Issue 1 2021-22

Spark

Section | story

SPECIAL REPORT The NEW NORMAL two years into the pandemic.

Lakota East High School lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021 $5 Newstand

BIG TEN BOUND East Running Back Charlie Kenrich committed to Purdue University for football.

MASKS DEBATE 1 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

NEW BOARD CANDIDATES

#LAKOTAONTHEMOVE

Why is Miami University Regionals the right fit?

COME SEE FOR YOURSELF Whether in a group or self-guided tour, a virtual session, or a 1:1 meeting with an admission counselor, our visits accommodate your preference and schedule.

Schedule your visit today at

MiamiOH.edu/Regionals/Visit

2 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

INSIDE THE

story name | Section

Section | story

ISSUE

ISSUE #198 OCTOBER 2021

06 MASKING

Lakota community members debate the recent mask mandate.

15

SCHEDULE CHANGE

The new bell schedule has stirred frustration among East staff and students.

22 SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATES This November, eight candidates are running for three spots on the Lakota Board of Education.

26 LAKOTA ON THE MOVE

This summer, Lakota launched an initative to follow families travelling around the globe.

33 THE NEW NORMAL

Two years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lakota students adopt to a new way of life.

54 DUNE REVIEW

Culture Editor Andie Madding reviews the classic sciencefiction novel “Dune” proceeding its theatrical release.

58 CHARLIE KENRICH

East senior Charlie Kenrich commits to the Division 1 football program at Purdue University.

70 GIFTED KID BURNOUT

News Editor Natalie Mazey reflects on how being labeled “gifted” can have adverse effects on students.

(Right) East senior and Drum Major Jack Nomina conducts the Lakota East Marching Band during their halftime show at the East vs. Moeller season opener. photography riley higgins 3 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021 October 2021

lakotaeastsparkonline.com 3

Spark

2021-2022 STAFF

Editors-in-Chief:

Riley Higgins Mia Hilkowitz

Business Manager: Asst. Business Manager:

Riley Higgins Kaitlin Dwomoh

News Editors:

Natalie Mazey Megan Miranda

Feature Editor: Package Editors:

Culture Editors:

Sports Editors:

Opinion Editors:

Photography Editor: Art Editor:

Marleigh Winterbottom Abbey Bahan Zach Shultz Ianni Acapulco Andie Madding Evie Colpi Ben Stowe Rehab Jarabah Olivia Rigney Audrey Allen Vi Dao

Graphics Editor:

Mary Barone

Webmasters:

Mary Barone Mia Hilkowitz

Copyeditors:

Creative Directors

Riley Higgins Mia Hilkowitz Natalie Mazey Ianni Acapulco Marleigh Winterbottom

Social Media Manager:

Frankie Stull

Advisor:

Dean Hume

4 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Dear Spark, During the window of time between June 16 and Aug. 17, 2021, there were two questions that I was asked repeatedly: Are you bringing your crazy pants back and are you happy to be back at Lakota East?

I will use this space as an opportunity to answer both. The answer is very easy. The answer to both is a resounding yes.

I feel extremely blessed to have the opportunity to be the principal of Lakota East High School and truly believe that when my career ends, this will be my capstone role. It is my hope that this is my final destination, but my journey would attest that we can never fully know where life will take us.

The answer that I have provided when asked question two typically has been this: “Yes, but it was the hardest easy decision that I have ever made.”

Twice, I have left Lakota East to accept a position at New Richmond High School. Both times, I was presented with an amazing opportunity-the first time to enter the administrative field and the second to run a comprehensive 9-12 high school after three years of running a single gradelevel building. Both times, I had an amazing experience that led me to fall in love with the students and school community.

Since I felt that way, why did I come back? It is a really simple answer: aside from becoming the first person to have three separate stints at Lakota East, it is because it’s Lakota East!

It would be easy to say that this is home for me. I was here when the building opened in 1997, and this truly is my professional home.

There is no place like Lakota East. As cliche as it may sound, there is nothing that is impossible here. We have teams that compete for state championships. We have programs and organizations that make an impact on the national level. We have the capacity to provide opportunities that appeal to a diverse population of students so they all have the chance to feel connected. There is nothing that is beyond our reach, and that is not something that every school can truly say. • --- Robert Burnside, Lakota East Principal 2021-22 The Spark encourages letters to the editor. Letters can be sent to the publication at sparkbusiness2022@gmail.com or delivered to room 118 at the Lakota East High School Main Campus. Letters must be signed, and the staff reserves the right to edit the letters for length, grammar, invasion of privacy, obscenity or potential libel. The opinion editor will contact writers for confirmation.

ON THE COVER

photography riley higgins

Spark

SPECIAL REPORT The NEW NORMAL two years into the pandemic.

Lakota East High School lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021 $5 Newstand

BIG TEN BOUND East Running Back Charlie Kenrich committed to Purdue University for football.

MASKS DEBATE

NEW BOARD CANDIDATES

#LAKOTAONTHEMOVE

This issue, Spark features varsity running back Charlie Kenrich following his recent commitment to the Division I football program at Purdue University.

Pictured: Kenrich makes a play during East’s 54-21 victory over Hamilton.

editorial column | opinion

Section | story

EDITORIAL COLUMN

LAKOTA, MASK UP The Spark Editorial Board voted 17-0 in support of Lakota’s decision to require masks for in-person learners and staff.

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akota students and staff need to continue to wear masks during in-person instruction to limit the disruption to their education and protect the lives of those around them.

Following Superintendent Matt Miller’s announcement on Aug. 16 that Lakota would require masks for all in-person teachers and students for the start of the school year, argument and anger erupted throughout the district lines. In addition to aggressive displays on social media, forms of protest towards the decision have disrupted school board meetings and important classroom activities over the first weeks of school. This argument intensified following the School Board’s vote to extend the face-covering requirement into September.

It is time to stop the debate. Masking-up is

5 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

column editorial board | photography caleb vanatta the only way to ensure students receive quality education this year. Compared to this same time period during the 2020-21 school year, quaratines among students and staff have significantly decreased as a result of this requirement. With fewer quarantines, students are able to spend more time in the classroom, at sport events, and participating in extracurriculars. Wearing masks ensures that these valuable school experiences can be maintained at a much higher capacity than last year.

M

ore importantly, Lakota staff and students should continue to wear masks to protect the lives of those around them. With the worldwide COVID-19 death toll reaching almost 5 million, wearing masks can help decrease the

potential lives lost, especially as the more deadly strain of the virus “Delta” spreads nationwide.

If not to protect themselves from the virus, the choice to put on a mask before walking through the school doors will potentially save the lives of teachers, neighbors, family and community members who may not be able to protect themselves.

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hile the masks may inhibit some speech and cause irritation at times, the pandemic is far from over.

However, strictly following the mask requirement for in-person instruction is the most reasonable solution to maintain any sense of normalcy for this school year. To keep the schools open, students, teachers, administrators and parents alike, should mask up. •

October 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 5

News | Masks A community member stands outside an August board meeting before going to sit in the Plains Junior cafeteria with 161 others to watch the board members on livestream.

MASKING CONTROVERSY After mandating masks for this fall, the Lakota district has been met with an even split of support and protests. story, infographic, and photography mary barone

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early 200 concerned parents and community members cram into the dimly-lit cafeteria of Plains Junior. A broadcast of the Lakota School Board meeting in a nearby classroom is projected over the stage. All eyes glued on the screen, the charged-up crowd replied with cheers or boos as the board discusses the recently-announced mask mandate.

Following the announcement on that masks would be required for Lakota students and staff for the fall, debate surrounding mandated masking spread throughout the community.

THE DECISION On Aug. 16, 2021, Lakota Superintendent Matt Miller announced that the district would require masks for all in-person students and staff. The announcement was delivered by email two days before students returned to school on Aug. 18, 2021.

“The information that we are receiving is changing, almost daily,” Miller told Spark.

“The piece of information that pushed me over the edge in terms of mandating masks was the letter from 350 [Southwest Ohio] doctors and that came in two days before we announced our

6 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

decision.”

As superintendent, Miller has the authority to make emergency decisions on the daily operations of Lakota schools without seeking the board’s approval first. This authority includes his decision to require face masks instead of strongly recommending them prior to the start of school.

On Aug. 5, the district issued a survey to Lakota staff, parents, and students via email enquiring whether they felt masks should be required in the upcoming school year. Of the 7,700 surveyed, 49% voted no and 45% voted yes, while 6% were indifferent. A third of those

Section | story who voted yes thought that masks should only be mandated for grades K-6, and two-thirds voted for mandatory masks among all students and staff.

When issuing the survey, the district clarified that it was one data point among several that would be taken into consideration and the decision would not be made based on the results. Miller was not surprised by the community’s mixed reactions to the mandate.

“The speakers at our board meetings, emails [we have received], and the [staff and parent] survey all seem to be 50-50 now,” Miller said.

“Some people understand and some people don’t. I have emphasized that this is more about keeping kids in school rather than masks or no masks because it comes down to quarantines.”

According to Miller, the Lakota Board of Education has been looking towards maskoptional districts to predict the results if Lakota were to do the same. For instance, Hamilton County Schools’ percentage of positive COVID-19 cases is three times Lakota’s.

Princeton Schools’ percentage of positive cases is six times that of Lakota. Additionally, Mason City Schools requires K-6 students to wear masks and their positive rate is 3.5 times more than Lakota.

“We’re educators, not public health experts,” Miller said. “These decisions are made based on facts and observing the consequences that non[mask] mandatory districts deal with.”

A

QUARANTINES

ccording to the Lakota website, in the first semester of the 2020-2021 school year, 5,493 quarantines were issued to students and staff due to COVID-19 exposure. The quarantine process, determined by the Butler County Health Department and the Ohio Department of Health, takes in a variety of factors including vaccination status, the proper wearing of masks, and distance between students.

“If everyone is masked in a classroom setting and someone tests positive, no one has to be quarantined,” Executive Director of Community Relations Betsy Fuller told Spark. “The procedures get messy when masks are not mandated, so we had to take that into consideration.”

The district will be required to comply with House Bill 244 starting Oct. 1, 2020. Due to the Delta-8 variant, schools will no longer be able to take vaccination status into consideration when issuing quarantines. Released on July 27, 2021, this state legislation follows the Center for Disease Control’s updated guide for students to wear masks in close-contact public places, even if they are fully vaccinated.

Fuller explained that while this bill lessens the divide between vaccinated and unvaccinated students, it also ensures a higher number of quarantines if students do not wear masks at

7 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

Masks | News

The Mask Impact A comparison of Lakota school district’s mask-mandatory versus maskoptional quarantine procedures. Quarantine procedures were put in place by the Butler County Health Department.

Mask Mandatory Were + case and contact within 3 feet for 15 No Continue

Yes

minutes?

wearing face covering

Is contact fully

No

Were + case and contact properly wearing masks?

vaccinated?

Yes Yes

No

Wear face covering

Quarantine

and self monitor for 14 days

Mask Reccomended Is contact showing symptoms?

Yes Go into COVID isolation, No

consider testing

Does contact have COVID

No quarantine Yes

antibodies or the vaccine?

symptoms

No

Were + case and

No

contact within three feet for 15

Yes

minutes?

Was the exposure in a classroom or on

Yes

as long as contact has no

No

a bus?

No

Were they within 6 feet for 15 or more minutes?

Quarantine

Were + case No

and contact properly wearing

Yes

masks?

Yes

source butler county health department According to stats from Lakota, the district has had 483 student quarantines between Aug. 18 and Sept. 13 following mask-mandatory procedures. Had masks not been mandated, an estimated 1,100 more students would have been quarantined.

October 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 7

News | Masks

“The core competency of this district is to educate children. We’re not trying to be divisive; what we’re trying to do is keep our children in school so they can learn. I want the masks to go away too, but right now they’re necessary for us to carry out our responsibility as a district.”-Board Member Brad Lovell all times.

Refusal to wear a mask properly will result in a case of insubordination according to Lakota’s website. However, students may still be exempt from wearing a mask for a medical or religious reason. The district has a two page waiver that the student’s parent must fill out to qualify for exemption. As of Aug. 20 the district has received 119 mask waivers for the entire district, meaning .68% of the student population is dismissed from wearing a mask.

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COMMUNITY RESPONSE

ast’s demographic reflected the community’s mixed feelings towards the mandate. In a recent Spark survey of 168 East students, 49% of students believe masks should be mandatory compared to the other 51% who do not. Additionally, 56% of students surveyed feel safer in schools with mandated masks and only 29% of students wear masks in public places where they are not required.

East senior August Whitton falls under the 49% of students in support of the mandate.

“It’s not that big of a deal to wear a mask in my opinion. They’re pretty inexpensive, and you only wear them for a few hours of the day,” Whitton told Spark. “I was in-person and wore a mask all year. I’m used to it at this point.”

Upon hearing of the mandate, Woodland parent Alisia Davis was disappointed by the district’s decision to announce it at the last minute. Davis says that she would have made arrangements for her son to attend a maskoptional private school if she had more warning. “[The district] took the opportunity from us to make another decision,” Davis told Spark.

“It felt very strategic and spineless, and that’s what pissed me off the most.”

Following the announcement, Davis and her husband created an online petition titled “nomasklakota”. As of Sept. 16, the petition had accumulated more than 1,058 signatures.

The site also urged parents to attend a 9am protest at the Lakota Local School District Offices, proclaiming that children have the right to say “Our Body, Our Choice” to the mask mandate.

The protests lasted three days: the first took place on Aug. 17 with an attendance of over 70 community members. They held up anti-mask signs to cars driving by: they read things such

as ‘parent choice not yours’ and ‘let us choose’.

Protests went on for four days with each protest consisting of less participants than the last.

O

BOARD RULING

n Aug. 23 the school board met at Plains Jr. to discuss the topic of mandatory m a s k s .

161 parents and community members showed up to speak on the topic, 12 of whom were masked.

Board Member Lynda O’Connor motioned to strongly encourage masks rather than enforce them, but was not seconded in her request.

O’Connor then motioned for the board to reconsider the mandate at its meeting on Sept. 27.

“There’s absolutely no clear path, but I still move toward parent choice in the process,” O’Connor said. “Parents need to be able to make decisions for their children’s health and we have moved away from that.”

The board passed O’Connor’s amended motion unanimously after board member Julie Schaffer emphasized the impact that unmasked students have on others.

“When one child comes in unmasked and brings in COVID based on their parent’s decision, it impacts another child and whether they get COVID,” Schaffer said. “We are not operating in individual biomes, we are operating together.”

Lakota Board Member Brad Lovell acknowledged all sides of the argument, but reminded the community of the board’s main priority.

“The core competency of this district is to educate children. We’re not trying to be divisive; what we’re trying to do is keep our children in school so they can learn,” Lovell said. “I want the masks to go away too, but right now they’re necessary for us to carry out our responsibility as a district.” •

8 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

At a board meeting, a Lakota mom protests the decision to require masks.

Section | story

Fair School Funding Plan | News

East students Kaleb Flood, Erin Cooney, and Mia Kamphuis use their school-issued chromebooks in their fitness evaluation class. 46% of Lakota’s COVID-19 expenses were related to technology.

FUNDING OUR FUTURE The recent of the implementation of the Fair School Funding Plan means more money for Lakota schools.

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story and infographic natalie mazey | photography mary barone he Ohio legislature approved the Fair School Funding Plan, a $75 billion comprehensive overhaul of Ohio school funding on Jun. 28, 2021. Lawmakers approved the first two years of the six-year plan, leaving it’s future uncertain. Future general assemblies hold the power to continue to fund it. “[The Fair School Funding Plan] is the largest commitment of state resources for K-12 education in the history of the state [of Ohio],” Ohio State Board of Education President Laura Kohler said.

FORMULA One of the most significant changes within the Fair School Funding Plan is the alteration of the base cost, the amount per-pupil the state pays. Before the Fair School Funding Plan, the base cost was $6,020. Now, this cost is based

on the expenses individual districts are facing, including transportation, teacher salaries, and direct classroom instruction, making it a unique calculation for every district.

“Local costs are now included in the base cost methodology,” Lakota Treasurer Jenni Logan told Spark. “It’s not just some number that’s based on something that somebody came up with in Columbus.”

According to Deputy Director of Legislative Services for the Ohio School Boards Association Will Schwartz, the previous formula had a host of shortcomings, including not using the income of residents in the distinct or changes in enrollment to determine the base cost.

“The formula the General Assembly decided to enact [before the Fair School Funding Plan] was a frozen formula that didn’t recognize any changes at the local level,” Schwartz said. “We weren’t using a base dollar amount that was derived from any sort of data. It was a base per-

9 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

pupil amount that we just picked out of thin air.”

A legislative analysis concluded more than 80% of Ohio’s districts would receive between $7,000 and $8,000 in per-pupil base funding under this new formula. In the past, the formula relied heavily on property values to calculate this base number, but now property values and resident income are put into consideration to calculate the local contribution.

“The Fair School Funding Plan uses a more stable and predictable method of determining what the split between state and local funds looks like,” Kohler said. “Relying on both property values and resident income is really important for rural communities where farmers might have high property values, but their income may not be all that high. In the past, in rural communities, the local residents were expected to make up more money.”

Teacher salaries are part of determining

October 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 9

News | Fair School Funding Plan the base cost, but according to Vice President for Ohio Policy at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute Chad Aldis, this is a flaw on multiple levels. The teacher salary data used is from 2018, already making it outdated, and the use of teacher salaries in this calculation could become unsustainable over time.

“If districts around the state use these dollars to increase teacher salaries, it would say that the average teacher salary is much higher, because everybody raised their teacher salaries,” Aldis told Spark. “That would then require a lot more state dollars. Most of us think they probably need higher teacher salaries, but whether they need it or not, local decisions will drive state costs, and that likely is unsustainable over time.”

The Lakota Educator’s Association (LEA) declined to comment at this time.

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FUNDING

ne big question surrounding the future of the Fair School Funding Plan is where the funds will eventually come from. The Department of Education’s General Revenue Fund and the profits from the Ohio Lottery are what finance Ohio’s 612 public school districts, 49 joint vocational school districts, 319 public community schools and seven Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) schools. In addition, they fund the activities of the Ohio Department of Education, which includes funding for early childhood education, pre-school, special education, assessments, and the A-F report card.

Public schools in Ohio are funded by state funds, local sources like property taxes, federal funds, and, in select cases, income taxes.

“Funding has always been a partnership between the state of Ohio and the local school district,” Kohler said. “[The Fair School Funding Plan] works to equalize funding and provide additional state resources for schools and districts who do not have that local capacity and wealth to raise their revenues locally.”

Through property tax levies and other means for gaining funds, some districts are

willing and able to spend more money, and nothing in Ohio law prohibits that.

“Many districts go to their voters and ask for additional resources and property tax levies, and those districts bring in significantly more resources,” Aldis said. “It’s really difficult for the state to figure out a way to get everybody the same amount of money as districts who tax themselves at extremely high rates that other communities are either unable or unwilling to pay.”

Mason City Schools passed a levy for the first time since 2005 in April, 2020 by nearly 70%, allowing the district to lean on local funds. Mason, like many suburban districts, is often subjected to flat funding, meaning there will be no cuts in state funding levels. Despite this, costs for school operations are increasing, forcing many districts to increase property taxes.

“In Mason, we’ve gotten used to [Ohio] stepping away from its responsibility to suburban school districts like ours,” Public Information Officer of Mason City Schools Tracey Carson said. “We tend to plan for flat funding. There’s a lot of emphasis on local communities to fill in the gap from the state budget.”

The Fair School Funding Plan adds $1.28 billion in new state fund spending in the 20222023 biennium for primary and secondary education compared to fiscal year 2021. The budget also increases state spending by $534.7 million, which is an increase of 5.6% in fiscal year 2022, before adding $203 million, another 2%, in fiscal year 2023.

While many are pleased with this increase in funding, some, like Schwartz, are fearful for its future, due to the fact only two of six years were approved.

“If you’re not concerned about the future of the Fair School Funding Plan then you’re not paying attention,” Schwartz said. “This is only two years of the six-year plan. That means it’s going to require not only one, but two general assembly budget processes to continue funding and building upon the formula. It means working with a new house speaker in the legislative session. The work is before us, and

we know the challenges that lie ahead.”

Aldis feels similarly and explains that the plan greatly increases spending, but no new taxes were created to fund it.

“Over the next four or five years, the system may not get the resources it needs. If you found the plan that works, I think it makes sense to fund it, not to expect future legislators to fund it,” Aldis said. “I think the reason they didn’t do that is because they didn’t find the source of money to pay for it. Where does the money come from eventually?”

In addition, the Fair School Funding plan explicitly states funds must be used for their intended purpose.

“It’s put into law that we have to report on how we’re spending those funds,” Logan said.

“With gifted specifically, if we don’t spend those funds on gifted kids, we have to send the money back.”

Even though Logan is pleased overall with the passing of the Fair School Funding Plan, she also sees this gap in its future success.

“I would have liked to have seen the sixyear phasing that we had recommended to have stayed intact,” Logan said. “Specifically with poverty funds, we had recommended that that be fully phased in. It was phased in at a much slower rate than we recommended.”

Although there is criticism, Aldis thinks the Fair School Funding Plan has made strides in creating an equitable system to fund Ohio Schools.

“There’s not one particular magical formula that is the right way to fund schools,” Aldis said. “Many people will say it should be a state responsibility, but at the end of the day, the state is made up of the state funding sources that come from Ohioans paying taxes.”

CHARTER SCHOOLS AND STATE VOUCHERS

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ithin the Fair School Funding Plan, the language around charter schools was altered. Now, charter schools and Ed-choice scholarships are funded directly from the state.

“If you’re not concerned about the future of the Fair School Funding Plan then you’re not paying attention. This is only two years of the six-year plan. The work is before us, and we know the challenges that lie ahead.”-Deputy Director of Legislative Services for the Ohio School Boards Association Will Schwartz 10 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

Section | story Any student entering grades K-12 whose family’s income is at or below 250% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines is eligible to apply for EdChoice scholarships in which the state pays for that child to attend a private school.

Alternatively, charter schools, more commonly known as community schools in Ohio, are privately-run entities operating on public funds.

According to the Public School Review, there are five public charter schools serving 893 students in Butler County, with the topranked school being Middletown Prepatory and Fitness Academy. Even at the number one spot, this school earned two out of 10 in the Public School Review’s ranking.

In the past, money was filtered through the district in which the student attended, meaning the district would obtain additional funds that would then be sent to the appropriate charter or private school.

“It will simplify the budgeting process for our school treasurers in both charter schools and public schools,” Schwartz said. “It’s going to remove the adversarial relationship that’s existed between those two entities.”

Besides attending the public school assigned by location, Ohio students have the option to participate in Ed-choice scholarships or interdistrict open enrollment.

About 80% of public districts in Ohio offer open enrollment; however, In Lakota, the Board of Education re-evaluates interdistrict open enrollment each year. Open enrollment is currently closed for the 2021-22 school year.

“For many years, students were funded [based on] where they lived, and then the funds were transferred if students and families did choose education options like schools scholarships, vouchers, or through open enrollment,” Kohler said. “Money won’t have to be transferred, therefore reducing animosity.”

Under the Fair School Funding Plan, EdChoice scholarships will increase $5,000 per student in grades K-eighth and $7,500 per student in grades nine-12. Charter schools are also now allowed to open in any district in the state.

Having “school choice,” according to Aldis, allows students to get the highest quality of education no matter socioeconomic status or location.

“Many times people in high wealth districts pay huge premiums to be able to live in those school districts. If they’re unhappy with the quality of the education, they’re better able to lobby for changes within the district to change district policy, or, if that fails, they can sell their house and move,” Aldis said. “It’s a bigger challenge for lower income families who don’t have all of the same resources, and for whom moving simply wouldn’t be an option.”

Fair School Funding Plan | News While charter schools and the subsequent state funds that accompany them give families greater options, Carson sees some issues with the increasing accessibility of charter schools.

“Some of the charter schools in the state are an entire other system of schools that are funded through the state’s taxpayer dollars but aren’t accountable to a local board of education and don’t have the same accountability measures,” Carson said. “It’s just a pipeline of money.”

According to a review conducted by the Akron Beacon Journal of 4,263 audits by State Auditor Dave Yost’s office, charter schools misspend public money nearly four times more often than any other type of taxpayer-funded agency.

“When you look at some of the charter schools in the past that Ohio has funded, their results have not been good for kids, and in many cases, there’s a lot of documentation about fraud,” Carson said. “Some of those charter schools have kids enrolled and not even attending. They’ve had issues with families being dissatisfied when they come back to their public school being farther behind.”

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State Funding Before The Fair School Funding Plan State Funds

Public Schools

COVID MONEY

ue to the COVID-19 pandemic, schools in Ohio were awarded additional funds in the form of grants, some of which include Coronavirus Relief Funds (CRF) and the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER). According to Logan, Lakota will be using the $19.6 million in federal grants to continue to fund the following: the Virtual Learning Option (VLO), online curriculum, expanding 1:1 technology down to the third grade, nurses, and Lakota’s Learning Loss Recovery Plan. The Lakota District used 46% of these funds on technology, with the next highest usage being classroom supplies at 17%.

