Lakota East Spark 2011-2012 Issue 6

: E ES FE AC OF PL T C OL ES CO E W U TR

Spark Lakota East High School lakotaeastspark.com April 26, 2012 $4 Newsstand

NEW RECORDS

SOPHOMORE SENSATION

KELLSA UMBAH SHATTERS LONG JUMP RECORDS

HUNGER GAMES

IN-DEPTH REVIEW OF THE NEWEST

BLOCKBUSTER HIT

REDUCTIONS

IN FORCE MS. STITES OPENS UP ABOUT LOSING

HER POSITION

?

NICKI MINAJ

REVIEW OF THE FEMALE RAPPER’S

RE-RELEASE

BASEBALL

THUNDERHAWKS HOPE TO REPEAT

STATE TITLE

AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE PERSON

SITTING NEXT TO YOU

Spark

Contents

17

FLEXIBLE CREDIT

As part of the budget cuts, next year’s seniors will have the option of only taking the minimum number of classes, giving some students more time to pursue outside activities.

26

MILD WINTER: SEVERE ALLERGIES High temperatures this winter caused trees to bloom earlier, making seasonal allergies more of an issue for those affected. Luckily, treatment is available for relief.

Volume XX Issue CXXXXIII HEAD-TO-HEAD: Nugeen Aftab and Maggie Schaller discuss who is responsible for voter knowledge and insight.

54

24

BRANDON BAER

After experiencing a spirited East vs.

West football game that brought back memories of his coaching days, Brandon Baer worked his way from being an assertive substitute to being an invaluable teacher.

BAD VEINS INTERVIEW

Spark sits down with Cincinnatibased rock duo Bad Veins and Benjamin Davis on the eve of their sophomore album The Mess We’ve Made, which will be released to the public on April 24.

ON THE COVER: photo illustration tommy behan, devin casey, ellen fleetwood and laura shrake Spark takes an inside look into the lives of average East students in response to the statistic that 23 percent of East students are not in extracurricular activities.

72

66

SERVING UP ACES

East Senior Zach Mueck has one last chance to win the state championship. After coming in second two years in a row and recovering from an elbow injury in the 2012 season, he is ready to play.

WHO’S SITTING NEXT TO YOU? 35....................................TECH OLYMPICS 36............................LIVING ON THE EDGE 38......................................BEING IN TUNE 40....................................IAN BLOMQUIST 44.......................................JEFF AMLUNG

opinion | letter to the editor

Dear Spark, As a graduate of East, I am grateful for the education I received from the Lakota Local School District. However, recent events have led to this quality of education to become unavailable for the current Lakota student.

No, this is not the fault of No Lakota Levy voters. And no, this is certainly not the fault of the faculty of any of Lakota’s amazing teaching staff. No, this loss in quality that our school district faces is caused by none other than the misdirected, uninformed, and simply ignorantq cuts championed by Lakota Superintendent Dr. Karen Mantia. We need cuts, yes, but smart choices, not unintelligent destruction of the district we love.

Consider just a few examples. Lakota has handed over management of its amazing preschool program to Butler County Head Start. But there is no way students will receive the same excellent quality of education they received in a Lakota-run preschool classroom. Furthermore, Lakota continues to cut additional teachers. Instead of cutting ineffective older teachers, Lakota is bound by union contracts to keep these useless bodies and fire new effective teachers.

Of course there are plenty of good teachers who have been on the job for years, but there are also those that are simply not good teachers. If this were a real business these workers would have been laid off a long time ago. Lakota’s policy of contentment must be changed.

High school students are now required to take fewer classes to graduate. In a country where college entry is more difficult and selective, making our students less qualified is simply bad policy. If anything, students need to be in school longer, readying them for the next stage of their life, not getting out earlier

due to lax requirements.

But perhaps the most ignorant cuts made by the Superintendent are the changes in program offerings. As part of the budget restructuring, Dr. Mantia has created a STEMfocused (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Lakota School District. Dr. Mantia, to supplement, has shortened time in elementary school specials (Gym, Music, Art) and has made huge cuts in the arts and humanities, virtually ignoring cuts in the sciences and mathematics. This is perhaps the most ignorant thing the superintendent has done.

Lakota boasts some of the best humanities teachers in the state, and I would say in the country, but Dr. Mantia doesn’t care.

If it makes Karen Mantia’s resume look good, then why not? If it lets her claim a higher graduation rate or better OGT scores,

regardless of the overall quality of students’ education, then why should she care? Besides, it’s the humanities, who likes those? The answer to that question can be answered by legions of politicians, lawyers, entrepreneurs, businessmen, diplomats, and the list goes on.

Dr. Mantia is making Lakota a trade school for scientists. I would never be a scientist or even consider science for a career. In this case, had I been in Lakota now, I would immediately leave the district, despite all it has done for me.

These cuts as well as the others passed back in March constitute a very real “War on Creativity.” Sure, creativity in and of itself does not give you a job. You do need some marketable skills. But without our schools fostering creativity, there will be no one to come up with new and exciting business ideas and the United States will fall behind again.

You cannot make one-sided cuts like this. You end up worse off than you began.

Dr. Mantia, it is with the utmost pleasure that I ask you now to step down from your post. You don’t know how Lakota runs, or what the atmosphere is like. You claim we are run better than most businesses, but the cuts you cite constitute less than five percent of Lakota’s budget. You cut programs that are the most popular and rewarding. You were brought in to provide an outside perspective, but now we know what that really means.

Dr. Mantia, stop padding your resume at the expense of Lakota students.

Sit down and make some legitimate cuts that will effectively change the way Lakota is run. End your war on student creativity, or please resign. Only then will we as a Lakota community be able to come together and make real changes that fix our beloved Lakota Local School District.

–Andrew Breland, Cleveland

Website Commentary www.lakotaeastspark.com Joshua Shi’s “Translucent Children” This article shows the true side of the KONY 2012 video. The video showed only what they wanted the public to see, and nothing else. The makers of the video wanted the public to see that even a cute little kid wants Kony to be stopped so that the public will donate money to fulfill the little kid’s wish.

The KONY 2012 video might seem like it was made to stop a horrible warlord, but just like this article said, it’s true intention was to make money.

ONLINE SURVEY: A recent East survey of 31 teachers indicates that 90 percent of those surveyed feel as if they are underappreciated. Do you agree or disagree?

DISAGREE:

12%

—Wingchung Chow, East sophomore AGREE:

82% 4 | Spark | April 26, 2012

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

COMMON DENOMINATOR

D

readlocks are known for their less than pleasant smell, so when I was assigned a seat across from the kid with these matted coils of hair in my eighth-grade science class, I didn’t really know what to think.

I didn’t know him personally, but I knew him as the guy I was assigned to trade papers with for grading in language arts. His name is Levi, but for him, my name wasn’t important. Not yet, at least.

Every once in awhile he would ask me for my name, but he never made a habit to actually remember. It wasn’t worth his time or effort.

That’s just Levi.

Spark

I teased him about this as he once again asked me to remind him of my name. I told him, but I wasn’t going to be surprised if he asked again the next day. I may have been sitting at his table, but he still didn’t find me important enough to bother remembering something as silly as a name.

It didn’t take long for me to confirm my suspicion: Levi and I have little to nothing in common. Over the course of a few weeks, I began to learn a few things about him that made this even more evident.

It’s clear that the only color in his wardrobe is black. He’s a gothic, band T-shirt kind of guy. I prefer polos and cargo shorts. He listens to heavy metal, I listen to pop rock. He makes things out of wood and steel in his garage, and I play soccer. Just like everyone else.

I quickly realized that the gothic kid with dreads who only had a few friends was one of the most interesting people I had ever met. I must have had a little bit of a journalist in me even before I joined Spark, because this guy fascinated me and I wanted to learn more.

I started to do something that the other kids in my class had failed to do. I started to really get to know Levi, the guy most people automatically classified as weird. I learned that he has never known his biological father. Levi’s mom became pregnant with him when she was 18, and soon after hearing the news, the father left her and the child.

He was raised by his mother and stepfather, never really fitting in with all of his peers. But luckily, Levi doesn’t care what other people think. He didn’t care

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

what I thought either, but I decided to put our differences aside and truly learn a little more about the person sitting next to me.

In this issue, Spark takes a look into the lives of East students who may be sitting across from you. While most students at East participate in at least one school-related extracurricular activity, 23 percent of East students are not involved in any activities related to the school.

From a quiet student who collects model trains to the students who find a second home at the Edge Teen Center, Spark uncovers the stories of some of these interesting students.

Also in this issue, Spark continues to examine the devastating effects of Lakota’s stretch of failed levies.

As a whole, the district is eliminating 153 teaching positions. Of those 153 positions, 43 of those teachers being eliminated will be coming from East, including chemistry teacher Kimberly Stites.

When I was assigned to sit next to Levi that quarter, I wasn’t expecting to get to know him or even enjoy talking with him. The last thing that I was expecting was to make a new friend. Over the years since then, he’s ditched the dreads and abandoned the goth garb for preppy collared shirts.

His outside appearance may have altered slightly since, but one thing hasn’t changed. We still have almost nothing in common. But I’m OK with that, because despite being so different, we still have some sort of connection that allows us to be close friends. And I’m just happy that he finally knows my name.

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 seniors Ian Kirchner and Corey McPhillips participate in the competition.

East and West students in Brussels last summer for a French trip.

n District News

n School News

Trips Grounded

w

Computer Science Competes

To comply with a state law, the Lakota Board of Education implemented a new Board policy that put a stop to foreign language trips, thus cancelling trips planned through school.

16 East computer science students competed at Miami University against schools from across the midwest in a computer science challenge, writing code and solving challenges.

story rahul mukherjee | photo kaitlin lange

story joshua shi | photo used with permission of Norm Krumpe

n School News

Parking Conundrum story laura shrake | photo ellen fleetwood To allow more students to park, some seniors from the north lot were relocated.

Photovoltaic solar panels help power IKEA West Chester.

WEBTICKER: 6 | Spark | April 26, 2012

l

Early leave East seniors who park in the north lot were abuzz Thursday, April 12 about the changes to their parking spots. For the last month of the school year, these seniors were asked to change their spot in order to open more parking spaces for those who were previously wait-listed.

“We ran out of parking spaces,” East associate principal Stacy Millburg said. “We have a wait list of about 15 students right now, most of which are sophomores who just got their licenses and want to drive to school.”

According to Millburg, the East parking lot ran out of spaces around the end of the third quarter.

After a series of complaints from parents who drive their students to and from school on a daily basis, East administration was forced to think of other options to accommodate those who wish to drive to school for the remainder of the year.

“What we are trying to do is move those seniors from the north lot who got their passes later but have early leave over to the pick up/drop off lane,” Millburg said. “In the afternoon, [the cars for pickup] stack up three lanes deep. The best option was to put early leave seniors in that lane because they leave after sixth period.”

This change will affect approximately 15 students and is not mandatory. Millburg is looking for students who will not be greatly affected by this change to help by exchanging their spot.

Lakota’s Public Relations Situation

story continued on lakotaeastspark.com l

SACA’s Senior Citizen’s Prom

mpe

news | teacher cuts

Costly Cuts

One of 43 teachers being laid off, Kimberly Stites reflects on her experiences at East.

story kaitlin lange | photo ellen fleetwood | infographic irfan ibrahim

Although the information will not be publicly released until April 23, staff that will be cut for the 2012-13 school year has been notified. East chemistry teacher Kimberly Stites shares what it is like to be RIF’d.

E

ast chemistry teacher Kimberly Stites knew it was coming. After reading the email sent to her from East principal Dr. Keith Kline requesting her presence in the office, she was certain she was one of the unlucky ones.

She knew what it was like to be cut by a school district. Fear was not anything new and neither were the tears that would stream down her face at a moment like this. She was all too aware of the anxiety that would come in the upcoming weeks as she would constantly check her phone as she waited for different job prospects to call back. Stites was an expert at being cut, having been cut once before from Little Miami Local School District. When she walked into Kline’s office that day, she did not cry. Stites knew that being cut from Lakota Local School District was inevitable, and she was reluctantly prepared for it.

In order to balance Lakota’s budget after the failure of three operating levies, the Lakota Board of Education voted to eliminate Stites and 152 others teaching positions throughout the district for the upcoming

88%

of 823 East students surveyed believe the loss of 43 high school teachers will affect the 201213 school year.

8 | Spark | April 26, 2012

school year as part of the plan to cut $10.3 million from the district’s budget.

In education, a Reduction in Force (RIF) is the term used when a district must cut teaching positions solely due to financial reasons. RIFs are not determined by teacher performance; it is only based on licensure, seniority and the type of contract a teacher holds at Lakota.

When the Board voted on March 12 to approve the budget reductions for the upcoming school year, they did not vote on the specific teachers who would be cut. It was the job of Lakota Human Resources director and assistant director, in conjunction with Lakota Educators Association (LEA) president Sharon Mays and first vice president and East chemistry teacher John Severns to examine a list of teachers to determine who was to be cut based on the LEA contract requirements.

The contract, which has requirements nearly identical to the Ohio Revised Code of how the district should reduce positions, required the four-person team to first see which positions could be eliminated through retiring teachers. In the past, Lakota has used methods of paying teachers to retire early.

According to Lakota Board president Ben Dibble, retirement incentives were not used this year because not many teachers were close to retirement. Most teachers who were near retirement age had previously turned down any incentive.

After eliminating positions of retiring teachers, the group then made cuts in the order of seniority for those who hold limiting contracts, and then continues to cut positions based on seniority for those personnel who hold continuing contracts.

Teachers begin in Lakota on a limited contract, which means they have less job security. Near the end of a teacher’s third year in Lakota, he or she can choose to apply for a continuing contract, also known as tenure, for the following year. There are a number of requirements that must be met, including additional schooling, in order to be granted a continuing contract, so not every teacher applies for one.

“Some people have a limited contract for their 30-year career and never get a continuing contract,” Human Resources executive director Diane Brunsman said. “If [teachers] choose not to [get a continuing contract] that’s [their] right, but it gives [them] more job security [if they] get one. Many teachers feel like that’s a very smart step to take, so they are more secure if we have to take a [RIF].”

Stites is on a limited contract and in her third year of teaching at Lakota. She has a degree in secondary education and her certification is in physical science-chemistry, meaning she cannot teach any other subject or type of science and can only teach at the secondary level.

The various types of education degrees and certifications create a challenge for

had expected to on that particular day.

Thus far for the current set of RIFs, no mistakes have been found according to Severns, who emphasized how important it was that they get it right the first time.

“There were always two people from LEA that were in the room at the same time [as human resources when we decided who would be RIFed],” Severns said. “Only when we all agreed that we had the correct person, we moved forward. If at any time, if any of the four said, ‘You know what? I’m not comfortable with that,’ then we would back up and do it again. That’s why it took longer than we hoped, but you’ve got to have it right. You can’t be making mistakes with people’s [jobs].”

Teachers who were going to be cut were informed on March 29. The information was not publicly announced but some teachers chose to share the grim news with her classes.

The district plans to release the list of teacher reductions on April 23 when the Board is set to approve the RIFs. When Stites told her classes she was being cut, reactions from students were strong. East sophomore Katie Dunaway feel that Stites is relatable and promotes the idea of having fun while learning. According to Dunaway, instead of notes, Stites does more hands on activities and has students learn the lessons rather than memorize terms.

Katie appreciates all Stites does so much that aside from spending class time with Stites, she also aides for her 4th period class and spends her 5th period study hall in her room.

Stites’ room is never empty of students and

Contracts and Tenure In order to become a LEA member in the Lakota district, they must meet contract requirements, which changed after Jan. 1, 2012.

Those who apply as an educator after that date will not be eligible for continuing their contract.

even during her lunch bell, Stites is in her room working with students.

“She sits in there and helps people her entire 5th period,” Dunaway said. “She is always available for help. I messaged her at 11 [on Edmodo saying] ‘I don’t understand this question,’ and she replied at 11:30 p.m.”

East physics teacher Brittany Grote also agrees that Stites puts all of her effort into teaching.

“She is constantly thinking of creative “[I just sat ways to teach her there] and he students,” Grote said.

“I think she is an was about amazing teacher and I think it’s sad for the midway district to see such a through it and great teacher being lost.”

I started crying Grote and Stites and then feel that the current system of RIFing is he started unfair and should focus in part on evaluation crying and we of staff. Even students were crying like Dunaway wish they could somehow change together about the system. According how it was to Dunaway, Facebook posts and tweets not fair.” regarding the fairness of the cuts has been a common sight. She and other students even thought of the idea to make a shirt saying “S.O.S.: Save our Stites.” (continued on page 11)

Mr. Smith

A teacher with master’s degree

Six hours of graduate course work in the area since issuance of license a n

Holds a professional educator license for at least seven years n

A laid-off teacher is put on a recall list, which the teacher is on for two-years, enabling him/her to fill in vacancy spots. After two years, however, the teacher is no longer part of the contract.

A teacher without master’s degree 30 semester hours of coursework in the area of licensure or in an area related teaching since the issuance of license n Must have taught three of the last five years within the district, two of those in Lakota n

As part of the contract, a certified laid-off teacher who is qualified for a vacant position may fill it until it a new position is hired.

information Lakota Board of Education Policy

Severns, Mays and human resources.

“We have a system now where people can have certifications that come from a number of areas and they overlap,” Severns said.

“That’s where this gets extremely complex and why you have to keep going back through it to make sure you haven’t missed anything.

Further complicating this, people have multiple certifications.”

During Stites’ first year at East in 2009, she was a victim of the confusion caused by different forms of certification. Lakota was making reductions and Stites was informed by assistant principal at the time Eric Bauman that she would be cut.

“I sat down and he just started reading this letter that was just the RIF language that Human Resources department had sent,” Stites said. “[I just sat there] and he was about midway through it and I started crying and then he started crying and we were crying together about how it was not fair. [He said] that he had appreciated everything that I’d done here at school and so it was emotional.”

Stites had originally thought of Lakota as a stable place to work and she was devastated when Bauman told her the news that she would be cut from her job for a second time in two years. Stites was a single mother at the time and could not afford to be unemployed.

Only a couple of hours later, however, Stites was informed there was a mistake and she would keep her job. She described it as a “roller coaster of emotions.”

Stites is still grateful she had the opportunity to stay two more years than she

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 9

news | bake sales

BAKE FAILS East bake sales come under fire as they try to keep up with the implementation of Ohio Senate Bill 210.

Bake sale cookies are among the items banned by SB210.

story alex griffin | photo mandi ellsworth | infographic emily chao

E

ast senior Dwight Hu was reeling after a debilitating in-class essay in Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition. It was one of the most “cumbersome” things he had done that day, and the exhaustion left by the 48 minutes put Hu in a relatively depressed mood.

He trudged along with a couple of his friends through the hallway toward the cafeteria for his 5C lunch, when he spotted the brightly-colored bake sale sign hanging on the silver table set up outside the East cafeteria.

Fresh treats and store-bought goods were spread out on the table and students gathered outside of the lunchroom as they fought for the last vanilla cupcake.

That day, Hu’s personal favorite cheesecake cupcakes were being sold and he decided to indulge in them, knowing they would change his mood for the better.

Due to the implementation of Ohio’s Senate Bill 210 (SB210), such bake sales at East might not be allowed in the upcoming 2012-13 school year.

There will no longer be chocolate cupcakes, sprinkled cookies or brownies. Even whole-wheat cookies might not make the cut for what is considered healthy enough under the strict guidelines established by SB210.

“I look forward to bake sales every week and they would be a great source of excitement because they offered great

Remaking Bake Sales information caloriecount.com, snackwise.org

Nutrition Facts

This issue is the first piece in Spark’s series of nutrition-based coverage. supplement of sweet treats,” Hu said. “The cookies are great and anything more, like brownies, are simply incredible to my day.

Certainly they will be missed greatly.”

According to SB210, there are various factors that dictate whether a particular organization’s bake sale meets the guidelines, which include the nutrition content, use of gloves, temperature in which the product is stored, allergies and the time of day goods are being sold.

SB210 exempts “from the restrictions food

Bake sales may no longer be allowed if they do not meet certain rules.

Snack foods sold in school have to adhere to nutritional guidelines.

Banned

Approved 1 brownie -180 calories

Serving Size: 1 dessert criteria

1 whole wheat cookie -148.7 calories

Amount Per Serving

Calories 150 % of Total Calories

Total Fat 35% Saturated Fat 5% Trans Fat 5% Sugars 35%

1 cupcake -350 calories

1 piece of fruit -80 calories

1 Lofthouse cookie -160 calories

Grams Per Snack

Sodium .23g Protein 5g

1 granola bar -118 calories

% Daily Value

Fiber 10% Vitamin A 10% Vitamin C 10% Calcium 10% Iron 10% 10 | Spark | April 26, 2012

1 cup puppy chow - 440 calories

carrots and ranch - 130 calories

36%

of 585 East students surveyed buy food from bake sales at school and beverages sold in connection with (1) a school-sponsored fundraiser or other event held outside of the regular school day or (2) an interscholastic athletic event.”

“At the high school level the food has to be less than 200 calories, must contain two of the following: two grams of fiber, five grams of protein, [and more],” Lakota’s director of Child Nutrition Chris Burkhardt stated. “The problem being, who would want to buy that food? There is not a student organization around, that I know of, that wants to sell a product that meets these guidelines.”

The emerging focus on school nutrition is gaining interest nationwide in recent years, with concerns from parents regarding access to healthy food. In the U.S., 16 states, including Ohio, have set bake sale standards.

According to Burkhardt, 500 to 600 school districts nationwide found that many bake sales food services now have policies that limit the amount of fat, trans fats, sodium and sugars in food sold or served at school, with the strictest rules directed at elementary schools.

Since SB210 was passed on July 1, 2011, Burkhardt has worked with the East administration educating the teachers, clubs and their advisors on the new nutrition guidelines. Burkhardt said the goal is to inform the staff of this problem and decide the next step for clubs and bake sales.

“I think East is heading in the direction

Costly Cuts... (...continued from page 9) Board president Ben Dibble realizes that the system is not perfect and wishes he did not have to eliminate teaching positions at all.

Although Stites does not agree with the method of cutting, she realizes it is not Lakota’s decision regarding how cuts are made. Instead, she is focusing her energy on planning for the future. She has already applied to the Loveland School District, Milford School District, Sycamore Community School District, Fairfield City School District and Mariemont City Schools District. As of press time she had not yet been contacted for a job but she is confident in her ability to obtain one.

“I’m not really worried because I have this belief in myself that if I get an interview I will get hired. I’d also thought about going back to college and getting a different degree if I don’t get hired in teaching,” said Sites, who would choose to get some kind of chemistry degree.

of having the bake sales set up by the clubs shut down, or we should be heading in that direction because of [the SB210 guidelines],” East principal Dr. Keith Kline said. “But we’ll have to make due just like everyone else.”

East’s Student Activities Committees in Action (SACA), is one of the many clubs that holds bake sales in order to raise money for funds for the club. SACA has monthly bake sales and is completely student-run. Members of SACA are not required to participate, but there are three or four students that are regular volunteers, including East senior and secretary of the senior committee Serwah Ofori-Attah.

“I can see why there are concerns regarding the safety and health aspects of homemade and even store-bought desserts.

There’s a reason why almost all of East’s clubs hold bake sales—they raise money and people love sweets,” said Ofori-Attah, who is in charge of the SACA bake sales. “I feel like they’re a nice break from the routine every day, and when people see that there’s a bake sale they get excited.”

SACA advisor and East teacher John Lindeman declined to comment.

According to the head of the senior committee for SACA Elaine Laux, all of the money SACA raises goes to charity, and currently they are donating the funds to One Way Farm. Another major event SACA organizes is the twice yearly blood drive, funded with help of the bake sales. “[SACA] will find other ways to bring money if the bake sales got shut down. Bake sales are a huge part of our funds and we really need that money,” Laux said. “We haven’t thought about what we would do if they get shut down, we will have to find alternative ways like everyone else.” n There is also the possibility of a call back from Lakota for Stites as well as the other teachers who will be cut. If the district realizes they need more teachers than they currently have, teacher will be called back in the opposite order of how they were cut and be offered a job if it fits within their certification. Stites, however, is not counting on a callback.

She will miss all the students, teachers and opportunities Lakota has provided her over the years for professional development.

Stites will be missed by many. Whether it is

by Grote, who enjoys tricking people into thinking she and Stites are sisters, or Dunaway, who spends many hours each day with her, she has created too many relationships at East to not be missed.

“I would miss walking through the halls and just hearing ‘Hey Stites,’” she said. “[I would miss] students saying ‘It makes sense now!’ I’m going to miss everybody, but I’m looking forward to the next chapter in my life.” 

Comparing to Other Districts:

MASON

story alex griffin

S

ince the implementation of Ohio Senate Bill 210 (SB210), bake sales across America have come under fire due to the stricter nutrition guidelines.

Similar to East, Mason High School has begun to enforce the rules of SB210.

“While [Mason] has not made any formal announcement or training to our staff, we have informed staff of the changes,” Mason City Schools student activities director Lorri F. Allen said. “We do not allow any bake sales between 7:15 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. Any groups that sell during the school day are supposed to follow the guidelines of SB210.”

Allen said that if a club wishes to sell food items for a fundraiser for a particular club, they must seek approval from the Mason administration.

Mason senior and member of fundraising committee for student government Katie Rojas said that she had to send a letter to Allen requesting permission to sell candy to raise money.

“We have an annual Seroogy’s chocolate bar sale to raise money for our school,” Rojas said. “Because of the SB210, we are unable to sell them during school.”

Other clubs at Mason were also affected by the implementation of SB210, including its National Honor Society (NHS), whose annual and main fundraiser of the year for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society is a bake sale.

“Typically we raised anywhere from $5,000 to $7,000 through the sales of baked goods or hot dogs in the hallways during school hours,” Mason NHS vice president of fundraising and senior Nicole Rojas said. “When [SB210] was enacted, we faced the potential of losing thousands of dollars that we had already raised for Pasta for Pennies.”

Rojas said that because NHS was no longer allowed to use bake sales for funding, the organization had to come up with a variety of other ideas for its fundraisers.

According to Rojas, the club had to try other fundraisers to raise the same amount of money as Pasta for Pennies had in the past.

“We started an event called car counsel where we walked around with buckets at the end of the day,” Rojas said. “People would be leaving the school in their cars and we would ask for spare change, and we made a lot of money from that.”

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 11

news | student teachers

BACK TO THE FUTURE Currently East is hosting seven student teachers.

Having a student teacher changes the dynamic of the classroom and gives the student teacher and host teacher opportunities to grow. story ameera khalid photo ellen fleetwood

F

or East science teacher Sandee Coats-Haan, it was about growing as a professional and completing the teaching experience. For East history teacher Carolyn Smardon it has been about helping students in the field of education become better prepared. Both Coats-Haan and Smardon are hosting student teachers second semester this year.

Besides Advanced Placement (AP) classes, Coats-Haan and Smardon have handed over their teaching responsibilities to student teachers.

According to Coats-Haan and Smardon, having a student teacher in the classroom is both fulfilling and frustrating. Both teachers have a passion for teaching, and yet they have chosen to give up their classes in order to help improve education for future generations.

“Teaching is the fun part,” Smardon said.

“Then there are grades, attendance, make-up work, so on so forth.”

Student teaching can be an exciting, if not exhausting, process for the future educators.

They have to juggle the last semester of their own schooling, prepare a résumé, job and educate more than 100 high school students.

This year East has hosted seven student teachers. They work under the supervision of the coordinating teacher—the teacher who

12 | Spark | April 26, 2012

Carolyn Smardon’s student teacher Daniel LaBarbera interacts with U.S. history students.

would normally be teaching that class—and are observed six times per semester by a supervising teacher who comes from their college or university.

Most, if not all, colleges and universities require education majors to fulfill a number of student teaching hours. Miami University, which is where many of the student teachers here are studying, requires 15 hours.

According to Miami University supervising teacher Keith Harring, student teaching is a necessary step in becoming a teacher.

Although they are still gaining the teaching experience, they have a coordinating teacher to guide them.

He added that before student teaching, the future educator’s understanding of the profession is purely conceptual. Student

teaching is the part of the process that gives future educators a real understanding of how to conduct themselves “on the scene.”

Harring said that it is important for schools to host student teachers.

In order to support this idea, East principal Dr. Keith Kline encourages the staff to take on student teachers.

“We have a duty to develop young people,” Kline said, adding that providing student teachers with coordinating teachers helps their development, which will better education.

With up to 38 years of experience, Smardon chose to take on student teachers as a service to education and to future educators.

She has mentored at least five student teachers in her 27 years at Lakota and recognizes the importance of a student teacher getting

complete control of the classroom.

Smardon said that the current student teacher, Daniel LaBarbera, who attends Miami University, came with a comprehensive knowledge of the content and methodology.

He also made sure to be prepared ahead of time, even coming in during December to pick up the classroom textbook. LaBarbera could not prepare for one lesson student teaching prepares upcoming teachers for: discipline.

“Student teaching shows them that kids are more than numbers,” Smardon said. “It’s more than just doing a case study. It gives them a chance to look at organizing skills. They have to keep up with everything including grading, OGT preparation and tests, even when situations aren’t ideal.”

Eric Ebersole, a student at Miami University Oxford, is student teaching CoatsHaan’s honors physics clases. He is the first student teacher Coats-Haan, who has been teaching for 16 years, has hosted.

Ebersole is growing to understand just how much work maintaining a classroom can be.

“It can be stressful and exhausting,” Ebersole admitted. “I’m not used to the hours.

Since high school I have not had to get up to be in class as early as 7:00.”

Ebersole has learned a lesson or two about time management in addition to classroom organization. Due to a busy schedule, Ebersole gets fewer than five hours of sleep a night, but that does not stop him from coming to school before 7:00 a.m. every day.

He has to keep up with grading, planning lessons, late work and discipline, in addition to being in front of a class for five periods each day. Despite the challenges student teaching has posed, however, he has enjoyed his semester here at East.

“This has probably the most positive experience I could have imagined,” he said, adding that working with Coats-Haan was not only beneficial but also enjoyable.

Both Coats-Haan and Smardon said that Ebersole and LabBarbera respectively are doing very well. Already, Ebersole is feeling more prepared. Coming out of his classes from Miami, he was certain he knew the material, but he was not ready to teach.

“You can’t learn from a book what first-

hand experience will teach you,” Ebersole said.

Harring believes that only student teaching helps future educators learn how to do the hardest part of their jobs: connect with students.

“Involving students is the biggest part of our job,” Harring said. “The more involvement, the fewer problems there are with control.”

East senior Daniel Robbins, whose student teacher experiences have all been positive, believes one of the biggest problems with student teachers is that many students do not respect them as much.

“I’ve heard people complain that a student teacher does not understand the material or cannot teach the material,” said Robbins, who pointed out that sometimes student teachers just have trouble engaging students.

This disconnect is because the student teachers do not have experience and because of student expectations. He is aware that many of his peers do not pay as much attention in classes taught by student teachers.

Harring said that this is a result of new teachers not being able to excite students, which is the hardest part of the job. Learning to connect with students usually takes years of getting used to a classroom and learning all the tricks of the trade.

