Lakota East Spark 2011-2012 Issue 5

Spark Lakota East High School lakotaeastspark.com March 12, 2012 $4 Newsstand

20 YEARS: 1992 — 2012

SPECIAL REPORT: LAKOTA ADMINISTRATORS PROPOSE $10.9 MILLION IN CUTS TO BOARD OF EDUCATION

Spark

Volume XX Issue CXXXXII

Contents

09

BOARD PROPOSALS

After three consecutive failed levies, the Lakota Local School District must cut at least $9 million to reduce the spending deficit and avoid running out of money by fiscal year 2014.

24

MAN WITH A MISSION

East sophomore John Buczek makes an effort to share the lessons he learned with his peers and the Lakota community.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Zach Fulciniti and Sean Lewis debate the widespread use and implementation of contraceptives.

34

60

The growing popularity of yoga is not only affecting current fashion trends, but is also morphing mindsets, and building a bridge between athletic activity and mental tranquility.

With the rerelease of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace in 3-D in February 2012, Spark takes a look at how George Lucas’ series has shaped the film industry.

ACTIVE PEACE

STAR WARS

76

69

CHOW DOWN FOR CANTON

Changing his diet to consume nearly five times that of an average human in order to keep himself fueled, Rob has made a commitment to swimming that has landed him among the nation’s elite.

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ON THE COVER: design devin casey | photo ellen fleetwood Spark takes a look back on 20 years of covering the Lakota district and community.

INSET: Liberty Junior School teacher Rico Hill ponders the proposed cuts.

40......................YOU DON’T KNOW JACK 44..........................DIVIDE AND CONQUER 46.....................................ERIN UNBOUND 53.........GUEST COLUMNIST: ABBY BACK 58.........................FINDING A NEW VOICE

opinion | letter to the editor

Dear Spark: I have been very impressed with each of this year’s issues. They strike a good balance between East, local and national issues.

Although it has been several years since I left West Chester, the local stories still have more than enough context for me to understand them even though I’m 500 miles away. I am especially grateful for the website, which keeps me from having to wait for my issue to arrive each month.

The infographics have been particularly well-done, throughout each of the sections.

They are always well-researched, welldesigned, and complement the stories they accompany. My favorites are those explaining techniques and terminology of various sports.

Keep up the great work!

–Greg Back, Fairfax, Va. Dear Spark, As Lakota faces a new era of education reforms, I am disappointed with the way the information is being portrayed to the public.

Despite the serious cuts that we are facing, these cutbacks are being presented in a way that makes the reductions appear beneficial to the district as a whole.

However, these are serious and devastating cuts to Lakota. Why would the taxpayers in our area pass a levy when they are being told that the district can cut 9 million dollars and improve?

If these proposals pass, the preschool teachers will all lose their jobs and the preschool students will lose a strong foundation for their future schooling.

Elementary students will lose their “specials”classes that appeal to right-brained learners; junior high students will lose teachers that prepare students for high school, and the

students at East and West will lose class options and the mentors that shape their futures.

These cuts will not be beneficial to Lakota, and it is time that district clarify the proposals and tell exactly what they will mean for the students, staff, and parents of our district.

–Taylor McClain, East junior Dear Spark, After reading the Feb. 9, 2012 edition of the Spark and its article on “Edmodo,” I feel as though it is worth giving an AP student’s two cents on the social networking site that is sweeping through the Lakota East social studies department with alarming haste. As a student who already finds his schedule to be overfilled with innumerable activities, obligations, and to-do-lists, the last thing I needed when I heard about Edmodo was

another pointless, annoying, nightly homework assignment that amounted to me being forced to engage nightly in discussion with classmates who I neither knew very well nor cared about.

To make matters worse, my teacher decided that since Edmodo has a calendar it was no longer necessary to write the classroom agenda and homework assignments on the board in class, hence forcing you to go to Edmodo to keep up and disenfranchising the necessity of planners.

However, after enjoying the discussion forum that has involved conversation ranging from the politics of the Republican primary to the JSA trip to Washington D.C. to extra credit assignments I have been rendered incapable of resistance. I enjoy Edmodo and there is nothing I can do about it. It is engaging, fun, fulfilling, and useful to any student who is blessed with the opportunity to participate in it. To check it regularly is not time consuming at all, and when somebody posts something new on the thread it heightens your day a little.

Congratulations, teachers, you’ve taken social networking, something that was addictive and pointless, and turned it into something useful and educational.

Begrudgingly, I must give Edmodo my seal of approval after adhering to ignorant skepticism initially. I think every teacher regardless of subject should consider using Edmodo if only for the reason it is an easy way to distribute assignments and changes in assignments. For example, I know a certain Calculus teacher who has to track down students individually and use student messengers and email to alert her pupils of misunderstandings in homework and assignments. Edmodo might simply ease that a little.

–Daniel Robbins, East senior

Website Commentary www.lakotaeastspark.com Rahul Mukherjee’s “Parents in Education” This is a very unique angle on America’s declining education system by pointing the blame at parents. Perhaps parents don’t have as much time to help them succeed.

However, I would have liked to see some more evidence of this present in your argument. Your one anecdotal example contradicts this premise and the growing tutoring industry does not prove direct causation.

That being said, I did enjoy seeing a column that doesn’t take the standard angle on America’s falling educational standards.

—Mason Hood, Oxford, Ohio

4 | Spark | March 12, 2012

ONLINE SURVEY: Do you believe schools have the right to monitor packed lunches?

YES:

4%

DON’T CARE:

4%

NO:

92%

GOT SOMETHING

TO SAY?

The Spark, which provides an open forum for students, faculty, subscribers and community members, encourages letters to the editor. Letters can be sent to the publication at the address on the following page, dropped off in the journalism classroom (room 118), comments on our online stories and tweets to our account listed below.

Letters must be signed, and the staff reserves the right to edit letters for length, grammar, invasion or privacy, obscenity or potential libel. The opinion editors will contact letter writers for conformation. facebook | facebook.com/lehsspark twitter | @LakotaEastSpark email | lehs.spark@gmail.com website | www.lakotaeastspark.com

opinion | letter from the editor

from the editor

PERPETUAL VERACITY

N

o one likes the truth.

A high school football coach does not want people to know that he is the reason for the empty stands.

High school administrators do not want parents to know that their schools’ security cameras are out-of-date and purposeless. Herman Cain does not want the public to know about the scantily clad skeletons in his closet.

But Spark has been reporting the truth for 20 years. Over the course of two decades, several administrative changes, 141 issues and thousands of savory Taco Bell runs, Spark has been searching for answers five times longer than American

Spark

audiences have been gawking at Snooki’s artificially-tainted skin.

Throughout Spark’s storied history, its journalistic integrity has remained unchanged. The 35 editor-in-chiefs that have led the Spark since 1992 haven’t been focused on Pacemakers or national acclaim. The numerous writers aren’t writing hard-hitting in-depths on budget cuts for the copious amounts of pantythrowing groupies who accompany it.

The sole advisor hasn’t been sacrificing his weekends––and nearly his marriage–– for the abrasive paparazzi that bombards his Subaru Outback daily. They do it for the truth.

To put this timespan in perspective, the inception of Spark was last time Tiger Woods experienced a win-less streak half as long as his current slump.

Spark certainly hasn’t shied away from the veracity of hot-button issues. Spark writers and editors have always put their reader, and their best foot, first.

Whether this requires sports editors such as Brad Engel to spend time in the locker room of a jovial East basketball team after a comeback victory, or eerily quiet hours immersed in the solemn atmosphere of a locker room full of broken hearts.

Photographer Eric Muenchen spent time with Liberty Junior football player Hunter Burdno on a bench overlooking a desolate football field. He listened as Burdno discussed how Lakota’s third straight levy failure would make payto-play fees rise high enough to make another year on the gridiron out of the question.

The stories that have always driven

c/o Lakota East High School 6840 Lakota Lane Liberty Township, OH 45044 Phone: (513) 759-8615 ext 15118 Email: lehs.spark@gmail.com

Devin Casey, Rachel Podnar, Christian Roehm Editor-in-Chief Victoria Reick-Mitrisin Broadcast Manager Devon Lakes Business Manager Shivang Patel Graphics Manager Megan Fogel, Sean Lewis Managing Editor Sierra Whitlock Photo Manager Tommy Behan Webmaster Zach Armstrong, Christina Wilkerson Copy Director Rachel Knock Public Relations Director Zach Fulciniti, Dillon Mitchell Entertainment Editor Michael Tedesco, Jasmine Tuazon Feature Editor Tabbatha Hall, Bridget Lally Lifestyle Editor Alex Griffin, Kaitlin Lange, Mohinee Mukherjee News Editor

Raika Casey, Emily Chao Opinion Editor Nugeen Aftab, Rachel King, Sophia Li, Drew Souders Package Editor Jeff Back, Hannah Lee, Natasha Rausch Sports Editor Lauren Barker, Lisa Cai, Ian Castro, Irfan Ibrahim, Arvind Madhavan Art Editor Ellen Fleetwood Photo Editor Amber Jagpal, Maddie McGarvey Business Associate Jill Stelletell Public Relations Associate Cheyenne Blanchette, Samantha Hauck Survey Coordinator Brett Colburn, John Grasty, Ian Smith Multimedia Editor Dean Hume Adviser

Spark have been people stories. Real people, affected by real cuts, struggling in real situations, telling real stories. These stories aren’t written to win hardware, they are simply written to portray the power behind the peril and, on occasion, shed light on the behind-the-scenes beauty.

This issue, we follow-up on some of Spark’s most memorable stories and a few of East and the district’s prominent individuals. Our coverage ranges from how an East alumnus made a stop at his alma mater along his way to becoming a teacher, to the most prolific Thunderhawk taking his team to the finals in Israel.

We also analyze how the Lakota community and the world around it has evolved alongside the newsmagazine.

Adjacent to our score of reflection, Spark continues its dedicated tradition of bringing the facts to its community as we cover $10.9 million worth of hacks, slashes and slices proposed in the Lakota budget. The district plans to nix 42.8 teachers at the high school level, a stark increase from the 28 teachers cut in last year’s round of high school reductions.

If passed, these cuts would put Lakota students on the backs of famished camels as they send them on a 2,983-mile trek across the Sahara Desert. No longer is the district relying on the camels to make frequent stops at lakes and streams in hopes of passing a levy, which ends up being another all-too-familiar mirage.

The one thing that remains constant is knowing Spark will be there to cover each agonizing step on the arduous road to recovery––searching for the truth.

Spark is a publication that is produced at Lakota East High School. The magazine is completely studentgenerated through the efforts of the Journalism I, Journalism II and Journalism III-Honors classes. The publication material may not always reflect the views of the Lakota Local School District or the publication as a whole. Content is controlled and edited by the staff editors. The staff will publish only legally protected speech adhering to the legal definitions of libel, obscenity and invasions of privacy.

The publication is produced every five weeks on recycled paper. Production costs are covered through advertising, subscription sales and fundraisers.

Advertising information is available by writing to the address below or at sparkbusiness@gmail.com.

The purpose of Spark is to inform the students, faculty, subscribers and community members of news, information and issues that may influence or affect them.

Spark accepts news releases, guest columns and sports information releases.

Spark, a Gold Crown, Pacemaker and Gallup winner, is a member of the Ohio Scholastic Media Association, the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, the Journalism Education Association, Quill and Scroll and a Hall-of-Fame member of the National Scholastic Press Association.

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 5

news | stay connected

Stay Connected www.lakotaeastspark.com @LakotaEastSpark Lakota East Spark Scan this QR Code with a smartphone to access more news stories online.

East senior Jeremy Bright only takes computer science, band and jazz band at East.

East students prepare to leave the school at the end of the day.

n School News

n School News

After failing to meet Adequte Yearly Progress by a small margin, East implemented improvements, however, Ohio is no longer bound by No Child Left Behind.

More students choose to opt out of high school classes in leiu of attending local colleges in order to earn dual credits via Post Secondary Education Option.

story kaitlin lange | photo ellen fleetwood

story dillon mitchell | photo michael tedesco

“No Child” No Longer

Students Pursue PSEO

n Community News

In Swedish culture, it is custom to respect nature. In accordance with their Swedish roots, IKEA stores around the world are dedicated to using as many renewable resources as possible. Since IKEA’s beginnings in 1943, the corporation has been committed to promoting sustainability in order to reduce its impact on the environment. One specific way IKEA fulfills this vision is by utilizing the latest technology in solar energy.

On Jan. 24, the West Chester location of IKEA officially integrated solar power into their current system. This branch was among the first of 17 stores in the United States to complete this project in the 2012 fiscal year. “[Solar energy] is a national project, and right now 85 percent of IKEAs are [powered by] solar energy,” IKEA West Chester’s public relations director Kitalena Mason said. “We’re the 14th store [in the United States] to [install solar power].”

The energy-conserving project for this location began in early spring 2011 when IKEA was notified by corporate IKEA of the upcoming changes. By the end of August, the provider and installer of the solar panels, REC Solar, had arrived with their equipment and began installing in September.

IKEA’s investment in solar energy is the company’s largest project currently in progress. “[Solar energy] is a huge investment,” Mason said. “We own all the panels. We don’t rent them.”

IKEA Leads the Way with Solar Power story laura shrake | photo used with permission from IKEA

Photovoltaic solar panels help power IKEA West Chester.

WEBTICKER: 6 | Spark | March 12, 2012

Potential New Cellphone Policy

story continued on lakotaeastspark.com

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Teacher’s Academy Places at Nationals

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Review: Chronicle

off

$40.00 coupon!

5900 West Chester Road, Suite K West Chester, OH 45069 (513) 754-8652 with this

For class schedules and

Registration Visit: www.Jacksdrivingschool.com Students must begin by 12/21/2011. Students must complete the entire course in 60 days.

$1.2 MILLION IN PRESCHOOL

$1.9 MILLION IN ELEMENTARY

$1.6 MILLION IN JUNIOR HIGH

$2.7 MILLION IN HIGH SCHOOL

$9$3.5 MILLION CUTS MILLION IN ADMINISTRATION

$10.9 MILLION IN CUTS Starting with the proposed preschool cuts in January and ending with the propose administrative cuts in March, the Lakota Local School District must cut $9 million to reduce the spending deficit and avoid running out of money by fiscal year 2014. Spark takes an in-depth look at the administration’s proposed reductions and changes. As of press time, the Lakota Board of Education is scheduled to vote on the proposals on March 12. photos ellen fleetwood, devon lakes, kenzie walters and sierra whitlock

A

proposal is just that—a proposal. It has not been enacted and it can be amended or changed.

On March 12, the Lakota Board of Education will vote on the administration’s proposals that have been introduced to it and the community since the beginning of February, potentially ushering in a new era of for the District.

How the Board votes on the proposals will determine the direction of Lakota for years to come, as each proposal includes changes with widespread effects from consolidating the preschool program into a federal Head Start program, to cutting specials at the elementary schools to once a week, to shortening the day at the secondary level.

These potential changes have sparked fierce dialogue throughout Lakota in neighborhood streets, kitchen tables and classrooms as each person has different ideas on how best to achieve $9 million in reductions.

“There will be impact and changes and things people don’t like [when the Board votes],” Board president Ben Dibble said. “[Cuts] will give us a balanced budget in our next fiscal year, which is important to the community and to the Board. The administration is doing its best to find those reductions and make as small impact as possible” Although $9 million dollars is a tremendous amount of money for Lakota, Treasurer Jenni Logan said that $9 million in cuts would keep Lakota out of deficit spending next year, as long as revenues do not decrease any further. Lakota will not need a levy to avoid a cash deficit.

“By eliminating the spending deficit [with cuts], we are eliminating falling off a cliff,” Logan said. “A future levy would be there to create the district that we want.”

If the proposals are passed, it may amount to the loss of many teaching positions throughout the district. Personnel costs account for 77 percent of Lakota’s budget, so the largest reductions need to be made in that area. Teaching positions can also be referred to as full-timeemployees (FTE), which means that an FTE teaches the entire school day. Some proposals call for uneven numbers of teachers to reduced, which means that that much of an FTE will be reduced.

Lakota Educator Association president Sharon Mays explained

that teachers who are let go from the district in this tough time will be reduced, not fired.

“They’ll be riffed, in the private sector it’s called being laid off, and in our contract it is a Reduction in Force,” Mays said. “The difference as opposed to being fired is that they aren’t doing anything wrong” Mays also established that teachers will be riffed according to seniority and licensure. She predicts that there could be a lot of shuffling of teaching positions as teachers with higher seniority are moved around to fill places in other buildings because teachers are certified to teach multiple grades, like kindergarten through eighth grade.

Lakota’s superintendent Karen Mantia has been leading the creation of these proposals by examining the budget line-by-line, taking a costto-benefits approach to cuts. She is confident that Lakota can maintain a quality education in the face of financial strife.

“I hope that people keep the faith,” she said. “We have awesome teachers, great courses. I hope that people stay with us because we are going to deliver. We have people that want to do the right thing for Lakota and that hasn’t changed at all.”

If the proposals are implemented as they appear now, Lakota will not be the same district it was five or 10 years ago. Reductions, however, are necessary as revenue from the state continues to fall and the community fails to pass levies. Without cuts, Lakota could fall under state control.

Liberty Junior School health teacher of 35 years Gina Seifert will retire after this school year. She looks back on her time in the District with pride and she believes that levies continue to fail not because people do not support education, but because families are trying to survive.

“This district has always been a melting pot experience of different ethnic and economic levels. People came here for that and they were successful. [School funding is not working and] its’ always going to be this way. It’s not going to change it gets worse and worse every year until they change the way schools are funded. I’m fearful where we’re going be five years from now. Hopefully ten years from now, we’ll be better for it, going in a different direction.”

–Rachel Podnar

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 9

REDUCERESTRUCTURE

PRESCHOOL

A FUTURE WITH HEAD START Consolidate current preschool program with the federal program Head Start Reduce staff by about 17.37 Butler County Education Service Center will run the program and hire and evaluate the teachers

TOTAL REDUCTIONS $1.2 MILLION

SAD.

One word described how Christina Shepherd felt when she realized her preschooler’s education could be compromised. The Creekside Early Childhood School (CECS) parent-teacher-organization co-president and preschool parent finds the quality of Lakota Local School District’s current preschool program unparalleled by any other program in the area.

“When you have a child in that program and you think you’re going to have to choose something else or stick with the alternative, it’s

disheartening,” Shepherd said. “You know they’re not going to get the same quality of education that they’re getting right now.”

With the impending cloud of reductions looming over the district, Lakota’s youngest members may feel the reductions from the $9 million in budget cuts. As one of the four propositions presented to the Lakota Board of Education in February, the preschool program proposal recommends sharing services with the Butler County Educational Service Center (BCESC) in order to save an estimated $1.2 million from the general fund.

The Ohio Administrative Code states that a public school is responsible for identifying, locating and evaluating all children with disabilities residing within the district who are in need of special education services. According to Free Appropriate Public Education, when a student is identified with having a disability, the school district must offer a free and appropriate public education through special education services.

The BCESC runs the federal Head Start programs in school districts across Butler County. Head Start promotes school readiness of children from low-income families, from birth to 5 years old. Besides promoting school readiness, Head Start offers other services based on the local community’s needs.

Within Lakota, there are currently a total of four Head Start classrooms. CECS and Liberty Early Childhood School currently house one Head Start classroom each while Union Day, the historic Union Elementary school building, has two classrooms. Although both the BCESC and the Lakota preschool program serve Lakota students, the two programs operate separately. This does not maximize efficiency as only 83 percent of the capacity of the Lakota preschool program is currently utilized.

Shepherd agreed that the Head Start program is “wonderful” but she does not think that the BCESC would be able to provide the same level of services to special needs children as the current preschool program is able to provide.

“The quality of Lakota’s preschool program is above and beyond,”

Switching Services infographic josh shi

Currently, Lakota’s preschool program has a personnel cost of $3.3 million. In order to reduce costs by $1.2 million and still offer preschool education in the community, Lakota administrators have proposed to share services with the Butler County Educational Service Center.

10 | Spark | March 12, 2012

Current Model

Butler County Educational Service Center Shared Services Model

Key

Speech Language Pathologists

Itinerant Teachers

Registered Nurse

School Psychologist

Related Service

Preschool Teachers

Associate Degree Teachers

Instructional Aides

Secretary

Principal

Liasons

Ms. Bergman’s preschool class enjoys snacktime.

Shepherd said. “I personally do not understand why you would need to fix something that’s not broken.”

Besides reducing costs and maximizing overall capacity, the proposal suggests that Lakota will share administrative control with BCESC. The BCESC will hire and evaluate teachers and assign a single administrator to oversee the program. If the proposal is passed, Lakota’s role in decision-making regarding personnel will diminish. The district will use Integrated Monitoring Process and Continuous Improvement Tool (IMPACT) to examine the program yearly. IMPACT uses performance indicators to evaluate several facets of the program, such as academic performance.

Lakota executive director of special services Brenda Paget said this method of contracting services is not unusual, as the district has done so in the past to meet its needs. Regardless, Paget said the district will be present with the BCESC during hiring and evaluating processes.

“We have definite oversight over everything that goes on with that preschool program and it’s going to be in our buildings,” Paget said. “It’s going to be right there in front of us every day.”

In addition to assuming managerial responsibilities in the Lakota preschool program, the BSECS will also combine federal Head Start dollars to maximize cost-benefits. According to BCESC early childhood programs director Suzanne Prescott, funds come directly from the federal government through the Office of Head Start to the BCESC. “We receive $4,427,424 to serve 784 students across Butler County in Head Start,” Prescott said. “We also have an additional $445,484 of local in-kind services.”

Paget said that she has been waiting for preschool to be targeted since the district began budget reductions in recent years because of the incurring costs. Last spring, Paget became aware of a similar proposal that was to be implemented in Middletown City School District during the 2011-12 school year.

“Middletown is not identical to ours because they’re not our size and they have different needs than we do,” Paget said. “However, [their new program is] the same concept.”

Middletown was able to lower the cost for the program by accessing approximately $619,000, courtesy of the agreement with the BCESC. In Middletown, there are 11 classrooms, all which are half-day sessions, and the program serves close to 370 children at a lower cost.

According to the BCESC, 89 percent of the 57 students measured had

positive changes in scores on the Bracken School Readiness Assessment.

Similarly, 98 percent of BCESC preschoolers have updated nutritional, health, wellness and social/emotional screenings.

Middletown superintendent Greg Rasmussen said that he did not notice very many differences between this program and the preschool program that preceded it. The only variations are that the class sizes are smaller and the preschoolers come to school five, instead of four, days a week. Despite being too early to evaluate the overall effectiveness of the program, Rasmussen said that the district plans to continue the program next year.

“Because all classrooms are now under one umbrella, there is better coordination and cooperation than ever before,” Rasmussen said. “It appears our program quality has remained high.”

Lakota’s current preschool layout has 15 classrooms, each holding six typical students and six special education students for every half-day session. The program’s capacity is 348 students and it currently -Lakota parent serves approximately 288 students. Each Christina Shepherd class has one preschool teacher, .13 itinerant teacher, 1.5 instructional aides and .5 speech therapists. In addition, the program employs occupational therapists, physical therapists, hearing instructors and sign language interpreters.

If the proposal is passed, the BCESC will offer 12 classrooms. The number of Head Start, special education and typical students will vary within the classrooms; none of the classrooms, however, will have more than 16 students. With this structure, the program can serve 64 Head Start students, 152 special education students and 121 typical students.

Another variation is that some classrooms have different combinations of preschool teachers, Head Start teachers, Head Start assistants, instructional aides, itinerant teachers and associate degree teachers.

One of Shepherd’s concerns is that there is a chance that her son will be in a classroom with an associate’s degree teacher instead of a certified

“I personally do not understand why you would need to fix something that’s not broken.”

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 11

REDUCERESTRUCTURE preschool teacher. However, the Ohio Department of Education states that a preschool staff member or director is required to have “an associate or higher degree in child development or early childhood education, education, home economics, nursing, nutrition, psychology, dental hygiene or social work.”

With this in mind, Paget is not worried with associate’s degree educators teaching preschoolers.

“Case in point, my son was in preschool for two to three years and one of his best teachers was an associate’s degree teacher,” Paget said.

While her son is currently a Lakota preschooler, Shepherd is not sure whether she will continue to keep her son in Lakota’s preschool program or enroll him elsewhere. Shepherd said that she and her husband will have to decide the best route to take because she is uncertain about some of the technicalities of the program.

“Right now, I am on the fence [about] whether we [should stay or] find him somewhere else to go,” Shepherd said. “He is comfortable at that school and to take him out and then the next year perhaps to bring him back for kindergarten may be a little stressful. It will [depend] heavily on what the program looks like.”

ELEMENTARY CONSOLIDATING SPECIALS

Shepherd acknowledged that cuts have to be made in Lakota and the Board should look at other options before voting on the current proposal, which will lay off some of the current preschool teachers.

“Some of these staff members have been in this program and this is their blood, sweat and tears,” Shepherd said.

Although Shepherd believed her son’s preschool experience will be different next year, Lakota superintendent Karen Mantia disagrees.

According to Mantia, besides BCESC providing the service, the preschool program will not change. Being familiar with the Head Start program and the Lakota preschool curriculum, Mantia said that Lakota can use both programs and that “things will go along just fine.”

“I see it probably growing a bit,” Mantia said. “I think overall, [none of the changes will be very visible.]”

Regardless, Shepherd does not agree with any part of the proposal because once the current program is gone, “it’ll be gone forever.”

“To keep that program intact to me is so important,” Shepherd said.

“If we do get funds, you can build that program back up. To totally dismantle it, it will never come back the way it was.”

–Mohinee Mukherjee

Woodland Elementary art teacher Gail Goodall imagines a future in Lakota without art classes.

Reduce specials teachers from 35.8 to 7 Students would have one special per week instead of the current five Instructional time would be increased by 30 minutes each day No reduction in length of school day

TOTAL REDUCTIONS $1.9 MILLION

T

he Woodland Elementary school carnival is in the near future. This year, just like every year, the walls have been covered with painted murals. The theme of the upcoming carnival involves Woodland wolves traveling through the halls that lead to all different countries. The students have been working in groups for weeks in order to perfect their artwork that will be displayed for the community.

Gail Goodall, who has been the art teacher since the school opened 20 years ago, is more than proud of her students’ artistic talents.

“I always decorate the carnival every year instead of having an art show,” Goodall said. “Everyone contributes, it is a school wide mural that wraps around the whole first floor. Every year the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) picks a theme. It is like a community effort.”

But the art class, along with physical education (PE) and music is now faced with a new challenge that does not entail decorating for the annual carnival.

With the $1.9 million in cuts at the elementary school level, the unified arts could be reduced to once per week if the Lakota Local School District administration’s proposal passes. The current teachers in the areas of art, music and gym would be cut so only a few would service

12 | Spark | March 12, 2012

the entire district.

Five-year Woodland music teacher Alan Greeb said he is not worried about the cuts at this point because they are just proposals.

“We need to be prudent and wait for the [Lakota] Board [of Education’s] decision,” Greeb said. “I think they will carefully look and think about where they are cutting. We just need to continue what we are doing right now.”

The current 42.8 teachers in the areas of art, music and PE will be cut to only seven to service the 10 elementary buildings. The proposal would leave six specialists in art, music and PE and the one unified arts educator would teach all three areas. This would reduce the amount of time students spend focusing on areas other than the core academic classes.

The daily 30 minute tutorial and enrichment period is generally used for various learning activities. With the proposal, however, each student would receive an education in a specific area of the unified arts once each week during the enrichment period for a three to four-week time frame. That specialist would then circulate to the next elementary building and another specialist of a different area would step in to begin the abridged curriculum.

According to eight-year Woodland Elementary PE teacher Kevin Vidourek, the reduction of gym class activities that are usually completed throughout the school year as well as the current quality of education would decrease if the Board passes the proposal.

“The new PE teacher will have to limit what is taught and just cover the basics,” Vidourek said. “[This is] not fair to the students.

I am not sure how the PE teachers are going to be able to keep up with the standards that they must follow -Lakota parent based on this new teaching style.

Jeff Kursman The teacher will not get to know the student on a personal level.”

Lakota elementary school parent Jeff Kursman said there is “no common sense” in almost eliminating the specials from the elementary school curriculum because they are outlets for student creativity. “[The unified arts] provide the release of physical stress,” Kursman said. “They provide for the opening of the creative mind that allows students to perform and excel not only in those particular subjects but in the core subjects as well.”

The elimination of the 40-minute unified arts period would eliminate the teachers’ normal planning period. This period would then take place during recess which would be extended to 30 minutes. As a result of the lack of teachers monitoring the playground during recess, 21 aides would be hired to supervise the students during that time. According to assistant superintendent of elementary schools Lon Stettler, the cost of the aides has been calculated into the $1.9 million in budget cuts.

“The aides will get to know the students and who their teachers are,” Stettler said. “They are going to know which students to keep an eye on.

The principals understand the importance of student supervision during recess. Safety and security are the top priorities.”

As a result of limited unified arts, the academic core classes in grades four through six would receive an additional 10 minutes of class time. The resulting 89 extra hours of core subjects from the proposal would allow the teachers to go deeper into the curriculum. Students in kindergarten through grade four will maintain the current 135 and 90 minutes of language arts and mathematics, respectively, but the areas of science and social studies will sustain an additional 30 minutes of added class time.

Kursman said that the Board should look into incorporating the unified arts into the core elementary curriculum in order to continue offering these areas. If the core academic educators could teach in the reduced areas, the students could still receive a full education in the arts.

“Ultimately, there are choices that this district can make and there are choices that can be made to look at cuts versus efficiencies,” Kursman said. “So far what has occurred in these presentations for the most part

“[The students] lose something that allows them to tap into their passion if you believe in the leftbrain versus the right brain philosophy.”

is a focus for the most part on reductions. Efficiency from a business perspective is offering a similar service or product at a lower cost. There are opportunities to look at utility costs and various mechanisms by which the district could maximize its use of utilities and outsource.”

After already discarding 51 positions at the elementary level in the past three years, the class sizes have reached their maximum of 25 students established by Ohio education laws. Because Ohio law does not require schools to provide the unified arts at the elementary level, Stettler said the Board had no option other than to reduce in that area.

“We hate reducing in the [unified arts] because we believe in them,” Stettler said. “We don’t disagree with any of the comments that are made by those who come to the microphone and address the board [at the meetings]. The thing is that we have an unsustainable system, so we are forced to make reductions in these areas now.”

According to Lakota superintendent Karen Mantia, the unified arts reductions are necessary with the $10.9 million reduction proposal plan for cuts, as it would be an opportunity for the parents and district to work together. With her daughter now a professional artist, Mantia said she used to take her daughter to art museums and different art classes to add to the education the school provided. Mantia said she nurtured her daughter’s art interests and that Lakota parents must take this responsibility as well.

“The reductions need to be made due to three consecutive levy failures,” Mantia said. “I think parents need to be our partners. If you know your child has a strong interest in art as my daughter did, then parents should further their [child’s] education.”