“T​​here were so many additional costs associated with procuring buildings to safely educate students during a pandemic,” Kohler said. “The costs of really developing online learning applications and opportunities for students overnight were necessary but expensive.”

COVID-19 procured unheard of costs, meaning additional money necessary in order to continue educating students to the fullest capacity, according to Schwartz.

“Grants have provided a lifeboat to many schools and students, particularly in a time where Ohio’s school districts have suffered historic cuts,” Schwartz said. “What the federal pandemic emergency aid did was help shore up that lost revenue, and help provide more support to school districts to help address these acute issues brought on by COVID-19.” •

11 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

Flow of State Funds to Private and Charter Schools

Charter Schools

Private School Vouchers

State Funding After The Fair School Funding Plan State Funds

Charter Schools

Private School Public Schools Vouchers

source Fair School Funding Plan

Average Ohio Proficiency Scores Math Reading Charter Schools

35% 43%

Public Schools

63% 64% source public school review

October 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 11

News | Gifted Education Gifted Specialist Amy Alexander works with students at Union Elementary.

GAINING IN GIFTED Lakota implements new model for teaching gifted curriculum to the elementary school levels. story and infographic megan miranda | photography mary barone

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n her break, Amy Alexander sits in a room full of teachers. She is attempting to help educators reach gifted students.

Those teachers need to challenge their gifted students to use their brains in ways that encourage complex thinking. After offering new projects and tasks for the teachers to use, Alexander feels excited to start off the year with an eager community surrounding her.

Prior to the 2021-2022 school year, Lakota invested in eight Gifted Intervention Specialists (GIS) that supported advanced math for grades three through five at different elementary school buildings. Now, the district will cut GIS’s in favor of an alternative plan. Lakota has cut the number of GIS’s to four but looks to change methodology. It will incorporate classroom teachers into the mix. “[Lakota] has a whole bunch of students that never were able to access gifted services.

GIFTED PROGRAM PART 1 Part one analyzes the new gifted program from an administrative perspective.

The story will be followed by a part two reporting teacher experience and opinion.

That was what sparked the change. We want to do better and do more for our kids,” Assistant Director of Gifted Services Lauren Webb said.

“With personalized learning, it opened this pathway and allowed us to build capacity in our teachers to reach more of our gifted students.”

The new plan requires the four GIS’s to serve two elementary schools each, but because there are fewer specialists, the focus is switching to the teachers. Now, GIS’s will be supporting

12 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

and training all classroom teachers to teach advanced math and language arts curriculum.

“One of the reasons we knew it could be successful was because we had many gifted students in VLO, but we didn’t have enough GIS’s to try to support both in person and VLO,” Webb said. “We found this model that we’re using now, where we’re supporting it in different capacities, and it works. It’s awesome to lean on the teachers who already know how to teach amazing things to our kids and recognize that they can do it with the support of personalized learning.”

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akota’s Instructor for Curriculum Christina French and her team focused on making “data driven decisions” to determine steps for the gifted program.

“We’re taking a look at all of our students’ data and then making decisions around

Gifted Education | News

Section | story assignments and learning for kids,” French told Spark. “If you are a gifted level learner, you will have specialized lessons and resources to meet your needs. It’s really the next level of that personalized learning approach.”

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ne of the four current GIS’s, Alexander, has extensive experience with gifted curriculum in her years at Lakota. Four years ago, she switched from teaching 6th grade math at Hopewell Elementary to working with teachers at Liberty Junior School covering advanced curriculum. The next year, she did the same while also working with teachers at Plains Junior School. In 2019 she became one of eight gifted specialists at the time for elementary students at Union Elementary.

Alexander now supports all the third, fourth, and fifth grade math students at Union and Hopewell Elementary, while also supporting gifted students in sixth grade in all four subjects as the program expands.

“This role is very much like an instructional coach, which is the job that I used to do at Liberty Junior and Plains,” Alexander said.

“My role is supporting teachers as they’re making that transition from teaching typically developing students in math, to teaching those same kids in addition toe this cluster of gifted students. They have to create new lessons and learn to differentiate kids who are higher than grade level.”

While there has been confusion amongst parents regarding having gifted and regular paced learners in the same class, Webb explains the change as having a classroom with students at varying levels.

“There isn’t really a direction where [teachers

have] to spend 50% [of their time] with gifted [students] and 50% with non gifted students,” Webb said. “However, with our Language Arts Plus classes, there are gifted clusters in some buildings, and in others, it’s a dedicated class that depends on the ability of the building with teachers, coverage, and how many students.”

Alexander believes that figuring out the different abilities of students in their classrooms is not necessarily a new skill set for teachers. Now, to help determine where students are at different points in the curriculum, teachers are utilizing pretests. “[Teachers] are thinking; ‘Who are the ones that really need the focus?’, ‘Who needs a retaught lesson?’, and ‘Who needs to just practice the lesson?’,” Alexander said. “[Teachers are] using pretests before the units and lessons to help them pick out the kids that have already mastered [the topic].

It helps them put the kids into groups, and then spend the right amount of time with the groups that need a little extra practice.”

Since the start of the school year, Alexander’s main responsibility has been preparing teachers for a new routine and discussing how their classroom dynamics will change to suit the needs of the students in their class. As part of this preparation, she gives teachers strategies for how to work with kids of all different ability levels.

“I taught [teachers] this strategy that’s called ‘most difficult first’, where you pick out the three or four most challenging problems [in math] and the kids that can show mastery with just those three or four, do those [problems] first and move onto other activities because they’ve already got it,” Alexander told Spark. “I provide stations and group work for teachers to give really challenging, rigorous activities to kids [who have] mastered the

Gifted Identification Types

Specific Academic Ability

Superior Cognitive Ability

13 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

source education.ohio.gov

Visual or Performing Arts Ability

Expanded Emotions

Lakota adds new special for the elementary schools.

I

•story megan miranda n addition to the establishment of a gifted program for Language Arts, a new special focusing on Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) has been implemented for students in kindergarten through sixth grade. By cutting the number of GIS’s, Lakota has added positions for seven different SEL instructors.

The implementation of this new special was initiated following the state of Ohio’s announcement of a new state standard, that the K-12 schools needed a stronger focus on social emotional learning. Now, Lakota is making an effort to fulfill this standard beyond what has already been included in the required health curriculum.

“We revamped the [health] special over the summer to highlight SEL more.

It’s allowed us to [see] the consistency of how those standards are applied across the district,” Director of Student Services Lori Brown said. “I’ve been in the classrooms a couple of times already this year and love seeing the kids learning about themselves and all the strengths that help them as they go through their academic careers.”

According to Brown, part of Lakota’s goal with each graduating class is ensuring they are college and career ready. Brown believes that SEL will play a role in this preparedness.

“Any teacher in the district would tell you that social emotional learning is a big part of their classroom,” Brown said. “It’s those skills that help build confidence, self esteem, college and career readiness, and all those things that help kids be successful after high school.”.

Current gifted specialist for grades seven through twelve at Lakota, Ron Henrich believes that the Gifted Program adjustments will not create a large burden for teachers and that the changes allowing for SEL will help student-teacher relationships.

“As far as the social emotional learning part, I think it’s going to allow the students to know that their teachers care,” Henrich said. “Then [students are] going to want to talk about other things too and be able to get into the lessons because they know that [teachers] care.” •

Creative Thinking Ability

October 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 13

News | Gifted Education grade level content for that day or for the whole unit.”

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lexander says one of the primary benefits of developing the gifted program this way, is that there may be some students with proficiencies in certain lessons and not in others. This allows students to get what she refers to as an “enriched education.”

“For the longest time, it was the highest kids, the ones that tested very high, that were pulled [for gifted education],” Alexander said.

“Now we can serve the kids that the teachers have always thought are still very capable [of learning this gifted curriculum] and can grow their skills.”

Former middle school advanced social studies teacher and the current gifted specialist for grades seven through twelve at Lakota, Ron Henrich, took the gifted support advisor role four years ago. He divides his week accordingly: Monday at Plains Junior, Tuesday at Liberty Junior, Wednesday at Hopewell Junior, Thursday at Ridge Junior Schools, and his Friday is alternated between the East and West high schools. “[Teachers] want to inspire in every way that they can,” Henrich told Spark. “Every now and then, teachers can bounce ideas off one another and be able to explore if you want to do something different, or you want to keep doing the same thing. That’s really exciting and

I’ve had the pleasure of working with about 40 different teachers in that capacity.”

While Alexander deems the definition of gifted as more flexible as a result of the changing program, the state still reports testing data. Students are still being tested and deemed gifted if they place in the 95th percentile in each of the four major academic areas (math, language arts, social studies, and science) or if they are deemed gifted in just subject. Students are also evaluated as cognitively gifted which is determined by IQ. “We still use the same tools we always use.

Like [with] map testing, students score a certain level on testing and they are identified as gifted in that area,” Alexander said. “However, there’s several tests that teachers can use throughout the elementary years to determine giftedness and progress.”

Henrich has been able to see the changes in education as students get older and notes that every grade prepares students for their future and highschool education.

“Each grade is a building block. As you get from elementary to junior high, you hope that they have [certain] skills. You hope the kids are at [a certain] level,” Henrich said. “Most of that comes from your elementary background. The more that you have a solid base, the easier it is to build upon it. When those that don’t have that base are coming into junior high, it makes it more difficult for them to catch up because

14 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

you’re trying to figure out where the gaps are.”

One complication Alexander acknowledges is the higher demand for gifted specialists.

“It might be a complication moving between two buildings but I think that will settle down after school gets going,” Alexander said. “Right now, it’s just so new. People are desperate for information and resources, so it’s super busy.”

H

enrich has faith in Lakota’s teachers’ ability to adapt to the changes being made in the gifted program.

“From my perspective, I think it’s worked really well at the junior high level,” Henrich said. “It’s not like the teachers aren’t good. They’re excellent. They know what they’re doing, and then [Gifted Advisors] are bringing their expertise to [the classroom] and having those conversations.”

Alexander is looking forward to seeing this new program in action this school year.

“Lakota teachers have never, ever failed to astound me. They want to grow and learn,” Alexander said. “Teachers already give 100% and the fact that they can continue to keep their hearts completely open, I just love that.

That’s one of the reasons I love being a teacher.

I love working with this community of people that just really want to keep learning. It’s really inspiring.”•

STAY TUNED FOR PART 2

Section | story

Schedule Change | News This August, there were several changes put in place for Lakota students for the up and coming 2021-2022 school year. The most prominent change came in the form of a new bell schedule. At the Lakota high school buildings, the daily schedule was altered to include a later release date and an additional seventh bell at the end of the school day.

I

East senior Sebastian Isaacs has been impacted by the new schedule change.

LOSING TIME

Lakota high schools implemented a new schedule for the 2021-22 school year that consists of seven bells each day, stirring frustration among some teachers and students. story olivia rigney | photography mia hilkowitz infographic kaleb flood

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ast senior Lucy Laude did not fall into the common trend of lightening her workload senior year. Taking classes like Advanced Placement (AP) Physics and AP Calculus BC is a struggle any year, but the new schedule implemented for the 2021-2022 school year

has magnified the challenge to new extremes.

“45 minutes is just not enough time to do everything [such as] getting instruction from teachers and doing work,” Laude told Spark.

“The built-in advisory time isn’t even enough time to take a test, it’s just not possible.”

15 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

n previous years, East and West high school students started classes at 8:05 a.m. and were dismissed at 2:25 p.m. With the new schedule, students have a start time of 8:10 a.m. and a release time of 3:00 p.m.

According to a recent Spark survey, only 27% of East students prefer this year’s schedule over the 2020-2021 bell schedule. The previous year’s schedule is more favorable among students, with 44% of students preferring last year’s schedule and 28% choosing neither.

East’s 2020-2021 schedule included varying days of “block scheduling” where students would have three classes a day with 90 minute periods, including a built-in study hall called Hawk-Time or Extra Help (XH), which would take place at the same time for all students throughout the building. Hawk-Time was omitted from this year’s schedule and replaced with a study hall-designed class called advisory, which is a 25 minute period built into students’ fourth bell.

East principal Rob Burnside inaugurated the new study hall class, “N.E.X.U.S.” Which he believes can evolve into something that will benefit students, and serve as a break in the day to assist students in whatever their needs may be.

According to Burnside, The purpose of advisory was to have teachers engage with their advisory students to offer support and check-in on the students’ grades. Similar to advisory, a different study-hall-designed class was implemented this year commonly referred to as N.E.X.U.S, which stands for “Network, Enrich, Explore, Understand, and Support”.

N.E.X.U.S classes were given to students that signed up for six bells last year to fill the gap in their schedule from the addition of a seventh bell. During N.E.X.U.S, there are different advising teachers that can provide aid to students in varying subjects.

“Teachers are rotated in N.E.X.U.S bells, so one week there is a math teacher, [and the next] week there is an English teacher for kids who might need help in those specific areas,” Burnside told Spark. “[N.E.X.U.S] can provide different enrichment opportunities and learning pathways for many students.”

As a result of adding a seventh bell, students have more opportunities to take additional courses they might have not taken otherwise.

“It’s important for us to have lots of dynamic offerings in our schedule to make sure we are providing opportunities for our students to take advantage of,” Burnside told Spark.

October 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 15

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News | Schedule Change akota’s curriculum director for grades 7-12 Andrew Wheatley explained that the implementation of N.E.X.U.S and an added seventh bell will give students time not only to take more classes but also to receive help in those classes.

“Students have said that they didn’t have time to take other classes, and some kids have said they just needed a brain break,” Wheatley told Spark. “Some kids said they just needed time to do homework and that they wanted to be able to learn skills that weren’t taught in the classroom, which we can provide during [N.E.X.U.S.]” Executive Director of Curriculum and

Instruction Keith Koehne says that the district encourage feedback regarding the schedule change.

“The decision to move to the seven-bell schedule was initiated through student and teacher collaboration,” Koehne said. “If a teacher has thoughts on this decision, they should feel free to contact me to have a discussion. We welcome open dialogue at Lakota.”

While Lakota administrators have had high expectations for the new changes, this year’s schedule was not well received by teachers.

According to an anonymous teacher survey conducted by Spark, 91.9% of East teachers said they prefer last year’s Hawk Time and Extra

Help in comparison to this year’s N.E.X.U.S. Additionally, 58.3% of teachers believe that a 45-minute bell does not allow for enough time to teach the corresponding curriculum.

“We had a schedule like this years ago but discarded it because of the problems,” an anonymous teacher told Spark. “Teachers were asked for their opinion on the schedule and, as usual, administrators ignored their opinions.”

According to the same Spark survey, 75.7% of teachers report having a negative overall view of this year’s schedule.

“Students are not getting mask breaks, [there is] no time,” one anonymous teacher told Spark. “Bring back HawkTime!” •

Schedule Comparison Lakota

Mason

Fairfield

Middletown

# of periods

7

4

7

8

8

Time between classes

5 min

5 min

5 min

3 min

5 min

Start time

8:10 am

7:45 am

8:00 am

7:15 am

7:15 am

End time

3:00 pm

2:30 pm

2:30 pm

2:15 pm

2:25 pm

45 min

70 min

45 min

45 min

45 min

Class length

Lebanon

source school websites

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ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS!

BACK IN THE HAWKS NEST

Section | story

Principal Rob Burnside takes on a new role since his previous years as a teacher and associate principal at East.

story riley higgins photography caleb vanatta

Rob Burnside | News East Principal Rob Burnside (right) watches alongside Assistant Principal Matt Macfarlane at the East vs. Colerain football game where East won 7-6 for the first time since 1999.

“New Richmond was a place that I had a history with much like Lakota,” Burnside told Spark. “I applied [to New Richmond] because I was ready to expand what I was doing at East Freshman by getting back to a multi-grade level building.”

The hiring process for his third return to East started as a conversation with friends, family, and faculty. When applications opened in June following former principal Dr. Yeijide Mack’s administrative leave, Burnside said he hadn’t considered returning.

“I pursued [New Richmond High School] and really believed that was where I was going to build my future and spend the rest of my career,” Burnside said. “I was extremely happy where I was.”

After being convinced to submit an application, Burnside met with a district panel to be evaluated amongst other applicants for the role.

“My year at New Richmond gave me the confidence to know that I can run a larger building,” Burnside said.”[Now] I can handle the pressure that comes with being in that [principal’s] chair, and answer the hard questions.”

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C

ruising down the highway in his 2018 Ford Fiesta, East Principal Rob Burnside passes three schools that hired new administrators this school year. However, for Burnside, there is only one place he wanted to call home: Lakota East High School.

“There are relationships and bonds that I have with this team and with this community after being [in the district] as an associate principal,” Burnside said. “Having the

opportunity to now play a leadership role in our district means a lot to me.”

Burnside began his career in education at East, taking a job as an English teacher and coach when the building opened in 1997.

Burnside then took the role of assistant principal at Kings High School from 2007 to 2017. Burnside next served as an associate principal at East Freshman School from 2017 to 2020, before taking a Principal position at New Richmond High School in Fall 2020.

17 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

akota School Board President Kelley Casper agrees, stating she thinks Burnside’s year at New Richmond helped make him the best candidate.

“He gained a ton of experience, but for me, it was also about the fact that he knew the district,” Casper told Spark. “He knew the building, a lot of staff, and some of the students so for me it was a perfect fit.”

The board unanimously approved Burnside’s three year contract during their Jun. 28 2021 meeting. Due to the board not having a July 2021 meeting, Lakota Superintendent Matt Miller hired Burnside using the authority granted by district policy 1210. This policy states that any superintendent of Lakota ​​as the chief executive officer of the School District, is the primary professional advisor to the Board. S/He is responsible for the development, supervision, and operation of the school program and facilities. His/Her methods should be made known to the staff through the administrative guidelines of the District.

“Miller usually keeps us abreast where needed. [The board] gets brought in towards the end with the narrowed down candidates during the final interviews,” Casper said. “[The board members] get a phone call from Miller telling us that they’ve chosen a candidate, who it is, and when it will be on the board meeting agenda for us to approve.”

October 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 17

News | Rob Burnside Burnside was chosen from a candidate pool who submitted an application in June.

“Burnside’s priorities for the new school year align with the mission and vision of Lakota Local Schools,” Miller said. “As with all of our administrators, we want Mr. Burnside and his team at Lakota East to provide a safe learning environment for our students.”

After being hired by Miller on June 21, Burnside had 41 days until Aug. 1 to finish his responsibilities at New Richmond. Burnside says he also used this time to take a long awaited family vacation to the Grand Canyon, and prepare for the upcoming school year.

“It was the most awe-inspiring, wonderful trip I think I’ve ever had,” Burnside said. “Just spending time with my family and seeing the terrain together was a priceless memory.”

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here are many staff members who were fellow teachers when Burndside was a teacher at East as well as former students. Class of 2006 graduate Bret Mustain was Burnside’s student for two years. Mustain is the Lakota Access instructor, a program Mustain believes that the connections made in his class are what set Burnside apart.

“His class was like a socratic seminar that usually ended up in some deep conversation tied to whatever book we were reading at the time,” Mustain told Spark. “He just had a really good rapport with the kids in my class, and we developed some good relationships through discussion.”

Burnside served as the East offensive coach for the Junior Varsity (JV) football team during his time as a teacher. Mustain played on the offensive line under Burnside during his Sophomore year.

“Burnside was a leader on our side of the ball,” Mustain said. “Having that good relationship with him made us want to get out there and play harder for ourselves, our teammates, and our coaches.”

To Burnside, his mission as a leader in the classroom is the same as his mission as an administrator.

“My goal as principal is to create a school where every kid is excited and feels good about being here, “ Burnside said. “When they walk out the doors and get their diploma, the only thing I want going on in their brain is, ‘I’m so thankful that I went to Lakota East High School.’”

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s stated in an email from Miller to East families and staff on Jun. 21 2021, Burnside’s goals for this year are celebration and connection. To East senior Grace Holtmeier, the announcement of Burnside’s return was a relief. Throughout Holtmeier’s high school experience, she has had three different principals. During her time at the Freshman campus, Burnside was the associate principal. During her sophomore year, Holtmeier interacted with Suzanna Davis before she resigned in June of 2020. Davis’ successor was Dr. Yejide Mack for the 20202021 school year. Now in her senior year, Holtmeier sees a familiar face.

“After having a different principal each year, it was nice to know we would have someone familiar in the building with us,” Holtmeier said. “I still remember him wearing crazy pants every Friday from my Freshman year.”

Burnside will not be found without his “crazy pants” on Fridays, a tradition that started amongst teacher-friends at Kings High School and continued throughout his professional career. According to Burnside, the comfortable golf pants are not the only reasons he will never miss a Friday. “[At the end of the school year] when I wear my crazy pants in the cafeteria, there will still be 10 kids who comment about them,” Burnside told Spark. “[My pants] help me connect with the students and I think that it makes me more human and approachable to our students and that’s what I want.”

During the school year, students can expect Mr. Burnside to be showing his East pride in the halls and while proudly watching school sporting events.

“No matter where I go, I’m a Thunderhawk at heart,” Burnside told Spark. •

“There are relationships and bonds that I have with this team and with this community after being [in the district] as an associate principal. Having the opportunity to now play a leadership role in our district means a lot to me.”

-East Principal Rob Burnside 18 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

REACHING A SETTLEMENT Lakota has reached a settlement with former East Principal Dr. Yejide Mack.

story rehab jarabah photography cassandra mueller

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he Lakota district and former East principal Dr. Yejide Mack’s lawyer have reached a settlement that includes paying Dr. Mack (pictured below) through her two-year-contract including benefits.

Announced at the Sept. 13 Board meeting, the settlement follows Dr. Mack’s resignation on July 31.

“The district and Dr. Mack have reached an agreement in which she will be paid her contracted salary. This also includes benefits.

Dr. Mack’s attorney fees will be paid out of her salary – it is not an additional payment,” School Board President Kelly Casper told Spark.

It was decided that Dr. Mack would be paid her annual salary o f $116,850– plus additional compensation of benefits– for a total of $148,747 through July 31, 2022.

“The Lakota district will also be paying Burnside an annual pay of $116,850 for his three-year contract,” Superindedent Matt Miller told Spark.

“While the numbers may seem like a large amount, our overall budget is almost $200 million. So while it’s a significant amount, we have a pretty significant carryover from year to year.”

According to Miller, the overlap will have “minimal impact on the financial aspect of things” because Mack’s salary was already budgeted.

Dr. Mack was placed on a paid leave of absence on May 5 after serving as East’s principal for nine months. Before East, she served as assistant principal at Sycamore High School from 2014-2020.

East students and parents were informed of this leave of absence in an email from Miller that afternoon.

Dr. Mack is now the principal of North College Hill High School.

Dr. Mack has not responded to requests for comment. •

Section | story

AP Exams | News

Students sit in Amy Florence’s 5th bell AP Economics class.

BELOW THE LINE

East teachers, administrators, and students reflect on the 2021 AP Exams and determine how to move forward academically.• story frankie stull | photography audrey allen

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n Wednesday, July 21, 2021, the College Board released the scores of the Advanced Placement (AP) exams that were taken in Administration 1 or 2. AP scores from Administration 3 and 4 would later be released on Monday, Aug. 16, 2021. Students were able to access their results online with their College Board username and password. Unbeknown to millions of students worldwide who participated in either the paper or the online 2021 exams, including East senior Nicholas Leisten, who took AP Microeconomics and Macroeconomics, they would be severely disappointed by the outcome, given the COVID-19 impact on teaching and learning. It was reflected in the scores.

The AP exams are standardized exams designed to measure how well a student has mastered the content and skills of a specific AP course. In addition, these exams are a way for students to earn college credits that go towards their eventual degree. The tests are graded on a five-point scale. Any score that is a three or higher is considered to be a passing score,

although some colleges and universities may require students to receive a four or a five on the exam.

Not only are these exams a way for students to earn college credits that go towards their eventual degree, but AP tests can save students money after graduation. Earning 10 AP credits correlates with a reduction of about $1,000 in student loan debt, according to Inside Higher Ed. Students can put the money that they save towards transportation, living accommodations, books, toiletries, food and other various college essentials.

Unfortunately, 2021 was not a stellar year for AP students worldwide and at East. According to the statistics that the College Board has released to the public, there was a significant increase last year in non-passing rates across the nation. An example of this drop comes from the AP Physics 1- Algebra Based exam.

As stated by Total Registration and verified by the Head of the Advanced Placement Program Trevor Packer’s Twitter, 31% of students who took the exam received a 1. Additionally, 27%

19 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

of students received a 2, meaning that only 42% of students who took that particular exam passed it. This variation in statistics has proved to be common across the board.

Leisten did not pass his AP Microeconomics and AP Macroeconomics exams last year, receiving a two on both exams. The previous year, Leisten had taken the AP Human Geography exam and received a five.

“I missed the entire second semester of school, so I expected to fail [the exams]. I can’t blame the teacher because I wasn’t there due to mental health issues,” Leisten said. “I don’t care whether I passed or not because it’s not going to affect me in the future; I’m going to community college for culinary school. Although, I do wish that my parents didn’t pay the money required to take the tests.”

A 2020 College Board survey of all AP teachers found that 14 percent of teachers wanted to cancel the 2021 exams. However, the College Board ruled in favor of the 80 percent that wanted to return to full exams.