“It’s not necessarily that you can’t teach,” LaBarbera said. “It’s just that you’re still learning, but Mrs. Smardon is there to help.”

Coats-Haan feels that it is her job to make sure that Ebersole gets that first-hand experience. She has tried to step almost completely out of the teacher role.

“I still make plans and get labs ready, but he’s doing the teaching,” Coats-Haan said.

Smardon sits through the entire first period every day, observing and taking notes. Then she points out any mistakes he made or things he could do better, and she lets him teach the other classes on his own. Then she is in and out for the rest of the day.

“Students will behave differently when I’m not in the room and I want him to do this himself,” Smardon said.

She spent the first two weeks easing him into the classroom and taking care of

STEPS TO STUDENT TEACHING The university contacts Lakota Human Resources to ask to place student teachers in the district Human Resources connects with Dr. Kline Dr. Kline assigns student teachers in conjunction with department heads

46%

of 823 East students surveyed say they have benefited from having a student teacher.

housekeeping: making sure he could use the technology and was comfortable with the layout of the classroom. Now, he teaches all the classes and does things his own way.

Although Coats-Haan is aware she should limit her level of involvement and chose to sit out of the classes, it can be one of the hardest aspects of having a student teacher.

“The best part of the job is working with the students,” Coats-Haan said. “That’s why we become teachers. That part is taken away.”

The frustration is mitigated by her AP class, which Ebersole does not teach. She admitted that without her AP class, it would drive her crazy. She can now help her AP students during other class periods that she would normally be teaching.

Coats-Haan has learned when to bite her tongue when things do not get done exactly how she would do them. Every teacher has his or her own particular style and even if Coats-Haan and her student teacher do not agree, she has to respect that he is teaching the class now.

“I have to step out completely,” Coats-Haan said.

“I have to further his growth.”

She must weigh the balance of letting him get a feel for teaching and assuring that her students are getting the best education they can.

Coats-Haan, a mentor at the New Teacher Center, a national non-profit organization set on improving educators’ effectiveness, understands that balance.

Although she has experience he can benefit from, he has to be able to run a classroom on his own. Like her coordinating teacher when she student taught, Coats-Haan has to let him learn the lessons, sometimes the hard way. However, she still has to do her duty to her class.

“I correct his mistakes for two reasons: if there is danger to equipment or if there is some information that my students aren’t going to get that they need,” Coats-Haan said.

Robbins found that the main difference between student teachers and full-time teachers is merely that the full-time teachers have the experience necessary to smooth out the lessons.

“As for those who say that we just shouldn’t have student teachers,” Robbins said, “I’d tell them to put themselves in their shoes. They have to gain experience and start somewhere. They still have to learn.” n

“I’m not used to the hours.

Since high school I have not had to get up to be in class as early as 7 a.m.”

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 13

news | common core

COMMON GROUND

After signing onto the Common Core State Standards in June 2010, Ohio moves toward implementing the new, rigorous curriculum by 2014. story rachel podnar | photo sierra whitlock | infographic sophia li

I

t is a Wednesday night, and the large conference room is full of teachers, administrators and curriculum personnel from every school district in Butler County.

They are chatty and happy, many brought in McDonald’s or Wendy’s for dinner—the crowd is relaxed.

Deputy superintendent of the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) Michael Sawyers takes the stand. He talks fast and warns the crowd that the conversation that is about to occur is not meant to pick on teachers, or anyone at the local level. These are hard facts they are about to hear, not accusations, he says.

“Our current system asks too little,” he opened. “You may not believe that. Not everything I will say is good news. Some people will say that this was a reality check.”

Although Ohio’s public education is currently ranked 10th in the nation, there are signs of trouble in the system. Out of the graduating class of 2011, 41 percent were required to take a non-credit bearing, remedial class in English or math when they arrived at an Ohio public university or technical school. Ohio’s graduation rate is at 80 percent. Students perform well on the Ohio Graduation Tests (OGT) and the Ohio Achievement Tests (OAA), but there is a secret behind the statistic, the average percentage of questions a student must answer correctly to qualify as proficient is only 37 percent.

“This statistic is not acceptable,” Sawyers said, after dropping the OGT/OAA fact bomb. “We have to change the conversation about what is happening in K-12 education.”

64%

of 823 East students surveyed are aware of the changes to education that will occur because of the Common Core.

14 | Spark | April 26, 2012

A storm of change in public education is sweeping across the nation in the form of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), a curriculum initiative generated by the Governor’s Association, an organization of governors from each state. States worked together to conceive the CCSS to streamline curriculum in the United States and to increase competition with other countries.

Since its inception, 45 states have signed onto the plan, which deals specifically with English and math standards for kindergarten through grade 12, not with social studies and science.

Adopted by the Ohio Board of Education in June 2010, the CCSS are currently being pushed full steam ahead into Ohio’s schools before new state tests, replacing the OAA, will be utilized in the 2014-15 school year.

The Lakota Local School District is currently working to bring these new standards into its curriculum in order to be ready for 2014.

The CCSS, which were developed to better prepare students for post-secondary education, focuses on developing creativity, innovation, problem solving and collaboration.

Students will need to meet higher standards and learn at a greater depth in English, language arts and math.

“The rigor is completely different,” Sawyers said. “We have to start talking about this with our kids. Go in and say, ‘We believe you can,’ then guess what, they can. Teachers can do it. We have to believe our kids can succeed. We have to accept this as a reality.”

High School Standards The CCSS will change expectations at the high school level in English and math because those are the two areas affected by the CCSS. The respective departments at East are preparing for the shift.

In the English area, the structure of quarters will change. Instead of reading a large number of texts in one school year, all English classes will focus on four “anchor texts,” which will be studied in-depth for an

entire quarter. The anchor texts, which will be determined by school districts from a list of suggestions provided by the CCSS, will be supplemented with reading material from the time period to create a study not only of literature, but of the surrounding culture.

East English department head Kathleen Foldy is excited about the changes and bringing students up to a higher reading level.

“The expectation for students is not that we go down to their level but that students rise to the level set for them,” she said. “The expectations for achievement and for reading level are really high. The focus is not on really hand-holding kids, but saying where they need to be. There is not as much of ‘What do you think?’ It is, ‘What does the text say?’ Text– based evidence is huge.”

In addition to higher level texts, the CCSS provides a grammar matrix with specific expectations for grade levels. Students will be responsible for the level of grammar knowledge their grade requires. The jumps from grade level expectations for English are outlined in bands and clearly linked. Foldy said that the idea of specific standards for grade levels has existed since No Child Left Behind, but the CCSS takes that a step further and, specifically for English, allows for more depth.

“It allows us to take our time and really teach students how to read and for me that is the main focus, teaching students how to read and write at a deep level,” Foldy said.

“This gives us permission to stop racing through texts and be able to focus reading and re-reading and reading for different purposes, which is really important because it translates to different parts of their lives.”

Math curriculum will be experiencing a similar increase of rigor and standardization in learning expectations. Those graduating in 2015 will need to complete four math credits instead of the current requirement of three.

Instruction in math will be affected by more units of study covered and more rigor in the areas already covered, in the same amount of time. It also gives teachers instruction in pedagogy, how they teach their students. Next year in Lakota, as part of the budget cuts, the academic track will be eliminated and consolidated into the college prep (CP) track and teachers will have to vary their methods to differentiate and help a wide range of abilities.

East math department head Michael Floyd agrees with the CCSS initiative to standardize math curriculum expectations.

“I’ve always been a fan of national curriculum,” Floyd said. “I believe that if I have a student in my class here and they move to Texas, they should be doing the same thing we are. Algebra should be algebra—kids should be doing the same thing. [They are not], even from here to Hamilton.”

Floyd said that the biggest challenge with the new standards will be fitting more topics into the same amount of time. Currently, the

East math teachers are working in teams on each of the classes, trying to determine how they will manage increasing rigor in a class with students at different levels.

“College prep is going to be a lot tougher,” he said. “We’ve got to do some changes because we’re going to add in a lot more work and we don’t have any extra time. Where do we add in another 25-40 days of work when we’re already crammed for days? But we believe that any kid can do whatever they want to do, it’s just how much work they are willing to put into it.”

New Tests, New Scores

Ohio Department of Education deputy superintendent of education Michael Sawyers gives a presentation on the Common Core State Standards.

Sawyers made very clear that districts may be shocked in 2015 when the results from the first round of new state tests are revealed.

“There is going to be a cliff,” he said. “We guarantee today, scores are going to tank. They absolutely, positively will. [The ODE is] giving you permission to have the conversation that scores will drop because we are increasing standards.”

Lakota, as ranked Excellent with Distinction on the state report card, fares better than the state averages. For example, 22 percent of the class of 2009, as reported by the ODE Board of Regents in High School

Lakota’s 2010-11 report card comparison with new accountability School Lakota East High School Lakota West High School Liberty Junior School Hopewell Junior School Lakota Plains Junior School Lakota Ridge Junior School Cherokee Elementary School Hopewell Elementary School Independence Elementary School Union Elementary School VanGordon Elementary School Woodland Elementary School

to College Transition Reports, required remediation classes when they transitioned to a four-year or community college half the state average. The more-rigorous CCSS, however, will bring Lakota’s rating down and challenge the district’s students.

As converted in a report by the ODE, 14 of Lakota’s 16 K-12 schools will likely score a B under the new system, East included, a drop off from years of Excellent rankings.

Lakota superintendent Karen Mantia said that in order to prepare the community for these changes, it is necessary to begin discussion now to avoid shock when the rating drops and student test scores decrease.

“Parents and our community need to understand that the level of expectation with the Core,” Mantia said. “Part of our communication is showing what that means.

Next year, we must be focused on letting parents know how [students] will learn and showing them examples.”

The new tests are currently in development by the Partnership for Assessment Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), which is a consortium of states for the purpose of designing the newly aligned assessments.

Although the details of the new test are still in development, sample questions may be available in May.

The Ohio Department of Education will replace the current rating system and begin giving Ohio schools letter grades (A-F) beginning with the 2014-15 school year.

Rating under current system Excellent Excellent Excellent with Distinction Excellent with Distinction Excellent with Distinction Excellent with Distinction Excellent Excellent with Distinction Excellent with Distinction Excellent with Distinction Excellent with Distinction Excellent

Simulated grade under new standards B B B B A B B B B B A States that have not adopted B the Common Core

Number of schools that received the highest current rating, Excellent with Distinction, in 2010-11

Number of schools that would have received an A, the highest grade under the new standards, in 2010-11

Number of schools that received the second-highest rating, Excellent, in 2010-11

Number of schools that would have received a B, the second-highest grade under the new standards

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 15

news | common core Associate director of communications for ODE Patrick Gallaway said the PARCC Assessments are going to initially focus on the OAA grades 3 to 8 math and reading.

The OGT will be replaced with another type of assessment, the details on that are still in development.

“By joining PARCC, Ohio can use stateof-the-art tests for less than it would cost to develop new assessments on its own,” Gallaway said.

Not only will the new tests come from PARCC, they will also be administered online.

According to Sawyers, the exact format is not known, but the tests will not be given in the strict, “everyone takes reading test on Tuesday at 10” manner that they currently are.

It is likely that students will take a multiple choice portion online, which will be scored instantaneously, as soon as it is submitted, for immediate feedback for parents and teachers.

At first, extended responses will still be taken by pencil and paper but in the future students may write on tablets and then the exams may be scored by artificial intelligence. Later this

spring, a “gap-analysis” tool will be released by the ODE and PARCC to determine district’s readiness to administer tests with technology.

Mantia said that if the community is prepared well, they will not be shocked by the new assessments, but it will be a different situation to become accustomed to.

“The fact that students will have exams in third grade with technology will be very different,” Mantia said. “I think parents will need to understand that students wont just have to answer right or wrong; It will be why or why not, actually applying information.”

Implementation Situation Lakota curriculum director Kathy Diblasi said that Lakota is working on its transition between the current curriculum and the CCSS. She coordinates with teachers and administrators.

“Currently, the curriculum department is working with teachers and administrators to build a strong awareness of the new standards,” she said.

Crime and Punishment:

NERFWARS W story tommy behan | photo ellen fleetwood ith the end of spring break and the beginning of fourth quarter, warfare has broken out again. The armistice is over and all sides are locked and loaded. The stage is prepped for the annual battles of Nerf Wars.

East principal Dr. Keith Kline sent out an early warning to all participants of Nerf Wars on April 6, expressing concern about the safety and welfare of students at East. He also made it explicitly clear that Nerf Wars is not school sanctioned and is not condoned by the school.

“I have already received phone calls from citizens, businesses and the Butler County Sheriff ’s Office regarding teens running through yards, lying in wait, and yes, being naked in public,” Kline said in the newsletter.

“Nerf Wars tend to cause otherwise very reasonable young people to make poor choices including driving in an unsafe manner.”

Kline added that all concerns from members of the community are forwarded to the Sheriff ’s office through school resource officer Deputy Doug Hale.

“Most issues come from residents

16 | Spark | April 26, 2012

complaining about reckless driving, with the occasional nude kid,” Hale said. “Parents often complain ‘I’ve got young kids who don’t need to see [naked teenagers]’. Parents often think [Nerf Wars] is affiliated with the school, and Kline forwards [those concerns] to me.”

Reckless driving and nudity are the main issues community members have with the arrival of Nerf Wars, according to Hale, both of which will land students in trouble with the police. Reckless driving can land a minor in court where his or her license will be taken until the age of 18 or possibly more consequences depending on the degree of the offense. Although public indecency is the crime for being nude in public, often the charge is reduced disorderly conduct, which is only a misdemeanor. This diminution, however, can involve ceiling fine of up to $1,000 and a maximum of 180 days in jail.

According to Hale, after explaining the circumstances to the judge, the student will most likely get a fine in the area of $250 or community service, on top of the $150 minimum in court fees.

“Parents of the students often say ‘They’re

Gallaway said that the Office of Curriculum and Assessment at ODE is currently working on various support programs for districts. The standards are guidance for districts—the delivery of instruction remains with the districts.

“We have these crosswalks that have been developed that help compare the former curriculum standards and how they can transition them over to the common core for their students,” Gallaway said. “Teachers may also use a model curriculum to help with instruction. There are more than 700 model curricula for the various areas.”

Districts in Ohio and the 44 other states will have to rise to the challenge set by the CCSS by 2014-2015. In the time to prepare, teachers will be working to alter their curriculum while districts prepare their communities for the shift.

“You’ve mastered excellence on minimum standards,” Sawyers said. “[Ohio schools] did exactly what was expected of us. You don’t have to stay there. This is about, ‘How can we do more to better meet needs of kids?’” n just having fun,’ but they don’t understand the legal liability,” Hale said. “It ends up being a lot of money over a silly game.”

East senior Billy Barren thinks that despite the risks involved with the game, Nerf Wars is still a good thing to do.

“While there are lots of possibilities of trouble for students, I think it is a fun activity,” Barren said. “It is especially fun making strategic attack plans to get people out.”

With legal repercussions always a possibility in Nerf Wars, participants also fear punishment from the school. There is, however, no connection to the school, unless the apprehended student is an athlete. In other words, the school cannot punish students for playing Nerf Wars, but if a student is caught in reckless driving or public indecency, the consequences will follow the student to his or her sport, the consequences varying per sport.

Lakota is not the only district in the region participating in Nerf Wars, as variants of the game also exist in Mason, Loveland and Kings.

All schools are sure to make it clear that Nerf Wars is not condoned by the school.

“We communicate to our students that the Nerf wars are not to be connected to school in any way,” Mason principal Mindy McCartyStewart said. “We are fortunate that this has not been a school issue.”

In the end, Lakota and the community want to keep Nerf Wars from being an issue. If that means not letting apprehended students off of the hook, Hale thinks it is a lesson well learned.

“I encourage [West Chester Police/ Sheriffs] to charge [students],” Hale said.

“It only takes a split second for a tragedy to happen.” n

news | senior flex credit

Flexible Credits As part of the budget cuts, next year’s seniors will have the option of only taking the minimum number of classes, giving some students more time to pursue outside activities. story elaine laux | photo ellen fleetwood

D

ancing is her passion. Six days a week she is found in the studio, dedicating almost seven hours to every beat and step. It is tough to have such a rigorous schedule, especially while pushing through her junior year. She wants more time to focus on her studies during her senior year, but there are not enough hours in the day.

East junior Taylor Hennessy is grateful to be a part of the class of 2013. Her class will be the first to experience the senior flex-credit, a policy that allows seniors to only come to school for the classes they need to take in order to graduate. Hennessy plans to take three classes at East her senior year to allow more time for dance.

“This year has been hard to do my best in school while focusing on dance,” Hennessy said. “But next year I will have more time to focus on my studies while doing my best in dance as well.”

The flex-credit policy is a new system implemented for East and Lakota West as part of the $10.3 million in cuts. It was chosen because fewer teachers will be necessary to teach senior classes.

East’s administration plans to have a meeting with incoming seniors in late April to discuss the new rules for the 2012-13 year.

The students will be responsible for determining which classes they need and will be asked to decide the time of their classes.

“The incoming seniors will be asked to vote whether they want morning or afternoon classes,” East principal Dr. Keith Kline said.

“We want them to have a voice in what time they want to come to school.”

The seniors that choose to use the flex- credit will have their classes scheduled together, and will either be in the morning or afternoon, depending on the vote.

East counselor Jill Kelechi believes that despite the senior flex-credit option, students should take as many classes as possible to gain sufficient knowledge to be successful and prepared for college.

“I speak to many college recruiters,” Kelechi said. “The first thing schools look at is a student’s strength of schedule. This is an indicator of how students have prepared themselves for college. Obviously the less classes, the less prepared.”

East junior Jarred Noffsinger plans to go into a chemistry-based program in college and wants to be as fully prepared as possible.

“For the programs I am interested in, it is better to have extra classes,” Noffsinger said.

“I will be here for five classes next year, rather than just taking the bare minimum.”

Lakota Board of Education vice president Julie Shaffer hopes to see that students are not just taking a few classes and then spending the rest of their time at home. She intends for the flex-credit program to be taken advantage of by students East junior Taylor who are committed to Hennessy will take outside of school. advantage of the “I hope that this senior credit flex can act as a transition system next year year for some,” Shaffer so she can spend said. “I want students to more time at her pursue an area of interest dance studio. if they use the flex-credit option.”

The Ohio State University (OSU) will not look at students who take fewer classes their senior year differently. The admissions representatives only want to make sure the student has met OSU’s requirements.

“The student’s applications will be handled by our admission’s officers just like any other,” an OSU admissions officer said. “They can divide up their classes in high school any way they like. We just want to see that their strength of schedule meets the requirements for the program they are applying.”

Although students will be going in and out of East every period of the day, Kline believes that building safety will not become a problem because East will continue to utilize the current sign-out system.

According to Kline, as long as students are in the correct class at the appropriate time, which will be tracked by each period’s attendance, there will be no truancy problems.

Unlike their peers, senior athletes will be required to stay in school for five classes during their season. According to the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) Student-Athlete Eligibility Guide, all Ohio student athletes “must receive passing grades

in a minimum of five one-credit courses.”

East athletic director Richard Bryant does not see the five-class requirement as a problem.

“Our athletes are extremely dedicated to their programs,” Bryant said. “I do not foresee [the requirement] being an issue.”

For East junior and football player Justin Smith the senior flex-credit will not change his plans to play football next year. He wants to pursue football in college, and even though the OSHAA regulations call for students to have five classes only in their season, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) requires students to remain in five classes for the entire school year.

“When I signed up, I made sure to check the NCAA regulations,” Smith said. “Colleges take academics very seriously when looking for their future athletes; therefore, I will be here for five classes.”

Because next year will be the pilot for senior flexibility, the graduating class of 2013 will have more opportunities and the administration will have more details to track.

“We are still in talks about the senior flexcredit,” Kline said. “We are taking it one step at a time.” n

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 17

feature | cool places

The building for True West Coffee, which is located in Hamilton, Ohio, took seven months to renovate.

TRUE WEST

COFFEE

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

story jasmine tuazon | photos michael tedesco | infographic devin casey

Taking unemployment in stride, Chris and Vanessa Cannon decided to renovate a home in Hamilton to create their dream combination of service and community in a hometown coffee shop.

O

rigami-like stars, crystal chandeliers and colorful strings of flags hang across the ceiling. The furniture and structure of the building give it a natural vintage look, but the vibrant yellow and teal walls give it a modern touch. The cart stuffed with board games and children’s books, modest wooden furniture, freshly brewed coffee and waffles topped with fruit and chocolate chips makes it feel like a home.

This is Chris and Vanessa Cannon’s dream.

“True West Coffee looks like how my house is. It isn’t too puttogether, but it is finished. [When we were building it], I didn’t want everything to match––I didn’t want anything to match. I wanted it to be eclectic and welcoming. That was part of my goal for it,” Vanessa says.

For the Cannons, True West Coffee is a product of their desire to foster community in Hamilton, Ohio.

“We wanted a place where the whole community could gather and

18 | Spark | April 26, 2012

meet,” Vanessa says. “One thing we do is have open mic night on Fridays, which is neat because that incorporates a lot of the community. We can have a 65-year-old country guitarist with a Miami student playing on the same stage, and that’s fun to watch.”

Officially, Chris is the owner and manager of the business, working at True West at least five days a week and doing things for the business all week by going to their supplier, keeping track of their books, and handling employee issues. Vanessa is not an employee, but she handles the business’s design and website and occasionally comes in to work at the register.

The couple also pride themselves in the fact that together they have made their shop “super kid-friendly” for children like their six-year-old son West and three-year-old daughter Penelope, whom Vanessa and Chris decided to use to name their restaurant.

“We came up with a million names [for our shop], and none of them fit,” Vanessa says. “[Then we thought of using West’s name because] we’re on the west side of Hamilton. Penelope’s middle name is True, so that’s how we named the coffee shop ‘True West.’ We also wanted it to be something that would let our kids know that we’re doing this for them.

We did this because we knew the community needed a place like this that could change the community for the better.”

The journey to create such a successful restaurant, however, has been very long and ongoing process.

Vanessa, an East alumna and 1998 Spark Editor-in-Chief, studied journalism and graphic design at Ohio University. According to Vanessa, she met Chris, an Ohio University senior at the time, the day she started college and knew she was going to marry him. They dated for four years and got married in 2002 the day she graduated.

“We then moved here to Hamilton because we do Young Life here at [Hamilton High School], and we fell in love with the city,” Vanessa says.

“We feel that there’s a lot of hope for this city, even though there’s a lot of naysayers about Hamilton.”

Vanessa works at as a graphic designer for her own business, Cannon Creative Design, but she says that her husband found it difficult to find a secure job as the economy started to decline.

“About three years ago when Chris was let go from his job, we started thinking seriously [about opening a restaurant] because he got a job in logistics afterward, [that he really did not want to do],” Vanessa says. “From there, we were like, ‘Why not take a leap and go into [the restaurant business]?’”

According to Chris and Vanessa, the two had talked for years about opening a business in Hamilton.

“We always enjoyed the coffee shop atmosphere,” Chris says. “When I was in college, I would play guitar at open mics at different coffee shops in an acoustic band. But for nine years, I worked in the warehouse

industry working in transportation for a third party warehouse group, and the remaining time for about two and a half years I worked in the steel industry and quality control––not much restaurant experience.”

Despite this, they began to look at different Hamilton properties that met their criteria of having an “old house feel,” being on Main Street, and having nearby parking. According to Vanessa, they found the perfect building a year and a half ago.

“We were looking at one building, but I didn’t think it was perfect.

Then I looked across the street and was like, ‘What about that building?’”

Vanessa says. “The Main Street Association worker was like, ‘Oh no, that thing looks great from the outside, but it’s destroyed inside. It would take you months to rebuild it.’ And [when we went to look at it], I was like, ‘This is it.”

According to Chris, the 150-year-old building had been all at some point a house, a split apartment, an art studio, an office and a hair salon. Now, having not been touched in seven years, all of its walls were stripped. The floor and ceiling were unstable and insulation hung from everywhere. But Vanessa had set her mind on fixing the building, and after a nine-month process of negotiating a lease with the property owner, the Cannons began to restore it, a process which took them about seven months to complete.

Two months were spent tearing out old, ruined parts of the house–– carpet, bathrooms, closets, the whole front of the kitchen wall, all the cabinetry, an iron shower upstairs that they had to destroy with a sledgehammer and bring down.

One of the problems that they ran into was trying to maximize the amount of space they had to make it handicap accessible, but as Vanessa put it, “In a 150-year-old house, nothing was accessible––every doorway was too narrow, and every bathroom was too small.”

Chris, who would work a full day at his job and then come work eight or nine hours to fix up the old building, says that the amount of support

CAFÉ CONSTRUCTION Chris and Vanessa Cannon lease a 150-year-old building in Hamilton, Ohio, which the couple has since restored and renovated to become True West Coffee as of last year.

Complementary Wi-Fi for True West Coffee’s guests extends throughout both floors of the restaurant.

The walls of True West Coffee are lined with artwork produced by Smithacus Art and Design, a business founded by Stephen Smith and wife Jenn Acus-Smith. The couple does all of the artwork themselves, and the pieces are available for purchase with prices ranging from $60 to $750.

True West Coffee’s menu features various sandwiches, soups, salads and desserts. Notable classics include Caesar’s Revenge and Loch Ness monster.

One of the modern aspects of True West Coffee is its checkout system, which utilizes the iPad’s Square Register app. This allows the customer to swipe and sign on the iPad, and receive a text message with his or her receipt.

feature | cool places they gained from their friends to complete such a massive project was far beyond what they had ever wanted. “It was overwhelming seeing our friends volunteer to come over and help us. I would send an email or a text, and 20 people would come and help us. All these people who had really busy lives would give their whole day to come and work with us,” Chris says. “Some people would watch our kids for us. Some people would buy food for us.”

True West Coffee employee Cat Wade, who met Chris and Vanessa eight years ago through Young Life, also helped during the building’s restoration.

“I helped paint, rip a bunch of stuff out and clean a lot. I have probably swept the floors a billion times,” Wade says. “I’ve been able to see all the steps this building has gone through before they opened it.”

While this project continued, Vanessa began to collect equipment, furniture and paintings from Craigslist, garage sales, places going out of business and antique and thrift stores. Wade can recall how the Cannons’ garage was crowded with tables and chairs.

Opposite the equipment and building, about three or four months before opening, the Cannons also wanted to make sure that their employees, who are all friends of Chris and Vanessa, would be prepared for the opening. They had their whole staff participate in 10 hours of training with representatives of Deeper Roots Development, the company from which True West Coffee buys its high-quality roasted beans, syrups and equipment.

Because this went so well, the Cannons decided to do a follow-up training session on their own equipment back at True West Coffee for some of their employees who had not been able to go to the first training session. “[Two employees from Deeper Roots Development] came in who taught us about espresso––how to measure stuff, how to weigh out the beans and grind them properly, how to steam milk properly, and how to get the best shot of espresso pulled,” Wade says. “I had never been around coffee, so it’s been fun to learn something new.”

As they neared completion of the building’s restoration in December 2011, they finished painting the walls and floors and added furniture, and they were anxious to open True West Coffee before the holidays began.

“We thought if we opened two weeks before Christmas, we could at least get a full week’s worth of business in before we would have to close for the holidays,” Chris says. “We didn’t have electricity still, but I was upstairs finishing the floor mopping polyurethane paint at 11 at night[trying to get everything done in time].”

“

WE DID THIS BECAUSE WE KNEW THE COMMUNITY NEEDED A PLACE LIKE THIS THAT COULD CHANGE THE COMMUNITY FOR THE BETTER.

While their restoration was on track, the Cannons were concerned that they would not be able to open because of the four inspections that they still needed to have done, which included zoning and occupancy/ fire safety, electric, plumbing, and health. All of these needed to be

20 | Spark | April 26, 2012

The two story historic home that the Cannons purchased in western Hamilton is decorated with their eclectic style

completed in order for the Cannons to launch True West.

With help from Economic Development, they were able to get their occupancy and electric inspections passed in the morning, and their plumbing and health inspections done on the same day in the afternoon.

After this, nothing stopped the Cannons from being able to open True West Coffee on December 12, 2011.

“The first week was insane. We were blindsided––We had no idea how much food to order. We ran out of bread six times and had to go shopping every day,” Vanessa says. “Our refrigerator broke the first two weeks, then our ice machine broke. But now we’ve got a handle on things, and [despite the obstacles], we always hoped that the community would embrace our vision, and they really did.”

The Cannons credit much of the business they get to social networking like Facebook and Twitter, where they can advertise daily specials and “someone will come in and order it within 45 minutes.”

Now that their business has stabilized, the Cannons say they have been able to learn how to manage and anticipate challenges that they may run into with their inventory, employees and customers, of whom they receive about 100 to 150 a day, ranging from whole families to “coffee hipsters.”

The diversity and number of customers who regularly go to the coffee shop proves that the Cannons have achieved their desire to foster community. While they do not make much profit from their restaurant, Vanessa and Chris are excited about the impact they have made thus far in Hamilton’s community.

“On the business side of things, this is a town of 60,000 people who don’t have a high-end coffee and sandwich shop on the West side of the city. But [our ultimate goal in creating True West Coffee] was about community,” Chris says. “We love Hamilton, and we think this city is going to become something new. We wanted to embed ourselves here.” n

feature | foster parents

FOSTER PARENTING story marissa alsip | photos hunter miller and michael tedesco

Madyson and her parents Alton and Holley are grateful for the child for whom they can provide.

Deciding to take on the role of a foster family more than a year ago, the Alexander family began a journey and now enjoy the benefits of the new addition to its household.

I

n between classes she would anxiously check her phone to see if she had any new messages. Feelings of disappointment often followed, but only a few of her friends understood why. Unlike many other high school students, she was not waiting for texts from her friends, she was waiting for a text from one of her parents to find out if she was going to get a new sibling.

East sophomore Madyson Alexander, along with her parents Alton and Holley and brothers Bryce and Caden are a foster family. They began the process of becoming a foster family in summer 2010 after Alton went on a mission trip to Mexico.

During his trip with Vineyard Community Church, Alton, who is a youth pastor, saw first-hand the poor conditions in which some of the orphans had to live. After seeing these problems, Alton felt that God had asked him to help with orphans in West Chester, Ohio.

“In the Bible it says to take care of widows and orphans, and we thought about how we were best resourced to do that. I felt like the best way we could help an orphan was not by donating but through physically helping them,” Holley says.

Last year Alton and Holley’s faith led them to want to help with local orphans, and after looking into adoption saw a bigger need in the foster care system.

The Alexanders realized that the process to become a foster family was going to take time, but Madyson was ready for the challenge and was excited about adding another member to the family.

“When I found out we were fostering I was really excited because I had always wanted to help in that way and I knew my mom had [always wanted to be a foster person] too,” Madyson says. “It was exciting to find out that we were finally going to do it.”

Making the decision to become a foster family was just the first step in an eight-month process for the Alexander family.

The first part of the process for Alton and Holley was to go through training classes at their foster-care agency, Focus on Youth, where they learned all the requirements and information related to being a foster family.

