a day, and spends his wellneeded study hall period doing homework and preparing for his afternoon classes.

“It’s harder than previous years. [Students] are forced to learn more material with less time per class,” Foege said.

Although SMART lunch remained in effect until Thanksgiving break (and then replaced with SMART Time), there were 3 class periods after it instead. For some students, it seemed to feel tiring.

“After lunch I’m used to having two hours then being free.

The extra 15 minutes really does matter at the end of the day,” Taliah McGriff,jr., said.

Brooke McNeal & Donovan Screws

Teachers were informed last year about the new schedule for this year, but were told that the class sizes would be smaller to make up for an extra class period.

“That has actually not happened in any of my classes, the class size is the same as last year,” Neilly said.

Pat Grady is an economics teacher at Kennedy. A self-described “morning person,” Grady believes this year’s schedule changes has a strong effect on the efficiency of class time. “[Shorter class time] is especially hard on AP classes, because they don’t move the AP test,” Grady said.

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There are no empty desks in Neilly’s 3rd hour class. Photo

by Jake Corkery.

SMART Time Introduced to Students SMART lunch has come to an end. At least for now.

open for quiet individual study.

SMART lunch’s new alternative, SMART time, has students and principal Jason Kline, divided. SMART time is a 30 minute period between 2nd and 3rd hour.

“I like the list of teachers open,” Hartse said. “I know where I can go so I don’t walk around the halls the whole time looking for rooms.”

“I like SMART time,” Brenna Hartse, so., said. “When it was SMART lunch I would be hungry and get distracted by the 60 minute period, but with SMART time I’m not hungry so I actually use it for doing work.”.

Guffey would go to the same classroom for at least one tutorial everyday to hang out. Now, without SMART lunch she is only in there two days every week for SMART time. She has also gone to the cafeteria for the quiet study option.

SMART time works very similar to SMART lunch. SMART time is the ideal education oriented tutorial of SMART lunch. On this schedule, ABCD lunch is being used.

Kline is responding to students’ questions on twitter and gave an announcement before Fall Break about the plans of SMART time and why it is occurring. Students also received a handout declaring subjects’ tutorials and open classrooms.

“I just wish we didn’t have ABCD lunch,” Lindsay Guffey, so., said, “SMART time forces students to get stuff done which isn’t a problem but having shorter lunches causes students to not have a whole lot of time to eat or even get lunch,” SMART time is organized with each class having two tutorials on two different days and one open day. There is also a list of open classrooms students can go in for study and the cafeteria is

So far, students’ tutorial attendance has been satisfactory to administration. As far as students know SMART time is a temporary arrangement, and while some students anxiously wait for the warmer months to come so the patio can be occupied again, others are going to use their SMART time to their advantage.

ANNA REINHART

The Debate: Early Out Fridays Falling behind in classes and reworking courses…or finishing homework and having more free time?

Wheeler doesn’t like ‘A-B-C-D’ lunch because she can’t get anything done, and you can’t choose who you eat with.

This has sparked a debate among Kennedy High School students and staff. All schools in the Cedar Rapids Community School District have switched to a new schedule for the 2016-2017 school year and classes are now dismissed an hour and a half early every Friday.

The amount of time taken out for lunch has impacted teachers as well.

For Kennedy High School, this means that classes are shortened from 48 to 38 minutes on Fridays.

Classes are shorter, yet the teachers are still efficient.

“I think teachers actually get right to the point, and students pay attention longer,” Lexi Wheeler, fr., said.

Some students who chose to attend Kirkwood academy feel it is beneficiary to their education.

“I usually have a Kirkwood class on Fridays that starts at 1, so the early out helps a lot so that I get out at class around noon and don’t have to miss any of the Kirkwood class,” Kelsey Whitmore, sr. said.

However, the different schedule also means no SMART Time.

“For one, we always gave weekly assessments on Friday”, Alex Neff, math teacher, said. “Now, Fridays are too short to give tests. I’ve had to rework two out of my three classes now.”.

Much stress has already been added to the teacher load with the addition of another class this school year. The early outs on Friday’s do not help staff.

“After students are dismissed on Friday’s, the regular Friday in-service meetings for teachers, from 1:30 to 3:30 are difficult,” Neff said. “The meetings come at a time in the day when teachers are completely spent.”.

Neff believes a better solution for in-service meetings would be a meeting on Monday mornings following with a late start for students.

Tasha Gilikson Pages by Brooke McNeal | 7

Ads

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Advent to Epiphany:

Feature

Engaging the Heart of Christmas.