The College Board has recently released

October 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 19

News | AP Exams information that shows there was an increase in the amount of non-passing scores across the nation. For reference, in 2018 10.1 percent of students who took the AP English Literature exam received a five. In 2021, only 5 percent of students who took the AP English Literature exam received a five. This demonstrates more than a 50 percent decrease in scoring. East was not exempt from this drop in scores.

“My classroom did experience this same increase in non-passing rates. In fact, we had the lowest scores yet,” East AP Environmental Science Teacher Mark Folta said. “Usually our scores average out at about 3.5. This year, we averaged right at 3.0.”

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his was not the first year that a significant drop has occurred. East AP Statistics teacher Stephen Orlando has been teaching for 18 years. While passing rates were abnormally low in his class last year, he states that the year before was even worse. Scores from the 2020 AP Exams varied more than they did in prior years, but they varied by significantly less than what many may have expected, given the dramatic alterations in format and delivery model.

“The scores were lower than they typically would be here at East [last year], but they weren’t as low as they were the previous year when students took [the exams] remotely from home. Spring 2020 was a bit of a low mark,” Orlando said. “It was a very unusual year and a very unusual test. There was no multiple choice section for AP Statistics and there were only three free response questions when there are usually six. The nature of the questions were structured differently as it was openbook. I think the way [College Board] designed and scored the questions was different that year as well.”

For the 2020-21 school year, Lakota East operated under a block schedule. This means that instead of utilizing the normal seven-bell schedule, students would rotate which classes they were attending each day. This modified schedule left a 48-hour gap in between when each student would see a particular teacher for their individual course.

“I do not think that the block schedule is to blame. I think it was just a tough year because of COVID-19. If you were to point a finger at just one thing, it was just a weird year for all of us,” Folta said. “With COVID-19, there were a lot of absences at the beginning of the year and many students missed out on some things. However, with the block schedule, students may have been procrastinating more because they thought that they could get away with it easily.”

Orlando agrees with this sentiment.

“I wouldn’t blame the block schedule. I think that if you look over the previous 10-20 years, there have been a lot of suburban schools around the country that have experimented with block schedules before the pandemic happened. I am not aware of any data showing

that schools with a block schedule tend to have significantly lower scores,” Orlando said.

“I think that the pandemic caused a lot of things to be handled differently at school. For example, in my class, we tried to be as paperless as possible to try to help mitigate possible transmission of COVID-19, especially early in the pandemic when we were still learning how it was spread.”

Despite the decrease in AP scores, East teachers and administrators are looking forward to this round of testing and are hopeful for what the year will bring. Some teachers are taking it upon themselves to enhance their customary approach to the AP exams.

“There will be far more quizzes on AP Classroom than there were last year. So far, we’ve had four quizzes on AP Classroom. This time last year, we wouldn’t have taken any yet.

What’s neat about AP Classroom is that a bunch of great teachers across the nation were asked to put together lessons on every individual unit, and they’ve just done a phenomenal job to make sure the most important things are addressed,” Folta said. “This year, students will be exposed more to AP style questions than last year.

AP Classroom is an online resource for students enrolled in AP courses taught by authorized AP teachers. AP teachers can assign content to students as part of their coursework.

When students go to AP Classroom, they view a video about the certain subject that they are learning. When this video is over, students are directed towards a questionnaire where they can test how much information they have obtained.

In some cases, AP Classroom will even grant students access to a Free Response Question (FRQ) they can practice.

“There’s also going to be consistency in the schedule, day to day,” Folta said. “That will decrease confusion. We’re creatures of habit, and students like consistency by nature.”

Student breaks pencil while studying AP material.

20 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

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olta is referring to the recent schedule changes that have taken place at East.

This year, the schedule has been adjusted yet again. Students and teachers are back to operating under 45 minute class periods.

Moreover, the administration is requiring students to take a mandatory 7th bell, in addition to some students choosing to take an extra N.E.X.U.S. bell. These changes are new to East. Besides teachers making changes to their agenda, the Lakota administration is also taking additional steps to guarantee that AP scores will be higher this year.

“We’re always looking at what we can do as far as scheduling goes or support for teachers,” Director of Curriculum and Instruction for the district Andrew Wheatley said. “Some of the changes we made to the schedule this year were a reflection of feedback that we heard from students and teachers just to provide extra support for students to perform better in all their classes.”

Orlando says that regardless of the many changes that have been put into place this year, there are no minor adjustments or quick fixes that can be made to change that the hundreds of students who failed last year will not receive the benefits that the AP exams can provide.

Orlando has a message for students who failed the AP exam.

“I would tell them the same thing that I would tell a student who failed any test for any reason. A test is not a measurement of IQ. It’s not a measurement of your future.

It’s not a measurement of your worth as a person,” Orlando said. “Try again. Don’t give up. Everybody fails tests, it happens to the best of us. Just shake it off and move on. There’s a good quote I like by Tim Keller: ‘Don’t let your successes go to your head and don’t let your failures go to your heart.’” •

Section | story

Photocaptions | News

LAKOTA BULLETIN photography rehab jarabah

photography caleb vanatta

Excitement fills the Innovation Hub as the English Second Language (ESL) students prepare to share their culture projects with the rest of the East student body.

ESL teachers Courtney Jacobs and Barbara Kociba had spent weeks planning the “Culture Fair”, and allotted almost three weeks time for their students to prepare a presentation of any kind to present to East students.

Students presented on their home countries including Jordan, Palestine, Cambodia, and Guatemala among others.

“They were really excited to be able to share part of who they are,” Jacobs said. “Their other teachers saw who they were in a way that they don’t get to see in a normal class period.”•

Lakota schools are currently offering free lunches for students Kindergarten through 12. This decision was made following the success of the implementation of Seamless Summer Option (SSO) that started in the 2020 school year. Lakota chose to continue this program due to the lasting effects that COVID-19 has had on families financially. East cafeteria manager Donna Botley believes it is a beneficial program.

“With it being [that] everyone gets a free lunch instead of just a few, that stigma has gone away,” Botley said. “So everybody is willing and able to eat. And that makes it easier for you guys to study on the outside.”•

—Riley Grosnickle

—Rehab Jarabah

DON’T MISS THIS ONLINE STORY: photography caleb vanatta

DEVIOUS LICKS

vanatta | photography caleb story mary barone

21 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

East restructured the format for homecoming court.

All existing and school-sponsored clubs were able to nominate two representatives to be recognized in multiple events during Homecoming week. Because not all students belong to school clubs, East sent out surveys for students to nominate four at-large candidates to represent each grade.

“With this new tradition of a court, I think students will feel better represented and will take more pride in talking about their activities and interests,” Homecoming nominee and East senior Olivia Marshall said. •

—Oliver Tomtishen

October 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 21

News | School Board Election

MEET THE CANDIDATES ISAAC ADI

Isaac Adi immigrated from Nigeria 18 years ago.

He holds a Masters in Science from the Colorado Institute of Technical University. He is a managing partner of KGN Petroleum and a member of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association. His three children attended and graduated from Lakota West.

“Our school board needs to set the direction that will prepare our students with a history that accurrately tells the story of the American Dream, and the truth about the unlimited opportunities available for our students’ future,” Adi said.

DARBI BODDY

Darbi Boddy has worked in retail management for 17 years. She is a mother of four, whom she pulled from Lakota this year.

“I will focus my desire to serve by working with the Superintendent and teachers to provide children an exceptional education,” Boddy said.

“As part of one of the first groups to speak up against [critical race theory], I have demonstrated that I am bold, courageous, and someone that can protect our students and stand against the detrimental indoctrination that is negatively impacting the students’ academic achievment.”

KELLY CASPER

Kelly Casper is the current President of the Lakota Board of Education. She is finishing her first term. She has lived in the district for 23 years and has served as the Parent Teacher Association President for several district buildings.

“I’m proud of the things that we’ve accomplished in the last four years,” Casper said. “My focus will always be providing the best education that we can for all of our students. I ask for your support every second to continue to keep Lakota strong.”

KARINE CHAUSSE

Karine Chausse is a French-Canadian from outside Montreal, Canada. She became a U.S. citizen in 2014 and now lives in West Chester and has two children.

“I’m running for school board to remove political agendas and get back to educating our children,” Chausse said.

22 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

STANCES

Staff shortages: work with outside hiring agencies and offer incentives.

Board Disagreements: the Board policy should come first and members should have clear communication.

Critical Race Theory: schools shouldn’t label kids as oppressors or being oppressed.

Levies: the district should spend within their budget, only have rainy day funds for emergencies.

Open enrollment: Supports only if district is careful not to overcrowd classrooms.

STANCES

Staff shortages: bring in workers from outside the district and offer competitive wages and incentives.

Board Disagreements: the Board should hold the Superintendent responsible and find common ground.

Critical Race Theory: CRT does not belong in schools and Lakota should focus on academics.

Levies: wants to look at reallocating expenses before going to a levy.

Open enrollment: while it is a good financial decision, the district should not overcrowd classes.

STANCES

Staff shortages: bring in workers through word-of-mouth and incentivize parents to work in childrens’ schools.

Board Disagreements: rely on the Board policy and work alongside not against administrators.

Critical Race Theory: CRT does not equate to inclusion.

Levies: district should have a sustainable business plan and look to finance for years ahead.

Open enrollment: decision is a yearby-year basis that depends on the numbers.

STANCES

Staff shortages: offer incentives for workers.

Board Disagreements: emphasize communication and understanding.

Critical Race Theory: schools should teach the “Golden Rule” and CRT is divisive.

Levies: not opposed to levies if finances improve life for students.

Open enrollment: should be considered on a year-to-year basis.

Not opposed if Lakota students are prioritized.

Section | story

School Board Election | News

This November, eight candidates are running to fill three open seats for the Lakota Board of Education. The Lakota Board of Education is responsible for guiding the district budget, approving bills and establishing district policy. On Oct. 6, Spark hosted “Lakota School Board Candidate Night” with the eight to answer questions on their policies, and to inform the community on their stances proceeding Election Day. Continued on page 56

DOUGLAS HORTON

Douglas Horton has lived in the district for a decade and his two children attend school within Lakota. He currently leads Procter & Gamble’s Sport Marketing programs. Horton has served on the District Parent Council and school Parent Teacher Student Organization.

“I know what happens [in the district],” Horton said. “I want to expand student services. I want to make sure that I respect our children by embracing their diversity and protecting them.”

RUSS LOGES

Russ Loges has lived in the District for 18 years and has two children who attend school in Lakota. He graduated from Miami University with a BA in Zoology and as a Registered Nurse. Loges has volunteered as a youth sports coach and is on the Butler County East YMCA Parent Advisory Committee.

“I believe in traditional values, fiscal responsibility, equal opportunity, accountability and transparency,” Loges said. “I intend to move the district forward by putting politics behind us and focusing on providing every student with an excellent and safe education.”

MICHAEL PEARL

Michael Pearl is currently serving his first term on the Lakota Board of Education. He has lived in Lakota for 12 years and his two children graduated from East. He is the Director of the St. Monica’s Recreation Center and serves as the pastor of the New Day Baptist Church. Pearl has spent 9 years coaching at East and Liberty Junior.

“I want to make sure that all 17,000 of our kids no matter their race, religion, sexual preference or socioeconomic background to succeed,” Pearl said. “We want to do what we can as a district, as a board, as an administrators to make sure that every single kid that walks through our doors are more than a number.”

VANESSA WELLS Vanessa Wells is an Air Force Veteran and

mother of one. She removed her child from the district this previous year. This spring, Wells sued the Lakota Board of Education for an alleged violation of Ohio laws governing public meetings and records.

“It’s extremely important to me that I am held accountable and provide transparency to the community and parents in our district,” Wells says.

“I am not afraid to speak up and have an amazing and creative ability to solve problems. I have a history of excellence and hold the public interest of our parents and caregivers close to my heart.”

23 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

STANCES

Staff shortages: have an alternate VLO option and staggered starts. Work with other districts to have extra staff.

Board Disagreements: board should set vision for district alignment.

Critical Race Theory: CRT is not as divisive as people think, Lakota needs to look at the institutions that produce different outcomes.

Levies: Project future shortfalls and adjust accordingly before going to levy.

Open enrollment: building more schools through master facility plan to support more students.

STANCES

Staff shortages: find creative solutions and partnerships with parents and other schools.

Board Disagreements: emphasize active listening on the board.

Critical Race Theory: CRT is divisive and should not be taught in schools.

Levies: would only be in support of levies based on the numbers and if it would fund a sustainable future.

Open enrollment: while there are financial benefits, Lakota needs to take care of their own students first.

STANCES

Staff shortages: this is a nationwide issue and Lakota should clearly communicate with parents.

Board Disagreements: emphasize leading by example and working with administators.

Critical Race Theory: everyone should feel accepted in curriculum.

Levies: levies would fund the Master Facilities plan to build new schools.

Open enrollment: would depend on the numbers, currently opposed.

STANCES

Staff shortages: Lakota needs to encourage current workers to stay and increase advertising of positions.

Board Disagreements: maintain an open dialogue and find common goals.

Critical Race Theory: Lakota should embrace diversity but not through CRT and furthur focus on students with disabilities.

Levies: the district should be cautious about rainy day funds and focus on using money to fund technology.

Open enrollment: district should focus on facilitating current students until there is enough space.

October 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 23

News | Important Quotes

SPEAKING OF THE PAPER...

Excerpts from Spark’s most prominent stories give readers a taste of professional and community takes on the issues. • art by mary barone Losing Time page 15

“We had a schedule like [the 2021-2022 schedule] years ago but discarded it because of the problems. Teachers were asked for their opinion on the schedule and, as usual, administrators ignored their opinions.”

- Annonymous East teacher

Press Pause page 45 “People don’t want to feel guilty about their negative actions that have taken an effect toward our environment. It’s a conversation that not a lot of people enjoy having because it makes you feel like you’re the problem.” - Brenda Fofie LEAF Club member

Boiler Up, Hammer Down page 58 “Coaches talk about a player’s ‘motor’, which motivates them or makes them go. Charlie [Kenrich] has a high motor. There is no quit in him.”

- Carl Longworth East tight end coach

Mask Protest @ lakotaeastsparkonline.com “I have told my son, simply say ‘no thank you.’ We are standing up for our children that may not necessarily have a voice or the strength to use that voice for what they want. We are standing up to make sure we have the freedom of choice when it comes to our bodies.”

- Alisia Davis Woodland parent

College Bound page 47 “For some students, any type of disruption may be the reason they pause or stop pursuing their education. For many students, once they stop, it is a challenge to return to college.”

- Sean Broghammer KSU Enrollment Management VP

Masking Controversy page 6 “When one child comes in unmasked and brings in COVID based on their parent’s decision, it impacts another child and whether they get COVID. We are not operating in individual biomes, we are operating together.”

- Julie Shaffer Lakota School Board member

24 October 24 lakotaeastsparkonline.com lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021 2021

Section | story

KC Flower Farm | Feature

A young girl builds a bouquet for her mom at Donut Dude with her dad.

THE PERFECT

Bouquet

KC Flower Farm is a full service florist which has expanded with the addition of a flower truck to extend their services to the community.

S

story and photography marleigh winterbottom hortly after opening her KC Flower Farm store-front, Kimberly Ceccoli recalls a young girl, barely a year old, walking into the shop with flowers towering around her. Immediately after coming in, the girl instinctually walked over to a bucket of roses, leaned over, and was fascinated by the sweet smell of the flowers. “[KC Flower Farm employee] Lori and I just looked at each other, near tears. It was just beautiful,” Ceccoli says. “Everyone can relate to flowers, even the kids.”

Before opening KC Flower Farm, Ceccoli made it a tradition to visit Amelia’s Flower Truck at the Belmont University Market while visiting her daughter in Nashville, Tenn. From there, her dream of owning her own flower truck sprouted. In Oct. 2018, her dreams started to become reality. Now, five years later, the truck has become a staple in the community.

“Some personal things happened in my family that caused me to quickly quit my job at a senior living community,” Ceccoli told Spark. “I didn’t have a plan, and I drove by [the building where KC Flower Farm is now located off of the intersection between Cincinnati Dayton Rd. and Seminary St.] one day, and

I knew there was a flower shop a few houses down that had been open for 30 years. So, I knew this was a great location for a flower shop. All I was going to do was get a truck and sell flowers, but I decided to open a shop on a whim; it was kinda crazy.”

Ceccoli’s shop, Kimberly Ceccoli (KC) Flower Farm, is a full service florist offering custom products for weddings, corporate events, school dances, senior nights, and other events.

Through the years, Ceccoli has found joy in interacting with all of her customers, many of them continuing to come in as regulars.

“We have a lady that comes in every month with her two kids. She and her husband agreed to have fresh flowers in the house every month as their big splurge,” Ceccoli says. “We also have a guy that comes every week to buy flowers for his wife. It’s the sweet things like that [that make some of my favorite parts of owning the shop].”

One customer in particular she remembers was a woman who bought flowers for her pregnancy shoot. A few months later, the woman’s mom walked in to buy flowers after she gave birth to the baby.

25 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

“[The mom said] her daughter loved the flowers for the pregnancy shoot,” Ceccoli says.

“Now, she was sitting in the back, talking to her daughter with the new baby. It is really the customers and making connections that is one of my favorite parts of my job.”

T

he KC Flower Farm truck was added in Sept. 2019 and has quickly become a staple in the community.

“The truck is very well received. It’s what [KC Flower Farm] is getting to be known for around the community,” Ceccoli says.

“We’ve been going to Liberty Center as well as donut places; it’s fun. It’s just something very different for our area.”

Stationing the flower truck at various locations around the community, KC Flower Farm fills the back of the truck with fresh flowers, ready to make custom bouquets for customers. Each type of flower is labelled with a price tag to determine the final price of the bouquet. Customers can then either build a bouquet to their liking within a desired price range or buy a single flower.

continued on page 24

October 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 25

Feature | Lakota on the Move

LAKOTA GOES Lakota used #Lakotaonthemove on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to document and track Lakota families and staff members’ travels during the 2021 summer break. All together, Lakota visited all 50 states as well as 11 different countries. story marleigh winterbottom | photography used with permission | infographic mary barone

Lakota Across the Globe Lakota families traveled to all 50 states and 11 countries over the summer using #Lakotaonthemove.

Europe Georgia Greece Serbia Africa Ghana Australia Fiji North America USA Mexico Bahamas Dominican Republic Jamaica Turks and Caicos

A

fter a world-wide shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all Wyandot Kindergarten teacher Kristen Jones could dream of was venturing out of the doors of their own home. As travel bans began to lift, she alongside many other Lakota families, seized the opportunity to travel the world.

During the summer of 2021, Lakota’s staff and students collectively traveled to all 50 states and 11 different countries. Through Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, Lakota introduced the hashtag, #Lakotaonthemove, to collect data from families and staff on where they vacationed over the summer.

“We had the idea to introduce #LakotaOnTheMove last year, but pressed pause due to COVID,” Lakota Director of School and Community Relations Betsey Fuller told Spark. “With more people traveling this summer, we thought we would share the idea as a way to continue engaging with our families while school was out.”

Throughout the summer, Lakota families and staff members posted about their travels

= countries visited

= locations featured in the story

for the community to enjoy, while others discussed their trips in the comments. From Greece, to Serbia, to Alaska, Fuller kept track of submissions through an online website, updating the community as the summer went on.

Lakota West junior Dimitriji Fisic used #Lakotaonthemove to share his travels to Greece and Serbia with the community.

“I was looking through Twitter and I saw [Lakota’s] page where they were posting updates frequently,” Fisic told Spark. “I saw that hashtag and thought it would be a perfect opportunity to share my experiences.”

Adena Elementary English Language Learners teacher Helen Vassiliou used #Lakotaonthemove to connect with her students over the summer and build relationships. Throughout her travels to Greece and surrounding islands, she would post photos of the country’s flag or her coordinates, challenging students to guess her location.

“I’m super connected with my kids and families that I work with. I wanted them to have a fun activity that they could do while I was gone [that would allow them to] also use

26 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

some of their social studies and reading skills to find me,” Vassiliou told Spark. “I love the fact that when school started the kids asked me to show them pictures and we got to unfold a story together.

Jones also plans to use her travels to Alaska in future classroom activities as a way to connect with her students.

“In Kindergarten, we talk about memories and places we’ve visited,” Jones told Spark. “I’ll show [my students] pictures from my trip and talk about [my memories from Alaska]. I’ll see if anyone’s been there or plans to go there with their family as well.”

Fuller says that the success of #Lakotaonthemove also extended to other Lakota social media trends such as “Motivational Mondays” on Instagram and “Trivia Tuesdays” on Facebook.

“During the summer months, [Lakota] tries to create fun ways to stay connected with our staff and families on social media,” Fuller says. “All three have been popular, and we will definitely consider bringing them back next summer.”•

Section | story

Jones and her husband with their float plane piolet get ready to tour the Misty Fjords.

Jones poses in front of a waterfall she found while on a hike.

W

yandot Kindergarten teacher Kristen Jones traveled to Ketchikan, Alaska, 297 miles south of Juneau, with her husband this summer.

“There was not a particular reason [we chose Ketchikan],” Jones told Spark. “We literally just googled places to go in Alaska, and Ketchikan was the first place that came up. My husband and I were like, ‘Okay, let’s do it’, and so we booked it, and then we were there.”

While in Ketchikan, Jones and her husband went hiking for eight miles on Deer Park Mountain, went whale watching where they

saw various orcas, and went on a float plane, an aircraft equipped with floats for landing on water, to take a tour of the Misty Fjords, a natural mosaic of sea cliffs, steep fjords and rock walls. Her favorite experience, however, was seeing a humpback whale.

“They were all life changing experiences,” Jones says. “If I had to pick my favorite experience, it would probably be seeing the humpback whale dive down. He came completely up, and then went down, and you saw his tail come up and flip.

I cried because I was just so mesmerized by it.”

Their trip was made extra special because it

Fisic and his dad ride a four wheeler through Serbian mountains.

L

akota West junior Dimiitriji Fisic, his brother, and parents spent a month visiting family in Serbia and vacationing in Greece. The family spent two weeks in each location.

In Serbia, they explored the mountains and scenery, as well as the movie set of a famous Serbian film. While in Greece, Fisic and his family visited various tourist sites and ancient ruins. They also took the opportunity to visit a

was Jones and her husband’s first vacation since the pandemic.

“Our previous plans had gotten canceled, and so just getting to actually feel normal for a little bit after COVID was surprisingly one of my favorite parts,” Jones says.

Jones notes that if given the chance, she would love to visit Alaska again.

“On the way home, we were already researching where we wanted to go in Alaska next because Ketchikan was just so incredible,” Jones says. “We definitely will go back. The people there treat you like you are family.”•

Fisic and his dad board a train to explore the mountains.

different beach each day.

“It was cool to see all the different places,” Fisic told Spark. “[My favorite part was] relaxing on different beaches in Greece.

We would wake up and drive around to a different beach every day just to see different places.”

Fisic also enjoyed the different food.

“I love eating Greek gyros,” Fisic says.

“When we were in Serbia, we ate something

27 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

called cevapi. It’s different meats mixed into a small sausage. It was really good.”

Fisic recommends that other Lakota families and staff members visit Serbia or Greece at some point in their lives.

“I would definitely recommend that other people visit,” Fisic says. “There are a lot of tourist locations in Serbia and Greece, and it’s really cool to see as a one time experience, even though we do it every year.”•

October 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 27

Feature | Lakota on the Move

Vassiliou poses in front of the Greek flag, asking her students to guess her location.

A

dena Elementary English Language Learners teacher Helen Vassiliou visited her family in Greece for the first time since the pandemic.

Vassiliou primarily stayed in Greece, where she grew up, but also visited the islands of Corfu and Spetses, as well as some ancient ruins and theatres.

“I’m trying to be a little bit more of a daredevil in life, so I did a lot of fun things, and I got to spend time out in nature,” Vassiliou told Spark. “I got to eat some really great foods that you can’t find in America.

A lot of the things I did took me back to my childhood, because they were all things I did

when I was little.”

Vassiliou noted one of her favorite foods from her travels as being a Greek sweet that roughly translates to “vanilla submarine” in English. It is a sweet made from vanilla and mastic, a sticky resin that grows from a mastic tree found on the island of Chios.

After being put on a spoon and hardened in a cold glass of water, the cream-like delicacy is eaten like a lollipop. It is commonly enjoyed with a cup of coffee, another thing Vassiliou mentioned enjoying lots of.

Vassiliou loves to share her experiences and culture with other Lakota students and families.

She emphasizes the importance of travel.

continued from page 21

K

en Nugent saw the truck parked at Donut Dude on Cincinnati Dayton Rd. on a Saturday morning and decided to purchase flowers on his way out.

“With it being 9/11 [today], I thought I’d get some flowers and post them,” Nugent says.

“I would definitely buy from them again. It was a very good experience.”

The 2021 Liberty Center Summer Concert series on Thursdays during the summer of 2021 has been an opportunity for the truck to reach even more community members.

“We get tons of people who come to see the concerts who then get flowers for their wife while enjoying the concert,” KC Flower Farm employee Morgan Halstead says.