Though Mantia requested that the Lakota parents collaborate with the Board and administration with all the reductions, Kursman believes that the educational experience at the elementary level would not be the same if the proposal is passed. “[The students] lose something that attracts them to the educational experience,” Kursman said. “You lose something that gives them a foundation in the arts. You lose something that allows them to tap into their passion if you believe in the left-brain versus the right brain philosophy. It allows them to tap into that creativity in ways that maybe the traditional classes don’t.”

–Natasha Rausch

Specials Sliced

Seven teachers may serve students of 14 schools. infographic shivang patel

2011-12: 42.8 FTEs

2012-13: 7 FTEs

14 Schools Key:

Art

Unified Arts

Physical Education

Music

REDUCERESTRUCTURE

JUNIOR HIGH ELECTIVE CHANGES Reduce from seven to six periods Reduce staff by about 25.26 Reduce school day by 30 minutes Increase opportunities for high school credit Modernize elective offerings with design and modeling Maximize class sizes

TOTAL REDUCTIONS $1.6 MILLION

A

t 2:30 p.m., the seventh period dismissal bell rings and 600 junior high school students pour out of tiny classrooms into even smaller hallways. The barely-teens shuffle past each other, packing the halls as the sound of slamming lockers, high-pitched shrieks and gum-smacking fills the air. It smells like puberty.

These junior high students dart from jazz band, to life skills, to pathways, to physical education (PE) and eighth grade art, barely grateful for the opportunities they have, not cognizant that those classes will not be offered in the same way next year.

“The kids don’t talk much about it,” Liberty Junior School (LJS) advanced humanities teacher Rick Cooper said. “I think they are concerned, like when the levy went down kids came in concerned like ‘What does this mean for me?’ But since the proposals, none of my kids really talk about it.”

Next year, if the Lakota Local School District’s administrator’s proposal for reductions at the junior high level is passed by the Lakota Board of Education as is, this junior high scene will play out differently and the students will be faced with the reality of the cuts. The kids will be just as naïve and the shrieking and the scent of adolescence will linger in the halls—but instead of the final bell ringing at 2:30 p.m., it will ring at 2:00, and instead of signaling the end of seventh period, it will signal the end of sixth.

Junior high students in Lakota will have more to deal with next year than these changes. Beyond shortening the day and reducing to six instructional periods, the proposal calls for maximized class sizes, new technology elective offerings provided through Butler Tech and opportunities to earn high school credit in PE, health and info tech. The proposal, which was presented second in the series of presentations, will potentially amount to a savings of $1.6 million, achieved by the elimination of 25.26 teaching positions at the four junior high schools combined.

Hopewell Junior School (HJS) principal Jeff Rouff described the process through which the proposal was created, saying that the four junior high principals met with experts in curriculum, human resources and data from Lakota Central Office, along with Lakota superintendent Karen Mantia on approximately six occasions to discuss potential cuts.

The basis of the proposal was formulated by late December.

Rouff said that making these decisions was particularly tough for him.

14 | Spark | March 12, 2012

Physical education and health teacher Connie Garland discusses changes to health curriculum.

“It hurts.” Rouff said in response to the potential cuts. “I have a sixth grader going into junior high next year. I can’t make these cuts blind, they affect me directly. Based off the charge we were given, [these changes are] the best we can provide for our kids. I have to be able to sleep at night with that.”

Rouff grew up in Lakota and attended HJS before graduating from Lakota in 1992. He taught in Lakota for 10 years before becoming assistant principal and finally principal at HJS. This is only his first year as principal and yet he is faced with the task of making decisions to dismantle the district in which he has lived his entire life.

“It’ll be fewer opportunities and less exploratory classes,” he said.

“Middle school data [says] what’s best for middle school kids is that they have a variety of experiences and figure out what they like. We are protecting the core classes but we’re missing out on all those [other] experiences and opportunities.”

Two years ago, junior high students in Lakota had eight class periods, a number which was reduced to seven this school year due to budget reductions after previous levy failures. During the 2012-13 school year, that number of periods will drop to six, giving students fewer opportunities to take elective classes.

Lakota parent of three Sally Kolks is worried about the loss of opportunities at the junior high level because her eldest daughter, who is a high-achieving student, will be a seventh grader next year.

“I feel like with as bright as she is, she’s getting the short end of the stick.” Kolks said. “With [the loss of another period], I don’t think the opportunities will be there. How do you get one-on-one attention, how do you get challenged?”

To assist with the reduction of an instructional period at the high school level, junior high students will be given the opportunity to use their info tech, PE and health classes in eighth grade for high school credit, opening up more semesters for electives at the high school level.

The current seventh and eighth grade technology applications class will be replaced by the high school informational technology I class, which will be offered in both seventh and eighth grade for high school credit.

In addition to this, junior high students will only be required to take physical education in eighth grade as opposed to in both seventh and eighth grade.

Students’ opportunities in health education between seventh grade and graduation will be cut from two classes to one, and PE experiences

will be reduced from four to two. Currently, health is mandatory in seventh grade and not offered in eighth. Seventh grade health will be eliminated and replaced by the high school class health class, which will be mandatory in eighth grade for high school credit. The current seventh and eighth grade PE courses will be replaced by the high school team and individual sports course, also to be offered for high school credit.

Assistant superintendent of secondary curriculum Ron Spurlock, former principal of LJS, said that these changes will allow families more freedom to set their own priorities. Students can elect to take additional classes at the high school level, which will be offered based on enrollment.

“What we advocate is student choice, and students and parents need to drive the education that they want for their children,” Spurlock said.

Spurlock also clarified that some health classes will definitely remain at the high school for a few years because students from current eighth grade and above will still need to take health at the high school level.

LJS health and PE teacher Connie Garland and LJS health teacher Gina Seifert were saddened to hear about the proposed decrease in gym and health classes. Garland said that with elementary schools dropping health curriculum in lieu of science assessments, having only one health class in junior high is not enough health education.

“They don’t get health anymore in elementary school,” Garland said. “Kids get nothing about nutrition and fitness and anti-drugs [in elementary school]. Is this good for students? What [high school students learn] in human sexuality in 10th grade, you can’t teach [junior high] kids.

[Junior high kids] throw up from learning about sexually transmitted diseases.”

Seifert, who has been teaching in Lakota for 35 years and is retiring

JR. HIGH ELECTIVES infographic irfan ibrahim

With jazz band becoming a zero period and the elimination of art from the seventh and eighth grade curricula, Butler Tech is spear-heading a movement in engineering courses.

Butler Tech Before STEAM2

Life Skills was offered to eighth graders coinciding with Career Pathways via Butler Tech. Both classes were intended with the purpose of teaching both homemaking skills and possible career choices and university options.

Butler Tech After STEAM2

Design and Modeling next year. In the future, Automation and Robotics with Design Studio may be added. These classes will teach students skills they will use in engineering careers

after this school year said that only one health class in high school will not meet the needs of today’s students.

“When we first started teaching, kids were built differently,” Seifert said. “These kids are going to have issues as adults. We talk about a balanced kid, emotionally and physically. I believe that kids need to balanced in every way and because of the cuts and they’re not going to get that full, balanced education,” In addition to potential side effects on students’ health levels, this aspect of the proposal may hurt Lakota on the state report card. According to the Ohio Department of Education, a PE component will be included on the Local Report Card, starting in the 201213 school year. This component will not, however, count toward the performance rating. Lakota will be able to choose at which grade it evaluates student’s physical fitness levels.

Assistant superintendent of elementary education Lon Stettler said Lakota is still looking at how to comply with this new mandate and it is still a work in progress.

-Liberty Junior LJS PE teacher Rico Hill said that Health and Physical gym and health classes are part of the Education teacher experience of junior high–the parts that Connie Garland kids find memorable. “[PE classes] are the things you remember as far as junior high. We want everyone to know that we care about our kids’ health,” Hill said.

Chorus and band will still be electives for seventh and eighth grade, and band students will still have the opportunity to take jazz band, which will be offered after school as a seventh period class.

On the other hand, art will not be offered as an eighth grade elective, but only as a seventh grade requirement. Spurlock said that this was one of the difficult compromises that had to be made in the process at the expense of student offerings.

“The bottom line is to eliminate deficit spending we need to reduce budget by about $9 million,” Spurlock said. “We had to make some tough decisions. What we wanted to do was still offer students the same amount of experiences. To make reductions, we couldn’t offer some experiences in seventh and eighth grade.”

Cooper said that students that specialize in art areas might struggle to find their niche in junior high.

“Unified arts are getting crushed,” he said. “For some kids, that’s what motivates them to come to school, kids that love art classes or theater or band. The arts present a lot of things in the classroom that we don’t think about. That is where you [solve problems] and manage our own time.”

Students looking for extra help will face more challenges next year, as the current offerings of math extensions, language arts plus and double block math will not be available.

All core teachers will be teaching the maximum number of students and there will not be core teachers left to provide these extra core classes to some students.

The loss of these classes equals the loss of all intervention time for students that need extra help at the junior high level. Rouff notes that this is the most difficult piece of the proposal.

“I worry about our kids,” Rouff said. “I worry about the intervention time. We’ve lost all intervention time. We continue to try and do more with less and higher class sizes.”

The other prominent possible change in elective offerings is the modernization of classes offered at the junior high schools that are provided by Butler Tech. Currently, eighth graders are offered a choice of life skills and pathways as elective classes. Life skills focuses on

“Kids get nothing about nutrition and fitness and anti-drugs [in elementary school. Is this good for students?”

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 15

REDUCERESTRUCTURE domestic skills like cooking, while Pathways gives students a chance to explore various career fields.

Under the proposal, in the upcoming school year, life skills would no longer be offered as an eighth grade elective. These Butler Tech costs would be turned around and utilized for the Butler Tech class, design and modeling, which would be mandatory for seventh graders. During the 2013-14 school year, pathways maybe eliminated in lieu of automation and robotics, also provided by Butler Tech.

According to Board member Ray Murray, who serves as the board liaison to the Butler Tech Board of Education, the design and modeling class has been approved by Butler Tech to take the place of life skills for the upcoming school year.

Lakota superintendent Karen Mantia is excited about the potential new class offerings in Lakota.

“At the junior high [level], things change because we don’t have life skills and pathways,” she said, “but we replace that with a different course which is design and modeling and I think that’s pretty cool stuff.”

These new, science-engineering classes are a way to lead junior high students into Project Lead the Way engineering classes at the high school level.

Lakota looked to the course offerings of Oakwood City School District’s junior high when deciding which modern classes to offer to junior high students. Oakwood Junior High offers design and modeling for seventh graders along with robotics and automation for eighth graders and an additional elective, energy and environmental.

Oakwood Junior High principal Dan Weckstein said that the programs, which are referred to as gateway seven and eight at his school and are in their second year, are great for students.

HIGH SCHOOL DRIVEN BY ENROLLMENT Reduce from seven to six periods Reduce staff by about 42.8 Reduce school day by 30 minutes Consolidate academic and college prep classes Increase flexibility for students Senior “flex-time” Maximize class sizes

I

TOTAL REDUCTIONS $2.7 MILLION

t starts with one period.

One less class period in the high school day.

With one less period in the day, each day will be half an hour shorter, adding up to 15 fewer school days over the course of a school year. Over the course of high school, that amounts to 60 fewer days of instruction.

Potentially, a student currently in junior high school will receive three fewer months of education than a current graduating senior. Students could be missing out on an entire quarter of high school education.

Although the changes to high school will save $2.7 million next year, the cuts will impact current and future Lakota Local School District high school students.

16 | Spark | March 12, 2012

“This has been a very successful effort and I really think it is what our kids need right now,” Weckstein said. “I was skeptical about moving away from industrial arts and technology classes but with research and how this class has gone, it has been a successful program.”

Oakwood pays for the classes, unlike Lakota, which would depend on Butler Tech to provide the classes. The gateway programs are very expensive because the students work on Mac computers and use Inventor software, which is the software used by engineers in the industry.

Rouff says that the design and modeling class is a “hidden gem.”

“It’s an opportunity that our kids have never had before,” Rouff said.

“State data shows [science and engineering is] where Ohio jobs are. We looked at what we need and how to provide those opportunities. [Design and modeling] is a quality opportunity.”

Next August, when the doors open for the start of the 2012-13 school year, students will have different experiences than in years past.

Rouff said that although the core classes will be protected, the junior high experience will be a “huge jump” from previous years.

Students will have to cope with fewer classes, loss of intervention time, larger class sizes and fewer elective offerings. However, these changes are coupled with new electives and the promise of more space in schedules at the high school level because of the increased high school credit options.

“The time in junior high is an experience that shapes you,” Rouff said. “A lot of the [experiences] that help shape you are going away and it makes me nervous. I can say very truthfully that we are doing more with less every day. Teachers cannot work any harder and they can’t work any smarter. The hurdles just get higher, but we’re going to jump higher.”

–Rachel Podnar

In addition to the shortening of the school day, 42.8 teachers will lose their jobs, if the proposal is passed. These changes were presented

by East principal Dr. Keith Kline on the Feb. 13, 2012 to the Board and Liberty and West Chester Townships’ residents.

“We did simple math,” Kline said. “ For example if we have 700 seniors and we assume they all need a credit of English [to meet graduation requirements]. 700 seniors divided by 26 kids per class divided by six [which is the number of classes one teacher can teach], gives me the number of teachers I need to run senior English.”

Kline, however, said that enrollment will not be the only factor which decides whether or not a class is offered in the upcoming school year.

Classes may offered in non-traditional ways to minimize costs and still keep the class offering.

“If we have a handful of kids here and we have a handful at [Lakota] West [who want to take a class], we may do it via long-distance learning in room 200. We’ll have one teacher at one campus and then an aide at the other campus,” Kline said. “We can’t run classes of just 15 students, that’s not cost-effective.”

In addition to long-distance learning, Lakota high school students may have more non-traditional ways of learning via STEAM2 which will be provided through a partnership between Butler Butler Tech and Lakota.

At the high school level, STEAM2 will be offered in two paths: pathway to engineering and biomedical science programs, which will be held at East and Lakota West, respectively. Over the course of four school years, Lakota will introduce nine new courses; some will be taught

by Lakota teachers and others will be taught by Butler Tech teachers.

There are parents who do not agree with the proposal to eliminate teachers, but understand that there are not many other options.

“There is no way to capture that savings without cutting. The taxpayers in the community have said they don’t want to pay any money, so the only way we’re going to stay afloat is to balance our budget,” Lakota parent Andrea Henderson said.

Each teachers will teach more students to make up for the cuts. This will increase efficiency because each teacher will instruct the maximum

Physical education teacher Rico Hill shows concern for the future of gym classes.

East sophomore Gannon Joyner studies for his English quiz

Woodland Elementary PE teacher Kevin Vidourek helps sixth grader Garrison Grasty with equipment.

Ms. Bergman’s preschool students attend preschool program, which is currently run by Lakota.

East principal Dr. Keith Kline observes students at the main campus.

Superintendent Karen Mantia speaks at a Board of Education meeting.

Junior high advanced humanities teacher Rick Cooper discusses the potential junior high cuts.

Board president Ben Dibble asks questions about the preschool proposal.

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 17

East English teacher Rich Schmaltz is concerned about the potential for larger class sizes.

number of students they can legally teach. The Lakota Educators Association (LEA) has no input in the number of teachers reduced, but it does make sure that that Article VI of the Master Contract agreement, which deals with reduction in force, is properly followed.

With fewer teachers, there will only be six instructional periods in the upcoming school year instead of seven, if the proposal is passed by the Board. With the elimination of one period, the other six periods will increase in length by two minutes each.

Teachers would teach six periods as they do this year, but this year, teachers have planning periods that are at different times throughout the day. If the proposal is approved, all teachers will have their planning period from 7:15 to 8:05 a.m. because the Article XII, section 12.0502 of the teacher contract, which is effective July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2014, states that teachers have 10 percent of their workday as planning time.

This would mean that all teachers would have to plan for their classes at the same time.

This would also eliminate remaining teacher duty periods, consequently, teachers will not be able to help secretaries in the main office, will not be able to keep an eye on students during lunch and will not be able to help students in the East Learning Center.

Students’ day will start at 8:05 a.m. and end at 2:40 p.m. This means that the length of students’ day will decrease from six hours and 39 minutes to six hours and five minutes, excluding lunch.

“I need the extra period to take extra electives,” East sophomore Gannon Joyner said. “I was hoping to take engineering electives which will help me with my major—engineering—but that may not be an opportunity I will have [next year].”

Because students will only have 24 opportunities to earn the necessary credits for graduation, the graduation requirement will change from 21 credits to 20 credits. According to Kline, the change will help those students who may or may not graduate because they have failed some classes, essentially being a safety net.

“I think the high achieving students will earn more than enough credits required to graduate. If you look at six periods, times four years, that doesn’t give you much space to mess up,” Severns said. “I

18 | Spark | March 12, 2012

think the credit requirement change is providing a little bit of relief [for students who may fail a couple classes] but it certainly does not hurt our high-achieving students, who will continue to take courses all the way through.”

Currently, students can take classes in one of three “tracks:” Advanced Placement/honors, college preparatory (CP) or academic. The proposed change would consolidate the CP and academic tracks to maximize efficiencies in the master schedule, consequently increasing the rigor for students currently on the academic track.

“I like the idea of forcing -East English teacher kids to step up. We have some Rich Schmaltz students who see that if they have an easier way to earn credits [needed for graduation], they will choose that,” Severns said. “If we take that option away from them, we hope they will step up their game to that expectation.”

Schmaltz believes this change, although it has its pros, may not be beneficial for all students.

“Academic track sizes have always been smaller, so the teacher can provide more help,” Schmaltz said. “But if we distribute the students who need more intervention, equally throughout all the classrooms, my concern personally is losing some students simply because I am dividing my attention 27 ways instead of 20 ways.

The reduction of one period would also mean that East and Lakota West students will not be able to take as many classes they have been

“My concern personally is losing some students simply because I am dividing my attention 27 ways instead of 20 ways.”

REDUCERESTRUCTURE

Time For a Change infographic shivang patel

1

12

1

2012-13

3

3

9

10

2011-12

11

9

12

2

10

11

2

9

9

able to this year.

“I know I need to take health, gym and performing arts classes next year, in order to meet graduation requirements, but that may be harder with only 6 periods next year,” East freshman Abby Schwetschenau said.

Like many students, there are parents in the community who are unhappy and concerned that the reduction to six instructional periods will hurt students’ education in Lakota.

“I understand the need, I understand the cost benefit, but it’s not what I want to happen, as a taxpayer and as a parent,” said Tanya Jolliffe, whose children have and are attending Lakota. “I will make sure my sophomore gets the same education as my child, who graduated did, but I am not sure every child [in Lakota] will have that.

The course offerings for the 2012-13 school year will be driven by students’ enrollment in classes according to Kline.

Student athletes, however, are required to take at least five instructional periods of learning in order to be eligible to play an interscholastic sport.

Athletes, marching band members and cheerleaders also may have the option to be exempt from the 0.5 physical education (PE) credit requirement for graduation. If the proposed changes are approved, students who participate in two full season of interscholastic athletics, marching band or cheerleading will have a PE waiver.

Schwetschenau, who plays soccer for East, said that this is will a nice option for her and she might take this opportunity in order to take other classes instead of PE. Currently, Lakota students have the flexibility to enroll in post secondary education option and take classes correspondently. With the new changes, Lakota seniors will have even more flexibility in their schedule for the upcoming school year, as they will only have to take as many courses needed to meet graduation requirements.

“This credit flexibility] may give [seniors] enough latitude to do the Post Secondary Enrollment Option (PSEO) or work, do some internships, and gain that valuable experience,” Kline said. “We see this option for students that may open more doors.”

This flexibility may allow students more diverse opportunities their senior year. According to a Spark survey of 585 students, 15 percent of current sophomores and juniors plan on enrolling in PSEO next year.

“If Lakota wants to stay an “excellent” school district, it shouldn’t require the bare minimum for seniors,” Joyner said.

Regardless of their age difference, both Joyner and Jolliffe feel that Lakota will not be the district it once was due to cuts.

“I wish to see the community come together and value the education they have,” Jolliffe said. “I think there have been 10 years of excellence

7:30 a.m. to 2:39 p.m.

8:05 a.m. to 2:40 p.m.

6:39 6:05 hours

minutes

of instruction

hours

minutes

of instruction

Over the course of a school year, students would receive approximately 100 fewer hours or 15 fewer school days of instruction *Freshman campuses would start and end 15 minutes earlier.

and [the community] doesn’t have anything to compare it with. They take it for granted. They don’t stop to look at other districts and see where they could go. Even though [Little Miami Local School District] was in our backyard they didn’t pay attention.”

–Shivang Patel

F ATHLETICS MAINTAINING PARTICIPATION Maintain $500,000 contribution from General Fund Only internal cuts Maintain pay-to-play fees Junior high sports continue to be self-sufficient These changes are not part of the $10.9 million in cuts

TOTAL REDUCTIONS $1.6 MILLION

or people like Hopewell Junior School athletic director Tom Howard, fall means more than the start of school and colder weather. It means the beginning of 13-hour school days spent teaching math as well as managing junior high athletics. It means time spent ordering buses, supervising home events, counting money earned, scheduling games, keeping track of which groups use the building and stocking the concession stands. Howard is exceedingly busy trying to balance his schedule.

If proposed cuts from the Lakota Local School District to the athletic budget are approved, Howard will loose his position as a junior high athletic director. His position would be absorbed by East associate athletic director Craig Ulland, who would be taking on the busy schedule of Howard and the Liberty Junior School athletic director, all while trying to help maintain high school athletics.

The administration has proposed cuts of $315,000 in order to maintain the districts athletic budget within the funding from the combination of athletic revenues and the $500,000 provided by the general fund. Essentially, cuts will occur to athletics but athletics will continue to receive $500,000 from the general fund. These cuts will be accomplished by removing an athletic trainer, 16 coaching contracts, one

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 19

REDUCERESTRUCTURE personnel in athletic maintenance, and four junior high athletic directors, along with decreasing the amount spent in game help support, awards and communications.

According to executive director of business operations Chris Passarge, the proposed athletic cuts differ from the other cuts presented in the attempt to decrease the districts $9 million deficit. For this school year, athletics is currently using a reserve fund to help pay for some costs.

Due to the depletion of this reserve fund, cuts will have to be made next year in order to make athletics internally balanced. “[The administration] is going to reduce some positions and some opportunities so we want to include [athletic cuts in the proposals] even though it’s not part of the $9 million,” Passarge said. “The board could come back and say ‘we want [athletics] to be part of the $9 million’ which means we would have to do farther reductions within athletics, beyond what we already proposed.”

Passarge’s goal when making cuts to the athletic budget was to refrain from raising the pay-to-play prices for athletes. In the 2011-12 school year, participation fees for high school and junior high students rose from $300 to $550 and $200 to $350, respectively. With the increase in price, junior high sports are now completely self funded and the general fund contribution for athletics decreased from $1.5 million to $500,000 per year. Now all the money from the general fund goes directly to high school athletics. In addition, the family cap and sport fee waivers were removed. Due to these cuts, athletics saw a significant decrease in participation in sports, something Passarge does not want to occur again.

“The feedback I got from the community group about a year ago was if you go above $550 athletics as we know it at Lakota would probably going be nonexistent,” Passarge said.

In order to maintain participations rates, Passarge looked for other methods of cutting. One way to do so was by reducing personnel. If the Lakota Board of Education approves the proposal, The associate athletic directors for both East and Lakota West will take over the duties currently controlled by the junior high athletic directors. This would save the district $33,375 combined for all four junior high athletic directors.

Howard was surprised when he learned of the proposal to reduce his position.

“The $350 the students paid [this year] made us selfsufficient, meaning we paid for all costs associated with junior high school athletics directly -Lakota Executive Director from the fees the students paid,” Howard said. “My reaction was of Business Operations ‘how are we saving any money Chris Passarge if we don’t cost [the district] any money?’ [The junior high athletic directors] were never asked our opinion. It seems to me the best people to ask about what needs to be done are the people directly involved in the daily operation.”

Both Howard and Ulland agree that it will be difficult to have the high school’s associate athletic directors pick up the extra work.

“It’s definitely going to be a challenge and it’s something we aren’t used to,” Ulland said. “But we have to adapt to the challenge that faces us. We will take it head on and do the best that we can.”

Aside from the reduction of athletic directors in the district, if the proposal were to pass, 12 supplemental coaching contracts will be removed at both East and Lakota West. All position cuts were dispersed evenly throughout the two high schools.

Although some high school coaches will be let go, many of the

“If you go above $550 [for pay-to-play], athletics as we know it at Lakota would probably be non-existent.”

20 | Spark | March 12, 2012

East freshman athletic director Craig Ulland will have to assume more responsibilities in the upcoming school year

teams’ head coaches are avoiding having to choose a coach to dismiss.

For instance, during the 2011-12 year, both the East varsity assistant bowling coach and varsity assistant quiz team position were not filled, even though they originally had been budgeted for. Next year those positions will not be budgeted for at all and is thus considered a savings.

East varsity head track coach John Lindeman feels his team needs the current amount of coaches due to the large number of athletic participation in track and the specialization of each coach. He plans to maintain all of his coaching staff through fundraising in order to continue to pay for that additional coach without the district’s funding.

Lindeman hopes to pay that particular coach as close as he can to the amount the district would have.

“It’s kind of hard to ask kids and parents that are paying $550 already to do [fundraising],” Lindeman said. “If you have to do it to get coaches, there is nothing else you can do. We are all very specialized in what we do. You need [a coach] there everyday in those positions if you want to be the best at it.”

Aside from cutting coaches and athletic directors, Passarge also felt a natural cut was the athletic trainer at Lakota West. Currently Atrium Medical Center provides East trainers through an agreement. Similar to other school across the southwest Ohio area, Atrium works in East for no charge. Atrium benefits because they receive free advertising.

Passarge hopes to pick up the same model at West saving the district $100,515.

“Its beneficial on both sides,” Passarge said. “You’re looking at a few hundred thousand dollars in training services that they provide to us on an annual basis at no cost.”

Through the proposal, the administration hopes to save additional money with small savings in various areas. Reduction in communications, by removing phones that employees are not using, would save $2,500. An additional $11,000 would be saved by discontinuing the awards program at East, which includes letters at the end of an athlete’s season.

While Passarge believes these cuts have little effect on the students, Passarge does have a few worries about the reduction of contracted services, a smaller cut that would only result in $7,323 in savings.

Contracted services includes personnel who work scoreboards, ticket takers, announcers and police security. The largest amount of reduction in this category would come from the reduction of the security.

Bryant believes that this is not an ideal situation to have at a high school.

“Some people will look at that like ‘is that the safest thing to do?’ but we aren’t in a perfect world or perfect financial situation right now,” Bryant said.

East school resource officer deputy Doug Hale acknowledges that there are some difficulties with enabling Bryant to reduce the amount of

officers at games, but fully supports helping the districts needs.

“You have to adjust to the times. If [Lakota] is in money problems I don’t mind helping the district out,” Hale said. “So if I can reduce one or two deputies working, I’m knocking one or two deputies out of money and I hate that, but then again, I have got to think of the people here.”

Bryant plans to make up for the lack in police officers by staffing teachers as security at games. Although the teachers would be paid, according to Bryant, it will result in 75 percent savings.

DISTRICT-WIDE REDUCE AND RESTRUCTURE 49.88 positions will be eliminated Reduction to one school resource officer for each township Reduction of 13.15 clinic aides and 11 school nurses Reduction of both Dean of Students positions

A

TOTAL REDUCTIONS $3.5 MILLION

lready below Ohio and comparative school districts’ average, the Lakota Local School District may have even fewer administrators next year if the administration’s proposal is passed. Reductions announced at the administrative level will cut into all departments at Lakota Central Office and result in approximately 50 positions being reduced, amounting to about $3.5 million in savings.

At the March 5 Lakota Board of Education meeting, each department head from Central Office announced the potential cuts to their departments.

Treasurer Jenni Logan said that the Treasurer’s Department may lose three employees with restructuring of current positions.

The responsibilities of the payroll manager will be assumed by the consolidation of the current accounting manager position to accountant/ payroll administrator. Another consolidation will occur by moving another accountant to the position of chief budgetary administrator.

The Business Operation’s Department, headed by Executive Director Chris Passarge oversees a variety of areas from transportation to athletics to grounds management. Five positions could be reduced from transportation, most notably one school resource officer.

In the past, schools in both Liberty Township and West Chester Township had two school resource officers, until one of the officers for Liberty Township was reduced. The current proposal will take the reductions one step further by eliminating one of the two school resource officer in West Chester.

“One of the things I wanted to make sure is understood from the operation standpoint is that we always look for efficiencies. We are never stagnant, always looking for opportunities,” Passarge said.

Curriculum will be the hardest hit, due to the restructuring of the entire department. According to Secondary Curriculum Assistant Superintendent Ron Spurlock, this department is responsible for

While individuals such as Bryant are fearful of the affects the cuts will have, audience members voiced concern over the amount of cuts being made in athletics. Passarge emphasized to those that dislike the athletic cuts, the proposal is not final.

“Its a proposal. It’s the first stab at it,” Passarge said. “It may not be the final outcome of what happens. “For me it was just trying to keep opportunities available at the lowest possible price.”

–Kaitlin Lange

curriculum, instruction and assessment. Spurlock said that in the coming years, this department’s main task will be moving Lakota onto the Common Core curriculum, which will be a “monumental” task.

“There is a lot of work going into the core standards and teachers will need help. There not one plan that I have in front of me that I love.”

Spurlock said.

If the cuts are approved by the Board, the curriculum department will lose 19 positions. This will include consolidating two curriculum directors into one position and reducing six media specialists across the District to two specialists. Another reduction will be removing 10 English as a Second Language (ESL) Aides from the ESL department and placing them as aides in other departments.

The Special Services Department will also face reductions, with the elimination of 18.35 positions. Special Services encompasses special education, student services and gifted education, and it must comply with a variety of federal laws to service these students.

Next year, caseloads for special needs classrooms would be maximized, clinic aides and licensed school nurses will be reduced in lieu of full-time “To everyone registered nurses (RN).

Community member Sherri who voted no Hunkenmuller expressed her concern for for the levy, the change in nurse policy. She explained who refused that although RNs are licensed by the to put up a state of Ohio, they may not be prepared levy sign in for the workload of a school nurse. She took a job as a clinic aide with a registered their yard, or nurse license and then decided to return who failed to to school to become certified by the Ohio talk to their Department of Education to be a school neighbor about nurse. “[School nurses] go to be licensed so the importance we can be helpful to school, community of the levy, and educators, not just to hand out how dare you medications and first aid. Just having one to shirt your licensed school nurse for Lakota would be responsibility very detrimental,” she said.

One community member received to the children applause throughout the auditorium with of this their assessment of Lakota’s current community.” financial situation.

-Lakota “I think we need to be reminded that community it is a community responsibility to educate member our kids,” she said. “To everyone who voted no for the levy, who refused to put up a levy sign in their yard, or who failed to talk to their neighbor about the importance of the levy, how dare you to shirk your responsibility to the children of this community. The administration is doing what they can with what they have.”