Long nights, late phone calls, fails and accomplishments, prayers, self-discovery, building faith and inspiring others, sums up Jacqueline Hullaby and Linea Apsukrapsa’s experience in publishing their first book, Advent to Epiphany: Engaging the Heart of Christmas.

“The way it flows is when you read something you go into that scene with all your senses. The book describes it as if you were really there,” Hullaby said.

“For example, if you were in a stable what would it smell like, what would you hear and see, and who would be there.”

On Oct. 23, coauthors, Hullaby and Apsukrapsa published their first book on Amazon using Create Space, which is a division on Amazon for self-publishers.

Once finished writing, Apsukrapsa went to a Christian writing conferences and talked about the marketing and proof reading of their book.

After the conference they decided to send the manuscript to an editor. She helped them edit.

Hullaby teaches French at Kennedy High School. Apsukrapsa moved to America in the late 1990s from Latvia, Europe to continue her education.

“She’s my best friend and can always get me to do things,” Hullaby said. “Linea suggested that we should write a book and we had been talking about it over the phone, so we finally decided to do it.”

“We also enlisted someone to proofread our book just because when you’re writing something, you’re so used to seeing it you can’t find your mistakes,” Hullaby said.

Once edited and proofread, the manuscript was sent digitally to Create Space who printed it off.

That’s when the two started marketing.

“The book is one of my greatest accomplishments. It’s a long process and a lot of work, but I think it’s very cool to see it in your hand with my The book is a series name across the cover,” of devotionals for Ad- Co-authors Jacqueline L. Hullaby and Liena Apsukrapsa. Hullaby said. photo courtesy of Jaqueline Hullaby. vent that doesn’t stop on Christmas day, but It’s an accomplishment continues all the way to Epiphany. Advent is a period for Apsukrapsa too. While growing up in Latvia, she from the last Sunday in November until Christmas had a very negative experience where one of her day generally. school teachers who diminished her writing and told her that she would never be a writer.

“Jesus came into the world and people who celebrate Advent are thinking he can still come to me Then one Sunday at church, a pastor came up to Aptoday, in a new way,” Hullaby said. sukrapsa and told her you should really start writing.

“Our goal was to help people focus on that especially at such a busy time. We wanted the book to be inter- “For Apsukrapsa this book was a freedom to have active in a practical way.” one person say you’ll never be a writer, you’ll never do anything, then to have someone come up to you After deciding to write the book, Hullaby and Apand say you really need to start writing,” Hullaby said. sukrapsa spent about a year looking over texts in the “The miraculous thing is she’s writing in a second Bible and praying in conversation together, discusslanguage.” ing the books ideas.

The two co-authors have different purposes in pub“Linea was the one who had this deep conviction lish this book. about writing the book, but we did share the writing responsibilities. It was a very collaborative experiThe authors are passionate about leading people to ence,” Hullaby said. grow spiritually. “It’s been really cool to hear people talk about how the book has touched them. I think Almost every Sunday for a year they would talk on that’s the greatest reward,” Hullaby said. the phone about a text and pray, then ask what the Olivia Haefner text was saying to them.

Pages by Olivia Haefner | 9

Real vs. Fake news

Feature

High schoolers are among the worst at identifying real vs. fake news. Stanford conducted a study that found 82 percent of students ranging from middle school to college couldn’t identify real vs. fake news. This may be attributed to many reasons including the more casual format of the news, but it can have serious repercussions. Modern communication allows everyone with a smartphone to report news on social media as it is happening.

This can be beneficial when there is a crisis or timely news. Fake news accounts are popping up on social media and can look

nearly identical to the actual news stations account. These fake stories can have real repercussions. For example, on Dec. 4, a man brought a gun to Comet Ping Pong, after the restaurant was falsely reported to hold a phedophile ring. Always check sources and make sure to use logic when consuming news, especially on social media.

Jake Corkery

Snopes.com is a website that detects real from fake news. Due to their ideas we made a small quiz for you to take. Want more information on real news? Go to Snopes.com.

Take a fake news quiz now!

1

Claim:

A video shows a 50-foot-long giant squid that washed up on a beach in New Zealand in 2015.

True False Unproven Background:

The original image was taken in June 2012, and showed a group of people surrounding around a humpback whale (not a giant squid) that had washed ashore in White Rock, British Columbia, Canada.

Evidence:

The image featured in the video is fake.The giant squid was created by cropping and replacing the original image of a whale. The scene was not filmed in or near New Zealand.