KC Flower Farm also holds community arrangement classes. With an admission fee ranging from $55 to $75, attendees are able to come into the shop and make their own flower arrangement to take home while enjoying light appetizers and drinks. For an upcoming

Ken Nugent asks KC Flower Farm Employees to build him a $12 bouquet in honor of 9/11 after getting donuts from Donut Dude.

28 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

Vassiliou visits the shore while visiting Greece.

“I’ve said it a million times, but I would love to get a team of Lakota teachers, take them to my homeland, and teach them how great the country is,” Vassiliou says. “I encourage students to travel abroad. It’s one of the greatest experiences you’ll ever have in your life.”

Vassiliou describes the Greek word, philotimo, as an important saying for Lakota.

“When you go to Greece, [philotimo] is the idea that the strangers are your friends, and that friendship, togetherness, and harmony should exist,” Vassiliou says. “I just think that that’s such a cool way to start off this year, with that notion.”•

October class, they plan to hold a seasonal pumpkin arrangement where each person creates a fall bouquet using a pumpkin as a base.

Other seasonal classes include Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and Mother’s Day. For Ceccoli, the May “Peony Palooza” event for Mother’s Day holds a special place in her heart.

“My grandmother always had peonies growing in the backyard [when I was younger],” Ceccoli says. “I always felt so special going home with peonies so they’re my favorites.”

Ceccoli’s favorite part of owning KC Flower Farm is interacting with the customers, and having the ability to make something special and unique for them to enjoy.

“One of my favorite things is when I get to go out and actually deliver the flowers and get to hand them to the person,” Ceccoli says.

“From answering the phone, making them, and delivering them, we touch every part of it. When somebody gets something from us, no one else is gonna have anything like it; it’s special.”•

Section | story

Senior Parking Spots | Feature

EAST’S PARKING PICKS Spark features East’s top three favorite senior parking spot paintings from the 2021-2022 school year, as voted by the East student body on the @lakotaspark Instagram story. story ezri colpi | photography marleigh winterbottom

Kristen Reed

1

what was the hardest part about painting your spot?

“The hardest part was trying to find the perfect color for all the parts of the painting. It took lots of mixing and lots of paint to make everything as accurate as possible.”

what is the meaning behind your design?

“It’s a scene from my favorite movie, Coraline. I wanted to do something detailed, so I chose the movie I’m obsessed with and found the exact scene I wanted to paint.”

how long did it take to paint your spot?

“It took me about two painting days to finish it all.”

Max Hartman

2

what was the hardest part about painting your spot?

“The hardest part about painting my spot was remembering to pay attention to detail and dedicating extra time to perfecting my design.”

what is the meaning behind your design?

“The meaning behind my spot was basically just to showcase my love for art. I wanted to express how I feel about senior year and growing up. I decided to do this by adding elements of elevation to represent my growth through high school.”

how long did it take to paint your spot?

“It took me around three days to complete my parking spot. I would go paint for a few hours and take breaks in-between, logging close to 15 hours of work with help from friends.”

Piper Dorr

3

what was the hardest part about painting your spot?

“The hardest part was sketching out everything, especially the face. I ended up just winging it because I couldn’t get a stencil that big.”

what is the meaning behind your design?

“I’m a huge Taylor Swift fan and wanted to incorporate her some way into my spot, so when I put two and two together that her song, “22”, is also our graduating year, I knew I had to do it.”

how long did it take to paint your spot?

“I used all three days they gave us to paint. I probably spent a total of about 10 hours painting.”

29 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

October 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 29

Section | story Mason sophomore Srikar Koduru assembles a rocket with his teammate East and Butler Tech senior Ryan Cheng.

a nationwide competition for youth run by the National Association of Rocketry and the Aerospace Industries Association.

“When I heard about TARC, I already knew Ryan, and we were like ‘hey why don’t we make a team,’” Koduru says. “We didn’t join an existing team, we wanted to dive in, see how it was, and maybe have fun along the way.’”

W

MORE THAN

ROCKET SCIENCE

East senior Ryan Cheng and Mason sophomore Srikar Koduru competed as national finalists in the accredited American Rocketry Challenge. story and infographic mia hilkowitz | photography riley higgins

W

hen Ryan Cheng and Srikar Koduru launch a rocket into the air, they don’t stare in awe as their model reaches the clouds like most people. Instead, they calculate. As the rocket rises higher and higher, the teenagers are checking their trackers, comparing it to a computer simulation and taking notes for modification with one goal in mind: how do they reach exactly 800 feet?

East and Butler Tech senior study mechatronics Ryan Cheng and Mason sophomore Srikar Koduru first became involved in rocketry at 12-years-old. The young scientists attended two different sessions of an education camp, “Science Discovery,” where they first got a glimpse into the world of rocketry.

“I was like, ‘rockets sound cool’, so I joined

the course,” Koduru told Spark. “We made these really, really tiny rockets, and it was super fun. Later on, I was like ‘hey, I want to build more and more rockets.’”

Cheng says that he advanced in the course over several sessions.

“I did the beginner level [at the camp], and I felt like that was the best class I’ve ever [taken],” Cheng told Spark. “So I kept doing the courses over the years. I went to the intermediate class and all the way to the advanced class where you got to make and design your own rockets.”

After discovering their love for the field, Cheng and Koduru started to research ways to further engage in rocketry. They came across The American Rocketry Challenge (TARC),

30 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

ith the goal to compete in mind, Cheng and Koduru formed a twoman team through Ohio 4-H, a youth leadership organization, where they worked together to build, design, and test rockets, while learning more about rocketry through interactive experiences.

“My favorite part [about rocketry] is getting to build the rockets,” Cheng says. “I have a lot of fun doing things with my hands and the hands-on experiences.”

Koduru agrees that the interactive building process is irreplaceable.

“My favorite part about rocketry is actually the building process,” Koduru says. “A lot of people like seeing the rockets launch, but I really like that precision and putting things in place. I find the [building process] really enjoyable.”

Since the team formed in 2018, Cheng and Koduru have competed in TARC every summer. In July 2021, they competed as national finalists and were part of the top 100 teams ranked out of the more than 5000 groups taking part. The Ohio 4-H team was one of seven from the state to compete at the event, and it was the highest ranking the team had ever achieved.

However, such success does not come without hard work. The steps to build an award winning rocket can often be a long and tedious process.

“The biggest challenge [in rocketry] is that you have to be really accurate and precise,” Cheng says. “For example, there’s a lot of variables such as temperature, pressure, and weight of the rocket that play in when you’re trying to build your own.”

Cheng and Koduru build their rockets using instructional kits that provide the needed parts. After assembling the rockets, they use a motor and launcher to propel their model in the air. For competitions, the rocket holds an egg inside, which is required to stay unbroken during launch. Within their rocket, there is a tracker that records how high the model goes.

For each competition, participants are tasked with reaching a specific height. For the TARC National Competition this summer, this goal was 800 feet high. To make modifications in order to reach this desired height, Cheng and Korudu use computer software to simulate launches.

“We design our rocket in that software and run simulations,” Koduru says. “When we run

Section | story the simulations, we try to see which rocket design will hit that top altitude, and basically we tweak our design from there. Then that’s how we finalize our rocket that you see for the competition.”

Mechanical manufacturer at Procter and Gamble Hari Koduru, has been mentoring the team since its formation. He believes that much of the team’s success can be attributed to their hard work and attitude.

“What I make sure [the team] learns is that success is not a skill or a talent, but success is an attitude,” Hari told Spark. “They have patience, a willingness to try it again and do better, and they don’t want to give up. They won’t say ‘hey, it’s 6pm, and we want to go home, it’s getting dark.’ They say ‘can I do one more launch?’”

Shirley Lee, who has been working in an administrative role with the team since 2018, says that even adults can learn from Cheng and Koduru.

“For me, it’s a learning experience and [an opportunity] to have fun,” Lee told Spark.

While the team has its share of glory moments, they have also faced setbacks in their run.

“It was our second launch. We just finished recalculating and were all set,” Koduru says.

“When we launched it, the rocket veered off towards the person’s house that we were at.

Then, when the rocket separated, the parachute didn’t come out, and the rocket slammed onto our mentor’s roof which caused the eggs [in the rocket] to go everywhere, and [the eggs] went all over [Ryan’s] car.”

Ohio Rocket Team | Feature are very important.

“A lot of people are getting interested in rocketry. In the last 50 years, we went to the moon, the International Space Station and the Apollo Series,” Hari says. “In the last five years, there have been a lot of aerospace advancements through SpaceX and Blue Origin. I think it will be another golden era for kids if they want to get into rocketry for the next 20 years.”

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2018, 192,500 workers were employed as Architectural or Engineering managers, within which they classify rocket scientists. By 2028, there is an estimated employment growth of three percent. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics also projects that there will be 8,600 job openings by 2024 for astronomers, atmospheric-space scientists, and physicists.

As for Cheng and Koduru, the high schoolers are still debating pursuing rocketry in the professional world. Cheng wants to study robotics and become a mechanical engineer. Koduru hopes to embrace his love of aeronautics and one day work for NASA or SpaceX. Still, both believe that the skills they have learned will help them no matter what field they pursue, and that next time they launch their rocket into the sky, they can adapt to reach their 800 feet goal.

“One thing that I really took away from this competition was that even though you failed, it’ll always come out in the end if you know that you put in the effort, have put in hard work, and know your stuff,” Koduru says. “ You understand that not everything goes your way, but that you can get through it.” •

Steps to Design a Rocket for the American Rocketry Challenge

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ccording to Cheng, broken rockets are not an uncommon occurrence when preparing for competition. The high schoolers spend around $100 to $200 of their own money per rocket.

“One time, I was test launching our rocket by myself, and I picked up the wrong loader, which was almost twice as powerful as the one I was supposed to use. When I launched it, [the rocket] was long gone and went into a farmer’s cornfield, and I couldn’t find it,” Cheng says.

“So the next day, that farmer actually gave us the rocket because he went through the field and found the torn up rocket in his harvester.”

Even with their challenges, the team says that they have gained irreplaceable experiences from their time in rocketry that they want to share with others.

“I learned a lot, especially going to Nationals, about all the different skills that go into rocketry,” Cheng says. “We’ve been helping other students teach rocketry, we’re starting rocketry clubs, helping at Super Saturday at the Boys and Girls Club, and trying to get as many younger students involved in rocketry as possible.”

Hari believes that rocketry will open many opportunities for youth in the future, so programs like the ones Cheng and Koduru help

31 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

Step 1: Research past rockets.

Step 2: Inventory your rocket parts supply.

Step 3: Start designing the rocket on paper.

Step 4: Input rocket design into a computer simulation to predict how the rocket will fly.

Step 5: Finalize the inital design.

Step 6: Start building the rocket.

Step 7: Perform flight tests to gain data on your rocket.

Step 8: Find the rocket’s aerodynamic drag.

Step 9: Choose a motor and perform tests flight.

Step 10: Analyze data and make modifications to the rocket. source the american rocketry association and apogee components

October 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 31

Feature | DART

A SURPRISE TO PARIS East junior Lizzie Adkins gets surprised with a trip to Paris from her aunt, uncle, and cousins while visiting Belgium.

story audrey allen photography used with permission

Lizzie Adkins and her cousins, Ivy Adkins, Nancy Adkins, and Brennan Williams pose in front of the Eiffel Tower on their suprise trip to Paris.

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ast junior Lizzie Adkins Groggily with her three cousins, dart feature stands in awe in front of aunt, and uncle, she boarded a junior the Eiffel Tower. Adkins one hour tram ride to what she gazes at the 984-foot iron thought was Germany. landmark and sighs happily.

“The train was crammed but She reaches for her phone and super cool because it was so fast,” Spark picks Lizzie says. “You would sit facing snaps a picture to capture the a random moment. Paris was a place people so I was with my cousins and student Adkins never thought she would we were playing games, but there to feature. be able to visit. were some people who were just on On Jul. 22, Adkins hopped their computer doing work.” on a plane with her cousin, Brennan Williams, Right there on the train, her uncle and aunt and took off to Brussels. She was radiating with announced they were going to Paris. excitement because she was going to see her two “Liz and I were talking one night in June other cousins, Ivy and Nancy along with her about how to make their first trip to Europe aunt, Liz Adkins and uncle, Ian Adkins that live even better with some sort of a crazy surprise! in Belgium. Lizzie didn’t know that her relatives Paris seems like it’s on a different planet, but were going to surprise her with a trip to Paris. it’s only about an hour long train ride from our “We left at two p.m. EST and arrived at 8 house,” Ian told Spark. “It doesn’t matter where p.m. GMT,” Lizzie told Spark. “I ate dinner on you come from, seeing the Eiffel Tower and all the plane and slept a lot. It was very crammed, the other famous Parisian sites in person for the and I was squished next to my cousin.” first time leaves you speechless.”

Once she landed, she ran to say hello and Lizzie had never been to Paris before and hugged them. She was practically jumping up and dreamed of seeing the Eiffel Tower. She couldn’t down. Lizzie says that the next eight days after she believe her ears. She was overwhelmed with arrived were “some of the best days in her life.” emotion. She was going to France.

Jet-lagged, Lizzie got up at 6:00 am.

“I was so surprised and giddy,” Lizzie says.

32 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

“I totally didn’t see it coming.”

Williams was just as shocked as her.

“When I heard we were going to Paris, I thought it was a joke,” Williams told Spark. “When it sinked in, I was so happy and super excited.”

Once she exited the tram, Lizzie was faced with cute, cosy buildings and bright green landscapes. She admired the many bridges Paris had to offer including Pont des Artes, Pont Neuf, and Pont Alexandre III. She didn’t know what to do or look at first.

“Paris is a wonderful place that is full of energy. You get a specific feeling walking out of Gare du Nord (train station),” Ian says. “You can hear the music and conversations, smell the boulangeries (French bakeries) and see amazing architecture right away. From the bustling streets to the picturesque sidewalk cafes, Paris is full of lively people from all over the world.”

The family spent the day in Paris sightseeing and cracking jokes with one another.

“It was raining most of the day, but we made the most of it,” Lizzie says. “I’ve heard so much about the Eiffel Tower, and when I saw it I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is it.’ We got food and it was nice to see a lot of gluten free options to pick from. The waiters were very kind even though they don’t receive tips there. Later, we visited Notre Dame and took a boat ride.”

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he boat ride was on the River Seine, the second longest river in France after the Loire. It starts 18 miles northwest of Dijon in Burgundy, and it flows through Paris and on to Le Havre where it flows into the English Channel.

“My favorite thing was the boat ride in the canal,” Williams says. “I loved being able to see the entire city and seeing the Notre Dame and Eiffel Tower.”

Williams may have loved the sights, but Lizzie loved the food.

“My favorite thing was the Belgian waffles,” Lizzie says. “But all of the food was so good in Paris. I didn’t want to leave. I also enjoyed seeing my cousins. It was like a whole different world. You can walk down the street and see people selling different types of food.”

Ian loved watching Lizzie experience France for the first time.

“My favorite part was watching Lizzie see all of the incredible sites for the first time,” Ian says. ”It truly is an incredible feeling to see things in person that you had only seen on TV or read about. Watching her experience new cultures, languages, and historic sites made me feel happy.”

Paris left a lasting good impression on the family, and they recommend that everyone visits it sometime in their life.

“I think people should visit Paris to learn about the history of the major monuments and history in France,” Williams says.

“It is a different atmosphere and society.

I was amazed by how they dress and carry themselves. It was just very cool,” Lizzie says.

“It is a new experience that everyone should see for themselves once in their life.”•

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Section | story

The New Normal | Package

n this issue, Spark investigates permanent changes from the COVID-19 pandemic from the education gap following two years of virtual learning, to the rise in virtual medical appointments after the world shut down.

The goal of the photography in this package is to reflect the disparity between the pre-pandemic times and the “New Normal.” In these photos, pictures of the previous ways of life is projected onto sources reflecting their New Normal, meant to display the past and present simultaneously.

THE NEW NORMAL

33 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

October 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 33

Package | Education Gap East senior McKenzie Watson has been learning virtually since March 2020.

BEYOND THE CINDER BLOCK WALLS

The sudden lockdown Spring of 2020 caused a shift in educational practices. Online and remote learning imposed new challenges for students and teachers. story and infographic marleigh winterbottom | photography riley higgins

34 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

Section | story

Education Gap | Package

“I TOOK TWO ONLINE COURSES IN COLLEGE, AND I SAID NEVER AGAIN; THAT WAS CHALLENGING ENOUGH. NOW, A WHOLE CLASS HAD TO DO A WHOLE SEMESTER OR A WHOLE ACADEMIC YEAR ONLINE. THAT WOULD BE THE MOST CHALLENGING THING I PROBABLY WOULD EVER HAVE TO GO THROUGH.” - ADMISSIONS COUNSELOR AUSTIN MARTIN

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or the first 10 years of her education, East senior McKenzie Watson spent every day in her familiar school desk and chair, listening as her teacher gave instruction.

Now, as she wakes up at home every morning and opens her school-issued Chromebook computer, the pixelated screen of Canvas with her materials and assignments is the only tie between her education and East. “[Going remote] was a big adjustment. I felt a little bit behind starting off because I didn’t have that one-on-one interaction with my teachers as often as I would have liked,” Watson told Spark. “It was just hard knowing that they had other students as well. So sometimes, a lot of my questions wouldn’t get answered until days later, when I would have already figured it out because I had to turn the assignment in.”

Due to the challenges of online learning, many students experienced a gap in education.

In a Spark survey of 170 East students, 74% of students felt that the COVID-19 pandemic affected their academic growth and/or achievement. Additionally, 86% of students felt they did not learn content from remote learning at the same capacity they would have if it were in-person instruction. “[An education] gap was felt by everyone, everywhere,” Lakota K-6 Director of Curriculum & Instruction Christina French told Spark. “I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that not only were we virtually learning, which was new, but we also had students in and out of classrooms.”

East Principal Rob Burnside agrees that an education gap was felt, and it is something Lakota is aware of.

“I think every school has experienced [a gap in education],” Burnside told Spark.

“The data we have from testing has indicated that there was a drop, and I think that this is something we have to be very aware of to try to play catch up.”

Ohio State University Admissions Counselor Austin Martin commends students who have had to do online coursework the past few years due to COVID-19.

“I took two online courses in college, and I said never again; that was challenging enough,” Martin told Spark. “Now, a whole class had to do a whole semester or a whole academic year online. That would be the

most challenging thing I probably would ever have to go through.”

But, for some students, their decision to go remote had nothing to do with preference, it had to do with logistics.

When given the chance for the 2020-2021 school year to return to in-person instruction, Watson and her family chose to stay remote to protect her immune-compromised sister, taking advantage of Lakota’s Virtual Learning Option (VLO).

“I kind of knew that if I decided to stay VLO, it would be strictly independent learning, and I wouldn’t get as much help as I would being in school and getting that assistance from a teacher in-person,” Watson says. “I knew I would be giving that up, but it was a sacrifice I was willing to make.”

However, Lakota had a different education experience for the 2020-2021 school year than most schools across the country because students were still given the choice to return to in-person learning.

“I don’t think [the lockdown] affected us as much as it might have in other school districts,” Lakota 7-12 Director of Curriculum and Instruction Andrew Wheatley told Spark.

“Many schools across the country were 100% virtual for all or part of the year, and we were one of the few schools that were actually able to

35 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

stay in person for the majority of our students for the whole year.”

Burnside agrees that Lakota handled the lockdown better than many districts, but there is still room for growth and change.

“One thing we have to keep learning about, that we still struggle with institutionally, is remote learning,” Burnside says. “You can’t just simply replicate what you do in the classroom.”

As a VLO student, Watson found this a challenge because she wasn’t able to access the same resources as in-person students.

“I feel like VLO students have it a tad bit harder since we don’t have access to the same tools, immediately, as the in-person students have,” Watson says. “I feel like that does cause a bigger gap for VLO students.”

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enn State University Admissions Counselor Jordan Garrigan has found through students’ applications that several students note the same difficulties with gaining resources in an online setting.

“The only difference [in applications] that I have heard from students and through reading essays is that they don’t have as much access one-on-one with their teachers,” Garrigan told Spark. “I have noticed that the extra help that students usually get when they’re comfortable in the classroom is not as great as it was whenever

students submitted studentswho who submitted test test scores common scoresthrough through common app app 2020

2021

77%

44%

source inside higher ed October 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 35

Package | Education For Watson, independent learning affected her differently in different subjects.

“In some subjects, I felt like I might have been a little bit more behind, and, in other subjects, I might have been a little bit more ahead,” Watson says. “To give an example, I felt like I was ahead with English, Psychology, and Sociology, and I felt like in Math, I might have been a little

bit more behind than my other classmates who were in-person.”

Due to students being in varying places in their education and testing facilities being limited due to the pandemic, many colleges, including Penn State and Ohio State, have had to adjust their usual ACT and SAT score protocols.

Below: Watson completes her school work from her laptop, reflecting on pre-pandemic classroom experiences.

“As far as the admissions process, we’ve definitely had to be flexible with a lot, such as changing deadlines and utilizing students’ time properly. We understand that there are circumstances where students have a test that was taken in November, so we had to extend that deadline to Nov. 15,” Garrigan told Spark.

Both universities decided to remain testoptional to allow students flexibility with these unprecedented times. Approximately 60% of Penn State and 53% of Ohio State class of 2021 applicants chose not to submit test scores on their applications.

“I think [waiving test scores] is a good idea for students who don’t necessarily want to have to go through the process of retaking the ACT because it is stressful, but for students who know that retaking the test is something that they can do and have the time for, I think it’s a good idea to pursue [submitting scores],” Watson says.

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ven though some students did not provide their test scores to Penn State or Ohio State, they are still guaranteed the same level of consideration as students who submitted test scores. Ohio State ensures this by having separate admissions counselors to review applications without test scores as they do applications with test scores. Penn State applications are not reviewed separately; however, they instead focus on other aspects of the application, such as activities, to consider acceptance.

Penn State has extended their test optional policy for two years until 2023, whereas Ohio State is still currently test optional, but has chosen to take it year-by-year in regards to continuing the policy.

“I think what Ohio State, our leadership team, and a lot of the leaders in our office and undergraduate admissions have said is that we want to give these two classes the best opportunity for admission,” Martin told Spark.

“If more opportunities arise, and if the world starts to open up more, I think Ohio State might shift back to requiring those test scores.

We want to do what’s right for the student first and then we want to make it work for Ohio State; that’s our motto.”

Although the past few years of schooling have not been ideal to many, Burnside notes that it had some advantages as well. He says that Lakota’s new online approach will help students keep the educational process moving forward, even when not in the building.

“As an institution, education is now better at meeting the needs of our students who don’t function as well in a brick and mortar building, which is a good thing,” Burnside says. “[These new online advances] lead us to helping our students be better prepared for the next generation of professional work. Workers of the future aren’t going to be going to the office nine to five, every day, like they have in the past; it’s a new world.” •

36 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

THE DOCTOR IS LOGGED IN

Section | story

Telehealth | Package

East senior Dania Hantush attends a virtual therapy appointment.

Following the halt to in-person care visits in March 2020, medical personnel were forced to adapt in new and innovative ways.

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story and infographic mia hilkowitz | photos riley higgins sually when Megan Davis turns on her school-issued Chromebook, it’s to complete her AP homework or to check her schedule for marching band afterschool. Before March 2020, the East senior never thought she would have to use her computer for much else; especially not to Zoom with her doctor.

Davis, like millions of others across the country, was forced to adopt a previously uncommon medical treatment at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic: telehealth. After the first wave of lockdowns in March 2020, telehealth, the distribution of health related services and information using electronic and telecommunication technology, started to grow in popularity. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC), telehealth visits went up by 154 percent in the last week of March 2020 compared to the same time period the previous year.

“I was worried about what a [virtual]

appointment would be like, because I had only seen [my doctor] in person before, and I wasn’t sure if it would be the same or not,” Davis told Spark. “I was worried about the level of connection, too. It’s a lot harder to lie or hide something in person than it is over a computer.”

Compared to the long history of face-toface appointments, telehealth is a relatively new medical technique. One of the first methods of telehealth was used in the 1940s when radiology images in Pennsylvania were sent between two different townships by telephone lines. Since then, scientists and medical professionals have been slowly adapting new telehealth technologies in their practices. Director of the University of Michigan Telehealth Research Incubator Chad Ellimoottil, who started experimenting with telehealth at his urology practice in 2016, says that the pandemic greatly accelerated this adoption.

“By January and February 2020, [my practice] was doing a low level of video

37 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

consultation. In March 2020, when the pandemic hit, that’s when everything changed,” Ellimoottil told Spark. “I got a call from our administrator who said that the COVID-19 numbers were not looking good and that [my practice] was going to convert [the next day] to virtual care and cancel all in-person care unless it’s an emergency.”

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orced to get creative, Ellimoottil and thousands of other doctors across the country made the quick switch to 100 percent virtual care. However, the abrupt switch came with an initial set of problems, particularly when it came to accessibility among patients.

“You need a certain type of broadband connection to be able to have adequate video, and there are a lot of parts of the country that don’t have that,” Ellimoottil says. “Even if you do have broadband internet access, areas with lower incomes may not have the internet

October 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 37

Package | Telehealth subscription or device to connect. Also, rural providers may not use telehealth as often. If your doctor is not offering [telehealth], then you’re not going to use it.”

patients are pretty comfortable with things like Facetime, so video visits are usually very well accepted.”