The classes Each issue the Spark staff picks a random East student and covers a taught them the restrictions of foster unique aspect of his or her life. parenting and the

sacrifices they would have to make to take on another child. They had to go through a total of 12 three-hour classes in order to apply, which was a strain on their busy lives.

“There were two or three weekends that my parents were at training and my grandparents had to come and watch [my brothers and I],” Madyson says. “In the end it brought us closer as a family, but it definitely wasn’t a fun process.”

The process of being accepted consisted of a safety audit of the house, medical exams for the whole family, hours of interviews, fingerprinting, references, and multiple background checks.

“My house is better child-proofed than it was when I had my own kids,” Holley says. “I was thinking, ‘Man, you ought to be checked like this before you have your own kids.’”

When reviewing applications for people wanting to become foster parents, Focus on Youth director Cindy Skinner, tries to find certain qualities in a family that make them of 823 surveyed a good fit for East students’ fostering.

“I definitely families have been look for a family foster families. with a lot of compassion, that is flexible, and has a good degree of tolerance and commitment,” Skinner, whose family has a history of foster, says.

According to state procedures, once a family submits the application, the foster care agency has a limited time period to approve or deny the application.

From the time the Alexanders were approved by Focus on Youth in April 2011 until September 2011, they received seven phone calls with possible placements for their home. Because the Alexanders did not feel they were able to take care of sibling groups, however, only agreed to about half of the calls.

The process of bringing a child into a home consists of local Children’s Services calling all of the county’s available foster parents, and if a placement cannot be made, calling private agencies. They send the call to the private agencies at the same time, and whoever call backs first is who receives the child. This system resulted in a waiting game for the

47

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 21

feature | foster parents Alexanders. Even when they said ‘yes’ to a call, they were still unsure of whether they would end up getting the child.

The first call the Alexanders received and accepted was for the placement of a baby, which was not what they had originally planned.

“The first time we said ‘yes’ I spazzed out. It was hysterical,” Alton says. “We had said yes to a baby, which is younger than what we had expected. I thought, ‘Oh my gosh I don’t even know what a baby needs,’ and the child was going to be placed with us that night.”

The Alexanders, however, did not end up fostering the baby. There were multiple times when they thought they would be placed with a child, only to later find out the child had been placed somewhere else.

“Every time we got a call and it ended up not working out it was really upsetting I felt like we were never actually going to get a foster child in our home,” Madyson says. “By the fourth or fifth call I was frustrated with the process. I was tired of getting my hopes up and being let down.”

Madyson’s best friend, Mount Dotre Dame junior Caroline Walsh, tried to support her friend.

“When her family didn’t end up getting the child after they accepted a call, I could tell she was disappointed,” Walsh says. “I tried to be there for her. She felt like God had asked her family to help out, and it was hard for her when things kept not working out.”

The wait for the Alexanders was over in Sept. 2011 when a child was finally placed in their home.

When Madyson found out that the child, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was definitely coming, she wasn’t sure what to expect from her new sibling.

“I was kind of nervous because I didn’t know what the child would be like,” Madyson says. “A lot of times kids in the foster care system are misbehaved.”

Both Alton and Holley realized that a new child coming into their home was going to mean big changes for their entire family.

“I was worried about how the situation would mess with our biological children and how the dynamics would change.” Holley says.

“I was worried about how much energy it would take away from what I was able to give them. But in the back of my mind I always thought, ‘If we don’t help, who else is going to?’”

When the child was placed into the Alexanders home, those fears instantly went away. Their new child is well behaved, calm and easily fits in with the family. The biggest change came with the adjustments to their schedules that had to be made with adding another child into their home.

“It felt very much like another child had been born into our family,” Holley says.

The adjustment to a new child in the house has been a big change for the Alexanders. Either Holley or Alton has to be with the child at all times, leaving little time for them to spend together. With all of the added stress, Madyson has stepped up and tried to start helping out more.

“She is willing to help out, and she is so much older that she is more like an aunt. She has a different role than a typical sister,” Holley says.

Even though Madyson has only known her new sibling for a short time, Walsh says that she can see the close bond between the two.

“Madyson has taken the child in like it’s her own. She spends hours playing with and chasing the child around to try and make some free time for her parents,” Walsh says. “She really wants to help her parents out, and she truly adores the kid.”

With three younger siblings looking up to her, Madyson tries to set a good example.

“I try to be a role model for them, so that they can all look up to me,” Madyson says. “I have the same relationship with all my siblings, blood related or not.”

Holley and Alton not only hoped to help out a child in need but also wanted to help teach their children a lesson about how fortunate they are. They worked as a family to help out someone in need, but along the way they had to make a few sacrifices.

“I think that the kids have come to see how good their life is in comparison to what some children have to go through,” Alton says. “I

want them to realize that our normal isn’t everyones’ normal.”

With the chance that the child in their home could be reunited with its birth parents, the Alexanders have started to think about whether or not they would start the process over. The court process that the Alexanders have gone through has taken its toll on the family and their thoughts about taking in more children in the future.

“If it came down to just loving a child, it would be easy. I would do it again in a heartbeat,” Holley says. “Children are innocent bystanders of the situation and that is the sad part. It is just the court system that is difficult for us.”

The Alexanders, have experienced first-hand the hardships and journey it takes just to be able to help out. But Alton thinks that the

“

I FELT LIKE THE BEST WAY WE COULD HELP AN ORPHAN WAS NOT

BY DONATING BUT THROUGH PHYSICALLY HELPING THEM.

16,000 churches in Ohio should be able to help with the 12,197 children currently in foster care.

“Not even one person from every church would have to take a child into their home for the problem to be solved,” Alton says. “I just cannot fathom why that isn’t happening.”

For the Alexanders faith played a key role in their decision to become a foster family, and Walsh says that those beliefs are what make them such a good foster family.

“The Alexander family focuses on God and His will, even if it’s not what they originally had in mind,” Walsh says. “They believe in God’s plan for every child. They could have chosen the easy way out and not suffered the emotional toll the fostering process had on the family, but, they were really willing to trust God.” n

A long process of paperwork and interviews led up to Madyson Alexander finally meeting her new sibling.

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 23

feature | teacher feature

BROTHER

BAER After a long journey, East English teacher Brandon Baer has the opportunity to teach in his own classroom.

24 | Spark | April 26, 2012

After experiencing a spirited East vs. West football game in 2008 which brought back memories of his old East coaching days, Brandon Baer worked his way up from being an assertive substitute to being an invaluable teacher for many. story dillon mitchell | photo michael tedesco

B

randon Baer had a lot of time to think.

He spent hours every day sitting in a box, or, as those in the business world call them, a cubicle. Fresh out of college, he had moved from West Chester to Boston in pursuit of a job he had been offered at a marketing firm, leaving behind his positions as a leader of Younglife, a Christian youth group, and as a football coach for Lakota East High School. All the time cooped up in his box led him to realize that his new life had an insatiable void caused by the absence of his past positions. He yearned to be back in Lakota working with teenagers, but he was still undecided about what to do. In the end, it was a football game that sealed his fate.

“I came back to Cincinnati in the fall of 2008 for Miami’s Homecoming and figured I could pop down to check out East again,” says Baer, who first graduated from Miami University in 2007 with a degree in finance. “It just so happened to be the East vs. Lakota West game. Ultimately, that’s what made me decide to come back. Seeing the old team and all the kids packed into the stands reminded me just how much fun the high school environment is.”

So Baer broke free of the box and quit his job. He packed his bags, moved back to Ohio and returned to Miami University to get his master’s degree in English education. Only now he was pursuing his real dream: education. Baer graduated from Miami in spring 2011, having completed his student teaching at East, and was often a substitute around the building. The opportunity of a lifetime emerged in the sudden departure of English teacher Kerry Hendel in Oct. 2011. With a tight schedule to find a replacement, the administration turned to Baer, who wholeheartedly accepted.

“It was a whirlwind of three weeks for me,” Baer says. “I went from being a sub, not knowing what I was going to do every day and making sub pay, to being a legitimate teacher with my own classroom, my own students and my own lesson plan.”

But Baer never flinched at the daunting task facing him. Rather, his extensive experience as a substitute gave him an advantage, as he was already used to being dropped into an unfamiliar classroom with new students. In order to establish that he was not there to be a pushover substitute and that he was the new long-term teacher, Baer directly told his classes that he would fail them if they earned it.

“It sounds harsh. It’s going to be a loose environment, because I’m all about having fun, but they’ve still got to work,” Baer says. “Teachers have this unspoken philosophy of ‘Don’t smile until Christmas.’ That is, start off harsh and then loosen up as you go. I believe in that to a certain extent. I like to start off and have fun and laugh right away, while still letting people know it’s going to be serious.”

When discussing his teaching, Baer is insistent upon two things. The first is that while his teaching may require a lot of work, it is always meant to be fun (“I don’t want to be bored in class just as much as the students don’t want to be bored.”). The second is that he doesn’t simply want to teach his students. He wants to build relationships with them.

“A huge part of teaching is actually caring about your students and not just seeing them as another face in a classroom,” Baer says.

“Younglife helped me to understand that every student is going through other crazy things throughout [his or her] life. Problems in the classroom

are probably stemming from an outside source. Younglife helped me to be patient and offer my support in any way I can.”

Relationship-driven is how Baer describes himself. From the beginning of his time with Younglife in 2006 to his departure from the program in Dec. 2011, Baer was focused on building both mentorships and friendships.

According to Bryan Fries, Baer’s co-leader at Younglife, Baer was always focused more on establishing relationships with students than actually trying to get more students to come to Younglife.

“It’s very easy to get caught up in the organization itself, but Baer always kept us grounded in what we were really there to do,” Fries says. “He was incredible at making himself available and making kids feel comfortable enough around him to be who they really are. I don’t think any kids felt like they had to act a certain way around him. He just loved them for who they were.”

One such student is East junior Jeff Back, who first joined Younglife during his freshman year. Back first connected with Baer at Younglife’s Fall Weekend, which is similar to a church retreat. Baer was one of two “cabin leaders” for Back’s assigned cabin, and over the weekend, Baer sat down and talked with Back about his decision to become a Christian.

The two quickly developed a close friendship, even outside of Younglife, which Back cites as one of the most helpful things in helping him make the transition to Christianity.

“We were legitimately friends. If we wanted to, we would play basketball or watch a movie or just hang out in general,” Back says. “It was important for me becoming a Christian as far as seeing an older role model who was living it out the way it should be done. Before Baer, I had never had that.”

Baer also fondly refers to East junior Jared Brinn. Like Back, Brinn met Baer at a Younglife camp. While he was there, Brinn was going through “some family issues,” which Baer sensed almost immediately. Despite only recently meeting him, Baer made sure he was always available to talk if Brinn ever needed it. Although he had not taken Baer up on his offer, it stuck with Brinn as they became closer through Younglife. Even now, after Baer has left, Brinn still goes to him for help, even if it is something as simple as an English essay.

Soon though, that will all come to an end.

Due to the recent faliure of an operating levy, Baer will be part of the 42.8 high school teachers cut. As a teacher who has been signed on for less than a year, he already knew he would be one of the first to go.

Rather than take the easy road and have a bad attitude about losing his job, Baer is staying focused on what he really cares about—the students.

“Other than having to work harder to be in a good mood with the impending gloom over my head, [knowing I’ll get cut] won’t affect my performance,” Baer says. “For me to check out mentally would be unfair to both the students and me.”

Realizing he would most likely lose his job after the failure of the levy, Baer has already sent his resume to other schools around Cincinnati and Columbus, and he even had an interview with another district. Regardless of what happens, he will not be in Lakota anymore. He’s leaving behind the area and community that has defined him for the last six years.

It is a bittersweet farewell. n

A HUGE PART OF TEACHING IS ACTUALLY CARING ABOUT YOUR STUDENTS AND NOT JUST SEEING THEM AS ANOTHER FACE IN A CLASSROOM.

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 25

lifestyle | allergies

Mild Winter:

SEVERE Allergies

High temperatures this winter caused trees to bloom earlier, making seasonal allergies more of an issue for those affected. Luckily, treatment is available for relief. story tabby hall | infographic jack dombrowski | photo used with paid permission from mctcampus.com

A

t this time of year, many have to grab tissues at a second’s notice, cough into their sleeves and constantly rub their itchy eyes. Allergies, the common cause of these problems, may be annoying, but they play large roles in the lives of many people, particularly during the times when the weather changes significantly like the transition between winter and spring. Outdoor allergies are among the most common afflictions seen by doctors and medical specialists during the changing of seasons.

“This year we’re seeing a lot of allergy problems,” East nurse and Registered Nurse Debbie Knuckles says. “[Because of the] mild winter trees are already budding. Pollens are coming out, mostly juniper and seeder because they are the first to bloom.”

Knuckles, who worked at the office of an allergy specialist before coming to East, says allergies can be caused by anything. When the body comes in contact with a particular allergen, the immune system overreacts. This causes histamine, a chemical produced by the body, to attach to cell receptors that tell other cells to overreact to the allergen, which is considered to be a foreign invader of the body.

“Anti-histamines block histamine from being to bind to the histamine receptors,” Children’s Hospital Director of the Division of Asthma Research and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati Dr. Gurjit Khurana Hershey says. “The increase in allergic disorders this year is likely due to environmental factors.

According to the Allergies and Asthma Foundation of America (AAFA), outdoor allergies, often referred to as Hay Fever, cause coughing, sneezing and wheezing, as well as a myriad of other symptoms.

It is important to know the differences between allergies and cold or flu symptoms.

An allergic reaction has no fever associated with it, while colds often present fevers. Another key difference is the length of time that the symptoms are present. Colds generally clear up within 10 days, while the symptoms of allergies are noticeable for as long as the body is exposed to the allergen.

According to the AAFA, allergies are not contagious. How the immune system of each individual reacts to a possible allergen is entirely

26 | Spark | April 26, 2012

Tissues are a common staple in the lives of those who suffer from seasonal allergies.

different from one person to the next. Reactions to allergens can happen at any time in the year, whereas colds and the flu are most common in the winter.

Outdoor allergies, triggered by pollen, grass and mold spores, are not the only causes of adverse allergen reactions. They can also be caused by man’s best friend: pets.

East junior Hannah Hall often suffers from the effects of year-round allergies caused by her pets.

“Their hair gets everywhere, including my clothes,” Hall says. “I try to lint-roll my clothes every morning so that I’m not miserable at school, but that doesn’t always help.”

Vacuuming carpets, dusting and lint-rolling clothing are good options for those who have pets that shed hair frequently. Medications such as Claritin can also be beneficial.

There are many options for people who of East students suffer from Hay Fever, or “seasonal allergies.”

Utilizing nasal sprays, over-the-counter (OTC) surveyed suffer from spring allergies medications and other options suggested by a doctor can help.

Asthma is a problem that often accompanies allergies. According to the AAFA asthma is a condition in which the airways become blocked or swollen because of a trigger. Allergic asthma, which is caused by inhaling triggers such as pollen, mold and pet dander, affects more than 50 percent of more than 20 million asthma sufferers, making it the most common form of asthma.

According to Knuckles, asthma attacks begin in the trachea. From there, asthma attacks work down through the airways in the lungs: the bronchi, the bronchioles and the alveoli. Airways tighten and the amount of mucus produced increases so that the air passages become even more clogged.

“Think of it like this,” Knuckles says. “Having an asthma attack is like going from breathing through a garden hose to breathing through a straw.”

If an asthma attack is severe enough, a tracheotomy, which is a surgical procedure in which doctors cut a hole in the lower part of the

52%

Attacking Allergies It is estimated that more than one in every five people experiences seasonal allergies such as hay fever. Many of these people will turn to medication for relief. Antihistamines such as the ones compared in the chart below are the most common form of medication.

Possible Side Effects

Symptoms Treated

Benadryl (Dipenhydramine)

Dosage

Information www.webmd.com, claritin.com, www.zyrtec.com, www.benadryl.com, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, www.mayoclinic.com

neck to open a hole to the trachea so that a person can breathe without using his or her nose or mouth, can be performed to open up the airways.

“If an asthma attack is left untreated, there are only so many things you can do,” Knuckles says. “You can use an Epipen if it’s an allergic asthma attack, but that will still require more treatment at a hospital. If a non-allergic asthma attack isn’t treated, you die.”

Asthma attacks are just a few of a multitude of things that can happen when allergies become too much for the body to handle.

According to Hershey Albuterol inhalers, inhaled steroids and Leukotriene Antagonists can be used to treat both allergic and nonallergic Asthma.

“While these types of treatment can be used to treat Asthma,” Hershey says. “Treatment with antihistamines or immunotherapy is recommended for those with allergic Asthma.”

Asthma and allergy sufferers have many options to consider when deciding upon a treatment plan. Among the options are: long-term steroids, over the counter (OTC) medications and more unconventional options such as the Neti Pot. “A Neti Pot is a sinus rinse of warm water mixed with a packet of saline,” Knuckles says. “It basically clears out the sinuses and relieves things like sinus headaches because the mucus has been cleared out, but you should never use it if you can’t breathe through at least one nostril because the rinse is pressured, and it will cause more pain.”

Knuckles notes that acupuncture, the practice of inserting needles into the body to reduce pain, is also used by some patients who believe that they need to balance their energy flow. Another commonly used allergy-control method is allergy shots. They are small doses of allergens designed to build up immunity.

“Allergy shots enable cells which usually would overreact to the allergen not react,” Knuckles says. “The shots make it so that those cells say ‘Oh we’ve seen this before.’ It trains the body’s immune system to not

Claritin (Loratadine)

Zyrtec (Cetirizine)

-Rash -Itching -Watery eyes -Itchy eyes/nose/throat -Sneezing -Runny nose -Cough

-Itching -Runny nose -Watery eyes -Sneezing

-Watery eyes -Runny nose -Itching eyes/nose -Sneezing -Hives -Itching

-Drowsiness -Constipation -Upset stomach -Vision changes -Dry mouth/nose/throat -Irritability -Dizziness -Headache

No typical side effects

Adult: 1 50 mg tablet every 4 hours Child: 1 25 mg tablet every 6 hours

Adult: 1 10 mg Adult: 1 5 mg tablet tablet every 24 every 12 hours hours Child: Ask a Doctor Child: Ask a Doctor

-Drowsiness -Tiredness -Dry mouth -Stomach pain

attack the allergen.”

Over time, the amount of the allergen in the shot increases, and there comes a time when one does not need the shots because of how well the shots train the immune system.

Another available option is OTC medication, which offers a plethora of medications for any allergy. Those who cannot afford the brand name medications can purchase the less expensive generic form of OTC medications.

“I used to take Claritin, then I switched to Zyrtec and now I’m on Allegra,” Hall says. “But they are all so expensive that I now take the generic form of Allegra, Fexofenadine.”

A widely used medication, Benadryl, is probably the most popular of the OTC medications because it is fast acting and strong, but for that there is an equally strong side effect.

“Benadryl can make you very sleepy,” Knuckles says. “Of all OTC medications, it is definitely the strongest.”

According to Hershey most treatments are usually safe to use as long as they are used at the recommended dose.

Luckily for the many afflicted by allergies, numerous treatment options are available, and they can effectively reduce the effects of allergies.

With treatment, an allergy diagnosis does not have to interfere with daily life. n

“Having an asthma attack is like going from breathing through a garden hose to breathing through a straw.”

1) Allergen (pollen ) is produced be the plant and released into the air.

2) The allergen then enters the body through the eyes/ nose/mouth.

3) The allergen comes in contact with white blood cells (WBC), which see the allergen as a threat.

WBC

4) The WBC produces IgE antibodies ( ) and transfers them to nearby Mast Cells.

5) When the Mast Cell comes in contact with the allergen, it releases Histamine ( ).

Mast Cell

6) Histamine attaches to receptors of nearby cells causing the various symptoms of seasonal allergies.

7) Antihistamines ( ) block the receptors, limiting the effects of histamine.

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 27

lifestyle | photoshoot

gray v-neck: $12.95 aviators: $4.50

graphic tee: $12.95 denim buttondown: $29.95

A WHOLE NEW LOOK A trend that is sweeping Lakota East rapidly. More teenagers than ever are participating in an activity that could cause detrimental damage to their bodies. story amanda weisbrod | photos ellen fleetwood | sidebar amanda weisbrod | models michael sell and nick smith | clothing provided by H&M and Hot Topic

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hey are his battle scars––his accomplishments. His inch in diameter trophies and his pride dangle from each ear lobe with grandeur. “To each his own” is exactly the mind set he holds.

He strolls down main street bursting with confidence and dignity while he makes competitive eye contact with those who stare. They are his ear lobes, stretched to the size of half dollar coins. Not only do they provide a feeling of accomplishment, but also a sense of attractiveness and attention. They are East senior Nick Smith’s addiction––his amplified and exaggerated attempt at sticking it to society.

The addiction that is linked to stretching the ear lobe is strong, and according to Body Jewel front sales associate Sandyna Voong and piercer Julia Lance, feeling attractive, getting attention and achieving a sense of accomplishment are three main reasons for continuing this habit.

Voong, who is a 2010 East graduate, says stretching her ears is “definitely an addiction” because it makes her “feel alive.”

“It’s almost like the pain and pleasure take you out of your redundant living status,” Voong says. “The fear of going to the next size and getting there is what I like.”

The thought of her ears “blowing out,” or pushing the skin from the inside of the lobe to the outside, inhibits Voong from sizing up too quickly. Although she has never experienced this painful occurrence, many of her friends have.

“I shook my finger at them and said, ‘I told you so,’’’ Voong says.

“You must be patient in order to have healthy lobes, which teaches you virtues in life.”

Many aspects that play into the addictive nature of not only stretching the ears, but also modifying the body through piercings and tattoos. Nick Smith has gauges the size of fishing bobbers that decorate his ears, a lip piercing and multiple tattoos that embellish his body.

“The deeper meanings behind my tattoos, the chance to express myself and the feeling of being different than everyone else are the biggest reasons why I love my body modifications,” Smith says. “Being

28 | Spark | April 26, 2012

different is important to me. Body modifications help with that.”

Not only are body modifications a tactic to display self-expression, but are also a way to feel confident in oneself and one’s appearance.

“When I gauge up, I feel more appealing,” Smith says.

Many people size up their ears because of the feeling of attractiveness that comes with larger ear lobes.

To Lance, stretched ear lobes are a status symbol or a way to measure oneself in society. “The bigger [the gauge], the cooler. When you see awesome jewelry in larger styles, it entices you,” Lance says. “The smaller sized holes you have, the fewer styles are available.”

Locating Batman plugs, plaid tapers and glittered pinchers from size two gauge (2g) to one-half of an inch is easy, according to Body Jewel piercer Key York. Hunting down stylish jewelry outside of this range proves to be arduous because of the rarity of those sizes.

“Once you go past two inches, it’s difficult to find cool styles in your size,” Lance says. “[Body Jewel] doesn’t even sell those sizes anymore; we have to special order them for customers.”

This hasn’t stopped Smith, who recently stretched his ear lobes from seven-eighths of an inch to a full inch in order to meet his final goal, and experience that special feeling of accomplishment.

Reaching success and climbing to goals that had been looming over one’s head for months is a considerable reason for sizing up to larger sizes, according to Voong.

“Once you get to the size that was your goal, you feel great,” Voong says. “It’s like having a gift you can’t open until your birthday. It’s totally worth the wait.”

Patience and cleanliness of one’s ears make sizing up less painful.

According to Lance, stretching the ear lobe should be almost painless.

“Everyone thinks it’s is supposed to hurt, [but it doesn’t],” Lance says.

She explains that the main reason why people do not take their time with stretching is their need for the instant gratification that accompanies the journey of sizing up.

“Because of the addictive nature of gauges, people will even skip sizes in order to get to their goal faster. It will only cause problems for your ears. Don’t skip,” Lance says.

Skipping sizes when expanding the ear lobes can be extremely dangerous and could potentially be the reason for a blow-out. Impatience was paid with pain, bleeding and swelling for Smith when he skipped a size in one stretching session.

“It was a stupid decision, but I did it because I wanted to get to seveneighths faster. It hurt badly, and I definitely regret it,” Smith says.

Tapers push the skin of the lobe one way and can be unhealthy and traumatizing for the ears.

A popular method of enlarging the lobes is known as gravity stretching. In this process, heavy earrings are worn to distend the piercing further. Another commonly used technique is layering medical tape on the outer ring of the jewelry to widen the gauge. “[Gravity stretching] gives more of a natural stretch,” York says. “It’s been done this way for centuries.”

Smith uses a very different method of enlarging his ears––dead stretching. Shoving the jewelry through and praying not to get a blowout are the common steps, but Smith experienced the opposite.

“I took a shower so my skin was relaxed and I shoved [the gauges] through. It didn’t hurt, and my ears are actually healthy,” Smith says.

“Letting it heal completely is the most important thing to do, and I make sure to wait about three to four months before I go to the next size.”

According to the article Reconstruction of the Stretched Earlobe (Gauged Ear), written by Barry Eppley of the Clarian Medical Center in Carmel, Ind., “[stretching the ear] can have very negative long-term effects on the earlobe.”

“This practice creates permanent damage to the earlobe by altering its shape, the quality of earlobe left and the real possibility of significant scarring or keloids,” Eppley writes. “The earlobe tissue is not really normal and can either be quite thin or thick and scarred.”

Although the adrenaline rush and the hunger for accomplishment are incentives to reach the next size quickly, patience is rewarded with healthy ears, while over-eagerness yields pain and potential damage.

Negative results but cannot inhibit the strive for both admirable and abominable attention.

Even for some, attention in any form is better than no attention at all. Lance, Smith and Voong agree that negative glances and ignorant stares are what they typically experience with gauges, however, the compliments and praise outweigh the insults and criticism.

“When people are disgusted, it’s offensive,” Voong says. “But you can’t beat yourself up. [Tell yourself] this is just me.”

black beanie: $3.95 tank top (Hot Topic): $19.50 Lance experiences disgusted stares, but she does not let it bother her.

“Negative attention is definitely a downfall with being modified,” Lance says. “You can shake it off, or give in to the stereotype by being that angry freak who won’t amount to anything. I prove them wrong.”

While working the cash register at Target, Smith is often stereotyped, but like Lance, he is proud of his appearance.

“Once people get to know me, they can see what I have to offer, rather than just saying ‘Oh, he has gauges and tattoos, he’s a punk,’” Smith says. “I have no regrets. I’m proud of what I’ve done and who I’ve become.” n

8%

of East students surveyed have gauges

Gauges Glossary tapers: a conical rod used to enlarge the gauge of the piercing plugs: solid jewelry that is available in many different styles blow-outs: when the lobe is not ready to be enlarged, sizing up could potentially cause the ear to turn “inside-out”, creating massive tissue damage pinchers: horse-shoe shaped jewelry that can also be used as a tool for stretching the lobes

blue flannel: $34.95 white v-neck: $5.95 dog tag necklace: $5.95

tunnels: hollow jewelry that is worn in order to exaggerate the size of the gauge keloids: irregular tissue formed at the base of a scar

lifestyle | upperclass testimonials

sports | college | time management | friendship | academics

Lessons from Upperclassmen Nearing the end of their final year as Thunderhawks, three East seniors share advice from their experiences during high school. story bridget lally | photos ellen fleetwood Lyons says.

Lyons’ brother’s experience with sports versus academics influenced Lyons to pay more attention to his schoolwork. of East students “My brother focused more on sports in surveyed have high school and ended up getting an athletic enjoyed their high scholarship for college,” Lyons says. “But he ended up leaving that school because he school experience didn’t like it and now he’s not even in college anymore. He had about a 0.25 GPA because he didn’t go to class. I have higher goals than a lot of my family members.”

Lyons’ brother’s life choices kicked him into gear. His grandmother, who died during Lyon’s seventh grade year, also inspired him to start living a better life. Losing her was a big impact on him. Her death did not entirely hit him until his birthday of his eighth grade year; it was then that he realized that she was really not in his life anymore.

“That got me on track because it put life in perspective,” Lyons says. “She always thought I was special and that I could always do better than my other brothers. And my grandpa pushes me, he’ll give me crap if I don’t excel to what I actually can be.”

Lyons says his grandmother was about “giving to people and never expecting anything in return” and he goes by this mantra now too.

One of the things Lyons believes all incoming freshmen should know is that the first couple years in high school everyone worries about who is popular and who is not.

“But by the time you’re a junior and senior it really doesn’t matter because you have your own cliques and then, [high school] is really not as bad as everyone says it is and it’s actually enjoyable,” Lyons says.

He wishes he knew is to take more challenging classe earlier in his high school career. “[I would have] gotten in more advanced classes because I adapted in a lot of them. I would also have to say have more of a social life than not and solely focusing on school. Still enjoy [life].”

This balance that Lyons discusses is key to success in high school.

“Just know that everything that happens now is a direct impact on the future,” Lyons says. “And don’t let things get into your head, just enjoy high school. It happens fast.”

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Tanner Lyons Lyons Tanner

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t is midnight. At the end of another jam-packed day filled with J. Kyle Braid, National Honor Society and track practice, East senior Tanner Lyons finishes his endless amount of homework.

Five years ago, Lyons’ life was a stark contrast to his current life. A day filled with the occasional detention or a weekend filled with sneaking out, trouble with cops and lies to parents, Lyons was anything but the all-star track leader and stellar Advanced Placement Biology student without a Facebook account he is now.

With the help of a few influential people in his life, the ultimate junior high troublemaker has transformed into the superinvolved athletic student leader.

“My brother kind of screwed up in high school and I saw that and I changed completely to straight-A student, don’t miss a day of school, don’t drink, don’t smoke, or do anything like that,”

30 | Spark | April 26, 2012

Grace Kennedy

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he sends in her tuition deposit for Elon University, a private liberal arts university in North Carolina, ecstatic to start the next chapter of her life. She is former East lacrosse player Grace Kennedy, who attended Ursuline Academy her freshman year then East for grades 10-12, and also learned the value of true friends and working hard at academics.

Kennedy wishes she would have known that slacking off the first three years of high school was unwise, because it has a negative effect on the cumulative GPA, which is hard to raise and is essential to be accepted into good colleges. She also wishes she knew that your best friends are the ones that will be there for you,

Jeff Mundy

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fter three years of varsity football, East senior Jeff Mundy has mastered understanding the value of teamwork and friendship with upperclassmen.

“I think I’ve gotten a lot more mature with the simple stuff, like being able to look at people for who they are and not for what they’re involved in,” Mundy says. “I’ve seen a lot of people change

so “make sure you keep that bond.”

“If friends change, try to find other things in common because you’re going to miss them when they aren’t there anymore,” Kennedy says.

Like Lyons, Kennedy has an older brother who was a “screw up” in high school but who did not attend college. By seeing what he could not do because of the track that he chose to take, she has been inspired to ensure that she does not take that route, and that she will be successful with a long-lasting career.

When the college application time came around, Kennedy chose a pre-internet method.

“I took the old school route and I literally went to the library and got one of those huge college books, like the Princeton Review, and flipped through it. I knew I didn’t want to go too far away so I knew certain states I wanted to look in so I didn’t have to look through the entire book,” Kennedy says.