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2

Claim: In 2005, Senator Hillary Clinton co-sponsored a bill to

make flag burning a punishable offense.

True False Unproven

President-elect Donald Trump tweeted a controversial opinion about the criminality of flag burning. His tweet started questions about Hillary Clinton stance on the act.

Evidence: The Flag Protection Act of 2005 was co-sponsored by Clinton, and proposed in part.

3

Claim: President-elect Trump will obtain the immediate right to send unblockable text messages to all American cellular phones beginning his presidency.

What’s True: The Federal Communications Commission system(FCC) enables unblockable emergency alerts to cellular phones.

What’s False: No information suggested that President-elect Trump had plans to mass text the United States.

True False Unproven

1.) Answer: False. 2.) Answer: True. 3.) Answer: Unproven.

Background:

Background: The FCC does send emergency alert system function to Americans, but it enables any sitting president to send emergency texts. Any other information is unproven.

Evidence:

There is no proof Trump has plans to use the system in that way, or that the FCC would allow it.

Pages by Olivia Haefner | 11

Culture

Holidays in the Halls

As the holiday season nears, several students at Kennedy are preparing to celebrate the festivities in different ways.

Megan Wagner, sr., celebrates Christmas Eve with her older sisters, watching Christmas movies in their pajamas.

“My favorite Christmas movie is the Jim Carrey version of How The Grinch Stole Christmas. I watch it all year round and I’m pretty sure I could write the script for it,” Wagner said.

Wagner celebrates Christmas all year round. One time, she even convinced her mom to put up the tree on Nov. 2, a few weeks earlier than usual.

Christmas is Wagner’s favorite time of the year, though Kennedy students enjoy other holidays.

Anjali Purnam, sr., celebrates Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.

The actual date of Diwali changes annually because it’s based on the Hindu calendar, calculated differently each year. Diwali fell on Oct. 30 of this year.

“We pray and light lamps to show that we are moving from darkness into the light and that the evil has been defeated by trying to bring back the good in our lives. We also light small firecrackers,” Purnam said.

“We don’t do gifts for Diwali but there is a lot food and sweets which we share with family and friends. We are all required to wear new clothes that day because we are celebrating,” Purnam said.

Daniel Papas, fr., celebrates the Jewish holiday , Hanukkah, with his friends and family in Coralville, Iowa.

Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday celebrating the Festival of Lights and commemorates the rededication of the Holy Temple.

“We just eat food and talk about the Jewish culture and its history. We don’t really celebrate it in the traditional way. Most of the time, we play games and eat,” Papas said.

Jewish traditions of celebrating Hanukkah include playing the dreidel, a toy that children play with, and eating oil based foods, which symbolizes the flask of oil keeping the Second Temple’s Menorah lit for the eight days.

“My friend Aiden, his little brother, and I play the dreidel, it’s a four-sided spinning top. We wager food and sometimes, money,” says Papas.

This year, Hanukkah begins on Dec. 24 and ends on Jan. 1, lasting eight days.

Purnam and her family had a big party, consisting of snacks and a large, diverse main course to provide food types from many regions of India.

Afnan elsheikh

Food shaved on Diwali day, a holiday based on the Hindu calendar. Photo coutesy of Anjali Purnam.

Megan Wagner, sr., spending a night of traditions in her Christmas pajamas with her sisters. Photo courtesy of Megan Wagner.

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Anjali Purnam, sr., celebrating Diwali with her family. Photo courtesy of Anjali Purnam.

Piktochart by Brooke McNeal

Pages by Taylor Weiss | 13

Sports

Cougars in College

High School Volleyball Transitions to College Volleyball for Two Kennedy Graduates

Macy Anderson #8, and Anna Fluent #20 celebrate after scoring a point in the state tournament during their senior season. Photo

by Xander Riley.

on varsity for the end of their high school volleyball journey.

They both say it had a huge impact on their skill improvement and college preparation.

Anna Fluent and Macy Anderson head in opposite directions after playing volleyball together for eight years. They are continuing the sport they grew up with at the colligate level. Fluent is playing in Chicago and Anderson is playing in Omaha.

“One of the things I miss the most about high school and club volleyball is being able to warm up with Macy before every game,” Fluent said.

Fluent committed to Loyola University of Chicago with a fouryear scholarship in the middle of her junior year at Kennedy.

“The outstanding nursing program and awesome campus was a big part of my decision, along with the great coaching system and teammates,” Fluent said.