At Cincinnati Children’s, all specialties offer some sort of virtual care option. Ruschman ccording to a 2016 U.S. Census report, explains how to best decide if telehealth is right 81 percent of American households for you. had access to broadband internet, and “For specialty visits, you should ask at 89 percent had access to a computer the time of scheduling if telehealth would be or smartphone. Additionally, virtual care appropriate for the visit type you are trying to prohibits certain types of practices that inschedule,” Ruschman says. “You can also always person appointments might include. Physician discuss with your doctor if your next visit could and Medical Director for Maven Clinic, be done using telehealth. Typically, things that the world’s largest virtual will require additional laboratory clinic for women and family testing or minor procedures medicine, Jane Van Dis has should be done in person. Other been working in telehealth visits like speech, mental health, medicine since 2012 and has and follow-up visits work very seen these obstacles first hand. well using telehealth.”

“Those that need an Since the beginning of the Five Top Rated Telehealth aspect of a physical exam pandemic, Lakota has adopted like laboratory on-site testing several forms of telehealth within Mobile Apps or imaging [should not the district. For instance, Lakota participate in telehealth],” has partnered with MindPeace, 1. GoodRx Care Van Dis told Spark. “Lack of a non-profit that serves as a • Apple rating: 5.0 human contact, limits of not facilitator for connecting its • Free to download having a physical exam, and network of professional mental • No health insurance required lack of on-site testing services health providers with schools to • Offers prescription refills by [are challenges].” offer virtual therapy appointments mail or at local pharmacy East senior Dania Hantush for students. East MindPeace and started telehealth therapy this Cincinnati Children’s therapist 2. K Health summer and can relate to Michelle Quarry has been • Apple rating: 4.7 these obstacles. meeting with 15 to 18 students • Free to download “It did feel very strange virtually each week since the start • Illness Symptom Checker since I’m more used to being of May 2021.

• COVID-19 Screening tool in an actual office rather than “If kids can’t get here, my own home,” Hantush told [telehealth] is a wonderful option 3. Doctor on Demand Spark. “It felt strange and not because then I can say ‘Go to your • Apple rating: 4.9 as authentic to meet over a room, close the door’ so we have • Free to download screen.” a private space, and we just meet • Services available 24/7 A recent Spark survey that way,” Quarry told Spark. “It’s • Treatment for issues including found that 67 percent of a win-win for everybody.” cholesterol and depression respondents preferred inQuarry says that while most person medical appointments students prefer face-to-face, 4. Teladoc over virtual appointments. some students enjoy the therapy • Apple rating: 4.8 However, Van Dis says that experience from the comfort of • Free to download • App provided by your there are still major benefits their own homes. She has found insurance plan, employer or to telehealth practices that can that even from the provider side, other organization outweigh the negatives. telehealth can have its perks.

• Visits have no time limits “[Benefits include] ease of “I had hand surgery this use and the ability to schedule, summer, so my hand didn’t 5. MDLive greater variety of providers work, but my brain was great,” • Apple rating: 4.7 available via telehealth, Quarry says. “I was still able to • Free to download cost savings, no hassles of see my students, especially the • Offers short term prescription transportation, taking time ones that I know really need that refills off work, arranging childcare, weekly meeting and not have • Provides mental health parking, or waiting,” Van Dis to worry about driving. I could support with licensed therapists says. “The flexibility, for some, still see them face-to-face using and psychiatrists is game changing.” telehealth. I could see weight A 2017 study through gain, weight loss, if they’re clean, source apple app store the California Health Care if they’re not showering, and Foundation found that the [other] signs of depression.” average telehealth visit costs Still, for Quarry, it was difficult $79, compared to $146 for to make the switch to virtual. doctors visits and $1,734 for “I thought it was moderately

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emergency room visits. The price is a major benefit for patients, although at the expense of the providers. According to the American Hospitals Association, hospitals nationwide lost more than $323 billion from March to December 2020.

According to Senior Director of Telehealth at Cincinnati Childrens Jennifer Ruschman, patient benefits of telehealth such as price have had a significant impact on patient care.

“Patient and family responses [to telehealth experiences] have been overwhelmingly positive,” Ruschman told Spark. “Young

38 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

Section | story

Telehealth | Package

Above: East senior Megan Davis completes a virtual health assessment.

difficult, not impossible,” Quarry says. “It’s so hard because we’re so used to seeing our kids face to face.”

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anager of Health Services at Lakota Lauren Brown says that, in addition to MindPeace therapy, there are a few technologies involved in health care practices that are used in the district. “[Lakota] has become more creative in supporting students in their classroom,” Brown told Spark. “For example, students with

diabetes can connect to the nurse’s iPad so they can communicate during the school day.”

According to Doximity, a networking service for medical professionals, the financial value of telehealth is expected to reach $106 billion by 2023. McKinsey & Company, a nationwide research and consulting firm, projects that up to $250 billion of current U.S. healthcare spending could eventually shift to virtual. While major medical companies and hospitals have made a switch, Brown says that the long-term adoption of telehealth within the

“I COULD STILL SEE THEM FACE-TO-FACE USING TELEHEALTH. I COULD SEE WEIGHT GAIN, WEIGHT LOSS, IF THEY’RE CLEAN, IF THEY’RE NOT SHOWERING, AND [OTHER SIGNS] OF DEPRESSION.” - MINDPEACE THERAPIST MICHELLE QUARRY 39 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

district has been limited.

“We haven’t adopted or implemented any new [telehealth] services at this time,” Brown says. “We are just focusing on meeting the needs of students and families through the pandemic.”

In a recent Spark survey, only 21 percent of respondents have used telehealth. Still, Ellimoottil believes that telehealth is here to stay, even as in-person visits return to prepandemic levels.

“Based on our research, 1 in 6 health care encounters will continue to be through telehealth,” Ellimoottill says. “Patients are going to become more familiar and comfortable [with telehealth]. Once they do one [appointment], they’ll do another.”

For most, the path to fully embrace digital care is a long one, but Davis believes that students should be willing to give telehealth a try. “[Telehealth] worked well and made me feel a lot safer than going to an office during the peak of the pandemic,” Davis says. “I would definitely tell [my peers] to do it.” •

October 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 39

Package | Small Business Impact

SMALL BUT MIGHTY

80% of the country is made up of small businesses. Due to COVID-19, some small businesses declined rapidly while others grew to their fullest potential.

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story abbey bahan | photography riley higgins | infographic mary barone amily Dentist Thomas Nymberg walks into his practice like any other day, excited to see his patients with smiling faces. After a morning of drilling people’s teeth and an innocent lunch break, jarring news flashes onto the TV. Nymberg is being forced to shut down his business entirely for a week because of a newly discovered deadly virus. Soon enough, one week turned into seven.

Owner of All Smiles Family Dental

(ASFD), Nymberg was appalled to hear that he would have to shut down his business due to COVID-19 after 34 years of smooth sailing.

When first hearing the news, he didn’t believe it; he stayed open for the rest of the day. When he tried to come in the next day, other businesses in the area had also shut down. That’s when he realized that the crisis was actually happening.

The immediate concern that popped into Nymberg’s head was his five children.

40 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

“I couldn’t fathom [shutting down] because I have five kids at home,” Nymberg told Spark.

“I’m not paid by [Procter & Gamble] who gives [its employees] sick pay. If I don’t work, I don’t get paid, and that was very worrisome.”

The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States conducted a survey with more than 5,800 small businesses; 43% of these businesses had temporarily closed, and almost all of the closures were due

Section | story

Small Business Impact | Package

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Above: East senior and food service worker Vanessa Sims sits at an empty restraurant table, one that was filled with customers before the pandemic.

to COVID-19. In addition, Nymberg worried about the long-term impacts of the shutdown on the operations of his business and employees. “[I wondered], will people come back when we open up? What’s that going to look like?

Are they going to trickle in or are they going to flood in?” Nymberg says. “I employ nine other people who rely on me for their food and utility bills and there would be millions of people devastated without [financial help].”

The government quickly relieved his financial worries. They allowed him, along with other small business owners, to withdraw money from retirement funds without penalty which is exactly what Nymberg did to survive.

The government also put together relief packages for small businesses. “[The government] would send you a check

that would allow you to continue to pay your employees and you could continue to pay your bills and have some personal income to sustain you,” Nymberg says. “It was remarkable. They allowed me to survive during a catastrophic time. They found a way to allow even a mom and pop little dental practice in Mason, Ohio to remain functional.”

After a couple of weeks, the government allowed dental offices to reopen for emergencies only. Nymberg was open every Thursday to handle emergencies with extreme precautions. “[Reopening] not only allowed me to ease the pain that people were in, but it also allowed me to produce a little bit of money to help [ASFD],” Nymberg says. “But we had to have these extraordinarily strict regulations like six feet spacing, a one-way flow, and a COVID questionairre.”

41 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

ymberg did not take the recommendations lightly. In fact, in order to avoid a potential outbreak in his dental office, he required all staff members, including himself, to wear hospital gowns. At the end of the day, he would wash all of the gowns in the washer and dryer he bought specifically to fight the infection. However, Nymberg is not the only business owner that needed to follow guidelines.

East senior Vanessa Sims has been working for the Donut Dude since March 2021. The Donut Dude opened at the beginning of the pandemic which changed some of the ways that the business planned on running things. “[The silverware] has to be individually packaged, but [the owners] originally planned to have spoons, forks, and coffee stirs out,” Sims told Spark. “They also originally had tables to sit at, but they took them out because it’s such a small place.”

Unlike ASFD and other small businesses, the Donut Dude was able to stay open because it is a food business; that meant that Sims was considered an essential worker. As a result of staying open, the business immediately started to prosper.

“Everybody’s always wanted a donut shop in the Liberty Township area,” Sims says. “Donuts are a comfort food, and people during COVID were just trying to get out of the house. So the business did better than it would have been if it opened sooner.”

The Donut Dude was one of several small businesses in Liberty Township that benefited from the pandemic.

Liberty Township Trustee Christine Matacic said that Liberty Township was fortunate to be able to expand and take advantage of the pandemic. Since the start of the outbreak, 17 new businesses have opened in Liberty Township.

“There’s opportunities for businesses all over the place,” Matacic told Spark. “It’s just a matter of how you take your opportunities.

[Businesses] have all of a sudden sprang up during COVID because [business owners] saw an opportunity to start producing something.”

On the other hand, there were plenty of small businesses in Liberty Township that were struggling. Economic Development Director of Liberty Township Caroline McKinney helped create the Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant Program in December 2020. Through this program, small businesses could receive up to $10,000 in grant money. The program utilized funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, to help small businesses in Liberty Township that needed aid. The CARES Act, passed in March 2020, provided fast and direct economic assistance for American workers, families, small businesses, and industries.

“The goal was to get [money from the CARES Act] into the hands of these small

October 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 41

Package | Small Business Impact

“[SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS SHOULD] KEEP A SMILE EVERYDAY AND WORK AS HARD AS THEY CAN BECAUSE THEY ARE THE LIFEBLOOD OF THIS COUNTRY.” - ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR CAROLINE MCKINNEY businesses to try to help with workforce, lost income from having to be closed, or utility bills,” McKinney told Spark. “We awarded 46 small businesses in Liberty Township and, in total, we gave out $442,000.”

L

iberty Township eventually ran out of the money from the CARES Act provided by the federal government, but there were still small businesses that applied and qualified for the grant program.

McKinney went to the Liberty Township board of trustees and introduced the idea to use Liberty Township’s own CARES dollars to help the small businesses and that’s what ended up happening. Another way small businesses could get financial help throughout the nation is by Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. The PPP authorizes up to $669 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses during COVID-19. However, in addition to the struggle for financial stability, businesses

around the area also faced a larger problem: lack of workforce.

“We first saw a lot of workers being furloughed or losing jobs,” McKinney says.

“Then people had to look at what they were getting from unemployment versus what the job was paying and make that decision [if they wanted to go back to work.]”

According to the Labor Department, 1.6 million people reported that they did not look for jobs during the pandemic solely because of the virus. Those 1.6 million people were not considered unemployed due to the definition of unemployment, so they weren’t given any unemployment benefits. As stated by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment is people who are jobless, actively seeking work, and available to take a job. Unemployment is not only a problem for the workers that lost their jobs, but for the people that want to support small businesses.

“We’re seeing [the effect] right in stores

and restaurants,” McKinney says. “[Businesses have] reduced hours or simplified offerings because they just don’t have the staff. I think a lot of businesses are having to make those tough decisions of what the right hours are to be open, and what the minimum staff is. I’m sure many of them are looking at efficiencies and where they can do more with less people.”

According to the Congressional Research Service, the unemployment rate in April 2020 rose to 14.8% which it had not reached since the 1930s. The unemployment rate lowered to 5.4% in July 2021 but is still higher than the February 2020 rate at 3.5%. These high unemployment rates have caused ripple effects that have an influence on everyone.

“That is the biggest concern, not only getting a workforce and getting people there who can do the job, but who will stay there,” Matacic says. “We’ve seen the bonuses that businesses are offering, but it adds to the cost of that business.”

McKinney says that small businesses have experienced highs and lows during the pandemic and offers a piece of advice to all small businesses across the nation. “[Small businesses owners should] keep a smile everyday and work as hard as they can, because they are the lifeblood of this country,” McKinney says. “You hear about the big businesses but it’s the small businesses that make this country run.” •

Percentage of top 5 businesses closed due to COVID in the week 4/26 - 5/2 2020 72.2%

70.8% 62.4% 54.6% 43.7%

Education

Entertainment

Health Care

Food Services

Retail Trade

Percentage of top 5 businesses closed due to COVID in the week 6/21 - 6/27 2020 70.5%

68.2% 59.1% 49.2%

Food Services

Entertainment

Education

Oil and Gas

48.4%

Health Care

source united states census bureau

42 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

Section | story

Technology | Package

TECH BUT NO SUPPORT The COVID-19 pandemic has forever changed the ways technology is utilized in the classroom and workforce. story and inforgraphic natalie mazey photography riley higgins

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onovan Sweeten was thrilled to be taking Honors Chemistry, a class full of experimentation and hands-on learning.

When the East junior checked the box to sign up for the class, he had no idea what the next year would bring. A year spent as part of Lakota’s Virtual Learning Option (VLO), meant Sweeten would never learn a staple of chemistry: how to light a bunsen burner.

Sweeten chose to participate in VLO for a multitude of reasons. Two of them were protecting his grandparents from COVID-19, and putting himself in an environment that would better replicate a real life work day.

However, after a year of relying solely on technology to learn, he began to regret this decision.

“The negatives outweighed the positives for me personally,” Sweeten told Spark. “The bulk of that revolved around my reliance on technology to do everything, which obviously I knew was going to happen; it’s virtual learning.

But I didn’t expect it to be as emotionally taxing as it was.”

Sweeten faced an emotional toll as technology became all-consuming, but, for some, it was a lifesaver. Technology has found an increased presence in the workforce and the school system over the past decade, but the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated its use. According to Telegeography, a telecommunications market research company, the pandemic drove up global internet capacity by 35% between 2019 and 2020. Before the pandemic, the use of technology was a choice, but lockdowns and stay-at-home orders meant technology was the only way to move forward.

Before the pandemic, 1 in 5 people were impacted by a mental health disorder, but this figure has risen to 1 in 4, according to the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI).

Associate Director of NAMI of Butler County

Above: East junior Kelsey Retzsch uses her laptop to complete her school work and research.

Alyssa Louagie worked from home during the pandemic and has had to adapt to provide support for those who need it. This meant turning to digital platforms for support groups and fundraisers.

“Beyond the pandemic itself, what our society has gone through is essentially a giant group trauma,” Louagie told Spark. “The ramifications of that don’t just go away when the virus gets under control.”

43 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

NAMI of Butler County began transitioning back to some in-person events in August 2021, but Louagie says they expect to continue to offer online support groups in the future.

“It’s easier for people to get [online] because they don’t have to commute or find transportation,” Louagie says. “But I think that on the flip side, it is sometimes harder to build those connections in the same way that you would in-person.”

October 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 43

Package | Technology While participating in VLO, Sweeten struggled with finding these connections.

Sweeten, like 62% of East students according to a recent Spark survey, felt largely negative about virtual learning. Even though platforms like Zoom grew exponentially, with Zoom grossing $671 million in profit in 2020, compared to $21 million the previous year, Sweeten says he used the platform less than a handful of times throughout the entire school year.

“Not being able to see or physically interact with any of your teachers or peers just took a lot of the motivation away for me to get up at a normal time, start work early, and finish things on a consistent schedule,” Sweeten says.

“It became a constant struggle to force myself to work.”

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uring the pandemic, Lakota mainly utilized Canvas, Seesaw, Zoom, Google, and Microsoft Collaboration Suites, according to Chief Technology Officer Todd Wesley. While these tools will still be utilized, Wesley recognizes there needs to be a balance with technology in the classroom.

“As a district, we promote the purposeful integration of technology to support learning in each course,” Wesley told Spark. “No one wants to be on a computer all day, as shown by the findings in multiple studies during the lockdown. Balanced learning, as determined by the teacher, along with student voice, is the sweet spot.”

In a Spark survey, 72% of students prefer using pencil and paper, yet 94% of students say that their technology use increased during the pandemic.

For some, physical interaction does not feel necessary in the school or work day. Translation recruiter for ZOO Digital Vicki Dick, a provider of subtitling, dubbing, and media localization services, says she and her team work completely remote. “[ZOO Digital] got a lot bigger [during the pandemic]. We grew by 100 employees in a year,” Dick told Spark. “Everybody needed what we had to offer. I had a much better ability to adapt because I had already been working

“THE WAY I VIEW SOCIAL INTERACTIONS WAS SEVERELY DAMAGED BY THE FACT THAT I WAS SURROUNDED BY TECHNOLOGY. WHEN YOU’RE AT HOME, THE ONLY SOCIAL INTERACTION YOU GET IS THROUGH THE ENTERTAINMENT YOU WATCH.” - EAST JUNIOR DONOVAN SWEETEN from home, and the company I was working for was only growing.”

Dick works solely from her laptop, but that means she has the ability to work from anywhere, whether that be in the car before picking her kids up from school or anywhere in her home. Access to technology has led ZOO Digital to hire associates from across the globe without compromising productivity. “[ZOO Digital] has online resources that anybody from around the world can gain access to,” Dick says. “They understand that everybody’s in different time zones so that they need to be a 24-7 company.”

Unlike ZOO Digital, Paymo, a platform for online work management software, found that working remotely was not best for the growth of the company. Chief Marketing Officer of Laurentiu Bancu says that Paymo is able to help other companies work remotely. With features like time tracking, team scheduling, and invoicing, the platform lends itself to aid companies who work in-person or remotely.

“Overall, to be honest, we’ve noticed a decrease in productivity and efficiency [when online], and we were among the first in our region to return to the office,” Bancu told Spark.

“We believe that remote work and collaboration are not for everyone, and it takes time until an

organization can master this situation.”

Head of Brand and Content for Hive, a productivity platform for centralized workflow management and insights, Michaela Rollings works remotely from Florida, However, the Hive team is a hybrid organization with some employees inhabiting coworking spaces in New York City and others fully remote. This situation has lended the brand this ability to innovate new technologies that will make life easier for other companies working remotely.

“As much as we’re community driven, we’re also heavily influenced as a product by our ways of working internally. That’s actually how Hive Notes, an app integrated with Zoom, came to be,” Rollings says. “We realized that we were taking part in so many more remote meetings, and we needed a way to keep track of notes and next steps, so Hive Notes was born.”

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tarting in the 2021-2022 school year, 1:1 technology, like providing chromebooks to all students, has expanded down to third grade. K-2 students have a ratio of about 2:1, meaning two students per every chromebook or other technology, technology in Lakota. “[1:1 technology] provided a great foundation to continue to build on once the world locked down,” Wesley says. “We subsequently returned to school last year with almost 25% of our students online in our VLO program, and then our return this year with around 2% of our students online.”

For Sweeten, returning back to in-person learning felt like a much-needed next step.

“The way I view social interactions was severely damaged by the fact that I was surrounded by technology,” Sweeten says. “When you’re at home, the only social interaction you get is through the entertainment you watch. You start to view those conversations, those person-to-person interactions, as solely entertainment, where you do not have to participate. And when you do that for an extended period, and then you’re thrust back into normal functioning society, it’s very jarring.” •

Zoom Daily Meeting Participants

10 Million

2019

200 Million

Mar. 2020

350 Million

Dec. 2020 source business of apps

10 million zoom participants

44 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

Section | story

Environmental Impact | Package Left: East senior Brenda Fofie reflects on the environmental impacts of the pandemic.

According to a National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) report, the reality of the social and economic slowdown resulted in reduced fossil fuel consumption, waste disposal, transportation and industrial activities. In simpler terms, the environment suffered less pollution and realized an increase in air and water quality. On the contrary, NCBI states that some of the negative impacts consisted of increased medical waste and lessoned recycling, leading to increased haphazardous and plastic waste.

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PRESSING PAUSE During the pandemic not only were the lives of individuals around the globe impacted, but also was the globe itself. story and infographic megan miranda photography riley higgins

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s she opens the social media app, Tik Tok, Brenda Fofie watches with a grim expression.

Countless videos of clothing hauls from cheap online stores; she smiles and knows they are playing a role in the current environmental crisis.

During the pandemic, the environment was impacted on a large scale. Whether the impacts are long-lasting, more positive, or negative is still up to adebate.

East senior and leadership team member of Lakota Environmental Activates Forum (LEAF) club, Fofie, believes the environment is suffering due to the waste and fast fashion in society.

However, she says that the pandemic gave the environment a much needed break “COVID-19 allowed people to take a step back and stop harming the environment; it made people aware that our environment is not doing well, the climate is not doing well, and animals are going extinct at a rapid rate,” Fofie says, “However, we still saw places where the rivers have been dirty for years clear up because everybody took a month off and stayed inside.”

45 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

he Southwest Ohio Regional Director for the Ohio Environmental Council (OEC), Kylie Johnson, says that it will realistically take years to know exactly how the pandemic has affected the environment and climate. However, in relation to the air, land, and water issues, they do know a few things.

“During the early months of the pandemic, we saw major reductions in air pollutants as communities went into lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Travel restrictions and limited commercial activity were also cited as reasons for improved water quality in some places during those early days,” Johnson told Spark. “As restrictions have been lifted, we’re seeing an increase in emissions and pollution once again harm our environment.”

Johnson believes one of the largest negative impacts on the environment locally is the poor quality of water.

“In the Cincinnati region, eight billion gallons of raw sewage mixed with stormwater enter our waterways every year,” Johnson says.

“This happens because most of our region has an outdated sewer system that combines both sewage and rainwater in the same pipes.

When it rains, the wastewater treatment plant cannot handle all of the water entering the sewer system. Instead, the water is diverted to combined sewer overflow pipes, where it enters our local waterways and backs up into people’s homes or on the streets.”

Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, Ana Rule, analyzes the initial impacts as positive but says that negative aspects arose as time went on.

“Initially, [the impacts] were positive because we realized we didn’t need the things that we had been previously relying on. But along with that started to come all of these other needs,” Rule told Spark. “For example, substances that we use to reduce the risk of COVID-19 on the [table] surfaces are considered pesticides that are [harmful]. We are impacting the ecosystem by putting too much of those chemicals out there.”

In terms of water clearness, canals in Venice cleared up due to the lack of traffic in March of 2020. According to CNBC, this

October 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 45

Package | Environmental Impact allowed the sediment to remain at the bottom.

CNBC also reported that people were able to see the Himalayas for the first time in India, “a view that had been blocked for decades by air pollution.”

Johnson thinks that positive practices were picked up during the pandemic, and these are feasible actions that can be maintained moving forward.

“During the pandemic, we limited travel— from cross country trips, to trips around the block, to the grocery store. As we emerge from the pandemic, we should plan our travel carefully, especially as travel can lead to increased air pollution,” Johnson says. “There has been an increase in single-use plastics, sanitizers, and Personal Protection Equipment (PPE). We should always make sure to dispose of these items properly, recycling whenever possible and turning to reusable items.”

One of the overlooked ways Fofie believes the environment is being impacted is in relation to fashion.

“I think that the rapid rate of growth for fast fashion was something big that happened during COVID-19 because people were [buying cheaper online],” Fofie says. “It has a negative impact on our environment because of the amount of oil that it takes to create these clothes.”

According to the Business Research Company, the fast fashion market was worth approximately $25 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach almost $31 billion in 2021. This is in part due to the increase in online ordering during the pandemic, where, according to the Facebook-Boston Consulting Group (BCG) joint study, approximately 90% of consumers made online purchases during the pandemic for clothing.

During the pandemic, Miami University Freshman Emily Mueller was able to apply environmentally-friendly practices to something she enjoys: fashion.