Kennedy looked through the states for things that matched her preferences for GPA, size, standardized test scores and major. She then compiled a list of 25 schools after her research, visited 14 schools and applied.

Kennedy did not want to use any of the websites about finding your college match because she felt it was generic so she used the college resource book and it worked well for her.

“It didn’t take long to go through the college book. It took me like two nights about an hour each,” Kennedy says. “ I was dedicated but not really, it’s two hours of my life so I would suggest using a college book.”

Kennedy’s old-school approach worked out perfectly for her and she is more than ready to attend her school, Elon University.

in a good way like getting into new things so they can be who they are all the time.”

Being involved in football taught him lifelong values of teamwork and motivation. Mundy, whose turning point was right after his sophomore year, matured due to playing varsity sports and the realization of a hard junior year.

“I felt like I just had to step up and start doing better,” Mundy says.

Mundy knows academics are important, but a fundamental part to high school is building valuable relationships with upperclassmen.

“For me personally I think it’s to know coming in to meet upperclassmen,” Mundy says. “That’s my biggest thing I would tell a underclassman or a freshman coming in because [upperclassmen] can help you do so many things because they’ve already been through what you’re going through just recently so just try to be friends with upperclassmen, because that helps.”

What helped him was seeing seniors and how they had changed, it encouraged him to focus more. Mundy also motivated himself because he was not entirely happy, he knew he was not working to his fullest potential. He felt like he owed it to himself and his teammates to do better.

Mundy wishes he could have realized earlier the importance of academics.

“The advice I would give to myself at the beginning of high school would really just be to focus more on school itself and then let everything else fall into place after that,” Mundy says. “Always put the academic part of it first instead of getting into the dances and the social aspect of school.” n

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 31

DO YOU REALLY KNOW

THE PERSON SITTING NEXT TO YOU

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Although 23 percent of the East student body is not involved in some sort of extracurricular activity, many of these individuals find ways to stay active and be involved in the community or in their personal lives. From train enthusiasts to farmers, Spark divulges into the untold stories behind several East students, who could be the student sitting next to you. story alexa chryssovergis | photos ellen fleetwood Heads turn as he strolls nonchalantly into Meijer. He is equipped to grab attention from head to toe, with his pig suit, coconut bikini top and hula skirt waving in the wind.

Little children point and stare; older people throw him contemptuous glares—aside from the greeter, who gives him a thumbsup. Teenagers laugh, moms scowl, but he continues to walk on, seemingly oblivious.

Matt Rice is not wearing his pig suit to Meijer for fun. He is doing his homework.

Recently, Lakota East’s Advanced Placement psychology classes were assigned to go to a public place and violate a social norm.

Matt seems to have hit the nail on the head.

“At first, I got a couple of good reactions.

A lot of kids were just like ‘Whoa what’s that?’

You don’t see a kid walking in a pig suit every day,” says Rice, who considers his own project a success.

Through his experiment, he has drawn a very insightful conclusion about the nature of human interaction and response to the abnormal.

“The entire goal of the project was to analyze people’s reactions and take what we

learned and make a conclusion,” Rice says.

Rice explains that he received the best reactions from small groups of people. When passing through a large group of people, however, “nobody did anything.” He attributes this to what he calls “the bystander effect.”

“The bystander effect” is defined by 17-year clinical counselor Holly B. DeSantis as “the phenomenon in which the greater the number of people present, the less likely people are to help a person in distress.”

Because teens are occupied with efforts to fit in with their peers, they are less likely to react in a large group setting. Their attempts to fit in distract them from taking the time to get to know their peers on a personal level.

This phenomenon reflects East to a “T.” Although the majority of the student body at East participates in extracurricular activities directly related to the school, still 23 percent of the students are not involved in any activity with a connection to East.

While many students stay after school sometime throughout the week, 23 percent pack up their bags at the end of the day and head for…

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 33

where? Due to an obsession with fitting in, this is something many students have never even bothered to consider. Life after school for some students at East remains a mystery to many of their peers who simply do not take the time to ask.

It is a domino effect that not even East can escape. Instead of learning the truth about their peers, teens at East acquire a behavior of making judgments about those around them.

All of this stems from the peer pressure of a large group setting, according to DeSantis.

“Teens will most likely follow the behavior of the group as a whole rather than do what they might think is right,” DeSantis says. “Peer pressure causes teens to engage in behavior that they might not do if by themselves.”

East sophomore Nate Anderson admits that despite his attempts to evade the lures of peer pressure, he sometimes falls under the influence of those that surround him.

“I do fall into peer pressure as a student, but I try not to,” Anderson says. “It’s one of those unavoidable things that students nowadays use to fit in.”

Anderson’s confession should not be viewed as a weakness, but rather as a defining trait of a typical teenager.

“It is easier to follow what others believe,” DeSantis says. “If you go with the flow then you will feel like you belong. If you disagree with the majority then you run the risk of being ostracized yourself.”

The “majority” seems to be compiled of students who make unwarranted judgments about those who surround them. Doing this, however, can often be detrimental in a teenage setting. Dr. Cricket Meehan, a clinical psychologist from Miami University’s School

34 | Spark | April 26, 2012

Based Mental Health program, agrees that making judgments and stereotyping are huge problems in today’s society.

“Certainly something like stereotyping can be a problem [today],” Meehan says. “And sometimes, when that does happen, rumors might get started. [The rumors] grow, and [people] start to believe them. That can impact that student’s life for sure.”

Because of this fear of social seclusion, most teens have built up an expectation of what a normal teenager should think, look and act like—the essence of a social norm.

On Jan. 26, East hosted the “Be the Difference” program with the very goal of breaking down this wall of expectation. The program was designed to make teens realize that every one of their peers has an untold story, and that it is unfair to make judgments about a peer without first learning this story.

“Most bullying is based out of ignorant people who don’t know the person they are picking on,” says Pete Bryant, head speaker at Be the Difference.

East principal Dr. Keith Kline agrees.

“Anytime we can challenge people to think outside themselves it is a good thing,” Kline says. “I saw a lot of emotion and honesty when we had the program here the first time.”

Although it certainly can be harmful, some believe that stereotyping is inevitable. “[Stereotyping] is just a normal human tendency,” Meehan says.

DeSantis believes that human tendency or not, it is never justified. Stereotypical notions can have many harmful, even long-lasting effects on an individual.

“I have [seen] grown adults who have successful careers who will sit on my couch

and cry about what happened to them as teenagers,” DeSantis says. “[Stereotyping] has life-long effects and most people have no idea how damaging it can be.”

At East, stereotyping is an everyday occurrence, whether it is something intended to damage an individual or simply a trivial label a student carelessly places on their peers.

“As a band kid, I often catch a lot of criticism about having no life, but those who know me know that’s definitely not the case,” Anderson says.

Those who do not take the time to ask would never find out about the finer details of Anderson’s life; about the fact that he is becoming a black belt in karate and that he likes to tamper with the inner workings of his cell phone and computer. They would never know of his love for the Harry Potter series or the responsibility of taking care of two younger sisters that he carries on his shoulders. And of course, it would take a great deal of devotion before they would find out about the fact that he watched his own grandmother die before his very eyes.

They would never know these things because they would never take the time to ask.

DeSantis recognizes the problems that making assumptions can cause, but she sees a potential solution: letting people be whom they want to be.

“I see teens as well as adults who worry that they don’t match up to stereotypes. They think that they should look, feel, or act like everybody else, and when they don’t, they feel bad about themselves,” DeSantis says. “Being able to become your own person is what true community is about. We all have a lot more in common than we think.” n

TECH WHIZZES While the fast-paced field of technology may frighten some, several East students have embraced the change in competitive fields which help shape their careers. story ashley jencen | photo justin york | infographic matt king

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Students such as Bange, who took Computer Science I his junior year and is now taking Computer Science II and Advanced Placement (AP) computer science, take away similar experiences while participating in technology-related activities and making connections.

“It was an awe-inspiring experience seeing the number of people with a common interest gather for a really fun weekend,” Bange says.

“TechOlympics was a chance to show off my programming ability and socialize with other computer people.”

Students could attend many different technology-related activities, from Wii Tennis tournaments and speed texting competitions to elective breakouts such as “Starting Your Own Web Business” and “IT Security: Foiling the Hackers.”

Bange participated in the Super Smash Bros. Brawl Tournament, Hacker Heaven and the School Showcase in which he presented his team’s video game called “Glitch World” to a panel of Gold and Silver business professionals.

Sponsors: “It placed second in showcase, [which put] our school second for $20,000-$25,000 the overall TechOlympics,” Bange says. “While I’m upset that we didn’t place first, I’m proud that Tech and Torch Sponsors: Bronze Sponsors: n Stealth Software n Great American we [earned] second, and our hard n ABS n GE work paid off.” n EA Sports n IBM n AT&T n Dell Leading a team of 19 n Cincy Tech n Microsoft n MultiColor Computer Science II students to develop a game compatible for Xbox and PC, Bange $1-$4,999 $5,000-$9,999 programmed Glitch World, a

information techolympics.org

he bright, colored lights on the stage flash and upbeat music plays as the students walk toward their assigned tables, which are organized by school.

Crammed in with 600 students from the Greater Cincinnati area, East senior John Bange was more than eager to participate in the TechOlympics Expo 2012 at the Millennium Hotel in downtown Cincinnati.

Presented by INTERalliance of Greater Cincinnati, the TechOlympics Expo reaches out to high school students with a common interest in technology to bridge the gap between students and employers while fighting the “Brain Drain.”

“The Brain Drain is the exodus of our best and brightest talent from the region, with the full awareness that once [these students] leave [Cincinnati], we may not see them again for 20 years,” INTERalliance Executive Director Doug Arthur says. “The reason that’s bad is because [the students] don’t come back here to work–they make their connections wherever they go to college.”

The goal of the TechOlympics is to link Greater Cincinnati students with local companies and sponsors, such as P&G and Verizon Wireless, in such a way that catches their attention and amplifies student interest.

“It’s a party, celebration, conference, career fair and competition that hopefully entices kids to come because they think it’s a party,” Arthur says. “[The TechOlympics] send [kids] home going, ‘holy cow that was more than a party, you just opened my eyes to amazing stuff that I can do.’” Arthur says.

class project to be judged in the Showcase.

In addition to a fascination with programming videogames, Bange, who is a programmer on East’s Robotics Team, shows an interest in computer security, as proven in his participation in the Hacker Heaven event. “[Hacker Heaven] was a timed contest for a set amount of hacking challenges. Doing that is what I want to do in [computer] security,” Bange says. “I’ve always had a knack for computers and loved hearing about new technology. I found that I was good at programming, and security seems as cool.”

East computer science teacher David McKain supports the students’ interests in technology and their ability to apply their knowledge in practical situations, as exhibited in their participation in the TechOlympics.

“We hear so much about unemployment increasing and jobs going down,” says McKain, who has been teaching computer science courses for 20 years. “I think that what they learned about the industry was beneficial, and [computer programming] is a great area to go into, as far as jobs go.”

TechOlympics attendee and East senior Luke Cunningham, who took Computer Science I his junior year and is now in AP computer science and on East’s robotics Team, participated in the Super Smash Bros.

Brawl Tournament, a bracketed competition between schools, and the “Disaster Response Role Play” elective breakout. “[In the Disaster Response Role Play] we had to go sit with people from other schools [that] we didn’t know at all, and different disasters would happen,” Cunningham says.

“We’d have to come up with a way to make it through the disaster.”

Students like Bange and Cunningham can apply their interest in technology to realistic circumstances while associating with technology-related companies in the area.

“The TechOlympics is a great way for high school students to connect with local tech enthusiasts right in their own backyard,” KnowledgeWorks Web and Social Media Manager Jeanne Bernish says. “I think that with greater community support, the TechOlympics could define the interactive conference for high school students.” n

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 35

LIVING ON THE EDGE While some East students simply throw on their backpacks and head home after school, other students seek further academic help and leisure time at the Edge Teen Center. Since March 2009, the Edge Teen Center has provided a safe, supervised place where kids can come to socialize, receive guidance and participate in community service. story morgan bain | photos renee noe

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s East sophomore Deanna “We have an eclectic group of students More than 200 students volunteered last Shelby talks about her family, here, so it ranges from kids who play games, year throughout the year, totaling about her body tenses and her to kids who play sports, to writers [and] very 2,000 hours of service time, and the program mouth twists to the side as artistic kids,” Ryan says. “If someone were to continues to grow with dedicated students. she hesitates, searching for the walk into the room, they would be able to find East junior Brittany Keller, who volunteers appropriate words to describe a student that they know or could talk to or every Tuesday at Living Water and every her home life. However, when speaking about relate to.”

Thursday with Whizkids, says that her original Edge, her body relaxes and her words flow In addition to the assortment of activities intent was to improve her resumé for college. smoothly as she looks around at the familiar and events, the teen center also has a After a year in the program, however, she orange suede chairs and the ridged metal walls, community service program in which kids can says the experience has been life-changing, admiring the place she is proud to call her participate. and has made her become more open to other “second home.”

Molly Hare, director of the community people.

It is an unadorned, rectangular brick service branch of Edge, takes kids to places “I am a reading tutor [for students at building; its sign barely visible from the like Living Water Ministries, Choice Food Independence Elementary], and I have adjacent road. For some students, Edge is Market and Hope House to volunteer. become more accepting of them. When I go simply a place to hang out, but for many teens Hare believes that the community service to Living Water, there are so many different like Shelby, it is home. trips not only teach kids good lessons, but also races of children and it has changed me a “I have a dysfunctional family, so I think build relationships between teens who would lot,” Keller says. “This year I’ve opened up of this place as my home, and the fact that I not normally speak to each other. to different people and when I’m in class, I’ll know I can come here after school makes me “Yesterday, I had four girls go to Living introduce myself to people that I don’t know want to go to school,” Shelby says. “After I Water. Two were from [Lakota] West and two and start talking to them.” come here, I feel like I can go home and be were from East, and at the end of the car ride Dr. Cricket Meehan, a clinical psychologist what I want to be; this place has inspired me they said [to each other], ‘Are you going next from Miami University’s School-Based Mental to do so much.”

Tuesday? We really like you!’” Hare says. “[It’s Health Program, explains that the community Edge manager Rachel Ryan also says that beneficial that] they built a friendship in the service opportunities Edge provides allow Edge and its programs provide a safe place span of those three hours of volunteering.” teenagers to become more understanding of for teens to feel welcome and others. be free from judgment. This, “When [someone] is in turn, actually causes kids involved in a situation where of 823 East students surveyed to become increasingly more people are less fortunate and claim they go to the Edge Teen accepting of others and make [they] meet a lot of people center at least once per month an effort to get to know one who are in that situation, another. [they] start to see that it’s PERCENT for recreational purposes

17

36 | Spark | April 26, 2012

not just one type of person who may need assistance, but it’s a whole variety of people in a lot of different situations. We start to develop empathy for those individuals and we put ourselves in their shoes,” Meehan says. “[Kids] can learn to generalize and think of other possible situations that could happen to kids in their own school, and it can make [someone] more empathetic to others.”

Meehan also believes that the social aspect of Edge can change teens to become more open to their peers.

“If you have a group set up where there’s an adult or peer facilitator, where everyone is given an equal chance to participate and be a part of [the activity], it can be a really positive atmosphere. The group of people can start to develop deeper relationships and get to know each other,” Meehan says.

Carl Franco, who is now the president of the Edge’s Board of Directors, says that because of the relationships developed at the teen center, kids are able to overcome major obstacles in their lives.

“We know stories of kids who were contemplating suicide, lost a parent, had parents that got a divorce, all kinds of really harsh things. They pulled through because they have Edge, because they have friends,” Franco says. “For many kids, Edge is a family.”

East junior E.J. Bates goes to the teen center every day to help students like Shelby overcome their stress.

“I help people all the time and they tell me what’s going on in their lives. I’ll help them with what’s going on at home, what’s going on at school, [among other things],” Bates says. “If there is anything I can do to help, any advice I can give, that’s the most important part; that’s why I come to Edge.”

East principal Dr. Keith Kline believes

[KIDS AT EDGE] ARE VERY ACCEPTING AND NOT JUDGMENTAL AT ALL, AND WHEN YOU COME HERE, THE PEOPLE MAKE YOU FEEL SO GOOD ABOUT YOURSELF AND ARE SO ACCEPTING OF WHO YOU ARE. —EAST SOPHOMORE DEANNA SHELBY

that the Edge Teen Center is a great place for students, and that it has significantly benefited East.

“I believe Edge has done a great job of providing a place for students to hang out after school or in the evenings,” Kline says. “It is a great fit for many and provides a structured place to go to connect with friends.”

Since March 2009, the Edge Teen Center has provided a safe, supervised place where kids can come to socialize, receive guidance and participate in community service.

“The staff and volunteers [at Edge] try to let kids know, ‘Hey, if you need somebody to talk to, I’m here,’” Franco says. “Right from the beginning, our mission was to create this safe place where kids would love to be, and parents would [feel comfortable with].”

After brainstorming ideas for Edge for many months, Franco, along with the leaders of Wellspring Community Church, signed the lease for a building on Wyandot Lane. The building, which is located only a few hundred feet from East’s Main Campus, opened in September of 2008.

According to Franco, the teen center will continue to provide opportunities for teens to learn lessons and most importantly, feel

welcome.

“We are adding tutoring and life skills programs next year,” Franco says. “We want to keep providing teenagers with the resources that they need to succeed in life.”

According to a recent Spark survey of 823 students, 17 percent said they have an interest in going to Edge, while 83 percent said they did not.

However, with daily numbers rising from about 70 students last year, to around 90 students this year, Franco, Ryan and Hare all work hard to spread the word about Edge.

They hope to maintain this increase and continue to provide a secure, fun place for teenagers to not only hang out, but to learn and grow.

Despite the troubles in her life, Shelby, like many other students, manages to keep a positive attitude because of the caring kids and staff at Edge.

“I think everyone should come here at least once, because they start to see how easy it is to become friends with people at Edge,” Shelby says. “[Kids at Edge] are very accepting and not judgmental at all, and when you come here, the people make you feel so good about yourself because they are so accepting of who you are.” n

LEFT: East junior Sam Toschlog listens to music as she works on homework with a classmate at the Edge Teen Center after school one day.

FAR LEFT: Edge manager Rachel Ryan laughs with an Edge-goer. Ryan believes that the Edge and its programs provide a safe place for teens to feel welcome and be free from judgment.

OPPOSITE TOP: East junior Austin Gould discusses homework and life with fellow students after school at the Edge Teen Center.

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 37

East sophomore Katie Gross practices her clarinet (left) and piano.

BEING IN TUNE

Throughout her life and in her daily routine, East sophomore Katie Gross faces more challenges than the average high school student. But Katie is not the average high school student. Involved in several activities outside of school, including being an altar attendant and playing tennis, Katie is breaking barriers and influencing those around her every day. story rachel hartwick | photo nick kanaly | infographic gebe olivencia

S

itting in a pew at 9:30 Sunday morning, she listens intently for her cue to get up in front of the assembly. Her hands tremble as she delicately pours a bowl of water over the priest’s hands to wash before communion. She then accompanies him in setting up the altar, preparing the wine and bread, and retrieving his red Roman Missal book. Speaking loud and clear, her voice fills the church as she recites the Prayers of the Faithful in front of nearly 750 church members. “…For those in our parish who are suffering from any illness, may the Lord shed his healing power on them and watch over them in their time of need. We pray to the Lord,” East sophomore Katie Gross recites.

“Lord hear our prayer,” the congregation responds.

For the average person, being an altar attendant and a regular lector at church is a high-pressure task. But for a sophomore in high school with Congenital Hypotonia and a hearing impairment, pressure is an understatement.

“I am always thinking ‘what if I drop a communion glass and it breaks during mass,’” Katie says. “But then I look out into the crowd and have faith in what I do during Mass.”

Volunteering on Sundays at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church is only one example of the many extracurriculars that give Gross an opportunity to overcome her

38 | Spark | April 26, 2012

medical challenges. When she was younger, she participated in gymnastics, swimming and cheerleading camps. Today, she plays the piano, clarinet and tennis.

Based on her extracurriculars, Gross is just like any other kid—in it for the love of the activity. The opportunity to meet new people.

The feeling of accomplishment. But unlike other kids, Gross uses these activities as a therapy for her rare muscle condition.

When Gross was 18 months old, her mom noticed that “she was not walking like most kids.” After several years of testing at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, a team of doctors narrowed down possible diagnoses. At age three, she was finally diagnosed with Congenital Hypotonia.

“It took them almost four years to diagnose her because she was such a puzzle,” says Gross’ mom Deana Tomes, who teaches fourth grade at Endeavor Elementary.

While other moms of 3-year-olds worried about their children getting out of diapers before preschool, Tomes had other concerns.

After almost losing her first born child Ali Gross due to a two-month premature birth, Tomes found herself burdened with the familiar fear of possibly losing her other daughter. Compared to the potentially fatal diagnosis possibilities for Katie, she and Katie’s father, Stephen Gross, realized the final diagnosis was, in a way, a stroke of luck.

“I can still picture being in the room with the geneticist—there on the board were seven possible disorders. Some of them were very

serious, where she might not even live to be ten,” Tomes says. “When he narrowed it down [to Congenital Hypotonia], we were really relieved. She wasn’t going to die; she was going to be OK.” Congenital Hypotonia is a muscle disorder that exists among a mere three percent of people in the United States. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Hypotonia is a medical term used to describe slack in muscles.

Katie visits Doctor Arthur Moebius, a 25-year pediatrician at West Chester Pediatrics for treatment. Moebius says that Congenital Hypotonia is not a matter of the size or strenght of muscles, but it is the cause of movement delays.

“Because of her [muscle] tone, she has to contract her muscles even before it starts having an effect. It takes longer,” he says. “She has to start moving the muscles before she even starts moving at all.”

Almost immediately, the Gross family began looking for ways to smooth out the effects of her disorder. To help improve her gross motor skills, which are described as the use of larger muscles for activities such as throwing a ball, Katie’s parents signed her up for gymnastics lessons, which she continued for eight years. To improve her fine motor skills, which are described as the use of small muscles for activities such as writing and drawing, she began playing piano, a hobby she continues to this day.

In addition to affecting her movements

in daily activities, Katie’s disorder causes problems in her vocal chords, which in turn produces some difficulty in speaking.

As a child, Katie underwent four mouth surgeries and met with a speech specialist.

This upcoming summer, Katie plans to have jaw surgery which will correct her speech to be as clear as the speech of one unaffected by the disorder. Although Katie isn’t excited for the pain of the surgery, she optimistically anticipates the effects of it.

“I think [my peers] will understand me better,” she says.

As an elementary youngster, things were looking up for Katie. She was thriving in Girl Scouts, attending regular swimming lessons and summer cheerleading camps, and even mastering the art of bike riding.

“It was a long and gradual process with occasional frustration for Katie to find that sense of balance [in bike riding], which comes so naturally to most others,” Stephen says.

Finally, in early elementary, Katie pushed herself to set off on a two-wheeler all by herself.

“I took forever to learn,” she says. “I finally learned how because my mom and dad taught me. I [became] stronger by not giving up.”

But in her third grade year at Independence Elementary, a school hearing test followed by a visit to an audiologist exposed another medical difficulty for Katie—a mild to moderate hearing impairment.

“That was a big, big change,” Tomes says.

“It was already hard for Katie to keep up in gym, and the kids were harder on her because they didn’t understand.”

At school, however, teachers and students are more understanding and accommodate to her needs.

SHE WOULDN’T BE AFRAID WHEN A TEACHER ASKED HER A QUESTION. [BECAUSE OF HER], I DECIDED I NOT TO BE SHY EITHER. —EAST SOPHOMORE DAPHNE OCRAN To facilitate her hearing impairment, Katie uses a Frequency Modulation (FM) system.

“The FM system is a wireless technology that helps her hear an individual in noisy situations,” says Lakota Teacher of the Hearing Impaired and Katie’s specialist, Barbara Hartwick.

In class, Katie’s teacher wears a transmitter with a microphone programmed to a certain channel; Katie then puts a receiver programmed to the same channel around her neck, which sends the speech signal to her behind-the-ear hearing aids.

“I got my hearing aids for the rest of third grade and on,” Katie remembers. “In fourth grade I started using the FM system. I’ve realized it helps a lot.”

Though her physical impairments often affect her physical abilities, they have only worked to heighten her academic drive.

“I have double the challenges of what most people don’t have,” she says. “It takes a lot of discipline to work as hard as I do, yet if I can do it then anyone else can do [it]—they just have to try.”

While a typical teenager may boast the ability to beat Katie in a race and a hearing screening, most people may not be able to say the same in regards to academics. Katie has been on the Honor Roll since junior high and plans to use her strong mental aptitude in a

Hearing Aid Breakdown

future career as a high school algebra teacher.

“I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. When I was little, I loved to play school,” Katie says.

“I think I got it from my mom because she’s a teacher.”

On a normal weekday, Katie puts four to five hours into her evening’s homework.

“As an educator, you see kids who don’t come to school prepared—they don’t have challenges and they don’t use their ability,” says Katie’s aunt Elizabeth Spurlock, who is a retired principal from Wyandot Early Childhood School. “Katie works harder, makes As and Bs, and without complaining.”

Katie’s friend, East sophomore Daphne Ocran, who had Latin class with Katie freshman year, says that Katie inspired her to be more confident.

“She wasn’t shy [like me]. She wouldn’t be afraid when a teacher asked her a question in school,” she says. “[Because of her], I decided I wouldn’t be shy, either.”

Every day, Katie engages in tasks that are much more strenuous for her than anyone else because of her disorder. In eighth grade at Liberty Junior School, Katie celebrated a major triumph—making the school tennis team. Because of her delayed motor skills, Katie exclusively played doubles, which requires a teammate and less running. In tenth [story continued on page 45]

Microphone Opening

Unlike traditional hearing aids, Katie Gross’ hearing aid has a transmitter, which her teachers wear around their necks. The transmitter has a microphone through which sound is broadcasted to Gross’ hearing aid. This allows Gross to sit anywhere in the classroom and still hear the lesson.

Omni (360° pickup)

1

2

Sound output tube Program switch Volume Control

3

Zoom (wider1 angle sound pickup) Super Zoom 2 (narrow-angle sound pickup)

Battery compartment 3 Antenna with ON/OFF switch Microphone inputs with wind and weather protector

IAN BLOMQUIST

Youth in Philanthropy president and self-proclaimed disc jockey, East junior Ian Blomquist is more than meets the eye. Though his passion for scratching records spawned from his older brother, Theo, Ian has turned his hobby into his second life. story meeta bhardwaj | photo ellen fleetwood

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resident by day, DJ by night.

By day, dressed in a white and blue checkered buttondown shirt with a Ralph Lauren cardigan and a pair of khakis, he walks through the East hallways in his “stereotypical businessman” manner, according to East junior Dan Mooar.

He seems to carry this same attitude in his classes, serious and determined to get his work completed as soon as he can. And this is necessary for him, because when he comes home after school, he has much more to do than just his Advanced Placement U.S. history homework.

When the sun goes down, he takes off his sweater and changes his button-down shirt and khakis to a simple t-shirt with slim-cut jeans, shedding his serious demeanor and replacing it with a more laidback personality.

When he enters his basement, he is relieved to once again unite with his beloved studio—two sets of turn tables, three speakers, a guitar amplifier and a mixer.

He cannot spend too much time here, however, because he is faced with many other responsibilities, namely, being president of a student-run community organization. Twice a month he leads the 30 or so teenagers of the group through discussions, but he does not joke around. His behavior is reflected back on the members, as they sit quietly, absorbing all that he has to say.

This divided identity defines East junior Ian Blomquist, president of Youth in Philanthropy (YIP), a nonprofit organization that strives for promoting philanthropy and service work through the community, and a

40 | Spark | April 26, 2012

self-proclaimed “DJ.” His contrasting personality allows him to take on both roles, serious or relaxed, when the time comes. But this has also proved to confuse his peers, as they tend to see only his “serious” side that he shows at school.

“When I first heard he did disc-jockey, I was sort of thrown for a loop,” says Mooar, who has been friends with Blomquist since freshman year. “I knew his brother did, but Ian just didn’t seem to give off the same vibe.”

Long before Ian’s brother Theo Blomquist had received a pair of turn tables as a Christmas present three years ago, both brothers were intrigued and enjoyed the unique sound of techno music. Through listening to these artists and observing his brother, Ian seemed to gain more interest in DJ-ing.

“His older brother sort of had a flare for it, and he enjoyed it, and I know Ian watched and admired him,” Ian’s father, James Blomquist says. “He saw that the activity would be a lot of fun so I think it kind of gave him an idea of an avenue to pursue.”

Theo, however, does not take full credit for Ian’s current skill.

“I don’t know that I ever ‘taught’ Ian how to DJ. There were always little tips and tricks about the equipment or songs that I would throw his direction, but he picked up the large majority of it on his own,” says Theo, who now DJ’s on the side while studying business at Miami University-Oxford.

Yet after his brother’s move to college, Ian quickly started feeling the emptiness in the house of not only his brother, but also his brother’s turn tables. Consequently, this

loneliness compelled him to buy one of his own turn tables, which led to the creation of his own DJ studio.

“My excitement starts when setting up my turntables, speakers and sound effects controller,” Ian says. “After playing a few songs, [I] start to feel the music [and] begin to relax.”

When Ian blasts loud beats similar to the sounds of his DJ idols Sbtrkt Ruskie, Kill the Noise, Justice, Kaskade and Reset, his mother, Elizabeth Blomquist claims it “disrupts the kitchen.” But instead of taking the cliché role of irritated parents—pulling their hair out from loud beat music in the basement—Ian’s parents offer support.

“It’s his secondary thing. It isn’t the kind of thing where as soon as he gets home from [school] he’s down there playing and will only come up when we drag him up by his ankles,” James says.

But as soon as he packs up his DJ equipment for the day, he also puts away the easygoing personality that is so evident while he plays. The next day at school he once again assumes the role of a serious and professional individual.

All of these traits have helped Ian be an influential president in YIP. With numerous duties, such as leading discussions, delegating roles and discussing upcoming events, there is no time to waste at the meetings.

YIP is a branch of the Community Foundation of West Chester and Liberty Township and is comprised of more than 30 high school students from the West Chester and Liberty Township area. The main focus of [story continued on page 45]

DENZEIL

TUBBS

East junior Denzei Tubbs is not much of a conversationalist in school, but his melodies speak volumes from his temple’s organ. Though he appears very reserved, those who know Tubbs see him as a talented and mature young man. story katie masterson | photo ellen fleetwood

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n a Friday night, 200 people in the pews of the Greater Emmanuel Apostolic Temple stand and sway, clapping to a melody floating from the organ played by East junior Denzeil Tubbs. Although Tubbs may not say much at school, he pours his emotions out into the music, bobbing his head to the tune. As soon as the song ends, the woman leading the congregation begins another hymn. After a few bars of unaccompanied singing, the tireless Tubbs matches his playing to the key he hears in her voice.