-Rachel Podnar

*As of press time, supplemental and other remaining reductions have not been proposed to the Lakota Board of Education and the community, and the Board will vote on all proposed reductions on March 12.

news | STEAM2

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story sean lewis infographic and photo jeff back

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ith several assessments of K-12 students over the past several years showing that the United States has been severely lagging behind other nations in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), revamping the way high schools look at education in these fields has become a top priority. Notwithstanding, the U.S. Commerce Department predicts that STEM jobs in this country will grow by 17 percent by 2018.

In recognition of the education struggle, President Obama launched the Educate to Innovate campaign to promote the STEM initiative and change the way this country perceives education. The education movement includes efforts from the federal government, leading companies, non-profit organizations and science-based societies to support the needs of STEM education in K-12.

Due to the increasing demand for STEM careers, the Lakota Local School District is moving toward incorporating engineering and medical courses into the curriculum. East principal Dr. Keith Kline addresses the point that because Ohio’s common core education requirements are changing in three years, there is no better time to begin revamping curriculum than now.

“When we change standards, you just don’t flip the switch,” Kline said. “Starting out a couple years from the deadline is just good practice.”

STEAM is a variation of STEM that adds the arts into the framework. The recent upgrade to the STEM framework embraces the idea that students today struggle with making classroom-based education relevant in the face of the constant bombardment of what they perceive in the media.

According to a recent proposal, Lakota envisions each student as a “creative and innovative designer who employs creativity, creative problem solving and the design process to create and design solutions to personal and real-world problems.”

Lakota proposes not just to implement

22 | Spark | March 12, 2012

the STEM initiative, but a further-developed 2 STEAM curriculum that adds medical studies and allied health professions into the mix. The district plants to introduce nine new courses 2 covered by the STEAM curriculum. In regards to financing the innovative measures, Butler Technology and Career Development Schools is projected to partner with Lakota so that these courses can be funded and taught.

2 The STEAM classes proposed at the high school level include pathway to engineering and biomedical science, planned to be taught at East and Lakota West respectively.

“STEM careers are becoming more relevant and are in high demand,” elementary education assistant superintendent Lon Stettler said. “The goal of the biomedical and the engineering programs is to give students the opportunity to become creative thinkers.”

Oakwood High School in Dayton, Ohio was praised for its strategic implementation of Project Lead the Way (PLTW), a national preengineering curriculum based on partnerships with businesses and industry. PLTW allows students to earn college credits while also practically applying the skills they learn in the classroom, teaching them invaluable skills, techniques and the experience needed to excel in STEM fields.

“They’re synthesizing their learning. You don’t know what kind of technology is going to be out there in five years when our kids are out of college,” Oakwood High School principal Paul Waller said. “They need to know how to problem-solve and work with each other. That’s how they are going to have to work when they get a job someday.”

The emphasis relies on teaching students practical application of knowledge and leaving behind the lecture-based school day that struggles with keeping students focused and applied to learning. Waller underscores the idea that the highly advanced and connective curriculum not only allows students to earn college credits, but also to develop vital problem-solving skills.

“We have private engineering companies

that actually hire our students to do work.

Right now, we have a contract with a company that is having our students do the design work.

We introduce our students to internships. It’s all problem solving; that’s the biggest skill our kids [learn].”

The entire curriculum approach is not just different for the students, but also largely different for the way teachers run their classroom. Tony Rainsberger, Oakwood teacher of introduction to engineering design, principles of engineering and the school’s independent studies program explains that the majority of his lecture-based work occurs after the school day has ended. By using video capture software, he is able to demonstrate to students how to use a variety of different engineering software and serve the lessons to them over the web.

Rainsberger believes that the ability to work with students one-on-one is lost whenever educators spend the whole time at the board. By making it possible for the students to learn after school, Rainsberger can circulate around the classroom and help students who are struggling.

“It’s a well-rounded education.

Specialization is highly necessary since we’re a small school. If you’re able to specialize, you stand out,” Oakwood senior Logan Minard said. “I’m learning stuff that most kids don’t get until college.”

Schools are encouraged to act smart and maintain balance in their implementation of STEM-based curricula. According to Rainsberger, if schools taught just applicationbased classes, the reverse problem would exist.

“There are students interested in engineering that come to me and ask whether they should take Engineering or AP Physics; I tell them to take AP Physics first,” Rainsberger said. “Engineering helps with generating interest and with the design process, but when you hit that freshman calculus-based physics class in college, you’ll have to get through that to be the engineer. Students need to be balanced.” n

engineering the future

information logan minard, tony rainsberger, kelsey rieger, molly rubins, pltw.org, gxsc.com, padtmarket.com, epiloglaser.com, uprint3dprinting.com, and ti.audax.si

In a recent proposal to the Lakota Board of Education, East and Liberty principals Dr. Keith Kline and Robb Vogelmann suggested that Lakota adopt Project Lead the Way (PLTW), a program promoting the advancement of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in middle and high schools

Ohio

PLTW

PROJECT LEAD THE WAY

since 1997. The pair visited Oakwood City Schools, which implemented PLTW two years ago. Oakwood has since completely revamped its industrial arts workshop, purchasing several engineering machines and filling a laboratory with 25 iMac computers loaded with engineering software.

Epilog Legend Mini 24 Laser

uPrint SE Plus 3D Printer what it does:

3D printers allow engineers to produce professional-quality models made of recyclable plastic on a small scale.

how oakwood uses it: Students create computer designs of projects using Autodesk Inventor software and print 3D plastic models in their workshop.

how much it costs: The uPrint SE 3D Print Pack starts at $15,900. The Plus model, which prints 30 percent faster and 33 percent larger, starts at $20,900.

Support Cleaning Apparatus what it does: The Support Cleaning Apparatus (SCA) makes cleaning the excess support material from 3D printers possible.

how oakwood uses it: After printing a 3D model, students place the object in the SCA and wait for the support material to dissolve.

how much it costs: The SCA, which comes in 110 and 220 volt models, ranges in price from $2,500 to $3,000.

what it does:

how oakwood uses it:

how much it costs:

This laser engraver uses CO2 laser tubes to engrave into almost any material with extremely high precision.

Students program a design and then send the design to the laser to engrave or cut wood, plastic and glass.

The Mini 24 comes in 35, 40 and 45 watt models which cost $17,000, $18,500, and $20,000.

Finding Project Lead the Way Within 50 miles of East, there are 80 schools that are part of Project Lead the Way in some form. Some notable ones are: Winton Woods High School Oakwood High School Wyoming High School Milford High School Harrison High School Lawrenceburg High School Simon Kenton High School East Central High School

feature | student profile

East sophomore John Buczek has spent time serving the community through volunteerism.

MAN WITH A MISSION story rachel hartwick photos sierra whitlock and provided by buczek family

The Buczek family gave up its Christmas morning traditions to serve the homeless of downtown Cincinnati. East sophomore John Buczek makes an effort to share the lessons he learned with his peers and the Lakota community.

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His dirt-stained, foul-smelling feet are all that are visible between huge shining windows and a gleaming escalator. He lay on the floor in a tiny nook nowhere near big enough for a good night’s sleep. He had most likely trekked alone for hours in the biting winter wind to make it to the warmth of a hotel where he could not even afford to stay, just for one decent meal.

It is 10 o’clock on Christmas morning, and the homeless man is alone and asleep.

Shocked at the sight of the man, East sophomore John Buczek’s heart pounds with the realization that many underprivileged people spend their Christmases alone and without any food. Buczek makes his way through the vast entrance of The Westin hotel in downtown Cincinnati with his parents and three sisters by his side, prepared to help people in situations similar to that of the homeless man.

“Every year my parents try to make it clear to us that Christmas is not about receiving, it is about giving,” Buczek says. “This was the first year that we proved that.”

And it was the “best Christmas” he had ever had.

That day, Buczek’s family spent more than seven hours at The Westin hotel on Christmas 2011 setting up a buffet line, serving hot meals,

24 | Spark | March 12, 2012

cleaning up and making conversation with the strangers.

As the freezing, hungry families began to file in from all over Cincinnati, Buczek noticed a contrast between the needy people who made their way inside and the high-class interior of The Westin, which had teamed up with Mercy Health-St. John to provide holiday meals to the poverty-stricken portion of the community that came to the hotel.

“Some [people] were wearing the only clothes they had,” Buczek says. “[They] had all their possessions in a bag.”

According to The Westin general manager Wayne Bodington, 55 volunteers served 700 people that day, including more than 100 children.

“The saddest thing for me was seeing how many little kids were there,” John’s sister and East senior Michaela Buczek says. “They had Santa there for the kids [with] presents. I looked at [what I got for] my Christmas, [then] I looked at the little dollar game they got. They were so excited.”

John, who spent most of the day serving ham in a buffet line, says that every person he served was appreciative. He specifically remembers a blue-sweatered man who was “just so full of life,” cracking jokes as he made his way down the line. “[The homeless] were actually optimistic for the most part,” he says.

“You could tell even the shy ones were very grateful them food so they had something to eat over the for what [the volunteers] were doing.” weekend.”

Though it was the first year John had ever left While balancing his time between honors and home on Christmas day to volunteer, it was not Advanced Placement classes, lacrosse, and helping the first time he had done something special for out the disadvantaged, John also worked for months underprivileged strangers during the holiday season. with his friend, fellow Impact 21 member and East John and his family give up their time and energy junior Hannah Cedargren to organize an event for every holiday season, helping others by donating a motivational speaker to advocate good morals to coats, making Christmas care baskets at church and the youth at a local entertainment center, The Web buying toys for poverty-stricken kids.

Extreme Entertainment.

“We’ve always tried to do something around “We put so much time into this, both John and Christmastime for somebody else. [While our I,” Cedargren says. “We probably met at Chipotle or family is] opening thousands of dollars [worth] of Panera four or five times, and we’d be there four to gifts, there are people that are hungry, not getting five hours. [Customers] would come and go, [but] anything, and don’t even have family,” Sue Buczek, we’d stay there, and we’d keep on working.”

John’s mom, says. “This year I really wanted to try Although the project ended up falling through to do something different, and when [I heard about because of budgetary issues, Cedargren says that this opportunity to volunteer], I knew that was it.”

John’s motivation to get the project underway For John, volunteering at The Westin caused him makes him “probably the most driving force in the to sacrifice not only his time to celebrate Christmas, entire [Impact 21] program.” but also time to celebrate his 16th birthday, which John plans to continue providing his service to fell on the same day. those who need it. He is signed up to partake in the “When most people hear that [my birthday is on Lakota East Relay for Life event on May 25, an allChristmas] they’re like ‘oh, that stinks,’” John, says. night walk on the East track to raise money to find “But I enjoy it. I wouldn’t change it if I had the a cure for cancer. He also plans to team up with chance.”

Cedargren and the WLC to start an anti-bullying John’s family believes that his heartwarming awareness program at local schools. attitude every Christmas “proves what good “Helping others and volunteering [is] a big part character he has.” of my life,” John explains. “I can’t lose sight of how “I have a few friends [who have] birthdays on Christmas, and I have unfortunate and disadvantaged people [are.]” heard every single one of them complain about how their birthday is Serving as a role model to those around him, John inspires good ‘overshadowed’ by the holiday,” John’s sister and sophomore at the morals in his peers and family.

University of Cincinnati, Katie Buczek, says. “With John, I have never “Even though [John] is my little brother, he is my role model, and heard anything close to that. John feels lucky that he is able to share his I strive to be just like him,” Katie says. “He always puts others before birthday with a holiday that has so much meaning to our family and has himself and never hesitates to help anyone.” never complained one bit.”

John reflects on what he could have done for the man he saw lying John continues to let his selfless personality shine year-round. next to the escalator at the The Westin.

He participates in volunteer events annually, such as fish fries at Saint “If it was in my power, I wish I could have given the man a warm coat, Maximilian Kolbe Church and walks at Kings Island for the Juvenile blanket, and a family to enjoy Christmas with,” he says. “[His condition] Diabetes Research Foundation. just didn’t seem right. I need to do my part to give back to people.” n In addition, he is a proud member of the J. Kyle Braid Katie, Michaela, Lauren and John Buczek serving those in need at the buffet line at Leadership Foundation, a program The Westin hotel’s Christmas Day Initiative. for selected sophomores that aims to improve the community through service.

Currently, he devotes much of his time to Impact 21, a communitybased group sponsored by the West Chester Liberty Chamber Alliance that aims to teach high schoolers how to serve as leaders in the community.

Recently, Impact 21 worked with Butler County United Way’s Women’s Leadership Council (WLC) at the Shared Harvest Food Bank to fill 2,500 bags for the BackPack Program and 1,950 boxes of food for senior citizens. “[For the BackPack Program] we packed bags of food for disadvantaged kids [who usually get] free lunch at school during the week,” John explains. “We gave

“Every year my parents try to make it clear to us that Christmas is not about receiving, it is about giving.

This was the first year that we proved that.”

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 25

feature | dart

All the World’s a Stage

East senior Carly Wilso, who has taken on numerous roles in high school theatre, hopes to take that passion to a professional level.

After being a swimmer for more than eight years, East senior Carly Wilson is stepping out of the water and taking on a more gratifying, extravagant role as an actress. Her confidence in and determination to pursue a career in the theater, along with support from her family and friends, makes her one step closer to her dream.

A

story christina wilkerson | photos kenzie walters Acting is a far-fetched dream, and only a handful of people ever really make it in the industry. But East senior Carly Wilson is confident that she will be one of those people.

She didn’t always think acting was her calling, however. She didn’t decide that she wanted to act until her freshman year of high school when she chose it over swimming, which had been her passion for more than eight years.

“It was a difficult decision, but I liked being on stage more than being in the pool,” Wilson says. “It’s the best feeling when the audience gives you a standing ovation. I love performing because it makes people happy; it gives me a good feeling.”

In fact, she likes performing so much that she hopes that one day people will see her on a TV sitcom like Friends or a movie that is based on a true story like Marley and Me. She knows, however, that a dream like this will not simply be handed to her.

Through her work with the John

26 | Spark | March 12, 2012

Casablancas Modeling and Career Center, located in Cincinnati, Wilson has grown in multiple aspects that are not limited to acting.

From improvisations to monologues to runway walking, she has done it all.

In addition to auditioning for an independent film, Carly has also auditioned for East productions. She was an ensemble member for East’s It Happens Every Summer and Really Rosie during her freshman year and Pinocchio and Oliver! during her junior year. This year, however, she received her first speaking role as Maureen in Honk Jr. Another step that Wilson has taken toward her dream of being an actress is her participation in the 2011 LeadAmerica conference this past summer in New York. Wilson spent the last week of July at Fordham University meeting new people, attending Broadway shows, and learning about the “different ways of working in the theater.”

Her love of theater and Broadway is

nothing new, though. According to her mother, Nancy Wilson, Carly has been exposed to it her whole life.

“We have always been a family that enjoys the arts,” Nancy says. “Carly has been attending Broadway shows since she was very young.”

Carly says that she has been singing ever since she learned how to speak. Her twin brother, East senior Clay Wilson, can attest to that, as he often hears her singing in the shower or rehearsing monologues in her room.

Ever since Carly became more involved with theater during her freshmen year, it has become obvious to those who are close to her that she has changed—for the better.

“I think Carly is very open-minded and considerate of all people,” Nancy says.

Each issue the Spark staff picks a random East student and covers a unique aspect of his or her life.

“Having a [unique interest] has given Carly an appreciation not only for the arts, but also for artistic people.”

By developing this new perspective, Carly has found the missing piece of her life that ultimately has given her the happiness that swimming could not.

“It’s really cool that Carly has been able to find that thing that makes her happy.” Clay says. “Acting has made her more social.”

Performing in front of her family and close friends makes Carly anything but uncomfortable. Even auditioning in front of talent scouts that she has never met before does not faze her. Carly does say, however, that the one person she is nervous about performing in front of is East theater director Kristen Statt because it is a situation in which Carly feels the pressures of beating her competition and impressing her director.

Statt believes that although auditioning for a school play is extremely nerve wracking for Carly, her experience in theater gives her an advantage.

“She has done it enough times that she’s confident enough,” Statt says. “It’s about having that experience.”

But whatever outcome may result from her auditions, Carly remains optimistic.

“I just tell myself that no matter what happens, I did my best,” she says.

Her positive attitude reflects her work ethic and makes her a reliable part of the theater family.

“Carly’s a hard worker and she’s enjoyable to work with,” Statt says. “She’s definitely the kind of actor you can count on to do a good job.”

As an actress, Carly is expected to be able to handle change, whether it is a change in roles or a change in costumes. But she surprised many when she showed that she could effortlessly handle a change as drastic as the passing of her father two years ago.

Although her parents divorced when she and Clay were just six years old and the twins’ relationship with their father was not very strong, his death was still a tragic obstacle for her to overcome. “[Life] is almost harder now because I feel bad for not being as close to him before,” Carly

herself from her dad being gone.”

With the help of acting, Carly has learned more about herself and she has maintained a positive attitude not only in theatre, but also in all aspects of her life. This strengthened positive outlook has helped Carly to focus on what she has rather than what she does not.

“Carly has handled [her father’s death] with a dignity and maturity that makes me so proud,” Nancy says. “Even though she still carries the sadness, she has channeled it [positively]. She is extremely kind and caring, and she truly has empathy for all. It has helped her to value all

“Having a [unique interest] has given Carly an appreciation not only for the arts, but also for artistic people.” says. “But at the same time, it has definitely made me a stronger person.”

In this way, her father’s death is much like a stepping-stone for her in becoming a stronger actress, and her best friend, East senior Jenna Braun, believes so too.

“Carly is an extremely strong person. [With] everything she has been through, she has kept her composure and she powers through,” Braun says. “[Acting] allows her to distract

of her relationships and to never take those relationships for granted.”

At this point in Carly’s life, she can only go up. No matter what direction her life takes her, Carly’s only concern is to simply enjoy the ride while doing what makes her happy.

And acting is what makes her happy.

“Theater is the most important thing in my life right now,” she says. “It’s what I want to do with the rest of my life.” n

BOTH: Wilson stands in front of the Aronoff Center in downtown Cincinnati where she hopes to one day have the opportunity to perform.

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 27

sMARI

DESIGNS

feature | cool places

sMari Designs, owned by Marianne Dunham and daughter Allie, opened in 2001 and is located in the Streets of West Chester and offers unique, handcrafted accessories and home furnishings.

story laura shrake | photos ellen fleetwood

T

he Streets of West Chester plaza buzzes with life on any given Friday and Saturday night. Customers mill around the bistro style of Bravo’s Italian restaurant, the bright lights of Rave Motion Pictures, and the welcoming atmosphere of Barnes and Noble.

As they stroll down the boulevard past clothing stores and an ice cream shop, the shoppers will find the unique and artistic ambiance of sMari Designs.

After almost two years in the plaza, the boutique is quickly becoming a destination store of anyone looking for a creative and oneof-a-kind gift.

“This location was a perfect fit because there’s really not any gifts like ours in this plaza,” sMari’s owner and sole proprietor Marianne Dunham says. “I didn’t want to be in your typical plaza, I wanted something really quaint. So when this became available, it was perfect.”

Standing out in the 2,500 square feet of sMari’s décor is its hand-made jewelry. Initially

28 | Spark | March 12, 2012

marketed through local craft shows such as those at East and Lakota West, Dunham and her daughter, East senior Allie Dunham, fell head-over-heels for the craft of designing jewelry.

“I’ve been making jewelry for 21 years, and have [participated] in craft shows since day one,” Marianne says. “The thing about jewelry

“[Opening sMari] made me decide what I want to do with my life.”

LEFT: Marianne Dunham opened her dream store after the popularity her jewelry designs had at the Lakota Craft show.

ABOVE: Marianne and her Daughter, Allie.

HERE: The Dunham’s store sells not only their handmade jewelry, but also home decor.

Each issue the Spark staff picks an interesting, eclectic place to feature.

is that I can change it up whenever I want. I can completely change my style with the trends.”

After finding their jewelry to be a huge hit among the craft show customers, Marianne and Allie thought to open their own shop.

“We’ve always wanted to open up our own gift shop, which with the bad economy was a pretty gutsy move,” Marianne says. “But my husband works in commercial real estate, so he helped us find this perfect place, and we’ve been doing phenomenally. Much better than we expected to do in the first year or so.”

Now acting as the virtual co-owner and manager of sMari Designs, Allie was a large contributing factor to the opening of the store.

“What gave us the encouragement to start the store was our popularity [at the craft shows],” Allie says. “We were one of the biggest, most popular jewelry vendors at the craft show, so we knew our store could survive.”

Marianne, a stay-at-home mother of 21 years, was looking for something to pass the time at home when she stumbled upon what is

a good price range is the name of the game when walking through the showrooms of vendors.

“We usually zero in on a lot of hostess gifts,” Marianne says. “A lot of people want quick little gifts that aren’t too expensive. [For that reason,] a lot of our prices are under $25. [Our customers] don’t want to spend much, they just want a nice little trinket or a unique gift for a good friend. If your prices are too high, you won’t survive.”

This business lesson is well received by Marianne’s daughter. Allie plans to go to school for business and being the manager for sMari has given her excellent hands-on experience on how to run a business in its entirety. Whether Allie is marketing, paying the rent, updating their customer loyalty program, or training the other five employees, she is undoubtedly preparing herself for college.

“This was my first job, but I just jumped right in,” Allie says. “I graduated in January so I have a lot more responsibilities now. There’s a lot more to focus on, but I’m getting great experience. I’ve become more responsible. I can talk to people better and have much better communication skills because I have to know how to talk to the customers and how to handle different situations, and our customers really like when you remember them if they come back again.”

Customers such as Melinda Robank find the store to be fun, pretty and peaceful, but exciting at the same time. Robank enjoys sMari’s extensive stock and selection, which allows her to find unique gifts for many people in one visit to the store.

As Allie pursues a degree in business, she will take the assets of knowing how to run and manage a business with her. According to Allie, opening the shop made her decide her interests and career path. “[Opening sMari] made me decide what I want to do with my life,” Allie says. “I was playing around with law and medicine, but when we came into this, I was like, this is what I want to do. I want to do what I’m doing now in the future.”

Allie’s goal, despite her mother’s opposition, is to make sMari a chain of retail stores. She strives to make what was once a craft show hit into a well known name around the country.

However, the name seems to attract enough attention all by itself.

“Well my name is Marianne, and my nickname is Mari,” Marianne says. “It started in high school when this guy started putting an ‘s’ on the beginning of girls’ names. I was sMari, there was sMegan, sLisa, and it was all a big joke, but everybody just called me sMari.

So when I started the business and was brainstorming names, my husband said, ‘you’re sMari, so just name it sMari.’”

Balancing the buzz of the Streets of West Chester with an artistic, welcoming, and quaint aura, sMari Designs is has been labeled by its owners as “uniquely creative.” A phrase to live by in the Dunham household. n

sMari Samples

infographic rahul mukherjee

Earring Materials Used: pewter, glass pearls, eye pin, sterling silver french ear hook Cost of Product: $14.00

Bracelet Materials Used: pewter, glass pearls, beadalon Cost of Product: $29.00

Necklace Materials Used: pewter, glass pearls, beadalon Cost of Product: $36.00

information provided by sMari

now her life’s work.

“I got bored at home but still wanted to be a stay at home mom,” Marianne says. “My sister worked for a little gift shop in up-state New York and a little corner of it was a section of beads, so one day she showed me how to make a pair of earrings, and I have been hooked every since. I thought it was so cool, and so fun. So I thought I would try this [new craft]. I made a [few pieces of jewelry] and everything grew from there.

Basically, I knew Allie would be leaving for school soon, and I’d be an empty-nester… so I decided I needed a new baby. sMari became my new baby.”

The Dunham’s passion was also sparked by a small store in Perrysburg, Ohio. A similarly quaint boutique named Lily’s further inspired Marianne and Allie to start their own unique gift shop with a comparable flair.

“When we were starting up our store, we asked ourselves, would we see this at Lily’s?” Allie says. “[My mom] knew she wanted a store, but Lily’s had jewelry, home décor, and garden, just like we do now but with a different taste. Finding this store was just meant to be.”

Although opening sMari seemed to be the Dunham’s destiny, it has radically changed their family’s lifestyle. The most difficult adjustment for Marianne is no longer being a stay at home mom. After 21 years at home, she has to adjust to unfinished up-keep around the house, her children making their own meals on a regular basis, as well as making sure to occasionally take some time off for herself and family.

While adjusting to these personal changes, sMari Design’s only retail location has flourished.

The family-owned store initially had a focus on jewelry, but has grown to incorporate much more than their hand-made pieces. According to Marianne, what sets sMari apart from other gift shops is a stock unique to its boutique.

“We look for unique things. Everything is handmade and handpicked,” Marianne says. “We also like local artists so I try to support them as much as I can. We try not to carry any of the same lines as other places because we don’t want anything that you could get elsewhere.”

This philosophy makes Kim Roat, one of five other employees at sMari, happy to be working with Marianne and the clientele of the store.

“I’m happy to sell the merchandise that we have here,” Roat says. “You don’t really have to sell it because Marianne does such a good job keeping new stock coming in. It’s a pleasure just to show what we have. And when I’m not busy, I get to be creative and sit down and make jewelry and be with all the pleasant people here.”

To keep sMari’s stock diversified, Marianne and Allie head for the Atlanta Market twice a year for six days.

It is like a massive shopping spree: three buildings, each with 20 floors full of vendors and products from which to choose. Most of the products stocked in sMari designs come from this market, which fills their store for most of the year.

Picking and choosing unique, quality items within

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 29

feature | teacher feature

THE HEAVY METAL MENTOR story jasmine tuazon photos ellen fleetwood infographic irfan ibrahim

East metals teacher, Jesse Dornan inspires and motivates art students all while fulfilling his dream as an educator. Dornan’s efforts have contributed to the extreme success of the program, which is ranked number one in the state.

I

t is not an elaborate sign. The paper taped to the cabinet above his desk hardly stands out amongst an array of artsy notes and senior photos from his former students. It dons a small picture of Walt Disney, beneath it the quote, “If you dream it, you can do it.” Yet no matter how inglorious it may seem, those words represent everything to East metals teacher Jesse Dornan, from his passion for metals to the way he teaches in the art room.

His dream to work with metals, however, has not always existed. At the beginning of his career, Dornan says he knew nothing about metalworking––in fact, he almost never discovered it.

“To get my undergrad in Art Education at Bowling Green State University (BGSU), I had to either take a sculpture class or a jewelry making class,” Dornan says. “To be honest, because the sculpture students had to work outside in the cold of northern Ohio, I thought, ‘I don’t think I’m going to like it, but I’m going to take this jewelry class––at least it’s warm.’”

30 | Spark | March 12, 2012

And despite his skepticism, Dornan fell in love with the craft.

“I was a drawing major,” Dornan says.

“However, I loved how in metals, you had these raw materials––a sheet of metal, a stick of solder, and an array of tools––and using your knowledge you could create the most beautiful works of art.”

From there, Dornan took a second jewelry making class to finish his undergraduate degree at BGSU. He went on to earn his Master’s in Art Education at Miami University, where he took 18 credit hours of metalworking studio classes.

He continued learning new techniques through reading books, researching online and working with various artists.

One such artist is Todd Daniels, a master engraver and jeweler who started working with Dornan when the metals teacher entered Lakota in 2006. He speaks with Dornan’s students about once a year about the career opportunities in jewelry design and manufacturing and to help students practice new skills not before

implemented in the program. According to Daniels, Dornan is an impressive teacher who gives his all to his students.

“The class is exceptionally well-run by a very dedicated teacher who wants to bring a real application of this art form to life,” Daniels says. “Mr. Dornan tirelessly dedicates himself to connecting his students to the many facets of the art world. He exemplifies all the attributes of an outstanding instructor and mentor through his masterful artistic skill, creativity, integrity, motivation and rapport with his students.”

Dornan says that his closeness with his students results from his desire to give them a higher level of self-esteem and the opportunity to do what they want.

“Metals is an escape for [East students], many of whom just like coming in to talk to me,” Dornan says. “I want everyone to be able to learn and feel special when they are in this classroom, so however I can do that, I will do it whether that is learning a new technique for their projects or talking about what is going on

LEFT: East metals teacher Jesse Dornan sits down to work hands on with Ryan Yates (left) and Alec Davis (middle) on projects.

RIGHT: Dornan shows a student how to use a torch, dental tool and third arm to solder a piece of metal.

with [students’] lives.”

East senior Hannah Sigala, who currently takes the third level metals class called Independent Study Metals, attests to Dornan’s dedication to his students.

“Some teachers may listen to what students say and give them cookie-cutter responses, but Mr. Dornan is honest with his students,” Sigala says. “If Mr. Dornan sees that you’re down, he’ll talk to and cheer you up. He talked to me after my shoulder surgery and said I just needed to get through rehab and not rush it.

He’s like a father figure in the school.”

Dornan has always wanted to help East’s metals program grow, from the way he supports his students to the classes and resources themselves.

When he first came to East in 2006, there was one metals class of 18 students. Six years later, the program has grown to six periods with 126 students, who take either Metals I, Advanced Metals or Independent Study Metals.

In his spare time, Dornan also likes to work on his own metals pieces, which he displays in

his home and museums and sells on his online store called Marriage of Metal.

“I have a studio at home, where I usually work in the summers,” Dornan says. “[Metalworking] is something I preach to my students, and if I’m not practicing what I preach, my words would be empty.”

Because he spends so much time helping out his students, Dornan says he is not able to spend much time in the art room working on any of his own pieces, and he has reduced the amount of work he has done for himself.

“Mr. Dornan is helping out students 99 percent of the time,” Sigala says. “He has a lot of stuff he needs to do, but instead he works on what the students need him to do. He told me that he needed to enter pieces into several art shows and that he’s been looking for other jobs to help out, but he’s putting it on the back burner for his students.”

Every year, Dornan works to enter his students into two main art shows, The Scholastics Art and Writing Awards Program and the Governor’s State Show, as well as

several other smaller ones held at local colleges.

“When I first came to East, I wanted to get as many of my students’ pieces into art shows [as possible] to help them and the program get recognized,” Dornan says. “I’ve had to learn how to photograph jewelry well because that’s how the pieces are judged at the national level.

Giving the students the freedom on what they want to make contributes to the program’s status as the best program in the nation.

If students make something they are really passionate about without me putting too many parameters on them, it will turn out really well.”

The various projects that Dornan’s students have “dreamed up” include a flashlight, toy car, and a stick of butter, the latter of which was made by East senior Lauren Buck, who takes Advanced Metals.

“When I first came into the program, I had no idea of all the different things you could do,” Buck says. “On one of our first projects, I came up with some crazy idea that I didn’t think would ever work, but then Mr. Dornan helped me make it. From there, I realized that

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 31

feature | teacher feature you really can do anything and design whatever you want as long as you work for it.”

Even though Dornan has to invest a great deal of time and effort to teach his students both academic and life lessons, this kind of job is just what he has always wanted to do.

“Throughout the years I have had students ask me what my dream job would be if I wasn’t a teacher––as if teaching was a back-up plan for me,” Dornan says. “My reply is, ‘This is my dream job! I have the opportunity to help all of you seek out your dreams and stop at nothing until you reach them.’”