“I try to be sustainable by shopping second hand. Recently, my mom wanted me to get business clothes [for my major, Business]. We

“TO BE HONEST, I THINK, BEFORE THE PANDEMIC, I WAS JUST LIVING A LIFE THAT WAS HARSH ON THE WORLD. I THINK IF EVERYONE JUST CHANGED THEIR MINDSET, JUST A TAD, THEN WE COULD TAKE BIGGER STRIDES TO PROTECT THE EARTH.” - MIAMI FRESHMAN EMILY MUELLER went to Express and there was a button-up for $44, but at Goodwill I found one for $5,” Mueller says. “[Just] do not buy coats during winter, and do not buy bathing suits during summer. Buy off-season so that the people who actually need them can get them.”

Another way to be proactive in fighting issues Johnson says is focusing on our state having an increase of clean energy.

“We can reduce carbon and other pollutants that threaten our communities by increasing investments in energy efficiency by utilities, local governments, businesses, and citizens,” Johnson says. “Cutting methane, a potent greenhouse gas, is good for Ohio’s communities and our climate. OEC is working with impacted communities to advocate for strong state and federal standards for methane pollution coming from oil and gas operations.”

Fofie pinpoints guilt as the reason behind society’s hesitation to make changes and to be aware about their impact on the environment.

“I think it’s more a guilt and shame thing because a lot of people don’t want to feel

guilty about their negative actions that have taken an effect toward our environment.t’s a conversation that not a lot of people enjoy having because it makes you feel like you’re the problem,” Fofie says. “But we all are part of the problem; no one is innocent.”

Mueller admits not having been aware of her actions on the environment. But now that she does, she wants to make a change.

“To be honest, I think, before the pandemic, I was just living a life that was harsh on the world,” Mueller says. “I think if everyone just changed their mindset, just a tad, then we could take bigger strides to protect the earth.”

East Environmental Science teacher Mark Folta originally showed interest in life science from growing up going to national parks and recognizing that green spaces are important.

Now he is the advisor for LEAF club at East and encourages his students to make sustainable choices.

“I have a courtyard [outside my room]. I encourage recycling, so I tried to model what sustainable agriculture looks like [in the courtyard],” Folta says. “I want my students [to take away] a bigger awareness of the environmental issues at hand. Whatever their future endeavors are, they can apply a lot of what they learn here to their own personal lives. It all starts with education, and I’m just glad to be teaching such an important topic for today’s times.”

Fofie has enjoyed not only learning about the environment in LEAF club but also taking actions to help.

“I’ve really learned that everything that we do really does have a big impact on our environment, and how we go about it is also a big deal,” Fofie says.

Rule recently read what she believes to be a great example of the larger impact everyone has.

“In some science fiction stories characters go back in time and are worried that a single little action is going to have a big impact,” Rule says. “I thought this was a really good analogy that little things have a huge [environmental] impact in the future.” •

Cinncinati Sewage Pipe System In the Cincinnati region, when it rains the rainwater goes to the outdated sewage

The wastewater treatment plant can’t handle seawge and rainwater in the same pipes.

46 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

The water then goes to sewer overflow pipes where it enters local water ways, homes, and streets.

You can reduce sewage overflows by not using water at least 12 hours after a rain event.

sourcekylie kyliejohnson johnson source

Section | story

Post-Gradudation Life | Package

COLLEGE BOUND East senior Lina Miesse researches new colleges following a recent change in her plans post-graduation.

After colleges and universities shutdown worldwide in March 2020, high school seniors began to change their plans for after graduation.

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story audrey allen | photography riley higgins | infographic evie colpi enior Vice President and Provost of Kent State University Melody Tankersley looks at the once barren and deserted Kent State campus now roaring to life.

She sees the empty bleak dorms decorated to perfection and eager students bustle about campus. She talks to students face-to-face for the first time after a year and a half of being remote.

In March 2020, all in-person classes had to move to remote delivery, and most of the staff had to work remotely. KSU wasn’t alone; at least 1,102 colleges and universities in the U.S. closed their campuses due to COVID-19.

But now, as campuses across the US re-open, require vaccinations, and add new policies and protocols, colleges are finding that some students are choosing not to return.

“We had to think of new ways to interact and support one another. We wanted to make sure that all of the services we provided to students—like free tutoring, library resources, arts programs, clubs—had a way to continue to engage with students,” Tankersley told Spark.

“It was like completely reinventing everything we do in a week’s time.”

O

HOW IT STARTED

hio Northern University immediately closed, per the State of Ohio’s guidance.

Within one week, they went from being in a regular academic semester to having a completely empty university with only essential personnel reporting to work.

As colleges and universities moved to clear their campuses of students and offer courses online, many institutions urged students to go home and remain there. However, those efforts have raised concerns regarding students who cannot just easily pick up and go or may not have an actual home in which to return to.

“Students struggled to find room at their parent’s home and transportation to get home,” Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Ohio Northern University (ONU), Julie Hurtig told Spark. “We permitted some students to remain on campus in our apartments, including our international students who could not travel quickly.”

Even if students were able to return home, they still faced difficulties with remote learning.

“Some students, as they returned home,

47 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

found the internet access to be unstable or slow, making online coursework difficult,” Hurtig says. “Overwhelmingly, faculty [at ONU] had not taught an online course and had to take their skills in hybrid instruction and move rapidly to fully remote learning.”

Kent State wanted to make sure all faculty, staff, and students had access to reliable computers and internet services, as well as cameras and headsets. They provided training for faculty and students who needed support in delivering instruction and learning in a new format.

As the pandemic rapidly spread across the U.S., higher education administrators and stakeholders anxiously wondered what this could mean for colleges and universities. But they weren’t just nervous about having to shut down campuses and adapt to virtual learning— they feared students would scrap their plans to apply to college entirely.

According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center College, enrollment had already been on the decline, with a 2% drop in first-year enrollment in fall 2019. Schools worried this rate would plummet

October 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 47

Package | Post-Graduation Life

“SEEING THE STATE OF STUDENT DEBT AND HOW EXPENSIVE COLLEGE CAN BE IS REALLY STRESSFUL. IT DEFINITELY PLAYS A ROLE IN MY DECISION, EVEN THOUGH I’M SO READY TO LEAVE HOME AFTER THE PANDEMIC IS OVER.” - EAST SENIOR LINA MIESSE even further during the pandemic.

“We did see a decrease in enrollment for fall 2020, and a bit for spring 2021. It’s hard to say how much, if any, of that decrease was due to COVID-19 because the state of Ohio continues to graduate fewer high school students each year,” Tankersley says. “The overall demographics of the state of Ohio are changing, and there are not as many K-12 school-aged children now as there were before.”

According to a recent College Reaction and Axios poll, 22% of college students across all four years say they’re not attending school this fall and instead taking a gap year.

“For fall 2020, we did experience a decrease of about 10% in our first-year class. These are new students entering Kent State directly from high-school,” Interim Vice President for Enrollment Management at Kent State University, Sean Broghammer told Spark.

“Similarly, in spring 2021, we saw a slight decrease, but by then students and families had a better idea of the experience and were aware of the approach of the University.”

The Kent State campus community, including their support service areas and academic colleges, worked collaboratively to keep students connected to the university and enrolled again for fall 2020 and 2021. Their concerns as a University was to maintain their retention of students and help support students toward earning their degree.

“For some students, any type of disruption may be the reason they pause or stop pursuing their education. For many students, once they stop, it is a challenge to return to college,” Broghammer says. “Our goal was to continue to work with students on registering for fall classes and making progress toward their degree.”

SOME STUDENTS ADOPTED NEW PLANS

E

ast senior Lina Miesse wants to major in earth sciences and has enrolled in a couple online classes at Miami University. She is used to online learning, so being virtual doesn’t bother her.

“Since virtual classes have become more widespread, I became more used to them after quarantine,” Miesse told Spark. “COVID-19 has made it hard to go on college tours, and some of the schools I wanted to see didn’t have in-person tours available which made it hard to really get to know the campus.”

Her original college plan was to stay relatively close by. Now, she is considering going farther away because she is concerned about the cost.

According to The Princeton Review, the majority of students and parents now say affordability and dealing with the burden of debt that often goes hand-in-hand with a degree is their top concern.

source cdc.gov 48 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

“Seeing the state of student debt and how expensive college can be is really stressful,” Miesse says. “It definitely plays a role in my decision, even though I’m so ready to leave home after the pandemic is over.”

According to the College Board, tuition fees plus room and board for a four-year private college averaged $50,770 in the 20202021 school year; for four-year, in-state public colleges, it was $22,180.

Miesse and many other students may be wary about being in groups on campus and the risk of contracting COVID-19.

“Getting used to being around lots of new people even if COVID-19 cases are down and just anxiety surrounding being in crowds or busy areas without masks will be stressful,” Miesse says. “Also thinking about whether there will be any precautions or risks surrounding COVID-19 next school year.”

According to College Crisis Initiative, a research project at Davidson College in North Carolina, more than 1,000 four-year colleges and universities in the U.S. will bring students back to campus in some form, with 45 operating fully in person, another 446 as primarily in person, and nearly 600 offering various combinations of online and in-person classes.

“Our first-year class enrollment is up over last year, and our retention of first-year students who started in fall 2020 is above 80% and only slightly behind where we have been the past few years,” Broghammer says. “I anticipate it will take a few years to stabilize enrollment due to the decrease from fall 2020, and we continue to graduate larger numbers of our students. For fall 2021, nearly 75% of our courses are back in-person.”

COVID-19 has disrupted the U.S. labor market. According to the Monthly Data Review, early data indicates that American workers without a college degree have experienced the most severe impact. Broghammer thinks that it is important for a college to “help students and families see the value in education.”

“Early on in the pandemic, there were immediate changes in employment rates and most often college-graduates were less impacted than those without a college degree,” Broghammer says. “For students, it is important to see value in their degree, the college experience, and believe that completing their degree is worth it. Colleges and universities need to do everything they can to provide support and encouragement to students to persist and graduate.” •

Section | story

story name | Section

Spark investigates East’s dress code and its implications for current and graduated students. Read the in-depth in Issue 2 this winter.

49 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

Culture | Pic Six

PIC SIX: ROLLERCOASTERS Spark staffer Kaleb Flood ranked his top six rides at Kings Island.

#1 MYSTIC TIMBERS

reviews and photography kaleb flood

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hatever you do, don’t go in the shed!” is the last thing heard before riding down the 109-foot wooden hill. Mystic Timbers is based on an abandoned lumber company site that riders explore. One thing I love about this ride is the quick acceleration the riders experience once leaving the loading zone. After falling down the 109 ft. hill, you go into a 53.7 degree turn that leads you to 3,265 feet of twists and airlifts, ending with a stop in the middle of a shed. For it being a wooden roller coaster, the sharp turns

and airlifts weren’t as jerky and rough as normal wooden roller coasters are.

A dark scenery filled with cobwebs, writings of “it’s in the shed,” and an old radio that suddenly comes on while waiting in the shed. The suspense felt when entering the shed makes the rider feel like the snake on the projector is coming out at full speed.

What makes it more enjoyable is the great theme. The details of the shed, the surroundings of the ride, and the TV displays of cameras spying on the abandoned lumber site makes the ride that much better.

#2 BANSHEE

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anshee is the world’s longest inverted roller coaster. For it having a record of seven inversions, you don’t feel the blood rush to your head during a loopty loop due to the smooth ride. Never longer than 30 minutes, its efficient rotation gets people in and out of their seats extraordinarily quickly. Banshee consists of three different types of loops that all top at a speed of 68 mph. It’s the sort of ride

that roller coaster fanatics will be riding several times over before moving to another part of Kings Island. Although subtle, the Banshee’s theme of a graveyard possessed by a wailing female spirit is noticeable enough to figure out, adding to the ambiance of the ride. Kings Island’s ability to take a normal loopty loop and create it into one of the highest attractions speaks volumes about the overall design of Banshee.

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he newest ride in Kings Island, Orion, is a 300foot drop steel roller coaster that tops at a speed of 91 mph. It was aptly named “Best New Amusement Park Attraction for 2020” in the USA Today 10Best.com Reader’s Choice Travel Awards poll. The ride’s theme is a testing site that simulates a transport vehicle weaving through a meteor storm. For it to be successful, the program needs “volunteers.”

One thing that is evident while riding Orion was the speed of the train up the hill.

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#3 ORION

The train’s quick pace while accelerating to the top of the hill gives you little time to regret the decision of getting on. The only thing that puts Orion third instead of first is the fact that it’s a complete replica of Diamondback. The seat designs are similar and the continuous line of hills are seen in both rides. The only difference between the two is that Orion has a taller hill and a longer ride time. Orion did not live up to the hype when Kings Island announced the opening of the doppelganger of Diamondback.

Section | story

Pic Six | Culture

PIC SIX: ROLLERCOASTERS

6300 Kings Island Dr, Mason, OH 45040

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#4 DIAMONDBACK

epresenting a snake slithering through the desert, Diamondback has rightfully been ranked among the top steel roller coasters in the world since 2009.

Starting off with a 230-foot drop, Diamondback features ten consecutive hills and tops at a speed of 80 mph.

Diamondback has been the fan-favorite for visitors of Kings Island but fell off a little ever since Banshee, Mystic Timbers, and

Orion came out. The stadium-style seat design is my favorite of all the roller coasters in the park. There are two seats per row, but the rows alternate in the position they’re in. One row has the two seats close and the other row has them separated, giving the rider the open-air experience. Instead of the traditional boxcar seat design with the cart encased around the seat, the stadium-style design gives the rider open leg space and nothing to hold onto.

#5 THE BEAST

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he Beast is the world’s longest wooden roller coaster with a ride time of over four minutes. The ride consists of two hills, a 125-foot long underground tunnel, eight banked turns, and a 540-degree helix tunnel. The Beast has a top speed of 65 mph.

The scenery of The Beast makes you feel secluded from the rest of the park, especially at night. The ride is surrounded by the woods that span for 35 acres.

The best time to ride The Beast is right before it closes. At night, you can’t anticipate the upcoming turns and the speed of the ride increases because the staff is trying to get everyone out. The only thing I have against this ride is the 1500 punches you experience while on the tumultuous coaster. The ride was made 42 years ago and has been checked annually, but it still feels like you’re riding a bull. As long as you’re prepared for a beat down, The Beast is an enjoyable ride.

B

#6 STUNT COASTER

acklot Stunt Coaster is a high-speed car chase that takes off from 0 to 40 mph in three seconds. The trains of the roller coaster are designed as cars with funny phrases on the drivers’ plates. The ride weaves you through a series of highways, parking garages, and gunfire.

Backlot Stunt Coaster does a great job of displaying its theme.

The ride stops you in the middle of a shootout between the police and your group of “getaways”. At the top of a hill, the ride stops and there is a gun fight where one of the shots hits a propane

51 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

tank, setting off a fire. The ride then takes you into a dark tunnel where you go through a series of airlifts and sharp turns. At the end of the tunnel, you bust through a billboard that has the title of the ride. I love how much detail the designers put into Backlot Stunt Coaster. The downside to this ride is the wait. The wait time is always 30 minutes or longer.

Stunt Coaster does a poor job of rotating people in and out of cars, causing the line to be back up to the entrance. It shouldn’t take 40 minutes of torture for two minutes of fun.

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TWICE THE TERROR

Culture | Reviews

I

review olivia rigney | art ianni acapulco

t has been two years since American Horror Story last premiered, and season ten’s “Double Feature” premiere has fans knowing the wait was well worth it. Creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk always bring something new and fresh to the table, this time telling two stories within the same season.

American Horror Story (AHS) is one of the most widely known horror anthologies on the air. With each season following a different plot and recurring actors playing a range of different characters, there is always a new thrill for fans. After premiering in 2011, with season one “Murder House,” AHS has continued to be a staple in horror television by embodying chilling and appalling fears.

Part one of “Double Feature” is titled “Red Tide” and follows Harry Gardner, his wife Doris Gardner, and their daughter Alma, as they move to the town of Cape Cod during the wintertime season. There is a dark and ominous feeling that

takes over viewers while watching the first two episodes, which premiered on Aug. 25, 2021. The season’s short cold open plays into this, giving off a sinister vibe while the season is introduced under a pale and seemingly grey filter.

One of the shortest cold opens in American Horror Story history, at just over two and a half minutes, leaves viewers feeling eerie and unsure about what will happen next. There is an almost abnormal sentiment and suspicion that arises as the theme of roadkill becomes more prominent throughout the episodes.

The rest of the premiering first two episodes introduce what Provincetown is like in its off-season, and more of the town’s residences are introduced: Tuberculosis Karen, Austin Sommers, and Belle Noir. These characters are played by long-time cast members Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, and Frances Conroy, respectively. The cast gives phenomenal performances as the characters battle drug addictions and build relationships between the newcomers and the locals.

They are joined by a new cast member Macaulay Culkin, who plays Mickey, alongside other new actors.

After not seeing Culkin in a television performance since the “Home Alone” movies, it was intriguing to him in a new role 30 years later.

Another outstanding performance came from 11-year-old Ryan Kiera Armstrong who plays the daughter, Alma Garnder. For being so young Armstrong put

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on an amazing act which made viewers at home love to hate this young hellion.

The episodes of part one will continue to air weekly on FX Network and then be released the next day on Hulu. Live viewership has been at an undeserving, dramatic all-time low for the series due to the episodes being available to be streamed the day after premiering. For comparison, the season 10 first episode premiered with only 930,000 viewers, compared to the season three premiere which surpassed six million views according to the Nielsen Media Research.

W

hile “Red Tide” has me on the edge of my seat, invested in the dynamic of Provincetown, there has been little build-up for how it will be connected to part two. Part one seems like a mystery that is slowly being revealed episode by episode.

Although the ghostly nature of the frightening plot may be off-putting for some, the amazing acting paired with the mysterious setting keeps viewers tuning in every week.

Fans should be ready to have their theories and questions answered when part two, titled “Death Valley,” airs on Sept. 29, 2021. The first episode titled “Take me to your Leader,” will star returning actor Cody Fern alongside other recurring actors from part one. Based on trailers and teasers, the plot will follow alienlike creatures, other supernatural happenings, and take place in the 1950s. The alien agenda is not confirmed, so viewers will have to tune in for the rest of the season to see how these stories will intertwine and connect. •

A CYNICAL CREW H

Section | story

review zach shultz | art evie colpi graphic mary barone

P

icture this scene from “The Suicide Squad”: the main characters are trekking through a dense forest, struggling to reach their next destination. They trade hilariously witty remarks, prompting entertaining reactions. The jokes are funny, the characters are lovable, and the actors give captivating performances. These characteristics are only a few of the many that set this film apart from its failed predecessors in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU).

When it comes to the success of comic book movies, Marvel has had the upper hand in recent years over the DCEU. Most of the DCEU films have gotten generally average to negative reviews. “Suicide Squad”, released in 2016, was not an exception. James Gunn, known for the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies, was chosen to direct the sequel to “Suicide Squad”.

However, he chose to abandon the previous film’s set-up narrative and try something new.

The movie is similar to “Deadpool” in that it takes the superhero genre and turns it into a violence-filled and irreverent film that isn’t afraid to be overtly obscene.

Produced by DC Films and distributed by Warner Bros., this version of the squad features stern Colonel Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) and deranged Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), who both return from the 2016 film along with five more criminals played by Idris Elba, John Cena, Daniela Melchior, David Dastmalchian, and Sylvester Stallone. Their mission is to infiltrate an island nation and destroy an old laboratory.

Aside from having the same premise, “The Suicide Squad” has pretty much no connection to the 2016 film. Even the returning characters are portrayed differently here. The tone is totally different, as well. The 2016 film was dark and somber, while “The Suicide Squad” is loud, absurd, and extravagant. The change really benefits this film, as the constant gore and over-the-top violence is really entertaining, so much so that gritty and gory scenes often make the viewer laugh.

Speaking of humor, this film is immensely funny. It is filled to the brim with hilarious,

crude and vulgar jokes that leave viewers laughing uncontrollably. But mixed into the never-ending humor and violence are themes of how important family is and rising against Western imperialism, American foreign policy, as well as government deception and corruption.

And, despite having the same premise as “Suicide Squad”, the storyline is unique and has a lot of brilliantly-executed plot twists.

Gunn’s directing is still captivating to watch.

He proves that even after two “Guardians of the Galaxy” films, he is still able to show his expansive creativity throughout “The Suicide Squad”, such as the titles for each act in the film being written in the sets. Small things like this make the film more enjoyable.

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Reviews | Culture

The best part about this film is the cast of characters. All seven members of the squad are likable in their own ways, and the dysfunctional family group dynamic between them is really fun to watch. The casting choices were great too; Cena’s captivating performance as a character named Peacemaker is surprisingly good. Another really great thing about them is that Gunn managed to give all seven some emotional depth to their character. You get emotionally invested in all of them, even a witless humanoid shark (Stallone), who has his fair share of heavy moments. owever, the film is by no means perfect. About 45 minutes in, there’s a 15-minute sequence where Harley is captured and becomes foolishly infatuated with the island nation’s dictator.

These 15 minutes are a huge waste of time and don’t amount to anything important. It was just a pointless segment that didn’t add anything to Harley’s character, the storyline, or the film itself.

Regardless, “The Suicide Squad” is still an incredibly fun, exciting, and enjoyable film.

It also is able to balance both the humor and emotional moments well. Regardless of the amount of bad language and extreme violence, “The Suicide Squad” was probably the best new film I’ve seen this year, and it is sure to be a hit with any comic book or DC fan. •

Zach’s Top 5 Suicide Squad Members graphic & art mary barone Bloodsport Idris Elba

Rick Flag Joel Kinnaman

Ratcatcher 2 Daniela Melchior

Peacemaker John Cena

King Shark Sylvester Stallone

October 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 53

R

Culture | Reviews evered as one of the most influential science fiction books to ever grace the shelves, Dune has sold more than 12 million copies since its release in 1965, and has served as the inspiration for several renown works such as the Star Wars saga. With the anticipated Oct. 22 release of the movie adaptation, more and more people have begun to read it. However, its recent influx of attention begs the question of whether it deserves the popularity.

Frank Herbert, the author of the book, was far ahead of his time. Going against the grain of sci-fi concepts typical of the time, which show utopia and the beauty of the future, Herbert highlights the deep-rooted issues of society.

The book has a breadth of controversial topics such as the future, religion, addiction, gender gentrification, and the hero complex within the main character, Paul Atreides. Herbert is able to touch on these topics sincerely and finds a way to execute his ideas into the story.

The blueprint and ideas of this story are

incredible. Herbert’s skill is incomparable when it comes to his world-building and creating complex and detailed settings. This, however, hindered the plot and storyline that he was trying to achieve. The action of the story took the backseat and many pages became dedicated to in-depth detail of the surrounding rooms or desert landscape. He went so far as to add historical documents chronicling his creative environment. This tended to drag out a lot of the story and soon became very boring.

The narrative is slow-moving and gets lost in the background of Herbert’s exhaustive setting.

The utter lack of action and over-abundance of minute details being described can deter any reader from wanting to read it. The book is not for the ever-shortening attention spans of today’s generation; but for those willing to put the time in, it’s worth the wait.

Paul and Jessica Atreides are by far the best written characters in the book. Both of them are complex and dynamic, undergoing changes in maturity and thoughts throughout the book

TIME AND TIME AGAIN review andie madding art evie colpi

that helped develop their personality. There is never a time where one begins to fall flat, and it is fascinating to see the growth in each of them.

Paul begins as a naive and timid character and soon transforms and accepts his position in the world of Dune. He has depth and defies the typical “chosen one” trope by questioning destiny and creating his own path. Jessica begins as a subservient wife and evolves into a matriarchal role for thousands of people.

Overall, the people in this book are very well thought-out and have immense thought put into them.

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erbert writes in a point of view that shows every character’s thoughts at any given time, making it difficult to tell who is thinking or speaking at any given moment. Many books have either one character that narrates or has designated chapters to each character. This is not the case with Dune. Similar to his many details, the characters’ ruminations are often arbitrary and don’t help to move the story forward. Many of the character’s thoughts, including Dr. Yueh’s, are a way to pound in the ideas that Herbert wants the reader to know. The same notions of betrayal are repeated over and over becoming almost juvenile.

One of the better points of the book is how long it was able to stay relevant and keep readers hooked for years. The original fanbase started in the seventies and has continued until modern times. Many of the characters, including Paul, have thoughts and feelings that are relatable for the reader even though he exists in a different world and time. The book helps readers to realize the power struggle that exists in our world today, and possibly in our future such as the ideas of corruption and using strength to control others. This book invites discussion and inspires change.

Many of the problems within the text will hopefully be eliminated in the upcoming movie, which will hopefully be more concise and digestible for viewers while doing justice to the amazing world Herbert created.

There have been multiple attempts at creating this movie in the past and all have failed, so I hope this time it won’t fall short of Herbert’s standards.

The storyline is amazing and the world Herbert created is creative and innovative, but the execution isn’t there. Herbert has great ideas but is not a great storyteller. Critics seem optimistic about the upcoming movie, but the book is not worth recommending. •

Section | story

Recipes | Culture

FALL FAVORITE COFFEE DRINKS

Get ready for the cold weather with Editor in Chief Mia Hilkowitz’s favorite fall coffee drinks. These drinks can be found on Cocoon Coffee’s new fall menu, located at 6209 Snider Road in Mason. *All drinks can be made lactose free by choosing a milk alternative including oat, soy, almond or coconut milk.