Anderson decided on the University of Nebraska, Omaha at the end of her junior year at Kennedy.

“I chose Omaha because it was close to home and had a rising volleyball program,” Anderson said.

“I trained all summer by weightlifting and conditioning. I went to Omaha in July for camp and moved in a month early to train,” Anderson said.

Fluent and Anderson were student athletes for four years before college and they continue that journey now.

“I would say sometimes being an athlete gets in the way of being a student,” Fluent said.

“It is hard to balance school and athletics but if you’re on top of things and make sure to communicate with your professors it is fine,” Anderson said.

Fluent was part of First Team All-State her senior year and Anderson received Honorable Mention her senior year. Fluent and Anderson both are passionate about volleyball and have had dreams of playing in college since they were little.

“There will definitely be obstacles on the way but never give up on your dreams. If you love the game and want to keep playing after high school, there is a place for you,” Fluent said.

Claire Fluent

These two played club volleyball for Club Iowa Juniors and were

Stecker Takes Honors

Aaron Stecker has been selected as the 2017 NE District High School Athletic Director of the Year.

Association State Convention on Sunday, March 27 at the Coralville Marriott Convention Center.

“I think for me it’s more about the success of the activities program at Kennedy,” Stecker said. “When your programs are successful, it says a lot of good things about our athletes and their programs.”

“The state AD Association is a group that means a lot to me,” Stecker said. “I enjoy working with that organization so to be recognized by that group is a humbling honor.”

This is Stecker’s 10th year working in the district. He will receive his award at the Iowa High School Athletic Directors

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Jake Corkery

Mallicoat Steps Up

Head Coach Dennis Hynek unexpectedly had open heart surgery before the wrestling season Key Matches:

Last home match on Jan. 26, 2017 in the main gym.

Districts on Saturday Feb. 11, 2017 at Jefferson High School.

State on Feb. 15-16, 2017 at the Wells Fargo Arena.

Craig Mallicoat, front middle, watches as Noah Cunningham anchors the meet against Jefferson.

Kennedy won 49-24 in Mallicoat’s first meet as Kennedy’s head coach. Photo by Tyler Blattner.

“Wrestling teaches you how to win and it teaches you how to lose. I coach wrestling because I love the sport and I want to teach others the sport. It’s a lot of mental challenges, you compete against someone else but a lot of the time you compete against yourself,” Craig Mallicoat said.

Mallicoat has taught and coached at Kennedy for 12 years. He currently teaches anatomy and physiology and formerly taught biology and chemistry.

Mallicoat is a former Division 1 wrestler at the University of Northern Iowa. He recently took over as the Kennedy Wrestling Head Coach position. He will fill this role for a short amount of time until coach Dennis Hynek is able to return from his heart condition.

“Of course it was very surprising, because you never really expect somebody to have a heart issue,” Mallicoat said. “But it hasn’t really been a challenge because we work so well together and because our coaching staff is so united we know our plan and the direction we want to go.”

Hynek does not attend practices, but still helps write up plans and initiate them just as they always have. Hynek plans on being back towards the second week of January to continue the season with the wrestlers.

“We are really just trying to focus on getting the next point and taking each match one at a time without worrying about results,” Mallicoat said.

Last years the team got 13th out of 16th at their first tournament of the year. They turned it around and finished 4th in the state tournament “It’s a building process and we have to take it one step at a time,” Mallicoat said.

“Our goal for the season is just to improve, improve every day, improve every meet, and be competitive in the final tournament,” Mallicoat said. “We lack depth in some of our weight classes this year and that could lead to potential challenges down the road with possible injuries which isn’t uncommon so we really hope our guys can stay healthy this year.”

Last year Kennedy sent four wrestlers to state.

“Our wrestlers know that we all have a say of what happens at practice and we all voice our opinions because we all have the same philosophy,” Mallicoat said. “Not a lot has changed because the wrestlers know what we expect out of them and it has been a very smooth transition.”

The Kennedy youth wrestling program is coached by Coach Nick LeClere and is a big part of the Kennedy program according to Mallicoat. LeClere currently teaches economics, world geography, and government at Kennedy.

“We really have a great youth program and that allows us to spend less time on fundamentals with kids because they already know the basics,” Mallicoat said. “The wrestling program here at Kennedy is one team, and our coaching staff comes together.”

Mallicoat played Baseball, Football, and Wrestled at Sterling High School in Illinois and stresses that wrestlers are multisport athletes.