Dornan says he has worked hard to fulfill his responsibility to be a role model in his community.

“I have worked hard to live by a standard that my students would admire and respect,” Dornan says. “Now, however, I find that my words are challenging me with the fact that my dream is now out of my hands.”

Because he works in such a specialized and expensive branch of the art department, Dornan often stresses over the possibility of being laid off.

“I’ve had some students who have cried [because the program may get cut],” Dornan says. “I feel guilty that I’d be letting them down [if I left]. I’m here to help students steer away from making bad choices and get through school and family problems.”

From the time he was a teenager, Dornan says he has wanted to be a teacher to be able to give students the opportunities he received from others when he was younger.

The support and happy environment that Dornan provides to his students, however, is a long way from the upbringing he experienced when he was younger.

According to Dornan, he came from a dysfunctional family, wrought with divorce, neglect, alcoholism and physical and mental abuse. His only escape was school, where he could focus on baseball, as well as art.

“I had a junior high art teacher who took the time to stop and talk to me,” Dornan says. “I would tell her about things going on in my life, and she would bring them up a couple days later, asking if things were getting better.

I felt really special in her room––It was my release. [Now as a teacher,] I try to treat my students as my equals and show interest because I honestly care about them.”

Dornan says those who really helped him realize his dreams in his life were the Theis’, a couple in his hometown in Tiffin, Ohio who took him in and guided him as he grew up.

“The Theis’ became the parents that I never had,” Dornan says. “When I was 18, I was sitting at their kitchen table and they asked me, ‘What are your goals in life?’ I said, ‘One day I want to have a family of my own that is simply normal. I want to be able to help kids get through the tough times that I also had to endure in my life.’ They advised me that

METALLIC REVAMP

if I worked hard and let my heart guide me, everything would work itself out.”

As the couple has advised, Dornan has been able to achieve most of his dreams through his persistence and pursuit of his love for metals.

“Fourteen years later, the Theis’ still hold a special place in my family’s heart,” Dornan says. “They helped me gain all the things that I wanted in my life, including becoming a teacher and being married to a wonderful woman, [East ceramics teacher Missy Dornan], with two beautiful girls [Reagan and Riley].”

“They advised me that if I worked hard and let my heart guide me, everything would work itself out.”

Even now, whenever Dornan needs some encouragement and strength to get through the rough times in his life, he will give the Theis’ a call. Other times, he will simply look at the Walt Disney quote on his wall to remind him to keep his dreams alive.

“I have been teaching for ten years and I absolutely love what I do,” Dornan says. “Some people get up every morning and dread going to work. To me, I feel incredibly blessed to be able to have an opportunity to go to work every day, and I enjoy every second of it. I am meant to be a teacher.” n

The East metals program is renowned in the realm of high school art programs, not only because of the students, but the tools they use. Dornan made sure the equipment he got for the class was top of the line.

Flex Shaft- A handheld drill used for either polishing, tweaking or sanding.

1

3

2

Dornan was able to get two more drill presses (1) and three more acetylene tanks (2) in order for more flexibility in annealing, soldering and cutting. Dornan also exclusively uses 1000 grade sandpaper (3) which is superior the standard 50 grade paper in terms of polishing pieces.

Jeweler Saw- Similar to a jig saw, the saw uses a thin disposable blade that can cut the metal outline.

Acetylene Torch- By heating the metal in a process called annealing, the metal becomes bendable and easier to work with.

lifestyle | healthy living

Whether it is a tailgating party, sleepover or night on the town, food is the center of social gatherings. Peers have a surprising influence on diet, adding

PRESSURE ON THE PLATE story morgan bain | photo renee zoe

L

ight laughter fills the room as girls gather around an assortment of junk food and colorful sleeping bags at a Friday night sleepover.

They thoughtlessly grab handfuls of chips and candy, relinquishing all efforts to eat healthy.

Moments like this may have more of an impact on a person’s health than previously thought. Because of pressure from peers, many teens find it hard to make healthy choices. According to a study by Harvard University sociology professor Nicholas Christakis and University of California professor James Fowler, having a friend who gains weight makes an individual 57 percent more likely to do so themselves.

East sophomore Kelly Lumbert views her peers as an influential factor in her life. Beginning this year with the resolution to start eating better, Lumbert feels that most of the time she is influenced positively by her friends, but this is not always the case.

“When I hang out with my friends, they [might] say, ‘Oh, let’s go get some ice cream,’ and I [remind myself] that my goal is to eat healthy,” Lumbert says. “But I end up eating ice cream anyway.”

Of 494 East students surveyed, 34 percent said they bought certain foods due to their friends’ influence at least once.

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center teen nutritionist Mary Pat Turon Findley, who has worked with teens with eating disorders for almost 25 years, says that pressure from friends is often what initiates an individual’s eating disorder.

“One of my patients told me the other day, ‘I was fine until my best friend called me a cow,’” Turon Findley says. “That one little bit of peer pressure takes whatever else is going on in their head and puts it all together, like taking a magnet to a bunch of paper clips.”

East health teacher Mary Ann Boehner agrees that peer pressure can trigger eating disorders, but friends can often become a positive influence on an individual.

A group of friends gather around food, unintentionally influencing each other to indulge in food more.

“Friends can help [an individual] make healthy choices and [can] be examples to [him or her],” Boehner says. “They are also often the ones that [can] see warning signs of an eating disorder.”

As a health teacher, Boehner must be cautious about the ways in which she intervenes in students’ lives.

“When a teacher sees warning signs, [his or her] job is to contact a counselor,” Boehner says. “We are not trained as teachers to guide students properly through difficult times.”

“That one little Though surrounded by peer bit of peer pressure, East senior and varsity pressure takes swimmer Tai Enrico does not let anything discourage him when it comes whatever else is to making healthy decisions. going on in their “My eating habits are more selfhead and puts it driven. If I want to eat a salad, then I all together, like will, and if I want to have a piece of pie, I will,” Enrico says. “But for my taking a magnet exercising habits, it’s a little of both to a bunch of [positive and negative influence].” paper clips.”

Although Enrico is affected by these influences, he works to suppress temptations.

“If one of my friends is going to skip a practice or skip a meet, that’s his call. In the end it’s more what I want to do,” Enrico says. “[My teammates and I] always try to make sure everyone is working hard; it does give me incentive to make it to most practices.”

Enrico is not the only East student whose friends affect his or her dietary decisions.

According to a recent Spark survey of 494 East students, 22 percent of East students said their friends influenced them to be lazier and 33 percent said they were influenced to be healthier, while 45 percent said they were not affected.

East principal Dr. Keith Kline has an optimistic view of students’ health choices at East, saying that the school cafeteria has begun providing more options for students.

“There are a lot of healthier options for kids, but I think our society is more health conscious than what we may have been in the past,” Kline says. “I’d hate to get to the point where we’re not allowing young people to make their own choices.”

With the help of her friends, Lumbert attempts to make healthy choices in a school setting by packing lunches and ordering salads.

Although she has given in to her friends’ influences in the past, Lumbert works together with her peers to overcome the obstacles in making healthy lifestyle choices.

“A lot of my friends are really healthy,” Lumbert says. “They will occasionally say, ‘I’m done eating cookies at lunch,’ so I’ll say, ‘I’m done eating cookies too.’” n

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 33

lifestyle | photoshoot

active peace The growing popularity of yoga is not only affecting current fashion trends, but is also morphing mindsets, building a bridge between athletic activity and mental tranquility. story and sidebar bridget lally | photos sierra whitlock | model hannah downs | clothing lululemon athletica and victoria’s secret | sidebar info respective websites

“I Hannah in the side plank yoga pose.

Luon racerback tank: $42.00 Bootcut yoga pants: $34.50

34 | Spark | March 12, 2012

t’s about changing perspective and looking at things in a fresh way everyday so that you don’t get stuck in your patterns in life that keep you from moving ahead and doing the things that you want to do. Everybody has the tendency to create the same story over and over again. The things that we do here just help you to change how you look at things so that you can create your story, you can create your life,” Grace Tree Yoga Studio co-owner Pam Painter says.

She is describing yoga as a way of life.

Incorporating the benefits of yoga into one’s life is a part of the vision of Grace Tree Yoga Studio. Mahatma Ghandi once said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world,” and the instructors at the yoga studio seek to help their clients live out this message.

Although yoga has been around for 10,000 years, the popularity of yoga fashion started taking off in the late 1990’s, according to Grace Tree Yoga Studio co-owner Renee Groenemann.

According to a recent Spark survey of 585 East students, 42 percent own yoga pants. The November dress code student protest about yoga pants explicitly portrays how the pants are a fashion trend at East. The protest began on Nov. 3, following the previous day’s morning announcement that East principal Dr. Keith Kline made to remind students about the dress code policy regarding form-fitting pants.

According to the Lakota Dress Code, Board policy 6203, “no form-fitting shorts of any kind may be worn unless worn completely under a shirt or dress. Examples include biking spandex and lycra-type shorts.”

Kline stated that yoga pants are included in this dress code regularity.

The type of yoga pants that violate the dress code are those that are worn too tightly. As many yoga pants observers explain, yoga pants are meant to enhance what is already there. Kline intended to remind students that wearing seethrough leggings, yoga pants two-sizes-too-small, and leggings that are not covered by a long shirt is not allowed. While Kline indirectly banned yoga pants, they have many benefits.

The practice of yoga is a popular form of exercise around the world. While 75 percent of East students do not practice yoga, there are several students at East who actively participate in this form of mediation and physical pursuit.

East senior Nikki Kaine, who has been wearing yoga pants since her sophomore year, owns fourteen pairs and began doing yoga before she started wearing the pants.

“Once I started wearing them, I didn’t really want to stop,” Kaine says. “They’re so comfortable and you can look more put together than wearing just baggy sweats, especially the legging yoga pants with riding boots. The pro to yoga pants is

Workout Wardobe

rulu™ running half zip: $108.00 luon® racerback tank: $42.00 Yoga crop: $32.50

Pilates instructor and fashion expert Kay Knight recommends three yoga pants suppliers for those looking to live out a healthy, balanced lifestyle.

Lululemon Athletica

Lululemon sells athletic apparel for yoga, running and “most other sweaty pursuits.” The stores have strong ties to local communities, hosting events varying from self-defense workshops to yoga classes led by community ambassadors. The first store was designed as a community hub where people could learn the physical and mental aspects of a fit lifestyle.

Every Yogi tee: $54.00 Yoga legging: $34.50

Zella-Nordstrom

Zella is comfortable, flattering and affordable, delivering modern activewear for fitness activities. Zella’s designs are breathable, showing off moves with fitto-flatter detailing. They provide sizes up to Plus 3X with a range of clothing including: bras, jackets, pants, shorts, leggings, hoodies and tops.

Athleta-Gap

Known by their slogan, “power to the she,” Athleta inspires women to go the extra mile. Each year Athleta celebrates the athletic accomplishments of a select group of women. This year, the company was so awed by the sponsorship applicants that it decided to go bigger with 20 athletes, inspiring people with their commitments to full, vibrant lives.

Above: Hannah shows the dancer pose.

Right: She demonstrates the single leg wheel pose.

that they are very easy to wear. The con is simply that I have a golden retriever and so the pants get covered in fur pretty easily.”

Not only are yoga pants versatile, but they are also practical according to Kaine.

“People may be inspired to exercise [because of wearing the pants].

If they don’t have enough time in between errands, they don’t feel like they have to change,” Kaine says. “Yoga pants are socially acceptable to wear out in public. People can go for a jog, then go to the grocery store.

If at any moment I wanted to start doing yoga, I could.”

Kaine is just one of many who love yoga pants. According to Groenemann, the practice of yoga and the wearing of yoga pants built on each other.

“The clothing is about being comfortable, being able to get into those deep places without feeling limited in any way,” Groemann says. “The fact that the fashion industry responded just speaks to the popularity of yoga. People are drawn to yoga for a reason and the fashion industry said ‘Oh hey look, there’s a market for this.’ I’m sure there are people at school who wear the clothes and have never practiced, but they know these are yoga pants and maybe they’ll try it some day.”

Pilates instructor Kathleen Knight of Grand Blanc, Mich., who holds a degree in fashion merchandising from the University of Dayton, is an expert on different yoga clothing companies.

She says that yoga companies have inspired women to lead healthier and happier lives.

“Yoga and Pilates have shaped woman empowerment. 50 years ago, women’s hobbies included knitting, sewing and making the house perfect as well as doing everything for her family,” Knight says. “Today, women have more freedom. A woman can do things for herself and take time to go to the gym. A woman is more aware of taking care of her body and the importance of exercise.”

Yoga can do wonders for the mind, body and spirit.

“Yoga is about unity. It’s about bringing together all the pieces that have experienced separation or division,” Painter says. “If we make one decision at a time that begins to make connections, and the more connections there are, the more the light shines, and the brighter the light shines, the happier everybody gets. And it’s not about just being happy; it’s about being fulfilled. And fulfillment comes through connection.”

Yoga is more than a type of exercise. It is more than a hobby one partakes in to maintain a certain physique. It is a unique way of life.

“It changes your makeup,” Painter says. “Every cell structure of your entire body and the way that your thoughts affect you, and the way your thoughts affect others changes, whether you’re trying or not. It’s a prescription for peace. Not peace as in passive, sitting back just watching the world go by and hearing the birds. It’s an active peace: shanti. It’s becoming peace.”

Namaste. n

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 35

lifestyle | froyo

Popping up all around West Chester, the frozen yogurt fad is taking off in the Midwest. The myriad of locations, flavors and toppings offered to customers is enticing the dessert lovers of the area to get

Sample cups of frozen yogurt allow guests to discover their preferred flavors.

G

Mixed Up

oodbye to the old-fashioned ice cream stores of the past, and hello to the fresh, growing trend of frozen yogurt. Three new, brightly colored, eccentric shops are filling the scene and taking over West Chester with the concept of self-serve frozen yogurt.

Replacing ice cream sundaes with a healthier option and a pay-bythe-ounce method, Orange Leaf, Menchie’s and Bad Frog shops are hoping to revolutionize the way this area perceives dessert.

“It was all over Facebook,” East senior Patricia Nyaega says. “Orange Leaf was everywhere. I heard about all the others through friends and people talking about them.”

Orange Leaf opened in late August 2011, the first shop in the West Chester area, strategically chosen near LA Fitness, doctors’ offices and restaurants, hoping to attract people who are not only looking for a healthier lifestyle, but also wanting to enjoy a tasty dessert. “[Frozen yogurt] is a healthy alternative to ice cream,” Orange Leaf store manager Allen Chapman says. “Ice cream has always been a big thing and frozen yogurt is a natural take off that, but it’s a healthier version. It [has] become extremely popular on college campuses and for stay-at-home mothers who work out, and [it] is usually popular with high school students, too.”

This is the fourth Orange Leaf in the Cincinnati area and three more are making their way here. This location is the first for this set of owners who wanted to join in on the recent froyo frenzy.

People are starting to gravitate toward frozen yogurt because it is a way they can enjoy dessert without completely indulging themselves in foods that are very high in fat.

“Frozen yogurt chains offer a large variety of creamy and flavorful non and low fat alternatives to regular ice cream,” dietician Stephanie Betz says. “This is a treat to individuals concerned about fat intake.”

At Orange Leaf, customers can find yogurt labeled with health information to accommodate those seeking a healthier choice.

“On the signs above the machines, you will see either ‘low fat’ or ‘no fat,’” Chapman says. “Ice cream, because it is a cream product, uses a tremendous amount of fat. We don’t use any, or a very little amount. Everything is made with fatfree milk so it makes the calorie count lower.”

Orange Leaf makes its yogurt with fat free milk, different flavoring syrups and a yogurt-based 55 powder, usually vanilla or chocolate-flavored. percent of “Orange Leaf is a great company and I think 585 East we have a great product,” Chapman says. “I think students we have a more superior product than other surveyed places. I think that’s why we do so well.”

Not only does the yogurt attract customers, eat frozen but also the orange and white color scheme and yogurt unusual furniture.

36 | Spark | March 12, 2012

story jenn shafer | photos sierra whitlock “I love the atmosphere at Orange Leaf,” Nyaega says. “I just want to chill and hang out there and as teenagers that’s what we thrive on, just hanging out with friends.”

The decoration is appealing to the eye, but the employees also add to the store environment.

“It’s fun, I meet a lot of people who come through here and I joke around with all the customers when they come in,” Chapman says. “It’s like a big family.”

A family-friendly environment is also very important to Menchie’s, another frozen yogurt shop down the street from Orange Leaf.

“The thing that really sets Menchie’s apart is the experience that you have here,” Menchie’s owner Dennis Blankenship says. “We really emphasize customer service, and we want to make sure that when people come here, they know that they are welcome to hang out as long as they want. We even have board games for people to play.”

This is a mentality throughout the entire Menchie’s franchise, but it is up to the individual owners as to how successful the attitude is shown.

“We just want people to come in and have a good time here,” Blankenship says, who also shares ownership with his wife, Shelly Roemer. “We’re not just about selling the yogurt. We really do want to create a place where people want to come and have fun and hang out.”

The Menchie’s franchise is very selective in choosing its franchise owners. It looks for people who have the same values as they do about having a family business and creating a good environment. According to Blankenship, of all the people who apply, only about five percent are given franchises.

The shop was originally founded by Danna and Adam Caldwell, who had frozen yogurt on their first date, and this sparked their interest in owning a frozen yogurt shop. Adam used to call Danna “Menchie” while they were dating, because he thought that it was the Hebrew word for “blessing,” but it actually means “good or generous man.”

Despite the mistake, the nickname stuck. When it was time to name their frozen yogurt shop, they decided “Menchie’s” was the perfect fit.

“The founders are still intimately involved in the development of the franchise system,” Blankenship says. “It’s not like they founded it and then made the franchise and walked away; they care about it. That’s what I like about Menchie’s. They support us. They have a great headquarters and they call us every week, asking if we need help.”

Adam is heavily involved with the yogurt machines and different equipment, always trying to improve and get better equipment, while Danna is involved in a lot of the marketing and operation tasks.

Menchie’s was the first original self-serve frozen yogurt concept, which started a revolution in frozen yogurt, giving the idea to other franchises all over the country.

Many places have self-serve yogurt, but Menchie’s is still one-of-akind. Blankenship says they have their own private label of yogurt, while

Bottom Left: Appetizing candies are provided for customers as toppings.

Top Left: Classic frozen treat selections are also available.

Here: As a healthier choice, fresh fruit is cut up and served daily. some competitors use the same brand such as Honey Hill or YoCream.

Menchie’s yogurt has live and active cultures in it that aid the digestive system, a benefit that some competitors do not have. Menchie’s goes a little further by putting in extra cultures that help boost the immune system. The yogurt is flash-frozen then shipped to the stores so all they have to do is pour it into the back of the machine and freeze it while still maintaining top quality.

Other places have used Menchie’s original idea, but Menchie’s is not too worried. The multiple stores draw more attention to what frozen yogurt has become, and competition is good.

“We think [that] the more people know about yogurt, the more people will come to these businesses,” Blankenship says. “We think that is going to help us out because we feel Menchie’s provides that fun, family atmosphere, where as other places don’t really promote that because they aren’t trying to sell the experience, they are just trying to sell their yogurt.”

Though the owners of this location began the process of opening Menchie’s in early 2010, before frozen yogurt was a widespread concept, the shop did not actually open until Dec. 28, 2011, almost two years later.

Bad Frog was actually the first frozen yogurt place to sign on in the

Sampling the Selections

area, but was the second frozen yogurt shop to open on Dec. 11, just before Menchie’s, according to Erik Martin, vice president of operations for Bad Frog.

This location was the first in the business, with another now open in Columbus, Ohio and 24 other locations up-and-coming with the hope of a new store opening every eight weeks. The owners, who prefer not to be named, came across the idea when it literally hopped into their cup.

“They got the inspiration on a vacation trip,” Bad Frog general manager and training store manager Tish Hill says. “They were sitting on the beach, enjoying their first frozen yogurt by the ounce, and a blue frog jumped into their cup and that is where the inspiration happened.”

This small, family-run corporation is proud of their product’s quality.

The yogurt at Bad Frog has numerous benefits for different areas of the body because it not only enhances digestion, but also helps stomach, upper and lower intestines and colon health as well as brain activity, Martin claims. He also says it is good for the heart, kidneys, lungs and eye health due to Vitamin A. According to Betz, some yogurt chains have live and active cultures and are given the Live and Active Culture Seal, indicating the yogurt meets the standards of the National Yogurt Association. Research

* these reviews are the opinions of a single writer, not a representation of the Spark staff

reviews zach fulciniti | photos michael tedesco

To get a taste of the local frozen yogurt options, a member of the Spark staff was chosen to eat and evaluate three establishments.

Bad Frog

My experience at Bad Frog was off-putting. For starters, I walked in and saw a man in a frog suit.

Despite my disconcertion, I went on to fill my bowl with Red Velvet Cake, Rootbeer Float and Tart Blueberry Acai. Personally, Bad Frog yogurt did not please my taste buds. The Red Velvet Cake tasted nothing like Red Velvet Cake and the Rootbeer Float was unappetizing as well.

The Blueberry Acai was all right, it was sweet and had the best flavor of the three, although it was a tad tart.

Orange Leaf

Like other fro-yo places, price is based on weight at Orange Leaf. I did not know this at the time, so I grabbed a bowl and filled the damn thing to the top. They offer a wide array of flavors and toppings, of which I readily took advantage. The weight came out to roughly 14 ounces. The yogurt itself tasted fine, as well as the toppings, and the service was pleasant, but neither the brightest orange hues (which the walls and furniture are of course doused in) nor the chicest decor can hide the fact that Orange Leaf is lackluster.

Menchie’s

Menchie’s was the best of the three. For the record, I am partial to Violet Red and Atlantis (green), which comprise the popular yogurt shop’s color scheme. And the logo is a yogurt swirl-head that looks like Toad from Super Mario. Which is a definite plus. Aside from the vibrant colors, Menchie’s was the only one of the three that I could distinguish from ice cream.

I had the Kiwi Strawberry Sorbet fro-yo with gummy bears. It was delightful, and the service was exceptional.

lifestyle | froyo is currently being conducted to study the health potential of these organisms. The health benefits being studied include: prevention of gastrointestinal infections, boosting the body’s immune system and prevention of osteoporosis.

“I can only speak to our own product of course, I don’t want to speculate on what our competitors are doing,” Martin says. “But I can say as far as uniqueness goes, we take the best of what this dairy has to offer, we enrich it with vitamins and minerals, and we leave the digestive, healthy bacteria in it. We don’t kill it by pasteurizing it.”

Frozen yogurt is essentially spoiled milk that has been cultured and spun at high speeds and frozen to thicken it and then flavored for taste.

Some companies boil the yogurt, killing the bacteria and afterward adding cultures back into the yogurt, while Bad Frog never boils its product.

Multiple customers treat Bad Frog yogurt as a regular meal and stop by in the mornings to eat breakfast. Combining the frozen yogurt with fresh fruit adds vitamins to create a healthy meal.

Bad Frog carries six fresh fruits, cut by hand with nothing out of a can. Real Hershey’s peanut butter pretzels, Reese’s Pieces, M&Ms and Ghirardelli chocolate are used instead of generic brands.

“One of the things I pride myself on is I take customer feedback

Taking a Closer Look at

and actually use it,” Martin says. “One of the complaints I heard was the topping bar wasn’t big enough. [So now] we actually have the largest topping bar in existence.”

With quality being the top priority, Bad Frog is determined to give customers only the best ingredients.

“I believe even more importantly than making money is doing it right and not selling people something at a premium just to increase your profit,” Martin says. “The product is our baby, and I will never sacrifice the product to save a dime.”

Frozen yogurt may be healthier than normal ice cream, but eating too much of anything is never a good idea.

“Clearly there are several health benefits to eating frozen yogurt,” Betz says. “Beware, however, the cups at these establishments tend to be quite large. It is very easy to have too much of a good thing here and consequently, go way over on calories. In these cases patrons should consider freezing the leftover portion and then enjoy it on another day.”

The expansion of the frozen yogurt trend has brought a lot of attention to this healthy alternative and with three current stores and another coming soon, West Chester is embracing the hip and healthy dessert that allows people to choose how they want to mix it up. n

Frozen Yogurt

infographic shivang patel | information provided by U.S. Library of Medicine

Gastrointestinal Tract

Although they are both frozen treats, ice cream and frozen yogurt are different when comparing health benefits.

e

v t Li r u Yog tures l Cu

Spark FroYo

Stomach

Hum Gu an t Fl ora

Cultures (bacteria) in frozen yogurt are already present in the human body Esophagus

Lactobacillus acidophilus Lactobacillus casei

Small Intestine Colon Cecum

Lactobacillus rhamnosus Heliobacter pylori

Appendix

Alcaligens faecalis

Rectum

Staphylococcus aureus

Ice Cream

Serving Size: 1/2 Cup

Calories 140 Calories From Fat 70

Frozen Yogurt

Calories 90

Serving Size: 1/2 Cup

Calories From Fat 0

% Daily Value

Total Fat 7g Saturated Fat 4.5g Total Carbohydrate 17g Sugar 14g

11% 23% 6%

INGREDIENTS: MILK, CREAM, SUGAR SYRUP, CORN SYRUP, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, WHEY, SKIM MILK, ARTIFICIAL AND NATURAL FLAVOR, CELLULOSE GEL, GUAR GUM, CELLULOSE GUM, MONO- AND DIGYLCERIDES, LOCUST BEAN GUM, POLYSORBATE, CARRAGEENAN, ANNATTO

% Daily Value

Total Fat 0g Saturated Fat 0g Total Carbohydrate 20g Sugar 13g

0% 0% 7%

INGREDIENTS: PASTEURIZED AND CULTURED SKIM MILK, SUGAR, CREAM, CORN SYRUP, NONFAT DRY MILK, WHY, PASTEURIZED EGG YOLKS, MONO EDIGLYCIZEDES, CELLUOSE GUM, GUAR GUM, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH

20 YEARS 141 ISSUES

16 BOWL GUIDES

35 CHIEF EDITORS 1 ADVISOR

3 PRINCIPALS

8 FAILED LEVIES

1NEWSMAGAZINE

This issue, Spark takes a look at stories from its inaugural issue in 1992 to present day. Spark follows up on topics ranging from the district splitting in 1997 to where East’s most prolific athletes are now and how a more recent graduate is finding a new voice. Spark also outlines memorable moments throughout its 20-year histroy.

LOOKING BACK

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YOU DON’T KNOW JACK story ameera khalid | photo provided by shada

From Lakota to Central Asia, 1993 East graduate Jack Shada has produced and developed a special interest in geology and science. Thankfully for Jack, he has also made better first impressions.

“T

Jack Shada is now an engineering manager for two international teams in Well Construction for BP.

his kid walked in with his long brown hair,” says East science teacher Larry Duff as he recollects of the first day Jack Shada stepped into his geology class, “and I thought to myself, ‘oh my gosh, what is this kid going to be like?’”

Duff smiles ruefully, opening several old, broken-spine photo albums. He carefully thumbs through the plasticcovered pages, searching the faces of former students for Shada’s.

“I made a mistake. I judged a book by its cover,” Duff admits, deciding how to describe his former student. “Jack was a really neat kid who was hard working and had an interest in geology.”

But Shada has come a long way from hunting for fossils in little old West Chester. Thousands of miles away, in fact. Shada’s work most often takes him to the United Kingdom and Central Asia. Since graduating from Lakota High School in 1993, Shada has become not only a husband and a father of two but also an engineering manager for two international teams in Well Construction for British Petroleum (BP). His organization conducts engineering design and quality assurance on the components that BP uses to construct wells.

“One of my teams analyzes component designs and confirms that the equipment will perform to BP’s specs,” Shada says. “The other team works with manufacturers to ensure that they can reliably manufacture the designs we approve.”

1992-94: BY THE NUMBERS WORLD

MEMORABLE

Number of electoral college votes Bill Clinton received to win the 1992 election

Number of people killed in the Great Blizzard of 1993 from March 13-15

SPARK

370 184 43 40 | Spark | March 12, 2012

Percentage of East students surveyed in 1992 who admitted to consuming alcohol

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These operations are a large responsibility, potentially costing millions of dollars and affecting millions of people.

“I like the high-end projects, flying around the world, being in charge of a multi-million dollar operation,” Shada says, in a blend of nonchalance and passion for his work.

After high school, Shada attended the University of Oklahoma, and then moved back to Ohio to attend Ohio University. He graduated in 1998 and married his current wife Rachel. With a bachelor of science degree with special distinction in petroleum engineering and minor degrees in math and geology, Shada moved to New Orleans and got his first job at Chevron.

A year after his son Walter was born in 2004, they moved to Houston and two years later his daughter, Wendy, was born. The Shadas are involved in everything they can manage, such as church, cub scouts and little league baseball.

“We just try to fit it all in and still get some sleep,” Shada says.

Shada has always valued extracurricular activities. In high school he was involved in swimming, soccer and skateboarding. He also took a variety of classes, such as geology with Duff. According to Penny and Dennis Shada, Jack’s parents, Duff was particularly instrumental in the development of their son’s educational interest.

“At the beginning of high school, Jack was a skateboarder; not too interested in school,” Penny says. “Then he got interested in art and wanted to learn everything he could.

He went to all kinds of workshops.”

In 1992 Jack won a state contest for his work in metals.

“I remember going down to Columbus for his award ceremony,” Duff recalls. “He was a very talented kid, and very good at art.”

Penny emphasizes that Jack has always placed importance on having balance between his artistic and scientific sides.

He participated in as part of the stage crew for theater as well as taking physics courses. According to Dennis, a further interest in school stemmed from Jack’s interest in art, but his current path really began in Duff ’s geology class.

“I recognized his natural interest in geology,” Duff says.

“I just suggested he take a few classes in college and see if he still liked it. I guess he did.”

“I was just incredibly lucky to get a student like Jack. He was a hardworking student who was passionate,” Duff says.

Duff added that Jack was really “one in a thousand” and

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he’s very flattered that Jack and his parents attribute so much of Jack’s accomplishments to him.

“I know this is going to sound cheesy, but the classes that were offered at Lakota inspired me. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, originally,” Jack says. “I never envisioned engineering until after Mr. Duff ’s class.”

Jack’s interest in geology won him one of the three scholarships from the University of Oklahoma to geology students, which Spark’s initial coverage of Jack Shada covered full tuition and fees. documented his love of science.

“He was interviewed by Dr. Robert Evens, the department head of geological studies who made the selections, and I remember he said that Jack was the only one with both a right and left brain,” Dennis says.

At college he joined the geology club and the Society of Petroleum Engineers. He also worked all around the country in the oilfields during the summer. Now, his time is occupied with his family and his work.

“As far as achievements go, family is always the first one,” Jack says. “Then there’s earning a living and having a career.”

However, Jack still values personal time, and it scores third in importance. He enjoys hands-on projects such as brewing his own beer and woodworking. Currently, he is also a AA class ranked competitive shooter in Texas.