Pumpkin Pie Latte Ingredients:

• Pumpkin syrup • Caramel syrup • 1 double shot of espresso • Cinnamon • Choice of milk

White Pumpkin Latte

Iced Chai Pumpkin Latte

Ingredients:

• White Pumpkin Latte • White chocolate mocha • Pumpkin syrup • 1 double shot of espresso • Choice of milk

Ingredients:

• Iced Chai Pumpkin Latte • Cold foam with pumpkin and caramel flavoring • Chai tea concentrate • Cinnamon • Choice of milk

AUNT JENNY DAYEN’S KUGEL RECIPE Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb. of thin noodles • 1 stick of marga rine (melted) • 3 eggs • 1/2 cup of suga • 1 tsp of vanilla r • 1 tsp. of cinnam • 8 oz. container on of sour cream • 8 oz. bar cream cheese (softened)

E

ach fall, Jewish people from around the country celebrate the high holiday season through commemoration, worship and most importantly, good food. While in-person gatherings may be limited this year, you can still experience the holidays with this family recipe. Kugel, a sweet egg noodle casserole, is a popular traditional jewish food served around the high holidays.

recipe & photography mia hilkowitz

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350

degrees Fahrenheit. Boil noodles in a large pot of boiling salt water for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Drain the noodles, but leave some water clinging to the noodles.

Step 2:

Butter a 13”x9”glass baking dish.

Step 3: Whisk

eggs and sugar until eggs are frothy and sugar is dissolved. This should take around one to two minutes.

Step 4: In a medium sized bowl,

add the cream cheese, sour cream, vanilla extract, cinnamon and salt to the eggs and sugar mixture.

Whisk to combine. Then, add microwaved butter to the bowl and whisk together again. This creates a sauce for the kugel.

Step 5:

Add noodles to sauce and toss to coat using a spoon or spatula.

Step 6: Transfer noodle mixture

to baking dish, tipping the dish to evenly distribute the noodles.

Step 7:

Bake kugel in the oven for one hour. Rotate pan halfway through until top is browned. Let cool for 20 minutes, then serve. •

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October 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 55

News | School Board Election

continued from page 21 WHAT DOES THE SCHOOL BOARD DO: The Lakota Board of Education is responsible for hiring and evaluating the district superintendent and treasurer. The board is also responsible for: • Adopting an annual budget and appropriation measures • Exercising taxing powers to raise money for the district • Considering and passing upon the recommendations of the superindendent in matters of policy • Informing the public concerning the progress and needs of the school The Lakota Local School Board of Education operates under local control.

Local control refers to the governing and management of public schools by elected or appointed officials serving on governing bodies such as school board.

(Top) The eight Lakota Board of Education candidates pose with the members of the Spark Editorial Board at Candidate Night (Bottom) Candidate Douglas Horton answers a question at Candidate night.

NG I T P E C C NOW A OR F S R E M CUSTO 22!

0 2 G N I SPR

Contact: wayne@the513pressurewashguys.com (513)889-8973

• House Washing •Driveways & Sidewalks •Decks & Patios •Fences, Barns & Sheds

Section | story

IT’S GAMEDAY...

ie colpi photocaption ev ley higgins photography ri

first out of all nd came away with ba ng hi arc m st Ea score of 77 in the Oct. 2-3 the ond overall with a sec d an o, hi O in s competition. East the band s of America (BOA) nd Ba igan, o hi O st we North all over Ohio, Mich e wenty bands from pe sid sco ng ro alo ho is ed e rm em rfo th pe preformance’s eir Th a. e an di Th In s. d ac rtray zodi Kentucky, an cular props that po cir ge ur lar fo e of th s of ist and cons resent each four secitons that rep show is divided into • . , air, and earth elements: fire, water

Photocaptions | Sports

photocaptio n aurora hutc hings photograph y caleb vana tta East Varsity Boy s soccer took on the Sycamore Av tight game that resulted in a 3-3 iators in a tie. In the first qu Jacob Nguyen arter, junior and senior Con nor Pletikapich score goals in th managed to e first half but Sy camore was clos junior Nico Be e behind with llo and senior A idan Young scor to tie both team ing two goals s at the half. A s the second ha senior Sycamor lf continued, e player Garret Friedrich scored only a few min a goal. With utes left in the last half of the Jack Pascoal (pic game, senior tured above) scor ed East’s third go game with East al, tying the Boys Soccer ba rely escaping th loss to Sycamor e clutches of a e. •

photocaption blake furnish photography riley higgins The East Thunderhawks took on the Sycamore Aviators and pulled away with a win (34-27). Before the game, the 2021 East homecoming court was announced onto the field. Nominees included both class and club representatives. The score was tied up, 20-20, at the end of the second quarter. At halftime the dance team, cheerleaders, and marching band put on a show for the students. In the second half, the teams went back and forth with the Aves striking first in the third quarter. The Hawks came back to tie it in the fourth, then drove down the field to take the lead. The Hawks defense was able to stop the Aves on their last drive of the game on fourth down on the 5-yard line.

The sound of the victory bell could be heard as students were leaving the stadium. •

57 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

photocaption dayna gaffey photography caleb vanatta On Sept. 13 East varsity tennis team swept the courts 4-1 against Mason. East junior Kirsten Kusel, who has been playing tennis for five years, knew this was going to be a hard game. “Knowing Mason, their shots are always spot on, have speed, and they anticipate everything,” Kusel says. But that didn’t stop her from going in with a positive attitude. “In tennis it’s so easy to get down on yourself, so going into it with a good attitude really helps your game,” Kusel says. That positive attitu de is just what East needed to beat Mason. •

October 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 57

Section | story

BOILER UP, HAMMER DOWN.

East senior and Purdue commit Charlie Kenrich stiffarms Moeller player in the first game of the season.

East senior Charlie Kenrich received 21 college offers but selected Purdue University as his new home. story ben stowe | photography riley higgins | infographics evie colpi and mary barone 58 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

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Section | story

Charlie Kenrich | Sports

he scoreboard reads 27-27 with less than eight minutes left in the fourth quarter.

The East Thunderhawks possess the ball, knowing that if they don’t score on the current drive, the Week 6 battle against Sycamore on Sept. 24 will be the end of their four-game win streak.

After limping off the field earlier in the game with an ankle injury, East senior football player Charlie Kenrich lines up in the backfield as a wingback --- blood dripping down his forearm.

As the ball is snapped, Kenrich charges down the field. Senior quarterback TJ Kathman drops back looking for any sort of miracle to present itself.

Kathman finds this miracle in Kenrich in the endzone, tightly covered by three Aviator defenders. He decides to let the ball fly and trust Kenrich’s ability to perform under pressure.

The pass is snatched and brought down by Kenrich for a Thunderhawks touchdown. After a long defensive drive which kept the crowd on the edge of their seats and ended in a turnover on downs, this touchdown turns out to be the game-winner. This is just one of many examples of Kenrich’s character.

For years, Kenrich has been known by his teammates as someone to look toward and depend on. His intensity on the field is infectious.

East running backs coach Carl Longworth has seen Kenrich’s character firsthand.

“Simply put, Charlie is selfless and humble,” Longworth says. “He puts the good of the team above himself. He will do anything asked of him and never complain. Because of that, I think he is trusted and more importantly respected by his teammates and coaches.”

This selflessness was showcased in East’s 54-21 victory against Hamilton in Week 4 on Sept. 10 when Kenrich played out-of-position.

Kenrich normally plays running back, and occasionally linebacker, but ended up playing safety for part of the game because it was what the team needed.

Kenrich’s ability to play anywhere on the field earned him offers to play offense and some to play defense. Although he played slotback in high school, he is mostly getting recruited as a tight end in college.

Purdue is among these colleges. Kenrich says

he was followed by some of the Purdue coaches on Twitter in late February of this year and was contacted shortly after. This followed his junior season in which he averaged 7.4 yards per rush and 22.3 yards per reception.

Kenrich’s coaches attribute his success to not only his talent, but his work ethic.

“I wish more players had his work ethic,” says Longworth. “Charlie is extremely hard working.”

This is a player who is humble and treats everyone on the team with respect. He is often seen walking around before practice, sharing his positive attitude with a wide range of his teammates, from the scout team players all the way to the varsity starters.

“He has all the physical characteristics such as size, strength, and speed, but probably more importantly he has heart,” Longworth says.

“Coaches talk about a player’s ‘motor’, which motivates them or makes them go. Charlie has a high motor. There is no quit in him.”

CHARLIE KENRICH HEIGHT 6’4 WEIGHT 225lbs BENCH 295 JERSEY #5

US RANKINGS STATE-WIDE 20 TIGHT END 57 NATIONAL 776

2020 STATS 17 TACKLES

K

enrich’s work ethic does not begin and end with the season, it continues throughout the entire offseason.

“I take not taking any days off seriously,” Kenrich says. “I’m always doing something to get better everyday in the offseason even if it means just stretching or lifting and running.”

The East running back has been a standout in the Greater Miami Conference (GMC) since his first year on varsity, his sophomore year. Since then, he has amassed more than 1,000 rushing yards and 600 receiving yards.

It is common to hear opposing defenses calling out Kenrich’s number and emphasizing his position on the field. In East’s victory against Sycamore, defenders were heard yelling “Five! Five! Five!” and seen shifting to his side of the field multiple times.

As of Week 8 of the 2021 season, East has a 6-1 record and is on a six-game win streak averaging over 34 points per game.

East Athletic Director Richard Bryant has seen a lot of talent in his twelve years in the role but says Kenrich stands out.

“Charlie is an exceptionally hard worker and a very gifted student athlete,” East athletic director Richard Bryant says.

“When these KENRICH’S OFFERS are combined, you have a high caliber Division I recruit.”

Iowa State, Michigan State, Yale, Air Force Academy, Naval Academy, Vanderbilt, and Virginia Tech were all among the 21 offers Kenrich received to continue his football career

59 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

596 YARDS

85.1 AVG YARDS

208 RECOVERS

388 RUSH source 247 sports in college. For Kenrich, Purdue University outweighed all other options.

“I chose Purdue because after visiting a couple schools I found that I felt the most wanted by the coaches there and super comfortable while there on my visit,” Kenrich says. “It was a pretty tough decision because I loved a couple of the schools who were interested in me, but Purdue felt like home.”

K

enrich says he would like to study either exercise science or business. If he goes into exercise science, he plans on becoming a personal trainer.

“I am extremely proud of Charlie,” Longworth says. “I have coached a lot of players over the years and have had others receive Division I scholarships but I think Charlie is the most deserving. He’s just an awesome studentathlete to be around and I am fortunate to have been his coach the last three years. I wish him all the best in his next chapter.” •

October 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 59

Section | story East junior varsity tennis player Amisha Kejriwal warming up for her meet against Mason.

SERVING COMEBACKS East’s girls’ Tennis strives for a comeback from their season mid-pandemic in 2020, already winning matches against West and Oak Hills. • story megan miranda | photography caleb vanatta

A

s she faces her opponent, with the outcome of the game on her shoulders, she comes to one conclusion; tennis is a mind game.

Nisso Sasha has been playing tennis since she was seven years old, ‘if her brother could do it, so could she’. Now as a senior she is one of seven players on East’s Varsity Tennis team.

Sasha first joined the team freshman year after making Junior Varsity (JV). She continued into sophomore year advancing to the Varsity team, but her journey playing for East came to a halt when the pandemic hit junior year.

“I just wanted to be cautious especially for my parents, so I was also VLO last year,” Sasha

says. “[The main thing I missed] was building relationships with my teammates cause I didn’t see them for a year.”

Sasha’s decision was one amongst many others as the school year began, resulting in a lack of players for the upcoming season.

“This year we were lucky because we got enough people to fill the courts for both varsity and JV. In 2020, we only had 13 girls tryout and that was because we had some girls that couldn’t travel because of COVID,” East’s Varsity Coach Cindy Strahan says. “That was the first season we ever had to encounter not having enough players to put on court, so we had to forfeit courts, which is hard. [We are] a

60 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

big school system, and it makes it really difficult when Lakota East shows up and people expect a certain thing and we have to tell them that we have to forfeit one court.”

Strahan has been involved in East’s tennis program for 10 years and began coaching varsity girls four years ago in 2017. While this was her first year that there were not enough players for the East team, the lack of players is not a new issue.

“It doesn’t really compare well, when Oak Hills had like 35 kids come out and Mason always has a ton of kids come out. It kind of ebbs and flows for us, we’ll get one Junior group of girls that are six juniors and then we

Section | story

Girls Tennis | Sports

got a freshman class this year of six freshmen, but our sophomore year we have two,” Strahan says. “That’s another issue that we have worked on. We started a camp this year to get kids to play, because Hopewell Jr doesn’t even have a team this year, and sometimes have to be put with Liberty Junior to make enough people [for a team].

R

egardless of the challenges, Strahan and East’s JV Coach, name, sought out more solutions. Having noticed that players who primarily play for East are out of practice for the rest of the year, the coach started a camp to get everyone back in shape to be ready for the season.

“Coach Knapp and I, came up with a system for getting the girls in shape. Because not all these girls play tennis, through the offseason, we found the girls that didn’t play tennis year round would come to us a little bit out of shape. And we would have to use our season to get them in shape, and our season is only eight weeks long,” Strahan says. “So, we took it upon ourselves to start a summer program where we do weight training and speed and agility.

It really was beneficial because the girls would be in shape and right after tryouts we start our season, we have a match probably within two days of tryouts, and it just takes off.”

East Freshman and Varsity Tennis player Mary Claire Schadek tried out for East with the intent to be involved in the school and do something she enjoys after having played through junior high on Liberty Junior’s team.

Schadek believes the training to have been helpful.

“It showed us what to expect in the season,” Schadek says. “On Mondays and Wednesdays we would have conditioning and work on getting stronger and faster. Then on Tuesdays and Thursdays we would have open courts to prepare for skills for the season.”

Now, even with the pandemic still lingering around, the team is reportedly off to a stronger start.

“I think we played pretty strong last year [but] it was a rough year. We’re usually third in the GMC. We dropped to fourth last year, equal with West, and Oak Hills took us over last year,” Strahan told Spark. “But this year, we’ve already beat Oak Hills, and we beat West.

So we’re gonna start crawling back up to our third. We shouldn’t have any trouble keeping it as long as they stay healthy and I keep them on the court.”

Strahan has also made an effort to address what she deems the hardest part of the game, player’s being in their head.

“My job as the coach is to keep their spirits

up. This is a tough sport because it’s not only physical, and we’re outside in the humidity, but this is such a mental sport,” Strahan says. “At the beginning of each season, I take the girls aside, and I ask ‘how can I best support you on the court?’ and I write it down on an index card and I hold those index cards during the match.

If somebody’s struggling I take a look at it, and I say the words that they need to hear so that the mental part doesn’t take their beat down.”

Sasha notes that some of Strahan’s tactics and routines have really helped to address the way tennis messes with her mind, especially when she played singles freshman year.

“She takes a lot of care in how she talks to us because it’s a very mental sport, so anything anyone says is gonna really have an impact on what you do,” Sasha says. “For me I just like to be reminded if I’m not moving my feet. She takes care and asks us what our needs are. And she has a lot of really good tennis knowledge.”

At the end of the day Strahan believes in the girls and knows what will happen on the courts is up to the team, and will coach them to success.

“Their success is whatever it is they deem to be successful. I always tell them ‘we don’t lose, we learn,’” Strahan says. “So if you come off the court, and you have not played a great match, what have you learned about your match?”•

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Sports | Coaching

THE PLAYER BECOMES THE COACH

East junior Kiera Hawks spotting West Chester Acaademy gymnast on her pullover.

Student athletes at East find jobs within their sport, allowing them to earn money while doing what they love.

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story and photography evie colpi fter putting in hours of work at practice, East junior and gymnast Kiera Hawks dusts the white chalk off of her calloused hands, heads outside to her car to drive home, and starts on her homework for the day.

Hawks, like many other student athletes, have had to find ways to juggle school work, practices, weight lifting, and homework. Hawks says that because of this challenge for balance, finding time to work and save money was a challenge.

However, finding a job that had flexible hours to fit her schedule was closer home than Hawks anticipated. Hawks’ first job opportunity landed in her lap when her childhood gymnastics coach, Rob Hester, reached out to her in January of 2021 and offered her a job at West Chester Academy as a coach.

“When I was offered a job as a gymnastics coach, I got really excited because it was a job that I could get into and have fun with,” Hawks told spark. “I’ve done gymnastics my whole life, and finding a job that allowed me to be an athlete that also fit my busy schedule was important.”

While most teenagers’ jobs entail flipping burgers or folding clothes, Hawks’ job allows her to work with kids of all ages and see her sport in a different light.

“This opportunity has been so much fun, and it’s really broadened my experience working with so many different types of people of all different skill sets,” Hawks says. “Being able to see the kids grow and finally get a skill without any help is super satisfying.”

East senior and gymnast Sophia Gooding was a student at Perfection Gymnastics for nine years.

Like Hawks, Gooding has also gone from student

to coach, now teaching young kids her passion for gymnastics in the same gym she grew up in.

“This coaching opportunity has taught me a lot. It lets me see a different side of gymnastics and I have learned lots of patience and how to be compassionate towards my kids,” Gooding told Spark. “Having this job has built my leadership and communication skills a lot.”

East senior and boy’s varsity lacrosse player E.J. Upton is another student athlete who found work in his sport. During the spring and lacrosse offseason, Upton referees for the U.S. Lacrosse Organization.

“This opportunity has shaped me,” Upton told Spark. “Seeing how all of these young kids are starting a fantastic game at such a young age is inspiring.”

Uptons says that lacrosse is a large part of his life so he knows the rules of the game like the back of his hand.

“I got into reffing because I always wanted to do something involved with lacrosse,” Upton says. “[Reffing is] a way of getting money and staying

“I’m able to have so many new experiences that really shape me and help me plan towards my future.” -East junior Kiera Hawks

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close to the game I love.” or many, including East senior Sarah Sewak, refereeing is a flexible gig that allows many highschool athletes who do not have time for a typical part time job to earn money. Sewak, who has played multiple sports throughout highschool including basketball which she plans to pursue at a collegiate level, is a referee for West Chester Soccer Club.

“Reffing was my first job and it would be perfect because I could choose what games I wanted to ref,” Sewak told Spark. “Typically on school nights, I will only referee one game. [The game] only takes about an hour so I have a lot of extra time to do homework.”

Like Upton, Sewak played soccer for the majority of her life so she knew the rules and regulations well.

“I think having that job has helped me a lot,” Sewak says. “It’s taught me how to work with people and taught me a lot of patience.”

For Hawks, the ability to coach gymnastics allows her to pursue her passions and enjoy her high school experience, while still earning money for something she loves.

“As a student athlete it is sometimes difficult to juggle work, school, and all the other clubs and extracurriculars that I have going on, but I wouldn’t really change it for anything.” Hawks says. “I’m able to have so many new experiences that really shape me and help me plan towards my future. I get to make so many friends and even more memories. It’s made my high school experience so much better. I would not change anything if I were ever given the chance.”•

Section | story

Thunderhawk Night | Sports

Tomahawk football players reach out to highfive the East varsity football team as they run onto the field during pregame.

Below: Tomahawk 2nd grade cheerleaders, Emily (left) and Harper (right), leading the crowd in a cheer.

FUTURE STARS

Tomahawk football players and cheerleaders celebrate their successful season at Lakota East football game. • story kaleb flood | photography riley higgins

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his night is an important night for the youth. People from all over the community come together to watch football under the East stadium lights.

The student section is filled with spirit from top to bottom. Tomahawk football players and cheerleaders look up towards the Lakota East players and cheerleaders in action.

Tomahawk night is an annual tradition that allows elementaryaged football players and cheerleaders take to the Lakota East and West football fields to get a hint of what their future holds if they continue down their athletic path. The players, cheerleaders, and coaches are introduced to fans as they walk past the crowd.

The Tomahawks then form an entryway tunnel for the East football players to run through before the game. Additionally, the Tomahawk cheerleaders perform during the first quarter alongside the Lakota East cheerleaders.

Ten years ago East Varsity

running back and senior Charlie Kenrich was one of these young players in his red and black jersey with white blocky lettering reading “Tomahawks.” Now, Kenrich is committed to Purdue University to play Division 1 football.

Kenrich says that Tomahawk night inspires young football players to one day play under the lights.

“When I was younger, all I could think about was how cool it would be to play on Friday nights,” Kenrich says.

Before the big night, the Lakota East cheerleading team holds a clinic for the Tomahawk cheerleaders to learn cheers, dances, and spirit raising chants.

“Preparing to attend [Tomahawk Night] takes us from the beginning of the season to now,” Tomahawk Cheer Director Tiffany Rexhausen says. “We have been working with the girls at practice, not just on cheers, but what it means to be a cheerleader.”

According to the secretary of Lakota Tomahawks, Katie Baur, the Tomahawk Organization has had a very evident impact on participants throughout the years. For instance, One player that Kenrich looked up to when he was younger was Jack Dobrozsi, the starting running back for East during the 2018 season.

Having experienced Dobrozki’s mentorship, Kenrich wants to do the same to the next generation of football players.

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“It’s really cool if people happen to look up to me,” Kenrich says. “I have the responsibility of being a good role model and setting examples for people younger than me.”

East senior Farrah Miles says that she looks forward to teaching the younger generation the skills and spirit needed for cheerleading. “[The Tomahawk cheerleaders] are all so enthusiastic and have very sweet personalities,” Miles says. “I really enjoy getting to help foster their skills and efforts to become even better cheerleaders.”

For many, this night is more than just Tomahawk players and cheerleaders being able to walk on the field; it is a taste of what the future Lakota East football players and cheerleaders will experience. Every hand the Tomahawk football players highfive is a reminder of what the future holds. Every cheer the Tomahawk cheerleaders perform is another kid being inspired. This isn’t just any night, this is Tomahawk night. •

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Sports | Volleyball

LITTLE HAWKS ON THE BIG COURT East Volleyball teams are collaborating to create a workshop for elementary kids in hopes of building the program beyond its GMC leadership. • story and photography mary barone

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mid the chaos of balls flying over the net and kids chasing one another, East girls’ varsity volleyball coach Jen Dreher prepares herself for the twohour clinic ahead of her. While it takes patience to coach the fundamentals of volleyball to 85 elementary-age kids, she knows the future of East’s volleyball program lies within the crowded gym.

Since Aug. 18, Dreher and boys’ varsity volleyball coach Bryant Kuhlman have led clinics once a week for students grades three through sixth to hone their volleyball skills.

Dreher and Kuhlman used their momentum

from the Hawks Summer Volleyball Program, where more than 200 children participated, to carry the clinic into the school year.

“For some kids, summer camp was their first time ever touching a volleyball,” Kuhlman told Spark. “I started playing volleyball in sixth grade but my goal is for kids to be introduced to it at an even younger age. [The summer camp] was a building step for where we’re hoping to take the program.”

Kuhlman’s main focus is on bringing more boys into the program. Historically, the high school boys’ team has had a successful run.

From 2016-2019, East varsity boys volleyball

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held an 8-0 record. In the 2020 season, senior Grant Hubbard held the boys’ Greater Miami Conference (GMC) annual record with 273 kills and came in second for aces with 62. The boys ended their year 6-2.

Kuhlman expects the team to rally together after Hubbard, their star player, graduated last year.

“Last year we had so many kids that were either playing volleyball for the first time or freshmen that were coming back,” Kuhlman says. “I really look forward to the whole team really growing and continuing to get better from where we were last year.”

Section | story Elementary school kids practice setting volleyballs against the wall at East clinic.

At the Sept. 8 clinic, boys made up just under 20% of the attendance. While the boys’ high school team has yet to be sanctioned by the Greater Miami Conference (GMC) at the high school level, East Athletic Director Richard Bryant has faith in the future of boys’ volleyball. “[Elementary schools] could have some semblance of a competitive [boy’s] team by this spring,” Bryant told Spark. “Even if it’s not good at first, getting the boys out there on the court will do nothing but grow our programs.”

Kuhlman plans to enroll several elementaryaged teams in the Cincinnati Premier Youth Volleyball League (CPYVL) before its March 19 registration deadline.

“We are trying to help these kids develop an IQ for the game,” Kuhlman says. “We are laying the foundation for these kids to funnel into the junior high school level down the road.”

Typically, parents crowd the bleachers to watch their little Hawks work on their volleyball skills. Union Elementary parent Shannon Fausnaugh’s nine-year old daughter has participated in the last two youth clinics.

“I love the clinics because [my daughter is] learning a lot more-- and I’m learning new stuff just from listening in,” Fausnaugh says. “The number of coaches and players here is great because they are able to give every kid the attention they need to develop.”

Volleyball | Sports

“The players that help out are able to help our little Hawks a lot with technique and their confidence. They give the kids a picture of where they hope to be.”-Girls Varsity Volleyball Coach Jen Dreher East volleyball players from both teams have been staying after their own practices to help with the clinic. Dreher appreciates the help as it expands the attention that each participant receives.

“The players that help out are able to help our little Hawks a lot with technique and their confidence,” Dreher says. “They give the kids a picture of where they hope to be.”