“I taught [Tubbs] how to read music, but he plays circles around me,” Executive Pastor of the church Elder LaVelton Daniel says.

Tubbs first played the piano when he was seven years old, and has played for the church for the past five years.

“I’m the main musician,” Tubbs says. “I play the morning and evening services.”

Although Tubbs possesses such musical talent, Daniel most appreciates Tubbs’s high level of maturity.

“He’s very attentive. For a teenager, I think he listens very well. We call him the ‘Old Man’ because he always acts so grown up,” Daniel says. “He finds out what he’s supposed to do and he tries to get it done. He comes from a very resourceful family; it’s in his DNA.” Timothy Staples, a choir director, Sunday school teacher and minister, agrees that Tubbs has a great gift for music, including the ability to play by ear. “[Tubbs] is very good,” Staples says. “He’s really passionate; it’s not just for show. He could be doing anything right now but he’s

here. He has mastered the new songs and the old Pentecostal songs.”

Tubbs is also the main director of Unified Praise, the major choir in the church.

“They don’t go to contests, but they would win awards,” Daniel says. “They’re going to be at our state conference in July; they’ll be singing the night our pastor is speaking.”

Tubbs also extensively travels with the church choir, including to the aforementioned state youth conference in Zanesville, Ohio. In the past, Unified Praise has travelled for two or three hours just to sing a few songs at an event.

Though Tubbs has made a name for himself by displaying his musical talent and his maturity, he may be best known throughout the church for his startlingly good impressions of notable attendees.

“He could be a stand-up comedian,” says Daniel. “I was in my office and I heard my father-in-law, Bishop Paul Bowers, singing in the auditorium. All of a sudden, the words started changing. When the lyrics got all stupid, I was like, ‘Wait a minute!’ Denzeil could do the same intonation [as Bishop Bowers], that’s what makes it so funny. I really thought he was Pop.” Eugene Partridge III, the youth president, notes Tubbs’s charisma and ability to work in front of a crowd, citing a time last year when Tubbs was the youngest and most outstanding choir director at a city-wide Pentecost celebration with thousands of attendees. The celebration occured at the Greater Bethlehem Apostolic Church and Tubbs was invited back to be the main director this year.

“It was amazing,” Tubbs says. “It was

a 200-voice choir. It was a very humbling experience because I worked with many other people from other churches.”

In addition to his other commitments at church, Tubbs has also been the Community Outreach Director for a year and a half. He serves on the church board with Partridge. “[Tubbs is] responsible for any type of events that we do,” Partridge says, citing the recent International Christian Women’s Auxiliary Spring Conference as an example.

“He’s responsible for communicating with the media, responding to any type of questions or tweets and then communicating with the other churches in regards to our events as well.”

Tubbs also manages the social media of the church and updates Greater Emmanuel’s Facebook page.

“If I need to publicize something on Facebook, he’s the guy I go to,” Daniel says.

Because of all these responsibilities, Tubbs estimates that he spends about 12 hours per week at the church. He feels that being so involved with Greater Emmanuel has “absolutely” made him a better person.

“God blesses what you are willing to devote to Him,” Tubbs says. “The reward is really me being used by God.” Tubbs wants to continue to be an integral part of the church and intends to become a minister in the future.

“I plan to pursue the ministry,” Tubbs says.

“My occupation is anesthesiology, but I want to [also pursue] theology and minor in music.”

Partridge has no doubts that Tubbs will be great at whatever he does.

“He’ll be a pastor in the future,” he says.

“Wherever he’s going, he’ll be a leader.” n

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 41

JARRED NOFFSINGER After a debilitating football injury and experimentation with various recreational activities, East junior Jared Noffsinger found a passion within for the a sport relatively unknown in the United States but the second most popular sport in the world–rugby. story claire middleton | photo ellen fleetwood

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hile practicing tackles before a Lakota Tomahawk football game he got his leg stuck in the ground, causing it to twist. East junior Jarred Noffsinger broke his tibia and fibula in his left leg.

The injury forced him to stop playing and consequently he had to find another interest. While flipping through channels on television, a rugby game caught his eye.

Though similar to American football, rugby is not as popular in the United States. According to USA Rugby’s official website, there are approximately 35,000 high school students in the United States who participate in this highcontact activity.

Among these 35,000 students is Noffsinger, who during this spring season, stepped onto the field for the first time as a member of the Indian Springs Jets rugby club.

“I really wanted a sport that I could hit someone [in],” Noffsinger says. “My parents told me that if I got all of the information about it, they would let me look into it.”

After getting the information about his new team, composed of high school students from Mason, Lakota East, Lakota West, Princeton and Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, he began to practice and learn the rules and components of a rugby match.

Before starting rugby, Noffsinger tried a number of other sports including hockey, football, soccer, golf, mixed martial arts and tennis. None of these, however, captured his interest, concerning his mother about his safety while playing his new sport.

42 | Spark | April 26, 2012

“When he came to me and said he wanted to try out for rugby, I was kind of surprised. I didn’t know anyone that has ever played, and I only have seen a little bit on the television,” says Jarred’s mother Vicky Noffsinger. “When I went to his first scrimmage, I was so nervous because I thought he was going to get hurt, but his coach and his dad both kept saying he would be fine.”

Because he is new to the sport, Noffsinger has had to learn all of the rules and how to play his position in a short amount of time.

Originating in England in 1823, rugby has a list of 22 rules and regulations regarding the ball, players’ clothing, method of scoring, foul play, positions, scrums and tackling that must be followed in order to play the game.

Noffsinger’s coach, Hennie Pieters, played for 15 years in South Africa and has coached six seasons in the United States.

“In America, the kids do not grow up with rugby. There are some basic skills we have to teach them at a more advanced age, and that is sometimes difficult for the guys to learn,” Pieters says. “Jarred came in for the first time, not really knowing that much about rugby.

He now has an understanding of the rules, the goal of the game and the purpose of our team. Since then, he has grown a lot as a player.”

A rugby match is divided into two halves, each consisting of 40 minutes. During each half, teams of 15 go head to head in an attempt to score what is called a try. To score a try, players must move the oval-shaped ball by passing it laterally or backwards down the field and touch it on the ground in what is called the in-goal, a 22 meter by 70 meter

part of the field. Average rugby fields are 100 meters by 70 meters, around the same size as a soccer field. On each field, there are two goal posts, one on each team’s side. Players earn a conversational goal kick from the point where they score, so the objective is to touch the ball in the in-goal as close to the middle of the field as possible.

If a minor infringement or stoppage occurs during the play, a scrum is rewarded to restart the play fairly, safely and quickly.

In a scrum, eight players from each team form three rows. The first two rows heads are interlocked, forming a tunnel. The ball is thrown in and the front row players compete for possession. The middle player in each team’s front row is called the hooker. Their job is to try and “hook” the ball back with their feet and gain control of the ball. To the left of the hooker in the scrum is the loose head prop. The right side is the tight head prop. Props provide stability within the scrum and support the hooker.

“I play loose head prop,” Noffsinger says.

“Our goal is to keep the scrum together in the front, push a little bit, but mainly hold up the hooker so he can get the ball back with his foot without breaking his neck or falling over.”

Rugby players are built in all different shapes and sizes, but depending on this, positions are a better choice. Regardless of their position rugby players have to be focused and determined to win and impose their own physical strength on someone else.

“There are different positions that are better suited for certain body types,” Pieters says. “For the position Jarred is playing he has [story continued on page 45]

KYLER CORBETT

A towering lineman for the East Thunderhawks, few people are not intimidated by East junior Kyler Corbett–except two steers. A football player and a farmer, Kyler keeps himself busy off the gridiron by spending time on the natural field. story hunter miller | photo ellen fleetwood

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eet Brenan and Dale. the county. It gives students an opportunity to Terri, however, was the inspiration for They are kept on a strict diet. raise animals and learn about their care.

Kyler to become involved in the 4-H club Eat. Sleep. Repeat.

“The kids work hard all week at the “I’m the one that got him involved because The roommates are not fair,” 4-H club adviser Bethann Niederman I did it as a kid,” says Terri, who was involved allowed to play and run around, says. “[The kids are] caring for the animals, in the Future Farmer’s of America at the old but are rather supposed to eat cleaning, shoveling, and then they like to go Lakota high school before the East and West as much as they can. to the tractor pull or the demolition derby for division.

Their hair is a coarse brown, short and fun.”

The family lives on the expanse of old dry to the touch. Looking at their faces, their The club’s motto pervades Corbett’s life. farmland which Terri’s father owns and Kyler’s features are well-defined. They definitely I pledge my head to clearer thinking, my heart project is housed on. cannot complain about having such a relaxing, to greater loyalty, my hands for larger service, my Terri says she used to help Kyler with his uninterrupted lifestyle with twenty-four-hour health to better living, for my club, my community, my projects but has recently stepped back. room service, but sometimes they just want to country, my world.

“When he was younger, I was more get out.

Without the support of his parents, involved with [raising the steers] because I had Brenan is more intimidating than Dale.

Corbett’s projects with 4-H would be to go with him,” Terri says. “I had to be with He is more headstrong and will not hesitate unsuccessful. The finances to start a project him in all the commitments, feeding, taking to take up a fight. Dale is docile, hiding in are no minor sum, let alone the labor to keep him to his meetings, whatever activities he had the background, unwilling to be confronted. the project going. to be involved with. Now he can just go down The pair are not exactly friends, but they both “The steers can eat up to fifty dollars [of there [to the barns] by himself.” share a guardian who provides them with the feed per] week,” Kyler’s mom Terri Corbett Kyler has developed a fearlessness about daily comforts of life. says. “It is a big expense, depending on what him. He jumps into the pens with the steers Brenan and Dale are steers. the projects are. We have steers, so it’s a big unafraid of the challenge.

East junior Kyler Corbett is their caretaker. expense.”

He gets onto the football field and takes He is raising the steers in preparation for the Kyler’s father Ray Corbett has taken on the game with stride. He rides all-terrain Butler County Fair, held July 22nd through helping with Brenan and Dale, and even vehicles for the thrill. He repairs his car with the 28th this year. Raising the steers will be though Terri says Ray isn’t fond of fair week, no formal training. He even spends time each Corbett’s focus until the fair arrives. she says Ray really likes the benefits Kyler has year hunting with a bow and arrow with his Towering at 6-feet-one-inch and weighing taken from it. father. in at approximately 215 pounds, anyone would “[Ray] likes what [4-H] has done for Ray says he used to shoot his bow in the easily believe that Corbett is an offensive Kyler,” Terri says. “He likes the responsibility. backyard a lot and Kyler just joined in. lineman for the East football team, but He likes the hard work. He likes all that.”

“How I got Kyler into it [was by saying], few would guess that he spends his ‘here’s a gun, here’s a bow,’” Ray says. free time raising the steers that are And Kyler did not let fear stop practically five times his weight. him. He doesn’t let fear stop him from of 823 East students Corbett is a member of the local doing anything. surveyed claim they live 4-H club, “Liberty Livestock.” The “I’m really just a normal kid,” Kyler in a family that farms 4-H club is an organization run by says. “You know, I play sports and I mostly students and is supported by raise a few animals.” n PERCENT

11

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JEFF AMLUNG

Although he is an avid bowler and baseball player, East junior Jeff Amlung remains an avid train enthusiast. This passion seeks through Amlung’s personality on a daily basis and helps him connect with some of his teachers. story onur eroglu | photo ellen fleetwood | infographic kaleb yi

J

eff Amlung’s personality can be deduced easily. He is aloof with a blank expression on his face.

He looks like a person, who is content with his interests, although it is unclear just what those are. There is a driving force behind his satisfaction, but it is not a general aspect of his life that can be inferred. It is impossible to figure out at the moment.

But when I enter Jeff ’s room, I hastily become aware of the reason behind his calmness. Along the ceiling, about eight feet above the ground is a sturdy structure of track. On the track are several trains, all of them different colors. The sky-blue walls are accented with shelves of baseball memorabilia, mostly of the Cincinnati Reds. In front of his bed is a flat-screen monitor that is connected to a camera up on the track. Amlung controls the train with a prism-like controller.

Jeff has collected model trains for his entire life and has devoted much time and more than eighty dollars per passenger car to this hobby. He says that he and his brother started to collect trains from an early age because of the fun it brought them.

“I started to collect trains as a child when my brother and I had a layout (the foundation for the track, landscape. Trains, etc.),” Jeff says. “And we both got into it and we both liked it so much that we both eventually spent our money and went out and bought trains.”

When he was 5 years old, he and his brother enjoyed playing with toy trains. While toy trains are different, conceptually, the desire for the idea of a train is the same. He would constantly steal his brother’s trains in order to

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continue to build up his own collection. As he got older, he moved on to collecting model trains. While a toy train is fun to play with, a model train is an object that through the many trials and difficulties of life remains a consistent sanctuary.

His interest in trains dissipated for a while until the age of 13 as he pursued other activities like baseball and bowling. As sports and school became more time-consuming, he had less time to think about collecting and maintaining his models. Jeff ’s father, Patrick Amlung, says that Jeff had visibly lost interest in modeling trains over the years but then rediscovered it on a 4-day trip on the Cardinal, an acclaimed train route that passes through the eastern and midwestern part of the United States.

“Trains seemed to have lost their appeal for a while,” Patrick says. “But it kind of grew back.”

While on the Amtrak, instead of enjoying the view of the countryside, Jeff would ask his dad questions about the train.

The more trains he saw, the more he wanted to start modeling again. Since 2008, he’s been sporadically attending train conventions whenever they are in town.

At conventions, local model train enthusiasts display their tracks, trains and landscapes for fellow train-lovers to see.

Parts are also sold at these conventions.

Jeff likes to look at the many displays that the other enthusiasts set up.

“Basically what I do is just go around and look for certain products, whether it’s track, trains, cars, or

lights,” Jeff says. “If I don’t find anything, I enjoy myself by looking at the displays that they have there.”

Jeff typically models at the H-O scale, which is ideal for indoor tracks. There are various types of scales that modelers use, but one of the more popular ones is G scale, which is meant to be run outdoors. One can

Train Terminology Arc–A spark created by the passage of electric current across a gap n

Block– sections of track electrically isolated so multiple trains can be placed on the track at the same time nCaboose–A rail car to be made the last car in a freight train nDraft gears– The device used on a railroad locomotive or car to connect its coupler to its frame. n

scale passenger trains, diesel locomotives, steam locomotives and freight trains. Jeff prefers to model passenger trains.

“You can add a lot more realism to it [with passenger trains],” Jeff says. “You can buy the car, put lighting in it, and put people in it. The passenger train is rarer, especially in Cincinnati because there’s only one.”

When he is not modeling trains, he is watching them in Hell on Wheels on AMC. The show draws Jeff ’s interest because of his affinity for history and its inclusion of trains.

“He’s very interested in World War II history and Cold War history,” Patrick says. “It ties together with his interest in trains.”

East chemistry teacher Craig Gleason is also an avid collector of model trains. He’s been modeling them for at least forty years.

Like Jeff, he has an interest in American History and has a compelling interest in several historical train museums in Ohio.

Gleason works on several detailed train projects at a time and has avidly been present at local train conventions since his childhood.

He says that he likes to talk about model trains with Jeff during class.

“He seems like he enjoys it,” Gleason says. “He’ll bring something up or I’ll bring something up [about trains].”

Jeff likes to collect model trains because a track is never finished. He has discovered something rewarding that he will continue to do for much of his life. Collecting model trains gives him a sense of solace.

“Collecting model trains drives me,” Jeff says. “I always know that there’s something to do: something to work on. It’s never done, and I love it.” n

BEING IN TUNE [continued from page 39] grade at East, Katie served as the manager of the girls Junior Varsity tennis team, a position in which she helped the coach and also received playing time. Between seasons, Katie attends tennis clinics to practice her skills.

“I have to work harder to run and get the ball,” Katie says. “When I’m taking tennis lessons, my instructor always tells me to move my feet. Whenever I didn’t, he’d get on me for that, and I’ve learned [now] to move my feet.”

Katie has learned more than how to move her feet. Though playing piano and clarinet are more challenging for Katie because they require the use of fine motor skills, no one would know just listening to her play.

“She always makes improvement from lesson to lesson,” says Katie’s clarinet teacher, Emily Venneman. “She’s always energetic.”

Despite her fine and gross motor skill difficulties, Katie has had her fair share of major accomplishments. From winning many tennis matches to performing a clarinet solo

at the Ohio Music Education Association Solo & Ensemble Contest last January, Katie is always pushing herself to live life in the spotlight. Furthermore, on May 24 she plans to challenge her motor skills by participating in Lakota East Relay for Life, an all-night walk on the East track to raise money for cancer.

Underneath the hearing aids and delayed motor skills, Katie is an optimistic 16-year-old who listens to Shania Twain, loves Twilight, and is working toward getting her driver license through Tom’s Driving School.

“She goes out in the world with a smile on her face every day,” says Katie’s sister Ali, who is a freshman at Loyola University of Chicago.

“I know that if she dreams it and puts [forth] effort, she can do anything she wants to.”

When challenges come her way, Katie uses her heart and mind to overcome them.

“I am optimistic because God has given me gifts. Life is all about believing in yourself,” she says. “God has given us one life to live, and we can choose how we want to live it.”

The truth is in the church. For some, prayers are just words to fill the empty space.

For Katie, sometimes the Prayers of the Faithful hold a very special meaning.

“For those in our parish who are suffering from any illness, may the Lord shed his healing power on them and watch over them in their time of need. We pray to the Lord.”

And the Lord hears her prayer. n

IAN BLOMQUIST [continued from page 40] the group is learning about how money plays a role in charitable work.

“When you volunteer at the soup kitchen, you feel good about yourself because you have arrived at the charity, served the soup to those in need and made their lives better,” says Patti Alderson, the Board Chair and the Chief Executive of the Community Foundation, also known as the “mother business” of YIP, according to Ian. “However, did you ever stop and think, ‘Who bought the soup?’ You can’t have a soup kitchen without the soup.”

The members of YIP learn how to provide money for all the projects they participate in and raise money from fundraisers to donate to these types of organizations. They assisted at the recent Shamrock Shuffle, a 5 and 10K walk/run that is held on St. Patrick’s Day, and will also host their annual Band Showcase, a competition between local bands. As president, Ian holds many of these responsibilities, but the group leaders say that his intellect and insight help him handle them with great ease.

“Ian is an amazing young man. He is engaging, organized, a good listener, respected by his peers and has wonderful follow-up to an issue,” Alderson says.

East senior Aimee Miley agrees with Alderson’s portrayal of Ian. “He’s very good at motivating all of us to do what we need to do and making sure that people who have done things that have been successful are recognized for their hard work,” Miley says. “He gives us [a lot of] positive feedback.”

Being involved in YIP, however, has not been Ian’s only experience helping out in the community. He has been doing service work since he was in elementary school, through Boy Scouts. After lots of hard work, he acquired a scout’s highest rank, an Eagle Scout, at age 15. For his Eagel Scout project, he directed a 526-hour plan that took place over 15 days at Hopewell Elementary School with 61 volunteers.

“At Hopewell Elementary there are two interior courtyards and in one [of them] there was a pond that looked like Jumangi. We came in and [got to work]; we built a path through the hill, made sure the waterfall [ran,] pressure washed the picnic tables, and did all these other things that took a long [time,]” Ian says. “[My Eagle Scout project] showed me that you start with this dream of going in here and making something look better and going in there and doing something that you love.”

Ian’s work as an Eagle Scout and through YIP has helped him create his goal and mission for all high school students.

“It’s essential that we emerging adults know the importance of philanthropic needs and giving service,” Ian says. “We should learn and incorporate this while we are young and continue its support through adulthood.”

This conflicting personality, between DJing and YIP, are perhaps what makes Ian stand out from the rest.

But until he has the opportunity to change the world, Ian will be reclining in his Ralph Lauren cardigan and khakis, leading the members of YIP, while blasting beats through his turn tables. n

JARED NOFFSINGER [story continued from page 42] an ideal body type. From what I have seen from him so far, he is focused and determined to spend time learning and practicing how to play his position.”

While juggling school, work and rugby, all with the support of his family, Noffsinger will continue to play and learn more about the game as the season continues on.

“Whatever he wants to do, we let him try it,” Vicky says. “As long as his grades are not dropping, he can continue [to play]. I don’t push him too hard especially now at his age.

He’s 17, so he [is old enough to] decide what he wants to do. [Whatever he does,] we’ll support him.” n

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entertainment | film reviews

Film Reviews American Reunion · Warner Bros. Pictures · 127 minutes · R photos labeled for commercial reuse

Jim (Jason Biggs), Stifler (Seann William Scott), Oz (Chris Klein) and Kevin (Thomas Ian Nichols) gawk at their high school reunion.

T

he American Pie franchise has become almost as much of a staple in American culture as apple pie itself. And that, of course, includes the main character’s famous moment of s­elf-pleasure with his mother’s warm apple pie.

It has become a rite of passage for a generation as it enters the teenage years.

The movie franchise literally strips away any innocence that merely attending high school hasn’t already taken away. Since the original movie in 1999, the franchise has been providing this satisfaction to teens and adults alike. At a glance, as tops come off and virginity is lost, it seems to be just another one of “those” movies. But the American Pie

Editors’ Choice movies have always been a little more than that.

They’ve always had a little bit of heart.

A special meaning and purpose that isn’t found in movies like The Hangover and Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. And the eighth installment of the franchise, American Reunion, is certainly no different. It’s the fourth American Pie movie with the original cast, but the first with this cast since American Wedding in 2003. It certainly is a reunion, as it has been nine years since they last joined each other on the big screen. For the most part though, they’ve aged well.

Jim Levenstein (Jason Biggs) is married to his high school band camp-loving sweetheart,

21 Jump Street · Colombia Picture · 109 Minutes · R There are films, and then there are movies.

To distinguish between the two, films are art—they are an expression of a collection of themes that would be otherwise hard to convey through any other medium.

Films are meant to be taken seriously. That being said, 21 Jump Street is definitely a movie.

21 Jump Street follows the tale of two incompetent policemen (apparently the only kind of policemen residing in Action-

48 | Spark | April 26, 2012

Comedyland), Morton Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Greg Jenko (Channing Tatum) as they attempt to infiltrate a local high school and take down a major drug ring, supposedly because the principal was tired of telling the drug dealers to cut it out. Although the dynamic duo is probably just as efficient.

The good cop, bad cop gig is replaced by Hill and Tatum’s complementing fat, dumb cop and less fat but dumber cop routine, with the roles played respectively.

If this movie was a man on a New York subway train, he would be the one dressed up in bright orange tights just to unsettle other people. 21 Jump Street knows that the easiest way to make the audience not take it seriously is by not taking itself seriously, and so it sets

Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) and raising their 2-year-old son. When they receive word of a high school reunion, they pack up their bags and return to Jim’s old house in East Great Falls and stay with Jim’s father, Noah (Eugene Levy). The first person he reunites with is flirty 18-year-old Kara (Ali Cobrin), the neighbor girl whom he used to babysit.

Jim unexpectedly meets up with high school buddies Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas), Oz (Chris Klein) and Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) at a local bar. They decide not to invite Stifler (Seann William Scott), an immature high school buddy of theirs, to any events, but halfheartedly change their minds when he too walks into the bar.

Now reunited, the old gang goes to several parties, drinking and hooking up with attractive ladies. That’s where most teenage movies stop. But, like the other movies in the American Pie film series, this one just keeps going. It doesn’t take long for Jim to realize that he and his friends are now grown men, and they need to act their age. But even he faces his own setbacks.

It has never just been about the sex in the American Pie film series. In fact, it’s never really been about the pie, either. Any way you slice it, American Reunion is more than just another one of those pointless “teen” movies filled with debauchery and fellatio. It doesn’t always have proper clothing, but it always has heart.—Christian Roehm

 out to do that with commendable gusto.

Everything short of commandeering a time machine is done to channel the eighties.

Everything is done so not by-the-book that it would not be unreasonable to think that these two weren’t real policemen but rather mercenaries hired by a private military contractor with extremely low standards.

The movie also goes to great lengths to make references to the 80s TV show of the same name which this movie was based on, even bringing Johnny Depp in for a cameo.

21 Jump Street succeeds because it knows itself. It knows from the beginning that it wants nothing more than to be an over-thetop, ludicrous action/comedy and it delivers almost flawlessly.—Joshua Shi

Friends with Kids

Lions Gate Entertainment 100 Minutes · R

 The tagline for Friends with Kids reads “Love.

Happiness. Kids.

Pick two.” It seems the entire point of the movie’s existence is to prove just that.

It centers on the platonic friendship of Jason (Adam Scott) and Julie (Jennifer Westfeldt), who call each other while in bed with other people and play the “Would You Rather” game obsessively. Their friends, both married couples with children, are the epitome of unhappiness. The two friends try to find a way to cheat the dastardly, seemingly hopeless system: have a kid together, share responsibility and still be actively dating.

But, of course, if the story ended there it wouldn’t be much of a movie, and thankfully it doesn’t. The audience gets to see all of the juicy conflicts as Jason and Julie try to handle dating other people, and suppressing their feelings for each other. Naturally, their significant others are Megan Fox and Edward Burns, so that doesn’t hurt either. It also helps that the movie is a mini-Bridesmaids reunion: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Chris O’Dowd and Jon Hamn (Westfeldt’s real life significant other) are all in the movie, as the respective “marrieds” of Jason and Julie’s group of friends who add to the movie’s many conflicts.

And while the end of the movie is predictable, the path to getting there is the fun part. Producer/writer/lead actress Jennifer Westfeldt leads the charge in this movie, making it far more entertaining to watch that many others in her shoes would have. The movie thrives on Westfeldt’s nervous energy, both as an actor and a director. She leads the story from explosion to explosion, as opposed to covering the smaller moments in between, giving Friends with Kids its needed edge from being the romantic comedy people expect.

The movie does have its flaws—namely failing to use Hamn and Wiig appropriately— the movie still shines with the presence of Scott and Westfeldt. Scott, of Parks and Recreation fame, brings a deeply sarcastic yet poignant viewpoint to the movie (picture Ted Danson from Cheers). The end is sappy, but Scott does his best.

In the end, Friends with Kids proves the exact opposite point of its tagline: you can have it all.—Maggie Schaller



Wrath of the Titans

Warner Bros. Pictures · 99 Minutes · PG-13

In Wrath of the Titans, sequel to Clash of the Titans, director Jonathan Liebesman attempts to revitalize Greek mythology for a modern audience.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t quite succeed.

Since his Kraken-defeating days, Perseus (Sam Worthington) has given up the heroic life that goes along with being the demi-god son of Zeus (Liam Neeson) in favor of being a fisherman and raising his own son, Helius (John Bell). But now Perseus must journey to the underworld to rescue Zeus and prevent Zeus’ father, the titan Kronos, from escaping his underworld prison in Tartarus, so as to save mankind from all evil.

The audience is only given 10 minutes to relax and get comfortable in their seats before Liebesman starts throwing the first demonic creature at Perseus. With another 110 minutes to go as Perseus battles his way to and from the depths of the underworld with the help of warrior-queen Andromeda (Rosamund

Pike), the movie’s recurring theme of “defeat Kronos before he ends the world as we know it” falls rather flat.

With so much action, there’s no room left for any real plot development, as seen in Zeus’ age-old advice to Perseus, “Use the power inside you,” or in Ares’ classic threat to Helius, “I’m going to hurt your father, and I want you to watch.” At one point, Perseus and Zeus even hold hands to magically escape from the underworld. The only thing that’s missing is a few refrains of Kumbaya.

This utterly undigestable barrage of battle scene after battle scene continues to be forcefully shoved down the audience’s throat until, with five minutes to go, Perseus prevails and the director makes a last-ditch attempt at some romance. But this breath of fresh air is ruined as the audience knows all too well that the movie’s one kiss was the only reason Liebesman let Andromeda stick around.

What might’ve been an interesting Greek mythology spin-off is reduced to a plot so action-packed that the audience is left wondering how much longer the movie will last and why they spent money to sit through it. Wrath of the Titans is nothing more than an overblown, digitally-enhanced family feud with a mythological backdrop.—Angela Ferguson

Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie Magnet Releasing · 94 Minutes · R

Tim Heidecker and Eric Whareheim are possibly the funniest men on earth. Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, is easily the most outlandish, inappropriate and confusing show ever created, but somehow through the strange sound effects and 8-bit intro, comedic genius is formed.

With that being said, it’s no surprise they decided to take their entertainment to the big screen and concoct their strangest creation yet, Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie.

The film chronicles Tim and Eric, who have just made a billion dollar movie.

Unfortunately, the pair spent all the money on fake tans, midget assistants and a personal guru, J.J. Kelly (Zach Galifianakis), resulting in a two-minute film called Diamond Jim, starring a Johnny Depp look-a-like. The film company executives are furious and seek to put the two in jail. While thinking of an idea to escape the situation, Tim and Eric see a commercial that claims you can make a billion



dollars by running the Swallow Valley Mall.

They’re sold. The two cut off their expensive soul-patches and hair extensions to set out for Swallow Valley where they gain control of the rundown, wolf-infested mall and move its small staff towards the mall’s grand reopening.

The film is hilarious. In most movies, scenes that make no sense are annoying, but in Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie, they have audience members gasping for breath in between fits of hysterical laughter. Scenes like Tim’s abrupt adoption of a used toilet paper salesman’s son who he just met, makes no sense. One second he’s examining Jeffery’s fine pallet and the next he’s telling the boy to call him daddy. Moments like these are so absolutely absurd that the audience can’t resist erupting into laughter at how indescribably funny the men’s confusing craft of comedy is.

Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie is not for the weak-hearted; it’s vulgar, unnecessarily inappropriate and extremely juvenile. But if viewers can subject themselves to this nugget of comedic gold, they’ll find themselves laughing at every second. Tim and Eric are not critically acclaimed, nor should they be. The fan’s admiration of the masters’ bizarre, yet hysterical entertainment is a sign that they’re doing something right.—Chris Bowling

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 49

entertainment | indepth film review

The Hunger Games

Four years after the books became a worldwide phenomenon, The Hunger Games looks to usurp Harry Potter as king of the “young adult book series turned film saga” game. indepth review natasha rausch art daham marapane

I

definitely underestimated the gory action scenes in The Hunger Games trilogy, only shutting my eyes as I imagined these scenes in the book.

I simply awaited the next flirtatious encounter between Katniss and Peeta. But I could not avoid any of these frightening moments at the movie theater.

Teenage boys and girls murdering each other, sacrificing themselves for the betterment of the totalitarian government ruling Panem (known as the Capital) was a more paralyzing concept than I had originally predicted. Not only are people—kids—killing each other, but the citizens of the Capital also actually enjoy watching the games. It was like a reality TV show, only several steps beyond the absurdity of Jersey Shore and Teen Mom. The Hunger Games movie begins with a short interview, conducted by the Games’ host Cesar Flickerman (played to perfection by Stanley Tucci), who is discussing the need for the Hunger Games with the head “Gamemaker” Seneca Crane (Wes Bentley).