“People call them hobbies, but I prefer to call them

PEOPLE CALL THEM HOBBIES, BUT I PREFER TO CALL THEM PURSUITS. HOBBY IMPLIES SOMETHING YOU JUST DO TO KILL TIME. PURSUITS ARE SOMETHING YOU’RE PASSIONATE ABOUT. pursuits,” Jack says. “Hobby implies something you just do to kill time. Pursuits are something you’re passionate about.”

According to his parents, Jack always worked to achieve excellence in everything he did from hobbies to his career.

“Part of it is luck,” Duff says. “Jack just happened to be a student who was very interested in geology. I’ve been teaching 30 years and probably no more than three students have gone into geology. It makes a teacher feel exceptionally fortunate.” n

”

1992-94: SPARK NOTES

December 18, 1992 Community Service

October 22, 1993

April 2, 1993

September 30, 1994

Spark’s first issue was 20-pages and black-and-white, filled with extensive beat coverage of school clubs such as Black Enhancement, which is comparable to today’s African-American Achievement club. This premiere issue’s spotlight story was the newly added service requirement for government students. Under the new policy, Lakota seniors needed six to 15 hours of community service in order to receive government credit. In the front inside cover, Spark opinion editor at the time explained the meaning behind the magazine’s name: “to spread a new idea, like wildfire.” Twenty years later, Spark has changed its coverage, look and staff but has kept its mission the same.

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 41

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Vicki Criswell, Lakota graduate of 1995, and husband Tony Criswell.

STORYBOOK SUCCESS story christian roehm | photo used with permission from the criswell family

Lakota graduate Vicki Criswell overcame Hodgkin’s Disease as a freshman in the Lakota district and experienced success in dancing, coaching and teaching.

W

hen Vicki Criswell started her freshman year at Lakota High School in 1991, she had a secret.

Starting high school year in a district as big as Lakota was intimidating to this shy girl. All she wanted was to fit in, so she continued with her normal, everyday activities as she hoped nobody would notice her thinning hair.

Only a few months before the start of her freshman year, Vicki Criswell, formerly Vicki Gianfagna, had been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Disease, a blood cancer that attacks the body’s lymph node system. Criswell had to undergo two weeks of radiation treatment, followed by 10 sessions of chemotherapy within 10 months, all while keeping relatively quiet about her cancer.

“I would not let this disease make me different from any other student,” Criswell says. “I wanted to be completely normal. Other than my closest friends, I did not tell people about [the disease] because I was so worried about what others would think or say.”

Dancing on the Lakota Lassies dance team was Criswell’s escape from the difficult disease until she entered remission almost a year later. While fighting cancer, she would go from the hospital to dance practice. Although the disease occasionally sidelined her during practice, Criswell usually fought through the discomfort and kept up with the team, allowing her to feel normal and temporarily escape reality.

“Dance was the biggest outlet to forget all the bad things happening in my life,” Criswell says. “I put all my energy and enthusiasm into dancing. Being a part of [Lakota Lassies] gave me a group of close friends who were there for me when I needed them. [I felt like I had] a family away from home, and that’s what I needed.”

Despite the hardships of the treatment process, Criswell says that being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease at the end of eighth grade actually affected her life in a positive way.

She says that the road to remission caused her to mature quickly and have more confidence in her abilities.

1994-96: BY THE NUMBERS WORLD

2

Number of counts of murder with which OJ Simpson was charged and acquitted in 1995 42 | Spark | March 12, 2012

MEMORABLE

SPARK

Number of years since the opening of the Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati on April 7, 1995

Percentage of East students surveyed out of 400 in 1995 that did not classify themselves as Christian

16 7.4

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This confidence and maturity helped Criswell become captain of Lakota Lassies during her senior year. During the 1994-95 season she choreographed the “Hey Mickey” pom routine, which the team would later perform to win the Winter Guard International World Championship. “[As captain], I learned a lot about leadership and how to manage others,” Criswell says. “I learned so much about hard work and dedication and how all of our efforts could really pay off in the end. I made some amazing friends and we had an amazing season.”

But Criswell was not just a leader—she was a star.

After judges recognized her talent at a Universal Dance Association camp, Criswell was chosen to represent Lakota High School in Paris over the 1994 holiday break. There she performed two different pom routines and performed in two parades, one of only 400 cheerleaders and auxiliary members given this opportunity.

“I did not know any other girls prior to my travels, so I got to meet a lot of new people,” Criswell says. “It was an amazing experience.”

Criswell took the same success she experienced at Lakota and transferred it to her life after high school. She attended Miami University in Oxford with a major in education and a minor in dance. While in college, she took dance classes and danced for four years on the Miami Shakerettes dance team.

After graduating from Miami, Criswell was hired as a math teacher at Mount Notre Dame High School (MND) in Cincinnati. While at MND, she started and served as moderator for the school’s chapter of Mu Alpha Theta.

Criswell also coached the school dance team which was very successful in state and national competitions during her eight years at MND. She led the Cougars to numerous first place state titles, ranking nationally six times, including a third and fourth place finish. These high ranking allowed the team a spot on the dance team national competition which aired on ESPN. “I am passionate about dance,” Criswell says. “It helped me through my difficult times through high school, so with coaching I was able to share my passion and hopefully help out and inspire others during my time at MND.” Melissa Kidd, who worked as an assistant coach with Vicki at MND for two years, attributes Vicki for the much of the Cougar’s success.

“I learned so much from working under her for the two

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years that I did,” Kidd says. “Her firmness and ability to motivate the girls was unlike any dance coach or instructor I had ever seen.”

As successful as Criswell was with her teaching and coaching career, she had another passion to fulfill. Ever since she performed at a Bengals game with the Lakota Lassies and had the opportunity to see the Cincinnati Ben-Gals cheerleaders up close, it was a goal of hers to try out for the team. She first tried out in 2004, and she cheered as a Ben-Gal for Vicki Criswell was first noted in the next two seasons.

Spark as a “Success in the Making.”

“I loved being on the field and performing,” Criswell says. “It was a big commitment with practices two to three times a week, games on the weekend, and charity events. And I did this while teaching and coaching full time.

I was really busy, but I didn’t have any family at the time so I had a lot more free time.”

Two years ago, Criswell and her husband moved to Billings, Mont. Her husband Tony, who works as a manager for Alstom Power, had his job relocated to Billings, which is where his family lives. Leaving behind Cincinnati meant leaving behind Vicki’s successful career— and starting anew.

“When we were discussing whether I should [advance my career by moving], we knew that Vicki’s career and our ties to Cincinnati would be the biggest sacrifice,” Tony says. “After I met Vicki, the Cincinnati area really started to

I WOULD NOT LET THIS DISEASE MAKE ME DIFFERENT FROM ANY OTHER STUDENT. I WANTED TO BE COMPLETELY NORMAL. feel like home for me. She exposed me to the people and passions that were a big part of her life.”

But Vicki has had a strong history of success wherever life takes her. Since overcoming Hodgkin’s disease as a freshman, Vicki has had success in whichever passion she decides to pursue, whether it be dancing, coaching or teaching. With a 1-year-old boy and a month-old girl, however, teaching and coaching are temporarily on hold.

“My family is the most important thing in my life right now,” Criswell says. “I have given up my old lifestyle to give my 100 percent to my family. I will always be the most passionate about them.” n

”

1994-96: SPARK NOTES

October 18, 1996 School Censorship

December 21, 1995

September 29, 1995

February 2, 1996

During the fourth year of Spark, staff covered the controversial subject of censorship. Specifically, this package addressed the then-recently banned book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.

Eighty percent of the student body, along with many English teachers, viewed censorship as something that was “not good for education.” This issue highlights happenings both within the school, including the “biggest ever” Lakota Marching band with 220 members, and in the community, including the forthcoming split of Lakota High into two high schools.

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 43

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DIVIDE AND CONQUER story hannah lee | photo spark files

When the Lakota district split in 1997 to compensate for the growing district, it created much more than two geographically diverse high schools–it created a perennial rivalry.

“THIS IS OUR HOUSE.” East students’ thunderous chants fill the Thunderhawks’ gymnasium as the rivals face off during the much anticipated East vs. Lakota West basketball game. The brother-sister animosity that sparks the rivalry between East and Lakota West is one of unique excitement. Now rivals, the schools were once united.

Lakota’s enormous population of some 4,000 students was too much to handle for Lakota High School, now the Lakota West freshman campus. Located next to the Lakota Early Childhood Center preschool, the old Lakota High School was the host of both East and Lakota West students.

As enrollment numbers kept rising with the expectation of reaching 5,000 students by 2000, the school board had to do something in order to accommodate the large number of incoming students.

“Size was the issue,” says Kathy Klink who was superintendent of Lakota in 1997 when the schools split.

“We had so many students at the one Lakota High School that it was impossible to accommodate all the students and have a convenient learning space. The gross projection indicated even more incoming students and we had to have

Construction for the two new Lakota high schools.

more space. The community was given the option to vote for one very large high school, but that was voted down.

Then, more conversation went on with the community and then there was the opportunity to consider two high schools, and that was passed.”

The community and the school board had to decide whether to build one oversized school or two separate schools in order to house the massive amount of students pouring into the Lakota district. The board put the issue up for a vote and the decision to build two individual schools was made.

Because the original mascot of Lakota High School was the thunderbird, the schools were each given a part of the name in their own individual mascots. The East Thunderhawks took the “thunder” out of thunderbird and the West Firebirds took “birds” from thunderbird.

“At the time, given the explosion in growth, [we knew] that we had to accommodate our students,” says Klink.

“The best way to do that, because it was defeated as one high school, was to have two high schools and then moving forward it was listening to the students, the teachers and those involved to figure out what courses, programs and activities were best. I think we did the best we could with

1996-98: BY THE NUMBERS WORLD

MEMORABLE

SPARK

Age at which Princess Diana of Wales died in a car crash on Aug. 31, 1997

Age in years of Tara Lipinski, who became the youngest women’s world figure skating champion

First year that Spark won the Pacemaker award, high school journalism’s equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize

36 14 1997

44 | Spark | March 12, 2012

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the dollars available to make all that happen for students.”

Even with the split of Lakota High School, East and Lakota West have grown over time to almost match the original size of the school before the split.

“In terms of size there really isn’t a significant difference.

I attended the Lakota High School [which would be] comparable to the size of East or West individually,” says East AP Statistics teacher Stephen Orlando, who graduated from Lakota High School in 1992. “If we were all one high school now, we would be about two to three times as big as we were when I was there. [Our size] really drives what electives are available and how hard it is to get on sports teams.”

The two schools, however, were not destined to be twins.

The board let the principals sit down with the contractors in order to form more personable schools for certain purposes.

“The two building were designed to be very similar, not identical,” Klink says. “It was part of the original plan to sit down with the contractors and say, ‘Lakota East, Lakota West, how do you make sense out of all of this?’ The principals at the time were able to have a say in how they wanted Main Street to look. That is why Main Street is not identical between schools. The principals sat down with their executive pool and they looked at the options available and said this is what we like best.”

The first separate graduating classes of East and Lakota West High Schools were the classes of 1998. Although the move from the original Lakota building to the respective schools was a rather intense process, things ran smoothly in an orderly process due to the compliance of the teachers.

“I believe that we went through the master contract and teachers had to opportunity to choose which school [they wanted to teach at],” Klink says. “They had the opportunity to choose East or West and in some way that was balanced out. We had too many that wanted to go to one than the other then we went back to the master contract and it was balanced out. But it was a seemless process. At that time, teachers were very intimately involved in all of this and through the work of the Lakota Education Association; they were able to have very constructive conversations about moving forward. I think probably 99 percent of teachers got what they wanted.”

Given the circumstance, students along with faculty

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members were given a choice as to which school they would attend for the 1997-98 school year. However, in years following, the district drew dividing lines for the school zones.

With the creation of individual schools, students have more opportunities and they don’t get lost in the crowd, making it easier to strive to excel in a subject, sport, or activity.

“I think having two high schools offered numerous opportunities,” Klink says. “It did not matter if you were playing a sport, on the Spark remained on top of Lakota’s dual high school project Spark or on the Voice or in the plays. There at the financial and reaction level. were more opportunities for students to excel, there were more opportunities for students to be in unique courses.”

Despite the upgrades, such as air conditioning, with East and West, the old fashion Lakota High School which was built in 1995 and added onto six times held a place in the hearts of the Lakota family.

“The building wasn’t as nice [as the new schools, but it was] smaller and more personable,” says East Earth and Space Science teacher Larry Duff who also taught at Lakota High School.

At the old high school, Duff remembers that students “had to walk outside to get from class to class in the rain, snow, or sunshine.” He also is humored by the fact that “the girls had to redo their makeup for 10 minutes if it was a rainy day.”

Although the rivalry between East and Lakota West has grown over time, Lakota High School was a place of unity

IT DID NOT MATTER IF YOU WERE PLAYING A SPORT, ON THE SPARK OR ON THE VOICE OR IN THE PLAYS. THERE WERE MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS TO EXCEL, THERE WERE MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS TO BE IN UNIQUE COURSES. and the roots of both East and Lakota West students. The Lakota family has only grown over time as the two schools meet at the traditional East vs. Lakota West game every year to support their separate but equal schools. n

”

1996-98: SPARK NOTES

March 14, 1997 Lakota Lights Up

December 20, 1996

April 18, 1997

March 20, 1998

Despite the Lakota administration working toward enforcing Board Policy section 610 1-A, which prohibits the use of tobacco products on school grounds, students still managed to sneak cigarettes and chewing tobacco on school property. Out of 1,709 students surveyed at Lakota High School, 1,141 students said that they have tried tobacco. Spark reporters went on to tell the stories of students struggling with tobacco addiction. Furthermore, four legal Spark staffers who visited cigarette stores in the Union Township area found that six out of 15 vendors did not ask for photo ID. The investigation proved a huge contradiction to President Clinton’s plans to crack down on tobacco regulations.

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 45

LOOKING BACK

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ERIN UNBOUND story victoria reick-mitrisin | photo ellen fleetwood

Erin Middendorf is truly one of a kind. Not for her disorder or wheeled companion, but for her undying passion for science and everlasting smile. Middendorf’s amiable sense of humor allows her to relate to her students and get the young minds to look beyond the chair.

A

Erin Middendorf may be in a wheelchair, but she does not let her disability inhibit her nature and teaching.

s Erin Middendorf ’s life changes and obstacles in her life become greater, she just keeps smiling.

Since Erin graduated from East in 2000, she is what she believes to be “just about the same.” Dreams of going into science have not changed for Erin as she is completing her sixth year of teaching seventh grade science at Plains Junior High School. Her passion for the science, particularly weather, continues to leave her family and friends calling her “one of a kind,” but since graduation, Erin has found a new love for teaching. This career choice change came from complications with her muscular dystrophy, but lead to her discover of her love for her students.

Erin spends her time finding more ways to see the happy things in life, connecting with her students further by maintaining her strong sense of humor. Muscular dystrophy is not a threat that Erin worries about separating her from her kids or her love of science.

She finds ways to practice science and to spend time with her students without her medical condition getting in the way of her career.

“She has become a really strong and independent young woman,” Cindy says. “She has a strong connection to her co-workers and her kids, and she’s a lot of fun to be around.

She has done really well.”

Erin feels that her diagnosis has helped her ability to reach out her students, particularly those that are

1998-00: BY THE NUMBERS WORLD

MEMORABLE

Number of students killed in the Columbine High School shooting of 1999

June date on which the change of the township name from “Union” to “West Chester” took effect

13 28

46 | Spark | March 12, 2012

SPARK

70

Percentage of 417 surveyed East students in 1998 experienced some form of sexual harassment in their school life

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wheelchair-bound. She credits much of her ability to teach to new advancements in technology that make up for her lack of mobility. Now, she feels that her muscular dystrophy has allowed children to gain motivation if they are facing obstacles in their own lives.

“Every year when I pass around my yearbook, kids always write things about how I inspire them. I feel that I have gotten to teach them things outside the curriculum too,” Erin says. “There are always those kids who seem like they are impossible to reach in everyone else’s classroom, but when administrators come in to observe my class, they always tell me that those are the kids that are the first to volunteer and help me.”

According to Kimberly, Erin’s sister, who is also wheelchair bound due to muscular dystrophy, Erin has become great at reaching a variety of students, and has become a source of guidance.

“We can give each other advice,” Kimberly says. “We get to share our stresses and the good things too. It’s nice to have that with someone in your own house.”

Erin and her two sisters enjoy their time at home with one another, and though they have lived together their entire lives, they have developed polar personalities that they say, keep the house interesting.

Erin describes herself as the sarcastic one who enjoys reality television and just having fun. Her outlook on life remains as optimistic as it was upon her graduation from high school.

“I’m pretty content with the way things are. Of course, I would like to be walking, but I’m fine. My mom always made something abnormal feel normal. She wouldn’t let us get away with not doing what we wanted,” Erin says. “It would be nice to make things easier for her. She deals with so much every day.”

Erin’s students are the focal point of her life. She enjoys books that the students read, such as Gathering Blue, because she relishes in their sense of humor above all other grade levels.

Her “special sarcastic” personality makes her the most energetic of her family members.

“I love all the different personalities [that kids have in seventh grade,]” Erin says. “It is something new every day.

The kids know how to keep it interesting. I really love my kids.”

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“She’s one of a kind. She spends her days as a unique individual,” Erin’s mother, Cindy Middendorf says.

“She has a special sense of humor and attitude that makes her very sarcastic and funny. Seventh graders understand Erin Middendorf appeared in the May 25, 2000 issue of Spark during her tenure at East about how muscular dystrophy did that sense of humor, not separate her from her friends and her future career. and that’s why she likes to teach them.”

Erin tries to remain as involved as she can in the school and community, making a difference in every way possible, such as making a haunted house each year for students and other children in her neighborhood to enjoy each Halloween and asking their advice on different areas of pop culture.

“Ms. Middendorf is an example of turning her handicap to handi-capable. She lets nothing hold her back from doing what she wants to do,” Kimberly says. “ She even played in the staff/student basketball game a couple weeks ago.”

Erin prides herself on never letting her muscular dystrophy get in the way of her life. Her constant challenge has not changed her optimistic personality and altruistic

I’M PRETTY CONTENT WITH THE WAY THINGS ARE. OF COURSE, I WOULD LIKE TO BE WALKING, BUT I’M FINE. MY MOM ALWAYS MADE SOMETHING ABNORMAL FEEL NORMAL. SHE WOULDN’T LET US GET AWAY WITH NOT DOING WHAT WE WANTED. nature that has defined her throughout her life.

“People usually go to support groups and such for diagnoses like ours’ but we have our own unit at home.

Especially Kimberly, because she’s the oldest,” Erin says. “It doesn’t make it easier for my mom, but it makes it easier for us to know that someone else under our own roof is going through what we are going through.” n

”

1998-00: SPARK NOTES

December 18, 1998

May 1, 1998

April 30, 1999

November 3, 2000 | Election 2000 Published in both the millennium and an election year, Spark devoted much attention to the race for the presidency between front-runners George W. Bush and Al Gore. At the local level, the election ballot included issue #18, a levy that, if passed, would ease the impact of over 500 new students enrolling in Lakota. At this point, 15,126 students were currently enrolled in the Lakota School district, making it the eighth largest district in Ohio.

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 47

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PASSION FOR PEOPLE story megan fogel | photo provided by sunny anderson

East class of 2001 graduate CharKeita Anderson left Cincinnati for the opportunities of New York City but brought with her the continued enthusiasm for each passion that she developed at East.

S

Sunny Flow-Anderson has always been known for her amiable personality and loves to be around people.

he had enormous influence in the Christian community. She had two college degrees under her belt. A black belt in Tae Kwon Do, to be exact. She was an experienced choir singer, softball player, mime, lifeguard, minister and American Sign Language interpreter.

She had a lot of things going for her.

But she was a newly single mother of two. She was leaving everything, taking her children and starting over in a new state. She didn’t have a job. She didn’t have a place to live. But East alum CharKeita Anderson, who now goes by Sunny Flow-Anderson, did know she was good at a lot of things and was ready to see where those passions lead her.

While studying theology at Gardner Webb University in Charlotte, North Carolina, Anderson found a job at a local YMCA and as a worship leader at the Road to Damascus Christian Church.

“She was a great inspiration not just as a worship leader but just as a minister and as a woman of God,” says Joseph Graham, senior pastor at the church. “She was the same all the time—an awesome mother with a lot of responsibility and so many different outlets for influence.”

Four years since moving to Charlotte and 11 years since graduating from East in 2001, Anderson is remarried to Kyle Anderson (a man with the same last name as her) and is living in Brooklyn, New York. She was recruited by the Greater New York YMCA and currently works as their Aquatics Director as well as a worship director at Powerful Praise Tabernacle. Additionally, Anderson moonlights as an individual recording artist working on a new album.

2000-02: BY THE NUMBERS WORLD

MEMORABLE

SPARK

Time in the morning that the first plane hit the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001

Academy Awards show in which Halle Berry became the first African-American woman to win an award for Best Actress

Percent of 604 surveyed students said that they had to “look good to feel good”

8:50 74th 77 48 | Spark | March 12, 2012

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Anderson’s current situation is something she says has “worked out so well.” She often stops to remember when she didn’t have a specific ministry position and just did whatever she could to reach out to people.

“I remember working back in Cincinnati with a ministry we called Church on the Block. We would pick a corner somewhere in the city and start talking to drug dealers about God,” Anderson says. “Instead of telling them that they were going to Hell, we just talked to them about how Jesus loves them and how he loves them exactly the way they are.”

She recalls one instance in this ministry when she invited a few men from the streets to see her perform later that day.

The men came but were confronted by a church member who thought that their attire was inappropriate. When Anderson went up to sing, she started by reprimanding the church for not being accepting to her new friends.

“Those men could have been out selling drugs, but instead they chose to come see [me] perform,” Anderson says. “It was a huge moment that really reminds you that there is still a lot of work to be done in the church.”

Anderson has spent much of her life recognizing the places where work needs to be done. While at East, similar situations were brought to her attention.

“I have some of the greatest memories at Lakota East, but even there, there are some problems with people being clique-y and intolerant,” Anderson says, remembering when she spoke to a student who wanted to come out [about his homosexuality] but was encouraged not to.

Sunny’s mother Charlie Anderson explains that connecting with people is one of Sunny’s many talents.

“She has a desire for people that is deep-rooted. She’s a people person,” Charlie says. “She likes to be around people and that’s part of her heart.”

Namely, Sunny demonstrates her passion and sensitivity in her service to the deaf community, which began when she took American Sign Language (ASL) classes at East and has grown to a professional level of signing.

After playing softball for Walsh University as an undergraduate straight out of high school, she began her studies at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College. There she received a degree from the Interpreter Training Program and is a licensed interpreter of ASL. “I’ve really tried to get more awareness of the need for interpreters in churches and in the community; I’ve just

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always been sensitive to it,” Sunny says. “When I go to events for singing, I always make sure there is an interpreter there so I can invite my deaf friends and raise awareness.”

Her dedication to the deaf community led to her involvement in mime ministry. Although she no longer paints her face to perform in front of Christian groups, she helps run workshops and encourages young mimes in the growing ministry. This passion for ministry was greatly impacted by a pivotal moment involving the Shorty Anderson appeared on same two men from the streets of Mount the cover of Spark on April 20, 2000 for her unrivaled faith.

Auburn in Cincinnati.

Two years after they had come to see her sing, the men were gunned down. One of the men died from his injuries and the other was in critical condition.

“In Cincinnati [hospitals, they don’t let just anyone in to see victims of gunshot wounds because they think someone could be coming in to finish the job,” Sunny says. “He heard my voice behind the curtain and told the doctors that it was alright for me to come in because I was his pastor. Out of all the churches and Christians in Cincinnati, I was this 20-year-old girl that had reached out to him and because of that, he considered me his pastor.”

Sunny still keeps in touch with the man. She remembers

I DO THIS SO PEOPLE CAN HAVE A VOICE. WHEN PEOPLE FEEL VOICELESS, THEY FEEL LIKE THEY ARE HOPELESS. being able to cry and pray with the man’s family strengthened her feeling of purpose in ministry.

As Sunny continues on her path of outreach, she uses each of her school passions to show unconditional love.

“I do this so that people can have a voice,” Sunny says.

“When people feel like they are voiceless, they feel like they are hopeless. They can only let go when they know they are loved unconditionally.”

She loves unconditionally at home with her husband and two children, on her NYC softball team, as a minister at her church in Brooklyn, as a singer, mentor, martial arts instructor, swimmer, interpreter and proud Christian.

“I still do almost everything that I did in high school,” she says. “You could say that I am still a renaissance woman.” n

”

2000-02: SPARK NOTES

November 2, 2001 Lakota Board of Education Election

February 4, 2000

May 18, 2001

March 28, 2002

Working alongside students from the Lakota West Voice, the two staffs called together the six candidates running for election for the Lakota Board of Education and answered questions through a panel discussion in the East Cafeteria. The primary topics discussed at the roundtable consisted of censorship, levy funding and district growth. Joan Powell is the only member present at the panel discussion for the 2001 election that is still a member of the Board of today.

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Brandon Bright plays with his dog, Penny.

BRIGHTER TOMORROW story jeff back | photo provided by the bright family

Brandon Bright’s carefree attitude in high school translated to mixed reviews from teachers, but overall reverence from peers and adults alike.

P

lenty of things had changed since the last time Brandon Bright stepped into East with education on his mind.

He no longer sputtered into the parking lot in his 1990 Grand Marquis; a black 1995 Pontiac Bonneville with the rear driver-side panel missing was his new ride of choice.

His last pair of famed blue Nike shoes, discontinued long ago, hadn’t made it out of the closet in years. As he made his way up the steps outside East’s main entrance, Bright’s arms weren’t dragged down by a pile of books. A lot had changed for Brandon Bright in the last six years.

Instead of making his way to the band room for a quick game of foosball before first bell, Bright swings by the office to pick up his assignment for the day. It is not homework— it is the room number for his substitute teacher job.

While he walks to the room of the day, students stop and greet him. Bright sees his brother, current East senior Jeremy Bright, and says “hello.” Jeremy responds, “Hey Brandon,” because to Jeremy, “[calling him ‘Mr. Bright’] wasn’t going to happen. It’s going to be Brandon forever.”

Their resemblance is uncanny. The two tall, lanky, brownhaired Brights amble down the hall for a few seconds before

parting to go their separate ways.

“It was funny [having Brandon substitute at East] because people who had never known me started to recognize me,” Jeremy says. “People would stop me in the hall and say ‘I had your brother today.’”

Brandon climbs the stairs and begins to walk alongside the balcony on Main Street. He pokes his head into room 266 to see to Sandee Coats-Haan, whom he had for honors and Advanced Placement [AP] physics his junior and senior year of high school. Coats-Haan is glad that Brandon decided to pursue a career as a science teacher. According to her, “he is one of the best students I have ever had and that’s who you want teaching—the best and brightest.”

But the career choice came as no surprise to Coats-Haan, who had seen Brandon exhibit the qualities of a teacher while he was still in high school.

“The year I had Brandon in AP [physics], my father had a stroke and I was gone for a week,” Coats-Haan says.

“Brandon would send me emails letting me know what [happened in class]. He made sure that people who were weaker in the class kept up. [Teaching] was in his blood.”

2002-04: BY THE NUMBERS WORLD

MEMORABLE

SPARK

Troops helped in the capture of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein

Million viewers were flashed involuntarily by Janet Jackson during the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show

Of 419 students in 2003 had a relationship with someone via the Internet

600 144.4 1/5 50 | Spark | March 12, 2012

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Teaching, however, wasn’t always Brandon’s first choice.

After receiving a Bachelor of Science in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from The Ohio State University in 2008, Brandon worked as an engineer for a short time before making the decision to pursue his master’s in education. And for the former National Merit finalist, the decision to teach was not a difficult one to make.

“Teaching is an amazing job. Every day is different, every kid is unique,” says Brandon, who is in his first full year of teaching algebra II at Horizon Science Academy High School in Columbus, Ohio. “It is important to the functionality of our republic that we be as equipped to handle information as possible, but the interesting experiences the students present is always a plus.”

Brandon values education as highly as anything, but has not lost sight of being a lighthearted individual. During his senior year, after AP tests were taken, Brandon and a group of his friends left school one day to go play a round of golf.

“I was embarrassingly bad, but I had fun,” Brandon says.

“I got a detention for it, but it was with Ms. Reid, so I just helped her clean up her room for the end of the year.”

But Brandon didn’t always need to skip school to have a good time. Every day for the entire summer before his senior year, Brandon played video games with his friends during the day before inviting up to 20 people to play games—“football, soccer, capture the flag, whatever”—at his or a friend’s house by night. Then the group would retire to watch a movie or two.

“We watched more than a hundred movies that summer,” Brandon says. “I don’t know about the whole ‘best days of our lives’ cliché, but we were carefree, having fun and just living a good life.”

This carefree attitude is Brandon’s trademark. According to Reid, Brandon was “the example of how not to let school steamroll you” when he was in high school. East chemistry teacher Jim Gajewski says that it is this attitude that made Brandon such a great long-term substitute.

“The content knowledge of what he is going to teach will not be an issue for him,” says Gajewski, for whom Brandon substituted during the fourth quarter of the 201011 school year. “He’s obviously a smart guy, but also laid back. Kids like that style of learning environment.”

Although the knowledge and personality needed for teaching proved no problem for Brandon, the schematics

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of being a teacher took more work. The following school year, Brandon spent the better part of a semester working with Severns’ students each day. Severns could not believe the way Brandon’s mind worked, much less that he could translate it into teaching.

“He thinks so many steps ahead of everyone else that I would never want to play Brandon Bright originally appeared in Spark as a senior profile him in chess,” Severns says. for the East graduating class of 2004.

“Some people can’t use that intelligence to think like other students do, but he can.”

Coats-Haan expected the aptitude for teaching. What’s more, she had seen it before when Brandon was an aide for an honors physics class during his senior year at East.

“He likes explaining things to people to make sure they understand it. I’ve seen that in him since he was 15 years old,” Coats-Haan says. “He was student teaching in honors physics his senior year of high school.”

After dabbling in engineering and making the decision to teach, Brandon embraced the opportunities provided

by Gajewski and Severns. According to Brandon, the time he spent working with and observing the duo served as his student teaching.

“Substituting for Mr. Gajewski was an incredible experience because I was thrown in headfirst and had to make the best of an opportunity born of a terrible circumstance,” Brandon says. “[The students and I] had to joke around a bit to make it work but I learned more [by] watching [Gajewski and Severns] work than I did in thousands of dollars of graduate school classes.”

Classically trained or not, Brandon has an aptitude and tenacity for teaching that is highly evident to those around him. Even Jeremy says his brother “really liked the feeling of helping someone else understand [the content] more than himself understanding it.”

And if his former teachers at East have anything to say about it, Brandon will be teaching and getting that feeling for a long time.