“You can’t listen to your body or your mind when it says you’re tired, you have to be able to overcome those obstacles,” Mallicoat said. “I feel you can get a lot out of wrestling for later in life and it’s not about winning or losing but what you get out it.”

Tyler Blattner

Pages by Jake Corkery| 15

Profile

Exchange Student:

Ana Vilanova Ana Vilanova, Spanish foreign exchange student, noticed Iowa was different from Spain as soon as she stepped off the plane.

“You [Iowans] live out in the country. We live in the cities in Spain,” Vilanova, so., said.

In Iowa, houses are much more common in Spain, where apartments are dominant.

The weather in Iowa is extremely different from Spain.

“In Spain, it’s warmer ranging from 101-110 degrees. In the winter, 32 degrees is the extreme,” Vilanova said.

Vilanova also saw a difference at school.

Kennedy students get about a week to prepare for tests.

“Back in Spain, we get weeks to study for a test and school is more about the practice,” Vilanova said.

As for clubs, Kennedy offers more opportunities to join clubs than Vilanova’s school in Spain.

“I think it’s really cool. Everyone is really involved at Kennedy,” Vilanova said.

She describes herself as outgoing and open to meeting new people which is a useful skill for a forign exchange student.

“If you’re shy, you’re going to have a problem,” Vilanova said.

Vilanova would love to live in the United States, but she occasionally gets homesick and misses Spain.

“I feel like I’m in a game and get tired of translating sometimes,” Vilanova said.

Kylee McGovern

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Photo Courtesy of Ana Vilanova.

Photo by Darby Herridge. Lesley Fleer conducts Kennedy High School Band

An Award For Excellence:

Lesley Fleer “The thing I like most is the kids, absolutely the kids and coming in a close second is the staff, I mean the staff is great,” Fleer said.

“The kids really, really work hard and really push themselves. It’s fun to watch them grow, so I really enjoy working with the kids here.”

The Philip Sehmann Award is given in memory of Mr. Sehmann who had a highly distinguished career as Director of Bands. The award is presented to those individuals who meet the criteria of excellence, dedication and commitment to the value of instrumental music education in schools.

On Dec. 3, Lesley Fleer, Kennedy High School Band director of 17 years, was awarded the Philip Sehmann Excellence in Teaching Award for High School Instrumental Music. Fleer loves working “It’s nice to be recognized for the work, you know sometimes at Kennedy. we get so involved in the work we do and working with the kids and stacks of paperwork, etc. and so on that sometimes we just Fleer went to a school in Minnesota and learned how to fix band kinda forget to look up,” Fleer said. instruments and worked in music stores before owning her own business. She eventually found her way to Kennedy.

Darby Herridge Fleer was nominated for the award by other band teachers in the area who acknowledged her hard work with the students at Kennedy.

“It’s nice to know that not only are the kids benefiting but colleagues in the area understand as well and it’s nice to get a little nod,” Fleer said.

Pages by Anna Reinhart | 17

Photo

Real

Vs

.

Artificial

Source: Statistic Brain

Real Trees

Artificial Trees

Pecks Greenhouse:

Pecks Greenhouse:

-Most of the costumers enjoy real trees because of the fragrance.

-Advise buyers to keep their tree away from any heat so the tree stays fresher longer.

“Personally, I have always decorated with a real tree. I love the fragrance and that the tree isn’t perfectly shaped,” Shirley Peckosh, green goods buyer at Pecks, said.

-The artificial trees come pre-light or without lights, -Artificial trees don’t dry out and come with a stand.

-If you’re allergic to fresh pines, an artificial tree would be better for you.

-Sturdy constructed with a wide variety of needle lengths.

Culvers:

-Real trees are unique every year.

-Real trees have to be watered everyday.

“Personally, I like real trees better because it’s a family tradition picking them out every year,” Jennifer Shull, Greenhouse employee at Culvers, said.

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Culvers: -Artificial trees last for several years but are more expensive.

-Artifical trees don’t have the fresh fragrance.

“It is a tradition to always decorate the tree as a family,” -Lauryn Vaske, so.

Students are ready for the holidays

“All of the ornaments on our tree are meaningful within our family,” -Connor Crippes, sr.

“My family always decorates our tree together and the colors remind me of snow,” -Alexis Hull, sr.

“Our tree is unique because we’ve had it ever since I was a little girl,” -Brianna Petsche, jr.

“My favorite part is the cubs, World Series ornament we added this year,” -Drew Schaefer, fr.

Pages by Madeline Jamrok | 19