The colorful scene suddenly switches to a morbid sight—District 12. Everything in sight is a shade of gray, perfectly conveying the poverty and desolation described in the book. To be any sort of success, I had hoped that the rest of the movie would follow Suzanne Collins’ original intentions in the book—a concept not so successfully executed in the movie industry (ahem, Twilight).

This despondent scene then leads into the life of the main character, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence). She begins her daily routine by leaving her absent-minded mother and loving little sister Prim to escape to the forbidden woods and meet her best friend Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth).

Director Garry Ross could not afford to mar this crucial scene that would foreshadow Katniss’ internal battle between choosing Gale and her soon-to-be fellow tribute, Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson). In this first scene, however, Ross avoids establishing the strong friendship between Katniss and Gale that has gotten them through the challenging life in District 12.

The movie continues with the annual “reaping,” where a boy and a girl are chosen from each district to fight to the death in the Hunger Games. And just as any nit-picky critic would, I noticed that Effie Trinket’s dress was a bright shade of pink rather than the lime green

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described in the book. A travesty by any definition. This minor point, as well as Ross’ decision to completely omit characters from the book, like Peeta’s father and Madge, cause the movie to stray away from the important details that make the book so good. The movie, however, does for the most part follow the timeline of the book for the rest of the pre-games, but becomes less accurate as it continues.

Ross puts a greater focus on displaying the unlawfulness of the totalitarian government. He does this by adding in several scenes involving Snow, who is the President (about as much as a president as Bashar al-Assad). Snow is hardly mentioned in the book, yet he displays the oppressiveness of his rule by describing to the head gamemaker, Crane, why his methods of maintaining the prestige of the games work. This brings forth the plots in the following books and causes the audience to think about Snow’s message. It is obvious in these conversations that Snow not only uses the games for entertainment value, but also to deter the districts from an uprising.

Yet, the action scenes of the actual Hunger Games are even more believable than Snow’s oppression. It was definitely disturbing—even more so than a horror film like Insidious, one I found particularly frightening—to actually watch teenagers kill each other. These scenes are convincing, and Cato (Alexander Ludwig) definitely fills the shoes of the most vicious tribute by breaking several necks in the process.

But the relationship between Katniss and Peeta is far from the quality of the action scenes. It is unconvincing and much less developed. Ross once again forgets a couple of parts such as the deep conversations over the meals (provided by sponsors) that portray the love that Peeta has for Katniss, and the growing love that Katniss has for Peeta. The long hours that these two “star-crossed lovers” were supposed to have spent in the cave during the two-day thunderstorm, easily one of the most powerful parts of the book, are summed up in the movie with a quick scene in which Josh Hutcherson basically yells at Katniss explaining why he’s in love with her. I couldn’t help but laugh at a love scene that was supposed to make me cry.

The film versions of popular teen novels are usually hit or miss. Harry Potter was spot on, while Twilight fell short of the fan expectations. But this movie proves that The Hunger Games has the ability to become a world phenomenon almost as big as Harry Potter. n

entertainment | indepth album review

NICKI MINAJ PINK FRIDAY: ROMAN RELOADED

indepth review kenzie walters art daham marapane

W

ith the release of her sophomore album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, Nicki Minaj proves that she truly has been “reloaded.”

Nicki Minaj combines her confrontational rap style with killer dance beats to make an overall exciting album.

Minaj opens up the record by channeling her flamboyantly violent alter ego, Roman, to produce a demonic track entitled “Roman Holiday.”

A panicked chorus begs wild Roman to take his medication, change his clothes and his brain, but he expresses opposition through one of Minaj’s vicious rhymes. The rap evolves into Minaj’s haunting rendition of a church hymn, leaving the listener frightened but with the horrifying urge to dance.

“Come on a Cone” and “I Am Your Leader” maintain the ferocious raps and catchy beats. They lead into one of the albums most attractive tracks, “Beez in The Trap.” Its repetitive lyrics and beat show off Minaj’s ability to combine a pop style with her own vicious swagger. The selfproclaimed media-hater does what she wants and that’s enough to make her mainstream, despite her opposition.

“HOV Lane” is the least likeable on the album. The beat is lackluster and the lyrics aren’t as clever. But Minaj makes up for this slip with the title track. It’s the answer to “Roman’s Revenge,” from Minaj’s last album, Pink Friday. It’s an amped-up sequel to Roman’s first vengeful rap.

Its well-placed editing and reverb-laden rapping emphasize the lyrics. This number shoots down anyone who thinks Nicki can’t spit.

Minaj shows off her sicknasty flow with her first six tracks, and continues to bring the heat with the rest of her album. The tone changes with “Champion,” a celebration of Minaj’s success and shout-out to the people she left behind. It’s followed by a stand-out track entitled “Right

By My Side.” A bubblegum pop beat is laid over the heartfelt voices of Minaj and Chris Brown. Though Nicki sings “I’m not livin’ right,” this gorgeous single is proof that Minaj is doing something right. “Right By My Side” is the perfect R&B/rap fusion and is a sure-fire hit.

The center of Roman Reloaded is packed with high-energy dance songs, “Sex in the Lounge,” “Starships,” “Pound the Alarm,” “Whip It,” “Automatic” and “Beautiful Sinner.” While all these tracks could shock

“

an audience out of their britches, the single “Starships” is the leader of the pack. It’s every downtown Barbie girl’s dream song. It’s Nicki Minaj’s signature raw attitude in a preppy, pink wrapper. It’s the perfect prom song. Minaj is soaring as she sings, “Starships were meant to fly.” It leaves the listener with a carefree, summer lovin’ feeling, giving it great potential to be a long-lasting chart topper.

Nicki is upbeat for the majority of her album, but she slows it down a bit for “Marilyn Monroe” and “Young Forever.” Nicki Minaj croons about the pains of celebrity life in “Marilyn Monroe.” On this track, she makes it clear that if a man can’t handle her worst, he can’t have her best.

This track is one of Nicki’s best and makes up for a lot of her worst.

Nicki Minaj’s heartbreak is poured into “Young Forever.” This track about a lost love is the best on the entire album. Minaj’s lyrics “Frozen in time/Always be mine/Baby boy, you’ll be young forever.” though simple, are catchy and relatable to all of Minaj’s fan base and enough to earn her more fans. The quality of this number makes it impossible to imagine anyone breaking sweet Nicki’s heart bad enough to write this song. Another set of pop ballads follow this track. “Fire Burns” and “Gun Shot” are also a testimony to Nicki’s broken heart. Though not as drop dead sexy as the other tracks, they are still welcome additions to the album.

The back end of Roman Reloaded is one last effort to make people dance. Minaj is featured in the song “Turn Me On,” already a radio hit.

And the last three tracks “Stupid Hoe,” “Va Va Voom” and “Masquerade” are on par with Nicki Minaj’s hit single “Super Bass” and end the album with a pink, sparkly bang.

Media criticism is no object to Minaj. Though some of her tracks might seem like they were written strictly for the charts, the quality of every song proves otherwise. What Minaj does is art. She manages to stay glittery without losing any of her rough style. Nicki is a rap princess with an admirable attitude. She couldn’t care less if you like her or not, and that mindset produces music that is both intelligent and likeable.

This album is a must-have for the summer and a big accomplishment for Nicki Minaj’s career. Roman really has been reloaded, and everyone ought to know. n

The self-proclaimed mediahater [Minaj] does what she wants and that’s enough to make her mainstream, despite her opposition.

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 51

entertainment | album reviews

Album Reviews The All-American Rejects · Kids in the Street · Interscope Records photo used with paid permission from mctcampus

Editors’ Choice

The All-American Rejects performing at Webster Hall in NYC in 2007.

Tyson Ritter has a perfect voice: gruff and scruffy, yet sweet and passionate. He displays his entire range in Kids In The Street, the first All-American Rejects album after four years.

Unlike most of the group’s previously popular songs, the songs on Kids In The Street aren’t about the end of relationships. In fact, the group focuses on a positive and more mature view of their experiences.

Kids In The Street starts off with “Someday’s Gone,” immediately setting the tone for the album. Ritter asks, “What makes you think you’re so d--- perfect, huh?” The dramatic beginning is exciting, but the song itself is not memorable, with an anticlimactic chorus and a repetitive tone which makes for an altogether

boring song.

The boring tone carries on to the next song. “Fast & Slow” is catchy, with an 80s feel and a nice beat. However, the use of female backing vocals and the repetition of the words, “You go fast/I’ll go slow,” makes the song sound like it has more choruses than it actually does. Ritter tries hard to seem carefree, but instead ends up sounding monotonous.

“Heartbeat Slowing Down” starts off with a funky beat and a synthesizer in the background. Ritter opens with a soft, sad voice which shifts into a loud, emotional one. Ritter’s use of his falsetto gives him a vulnerable quality throughout, which suits

Rascal Flatts · Changed · Big Machine Records The song title “Hot in Here” may bring to mind Nelly rapping his infamous lines, “It’s getting’ hot in here/so take off all your clothes,” but it is actually a song title of a band that is the polar opposite of Nelly—Rascal Flatts. The country trio’s eighth album, Changed, already contains chart topping singles. The name was derived from the transformation the group has experienced from 1999 when members Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney

52 | Spark | April 26, 2012

signed with their first label Lyric Street. Back then, they were just single, flannel-wearing boys. But now they’re all married, family men—all while still sporting the flannel, of course.

The album starts with the title track.

Despite its unoriginal title, the song is the perfect way to start Changed. This track summarizes the trials and tribulations the group has faced and ends with the lyrics, “I’ve changed for the better/More smiles, that’s better/I even started to forgive myself.”

One of their catchier songs is “Banjo,” which is the kind of country jam that should unquestionably be played while driving with the windows down on a warm summer day.

Of course, the album would not be

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the song perfectly. The strength of the background music comes and goes during the song, adding to its uniqueness. With its perfect balance, timing and vocals, “Heartbeat Slowing Down” is the complete package.

“Out The Door” is a blast to the past.

The heavy use of a bass guitar and Ritter’s classic croon is a reminder of what The AllAmerican Rejects are famous for. The slow rhythm complements Ritter’s desperate, but calm tone. With a great melody and powerful background music, “Out The Door” is very well-rounded.

Ritter’s sweet, intimate side is capitalized in “Affection.” The use of a maraca, bass guitar and piano create a calm, soothing tone.

On top of that, Ritter transforms his usually rough, loud voice to a softer, warmer voice.

The same passion from the other songs is present with a different topic and feeling. The shift in tone in “Affection” is refreshing.

Although it starts off rocky, the different dynamics of Ritter’s voice make for a great album. Some of the songs aren’t up to the quality fans are expecting, considering The All-American Rejects started working on Kids In The Street two years ago, but others make up for what those songs lack.

While there is a conspicuous shift in tone and lyrical subject matter, the melodic diversity and Ritter’s versatile vocals keep Kids In The Street on par with The All-American Rejects’ previous records.—Nugeen Aftab

 complete without the band’s iconic love ballads that make any country girl’s heart swoon. “Hurry Baby” starts off with the line, “I don’t wanna wait, it’s been too long/I don’t wanna lay here all alone/I don’t wanna need this phone/To hear you breathe.”

Rascal Flatts’ new album may predominately focus on the past, but it definitely features a modern, country vibe.

It is the perfect mix of classic southern twang and lyrical prowess. When asked about Changed, LeVox said “It’s really good, I mean it’s really, really good.” So yeah, maybe he isn’t the most modest guy in the world. But at least in the case of Changed, he’s spot-on. —Amber Jagpal

Odd Future The OF Tape, Vol. 2 Odd Future

 The OF Tape, Vol. 2 is detrimental to people’s sanity, or at least their morality.

The lyrics are dripping with enough vulgarity to warrant a visit from the Westboro Baptist Church. On “P,” Tyler, The Creator, Odd Future’s possibly psychotic leader, raps “They smell us coming like a faggot when he hiccups.” On “Real Bitch,” Taco, another rapper, pleads for “a real ----- who makes French toast and sucks ----.”

And the outro for “Lean” consists only of a demonic voice growling “Yeah, balls in my hand/Monster cock/Odd Future Wolf Gang/ Kill Them All, yeah.”

But Odd Future is old news. By now, most people have heard about the Californiabased hip hop troupe’s destructive antics and moral-desecrating lyrics. The novelty of their violent ignorance is wearing out. Its breaking point was “Tron Cat,” on which Tyler, the Creator rapped “Rape a pregnant bitch/Tell my friends I had a threesome.” It’s difficult to write lyrics more repulsive than that.

The OF Tape, Vol. 2’s main problem isn’t necessarily that it’s bad. Its existence just seems pointless. Odd Future’s main draw was the shock value of its lyrics, and without that, they have songs like “We Got -------,” on which the chorus is “We got -------, we got -------, we got -------/We got diamonds, we got diamonds, we got diamonds/We got cars, we got cars, we got cars/We got Jacuzzis, and your ----- be on my ----.” It would be easy to write it off as satire of rap, and the group might claim that, but it’s more likely that the members of Odd Future are really just so stupid that they thought it was a chorus so ironic it was clever, when, in reality, it’s just idiotically apish.

The rap collective does deserve some commending for fitting its entire crew, including Earl Sweatshirt, returning from a lengthy absence away from the group, onto the final track, “Oldie.” But the 17 adequate tracks preceding it make it a chore to reach this gem, which is reflective of the group as a whole. They’ve put out good work (Earl by the aforementioned Earl Sweatshirt is pure genius), but people have to begrudgingly dig through piles of their other mediocre work to reach it. —Dillon Mitchell

Dr. John · Locked Down · Nonesuch Records  Seventy, in this day and age, is often reserved for retirement homes, slowing down and Depends adult diapers.

New Orleans native Dr. John, however, must be oblivious to these limitations as he’s still jamming hard as ever.

Locked Down is as, if not more, gritty and psychedelic than anything the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee has ever created and in an age littered with blues-influenced bands, the sound of the roots reminds listeners why they still dig the time honored sound.

The record, produced by The Black Keys’ Patrick Carney, is a nonstop barrage of grooving blues that holds true to its original style while adding a new spin to the genre.

Beyond achieving a great sound though, Locked Down is also a testament to the true musicianship of Dr. John.

Some bands will create a great sound, garner critical acclaim and then change their persona in order to market their music more effectively. Dr. John has been recording music

for over 50 years and he hasn’t once left his roots. He’s only gotten better, and he’s done that by churning out his signature mix of funk and blues that’s been perfected on this latest release. Possibly the best illustration of this idea is the title track.

“Locked Down” begins with a thumping bass line that lays down a hard groove. As the drum beat and organ line enter to support Dr. John’s raspy singing the gritty blues and rock cross has been revealed and while he utters the title, it’s clear how much soul is channeled into the track. It’s only the first song and Dr. John already has the listener hooked. Later tracks such as “Getaway” in particular retain the strong vibe set by “Locked Down,” but the same mentality is carried throughout the album.

After over 50 years Dr. John is still a New Orleans boy with a guitar, belting out grooving bluesy tracks that encapsulate his perfected style of New Orleans blues with seventies funk and psychedelic classic rock. Dr. John has matured on this record though, at a time in his life when most would think he’s accomplished enough and ready to slow down, he’s sending a message with the masterpiece Locked Down that he’s still here, and he’s nowhere near ready to finish.—Chris Bowling

Counting Crows · Underwater Sunshine · Cooking Vinyl Cover albums are risky, and not many are successful. The Counting Crows, however, are a different story.

The band that is known for having a toneddown rock sound is back from a hiatus to record a long-awaited cover album, dedicated to the artists they love. The 90s group comes into the new decade with their album Underwater Sunshine. With this record, the musical group successfully takes songs from its idols and gives it the signature Crows’ twist that has separated it from the grunge groups that were popular during their heyday.

The group covers songs from artists such as Bob Dylan and Faces, but doesn’t make the same mistake of ruining it by taking a disrupting arrangement to an already great song. The track “Hospital,” which was originally recorded by Coby Brown, is not only able to blend in the group’s acoustic roots, but also includes the sound of Dan Vickery’s distorted guitar, which blends in an unorthodox way.

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Along with blending a bluesy-grunge guitar sound with acoustic instruments, the group’s melody is similar to those that John Lennon and Paul McCartney would create. The Tender Mercies’ song “Mercy” displays this extremely well with the arpeggio electric guitar. The slow ballad has a sweet-but-strong edgy sound that would rock harder than most metal bands.

The only part of the album that is as great as the melody are the lyrics. Frontman Adam Durtiz is well known for his deep, down-toearth lyrics that can connect to the common man in America. With this album, he has chosen great songs that have deep meaning.

“Like Teenage Gravity,” which was previously recorded by Kasey Anderson & The Honkies, is a great example of this. Lines like “I had my courage up/But felt younger tryin’ to fight the words,” are feelings every angst-filled adolescent has felt sometime in his or her life.

The only disappointment about this album is that it is a cover album. Though the songs are great and the Crows play them well, a studio album would be better suited for the four years that listeners have been waiting for since the release of Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings, their previous album. The unique songs that songwriters like Bob Dylan would kill for need to be delivered.—Rahul Mukherjee

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 53

entertainment | transcript interview

On the heels of their second full-length album,The Mess We’ve Made, SPARK talks to Benjamin Davis, the fearless lead singer and guitarist of burgeoning indie-pop duo

BAD VEINS interview zach fulciniti | photos used with permission from the stunt company

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ecord Store day is on the 21st, the same day you’re playing at Taft Theatre. Do you have any plans for the occasion?

That’s our CD release party. The album comes out on the 24th, the following Tuesday. This tour we’re on right now ends three or four days before that, so we thought it would be a perfect time to come back to Cincinnati, play a hometown release show, because I think you have to do that. People expect you to have a release show. If you’re in a band, making a record is one of the biggest milestones that you can have, so every time we finish one we try to do something special.

Regarding your vocal style, as far as singing into a megaphone, were you influenced by The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas?

No, I can’t say that I am. I don’t really use the megaphone or the microphone very much.

It becomes quite a talking point for us, but no. I think that those were vocal tricks I used in my previous band, that pre-dated The

54 | Spark | April 26, 2012

Strokes’ first record. I like Sparklehorse, and Tom Waits, and you know every now and then people distort their voice, it’s just an interesting texture. I’ve been into this military aesthetic with Bad Veins, we wear military uniforms, and I found this old military megaphone and thought ‘Hey, I should totally use this, it looks like all the clothes I have already.” So I started using that, and then I decided that I would like to sing some way that sounded like the megaphone but be able to play guitar at the same time. So I had the idea to wire up a telephone, because it’s basically the same sort of effect.

Does singing the way you do, as well as using your reel-to-reel tape player “Irene,” make performing live more difficult at all?

No, it’s just different. We make our set, we’re out there right now playing nine songs, and we know exactly what nine songs we’re going to play and in what order. There’s no guesswork involved, it’s just our set, verbatim, every single night, and you get very good at that set.

In a way that kind of spoils us, we don’t have to make setlists, we don’t have to check with

each other, we just tear through it as best we can. If we ever wanted to ad lib or stretch out a song one night, we can’t. That’s probably the only bad side to it.

Speaking of your live performances, was it a difficult adjustment when Sebastien [Schultz] joined the band?

I thought it was going to be, but no. It clicked pretty quickly. The first stuff I did, I had electronic percussion, and I had this idea to have Seb[astian] play, and he came over and I just muted those electronic percussion elements and let him play an approximation of those things. And it was interesting immediately, like, ‘wow, this is a totally different thing,’ not only to what I was doing before, but to anything I’d ever heard. I knew instantly we had something. So we practiced every day for about a month before we played our first show together, and there’s been very little practicing happening since then.

When you released your first album, there was significant hype based solely on your live performances. But now you’ve already

released a record, so people can look back and compare it to that, and not just how you perform live. Has that dynamic changed your writing and recording process at all?

I would like to think that it hasn’t. But I think it might have. The first record had the song “Gold and Warm,” and I think for a lot of our fans, that might not necessarily be their favorite. But it’s also the song that has gotten the most attention on a national level. So I think we kind of released that we have a spectrum, we do waltzes on occasion that are kind of heavy and dark, and we have pop songs like “Gold and Warm.” And I feel like we need both sounds to have an interesting record. And I think as far as “Gold and Warm” being a pop song, we kind of doubled up on those on the second record. So there’s like four or five big, fist-pumping, anthemic kind of pop songs. But then we also try to do more of the big slow and epic things as well, but I think that touring, and seeing what kind of works well, inadvertently assisted with the writing process. It wasn’t like, ‘hey, let’s write more songs like “Gold and Warm,”’ but we may have ended up actually doing that on a subconscious level.

You mentioned Tom Waits, who else do you think influenced your decision to become a musician and subsequently the music you’ve made?

I don’t think I ever made a decision to become a musician. I’ve played music since I was old enough to stand up. I took piano lessons for 15 years, and when I was 11 I started playing guitar, and when I was 12 I started playing drums. I was in a band in middle school and choir in high school. Music has always been a huge part of my life, I’ve been writing songs since I was 14. I’ve just gotten better at it, and I’ve been lucky enough to make a career out of it. As far as influences, I would say that one of the first musical epiphanies I had was finding a Led Zeppelin II cassette in my parents’ cassette deck. I listened to Led Zeppelin II and it blew my mind. I was like 10. I basically learned how to play bass and drums by listening to those records because then I got Led Zeppelin III and I and IV and Houses of the Holy, all of those records over and over again. And then I had my obligatory Beatles phase at about 13 or 14. I bought these songbooks and they had like lyrics and chords and I feel like that helped me sculpt my sensibilities of pop music and melodies.

Pop music is in a way very predictable, you can hear a song and it’s familiar and interesting, but there’s also something about it that’s surprising. So it helps you sculpt the way you perceive pop melody, and Zeppelin

and Beatles and those things made a huge impression on me. And then as I got older I got into Velvet Underground and Pavement and then Flaming Lips and all these things merged together. I’m really into electronic music. I’m really into like orchestral music and it all merges. and what comes out when I write is some sort of combination of all those things.

Does what you’re listening to “at the moment” have an impact on what you’re recording?

Definitely. I showed Bad Veins to someone that had never heard us before recently, and they were like, ‘this new record, it’s not like anything I’ve ever heard.’ That person might not be a music connoisseur, but the arrangement and the production qualities combined I think are fairly unique. I really like hip-hop and rap, and a million kinds of other music. But there’s a production quality to hip-hop. The way they put things in a threedimensional space. And the drums will be right up front, there’s no reverb, the panning is very interesting, there will be elements at a distance and things will be way close, things will be interesting to the left and to the right, and those kinds of things affect the way that I write pop rock. So I think right now I’ve been into pop and hip-hop, and that stuff works its way in. Even though I’m coming from a place of like, The Beatles, I’ll also bring a little Biggie Smalls in, and that might be something that people don’t detect. But if you look at the production values, you might be able to see, ‘they have sub bass in here, they have three layers of bass guitar.’ There’s always some interesting thing that might not happen in a normal pop song. I think no matter what it is, it will influence you in some way.

“

What was it like winning the Target Music Maker Award at Tribeca [Film Festival] in 2008?

Oh, I don’t know. It was a bit of a thrill, we got to go to New York. We go to New York all the time, but we got a $10,000 grant, and that was before our first record, and we used that money to make our first record. As far as, did I feel special or that I succeeded in any way? No, not really. You never know what’s going to be the thing that pushes you over the edge and you hit critical mass. It could have been that, but it wasn’t. It’s like another bullet point to a year. I would not say that was in our top ten moments of being Bad Veins, but it was definitely very much appreciated and at the time helped us out immensely. It’s just another thing.

Then what would be in your “top ten?”

I tend to think on a much more personal level, like the first time somebody came up and said the music changed their life, or the first time I saw somebody with a Bad Veins tattoo.

The first time somebody was nervous to be in a photo with me. I get to travel so much because of Bad Veins, I’ve gotten to see the entire country. I’m sitting in Miami right now, I’m wearing swim trunks. I’m in Leisureville, Florida, actually. And I’m going to go hit the ocean as soon as we get off the phone. And what is it, like Tuesday afternoon? People are working jobs and I’m gonna go swim in the ocean. And you realize that you’re living that kind of life, that, ‘this is the best thing I could be doing.’ And that to me is worth more than some award. Winning an award gets your name out there, which allows you to tour, which allows you to have those moments where you’re sitting on the beach.

I’m going to go hit the ocean as soon as we get off the phone. What is it, like Tuesday afternoon?

So what new song or artist would you say you’ve listened to the most in the past few months?

That’s a good question. I don’t pay enough attention to new music. I mean, we were listening to Fleetwood Mac, Rumours, yesterday, as we rolled into Miami, which is where I am now. I’ve been watching lizards climb palm trees our entire conversation. I don’t know. I feel like I don’t pay any attention to new music. Obviously I like Adele a lot, who doesn’t like Adele? I don’t know if that’s saturated my consciousness. I’m drawing a blank. A total blank.

Who’s been your favorite band to tour with thus far?

I could say a top three probably.

Frightened Rabbit is amazing to tour with, we could not like them more. Two Door Cinema Club, we’ve toured with them a few times, we’re going on tour with them next month, not only are they amazing dudes, but their fans treat us like no one else’s fans. I think, on a pure strategic level, touring with them is probably the smartest thing we could do. They have very young, excitable fans and we have young, fun pop music. We play a show with them and our Facebook explodes.

We’re out with We Were Promised Jetpacks right now, and those guys are great, they’re super nice and their fans like us. I would say that’s my top three. But yeah, having friends in bands that are more popular than your band is like one of the best thing that could happen to you. n

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 55

sports | team feature

After struggling for several seasons, the East boys’ lacrosse team is making a turn-around with a new coach and staff.

Coach Gary Pottebaum adjusts as he is

Changing

Planes story lauren fang | photos ellen fleetwood | infographic jack dombrowski

A

rmed with titanium sticks, they sprint across the turf like warriors on a battlefield as a foreboding aura permeates throughout the landscape of the stadium. The sight of sun-tanned arms blemished by new welts, the smell of sweat, and the blistering heat engulfs his senses as he paces left and right during the showdown. He stays calm otherwise.

No matter the situation, new East lacrosse head coach Gary Pottebaum is composed.

“He can take a step back and instead of freaking out or yelling at the players, he asks, ‘What am I doing from a coaching perspective and what do I need to change strategically to help us win,’” Pottebaum’s former college player and East lacrosse defense coordinator Josh Multhauf says.

During lacrosse season, the 36-year-old head coach is in his zone where he can rely on coaching experiences gained from his three semi-final appearances at the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) championships with the Dayton Flyers and his three Conference of Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (CCLA) championship titles.

But Pottebaum was not always that comfortable when it came to lacrosse. His accomplishments were what distinguished him from the crowd and what improved his image— something he had to deal with while growing up with the sport.

Called ‘Gary from Ohio’ while playing at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania, Pottebaum had to overcome the stigma of being from the Midwest and playing a sport that originated along the East coast, which he calls the “cradle of civilization as far as lacrosse goes.”

56 | Spark | April 26, 2012

“I had to work harder than the guys who played on Long Island, or Baltimore or Philadelphia,” Pottebaum recalls. “I had to [play] harder than the next guy” After graduating from college, Pottebaum coached junior high and high school lacrosse teams as well as college lacrosse at the University of Dayton. Coaching has always been his outlet, lacrosse his pride and joy, and his passion for lacrosse only grew throughout the years as he dreamed of starting a program.

His dream came true, but with a twist. East’s amateur track record, when compared to his successful lacrosse career, was not something he was very used to; he struggled with the fact that he would be coaching a team that had only won seven games in its five year existence. During his first coaching experience with the players at the Moeller 7 vs. 7 tournament, Pottebaum had to face, once again, the underdog mentality that had plagued him when he was a lacrosse player in college.

“My peers came up to me and they were like, ‘Oh, you’re coaching East this year, good luck with that,’” Pottebaum says.

But Pottebaum didn’t give up. He saw hope through the dismal legacy when the lacrosse players’ dads, who kept the program alive, did not have the courage to say anything too optimistic. Pottebaum saw the ordeal as a challenge.

“I’ve always wanted to start a program,” Pottebaum, who has about 25 years of playing experience, says. “This is about as close to the beginning as it can be.”

After East’s former lacrosse head coach Matt McDonell stepped down during the 2010-11 season for personal reasons, he left the program in a good financial position by the end of the season.

“It was the right time for me to step aside,” McDonell says. “I helped the program get to a certain level, and if they wanted to get to the next level, they needed to have someone that knew the game better and who could teach the boys the game the way that it should be.”

When McDonell came back to watch the boys play in their round robin tournament, he was cheering for East, amazed by all the work Pottebaum had done and the new staff that he brought in.

“These [new] coaches know the game better than I ever did,” McDonell says. “[The team has improved because the coaches are] teaching the guys a lot about the game of lacrosse and it’s the skill and the knowledge of the game that they’re picking up really fast—the passion that they’re playing the game with.”

Although Pottebaum initially doubted if he would accept the position, he was ultimately persuaded by general managers Dave Dombrowski and Jeff Dean who decided to hire a new head coach even though Dombrowski was the head coach for half of the 2010-2011 year.

[POTTEBAUM] CAN TAKE A STEP BACK AND INSTEAD OF YELLING, HE ASKS, ‘WHAT AM I DOING FROM A COACHING PERSPECTIVE AND WHAT DO I NEED TO CHANGE TO HELP US WIN.’ East lacrosse defense coordinator Josh Multhauf “[Jeff and I] could have coached these boys, but we wouldn’t have coached them to success—success to build young men as college lacrosse players,” Dombrowski says.

Throughout the interview process, Dean and Dombrowski met with Pottebaum for lunch numerous times and were eventually able to rid Pottebaum of his indecision.

East varsity lacrosse head coach Gary Pottebaum talks to the lacrosse team.

“We hounded him until he bled,” Dombrowski says. “The day he stepped onto the field, finally with the boys, he was hook, line and sinker.”

Besides Pottebaum’s experience as a renowned lacrosse coach, his personality and his attitude were several factors that ultimately pressed the managers to chase after him, along with “pure serendipity.”

“We were happy with [Pottebaum] the moment we sat down with him,” Dombrowski says. “The first day we met, we couldn’t stop him from talking about the [vision] he wanted to [accomplish].”

Now that he is a part of East lacrosse, Pottebaum’s exemplary traits as a coach shine.

Be it pre-season or playing season, Pottebaum is constantly involving himself in the players’ lives, frequently emailing the players’ parents about his goals and expectations.

Pottebaum, who is also a substitute teacher at Western Brown high school, makes sure that the players learn and understand the plays by being diverse in his teaching style. He sends his players interactive power points of the plays he plans on applying at practice.

“If [they] aren’t sure [how to do the play], and they want do hands on, [I tell them to] get a salt and pepper shaker and move them around the kitchen table,” Pottebaum says. “If they’ve got to hear it, I’ll talk them through it. If one of them texts me at 11:30 p.m., I’m texting right back.”

Along with having flexibility and patience, Pottebaum also holds weekly player evaluation meetings to talk to players. He draws up practice plans several months ahead of time and has a system of executing his ideas, hoping that through organization and structure, he can leave his mark at East.

“East has a tradition of being very successful in the sports they participate in

[Jeff and I] could have coached these boys, but we wouldn’t have coached them to success—success to build young men as college lacrosse players.