“I find learning anything to be fascinating. After all, have you ever thought, ‘I wish I knew less about stuff ?’” n

2002-04: SPARK NOTES

November 15, 2002 Darkness of the Mind

February 17, 2003

June 6, 2003

March 26, 2004

Spark told the emotional story of several East students who, as a result of several pressures and traumatic events during their life, resorted to self-mutilation as an outlet. Writers also dove into the lives of teens who suffered from ADD and ADHD as well as the high costs and effects of associated mediations. A Spark survey of 405 East students showed that 36 percent were diagnosed with these disorders. Package editor Lisa J. Baldwin went on to tell the story of how, after her grandparents’ house burned down due to a single spark, she began to develop a mild obsessive compulsive disorder.

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BPT Ad

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BY THE NUMBERS: ISSUES:

TELLING YOUR STORY

I

GUEST COLUMN abby back, editor-in-chief 2006-07

hear an average of 30 to 50 stories every day. Stories from “I want to tell you about something! I went to Applebee’s last night for dinner,” (I wait for a continuation, but it never comes) to elaborate and exaggerated tales of waking up in the bathtub, in freezing cold water, in winter ski clothes. This is one of the many reasons that I love my job. As a teacher, I get to hear about the birthday parties, the crazy siblings, the sports games, and the daily grind of being a 7 or 8 year old.

As a society, we have been telling stories forever. They were around before the Kindle Fire, before online blogs and before movies and books. Before stories were written down, they were passed from generation to generation through the mouths of storytellers. Today, stories are used in all facets of life including entertainment, education, politics,and the courtroom. We meet for coffee, share bedtime stories, and watch musicals and plays all centering around the act of storytelling. The number one selling book in the world, the Bible, can be viewed as one big story, composed of parables that were told orally for years before becoming the printed book that has sold over 6 billion copies. People are drawn to a good story.

When I was a part of Spark, the staff began a tradition known as the “dart story.”

This is where a student from East is randomly selected and interviewed before the writer has a chance to then convey his or her story to readers. We had learned that everyone had a story; it was just a matter of finding it. While that is a nice sentiment to believe, when I was chosen to write a dart piece, I had my doubts.

What if I couldn’t find something interesting?

What if there was nothing unique? What if they were, dare I say, normal?

It was through this process and into the next few years of my life that I began to realize the truth of that statement. Everyone has a story. Not only does everyone have a story, but they also have a story that matters. Stories educate, encourage, challenge and enrich lives. Our job as humans is to learn how to tell our stories, and just as importantly, how to find the stories in others. Through going

to college, traveling overseas, and beginning a “real world” job this year, I’ve had to practice those skills repeatedly. Getting to know someone is getting to know his or her stories.

Growing up in West Chester, OH in a two-story house that has a two-car garage with my parents, two brothers and dog Sandy led me to believe that there was not much I could offer in the way of a story. I had never lived somewhere exotic; I was not a stellar athlete or Hollywood-bound actress or singer.

I hadn’t gone through a drug addiction, eating disorder or tragic loss. But often our stories are hidden in the normality. We are all wired differently so that we can relate to some people while learning something totally new from those with different stories. My challenge to you would be to figure out what your story is, and tell it. Allow others to walk through life with you and glean from your insight, and you will be surprised what you can gain from their story along the way.

As Spark celebrates its 20 year anniversary, I have no doubt that the Spark will continue in its’ tradition of telling stories. As writers learn to be flexible and adapt to the needs and wants of its audience, stories may change form. They may go online. They may alter in length, style or even content. But they will not change heart; they will continue to entertain, inform, inspire and challenge. They will continue to touch lives.

Last month, one of my students, Max*, watched his older sister struggle to recover from a nearly devastating suicide attempt.

This breaks my heart, not only because such an early death would be tragic and detrimental to Max’s family, but also because this would leave a story unfinished. Max’s sister would lose out on the chance to motivate, empathize,and inspire others with her unique set of perspectives and life experiences. Now, out of the hospital and back home, she has the opportunity to do just that. Some will relate to her, and be comforted. Others will learn from her life experiences that differ so much from their own. Everyone, however, can be thankful that her story saved is another story to be told. n

WORLD

80

Percentage of New Orleans that was under water after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2004

4M 100 MEMORABLE

Number of people who attended Pope John Paul II’s funeral in 2005

SPARK

Number of Spark issues produced over 14 years as of Feb. 7, 2006

ISSUES:

February 11, 2005 Homosexuality One of the more controversial topics Spark has covered in its history, “Homosexuality” featured the lives of several openly gay East students with their reactions to the banning of gay marriage in 11 states as well as how they feel they are treated in society.

*name changed to protect identity of minor

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BALLING OVERSEAS

story devin casey | photo used with written permission from category6

Arguably the most prolific athlete in East history, James Dews is currently leaving his mark for an Israeli basketball team as he turns friends and strangers into fans.

I

James Dews (23) is revered as one of the most prolific athletes in East history.

t is not an opinion to say that Michael Jordan is the greatest professional basketball player of all time. With 32,292 career points, two Olympic gold medals and a half-dozen championship rings, it is a fact. Few brave souls can boast about spending time on the hardwood with His Airness, and a select few can say that they actually beat Jordan at the game he redefined.

2006 East graduate James Dews is one of those lucky few.

Granted Dews was 10 years old when Jordan eyed him during a basketball camp and challenged the smoothshooting elementary student—mano-a-mano—but the young hot-shot was able to best MJ and set the stage for his prolific basketball career. While it is debatable whether a man with more rings than fingers on a hand let Dews have the win, one could always see that his hard-working attitude led to his “no mercy” style of play.

“I played James when I was in elementary school and he was in junior high,” says 2011 East graduate Michael Boyd, who is the current starting point guard for Concord University in Athens, W.Va. “It was frustrating because he would never let me score. But he’s a real nice guy and a hard worker on and off the court.”

As a Thunderhawk (number 23, fittingly), Dews led the Greater Miami Conference (GMC) with 27.9 points per game during his senior year at the shooting guard position, earning two postseason appearances and East’s first GMC basketball title along the way. With a step back three-pointer

2006-08: BY THE NUMBERS WORLD

MEMORABLE

SPARK

Measure on the moment magnitude scale of the earthquake in Peru on Aug. 15, 2007

August date in 2006 that it was announced that Pluto is not a planet

Percentage of 331 surveyed students saw Saddam Hussein’s execution online

8.0 24 33

54 | Spark | March 12, 2012

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at the 3:55 mark in the third quarter against Mason in 2006, Dews took the crown as Lakota’s all-time leading scorer and finished his high school career with 1,906 points. As tears streamed down his face, the rising star watched as his uniform was retired in a pregame ceremony Feb. 10, 2006 on senior night.

“To tell the truth, I have always been able to shoot,” Dews says. “I thank God for that because it’s truly because of Him. Through the years I’ve worked on it, but [shooting has] always been my strength.”

Dews’ natural shooting ability not only dropped jaws as he garnered national attention but also produced fans, mentees and envious ball players. Boyd, who avidly followed Dews as an idol since he had his tail handed to him in elementary school, saw his mentor’s example and attempted to emulate it.

“He led by example for his team and they would follow him,” says Boyd, who led his 2011 team to a 19-1 regular season and a deep run in the playoffs that was halted in the elite eight of the state tournament. “When we were in the preseason of our senior year, our goal was to be better than [the 2005 team]. We knew that that meant working harder than them, which would mean working harder than everybody in the East program.”

The young phenom not only started for East his freshman year, but earned first team all-GMC honors. When Dews helped produce East basketball’s winningest regular season up to 2005 with an 18-1 record his senior year, he set the tone, and the goal, for each proceeding basketball squad.

“Some freshman are physically ready, but Dews was mentally ready,” East boys’ basketball head coach Wally Vickers says. “He is a wonderful young man and was respected by teachers and his peers. We are proud to have him as our alumn.”

In addition to his high school prowess, Dews earned many accolades for his on-court efforts, ranging from GMC Player of the Year honors to Division I All-Ohio First Team selection by the Associated Press. He was recruited by the University of Miami as a four-star, top-100 national recruit and fourth in Ohio, where he appeared in 31 games as a freshman. Dews began to make an impact as a Hurricane during his sophomore season as he started 33 consecutive games and shot 83.3 percent from the field with 15 points against Duke University.

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Following a less-than-stellar junior season with 8.2 points per game, Dews made the decision to return for his senior year in Miami and averaged 11.5 points per game and shot 45 percent from beyond the arc.

Although he declared for the 2010 National Basketball Association (NBA) Draft, Dews was left twiddling his thumbs for hours as he followed the draft from the Washington Wizards’ selection of John Wall to the Phoenix Suns picking up Dews’ fellow Hurricane Dwayne Collins.

Rather than take a year off, Dews pursued his love for basketball overseas to play for Ironi Nahariya in Israel. In a locker room with only two fellow American-born athletes, Dews put up 17.8 points per game for Ironi Nahariya en route to a 14-8 season. According to Category6, Miami’s fan website, the Miami graduate could not see or taste the difference between playing overseas and in the state—but he could feel it.

“My experience in Israel was great on the court and off of it. I think living in Israel is so much like the United States because of the food and the people,” Dews says. “Playing for Miami in the [Atlantic Coastal Conference] is different because of the atmosphere. Playing at places like Duke, North Carolina and Clemson is just not something you do every day.”

James Dews appeared on the cover of Spark twice throughout his tenure as an East Thunderhawk.

TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH, I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN ABLE TO SHOOT. I THANK GOD FOR THAT BECAUSE IT’S TRULY BECAUSE OF HIM. Since his season in Israel, Dews has returned to West Chester engaged to Jamie Desautels and as a father, with intentions of seeking basketball closer to home than across the Atlantic Ocean. While Dews does make the occasional trip to East’s gym to battle on the court with star-struck 10-year-olds under his retired uniform, his talent will continue to be remembered as unparalleled in East history. “[Dews] was always ridiculous. No one could stop him,” Boyd says. “He is by far one of the best players out there.”

Somewhere down the road, Dews plans to turn Boyd’s opinion into a fact. He will, in due time. n

”

2006-08: SPARK NOTES

December 18, 2008 Economy

April 2007

March 19, 2008

April 30, 2008

With the economy reaching its lowest point since the Great Depression and the value of the dollar depreciating, Spark reacted quickly and covered the downturn. The package featured local businesses, such as Tuella (a stationary store), attempting to weather the economic storm as well as how churches struggled in the tumultuous climate. The coverage also featured an infographic by Rohan Kusre and Kevin Li that detailed the change on a local and global scale, earning NSPA Infographic of the Year.

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LOOKING BACK

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DRIVEN FOR SUPERIORITY story natasha rausch | photo ellen fleetwood

Tom’s Superior Driving School founder Tom Hauser may not have always known he was going to be an instructor, but he has always been determined.

T

Tom Hauser is the founder of Tom’s Superior Driving School.

he student gripped the steering wheel tightly as he traveled down Tylersville Road at 9 a.m. when the light turned yellow. According to driving instructor Tom Hauser, who sat in the passenger seat, it was the point of no return, meaning the student should continue through the intersection. But the student slammed on the brakes, and the red 2006 Toyota Corolla adorned with the Tom’s Driving School sticker slid across the intersection and ended in a complete stop. Frantically, the student whipped the gear shift into reverse and gunned back across the intersection.

Hauser was scared, to say the least, but now he tells the story to his driving classes as his funniest experience as a driving instructor.

But before there was Tom’s Superior Driving School, before Ideal Flooring and before any of Hauser’s crazy driving exploits, there was his favorite memory—meeting the girl across the street.

In the summer of 1976, just before his freshman year at Lakota High School, Hauser moved into his new home on Jackie Drive, directly across the street from his future wife, Jill Varelmann. The lack of activities in the area made Jill the perfect neighborhood friend.

“We were neighborhood kids just hanging out together like friends,” Jill says. “After a few years we started hanging out together more, just the two of us. I don’t remember any fireworks or anything like that. It was just a slow evolution.”

But Tom was not quite ready to settle down. He began his high school career at Lakota and started his first job at Burger Chef, where he worked for two years. According to Jill, working with others helped Hauser come out of his shell to become an outgoing person.

2008-10: BY THE NUMBERS WORLD

MEMORABLE

SPARK

Seconds in which Usain Bolt ran the Olympic 100-meter dash to break the world record

Number of buildings in the Lakota district after the construction of Union Elementary

Percentage of East students who believed Lakota should switch to a 10-point grading scale

9.69 22 52 56 | Spark | March 12, 2012

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“When Tom was a teenager he was really shy,” Jill says.

“Then he grew out of it. Once he began working at Burger Chef, I think talking to people helped a lot. At some point he found he was funny.”

Tom’s school basketball experience—or lack thereof— shaped his personality even further. Larry Meibers, the boys’ basketball coach who actually now works for Tom’s Superior Driving School, cut him from the team. Not expecting the news, Tom was devastated. But less than a year later, it was Meibers on the other side of the desk helping him fill out his paperwork to receive his driver’s license. “[Tom] was a good basketball player,” Meibers says. “But once I had [Tom] as a driver’s [education] student I found that he was a great guy, a hard worker and a good driver.”

After receiving his license, Tom tucked the card comfortably away in his wallet, but never could have guessed how much it would affect the rest of his life.

For Tom, the next stop after high school was the steel mill. His job entailed a 12-hour night shift from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., but he loved it. When he was 19 years old, Tom found something to fill his hours that were not spent at the mill.

“I saw smoke while I was working the night shift, so I ran over [to the house fire],” Tom says. “It was a rural area; there was nothing around here. There was one fireman trying to put the house [fire] out. I said, ‘You know what, I could help him out.’ So I became a volunteer firefighter.”

His hard-working personality was a necessity because of the extended periods of time without sleep. Nothing, however, could prepare Tom for his new job. The memories would stick with him throughout his life and provide the anecdotes for what he would later use in his driver’s education classes. “[As a firefighter] you see a lot of car crashes,” Tom says.

“You see a lot of people die. It makes you appreciate life.

That’s what I learned—to appreciate life. Like I say in class, tomorrow will come, but you just might not be here.”

Tom’s inspiration for starting a driving school came one night when he was on the job as a firefighter, a night where his appreciation for life became even more apparent.

“After a car crash one night, a girl was killed. And the cop was yelling at the other girl, ‘What does a flashing red light mean?’ She said it meant to proceed with caution [when really it is the equivalent to a stop sign.]” Tom says.

“I saw these kids get in car wrecks and I knew that I could

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LOOKING BACK

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[teach them] better than that.”

According to Tom, 170 people die every day in car accidents in the U.S. He wanted to change that statistic. In November 1986, Tom’s Superior Driving School opened its doors for the first time on Kingsgate Road where he has now taught 67 percent of East students.

After 23 years he then moved to Liberty Way across from East and next to Ideal Flooring, his carpet store, where he utilized his business degree from the University of Central Florida.

But before Tom’s Superior Driving School made its debut, Tom took an even bigger step Tom Hauser was most recently featured as one of the 12 in his life. Christmas 1985 brought the nine most influential people in the year friendship between Jill and him to the next community in 2008. level. His family was spread across the living room at the annual Christmas party. Everyone’s eyes gazed downward as Tom knelt to the floor with a green Welling’s Jewelers box resting in his palm. Jill said yes.

Their first and only child, Andrew, was born in 1989.

Although Tom juggled 60 hour work weeks, he still managed to go four-wheeling in Kentucky every weekend with his son. Andrew says they were his “best memories by far,” but Tom taught him more than how to drive a four-wheeler.

“My dad influenced me by showing me you have to work to get what you want, and that nothing is ever given to you,” Andrew says. “His motto is ‘work hard, play harder.’”

Tom says he wanted to be a “bum” when he grew up.

[AS A FIREFIGHTER]...YOU SEE A LOT OF PEOPLE DIE. IT MAKES YOU APPRECIATE LIFE. THAT’S WHAT I LEARNED. But from his first job at Burger Chef, to his heart-wrenching experiences as a firefighter and finally to his ownership of a flooring company and a driving school, Tom would not have changed a thing. Especially since the purchase of his condo in Fort Meyers, Fl. Tom has had the opportunity to live his dream as a bum.

But no matter how much Tom loves Florida, he always returns to Ohio. This is where he first met his wife, where he passed his driving test, and where he has taught more 20,000 students what a flashing red light really means.

This is his home. n

”

2008-10: SPARK NOTES

March 21, 2008 Technology: Wrapped Up

April 20, 2009

February 12, 2010

June 2, 2010

With the modern advancement of technology, this Spark issue include a package that focused on technological changes and breakthroughs in schools, homes and workplaces. In the classroom, overheads and chalkboards were replaced by 3M machines. Smart phones dominated the business world and increased efficiency in households, and manufacturing companies in Cincinnati upgraded machines. As the world was becoming increasingly technology-dependent, Spark covered how these changes could be for better or for worse.

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FINDING A NEW VOICE story rachel king | photo ellen fleetwood

Although there is not much to say about DaMonte’ Cole that DJ ColePlay has not already said about himself, the 2011 East graduate has made legitimate life plans out of the mixing studio and into the Lakota Central Office.

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t’s about the new. New start. New job. New mission. New name. While this first year out of high school is one full of new beginnings for East graduate DaMonte’ Cole, his distinct voice, five-foot, four-inch stature and outgoing personality are merely familiar trademarks by which this selfproclaimed “Voice of Lakota East” is best remembered.

Cole took the WLHS East radio program to new heights.

After school, he hosted the program for listeners both at school and in the community.

Everyone knew Cole. And if he couldn’t be seen, he could always be heard. “[Cole] puts himself out there,” says Lisa Schmaltz, who had Cole as a sophomore and junior in her English class.

“DaMonte’ may be a little dude, but he had the ability of bringing a real sense of spirit to the school. He’s one of those students who graduate and make you go, ‘They’ll be OK.’” Cole spent most of the school day in the radio room, but apart from the liberties he took with completing his

DaMonte’ Cole relaxes in the radio room where his DJ career began.

classroom assignments, the reciprocity between Cole and East was evident.

“I think East gave him a foundation to feel safe and a forum to express himself and eventually come into his own,” Schmaltz says. “He made the high school experience real for a lot of people, and in a school this big, that’s pretty hard to do. It comes down to the fact that no matter where he goes, DaMonte’ will always be DaMonte’.”

Currently Cole is pursuing a career in broadcasting at a community college in Cincinnati where he is an on-air talent as a sports radio talk show host for cincyunderground.com, an Internet radio station that plays local unsigned artists.

“Not only am I learning more about the different programs the industry uses, but I am also working with professionals every day. It’s training me for the real world and setting me up for internships,” Cole says. “This college is like my backdoor to being successful in the industry and getting involved a lot sooner.”

After he graduated, Cole retired his WLHS radio name,

2010-12: BY THE NUMBERS WORLD

MEMORABLE

SPARK

Number of days Chillean miners spent underground in 2011 before being rescued

Seconds in duration of the annular eclipse of the sun on Jan. 15, 2010

Consecutive NSPA All-Americans led to Spark’s induction into the NSPA All-American Hall of Fame

69 667.8 10

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“D. Cole Baby,” and is now known as “DJ ColePlay.” Doing so, Cole felt, would give him a fresh start in his approach toward his educational goals and career plans.

When Cole is not hosting the show “Sports Talk Live with DJ ColePlay and Nick Wetta” on Wednesdays, he keeps busy holding a job as catering manager for Firehouse Subs and running his own video production company, ColePlay Productions, an initiative that gives high school students interested in radio the chance to create their own broadcast personality. Cole is also working with a business partner to eventually establish his own nightclub in Cincinnati.

But even though his days at East are now behind him, the memories are still kept close.

“I miss the great teachers and the relationships I made with those people who mentored me and impacted my life,” Cole says. “I miss radio like heck. I miss Lakota East big time.”

The end of Cole’s high school career was also the end of the WLHS program at East, which was cut after the 2010-11 school year due to failed levies and a lack of funding.

“It’s sad to see so many schools that have had to cut their broadcasting programs due to budget cuts,” says three-year Program Director of cincyunderground.com Jodi Franks. “DaMonte [has] an enormous advantage over other students because he entered [our] program with an understanding of the broadcasting industry.”

During his senior year, Cole was at the forefront of the effort to save the radio program.

“I obviously didn’t want the program to be cut and then prevent someone else just like me from blossoming into something great,” Cole says. “Radio made me who I was in high school and who I am today.”

The personal impact that the levy failure had on Cole is one of the reasons why he has decided to run for the Lakota school board in 2014, something Schmaltz thinks “would be awesome.”Although he has relatively no political experience and is fresh out of high school, Cole believes that he has a chance of getting elected and so does Schmaltz.

“He crosses so many boundaries and reaches so many groups of students. If he does the planning for what’s necessary, he’ll be good,” Schmaltz says. “He does have a lack of experience, but he has two years to go to board meetings and learn about school laws and all the things voters and teachers want in the schools.”

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But Cole is not worried about his lack of experiences or youthfulness.

“I plan to surround myself with people who are experienced, know the numbers and know the background,” Cole says. “It’s time to get some young DaMonte’ Cole was originally featured in one of Spark’s annual blood into the senior profiles for the East graduating class of 2011. school board.”

East guidance counselor Carolyn Hickman was one of Cole’s mentors during his time at East, and the two have kept in touch with one another since Cole’s graduation.

Cole and Hickman’s relationship was strengthened through involvement with the African American Achievement Club at East, which Hickman advises. As he is preparing for the 2014 school board election, Cole knows he can turn to Hickman for advice, suggestions and support.

“DaMonte’ looked to me as a mother. I feel honored that our paths crossed,” Hickman says. “He will be very successful at anything he sets his mind to. He’s a person that connects with people and is a friend to many.”

Franks agrees that Cole will be successful in life because

HE MADE THE HIGH SCHOOL EXPERIENCE REAL FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE, AND IN A SCHOOL THIS BIG, THAT’S PRETTY HARD TO DO IT COMES DOWN TO THE FACT THAT NO MATTER WHERE HE GOES, DAMONTE’ WILL ALWAYS BE DAMONTE’. he is “multi-talented” and “driven by passion,” two key traits involved in broadcasting. Although he is now a high school graduate and is working on furthering his career in radio, business and politics, Cole’s mark on East is anything but faint.

“He brought life to East,” Hickman says. “[Radio] is just his gift, and to this day [Cole] is still operating in that gift.” n

”

2010-12: SPARK NOTES

February 14, 2011 Exploring Religion

April 15, 2011

November 17, 2011

January 3, 2012

In the Spark’s issue, Journalism I students covered religion as a relevant topic in the community and in students’ lives. Stories ranged from discussing the faiths of individual students to dispelling common misconceptions. This package started off by posing an uncomfortable question: how much do we know about five of the world’s major religions? In an effort to open her own mind as well as those of Spark readers, Jasmine Tuazon spent time at a local mosque and shared her experiences and observations.

This religion heavy issue was challenging to cover, but garnered much student attention.

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entertainment | album reviews

Album Reviews Tennis · Young & Old · Fat Possum Records

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Used with written permission from Charlotte Zoller

Editors’ Choice

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f there has ever been a group to compel its listeners to don low-cut shorts, colorful tank tops and Ray-Ban sunglasses while hitting the beach, it’s Tennis. Composed of husband-andwife duo Patrick Riley and Alaina Moore, its infectious melodies of sun, surf and serenity revamped the sound of surf-pop last year on Cape Dory. On its latest record Young & Old, however, the band moves beyond tales of navigating the open sea on a shifty sailboat to a more grounded record about life, love and happiness The album, which was produced by The Black Keys’ Patrick Carney, is mature. Unlike similar bands that rely on lo-fi recording methods to pass off a lack of musicianship,

Young & Old is Tennis’ sophomore album.

Tennis, with the help of Carney, crafts an elegancy that consistently hooks listeners with its catchy rhythms and beautiful instrument tones. “Travelling” is such a track, showing the band’s level of composing maturity.

The song’s “verse-chorus” structure is simplistic. That simplicity, however, is made innovative through the band’s meticulous instrument choice, tone, mixing and texturing throughout the song. The recording process is also done to a high caliber, as the sound is clear and concise, exposing the individual colors that make each track complete. The product of this tedious process is a flowing sound that is as super-charged as it is relaxing which, underneath the sweet croon of Moore,

forms an irresistible track that is worthy of being a track on any summer mixtape.

While the album’s recording and composition methods show maturity, it is also able to retain an innocent, child-like quality that characterizes Tennis’ sound. This compassionate persona is most present on the bonus track “Deep in the Woods.”

The song begins with an ethereal piano that entices the listener as if he or she was in the middle of a calm forest. Adding drums, a synthesizer and Moore’s fluid voice, the song leads to the emotionally moving end that has the listener craving more.

“Deep in the Woods” is innocence and blissful happiness in its essence, translating sentiments of love for humanity and amazement that define Tennis’ unique sound.

At the same time, the catchy rhythmic variety adds a light-hearted feel to the piece, which is another component that separates Tennis from other bands of the same genre.

Tennis may be off-beat, but Young & Old is an album that everyone can find a reason to love. Its simplistic beauty allows for catchy tunes that invoke carefree attitudes to resonate in the minds of listeners. The unique instrument choice and variety also creates an individual vibe for all the songs that displays a common theme of love for life and blissful happiness in a way that, until recently, could only be found on the warm deck of a dilapidated sailboat. —Chris Bowling

Sleigh Bells · Reign of Terror · Sony Music Entertainment Reign of Terror is set up to fail.

It’s Sleigh Bells’ second album, so the sophomore slump that plagues many bands could already be guessed. It’s even worse that their debut album, 2010’s Treats, was critically lauded. The hype building up for Reign of Terror only makes this more of a monumental let-down.

That’s not to say it’s bad. The amp-melting magnitude of guitar riffs and other various noises (drums, echoing vocals, the occasional

60 | Spark | March 12, 2012

gunshot) featured on Treats is once again front-and-center, but the novelty has worn off, leaving the record without much soul or reason to even exist. And while guitarist/ producer/professional noise-maker Derek Miller is good at making a lot of random noises sound pretty, Reign of Terror doesn’t have anything as catchy as “Infinity Guitars” or as heartfelt as “Rill Rill.”

The album does have some highs though.

“Born to Lose” has Miller’s slamming guitars and primitive drum beats, but still keeps vocalist Alexis Krauss’ foggy pipes at the forefront of the song. And “Leader of the Pack,” which could easily be a cocky statement on their success, is actually an airy track about heartbreak (“Don’t you know/He’s never

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coming back”) smothered with jingles.

Where Reign of Terror really falls short is its lack of innovation. Differentiating it from Treats is nearly impossible, because, well, it’s pretty much the same record.

Its main difference from its predecessor is that the background noise is typically more hushed. But that’s about it for change. Sleigh Bells’ main problem is that other bands are already doing this better than them. Crystal Castles has the uber-electronic noise-pop down; Wavves has the two-person lo-fi rock niche in its pocket. Sleigh Bells is stuck awkwardly between genres, trying to make a name for themselves while refusing to move forward.—Dillon Mitchell

The Menzingers On The Impossible Past Epitaph Records

Many purists believe that punk rock is slipping away from what it once was. With bands like Green Day switching to alternative rock, the Offspring transitioning toward metal, and Blink-182 turning toward pop music, some are outraged with these groups labeling themselves as something else.

But this doesn’t mean a music group is bad— it just doesn’t make them special, and it groups them with their fellow rock bands. Take The Menzingers for example. With their new album, they are able to maintain their punk roots while simultaneously foraying into pop music, but do nothing noteworthy.

On The Impossible Past emulates the style of Green Day’s Dookie and other great records in rock history. With three power chords per song, melodic vocals and a verse-chorus structure, the group resurrects the techniques that made the genre popular in the first place.“The Obituaries” starts with a Strokeslike guitar riff, with guitarist Tom May and Greg Barnett comping the guitar. Then Eric Keen’s vocals and bass come in with a style similar to that of Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt of Green Day. Stepping away from that style with songs like “Gates,” the group is able to make melodic intros with clean guitar licks, similar to Coldplay or The Fray. Lyrics like “You’ll get the check that Scranton’s for the better,” connect to their hometown in Pennsylvania and to other hometowns across the country.

But those are just the highlights of the lyrics. Most of the songs like “Casey” and “Sun Hotel” just talk about relationship problems, which is what many modern rock bands do. The emulation of styles of other musicians might be good in moderation, but the group overdoses with this. They go as far as playing with styles like Rise Against, which assimilates them with every other band on the radio. For the first few minutes, the music sounds exciting, but it becomes exhausting.

There’s nothing special about the group, but they are fun to listen to in the moment if the iPod is on shuffle or if the DJ decides to play it on the radio. This band probably won’t be in the minds of the general public. But hipsters will love them, as long as they don’t become mainstream.—Rahul Mukherjee

Tyga · Careless World: Rise of the Last King · Epic Records Tyga needs some tough love. Someone needs to tell him how awful his album is because his mom loves him too much to do it. In the last 30 seconds of “Black Crowns,” Tyga samples a phone call from his mom filled with endless praise for her son. Only a mother could spout lines like “I think this album is definitely your baby/ And it’s definitely gonna be heard by a lot of people/And a lot of people are going to love it/They’re gonna love it, love it, love it.”

She probably recorded her message before listening to the album.

The majority of Careless World: Rise of the Last King consists of Tyga trying to copy every popular rap style from the past five years and doing a poor job of it. Tyga is like the wannabe-artist that tries to recreate the Mona Lisa with finger-paint, and while that may be cute for a second-grader, the act is slightly less endearing for a talentless 22-year-old who is asking the world to “king me ‘cause this is my time now.” As if his name wasn’t obnoxious

enough (Tyga is an acronym for Thank You God Always), he alternates tracks about God giving him strength with songs detailing how much he gets laid.

If Careless World: Rise of the Last King was solely filled with mindless club-bangers like “Rack City,” a song in which Tyga impressively utters the title more than 50 times in less than three-and-a-half minutes, it could have been a great party album.

In fact, songs like “Potty Mouth” are pretty tolerable as long as no one listens to the lyrics.

But Tyga tries too hard to mature elementary ideas. He struggles to imitate rappers like Drake by attempting to create multiple personas, but his awful mimicries are anything but flattering. Tyga manages to drag rap and hip-hop to a new low in “Faded,” where he and Lil’ Wayne blow even “Rack City” out of the water with a song that has a cringeinducing beat and lyrics so incomprehensible, like “I pop up and eat lunch, leave you in the cement,” that they make Waka Flocka Flame sound sophisticated. At one point, he inadvertently suggests that everyone commit suicide, rapping “Murdering is simple, get your life simplified” in “Careless World.” Tyga should probably listen to his mommy and go back to school.—Sophia Li

Fun. · Some Nights · Fueled by Ramen It was going fine. For the first song-and-a-half, Some Nights was delivering on its promise of an energetic, hip new album that would alienate the elderly and boost the egos of the wanna-be hipsters.

Then, it happened.

In this context, “then” specifically means “about three minutes into the title track” and “it” means “the worst thing to happen to mankind”—auto tune. This 45-minute treasure trove of noise violates the eardrums of the naïve and innocent listener, forever scarring him or her.

Fun. seems to forget that there are two times when auto tune is appropriate. The first is when used by the Gregory Brothers. The second is never.