Varsity outside hitter Erin Cooney has attended three out of the four clinics. She says she enjoys passing on her love of the sport to the kids and getting to know them. “[Coach Dreher] brought a different atmosphere to the table when she joined the team,” Cooney says. “She really cares about rebuilding the program by putting more focus on the younger kids.”

Dreher is the fifth coach to take on the girls’ varsity volleyball team since 2014. Bryant says that with a change in leadership at least every three years, it is difficult for the program to find

consistency. The girl’s varsity volleyball team’s most successful season run was in 2012 under head coach Casie Garland, ranking seventh in the state and holding an overall record of 8-1.

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ast year, the varsity team ended their 2020 season with a 7-2 record under the leadership of head coach Janna Stephens.

Stephens left the team in November for personal reasons.

East Athletic Director Richard Bryant offered the position of head coach to Dreher in March 2021. Out of six candidates that were interviewed for the position, Bryant says that Dreher stood out for her passion and energy. “[Dreher’s] been on the job for three or four months, and she is following through on everything she has promised,” Bryant says. “She said she was going to start a youth program for us to compete at the highest level and I couldn’t be happier with the strides she’s taking to reach that goal.” •

Elementary kids coming together to finish off the clinic with a team break.

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Sports | Girls Soccer

TAKING BACK THE

RIVALRY

East varsity girls’ soccer defeats West for the first time in seven years, reclaiming the rivalry.

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story celina blount | photography caleb vanatta

he dew on the soccer field shone under the orange sun as East girls’ varsity soccer team walked onto the field, preparing for the game that could make history.

After a seven year streak of ties and losses, East beat their rivals West 2-1. They had four goal attempts, although only two fell.

East junior and goal keeper Lucy Carlin currently has a 77% save percentage, ranking her 13th in the Greater Miami Conference (GMC). At the game, Carlin saved a shot from going in, which could have been the difference between winning and tieing.

The Girl’s Varsity Soccer Coach,Tom McEwan says the team went into this game like any other.

“We did the exact same thing we would do anytime before any other game,” McEwan says. “We [focused] in practice and make sure the team dynamic was up.”

After they defeated West, the junior varsity and varsity teams all circled up, clapped and cheered together, as they finally took the throne from West.

East junior Madison Uhl has played three times against West during her highschool career and being a part of beating the rivals made her feel like all the hard work payed off.

“When we won [against West], I felt like all our hard work this [past] winter and summer was finally utilized,” Uhl says.

“It has been years since East varsity girl’s soccer has won against our Rivals.”

In the first half, East sophomore Josie Bensic scored the first goal of the game, just after almost getting the ball stolen by the other team’s defense. Once she regained control of the ball, she shot it, hitting the top right corner of the net with a satisfying swoosh that triggered a roar of applause from the bleachers.

Bensic has acquired a total of five goals in four games and is ranked seventh in goals scored in the GMC. Bensic scored the second goal in the first half, kicking the ball straight into the middle of the net.

Lakota Superintendent Matt Miller made an appearance at the game and was pleased to see the good sportsmanship and support shown from the students of both East and West.

“I’m so proud of the student body for coming out, supporting the soccer team, and taking the right precautions so they can come out and support all of the sports,” Miller says.

Reflecting on the game, McEwan recognizes each and every player’s individual talents.

“I continue to love the support from the student body, and I’m very proud of these girls,” McEwan says. “All of them stood out in their own way and I couldn’t be happier with the outcome. Go Hawks!” •

East sophomore and varsity defender Sidney Zawila throwing in a foul ball during game against West.

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Section | story

2021 EAST FALL TEAMS GMC RANKINGS Football Girls Soccer Boys Soccer Girls Tennis Cross Country Girls Golf Girls Volleyball

1 1 2 3 3 3 3

Sports Rankings | Sports

This fall, seven East sports teams were ranked in the Greater Miami Conferene (GMC).

Check out their rankings as of Oct. 15.

*Note, Boys and Girls Cross Country and Boys Golf are not included on this rankings, as the players are ranked individually, not as teams.

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Opinion | Column

A LOSS OF RESPECT

The Lakota School Board 2021 election is on the horizon, and with 8 candidates running this year, monthly board meetings are tense. Feature editor Marleigh Winterbottom reflects on her experiences attending these meetings.

column marleigh winterbottom photography olivia rigney

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I sat speechless as a man walked confidently u p to the stand, with 30 seconds left in the public comment section, closing out the night at a Lakota School Board Meeting. He first commended Board Member Lynda O’Connor for not wearing a mask during the meeting, despite Lakota’s decision to require masks in schools. His 30 seconds were well over, but he was not finished talking. He followed by saying, “this mask stuff is s#%@” and later pulled out the “r” slur.

My face immediately flushed red, my jaw and stomach dropping to the floor. Superintendent Matt Miller, immediately stopped and told him that the “r” slur was not acceptable language.

The largely unmasked audience huffed. I could not wrap my head around what I was hearing.

I couldn’t imagine ever exhibiting this type of behavior, let alone at a public board meeting. It was embarrassing as a teenager to hear adults exert such rude behavior.

With an agenda full of important educational topics such as bus driver shortages, budget changes, and the decision to approve a release and separation agreement for former East Principal Yejide Mack, one would think a room packed full of district parents would have at least one thing to say about the educational agenda.

However, not a single person in attendance was there to speak on the board meeting agenda at hand. They were all waiting to voice their comments in the public comment section where they could speak on topics including Critical Race Theory and decisive and political agendas such as the mask mandate.

One after another, I listened as people stood in front of the board screaming their frustrations at the members, as if they were not sitting only a few feet away. The more aggressive a comment was, the more cheers and claps came from the cramped seats surrounding me.

I was taken aback by the dogmatic stubbornness of the crowd. In a country where we have freedom of speech and opinions, we should be listening to all sides of every argument, rather than turning a blind eye to opinions differing from our own.

However, this practice has seemed to have been thrown out the window. There was no discourse here, just yelling.

Lakota is not the only district facing issues of disruption and disrespect at board meetings.

National politics following the 2020 presidential election is still prevalent and has led small, local discourse to turn into harsh battlefields.

I sat there dumbfounded as people screamed “unmask our children!” while Miller was speaking, mid-sentence. Commenters refused to sit down after their three-minute speaking limit was reached, screaming above the voices of board members telling them to stop.

As a student, if I ever were to act like these adults and parents in attendance did, I would be at risk of suspension or expulsion. To ask for student respect for teachers and staff and then go on to interrupt and argue with a Lakota Board Member is not only contradicting, but counterintuitive. What is this teaching the young kids of the district who look up to these adults? How are we teaching them to act towards others?

I have never felt so out of place in my life than I did in that board meeting. I watched as board members’ faces dropped while speakers used their additional time and three minutes to repeatedly

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tear them apart. Board President Kelly Casper in particular had to sit, fighting to keep a straight face, as people took all three of their minutes to bash her character and morals for keeping time. There were so many people who came with the sole intent to publicly bash her, that she was given no choice other than to defend her actions in her closing comments.

Casper explained to the aggravated crowd that her job is to keep time on the comments and cut everyone off after three-minutes, regardless of the topic being discussed. She then went on to inform them that Lakota was sued earlier in the year due to people going over the time limit.

Still, people in the audience huffed and puffed.

For similar reasons, Board Member Brad Lovell decided against going for the upcoming reelection.

While noting that he enjoys serving the district, he had to draw the line when community members began coming after not only him, but his family in public.

How have we let politics divide us as far as to disregard respect towards others? From a young age, my mom has drilled into my head the importance of respect for my peers, no matter their opinions or beliefs. It is saddening to see that adults around me have lost sight of politeness as they took advantage of the comment time to attack the board.

Sitting there, speechless, I wish I could have called them out for their childish behavior. It was at that moment, I felt as if my maturity had surpassed those who were supposed to be setting an example for me. I can only hope that the tension and bickering will subside and board meetings will return to their original intent: education, not politics and fights. Until then, I will continue to feel uncomfortable attending meetings because it feels as though the adults who I am supposed to look up to care more about winning an argument than they do improving my educational experience. •

Section | story

Column | Opinion

MORE THAN NUMBERS As the time for college applications is right around the corner many students stress about how their résumé will compare to others. Opinion editor Olivia Rigney debates the role and importance of standardized tests on college applications.

column olivia rigney | photography

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oing to college is a daunting future that can come with multiple years of debt and prolonged anxiety for many.

Getting accepted, denied, or even waitlisted into a dream college is a fear most applicants will face, myself included. There’s pressure on students to have the best GPA, be at the top of the class, and not stop until the best ACT and SAT scores are achieved. But behind these artificial numbers of these standardized tests, are students that have worked for twelve years to get to this point.

After the AP test scores were announced earlier this year, I noticed students everywhere taking to social media to address the majority of failing scores that were released. I was immediately reminded about the $94 fee that comes with taking any AP test in the 2021-2022 school year, and the expectations of performing on the same level as non-COVID years.

High school students across the country might look to relieve some of this future stress by working hard to qualify for numerous scholarships and getting college credit by taking Advanced Placement (AP) classes.

These processes can have numerous beneficial outcomes, but also may make the applicant look less original since thousands of students do this.

The College Board, a nonprofit organization that helps high school students pursue higher education, has an annual revenue of over one billion dollars, according to a Nonprofit Explorer report. Students across the country pour hundreds

of dollars a year into the College Board to take part in activities such as AP classes and standardized tests to aid the admissions process.

The average student planning on continuing into college will take the PSAT, SAT, and possibly a few AP tests at some point in their high school career. According to a Spark survey done at East, 89% of respondents say they are taking at least one AP test this year.

The College Board has a rule over education and monopolizes the process that a majority of students will participate in. However, the organization can provide a “middle ground” for college applicants. Meaning, because grades are not equal from different high schools, the college board provides services that give students a standardized curriculum and previously mentioned tests.

But while AP tests might sound like a favorable option, a whole year taking a collegelevel course in high school might have all been for nothing ifa poor score is received. The past two years of AP testing during a pandemic have been, what most would call, a trainwreck. In 2020, the first year of COVID induced testing, a different, shortened version of tests were given online and remotely. Students taking the AP Human Geography test, for example, were only tested over their knowledge on the first few chapters, to accommodate for not being able to have a substantial review due to virtual learning and taking the test at home. Scores accurately reflected this lack of preparation with a majority

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(45.6%) of students getting a score of 3 or 4.

he following year, in 2021, most AP tests were given in person like in the past years. However, the different tests did not accommodate for the drastic change in learning compared to pre-pandemic years of teaching. Students were not accurately prepared for these tests countrywide and the results showed. Again for AP Human Geography, 47% of students received a score of 1 or 2. For a year of abnormal learning, some in-person with modifications, and some remote, the College Board was still expecting students to be able to perform at their fullest potential, which was out of the students’ control.

One bad AP score doesn’t define a student or the work they can do. Many universities and colleges are moving in the right direction in altering their admissions process where standardized statistics do not hold as much weight for college applicants.

More well-rounded students are being valued as test-optional applications are becoming more popular. The benefits of opting for a test-optional application let students not be defined by one test and instead, let their résumé speak for itself. Because behind the ACT score, behind the GPA, behind the class rank, there are real people. •

“However, the different tests did not accommodate for the drastic change in learning compared to pre-pandemic years of teaching. Students were not accurately prepared for these tests countrywide and the results showed.”

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GIFTED KID BURNOUT

Opinion | Column

Natalie Mazey recounts her experiences growing up as a student under the term “gifted.”

column natalie mazey photography marleigh winterbottom

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he term “gifted” was handed to me in second grade. I did not see it as a gift. I saw it as a label affixed to me after a strange lady took me to a strange classroom to answer a plethora of questions, ruining my day that was supposed to be spent watching “The Polar Express” with my class. In reality, it was a label that set me up to struggle when things no longer came easy.

The results of this testing informed my teachers I was “gifted”. For me, that meant going upstairs for math with third-grade students, and being put in the gifted classes in elementary school, before the label transitioned to advanced in junior high.

This was never a big deal to me. I devoured books and never had to study. I enjoyed school and was good at it. I thrived in an academic setting without trying, but I just got lucky. Due to the way school was structured, I was set up to succeed on paper; as I got older, I began to see the holes in this facade of success.

Later, in challenging honors and AP classes, I needed to study, but I had no idea how to. I began procrastinating instead of tackling a task because of the fear of not being good enough.

If I procrastinated and didn’t live up to my standards, I could blame the amount of time I had rather than myself. Anxiety blossomed and I didn’t know how to cope. If I wasn’t succeeding academically, I wasn’t succeeding at all.

I am not alone in this. #giftedkidburnout has amassed 89.9 million views on TikTok, with videos composed of people spelling out the ways being “gifted” as a kid negatively affected them. Some explain their inability to complete a

task unless they’re immediately good at it, while others explain their self-worth comes solely from academic validation.

A common theme between all of these videos is that these former gifted kids deal with an increased amount of mental illness. Chronic stress and anxiety, coupled with perfectionistic tendencies exacerbated by a perpetual need to please, have left many of these people struggling. According to the National Association for Gifted Children, some believe gifted children face higher levels

These kids often take on a course load of solely Advanced Placement (AP) classes to maintain a high GPA. Often AP classes are solely teaching to the test, learning how to correctly answer multiple choice questions rather than gaining applicable knowledge.

While high test scores and academic success are impressive, they lose all meaning when they only create adults unable to successfully self-regulate and maintain a healthy, balanced life. Those with a fixed mindset are unable to adapt and grow. They are stuck and get burnt out when challenges inevitably arise. In order to keep intelligent kids from burning out, they need to be given the tools to develop a growth

of depression due to heightened sensitivities, perfectionism, introversion, overachieving behaviors, existential concerns, and feeling like they don’t fit in.

At the core of the issue is a subgroup of children all with “fixed mindsets.” A fixed mindset, as defined by Psychologist Carol S. Dweck in her article “The Secret to Raising Smart Kids”, is a way of thinking in which errors are attributed to a lack of ability, which “they feel powerless to fix.” Those with this type of mindset avoid challenges in order to maintain a status of perfection. They think all they have is their label of “gifted” and “talented”, and their intelligence is a fixed trait.

I have witnessed my peers feed into this fixed mindset and cling on to academics for any sort of self worth. I have witnessed former gifted kids obsessively check class rank and take on an insane workload simply to get a GPA that’s .001 higher than their competition.

mindset. According to Dweck, in this way of thinking, people view intelligence as malleable and able to “be developed through education and hard work.” They want to learn for the sake of learning, not solely to get an A. In order to avoid the inevitable “gifted kid burnout”, gifted kids’ mindsets need to be changed. While intelligence can predispose them to success, it means nothing without work ethic and tenacity. Instead of striving for academic perfection, gifted kids need to strive to fulfill social and emotional needs alongside an ability to adapt and grow.

A kid doesn’t need a gold star simply because their brain is wired to excel at standardized testing. People won’t be written in history for solving logic puzzles on a state mandated test that goes on to identify them as cognitively gifted. Those who are praised in history put in an insurmountable effort to make something happen. That’s what deserves a gold star. •

“I have witnessed former gifted kids obsessively check class rank and take on an insane workload simply to get a GPA that’s .001 higher than their competition.”

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Section | story

East Speaks Out | Opinion

Spark picks up the pulse of the school by asking various students their opinions on a prominent issue. interviews and photography mary barone

Do you prefer the current or last year’s bell schedule?

HADLEY LEWIS

SOPHOMORE

ANNA AKROUSH

JUNIOR GAVIN COBB

SENIOR

“This year [is better] because my teachers stacked on homework last year since we only had class every other day. I had all of my hard classes on one day and my electives on the other so on my hard days I would come home exhausted and on my easy days I was bored.”

“Last year was better because we went each class every other day so we had two days to get homework done instead of one. I also got more homework done in Hawktime than Nexus because it was shorter and in a classroom rather than the gym or cafeteria.”

“I like last year’s schedule because we had more time to get stuff done in class. We also had Hawktime and were able to talk to any teacher we needed.

I dropped Nexus this year because it was just substitutes telling you to shut up and do your work for 45 minutes.”

ZOEY GILBERT

SOPHOMORE

BRAEDEN BIERMAN

JUNIOR FARRAH MILES

SENIOR

“I like this year’s schedule because the school day goes by faster. Last year, some of my teachers would lecture for 90 minutes and it dragged on.

Shorter periods help me stay focused and I’m a pretty fast worker so I have enough time to get my work done in class.”

“[I like] last year’s [schedule] because it felt like a lot less work because we had a lot more time. Hawk time was nice because we could actually talk to teachers and get help but Nexus is just a study hall and all we can do it work on homework.”

“I liked last year’s better because the schedule broke up my classes and it was convenient for homework. I liked Hawktime because we had a school-wide study hall and even if you didn’t need to go see a teacher, it was easy to get together for group projects and assignments.”

*freshmen were not interviewed because they did not follow East’s main campus schedule last year* 71 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

October 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 71

Opinion | Head to Head

HEAD TO HEAD I

t is said that clothing is meant to be a glimpse into the soul- I don’t know if that’s completely true, but clothing is one of the first things I notice when I enter a room.

Many may attribute this to students wearing masks now, but it is honestly easier to observe outfits instead of making eye contact. Seeing five almost identical outfits from Romwe in one day throws me off. Sometimes only a few items are the same, like jeans and a crop top, but others it will get a little too similar for comfort.

There is no shortage of people who would roll their eyes at these students and their fashion decisions, and in a way that annoyance is justified. Still, it bears the question: Why blame the consumer of a system that is unavoidable? After all, fast fashion, a business model that focuses on creating affordable clothes based on current fashion trends, is something so common in our lives we barely

blink an eye.

The conversation of fast fashion may be entering the forefront of media recently, but the concept itself has been around for decades.

Forever 21, a trend-based clothing store aimed at teenagers and young adults, was founded in 1984, while Zara, another fashion brand that is well known for their online presence, has been operating since the 90’s. Cheap clothing brands that intricately follow trends like this are not new, and neither are the exploitative consequences. 93% of the 250 fast fashion brands analyzed by the informational site Fashion Checker do not pay their workers a living wage overseas. Online shopping has simply inflated this business model to a new era.

S

ocial media makes trends look appealing more quickly, such as a “haul”, a mass purchase of clothing from one store. So many people have started creating videos about their hauls that they have become a subgenre in itself. These kinds of videos create the idea that overconsumption is the standard for the majority of people.

Videos of rich women flaunting their latest mass purchase on Youtube and Tiktok seem to always find their way onto the “For You page”. It hurts to see this massive amount of clothing get bought and rarely worn, but the average fast fashion shopper is not buying 25 items at once. According to the online global database Statistia, the average American woman buys 31 pieces of clothing every year. The misconception that women buy 50 plus pieces of clothing creates the illusion that more clothing is being bought in these stores.

Due to the fact critics only focus on the overconsumption angle, the voices of people rightfully crying for inclusivity in sustainable fashion get drowned out despite it playing a big factor in their market. Shein, a fast fashion online store that quickly

72 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

SHOULD PEOPLE SUPPORT FAST FASHION?

climbed in popularity over the past few years, has refused to disclose information about domestic and overseas working conditions despite the United Kingdom’s requirement to do so. At the same time, in August 2021, Shein was rated as the most inclusive sizewise out of 71 major fashion companies by the fashion site WeThrift. Many alternative sites to Shein such as Able don’t go above XXL, let alone have styles outside basics for plus sized people.

M

oreover, if a sustainable brand does provide clothing for all sizes, the affordability of the clothing is limited.

After all, the majority of people who buy from fast fashion brands choose so due to prices. Sustainable brands on average cost three times more than fast fashion stores, creating an accessibility divide for customers.

When worrying about your budget, the Romwe crew tee is easier for consumers to buy than a similar product from Everlane for 20 additional dollars.

Even alternative forms of shopping such as thrifting have become a more saturated market.

As more upper middle class people begin to thrift clothing, the more thrift stores begin to bump up their own prices, isolating their original demographic.

Fast fashion brands have made keeping up with trends easier for lower income teenagers, who for years have been isolated from fashion.

For all society pokes fun at teenage girls in high school, fashion in high school is a glimpse into socioeconomic status. A Journal of Business study in 2016 concluded that American teenagers are more likely to buy luxury brands than other Western teenagers such as the French. This pressure on teenagers to keep up with fashion trends historically isolated lower income students, but affordable clothing brands give many the chance to dress cute without splurging.

In an ideal world, shoppers would stop buying fast fashion and instead find clothes in their size in ethical and safer places.

Shoppers wouldn’t worry about busting their wallets for clothes that they actually feel comfortable in. If we want to achieve a sustainable and humanitarian fashion world, sustainable stores need to include more diverse body types and models in their business plan. In 2021, that is a privilege many do not have. •

Section | story

Head to Head | Opinion

Staffers Wudie Amsalu and Kaitlin Dwomoh debate the rise of fast fashion as cheap and low quality clothing becomes more popular. columns wudie amsalu and kaitlin dwomoh photography marleigh winterbottom

T

he five minutes between each period is like being transported to the streets of New York. Where black platform boots, crocs, corsets, and stylish crop tops are the norm. As people rush to class, they strut the latest styles and trends that seem to last only as long as those five minutes themselves. Short and stylish are the trends that flood our halls.

It’s a constant struggle to know what’s in and what’s out, with styles constantly going through a revolving door. There is one app that can tell all. It’s not Instagram or Pinterest. It’s not even Vogue. It’s TikTok. Aesthetics such as VSCO, cottage core, and dark alternative all have quickly risen to fame on TikTok, the fastest growing social media app with more than 100 million users in the US alone.

With a simple click-on on the “For You page”, a whole new wardrobe appears in a matter of minutes. Influencers dish out fashion advice on what to wear and stylish hacks. Pushed by sponsorships, these online influencers hype up certain items which cause trends to go viral in a short amount of time. With constant stimulation from recommendations, viewers are constantly bombarded with hype items.

In turn, viewers are subtly coer to buy these clothes, often in masses known as hauls. These clothing sprees are often bought from giant fast fashion vultures such as Shein or Fashion Nova. Marketers use the use of influencers and sponsorships to reach the diverse demographic of TikTok, making it a marketer’s dream haven. A perfect platform to quickly push out new designs and outfits, that ensures that their products will constantly be in the spotlight. When items that are only older by a few weeks stop being sensationalized, they are quick to be cast to the side for the next big thing. Then the cycle continues.

An iconic and controversial example is the green Sunny Hockey dress, that after a few weeks of frantically selling off shelves, was deemed so wretched on social media that it went on to be burned and condemned by its once faithful followers. This intense cycle of click, buy, and bye is a trademark of fast fashion making it extremely unsustainable and unreasonable for not only the environment but consumers’ closets and wallets as well.

Social media countries pushing for faster microtrends, for more styles to come, the faster clothing is discarded, the quicker and greater the waste is left. Despite 85% of all textiles going to the dump each year, there

has also been an increase of over five times for the production of clothing in recent years according to Earth.org. This mass production of clothing emits over 10% of global emissions, being the second biggest industry to contribute to global warming.

T

he whole model for the fast fashion industry is about making cheap clothing, with the U.S being the biggest culprit, exporting more second-hand clothing than any other country on earth,” commented Samuel Oteng, a fashion designer and project manager of the OR Foundation, in a recent article by CBS News. The OR foundation’s goal is to create awareness of the impact of fast fashion in the Kamanto market, where over 110,000 lbs of discarded clothing are thrown away each day.

With the incredible and easy access to clothing in this era, consumers no longer see clothing as valuable, once seen as pieces that change who someone is to things that are not even worthy of an afterthought. Kamanto is just a small symptom of this problem, with hundreds of more towns experiencing these after effects.

This is not the first time fast fashion has been criticized for this cycle of constant waste. Shien, once a small upcoming online store over 10 years ago, is now an international business that ships over to 220 countries and has replaced Amazon as the fastest growing online shopping company. Over 8000 new pieces, every day for its consumers, all of which are featured on New Arrivals on their website.

Pieces are made to be trendy, so quality is often exchanged to have a speedy launch. These pieces are made with low-quality materials such as synthetic polyester and nylon shortening their lifetime.

Despite the poor quality of clothes, the short lifespan, and the immense environmental impact, many still buy Shien for its low prices and larger size range. However, there are more available options due to the accessibility of this modern

73 lakotaeastsparkonline.com October 2021

age. A wider range of stores from around the globe are pushing towards sustainable fashion and inclusivity. Many brands such as Maurice’s, Girlfriend, and Levi’s are focused on creating clothing that is not only better for consumers but the earth as well. Levi’s mission is to create more sustainable clothing to ensure that consumers can, “Buy better. Wear longer, and wear endurable clothes.”

Consumers hold the power to change the fashion industry for their benefit. Time and time again, the fashion industry has bent to the needs of the buyers. If they demand better, they will get better. The only way to break this cycle of waste is to start now with simple steps. First , is simply being aware of what you buy and invest in. Buy what you love, and avoid excess.

Buy for longevity because less is more. Not only does it make sense financially, but it also makes sense ethically, it makes sense environmentally.•

October 2021 lakotaeastsparkonline.com 73

Opinion | Editorial Cartoons

“PERSPECTIVE” editorial cartoon vi dao and olivia rigney

“TUG OF WAR” editorial cartoon mary barone

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