East lacrosse general manager Dave Dombrowski for the most part,” Pottebaum says. “[I want to] build a culture of respect and winning and a tradition [in lacrosse] that hasn’t been established yet,” Pottebaum says.

With a vision in mind, Pottebaum has embodied the role of disciplinarian, setting forth high expectations and enforcing the consequences for not meeting the standards.

“When you get to practice, your bags have to be lined up, everybody wears the same practice penny and shorts,” Pottebaum says. “If you don’t show up in set uniform for practice, you

don’t practice. It really almost sounds silly, but if you look good, you play well.”

During games, tournaments and practices Pottebaum’s voice can be heard amidst encouraging spectators and metal clashing against metal. He is always shouting comments at the players, but only because he finds it necessary.

“He always says that if he stopped yelling at you, he stopped caring,” Multhauf says.

For many of the players, Pottebaum also acts as a mentor, inspiring the young men with his philosophy of the game, taking them to college lacrosse games and giving them positive reinforcement.

Many East upper-class lacrosse players are already experiencing the changes he has made through his different approach to the game.

“The intensity level in all of our practices [and] how it’s constructed—it’s all so much more organized,” East senior and varsity lacrosse team captain Fuller Gerbl says. “It’s actually orthodox lacrosse.”

East senior and second team captain Joey Postlewhait agreed. “[He] brought in a new staff, [removed unnecessary practices], and got our heads focused,” Postlewhait says. “A lot of us have been taking it more seriously.”

Although Pottebaum abides by many different mottoes, his primary coaching maxim is “failures do what is tension relieving, while

winners do what is goal-achieving.”

“What that means to me is if what we’re doing on the field doesn’t work right away, it doesn’t matter because we’re working towards a greater goal,” Pottebaum says. “I tell the boys that I’m not concerned with wins and losses [but with] goal-achieving.

Pottebaum also stresses that the team mentality is crucial in a sport like lacrosse.

“All the guys on this team are family and when I see that dynamic, that’s more important to me than wins,” Pottebaum says.

“The relationships are important—not only the ones that coaches have with players but the relationships that players create with each other.”

Some call lacrosse the best spectator sport because people feel immersed in the flow of the game and the team camaraderie. But if the basic skills of lacrosse are taught in the wrong way, people perceive it as a brute sport, a game where people hit for the sake of hitting.

To avoid this label, Pottebaum continues to teach the game to keep it sportsmanlike and beautiful, appreciating the different aspects of the game along the way.

For Pottebaum, lacrosse will always be a part of him–the one thing that cultivates his appreciation for life.

“Lacrosse is something I feel like I was meant to do,” Pottebaum says. “It’s big, second to [my] family, and I still play today.” n

BUILDING A LEGACY

The game of Lacrosse has changed greatly since it’s invention by the Native Americans. It takes organization and good direction in order to win. Coach Gary Pottebaum has used his coaching experience to implement changes to East’s boys’ lacrosse team to build a winning team.

Native teams consisted of anywhere from 100 to 1000 players.

Equipment consisted of basic clothing and a cross (lacrosse stick).

Coached by Matt McDonald

East’s first team was comprised of 26 players. Last year—51 players.

Standard modern lacrosse equipment, including team jerseys and team helmets (Cascade CPX).

East’s playbook consisted of simple zone and man defenses, and 1-4-1, and 2-2-2 offenses.

The New Hawks Coached by Gary Pottebaum

East’s team this year is comprised of 45 players.

Standard modern lacrosse equipment, including full practice and game attire, and new team helmets (Cascade CPX-R).

“13 Motion”

“14 Offense”

Isolation Natives had very few plays in their playbooks, if any. It was even considered cowardly to pass the ball.

The Old Hawks

The new playbook includes 5 complex defenses and 4 rotation offenses, which are rare at the high school level.

Lacrosse: a history of the game, by Donald Fisher, Lakota East Lacrosse General Manager Jeff Dean, Coach Gary Pottebaum, Former Coach Matt McDonald

The Natives

Coached by medicine men of the tribe

BPT Ad

sports | feature

East junior Brett Colburn ranks eighth in the GMC in batting average at .417.

60 | Spark | April 26, 2012

YEAR F THE DEFENSE The 2012 East baseball team has been given a task that no team before it has ever encountered—defending a State Championship. And after losing 11 seniors to graduation, the three returning seniors have worked hard to find their role as leaders. story drew souders | photos jeff back, devin casey and john grasty

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pitch, then the sharp crack of a bat. A diving play on the groundball from senior Craig Thomson and a quick throw to first. A sudden eruption from the crowd as the dugout empties and a pile of enthusiastic players on the mound. A quick car ride home after missing their high school graduation. A flurry of publicity, including a visit to the State House, appearances on Channel 9 and Fox 19 and a spot in a Fourth of July Parade. A final presentation of the rings— then nothing.

Just a couple of weeks in the life of the members of the 2011 East varsity state championship baseball team.

“It was probably the best feeling ever,” says East senior Blake Wilder, who has played third base and pitched on the varsity team for the last two years. “I didn’t understand what happened at first. Looking back on it now I

wish I would have taken more advantage of it.”

Unlike many teams which take the state title, the Hawks were not dominant their entire season. Unranked coming into the state tournament, the team lost its opening game of the regular season to Mason High School 2-1 after a heartbreaking come-from-behind effort by the Comets in the last inning. It was not until the state tournament and a Sectional Final victory over Sycamore High School that 18-year East baseball coach Ray Hamilton felt that his team started to think about its potential to go all the way. “[I got] so locked in on winning this league that I didn’t think too much about the thought of the state tournament,” Hamilton says. “Once we got into the tournament, it all fit together. It was a perfect road for us to be able to get there.”

But victory came with a price. The team graduated 11 seniors in the spring of 2011, leaving only four returning varsity players to lead the team in the 2012 season. East senior captains Michael Conrad, Blake Wilder and Alex Corna had the daunting task of trying to fill the shoes of Mitch Geers, JD Whetsel and Jesse Rait to lead the Hawks to another successful season.

From the beginning, the three seniors realized that they were not the same kinds of leaders as their former teammates. Wilder says that Geers and the captains “always knew the perfect thing to say” and feels that the captains this year would not be as comfortable handling the same situation.

“I feel like if I was in the middle of the huddle trying to be serious in front of these kids I would just crack up,” Corna says. “[The seniors last year] were way more vocal than us.”

But lack of vocal leadership should not be confused with inability to lead the team. Conrad, Corna and Wilder have settled into their

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 61

ROUNDING THIRD...

and headed for the end of the season are three teams tied for third in the GMC: East, Fairfield and Oak Hills. Here is how the three teams stack up.

i All stats as of April 14, 2012

ERA = Earned Runs Average OBP = On-Base Percentage WHIP = Walks plus Hits per Inning Pitched BA = Batting Average RBI = Runs Batted In SB = Stolen Bases K = Strikeout

OAK HILLS HIGHLANDERS Record: 9-4 (6-3 GMC) Key Players:

Tyler Cox — 2-0, 13 K, .92 WHIP Thomas Connolly — 2-0, 1.65 ERA, 10 K Taylor Alley — 7 RBI, .407 BA, .567 OBP

Record: 9-6 (6-3 GMC) Key Players: Hayden Senget — .607 BA, 17 Hits, .633 OBP Blake Wilder — 20 RBI, 18 Hits, .404 OBP Brett Colburn — .417 BA, 16 Runs, 4 SB Michael Conrad — 2-1, 44 K, .96 WHIP

EAST THUNDERHAWKS

Alex Corna — 5 Home Runs, 21 RBI, 16 Runs Derek Baker — 4-0, 19 K, 1.36 ERA

FAIRFIELD INDIANS Record: 10-3 (6-3 GMC) Key Players: Curtis Olvey — 3-1, .67 ERA, 32 K, .423 BA, 10 Runs, .516 OBP Chris Rossi — .407 BA, 6 Runs, 4 SB Casey McWhorter — .424 BA, 11 RBI, 7 Runs

62 | Spark | April 26, 2012

niches in the program, they choose to lead by example rather than make motivational pre-game speeches.

“They don’t have to be vocal leaders. I don’t think the guys are real comfortable being vocal,” Hamilton says.

“But they are that stabilizing factor. [Corna] is playing really well right now, and when [Conrad] is on the mound we have a great deal of confidence. That’s what they bring. They’ve been there, they’ve won a state championship, and I think they’re playing like it.”

Statistically, East players have gotten off to an impressive start. Corna leads the Greater Miami Conference (GMC) in homeruns with five, and runs batted in (RBI) with 21 as of April 14th. Wilder follows in a close second with 20 RBIs. Conrad, who recently won the title of Lakota’s all-time strikeout leader after recording his 214th strikeout against Colerain High School on April 11th, leads the league this year with 44 strikeouts on the season. Junior Derek Baker has recorded the most wins as starting pitcher in the GMC with four.

The graduated seniors have left East’s team very young with 14 juniors, two sophomores, one freshman and only four seniors. Despite losing its first two games of the season to Hamilton and Mason, the team has managed to rally back and improve its record to 8-6 after defeating Battle Ground Academy, Independence and Colerain. Hamilton says that minor hitches can only be expected when trying to bring together such a young team.

“For most of them it’s the first time that they’ve been involved at this high of a level of baseball,” Hamilton says. “I think that comes with some growing pains and some learning.

They’ve gotten better as we’ve gone along, so right now I’m sitting here pretty happy with the way things are going.”

The young players may lack experience, but they do not lack talent. After only a few games, junior catcher Jarret Rindfleisch, the only non-senior returning varsity player who started for the state championship team, was pulled out due to a season-ending hip fracture.

Freshman Heyden Senger stepped up to take his place and now leads the league in batting average, recording a .607 through 11 games.

Junior shortstop Brett Colburn is eighth in the league with an average of .417.

The duty of organizing all the young talent naturally fell on the seniors. But before they could attempt to help everyone understand their roles on the team, the returning varsity

They’ve been there, they’ve won a state championship, and I think they’re playing like it.

East varsity baseball coach Ray Hamilton

players first had to define their own.

“At first it was weird. We viewed the junior class as our friends. We weren’t really trying to lead them last year,” Wilder says. “Once the season started and we took the first two blows it has been a lot better. I felt like the first game there [were] a bunch of individuals [because] everyone was fighting for a spot, but as it starts solidifying itself everything will come together.”

From their experience on the state championship team last year, the seniors knew that becoming a successful team is much more than learning signals and position-specific responsibilities. The players attribute much of their success to their team chemistry and how close they were to each other at the end of the season.

“Last year we were so close together when tournament time came, there was no one that was going to beat us,” Wilder says.

In order to have similar results as last season, the Hawks will need to find a similar sense of camaraderie.

“We literally loved each other last year,” Conrad says. “Everyone loved everyone. We all went places together. We’re trying to go out to eat with the team and stuff so that maybe we can have that again.”

Although the team would love to have large groups of fans to help them drive the team spirit mentality, they are realistic about the number of fans that they can expect to come support them during the regular season.

According to Wilder, however, the occasional lack of school support can actually bring the team closer together.

“I don’t think people recognize how good the baseball team is. You see tons of people showing up for football and basketball games, but ever since our sophomore year we’ve been the only team that’s come close to a threepeat [in the GMC],” Wilder says. “We’ve been consistently good. People came out to support us during State, but during the season no one really cares. That’s why we all rely on ourselves.”

Wilder and the other seniors know that they will have to build the team mentality if they are to have another chance at winning the State Tournament.

“The main thing you care about is that the people in the dugout are there to cheer you on,” Wilder says. “Those are the voices that I hear.”n

sports | sophomore spotlight

The Long Haul After making the biggest decision of her life to live with her mom in America and leave her native country of Camaroon in Africa as a young child, Kellsa looks back with no regrets. story maddie mcgarvey | photos sierra whitlock | infographic emily chao

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ast sophomore Kellsa Mbah was born to fly. She has not only soared over LaSalle’s long jump pit in recordbreaking fashion, but also began a new chapter in her life after flying thousands of miles across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa to America.

When Kellsa was three years old, her mother moved to America from her native country of Camaroon with high hopes and a mission to create a better life for the family. Five years later, it was time for Kellsa to depart from her extended family in Africa and rejoin her mother in a new country. Her socialization in a

suburban neighborhood in Camaroon made for a smooth transition to America.

“Go! Go! You’ve got ‘em Kellsa!” yelled her childhood neighbors, a few years after the move to America. Up against a group of substantially larger and older all-male competition, Kellsa managed to cross the finish line seconds before

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 63

sports | sophomore spotlight the junior high boys. This race fostered Kellsa’s love for running and, most of all, winning.

According to her family, Kellsa has always been a great athlete. After playing soccer for more than six years, Kellsa realized she was more of an independent achiever and that running was her forté.

“We noticed that Kellsa was extremely fast when playing soccer,” Kellsa’s mother Jane Feng says, “and suggested that she try her hand, or should I say foot, in track.”

With support from her family and fellow neighborhood racers, Kellsa signed up for track and field in the seventh grade and has not stopped running since. At this point in the season, Kellsa has three East track and field records under her belt; 49.95 seconds on the 4x100-meter relay, an event where four runners each run a 100-meter leg, 1 minute and 45.12 seconds on the 4x200-meter relay, an event where four runners each run a 200-meter leg, and the recent long jump record.

Originally held by Stephanie Howard since 1998 with a jump of 17’1.5”, Kellsa soared past the 14-year record at 17’10.75” at the LaSalle Legends meet this season. When Kellsa broke the record she had only attempted the event earlier that week during practice when 18-year varsity track and field coach John Lindeman supported her curiosity in other events.

“Kellsa is a stud,” Lindeman says. “She is a thoroughbred. Because of her incredible speed, jumping far is easy for her.”

According to Lindeman, Kellsa was not

Kellsa runs in the 4x100-meter relay at the Lebanon track and field meet on April 13.

The Science of Flight

1

The jumper starts at his/her designated starting position which is dependent on his/ her stride length and the placement of the board.

information International Association of Athletics Federations, Lakota East Thunderhawk Sports Records, brianmac.com

2

Long jump combines both sprinting and explosive leaps in order to achieve the power of flight.

The jumper sprints at full speed toward the board in order to be ready to jump.

The number of strides is usually between 10 and 12.

stride length starting stride

always perfect, but high school training has helped her to reach success.

“Last year, Kellsa came out as a freshman with some fear. But she lost that,” Lindeman says. “After working out with us this summer to winter, she is so much stronger, both mentally and physically.”

Kellsa agrees that she has matured this past year not only in appreciating a win, but also in accepting a loss.

“What I learned from freshman year was that I didn’t do things for myself, I always did it to beat the other person. I would look at the other girls in the lanes next to me and say to myself, ‘Oh my gosh, they look so fast, what am I going to do?’’ Kellsa says. “This year, I’m trying to think more like ‘What does Kellsa need to do to get better?’ I want to make myself better while seeing the glass half full at the same time.”

Kellsa’s fellow relay team members have also noticed her change in attitude from last year. Junior Kendra Thomas says that last year Kellsa was always stressed, but this year she has a better attitude toward running.

“Kellsa is so much fun to be around this year,” says Thomas, who is also a sprinter and pole-vaulter for East. “She gives the best pep talks whenever [the team] is stressing out.

It’s ironic that a sophomore can be a positive influence and role model for me, being a junior, but she’s in the right mindset this year.”

But improving her speed is only one of the many responsibilities Kellsa manages on a daily

basis. Besides track practices or meets every day, Kellsa plays a huge part in raising her two younger sisters, Sanaih and Samyra, as a very influential role model—a big sister.

“My life is sports, school and family,” Kellsa says. “My family is so important to me. I’m always helping my sisters. I don’t mind though, because I want them to know there will always be someone there for them, and I want to be that person.”

Kellsa is that person each day to her younger sisters. Her mother says that her leadership as a runner and hard work as a student carries into the important role she plays in the household.

“She is not only our daughter, but a big sister to her siblings,” Feng says. “Achievements aside, Kellsa takes her big sister role seriously and it’s delightful to watch.”

In preparation for college, Kellsa has realized she is behind in her school involvement because of her sports and family dedication.

“I’m trying to meet new people, join more clubs and make some new contacts,” Kellsa says. “Since I’m planning on going into premedicine, I want to volunteer at the local hospital this summer. I know my grades are good and that I’m a consistent student, but I need to become well-rounded.”

As a sophomore, Kellsa is already in contact with prolific Southeastern Conference (SEC) universities such as the University of Tennessee and University of Alabama. Her coach, who is in contact with these schools as well, informs the SEC on Kellsa’s updated

KELLSA IS A STUD. SHE IS A THOROUGHBRED. BECAUSE OF HER INCREDIBLE SPEED, JUMPING IS EASY FOR HER. East Varsity Tennis Coach John Lindeman

times and measurements as they occur.

“I’ve already sent out feelers to eight colleges,” Lindeman says. “Kellsa really wants to go to the SEC, which is the best running conference. Her times will be there, and they’ll be in closer contact with her by the end of the year because she’s only a sophomore.”

3

The jumper leaps off one ankle with a straight posture and works to bring both legs forward and stay in the air as long as possible.

For Kellsa, going to a school in the south would be a dream come true.

“I love the south, the white picket fence, everything,” Kellsa says, “I love it. Plus I have family in the south so it’s perfect. It’s ideal for me too because I can train outside all year round.”

But for Kellsa, getting a scholarship is more than just a prize for being the best. It is a way for Kellsa to say thanks to her family and release the financial burden of her college years.

“When I see my mom wake up every day, giving us all smiles and saying ‘I love you,’ it’s hard because I know she’s still struggling,” Kellsa says. “But I come to school and get good grades and then come out to the track and do what I do. And that’s how I say ‘I love you’ back. When I see the finish line, I see my little sisters and my mom motivating me because they are the strongest part in my life.”

With her family driving her, Kellsa has already made huge strides toward her dream by claiming East’s long jump record with only a few days of practice and ranking among the fastest girl sprinters for East as she anchors for record-breaking 4x100-meter and 4x200meter relay teams.

“I just want to make my family proud. I want my family in Africa to see me on TV and be proud to say they know me,” Kellsa says. “Not a lot of people have the talent I was blessed with and I don’t want to take it for granted. I want to show them that I made something of myself by coming to America.” n

4

The jumper immediately leans forward and brings his/her hips towards his/her legs.

The jump is measured from the closest point to the board.

Michael Powell 1991 29’ 4.38’’ Men’s Long Jump World Record Galina Chistyakova 1988 24’ 8.06’ Women’s Long Jump World Record Kellsa Mbah 2012 17’ 10.75’’ Current Lakota East Record Stephanie Howard 1998 17’ 1.5’’ Previous Lakota East Record

Jump ends here.

sports | player spotlight

Serving Up Aces

East senior Zach Mueck has one last chance to win the state championship. After placing second two years in a row and recovering from an elbow injury in the 2012 season, he is ready to play.

story jenn shafer | photos jeff back | infographic dillon mitchell

L

ast year, East senior Zach Mueck was named the Greater Miami Conference (GMC) player of the year, but he did not play in the GMC tournament because just days before the tournament, Mueck’s grandfather suffered a stroke during his knee surgery and passed away a day later.

“It affected me a lot and it was really hard to play after that,” Mueck says. “It made the state tournament more difficult because he was supposed to be there.”

After his grandfather’s death, Mueck found a necklace with a St. Christopher’s medal on a chain in his grandfather’s jewelry box. He has worn it every day since then. Last year, while struggling during the state competition, and without his grandfather to cheer him on, Mueck was clutching the necklace and looking up, barely able to breathe.

This year the pressure may be even worse.

It is his last year to win the state title after being the runner-up two years in a row.

Though he has yet to capture this elusive honor, Mueck already has a long list of accomplishments including being a member of the East boys’ varsity tennis team during its undefeated regular season and GMC Championship in 2010 and had his own undefeated regular season record his junior year. He signed with Xavier University in November 2010 after being offered a partial

66 | Spark | April 26, 2012

academic and partial athletic scholarship.

“With Zach it was pretty apparent by age 12 that he was one of the best players in his age group,” Xavier Men’s head tennis coach Eric Toth says. “He was a known commodity for years, not only in the Cincinnati area but all over the Midwest. He is quite a tennis player and a top-notch kid. His parents are great and he is an outstanding individual.”

But it is not only the players that stand in Mueck’s way of attaining the state title. He has faced an injury in his elbow that has caused him to miss months of tennis to let the injury heal, but he returned to the court on April 10 with a

Zach has the drive to always want to improve himself and that’s what separates true champions from just very good players.

East Varsity Tennis Coach Greg Mahlerwein

first doubles win against Fairfield.

“His injury has been a concern for sure, but it is my understanding that it has improved and will fully heal,” Toth says. “He is doing fine and that is good enough for me. I want him to focus on his last year as a senior at East and win that state title because I know that’s what he wants to do.”

East varsity boys’ tennis coach Greg Mahlerwein is confident that Mueck has the ability and willpower to reach his goals and also succeed as a college athlete. “[Mueck] has a tremendous amount of natural talent but a lot of kids have talent,” Mahlerwein says. “[He] has the drive and determination to always want to improve himself and that’s what separates the true champions from just the very good players.”

Mueck received attention when he became a top-ranked junior in the 12, 14 and 16 age groups. He then finished in the top 16 at the 2010 United States Tennis Association (USTA) National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich., and has also won a variety of USTA Midwest and tournaments. But when he first entered this circuit, he had to battle his way to the top and prove he could compete.

“He had to fight for a hierarchy and to belong when these kids thought because of their parent’s wealth that they were entitled to something,” mother Stephanie Mueck says.

“He was always very quiet and he had to earn their respect, and eventually they started calling him ‘bro’ and wanting to hang with him—but he wasn’t interested. He just wants to hang with his buddies that have always been his buddies.”

To earn a high national ranking, there is a point system that is set up for the many club tournaments. The bigger the tournament, the more points a player can receive. Players must travel the circuit to get the points, and that can be costly. According to Stephanie, they “don’t want to play that game.”

It costs about $50,000 per year to have a nationally-ranked junior and travel the circuit, according to Stephanie, but Zach has a scholarship to his tennis club, Riverside Athletic Club, and Stephanie also works there in addition to substitute teaching to help pay the costs. He was also sponsored for a couple of years by Babolat, a top tennis company, which paid for rackets and shoes.

He first picked up a racket at the age of four when his family lived in Maryland, just outside of Washington D.C. Zach’s dad worked long days and Stephanie signed him up for tennis lessons because she did not know what to do with him all day.

“I had a clothesline strung in the backyard and he would hit balls from one end to the other and run back and forth for hours,” Stephanie says. “He destroyed the siding on my house here so I had to get new siding. But once you have a thousand dents, just keep going.

When he quit doing it then we said ‘okay, we will get new siding now.’”

Zach played other sports while he was young, but tennis proved to be his true passion.

“He played baseball and tennis at the same time, but there was just something about tennis,” Stephanie says. “He would rollerblade [while playing] it and he always had a racket in his hand. He would simulate serves while we were in the grocery store and even sleep with his tennis racket.”

In his first tournament at the tennis center in Mason, Ohio, Zach lost. But even that could not wipe the smile that stayed glued to his face.

Kids were taking advantage of him on the court, but only a few years later Zach proved to be much better than them.

“He was so good at it,” Stephanie says.

“Even when he was seven years old he had good form. It was something he had that no one else had. It gave him a quiet confidence.”

Being involved with tennis at such a young age has helped Zach develop as a person and learn how to handle his emotions.

“Tennis is such a mind game. You have to have such maturity and be able to hold yourself up there and assert yourself,” Stephanie says.

“I think he matured at a really young age. He handles pressure very well. He doesn’t let things bother him, probably to an extreme.”

While Zach stays calm on the court, many of his opponents express their emotions for

everyone to see. At one tournament, Zach was unseeded and ended up winning the competition. A defeated opponent became so angry he started breaking his own rackets.

One of these rackets now hangs on the wall of Zach’s bedroom to remind him to maintain a sportsmanlike attitude.

“When he was little, the only thing we could control was his emotions out there,” Stephanie says. “My husband would let him do one fist pump. Then the next day he could do two fist pumps as long as he was facing [away from the crowd.] He did learn really young not to make a fool of himself or act crazy.”

Even if it is an important point, Zach does not show his emotions. He simply turns around and retrieves a ball to refocus.

“I just don’t let myself get frustrated very easily or let things bother me,” Zach says. “When my opponent gets frustrated it motivates me to play harder.”

Not only does Zach control himself on the court, but also outside of tennis. He has never been the type of person to brag, even though he has a lot of reasons to boast. He was the Fox 19 and Penn Station player of the Week in 2010 and the Larosa’s MVP Athlete in 2012.

Zach was also featured on 700 WLW radio on the Bill Cunningham show, although Zach remains shy and indifferent during interviews.

On the high school team, Zach enjoys spending time with teammates and having a good time while playing the game.

“The kids on the team really like Zach,” Mahlerwein says. “He does provide a good way for the kids to educate themselves on the proper tennis techniques. He sets a good example for the kids to follow. He also gets along very well with his teammates. Even though he is focused more on tennis than some of them, they still all relate and get along very well together.”

Mahlerwein calls Zach a “jokester,” always trying to make wacky shots at practice and have fun, but Zach knows when to be serious.

“I think Zach and I try to keep things fun so we do crazy stuff that most people don’t,” East senior teammate Mitch Noufer says. “[But] Zach is motivated. He loves tennis. He has been playing it for most of his life and he is still just as passionate about it.”

According to Mahlerwein, Zach can focus on the court so well that it is almost impossible to distract him. If he continues to play as he has in the past, Zach has the potential to break 100 wins for his high school career.

“It’s almost impossible to separate Zach from tennis,” Mahlerwein says. “It is interwoven throughout his life. It’s what he loves to do and it’s what he’s very good at it.

Tennis is almost part of his DNA at this point.

Zach will already go down as the greatest tennis player in East history, and if he can finish off this year the way we hope he will, he could go down as the greatest player in Lakota district history.” n

Stacking Up the Points Players earn Ranking Points at tournaments for winning rounds in singles and doubles matches and for defeating one of the top 100 players in a singles match (bonus points).

Points Per Round Combined Ranking System (PPR): • 100 percent of the Ranking Points earned at 6 best singles National Ranking Tournaments • 15 percent of the Ranking Points earned at the sixth best doubles National Ranking Tournaments • 100 percent of the singles Bonus Points earned at Bonus Point Only Events

East senior Zach Mueck prepares to make his next point against Sycamore.

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sports | hawk culture

A NEW BOND WITH A NEW COACH

BY THE

NUMBERS

12.35 13 2 214 .607 1 The time it took East sophomore Autumn Heath to run the 100-meter dash, breaking her own school record of 12.47 seconds

After head varsity boys’ volleyball coach Faber Fields resigned for the 2011-12 season, East physics teacher Brittany Grote jumped at the opportunity to bring her volleyball knowledge and team bonding activities to the team.

Number of wins the East varsity softball team has out of 15 overall games.

Number of new spring head coaches this year.

The number of strikeouts pitched by Mike Conrad, breaking the school record of 213 from 1978-80.

Top batting average in the Greater Miami Conference held

by Easy varsity baseball player, Hayden Senger.

Number of games lost overall by the girls’ lacrosse team with a 2-1 record.

GMCTICKER: 68 | Spark | April 26, 2012

story sydney aten | photos jeff back

I

t was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to represent her sport, her skill and her school pride at the highest possible high school level.

But East boys’ volleyball coach Brittany Grote had that chance to play volleyball, a sport she has played since the fourth grade, in front of her entire school at the state tournament.

During her junior year of high school, Grote and the top-ranked McAuley high school girls’ volleyball made a run for the state title. “[McAuley] had never won a state championship, so [the administrators] called off school and bused everyone up to the game,” Grote says. “It was an awesome experience— definitely my best volleyball memory.”

Grote has always felt comfortable on the volleyball court. After first picking up volleyball in elementary school, she soon became a fouryear high school varsity letter winner.

Now, unable to stay away from the game that she played for so long, Grote is looking to share her same love for the game as the East boys’ volleyball coach after former coach Faber Fields resigned from the head coaching

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Head varsity boys’ volleyball coach Brittany Grote motivates her players in their game against Fairfield.

position last season.

“I’ve always loved the game of volleyball,” says Grote, who coached East girls’ volleyball for two seasons. “From playing volleyball you know the general rhythm of the game.

I learned how to read hitters and to pick out the weaknesses in the defense, so experience definitely counts when it comes to coaching because you have to be able to relate to your players and the specific positions they play and difficulties they may have.”

Before Grote acquired the head coaching position, Fields coached the Thunderhawks from 2007 to 2011.

Under his wing, the team had a win percentage greater than .500 in each of its five seasons and held an 80-34 overall record. In his first year as head coach, Fields’ team captured the Greater Miami Conference (GMC) title and earned a trip to the state tournament.

Fields, who is now the coach of the seventh grade girls’ volleyball team at Liberty Junior High School as well as a club coach for Cincy Classics, led East to a 17-4 overall record last season.

Lea Buckenmeyer (softball) and Mike Conrad (baseball) are Putters Athletes of the week

week

East senior setter Kyle Finnerty serves the ball at the Fairfield game.

In order to achieve this success, Fields believed in pushing his players to work hard in practice in order to make the games come easy.

“I pushed the guys really hard,” Fields says.

I5gbju,i `12

“That was something I was always taught. If you work really hard in practice, the games are easy. I pushed the guys so they were prepared in games.”

East athletic director Richard Bryant says that it was very beneficial that he was able to hire Grote as the boys’ coach, as she is also a physics teacher at East, which can help a lot with recruiting boys to join the team. He was also pleased to find a coach with extensive volleyball playing and coaching experience like Grote. “[Grote] had a lot of volleyball knowledge so it was a win-win not only for the East players, but it was also something that she wants to do,” Bryant says. “I’ve heard nothing but 100 percent support for coach Grote and positive things from parents and players. Our play on the court is strong, and our preseason work was strong.”

Grote shares the same high aspirations for her team this year. Even with the loss of three seniors including the 2011 boys’ volleyball GMC Athlete of the Year Wesley Meyer, she has already begun to see the boys grow as a team.

“My expectations are high for this year,” Grote says. “We have a very solid team. We don’t have a lot of varsity experience but the boys are really working hard in practice.”

With the lack of varsity experience, Grote is counting on all of her players to put in the time on the practice court and leave everything on the court during the games.

Junior middle hitter Kalen White, senior setters and captains Kyle Finnerty and Zak Dunham and sophomore libero Tyler Harsch, are all expected to make an impact.

To find success this year, the players are counting on their strong team chemistry, both on and off the court, to improve their game

throughout the season, and possibly even into the postseason.

“One of our strengths is that we have a really good bond with each other,” junior captain Kalen White says.

Finnerty says that their team bonding activities after practice, such as pick-up volleyball games occasionally followed by delivery pizza, help to bring the players closer together and to build friendships that are needed on the court.

“We’re like a family out there,” Finnerty says. “We’re a little bit different than other sports because we’re smaller than most teams, so we have more of that family dynamic. [Team bonding] brings more than just a volleyball aspect to our team; it brings us closer together.”