However, this slight lapse in judgment doesn’t completely ruin Fun.’s album, similar to how a missing door from a 1985 Honda Civic doesn’t make the car undrivable. No, it’s the rest of the album that does that.

“It Gets Better” and “Stars,” are both

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plagued by auto tune, lack originality and sound like something that was birthed in the garage of an angst-filled teenager who learned how to play guitar from the first three songs on Rock Band on the easiest difficulty possible.

Fun. continues to miss the mark with dull, repetitive songs like “All Alone” and “All Alright,” making the listener wonder whether this is really the same band that released the actually decent Aim and Ignite on a few years prior.

The only somewhat decent song is the much-hyped and extremely radio-friendly “We Are Young,” which has a bad habit of lodging itself into a person’s head and not letting go for the rest of the day. This is the only song on which the lead singer Nate Ruess’ unique voice is shown off and isn’t crowded by obnoxious guitar or robot-noise.

At this point, the only reasonable conclusion is that Fun. is just a trio of trolls, especially evident by the stylization of their name, which continues to frustrate anyone using Microsoft Word.

Some Nights will disappoint by any standards, no matter how low, like a lead bowling ball crashing through all 2,723 feet of the Burj Khalifa.—Joshua Shi

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STAR WARS

With the rerelease of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace in 3-D in February 2012, Spark takes a look at how George Lucas’ series has shaped the film industry.

George Lucas or: How i Learned to Hate Star Wars

review column dillon mitchell | infographic shivang patel

I

have a complex relationship with the Star Wars series. It’s a love-hate relationship, occasionally masochistic.

It started out when I was a plucky young lad, around 10 years old. My dad had just bought Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace on DVD (it was in the budget box at Meijer’s, for now-obvious reasons). As we sat down and watched the film, I was amazed by the glorious lightsaber battles and underwater fish-thing colonies. I also fell in love with Natalie Portman for the first time. The only thing I didn’t adore about the film was Jar Jar Binks, but that’s really just a given for anyone older than five.

Of course, I was 10 years old, and I probably would have liked Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull as well. As I grew older and slid ungracefully into my gawky, outsider years, I discovered this nice little invention called the Internet. And on the Internet, people really hate The Phantom Menace. Now, I was confused, so I delved deeper into the mystery that was Star Wars (yes, I was very clueless about culture of any kind). Much to my surprise, Episode I of the saga was not actually the first installment, and George Lucas is really just a big troll.

I set out to watch the actual first Star Wars film, Episode IV: A New Hope (because apparently putting the damn things in order is too hard).

And as I watched the movie, my mind was blown. I had experienced the visual buffet that is The Phantom Menace, but A New Hope was my first epic space opera smorgasbord that combined pretty explosions (even back in 1977) with actual pacing in the plot.

I finished the original trilogy, and I was fixed, even managing to enjoy the minor speed bump that is Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. So when I returned to The Phantom Menace and the rest of the modern trilogy, I found myself becoming the Internet. These movies are awful, especially compared to the other films sharing their namesake. Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is almost just okay, and it is the best of the three, but that’s only because it marks the end of the prequel trilogy. And watching Hayden Christensen fall into lava is pretty cool.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

May 25, 1977

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope is released.

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The modern trilogy is an atrocity; three awful films that do nothing more than injure the Star Wars franchise as a whole. A street artist put it best when he posted a drawing of Jar Jar slipping in a pile of feces, the skid mark spelling out The Phantom Menace. And the situation is only getting worse. Yes, it involves 3-D. Beginning on Feb. 10 with The Phantom Menace, all six Star Wars films will be re-released to theaters in a new 3-D format, a decision so inherently awful that only someone as moronic as Rick Santorum (or maybe George Lucas) could be behind it.

The problem with re-releasing the Star Wars saga in 3-D is that 3-D is stupid and pointless. That’s the most blatant way to put it. 3-D doesn’t add anything to a film. If anything, it drains a film of some of its life, as in the case of The Last Airbender (not that it had much life to begin with, being directed by M. Night Shyamalan and whatnot).

Maybe The Phantom Menace is treated to the best 3-D conversion known to man. It’s still an over-priced ticket for an adequate movie in which things blast out of the screen at you.

And even thinking about touching the original trilogy with 3-D should be a crime punishable by being forced to listen to Celine Dion.

To do so is like painting a moustache on the Mona Lisa; people will enjoy the novelty for about five seconds before they begin to riot against the force who put the decision into place.

A similar thing happened when the The Complete Saga box set was released back in September, complete with so many changes made to the films that there is a Wikipedia page dedicated strictly to these changes. In a saga already tarnished by numerous mistakes and missteps, sending the films back to theaters with the even more glaring alteration that is 3-D doesn’t make sense.

Earlier this year, Huffington Post interviewed Lucas. When asked about possible sequels to the original trilogy, Lucas responded, “Why would I make any more [films] when everybody yells at you all the time and says what a terrible person you are?”

I’ll apologize for being cruel when you do, Mr. Lucas. n

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is released.

May 21, 1980

May 25, 1983

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi is released.

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is released.

May 19, 1999

1,800

57.9 percent of 585 East students do not think Star Wars should be re-released in 3-D

1,650

1,500

1,350

1,200

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highest-grossing film series

Episode IV was released as Star Wars on May 25, 1977

is George Lucas’ net worth

150

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May 16, 2002 Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones is released.

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is released.

May 19, 2005

The first animated theatrical film of the franchise, Star Wars: The Clone Wars is released.

Aug. 15, 2008

22

years between the original trilogy and the prequel

trilogy

George Lucas’ position on the Forbe’s 400 List

$200

million in profits from novels

John Williams r Wars composed the sound track for Sta

Billion

Box Office Revenue

107

Number of theatrical movies

7

$1.6

Billion

Oct. 3, 2008

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is re-released in 3D. Feb. 10, 2012 Jan. 17, 2012

Star Wars: The Clone Wars debuts as an animated television series on Cartoon Network.

George Lucas announced his retirement from making largescale films. lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 63

information imdb, lucasfilm photos with permission from mctcampus, allmoviephotos

300

$13 million

Profits from Star Wars video games is

450

The budget for Episode IV was

The Star Wars film series has won six Academy Awards

Values adjusted for inflation (in $100,000)

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Luke was called Luke “Starkiller” in the initial script

600

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entertainment | film reviews

Film Reviews Secret World of Arrietty · Walt Disney Pictures · 94 minutes · G photo labeled for commercial reuse

Shawn (David Henrie) discovers Arrietty (Bridgit Mendler) in his garden

I

n an age where 3-D animation and computer generated images seem to dominate the film industry, it is refreshing to see a handcrafted production. Studio Ghibli provides their audience with just that—a magnificent handdrawn, 2-D masterpiece.

Nothing less than excellence should be expected from a Studio Ghibli film. The Japanese animation and film studio founded in 1985 by Hayao Miyazaki has racked up enough awards to set such a standard for their work. From winning the Animage Anime Grand Prix award three times for Castle in the Sky (1986), My Neighbor Totoro (1988) and Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989) to being awarded a Golden Bear and an Oscar for Spirited

Editors’ Choice Away (2002), this studio has continuously mesmerized viewers. The Secret World of Arriety maintains this prestigious reputation.

The plot line is fairly simple. Based on Mary Norton’s children’s novel The Borrowers, the movie tells the story of a family of little people who live under the floorboards of a country home and take minuscule items from humans that they need to survive, such as a sugar cube or a tissue. The borrower family is rather lovable, consisting of wise father Pod (Will Arnett), paranoid mother Homily (Amy Poehler) and adventurous daughter Arrietty (Bridgit Mendler). Although they appear to be the last of their kind, the family fares well leading a quaint lifestyle, until Arrietty

This Means War · 20th Century Fox · 97 Minutes · R America’s sweetheart Reese Witherspoon takes on heartthrob Chris Pine and British invader Tom Hardy in This Means War. CIA agents Tuck and FDR (Hardy and Pine, respectively) attempt to win over Lauren Scott (Witherspoon) with their charming good looks and state-of-the-art technology. After meeting Lauren on the same day, Tuck and FDR are immediately pulled in by her sassy charm. After discovering

64 | Spark | March 12, 2012

they are dating the same woman, the men set up guidelines for their love triangle, and most importantly, decide not to tell her that they are best friends. With help from CIA backup, the men attempt to defeat their enemy, each other, and capture their target, Lauren, using high-tech gadgets to study Lauren’s life, inside and out. After many fantastic and somehow unrealistic dates, Lauren forces herself into choosing between the two.

Although her choice is a bit disappointing, the characters fall into place and a twist leaves the audience laughing and questioning the characters’ morals for the hundredth time.

This Means War has a perfect balance between punches of action, sprinkles of passionate romance and simple humor.

is discovered by a human boy, Shawn (David Henrie). From this unexpected meeting, the plot unfolds as Arrietty and Shawn’s friendship blossoms and as the little people fight to survive.

The setting of The Secret World of Arrietty is atypical in comparison to its creator’s previous work. Ghibli is known for depicting magical worlds, usually full of mythical creatures, flying objects and far-away lands. This time, however, the setting is fairly modest, but nonetheless enchanting. The majority of the film takes place inside the house, under the floorboards and in the yard. Such a simple environment could easily become a visual bore if not handled properly. Luckily, Ghibli’s artistic team is talented enough to transform the location into a captivating version of the real world, with vibrant images and colors that make other 3-D visual effects cower in comparison.

Much like its characters and visual craftsmanship, the story itself is simply charming. It is a tale of friendship and courage, an authentic adventure that will leave viewers of any age with a smile and a warm feeling inside. The Secret World of Arrietty reminds audiences that they don’t need showy montages and loud, action-packed scenes to be moved by a film.

No special effects or 3-D glasses can substitute for the quality and originality found in this movie.—Lauren Barker

 Lauren’s horribly influential best friend Trish (Chelsea Handler) is an inappropriate yet hilarious addition to the cast and plot.

The action, although not mind-blowing, is enough to tide the view over from Handler’s incessantly crude yet amusing humor. It’s a great choice for a fun movie, but not a particularly impressing action flick with effects that seem almost animated. It includes three main, and cliché, action scenes: on the top of a building, in a sketchy strip club, and on an incomplete highway route. Tuck and FDR fulfill the “tough-man” character trope, with their excessively sweaty v-neck t-shirts and airbrushed muscles. This titilating trio’s covert affairs are worth two hours and an box of Raisinets.—Maddie McGarvey

Act of Valor

Relativity Media 111 Minutes R

 Act of Valor is simple. It strives to take the overdramatized war genre and make it into something realistic. This is embodied by the fact that the cast includes active-duty Navy Seals. Its action sequences are tactfully sound; they starkly contrast with the explosive resonance of an effects-driven film, like Black Hawk Down. At first, the movie comes across as unique. It takes a new approach and draws interest through a more accurate portrayal of the military.

When a CIA agent (Roselyn Sanchez) is kidnapped, the Bandito Platoon is sent in to rescue her. With the successful recovery of this agent comes the frightening revelation of a terror plot by a Chechen Islamic fanatic.

Every mission that pertains to the foiling of the terror plot results in a new lead that takes the Bandito Platoon through Chechnya, Ukraine, the Philippines, Somalia and finally, Mexico.

The action sequences make the film realistic. This realism, however, is counteracted by the fact that the movie possesses genuine features of a drama. The entire nature of the military is romanticized. When this is coupled with relatively poor acting by Navy Seals, the entire formula for the film is disrupted. The Navy Seals are in the film to instill a feeling of rugged expertise. They accomplish this mentality during action scenes but shirk it during times of dramatic dialogue. The action sequences that effectively utilize the merits of the seals become less important as the plot unfolds. Consequently, the Navy Seals become monotonous analogous that spew quasidramatic drivel to satisfy the changing angle of the plot. People that don’t act professionally are forced to pretend to be method actors.

Act of Valor honors military action by portraying battles realistically as opposed to other films of the genre. The presence of exaggerated storytelling in the film dilutes the significance of these battle scenes by exposing poor acting.

With a sporadic plot and acting that is nothing more than reading lines in front of a camera, Act of Valor thrives on rugged action at first, but ultimately falls short with lackluster artistic direction.—Onur Eroglu

Safe House · Universal Pictures · 117 Minutes · R CIA safe houses are used to hold “guests,” individuals that pose a threat to national security, in a place where they no longer have rights and are subject to interrogation and torture (only to protect America).

In Safe House, protecting America takes on an entirely new meaning when a mercenary attack on one of these houses leads to the escape of one of its most important guests.

Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds), a young CIA agent eager to prove himself, bites off a little more than he can chew when he decides to pursue a well-known ex-interrogator convicted of espionage. Reynolds’ performance is a shocking breakaway from his usual corny eye-candy roles in romantic comedies. A highly desired convict for more than nine years, Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington), attempts to escape by playing mind games with Weston in order to carry out an important, unrevealed mission.

The movie progresses rather slowly,

following repetitive scenes of gun fight after gun fight between Weston and Frost and an African mercenary group led by Vargas (Fares Fares), whose goal is to capture Frost in order to stop him from carrying out his mission. Unfortunately, more time is spent in these scenes rather than focusing on the fascinating plot. The more enticing part of the movie consists of David Barlow (Brendan Gleeson) and Catherine Linkater (Vera Farmiga), two CIA coordinators on the infamous Tobin Frost case, bickering at each other about where Weston’s loyalties lie after he chooses to personally pursue Frost against their orders. Throughout this film, plot twists and unexpected alliances arise which give this movie an element of surprise.

The moral behind this story introduces an interesting, controversial topic. It weighs American national security against the right people have to know about corruption within the government. It may be a bit monotonous to follow at first, granted the viewer can hold interest. The ending, however, delivers a very satisfying feeling after an unexpected twist.

The overall plot is original, which is evident in the way the movie is presented. Safe House questions how the government “protects us,” and that’s worth watching.—Nick Riddick

Chronicle · 20th Century Fox · 84 Minutes · PG-13 February is Black History Month, and to celebrate, Chronicle has kept an age-old tradition that has been a staple of every movie with at least one guy who isn’t white: killing the black character first.

Directed by Josh Trank, Chronicle follows the tale of Matt (Alex Russell), Steve (Michael B. Jordan) and Andrew (Dane Dehaan) through segmented footage from various cameras. They all discover the power of telekinesis via a magical glowing plot device found in the ground that is shown at the beginning of the movie and conveniently never seen again.

Andrew, who is bullied at school, soon turns from an awkward, anti-social weird to an evil-misanthropic weird as the story progresses, abusing his powers and other people when he becomes an outcast after throwing up on a girl with whom he was about to have sex.

Chronicle does well by its name, putting a





unique spin on a genre already spun more times than a ballerina in a centrifuge. It does well in portraying the evil white one as a troubled youth who has turned to evil after being rejected by society.

However, it does fall flat on a few occasions. It follows the same “one-manwith-a-handy-cam” approach as Cloverfield and detracts from the main spectacle, transporting the audience not to a town where people gain supernatural powers, but to a town where people watch footage of a town where people gain supernatural powers.

The footage is mostly taken from the villain white one’s camera, which has to be some kind of hyper-advanced futuristic space camera, because it can shoot continuously in 1080p and never run out of batteries.

The characters, with the exception of the bad white one, are immature and undeveloped, but that’s fine. Chronicle is probably the most accurate depiction of teenage boys with superpowers, and could only be more accurate if they were shown sneaking into girls’ locker rooms.

If nothing else, Chronicle is great as an antibullying public service announcement. It’s like Carrie, only if Carrie was a dude and deserved it.—Joshua Shi

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 65

8

sports sports | personal | sports playerexperience spotlight | eight things

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THREE-POINT SHOOTING

story eric eichler east boys’ varsity basketball (as told to Maddie McGarvey) photo michael tedesco

Knees bent, hands ready “This helps you get your shot off faster and makes it harder for your defender to block the shot.”

Square Up “This means having your feet and shoulders facing the basket.”

Hand placement “The space between your thumb and index finger should be in front of your eye as you are shooting the ball. Your guide hand should be on the side of the ball.”

Square your elbow “Your elbow of your shooting hand should be about 90 degrees and not off to the side.”

Eyes on the rim “You’re obviously not going to make it if you’re not focusing on the basket.”

Shoot at your highest point “When you shoot, the ball should be leaving your hands as you reach the top of your jump. It should be all one smooth motion.”

Arch “Your shot shouldn’t be a line drive at the rim. The ball should be at least the height of the backboard when it’s at the highest point.”

Follow through “As the ball is leaving your hands your wrist should flick: “Put your hand in the cookie jar.”

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 67

sports | column

Jeff Back

SPORTS EDITOR

TEXTBOOKS FOR TETHERBALL

contact jeff at j.a.back2@gmail.com

U

nion Elementary will always be the building nestled on Cincinnati- last time that I saw him was at an eighth grade basketball game when Dayton Road. The old redbrick building that has been identified as I played for Hopewell Junior School. He now lives in Indiana. While a historical landmark. The schoolhouse where every first through Losh’s retirement was a gargantuan loss for Lakota, it could not have fourth-grade classroom found a home in three narrow hallways. Where come at a better time for him. fifth-graders felt like top dogs in their secluded wing on the west end of With Lakota’s $9 million reduction in operating budget looming, the the building, and the sixth graders were the dominating class in their own “specials” at the elementary level are in dire straits. To save $1.9 million, pseudo-campus in an add-on off the buildings east side.

Lakota has proposed laying off 36 art, music, physical education and The new Union Elementary on West Chester-Lesourdsville Road just unified arts teachers at the elementary level. 36. isn’t the same. But while the new establishment flaunts bigger hallways, Across the entirety of the district’s 14 schools that teach first through nicer digs and a gym with expanded walls, the school is nothing without sixth graders, there would be two physical education teachers left, if the the man who made Union Elementary—George Losh. budget proposals are passed by the Lakota Board of Education. Instead From the first day of first grade to the final day of sixth, Losh cared of going to gym class once or twice a week, students would have gym about the physical fitness of his students more than Sarah McLachlan class for three weeks, and then not for the next six. Art and music would about every down-trodden and abused be taught during the six-week gym hiatus. pet in America. Physical fitness tests, Each class would also be reduced 10 minutes. pacer runs and the year-end “Sports Losh’s gym as I knew it will cease to LOSH’S GYM AS I KNEW IT WILL Week” made physical education at exist. There will be no “sports week.” There CEASE TO EXIST. THERE WILL BE Union far from ordinary. The plain red will be no basketball league. There will be certificates that kids were handed for a no gymnastics or volleyball programs. As it NO “SPORTS WEEK.” top place finish in events ranging from stands, two stretched-for-time gym teachers “hot shot” contests to the mile run will instruct elementary-level kids. Those two gleamed bright as gold when Losh handed them to his ecstatic students. teachers will be juggling more events than Michael Phelps at the 2008 There was a reason that already eager kids burst at the seams in Summer Olympics. And because the elementary school day will see no anticipation of the weeklong Losh-induced Olympic-esque competition decrease in time, more time will be spent in the classroom. in May. Losh’s gym classes at Union were pure, unrepressed fun. But the “Though students will experience a decreased amount of exposure to joy kids experienced in the old red brick Union gym with fixed wooden art, music and physical education, the increased instruction in the core seating during the sport-laden week didn’t have a four-year wait attached subjects will help them meet the more rigorous standards in the vital to it, or even a single year. That same enjoyment was plastered across core subjects,” said Lakota superintendent Karen Mantia. young girls’ and boys’ faces each and every week.

I don’t buy it. More time in the classroom is not what those kids need.

The “specials” system, as it was called, made the Union education According to Lakota’s release, students will spend 89 more hours more than perfect. Once a week, every student would make his or her focused on core subjects, including science and social studies for every way to an art, gym, music and library class. On Fridays, students would grade and language arts and math for fifth and sixth. But in a time where visit one of the four classes again, based on a rotating schedule. child obesity is higher than ever before–in the past 30 years, childhood In a month, I went to Losh’s gym class a total of five times. In a obesity has more than tripled. Lakota’s thought to increase recess time semester, I found myself flinging dodge balls and spiking volleyballs an in order to make up for the lost gym time, though, will prove to be average of 23. In just a single year at Union I swished three-pointers, futile. Sitting on benches and swings does not make up for running and blasted home runs and competed in sports ranging from kickball to dodgeball. gymnastics 45 times.

Sure, it’s fine to place an emphasis on core subjects. Kids need to Over six years as a student at Union, I walked into that gym for class learn the skills they need to get a job when they become adults. But more than 270 times. But as I said, that was for class. the cost of those extra 89 core educational hours must be weighed.

George Losh was no average educator. From long before I was alive, When the CDC publishes a report stating that 70 percent of obese Losh ran several after-school programs out of his own personal time youth between ages 5 and 17 have already developed risk factors for that fostered my love for sports that I carry with me to this day. His cardiovascular disease, programs such as NFL Play60 don’t seem quite basketball program, which consisted of roughly 20 girls’ and boys’ teams as cheesy as their commercials. from the third through sixth grades, met every Saturday for games. Each Losh’s retirement was bittersweet. Lakota lost a legend. If he had team also had an hour-long practice during the week. Losh spent the he stayed, a few more years of students would have been given that better part of his days introducing new sports to kids that would hold opportunity to experience his class. But it wouldn’t have been fair to onto them for years to come. make Losh watch the program he had built for 30 years suddenly be Losh retired a year after I graduated from Union Elementary. The decimated, either. n

68 | Spark | March 12, 2012

sports | player spotlight

Chow Down for

Canton

East senior swimmer Rob Van Kirk has swum all his life. This year, he took that dedication and hard work all the way to the state meet in Canton, Ohio.

East senior swimmer Rob Van Kirk practically lives in the water. From losing his two front teeth in a pool during practice at age eight, to swimming in a 24-hour marathon training session, Van Kirk has found his home. Even changing his diet to consume nearly five times that of an average human in order to keep himself fueled, Rob has made a commitment to swimming that has landed him among the nation’s elite. story john grasty | photos mandi ellsworth and nick kanaly | infographic emily chao

S

ince taking his first dip as a high school swimmer, East senior Rob Van Kirk has swum from New York City to Los Angeles and back. Well, not exactly. But with his grueling practice schedule of nine swims per week, which average 6,000 yards per practice, Van Kirk has covered more than 6,000 miles in four years. This far exceeds the 5,556-mile trek it would take to travel coastto-coast and back. “[Rob] has always had a love for the water,” says his father, Bob Van Kirk. “He started swimming when he was two. He had a little floatie suit because he couldn’t swim, but we couldn’t keep him out of the water.”

Before he racked up enough miles in the pool for a transcontinental voyage, Rob has been making a splash since his early years. At the age of eight, he lost both front teeth at

a swimming practice while doing laps in the water. Alas, when he arrived home Rob had no teeth to leave under his swimming bedspread; they were still sitting at the bottom of the pool.

But six years later, after he had regained his two front teeth, Rob still had a love for the water.

“Freshman year started and [Cincinnati Marlins coach Chris Wolford] sat me down

When you’re practicing nine times a week, suddenly a Chipotle burrito becomes just a little snack.

-Rob Van Kirk, East senior

and was like, ‘At what level do you want to be?’” Rob says. “I said, ‘I want to be the best I can be.’ That was my decision to really make swimming my dominant sport.”

Rob first started with the Marlins at the age of 10, two years after he began swimming competitively. Since their inception in 1961, the Marlins have sent 18 swimmers to the Olympics and have brought home 19 medals.

They have also produced more than 80 high school state champions, including East’s sole state champion, Jared Miller, who won the 200yard individual medley in 2006.

“The Marlins helped me with competitiveness” Miller says. “It’s all about the mindset–success is a state of mind.”

To try to equal this success, Rob drives 40 miles round trip to Keating Natatorium at St. Xavier High School to practice with the rest of

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 69

sports | player spotlight

the Marlins, spending approximately 20 hours “Rob is very driven,” says Wolford, who per week in the pool. His strenuous Marlins has coached Rob for seven years. “He is very schedule leaves him with a poor attendance goal-oriented. When it comes to swimming, he record for the Thunderhawks, but the fact that is very focused and he is willing to put in the he has attended only one Lakota-sanctioned work.” practice all season does not seem to agitate his This arduous workout program has a teammates. resounding impact on some other aspects of “[Rob’s attendance] does not really bother his life, notably his appetite. During winter me because I know he is working hard with the break he consumed more than 9,000 calories Marlins at [Keating Natatorium],” East senior each day, meaning a trip to Chipotle consisted swimmer Billy Barren says. of only one-sixth of his diet.

Barren and Rob, along with senior Jake “When you’re practicing nine times a week, Sepela and freshman and fellow Marlin Matt suddenly a Chipotle burrito becomes just a McDonald, qualified for the 2012 Ohio little snack,” Rob says.

High School Athletic Association State But the extra fuel does not go to waste. Rob Championships in the 200-yard medley relay even had a 24-hour practice. and missed the finals by 0.03 seconds. Rob “We started at 6 a.m. and went until 6 a.m. qualified for the finals in the 500yard freestyle and placed 16th out of In order for Van 24 competitors, though he claims the Kirk’s body to keep 500-yard freestyle is an “off ” event. up with his intense “I’m suited for the longer events,” training regime, he he says. “My best events will not even eats an average be offered until college and beyond. of 9,000 calories The yards I can do are higher and a day during his my sets are longer compared to toughest training. sprinters.”

Much of this ability is due to Rob’s superior physical condition, which is a result of his practice routine. In national-level swimming, the pool is 50 meters (55 yards), while high school pools are 25 yards. Rob’s best events, the 200-meter breaststroke, 400-meter individual medley and the mile, are not available in high school competitions.This forces Rob to compete in events for which he believes he is not best suited, such as the 500-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard individual medley races. Despite this, Rob stays committed in practice.

70 | Spark | March 12, 2012

Van Kirk qualified for the state meet as part of a 200-yard medley relay and as an individual in the 500-yard freestyle.

the next day,” Rob says. “We practiced for two hours, and then ate breakfast and then practiced for three hours and ate lunch. It went like that the whole day. The midnight and 4 a.m. practices were some of the worst I’ve gone through.”

His training regime has also allowed him to be in such outstanding conditioning that he needed less than a month to ready himself for a half-Ironman, which consists of a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike ride and a 13.1-mile run.

“I was talking to a lot of people who did half-Ironmans and they all said that you have to train more than a year in advance,” he says.

“I trained for four weeks. Swimming put me in such good shape that it only took four weeks of riding my bike and running to get ready.”

In addition to the great physical shape he is in, Rob believes some of the lessons he has learned in swimming will help him in several other facets of his life.

“Swimming is so much more than [just becoming a faster swimmer,]” he says. “I’ve learned what hard work and determination really are.

Every day I’m going to go to school.

I’m going to have three hours of practice. I’m going to have to do my homework. And I know no matter what, I’m going to have to wake up at 4 a.m. the next morning for practice.”

Even with the intense preparation leading up to Junior Nationals, which is the premier event for amateur swimmers in the United States, not a single Marlin qualified in the summer between Rob’s freshman and sophomore years.Because of this, he and his teammates put swimming as the number one priority, and managed to get 10 qualifiers the next summer.

Rob also had his own motivation. Although he does not practice with the Thunderhawks, high school competition still means a great deal to Rob. “My freshman year when I was trying to qualify for sectionals, I missed it by less than a 10th of a second,” Rob says. “And you can guarantee that every single practice that next season, I was driven. In one year I went from missing sectionals to qualifying for Junior Nationals. Less than one percent of swimmers qualify for Junior Nationals.”

When Rob is in the water, colleges take note of his superb skill and conditioning. Because swimming scholarships to freshman are nearly non-existent, most join a team via an invite or by walking on, and then receive scholarships later.

While he has been contacted by several schools, Rob says he is still deciding between

Fueling the Elite Swimmer With intensive, long workouts, especially during school breaks, elite swimmers often burn so many calories that they eat as much as six times the average person’s usually daily caloric intake.

Average Person

The Naval Academy, Purdue University and The Ohio State University, all where he will pursue swimming at the next level.

Rob hopes this same skill that will land him on a college swim team can one day put him with the U.S. swim team at the Olympic trials for the 200-meter breaststroke, a place where the top 30 swimmers in any event go to train and compete for the two spots in the upcoming Olympics for that event.The time-cut to make the trials is currently set at 2:20:79, and Rob’s personal best is a 2:25:00.

This drive comes as no surprise to his Marlin teammate and Sycamore senior Thomas Norris.

And you can guarantee that every single practice that next season, I was driven. In one year I went from missing sectionals to qualifying for Junior Nationals.

Rob Van Kirk

- 3 eggs - bagel - yogurt - grapes - granola bar

- 3 sandwiches - 3 slices of French toast with powdered sugar - 2 cups of coffee - 1 bowl of grits - 3 chocolate chip pancakes - 1 five-egg omlette

Lunch

- 3 extra large pancakes - 1 four-egg omlette - fruit

- 1 sandwich - 1 bagel

Lunch

- 2 sandwiches - energy drinks - 1 pound of enriched pasta

- 1 12-inch Subway sandwich - Gatorade - protein powder shake - 1 extra large Chipotle burrito

Dinner

Dinner

- energy drinks - 1 whole pizza - 1 pound of enriched pasta

Snack

- yogurt and granola bar

9,000 Calories

12,000 Calories

information -The Wall Street Journal, Rob Van Kirk photos used with paid permission from mctcampus.com

Snack

Dinner

2,000 Calories

Breakfast

Snack

Snack

- 1 bowl of pasta - soft drink

Michael Phelps

- Gatorade - protein powder shake

- 2 pancakes - 1 egg - coffee

- sandwich - milk

“Over the summer a year-and-a-half ago, he wanted to get into Junior Nationals,” says Norris, a 2011 swimming All-American. “He was really pushing toward that and all of the sudden he got a lot faster and within striking range of his Olympic trial goal.”

So when August rolls around, Rob will be looking to make the 3,870-mile journey from Cincinnati to London—this time by plane. n

Breakfast

Breakfast

Lunch

-Rob Van Kirk, East senior

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photo devin casey photo

6 15 2 26 18 4

photo jeff back

NUMBERS

LINES photo devin casey

BY THE

OUTSIDE THE

Scan this QR Code with a smartphone to access sports stories and game coverage throughout the winter season on our website: lakotaeastspark.com.

GYMNASTICS East senior Alexa Brownfield competes on vault at the District Competition.

story sam hauck

Number of swimmers that qualified for state meet in Canton, Ohio.

GIRLS’ BBALL

Percent of the $2.1 million athletic budget is proposed to be cut next year.

Percent of East student athletes do not know their contract is in effect year-round.

Number of East athletes who signed to colleges in the winter season.

Number of games East girls’ lacrosse won last year out of 11.

photo nick kanaly

Number of girls that play on the East’s ice hockey team.

story sydney aten

photo jeff back

East freshman Cydney Franklin drives her way to the basket past a Bellbrook defender.

FEATURE East senior swimmer Charlie Downs is one of the most recent athletes that has been affected by the yearround athletic contract.

story elaine laux

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Matt McDonald – broke school 100-meter backstroke record

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FAMILY TIME ON THE ICE

East junior Miranda Scheitlin gets caught up in a swarm of Fairfield defenders while attempting a shot.