Grote says that team bonding is an important part of building a team because it helps the players establish faith in one another.

“You have to be able to play as a team, and practicing every day doesn’t necessarily build a team,” Grote says. “Moments like this [team bonding] are needed in order to build relationships and trust.”

Dunham says that the players learn more about each other during team bonding activities, which force them to work even harder on the court.

“We knew coming into the season that we weren’t going to be the best team in state or even in the GMC, but we’re willing to work hard to get there,” Dunham says. “Our job as seniors is to get the program ready for next year. We look out for each other. We’re playing with our hearts. This is our last season for volleyball, so let’s just go out with a bang.”n To read more coverage of East sports, including softball and the status of East coaches, go to lakoteastspark.com

Spark

High School Lakota East Online Edition

HAWK CULTURE

A look into the lives of East athletes and coaches infographic jill stelletell

Billy Barren VARSITY TENNIS

Michael Conrad VARSITY BASEBALL

Noah Fisher BOYS’ VARSITY VOLLEYBALL

Caylee Moyer VARSITY SOFTBALL

Sydney Martin VARSITY LACROSSE

John Lindeman VARSITY TRACK COACH

Hunger games is...?

A SHOW ON FOOD NETWORK

ALRIGHT

OKAY

HAVEN’T SEEN IT YET

VERY EXCITING TO READ

EXCITING

What is your favorite ice cream flavor

CHOCOLATE

MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP

COOKIE DOUGH

BLUE MOO COOKIE DOUGH

ORANGE SHERBERT

BLACK RASPBERRY CHIP

Best summer vacation spot is...?

PANAMA

FLORIDA

HILTON HEAD

ORLANDO

HILTON HEAD

GRAND CAYMAN

Last movie seen in theaters?

PROJECT X

HUNGER GAMES

WRATH OF THE TITANS

THE VOW

ACT OF VALOUR

21 JUMP STREET

Where were you born?

BALTIMORE

CINCINNATI

INDIANAPOLIS

PENNSYLVANIA

CINCINNATI

OHIO

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Zach Mueck– LaRosa’s MVP of the week

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lakotaeastspark.com Former East wrestler Hetag Pliev qualified for 2012 Olympics| Spark | 69

sports | column

Hannah Lee

SPORTS EDITOR

MISSTEP AT THE MASTERS

contact hannah at hml.lee16@yahoo.com

G

entlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden (G.O.L.F.)—four words that discriminate against the rising population of women in the sport of golf.

I am one of those women.

“You can play from the women’s tees. You get a 100-yard advantage,” said one of my dad’s business partners.

Instead I step up to the championship tees of Four Bridges Golf Course with boys who are almost twice my height and smack the ball down the middle of the fairway. I see the shadow of my confidante follow through as I stare down the hole. Delighted with my shot and the fact that I was encouraged to hit first due to the “ladies first” courtesy, I step off the freshly mowed grass into the rough and watch silently to see if any of them follow up.

One shanked into the bunker, one sliced into the trees, and one sits about 75 yards ahead of mine. In my mind I still have the best position for the hole. I have an easy 100-yard chip-shot and an easy putt for birdie.

They each take a par. I am one under par, one over on confidence, and up for the challenge.

Playing against boys makes me a better golfer—a serious golfer. I can keep up with them and compete at a higher level, on a longer course, and with more mind games. Playing with girls is an equal playing field; there is no fun in that. Being a girl in a sport dominated by boys always means I have to prove myself.

Virginia Rometty is a woman. Not just any woman. She is the CEO of International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), one of the largest Fortune 500 companies that is one of the three major sponsors of the Masters Tournament.

The past five CEOs of the company have been men and have been invited to become members of Augusta National Golf Course, where the tournament was hosted.

Rometty was seen standing off the green of the 18th hole at the last round of the Masters like the CEOs before her. However, Rometty was sporting a pink jacket instead of the green blazer that is commonly worn by members of the club, leaving viewers to wonder if she was even invited to become a member of the prestigious Augusta National.

The history of Augusta National is to only admit male CEOs of companies. It is even difficult for professional golfers to become members. Each member of the exclusive club has been invited to join, and memberships are very secretive. It wasn’t even until 1990 when Augusta admitted its first African-American male, Gannett Executive Ron Townsend.

The issue of admitting women to the prestigious club was brought to light once again during the 2012 Masters Tournament hosted by Augusta National. As women are becoming more serious golfers and more influential in the business world, however, social customs will need

to adjust.

Augusta’s gentlemen-only membership is one of them.

President Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney both agree that women should be admitted to the club. Press Secretary Jay Carney spoke for Obama on the controversy relaying that “it is up to the club to decide but it is past time where women should be excluded from anything.’” Augusta National Chairman Billy Payne made no comment other than “the decision is made based on the private deliberation of the members and it has always been that way.”

Societal values of the 21st century have finally descended upon one of the world’s most popular games. What Augusta is doing is not illegal and it is not being forced to change its policies.

However, it is being asked to reevaluate its practices. Admitting trustworthy and dedicated women such as Rometty will only enhance the clubs’ prestige.

Women are becoming prominent in the business field as well as athletics. After decades of proving their ability, women are fully capable of holding higher positions in the work force and giving direction in the community.

Women such as Oprah Winfrey with their own production companies, or Hillary Clinton visiting foreign countries to talk business and holding positions such as Secretary of State, are changing our world with their powerful authority.

They are setting a path for women in the future. Women are in higher positions in the business world.

Excluding women from the fairways is a pastime that must be reevaluated. Athletics need to catch up to corporate, bringing Romney and Rometty on the same level.

Sitting in the clubhouse after my Easter Sunday round of golf with the family, I took out my pencil and added up the scores for everyone.

Both of my uncles, my father and my cousin Robert trailed behind me, one of two girls who golfed with them that day. When I went home, I picked up the remote and turned on the Masters. I witnessed the amazing shot out of the dirt by Bubba Watson, the crying in the aftermath of his victory, and Rometty sitting in the background in her pink jacket. I was dumbfounded.

As a serious woman golfer, not only was the extraordinary putt made

by Watson for the win an incredible experience, but witnessing the exclusion of Rometty as an Augusta club member was also stunning, and it enlightened a wave of feminism that has become an important issue in our society today. n

“ATHLETICS NEED TO CATCH UP TO CORPORATE, BRINGING ROMNEY AND ROMETTY ON THE SAME LEVEL”

70 | Spark | April 26, 2012

Spark

High School Lakota East Online Edition

Go online to read what Rahul Mukherjee thinks about the budget reductions in the athletic department at lakotaeastspark.com

8

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT DISCUS

sports | eight things

story kirsten mckinney east varsity track and field (as told to kaitlin lange) photo jeff back

Prep Throw “Do a couple of warm up throws to put yourself in the right mindset.”

Trust Yourself “Trust that you are going to do the steps right. Know that your practice has paid off.”

Slap The Giant “You have to take your arm without your disk and pretend there is someone behind you that you need to slap. It helps you get the perfect height for the throw.”

Visualize “See where you want your throw to go. You have to visualize the perfect throw.”

Spot “So you don’t fall, you want to pick a spot to look at and keep looking at it during your spin.”

Calm Yourself “You can’t be really nervous or over think it, so you have to calm yourself down.”

Elbow the Pickpocketer “After you slap the giant, you have to pull your elbow in so you can spin faster.”

Look Up “Find where you want your disk to land. If you don’t, you have a tendency to throw downwards.”

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 71

opinion | head-to-head

nugeen aftab

J

“

art lisa cai

The public must educate itself through reliable, objective media sources in order to become aware.

72 | Spark | April 26, 2012

”

ames Madison was smaller than the average teenage girl. But what he lacked in size, he made up for in voice.

In Federalist Paper No. 10, Madison warned that factions would lead to “unsteadiness” and “injustice” in public administrations because of the division and the lack of impartial information. Factions today are interest groups that include members of all social and ethnic types, much different than the wigged social elites of the late 1700s. American voters need to stay away from factions to give them information and instead, they need to take it upon themselves to find objective sources.

The environment around voters, including organizations, affects their ideologies. All interest groups have purposes and agendas, which are reflected by the way these groups present themselves. People join these groups to do something they love or to be with people who think like themselves and want to accomplish similar goals.

For instance, the Tea Party received a great deal of national attention during the 2010 elections and had a spike in membership to 28 percent of all registered voters, according to a Gallup poll conducted March 26-28, 2010. If given the chance to lobby in Congress, the Tea Party and other establishments will work to achieve their personal goals, thus making them biased. Every organization will find facts to fit around its cause.

The same is the case with schools. The Committee for Lakota’s Future (TCLF), a prolevy group known for its “Let’s Move Forward Lakota” campaign, promotes levies in order to richen education, while No Lakota Levy demotes them, demanding overspending to stop. Each has an interest in speaking with a potential voter and convincing him or her to have the same ideology as them.

No Lakota Levy states that Lakota is overspending money on unnecessary things, like new buildings. The faction, however, doesn’t tell voters that buildings have a completely separate budget than the operation of schools. It also argues that the average salary for teachers has increased, which is true. But the reasoning behind it is that the less experienced teachers have been laid off, leaving only senior teachers with tenure, all of which earn more than the starting salary.

TCLF has also played the role of Tom Sawyer.

Lakota Board of Education members agreed to spend $50,000 in search of a new superintendent during the 2010-11 school year. That money was wasted, however, because the district decided not to hire any of the candidates that the committee chose.

In addition, the Board decided to cut $1.5 million from elementary education, but only

Voter decided to cut $73,000 from the athletics General Fund for the entire district. TCLF did not publicize either of the Board’s actions.

The facts that organizations like these provide may be true, but they aren’t necessarily the entire truth. In order to form an opinion based on all the facts, a voter should not go to either of these groups. He or she would be receiving information that endorses the groups’ ideologies and provides an argument that leaves the voter to reach a conclusion without objective information.

The view would be biased and the voter would be swayed.

The public needs to use its resources and get facts from objective sources like journalists, whose job is to report the facts, educate the public and be a watchdog of the government.

The role of checking the government, no matter what political party, takes power away from the government, keeps voters informed and all levels of government alert. That’s not saying journalists don’t have political views, because there is no doubt they do. But when it comes down to the basics, a journalist’s story should be full of balanced reporting and facts, making the piece objective.

For most journalists, the responsibility to report facts comes before their own beliefs.

Given the opportunity to keep an eye on the government, conservative Bob Woodward teamed up with Carl Bernstein to uncover the Watergate scandal under the Nixon presidency.

Together, they revealed the involvement of Nixon in a break-in in the Democratic National Headquarters. Before Woodward was a Republican, he was a journalist.

Media sources like CNN and USA Today are objective and have a purpose to educate the public. Therefore, the public should utilize this resource. Faith should not be put into organizations whose goals are to promote their causes.

If people rely on biased groups to give them facts, they will never form their own opinions.

The public must educate itself through reliable, objective media sources in order to become truly politically aware.

That’s one of the many reasons why the Founding Fathers included the First Amendment right of freedom of speech in the Bill of Rights.

The press was given the responsibility of educating the public and being the watchdog of the government.

With reliable media sources a click away, people need to look at all the facts before flipping to the opinion section of a newspaper or website.

And that’s exactly why my column is at the back of the paper. n

Education T

he Lakota Local School district is slightly better than Kathy Griffin.

Her famed (and controversial) reality show, My Life on the D-List, brought to light the opinion of the general public of her on the scale of celebrity popularity: a D-list spot. This seems to be true about both the district and its respective levy: almost like an old rash that will never heal.

The district accommodates 18,000 students, which makes it the largest suburban district in Ohio. The voters have rejected the Lakota levy three times. Because of this, the district has made 10 million dollars in cuts, including laying off around 104 teachers and specialists at schools district wide, a class period in both high schools (two at the junior highs), and almost all sports and art opportunities from junior schools and elementary schools . The reasons for this attack vary. Some community members really can’t afford the extra taxes. Others are spiteful for reasons only to be known behind closed doors.

But there is another group of people that vote against the levy simply because they have the wrong information.

That’s not to say that everything the Lakota district has done is right or perfect; they do make mistakes. The information, however, has to be correct. Take, for instance, the fact that Lakota has two different budgets: one for construction, and one for operating the district (which is in part funded by levies). This isn’t a well-known fact—there is so little voter education in the township that barely any voters know the basic parts of how a school system runs.

Another misconception due to a lack of general knowledge is that the district hasn’t received any additional money from the state of Ohio since 2005, and any student registered after that year is not paid for by the state. The most alarming fact is that Ohio’s education system had been deemed unconstitutional four times and yet it is still the exact same system we use today. All of these facts should factor into the decision of a Lakota voter, but unfortunately most of the members of this community have no idea.

This lack of proper voter education is prevalent in American society, not just in the Lakota community. It is an enormous problem, so much so that a national study was done by the Cato Institute during the 2004 election on the subject. The study found that 34 percent of people surveyed at the polls were considered “know-nothings” about politics. Their correct responses, an average six out of 31, were the equivalent of guessing. And on average, only 14.4 out of 31 questions were answered correctly in total, most of which were in regards to personal inquires about the presidential candidates.

And while no one is watching “Newlyweds:

maggie schaller

Nick and Jessica” anymore, not that many things have changed since 2004. There are still plenty of “know-nothings:” those who do not even attempt to educate themselves on the real facts of the political world.

It’s an illness that is infecting politics everywhere, not just locally or nationally. Voters know more information on the Kardashian Klan than actual facts of the original healthcare measure about contraceptives or the events that go on at a local school board meeting.

And the Republican candidates to most of the population are being referred to as the Mormon, the womanizer who has had three wives, and theone-that-runs-every-year. There’s more to the candidates than just that—the public could find out more information than they wanted to know about all of them, but sadly viewers aren’t tuning in. Various fact-checking sites, newspapers, government documents, bills and even C-SPAN are all ready and willing for any citizen wanting to take a look. Few do take the time, however, and instead most believe the television ads or mailed flyers as opposed to looking up what’s actually going on in the political realm. And while people are the root of the American political process, they are also the root of this problem. Our lives are just too busy to look up every little thing.

That’s why we need help from the organizations and media trying to educate voters. We can’t do it all by ourselves.

The voters need to be spoon-fed proper information in order for the complex issues of our time to truly be represented. As unfortunate as that is, in order for the votes of the general public to be justified, the information has to be put on every street corner and TV station so it is unavoidable.

Unlike other governments few and far between, we have a Democratic republic. If we have free speech and free votes, there is bound to be manipulation of the voters. If a person is not careful of whom they believe and if they are not educated on the complex topics at hand, then they can’t have a viable opinion. It then falls on the media to pick up the slack and educate, even if the general public’s only desire is to watch every Harry Potter marathon on ABC Family.

In communist countries, or even socialist ones, the right to vote isn’t as important, there is less freedom for the general public to vote.

“Voters” usually end up electing the person who has been in power for 20 years. But, we have a government that thrives on proper education and no misuse of the system. In order for this system to thrive, that background information is going to have to be a part of the political process.

For the Lakota levy, hopefully the right information will be available for voters to make the right decision. And maybe a B-list spot. n

“

We need help from the organizations and media trying to educate voters.

”

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 73

opinion | column

Katie Masterson STAFF WRITER

CHURCH AND STATE contact katie at masterson.katherine.s@gmail.com

E

vangelism does not work in American politics. Republican presidential race dropout Rick Santorum had to learn that lesson the hard way, and is no longer giving speeches extolling the reasons why he should become president. Each American has the right to worship or not to worship in their own particular way to their own particular deities. In fact, this right is written into the Constitution. No part of that should make Santorum nauseous.

When Santorum emphatically stated “I don’t believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute. To say people of faith have no role in the public square, you bet that makes you throw up,” he was responding to a speech made by John F. Kennedy. In that speech, Kennedy reassured the public that his Catholicism would not affect the decisions he would make if elected president. Santorum’s sentiment was not only illogical, but it was also out of context. Kennedy’s words of wisdom only meant that religion wouldn’t be the driving force behind his actions, not that all religiously affiliated people would be removed from government positions.

Even if Santorum’s outburst had made sense in the context of Kennedy’s speech, it would still be inherently wrong. In such a diverse nation, a religiously affiliated government could not be beneficial to the people. According to a 2007 Pew Research Center survey, about 16 percent of Americans do not identify themselves as religiously affiliated, and another 4.7 percent are religious but not Christian, as Santorum is.

Therefore, they should not be obligated to follow a law with its roots in Santorum’s religion; people who are not Christian should not be required to follow Christian laws.

People of faith should be strong enough in their beliefs to act upon their creed’s laws without the government making it Church mandatory. The government can’t force people to follow a religion or its laws; in fact, the First Amendment makes it impossible for the government to make laws in relation to religion.

Our founding fathers recognized that there was not and is not a place for religious belief systems in the government. Even today, 82 percent of East students surveyed support the separation of church and state. The First Amendment was created for a reason.

Part of the reasoning behind America’s colonization was to achieve religious freedom from the Protestant rule of Great Britain. A spiritual shift in

74 | Spark | April 26, 2012

American government could lead to a religious divide in the nation. In this time of economic hardship, such a divide could spur hatred and violence. It’s the last thing we need.

History would just be repeating itself in a disastrous fashion. In the past, religious empires have proven to be unsustainable. The Crusades, religious wars in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries sanctioned by the Pope and the Catholic Church to reclaim the Christian holy land near Jerusalem, greatly weakened the Christian Byzantine Empire. These wars eventually led to the Empire’s fall at the hands of the Turks. Today, Saudi Arabian women face corporal punishment for driving and are not allowed to associate with non-familial men in public because of harsh religious laws.

The separation of church and state needs to be absolute to prevent things like these from happening to America. Perhaps realizing this, Rick Santorum did attempt to retract his statement a few days after he first voiced his opinion, but the damage was already done and helped to bring about his withdrawal from the race. However, Santorum is not alone in his sentiment.

Some members of the Tea Party agree with Santorum in that there should not be a division between church and state. In 2010, Tea Party candidate Glen Urquhart of Delaware even went so far as to argue with a history teacher that the phrase “separation of church and state” did not come from Thomas Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptists, but from Adolph Hitler.

Christine O’Donnell, another member of the Tea Party, was shocked to find out that the First Amendment included language that forbade Congress from making laws about establishments of religion. Colorado Senate candidate Ken Buck said that he disagrees with separation Government of church and state because of the strength of the Constitution. This in itself makes little sense.

Separation of church and state shouldn’t be as controversial as it is. It’s why the first amendment was created. Citizens’ spiritualities must be respected by the government; no power has the right to get involved with an individual’s personal beliefs and religion. That 16 percent of completely secular Americans shouldn’t be forced to follow the tenets of any certain religion.

Just as we didn’t force Rick Santorum to eat his fruits and vegetables, Rick Santorum shouldn’t force us to accept editorial cartoon delena duong religious laws. n

Natasha Rausch SPORTS EDITOR

THE NAKED WARS contact natasha at natasha_rausch@yahoo.com

W

hen high school students start sprinting across backyards for public indecency. wearing nothing more than a determined face while wielding a For the past three years the Lakota School Board has attempted to Nerf Gun, it is the infamous sign heralded by the final quarter bring the community together in order to protect a quality education. of the school year: Nerf Wars.

And after each levy failure, high school students have been dismayed by Still, I debated the idea of joining a team. I have heard all the stories the proposed cuts for the following year. from my two older siblings that have already graduated from the high Yet those students that put their names on the annual Nerf Wars school immaturity that is Nerf Wars, and all of the stories were hilarious. sign-up sheet have forgotten the part that they have taken in promoting But after hearing about girls being chased around by naked guys, I am a community divided. Local businesses around the Lakota district are not not sure what the actual point of the game is. At first glance, a person satisfied with the negative publicity that the naked high school students has the notion that the point is to strategically “stay alive” with the team have given them, and neither are parents that must cover their child’s eyes as they try to eliminate players on other teams as a nude teenager runs across their backyard in by shooting them with small Styrofoam bullets. pursuit of a target.

“NERF WARS IS REALLY But let’s be honest.

It might be easy for a student to say that Nerf Wars is really just a conduit for high these occurrences are not happening on school JUST A CONDUIT FOR HIGH school students to spend their last nights of the property, therefore they have no relation to the school year proving their courage to those too SCHOOL STUDENTS TO SPEND school. Nerf Wars players, however, forget that afraid of breaking the law—by getting naked. each day that we leave our home, we represent Yet in reality, those same people ready to strip THEIR LAST NIGHTS OF THE Lakota. We have a responsibility to uphold the their clothes from their body at any minute SCHOOL YEAR PROVING THEIR values taught in school. If voters see that their are really more cowardly than courageous. The tax dollars have resulted in a bunch of recklessgame is ideally supposed to be centered on a COURAGE TO THOSE TOO driving nudists, they will not take any further team strategy as well as ability to shoot a plastic AFRAID OF BREAKING THE steps to see the community united—something gun. But luckily for those people whose aim and that the district desperately needs with the driving abilities are less than satisfactory, they LAW—BY GETTING NAKED.” severity of next year’s cuts. can always strip to win the game with ease.

Perhaps this is why Dr. Kline sends the same This game-changing rule that players cannot eliminate other players email year after year as a disclaimer that the school does not promote the when naked was established to prevent a person from breaking into an game. Maybe the district can salvage some hope of refurbishing a united opponent’s house and shooting them in the shower. Little did anyone community—for the students’ sake. realize that for high school students this would actually translate to an So after debating for about half a second if I was going to join a excuse to strip around the streets of Liberty Twp. and West Chester to team, I chuckled and said no. I decided that as interesting as it sounded showcase their ignorance and fading tan lines. to have naked high school students hiding in shrubbery and chasing me But what most high school students are really lacking when they down in front of local businesses and behind neighborhood houses, I decide to join a Nerf Wars team (besides clothing that will stay on at am going to pass on joining Nerf Wars this year. all times) is the ability to see beyond the black and white consequences, If that is the hardest decision I’ll have to make in high school, I think such as the possibility of a ticket for reckless driving or a misdemeanor I am set. n excerpt from “Terrorism At Home” Shaima Alawadi was a “respectful modest muhajiba.”

She had five children and a loving husband. She was born in Iraq, but moved to the United States in the mid-90s. She wore a hijab. She was 32 years old.

Shaima Alawadi is dead now. She died on Saturday, March 24th, three days after an unknown assailant broke into her San Diego home while her husband was taking their youngest children to school and bludgeoned her repeatedly with a tire iron. Found next to her body was a note that read, “Go back to your country, you’re a terrorist.”

opinion online column zach fulciniti

Spark

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High Schoo Lakota East Online Edition

lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 75

opinion | east speaks out

Mohinee Mukherjee NEWS EDITOR

MODERNIZING EDUCATION contact mohinee at mohinee_m@yahoo.com

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e have always been told, “Shoot for the moon, but if you fall, language and journalism should be available to the advanced students. you’ll land among the stars.” Some students have reached the CCSS is a step in the right direction, but there needs to be more moon, with their perfect SAT scores and high GPAs. Others changes to modernize education. With pressures mounting to meet the have still exceeded expectations and are among the stars. There is still a requirements for NCLB, states that did not receive the NCLB waiver vast majority of students, however, who do not have the proper rocket will focus their attention toward getting the students who are still on to leave the ground. the ground struggling to meet the minimum. However, these students As the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s shadow those who have already passed the stars. international education study points out, the United States is ranked 14th These high-achieving students only make up a small percentage of in reading, 17th in science and 25th in math. We always complain about the entire student body. According to the College Board, 30.2 percent how other countries such as Finland and South Korea are always ahead of the U.S. graduating class of 2011 took at least one AP exam in high of us in the race of intellect and aptitude. But we are not doing anything school. In the same year, only 18,340 out of almost 27,600 schools in the to give our students the extra boost. country offer AP subjects. From these results, it is apparent that more With legislations such as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) the focus students should be taking upper-level classes and exams. But, as seen in is getting students to meet the minimum standard. NCLB was enacted the results, is left to the discretion of the states. to make sure all students have the equal opportunity for a high-quality The state should not be getting students to meet the bare minimum. education and “reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging state Instead, it should focus its efforts on pushing students beyond the academic achievement standards...” Reaching graduation requirements and AYP necessities. If proficiency is not the same as exceeding one’s the educational system tells students that they just current educational level. have to meet the standard, then many students will “STUDENTS SHOULD TAKE While it is important to help the students not be motivated to pursue anything further. who are lagging behind in the core subjects, THE CHALLENGING PATH AND For example, because of the district-wide NCLB takes little note on how to encourage AIM BEYOND THE STARS.” budget cuts for the 2012-13 school year, East students to take high-level classes. Only once seniors have the option of senior flex, taking only does it mention anything about expanding the classes necessary to complete the graduation the number of students in those classes. NCLB states that it strives requirements. Some students may ignore this option and take a six-period “to demonstrate that larger and more diverse groups of students can schedule or post-secondary classes. The administration made it clear that participate and succeed in advanced placement programs.” It focuses on it does not encourage students to take senior flex. Nonetheless, offering expanding the number of Advanced Placement (AP) classes offered at this subtly upholds the idea that completing the basics is acceptable, and schools. Yet, NCLB encourages only the students who are already taking some students may take advantage of this alternative.

AP classes to take the AP exams.

The key to modernizing education is warping the way states encourage The problem is not that students take AP tests without taking the students to achieve. As a replacement for telling struggling students to class; it is the fact that many students do not push themselves. Since it try to reach the requirement, states should tell students to pursue higher was enacted in 2002, NCLB has not pushed students to take upper-level academic achievement. Instead of saying, “At least reach the stars,” states classes. Instead, it requires all states to bring 100 percent of students to should say, “We expect you all to travel beyond the moon.” the proficiency level by the 2013-14 school year. Schools must also meet In order to change the way the states handle education, the the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) benchmarks set by each state. educational legislations must also transform. For example, No Child The purpose of education is to continue learning, not just to stop Left Behind should be Every Child Moves Forward, and the law should at the bare minimum. At the same time, the government should expect reflect the attitude of its title. In the same way, CCSS curriculum should students to broaden their knowledge through diverse subject matter. express more ways schools around the country can encourage students Right now, the mentality is set that students only have to meet the basic to succeed in upper-level classes. requirement to be successful and pass the test. And this mindset has not With the competition American students face against students around wavered much for the past 10 years. the world, it is imperative that our students have the opportunities to The Ohio Board of Education agreed to enact the Common Core succeed in school and in the job field. In order to reach the moon, State Standards (CCSS) into schools across the state beginning the students should take the challenging path and aim beyond the stars.

2014-15 school year. While the curriculum strives to prepare students There cannot be educational boundaries, especially at a time when to enter college and the workforce by raising regular mathematics and innovation and creativity are considered important skills in the global English language arts/literacy classes to the honors level, it is very vague workforce. But this alteration results only when the state makes efficient as to how it will encourage students to take higher-level classes, just like educational legislations and funding a priority.

NCLB. CCSS recommends that courses such as literature, composition, It would be a shame if the state followed NASA’s footsteps. n

76 | Spark | April 26, 2012

editorial cartoon chris bowling

Spark

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High Schoo Lakota East Online Edition

Go online and see Lauren Mazzella’s cartoons on the Lakota budget cuts along with other columns related to education.

Erin Grasty, senior

Mikaela Berger, sophomore

Monique Selkirk, junior

Ryan O’ Connor, senior

I think it’s a good idea considering that most of the classes I’m taking now are just easy credit to fill space so why have them there when they don’t need to be?

I think that will help with our budget problem because I think that if students aren’t taking unnecessary classes just to fill up their schedule, like Child Development. If they’re really not going to do anything with children, maybe we can have fewer teachers or more space in classes for kids that actually need it.

I don’t have a problem with that as long as they have things worked out.

But if nothing, they really need to take a look at their schedule.

When you have to take more classes, it encourages kids to take AP classes and they can get college credit.

If kids only have to take one class, they would get more free time so they’re most likely to [not be seen by colleges as good students].

East Speaks Out lakotaeastspark.com | Spark | 77 What is your opinion regarding senior flex schedule?

opinion | finishing touch

devin CASEY

PAY ATTENTION TO ME

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his is a column. I will try my hardest to wrestle your attention to the ground with a few quips and creatively-worded sentences. Seeing as I have already carelessly breached my 140-character limit, I understand if this is the last sentence read before my face is critiqued and this issue joins its fellow print media outlets in the trash.

This is a world of instant gratification. A world crafted by social media and expectations of instantaneousness where 4G is the Lord’s second coming and lag is the first of the four horsemen. A world where #RIPWhitney, a Twitter tribute following the death of beloved Whitney Houston, was trending for one day, while #GhettoKoolAidFlavors graced the list of the top trending hashtags in America for eight consecutive days.

A world in which prolific athletes can abuse canines and promote infidelity, yet find unbridled stardom and reverence in the eyes of star-struck fanatics with attention spans that don’t even last as long as the flavor in Zebrastriped gum.

In response to the Kony 2012 video, which went viral in an unprecedented fashion, a study by the Pew Research Center was released which indicated that the generation which has grown up with wall posts and has been tumbling before it could crawl will have its minds maimed and left for dead as a result of “a lack of deep-thinking ability due to what one referred to as ‘fast-twitch wiring.’”

Kony 2012 indicated that it was no stranger to the monumental rodeo that is pinning the focus of a web-based audience by giving its followers a sense of self-righteous accomplishment (as everyone is guilty of an acute form of narcissism), and by setting future rally dates to ensure that its movement lasted longer than a Kardashian marriage.

Yet the millennial audience did what it did best as the world-famous movement began to plunge in popularity. After earning nearly 85 million hits on YouTube within its two weeks of its March 5 release, a survey conducted on March 21 at San Diego State University indicated that 43 percent of those surveyed were unsure where the movement was headed and 27 percent did not even remember the Ugandan warlord’s name. In what might as well have been an attempt to salvage some national attention, Invisible Children co-founder Jason Russell essentially went streaking for hits in a pathetic attempt to keep his name and his movement in the limelight.

Kony 2012’s fan base lost patience. If the movement isn’t pointed, concise and doesn’t give the activist a feeling of accomplishment, it can be considered as guaranteed of a fail as Barry Bonds taking a steroid test.

Following the tragic killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, the extremely one-sided reporting from the media allowed horrified listeners to quickly turn into silent protestors as people across the nation donned hoodies to resemble Trayvon and churches in New York City and Atlanta held masses led by hoodie-wearing ministers. Once rumors surfaced of Trayvon attacking his killer, George Zimmerman, first, the well-intentioned protest became increasingly complex and the hooded supporters no longer dominated Twitter feeds. The “lack of deep-thinking ability” was disgustingly prevalent as the topic became no more than a mere whisper until “#justice” was served as Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder.

As people attempt to continue to grasp onto simplistic ideas and the latest trends, the young, millennial generation slowly loses its sense of patience and its ability to comprehend, interpret and respond appropriately to issues. Activists will continue to claw away at discovering the key to the short attention spans of modern readers. My hope is that they won’t continue to reduce themselves to public nudists drinking ghetto Kool-Aid. n

78 | Spark | April 26, 2012

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