East junior hockey player Miranda Scheitlin checks into the game her family has been playing for years. The family connections on the hockey team have made the journey worth-while. story sophia li | photo devin casey

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or the Scheitlins, hockey is a family event.

Growing up with four brothers and one sister, Gordon Scheitlin learned to play the game during winters in Columbus, Ind. when the small lake near his home would freeze over. Gordon then passed his childhood pastime to his first son Chris when Chris was six. Eventually, the love of the sport spread throughout the Scheitlin family when Chris taught his younger brother, East senior Andrew Scheitlin, how to play. While the two brothers took an early interest in hockey, their sister Miranda took a little more persuasion to get on the ice. “[When I was little], I was completely against [playing hockey]. I just didn’t want to do it,” says Miranda, who is a junior at East. “My dad convinced me to start. He told me he would get me a horse [if I played].”

Although she never actually received the horse, Miranda and her dad still laugh whenever she brings up his broken promise. Miranda took on the family tradition as an eight year old, when she joined her first ice hockey team. Their love of the sport has turned into a family affair, with Andrew, Miranda and their two older brothers all having played hockey, Gordon coaching it, and Karen, Gordon’s wife, cheering them on with their sister Megan, who is the only sibling that does not play hockey.

But even before the ice and the halfhearted promise of a horse, Andrew and Miranda remember playing hockey as kids in their driveway.

“We would be rollerblading out in the front, and my older brother

Chris would teach me how to play hockey and how to shoot,” Andrew says. “We would play games, boys versus girls or two-on-two in the driveway. Our driveway door is full of hockey puck holes.”

Andrew and Miranda have come a long way from pick-up games in their driveway, both having played on travel teams before joining the East hockey team, of which Gordon is the head coach. Hockey has brought the family closer, and Andrew and Miranda both hope to share their love of the sport with their future kids. But for now, they enjoy playing on the East team with their dad and friends.

Andrew has played for East since his freshman year, and Miranda followed in his footsteps a year later. Miranda is one of two girls on the East team, and her dad has noticed that having girls on hockey teams has become more common, especially because there are no longer girls’ teams at many schools.

“Five years ago there may have been one or two girls in the whole high school league,” Gordon says. “Now I think every team has at least one girl, some have three, maybe four.”

[story continued at www.lakotaeastspark.com]

HAWK CULTURE A look into the lives of East athletes and coaches infographic claire schomaker

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Jason Shake CHESS TEAM

Jaime Etterling VARSITY GYMNASTICS

Molly Blomer WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Courtney Yanza VARSITY SWIMMING

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Jim Lehman VARSITY WRESTLING COACH

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Jake Burton (195 lbs) and Austin Daly (113 lbs) – qualify for state wrestling tournament

l Aleth

Spark week | 73 Pashilakotaeastspark.com – Putters’ athlete of| the

sports | personal experience

Trading

Gloves

The East girls’ lacrosse team has trained with kickboxing during the offseason at Jorge Gurgel Mixed Martial Arts Academy.

After an adequate 2011 season, the East girls’ lacrosse team has dropped its lacrosse gloves in favor of boxing gloves in an offseason training program designed to build more strength and endurance for the upcoming season. story raika casey | photos jeff back and sierra whitlock | infographic jack dombrowski

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hen 15 fellow “Lax Hoes” and I stepped into the Jorge Gurgel (JG) Mixed Martial Arts Academy, we didn’t know what to expect. When we were greeted by a man proudly sporting a bright pink shirt and a Brazilian accent, we failed to realize we had just spoken to a former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter and current Strikeforce fighter. We laughed at the muscular men jumping rope in puddles of their own sweat, but we would be joining them shortly. We grasped our jump ropes so innocently, and were not aware of what was ahead of us—Hell. But it was a beautiful hell that epitomized the contrast between this year’s East girls’ lacrosse team and last year’s.

Fitness kickboxing class took place on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The conditioning could be equated to training sessions with my dad for the 140.6-mile death march known worldly as the Ironman. JG’s dojo prison Hell did not cut us any slack. From the moment we bowed to the same mat on which UFC fighter Rich Franklin has stepped, it was business. The classes began with jumping rope for four minutes, followed by 45 seconds of push-ups. Then, another grueling round of jumping rope. Then 45 seconds of squats.

“Come on ladies, little girls do this for fun.

74 | Spark | March 12, 2012

If you can’t jump a little rope, you’re in for a rough hour,” shouts Jon Buckley, one of our instructors. By this time nearly all of the girls needed to pause every couple jumps to wipe away the beads of sweat, which only caused more ridicule from the man with bright pink toe nails. Before we had time to catch our breath, we were treated to another series of jumping rope and 45 seconds of sit-ups.

But the fun didn’t end there. The buzzer When they are not kickboxing, the girls practice at Gametime Fitness in Fairfield, Ohio.

sounded, signaling our liberation from the jump-roping journey as we excitedly bowed off the mat and slid our kick boxing gloves over our self-wrapped hands.

We made our way into the bag room where the real workout began. As Buckley explained to us how to effectively take down inanimate Knuckle-up punching bag opponents, we touched gloves and started the beat-down.

Motivating us was the idea that each blow to the punching bag brought us closer to redemption from ex-boyfriends, or just someone we hate— for 16 minutes.

The final buzzer rang as we each dropped our arms in relief until the realization that there was still more time left in our one-hour boot camp session. We then bowed onto the mat once again and greeted our other instructor, Eric Ramsey, who had us run sprints and do various endurance and agility exercises, including the infamous burpie.

A burpie is when you start with feet together in a wide bent over hands on the ground position, kick your legs back behind you (so it looks like you are going to do a pushup), bring them back forward to your starting position, then stand up, jump and reach for the sky.

Kick boxing at JG is no ordinary kick

Calibrating Kickboxing A one hour kickboxing routine can burn a average of up to 810 calories and targets your arms, shoulders, abs, thighs and butt in one workout.

This makes kickboxing a great conditioning activity for any team.

The Side Kick

The Jab Punch

1) Stand with right foot forward in fighting stance.

2) Rotate right hip forward, extending right arm.

3) Twist forearm so the fist is parallel to the floor at full extension, arm in line with shoulder.

4) Recoil immediately.

1) Stand with your left foot forward in fighting stance.

2) Turn hips to the right, and pivot right toes out slightly.

3) Lift your left knee toward the chest, keeping your foot flexed (not shown).

4) Forcefully extend the left leg out to the left side, pushing through the heel while counterbalancing by leaning your entire upper body toward the right.

+ Quick Tip: Jabs are fast, surprise punches, so strike as quickly as possible with control.

+ Quick Tip: Think of kicking through target with heel.

The Hook Punch

1) Stand with left foot forward in fighting stance.

2) Pivot on the ball of your left foot, turning left knee, hip, shoulder, and arm simultaneously as you punch from left to right.

3) Bring left forearm parallel to floor, thumb up; keep right fist by face.

4) Recoil immediately and return to fighting stance.

The Roundhouse Kick

+ Quick Tip: To get the pivoting motion correct, think of putting out a cigarette under the ball of your foot.

1) Stand with right foot forward in fighting stance.

2) Bend right knee, bringing heel toward glutes, and pivot on left foot, turning hips to left (not shown).

3) Strike from right to left in an arc with right foot, extending kick from knee, toes pointed.

4) Retract and return to fighting stance. + Quick Tip: Imagine slapping target with your shoelaces.

scrimmaged a majority of the time. With all of these new practices, it is now implied that the 2012 lacrosse season will surely beat varsity’s 4-11 record from last year.

“This is our fourth year as a team and it’s time to step things up,” Meyer says. “We want everyone to take lacrosse seriously and really buckle down and work hard. Hopefully, we can see lacrosse become a school-sanctioned sport within the next few years.”

The girls’ lacrosse team at East is a club sport, which means that the team is able to affiliate with East, use East’s turf fields to practice and play home games, but does not receive any funding from the Lakota Local School District. Currently, playing lacrosse at East costs $365, while a school sport costs $550 because of 2011 budget cuts. The lacrosse team has also had the opportunity to use other facilities this year. We were able to use the weight room at the East Freshman Campus for the first time ever, so while we were pumping iron, we were a symbol of our team becoming more of a school sport. As our team makes leaps and bounds towards being considered more and more as a school sport, our numbers have grown tremendously.

“It’s crazy how much we’ve grown since the program started,” Meyer

Information www.fitnessmagazine.com

boxing, though.

According to Jon Stutzman, the co-owner of JG, kick boxing at JG is not like any other place because of the instructors.

“They’re very energetic and loud,” Stutzman says. “They will push you and they’re going to make you do things you didn’t think you could do.”

Mackenzie White, an East graduate and instructor at JG, also thinks that the coaching staff is excellent because they push each student’s limits.

“They will push you because they have pushed those limits before themselves,” White says. “They have gone over and beyond in everything.

And have done everything that they possibly could so they know exactly what these girls need.”

While this year we are “gettin’ swol” in the gym, last year at this time we were making the best of our weekly conditioning practices. According to Tori Meyer, who has been with the East girls’ lacrosse team since it started in 2008, it is a totally different experience than anything they have ever done before.

“Even though it’s one of the hardest workouts, it’s fun so the girls keep coming back,” Meyer says. “It’s hard not to feel like a badass when you’re in the gym.”

Among a group of high school girls, our 26-year-old coach doesn’t stand out as she wraps her hands and bows into the kick boxing madness. Allison Scott founded East girls’ lacrosse four years ago, and has been coaching the Thunderhawks pro bono ever since. Despite her 45-minute commute to the turf, she never misses a practice. Just like kick boxing, Scott has turned up the heat on our team and has been actively pursuing the goal of transforming the girls’ lacrosse team into more than a club sport.

“The motivation really came from the players,” Scott says. “They were ready to take their game to the next level. I think this will help us hit the ground running when we officially start the season. The increase time in the gym and time together as a team has created a buildup to the season that has everyone excited to get out on the field and start practicing. As a team, we are in the best shape we have ever been in which will allow us to practice and play harder than we have ever done before.”

Last year, the lacrosse season took a break in the summer and started conditioning in the fall. With practices beginning in the summer this year, conditioning in the fall and trips to JG’s dojo in the winter, a significant increase in stamina and skill was apparent. In addition to JG, we also practice at Gametime, an indoor field, almost every Saturday morning from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. At Gametime, because we were able to use a turf field, we ran drills and

says. “We had so many new players and barely enough girls to field a team. Now, we have more experience and so many girls who are excited to play the game. Even though the mentality has started to change, we still have fun.”

Although it is not exactly fun to have a nailpainted UFC fighter yelling at us as we jump rope and do burpies, our new gloves have given the girls’ lacrosse team a chance to step up on the field in the upcoming season. n

This is our fourth year as a team and it is time to step things up. We want everyone to take lacrosse seriously and really buckle down and work hard.

–Tori Meyer, East senior

The girls on the team train together at JG Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Feb. 2012.

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 75

Contraceptive

opinion | head-to-head

zach fulciniti

T

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art lisa cai

They can freely exercise their dogma without having to pay for anybody’s contraception.

76 | Spark | March 12, 2012

he Obama administration has taken heat from conservatives and Christian organizations over the past few weeks regarding the new Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate, which would require employee health insurance plans to cover the cost of birth control, even for religiously affiliated hospitals and universities. These organizations, particularly Catholic affiliates, have objected to the requirement on the grounds that it violates their dogma, which decrees the use of contraception a sin. After several weeks of debate, the Obama administration offered a compromise, allowing employees to circumvent employers and seek contraception coverage directly from insurance companies. The compromise benefits health insurance companies because it is cheaper to pay for birth control rather than pregnancy.

Yet the debate rages on. Catholic organizations continue to argue that they should be exempt from covering birth control costs, and in doing so have exposed the fatal flaw in their argument.

Obama’s compromise will come at no cost to the employers or employees. Insurance companies have agreed to cover contraceptives without raising premiums. Thus religious organizations will not have to pay a dime for birth control of any kind. Yet they continue to rail against the administration’s decision, because their ultimate goal is not to uphold their religious doctrine. Nor is their goal to avoid having to foot the bill for their employees’ birth control.

Instead, their decision to continue arguing a debate from which they have clearly walked away victorious reveals that their true goal is to exercise control over the moral compass of their employees.

Not everyone who works at a Catholicaffiliated hospital or university is necessarily a devout Catholic. Therefore it boils down not to whether the Church has the right to tell its congregation how to lead their lives, but rather if an employer has the right to tell employees how to lead their lives. And that is a right they most certainly do not have. These organizations don’t care about the cost, nor do they care about “free exercise.” This compromise allows both of these to remain untouched; they can freely exercise their dogma without having to pay for anyone’s contraception. No, they merely want to prevent their employees from using birth control as they can––which reveals a fundamental hypocrisy.

The Church and affiliated organizations claim the HHS Mandate violates their right to practice their religious doctrine, yet neither the Church nor affiliated employers have turned a single person away for his or her use of contraception. The 2006-10 National Survey for Family Growth (NSFG) showed that 98 percent of women ages 15 to 44 in the United States use

or have used contraception of some kind. It is laughable to imagine the Church objecting to contraception on the grounds that it violates its dogma. It would be wise to inform the Pope that the memo detailing his “infallible” position on contraception never made it across the Pacific.

Yet the Church continues to rage against the mandate, again and again invoking the GOP’s new favorite buzzword, “Obama’s war on religion,” simply because the administration tried to put them on equal footing with every employer in America.

Just as well, it is telling that the Church would only argue the issue of birth control once they’ve been asked to pay for it. The story of Onan (Genesis 38:8-10), who Judah ordered to lay with his brother’s widow, and who could not bring himself to inseminate her and spilled his seed upon the ground, and who was struck down by the Lord for doing so (yes, this is the biblical basis for the Catholic Church’s policy regarding contraception), is only mentioned when these organizations are asked to pay the same as everyone else. This raises the most important point of all: these Catholic organizations want, more than anything, special treatment.

Catholic organizations and social conservatives hide behind the idea that mandating the practices of their own members and receiving special exemptions from the government is somehow viable under the "free exercise” clause of the First Amendment. For months these social conservatives rambled on about Obama, a devout Christian himself, waging a “war on religion,” and this, in their minds, has only added fuel to the fire. But they forget that there is a clear difference between a belief and a practice. The government will never tell religious organizations to support the use of contraception, or to implore their employees to use contraception. But if their employees choose to ignore the cautionary tale of Onan, and if the federal government requires them to pay for it like every other employer, it is their constitutional duty to do so. And this compromise even saves them from having to do that.

But this is not enough for the social conservatives who’ve led this crusade. While these organizations may ask for “free exercise,” what they desire is more akin to free reign to manipulate the morality of their own employees, despite the fact that a recent Public Policy Poll shows general support at 66 percent, as well as 58 percent of Catholics, and an even larger majority supports the use of contraception. All the while, Catholics and social conservatives continue to rail against contraception. It would appear that the seminal goal of Christianity is not humanity's redemption, but to overpopulate the world into oblivion. A fresh hell, I'd say. n

Controversy T

his country was founded on the initiative of a group of people that sought religious freedom from an oppressive crown 400 years ago. The idea that our government now wishes to trample on our religious freedoms by dictating how religiously affiliated institutions can support its members would have James Madison turning over in his grave.

The Health and Human Services (HHS) Mandate under the Affordable Care Act imposes an unconstitutional ruling on the First Amendment Rights of those affiliated with the Catholic Church. All 181 Catholic bishops in the United States have publicly denounced the HSS Mandate, as it forces institutions linked to the Church to hypocritically provide for the coverage of contraceptives, which contradict the principles of Catholicism.

Obama’s compromise regarding the mandate states that nonprofit entities affiliated with the Church now have the option to not provide contraception in their health coverage. The responsibility of providing contraceptive coverage now falls on the insurance companies.

Not only does this compromise not address the moral concerns of the Church, but it also does not provide a significant solution at all.

Most religiously affiliated organizations choose to insure themselves to remove the disconnect created by placing the responsibility in the hands of a third party. As associate director at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Richard M. Doerflinger cleverly puts it, taking the obligation from the employer and putting it on the insurer doesn’t help much if they are the same person.

Supporters of the HHS Mandate cite that about 99 percent of sexually active women between the ages of 15 and 44 have used some form of birth control according to research conducted by Planned Parenthood. The fact that the use of contraceptives is so widespread points toward the idea that the accessibility and affordability of birth control is no way near critical levels. In 2010 alone, the government allocated $363 million of taxpayer money to Planned Parenthood. Thanks to Title X, the federal grant that provides reproductive health services for low-income and uninsured individuals, more than 5 million people per year are able to obtain free or subsidized birth control. Title X-funded clinics boast that over the past two decades, they have been responsible for preventing more than 20 million unintended pregnancies.

According to a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control, only 13 percent of a group of thousands of teenage mothers who had unintended pregnancies said that they had trouble obtaining some form of birth control.

Making contraceptives available clearly isn’t the issue.

sean lewis

If the United States is so heavily loaded with programs that support birth control, then it makes no logical sense for the government to chase after the Catholic Church of all organizations to provide aid.

Our government has forgotten one of the fundamental purposes of religion: to help members of society become better, moral individuals—and at this point, help is desperately needed. The rate of out-of-wedlock births has hit a record high. In 2009, more than four in 10 births were to unmarried women according to the Child Trends Data Bank. The classic 50s American belief in the nuclear, stable family and core values teetered on the edge of disgrace in 1970, when the number of out-of-wedlock births was at 10 percent. It’s an understatement to say that our core values have shattered into oblivion as we ooh and aah at celebrities like Angelina Jolie, Madonna and Halle Berry that have given birth to “love children.” That number of out-ofwedlock births has more than quadrupled to 42 percent today.

While the Catholic Church pushes the agenda forward to correct the issue at its source and promote self-discipline through the word of God, the government is driving the country backward. Movements like the HHS Mandate further erode the stigma for out-of-wedlock pregnancies by promoting sex as long as it’s safe.

What happened to abstinence?

And instead of supporting religious freedom and commending the Catholic Church for its responsible agenda, the government tramples on religious liberty. The Church shouldn’t be forced to choose either to uphold long-held tenets or be forced out of existence by a lack of funding.

If people choose to work for a religiously affiliated organization by their own free will, they should have a reasonable expectation to abide by the tenets of that group. The Catholic Church is no exception. Businesses affiliated with the Church are essentially private organizations, and by law, these private groups have the right to dictate and enforce their own internal policies.

In this case, these are the religious values and teachings of the Church. By joining a religiously affiliated organization, the employee tacitly agrees to follow the basic principles and core values of that religion.

If an individual doesn’t agree with an organization’s policies, he or she shouldn’t have taken that job in the first place. Furthermore, employees are free to seek means of contraception elsewhere. In this lavish society, falling into that 99 percent statistic should be as easy as a trip to the nearest one of 4,500 Planned Parenthood clinics.

Don’t ask the Church to pick up on the bill for what goes on in the bedroom. n

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Instead of supporting religious freedom, the government tramples on religious liberty. lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 77

opinion | column

Nugeen Aftab PACKAGE EDITOR

MESSAGE FORGOTTEN contact nugeen at nugeen@yahoo.com

A

s I walked into the East gym, which was already packed with they never again will judge someone based on the 10 percent of the 200 students, I was ready for a joke. I expected the Jan. 26 Be person that is seen.

The Difference program to include a cheesy motivational pep But not even 36 hours had passed since the end of the program and talk and a sappy video on how bullying ruined someone’s life. When the some students at East were already back to their old ways. A few Pete, the main motivational speaker, said that we should get comfortable East students at the basketball game against Princeton High School on because we would be occupying the gym until the time school let out, the proceeding night were jeering and booing at a cheerleader that lacked disappointment overcame me. I was more concerned about getting out the stereotypical cheerleader figure. Although the cheerleader performed of school early than the actual content of the program. an amazing back handspring, she received comments like “that’s gross” Though everything seemed boring and ordinary at the beginning of and “that’s disgusting.” the assembly, the entire program didn’t turn out that way. It was far from And that’s the problem. Unfortunately, the powerful message of Be that.

The Difference probably won’t stick with all students. But, we shouldn’t The day wore on and the activities shifted from freeze tag to intimate have deemed it necessary in the first place. group talks. As the program became more serious, so did everyone in the We shouldn’t need someone to tell us that we need to treat others room. The atmosphere completely changed. better; we should already know that. Be The room, formerly filled with boredom and The Difference was a one-day deal, just like laughter, was now overcome with solemnity “BEING A PART OF THE BE THE everything else has become. The constantly and tears. updated media has given society a throwPete told his story before he had the DIFFERENCE PROGRAM WAS away mentality. If something happens at 11 students tell their own. a.m. one day, by 7 p.m. it’s old news. Being a COOL ON THE 26TH; IN FACT, He talked about his childhood, particularly part of the Be The Difference program was about one experience in which he passed out BEING THE DIFFERENCE WAS cool on the 26th; in fact, being the difference after being hung on a makeshift noose in his was cool. neighbor’s tree house. Pete is more than six feet COOL. BUT BY THE TIME THE But by the time the game rolled around, tall and has big, bulging biceps, yet he has still GAME ROLLED AROUND, THE the mentality had faded for some East sports been bullied. fans. It was no longer cool to stand up for That wasn’t the only surprise, however. The MENTALITY HAD FADED FOR people. It was lame. most moving activity of the day was a “cross- SOME EAST SPORTS FANS. IT Despite all the effort to prevent bullying, the-line activity,” where Pete would call out a some students don’t take the guidance to scenario and anyone who had experienced WAS NO LONGER COOL TO STAND heart. We are throwing away the idea of that situation before would cross a painter’s UP FOR PEOPLE. IT WAS LAME.” tolerance and, as a result, we have become tape line. I was shocked to see the number of more desensitized toward bullying. people who walked across that line for any In a report released by the National given scenario.

Center for Education Statistics, 28 percent of Approximately 20 students crossed the line when Pete asked people students ages 12-18 reported being bullied during the 2008-09 school if one or both parents had died. Almost a quarter of the group crossed year. when they were asked if they have been emotionally, physically or Just like the cheerleader at the game, more than a quarter of all sexually abused at least once. When Pete asked any female to cross the students have been hurt by their peers. line if she has been called a “bitch,” “slut” or “hoe,” almost every single Throughout our childhood, we’ve been told not to bully, not to make girl crossed the line. fun of others and to accept people for who they are. For some reason, As impacting of an experience as it was, unfortunately not everyone that message isn’t getting across. Programs like Be The Difference exist was able to participate. The idea was that the 200 students that had for just that reason. been recommended and invited by teachers would help pass around We need to take the message seriously and implement it in our lives. the message that it is not acceptable to stereotype. These students were That Friday night at the game, a portion of the East student section taught that no matter how perfect someone’s life appears, everyone has never stopped to think how those comments could hurt the girl, how been hurt. they could be fueling a fire raging inside of her. Those East students Students shared the message through Facebook posts that night. never stopped to think that the comments they made could be affecting Throughout the evening, students continuously updated their statuses this girl and instead, some see bullying as a joke. about how inspiring the program was. They talked about how the fullBut as 200 East students realized in late January, bullying is not a joke. day event had given people the feeling of interconnectedness and how And that’s why we’re all called to be the difference. n

78 | Spark | March 12, 2012

opinion | east speaks out

Elaine Laux STAFF WRITER

DRAIN THE DEBT contact elaine at elaux94@yahoo.com

H

is dark brown leather wallet creaks when he opens it. He tips at 10 percent and although he is only 54 years old and still holds a job, he frequently uses the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) card he received when he was 50 for a discount at the local movie theater. He constantly talks about the stocks in which he has invested and can never be found watching anything other than the CNN Money channel.

This man is my father, and he is the cheapest person I know.

During the time of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, there were no such things as movie theatres, AARP cards or CNN Money, but the principle they all believed in was the same: frugality is a virtue.

The Founding Fathers knew that borrowing money was necessary for a successful government, but they also realized that debt was only meant to be a temporary handicap. It was to be paid back promptly as a sign of respect. The minute a bill hits our kitchen counter, my father’s checkbook is out. He has never missed a deadline—something everyone should model. Today’s U.S. government, however, has not shown any sign of paying its own debt. Its people are constantly scared of the consequences of this lack of respect.

Benjamin Franklin once said “The burden of debt is as destructive to freedom as subjugation by conquest. Think what you do when you run in debt; you give to another power over your liberty.” This quote depicts the pure fear toward his country’s climbing debt from the Revolutionary War. Imagine what he would think today. The United States of America is projected to triple the deficit by the end of Obama’s term, and according to a recent U.S. Treasury report to Congress, the U.S. national debt will reach $70 trillion by 2015. The Founding Fathers would be appalled at the sight of how liberally we spend today.

Debt is to borrow against the future. It gives up a present advantage for a future obligation. While this definition seems simple when read, our nations debt plays out to be a different story. The national debt rises with every second that passes, yet Washington seems blind to the fact. While the need for a national debt can be debated, as it was back in Franklin and Jefferson’s day, the principle that debt exists can be erased should be inarguable. The way out of debt is not to refuse to pay or to

risk the credit of the country, but rather to do the simple and honest thing—pay it back.

Thomas Jefferson once said “I, however, place economy among the first and most important of Republican virtues and public debt as the greatest to be feared.” This quote sums up the Founding Fathers’ view on debt as a whole. The debt may be a necessary evil, but paying it back is necessary as well. The economy is always on the minds of congressmen and women, but it should be made the priority, just as it was to Jefferson.

He never wanted to be in the red, and neither should the people of the 21st century. Being debt free is the single, most important piece to this country. Without money we would be nothing. Franklin, Jefferson or any other Founding Father would be screaming at the top of his lungs today to pay the bills and to service the debt. They would shake their 306-yearold fingers at Washington for nearly defaulting on the debt and gambling with global creditors.

According to a 2011 Gallup poll, 47 percent of Americans oppose raising the debt limit. With this many citizens wanting their government to control its spending, the obvious thing to do is listen to the majority.

After all, it rules. As a nation, we need to stop spending more than our government receives in taxpayer dollars. My father would never buy a new $50,000 Lexus if he only had $30,000 in the bank. There needs to be a halt on borrowing money to pay for government programs, bailing out large businesses and promising unfunded benefits to future generations.

With a national debt of $56 trillion, bringing the spending under control will result in making some tough choices. Cutting programs such as welfare and imposing laws on how federal funds are spent would be a good first step.

The United States has a lot of debt, but it is a problem we can correct.

We have the ability to pay without the threat of losing our credit. As Thomas Jefferson put it, “the maxim of buying nothing without the money in our pockets to pay for it would make our country one of the happiest on earth.” We can pay it back, and we should. Stop the debt and stop the risk to our credit score. Our Founding Fathers, along with my own father, are correct.

Frugality is a virtue. n excerpt from “Mammogram Jeopardy” Every year, there will be thousands of young children who end their long days of school, and walk home in complete oblivion of the terror that awaits them at home.

They will finish their homework like the good students that they are, and sit down for a nice family dinner, unsuspecting of the life-changing news that is about to be delivered to them. Mommy and Daddy will tell everyone to stop eating for a minute, and listen up, and as Mommy breaks down into tears, Daddy takes her hand and solemnly informs his children that Mommy has breast cancer.

opinion online

column alexa chryssovergis

80 | Spark | March 12, 2012

Spark

l

High Schoo Lakota East Online Edition

lakotaeastspark .com

editorial cartoon chris bowling

Oh did I do that?

Paul Roser, senior

Noah Cagle, junior

Erin White, sophomore

Jordan Combs, junior

We bought Alaska from the Russians and we can sell it back.

I think we need to legalize marijuana. These are not stable economic times so I’m with Obama that we need to tax the rich.

We need to find additional sources of revenue. We need to drill our own oil.

I think [the nation] should rely more on people to take care of their finances. Give aid when it’s needed but be more careful of how much aid they’re giving.

Taxing the upper class a little bit more than the lower class. I know that’s harming all their hard work but it’s better than taxing [at] the same [rate] as people who don’t have any money.

East Speaks Out What should the nation do to fix its debt?

opinion | finishing touch

rachelPODNAR

RIGHT PLACE, WRONG TIME

I

hate science projects and labs. I would much rather sit, take notes and be spoonfed science than move around, measure or observe anything. Needless to say, college preparatory physics this year has been somewhat of a trip for me. It’s full of hands-on projects and labs, the kind that make me long for the sedentary life of AP English.

Our first-quarter project assignment was to build a balloon-powered car with household materials. When I heard this, I was shell-shocked. I write journalism stories. I write English essays. I give speeches. I do not build cars.

Convinced that my brain was not capable of engineering something that would move, I put the project off, even though I am not a procrastinator. I had to fight tooth and nail with my non-mechanical brain for every advance on that project.

Finally, after two days and many hours later, I had created some semblance of a balloon car. Blowing up the balloon and watching my little water bottle car roll lazily across my kitchen floor was one of the proudest moments of my young life.

What started out as my baby, as only four wheels, could roll on its own.

With that project, I realized that there is more to intelligence than writing and speaking well and that while I may not have a mechanical mind, my brain can stretch and apply itself to projects it never thought possible.

Surprisingly, I’d slipped through six years of secondary education without being required to do something similar. It would have been a great challenge for my brain in junior high or early high school, something that could have been achieved in the upcoming design and modeling class, which will be mandatory for all seventh graders next year if the Lakota Board of Education approves the proposal.

Incorporating classes that focus on science, engineering, applied arts, medicine and technology (STEAM), seems to be a no-brainer, given that many of the Buckeye Top 50 careers are in STEAM fields. Science, technology and related areas are the way of the future.

It’s sad to see, however, that with the Lakota Local School District’s administration trying to cope with a severe budget crisis by cutting costs across the board, that any academic field is favored over another. Opportunities for students interested in other areas are being compromised, yet the STEAM area will be blessed with new elective offerings in the coming years, if Butler Tech chooses to provide them. Because the potential classes will be provided by Butler Tech, Lakota will remain cost-neutral so the STEAM fields are not receiving more funding than the other core classes.

But new opportunities are new opportunities, whether they come at a cost to the district or not. Why should classes in all other areas be cut while the STEAM fields expand? Most elementary and secondary students do not know whether they want to be engineers. They should be offered a wide variety of classes to prune their interests as they go through school.

Elementary and secondary education is not to prepare students for a specific career. That is the purpose of college and vocational schools. Students are too young to be sectioned off into tracks—they need to experience a variety of ways of thinking. The goal of K-12 education should be to produce well-rounded, quality thinkers who can make informed decisions on what careers they wish to pursue, with experiences behind them from all areas to help them make that decision.

The new class offering for next year and the potential classes to be added in coming years are excellent opportunities for Lakota students, opportunities that can help students develop into well-rounded, quality thinkers. They should, however, be coupled with exciting new electives in all academic areas.

At this point with the budget restrictions, that is not an option. Therefore, in order to preserve the importance of a liberal-arts education, Lakota should hold off on new class offerings until they can be offered in all areas, broadening the scope of the student experience.

Just make everyone build balloon cars. That should take care of it. n

82 | Spark | March 12, 2012

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